Becky has provided an indepth picture of Littleton, North Carolina. From her detailed history of founding fathers to individual family histories she has made this small town come alive. I have especially enjoyed finding information about great great great grandparents and the revealing of new found cousins. The only way Becky can top this is to do another like book covering the years from 1921 to 1990 as it would be the cream of the crop as far as genealogy is concerned. Thanks again Becky for all your hard work.

I love this book a lot. It's the best book I've ever read. It's very exciting. Chuck is a prejudice freak against D.G. D.G. is one of my favorite characters. Everett is a good leader.Link and Tina do everything the same because they're twins and they 're wimps (just kidding). I love this book alot. Thanks for publishing it. Dylan

....is what the author shows you throughout this highly readable tale of Scratch Flat, a mile-square locale near Concord. The history of its geography, botany, and inhabitants unfolds here in lucid prose devoid of technical jargon. For the ecopsychology course I'm putting together I plan to make this book required reading.

A recommendation: the word "primitive" ought to be removed from future editions when used in reference to American Indians. Many regard it as derogatory, and even white readers may well wonder who is more primitive: those who inhabit the land with care or those who kill its inhabitants and "develop" it out of existence.

I have lifted whole lecture topics from this book, and passed on copies to numerous students and friends. The idea is lovely -write an ecology based on an intimate history of one square mile of land-and Mitchell delivers it up in excellent prose that keeps one reading even when the material turns a tad dry. Why only 4 stars? I am not sure if this book will have "legs" beyond the landscape and history that it celebrates. It would be great to have a few more Mitchells do something similar to the westward and southward, so that we could expand our perceptions beyond the deliberate confines that the author has set. For those of us within a day's drive however, this is definitely a book to read.

Mitchell goes far beyond "reading the landscape" of his town. He analyzes the history, anthropology, architecture, agriculture, geology, botany, and zoology of an area northwest of Littleton, Massachusetts, called "Scratch Flat." As if that's not enough, he goes one step further by investigating and uncovering the ancestral *spirit* of the place. This book is an easy, enlightening read that will not only have you looking differently at your own neighborhood but also contemplating our traditional notions of time. "[W]e are the future of the past, and the past of the future." (p. 200) Certainly food for thought.

This is an absolutely gorgeous coffee-table book that speaks of the mythologies of cultures from around the world. I bought it primarily for the art; brilliant color photographs and original drawings are included to illustrate most of the stories.

This book is also remarkable for its inclusion of often-marginalized cultures. I've seen many a "world mythology" book that doesn't seem to notice that Africa or the Americas exist. This is not one of them.

It does seem to generalize a little--nobody can be a complete expert on every mythology in the world. For example, the Celtic section emphasizes the role of male sky and sun gods, like those of Greek myth, when in fact there were many non-sky gods (both male and female) who were just as popular, and when there are many solar-related goddesses to be found in that mythology. But this is definitely a beautiful and useful reference if you are looking for general information.

Yes, this is a "coffee table book." And yes, it is huge and heavy. But then, it would have to be to cover so much material and to include so many beautiful illustrations.

Before I get into the "meat" of the book, I'd like to discuss the illustrations. It is difficult to imagine the amount of study and research it must have taken to find these illustrations. They range from thousand year old papyrus illustrations to frescoes to ancient pottery, to antique stone and jade carvings to statuary and on and on. They come from a myriad of ancient cultures and sources. If there were no text in MYTHOLOGY, it would be worth owning just for the art work.

But text there is! The text is broken down by geographical area, and by culture within that area. Also included, are maps where appropriate. For instance, the locations of the labors of Herakles (Hercules to the Romans) which I will discuss further later.

From the standpoint of depth of detail, this is not a scholarly reference. Rather, it is the work of good story tellers, for, after all, the ancient myths were good stories. By this I mean that the book is aimed at the layman (like me), and wherever you open it at random, you will find a great tale of ancient gods, monsters, giants, heroes, and just plain humans. These tales have come down through time, some predating the advent of writing.

MYTHOLOGY opens with a general discussion of mythology, comparing myths with magic mirrors which reflect the hopes and fears of ancient civilizations, and often, those of our civilization, today. Mythological tales, we are told, form the basis of much of the world's literature, philosophy and religion.

As I mentioned, MYTHOLOGY makes wonderful reading, last night I opened it randomly to the section on Herakles and spent a wonderful half an hour or so reading about Herakles and his labors, the lustiness of some gods, the pettiness of others, and the good and the deceitful sides of men. All that in thirty minutes.

Pick a mythological character be he god or monster, hero or human, and the chances are good that you will find him here.

The author shares experiences of a bout or depression or is it the dark night of the soul (spiritually speaking). It was good to read of someone's experiences who were similar to mine. I'm a Christian dealing with depression over childhood issues and at the same time experiencing spiritual abandonment. The author shares the struggle between knowing in our heads and from our past that God is present but the emotional and internal feeling that God is no longer around. This book is the only contemporary writing that I have found on what early Christian mystics (John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila) described as the dark night of the soul. After sharing his experience the author analyzes the theological/spiritual conclusions he has drawn from the experience. Some of his theology is creative, interesting but not mainstream fundamental beliefs.

This is an incredible book about depression from someone who has experienced it. I personally was encouraged by the author's honesty about his personal struggle with depression and what he learned from it. I have recently heard that this book is out of print which frustrates me. During my struggle with depression it was the only book that made me feel like I was not at the end of my rope but instead gave me hope!!

I purchased this book at an airport, looking for a way to spend my time between Boston and Denver after the laptop battery fails. I live in Denver, and like most people here experienced the horrible event of Columbine High School personally. The events of that day will be a defining moment for many of our young people.

In this book, a mother writes honestly about her daughter, Cassie Bernall, who was a teen-ager killed at Columbine High School. It seems there is some controversy over whether or not Cassie was actually killed because she stated her belief in God, but it is indisputable that she had turned her life and heart to following Jesus Christ, after some years of dabbling in witchcraft. The book tells of a mother's concern, and the lengths she went to provide a stable environment for her daughter. Like most teen-agers (how did any of us make it through those years without scars?), Cassie was searching for a sense of belonging, and ended up with a crowd of equally dis-enfranchised youths searching for meaning in dead end self destructive lifestyles. Her parents went to considerable lengths to try to help her daughter through this period without causing too much damage to herself or family.

I was impressed with the honesty of this book, in terms of her parents. The mother speaks of how hard it was to know what to do, and the risks all parents must take in further alienating their children by setting strong boundaries.

The book is well written, and flows smoothly. With a little embarrassment I let tears run down my cheeks on the airplane while reading. The story is very powerful. Ignore the reviews posted here by bitter cynical people looking for conspiracy, and read this book. The book is honest, emotionally powerful, and touching.

" She Said Yes," a book about Cassie Brunell. This book is about a 17 year old girl in the 11th grade at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado named Cassie Brunell. The author begins by taking the reader to the Columbine High School campus on that infamous day April 20, 1999. That morning at 11:20 am two crazed student gun men walked into the school library and opened fire. While they were shooting they picked out people they did not like and one of them was Cassie. They held their guns to her head and asked if she believed in God and she answered "yes". Because of Cassie's courage to say "yes" she was shot in the head. Then the book talked about her life as she was a little girl up to that terrible day. It tells about how she was leading the same life style as the gun men until two years before the shooting. That's when her parents enrolled her in a different school, Columbine High. Cassie got involved in church and later even began to lead bible studies and youth groups. This book made me wonder, what if I were in her position? What would I say? What would I do? I pray that my faith would be as strong as Cassie's. This book is a very heart warming book. I encourage everyone to read this great book.

She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall, written by Cassie's mother, Misty Bernell gives a eye opening account of the true of story of her daughters life, not just the "Yes" that spread through papers across the nation in a flash, there is more to the story. Cassie had a gloomy background containing satanic worship, drugs, alcohol, and obsessing with killing her parents. Later in her life she made a complete turnaround, renewing herself in Christ. It is at this stage in her life that she was murdered by the hand of one who, ironically, had a lot in common with Cassie's "old self." This book is Cassie's mother's account of her life, the good and the bad, the fear and the courage.
In the review of this book in Publishers Weekly on September 13, 1999, the reviewer shares many of my opinions of this book in that it is a powerful read. He explains how ironic it is that Cassie was murdered by someone who had many of the same feelings and thoughts that she had had earlier in her own life. He also addresses that thorough Family help, love, and example, any troubled teen can be helped. The reviewer then states that this is a book that reveals courage and honesty.
In the review from Publishers Weekly, the writer stresses and idea that is also heavily focused on in the book, the idea that any teen or any person, no matter how far from the word, can be brought back; whether it be through tough love, comfort and peace, or stricter rules and guidelines that are completely necessary for parents or guardians to succeed at the job which the Lord meant for them to have. I also agree with the reviewer's point that Cassie may not have been a Martyr, but she certainly died in the confidence of the Lord.
I would recommend this book to all teenagers, and to all parents of teens. This book caused me to reevaluate myself and the way that I look at life, and I believe it will do the same for any other reader. Through Misty Bernall's honest and heart felt writing about her daughters inspirational faith, I came to realize many things about my own personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and how I too, need to be ready to leave this earth at any moment. This book is a very interesting and heart-wrenching read.

While it makes for an interesting read as an opposing point of view to the current ideas concerning the origins of Arthurian literature, the authors, in their attempt to "deconstruct" the Arthurian myth and cut it clean from Celtic studies, often make outstanding leaps in logic (without sufficiently reliable sources being cited) and quite often mangle the Celtic evidence (which they are trying to discredit) by utilyzing incorrect etymologies of Celtic words and ignoring Celtic literary themes and archaeological evidence which would tend to discredit their Iranian-origin theories. By throwing the baby out with the bath water, they weaken their argument, for it has been consistently proved by other authors in recent years that there is, without a doubt, a strong Celtic influence over the entire genre of Arthurian literature. This shaky scholarship, coupled with a printing that is riddled with spelling/graphical errors unfortunatley leads to a strong warning of caution to any potential reader.

For those who cling stubbornly to the customary interpretations of the Arthurian sagas as being wholly Celtic in nature, this book may well present what appears implausible evidence. But for those who seek further than the past thousand years for clues about the nature of the Arthurian drama and the quest for the Holy Grail, as well as many of the symbols surrounding it, this book offers much convincing evidence that rings true on many levels. Strongly recommended!

This book was a great pleasure to read.I not only reread Herodotus, I did the Illias as well - again. Great book, well written, loved it.

Oh, western man! When will you learn your lesson? People vehemntly guard their private property. One would think that after looking at my continent, and looking and the failed socialist experiments of the twentieth century, Americans would learn the lesson of the importance of private ownership. If elimination of private property is what you Americans want, then you too will be condemned to poverty and death.

This book passed a basic test of polemical writing: it inspired me to go out and do what the author strongly suggested the reader do. It was the middle of the night, but I put the book down and went out for a walk in the woods on someone else's property (don't worry they have plenty) so that I could look at the moon and stars and sparkling landscape from a high place.

I learned an awful lot about the history of private property from this book. Because the concept of private property is so central to American identity I was left wondering why someone had not presented an environmental history from this perspective before. It is has given me a lens through which to read other books of environmental history.

Mitchell is honest about where he stands in the debate about who should be in charge about what should be done with private land. He is an ecocentrist, pure and simple, and doesn't trust individual landowners to "do the right thing" by their land. He allows that one of the chief antagonists in this book, a man named Morrison, actually does take good care of his land, but he makes it clear that he does not want to leave such a precious thing as the land to the chance that the owner may or may not take care of it. In fact, much of the book is an attempt to show us how absurd and artificial the idea of "land ownership" really is.

One of the threads in the story is Mitchell's recounting of an attempt at group ownership ("co-ownership") of land. The community that is finally realized falls short of its ideal, but he insists that it is far better than the default condition in modern America. Decide for yourself whether it is a pyrrhic victory.

The main thread of the book is the tribal history of his favorite plot of land in Littleton, Mass. As usual, it is a pretty sad story.

John Hanson Mitchell is a graceful stylist who has been hammering away at a host of environmental subjects from the perspective of a single square mile. Trespassing may be his best book yet, and only slightly less ambitious than his monumental tour de force, Ceremonial Time. He takes the theme of ownership of land, one of the most potentially boring subjects around, and turns it into a great nonstop read by focussing on a single five hundred acre tract of land through some three hundred years of history. Some of the characters in this book are right out of Dickens, some of the descriptions of the landscape are out of Conrad, and, as far as I can tell, he's got a great understanding of the whole process of the creation of the American laws that govern the use of land. But you don't have to be interested in environment or legal history to enjoy this. Just read it for the characters. I wept for Sarah Dublet at the end of this book.

Are you always cool under pressure? No? Than you're in good company-Moses, Joseph, Joshua, Paul. . . It's easy to forget that they were regular people just like you. They got nervous when they faced tough challenges too. They had second thoughts just like you. They were tempted to back down, but they didn't. They trusted God to give them strength and boldness when the heat was on. You can have that same kind of strength. From the examples of these and other Bible people, you will discover how not to back down. You'll gain dramatic new confidence to boldly face trying situations and hang on to what you believe - even when your palms are sweaty. Can easily be applied to every day problems. Has cute drawings too!

This is an excellent book and definitely worth close consideration by those wanting to go beyond glib analysis of accounting issues. One of the hallmarks of old accounting texts such as this is the writing has a certain clarity about it, the sort of clarity new writers struggle to match.