This book shows such a variety of artifacts from the Revolutionary War, it's just amazing! All of the photographs and illustrations are very clear and it makes it easy to really understand what things were like back then.

John Murray has told a straightforward, poignant tale of twenty-four of America's best who went into the fire of combat for their country when called without looking back, and paid the ultimate price on the battlefield. As a contributor to the book, I can say that all of us owe John Murray a debt that we cannot pay. Our war dead must be remembered in the collective memory of our nation, for if they are not, we as a people are not worth much. Whether or not you agree with the war, of for the cause for which that war was waged, those who died are our own, and they fought for us as a nation without thought of reward or recompense. They selflessly gave their lives so the United States could continue as a free nation, and they deserve to be remembered and honored as long as the flag of the United States flies over its sovereign territory. This volume tells the personal story of the twenty-four members of the West Point Class of 1964 who gave their lives for their country, of which my brother was one. In straightforward prose, Murray tells of their character, their motivation, and their mission, and he tells it throught the words of these men's families and friends. For him and for us who contributed, it was sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes joyful, remembering, again, our loved ones who chose the profession of arms and went into the fire at the behest of their nation. On a personal note, Thank You, John, for the book you wrote and the time you took, and for you service, also. Napoleon valued what he called the Sacred Fire in his officers, which was the indomitable will to conquer or die trying. These twenty-four heroes definitely had it, and it inspired others who followed, such as myself, to take up the profession of arms, follow the drum, and serve when my country called, becoming a better man for doing it.

The authors present a framework for rapid implementation of organizational change. They assert that creating understanding for the need for change, building momentum, and perhaps scoring some initial successes in the first 100 days greatly increases chances for success. Successful change calls for Winning Conditions, the book's core framework, consisting of: correct diagnosis of the change challenge; early development of shared understanding; enrichment of shared understanding; establishing a sense of urgency; creating a limited, focused, strategic agenda; rapid, strategic decision making and deployment; a human flywheel of commitment; identifying and managing sources of resistance; follow-through on changing organizational enablers; and demonstrated leadership commitment. Discussion and examples make this approach clear and show how it's applied. The authors are careful to distinguish between different types (or depths) of intervention. The book is outstanding in its scope and quality of thought. It is highly informative, gets to the meat of ideas clearly and quickly, and gives the reader solid value from start to finish.

This book is a collection of four different works of Saint Augustine. The table of contents is as follows:

"Christian Instruction", introduced and translated by John J. Gavigan

"Admonition and Grace", introduced and translated by John Courtney Murray

"The Christian Combat", introduced and translated by Robert P. Russell

"Faith, Hope, and Charity", introduced and translated by Bernard M. Peebles

Index

The supplemental materials in this book consist of fairly short introductions to each work written by the translator of that work, footnotes that explain translation issues, references to other works, including scripture references, and finally, a shared index.

Each of the four works which comprise this book will be discussed in turn.

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The title of the first work, "Christian Instruction", leaves the reader to wonder whether the work is intended to instruct him in Christianity or to be an instructor of others in Christianity. The answer is: yes. To quote Augustine himself, in his discussion of it in his "Retractions":

"I...completed the work in four books. The first three of these help to an understanding of the Scriptures, while the fourth instructs us how to present the facts which we have just comprehended."

Of the "books" alluded to by Augustine, the first prescribes the proper attitude for the study of scriptures, specifically from the perspective of "faith, hope, and charity". The second prescribes a program of education, central to which is knowledge of language: both the general knowledge of language as a system of signs, and specific knowledge of Hebrew and Greek. The third prescribes a system of hermeneutics or interpretive principals and rules. Finally, the fourth is essentially a discussion of rhetorical methods of persuasion and their application to teaching Christianity to others.

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The second work, "Admonition and Grace", was written because a number of monks had been disturbed by an a letter of Augustine which they thought so exalted the importance of divine grace as to leave no place for human free will (and responsibility). The specific question they asked was:

"Why are we preached to, and given commands, in order to have us avoid evil and do good, if it is not we ourselves who do these things, but God who effects in us the will and the deed?"

To the immediate question, Augustine in reply developed the doctrine that while man of his own free will could do no good without grace, he could recognize his own evil, and in that power lay his responsibility:

"Whenever you fail to follow the known commands of God and are unwilling to be admonished, you are for this very reason to be admonished, that you are unwilling to be admonished...You are unwilling to have yourself shown to yourself, that you may see your own deformity, and seek one to reform you, and beg Him not to leave you in your ugliness of soul."

Not content with having answered the question at hand, Augustine went further, and discussed the ultimate origin of sin, and the state of man and the fallen angels before their respective falls and the nature of those falls. Going further yet, he discusses grace with regard to Mary and the elect, and still further, ultimately ending in a theodicy.

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The third work, "The Christian Combat" is a short, muscular work "written in a plain style for brethren not proficient in the Latin language". Its end is to lay out how a Christian should live, and to identify heresies that Christians should avoid falling into. As befitting its audience and purpose, it is simple and direct. The basics of Christian belief and scriptural justifications for them are quickly described, then then warnings are given a series of heresies that must be rejected.

The points of Christian belief covered are the nature of evil (Manichaean dualism being explicitly rejected), the governance of Providence, salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and God as the Trinity.

The list of heresies to be rejected is actually the bulk of the work. Each begins with a "Let us not heed..." introduction, followed by a description of the particular heresy, and then a justification (generally scriptural, sometimes logical) for why it should be rejected.

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"Faith, Hope, and Charity", the fourth and final work in the book, is also known as the "Enchiridion", or handbook. It was written in response to a letter containing a list of questions pertaining to Christian doctrine.

"Faith, Hope, and Charity" begins by discussing is a wide-ranging work, as its origin might suggest. Most of the work is loosely organized around the apostles' creed as a framework for explaning the faith. As such, it discusses belief in God, the goodness of creation, the nature of sin, the origin of sin, God's grace and Christ as the means of man's salvation, the church, the resurrection of the dead, the relation between providence and free will, hope and the Lord's prayer, and finally charity as the crowning principal of the commandments and the true good at which man should aim.

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For my part, the work that really stood out was "Grace and Admonition". The subtlety and power of Augustine's solutions to the problems of grace and free will make truly impressive reading. Several times, I went back to the beginning and started reading again - not because I didn't understand it, but because I was so floored by it, that I simply had to read it again right away.

okay, so i don't own the book, but the poem is exquisite, and i've been a fan of it since childhood. unlike the independent publisher, i don't think that children are ever too little to be exposed to poetry or art, and murray kimber's work is stunning. perhaps if they read the poem they'd figure out where the horse motif comes from. jeez, guys, maybe you could sound a bit more pompous and uninformed if you tried, but i don't see how.

This is the most comprehensive book on Ferns and Fern Allies common to the United States that I have found. It gives comprehensive descriptions of over 400 species accompanied by color plates. This is an excellent text of interest ranging from the hobbyist to the graduate student.

I don't usually like mysteries, but this one kept me on the edge of my seat

If you own Alpacas or Llamas you need this book. Easy to understand and follow text.

I am not writing a review. I just want to point out that the reveiw you have printed from The NY Times Booklist 9/1/98, if for "First Contact; the Essential Murray Leinster" and not for the video tape "First Contact"

A must buy for students who want to major in Math or pursue graduate study in Math. The book will prepare a student for higher courses in Functional & Real Analysis