I used this book in seminary. When you get bogged down in theological writings, diaries, theses, this book is a refreshing change. Written by Robert G. Tuttle, Jr. as if it were in the first person of John Wesley, I think the author did the reformer justice. Like any good biography, Tuttle covers all major sweeps of Wesley's life in a most readable fashion.

Cobb is a process theologian trying to communicate to the reader how Wesley's theology can be relevent today. He's not in his area of specialization in this book and doesn't seem to really want to carry on. I expect that Cobb knows of what he speaks, but the book is burdened with academic language and, in my opinion, missed opportunities at connecting Wesleyen tradition to today. As a well-educated reader with a keen interest in Christianity's search for relevence in today's world, even I had trouble slogging through this one. Your experience may be better than mine, but I would recommend this one only reluctantly. Not an old book, but seems dated.

John Cobb notes that much of what John Wesley addressed in his writing was situational in nature, and that Wesley's theology needs to be 'made relevant' if it is to be useful today. From this starting point, Cobb writes an interesting theological commentary with a 'Wesleyanist' slant. His ideas are useful, and sometimes profound. But they are not essentially faithful to Wesley. Indeed, they are so far removed from Wesley as to make it appear that John Wesley simply provides a scarcely related background to Cobb's own theological discourse. In some ways, it is not unlike hearing a sermon that ignores the text that is being preached.

Ultimately, I think one's comfort or discomfort with Cobb's attempt will be shaped by whether or not the reader agrees with the claim that Wesley's theology is too particular to his own time to be relevant today. For my part, I think there is much in Wesley that is still relevant. I therefore disagree with Cobb's premise.

Nevertheless, this book IS worth reading, and no student of contemporary Methodism should be unfamiliar with it.

Cobb, John B., Jr. Grace & Responsibility: A Wesleyan Theology for Today. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995.

Cobb writes from the perspective that because our current situation is very different from the culture that John Wesley lived in, much of what Wesley taught is no longer useable for today's United Methodist. Cobb recognizes the lack of a unified sense of identity among United Methodists and suggests that a clarified role in the mission of the church must be preceded by a unified theology. He attempts to come to terms with the theological heritage from Wesley by reappraising his work and finding relevance of Wesleyan thought for the contemporary world.

Although always a gentleman, Mr. Metz, seems to have tried to get into the head of Hardin.This comes across as if Hardin is justifing his misdeeds. Frankly, Hardin is not worth of the acclaim and now honors that Texas is doing him. Metz's research was excellent, but I think that this is a misguided effort to simulate interest in the wrong sort of Texas characters

Yes, you get the facts of John Wesley Hardin's life, probably more of them than you wanted to know. What you don't get is any kind of decent prose.

Having considered myself a sort of amateur historian of Texas figures, I know quite a bit about J.W. Hardin. Leon Metz's biography is the most honest and thoroughly researched one I've come across yet. This along with Metz's engaging writing style made this book a hard one to put down. He doesn't glorify or vilify this Texas gunman, and the reader comes away with a new understanding of the times and tribulations of those who lived on the frontier. I'm a hard sell, and yet I would recommend this book to anyone interested in characters of the American West.

This book was horrible. I was forced to use it in a mandatory brainwash...er, history course for school. The book essentially goes like this:

We settled Massachusetts, and the indians, blacks, gays and women were persecuted.

Then, we started a westward expansion which led to persecution for indians, blacks, gays, and women.

During the revolutionary war some white guys fought or something, but it is important to note that the indians, blacks, gays...

This book is a proselyting tool, a transparent piece of propaganda. I didn't convert.

This book tries to teach history without actually including any concrete information. It outlines general trends without emphasizing the historical facts on which the trends are based. While it's certainly important to recognize progressions in history, it's extremely difficult to learn about them based only on the text's vague, 50-page summaries, all of which fail to mention any form of historical evidence.

As a student, I found this book's approach to teaching history disastrous and mildly insulting. First of all, it fails to convey even the most cursory knowledge of history by shunning, at all costs, cruel Old Regime teaching methods that might require DATE memorization or familiarity with historical FACTS. With nothing to "Lock On" to, it's very hard to retain anything. Even worse, however, are the implications of the book's approach. I like History because I enjoy being able to look at a set of evidence and trying to figure out, based on otherwise stale information, what *actually* happened, what life was like. Somehow, I got the sense that by describing outright "what life was like," the book implies that to force students to learn INFORMATION is useless, that students are unable to think for themselves and interpret historical information with any accuracy.

I think I should comment, also, on one reviewer's dismissal of this book as "Nouveau History." I come close to BEING one of the "Tenured Radicals" this reviewer had so much disdain for, and I still hated this book. I would hate it if I were communist. There's so much wrong with it that to criticize it for its left-wing perspective is plain silly.

I would recommend "The American Promise," by James L. Rourke, Micheal P. Johnson, and a few others instead.

This book provides a balanced overview of U.S. History up to 1877. The treatment of social and cultural history is particularly stong. The prose is, for the most part, quite lively.

Well it is clear that this concept has long since run out of steam with this the fourth, and easily the weakest of the series. It boggles the mind that the garbage that is in this collection could be the best of the "hundreds" of submissions. In fact many of the stories in this collection are either pointless drivel or obvious plagarism from original scripts. (* I can't help wonder what the original writers of the shows must think when they see their ideas trashed by well meaning but misguided fans !) Of course much of the blame must be directed at the editors who choose the works that go into these books, as it was their job to assemble original, exciting and worthwhile contributions. Unfortunately this collection has few worthy efforts and as for a fifth book, well I think they should quit now, before they do any more damage to the Star Trek legend.

This is the fourth installment of the Strange New Worlds series highlighting new talent writing the the genre of TREK. Talented fans submit short stories written for a contest for publication.

In the past, we saw some exceptional talent and originality, storylines that took you to areas of TREK that only short stories could. This anthology was engaging but fell a tad short of the prevoius three. I'm sure the fans have not lost interest, but I'm wondering if the editor has or maybe his direction and view of the TREK universe has been skewed.

There are 22 short stories contained in the anthology that continue in the different genre of the TREK series. I found that these stories to be good and thoughtfully written. Entertaining to a degree but a spark missing.

I wouldn't pass this volume up though as it will show the maturing process of some very promissing writers... future of TREK is in these pages a little recondite, but emerging nonetheless.

If you ever wanted to grow up to write Star Trek books or movies-- get this book. I must disagree with most of the other reviews-- this book IS worth having for any Trek fan. (For non-fans you probably won't be interested.)

I will agree on the point that this book is not as strong as the first three, but that it is only off by a little. However, to say that the stories were not as strong, or somehow less than the other three is not true.

You will enjoy at least one story from each section, The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager for sure. For die hard fans you get to read stories by other fans! For would-be writers, actors or producers, the series shows you how 20+ people with no publishing experience can write a story and get it published.

Bottom Line: Its worth the paperback price and more.

This book was terrible. I couldn't finish it. The dialoge was sophomoric. There wasnt any character development. A complete waste of time.

One can only hope the the Last Canyon is Mr. Vernon's last book. Flat characters; flat imagery; sophomoric dialogue; silly, forced, disconnected scenes: the genuis here is that one truly celebrates the end of Powell's journey becasue it also coincides with the end of Mr. Vernon's prose. One wishes Mr. Powell's journey had ended 300 hundred pages sooner.

As John Wesley Powell and his crew of nine follow the Green and Colorado Rivers through uncharted territory into the Grand Canyon in 1869, Vernon imbues them with so much energy and strength that this fictional account of their journey feels like the real thing--more like a well-written memoir than a flight of imagination. His depictions of the canyons, mesas, geological strata, and the always changing river are so precise and vivid that they feel more like great photographs than prose. His descriptions of the heat and privation have the intensity of old sermons of hellfire and damnation.

With a lyricism as masculine and vigorous as the characters of his story, Vernon tells of two parallel, and eventually intersecting, journeys--the famous journey of John Wesley Powell and his crew on the river, and the fictional journey of a family of Paiute (Shivwits) Indians across the high mesas, as they try to reclaim a daughter which the father sold to Mormons in exchange for two guns. Vernon alternates these narratives in successive sections, bringing the ironies of the two journeys into sharp focus. The Powell expedition fights the forces of nature and is often at the mercy of the elements, struggling with equipment and scientific instruments, and in danger of running out of food. The Shivwits, on the other hand, are in communion with nature, comfortable in their belief that nature will provide, as it always has--their struggle, of course, being to preserve their lands and culture.

Vernon is a remarkable writer, equally adept at all aspects of writing--action sequences on the river, dialogues ranging from humorous to rancorous, insights into the characters' thinking, and a faithful adherence to the writing style of the period. His ability to present very different descriptions of the same geographical features, as seen separately by the Paiutes and explorers, is nothing short of amazing. This is a beautifully written, very masculine story of exploration and cultural conflict, one that should not be missed by anyone fascinated by tales of outdoor adventure and exploration.

sluge is a main factor in waste water treatment

Intriguing, romantic cover that captures the Westerner's imagination. Too bad the cover artist didn't write & illustrate this book (really a comic book as "graphic novel" would be a complimentary exaggeration). Text is apologist history, weak on facts, thick on excuses for Hardin's murderous tendencies. Hardin doesn't get to his infamous gunfighting career until page 86, so "Lost Cause" doesn't even work as a traditional Western romp. Artwork inside is crude featuring stiff, exaggerated characters that make "Pokemon" look like Rembrandt. "Lost Cause" doesn't work as history or entertainment. If you are interested in Hardin, check out Leon Metz's or Richard Marohn's bios or even Hardin's autobiography. As for "Lost Cause," save your money--the cover is the best part & you've already seen that.