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Book reviews for "Owen,_Charles_Abraham,_Jr." sorted by average review score:

McMinn's Color Atlas of Human Anatomy
Published in Hardcover by Mosby (2003)
Authors: Peter H. Abrahams, R. M. H. McMinn, S. C. Marks, R. T. Hutchings, and Charles H. Hallas
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The Best Photographic Atlas For Human Gross Anatomy
To all those who are looking for a photographic atlas of anatomy, LOOK NO FURTHER THAN McMINN's. This atlas has dissections and photos that are the epitomy of anatomical science. The book itself is beautifully organized into logical sections that integrate osteology, myology, and anatomy into a comprehensive package. After I read this book, I was ready for anything my professors could dish out on practicals. However, for written (theoretical) anatomy, you will need a descriptive atlas (I recommend Grant's). All in all, this book is extremely useful, and I recommend it to any allied health student who has to take anatomy.

The most beautiful anatomy photographs ever published!
The photos in this atlas could be exhibited in an art gallery: the dissections are pure class and the photography is breathtaking. I had no problems whatsoever identifying what was what because (1) there aren't arrows all over the place (the features are labelled with numbers) and (2) the size and resolution of the images are life-size or close (not those tiny pictures in other atlases and previous editions of this atlas). For the head and neck, no atlas can come close: the photos are exceptionally good (even for an atlas of this class) and show different perspectives of the same aspect in good quantity. Quantity however is the downside for the rest of the atlas. Although the photographs are great, there aren't really enough pictures for you to have a satisfying review session. It's probably this fact, and the high price of this book, that has caused Rohen & Yokochi's colour atlas to head the market in its stead. Rohen & Yokochi is a great atlas, but McMinn's is a GREAT atlas. If there were only more photos in McMinn's, all other atlases would be out of print.

Excellent Source of Knowledge
This CD is just fantastic ! Being a medical student... I was in total awe when Professor Peter Abrahams presented this to our class. Never was my attention so focused on one thing. I highly recommend this CD to any person in the medical field and who is interested in having an excellent grasp on the Anatomy of the Human Body. This CD gives a 3D aspect on every aspect of the human body - bones, muscles, joints etc and that's just the beginning. This is definitely one you should have as part of your medical resources.


Waking Up Just in Time: A Therapist Shows How to Use the "Twelve Steps" Approach to Life's Ups and Downs
Published in Paperback by St. Martin's Press (1995)
Authors: Abraham J. Twerski and Charles M. Schulz
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A must for everyone who believes in the 12 step program!
Rabbi Twerski gives a unique interpretation of 12 step programs
It doesn't matter if you're in AA, NA, OA, etc., this book shows you how to think about the 12 steps in a totally different and entertaining way
One of the best books - he continues to have incredible insight to addiction and recovery whatever your chemical substance of abuse may be
Thank you!


When Do the Good Things Start
Published in Paperback by St. Martin's Press (1995)
Authors: Abraham J. Twerski and Charles M. Schulz
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This is a GREAT book!
Twerski provides a simple to read encouraging approach to life's ups and downs. I use this with clients who are often caught in negative behaviors and with students who want a useful tool for making sense of their own struggles. This book is for everybody!


Harvard Business Review on Leadership (Harvard Business Review Series)
Published in Paperback by Harvard Business School Press (1998)
Authors: Henry Mintzberg, John Kotter, Abraham Zaleznik, Joseph Badaracco, Charles Farkas, Donald Laurie, and Ronald A. Heifetz
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We need now true leadership
I felt that the first three writers were the strongest. Mintzberg promotes an idea that leader is just a role in his advocated all mighty manager. Zaleznik brings this down with his idea that managers and leaders are different kind of people and talk about managerial mystique. But maybe best advice how to solve present leadership dilemma comes from Kotter, who says that companies should pick up talented individuals and then put them to grow into leaders through tough challenges.

Very insightful.
Gives an insightful view of a manager's job. It enunciates traits and behaviors of leaders and managers very well, and explains how it is important for a manager to have both traits. The material triggers a manager to look within to understand one's leadership and managerial styles. If one wishes to change or develop leadership and managerial skills this material is a great beginning.
It also points out that organizations and academic institutions are good at developing organizational specialists but not at training managers. The author thinks that these institutions should provide management programs that also focus on developing leadership and managerial skills. But to do that it's important to understand what managers and leaders really do.
Overall a very good read for a traditional manager to be introspective and effective.

Harvard Business Review on Leadership
Excellent book with eight fantastically different views on Leadership. Describes fundamental differences between leadership and Management and brings forth thought process which can help professionals in all fields. Contents are 1) The managers Job (folclore and fact), 2) What leaders really do, 3)managers and leaders (are they different), 4) The discipline of building Character, 5) the ways CEO's lead (5 different ways gathered from study of 160 CEO's),6)The human side of management, 7) the work of leadership, 8) whatever happened to the take-charge manager, also contains brief background about the contributors. Each chapter is from a different contributor


Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln: The Story of the Gettysburg Address (All Aboard Reading/Level 3: Grades 2-3)
Published in Library Binding by Grosset & Dunlap (1993)
Authors: Jean Fritz and Charles Robinson
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The true story of a great man and his famous speech
The Gettysburg Address is one of the two most famous speeches in American history, the other being Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream Speech." But Lincoln's speech is the most important oration in our nation's history because before these 271 words were uttered at Gettysburg the United States did not really pay attention to the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and the idea that "all men are created equal." At the dedication of the National Cemetary at Gettysburg Lincoln declared that those who died did so in defense of that proposition. From that point on, all of the advances in civil rights in this country can be tied to the Gettysburg Address. When the nation was founded "men" meant free, adult, white, male, property owners. Consider today what is meant by "men" when we talk about equality in this country and you have an idea of what Lincoln set in motion. Without Lincoln's speech and the Union winning the Civil War, King would never have given his speech.

The only real shortcoming of "Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln: The Story of the Gettysbug Address" by Jean Fritz is that it fails to address the significance of the oration beyond the idea that it was a speech to remember. Fritz focuses on the story, both in general terms of the Civil War and the importance of the Battle of Gettysburg, and the specifics of the occasion for the speech, including the sickness of Lincoln's son Tad and the lengthy oration by Edward Everett. The complete text of the speech is provided at the back of the book, which is a Level 3 All Aboard Reading book aimed at grades 2-3. The illustrations are mostly watercolors by Charles Robinson although there are also some historic photographs of Lincoln and his son. The important thing is that here is a book that tells the story of a great American speech and at least introduces to young students the idea that words can make a difference in the history of a nation.

A Fun Book to Stimulate Interest in History
This is a fun book that should help your youngster develop an interest in American History. It is easy to read an has great illustratiions. You will not be disappointed with this purchase. Look for others by the same author.

This book of History solves any Mystery
This was a very good book. I think that it teaches you important history you needd to know.


Conversations With Lincoln
Published in Paperback by Transaction Pub (2002)
Authors: Charles M. Segal and David Donald
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lincoln by his own words
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. In particular, I thought the author gave us a unigue look into the selection of a President's cabinet. Also, Lincoln's ups and downs with the various General's during the Civil War was clearly depicted. The conversations with approach is a good one that is vastly different than the normal biography.

Conversations With Lincoln
Charles Segal's book entitled "Conversations with Lincoln" offers a unique view into both our country's early history as well as the personal and political struggles that Abraham Lincoln endured throughout his tenure as our nation's leader. While many authors have explored various aspects of Lincoln and his administration, Segal's innovative approach provides an objective assessment of the political and social dynamics that surrounded Lincoln's decision-making throughout his presidency. By chronologically organizing excerpts from personal interviews and narrative accounts, "Conversations with Lincoln" captures Lincoln's valiant effort of uniting the United States while steadfastly working to protect the integrity of the Constitution. Lincoln's own thoughts provide rare social commentary as well as vivid insight into one of America's greatest leaders. I sincerely recommend this book to anyone interested in gaining a more accurate perspective of both Abraham Lincoln and the United States during this extraordinary time period.


Honestly Abe: A Cartoon Expose of Abraham Lincoln
Published in Hardcover by Abe Press (01 February, 1998)
Authors: Charles L. Brame, Edgar Soller, and Ruth Williams
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Entertaining, informative, exudes a love for Lincoln
As a Lincoln enthusiast and teacher I found Charlie B's book outstanding. The writing is entertaining, informative, and exudes a love for Lincoln. The cartoon graphics and printing are excellent. I found neither misprints nor factual errors.Overall the treatment of Lincoln is charming without being debasing. It is very readable. I wish I could produce a book as enjoyable as this one.

A "must" for students of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.
Honestly Abe: A Cartoon Biography Of Abraham Lincoln is a novel and effective approach to introducing the life and work of Abraham Lincoln, second only to George Washington as America's greatest president to date. This compendium of engaging, challenging, and informative cartoons is further enhanced with a bibliography, a list of outstanding Lincoln web sites, and a glossary of historical and archaic terms. Honestly Abe is a sound and fascinating biography that will fascinate and inform readers young and old. Highly recommended for both school and public library acquisitions, and a "must" for students of the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln.


True Stories About Abraham Lincoln
Published in Paperback by Scholastic (1991)
Authors: Ruth Belov Gross and Charles Turzak
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Lincoln's life told through a series of woodcut prints
"True Stories About Abraham Lincoln" features woodcut illustrations by Charles Turzak, with accompanying stories from Lincoln's life by Ruth Belov Gross. The text is printed in red ink opposite the black woodcut prints. The stories deal with both the triumphs and tragedies of Lincoln's life. However, the woodcuts dictate what parts of Lincoln's life are included or omitted. Consequently, there is no reference to the Lincoln-Douglas debates and the Civil War is dealt with in rather general terms. Still, with each two-page spread a separate unit, this book is easily accessible by young readers, who will find the artwork as fascinating as the stories and might be interested in doing something similar as an art project.

Brings Lincoln to life for elementary school-age children.
He's a lot more than a face on a penny. This little paperbck contains many true tales about Lincoln's life, from his birth in a log cabin, his hard work on the farm, the first book he owned, up to his presidency and assasination. The 22 stories are very short and written in simple language. The text is easy for even young children understand, but some of the topics are heavy, including the death of Lincoln's mother while he was still a child. This book brings to life the humanity of Lincoln as a boy and a man. It is illustrated by black and white woodcut prints, with red ink for the text.


By His Own Hand upon Papyrus: A New Look at the Joseph Smith Papyri
Published in Paperback by Institute For Religious Research (1992)
Author: Charles M. Larson
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The research is solid
Besides the excellent research, Larson writes a book that is readable. His conclusions are damning for those who claim that Joseph Smith had the ability to interpret the Egyptian language. Although Larson comes from a Christian perspective, I believe that he is very objective about his findings. A follower of Smith's might point to the author's Christian beliefs as a reason why this book is tainted, but this is ridiculous. Instead of attacking the messenger, the critics should go after the message...and I don't think this is so easy in this case. I especially like the fold-out color charts of the original papyrii--the book is worth its price just for these alone--and this makes it very easy to follow his explanations throughout the analysis. Visual learners will love it! I believe that this book is very important, for if Joseph Smith were a true prophet of God, and if he did indeed translate the Book of Mormon (the plates from this 1830 book are missing, so we cannot check his interpreting ability here), then we should expect the translation from the "Book of Abraham" to be very accurate. Alas, Smith did not know Egyptian (as proved by Larson); he was able to get away with so much because he lived when the science of translating the language was in its infancy. This is something every Mormon should think about.

As far as those reviewers who do not like the last two chapters where the case for Christianity is presented: Larson is not trying to give the definitive case for his faith. That's not what this book is about. Rather, he was trying to say, If Mormonism is not true, then what is? This is a legitimate question, and I think these chapters were very appropriate where they were placed. To the Mormon, Christian, and atheist alike, I give By His Own Hand my highest recommendation.

Excellent book! Clear and concise presentation of FACTS.
Larson has done a masterful job of presenting the full history of the JSP and its origins, up to the time of it's rediscovery in 1967, and the scrutiny that has followed in the last three decades. He quite clearly brings to light the correct translation of the document by many independent expert Egyptologists and the numerous fallacious responses by Dr. Nibley and other LDS apologists. After reading this book, the conclusions are right there in front of any intellectually honest person, plain as day... Joseph Smith did not come anywhere near a correct translation of the JSP in writing the Book of Abraham, and by extension his credibility has, at the very least, been seriously compromised. Despite what many church leaders endorse, i.e. faith takes precedence over all other things including facts, I strongly endorse the philosophy of "truth takes precedence over all other things (including long held beliefs)", and truth obviously includes facts. Facing truth is sometimes very difficult, but self deception is not an acceptable alternative. Regarding the final chapter that many here have complained about, I just want to point out that Larson's son, who has written a review here, claims that his father did not write this chapter and that he had to include it to get it published. This is very easy to believe as the last chapter takes on a completely different tone and while it may have some value religiously, it is totally out of place for this scholarly piece. It was most likely entirely written by Mr. McElveen mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, who is also very likely associated with the Inst. for Religious Research, which is not so sublty promoting itself at the end of this book. Hopefully future editions will be printed without this chapter as Mr. Larson's son says is likely.

Must reading for anyone interested in the LDS Church
A fundamental claim of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) is that modern-day prophets who receive revelation from God lead the Church. Accordingly, the Church lists as scripture (in addition to the Bible) several other books, including the Book of Mormon, The Book of Moses, The Book of Abraham, and the Doctrine & Covenants (D&C).

Charles Larson's book is the story of how the Book of Abraham came to be.

Each of Smith's creations has a story to tell. The Book of Mormon describes the ancient voyages of Hebrews to the American continent, and their establishment of a vast civilization that smelted iron, cultivated old-world crops, and used domesticated horses to pull chariots (see "Quest for the Gold Plates," by Stan Larson). The Book of Moses claims to be a direct revelation from God regarding the creation of the earth and some aspects of its early history. The D & C contains revelations pertaining to the day-to-day organization and operation of the Church, along with many important revelations about specific and unique doctrines held by the Church, such as polygamy.

Mormons claim that Smith translated the Book of Mormon from plates of gold that he acquired from an angel. After translating the Book of Mormon, Smith said the angel retrieved the plates. Consequently, the gold plates have never been available for skeptical or scientific examination. The other books came directly from the mind of Joseph Smith. So they, too, have no original text with which they can be compared.

The Book of Abraham stands unique among Smith's creations because Joseph Smith claimed to have translated it directly from ancient Egyptian scrolls that were purchased from a man named Chandler, who sold them to LDS Elders (along with other artifacts) for $2,400. Unlike the vanished gold plates, the documents from which Joseph Smith claimed to have translated the Book of Abraham actually exist, and Joseph Smith's "translation" can be compared with the professional opinions of modern-day Egyptologists.

The Book of Abraham thus stands as a unique and direct test of Joseph Smith's self-proclaimed ability to translate ancient documents "by the gift and power of God." The main thrust of Charles Larson's book is that the Book of Abraham, and Joseph Smith, fail the test.

Larson begins by describing how Joseph Smith and the early LDS Saints came across the Egyptian papyri, how they were purchased, and how Joseph Smith began and finished his work of translation. According to Joseph Smith none other than Abraham authored the writings on the papyrus. They tell of the creation of the world and the universe, as well as important information about unique LDS beliefs such as the pre-mortal existence. After Smith's murder, and the subsequent struggle for control of the Church, the collection of papyri became separated from the Saints, found their way to Chicago, and were presumed lost in the great Chicago fire.

Smith, however, included facsimiles of drawings from the papyri in the Book of Abraham. These allowed some measure of scientific examination which, unfortunately for the Church, resulted in early Egyptologists identifying them as nothing more than common Egyptian funerary documents. Although devastating from a scholarly point of view, the Church was sequestered in the Utah frontier and the Saints and their leaders simply ignored these scientific opinions with their typical disdain for "the learning of the world." Furthermore, since the papyri had been presumed lost in the great Chicago fire, apologists for the Church argued that, without the entire collection available for examination, speculation based on the reproductions in the Book of Abraham were premature.

That changed in the spring of 1966 when Professor Aziz S. Atiya found eleven tattered pieces of Egyptian Papyri that matched the description of the Joseph Smith Papyri exactly. On November 27, 1967 the Mormon-owned "Deseret News" announced that:

"A collection of papyrus manuscripts, long believed to have been destroyed in the Chicago fire of 1871 was presented to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints here Monday by the Metropolitan Museum of Art ... Included in the papyri is a manuscript identified as the original document from which Joseph Smith had copied the drawing which he labeled "Facsimile No. 1" and published with the Book of Abraham."

At first there was euphoria among Church scholars at the prospects of Joseph Smith's final vindication. This hope was soon dashed to bits, however, as it became almost immediately obvious that nothing written on the papyri resembles anything in the Book of Abraham. Undeterred, LDS apologists began a campaign of misinformation and apologetics. Their campaign was so effective that in 1974 (nearly ten years after their discovery) when I served a mission for the LDS Church in British Columbia, we were still telling converts that the papyri had been destroyed in the great Chicago fire.

Not only does Larson assemble an air-tight argument that the found documents are the very same ones Smith gazed upon when he translated the Book of Abraham, he does a good job of assembling various other apologetic arguments, and discrediting them one by one.

In writing this book Larson has provided perhaps the most comprehensive examination of the Book of Abraham available to the average reader. It includes the first published full color photographs of the Papyri collection in a foldout glossy photograph. It also has line-by-line translations by Egyptologists side-by-side with the "translation" given by Joseph Smith, an exhaustive appendix, notes section, and index. All of which make this an useful book for future reference after its been read.

For anyone who is honestly committed to the truth about the LDS Church, this is a book that simply cannot go unread.


Gullah Folktales from the Georgia Coast
Published in Paperback by University of Georgia Press (1997)
Authors: Charles Colcock, Jr. Jones and Roger D. Abrahams
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Good Collection of Tales and Interesting Historical Document
This is a collection of dozens of folktales culled from the Gullah tradition. They are mostly from the mid to later part of the 19th century from the coastal lowlands area of Georgia. The hundred + year-old tales are transcribed in a dialect, but they shouldn't be considered authentic renditions of the Gullah creolized language. The book has a great introduction that explains how Jones came to compile the work and write other books on a range of subjects. The dialect of the stories take a while to understand, but the glossary at the end of the book helps explain unfamiliar words. The stories are really good ones, and it is great to see this important book in print.

Gullah Folktales of the Georgia Coast
A must for study of the Gullah culture of the Southern Atlantic states. It is wonderful that the University of Georgia press reprinted Jones's 1888 collection.


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