Book Description
Front-End Analysis and Return on Investment Toolkit is a comprehensive collection of guidelines, job aids, rich examples and tips that give you the information needed to create performance interventions that will deliver the desired results. By using this vital resource you will be able to analyze training requests on the front end, measure worth and ROI in learning, and performance on the back end, and
- Identify the business need underlying the request.
- Clarify the desired performance outcomes.
- Systematically investigate and describe the current performance state.
- Characterize the gap between current and desired performance in terms of magnitude, value, and urgency.
- Identify the array of factors affecting the gap.
Select appropriate, economical, feasible, and acceptable performance interventions that deliver desired results.
Book Description
"Globalization" is here. Signified by an increasingly close economic interconnection that has led to profound political and social change around the world, the process seems irreversible. In this book, however, Harold James provides a sobering historical perspective, exploring the circumstances in which the globally integrated world of an earlier era broke down under the pressure of unexpected events.
James examines one of the great historical nightmares of the twentieth century: the collapse of globalism in the Great Depression. Analyzing this collapse in terms of three main components of global economics--capital flows, trade, and international migration--James argues that it was not simply a consequence of the strains of World War I but resulted from the interplay of resentments against all these elements of mobility, as well as from the policies and institutions designed to assuage the threats of globalism. Could it happen again? There are significant parallels today: highly integrated systems are inherently vulnerable to collapse, and world financial markets are vulnerable and unstable. While James does not foresee another Great Depression, his book provides a cautionary tale in which institutions meant to save the world from the consequences of globalization--think WTO and IMF, in our own time--ended by destroying both prosperity and peace.
Customer Reviews:
Brilliantly written and scary.......2002-07-05
This well written, documented and academic book reads like a novel. Author explains how the British global-led economy was structured in the 19th century, its weaknesses and how it unraveled in the 1920s and 1930s. He reviews monetary policies, banking instability in the pre- and Depression era, trade and its collapse, the rising reaction against international migration starting in the 1890s and culminating after World War I, the opposition between nationalism and capital that existed after 1929 and finally assesses if a new depression could occur again. Despite the dates, the events it describes look so familiar to us today that it sends shivers down the spine.
Written in 2001, the author was still optimistic in his conclusions saying that unlike the 1930s, nobody today was challenging global finacial orthodoxy. But since Ben Laden destroyed the World Trade Center, Argentina has collapsed like in the 1930s, Brazil is on the path to renege its debt just like in 1931, many scandals have shaken Corporate America, stocks have fallen to after-September 11 levels. Le Pen, a right-extremist was a contender to Chirac in the French presidential elections. Migrations have become a hot debate in Europe. The Bush Administration like the Hoover one puts barriers on international trade (steel), does not participate in multilateral debates (UN, Climate, International Court) damaging the system of multilateral organizations, debates and trade. These collapsed in the 1930s to be replaced by bilaterel relations with the known consequences: a global depression and a global war.
Customer Reviews:
Search the Scriptures.......2007-06-05
Judgment Day is not a topic most people want to discuss. It is going to be here and the Bible has much information for us to study regarding these last days. God put the numbers and information in the Bible for us to search out and study. God wrote the Bible which is absolute truth. We can only trust the Bible, we cannot trust our own thoughts or feelings. The book Time Has an End brings a much needed study for this information that God has put in the Bible. I highly recommend this book. Even if you are sceptical, get a copy and open your Bible, pray for God to guide you and grant you wisdom. "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness." 1 Thessalonians 5:4-5
We cannot speak against something we have not studied ourselves. Those I has spoken with who oppose the study in this book have not read it and have not searched out this matter in the Scriptures. Don't settle for the Bibles that clothe bookstore shelves equipped with man's ideas and commentaries. Go to God and God alone for Truth, we learn this truth from the Bible which is absolutely trustworthy.
Some Facts about Camping, Family Radio, etc........2007-01-11
Back in 1990 I ran into Family Radio on the local station in Sac CA and the old hyms and Campings voice drove me crazy. But I could see the value in the hyms and what he was saying. I even heard about the 1994 prediction. So many claim he said it was going to happen. But if you read it or listen to him he never said that. He said there was a high likelyhood that it would from what he has been able to learn from the bible over 65+ years. He reads the Word about 4 hours a day minimum.
1) Family Radio (FR) was started by Camping when he sold his business to start just this type of organization.
2) FR has never accepted advertising $. They did not want to sell out and become governed by advertiser dollars, even though they went through very tough times.
3) FR sells nothing and never has. They give away for free air time to other christian groups and you can call or visit and ask for most anything and they will give it to you free of charge.
4) FR is making no money off of this book. They survive on donations alone. Further, Camping takes no salary or any $ from FR.
5) Camping was a very respected teacher up until the time of his statements regarding the physical church of man.
6) Camping is the only strong voice out there teaching the end times. All others have stopped or brought it to a trickle.
7) FR is not interested in telling you what you want to hear so that you donate/support them. They are telling you what you need to hear.
8) FR/Camping is not perfect in any way.
We are not to predict the hour or the day. But God has told people before very clearly about distruction. Jonah and Noah to name a few.
No one is or should be caught by the thief in the night. The whole idea is to be prepaired for that time. Only the unprepaired will be caught by the thief.
No one is saying you must believe 2011 is the absolute year. Period. But what Camping is doing is trying to give you some of the best information, from the bible, on just how close it is.
There was the tent, then the temple, and now the churches. The church of Christ will stand, but the physical one? Well, judgement is comming upon that first.
Jesus taught and walked yet not just everyone was saved. He is the best teacher ever so how could that be? You would think that just hearing Him you would be saved. Well, God tells us it also takes the Holy Ghost and if the HG is not there then...
Take all the churches in the US. Get rid of every church that has a Gay pastor, a Homosexual pastor, an alcholic pastor, a female pastor, or a pastor that was divorced post born again, and what do you have? None of those people are called by God to be leaders as they are actively sinning and living in it. They do not have to be perfect, but they can not be a pastor under specific requirements of the bible. Now how many churches do you have left??? And this is just the US.
This book is not perfect by any means. But attacking something that one knows very little about and doing so in an immature manner does little.
Camping is talking about the doom that is comming. Bringing it to the light because so many churches and teachers are hiding it.
As far as dangerous goes? This book, if I hated it, is nothing compared to the teachings of the Morman, 7th day, JW, RC, and many other churches false teachings. This book is true in it's attempt to show just how close we may be. It is funny. Ask a Christian if they think they may see it in thier life time and you will get a huge majority saying it is very likely. But tell a Christian that it 'may' be just a few years off and they loose it.
Peace and Blessings
Deceived by Thiele.......2006-12-22
Anyone who has studied Biblical chronology in depth will understand that all Biblical calendars must make contact with known secular history at some point, otherwise they cannot be assigned BC or AD dates. In Camping's case, he relied on Edwin Thiele's 931 BC date for the Schism, which itself was fixed by the Assyrian Eponym List. This list is not an infallible document, and the year of 931 for the Schism is rejected by many Biblicists, who favour Ussher's date of 975 (or dates close by) for the Schism. The bottom line is that 2011 is not a Biblically derived date. It is essentially a date worked out by projecting time-spans from a calendar that has been dated through the Assyrian Eponym List. Therefore, it is date of men, not of God. Reader beware.
Praise You Lord God.......2006-08-06
An absolutely spectacular and seemingly flawless book. I believe Mr. Camping is correct in his prediction based on Biblical research of the Lord's Coming and Judgement Day. I'll be watching.
Furthermore, Mr. Camping is an exceptional Bible teacher. Glory be to God for Biblical truth and for choosing faithful prophets to declare His testimonies.
ZERO Stars -- The Day & Hour Unknown! (2011 is a LIE!!!).......2006-07-28
Mark 13:32-37 (KJV):
32 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
35 "Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back--whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to EVERYONE: 'Watch!'"
2 Peter 2:3 (KJV):
In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and THEIR DESTRUCTION HAS NOT BEEN SLEEPING.
Mark 13:22 (KJV):
For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
1 John 4:1 (KJV):
Beloved, believe NOT every spirit, but try the spirits WHETHER they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Average customer rating:
- Excellent ! Hard to put it down!!!
- A Civil War Book That Puts You in the Middle of the Action
- Fast paced, realistic, gritty and enjoyable
- A one line summary is insufficient to describe this book.
- Outstanding, could not put it down.
|
Until the End
Harold Coyle
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Historical
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Look Away
-
Savage Wilderness
-
God's Children
-
Against All Enemies
-
More Than Courage
ASIN: 0671890174 |
Customer Reviews:
Excellent ! Hard to put it down!!!.......2005-11-06
Look Away was my first book on Civil War. I continued with Until the End. Well, Mr. Coyle did a great job. Excellent books!!! I would highly recommend these books to anyone who loves history.
A Civil War Book That Puts You in the Middle of the Action.......2004-05-12
I give Until the End 5 out of 5 stars. It is an excellent novel about all the aspects of life in the civil war. It does not try to glorify war at all; in fact it describes the horrors of war very well. The author has obviously done a lot of research, and though the main characters are fiction, the actual events they are in are not, as can be seen by his explanation in the back of the book. Not only does he show life in the army for both the Union and Confederate soldiers, he describes a field hospital and the conditions they were in. He shows how the protective shield that is the myth of the glory of war breaks down from stress on the battlefield, exposing the soldiers to his previously hidden internal conflicts between sacrificing his individuality and honoring his sense of duty. The book also really engages the reader, and they feel a loss with the people in the book, like with the loss of their friends to enemy muskets. It also has a very engaging sub-plot dealing with the brother's lives and their eventual reunion. This is an excellent book.
Fast paced, realistic, gritty and enjoyable.......2000-07-25
Until The End is the second and final instalment of Harold Coyle's Civil War series. As with the first in the series - Look Away - the novel chronicles the lives of the Bannon brothers as they continue to fight on opposite sides of the conflict. Although Until The End is the second instalment of a series it can be read as a stand-alone novel. However, I would encourage you to initially read Look Away.
As with Look Away, Until The End is a splendid read if you're interested in the battles of the Civil War. This novel takes us to the end of the war and includes amongst others, battles scenes from the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, a particularly realistic account of The Bloody Angle, Jubal Early's aborted raid on Washington, the mud of the trenches at Petersburg and the surrender of Lee at Appomattox Court House. Although there are chapter notes at the end of the book I certainly benefited from a little previous knowledge of these battles. If you're able to get a copy you would find it useful to have The Conservation Fund's `The Civil War Battlefield Guide' as a reference source
I feel that the author has fine-tuned his skills in writing about this subject matter, as a result Until The End is the better of the two novels. It still has the realism of the War but has lost some of the need to over elaborate on the nature of social relationships that was to be found within Look Away. I enjoyed the focus on the Bannon's personal lives in the shape of Harriet Shields and Mary Beth McPherson and found that Coyle had developed this element of the plot in a more believable manner than the previous novel.
Until The End, as with Look Away, can not be described as high literature, it does not have any hidden agendas and it does not try to convert the reader to any particular Civil War bias. It is, however, fast paced, realistic, gritty and enjoyable. If these are qualities that you enjoy in your Civil War fiction then whether read on it's own or as a conclusion to the story of the Bannon brothers I do recommend this book to you.
A one line summary is insufficient to describe this book........1999-05-22
Look Away and Until the End were my first 2 Civil War novels. I was not dissappointed. The battles are described in vivid detail. Coyle makes the 1860's come alive with wonderful plot AND character development. The only bad thing that could possibly be said about this book is that it is not "to be continued".
Outstanding, could not put it down........1998-12-23
Until the End kept me at the edge of my seat. It is a gripping story that brings home the torment that families had during the Civil War. It brings together the Bannon family, again. Mr. Colye also leaves the door open for more about the newly expanded family after the war. It's one story that I will not forget in a long time. I recomend it to readers of all interests.
Book Description
The international best selling author of Sarah and The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things presents his new and tremendously moving novella, Harold's End. A San Francisco street kid hustling to feed his heroin habit. A middle-aged rich guy with an uncommon turn-on. Oh yeah, and a snail. The authentic tale uniquely allows the sweetness of childhood to seep through muck in unrivaled literary finesse. Harold's End features illustrations by Australian artist Cherry Hood.
Customer Reviews:
Great Illustrations, nicely bound.......2007-02-15
My hardcover copy is nicely bound, with a half dozen illustration plates each with a glassine sheet protector laid in ahead of it. I'm buying the next one (Labour) mostly for the artwork.
I liked the story, but I'm not much of a critic. Quite possibly the darkest book ever written about a boy and his snail.
People have no imaginations.......2006-07-13
Oh no! JT Leroy doesnt exist! then the books must be terrible after all!!!!
Nope. I dont care who JT Leroy is. I found the whole persona a little interesting, but also tiring after a while. Taken on their own without any of the B.S. that the author used to stir up interest in these biooks, they still stand up.
It is a complete nonsense to say that the world of publishing is great, and good books get published all the time, and Laura whatever her name is didn't need to do this. American publishing is in a dire position. Good books usually have to go to Europe first to find a home. A good book coming out on a decent sized publishing house and getting any kind of exposure here in the US is about as rare as us electing an honest president.
The books are good. Harold's End is a novella, but the usual leroy themes are present... It is certainly not a 1 star book, It IS slight, but that is because it clocks in at under 100 pages. I'd certainly rather read and enjoy this novella that druge through John Updikes latest borefest.
Nasty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NASTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2006-03-16
Ooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh SNAP! So busted!!! Read all about it: Bad Writer Gets Nailed For Posing & Tricking & Using All US Good People To Pad Their Pocket! And all that stuff about a woman need to fake herself as a gay, abused, homeless, infected, drug addicted teenage boy to get her crunk published is just lame lame LAME! NEWS FLASH: The publishing industry, unlike most, is populated by women in high power positions, etc. etc. etc.!!!
So here's how it's rolling out over the wire now: Now that we know that LeRoy is a chimera created by a writer with equal gifts for fiction and fraud, this book is a vile cesspit with no redeeming qualities at all. It's one of those icky stories about the United States that certain kinds of Europeans like but with none of the artistry. It makes you feel like a terrier is pushing your nose into the mess he just left on the kitchen floor.
Dr. Babby suggests: Dear Used & Marketed To Death By Scuzzy Funkwad Hoaxsters, don't despair. There's plenty of really good, really serious, and really talented writers doing good work. Stuff you've never heard of, but you'd probably enjoy. Avoid Leroy, take two good novels by anyone else, and call me in the morning.
OUT!
The name is Laura...not J.T...........2006-02-26
Poorly realized third-rate effort meant only to trade on an already fading novelty act and faux writer. And if by now you've got to refer to this writer as "J.T. Leroy" without even acknowledging it was Laura Albert who wrote them, then you've got to be in on the hoax.
Lastly, comparing this writer to the likes of the Bronte sisters, George Eliott, Asa Carter, and Thomas Pyncheon is beyond laughable. None of those writers were hoaxes, even if they used pen names, nor did any of those writers seek to discredit other writers in the manner that Laura Albert has done. Furthermore, they didn't use fake identities based on the poor, homeless, abused, sexually confused, and HIV+ to, as someone else pointed out, market their product and sell it to the public. Laura "JT" Albert wasn't speaking in a new voice either, but one that borrowed liberally from Dennis Cooper and Mary Gaitskill, and even Flannery O'Connor. The legacy here won't be that of a great writer, but, rather, one great hoax that did itself in by the sheer nastiness behind it. As Abraham Lincoln once said, "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time."
Well Edited, but The Beating Heart Is Silenced.......2006-02-25
JT LeRoy's newest work, Harold's End, may best be regarded as metaphor, allegory, or perhaps more accurately niche writing. Eggers's crackly editing shines as always, but the story itself is ill-conceived at its very core, lacking the broader appeal of Sara and The Heart Is Deceitful. LeRoy's earlier works may bear the hallmarks of trauma and tragedy, but they are also brilliantly shot through with humor and irony; they demonstrate a sizzling, shocking writing that throbs in the ear, dilates the pupils, and jolts mind and heart. Howard's End sadly does not rise to this earlier level of focus, and it founders as if in search of its own core. The work does not resonate with possibilities of meaning, uncharted territory of imagination, tiered metaphor and allegory, as in LeRoy's previous two books. To this reader, Howard's End feels as if the reader is trapped on flat landscape, barren terrain with no unfolding possibility of meaning or imagination, no unexpected scenery. The soil of the story itself is too infertile for richness to abound. And even a brilliant editor, alas, cannot provide the essential nutrients when the seed and soil have no intrinsic life.
On a secondary note, the literary world's furious indignance and rage over the true identity of JT LeRoy is peripheral to the author's work itself. The writing craft has a centuries-long history of writers assuming different gender, appropriating multiple identities, and evading the demanding scrutiny of a voracious, clawing public. From the Bronte sisters to George Eliot, to Asa Carter, to Thomas Pyncheon, writers have written on their own terms, created and recreated their identities, and have sought to elude the inevitable categorization that would haunt them and dog them into eternity--and would seek to silence them. Good for JT LeRoy for imagining a new world, for speaking in a new voice, for stepping so deftly out of his own skin as to give birth to a character so culturally relevant that he feels true and authentic to the reading world. What is writing but employing the "plasticity of imagination in remembering," as Tennessee Williams has spoken of his own memoirs (as in "The Glass Menagerie)? JT LeRoy owes no one an explanation, an apology, or a single word beyond his (or her) work itself. We should commend LeRoy for his astonishing feat of imagination, and give up the shrieks of betrayal, for demandinging a literal reality devoid of creation. Our own lives are much more often shaped by the jagged truths of metaphor and allegory than by the daily drubbing of everyday reality. As Henry Ford said, "Never apologize. Your friends don't need it, and your enemies will only use it against you."
Customer Reviews:
You can almost smell the gunsmoke.......2005-03-03
You can almost smell the gunsmoke of the battlefield while reading this book. It's one of my all time favorite novels about the Civil War. I've bought copies and given them to my friends- that's how much I liked it.
Coyle has a gift for making you feel like you are right on the battlefield with his characters. I didn't always know exactly where the action was taking place or why, but that's just about how the soldiers lived it then, I'd say.
Terrific!
Great fictional account of the war as it might have been!.......2004-08-13
Coyle uses documentation of real events and people to create this fictional account of "Brother vs Brother" in the War Between the States. This tale of Kevin and James Bannon, who are both manipulated into fighting by the machinations of their greedy father, is an excellent story of soldiering on both sides of the war as it might have happened. An entertaining read for the fiction fan AND students of the War.
Amazing.......2001-08-18
Phenomenal. I got so involved with the characters that it was like being a part of history. This novel depicts the horrendous rift that separates two brothers and a family as they pick sides in the American Civil War.
It was emotional, gut-wrenching and beautiful all in one. The second installment was even better, if that can be believed.
This is a must read for all civil war buffs or even everyone who loves a great read. Pick it up, you won't be sorry!
Slow to Start, Rolls at the End-A Harrowing Look at War.......2001-03-23
A few additional thoughts to add to the reviews below. Coyle's beginning is the clear cut weak point in the book. The premise of the book is tried and true: two brothers on opposite sides of the Civil War. Coyle's attempt to create a believeable conflict capable of dividing the two brothers onto opposite side seems forced. I just don't buy the beginning of the book. Additionally, it takes over 300 pages before I felt that either brother had much of a personality. Both James (the Reb) and Kevin (the Yank) are indistinct from each other and seem like rather bland people. The supporting characters are far more interesting.
I would recommend that fans of Civil War literature and/or war stories not be turned off by the beginning of the book (or Coyle's occassional choppy writing style: he switches viewpoints suddenly, for example). Coyle's talents are most apparent when he writes about the various battles and the life in the camps. Here, Coyle's storytelling is terrific. Each battle is told through the eyes of either James or Kevin; truly a first person account of the battles. The result was that I felt as if I stood next to James as he faced down a charge. Some of the battle scenes are so wonderfully described that my hands perspired as I read them.
I believe that the book is probably more enjoyable for people who have a basic understanding of the various policial, social, and military conflicts of the war. Coyle does not spend a large amount of time describing why Lee charged up the middle at Gettysburg, although the troops briefly debate the reason for the charge. Another example is the death of Stonewall Jackson in the Wilderness. Little is mentioned in the scenes after his death other than to mentioned what effect it had on the chain of command.
Colye isn't trying to give a history of the war, so don't expect one. This is a story of the men who fought it the Civil War. From this perspective, it makes sense that the soldiers don't see the "big picture" of a battle.
Overall, I look forward to the next book and would recommend this book to people interested in the Civil War.
Hokey 'brother against brother' story - but it's still good.......2001-03-23
Coyle's storyline is pretty hackneyed - brothers fight over the love of a girl, then one joins the Union as the other joins the Confederacy. The Reb brother hooks up with old Tom Jackson's unit, natch, and sees some of the most interesting action of the war as part of the Stonewall Brigade. And of course the Federal brother gets separated from his unit in the final climactic battle, placing him in the thick of the action - guess who he runs into across the lines?
It's twists like this that makes me think that this book is one plot device after another, rather than a cohesive story. True, amazing coincidences did occur in the Civil War. You'll see lots of them in this book, that's sure, as it moves towards its seemingly preordained conclusion.
In spite of this, "Look Away" is an entertaining read. The book keeps a smart pace and provides an engaging soldier-level view of the action. Coyle renders the battle scenes in particularly skillful fashion, as well as the ordinary dialog between the soldiers while in camp or on the march.
Average customer rating:
- Jesus Christ is the Answer!
- The Last Secret, by Michael H. Brown
- the last secret
- author embroidered too much--irritating
- Last Secret
|
The Last Secret
Michael Harold Brown
Manufacturer: Servant Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Roman Catholicism
| Catholicism
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Saints
| Catholicism
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Mariology
| Catholicism
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Catholic
| Church History
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Jesus
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Historical Jesus
| Jesus
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Catholic
| Theology
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Theology
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Theology
| Religious Studies
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Day Will Come
-
The Final Hour
-
The Amazing Secret of the Souls in Purgatory: An Interview with Maria Simma
-
After Life : What It's Like in Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory
-
Secrets of the Eucharist
ASIN: 1569550239 |
Customer Reviews:
Jesus Christ is the Answer!.......2005-10-27
Always, always and always believe in the Son Of God: Jesus Christ. It is through Him that You will obtain Salvation.
Believe in the Commandments, and Pray for yourself, the Dead, the Poor, and to and for Christ Jesus. It is Through Him that you will be able to meet the Father, so Worship Him and Love Him, as well as Trust Him. We Live in End Times, so Please believe in Christ....the Millineum is so close.
The Last Secret, by Michael H. Brown.......2005-07-22
Wonderful, wonderful book!! Everyone should read this book, as there is much enlightenment to be found in this particular book. It helped me as a Protestant Pastor to understand the Virgin Mary, and Catholic doctrine.
the last secret.......2005-07-20
The best book I have ever read on the appearances of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It chronicals every one through the centuries. The author did an amazing job. I will order his other books as he is that good of a researcher and writer.
author embroidered too much--irritating.......2003-03-13
I have not finished this book. The author's descriptions of Mary are off-putting. For example: "If early images are correct, she had a small straight mouth, a thin chiseled nose, and a drawn look that was sometimes sorrowful. She was of medium height and had brown hair with dark bangs and eyebrows, her face neither long nor round but oval, her hands and fingers tapered, delicate, and long. She was a regular peasant in a small, regular hillside house, and her life had been one of prayer and toil: drawing water, cooking, and repairing clothes. She had subsisted on fruit, fish, and bread; in manner always serene and demure...."
I have not seen the Blessed Mother, but I would be surprised if her expression is "drawn." And I doubt her manner was "always serene and demure." A "regular peasant"? The mother of God, while pregnant, traveled to see her pregnant cousin and stay with her till the birth of her child. At a wedding, she basically told her Son to turn the water into wine.
Contrast the author's description with the words of Julian of Norwich (admittedly a saint and the first woman to write a book in English): "a simple maid and meek, so young she seemed like a mere child--yet the very same age when she conceived. And God showed me then something of the wisdom and truth of her soul In particular, I saw her attitude toward God, her Maker, how she marveled with great reverence when he wished to be born of her, who was a mere and simple creature he himself had made. It was this wisdom, this truth, seeing how great was her Maker compared to her own littleness, that made her say to Gabriel, 'Behold me, God's handmaid.' Then I knew for certain that she was more worthy and more full of grace than all the rest of God's creation, with the sole exception of the manhood of Christ."
Also, I personally dislike the notion that Mary's life was one of "prayer and toil." What about relationships with people? And she had a Little Boy. Didn't she play with Him? I feel, think and believe her life was one of LOVE.
So, the visions are interesting, but the author defeats himself more than a little with perilously distracting--and highly debatable--asides.
Last Secret.......2001-10-20
EXCELLENT!! An eye-opener! Accurate data. Everyone should read this book and be enlightened.
Book Description
Unfinished at Puccini's death in 1924, "Turandot" was not only his most ambitious work, but it became the last Italian opera to enter the international repertory. In this colorful study two renowned music scholars demonstrate that despite the modern climate in which the work was written, it was a fitting finale for the centuries-old Great Tradition of Italian opera.
Customer Reviews:
a good book--if you're smart enough.......2004-06-05
The book begins with a philosophical discussion of different styles of opera--comedy, tragedy, melodrama, verismo. I was completely lost during that chapter.
The bulk of the book goes over the opera with a fine-tooth comb. I thought I knew the opera well, but through much of this discussion, I could not understand which passage in the opera the author was referring to. He gives musical examples, but not often enough.
The discussion on the last 59 pages of the opera is interesting, however. He points out which contributions were from Puccini and which were from Alfano.
If you don't know every word and every note of the opera, be prepared to hold this book in one hand and a score of the opera in the other hand.
Book Description
The perennial, full-color series continues. In this volume, Arn, Son of Valiant, is heir to the throne of Thule. As king-to-be he must be careful in his choice of a bride, but his heart belongs to Lydia, the daughter of a savage Viking chieftain, whose mores don't exactly match those of his prospective in-laws. Fate intervenes as, during a trip through the icy mountains of Thule, Lydia slips and plunges to her death. Shattered by grief, Arn undertakes a long, perilous odyssey...
Fantagraphics' deluxe, full-color editions of Prince Valiant run chronologically, and Volume 49 includes work from the years 1979-1980. Valiant's creator, Hal Foster, died in 1982; this is the penultimate volume in the series. Each volume in the series presents close to a year's worth of strips per volume in an oversized format showcasing the strip's spectacular color pages. With its thrilling continuities of a fictitious knight in the era of King Arthur's Court, Prince Valiant set a new standard for the serial drama when it debuted in 1937. It was Foster who introduced illustrative techniques—and the sensibilities and standards of such illustrative greats as Howard Pyle—to the comics page. He is still considered, 20 years after his death and 65 years since Prince Valiant debuted, to be comics' supreme classicist, and the strip continues to live on in over 100 newspapers across America.
Customer Reviews:
another 5 star collection.......2004-03-27
great collection - good for reading with children
Books:
- Getting Our Groove Back: How to Energize American Jewry
- Ghettonation: A Journey Into the Land of Bling and Home of the Shameless
- Giraffes Can't Dance
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History's Great Untold Stories: The Larger Than Life Characters and Dramatic Events That Changed the World
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Public Relations Kit for Dummies
- History: Fiction or Science
- Computer Animation: Algorithms and Techniques
- Drawing From The Modern
- History: Fiction or Science
- History: Fiction or Science
- Fundamentals Of Plant Virology
- Paradigm College Accounting: Chapters 1-29
- Annotated International Accounting Bibliography, 1972-1981
- County Business Patterns Maine 1999
