This biography is much more than just a story of Jonathan Edwards' life. It shows much of his thoughts and is chock-full of quotes from his sermons, books, diary, and letters. It not only tells you the history behind Jonathan Edwards but shows the evolution of his thought. I highly recommend this book; then go out and get the Jonathan Edwards reader.

This biography of the great Puritan, Jonathan Edwards, is a scholarly yet sympathetic account of the man who was at the heart of the Great Awakening. Edwards was a pastor, theologian, philosopher and author whose influence on American history and the Christian community cannot be denied. The book is well-written and enjoyable to read with much documentation of Edwards' writings and correspondence. Any student of American history, as well as any Christian, will benifit from study of this inspiring man.

This well-written biography is an excellent account of the life and times of the philospher-theologian, Jonathan Edwards. The much maligned Puritan outlook is examined in the sympathetically truthful light of a modern day pastor. This book explains the renowned "Great Awakening," with an emphasis on Edwards' role in this revival and his thoughts about the revival. The author demonstrates solid scholarship by making extensive use of source documents of Edwards and his contemporaries.

Jonathan Edwards is a moving depiction of a great man of devotion.

I have worked within the system and witnessed many things, I can attest to the accuracy and honesty in this book. Father Booker explains the events that lead to his incarceration and rehabilitation with such honest emotion,that one can not help but "feel" as if they are actually on the journey with him. He was able to accomplish many things( education, work, tutor) that would normally be viewed as impossible to do from a prison cell. His positive outlook on life and love of God are evident in his life. Perhaps, this is why he is able to write so honestly about his journey.

This book should be made readily available to all prison inmates. The story would be enlightening to correcctions(incarceration) staff. The author(s) have shed light on many issues which should be addressed in today's legal and penal system. Those in society who believe, incorrectly, in the infalability of law enforcement and corrections people would have their eyes opened by this very nicely handled treatment of a delicate subject.

An excellent resource. Insightful. Beautiful pictures. Highly recommend for folks in dance education, collaborative artists, school teachers, dancers, and children.

MiG Alley To Mu Ghia Pass: Memoirs of A Korean War Ace is the military memoir of Cecil Foster, a young man born into poverty and hardship, and who joined the Army Air Force in 1943 as a private, eventually retiring in 1975 as a lieutenant colonel. Foster served a multitude of tasks during his Air Force career, but perhaps the most outstanding and remarkable part of his autobiographical history was his service as a high-scoring ace pilot in the aerial battles of the Korean War. Foster's record of nine destroyed MiGs earned him 12th place on a list of 38 aces. Each of the aircraft he destroyed was shot down in a section of airspace called "MiG Alley," which runs along the Yalu River that separates North Korea from China. MiG Alley Mu Ghia Pass is an involving, personal look into one of the countless people who have staked their lives to serve and protect the United States of America. Highly recommended for students of military aviation history in general, and the Korean War in particular.

This a truly great book about the integrity of various leaders. In a departure from the approach of most leadership literature, such as the corporate or political approach, Vaughan employs the biographical approach and studies the essence of leadership by examining the character traits of great leaders: Christopher Columbus, Patrick Henry, William Wilberforce, Robert E. Lee, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Kuyper, G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis and Winston Churuchill. The reader is inspired by the virtue of these great men. Pillars of Leadership is extensively documented, interesting and stimulating. This is a book for educators, statesmen, pastors and anyone else desiring to make a positive and lasting impact in the world.

I bought this book because I am going into the Air Force Reserves as a C-130 pilot. I, of course, found it very interesting and informative, but I don't think I would recommend it to any non-pilots and would hesitate to recommend it to a non-airlift military pilot. A lot of people would find the topics he discusses very boring as compared to a fighter or bomber type memoir book. Nevertheless, I thought the stories he told were awesome - he talks about almost every mission the Hercules performs - hauling mail, booze, troops, dead bodies, ammo, and medical litters of injured troops. He also details the short-field capability of the C-130 flying into all of those fields in 'Nam. There are several hair-raising stories that he depicts where they are supplying the Marines at Khe Sahn during Tet and others where he is landing in bad weather, runways with craters, dirt strips, etc. He also mixes up the book with some details of the social life in Thailand, Taiwan, and the Philippines (he parallels the airlifting stories with stories about a chick he "hangs out" with in Bangkok.)

Anyway, I thought it was a great read, but I doubt most folks would think so unless they were very into the C-130 - like me.

I found David Kirk Vaughan's book about his experiences as an airlift pilot in Vietnam impossible to put down. His descriptions of action in and out of the cockpit are done such that they are very easy to understand, even if one is not a pilot. Yet, even the experienced military aviator will find some intriguing action there for him too.

Vaughan's description of landing at the "golf course" is but one example. Written in such a manner that the novice can appreciate the extreme difficulty of such a task, an aviator will nearly be in disbelief, especially after seeing the landing strip in one of the several photos that the author took during his tour and which are included in the book.

Of course there is plenty of action outside the cockpit, too. Again, I found Vaughan's descriptions superb as he related his travels throughout Thailand, Vietnam, the Phillipines and back "home" in Taiwan.

If one wishes to have a better understanding of the life of a military transport pilot or to have a record of Vietnam war airlift action, then this is a must buy!

Runway Visions is a memoir of a young pilot who volunteers to go to SE Asia and fly Hercules C-130 supply missions during the Viet Nam war.

David Vaughan tells a compelling tale, one that haunts me. It is not a story full of heroic rescues, though there is a little of that. It is the tale of a man looking back at himself and trying to make sense of what he did and saw. He holds little back.A difficult book to describe, but one that this reader found very satisfying. One of the best books I have read in a long time.

Plato's The Republic, is not only a classic work of the fourth century B.C., but a masterpiece of utopian literature as a whole. Mr. Lee's translation brings into light the political and poetical wisdom of Plato into English from the original Greek. In The Republic, Plato raises questions that are still at the heart of many modern conflicts and heated debates. What is justice? What is goodness? What is the right political authority? Plato examines these questions as aspects of a single theme. He offers a portrait of an ideal state in which power is entrusted to the philosopher king(s), and other men and women accept the authority of the wise and the good. If no one has read The Republic, then he or she has not read anything!

In the "Republic," Plato may or may not have accomplished what he set out to do, which is to define justice and prove that it is superior to injustice, irregardless of either's consequences. However, what he DID do is set the foundation for over two thousand years of thought. Read this work slowly; within each of the seemingly-simple discussions there is a world of though to be discovered. Anyone with the least bit of background in philosophical readings can literally read page-by-page, discovering the sources of many of the greatest philosophers of all-time. The "Republic" is not so much a work of literature as it is an explosion of thought; a ten-book brainstorm of one of the greatest minds of all-time. By the work's end, whether or not you feel Socrates to have successfully answered Glaucon's challenge is almost irrelevant, for the argument will have already left your mind reeling.

Plato's "Republic" is probably the most important work in the history of Western Philosophy, or atleast I believe it is. The reader can literally flip from page to page counting how many subsequent philosphies arose from interpretations of the words on each page. Of all Western Philosophers, Plato was one of the greatest writers. Even though some readers may find the dialogue style exhausting, I find it enjoyable because it turns the real-life participants in the arguments into literary characters who can, at times, be quite humorous. All literary merits aside, the overabundance of profound thoughts to be found in "The Republic" make it a must-read for anyone who likes to think.

In his biography of Partick Henry, Vaughan complains that previous biographers were unfair to the legendary statesman. Thus, he moves to correct this historical error by bringing forth a laundry list of glowing facts about Henry. While Vaughan does have a point about previous renderings of Henry's life, he does little to paint a more accurate picture of the orator. Rather, he glosses over Henry flaws, and presents us with a candy-coated version of the man. And Henry was a man--a good man, but a man nonetheless. Unfortunately, this biography fails to recognize that.

What a delightful read this book has been. The author displays a clear and deep admiration for his subject, but I find no fault in that. The book reads very easily without a lot of stilted verbiage, making it a wonderful introduction of the great orator to the student.

There is not a lot of detailed analysis here, but I don't believe that was the authors' intention. This work is meant to be an outline and introduction Henry, the Trumpet of the Revolution.

The work is actually presented as three separate volumes in one binding. Part 1 takes the reader from birth to death, touching on the momentous occasions, as well as a good bit of reference to the details of life which shaped the life of Henry. Part 2 gives Henry's views of some of life's virtues, such as Christianity, patriotism and duty and gives an insightful look at the character of this great American. Part 3 concludes with how Henry has been remembered by history, and how he should be remembered.

Overall, a delightful read which I highly recommend to students or anyone wishing to gain a basic insight to a great American patriot.

It was wonderful to see Patrick Henry's Christian values and belief on the LORD JESUS CHRIST openly written about. I enjoyed it completely and would recommend it to any who enjoy studying the Revolutionary War. BUY IT!

With the recent Andrea Yates story being in the media, I couldn't help but think back on the Susan Smith story and recently read this book. It was an emotional book to read. I can remember so well watching Susan Smith on TV in 1994 and at first believing her story, but then I started doubting her. When she finally confessed, I was horrified for Michael and Alex Smith. The thought of two little ones dying in the cold water alone and crying for their mother, who put them there, is almost too much to bear. I feel such sympathy for David Smith. The story of his marriage is difficult to read at times ... the games that David and Susan played were just ridiculous, and both of them were unfaithful in their marriage. They were really two children playing at being married, I think ... they were very young when Susan got pregnant with Michael and had to get married. At Susan's trial, a lot about her life came out ... her father's suicide, abuse by her stepfather, a mother that didn't protect her, depression and earlier suicide attempts. The girl is clearly mentally ill. Now I've heard that two prison guards have been fired for having sex with her; the discovery was made when Susan visited the prison infirmary and was found to have a veneral disease. It is a very sad situation for both families of Michael and Alex Smith, and I know that both families miss those little boys every day. The other night I saw David Smith on CNN. He cried when he talked about Michael and Alex and said he will never forget them. He is happily remarried and has a new baby girl, and said that when she was born, he promised her he wouldn't be afraid to love her. I was very touched by that and hope he will find happiness and peace in his new life. I also hope that Susan Smith and her family will find forgiveness and peace, too.

Susan Smith is the cruellest person I have ever read about. She drove her car into a lake with her two infant sons strapped trustingly in the backseat, then stood on the shore and watched it sink to the murky bottom. She fabricated a story about an alleged carjacker to disguise her sole culpability in this crime. She shed crocodile tears for her estranged husband, her family, friends, the police, the media, and the world, while her murderous secret remained locked inside her noxious heart. She sentenced her boys to death and David to a life of grief. She sits today in prison. She will never on this earth suffer the consequences of what she did.

I started crying two pages into this book, and the tears flowed throughout every aching page. David's pain and suffering is so tragically transmitted to readers that we can almost touch it. But only almost. It is so agonising, so raw, so heartrending, and so horrific, that if Susan Smith were in a room with me I would scream "Why?" repeatedly while pounding her body with my fists!

As I write this, there is a lump in my throat, my jaw is clenched, and the tears are welling up. It is instinctive; I simply can't help myself. I will never forget this story, this book, David, or beautiful and innocent little Michael and Alex. Nor should anyone else. Forgetting them would be like forgetting what it means to be human.

This was such a sad bad. Like David Smith said, "Remember who are the true victims in all this, Miicheal and Alex, NOT Susan Smith! It was a good and fast reading and I a book is so much better when it's write by a person who the story concern them and not from a famous writer, is even better when the writer is not a writer, so from people who said this book is good but the editing is bad, I don't see what is bad, I thought the book was very good and it comming from the heart and soul to who that real story had happen, you can feel his pain! Everybody was saying how Susan was too good for David, my God it was the other way around, David was too good for Susan. Susan was picture as like a hot, sexy girl, sorry to me she look like a ordinary house wife and kinda chubby, she come from the South right? Yeah she do look like redneck, the way she dress and wear her hair are out of fashion even in 90th, well I am out of context here but can't help saying that to me see doesn't look hot stuff and one of the book with her glasses and her hair pine up she look like a geek! Like David Smith said, the two persons who love her the most, (their kids), she had killed them, how can a mother do this to her own children and said she love them? Why David Smith want so much the death penalty for Susan, if she got a soul she suffer much more in prison, well if she got one. She seem only to think for herself and feel pity for herself. Killing her children because she was in love with a guy that didn't want a family allready made, so she killed her kids and to have the pity of the man she love she make a a big lie that a man took over her car and push her out put kept the kids. Did she really think she could live with the rest of her life with that story and have back the man she love? She was stupid, he was also having other affair and like I said Susan is no hot thing, why he would go with her? Still a part of me pity her, if she really was having depression it can make you do stupid things, yeah maybe she was really insane!

Normally, I wouldn't bother with a book that was based on a television screenplay. However, I bought this one by mistake (thinking I was getting MacKinlay Kantor's Andersonville) and decided to punish myself for carelessness by reading it.

It must be admitted that the book reads quickly. This is because it is written at about a third grade level. Unfortunately, this picturesque effect is spoiled by the language and content, which seem to indicate that Vaughn thought he was writing for adults.

The characters are invaribly one-dimensional; the noble ones are totally noble, the evil ones purely evil. About the only one who seemed even remotely human was the commandant Wirz, who seemed to at least have some inkling that the prisoners were being mistreated. But he was able to excuse himself because he was just following orders, and, besides, if the prisoners would just show some discipline and obey the rules, everything would be fine.

Wirz's dialect is a scream, as is the accent of the Confederate soldiers. Oddly enough, they seem to be unaware of it; when one Union soldier (Gleason) escapes and makes his way home by temporarily joining up with the Confederates, he continues to speak his good unaccented Pennsylvanian and nobody seems to notice.

This whole Gleason adventure, by the way, is totally irrelevant to the story, seeming no more than an excuse for a sex scene with a Confederate widow.

There are many moral and philosophical issues arising from the Andersonville experience that Vaughn does touch on briefly, for example, to what extent does our environment excuse our actions? But the development of these ideas never scratches the surface, and there is no closure; the ending is incredibly weak and unsatisfying.

One never really gets the sense of what Andersonville was really like, but then, it would be impossible to make a really true film about it. Get a history book with some pictures of Andersonville captives, and you'll see why.

If you want to read a good novel about Andersonville, get Kantor's. It's not as easy to read as this book--and you'll probably have to skip a television show or two to get through it--but it's well worth the effort.

Robert Vaughan's Andersonville brings to life the horrors that the union prisoners had to deal with on a daily basis. This is not meant to be a historically accurate novel telling the reader all the events that took place in the prison. The book shows the reader what the average prisoner had to go through. Vaughan does a good job showing the savage attacks of the Raiders, a group that attacked new prisoners and robbed them of their supplies. Vaughan also does a great job showing the boredom that filled the prisoners lives. The conflict that man has with himself by not drinking the water and by going a couple of days with out food. This book is a quick read and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat with unique twists in the story line. I recommend this book to Civil war Buffs and anyone who is looking for a good book to read on an airplane or a train.

Andersonville was a most serious death camp for captured Northern Soilders. When I saw the movie it broke my heart to see the way we were treated by southerns. The account was well written and the part where the Raiders were on trial and then the part where they were hung. Showed that there was some justice being served,espically with Wirtz holding them while trial was being readied. The real test was shown with the escape and recapture, it is known now that the first duty of any military personnel is to escape from the enemy. My heart really goes out to those who fought and were captured by the Rebels. In the end of the book the tomestone of Martin Blackburn was a good way to close this book. It os sad to know that Those who died in this conflict put there lives down to defend this country. I pray that we never have a consentration camp here in America with Americans held in it ever again.

Thank you S.R. Haldeman, Scott M. Great Lakes Naval Hospital