In 1942 Andrew Carson, who had joined the military to make a better life for himself, found himself taken prisoner by the Japanese as they began their conquest of the Philippine Islands. Starving, sick, and beaten, Carson survived a series of prison camps until he was finally liberated in 1945.

Carson provides chilling details of life in Cabanatuan in the Philippines and the harrowing voyage on a hell ship to Japan. His memoir is grim but never self-pitying. A true testament to the will to survive.

Friends who attended the lectures from which this book was written recommended it to me, and I'm glad they did. Original sin is and, as Blocher points out, has long been a controversial part of church teaching. While we might recognise that many evil deeds take place in our world, we are often reticent to label people as sinful from birth. If we are to do that, the way in which our sinful nature might be passed on is also difficult to fathom. Blocher begins with both a philosophical and a scriptural overview of the doctrine, before focussing in on the Genesis narrative and then Romans 5, the passages which, he argues, have most to say on the subject. He then moves back out to look at evil in the world and the way that the doctrine of original sin sheds light on the human predicament. This leads into a discussion of the transmission of the sinful nature and the proper response to the recognition of it. Blocher's work is obviously scholarly, yet a surprisingly easy read despite that. His `take' on Romans 5 requires more thought on behalf of this reader, but seems both convincing and helpful. Best of all, it encourages us to look again at the doctrine of original sin, while remaining focussed on the necessity for repentance and focus upon the work of Christ in the Christian life. This is a book well worth having in the library of a thinking Christian.

It took two readings of this book for me to appreciate its value. Only the first half deals with a trek with Kit Carson. I expected more. Carson plays an important, but secondary, role in the story as a whole. The authors descriptions of New Mexico, Santa Fe, and the trail to Independence in 1868, after parting with Carson, acts as a supplemental piece to 'Wah to Yah' and other first person accounts of earlier Sante Fe Trail tales. His accounts of New Mexican priests is a perfect preface to Paul Horgan's 'Lamy of Santa Fe,' first Archbishop of Sante Fe, who was French. The author's style is flowery but vividly informative. It was better the second time around in my opinion, but worth the trip.

This book filled with just what the title says - "Poems of Love and Faith". The layout is pretty and the poems themselves are beautiful. They leave you reflective, inspired and reminded of love and faith that is present in this world. Wonderful for a gift to a friend.

Marcia Keegan captures the respect, love and compassion that are the foundation of the Pueblo villages. The sense of family and continuity clearly shines through in all of the photographs and writings.

This book is a beautiful piece of art of the traditions, people and villages of the Pueblos. The many photographs are sharp, colorful and soulful. She not only takes wonderful pictures of indivdual Pueblos but terrific shots of the villages and different ceremonies.

The foreword by Regis Pecos has just the right amount of information and heart.

Truly a book to treasure and display!

I found this by accident at a Books-A-Million store. I have a PG 3yr old who reads near 4th grade level but needs work in comprehension (presently at late 1st grade level in comprehension). I needed a book that (a) didn't tax his writing skills which are age-appropriate (b) didn't have a lot of pictures - he too good at context "guessing" and (c) could be completed in small, time-limited doses (he's still only 3). This book met that criteria well.

The exercises are progressive and there is enough practice of each skill to gain mastery. The work moves smoothly without any chasms where one topic abruptly ends and the next starts with no apparent connection (like some of the JumpStart workbooks). And the pages are simple and uncluttered encouraging focus onthe words and not the surroundings. An answer key and several success certificates are included as are some vocabulary flash cards for the vocabulary bingo game that's included. The pages are perforated for easy removal and duplication for your classroom or student.

Why didn't I give this a 5? A few reasons. First - it's very hard to find this series (which goes from at least Grade 1-6). Second, there are a few typos which need catching in order for the learner to get the right answer.

Other than that, it's been great. My kid loves the challenge but feels like he can succeed.

"Weak governments do not make libery and property secure; that is the office of powerful governments internally restrained." - Clarence Carson.

In my humble opinion, Clarence Carson is the best intellectual historian of the United States, even though his simple style and gift for essentialization may make him appear less "serious" than the more scholarly authors who love to dazzle their restricted readership with an abundance of notes, sources, dates, statistics and minutely detailed anecdotes, but who tend to get all the crucial conclusions wrong.

Carson is a rare, reality-oriented historian who gets virtually all of his fundamentals right, from political philosophy to economics. And even when he errs - as when his deeply held religious beliefs make him disparage man's creative abilities or when he reads a Platonic dualism in the Declaration of Independence - his errors have a way of remaining localized, leaving the flow of his arguments uncorrupted.

Just as importantly, he is able to give you the substance of past thinkers without any distortion or gross misrepresentation, refusing for instance to label the US form of government a "democracy" ("the democratic features of the American political system are accidents... [Its] essence... is limited government" pp257-8) and providing a clear and accurate knowledge of the original intent of the Founders that puts to shame the more in-depth and usually more myopic scholarly studies.

Published in 1973, *The Rebirth of Liberty: the American Republic 1760-1800* covers about the same ground as the first volume and part of the second volume of Carson's *Basic History of the United States*, or section II of his *Basic American Government*, though with a more chronological approach. It deals with the influence of the English heritage, the colonial experience and the Enlightenment on the political ideas of the Founders; chronicles the failures of Great Britain's mercantilism and the consequent acts of rebellion of the colonies, culminating in the winning of the War of Independence; and finally moves on to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the ratification debates and the adoption of the Bill of Rights, ending with two short chapters on the important political decisions made during the first few presidencies, and slightly overstepping the bounds of the subtitle with such court decisions as Marbury vs. Madison and Fletcher vs. Peck.

Though he is at his most penetrating when dealing with intellectual history and tends to prove less brilliant and original as soon as he stoops to the more factual levels, Carson delivers here an excellent account of the founding of the US government which provides the reader with the essential context for understanding the beliefs and intentions of its creators- an effort that is all the more laudable as those beliefs and intentions have been drowned in the liberal misinterpretations of the twentieth century.

The book is complemented by 60 pages of landmark documents, from the Declaration of the Stamp Act Congress to Jefferson's Inaugural Address.

This book describes to me the kind of Human Being Rory Gallagher really was.There is information here that I certainly had never known about Rory,having been a fan all my life,and of course being a fellow Cork Man myself.It appears Rory had attracted a lot of attention from other Rock Blues musicians like Muddy Waters,Albert Collins,Jerry Lee Lewis whom he did some live session work for on some of their recordings,Bob Dylan wanted his services and The Stones also had him play on one of their albums.John Lennon greatly admired Rory,and they were great accuaintences.There are great stories to read in this book,and it is a must for any Rory Gallagher fan.He had achieved almost everything in his 20s.Surely he had a whole lot more to contribute,unfortunately it was not to be.This is an exellent book for giving an insight into the kind of life and Person Rory Gallagher really was.Go out and get yourself a copy before its all sold out.

After reading the first volume, it was hard tobelieve that there were so many more great people stories about the historical Sierra mountains: miners, badmen (and women), and people of great achievements. A well-written, fun set of stories all true.

This book has 59 tours in the "central" Sierra Nevada of California. That is, the beautiful but less-visited area between Lake Tahoe/Donner Pass to the north and Yosemite to the south. Each tour is rated with difficulty, length, elevatnion, navigation, time, and season. The USGS topos for the tour are listed, along with excellent tour maps. Each tour has a description of what you see, where to start, and leads you thorough the tour.

The only thing I think is missing would be an index, but that wouldn't stop me from buying the book.