Triumph Reviews

This book manages to be of interest to anyone who wishes a travelogue of medieval pilgrimages, a humble recognition that even the oddest among us can have their minds very occupied with the divine, a look at the first autobiography of an English woman, or a case study in obsessive compulsive behaviour. Margery's disjointed recollections, coupled with her constant references to her revelations and retroactive "virginity," admittedly are not a fun pursuit, but her extreme case does seem to place much of the deficiencies inherited from the worst in medieval spirituality (a legacy of the Plague ... even if the best of the era was the finest in history) into perspective. I guarantee that, while one may find Margery as troublesome as did those of her time and place, one will never find her recollections dull.

I found this book to be quite useful and helpful while I was conducting research for a paper on the tobacco industry. It was insightful, and helped me further my understanding of the topic. However, the author does have a bias point of view, and anyone using this book for research should definetely counter it with contents from the other side.

At first I would to say that I have read all titles of this series from antiquity to the Renaissance and my favorite author is D. Nicholle. So, as I received my copy and saw that the artwork is from Graham Turner (my favorite artist; the cover looks different in reality than that depicted above) joyful reading seemed to be assured. But this book is, regarding formal aspects, the weakest I have read by Nicholle, due mainly to aspects which perhaps the author could not control. 1. On the battlefield maps troop units are constantly labelled wrongly (they are often mixed up, e.g. the black prince wing is labelled as the wing of the Earl of Northampton and vice versa), and, not so important, the arrow showing North is facing the wrong direction by 90°. This problem seems to me due to making the maps in the last possible moment before printing (they, too, look different than the cover illustration shown above). 2. eight pages of mostly superfluous wargaming tips deal at length with figure sizes and army scales which everyone could extract from the text themself. Plus, the author of these tips states that the French army is three times the size of the English army which is totally contrary to the book author Nicholle who writes that they are of comparable size. 3. The political reasoning and actual motivation of the campaign are dealt with in three pages which throws just a spot of light on many topics, like the battle of Sluys and the war in Gascony (I needed to the end of the book to find out that the Duke of Normandy was the French king's brother). So, four more pages wouldn't have hurt. 4. I am interested in the evolution of armor and, as many know, this is an important time for it, but you have to search mostly beyond the pictures for information regarding this topic. One or two more words on this in the text wouldn't have hurt anybody. But, to say something positive, the artwork by G. Turner is really great and if the book is revised soon the new points of view on this battle and good description of raising an army in feudal England and France could be more appreciated.

Nancy Kline provides an illuminating glimpse into the life and work of Elizabeth Blackwell, and does service to the memory of Dr. Blackwell by doing so. She accurately and fairly portrays the struggles that Dr. Blackwell overcame to become the first woman MD. Kline's prose is perfectly suited for the young adult reader, sufficiently complex to be thought-provoking, but also lucid. I gave this book as a gift to my 13-year old sister, and after she read it she shared it with her friends and all of the family!

The book was a good book,but the Alfed Slote could of got in more detale with the writing of the book. The midile of the book the story got more and more interasting until the last chaper when they made the championship. The book did not till if the team won the campuonship or lost it. that was the worst part of the book, the rest was good so I give this book 3 stars.

How did a woman run her religion in the nineteenth century? Whereas current biographers, Peel and Gill, may give a more reliable and fulsome account of Mary Baker Eddy and Christian Science, certainly an adherent of the cause not too many generations removed from the beginning possesses historical interest. It is claimed by the author that Mary Baker Eddy's thoughts were her life.

She was the individual agency of the revelation of Chrisitian Science in 1866 it is held. The years 1866-1875 were years of immense hardship and fruitful work as Mary Baker Eddy labored to produce her textbook, SCIENCE AND HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES. Following the Civil War, Unitarianism, Universalism, and spiritualism grew. Mrs. Eddy was supported by the consciousness of divine power and presence.

The writer's mother, Mrs. Annie Rogers Michael, became a pupil of Mrs. Eddy. She, the mother, saw Mrs. Eddy at invervals for thirty years. (79) At this point in time I think the book under review has been superseded by the Robert Peel and Gilliam Gill biographies.

Have you ever had a bad nightmare? I give this book three star. I give this book a thumb down because IM not really into nightmares from space and stuff like from space. If you like ghost and space ships this is the book for you. This book is about four people. They are abducted and taken into space. When they came down they have powers and one of them is using their powers for bad purposes. Now you read the book and you'll see what happens.

This was okay, but I got it as a gift and would not purchase it myself. It is basically a collection of magazine articles and gets pretty redundant. It isn't authorized or endorsed by Oprah or her company, and looks to be a shallow collection of reiterations of the same things. If you love Oprah, you already know everything in this book :-).

Ben Witherington sets out on a rather ambitious journey. To chart the Apostle Paul's thought world from a big picture viewpoint. He begins by rejecting the approach used by systematic commentaries on St. Paul's theology, with all their limitations (i.e., dividing Paul's thought into Soteriological or Eschatological or by the evolution of his theological world view).

So Witherington instead plots Paul's theology in a narrative fashion. Of course, systematic referances concerning theology are so engrained into our western thinking that they are impossible to avoid entirely, but he does a wonderful job of taking the reader through Paul's theology as if it were a narrative -- which in fact, it really is. From the Fall, to Israel and the Law, to Christ and the New Covenant, it is story rich with dramatic tension, wonderful characters, and a heck of a plot.

Two complaints, though. One, Witherington does not write for the layman in mind. This book delves too far into certain topics which could have been condensed in order to alleviate the theological "jargon" so often emlpoyed by scholars.

Two, Witherington seems to compromise on his own personal beliefs about Pauline authorship in order to gain acceptance for his work in the scholarly community. Pauline authorship of the Pastoral Epistles and Ephesians or Colossians is a hot topic within some circles, but has cooled off in others. That latter circle would have frowned on Witherington including the disputed epistles, so Witherington simply does not. In my opinion, if he feels there is some merit to their inclusion, he should state his case, include them, then move on.

All in all, this book is a helpful guide towards seeing Pauline thought as a grand narrative story, and not some odd collection of theological maxims. Just don't be afraid to skim if your mind begins to wander or your eyelids start to droop.

This excellent book, about a high school track runner, has inspired me to make myself into a better track runner. It was just that good! I encourage anyone who enjoys track or running to read this book. It gives you an insight into the mind of a runner. This book is full of competition and the many hardships this runner had to face. I'm sure anyone who reads Run For Your Life will enjoy it.