ERA Reviews

Reading the book _Wisdom: Daily Reflections for a New Era_ , I feel I am being treated to a daily conversation with a wise friend, someone who has read and thought deeply and broadly. Each day's reading begins with a provocative quotation--it may be from Albert Einstein, from an alchemical text, or from the Book of Common Prayer; the range of materials is truly eclectic, ecumenical. Then what follows is a well-written and thoughtful consideration of the saying, with Reynold Feldman sharing not only his own broad scholarship but also his own personal experiences. The spirit of the work is human and humble, the words are those of one who is earnestly seeking for wisdom on his life's journey, one who has encountered many traditions, many persons whom he considers wise and worth sharing with us. And in these meditations he asks good questions, shows us the many paths toward wisdom, toward healing, toward further discernment of our own way. If the reader chooses, she may follow the Wisdom Journal suggestions for writing each day. I have found that even if I do not write, I am intrigued by the assignments enough that I learn just by pondering them through the day. There are memorable stories here, challenges and comforts, ways to healing, ways to learning what it means to become wise from a multitude of perspectives. This is a companionable and intelligent work, one I whole-heartedly recommend.

This thoroughly enjoyable book, filled with anecdotal wisdom and a diversity of wise quotations, is aptly named. Each day of the year has its own distinctive subtitle/topic, a quotation to focus us on the key idea, and a witty and engaging personal story. To close each page, we are asked to draw on our own experience and wisdom to reflect on the day's topic. In a deeply spiritual sense but in a light and charming way, we are led to use our daily reflections to become wiser. Recommended dose: daily, as needed.

In Wisdom: Daily Reflections For A New Era, Reynold Feldman (founder and executive director of the World Wisdom Project) offers a book of daily reflections drawn from diverse sources of wisdom ranging from the ancient to the contemporary. These "wisdoms" relate to our own ways of living and adjusting to the world, with each reflection ending in a brief exercise enabling the readers to increase their own personal wisdom and ability to cope with a rapidly changing world. Divided into one chapter for each month of the calendar year and framed for daily twenty minute readings, Wisdom is highly recommended reading for those with an interest in reaping the benefits of diverse men and women who have thought about the world with insight, passion, wit and revelation.

gene florence , any of his books are concise and show the items in a clear picture . he presents the items along with the current prices . all of genes books as is this one , are lovely to look at and very informative, giving a lot of joy.

Orginally purchased for my mother, I purchased it also after looking through it. The original reason for the book was to attempt to id some etched glass, the glass was not in the book, but it was worth it anyway. Beautiful photos, good writing, I saw pieces I had not known exsited. Who knew that such elegant depression glass was out there! I would not recommend it for the "flea market" or "yard sale" groupie, one of his Collectors Encyclopedias may work better, but it is still a very nice book and well worth it if you collect or deal in higher end depression glass.

This is another fave of mine from Gene Florence!He sure knows what he is writing about!!!This book is loaded with color photos of many different types of depression glass.I never realized how many patterns,and companies,there were out there!!!He also is very thorough about listing what pieces were in what colors and the values for each color.
Overall a fantastic book!

I have just finished reading Leggett's book about the war for the protection of our atmosphere. It is a riveting account of the strident efforts experienced and well-intentioned scientists from all over the world have made to try to bring humanity to a reasonable acceptance of the extreme dangers that ignoring the risks of global warming will bring upon our planet. It is shocking that so far they have clearly lost the war; oil, coal, and automobile interests have successfully undermined international conventions and treaties which were designed to protect the Earth. If fossil fuel, energy and automobile interests continue to "win" (although as pointed out in the book, it really amounts to a huge loss), we will all be affected, rich or poor, South or North, nobody stands to gain. As Leggett's book makes obvious, humanity has never before had its hands on so much information about its own substantive elements, its past and its future; and yet,seemed to be willing to throw its own intelligence into the wind, scrapping its safety catches, all for the sake of some weird sense of 'material progress' spoon-fed to us by commercial-driven media. This books points directly to the moments in time when human progress could have advanced into a more sane, and probably more interesting variety of developmental possibilities. Read it and relish its not-at-all hidden wisdom--it will be one of the unforgetable learning moments of your reading life.

A friend of mine who is a political scientist told me to read Jeremy Leggett's The Carbon War. He said it was the best book he'd ever seen on the politics of global climate change. After reading it, I have to agree.

Leggett taught oil geology at Britain's Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine before transferring his allegiance to Greenpeace, where he directed their Climate Campaign and later their Solar Initiative. In The Carbon War he provides an insider's view of the decade of battles leading up to the Kyoto treaty. Through his eyes we get to see the intense machinations of the great oil companies and their allies as they fight to block the international movement to develop a binding climate agreement. Leggett pulls no punches. He provides names, dates and details of the non-stop lobbying, shameless "scientific" distortions, and well-financed public relations campaigns by what he and other environmentalists dubbed "The Carbon Club." He describes in depth the behind-the-scenes collusion, pressure tactics and smears that stymied progress on the climate despite a decade of climate-related catastrophes and increasing scientific certainty about global warming and its ramifications. He also reports on the counter-punches Greenpeace and other environmental groups managed to land--for example alerting the hemorrhaging insurance industry that their catastrophic losses were not accidental and were bound to get worse unless greenhouse emissions are reduced.

The book ends in 2000, but all the forces Leggett reveals remain in play today. The World Summit in Johannesburg this September was torn by the same battles and struggled to reach the same kind of will-of-the-wisp agreements as Kyoto. For anyone who believes, as Leggett clearly does, that we must reduce our destabilizing assault on the atmosphere in order to maintain a stable and livable climate, this book is a must. It dives deep beneath the headlines to let you know how vital decisions concerning development, the deployment of resources, and our shared future, are actually being made. As Leggett says, "The race against time is on, and we should have started running by now; racing to crank up the solar revolution, racing to mobilizing the capital markets as engines for survival instead of suicide."

Robert Adler, author of Science Firsts: From the Creation of Science to the Science of Creation (Wiley, 2002).

Jeremy Leggett has written an outstanding book. A one time petroleum geologist teaching at the London School of Mines, in the 1980s Dr Leggett became concerned about climate change from carbon dioxide build up in the atmosphere. He gave up a comfortable career to become a lobbyist for the environmental movement. In this role he has met all the main characters opposing and supporting greenhouse gas treaties. He describes not only the science, the politics, and the economics of the global warming issue, but also the personalities in "the Carbon War." between the fossil fuel industry on one hand and the environmental lobby on the other. The insights into both sides of this protracted war are fascinating - as are the various dirty tricks campaigns employed by the fossil fuel brigade. Dr Leggett writes not from the detachment of a scientist, but with the passion of someone with a vital message to sell and a vital cause to push. As premier science writer John Gribbin said on the book's front cover "the best book yet about the politics of global warming."

The Baha'i faith, established in Iran in the mid-19th century, has since emerged as a global religion. "Baha'u'llah and the New Era" is an interesting and comprehensive introduction to this new religion and to its prophet-founder, Baha'u'llah. For all its strengths, however, this book is a one-sided sectarian view whose main purpose seems to be to serve as a proselytizing tool for the Baha'i community; general readers should, therefore, read the book with an open but critical mind.

The book covers many areas. Its opening chapters relate the early history of the Baha'i faith, and introduce the reader to such important figures as the Bab, the forerunner of Baha'u'llah; Baha'u'llah himself, regarded as a holy prophet; and 'Abdul-Baha, the successor of Baha'u'llah. Later chapters further describe the new religion's theology, scriptures, and unique calendar. Excerpts from the Baha'i scriptures are effectively used throughout the book to accentuate the teachings of the faith.

Because this is a sectarian work, written with an eye towards promoting the Baha'i faith, the book lacks a critical dimension. Sharp-minded readers will have to come up with their own challenging questions and observations about the Baha'i faith. I, for example, was intrigued by the Baha'i faith's acknowledgment of Krishna, Moses, Zoroaster, Jesus, and Muhammad as prophets who share an essential unity with Baha'u'llah. So I wonder--where do the Sikh gurus fit in? Or the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith? Or Indian gurus like Krishnamurti? Or the Native American shamans whose oral traditions have been passed down and preserved? Or contemporary "New Age" spiritual leaders? The Baha'i Faith's teachings about the unity of world religions have ramifications which this book fails to fully explore.

Despite this uncritical, idealized portrayal of its subject, "Baha'u'llah and the New Era" is still a valuable book. For scholars of comparative religion, it is essential reading.

As with many Bahai writings (I'm not a member, but I have been to Bahai functions, read much of their literature, and have close friends in this faith), one doesn't have to be a member to enjoy this book. A lot of what Esslemont says here is practical for anyone. Partricularly such advice as-

"For a child, a teacher is necessary, but the aim of a true teacher is to teach his pupil how to do without a teacher."

"The time has come when narrow national patroitisms should be merged in the wider patriotism whose country is the world."

Want more? Buy the book and see.

I'm not going to get into much detail here, because this a book that you really just need to read for yourself. Verily, every Earthling should read this. Okay, that is a biased thing to say. ( I believe in Baha'u'llah's revelation ) But to view this as a reader and not a theologian, it is a remarkable introduction to the 2nd most widespread and youngest of the world religions. It is a source of the Baha'i view on a very large number of issues that face the world today. I think its easy to at first be utterly confused by the Baha'i faith, but this book should aid you in a comprehension of Its message and what it means to be one of Its adherents.

this book is intriging. it makes you wonder about the other side of the media. letters from tel mond prison is a book written by a man who lives his life with such pupose, meaning and honesty you wonder some times who you feel bad for - the "terrorist" or the "victim"

Era Rapaport effectively communicates the highs and lowes of being a settler in the land of Israel today. He is a modern day Zionist who gave up a life of comfort to face ridicule, persecution and imprisonment to stay true to his faith in the resettlement of Eretz Israel. I highly recommend this book to all who love Zion and believe in the restoration of Israel.

This book takes what has become a controvertial impersonal topic and turns it into a tale of the human spirit. Era was an the average American. He had the normal life, but he choose to follow the path G-d choose for him. His acts of desperation would be called terrorism by the media, but it is only after reading this book that one understands he was an everday guy defending his family. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in gaining a true first hand perspective of life in the West Bank.

I should say that I'm only 200 pages into this book, but I simply wanted to relate how steady it has been to now in its blend of chronicle, elucidation, and detail. Particularly impressive is how Kenner uses an often very dense (Jamesian, Pound-ish) style of commentary to achieve this. I glanced through a copy of his selected essays ('Historical Fictions') and was disappointed to see that in them it often fell flat, whereas here it flows. Strong works of criticism often seem to fail with first intrusion of any flourishings of "style". I think that part of the revelation of Eliot the critic was his careful push away from a certain weightiness of thought while retaining depth and the critic's persona (which until then might have been all the rage, but for Eliot must have been a conscious decision, and is all the better for it in contrast with many of the zigzagging claims and stances that have come in the interim since). In critique it is the thinking that counts.

Pound oozes style, but his thought is what breaks the waves.

There is a sentence that one doesn't know what to do with. Does it express what it should? It is mine and I would say it needs to be modified. This is a 500 page book and it has had lapses so far. But like Pound's poetics, the stretching into the peripherals of Kenner's way of writing wins dividends and he wanders into prose critical summations complete with all the strength of good poetry.

The "Era" of the title tells you that this is also a book of people and the events around them, and Kenner paints the literary picture in continuously brief and slightly worn strokes. Here he can sometimes get a little misty, perhaps even dewy. A wide range of references will tend to rush away from the events given the slightest notice. But this is Pound's era, and how else are we to see the man? I shall read on and discover.

Not so much an argument, as a demonstration of Pound's panoramic influence on Modernism, Kenner's book remains one of the most highly praised exemplars of American literary criticism. Conveying as much biography as analysis-and even more cultural history, Kenner's sui generis study leaps from topic to tale to close reading, with little effort at transition, in an angular act of synthesis that demands acts of cultural leap-frogging much like Pound's own Cantos (though mercifully less strenuous). Kenner offers suggestive accounts not only of Pound and Modernism, but of the liberating role of Chinese poetry, translation, Greek syntax, history and economics, Wyndham Lewis, Eliot, Henry James, Williams, and the Objectivists. Kenner himself savvily refrains from attempting to define "a Pound tradition," because he needn't. Pound himself was-famously-the most important literary taxonomist and canon-maker of American modernism; and this book, with its convincing accounts of the almost servile fawnings paid to Pound by the high modernists, shows why Pound was so central: he was at once the most advanced and deeply traditional literary reader of his era. Kenner shows how for Pound, "all poets were contemporaneous," and though few could claim his readerly breadth, Pound's eclectic cultural borrowings (or should I say thefts) expanded the palette to include influences with which recent avant-gardists are only beginning to reckon. Indeed most of Pound's influence has been simplified to his emphasis on the desired objectivity of poetic language, or, as Williams redefined it, to the notion that a poem is "a machine made out of words." Shared by the Objectivists, and, more complexly, by the Language Poets, this linguistic outlook has become one of the crucial trends in experimental poetics.

This is an impressive read. I came to it at just the right time in my life. I had been reading the poems of Marianne Moore and Buckminster Fuller as well as studying Ancient Greek. This is a dense but ultimately very rewarding book. It incorporates passages of troubadour lyric and Greek and name-drops a lot of historical characters with which you may or may not be familiar. For those interested in Pound and his times, I highly recommend it. For those unsure, check out the excerpts that Amazon provides. This is not everyone's cup of tea. But, as I said, I came to this at the right time in my life.

In America Enters the World, Page Smith recreates a masterful account of the Progressive Era. He does not follow a strict chronological path (though there is more or less a sequence of events) but once the reader gets accustomed, it flows pretty well. Smith makes clever use of colloquialisms ("skedaddled" "smashed"-meaning drunk, and "skulduggery" are but a few) which helps make the reader feel comfortable. Finally he states his thesis on page 140 (barely 1/10 of the way through the massive book) of viewing history as a part of a larger whole.

Smith often extols the virtues of socialism as the great counterbalance of industrial capitalism, which since this is a "people's history" makes some sense. He has the ability to enter the shoies of those he writes of, an admirable trait in a historian. However, at times he gets carried away with the socialist undercurrents, sometimes to the point of annoyance. He does give great leaders like Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson their just dues, and comes down hard on stupid leaders like William Howard Taft and Warren Harding, and this gives the book balance. Unfortunately by giving lengthy accounts of the doings of Big Bill Haywood and Emma Goldman Smith seems to elevate these people to the unwarranted level of greatness as well. The Roosevelt-Wilson rivalry is the most dominant political theme in the book. Smith admires them both, Roosevelt for his populism, Wilson for his vision, and he covers each objectively and fair.

Smith never cites his sources so it is difficult to verify, but the reader learns to trust Smith as an authority on his subject. He makes an un-stated advocation of how committees served the country well in winning World War One, then attempts to illustrate how the Soviet Union emerged as a model of efficiency ("soviet" is defined as a governmental council). He makes great progress in some chapters then takes one step back with his unwavering advocacy of the socialist state. He seems to fall victim to his own conclusion on page 642 that "obsessions make bad politics".

But Smith is able to recognize genius when he sees it. Wilson's vision was the apex of the Progressive Era. When the unqualified Harding assumed the presidency, Smith ends his historical narrative. It is clear to Smith that Harding did not represent "progress" (one could conclude Harding didn't represent anything). The final several chapters are dedicated to technology, arts, education, and religion. He covers the American scene. Racism, bigotry, women's rights, philanthropy, mainstream and side stream politics, war, peace, industry, and many other themes are all handled with equal care by this prolific, intelligent author. His conclusion is well supported and his mastery of English would impress any wordsmith.

It is a sad commentary on public literacy and civic awareness when a whole series of books so splendid, educational, and damned readable is allowed to go out of print, such as has the quite literate eight book series by noted historian Page Smith. This massive and spectacularly executed series is organized around the continuing themes of American History, and centers on our emergence into the larger world as a main player in the world community. This is modern history at its best; masterfully retold, entertaining and edifying to read, and organized around central themes that make the subject both approachable and more understandable.

The present volume, "America Enters The World: A People's History Of The Progressive Era and World War I", is the seventh of an eight volume series Professor Smith published, and represents the culmination of the series in approaching the entry into the 20th century and the modern era after masterfully threading through the mass of American history. Dr. Smith begins here focuses on two key figures, a dynamic and energetic Theodore Roosevelt, on the one hand, and an austere, professorial, and intellectual Woodrow Wilson, on the other. With Roosevelt's gravitation to the Oval Office, an incredibly turbulent and event-packed two decades of momentous change commences, marked for such tumultuous struggles as the battle between management and labor, and the emerging progressive political movement.

This was also the period of international reawakening that found the United States increasingly drawn into world events, culminating in our reluctant and begrudging participation in the First World War. Of course, initially it was Roosevelt swinging that 'big stick' of power and enthusiastic involvement, swaggering confidently onto the world stage that first opened our doors to increasing involvement in international affairs. Yet, it was much more Woodrow Wilson's intellectual thoughtfulness that led directly to our enthusiastic flag-waving yet fateful entry into the growing darkness of the world war. In due time, the enthusiasm flagged, turning to disillusionment and an increased national mood of isolationism. In twenty short years, we had seemingly come full circle. Yet things had changed, changed utterly, and would never be the same again.

As with his previous volumes, Professor Smith guides us masterfully through the particulars of the lives of a stream of extraordinary people, individuals who rose to the manifest challenges of the era with energy, imagination, and selfless enthusiasm. In so doing, they reshaped and redefined the meaning and possibilities for America, and eventually helped in the effort to transform the world in the process. As with each of his previous volumes, the author uses his narrative to tell the story of individuals both famous and anonymous, and in so doing helps the reader to better appreciate what it meant to be alive and involved in one of the most amazing periods in modern history, when America rose mightily and purposefully from the obscurity of provincial isolationism to greater international responsibility and involvement, spurring America onto the stage for the events of the twentieth century, where she has remained since.

In sum, this is a work of a great and singular historian, one offering a unique perspective on a most momentous, dangerous, and exciting time in our history, a period during which America came of age internationally. It is the story of two decades that did so much to define and forge the modern nation we are all so familiar with, and helps to explain how it is we have come to arrive at our present destination, and in the process gives the reader great cause for celebration and concern. I highly recommend you search out this book as a used commodity and then hang onto it for dear life. I do. Enjoy!

This is the 7th of the 8 volume history which the late Page Smith (he died Aug 28, 1995) wrote on the history of this country. I have not read the 8th volume, but it is not correct to say it is a 10,000 page history. The first 7 volumes only have a total of 6,823 pages. My comment on finishing volume 7 was "I'd say about 5000 of the 6823 pages were really interesting reading." One of these days I want to find volume 8 and read it so that I will have read the whole set. Nor do I agree that this work was what Professor Smith devoted his life to. He has a two-volume biography of John Adams which I am going to read some day, I hope. (I know exactly the library where I can borrow it and I have been planning to do so for years--and some day I will.)

This book examines the end of traditional marketing (the 4Ps) and offers proven new strategies for business growth ('marketing the other way around'). The arguments are infallible for developed markets, and they are based on an insightful understanding of human behaviour, particularly into the manufacturing side of the value chain. It is written with passion and in an accessible and extremely commonsense manner. Read this one and put it into practice.

As a marketeer i got quite frustrated over the past years about many aspects of our traditional approach. This concepting philosophy opens up a lot of rusty doors and could be the cure for consumer numbness.

Two approaches can be defined to reach your markets beyond the traditional marketing concepts. Number one is to learn to know your customer better than he/she knows him/herself and to build measurable relationships using databases. Number two is to build concepts stronger than traditional brands. This book offers a straight and simple formula to the second approach. Based on essential understanding of human values, it offers an entrance to the human brain and its preferences. "Concepting" reminds me of Ries and Trout's classical work "Positioning". A great compliment.

For an account of Lincoln's thought (as well as Douglas') that serves to the credit of both of them, read this book. One of the finest books I have ever read, there are some chapters on Lincoln's thought that you will read time and time again. My copy of the book is marked up with great quotes where Harry Jaffa shows great insight into the tension and wonder that is the democratic thought of Abraham Lincoln, quite possibly the greatest democratic leader in history. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to know about the mind of Lincoln before the Civil War.

If you want to read one book about Lincoln's thought, this is the one to read. The first part of the book, which takes Douglas seriously and states the strongest case for him, is historically dense and may be difficult for most readers. But keep going, because the payoff will be great. There follow chapters on two of Lincoln's early speeches. Jaffa's analysis here is brilliant, though perhaps a bit far-fetched. In the final part of the book, Jaffa states the case for Lincoln against Douglas. This part is rich in its ideas, rigorous in its reasoning, and eloquent to the point of being inspirational. (By the way, if you want to read one biography of Lincoln, I'd recommend the one by Lord Charnwood. Though written almost a century ago and therefore not up to date on all the details of historical scholarship, it is judicious throughout and beautifully written.)

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Jaffa is that he wrote Goldwater's famous "moderation in the defense of freedom is no virtue" speech. If you go back and read the speech (and it is on the web, of course), it echoes both the Old Testament ("our fathers") and Lincoln. I suspect he would agree with the man who told me that Lincoln is the greatest prose stylish in the English language. As for the book, Jaffa interprets the civil war as the second, and genuine, founding of the American republic, and precisely because the principle of the Declaration, equality, was written not in ink but blood (Jaffa has his own brand of Lincolnian Christianity). Lincoln, by this reading, belongs to the "tribe of the eagle and the lion" and was neither Caesar nor Brutus but possessed the best qualities of both. To understand that part of Jaffa's interpretation, you would have to read his treatment of Shakespeare. As for the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Jaffa stages Douglas as Thrasymachus and Lincoln--surprise, surprise--as Socrates.