Dr.Paul Bookbinder, with the assistance of Dr. Judith Bookbinder, has written a well-balanced, meticulously researched, and readable analysis of the fatal weakness that "reasonableness" represented for the ill-starred Weimar Republic. The author persuasively reveals how the Weimar Republic's inability or refusal to counter the extremist attacks from both left and the right and the republic's resulting vulnerability led inevitably to its destruction. This slender but profound volume belongs in the library of anyone interested in that dark period of German history.

"The Weimar Republic" is a quick read into the complicated history of Germany's first attempt at parliamentary democracy. Henig focuses on domestic political and economic developments to provide students and the general reader with an overview of the period.

Such issues discussed are domestic responses to the Versailles Treaty, the failure of the left to deal realistically with the problems of liberal and mass government, the inability of the bourgeoisie parties to find mass support for party rule, and the designs of the right to undermine the parliamentary system altogether. Within this framework Henig includes all the major points such as nationalism, patriotism, workers unions, the landed class, and the successive economic crises that plagued the Republic. At the same time, the book also provides clues to the rise of parliamentary government in post-1945 West Germany.

Dr. Bednar is a wonderful story teller and brings the joys and horrors of our century to our doorstep. I have known this wonderful man for many years and his compassion for human understanding is legendary here in Wilton CT. His years as Pastor of the Wilton Congregational Church inspired many. His narrative is matched only by hearing this man speak from the pulpit. Reading his book reminds us all that we are citizens of a wide world. None of us are immune from human failings and suffering. Dr. Bednar has seen first hand what this world has to offer. Open your hearts and learn what this book has to teach!!

Why The Crab Has No Head is a spectacular african folktale illustrated and retold by Barbara Knutson. The dynamic black and white contrast of the drawings is highly stimulating for children of all ages, even infants can focus on the geometrical shapes. Knutson captures the story-telling qualities of the african tradition by using rythm and repetition, making it natural for your child to read along with you. This morality tale is a must-have for all parents seeking to create a multi-cultural library.

I loved this book. The details were wonderful, and the translation excellent! This is the story of a little town in CZECHOSLOVAKIA in the 1900's that has been victim of the late witch hunts. It all starts with a rumour that a hag in town is using communion hosts to cast spells, this causes an amazing stir in the community. This is a great book, you find greed, lies, sex, and compassion all in the same book. The translation looses nothing of the original text. Quite interesting, specially when it was written in the 1800's.

Witness to The Young Republic: A Yankee's Journal, 1828-1870 By Benjamin Brown French and Edited by Donald B. Cole and John J. McDonough is a marvelous journal that time-capsules life in Washington,D.C. from 1828 - 1870. Brown was a political officeholder and knew and became personally aquainted with every president from John Quincy Adams through Ulysses S. Grant.

This book was edited from over four thousand pages that were part of his personal diary... and what a diary it was. French had a flair for writing and he makes a splendid treatment of the events on the political scene of his day, keeping the readers well entertained with fascinating annotations and gossip. French's eventful life is recorded here with a delightful mix of the ordinary and extraordinary characters only an observer with a keen eye can bring to paper.

French kept watch and recorded some very interesting events in American history: as his journal gives us a shrewd but lively entertaining trip through American life; a magnificent sweep across American history, we see comments on personalities, events, manners and political ideology, penetrating observations on the people and events of that time.

One of the most tearful events, as described by French, was his account of Lincoln, as he was at Lincoln's bedside when he died. One of the best accounts in the book is French's description of the events leading to and including Lincoln's Gettysburg address. All in all, this book is very interesting and gives a rare look into events, life and times of that time period and is well worth your time to read. This book is full of information about the leaders of this great country and how they really felt at that time.

There is information about all of the prominent personalities found in this book from that time... making it a treasure trove from which we can get a better picture of how life was, not only public, but private as well.

Nadon's careful examination of Xenophon's Education of Cyrus is by far the best available treatment of the work: careful, concise, beautifully written. Highly recommended as an introduction not only to Xenophon, but to the reading of classical literature generally.

This book was an excellent way for my children to learn more of American History. After finishing this book, they are asking for the next book in this series ( The Young Republic ). Without a doubt, we will be buying the entire series.

This book is based on an old short Jewish folk-tale, about a Jew who has been lost in the forest and miraculously saved by performing the custom of lighting Channukah candles. The author has expanded it into a full-length volume.

The story is both entertaining and immersed in traditional Jewish values, such as emunah and bittachon -- a combination quite rare in English literature. It is aimed at the level of 12-year-olds and above. The language is good, the narrative flowing. In short, it is, in my opinion, an excellent Channukah gift for your or your friends' kids, or for anyone who isn't too old to enjoy a good Jewish tale.

This is one of my favorite books. Though Crichton does not bore his readers with too much description, he provides memorable scenes and multifaceted characters to interest and stimulate. Readers are captured on the first few pages by suspenseful deaths, then introduced to the large and controversial world of cloning and programming nature. The plot line takes shape as we follow archaeologist Alan Grant and his biologist coworker Ellie Sattler on their advisory visit to Jurassic Park, an amusement park whose attractions are cloned dinosaurs living in rough recreations of their former habitats. The project was founded and carried out by an elderly, rich dinosaur enthusiast named John Hammond.

I enjoyed the thought provoking philosophies of the character Ian Malcolm about science and the dangers of trying to recreate and control dangerous animals that we know nothing about. I would reccomend this book to people who are interested in life science, technology, or science fiction.

Hello my friends! How are you doing? I have a question for you. Have you ever wished dinosaurs were alive? In this book your wish comes true. InGen has started an extremely special park in Isla Nublar wich is20000 miles west of Costa Rica. By extracting DNA from mosquitoes caught in amber they have brought back to life the dinosaurs. Dr.Hammond (president of InGen) has hired Alan Grant and Dr.Elli (2 paleontologists) and the scientist Dr.Ian Malcolm to go and look at the park before it's open to public. He hopes they decide to endorse the park. But when they get there things go wrong, terribly wrong.

This book is filled with imagination and suspense. It will have you in the edge of your seat. Director Steven Spielberg made this book into a movie. This book is about how dangerous is for us, humans, to play with nature. If I could describe this book in 5 words they would be: Imaginative, suspenseful, amazing, intriguing, and clever. The author held my attention by showing me in detail each and every page of the book. This book was written by author Michael Crichton who also wrote its sequel: Jurassic Park: The Lost World. This book has different prices in different places but it is worth every penny, nickel, dime or quarter. And even if you don't want to read the book you can still go watch the movie. This book was fictious. The characters of this book are: Dr. Alan Grant, Dr. Elli, Dr.Hammond, Dr.Ian Malcolm, Lex and Tim, and Dr.Hammond's lawyer. This book has a lot of action too. I give it five hearts, I recommend this book to teens, adults, seniors, and to anyone who likes to read amazing books. Although you could just watch the movie. The End and Thank You.

I have read many of Michael Crichton's books (The Great Train Robbery, The Andromeda Strain, Sphere, Airframe, Jurrassic Park, The Lost World, Timeline, and his newest book Prey) and I think that this book is my favorite of all of them. It is a fast-paced thriller that is extremely hard to put down and is by far better than the movie. It also helps explain things that the movie left out.

The book takes place on an island off the coast of Coasta Rica where a venture capitalist named John Hammond has set up a safari type tour of genetically enginered prehistoric dinosaurs, all of which are enclosed in their own sections to protect the visitors. Six people visit the island and are asked to evaluate it in the issue of safty. Several events take place that all come together and all of the parks systems go offline, allowing the dinosaurs to roam free. Now the people have to work for their lives and find a way to call for someone to get them off the island--alive.

This book is probably my favorite book of all time and definitly Michael Crichton's best work ever. I would highly reccommend it to anyone who is able to read.