Exalted: the Lunars is the second hardcover sourcebook for White Wolf's exciting Exalted RPG. The book starts with an introduction vignette, featuring several characters from the main rulebook. Next are two chapters of background, one about the Lunar Exalted themselves and their society and the other about the barbarian tribes they usually come from (and, in some cases, lead). I particularly enjoyed the shapeshifting Charms, numerous amounts of which are detailed in the book, along with two-page write-ups for each Caste similar to the Solar Castes in the main rulebook and the Dragon-Blooded Aspects in Exalted: the Dragon-Blooded (which is also a superbly-written book that I highly recommend). The book also contains an entire chapter of storytelling ideas (for those of you who aren't familiar with White Wolf's games...the Storyteller is similar to a Dungeon Master or Game Master) with info on how to possibly integrate the other types of Exalted into a Lunars story.

The one thing I didn't like about this book was the fact that it's a slight bit shorter than Exalted: the Dragon-Blooded, although it does cover the Lunar Exalted in much detail.

While James White is best known for the Sector General series, he has written many more science fiction novels. This is one of his best, easily equal to any of the Sector general series. The book is set in a near future after humanity's contact with aliens. The aliens offer to relocate all of mankind who qualifies to the Federation World, a Dyson sphere near the center of the galaxy. The principal characters are not accepted for citizenship, instead qualifying for positions on the Federation staff. Their job is to make contact with new species and to invite them to join the Federation if they qualify. White's writing is remarkably clear and easy to read. This is not Shakespeare, but for fans of the White's more well-known work, it's just as diverting and well worth the time and effort.

This is a very good study of the social gospel and how it handled the racial issue. White, one of the leading historians of the social gospel, offers numerous case studies of social gospel advocates in addition to his general overview and the book benefits as a result. Fairly interesting and certainly recommended.

This is an incredibly fascinating book for those interested in the history of the American Presidency and particularly of the occupants of that office. Mr. Barber analyzes the presidents by two main factors: activity (how much effort a particular president put into performing his job) and the president's personality type and world-view (whether a president viewed his role in the world in a positive or negative light). From this Mr. Barber theorizes that there are four major presidential types: active-positive, active-negative, passive-positive, and passive-negative. By analyzing an individual's personality prior to his entry into the White House, Mr. Barber suggests that one can predict his performance while in the presidency. For example, he categorizes FDR, JFK, and Truman as active-positives (high activity while president with each having a positive view of the world), Taft, Harding and Reagan as passive-positives (low effort put into performance of their duties, while trying to show a positive, if timorous, face to the world), and Coolidge and Ike as passive-negatives (each viewing his role in the presidency as a duty to perform rather than something in which to look forward).

The best parts of the book are in which Mr. Barber talks about the active-negative presidents, all of whom have proved disastrous to the office. Each of these presidents had put much effort and personal investment into the performance of his duties, but without any enjoyment. For each of these men, life has always been a struggle and the personal rewards few. Compulsiveness and anxiety was each man's life-script. None of them could ever afford to rest on his laurels after some success, because if he did so, he would only have to re-double his efforts next time for fear of committing failure. None could admit error and saw compromise with his opposition something to avoid at all costs. All became frozen in the rightness of a certain policy line. This was despite all evidence showing that policy had long been proven a failure.

Woodrow Wilson would not compromise with opposition Republican Senators who had certain reservations about the U.S. becoming a member of the League of Nations. The result was that the League treaty was voted down, the U.S. never became a member, and America entered a generation of isolationism. World War II was the final outcome. Herbert Hoover, sticking to his belief in "rugged individualism," would not modify his opposition to the government's stepping in to ameliorate of the effects of the Great Depression. By the time Hoover put forth his Reconstruction Finance Corporation proposal to provide loans to some businesses, the financial and unemployment crisis in the country seemed beyond repair. The voting public was ready to dump the seemingly heartless and "inactive" Hoover (who was really anything but) for the more positive and hopeful FDR. Lyndon Johnson persisted in sending more and more troops into the Vietnam quagmire despite all evidence indicating that his persistent escalation of the war had long been proven wrong. The result was ever-rising death toll of American boys, massive anti-war demonstrations, and devastating urban riots. Then, of course, there was Richard Nixon, who persisted in his lies and deceipt in the coverup of the Watergate Scandal. Not only did he become the first president to resign, but his legacy was a weakened presidency by a casting of mistrust and suspicion on all the future inhabitants of that esteemed office. Mr. Barber said that all of this could have been avoided if the American people had paid closer attention to Nixon's behavior in previous political campaigns and then deciding not to honor him by elevating him to president.

To Mr. Barber's credit, he readily admits that some presidents do not fit easily into one category or the other. For example, while he generally classifies Eisenhower as a passive-negative, Ike showed from time to time some active traits in the presidency. Likewise, while Truman was basically an active-positive, he often peevish personality could have easily lead him into some negative policy trap.

"Even the Damned have taboos", reads the back side of the book.
One of the greatest is Amaranth, also known as Diablerie.
"Sins of the blood" covers many topics that hadn't been covered before in the Revised edition. Some info from "Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand" re-appears here, like the weird Path of Enlightenment of the True Brujah, and the infamous "Ritual of the Bitter Rose", that gives the Diablerie a very interesting edge, since it permits a whole coterie (or pack) to benefit from one single Amaranth victim.
The book also covers interesting information on Autarkis, and what happens to you if you switch sects; it deals with cults and gives you an idea of how you(r vampire character :)) can start one, and get loads of moronic cultists, to do all the unpleasantness for you!

This book is very interesting. I'm not very sure if the people that buy sourcebooks only "for the extra dots" will like it (well, maybe the Thaumaturgy paths and rituals might make it a good buy for them). On the other hand, for the people who look for background information, it is a very interesting buy. It isn't as essential as, say, the Vampire Storytellers Handbook, but it looks nice on the shelf and it can add many good ideas to your ongoing chronicle.
So, if you like to portray "deviants", either as Player Character or as Storyteller Character, in your chronicle, this can be a good add-on to your VtM collection. But tread lightly... the powers-that-be frown on unusual behavior, and those things they don't understand, they want them Finally Dead...

This book was written in the mid 1960's. As such it is now outdated but holds a very intersting information about the birth of a "Transmodern" religous movment.

James Reckner, a professor of history at Texas Tech University and a former officer in the United States Navy, examines the around-the-world cruise of the U.S. Navy's Atlantic Battleship Fleet in. Using government documents, newspapers, unpublished manuscripts, and a wide variety of secondary sources, Reckner argues that the logistical and diplomatic accomplishments of the Great White Fleet's cruise, which sailed the world from December 1907 to February 1909, remained a decisive factor in testing the capabilities of the U.S. Navy. The author suggests that historians have mistakenly emphasized the fleet's effect on diplomacy without considering the technical aspect of the fleet's voyage. Reckner asserts that the need to test the fleet proved the overriding consideration behind the Navy Department's decision to conduct the cruise. He highlights the significance of the cruise by repeatedly pointing out the number of obstacles facing early twentieth-century vessels, specifically that battleships of the period were far less reliable than modern warships. Reckner argues the Great White Fleet proved an influential cause behind the U.S. Navy's re-examination of its organization and battleship design during the world's unprecedented naval expansion prior to World War I. Reckner examines the state of naval affairs at the turn of the century and how it influenced a change in American naval policy during the Roosevelt administration. He traces the fleet's voyage of sixteen battleships and over 14,000 men as they departed from Hampton Roads, Virginia and sailed down the coast of South America, up the West Coast, only to pause for several weeks in San Francisco Harbor. While at California, naval officials reorganized the fleet and the ships got underway to cross the Pacific. After sailing to Hawaii, the fleet headed south to New Zealand and then Australia, Manila, Yokohama, Ceylon, Suez, various ports in the Mediterranean, before finally returning home to Virginia. Reckner reveals that the fleet's voyage of over 45,000 nautical miles produced a great deal of publicity for the United States Navy, ultimately boosting the prestige of American naval power abroad. However, he underscores the fact that the fleet had other national and international purposes as well. First, the U.S. Navy had to train the crews and determine the fleet's coal and provisions requirements. Reckner argues that the voyage confirmed various aspects of the Naval War College's new "War Plan Orange," the recently developed war plan against Japan. Second, the cruise launched a critical reexamination of the navy's administrative structure and the design for new ships. It ultimately led the U.S. Navy toward modernization, greater efficiency, and professionalism. Despite the effects of Roosevelt's Great White Fleet on naval matters, Reckner argues, the ultimate result of the fleet's voyage was its effect on foreign policy. The author points out that the traditional interpretation of the Great White Fleet as an example of Roosevelt's active foreign policy is erroneous. "This is a misconception," Reckner writes, "albeit one encouraged by Roosevelt himself" (p. 157). The author demonstrates that the voyage served as a good measure of the abilities of his battleship fleet in preparation for war. Accordingly, Reckner's study reinforces the connection between a strong military and an effective foreign policy. The author suggests that Roosevelt's "Big Stick" diplomacy, which served as a pillar to his corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, depended on the effectiveness of a strong naval presence so that the president's declaration that the impotence or chronic instability of neighboring countries might force the U.S. to intervene in its neighbors' affairs to forestall foreign intervention would be taken seriously. The strength of Reckner's study, however, lies with his treatment of the fleet's voyage. Reckner points out how the fleet was received in South America, the Pacific, and Europe. At every port of call, the author maintains, the ships, officers, and men of the Great White Fleet received friendly receptions in a carnival-like atmosphere which everyone used as an excuse for public holidays and festivities. Teddy Roosevelt's Great White Fleet is intended for the student of history with a significant knowledge of naval affairs and the political and diplomatic situation in the U.S. at the turn of the century. Reckner's work serves as a good supplementary source for the origins and the various trials surrounding the U.S. Navy's move toward establishing a modern naval force.

My husband bought this book for me. As the first installment of the tribe books from White Wolf's revised Werewolf game it was a treat. White Wolf's writing gets better and better as it offers the female only Garou tribe. WW used its style of story first, to present the mindset of the group. This works well to help the reader understand where things are to go. It presents a history of the Tribe tying it in with real world events, going over many injustices women have endured. After reading it my comment to my husband was, "you probably don't want to talk to me for a time."
The book gives new gifts (magic powers), fetishes (magic doo dads) and totems that are for the Black Furies only. Also they give the statement that many Storytellers and Players of the game forget, that there is no truth in the White Wolf universe

It's cheap ... not beautifully bound or anything. Buy two or three, and have them ready to give away. Spread the Word of God as revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

'To preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.' I Cor. 1:17

In What Is Truth?, James Emery White presents an insightful examination of the concept of truth as it finds expression in the theological systems of five prominent Evangelical theologians: Cornelius Van Til, Francis Schaeffer, Carl F. H. Henry, Millard Erickson, and Donald Bloesch.

White rightly realizes the enormous challenge that postmodernism presents to Christianity, especially its Evangelical stream. Post-foundationalist thought tends to challenge not only objectivity in man's grasping and appropriation of truth, but even the very ontological reality of truth. While even so hardened a relativist as Richard Rorty admits the self-defeating nature of such a claim, it continues to garner support from many sectors of philosophy. White helpfully draws a clear distinction between the metaphysical and epistemological aspects of. This is his book's major contribution to the debate. He concludes that the metaphysical and ontological reality of truth as it is expressed in the traditional correspondence theory of truth is basic to Christian theology, indeed to all thought. The epistemological aspect of truth is a bit more problematic, though, as debate soon becomes mired in debates over epistemic justification, the nature of starting points, evidentialism vs. presuppositionalism, etc.

White provides incisive critiques of the five major thinker's systems. He appropriately questions Van Til's jihad against univocity, his attendant rejection of the necessity of the law of contradiction, and his claims that his system provided objective certainty and absolute proof for Christian theism.

The chapter on Schaeffer is rather well done. Schaeffer's shortcomings as a philosopher and historian (he claimed only to be a simple evangelist) are discussed. The best portion of the chapter deals with Schaeffer's failure to provide positive proof for Christianity. He failed to realize that disproving atheistic nihilism does equal proving Biblical Christianity. Schaeffer also tended to stress the pragmatic aspect of truth-claims, asserting that a worldview could not be true if it did not explain the 'mannishness of man,' not realizing that his values existed within his worldview and thus could not be a criterion for choosing a worldview.

Carl Henry likewise placed too much faith in the power of rational argumentation to prove the truth of Christianity. Henry is to be credited, though, for championing the universality of logic, and the propositional nature of reality and Scripture.

Millard Erickson is one Evangelical who has engaged in serious dialogue with postmodernism and post-liberal theology. He has attempted a synthesis which preserves the historic orthodoxy of the Reformation while incorporating the insights of recent trends in theology, including existentialism, structuralism, and narrative theology. While his synthesis tends more toward the former tradition than the latter, he has nonetheless been influenced by contemporary thought more than other thinkers. This influence is evident in his nuanced formulation of inerrancy, his emphasis on personal revelation, his coalition with evidentialism and its emphasis on empirical verification, and his openness toward progressive hermeneutical methods.

The last thinker examined, Donald Bloesch, can hardly be classed an Evangelical. He is a Barthian through and through. He embraces the dialectical theology of the neo-orthodox irrationalists and vitiates the doctrine of the authority of Scripture. Positively, though, he steers Evangelicals toward an appreciation of the theological implications of the Incarnation, as well as the concept of revelation as an event as well as a body of truth. Furthermore, his rejection of autonomous philosophy is a strong antidote to the Enlightenment strands in Evangelical thought.

White's book is well worth reading. White provides a good overview of the concept of truth in the thought of the thinkers he covers. I do have some gripes, though. First, numerous misspellings and typos mar the text. Second, White makes the same mistake he accuses most thinkers of making: that of confuting the metaphysical and epistemological aspects of truth. He does this when he asserts a dichotomy between the correspondence and coherence theories of truth. He wrongly portrays the latter as an ontological description of truth. Coherence and correspondence cannot be so easily dichotomized. Coherence proponents such as Gordon Clark and Cornelius Van Til believed in the ultimate unity of the two. Truth corresponds to the mind of God, which is completely coherent. Third, the book contains no index! Fourth, the selection of Van Til, Schaeffer, Henry, Bloesch, and Erickson is questionable. The issue is primarily philosophical. I would have selected Van Til, Gordon Clark, Arthur Holmes, Alvin Plantinga, and Norman Geisler.