Kathleen Hughes provides a solid background, devoid of trendy cliches, covering mystagogy and contemplation in relation to the sacraments. Though a bit more historical perspective would have improved the approach, the underlying ideas are far sounder and more enlightening than in most popular books on the topic of liturgy.

Nonetheless, there are deficiencies. The idea of letting people speak of their experiences has some validity, but that many would have incorrect impressions of underlying doctrines is largely ignored. The author, quoting individual cases, is idealistic and, in effect, rather narrow, as if symbols (for example, immersion of a nude baby in baptism as far superior to other forms) thrill everyone and would be common in appeal to all.

The scholarship is rich, but some of the application a bit too "parish discussion group" for my own taste.

Saying Amen: A Mystagogy of Sacrament is a light-hearted book that looks at the role of the sacraments in the Catholic Church. It not only gives a mystigogical perspective of the sacraments, but a brief history and theology as well. Hughes writes this book with clarity and pizzazz. One can not help but become excited and enthralled as she writes about the lost act of contemplation. Besides contemplation, she also writes about "Mystagogy as Method," "Paying Attention," and separate chapters for each respective sacrament. This book not only educates one on the practices and beliefs that the sacraments entail in the Church, but also provides thought provoking topics that are garenteed to call for reflection and arouse discussion. A must read for all!

This is a nice little tale about a bunch of superpowered teenagers arriving in Metropolis. One of them gets knocked uncouncious during Superman's battle with a giant cybernetic gorilla, and wakes up thinking she's Supergirl. Which doesn't go down well with the real Supergirl....this is more about characterisation that action, and it's a well-paced and very readable book. Gen 13 especially are very amusingly written - at first they believe Superman is a square, but by the end of the story, they've seen just how cool he can be.

Enough of that - Lee Bermejo's artwork is what makes this book so impressive. I would call it Lenil Francis Yu done properly. It's like single frames from a movie, rather than the stylised cartoon figures of most modern comics. The expressions and details and body language is so accurate and realistic, it's a pleasure to look at, and the colours and inks suit the pencils just perfectly. Best of all is the way Superman is drawn. Most artists need to draw Superman as a characature these days to get across how mighty he is, a ridiculously over-built cartoon. Berjemo makes the Man of Steel far more impressive by showing him as just a big, strong, yet realistic-loooking guy, and thus makes him look truly awesome. Hands down, some of the best Superman artwork I've ever seen.

Overall, a nice, small-scale story with sensational artwork.

There have been thousands of crossovers in comics and Superman has participated in many of them however if this is not the best Superman crossover it has to be at least in the Top 5...great story great art great Gen 13 characters and a legendary Superman make for a great read.

The best thing about this book is the number of illustrations, mostly B&W, showing the T34 in its various models. The text explains the history of tank development in the Soviet Union which led up to the T-34, then provides a summary of WWII on the Eastern Front and some perspective on how the T-34 was involved.

However, this is strictly an introductory book. It does not provide detailed information on the differences between the variants of the T-34. If you are a modeler looking for reference material, this book has useful photos but it isn't the source to tell you exact differences in turret hatches between models. Similarly, while it covers the T-34's general employment in the war, it does not provide much in the way of tactical detail or low-level descriptions of combat.

The writing is stilted and poorly edited, but the authors' meaning can be discerned.

This book is a must have for any wwII armor enthusiast. As a crafter of wwII Russian and German military dioramas, I think it's a must have for detailed scale work. have fun.

I love how Moore flings us headlong into the abrupt mid-action opening sentences of this story... "What do you mean there's no room for her?" Bernard said. "Didn't you get my letter?"

It's like that old television quip: "We now return you to programming already in progress..." The opening scene here is the front desk of a prestigious London hotel, within sight of Buckingham Palace. 34 year old Ulster businessman Bernard McAuley is straightening out what seems to be a screw-up in the reservations. Eileen Hughes, twenty years old and never before out of Northern Ireland, has just arrived with Bernard and his wife Mona, who are not only her employers but also, (she believes) her greatest friends. They've invited her on one of their jaunts. The worldly-wise Mona seems to have adopted the virginal-innocent Eileen as her special pet. Bernard is obsessed (in opposite ways) with BOTH of them... and for the time being, Eileen is completely unaware of the extent of Bernard's posessive love of her - expressed in his wish to give her everything she desires. She will not be unaware for long. Bernard soon goes against his better judgment and confesses that he wishes to posess her as one would posess a religious icon or aesthetic artefact.

The action of the book is compressed into two days (with an introductory day and a few brief scenes on later days) and during this time Bernard's excessive (and oddly platonic, or as Bernard refers to it "courtly") devotion to Eileen leads her to a sharp recognition of the madness in which she is trapped... and leads Bernard to drunken, suicidal despair. And what of Mona? Goodness... she's too busy shopping and courting her own lovers to be concerned with either of them!

Eileen discovers that nothing between the McAuleys, or between the McAuley's and herself, is as she imagined it to be. She is tempted... in many ways, and in many directions in the course of this vacation. She is bombarded with new experiences... including the initiation into marijuana and sex by a casual American stud/hippie whom she meets in the hotel.

What will she choose in regard to her temptations? The intoxicating adventure and glamour represented by European cities... held out to her on a platter by Bernard? Or a return to her dreary life in Lismore, Northern Ireland where she lives with her widowed invalid mother? How will her decisions affect her, and the other people involved? A great story, economically told. (only 200 pages). Ends before you want it to.

The late, great Irish Canadian writer Brian Moore wrote 19 anguished and profound novels in the middle third of this century. During his life, Graham Greene, no mean writer himself, referred to Mr. Moore as the greatest living writer in the English language. Despite this and similar encomiums, few if any appear to read his novels now -- as witnessed by the fact that I seem to be the first reviewer for this book on Amazon.com.

The temptation of Eileen Hughes is told from her perspective, even though it is narrated in the third person. Eileen has been working as an assistant to a young, extremely wealthy woman barely older than herself, Mona McAuley. Eileen appears to be Mona's protégé. She has been working in Mona's shop, and over the past several months, has been slowly promoted to a position of some authority and is apparently destined to be Mona's second in command. When Mona and her husband Bernard go on vacation to England, Eileen is invited to company them, apparently on Mona's whim. As the novel begins, the trio have just arrived in England and Bernard is displeased that Eileen has to stay in a small maid's room, because of a mix up over their reservations . Only as the novel unfolds do we realize that it is Bernard who is infatuated with Eileen, and who has forced Mona to invite Eileen to join them, much to Mona's dissatisfaction. Brian is an elusive but interesting individual and we learn about him slowly, but never completely and always filtered through the prism of Eileen's perspective. At the beginning of the novel, she knows him only distantly, as Mona's successful husband -- the richest man in town, the owner of a prominent business, the only Catholic in an exclusive residential neighborhood in Lismore and sporting the requisite exquisitely beautiful young trophy wife.

Before long, we learn the reasons for Mona's displeasure over Eileen's presence on the trip. For Mona has her own agenda. We learn that Brian has not had conjugal relations with Mona in a long time, apparently seeking satisfaction in masturbation alone in his own room, surrounded by his books and work. This has resulted, on an earlier occasion, in Mona having an affair with someone in Lismore. Despite their sexual incompatibilities, Mona is completely under Bernard's control for economic reasons. Bernard finds the possibility of scandal resulting from Mona's affairs within their own town unacceptable, and the couple have come to tacit agreement that she will conduct her affairs only when to away from Ireland on their business and vacation trips. Eileen witnesses Mona's sexual escapades early and is appalled by them.

The husband Brian is an ascetic, withdrawn from people aside from his business contacts. He is obsessed with religion and we learn that before returning home to his father's business, he had sought to join the seminary and the priesthood. He has had a nervous breakdown in his search of God. In one of his anguished speeches to Eileen towards the middle of the book, he accuses her of spurning him just as God had done earlier. His return to settle down into the mundane business of making money has clearly been a hiatus in his grander quest. Something in Eileen's beauty, purity and innocence triggers his more profound and deeply ingrained spiritual quest. He merely seeks to adore her, to construct a new, grand house as a shrine to her and to worship her from a far. He has not meant to reveal to her his infatuation with her. However, on one of their trips to a grand house in London, she tells them how wonderful it might be to live in a grand house such as the one they have just visited. This causes him to blurt out to her his own plans of building her a large house where he, Mona and she can live together. The surprised and distracted Eileen thinks to herself that this is the kind of declaration that she would like to hear her from some boy her own age, not this man old enough to be her father. The innocent, inexperienced and unsophisticated Eileen does not realize that Bernard's feelings for her are not ones that could be expected from a boy her own age. His longing for her is not sexual, it is of a neurotic nature, and it is the displaced passion of the religious fanatic. Later, Eileen appreciates the level of despair that Bernard must feel, to realize that the object of his adoration does not reciprocate his passion even an iota. This appreciation makes her go looking for him and finds him in what could well be his second attempt at suicide. Her refusal has caused Bernard to slide into a depressive episode similar to one that he has clearly experienced on earlier occasion. Eileen and her transient and somewhat ludicrous American boyfriend save him. The anguished longing that Brian feels for Eileen is in stark contrast to the superficial but far more successful interest that the American young man feels for her. For him Eileen is a beautiful young woman suitable for a quake romp in the hay. He seduction of Eileen is both comical and highly unrealistic. We had been told that Eileen is 20 years old and has never had boyfriend or any sexual experience. And yet, her very first sexual experience is so casual and her seduction by this young American she has met for the very first time so effortless that it causes the reader to question the plausibility of the whole sequence.

When the Temptation of Eileen Hughes first appeared, it was reviewed as one of Brian Moore's lesser works. In a review in the New York Times Book supplement, Joyce Carol Oates suggested that anyone introducing himself or herself to the Brian Moore ouvre should choose a more profound book than this. More recent overviews of the Brian Moore canon in the London Times book supplement barely mention the Temptation of Eileen Hughes in passing, noting its structural defects. There is little doubt but that there are problems with this book. For one, the book is told from the viewpoint of the least interesting character. Eileen, apart from her apparent innocence and great beauty, has little if any personality. Her reflections and thoughts are banal and her resistance to the temptations offered by her rich patrons appears to be based more on a childlike obstinacy than any deeply felt philosophical or principled point of view...

Danny Johnson has lost Sabrina to a car accident that has saddened his life. He has lost two of the closest people he has ever known and he misses them dearly. Callie Moran is in love with Danny but Danny cannot seem to get over the Larger Than Life Sabrina who died. She has been trying to make him see that they can be together and that he doesn't have to be afraid of being in a relationship and being in-love. But he is hard pressed to believe either. It will take Jason and Sabrina Hill, matchmaking Angels, to get the couple together and on their feet. This was not as good as its prequel. Felt like it was still about Sabrina and Jason and not enough about Callie and Danny this time around. Not enough solid story, like the first one.

I liked this sequel better than original. It's still on my bookshelf while the original was gone within a week. In Heaven Knows, the two characters were already in love in the beginning and spent 250 pages whining, "Oh, I want to be with him!" "Oh, I want to be with her!" until the angels finally put them (and us) out of their misery and gave them a "happy" ending (I don't know how happy it was. At least it was an ending). This one was much better. Less misery, good characters, a warm heroine, and a slowly emerging love story. I sighed over this one (in the good way).

Sometimes, very high quality source code is dumped onto the Internet just because it is old. For FORTRAN 77/90+ programmers that occasionally use or otherwise maintain legacy FORTRAN IV (a.k.a. FORTRAN 66) source code, this textbook provides valuable continuity back to the older standard. This title was published while the FORTRAN 77 standard was being finalized, so it still largely reflects the FORTRAN 66 standard - at the same time, it further discusses the up and coming FORTRAN 77 standard and the relationships between the two.

The preliminary chapter (Chapter 0) is most valuable as it provides a concise overview of FORTRAN 66 in about 40 pages. Later chapters instruct on some of the long forgotten FORTRAN 66 tricks that sometimes cause the eyebrows of modern programmers to furrow when trying to understand inherited code. I also found this book to be very helpful in understanding the use of characters variables in FORTRAN 66, which may be foreign to the FORTRAN 77/90+ programmer use to explicitly declared characters variables. I regret that the book did not acknowledge some of the antiquated non-standard features such as ENCODE and DECODE commonly seen in old source code.

Understandably, the actual presentation of FORTRAN 77 is less than complete, and the book is a self-proclaimed "advanced" book, so this is certainly not the best book from which to learn modern FORTRAN. And while there are other older books that can help one's understanding of FORTRAN 66, this hardback just also happens to be a fine tutorial on the subject on programming. Apparently, this title was quite popular and in print for many years.

Hughes provides an excellent introduction into the subject of architecture found in Africa. He cronicles the history of African design elements across the continent. Examples are provided from ancient Egypt, precolonial times and contemporary present day designers. He even showcases works by students exploring his theories. Sadly as an introductory piece it leaves the reader hungry for more examples. But for the novice it is a great beginning.

From the Ministry of Whimsy Press, publishers of the fantastic LEVIATHAN anthology series, comes this first in a new series: ALBUM ZUTIQUE. "A series," the back cover notes, "devoted to the surreal & decadent." Yes, yes, and so it is. But is it good? You bet. The fifteen stories contained herein are all beautifully written, truly a feast for the eyes and the mind. There were a couple stories that I'm not quite sure I got, and a couple more that I'm quite sure I didn't get, but even the few that went right over my head in terms of content were so beautifully written that I almost didn't mind. Standouts are the pair of stories by the always fantastic Rhys Hughes, and the hauntingly beautiful entry by K.J. Bishop. But there wasn't a dud in the bunch; not a one I didn't enjoy reading. So why only four stars? Two reasons. First, as I noted, there were a couple stories that I didn't get. Second, and more importantly, while this is a beautiful, beautifully produced volume, the cover price is a little steep considering the 200-page, 50k word size of the volume. Even so, ALBUM ZUTIQUE #1 is a welcome and more-than-worthy addition to my bookshelf.

Next up: ALBUM ZUTIQUE #2, which will be Rhys Hughes' A NEW HISTORY OF INFAMY. I, for one, can't wait!

Recommended

Matthew Hughes offers valuable new insights on British Middle East policy-making during World War I in this study of General Allenby's campaigns in Gaza and Palestine during 1917-1918. The title, though, is slightly misleading as this book will not be of interest to military history buffs. It is, rather, a study of policy on the grand scale, an analysis of British objectives in the Middle East considered in the context of the overall war effort. Hughes argues convincingly that the Middle Eastern campaign detracted from the primary war effort being conducted on the western front. The Palestine campaign was designed first, he contends, to provide emotional uplift and counterpoint to the dreary failures being suffered in France. Second, Allenby's efforts were conceived with a view towards solidifying Britain's post-war imperial objectives-- controlling the Middle East and, by extension, vital British sea, land and air routes, to India. The book is slightly unbalanced in that, after the capture of Damascus on October 1, 1918, the focus shifts from Allenby and the men "on-the-spot", to London and Paris, where Lloyd George and Clemenceau struggled with the issue of imperial paramountcy in the Levant. Lloyd George was determined to either keep the French out of Syria altogether, or, at least, to truncate the boundaries of historic Syria in order to secure British rail, air and oil pipeline routes from northern Iraq to Palestine. Clemenceau, on the other hand, while little interested in France's overseas empire, was nevertheless determined to secure French historic economic and religious interests in Syria. Allenby had little influence on these major policy decisions. Still, Hughes is successful in showing how the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement (wherey Britain and France essentially carved the Middle East into spheres of influence) was re-worked in the post-war settlement. His study reflects wide reading in both the secondary sources and in the private paper collections of most of the important figures in the decision-making process. This book is recommended for those interested in British Middle Eastern policy, the post-war settlement and the career of General Allenby.

From the Independent innovators, to the beginning of research groups, to military research, to systems creators of Taylor and Ford, to military industrial complex systems of production. The first few and last chapters are the best. Edison had over 1000 patents, I have none. :-(