General-Order

As a recent convert from Roman Catholicism to Orthodoxy, I especially recommend this volume of essays, regarding the primacy of Peter, and, by extension, the primacy of the Pope, to any Roman Catholic interested in Orthodoxy. The essays are well researched and well balanced, and give the reader the Orthodox point of view regarding the claims of the Papacy, without resorting to polemics.

I also recommend the book "Rome, Constantinople, Moscow: Historical and Theological Studies" written by Fr. Meyendorff as well as "The Orthodox Church" by Bishop Kallistos Ware for anyone interested in the history of the Church.

The booklet could have been called Prior Roger and the Brown Paper Envelope. For anyone following the course of recent Irish political life, with its favours done to "friends", its general openness to corruption and the high life enjoyed by the great and the powerful, it provides a salutary lesson that nothing much has changed. It was all going on in the fourteenth century, much of it happening in what is now the relative backwater of Kilmainham. The writer has explored how Roger Outlaw (great name, for a start) used the network of friends he gathered in Kilmainham to more or less run the country for twenty years. Outlaw kept his contacts in luxury, held extravagant feasts and even presented them with gowns covered in furs and trimmings in order to hold their support. Despite the lack of personal records, you get a very strong sense of the man himself - an arch-politician if ever there was one - and of the society at Kilmainham, the centre of power of the military order of the Knight's Hospitallers. One of the most interesting chapters deals with the Alice Kyteler witchcraft trial, a story which involves a mad bishop, a middle-aged murderess and a host of minor characters. The Byzantine twists and turns in the story make for fascinating reading. Outlaw took the side of the "witches" because of family and local loyalties and got himself accused of heresy for his troubles.

I really enjoyed the book. Although it is short, it contained a huge amount of information - in fact, the detail is almost too densely packed in for such a short work. But it gave me an insight into how society operated in a period I knew little about, and a taste to find out more about it. The study started out as an M.A. thesis, and the signs are on it with the number of footnotes and references in a comparatively short text. My advice is - ignore the footnotes and enjoy the story. It's worth it.

Robert Cox has done a brillant job of taking Political Economy to the next level. Whereas, other political theorists have concentrated on the International Political Economy. Cox focuses upon the Global and the forces which go into the making of forms of production, state and world order. Any student interested in the dynamic historical interplay of these structures is well advised to pick up a copy of this book. Although, Cox is a Historical Materialist, he is a Gramscian thus allowing for a greater theoretical openness then some operating in the same paradigm.

This is a highly original examination of what it takes to become a saint. Kleingberg shows that it is not as simple as being perceived to have performed a few miracles but rather meeting a combination of complex parameters including personal behaviors and community expectations. The key to why this book works is that Kleinberg uncovers the truth of various saintly journeys by using a multi-dsiciplinary approach which examines the whole system to understand the function of the parts. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in developing a critical eye when reading traditional hagiographical texts.

This brilliantly researched and presented study by Buder objectively analyzes the impact that George Pullman had on the railroad industry, business in general, and his "model town" specifically. Buder looks at not only the why, but the how of the town's failure. After a good reading, discussions of "paternalism" vs. "benevolency" are sure to arise.

I couldn't put this book down. I have never read this author before but she was fantastic. She made me laugh constantly. All the characters were wonderful, especially the little boy. I can't wait till the next bachelor of Shotgun Ridge comes out. Well written and just plain fun.

Mother Teresa was one of the best storytellers of our time. All her talks contained stories from her own life, which she told with passion and fervor. In her informal conversations with her sisters, visitors and guests she always used stories very effectively. These were always short, clear and to the point. She often used events that she herself had experienced or incidents that she had witnessed. In every case there was some wit and wisdom, which made the idea connected with it clear and memorable. They conveyed profound truths about human life and our relationship with the Divine.

This small book contains 109 such stories told by Mother Teresa. They have been compiled and edited by Edward Le Joly and Jaya Chaliha. Le Joly has worked with her for more than three decades and has nearly 25 books to his credit, some of which are on Mother Teresa. He gives a beautiful introduction to this collection. Each story narrated here is precious as it is designed to provide deep insights. Through the different stories the editors have successfully drawn up the story of the life and work of Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity. Her message to the world comes alive through these little anecdotes from that life. This is a wonderful book for spiritual reading, meditation, and reflection.

Singer and Wildavsky argue that for the first time in history the major world powers share a commitment to democracy. By working together, they eventually will encourage other nations toward democracy and, ultimately, peace.

The authors argue that the world's superpowers have mutual interests in the political and economic success of democracy worldwide. These countries should now undertake a democratic, multinational effort to draw other countries into this "zone of peace."

They suggest establishing a United Nations Democratic Caucus through which democratic nations can, by majority rule, agree on issues of international significance. The economic development opportunities that stem from this cooperation eventually will attract non-democratic nations, who currently reside in what the authors call "zones of turmoil."

Singer and Wildavsky also propose a substantial increase in foreign assistance (half reserved for humanitarian emergencies) and limits on arms transfers to non-democratic states.

In 1996, this book won the $150,000 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order, an international prize administered by the University of Louisville's Department of Political Science.

I don't usually read self-knowledge/self-help books, and even more rarely finish them. The genre tends to suffer from poor writing, overuse of jargon, academic axe-grinding, and the smug tendency of the authors to try and jam you into their pet, pigeon-holed theories. (I wonder how many of those authors are first-borns, and if that's part of the problem for this last-born son?) I found "The Real You" to be mercifully free of all the flaws listed above, as well as a highly illuminating and pleasurable read. In fact, I not only finished "The Real You", I read it twice! (And so did two of the people I subsequently gave it to!) Dr. Leman presents four different methods of looking into your personality, and manages to do so without being either superficial or unwieldy. His acknowledged specialty is birth order, but the other sections are excellent too; the birth order part is also remarkably handy for starting party conversations that aren't banal. More importantly, this book may enable you to have some of the conversations you've never gotten around to with your loved ones. In summary, if you were to read only one self-knowledge book in a decade, I'd recommend "The Real You."

Not flashy but very valuable for anyone interested in the Soviet army in WW2. A great book! The Frog and Spuds know their stuff!