is there some reason for the perpetuation of stereotypes? the story of squanto, the helpful noble savage. the story of indians selling their land for $24 in beads. does anyone really look into the validity behind these tales? since history books teach our young children enough lies about colonialism and the indigenous people in the Americas it is the duty of the parents to help stop these sometimes hurtful myths. do your kid a favor and quit lying to them about history. learn the truth.

I like this book very much. Jack and Annie are whisked back to the first Thanksgiving in 1621. But they failed to catch eels and clams and burnt Priscilla's Thanksgiving turkey when Jack dropped it into the fire. They found the magic of community, however, in spite of everything.
Read more Magic Tree House books! "High Tide in Hawaii" is coming soon!

Your children will delight in this, the 27th installment of the magic tree house. This time the enjoy(?) exchanging 21st century dialog with America's earlier settlers. Your little one's will enjoy learning American history the fun way.

This book has many features which are very helpful for a beginning student of Tamil. It has probably the clearest explanation of Tamil pronunciation that I have seen. It is particularly good in explaining the characteristic liquids and nasals, the differences between which seem very small to a Western ear. I actually managed to teach myself a pronunciation which was recognizable to a Tamil speaker when I found one to try it out on. The explanation of homorganic consonant assimilations (a tricky and complex subject) was also given very clearly. It would be reaching pretty far to call Tamil a phonetic language but using this book I was able to become intelligent about the likely pronunciations of individual words.

Tamil grammar is also very clearly presented, and the lessons build on each other in a very logical order. The author of the book took a great deal of trouble in composing exercises which actually reflected the content and goals of each lesson (something many more contemporary authors of other books on languages I've used have not done). There is supposed to be another book available which gives an answer key to the exercises which I would recommend buying. I muddled along without one (not knowing it was available when I used this book) but I will plan to get it for myself and review it as soon as I've used it.

The downside of this book (and not the author's fault by any means!) is that it dates from the nineteenth century. The author was a missionary in South India and clearly was a man with a great respect for the Tamil and Telugu languages and the culture of South India. His feeling for the language comes through very clearly in his writing. That being said, however, it is not the book to get if you're looking to converse with your Tamil cabdriver. If there is such a book, I'd love to hear about it.

Pope was one of the earlier european linguists who attempted to unfold the beauties of the dravidian languages (tamil, kannada, telugu, malayalam...) His work inspired other linguists, including some from India, where the study of linguistics began. Handbook of the Tamil Language is well worth the read.

Today, we probably think of Julius II only in relation to the great artists in his employ, such as Michelangelo and Bramante. Unfortunately, this book does not provide much perspective on his relationships to the artists of the time, nor on the new ideas of art that were in the air. Shaw seems to write about this side of Julius rather as a chore, for what she apparently prefers to dwell on, quite at length, is Julius' political life before and during the papacy. If you are interested in the politics of the period, you will find the book very good in providing highly factual information. Shaw does not appear to enjoy speculation and seems uncomfortable with any information that she cannot tie to a specific source, but you have to respect her for trying to wade through all of the apocrypha that has sprung up around Julius. I had two other problems with this book: it assumes that you already know a good deal about the politics of the Italian Renaissance,and it also closes with Julius' death, rather than giving us some indication of how the policies he instituted as Pope played out after him -- even a little information on what his immedate and longer term legacy was and how he was regarded would have been useful.

I would just like to say on behalf of this book that Christine Shaw did a wonderful job in explaining who Pope Julius II was. I just recently wrote a research paper on the influences of the Church on Michelangelo while painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling and this book was the only one I could find that gave me sufficient information on this Pope. I had never realized how much power a pope had and the fact that Julius II was so significant in Michelangelo's artistic life. In many ways if it wasn't for him then Michelangelo would not have this piece of artwork that makes people that have not even heard of the Vatican go, 'oh yes the Sistine Chapel with the Creation of Adam'. I am so pleased that such a book on one pope is avaliable for people who have limited resources for their school research papers.

There are many other books that offer deeper insight and breadth of perspective. This book is weak on historical information, shaky on doctrinal accuracy, and misses many of the distinctives of each tradition.

Osborne presents a well illustrated book on world religions that is apparently for children but is more than adequate for most adults. Sentences are brief. Words are not overwhelming - a glossary defines new expressions. The book can be a starting point for satisfying curiosity about great world religions. It is also a great help in reminding oneself about the basics.

This novel, written as No. 9 in the series, is based on historical events occurring in 1800. It follows No. 6 (Ramage & the Guillotine) which seemed to be set in 1801, and is one of the sequels to No. 7 (Ramage's Diamond) which seems to be set historically in 1804. Dudley Pope seemed to have a major problem setting his later novels in proper historical order. Readers continuing the series should be aware of that problem. The novels must be read in numerical order for development of Ramage's career, love life, etc., but after No. 7 they seem to drop back to circa 1799 and then progress forward again to 1804. Among other things, the series puts the frigate Calypso in continuous service with the same crew from circa 1799 to 1805. The frigate and crew become caught in a time warp. The novels are OK to read in numerical order if one ignores the technical and historical glitches.

The present novel has an interesting plot, starting with discovery of French brandy in the ship's water casks. Ramage is sent off to deal with privateers operating out of the Dutch island of Curacao. As in other novels in the series, Ramage replaces a real life Royal Navy captain, in this case the captain of the frigate Néréide. He continues his extraordinary exploits, destroying enemy frigates, capturing privateers and, in fact, capturing an island. There is enough action thrown in to keep the novel interesting, but I sometimes wish for a more believable character. In contrast, Richard Woodman's novels in the Nathaniel Drinkwater series are diligent in correctly following historical events (Woodman provides dates on his chapter headings), and Drinkwater is a much more believable hero.

In #9 Capt. Ramage continues his Caribbean cruising, now out of the Jamaica Station under a purely political Admiral (i.e., one with no practical experience or understanding). This is the first book in several with any gory slaughter in it, here either privateers' victims or a long, running fight ashore. By planning--glimpses of which we get to see and guess their purpose--and always by surprise, Ramage avoids taking losses and instead metes them out to his enemies. Still, Ramage manages several more of his special bloodless surprise conquests that earn him citations in the Naval Gazette. As his conquest of another beautiful foreign lady who falls within eyeshot would not! The theme of this novel is honour, what it is, who has it, and what it requires. We get to see Ramage as a diplomat on his own--a role not previously seen even when he was "Governor" in Book 4. Plain to see is the difference between honorable and dishonorable conduct as the situations between the Dutch, British, and French--and various privateers or rebels--suddenly alter, and then shift again. The key is that governments are never honorable and steadfast, only some of their "regretful" citizens. Curiously, the one map doesn't name the islands featured here, the Dutch Aruba and Curacao, leaving readers as blind as if we were chartless in shoal water! The book's wrap-around cover art is different from that shown above on amazon.com (= picture from #8), but no more sensical (a frigate in pursuit with no headsails set?). As ever, Dudley Pope is precise and accurate in his descriptions, although it certainly helps in following the ship manuevers if you know the difference between starboard and port tacks and remember where Pope says the wind is from.

I've read all the Ramage novels and I'm a fan. This is just a friendly suggestion to the reader that when you get to this one you might consider to proceed rapidly through the first half of the book. Read the first sentence of each paragraph and then decide whether to read the whole paragraph or not. The author gets especially carried away with descriptions of things we, the seeker of naval action, don't give a damn about -- local vegetation, birds, geographical names (and their histories). Mr Pope can be forgiven for waxing on about his interests (because he has given us so many exciting stories up to this point), but I voted to pass up large portions.

Make no mistake, the exciting part does eventually arrive, but even then is a bit rushed and abbreviated. And, the ending definitely leaves a bunch of loose threads (e.g., what happens to the duel between Ramage and the obnoxious General?).

Ramage and his happy crew sail back to adventure off the Tuscan coast of Italy again, haunts where he first rescued the beautiful Gianna, the Marchesa of Volterra, escaping from the heel of Napolean. Now she's presumed to be his victim again, but will Ramage happen upon traces of her, or of the wife he married just before she disappeared at sea? In the meantime he has been tasked by the Navy to rescue some noble (and well-hidden) hostages, and he must try several ruses to outwit the clever French. This story and its allusions will make more sense if you've read Ramage no. 1 (and the rest of the series).

Among the interesting vignettes Pope loved to slip in are how to up anchor on a lee shore or cast a log line to determine ship's speed. Usual McBooks excellence in typography, with those lovely swash capitals (oops, the swashbucklers appear in no. 17). This time the cover art is misleading, since this is another story featuring Ramage's ingenuity, guile, tact, and luck rather than bloodthirsty battle.

When the Ramage novels were reprinted, they were left in a mishmash. This one is listed as number 13, but chronologically it appears to be one of five Ramage novels that go after "Ramage & the Guillotine" which is listed as No. 6, and before "Ramage's Diamond," which is listed as No. 7 (see my Listmania listing). The readers are left a bit adrift trying to determine the correct chronological order (necessary to understand some of the plot). The Peace of Amiens lasted from March 1802 to May 1803. This novel starts at the end of the peace with Ramage and his bride caught in France. The author borrows material from C. S. Forester's Hornblower series to orchestrate Ramage's escape. There is then a sub-plot as Ramage regains command of a frigate (although the author seems to forget details like which year he had Ramage promoted to captain).

At his point, history goes off track. The author places the prison colony on Devil's Island considerably before its time (Victor Hugo had things right when he had Jean Valjean sentenced to a prison galley). It is an interesting plot as Ramage uses trickery to capture enemy ships. However the author fills up space with side degressions to describe flora & fauna, weights of ships' stores, etc., when you sometimes wish he would get on with the story (was the author getting old at this point or was the publisher, perhaps, paying him by the word?). As noted by a previous reviewer, the cover art is unrelated to this novel. There are some errors reflecting bad research, e.g., the Dutch still had a monopoly on nutmeg in 1803.

The cover picture of ships in battle is completely false. This is a novel of naval guile instead. Ramage is a master of ruses de guerre, of victories with a short butcher's bill featuring his regular cast of characters (cf. "Ramage's Signal"). Following the life-changing events of the previous book ("Renegades"), Ramage is on a peaceable sailor's honeymoon when he finds himself newly behind enemy lines. The story of his escape and pursuit of a devilish captain to Devil's island prison includes vignettes of the oft-blockaded port of Brest, the ifyness of planning an action, diagnosis of alcoholism, the formation of trade wind clouds, messing below decks, books of secret signals, and how to fire a cannon on a pitching deck, as well as various tactical decisions that Ramage discusses with his officers.

I love all architecture and I can remember when I could count on titles from Rizzoli to uphold a certain standard, but that was too long ago. J.R.P. was an extrodinatry man for his time and a classic architect who deserves the same type of fame given to Frank Lloyd Wright. Rizzoli once again has failed the topic. GREAT COVER AND NO SUBSTANCE A.K.A. PAPER GARBAGE.

This wonderful architect deserves study. his work is represented well but society context, office practice, growth in style are a little lacking and could have been better . Still a great addtion to any library!

This carefull reappraisal of Popes work was long overdue. One would hope that it will be followed by books on Cass Gilbert and Paul Cret who with Pope were the last masters of American Classical Architecture.Their work has stood the test of time beter than many more modern buildings.

This skimpy volume attempts to settle once and for all the historical question: Did any Popes condemn one type of slavery in the last 400 years? The author was ordained in 1994, and this book was published in 1996. It bears the Imprimatur of Fabian Bruskewitz, who had been bishop of Lincoln, Nebr., less than a year before this ms. went to the publisher. Apparently, the author completed this volume whilst assistant chaplain at the Univ.of Nebr. during that Diocese's upheaval under Bruskewitz, a worthy successor to the Popes whom Panzer cites with approval, Alexander VI, recently honored by the Vatican with a postal commemerative, and Julius III. Alexander VI was the illegitimate son of Pope Callistus III. Alexander VI had four children, and had a relationship with his daughter, Lucrezia Borgia. Alexander gave the New World to Spain, and Brazil to Portugal. Both countries then declared that Indians could be conquered and enslaved because they would not peacably embrace Christianity. Paul III "gave his sister Giulis 'to Alexander VI to be deflowered'." He also "committed incest with his daughter Constancia and poisoned her husband Bosius Sforza that he might the more freely enjoy her;". Paul excommunicated Henry VIII and forbade Catholic services to be said in England. Paul III issued a pontifical decree, "The Sublime God" which "played an exalted role in the cause of social justice in the New World." Such are the authorities cited in this slender volume. Panzer's basic premise is that the Popes did condemn North and South American slavery, which was different from "just title servitude." The latter is justified today, whereas the former was something entirely different. He maintains that the Latin word "servitus" which is used in papal documents, can mean either slavery American-style or "just title servitude." Humpty Dumpty would be proud of Panzer's redaction on "servitus." However, this 124 page volume is worthy of its price of admission, since it is the only collection of Papal documents in Latin and English which tendiciously deal with the "peculiar institution," but one should be extra careful in relying on the English, particularly in view of the Vatican's insistence that Americans, Canadians, and inhabitants of the British Isles, lack the erudition in English of Tasmanian bishops. {The latter corrected the former's rendition of the English version of the Catechism.) Non amo te, Panzer et Bruskewitz, nec possum dicere quare. Hoc tantum possum dicere, non amo te.

Those seeking a more catholic list of documents concerning the Latin Rite's historical approa ch to slavery, should refer to "Rome Has Through the Centuries" (1998), pp 81-90. Unlike the Panzer tome, this book is more complete. However, the Panzer book gives the complete text of its one-sided selections, wheras "Rome Has Spoken" reduces those statements to 25 words o r less. For background on the character of the Popes who issued the selections chosen by Panzer, c f. "Sex Lives of the Popes."

Used as a sourcebook for documents by the Catholic Church on the slave trade, this is great. Fr. Joel Panzer gives the original Latin with translations of major statements by popes regarding slavery for the last 400 years. So, for that the book is invaluable. His dishonesty, however, shows forth in his interpretation of those documents. To take one example: Whereas he mentions the work of the Catholic priest, Bartolomeo de las Casas, in ending the enslavement of the indigenous peoples by the Spanish colonists, Fr. Panzer is completely silent about De las Casas' suggestion that Africans be used as slaves instead. Fr. Panzer is quite correct in pointing out the difference between slavery a la' indentured servitude and the slave trade PER SE. The former was not necessarily opposed by the Church, while the latter was indeed condemned. Fr. Panzer tries to nuance the primary sources he uses to favor the Catholic Church -- and, that is the weakness of his book. Get it if you want to have most of the original documents from the Roman Catholic Church on the subject. Just don't expect scholarship from Fr. Joel Panzer.

Panzer does a fine job clearing up many misconceptions that have been spread about the Catholic Church throughout its history.

Cornwell is a compelling writer, and he makes a serious case that Pius XII's legacy was not a positive one. As such, this book deserves consideration. But it is not what it claims to be.

Mr. Cornwell would have us belief he was originally sympathetic to Pius XII but that access to previously secret information about the Pope caused him to change his mind. That is, the book claims to be based on new revelation. It's not. It's an analysis of widely known historical information by one critical of the Catholic conservativism that Pius XII advanced.

Mr. Cornwell is first and foremost concerned with criticizing the conservative faction that advocates centralized church authority, enforced doctrinal orthodoxy, and the precedence of personal holiness over social action. His analysis of Pius's papacy is a vehicle for this critique. He dedicates considerable attention to the First Vatican Council, to the papacy of the arch-conservative Pius X, and to the current backslash against the progressive legacy of the Second Vatican Council, all topics that bear no relation to Pius XII's role in the Second World War, the book's ostensive subject matter.

Mr. Cornwell admits that he gained access to archives in possession of the Jesuits by claiming he was favorable to Pius, but pretends that this was true at the time. This seems to me very implausible, since all of Mr. Conrwell's previous books about the Catholic Church have expressed the same anti-conservative, anti-hierarchic orientation that is so evident throughout this work. Moreover, Mr. Cornwell dislikes Pius XII personally. He is not above repeating gossip about his housekeeper or informing us that his corpse was grotesquely putrified at the time of his funeral.

That said, I think the book is worth reading and commenting. I am personally inclined to agree with Mr. Conrwell that Pius XII did more harm than good to the Catholic Church. But readers should keep in mind that this work was not written in good faith.

I admit I had preconceived thoughts about Pius XII. I thought him to be simply an anti-semetic pope happy to have Hitler exterminate deicides. But this book gave me a different perspective. The most important thing about Eugenio Pacelli was not his anti-semetism, it was his belief in the pope as an absolute ruler over all Catholics. His concordats all were designed to centralize power in Rome and strip the local Catholic hieracrchy of any independent decision making. Pacelli lived in Germany from 1917 to 1929. His closest personal aides were Germans. His concordat with Germany was no different from ones he negotiated with other countries: it gave all secular control over Catholics to the local government and in return, the government acknowledged the Vatican retained absolute control over Catholics in religious matters. As a Jew, I don't believe for one minute that Pius XII wanted to see the Final Solution happen. I believe that his greatest sin was the sin of self preservation, he knew if he spoke out against Mussolini and Hitler the Vatican would probably have been invaded, and he imprisoned. Pacelli's entire life was directed toward becoming the pope, he was not willing to sacrifice his worldly accomplishment and success to try to save Jews who he believed were not worthy of being saved. Pius XII failure as pope was classically Shakespearan. He skillfully worked his way up the Catholic hierarchy as a canon lawyer, Cardinal Secretary of State and then Pope only to discover that the Vicar of Christ like Christ himself must be willing to foresake all worldly gains to do the right thing. The Old Testament, a book revered by Jews and Christians alike, says"What profiteth a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul." This was the lesson of Pius XII, Eugenio Pacelli. I think John Cornwell got it just right.

John Cornwell, a practicing Roman Catholic, has performed a noble service by refocusing attention upon Pope Pius XII. Cornwell realizes that his Catholic faith does not rise or fall upon the alleged misdeeds of any single Church leader. Catholicism claims to be a refuge for sinners, and it has had many good and bad popes in the past two centuries. The existence of sinful Catholic individuals does not in anyway challenge the validity of the Catholic Faith. Cornwell firmly establishes that Pope Pius XII was a racial bigot. Even Pius' fervent supporter, the Jesuit priest, Peter Gumpel conceded this fact to journalist, Ed Bradley, on the TV program, 60 Minutes. Fr. Gumpel acknowledged that at the very end of World War II, the Pope requested that the American military authorities not permit Afro-American soldiers to enter Rome. Pope Pius XII was concerned that Italian women might be raped by these non-white ground troops. Since this outrageous event is undisputedly true, why is it so difficult to believe that Pope Pius XII also at least subconsciously harbored deep seated indignation towards the Jews? After all, in traditional Catholic teaching, the Jews were perceived as Christ killers. Also, incessantly conspiracy theories abounded claiming that Jews plotted the French Revolution, and killed Gentile children during their religious ceremonies. The consensus view point during Pius XII's early school years was that these "hard-hearted people" supposedly blinded to the obvious truths of Catholicism, deserved every punishment visited upon their heads. The concept that personal salvation outside of the Catholic Church was impossible dominated the theology of the time. This dogmatic precept was held true for Muslims, non-Catholic Christians, and especially the progeny of those charged with crucifying the Son of God, the Jews.

The racist act concerning the American black soldiers is apparently the only recorded incident of the Pope's outright bigotry. The evidence even suggests that Pius XII was never overtly anti-Semitic. There are indeed hints, but admittedly no absolute proof. The question, however, legitimately remains: would Pius XII have risked more against the Nazis if he truly valued the lives of Jews equally with that of members of his own faith? I adamantly agree with the quoted historian, J.P. Stern, that had the churches "opposed the killing and the persecution of the Jews, as they opposed the (earlier) killing of the congenitally insane and the sick, there would have been no Final Solution." John Cornwell has written a book that is too close to the time period of the Nazi horror. Many of the participants of this tragedy are still alive. It will probably take another fifty years for many Catholics to concede that pervasive deep seated anti-Semitism inhibited many of its leaders from challenging the Nazi regime during that awful time.