The Italian philosopher Marsilio Ficino, who was renowned for his Latin translations of all Plato's dialogues, set out to prove that the tenets of Platonism, instead of Aristotelianism, were fundamentally compatible with Christianity. He attempted this not only by acting as the primary mover of the Florentine academy, but also through his magnanimous patron Cosimo de' Medici who apportioned Ficino the leisure to commence his monumental work, "The Platonic Theology," which is offered here for the first time in a long-awaited English translation. Marsilio Ficino's work--from what may be seen from the first of five anticipated volumes--is an artful, straightforward representation of the divine philosophy of Plato, magnificently garbed under a brilliant and definitive medieval synthesis. Of the work itself Ficino says, "the Platonic mysteries are set forth as clearly as possible...so that...we may reveal the Platonic teaching, which is in complete accord with the divine law." Like all Christian-Platonists, Ficino used Augustine as a model for his orthodox amalgamation of the teachings of Plato and Christ, and believed so strongly in it that he said, "the Platonic teaching...is related to the divine law of both Moses and Christ as the moon is to the sun." With this in mind, it may be said that the vision of Marsilio Ficino, so clearly manifested in this work, will come as a relief to anyone ardently devoted to the school of Plato and the religion of Christ. The translated works of Ficino are certainly a great benefit to those confined to the English speaking world, and the other up-and-coming volumes in new I Tatti Renaissance Library (Harvard) are likely to produce the same effects. The value of these newly translated masterpieces of western culture cannot be described.

This is a collection of essays which document the many reasons the Three Gorges Dam should not be built, the lose of arable land, the dislocation of millions of people, the loss of 5,000 years of art and architecture, etc. Author Dai Qing, an outspoken opponent of the dam since the beginning, is to be highy commended for speaking out while others cower in silence. To put it in Western terms, it is David taking on Goliath, times 10.

There are a lot of detailed figures and facts in some of the essays. They're easily skimmed. But read this book if the subject matters to you and particularly if you're planning to take a cruise through the Three Gorges or have already taken it. While on the cruise, one is told only of the glory and power of the dam, which is to say, given the party line, but one should know the lie behind the line and the potential tragedy that awaits, the tragedy of the River Dragon coming again.

Vertebrate Life would serve as an excellent upper-level college textbook to anyone interested in becoming informed about vertebrates. Professionally, I am a physicist, who after visiting the American Museum of Natural History's Hall of Vertebrates, wanted to learn more about the subject. Even after reading Vertebrate Life, I don't think that I could point out the squamate bone on a fossilized skull. On the other hand, with 733 pages, it is unfair to critize this book about a lack of coverage! The authors provide several pages of excellent references at the end of each chapter. So, if I really wanted to be able to identify a squamate bone, I'm sure that I could have found out from one of references. However, I was troubled by a number of typos, some of the them serious. Figure 15-3 appears to have the second half of the figure repeated as the first half. It would have been nice to see missing illustrations. Figure 3-6b identifies the Otic capsule as "Optic capsule" at one point. This confused me for a while. Even with all this, I was fascinated by what I read, and read the entire book, cover to cover, all 733 pages worth. For the serious student of our natural world, I would recommend spending full price for this book, and plan on spending more than a few hours with it.

It is extremely racist for the author and other "liberals" to denounce William Hannibal Thomas for "betraying" his "race." Isn't "race" a fiction? A mulatto is not a Negro. Thomas was really no different from the average mulatto in his views regarding mulatto superiority and Negro inferiority. He was just more public about it. Even your mulatto "black" hero W.E.B. DuBois believed in mulatto superiority. What do you think his "Talented Tenth" was? Do you recall how DuBois described Marcus Garvey in the most perjorative racial terms because the latter was black and not mulatto?

If the liberal author condemns Thomas as a "race traitor," then he is indirectly endorsing the view of white supremacists who believe in white "race traitors." If "race" is not a biological fact, how can there be any "race traitors"?

In defense of Thomas and other Anglo mulattoes and mixed-whites who proudly reject the black stigma, may I ask why Latinos (also a mixed race, partially black group), Indians, Asians, etc. have never been condemned for the same "sins" of looking down on blacks and identifying more with whites? Mexican elites, for example, were willing to condemn blacks as inferior as long as Mexicans as a group could have the honored label of "white." Why don't they receive the condemnation and sneering that Anglos of mixed-race receive even when they just live their lives and make no statements on "race"? Why? Why don't liberals rejoice at THEIR misfortunes and proclaim that the uppity in-betweens had it coming to them?

Smith should condemn himself as a "racist" for promoting the "one drop" myth and forced hypodescent. As a liberal, he misleads people of good will into endorsing anti-mulatto racism as a defense of blacks. That is the source of the "race traitor" accusation against William Hannibal Thomas. He is being used as a scapegoat.

As a biracial, i'm compelled to say: You are a bigoted woman. Most mulattoes do not think they are superiour over blacks, they are not hateful like you. W.E.B Dubois was proud to be a negro, he help found the NAACP.

A thorough, detailed account of how William Hannibal Thomas transformed from an activist and advocate into someone who projected his own feelings of insecurity and inferiority onto his fellow African-Americans. The author does an excellent job of giving Thomas's changing perceptions historical context. All in all, a compelling book.

I didn't buy the book. I looked at some parts to verify a critique by others I read. I found this quote:

"So while saving may pave the road to riches for an individual, if the nation as a whole decides to save more, the result may be poverty for all!"

This thinking is flawed. After all, true savings means that we have put aside something we created (instead of consuming it) that someone can now use to sustain themselves while they create new products and jobs for those who were laid off from unprofitable businesses. Without these savings, we would not be able to survive to produce more. And if we don't, ourselves, produce more than we consume, then where will all the new businesses get their resources to run their new business (before it starts to produce anything).

As usual, these writers of mainstream economics don't seem able to follow through with a chain of events. It's as though when someone saves a dollar's worth of some product, it is always burried and lost to human kind. These authors would have us continue to consume everything around us without any regard for new production. Somehow this would result in less proverty.

Unless you are forced to buy this book for a course in Economics, you would be better off looking elsewhere. Better yet, find a better course in economics, unless you are only interested in working for some organization that feeds itself by spreading false economic theory.

I used this book as my first introduction to economics, and even many years after having read it I continue to use it as a source of reference to the most simple concepts of economics. It has the very best simple explanations of economic principles that I have ever seen. It is filled with interesting stories that bring these principles to the real world, showing a novice the potential power of these ideas. This is Economics 101 at its best.

I am teaching economics and have read the textbooks written by Stiglitz, Mankiw, Samuelson etc.,but I think this is the best.It not only explains the elements of economics in plain words,but also convey lots of incisive insights which we should keep in mind when we tackle economic problems. I found Baumol and Blinder very instructive as well as interesting.

I had to read this book for school, which always makes reading it more difficult because I knew I would have to write about it. The story of Antony and Cleopatra is a tragic one and better then fiction but Dryden makes it uninteresting and in blank verse which makes the writing dull and prolonged. In fact, I would've stopped reading half way through if I wasn't required to read the whole thing. Trust me, there are better "classic books" out there! Dont pick this one!

John Dryden's 1677 tragedy "All For Love" or "The World Well Lost" was based on William Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra." This would be a minority opinion, but I really think this Restoration Drama is comparable to the Shakespeare version in many regards. Of course "borrowing" from Shakespeare cannot be considered much of a crime when the Bard of Avon appropriated so many plots from other dramatists as well. Shakespeare's play covers ten years in settings scattered across the eastern Mediterranean, while Dryden confines all of his events to one day in the Temple of Isis. For me the dramatic highpoint of the Dryden version is the ugly confrontation between Cleopatra and Octavia, Roman wife of Mark Antony, but I also like the final death scenes better than what we find in Shakespeare. Just do not ask me to explain how "All for Love" reflects Restoration sensibilities rather than the Elizabethan values of "Antony and Cleopatra." I first read this play and decided to use it as the final play in a mini-trilogy of one-act that used Shaw's "Caesar and Cleopatra" and Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," and had no problem given Dryden the anchor position. Certainly classes studying English drama can benefit by having students read both the Shakespeare and Dryden versions with an eye out towards better understanding the works of both playwrights. If you are only going to read one play by Dryden, then the only other choices besides this one would be "Aureng-Zebe," his last and best example of the heroic genre or his comedy masterpiece "Marriage a-la-mode." But I would still pick "All For Love."

Book is too massive to hold while reading. Pages not sequential due to frequent insertions of other articles and reproductions. Good nautical history but doesn't flow . A difficult read and practically impossible in bed.

"America and the Sea" is a magnificent study of our maritime history. It is magnificent in breadth starting with Norse settlements in North America and continuing through the end of the 20th Century. It is magnificent in depth as it delves deeply into key areas of historical importance. With numerous vignettes, the authors are joined by others in capturing detailed views of people and events that make history come alive. It is magnificent in presentation as it uses colorful illustrations and pictures, many with captions that are history lessons in themselves.

Writen by several of our nation's pre-eminent maritime scholars, "America and the Sea" successfully blends together our naval history with the more traditional view of maritime history.

While handsome (and large) enough to be a coffee-table book, it would be a shame if that were its only use. "America and the Sea" should be read time and time again by all who have an interes! t in our nation's history.

If you love Roman history, you'll love this book. It'll give you interesting and new details, as well as new perspectives from which to look at the history of the late Republic and early Roman Empire.

If you don't have any background in Roman history, however, this book may mystify you. It's extremely detailed and well-researched. There are some arguments that can be made about his using kid-gloves with Augustus regarding Cicero's death, the proscriptions, and a number of other dastardly deeds. These are never Augustus' fault, and if they are, well, they are what any of us would have done in his place the author seems to say. And Marc Antony is not just presented here as a loser, but also as a madman. Still, this is a book about Augustus written with great affection, so I don't find anything unnatural about the author choosing to interpret all events in his favor.

The story is written in non-chronological order in the form of letters and journal entries, from various perspectives. I personally felt that this made the story hard to follow. Moreover, because of this, it's almost impossible to get to know any of the characters particularly well as they must share the stage with so many others. If there is any character we get to know well, it is Julia, who all but steals the show. This is unfortunate because the one person we end up knowing the least is the subject of the book. Augustus.

When you close the book at the end of the night, you have learned a great deal, but you know little more about Augustus the person than before you started reading. And that's regrettable.

i am absolutely galled that no one has reviewed this classic tale of Roman life in the empire's infancy. As the publisher stated, this work was meticulously researched, seemlessly combining a tawdry soap opera-esque element with a hard, eloquently written, historical narrative.This book should be required reading in every high school in America! .I much preferred it to the often-tedious, "I, Claudius"

Like most of Shakespeare's comidies, LLL involved a couple of very independent women falling in love with a couple of guys who were in love with them too. It also brought mistaken identities into play and, like A Midsummer Night's Dream, it had a play within the play. The humor was mostly in the form of puns, most of which were hard to understand the first time through. The ending was really bad, though, because the girls didn't get together with the guys like they should have if Shakespeare had planned a happy ending. All-in-all, I would only recommend this play for really serious Shakespearean scholars, as it is almost too dense for us laypeople

this is witty play about four guys who vow to sequester themselves for three years in serious study, but who are forced to forswear their vows when four attractive women show up and upset their plans. the humor is mainly in the form of wordplay, as only shakespeare can do, and the verbal jousting between berowne and his lady is especially entertaining, and anticipates the tete-a-tetes between petruchio and katherina in "taming of a shrew" and benedick and beatrice in "much ado about nothing". definitely worth a read, and if you can get it, the bbc television production of LLL is also worth seeing. last of all, i disagree with the other poster who complained of the ending. i thought it was pretty clear that the couples would get together in a year's time. so the ending was implicitly happy. only someone who is accustomed to instant gratification could find fault with it.

Saftey's a good thing, but there is way TOO much saftey tips in this book. All you need is one section about saftey, but about 95 percent of the book is about safety. Grown-ups may like it, but it makes most kids get tired of it after two chapters. Not only this, but the author talks about things in history that aren't necassary, such as Issac Newton and the history of the band-aid, almost as if the Author is trying to get you into a history class in school (he does this in other books with math!)