There are innumerable controversies between the vast schools of thought in American history. Perhaps one of the largest is that of slavery in the United States. Throughout their years of public education, students are taught that slavery is immoral and wrong. Eugene Genovese, on the other hand, shows the side that students are not often taught. He tells of the reasons why slavery was so strongly supported and gives his interpretations and support of slavery in his book, A Consuming Fire.

According to Genovese, the slave owners of the South didn't believe that slavery was inhumane. In fact, they believed that it was God's will that slaves be owned. Southern pastors found many Biblical passages which convinced Southerners not only to own slaves, but how to treat them and what rights to give them, or not give them. Genovese says that many slave holders were torn between politics and Christianity by saying, "The efforts to recognize slave marriage, to keep slave families intact, and to repeal the literacy laws confronted slave holders with an uncomfortable choice between their religion and their political and socioeconomic interests," (pg. 23). One of the arguments Genovese makes is that since God wants people to own slaves, He would allow them to win the war. The first few battles of the Civil War supported this side, since the Confederacy seemed to be winning against such impressive odds. Later, when the South lost the war and slavery was non-existant, the Christian South claimed that it was because they did not live according to God's commandments of being good slave owners. Genovese's work, A Consuming Fire, is an excellent portrayal of the system of slavery in Southern eyes. This book is filled with interesting facts, and the reader learns that the laws created by the Southern government were often opposed by slave owners themselves. Stated on the cover is, "The Fall of the Confederacy in the Mind of the White Christian South." Nothing better summarizes Genovese's theory than this statement.

Eugene Genovese is the outstanding historian of the past 30 years. His books on American slavery touched off the enormous flowering of slavery studies during that time, and his recent work on southern whites has been equally exemplary. This brief volume, a collection of three papers, has redefined the Confederacy.

What Genovese shows here is that their experience in the Civil War led many southerners to decide that God was punishing them for not reforming their slave system. Genovese's subjects remained convinced that slavery was an institution that had been ordained by God; however, they decided that their prohibitions on slave marriage (which forced slaves to reproduce illicitly) and slave literacy (which kept slaves from becoming proper Protestants) were offensive to God, and many of them insisted on changes to remove these objections. By the war's end, many concluded God had chastised them for their sins.

The reader is alerted in the Preface that this book is a collection of past essays by the author, written for various conferences and collections. Some overlap of subject matter and repetition of thoughts should be expected. The amount of this, however, is not severe.

Perhaps as much as one-half of the book addresses the question of how the biblical text came into being. The idea of a divinely inspired and faithfully handed down original text is quickly dismissed. The author instead advances the now familiar theory that the books of the bible were produced in editorial stages that included two major thrusts: The faithful repetition of important traditions, and the creative reshaping of those traditions in new theological directions. (Pg. 8)

If one wonders why so much attention is given to possible origins of the Bible instead of the Qumran scrolls themselves, the answer becomes apparent as the author strives to demonstrate that the Qumran biblical manuscripts continue this very process of textual evolution.

For this reader the value of the book lies in the chapters that present readings from the Qumran scrolls which are lined up with the same-verse-readings from a wide range of other ancient texts. The Samaritan Pentateuch; the Masoretic Text; the Septuagint; the Hexapla; and the Old Latin translation of the Septuagint all receive comparative attention.

The reader may not always agree with the conclusions of the author, but the easy-to-compare format allows one to quickly grasp a picture of the differences among the texts and to evaluate their import.

However, a reader does need to be forewarned that without a working knowledge of Hebrew, Greek and Latin one is left in a weak position from which to evaluate the conclusions the author draws.

Past generations of scholars used to seek the ur-text of the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew text (specifically the MT) was amended by correcting "corruptions," by translating the Septuagint back into Hebrew with the belief that it represented an earlier text, or some other method.

In _The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Origins of the Bible_ Eugene Ulrich presents a series of essays, once presented as papers for academic conventions, which present the history of the biblical text, starting with the Hebrew texts and progressing to the Greek and Latin texts.

In his essays Ulrich presents three key items: 1) before the Second Revolt (c. 132 CE) there were a pluriformity of texts; 2) until the destruction of the Second Temple, or even until the Second Revolt, the external shape of the "Scriptures" had not been established; and 3) it has too often been assumed that the MT was "the biblical text."

These three items run contrary to what many of us have been taught in years past about the formation of the Hebrew Bible.

this small book contains a wealth of information about the life-science of ayurveda, the holistic health tradition of india. information ranging from the philosophical underpinnings of ayurveda to how to incorporate it into everyday life is presented clearly. the book is well-written and inspiring. i find myself reading it again and again.

A good and simple book written by a direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda. It contains useful guidelines about ayurveda which may be followed by everyone.

La partitura presenta notevoli errori di scrittura musicale (mancano le alterazioni in chiave per gli strumenti in Sib) e mancanze di impaginazione. Sarebbe altresì utile una traduzione in inglese delle parti cantate.

A very beautiful reproduction of an older Russian edition, with clear, legible text and music. So far, I've not found any reasons to justify the complaints issued by an Italian reviewer asking for, among other things, English translations of the sung texts (surely that would take up too much space; furthermore, when will we accept Russian as no less valid a language as Italian, French, or German?). So far, only good things can be said of this edition and I heartily recommend it!

Though it is a short book, it gives one a good description of Reform Judaism. This book shows the evolution of this form of Judaism and how many times it's changed. Sadly enough, though, it paints the picture of a confused religious view that lacks consistency. This book would arouse one to possibly explore their cultural and political associations, but lack a lot on the spiritual side.

I borrowed this book in a public library. Had no big hopes, but was curious. How wrong I was. I practically devoured it after reading a few pages. Rabbi Borowitz has the special talent of knowing how to explain in simple words very complicated philosophical concepts of Judaism. Besides he does it in such a candid manner that my eyes went wet several times. Believe me, if you want your child to understand the essence of Judaism, this the book to give him/her as a gift. The title is a bit misleading, no matter which is your denomination - Reform, Conservative or Orthodox, even if Christian, this book will bring you the warmth of real "menchlichkeit" - how to become a decent human being.

I like most peterson books, however this one is just as knowledgable, but I bought the book hopeing to see color plates of corals, which it did not have. It had mostly color plates of starfish, sponges, sea buscuits, other animal life. I was disappointed in that, but as most of their books have, a nice description on how to identify it. It does seperate out the different types of corals, such as brain coral, then different subspecies (depressed, common, sharp hilled) but NO good pictures. It tells depth circumferance and valley, color, nice descriptions. It does have some black & white photos of coral, but it really does not help much.

I would feel confident recommending any of Peterson's field guides including "Coral Reefs." Many field guides simply discuss a single group of animals or plants. However Kaplan has succeeded in producing a pocket book explaining the most diverse habitats on earth. He writes from a broad knowledge base covering many topics important to coral reef watchers or biologists. Frequently he injects wit and humor into what might have been a dry text. He manages to hit on most groups of animals and uses many types of illustrations to allow the reader to identify and sort out the great number and types of animals that they will see on any coral reef within the area discussed.

I am new to this book but have used quite a few field guides in my day. Now I can't wait to visit the reefs again, armed with my new education.

Where Kaplan's "Coral Reefs" manages to take a difficult field guide topic and conquer it, "Southeastern and Caribbean Seashores" Takes an impossible task and muddles it. I don't know what the people at Peterson's Field Guides was thinking! The topic is far to broad to include in one book, and Kaplan seems to try and make it broader. He includes coral reefs and things distinctly NOT on the shore as well as including topics already in other field guides. I do NOT want to belittle Kaplan (whom I enjoy) or Peterson's (who I think makes the best mass consumption field guides available) but unless you really need it, I would stay away from this book. It does win points for it's illustrations and Kaplan's knowledge and writing style.

I have taken Kaplan's field guide to seashores to Florida Keys, the Bahamas, the USVI, The BVI, Bonaire, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Curacao, and have found the book to be indispensible. No matter which island, each seashore seemed familiar, and with a little judicious reading beforehand,I understood whatever natural phenomena I saw, from snorkelling in the shallows to walking the rocky shore to crawling around the red mangrove roots. I would no sooner leave this field guide home when I go to the Carribbean or Florida, than leave home my Michelin Guide to Europe when I go there. I recommend the Field Guide to Seashores to all nature lovers and snorkelers who want to make the best of their trip to the the Caribbean or Florida.

One of the comments on the back cover says it pretty aptly: "A compassionate, shattering character study, more short story than play." This is basically a 30-page monologue by one of the characters, with an occasional interjection by the other. It centers around the feelings of Erie (the main character) for the previous night clerk at the hotel where he lives (Hughie), who has died. I found it hard to really like Erie, and I was disappointed with the sudden transformation of the new Night Clerk at the end. However, it has to be said that this play would be great for choosing a monologue for acting class or an audition.

My class had to read Hughie as an assignment. I have read Beyond the Horizon and have fallen in love with the complete intimacy in which O'neill writes his plays. He used personal experience and showed us a new way to think. This is an incredible play to read and even better on stage.

This is a fine but not in any sense grounbreaking book on consicousness and its neural basis. Neither the proposed mechanisms (although we must consider some of the ideas have been there since 1994) nor the philosophical position are new. Brooks, in short, solves the mind body problem by means of identity claims. That is, neuronal activity just is consicousness.Brooks then mantains that current imput combined with memory hierarchies, through a competition among neural imputs, is consicousness because of the identity claim, and that consicousness contents are formed by elemental "consciousness cores", the single smaller units that are consicousness.

Now, the thing is, that identity between neuurons and consciousness must hold at some level, just as Brooks says, for materialism to hold. (I do not exclude some kinds of emergentisms, or consciousness field theories, wholly materialistic.) Consicousness and neurons are different ways of knowing the same phenomenon, one in the first and the other in the third person perspective, just as the heads and tails of a coin are different ways (depending on position and viewpoint, inferior and superior surfaces) of knowing the same phenomenon. But the explanatory Gap cannot rest that easily. This seems obvious from the fact that even materialists aknowledge a problem of consicousness. This is so because identity does not explain by virtue of what the phenomenon has the consicous properties it has (although arguably identity thesis require no explanation, see Papineau's work). A coin is the way it is because the way it is designed, but the neurons are consicousness because of what? This seems a nonsense question, but in fact, since some neuurons are consicous and others are not
(those that without them someone is unconsicous), and a neuron in a dish is probably not consicous, and in deep sleep neurons are there but not consicousness, some group of sufficient and necessary neural conditions must hold for there to be consicousness. What these may be, Brooks does not tell us.

The closest he comes is in saying that memory must be involved. He even claims consicousness and memory might be in the same neurons. However, neuropsychology says otherwise. Totally amnesic patients can be nevertheless quite consicous. Philosophically, Brooks also shows his ignorance of the modern consicousness debate. Although not in principle bad, it seems strange to use as philosophical support Locke and Kant, dead for hundreds of years now. Brooks critique of representationalism as holding that some kind of picture must be in the head is badly mistaken. Modern representationalism avoids every problem BRooks points out it has.(see Tye's work) Some of his concepts seem strange (what is the evidence for consciousness cores?these just seem to be there to take on the explanatory burden), and for example, his taking of perception, sensation, meaning and consicousness to be the same thing, or that consicousness may be in nerve cells in the body, seems more problematic than helpful (not to mention very hard to argue in favour of).

Not everything is bad news for Brooks, however. His solution of the binding problem by means of "synechdoches", (binding is an illusion that the brain creates after perceiving closely tied and temporally and spatially associated units in a scene or object) is quite interesting, and his all-the-way identity theorist postition is remarkably common sensical. There is no homonuculus, free will is an illusion, and the self is a certain content of consicousness. However, Brooks also explains why it seems there is free will, a self and a homonuculus, and this is also a nontrivial thing.

The truth is that this book is a good example of a theorist that takes indentity between neurons and consicousness seriously, but also that ignores a wide body of neurobiological, neuropsychological, cognitive, and philosophical evidence that could help him making his point clearer, and help him find flaws in his reasoning. That neurons at some level are consicousness cannot be genuinely doubted, but this in itself makes little progress towards understanding consiousness.

This book fills an important need for an easily understood discussion of consciousnes that is not overly technical or spooky. Dr. Brooks helps the reader understand the mind as the operation of entirely natural processes. This is important because there is a wide gap between the ideas about consciousness held by specialists and the general public. Neuroscientists and philosophers tend to regard the mind and consciousness as natural brain processes, while American culture is strongly and deeply influenced by ancient traditions asserting that the mind is a mysterious entity that exists outside the material world. According to this popular view, the mind may be part of a supernatural soul, or something else that will never be understood by science. This book argues that "consciousness is identical with brain activity."

Besides general readers, who can understand this book without previously studying theories of consciousness, it can also be rewarding to those who have read widely about consciousness. It presents a unique approach to consciousness based on Dr. Brooks's long-term interest in the subject and his extensive studies and experiences as a practicing psychoanalyst. He presents a specific identity theory of consciousness, describing its relationship to what he calls "consciousness cores" and meaning. His idea of consciousness cores as basic elements of consciousness emphasizes the fundamental importance of sensory experiences in forming consciousness. The book is filled with valuable insights on such topics as attention, perception, the unconscious, the self, synecdoche, memory hierarchies, free will and volition, and others.

Besides presenting his own approach to consciousness, Dr. Brooks discusses alternative theories and his reasons for rejecting them. In discussing his theory, he describes phychological phenomena and sometimes gives possible physiological mechanisms by which the functions are carried out. He points out the particular difficulty in describing how consciousness works: There are no entirely satisfactory analogies to be made with consciousness since it is basic to all our experiences, and nothing else occupies a similar position. As is normally the case with identity theories, this book's does not explain the basic reason why the activity of neurons (or some neurons) is identical with consciousness. At present, however, this seems to be the state of the art. No one has given a really convincing explanation of why this is so. Cosequently, we should not be too critical of this book for failing to do so.

Although readers may sometimes disagree with Dr. Brooks, they will benefit by comparing his insights to their own ideas. In conclusion, I believe a broad audience can learn more about their nature as human beings by reading this book. I strongly recommend it.

The method of teaching in this book is excellent as it does not swamp the student with details that are not needed at an early stage. At the same time the book is very thorough in it's coverage of grammar as details are presented later, when needed. However every student needs exercises which this book doesn't contain. In the introduction to the book a "Workbook" is mentioned but I cannot find this anywhere on the internet.

I recommend this New Testament Greek textbook, provided it is used along with the Workbook. However, I have not yet determined whether the workbook is still in print!