I had to come down off of the mountain after reading this book! The spiritual high that it produced was nothing shy of immaculate. I was so impressed with this woman's perspective on the Christian life, especially coming from the Atheistic background that she did. One would not expect such enlightened 'Christian' thoughts from a woman who at one time, hated all things religious. This book changed my outlook on a number of issues and really touched me. I recommend it to anyone who wants a fresh new look at the 10 Commandments. Beautiful, bold, and truly as classic as anything her husband, C.S. Lewis wrote.

Joy Davidman, aurthor, thinker, ex-atheists turn Chrsitian, wrote this book as an examination, not only on the Ten Comamndments, but as C.S. Lewis wrote, "The Flaw in us."

Her insight is only matched by her style. This book is easy to read and, quite frankly, a page turner. Her theological, yet literaturily approach, places many deeply thoughful ideas into a richly receptive form. The insights exposes God's wonderful wisdom and our sins, yet, we are challenged to accept this answer and move on in the journey to living holy lives.

She skillfully uses information from Moses' area, as well as the days of Christ, and the 20th century which aids the reader to understand the applicability of these treasured laws.

This book is so skillfully developed, my only question is "Why she did not write mor in the realm of religion?" (Joy was an accomplished auther and poet). The forward is by then friend C.S. Lewis (they married a few years later). A great book!

I read this book with great pleasure and if you are looking for a unique perspective on the Ten-Commandments then this is the book to read.

I just loved this book when I was a hooligan, I can remember Captain Kangaroo reading this one to the camera back in the day. There's many a valuable lesson lurking in here, and tricksterism galore. Coyote would be proud (as was Mr. Moose). Plus, you'll find a generic but decent recipe for vintage village stew...er, stone soup.

"Stone Soup" is a favorite folktale in our elementary school library. I just had a class of second graders beg me to read this Caldecott Honor book to them, and--of course--all our copies were immediately checked out.

I'm continually surprised--but pleased--that modern kids still enjoy these older illustrations by Marcia Brown, with their limited colors (see cover). This tale is a true classic, and this version has been around for many generations. It's part of the folk tradition in more ways than one. Let's hope we keep "sharing" this tale about sharing for generations to come!

If this book has one downfall, it's that the story is a little long. But that is overshadowed by the fact that the story is so interesting for children and parents, and the illustrations are first-rate.

Watch the hungry soldiers use their cunning and imagination to make a meal out of nothing. They entice the local towns people to share their food in the making of stone soup.

Concepts include: sharing, imagination, the will to make things happen, etc.

I was very impressed by the quality of the binding of this book, as well as the paper. It has been very difficult putting this little book down. Now I am enjoying reading this New Testament, and it really isn't difficult to understand, even with the original spelling. I highly recommend this book.

The worst thing that ever happened to the Bible was division into chapter and verse notation. When that happened it ceased to be so much a holy book as it became a law book. Prior to such notation one had to read the scriptures as a whole. One had to absorb the Spirit of the whole, instead of using a pick-and-choose study approach of those specific lines (usually taken out of context) that supported one's specific agenda. Indeed, text and verse division did not come into being until the 16th century- long after the end of high point of traditional Christiandom and the start of the age of the profane. The Tyndale is a wholistic work uncorrupted by artificial text and verse division. No doubt this was why the ruling class of the day considered it to be so dangerous.

Tyndale translated this work, alone, from the original Greek. This is not the work of a committee with an ax to grind. Actually, this is the translation that all English Bibles, including the King James, was based on until the 20th century. It seems no one else even attempted to translate the whole book from scratch into English from Greek until the modern age. Unless you can read Koine Greek yourself, it is still the best alternative.

I have heard various experts state that the King James version "eliminated" biases in the Tyndale. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The King James is in fact an edited and censored version of the Tyndale. If there was intensional bias involved it was in the minds of the rich and powerful who had Tyndale and his Bible consigned to the flames- and replaced with a "politically correct" substitute.

Tyndale's sole purpose was to get the undistorted, uncorrupted, word of God, as best he knew it, to the English people. He gave his life for that purpose. I prefer to trust his version for this reason.

The Word of God Preserved by God for the English speaking people by the promise of God. Psalms 12:6-7 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. Tyndale gave his life to get the Bible to the English people. Tyndale was caught: betrayed by an Englishman that he had befriended. Tyndale was incarcerated for 500 days before he was strangled and burned at the stake in 1536. His last words were, "Lord, open the eyes of the King of England". The start of the line of 7 English Bibles which ends with the crowning jewel the Authorized Version know as the King James Version. I must for Bible collectors. Best deal on the market. Other sites sale for $(...). I got mine used and it is brand new for $(...). Amazon is the way to go. Recommend the 1611 replica of the King James also. Also the 1560 Geneva Bible.

After my daughter gave me this book, I plowed through the first few pages and decided this was going to be a hard book to plow through. However, it quickly evolved into a facinating picture of the country, the people. Especially interesting was the Indian story, both past and present she was so skillful in portraying. Her presentation of environmental concerns and solutions should be read by everyone. Long and short of my experience with this book, was I loved it.

Carlene Cross is an extremely gracefull writer. The way she juxtaposed her "coming of age" with a short course in Reservation history was most interesting. As a long time resident of the Flathead Indian Reservation and a local history buff, The Unique West brought many new facts to my attention and the excellent bibliography made it quite convenient to investigate them further.

The Historical Society of the Flathead Indian Reservation and the Montana Heritage Project are seriously considering using Carlene's book as the primary resource for for developing a local history course for use in Reservation high schools.

We want to encourage our kids', both Indian and white, interest in their heritage and this is the most engaging expostion of local history we have found.

If you want an interesting introduction to the history of the Flathead Reservation, including what it was like to grow up here in the last 30 years, there is no better book than this.

This unpretentious work comes loaded with surprises as the author evokes the fascinating Camas Prairie of her childhood. This poetic book is as Montana as bear grass and marmots. What is it about the Big Sky country that produces so many fine authors -- Richard Ford, Ivan Doig, Jim Harrison, Thomas McGuane, and now, Carlene Cross? I also appreciated the pictures and line sketches. For anyone with a feel for the great open spaces of the west, this book has it all.

As a school librarian, I chose to read this book aloud as a source of comfort for our students after the attacks of Sept. 11 and then gave each student a "worry stone" (a polished river rock) to keep. The kids were spellbound by the story and seemed to treasure the memento.

The three stories in one gives the book a timeless quality that spans generations. An added bonus was the curriculum tie-in for us in California through the Chumash legend. I give this book my highest recommendation.

This is a wonderful book. It shows the power of positive thinking. It is three stories in one, and looks at the value of older people in our lives. It also gives advice -- without being preachy --about keeping our worries under control.

I recommend it for everyone.

This story is a beautiful interweaving of three stories, a Native American woman who loses her husband in war, a girl's relationship with her grandfather, and an old woman who discovers how to reach a lonely child that she has seen in the park. It is a gentle and lovely way to introduce to children the concept of death and a chance to discuss the value of the people we love in our lives and to understand the feelings of others. The story is wonderful in itself, but the illustrations make it even more so. They seem to glow with an inner light.

11 Year Old Refugee is a stab at culture and cultural ignorance. What we end up believing is that outsiders are unwelcome and that everybody should stay to their own place. But freedom is the essential message from this book, whether it exists and how we play on the idea.

I long to see the realist page on other cultures and Bogdan Tiganov looks like being the author to shine a light. There is little sign of a tortured individual, but more of a sign of a real individual. If this is the way poetry is going then I want to be a part of it.

11 Year Old Refugee by gifted writer Bogdan Tiganov is a very moving and heartfelt collection of poetry about people dealing with life under touch circumstances written with profound clarity of reality from the childhood years through young adult. A Must Read Book about a young man's thoughts, and ambitions as he grows towards manhood. A Book You Will Not Want To Miss!

Caution: This book contains some coarse and vulgar words that will offend some people.

This slim volume is a series of poems that capture the perspective of a young man growing up as a refugee. The poetry begins with the universal, and gradually exposes a viewpoint that has been shaped by being a refugee. If you are like me, you will get a sense of how our experiences separate us . . . and come to a better understanding of our mutual humanity.

Here's an example of the universal from "Younger":

"In school where we fought and cried/I climbed on somebody's back/And smiled."

Soon even the family portraits take on a political tone as in "Grandpa":

"Lost his land to communists./He's got it back now:/Politicians only think of themselves."

The poems express a strong sense of the life force as in "Evening rain":

"As spring carries on past summer/The state the shield is in/Blind action springs up with witticism."

That "might makes right" has made a deep impression as in "Strength":

"I like watching you beat me,/Sadomasochist, Latin leapfrog under my nose./. . . Sincerity, runs down like blood in the family,/I'd love to beat you clever."

A sad kind of pessimism also suffuses the work as in "Deja vu":

"Another war./Another famine,/A rescuer and strict liberation."

"Seen this before./Been here before/To this field, in this dream,/When we're dead keen."

The poem that haunted me the most was "I had no childhood":

"I had no childhood./It passed me by before/I could say hello, so sudden."

Religion is addressed and found wanting in "Human":

"Well, father, I believe God/Responsible for all wars,/Pain of the needy/The imperfection of life."

"It's acceptable to sin, it's human,/The cycle goes on, I think, . . . Alone and afraid, I feel hollow and dying."

Ultimately, he finds solace in the natural world as in "The world":

"Destruction is the mistaken attitude./You turn up burning and drowning/Your own paradise."

Life hands each of us different challenges to handle. Expressing those challenges through poetry and a reaffirmation of goodness and beauty, Bogdan Tiganov has a great deal to say to each of us. Enjoy his message!

Find the goodness from which all else springs!

Pioneer Women-The Lives of Women on the Frontier is a must for collectors of western lore-whether as used for reference or just for reading pleasure this book delves into little covered issues and answers the questions previously unmentioned regarding women on the frontier. From traveling west to every day life, from cooking to birth control, women domestic pioneers to women entrepreneurs; if you have a question about the lives of women in the 1800's this book probably has the answer in its pages.

This book will open your eyes up to the way things were a century and a half ago. Back to the basics is an understatement. Imagine raising 8 children on a farm that you had to establish yourself because your husband and other family members perished on the trip west to get to an unknown territory far far away from immediate family? These women did it. They survived and thier children either a: lived and learned the life or b: died from illness or accidents. This is very graphic and very personable to the very core of many women's souls. Women who kept diaries on the Oregon Trail in 1850 and onwards. Women who were always "in the background" keeping the family fed, clothed, silent and schooled. Women are most definitly the most gentle and most strong of the sexes.. Why? Because they have a continuous human spirit and one that gets them through the toughest of times of all.
Please read this book and with that said.. the pictures in this book are a historian's dream!

Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith do a fine job of showing and telling the pioneer experience through the eyes of our frontier women. With visual images and descriptive narratives, PIONEER WOMEN details the everyday struggles and deprivations experienced by our westward women.

The stories are about courageous women that left behind well-established homes to travel to unsettled regions; women that learned to "make do" and start from scratch to set up housekeeping; women from all walks of life who melded together to do what they could to improve their new surroundings; and the women who civilized the West.

PIONEER WOMEN is a collection of stories as taken from letters, diaries, memoirs, oral histories, and other personal papers of women themselves. It's brilliantly reconstructed and a must read for the avid or casual reader!

Michael Swanwick is a modern writer. He writes very contemporary. His tales are strong, focused, and brilliant. Funy too -but in a dark sort of way.
They aren't suitable for everybody, I think, because of their mature themes. If you decide to buy a copy don't forget I warned you of their contents.
Many of these tales were nominated for major "literary" awards. Don't understand me wrongly: these are REAL literary stories.
Some other stories actually won awards. Left me wondering why not all of them won them. Swanwick's tales are head and shoulders above most other SF/F writing.
He writes novels too, but I urge you to start here. These stories are his best -and are better than his novels.
I have respect for this writer because he actually does write short stories after having gotten praise for his longer work. Most other writers break through with a couple of short stories -which most of the time aren't as interesting- and then start their mass-production of "novels." Fat bulks of paper written just for money. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but they do actually keep the good stuff from getting a more prominent view. Soon shoppers forget about the good books -won't buy them anymore, and shops display only things that sell. Exit the good books.
Okay, buy this book and reward this interesting author/writer.
The best of speculative fiction remains to be found in short stories. These are short and all gem-like.
That's all from me.

This collection of short stories is among the best ever written. Deeply profound, thoughtful and literary tales, these stories remind me of Franz Kafka and Philip K. Dick at their best. Swanwick utilizes science fiction in the exact way science fiction should be utilized: as a realistic and cautionary window into the future. His favorite themes include: The dangers of unfettered capitalism and emergence of corporate slave-labor; science and medical technology run amok; the nature of death, the soul, and the afterlife; and time travel and the complications involved in altering the past. He also seems to have an obsession with dinosaurs. If these themes sound like a recipe for intellectual and thoughtful literature, you are correct. Swanwick is able to convey fascinating philosophical concepts through his fiction, and does so with a clear and lucid style. Unlike some modern authors, Michael Swanwick does not try to experiment with an overly abstract or poetic style, and does not play tricks with the reader in an attempt to create a "new" style of writing prose. Swanwick sticks with a basic writing style, and invokes pioneering literary concepts through the actual content of his stories. This is mystical-realist literature at its best - realistic style and execution, combined with far-out mystical concepts.

Michael Swanwick's latest collection 'Tales of Old Earth' is masterful. The collection of stories ranges from Hard SF to the so-called Hard Fantasy (don't ask me to explain it). There are Hugo and World Fantasy Award Winners and numerous stories that were nominated for major awards.

It's unfortunate that Michael Swanwick isn't widely-recognized as the writer that he is. His work is consistently head-and-shoulders above the average work being turned out in the genre. But he writes predominantly short fiction, and short fiction never has, and never will be, recognized by the masses.

This is one of the best story collections I've ever read. There isn't a 'dog' in the bunch. Every story jumps out at the reader with its vibrancy. Michael Swanwick is a wordsmith of unparalleled talent. I have no doubt that he's the best writer of the current generation. I highly recommend this collection.

These vibrant stories of such phenomenal women who Dared to be Different and accomplished such awesome feats against so much adversity will inspire you to reach higher goals, regardless of any obstacles of the times! These outstanding women are incredible to study and this book is an excellent volume of heroism and unique personalities! Kudos!

This is a great read about 20 remarkable western women of whom some you will know and others you will meet for the first time. From Sacagawea who accompanied Lewis & Clark, Georgia O'Keefe, a revolutionary in the art world to Sandra Day O'Conner, the first woman on the Supreme Court Justice, these snapshots demonstrate the tenacity and inspiration that guided these women to design their own lives. An excellent read that will inspire you to look deeper into the lives of these amazing women who helped shape the American West.

A great book for learning more about women who made a difference in the frontier and later days of the West. Some subjects were familiar to me while others were completely new.
The author organizes her information in a easily read, informative manner. Each subject was well researched.
A good read!!

First off, contrary to earlier reviewers, this book has NOTHING to do with the Lewis and Clark expedition. Out of the 350 pages in the book, they might be mentioned a half dozen times and one might want to get Lavender's "The Way to the Western Sea," if interested on Meriweather and William's trip.
Instead, "Let me Be Free," is on the Nez Perce tribe which lived in Oregon's Wallowa Valley until it was forced from the land in the 1860's. This is a great book if the reader is interested in a century's worth of history about the tribe but I'd suggest something else if the intent on reading this is solely learning about Chief Joseph's tragic flight from the US military in 1877.
I originally got into Lavender's works after reading his fantastic book, "Bents' Fort" which is about the trading family of William Bent in SE Colorado. I had no interest in the subject but was recommended the book and I fell fully immersed into it because of Lavender's detailed writing-style and ability to create real identities to the historical characters instead of just giving names and dates. He has the same writing style in "Let Me Be Free," and will never shy from a unimportant but lighthearted side story. The writing is anything but dry.
The first half of LMBF is on how the tribe lived and existed, its neighbors, and its relations with the first whites to reach Oregon. Lavender has a contentious understanding of the western Native American tribes and writes in a fair and unbiased reader-friendly style and includes the correct names and terms the Nez Perce (Nimipu) used.
The last 100 pages cover Chief Joseph's (Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kehht's) flight and includes a fantastic map in the front for the reader to follow the tribe along on its failed march to freedom.
The book fails to get five stars from me because I was most interested in the Nez Perce march and it just took too long to finally reach that subject in the book. It reminded me of "Undaunted Courage," (Ambrose's book on Meriweather Lewis) where there is no much buildup to the expedition that once the reader finally reaches it in the book, it falls a bit flat. However, if anyone is interested on the Nez Perce tribe itself, you won't find a better book. Any Western Oregon historians would also immensely enjoy this work.

David Lavender just may have written the definitive history of the Lewis and Clark expedition. It is a wonderfully wrought narrative, capturing the full width and breadth of this incredible journey. Lavender's sardonic tongue deflates many of the myths surrounding the "voyage of discovery," noting that for the most part this was a well-trodden path. The only actual "discovery" was that of linking the Missouri to the Columbia. However, this makes it no less an adventure.

He downplays the significance of Sacagewea. For the most part she was little used on this voyage. Her one major contribution was helping to secure horses for the great fording of the Bitteroot Mountains. Still, Lavender lavishes much attention on her and her son, which it seems that William Clark did as well. Her presence seemed to secure safe passage during their final leg down the Columbia River, as it made the expedition team seem less war-like.

Lavender also provides the background for the voyage, detailing President Jefferson's dream to establish an American Northwest Passage, linking one ocean to another. Lavender probes the seemingly paternal relationship between Jefferson and Lewis, and how Jefferson was able to win Congress over to a third attempt to cross the continent, despite questions regarding Lewis' qualifications. Jefferson personally trained Lewis for the expedition and provided added tutelage in the form of the leading lights of American science. Like a devoted son, Lewis made every effort to carry out the mission, which Jefferson sponsored, even when it seemed foolhardy to do so.

For those who haven't travelled this route before, you will be in good hands with David Lavender. For those who have, I think you will marvel at how masterful a job Lavender does in recording the events, giving the best rounded version of the "voyage of discovery" that I have read.

Originally subtitled "the U.S. Army's War Against Seven Hundred Nez Perce Men,Women, and Children," this moving history documents the brutal persecution of a small Northwestern tribe. Western historian David lavender never hides his sympathy in this powerful chronicle of Chief Joseph's "flight toward freedom" in 1877 to avoid reservation life. This is a really sad story filled with overlooked possibilities for compromise, understanding, and tolerance. Lavender considers the Nex Perce War the final betrayal of a long and once-promising relationship between white explorers, fur trappers, Christian missionairies, and the tribe. Chief Old Joseph, father of the more famous Chief Joseph, even converted to Christianity for both spiritual and practical reasons. Peaceful coexistence and friendship with the new settlers was his policy. Greed, cultural intolerance, and racial hatred eventually doomed those possibilities for Nez Perce. Although Chief Joseph developed a reputation as an Indian Napeleon for his brilliant fighting tactics, Lavender emphasizes that Chief Joseph continually sought to avoid war. Chief Joseph's simple hope was to have a reservation that would allow his people to live in their traditional land and stay close to his father's grave in Wallowa Valley, Oregon. The United States military commanders of that time, however, demanded the tribe move. This compelling account of the Nez Perce's failed 1700 mile exodus to join Sitting Bull in Canada captures the cruelty, mindlessness, and viciousness of 19th century America's expansionist policies. Chief Joseph's eloquent words, especially when surrending after a blizzard just a few miles south of the Canadian border, accents the pain and injustice.