The Wisdom of John Paul II describes the Pope's innermost thoughts on subjects such as abortion, education, war, religion, and love. The book is well-written and interesting as well because it's made of quotes from speeches made by the Holy Father. The Pope's views on certain issues have often been controversial, but certainly there's a lot of wisdom in his words.

Nick Bakalar and Richard Balkin have scoured numerous encyclicals, speeches, and letters to assemble this wonderful treasury of Pope John Paul II's thoughts on many questions facing today's society. The result is a wealth of wisdom and insight from the most seen man in the world. This isn't a book of answers to life's vital questions; rather, it offers the Pope's and the Church's view on such issues and asks us to question our attitudes and feelings. The topics are far-ranging, both contemporary and timeless. Matters of love, family, death, women, work, and youth are addressed as well as subjects such as human rights and progress and the modern world. Bakalar and Balkin's greatest strength in composing this book is the wide spectrum they've selected from. These issues are universal, and you will find something that speaks to you. You'll probably discover much more.

"The Wisdom of John Paul II" is not only a great addition to your inspirational or religious library; it's also a great addition to any library. I suggest giving this book as a gift, especially if you're looking for something meaningful that can be read over and over (instead of being used as a dust-collector). Non-Catholics and even non-religious will find the Pope's words inspiring, and his message of universal love can be understood and appreciated by all. He does not viciously attack groups in conflict with Church teachings but graciously approaches controversy as does a leader of the faith. Wherever he acts as an apologetic, he does so with the patience and firmness that has guided the Church through more than two decades.

This book, in part, acts as an intimate autobiography as it his diary of his times and how he has confronted the Church and society he has been entrusted. What makes this papal journal stand out from the rest though is that it is more than a portrait of the Pope or a collection of his quotes. His words represent one man's thoughts, but it also gives us a strong picture of his vision for the Catholic Church of the new millennium. Every issue is one that immediately concerns contemporary society, and that makes this book such an enjoyable and necessary read.

This book is very different from most other financial books in the sense that I was left with real life steps that should be taken. I felt I was more in control with my finacial picture. The book was fairly easy to read and I found very little fluff. I felt it was of help and I will use several of the strategies that Mr. Reed gives.

This book should be on the desk of every policymaker ! As a deacon in the Roman Catholic Church I would also hope that deacons, animators of justice and peace in the local Church, would read and ponder this difficult and complex problem. After 20 years of my own study of the problem of war and peace in the nuclear age, with the end of the Cold War, there seemed to have emerged more questions than answers for myself and others.

This collection of essays gives the reader insight into the multilayered complexity of what to do with nuclear weapons, how useful are they, and what can we do to get rid of them in the future. I was impressed by the depth of the essays from each of the contributors, even when I disagreed with some of the assumptions or conclusions. This book forces one to wrestle with the unfinished agenda of human survival and thrival. As a Christian theologian, the ethical argument opposing nuclear weapons forces one to grapple with the complexity of this issue as an act of love. It is a struggle directed to understanding this seemingly unsolvable problem and the possibilities for living in a more just and peaceful world. This cannot be accomplished without knowing something of the world and problem of nuclear weapons. This book offers a superb overview of this most important and vexing dilemma at this time in human history. We cannot hope to secure some level of peace and justice without study and discussion of the emerging constellation of problems and developments surrounding this issue. This book helps us to understand.

The work is a little dated; however, the technology in theory has not changed in decades. I would recommend this book to anyone who practices in the environmental engineering field.

This book and CD-Rom contained lots of knowledge and was a really good learning book. I really liked the moving stuff on the CD. I would have liked more information about South American civilizations.

This is a very comprehensive review of the Battle of Britain, the campaign which saved Europe from an indefinite period of darkness, oppression, and inhumanity. Without the courage and resilience of the British people and the courage, competence, and sacrifice of the young pilots and crews of the RAF from whom so much was demanded Hitler's legions would have stood triumphant over a defeated Europe. The level of detail about the technological and tactical development of aerial combat and strategic bombing from WWI to WWII, including radar, propellers, engines, gasoline, machine guns, gunsights, will attract aviation 'wonks' and the address of the broader political imperatives which led to war will attract the historian and political scientist. Mr. Jacobs' unbelievable sketches throughout add very helpful imagery of the aircraft which fought the campaign. I was intrigued, too, by the description of the influence of American aviation developments in the building of the German and British airfleets. I wish, though, the authors had addressed in more detail the effect of the early British breaking of German communication codes. A good read!

This is a very important book in that it describes one of the most interesting mammals ever discovered: the first eusocial mammal. It is also a testament to the remarkable ability of adaptationist thinking (reverse engineering) to develop ideas that can then be looked for in nature. The existence of the naked mole rat's unique social structure was predicted based on ideas about the general selective environment that was thought to have led to eusociality in other animals.

When Virginia Woolf wrote Roger Fry's biography in 1940, she singled out his monograph on Cézanne as his most successful book, saying that it stood out "like Mont St.Victoire" from his other work. In this case at least, it's hard to disagree with Woolf's judgment. Despite the fact that it was published in 1927, before the artist's work had even been systematically catalogued, 'Cézanne : A Study of His Development' still has a remarkable freshness to its prose, and Fry succeeds in giving the viewer a sense of the excitement he himself felt while looking at the artist's works. ('Critical distance' is an obvious problem for Fry: he had been publicly identified with the artist since including his canvases in the notorious Post-Impressionist exhibitions of 1910-11 and 1912-13.)

Part of the pleasure of reading Fry's book is the way he describes Cézanne's development as if--to borrow another of Woolf's phrases--it were a "double story." In order to explain the radical difference between Cézanne's early works and his mature ones (respectively, before and after his turn to Impressionism), Fry imagines a psychologically troubled artist, who can only find peace by looking outside of himself: that is, away from invented imagery and towards nature. This split, for Fry, corresponds with the difference between the 'Romantic' and the 'Classic' sides of Cézanne's personality; but the schism is never absolute, and even in the artist's maturity, there is always the possibility that the repressed 'Romantic' will return. This, indeed, is how Fry explains Cézanne's continued interest in painting pictures of Bathers and other quasi-erotic subjects.

Such a blend of art criticism and novelistic story-telling makes for a fascinating and provocative read. Certainly that is how D.H. Lawrence seems to have found the book, and his 'An Introduction to These Paintings' is an attempt to wrest Cézanne from the grips of Fry's compelling account.

The book surveys our current scientific understanding of chimpanzee behavior. Both common chimpanzees and bonobos are covered. I doubt any reasonable person who read this book would challenge the notion that the term "culture" is applicable to chimpanzees. I particularly liked the sections on social relations and cognition. Anyone wanting to understand human behavior would do well to read this book.

When she was in the third grade my older sister bought a little book of christmas stories with the nickles she had saved by not having milk at break time. "Christmas Every Day" is our favorite story from this carefully preserved little book. Our mother still reads "Christmas Every Day" every year for her grandchildren. Though we are all grown we still enjoy the story too. Even my oldest sister's hyper-active 7 year old sit's quietly for his grandma's reading of "Christmas Every Day."

It was a great relief for me to find that Amazon.com had "Christmas Every Day" because the little book my sister brought home in the early 1960's is quickly becoming too fragile to handle. Thanks Amazon.com, someday I hope to read "Christmas Every Day" to my grandchildren.