This collection of six essays reveals why so many people not only feared communism, but were right to do so. From a variety of nations and perspectives, the authors recount the events that led to their involvement with, and eventual break from, "The Party." At times chilling, always fascinating, this short series of works is an important philosophical milestone in the (ongoing) fight against communism.

Anyone who is a fan of George Orwell or P.J. O'Rourke should enjoy this collection of essays from intellectuals who made the journey to communism and back. Arthur Koestler's (sp?) essay captures perfectly the confusion of Weimar Germany before the rise of Hitler, and shows that the communists actually helped the Nazis to power. You will come away from the book wondering how some intelligent people believed - and still believe - that communism was the way of the future. If there is a book that will turn a diehard leftist into a subscriber to the "National Review", TGTF is that book.

These individuals believed the party line whole heartedly. This is an emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and physical committment and possesses the initiate. Novices are enamored with the power of the idealogy and master practitioners wield that power ruthlessly. Emergence of an individual from said idealogy usually renders said person 'washed out.'

As a former criminal trial attorney, I loved this little novel about the chronical of a very colorful American family, and about the real courtroom wars in our criminal justice system. But I thought the novel was also the story of a "great one" coming into his own, unadorned, straight at you. Refreshing and funny...often spellbinding. I loved the apparently direct-from-the-courtroom arguments. The author's own voice adds a wonderfully real edge. Listen to this one, you'll love it. We need another soon.

Hal Dockins Jackson MS.

Buddy Lemann's description of Louisiana law couldn't have been any more acurate! His descriptions of past cases were wonderfully worded. He did an excellent job of presenting the legal world in layman's language. I truly enjoyed learning the deepest secrets of his clients and stratagies! I can't wait for the next book!

Any lawyer tired of tomes and in need of some comic relief will enjoy Arthur "Buddy" Lemann's "Hail to the Dragon Slayer", a memoir of selected cases handled by the successful New Orleans criminal defense lawyer over several decades.

Criminal defense lawyers all have survival mechanisms and strategies to contend with the stress which results from being responsible for protecting clients' liberty and from engaging in that particular kind of battle known as the trial. Buddy tells us about his--mythmaking and humor. The delusions of gradeur need a framework--the defense lawyer as Ivanhoe is a good one, especially for the Southern lawyer. We still look for damsels in distress. (Lawyers I know west of the Mississippi seem to prefer the cowboy archetype. You've all seen the "Gunfighters Don't Charge By The Bullet" poster.) But while what we do requires the energy of myths, at the end of the day we need a good laugh to bring us back to ear! th.

The Carlos Marcello (local allged mafioso) and the Dino Cincel (alleged pedophile priest) are the most famous of the cases. Buddy tells good stories, succinctly, unabashedly, and always with that twinkle in his eye. While weaving his knight theme though his trial tales, he also reveals some things about himself which certainly have some bearing on his skill as a trial lawyer. He admits to (or boasts about) being a sinner, which gives him something in common with both defendants and jurors. Let the judge and the prosecutor be holier than thou.

The dragons Buddy tells of fighting and sometimes slaying are the ones criminal lawyers have a license to duel--the king, the church, all authority. Years of such combat spawn a virulent form of cynicsm. Buddy reminds us that a good laugh is the antidote, and that the justice system must have some redeeming qualities, or dragons would never get slain.

His childhood adversary was that bastion of authoritarianism, the Catho! lic Church. The early duelling prepares him for his career! . He writes:

"I still remember the great agony of trying to make it from Friday's confession to Sunday's communion. But I soon learned how to beat the system. By confessing on Friday to uncommitted sins and throwing in one whopper to cover the scam, I could march up to the rail on Sunday mornings under the watchful eye of parents and priests with a clear conscience. Again, I sided with the sinners. It was also my first lesson in imunity."

Irreverent and sometimes politically incorrect, Dragon Slayer is a hoot. War stories were always my favorite part of CLE anyway.

This book truly is the very best introduction to Haiti I can possibly think of. If you want to learn about Haiti, start here. Each entry is short, carefully chosen, and typicaly riveting. SIX STARS on this work, and my thanks to Arthur and Dash.

"Libete" is a comprehensive and concise anthology of writings on a wide spectrum of topics, including the history, religion, art, and politics of the country. It is a good introduction for those new to Haiti, and shows those wanting to deepen their understanding where to look.

Read Libete. It is comprehensive, both in sampling the most important writing on Haiti, and in surveying a wide spectrum of subjects. The selections are edited well enough for it to make excellent breakfast table reading- it took me as long to get through a selection as it did to finish a bowl of cereal.

I'm a Japanese reader and living in Log Cabin. This book provides me with many decoration ideas. I wish to reccomend this book to my friend who are living in Log cabins.

Hands-on Log Homes is our third, full-color, idea design book on the subject of log home architecture. As such, it was also my third opportunity to loop America - cameras in hand - seeking out unique log homes and meeting the people who build them. In this case, those people happened to be mostly involved owner-builders. That is, creative, resourceful people who used sweat equity to help build their dream. Similar to our second book, "The Log Home Book", there is a virtual photo-feast inside. The only difference is that the scale of these homes tends to be more moderate, and the owners themselves share their own unique and entertaining building stories along with practical bits of advice gleaned along the way.

Along with built-from-scratch homes, there are those abodes built largely with recycled materials - old logs, old doors, old fixtures! Perfect examples of turning one man's junk into veritable treasure while often saving money along the way.

Next comes a marvelous chapter on historic restorations. Often "rebuilt" with the help of skilled craftsman, we include these handmade originals as true examples of once upon a time, do-it-yourself ingenuity.

While this is not a "how-to-build" book, Art wrote a final chapter that leads the reader through the practical steps and considerations of building a small log building. Of course, there is also a resource guide in back with plenty of leads for designing, building and decorating the home you plan to build, remodel or buy.

Check it out, and let us know what you think by emailing thiede@sunvalley.net.

Cindy Thiede

I feel I know this book as well as anyone; I designed the book! It is a great book to glean ideas to plan, create and decorate your own log home. The photos are breath-taking. I enjoy the authors' clear but amusing style of writing, and I bet you will, too.

There isn't anything else on the market like this book. This is the book Naomi Drew was born to write, and she pours her whole life experience into it as a mother, a teacher, and an expert on conflict resolution. What Naomi has done is written a book that tells parents how to keep peace at home, step by easy step, while also raising compassionate kids to help make peace possible in the world at large. That's an amazing combination, and Naomi pulls it off. Readers will learn exercises to calm sibling battles, as well as how to teach kids to become peacemakers at school and work through organizations to foster global peace.

As a mother of young children, I have been working to create peace within my family (and myself) for many years, and your book truly inspired me to take the next step: to expand from peace in my family, to working actively to make peace in the world. You remind us that the personal is global, to be the change you want to see in others, and most of all, that one person who cares really can make a difference--not only as a parent, but also as a human being in the world, the world which we are creating for our children's future. Thank you, Naomi Drew.

Highly Recommended! I don't think there's a more timely book out there.
Filled with concrete information, practical suggestions, and timely advice
for anyone who cares about creating more peaceful homes and a more peaceful
world.

I have always been hoping that there are more modern textbooks on the undergraduate math that are written by great mathematicians. This one is one of the first to appear on the market. Thanks for Professor Mattuck! I love you, and love your book more!!! Hehe....Oh, by the way, one day if you see a movie called A Wonderful Mind, then you'll find a guy featured in it whose name is Abel Maple. The future greatest mathematician of the 22 century. Just kidding!

The book is slow to begin but it does a great job in explaining all the concepts. The author explains the proofs and theorems and it introduces some intermediate ideas to understand the theorems and definitions. The book contains a lot of exercise of different nature and difficulty. It covers a great range of subjects but not enough on the Rn. The book is basic in it contain, it is not difficult to read and follow. It can serve as an introduction to analysis. I would recommend it if you want an introduction to analysis.

This is an unusual and beautifully written introduction to real analysis. The presentation is carefully crafted and extremely lucid, with wonderfully creative examples and proofs, and a generous sprinkle of subtle humor. The layout of the pages is exceptionally attractive. The author has clearly put a great deal of thought and effort into producing an analysis text of the highest quality.

Most of the book concentrates on real-valued functions of a single (real) variable. There is a gradual and careful development of the ideas, with helpful explanations of elementary matters that are often skipped in other books. For instance, prior to the chapter on limits of sequences, the book has a chapter on estimation and approximation, discussing algebraic laws governing inequalities, giving examples of how to use these laws, and developing techniques for bounding sequences and for approximating numbers. Proofs involving "epsilons" and "arbitrarily large n" make their first appearance here.

The overall presentation of the book is carefully thought out. Each chapter is broken up into small sections, and each section emphasizes one principle idea or theorem. The proofs of the main theorems are lovely, and give both intuitive explanations and rigorous details. Genuinely interesting examples and problems illuminate the key ideas. Each chapter contains a mix of problems: "questions" that help students test their grasp of the main points of each section, "exercises" that are intermediate in scope, and more difficult "problems". (A solutions manual is available for instructors from the publisher.)

The careful explanations, even of "elementary" matters, and two appendices on sets, numbers, logic, and methods of argumentation, make the book suitable for a first analysis course in which students have had no prior exposure to proofs. There is ample material for a one-semester, or in some cases a one-year, course.

In summary, I believe that this is the best introductory real analysis book on the market. Students and instructors alike will find it a joy to read.

It is a little wierd. You would understand it better if it wasn't a comic book. Some stories are really good, though. The thing I like about it is it introduces a new G-force.

I am a huge fan of Godzilla, so I loved this book. I used to read the Dark Horse Godzilla comics, but I lost most of them, so I was thrilled to read this! G-Force is the coolest team ever, I'd love to member of that group! I also liked the many new monsters in the book. Bagorah, Gekido- Jin, Cybersaur, and even Hero Zero. The fighting scenes are great, these comics would easily make great Godzilla movies!

This comic is awesome. It's Godzilla that adults are likely to enjoy. Very well written. One of the best drawn comics I have ever laid eyes on. The creatures that Godzilla meets in this series are rad. If your kids are old enough to read, and they like the original Japanese Godzilla, this comic series will make a perfect gift for them. If only someone would make a live+CGI or an anime version of this comic and bring it to television.

I really liked the first book in the series, Dancing with the Devil(read this one first), but this one, Hearts in Darkness, the second in the series, I loved. Michael is back. Michael and Nikki have to go undercover as a married couple at a resort, to find two missing teenagers, and find out what's been going on with the disappearances of previous guests. You learn a little more about Michael's past, and Nikki's powers, and more supernatural things. And of course, Michael and Nikki get closer. :) I can't wait for the 3rd book.

Michael has been gone for six months now, Nikki has all but given up on him and is deep in another case. While following a teenager, she is attacked by several vampires, who kidnap the teen. Just as she is about to follow to Wyoming, Michael reappears, having been assigned a related case by the Circle. Apparently a number of rich men have disappeared from an exclusive resort there and when they return, they stay out of the sun and only come out at night, but aren't obviously vampires. There is something odd about them that the Circle needs clarified and eliminated.

I enjoyed this addition to the series. Michael and Nikki are very appealing characters. The villians are evil enough, and there are several twists in vampire lore to be found. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

For those who have not yet had the joy of reading a Keri Arthur novel, all I can say is that you are truly missing out. Although her first book only came out just over a year ago, she is already an award-winning author and she deserves every kudos that goes her way. HEARTS IN DARKNESS is the second book in the Nikki and Michael series. Although it can be read as a stand alone, for the best reading enjoyment, I truly think that DANCING WITH THE DEVIL should be read first.

In HEARTS IN DARKNESS, Michael and Nikki have been apart for six months. Michael believes that the only way he can overcome his bloodlust is by staying away from the one woman who brings it out in him. But when he learns from the leader of the Circle that Nikki's death is imminent unless he goes to her, he of course can't stay away.

Nikki is overjoyed to have Michael in her life again, for she knows that she will never love anyone else but Michael. She just has to convince Michael that they are better together than apart. The case they are working on has them posing as newlyweds to find out who is kidnapping wealthy men from a resort. Dark magic and a woman from Michael's past are involved in the disappearances. Nikki also has to deal with the dangers of new psychic powers emerging-when she doesn't understand how or where they are coming from. They are in for the fight of their lives.

Nikki and Michael's continuing love story is fantastic. Paranormal romance lovers shouldn't hesitate to purchase this new series. I can't wait to read CHASING THE SHADOWS, the third book in the series, which should be out later this year. Keri Arthur's books are true keepers!

Arthur Quinn treats with respect both perspcetives of one the Modoc War. The extreme brutality of both the American Government and the Modoc Warriors is reflected in a suprisingly unbiased manner.

This book is very, very good for anybody interested in 1870 era American Indian conflicts, especially in Northern California. Story easy to follow, no unecessary words, facts etc., unless they're relevant to the story.
Reads as if it were a movie, but is all true, as judged on what I know of California frontier history.
Book is worth getting.

During the height of the Indian conflicts on the plains a smaller,but no less deadly campaign was being waged against the Modocs of the Northwest. Like the Cheyenne after them, the Modocs were a small band whose numbers had already been reduced by warfare and desease. They were willing to live peacefully, only they wanted to live in their own homeland. And as with the Cheyenne, the military wasted much time money, and worst of all lives in order to bring these people to their knees. This is a concise and well-written account of that war.

Quinn is one of those historians who makes broad use of dialogue in his work. While many scholars take a scant view of this method, I think it works well, if done carefully. Certainly we can question how Quinn could possibly know exactly what was said, when there was no one there to record it. However, memoirs and journals often paraphrase, and if the writer has researched the characters and the times well enough, I think it is fair to allow him to make certain assumptions, especially as it brings such dimension to the characters.

Quinn's depiction of events is very exciting without crossing over into sensationalism. And though any story of Americans' treatment of the Indians invites a certain amount of moralizing, he does not go overboard, nor does he portray the Modocs as saints. He also does an excellent job of incorprating the landscape into the story. Quinn's depiction of the lava beds the Modocs called home makes it even more wondrous that the Americans found it so important for them to leave.

This was definitely a story that deserved to be told, and Quinn does a very good job of it.

As someone who has majored in religion, and a long time seeker, this book has been sooo incedibly wonderful. This book, as well as Volume 2, explains what you can and can not do, what you should and should not do. For example, when it is respectful leave a ceremony, what you should wear, is photography permitted. It even briefly explains the ceremony. I found a few errors, however. The Hindu customs for an infant are a little mixed up, but 98% of the book is fabulous!

. . .of every member of the clergy in America. (As well as on a lot of other desks and bookshelves).

In the America of the 21st century, all of us have friends, relatives, etc. who practice their faith in different manners. Most of us will have occasion to attend services in houses of worship other than our own. This book is a guide on proper behavior under these circumstances.

As a Christian clergyman, I have personally have had occasion to attend service in almost every major American Christian denomination, as well as Jewish temple services. Most members of the clergy that I know are in similar positions. All of us are passionate about our own faith -- but none of us want to be accidentally offensive to others.

Some might ask, "Why should I be concerned about how to behave at someone else's religious service? I never expect to go. They don't worship the way I do. They don't believe in the same God that I believe in, etc." For persons with these attitudes, here are some points to consider:

1) You may be surprised at the type of service you find yourself. A wedding. A funeral. A christening. A Bar-Mitzpah. The list goes on.

2) There are certain situations in which NOT attending can cause MORE offense.

3) Put yourself in the shoes of another. Would you want your Jewish or Muslim co-worker to support YOU if YOU lost a loved one?

4) Showing respect to another, WITHOUT compromising your own beliefs is an excellent way to share your own faith.

The list goes on.

This book does not suggest in any way that anyone compromise their own beliefs. It does not attempt to convert or sway anyone to a different way of thinking. What it DOES do, and does very well, is provide, to an increasingly discourteous society, the minimal rules of courtesy that persons today are no longer routinely taught.

Courtesy is the oil that lubricates all social interactions. This book helps provide this service.

I am purchasing this book after making use of it first as a library choice.It is a book I would suggest srongly to all age groups (8 to 80) for information which makes it possible to be respectful of relgious services other than the ones we ourselves know best and to do so in a relaxed and comfortable manner.