Horton and others clearly delineate the dangers which face the Church of Jesus Christ, and if you're looking for fluff or easy reading, here, find another book like Max Lucado. This is meaty reading and worthy of the purchase. Highly recommended.

Some of the conservative church's greatest ambassadors deliver a great message in this book. Some very godly and inteligent men deliver a warning to the church of the future. The books basic theme is that the church must be circumspect so that it does not drift away from biblical dependence. The present day church has come to depend on so many sources for their theological understanding when ultimately scripture should be the only recognized voice. This book defends the traditional evangelical faith while giving and understanding of obvious needs of reform. Readers of this book will become acutely aware of the problems and solutions of the modern godly church.

With regard the authority of Scripture, most Christians would agree that the Bible is our authority in some sense. But in exactly what sense does the Bible claim to be our authority? I think evangelical Christianity is in serious trouble in that matter. In fact, it is facing big challenges for keeping Biblical faith. Some present-day evangelicals do not believe more in the Bible. The Scripture becomes just a very important thing, but not more a sufficient an inerrant Word of God. In their opinion, we have other sources to learn about God and his will for the Church today. So, if you are considering that questions into your heart, I would like to recommend you to read this book and The Compromised Church (from the same general Editor).

This book gives no definitive answers on the biggest puzzles of Little Big Horn ... which is its greatest strength. By pulling together all the available testimony, from both sides and all angles, it's proof of how 'the fog of war' -- as well as participants' own agendas -- makes any battle more confusing to its participants than to those who come after. For the reader, piecing together the conflicting accounts, and assessing the characters/viewpoints/axes-to-grind of those giving them, it's a total immersion not just in the facts but in the feelings, prejudices and atmosphere of the time. A wonderful book. And one that should be basic training for every student of history, whatever their period. This is how history is.

This is Graham's great collction of testimonies about Custer and the Little Big Horn from the Sioux, Cheyene, Rees, Crows, scouts, officers, soildiers and others. An incredible collection of material laid out in categorical chapters. Graham lays this often quoted collection out without prejudice and although he questions the Indian participant's accounts due to their lack of perception of exact time and spatial realities, he presents it all the same. What is quite fascinating are the virtual raw letters of Benteen to William Goldin. The letters show Benteen's bitter side particularly toward Custer and demonstrates that Reno was also not held highly on his list, if anyone was. Also, has Godfrey's great history of the battle and the book even includes challenging letters from Grahams critics to his personal responses. A great book for those that want to know all from multiple perspectives of the participants.

By far the best of the vast Custer literature. Graham gathers together in one place primary data and lets you draw your own conclusions. On Custer, Graham is the only author I have read who writes without massaging his data to support some preconcieved theory. This book, incidently, was published in 1953, not in 1993.(It would be helpful if Amazon would note first copyright dates in book listings.) This book was not bashed out to meet a schedule or catch a market window; Graham gathered data literally for decades. Being an army officer-- Judge Advocate Corp--gave him access to files and access to survivors who were eyewitnesses to the fight at Reno's end of the field.

Tom Armstrong's development of a simple class that grows up to be an automation control is very straight forward. The clear logical progression is well supported by the accompanying source code that I compiled and worked with as I traversed through the book. I was able to apply the techniques directly in creating my own activeX control for use with our product. There are a few improvements that should be incorporated into the next edition: 1. A proof- reader needs to be hired...too many typeos...Figure 6.5 on p.256 is not even readable. 2. A small "snippet" of detailed usage intructions for certain utilities like the ActiveX Control Pad presented in Chap12. Otherwise a keeper!!!

For a great resource of how to develop activex controls with MFC...this is the book.

MFC makes getting started in ActiveX controls easy... but these's a world of details that can have you pulling your hair out...don't go that route...get this book. I bought this after a year of developing many MFC controls - and I still found this book usefull.

Check out the author's ATL book also!

This book is a must have for all newbies to ActiveX Control Development. Tom Armstrong shows you how to develop a robust ActiveX Control using the most efficient routes.. He leads you past all of the troublespots and guides you with the best methods. I developed my first ActiveX Control within 4 days after walking through all of the great samples he had in his book.. If asked, I would recommend this book to anyone. It's a must have.

but readers should use their own common sense and knowledge of history as they consider the message that the author trys to present in some cases. She is obviously knowledgeable in this field and I consider her books an excellent source. But I reject some of her opinions, particularly her statement that "in this century, women have managed to change things for the better, and they owe this achievement in large part to their Christian heritage, though they may be unaware ot this". I reject it because it is completely false. Women have obtained all of their rights; to vote, to own property, to keep their inheritance after marriage and freedom from physical abuse at the hands of their own husbands, not with the help of the church/clergy, but inspite of it. The church and clergy fought them every step of the way on every issue and was nothing but an impedement as they have been through out history in many aspects of civil and human rights. True there were some people of faith who advocated for civil rights and womens sufferage. But for the most part, aside from their faith, they were simply 'humanists' and some agnostics, who with or without religion, had human intelligence and a genuine concern for humanity.
If 'intelligent' human beings hadn't made sacrifices and fought the clergy, women would still be second rate citizens who are chattel property of their husbands, to do with what they please, and denied so-called 'artificial'methods of contraception. Civilized people would still be afflicted with small pox,(as they opposed the vaccine at one time), we'd still be kowtowing to some Pope insisting that the earth was 'flat'(rejecting Galileo)in fear of being persecuted. If not for human 'intelligence' and 'reason', we'de still be Stone Age people, squatting in the dust, picking fleas off each other, as they have been in Afghanistan under fundamentalist rule there. The elements of humanism, have been the true moral compass for guiding both religion and humanity out of barbarity and inequality.

Stunning book. How can it be out of print? They must be planning some sort of reissue; maybe she is re-writing. I admit that I have read several others of her books and seen her speak and she is formidable. I think I am more impressed by this book than the others I have read. A remarkably erudite account of how the monotheistic religions of the West (it is NOT just about Christianity, although more space is devoted to that religion; Armstrong is an ex-nun) have systematically created and promulgated myths about the nature of women which have had tragic and violent consequences for them. The ancient complex which has targeted women in the Western collective mind is so immense and so deeply rooted that the book may surprise even those who are aware of it.

It's most unfortunant that this important work is out of print! Karen Armstrong is obviously a master of both history and theology to have explored the plight of women in such a clear easy read. Her treatment of Christianity's historical roots for relegating women to second class status makes it understandable why even now, women's struggle to gain recognition as equal to their male counterparts is still ongoing.

Yes! Somebody please reprint this book! How wonderful to live in an affordable and cozy, yet expandable, place! My husband checked it out at our library too, and thank the book gods I found it used here. Looking at the state of heart-attack-inducingly expensive/horrendously ugly home architecture these days, we need smart alternatives now more than ever. Leslie Armstrong is our hero!

If you've only dreamed of owning your own home, this is the book for you. I found this book at the library and it was EXACTLY what I was looking for. My wife and I want to build a house that won't put us in debt for the next 30 years. A house that has room for all our kids now, but won't be too much house when they're gone. No need to hire an architect, the blue prints, material list, and contruction plans are complete. This is a book for the masses. Somebody bring this book back into print.

Do any publishers ever read these reviews????? I also got this book at the library and it is priceless for addressing the subject of small homes for people who are not wealthy!! Do any of you know any? Well, I do. This book should be read by every person training to be an architect. Then go and build some small houses of your own imagination. That we can afford. Maybe I can have a home of my own before I die. After I die, it will be a little more difficult to come up with the down payment! Cheers!

James Armstrong, in his _Monument in a Summer Hat__, makes an impressive debut. Intellectual without being pedantic, classical without being pretentious, his well-crafted poems are profound in their depth but accessible. His major theme here is the opposition of nature to civilization, nature consistently being the victor, as Armstrong criticizes the mercenary, utilitarian, quick-pop-psych-fix tendencies of our modern world at the expense of our more spiritual impulses. At times reminiscent of Stevens in his profundity but rooted in the the concrete quotidian, the collection has many strong poems, my personal favorite being "Paradise."

This is a buoyant, wise, and witty book, a record of wrestling with powerful forces that sculpt our lives, among them order and chaos, time and history, desire, locality and land.

"Monument In A Summer Hat" is not only brilliant, it is a delight. The poems have wonderful music: of "scantling light" and "neon scripture," a night that "presses her migrant face against the glass," of trees that hiss silver. In the jazz world, this poet's counterpart might be Marian McPartland. Armstrong's language has the balance of elegance and edge, emotion and intelligence that marks McPartland's memorable keyboard. Such equilibrium is a dynamic state, and Armstrong's "Saltwater Snails," for example, is a small masterpiece about how to move through a world in which uncertainty is "the first rule of order."

Armstrong has an eye for the absurd and haunting tones of our age (women pondering psycho-pharmaceuticals in the Café Triste; a crew of migrant leaf-blowers who arrive like a "divine wind"), but he is never curmudgeonly. His chosen tools are the more creative and compassionate ones: wryness, patience, wit, and scrupulous attention. He can also be very funny; "Meditations" is a hilarious, moving portrait of the tussles of Mind and Body. There is a benevolence and honesty in this language which give some of the poems a nearly ceremonial feel. Cumulatively, the poems of Monument offer a rich set of proposals about how to be.

Here, the American provincial landscape of small town barrooms, barns, and hilltop prospects are proper places for contemplation, and Armstrong's poems about place are among the most penetrating in his book. Monument In A Summer Hat opens with "Granted," a poem that acknowledges the "terror of this age," and states a faith in the moisture and steadiness of the earth itself. Emblems of frontier, forest, and deer are rescued from nostalgic amber, are precise and factual strokes in an eerie American scene, a disjointed culture in which an older world ghosts about rooms, stares glassily from the walls.

The natural world that Armstrong encounters is a source of a quiet and ongoing abandon, and his television poem, "Dump," seizes the chance of a found image--a cast-off television tube being slowly entwined by vines--to play with the tension between the organic and technological realms. "Leaf Blowers"--a characteristic appeal to proportion--locates the human within a vast aliveness, an order beyond the specifically human world. Elsewhere, Armstrong relishes that fact that, although the mass media's lines "suture every hamlet to the national ear"--"no field is uniform from the air," and "furrows trace purely local contours." Like Horace, Armstrong is an urbane lover of nature who moves fluently across temporal and geographical space.

The occasion of an airplane trip gives Armstrong a perch from which to meditate on abstraction and specificity, on the global and local. It is telling that even when cruising at 30,000 feet, Armstrong stays grounded, locating his metaphysics in the corporeal, plying a reader with sensory detail: "a blue tile in a little Portuguese chapel," "an angel in stiff garments," "the haybale swagger of Autumn." He states his preference clearly in "After Rilke:" "The soul grows heavy from the / irritants in paradise, / and falls of its own specificity / into the gutter." Here is a poet who feels the breath of the absolute, but who, even in extremis, throws in his lot with the particularities of our world. His Christ on the cross thinks "not of the silver towers of Paradise," but of "his mother's garden in Nazareth, a sunny patch by the wall where butterflies hovered above the melon blossoms."

The limits and borders of language also fascinate this poet: his "Heron" is a portrait of a mute, yet eloquent "blue messenger," and "The Language" is rueful about what we shrink from saying, what we ask floral emmisaries to convey on our behalf.

Perhaps one reason Armstrong is so alive to life's abundance is precisely because he has acknowleged the tragic dimension of life, the "way of sorrows." Among the most poignant poems in this collection are those about time, and the passing of time. We like the past, Armstrong says, because it has "dwindled to a purer form." In "Time" (for L.), he suffuses time with sorrow and desire, likens love to a gentle ruler. Graceful as a minuet in its music and tone, this is a grown-up account of how our loves tell time, how the blessed weight of love shadows each heartbeat. And, in "Omnia Vincit Amor," Armstrong muses that after passion is spent "Time re-enters the clocks" and one is left with only one god, "the bleak one, the one with the hammer." (That would be Hephaestus, the lame smith, with his ringing hammer of craft; and what a moving observation to find in a poetry suffused with the power and pleasures of craft.)

"Monument In A Summer Hat" marks the debut of a remarkable poet, one steeped in history, with a vision all his own.

First and foremost, Armstrong's collection effectively proves that contemporary poets publish works deserving of canonization. Any one who reads "Summer Hat"--whether familiar with poetry or not--will feel, at the reading of the last word of the final poem, elated and hungry for more. Armstrong's works owe their magnetism to his ability to investigate those mundane experiences--taking a picture, going to the airport, observing a pile of junk rotting in a backyard--we fail to recognize, or at least on any significant level. It is as if Armstrong observes the familiar through bewildered and curious eyes (like those of an infant observing a goofy relative's antics); he is seeing things for the first time.

The imagery that prevails throughout "Summer Hat" is simple and poignant. I think often, since reading the collection twice over, of the "wet lead" of the gutted trout in "Eros Turannos."

Armstrong does not inflate his poetry with academic conventions that would otherwise repel the the non-academic reader. This book will convince all who read it that poetry--while a rarefied art--provides "easy" access to the healthy introspection to which we each defer when so moved.

The Civil War has been much romanticized. The life of George Armstrong Custer has entered the realm of near mythology. The most successful period in Custer's short life was his civil war career. Urwin here presents a record of the successes of Custer's civil war career. There is a tendency in this book to Custerophilia. While none of us in this time period can really know the man, study of the masses of literature from the period suggest that the "boy General" was somewhat unique. More than most of his contemporaries, Custer was able to motivate his Civil War commands to significant achievments. His personal audacity caused extremely high casualties among the men he commanded. Despite this he never seems to have engendered the kind of disdain that Judson "Killcavalry" Kilpatrick, a contemporary, gained from his troops. It seems that members of his Michigan cavalry Brigades greatly esteemed their general despite their losses. Whether he was in fact a tactician or just daring and lucky; his civil war record is quite remarkable. This book is a worthwhile read for students of the civil war and of cavalry and Custer's part of that history.

Being from Michigan, I knew George Custer was a Civil War hero. After reading this book I realized just how important that man was to the Union cause. Although young, Custer was mature beyond his years, his prowess as a calvaryman is second to none. He was loved by his troops and respected by his enemies, some who he bested many times during the Civil War. He was a true leader in every sense of the word. Fearless and steady, always leading his troops into a charge. Ever concerned for the well being of his men. This book is a wonderful piece on a great man who was lost in history by speculation and heresay. Had he his Michigan Calvary Brigade, his beloved "Wolverines" or men like them at Little Big Horn and not 17 and 18 yr old troops as recently discovered, even though being outgunned I am sure there would have been different results for historians to ponder. Rest in Peace Major General Custer, your name is forever cleared.

This is a fine work of scholarship on General Custer. It is incorrect to assume with this book that Urwin has a tendency to Custerphilia. If that be so, then may we accuse other historians of Robert E. Leephilia, or Martin Luther Kingphilia, or John F. Kennedyphilia? It is only the truly biased that will attach such a title to an author who is presenting Custer in a just light, rather than anyone else. We don't have to be a contemporary of an historical figure to know the facts and contributions of his life, and Urwin's excellently researched book brings out all the facts surrounding Custer's outstanding leadership as a Civil War soldier and officer, and most importantly, Urwin has finally given Custer his just due as a great American patriot who was so instrumental in preserving what we so easily refer to today as our USA. It was General Phil Sheridan, who stated in an enclosed note to Mrs. Custer when presenting her with Lee's table upon which the surrender was signed, "that there is scarcely an individual in our service who has contributed more to bring about this desirable result than your gallant husband." Urwin brings out all the facts that substantiate this statement; not denigrate or fictionalize it. If you know nothing about Custer, read this book and its preface first, then for an account of The Little Bighorn, read "To Hell With Honor" by Larry Sklenar. As Urwin states, "Custer's critics have been legion, but only the most vehement and biased has ever dared to suggest that his performance in that bloodiest of America's wars was anything less than brilliant."

This is an excellent collection of essays by the greatest preachers in the Reformed tradition today. Some of the topics include The Primacy of Preaching (Mohler), The Teaching Pastor (Sproul), Evangelistic Preaching (Alexander), and The Foolishness of Preaching (Boice). John Piper's essay on Preaching to Suffering People is one of the best things he has ever written and by itself is worth the price of the book ten times over. Derek Thomas' essay on Expository Preaching is full of very good instruction. Joel Beakes' contribution on Experimental Preaching is also excellent. I highly recommend this book for pastors. If you are not a pastor, consider purchasing it for your pastor as a gift. He will be appreciative.

A must read for those who have a passion and desire to preach the word from the Biblical perspective...... This book is not limited to pastors but also to anyone who desire to teach the word of God such as Small Group leaders, Sunday School teachers, etc... The Authors of this book are among my favorites: John MacArthur, Piper, Mohler, Sproul, etc.. You will enjoy it from these passionate men of God.

The Fact that this book is excellent should be no surprise, merely take a glance at the authors. This book will probably offend pastors who are in to the modern pop pyschology, but then they probably wouldn't be reading it anyway. Granted, that was probably unfair but...
Naturally some chapters are better than others, here are a few:

"The Lasting Effect of Experimental Preaching"--the essay on spiritual formation--worth the price of the book.

"The Primacy of Preaching"--by Albert Mohler--very good, a wake up call to the church.

"Expository Preaching"--good and bad examples of expository preaching, very fun chapter.

"Preaching to Suffering People"--by John Piper. It is by Piper, enough said.

"A reminder to Shepherds"--By John Macarthur, a fitting close to a fine book.

I do recommend the book. The first part was kind of boring but when it gets into the tour itself that's when the emotional part starts. Wilcockson and Pelkey do an excellent job bringing the excitement of the tour to the reader. They are the anchormen, narrating the action. But the fact that we also have Andreu's diary pages there too, that gives us the action from a participant point of view. Tons of useful information, a lot of interesting details. If you like biking, this is the book for you. On the other hand, if you cannot tell the difference between a 55 and an 11 you better get something else to read.

Honestly, this is one of the finest non-fiction cycling books on the Tour de France that one could own. While the photographic clarity is outstanding, the foldout "in-scale" maps are supurb. Authorship is genuine, descriptive, and insightful. A must for any library!

This book provides the reader with a fascinating insight into the behind-the-scenes operation of one of the World`s major sporting events,the TOUR DE FRANCE,and also the miraculous comeback from cancer by Lance Armstrong. It is presented in a straightforward,easy to read style,a characteristic of author,John Wilcockson`s writing manner,and I personally found it very hard to put down.(I read it in 2 days!) The daily stage entries by Frankie Andreu are always humorous,as in the previous year`s CONQUESTS & CRISES(The 1998 T de F) and provide a light-hearted alternative to the darker side of a currently,much-maligned sport. Another of John Wilcockson`s books I would thoroughly recommend to any cycling enthusiast is, WORLD OF CYCLING. A 30 year retrospective of Velonews stories. All three of the above-mentioned books get a 5 star rating from me.

I have a hard time reviewing this work: on the one hand, the background of this sometimes lyrical novel provides an insight into one of the slighted players in the infamous Salem Witch Trials of the 17th C, Tituba, the slave of Rev. Samuel Parris; on the other hand, although purporting to 'use' history to explore broader themes, Conde takes many liberties with actual events and other elements, which distort the narrative. To me, the best parts of this novel are the beginning and the end (the created 'history' of Tituba); also, the characterizations of Tituba, John Indian (her husband), Benjamin Cohen (a Jewish immigrant who becomes both Tituba's owner and lover), and the 'spirits' to whom Tituba talks, are vividly drawn. We see Tituba's origin in the brutal rape of her mother, Abena, by a Englishman while she is on her way to Barbados enslaved, and Abena's hanging for rebelling against another sexual assault. This has a profound effect on Tituba, and on her relations with men generally and whites in particular. As the story progresses, factual elements come into play: Tituba ends up in the service of Samuel Parris; she befriends his wife, daughter, and niece, only to be betrayed in Salem by everyone, including her faithless husband; she is found guilty in the trials (of which Conde includes an actual transcript of Tituba's deposition, but little else about the trials themselves). Conde adds fictional narrative to fill out the next stage of Tituba's life: sold to Benjamin Cohen, who frees her; her return to Barbados, where she encounters 'maroons'(free black men and women who live in hiding, plotting to overthrow the white regime) and where she will meet the same end as her mother. There are some wonderful scenes in this book, which realizes Conde's goal of reminding the reader that Tituba was a 'real person', not just a footnote.
However, there are also several elements that jar the reader out of this narrative (as the Afterward clearly illuminates). As I was reading the book, modern words such as 'feminist' appear; the section with the most incongruities was the insertion of Hester Prynne, from Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter', in Tituba's cell during the Salem trials (although Hawthorne's story took place about 50 years earlier). The two women have several conversations that are obviously meant to bring home a modern sensibility. When I realized who Tituba's fellow prisoner was, I frankly -- and literally -- groaned. But Conde doesn't stop there: in this version, Hester doesn't live to have the scarlet 'A' emblazoned on her bodice. The scenes with Hester also illustrate two running themes that seemed to be beaten into the story: men are pretty much scum, and whites -- especially Puritans -- are pretty much evil and can't be trusted (the one exception is Benjamin Cohen, part of another persecuted group). Conde has a good grasp of the failings of Puritanism (it's known that many Puritans 'dabbled' in things like palm reading, even though it was obviously 'ungodly'); however, she creates a different origin for the Salem witch trials than is historically correct, and simplfies historical characters to the point that they are almost ridiculous. By the time I got to the Afterward (one out of the four stars I gave this book is for that alone), I was pretty annoyed at the liberties Conde took with language and history. The Afterward did, however, help me understand some of what Conde intended, and her work in the context of modern Caribbean literature. An interview with Conde is included, and in it she states, "Do not take 'Tituba' too seriously, please." Conde says that the story is part "parody", and that Tituba is a "mock-epic" heroine. Although I 'get it' now, the fact that the Afterward had to explain to me what the book meant (and much of the explanantion contained there seems to contradict itself)signals that the book failed on many levels. This is especially true in the Foreward, written by Angela Davis, which seems to take the book's messages very seriously; in thanking Conde for her vision, Davis says Tituba "dies as a revolutionary", and that this work is Tituba's "revenge" for being ignored by mainstream history. While I agree that Tituba needs more attention, I think that she also deserved more than this version of her life, without the inclusion of literary characters and simplistic stereotyping of men.

It wasn't a European Witch that started the Witch-hunts in Salem; in fact it was a young Barbados Voodoo Practitioner. And although Tituba was no Voodoo Queen such as Marie Laveau, Tituba's life was just as interesting. This is a good read.

I bought this book years ago at in the gift shop of The Witch Museum in Salem, MA. Never got around to reading it until now...I can't believe I waited so long! I've only started reading it, but the first 5 chapters alone have been superb. Highly recommended!