MATHSEMANTICS by the same author was so great, I eagerly bought this one. But it's a bunch of academic tedium. A major let-down.

Edward MacNeal's "Master of Atlas of Decision-Making" actually provides what its subtitle promises it will, "a new kind of guide to the maps people use in making up their minds." By "maps," he means mental maps, the ways in which we understand situations.

What we sense, understand, ask, and do depend on each other, and so these maps matter: they result from and affect our lives. With some ingeniously simple diagrams, MacNeal explains ways we can understand situations, and which patterns of language we use as we do, and so go on to make decisions.

For example, we may simply respond: 'if X happens, do Y.' We may react in terms of what we want: 'To get X, do Y,' with Y as a recipe explaining how to get that X, the result we want. Whether we should or do want that result or should try the recipe depends on what the recipe asks us to do, and at what costs... more results. With MacNeal's sentence patterns and his diagrams illustrating them, he gives us a set of of recipes for thinking, and so for making intelligent decisions.

Maybe I was expecting too much, or maybe my fascination with the palace at Knossos made me want much more. Ica was a good enough heroine, but I cared nothing about Jason of Massalon. The bull court, I felt,was poorly shown. And the ending was totally predictable. I prefer to stick with Mary Renault's "The King Must Die" to cover this time period. Sorry.

What we have here is a compilation of collected essays and excerpts from other sources on the sin of gluttony. Three of the contributions make the book worth owning.

Woody Allen's comedic essay, Russell Baker's 'tongue in cheek' food critique and John Kennedy O'Toole's excerpt from "A Confederacy of Dunces" are the strong and entertaining parts of the book. The rest...well, let's just say there is little left to read after the above mentioned...but they're not sooo bad that
you'll lose your appetite for Gluttony.

This book seems to be targeted primarily toward the political science student. It contained a lot of valuable information, but the dry, analytical format made for tedious reading for the this political "hobbyist".

THE PRES REDWAY STORY is a well-researched tale of the American Revolutionary period, rich in authentic details of life in the military and on the farm (many Revolutionary soldiers served for limited terms only, returning to their farms or businesses after their term was up). Although the enthusiasm of the young hero, Preserved Redway, and his girl friend, Polly Hall, for running strains credibility, other elements of the tale are solidly grounded in historical records, memoirs, letters, etc. Drama is supplied by the romance of Pres and Polly, set against the uncertain fortunes of war and the treason of Benedict Arnold, himself the respected hero of the Battle of Saratoga. In addition to Arnold, the reader will meet such notables as Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, Sam Fraunce, the free black owner of famed Fraunce's Tavern, the redoubtable General Israel Putnam,and George Washington himself. This is a book for the history buff.

This was rather informative on the actual workings of the UN. Firstly, how it functions - six principal organs established by the Charter: General Assembly, Security Council, Secretariat, International Court of Justice, Trusteeship Council, Economic and Social Council. Secondly, its attitude towards force and conflict - it will intervene if there is a threat to international peace (Chapter VII); states can only use force for individual or collective self-defence (under Articles 2(4), 51); in practice, general support for national liberation movements and self-determination struggles (Zimbabwee, Namibia); in practice, growing humanitarian intervention since 1991 (Somalia, Rwanda, Bosnia). Thirdly, the means by which it responds to conflict - peacekeeping operations (an ad hoc mechanism - maintaining cessation of hostilities as well as postconflict peacebuilding); sanctions (under Article 41) - versus how it's supposed to - to have armed forces on call (under Article 43); to have an effective Military Staff Committee (under Article 47).

Where it falters is on the actual analysis. It brings up the idea of the self-interest of states limiting the UN (nothing new); and the UN working within an inter-state system instead of superceding it as a supranational government, but does not provide elaboration or explanation. It also brings up the idea of the symbolic role of the UN and the conference of legitimacy to the principles it espouses. Otherwise, this book is prone to sweeping statements and rhetoric about the 'fundamental divisions' in the world, the greater variety of problems the UN will face post-Cold War, the need for 'streamlining and rationalization within and beyond the UN system'. All general terms - which tell us nothing about what the problems are and how they arise; how they can be solved; what reform should be undertaken, how and why.

Payson's is an interesting book, but its major value lies in its existence as a re-issue of a historical American piece of polemical writing then any independent literary or factual merit.

Composed toward the conclusion of the 'illuminati scare' in New England (1798-1802) under the title 'Proofs of the Real Existence and Dangerous Tendency of Illuminism, etc.' (Charleston 1802), Payson's text demonstrates all the hallmarks of being a severely biased and polemical work. Internal evidence betrays its origins in a distinct anti-masonic intellectual milieu, and Payson takes significant care to refute a number of contemporaneous pamphleteers who supported masonry in the face of the Illuminist Hysteria, such as the aptly named Thaddeus Mason Harris.

In terms of its treatment of Weishaupt's Illuminati, Payson naturally borrows heavily from the influential books of Barruel and Robison, the arrival of which in New England sparked the hysteria in the first place. The summation presented is adequate and concise, and Payson adds a few flourishes of his own, which, in a work which is more fiction than fact anyway, fit right in.

A major stumbling point for the author comes in his attempt to provide the 'proofs' mentioned in the title. It is established fact to Payson that the Illuminati were in New England. To this end a citation of the sermons of Morse, Harris and Timothy Dwight's masterpiece of alarmist oratory, are invoked. But is this really the case? While Stauffer's careful and fascinating deconstruction of the panic puts paid to the objective reality of such an assertion, Payson himself draws on other polemical pamphlets of the furore as if they were objective gold. The result is quite comical, and the fact that so many people could be convinced by such slight 'proofs' provides a fascinating insight into the paranoid culture of early New England society. Incidentally, Richard Hofstadter has dealt in depth with this aspect of the incident in his 'The Paranoid Style in American Politics.'

This is a significantly interesting work to read in light of Vernon Stauffer's _New England and the Bavarian Illuminati_ (1918), but is of a low merit otherwise. I do, however, applaud ICP's decision to reprint it, even if it is marketed in a significantly more sinister vein than the content of the work itself warrants.

This is an important contribution to the studies of Saint Benedict because the book shows clearly what parts of the Rule are from Benedict's own hand. For a long time this information was available, but only for those who had the patience to work through the texts by themselves. With the manner of printing of this edition of the Rule, this material is very clear. For those of us who live under this Rule, this book is an important tool to further understanding the spirit of our founder.

Quite important for my study

Ten years in New York City didn't wash the wicked gleam from Luke Parker's eyes. Callianna Magruder recognized it as soon as she laid eyes on him again. Indeed, the mere sight of him turned all her firm resolutions to mush.

Callie doesn't need Luke back in her life. She spends all her energy just paying the bills and keeping a roof over her son's head. She wants to forget the torrid love affair that led to her heartbreak, and fathered her child ten years ago. As far she is concerned, the Parkers, both father and son, have caused her enough grief.

Most folks believe think of Luke as an amoral playboy, but he does try to live by his own code of ethics. Thirty-two years of self-absorption without significant relationships and too much booze led to a reevaluation of life. Especially when a drunken confession informs Luke of his son. Now Luke's a man on a mission, determined to win back the only woman he's ever loved and the son he's never known.

Luke doesn't dare tell Callie that he knows the truth, however, because she would likely feel threatened. So Luke proposes a business marriage. Marriage to a Magruder insures that Luke gets his father off of his back, and would possibly regain the only thing that Callie wants--her family's farm. Callie insists on a time limit of one year. Now Luke only has twelve months to prove himself to both the woman he loves and his child.

SOLUTION: MARRIAGE is an endearing novel of love and redemption. The hero boldly accepts his mistakes the consequences of his actions. I find it an interesting plot twist that the hero knows all along that he's a father, while the mother doesn't realize that he knows. Unfortunately, the plot feels a bit disconnected, making the reading a bit uneven. Recommended.