The very first part of the essential, very first amendment to our Constitution says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This ringing phrase, so seemingly simple and obvious, has been the focus of an enormous amount of controversy and clarification. It is a great legacy, but what does it really mean? We are still struggling to find out. In _To an Unknown God: Religious Freedom on Trial_ (St. Martin's Press) by Garrett Epps we learn how one of the latest struggles is turning out. It is a fine book to show in detail how a specific constitutional decision came to be made.

On one side of the story was Al Smith. Smith was born into the Klamath tribe, but was pulled out of it to go to Catholic boarding school. Rather late in his life he was introduced to sweat lodges and Native American religion. He was also introduced to Alcoholics Anonymous, and eventually became a respected counselor, speaker, and organizer of treatment centers for alcohol and drug abuse. As he traveled to different reservations to set up recovery programs, he came across peyote religion. It seemed to give some of his clients spiritual strength, and they seemed to do better in overcoming substance abuse if they participated in its religious ceremonies. He began to consider participating in peyote religion. He was told that taking peyote at a ceremony would violate the rules of the treatment center in which he worked, and so he did so. He was thereupon fired, and he filed for unemployment compensation. That filing set the stage for a subsequent battle within the Supreme Court and beyond.

On the other side was Oregon Attorney General David Frohnmayer. He had tried in his political offices in Oregon to mend fences with the tribes of his region. He was, however, very worried about the dangers of drug abuse, and so he felt he was doing the right thing in trying to squelch community acceptance of drugs, ceremonial or not. He approached the Supreme Court proceedings with the mantra, "Drugs are bad. Slippery slope." Not only was peyote illegal, but it was used in a minority religion; if it were allowed, then surely someone would be asking to use other drugs for religious purposes. But he did reflect sadly to his legal team, "How did we get to be the Indian bashers?"

Epps is not only a journalist and lawyer, but also a novelist. His ability to describe personalities and anecdotes serves him well, for although this is a legal story, the human stories within it are what make it live. He has used process of the legal arguments as a springboard for an examination of many connected subjects: the history of the Bureau of Indian Affairs; the story of Alcoholics Anonymous; the tale of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and the Oregon town that was taken over by his devotees; the saga of the Road Man who is the ceremonial leader of the peyote religion. These set pieces are fascinating, and strengthen the main story. It is disconcerting that there is no pat final resolution, but Epps writes, "The law of religious freedom remains unsettled." Thus may it ever be.

Epps' book is one of the best in recent memory to explore a Supreme Court case. Examining the case of Oregon v. Smith, Epps deploys his skills as both a journalist and a novelist to plumb the depths of Indian rights, religious freedom and states rights. The only quibble one can have is that the book spends too much time on the minutae of Oregon Attorney General Frohnmeyer's life. Other than that minor matter, this is an elegantly told tale. As an aside, Epps presents a concise yet complete recouncting of the Rajhneesh cult saga of the '80's, relying to good effect of the work of Oregon Magazine Editor-in-Chief Win McCormack.

This book is one of the best looks at a Supreme Court case in quite some time. Examining Oregon v. Smith, one of the most important yet unheralded legal battles of our time, Epps' book plumbs the depths Indian rights, religious freedom and states rights in a manor which devestates the intellectual pretensions of Court conservatives such as Justice Scalia. The only quible one can have with the book it that it has too much detail on Oregon Attorney General Frohnmeyer. Other than that minor matter, this is a top rate book. Of additional note, the book provides an exceptionaly concise yet comprehensive overview of the Rajhneesh cult afair in Oregon, relying to good effect on the journalism of Oregon Magazine's Win McCormack.

What is there to say, TOLSTOY was a master of his craft? A read through this book will tell you all you ever need to know about the written word.

I can highly recommend this great work. I do not think you will be disappointed.

Tolstoy is one of the great masters of fiction -- and of Christian fiction. And the stories you will find here are many of his best. His love for humanity shines through. These stories are so direct, so concrete, and they ring so true. One can't help reading them with a reverence that borders on awe.

The translation, too, by Louise and Aylmer Maude, is exquisite. It is done with such authority that it feels spontaneous and seamless, as if one is reading the actual words of Tolstoy, rather than those of some lesser intermediary. The Maudes are by far my favorite translators of Tolstoy.

The book is well done in every respect. I love everything about it -- right down to the bright whiteness of the pages; the paper quality is very good.

I recommend this book highly. It is one of my most prized volumes.

Abby and the Notorious Neighbour is quite simply the best Baby-Sitters Club Mystery book I have ever read, and that is saying a lot, because I have read almost all of the BSC books, including the mysteries and the super specials and also the super mysteries, which are really exciting. In this book, Abby's sick and has to stay home for a long time and at first she;s bored because she has nothing to do, but then she accidentally comes across a show on TV called "Mystery Trackers" where they show the most wanted criminals on the loose and in one of the episodes, the show features a criminal who Abby is positive is her next door neightbour, Mr. Finch. So then she decideds to investigate and has a lot of fun doing it, so she's no longer bored. And there is a very interesting and suitable ending. I would recommend this book to any BSC fan or just anyone who loves a good mystery!

This book was great. No, more than great. Totally awesome! This was such a creepy mystery, and Abby and Kristy solve it in the coolest way. This was soooo realistic. The first time I read it I could hardly put it down.

The baby sitters club girls rae my favourite book carecters. they are sooo awsom. The mystery Abby and the notorios neibourgh was one of the best books Ann M. Martin ever wrote.

I remember the original printing of this book. I read it many times in my elementary school's library. I found the descriptions of the far-off places like Monza, LeMans, and Monaco to be exciting, but no more than the famous US tracks like Daytona, Charlotte, Riverside and Sebring.

Leo Levine took me there as a child. I felt that I was bouncing across the Baja with Parnelli Jones in a Stroppe Bronco, testing at LeMans with Ken Miles, welding up a roll-cage with Holman-Moody, and mourning the tragic deaths of so many great drivers.

This book started me on a life-long love affair with motorsports, racing, reading, and Ford products.

Highly recommended.

Wow. This is a fabulous story told by a skillful writer. The people and the technology support each other, and "Ford" as a theme takes the story through early racing, hot rodding, Indy, NASCAR, and Europe. The research that Levine put into the book shows, and he (or his editor) is skilled enough to know exactly when to step aside and let the source material tell the story.

And what a value! 640 pages for $..., compared to <200 pages for a typical auto racing book.

This book was a terrific detailed history of Ford Motor Company racing through 1967. For anybody who loves fast cars, Fords and lived through the debut of the Mustang, the Cobra, and the GT40 that won at Le Mans this is a terrific read. A friend who is a car buff recommended it and while it took a while to get through (640+ pages) it was worth the effort. It also makes you appreciate the advance in publishing that have taken place since 1968 when this book first appeared. The pictures are grainy and don't do justice to the drivers, the cars or the author's fine writing.

I have read both Leo Hamilton's Collection I and Collection II and I especially enjoyed the second. I thought the idea of a story book to color was great and my child and I really enjoyed coloring the fantastic pictures together. It is so nice to have real quality illustrations in a coloring book. We're looking forward to the next book!

Loved the book. The whimsical nature of the drawings is a perfect complement to the stories. Everyone (yes, adults, too) will love to bring out the crayons and indulge in some coloring book therapy.

I have 3 children and they all love the book.Its not to often you find a book you can color in! The stories are simple and easy to understand.I reccommend this book to any child who loves animal stories and loves to color.

Leo Stapleton captures the true spirit of the Boston firefighter...he is a man who knows what he writes about and should be respected by all of his peers

First of all, Amazon lists this book as being out of print. It is in fact not. I've just ordered a copy by calling the publisher @ 800.563.5318.

dmc associates has this book in print along with Commissioner Stapleton's other five books. Which are Commish:1990, Fire and Water:1992, Jakes:1994, Ffops:1996 and Lufts:1998. dmc has also informed me that another book from the Commissioner will be published in May of 2000. Each of these books is a true "must read" for everyone in the fire service or everyone interested in the profession.

Several years after it's publication, this book continues to be pulled off our livingroom bookshelf by adults and young readers alike. The pictures and accounts command respect from anyone reading it! Glad to hear there are more books by Leo!

One of my favorite novels is "Anna Karenina"; this trilogy starts off as strongly. In the first volume, "Childhood," the immediacy of experience is palpable, the vividness of sensations is high, the emotionality is less diluted by philosophical wonderings. Tolstoy's writing is evocative, clear, and engaging in this book. His writing becomes increasingly abstract with each volume in the series. As his protagonist moves through adolescence, his uncertainties, moodiness, and fickle nature bogged down the narrative, I thought. Of course, this reflects the state of mind of the young man, but in comparison with the brightness of the first volume, made for some tedious reading. The books do, however, show how masterful Tolstoy was from the beginning of his career.

I thought that this was a lovely novel, a deeply reflective work in which Tolstoy concentrates on the life of the character Nikolai Irtenyev from his early childhood to his days as an aspiring student.

It's told in picaresque style, and reminded me a lot of Proust's "In Search of Lost Time" (had Proust been influenced by Tolstoy at all?). As an example:

"It was almost dark in the room, and very hot; there was a mingled smell of mint, eau-de-cologne, camomile and Hoffman's drops. The smell struck me so forcibly that, not only when I happen to smell it but even when I recall it, my imagination instantly carries me back to that darkly stifling room and reproduces every minute detail of that terrible moment."

The novel is full of such fine descriptive passages - the approach of a thunderstorm being the one that sticks in my mind.

But the main strength of this work is, I thought, that Tolstoy does a good job of describing the sweetnesses of childhood but does not cover up the agonies of growing up. This is no sugary, romantic account. Childhood and adolescence are portrayed as immensely trying times, both for Nikolai himself and for his family and friends. All the emotions, anger, misunderstandings and disorientation are detailed by Tolstoy.

Fine Stuff.

G Rodgers

When this book first hit the stores in Russia about 150 years ago, folks didn't think too much of it, seeing it merely as a minor work by one who had read Dickens. Tolstoy himself claimed that no one taught him more about the art of fiction than Dickens, and the literary circles of Russia were Dickens-fanatics, Russia recieving his works only after England.

But beyond being similiar to David Copperfield, this book has moments in it that match parts of Karenin and War and Peace in beauty and texture if not in scope. What's amazing about Tolstoy is that his earliest work (this and his early war sketches) seem as artistically mature as his later, epic masterpieces. The death-obsession and intense philosophical and spiritual doubts that plagued Tolstoy later in life did not all of a sudden erupt while writing Anna Karenin; but rather they were always there in one form or another... an echo of adolescent sadness.

I read this to my daughter, Rachel, and she really enjoyed it. She smiled throughout the entire book. She loved the animal folktales about Bruh Rabbit, and Bruh Fox. She trembled with delight at the reading of the scary tales. As for her mother, my favorite was the title tale, The People Could Fly. It was magical!

I read this book as a child. The lessons that I learned from it have lasted well into my young adult, I am now 23 years old. The illustrations are first rate. This book should be a literary standard for all children books. Anyone with a child needs to have this in their children's personal library.

Fascinating folktales from an African-American perspective, this work evokes memories of the strength of a people to find magic, wonder, and spirituality in a time when oppression was the norm. Miss Hamilton, along with illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon, has produced a work of timeless importance. One of the few books that I can't keep on the shelves of my classroom, it is an essential for every teacher or person interested in exposing children to a wealth of literature.

"The Sebastopol Sketches" comprises three pieces describing the experiences of Russian soldiers during the siege of Sebastopol in the Crimean War. Tolstoy served in the army at Sebastopol, and I got a feeling of authenticity in his writing.

Tolstoy's view of the war undergoes a change during the three sketches. In the first (and shortest) sketch, Tolstoy is patriotic, describing the soldiers, their cause and Russia as a whole in grand, heroic terms. By the end of the third sketch, the reader has been taken through the horrors of war, and Tolstoy is much more despairing, even disgusted at the whole sorry affair.

There are some constants, however: Tolstoy's descriptive writing is fine throughout - convincingly setting the scene against which the characters play out their parts. As the second and third sketches develop, Tolstoy becomes more interested in the human side of the war - that is to say, its impact upon the emotions and behaviour of individuals. These range through humour, excitement, stupidity, cupidity, heroism, cowardice and so on. When the reader gets to the story of Volodya Kozeltsov, the loss of innocence and idealism which war brings is exposed in full.

Fine, gripping stuff.

G Rodgers

The young Tolstoy took part in the defence of Sebastopol (1854-55) during the Crimean War, and these sketches (parts of which were written under fire) record his impressions of the drama and tumult of war. The first sketch, "Sebastopol in December" was published anonymously and attracted the attention of Tsar Alexander II and Turgenev. It is a short, emotionally patriotic piece recording the author's empathetic reaction to the bravery of the ordinary soldiers and sailors during the siege. "Sebastopol in May" is more ambitious and more ambiguous, recording the experiences of a group of Russian officers during an attack by the Allies on the 4th bastion of the defences, a position dreaded by everyone on the Russian side. There are no heroes in this piece, says Tolstoy, except "truth," as he depicts flawed human beings struggle to reconcile their petty vanities with the "higher" duties that have brought them to that terrible place. The final sketch, "Sebastopol in August," records the fall of Sebastopol through the eyes of the doomed Kozeltsov brothers and features some of the finest battle descriptions I have ever read. Tolstoy published it openly under his own name, and it seems to have helped him finally to choose literature rather than the army for his future career. "The Sebastopol Sketches" is a marvellous book not only for its own merits but also for the insight it gives us into a literary master trying out his wings for the first time.

In 1855, Tolstoy was a soldier in the Crimean War and a witness to many atrocities. One that would stay with him was the image of two children killed in a shelling. His experiences during the war made up the contents of his work The Sebastopol Sketches, many of which he drafted on the battlefield.

The book is divide in three short stories stem from Tolstoy's military experience during the Crimean War: "Sebastopol in December," "Sebastopol in May," and "Sebastopol in August 1855."

During this time, the young Tolstoy gave himself over to the decadent life that was common for men of his class, catching a venereal disease as well as drinking heavily and sustaining enormous gambling debts which included the loss of some of his prized property at Yasnaya.

I really enjoy reading this book,Tolstoy's reactions to the fighting at Sebastopol are really crude, if you are interesting in The Crimean War but from the Russian side you may find what you are looking for in this great book