The Gospel of Thomas: Annotated & Explained (Skylight Illuminations,)

The Gospel of Thomas: Annotated & Explained (Skylight Illuminations,)
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Not such a great interpretation of a Great Gospel

The Most Sacred Understanding of the Historical Jesus Ever Written

Shining a light on the Gospel of Thomas

Gospel of Thomas

Insights from the past

The Gospel of Thomas: Annotated & Explained (Skylight Illuminations,)

Manufacturer: Skylight Paths Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1893361454

Customer Reviews:

Not such a great interpretation of a Great Gospel.......2007-08-06

A great collection of sayngs from presumably during the time of Jesus. Its heartening to know after reading this and the Gospel of Mary and Judas that there was a greater truth revealed by Jesus than what the Church wants us to believe!!

Stevan L. Davies has done a wonderful job in trying to be very objective in his interpretation of the Gospel of St. Thomas and therefore this book lacks the spiritual intensity required in interpreting such great texts especially when I compare it to the Gospel of Mary Magdalene by Jean-Yves Leloup. I found many interpretations lacking depth and were purely literal translations. For example Saying 56 and 80 can be interpreted to mean that whoever has realized God would find that the material world is but just a corpse and not worthy of him. There are many others such as this.

The forward by Andrew Harvey is, as some others have commented, bombastic and clearly off mark from the central theme of the Gospel.
A great Gospel and highly recommended for the spiritually inclined and critically minded!!

The Most Sacred Understanding of the Historical Jesus Ever Written.......2007-05-22

This is the second book review I have done. Each relate to the profound text that is "The Gospel of Thomas." Stevan Davies is a Master at explaining "The Gospel of Thomas." He has spent over 20 years in study of the Master! I have much respect for other texts that are said to revere "The Gospel of Thomas." However, none are in comparison to the work Stevan Davies has done! I admit that I love all the commentary books on the gospel and each are special in their own way! Marvin Meyer is great on historical research and others on a universal application of Jesus' teachings and how they apply to other religions! But Stevan Davies
truly brings his gospel to life! He is a true believer just like me! All we have to do is recognize what is already before us. This is the hope that just might save the world! As a "Thomas Christian" I would make this required reading for all who seek a true spirituality. This text is more than just a Bible for "Thomas Christians" it is the very sacred source of eternal Life!

The Gospel of Thomas that is translated and annotated by Stevan Davies in the Shambhala Library is the same text but different editions of the same book.

Shining a light on the Gospel of Thomas.......2007-02-20

While the Gospel of Thomas itself is a great source of quotations to ponder and meditate on, this book offers some insights and direction to understanding what was intended.

The annotations help provide some context of the historical period that the Gospels were written, along with corresponding sayings incorporated into the New Testament Gospels.

The foreword by Andrew Harvey provides an inspiring viewpoint that sets the scene for reading the sayings attributed to Jesus.

The foreword also outlines the importance of saying 22, illustrating how it reveals the order "of the transformations that have to be undergone by every seeker if the 'Kingdom-consciousness' is to be realized."

The annotations offer evidence of the implied meanings to the sayings. The 'Kingdom-consciousness' is often related back to the creation stories of Genesis 1 & 2, with the creation of Adam and Eve, and the Garden of Eden. Not mentioned in the book, but perhaps apt, is Qabalistic Tree of Life, with Malkuth representing Kingdom. As with the sayings in the Gospel of Thomas that the Kingdom is within, and outside of you, there is a comparison within the Qabala that Kether is in Malkuth, and Malkuth is within Kether. To me, this suggests that by "entering" the Kingdom (or attaining "Kingdom-consciousness") one may reconnect with with the Divine.

Although the title suggests that in part this is the Gospel of Thomas "explained", it certainly isn't a spoiler of the mystery of each of the sayings. While some of the annotations certainly suggest the likely meaning of the saying it is still made clear that the sayings are ambiguous, and open to interpretation by the reader.

All of this presents a new and revolutionary view of a Christianity wildly different than any of the mainstream and orthodox Christianities that exist today. One in which Jesus is a fiery-spirited 'teacher' who leads by example, and imparts a wisdom of Self-growth (via Self Knowledge) that will allow anyone to know that the Kingdom of God is here now, and accessible (if only you have eyes to see and ears to hear). The sayings certainly fit with Hermetic teachings, and the elements of synthesis within them point to a spiritual alchemy.

Steven Davies (along with Andrew Harvey in the foreword) has done an excellent job of opening up the Gospels of Thomas to assist readers in quickly becoming acquainted with the themes and symbolism with this unique Gospel.

"Jesus said: I have thrown fire on the world. Look! I watch it until it blazes."

Gospel of Thomas.......2006-11-10

Excellent, a good start to continue your Journey. May God and God's light be in You.

Insights from the past.......2006-11-07

--Simon Peter said to them: Mary should leave us because women are not worthy of the life. Jesus responded: Look, I'll lead her in order to make her male so that she can become a living spirit as you males are. For each woman who makes herself male will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.--

When I've read this passage to my biblical studies and history classes in seminary, they can usually agree readily that this might not have been the best document to include in the canon of scripture, at least when thinking about it from a `preachability' standpoint, particularly if one tends toward literalist interpretations. But many of the passages in the Gospel of Thomas defy simplistic interpretation and understanding because they really are of a different world and different worldview, and have not had a long history of hermeneutic development as have other, equally difficulty canonical passages.

The Gospel of Thomas gained a significant audience during the first decades after its discovery in the Egyptian desert in 1945. Part of a collection that has come to be called the Nag Hammadi scriptures, they were discovered only a few years prior to the Dead Sea Scrolls, another set of documents that has been pivotal in increasing our understanding of the religious culture of the time two thousand years ago.

One scholar classified the Gospel of Thomas along with most other non-canonical gospels as failing to gain widespread acceptance not primarily because of the content, but because of the style - the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are all narrative in their development; they tell stories and narrate a history in addition to giving the wisdom of Jesus. The Gospel of Thomas, like many of the other, is more a collection of sayings, more on the order of the book of Proverbs or Ecclesiastes than Mark or John. According to Stevan Davies, `The format of the Gospel of Thomas is little more than a disorganised list.... The Gospel of Thomas is about as primitive a form of text as there can be: a simple list with one thing following another in a manner that is much more reminiscent of oral tradition than of literary construction.'

The Gospel of Thomas is perhaps best understood as a Gnostic text (though there are some who would dispute that). Andrew Harvey, series editor of the Skylight Illuminations set in which this book falls, writes:

`The Gospel of Thomas is more than the most exciting archaeological find of the last century, even more than another gospel to add to the four canonical ones. It is far more than another Gnostic text, or one that carries on the tradition of Jewish wisdom sayings, or, as some have also claimed, a cross between the two. These are scholarly descriptions and distinctions, fascinating and helpful in their way, but they do not begin to describe the extraordinary importance of the Gospel of Thomas, or to show how it can be used today by all sincere seekers to awaken their divine identity and to focus its powers on a radical transformation of the world.'

There are 114 passages (not quite verses in the traditional since, but closer to verse-size than chapter-size). Each one is here presented in new translation by Davies, laid on with only a few (sometimes only one) per page, with commentary on the facing page. This commentary is primarily looking at social, historical, philosophical and theological ideas rather than linguistic and translation issues; thus, it is accessible to the general reader, but will need to be supplemented for the scholar. Davies avoids jargon and terminology with which only scholars would be comfortable, again in an effort to make the Gospel of Thomas generally accessible to non-professional readers.

Those who are looking for forbidden fruit might look elsewhere. As Davies points out in the introduction, we have no proof that this book was deliberately excluded by those councils and decision-makers who solidified the canon as we now have it - indeed, they might not have even been aware of the existence of the Gospel of Thomas, which might have been a more regional text in circulation and popularity. Still, its rediscovery has not provoked widespread movements to reopen the canon. It has provided fascinating insight into the early Christian world, and provided a new lens through which to assess how some people understood the person and phenomenon of Jesus.

This is a very good text to use to be introduced to the Gospel of Thomas, to some of the less-traveled by-ways of early Christianity, and to ideas of spirituality that are both Christian and foreign.

As for the opening passage -- that is actually the conclusion of the Gospel of Thomas. Remembering that the writers (and intended audience) would not have taken the terms 'male' and 'female' to be literal, flesh-and-blood attributes is the key to understanding this passage.

J.M. Barrie and the Lost Boys: The real story behind Peter Pan

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Lovely and sad, the story behind "Peter Pan and the Lost boys"
J.M.Barries and the Lost Boys: the real story behind Peter Pan
Sheds a new light on Peter Pan
Tragic loss of dear illusions . . .
Tragic and Beautiful

J.M. Barrie and the Lost Boys: The real story behind Peter Pan
Andrew Birkin
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Braun IRT 4020 ThermoScan Ear Thermometer

ASIN: 0300098227

Book Description

J. M. Barrie, novelist, playwright, and author of Peter Pan or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, led a life almost as magical and interesting as his famous creation. Childless in his marriage, Barrie grew close to the five young boys of the Llewelyn Davies family, ultimately becoming their guardian and devoted surrogate father when they were orphaned. Andrew Birkin draws extensively on a vast range of material by and about Barrie, including notebooks, memoirs, and hours of recorded interviews with the Llewelyn Davies family and their circle, to describe Barrie's life and the wonderful world he created for the boys. Originally published in 1979, this enchanting and richly illustrated account is reissued with a new preface to mark the release of Neverland, the film of Barrie's life, and the upcoming centenary of Peter Pan.

Customer Reviews:

Lovely and sad, the story behind "Peter Pan and the Lost boys".......2007-07-27

Having found this little book before the advent of the film "Finding Neverland" I was able to read it originally without comparing it to the film, always a good thing. The film, of course, changed much of the true story as films usually do. This book standing alone as far better, but note, it is not a happy story with a happy ending, it is a tragedy, and no one is left unscathed.
The photographs, almost all, were taken by Barrie himself, and are absolutely wonderful. He had a natural artistic sense, and his unposed photos of the five Llewelyn Davies boys, Michael, George, Peter, Jack, and Nico at their play, stay with you. They are dressed in the Edwardian clothes of the time, or in costumes they wore in the elaborate make-believe games they played with their childlike grownup friend Mr Barrie, and those are truly memorable in themselves. Often they are playing with J.M. Barrie's large dog, and one can't help but think of the big dog, Nanna, in Peter Pan, it's acutally quite eerie, seeing that the play "Peter Pan" itself wouldn't be written yet for years.
J.M. Barrie came from a lower class Scottish family, and in childhood lost an older brother to illness. His mother took to her bed griefstricken, for a long period, and once, trying to cheer her, young Barrie put on the older brother's clothes and went to see his mother. For just a moment she thought it was the older brother, and he seemed to see happiness in her eyes; for all his life, the message stayed with him, the boy who would never grow up was the loved boy.
He was a strange, brilliant, gentle, childlike man. Highly regarded in his own time, considered a great playwright, equivilent to George Barnard Shaw in his day; and very prosperous due to his books and plays, married, but childless, and probably not very happy in his marriage which would end in divorce, one day in Kensington Park he saw one of the five young Llewelyn Davies brothers. They struck up a friendship, based on Barrie being quite willing to talk to a child on the child's level. Soon after, he met the rest of the family, who were impressed to meet the famous playwright. Their family was also upper class, well to do, but would soon lose their father to cancer, they would thenceforth be in precarious financial straits. Barrie immediately became a combination father/ big brother to the boys. He also became close friends with their mother Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, but not, I suspect, to the degree the movie implies. It was all about the boys, their innocence, and something he wished to capture and hold on to. His obsessive photography of them makes that clear.
Tragedy struck again, unbelievably, when their mother died of cancer as well, at a young age, after a relatively brief illness. By then Barrie was such a part of their lives that his continued influence, and the benefit of his money in seeing to it that all five boys finished school in the manner befitting their "class", was accepted by the boys' extended family. He stayed involved in all their lives indefinitely, though it is interesting that he had his favorites, and the two who were not favorites resented and disliked him as they grew older.
The book stops with the boys' growing up, though he did stay involved with them as a surrogate parent. Tragedy did hound the family, but unlike some reviewers I am not sure that it can be blamed on JM Barrie's role in their lives. In fact, without him, financially they would have far worse off.
It is true the boy named Peter resented that the play was named "Peter Pan", and of course he was teased at school, and Barrie probably should have thought of that. (Of course without Barrie he most likely wouldn't have been at Eton to be teased.)
Two footnotes: all the proceeds of the play went to the Children's Hospital in London for 100 years, until recently with the 100 years anniversary, the copyright ran out, and now it is in the public domain. No proceeds of his biggest success ever went to Barrie.
Also, the girl's name: "Wendy", was first used in the play. It was an unknown name before that. Barrie used it in memory of a young daughter of a friend who was named Wendy, and who died at age 5. (Not known where that family got the name from, or if it was a nickname.) It was not a name known previously and "Peter Pan" popularized it.
Its an excellent book, an opening via the photographs into another long-gone time, a sad story, but not I believe, due to Barrie. I believe he meant well, and tried his best to be a friend to that unfortunate family. He had his demons as do we all, but to "love" children, in that era, to befriend them, and even play with them when they were pre-teens, could still occur without any implication of perversity; and even to sleep with a child, the concern of one reviewer, was, at the end of the Victorian world, seen as a pure and innocent act, like a parent and child might sleep together...I think it is hard for us in our cynical age to see things as the late Victorians/Edwardians did. No whisper of scandal or of anything improper ever came from any of the five boys, their family, servants, or anyone else connected with them; and I think had there been it certainly would have come to light. I believe he truly loved the boys, and they in turn, after he knew them several years, and had observed their play and their natural talk and style, influenced him to write his masterpiece "Peter Pan".

J.M.Barries and the Lost Boys: the real story behind Peter Pan.......2007-03-08

This is one of the bases for the movie "Wonderland" but reading this book will creep you out on J.M.Barrie. You might never really like Peter Pan again. Author had access to his papers, letter, diaries etc. Very weird stuff.

Sheds a new light on Peter Pan.......2006-11-03

I found this book to be a well-researched and moving account of not only Barrie's life but also the lives and deaths of the original "Lost Boys". After reading this book, I read Peter Pan again in a whole new light and enjoyed it even more. I think reading this book is essential in order to fully appreciate the entire Peter Pan experience as it truly helps to bring the characters alive.

Tragic loss of dear illusions . . ........2006-09-12

I read this book over 15 years ago in an attempt to find out who the author of Peter Pan really was, and what his life was like. It was not a pleasant or easy read. I wanted to forget all about it and just have the enchantment of "Peter Pan," but as with the real life of the author and photographer of "Alice in Wonderland," the truth can wound deeply. But lies and half-truths can never reveal the relationship between biography and art, so one must often face much disturbing information in order to understand the art itself. This is not to say that art is reducible to biography; it is not. There is, nevertheless, a kind of dialectic (God, I do hate to sound so gawdawful jargony, but when it so plain, other words just do not work) between the life of a genius and the art of the same individual. The truth of art can only come from the struggle between an artist's vision and the life that made such a vision a necessity. Yes, a necessity: there are those artists whose lives were so fraught with sheer catastrophe that revelation through a skewed fantasy can be so powerful as to take on a "life" of its own. And this is why it is so grievous to "paint-over" the unpleasant details of such a life. There was a recent film with an appropriately disturbing title: in the attempt to not really "find" Neverland in Barrie's life, the art itself is drained of its truly tragic roots. At the time such "nice" little fantasies are presented, they seem so harmless, but they are not. Successful attempts to eradicate truth can also eradicate the depth of the art itself. "Neverland" is a word that begs a little attention: a land where children "never grow up." This is not to say that they physically die - no - instead they live their lives, as did Barrie, in a desolate, lifeless, and desperately lonely "land" and try, from within their internal isolation, to bring others along for the rides to nowhere and "never." Where else could such a person bring another? If one lives in "Neverland" of the mind, there is nowhere else to lead another - nowhere else to go. And if we do not face unpleasant truths as they are revealed in the crucible where life and art meet, we learn nothing further from the art. It is better, actually, to know nothing of an artist's life than to be fed untruths. I would suggest the readers either read this book and/or see Peter Pan, but would urge them *not* to see Peter Pan after experiencing a false represenation - no matter how "well-performed" the falsehood is presented. The play or story would be meaningless. The truths, whatever you choose to make of them are here in this book, like it or not. And once the genie is out of the bottle (such as when you have been fed a disingenuous Hollywood film or other disingenuous account), to refrain from the truths of an artist's life is a violation of the art. No one can any longer understand or be truly moved by Peter Pan, much less try to interpret it based upon a sugar-coated Hollywood paint-job. And the effect goes on: if other artists were inspired by Barrie's work (perhaps because it touched the nerves of their own catastrophic lives), and all we have is a candy-coated film, their art and whatever in their lives might have inpired their interest in Barrie's work is also distorted. I do not know if truth sets anyone "free," but I do know that untruths distort and harm. And then the distortion goes on . . . This book cuts deep, but struggles for truths, which is what a biography of an artistic genius should try very hard to do.

Tragic and Beautiful .......2006-02-01

Prompted by the movie "Finding Neverland" I wanted to learn more about the Davies family and their relationship with Barrie. My research lead me to this book. The tragic story of the boys and Barrie was an eye opening read. Birkin is an artful weaver of ancedotes, interviews and history. While I was reading the book I got lost.I started feeling like I was an intimate friend of the families, instead of curious observer. Furthermore, Birkin's website has been updated with more pictures and media files. The website coupled with the book really saturates you into the life of the 5 boys and the mindof the man who loved them very much. A beautiful account of a flawed and tragic life.

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The Business of Systems Integration

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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Binding: Paperback

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Over the past decade or so, systems integration has become a key factor in the operations, strategy and competitive advantage of major corporations in a wide variety of sectors (e.g. computing, automotive, telecommunications, military systems and aerospace). Systems integration is a strategic task that pervades business management not only at the technical level but also at the management and strategic levels. This book shows how and why this new kind of systems integration has evolved into an emerging model of industrial organization whereby firms, and groups of firms, join together different types of knowledge, skill and activity, as well as hardware, software, and human resources to produce new products for the marketplace. This book is the first to systematically explore systems integration from a business and innovation perspective. Contributors delve deeply into the nature, dimensions and dynamics of the new systems integration, deploying research and analytical techniques from a wide variety of disciplines including, the theory of the firm, the history of technology, industrial organization, regional studies, strategic management, and innovation studies. This wealth of research capability provides deep insights into the new model of systems integration and supports this with an abundance of empirical evidence. The book is organized in three main parts. The first part focuses on the history of systems integration. Contributors trace the early history of systems integration using different industrial examples. The second part presents theoretical and analytical aspects of systems integration. Contributions concentrate on the regulatory and cognitive features of systems integration, the relationships between systems integration and regional competitive advantage, and the way in which systems integration supports the competitive advantage of firms. The third part takes industry and firm-level approaches. Contributions focus on different sectors and highlight the specificity of systems integration in various industrial domains, stressing its importance for systems integration in the case of complex capital goods, such as aircraft and telecommunications equipment, as well as consumer goods, such as personal computers and automobiles.

A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee

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Davy Crockett and Thomas Chilton
Crockett's Narrative under the microscope
The Eternal Crockett
One to add to a "Crockett" Library
David Crockett, a review

A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee
David Crockett
Manufacturer: Bison Books
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0803263252

Book Description

Even as a pup, Davy Crockett "always delighted to be in the very thickest of danger." In his own inimitable style, he describes his earliest days in Tennessee, his two marriages, his career as an Indian fighter, his bear hunts, and his electioneering. His reputation as a b'ar hunter (he killed 105 in one season) sent him to Congress, and he was voted in and out as the price of cotton (and his relations with the Jacksonians) rose and fell. In 1834, when this autobiography appeared, Davy Crockett was already a folk hero with an eye on the White House. But a year later he would lose his seat in Congress and turn toward Texas and, ultimately, the Alamo.

Customer Reviews:

Davy Crockett and Thomas Chilton.......2007-02-09

Confusion about authorhip has followed "A Narrative" more than 170 years. It helps to understand that Thos. Chilton, Representative from Kentucky, shared living quarters with Crockett at Mary Ball's Rooming House. They were actual bedfellows, which was the custom of the times; Thos. Chilton was father, eventually, to 15 children. Thomas Chilton had a university education and wrote with recognized eloquence. He crafted "A Narrative" from Crockett's notes and dictation, using carefully the homespun dialogue of his friend.

Thos. Chilton, a skilled lawyer, was not fool enough to do all this this work for free. Davy Crockett arranged for his publisher to pay fifty percent of the book's royalties to Thomas Chilton, who agreed to have no mention of his name in the book. What remains rather obscure is the disposition of royalites after Crockett's death. Thomas Chilton died in 1854.

The role played by Thomas Chilton in "A Narrative" was lost to history for nearly a hundred years, except inside the Chilton Family.
-- Edward M. Chilton

Crockett's Narrative under the microscope.......2005-12-22

Davy Crockett's Narrative first appeared early in 1834 at the height of his political career. During the 1820s he had won a couple of terms in the Tennessee state legislature, and in 1827 he won a seat in Congress representing the western half of the state. He was a foe of Andrew Jackson and a political maverick; when he advocated for Indian rights he won the enmity of many in Congress and his constituents, and was voted from office in 1831. He licked his wounds and patched up differences, and was re-elected in 1833. To bolster his image, which was already taking on legendary aspects, this Narrative was written with his friend Thomas Chilton. Told in bold, humorous, boastful strokes, it is nonetheless a campaign biography and ends with sharp attacks on Jackson.

The way the Narrative is set up here is very useful for the reader. It appears in facsimile form, with wide margins set around it, in which Shackford explains, corrects, and separates fact from fiction in Crockett's assertions. It's almost like watching a movie on DVD along with critical commentary. Interestingly, many errors that appear in the Narrative were intentional and are often self-deprecating, making Crockett more unsophisticated and lowbrow than he really was in order to win votes with the farmers and backwoodsmen of western Tennessee. Most of the historical references he makes are quite accurate. As a campaign biography to help him win re-election in 1835, however, it was a failure, as he lost to a Jacksonian. After that, he set his eyes on Texas.

The format chosen here is what makes this book a success. The many annotations make this edition of the Narrative the most informative and "honest" in print. Highly recommended.

The Eternal Crockett.......2005-01-15

David Crockett found himself to have become mythologized in his own lifetime. Every indication is that he arrived at this place accidentally, but that once he recognized his own pop-culture status he took advantage of it and nurtured it at every turn. His Narrative, therefore, must be read with a certain amount of skepticism nevertheless it is still valuable as an historical record.

The narrative is a journey from start to finish; true Homeric stuff. He describes his journey into adulthood in pre-Mark Twain style, then his journey as an adventurer in the military, his journey across the state of Tennessee with his family, and finally his journey into politics. There may be many embellishments within his narrative, but considering the period in which it was written (while he contemplated a much larger political career) the topics he chose to describe actually seem prosaic and understated, as if he were deliberately trying to avoid bragging about himself. In this light, perhaps the Narrative is more accurate than is generally assumed. The Narrative may have been ghost-written by someone else, but there is enough Crockett in it to give it legitimacy. His jabs at Andrew Jackson are quaintly hilarious, but they are also true. In this pre-Alamo period of his life, his willingness to take a stand against Jackson might be the bravest thing he ever did.

Lastly, the language itself is fascinating. The Narrative may be laced with over-the-top phrases such as, "knocked his trotters out from under him", but at the same time he writes, "if a fellow is born to be hung, he will never be drowned..." This is classic southern wisdom, words I have heard with my own ears in the mountains of eastern Tennessee, so Crockett's Narrative is either very authentic or was itself the basis for an evolving southern culture. In this way, the Narrative should be considered classic American literature.

One to add to a "Crockett" Library.......2003-10-23

Penned during the ORIGINAL Crockett "craze" of the 1830's, this is the Tennessean's own story in his "own" words. (Much of this book was heavy edited and, some would say, ghost written by one of Crockett's supporters.) Still, it's worth adding to a "Crockett" Library. Parts of the book have an almost "Dickens" like feel, especially the stories about the poverty and hardship suffered by the young David. Sprinkled through-out this book are hunting stories, scrapes with bears and panthers, a little romance, skirmishes with hostiles, frontier wit and humor. An annoying part of the narrative are the corny pseudo backwoods expressions, like "burst my boilers" and "knocked his trotters out from under him". Evidently the author(s) tired of this excessive hoakum too because it abruptly stops. (Thank You!) Much has been written about the legendary "Davy" but this brings the real man into more perspective. Even if you have little interest in Crockett lore, the NARRATIVE is still worth reading for it's glimpse into early 19th Century America.

David Crockett, a review.......2000-04-14

It is a great book, a real whopper. And I'll be skinned alive and burned by an injun if it aint one of the moost enthralling books I've read. Colonel Crockett didn't have the greatest spelling, or punctuation, but it was a great book. In the 1830's, Edgar Allan Poe wrote a review of the book, criticizing its grammar, but what he forgot to say was how it was exciting, and easy to read. At the time, it was the bestselling book in the nation.

Tuscany & Umbria (Charming Small Hotel Guides: Tuscany & Umbria)

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Great
Wonderful hotels for a great travel experience
Some Things Change Slowly

Tuscany & Umbria (Charming Small Hotel Guides: Tuscany & Umbria)

Manufacturer: Hunter Publishing (NJ)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

San Marino & Umbria | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1588432386

Customer Reviews:

Great.......2000-10-01

We used this to plan our lodging in Tuscany, and we stayed in some wonderful places. I would highly recommend it for those interested in staying in smaller hotels with lots of charm.

Wonderful hotels for a great travel experience.......2000-04-18

We are the authors of Eating & Drinking in Italy and have used this guide for many years. If you want to have a memorable trip to Italy, stay in the small hotels listed in this helpful guide.

Some Things Change Slowly.......2000-03-13

In 1994 my wife and I made our first trip to Italy, and in preparation for that trip I made heavy use of "The Charming, Small Hotel Guide to Italy." Upon our return, I later came across the first edition of their guide to "Tuscany and Umbria" and another for "Venice and the Veneto."

I swear by these guides-- but I have to complain a little about the latest edition. First, it has changed very little from the prior edition-- there are only a handful of new entries. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, in the interim, many of the properties listed have acquired e-mail accounts and developed websites. The internet era has made it much easier to check on room availability, current pricing, etc., but very few email addresses or URLs are listed. That complaint aside, this is a good, useful book, one I would use to plan our next trip to Tuscany-- if we couldn't get a room at "our place."

The Raven's Bride (Southwest Life and Letters)
Average customer rating:

Good Historical Novel

A delightful, interesting view of Sam Houston.

The Raven's Bride (Southwest Life and Letters)
Elizabeth Crook
Manufacturer: Southern Methodist University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century | African American | Asian American | Classics | Collections & Readers | Drama | General | Hispanic | History & Criticism | Humor | Jewish American | Letters & Correspondence | Native American | Poetry | Short Stories | Women Writers
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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The Raven: A Biography of Sam Houston

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ASIN: 0870743481

Book Description

In 1829, Sam Houston was the thirty-six-year-old governor of Tennessee, and his political horizons seemed limitless. The marriage of this charismatic, ambitious statesman to twenty-year-old Eliza Allen, the daughter of a prominent land-holder, seemed to form the perfect social foundation on which Houston would build his glittering career. But just eleven weeks after the wedding, Eliza suddenly and inexplicably left her new husband, creating a scandal that caused the governor to resign his office in disgrace and embark on an exile that would ultimately deliver him to Texas, and a destiny even grander and more improbable than anyone could have imagined. Through decades of rumor and speculation, Sam Houston and Eliza Allen never revealed the source of their unhappiness, and carried the secret with them to their graves. The Raven's Bride is a brilliantly original novel that unravels this dark romantic mystery while illuminating a vivid and fascinating moment in America's past. In these pages, Sam Houston is presented as he must have been--a heroic figure (called "The Raven" by the Cherokee), vain, flamboyant, magnetic, his outsized personality fueled by a desparate need for love. And Eliza Allen is his match: a prideful, magnificent young woman, both drawn to and disturbed by her husband's grand aspirations. With the investigative acuity of a historian and the profound empathy of a gifted novelist, Elizabeth Crook has created an enthralling portrait of these star-crossed lovers and the vibrant, restless world that brought them together. Richly detailed and splendidly imagined, The Ravens Bride turns a baffling historical conundrum into a complex and deeply affecting love story.

Customer Reviews:

Good Historical Novel.......2000-09-17

This is a good novel about the relationship between Sam Houston and Eliza Allen, who Houston married in 1829. The marriage lasted only a few months, at which time Allen fled Houston to return home to her parents. Neither she nor Houston ever revealed the reason for their breakup, but it destroyed Houston's political career in Tennessee and eventually led to his going to Texas, where he became commander-in-chief of the Texas army when Texas won its independence from Mexico, first president of the Republic of Texas, and governor of Texas when it became a state.

There have been a number of theories advanced as to why Allen fled Houston, but since neither one revealed the reason and the historical record is slim, the event will be forever shrouded in mystery. Crook's novel suggests a very plausible theory, and grows out of an academic research article Crook published in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, reprinted in its entirety as an appendix to the novel. To Crook, the reason was not a simple one, and it cannot be fully appreciated without reading her book. To anyone interested in the mystery of their relationship, or in the character of Sam Houston, this is a very good read.

A delightful, interesting view of Sam Houston........1999-03-23

A very good historical novel

Average customer rating:

ABC of Palliative Care (ABC)
Geoffrey Hanks
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishing Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Pain Medicine | Pharmacology | Medicine | Subjects | Books

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books

Hospice Care | Physician & Patient | Medicine | Subjects | Books

Family & General Practice | Specialties | Medicine | Subjects | Books

General | Internal Medicine | Medicine | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 1405130792

Book Description

This brand new edition of ABC of Palliative Care pulls together the most up-to-date information on this complex, multidisciplinary area in a practical, user-friendly manner. Fully updated, it deals with the important social and psychological aspects for palliative care of people with incurable diseases including quality of life, communication and bereavement issues.This authoritative, practical title will be invaluable to the increasing numbers of doctors, senior and specialist nurses, and all those health professionals who deal with cancer patients in the hospital, at home or in a hospice.

Average customer rating:

Bone Dysplasias
Jurgen W. Spranger , Paula W. Brill , Andrew K. Poznanski , Pemberton , Mehta , Lynch , Udwadia , Davies , Spranger , Mark Freed , Pamela Mason , Bhugra , Trobe , Parkin , Parthenon , W. Holzgreve , D.A. Nyberg , Shankie , and Jumar
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Genetics | Basic Science | Medicine | Subjects | Books

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books

Diagnosis | Physician & Patient | Medicine | Subjects | Books

Rheumatology | Internal Medicine | Medicine | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

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ASIN: 0195214749

Book Description

Many advances have been made in understanding skeletal dysplasias since the first edition of this classic text appeared in 1974. The diagnostic process has been refined, many new disorders have been recognized, and the molecular aspects in many cases have been elucidated. The second edition has been completely renovated, with the help of two new co-authors, to incorporate these advances. The book's format is similar to the original but the number of conditions covered has almost doubled and molecular information has been added wherever available. The number of figures has been increased to the limit of economic wisdom. As in the first edition, the illustrations have been selected and sequenced to illustrate both the degree of variability of a given disorder and its changs with age. This book is designed for physicians involved in the evaluation and treatment of patients with skeletal dysplasias, including radiologists, medical geneticists, pediatricians, and orthopedic surgeons. Its main goal is to assist in the diagnosis of specific conditions and the care of affected individuals. Though mutations of specific genes can produce dysplasias with very different phenotypes and prognoses, the primarily clinical aim of this book dictated a phenotypic classification in general, with compromises on etiologic grounds where necessary. Since the attempt to diagnose a skeletal dysplasia from single signs, alone or in cominations, is fraught with errors, the authors focus on basic patterns of skeletal abnormalities.

Average customer rating:

Follow the wise fertiliser of Chairman Miaow's thoughts

The Thoughts of Chairman Miaow
Andrew Davies
Manufacturer: Robson Books Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1861058462

Customer Reviews:

Follow the wise fertiliser of Chairman Miaow's thoughts.......2005-07-09

One of those fun books that publishers love to put out and it could have been printed at any time since Chairman Mao's death. We've all seen those Chinese propaganda posters showing the Chairman exhorting the masses to strive forward (and don't forget to wave your little red book, or else) so why not replace his head with that of an earnest looking moggy and slightly adjust the posters words of wisdom to feline ends: 'Political power grows out of a barrel of fish'. Or how about 'Let's sing a new song about bank nationalization and rabbit flavor chunks.'

The replacing of one head with another has been done rather well, appropriate snarling or passive pussies, depending on the original posters have been used but I thought the joke wore rather thin too quickly. Several posters just have a switched head and some bland copy instead of developing the theme a bit more by adding extra catty related items to the background, though still keeping the flavor of the original. Still, for the price feline fans will enjoy the fun and don't forget 'We must have faith in the Party and we must have faith in moist pouches'.

BTW Just in case you love cats and propaganda posters (unlikely, I know) have a look at Chinese Propaganda Posters by Micheal Wolf (ISBN 3822826197) a sumptuous book with hundreds of examples of the real thing.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

Average customer rating:

Travel Medicine
Andrew J. Pollard , David R. Murdoch , Pollard , Murdoch , Kirby , Mundy , Martin J. Brodie , Schachter , Shah , and Alun H. Davies
Manufacturer: Health Press Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books

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Ecotourism | Specialty Travel | Travel | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1899541594

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