Edmund Wilson is, of course, one of the most critically acclaimed American authors. His book, "Upstate", is, to my knowledge, his only autobiographical work. This book was recommended to me by a brilliant, eccentric co-worker who knows I love great books and remembers that I was reared in the Empire State.

One of the initial chapters of "Upstate" contains the most eye-opening descriptive history of "American" religions I have encountered. I ensure that any reader will gather wonderful fodder for future cocktail parties simply by reading Wilson's chapter on Upstate religions.

The balance of this book will appeal mainly to true Wilson scholars and bibliophiles who appreciate great writing. While Wilson's hand is superb, the content consists mainly of a detailed recitation of the history of Wilson's, rather average, familial line.

Nevertheless, the mere fact that this is the only book review I have written since attending Colgate University twenty-years ago will demonstrate that I loved the book and would highly recommend it to any true reader.

-Thomas Moran, Houston, Texas

"Victorian Houses: A Treasury of Lesser-Known Examples" brings together 116 richly detailed black-and-white photographs of Victorian houses. This is an eclectic collection in terms of architectural style: Italianate, Second Empire, Carpenter's Gothic, "steamboat," octagon, and other elements can be found throughout the book. The houses come from towns throughout the northwestern United States, as well as from Canada.

Most of the photographs are by Edmund V. Gillon, and his excellent work is accompanied by the commentaries of Clay Lancaster. Although Lancaster's insights are informative and frequently entertaining, he often uses a disparaging tone which is unnecessary, and which some might find arrogant.

Throughout the book Lancaster uses phrases such as "a strange conglomeration" (plate 5), "a tight clutter of naive elements" (plate 16), "dull proportions" (plate 53), and "[m]ore gross than odd" (plate 92) in discussing various houses. I think it would have been better to simply have described the stylistic classifications of the architectural elements, and left value judgments to each individual reader.

Despite my dissatisfaction with some of the commentaries, I find "Victorian Houses" to be an excellent book. It is a superb record of and tribute to a remarkable period in North American home architecture. Mansard roofs, abundant verandas, ornate iron cresting, elegant pillars, towers, cupolas--all this and more can be found in here. If you love Victorian houses, you will definitely want this book.

This brief overview of colonial life in Virginia is both entertaining and instructional. Professor Morgan draws on numerous diary entries, letters and newspaper accounts to illustrate life in Virginia. Although most of the text is in regard to families living on plantations, there is plenty of information pertaining to farmers and townspeople as well as indentured servants and slaves. Chapters include: 1) Growing Up; 2) Getting Married; 3) Servants and Slaves; and 4) Houses and Holidays.

Eugene Skibbe's translation of Edmund Schlink's "Vision of the Pope" is a warm readable work that introduces the reader to a Pope as a thoughtful person of deep faith in God's will. Though complex as a German translation can be, Skibbe has created a flowing narrative that is a pleasure to follow. Through divine insight, an unnamed Pope sees a future in which all of Christendom is one body which encompasses the unique features of each individual denomination. The reader follows the Papal thought and action as he seeks to make this vision a reality. One would hope that a real Papal figure pursues his vision for the church on earth with such open-minded clarity and faith in God's will as does Schlink's Pope. A good read!

The book paints a full picture of the historical dispute between Iraq and Kuwait, which basically started in 1899 when the Kuwaiti royal family made secret deals with the British. It carefully goes over the personalities involved and how they tried to shape the situation. The reading can get slow at times if the reader is unaccustomed to the various spellings of Arabic names and locations, i.e. Husayn = Hussein, Makkah = Mecca. However, the information provided gives a clear insight to the logic of the Iraqi invasion of 1990 and subsequent Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Whether or not one agrees with the conclusions of the authors, it definitely is a wealth of information on the subject. This is a must read for all interested in Mid East politics.

"Whose Right to Bear Arms Did the Second Amendment Protect?" edited by Saul Cornell and Robert E. Shalhope is a collection of essays and journal articles debating the interpretations of the Second Amendment by top notch historians on the subject. The book encourage debate and therefore has a well balanced assortment of articles covering the full spectrum of debate concerning the Second Amendment.

Books from the "Historians at Work Series" are designed to encourage debate and deeper thinking on a particular historiographic issue in American history. Books from the "Historians at Work Series" are designed for upper-level undergraduate and graduate level American history courses. This being said, its not an introductory text. The authors of the articles go directly into their subjects, with little significant background information. Therefore, you need to have an historical base-level to work from. Nonetheless, it is an excellent tool for students, scholars and general readers of American history.

Editions in the "Historians at Work" publish the entire article or essay, introduce the author and most importantly: it includes all endnotes--a rarity for books that are collections of articles/essays on a related topic.

Overall, an excellent representation on early American historical scholarship.

ADDED NOTE: The final chapter in this book, writen by Michael Bellesiles and his book were later found to be full of misrepresentation and misconduct in research. He has since lost his award and has resigned from his position @ Emory University.

Fr. Gregory Lind is a priest of God, dedicated to a life of celibacy. Into his life comes Pamela Gibson, who is not only Protestant but divorced. The old struggle in a modern setting. Somewhat predictable, but a surprise ending nonetheless.

I bought this book because I was sure it would contain Cranmer's "Defense of the True and Catholic Doctrine of the Lord's Supper." Well, it did, but there was only one problem. Like every good theological tract written during this period, I assume it was originally written in Latin, therefore, this volume contained the work I needed, only in a language that was inaccessible to me at the time (and still is). It does contain, however, certain other works, like the "Disputations at Oxford" and the "Answer to Smith's Preface." The better part of this volume is dedicated to "An Answer to a Crafty and Sophistical Cavillation devised by Stephen Gardiner." Evidently, Gardiner wrote a pro-Catholic response to Cranmer's "Defense" and then Cranmer had to write a rejoinder to Gardiner's response, which is what "An Answer" is. It really is a must have source for anyone seeking to do first-hand study of the theological thought of Thomas Cranmer, especially concerning his view of the Eucharist.

When I purchased this book it was out of print. Although the version of the book I purchased(1976 Copyright) was a little dry the information in this book helped me understand what happens when we relax. This understanding really helped me with his exersizes as well as ones I found in other books. A must if you want to go natural.

Cutting straight to the chase after reading the very polarized views of other reviewers: Although Penelope Fitzgerald's slender novel contains much to admire, it is most certainly not composed to be a popular entertainment, and its successes will appeal more to admirers of "literary fiction"--and, hence, to "critics"--than perhaps to the general reader. Fitzgerald presumes the reader knows something, and cares, about the late 18th Century context; she hopes we might be stimulated by imagining contemporaries of Fichte and Kant discussing their ideas; she presumes that, to us, "romanticism" is more than a word or a line from Shelly and that, by recovering, or compiling, everyday details from a time and world long lost, she can help us understand the romantic sensibility and, ultimately, Hardenberg's--and our--ambiguous longing for "the Blue Flower."

I particularly enjoyed Fitzgerald's vignette approach--55 short chapters, each of which is a set piece, generally with a wry punchline--which allows Fitzgerald to view Friedrich von Hardenberg's improbable romance at odd angles. I for one marvel at this choice of subject, a decision by a professional author as seemingly improbable and hopelessly romantic as the subject itself.

And yet, despite the author's absolute mastery of her material, her strong cast of winning characters, and the wonderful--although irretrievably high-brow--sense of humor suffusing the entire narrative, I never felt myself emotionally drawn in. One reads on because each page is delightful, and, for many readers (obviously, me included) this is sufficient. But on the basis of slender narrative evidence, we are expected to understand, rather than led toward empathy with, Hardenberg and his inconceivable attachment. Perhaps Fitzgerald's plan was, in writing the simplest of love stories, to avoid cluttering the universe with additional examples of cheap sentimentalism, leaving us with a "mystery of love." In different hands, the novel clearly might have become just that--dismissively sentimental. Instead, she goes the other way: Fitzgerald is a cool observer keenly attuned, in a very modern sense, to the ironies her story poses, but she never truly enages our hearts.

The reviewer who wrote you either love this book or hate it is right. Those who hate it seem to do so because it did not live up to their preconceived notions of what "a great book" should be. Obvious plot development, blatant character growth, a quick rundown of history ... if those are the only reasons you read, definitely don't get this book. I thought it was a light, wonderful collection of vignettes that brought the world of late 18th century Germany to life. *But* I wasn't reading to see how Sophie would develop into a girl worthy of a great poet's love. At the risk of sounding like a snobby "real" reviewer, let me recommend the kind of readers who will like this book: (in the words of the late Iris Murdoch, another British novelist) "someone who likes a jolly good yarn and enjoys thinking about the book as well, about the moral issues." The key is putting in a little mental effort of your own.

_The Blue Flower_ is the story of the romance of Friedrich von Hardenburg, later famous as the German Romantic poet-novelist-philosopher Novalis, with a 12-year old girl, Sophie Von Kuhn. The story is told in brief chapters, from the points of view of several characters: Hardenburg himself, a female friend who may fancy herself a rival of Sophie's, Hardenburg's sister, Sophie's sister, and so on. The large cast of characters is wonderfully described, each character briefly and accurately limned, and all treated with humor and affection. In addition, details of how life was lived in 18th century Saxony are casually strewn throughout the book, and a very accurate-feeling picture of everyday life, and more importantly, how everyday people thought, is the result.

The main characters are odd but interesting: Fritz von Hardenburg is a young artist with Romantic attitudes: and at the same time realistically a brother and a son, and also a fairly conscientious apprentice salt-mine inspector. Sophie is a 12-year old girl of very little intelligence, and is unsparingly presented as such (indeed, her character is probably treated with less sympathy than any other in the book.)

As far as I can tell, every character in the book (at least every even moderately prominent character) is historical, though it is hard for me to be sure how closely Fitzgerald's characterizations resemble the historical record. Knowledge of the historical events depicted here cast a sort of pall over the events of the novel: we know that Sophie will die very young, and von Hardenburg not much later. (Novalis first became famous for a series of prose poems written in Sophie's memory ("Hymns to the Night"), and his major work, the novel _Heinrich von Ofterdingen_, was left uncompleted at his death.) Despite this pall, the book is funny, engaging, and beautiful in a delicate-seeming fashion.