Buying this book is about the only way to find the 2 CD set. George borrowed Eric's band (Eric returning the favor, having earlier borrowed George's wife), and the music is incredible. Clapton's band and back up singers perform spectacularly, as do Eric and yes, even George. Update renditions of George's favorite tunes, with screaming Japanese fans in the background. And the book's not bad either!

You don't have to be a 'quilter' to appreciate this magnificent CD! I can say that with the upmost assurance, since my fingers have never-ever put needle and thread to cloth--can't even sew on a button! But, thankfully, I have friends that can and do!
After seeing this stunning CD at a friends house, I have recommended it non-stop to anyone and everyone who has any appreciation of 'coffee table books,' art, women in their element, women outside of their element, history, living history, quilts, crafts, sewing, and photography.
This one little book of quilts and exerpts from their creators immediately grabs your attention then sweetly places you in the lives (albeit for a split second) of a handful of women. They are women from all walks of life who have unpretentiously created not just a quilt, but a personal and cultural work of art--a treasure for us all. They each share something they unique experienced while in the process of making their quilts. Each quilt is brilliantly displayed in this CD. This colorful CD, the women and their work can forever be part of our own lives. Thank you Dottie Moore and Michael Harrison!

This collection of Sasse's essay written between 1927-1939 are thus particularly fascinating and enlightening as the context of the Nazi regime and intro to American Christianity way heavy on the author.

Here one will discover what it truly means to confess one's faith in light of pressure and temptation. Thus, the lonely way.

Confessional words from this studied church historian and exegete and ecumenist pour forth on observation of his own ecclesiastical scene as well as ours here in the States.

The opening essay is fascinating, since it entails Sasse's initial visit to America. His comments are penetrating and analytical, e.g. "This churchliness of life has a down side to be sure: the secularization of the church. ... Tkhey have opened their doors in part to modern civilization, which has endangered the purity and depth of the faith. Here is the reason for that superficiality of American church life which repulses us Germans." "The consequence of this, along with the concurrent leveling effect of American life, is an elimination of confessional anthitheses. .... All this has created a common religious atmosphere, in which the confessional lines are blurred. Thus fighting has been replaced by cooperation, one of the great American catchwords."

Delivered in 1928, an essay on the church as body of Christ is yet another of Sasse's confessional themes, strongly confessing the Lutheran substance of sacramental presence of Christ: "The church is the body of Christ, is identical with the body of Christ, which is really present in the Lord's Supper. The participation in the body and blood of Christ present in the Lord's Supper is synonymous with membership in his body."

Instructive thoughts and admonitions which provide more than ample reflective thought of their adaptation and input to current theological issues and ponderings.

A valuable resource for the church of the Reformation and those interested in listening in on this timeless saint of the Lord's literary output.

This book chronicles events that led to, during, and shortly after the Long March, which was a heroic journey that the Chinese Communist-led Red Army took in the mid-30's. The journey started as the Red Army was driven out of their base by Chiang Kai Shek's Nationalist Army and faced total defeat. The Red Army fled the Nationalist Army by walking in the remote areas of China for two years and some 7000 miles while defending themselves against the Nationalist troops that were chasing them. But at the end of the journey, the Red Army not only survived but was also strengthened and earned more popular support. The Long March is considered a key turning point in the modern Chinese history.

In this book, Salisbury combined his amazing story-telling skills with careful research and the unbiased attitude that a good reporter should possess. He interviewed generals, soldiers and ordinary citizens, collected stories related to historical events that were unknown to both Western readers AND Chinese readers. With all these materials, he tried to tell you what happened in China at that time, and why, and he succeeded. The details that Salisbury put in the book also allowed one to find out the personalities of the key players of modern Chinese history: Mao and his generals, Chiang and his generals.

Salisbury's story-telling skill is perhaps nothing new to many readers. I had great enjoyment when reading this book, I felt that I shared the emotions of the people in the book. The description of the battles was so vivid I almost felt that I was there watching.

So, if you want to know what life was like in the 1930s' China, if you want to know why Communism, an utterly unattractive idea in many people's eyes, won the support of Chinese people in the 30s', if you want to know what kind of people the Chinese Communist leaders were, or if you just want to read a good book on military history, read this one and you will not be disappointed.

In "The Losses of Nations," the authors provide a convincing case that only a land-based tax system will generate the level of general prosperity that will virtually eliminate poverty and unemployment -- a land-based tax system being one that falls solely on the rental value of land and natural resources ("rent" for short).

Under the current system, public revenue is derived primarily from taxes on labor and capital. This, they argue, imposes tremendous deadweight loss on the U.S. economy (i.e., a net loss in which the income lost to taxes far outweighs the benefits received from tax-funded services). Some argue that this can be remedied merely by reducing the level of taxation. That, the authors hold, is a false solution, because the problem is "not with the tax rates, but the character of the tax system itself" (p. xvii). The character of the current system is that it imposes unjust hardships on millions of working men and women. How? Two ways.

First, by falling primarily on houses, wages, sales and capital goods, it penalizes people the more they put land to productive use, resulting in less jobs and lower wages.

The second way is less obvious, because it involves artificially extending what some economists call the "margin of production." The margin of production simply refers to the least productive land currently in use. (Lower quality land beyond the margin is thus "submarginal.") By taxing land rent very little, the current system encourages land speculation, a process whereby speculators hold well-situated land out of use in hopes of exacting a ransom price from future developers. The resultant scarcity of land drives up land prices to the point of forcing developers to "leap-frog" into the urban fringes where land is still affordable -- hence the runaway sprawl that plagues heavily populated areas. In that way, land speculation forces the margin of production to inferior land, thus lowering it to an artificially low level. Since the amount of wages received at the margin of production tends to determine the amount of wages received everywhere else, the more this margin is prematurely extended to submarginal land, the more wages are driven down.

With all that in mind, the authors conclude that this trend can be reversed simply by shifting the tax burden off labor and capital and onto land values. How much would such a shift boost the economy? On page 147, economist Nicolaus Tideman estimates that:

"...a shift to public collection of rent as the principal source of public revenue in the U.S. in 1993 would have increased the output of the U.S. economy by $1,602 billion above its actual level for 1993, implying that the U.S. economy is producing only 77 percent of what it could produce with a better tax policy."

In other words, virtually all the unemployment in the U.S. economy is utterly unnecessary, and could be wiped out by implementing a land-based tax system.

To this some often object that the revenue capacity of land is insufficient. In chapter 2 Fred Harrison reveals that this objection is based on the myth that land rent makes up only 2% of the national income. According to a ground-breaking study by Wall Street economist Michael Hudson, Harrison explains, the revenue capacity of land is actually about 14% of the national income, or what in 2002 would amount to over $1.1 trillion in annual revenue.

What's more, economists throughout history have observed that, when taxes on labor and capital are lowered, land values tend to rise proportionately. Why? For the simple and obvious reason that, the more people can afford to pay for access to a fixed quantity of land, the more titleholders tend to charge higher rents. If, for instance, the payroll tax were abolished, most of the resultant increase in take home pay would be absorbed by higher rents. It therefore follows that the more the tax burden on labor and capital is reduced, the more the revenue capacity of land is raised by a comparable amount. Thus, once this tax shift was implemented, the revenue capacity of land would likely double to well over $2 trillion - hardly an "insufficient" amount. Economist Mason Gaffney explains this more thoroughly in chapter 7.

"The Losses of Nations" is one of the most important books on tax reform ever written, and should be required reading by every member of Congress.

Written and illustrated by Josephine Chaudoin Harrison, The Magical Master Snowman And The Black Dragon is an original, absorbing and imaginative fairytale, deftly broaching the subject of a child's death and the destiny of the soul. Enchanting black-and-white crosshatch illustrations as well as an inset selection of color plates enhance this moving parable which is highly recommended reading and appropriate for all ages.

This work is like encountering a strange film which, after a while seems not to be a film at all but an experience you are having, a kind of a journey that you don't remember setting out on. It takes you through England, Bali, Cambodia, Italy, through time, through light. In the end, as with all good journeys, you are someplace else and you are a little different, though in ways you can't describe. That's what is so great about this book; it takes you someplace in a way that lies outside summation.

If you are pursuing watercolor painting, have achieved a reasonably good drawing skill, and are ready to take on some significant watercolor projects, this book is right for you. The book consists of three main sections. After a brief coverage of color, papers, and equipment, the book presents tutorials on painting water, landscape, trees, figures, portraiture, and landscapes, after some masters of these subject matters, including Cotman, Constable, Monet, to name a few. These step-by-step tutorials are discussed in detail and easy to follow, along with emphasis on key techniques. Finally, the last section of the book demonstrates important techniques in watercolor to achieve desired effects.

STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.

W.Garrison Starkeys, book from 1890 I have a signed copy is it Worth money, each time I read it i am inspired. please reply Katherine

This series of books is very helpful and full of information that the huge textbooks have but very condensed. Great to make additional notes in the margins that the textbook deems is necessary information to acquire.