John A. Thompson, author of the Reformers and War: American Progressives Publicists and the First World War (1987)and a leading authority on the Progessive Era and First World War, has written a superb and compact biography of Woodrow Wilson, the best one-volume biography of Wilson that we have. Thompson's insightful account focuses on Wilson's leadership style and assesses both its strengths and weaknesses. As president of Princeton, governor of New Jersey, and president of the United States, Wilson exhibited both firmness and flexibility, and idealism and a practicality. Examining the abilities and the limits of political leadership in American democracy, Thompson carefully weighs the degree to which Wilson's successes and failures were a result of his own actions and a consequence of other factors beyond his control. This is a masterful achievement.

It may come as a surprise to many American readers that it has fallen to a British scholar (from the prestigious University of Cambridge) to write such a lively, elegant and thoughtful study of one of America's greatest Presidents. But those who have followed Thompson's earlier work on Progressivism will know what a fine writer he is.

Here he follows Wilson's career through all the highs and lows of political life, deftly sketching a powerful pen-portrait of Woodrow Wilson the tortured man even as he skilfully demonstrates just why Wilson was such a pivotal figure in American political history. The writing is crisp, the pacing never flags, and Thompson's conclusions are both striking and convincing. A powerful read, and in the current climate, perhaps an instructive one. Buy it, read it, and send a copy to the White House.

"Wilsonianism" has defined, and in many ways imprisoned, American foreign policy since the end of World War I. But what if Wilsonianism was the product of pragmatic, ad hoc, political considerations rather than an idealistic grand strategy?

In his marvelous and very readable study of the statecraft of President Woodrow Wilson, John A Thompson argues that Wilson blended certain idealistic values with hard political realities in his response to World War I. Thompson's book, while brief, is comprehensive: it begins with Wilson's childhood, takes the reader through his career as an academic and later President of Princeton University, discusses his term as Governor of New Jersey, and finally delves into the domestic and international aspects of the Wilson presidency.

This book will appeal to general readers, particularly those who wish to be better informed about the Wilson presidency, as well as academic specialists.

If you want to read about a quiet hero this book is a must read hard to put down after you start it...

This is a great biography of a Maine Doctor during his years of practice in the remote area around Moosehead Lake. If you are looking for adventure through hunting, fishing and medical exploits then this is the book for you. Doc Pritham was unique and certainly a forward thinker. I had a difficult time putting this book down.

Breaking the Heart of the World is the most complete study of Woodrow Wilson and the "League Fight" since Thomas Bailey's Woodrow Wilson and the Great Betrayal and WW and the Lost Peace. Professor Cooper eloquently retells the events from Wilson's return from Paris to his infamous stroke, and finally toward his fall from grace. Cooper has read everything and includes everything that is important to the fight. No one knows Woodrow Wilson better. And what you take away from Breaking the Heart of the World is a better knowledge for why the United States did not join the League of Nations in addition to an understanding of Wilson's personality and immense intelligence and foresight. Indeed Wilson saw that need for a League of Nations. America was just not ready for an international league to enforce peace. World War Two would make this clear. Professor Cooper also presents an unbiased account of Wilson. Wilson has been lauded and excoriated by historians. Cooper avoids both and instead presents the matter critically.
Also recommended: The Warrior and the Priest (John Cooper's dual biography of Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt), Woodrow Wilson and the Politics of Progressivism (Arthur Link's important volume in the New American Nation Series), Woodrow Wilson: Revolution War and Peace, by Arthur Link. These are all important books about Wilson and the Progressive era.

Professor Cooper's book is an essential volume in the study of an exceedingly important historical event: the failure of the United States to join the League of Nations. Cooper is incredibly unbiased in his approach neither totally defending Wilson nor constantly excoriating him. Breaking the Heart of the World extends deeply into the League debate and is a masterful example of historical research. There are so many players and therefore numerous sources to analyze in addition to the prodigious volumes of Wilson's own papers. Cooper has synthesized these and provided his audience with a rare and exceptional analysis of the events leading to the failure to join in an international League of Nations, followed by Wilson's repudiation, and more than a decade of international isolation.

Lyndsey Barrett disappears after being gang raped by eleven members of a cricket team. In the years to follow the members begin to meet with violent deaths. A thrilling novel about revenge. It was a definite page turner.

the book was intriguing enough that i could'nt put it down till the last page. a great read

A great reformer written from an honest perspective, well aware of our own culure... another great one for young and old alike!

I have read 3 or 4 biographies of Knox in the past ten years. Stanford Reid's *Trumpter of God* is considered the standard. But Wilson's is by far the most engaging.

Wilson has not attempted a comprehensive biography. Instead he hits the milestones and highlights what made Knox one of the most interesting figures in Western history. Wilson is very pastoral -- he makes contenporary, practical applications from Knox's that the reader will find very challenging.

After I read this book I bought three more copies.

"In Flanders Fields" is the most celebrate poem dealing with the subject of war written in the 20th century. The poet was John McCrae, an idealistic army doctor who wrote the "In Flanders Fields" during the terrible Second Battle of Ypres in 1915. The poem derives its simple but potent power from combining a respect for the fallen soldiers with a longing for peace. It is, in simple terms, an anti-war poem.

Author Linda Granfield breaks McCrae's 15-line poem into three parts, each line illustrated by Janet Wilson's paintings. In between Granfield provides information about World War I and details on what life was like in the trenches for the soldiers, as well as McCrae's experiences in his field hospital and the story of how the doctor came to write "In Flanders Fields." This book is also illustrated with archival posters, postcards, photographs, and other artifacts that put the poem in historic context.

McCrae's poem is short, but by giving each line its own page and illustration, Granfield and Wilson insure that the poem itself is not overwhelmed by background information. In fact, more pages in the book are devoted to the actual poem than the story behind it. The result is a book perfectly composed to provide young students with an appreciation for both the poem and the fallen soldiers it memorializes. It would certainly be nice to see this idea extended to other poems, but it might not have the same effectiveness as this nice little book.

I read this book while resting my feet at Book Expo 2000. At least three people stopped to ask me about it because they were so taken by the illustrations. This picture book for young people intersperses breathtaking illustrations for the poem "In Flanders Field" with background on World War I and the story of the writing of this poem. A deeply affecting and touching book, it will give young people a personal view of war, particularly this war. Unfortunately, many children as well as adults know nothing about World War I. This book is a fine introduction and a good war to broach a painful topic. By any standard, it is well-well written and thoughtful.

Gerard Schaefer hated women. No two ways about it. He was a serial killer housed in Florida State Prison (until being murdered by a fellow criminal some years back)with plenty of time on his hands and plenty of ink in his hate-filled pen. The stories in this book aren't for those easily offended. He revels in tales of death,torture,necrophilia and unrelenting sadism. These stories are unlike anything you'll find anywhere else on the market especailly considering that Schaefer was convicted of crimes along the lines of those he writes about. So, despite his claims to the contrary, the reader is left wondering whether he was speaking from experience or merely making it all up. Somehow I doubt the latter is the case. Highly recommended.

J'ai lu la version française de ce livre et je dois dire quand le lisant on entre tous simplement dans la tête d'un tueur en série. Fantastique!

Once again Charles Nolan Publishing has done the Christian Church a real service with this re-publication of J. C. Ryle's "Knots Untied".

Knots Untied is perhaps Ryle's most controversial writing. In it he defends his position as an evangelical Anglican (Church of England) member and minster. He sets forth his positions in contrast to the high church movement of his day, and in contrast to other church traditions such as Presbyterianism and the Baptists. (I am writing this review from my Baptist perspective.)

Throughout the book, his convictions are set forth
in a gracious and kind Christian attitude of love for those that disagree with him; an attitude that would be well for the some segments of the modern evangelical and reformed Christian church to imitate.

You may not agree with all of Ryles's views, but in the things essential he stands squarely on the Biblical evangelcial and reformed fundamentals. Just as important you will be challenged to think more carefully about those things on which you disagree with Ryle, and perhaps not be always so quick to expound your differences so dogmatically without the loving qualification Ryle uses in expounding his own distinctive views.

Yes, there are issues in Knots Untied where I disagree with
Bishop Ryle, but in reading Knots Untied, my respect for the evangelical Bishop remains undiminshed. On the contrary that respect has increased. I can not help but love him all the more as I see in his attitude toward those who disagree with him, a gracious spirit and heart that imitates the Lord Jesus Christ.

"Knots Untied" is the perfect book for the serious Anglican Christian. Written by the first Bishop of Liverpool, J.C. Ryle, this work is a veritable treasure for the Anglican who is looking for theological red meat.

Ryle lived in time much like our own. A time when "new teachings" were disrupting the Church of England...just as "new teachings" by various Anglican leaders are disrupting Anglicanism in the western world today.

Unlike many modern Anglicans, Ryle had no trouble identifying himself as a Protestant...in the grand tradition of the great English Reformers and as the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion enumerated. In this work, with outstanding clarity of thought and with razor-like precision, he answers all the hot questions of his day...and most of those today.

This book is not just for clergy. One of the aspects of Ryle's genius was his ability to write definitively enough for scholars and yet, to do so in a fashion not offputting to the people in the pews. Every chapter is memorable and if you're not careful you'll have more highlighted than not.

Christians of other persuasions will also benefit from this work. Informed Presbyterians and Baptists know that for most of the period since the Reformation, they have differed very little theologically speaking from Anglicans, save the form of church government (Presbyterians) and in the matter of baptism (Baptists).

Book lovers will appreciate the great care the publisher has taken to produce a first rate presentation and library grade binding. This volume is the second in the series of Ryle reprints. My advice is to buy one copy to use...and another to have for safekeeping.

J. C. Ryle writes from the perspective of a general that is beginning to see the battle slip away. As a bishop of the Church of England in the twilight of the 19th century, Ryle sees forces of influence working within his own church which will eventually bring about its demise. He defends the so-called evangelical wing of his church against attacks by the Tractarians and Latitudinarians and the "high churchmen". These groups and others in the 19th century Church of England were calling for a rapproachment with Rome.

Ryle calls the church back to its heritage by recounting in vivid style the testimony of the Marian martyrs of the church in the 16th century. He is particularly critical of attempts by the "high churchmen" of his day to reestablish an observance of the Lord's Table more in keeping with the Roman Catholic mass. He proves, to this readers satisfaction, that the litmus test issue which condemned Hooper, Latimer, Ridley et al was the "real presence" doctrine of the Lord's Supper. By refusing to confess that the elements of the table were changed by the office of the church into the real flesh-and-blood presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Marian martyrs sealed their doom.

Ryles work is prophetic when one considers the compromised condition of the Church of England today. It serves as a warning to all churches who are committed to an orthodox, historic understanding of the Gospel of Christ.

J. C. Ryle did a real service for the Christian church when he first wrote "Light From Old Times". This hard copy edition from Charles Nolan Publishing makes that Ryle classic available once again to a church that needs so desperatly to remember the lessons of history.

"Light from Old Times" sheds light on a time of church history that is not as well known as it should be. Who were the English reformers? Why did they die, being burned at the stake? What was the course of Anglican church history after the reformation? In "Light from Old Times" we see the foundations laid for the so called "high church" view in contrast to the evangelical reformed view of men like Hooper, Latimer, & Ridley. Ryle could see where the "high church" movement was going to take the Anglican church, and time has proved him correct. Given the current direction of some areas of the evangelical church, the church today would be wise to take heed to Ryle's warnings.

This is an excellent book full of useful information pertaining to natural attenuation. The text covers a great deal of information and offers comments on other remedial methods and limitations. Included is information of processes affecting solute fate and transport, attenuation of source zones and plume formation, abiotic processes, intrinsic bioremediation, estimating source masses, denitrification, methanogenesis, etc. Great book! I highly recommend it.

"This is the finest compendium of research published over the last 20 years involving fuel and chlorinated solvent degradation in groundwater. The authors should be applauded for their efforts."

10/22/99