It was something we had not done in nearly twenty years; My wife and I actually read this book together! We were both so intrigued by the first chapter of "The Greatest Networker in the World" that neither of us was willing to yield the book to the other to read first. So, we took turns, alternating chapters, and read the story to each other over the course of two evenings. John Milton Fogg so masterfully draws his readers into this "first-person" account of one man's discovery of the real secrets of success in network marketing that we were genuinely disappointed to find, at the end, that the caharacter was fictional and not autobiographical. Our hearts were touched by the "narrator's" personal struggle to find the solution that would bring he and his family the success and financial security he so deeply wished to provide for them. Fogg evokes genuine emotion from the reader, revealing the real-life success secrets in this business as the main character learns "what he doesn't know that he doesn't know." Highly recommended for anyone seeking success in sales or simply looking for practical advice and encouragement on rediscovering your dreams and renewing your belief that they CAN really come true! Inspiring and "Amazing!"

I've read it twice and I'm now reading it again! For those who believe network marketing is just plain 'sales', think again. Since reading this and some of his other works on TGN, I've become more focused on helping people and that in turn grows my business.

You gotta read this one.

I have been in the Network Marketing Business for two months. This is the third book I've read on Network Marketing and by far the most influential. I don't want to hear someone tell me what to do, I want to hear an awesome story about a successful person. Read this book, if you're looking for the same story.

From the opening page I found myself emerged in the life of Paul Dogolov, sometimes author with a bad attitude, sometimes-sensitive father. As a Vietnam War veteran Paul considers himself a failure in his personal life and has hit rock bottom with alcohol abuse and little purpose in life.

Paul swings in and out of his alcohol-induced haze to find new meaning in his life and volunteers to teach the inmates of a maximum-security prison writing skills. Through his prison program the story comes alive with an in-depth look at the inmates and their lives, which also forces Paul to take a good hard, look at his own life. He finds within himself the capacity to care about his fellow humans once again and learns to trust himself and others, misplaced as this trust is at times.

As a lover of mystery and suspense this book kept me on the edge of my seat. Filled with twists and turns and even truly funny at times, David Scott Milton reveals himself as a gifted writer. Bravo!

This book is a rare combination of genres, both literary and mystery, not unlike books by Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett. The story centers around novelist Paul Dogolov, 48, who is stuck in his own existential hell. His wife recently left him with their two kids, he cannot write anymore, and memories of Vietnam haunt him. He decides to teach a writing class to prisoners at the local maximum-security prison on the edge of the Mojave Desert in California. The prisoners "must have interesting stories to tell, I reasoned. I wanted to get to know them and learn what it's like to have your freedom bounded by real walls instead of the walls inside your head."

There, Dogolov falls for a female prison guard as well as for a story of innocence by one of the members of his prison writers group. The young man, Travis Wells, was convicted of murdering his grandfather, as well as his half-brother and -sister, with a baseball bat. Compelled to look into it in much in the same way he's drawn to the prison guard who soon spends the night, Dogolov finds himself in real trouble. He's investigating in Joshua Crest, a small desert town where the police, judges, and others don't want him nosing.

Once Dogolov is caught up in the intrigue, the book is utterly brilliant. The tone reminds me of Dashiell Hammett's "Red Harvest," perhaps because the portrait of Joshua Crest is as bleak and compelling as Hammett's Poisonville, and the narrator is a kind of modern Continental Op, dark-humored, self-effacing, and in need of the truth--which is to say why I'm in awe.

Each chapter ends with a dramatic punch, and the action is constantly engaging and just wonderfully odd and bold. For instance, when Travis's ex-girlfriend Millie decides to not only tell him of a motel but go there with him, I was on the edge. Who did she call? Was he going to get a slug from a .45? Then she strips because her costume chaffs. I love the sentence, "I ached for her, not only in a sexual way, but in the way you ache to come near to astounding art."

Other lines spoke deeply to me, too, perhaps because of the way life's come at me. For instance: "I thought how rare it was even for the bravest not to be crushed and broken by the force of life...in jobs, marriages, relationships with children and friends; dreams; ideals." And the line: "There are small things in this life that are can openers to the soul." I teach English at Santa Monica College, and I'm going to assign this book next semester to help in my never-ending quest to have students discover that novels can be both engaging and enlightening.

In the novel, "The Fat Lady Sings," author David Scott Milton takes the reader on a journey into the darkest corners of the human psyche where people and events are like distorted reflections in a cracked funhouse mirror. Nothing is exactly as it appears. Paul Dogolov is a successful author and former Vietnam veteran who takes on a tough assignment teaching convicted murderers in a creative writing course at a maximun security prison. But is he looking for new material for his next novel, or does he seek revelations to unlock some of the secrets in his own soul? Dogolov meets and befriends a quiet young man named Travis Wells who has been convicted of killing his grandfather. Convinced that Wells is innocent and troubled by the injustice of a wasted life spent behind bars, Dogolov visits the desert town where the murder took place. He meets friends, enemies and family members of Wells, following a string of mysterious clues that leads him into a few trials and injustices of his own. As Dogolov moves closer to solving the mystery surrounding an unspeakable crime, the walls inside him come crashing down, threatening his sanity and his very life. If he can survive, he might gain insight to more than one truth. This is a novel that has something for everyone: Action/ Adventure, mystery, comedy and a little metaphysics--a recipe to suit many tastes!

Milton Erickson was not only the greatest hypnotist that ever lived, but was also the greatest therapist. He could hypnotize someone by simply telling a story, or shaking their hand. He could change a person's life with a single sentence. In the book there is the example of how he cured a man who was an alcoholic and came from a family of alcoholics by simply telling him to go to the botanical gardens and contemplate the cacti, which he said could live for three years without any water.

An event that had a significant impact on the development of his skills occurred when he was a teenager and became paralyzed for a time, unable to move anything except his eyes. During this time, in order to avoid extreme boredom, he studied the most minute details of the body language and speech patterns of the people around him. This led him to a deep understanding of how unconscious processes affect behavior, and how change almost always occurs at the unconscious or subconscious level.

The reader should take particular note of the anecdotes involving his own children, which indicate that like Erickson, they turned out to be remarkable individuals. Some of the anecdotes that involve how he dealt with his own children's behavior illustrate what a remarkable parent he was, and how being such a parent does in fact produce amazing children. For example, it is discussed in the book how it was only necessary to discipline one of his daughters three times in her life.

This book is required reading for any psychologist, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, hypnotist, parent, or anyone who has an interest in human behavior and the most effective way to institute change in such behavior.

Sidney Rosen has done a masterful job conveying the therapeutic tales of a master hypnotist. Erickson comes alive, and the reader gets a first-hand experience of Erickson's use of conversational therapeutic metaphors. Highly recommended for anyone interested in Erickson's novel approach to clinical work.

This is a great collection of stories that erickson tells his students to teach them about hypnosis. It's amusing and great to have in learning about how stories can be therapeutic. You can even analyze his stories and model from them to create your own stories. there is so many resources you can find by looking at each stories from different perspectives. the cool thing is that you can see how erickson tell stories from his mind view.

I first read "Great Comedians" in 1972 when I was starting out as a comedian. I found it to be just what I needed as a young aspiring comedian. The interviews of Woody Allen, Shelley Berman, Jack Benny, and Phillis Diller resonated with me and helped me immensely in my standup comedy development. It also inspired me to write my own book probing the methods of my generations great comedians ("Comic Insights") in order to help today's young comedians get a better idea of what it takes to do quality standup. I recently read "Great Comedians" again, and my original verdict still stands. This book is still of immense value to all aspiring comedians.

It's no secret that comedians -- great and not-so-great -- are influenced by the WORK of other comedians. The advent of film in the 20th century made this a lot easier since when a comedian died the work was still available...and now with videos etc. it's easier than ever.

But what about HOW these comedians made laughs...how they were inspired...what specific techniques they used and did not use...and what advice they would give anyone interested in going into any area of comedy?

Those have been tough answers to get. To do it you'd have to buy a slew of good and sometimes rotten bios, many of them out of print. Until now. Stand-up comedian Larry Wilde's Great Comedians Talk About Comedy brings it all together.

Great Comedians is a superb, singular achievement that collects within one lively, 402-page, info-packed volume, detailed interviews done over several years with some of the 20th century's greatest comedians and comedy actors.

The selection is absolutely mind-boggling: Woody Allen, Milton Berle, Shelly Berman, Jack Benny, Joey Bishop, George Burns, Johnny Carson, Maurice Chevalier, Phyllis Diller, Jimmy Durante, Bob Hope, Dick Gregory, George Jessle, Jerry Lewis, Jerry Seinfeld, Danny Thomas and Ed Wynn.

Each interview is presented in straight Q&A format so you get to "hear" the question and "hear" the response, from what the comedian/comedy actor says to his/her own speech pattern. These folks worked in venues from vaudeville, to radio, to night clubs, to radio to early silent movies to talkies to TV. And their responses to questions contain revelations and constant inspiration.

A key theme: how "making it" in comedy requires timing, good material, dogged persistance, constant analysis of jokes/laughs and being LIKEABLE to an audience. Copying someone's stage personna or stealing their jokes just won't do it.

My favorite interviews were with Woody Allen (how he writes ten jokes on everything from matchbooks to napkins and only uses a few; how he won't try jokes out on friends since they're often too negative; how audience appeal MATTERS...and his pointing to Jackie Gleason as someone who often had a lousey show but people loved him), Jack Benny (the importance of learning comedy and advancing step by step...an explanation of his legendary timing), Joey Bishop ("...Luck cannot sustain you.Only talent can sustain you.."), George Burns (tips on timing, attitude and the importance emulating but not copying other performers), Phyllis Diller (five truly SUPERB short inspirational tips that can advance MANY careers...Her high laugh per minute standards), and Jerry Seinfeld (timing, getting into a focused mental framework and how his love of comedy as a kid blossomed).

This book an essential for ANYONE interested in comedy, or for students of comedy, public speakers, or anyone who simply wants to be funny in public. It's ALL HERE: the inspiration, the tips, the stories, the bios...the TOOLS.

It's now a cliche to say "comedy isn't easy" and the whole process is mysterious. Larry Wilde's Great Comedians Talk About Comedy makes it less mysterious and -- a a bit easier.

Anyone interested in stand-up comedy Must read this book. Especially the people who hang out at "The Improv" bar who THINK they are a comedian. The Woody Allen interview is more important today than it was 35 years ago. About time the neophytes learned some history of the art form. A GREAT BOOK!

Milton is just so cute! I LOVE this book. As a matter of fact, our next cat already has a name waiting for it -- Milton! :-D

This is the cutest book ever. The creative and inspiring cat Milton is fun and always exciting to read again and again! Great for all ages!

I picked this book up in a store that sells things such as rolling coasters and [costly] art deco toothbrushes. I picked it up first, because I'm a cat lover, and second, because I have not gotten over my fascination with children's books. I don't yet have a child, but I plan to protect this book in the next few years in order to share it with my child. As children's books go nowadays, the illustrations and the story are unique and simple. Milton is made to be endearing and sweetly feline in only about ten sentences. If you have a cat, you'll appreciate this book. If you have a child, share it with him/her to heighten the imagination and the mystique around our furry friends. And, if you don't have either, consider getting this book anyway-- it might convince you into one or the other!

I first read this book in a psychopathology class; it has always stayed in my mind. Everyone should read it. The author's defining characteristics of the psychopath are still as relevant today as they were over 50 years ago: the psychopath (today usually called an "anti-social personality") is much like a gourd; there's an outside (the "mask of sanity"), but inside there's nothing there. No conscience, no guilt, no remorse. They're great actors, though. In their more disturbed forms they're the serial killers, such as Ted Bundy. Cleckley suspected these people were literally monsters, lacking whatever made them human. A must-read for those involved in law enforcement.

Cleckley wrote the definitive book on psychopaths. This is a complex subject which is not easy to explain, but Cleckley's writing style makes it very entertaining and easy to read. He describes each of his criteria for psychopathy, then he presents a brief vignette, which is often very amusing. His examples are so real that you start to recognize people in your life in these descriptions (Pretty scarey). The only book which compares with this is Robert Hare's "Without Conscience," which is also brilliantly explained and easy to read. Understandable, since Dr. Hare based much of his work on Cleckley's work with psychopaths.

There is no need to add more detail to the previous, eloquent reviews except to say "absolutely and amen!" Everyone, professional on down, should read this book to understand and deal with (or avoid) the devils among us in every walk of life. Our young people must read it; it should be on every required reading list (sadly, it is not). The Mask of Sanity describes, explains, and exposes the tactics of these monsterous people that cause heartbreat and havoc...and worse. Reading this book essentially saved my life. Give it to your children and friends. It will be one of the greatest gifts you will ever give them. There are more phychopaths/sociopaths out there than one can ever imagine. Protect yourself: learn about them. This is the book to do that. It will never be out of date.

AS AN AVID READER OF SUSPENSE NOVELS, IT'S HARD TO FIND SOMEONE WHO CAN SURPRISE ME WITH A "WHO DONE-IT" BREWSTER MILTON ROBERTSON WITH "RAINY DAYS AND SUNDAYS" DID JUST THAT! THE SURPRISE ENDING WILL KEEP YOU AWAKE NIGHTS TO FINISH THE BOOK. A GREAT READ! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!

Brewster Milton Robertson's hot thriller, RAINY DAYS AND SUNDAYS, set at the Carolina seashore is a heck of a read. The protagonist, Buchanan Forbes, star pharmaceutical salesperson, devoted father and family man, intellectual, and all around good guy, finds himself on the wrong side of a Federal drug bust. The Feds are aiming to clean up the multi-billion dollar black market in prescription drug and medical device samples involving manufacturers, crooked detailmen, and physicians. To make matters worse the Feds are following the lead of a dingbat conservative President who has just outlawed all abortions and seems determined to return to dark ages politics of the 1950's.

Forbes finds himself in the middle of this mess when several young Carolina women die as a result of botched abortions involving experimental IUD's. The Feds pour on the heat and Forbes is wrongly accused of prescription drug theft and sales. His life is further shattered when his faithless wife leaves him taking with her Forbes's four beloved sons. Forbes sets out to put his life and reputation right and he has to fight mighty odds. If and how he is to succeed makes great suspense and a powerful read. Get the book and read it now. It won't wait for a "Rainy Day" or a "Sunday."

couldnt put it down.... was reading it during traffic stops.
oh...was truely great enjoyment... a must read...

Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare were indeed grand masters of literature for all time. "Paradise Lost" and "Paradise Regained" is enough to put John Milton in the same category. Like Marlowe and Shakespeare, Milton demonstrates extreme scholarship and a superb mastery of the language. It is interesting how Milton takes figures that are mentioned briefly in the scriptures and turns them into major characters. It is also frightening how Milton was able to make God and Satan 3 dimensional as opposed to simply good (in God's case) and evil (in Satan's case). This book is not for everyone. But if you do not mind an unorthodox portrayal of God and Satan and if you want to enjoy beautiful language, superb images, dramatic confrontations, and powerful images, you must read this masterpiece composed with superb and delicate skill.

Add this reviewer to the list of people who hold Paradise Lost up to the lofty title of The Greatest Epic Poem in the English Language; it is not only this, but one of the best in any language. Writing unabashedly in the tradition of unrhymed Homeric epic verse, Mitlon was working well within what was earlier purveyed by Homer, Virgil, and Dante -- but he brings his own distinctive touch and flair to the work. The opening lines of the long poem are clearly inspired by Homer, as are other elements, but Milton has a very unique poetic style; long sentences, often with the principle verb at the end, being one of its mainstays. This language is very grandiose and quite complex; it takes a while to get used to it -- you will have to pay very close attention during the first book -- but, as with most classical literature, once the reader gets the hang of it, it goes quite smoothly. The Divine Comedy of Dante has a more towring reputation than does Milton's Paradise Lost -- for one thing, it is older -- but I among those who find Milton to be superior. The Divine Comedy is, certainly, an undisputed masterpiece, but, where it was, more or less, a satire and a thinly-veiled attack on many of Dante's political enemies, Milton's work deals with much more complex and profound subject matter: why mankind fell, how the gods themselves operate and think, the nature and attractiveness of evil and sin, the importance of love in human relationships, the moral problems of God's justice. It is true that Dante's work is more original; Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, at least in seed, come straight from The Bible. But Milton only uses these stories as a springboard for the exploration of the latent moral and ethical problems lurking beneath. Milton explores these problems with a refreshingly fresh perspective -- strictly within the Christian tradition, to be sure, but far from fundamentalist, and even quite radical for its day. Although some cite the work as Christian apologist, there are certainly many elements within the poem that many of the more hard-line Christians would be taken aback by; it was, of course, even more controversial in its day. One thing about the work that often gets pointed out is that Satan is a far more interesting and appealing character than God. This, in my view, does not have Milton unwittingly on the Devil's side, as some critics have suggested. Rather, he is pointing out how appealing sin is always is: of course it's interesting, of course it's appealing -- otherwise, we wouldn't keep falling for it again and again and again. If we saw its razor-sharp fangs and [dripping] mouth, we would have stopped getting ensnared in its trap long ago. However, as a non-Christian myself, I cannot but disagree with some points of Milton's theodicy; the last two books, in particular, and Paradise Regained as a whole, were, for me, quite hard to swallow. I found the more human elements of the poem to be its most intriguing. Milton paints Adam and Eve as quintissentially human characters who possess many of the same feelings that we all share: joy, happiness, fear, sadness, depression, and, most of all, the overriding paramount importance of love. The act of Adam, who was not himself [evil], eating of the apple so that he could follow Eve, no matter what doom was to befall her and them, out of love for her, is still one of the most touching moments in all of literature -- as Mark Twain, in the voice of Adam, later said, "Wheresoever Eve was there, THERE was Eden." God, Satan, and the various angels are also endowed with human characteristics; most Christians today seem to have forgotten that God created Man "in His own image", and that He is not a perfect creature. Likewise, Satan is not entirely evil -- certainly he is ambitious and narcissistic, but so are many humans -- indeed, many have seen him as the hero of the poem (an errorenous view, as I see it.) God often comes off as extremely cold and hardly forgiving or merciful; indeed, to many readers, myself included, this poem doesn't come anywhere near its stated goal of justifying the ways of Gods to men, but only reinforces the views we already had (Mark Twain, whom I have previously mentioned, has a very different view of the situation, closer to my own perspective, that is worth seeking out.) Whatever one's objections to the theology and theodicy expressed within the poem, the poem remains a great work of literature -- poetic, grandiose, profound, extremely readable, and thought-provoking. The shorter sequel, Paradise Regained, is also included in this edition. This work, in my view, comes nowhere near the glory of it's predecessor, but it is still a good read and it is very handy to have it included in this volume as well. For that reason, I highly reccommend picking up this particular edition of the works; also because the introduction, written by Dr. Susanne Woods, is very good, and it has notes provided by the wonderful Christoper Ricks, who also edited the poem for this version. Unlike many editors, he does not include so many notes that they become cumbersome and distract from the text: they are genuinely helpful and there are not too many of them. This is an absolute classic not only of English literature, but of world literature, and a monument in the tradition of epic poetry that you owe it to yourself to read.

Of Man's first disobedience and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till on greater Man
Restore us and regain the blissful seat
Sing, Heavenly Muse...

Not a lot people know that 'Paradise Lost' has as a much lesser known companion piece 'Paradise Regained'; of course, it was true during Milton's time as it is today that the more harrowing and juicy the story, the better it will likely be remembered and received.

This is not to cast any aspersion on this great poem, however. It has been called, with some justification, the greatest English epic poem. The line above, the first lines of the first book of the poem, is typical of the style throughout the epic, in vocabulary and syntax, in allusiveness. The word order tends toward the Latinate, with the object coming first and the verb coming after.

Milton follows many classical examples by personifying characters such as Death, Chaos, Mammon, and Sin. These characters interact with the more traditional Christian characters of Adam, Eve, Satan, various angels, and God. He takes as his basis the basic biblical text of the creation and fall of humanity (thus, 'Paradise Lost'), which has taken such hold in the English-speaking world that many images have attained in the popular mind an almost biblical truth to them (in much the same way that popular images of Hell owe much to Dante's Inferno). The text of Genesis was very much in vogue in the mid-1600s (much as it is today) and Paradise Lost attained an almost instant acclaim.

John Milton was an English cleric, a protestant who nonetheless had a great affinity for catholic Italy, and this duality of interests shows in much of his creative writing as well as his religious tracts. Milton was nicknamed 'the divorcer' in his early career for writing a pamphlet that supported various civil liberties, including the right to obtain a civil divorce on the grounds of incompatibility, a very unpopular view for the day. Milton held a diplomatic post under the Commonwealth, and wrote defenses of the governments action, including the right of people to depose and dispose of a bad king.

Paradise Lost has a certain oral-epic quality to it, and for good reason. Milton lost his eyesight in 1652, and thus had to dictate the poem to several different assistants. Though influenced heavily by the likes of Virgil, Homer, and Dante, he differentiated himself in style and substance by concentrating on more humanist elements.

Say first -- for Heaven hides nothing from thy view,
Nor the deep tract of Hell -- say first what cause
Moved our grand Parents, in that happy state,
Favoured of Heaven so highly, to fall off
From their Creator and transgress his will,
For one restraint, lords of the world besides?

Milton drops us from the beginning into the midst of the action, for the story is well known already, and proceeds during the course of the books (Milton's original had 10, but the traditional epic had 12 books, so some editions broke books VII and X into two books each) to both push the action forward and to give developing background -- how Satan came to be in Hell, after the war in heaven a description that includes perhaps the currently-most-famous line:

Here we may reign secure, and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition though in hell:
Better to reign in hell, that serve in heav'n.

(Impress your friends by knowing that this comes from Book I, lines 261-263 of Paradise Lost, rather than a Star Trek episode!)

The imagery of warfare and ambition in the angels, God's wisdom and power and wrath, the very human characterisations of Adam and Eve, and the development beyond Eden make a very compelling story, done with such grace of language that makes this a true classic for the ages. The magnificence of creation, the darkness and empty despair of hell, the manipulativeness of evil and the corruptible innocence of humanity all come through as classic themes. The final books of the epic recount a history of humanity, now sinful, as Paradise has been lost, a history in tune with typical Renaissance renderings, which also, in Milton's religious convictions, will lead to the eventual destruction of this world and a new creation.

A great work that takes some effort to comprehend, but yields great rewards for those who stay the course.

The is the definitive Arabic-English dictionary. It is essential for any serious study or translation of Arabic into English. Well printed and constructed. It contains both standard and vernacular words. Organized by root-words, it provides an easy method of finding closely similar concepts and words sharing common roots, an essential thing in a language such as arabic that is so heavily root dependent. If you are a serious student or user of Arabic, you must have this book.

I've been using this dictionary for four years and i've used other dictionaries as well. The Al-Mawrid Arabic-English dictionary may have just as many words in it or more, but the definitions are actually definitions in this dictionary (not just synonyms). I like the compactness of this dictionary, it's easy to carry around and store yet comprehensive enough to find virtually any Arabic word if you know the root. There has never been a word I couldn't find in it after I knew the proper root of an Arabic word.

Anyone half-way serious about the Arabic language is already familiar with the Hans Wehr. For anyone just beginning their study of Arabic, this review is for you.

Before being able to use this dictionary you have to know a few rudiments of the Arabic language: the alphabet, obviously, but more importantly the verb structure. There are 10-12 measures (awzan in Arabic) of most Arabic verbs, from which nearly all nouns are derived. Once you've learned this, you'll never need to look anywhere but the Hans Wehr for any word ever again.

The book is arranged by two or three-letter verb root. Under each verb you'll find the applicable measures and all common noun derivations of each.

As a professional translator, the Hans Wehr is always at my side. It's good to see the 4th edition is finally available in paperback. It's an improvement over the 3rd edition, and the old hardback 4th edition weighs about 15 pounds!

Buy this book!

Over the past year I have read extensively about the 17th century. "The Age of Louis XIV" is the best book which I have found on the period. Volume VII of Will and Ariel Durant's multi-volume "Story of Civilization", this book documents more detail of the era than any others which I have read.

The book begins with sections on France and England. The next section is "The Periphery" dealing with Russia, Poland, Scandinavia, Germany, Italy, and Iberia. After the geographically oriented sections, the reader is treated to sections organized along intellectual topics, such as science, philosophy, and faith and reason, which contain chapters dealing with specific philosophers or scientists. The conclusion wraps it all up with the denouement of Louis XIV.

This book makes the 17th century understandable. The premier character of the era was Louis XIV, the Sun King of France. During his reign, the policies of he and his ministers established France's day in the sun. Absolute ruler of the most populous and powerful kingdom in Western Europe, Louis made France the center of Western Civilization. On these pages we learn about the Fronde, the revolt by the nobility at the rising of his Sun, from which Louis acquired his life long aversion to Paris, Louis' aggressive support of Catholicism, while at the same time maintaining illicit personal relationships, and his generous support for the arts. This era, rich in French literature and theatre, as represented in Moliere, is revealed.

The forces threatening to rend the Catholic Church further asunder, as well as the relationship between King and Pope, are dealt with in detail. I was surprised to learn that Louis exercised a power over the Church in France similar to that which Henry VIII had previously established over the Church in England.

England, meanwhile, endured Cromwell, The Stuart Restoration, and the Glorious Revolution, while spawning Milton, Dryden, Swift and other literary giants.

Interesting contrasts are illustrated. Whereas in France the monarchy was strengthened into absolutism, England was making hesitating steps toward democracy. Whereas Louis excluded much of the nobility from government and military service, essentially forcing them into the role of idle rich, the English nobility gradually gained power and responsibility for the governance of their country. We can see how these trends may have encouraged the resentment of the aristocrats on the part of the French peasantry, which may have contributed to the intensity of feeling during The Terror of the French Revolution. By contrast, the empowerment of the English nobility may have helped solidify the tradition of peaceful political maturation.

On the Periphery, Charles XII brought Sweden to the zenith of its international power, while Peter the great modernized Russia. Germany survived the onslaught of the Turks, while Italy and Iberia, the "Old Europe" of the day, slid through an era of decline.

Intellectually the era was one of giants. Many of the names with which we are familiar come alive as we read of Isaac Newton, Thomas Hobbes, John Lock, Spinoza, Leibniz and others.

The conclusion of the era was the sunset of the Sun King. Having exhausted his country with dynastic war, bled it with unequal taxation and incurred the enmity of the world, Louis negotiated a peace which left his kingdom a shattered hulk of its former greatness.

For anyone desiring an introduction to the history of the 17th century, this is a great place to start. It has me ready for other books in the Durants' "Story of Civilization".

Though the central figure of this book is Louix XIV, this book is not about French history, but about European history as a whole.

The focus of this book is not on political and military history but on the history of religion, art, literature, science and philosophy. Or I can say politics is deeply involved in religion, art, literature and philosophy. I have never studied European philosophy before, and I thought it would be exttremely difficult to understand philosophy. But while I was reading this book, I found that phlosophy could be much easier when it was explained in a political context of the times.

And in this book English history was emphasized as much as French history. It is quite natural because Louis himself was deeply involved in and greatly responsible for the 17th century English history, and Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were Englishmen.

I believe that this book is the best book I've ever read. I'd like to read all 12 volumes of Will & Ariel Durant's "The History of Civilization" series.

By the way, I found 2 trivial mistakes in this book.
According to p 505, Halley identified another comet, seen in 1680, with one observed in the year of Christ's death; he traced its recurrence every 575 years, and from the periodicity he computed its orbit and speed around the sun. According to my own calculation, however, 575 x 2 + 33 = 1183, while 575 x 3 + 33 = 1758.
According to p 513, Mariotte amused his friends by showing that "cold" could burn: with a concave slab of ice he focused sunlight upon gunpowder, causing it to explode. To focus sunlight, however, we need a convex lens, not a concave lens.

The Durants succeed again in encapsulating the 17th century in Europe. They label it as the landmark century intellectually and scientifically and there is much truth to their assessment: the 18th Century, the "Enlightenment" and "Aufklarung" usually takes pride of place given the American and French Revolutions that dominated them and the general retreat of superstition and obscurantism that marred both Catholicism and Protestantism in the previous centuries. The Durants clearly show that all the 18th century did was develop themes initially sounded and expounded by 17th century thinkers such as Hobbes, Locke, Newton, Leibniz, Spinoza and the English Deists. These writers, and others, laid the bedrock for the various revolutions that shook Europe in the 1700 and 1800s and which have culminated in our own day: The Industrial, Political and Scientific.

Thematically, the book is erected upon the scaffolding of the Le Roi Soleil's life. They present his wars, mistresses, patronage of art, political autocracy as well as murderous bigotry. In my opinion, in their conclusion they let Louis off far too lightly. He was a man who countenanced, nay, actually encouraged and gloried not only in wars to dominate Europe--a common enough failing amongst the crowned--but in the Persecution of the Huguenots he left a blot on his record that, in light of the deadly century we just left and the religious fanaticism of 11 September, should sink his record in the humanitarian sense.

His vanity and thirst for "la glorie" (which he admitted himself to have been his worst failing) bankrupted France and left the Peasants in a savage and degrading poverty they hadn't experienced since the calamities of the 14th century. His refusal to use his power to actually reform government and tax the nobility mark his reign as regressive and disastrous in many ways. Still his impeccable taste in the visual and plastic arts-as opposed to his love of second-rate playwrights and third-rate opera--make him the supreme art patron in history. And the prestige and admiration that accumulated acted as a sort of bank that his incompetent, worthless successor cruised upon. Only under sixteenth Louis did the credit of the Sun King's name finally run out...

Still, the Durants must credited for making this error sparkle and shimmer with life and the lovely prose still entrances and pleases regardless of how dull or recondite the subject might be. Again, they are two of the greatest of all American writers. Someday, I hope, they will be acknowledged as such.