"The Works of John Bunyan", edited by George Offor

This review intends to inform readers of the contents of these three volumes so they may buy these books without the risk of guessing. Fortunately for me I guessed correctly!

To answer your first question, reader: Yes, "Pilgrim's Progress" IS INCLUDED in volume 3! Part I, Christian's journey, begins on page 89 after an 88 page introduction by the editor. Part II, Christiana's journey begins on page 168. And part III, The Life and Death of Mr. Badman, begins later in the volume on page 586. All parts are included. (Note that the latter is not commonly included as a part of "Pilgrim's Progress" in most books.)

Having said the above, if you are *only* looking for "Pilgrim's Progress", especially parts I and II, then these collected works are not for you. These books are physically HEAVY to hold, much too heavy for comfortable reading; you will need a stand, table or desk to avoid cramping your hands while reading.

The print, while quite legible, is small; some sections seem 6pt or smaller, especially the footnotes. As is common with many reprints of early editions, a few letters per page are faint, and a few have slight blotches such as a filled "e" center or a slightly thicker "t" crossbar, etc. As mentioned before, the print is still quite legible; if you are looking for the collected works please do not let the print deter you!

The sturdy binding and covers on the volumes handles the unexpectedly heavy contents well. I suppose the dimensions are roughly 9x7x1.125".

The copyright information says "Reprinted from the edition of 1854 published by W.G Blackie and Son, Glasgow". Reprints from the middle of the 19th century somehow seem appropriate for the writings of Bunyan; it gives one a feeling of history. And I *DO* love old books!

The editor describes the difficulty of obtaining 1st edition prints of Bunyan, especially since most editions were cheaply and badly printed "for the poor". Another interesting editorial comment is that Bunyan was somewhat of a misogynist.

As expected from a 1854 reprint, there are many woodcuts throughout the volumes, and they are excellent.

The 19th century compiler and editor, George Offor, supplies many footnotes. The footnotes, especially in the "Pilgrim's Progress", are often of a devotional nature such as "Take heed reader!", etc. But there are also many other footnotes clarifying rare words, doctrinal points, cross references, circumstances of writing, etc. Many of the footnotes have initials next to them, presumably indicating selected editorial comments of other commentators. (I was unable to find a clear list relating the initials to full names.)

Volumes I & II are entitled "Experimental, Doctrinal and Practical". Volume III is titled "Allegorical, Figurative and Symbolical".

To help you decide for yourself whether to purchase these books, here are the contents:

Volume I: "Experimental, Doctrinal And Practical" (771 pages)

- Grace Abounding To The Chief Of Sinners (his personal testimony)

- Bunyan's Prison Meditations

- The Jerusalem Sinner Saved

- The Greatness Of The Soul

- The Work Of Jesus Christ As An Advocate

- Christ: A Complete Saviour

- Come And Welcome To Jesus Christ

- Of Justification By An Imputed Righteousness

- Saved By Grace

- The Strait Gate

- Light For Them That Sit In Darkness

- A Treatise On The Fear Of God

- The Doctrine Of The Law And Grace Unfolded

- Israel's Hope Encouraged

- A Discourse Touching Prayer

- The Saint's Privilege And Profit

- The Acceptable Sacrifice

- Paul's Departure And Crown

- The Desire Of The Righteous Granted

Volume II: "Experimental, Doctrinal And Practical" (758 pages)

- The Saints' Knowledge Of Christ's Love

- Of Antichrist And His Ruin

- The Resurrection Of The Dead, And Eternal Judgement

- Some Gospel Truths Opened According To The Scriptures

- A Vindication Of Gospel Truths Opened According To The Scriptures

- A Discourse On The Pharisee And The Publican

- A Defence Of The Doctrine Of Justification By Faith In Jesus Christ

- Reprobation Asserted

- Questions About The Nature And Perpetuity Of The Seventh-Day Sabbath

- Of The Trinity And A Christian

- Of The Law And A Christian

- Scriptural Poems

- An Exposition On The First Ten Chapters Of Genesis

- A Holy Life: The Beauty Of Christianity

- Christian Behaviour

- A Caution To Stir Up To Watch Against Sin

- A Discourse Of The Building, NaTure, Excellecy, And Government Of The House Of God

- Bunyan On The Terms Of Communion, And Fellowship Of Christians, At The Table Of The Lord

- A Confession Of My Faith, And A Reason Of My Practice

- Differences In Judgement About Water Baptism No Bar To Communion

- Peaceable Principles And True

- On The Love Of Christ

- A Case Of Conscience Resolved

- John Bunyan's Catechism (called "Instruction For The Ignorant")

- Seasonable Counsel

- An Exhortation To Peace And Unity

- Bunyan's Last Sermon

Volume III: "Allegorical, Figurative And Symbolical" (790 pages)

(Note: the first 88 pages of this volume, called chapters I-IX, comprise an introduction written by the editor describing the writing of "Pilgrim's Progress" itself. That which you and I know as "Pilgrim's Progress", the journey of Christian begins on page 89 and is labeled "First Part" in the volume's table of contents. The "Second Part", the story of Christiana, begins on page 168. The third part appears later in the volume, beginning on page 586, and is labeled as "The Life And Death Of Mr. Badman.")

The editor writes the following introduction:

- The Pilgrim's Progress From This World To That Which Is To Come

- Chapter I: Life A Pilgrimage ...

- Chapter II: ... having been written in prison ...

- Chapter III: Bunyan's Extraordinary Qualifications To Write The Progress

- Chapter IV: Bunyan's release from jail ...

- Chapter V: The inquiry "Was Bunyan assisted in writing?" ... No.

- Chapter VI: A bibliographical account of the Progress' editions ...

- Chapter VII: An account of the versions, commentaries, ...

- Chapter VIII:The opinions of learned men ...

- Chapter IX: Obervations upon ... some prominent parts

- First Part (this is the actual "Pilgrim's Progress")

- Second Part

- The Holy War Made By Shaddai Upon Diabolus, For The Regaining Of The Metropolis Of The World

- The Heavenly Footman

- The Holy City (Or "The New Jerusalem")

- Solomon's Temple Spiritualized

- Discourse On The House Of The Forest Of Lebanon

- The Water Of Life

- The Barren Fig-Tree

- The Life And Death Of Mr. Badman (This May Be Considered The Third Part Of The "Pilgrim's Progress")

- A Few Sighs From Hell

- One Thing Is Needful

- Ebal And Gerizim

- A Book For Boys And Girls

To date I have read many of John Bunyan's writings including P-Progress, Mr. Bad man, Heavenly footman, Grace Abounding, The ruin of Antichrist, The barren figtree, The Holy War, many poems, and many more writings. I can tell you this much, any money you would spend to puchase any of Bunyan's writings will be money very ell spent. Just make sure they are Bunyan's writings and not a writing ABOUT his writings.

it's a complete book, not to deep, but enough to over view advetising.

presents theory and practice in a easy-to-learn form.

i use it with my students, with very good results.

This is a great book for anyone interested in what life was like on Alcatraz from an insider's perspective. Mr. Gregory served as a prison guard on Alcatraz and explains in detail the daily routines of the prisoners and guards. He writes very directly about the various jobs he had while there and what life was like. He adds a very human aspect to the people in his book while writing very "matter of factly." I was engaged by the book and did not want to put it down at times. Having read other books on Alcatraz and having been there, this book told me an insider's perspective that I had never felt I'd had before. I recommend it highly to anyone who has even the slightest interest in what Alcatraz was really like.

This classic masterpiece deserved reprinted more than anything else and it is done with an excellent expansion, especially on narrated accounts of travellers and geographers of the time. Inside you'll find an interesting correlation proposed between Islamic trading activities and their mastery of the Indian Ocean, its height and downfall until the 1000 AD. Buy it, especially if you're an Indonesian Muslim.

The figures of this book are very useful for details in professional drawings. On the other hand, it gives simple ideas to solve common problems on construction.

This book is one of the best reference books an architect will ever use. It contains the necessary information for the beginning and advanced architect. Inside the 568 pages in this book one will find from the most basic to the highly complex architectural graphics. The book provides reference for the various arcchitectural plans such as the floor plan, elevation and perspective drawings. No other reference material can surpass the amount of information provided in this excellent book.

"Brief Lives" has always been a delight, but it was Oliver Lawson Dick's scholarly editing that revealed Aubrey's genius. And Lawson Dick's Introduction, "The Life and Times of John Aubrey", is a miracle of synthesis and compression: certainly one of the finest biographical essays ever written. This Nonpareil Books edition is sumptuous - a joy to read in these days cheap, quickly produced paperbacks.

Reading this book puts one right on the ship with Mr. Grey, to wittness all the splendor and action that goes with deep-sea fishing. His descriptive writing technique is easy to understand, and beautifully captures in detail the beauty of the Tahitian waters, islands and people. Accompanied by spectacular photos, you can easily slip back to another time and place, when the fish were teaming and the islands pristine. On a side note, the references and brutality to sharks slightly disturbed me, for Mr. Grey claims to be a naturalist, how can he despise any living creature? I chalk it up to another era of outdated thinking, and today we know that sharks have a vital role in the oceans. All in all, I enjoyed this book very much and look forward to reading more of Mr. Grey's writing.

As 1916 draws towards an end, the war between Great Britain and Germany appears to have no end in sight. Prime Minister Lloyd George has been in office for a week when his friend Sir Arthur Conan Doyle persuades him to host a séance in order to contact his daughter, dead for nine years. Because he feels guilt, Lloyd agrees. Just as the medium goes into a trance, the lights go out. When they come back on, the Prime Minister's youngest teenage daughter is missing.

Doyle visits his friend John Darnell, a psychic debunker, to attend the next night's séance. As happened previously, the lights go out just as the medium enters a trance. When the lights come back on, someone stabbed to death an aid to the prime minister. Someone has used the cloak of the séances to kidnap a teenager and kill a person who unluckily chanced upon information. Lloyd receives a ransom note threatening the life of his child if he fails to agree to Germany's peace offering. John Darnell races the clock to save a life of an innocent caught up in world politics.

Sam McCarver writes a fascinating work that gives the audience a strong sense of the times. The mood of the British people before America's entry into World War I is fascinating yet understandable. Nonetheless, the magic to THE CASE OF THE 2ND SÉANCE lies in the hero whose actions insure readers get more than their money's worth.

Harriet Klausner

Both inspirational and humbling to listen to the voice and intellect of such a great man. Such command of the English language and speaking skills unmatched! After listening to him speak you will see how pathetic in intellect and moral character our politicians of today are. I've finished his biography as well and coupled with these speeches he emerges as one of the greatest men of our or any time. I cannot recommend enough these tapes or his biography, it filled me with a renewed sense of purpose and conviction in life. If there was a phrase to sum him up it might be "never give up" on life or one's possibilities to achieve. Buy these tapes!