Throughout it all, the relationship between family members is strengthened and enriched by the love they share for one another. I am looking forward to book 5 this fall.

Messages of courageous faith, forgiveness, and love are woven into this book. I won't give away the exciting twists and turns, but I will say that I loved this riveting and well-written book!

I read Evangeline, an epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. If you think about poetry, you usually think that it's pretty short. But some of the world's most famous poetry is the Iliad and the Odyssey. They are each almost five hundred pages long!

Evangeline takes place in Acadie, which is present-day Nova Scotia. Acadie was a colony of New France, but was then seized by the British in 1713. The British allowed the French to stay on, but in 1755 the British deported all 6,000 of Acadie's French residents. The Acadiens were sent to British colonies throughout the present-day Canada and the United States. Many went to Louisiana, which has a large Acadien population. Families were separated, children put on different ships from their parents'. Since the British were a large force at the time, it has always been told that the Acadiens were nasty to the British. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow decided to take a look at the story from a whole different view-the Acadiens'. He supports the view that the British were just plain mean and inhuman.

Evangeline is about a beautiful woman named, of course, Evangeline. Her life is perfect, and her father is the richest man in their village of Grand-Pré. She has just become engaged to a really great guy named Gabriel. They are in love, and soon to become married, when the British sail into the harbor and announce that it's time to pack up and leave. Gabriel and his father are sent off on one ship, while Evangeline is deported to another place.

Evangeline is heartbroken, and she searches and searches for her beloved Gabriel. Will she find him? Of course I won't tell! Read and find out!

I would recommend this book, but you have to like poetry and happiness and sadness! I loved this book, and one thing made it especially interesting for me. It's a true story. Evangeline is a character based on a real Acadienne named Emmeline Labiche, who was deported, just like Evangeline. The best, and saddest, part is that my sixth-great-grandmother, Marie Hébert, suffered the same thing! When she was only ten, she was deported from Acadie to a whole new world. It must have been terrifying.

The poem is written in unrhymed hexameter which gives it a timeless appeal. It almost reads like a short story rather than a 19th century poem. I got interested in this story after visiting Nova Scotia this summer and meeting the French Canadians who live there. After learning their sad history, I wanted to read this book.

This edition has a 31 page Introduction by C. Bruce Ferguson that recounts the historic events portrayed and the story of how Longfellow came to write about them. It also explores the historicity of the main characters who have become legends on their own. There are 12 pages of black and white illustrations from books and movies which help to bring the setting and characters to life. This is a wonderful edition of a classic of American literature and is highly recommended.

The other thing I can't figure is where Uncle Guy comes from. He is Guy Robichaud in TBL, appearing to be Henri's brother, but then it seemed in TMP Henri was an only child, though not stated. And in The Sacred Shore it says: "He (Henri) slowed and waited for Louise's brother to hurry over. Henri had always liked Guy."

Although another reviewer missunderstood that Celeste was actually the name of two different characters, first the name of John's father's first wife but also the part of Louise's name. They missed the fact that she was named after her Grandmother, thus confirming her decent from John's half-sister.

All this said I found the entire Acadia series gripping, inspirational, challenging and it sparked a desire for a closer walk with God.

I've very much enjoyed this series. They have portrayed great faith without being preachy.

Geoffrey Plank's "An Unsettled conquest" is one of the first efforts by an Anglo to document some of the atrocities the English committed. Until now their genocidal efforts in the Americas, in contrast to the documentation of Spanish efforts, were largely, perhaps in shame or in horror, ignored by Anglo writers. As a result not many in the modern world are aware that scalp proclamations were issued by them for men, women and children, and that they used germ warfare and other terror tactics against Native Americans that would make modern day terrorists proud.

It's long past the time for the unvarnished true history of North America to be written. Plank has taken a first step, perhaps others will now have the courage to finish the job. Then this fact will finally be accepted: Native North American civilizations were the ultimate in democratic social development. Modern society will probably never outdo them!

Other books, like The Tomb of God or Key to the Sacred Pattern try to mathematically prove themselves. Though the geometry is tiring, the improbably coincidences are not.

Then there's books like Holy Grail Across the Atlantic, which twist history, often unintentionally hillariously.

As proof that "Arcadian" literature (the poetic form of which involves a shepherd either romantically or sarcastically making improbable promises to his love) is inspired by a Holy Family, they say that a certain character in the story bought a painting by Pousson, and another by Teniers. Since the Pousson was was an Arcadian scene, by Teniers probably was one two. The author neglects to mention that the same source the Tenier painting was of SAINT ANTHONY THE HERMET, and that the purchaser also ordered one of the crowning of Pope Celestine V.

A hidden message in an supposedly ancient document beings with "Shepherdess, No Temptation, that Pousson, Teniers, hold the key..." the author says. The implications of the message are obvious! But the message actually says

SHEPHERDESS NO TEMPTATION THAT POUSSON TENIERS HOLD THE KEY PEACE 681 BY THE CROSS AND THIS HORSE OF GOD I COMPLETE THIS DAEMON GUARDIAN AT MIDDAY BLUE APPLES

But the author ignores this. (If you're interesteed in this part of the mystery, by Holy Blood Holy Grail instead).

The author claims that a certain document called the "Zeno Narrative" is historically accepted, and that the document refers to the Orkney Islands as "Frisland." This is untrue. The map of Frisland accompanying the document shows a large island with many cities. The same "accepted" narrative tails of how the supposed author sailed to "Icari," the small kingdom the natives say was founed by Daedulus and named after his son. (For more info on this "accepted" theory, read "Phantom Islands of the Atlantic").

Then there's pages 350-351, which show case the author's sloppy style. "Roosevelt's government financed a massive, and unprecedented, construction of interstate highways... Without the network of highways he created, called useless and worse by political opponents at th time, America could never have mobilized its industry and military to cope with World War II." The DWIGHT DAVID EISENHOWER INTERSTATE HIGHWAY AND NATIONAL DEFENSE PROGRAM was built by President Eisenhower, during his administration, because he was so impressed by how the GERMAN interstate ("autobahn") allowed the GERMANS to mobilize.

"The winning edge [in the race to build the atom bomb] was not the brains... but the vast quantity of electrical power available because of the "make work" project of the TVA. It is no accident Oak Ride was in Tennessee." Oak Ridge built a nuclear reactor. It was not involved in the war effort. The author's thinking of the Manhattan project, which took place in the New Mexico desert.

This is an awful, unfun book. The author is often mean spirited. If you like namecalling, get "Tomb of God." At least that one forces you to learn all about pentagons.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in early european visits to North America, Masonic mysteries or the Knights Templar.

I would also recommend any of Mr.Bradleys other books, as he is an accomplished writer and has some very interesting theories