End 1942 Allen Dulles gets in Switzerland, sent by OSS to set up an office in Berne. Soon after, the invasion of North africa by allies provoqued the invasion of southern France by german troops, and Allen Dulles was isolated in Switzerland, free to accomplish his mission. He began to open talks with german intelligence services - wich ended by building the famous Gehlen org. There is very little doubt that these talks were usefull to save the nazi organisation as well as nazi gold in Switzerland after war. Allen Dulles had no difficulties to get friendly with the nazis, being himself a nazi since before the war, serving german interests as a lawyer in Wall Street, with his brother Foster. What realy were saying Dulles reports to his superiors in the US is clearly interesting to understand at what degree he was building up his own policy or executing the policy of the american government. It is obvious that such documents may appear after being censored. But in any case, they are necessary to get the complete picture of that very important moment of modern history : when the nazis, in fact, won the war.

The message in this book may seem outdated, but like As a Man Thinketh by James T. Allen, this book a classic. It describes a critical passage to enlightenment and a critical quality needed to reach enlightenment. No one without passion has ever finished this journey...

From Poverty to Power is a concise and informative guide to the development of the human spirit and how this development can consequently affect the events in your life. It provides a basic understanding of the Laws under which the Universe operates and how you are part of their operation. The author presents this information in a friendly and instructive manner without seeming patronising which makes the book very easy to read. Although written at the turn of the century its themes are still current. A joy to read.

This is must reading for parents and athletes. As a former high school coach I've seen many kids that struggled with not only the attention they receive as a top athlete, but with decisions they must make regarding their future education and/or career. This book will give the athlete and his/her family a step by step approach to the future. I really think that this book should serve as required reading in college. I don't believe that the NCAA or the professional leagues do enough to help prepare athletes for the future. Many of these athletes will make more money coming out of school than any CEO. Why don't we consider this education? Another thing this book does is teach that not everyone is going to make it to the big time, and all athletes need to prepare for the day the cheering stops. My hope is that every potential college or pro athlete takes the time to understand the lessons that Mr. Smith teaches.

While modeslty priced this book provides a good review of US intellectual property laws, including copyright, patent, and trademark law. While comprehensive treatment of even a single subject would require many volumes, this book does provide excellent coverage of US intellectual property laws.

I highly recommended this book for law students searching for a study aide (I have done just that for my Intro to IP class). I also highly recommend this book for attorneys not well versed in intellectual property who are looking for a comprehensive primer.

Becaues this book contains numerous citations it could also be very useful as a quick reference or deskbook for intellectual property practitioners and law professors.

My mother and I both are preplanning our funerals to make it easier for our loved ones when the time comes. This book is a well organized guide that has made a complicated process more understandable and easier to face. I HIGHLY recommend this book for anyone who is going to die or knows someone who is going to die (yes, I mean everyone!)

Allen Lacy says the "gardener's eye" is comparable to a "gift of what Christians call grace--a gift that comes from outside, that is apart from one's own intentions." The gardener's eye is an artistic vision, an aesthetic experience, a recognition of beauty.

Sometimes art is created by humans, mostly it comes from nature. He begins his book in winter, writing at the desk in his study. Looking out the window he notes "even in winter there is always something to see." Birds are about and the paulawnia bark is grey and stained green from the algae growing on the trunk. He can see the color and texture of the blackish bark on the White pine.

In the next chapter, he remarks on the beauty of thistles, the bane of farmers and the emblem of Scotland. He says the Scottish thistle is impossible to ignore with it's outsized stem and leaves and it's ability to inflict pain. "My love affair with thistles has been going on for years. So have the visits from stangers who stop in the driveway and ask fo a closer look at these giants of the summer garden."

A few miles away from Lacy's home is a garden filled with tall bearded Irises (German Irises). Named for the Greek Goddess of the rainbow, the irises are many hued. The hybridzers have done their job and created a palette of every color. At the appropriate moment every year he drives to the neighbor's garden to see the Irises in bloom.

Page after page Lacy moves futher afield, past a cotton patch near Durham NC, to Middleton Place in South Carolina where the garden established in 1741 has become a point of horticultural pilgrimage for Americans and visitors overseas alike. Vita Sackville-West, she who built Sissinghurst, once traveled to this spot. "Stand I indeed in England? Do I dream?" she is reputed to have said.

Lacy notes the Arends nursery in Germany, now run by his granddaughter Ursula Maubach is the source of the wonderful Astilbes found in many American gardens. There's A. taquettii 'Superba' with it's "tight, dense spikes" as well as pink 'Cattleya' and plumey 'Ostrich Feather.' Some of the Astilbes are fragrant, smelling like Jasmine.

Lacy notes that every wise gardner should attend to Ms. Elizabeth Lawrence's works. Ms Lawrence gardened in Charlotte and Raleigh North Carolina, and was a trained horticulturist. Lacy himself has edited some of her material. He likens her writing to Henry David Toreau, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Lafcadio Hearn, Sarah Orne Jewett and Eudora Welty--another southerner and a friend.

Lacy visits many places and at the end of his book returns to his study, where the autumn leaves are falling, the new school semester is beginning (he taught philosophy at Richard Stockton College for years), and his travels are over for the summer.

What do gardners do when they can't dig in the dirt? Well, reading about digging in the dirt is a fine alternative and Jan Dean has gathered an astonishing assortment of reading material for anyone who loves gardens. The Gardener's Reading Guide is an annotated bibliography that covers a wide range of books, including novels, that have a gardening theme. I highly recommend it to anyone who is putting together their own library of gardening books. It will simplify the hunt for the best books around. In fact, this book is a lovely resource for gardenlovers (like me) who don't garden, but think of this as a spectator sport.

THE GENESIS OF THE BOOK OF THE LAW PART ONE: THE CAIRO WORKING
-1875-1904 -

(Edmonds: Holmes Publishing Group, 2001) ISBN 1-55818-439-2

I have studied Aleister Crowley's prophetic text for a new age known as The Book of the Law since 1969. My interest in Western Ritual Magic and especially the tradition of the Golden Dawn led me to a deep study of all that Crowley had written on the subject of the magic. Invariably in my esoteric studies I came across The Book of the Law.

Crowley felt that this special book was to be the religious text not only for his own magical order of the Silver Star but for all of humanity, especially those individuals born after 1904 (the date the manuscript was first received by Aleister Crowley).
A very elaborate story of its reception, publication and interpretation was developed by Crowley 8 years after he first wrote down the 220 verses of this slim volume in 1904. This story is something that I had studied deeply and ultimately accepted as the truth of the matter. However, in the last 10 years, a series of books have been published that contain clues which contradict the very story that Crowley published throughout his life concerning the genesis of The Book of the Law.

Three essential new works helped me come to my often radical conclusions. Crowley's Magick Liber ABA Book Four, Parts I-IV (which has been edited by Frater Hymenaeus Beta and published as 3 revisions in 1994, 1997 and 2000 by Weiser) contains the clearest of reproductions in print of the manuscript to The Book of the Law. The eighth volume of the Thelemic Journal Red Flame (edited by J. E. and M. Cornelius and privately printed in 2000) is the most exhaustive comparison to date of all surviving versions of The Book of the Law. Finally the controversial OTO Rituals and Sex Magick edited by A. H. Naylor (published by I-H-O Books of London in 1999) replaces Francis King's Secret Rituals of the OTO as the definitive work detailing the rituals and doctrines of both Reuss' and Crowley's Fringe Masonic order of the O.T.O. In addition countless other minor publications in the last 30 years have served as a great source for constructing a revised and often radical retelling of the genesis of Crowley's The Book of the Law.

Using the vast wealth of new material on Crowley's magic and mysticism, I have created 3 separate pamphlets that contain a continuous timeline of Crowley's life. However I have concerned myself only with those events that directly concern the writing, interpretation and promulgation of the secret doctrines contained in the visionary work The Book of the Law.

Part One in this 3 part series deals with "The Cairo Working", which is the original penning of the text during Crowley's honeymoon in Cairo, Egypt in the spring of 1904. The timeline in this first part spans from October 12, 1875 (the birthdate of Aleister Crowley) to the Summer and Fall of 1904 (when Crowley first forgets the contents and whereabouts of his most prophetic book).

The topics of this first volume include Crowley's magical training in the Golden Dawn that led to the symbolism of The Book of the Law, the slim references in Crowley's writing to the imagery in The Book of the Law before 1904, and the fable of its reception that Crowley would first pen 8 years later in 1912. Possibly the most important part of this first volume is a four page table that tabulates all the additions, deletions, and overwrites to the original text. This is in contradiction to the text itself that demands no alterations to the original, including punctuation. Other topics dealt with include Lilith as Crowley's first magical child and channel to the Egyptian pantheon, the Enochian source for the Thelemic Goddess Babalon in Crowley's translation of The Lesser Key of Solomon, the naming of The Book of the Law in 1902 and the discovery of the secret fourfold word Abrahadabra in 1900.

This first pamphlet is 44 pages, with the cover artwork showing an original magick square created by the author based on Crowley's famous phrase "Do What Thou Wilt". Appended to this first volume is a number key to the Hebrew-Greek-Latin used throughout the text. Every possible noteworthy Qabalistic interpretation of The Book of the Law made by both Crowley and his disciple Frater Achad is captured in each of these 3 parts to GENESIS OF THE BOOK OF THE LAW.

This is a great book for teaching kids ages 10 to 16 about geography--without letting them know they're learning. My two girls (ages 10 and 12)enjoyed the fantasy story that went along with it, and we used it as bedtime reading for three weeks. They couldn't wait for the next chapter!