Ancient Books - Page 2

The Intellectual Devotional: American History: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Converse Confidently about Our Nation's Past

David S. Kidder, Noah D. Oppenheim

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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Self-Help -> General AAS
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 41 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Very Sloppy 1 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

This is the most sloppily edited book I've ever read. Did it even have a proofreader? Page after page suffers errors in dates and basic facts.

Here is a very typical error in the discussion of the Battle of Antietam in 1862. "Nearly 100,000 soldiers participated in the battle--a force of greater size than the entire army that had fought the American Revolution seventy years earlier." So the Revolutionary War was being fought in 1798?

Seriously, this kind of simple error is all over the place. The previous volume had its own errors (there was an article about Mormon prophet Joseph Smith with a random photograph attached claiming to be him), but this one is terrible. And this is just the stuff I know. I hate to think how many errors there are in total because you have to assume that any fact-checking was equally slipshod.

Editorial Review:

Modeled after those bedside books of prayer and contemplation that millions turn to for daily spiritual guidance and growth, the national bestseller The Intellectual Devotional—offering secular wisdom and cerebral nourishment—drew a year’s worth of readings from seven different fields of knowledge. In this follow-up volume, authors David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim have turned to the rich legacy of American history for their selections. From Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin to Martin Luther King Jr., from the Federalist Papers to Watergate, the giant figures, cultural touchstones, and pivotal events in our national heritage provide a bountiful source of reflection and education that will refresh knowledge, revitalize the mind, and open new horizons of intellectual discovery.

Peony in Love: A Novel

Lisa See

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 105 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

“I finally understand what the poets have written. In spring, moved to passion; in autumn only regret.”

For young Peony, betrothed to a suitor she has never met, these lyrics from The Peony Pavilion mirror her own longings. In the garden of the Chen Family Villa, amid the scent of ginger, green tea, and jasmine, a small theatrical troupe is performing scenes from this epic opera, a live spectacle few females have ever seen. Like the heroine in the drama, Peony is the cloistered daughter of a wealthy family, trapped like a good-luck cricket in a bamboo-and-lacquer cage. Though raised to be obedient, Peony has dreams of her own.

Peony’s mother is against her daughter’s attending the production: “Unmarried girls should not be seen in public.” But Peony’s father assures his wife that proprieties will be maintained, and that the women will watch the opera from behind a screen. Yet through its cracks, Peony catches sight of an elegant, handsome man with hair as black as a cave–and is immediately overcome with emotion.

So begins Peony’s unforgettable journey of love and destiny, desire and sorrow–as Lisa See’s haunting new novel, based on actual historical events, takes readers back to seventeenth-century China, after the Manchus seize power and the Ming dynasty is crushed.

Steeped in traditions and ritual, this story brings to life another time and place–even the intricate realm of the afterworld, with its protocols, pathways, and stages of existence, a vividly imagined place where one’s soul is divided into three, ancestors offer guidance, misdeeds are punished, and hungry ghosts wander the earth. Immersed in the richness and magic of the Chinese vision of the afterlife, transcending even death, Peony in Love explores, beautifully, the many manifestations of love. Ultimately, Lisa See’s new novel addresses universal themes: the bonds of friendship, the power of words, and the age-old desire of women to be heard.

The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child: Volume 1: Ancient Times

S. Wise Bauer, Susan Wise Bauer

List Price: $21.95 By: W. W. Norton & Company Amazon Marketplace: 6 new & used starting at $44.99

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Subjects -> Children's Books -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 116 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

This read-aloud series is designed for parents to share with elementary-school children. Enjoy it together and introduce your child to the marvelous story of the world's civilizations.

Now more than ever, other cultures are affecting our everyday lives—and our children need to learn about the other countries of the world and their history. Susan Wise Bauer has provided a captivating guide to the history of other lands. Written in an engaging, straightforward manner, The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 1: Ancient Times weaves world history into a story book format. What terrible secret was buried in Shi Huangdi's tomb? Did nomads like lizard stew? What happened to Anansi the Spider in the Village of the Plantains? And how did a six-year-old become the last emperor of Rome?

The Story of the World covers the sweep of human history from ancient times until the present. Africa, China, Europe, the Americas—find our what happened all around the world in long-ago times. Designed as a read-aloud project for parents and children to share together, The Story of the World includes each continent and major people group. Volume 1: Ancient Times is the first of a four-volume series and covers the major historical events in the years BCE 500 to 400 CE, as well as including maps, illustrations, and tales from each culture.

The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Oxford World's Classics)

Marcus Aurelius

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 111 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Awful version of the Meditations 1 out of 5 stars.
6 of 11 people found this review helpful.

Here is what Gregory Hays, this translator, wrote:
1. MY GRANDFATHER VERSUS. Character and self-control.
This is choppy. These are sentence fragments.
Here is how Maxwell Staniforth translated the same passage in the Meditations:
1. Courtesy and serenity of temper I first learnt to know from my grandfather Versus.

Heres another verse from Hays:
2. MY FATHER (FROM MY OWN MEMORIES AND HIS REPUTATION). Integrity and manliness.
From Staniforth:
2. Manliness without ostentation I learnt from what I have heard and remember of my father.

Heaven forbid you let a young person read the sentence fragments from Hays. Fortune cookies are more eloquent than Hays.

Editorial Review:

A. S. L. Farquharson's translation was originally published in 1944, as part of a major commentary on Marcus Aurelius' work. In this volume, Farquharson's work is brought up to date and supplied with an introduction and notes for the student and general reader. A selection of lively letters from Marcus to his tutor Fronto, most of which date from his earlier years, is also included.

How the Irish Saved Civilization (Hinges of History)

Thomas Cahill

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Subjects -> History -> Europe -> Ireland -> Medieval
Subjects -> History -> Europe -> Ireland -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 259 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The perfect St. Patrick's Day gift, and a book in the best tradition of popular history -- the untold story of Ireland's role in maintaining Western culture while the Dark Ages settled on Europe.

Every year millions of Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but they may not be aware of how great an influence St. Patrick was on the subsequent history of civilization. Not only did he bring Christianity to Ireland, he instilled a sense of literacy and learning that would create the conditions that allowed Ireland to become "the isle of saints and scholars" -- and thus preserve Western culture while Europe was being overrun by barbarians.

In this entertaining and compelling narrative, Thomas Cahill tells the story of how Europe evolved from the classical age of Rome to the medieval era. Without Ireland, the transition could not have taken place. Not only did Irish monks and scribes maintain the very record of Western civilization -- copying manuscripts of Greek and Latin writers, both pagan and Christian, while libraries and learning on the continent were forever lost -- they brought their uniquely Irish world-view to the task.

As Cahill delightfully illustrates, so much of the liveliness we associate with medieval culture has its roots in Ireland. When the seeds of culture were replanted on the European continent, it was from Ireland that they were germinated.

In the tradition of Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror, How The Irish Saved Civilization reconstructs an era that few know about but which is central to understanding our past and our cultural heritage. But it conveys its knowledge with a winking wit that aptly captures the sensibility of the unsung Irish who relaunched civilization.

The Infertility Cure: The Ancient Chinese Wellness Program for Getting Pregnant and Having Healthy Babies

Randine Lewis

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 83 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

IT WORKS!!!!!! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

After 6 years, this book made the difference. I just have to share this with anyone and everyone who is trying to conceive and having difficulty. I think it's important you know my fertility background.

I am now 35 years old, about 178lbs now, my husband is 36 and we have been TTC for 6 years and 2 months. About 16 months in, I decided to quit a very stressful job (which I believed was a major factor in my inability to conceive) and we conceived but I had a miscarriage at 6 weeks. I was beyond devastated. To try for so long only to lose our first hope was crushing. I went back to work at a less stressful job about 8 months later.

We did all of the standard testing, some multiple times, over the years. I had an HSG to see if my tubes were blocked. My husband's sperm was tested. I went to an endocrinologist who said I was borderline PCOS (with no cysts). So I tried Metformin. We tried several natural methods like the Creighton Model System with which you chart your cervical mucus to track your most fertile times, etc. I also went to a naturalist who helped me with anxiety with Adrenal Stress End (a miracle supplement!), but the Progesterone cream and Chasteberry herbs he suggested did not help me conceive. I even moved my bedroom around and of course we tried every position and I even tried standing on my head! Hey, when you're desperate, you'll do anything! We were diagnosed with Unexplained Infertility. The only diagnostic thing I did not do was a laparoscopy.

Well, that was about the worst thing to me. If nothing was wrong, and so there's nothing to fix, what do you do next? I really didn't want to try Clomid or ART. I wanted to become pregnant naturally if possible. I was afraid of the side effects of Clomid and the expense and toll ART would take on my mind and my body. But finally in Oct. '06 I felt like we had no choice but to start trying something else, so I took Letrozole (like Clomid) for 3 months. I had the worst possible experience with it. I had every side effect including panic attacks and no baby. By Dec. I decided that was enough. My job had become more stressful and after so long without conceiving I had a discussion with my husband about putting trying for a family first. I quit my job again and worked hard on eating better and losing some weight. Also reading and meditating and really trying to relax (that evil word!) and get healthy.

We made a plan that at the end of summer we would start ART if we still hadn't conceived naturally. Then in early July I happened upon this book online "The Infertility Cure" by Randine Lewis, Ph.D. I bought the book and began reading immediately. TCM is based on the theory that whatever problem you have is based on a whole body imbalance. And when you fix the imbalance, the problem will correct itself. They don't treat symptoms with medicine. They treat the problem that causes the symptoms (an imbalance) with diet, herbs, and acupuncture mostly.

Finally! Something that would address the imbalance in me that was causing infertility! There is a questionnaire in the book that lists 5 pages of "symptoms" that then tell you where the imbalance lies. And then it tells you specifically what to do to fix it! She said it normally takes 3 - 6 months for your body to come into balance. I had 3 months until ART was to start. I figured I'd do the recommendations in the book and then if we still hadn't conceived, ART would be in place ready to go. I put forth full effort. I jokingly said I wanted a "free baby!", so I put my health first. I found a Chinese acupuncturist (something my ART doctors highly recommend) who specializes in infertility. She said she actually uses the questionnaire in this book when someone comes to her for infertility. I filled it out, read the book, and started the dietary guidelines immediately. Which for me was to cut out dairy, wheat and high-sugar foods, not to eat cold foods, to do things like warm foot soaks and femoral artery massage to stimulate blood flow to the uterus. I had my first acupuncture treatment for fertility on day 24 of my cycle (last Wednesday).

Yesterday, I had a positive result for a pregnancy test!! Over 6 long years of negative results, broken dreams and self-doubt. I believed there was a natural way to allow me to conceive. And I finally found it. I never even took any of the herbs. I didn't get a chance! Ladies, I can't tell you, this was the easiest thing I did over the 6 years of trying. Please, before you take medical drugs or start ART, try this. Even if you need ART because of a medical problem, this book teaches you easily how to get your body in the best possible place it can be for conception to occur. I cannot recommend it enough for obvious reasons.

I know first hand the frustration and sadness that not being able to conceive brings. I pray for anyone who is looking for the answers that I was to see this and give it a try. I pray that anyone who reads this will also send out a little prayer for us that this pregnancy continues and that I am able to give birth to a beautiful healthy child that we have been waiting for, for so long. I will pray for all who read this to share in the success that we have had!

Editorial Review:

This highly effective programme for women struggling to become pregnant draws on the proven, centuries-old techniques of traditional Chinese medicine to cure infertility. Dr Lewis explains in clear, accessible prose how any woman can identify the imbalances in her body - and how these imbalances can then be treated with a simple plan that entails lifestyle changes, diet, herbs and acupressure. On its own or in conjunction with traditional Western medical treatments, THE INFERTILITY CURE offers women hope - and what they desire most: a healthy baby.

Twelfth Planet: Book I of the Earth Chronicles (The Earth Chronicles)

Zecharia Sitchin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 173 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Outstanting 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Don't let the bad publicity against Mr. Sitchin influence your mind.
Many jealous people and especially failed writers hate him.
We all understand that.
There is a person in America who asked the authorities to put him in jail.
Crazy!
Only in America people massacre others with dirty words,
personality assassination and personal hatred. What they do?
They are incapable of writing successful books
so they began to throw dirt from their mouth
and snake-style criticism.

Mr. Sitchin is a remarkable writer.

Respected all over the world.

I collect all his books.

S. Mahdi, Cairo, Egypt.

Editorial Review:

Over the years, startling evidence has been uncovered, challenging established notions of the origins of life on Earth—evidence that suggests the existence of an advanced group of extraterrestrials who once inhabited our world.

The first book of the revolutionary Earth Chronicles series offers indisputable documentary evidence of the existence of the mysterious planet Nibiru and tells why its astronauts came to Earth eons ago to fashion mankind in their image.

The product of more than thirty years of meticulous research, The 12th Planet treats as fact, not myth, the tales of Creation, the Deluge, the Tower of Babel, and the Nefilim who married the daughters of man. By weaving together the biblical narrative with Sumerian and Babylonian clay-tablet texts, it challenges the established notions of the origins of Earth and mankind, and offers a compelling alternative history and prehistory of both.

Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu (Vintage)

Laurence Bergreen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 26 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Historical Accuracy? 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

After having read only about 50 pages of this book, I am seriously questioning the historical accuracy of it. I am an amateur of Medieval, and in particular Venetian, history and I find that Mr. Bergreen oversimplifies and generalizes some events and conditions of 13th C Europe to a bothering degree. For example, he paints the Venetians as merchants bent on warfare where most historical sources show that they preferred to carry on matters peacefully since that was, indeed, more profitable for business, and only engaged in warfare when they felt their business interests were threatened. He also portrays the city of Venice itself as a sinister place ripe with disease, corruption, social inequality, intrigue and abuse of women. What Mr. Bergreen fails to do is compare the conditions in Venice with other those in other European cities and states where they were no better, if not worse. In fact, in many ways 13th C Venice was arguably far more enlightened than many other places with its functioning republican government, its strong mechant marine, its developing business acumen and its strong international ties. These are just a few of the inaccuracies I found.

My concerns being thus about the first part of the book, I am skeptical about the accuracy of what I am about to read - of which I have less thorough knowledge. I am afraid I will have to take it with the proverbial "grain of salt" and also keep in mind, as another reviewer has stated, that Marco Polo's memoirs were not intended as historical fact, but as engaging adventure tales told while he was in prison.

Editorial Review:

As the first European to travel extensively throughout Asia, Marco Polo was the earliest bridge between East and West. His famous journeys took him across the boundaries of the known world, along the dangerous Silk Road, and into the court of Kublai Kahn, where he won the trust of the most feared and reviled leader of his day. Polo introduced the cultural riches of China to Europe, spawning centuries of Western fascination with Asia.

In this lively blend of history, biography, and travelogue, acclaimed author Laurence Bergreen separates myth from history, creating the most authoritative account yet of Polo's remarkable adventures. Exceptionally narrated and written with a discerning eye for detail, Marco Polo is as riveting as the life it describes.

City of God (Penguin Classics)

Augustine of Hippo

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 38 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Some things are better read about than read 2 out of 5 stars.
5 of 17 people found this review helpful.

I read this for a book group I was in, and was rather peeved at being forced to blow so much time on what is essentially useful only to the Classical historian or Scholasticism buff. Realistically, Augustine is just a particularly eloquent proponent of a religious argument we all get in Sunday School at age 10: The things of this world are transitory and passing, but the things of the next world are eternal and more valuable. You can almost hear the monotonous cadence. If what you want is to add to your already-considerable knowledge of the particulars of late Roman civilization, then this is the book for you. If you're in seminary and reading Aquinas, and you're thinking, "I'd certainly like to know more about his major intellectual influences," then this is the book for you. But if what you want is an increased familiarity with the major ideas of Western civilization, then do yourself a favor and go pick up a pair of textbooks: one on ancient history, the other on classical philosophy. Augustine of Hippo will get a few pages in each one, and that's honestly all he's worth. Plowing through the entirety of The City of God for simple philosophical or theological curiosity would be like reading the complete works of Louis Agassiz just to see what scientific racism was like. Both efforts would be fruitful, in one sense, but in another sense you'd have spent an awful lot of time learning about antiquated theories.

Editorial Review:

St Augustine, bishop of Hippo, was one of the central figures in the history of Christianity, and "City of God" is one of his greatest theological works. Written as an eloquent defence of the faith at a time when the Roman Empire was on the brink of collapse, it examines the ancient pagan religions of Rome, the arguments of the Greek philosophers and the revelations of the Bible. Pointing the way forward to a citizenship that transcends the best political experiences of the world and offers citizenship that will last for eternity, "City of God" is one of the most influential documents in the development of Christianity.

The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories

Herodotus

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Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

From the editor of the widely praised The Landmark Thucydides, a new Landmark Edition of The Histories by Herodotus, the greatest classical work of history ever written.

Herodotus was a Greek historian living in Ionia during the fifth century BCE. He traveled extensively through the lands of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and collected stories, and then recounted his experiences with the varied people and cultures he encountered. Cicero called him “the father of history,” and his only work, The Histories, is considered the first true piece of historical writing in Western literature. With lucid prose that harks back to the time of oral tradition, Herodotus set a standard for narrative nonfiction that continues to this day.

In The Histories, Herodotus chronicles the rise of the Persian Empire and its dramatic war with the Greek city-states. Within that story he includes rich veins of anthropology, ethnography, geology, and geography, pioneering these fields of study, and explores such universal themes as the nature of freedom, the role of religion, the human costs of war, and the dangers of absolute power.

Ten years in the making, The Landmark Herodotus gives us a new, dazzling translation by Andrea L. Purvis that makes this remarkable work of literature more accessible than ever before. Illustrated, annotated, and filled with maps, this edition also includes an introduction by Rosalind Thomas and twenty-one appendices written by scholars at the top of their fields, covering such topics as Athenian government, Egypt, Scythia, Persian arms and tactics, the Spartan state, oracles, religion, tyranny, and women.

Like The Landmark Thucydides before it, The Landmark Herodotus is destined to be the most readable and comprehensively useful edition of The Histories available.