I read a lot of dry English history books and that's okay with me because since I'm writing novels on each queen of England, it's expected.
However I was pleased to find out that the letters were not hard to read and very interesting. Also, the author gives a lot of background info on each queen so that even a beginner could read this book and follow the names. She explains what's going on in each letter and that makes it much easier.
Well worth your money!

This is a fascinating look into the lives of the women of the kings of England from Medieval to Tudor times. These women were amazingly diverse, their letters ranging from kindly requests to their husbands on behalf of others to arrogant demands to their sons; from mundane business like household expenses to true slices of history, like Eleanor of Aquitaine's desperate plea to the Pope for her imprisoned son and the love letter that sent Catherine Howard to the executioner's block. There are also interesting summaries before each woman's letters of their place in history and the lives of their husbands and sons. Not to be missed by anyone interested in the periods involved.

Far too many accounts of life in New Mexico are written by people with an agenda, often Anglos who came here to "find themselves" or "get back to the land" and were outraged when they discovered that reality wouldn't cooperate with their fantasies. By contrast, Stanley Crawford arrived with an open mind and integrated his family so successfully into a small, predominantly Hispanic village that he became the "mayordomo" in charge of administering the community's irrigation system. This book recounts his experiences and describes the workings of the community, in which the water system performs an important symbolic function as well as a practical one. It's well written, sometimes almost poetic, and often very funny. I think this and Crawford's "A Garlic Testament" are far and away the best books on life in rural New Mexico, and I recommend both of them unreservedly.

In "Mayodomo" Stanley Crawford describes his experience as manager of an "acequia" or irrigation ditch system in arid northern New Mexico. The use of acequia-irrigation originated in Spain and was introduced to the desert Southwest by Franciscan monks over 300 years ago. Acequias feed from rivers or larger acequias, and from these larger tributaries water is run through farm land and orchards then back to the main source. Each year a manager (mayordomo) and three commissioners (comisiados) are democratically elected to oversee water rates and insure fair distribution of water to each "parciante" or landowner who farms along the ditch. Acequia association members are historically of Hispanic or Latino descent, so Crawford's anglo heritage creates an interesting viewpoint of an age old tradition. As mayordomo Crawford supervises the annual spring clearing of his association's acequia, determines the amount of water that each parciante will receive, and is partially responcible for record keeping and payrolls. A parciante's share of water is determined by the nature of his plantings and for a larger part, the weather. As manager of his ditch Crawford must also contend with family feuding, annual dues or "delincuencias" and parciantes who "cheat" by diverting water to their lands. Crawford's observations take more into account than the physical labor and political hierarchy associated with the maintenance of an acequia. His words create a meaningful perspective of life among the residents of an old northern New Mexican farming community and his story reveals a group of people that have been chronicled by few writers and generally ignored or forgotten by everyone else. It is a book with literary, anthropological, political, and historical significance. Spanish water laws, established long before state government regulations, support solidarity and insure the parciante's place in the community. Recent land and water legal disputes threaten to undermine an important aspect of life in northern New Mexico, one that keeps these communities together and has done so for hundreds of years.

This is a wonderful, inspirational book! I read it in 6th grade, but it good reading for any age group. It is easy to read and full of adorable characters. You will really enjoy it if you like inspirational books.

I loved this book! I first read it when I was in 6th grade, but is very inspirational for people of any age or faith. It is easy to read, and is full of adorable characters. If you like reading inspirational books you will really love it!

The New Interpreter's Bible is a twelve-volume series, updating the popular Interpreter's Bible from a few decades ago. There are several key features common to all of the volumes of this series. First, each includes a two-column, double translation of the Biblical text (NIV ' New International Version, and NRSV ' New Revised Standard Version) arranged by topical unit or story. Then, they provide commentaries that look at the passages as a whole, as well as verse-by-verse. Third, interesting Reflection pieces that relate the passages to each other, to history, and to current concerns occur at the conclusion of each passage. Fourth, introductory articles for each book are provided that discuss transmission, historical background, cultural setting, literary concerns, and current scholarship. Finally, there are general articles about the Bible, each Testament, and various types of literature (Narrative, Gospel, Wisdom Literature, etc.) are provided to give general placement and knowledge about the text overall.

The list of contributors, editors, and consultants on the project is a veritable Who's Who of biblical and theological scholarship, representing all major traditions and schools of thought liberal and conservative. Leander Keck, of the Yale Divinity School, is the primary editor of the series.

The volumes were published individually, and can be purchased individually, which is a good thing, given that they are a bit expensive. But for any serious biblical scholar, preacher, student, or enthusiast, they are invaluable.

--Volume III--

The third volume of the New Interpreter's Bible continues a look at the 'histories', more precisely termed in the NIB as Narrative Literature, with the books I and II Kings, I and II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, as well as the apocryphal books Tobit and Judith.

Choon-Leong Seow of Princeton Theological Seminary addresses the books of Kings. Leslie Allen of Fuller Theological Seminary looks at the books of Chronicles. Ralph Klein of Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago provides commentary on the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Sidnie White Crawford of the University of Nebraska looks at the book of Esther (the only book of the Bible that does not reference God, and the only one not found among the Dead Sea Scrolls) as well as the apocryphal additions to the book of Esther. Irene Nowell, OSB, looks at the apocryphal book of Tobit, and Lawrence Wills of the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, takes on the book of Judith.

The books of Tobit, Judith, and the additions to Esther are called apocryphal because their status is not canonically clear within the Christian tradition. They are not contained in the official canon of the Hebrew scripture, and so Protestant tradition has tended to leave the books out of the Old Testament. However, these texts were included in the Septuagint, the primary Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures in the ancient world, and so the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox churches consider the texts canonical.

High praise goes to the general editorial staff for working with such strong authors/scholars, that their work fits together well as part of this set while retaining their individual characteristics (much like the writers of the Bible itself!).

--Other volumes available--

The following is a list of each volume in this twelve-volume set, and the contents of each.

Volume I: General Articles on the Bible; General Articles on the Old Testament; Genesis; Exodus; Leviticus

Volume II: Numbers; Deuteronomy; Introduction to Narrative Literature; Joshua; Judges; Ruth; I & II Samuel

Volume III: I & II Kings; I & II Chronicles; Ezra, Nehemiah; Esther; Additions to Esther; Tobit; Judith

Volume IV: I & II Maccabees; Introduction to Hebrew Poetry; Job; Psalms

Volume V: Introduction to Wisdom Literature; Proverbs; Ecclesiastes; Song of Songs; Book of Wisdom; Sirach

Volume VI: Introduction to Prophetic Literature; Isaiah; Jeremiah; Baruch; Letter of Jeremiah; Lamentations; Ezekiel

Volume VII: Introduction to Apocalyptic Literature; Daniel; Additions to Daniel; Hosea; Joel; Amos; Obadiah; Johan; Micah; Nahum; Habakkuk; Zephaniah; Haggai; Zechariah; Malachi

Volume VIII: General Articles on the New Testament; Matthew; Mark

Volume IX: Luke; John

Volume X: Acts; Introduction to Epistolary Literature; Romans, I Corinthians

Volume XI: II Corinthians; Galatians; Ephesians; Philippians; Colossians; I & II Thessalonians; I & II Timothy; Titus; Philemon

Volume XII: Hebrews; James; I & II Peter; I, II & III John; Jude; Revelation

Most people understand that the study of Scripture is an enormous task; and that there is a considerable theological heritage to even the most benign of passages. Unfortunately, it is sometimes difficult to translate that understanding into a willingness to genuinely delve into the vast pool of material out there. In addition, it's hard to know who to trust.

You can trust the New Interpreter's Bible series. All of the scholars who contributed are the best in their field. In addition, the layout (which includes two complete translations - the NIV and the NRSV) is conducive to both scholarly and spiritual study of the texts.

Each text is broken down into discret units (i.e. the Tower of Babel) followed by general commentary on the passage, verse by vers analysis of key issues, and then an overview of study questions. The commentators address issues of authorship, historical setting, translation, theological history, and personal application. In addition, they graciously point to excellent sources for further reading.

Speaking as a pastor, it is my strong opinion that every English-speaking Christian who is serious about Bible study should own the complete set.

Crawford W. Loritts challenges "fruitless and aimless" Christians "To, once and for all, as an act of the will to dedicate all that we have and are to Jesus Christ." He observes that the majority of Christians have never made that decision and then are bewildered that they feel lifeless, purposeless, and without direction. He defines the problem and shows us the Biblical solution to it. If you want to get your spiritual train back on its track, you will be glad you found this powerful little book. He backs up his teaching with scripture and deals with the issues that bring passion and purpose back into the Christian life.

This book was written by my father & I think that he did a wonderful job. If you liked this book, you should check out his new book entitled-"Never Walk Away".

PETROLIA recently was awarded the Giddens Prize as the best new writing on oil history, 1996-2000.

Never before have I read such an eloquent and informative journey through the oil boom of Pennsylvania. The photographic images that Dr. Black has chosen for his book are as captivating and clear as his text. An outstanding and brilliantly written book.

I used these notes in PLACE of taking physical geology. I needed a final science class to graduate, and the only one available was Historical Geology, which had the prerequisite of physical geology. These Cliff's Notes are so thorough and easy to understand that I felt well prepared for the class, despite the fact that I had no experience in Geology whatsoever. I am not very good in science of any kind, and these notes were easy for even me to use:) I felt comfortable enough with the material presented in the notes to apply it in an entirely different class. I'm sure these would fantastic review notes for students in physical geology!

This book is an excellent means for studying and an excellent way to review for tests. It gives the reader a very detailed description of every geological aspect that should be discussed in an entry-level course. I highly recommend this guide for all students who have a class in physical geology, or who just want to learn more about the science of it.

I'm not a big baseball fan, but I wanted to read this book because it pertained to the Negroe Leagues, a part of baseball most of us don't know much about. I was delighted. The Pittsburgh Crawfords was both entertaining and informative. What a wonderful cast of characters! And wonderful stories.

The Pittsburg Crawfords by James Bankes presents an excellent insight into the world of black baseball and some of its greatest stars such as Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell and Josh Gibson. One of the books fascinating parts is a comparison of black stars with the 1927 Yankees Murderes Row. As a baseball fan, I highly recommend this book.

My daughter loves this book! She loves the different textures and loves the pictures of the different children!

My grandson, age 3, searches our children's library stacks for this every time he goes there. He loves it and I believe it is the forerunner of children's ability to read.

This book is a very nice way to have a devotion time with young children. The illustrations are colorful and hold their attention. Also nice for bedtime. Very down-to-earth and real for a young child.

These Psalms are written in a way that a child can understand and apply them to his or her life. Easy to understand, simple and clear. Beautiful poetic style. Makes the Psalms personal to little ones. Highly recommended for reading together.