Although I've read a handful of books more than once, "Thirsting for God in a Land of Shallow Wells" is the first book that finished and started right over again!

I am a former Evangelical who had raised many questions about the Protestant church, but continued to hang on for lack of an alternative. It wasn't until I heard about the Eastern Orthodox Church at a lecture given by Frank Schaeffer in 1997, that I began investigating this pearl of great price.

Gallatin's book appeals to me in that he asked many of the same questions I did, but with his philosophical background, he approached them in greater depth. One friend of mine says that he attacks the rationalism of Protestantism using a rationalistic argument. This may be true, but some of us coming out of this background need to have head questions answered before we can commit our heart. (Once you become Orthodox, you realize this is all backwards.)

In the final chapter of this book, Gallatin writes, "I pray that Protestant readers have been challenged to come to grips with the inescapable inconsistencies of their theological heritage. I hope many of their misconceptions regarding the ancient Orthodox Faith have been dispelled. Most of all, I hope I have helped them to see Christianity in the light of its historical truth and its sacramental spirit."

He continues in the next paragraph with, "When it comes to Orthodox readers, my prayer is that this book has nurtured within them a deeper appreciation of their faith. Perhaps they have come to understand it better. Most of all, I hope that they will be able to use the perspectives presented here to help them as they share the truth of their faith in a predominantly Protestant society."

I would agree that he's on target on both counts. I'd recommend this title to both Protestant inquirers and Orthodox "evangelists."

As a recent convert to Orthodox Christianity from Protestantism, I'm always looking for things pertaining to the Orthodox Church as it is in America, and without the overtones of being "Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, etc." This book does that.

The first part of the book is that of the author's personal journey to Orthodoxy. After decades of trying to find the "True Way" among various Protestant denominations, he still felt that something was *missing* in the Protestant view of the Church and of the world. He also goes on to elaborate just what it was that seemed to be missing or contradictory in Protestant doctrine, both specifically, and in general.

The second part of the book is almost a handbook as to what the Orthodox church may look like to those coming from a Protestant viewpoint. Things such as veneration of icons, formal prayers, and church tradition are discussed here in a way for those who probably have had very little experience with these things.

I, myself, am tickled to read about others' journeys to (and within) Orthodoxy, particularly in America. I just sent this book in a package to my mom. I don't know if she will read it, but if she does, I hope that she will at least come away knowing that me becoming Orthodox has everything to do with the church, and very little to do with me being fascinated with Russia or whatnot.

Matthew Gallatin has done a fine job in explaining his reasons for his conversion to the Orthodox Church. While the book may strike some as too simple, the content of the book however is right on target. He does a fine job showing the implausibility of the protestant teaching of sola scriptura and addresses other issues as well. Recommended especially for protestant inquirers into Orthodoxy.

A very fine story, very gripping, well conceived and with a neat prose. Every step of the way, the author employs unique narrative skills and concludes with a mesmerizing unexpected superb ending...How lucky I was to find this book....

Henry and Addie Bowers had a country store in western Maryland where they dispensed candy for the children, kept a petting zoo in the back, and chairs around a wood-burning stove where friends and customers could gather, relax and swap stories. Everybody loved Henry and Addie -- except whoever killed them. Nothing was taken from the store. It didn't appear to be a robbery. Rather, it looked like an execution. But who would execute this gentle, elderly couple? Other than the killers themselves, only one person knows -- and he can't tell. Eight-year-old Granville, son of State's Attorney Gardner Lawson, is the first one off the bus when his class, on an outing from school, stops at the store for cold drinks and snacks and a chance to pet the animals. He is first to burst into the store to see his beloved Henry and Addie, only to find them on the floor covered in blood with two men with guns standing over them. Left severely traumatized with the imprint of a gun on his forehead, Granville's memory of what he witnessed is quickly and deeply buried, to surface only in nightmares and a strange emblem he draws over and over. When Sgt. Joe Brown (Brownie) arrests two men for the grisly crime, Gardner is certain the men are guilty but his case against them is weak. Unless Granville can remember what he saw, and testify to it in court, it is unlikely that the state can win a conviction. Thus the state's attorney is thrust into a terrible conflict, caught between the need to convict the killers and the need to protect his young son. He is warned that, if pushed too hard, the child might be damaged for life. But, with two killers out on bond and bent on eliminating the only eye witness, unless Granville can remember, he may not have a life! So, while Gardner is immobilzed by the struggle to help his son, and the conflict with Carole, his son's mom, his case is carried on by Jennifer Fahrnam, his assistant attorney and live-in lover. And Brownie continues digging for evidence, an exercise that carries him down twisting paths of hidden money and an incredible secret that has been deeply buried for two generations.

Silent Son is people with characters we met in State V. Justice and hoped to see more of. It is a powerfully written novel in which the surprises keep coming to the very last page, and a deeply moving story that catapults Warfield to the top of the list of lawyerly-writers.

This is a reprint of the origanal that I have in my pocssession. It was copyrighted in 1862.
It has in credible explanations of various symbols such as the bee hive, the spade(check out the cia's symbol), the all seeing eye of God.
It even offer's the funeral service. I suggest it highely.
No other Masonic book moved me as much as this.

Detective Win Bear returns in this much-more-SFish sequel to _The_Probability_Broach_ by the same author. More than anything else, this novel gives you an opportunity to see, at the human level, what the author thinks might have led to the anarchistic North American Confederacy of the earlier novel.

The Gallatin Divergence is the fifth novel written in the Confederacy series, but the sixth in chronological sequence according to my reckoning, which is subject to change as I re-read the series and Smith turns out new books. Prior to this novel, Edward William Bear (the one from the USA timeline) and Clarissa MacDougal Olson Bear have moved to the Second Asteroid Belt and established a homestead, where they practiced their professions and raised their daughters. Now their daughters are away on the Tom Paine Maru and Clarissa has acquired a fatal disease on a mercy mission to a ravaged timeline. Since the disease was incurable at the time, Win and Clarissa have themselves placed in stasis to wait for a cure.

In this novel, Win is awakened by Lucille Gallagos Kropotkin to take on a mission to prevent a Hamiltonian agent from going back in time to kill Albert Gallatin, founding father of the Confederacy timeline. Edna Janof, a staunch Hamiltonian, has somehow survived her presumed death in an aircar crash -- helped by gunfire from Win and friends -- and has commissioned Hirnschlag von Ochskahrt, a competent if not brilliant physicist, to invent a time machine, then stepped into the past, leaving Hirnschlag manacled to a bench with three metric pounds of plastique on time delay. Fortunately, he escaped but the time machine and the laboratory itself were destroyed. Oolorie P'wheet, the theoretical physicist porpoise, determines the space/time coordinates of the time broach and builds another to send back a rescue party -- for Gallatin, not Janof.

Clad in faux buckskins over a 22nd century thin-skin suit, carrying an imitation "Kentucky" rifle with a Heller Effect stasis beam, and bearing an anachronistic Bowie knife, Win steps into the 18th century and immediately stumbles over Hirnschlag, dropping pots, pans, powder horns, and knives all over the place. After this auspicious start, Win and friends -- Ed (his Confederacy doppelganger), Lucy and Hirnschlag -- make their way to an observation point on Bower Hill, each loaded with essential supplies and equipment, include Hirnschlag's cello. From there, they watch the crucial events leading to the Whiskey Rebellion and keep watch for Edna Janof.

The following chapters portray a version of the actual events of that time, up to a point of divergence at Braddock's Field. Like all reenactments, the minor details are fictional, yet reasonably consistent with written accounts and the customs of that time. Both the Rebels and the Federalists come across as mostly long-winded and indecisive, with some exceptions such as John Baldwin and Alexander Hamilton. The Rebels have meeting after meeting until the critical council where only the (fictional) intervention of Albert Gallatin focuses the issue on the illegal (in the alternate timeline) nature of the Constitution as designed by the Federalists.

In the Confederacy timeline, Thomas Jefferson used the phrase "the unanimous consent of the governed" in the Declaration of Independence, differing thereby from the corresponding phrase in this timeline only by the word "unanimous". An armed rebellion of citizens, Gallatin pointed out, was prima facie evidence of lack of unanimity and thus the illegality of the revenue act.

This novel fills in the backstory of the Confederacy, but also illustrates the author's cynicism and sense of humor. The chapter heading are modifications of well-known phrases -- e.g., The Bombs of August -- and the situations have more than a modicum of slapstick -- e.g., Win has an overfull bladder and a gunpowder bomb with a short fuse rolls in...what to do? -- but the premeditated topper is the list of Confederacy presidents, including Harriet Beecher, H.L. Mencken and A. Rand. It is wordy -- Win Bear's stream of consciousness is like the Mississippi river: wide and winding; also windy as Chicago on a bad day -- but still fun. Don't read this book if you are a no nonsense, straight to the point type, but Faulkner fans will feel at home with the style if not the content.

Recommended for Smith fans and anyone who likes SF adventure stories with political sidebars.

The Gallatin Divergence is positively the perfect sequel to the best book of Liberatarian Sci-Fi I have ever read!! If you like "alternate-history" type books, you'll love this one AND it's predecessor, "The Probability Broach".

The author is amazing. Having travelled all around the world and to write a brilliant book about each county's culture. Great learning tool

This book offer alot of details on the anthro field and it was not just the techinical details but actually personal experiences that added a life-view to the profession. Even though I may not be an anthro major I have a higher respect for it and its accomplishments from this book and the class I had on anthro.

Worthwhile advice. I don't know why he is so negative about singles groups - those I have known offer nice socializing, if not a spectacular pool of possible spouses - think that is more a problem of excessive expectations. The advice about finding people in daily life is good for WOMEN - so many live with their shields totally up and, when they decide they want someone, garbage into bars, then complain that all the good men are gone. Generally, I'm surprised this one isn't more readily available, since it's better than many that are.

The book is well-written in a lively, engrossing style, but... Oh, dear... I found several factual errors within the first 22 pages. This was the part of the story I knew and had researched, so knew there were mistakes in fact. When I came to the part I wanted to learn about the previous errors cast doubts over what I was then reading. Even if the rest of the story is flawlessly accurate, I couldn't trust it. Truly a pity as the book is, otherwise, very well done.

--since originally writing that, I've done more research on the subject and have gone back to the book... only to find more errors! Some are trivial (but would have been easy enough to get right) and some are significant.

What a great read! Frank James, outlaw, enters the office of the governor of Missouri and lays down his pistol. His trial was set in a opera house, since the courtroom could not accomodate the large crowd gathered. Fourteen flamboyant trial lawyers and colorful cast of witnesses head up the supporting cast. If you thought the OJ Simpson trial was interesting, check this book out!

I recently appeared on NBC's the "Today" show regarding my latest scholarly discovery of four new photographs of Jesse James, Cole Younger, Jim Younger and Belle Starr. I assisted Gerrard Petrone in writing, what I believe to be the finest book written about Frank James. The book is steeped in scholarly content and full of specific details that relate the true story of Frank James, not a 19th or 20th century reconstruction of the truth. Petrone's writing style and original newspaper source material from the period, make for exciting reading. The story of Frank James leaps off the page, so boldly, that one feels the excitement associated with reading a newspaper headline of the information for the first time. The story of the trial of Frank James and the resulting verdict speaks strongly about the era of reconstruction in Missouri. The war was over, however many still held strong feelings against the North. The trial brought out some of the South's finest generals and decorated survivors. The jury was in awe of the those called to testify and the courtroom presence of Frank James was very impressive. Petrone also includes true tales of the James Gang that are found in the testimony of many witnesses. These stories, which were told in court, were recorded, but have not seen the light of day for decades. The exciting story told by a teenage boy, hiding in a small post office, at night is a fine example. Clutching and aiming a loaded shotgun, he is anticipating being robbed by a shadowy figure on the other side of a glass door.....who is about to try the door knob. The frightened boy almost stopped Jesse James in his tracks and rewrote the history of the West. Astonishingly, he lives to tell the tale in court, to Frank James himself. I would reccomend the book to anyone interested in the authentic history of the American West or criminal law. I am sure that Petrone's book will become invaluable to any further research about Frank James: the man, the myth , the acquitted.

Mackey's book does a good job of collecting Freemasonry's powerful myths in one place, and that makes it a worthwhile read. The language may strike some as archaic, but it's still quite readable.

For those who are looking for this remarkable movement's verifiable origins, I recommend David Stevenson's excellent study, "The Origins of Freemasonry: Scotland's Century, 1590-1710". Stevenson teaches history at the University of St. Andrews, and has carefully examined the surviving records of the world's earliest known masonic lodges. In "Scotland's Century", he traces the beginnings of modern Freemasonry to the operative masonic lodges of Scotland in the early 1600s, about a century before the earliest known English lodges.

This is a beautiful book, and wonderful- if you recognize it as what it is. It is a collection of myths about the origins of Freemasonry, not a factual history. It does what all of our myths of our origins do- illustrate the principles and ideas we believe in. Many of the legends presented within are, in fact, unverifiable- such as the one that posits that Masonic secrets were hidden within pillars that survived the biblical Great Flood.

In fact, it is this legendary quality that makes this book so useful. Rather than an interesting historical review, this book can serve as a reference guide, both to our beliefs and our ideals.

Indeed, this is a good book. But to get even more out of it, read The Illuminati Manifesto.

"Swiss born statesman", says the title. Albert Galatin was in fact born in a Genevan family, and at that time, Geneva was an independant republic. It joined Switzerland only in 1815. So Gallatin was not swiss-born and was never a Swiss citizen. I haven't read the book but I hope that it doesn't contain one mistake every five words, like the title...