This is an example of Christian "scholarship" at close to its worst. In fact, there are so many problems with this book that it is hard to know where to start. The authors presume to know God's will for America -- a pretty big assumption in itself -- and try to use evidence to support it. The problem is, they disregard anything that can't fit into their nice New England Calvinist box. For example, there is little or no discussion of the slavery question and the Constitutional Convention, even from a Christian perspective. In addition, the ramifications of Manifest Destiny to the Native Americans and the future of America are ignored.

Even worse, the authors try to squeeze in their own political views by trying to draw a straight line from the Federalists of Washington's era to the Republicans of today and Jefferson's Democrat-Republicans to the modern Democratic Party. This especially came out when they described the Federalists as "pious." Unfortunately, from a historical standpoint no such straight line exists.

On top of that, the book has way too many factual errors and the writing is uneven at best. They spend only three pages on ratification of the Constitution and five on the pork-eating habits of settlers on the frontier.

Unfortunately, this book has been and will be used in many Christian schools and with many Christian homeschool parents. However, I would say skip it. Read Mark Noll instead.

"The Light and the Glory" is a beautifully written, well-researched book -- which I cannot recommend, especially as a primary homeschooling text, without serious caveats.

The positives: The authors, Peter Marshall and David Manuel have done enormous research. They have demonstrated that what is taught in the typical history book doesn't necessarily tell the entire story. They have acknowledged the role of faith, and religion have played in our nation's early history. They have the gift of making characters "come alive" in a way that would interest a student -- even one who didn't care much for history.

HOWEVER: The authors have a fixed thesis firmly in mind and head toward that thesis without swerving -- and that thesis is one with which even most persons of faith would struggle. The thesis? A staunch Calvinist view of the role of America in the mind of God. As a believer -- who is adamantly NOT a Calvinist -- I cannot accept the particular (and peculiar) methods of exegesis which somehow create America as the new "Promised Land". Neither can most other Christians.

I'm also a bit concerned that the authors attempt (on the one hand) to analyze the state of the soul of Andrew Jackson (no "benefit of the doubt there!") while labeling John Quincy Adams -- a member of the Unitarians -- as "the last Puritan".

I fear that in their struggle to demonstrate their thesis, certain elements are glossed over; certain facts are whitewashed, etc. While it could certainly be argued that Calvinism played a major role in the establishment of the Colonies and in early America, it can also be argued that such did not have the salutory benefits which the authors suggest are there.

My advice to homeschooling parents, especially those who are not Calvinists, is to use this book with care, as a secondary source -- or not at all. The presentation given is far too biased to be reliable.

A very cautious three stars.

Like my review of Marshall and Manuel's earlier book "The Light and the Glory", I admire the clarity of the authors' thesis, and the forthright way with which they attempt to demonstrate that thesis.

Unfortunately, to accept their thesis, one must adhere to a very particular view of philosophy, theology and history -- a view held largely by Calvinist Christians. Thus, other Protestants, as well as Catholics (to say nothing of members of other religions) will find some of the authors' presuppositions very difficult to accept.

The greatest use for this book would be to be used in conjunction with another text written from a different perspective.

Here's a book with a different approach to Tolkien. It has a 14-page potted biography and a 15-page C-grade freshman essay on the meaning of his work, framing sixty full pages on Tolkien and film. This staggeringly detailed central essay carefully recounts every single attempt, however abortive, to put Tolkien on film, and is thorough enough to list all the other fantasy film credits of everyone even remotely involved in any of these efforts. Did you know that the actor who voiced Sam Gamgee in the Bakshi film was cast as "Boy in bed" in something called "Sweeney 2"? You'll learn that gripping piece of film trivia here. You'll learn who Peter Jackson _didn't_ cast, and what their film credits are, also. At the end of the book, a desultory annotated bibliography tries to recommend the posthumous books but ends up describing them as "confusing and overwhelming." The authors only really get excited in this chapter when they reach the section on gaming. This is a book for film fans and gaming fans whose only passing interest in Tolkien is that he wrote the book that served as the basis for what they really like.

World Of The Rings is an unauthorized guide to J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy worlds as exemplified in the movie versions and provides a beginner with a firm introduction to Tolkien's settings and fantasy creatures. Very highly recomended for Tolkien fans, World Of The Rings presents plenty of details ranging from how the film sequences were shot, how and where to locate online information, to understanding the various movie versions of Tolkien's fantasy classic.

DCM is a renowed Australian architectural practice and has designed many interesting projects. This book has a comprehensive coverage of its architectural works. However, the no. of photographs and drawings for each project are very limited and not fairly representative.

For example, I have actually visited the Australian Embassy Building in Beijing, China. The architectural design is very humble and static, reulting in elegant consistence with the surrounding context of the Chinese captial which has a long history. This project is definitely not recognizable at the first glance to be any works of DCM. It is the respect paid by the architects to the local context and culture which is highly appreciated. However, the photographs and drawings cannot reveal such ascent to the readers.

Generally, the photographs and drawings for the projects are fairly fragmented and in relatively small sizes, which can hardly present the whole picture of the project, not to mentioned the architect's detailing.

Consequently, as a comprehensive monograph for the practice, it is worth reading and being collected by one who likes contemporary Australian architecture.

Marshall's book has all the trappings of an accessible academic tome and a quick skim at the bookstore suggests great potential.

But in my opinion, Nature's Web falls way short of delivering on its promised comprehensive historical review of ecological thinking around the world. The book is limited in what it reports. For instance, the chapter on Buddhist ecological thought focuses almost exclusively on the Zen vision and does that only piecemeal, not thoroughly. School of thought represented the Buddhism of Southeast Asia is mentioned in passing only. And Tibetan Buddhist is virtually ignored. It would be as if Marshall wrote a chapter proportedly on Christian ecological thought, then focused heavily on Gnosticism, and forgot to mention that there is also a Christian church based in Rome, for instance.

For an excellent review of ecological thought, see instead Interpreting Nature: Cultural Constructions of the Environment, by I.G. Simmons