*~*

"Boy-Wives and Female-Husbands: Studies of African Homosexualities" is a wonderful resource for those interested in learning African homosexualities. I gave it four stars because there is little about Somali homosexuality but the book is perfect. It goes from coast to coast and all in between.

I didn't know much about African homosexuality before I bought this book. Now I'm familiar with my home continent's homosexual "tendecies." :-)

I bought a few copies for friends as gifts and they loved it. Some of them have told me it read more like novels than a cultural study, which it is. It is fascinating to the last note. Enjoy, darlings.

Here is a book with oral histories and folklore tales from ethnographers that went to Africa. The book is an eyeopening one into the sexuality aspect of Africans often challenging theories of sexuality. It is an excellent book to answer to the question of How & Why Does Same Sex Sexual Behavior Varies Cross Culturally? It was writing an essay on this topic that got me to this book, I have always wanted to know about this issue since there has been a lot of denial from African colleagues but once I have read the first few pages of the book that 'denial' and "shh" feelings that exist within many Africans, was brought to light. The same smoothness and revelation is experienced throughout the book. The book seperates Africa into four regional sections to illustrate the diversity of African culture within that vast continent. It is very easy to read and simple too. If you are a book worm, you will love this one. It is the book for History, Anthropology or Gender Study students or those with interest in the above mention + Sexuality. The book now occupies a special place in my selective collection, get one too, I am sure there will be no regrets!

The first book to attempt to survey homosexualities across (sub-Saharan) Africa is also a very good one. At a time when certain East African leaders are trying to hold onto power by scapegoating homosexuality as "un-African," Murray and Roscoe show that there are and have been a wide range of roles in "traditional" African cultures for those who love persons of their own sex. Once this is established - and it is established beyond any reasonable doubt - most readers will probably be more interested in the parts of the book dealing with contemporary individuals (including a young Kikuyu's male's memoir, Amory's chapter on the changing conceptions on the Swahili coast, and an explanation of the view in Lesotho and elsewherre that two women cannot have "sex," so that their physical relations are not seen as "sexual").

The book concludes by looking at the "social construction" of homosexualities by cross-tabulating societies with a kind of homosexuality (with relationships structured by age, structured by gender, or more-or-less egalitarian ones) with other structures (e.g., of inheritance, postpartum taboos) in the same societies. No absolute, categorical patterns emerge. I.e., there are correlations, but no clear "if x, then homosexuality y" conclusions.

This is a great book. It tackles a task that could fill 100 books. Amazing pictures and interviews w/NYC's top writers. Only two criticisms: 1) Type print is TINY! Very taxing on the eyeballs to read the interviews (which, as I mentioned, are incredibly insightful). 2) No illegal bombing. This book does a great job of documenting the productions/legal pieces. And, I suppose if that was the goal of this book, cool. I just would have liked to have seen at least a few pages of bombing. Overall, definitely worth the scrill.

this book is great, big ups to HI CREW

THIS IS AN AMAZING BOOK! IT HAS PRODUCTIONS BY ALL THE MAJOR CREWS IN NYC, ILLEGAL PIECES AND BOMBING BY SOME OF THE BEST. GREAT INTERVIEWS ALONG WITH INCREDIBLE FOLD-OUTS. A MUST HAVE!
IMAGRE, NYC

"The Forgotten Planet," by Murray Leinster.

The first Murray Leinster story I read was the Hugo winning "Exploration Team." It is a story about human triumph over a hostile environment through decisive, determined effort and teamwork. Reading it made me curious about other works by Mr. Leinster. I went looking and found The Forgotten Planet at the Largo Public Library.

Forgotten Planet's human inhabitants arrive forty generations before the time of the story action. Shipwrecked on a nightmarish planet more suited to gigantic mushrooms and behemoth insects, humanity becomes little more than prey for larger, more prolific, better-armed predators. Human survival is in doubt by the time the prologue ends and the story begins.

By a happy accident or fate, the central character, Burl enters into a series of situations that helps him to marginally improve the circumstances of his fellows. He develops the habit of leadership, and his people learn to work together in new ways under his leadership. Through strong leadership and by working together, his people learn to overcome adversity and prosper.

The setting of The Forgotten Planet is ingenious in its imagination and yet plausibly set up in the prologue. Mr. Leinster takes the commonplace and makes it extraordinary. But the Lowland ecology is more than an exercise in sci-fi imagination. It is a metaphor for that which prevents humans from reaching their full potential individually and collectively. Once Burl's followers escape from the limitations of the Lowlands, they are able to assume their rightful place in the universe.

This story is refreshingly positive in its outlook. Too much sci fi second guesses or whines about our role in the universe as humnas and as Americans. Forgotten Planet was written in a time when Americans felt good about their country and themselves. It is a story worth remembering.

I read this book in 1956 while aboard ship in the Navy. It did what school had not been able to accomplish. I was captivated by the story, which filled the spaces of possiblility. I almost never read before this book, and have been an avid reader of not only Sci-Fi, but all written material since.

This is a well-written fantasy about a group of people stranded on a distant planet. The plot, diction, usage, and characterizations of this author are world-class.

Entertaining biography of rock and roller Jerry Lee Lewis. It details his rise from the poverty of rural Louisiana to become a rock and roll legend. Told by his wife of thirteen years, Myra Lewis, the book recounts an insider's view of those early days of rock and roll and of the rise of Jerry Lee Lewis in the annals of rock and roll.

Jerry grew up with his first cousin, Jimmy Lee Swaggart, who in his own right achieved a measure of notoriety as a prominent preacher and televangelist. Lewis, however, a music lover from early childhood, wanted nothing more than to be a piano playing musician. A backwoods good ole boy, he shocked the country with his antics, topping it all off with his marriage to his thirteen year old cousin, Myra, an act which brought him unwelcome notoriety.

Known for his high energy performances, Jerry Lee Lewis lived hard, played hard, and worked hard at his music. His was a life of which legends are made. This book is an enjoyable, no holds barred narrative of that life.

This is the best book ever written about "The Killer." It is
well researched, factual, and brilliantly composed! It is a classic.

Here's a writer who did his research for years...its factual, interesting and important!

I can first say that Mr. Harris' book is one of the more fair and honest evaluations of this subject. My experience in reading other books of this nature is that the authors usually take every opportunity they can to drum-up support for another verse that calls Jesus God (Theos). Mr. Harris, confident in his theology, feels no need to grasp at verses when it is obvious to him that they do not call Jesus theos. His book addresses the sixteen verses in the NT that persons think call Jesus theos and his final conclusion is, "The application to Christ of the title (theos) is exceedingly rare - only seven certain, very probable, or probable instances out of a total of 1,315 NT uses of (theos)." (page 274)

However, Mr. Harris has failed to convince me that all seven verses that he lists as referring to Jesus as theos actually do refer to Jesus as theos. I doubt that he would condemn me too much for that statement since even he admits that some are "very probable" while others are only "probable." While Mr. Harris puts up a decent argument for his stance, this coming from his obviously being qualified to discuss this subject, other scholars, also equally qualified to discuss this subject, put up a good argument refuting Mr. Harris' argument. In the end, we have a number of scholars, all making good arguments for their position. What Mr. Harris deems as a more important facet to his argument, another scholar thinks is over rated. What another scholar states is a valid point for his argument, Mr. Harris says is over rated. In the end it really boils down to the personal preference and opinion of the scholar, which subsequently determines what level of value he places on a certain argument. To Mr. Harris' credit, he lists the scholars and arguments that do not agree with his conclusion. And I would like to recommend that Greg Stafford's book, "Jehovah's Witnesses Defended" be considered because he points out several issues he feels are incorrect in Mr. Harris' arguments.

There are a few areas in this book that I do think Mr. Harris should be more responsible in backing up. For instance, on page 47 he states that the NT writers wrote their letters in light of their trinitarian understanding. I would challenge that statement. How can Mr. Harris justify that Jesus' apostles believed that God was three separate but equal and eternal persons in one God? What did Jesus say that would have given them that idea? How could Thomas have meant that at John 20:28? Since the official doctrine wasn't formulated until 325 CE, this seems to be a huge assumption on Harris' part.

He also states that Rom. 9:5 and Titus 2:13 are the only places that Paul calls Jesus theos. He then confirms, "No one doubts that Paul generally- in fact, almost always- reserves the term (theos) for God the Father. But dominant usage is not exclusive usage." (pg 169) His argument is that 'yes, even though Paul always refers to the Father as theos (barring the two verses in question), this should not be allowed to determine the meaning of the two verse in question.' Mr. Harris has a point, but I believe he has under estimated and limited the authority and forcefulness of the 'habitual use and meaning of the term theos as Paul used it.' Paul's constant use of theos should have had more bearing on Mr. Harris' decision process regarding the two verses. Especially when a number of scholars and Bibles do translate in a way to show that Jesus is not God. When the decision comes down to theology, how the Bible and it's writers used theos must be an important aspect.

Mr. Harris argues against several verses and their translation or supposed meaning since it appears to state the idea in an unnatural or unusual way. But Mr. Harris then admits on page 184, "one may observe that what is "natural" for a writer to say is not always what he does say." Indeed, it is a difficult thing to try and guess what someone 2000 years ago meant, especially when he wrote it in a now dead language. Today, misunderstandings occur among us and we speak the same language! Thus, Mr. Harris may do well to consider more seriously the 'habitual use' of the word theos.

For a review of the hundreds of scriptures in the Greek text showing Jesus is not the one people thought was God, see the book"Jesus-God or the Son of God?", available here at Amazon.com

Despite the review below, Dr. Harris' book is very convincing. He discusses several verses which include the Greek 'theos' in reference to Jesus and describes why these verses point to Jesus as God. Dr. Harris is well aware of the context in which these references are used and this comes through quite clear in this text. Moreover, Dr. Harris delineates the semantical and syntactical issues of the texts with which he is dealing. He is very concise in his translations and has used an enormous amount of research material to come to his conclusions (i.e. strong footnote references and bibliography). This is a very careful, detailed, and comprehensive account of the 'theos' references to Jesus' being God. Furthermore, Dr. Harris spends time giving clear distinctions between certain words that are cognates and similar to 'theos' and describes why these words are used in their particular contexts. He compares and contrasts other verses that have similar usages, or slight nuanced differences and describes what is similar and different about each of these uses and why that is important to the text. This book is a serious thorn in the side of the Jehovah's Witnesses who have spent the last 60 or more years distorted the texts of Scripture to fit their own heretical view (Arian heresy). I highly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about researching the issues of Jesus being God. This is the definitive work in that area in the last several decades.

Murray Harris has produced a classic, scholarly, objective treatment of this topic. He provides a wealth of information, but primarily focuses on the 16 verses which could seriously be considered to refer to Jesus as God; with a thorough examination of the 9 main verses, examining each in terms of the 1) context, 2) syntax, 3) punctuation, and 4) possible variant reading(s).

Three excellent features, among so many others, include: 1) In many cases, he cites numerous authors of various alternative positions, and offers their arguments and their resulting "translations" of the passage. 2) The book is full of statistical studies (e.g., how many times the articular and anartharus use of theos is used by various biblical authors). 3) He frequently reveals the "characteristic manner" in which a particular biblical author refers to Jesus and God.

Though Harris is extremely fair and objective, I did find his treatment deficient in two basic respects: 1) He concludes that the use of theos to refer to Jesus proves his deity, since it is a term that is primarily ontological in character, and, therefore, is an explicit and unequivocal affirmation that he is God. Yet, Harris has already shown that theos was used, even by the Jews and/or biblical writers themselves, to refer to other humans, angels, exalted patriarchs, etc.! Since the term, when used of these others, never meant they were God, the equivocation of Jesus with God needs demonstration. 2) At one point, Harris frankly acknowledges several texts that seem to drive an ontological wedge between Jesus and God (e.g., those which distinguish Jesus from the one who is God and Father). It should be pointed out, however, that Harris is generally far more careful in his arguments, and the conclusions he draws, than many scholars. This book is a gold mine, and will be a definite classic in its field.

This study of the European Air War slips aside the glamor and romance takes the macroscopic view. It debunks some accepted wisdoms such as that the Luftwaffe never considered a long range strategic bomber. It shows with stark clarity that the Reich was barely ready in an industrial sense for the war they ended up fighting, which was not the war they foresaw. The battle in toto was a war of attrition between two industrial powers and in the end the American and Allied industrial base smothered the Reich's industrial base.

C.S. Forrester once had his Horatio Hornblower character express the feeling that the true indicator of the allied incompetence was the continuing survival of Napolean's shoddy empire.
This book does an excellent job of documenting the major errors made by the Luftwaffe and its creators,to the degree that you are left wondering how they survived for so long. But the many tables (over 70) leave other questions unaswered; the tables that aren't there, such as direct comparisons with allied pilot trainning programs, not just aircraft, through 1943 (1944 a/c production onwards isn't listed). For if the LW trained 3270 fighter pilots in 1943, how many did the Anglo-Americans train in an average month in 1943? Granted that reliable soviet numbers were unavailable in 1985 when this was written, a comparison with the Commonwealth air trainning program, or the vast American system even on a yearly basis would illustrate the huge allied juggernaut being assembled, even more than aircraft production. Similarly, comparisons of monthly bomb tonnage, number of sorties, fuel consumption, trainning a/c produced and wrecked (# of flight hours each)would also help.
While the nazi leadership are shown to be the incompetents they were,I think too much reliance is based upon David Irving's books, though the author is careful with his choice of citations.
The book also has important tables on "the Experten", the 100 plus pilots with over 100 kills each, but does not let them eclipse the general incompetence of the rest; other sources indicate over 93% of LW fighter pilots were killed during the war and the book provides plenty of examples of the poorly trained being more dangerous to themselves than the enemy. Yet again the detailed tables one has come to expect are not there to show breakdowns of LW fighter losses, leaving open to other books the question of how many of the 50K single-engined fighters the germans built, how many were built in the last 12-16 monthes? If half of these were destroyed by the allies, and only 10-12K fighter pilots were trained, does this mean each pilot wrecked 2 or 3? This is probably an understatement regarding the Me109,with its narrow landing track, that made take-offs and landings lethal to the inexperienced. The author makes the point rather strongly that the LW was no longer a factor in the war after the spring of 1944; it could affect allied air losses but not significantly. For example, Operation Bodenplatte (January 1945, where many german histories end) was more costly to the LW than the allies, the allied pilots generally being out of their aircraft when strafed, the a/c being replaced within the week from spares in England; while german flak destroyed more of the pitifully few fighterbombers than the allies, the net losses were prohibitive; estimates range between 80-90%.
Overall, the reader is left wanting more, asking more questions, expecting more details, further answers. Of course a good writer leaves his audience hungry for more.

This is an extremely good book. It examines the history of the Luftwaffe through the war by using detailed statistics of force availability and loss rates.

The author indicates that at the start of the war Germany had an air force of about 3,000 aircraft in total. In 1940 the German high Command set production levels of aircraft production which remained static for a couple of years. The production levels basically were able to keep abreast of loses suffered in France, the Battle of Britain and the first Year of the Russian campaign. The overall level of the force was not however increased. This meant that there was a considerable attrition of pilots and a growing tendency for serving pilots to be less experienced.

Whilst Germany kept aircraft production low in the first few years of the war the allied nations under the impression that the Luftwaffe was bigger than it in fact was greatly expanded aircraft production. This meant that by 1942 the allies had a massive preponderance of aircraft.

The Germans refused to think about the air problem in a strategic way. The argument is in fact similar to one raised by Magenhiemer in his book "Hitler's War". The author suggests that Germany's last throw of the dice was Operation Blue in 1942. The battles of 1941 had depleted the strength of Axis forces. The Luftwaffe was concentrated in this campaign to be used as flying artillery in a last desperate throw of the dice to try to knock Russia out of the war. Whilst this campaign was underway the allies were launching the strategic bombing campaign and operations were about to start in Africa and Italy.

If the Germans had not committed their airforce to Operation Blue then it might have been possible to concentrate forces in the Reich and to destroy the American strategic bomber offensive. Instead of thinking in strategic ways the Germans risked all on long winner take all strategies. Although towards the end of the war it was possible to increase fighter production there was no reserve of experienced pilots. This meant that the day fighters experienced very high attrition rates.

This in the end meant that their air force collapsed in late 1944 allowing for the strategic bombing campaign to destroy their transport system.

The book does however dissect the British area bombing campaign and it shows again that Harris was defeated by the night fighters of the Luftwaffe. The attrition rate of the British bombers was unsustainable and it was only the general collapse of the Luftwaffe in late 1944 which allowed the British to continue operations.

This is a fine easy to understand and readable book. Each argument is supported by extensive tables and sets of statistics. It is an essential research tool for anyone interested in the period.

Dr. Sperber unearthed Knute Rockne's personal and athletic department correspondence in the basement of Hesburgh Library and relied heavily upon it to create this insightful account of the times and tenure of Knute Rockne. Anyone who longs for the old days but wants to know what they were really like will find this book fascinating. Over time, the world has forgotten the way the nation mourned the passing of the great coach. It has also forgotten the genius, showman, businessman, and competitor that produced football's greatest record of achievement.

This book relies upon primary documents to breathe life into old attendance figures, names enshrined in Monogram Hall, and won-loss records. Newspaper accounts of the time and Rockne's correspondence reveal the corruption of the officiating, eligibility rules, and recruiting of his contemporaries but does not absolve him from his role. Preview: "Pop Warner football" should bear a different name.

Shortcomings include the meandering accounts of coaches, trends, and University presidents that can quickly become confusing. I strongly recommend "The Notre Dame Football Encyclopedia" (Marder, Spellen and Donovan, Citadel Press, 2001) as a companion to put the results of critical wins, losses, and seasons into perspective. The author's treatment of individual topics (the Rockne biopick, Geoge Gipp, etc.) separately tends to make the context of the seasons and their results hard to follow.

Dr. Sperber also shows his opions about big-time college athletics too boldly. He describes the "reform" movement of Rockne's era deftly but cannot help editorializing from his own campaigns at Indiana University, going so far as to name Coach Bob Knight in a footnote as an example of sport gone awry. Although his distinguished American Studies background serves him and the reader very well, his views come through clearly.

This book is excellent and provides wonderful insight into how Notre Dame football came to life.

SHAKE DOWN THE THUNDER is a scholarly look at a sports phenomenon - the creation and early development of football at Notre Dame to 1941 and the hiring of Frank Leahy as coach. Much of the book is devoted to the politics within the university community among the coaches, administrators and influential alumni. It is also a story about the rise of Notre Dame football during a period when Catholics were striving for more influence politically and more acceptance in general in the United States.

The author makes much use of the private correspondence of Knute Rockne and paints a very unromantic picture of the great coach and some of his star players. Based on this book Lee Marvin or Robert Mitchum instead of Ronald Reagan are the best choices to play the part of George Gipp in a movie.

SHAKE DOWN THE THUNDER is more of a cultural history than a football story. It contains very little football action. The book is well-researched and shows how both the urge to overemphasize college football and the resulting forces trying to contain it have been in existence for a long time.

All ND fans should read this book and keep it in their library.
The most comprehensive history of the early days of ND football.

Hope writes knowingly on the nature of Atlantis and Atlanteans and of
the world-wide myths that survived the Golden Age. Unfortunately,
Hope's account suffers from a reliance on Ignatius Donnelly's 19th
century placement of Atlantis as "opposed to the Pillars of
Heracles (Straits of Gibraltar) rather than "across" from
them as Plato wrote. Thus Hope, like many others, posits Atlantis as a
sunken island in the Atlantic (geologially unsustainable), rather than
as the "island-continent" Plato described.

Murry Hope`s book on the question whether Atlantis is Myth or Reality is an astonishingly well-balanced work for someone who was a founder of the Atlantean Society and therefore tends to be biased towards the very existence of Atlantis .As an Atlantean from the heart of Europe actually living on the remaining islands of Mu right now so to speak(though I tend to challenge the existence of both continents), it was a pleasure to read, but the book also gave me again the insight as so many books on the subject do, that the more we might feel the real presence of Atlantis the more we wind up in mystery.

I thought it was great. It helped my a lot with a science project on the supposed reality of Atlantis. It really cleared up a few problems I had from other sources. Best of all, though, was the ease of read.

A nice little book. Slight, but fun. It deserves 4 stars, except for the typesetting, which is awful. The letters are closer to each other vertically than horizontally. This is good for languages you read vertically, but English reads horizontally.

The author of these short stories has a wonderful sense of whimsy. The main character in this appealing little book is a charming elderly widow whose culinary concoctions are imbued with magic. Men fall in love with her, remarkable things happen in civic association and library committee meetings, etc. Recipes are included so that the reader might try to work the same kind of magic in his or her own kitchen. I loved it!

A delightful book: I can't remember when I've read a book that was so much fun! I felt like I knew many of the characters in the book. Interspersed within the story are several recipes that sound wonderful. I would like to try the pineapple squares, but since I have teenage boys at home I'll have to wait about 10 years. (When you read the book you will laugh and understand what I mean :-) .)

If you are a whole-grain purist, this book is not for you. The whole wheat and other grains that are part of each recipe are only added in token amounts to be able to call the loaf unrefined. However, the majority of the flour used is white. This was disappointing and I do not recommend this book for that reason. As a matter of fact, I returned my copy. For "transition" loaves (that use mainly white flour for those not used to pure whole grain or weaning themselves off of it) and for "elite" recipes (using 100% whole grain), try George Burnett's The Breadman's Healthy Bread Book. The kinds of recipes are nearly identical (cinnamon-raisin, lemon-poppy seed, etc.) but even more varied. Plus, he gives amounts for 1 and 1 1/2 lb. loaves.

I really think you should add another star to this book as it has magnificent recipies that are easy to follow and easy to understand especially when you are in a hurry to get bread baked, like I was when I got the book.
I loved the recipies and got alot of compliments on how wonderful the Bread tastes. I am pleased to announce that I was able to induct several neighbors to bread machine baking.They were all scared to use their bread machines..... not now!
Just put another star for this Author's Book Please!!!!

I came across this book while ordering some books by Dr. Michael Murray (he wrote the forward for this book). I had received a bread machine as a wedding gift and had not used it much. Being on a bit of a health kick, I had thought bread was off limits. The author provides a huge selection of healthy breads that taste great. From fruit or vegetable breads to pizza crust and real bagels, she covers it all - with directions for different sized bread machines, along with a chapter about selecting a bread machine and even a troubleshooting chapter so you can remedy any problems with your loaves. She explains any special ingredients, and provides a great deal of nutritional information. I have other cookbooks, but this is the only one I use for bread making anymore. I love it so much that I have given copies as gifts to 2 friends and 1 very accomplished cook (my mother) and they all loved it. I had to buy a spare copy because mine gets borrowed so much. I honestly have not used any other cookbook as often as this one, and give it my highest recommendation.