Book Description
Florilegium Imperialis: The Floral Watercolors of Francis I of Austria
H. Walter Lack
Now available for the first time in book form, this collection of exquisitely rendered flowers presents one of the world's great collections of botanical illustrations in a deluxe format.
Francis I of Austria, the last monarch to rule over the Holy Roman Empire, was also obsessed with flowers. His Imperial Gardens, where he realized his passion for flowers, remain one of Vienna's most beloved treasures. In 1791, Francis I commissioned Matthias Schumtzer to paint portraits of every flower in the garden—a project that took more than three decades to complete. Until now, only six of the extant 1,300 paintings have ever been published. This collection features one hundred of the most outstanding of Schmutzer's watercolors. Painted life-size and with extraordinary precision, the flowers range from the exotic to the common. A fascinating text offers biographical information about Francis I, descriptions of the Imperial Gardens in the ruler's time, and photographs of how they appear today. A significant contribution to horticultural history, this unique and beautifully presented book will delight lovers of botanical art and Europhiles alike.
H. Walter Lack is director of the botanical gardens in Berlin-Dahlem and professor at the Free University of Berlin. He is the author of numerous books on botanical history, including Jardin de la Malmaison: Empress Josephine's Garden (Prestel).
Book Description
Handbook for Today's Catholic, popular for decades, is now even more valuable. This revised and updated edition includes a new introduction, the current list of the Holy Days of Obligation observed in the United States, the prayer for vocations favored by Pope John Paul II, a new section on how to prepare for a sick call, and much more.
Handbook for Today's Catholic, Revised Edition, retains all the features of the previous edition presented in easy-to-understand language, with content divided into the following four sections: Beliefs, Practices, Prayers, and Living the Faith.
Customer Reviews:
Great Little Book.......2006-04-13
This little volume has sold over 5 Million copies in four different editions since 1978. It is indexed to the Catechism written in easy to read language. This book is clear, concise and coherent. It looks at major doctrine's of the Catholic faith, traditions and practices as well as a section on traditional prayers. It has easy to implement ideas for how to integrate your faith into day-to-day life.
The book is composed of 4 sections:
1. Beliefs
2. Practices
3. Prayers
4. Living the Faith
This is one of those little books you will reference again and again.
Lite Reading- Basic Overview- Good.......2005-11-12
Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: Liguori Publications; Revised edition (June, 2004)
ISBN: 0764812203
11/12/05
I think this book was a very helpful and concise overview of the Catholic faith. It presents the traditional faith in modern language heavily citing and referencing the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It's lite reading for the initiated Catholic and might be superfluous. It is good for a refresher on the core tenets of the faith. Good for the inquiring Protestant.
It contains a useful resource on the go. It has the basic prayers, as well as useful lists such as the Beattitudes, the Precepts of the Church, The Corporal Works of Mercy, or the Spiritual Works. It contains a very useful method of meditation. It also gives a concise guideline to a proper confession.
I found it to be an easy read, but not very challenging. All in all, pretty good booklet.
God Bless,
Laurence
Book Description
Genesis is a book of orgins--the orgin of the universe, the origin of life and the origin of man. It places man in his cosmic setting, shows his particular uniquness, explains his wonder and his flaw, and begins to trace the flow of human history through space and time.Many today, however, view this book as a collection of myths, useful for understanding the Hebrew mind, perhaps, but vertainly not a record of what really happened. Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer challenges that view and shows how the first eleven chapters of Genesis stand as a solid, space-time basis for answering the tough questions posed by modern man.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Book.......2007-03-27
This is a great book for all Christians to read. It puts creation back into perspective and establishes all the solid biblical proof for why creation had to exist in both space and time. Unbelievers will scoff but in this book believers will be reminded of who they are and where they came from.
Space and time what a concept.......2007-01-06
One of Schaeffer's best that I have read.He looks at the start of time for us not God, since God is eternal.It really made me stop and think. Also to look at Genesis in a whole new way
Foundational.......2006-05-06
Christianity contains the answer to the modern man's questions. This book provides the foundation for Christian belief and the understanding of an infinite personal God who is there.
A must read...for all
Outstanding book, but should have been longer.......2005-12-25
It definitely would have gotten 5 stars had it been a little longer and more detailed. Here is my report on it for a class I had:
Perhaps no chapters in the whole Bible are as important to our faith than the first eleven chapters of Genesis, discussed in this book. These chapters provide the foundation for our faith, and our understanding of reality. In this book, Francis Schaeffer examines some of the concepts which come from these chapters. He also emphasizes the need for the belief in the actual historicity of these chapters. I think it has become common among Christians to try to “spiritualize” these chapters; to say that they are not historical, but are meant to convey general truths. Schaeffer, however, sees the absolute necessity of the belief in the historicity of these chapters.
First, we have the foundation for the belief in creation by a personal God (in contrast to an impersonal one). Many, including pantheists or deists, believe that the world was created (or at least “formed”) by an impersonal being(s). However, this does not adequately explain personalness of mankind. If God is not personal, then there is no basis for man being personal, and since man is indeed personal, we would have to conclude that the belief that an impersonal being created the universe does not provide a proper explanation of reality (Schaeffer 20-21). In Genesis, however, we have the explanation: we are told that a personal God existed in a triune nature, communicated within the trinity, and specifically created the universe, and mankind, in order to communicate with us on a personal level (i.e. God talked personally with Adam and Eve) (21-22).
Adding on to this, since God created us purposefully, not as an accident, and in his image (imago Dei), we have in Genesis the foundation for the belief in the intrinsic value of mankind. Today’s culture, with its belief in the evolution of man (whether they believe that there was a God who started the process or not), has no real basis for claiming that humans are somehow valuable (46). Indeed, many have realized this, and now claim that humans and animals are just as valuable. We can see this is organizations like PETA, who often put the rights of animals before the rights of man. The refutation for this is found not only in the imago Dei of man, but in the dominion mandate, when man is given dominion over all the animals of the earth. This does not mean we should treat lightly our responsibility to care for creation, but it does mean that man’s rights should come before animal’s rights.
Also, within the Genesis account of the creation of mankind we find the creation of woman from man’s rib. This is the foundation for the unity of man and woman, the unity of mankind. Other worldviews have some problems explaining why humans should be united. After all, we do not see animals of the same species united in quite the same way that humans do. Why is it that mankind cares so much about fellow men? We find the answer in Genesis: we were created to be united (45).
Another important foundation in Genesis which Schaeffer pointed out is the foundation for moral absolutes. If God did not create everything, then we do not have a basis for deciding what is right and wrong, and we must then believe that whatever is is right (48). In Genesis, however, we have a basis for denying that what is happening in the world is the way it should be, while other worldviews cannot even claim that there is a way it should be.
We find the explanation as to why things are not the way they should be in the account of the Fall. Since that time, creation is marred and man has lost some of his capacities. If we do not acknowledge this account, we once again have no basis for saying that the world is supposed to be different. If we do not acknowledge the Fall recorded in Genesis, we must conclude that humans are the way they are supposed to be. Perhaps this is why people deny the intrinsic value of man: because they do not acknowledge that he is not supposed to be a corrupted being, they do not know that he does not act according to how he was created to act. They then see a corrupt being often bent on self-service and other evils, and, with no knowledge of the Fall, why should they not conclude that, at the very least, humans are not a whole lot better that animals? In the Genesis account, however, we find that man has fallen, but that he still retains the imago Dei, even though it is much harder to see now.
Also found in the Fall is the explanation as to why the four separations of man exist: man from himself, man from man, man from nature, and man from God. Man is separated from himself, which is seen in psychological problems (98). Man is separated from man, which is seen in wars, strife, alienation, etc. Man is separated from nature: he has lost some of his dominion over it, and nature itself is sometimes used as the vehicle of judgment upon sin (100). . Most importantly, however, man is separated from God, he can no longer communicate with Him on the level that he was created to communicate on.
However, we also find in Genesis the foundation for the belief that God can communicate to us, even though we are not perfect. Schaeffer points out that after Adam and Eve sinned and hid themselves, they communicated with God (60). Sin does not stop communication with God, it merely hinders it. We also find the foundation for the belief that God would redeem his creation. In Genesis 3:15 we hear of the “seed of woman” who will crush the head of Satan. We believe this to be Jesus Christ. Already in Genesis the foundation was being laid for the redemption of creation, and the solution to the separations of man (108).
Finally, we find in Genesis the foundation for the belief that history is going somewhere, and it not merely cyclical (Eastern thought), static (existential thought), or eternal (naturalist thought). It has an absolute beginning in the creation account, and is headed toward a set end (Revelation).
These are just some of a multitude of foundations and explanations in Genesis 1-11 for what is believed in and seen even in today’s world. There are numerous others which I did not have time to cover, such as the basis for the division of human history with Cain and Abel, the (possible) basis for mythology in Genesis 6:1-2, the foundation of languages with the Tower of Babel, etc., so I attempted to cover the ones I thought were most important. These foundation and explanations are vital to the Christian worldview, and this is why Schaeffer is vociferous about believing the actual historicity of these chapters. There are two major reasons why we must accept their historicity. First, if we do not accept these things as historical events, we lose the foundations. They cannot simply be spiritualized, because they then lose their validity as explanation for the real space-time world. Secondly, if we are Christians, we must accept the historicity of these chapters, or else our faith will be undermined. Jesus, as well as Paul and the other NT authors treat these chapters as historical events. If we deny that these are historical events, we must conclude that either Jesus was wrong, or that the gospel writers misquoted him. Either way we lost the foundation for our faith: if Jesus is wrong he cannot be God, and if the gospel writers are wrong about this we cannot know that they are not wrong about other important events which they record. In essence, we either lose the belief in the deity of Jesus or we lose the belief in the reliability of scriptures, which I would contend results in the downfall of Christianity. Neither option is acceptable, so we are left with only one option: to accept that the first eleven chapters of Genesis must be understood as historically reliable by Christians.
Unfortunately, this has not been my experience in church. I went to two different churches in high school, and both presented different views on Genesis 1-11. The first, my home church, refused to take an official position. They claimed (and taught) that we did not know whether it really happened the way Genesis describes, and that it was probably just a story to tell us that God created the universe. The rest of Genesis (as far as I know) was affirmed, but I seriously doubt that the importance of it was realized. The other church I went to strictly followed the account in Genesis, and they were militant literal, seven-day creationists. They also never mentioned the importance of that belief, nor of the rest of the belief in the historicity of the rest of Genesis. While reading, I have frequently come across interpretations which reject the historicity of Genesis 1-11. The most notable example that comes to mind is C. S. Lewis, who rejected at least the historicity of the story of Noah, saying that “Jonah and the Whale, Noah and his Ark, are obviously fabulous; but the Court history of King David is probably as reliable as the Court history of King Louis XIV.” (Clives Staples Lewis. God In the Dock, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970), 58.) I think that it is very important that we realize that this is not an acceptable interpretation. We have already looked at why these chapters must he seen as offering real history, and now we need to make sure that this information reaches the people in our church congregations. I have yet to hear a sermon in church dealing with this issue, which is not good, since it is the foundation of our faith. This needs to change, and we need to go back to Genesis in our preaching so we have a foundation for the rest of the story.
understanding Genesis.......2001-04-14
This is a very useful book to everyone who want to understand the main issues of Genesis like the Criation, the Fall and the Flood. Schaeffer apply the understanding of Genesis to our modern life. This way we can see how relevant is Genesis nowadays. If you are serius about Bible studying you should read this book.
Book Description
Few Christians have had a greater impact during the last half of the twentieth century than Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer. A man with a remarkable breadth of cultural interest, with penetrating insight into modern life, and with a clear sense of spiritual reality, Schaeffer was also a man who cared deeply about people and their search for truth and reality in their lives.
With the publication of this Trilogy, Dr. Schaeffer's three foundational books are available for the first time in one volume. Schaeffer himself considered these three books to be essential to everything he wrote (twenty-three books in all), and it is here especially that we see his ability to understand the deep need of modern man for truth, beauty, and meaning in life.
In the first book,
The God Who Is There, Schaeffer shows how modern thought has abandoned the idea of truth with tragic consequences in every area of culture--from philosophy, to art, to music, to theology, and within culture as a whole.
Escape from Reason, the second book, explains especially how the disintegration of modern life and culture grows from corrupted roots that reach far into the past.
In the last book,
He Is There and He Is Not Silent, Schaeffer contrasts the silence and despair of modern life with the Christian answer that God can indeed be known because He
is there and He
is not silent. In addition to the convenience of having Schaeffer's three foundational books in one volume, the Trilogy is especially valuable in that it uses the text revised and updated by Schaeffer shortly before his death.
Why was Schaeffer able to understand and communicate so effectively to a generation? The best way to know is to find out firsthand, by reading his essential works as found in this Trilogy. Few who begin this journey will come to the end without having their life profoundly changed.
"What is the long-term significance of Francis Schaeffer? I am sure... that I shall not be at all wrong when I hail Francis Schaeffer--who saw so much more... and agonized over it so much more tenderly than the rest of us do--as one of the truly great Christians of my time." --Dr. J. I. Packer, Regents College
"There is no other important Christian thinker of our era who has tackled as many fundamental intellectual, philosophical, and theological issues as Schaeffer did, and no one else has so revealed their relevance to us." --Dr. Harold O. J. Brown, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Customer Reviews:
Taking the roof off.......2007-08-03
This collection is, I suppose, considered to be Schaeffer's magnum opus in the realm of apologetics. After discussing and ministering to students for years, Schaeffer wrote these books as a sort of overall response to the major questions he found himself continually answering. The series attempts to track the spread of modernist, naturalistic thinking through the culture, and the despair it produced. Schaeffer's solution was to lead individuals through the logical inconsistencies of their loosely held positions, and showing the rationality of believing in the "God who is there". This collection is a must for those interested in studying apologetics.
Plato to Camus...........2006-07-20
Francis Shaeffer's Trilogy is a complex apologetic if it's precisely an apologetic at all. Rather than a patterned defense of the Christian worldview, it offers a philosophical dissection of those worldviews which compete with it. Shaeffer's three essential books could fairly be one in three parts when overlap is eliminated. Thickly worded, a bit repetitive, though often brilliant, Shaeffer time and again trots out for display the contradictions of materialism, pantheism, liberal theism, etc., the denouement of which is the flipside cogency of orthodox Christianity.
Whether the reader agrees is entirely problematic for everyone finds what they wish to find and no single book is likely to change that. But Shaeffer, on a level visited by relatively few, certainly takes a legitimate swing at it. He offers valuable insight, shows extraordinary range, and unerringly pinpoints the chink in the materialist's armor. Shaeffer's trilogy is by no means a light read, but certainly worth the investment. Should you prefer a primer, try Pearcey's "Total Truth". 4+ stars.
Very Interesting.......2006-03-13
This is a very good book. However, you really need to pay full attention (no distractions) when reading it (very analytical). He appraoches God and the Trinity from a logical and philosophical standpoint. So if you are struggling with your beliefs becasue you are a logical thinker opposed to a believe through faith - this is the book for you.
An apology for apologetics........2004-09-17
Schaeffer brings the mind of a scholar and the priorities of a Christian together in each of these three books. While certain portions, especially in The God Who Is There, may seem obtuse to those unfamiliar with classical philosophy, his analysis from a decidedly Christian perspective is much appreciated. In the first book within this trilogy, Schaeffer spends a good bit of time discussing what he calls the "Line of Despair" between Christian and modern, non-Christian thinking, art and music. I found this a bit arbitrary and inaccurate. Christians of today are very guilty of sweeping generalizations about what is Christian and what is not - often times doing so on the basis of a very poor and very ambiguous understanding of the reality of the supposedly Christian past we should go back to. That having been said, I also found much to resonate with in Schaeffer's writing - in particular his discussion on the role and technique behind apologetics. He makes a powerful point about Christian apologetics that needs to be reinforced in the mind of many - mine included: that ultimately it is not our ability to rationalize or argue our faith but our ability to exhibit our own changed life, changed spirit and changed perspective. That is the point of apologetics, not winning an argument.
A Great Modern Christian Mind.......2003-12-29
Francis Schaeffer is an outstanding Christian philosopher, a description he would insist is incorrect (He simply calls himself an evangelist). Tracing the evolution of western non-Christian thought, Schaeffer explores the spiritual shortcomings of philosophical efforts to explain humanity without a real "space-time" (human, historical) Christ. This volume gathers his earlier works written in the late sixties and early seventies. His writing is brilliant, razor sharp, and touchingly human. He never forgets the starting points of Christianity are truth and love. The writing is heavy but so relevant it can't be overlooked.
Average customer rating:
- Soap opera quality *SPOILER* do not read if you don't want to know!
- I Know, exactly, who holds tomorrow...
- Good read
- You never know where life is going to take you
- " A Nice Read"
|
I Know Who Holds Tomorrow: A Novel
Francis Ray
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
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ASIN: 0312300506 |
Book Description
In her mind's eyes, she could see Wes, tall and elegant in his tailored tuxedo with a patterned vest, black tie, and snow white pocket square.Her red Valentino slip gown highlighted her honeyed complexion and chocolate brown eyes.The gown also picked up the red in Wes's vest and the red in the rose in his lapel. They were the perfect couple and it was show time.And she wanted to scream. Madison Reed, popular talk show host and America's darling and her husband,well-known TV correspondent Wes Reed is everyone's idea of the perfect couple.But no one knows that after the loss of their child, they became no more than polite strangers, maintaining the faade, revealing only picture perfect happiness.But Madison's world is turned upside down when Wes is critically injured in a car accident and a woman is killed.Before he dies, Wes confesses that the woman who was killed was his mistress---and that he is the father of her nine-month-old daughter, Manda.He begs Madison to raise the child.Unsure if she can, Madison struggles to take charge of her fate and put her life back together.Overwhelmed, she accepts the help of Zachary Holman, her husband's best friend, only to discover that his life is also shrouded by lies.Can she forgive and forget---not just once, but twice? AUTHORBIO: Francis Ray is a native Texan who lives in Dallas with her husband and daughter.Currently she has 15 books in print, including The Turning Point, and is featured in four anthologies from St. Martin's Paperbacks.
Customer Reviews:
Soap opera quality *SPOILER* do not read if you don't want to know!.......2007-08-18
I've read at least two other books by Francis Ray. I've read Somebody's Knocking and Any Rich Man. Those two I'm sure of. I was supremely disappointed in I Know Who Holds Tomorrow. First off, the whole dying last confession was just too All My Children for my taste. It was so anticlimatic. And I suspected things about Zachary during those first few pages.
Speaking of Zachary, this guy was way too pushy. You cannot expect a woman who just went through the trauma of seeing her husband (estranged or not) die, found out he has a child by another woman, PLUS still feeling grief over her own miscarriage, to readily and without reservation accept another woman's child. He really made me angry practically forcing Madison to take the baby. What is that about?
Not sure how, but every time he kept saying he had a secret, I knew he would end up related to Wes. If you've watched enough soaps, you can see it coming from a mile away. It was just too predictable.
Glad I checked it out from the library, b/c it's going back in the morning. I know Ms. Ray is talented which is why I gave it 2 stars.
I Know, exactly, who holds tomorrow..........2007-06-13
Once again I have enjoyed a novel by Ms. Ray. This novel was a pretty good read. I like the why Ms. Ray writes...soothing. Good read.
Good read.......2007-05-03
I enjoyed the book very much. I admit it's not quite as passionate as other books I've read by Ms. Ray. However, I felt is was worth my time. It took me a day and a half to read. I found myself wondering whether she would keep the child and get the man.
You never know where life is going to take you.......2006-06-09
This book will have you saying how did i get here. It is a easy read and you will not put it down until you are done. One of the best books written so far you will love it.
" A Nice Read".......2006-03-08
I enjoyed this novel although in real life, what woman would take the responsibility of raising a child by her husband and his mistress. I liked how Gordon and Camille came together, despite their age difference.
Average customer rating:
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I, Prince Tudor, Wrote Shakespeare: An Autobiography from His Two Ciphers in Poetry and Prose
Margaret Barsi-Greene , and
Margaret Greene
Manufacturer: Branden Pub Co
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0828313512 |
Book Description
Sir Francis Walsingham's official title was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I, but in fact this pious, tight-lipped Puritan was England's first spymaster. A ruthless, fiercely loyal civil servant, Walsingham worked brilliantly behind the scenes to foil Elizabeth's rival Mary Queen of Scots and outwit Catholic Spain and France, which had arrayed their forces behind her.
Though he cut an incongruous figure in Elizabeth's worldly court, Walsingham managed to win the trust of key players like William Cecil and the Earl of Leceister before launching his own secret campaign against the queen's enemies. Covert operations were Walsingham's genius; he pioneered techniques for exploiting double agents, spreading disinformation, and deciphering codes with the latest code-breaking science that remain staples of international espionage.
In the taut narrative of a spy novel, Budiansky recounts how this legendary spymaster invented the art and science of modern espionage—and in the process set Elizabethan England on the path to empire.
Customer Reviews:
Let us look elsewhere for guidance........2007-10-04
Mr. Budiansky proposes that Elizabeth's spymaster Francis Walsingham offers us an example for conducting modern espionage. Yet the fact is, Elizabethan England was for all practical purposes a police state. Catholicism was deemed treasonous, and Walsingham's spies combed the countryside for practitioners of the "old religion," i.e., the faith that had been the taproot of English civilization for a thousand years. Catholics were barred from serving in Parliament, attending university, worshipping at Mass, and generally living the life their immediate forebears took for granted. And yet Budiansky holds up this tragedy as a model. Let us look elsewhere for guidance.
Disappointing Flop.......2007-06-07
After such a promising title, I was disappointed to make it more than half-way through this book and still have little mention of the title character and no information that seems pertinent to the supposed theme of the book. It is possible that toward the end Budiansky decided to actually make a point with his narrative, but between his abysmal sentence structure and his *sesquipedalian* use of gratuitously long words that broke up the even flow of reading, I personally was unmotivated to find out.
Entertaining History of Walsingham.......2007-01-15
Stephen Budiansky's "Her Majesty's Spymaster" is a very readable popular history of Sir Francis Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth I's personal secretary and informal chief of intelligence. Written in a breathless novelistic style, Budiansky captures the atmospherics and endless intigues of the Tudor period in a way designed to capture the interest of the average person without background in the era. He succeeds in making the religious struggles and dynastic wars of this distant period accessible to the modern reader.
Walsingham was unusual in his time in that he served in a high position in government without having come from the nobility. His rise from what would now be termed a middle class upbringing was based on education, talent, and good service. Walsingham turned out to be a superbly capable spymaster who could get and keep secrets and protect the fortunes of his Queen and country. Walsingham was especially effective in managing the English rivalry with France, including the dangerous problem of the status of Mary Queen of Scots, and the running conflict with Spain.
Budiansky is less than effective in making the case that Walsingham gave birth to modern espionage. Walsingham learned his craft from his mentor and predecessor, Lord Burghley, and his success was due less to inventing new methods of espionage than to making fewer mistakes than his contemporaries in executing already widely-known tactics and techniques.
This book is recommended to the casual reader looking for an introduction to the intrigues of the Elizabeath period. The close student of the history of the period will find no information that has not been covered in more detail elsewhere.
Budiansky does not accomplish his goal.......2006-12-04
The author tries to bring both the biography of Walsingham and a discussion of the birth of espionage together in the same book and succeeds at neither. It is a fine read if you would like a general overview of the time, but, after reading the title and reviews, I was hoping for a detailed biography of Walsingham or much detail on how he created the group of people who became his information gatherers. Instead, it is a general overview of Walsingham's life with references to the work that he did. There are some interesting facts that the author brings forward that the reader might not find elsewhere , but the majority of the reading is rehashed from biographies of Elizabeth I. If you want details and a better understanding of Walsingham the man, and his life work and actions, you will need to look elsewhere.
Entertaining but incomplete.......2006-11-25
I was hoping that this book serves as a biography for Sir Francis Walsingham but instead, it proves to be a career dossier on Walsingham. The book read like a historical novel of Walsingham's activities as Elizabeth I's ultimate spymaster. That review written by Lisa Jardine hit many marks right on the nail despite of her rather snobbish approach. The author centered much of the book around the Walsingham's most famous case against Mary, Queen of Scots. However, since the information proves to be pretty basic, you will not find any new insightful information here.
It seem regretful that the author missed his opportunity to write a good biography on Walsingham instead of writting a slightly generic book on his role as a spymaster. His relationship with Burgley, Dudley and with his own family proves to be very lightweight. There are hints of interest scattered all over this book and I guess for that reason, it may be worth your time to read it.
Overall, the actual rating may be closer to 2.80 stars if I had a choice.
Book Description
The legendary “Fighting 69th” took part in five major engagements during World War I. It served in the front lines for almost 170 days, suffering hundreds killed and thousands wounded. This highly decorated unit was inspired by its chaplain, the famous Father Francis Duffy (whose statue stands in Times Square), and commanded by the future leader of the OSS (predecessor of the CIA), “Wild Bill” Donovan. One of its casualties was the poet Joyce Kilmer.
Due in large part to the classic 1940 movieThe Fighting 69th, starring James Cagney and Pat O’Brien (as Duffy), the unit still has strong name recognition. But until now, no one has recounted in detail the full story of this famous Irish outfit in World War I. The exciting Duffy’s War brings to life the men’s blue-collar neighborhoods—Irish mostly and Italian and overwhelmingly Catholic. These boys came from the East Side, the West Side, Hell’s Kitchen, the Gashouse, and Five Points; from Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island City, and Staten Island; and from Father Duffy’s own parish in the Bronx. They streamed out of the tenements and apartment houses, enlisting en masse. Brothers joined up, oftentimes three and four from one family.
Published during a resurgent interest in the doughboy experience of World War I, Duffy’s War also tells the fascinating history of New York City and the Irish experience in America. With this book, Stephen L. Harris completes his outstanding trilogy on New York National Guard regiments in World War I.
Customer Reviews:
The Story of a Famous Unit in World War I.......2006-12-16
The 69th regiment, is one of the oldest and most famous units in the United States Army. It's history goes back to 1851 when it was known as the 69th New York Militia. ('A' company can trace its roots further back to the Revolutionary War.) The unit gained fame at numerous Civil War battlefields and Gen. Lee gave it the name 'The Fighting 69th.'
This book takes the regiment into the next war, World War I, where its actions were no less heroic. It spent 170 days in the front lines suffering hundreds killed and thousands wounded. Perhaps its most famous members were Father Francis Duffy (whose statue is in Times Square, which technically is really Duffy Square), Wild Bill Donovan who headed the OSS in World War II, and the poet Joyce Kilmer ('Trees') who was killed. The regiment was part of the 42nd Rainbow Division under Douglas MacArthur.
This is the full, previously unpublished story of the regiments actions in World War I and fills out a trilogy of stories concentrating on individual regiments by the same author.
The 69th still exists. It was one of the first military responders at 9/11 - having two men killed there, and it was federalized and sent to Iraq in 2004.
Duffy's War, Military History and a Character Study.......2006-12-14
I've read a lot about the American Expeditionary Force and the Fighting 69th, but Stephen Harris's study really expanded my knowledge about both. I'll certainly have a much better appreciation of Joyce Kilmer's "Rouge Bouquet" next time I hear it read and of the goings on at the River Ourcq next time I visit that battlefield. What I really enjoyed, however, was the author's biographical sketches and background on a whole raft of fascinating individuals. These include average Joes caught up in the adventure of lifetime, Medal of Honor recipients, plus well-known characters like Kilmer, Wild Bill Donovan and--most importantly--the namesake of the book, Father Francis Duffy. The good father turns out to be amazingly multi-dimensional: a good Samaritan to Teddy Roosevelt's returning malaria-afflicted Rough Riders, a learned modernist intellectual who works his way into his bishop's doghouse, a military politician of the first order, the proud protector of his Irish and unofficially Irish flock, and New York City's most beloved humanitarian. A strong recommendation for Duffy's War.
If all you know of the Fighting 69th is the movie, you need to read this book........2006-12-11
If all you know of the Fighting 69th is the movie with James Cagney and Pat O'Brian you need to read this book.
The Duffy in the title of Duffy's War is Father Francis Duffy, the beloved chaplain to New York's famous National Guard Regiment the Fighting 69th. Through the stories of the men who in that Regiment, Stephen Harris tells of its participation in the First World War. Father Duffy wasn't the only famous man featured in this book. Serving in the Regiment was at the time were William "Wild Bill" Donovan who would win a Medal of Honor in combat and in the Second World War found the OSS, the forerunner to the CIA; and Joyce Kilmer, the poet who penned, "Trees." But the tale could not be told without telling the stories of the less well known citizen soldiers who answered their county's call to arms.
The 69th had a heritage as a regiment of Irish immigrant and sons of Irish immigrants with battle honors that included every major Civil War battle fought in Virginia. As part of the 42nd "Rainbow" Division, formed and eventually commanded by General Douglas MacArthur , the 69th, rechristen the 165th Infantry made history and fought in five campaigns n 1918. The author tells of these campaigns with some of the clearest descriptions of battle I have ever read.
Meticulously researched and told with a clear narrative style, Harris blends official records, first person narratives and personal papers to tell the story of ordinary men performing extra ordinary deeds.
In the interest of full disclosure I must tell you that I consulted with Stephen Harris on the history of this proud Regiment. [...]
"Duffy's War" gets all my stars........2006-12-10
I am really enjoying this book! (And not just because my Grandfather served in the Fighting 69th during WWI.) These events, and these personalities make for a good story. And Harris, while on the one hand an exacting researcher and historian, is also a wonderful story teller. The story is flowing off the pages; images, scenes and characters painted in my mind. As webmaster of "Grandpa's WWI Diary", I have spent years piecing together the events my Grandfather and his regiment experienced. In Duffy's War, Harris manages to bring it to life, weaving together historical details, the recollections of 69th veterans, and the flavor of that era. Duffy's War gets all my stars -- Nathan Rouse
From the Historian of the 69th Regiment.......2006-12-06
Five Stars. Best Book Yet On Fighting 69th.
Reviewer: James Tierney, Historian, 69th Regiment. Address: New York, NY.
Stephen L. Harris has finished his trilogy on New York City's National Guard regiments in World War I, and after reading "Duffy's War," I believe it may be the best of his three books. Perhaps I'm biased as the historian of the Fighting 69th, but his heroic and intimate portrayal of Father Duffy, Wild Bill Donovan, Joyce Kilmer and a host of other doughboy soldiers from New York's Irish neighborhoods is the best yet written about the regiment that traces its history back to before the American Civil War. Harris vividly follows the 69th through all its battles on the Western Front, beginning with the brutal march over the Vosges mountains in a blinding blizzard, to the bloody battle on the hills overlooking the Ourcq River, to the foul-up by a haughty corps commander at the very end of the war that led to a near disaster on the outskirts of the city of Sedan. His account of the Rouge Bouquet tragedy, which inspired Kilmer to pen one of his most memorable poems, is filled with such rich detail that just reading it is worth the price of the book. I recommend "Duffy's War" highly to everyone with a keen interest in World War I, especially the role played by New York City's citizen-soldiers.
Book Description
In these gentle, simple, yet profound conferences, Mother Mary Francis, P.C.C., explores both the necessity and the difficulty of Christian friendship.
Friendship is the basis of all fruitful love, she wrote. Whether we are single or married, priest or religious, the Lord himself called us his friends and commanded us to be the friends of one another.
Mother explained the reason this command is so difficult: knowing, understanding, and respecting another person are necessary for loving him, and these things take time. We must be friends if we are to love.
With this small volume, Mother Mary Francis inspires us and helps us to be patient by revealing both the demands and the rewards of our vocation to love and be loved.
Mother Mary Francis, P.C.C., was abbess of the Poor Clare Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Roswell, New Mexico. Her thoughtful letters, essays, poems and books have spread her spiritual wisdom far beyond the walls of her cloister. Other Ignatius Press books by Mother Mary Francis include A Right to Be Merry, Forth and Abroad, and Anima Christi: Soul of Christ.
Customer Reviews:
Simple and Challenging.......2007-09-02
In our search for the answers to the desire for happiness, companionship and fulfillment, we often craft complex answers that deliver little satisfaction. The answers to these problems are often instead very simple but challenging to follow. That is the case with the vision for friendship which Mother Mary Francis puts forth in this collection of conferences which she gave to her sisters. If we live the demands of friendship as Mother Mary Francis illustrates them what emerges is the genuinely lives Christian life as Christ asks of us. This is certainly good reflection material to weigh against how we're living out our daily relationships as well as good guidelines to shore up those portions in our lives where we are not quite meeting the mark.
Excellent.......2007-02-11
A very good guide for Christian Friendships - easy to read and simple, but challenging to follow.
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