This is by far the best book about Roman gladiators on the market for young readers. Nardo, the leading historian of ancient Rome in juvenile publishing, has done a remarable job explaining all known aspects of the fighters who fought and died in Roman arenas like the Colosseum. He begins with a thorough, up-to-date explanation of the origins of gladiators, pointing out that scholars now think they evolved from Roman, rather than Etruscan, funeral rituals. Then he covers recruitment, training, gladiator types, weapons, preparations for fighting, and the actual fighting (in marvelous detail). Especially valuable and riveting is a chapter on the rebellion of the gladiator Spartacus, with many details never included in other books for young people, and another chapter devoted entirely to the psychological and moral aspects of gladiators within the context of Roman society and the Roman world view. Most of the pictures are good too and the many maps in the Spartacus chapter are very helpful. In addition, Nardo includes numerous quotes by ancient authors about gladiators and an excellent bibliography. I highly recommend the book to all.

Livy's lengthy and detailed History of Rome covers many events that are little known today, but it makes excellent reading for anyone interested in ancient history. This Loeb Classical Library edition has many useful features. It has Livy's Latin text and an English translation side-by-side for easy study, it has the dates of events - both on our calendar and on the Roman calendar - along the margins, it has frequent notes to explain Livy's more obscure references, and at the end of each of Livy's 'books' there is a concise summary.

This first volume is one of the best in the whole series (which runs 14 volumes in this edition). Not only does it have a good introduction to the series, it also covers some of the most interesting events in Rome's history, running from its founding until 468 BC, and including Rome's transition from a kingdom to a republic.

Ciciero has always fascinated me, but even if he didn't, I would have been grabbed and carried away by this book. Not only is Jaro an impeccable scholar, she's a born storyteller. Her great gift is to make the past--and the actors in its drama--alive, vital, and real. This is really a superb book. History made flesh.

First published in 1906, this book is a history of Northern Italy from the rise of the Communes in the major cities (XI Century) to the establishment of "tyrannies" by powerful families at the beginning of the XIV Century (first the cruel Ezzelino da Romano, then the Visconti in Milan, the Carrara in Padua, the Scaliger in Verona etc...). The author analyzes the balance of power and the struggles between Guelfes and Ghibellines in cities like Milan, Pavia, Cremona, Brescia, Verona, Padua, Mantua... There are very few studies in English about the wars between Guelfes and Ghibellines, which tore Italy between 1200 and 1350, so if you're interested in the subject it's necessary reading.

On the other hand, the illustrations are poor : the maps look like photocopies of hand drawings and the photographs are very dark. That's 1906 technology I guess.

A leader in travel guides, Lonely Plant once again proves it self as the leader in the industry with this excellent guide to traveling to/throughout the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Although Haiti's tourism industry is nearly nonexistent, the guide still provides the readers with information on attractions, accommodations, and safety issues.

In covering the neighboring Dominican Republic, the book provides much more information for this country which has seen a major boom in its' tourism industry since the late 1980s. Always informative with tidbits if information, history, maps, and information for singles and gay & lesbian travelers, the "Lonely Planet Dominican Republic and Haiti" is the best book for anyone planning a trip to the island of Hispaniola. Excellent guide for an excellent price.

This is a History of Eastern Armenia in the present. Easily readible. It details the history of the Armenians and especially focuses on the eastern Armenians in the Russian empire and the Soviet state. A good resource as their are so few books on the Armenians and the tragedy of the Armenian genocide. This is a topic and a people more Americans need to learn about.

This new book on the American-Vietnam War, writes Robert J. Topmiller, "contains few American heroes but focuses instead on the enormous sacrifices of Vietnamese Buddhists to halt the conflict." In the end, the conflict caused 58,000 American and 3 million South and North Vietnamese deaths.

"The Lotus Unleashed: The Buddhist Peace Movement in South Vietnam, 1964-1966" marks the culmination of one historian's decade-long endeavor to tell the story of America's longest war from the perspective of those South Vietnamese Buddhists "who risked everything for peace." The author, an alumnus of Central Washington University, is a Vietnam War veteran and a history professor at Eastern Kentucky University.

Topmiller asserts that America's defeat in Vietnam ultimately resulted from the illegitimacy and unpopularity of successive South Vietnamese governments, which aside from being dictatorial were dependent on and subservient to a warring foreign power, the United States. Above all, he writes, most South Vietnamese wanted peace and independence.

Examination of the Buddhist Peace Movement, Topmiller argues, typifies both "the ambiguity felt by Vietnamese over the American [Cold War] crusade" and "America's frustration over its inability to influence events in South Vietnam." The Buddhists, who hoped to establish peace and democracy and to eradicate poverty and injustice, represented the most significant non-communist group that challenged the South Vietnamese government.

The Buddhist Movement's first defining moment came in June 1963 when an elderly monk protested his government's religious persecution by setting himself on fire. Photographs of the self-immolation and the government's repression of Buddhist protesters galvanized American and world opinion against South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, who was assassinated in a November coup.

As Topmiller emphasizes, the toppling of Diem did not work in favor of the Buddhists' drive for peace and nationalism. Instead, it created a political power vacuum filled by South Vietnamese generals, who permitted increased American intervention and an expansion of the war against communist North Vietnam. Washington secretly opposed the Buddhist objective of a populist government because it risked instability and possible cooperation with local communists, and at best, such a course would lead to a "neutralist" approach to the Cold War.

The United States found it increasingly difficult to maintain stability in South Vietnam, a country plagued by interest group factionalism and regional divisions.

Topmiller illustrates this vividly by reconstructing the 1966 Buddhist Crisis in Danang, where U.S. Marines attempted to prevent fighting between their military ally, the South Vietnamese Marines and Air Force, and Buddhist and student protesters, who were aided by dissident South Vietnamese army units. At one point, South Vietnamese fighter planes "accidentally" strafed and injured eight U.S. marines in Danang. A livid U.S. Marine general ordered American fighters to fly over the Vietnamese planes to forestall further strafing. Upset with this adverse action, the South Vietnamese launched additional planes to fly over the American jets. This retaliation only caused more U.S. planes to take to the air. Finally, "after more stern warnings" from the Americans, the Vietnamese Air Force "backed down."

Nevertheless, by the end of 1966, the U.S-backed government in South Vietnam forcefully subjugated the Buddhist Peace Movement. Topmiller suggests that the Buddhist Crisis may have represented a missed of opportunity for peace and a chance for the United States to avoid a humiliating and tragic defeat.

His well-written narrative and nuanced understanding of South Vietnamese and American motives and actions are the result of painstaking research in the United States and Vietnam, including interviews and correspondence with key actors.

With the United States at war in the Middle East, Topmiller's book serves to remind us of the challenges and pitfalls of American involvement in far-flung conflicts.

I am not a classicist or a Plato scholar but with that proviso in place: I first read Prof. Sinaiko's text while finishing the PhD coursework for my doctorate in philosophy. Sinaiko's interpretation of the Cave Allegory opened my eyes to the depths of Plato's work in ways no other text has -- before or since. [Hadot's work on Socrates, greatly to be admired, is probably the closest thing I've seen in recent years.] Sinaiko's treatment of love and dialectic made whole swaths of Plato transparent to me for the first time. Much of it dovetails beautifully into notions of Socratic method as therapeutic and, for instance, Derrida's discussion of philosophy as pharmakon. Anyway, all of this created a lasting effect on my own appropriation of dialectical methodologies in areas as diverse as Hegel and environmental ethics. So, wahoo. Buy this book.

The warning given in 1 Cor. 10:1-13 is rarely heeded by Christians. What God gives us in examples in history of the church are shrugged off as not applicable to a people so much more enlightened and intelligent as we, right? Get ready for the fall if you're one of these.

Keeping up with the trends and culture will do one in. Gustafson here gives accurate reading of early Lutheran mistakes which are now being carried out by such as David Luecke and other Lutheran Church Growth advocates who think they can bring in foreign theologies such as CG without its substance mistakes.

He points out the struggle in the nineteenth century for a Lutheran identity has parallels today in the LCMS and ELCA battles for the same. Correlation is truly amazing here.

Listen to this tidbit, asking if we today here this in among Lutherans: One side wants to blend more with the American religious culture, while the other wants to remain a distinctive Lutheran witness in America to Americans.

Excellent work; obtain, read and inwardly digest.

My class loved it. The class is well below reading level and despite the difficult words they were motivated to find out what happened next to Jaime. They had empathy for him being a new student unable to speak the language because at one point my students were there. The descriptions and characters were so real, yet their was this imagination piece which kept them going. It led to many discussions about feelings, new students, frustration, and confusion. This was the fastest book they read all year.