As the illustrator of the Jefferson building's overview for the book (pp.276-277), I had the rare privilege of walking through many of the areas of the Jefferson building not open to the public. Entering the Great Hall for the first time, I was caught off guard by its extraordinary beauty. Being a native Washingtonian, I was surprised that such a lavishly decorated structure existed here in Washington, D.C. The overall impression of the interior is more that of the Paris Opera House, than a government building. This beautiful book, with its many photographic details of the interior, allows the reader to recreate that sense of awe that I experienced walking through the entrance. With Anne Day's vivid photos, and the Libary's wonderful history, this book should be a welcome addition to anyone's personal library. Once you see the book, I suspect you may modify your itinerary for your next trip to Washington. This gem of a building is definitely worth a visit.

-Doug Stern

I reread "Mr. Cogito" recently, and I realized that, as all good poetry, it has not aged. Mr. Cogito is an Everyman, and he offers companionship to readers regardless of their location in time and geography. His self-restraint is an admirable and comforting response to the bewildering abundance of contemporary culture, and his modesty and penchant for contemplation reassure us that "looking out for number one" is not the most important thing in life. Truly a timeless book of poetry.

"My Brother John" is one of those unusual stories that involves the reader totally in the lives of the characters.
The characters are so believable and so likable that one cannot help caring what happens to them. It is light
entertainment, unpredictable and fun. It made a permanent impression on this reader over twenty-five years ago
and remains one of my all-time favorite books after thirty-five years of avid reading. It would make an excellent
movie, containing as it does adventure, romance, heroes and, most of all, humor.

The two brothers depict siblings in Texas in the old West. Frank's loyalty to and frustration with his circuit -riding
preacher brother John is something most of us can relate to. John's stubborn determination to accomplish what he
perceives as God's will against all that the requisite bad guy can throw at him is something we all admire and cheer for.
It is impossible to not grin when Frank gets shot 'where no hero oughta get shot'. The colorful cast and plentiful action
make for a very pleasurable read. When the reader regretfully comes to the end and closes the book he will find his mind
returning to the more memorable moments time and time again.

This is a report on a historical 5-day workshop that was held in Ft Bliss, TX in 1997 that mapped a course for the future of U.S. Army noncommissioned officers, of which I was a participant. From this meeting many changes have been implemented, and a Future NCO Vision was established. USASMA/TRADOC/SMA selected some of the most senior leaders from the different MACOMs and located in El Paso. The group also included a mix of 1SGs and BSNCOs with recent field experience. They were given a subject area on the future of NCOs and over the days debated and discussed what was on the horizon.

If you are interested in what the most senior NCOs within the Army had discussed, then read the book.

The Prussian Officer is one of the most moving and striking stories I have ever read. The imagery and emotion that the reader expiriences will not soon be forgotten.

The Rum Rebellion on Australia Day, 1808 was the outcome of the head-on collision between two of the most determined personalities in Australian history. One was Captain William Bligh R.N., Governor of the Penal Colony of New South Wales: the other was John Macarthur, at one time an officer in the infamous New South Wales Corps, and later a very wealthy and influential merchant and pastoralist.

That the penal colony was established on 26 January, 1788 was a direct result of the American War of Independence, for it would thereafter not be possible for people sentenced to penal servitude in Britain to be sent into exile in the Colonies of New England.

The beginnings of the first European settlement in Australia were therefore altogether inauspicious. Those who arrived in the First Fleet were either convicted felons or the soldiers of the New South Wales Corps who were to be their jailers. The King of England and his government were represented in the Colony by the Governor, Captain Arthur Phillip, R.N..

In the absence of any free settlers and in particular of anything resembling a merchant class, the officers of the Corps were able to control the distribution of all kinds of commodities, including food, that were brought into the colony.

Of particular historical importnce among those commodities was rum: rum which was so generally sought after in the colony that the Corps officers, by their illegal trafficking, were able to establish it as a de facto currency.In rum, wages were paid, other goods were bought and sold and contractual obligations discharged.

No one profited from this ruinous commerce more than John Macarthur who, by virtue of his dominant personality, became the acknowledged leader and spokesman of the officers as well as others, including some emancipated convicts, engaged in the rum trade.

It was only natural then that, when Governor William Bligh arrived in the colony in August, 1806 under instructions to pursue a policy favourable to the small farmers of the Hawkesbury Valley and unfavourable to the interests of the rum traffickers in Sydney, these latter should look to Macarthur to lead their challenge against the Governor and lawful authority.

In large part the conflict between the rum traffickers and the proper authority of the governor manifested itself in a series of legal actions brought by Macarthur against anyone who seemed to threaten his previously unfettered monopoly, and found expression in formal reports by the Governor to the Colonial Office in London as well as in less formal despatches from Macarthur to influential members of the English aristocracy whom he considered likely to support his cause.

The crisis came on 26 January, 1808, exactly twenty years after the establishment of the settlement in Sydney Cove. On that day, the officers of the Corps led their soldiers - most of them emboldened be liberal quantities of rum - in a march upon the Governor's residence. It was, as Evatt wrote "... an organised attack, not only in military array, but by officers and soldiers with loaded guns, fixed bayonets and all the panoply of war."

Governor Bligh was arrested and supplanted in executive control of the colony by a junta of military officers and John Macarthur.

It is one of the more bitter ironies of Australian history that this treasonous outrage occurred on the very day upon which, every year since Federation in 1901, Australians celebrate their nationhood.

Bligh has been much maligned by popular history both in Australia and elsewhere, and Evatt's book did much to set the record straight. It brought to bear upon the events and relationships narrated the objectivity of analysis and the fair-mindedness one would hope should characterise an author of such eminence. Dr. Evatt has, in addition, performed the estimable service of making otherwise cloudy legal vistas clear and accessible to any interested lay reader.

A distinguished jurist, Dr. Evatt was, at various times, a Justice of the High Court of Australia, Attorney-General and Foreign Minister and, in 1948-49, the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations Organisation.

This book is one of the better for a Star Trek's fan. In their chapters are many sketches and original pieces of the series. The designs of Matt Jefferies for the sets, (Part1), the design of the original Enterprise, (- born almost like a Warbird?-, Parts 2,3 & 4), the shuttlecraft and the weapons (Parts 5 & 6). Brillant the Part 7 with The Lost Set and the original scale model of it, (great ! ). The following chapters show the wardrobe by William Ware Theiss in sketches and tests, the make-ups of Fred Phillips (the ears of Spock, the green skin and deformity of Vina, klingons, romulans, etc.), and the accessories created by Wah Ming Chang, (did you know that he received a payment of U$S 520.00 for the design of the original phaser ?). This book shows the courage and innocence of those first pioneers that created the most famous adventure of the Universe, Star Trek.

Who Owns America? is a collection of informative, challenging, iconoclastic and articulate essays on the nature of industrialism, corporate capitalism, the bureaucratic state, private property, the "good" society, and neo-Jeffersonian visions of a decentralized America. From David Cushman Coyle's "The Fallacy of Mass Production", to Frank Lawrence Owsley's "The Foundations of Democracy", to James Muir Waller's "America and Foreign Trade", to Robert Penn Warren's Literature as a Symptom", to Hilaire Belloc's "The Modern Man", these and many more observant and insightful commentaries deserve as wide a readership as possible and are highly recommended to students of American politics, economics, and history.

Gardeners in the southeast have a totally different environment from the rest of the country and this book comprehensively addresses those issues. This book contains listings of both rare and common plants that are excellent for the southern and/or tropical garden. The book also deals with issues posed by gardening in the southeast. Many of the plants discussed are coming back in popularity as specialty annuals for the northern gardeners as well. Highly recommended for anyone living in or moving to Florida and the Deep South.

This was the last DUNE book that Frank Herbert would ever get to write, and it's a good thing that he even got to finish it, because he died shortly after. The title of the book was given by his wife, Bev, who died before Frank did. I've read all the books in the series, some of them more than once. Although I liked this book, I wouldn't say it's Dune's equal. But it is definitely worth reading and is one of the best endings to a series that I've read. What I mean is that I found the ending very appropriate. THE FOLLOWING MAY BE SPOILING MATERIAL IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ALL OF BOOK FIVE--HERETICS OF DUNE. As you know, at the end of book 5, Dune is destroyed completely. In book six, another planet is being transformed into Dune. Forests and jungles are being stripped away in favor of the desert. At least one sandworm was salvaged from Dune and is being placed on this "new" Dune. But the primary focus of book six is on a new threat known as the HONORED MATRES. These are powerful females, very much like the Bene Gesserit. As in most of the Dune books, the battles aren't so much physical as they are verbal and psychological. Some old characters make reappearances in this book and some new characters are introduced. I'm not sure if Herbert intended this to be his last Dune book, but from what I've read, it's a very fitting ending to a fantastic series!

It may not have been his intent, but fate has made Chapterhouse Dune the last book in Frank Herbert's Dune series. There may be others, and they may even be good (I haven't yet read them), but this book represents Herbert's final words on the subject. Although not perfect, and definitely leaving things open for another book, this is, overall, a worthy addition to the series.

In this book - a direct sequel to Heretics of Dune with many of the same characters - the Bene Gesserit sisterhood is under siege, threatened by the Honored Matres, a somewhat darker version of their own organization, that is sweeping viciously across the galaxy like a barbarian horde. With the original Dune lifeless after a Matres attack, the Bene Gesserit are trying to create a similar world out of their headquarters. Although they don't think of it in those terms, they are really trying to create a planetary ghola, a clone similar to that of recurring character Duncan Idaho. The book focuses on the war between the two sisterhoods.

The book does have its flaws. The rather open-ended conclusion may be forgiven if we believe that Herbert had another book intended. The characters are, as usual, overly serious and everything they do is filled with hidden meanings. Also, there is a feeling that Herbert was making up parts of this story as he goes along, with new movements suddenly appearing (such as the futuristic Jews who have never been previously mentioned although they have supposedly always been around).

In the end, what is the central point or character of this series? Is it a history of the Bene Gesserit, the House Atreides, Duncan Idaho or some combination of all these. My feeling that the center of this saga is the Tyrant Leto, with the first trilogy (Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune) a story of his origin, the central book (God Emperor) the tale of his emperorship, and the final trilogy (Heretics, Chapterhouse and an intended final book) to be the story of Leto's Golden Path.

That is my theory. Whatever your own ideas, if you have enjoyed the previous books, you should enjoy this one also and when you conclude it, you will have read one of the most significant series in science fiction.

I read the first of Dune series 14 years ago, and had no conception of the breathtaking distances that the author would take towards the "last" book of the Dune Chronicles. While it is conceivable that someone with sufficient patience can read Chapterhouse Dune and fully appreciate it with no other Dune Chronicles exposure, it would seem criminal to recommend this book to someone without ensuring they had read the first five beforehand. Or, for something of a treat, read Chapterhouse, and then jump to the first five as "prequels"! I recently did something similar when I read the second and third Dune Chronicle books for the first times in 14 years, having reread the last two books in the last few months: quite an enthralling effect! The hardest part of reading this book was coming to the ending, and feeling selfishly deprived regarding the prospect of finding out What Will Happen Next as a result of the author's death, which in turn came shortly after the death of his wife following a long fight with cancer. Herbert created an astonishing world of breathtakingly evolved characters and contexts to appreciate them in. I have reread this book and others of the series numerous times. As is the case for meeting interesting characters in real life, it is poignant getting to know these characters only to lose the ability to anticipate being in touch with them later on, to find out how they're doing... The formidable detail and richness of perspectives is such that while reading it I was at times fearful of discovering a gimmick or a cliche to undo the trance worked by the book. This never happened. The publishing of the Dune Prequels is quite exciting in itself, and I hope that somewhere in the late elder Herbert's notes, are some detailed indications of SEQUELS, future Atreides audacities, Bene Gesserit contemplations and plotting, and passionately drawn characters to fall in love with and be fascinated by all over again.