history

Those with a casual or serious interest in the American Civil War will thoroughly enjoy this collection of beautiful paintings by Don Troiani. From dynamic battle scenes to homefront portrayals, this book captures the full scope of the artist's popular glimpses into Civil War life. No where else can all of Troiani's masterful artwork be seen in one place. Highly recommended.

This Book is not only regiments history and a lott of beautiful accurate illustrated uniforms, is history alive. The only thing this book lack off is sound but thanks to the hands of Don Troiani the paintings are so full of live you can hear it in the back of your mind. Art by Don Troiani, text by Brian C. Pohanka. This book presents in a beautiful landscape format his unique view of the war and the men who fought it. Each painting is accompanied by an extensive background text by noted historian Brian Pohanka The good thing about this book is that if you consider yourself a Civil War historian or reenactorss a just a fan beginning to study the civil war, you won't find the typical error of other authors, this would help you enjoy the painting one by one so you can understand better who and how was this War fought. One last thing DO NOT PUT THIS BOOK ON YOUR COFFEE TABLE people fall in love with this book so fast that they can even stole from you, believe me this is the third time I buy this book. If you enjoy this book you would love Don Troiani's Soldiers In America, 1754 - 1865.

This book is a gem!, if you love paintings like Meissonier, Detaille etc depicting battle scenes... Well, no one does it better. Indispensable for ACW fans, reenactors or wargamers.
(Will have rated it six stars if posible...).

"The End is Near" makes you yearn for Divine inspiration regardless of its source or circumstance. The artwork is stunning, the artist bios are awe-inspiring and the essays are thought provoking, empowering and spiritually comforting. This is an amazing gift to give to others...but do yourself a favor and give it to yourself first. And then go out and pick up a paintbrush, a pencil, or a piece of coal and create. This book will make you realize that the best art you ever see could be just below the surface of your own consciousness.

There are lots of books out there on outsider art-but this is great because it's a guide to art from all over the world with one theme in mind. It helps put the whole genre into a form that is more easily understandable and, best of all, fun. I really love this book!

My wife and I just bought the hardcover and recommend it highly. We loved the reading the background of the authors. It proves that you do not have to be a celebrity or athlete or CEO to be "considered successful". Some of the world's greatest talent are never heard from. We have Dilettante Press to thank for bringing us this fine collection of artists. I work with libraries and recommend this book to all of them.

This handsome companion to the excellent National Geographic documentary is the best overview and photographic record of the Lusitania disaster I have seen. If you only own or read one book on the Lusitania, let it be this one! It covers the key issues surrounding the tragedy: Why did the powerful, double bottom ship go down so quickly (only 18 minutes compared to over 2 hours for the less robust Titanic)?; What caused the second explosion?; Was the Lusitania carrying arms? Dr. Robert Ballard, who discovered the Titanic and explored the Bismarck, uses advanced equipment to go down into the ocean's depths to answer these questions and to give us a glimpse of how the Lusitania looks today through remarkable photographs and the masterpieces of maritime artist Ken Marschall.

The text of the book is very well-written. It does not go into as much of depth as longer books as it explains the sinking through accounts of select survivors, some alive at the time of the book's publication. Still, it reveals many lesser known points. First Sea Lord Winston Churchill, in France at the time of the tragedy, might have ordered a naval escort for the famed passenger liner (pg. 78). It notes that the U.S. tanker Gunflight was torpedoed the week before (pg. 124). Unlike the documentary, readers learn that nurse Alice Lines--who was still alive when the documentary was made--actually missed the lifeboat when she made her desperate leap with baby Audrey (pg. 102). The book takes a fair look at the sinking. There is much empathy for the German side (Lusitania was, after all, an auxiliary cruiser in a war zone) and is quite critical of Captain Turner who ignored the Admiralty's instructions on steering a zigzag course away from the shore in areas where subs lurked. The most valuable part of this book on a informational level is that it solves the mystery of the second explosion some witnesses believed was a second torpedo or the explosion of arms in the ships magazine.

As interesting as the text is, the illustrations make this book the best on the subject. Photos and startlingly accurate period postcards give the reader a look at Lusitania's interior in first, second, and steerage classes. Posters and memorabilia illustrate the propaganda war which followed. Finally, pages 144-89 explore the Lusitania and compares the ship then & now in remarkable photos. The highlight is a well preserved first class tub and shower found just outside the ship compared with a period illustration (pp. 172-3). A fold-out shows the sunken giant in full length thanks to the excellent work of artist Marschall. His realistic paintings look like photographs!

The book is very thorough. It includes a critical look at the inquiries into the sinking, the fates of some of the major players including U Boat commander Schwieger, a brief look at Lusitania's sister ship Mauretania, and a chronology of the two Cunard sisters. The only inconsistency I found was that Schwieger reported that he did not know he had torpedoed the Lusitania until he saw her name on her bow; however, the Lusitania name was covered up at the time to trick the enemy during the war (pg. 203). Still, this book is an excellent introduction to the Lusitania story and a more than sufficient and revealing account if one chooses not to read further.

Not only are all the facts, both past and present, contained here...but the sensitive, intelligent narrative of Robert Ballard and artwork of Ken Marschall make this a delightful book to read, peruse or simply decorate your coffee table. Works like these could make even the most jittery of sailors want to apply to the Woods Hole Institute!

this is a great book.
i know about ships and this is one of my favorites
robert ballard is a great oceanographeri have all of his ship books including exploring the titanic and ghost liners
this book is cool
joe

This book in an account of the strange events in the French town of Loudun in the early seventeenth century. It's a tale of religious hysteria, sexually frustrated nuns, scheming in-fighting clerics and ambitious politicians. Huxley describes the hyprocisy of the time, and the uses to which apparent devil-possession and witchcraft were put, not only by the exorcists, but by the "possessed" themselves.

The first 100 pages are interesting, yet merely set the scene for the rest of the book, and as such the reader has to be prepared to read in anticipation of a quicker pace and more gripping account later on.

But this is not a tale along the lines of "The Exorcist" (though Huxley does not spare the reader the grisly details) - it's a more reflective and scholarly work than a mere sensationalist entertainment. Huxley relates the history of the events in Loudun, but tries to place those events in a wider historical context, examining what they meant to contemporaries, and contrasting them with later attitudes, and the common beliefs of his own era. Huxley's standpoint is that although the events in Loudun appear gruesome and unacceptable now, beneath what we consider our own "culture" and humanity lurk more sinister latent tendencies:

"Few people now believe in the devil; but very many enjoy behaving as their ancestors behaved when the Fiend was a reality as unquestionable as his "Opposite Number"."

No doubt Huxley's psychological and historical analyses will appear out-of-date to modern experts, but his approach is nontheless a deeply humane one - seeking to understand some of the most base and basic features of the dark side of our behaviour. Given the present state of the world, who would disagree with:

"Montaigne concludes with one of those golden sentences which deserve to be inscribed over the altar of every church, above the bench of every magistrate, on the walls of every lecture hall, every senate and parliament, every government office and council chamber. "After all" (write the words in neon, write in letters as tall as a man!) "after all it is rating one's conjectures as a very high price to roast a man alive on the strength of them"."

Write them in the East and in the West too.

This book received some attention when Ken Russel's movie came out in the early 70's. Before and since it's been pretty much neglected, which is a shame. In my estimation, Huxley is one of the foremost masters of prose writing in the English language. Those who are unfamiliar with his essays should seek them out. His was a mind that ranged far and probed deeply. The incidents portrayed in this book are indeed bizarre. It will remind some of Arthur Miller's The Crucible, in that a group of young women, in this case nuns, fall victim to mass hysteria. A local priest, Father Grandet, becomes the fall-guy and the true victim of a superstition-riddled Inquisition.

I'm sorry to see that this book is currently unavailable. It's really one of the most interesting historical accounts that I've ever read. Actually, Whiting's play, based on the same incident, is also excellent. I have mixed feelings about Russell's film. I thought Vanessa Redgrave was remarkable and Oliver Reed was very good, but Russell went too often over the top as is his wont.

If you can't find this book online, perhaps you will come across it in a used-bookstore or, if you are luckier than I am and have a well-stocked library, you can find it there. You shouldn't pass up the opportunity if you want to have a satisfying and unusual reading experience.

The Devils of Loudun is a wonderful study of state, society, and spirituality in 17th century France. By closely examining the events surrounding a case of satanic possession of a cloister of nuns in the village of Loudun, Aldous Huxley writes knowledgably and entertainingly about French history and Roman Catholicism of this period.

The book begins with the coming of a new priest, Urbain Grandier, to the village church. He is young, handsome, intelligent, and sophisticated. Grandier is a worldly priest who has the village women enthralled, and he is not committed to a life of celibacy. After a series of affairs, he falls in love with and "marries" in a secret ceremony Madeleine de Brou.

One of the women who has become infatuated by Grandier is the Mother Superior of the Ursuline convent, Sister Jeanne des Anges, an ambitious young woman who is unstable emotionally. She starts talking of her dreams and obsessive thoughts about Grandier to the other nuns and to her confessor. He sees the influence of the devil in these compulsive thoughts and begins an exorcism that lasts for six years.

Fantasies about the local priest turn into accusations that he is in league with the devil. Huxley describes Grandier' powerful enemies and their motives for wanting him punished. Grandier is accused of witchcraft, found guilty, and burned at the stake.

The close relationship between Sister Jeanne and her exorcist, the Jesuit mystic Joseph Surin, rounds out the book. Huxley presents a learned and intriguing discussion of christian mysticism and its relationship with the concept of satanic possession as it was understood at the time.

Although it is the basis for the Ken Russell movie The Devils, the book provides a much more detailed and less sensationalistic approach to the material than the movie. An excellent study that continually compares the 20th century with the topics under discussion, this book is a wonderful view into this period. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the history of France, witchcraft, mysticism, or the Catholic Church. Huxley doesn't believe in the nuns' possession, but provides a well-reasoned explanation of his own interpretation of events.

Sometimes, as the great zeppelins would cross the skies , people below would run in panic fearing the end of the world. Douglas Botting has offered up a glimpse into the creation of the zeppelin as a means of travel and war. He also gives an invaluable look into the world at that time. One man during the early 1900's was more close identified with the zeppelin and pioneered the continuation of development and usage , Hugo Eckener. This same Dr.Eckner would always be looking for ways to improve the zeppelins he would soon fly all over the world. This book follows the refinement of the zeppelin design during his time as well as the expansion of the use of the zeppelin, for both travel and commerce. Also explored is the limited success the zeppelin had as a war time airship and the continual search for ways to use it for both peaceful and wartime purposes. As the zeppelin became a travel ship, even though for only the very rich, the voyages were followed in the press. Randolph Hearst even bankrolled a round-the-world flight to set a new record. The people who traveled on zeppelins became celebrities. As the excitement of the possibilities of zeppelin travel becan to swell there was the evergrowing threat posed by the government of Dr. Eckner's Germany, the Nazi party. This book combines the feel of the times, and introduces some real personalities of those years. We see how these huge airships truly managed to capture the popular imagination. Not at all a dry read.

Today with stealth fighters and bombers, Concorde supersonic airliners and jumbo-jets, few people realize that from 1928 to May 1937 German zeppelins dominated trans-Atlantic passenger air travel. In the book, Dr. Eckener's Dream Machine, Douglas Botting takes the reader back to the time of "zeppelin fever" and using the Graf Zeppelin as the narrative vehicle, tells the story of the German zeppelins and the life of Dr. Hugo Eckener.

The book opens with a account of the Graf Zeppelin's August 1929 flight from Friedrichshafen Germany to Berlin, the beginning of the Graf's 1929 round the world flight. Chapter 2 tells the story of Count Zeppelin and his invention of the rigid airship in 1900. Amazingly in 1910 zeppelins began carrying passengers on sightseeing flights over German cities. Chapter 3 narrates the zeppelin in WWI where great technical advances were made but the zeppelin had limited military utility. Virtually put out of business after WWI by the Inter-Allied Control Commission, the Zeppelin Company was revived in 1926 by supplying the LZ-126 (USS Los Angeles) to the United States as war reparations. Later funds were raised in Germany to build LZ-127, christened Graf Zeppelin on July 8, 1928.

The Graf Zeppelin was a passenger airship test-bed and Dr. Eckener wrote that the Graf ". . .was to prove that passengers could now be carried across the Atlantic Ocean by air in speed and safety, and with all the comfort and pleasure which the modern traveler demands." Botting narrates the dramatic first Atlantic crossing of the Graf in 1928.

The 1929 world flight was in reality two record flights, one originating at Lakehurst, New Jersey financed by Hearst Newspapers and the second starting at Friedrichshafen. Chapter five continues the world flight narrative noting it was not a world record that Eckener had in mind but considered it ". . .a proving flight to demonstrated the zeppelin's potential for a worldwide passenger air service." The book's account of the world flight is a fascinating well-written adventure story. The world flight of the Graf Zeppelin "provided incontroversible proof of the airship's capability as an intercontinental transport mode"; the author notes the world flight "had been brilliantly executed in both its planning and operations stages." However, the passenger zeppelin used dangerous hydrogen and was vulnerable to weather masses. The author writes "The Graf got away with it on the world flight partly because it was a first-class aircraft, but above all because of the masterly expertise of the crew."

The text notes "In the autumn of 1930, as the Graf Zeppelin was completing its first series of commercial flights to South America," the Zeppelin Company began the design of LZ-129, later named the Hindenburg. In 1931 the Graf made an Artic exploration flight to the Soviet Union meeting a Russian icebreaker above the Artic Circle. The text notes that this was the last spectacular proving flight for the Graf.

In 1931 the Graf made three scheduled advertised flights carrying passengers and mail to South America, the first scheduled transatlantic air passenger flights in history. In 1932 scheduled passenger flights to South America in the Graf Zeppelin continued and plans were initiated to establish zeppelin travel throughout the world.

The author's account of this critical period in zeppelin history is excellent. In 1933 the Graf continued transatlantic passenger flights and the Nazi came to power. The 3rd Reich helped to fund construction of the Hindenburg, but at a price. The government took over zeppelin passenger operations and moved it to Frankfurt Germany with the Zeppelin Company left solely as a manufacturer. Having criticized the Nazi, Dr. Eckener was declared a non-person and could not command the Hindenburg when it was completed. The book tells how in 1936, Eckener's dream came true as the Hindenburg made ten scheduled round trips from Germany to America, plus seven round trips to Brazil while the Graf made thirteen round trip flights to Rio. The financial results were impressive with Eckener noting that they were an "agreeable surprise."

On May 3, 1937 the Hindenburg, LZ-129, left Frankfort for Lakehurst, N.J. under the command of Captain Max Pruss, Eckener still a Nazi non-person was not on board. Three days later at 7:25 P.M. EDT, while landing at Lakehurst, the Hindenburg exploded. The account of the Hindenburg catastrophe is excellent. Most interesting are several direct quotes from on-board passengers and crew. The total number of dead totaled thirty-six-thirteen passengers out of thirty-six on board and twenty-two of the sixty-one crewmembers plus one civilian ground crew. The book states that the Hindenburg disaster marked the first passenger fatalities in commercial zeppelin operations since their beginning in 1910, zeppelins having made twenty-three hundred flights carrying more than fifty thousand passengers with a blameless safety record. After May 1937, commercial zeppelin operations ceased. However, as one of the last commanders of passenger zeppelins noted, "It was not the catastrophe of Lakehurst which destroyed the Zeppelin, it was the war." During WWII, the Zeppelin Company assembled V-2 rockets.

In less than ten years, the Graf Zeppelin had made 590 flights traveling 1,060,000 miles safely carrying 13,000 passengers; a record not exceeded by an airplane for many years. When the Hindenburg's successful passenger flights are added in, this was a remarkable accomplishment, as transatlantic airplane passenger flights didn't begin until 1939 with large flying boats making numerous enroute-refueling stops. Not until 1957, twenty years after the Hindenburg's nonstop passenger flights to North America, did scheduled direct nonstop service begin with DC-7s from New York to London.

This is a well-written history and those interested in aviation history will find it refreshing to read an account of German zeppelins where the book's primary focus is not the Hindenburg disaster.

The woman in this book, Lady Grace Hay-Drummond-Hay is my great aunt (my paternal grandmother's sister). Sadly she died many years before I ever knew her and so this book not only is a great read from an historical perspective, it also tells me more about my inspirational relative.

what's amazing to me is how much and how little American culture has changed in almost three centuries.

If you want to understand where America is going, then it's essential to understand where America has been, and this book, even more than the Federalist papers, will show you that.

Anyone wishing to better understand how it is that America achieved it's current position in the world must read this book. De Tocqueville's seminal work rings true today and gives a great perspective on our past, present and future. Everything that has ever happened in America's relatively short history, up to and including our most recent presidential election and the attacks of September 11th are better understood after reading this timeless classic.

This book is a work of scope and insight that is still quoted and referred to often. Although written in the 1800s it still speaks to us about what we were with a clarity and accuracy that makes it an essential if you care about the early development of this country. It has past the test of time and may be more important now then it ever was. READ IT.

Good for you if you've made it to this, book three in the Lymond series. This is the best series I have read in a long time. It is so worth reading! The book is action-packed and thre are so many plot twists and turns that you have to be extremely sharp to follow them all. Make the effort and take the time, and you will not be disappointed. For anyone who loves adventure books this series cannot be beat. I can't wait to read Book Four, and the other two books in the series, but it will be sad when my adventure is over. Lucky you if your adventure is just beginning.

If you've made it to this, book number three in the series, you are no doubt an Lymond addict like me. This book was yet another incredible "fix" in my terrible, obsessive craving for more of Lymond and his heart stopping adventures. I am an impatient soul by nature. And because my time is limited, I loathe the thought of seeing a movie twice and it has never crossed my mind to re-read any book, no matter how good. This all ended when I discovered the Lymond Chronicles. I not only (happily) read and reread passages of each book (often by necessity to puzzle out the complex plots) as I am reading it but as soon as I finish a book in the series I want to start rereading it, and the entire series, right away. These books are like a drug. I cannot get enough of them. They are the most wondrous, satisfying reading experience I have ever had.

Disorderly Knights made me laugh so hard, especially Lymond's early escapade with not a small number of sheep. Knights made me cringe during Lymond's terrible beating (particularly since he had known this torture as a galley slave). And, Knights took my breath away with its exciting, brilliantly staged climax with Gabriel.

This third book in the series book pits Francis Crawford of Lymond against an adversary worthy of his steel - Graham Reid Malett, a gorgeous, gifted, lying, scheming, corrupt and captivating giant of a man possessed (in more ways than one) of the adoration of almost everyone who meets him, not to mention the most beautiful sister in the world. Can Francis survive the encounter? Like all good writers, Mrs.Dunnett respects her villain too much to make him easy meat, and the conflict between these two gives the book real tension and pace. The Somerville women and the enigmatic Sibylla develop in unexpected and interesting ways, Lymond's male companions reveal why he rates them high or low, and the author gives us not just a rattling good yarn but a great cast of characters and a quick tour of the philosophy and politics of the time into the bargain. The book would be worth reading just for Lymond and Malett, but it offers much more. And it couldn't be filmed, because the actors who could step into these two pairs of shoes simply don't exist. I leave the debate over whether Dorothy Dunnett is a 'great' writer or merely a 'good' one to others. She's a hugely enjoyable writer, and I'd rather spend the time enjoying than making needless comparisons. This is a well plotted, well paced, well structured book with characters you won't forget in a hurry. Just read it.

Of course Barbara Wood is an excellent writer, at least for me, but in this book something was missing at the end of it, all the book was perfect, it keeps you reading, but when you finish, is just like that, you finished the book and you don't know what happened with the other people of the book, what happened with Judd? or Sarah? or Adam? or the last expedition to find her?
As in all of her books, with this one you will learn about Australia.

This book drew me in as if I were part of the story, and then I could not put it down. The book is filled with mystery, suspense, politics, history, and religion. All of this is blended into a fantastic story. This is the first book I have ever read from this author and I am going to stock my library with more of her books, especially if they are as good as this one.

I am reading The Dreaming for the second time in two years. It is one of the most wonderful books I have ever read in my short life. It is excellent historical fiction, the descriptions are marvelous and the story itself casts a spell on you. Through Wood's book, I have fallen in love with Australia! But please Ms. Wood, write us a sequal to The Dreaming! What happens after 1886? Does anything ever happen between Judd MacGregor and Beth Westbrook? What about Adam and Joanna and Hugh and Sarah and ever single character in your masterpiece? Please Ms. Wood, satisfy your readers dreams by writing us a sequal. Your book is memorable and lovely, a joy to re-read over again. P.S. does the sheep station make it?

I'm a Russian Language and Literature major in Yonsei Univ. in Korea. Having lived in Moscow for around 3 years, I'd heard there a lot about Pushkin and read many of his famous works. The most prestigious of his, however, must be "Onegin." It's a great mixture of verse and prose in its form. If possible, try to read this in Russian, as well. This long poetical prose was written for 8 years and the ending rhyme perfectly matches for the entire line until the very end. Compared to others, it is definitely a conspicuous and brilliant one. "Onegin" can be the author himself or yourself. The love between Onegin and TaTyana is neither the cheap kind of love that often appears in any books nor the tragic one that is intended to squeze your tears. As a literature, this book covers not only love between passionate youth, but also a large range of literary works in it, which can tell us about the contemporary literature current and its atmosphere. Calling Onegin "My friend", Pushkin, the author, shows the probability and likelihood of the work. Finally, I'm just sorry that the title has been changed into English. The original name must be "Yevgeni Onegin(¬¦¬Ó¬Ô¬Ö¬ß¬Ú¬Û ¬°¬ß¬Ö¬Ô¬Ú¬ß)." If you are a literature major or intersted in it, I'd like to recommand you read this. You can't help but loving the two lovers and may reread it, especially the two correspondences through a long period of time. Only with readng this book, you'll also learn a huge area of the contemporary literature of the 19th century from the books mentioned in "Onegin" that take part as its subtext. Enjoy yourself!

Eugene Onegin was Pushkin's favorite among all his works, and although it seems to take a back seat to some of the great late-19th century Russian novels among western readers, Russians themselves tend to prize it above all other works of their country's literature. In case you're not familiar with the story, it deals mainly with two of the title character's ill-fated relationships: one with his friend and neighbor Vladimir Lensky, which ends tragically due to a very unnecessary rivalry over Olga Larin; and the other with Olga's sister Tatyana, which never comes to fruition because Eugene initially rejects her, only to fall in love with her later. Interwoven among all this, Pushkin himself periodically appears to invoke his muse or to digress on such seemingly unrelated topics as his penchant for women's feet.

The work can't possibly be praised enough in a single review, and I won't try to do so; suffice it to say that Eugene's provincial boredom, Tatyana's passion, and Vladimir's poetic romanticism are all splendidly drawn, and many of Pushkin's digressions have justly become proverbs in his native land. Presumably much of the reason that the novel doesn't receive quite so much attention in the non-Russian speaking world is that, due to its verse structure (it consists of 14-line stanzas in iambic tetrameter with a consistent ababccddeffegg rhyme scheme), it's very hard to translate while still retaining both the meaning and the delightfully spirited rhythm of the original. Vladimir Nabokov asserted very emphatically back in the 1960s that any faithful translation would have to almost completely sacrifice the original's lyric quality, and Nabokov's translation is notoriously dull, if extremely adherent to Pushkin's exact meaning. Not speaking Russian, I haven't read the original, nor have I read any other translations than the one I'm reviewing, so I can't say for sure how it compares, but I can say that Falen's translation is extremely good. It adheres, for all intents and purposes, exactly to Pushkin's meter, and does so without any particularly awkward diction, resulting in an end-product that must at least approach the beauty of the Russian version. Some others seem to agree with me: in the preface to his own recent (1999) translation of Onegin, Douglas Hofstadter praises Falen's translation so highly that he has to spend a section explaining why he bothered with a translation when Falen had already done it so perfectly. While most bilingual readers would probably state that to call Falen's (or anybody else's) translation "perfect" would be a stretch, it is still a delightful work, and hopefully other English-speaking readers will acquire, as I have, a better appreciation of the beauty of Pushkin's greatest work as a result of it.

James Falen has offered his version of the Russian classic, and has captured both the meaning and the verse. The stanzas flow effortlessly in Falen's hands, it may very well be the best translation yet. Of course, Nabokov is not around to cast his judgement on it. He panned every other translation that had been printed and penned his own in prose, so as not to stray too far from original meaning. But, even he said it was no more than a crib, as what Puskin had achieved in Eugene Onegin was a restructuring of the Russian language, giving it a beauty few had thought it possessed.

Orlando Figes similarly noted that Onegin was the first truly Russian lyrical novel. Pushkin had forsaken the standard French and sought to find the words expressive enough to convey the contradictory nature of the Russian soul. The novel in verse ebbs and flows as Pushkin takes you from St. Petersburg to Moscow to the Russian countryside, weaving a charming tale with many fascinating asides. The texture is so rich and the characters so enduring that this lyrical novel has attained mythological status in Russian literature. No understanding of the subject is complete without having read Eugene Onegin.

But, if language is essential to understanding Onegin then any translation will ultimately come up short. However, Falen has shown great respect for the novel and its language, unlike Douglass Hofstadter's juvenile attempt to translate it. Falen offers copious endnotes and a fascinating introduction. He tips his hat to Nabokov and the others who have translated this novel in the past. The language Falen uses is modern, giving Onegin a freshness lacking in other translations.

Unlike most books written about Ruby Ridge and Waco, this book is well written and straightforward, free of the extremist polemics that fill other accounts. It also makes a good, suspenseful read.

"Every Knee Shall Bow" by Jess Walter is the definitive statement of the events that transpired on Ruby Ridge between the Weaver family and the federal government. The author was one of the many journalists who covered the story as it unfolded. He got a bird's eye view of a lot of things that went on during the standoff, although most of it being secondary to the main events.

Walter takes a look not only at what happened on the mountain but also at the backgrounds of Randy and Vicki Weaver and the subsequent legal proceedings against Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris. While most readers will be drawn to this book for the Ruby Ridge incidents, I'd be willing to bet that most will be more riveted by the court room proceedings than the other two parts of the book.

Walter doesn't draw too many conclusions in the book. He seems to decide two things: 1) the Weavers were anti-government paranoids and 2) the government royally ... up this case thereby doing nothing to dissuade the Weavers from their paranoia. He seems to believe that the Weavers were not intent upon provoking a standoff with the feds; that they believed they didn't have to provoke one and that it would just show up at their doorstep.

This account of what happened is none too flattering of anyone involved in the standoff. There is much second guessing of the government's overreaction to a man who was essentially wanted on a failure to appear charge. You expect the government to be the ones to show good judgement in a situation like this and they blew it by a wide margin.

"Every Knee Shall Bow" is the only book you need to get both sides of what happened on the mountain. Both the Weavers' and the feds' sides are well presented. Walter doesn't play favorites with the stories; although, he seems to believe the Weavers' account of what transpired more than the government's.

This is a well written book. It is as exciting and easy to read as a novel. All sides of the controversy get a fair hearing. The beliefs of the Weavers, the White Separtist Movement, Christian Identity and others involved in this controversy are explained. The author definately had his point of view but covered all points of view fairly.