Gore Vidal takes you across more than a thousand years of Venetian history ___from its improbable origins as a safe haven from the marauding hordes of Attila the Hun (5th century AD), through a thousand years of the great Venetian Republic ("The Serene Republic"!)____down to its present day status as a tourist Mecca . Vidal garnishes his observations of the city and its people with characteristic irreverant humor.The pace of the book is pretty informal with short chapters devoted to the origins of Venice, its geography , the great mercantile Venetian empire which lasted over a millenium ,the flowering of arts : Veronese , Tintoretto, Giorgione , Vivaldi & Palladio were all at some point or another associated with the city . Also interspersed are some observations about Venice which most foreigners may not be familiar with e.g: "There is no sight more beautiful than Venice under a snowfall .Venice is like a once-great beauty who deserves to be seen by candlelight , and the soft light of winter works like a photographer's air-brush on the city's many cracks and wrinkles .Venice is particularly beautiful in a winter mist " etc.Also included is a chapter on the high and mighty who chose to spend some time in Venice : Henry James, Byron, Richard Wagner not to mention that Stravinsky is buried there .This is a good light read and Vidal is an entertaining guide along the way.

This is an important and timely collection gathering many of the great speeches of the 1960s and '70s. High praise to father and son editors Armstrong and Shane-Armstrong for making these materials available.

How one answers the question first posed to the apostles "Who do you say that I am?" remains the key to eternity.

The authors of this compilation inidivually set out to survey the contemporary horizon of answers to this question. They find many in academia and much of Christianity finding the answer to this question not in the Bible, but in historical critical sources and the search for the historic Jesus.

Such notables as Aliser McGrath and N.T. Wright contribute to this volume.

Further interested readers would do well to seek out an excellent work by David Scaer, Christology, Volume VI of the Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics series, for the confessional Lutheran position.

Saffron Shaw has worked very hard to become the very successful designer that she is. Saffron now has more work than she can handle, so when she got a nicely worded letter for a commision for one Fraser Ross, Saffron turned it down. Later she runs into Fraser at one of her clients parties and is rather rude to him in front of lots of people and potential clients. Later Saffron realizes that she not only made herself look bad, but that Fraser is one powerful and wealthy man with a lot of influence. Saffron is furious when Fraser turns up at her business threatening to use that influence to ruin her professionally if she does not reconsider and decorate his house. Saffron really does not have a choice so she agrees, but she has no plans to make it easy on Fraser. They have a real love hate relationship going. The question is what do they do about it?

Although Fraser uses high handed tactics to get what he wants from Saffron, it was hard to feel sorry for the woman. ...than continues through out the story to act like a child. I found it hilarious the way Fraser handled Saffron. In the end, for them to get what the want, they both have to swallow their pride. Enjoyable story!

I have found this to be very helpful with adults whose writing is not clear enough for others to understand. I have also found it very helpful with my younger students. It has an approach that just makes sense for those who fumble with cursive writing. Many have had improvements within a very short time.

Ms Armstrong does a fair job of recounting the biblical period, although she keeps on wanting to pronounce post-modernist judgements on Moses and other exponents of early Jewish thought.

This is tedious, but sufferable until she gets to the birth of Christianity. Whatever one thinks of this religion or its consequences, a book like this cannot possibly dismiss Paul of Tarsus in 4 pages (Muhammed gets over 30).

Ms Armstrong ignores many opportunities to discuss Paul- whom she considers the "inventor" of Christianity- in the light of the genesis of modern sects such as Mormons. Oh, by the way- she doesn't make this still daring thesis clear in her book- I read something else by her where the term was used.

Not only that, but she manages a startling feat of not mentioning the Dead Sea scrolls, which resuted in a major paradigm shift in considering the origins of Christian dogma. For that matter, she completely omits the invention of dualism and much of morality we take for granted by ancient Persians, whose mention is paultry.

In contrast, she spends an inordinate amount of time delving into mystics, a dead end from every modern point of view, then ends the book with an orgy of name-dropping of modern philosophers.

Although she makes a big deal of calling the human Homo religicus, she does not care to extend the tour of modern philosophy to the effect and success of non-religious dogmas and moral systems which were proferrred as an alternative to religion this century. She almost does it with Nietsche, but then pulls away as if the implications for her central thesis rightly frighten her.

ALthough I care for no religion, I find Ms Armstrong's penchant for deriding Christianity and Judaism whilst trumpeting Islam singularly uninspiring. By failing to extend to Islam the razor of her sarcasm, she invites distrust.

History records that neither religion succeeded from restraining its followers' base instincts. In particular, I cannot accept that Moslems were a paradigm of tolerance until European colonialists shut down their moderate scholars and left the field to fundamentalists.

A novice reader who finishes this book is advised to consider contrasting points of view.

Iliya Englin

Karen Armstrong has put together an impressive work that examines in depth the evolution of God and our perceptions of the transcendent. It's a wonderful starting point, however a dedicated reader should certainly explore other books to round out topics that the author touched lightly upon (Paul) or even omitted entirely (the influence of Eastern religions).

I think some of the criticisms levied at this book are misplaced. There seems to be a theme in these reviews that the author tends to slam Western Christianity and goes easy on Islam. This seems true to a certain extent, yet deliberate. The book is obviously aimed at Western readers; Christianity is so deeply imbued in so much of our culture that it bears a fearless scrutiny. While no doubt painful for some (Christian) readers, it's illuminating and honest. The author is obviously learned in Muslim history, yet she may have covered it in more depth than many Western readers might want. Also as one reviewer noted, "by failing to extend to Islam the razor of her sarcasm, she invites distrust". True, yet again there is so little positive perception of Islam in the West, that this appears intentional. This is the most notable flaw in the book, but not a fatal one.

What she did explain *very* well:

1. How pagan idol worship evolved into Jewish monotheism.

2. How the Trinity concept came about and grew.

3. The intellectual rift between and differences in Western and Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

4. Mysticism and it's ramifications. One reviewer called this a modern "dead end". I couldn't disagree more.

Overall, quite excellent and probably the best starting point for someone who wants to explore this fascinating topic. She has struck the best balance I've seen so far between depth, complexity and readability. Highly recommended.

What Joseph Campbell (The Masks of God, etc.) did for myth and William H. McNeill (The Rise of the West) did for universal history, Armstrong has here done for the idea of God in three historically related religions--Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Like them also, she tells a story; with great skill she weaves into a single cloth social history, the history of ideas, comparative religion, and sometimes even the clash of empires. At the same time she picks her way carefully through a vast array of scholarly opinion, often without choosing among opposing views; yet she is not afraid to make a choice among possibilities, even to criticize the traditions she is describing. Thus the work has a personal dimension, and one that will sometimes offend conservatives of all three religions. For instance, she considers much of religious orthodoxy to be intellectually idolatrous because it fails to recognize the socially constructed nature of conceptions of the divine. Ideas of God, like all ideas, arise to fulfill human needs which are in turn derived from particular conditions; in accordance with mystical theology everywhere, concepts of God only point to what can never be adequately defined. An important addition to any general library collection.

I travel a lot, and have found Lonely Planet guides to be a big help... I still do... granted, some of the info is inaccurate (particularly with prices), but every guidebook provides a caveat at its beginning to warn readers of unstable prices... generally the inaccuracies never amount to more a pitance.

I found the LP Spain book to be more useful than the Let's Go! Spain guidebook as the LP book had more background information, more listings for places to stay and more maps with better detail... unfortunately, as one of the other reviewers mentioned, this book and many of their other guide books are starting to refer you to other LP mini guides... they used to throw everything you needed between those covers, but these days you almost have to carry a small library around with you to get what a early 90s LP book would give you. Still better than Let's Go!, but for how long?...

My wife and I just completed a tour of some of the major cities of Spain. Before we went, we purchased this Lonely Planet rather than the individual city guides. Since we were part of a tour and merely wanted some supplemental information, we purchased this one.

The information they give on each of the sites and monuments is helpful. Although it didn't go into intense detail, you did get enough background historical information to make some sense. This book also gave us some good ideas of sites to see which the tour we took did not tell us about.

Some of the information is a little inaccurate, don't take this information as 100 percent correct. For instance, admission to the Capilla Real is 350 ptas and not 300. The hours were a little off also. We did find the maps to be pretty accurate. The walking tour of Madrid was a little more difficult to follow, but it could be done.

A fellow traveler had the Let's Go book for Spain and Portugal. Consistently, we found her looking at our Lonely Planet for better information.

I would recommend this book for a trip to Spain. Remember that it is supplemental and should not be taking as 100 percent accurate.

This book I found superior to competitors. Its maps were better and more detailed, allowing me to get aorund Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and the little towns of ALgicerias and La Linia without any trouble. It is a wonderful book and also has a wide variety of places to stay unlike some guidebooks which only have the most expensive or the cheapest(and most savage) places to stay. I was very happy when I found myself alone in Madrid to have this book.

Everyone talks about the value of the Internet and without a doubt there are many. If you want to learn about the key distinct business values of the Internet, read The Clickable Corporation. There is so much being written about the Internet, it is refreshing to find a book like this one that nets down and presents the key points without taking volumes. The eight distinct advantages help get your arms around the complex world of the Internet and its implications on business. I just wish the examples had more detail.

The Clickable Corporation is an excellent overview book for those who want to START understanding the e-commerce and how to apply it in their own business. It is very practical (the use of case stories around 8 key themes) and lacks pretence or jargon that intimidates in many other publications.

The Clickable Corporation is very readable with some great insights on how successful companies are making the most of the Internet - right now.

The best thing about the book is that it profiles actual companies- some old line, others Internet born- and describes in detail their successful (and not so successful) strategies. We learn from both their successes and early failures.

The use of actual case histories makes the book much more valuable than simply reading some expert's opinions and theories on what may or may not work on the Internet. These are proven strategies.These companies are out there getting results today!

As business people we can either learn these lessons here in the pages of the Clickable Corporation or learn them painfully and at greater expense in the open marketplace. I, for one, am glad I learned my lessons here.

A definite buy!

Armstrong tries to fit 1400 years of the history of one of the world's most influential religions into under 200 pages. While giving me a jist of the origins of Islam and some quick peek into Muslim beliefs, she has to rush through so many names of political and religious leaders.

When learning about Islam one of the most common points of interest is Islamic fundamentalism. Due to the book's length, she gives it short shrift. (Her other books are probably more helpful.) Much of her limited argument is that Western colonialism brought on the fundamentalist reaction. She also tries to tie Islamic fundamentalism with Christian and Jewish fundamentalism, but doesn't explain why the Islamic strain seems to be the most violent.

What I did get from the book is the intimate ties between politics and Islamic beliefs. Although the Islamic empires of the past believed in religious tolerance, a goal of Islam on earth is to build a just community. Doing so would being a Muslim in line with Allah's will and closer to the divine.

The book should only be considered a start to an understanding of Islam. It is a fast read and does offer plenty of suggestions for further reading.

Karen Armstrong, author of A History of God, writes well. She has a gift with words and a style that eases the reader through very difficult material.

I was highly enthused when I first got hold of this book. Like her other books, it is easy to read and highly engaging. She summarizes a very complex history nicely and covers major points of this history in encapsulated prose. If you are looking for a good overview of their history this is a great place to start.

Now for the bad news. She, in attempting to make the book palatable and not bogged down in theology and the 'warts and all' of historical detail, only skims the surface. I was left wondering what went wrong with Islam. If the view of Islam presented here is the 'true' Islam, how do we grapple with what it has become (at least its presentation in the more popular Western media outlets)? This book does not seek to answer those questions. Some have accused her of 'whitewashing' Islam's history. I suppose we must look at her intent. I believe she has attempted to write a good entry-level book in order to engage the reader to the positives rather than the negatives (which are much too easy to find) in order to even desire to understand it rather than attack it outright. In this she has succeeded quite well.

If you wish to understand the deeper meanings and varied histories of Islam's history, you may start here but do not be fooled. This book only scratches the surface.

This is a clear, readable survey of the story of Islam suitable for the educated, nonspecialist adult. Armstrong (The Battle for God, CH Nov'00) follows a traditional periodization that emphasizes the life of Muhammad, the expansion, the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, the "gunpowder empires," and Islam in the colonial and contemporary world. There is a comprehensive chronology, glossaries of key individuals and Arabic terms, and a bibliography of major works in English divided into subject areas. This is primarily a political history, with little mention of Muslim artistic and scientific accomplishments. Embedded in the historical survey are several arguments that those familiar with Armstrong's other works, such as A History of God (CH, Apr'94) and Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet (CH, Nov'92), will find familiar. The book is written with a laudable goal: to counter the misconception that Islam is a violent, authoritarian religion bent on world domination. However, Armstron g makes several sweeping claims that would be sharply disputed by some scholars. Wherever possible she emphasizes the egalitarian and inclusive aspects of Islam, downplaying those historical events that do not accord with this description--a perspective that could lead to misunderstanding if this were the only survey of Islam known to a reader. Undergraduates; general readers.

While Chris Carmichael and Lance Armstrong are without any doubt two of the most interesting people in the cycling business to ask for advice on training issues, this book is a terrible letdown for any advanced cyclist. While it provides loads of usefull information for someone who is just about to start with cycling, any longtime cyclist will be very disappointed. More than half of the book delivers information of the "I've known this for years" kind, while the other half gives extremely compressed information for advanced cyclists that is in no way sufficient for the serious cyclist. I highly recommend this book for beginners who need some basic information on cycling and who want to play around with the concepts involved in serious training without actually training seriously. For all others there probably still exists no alternative to Joe Friel's Training Bible (which on the other hand is a book, no novice shoul lay his hands on).

While most of the text of the book seems to be written by Chris Carmichael, Lance's personal coach, there are snippets of "What would Lance do?". These are very helpful and inspirational to novices like myself, and cover such various topics as diet to weight training. I was referred to this book by the bicycle shop where I purchased my road bike. The salesperson who helped me had taken up biking later in life, like myself. He had made amazing progress, and attributed it to Lance's book. For those like myself, who are on the steep part of the learning curve, it's good to have an accessible role model (Lance Armstrong) by means of this book. Although workouts are sketchy, each type of training is detailed, chapter at a time. I am still in base training and not yet into the seven week programs, but am looking forward to applying the workouts in my training regimen.

I highly recommend this book. It provides some personal information about Lance which is interesting. More importantly, however, it contains specific training advice with detailed training programs for all levels of riders. The book also discusses nutrition and strength training for cyclists with more attention to detail than I have seen in other books on this subject.