I did not think this was a MASTERCLASS. Has a lot of black and white prints...but, short on text. I was looking for more in the instruction area as a MASTERCLASS on photography.

This is really an excellent book for teaching, or just for the public. It gives you great pointers on how to achieve a certain look for a particular picture. It is also interesting to see how different pictures can look when certain effects are applied to it. I would recommend this book to anyone as a gift or a personal collection of their own.

Mickey Mouse is one of the best recognized and well regarded symbols in the world. Children are even more willing to get inoculations if Mickey's face is on hand. Due to an aggressive merchandising bent, this Disney character has been transformed into almost every possible physical expression. The only things that I haven't seen done with Mickey are to turn him into buildings. Perhaps that will be next.

This book provides a primarily pictorial presentation of that history, from the original drawing by Ub Iwerks back in the 1920s through to the latest fashion in Mickey Mouse watches today. In between, you will see Mickey during his cartoon career (including a list of his appearances) beginning with his speaking role in Steamboat Willie on November 18, 1928, through the three different versions of the Mickey Mouse Club (I was disappointed that there were no large photographs of Annette!), his role as a greeter as the Disney theme parks (you'll be fascinated by how the costume evolved), to his evolution as a drawn figure (pupils within pupils made him more appealing).

The book is loosely themed around Mickey's initial appeal as a brainy, underdog hero . . . a sort of mouse David versus Goliath. There are brief references to the other Disney characters, including Minnie, Donald Duck, and Pluto.

Clearly, the picture's the thing in this book. You will see ads, balloons, comic strips, lots of watches, wordworking projects, flower and topiary representations at the theme parks, movie posters, movie stills, story boards, every conceivable kind of merchandise, photographs, conceptual art (including Andy Warhol), Mickey Mouse ears, magazine covers, and sketches.

Although the book has some exposition, it is on the light side. Serious fans of Mickey would want to know a lot more. So the ideal recipient for this book would be a young person who likes Mickey, but doesn't know very much about him.

Fans of Minnie will be very disappointed. She is almost totally ignored in the book. Since my daughter likes Minnie much better than Mickey, this would be a poor choice as a gift for her.

Those looking for the ultimate visual experience with Mickey will also find this book to be disappointing. Although it has a lot of attractive material, it could have had much, much more.

Like most compromises, the book fails to fully satisfy. I graded the book down accordingly although it is perfectly executed for its concept of providing a little background with a lot of images of Mickey.

After you finish enjoying this book, think about who you favorite cartoon character is. Why do you like that character? What traits of that character do you wish that you embodied? What other traits would make that character even more desirable?

Look for role models wherever you can find them!

I love the book it really tells how Mickey Mouse becomes a figure of American Icon and All around the world. Great Pictures, Great Story of a Great Mouse

John White writes about Paul the author as opposed to common perceptions of Paul from Acts and in process liberates Paul from the Pharisaical tradition.

White in the process of reviewing Pauline literature, draws out several controlling metaphors to create an overall Pauline theology. These metaphors include God as mother, father and creator. Through use of these metaphors he explains how the postconversion Paul is markedly different from the preconversion Paul the Pharisee.

Another unique feature of this work is comparing Paul's writing to the social context of the Greco-Roman world. White does an excellent job drawing upon research on Greco-Roman family models to help explain the impact of Paul's theology in the Mediterranean context.

This is a reprint of a very good book by John White -- likely to take advantage of the 'Prayer of Jabez' craze. While this book might not have the same popular appeal as 'Jabez', I believe it presents a more balanced perspective on prayer through the study of ten unique prayers in the Bible.

Even 10+ years later, the observations and lessons from this book still remain true. If you haven't thought much about prayer and God's interaction with us through prayer, this is a great place to start.

While the Titanic story has been covered extensively from every angle, much less is known about other White Star ships. But the line suffered several accidents over the years. This book tells us about the wrecks of the Atlantic, Britanic and Republic, among others. I especially enjoyed the chapters on the Olympic and Atlantic. The Olympic was the Titanic's sister ship, enjoying a fascinating history of her own. The Atlantic sank in 1873 with the loss of several hundred lives. Only true Titanic and sea buffs will want to read this book, though. Others will quickly find it boring and are advised to stick with materials entirely on Titanic.

What is worldliness? For too long, evangelicals have had a faulty concept of what it is to be worldly; they have strained at gnats and swallowed camels. Worldliness, to many Christians, means watching movies, listening to secular music, going into pubs and smoking cigarettes. Meanwhile, whilst they are busy checking off their list of dos and don'ts (the gnats), they swallow the camels of materialism, pride, lust and greed without even realizing it. White exposes the carnal ways that are so often overlooked, and highlights the attitudes prevalent in Christians that betray a deep-seated worldliness.

He is not afraid to challenge many of the sacred cows of evangelical piety and values. As always, his words have a prophetic edge (see 'Money Isn't God' for another fine example of his writings), hard-hitting and cutting straight to the point, yet at the same time, full of compassion. He speaks with the authoritative voice of an Isaiah or an Amos, sounding a clear call for the church to get back to the way of Jesus. He is a conservative evangelical with an acute awareness of the social implications of the gospel: a rare combination, admittedly.

The book covers attitudes to wealth, sexuality, patriotism and many other pertinent topics, taking the attention away from minor behavioural issues that so often occupy the minds of Christians, and focusing on the issues that matter more to God: justice, mercy, selflessness and, as the title suggests, loyalty to God in a world characterized by attitudes God despises.

The book gave a very good overview of JFK. Levine went into a lot of detail about foreign affairs when JFK was in college probably because he served in the wars. Also he gave what seemed to be first hand accounts of JFK's days and troubles in the war that only JFK himself would know. Levine did not go into great detail about certain issues, because it was a short book, not a novel.

This is a very good book which tries to give an objective and balanced assessment of the Kennedy Presidency free from 'Camelot' or 'sleaze' biases.

It succeeds.

I thoroughly recommend it.

This is the third book in John Lawton's series and you should read it ONLY after "Black Out" and "Old Flames". First of all, it deals a lot with the events and characters of the those novels, and second...it is not as intriguing as those two books. I liked it, but that's because I am fond of the characters, especially Troy himself. Starting the book, I expected to find a web of intrigue, but the events mentioned on the back cover happened only after several hundred pages! Until then we had Troy's reflections on life, death, etc. What we have here is a good, clever novel about the 60's, just don't expect it to be a thriller it isn't.