Practical Insights into the Mechanics of Conflict January 6, 2003
I read this book nearly 10 years ago and found it very helpful. As a pastor of over 23 years and a survivor of a few humdinger conflicts, it was comforting to know that conflicts have patterns. It also helped me control my own responses.

I wouldn't wish church conflicts on a dog, but they seem to come (to most of us in the ministry, not dogs!) no matter what precautions we take. But they can often be contained early, and this book can help. It will also help you accept that conflict is common and to be expected, therefore leading us to the conclusion that one should be as prepared as possible. The chapters are all pretty good, but those written by Speed Leas excel.

The time to read this book is before (or early on)conflict begins. Every pastor needs to be prepared for what is inevitable. Lay leaders (board members, etc.) can also benefit from this book. Also helpful would be Terry Muck's book, "When to Take A Risk."

The authors approach Church Management from their various perspectives, but all seem to have a grip on managing a church, everywhere from facilities to staff to offering security to planning.

This is a fine book with some great specific suggestions.

I agree with the above review and would simply like to add my own thoughts. The book illustrates the fascinating way in which mathematics, society, religion, politics and of course physics have affected each other (it goes both ways!) through out the ages. Furthermore, the author nicely illustrates the processes by which people think and how those processes have also changed through the ages (i.e., The Age of Reason versus The Renisance). This book left me with real insights as to the nature and limitations of the current state of mathematics and physics. Things are not as they seem, my friend! Lastly, the author displays an appreciation for the humor and irony of the history which makes this book hard to put down at times. I never thought a math/history book could be a "page turner"... Read it.

In most mathematics classes, students are presented with a completed edifice, and given a floor plan to help them navigate the halls. While this approach works for many people, others need a little more basic information. In this book, Morris Kline builds the building, starting with the mud and straw of the bricks.

"Mathematics in Western Culture" shows that the history of mathematics is one of hundreds of years of people sitting in the sand, drawing shapes and lines, scratching their heads, and trying to figure things out. This is not necessarily Dr. Kline's intention for the book, but this is certainly one of the many messages to be derived from it.

A fascinating, exciting book which makes mathematics more understandable and accessible.

Profound and moving, Memoirs of Christina Morris narrates the intensive life of its main character: first Christina Wyman and later Christina Morris, this young English woman writes her memoirs from a cell of a military prison. She has been sentenced for spying for the Germans, thus betraying England, her native country although against her will. She is guilty of having committed a crime but is innocent in that she had no choice. Her silence to not involve loved ones, who are really victims in the same way she is, automatically condemns her. The strong nature of the main character is present from the first chapter to the last. The power of destiny is clearly visible throughout her active life.

It is the 23rd January, 1943 and the day looks harsh and cold in the English capital. Christina Morris is judged and condemned to death. She has betrayed England and, in times of war, traitors are punished with the ultimate penalty, at dawn she will be executed.
The people of England feel dismayed. Some hate her while others suffer intense anxiety. At the doors of the London Military Prison, a crowd of journalists wait impatiently for the front page news of the next morning newspapers.
Imprisoned inside her cell and accompanied by Father Thomas, the chaplain who had been assigned to her, Christina faints. Doctor Hannon's duty is to save her while a halo of life remains in her bruised body.
After a medical examination, the veteran doctor discovers the reason for her loss of consciousness: The patient is carrying a child in her womb. Christina Morris is pregnant. The execution has to be postponed until the child is born.
This is the period in which Chris decides to write her memoirs. We learn about her difficult life; the moments of happiness and how the power of destiny has jostled her with the objective of carrying out the mission that has been entrusted to her. She suffers day in day out because of the evilness of humanity. She narrates the events and tells us the reasons that have forced her to get involved in German counterespionage; and tells us about the people that with love and affection shared her agony and made her incarceration bearable.

Memoirs of Christina Morris is not only a novel about espionage and war, it is also about love, intuition, faith.. it shows us treasons and resignation, passions and sacrifices, it speaks to us about a strong woman with a strong sense of values. Also it tells how she resigns herself and keeps her faith and beliefs embracing her fate despite the events that she is forced to endure. It is a novel about the continuance of life in the face of death.

Stella Sole has managed in Memoirs of Christina Morris that simply by closing ones eyes, one can imagine oneself in front of the characters, sharing their experiences and becoming part of the world created by the novel. The fact that it is a true story and that the narrator is Christina herself, intensifies the feeling for reader, making the harshness and happiness more acute and poignant. This novel creates a constant need to know more yet ironically we are swept up in the movement of the action and the beauty of the story and the prose, so that we do not want it to end. In Memoirs of Christina Morris Stella Sole tells the story from a spiritual point of view going beyond the specific to the universal.

I trust that Stella Sole will receive a warm reception among the literary public, since she has demonstrated with this majestic novel her ability to transmit the essence of life and this is inexhaustible.

Atrayente y profunda, Memorias de Christina Morris, narra la intensa vida de su protagonista: Primero Christina Wyman y más tarde Christina Morris, esta joven inglesa escribe sus memorias desde una celda de la cárcel militar dónde está presa. Ha sido condenada por espionaje favoreciendo a los alemanes, traicionando así, contra su voluntad, a Inglaterra, su patria. Es culpable de haber delinquido pero es inocente puesto que se ha visto obligada. Pudiendo salvarse decide callar condenándose automáticamente, para no implicar, así, a seres a los que ella ama intensamente y que son víctimas del mismo modo que lo es ella. La naturaleza fuerte de la protagonista está presente desde el primer capítulo hasta el último. El poder del destino es claramente visible a lo largo de su azarosa existencia.

Es 23 de enero de 1943 y el día se presenta crudo y frío en la capital londinense. Christina Morris es juzgada y condenada a muerte. Ha traicionado a Inglaterra y en tiempos de guerra a los traidores se les castiga con la última pena, al llegar el alba será ajusticiada.
La población inglesa se siente consternada. Unos la odian mientras que otros sufren una intensa agonía. A las puertas de la Cárcel Militar de Londres, multitud de periodistas aguardan impacientes, a la espera de una primera portada en los periódicos de la mañana.
Encarcelada en su celda y en compañía del padre Thomas, el capellán que le había sido asignada, Christina es víctima de un desvanecimiento. El doctor Hannon debe salvarla mientras quede un halo de vida en su magullado cuerpo, es su deber.
Tras un reconocimiento médico, el veterano doctor descubre la causa de la pérdida de conocimiento: En el vientre de la paciente se está gestando una vida. Christina Morris está encinta. La ejecución debe ser aplazada hasta que la criatura nazca.
Es en este periodo cuando Chris decide escribir sus memorias: Lo dura que ha sido su agitada vida; los momentos de felicidad; como la fuerza del destino la ha zarandeado con el fin de cumplir la misión que le ha sido encomendada sufriendo día a día a causa de las circunstancias y la maldad humana; las personas y razones que la obligan a ingresar en el contraespionaje alemán; los que con amor y cariño compartieron su agonía e hicieron su permanencia en la celda, privada de libertad, más feliz y llevadera.

Memorias de Christina Morris no es sólo una novela que nos hable del espionaje o la guerra, sino que también nos habla del amor, de la intuición, de la fe.. nos muestra traiciones y resignación, pasiones y sacrificios, nos habla de una mujer fuerte y de mucha valía como fue Christina Morris. Cuenta cómo se resigna y mantiene su fe y creencias abrazando a su destino a pesar de los acontecimientos que está obligada a vivir. Y es que esta novela hace hincapié en como de las cenizas siempre vuelve a nacer la vida.

Stella Sole ha conseguido en Memorias de Christina Morris que con simplemente cerrar los ojos, uno se imagine delante de sus personajes, compartiendo sus vivencias e introduciéndose en ese mundo que la novela crea. El hecho de que la historia sea real y el narrador de las memorias sea la propia protagonista, hace que los sentimientos del lector se intensifiquen viviendo las crudezas y alegrías de una forma mucho más penetrante y aguda. Esta novela provoca en el lector un deseo de conocer su contenido ansiando, a su vez, que el libro nunca acabe, puesto que Memorias de Christina Morris está repleta de dinamismo, belleza y acción. Y es que Stella Sole combina el argumento de sus obras con enseñanza de carácter espiritual que dan a esta obra un toque realmente apasionante.

Confío en que Stella Sole tendrá una calurosa acogida entre el público literario, puesto que ha demostrado con esta majestuosa novela su habilidad para transmitir la esencia de la vida, y ésta es abundante e inagotable.

I grew up reading this book. Definitely one of the best children's books of all time. It has hilarious pictures and a cute story.

We found this book in a thrift shop and it has become a favorite of my children. I wish it had been a series. We would love to have heard of further adventures of Morris.

Morris walks the reader through a thorough downsizing/move for senior citizens with keen insight. Anyone who has ever participated in a geriatric moving knows the many challenges and decisions needed to be made. And quite often during a very stressful period. The author takes you by the hand and walks you through each room with careful inspection, detail and humor. I thought the "workbook approach" was a keen idea because it helped to organize the move ahead-of-time, right down to a decision on the 100+ butter tubs. Whether you're the senior organizing the move or the family member assisting, it's well worth the price of $10.95 for the time it can save you. We'll all need this book someday, it's just a matter of time!

Moving for Seniors is a valuable resource that makes a very intimidating process manageable. You can tell the author has a wonderful sense of humor as she guides the reader through difficult decisions. This workbook is a great tool for both seniors and their children/caregivers. As a hospital social worker/discharge planner I quickly identified the value of this book. It's a "must have". Betty Wilson, MSW

In the Naked Eye we are once again
off with Desmond Morris on an anthropological
field trip. And I must confess that I love it.
Obviously it is much harder observing humans
than zebras. After all a zebra never walks up to you
and asks question. But humans are that much more fun.
In the book we learn about arab gestures.
That black underwear ensures pregnancy. That the
original medieval football is still played in
some places in England, and that it was called
football, because the players were so poor that
they couldn't afford a horse.
etc.

All of this in just one book. What a delight!

-Simon

This is by far the best travel book I have ever read. Ok, so its not a profound book that hopes to capture the spirit of the places and the writer's experience, but the writer is uniquely qualified to offer keen observations, anecdotes and facts about his travels (and longer stays) in diverse places around the world. For anyone who is a fan (or otherwise), this books offers a rough insight into Morris' methods. Very highly recommended.

This account of a woman struggling to find love and livlihood while in the throes of single motherhood is one of the most honest and moving portraits I've ever read. Mary Morris' talent in evoking both the absence of mother in the character, Ivy, as well as newly found rewards and challenges in her own new motherhood provides a story of both loss and redemption.

Mary Morris provides an insight on motherhood and how it changes a woman's life. Not only emotionally or financially, but in society's change in perception of a woman who becomes a mother. I read the book when my daughter was about 3 and I could really relate to the main character. I would recommend this book to everyone, but especially to the career woman who has recently become a mother.

I lived in Japan for two and a half years, and cannot speak highly enough of The Nobility of Failure.

In TNOF, Ivan Morris provides a much-needed look at - to most westerners, anyway - one of the oddest aspects of Japanese culture - the self-immolating hero. TNOF offers a rundown of Japanese populist heroes from the past 2,000 years - all of whom are doomed to complete and utter failure - and provides a convincing analysis of why Japanese culture produces such men, and why their failures actually raise their status in the eyes of many of their fellow citizens.

Morris was perhaps the leading Japan scholar of his day, but even he finds many of his subjects bizaare. He deftly, though not necessarily disrespectfully, pokes fun at the absurdity of many of their situations. Not many scholars can make you laugh while they make you think.

An engrossing, very well written book detailing the somewhat peculiar nature of the Japanese "failed hero." In contrast to the Western ideal, the Japanese do not seem to require their heroes to "win" or "succeed." Ten chapters describe ten different historical figures (or groups) throughout Japanese history who fit this oxymoronic label. Anyone interested in Japanese history would find this book at once fascinating, inciteful, and educational.

Some of the people pictured are my relatives,one is my father.
I've found this book to be a good connection to my past

For anyone interested in African American History in St. Louis, and particularly in Webster Groves-this book is a must! Filled with interesting photographs and charting the development of a unique community, this book lovingly portrays North Webster as only a resident could. If you know the area, you are sure to see places you'll recognize!

Beautiful documentation of the pacific northwest style. The book gives a thorough history of the people, their lifestyle, inspirations for the work, and breakdown of the style and symbolism found in the carvings. The photos are clear and detail is sharp. There is a wide variety of subject and style shown throught the illustrations. Highly recommended

I have read and looked at many books about Northwest native art and culture but this book quickly overshadowed all the others I had read. It is a book filled with incredible photographs and a thorough explanation of this ancient culture. This book is history, beauty, a visit to the past, a visit to the future... a visit to now....it is a visit to extraordinary talent, it is a visit to a people whose imagination and reverence for nature and life could be an example to all of us in today's fragile world.

This not just another coffee table book..this is a must have for every person who loves art, who loves nature and who loves beauty. It is a walk with Northwest Native artists who talk to us through the words and photographs of Ralph and Karen Norris.