Review of A Place for Theodore by Prudence Steiner The writing of history is difficult. If you're writing about someone or something already well known you face a hoard of kibitzers who question every statement that doesn't fit their preconceptions of the case. If you're writing about something unknown, well, where do you begin? How do you know what to look for? How do you know you have found everything? And how do you know how to organize what you do have? George Williams, in A Place for Theodore, has confronted both problems. Well-known is Charles William Eliot, President of Harvard, notable New Englander from a notable family. Loyal Harvard alumni and conventional historians of higher education already "know" all about him. Virtually unknown is Theodore Parkman, chemist, soldier, who was killed and, literally, lost in a small and complicated Civil War battle at Whitehall, North Carolina in 1862. The intersection of these two lives, the process by which Williams has accounted for what is known to have happened, his speculations about what might have happened and why, form the substance of this paperback (Holly Two Leaves Paperback, ISBN 0-9656484-0-0). Don't expect a tidy narrative. That's not how historians work. Pieces--letters, photos, newspaper clippings, old bullets, public proclamations and private denials--swim into the net or are dredged up from murky corners in an unsystematic way. With each new piece, historians must revise their first ideas about what happened, their earlier interpretations of the causes. Most published histories appear after years of research and speculation have refined and polished them into coherence. Williams has chosen another method. For the most part the book brings us the raw materials in a very rough chronological order. Facing pages may include the author's narrative, original materials, photos or diagrams, in an assemblage of elements that is hard for the casual reader to follow but that accurately and vividly evokes the very process by which historians gather and sort out information. Williams' favorite typographical elements seem to be the question mark and the italic; hardly a page appears without several of both. Ordinarily these devices raise suspicion: how much of this book is true? Why is the writer so insistent? Is he right? But this is not an ordinary book; in the best sense, it is not even a finished book. Rather, it shows the process of writing history, and leaves us, the readers, with a sense of the materials and an eagerness to push on, to learn more about Theodore Parkman and why historians are still looking for him. As a former teacher of research techniques, I commend A Place for Theodore to other teachers as well as to Civil War buffs. You may be irritated, you may disagree with the author's tone and conclusions, but Williams's book will give you an unusual collection of materials as well as valuable insights into the slipperiness of "facts." 12 November 1997

Everyone is aware of friendly-fire and "collateral" deaths in war. The Mai Lai massacre in Viet Nam is the most famous. Incidents from the Gulf War are still in the news. Did a President of Harvard help cover-up the death of a Harvard student? Major George Williams has written an interesting tale using historical documents and the soldier's perspective of war. This book is a unique look at an overlooked incident during America's Civil War.

A Place for Theodore won a Willie Parker Peace History Book Award from The North Carolina Society of Historians on Nov. 1, 1997. Mr. L.G. Williams also won two other awards for associated projects.

I now have all 7 volumes - all 7 available currently. But I only got volume 5 about a month ago, much later than 6 and 7. And the biggest problem I am facing now - how am I going to make it last till they print the 8th?! I read one story per week - though I die to gulp them down and make a feast of reading this book. Each precious tender love story - only one a week. Once in a week I sit down and switch the world off and read about love - because that is what Sturgeon have been writing about all his life. He takes you by hand and shows you that somebody's Eden is always somebody's else Hell; and makes you walk beside a quiet girl - quietly.. Or sit and listen to a slow dialogue of two cowboys near the fire - and at the last words to burst out laughing only to smile sadly and tenderly a minute later... Theodore Sturgeon makes you love life - and that is the best compliment I could pay any writer.

As a writer, Sturgeon provokes one of two reactions in me: either to just give up since I know I'll never be able to equal that much quality for as long as I live, or to sit back down and write even more in an redoubled effort to equal that quality. I tend to like the second myself and I think Ted would agree, reading one of his stories you get a sense of wonder and enchantment, much as he probably felt writing it and to me it's like a gaunlet being thrown down saying, "This is the best I can do, I know you can do just as good. Prove it." Ah but the quality here is not to be believed. Even if you discount the "undiscovered" story "Quietly" which is apparently a precursor somehow to More Than Human (it's a tenuous link, even the series editor admits it) there's stuff like the title story, one of the groundbreaking stories not only for science fiction telling but the short story genre in general, there's also a neat creepy jazz story and a Western story and so much that when you finish you sit back and think about all the good stuff you just read . . . and then realize that the five volumes that are to come are supposed to represent his very best work. Argh, Ted, you don't make the challenge easy but I think it's one I accept. You want no less. Read them all already, what are you waiting for?

The publication of the collected short works of Theodore Sturgeon is cause for rejoicing. Sturgeon is the Beethoven of Science Fiction, and this fact has not yet been recognized. The thing that makes Beethoven tower over all other classical composers is his compelling ability to communicate powerful emotion. His greatest works are more than technical masterpieces; they make the listener glad to be human. They uplift, magnificantly.

This is also exactly true of Theododre Sturgeon. Sturgeon's greatest works speak directly to the heart, as do the works of Beethoven. And they do so as powerfully, since they almost always speak of love. Human love, not any pale imitation.

For several decades, most people new to Sturgeon had to approach him through his novels, since publishers did not like to print short story collections. This is a shame, since approaching Sturgeon through his novels is very much like approaching Beethoven through his string quartets. Masterpieces they may be, but they're not terribly approachable. If you want to appreciate Beethoven, start with his symphonies. If you want to appreciate Sturgeon, start with his short stories.

And just as Beethoven's best work was done later in his life, so also were Sturgeon's best stories. In the time frame that "The Perfect Host" covers, Sturgeon was just beginning to hit his stride. His greatest work will show up in the volumes to come.

Thank you, Paul Williams, more than I can say, for bringing this collection into print.

I'll make this short...For anyone interested in Chinese history, literature, or culture, this volume is an absolutely essential collection of primary sources, and includes prefaces and explanations by China scholars. There is no one better than de Bary, and this new edition includes everything from the 1960 edition up through the Jiang Zemin era.

I've read a little of this and that about Chinese history and religion, and I needed a book to fill in the basics and the details. This was perfect.

First, the selections included excerpts of almost everything I'd ever heard of: Shang Oracle Bones, the Analects of Confucius and the Confucian classics including the I Ching; Mozi; the Tao Te Ching; Zhuangzi (who famously dreamed that he was a butterfly); Mencius; Xunzi; the Zuozhuan; Sun Tzu's art of war; all kinds of stuff about Chinese schools of Buddhism including the Lotus Sutra and the Flower Garden Sutra and the history of Guanyin and Wutai Shan; Li Po (Li Bo) and Tu Fu (Du Fu); and neo-Confucianism (which was so influential in Korea). In short, this is really, practically the "Eatern Canon" and the selections are deserving of such a label. I was in turns morally and intellectually challenged, uplifted, informed and surprised; but rarely bored and never disappointed.

Second, the introductory essays were exactly what I wanted to know: who might have written it, and when, and who read, and what it meant to them. For all that information, they were still brief and the bibliography was sufficient to help me chase the points that left me curious. An important thing these essays did was to cover the political, historical and social backgrounds (and foregrounds) of the texts, so I learned about Chinese history as well as literature and religion. If that is what you want to do, this book will serve you well.

The binding is excellent, and while the price might look steep I have to say it's a bargain considering what you get.

I didn't read Volume Two, and so I don't know if it is as good. It is certainly a lot smaller!

This second edition of a classic provides an update on a reference recommended for college-level collections specializing in Chinese literature. Sources of Chinese Tradition has been recognized already as a scholarly staple: in its new form Sources of Chinese Tradition has been extended to include the Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin eras of China and includes invaluable source readings on history and literature of the times, from the 18th-century Qing civilization onward.

Sources of Indian Tradition is to date the best compilation of primary sources from India's long intellectual, philosophical and religous traditions. It introduces the reader to seminal texts in the Brahmanic tradition, to ethics, metaphysics, and theories of state and society in Jainism and Buddhism, to ethics, treatises on art and culture, political theory and statecraft and philosophical and religious texts in the Hindu classical and popular tradition. It concludes with a look at the Indian Islamic tradition including the writings of Islamic rulers, ulama, sufis etc. Despite some omissions from the compilation (I would have liked a more in depth exploration of Indian epic literature, classical Sanskrit drama and poetry, the Sikh tradition and Urdu poetry), it is readable, engaging, thought provoking and will illuminate your understanding of one of the world's most fascinating civilizations.

India has one of the richest and most intricate cultures in the world. Imagine a book that compiled all the ancient sources of this culture into a single volume. This book is as close to that ideal as possible. This volume covers India from pre-historic times until the mid 18th century. It includes selections from the Vedas and the Upanishads, foundational Hindu texts; selections from important Jain texts; and selections from early Theravadan and Mahayanan Buddhist texts. It them embarks on an elaborate discussion of Hinduism, organized on the four goals of life -- *dharma*, *artha*, *kama*, and *moksha* (the section on *moksha* contains selections from the *Bhagavad Gita*, other scriptures, and the writings of mystics & saints). The last section of the anthology is a detailed treatment of the Muslims period in India, from the 13th to the 18th centuries. Overall, this is an invaluable sourcebook for anyone who wants to know more about the history of India.

Having read this book cover to cover many times for several research papers, this book contains more than enough information for even the diehard fan of Indian history. Hay has compiled the best of the most significant Indian and Pakistani leaders, both Hindu and Muslim alike to make sure the reader can attain a complete picture of Gandhi and Nehru's India. This is one of my all time favorite resource and reference books on India and I recommend it to anyone interested on the subject.

Originally compiled in 1958, this book (Volume I) remains standard issue in most university courses on the study of Japan prior to 1868, whether that class is literature, history, philosophy or anthropology. The editor, Wm. Theodore de Bary, and one of the compilers, Donald Keene (see Keene, "On Familiar Terms") are two of the most highly regarded Western scholars on the subject of Japanese culture and literature, each having devoted an entire lifetime to the subject.

On the whole, Sources of Japanese Tradition, Vol. 1 is a reference book on intellectual development in traditional Japan. It is essential for anyone interested in developing a deeper understanding of Japan over a period of time, which means it is not intended as a quick read.

Volume I is mostly an overview of traditional literature, poetry, aesthetics, religion and philosophy from the earliest written works until the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate in the mid nineteenth century. The chapters are chronological and thematic, and each is prefaced with historical context for better understanding. The chapter bodies consist of translations of some of the most representative works from Japan, including excerpts from Japan's most famous novel, "The Tale of Genji" (early 11th century), as well as numerous samples from the spectrum of Japanese Buddhism (not just Zen), and plenty on the philosophy of neo-Confucianism and other Chinese influences on Japan. On the downside, although there is some discussion of Haiku poetry, there is not enough. And unfortunately, Kabuki, Japan's most popular form of theater, and Japanese painting, which has greatly influenced modern artists in the West, are hardly mentioned, and Japanese music is not even addressed. This makes the book somewhat of a companion to political, social and economic history - which is outstanding if that is what you are looking for.

The book represents the yardstick of compilations on Japanese intellectual history and should not be intimidating to readers who have some knowledge of Japan, nor too simplistic for the more informed. Because it is the old standard bearer, there is a definite need for an updated version that includes more for contemporary audiences, such as better discussions of Kabuki, Haiku and scroll painting. However, the volume is organized well enough for readers to concentrate only on sections they have immediate interest, making the book accessible to a variety of readers who seek a broader understanding of traditional Japanese culture and intellectual history.

This book is a wonderful introduction to modern Japanese history. It is an anthology of important sources, beginning with the Shinto revival of the 18th century, through the Meiji Period, World War II, into the 1950s. This is an invaluable reference work for anyone concerned with Japan's development over the last two centuries.

This book is wonderful introduction to Japanese history. It covers Japan from the earliest sources through the late Tokugawa Shogunate in the 18th century. The sources trace political, social, artistic, philosophic, and religious trends throughout Japanese history, in the words of the Japanese of those former periods. Selections from all the important source material for Japanese history are assembled in this book.

Ted Sturgeon was a nudist, a wild man, a tortured soul who reinvented himself and turned around to help the rest of us reinvent ourselves. It's a pleasure to watch his mind work, and a pleasure to see his stories still running wild and free without him. But his stories may upset you and make you wonder about things you've always taken for granted. His were the real dangerous visions, and his tears are mixed into his work. Reading Sturgeon is like grabbing a live wire, except being shocked never made me bellow with laughter.

Baby Is Three is the wonderful sixth volume in the Sturgeon collection. The collection is organized chronologically by story creation date. Having read and enjoyed the first five volumes, it was hard for me to imagine that I could possibly like Baby Is Three even better. But I did! Sturgeon's writing shows an impressive maturity of idea and flow in this volume, and Paul Williams' story notes kept me flipping to the back of the book to read about what was happening in Sturgeon's life at the time he penned each story. As a psychologist who is also a science-fiction fan, I enjoyed the intra- and interpersonal dynamics within each story, as well as the opportunity to understand and deconstruct the context in which Sturgeon wrote the stories, as offered by Williams' story notes. A bonus: two of Sturgeon's own short, autobiographical pieces are included at the end. For those who love science fiction that is thoughtful, playful, and psychologically based, Baby Is Three is a must-read. And for those who have read Sturgeon's well-known More Than Human, Baby Is Three will add to your understanding and appreciation of that tale, as well.

There's never too much of a good thing ...or ,is it? If we, proverbially, let by-gones be by-gones , we we will keep on repeating the mistakes of the past.Extremelly well -researched book,very stylish,thorough and readable.As long as we will need the Humint which is not online , which is not free and which is not in English , we will need them- " all time greats , illegals".P.S. Arnold Deutsch has recruited not seventeen , but thirty nine agents . And , yes, some of them have not to this day been identified.But that's another story.

Will by-gones ever be by-gones ? I don't think so . Golden era of illegals has been thrown into a temporary disarray by all the recent global changes and developments . The structure of that type of intelligence service will have to be upgraded , but the concept itself will remain the same . There is never too much of a good thing . Or...is it ?

This book cites studies of thousands of patients and their outcomes from various back pain treatments. It says what works and what doesn't. It tells you how to find professional help and what you can do yourself to get better. It is packed with facts about medicines and treatments. If your back hurts, read it.

This is the best book I've read on back pain. It is written by three very knowledgeable doctors. Statements are backed up with recent researh and well documented.

Their approach to back treatment is cautious and conservatve. Avoid unnecessary tests, treatments and, especially, surgery.

Their statement that you should think of your back ache as "the tension headache of the back..." was very helpful to me.

Anyone who has struggled with this problem should buy this book immediately!

A memo to NorthAtlantic Books: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for publishing the collected stories of Theodore Sturgeon. I have been a devoted fan of his (and here I call your attention to the derivation of the word 'fan' from 'fanatic') for more than 40 years now. To see his works available in this fine edition is not only a nostalgic thrill, but a pleasure.
I am such a Sturgeon addict that I find it hard to critcize any of his work negatively. Volume 8 give no reason to do so, but this in not to say that every tale is equal in quality. Superlative levels of creation and craftsmanship can be expected of no writer; but I leave your opinions to be drawn by yourself.
For what comes through this volume is Sturgeon's view of humanity, view of fear and evil in the world (and beyond, of course, but we know that his s-f work is metaphorical for the human condition any way), his incredible optimistic hopes for the success of the human spirit. It's what all his work is infected with, even when he is at his darkest.
If you are acquainted with Theodore Sturgeon, go ahead and splurge in time and funds get in touch with an old friend. If you are unacquainted with him, splurge and make a new friend. You'll not be sorry.

TEARS OF RAGE is the compelling story told by John Walsh of the trauma he and his wife Reve and family experienced when their 6-year-old Adam disappeared from a store. Walsh describes the agonizing days of the search for Adam; the torture of knowing Adam had been kidnapped and murdered; and the frustration of inept law enforcement agencies to coordinate their efforts. The reader is taken through the saga of the Walshs' struggles which finally led John Walsh to host the highly successful "America's Most Wanted." Few books have captured the intense emotion experienced by the family of a murdered child. Walsh pulls no punches. His raw honesty is refreshing. He attacks apathy and hypocrisy with ample justification: we cannot ignore the needs of helpless children. The reader is drawn into the realism of a world where evil co-exists with good, and anyone naive enough to ignore that fact may become a victim. He clearly shows that the efforts to work for the benefit of children and other victims has paid off and is continuing. Walsh is clearly a fighter who will not give up his battle to get murderers and other criminals off the streets. He urges support for victims' rights laws and support of various organizations that are helping victims. He advocates support for the proposed "The Crime Victims' Rights Constitutional Amendment." The reader is left with the feeling that in spite of everything, good people can make a difference.

John Walsh is a man of tremendous courage. He has helped countless victims, and in this book, he gives his own heartbreaking story. I cried when I watched the movie on TV, but the book gives all the details that a movie simply cannot. Everyone who cares about children should read this book, whether you are a parent or not. Reve Walsh went shopping at a local mall, and let Adam play in the toy department while she quickly went to pick up something. That is when a pedophile got a hold of Adam and took him. John takes us through this miserable journey of searching for Adam, and then the horror of learning about the way he was killed (they only found Adam's head). We find out how little law enforcement did in those days for missing children, and how one man, John Walsh, fought to change those laws. Many people would have had nervous break-downs if they went through what John Walsh did, but he chose to fight for all missing kids instead. He also gives advice to parents about keeping their kids safe. For instance, he said that parents should never hire a male babysitter, no matter how nice he seems. I thought this was a bit extreme, but he had a point. Since most child molesters are male, he feels it is best to always hire a female to take care of your children. John also gave advice on how to deal with extreme grief. He said that you should take care of yourself, eat right, work out, get enough sleep, etc. Too many people neglect themselves physically when they are in the midst of a tragedy. It is uplifting to see how John came out of the depths of despair to be the crusader he is today on America's Most Wanted. John Walsh won't rest until every last criminal and pedophile are behind bars. He is an inspiration to people everywhere.

I Especially enjoyed this book because I remember when Adam was taken, my son was 3 at the time and from that time on I was always so careful not to EVER let him out of my sight anywhere. I really feel John Walsh will never really know how many children have been saved by his story being told, but it's definitely worth telling, and hearing. I feel you can never be TOO careful where our children are concerned. I appreciated especially hearing Reve's side of the story as I had never known just what she went through. I've always had alot of respect for John Walsh from what I'd seen of him on Television, but now I feel so MUCH MORE respect for him and his wife. THanks for giving us all an insight into just how horrible it was, and helping us see just what one (or two) people can do to make a difference for children! I spent most of the time reading the book with tears running down my face, but it was definitely worth it!!