This was an excellent book full of information not often found in other books on the California Ranchos. The author actually includes a chapter on Indian land ownership that is hard to find anywhere else. Some of the smaller ranchos were left out, which is why I gave this a 4 star reading, but well worth your time.

This is an engrossing, thoroughly researched book about California land grants and ranchos during the period 1769-1846. Lists all such grants for the entire state. A "must read" for anyone researching the history of California.

As a online pal of mine pointed out to me recently, many people who have visited Hawaii seem to be on a quest to find 'the real Hawaii' - unspoiled by American influence and modern capitalism. This book provides a very unique insight into the ancient Hawaiian culture. Interestingly enough, many of the stories - including the Hawaiian creation myth - bear a strong resemblance to that of other cultures. The legends compiled here are poetic and mystical, reading like the script to an anime movie. My personal favorite was 'The Iron Knife,' which recounts the story of the first metal weapon introduced to the islands. 'Umi, The Peasant Prince of Hawaii' is another one that stands out. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the book, however, lies in the fact that each ot the stories are just as based in fact as they are in fiction. I highly recommend this book to anyone with even a wanning interest in the islands. The only drawbacks I see is that to someone not familiar with the Hawaiian language, keeping some of the character names in line may take a bit of effort; and at times, the attention to small details are bordering on tedious. A great read, nonetheless.

Originally published in 1888, The Legends And Myths of Hawaii by King David Kalakaua is probably the best book currently available on Hawaiian folklore, and due to its authentic pedigree, likely to be for some time. Written with a certain amount of historical bias and thus subjectivity, only a thoroughly objective, enthusiastic and well-conceived scholarly overview will be able to equal it.

Though the actual Christian missionaries were to come later, in the early 19th century, and under the rule of an inappropriate king, a band of political and religious leaders of the only-recently united Hawaiian islands formed a conspiracy with the intent of overthrowing the centuries-old native Hawaiian religion and tabu traditions. The conspirators had recently witnessed the arrival of foreigner merchants and sailors to the islands, white men who clearly acted as they pleased and defied tabu without punishment from the native gods. The weak young king, already something of a hedonist, if an innocent one, was, under the influence of alcohol, persuaded by the conspirators to join them in a public display of tabu defiance. Sadly, the conspirators were successful, and on that day the tabu system, gods, and idols of the Hawaiian people officially went into the fire for the first and last time.

Author Kalakaua, a direct descendant of the royal line and indeed, descended from even some of the conspirators, was famous during his reign for attempting to reverse this cultural dissolution and return the full ancient majesty of the native Hawaiian traditions back to prominence among his people. Legends And Myths Of Hawaii was part of his effort, and as such has an important and dignified history. Throughout the volume, the reader can sense the author's closeness to his material, not only physically and emotionally, but in terms of time and history. Only a hundred years before his book was written, the Hawaiian people were, after fifteen centuries, still 'pure,' free of Western influence, and living a relatively comfortable stone-age existence.

Well introduced by R. M. Daggett and highly readable throughout, the book is appropriately short of broadly sensational characters and events, stressing instead the importance of honor and nobility of character, the warrior code and spirit, respect for self, family and nature, and finding the necessary path between individual and communal needs. Sneakiness, pettiness, and selfishness are disreputable qualities; facial beauty, excellent physical proportion, athletic ability and joy in life are highly valued.

Sex roles are traditional. Men are men and expected to be honorable, whether warrior, athlete, shaman, nobleman, folk-singer, story-teller, fisherman, farmer or food gatherer. Women are seen as behaving appropriately when warm, supportive, comforting, and pure of intention. Interestingly, though denied the best food under the tabu system, women are often portrayed as objects of veneration, worthy of the sacrifice of a man's life, and held as equals in love relationships. For both sexes, responsible and dedicated parenting is an fundamental function.

These are vital, proud legends of heroes and heroines; their blood can be felt percolating just under the book's pages. The stories are archetypal: there are quests and plagues upon the land, a high priest swallowed by a whale until comfortably vomited up, and solar and lunar myth motifs. War and the actions that lead to war are a constant theme; gods, demi-gods and goddesses are continually present. Though giants, evil spirits and monsters lurk under the sea, behind mountains and in trees and rocks, the writing is evenly balanced so just the suggestion of a hidden underwater cave, a long journey, an inter-family act of betrayal or a timeless, unconditional love creates the required interest and suspense. No single story-telling component is emphasized over another, and though each tale has a point and lesson of sorts, the writing is never didactic. Each of the legends is warmly told, and Kalakaua's terse but beautiful descriptions of nature are easy to visualize.

Amazingly, Kalakaua jumps from the myths of island antiquity to those of his own century without a shift or change of tone. For the Hawaiian people, he seems to be saying, the miraculous moment is always now, as it was then, in the present; the legends are still unfolding, and wonders never cease.

Legends And Myths of Hawaii also contains a map of the islands, an excellent glossary of Hawaiian words and their meanings, as well as a brief but effective pronunciation guide. Highly recommended.

... think "lots of highly intelligent people with recognizable names give their best parting words of advice to graduates"... it reads like quick snippets from commencement addresses that these people may well have given at some point. The words are true and often poetic and full of hope for aspiring young people. The phrase "sage advice" wants to work its way in here somewhere. What I wonder is... is this a book that young graduates will WANT to read? I appreciate it as a resource to offer with students I work with, but I'm also 5 years out... I'm sure I would not have picked this up to read straight through at 21. If you sat through your own graduation speaker, chances are you don't have a burning need to read through 15 more mini-speeches that offer the same basic "make your mark on the world" challenge. This is the book parents and well-wishers give to grads, though I'm not sure they're gonna read, so that's why I gave it 4 stars.

I haven't even read this book and I know it's good. How do I know? Because Madeline L'Engle's in it!

I found it very real, suspense-packed, mixture of cop life and duty. Insecurities, pay-offs, circle of deceit, lies, dirty money, everything is interwined in this excellent book from the pen of the connosseur of the "inside life".

There's action, strong characters and dialogue that transports you into the heart of New York city. Like his "Officer Down" and "Retribution," I couldn't put this book down. He's better than Wambaugh!

In one book, you can see through Kahn's famous works, like Salk Institute of Biography Reaserch and Yale Center for British Art. Nice photos and descriptions. This book can be the beginning step for approaching Kahn's philosophy of architecture. He say, "Existence will determines the every nature of things". He used the simple forms to establish a fine-art-class architecture style. Kahn's works could be said as "Simple in FORM, but not simple in MIND."

A beautiful book...It's filled with so much information about Kahn's major projects. Interesting, well-written text and dozens of sketches and model photos accompany each major project. I'd never heard of Grant Mudford, but his big, color photos are beautiful. There's a list of all of Kahn's projects and buildings from the 1920s until his death in 1974, and a section of Kahn's travel sketches and artwork. The pages are large, the print quality is impressive, and the impeccable graphic design, by Massimo Vignelli with Abigail Sturges, suits Kahn's style perfectly. And it's a good buy, too.

This is a strange book: it is a gentle and lyrical work of a poet on the subject of one of the bloodiest episodes in Spanish history, a history notorious for its violence. It is a book a people capable of great kindness and of gentle behavior; but it is also about the hinted violence and horror produced by a folk seeped in a history of brutality who turn upon each other.

The Spanish Civil War, from abroad, still resonates with the romanticism and the dashing braveness of foreigners is Spain; strangers of all types played in this Spanish sandbox of blood and terror. The literature that emerged from the war was perforce partisan, Manichean, judgmental. This little book by Gamel Woolsey made its appearance in 1939 under the title of DEATH'S OTHER KINGDOM, and promptly vanished from sight in the shadow of Orwell's HOMAGE TO CATALONIA and the turbulence that preceded WWII. Now it has been published again under this new title, and rightly so, for it is a delicate and non-partisan narrative, such as only a poet would produce. Those who have very strong opinions about the war and its players will at first be disappointed by the book's apparent blandness (at least I was); but after a day or two, the true horrors that are only hinted in the book will dominate one's consciousness and perhaps illuminate more clearly the nature of the conflict.

There are a few objectionable efforts at translation, unaccetable in these days of easy information: the ancient Castillian song "Esta si es siega de vida" ("This, now, is the reaping of life..." is translated as "This, this is the sowing of life..." rather entirely changing the meaning and making the poem pointless. An additional linguistic failure is in the mention of the peculiar Spanish verb used to denote that someone is wearing new clothes for the first time: "estrenar" which appears in the book as "estreñar" (meaningless but perilously close to "estreñir," which means "to constipate").

Despite those minor faults, this is a haunting book that stays with you, and certainly an obligatory read for Spanish Civil War aficionados, of which there are surprisingly many in this country.

The American poet Gamel Woolsey was born at the turn of the century in Charleston, South Carolina, where she spent her childhood before moving to New York and a career on the Shakespearean stage in the 1920s. In 1930, she met the British writer, Gerald Brenan, married him, and moved to his home in Churriana, in southern Spain. Although both Brenan and Woolsey sought to be remembered foremost as poets, today they are far better known for their prose works -- Brenan, especially, is recognized as one of the great Hispanists of the 20th century.

Woolsey's remarkable book, "Death's Other Kingdom" (1938?), is far less known than her husband's writings, but for no good reason. Fortunately, it has now been edited, given a new title ("Malaga Burning"), and made available for the first time in the United States by Brenan's one-time neighbor Zalin Grant, who rightly acclaimed it one of the best memoirs of the Spanish Civil War. Grant has also happily removed the mysogynistic preface by Woolsey's brother-in-law that appeared in the British edition.

"Malaga Burning" is Woolsey's eyewitnees account of the first seven weeks of the war in Málaga and its outskirts. Among Civil War memoirs it is unique, for it is one of only a handful written by women and, in addition, it moves beyond the "great events" of the war and the experiences of foreigners, to focus, instead, on the agony of ordinary Spaniards of all classes and political persuasions. Sandra Mardenfeld criticised the book for this in the "New York Times Book Review", saying that Woolsey "provides little education about the war; rather her story captures the cruelties of humankind without offering much context." Ironically, the author would agree 100%.

Woolsey is decidedly apolitical. She portrays all groups -- anarchists, communists, fascists, even refugee Englishwomen sipping tea in Gibraltar -- as equally inclined to ferocity and (with the exception of the latter group!) brutal murder. One of the central parts of the book narrates her struggle to help a Málaga businessman escape death at the hands of the anarchists. Yet Woolsey is not inclined to sympathize with the fascists -- at night, she can see the smoke and flames rising from Málaga from her home several miles off, nationalist bombs bursting over civilians' heads, shattering their world to ruins. She is also critical of the many journalists who flocked to Spain to scoop up stories about "anarchist atrocities" and the "Red terror". In fact, she coined the term "pornography of violence", noting how effete Englishmen and anti-communists seemed to enjoy reading horror stories about raped nuns and wealthy families burned alive in their homes, stories often made up to satisfy this very lust for exploiting other people's nightmares.

Obviously, the book isn't a "pleasant" read, but it's an incredibly important one. Woolsey's vivid writing makes for emotionally engaging, profoundly stirring book that no one who is interested in Spanish or European history should miss. 5 stars.

Joan Grant's books have been an important inspiration on my quest for personal understanding. 'Many Lifetimes' is a distillation of her philosophy of life and death making it a useful over-all picture to her work. The book was written in tandem with her third husband, Dr Denys Kelsey, a practicing psychologist, and he brings a fascinating insight to reincarnation theory and how it can be useful in dealing with current psychosis.

I first read this book in the 1970's and at that time was more interested in Joan Grant's chapters. I chose to re-read it for the purpose of reviewing it in Psychic Tymes and found that Dr Denys Kelsey's input had stood the test of time and had in fact improved. The first time around I had skipped a lot of his detail.

Joan Grant's chapters are always interesting, inter-lacing her philosophy of existence with paranormal experiences. She is one of those people gifted (or cursed) with psychic ability. The reason I took to her works was due to her 'far memory' and the concept of the 'long years'. Reincarnation always seemed a basic truth to me, as I could remember being other people at other times. Joan wrote about that as if it were a natural thing rather than a mental aberration. Reading her previous lives biographies (Winged Pharaoh, Eyes of Horus, I as Carola et al) and the explanation of them in her own current life's autobiography 'Far memory' was a homecoming. This book distills the wisdom that can be found in her other works into a single volume.

The book ends with the touching story of Joan and Denys' friend Ray, who is dying of cancer. It is a wonderful tale as Ray explores the lives that she feels are holding her back on her karmic journey. In expiating them she feels that she can die with grace and dignity, showing her nearest and dearest that death is not to be feared, but is just another beginning. Ray's story is a living example of Joan Grant's philosophy and is an inspiration to us all.

Read this book, and then go on to reading Joan's other works. You will learn a lot, as I did.

Joan Grant and her husband Denys Kelsey take turns writing their accounts of life in France during and after WWII and how they use her gift of seeing into the far past--past lives--to help psychologically maimed patients. The tone is very humble and yet matter-of-factly and helps us understand our own continuity and moral responsibilities. Suffering is indeed unnecessary and death is nothing to be afraid of.

Robert Zimmerman's "Maximum Dollars: The 12 Rules of Fundraising" is written in a simple and entertaining style. Maximum Dollars addresses a fundamental component of all nonprofit organizattions: fundraising. This is an area that many find boring and difficult; Mr. Zimmerman makes it seem fun and exciting. He challenges many commonly held views. Rule 12, for example, states that people love to give money away! Each rule addresses an aspect of fundraising and provides key tips that a nonprofit can follow to fundraise successfully. Each rule is followed by an exercise that can be done by volunteers and staff to help learn to fundraise successfully. This book can help both new nonprofits that may not know how to go about fundraising correctly and established nonprofits to hone their fundraising skills, especially if they have board members and volunteers who are resistant. Maximum Dollars is one book that all nonprofit organizations should have.

This book gives a board great ideas and a pep-talk for how to get in shape for fundraising well. I particularly liked the several creative exercises to inspire board members to do their job with a positive attitude and a grounding in the basic strategies of fundraising. For a beginning nonprofit, this book is essential in getting a good start; for a more established nonprofit, it serves as a good "check-up" to note areas for improvement -- and how to go about making those improvements.

DM was a point in the right direction for the MechCommander Series. But still, im not to pleased. They could include LOADS of more mechs for the game. Online play revoles around the Madcat, Thor, Masakari,Atlas, adn every once in a while the Awsome. Thats it. no fun after a while. We need more mechs!

this iis the best game ive ever played it rocks if you hate it you suc