St. Cyprian of Carthage was one of the giants of the 3rd century North African church. Although his period of ministry was relatively short, ending with martyrdom, the influence he had on the Church, not only in Carthage, but throughout the Christian world was profound.

In these two essays, Cyprian deals with the problems presented by the "lapsed" -- those Christians who, under threat of persecution, renounced their faith in some manner. He also deals with the Unity of the Church under the authority of the See of Rome and the Successor of the Apostles. Sometimes, Cyprian is eisegeted in such as fashion as to suggest that the North African church was independant of Rome. Those who make such suggestions have simply not read nor understood Cyprian in his entirety. While it is true that he was a man of strong passion and conviction -- and was not hesitant to criticize the Bishop of Rome -- Rome held his submission and his obedience -- even when he felt Rome was in error.

A lesson, perhaps, that modern-day Catholics might do well to emulate.

A wonderful, necessary addition to any serious student of Church History.

Many Christians, both Protestant and Catholic, like to refer to St. Cyprian of Carthage to prover their points either for or the authority of the Papacy. It occurs to me that many of these apologists have not actually READ Cyprian! For those persons, and for all others interested in what he REALLY said and thought, read this scholarly translation of two of his more readily accessible works "The Lapsed" dealing with Christians who had broken under persecution, and "The Unity of the Catholic Church" dealing with his relationship as the bishop of a major city, with the Bishop of Rome.

I bought the book because it promised no 'quick-fixes'. I wanted something worth thinking about and this book gave me just that. Profound and emotional truths. I always felt a presence of my extended family in my relationships and so the concept of the constellations intrigued me. Having never done one, I am still a bit skeptical. However, the book is not just that. Bert Gellinger has an unbelievably accurate insight into relationships. I found myself reading his deceptively simple truths and a little light would go on because the concepts seem to verbalize ideas I've known to be true, but never articulated. These concepts alone make the book invaluable.

Additionally, it's a quick read - it's not bogged down with psycho babble. It's direct and thought provoking.

This is Bert Hellinger's best book ( I read them all) but you cannot really go wrong with any of them. I recommend this reading to everyone (even if this is something new for you). His method is a life changing experience. Going through the Family Constellation make one's life easier and filled with much more love for oneself and others. How it all works is wonderfully explained in this book.

If you've ever wanted to know more about the great master, check out this book which was recommended even by the great Menuhin. From start to finish, Schauffler crams the book with tidbits about Brahms ranging from the hilarious to deeply moving.

Read the book in the college library 45 years ago. In the book, Shauffler details a Johannes Brahms not found in most biographies. There are incidents in his early life dealing with his attitude toward women ( and, of course, much later in his relationship with Robert and more especially, Clara Schumann.) There is also a number of stories related to his tour with the violinist Joachim. Details of his meeting with Johann Strauss Jr., his reactions to his own symphonies, his attitude toward his students, reasons why he never married, his early career as a pianist in "sporting houses", his relationship with prostitutes, why he could never marry. There are many technical details about his music that are perfectly understandable to musicians as well as most laymen. A book for the ages if you are interested in the life of Brahms.

"VERMEER'S RIDDLE REVEALED The SPHINX, The JESTER and The GRAIL GEOMETRY" by Robert A. diCurcio

There is a lot to swallow in that title and too much to chew at one sitting, but if one wants to learn about a new discovery concerning this Dutch Master's paintings it is worth the effort.

The author's objective is to prove that Vermeer used Grail Geometry that is hidden in some of his paintings. Like Vermeer's paintings that can be viewed at different levels, this author provides an analysis that delves beneath the paint itself. He painstakingly constructs geometric shapes from positions of objects in the paintings and reveals the artist's intention to hide what is known as the Grail Geometry that leads to a secret map. It is a map known by few that allegedly leads to a sacred burial location, Mt. Cardou, France. It is the author's belief that the artist's Grail Geometry was applied before he began painting and he proves it.

Interwoven with his proof is a discussion of who Vermeer was, what is known of his paintings and why he would use the Grail Geometry. Vermeer was known as "The Sphinx of Delft," i.e. the riddle of Delft, hence, the author's title to this work. In conjunction with his explanation of Grail Geometry, the author adds a riddle of his own and solves it in an attempt to break the tedium of labels and lines. The proof is there if one has an open mind to scientific discovery and will concentrate on finding it. In recent private correspondence, the author has provided reproductions of "The Astronomer" and the "Geographer" that are more clear and simplified to clean up some of the cluttered graphics.

For this reader, uncovering the Grail Geometry in Vermeer's paintings is enough and considered to be an important discovery in the study of art. The author goes further, however, with his discussion and examples of Vermeer as a jester who incorporated supernumeries, hidden faces and beasties in his paintings. Although these visions may be found, they are vague to begin with and made more so by reproduction, some requiring a leap of faith so that they detract from holding the reader's interest in the Grail Geometry. Just when the reader is convinced that the author has met his objective, one is faced with another question, "Now what?" Perhaps the Jester should remain so, but part of an additional publication.

The author includes a bibliography, parts of which the reader should be familiar with, if one is to comprehend the background that led to R. A. diCurcio's discovery.

The first mistake that the reader might make would be to judge this book by its cover. A spiral-bound book is often considered the work of a stubborn amateur who decided to self-publish the result of his discoveries after being rejected by every possible publisher. This hypothesis is soon rejected after checking Amazon's extensive data concerning the author. We find that he wrote other spiral-bound books, among which, one is about his own Nantucket - nothing less than a book about Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick". Of the four books currently listed in amazon.com's online catalog, three of diCurcio's books are spiral bound, while the fourth is a hardcover edition containing almost 100 superb color reproductions of historic paintings. After reading "Vermeer's Riddle Revealed", the purchaser will understand why this book was produced in two spiral-bound volumes: to open both wide and to lay both flat -- so that the text volume and the full-page illustrations volume can easily be compared.

His starting point is something we take too many times for granted. We do not see everything around us. This untouchable truth is, alas, most of the time fully ignored. Our eyes cannot discern every chromatic line of colours (sometimes they can't see some at all), just as our ears cannot hear every possible sound outside the 20 to 20,000 Hz. range. What lies before us is not always perceived.

The "unperceived" is Robert diCurcio's starting point. In his analysis of Vermeer's paintings, his approach seems heretical - he removes all the colours from the paintings he examines. He reproduces them in black-and-white, like those dark illustrations we would prefer to see in colour in art books. But this is exactly the procedure that serves his agenda. The author maintains that Vermeer's paintings conceal a hidden occult geometry - a coordinated pattern of points, lines, and angles. The reader soon realizes that by removing colour to enhance the tonal values used by the artist, the author is able to see - and enables the reader to see -- patterns hitherto camouflaged for centuries. His analysis, demonstrating a geometrical basis for Vermeer's compositions (and some other very remarkable discoveries), appears to be undeniable.

This reviewer has no sympathy for those who might reject these findings by saying that you can see anything you want to see. The patterns are solidly confirmed by careful numbering of features that Vermeer placed at the nodal points of the same pattern that emerges in eight of Vermeer's paintings - in at least eight paintings out of the entire total of only 35 paintings in a lifetime's oeuvre. It is truly remarkable that modern technology - photography, the computer, and the laser printer - has enabled us to dig down below the camouflage of color to see the geometrical tonal patterns that Vermeer painted as underlayment for his masterpieces. One wonders if the Dutch master painter might ever have dreamed that one day the secret patterns, faces, and figures he lightheartedly concealed in the folds of drapery and carpeting would see the light of day some three hundred years in the future.

DiCurcio's work takes the reader into the world of Dutch master painting via the magic carpet of geometry - a field in which he spent many years as a teacher and as an engineer. After reading this extremely interesting book, a quote from Bob Dylan came to my mind: "There's no exit in any direction 'cept the one that you can't see with your eyes."

It was even an adventure to read this book. I couldn't even stop reading in the middle of the night! I hope it was not the last book Johannes wrote!

Johannes Pedersen's "The Arabic Book" is a well written piece on Arabian literature including information on books before islam, much about the Quran and traditional Arabic literature. It includes information on composition, transmission of the books from scribes and booksellers to writing materials to scripts and calligraphy, book painting, binding, and libraries. There is information on the printed book too. It has many a splendid illustration as well. It is hard to find book, but this lil' monkey would highly suggest the search, for the text is well worth it.

An exploration into the meaning of context. Louise Lawler's photgraphs of art objects are at once elegant and mundane, vague and beautiful. Only you, the viewer, can decide what it all means.

I acquired my first copy many years ago, and have worn it out by constant use. It awakened my appreciation of the richness and variety of ethnic arts in Turkestan. It is an excellent introduction and overview of the crafts of the area, from household items of metal, china, and wood, to weaving implements, clothing, jewelry, textiles and horse harness. With regard to women's clothing, and jewelry, one learns that items of jewelry, and colors of garments denote the wearer's age and marital status. Needless to say, I now own many other books on this topic. This is a "must have" book for anyone interested in ethnic arts of Central Asia.

This book is presented in a easy to understand, colourful and informative manner.

As a third year medical student I have to say that book seems to be aimed at those who are new to anatomy, and to these people this book would prove very helpful in gaining an insight into human anatomy. It is presented so as divide the body into systems, which in most medical schools today is outdated, with them preferring a more integrated clinical approach. Having said this, the use of the book is heightened by the inclusion of X-ray pictures, Ct scans and surface anatomy references. The text is pretty limited, but in most atlas' this is the case.

Although this book is definitely not on the same level as the more comprehensive atlas', like those of Grant, and does not provide the same level of factual information as Snell's Clinical Anatomy, it is a well presented, easy to read book which I think would be very useful as a quick glance guide prior to examinations

This is a must-have for the hobby pianist. It contains a varied selection of works of varying difficulty by three of the most famous piano composers of all time. My dad had a copy when I was growing up. I bought myself a copy long before I even bought a piano.