The ideal audience for this book really has a large range; it is ideal for anyone wanting to experience a "trip" from a hallucinogenic drug without the actual drug. High Priest is an excellent piece of art, it is an encyclopedia of Leary's 16 most life changing "trips" when under various forms of hallucinogens. It is filled with strong imagery to support Leary's want to tell the world about the wonderful hallucinogenic "trip". His style is very unique in that especially in a series of short stories, he can in essence connect them, just as he does in his life with situations. He uses a very intense tone, and style becomes rapid as he submerges into a hallucinogenic state, almost as if you where there with him. Then as he's coming out of it his style loosens and becomes slower, and drowsy. Its almost as if there were two extremes one is cold and gray, and the other is vibrant and full of life. This book will definitely stir your interest about psychedelic drugs and the life behind it. Leary's intense flavor and swirling style can sometimes almost be frightening especially when he discusses his inner emotions about death, and his chilling way of expressing his views on the "life changing trips". I think this book is very educational depending on your view of education, and can teach people, things about other cultures that may not be their own, a counterculture if you will. I recommend High Priest to anyone with a thirst for knowledge and an open mind.

essential reading for the humanist, the individualist, the psychedelicist and the lover of freedom.

Tim Leary reminds us what it means to be American.

A simultaneous explanation of why, and why not. The depiction of an appealing experience that within itself shows glimpses of why it may be best left wonderment.
You can get so trapped in the micro while reading this book that it's easy to forget that these thought processes helped shape this country, and etched themselves in time to never be forgotten.
Basically Dr Leary takes us through several "trips" in different settings, and with different participants and hallucinogens. If you're waivering on whether or not this book is for you, I would say the entertainment value alone is worth it. If the subjectmatter is of some interest to you, you'll love it.

Oh, the book is too serious to describe it just in few words. It is extremely detailed and requires broad knowlegde of the subject. It covers Irish history from the earliest times of written sources or even earlier - from the times that we only know from sages and myths to approximately 12th century. This book is a must for all the people who are scholarly interested in Irish history, but can be hard to read for people who are not that serious about it. So, I stronly recommend it to all history students, but I would advise all the diletans to prepare themselves better before they begin reading this great and very important book.

Medieval Irish history is a minority-interest field to begin with, but finding a good secondary source that accurately separates myth from history is difficult at best. F. J. Byrne, always a thorough historian, has produced what could be the definitive history of the medieval Irish political world. It is a general work, to be sure, and in that lies its strength. Until recently, the histories available to students of medieval Ireland had a fair amount of questionable data and did not focus specifically on the ever-changing political and ecclesiastical influences that the rulers of the time had to deal with.
Byrne's work is also invaluable because, unlike many other histories, it is not provincial in scope, but rather manages to grasp the political climate of medieval Ireland in total. His presentation is effective, and his writing style is far from boring. This work belongs in the forefront not only of medieval Irish history, but also of regional historical studies worldwide.

Duffy's approach to school improvement is cutting-edge and practical. In this book, he provides detailed guidance on how to plan and carry-out a complete redesign of an entire school system. In particular, I found Chapter 14 to be very interesting and exciting. This is where he describes a new approach to school improvement he calls Knowledge Work Supervision (KWS). KWS, Duffy says, is a process that aims to improve three sets of key school system variables: how the work gets done, the social architecture of the school system, and the system's relationship with its broader environment. Great stuff! I highly recommend this book to anyone who is responsbile for planning and carrying out school improvement on a systemwide basis. Culain Corcoran

The Bible is full of mind-boggling antitheses. If you have been wondering what Jesus meant by what He said in the Beatitudes, and what He meant by taking up the Cross, then this book will hit the nail on the head. The Cross is a very central theme in the Bible, and cannot be overemphasised by Jesus. Frances Roberts is able to unveil what many preachers have conveniently left aside because of its complicated applications. Many Christians have not understood what "rest" is, as evident by the many hurried activities and scurrying around to do "Christian work." Roberts, like Watchman Nee and Francis Frangipane, takes pains to make sure that the reader understands what his priority should be.

All three authors write in detail about the Cross, but Roberts gives the clearest and most vivid pictures of what is required of us by the Lord. He is so practical in his advice that it is hard to avoid the point he tries to bring across.

With major themes like stillness versus activity, confidence versus doubt, contentment versus outward achievement, holiness versus sacrifice, disentanglement versus involvement, no Christian attempting to know the heart of the Father should be without this book. It simple puts us on the right road when so much misconception exists about what Christianity is all about.

Not much needs to be said----Its the Bible of plains archaeology

The central thesis of this book is that the continuously falling cost of information will be the main source of future wealth for individuals and corporations. McInerney and White start by establishing four Laws. First, cheap information allows customers to pay lower prices. Second, as the cost of information falls, computer power shifts from big computers to small ones. Third, value added always flows to the least regulated,and Fourth, the three Laws operate simultaneously. Based on their experience as consultants to corporations, McInerney and White assert that four companies, Charles Schwab, Wal-Mart, Dell Computers, and Cisco Systems, conform precisely to their specifications. They discuss many others as well. Although a lot of information is covered in short chapters, the book is easy to read and it should be of interest to those concerned with wealth creation in the ever changing new economy.

An excellent read. Their blunt candor in this era of obfuscation is refreshing. The insights and predictions certainly provide food for thought.

Good book. The author writes a lot about what is not going to work. But not enough light is shed on the actual future. The book is way off mark in predicting the death of telephones. Are we all going to talk over the net? Worth a read.

Uneventful fluff about british horse racing. No mystery, no murder, a good way to kill time as well as brain cells.

High Stakes was an excellent novel. I chose to read it because it focuses on horses and because I have read other books by this author. This novel was a page-turner because there were several twists in the plot. It was easy to relate to the main character and feel what he was feeling, as if his life was yours. The book had certain sections that the reader really had to think about, because the plot was complicated at times. Also, the author has a way of not describing something until the last possible moment. For example, the characters discussed a critically important plan, and the reader themselves did not know what it was until the plan was executed. At times this made the novel some-what confusing, but did not result in the book being misunderstood. In the future I would read another book by this author.

High Stakes marks the beginning of Dick Francis' (or Mrs. Dick Francis, depending upon who actually writes his books) writing for the American market. Tho' not the bone-cruncher the earlier books were, his toy maker is one of the more likable protagonists and the beginning zings!

Maybe if this author would have done a little more than light reseach for this book they would have a more accurate book. I flipped through this in a bookstore and immediately noticed one major inaccuracy right off the bat: the pentagram rituals are completely wrong. The earth banishing pentagram is used ONLY for the LBR and not all four banishing pentagrams as shown in this book.
Despite the many other inaccuracies it is a nice book, too bad it's context was written by an outside researcher.

This book has some value. But somethings are wrong. The use of the wand and the dagger are BACKWARDS! Air is dagger, fire is wand. Not the reverse. Too simplified. Read Kraig's Modern Magick

This is a well organized and delightful reference book on the basic elements of magic. It covers the basics, including setting up an altar, what the basic tools are and how to consecreate them, succinct chapters on the Tree of Life, the major arcana and assigned to the twenty-two paths of the Tree, including the occult meaning for each of these cards based on Hermetic philosophy, and instructions for performing the major rituals essential to magic study, including the Kabalistic Cross, the Middle Pillar, the Greater and Lesser Rituals of the Pentagram and the Hexagram, and more. The chapter on Alchemy includes a pithy section on condensers, gold condensers, Universal solid and liquid condensers, Elemental fluid condensors, plus tinctures and other alchemical processes. There is even a section on the tattwa cards used for meditation and scrying, popularized by the Golden Dawn.

This book is quite condensed and the information is well organized, concise, and ready to use. It serves as a good overview of the essentials of ritual magic, and while it does introduce these concepts, perhaps this book would be more for the intermediate occultist looking to take the leap.

This book is not just another rehashed magic text. Some of the topics, like the Alchemical processes, are not often found in general magic books.

A worthwhile read.

The writter forgot that this was a book about a mountaineer. This could have been an exciting, inspiring book about a great climber and instead its a book about someone's ramblings since other more interesting books were apparently already written

Roper's mixture of first-rate journalism and top-notch story telling make this thrilling and tragic biography of mountaineer Willi Unsoeld unfold with page-turning immediacy. The use of the present tense and the beauty of the descriptive writing make the reader feel as though he is on each expedition. As one life-and-death scenario after another unfolds, the story never becomes sensationalized, and the medical and technical information is always handled clearly. This is a fascinating look at a subculture rife with egos, infighting and betrayals, in which Unsoeld emerges as a true hero for our time. As Roper explores what, exactly, mountaineers are after and what, if anything, they owe the rest of us, Unsoeld's life ultimately serves as a microcosm for the history of mountaineering, and for man's place on the planet. But this isn't just a guy's guy book; it also explores and celebrates the role of women mountaineers, such as Unsoeld's beautiful and spirited daughter, Devi, who's remarkable relationship with her father and heartbreaking demise make this an unforgettable read.

Robert Roper has written a gripping account of one of mountain climbing's most charismastic figures, Willi Unsoeld. "Fatal Mountaineer" will appeal both to mountaineering and adventure enthusiasts and to any serious reader looking for a wrenching drama set in an exquisite landscape.

Framed by the story of Unsoeld's eventual demise in an avalanche on Mt Rainier, the centerpiece of the book is the detailed narrative of a fateful ascent of Nanda Devi, India's tallest mountain, by a group of elite climbers. Roper carefully dissects the tensions that emerge from Day One of the expediton between the hard-charging, summit-oriented alpha males of the pack and those sympathetic to the transcendental, growth-oriented perspective of Unsoeld. Included among this latter contingent is Devi Unsoeld, who was named after this mythopoetic mountain, and tragically becomes, or merges with, its resident goddess.

Roper's writing is crisp and nuanced, and he is able to bring an immediacy to events he has reconstructed from multiple and often contradictory or sanitized versions of events. Within the first chapters, I felt as though I were in the tent debating whether an ill member of the team, and thus potentially the weakest link (it does not help that this particular climber is also a woman)should make the trek or head back to base camp.

Roper tells not only the outward bound story of a mountain-climbing expedition but also draws us within the psyches of the characters, explicating the motives behind this most enigmatic of human undertakings.

I would urge readers to go out any buy this book before the Spring thaw.

You know about those redundant books that many occultists talk about? Well this is one of them. Please don't waste your money on this book. Yes, I know that I titled this "OK-for the beginner", but for the beginner I would strongly suggest Modern Magick by Donald Kraig.

Well...I think it borrows alittle too much from the Golden Dawn traditions, and the consecrating your elemental weapons section is alittle too Judeo-Christian centered for my tastes. However I must say that it still remains one of the classic texts, and a fairly decent introduction for those wishing to practice magic. The tarot and divination sections are excellant, which is primarily why I rate this as high as I do. If you simply wish to be a ritual magician and don't care about differing traditions then go ahead and buy the book. I would suggest however the purchase of additional books, and possibly look up information on the web, to round out the studys.

"Techniques of High Magic - A Handbook of Divination, Alchemy, and the Evocation of Spirits" has been around for a quarter of a century placing it in the category of a 'classic' in its own time. In an increasingly fickle market where many beginners books come and go, "Techniques of High Magic" has managed to hold its own. While the authors present little material that is original, most of it coming from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, they do organize it in an easy to understand, orderly, and usable manner. The shortened rituals they present for the consecration of the four principle Elemental Tools alone is worth the price. Chapters on astral projection, divination, the tarot, and evocation round out the text.