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Warwick--The man and the image
Good History, not the Tutor propoganda
Gripping Drama
This is an incredibly useful book, one of a kind !The book is a veritable tour-de-force by a highly knowledgable writer/editor/journalist, with detailed, easy-to-read and eminently practical advice for novice and practitioner alike. The book's pages are studded with insights, tantalizing ideas, and marketing suggestions. This is, in my view, one of those very few MUST-HAVE books for all interested in a writing career!
Definitive, practical, profitable reading.
Trade Journal Writing made Easy!This book is a must for all writers for trade publications and those who want to write for trade pubs.
As a writer for several trade newspapers I found many examples of interviewing techniques that can make my job easier.
Letter from Independence Mall, Phil., PA"It's probably the best thing George Carey ever worked on." "It's one of the most important books I ever read." "It changed the way I think about America."
Willmoore Kendall's classic work, The Basic Symbols of the American Political Tradition, provides an understanding which can only be described as refreshing of the political and cultural tradition out of which the Philadelphia Constitution was forged, and The United States of America was founded. Basic Symbols seeks to determine what propositions and ideals America was founded upon, and is thus committed to, and whether these are the ideals currently accepted as true, and often presented as neatly summed up in the Bill of Rights and in that well worn understanding of that passage of the Declaration of Independence: "...all men are created equal... ." Basic Symbols warns that the true tradition may seem anathema to some modern historians and Americans alike who wished it weren't so, but Basic Symbols sets out to present the truth anyway.
This single volume of political science and historical inquiry handily challenges the traditional orthodoxy, or the ignorance, that surrounds the founding in a novel manner: by a close inspection of the facts, and more importantly, the application of the analytical method-the hermeneutic-of Erik Voegelin, to the facts. Kendall's book is almost worth the read just to see the theories and teachings of Erik Voegelin briefly explicated and then put into fruitful action, and if nothing else, Basic Symbols can serve as a spring board for further study not into debates about America's founding, but into the works of this important yet often overlooked historian.
Kendall starts with the Mayflower Compact of (1620), and then examines the General Orders of Connecticut(1638), the Body of Liberties of Massachusetts Bay(1641), the Virginia Declaration of Rights(1776), our own Declaration of Independence(1776), the Constitution(1787-1789) and finally the Bill of Rights(1789). Kendall slowly teases out a common thread--our tradition--that runs its course, unfolds, and develops over this stretch of time and through these early experiences and experiments in self-government on this side of the Atlantic. Basic Symbols also tackles in this time span, and in the history of America since, a problem common to all political traditions: derailment.
Basic Symbols identifies the Gettysburg address as a watershed in the political tradition of America, made possible by a partial derailment in the years preceding the Civil War. Today, the two incompatible traditions are still with us and their friction is at the root of much of our present day political discord; so much so that to ask and seek the answer to the question, "What is the tradition amongst us?" is the very reason why Basic Symbols was written.
Rather than the rights-speak and emphasis upon rights that has grown out of the elevation of the Bill of Rights, and the tortured understanding of 'equality' that has sprung from the Declaration, Basic Symbols instead proffers a formidable, and well supported, alternative; the true tradition amongst us holds (or held) the supremacy of the general political will of the community; the legislature through which this is expressed in a very slow, careful, and deliberative fashion; a virtuous people from which these governing bodies are elected, and the concomitant conviction of a virtuous people in a higher law than that of any secular government.
Basic Symbols notes that any mention of rights, any ethos of equality, etc., are nowhere to be found in our tradition as founding symbols; they were understood as only the possible concerns for the deliberations of a political community after the establishment of its aims and purposes. Thus, they are not the starting points from which the uniquely American order and tradition is defined. This explains why all forms of variants on "the common good," "better ordering...and preservation," were the starting points for, and of paramount importance to, the drafters of everything from the Mayflower Compact to our own Constitution. Kendall does well to further point out why the Bill of Rights was opposed to a man by the framers of the Constitution, lending only more support to his thesis. His analysis of the Declaration and the true meaning of "...all men are created equal..." places the Declaration and the Founding in a whole new light: the light of the American political tradition he identifies which provides a better explication and understanding of these documents, much like a better fitting solution to a puzzle. And this is just to name a few of the most important points. Kendall does well to document and explain the meaning, significance, and importance of all the symbols he identifies as having a place in the American political tradition.
The loss of many of the qualities the framers and the Federalist Papers thought necessary for the preservation of the republic and our liberty can leave some readers of Basic Symbols feeling as though the framers were not as wise as they are often made out to be; perhaps their underlying premises were wrong or have since been perverted, and the American experiment has proven to be a failure.
Maybe you'll disagree with the tradition Kendall portrays, or deem it no longer relevant, but if you do read it, one thing is certain; you will come away from this book as Gary Wills describes how the crowd walked off from the Gettysburg Address: "...under a changed sky, into a different America."
Letter from Independence Mall, Phil. PA
A MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT ...BEYOND EVEN JOSEPH NEEDHAMIn recent years, the quest for herbal-based alternative medicine in the West has made Chinese Medicine increasingly appealing not only to the ordinary populace, but also to western medical professionals. This ancient healing art is said to have embraced the environmental, nutritional as well as emotional influence in its etiology and be capable of providing individualized therapies which could only be realized by the future pharmacogenomic approach.
However, to most westerners Chinese Medicine is as mysterious as the Chinese Ancient Civilization it belongs. The reasons could well be that the classical cannons of this healing art are all written in very concise and hard to understand ancient Chinese, and its underlying therapeutic principles are shrouded in the ancient Chinese worldviews of Five Phases and Yin-Yang. Furthermore, most attempts in the past to interpret the principles of Chinese medicine either do not properly recognize the ultimate consistency of its functional organ concepts with modern physiology, nor all together misunderstand its essential theories of disease etiology and balance of Yin & Yang due to inaccurate translation of the some of the critical concepts. All these have led to the misperception that Chinese medicine is a totally outdated traditional therapeutic system passed down merely by generations of empirical healing experience, with little scientific basis for verification and hard to reconcile with nowadays mainstream western medicine.
It is therefore an intellectual delight to find in Dr Kendall's new book "Dao of Chinese Medicine" a fresh interpretation of this oriental healing art in terms of modern physiology. The content of this book is logically laid-out in fifteen chapters starting from the quest for the Dao, i.e., the way, and the ancient beginning of this healing art, to the interpretation of many important concepts and principles of Chinese medicine, and finally to the different approaches in diagnosis and treatment which were adopted by the Chinese physicians over the centuries and are still practiced today.
From the start, what makes this book different from most existing English texts on Chinese medicine is that Kendall derived his source material by taking on new and more accurate translations of Huangdi Nei Jing, the most reverend cannon of Chinese medicine, and successfully demystifies the misleading idea that Chinese medicine is on based energy circulation through invisible meridians. As the readers will discover, ancient Chinese medicine is not just based on an ancient philosophy of Five Phases and Yin-Yang, but is firmly rooted in empirical physiological studies, which includes, against common customs of the time, post-mortem dissection.
... I consider Dr. Kendall's book a major achievement in introducing Chinese medicine to the West in ways even Dr. Joseph Needham could not achieve in his monumental work of "Chinese Science and Technology". With over 200 citations to more than 80 treatises of the Nei Jing, this book reveals the rational basis of this ancient healing art with modern insight which will be instrumental for future application, research and acceptance of Chinese medicine in the West. The Dao is a must read for students, practitioners of Chinese medicine as well as other health specialists and individuals who would appreciate the fascinating story of the great indigenous medicine of China.
By: Kenneth J.T. Li, Ph.D.,D.Sp.
Former Assistant Director, R&D, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong University
Five Stars and Two Thumbs Up!Dr. Kendall has long been respected in the international acupuncture community for his lucid explanation of the physiological mechanisms of acupuncture and for his attempts to bring the educational standards of the western medical model to the profession. Kendall is a scholar who reads the ancient texts in the original Chinese, and a highly successful Chinese Medicine practitioner and teacher. In the Dao of Chinese Medicine, he extends his reach to the full scope of Chinese medical theory and practice. Kendall has the gift the late Isaac Asimov had of making the complex and esoteric understandable. Primarily a textbook for western and Chinese medical students and doctors, it will also find an audience with healthcare decision makers and the public. Those who are inspired by a vision of a healthcare system integrating the best of conventional and traditional medical systems, will find their spirits soaring after reading Kendall's book. Medical doctors, academic and clinical researchers and medical practitioners of every stripe will feel far more confident about the rationale and validity of Chinese Medicine.
This is an academic book but it is also a great story. Kendall's documentation is meticulous and his style is engaging. The Dao of Chinese Medicine reveals an ancient medical system that stands up well to scientific scrutiny. Chinese medicine comes off as the equal of western medicine in many respects, and as its superior in other respects, particularly in its emphasis on prevention through attention to building immune function. Kendall traces the development of Chinese medicine from its roots in physiological studies including post-mortem dissections. This lead to a number of pioneering medical "firsts" including detailed descriptions of the cardiovascular system, the original discovery of blood circulation, the earliest descriptions of the immune system, information about the spinal cord, sensory and motor nerves, and the organization of the musculoskeletal system.
William Harvey's explanation of blood circulation in 1628 is considered the greatest single event in Western medicine. His work led to an era of scientific exploration in medicine and to the rejection of the mistaken ideas of Greek and medieval medicine embodied by Hippocrates and Galen. The fact that Chinese physicians made this discovery two millennia before Harvey does not diminish Harvey's extraordinary breakthrough, but it does put it in historical context.
The Dao of Chinese Medicine repudiates the notion that Chinese medicine is inscrutable, nonsensical or illogical. Kendall accurately translates the original source material and crosschecks it against contemporary scientific research, and so unveils the genius of the ancient Chinese physicians.
HMO administrators, clinical directors, and medical doctors now have the ability to appreciate the expanded range of valid options available for patient care. Other implications are the enhancement of patient choice and reduced healthcare costs, as safe, non-invasive, drugless alternative modalities of Chinese medicine can be justifiably and responsibly selected where they are appropriate. Students of Chinese medicine have a way to explain what they do in terms accepted by the consensus reality and to achieve more consistent and repeatable results through a deeper understanding of how the body and its internal and external aspects interact. The health-conscious public now has available a definitive source for gaining better understanding a medical system which may significantly improve the quality of their lives.
This groundbreaking book serves the international community well and enhances the concept of an integrative "world medicine". Five stars and two thumbs up!
Steve Paine, OMD
Listed Chinese Medicine Practitioner (Hong Kong)
Licensed Acupuncturist (Hawaii)
The best Christian book I have read this year !The Essential Survival Guide (ESG) concept in this book is anointed and prophetic. It is designed for those who have recently become Christians, to prepare them to be mature functioning Christians quickly. This could equally take place within, or in the absence of a formal church structure. Certainly if revival, persecution or both come, then existing church structures will be stretched or challenged beyond their likely capability to manage the training and apprenticing of new Christians. Clearly while it is possible, working within the local church structure is to be preferred and strongly encouraged!
It would appear that ESG is aimed at a specific target audience - for example those who have passed through and completed successfully a conversion or immediate post-conversion course. ESG deals effectively with the difficult time between the post-conversion 'honeymoon period', of having to deal with the very real day to day issues of life and that of being fully integrated into a church as a functioning Christian. A time, which is for many a matter of survival, a stage when sadly help of the right kind is too often not available and many new Christians give up. Recent surveys show that between 65 and 80% of all clear converts had given up their new faith within two years! A frightening statistic, one that caused concern and real prayerful soul searching within the churches concerned!
ESG is suitable to be run not by church leaders or church organisations but by recent converts themselves, at a 'grass roots' level, possibly if or when no experienced leaders are available. Clearly a church could mastermind and run a series of ESG cell groups and this could work well. Equally, it could be run in a manner akin to an 'underground' church concept, where no formal church for whatever reason is available to help. We have run it successfully within our church.
ESG is aimed primarily at those who have until their conversion never been in a church and at the young in particular; those aged 18 - 30. It would be suitable for use on a college campus, in the military, in the workplace, in prison, in a home group, or by a local community group. The author clearly has deliberately drawn on his experience of secular life. That of working as a University Professor teaching the full range of students, to develop ESG as a programme that communicates in non-church language, but would appeal to the young of a 'non-church' background.
I recommend this great book - try it! I hope you find it as helpful as we have.
Essential reading for new ChristiansA ten week course that has apparently been used with great success in the military, in schools and colleges, in church cell groups, in corrective institutions and at work. We have just finished it in my church and all gave it the top rating. We plan to use it again soon with a new group of people.
It is well written and easy to follow - it is also very thought provoking as it deals with many of the current big issues of world and faith. But be warned the author clearly believes the Bible to be the inspired word of God!
A good read!
America needs a book like this
Passion in an Uncompassionate World
A Book to Heal the Human Spirit
Eye Opening
An Encyclopedic Reference of Western Classical MusicBut the merit of classical music is that all the works are already canonized and there are well established critical mechanics. You don¡¯t need to pick up by yourself. The valuables have been culled over generation and generation. All you have to do is registering the list of the established canon in your mind and choose between players.
This book is written to help audience with encyclopedic survey of masters in Western classical music. This is not the textbook for the class on the history of music, but the reference for the common audience. Subjects are restricted to well-known masters like Bach, Mozart, Brahms or Prokofiev. The discography-like descriptions are provided for masterpieces of each composer by over 50 critics. With no doubt, words are not that suitable to demonstrate the beauty of the music. So writers seem to assume that readers have already given ear to the music or at least have CDs at hand. It¡¯s not that problem for the music can tell itself only with sound in the note not with words in the paper. But the real beauty of this book lies in its comprehensive approach. It offers not only the accounts on music itself, but relates it to the rest of society. Not only they explain each composer¡¯s personal life, but also they set them in the context of their times. Music tells itself. But knowing the social settings that the music was played and enjoyed is definitely helpful to the modern audience. For such purpose, this book contains thousands of illustration showing the social and historical background. This book could, in this regard, be read something of a history in the view of music. This heightens the joy of reading.
But this book has some weaknesses. First, this book is targeted to somewhat advanced reader. So there is no explanation about some basic terminology like polyphony, cord, or counterpoint. Those should be the basic. And this kind of writing style leads to pedantic and textbook-like reservedness, in some cases. But overall, this book is readable and informative.
A Jewel of a ReferenceEach volume presents the key composers of that time and discusses how their lives and their personalities, as well as the culture of the time, exerted an influence on their compositions. (Other contemporaneous composers are presented in a section at the end of each volume.)
But that is not all, for separate chapters, called "Interludes", are interspersed throughout each volume giving pictures of the development of instruments, the orchestra, concert halls and opera houses, and much more.
You don't have to be an expert to enjoy these books (I'm not), they offer much for anyone interested in classical music.
This book is a great readMy only criticism of this book is that there was no mention at any point of Mark's realization that he would never walk again, that he would forever be reliant on others and indeed be reliant on an iron lung. When was he first told he would never walk again? How did he and his parents react to this news? Did he live in hope that by some miracle, he would walk again or did he accept that this was the way he was going to be for the rest of his life? After finishing the book, I felt that these questions were left largely unanswered.
Also, as Mark O'Brien died in 1999, I felt that it would have been good for the co-writer to have written an epilogue regarding the circumstances of his death. Throughout the book Mark comes close to death on several occasions and he talks about death in quite some detail, but the reader is left with no details of the actual circumstances in which he died.
Despite these criticisms, I recommend this book highly. It is an amazingly inspirational read.
Disabled poet does not beg for sympathyHow I Became a Human Being is Mark O'Brien's account of his struggles to lead an independent life despite a lifelong disability. In 1955, he contracted polio and became permanently paralyzed from the neck down. O'Brien describes growing up without the use of his limbs, his adolescence struggling with physical rehabilitation and suffering the bureaucracy of hospitals and institutions, and his adult life as an independent student and writer. Despite his weak physical state, O'Brien attended graduate school, explored his sexuality, fell in love, published poetry, and worked as a journalist. A determined writer, O'Brien used a mouthstick to type each word.
O'Brien's story does not beg for sympathy. It is rather a day-to-day account of his reality?the life he crafted and maintained with a good mind, hired attendants, decent legislation for disabled people in California, and support from the University of California at Berkeley. He describes the ways in which a paralyzed person takes care of the body, mind, and heart. What mattered most was his writing, the people he loved, his belief in God, and his belief in himself.
Mark O'Brien was the subject of the 1997 Academy Award?winning documentary Breathing Lessons. He was a published poet and cofounder of the Lemonade Factory, a California press that published poetry by people with disabilities. O'Brien died in 1999 at the age of forty-nine after completing a draft of How I Became a Human Being . Gillian Kendall is a writer. She has contributed to both Outright Radio and Sun magazine; one of her short stories appeared in The Student Body, also published by the University of Wisconsin Press.
Eye-opening intro to illustration for technical wordsmithsThis book didn't make me a graphic artist. Instead, it gave me the vocabulary and mindset I needed to learn more -- sometimes just by looking at the work of an experienced graphic artist. The foundation Horton gave me continues to serve me well, for which I am grateful.
A superb book, well-researched and easy to understand