This book must be the definitive biography on General Beauregard. I was highly impressed. William's uses 4 to 6 different sources for each quote and incident. This book tells more about Beauregard than many Civil War Buffs know. William's goes into the Beauregard and Davis feud that lasted not only the entire war, but to their dying days.
I feel it is unfortunate that the feud prevented Davis from employing Beauregard, rather than putting inferior Generals in Beauregards place.
Beauregard seems to be quite the inventor, with a sharp intellect. ( Beauregard once proposed the Confederate Army use Rockets with explosive war heads, a design he had figured out. The Confederate Government thought that idea was too radical, total nonsense, and disregarded it)
William's believes Beauregard performed his best battle in Petersburg 1864, and uses ample sources, and references to make that conclusion, which I agree with.
I've often thought Beauregard would have made a better President than Jefferson Davis, it seems that William's has this belief also.
I must say that William's seems to be a little hard on Davis, I don't know if all of that is justified, though I'm sure some certainly is.
I don't believe there is a better biographical book on P.G.T. Beauregard.

"The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant" is a project begun in 1962 for the purpose of publishing all the known letters written by Ulysses S. Grant. Volume one was published in 1967 and there are now twenty-four volumes in the series. People who follow Grant's career are aware of the inestimable value of this project. The Papers contain all known correspondence written by Grant and letters received by him. The editing of the series is unparalleled and the volumes represent primary source material at its apex.

Those who believe Grant was a "drunkard" or a "butcher" should read his own words, which show Grant's humor, pathos and unique personality. Masterfully edited by John Y. Simon, these volumes are a "must have" for anyone with an interest in U.S. Grant as a general, a politician and as a man

I first heard about this truly splendid book from my history teacher at university. When finally I read it; all the stuff I had learned at university began to come together and make sense! This book is easy to read, very well structured, and with some very good references at the end of each chapter. Why it is not being re-printed is beyond me! All the things I needed and wanted to know about prehistoric times in the British Isles is to be found in this book. Publishers - get a grip! Kind regards Mrs Malene Persson

Loveman & Davies are pioneers. They establish a trail that is difficult to overlook. I know of no book in the nation that covers so much ground with such a wide array of experts. This is clearly an important book for anyone who wants to understand the Military in Latin America.

Lacking confidence in your decision-making abilities? This book will help you achieve a high level of confidence to make faster and more effective practical decisions for your school.

CONTENTS: Preface; List of Tables and Figures; Setting the Direction; Decision Making Defined; Core Steps in Decision Making; Adapting the Core Steps; Use of Structuring Devices; Designing Your Own Road Map for Decision Making; Structuring Devices; Four Illustrative Cases; Team Facilitation Tips and Techniques; Warning Signs on the Road to Decision Making; This Stuff Works;

This volume is everything that one can ask for those wondering how drugs perform the functions that they do. The baseline for Foye's explanation lies in the description of the receptor involved. From there he can explain how the natural substrate fits either the active or allosteric site of the target molecule. From this point the authors are able to elucidate chemically how the functional groups of the pharmicological compound interact with the receptor evoking the desired response.

If you're interested in reformed theology, the Puritan Bookshelf CDs are a great way to get an extensive library of books, lectures and sermons, for very little expense - and without having to search the world for them in libraries and used book stores. Every CD is packed with a wealth of wisdom and biblical instruction that goes far beyond what is generally seen in our day.

Volume Ten contains eleven books; five massive volumes written by three authors of the 17th century, along with six books by more contemporary covenanters.

"The Works of the Reverend and Learned John Lightfoot" abounds with great history lessons of New Testament times. This book includes a full description of the temple and its service, as they stood in the days when Christ was on earth - complete with a detailed, labelled drawing of the temple, done by the author himself.

Among the many valuable lessons in "The Works of the Judicious and Learned Divine, Dr. Thomas Taylor," is an exposition on Eph. 5:15. The author stresses the importance of the Christian walking circumspectly, demonstrating which areas of life this admonition applies to, and how the Christian is to gain the wisdom he needs in order to obey it. In the words of Dr. Taylor, "A circumspect Christian is not so careful for the... tilling, and sowing of his field, the pruning of his trees, the feeding of his cattle; as in fencing the heart against temptation, in sowing the seed of God's Word, in weeding of sin by the roots out of his soul, in feeding and fostering of grace."

"The Works of the late Reverend and Learned William Bates," contains more than thirty sermons on such practical subjects as forgiveness, the fear of God, and the danger of prosperity. Several of the sermons in this book were preached at the funerals of such eminent and godly men as Thomas Manton, David Clarkson and Richard Baxter.

This is only a glimpse of what is available on these wonderful CDs. I can't recommend them highly enough, to anyone who wants to study Protestant Church History from those who were there.

You can see the full listing for all 32 Puritan Bookshelf CDs online, at Still Waters Revival Books. SWRB also lists a similar set of 30 CDs in their Reformation Bookshelf CD series.

Mr. W.E.S. Thomas, long 'Student' (fellow), of Christ Church College Oxford, has produced a small accademic gem in THE QUARREL OF MACAULAY AND CROKER. Mr. Thomas' credentials as an expert on Macaulay, Mill, and the Philosophic Radicals are extremely impressive and he is also the only man to thoroughly review and analyze Croker's works and papers since Jennings in the 1880's. Mr. Thomas has applied undoubted powers of political and intellectual insight - rarely found in but one historian - to tremendous knowledge and impeccable research to produce what is undoubtedly the finest work yet published on Croker [pace Brightfield] and the most thought provoking and informed view of Macaulay as historian and politician since John Clive. The narrative of the combat, both literary and political, between Macaulay and Croker is of enduring general interest as an excellent tale, for while the combatants are not evenly matched in reputation I would contend that they are indeed in ability. I would hasten to enjoin the general reader to seriously consider a work that would normally be consigned to scholars in a particular field simply for its clear prose, excellent reasoning, and necessarily wide ranging subject matter. As Macaulay and Croker both dealt with the very greatest questions of the modern world - the nature of government, the existence of progress, and the shape of regimes - Mr. Thomas' analysis and discussion naturally touches on almost all the important questions of political philosophy and historiography. I would further urge anyone with an interest in party politics to look into this work for its treatment of Croker. I have long thought that a feasible case could be made for Croker as the first political 'wonk' or modern political advisor. Croker served as the closest advisor to two prime ministers in difficult times (Wellington and Peel), the first secretary (chief civilian bureaucrat) of the admiralty for the later stages of the Napoleonic wars and its aftermath, a leading authority on Irish questions, and effectively political editor of the most influential journalistic organ of his party. Croker has the added distinction of probably coining the term 'Conservative.' Modern politicians and political advisors in my native city would not find Croker too foreign - in fact I believe that Mr. Thomas' book shows how he combined remarkable accume, understanding of his own position, and an excellent knowledge of history and theory to great effect. Specialists in nineteenth century politics will no doubt know Mr. Thomas' previous work by reputation and that alone should be sufficient to urge them to read this work. Students of literature should also take note of the work as Mr. Thomas has here elaborated his article in last year's fetschrift to John Burrow on the management of the Quarterly Review into an intimate portrait of how Lockhart and Croker managed that most influential of Tory literary journals. Those interested in political thought and historiography have a habit of buying anything dealing with Macaulay and I would urge them most seriously to take up this volume not only for the sake of Mr. Thomas' very realistic and sensible insights into that great 'whig' historian (although Thomas is none too comfortable with such a lable) but also for the views of Croker. I must add, by way of disclosure, that I know Mr. Thomas and have the greatest respect for him as a scholar and a tutor, however I think that works own merits will amply support my praise. For those who doubt my word I would heartily recommend they read an excellent review that appeared in the SPECTATOR in early December of 2000 - I believe I am in complete congruence with its sentiments. The Times Literary Supplement aslo had only the very nicest things to say. Quite simply, if you have any interest in political history, thought, or historiography I would most strenously enjoin you to purchase this most learned - and engaging - volume. General readers may find an occasional reference obscure, but they will also profit from and perhaps enjoy this volume.

"The Rationality of Belief and the Plurality of Faith," ed. by Tom Senor, is dedicated to the "father of analytic American philosophy of religion," William Alston. Not every essay, however, is obviously dedicated to him, much less about him. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the essays in this book; so, let me say something briefly about them since that is what you'd be reading. There are three sections of the book, broken up like so: Natural Theology and the Knowledge of God; The Epistemology of Religious Experience; and Religious Pluralism.

In "Praying the Proslogion," Marilyn McCord Adams argues that Anselm's 'unum argumentum'was never intended for unbelievers; all of that is found in the Monologion. She also touches upon the work of Coloman Etienne Viola's argument that the ontological argument is a reductio argument.

The second piece, "Can Philosophy Argue God's Existence?", Brian Leftow examines Karl Barth's claim that it cannot. Barth essentially has two arguments against natural theology: (1) the use of equivocal language due to God's great transcendence limits our application of God as the first 'cause;' (2) natural theologians' motives stem from sin-beliefs. Leftow argues both of these arguments fail.

The third article is by William Rowe: "William Alston on the Problem of Evil." Here, Rowe looks at Alston's challenge that one cannot be justified in claiming that any particular act is an example of gratuitous evil - this is not based on the distance between God's mind and our's. Alston's claim is rather that one is not justified in believing there are no goods beyond our ken that would justify the allowance of horrid evils. Rowe ends up saying that Alston's argument fails. I am sympathetic with Rowe's argument and think another route ought to be taken to defeat his inductive version of evil (where Bambi dies).

The fourth paper is by Eleonore Stump and Norman Kretzmann. They challenge Leo Elders' work, The Philosophical Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. Elders says that Aquinas has the dilemma of either being an Averroist or a determinist based on certain claims in ST and SCG. I'm with Kretzmann and Stump on this one; Elders' interpretation is just not plausible given what Aquinas says elsewhere. This is really an exegetical paper that clears up problems in the analytic style.

To begin the second section, Robert Audi's paper, "Religious Experience and the Practice Concept of Justification," looks at three models of justification for religious belief: the Jamesian model, the practice conception, and the intuitionist conception. Audi believes that more attention should be given to the practice conception as an account for rationality, and not justification.

William Hasker's paper, "The Epistemic Value of Religious Experience: Perceptual and Explanatory Models," criticizes William Abraham's paper and defends a perceptual model of religious experience. Hasker does admit in a footnote, however, that the two are not mutually exclusive; he has Swinburne in mind.

William Wainwright's "Religious Language, Religious Experience, and Religious Pluralism," argues that though Alston's account in Perceiving God is on the whole correct, it is not sufficiently established without first presenting arguments for a Christian metaphysics. Most problematic for Alston's account is religious pluralism; this is a recurring theme in this book. This moves us into the final section of the book.

Alvin Plantinga's (somewhat famous, now that it is in a few books) article, "Pluralism: A Defense of Religious Exclusivism," considers arguments that exclusivism is in itself egotistical, arrogant, etc., and not epistemically warranted. Plantinga claims there is no neutral ground on this issue, making moral objections 'tar babies.' He likewise does not believe the epistemic objections succeed. However, in the end, he admits that pluralism may initially diminish some degree of warrant, but in the long term produce the opposite effect.

Peter van Inwagen's paper, "Non Est Hick," proposes the interesting claim that Christians should stop using abstract language like, "Christianity" vs "Buddhism," and think more in terms of the church universal and its role in the world. To argue on pluralist grounds using their language is to lose the game.

Joseph Runzo's "Perceiving God, World-Views, and Faith: Meeting the Problem of Religious Pluralism," suggests that Alston, though mostly correct, does not present as strong of an argument as possible, and thus does not adequately deal with the pluralist. This is because what confirms Christian Mystical Practices on Alston's account can be found in other religious. Something more is needed.

Lastly, George Mavrodes offers an analysis of "Polytheism," as titled. He lays out different senses one may be a polytheist and shows on what account John Hick falls into that category. He also considers arguments - religious and philosophical - for and against polytheism. As a side note, under religious arguments, Mavrodes raises famous passages like the Shema but does not believe this rule out what he calls "descriptive polytheism," to which he adheres. While his point on those passages is formally correct, one must wonder how he deals with the later Jewish writings that clarify those earlier ones (e.g., those in Isaiah that are more clear in ruling out the existence of other genuine gods).

So, this book is a really good collection of essays. The only downside is that it may be a bit difficult for new students of philosophy. These essays can at times be a bit technical. However, I think you should stretch yourself a bit and attempt to read these since they are worth your time. Good book.

Anyone interested in Shakespeare's migration out of the UK will want to read this extremely well-written, innovative book. Cartelli looks in detail at Shakespare's appropiation around the globe. Definitely worth reading.