Beautiful illustrations... Gorgeous layout....

The Italians are the best in the epicurious world, the best in the leather goods and simply the best in the Jewelry manufactering and design. This book proves it.

The title of this book, "Paul Between Damascus and Antioch", is a little misleading. This book is not nearly as much about Paul as it is about earliest Christianity.

Hengel explores the first 15-20 years of the Christian movement in great detail. Unlike many scholars today, Hengel gives the book of Acts a great deal of respect as a reliable source of historical information for this era. This aspect was refreshing.

Unfortunately, I did not come away from this book with the belief that I had learned much of anything about the person of Paul. However, I did learn a great deal about the Christian movement in the 30's and 40's C.E.

A basic knowledge of Greek vocabulary would be beneficial to the reader of this book, but its certainly not necessary. You can know nothing of the Greek language and still learn much.

A much superior book on Paul is by F.F. Bruce entitled, "Paul - Apostle of the Heart Set Free".

Dr. Martin Hengel is currently the top NT historian alive in the eyes of many NT authorities. Here he is at his best. This rich treatment of Pual's early history as a convert has already made a huge impact on Pauline studies around the globe. Hengel's capacity to surface an authentic sketch of earliest Christian history and issues related to first century Judaism sets the standard for leading edge NT scholarship. I recommend this book very highly for anyone serious about the subject matter.

Greek language skills are recommended, but perhaps not necessary.

Though this work is ten years old it is still on the cutting edge because there is so little work on stereotypes of whites in literature and on screen. Chupa actually describes white women as they are depicted by African American novelists. These images are seldon seen on screen because they are the women who matriculate in the Black community. Never-the-less the work is seminal. Furthermore, Chupa does an excellent job of delineating stereotypes from archetypes. The work is a bit difficult to read because there are some slight organizational problems, but the information is there if you are willing to look for it.

The Iguana is not easy bedside reading, to be sure. I picked this up not knowing what it was and was immediately hooked. It took me longer to figure out what I was reading and I'm not sure I understand it all yet, but it made me think. The characters are surely unique. Syntax can bog you down, but I think it's worth the work. I'm eager to read her newest...

Though this book is required for AP Spanish classes, and possibly not a book that many would be drawn to of their own volition, I have to admit that thus far, it has been the least painful book of the class. The autobiographical novel is poignant, and draws the reader into the story quickly and certainly. A good book to read, especially if one is interested in the Spanish Civil War.

This is a valiant attempt to systematise a difficult area of assessment of organisations. Ken Wilber in 'A Short History of Everything' argues that every entity has an external aspect or 'surface' and an internal aspect or 'depths'. He says 'surfaces can be seen [and therefore measured], but depths [i.e. interior aspects] must be interpreted'. He goes on to say that our society's obsession with measurement results either in depths being ignored, or in inappropriate attempts to devise measures, typically resulting in a distorted perception of the interior aspects.

Garden has made a valuable attempt to provide a language for interpretation that can be shared and that captures within a simple framework ways of 'reading' types of organisation and their relationships with others (suppliers, customers etc). Her aim is explained in the Introduction. In summary, it is to build tools with which to 'read' the organization, using perceptual skills ("and, by this, I mean emotional perception more than intuition.", writes Garden). "It is ... making use of your own perception, applying a framework based on psychology to business decisions and strategy as well as emotion, and understanding the way seemingly disparate aspects of the organization are subtly connected together - that define what is distinctive about this book. It attempts to make a contribution that is additional to our present interpretive framework and tools."

Tools that support methodical use of our 'innate talents' for observation and holistic understanding will be profoundly useful. The author claims that her methodology works for her and that she has been able to transfer her skills to others. The key question is how well these same skills can be transferred by means of a book alone.

Valuable though the contents of the book are, I do not think it has been wholly successful in achieving that very difficult goal - which is not to say that it has failed. It provides a platform on which to build.

If you are concerned with organisational change, the book is well worth examination. You may find its prescriptions useful or you may not, but it certainly stimulates reflection about how we understand and convey to each other the rather intangible forces that are so important to the success or failure of organisations.

I took 3 semesters of Italian, with each semester covering 1/3 of the book, so I completed the entire book. This book is good if you follow it in a traditional classroom setting, especially since the proffessor pointed out all the mistakes in this book, which unfortunately, are quite numerous for a textbook. I have also checked out the 4th edition, which is much better than this one as it is better structured and contains useful charts,(which are now omitted) and is thoroughly proofread. The 6th edition just came out, so hopefully it is an improvement from the 5th.

As a former student, and now teacher of first year Italian at the university level, I found the previous editions of Prego! to be far superior than any other college Italian text available. I was, however, very disappointed by this edition and the number of mistakes and poor editing I found. Gone are the tables and charts which were so helpful. The literature sections are far too complicated for the beginner student. Had I been able to see this edition ahead of the deadline for ordering texts by begining of the semester, I would have seriously considered other options.

I read this entire book across two college semesters before moving to Italy. After having spent $500 or so on Italian language books, this is one of the few that was worth the money. Even though I speak fluently, I still refer to this book frequently to resolve difficult tense questions or clarify grammar details. I highly recommend this book to any serious student.

Who is Gail Altman? After reading this utterly fascinating little book, I am beside myself with curiosity. What strange, twisted mind would devote (waste?) thirty years of her life to researching Beethoven and produce a book like this?

It is too easy, I suppose, to pick on the author. After all, her grasp of European political history seems to come from watching History Channel programs. The writing reminds me of the captions in my high school yearbook, the knowledge of current musicological research limited to the aforementioned History Channel programs, with maybe a PBS special or two thrown in.

All in all, the author reminds me of a pathetic little girl who has a desperate crush on an older boy. Unable to bear it when the object of her affection behaves badly, she spends her time writing long love letters in her diary.

And then for some reason it gets published as a book! Who would have thought!

In presenting a compelling case for the identity of the Immortal Beloved, which is far more convincing than that offered by the recent film (which was otherwise excellent), the author also provides a passionate defense of the composer's character and values, particularly in his romantic relationships. The Maestro would be pleased. An easy, entertaining read and a well documented and substantiated argument.

Does everyone has to think in the same way?
My answer is NO! And Gail Altman takes another look at a subject that too many people think as settled.
Gail Alman shows new evidence, and mainly new interpretations about the well known Immortal Beloved.
She quotes Beethoven and proposes a name...
Just read it!

This is one of those books you may want to keep in your guest room or bathroom. It's also the right size for holding up a table :o) The chapters are short so you can probably read it over the weekend and since I don't like to start a book without finishing it I read it as fast as I could. A few insights are interesting especially the close relationships some of these women had with Jews. But the truth is most of the book is bland. If you just have this urge to buy it, then I recommend a used copy.

I have read this book in the original German, and much of the problem with this version is the translation. The translator doesn't inject the book with as much verve and spark as was present in the original German-language version. The best part of this book is the chapter on Eva Braun, where Sigmund correctly dispels the myth that Hitler's sexuality was in any way perverted, or that he forced a life of celibacy onto Eva Braun. Eva's diary alone dispels that nonsense, and the diary is quoted from liberally here.

The chapter on Magda Goebbels is also interesting and reveals that Magda married her husband solely to be near Hitler, the man she really loved. What a tangled web these Nazi ladies wove!

This is part of a three-volume set and the weakness is that Sigmund throws in quite peripheral Nazi ladies, such as Sister Pia and even some actresses who scarcely knew Hitler. She should stick to stalwarts like Eva, Leni Riefenstahl, Mimi Reiter and others who were close to Hitler, either personally or professionally.

To sum up, not a bad introduction to the women of Hitler's Germany, but poorly translated and too much filler.

I'd already read quite a bit about the women this book is about, and still discovered some new information. The book is nicely footnoted (I'm the kind who always wants to know what a historian's source was). There are problems with the translation, however. The translator wasn't aware of traditionally accepted translations and says things like "Time of Battle" instead of "Time of Struggle." Every now and then, something seems a little off, and I'm sure that's a translation problem.

This book provides interesting insights into the Hitler regime and Hitler as a person. It is well-researched (a fact borne out by the cornucopia of footnotes). The writing itself, however, is even below mediocre. Mrs. Sigmund apparently used her footnotes and slavishly wrote around them. This gives the book a very jumpy feel. She often starts to develop one idea, but before finishing it, she jolts to one or two other, unrelated, ideas before returning to the original idea (sometimes, she even fails to do that).

I find it surprising that someone like Mrs. Sigmund, who took a very authoritarian and arrogant attitude to the translator of the English translation, would even consider this topic, because, with all due respect, the way she conducts herself, she would have fitted right in with the women she wrote about in her book.

I am the original translator of this book, and I have to say that the author is not arrogant, as was indicated in the previous comment.

It was an interesting project to translate - apparently, a lot of research had gone into writing this book, judging from the copious bibliographical notes, etc.

There were some creative differences at that time, and I am truly sorry that someone should have taken it upon himself/herself to air their thoughts in this manner.

The book itself was a joy to read (and translate) - I also recommended it to friends and family, and they all read it with great interest. The special allure of this book was probably based on the fact that no other book had ever been written about these particular aspects of Hitler's life - and to such thorough extent. It's a shame that, according to Amazon.com site information, it's gone out of print.