Decent; wish there was more context given
355846
This book was okay. I would have liked more background on "the War" which is referenced regularly but which no one ever goes into detail about. Not who fought the war, the reasons for it, who won it, how the resulting government and Articles came to be. It seemed like a lot of context was missing. At times it also felt like much of the action was included for shock value more than anything else, quite possibly because it seemed so out of context that it was hard to take it as a world rather than a series of disjoint random events. Some plot twists were very obvious to me, and often times I wanted to smack the two main characters for how dense they seemed to be with respect to their feelings towards one another. Overall a decent read, but not immersive or detailed enough to be a really great story for me.
2183326
The blurb promised details on groups and plot lines that have long been mysterious.  I got more information, but it less detailed, more vague than I was hoping for.  It may be that the author, Terry Amthor, have different ideas on how much detail a GM needs to run a game.  He may prefer more wiggle room to allow a GM to customize for their own campaign.  I'm a less experienced GM, so I like lots of specific details. I'm perfectly capable of making changes, but I find it easier to diverge from something spelled out than to have to create large bits from a void.

The book illustrations were his usual lovely quality and he binding is great. I'd like more fold-out maps.  As I said, I REALLY like details.
469781
This is a useful book, but it could have been enhanced with references to the primary sources (the sources have not been mentioned at all!) and some explanatory notes, particularly on contradictory significations attributed to the same house, sign, or planet.
3309948
This book is fair-to-good. I was bothered initially by its 'bibliocentric' perspective in several chapters, especially the ones on the patriarchs, the exodus, and the settlement. Although Shanks expresses in the foreward that it would be too much material for a single scholar to control masterfully, I feel they could have been condensed easily into one essay on the 'emergence of Israel'.

I mean by 'bibliocentric' that certain essays are written, partially, as if they were dialoguing with someone who sees the bible as a source of religion, not history or even religious history. So the authors have to clarify that they are not approaching it from a devotional standpoint (because they're not fundamentalists) or that they mean not to offend those who do. But I got over it because it is meant for popular (but educated) consumption, and most if not all the contributors do have some measure of religious attachment to the bible anyway. However, I'd rather have the history of Israel related to me straight without the pandering.

The articles are informative, but not outstanding. For example, McKarter's & Horn's chapter on the divided monarchy offers interesting tidbits of information previously unknown to me, but merely follows the biblical story with ANE texts and archeological data thrown in to confirm or disconfirm the major public events in the bible. It was almost boring reading. Lemaire on the unified monarchy was more of the same. Contrast Meyers who is much more easygoing and shorter, although his section on the diverse sectarian formations in Judaism should really be an excursus. It doesn't have much to do historically with Israel as a whole given the politically-oriented nature of most of this history.

That's another disappointment I have though. Much more focus on social history, aspects of daily life, etc., and a less bibliocentric perspective would have served this volume better. Although a little dated,&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Coogan-1998/dp/0195139372/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Coogan 1998</a>&nbsp;is better in the comparable chapters (it goes beyond the Roman destruction of the second temple, where this book, faithful to its title, abruptly stops).

But not a bad read at all for a distilling of the standard fare with a few updates for this third edition.
4028394
Good overview and activities.  More questions would be good, especially ones that are a bit more complex.  Examples are from various industries, which is good, but some of the examples from the running case were a bit too cute.
2024787
Mixed feelings about the presentation and choice of topics.
The first part focuses on a whos-who of professional clergy from the reformation up to the 18th century. I get that religious liberty is hinged on freedom, but that point gets mired down in factions that often fought one another when an oppressive government wasn't handy. The inherent idea of a covenant or promised land is brought to the table but not fully examined.
Second, we are all familiar with the statistics of out of wedlock births, people on welfare, how many jobs are being lost, poor educational standards, and a general godlessness present in society today. Whilst these factoids are useful and accurate, it feels like more of a filler.
Third, when getting around to the Coming Revolution, the fourteen points seem to be common sense (mostly) drawn randomly out of a hat.
This is a good book to have as a reference and it is easy to read, but it left me feeling like many of the ideas were half finished.
2415961
I like the anecdotes, although simplified, condensed, and likely taken out of context.  The author points out things which should be obvious but most of us need refreshers from time to time.  It can be somewhat depressing to see life portrayed in such cold, callous terms, but there is some truth to it.  I would not advise someone to live one's life by these "laws", but the author does point out that the "laws" do not apply to everyone.
3052674
Could have been longer, but it was a good "primer" for those who want to know something about oral arguments.
2290305
It was ok, however, it could have provided more information.
3923962
I'd recommend this, but I think it would have benefited with more information about what was happening in the rest of the country (and the world) during the Harding years.  It would have added some much-needed context.  There were brief mentions of Prohibition, current movies and music, but I felt a vacuum.  I'm not sure why "The Jazz Age" was part of the title.  The way the book was written, it could have taken place at any time -- the Jazz Age "feel" was missing.  It's all about Florence, her family and friends, and the detail is almost Dickensian.

Florence was an admirable woman in many ways -- ambitious, thoughtful of others, independent, ahead of her time -- but the author doesn't stint on describing her faults as well as her virtues.

I do have a new appreciation for the hard work involved in being First Lady -- the day to day functions and events.  It requires incredible stamina.  It made me tired, just reading about her schedule.
4365825
Very helpful in knowing some specifics, but lacking in corresponding emphasis of the strong points of what is happening that is worth encouraging.  John Foss, Bella Vista, AR
3605859
A quick and good read, with super-short chapters and nuggets of wisdom and motivation. A page-a-day calendar writ large.  But some caveats:

a. An inordinate amount of the contributors are or were writers. While this makes for some good essays, it skews the pool.
b. Some of the contributors, including the author, jumped to sports. Their stories may be of little relevance or interest to most people.
c. The book implies, but seemingly chooses to ignore, that the more privileged contributors seem to have an easier go of life.  They're the ones who name-drop their Ivy League schools, breeze through grad school or law school, then decide to go into competitive kitesurfing or whathaveyou on a whim.  The less-advantaged contributors are the ones who end up moving back in with their parents, taking on roommates, or renting out rooms in their house, scraping together funds for the next jump.
d. The book also glosses over that jumping is, according to the contributor sample, almost always a young person's game. Many contributors are unmarried, childless, and lack a mortgage, and they make emphasis of these facts. Only a few contributors are married, have children, or are in long-term relationships, and some mention that the jump is what precipitated the end of their domestic partnership.
e. Some contributors all but fail in their jumps, which either they or the editor choose to downplay.  I understand that this is meant to be a motivational book, but exploring the lows a little more might have raised some interesting philosophical points.

My favorite chapters were those by the sailing explorer (who seems to have ended up doing exactly what he loves) and by Humans of New York photographer Brandon Stanton (a pleasant surprise).

In short: Read it, by all means get motivation from it, but don't take it too seriously.
3191122
1) Disclaimer: (1) my reviews tend to be very negative. (2) I consider my knowledge of Catholicism to be good, but my knowledge of Traditionalism is limited to "The Gread Facade", and a bit of "In the Murky Waters of Vatican II". (3) My religious affiliations are "[...]
2) General Impression: A Good start, but just enough to whet your appetite.
3) Overview of the book: A short (146 pages) attempt to show that the SSPX is schismatic (with a short history of the SSPX movement, and a good rebuttal of their canonical obfuscations), and that Vatican II is OK (whether for Transsubstantiation, Oecumenism, etc.).
4) Pros
- Catholicism needs a rebuttal of Traditionalist claims that is recent, exhaustive, clear, and faithful to the Pope (the real Pope, John-Paul II). It seems the main missing ingredient of this book is the "exhaustive" part.
5) Cons
- A better book would "suck the life-juices" out of Traditionalists by listing and attacking the horrors done in the name of the "spirit" of Vatican II. You can't just say that everything hasn't been perfect since Vatican II! We would need hundreds of pages, with pictures, describing the atrocities committed on our Mother the Church (desecrating the Liturgy, the crisis of homosexuality in the seminaries, Rome's inaction concerning blatant heretics, dumb moves by JPII like kissing the Koran, etc., etc.). Traditionalists have a bloody important point! We need to emphatically recognize that, before any attempt at explaining their errors.
- We need a far more in-depth defense of Paul VI's Mass. It wouldn't hurt either to have at least a list of the (perceived or real) inadequacies of the Tridentine liturgy.
- It would be nice to explain the "typical patterns" used by Traditionalists, since they often rely on taking a quote out of context, then bending its interpretation so it will fit with some factual leftist horrors, then not talking about places in other documents where those very same leftist horrors are condemned, etc. An explanation of this pattern, with many examples of applications, would help.
- It would be nice to at least have some arguments specifically targeted at books like "The Gread Facade", and "In the Murky Waters of Vatican II".
- It would be nice to give a "roadmap" of reforms that need to occur in the Catholic Church (for example, excommunicating pseudo-Catholic politicians, getting rid of the "Catholic Omerta" whereby a Bishop never condemns sins commited by a fellow Bishop, no matter how severe or public, etc.)
879903
Recommend the book as an overview of the territory, but I would have liked a bit more info as to its usage and cost.
4642533
This is a decent, readable short introduction to the causes and diplomacy of this war, which was a precursor to the Great War a year later. The author was US ambassador to Greece at the time of the Balkan Wars, so he was somewhat personally involved. This edition was written about 1915. For the most part it is a good historical narrative, including some of the author's personal observations and experiences. If you are looking for much information about battles and fighting, though, you will need need to look elsewhere.  My free Kindle edition contained no maps and, not surprisingly, the places referred to often have obsolete or obscure names. For example, there is much reference to the Ochrid-Golema Vreh line across Macedonia.  After hours of searching the Net and atlases in the library for "Golema Vreh," the closest I could come up with was "Mt Golem" (near Kyustendil, Bulgaria) in a map made by a contemporary commission of inquiry into the war. But unraveling puzzles of historical geography is kind of fun and a great way to learn about places. Overall, of the several short histories of this war that I have read, this was the easiest to follow.
3777146
3.5 Stars

Not a bad overview for the general reader, but he does skip around quite a bit. It makes it harder to follow the progression. He writes well, but usually, history is easier to read if things are a bit more linear. (-1 star)

Also, he takes every opportunity to push some kind of agenda for environmentalism (bad fossil fuels, global warming, etc.). That would be fine in other contexts but I don't prefer that in what is a very brief 'history' book. (-1 star)

Also, while there are some errors and erroneous conclusions in the book, I didn't deduct any stars for them because it is supposed to be a very concise book. Plus, he does give some nice little tidbits along the way that are interesting. (+1 star)

If you need a broad brush of world history it is a nice book to read. I would recommend it.
271166
Although this book is several decades old now, it is still a useful guide to Christian life. The author does a good job of discussing several specific issues the church and the Christian need to address; while he does not go into detail about any of these issues, he does say enough to cover each topic pretty well. As the subtitle says, this is an introductory guide to Christian theology (not "introduction guide" as this listing shows); it has the feel of a primer or textbook. In fact, each chapter ends with a set of questions drawn from the material just covered--I myself don't feel these questions are that useful, and I imagine most readers will just skip right over them. Early on, DeMaray tries to prove that God exists; while I do not argue with his conclusion, I did find the kinds of logical arguments he uses to make his case pretty weak (i.e., if the world exists, God exists; if sin exists, God exists, etc.). Since faith in God is a prerequisite for Christianity, I feel he could have just skipped over the philosophically impossible task of proving God exists. I was particularly interested in reading the author's opinion concerning several key sacraments and other issues, particularly baptism. As a Southern Baptist who believes in believer's baptism by immersion, I thought the author might present this belief in a negative light. However, I found that the author does a very good job of addressing the differing beliefs among all Christian denominations on this and every other topic (with the exception of the Catholic belief in purgatory, which he does criticize to some degree). Moreover, he goes out of his way to express the thought that faith is much more important than the form in which that faith is expressed.