I am almost ashamed to admit that the book version of this title sat on my bookshelf for a year, as I thought it would be a very cumbersome read. Recently I picked up a CD version, of the title, from my local library. (There are approximately 10 CD's, each covering approx. 200 years of history). Now I am devouring the book, wondering why I waited so long to read it. I have borrowed & re-borrowed the CD's from the library, & I listen to them at home over & over again. What I particularly like about this title is the way the author refers to contemporary documents relevant to the time in history being covered. Christopher Lee has taken a subject which, in other's hands, can sometimes be flat & 'dry', & he has created a masterpiece. If you have even the slighest interest in history I urge you to either read the print version of the title, or if you can't get your hands on that beg or borrow a copy, in either print, on tape, or on CD. You WON'T be disappointed. I only wish someone would produce a masterpiece of this calibre for 'other' history e.g. French, Italian etc Oh, & BTW, 'This Sceptred Isle - Twentieth Century' has just hit the shelves in Australia. I have already purchased my copy. I expect it will be every bit as good as '55BC - 1901'

Given sets of these tapes as a holiday gift, I was slowed in my enthusiasm toward the givers. Facing a long drive, with ample entertainment backup, I listened to the first of many tapes. Could history on tape possibly subvert popular culture and current events ? I have now listened to these tapes more than 6 times. The presentation, content, and most of all attitude of the material is addictive. The BBC should be commended again for their quality educational products, and their significant contributions toward restoring the positive reputation of the British people. I HIGHLY recommend purchasing these tapes for yourselves and your children's enlightenment.

I was totally captivated! What an incredible, sweeping history, sumptuously written and produced; rich by far in audio than if it were produced on film. Bravo BBC! At one point I even briefly understood the English soccer hooligans - after all, rampaging around the Continent thumping foreigners is only what their predecessors have done for 1000 years! With an incredibly rich and diverse history and an incalculable contribution to the world's culture (hooliganism excepted!), Britons almost have the right to be admired and to be what they are not - arrogant and boastful. We must admire too, their charm, wit and self-effacing modesty. A tip of the hat from California!

Dr. Heyne was an outstanding professor. In fact, the most memorable and influential of my college "career." You will understand from reading his books how brilliant he was.

This book makes the complex subject of economics very easy to understand, and will cause you to think very differently about social issues. Paul Heyne is also one of the best teachers I've ever had.

If you need a textbook on Economic, and you do not know the theory, you HAVE to read it before you get started. It's also very usefull for businessmen. I've read it in Russian

As one who is friends with Jim Peters, I can recommend this book to anyone who is a Texas history buff, especially those with an interest in Ranger lore. Jim truly was a Ranger when "Rangers were Rangers".

Jim Peters has had a remarkable life, and it's fascinating to read about his adventures as a Texas Ranger. The author makes you feel as though you're right there with Peters and the Rangers as they piece together evidence and track down the bad guys. The fact that these are true crime stories makes them all the more interesting. The ones involving coldblooded killers make you grateful for the courage and dedication of men like Jim Peters. Other stories involving lesser crimes and dumb or unlucky criminals are very funny. A neat book.

Jim Peters, Texas Ranger is extremely readable as it consists of great stories of the activities of this reknowned and capable Texas Ranger. The Rangers, of course, are the best of the best, and Jim Peters was highly respected by his fellows. He was involved in the resolution of a lot of high-profile cases and the book is an interesting piece of both true crime and history.

Psychoanalyst Paul Verhaeghe's recently published "Love in a Time of Loneliness" is one of those rare books that is able to do several things at once--and all of them well. At the most basic level, it provides an answer to all the "men are this, women are that" books on the market. Yes, men and women are different, but it is not a matter of coming from different planets. Verhaeghe gives a serious answer to the question of how the sexes relate--or fail to.

Second, Verhaeghe provides a wide-ranging and well-argued cultural analysis of a number of fascinating questions that the reader might never have thought to ask--simply because our "culture" is, by definition, that which we take for granted. Why do we tell mother-in-law jokes? Why was Abraham asked to sacrifice his son Isaac? Why is the divorce rate so high? What do we fall in love? The answers are in Verhaeghe's book.

Third, the book answers the question, "What is living and what is dead in psychoanalysis?" One hundred years after the publication of Freud's "Interpretation of Dreams," what is still vital in psychoanalysis are the concepts of Freud and French analyst Jacques Lacan, upon which Verhaeghe draws. These concepts exert a explanatory power that goes far beyond facile "social science" answers to life's question. What is dead in psychoanalysis is a reading public familiar with those concepts--but Verhaeghe's book might help to change that. The book provides a kind of "introduction to psychoanalysis," but not the usual kind. Without jargon or tedious academic prose, Verhaeghe brings psychoanalytic concepts to life.

Fourth, "Love in a Time of Loneliness" provides the psychoanalytic and academic audience with a well-developed argument for the continuing relevance of psychoanalysis. The book challenges the traditional model of "applied psychoanalysis." Psychoanalysis is not something that can be "applied" to culture like icing on a cake. Psychoanlaysis takes on its importance at the structural level. Thus culture--in its many different flavors--is the "icing" that obscures the structural cake. Verhaeghe's book, with its structural emphasis, provides an example of the right way to do cultural studies.

Straightforward enough for laypeople, serious enough for scholars and psychoanalysts, "Love in a Time of Loneliness" is a book that should not be ignored. It deserves to be widely read and discussed.

Ask yourself the following question: What is the difference between desire and drive? Whereas the question can be simply asked, it demands an answer that is enormously complex as it forces us to consider such difficult issues as femininity, masculinity, pleasure, death and, indeed, sex. To formulate an answer that is coherent is of crucial importance in order to clear up some of the complexities inherent in human relationships and existence. In the first essay of this book Verhaeghe deals with the problematic sexual relationship between people. Culture regulates desire and pleasure. But why does this regulation not lead to harmony? Science has not been able to provide an answer to this question. The question remains: What is the G-spot of human sexuality? Psychoanalysis provides an answer: the G-spot is a fundamental lack. It is not something that you can rub, stimulate, experiment with, control or predict. It is rather something you have to orientate yourself in relation to. In other words, each individual has to formulate his or her particular response to this lack in sexual harmony. Yet, increasingly more we are told how to do it, when to do it, how many times to do it. Science and (popular)culture prescribe sexual enjoyment, but we are more insecure than ever. Men and women are not the same nor are they complementary and this is precisely what modern science cannot handle because it implies that there is no general solution. In this first essay Verhaeghe makes a strong case for a lacanian perspective on these matters. The seond essay concerns a rereading of the Oedipal structure which is radically different than its traditional interpretation. But what can we gain from such a rereading? Verhaeghe suggests that we can now understand both the current evolution that takes place in society as well as the the different problems that we encounter within this evolution. Verhaeghe explores in this essay the historical evolution of the function of the father. This exploration includes a detailed and original reading of the Oedipus Rex play. Verhaeghe argues that the collective rules of the past that governed and determined the relationships between men and women have largely disappeared and consequently cleared the way for the prescription of pleasure. However, instead of an increase in sexual pleasure, we encounter a kind of impotence for pleasure and enjoyment. Despite all that, men and women are driven to something (in each other). What drives men and women is the subject of the last essay. The third essay deals with the dfficult concept of the drive. For me this is the crucial part of the book. This is the clearest and most comprehensive analysis of the drive (which includes the death-drive) I have read so far. On the basis of a Lacanian reading Verhaeghe has managed to clarify what Freud left in the dark concerning the death-drive. He also shows a way out of the impasse in which Freud's dualistic drive theory ended up. Moreover, in this essay Verhaeghe applies the drive theory to such clinical and cultural areas as crimes of passion, self-mutilation, addiction, sado-masochism, blues, jazz and rap. If the latter three areas come as a surprise read the book and you will indeed be taken by surprise. Not only should this essay give the reader an idea of the depth of the book's analysis, but also of the wide-ranging possibilities of an application of such an analysis. Verhaeghe has written this important book with a Freudian clarity and a lacanian rigour. The easy style makes the strict logic and complex structure, that characterise human relationships and the psyche, accessible for further exploration. More importantly, this book drives one to know more. What more can one desire from a book?

Psychoanalyst Paul Verhaeghe's recently published "Love in a Time of Loneliness" is one of those rare books that is able to do several things at once--and all of them well. At the most basic level, it provides an answer to all the "men are this, women are that" books on the market. Yes, men and women are different, but it is not a matter of coming from different planets. Verhaeghe gives a serious answer to the question of how the sexes relate--or fail to.

Second, Verhaeghe provides a wide-ranging and well-argued cultural analysis of a number of fascinating questions that the reader might never have thought to ask--simply because our culture is, by definition, that which we take for granted. Why do we tell mother-in-law jokes? Why was Abraham asked to sacrifice his son Isaac? Why is the divorce rate so high? What is love? The answers are in Verhaeghe's book.

Third, the book answers the question, "What is living and what is dead in psychoanalysis?" One hundred years after the publication of Freud's "Interpretation of Dreams," what is still vital in psychoanalysis are the concepts of Freud and French analyst Jacques Lacan, upon which Verhaeghe draws. These concepts exert a explanatory power that goes far beyond facile "social science" answers to life's question. What is dead in psychoanalysis is a reading public familiar with psychoanalytic concepts--but Verhaeghe's book might help to change that. The book provides a kind of introduction to psychoanalysis, but not the usual kind. Without jargon or tedious academic prose, Verhaeghe brings psychoanalytic concepts to life.

Fourth, "Love in a Time of Loneliness" provides the psychoanalytic and academic audience with a well-developed argument for the continuing relevance of psychoanalysis. The book challenges the traditional model of "applied psychoanalysis." Psychoanalysis is not something that can be "applied" to culture like icing on a cake. Psychoanlaysis takes on its importance at the structural level. Thus culture--in its many different flavors--is the "icing" that covers the structural cake. Verhaeghe's book, with its emphasis on structure, provides an example of the right way to do cultural studies.

Straightforward enough for laypeople, serious enough for scholars and psychoanalysts, "Love in a Time of Loneliness" is a book that should not be ignored. It deserves to be widely read and discussed.

I have looked at different introductory theory books, and this one was by far the best - clear explanations, very good exercises, good layout.

WOW! VERY VERY VERY effective! I'm a Sophomore in High School, and I learned all of what I know in music theory in 6th grade, due to this series. Very awesome set of books, and is easy enough for a child to understand. I would recommend this to ALL music teachers, (chorus, band, piano, orchestra). It will help your students!! There are 6 books in the set.

I can recommend this to music educators public and private and even Homeschoolers. The lessons are straightforward and thorough. Highly recommend! I'm starting my almost 5 year old on it and he is picking it all up nicely.

Michael Goulder is the most insightful voice I have encountered in the study of early Christianity. His hypothosis of two Christian churches, one headed by Peter and James in Jeruselum and the other headed by Paul during his travels is nothing short of genius. He draws almost exclusively on biblical texts to paint a picture of early Christianity struggling to remain true to its Jewish past (the Petrines) while drawing an ever-growing number of gentile followers (the Paulines). The tension in Goulder's dichotomy sheds a fascinating light on many of the more troubling passages in Acts and Paul's letters, making them instantly come into focus. This is a book which will have you wondering why you never made these connections in the first place. It will also cause you to rethink the traditional views that Paul was writing to oppose the influences of traditional Jews, gnostics, or some other faction. Goulder's insights are simply breathtaking.

Michael Goulder is an outstanding biblical scholar, who usually writes for a scholarly audience, but this book was written for the general reader interested in the history of the Bible and of Christianity. Goulder is no Isaac Asimov, but he does manage to write a book the interested layman can understand. It requires more effort on the reader's part than it would if Asimov had written it, but the effort is still not excessive, and is well worth it.

Paul, a Jew who had been strongly opposed to the "Followers of the Way" (the proto-Christian movement within Judaism) experienced something on the road to Damascus which converted him from an opponent of the Jesus movement to an ardent supporter. Paul was convinced that Jesus' message was not just for Jews, but for all humanity. He took his mission out of Israel, where most of the people were Jews, to Turkey and elsewhere where there were few Jews. He wisely realized that few Gentiles would accept circumcision and the strict Kosher (food) laws of Judaism as a condition of joining the churches Paul was founding, so he downplayed these tough requirements, and did not seek to enforce them. Peter and Jesus' brother James, meanwhile, remained in Jerusalem and kept the Jewish Law entirely. They sent out pairs of missionaries to the churches Paul had established, and these missionaries tried to bring the far-flung churches into line with Jewish law, which Peter and James saw as essential, but which Paul saw as superseded by Jesus.

It will likely never be possible to determine which position the historical Jesus would have taken in this controversy (quite possibly somewhere between Peter and Paul), but it is clear that the Pauline position won out; it has even been suggested that Paul, rather than Jesus, was the founder of Christianity, and in a sense he surely was.

This book is a must read for anyone who wants to know and understand the beginnings of Christianity. Read it and make up your own mind!

Goulder shows how, by appealing to the gentiles, Paul usurped authority from Peter, ending the mission set in motion by Jesus. After reading "St. Paul versus St. Peter," you may agree with A. N. Wilson, who says at the conclusion of his book, "Paul: the Mind of the Apostle," that "Paul, and not Jesus, was...the 'Founder of Christianity.'" Goulder, a professor of Biblical Studies at the U. of Birmingham, U.K., is a gifted writer, making some fairly complex ideas very easy to understand. His book is in need of a bibliography and an index, and this is frustrating if you wish to further explore his ideas, but it is well worth the buy.

Review in the Maine Antique Digest, January, 2000:

"...an interesting and in depth look at Dassonville's life and work in a well-researched essay."

"...beautifully produced book...." 48 color duotone plates printed at 200 line screen on coated paper.

Review in the newsletter of The Friends of Photography:

"This important new monograph reveals the life and work of 20th century pictorialist William Dassonville. The artist's exquisite style is only now beginning to be understood and appreciated, nearly fifty years after his death."

Paul Thompson touches sensitive issues in black and white with "Faces." The African American expereince in America is still being defined. This effort embodies the sincere reflections and insight of an African American looking backwards and forward at the same time. I think it is exceptional and the audio tapes make it convienent. Dr. Bill Adkins, Senior Pastor Greater Imani Church Memphis, Tennessee

Insightful, new angles and completely honest and unfiltered views of the current status of African-Americans, Paul Thompson's Faces Pressed Against the Glass is the first book in 30 years that gives views of African-American culture in terms not chosen by the media or the majority culture. I particularly appreciated Thompson's unique phrasing and his willingness to tackle black subjects that media-chosen black writers are frightened of. A great set of tapes that I hope will soon be in book form on all shelves.

This book is about agirl named Elizabeth.She has a teacher named Mr.Jenkines and it is Halloween morning at school on Mr.Jenkines desk they find a Teddy bear hamster in a black witches cape,but who left it there that is the question? Read There`s a Hamster in my Lunchbox to find out.

I thought this book was funny and the characters were cute (especially Squeaks the hamster.) I would recommend this book if you like mysteries. And if you like animas and humor.

This book is realy great and exciting. My favorite part was when Squeaks the hamster had baies. It was funny when ran away with her babies in last weeks spelling test. At the end Elizabeth teacher gave her one of the babies. Her little sister learned a lesson not to play with the hamster.

I would give this book a newbery award if I could