About 100 years behind the times
349607
We used this as a textbook in Old Testament Survey at Belmont - I suspect largely because the author had just retired from a professorship there.  The book is well written, and accessible, but not particulary useful.
Tullock assumes the validity of the documentary hypothesis (as developed by Wellhausen et al.) and proceeds from there, which is a fatal flaw for two reasons:  1)The introductory student probably doesn't care about theories of composition and would be better served by spending more time becoming acquainted with the content and themes of the OT books; 2)Wellhausen's theories are deeply flawed, as many authors in the past century have pointed out (as an example, see Kline's Structure of Biblical Authority, which makes a compelling case that the form of Deuteronomy is that of an ancient treaty and only fits the milieu of the Mosaic period).
Skip this one.
Note:  the above comments apply to the edition which was current in 1991.  One hopes that Tullock has improved the book during the intervening decade.
1098440
This book brought the early 1900s to life.  It was interesting to see the past and the problems that many of our ancestors had to face.
3270580
I enjoy it, but it does seem to skip around quite a bit.  It is also quite old and references many events and people who would have been well known at the time it was written, but are not at all familiar to me now.  That being said, it does an excellent job of describing what was going on not only in the colonies, but in England, as well.
117082
Interesting to see how different life was only 70 years ago.
1753088
Liked the feel for the times.  And The amazingly advanced culture compared to those around at the time,  one wonders how that happened
2383001
This is a full history with valuable notes from other historians that help bring perspective to the times.  It is a long book and not light reading, but well worth it for the perspectives.
1087547
I was able to check out this book but missed some of the earlier volumes. But, the author does a good job of giving background and enough information that the reader doesn't feel lost. Interesting to read about this time in history and from a unique perspective.
2444782
This was an interesting trip back into time.  The carefully intertwined stories of the various family members and friends was a bit hard to keep straight at times.  Still, if you like drama, especially family drama, then this may be your book.  Monks, escape into the church, family quarrels, death, it's all in here.  And since this book was written nearly 100 years ago, it is a nice little time capsule as well.
4088582
I should have paid more attention to the date published.  It is a good book, but the passage of time has made it somewhat dated.  It should also be noted, that as an Irishman, Mr. Douthwaite is naturally most concerned with the effects of monetarism style economic growth on Ireland.  He also offers various legitimate alternatives to Milty Friedmans religion, although only from an Irish perspective and history.
3201060
Very nice to be able to find a book published half a century ago on a still relevant subject whose history is worth studying so quickly and easily on the web -- be it as a library copy!
950566
A nice read full of interesting details.  A nice mixture of background stories, quotes and concise history telling.  Was a fairly quick read.  Covered both the recognized names of history with others not so familiar.  Gave a nice context of the "times" being written about.
3955251
The book reflects the times when the book was published
4017538
At this date it suffers from being 25 years old, but that also gives some perspective.  Author seemed to go a little off track toward the end concentrating on the Jews and his heritage, rather than by countries.  Much has changed in the past 25 years, but conflicts continue to exist---and some were almost predicted in the book.  Surprised that no one has reviewed this book over all these years.  The author is a very respected journalist
3902885
For real, who thinks much about the presidential election of just a couple of years ago? Okay. Now, who thinks much about the presidential election that happened over 100 years ago? Probably not many people. Most of that stuff seems like old news, and it's often a very try subject to talk about. Somehow this book makes the whole thing interesting. I feel smarter for having read this book. You will to.
4287236
I am not a scholar of the times though now I want to be.  It is amazing how much was happening in the world at that one generation.  And still the author managed to present fully developed characterizations of these people in the midst of all this turmoil. She made them people you can understand and care about even now, hundreds of years later.  Maybe if school aged history books were along this line (humanizing the people and their decisions) the average kid wouldn't dread history quite so much.
4355574
Took me forever to track this book down. While I'm not quite finished, and will update when I do likely, I really find this read engrossing and interesting, especially for the times. While not addressing the subjects of gender equality well, and portraying lesbians as possibly cult-like at times, it is a good and moving story from half a century ago.

Oddly enough, I discovered this book because it constantly appears on the bookshelf in the background on "Leave it to Beaver". In fact, I notice that it moves places on their shelf between episodes, meaning they are reading it. There's also one where they actually take it off the shelf to make room for another book and move it to a lower shelf (apparently Moon Vow needs to be easier to reach than Ivanhoe). I just needed to know what the Cleaver's were so crazy about, and while I see why someone would want to read the book, I'm surprised it was the Cleavers. They're a bit too conservative for this lesbian stuff.
43279
RCA led an interesting life exploring the world as a scientist.  You can read this and learn lots about the world as it was 100 years ago.