Product Description
Keener’s commentary explores the Jewish and Greco-Roman settings of John more deeply than previous works, paying special attention to social-historical and rhetorical features of the Gospel. It cites about 4,000 different secondary sources and uses over 20,000 references from ancient literature.

"Sixteen hundred pages is a lot of pages for a commentary on the Gospel of John, surpassing Raymond Brown and almost matching Rudolf Schnackenburg’s three volumes. But Craig Keener has given us far more than a commentary. He has invited us into the world of that Gospel and made it a magnificent window into the thought and practice of early Judaism and, to a lesser extent, the whole Greco-Roman world of the first century. At the same time, he has made those first-century worlds a lens through which to view the Gospel of John itself. The reader will find this work a treasure trove of information about the origins of Christianity, shedding light on such questions as what is a Gospel? how reliable are the four Gospels in their portrayal of Jesus of Nazareth? and in particular how reliable is the Gospel of John? Keener presents a compelling case for viewing Jesus himself within the framework of early Judaism, and for both the Jewishness and the essential reliability of the traditions about Jesus preserved in John’s Gospel. Keener’s introduction runs to well over three hundred pages, and his bibliography to almost two hundred. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

One of the All Time Great Commentaries on John
This two-volume work is one that I keep right on my desk every day, year in and year out, as I study Scripture.What astonishes me is the sheer scope of Keener's knowledge, and the clear and engaging way that he presents his conclusions.He treatsthe skeptics with the requisite generosity and patience to which I've become accustomed when reading the brilliant scholarship of a believer, and his knowledge of ancient Greek, Roman and Jewish writers is breath-taking.This and his work on Matthew are immense contributions to the field of New Testament Scholarship.I find all Keener's work to be accessible for mainstream people such as myself, who cannot read the ancient languages.The comprehensive nature of Keener's approach, the way he truly does explain just about every conceivable interpretation of a passage is simply amazing.I turn to him constantly for insight, and go back over material again and again discovering something new each time.Make this part of your library.

The Pastor & His Teaching!
I purchased this commentary for my pator at Christmas.
He said that he was intrigued by the authors use of
Language Structures in interpreting the Gospel of John.
Though intrigued, he found this use of interpertation
best used on the Letters of St. Paul.He had not
completed reading the II Volumes at the time.I had the
impression that he liked what he saw!

How many volumes in a full set of books?
Second time around, service was wonderful, but I had to return the first order because only Vol 1 of a 2 vol set was shipped. The same problem occurred last week, as I received only 1 vol of a 3 vol set, and I'm having to mail back vol 1 to start over. This is not only inconvenient for me, but expensive for Amazon. Better quality control is need to insure a full order is actually shipped!

Excellent Work!
Keener's work is now one of my favorite commentaries on the fourth Gospel. This commentary complements Carson's acclaim piece on John's Gospel including that of Kostenberger (very recent work), of course, Barrett, Lincoln, Moody, etc. The strenght of this commentary lies in its focus on the social- historical millieu, and literary and theoligical character of the Gospel of John. Keener's mastery of original and secondary sources is striking. Students of John will find this commentary valuable, not only for academic research on the Gospel, but for spiritual nourishment.

An Outstanding Commentary
Craig Keener has given us a rather magisterial work on the Fourth Gospel with this 2 volume commentary.Keener approaches the text from a moderately charismatic perspective, and as a non-charismatic, I am very pleased that someone of Keener's tradition has delivered such a scholarly and well researched work for the benefit of the church at-large.

Keener does a very good job of laying down the ground rules of his approach at the outset of his commentary.Keener's main purpose to analyze the Fourth Gospel within its own socio-historical context.With this in mind, the reader will find a breathtaking array of references to ancient sources throughout the commentary to give weight to Keener's 'original audience/context' interpretive approach.Keener is refreshingly candid in acknowledging the limitations inherent in this approach (but of course, there are limitations to any interpretive approach), such as less emphasis on conversing with other more modern scholars who hold to different interpretive approaches.But his particular approach is indeed the valuable and fairly unique contribution to Johannine studies that he seeks.

Keener's introduction deals with issues of authorship, the Johannine community, the issue of 'the Jews', genre, and other overarching issues.The reader will find a very organized and well laid-out presentation of these issues.Keener puts forth a generally conservative view on authorship that is very well reasoned and irenic.Keener's proposal on 'the Jews' issue is also very well done and thought provoking.Here in particular, he has made a very real contribution to a very important discussion.

Keener's interaction with the text is also quite good, if imperfect.Keener deserves great commendation for periodically touching on the much neglected issue of hospitality in the Fourth Gospel (though he could have done much more with this).I felt Keener did a very good job of mostly avoiding the convenient theoretical speculation that tends to dominate most Fourth Gospel commentaries, and to instead focus his interpretive energies on drawing from many other sources contemporary to the Fourth Gospel to draw his conclusions.While there are risks to doing this, it is a far more careful and responsible approach to exegesis than forcing modern day paradigms and theories onto the Fourth Gospel and making it fit, a la Bultmann, Brown, and many others.

I will note a few quibbles I have with this work, but the reader should understand that these are indeed quibbles and do not severely detract from the high quality Keener has given us.First, while the average reader will likely be blown away by the depth and breadth of Keener's bibliography, there are a number of important omissions that are unfortunate.It is unusual to me that Keener did not converse with Lieu's important article on the Johannine view of blindness, particularly in his treatment of John 12.In addition, it is very surprising that in Keener's introductory treatment of the alleged sectarian nature of the Johannine community, no mention is made of Gundry's provocative assertions.This is particularly odd since Keener does cite a number of other works by Gundry, some of which are much farther off topic than Gundry's work on the 'sectarian John'.Lastly, this commentary, like many others, fails the reader when it comes to practical application.Keener's treatment of 'the Jews' question is helpful in this regard, but it is shame that this work tends to reflect the false dichotomy that one cannot produce a scholarly commentary if it emphasizes practical application.To the contrary, theology and exegesis cannot be done well in a vacuum, and Keener knows this because of his heavy interaction with sources contemporary with the Fourth Gospel.But what Keener does so well here he does not do well when it comes to taking the Fourth Gospel's implications for the original audience and responsibly applying them to contemporary life today.A failure to embrace this step in the exegetical process puts an unnecessary cap on its usefulness within the church, and it's a shame because it didn't have to be that way.

But overall, there is little argument that Keener has provided a very valuable study of the Fourth Gospel that provides an outstanding basis to conduct further research and compensate for the weaknesses I've suggested above.Well done, and highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
Throughout much of the twentieth century the Fourth Gospel took a back seat to the Synoptics when it came to historical reliability. Consequently, the contemporary quest of the historical Jesus discounted or excluded evidence from the Fourth Gospel.The question of the historical reliability of John's Gospel is well overdue for a thorough reinvestigation and reassessment. In this foundational study, Craig L. Blomberg sheds new light on persistent questions. He presents his conclusions largely in commentary form, following the principal scenes of the Gospel. His introduction frames the pathway into the discussion, taking up critical issues such as

• authorship, date and provenance of the Fourth Gospel
• sources and omissions of the Fourth Gospel
• points where John's Gospel interlocks with the Synoptics
• general indications of historicity
• literary genre and unique audience of this Gospel
• burden of proof and criteria of authenticity

Customer Reviews (5)

Incorrect ISBN for this book
Unfortunately Amazon has listed this book under the wrong ISBN:

ISBN-10: 0830826750
ISBN-13: 978-0830826759

Hopefully Amazon will remove the wrong listing at some point.

The CORRECT ISBN's are:

ISBN-10: 0830826858
ISBN-13: 978-0830826858

Sorry this review seems to be automatically listing under both the correct and incorrect ISBN, it was only posted under the incorrect listing.

Excellent book on John from an orthodox scholar
It's hard to imagine a more meticulous study of John. Blomberg has clearly read every other noted scholar on the subject, so he is able to draw upon a vast fund of information.

Best of all, it's written in a brisk, accessible style.

Some arguments about John seem to be settled. Nearly everyone agrees the author was "Jewish...and from Palestine. His knowledge of geography and topography of Israel is excellent" (p 27). The extent of his knowledge about the other three gospels and his reliance upon them is still to be decided.

Many, if not most scholars, would agree John shows some knowledge of Mark, and that he "frames much of his Gospel as a prophetic lawsuit (Heb. rib)" (p 57).

The mystery of why John would frame a lawsuit after the temple had been destroyed and the priestly class gone is puzzling.

Blomberg points out many points of similarity between John and other gospels. Among them, for example, would be the portrait of Martha and Mary in Luke being very similar to the portrait John draws.

Some issues will only be agreed upon by the more orthodox scholars, such as "Jesus' riding a donkey...was probably making an implicit messianic claim" (p 180).

A perfect book to add to your library.

John's Gospel Defended
Blomberg does a loose exposition of John's Gospel, providing running commentary along the way, bringing out facts that show that John was more than just theological art. It is also a historically reliable writing. This pleases me as an evangelical, though it doesn't mean I am on board with all that Blomberg says, either. He has a rather lengthy defense of Johannine authorship, which is better at knocking back other contenders for authorship than it is at making his own case. Blomberg relies on the external testimony of others outside the Bible (Polycarp, Justin Martyr), even though the internal evidence within John's Gospel is nebulous at best. I think the Gospel reflects the memories of the Beloved disciple and that this beloved disciple was probably Lazarus, based on a reading of John 11:2-4, compared with the other "disciple whom Jesus loved" texts.

Blomberg also defends the thesis that the cleansing of the temple in John 2 is a separate event from the cleansing mentioned in the Synoptic Gospels toward the climax of Jesus' ministry. Blomberg also shows that the conversation between Jesus and the woman at the well makes good historical sense, and that the Nicodemus of John 3 could be the Nicodemus Ben Gurion of history.

Blomberg also highlights the historical accuracy of the geography in John 5, the realistic details of the intra-Jewish debate between Jesus and the Pharisees, and even the likelihood of an informal excommunication policy in John 9:22.

Blomberg also defends the idea that the fellowship meal in John 13 was indeed the Passover meal of Matthew 26 and Mark 14.

Blomberg also defends the essential historicity of the details of the Passion Narrative.

While I would hesitate to say that this book is as great as his other writings on the Gospels, Blomberg does the body of Christ a great service with this book. It doesn't replace the need to use other Johannine commentaries, as this one is selective in nature and highlights the texts that shed light on historically substantial issues. But it is a great aid for the expositor.

A Compelling Defense of the 4th Gospel
Craig Blomberg, a scholar that specializes in the studies of the historical reliability of the Gospels, has written a volume that is an essential-read for those seeking a solid, in-depth defense of this Gospel's historicity and for those wishing to collect and become familiar with material (positive or negative) that deals with this subject.

The reviewer below has given the basic outline of the book so I'll just elaborate briefly on the most important section. The meat of the book, which is the commentary section, moves through each chapter analyzing all of the events and discourses, discussing positive indicators of historicity and interacting with typical objections to it.

The major objection to the Gospel of John is how different the book is, theologically, from the Synoptic Tradition. Why is there so much of a difference in outline?Why is Jesus portrayed as being more explicit about his divinity in this book? Another major problem scholars face when approaching this book is differentiating the actual words of Jesus (that John is quoting) from the author's own theological reflections. Scholars, evangelical and critical, as a whole, are not nearly as optimistic about the historicity of this Gospel in comparison with the Synoptics.

Nevertheless, I find that Blomberg makes a great case for the overall reliability of John. The commentary section starts off with a discussion of the crucial question of authorship. If indeed the disciple John is the author of this Gospel, then the probability that the Gospel is generally historically reliable becomes very likely. After all, John, as a disciple that accompanied Jesus during his ministry, would have certainly been in a great position to record accurate history regarding these events, which in most cases he was an eyewitness.Not surprisingly, the majority of scholars reject traditional authorship. However, Blomberg manages to piece together a very solid case for Johannine authorship, beginning with the very important data of the testimony of the early church on this issue.

As far as the actual commentary is concerned, one aspect that is particularly helpful, and very revealing I might add, is how Blomberg constantly demonstrates that the concepts in John can be gleaned from references to the Synoptic Tradition as well. It may be somewhat surprising to the reader to discover that certain phrases and concepts propounded by Jesus in John's Gospel can be found, though usually in less explicit form, in the Synoptics themselves.

The discussions of the various miracles, including the turning of water into wine, the raising of Lazarus, the feeding of the 5,000, and Christ's resurrection also prove to be helpful as each passage is broken down, arguments against historicity are countered, and favorable indications of historicity are given.

While more could be said, hopefully this will suffice. A more detailed review that may be more helpful to the reader can be accessed from tektonics.org. I'll conclude by stating emphatically that Blomberg has written a volume that demands consideration from the scholarly world, particularly those that are the most critical of John's Gospel.

A worthy read
I haven't finished with this book yet, but I see it has been around a while, and there are no reviews at all, so I thought I'd at least add some preliminary observations to help prospective readers.

Blomberg, of course, writes from the perspective of a fairly conservative evangelical. I am not (or, more accurately, no longer) an evangelical, and yet I find Blomberg is one of a handful of evangelical biblical scholars who deserves to be read and taken seriously by non-evangelicals.

The format here is very simple: a) an introduction to the historical issues surrounding John's gospel, a rundown of the Johannine distinctives that cause scholars to doubt its historicity, and a survey of the main arguments concerning authorship, genre and critical methodology; b) a commentary on the text of John, dealing with the historical issues as they arise; c) a conclusion.

By no means does Blomberg simply opt for the most conservative interpretation available, although he certainly argues for the general historical trustworthiness of John's gospel. My biggest concern is what he'll do with all the theological padding, especially the high christology of some of the discourse attributed to Jesus himself -- for me personally, that is one of the most historically dubious aspects of the gospel (and I say that as a trinitarian who has no problem affirming the deity of Christ). I haven't gotten very far into the commentary itself yet, so it remains to be seen what Blomberg argues.

Two things that would have made the book an easier read are footnotes, rather than the awkward references scattered in parentheses throughout the book as it is, and also the text of John itself alongside the commentary, for convenient reference. ... Read more

Product Description

Most treatments of slavery, politics, and expansion in the early American republic focus narrowly on congressional debates and the inaction of elite "founding fathers" such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. InSlavery, Freedom, and Expansion in the Early American West, John Craig Hammond looks beyond elite leadership and examines how the demands of western settlers, the potential of western disunion, and local, popular politics determined the fate of slavery and freedom in the West between 1790 and 1820.

By shifting focus away from high politics in Philadelphia and Washington, Hammond demonstrates that local political contests and geopolitical realities were more responsible for determining slavery's fate in the West than were the clashing proslavery and antislavery proclivities of Founding Fathers and politicians in the East. When efforts to prohibit slavery revived in 1819 with the Missouri Controversy it was not because of a sudden awakening to the problem on the part of northern Republicans, but because the threat of western secession no longer seemed credible.

Including detailed studies of popular political contests in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Missouri that shed light on the western and popular character of conflicts over slavery, Hammond also provides a thorough analysis of the Missouri Controversy, revealing how the problem of slavery expansion shifted from a local and western problem to a sectional and national dilemma that would ultimately lead to disunion and civil war.

Customer Reviews (1)

Top Notch, Rock Solid
Remember your favorite professor from college, that great lecturer whose class you'd take just because he or she was teaching that subject?It didn't matter which subject - with that professor you knew it would be worth taking the class.Craig Koester must be one of those professors.

With 8 chapters and around 250 pages, Koester covers the major theological themes in the New Testament's Gospel of John in commanding style.

Koester's writing style is casual yet matter-of-fact, terse in the best sense of the word, backed by such strong expertise that I get the feeling that he could "riff" on any of his phrases for hours more.

The book looks at themes - issues and answers - that cut across the chronological narrative of John's Gospel.You can see them in the chapter titles:

1. Introduction
2. God
3. The World and Its People
4. Jesus
5. Crucifixion and Resurrection
6. The Spirit
7. Faith, Present and Future
8. Discipleship in Community and World

There are 17 pages of end notes and 10 pages of bibliography, which indicates the scholarly underpinnings of this work.This can be enjoyed by anyone interested in a good reading of sound theology, but also would make a fantastic text for any college-level or graduate-level course in the Gospel of John.(Koester avoids academic jargon and writes in plain English, though he's not afraid to explain the occasional Greek word.)

My biggest complaint: I wish there were discussion questions at the end of each chapter - or a companion study guide.This book would work well as an 8-week small-group study series.

Finally, Koester takes John at his word, explains the themes, the interconnections in John's writing.Koester is not out to prove John wrong/naive/primitive; this isn't "gotcha" theology.It is a marvelous unfolding of the theology of the Christian faith as found in John's Gospel, illuminated by great scholarship and deep familiarity with the text itself and with the world which is its context.Koester shines that light on John's telling of the life, death and resurrections of Jesus in an eminently readable distillation of major scholarship, a semester's worth of great lectures from a rock solid professor.Get a copy and savor it. ... Read more

Product Description
Based on a recent debate held at Moody Church in Chicago between John Dominic Crossan, former co-chair of the Jesus Seminar, and evangelical William Lane Craig, Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up? is the first book to present, in one volume, a dialogue between evangelicals and members of the Jesus Seminar on the resurrection of Christ. Skillfully moderated by William F. Buckley Jr., this volume includes responses from Jesus studies experts such as Craig L. Blomberg, Ben Witherington III, Marcus Borg, and Robert J. Miller to round out the discussion. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

Hard to take the Jesus Seminar seriously anymore...
The first half of the book is a transcript of a debate between Dr. Craig and Dr. Crossan moderated by William F. Buckley. The second half is reflections on the debate by Christian and Jesus Seminar scholars. The debate itself is bad, as even the Christian scholars admit in their reflections. Crossan is nuts. He doesn't answer Craig's arguments nor does he seem to understand what the debate is about. Crossan has this esoteric belief about the resurrection and the historical Jesus that doesn't fit into a nice dialog with Craig. This book has shown me that indeed, the Jesus Seminar is a bunch of out-there hacks.

Not much of a "debate"
Crossan's refusal to seriously challenge Craig, and his views like "Did God exist in the times of the dinosaurs" is meaningless make this "debate" have very little common ground for Craig and Crossan to discuss. Crossan fails to make any kind of case whatsover, much less a convincing one, and strikes me as someone who presupposes much of what he concludes.

I would not recommend buying this book, but it does contain good responses by other scholars. This is one to borrow from a professor or a library, but not to own unless you have a very special reason.

What a Gret Debate!
Craig rightly reproves Crossan for what he regards his vague and mythological belief. If Jesus is not risen, we are wasting our time when we worship him. Crossan believes that Jesus' resurrection is a symbolical way to say that he empowers our lives; however he justly corrects Craig when the latter claims that the "majority" of scholars believe that Jesus claimed to be God. The beauty of the debate also lies in the contributions given by the other scholars. Surprisingly the two Christians, Blomberg and Whitherington, criticized Craig several times. Craig, however, was able to rebuff these criticisms and to keep the pressure on Crossan in his closing remarks. I liked Miller's argument that evidentialist apologetics works best for "insiders," (people who are already believers) though Craig was able to mention how several dozen people, in his last debates, came to Christ as a result of his arguments. It would have probably been better to say, which Miller didn't, that apologetics works best for undecided people (plenty of those out there!) and that therefore we still need it and will for a long time.
Craig's 4 contentions never refuted by Crossan:
1) Jesus was buried
2) His tomb was found empty
3) His disciples claimed to have seen the risen Jesus
4) The resurrection best explains the nature of these visions.
By the way, Craig is Not saying that it is irrational NOT to believe in the Resurrection!!! He is saying that Jesus' resurrection is the MOST plausible and logical explanation of the events surrounding that famous Passover about 2000 years ago.
I also recommend Pinchas Lapide's The Resurrection of Jesus: A Jewish Perspective

HAVE WE REVERTED TO THE DARK AGES?
This was billed as a debate-It was not-it was, instead an example of the Dumbing Down of Acadamia. Jesus, as later Roman and Jewish historians noted, (Tacitus, Usebius, Herodotus and others) was viewed by the Conservative, and Brutal Romans and the Priestly Hierarchy as a rebellious, seditious, radical, liberal, leftist. Conservative Governments, supported by conservative businesses want no interference with their greedy plans from those with a sense of justice. Recall that Republican President general D. D. Eisenhower and general Douglas McArthur warned that the conservative Japanese and German arms manufacturers-the military industrial complex instigated WW II. In Rome and Judea the wealthy Conservative senators, Generals, Royal Families, Herodian Kings and priests controlled the economy and Jesus' protection of the disenfranchised was seen as a threat to the wealth producing policies of Rome and Judea. Jesus knew that the Priests were stealing from the people by owning land a thing banned
Now comes Jesus. Who was he? A revolutionary? Simply a toleranct and liberal man seeking social justice, or a genuine prophet, Messiah, or Man-God? Did Jesus really say and do all of the things the evangelists, (who were not the apostles) writing some 35-90 years after Jesus' death, say he said and did? Why did the early church after Constantine try to destroy sacred books rediscovered in 1945-1947-the Nag Hammadi Codex's and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Crossan and Craig disagree on virtually everything in their books, but the real difference is that Craig's positions are the result not of deep synectical research and knowledge, but of his preconceived religious beliefs. Faith is a great thing but academic debates are about science not belief. Academic debates are based on hard evidence-what can be proven, not what is, through faith, believed! Debates are an intellectual exercise.
John Dominick Crossan, with whom I seldom agree, but respect as a researcher, is a solidly grounded research oriented Theologian. The debate, unfortunately, was rigged because Wm F. Buckley who was to serve as "moderator" was actually a third debater on Craig's side.Both of them must fear Crossan deeply to stoop to such a strategem. It is not just the stock market which lacks character.
A lot has been made of the attitude of Crossan and Borg in ignoring most of Craig's so-called "evidence". They did so, however, because the only evidence Craig produced were the gospels, themselves, which were in the things in question. Such tactics are unworthy of use in an academic debate environment or in a court room. Jesus may have been all the things the evangelists say he was, but using the very gospels in question as proof is not in the least valid evidence because they are the materials under scrutiny.
It is great to believe that Jesus is God. That is a matter of faith, but bringing one's faith to a scientific debate is ludicrous. I believe in God, but I would not attempt to prove that He exists because there is no scientific way to do that right now, so because I am secure in my belief, I do not need to prove it to anyone. Those who truly believe do not need public proof and those who do not believe cannot be convinced sans scientific evidence and it appears that God does not, at least at this juncture, wish for there to be any "Proof". In a true academic debate Buckley and Craig would have been dismissed, and lost.
Asfor the personal attacks on the men of the Jesus Seminar, they are unwarranted and egregious. They, as a body, do not do not hate Christianity, several of them are religious professionals-ministers, priests, etc.) and they are not evil men, nor are they all atheists, but they are researchers who are trying to get at the truth. Would you rather be taught by Dark Ages alchemists than scientific researchers? Judging from much of the response, few understand the nature of academic debating. Debates are one means of teaching and learningI was disappointed in this book because instead of trying to get at the truth Buckley and Craig were evangelizing and conspiring-not a good roll-model for young students to witness-corruption in academia. The book's most interesting reading was the commentary by Borg and other theologians. The rest of the debate and theresponse to is was more like the rantings of immature and moronically ill-informed people who do not want to know or hear truth.

Should Have Been a Classic
"Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up" features a debate between liberal and conservative Christians regarding the nature of Jesus. The participants are Dominic Crossan a prolific liberal New Testament scholar and the leading contemporary apologist for mainstream Christianity William Craig.William Buckley moderated the debate.The debate transcript is followed by comments from both liberal and conservative scholars regarding the debate and issues raised within it.

High profile debates such as these between liberal and conservative Christians are few and far between.Given that Craig and Crossan are the best known and arguably most capable representatives of the respective camps this should have been a classic.Although Craig was engaging, Crossan for the most part appeared evasive and refused to participate in any substantive discussion.Crossan is well known for making many controversial statements regarding the historic Jesus, however, when Craig raised some of these claims, Crossan largely failed to acknowledgeor support them.

I found Crossan's performance disappointing.Although I do not often agree with him, I do think some of Crossan's ideas are interesting and would have enjoyed a discussion of them.Crossan's weak showing made many of his more grandiose claims - and by association those of the Jesus Seminar - appear somewhat vacuous.Though from my perspective, the objective of these types of discussions is not necessarily to win, I think all but the most ardent Crossan supporters will concede that he was intellectually and rhetorically overwhelmed by Craig.

Despite the debate's flaws the book is still a worthwhile read for those interested in Christian apologetics or the historic Jesus.Readers seeking some background for the debate can refer to "The Five Gospels" by the Jesus Seminar and "Jesus under Fire" a response by mainstream/conservative Christians.Readers seeking an overview of contemporary scholarship regarding the historic Jesus should see "Jesus, The Victory of God" by N.T. Wright and "The Jesus Quest" by Ben Witherington. ... Read more

Product Description

The only book that integrates the foundations and the most current innovations in the field from the ground up. Over the past twenty years, this field has rapidly evolved from the study of physical anthropology into biological anthropology, incorporating the evolutionary biology of humankind based on information from the fossil record and the human skeleton, genetics of individuals and of populations, our primate relatives, human adaptation, and human behavior .  Stanford combines the most up-to-date, comprehensive coverage of the foundations of the field with the modern innovations and discoveries.

Customer Reviews (3)

Book
I'm very excited i got this book. I would have had to pay almost $100 for it but since i bought it here i saved a ton. Awesome buy.

The book
The book is in the condition that was promised and got here on time. Thanks

A bit of family history revealed
Although published as a textbook for university students, this volume is an excellent read for anybody wishing to understand the course of evolution.The authors have assembled a wealth of material, organised it in an effective manner and presented it with outstanding prose skill.Lead author Craig Stanford, whose books on primate behaviour are well-known, is joined by neurologist and geneticist John Allen and anthropologist Susan Anton.The trio bringsmany years of experience to the task of explaining human origins.



After a brief introduction explaining what is meant by "Biological Anthropology", the authors provide a fine survey of the basic mechanisms of natural selection - DNA and genetics.Their depiction of how the genome is formed and how that structure builds the elements needed for natural selection to operate is an outstanding brief summary.Using available chemicals, DNA's mechanisms to build cells are explained, supplemented by vivid graphic images.From the process of cell building, the authors move on to show how the completed organism must deal with its environment, which includes other creatures, plant life and climate conditions through adaptation down succeeding generations.The authors describe the various factors leading to producing new species, isolation, elapsed time and new conditions.They also address the issue of how fossils and conditions are recorded in time and how researchers use a variety of techniques to determine age and place.



The species of concern, of course, are the primates.The sudden demise of the great reptiles that had ruled the Earth for over 150 million years opened new vistas for the life that survived the catastrophe.Little, fur-bearing creatures moved into niches that allowed rapid change.Many varieties emerged, but noteworthy among them were shrew-sized omnivores.Spreading over the land and forests, some of them developed new traits that would ultimately lead to us.The origin of the primates is lost in the mists of time, compounded by the paucity of fossils and lack of agreement on what typifies a "primate".The earliest proposed species bears the ungainly name of "Plesiadapiforms".The authors describe the traits suggesting these were our earliest ancestors, while explaining what is lacking to establish a firm identity.Each of the points they introduce is enhanced by the contending researchers' arguments over lineage.



Once past the vague beginnings, the team offers insights into how ape transformed into human.The physiological trends, such as jaw structure and teeth are outlined.Each of the fossil examples of pre-human hominids is examined critically with the important elements indicating its lineage in the human story assessed.From a lonely skull in a desert to remote caves, creatures that one day would lead to you and me are revealed.At some point, one or more of the ape-like animals stood upright.Demonstrating what a major step this was, with changes in spinal column, head position and posture, the new form proved to be even more adaptable than its predecessors.Not the least of the advantages gained, they note, is the ability to travel long distances with minimal energy expenditure.As much as we've learned, the authors remind us of the many questions remaining.The actual number of species, where and how they lived, and how many lineages did the ape ancestor lead to over the millennia?



Emerging "modern" forms bring new challenges in understanding.Although early apes sent offshoots out of Africa, it was the hominids that proved to be the most ambitious travellers.Homo erectus spent over a million years traversing Asia, leaving fossils in far-flung sites across the continent and in the islands southeast of the mainland.Their remains have been dated to as recently as 25 to 50 thousand years old.The recent find on the island of Flores suggest an even more recent descendant.A new species, Homo sapiens, and its own diaspora out of Africa follows.Its most significant aspect, the development of intelligence and language is thoroughly examined.A major change took place leading to the one species with the highest proportion of brain size to body weight.Coupled with changes in physiology, our species created a new form of intricate communication abilities.The brain also went through changes in organisation.Which factor made the greatest contribution to human behaviour patterns is the concluding segment of the book.It is that aspect of our history that remains most contentious and the authors examine the various views surrounding that issue.It's a fitting conclusion to this in-depth and comprehensive study.[stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada] ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Best short-length horror novel I have ever read.
John Paul Rowan thinks his life is bad, so he checks out. Then he finds out what bad really is. Meanwhile, two young ladies take over his apartment (after a little cleaning and painting it looks pretty normal again) and find some of the previous occupant's stories. With a little reading and a little supernatural twiddling, the writer figuratively and literally finds his audience.

This book clicks on so many levels you'd swear it was wearing taps. From Katie's mysterious eye scar to the reprintings of Rowan's short stories this book flows and scares with ease. Skipp and Spector were always at their best writing about the Big Apple; "The Light At The End" and this are two of the best horror books I have ever read.

Find it, buy it, read it. And try to wonder what would happen if there really were Old Ones, and they really did get tired of their witching day being celebrated with Count Chocula and Austin Powers costumes....

Is it a novel or a book of short fiction? BOTH!
Ah, yes, Skipp and Spector, where are they now when we need them the most? This was the fourth of their six collaborations, and as usual, it is definitely fantastic! In essence, it is a book of short stories intertwined with a framing/interlude device. The stories and the framing device are brilliantly horrifying, insightful, and at times, even bittersweet. FIND THIS BOOK AND READ IT! That goes for all of their work: The Light At The End. The Cleanup, The Scream, Dead Lines, The Bridge, and their last, but not least work, Animals. CHEERS! PJH

Worth reading for the short stories
NYC: A self-pitying writer hangs himself in the opening scene. Some months later, a young lady moves into his apartment and discovers his collection of stories, which are reprinted in the book. He's, you know, around and hegets interested in her as a way back into the world he so casually leftbehind. Some of those stories (especially the one about the Halloween whenthe Old Ones got tired of humans not taking their day seriously enough)haunt me to this day, and I read this book _years_ ago.

Skipp andSpector never got enough credit for the power and viscerality of theirwriting. Read anything you can find that was written by them (except maybefor "Animals", that one wasn't so good).

blurs the line between short story and novel
If you can get a hold of it, read it.After taking over a loft, the new owners discover a box of unpublished short stories.Each is wonderfully written, and could stand alone, but the power of the novel is in how themain characters become drawn in to and addicted to the short stories, evenas their lives become horribly altered by reading them.As will yours be. ... Read more

Product Description

Following on the heels of his immensely popular previous workbooks--The Sacred Romance Workbook and Journal and the Wild at Heart Field Manual--bestselling author John Eldredge offers The Journey of Desire Workbook. The perfect companion to his trade book of the same name, John offers once again a unique, thought-provoking, and life-recapturing workbook, which invites readers to rediscover their God-given desire and to search again for the life they once dreamed of. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Unique approach.
I find John Eldredge's approach to looking at our relationship with God to be very unique. It is such a personal approach befitting a true relationship. It is not sappy. Nor is it magical thinking. As a journal and guide it challenges me to put my heart into action to live a fuller life. I meet with two good friends from work and we use this as a discussion guide. It has significantly enriched our friendship and helped us better support one another in our life journey. Thank you John.

Journey of Desire
Wonderful book for men, but I read as a mother of boys and got a lot of insight on myself as well as I relate to men in my life and the impact they have made on me.It is a eye opening book that is so great to read.It broadens the soul and heart.

Amazing.
I cannot express how impressed I am with this guided journal.It will help anyone understand their desire and put it into perspective.I would recommend this to anyone!A definite "must buy."

excellent tool
fantastic tool for discovering your heart, and discovering where/how God has been leading you all along

Good...but
I've always thought workbooks were kinda' silly. I mean, shouldn't the book itself guide you through its content? Why do you need a second book to help you understand the first. The only guidebook I've ever found that wasn't silly was Experiencing God, but that's a different story.

This guidebook does ask some good questions and should be considered vital if anyone is leading a study of this book. It enables one to articulate their thoughts better. It is, however, mostly blank space for answers to the questions (why not just include the questions in the back of the original book...arg Capitalism!).

All in all, if you're leading a study of this book, it might be a good idea to pick this bad boy up. If not, save your cash and see if you can make it through the book without the guidebook. ... Read more

Product Description
Finally an Informative, Accessible Crash Course in Family Business Finance With fresh examples and insights, including a new chapter on private equity as a source of family business capital. Family businesses are walking a constant tightrope. On one side is the need for capital to grow the family business. On the other side is a need for shareholder liquidity. Shift too far one way or the other and it s a long way down sometimes without a net.Owners and managers of family businesses need to have a firm grasp of sound financial principles in order to walk that fine line between returns to shareholders and serving the needs of the business. When it was first published in 1995, Financing Transitions: Managing Capital and Liquidity in the Family Business brought sorely needed financial insight to thousands of family business members. It is now updated to include a greater level of financial sophistication as well as a broader array of tools, best practices, and ideas, including: Solutions for providing liquidity and family business capital; New chapters on private equity options for family businesses and family offices; Case studies and examples culled from decades of family business experience; The family effect and how it can make your business more effective.Strategic insights that will make your family business more sound. If you find family business financial practices to be among the most challenging aspects of your business, you need this book. And so do other family members in your business. ... Read more

Product Description
His name is Billy Rowe. Yesterday he was just another tragically talented loser the city had chewed up and spat back down on the streets. Billy came to New York with dreams of stardom, and found only a nightmare of obscurity. Frustrated and downtrodden, disgusted with his own failure, Billy spends his days living in Bowery squalor, his ambition skittering away like the cockroaches running up his tenement walls. His roommate can't cover the overdue rent. His girlfriend has no more patience for his self-pity. It seems that things can't get any worse.

Until the night Billy witnesses a murder in the street below his window: a young woman, knifed again and again and left to die, her blood gleaming under streetlight's glare. The killer flees into the shadows. And Billy watches, paralyzed with fear, until it's too late to do anything but scream.

When the police come, their contempt is palpable. And when they leave, Billy is ashamed. In a fit of despair, Billy prays for help, for guidance...for a sign.

And like a miracle it comes, as the mysterious stranger named Christopher. Christopher has come with a message: of the power that Billy has, if he will but lay claim to it.

Billy thinks Christopher is crazy...until he realizes that suddenly he feels no pain. Billy can heal the sick, or clean up the mess of his life. Or the mess of the city's savage streets.

Yesterday Billy Rowe was just another nobody. Now he has the Power. Now the city has nothing to fear. Nothing but Billy Rowe... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Where Angels Fear to Tred
"The Cleanup" was published in 1987 when Skipp and Spector where the whiz kids of the splatterpunk splash in horror fiction. As near as I can determine, the pair collaborated on a mere handful of novels before splitting up, stopped writing, or died - I don't know which. What a shame, because their take on time-honored horror tropes were fresh, and their prose and character development only improved with time. I believe "Cleanup" was their second published novel written while they were still honing their technique; yet for all its minor faults (this is not highbrow literature) I would rank "The Cleanup" second only to "Animals" in thoughtfulness, depth of characterization, and (of course) plain old fun.

Billy Rowe is an idealist and a failed musician. A loser with fading dreams of making the world a better place through his music. The reason for his failure is his unwillingness to compromise, to make his music more commercial in a time when the heady idealism of the sixties is but a fading memory. Billy's life takes a chilling turn one hot Big Apple night when he witnesses a murder while playing his guitar on the fire escape of his seedy apartment on Stanton Street. Someone, some thing, catapults from the shadows and literally guts a beautiful woman before his eyes. The killing itself is traumatic enough for a sensitive soul like Billy Rowe, but worse yet is the fact that the trench-coated murderer looked up from beneath his fedora and saw Billy watching. Now he fears his own life is at risk.

The murder sets off a chain of unlikely events that eventually leads Billy to a rendezvous with an angel in a coffee shop. At this point the narrative cranks into high gear, for the angel's message is both frightening and exhilarating, and appeals to Billy's idealism, his best intentions. And you know what they say about good intentions.

"The Cleanup" is not what you think it is. It dodges and weaves and leaves you guessing while Billy tries to patch things up with his girlfriend Mona and the world entire. As is usually the case in a commercial novel, there are no ugly women in "Cleanup." Even Mona's lesbian room mate is to die for, and Billy himself is no dog either once he cleans himself up. Yet the story turns ugly-as-sin as Billy attempts to make the world a better place using his new-found Power, and digs himself ever deeper into a quagmire he does not understand. "The Cleanup" is populated with characters with hopes and problems we can all identify with; we therefore mourn when they are hurt or lost, not least of all Billy Rowe himself whose idealism is both his greatest strength, and his direst fault. He is a good man with lofty hopes, yet lacks the wisdom to make those hopes fly.

Power Corrupts
This was a pretty fun horror-fantasy-thriller novel. A talented but unsuccessful musician, Billy, makes a deal with an angel and gains the power to do anything he can imagine. So he becomes a super-hero, minus the flashy costume and catchy name.

The story takes a turn when the lines begin to blur between justice and brutality. The tension in the story builds as Billy's power gains power over him, and he starts to become a monster ruled by whim and cruelty.

The story is quite captivating, and the writing very skillful. I had no idea this was their first novel, as I saw in another review. It was definitely hard to put down. A good short read, which you should pick up if you can find it.

Scared to Death
Even though this is Skipp & Spector's first, it's one of their best.You'll be begging for more, while at the same time, begging for it to stop!!I liked this one even more than "The Light at the End," if that's possible.Billy Rowe seems to be a run-of-the-mill, burned-out artist w/ talent, but little motivation.After witnessing a horrific crime, he begs for help and guidance from the spiritual world.His prayers are answered when he is granted "The Power" to clean up his life and the streets of New York.Whether he uses the power for good or evil is up to Billy and he begins to have trouble differentiating between the two as vengence drives him on.

Good street level horror story
Skipp and Spector, who are decent horror writers, come up with a uniquetwist for "The Cleanup."A street vigilante is invaded bysupernatural powers and becomes a hero to be feared.Good stuff, thoughnot as good as their best novel, "The Scream."

Skipp And Spector "Cleanup" the horror playground.
Simply put, this is probably the best-written horror story of the mid eighties. The wish-fulfillment fantasy, so long a boring and dreary concept in any genre, suddenly found itself alive and well with the introduction ofBilly Rowe. The story deals with redemption, social angst and the questionof good and evil. Rowe, a down-on-his-luck muscisian, suddenly findshimself in possession of god-like powers that allow him to"clean" the streets of his city. He does this in a variety ofways, including shaping himself into a woman and burning the word RAPISTinto the forehead of one of his would-be sexual assaulters. He loses sightof his humanity, however, and the ultimate price is the forfeiture of hissoul. An excellent, if brutal and oft-times gory novel, for any personseeking the ultimate in alternative horror fiction. ... Read more

Product Description
Going from the sibling to the cousin generation is the last major transition for business owning families and many times this is the most complicated transition. A cousin-stage business requires a completely different pattern of thought than a sibling-stage business. This book by the authors of Making Sibling Teams Work: the Next Generation is aimed at helping cousins organize themselves and their extended family for success as a group that owns and runs a business together. You will become knowledgeable about the key issues that cousins face, such as how to attract the most capable family members into the business leadership roles or how to develop agreement among owners who may be widely scattered in geography and opinions. If you are a sibling owner, this book will help you create the circumstances to help your children become successful team -if it's the family's goal to continue in business together. This is a how-to book aimed at helping the cousin generation continue working together successfully. In From Siblings to Cousins: Prospering in the Third Generation and Beyond you'll learn: the requirements for success; managing the business in the cousin generation; the art of governance in the cousin generation; the transition issues that occur from siblings to cousins; special challenges for cousins; assuring continuity and success; and much more. When cousins set their hearts and minds to it, they can work together and give continuity to a viable business and the owning family. Transforming themselves from a disparate group of cousins who once hardly knew each other into a Cousin Collaboration will be both awe-inspiring and rewarding. From Siblings to Cousins: Prospering in the Third Generation and Beyond will show you how. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (15)

Thoroughly enjoyable
Given Mr. Badham's career, the stories he has to tell, the experiences he can draw from, are varied and plentiful.The book is a terrific guide for any aspiring or established director who needs information about working with actors.Mr. Badham provides numerous entertaining anecdotes to illustrate his points, making the book a thoroughly enjoyable read.He also includes quotes from a variety of actors, directors and producers.The book is insightful, informative and easy reading.

Maybe you should read this instead of taking a class
It's been a while since I read the book, so let me endorse it by sharing with you the comment I remember telling others: I learned more about directing in a few weeks (by reading this book) than I did in 2 1/2 years at my film school!(And I'm keeping my school a secret. Not ashamed at all, just don't want to partake in any "liable".) As it turns out, the author teaches at my school but I never had him for an instructor.
This book not only teaches principles, but uses real-life situations and examples as experienced by the author.In fact, there are several contributions by actual actors/directors - submitting their personal point of view on various directing techniques that they have found either work or don't work on them when they are on set.
As I recall, the principles are not nearly as detailed as in the book "Directing Actors" by Watson (which would normally diminish the number of stars the book would receive), but this one holds its own as a compliment to such books; Badham doesn't give step-by-step "how-to" direction on directing (pardon the pun) so much as he gives advice and pointers obtained from experience - which can be invaluable. That's why in its own right it received 5 stars.

I'll Be in My Trailer
I've worked in the film business for 30 years and enjoyed reading stories and tips from these film makers.Everything they say is true!!Most Thespians ARE neurotic and if you're going to work with them, you had better be prepared.

A Necessary Step Toward Greater Directing
No matter what the filmmaker's experience may be, John Badham's book is a necessary tool in becoming a greater director.Through stories, quotes, and excellent instruction, this book illustrates top notch methods of working with actors as the creative partners they are.It bridges the gap between crew and talent, and combines the efforts of both for a greater end result that flows easily and successfully conveys the natural emotions and feelings of a directed scene.

As a film student, I have constantly gone back and referenced the book, as well as reading and re-reading particular chapters that are easily outlined and provide excellent advice on everything from holding rehearsals to working with potentially "difficult" actors on the set.Reading this book has changed my methods of directing for the better and given me a greater understanding of how to work with actors for the greatest result of acting.Since I began practicing the techniques found within it, I have seen improvements in my directing, leading to greater performances and all-around better end results.With a fun reading style combined with priceless advice and entertaining stories, I highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to become a greater filmmaker.

Having Lunch with a Legend
John Badham has had an amazing career in film and television.He has had great success in every genre, including directing SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER which is, possibly the greatest 'coming of age' film ever made. It is certainly one of the best films of the amazing decade of the 70's which featured so many great films about the Mean Streets of New York.Any aspiring or seasoned director would do themselves a big favor by buying and STUDYING his wonderful book, I'LL BE IN MY TRAILER.Calling upon nearly 40 years of directing, Mr. Badham fills this book with a myriad of object lessons. Mr. Badham focuses, with great insight and humanity, on the relationship between the director and actor.In addition, he incorporates dozens of interviews and quotes from great directors, actors, cinematographers, etc., to give his reader a rich and broad picture of the movie-making process from casting to post-production. It is a rare book that can encapsulate such a range and depth of experiences about the art of filmmaking into all of 200 pages.Mr. Badham's tone is friendly and conversational.Reading this book is like having lunch with a legend and casually discussing the work of directing actors.A rare opportunity indeed; and one that should not be passed up. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

John Bell Hood and The Fight for Civil War Memory
I found this book very entertaining as well as informative.Without boring the reader with listed details of information, this author wove a beautiful story with biographic details.He presented a new refreshing look at history and this would be something I would like to know before purchasing the book.There is not much information on this particular Confederate General and his life.I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys history, Civil War History,
Biographies, and life stories in general.

Academic Biography Undermined by Author Including Everything but the Kitchen Sink
With the 150th anniversary of the Civil War around the corner, the nation is not quite as curious about it as it was in 1961 or even when the Ken Burns series came out in the early 90s. The 2000 census may show one of the reasons--with more Hispanics in the US than African Americans, the Civil War simply is not as relevant to them as say the War with Mexico. But another reason could be the lack of readable histories. Too many academic historians, following the leads of Gary Gallagher, are engaging in navel-gazing with memory and biography.

Enter Brian Craig Miller to tackle John Bell Hood and memory and he is able to rise above navel-gazing to some extent. Hood is a dramatic subject. No Confederate officer rose so high as the young man or fell as quickly. The story of the young soldier who lost his army, his fiance, his leg, his arm, his reputation and eventually eked out a living to provide for 11 kids and dying of yellow fever with his wife since he could not afford to leave New Orleans is beyond the power of a biographer. That's the stuff of Greek drama. Miller does a solid if unspectacular job in presenting Hood's story. However Miller loses sight of Hood which is easy to do. The man simply did not leave that much in the way of personal papers.

Miller is fair to his subject--for the most part. He does convincingly put down the myth that Hood was drug addict and warns that there is no evidence that the general suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder before seeming to write that he in fact did. He does do a much better job than Richard McMurray's biography in covering Hood's life after the war. Miller does provide a coherent narrative of Hood's roller coaster ride in charge of the Army of Tennessee. While the book does not supplant McMurray, those two books remain the best studies of Hood on the market--far better than Hood's "Advance and Retreat" which is bad even by the low standards we should expect from self-advancing Civil War autobiographies.

Fans of Hood will probably like this book better than other recent works--it is not as critical as Hood's tenure in command.Students of the eastern theater may be disappointed-Miller focuses on Hood in Tennessee and Georgia. The book comes off as an article with way too much fluff. Simply put, Miller did not know what evidence to leave out and so it often seems that the writer lost sight of John Bell Hood--which means the reader will too. Sorry but not all evidence is created equal. Here is a discussion on a law on amputees in Louisiana that took effect after Hood was dead. Here is a poem published in New Orleans about the Lost Cause. Here is a note about the Southern Historical Society publishing the records of the Confederate Congress in 1959. Now Miller wants us to know that $120 of the almost $20,000 raised for the Hood Memorial Fund come from Poland. Here's the lyrics of "Wearin' o' the Green'" that Hood may or may not have sung at Benny Havens.

When Miller is not trying to build up his nest of footnotes (though based on all the jargon Miller kept adding about southern manhood and honor I was expecting to see more B. Wyatt-Brown in the notes--God knows, he did not leave anything else out), this is not a bad work but it would have been a better article.

FINALLY!!
A decent, balanced, non-scapegoating, portrait of General John Bell Hood. The youngest and most junior of the Confederacy's eight four star generals, Hood has also without doubt been the most maligned. Though NONE has called him "yellow", he has been blamed for the loss of Atlanta, and for the several thousand deaths at Franklin, TN, on November 30, 1864, and has been characterized as a drunken, drug addicted, madman. Balderdash! I and others have been saying 'balderdash' for years, and finally an author has said it in print. Thank you, Mr. Miller.

Though I could have done without the analysis of "Southern manhood", whatever that is/was, I applaud Mr. Miller for his hard work and complete portrat of Hood as man and officer. Starting with family history in Kentucky, and not even ending with death from yellow fever in New Orleans on August 30, 1879, we get an excellent view of a most misunderstood man. Controversies are not avoided, and I shall look at Mr. Miller's treatment of two, the 1864 decision to place Hood in command of the Army of Tennessee, and the drug question.

Jefferson Davis was bound and determined to fire Joe Johnston, and replace him with somebody. Without going into specifics, he hated Joe's guts and did not trust him. While I get the impression that Mr. Miller likes Joe (as do I), and dislikes Davis (I disagree there), the question becomes "If not Joe, who?", and I think Mr. Miller and I would agree that Hood was the best choice available. Polk was dead. Longstreet had recently been wounded. Robert E Lee and Edmund Kirby Smith could not be spared from the jobs they had. Hardee (a good choice) had already refused the job, and was too tough to get along with. A P Stewart would have been an absolutely fine selection, and could have been a unifying force, but he had only been a three star for a month. Beauregard? Great, but Davis hated him almost as much as he did Joe. Bragg? Please...Hood was the best available.

The drug and alcohol business has been around since 1940, and has a life of its own. There is simply no evidence, as Mr. Miller points out. And there is plenty the other way: when Hood was in Richmond revovering from having his leg shot off at Chickamauga, he was around Jeff Davis, General Bragg, and Mrs. Mary Chesnut on a daily basis. Any would have observed abuse, and all would have been free to speak and act. They did not. Period. Hood is in Mrs. Chesnuts famous diary, but NOTHING is mentioned about substance abuse. Plenty of other folks were around Hood, and mentioned him in letters; NOT A WORD about drugs and/or booze.

Bravo Mr. Miller for not blaming General Hood for Atlanta, Spring Hill, or Franklin. Personally, I think Hood simply got dealt into a losing game way too late to make a difference. He played bad cards the best he could, lost, and had to live with the fallout. If Spring Hill is skimmed, I think the "blame" gets put where it belongs, on Frank Cheatham, who MAY well have been drunk. (As was Confederate General John C Brown and Yankee General Wagner).

John Bell Hood was not a perfect officer and this is not a perfect book, but the good far outweighs the bad. If better battle descriptions would have been nice, they could also have make the volume weigh a ton, and we have them elsewhere anyway. The last chapter, concerning the fate of Hood's ten orphans, will both break your heart and inspire you. Thanks to Mr. Miller for the kind words about General Beauregard; I had never before heard the story about General Grant skipping a society function to attend a benefit, but it sure belongs in this book.

I've gone on long enough. Buy it. Read it. If you're a Hood detractor, read it with an open mind. Full five stars.

Why dissertations disappoint when adapted as books
I eagerly pre-ordered and awaited this book (after recently discovering a great-great-grandfather who figured prominently in Hood's life); therefore, I was positively predisposed.However, this book demonstrates the problem of transforming a doctoral dissertation into a book for the general public.Dissertations often feature an overriding point that is driven into the ground.However, this purports to be a biography, and real people are rarely so singly or simply explained.What is worse, the main theme that this author obsesses on is gender identity.I realize that one can barely survive in academia without harping on this subject, but it is not a concern of the Civil War-reading public!We want to uncover the history of what happened and even explore personality and motivation so long as it rings true rather than reverberate with 21st-century feminist apologetics.In this book everything about Hood's life--every antebellum, wartime, and post-War choice he made and even those he did not make (such as his loss of limb and the existence of slavery)--is explained by men's need to secure the honor of their manhood.(The author justifies applying the theory to Hood with the stereotype that of course all Southern men were consumed by this motivation.)The author makes such obvious and repetitious points that it seems goofy at times:"A masculine culture had always been present in the military, as serving in the armed forces authenticated manhood.Men used military experience to secure their masculinity...[as it] created a unified white male community and allowed for the formation of manly bonds between men, leaving women and minorities on the fringes.By spending time with other men in the military, men would learn how to identify with one another and also how to prove their mastery over women and minorities....Military weaponry and uniforms, exclusive for soldiers, allowed the man to display his honor through his sword and his uniform."Upon entering West Point:"A young southern man, who had spent his youth working to preserve his family honor, would now arrive at West Point with the chance to expand that notion of honor to include his fellow cadets and his country.In order for honor to be maintained, the cadet had to prove his self-worth through his duty to the academy's curriculum and to duty to protect their country."The language gets torturous as every incidental fact is twisted to fit into this honor/manhood framework.

Another criticism is that the author does not adequately explore many of the controversies surrounding Hood's performance, mostly through glaring omissions.For example, he presents Hood's attack at Kolb Farm as a victory by stating that "Hood attacked on his own accord, without orders from Johnston, forcing the Union to fall back."Even readers with the most basic knowledge such as myself know that, at staggering cost, Hood only drove the skirmishers back to the main Union line which remained firm.Another example:when Atlanta was evacuated, the author states only that Hood "ordered six trainloads of ammunition to be destroyed, essentially to keep them out of Union hands."He never points out that as commanding general, it was Hood's responsibility to see to the removal of those stores, irreplaceable to the Confederacy at that time.The author seems to accept as factual Hood's self-serving explanations; for example, he states, "Hood and his army stood on the precipice of victory" after the devastating battles around Atlanta, just because Hood apparently believed it following a minor Union cavalry setback.(In this case, the statement is so startling that I believe that the author surely meant to preface it with a caveat such as "It seemed that...".)

The greatest sin of omission in this book, though, is the author's choice to skim over some of the most important battles of the War in which Hood played a prominent part.In a 246-page book (not counting notes and bibliography), the battles from Gaines Mill ("the first major battle for John Bell Hood") through Chickamauga are dispensed with in pages 53 through 79!Having just read Hennessy's Return to Bull Run, I was especially keen to read about Second Manassas from Hood's viewpoint, but only got two pages' worth.Some interesting, peripheral tidbits were gained, but overall this just seemed inadequate.

A strange mistake that occurs several times in this book (seeming to indicate that no one gave it a read-through) are repetitions that are stated as though being offered for the first time, in each case on the very next page.For example, on page 131:"Hood ordered his men not to converse with the enemy, or they could face being 'fired upon by all parties in reach.'" Then, on page 132:"Hood took action, issuing an order on August 13 that any soldier communicating with the enemy could be 'fired upon by all parties in reach.'"Another instance of this, on page 147:"[Davis] wrote a letter to John Bell Hood, dated September 28, 1864.Davis stated, "I have anxiously reflected upon the subject of our closing conversation...It seems to me best that I should confer with General Beauregard, and if quite acceptable to him, place him in the command of the Department".Again, on the next page:"In a letter dated September 28, 1864, Davis wrote, 'It seems to me best that I should confer with General Beauregard and if quite acceptable to him, place him in command of the Department."

OK, those are the bad points.If you can stand the ubiquitous manhood-and-honor stuff, which comes and goes throughout this book, there are redeeming aspects.The author spends a great deal of time post-War (pp. 174 - 246) during which we learn much about Hood's life in New Orleans and the numerous organizations, writings, and relationships in which he engaged himself to deal with the aftermath of defeat.Here Hood emerges as a whole person.We are given a glimpse into his physical and psychological brokenness from the War, as well as his admirable determination to move on and lead a successful and connected life.I would have liked more information; for example, Longstreet lived in New Orleans for some years after the War.Did he and Hood avoid each other, or did they ever encounter one another?If so, did they bridge the gap created during the War when they were on opposite sides of the Bragg controversy?Also, how did Hood meet and court his wife?She first appears at their wedding!We learn much about the efforts to aid Hood's children after he and his wife died from yellow fever, as well as the "book wars" and search for scapegoats to explain the Confederate defeat.I now understand much more about the "Lost Cause" movement, to which I had previously only read incomplete allusions.

Finally, credit goes to the author for thoroughly doing his homework.He cites an impressive number of sources and relates wonderful anecdotes and dialogue which very effectively relate others' impressions and memories of General Hood.Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in General Hood and the role he played during and after the Civil War. ... Read more

Product Description
John Adams didn't enjoy traveling. He much preferred to stay home with his wife and children. But John Adams also had a dream: He wanted to see the thirteen colonies free from English rule. He wanted to see the creation of a new country -- the United States of America. John Adams did whatever was needed to make his dream come true. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Pretty good
The reading level is on the easy side of level 3, in my opinion.This is good for *some* background on Adams, but it does not cover his eloquence or genius.For those traits, Jefferson gets all the glory (which is not untypical.)

Nice information on Abigail.

Good illustrations.

Great reader!
My second grade son and I have enjoyed reading this and the other Stories of Famous Americans.We are studying early American History and I really enjoy offering him readers with historical content.He enjoyed this story so much, he has decided to pursue a law degree and become a politician himself(for this week!).I love books that encourage him to reach for the stars. ... Read more

Product Description
In his book Waking the Dead, best-selling author John Eldredge reveals that things are not what they seem; this is a world at war; and you have a crucial role to play. In this guidebook, Eldredge takes you even deeper into the hidden meanings of this world--giving you the courage to rise up and reclaim your heart as you fight for the hearts and souls of others.

Customer Reviews (11)

Guidebook helps me lead discussion group
I find the guidebook to Waking the Dead is helping me to review each chapter, dig a little deeper into my own experience as I answer the questions and also helps me lead my small group discussion.I like the added comments in here that were not in the main book because they give me an idea of what someone else was experiencing and gets me thinking about my own experiences.Kind of 'priming the pump' if you will.Very helpful.Worth taking the extra time!

Waking the Dead
I enjoyed reading this book and taking in the information to apply to my own life.I want to live the life Christ wants for me to the fullest and realize that every day is a battle and I must be prepared in order to get through and never give up!

Must Have
This Guidebook is a must have companion to Waking the Dead.John Eldredge and Craig McConnell use portions of the book and poignant questions to guide you though the topics discussed in each chapter and how it relates to your heart.Prayer and listening for God's revelations to you are stressed. Both authors give their personal reactions to some of the questions in each chapter.They practice what they preach and are honest and real. Reading Waking the Dead is a wonderful, life changing book, ~ the experience becomes personal by completing the Guidebook.

Waking the Dead: The Glory of a Heart Fully Alive

Waking the Dead
This book is life changing. It guides the reader on the path to inner healing, revelation, restoration and freedom. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

awesome book to go deeper!
This guidebook really guides you getting deeper into the material. Personal Notes from John and Craig give you a view of their lifes. Good personal questions that invite to think about and lead on a journey.

Really great stuff!

I highly recommand it!


Norbert, Germany ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

A true classic vampire novel
Ah, memories...THE LIGHT AT THE END was a favorite novel of mine while in college in the early 1990s, and I'm glad to see that it's back in a new edition.Skipp and Spector really hit a homerun with this gritty, streetwise vampire novel that deserves much more attention than most other vampire novels.

Even though it is explicit and gory, it is never boring; the story does not slow down, and although many refer to it as "splatterpunk" it isn't some cheapjack gorefest.If Whitley Strieber's THE HUNGER was a more upscale NYC vampire story, then THE LIGHT AT THE END is its darker, grittier counterpart.

This is an excellent book, and as a vampire novel it ranks right up there with the best of the modern vampire novels, such as I AM LEGEND, 'SALEM'S LOT, and Robert R. McCammon's classic THEY THIRST.Recommended!

Good, old-fashioned Vampire Horror, no romance here!
Tired of all those vampire novels where Mr. Vampire strolls about being sexy and seductive, beguiling all the little goth girls into giving up a little blood?Well, Skipp and Specter have written a vampire tale that you can really sink your teeth into.The pace of the book takes off like a bullet and keeps you reading long into the night.

Deep in the bowels of the New York subway, a monster is lurking.When Rudy Pasko, a nasty individual himself, meets up with the beast, he is unceremoniously invited into the beast's realm.But for someone as nasty as Rudy, this is a gift and not a curse.

Rudy's friend Stephen goes searching for him, meeting up with Joseph Hunter outside one of the tunnel entrances where a greenly rotting woman disintegrates.Hunter is convinced that the recent subway killings are not your normal psychopath, and he enlists the help of Stephen and his friends Allan, Ian, and Rudy's ex-girlfriend Josalyn to take up the hunt with him.

What follows is a wild ride through the tunnels, filled with fast-paced action and not a little gore.The backdrop of the subterranean tunnels adds an edge of quiet horror to this graphic tale, the characters are very real and fleshed out, complete with their own problems and quirks.The added insight from Rudy himself makes the terror even more palpable.

Though written in the 80's (and it shows, no cell phones just beepers and other archaic devices, older trends and fashions) 'Light At The End' is still riveting, a timeless tale of real vampirism and beasts that really did pave the way for other known talents to let down their hair and let out their viscera.Gory and fun, don't miss out on Light At The End, if you can find a copy!Enjoy!

Nastiness Bites
Thanks to Skipp and Spector, we have come to know the dark truth about what lurks in the subterranean realm of New York's sewers.When I first read this book nearly 20 years ago this backdrop, coupled with a fresh and innovate plot quickly made it one of my favorite horror stories.Not all vampires are romantic.What would happen ifa local jerk happens to meet up with the kind of evil that turns subway trains into bloodbags, and is 'drafted' into a new world.You would get a jerky vampire, of course, and Rudy Pasko is just as unpleasant dead as he is alive.

From his subterranean demesne Rudy sets about being nasty and all that stands between him and world dominion is strange cast of characters that include truck drivers, messengers, students, game players, and would be writers.That and a few forces even bleaker than Rudy himself.Badness is due to happen, not all will survive, and the tunnel turns out to have a few extra kinks.Spector and Skipp write in a helter-skelter style that catches the edginess of life on the fringe of New York City - out there where the glamour doesn't ever go.

For all the adventure of pushing the limits of horror Skipp and Spector remember that what scares you are the things you can't get used to, not a continuous flow of gore and the result is a story that is both chilling and magnetic.They are not by any means the first to use graphic imagery (Straub's Floating Dragon still haunts me today) but the are the first to bring nitty gritty characters into the spotlight and make this story as much about them as it is by the world's most offensive vampire.

A great deal of 'aura' has grown up around this book.Most of this concerns its role in the horror genre and as a source for the 'splatterpunk' as a writing style.To some degree this is true, but much depends on your definition of splatterpunk, a term which was originally coined by David Schow and arose more from George Romero's films than written literature.Skipp and Spector's own definition can be found in the introduction to the hard cover edition.The bluntest definition is a radical relaxing of what society considers good taste and a tendency to make heroes out of folks who would normally be villains and bystanders.

The odd thing is that, despite the graphic violence of The Light at the End, it never really lapses into bad taste, and the ragtag group that takes one the world's uncoolest vampire are quite sympathetic in spite of their flaws.So Skipp and Spector in their first (and I thing their best) effort were openers of the way more than the darkest of practitioners.This alone is the book worth searching out and reading if your taste runs to the grimly humorous.In the authors' later work the need to be unnerving began to erode the desire to have a good story.But this time they were spot on and its well worth hunting up a copy.Whether you care about it's significance to literary history or not.

Very Gory, Very Good.
First off, if you are sick of the Anne Rice vampires who have a cheesy accent, and whine and complain about the "dark gift" of being a vampire, then this book is for you.The vampire in this book is anything but whiny.However, if you like your vampire books with a ruthless vampire that kills without compassion, morals, or even a second thought, then this book is for you.

Skipp and Spector have a very strong writing style.Strong in that this is a real page turner filled with violence and gore around every turn. For example, just wait till you read what happens in a movie theater.

This book is pretty much out of print. I was lucky enough to find my copy at a used bookstore. I urge you to go out and hunt for this book. I can promise you that you won't be sorry.

If you like your vampires to kill without reason, then you have to start this book. You'll love every page. That I can promise you.

Kudos to Stealth Press for bringing this one back!
You know you're getting older when all your favorite songs are labeled oldies, the sports figures you admired are playing in "Old Timers Day" games, and some of the books you've read are now considered "classics." It's distressing to realize you're not immune to the passage of time, and also that your prior perceptions about what was worthwhile might have been misguided, if not outright wrong. The flip side of this particular coin is rereading the favorites of your youth and finding that they still stand up. In recent years I've had that experience with many of Stephen King's earlier works. This past spring, I experienced it with the new Stealth Press hardcover reprint of Craig Skipp and John Spector's The Light At The End.

For those of you who aren't familiar with this work, a brief summary is in order. The book focuses on two characters, punk/goth vampire Rudy Pasko, and the man who has vowed to kill him, the aptly named Joseph Hunter. Rudy, a jerk and a loser in life, gains his vampiric powers by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, stumbling upon a grisly subway massacre perpetrated by an evil ancient entity. Sired merely to amuse that entity, Rudy starts to groove on his new powers, using them to push back against a world he's always hated. The massacre, coupled with Rudy's high profile activities, brings him to the attention of Hunter, a hulking, gruff, compulsive do-gooder looking for something to hit after the death of his beloved mother. Their anger brings them into conflict, and also drives the horrific events to come. And they are horrific, even if they seem a little tamer to me due to the passage of time and to changes in my perception of what should be labeled "extreme."

In 1986 The Light at the End stood at the center of the then-raging debate of splatterpunk v. quiet horror (thank goodness we all realized the genre was big enough to include works from all points in the spectrum -- now if we could only stop talking about whether horror is dead, thriving, comatose or irrelevant). Skipp and Spector, striding through the horror community like the rock stars they emulated, championed a more visceral, high energy, in-your-face kind of horror than that to which we were accustomed, pushing out at the boundaries. They had their progenitors of course: folks like Robert Bloch, Stephen King, Richard Laymon, Jack Ketchum and the young upstart Clive Barker (whose "The Midnight Meat Train" seems to have inspired Light's grisly opening sequence). This book, considered with works such as S. P. Somtow's Vampire Junction, seems in hindsight to have been almost a seminal influence on later writers. One could make the case that the stylish Light made splatterpunk more acceptable, paving the way for writers as diverse as David Schow, Nancy Collins, Poppy Z. Brite, Christopher Golden, Ray Garton, Rex Miller and Edward Lee, giving them permission to go over the top in their own writing (although, in Garton's case, it may just have validated over the top work he'd already published, like Seductions). It was a no holds barred style of storytelling that has trickled down to movies and television, as evidenced by the work of folks like Joss "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Whedon, whose character Spike bears more than a passing resemblance to Rudy.

This was and remains a swift paced, high-impact book, long on action, but also on character development -- Rudy's anger is tangible, as is Hunter's grief. The supporting cast is well developed, and the New York City backdrop is effective -- Skipp and Spector's New York vividly captured much of America's perception of the city as a cesspool. Yes, they do show signs of their relative inexperience at the time (for instance, a number of chapters end with annoying tag lines like, "That was the last time they would see him alive"), but these are easily overlooked when compared to the overall quality of the narrative. This book can be enjoyed by "old farts" and "whippersnappers" alike, either reliving fond memories or creating new ones. Kudos to Stealth Press for bringing it back in this handsome hardcover. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Twisted Sister Meets Clive Barker - Not Just A Great Horror Novel But An Excellent Document Of A Time!
America, The Late Eighties: A war for the hearts and minds of a nation rages between the forces of the religious right and the liberal left; as televangelists lobby the government to implement draconian legislation that will effectively censure the constitutional freedom of expression of shock-rock artists, musicians themselves go to ever greater lengths to voice their opposition. Rock front-man and Vietnam veteran, Jake Hamer, finds himself caught in the crossfire between the two factions as he orchestrates "Rock Aid": a huge stadium-rock extravaganza designed to benefit artists threatened by the exhortations of the moral majority; but as Hamer puts the finishing touches to the benefit concert in place, a wave of horrific violence sweeps the country - much of it apparently inspired by the music of the wildly popular and deeply mysterious pseudo-Satanic metal group, "The Scream". Is it posturing for publicity or are "The Scream" really as committed to their apocalyptic doctrine as they seem? The answers will plunge Jake Hamer and his loved ones into a nightmare...the depths of which they can scarcely imagine.

I had a ball with "The Scream" as it perfectly captures the zeitgeist of the mid-to-late eighties. I was a teenager at the time this book is set and can only too clearly remember the battles that were fought in the public domain over what and what could not be considered artistically permissible; memories of the "Ozzy Osbourne" and "Judas Priest" suicide trials and the more or less entirely futile exploits of the censorious Tipper Gore rose inexorably to the surface as I ploughed through it. Skipp and Spector themselves, who were hailed as the notorious bad-boys of the newly christened "Splatterpunk" movement at the time, also clearly relished the chance to eviscerate the consciousness of Reaganite America and they did so with aplomb.

But to write S&S off as mere "Splatterpunk" authors has been to always do them a major disservice. Frankly, they're two of the finest writers ever to grace the contemporary horror genre; quite literally, when they were on top of their game, which they were for the majority of their career, they were easily the equal of Stephen King, Clive Barker, Joe R. Lansdale and any other young Turk working in the genre that you care to mention. They also stood head and shoulders over most writers working in the field. Their prose, characters and style pops and crackles with all the ferocity of a good Guitar solo...or possibly a human heart being fried in a pan.

Given the recent vogue for all things eighties, I'd love to see HBO dust this novel off and make it as a miniseries; but only on the understanding that it remains a period piece and that they eschew CGI effects in favour of the truly gruesome (and far more convincing) prosthetic creations of someone like Rob Bottin, Tom Savini or Screaming Mad George.

If you like a good horror novel of the truly visceral variety, pick this one up.

For the young at heart, and metal fans
Metal fans, and the young and heart, will be drawn to THE SCREAM for its portrayal of the rock and roll lifestyle both stadium and club variety.Obviously inspired by Stephen Davis' HAMMER OF THE GODS and like journalism, Skipp and Spector whipped up a righteous concoction that just bubbles over with greenish lava froth.If Satan really had a say in what metal sounds like, do you think He would have permitted those of little brain power to approach his altar?I don't think so my friends!The suspense gathers in the final chapters, as the members of the SCREAM (the band, not to be confused with England's PRIMAL SCREAM) approach the coming apocalypse with stiff upper lip and a variety of hallucinatory experience.

They used to be the two authors you could really count on to really scare the living daylights out of you, but then something happened--something twisted snd sick--something that broke the bonds which it had been thought no man was born strong enough to put them asunder.And ever since then, there really hasn't been a good thrill book and we've taken to watching old re-runs of Mister Rogers Neighborhood.Come back you guys, reunite, everyone else has done it, you can too!

Eee-yow, baby.
First S&S book I ever read. Captivating writing, a little iterminable about the capers of the Jacob Hamer band but overall one of the best pieces of horror writing I have read next to "It".

Their best book is "The Light at The End" but this is a very close second.

THE SCREAM LIVES!!!EEEEEAAAAAOOOOOWWWW!!!
The Scream contiinues to be my favorite Skipp and Spector book, right up there with The Light at the End and The Bridge.It shows an excellent balance between the different storylines as well as dishing out the splat in the ways that few can.

My one complaint when reading the book was that I didn't have a soundtrack to listen to.A CD by The Scream would have been perfect companion material.Well, going by how they were described, there is a band who is strikingly similar to The Scream.The band's name is Crisis.Karyn Crisis is not Tara Payne exactly but close.Exotic-looking with a voice that can bounce between melting butter and shattering steel, backed up by a band with it's own dark, heavy feel with touches of the beautiful mixed in.Check out the Strangeland soundtrack for an excellent cover of Twisted Sister's Captain Howdy, exhibiting Tara's...I mean, Karyn's, vocal ability.

You may never go to another rock concert
Skipp and Spector are rock and rollers at heart and this is their rock androll horror novel (with a nod towards heavy metal).Like the music, itassualts your senses and in the end you know you've had one heck of a ride. This is the boys at their best. ... Read more

Product Description
Three years after his triumphant return from Treasure Island, Jim Hawkins learns that Long John Silver has been captured and sentenced to hang. Jim's fateful decision to help Silver propels them into a dangerous search for the greatest treasure of all time - The Pharaoh's Gold!

A cryptic map, secret codes and puzzling clues all lead back to Treasure Island, where courage, cunning and mutual trust are the only weapons that can save Hawkins and Silver from a horrific death and help them in their quest for the Treasure.

Return to Treasure Island hearkens back to the days when action, mystery and adventure rode hand in hand with storytelling, and promises to entertain readers of all ages. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Bring on the rum!
Drop your i-phone and your latte! "Return to Treasure Island" almost made this triple-plus, type-A mom miss her volunteering session at her sons' school.
In Woods' sequel to Stevenson's original, it is not hard to see how Jim Hawkins could abandon a promising future in favor of sailing with a motley crew where double-crosses and death lurk around every corner.
Although Jim initially begins his adventure with the moral obligation of saving Long John Silver, he becomes infected with a lust for treasure, thus causing him to make impetuous decisions that endanger both himself and loved ones.
Woods' mastery of pirate vernacular and thorough research lend authenticity to the tale and immediately hooks the reader.
Tantalizing adventure awaits. Fame and fortune are the rewards for a successful mission--much more fulfilling than a dust-free house with immaculately-folded laundry!
When do we sail? Sign this mom on!

Return to the Good Old Days
If you're one of those people who wonder what happens next when a book ends (isn't everybody?--if you're the sort of person who wonders what happened to Huck Finn out in the territories, for example--then Return to Treasure Island is the book for you.

Jim is older, with all the complications of adolescent love thrown in; Long John Silver is in prison; and everything looks like it will just be dullness forever.

Then a mysterious message arrives, and suddenly Jim is thrown into a world of action and adventure he thought he had lost forever.It won't be giving too much away if I say there are pirates, bloodthirsty pirates, and pirates who are even more bloodthirsty, or that the treasure is buried with a lot of deadly traps.

At the end, Jim must do battle with some of the most dangerous men on Earth, not merely for what amounts to a king's ransom, but for the life of the beautiful girl--now woman--he loves.

Sure to please.

The adventures of Treasure Island come alive!

Your writing wit spun the sequel of this classic tale with great mastery.You made Jim Hawkins and the colorful Long John Silver come alive.I can still taste the salt of the sea breezes.Thank you for such wonderful entertainment leaving an indelible impression on the art of story telling.

When do we set sail?
There's nothing better than a book that leaves you wanting to take up the adventure.Return to Treasure Island definitely has that effect.Couldn't put it down and when there was nothing left to read I was yearning to set sail me'self.Excellent Job Mr. Woods!I'm ready for the sequel - or a different adventure just as good!

Doug

Return to Treasure Island is best read aloud.
The key to Robert Louis Stevensen's enduring popularity is that he gave us a swashbuckeling pirate's tale using a vocabulary that reads like poetry.Woods has replicated Stevensen's style most beautifully. Well done.For the greatest pleasure, read 'Return' out loud.And, take your time, don't rush it. You'll see what I mean.McDonald ... Read more