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Robert Nisbet (1913-1996) is a writer that every conservative should read. Perhaps more than any other thinker, Nisbet showed the connection between the decline of community and the rise of government. Although something of a libertarian, his approach to society provides an excellent contrast to such individualist libertarians as Murray Rothbard. (Although Rothbard's view of society is not inconsistent with Nisbet's.)

In this excellent little work, Nisbet explains how sociology (and other disciplines) resembles art. For example, consider the "classes" that make up Marxian thought, or the themes in Tocqueville's works. In many ways they resemble the characters in a Dickens novel. Just as Dickens' characters were meant to be "exemplars" of a certain type, Marx, Weber and other sociologists describe their "types" with artistic imagery. Nisbet has a fascinating chapter in which he shows how many scientists have conceived their work in artistic terms. There is an aspect of creativity that can't be reduced simply to experiments and statistics. Nisbet relies, in part, on the ideas of Thomas Kuhn. (While I don't agree with Kuhnian relativism (if that's what he in fact taught), his insights have a certain validity as a description of how science operates.) Nisbet makes the interesting observation that while scientists and artists tend to work alone or in small groups, government wages "war" on cancer, poverty, or whatever. These government programs are generally less than successful and probably stifle progress.

Nisbet was, strictly speaking, a sociologist. However, his work encompasses what might be called the "history of ideas." Even if your interest is neither sociology nor art, you should read this book. This edition also contains an excellent introduction by Paul Gottfried.

Written both for readers new to sociology and those experienced in its study, Sociology As An Art Form shows how the founding sociologists such as Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and Simmel created generalized portraits of whole classes of people as a reflection to the portraits found in the literature of their period. Delving into the links between sociology and art to present an appraised estimate of sociology's contribution to modern culture, Sociology As An Art Form by the late Robert Nisbet (1913-1996), formerly Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities, Columbia University, is an intriguing, scholarly, and enduring study recommended to students with an avid interest in this remarkable branch of the social sciences.

This is the 2nd book i got hold after "Hard Curves". Fans of Julie Bell's fantasy art get to keep her prints in a single book. That's luxury! Profusely illustrated and a sure treat for fantasy illustration. Near flawless fantasy art collection in oil captured on prints. Perfect interpretation of human anatomy through her oil painting techniques. Definitely a must for fantasy art collector. One pity is some prints are printing over 2 pages and over time the paperback give way in the saddle and the prints gets torn out. Would have been better if it's a hardbound.

This book combines comments from Julie with a variety of her work from oil paintings to pencil sketches. Especially exciting is seeing some of her trading card art in a larger format. The only problem is the binding. It can be hard to view double page spreads, as part of it is obscured in the binding. This is a great, inexpensive way to get your hands on some of Julie's art.

aem's "Solid As Echo" is an astounding book, comical, horrifying--beautiful--And Profound--His Prose ability is equivalent Of William H. Gass Or Thomas Pynchon. With all of the Poor things that pass as good literature these days It is a Miracle To see something This Genuinely Good. The Book Contains A Wealth Of Knowledge As Well As Being Extremely Entertaining... A Not To Miss Future Classic!!!

Featuring three novellas and seventeen poems, Solid as Echo is a wild ride through the trapezoids, squares, and parallelograms of the author's mind.

"I have learned many things from my friend and mentor, Lonnie Joseph Nichols. Lonnie started out as my patient and has become my teacher. In the "Soul as Healer", he gives you(the reader) gems of his own inner wisdom and helps you recognize the healer within you." - Dr. David Vicena, D.C., Host of the talk show, "Natural Healing Arts", Mesa, Arizona

"Lonnie Joseph Nichols has presented us with a text that is as multifaceted and holistic as his philospphy. The affirmations and meditations will benefit students of every meditative discipline. The understanding he brings to the energetic nature of healing should be incorporated in medical, chiropractic, acupuncture, and massage schools throughout the land. The techniques and concepts Mr. Nichols espouses work and are repeateable; they place the power of healing in the hands of the patient where such power belongs." - Dr.Robert Kienitz, D.Ac., M.Sc.O.M.; Director of the Stone Ponte Institute of Oriental Medicine, Mesa, Arizona; Dean of Faculty and Curriculum, Phoenix Institute of Herbal Medicine and Acupuncture, Scottsdale, Arizona

Having read twenty or thirty investment books, this one has got to be one of the best introductory to advanced texts I've seen. It is an extremely easy read and a great reference book. I especially like the author's highlighting of the most important concepts in each section.

This is a must read for anyone wondering about investing or retirement plans. Mr. Pryor gives a step by step plan to make and then meet your financial goals. He clearly explains all forms of investments with their risks and benefits. If you have any questions about investing, Mr. Pryor explains everything in a simple to understand manner. If you are old enough to earn money, this book is worth investing in. I wish I had read this years ago.

Beauty seem so weak when describing this masterpeice. I found it in a library the other day, and I am reluctant to return something so absolutly incredible. I am devistated that such a wonderful peice of art should be out of print; I would love to own it.

This is the most beautiful book that I own.

I can recommend Speak English Like an American to you. It is a very good way to learn important and useful American English idioms and expressions. I like the fact that the idioms are used in a story, then you get another example in a sentence, and then definitions in Spanish. There are good exercises also. This is a very interesting way how to study the language. I am using some of these expressions at work and people at my office are saying, "Oh Juanita, your English is improving!"

I found this book very helpful in improving my English. I can now better understand and speak with Americans. It has especially helped me in my job. I learned some great new expressions like for example "a dime a dozen" and "rolling in dough". I recommend this book for anybody who speaks some English, but wants to improve their conversation skills. I am still listening to the CD in my car to help with my pronunciation. Also, I think the exercises in this book are very good.

Most WWII stories are told with a "gung-ho" American point of view. And although David Zellmer never expresses a problem with U.S. policy, his point of view is so far removed from the general collective, that it becomes inspiring and mind-blowingly real, because of his ability to bring the reader into his young, cynical, and advanced observation of the war machine. He performes his duty without question. But he expresses a distaste for the loss of civilians, and maintains his commitment to his job with a powerfull artists eye. He notices things that anaverage WWII soldier would never dream of. As you read and become involved in this 26 year old's life, you start to forget what the war was about yourself. Ultimately, his visions do not try to downplay the moral and national justifications of the war, but rather let you in on the workings of a mind, sometimes self-absorbed, with the best intentions at heart. His absolute love of the art of flying combined with all of his other observations will stay with the reader forever.

I am grateful for Mr. Zellmer's detailed memoir of his life as a bomber pilot in the South Pacific. Although my own father served in the Army Air Corps fighting the Japanese, he never shared his frightening experiences with our family. This books allows the reader an opportunity to know the sights, the beauty, the fears, the excitement and the boredom of war in tropical lands. In addition to allowing us inside the cockpit during his first flights and later his bombing missions, Zellmer gives the reader a front row seat into the world he came from, the on stage world of Martha Graham's Dance Company. It's apparent that the author spent long years researching the era, as well as putting together his combat experience from letters written home to family and friends. I found this both a compelling and an informative read.

This was one of the most interesting books I ever read. Even though he has changed the names of everyone, certainly all the people mentioned would recognize themselves and what fools have been made of them. I would think that they, and their governments, would all be out for revenge. This is really a tell-all book of spy methods. I am surprised that it isn't classified, and I would think that it might seriously compromise our own spies in the area of national security, unless spy methods have really changed a lot since that time, and all these methods have become obsolete. But I don't think so, as they mostly involve people skills. Nevertheless, I am thinking about writing a novel,a nd a lot of the information I was searching for was found here. An amazing, exciting book. Hard to put down. As it is out of print, I ordered it used through one of the used booksellers in Amazon.com. I recommend you do the smae. The book I received was in excellent condition, and I'm glad I read it.

Espionage is commonly defined as "that part of the total intelligence designed for the surreptitious inspection of the activities of foreign countries to ascertain their strength and movements and to communicate such intelligence to the proper authorities. "If only for security purposes, all nations feel the need to discover, by their own concealed methods, the guarded secrets of others. Or as Winston Churchill once wittily remarked: "Sometimes liberty requires a bodyguard of lies." To establish the personality traits of the "ideal" spy central to the anatomy of espionage is obviously far from simple. A fine study of intelligence gathering catalogs, for example, some 10 traits the "good" intelligence agent must necessarily posess, in order to qualify for his precarious , oftimes life-threatening, assignment. Notable among them, an intelligence agent should be "discreet, have a passion for anonymity, and know how to keep his mouth shut, and preserve a secret. The most effective spy, Mr. Schack shows us is neither freak nor pschopath. He is rather, the 'citizenspy' who acts upon the incentive of enlightened patriotism and to whom deceit and intrigue are only temporary expedients that he knows how to keep under strict control. One such "citizen intelligence agent" was Howard Schack, a highly sucessful American engineer and with a worldwide reputation as a master builder of military installations around the globe. In his fascinating memoir, A Spy in Canaan, Mr. Schack explains his stake in the survival of Israel while serving for fifteen years with Israel's CIA, the Mossad.

I have been collecting stamps for a couple of years but I still learned many new things from this book such as all the different ways stamps are hinged. There is also a lot about the history of stamps. There are no colored pictures in this book, but the black and white photos are enough. The reason I read this book was because I wanted to know more about stamp collecting. This book gave me MORE than enough information, but it was not overwhelming. I think this would be great for beginners because you don't need to read every word in the book to understand stamps.

This is the best stamp collecting book I ever read. It tells me a lot about stamps that I never knew before. Also it tells you where you can get stamps. The best thing about this book is that it told me how to get stamps off an envelope. It is also a great book because it tells about how to identify fake stamps. Overall this is a very very good book.