Mohammed and Charlemagne is the last work of Henri Pirenne. It was published after his death and represents a masterpiece of historical scholarship. This is a seminal work that challenged the thesis that Germanic barbarians obliterated the Roman Empire. His revolutionary thesis was that the unexpected rise and advance of Islam led to the downfall of the Empire. With the rise of Islam, the Mediterranean was no longer a thoroughfare of commerce and ideas. Without the Mediterranean, commerce dried up to a trickle and Europe slipped into the Middle Ages.

The revision and completion of the book was completed by one of Pirenne's students after his death. That leads to one of my criticisms. Previous works by Pirenne I found engaging and masterfully written. This work however, seemed to lack the same literary style and, as a consequence, I found it to be a choppy read that lacked the clear crispness of his previous works. While this statement is subjective, it is not irrelevant. When Pirenne expounds on economic and sociological issues of the Middle Ages his words literally leap off the page. It is disappointing that this subject does not surface until the end of the book.

Henri Pirenne's legacy lies in his famous thesis, published
posthumously in 1937 as "Mohammed and Charlemagne" (and stated
earlier in numerous articles): namely, that whereas the
Germanic invasions of the IV and V century broke the political
unity of the Mediterranean world, they did not break its
cultural and economic unity. The ancient world kept hugging
the coastline 'like frogs around a pond' and the East reasserted
its supremacy over the West. All this changed when the Islamic
invasions conquered Northern Africa and the Eastern
Mediterranean, closing the commercial and cultural exchanges
between the two halves of the Roman empire and capturing the
two most vibrant centres of commerce and culture (especially,
theological culture) of the Byzantine empire: Syria and Egypt,
whose religious separatism had been a constant worry for the
Eastern Roman emperors.

As a consequence, the center of gravity of the European economy
shifted to the more agrarian and less romanized regions around
the Rhine (Charlemagne's capital is in Aix-La-Chapelle, nowadays
Aachen) while the cities of Italy and Southern France decayed.
It is this which eventually led to the emergence of a diversified
Western European culture as opposed to the Middle East and,
eventually, Eastern (Orthodox) Europe. And therefore Charlemagne
could never have existed without Mohammed.

However, this is not the whole story. As Dennett and Lopez noted,
lack of Oriental merchandise in Merovingian lists may not
necessarily be due to a dearth of imports but to events on
the supply side and most importantly to the opening of the
Russian route to Baghdad, as Scandinavian coin hoards show
(e.g., Bohlin and Riising). Hence the rise of Quentovic and
Dorestad as important ports and the Frisian trade until their
destruction by Northman raiders.

Although commerce was now closed to Frankish shipping,
trade in the Mediterranean had long been the prerogative
of Syrians, who had extensive colonies in Marseilles.
Meroviangian cities in the region had already been declining
for some time and ideas of a renaissance of a Romano-German
culture in the VI and VII centuries are overrated by its
lack of originality; the foremost product of VI century
erudition is the largely fallacious encyclopedia of Isidore.

Despite its flaws, this work is fundamental for its boldness in
presenting a continental and often world view of history and
of great transformations. Required reading.

Belgian historian Henri Pirenne's thesis, that the Mediterranean World of Antiquity was broken by the rise of Islam in the seventh and eighth centuries and not by the Germanic invaders of the fifth and sixth centuries has been subject to endless criticism, debate and revision since Mohammed and Charlemage was first published in Europe in 1937.

In Pirenne's view, the conquest of the eastern and southern coasts of the Mediterranean, of Spain, and of the important islands had shut off the movement of world trade which had flourished during the late Roman times. The result of this closure returned western Europe to an earlier "natural" and rural economic system, which set in motion a shifting of the balance of power in Europe from the Mediterranean region to the north.

Although by the time Mohammed and Charlemagne was published the theory that Rome had collapsed suddenly under the impact of the immense German invasions during the fifth century was being qualified, it was Pirenne's theory on the end of the Ancient World and the beginning of the Middle Ages that upset traditional historical conceptions. He advanced the thesis that the Ancient World ended only after the Arab invasions of the seventh and eighth centuries had swept around the coasts of Mediterranean and had converted it into a Moslem lake on which, as one Arab writer said, the Christians could no longer "float a plank." This, Pirenne argued, had been accomplished by the last quarter of the eighth century and had destroyed the essential unity of the Roman Empire. For centuries the Mediterranean had been a "Roman lake" the Mare Nostrum of the Romans which held the great imperial structure together: Rome's trade and commerce, its military and naval might, the important exchange of ideas.

The Mediterranean unity of the Roman Empire had not, according to Pirenne, been destroyed by the German tribes that had occupied the western Empire. The Germans admired the superior Roman civilization and diligently set about to continue it, copying everything from the Roman emperors' dress and ceremonies to the government structures and gold coinage. They did whatever they could to preserve Roman culture.

This book is a classic which is as timely today as it was when it was first published on the eve of WWII. Read it for Pirenne's immaculate scholarship and his then provocative theory that the Teutonic "barbarians" were the upholders and awestruck heirs of Rome and not its destroyers--that distinction belongs to rise Islam.

I bought this one for my daughter who was studying Robert Frost in first grade. The illustrations are lovely, and she treasures the book. The only disappointment was that it doesn't contain the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" (one of our favorites). From the cover picture, I'd expected it to contain that one.
Still, I'm glad I bought it for her.

I have read this book by Robert Frost end to end. When I first saw this book I had to read it. I read Robert Frost last year in school. This book can be read to any age at any time. I thik some of Robert Frosts pomes can tech kids about life. That is what I think of this Robert Frost book.

I love Robert Frost's poetry and was looking for a good way to introduce his wonderful words to young children. I have found that way through this beautiful book. I am an assistant principal and can't wait to share this book with my teachers and students. As I read this book, I felt like I was in New England during all four seasons. A must buy for poetry lovers and Robert Frost fans.

This is a good workbook/book to use if you're just beginning to learn kreyol. You get lots of cultural information from it as well as basic vocabulary. Just a good overall book.

In terms of some problems, some of the phrases/words are outdated (this was written in '83, I believe), there are some ambiguous passages in terms of some of the grammar rules, and the glossary would be better if it was expanded and went kreyol->english AND english->kreyol.

But this is a very good beginner book. Even though it has its faults, it's one of the best books out there to learn kreyol.

Haitian Kreyol (more properly 'Haitian') is a language in its own right and as it becomes popular, courses will start to appear. Expensive as this one is, it is THE choice at present if you wish speak Kreyol at all well before going on holiday or spending time in Haiti.

Audio Forum, who prepared this course for visitors such as diplomats, volunteers etc (and funded by the United States Department of Education), have had immense experience in language tuition through audio books, claiming to use the most advanced techniques to date. They have put over 20 years of Kreyol experience into this course, the successor to an earlier "Basic Haitian Kreyol" course, so you can expect something of it.

It does its job well judging by personal results so far. Divided into 25 lessons, each lesson contains a dialogue that introduces vocabulary and at least one point of grammar. It then has further questions, answers and exercises based on the topic and grammar (sometimes moving on to another topic); along with reading and listening components.

By lesson 10, the dialogue is spoken at normal speed so the student is swept into the thick of it quickly, so to speak. (In early lessons the dialogue is read a second time, phrase by phrase so that the student can repeat it, acquiring the correct accent and intonation.) Throughout the 25 lessons, a large number of topics are covered, concerned with rural as well as city life: family, school, finding your way around, telling the time and aspects of day and night, the weather, clothes, medical, dining, what you're doing/want to do today; employment; and a fair amount on Haiti and the Caribbean.

The pace is fast and it is important to complete each lesson thoroughly before moving on. Speech and pronounciation should be up to speed. You can't just pick out the lessons you want or it won't work. If finding yourself caught out later, return and review the relevant sections.

I see only two problems. The first can be turned to opportunity: the text does not always follow the spoken material exactly. However, discrepancies are slight and easily identified (and the student can correct the text if need be). They also ensure that the student is attending! The other is that even at a fair pressure, say 40 to 60 minutes a day, this course will take around six months to finish. It is not a "Survive in Kreyol" tourist course. You will not learn to ask directions and understand the response until lesson 12. "Food" is dealt with in lesson 17.

Neither of these "problems" fails the course in any way. At the end, you would be able to strike up a conversation in most parts of Haiti, know how to ask your way around and so forth. More than that, you would have acquired a knowledge of Haitian culture through its langauge - and be able to talk about it. That would seem to enhance any visit.

This is not the only Audio Forum course I have used and their system is very effective. A final note: though their courses SEEM expensive, they are usually cheaper than anything comparable on the market and more thorough.

Operatic history is full of inexplicable bloopers -- for example, isn't it creepy to think that Victor Hugo wrote the horrible play that Verdi's (quite wonderful) "Ernani" was based on, or, even worse, that Schiller was responsible for the hideous drivel that turned into the same great composer's "I Masnadieri"?? Anyhow, with this kind of precedent, I think La Vie de Boheme of Murger is a kind of minor classic -- a tender, lyrical, silly and sad novel full of real feeling. I think it's a crime that this novel should be out of print, while any number of awful romance novelists who couldn't evoke the character of a Mimi or a Schaunard if you gave them a million dollars routinely GET a million dollars for barely literate bodice-rippers. EVERYBODY who loves Puccini's "Boheme" should read the charming, touching and unpretentious original.

Scenes de la Vie Boheme should be considered required reading for all of the young persons of the world out there. Murger's tale of four friends who constantly struggle with finding enough money for food and board, struggle with landlords, struggle with the opposite sex, struggle with jobs, and struggle with perpetual hangovers seems so timeless that it is almost impossible to believe that it is 160 years old. Surely, nearly every 20-something going thru college or just getting into the world knows a Colline or a Schaunard, just as they have all had the difficulties of a Mimi. It is absolutely horrible that this book is out of print, as it is such an excellent read that helps to set the stage for so many of today's stories (the musical Rent, Puccini's opera of the same name, even Good Will Hunting). Definately a story to read and relate to. Take the time to find a version of this - its available in various places online, as copyright law no longer applies here. Worthwhile.

"Everyone wonders about God...We think about Him and wish we could see Him, but we don't need to see God to know what He is like."

Thus begins, "A Book About God," a simple and beautifully illustrated story that explains God by comparing Him to things that are like Him and His love - the sky, the air, the sun, the rain, the sea - all things beautiful. The author paints a picture of a God who is loving, protective, gentle and always present - even when He can't be seen. The illustrations are beautiful depictions of nature.

The book is non-sectarian but some readers may find the reference to God as a "he" to be problematic. However, "A Book About God" is a good beginning point for a subject that many children wonder and ask about and which is not easily explained or defined.

The power in this book lies not only in its beautiful, oversized illustrations which fill out the entirety of its pages (11.25 x 9.53), but also in its well chosen words which describe God in terms that are understandable by children. This book is worthy of highest honors for its illustrations and the author provides a text which paints pictures with words which are ample accompaniment. It is important for parents of young children to begin the discussion of God and this compelling book provides a guide to admiring the beauty of His creation in a form that can be held in one's hands. It is non-sectarian. This book deserves many more than 5 stars. It has not received the attention it deserves.

If you grew up on a dairy farm, this is a great book to read to your kids! I related to this story completely, and when I shared this book with my sisters and old farm pals they wanted to know where they could get a copy. While city kids played in well manicured playgrounds and had a pet, the barn and cows were my playground and pets from the day I was born. In our barn, the radio was always playing - maybe not always music, but also baseball games, farm reports and Paul Harvey.

This book is great way to share your childhood with your own kids and also expose them to life growing up in the country.

Daddy Played Music for the Cows is a perfect blend of writing and illustration. Both are warm, joyful, and inviting. Congratulations to Weidt and Sorenson for producing this genuine delight.

Cartan's book on complex analysis is not brand new, but that does not matter as the subject itself is "stabilized" for a long period of time. It is indeed good to see that this "lovely" book being available at the modest price of [price]. The fact that the author was among the founders of Bourbaki may intimidate some would-be readers, but you don't have to be worried. The treatment of the subject is not pedantic and accessible for beginners.

At first the book appeared to be too difficult. Indeed, it is designed for students with some familiarity with Algebra and Topology. However, the more I read the book, the better it appeared. It's chapter on integration is one of the best I've seen. It doesn't seem to cover much, but the addition of some facts from several variables is in very good taste.

This reprint from the 1930's shows a various number of different types of wonderful irish crochet lace. Unfortunately the patterns do not always tell the right number of stitches and contain some mistakes. Only for very experienced crocheters!

I have 2 copies of this book. One is doggeared and has my notes all over it, as to how long a project takes etc. The other one is more of a reference guide I turn to if I want a new project and no distractions from previous notes.

I like this book. It has some wonderful projects in it and I enjoy them a lot.

Henri Nouwen explores the traditional devotion to the Sacred Heart; and, characteristically, addresses the Lord in a very personal, unpompous, and unforbidding tone of voice.

What is most fascinating about this book, however, is how it happened to get written: under the persistent encouragement and gentle prodding of Madame Pauline Vanier, whose son Jean was the founder of the L'Arche/Daybreak communities for the mentally challenged.

Henri Nouwen's attempt to get in touch with this aspect of Catholic devotion, we find praiseworthy. The simplicity and lucidity with which we writes, and the endearing gentleness of his approach: winsome and effective. These three prayers, written from the standpoint of fallibility and vulnerability, nonetheless display an appropriate confidence in God's prevailing mercy.

This is an excellent read in classic Nouwen style. Nouwen draws the reader into a wonderful meditation on the incredible love that Jesus has for His people and the unbelievable breadth of His ability and desire to take on all human pain and suffering. This is a short book of 3 prayers that help the reader to meditate on the wonderful gift of the sacred heart of Jesus.

Among the available textbooks of many-body theory, like Mahan's, AGD's ..., this is the "only" one which touches the path-integral method. Based on the coherent state representation, the author systematically introduced the Green's Function formalism at finite and zero temperatures. Applications to phase transitions, Landau Fermi Liquid and Stochastic processes are also discussed. Overall, it's a good introduction textbook, also ideal for self-study. Its exercises are more noteworthy for lots of beatiful physics. Yet, it didn't cover topics like spin path integrals, non-linear sigma model ...., which are more interesting in frontier research.

A very good introduction to the many particle systems, includes all from the basics of coherent states to very complex parts of theory.

A great physics book for field theory applied to condensed
matter and sometimes nuclear physics problems. The authors
are EXTREMELY careful mathematically and really don't skip
any steps or shove stuff under the rug; in fact, the first
chapter is just all math about how to do integrals and path
integrals and field integrals and deal with Grassman numbers.
A bit unusual for a physics book, but that's their style.

The rest of the book deals with the usual and other material:

zero-temperature Green's functions and perturbation theory
(for energy, Green's function, etc.) The treatment is detailed
and relatively exhaustive. Then there is the same for finite-
temperature. The earlier sections on linear response are
concise and one of the best treatments of the subject I have
seen leading directly to the fluctuation dissipation expression
(after this book I realized this vaunted "fluctuation-dissipation" that no one can explain is just
a straightforward thing about commutators and pert. theory).

The book also has other good stuff: a chapter on mean field theory, Landau-Ginzburg theory, order parameters, and a nice
discussion about spontaneous symmetry breaking that helps
clarify a bunch of stuff. Then there is a whole chapter on
further aspects of one-particle Green's functions (Dyson
equation, solving for poles, quasiparticles, satellites, etc.)
that is pretty good and gets the physical point across. There
is also a chapter on statistical (monte carlo, numerical, etc.)
methods for doing quantum many body problems. While some of
the methods are not the most up to date or modern, the basics
are all there (Monte Carlo, Hubbard-Strataonvich (spelling?),
inverting matrices via Monte Carlo, some stuff about lattice
systems, Langevin equation simulation for Monte Carlo, updating
problems, etc.) There is also a chapter on more advanced
functional integration stuff. Also there is a nice description
of the loop expansion and whatnot.

The book is very well written, has no errors as far as I can
tell, and is exhaustive on what it treats. The problems at
the end of the first few chapters deal with physics problems
and help build intuition whereas the texts in these chapters
are more formal. The book could use some more physical insights
sprinkled throughout, but that is not too much of a drawback.

The book is based on functional integration (Feynman integral)
methods for field theory: this is the modern way folks do it
and it is a powerful way of doing field theory both to
derive results, connect results, do expansions and what not,
and also for certain kinds of monte carl computations. So
having read this, the reader is up to date on a pretty modern
view of field theory in condensed matter (and somewhat on
nuclear physics).

Highly recommended unless you can't stand precise and long
mathematical treatments. My only misgiving is that sometimes
I wish the authors provided more physical insights for certain
concepts and gave some examples rather than "just the math";
but they do this in other parts of the book, so perhaps
my complaint, which is not that serious, is more about the
uneven way this is done. Nevertheless, this is 5/5 and a book
you will read many times and learn from many times.