As a person who happens to enjoy civil war history, I found the historical perspectives really interesting. I thought that the main characters showed the emotional restraints appropriate to the times. But it was not a book I wanted to cuddle up and read. The constant discussion of sawing off limbs, while a part of that period, was not exactly conducive to a restful sleep. It had good historical detail, nice characters, kept your interest, and moved quickly. While this seems to be a love story, there is too much "blood and guts" in the book to really consider it a true romance novel.

An excellent historical account of the Civil War and the harsh realities associated with the worst war in United States history. Characters were well developed and true to their time period. A romance woven into the bloody, cruel asspects life on the battle front. Lorena is realistic and compasionate. Not a book for the weak of stomach, but for those that appreciate a wonderful story. GREAT READ!

As much as I like Chaosium, I'd say this 'world' for RPG play comes in at the bottom of what I consider the "Big 3" of Immortal roleplaying (Being Immortal, Unknown Armies, and Nephilim).

Plusses - the occult and magic systems are incredibly well thought out, and you can tell hours upon hours of effort was made in making the supernatural beings and powers as based in actual legend / myth / occult 'truth' as possible. This book really does a good job of making the world 'real', and the way the occult and magic fit into the world feels natural in a way that many RPG world-systems dont. Another nice thing about the system is that it's very temporally flexible. It's incredibly easy to adapt this to a medieval setting, or even something along the lines of ancient egypt / assyria / crete, the system can accomodate different times with few problems.

Minuses - this is a personal opinion, but the character archtypes and races just did not strike me as very interesting. This might be a consequence of the more 'natural' setting, but it seems to lack the "oooh! I want to play that!" factor that alot of supernatural systems can bring. Character creation, and the systems in general, is also somewhat dry and complex. While Unknown Armies has a very easy system to learn, and Immortal's system is very complex at first but becomes a great asset to play once mastered, the systems in Nephilim seem somewhat dated and 'by-the-book'. Of course, this may not be a downside to you,

I actually ended up using this book (and the supplements) more as "idea-boosters" for other campaigns I run in Unknown Armies and Immortal. The world-views are similar enough that ideas from one sourcebook translate quite easily to another series. And while i'm not a big fan of the characters or system, the sourcebooks do contain alot of material to jog the creative mind, which makes them worth a purchase if you are an ST who runs occult / supernatural / immortal themed games.

... and the most realistic, too. I recognize so many things from real occult teachings, it makes the game very fun and engrosing to play. I highly recommend it to those RPGers interested in metaphysical/occult.

How much I learned from this book! Had never done a bible study before, and this was a good choice, for sure. Lots of history here and Vos is not an overtly religious writer. Took me a long time, as I was constantly going back and forth between this book and all the references to the Bible. Definitely worth the effort. In today's times, with all the troubles in Israel now, the study of its origins was fascinatiing, if not encouraging.

The American Cowboy was written by Phillip Ashton Rollins, a cowboy who lived the Old West in the late 1800's. He looks at the beginnings of ranching, the ranchmen and farmers of the west, the cowboy character, what he wore, his equipment, and furnishings including saddles, a typical days work, branding and round-up, the cattle drive, breaking horses, his diversions and recreations along with rustling and trailing. Rollins speaks from experience having tutored under Jim Bridger, participated on cattle drives from Texas to Montana and lived on a Cheyenne Indian reservation. He also witnessed Wyoming's "Rustler War" in 1892. This work is an invaluable account for anyone attempting to gain insight into the life and times of the American cowboy in the old west, 1870 - 1900. In completeness, readability, accuracy, it is the equivalent of the long time classic Civil War book, "Hardtack and Coffee" by John D. Billings - a soldier who gives the reader an open window into the life and times during the Civil War.

This is a good primer of Skinner's life. It provides clarification regarding the origin of Skinner's ideas and charts the course of his personal and intellectual development through his career.

This is a good book about Barrow, Alaska. It covers a lot of information on the city. However, I didn't quite like the format of the book. It is put together in an A-Z format. You look up what you want to know, such as "Schools" and the information is there. But other than that, the book has all the information you would need if you wanted to learn about the town of if you are planning on going there.

I encountered this book when I was taking a course in "History and Systems" of psychology. Although the subtitle of the book is "The History and Evolution of Dynamic Psychiatry," it had value for me because of its coverage of Janet, Freud, Adler, and Jung. It was a monumental task for the author to produce this work of 932 pages. It is remarkably well researched, and for me as a psych grad student the bibliographical information often pointed me in the direction of references that I would not have known about without additonal library work.

The study of psychology is cumulative. The knowledge of the past builds the base of the work and research of the present time. Thus, we begin with a base in the mists of time with the shamans and witchdoctors, proceed through philosophers and medical practitioners of the past, into the work done by modern practitoners and academics. So also is the world of the psychology student one of building upon prior knowledge not just from prior courses taken in a program of study, but also what is learned from the great minds of psychology and psychiatry help form the student's own attitudes.

Although this book will probably not appeal to the average reader of "Psychology Today" magazine, its value is that it presents a lot of psychological theory in an easily understandable form without unnecessary professional jargon. It made some difficult concepts understandable to me, and for that reason it has value to libraries, advanced psychology students, and mental health professionals.

This delightful little book is a wonderful way to begin teaching youngsters about inventions. Children like to use everyday objects in new ways and Pape & Winkowski's book capitalizes on this inventive spirit in a playful manner. From the Witch Watch Machine to the Melting Pot Machine, rhyming couplets tell as much about unique problems as their solutions. It has children ages 5-9 asking for more. Cinderella herself might join in the laughter as the CinderSander machine entry is read.

This is a great text for fourth year medical students and for those about to enter their EM residency. While the book is occasionally biased with the clinical slants of the authors, it does an impressive job of taking you through various thought processes, pointing out common errors, and referring to literature-based clinical decisions. The format also makes for an easy read that is both enjoyable and informative.

Celine may not quite be the greatest writer of the twentieth century (though he's certainly damned good), but he gets my vote hands down for most interesting. The man was a complete enigma; an endless pile of contradictions. Vitoux, to his credit, does not try to provide a pat 'answer' to the unanswerable questions of the man's life, but if you want a detailed look at what actually happened, you'll certainly find it here. Vitoux writes with a passion and intensity befitting his subject, peppering the book with quotes from Celine's books and letters, as well as those of many other important people in his life. But, it must be said, the REAL treat to be found here is probably the photo section, which features several pictures of Celine with his beloved Bebert--it's truly a sight to see this battered, disreputable-looking guy with cat contentedly dozing on his lap. Recommended to all Celinians.