The idea that we have become an uncivil society is correct. Trying to stimulate young minds to reflect on civility is also a good idea, but this book, overpriced and better suited for fund raising for local boyscout troops just didn't hit home, even with my own 13 year old son. It was more like one of those self-publishing recipe books local groups publish to sell for fund raising. The rules of George Washington really don't even often deal with larger issues of morality, but more like good table manners or conversation ethics. The best part of the book in my opinion was the illustrations which depicted George as a young boyscout type setting a good example of each rule, along side a misbehaving modern lad. The efforts of modern day boyscouts to grapple with the idea of civility is a worthwhile activity, but didn't really provide good reading material in this case.

In Rules Of Civility For The 21st Century, Henry Wheelwright has assembled a compendium of two hundred rules of civility drawn from submission by some four million Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts across the country. The rules of conduct were sent in by boys for themselves and others after reflecting on the rules that President George Washington copied out for himself as a youth of 14. Also provided for the reader is a Civility Workshop addressing modern threats to civility and keys to character building and leadership. Line illustrations enhanced Rules Of Civility For The 21st Century, which is an adamantly recommended acquisition for every school and public library in every community in America.

This was my introduction to Burr beyond what I learned in history class. It tries to be even-handed and not either putting Burr in a favorable light or the negative light he is usually cast in. It focuses heavily on his childhood, his relationship with his daughter and his term as vice-president. It glosses over the deul, and everything that happens after his vice-presidency including the Mexico fiasco and the trial for treason, but overall a good book. In fact, it ends with him getting a standing ovation from the senate at the end of his term. This book caused me to look at other Burr books, includiing Burr by Gore Vidal.

Here it is...short and sweet. I simpily loved this work of Brian A Bennett's. It is extreemely informative and will recommend this to anyon wanting to learn about a man who does not get much credit for his courageous actions in Gettysburg. Wonderful research of O'Rorkes early years. Truly an enjoyable read for historians of the civil war. It is even interesting to a person just looking for an informative biography.

When Zak hears fire engines...he finds out there having a fire at the house of a boy in his class with a funny axent!

Will Zak relize that he can be a good friend...or will he be lost...forever?!

This book is worth the moeny, so buy it.

This book ought to be read by anyone who is interested in the meaning of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. What it will supply is a view of the meaning of the various contentious phrases of that document, by illustrating the controversies to which the Founding Fathers were replying.

As history, this book is seriously flawed, but even its flaws are enlightening. Hallam's subject is the "English Constitution." Of course, there is no written English Constitution; it is a tacit understanding of the proper limits and aims of power, and as such it has changed remarkably over the many centuries of British history. Hallam blandly assumes that the consensus of his own period is consensus that has always prevailed. If it seemed contentious in the past ---- the several tyrannies great and petty, the civil wars and glorious revolutions, and the sundry controversies between King and Parliament --- these were the result of royal or parliamentary usurpations of authority, never reflecting adversely on the Way Things Ought to Be, which just happened to be the way things were at the time he wrote.

This view of things is so cliché'd that it is often labelled "Whig history," the claim that the grand powers ultimately assumed by the House of Commons, in derogation of the Royal authority, really reflects an ancient and inherited order rather than a dramatic change from the former status quo. As history -per se-, it is open to serious doubt.

The point is, though, that whether this history is -true- or not, people believed in it as patriotic myth, and acted as if they believed it. This is nowhere more apparent than in the pages of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The very notion of a Bill of Rights was borrowed from the events chronicled in this book. The various usurpations that Madison thought to guard against in his amendments were aimed, not only at British colonial rule, but also against the alleged abuses of power committed by the Stuart and Tudor monarchs. To read this book from 1827 is to get a rare and valuable glimpse into the political habits of mind of respectably liberal English-speaking people in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This gives this work continuing value.

A literary note: Prof. Henry Hallam, the author of this book, was the father of Arthur Hallam, Alfred, Lord Tennyson's friend, whose early death occasioned Tennyson's -In Memoriam-.

A recent trip to the Tower of London, and yes, watching the film _Braveheart_ a few times whetted my appetite for more information on the kings of medieval England, specifically, the effect of the Norman invasion. Since I loved to read American history but knew very little about European history, especially medieval European history, I used this book as an introductory primer on the subject. Brooke provides a brief chronological history of each English king over this 400 year period that saw a great transformation of England from a disjointed island of kingdoms that looked to Scandinavia to the beginnings of a more unified nation-state that followed its destiny in the course of the Continent. To a lesser extent, the author also examines various facets of English life and government over this period and examines its changes and what aspects survive until this day. Brooke is also quite evenhanded in analyzing the Anglo-Saxon England and the England of the Normans, and even though his book was written over 30 years ago, and even though he cites many Victorian-era works in his bibligraphy, Brooke's book isn't as dated or as pro-English as one might think -- it has stood the test of time, including the "politically-correct" fad. The wealth of names and the sometimes rapid succession of kings sometimes left me puzzled as exactly who was who and who was in charge of the throne, but as I said before, the book is a solid starting point from which I plan to read more about medieval Europe and the kings and queens of that period.

quirky, interesting letters written by Miller on a variety of subjects with some common themes running throughout.

Hilarious, educational and moving pieces that make for a nice complement to your Miller collection.

Frank Thompson has re-edited some interviews with silent-film director Henry King into chronological order. King talks of his days as an actor, and then a silent film director. In the 1930's he moved to the Fox studios and directed many good films (including some classics such as THE GUNFIGHTER [1950]). King talks about Daryl Zanuck (the mogul at Fox) and many film stars such as Lillian Gish, Ronald Coleman, Gary Cooper, and Gregory Peck. The book has an excellent filmography in the back, plus a few pictures of King throughout the years.

Want to know the facts behind the everyday things we use? Invention by Design, by Henry Petroski, is a very interesting book. It explains how items used by people daily were thought of and created. This book explains how familiar items such as paper clips, aluminum cans, zippers, mechanical pencils, bridges, buildings, and more were constructed. Invention by Design also describes how certain inventions and constructions were improved though the years by different inventors and engineers.
I thought this book was very good and interesting, especially since I enjoy studying and learning about mechanical, civil, and architectural engineering. I would recommend this book to anyone, but someone with no interest in engineering may not find this book to be very enjoyable. On a ten point scale I would give Invention by Design an eight. I give it an eight because some objects that Petroski describes are not very complex, and in my opinion not worth discussing. That made certain parts of this book a little boring.

Henry Bettenson, a teacher in Patristics and Classics has made an important contribution to the students who wish to delve into the Fathers of the Church. The present book provides an introduction. The book deals with the Church Fathers from the council of Nicea to Pope Leo the Great. This period from 325 to 461 is called the golden age of patristic literature. The Fathers represented here are Cyril of Jerusalem, Hilary of Poitiers, Basil of Caesaria, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, Theodore of Mopsuestia, John Chrysostom, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine of Hippo, Cyril of Alexandria, Theodoret of Cyrus, and Leo the Great. It contains short biographic sketches of the Fathers represented here and citations from their writings carefully categorized under different headings.

The great contributions of the post-Nicene Fathers of the Church in the direction of the development of dogmas on Trinity, Holy Spirit and the nature of Christ are well brought out. A thorough study of the contexts in which these patristic writings appeared, is essential to understand the texts. Bettenson is short and sketchy in these contexts, since the book is intented to be only an introduction.