This book has been the standard history of Calvinism since it first came out. McNeill is NOT a calvinist but I don't detect any really biased statements. The narrative is quick and moves from the start of the Swiss reformation through the impact of Calvinism on modern culture. Of course, the last section is the least developed since it was written before the current revival of Calvinism and the rise of Reconstructionism and the "reprint Puritan" phenomenon. Still the best.

Although I am old enough to have been able to remember Don McNeill's Breakfast Club I have only heard of him, and wanted to learn more about this popular radio show. Author John Doolittle has done an excellent job in bringing out the personality of Don McNeill. Don was a devoted family man who, despite an extroverted personality when interviewing people, was more of an introvert away from the show. Don was devoted to the midwest and chose to keep his show in Chicago from various downtown locations. I would say the primary reason for the success of the show was his sincere interest in people in addition to his willingness to pay the price in preparation time. Those who filled in for him found out there is more involved than chatting with members of the studio audience. The silent prayer and the march around the breakfast table were interesting staples of this show that I wasn't aware of. Don McNeill was a sincere man both on the show and in his private life. The CD that came with the book I bought provides interesting snippets on some of his shows and was especially interesting to listen to after having read the book. Don McNeill was a giant of radio who had a lot to contribute to other people and did.

The "Breakfast Club" was a morning radio program staple in hundreds of thousands of homes across America beginning in 1933 until its final broadcast in December of 1968. Don McNeill hosted this program which was completely unscripted and involved a lot of studio audience participation. Now John Doolittle has memorialized that unique and beloved radio show host and his program in Don McNeill And His Breakfast Club. Here is the history of a man and a program that developed an enormous and loyal listenership in an era when broadcast radio was the major daily mass media for information and culture in the country. Doolittle's informative, enthusiastically recommended history is enriched with the inclusion of an accompanying CD with sample clips from the show to give the reader an authentic flavor of what the program was like and why it became (and stayed) one of the most popular components of morning radio.

The Don McNeill Breakfast Club was a comfort of home, a memory of cherished moments sitting by the radio with my family. When I heard that a book had been written about the program I had high expectations. I was more impressed than I could have imagined. Not only did I feel a stronger sense of who Don McNeill was, I also gained perspective on American History through radio, which was so perfectly encompassed in The Breakfast Club. For anyone who remembers the lazy mornings by the radio, or for anyone who is interested in American culture and history, this book is a must!

An old girlfriend of mine gave me this book as a lark a few months before we broke up; I seem to recall it from a time when things were still going well.

My own interests have nothing to do with this area so I can't comment on it academically. However I have to say it's one of the strangest and most entertaining books I own. The lists of potential or actual sins seem more indicative of the range of folk superstitions and clerical nosiness than the principles of Christianity. I particularly enjoy the one about women trying to make their husbands impotent by smearing themselves with honey and rolling around in flax seed and flour that was ground counterclockwise, etc. Lots of important information about what do if your goat vomits the host, or how long a dead mouse can sit in your beer before you can't drink it.