this book includes one of the most helpful accounts of the connection between the 'social contract'and the 'second discourse'in rousseau's philosophy that i've ever read. hoffman is clear and to the point, but manages, at the same time, to bring up original and insightful points about the rousseauian project. i highly recommend it.

Compared to it's successors, the Hurricane and the Spitfire, the Gloster Gladiator hasn't been much published. This book shows that this plane deserves far more than it got attention-wise. Quite a few of the great names flew Gladiators, the RAF's last fighting biplane and one of the best ever produced. This is a distinction that only the Italian Fiat Cr42 could hope to match as you learn in this book, one of the few about this plane since the classic "The Gloster Gladiator" from Francis K. Mason in 1964, which set the standard about publishing this plane for the last 38 years. This year not only saw the book by Andrew Thomas, but a book by Alex Crawford as well...

Pastor Walter S. Thomas and Allison Brown have served up a wonderful, well-seasoned book of devotions that everyone, everywhere can relate to and enjoy. Pastor Thomas has an extremely unique, yet down-to-earth approach in his preaching that permeates through the pearls of wisdom Allison Brown selected and presented. These are some of the most humorous, heartfelt and healthy servings out there today.

Hoving offers a well-researched view of the inside of the Metropolitan Museum of art. We see all the dirt concerning Thomas Hoving, director of the museum for many years. We learn about the donors of several of the museum's masterpieces, how purchases are made, the kind of politics that guide the museum, and, finally, about the colorful personalities that were involved in the decision-making. I loved every minute of it.

Everyone has heard of this trial. However, until I heard this rendition of the trial and play I wasn't as interested. This play sheds new light on it and makes it so much more interesting and actually brought it to life for me.

This is another comprehensive worldbook from SJ Games. It's designed for GURPS, but it could be used by ANYONE wanting to design an Egypt-based RPG. In fact, it should be useful to fiction writers wishing to set fiction in ancient Egypt--just throw out the game statistics and use the chapters on history and culture.

It's in chapters such as these that SJGames supplements shine. A richness of detail backed by solid research put at the fingertips of any GM the basic and not-so-basic knowledge that turn a generic adventure into a vivid, fulfilling story set against a rich backdrop.

Egypt is more than pyramids and mummies, and this book proves it. You want to know about the historical rulers? The details of the religion--and how it changed over time? The technologies we understand (and those we don't)? It's all here.

An egyptologist might find this book lacking; a gamer will probably find more than she needs.

Worth every penny.

Anyone looking for information on primative burials in the southwest knows how hard this information is to come by. I was glad to see an actual archaeological dig written up so well. The pictures are equally interesting in showing positions of the bodies and possibly the significance of such. Although the dig site is in New Mexico and occupied in the 1300's it was especially interesting to see that in one burial, there was a "cache" of points that were of Texas origin AND from the Archaic time frame. The book also includes tons of charts and graphs for the very serious archaeologists out there.

Over the centuries the gentry and nobility of England and Wales have displayed their wealth and power through the magnificence of their dwellings. Heraldry is a visual form of identity, used to display ownership. In this well-researched and illustrated book two officers of the English College of Arms write with authority about the heraldry to be discovered in many different forms in some historic homes under the management of the National Trust of England. This book is a joy to read and browse, for the serious student of heraldry, and those seeking a deeper understanding of the uses of heraldry as seen in historic homes of Britain.

Sasse is important not only because he is a famous Lutheran theologian who was around during Nazi Germany. More important, as this book demonstrates, the residual influence this man had upon his students and their students with the adapt theology of this great Christian.

Sasse was such an astute man of the history of the Christian church, and at the same time, an excellent exegete. His thought process is profound and succinct. Almost at times like the apostle John, appearing simple in sentence structure and vocabulary, yet profound when you begin to unpack each word with its depth and richness of meaning.

In this volume are the speeches of the Sasse conference by his students, i.e. Nagel, Feuerhahan, Kleinig, Marquart, Hardt. Also, other contributors influenced by Sasse contribute to this volume.

The contents are rich and vibrant with the substance of theology. Besides commentary of Sasse's life and writings, articles include: his relationship with the Third Reich, on worship, the confessing apostolic and catholic church, his reaction and interaction with Barth and natural theology, the mystery of sacred scripture, and his relationship with Rome.

From Sasse's own words come this admonition to the church: "When does the church exert its greatest influence in the world? When it is the church, wholly church and nothing else! When it brings its message which is alien to this world, to a world which wants to know nothing of it."

This book has been the standard history of Calvinism since it first came out. McNeill is NOT a calvinist but I don't detect any really biased statements. The narrative is quick and moves from the start of the Swiss reformation through the impact of Calvinism on modern culture. Of course, the last section is the least developed since it was written before the current revival of Calvinism and the rise of Reconstructionism and the "reprint Puritan" phenomenon. Still the best.