Book Description

One of the most popular series ever published for young Americans, these classics have been praised alike by parents, teachers, and librarians. With these lively, inspiring, fictionalized biographies -- easily read by children of eight and up -- today's youngster is swept right into history. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Murder in Memphis
As it is a particular field of interest to me, I have probably read more about the trilogy of 1960's assassinations than most. Most conspiracy theories, however, involve a certain suspension of disbelief, and the reader, as investigator, must decide what they believe or not. Not so in Mark Lane and Dick Gregory's Murder in Memphis; without pointedly trying to be, their simple stating of the facts is the single most damning, disturbing, and convincing indictment of the FBI and others involved that I have ever read. Brilliantly written, the book is also meticulously researched; every source used is clearly identified and the reader gets the impression they could independently verify every statement made with relative ease. A non-stop page-turner from beginning to end; it is a must read for anyone who enjoys non-fiction.

Not as good as orders to kill
This is a fairly good book but nothing like Orders to Kill by William Pepper which is much more detailed and conclusive in it's arguments. Thinking about it I guess these guys probably re-released to cash in on the time, effort and money that Pepper spent on the the case. Still it is much better than Posner so... ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A STUDY IN PSYCHOANALYSIS AND HISTORY - NOT A BIO.
THIS IS NOT A BIOGRAPHY, AS THE TITLE MAKES CLEAR. A PREVIOUS REVIEWER COMPLAINS ABOUT IT'S LACK AS A BIOGRAPHY. THIS IS A MISPLACED CRITICISM OF ONE OF THE MOST TRENCHANT CASE STUDIES EVER WRITTEN USING HISTORICAL INFO ON THE ONE HAND & THE PSYCHOANALYTICAL MODEL OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT ON THE OTHER. IT IS NOT A STUDY OF THE RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE EITHER - ALSO A CRITICISM AIMED AT THE BOOK. PROBABLY BECAUSE LUTHER HAS BEEN ADOPTED AS THE 'FOUNDER' OF A RELIGIOUS SECT AND PLAYED A CONTROVERSIAL ROLE IN THE INTERNECINE WAR BEING WAGED WITHIN ROMAN CATHOLICISM IN HIS TIME. INDISCRIMINATIVE CRITICS FOIST THEIR OWN RELIGIOUS BAGGAGE ONTO THE BOOK, SO READER'S SHOULD PAY HEED TO THE AUTHOR'S INTENT. THIS IS NOT ABOUT RELIGION AND IT IS NOT A BIOGRAPHY. IT IS A MASTERFUL STUDY IN PSYCHOANALYTICAL TERMS OF AN AGGRESSIVE PLAYER IN ONE OF THE KEY CONTESTS IN CHRISTIAN HISTORY. SOME THINK HE WON AND SOME THINK HE LOST. ERIKSON'S ARELIGIOUS FOCUS IS NOT ON THE OUTCOME OF THE CONTEST, IT IS ON THE DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESS LUTHER GOES THROUGH, USING THE PSYCHOANALYTICAL MODEL AS A DESCRIPTIVE DEVICE. A FIRST CLASS STUDY OF ITS KIND!

Historical psychosocial analysis of Martin Luther
This book is Erik Erikson's posthumous analysis of the life of Martin Luther (of Protestant Reformation fame) based on Erikson's psychosocial theory of development. While this book is a very interesting application of EE's theory, psychoanalyzing an individual after they're dead using only historical records raises serious methodological concerns. Regardless, the book gives interesting insights into what MIGHT have occurred in Martin Luther's psyche, and what brought him to the place where he altered the course of human (at least western) history. However, EE leaves little room for the possibility that religious experiences actually occur,that Martin Luther's religious experiences can be explained by something outside an arrest in his psychosocial development. To balance out his somewhat areligious perspective, Roland Bainton's "Here I Stand" is a good companion. (Bainton was a Quaker who taught at Yale until he passed away in I believe the 1970s). It would be unfortunate to get the life history of a religious figure only from a the point of view of a non-religious person (I believe EE was either agnostic or an atheist).

In sum, I found this book is most interesting and useful as a window into a EE's application of his own theory (which is fascinating), rather than a biography of Martin Luther.

Music to my ears!
This is a faboulous book chronicling the early career of a musical genius. He gave the American public so many songs that have formed the soundtrack to my life as well as so many others. Luther Vandross is truly a national treasure and with this book he will take his rightfull place in American history. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Fun afternoon read
He strikes an interesting balance between the various Luther mythologies: the "Oak of Saxony" of ideolized Protestantism, the "Devil's Spawn" of reactionary Catholicism, and the mentally disturbed creature of speculative psychology.

It doesn't break any new ground or make any brilliant points, but it's a fun read.

Not only read it, but performed it.
Not only have I read Luther, but I have performed in the play. I played the Role of John Tetzel, the Dominican monk who sells indulgences. I found the play rather boring. Tetzel's scene in Act 2 scene 1 is one of the few entertaining bits of the play though a 4 page monolouge is a lot to memorize.

Creating the Protestants
Osborne, the popular enfant terrible of British drama in the 1950's and 60's (then ignored once his politics became unfashionable in artistic circles) won several awards for this play, an interesting but hardly comprehensive portrait of Martin Luther's career. The title role (originally played by Albret Finney)is challenging for an actor, and intriguing for the reader. The second act--in which Luther fights the Catholic Church--is strong and well-written; the first is also dramatic in its attempt to explain why Luther did what he did; the third, however, by viewing Luther at the end of his life, disappoints because we are only TOLD about his accomplishments rather than sharing them.

The scope of the play is too large--it tries to cover too much time rather than concentrating on one (or a few) specific events. But it is a curious and fascinating play; few are written about religion any more, and for that alone it is engrossing. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Sometimes Size Matters
E. G. Schwiebert's Luther and His Times is a monster of a book with historical cultural, and religious backgrounds well developed; although it's over 50 years old, the book still stands up with anything current for the serious lay scholar or professional theologian.

The heft of this single volume may scare some people off, but Schwiebert's style makes it easy to grasp his substance. The book is well-organized and, unlike many Luther biographies, not only gives background information about the Reformer but also enlightens the reader about the church, the universities, and the general society of the 1500s.

Thorough Work On Luther
Schwiebert is lengthy and technical, written for serious students of the Reformation. We used it as one of seminary texts for Reformation. Omits untranslated German and Latin, etc. which predominates much scholarly work so that laypeople can't begin to use.

Organized into five parts, beginning with cultural, theological context, then moves to various phases of Luther's life.

Useful Reformation work, especially good section on Worms.

Luther for Our Times
Dr. Ernest Schwiebert, who died on March 10, 2000 at the age of 104, described this book as his greatest accomplishment (Deshler, OH Flag, March 23, 2000). Researched and written on location in Germany in 1950, the book analyzes conditions surrounding the Lutheran Reformation according to history, politics, the church, and academia - a daunting task for one book. But the author organizes his material well and one of his specialties, the analysis of the Reformation as a university movement, comes through clearly and cleanly in this work. Both those familiar with Luther's life and those exploring it for the first time will appreciate how Dr. Schwiebert brought scholarly research on the topic into the reach of many people. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

M.L. review
I have to say that I found this book to be quite informative as to the life of Dr. King. I had to do a lesson on a biography of Mr. King and in looking through several children's biographies, this was the one that I found to be most adequate for the lesson. It includes many important facts about his life and yet it is not too lengthy. The book is beautifully illustrated as well, which is a wonderful thing to keep the children interested. I really enjoyed reading the book and I am sure that my children will too. ... Read more

Book Description

Examines his contribution as a philosopher and theologian to issues of racial and social justice and his drive to eradicate oppression through the doctrine of nonviolence. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A tribute to peace
My favorite kind of book is one that makes you want to read twenty or thirty others because of the titles and writers referred to by the author.You think you're reading a single book, but by the time you close it, you've been introduced to a whole community.

John Ansbro's book on Dr. King's philosophy of nonviolence is like that.First published twenty years ago and thankfully re-released, the book helps us understand King's nonviolence through careful and interesting discussions of the influences on him.Ansbro traces King's personalism and focus on agape ethics through thinkers such as Howard Thurman, Kant, Nygren, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Niebuhr, DuBois Gandhi, and Thoreau.Especially useful is his discussion of King's views on collective evil and what he sees as its alternative, the "beloved community."Equally useful and fascinating is Ansbro's comparison of Dr. King's nonviolence to Franz Fanon's and Malcolm X's (early) espousal of violence.

Reading this book is an education not only in Dr. King's philosophy and stragegy of nonviolent resistance, but also on nonviolence as taught and practiced through the ages.In this day and age, when we seem even more ready than in days past to resort to violence as a way of settling differences, the re-issue of Ansbro's book is a Godsend. ... Read more