For those of us living along the Lewis and Clark trail in Montana and using this book with school children who study Lewis and Clark, we found an obvious error of historical fact. Lewis and Clark never traveled into the Flathead Valley as Kroll states on page 23. Instead, the explorers crossed over Lost Trail Pass into our lovely Bitterroot Valley and traveled north to make camp at Traveler's Rest, on the edge of present day Lolo, MT. The old Lolo trail (now US highway 12) leaves the Bitterroot Valley crossing the Bitterroot Mountains to the west. Could it be Kroll became confused because the Native Americans Lewis and Clark met in the Bitterroot were the Salish Flathead tribe?

I purchased this book because as a fan of both Lewis and Tolkien, I had hoped to gain better insight into the meaning behind their writings. I would say that my search for insight has only been slightly satisfied.

Myth Allegory and Gospel is a collection of six essays written by authors who describe themselves as "fans and scholars" of the works by Chesterton, Lewis, Tolkien and Williams. The essays are:

-Apologist of Eucatastrophe by John Warwick Montgomery
-Chesterton, Madmen and Madhouses by Russell Kirk
-Charles Williams' Novels and the Contemporary Mutation of Consciousness by Chad Walsh
-After the Moon Landings: A Further Report on the Christian Spaceman C.S. Lewis by Edmund Fuller
-The Chronicles of Narnia and the Adolescent Reader by John Warwick Montgomery
-Mythic and Christian Elements in Tolkien by Clyde S Kilby

Most of the essays speak of the Christian meaning of the books as if the reader already knows what the particulars are, so examples of the Christian meaning are rarely given. Furthermore, the writing style of some of the essays are similar to a research paper that I wrote in the eighth grade. Numerous sources are called upon in a disjoined manner in an essay that is difficult to follow. The exception is the essay by Kilby in regard to Tolkien's works and the essay by Mongomery in regard to Lewis. However, only the Kilby essay actually cites the Lord of the Rings to give examples of the Biblical connections that the other essays just assume that the reader already knows.

If you are looking for a collection of essays about the works of these authors, then this may be the book for you. But, if you are looking for more insight into these books, I would suggest that perhaps another book would be a better choice for you.

NOTE: I am NOT writing a review ... I just want to inform you that you have the incorrect backcover summary for this title.

You have the summary for THE AMERICAN JOURNEY (see below), and, instead, the title is actually:

Diversity Amid Globalization : World Regions, Environment, Development

From the Back Cover Written in a clear, engaging style with a straightforward chronological organization, The American Journey introduces readers to the key features of American political, social, and economic history. It gives prominent coverage to the West and South, highlights the importance of religion in American history, and traces the emergence of distinctively American ideals-and the way the conflict between those ideals and reality has shaped our nation's development. Compelling stories, ample use of quotations, excerpts from primary sources, and plentiful illustrations bring the past vividly alive.This combined volume covers American history from 1600 to present times. Chapter topics include the war for independence; the first republic; Jeffersonian Republicanism; the Jacksonian Era; industrial change and urbanization; slavery and the old South; the Civil War; transforming the West; the Progressive Era; the Great Depression and the New Deal; World War: 1939-1945; John F. Kennedy and the Cold War; Nixon and Watergate; and the Reagan revolution.For armchair historians who appreciate the fact that knowledge of the past matters most of all if we are to understand the present-and shape the future.