This book covers the religious practices of the mountain people of Korea. I was surprised to see not only eastern religious practices noted, but christianity's impact as well. David Mason shows me the what and why's of the mountian people's faith. The color plates compliment the words daring to tell the story on their own.

This book delves into medicinal practices, which are deeply rooted in the beliefs of the mountain folk. I have enjoyed this book tremendously.

_Spirit of the Mountains: Korea's SAN-SHIN and Traditions of Mountain-Worship_, by David A. Mason, is at first striking because of its physical appearance. The luxurious thick glossy stock and abundance of beautiful, full-color photographs enable it to easily pass for an elegant coffee-table book. But don't let its looks fool you. The text is substantial and informative. What's more, it informs on a subject which is certainly obscure for most non-Koreans, and perhaps for many Koreans, as well.

Writing in an easy-going, first-person narrative style, David Mason treats the reader to a comprehensive survey of Korean _San-shin_ (or Mountain spirit) imagery, together with a thorough analysis of its composition, history, development, influences, etc. Mason collected the images first-hand over a period of some fifteen years. While Mason's writing is casual in style, it is at the same time, quite scholarly, given its numerous references, notes, and a substantial bibliography.

San-shin means "Mountain-spirit, Mountain God, or Spirit of the Mountains," Mason explains. It refers to an ancient belief that each mountain is the home of a spirit or mountain-god that can grant protection, healing, and even spiritual gifts. The iconography associated with San-shin is amazingly diverse and rich in symbolism. The essence, though, is nearly always a grandfatherly figure, a tiger, and a gnarly pine tree in the background. The book contains several hundred photographs of various San-shin icons (as well as of other subjects), and Mason offers the reader explanations and analyses of the underlying meanings of the symbols.

Mason explains that mountain worship is both primordial and universal in its oldest form, but at the same time, San-shin has been assimilated and syncretized with other traditions that make it uniquely Korean. For instance, he writes that nearly a century ago, a Christian missionary observed that Korean mountain worship had certain similarities to worship practices he'd found on mountains in the Middle East. Indeed, those instances as well others found in the Himalayas, Greece, among natives of North and South America, and elsewhere, allude to the mythological construct that Joseph Campbell discussed as "the central mountain of the earth." But Mason also shows how San-shin evolved from ancient shamanism and over time blended with Taoism, Neo-Confucianism, Buddhism, and Korean nationalism to form part of the core of the collective Korean psyche. And it's interesting that mountain worship practices have survived and flourished to a far greater extent in Korea than anywhere else on earth.

_Spirit of the Mountains_ is visually dazzling, a worthwhile read, and a fascinating pilgrimage to Korea's sacred sites - one that very few people could ever hope to make in person.

This is a very good book for younger children who are interested in geography. The cartoonish drawings and the story are simple and interesting for younger kids while the maps have plenty of detail and color. My 6 year old son loves this book. We originally borrowed it from the library and found ourselves borrowing it again 2 or 3 times over the next year. Now he has his own copy! I was glad to be able to find a copy here on Amazon.[com.]

I'm biased: these reports were written by my great-grandfather, and edited by my great-uncle. That aside, what emerges from this book are well-worded images of a 21-year-old's leaving Utica, NY, for Washington and becoming part of the Army of the Potomac in 1861: marching and bivouacking; social events; provisioning; endless battle preparations; comments on society, the countryside, the mood of soldiers and civilians encountered; personal feelings. The battles in which Ritchie saw great action were those of Seven Pines (late May, 1862), Spotsylvania Court House and the North Anna (May, 1864), and Petersburg (March, 1865).

To give an idea of Ritchie's writing, here is his description of meeting Abraham Lincoln at one of the President's Tuesday evening social events:

I attended the last one and escaped unharmed... I held no conversation with any of the notables except Mr. Lincoln, the main portion of which I can recollect. A man who did not know my name introduced me to the President and he immediately extended his hand, seemed delighted to meet me and remarked with much concern, 'How do you do?' In my blandest tone I responded, 'Very well, thank you, sir' and was about to inquire after Mrs. Lincoln's health when we both dropped the subject and our conversation ceased. As I passed on I noticed that there were two or three hundred others behind me waiting to talk with Mr. Lincoln on the same subject.

The book is an easy read, because it has been well edited from Ritchie's diary, letters written home, and from his reports sent to the Utica Herald, for which he was a correspondent. The book gives a human aspect to the huge machinery of making -- and making ready for -- war. I liked it.

This was first published by Lancer in 1970 as science fantasy. (It includes modern technology as a subset of magic.) The wicked Myrdin Velis needs his skull transported back home, and twists the hero's arm into doing so. I liked Myrdin's approach to the problem of supporting his life style, he pays in gold pieces that are new, shining and quite real. I also like the answer to the problem of why sorcerous technology hasn't simply taken over from swords; the good sorcerers are enviromentalists, and feel everyone else should live the simple, rural lifestyle. The wicked sorcerers, of course, have no time for this claptrap, and simply treat the world and its inhabitants as a combined hunting preserve and amusement park. The only real revolutionary, in favour of radical and far reaching social change, is Myrdin. He makes the status quo seem very good indeed. After a series of adventures, Owen, the hero, transports Myrdin's skull back home, and then of course must assist in his elimination. The requirement of Myrdin and Owen to hold to a strict, magically enforced exchange of services is a bit artificial, but it makes the plot work. This is the advantage of magic as part of the background. I must admit I think this is probably the best of David Mason's books. If you like sword and sorcery, I strongly recommend it.

This work would be considered good if Malmuth and Sklansky had not written it. I think this is by far the most disappointing work that Sklansky and Malmuth have produced.

They are the standard by which gaming books are written and for them to produced this weak mathematical work is a travsitiy.

An excellent review of the games that are beatable and the math that supports these conclusions. They differentiate between a "gambler" and an "investor". For example, the skilled card counter in blackjack can have the same edge over the casino as the house has over the baccarat player. In spite of the subtitle, I'm not sure how realistic the possibility of consistently winning $100K a year is. Mastering one discipline is hard enough. The authors appear to have made a "killing" in many areas from horse racing to sports betting. For blackjack players, the articles on when to quit and toking are worth the price of the book.

Had this study come out in a timely manner it would have been far more useful than it is. A fine example of why professionals do better public opinion polling than academics.