Having spent the entirety of his life in Christian service both within and outside Baptist circles, and, as McBeth says, "In a quarter-century of teaching Baptist History...," Dr. McBeth has certainly devoted himself to his work within the Church and the academy. The magnitude of this book is indicative of the scholarship that McBeth has invested in a book of this sorts, yet its size does not overwhelm the reader. If necessary, McBeth uses the extra space to explain the concepts and technical 'jargon' of the oft-misunderstood Baptist theology and history.
Readers of this volume ought to come away with a solid, general understanding of the beginnings of Baptists during the 1600s in England, the spread of the Baptist-Christian flavour to the European continent, as well as to The United States of America. McBeth's handling of Baptist history is balanced between Continental Europe as well as the American context, from which McBeth has invested his life.

Without a doubt, this is the most definitive work on the history of Baptists. McBeth leaves no stone unturned in developing a portrait of a faith tradition born out of persecution and intolerance. A tradition born with an affinity for personal freedom, i.e. competency before God. McBeth's work has aided me greatly in understanding why I am Baptist and what that means. At a time in which many Baptists are struggling with a crisis of identity, this book can serve as a rescue. Don't let the size of the book intimidate you. Think of it as crawling into grandpa's lap and hearing the stories of old. More than the book I appreciate the man behind it. He was one of the greatest teachers I ever studied under, and one of the most genuine professor I ever encountered.

A standard seminary textbook, McBeth's comprehensive treatment of the various groups that share a common "baptist" identity is an accesible read for laypeople as well. If you've ever wondered what a "hardshell" baptist was, or what made "primitive baptists" different, this is the book for you. In addition, McBeth does an excellent job of helping baptists to understand how our own theological journey connects with that of the larger Christian church.

Opposed to U.S. wars? Wondering about the U.S.-French friction? Read this concise outline of how the U.S. emerged into, as Trotsky described it, the capitalist overlord of Europe and the rest of the world. Trotsky outlines the economic and military basis of U.S. dominance and the deceitful stratagems it was able to employ in the early years of its world role-and still does. Trotsky's historic perspective helps us to see that U.S. aggression today operates more and more from a position of weakness. Don't be awed by the monster, understand it, learn its vulnerable points. Read this clear analysis.

A very useful work, presenting two speeches from the mid-1920s by Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky analyzing big developments in the world economy and political and military relations between major capitalist powers in the decade after World War I. Trotsky speaks as a tested leader of mass working class struggles and aims not just to observe developments but to help others understand what change is possible if workers and toilers of the countryside organize in a revolutionary movement. And while world has changed since the 1920's, the underlying causes of conflicts have not, making this pamphlet all the more useful to help orient oneself today.

The issues Trotsky explains should be very familiar to anyone in the early part of the 21st century: worldwide economic stagnation and poverty, sharper conflicts between major imperialist powers (France's 1923 invasion of Germany, the declining British empire, the rising American and Japanese empires), the first manifestations of fascism, the state of the labor movement. I found particularly useful Trotsky's observations on the forms of conflict Washington used in relation to the European powers, a 'pacifist' imperialism that intervened militarily around the world. And they are wonderful example of the careful use of Marxism method in the scientific analysis of world developments.

As follow-up, I'd recommend Leon Trotsky on Britain, the Struggle Against Fascism in Germany, In Defense of Marxism and The Spanish Revolution (1931-39).

Disparaging the weakened European powers with the well-earned assurance of a victorious Bolshevik, Trotsky explains in the 1920s why Britain has become the handmaiden of the US, why Canada is, to all intents and purposes, a US state, and foresees another unimaginably brutal world war as Europe and America fight over Asia. This kind of sweep helps place the France vs. US bickering over exactly how to plunder and subjugate Iraq in March 2003 in the much bigger frame of a disintegrating imperial system. Trotsky backs up his conviction that social revolution -- like the one he helped lead in Russia -- can provide the only alternative to further conflagration, with concrete historical detail on the labor movement's experiences in the Europe of his time. Definitely a good thing to read at the beginning of the 21st century.

Former Waffen S.S. Standartenfuehrer Leon Degrelle has written a very insightful history of an era that is little known by the average reader. Most of the "mainstream" histories of the events leading up to the "Great War" do not delve into the duplicity of the French and the close relationship between the Tsar of Russia and the Kaiser. The post war era is all but ignored by historians , but Europe was in turmoil with Red revolutions breaking out in Bavaria and Hungary! Author Degrelle paints vivid word-pictures of many of the major players of the era ; he personally knew many of them and was himself a major political figure in his native Belgium.
This is an easy read since many of the chapters are relatively short. An easy book to finish , since it may be picked up and continued without losing track of the events. Interesting!

ss general Leon Degrelle has written this masterful work on a war that is so little understood and overshadowed by the later world war.leon degrelle has spared nothing in writing volume 1 of the hitler century it is ashame that the other books are not yet in print in english.the carnage of the first world war is easily laid at the feet of the kaiser and germany when in fact all had equally detestable blame to lay on each other.the cosequences of this fiasco an eouropean civil war are still being felt today.just look at natos naked agression toward serbia and then read this book and it will all become crstal clear that this war more than all others this century was preventable a sham and a crime of unprecidented magnitude .leon degrelle has done more than any other scholar to that hitler was not born at braunau in 1889 but at versaille in 1919 dont miss it

Leon degrelle's book regarding the origins of the First World War War, Hitler's rise to power and the eventual establishment of the New Order in Germany is an important work. Degrelle himself was a member of the inner workings of the Waffen SS, and knew many of the leading personalities, including Hitler personally. As a commanding General of the 28th Waffen SS Division "Wallonien" and a combat leader unparalleled, his observations become all the more critical. I would suggest this book to anyone studying the topic or even if for simply a good read.

This book answers both Zionists who view Jews as the "chosen people" and the justifiers of Jew hatred, by giving a materialist explanation for the historical persecution of the Jews. By examining Jewish history from antiquity through the middle ages, Leon shows how it was the social role of Jews as merchants and traders and moneylenders that led to their persecution. As the only group in feudal society allowed to engage in trade they became a people-class. In this special role Jews played an essential economic role but were despised for it by the feudal aristocracy and this is what led to their segregation in ghettos and the hostility and attacks they faced.

The author, an anti -fascist fighter and communist organizer who wrote the book in Nazi occupied Belgium in 1940, explains that with the rise of capitalism the special social role that Jews played in the economy disappeared. He points out that while capitalism eliminated the special economic role that led to Jew hatred, it is a system that has brought the prejudices and hatreds of earlier societies into the modern world to help keep the oppressed and exploited divided. It is only with the elimination of this system that Jew hatred can be eliminated.

This heroic book helped me understand why fascits and other rightists rely on anti-Jewish propaganda and why the Zionist response is a dead end. Abram Leon was a Jewish Marxist and working class leader in Nazi-occupied Belgium until being shipped to his death in Auschwitz. He points out that Jews are a social grouping that played a dynamic role during feudalism but have no role as a distinct class under capitalism. Because capitalist society will not assimilate them, they become ready scapegoats. The solution Leon proposes is to join with other workers in the fight for a socialist society in place of capitalism, which is the root of racist movements. Leon's richly detailed history of the Jewish people challenges the myths of the Zionists. The fact that the imperialist nation of Israel has become the most dangerous place for Jews to live underscores Leon's point about the danger of Zionism.

Abram Leon, a young Belgian revolutionary who died fighting in the resistance to the Nazis in World War II, shows how anti-Semitism and capitalism are linked. He illustrates the special history of the Jews as a "people class," persecuted and manipulated by capitalism. This Marxist study shows that Zionism, rather than aiding the liberation of the Jewish people, aids imperialism, the main breeder of anti-Semitism and Jew hatred. NathanWeinstock's introduction explaining the life and struggle of Abram Leon is inspiring. Message: 1 of 1

I have a rather large cookbook collection (over 500) but if I had to narrow it down to three (there's no way I could only save 1!) This would be one of the first I would grab. The other 2 would be the Better Homes & Gardens "New Cook Book" and as many of the Frugal Gourmet (Jeff Smith) books I could grab; especially, "The Immigrant Ancesters" cookbook.

I have used this book SO many times. From Quail to goose to ice cream made with snow.

Awesome book with great reading.

I have many shelves full of cookbooks, including many on wild game. But if I could only keep one book this would be it. This book is the best. I have owned this book since early 1984; it is now dog eared and marked up with comments from the dozens of recipes I have tried. Not only does it give you the best cooking methods for wild game (deer, duck, woodcock, antelope, snipe, etc), but also the accompaniments to go with them (wild rice, braised cabbage, etc) and recipes for camp or field (bannock bread, jerky, etc). If you treasure the sporting life, buy this book.

This book is THE game cookbook. Ever had anyone joke about eating 'possum? The recipes are here! There are recipes for all game animals/birds, fish and many non-game species. It is well written and, at nearly 500 pages, is a must for anyone who might be in the position to cook the ordinary as well as the unusual.

It contains info on game preparation such as filleting, butchering, smoking, grilling, and more. It provides info about the game you are cooking and even describes how to determine the age of the game you are about to prepare!

The authors experiences are shared and fun to read. Think of this book as the gold standard and the litmus test to which all others must pass.

Organizing and Defending a Revolution

Leon Trotsky was a participant in the most significant class battles of the 20th century. This book collects some of Trotsky's key speeches and writings from the Russian Revolution, and his effort to defend it even when persecuted by the Stalin gang that usurped power and murdered the revolution's leaders. It is a great introduction to the Russian revolution and to Trotsky's other works. Read about how the Soviet of Workers and Soldiers Deputies (Trotsky was the President) organized the insurrection; the revolutionary government's efforts to lead working people forward; how Stalin undermined the Soviet Union by seeking a pact with Hitler.

I found a lot to be learned from this collection of talks, reports and declarations by this leader of the Russian Revolution, given in wildly different settings to different audiences, over decades of revolutionary working class struggle.

Above all, you see Trotsky appealing to, educating, and inspiring workers and peasants with an understanding of the challenges they faced and a confidence in their ability to take on unprecedented historical tasks.

His speech in a Czarist court defending the workers councils (Soviets) of the 1905 Russian revolution is of the same spirit as Nelson Mandela or Fidel Castro when they in turn were on trial by their oppressors. Read the messages and transcripts of speeches given during the whirlwind of the October Revolution in Russia-- a working class leader in day-by-day action.

And especially worth studying, Trotsky's talks to gatherings of workers, soldiers, and party members analyzing the changing relations between the major world powers and between the toiling and exploiting classes of those nations, and the different policies pursued by the new Soviet government as these circumstances changed-- you'll learn a lot about how society works and what it takes to really change it.

Trotsky was a great orator, a great writer, but above all he was impassioned by his faith in the power of working people to change the world, a vision he never lost. This is where the power of these great speeches comes from. Read them and learn how to harness that power for today's fights. The speeches here don't appeal to cheap emotion, nor do they appeal to fancy phraseology, they appeal to reason, they appeal to history, they appeal to the power of working people to change the world. Read these speeches not for history, but for how their ideas can be used to fight our way out of the disaster modern capitalism has left the world in, and to find a way out for the peoples in the former Stalinized countries.

The rapid growth in biotechnology has seen a corresponding growth in bioethics. Unfortunately, however, many bio-ethicists have become handmaidens to Big Biotech. The twin towers of technology and money have led many to abandon genuine independent ethical reflection. There have been too few voices to assess the latest trends in biotechnology in a wise, discerning and prudent manner.

One person who has done so is biologist and philosopher Leon Kass of the University of Chicago. He has spend a lifetime thinking about, and writing on, the new reproductive technologies and the challenges they present. And he has done so always with a view to the implications for human dignity and freedom. This volume, which includes articles which have appeared elsewhere, contains of wealth of information and ethical reflection on the new technologies.

All the major issues are covered here: cloning and stem cell research, IVF and assisted reproductive technologies, the new genetics, euthanasia and end of life decisions, and other recent developments in biotechnology.

Also carefully discussed are the hard questions: What is the moral status of the human embryo? Should there be limits to where we are heading in biology and technology? Are there areas of mystery in life that science should simply leave alone? Should autonomy, and the modern concept of human rights, trump other social and community concerns? What is the nature of medicine and what are its goals? These and other important ethical concerns are all given wise and careful consideration.

Kass examines the relationship between liberal democracies and the new technologies, for example, offering incisive and cautious reflection. He notes how democracies help create a climate which makes possible the growth of science and technology. But he also warns that without a moral vision of how that technology should proceed, there is the danger of commercial interests and utopian schemes derailing the science into undemocratic ends.

Indeed, since the time of the Enlightenment, an overly rationalist and utopian dream of the perfectibility of man has been pursued, often with disastrous consequences. Only by continually affirming the mystery and sacredness of life, and the dignity and wonder of man, can we prevent such coercive utopianism.

However, as Kass so clearly points out, the real threat is not coercive utopianism, but well-intentioned utopianism. That is, the real dangers come from those who speak of compassion, the relief of suffering and the battle for immortality. Says Kass, "the benevolent uses of humanitarian technologies often have serious unintended and undesired consequences." The promises of the relief of all suffering and the extension of life may sound pleasing to the ears, but can in fact bring bitterness to the soul.

Lost in the discussions of overcoming all problems and eradicating all unhealthiness, is the concept of the human person, of human dignity. To what end should we strive for immortality? What benefit will it be if we can live longer but not better lives? It is living well, not just living longer, that should preoccupy our minds and dreams. Yet the modern quest for perfection rarely addresses those more important concerns. Indeed, the modern rationalistic and secular march of science and technology often deliberately eschews any moral or religious considerations.

The whole problem of designer babies is another outcome of the new technologies. We now have the power to determine in advance how a baby can and should live. We not only have the power to change an individual's life through the new genetics, but generations to come. And with the new genetic medicine comes the power to decide who will live and who will die.

As we redefine a human being in terms of his or her genes, we run the risk of "justifying death solely for genetic sins". Genetic reductionism makes it easier, not harder, to allow experts and scientists to make the difficult choices of who is allowed to live. Eugenics, even if done with the best of intentions, is still eugenics. And the new eugenics is not so easily discerned, when it comes hidden behind a white lab coat or in an attractive fertility clinic.

The pressure of science and Big Biotech to simply do whatever can be done, without asking whether it should be done, will only continue. Especially when sold in the guise of relieving suffering, or offering more lifestyle choices. We have, as Kass says, the "biomedical equivalent of a spiraling arms race" where research and technology seem to know no limits. The consequences are frightening.

Kass concludes by acknowledging that he is not a Luddite, that there has been much good to come from the new technologies. But there is much to fear as well, especially if our scientific advances are not coupled with moral and spiritual growth. A perfect body, with a hole in the soul, may not be progress, but an unspeakable regress.

Which way the future unfolds is an open question at this point. The future in many ways is up to us. Do we allow a future with dignity and freedom, or do we passively accept the dehumanisation and depersonalisation that comes with unbridled scientific advance? The important warnings offered here need to be read and heeded, if we are to advance on the right course.

Dr. Kass has here given us a calm, clearly reasoned, and ultimately reasonable discourse on bioethics and particularly that corner of the realm in which we--humans--find ourselves making new ways of making humans, and in the process making humans cheap. One may rant about Dr. Kass and his work--as at least one "reviewer" herein has done--but Dr. Kass remains, I'm glad to say, above invective and froth. This book is, quite simply, the best available to us on a most important topic. It should be required reading for all.

I fail to see how Sherman Durfee's rant qualifies as a book review as there seems to be no mention of the actual text. I'd like to address Mr. Durfee's concerns and then discuss the book.

Dr. Kass is an MD by training. He then went on to become a Professor at the U of Chicago with the Department of Social Thought (not a lecturer). While at the U of C, I never once saw him "prancing around," though he did once have a book signing - which seems normal for people who do things like, say, write books. His views would be considered by most to be conservative and thus "right-wing" since to people such as Durfee, the two are exactly the same. His views are thoughtful, though, and should be considered by anyone with an open mind. I imagine Dr. Kass has had to discuss his views with patients who suffer from neurologic diseases and doubt that he has any difficulty doing so. As a pathologist who sees all the horrible cases a hospital has while interacting with many scientists, I don't find it difficult to tell people certain treatments are morally wrong, and I have no where near the intellectual fortitude of Dr. Kass. Finally, I doubt if Dr. Kass works any less hard than Mr. Durfee's scientists who are "working overtime" and "toiling hours away." Mr. Durfee is either a scientist with an over-inflated idea of himself or an idealogue who has no idea how hard or why most scientists work. Mr. Durfee's biggest complaint is that the book has somehow insulted him. He has obviously not read it and instead insults anyone who might question the use of the sick and dying to justify all methods of scientific research.

Like his previous books, this book is timely and well-written. It is accessible to most people (who actually take the time to read it). It provides cogent arguments against some methods that many have come to agree with for the sake of the sick. It should be read by anyone who believes that the means are not always justified by the end and who is open to intellectual argument.

Almost 30 years ago, my back was on a downward spiral. I progressed from annual episodes of "throwing my back out" to almost daily pain that varied from mildly annoying to activity stopping. I consulted doctors and chiropractors. As I was not bad enough for surgery, the doctors had little to offer. One chiropractor gave me an excellent treatment that seemed to cure me for a couple of years. He retired, and I was not helped by other chiropractors.

Then I found Dr. Root's book. The latest version is "No More Aching Back", Signet(November 1991), ISBN 0-451-17091-1. I started doing his easy exercises, and my back pain went away gradually over the course of a few months. I've continued doing some of his exercises pretty consistenty for almost 20 years, and I have not had a significant episode of back pain in that time.

Recently, I went to an orthepedic surgeon for a knee injury. Most of the other patients in his waiting room were being treated for back pain. Some needed weekly physical thearpy and drugs to help them through the day. If I did not find Dr. Root's book, I think I would have suffered like them.

I've recommended the book to more people than Dr. Root's mother. My back feels great. Good luck.

I recently went through a herniated disc. It has been the most painful and depressing thing I have ever experienced. The first two months I couldn't even walk and the rest four months I was able to bearly function, but with only one thing in my mind: PAIN. I wished I would had bought this book from day one I started with the pain, or even better, before everything ever happened. I would had learned to take better care of myself and to catch those red flags my boddy was sending me. It is easy to read and it teaches you how to deal with it and how to prevent future sciatic pain. I have done everything here and it really helped. There is another book that is also good which I just read about a week ago: "The Sciatica Relief Handbook". It was also good.

This book is an excellent source for practical information concerning the health and care of your back, plus it really is a fifteen minute workout of exercises that really work. I have been doing the exercises and no more back stress.

If you want to understand the world of today you have to work at understanding how it got to be the way it is. This is one of those books that is critical to doing that, I don't say that lightly. This book is what is known as a primary source. It is the record of one, actually several, of the crucial political battles of the last century, told by some of the leading participants in their own words. It is not a history written decades later by someone to explain what went wrong, but a record of a battle as it progressed.

Reading this book you get a better understanding of the following: How it was that the domestic and foreign policy of the new Soviet Union began to deteriorate from a revolutionary one to one that put the narrow needs of day to day diplomacy and deal making first. How the Chinese Communist Party was formed and how it developed. What type of revolution was it's leadership trying to make? Why were the U.S., England, Japan and France so hostile to it? How and why did the Stalinists and Maoists gain leadership and themselves come into being? And much else.

This book is made up of an impressive number of documants, speeches and reports principally by Trotsky, one of the central leaders of the Russian revolution who would not sell out and died fighting Stalin and the destruction of the revolution. The introduction adds much to the book in bringing things up to date. I think this book is useful for historians, anyone wanting to know more about China and the revolution there, and any revolutionaries of today who want to learn from one of the best. It can be particularly useful to political minded workers and young people from Asia

What impresses me about this book is Trotsky's impassioned duty and determination to build a world revolution of the oppressed and to clear the way for the working people of China from the waste, confusion, and defeats that Stalinism of the Stalin and Mao varieties have imposed on them.

Thirty years ago many people would have thought reading a book about the liberation of a country from semicolonialism would no longer be necessary as we enter the 21st Century. However, it seems that lead by the USA, the imperialist powers of Western Europe and Japan are in a growing drive to deepen their control over countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Sadly, the lessons in this book drawn from the struggle of peasants and workers in China in the first 40 years of this century, are becoming more and more applicable around the world.

The Chinese Revolution was one of the great developments of the 20th century, and the challenges and lessons it provides remain of great importance today. Imperialism and imperialist war, colonialism, revolutionary Marxism vs. Stalinism and Maoism, concepts of armed struggle, mass struggle, of constructing a revolutionary party, the character of a workers and peasants government, of a workers-peasant alliance-- all were tested in the turbulent, living experience of social crisis, repression, war and massive worker and peasant uprisings.

This lengthy collection brings together the writings of Leon Trotsky on China from 1925 to his death in 1940. Trotsky was, along with V. I. Lenin, a central leader of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and the early years of the Communist International. After the death of Lenin in 1924, Trotsky led the fight against the degeneration of that revolution and the rise of a conservative, privileged bureaucracy headed by Josef Stalin. Revolutionary policies in China at the time were at the heart of the differences between revolutionaries and Stalinists. Trotsky gives detailed and extensive analysis very useful today, both for the issues covered and as an example of how to use the Marxist method to orient revolutionary fighters in the living world.

The collection includes a substantial introduction by long-time Chinese revolutionary Peng Shu-tse, covering the history of China during these years, which I found useful for putting Trotsky's writings in context.

Also recommended: The Chinese Communist Party in Power, by Peng Shu-tse; The History of the Russian Revolution, by Leon Trotsky; and Capitalism's World Disorder, by Jack Barnes.

Mitla Pass is a layered, inspirational tale of love, war(amidst other things) and portrays the main character in a realistic and gritty manner.I first read the book when I was 12 years old and it has remained my favourite novel of all time. Gideon Zadok's struggle is very moving and his remniscing of loved ones helps to emphasise his conflict with himself and those around him. Mitla Pass spans over generations, but contrary to what one might think, you don't lose track.Uris's writing style is exceptional and captures the different settings of the novel beautifully and brings out their individuality.

Another fantastic human historical drama from Leon Uris Gideon the Writer is struggling to come to terms with a dysfunctional family (made up of a host of colourful characters make it read like a Jewish Dickens) and a difficult marriage to a wife who he takes for granted as well as his own wavering career He gets an assignment to write on Israels struggle to survive at the time of the Sinai War and has a steamy relationship with a sophisticated and powerful Jewish woman -who is a holocaust victim and an important consultant to the Israeli government But the story goes back to that of Gideons family many years before he was born and is exciting,illuminating,sad,humorous and pictureresque

Another fantastic historical human historical drama from Leon Uris Gideon the Writer is struggling to come to terms with a dysfunctional family (made up of a host of colourful characters make it read like a Jewish Dickens) and a difficult marriage to a wife who he takes for granted as well as his own wavering career He gets an assignment to write on Israels struggle to survive at the time of the Sinai War and has a steamy relationship with a sophisticated and powerful Jewish woman -who is a holocaust victim and an important consultant to the Israeli government But the story goes back to that of gideons family many years before he was born and is exciting,illuminating,sad,humorous and pictureresque