Marc Allen's simple exercises and easy story telling makes this book a delight to read. Not your every day affirmations but, concrete advice and simple information to sink your soul into. One of many all time favorite motivational books for anyone who loves what they do and wants the money and success to follow.

A VISIONARY LIFE is Marc Allen's sequel to VISIONARY BUSINESS. In its pages, he shows readers how they can expand their consciousness and significantly raise the quality of their lives. The book gains credence due to the fact that Allen embraced the principles in his book when he and Shakti Gawain founded New World Library, a flourishing publishing company. Given Allen's own success, it would seem that he knows what he's talking about. A VISIONARY LIFE is a visionary book because it transcends the airy platitudes found in many New Age books and get into the real, practical work that it takes to not only have a successful life but to be a successful person.

Bruce Allen Watson takes up a gauntlet that few professional full-time military historians would dare to touch. He treads that razor thin line of acceptability between military history and sociology, and in this offering he does so successfully. The result is a book that is a worthy addition to a professional military leader's library. Unfortunately the price attached to the book by the publisher makes this impractical for many that should own the work.
Several sociologists have attempted analysis of the profession of arms in the past; their works are of varying degrees of merit. The weaknesses of pure sociology when applied to warfare stem partially from a lack of rigorous historical studies cited to support the theories they put forward. Watson manages to avoid the pitfalls of many of the sociologists while at the same time incorporating the best of their ideas into a single work. As a multidisciplinary study this book is far better than most. Watson's topic alone ensures that the book has something new to offer. There are hundreds of books that study victory, several works studying military defeats, but almost none directly address the causes of the various massacres and related destructive orgies that sometimes find their way into traditional military histories under the innocuous title of "incidents."
Watson recognizes that there are "individuals who fall off the edge of acceptable conduct" while in combat. Yet this blanket explanation does not seem sufficient for him to explain the behavior of groups of men. He suggests that the aberrant behavior of some units in combat may be the result of the social disintegration of groups of men involved in the environment of combat. Following this thesis Watson offers six case studies from military history. These cases range from the massacre of innocent civilians (The Indian Mutiny of 1757, the Sand Creek Colorado Massacre of 1864, and the My Lai IV Massacre of 1968) to the mass surrender/defeat/mutiny of large units (French Army 1917, 106th ID (US) Battle of the Bulge, 1944) to the uncontrolled looting and subsequent disintegration of a unit following a siege (San Sebastian, 1813). While none of these studies derive from research in primary sources, and several contain minor errors or extremely broad generalizations, all of them are generally solid works of secondary history. Their primary value lies in the support they offer to Watson's theory.
Watson believes that four factors form a common thread in changing groups of men from military units into "crowds." These four factors are the failure of leadership, the collapse of the primary groups, and two sociologically defined processes known as "alienation" and "desperation." Once a military unit transitions to the condition of "crowd" it is, according to Watson, susceptible to collective behavior that might include the spontaneous emergence of new, alternative organizational forms, values and beliefs. The result, in some cases, is behavior that is contrary to the organizational goals and values of the military overall. Despite the apparent "touchy-feely" potential of the approach, if not the subject matter, Watson's greatest triumph here is that he brings complex theories down to the level of comprehension of the average reader. That alone is a feat in the notoriously complex field of sociology. This is a good book.

In this very readable work Watson analyses campaigns from the Siege of Jerusalem (1099) through Sand Creek, Colorado, to My Lai, Vietnam, to discover the elements which transform a military formation into a crowd, with predictably dismal results.
The author identifies failure of leadership, the collapse of primary groups, alienation, (with feelings of meaninglessness and powerlessness), and, finally, desperation as the components of disintegration, and examines each in turn to shed much-needed light on this hitherto neglected subject.
Finally, Watson notes that military organizations' handling of these occurances is characterized by trivialization, cover-up, and denial, and suggests that the moral dilemma will be carried into the future because of the disinclination of forces to face the ever-present possibility of disintegration.
(The numerical rating above is a default setting within Amazon's format. This reviewer does not employ numerical ratings.)

Clear, concise information that every traveler should have on their next trip. This book is filled with useful information, stories, and practical advice for the most experienced traveler or novice. I suggest it for every one who travels.

As the author of "Calming Upset Customers," I travel a lot to deliver speeches and seminars. I've used Allen's book as a source of great ideas for reducing the stress of traveling. The ideas are delivered in a wittly, lively style, that makes it fun to read.

I gave this book as a hostess gift when my daughter got married. Forty women were delighted with the ecumenical spirit presented. The illustrations are poignant and evoke the true spirit of the book. One of the most broad-spectrum collections of inspirational writings and prayers I have ever had. As a woman approachng middle age, I was invited to take hold of a thread of unity with many other women throughout history.These are women, who have identified the image of God dwelling within and are vital forces in their environment because of that awareness.

Great readings in the Judeo-Christian tradition. 10 elegant sketches, based on historic originals

With chapters on everything from Fiction Proposals to selling your Syndicate Column, this book will be a big help to anyone seeking to inprove their chances of getting published. The book has 23 chapters, one which deals with succeeding in a scheduled online chat, another with tips for international writers. There are many sample queries, a full sample fiction synopsis, anatomy of a synopsis, etc. I found this book very helpful and highly recommend it.

Writers need to develop strong proposals to even get their work read: Moira Allen's The Writer's Guide To Queries, Pitches & Proposals provides both beginning and experienced writers with tips and practical examples on how to write queries for publications ranging from books to columns. Insights on approaches which work also provide keys to understanding the publishing industry as a whole.

The years 1936-37 were decisive in the struggles of working people to defeat fascism and prevent the holocaust that was called World War II.The Great Depression was devasting the working people round the world. In this book, the co-leader with Lenin of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, Leon Trotsky, exposes the Moscow witch hunt trials, through which the bureaucrat-dictator Stalin ( NOT a communist ! ) began the process of the final rubbing out of communist opposition to his regime. The civil war in Spain raged and was in its crucial phase: would the workers and peasants of Spain defeat the fascists through revolutionary means or would the coalition of liberals, "democratic" socialists ( read: pro-capitalist "socialists" ), Stalinists, and sadly, anarchist leaders who sold themselves and their powerful unions to the reform-ist coalition - the Popular Front-open the gates to the fascists, making World War II inevitable ? How could working people help out the fight of the Chinese people against in Japanese invasion of 1937: the opening guns of World War II? How to build a revolutionary leadership, both in the countries mentioned above, around the world, and in the U.S. itself? In this valuable book and two others-"The Spanish Revolution" and "Leon Trotsky on China", also published by Pathfinder Press, the great revolutionist poses these question and attempts to answer them in terms of action. As world capitalism sinks into a new depression, and as world imperialism, Yankee imperialism in the first rank, drives us working people towards fascism and a new world war, those who fight for a new and human world in the streets and on the strike picket lines need this book BAD.

This volume begins with Trotsky's writing on board the ship Ruth the Norwegian government used to deport him to Mexico. His "In Socialist Norway," is a humorous well-written account of how the Social Democrats who ruled Norway in the thirties, buckled under to the pressure of native fascists and Stalin to first restrict Trotsky's right to defend himself against the slanders of the Moscow trials, and then placed him under house arrest until he was invited to Mexico. I found his analysis of Kamenev, Zinoviev, and Stalin himself, in his articles written in Mexico explaining the Moscow trials to be interesting studies in how personal character is a factor in revolutionary leadership and retreat from that leadership. Also very interesting is the correspondence and proposals Trotsky wrote around building the commission led by American philosopher John Dewey that investigated the Moscow trials. As always with all of the Trotsky Writings Volumes, there is a week-to-week, sometimes day-by-day, chronicle of world events, and of Trotsky's struggle to build a revolutionary movement.

Janet Allen's book is a wonderful resource for any middle or high school teachers of literacy - especially those teachers involved with at risk learners. Allen's work is also always uplifting and motivational. She reminds all of us who work with kids that all kids truly can learn, as long as we are willing to meet them where they are. Allen does not just offer a philosophical perpective, hower. Yellow Brick Road is also filled with practical and "do"able activities and strategies to implement in a classroom teacher's instruction. The book is an easy and enjoyable read.

Yellow Brick Roads is a must read for the reading teacher who is deluged with new books each year. It will tie up many loose ends for you, rejuvenate you, and validate your gut feelings about the teaching of reading.

Janet Allen's greatest gift is really to the struggling readers themselves. She has total respect for her students, and that respect shines through her writing. She reminds us that our students are our greatest teachers, and that we must observe and listen to them carefully in order to support their literacy growth. Teacher as researcher is the guiding princeple here. She will also help you convince the schedule makers that you need more time for the teaching of reading. I am ready to reread it the third time this summer!

In "You Can't Get There From Here", Ms Vernice Watson tells of her exciting career in the world of gospel music! This book is great! It includes many inside pictures, special stories, and her struggle to make it to the top of the music industry . Go on a journey with Ms Vernice Watson as she tells you how "You can't get there from here!"

This was an excellent book! Vernice know her stuff!! The book tells about the author's personal experiences in the music promotion business; good and bad. It is a must read!!

This little workbook is something quite amazing. The author, who knows the fallout of abuse from a point of personal experience, has created a workbook that is a series of questions. But those questions are the most important ones for anyone who has ever suffered any form of abuse. It is a very special tool that can be used to help get people, of any age, talking about their experiences and, in the process, start feeling better about themselves. As far as I know, there is nothing else anywhere that remotely compares to this workbook, and it could only have been created by someone who's lived through it. If you have suffered abuse, or know of someone who has, get this workbook--for yourself or for them. It is something very unique and very special.

This remarkable little workbook could only have been written by someone who had experienced abuse and understood not only the long-term effects but also what questions to ask in order to elicit truthful responses that will be of immense benefit to anyone (young or old) who has suffered from abuse of any kind. There is nothing else like it anywhere, and it is being used by more and more state and private agencies that deal with young people.