Read how Jen the Gelfling saves his planet from being ruled forever by the cruel Skekies. Learn how He Meets Kira, Augrah,and a fuzzball with teeth called Fizzgig. See how he sayes the Pod people! This book is hard to find, but it's worth it!

Thank You Jim Henson were ever you are

Delightful, enthralling fantasy based on the cinematic creativity of the late Jim Henson, this book proves much deeper than mere action-oriented adventure--of which there is plenty. Almost a psychological novel, THE DARK CRYSTAL reveals the coming-of-age of the last male Gelfling on the planet of Thra. From his quiet, dreamy existence in the secluded valley with the ponderous but cerebral urRu, Jen must suddenly depart on a Quest whose details are not fully explained to him. This gentle boy leaves his comfort zone in a desperate attempt to save his planet from another miillenium of destructive rule.

Jen's goal is to find a special crystal shard and reunite it with the mother crystal--now dark with grief and anger at the senseless destruction. This crystal is coveted and guarded in the Dark Castle by the vicious race of Skeksis, who terrorize the planet with their bat spies and insect zombies. Our unlikely hero has only his flute and his wits to guide him, but several surprise friends offer help and advice along his dangerous odyssey--including the last girl Gelfling. Together they race against celestial time, as the Great Conjunction of the triple suns is imminent.

I must admit that I picked up the book because I had seen the mesmerizing movie, in which no human face is seen, yet the characters express and inspire human emotions. But this novel stands proudly on its own merit, just as the Dark Cyrstal hangs mysteriously suspended in mid-air. This is high adventure at its best, coupled with penetrating psychological drama, as the author reveals the various nefarious schemes and motivations of the evil characters. Also the vacillations and maturation of the innocent Gelfling pair, driven by ancient Prophecy. Fear no Hollywood hack job, but settle back to enjoy a wonderful read--for kids of All ages!

This is a really useful book for those who are approaching death and those who are critically ill and don't know what the outcome will be. I'm not Episcopalian, but felt really supported in terms of ethical and spiritual help when my father was dying and I read it.

When confronted by potentially controversial ethical issues, such as those surrounding death and dying, churches rarely distinguish themselves. There are a number of pitfalls. Knowing that they cannot please anyone, they may simply remain silent, abdicating their responsibility to provide moral guidance. Worse, they may make pious-sounding, but vague, pronouncemnts that address issues without actually saying anything. When take clear positions, they may have a hard time making a convincing connection to their own tradition. This work avoids all those pitfalls. The Episcopal Church's End of Life Task Force addresses issues such as assisted suicide clearly and concisely even as they respect the human anguish and moral ambiguities involved.

Although specifically Anglican in perspective, the early chapters offer an understanding of death and its place in human life--including theologically appropriate uses of medical treatment/resources--that will be of value to all Christians (and others interested in what religious traditions have to say). After discussions of mourning, the church's role, and social policy issues like access to health care and the importance of palliative care, the book provides several very helpful resources for use in local parishes. This book by a distinguished panel of clergy, ethicists, physicians, and attorneys (not to imply that any of those categories excludes any of the others!) can serve as a useful resource for all who want to make the end of life a more faithful experience, both for themselves and for others.

"Compelled To Appear In Print, The Vicksburg Manuscript of General John C. Pemberton" was a work-in-progress for the past 137 years. David M. Smith brings it to the light of day with the justice it deserves. His views and those of Edwin C. Bearss, Historian Emeritus, National Park Service will secure this work among the finest written on the Confederacy for years to come. Let's hear more from him!

This book is built on a newly-discovered, never published manuscript by Confederate General John Pemberton, commander at Vicksburg when it surrendered to Grant. The manuscript itself is substantial...85 pages in this book's format. To position the manuscript, Dave Smith has written an excellent summary of the Vicksburg Campaign. Further, he adds a chapter on the conflicts and issues in the relationships among Pemberton, General Joseph Johnston (Pemberton's superior), and Confederate President Jefferson Davis. After the manuscript, he adds a chapter on his conclusions from his study of the Pemberton manuscript.

Pemberton wrote the document in the late 1870's before his death in 1881, to respond to Johnston's autobiographical NARRATIVE OF MILITARY OPERATIONS. Even after 120 years, the anger and hurt comes through. Johnston had essentially placed the blame for the loss of Vicksburg on Pemberton, citing his incompetence and disobedience of orders. Pemberton takes each of Johnston's eight charges, and argues his side of the case. Smith has made this more understandable for the reader by inserting (in easily distinguishable font and italics) the specific exerpts from the Johnston book to which Pemberton was referring; many of Pemberton's points would have been lost to me without those insertions.

Another specific contribution which Smith made to the manuscript itself was his description of a visit by Davis and Johnston to Pemberton and Vicksburg in December, 1862 (before the Vicksburg Campaign would escalate in the spring and culminate on July 4th). Given the fact that Davis, Johnston, and Pemberton seemed only a few weeks later to have no agreement or common thinking on their strategy, one wonders what they talked about during their several days together. Certainly, they MUST have talked about whether Vicksburg must be held at all costs....but in the spring, Johnston seemed to think not while Davis and Pemberton certainly thought it must. Perhaps they never considered what to do in a siege....but, if not, what were they really expecting Grant to do? He certainly had given no indication of giving up easily! This lost opportunity for strategic alignment echoes through the Pemberton manuscript, as I read it.

For me, Pemberton presents his case in a compelling, convincing, and interesting manner. To my (amateur) reading, he does not often imply that he knew in 1863 everything that he would know when writing in the late 1870's. However, on one occasion, he did allow himself to refer to Johnston as "the great master of retreat", taking advantage of the reputation Johnston would get during his portion of the Atlanta Campaign in 1864.

Johnston does not come out of this book in very good shape. In fact, the picture of Johnston is very reminiscent of that in Jeffrey Lash's DESTROYER OF THE IRON HORSE. In fact, one of Lash's primary examples of Johnston's misuse of the railroads occurred during the Vicksburg Campaign, when he lost of large quantity of Confederate rolling stock and engines by waiting too long to order their movement to safer locations. Smith summarizes Johnston's failure to take any action to relieve Pemberton in Vicksburg by saying that he "either had no intention of acting or was incapable of mustering the courage and energy to face the situation". Personally, it seems to me to have been the latter. The puzzling, frustrating impact of Johnston's inertia comes through clearly in the Pemberton manuscript.

This is an excellent book, very readable and quite interesting. Smith's background chapter will assist the reader who is not familiar with the Vicksburg Campaign to understand it well enough to follow Pemberton's discussion. That understanding is aided by several simple, clear, excellent maps. One does not need to be a military history scholar to appreciate this book. However, as Ed Bearss' introduction makes clear, even the elite class of military history scholars will likely also find this book worth their while.

this book is sensitively written and full of fascinating details, which bring the history alive.

This book kept my interest cover to cover. Lawrence Cane is obviously the epitome of a soldier and family man, the essense of the American service man in W.W. 2. From basic training thru the occupation of Germany,he was a man who had not only to fight for his place in the war ,but then to fight the war from the first wave to hit the beach on Normandy,to the liberation of the concentration camps, to time spent in the rebuilding of Germany in Eisleben.

A wonderful book I enjoyed it very much I thought it was a happy spin on such a trajic life. Much better than the movie.

This book is perfect! I wouldn't change a thing about it. Find a copy and by it!

I'm very interested in the powerful tapestry of the US homefront during WWII. This book provides a wide variety of first hand accounts of what was happening and more importantly how people felt about these events. The power comes from the fact that the words were written at the time rather than as later rememberances tainted by subsequent experiences. The only selectivity is in the letters people chose to save. But I think the authors have done a good job in trying to mitigate this natural bias by drawing from a wide variety of sources.

This book of letters is so revealing of that period in time. It lays the emotions of the women left behind during war time right out in the open for all to feel and experience. This book has become a part of my life. I work at a college and when we have a program that needs a reading done I am always called on to read from "my" book of WWII letters from home. I feel like these letters are my children and each one is crying out to be heard and I really do hate to have to pick only a couple to read. This book is that good. I feel that this book should be read by everybody especially young people. I get very good response after my readings and some very emotional responses as well. This is a truly wonderful book and I recommend it to everyone.

A colleague had this book and we all used it on a regular basis because, as engineers, our job requires us to present everything with data. Therefore, we need to understand the statistics behind the data. This book is very easy to read and understand for those of us that have some statistical background but are not experts. It was a great reference for our group. Now that that colleague has left, we needed to get another copy!!

This is the eleventh book in Chaosium's Cthulhu Cycle series. This volume features tales of Lovecraft's most well-known creation, the octopus-headed entity, Cthulhu. Included are the foundational stories (i.e. "The Call Of Cthulhu" by H.P. Lovecraft and "The Black Island" by August W. Derleth), some rare reprints (i.e. "Some Notes Concerning A Green Box" by Alan Dean Foster) and some interesting new stories of Cthulhu in the modern world (i.e. "Rude Awakening" by Will Murray). In any collection the stories are of varied quality but I enoyed the majority of the works collected. If you are a reader of Lovecraft's Mythos fiction then this is a must for your library.

Red Sonja: Demon Night

"She lived in a savage world in an uncivilized age - a world ruled by men and governed by the sword. They called her Red Sonja - for her flame red hair and the smoldering fire of her pride. Falsely charged with the murder of a commander to whom she had sworn allegiance, Red Sonja must flee or be killed without a chance to clear her name. Deep in the desert she encounters the city of Elkad, and, exhausted, seeks shelter there. She enters the city against her better judgment, for hanging before the gates are the shriveling bodies of six young women, clearly the victims of some blood-thirsty ritual....." A great book - fantastic action and interesting characters - One of the most fascinating aspects is the obsession of Red Sonja's pursuers....It's unfortunate that these books are out of print, they certainly beat some of today's fantasy offerings.....

Dreadful David has been in print continuously since 1984. The edition I have seen most lately is small and slim, but has the same text and the same lively illustrations at a very attractive price. David is an energetic little bloke, busy and endearingly naughty. His original admirers now sometimes have children of their own!