Inspirational. Profound. Practical. A companion.

A one page/three-minute read every day. And an opportunity to plumb the depths of what it means to be a man or a woman.

Philosophy has been called: The Queen of all Sciences. These meditations are from the mind of a brilliant philosopher. A great intellect. An extraordinary human being. A man who has used his mind to reason to Truth. A Truth reflected in his personal life. A life that has transcended and soared above personal tragedy, Naziism, Communism, and Modernism.

This book provides the reader with a few minutes each day to reflect on what is most meaningful to each of us: relationships, work, marriage, family, sex, education, success, failure, suffering, tragedy, death, life.

"Prayers and Devotions: 365 Daily Meditations" is a reflection of other writings by John Paul, such as "Fides et Ratio", which is a treatise discussing the interdependence and complementarity of Faith and Technology. "Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth---in a word, to know himself---so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves."

From "Veritatis Splendor": "The splendor of truth shines forth in all the works of the Creator and in a special way in man, created in the image and likeness of God. Truth enlightens man's intelligence and shapes his freedom, leading him to know and love the Lord. Hence the psalmist prays: 'Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord.'"

And from "Evangelium Vitae": "The Gospel of life is at the heart of Jesus' message. Lovingly received day after day by the church, it is to be preached with dauntless fidelity as 'good news' to the people of every age and culture."

"Prayers and Devotions" capsulizes much of the thought of John Paul. It is a rich treasure with each page providing jewels to be discovered, polished, and reflected upon. A book to be read, enjoyed, shared, and re-read.

This book is very poor indeed. It is very badly written, inaccurate, poorly organised and woefully out of date.

This book is a bible for lawyers who wish to practice international criminal law. It is the only text which provides summaries of the precedents of the ICTY and ICTR. The authors organize and index the book well, and their own commentaries into the decisions provide the insight of experienced trial lawyers in these courts. It would be malpractice for any lawyer to set foot in these courts without Ackerman and O'Sullivan's book.

Being familiar with the importance of the ICTY to the growth of international criminal law, I am pleased to see a book which details the actual functioning of such a Tribunal through its case law. To be able to easily access information regarding the Statute and the Rules of Procedure as it has been laid out by Ackerman and O'Sullivan places this volume head and shoulders above its competition.

Those who teach in the domains of internatonal criminal law or humanitarian law would be remisted from not including this volume on their required reading list. It provides students with an in-depth understanding of the first court to try international criminals since Nuremburg. This effort is a must for any law library.

Dr. Jean Allain is Assitant Professor of Public International Law, The American Univeristy in Cairo

Banned in the UK, the bizarre diatribe attempts to causally link the incidence of child abuse in a country with the age of its record buying public. 265 pages of highly dubious statistical analysis cover Britney Spears alone, with authors perhaps telling us more about their own sexual proclivities than those of the small third world countries they are studying.

I've upped the score to three stars because any book that covers Britney Spears published in 1995 shows a degree of foresight that one would not expect from authors this narrow minded.