And I Shall Dwell Among Them, Historic Synagogues of the World

Book Description

New Preface by Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg.

Historical Essay by Yom Tov Assis.

For nearly two millennia, from 70 C.E. and the Roman conquest of Jerusalem to 1948 and the founding of Israel, the Jewish people were without a homeland. But in their wanderings the tradition of building synagogues continued, not only as a refuge for their beliefs but as a testament to their strength and their faith as a people. And I Shall Dwell Among Them preserves the irreplaceable spiritual, architectural and cultural significance of these structures. This is the first study to document the synagogues of the Jewish diaspora with both scholarly depth and photographic excellence. Images include synagogues from Morocco, Italy, Hungary, India, Spain, and elsewhere throughout the world where Jews settled -- many presented for the first time in photographs.

Customer Reviews:

Synagogue Light .......2006-09-03

This book was given to me as an anniversary gift by my wife. I do not think I have ever had a better one.
In his introduction Neil Folberg talks about his having tried to photograph the synagogues presented in this album as he himself has 'seen ' them. This thought made a great deal of sense to me when I looked and compared some of the photos here with my memories of the same synagogues. I had seen the Altneushuel in Prague in a depth of darkness and sadness , a grief which obscured completely its other side- the holy light and transforming beauty Folberg's photographs reveal in it.
There are so many treasures in this work. I knew nothing for instance about Uzbekhi family-synagogues. Their intimacy and skill in decoration moved me. Folberg traveled through many different parts of the world, to reach some very well- known and some little - known and little- visited synagogues. He and his assistant Max Richardson brought with them an enormous amount of lighting equipment. Folger's description of how they might labor for days to achieve one perfect picture , deepened my appreciation for their enterprise.
Folberg knows the world of the synagogue well, and his introductions before each major area of the world's synagogues visited add a great deal to the book. The afterword by Yom Tov Assis teaches a much about the development of the synagogue over time.
I have always had a special love for synagogues.
I was raised in a small but for me, especially beautiful synagogue, Shaarah Tefillah in Troy, New York. I kept wishing that Folberg had somehow years before gotten to it, and photographed before its unfortunate demolition.
Part of the poignance of this work is that Folberg does arrive at many synagogues which no longer have congregations, or which only a few people left. There is a certain sense of 'memorialization' then in his photographing them , though he does not stress this motif.
His stress is on the synagogues themselves as they appear now. Here I think it is important to emphasize one central element of his work. One can think of neglected synagogues in the disapora, as places of gloom, darkness, neglect,great physical poverty. After all most of the synagogues are much smaller places of worship than the churches or mosques of the area they are in. But Folberg so lights the synagogues that they become somehow sparklingly - up- to date , beautifully preserved.
Folberg's descriptions of his work and the synagogues are poetic and impressive. He provides a kind of travelogue of the Jewish world in his describing each of the places he comes to, and the unique character of its synagogues.
All synagogues by the way share the feature of being pointed towards Jerusalem, and the Temple Mount.
This book is inspiring and beautiful. I believe it belongs in every Jewish home , and in the homes of all those who would see and understand , how holiness and beauty may be made one.

Time travel IS possible........1999-10-26

Wow, can you imagine traveling to so many cultures and time periods... and not leave your living room. It's a real eye-opener, in more ways than one. I am quite surprised how the synagogue -the "original" place of monotheistic worship- can have so many faces: beautiful, even exquisite, faces. Anyone interested in architecture or religious expression will enjoy this book immensely. [p.s. My favorite shot? pgs 120-121]

And I Shall Dwell Among Them: Historic Synagogues of the World

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And I Shall Dwell Among Them: Historic Synagogues of the World
Neil Folberg
Manufacturer: Aperture
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IMYR5Y

Book Description

Beginning with the first comprehensive account of the discourse of appropriation that dominated the art world in the late 1970s and 1980s, Art After Appropriation suggests a matrix of inflections and refusals around the culture of taking or citation, each chapter loosely correlated with one year of the decade between 1989 and 1999. The opening chapters discuss, among other things, how the second world culture of the USSR gave rise to new visibility for photography at the Union's dissolution in 1989, and explore how genres of ethnography, documentary and travel are crossed with fictive performance and social improvisation in the videos of Steve Fagin.

Customer Reviews:

About time.......2001-12-17

I can't say I've been delighted about much art-writing the last 5 or 6 years. Welchman gets 5 stars for doing the foot-work while not misplacing his head. His book looks at an interesting mix of artists, takes some risks, and cobbles together an interesting theory... and, quite frankly, much of what he says is not only correct, but has really needed to be said for some time now. It seems that much writing about art has gotten so niche-oriented or arbitrary that Welchman's approach is welcome. By rehashing the legacy of appropriation, something that we thought the art world had already figured out, Welchman springs through the unguarded front doors of mainstream discourse in an expansive manner.

Customer Reviews:

The Pedophile is a modern creation.......2000-02-26

This book was my introduction to Mr. Stuart's work. Previously, I had begun to believe that one had to shoot young girls or the fantasy of "barely legal" girls in either Black and white (see David Hamilton's, Sally Mann or Jocj Sturges' work. Whereas Hamilton did color, it softened it us so as to allude to paintings and thereby soften the blow to consiousness.

Stuart on the other hand exposes himself as well as his models in sharp though dimly lit contrast. His work exemplifies that photographers need not hold back from exploring these fantasise. Soceity at the turn of the century was not what it is today. Our moral sensibilities preclude our sexual in such an artifical way that Stuart's work threatens with the edge. Is it explotation?

These avenues must be travelled upon. Stuart does it with referrence to other mediums ie film. his images feel like movie stills. And in particular like Alfred Hitchcock stills.

My only reservation is the layout. I cannot ascertain wheather this was (again) a movie film technique where the mystery is left unsolved or an editor's choice. I'll await that answer.

A Masterpiece of Erotic Art Photography.......1999-12-24

Many photographers would be afraid that they would be labeled pornographers if they did anything like what Roy Stuart has done. Perhaps that explains why there are almost no examples of great erotic art photography. This book is one such example, and it is a masterpiece.

Some people would not like this book, and they may even say it is pornography, but there are also quite a few people who would judge any book with nudes in it to be pornography.

But, in my opinion, the images in this book are not pornographic. They are actually much more erotic than the images in Playboy Magazine, which, by the way, many would not consider pornographic. And the images in this book are even more erotic than the images in many men's magazines that most people would definitely consider pornographic. However, unlike the pornographic images in those men's magazines, the images in this book are very artistic and beautiful.

Roy Stuart is an exceptional photographer. The photos in this book are well composed and exquisitely lit. His photos actually have some snapshot quality to them that intensifies the eroticism, but unlike many recent photo books by top fashion photographers, Roy Stuart does not sacrifice technical quality to give the photos that snapshotty edge.

If you appriciate erotic photography, you should definitely get this book.

If you appriciate photography that has a snapshot quality, but are disappointed with recent photo books that lack technical quality, you should get this book.

If you have found pornographic magazines to be boring, and want to see examples of very interesting highly erotic images, you may like this book.

If you think you would be offended by highly erotic images, no matter how artistic, you should probably not buy this book.

A dissenting opinion.......1999-12-22

Wow, I am amazed at the positive comment this book has received. It was on the strength of reviews that I purchased the book. It is on the weakness of the photography in the book that I will send it back. Roy Stuart seems to be trying to straddle the line between the artistic and the erotic. Unfortunately, he achieves neither.

The subject matter looks like what I would expect from a cheap men's magazine: an uncreative theme with a few photographs showing it. Even this is done poorly. He usually picks up an idea in the middle and leaves us before the end. For example, he'll start with a partially dressed person have her/him remove an article of clothing and then he'll abruptly go to another subject. It leaves me wondering "what was the point of that?"

Many photos are blurry when they should be sharp, taken from a distance when they should be close-up, black and white when color would have been better. The photos of individuals are often obscure, almost pointless. Faces are frequently frustratingly hidden by hair, a turned head, or shadows. I'm assuming this is some kind of shame statement but I would prefer to see facial expressions.

The professed point to the book is an exploration of fetishes. Unfortunately for Mr. Stuart, taking a few close-ups of feet is not sufficient. And while there are other fetishes briefly presented such as a woman finding two men together in the woods, initiating young girls, some light domination, and girls with girls, I would not say that any of these themes was explored in any depth.

After reading reviews of this book, I expected more: creativity, photographic quality, intelligence. Perhaps I am missing the point or my expectations were too high. But, whatever the reason, the book is going back.

delicious.......1999-11-28

There are few books of erotic photography that are in the league of this one. The composition is fun; the underlying philosophy is consistant enough to pass the standard of respectability; the women are beautiful; the technique is first rate; and the quality of production is wonderful. The degree of kink is the only element that might distinguish one reader's fondness for this book from another's: there is just a hint of leather to make Hamilton fans blush; but there isn't anything that really test the limit of one's appetite for surgical supplis.

Intensely voyeuristic, hot -- but also intrusive........1999-11-02

These photographs have an unnatural explicitness to them which threatens to dehumanize their subjects. It's true that Roy Stuart's work is not "prudish" (as the book jacket proclaims: "A depiction of animal sexuality free of all prudishness"), but on the other hand they also straddle the line of taste.

That said, some of the subjects of this collection do come across as human beings, and the best photos in this book are the ones where, instead of performing, the models project a sense of real feeling. ("Initiation", though exploitative, does convey a powerful sense of helplessness but also the strength of temptation)

Not as aggressively idiosyncratic (or sickly violent) as Richard Kern, but certainly more sensual.

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Is the Economic Cycle Still Alive? Theory, Evidence and Policies. (book reviews): An article from: Southern Economic Journal
Guy Black
Manufacturer: Southern Economic Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00093MNA8
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Southern Economic Journal, published by Southern Economic Association on July 1, 1995. The length of the article is 590 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Is the Economic Cycle Still Alive? Theory, Evidence and Policies. (book reviews)
Author: Guy Black
Publication: Southern Economic Journal (Refereed)
Date: July 1, 1995
Publisher: Southern Economic Association
Volume: v62 Issue: n1 Page: p270(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Is the Economic Cycle Still Alive?: Theory, Evidence, and Policies (Central Issues in Contemporary Economic Theory and Policy)

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Is the Economic Cycle Still Alive?: Theory, Evidence, and Policies (Central Issues in Contemporary Economic Theory and Policy)

Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Microeconomics | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

This book examines recent developments in contemporary empirical macroeconomics, analyzes methods for measuring the business cycle for forecasting purposes, and surveys the main problems of the business-cycle analysis.

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IS ECONOMIC CYCLE STILL ALIVE
Mario Baldassarri
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N688W8

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Is the Economic Cycle Still Alive?: Theory, Evidence and Policies (Central Issues in Contemporary Economic Theory and Policy)
Mario Baldassarri
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTGJ4S

Book Description

This practical, "nuts and bolts" text provides a one-of-a-kind introduction to all of the essential skills necessary for the marketing, selling, and maintenance of farm and ranch real estate, including marketing, appraisal, and land management.

Customer Reviews:

Great book for beginning ranch realtors.......1998-06-23

Book is in three parts, marketing, finance, and management. I really liked the management part because I don't have any ranch backround. Good reference for marketing because it seemed to be tuned in to the type of people who would be buying a ranch, for whatever reason.

Agricultural economics miscellaneous report

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Agricultural economics miscellaneous report
Gary Goreham
Manufacturer: Dept. of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Experiment Station, North Dakota State University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00070VTYO

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Farm and Ranch Marketing
Johnnie Rosenauer Michael D. Hennessey James M. Mullen
Manufacturer: South-Western Educational Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OUEMG4

Marketing your farm or ranch (Farm & ranch series)

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Marketing your farm or ranch (Farm & ranch series)
Scott E Cotton
Manufacturer: Colorado State University Cooperative Extension
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Food Science | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006QNF3C

Promoting the farm or ranch recreation business (B)

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Promoting the farm or ranch recreation business (B)
Barb Daniels
Manufacturer: Cooperative Extension Service, University of Wyoming
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006RY6LG

Using a database: Build your farm/ranch recreation business (B)

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Using a database: Build your farm/ranch recreation business (B)
Barb Daniels
Manufacturer: Cooperative Extension Service, University of Wyoming
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Consumer Behavior | Marketing & Sales | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Web page design for the farm/ranch recreation business (B)

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Web page design for the farm/ranch recreation business (B)
Barb Daniels
Manufacturer: Cooperative Extension Service, University of Wyoming
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006RY6M0

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This Book WILL Matter in 10 Years!

Enjoyable! Refreshing!!

11 Easy Steps to Raise a Brat: Paying Attention to Your Parenting Decisions Even When Life Is Too Busy to Pay Attention-It Matters.
Deborah M Boccanfuso
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Parenting | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
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Accessories:

Health o Meter HDC100-01 "Grow with Me" Teddy Bear Scale for Babies and Toddlers

ASIN: 0595663524

Book Description

Raising a brat is easy! Basically, it's only 11 easy steps. Follow them carefully, or perhaps even randomly, the results will amaze you. Or, ask yourself the filtering question of "Will it matter in ten years?" to guide you to raise an adolescent who can cope with life. The decisions you make and the perspective you keep on the day to day interactions with your child is incredibly powerful.

11 Easy Steps to Raise a Brat, The Great Adventure: The Parent Teacher Conference, A Middle School Kid Moved in Last Night, The Big Scary World, and It's Just an Illusion: Making the Working Mom Thing Look Easy will pose insights that will invite you to reflect on the guiding question of "Will it matter in ten years?" every time you pick which battle to attend to while raising your child. The "battles" can be called "interactions" and these interactions start with your child's first breath. Hang on! It's a wonderful adventure!

You have an awesome task at hand. The task will create decisions, actions, and reactions that will help you create the perfect brat or raise a decent kid. Ultimately, the choice is yours. And your parenting decisions matter!

Customer Reviews:

This Book WILL Matter in 10 Years!.......2005-01-14

In a straightforward, humor-filled way, Ms. Boccanfusco lays out a clear perspective on how to raise children to become wonderful, productive adults. Her deep experience in schools, advanced study, and raising her own family make the smart advice in the book ring true and obvious (maybe not easy, but obvious). While I wish I had read this book years ago, before I had my own middle schoolers move in, I am thrilled to report that the guidelines work!

Enjoyable! Refreshing!!.......2004-09-02

This book is an enjoyable, easy read. Very refreshing!! A lot of common sense suggestions in raising good kids! I plan to share it with friends who have small children (and big ones too). As a parent that is, unfortunately, always intimidated by the parent-teacher conference - I definitely plan to use some of the advice and suggestions that Ms. Boccanfuso offers in Part II - The Great Adventure: The Teacher-Parent Conference. The choices I make regarding my children REALLY do matter!!

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It's been years since I've read this book, but....

A Man of Action

Another View

Charles Askins is a Psychopath...

A Case of Lost Respect

Unrepentant Sinner: The Autobiography Of Col. Charles Askins
Charles Askins
Manufacturer: Paladin Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Job Hunting | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
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No Second Place Winner

Elmer Keith: The Other Side of a Western Legend

Hell, I Was There!

Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting

Triggernometry: A Gallery of Gunfighters : With Technical Notes on Leather Slapping As a Fine Art, Gathered from Many a Loose Holstered Expert over the Years

ASIN: 0873646193

Book Description

Colonel Askins is an adventurer. Whether it be fighting his way out of an ambush, hunting tiger in Asia or sniping along the Rhine, Askins has done it with gusto. Here he recounts his early days as a forest ranger, his decade of slinging lead on the Mexican border, his astounding success as a competitive pistol shot, his combat participation in World War II, his adventures as a paratrooper in Vietnam and his career as one of the world's leading big-game hunters.

Customer Reviews:

It's been years since I've read this book, but...........2006-12-18

This is a great book. It was not written by a
contemperary. It was written by a member of a
generation that has passed on. If some of the
attitudes offend, keep in mind that Col Askins
was of a world that's foreign to the one we live
in today. And the world we inhabit today, will
be foreign to the world just one generation in the
future.

This book is a slice of history, a history that's
exciting and interesting. The pictures it brings
to mind are graphic and often humorous, and sometimes
tragic. It's almost always entertaining, and has
the honesty of a document that has not been sanitized
by political correctness. It's important to understand
how our antecedents felt, to widen our historical perspective.
The Colonel's attitudes were very much those of the
generation of my parents. I'm naturally curious to find
out why they had those kinds of prejudices, and also
curious to look at contemperary 'tudes to see what might
go by the wayside.

It's been years since I've read this book, but I keep it
on the bookshelf because it's one book I'll read again.

A Man of Action.......2006-07-22

An interesting read. It is the memoir of a man of action from a time when we, as a nation and as individuals, were more certain of our character and the rightness of our cause.

For all of the author's complaining about editors, this book surely could have used one, or at the very least, a competent proofreader. The fact that Paladin Press published the book is an indicator of its less than professional literary quality as well as its rejection by mainstream publishers.

The prose is often Victorian and the vagaries of age and memory are obvious at times. There is some redundancy in the book and it has been accused of being self-serving. The accusations of the book as self-serving should be taken cautiously. The book is admittedly the author's recollections and contain his viewpoints on race, bureaucracy, hunting, guns, and people. His style is not in vogue with the current obsession with victim and oppression memoirs. Men like Charles Askins scare the panties off of the effeminate, effete intellectuals of the publishing world.

The amount of detailed information regarding caliber, rounds fired, names and relationships is astounding. Keep in mind that this memoir was written when Charley was in his seventies.

Charles Askins was the product of the early years of the twentieth century and the place in which he was raised. The standards by which men were measured in those times were quite different from the feminized version of masculinity now upon us. Charles Askins, in many ways, was representative of the western male from that bygone time.

Charley's father was an extraordinary man and seems to have failed in some ways to pass along some of his qualities to Charley. The relationship between father and son was one of friendship rather than parental. Charley suffered for it. He was egotistical, incapable of accepting criticism from anyone other than himself, and lacked discipline in some ways.

For all of the bravado in his book, especially about his military career, he was not a ground soldier. He was a staff weenie and seemed to exhibit an extraordinary disregard for military discipline. His observation that paratroopers were a cut above regular army troops was an accurate observation, but he himself was not a leader of elite combat troops.

His obvious racism towards blacks, Mexicans, Indians, Arabs and the Vietnamese is a product of experience with these groups but he had high praise for the Montagnards and the Nungs in Viet Nam His opinions of Muslims today would be interesting to hear.

He often presented conflicting views. He could not abide suffering in animals, and yet he was obsessed with killing them, often simply as a means of testing the effectiveness of a particular caliber. I found his allowing wounded animals to escape to be particularly offensive. His casual, and seemingly admiring recounting of the accomplishments of several African professional game hunters that had individually killed over one thousand rhinos and other animals was a disappointment.

With the exception of George Parker, he seemed to place his loyalty on money rather than on persons or employers. He was self-centered and he did not tolerate fools or laggards. He was frustrated with the incompetent morons that seem to make up a disproportionate amount of the bureaucrats running business, politics and the military. It is interesting to read that the same sort of idiots making laws and running things then were as corrupt and incompetent as they are now. In today's age of blame, victimization and moral relativism, he was a man of conviction.

I appreciated his willingness to admit to poor performance in the field or in making poor shots. He was devoted to guns, dogs, horses and hunting. He was a tough hombre in the field and probably would have been a buffalo hunter in an earlier time.

Charles Askins was not afraid of controversy, and he stood up for his beliefs. He was not the sort of man everyone would like, but was certainly worthy of respect. Our culture would be a bit rougher if we had more like him, and we would be stronger and certainly our moral compass would be more stable.

I would have enjoyed sitting and talking with Charles Askins. When crisis situations arise and the enemy is at the gate, I would rather have Charles Askins at my side than the hand wringing social do-gooders that so despise all men of action, but who also depend upon them to guard the night.

Another View.......2004-02-09

Not great literature by any means, but not a bad read if you are interested in Askins. If the material contained within offends some of you that badly, perhaps you should just remember not to venture so far out from under you mother's skirt. Askins for all of his "issues" is represenative of an older age of American masculinity, before the average white male became as sissified as he is today. You have to honestly ask yourself, if trouble was on the horizon, would you rather have Askins at your side or some of the emasculated posters reviewing this book?

Charles Askins is a Psychopath..........2003-11-27

Charles Askins, AKA Harry Paine Miller, is a complete psychopathic schizophrenic.

His ranting and raving throughout, and his stories of government, business, and individuals conspiring against him are absolutely incredible. This man needs to be fitted for a new, and TIGHT, straight-jacket, complete with automatically injected prozac.

I could not believe that ANY individual could be this sick, and seriously believe what he does - and still remain 'At Large' in the general population.

If anything, his 'memoirs' are woth the money just for the laughs that are obtained. In reality, I haven't read anything even remotely resembling this level of comedy. If it weren't serios, I could probably give itat LEAST 2 thumbs up...

A Case of Lost Respect.......2003-01-28

As with others, I used to read Charlie's articles avidly. I've been a competitive shooter/hunter my entire life and was rather disappointed with the attitudes and actions recounted in this book. While I understand that these were generated in a different era, I found them to be rather disappointing.

The difference in attitudes and idea's from Askins to Bill Jordan to Jeff Cooper are light years apart. The three men aren't in the same league and Charlie suffers for the comparison.

While certainly worth reading from a historical point of view, I'll have to admit that I lost respect for Askins in reading this book.

Book Description

A fresh and engrossing look at the Crusades captures the everyday experience of those who actually took part in the campaign. Drawing on a variety of sources, Ronald C. Finucane, a distinguished professor of history, asks what inspired the recruits who marched across Europe to fight the "infidel," as well as those they fought against. What did it feel like to be a crusader? How did the long marches, bad food, and lack of medicine affect the average armed pilgrim? What image of the enemy did each side carry into battle? What role did women play, and how did the forces act on and off the field? It's a study that still resonates strongly in our world today.

Customer Reviews:

The crusades as seen by the participants.......2006-06-30

Whether you like this book depends upon what you are looking for, if you are seeking a in depth chronological history of the crusades then soldiers of the faith is not the book for you. If however you are looking for a book which focuses on the experiences of the individuals who participated in these tumultuous times then read on.

In Soldiers of the Faith, Finucane, dissects the life of a crusader (and to a lesser extent a Muslim warrior) asking what would lead a man to abandon family and home to fight for a cause, how he would travel to the holy land, what he would take with him, what weapons he carried and how he employed them and ultimately what relations did he form with the locals, both immediately and for those who stayed over an extended period.

Finucane also investigates the collapse of the initial crusading zeal, warn down by increased Arab resistance, the continued failure of subsequent crusades and the corruption evidenced in the crusade leadership which resulted in the sacking of Christian cities culminating in the sack of Constantinople in the fourth crusade.

Deus Lo Vult!.......2002-01-01

Current world events are focusing interest onto Christian-Moslem conflicts of past centuries during which Christendom was on the offensive. "Soldiers of Faith" is a timely book which focuses its attention on the Soldiers of Christendom and Islam who fought through the Two Centuries of Crusades. While not providing a campaign by campaign account of the Crusades, it does provide much background information for the interested reader. It does provide the reader with a background into historical realities which may, to some extent, explain the origins contemporary news items.

Many facets of Crusader life are covered in the book. The social makeup of the Crusader armies, divided between knights and foot soldiers is extensively explored. The differing sources, uses, and lifestyles of the Crusading Estates are introduced. The social mix of the Crusading armies came as a surprise to me. I had thought that Crusading armies, and Medieval armies in general, consisted primarily of knights. From this book I learned that the bulk of the armies consisted of infantry drawn from the Common Estate.

Much is explained about the rise of the Crusading Spirit it Europe as well as its life and ultimate decline over a two century period. What lead Europeans to take up the Cross? A combination of forces came into play. For some it was the noble desire to reclaim the land of Christ for Christendom. For others, with less noble motives, the desire to run away from problems at home, obtain indulgences, see the world or avoid taxation were only a few of the factors which lead them to the Holy Land.

The conduct of the Soldiers themselves told much of the movement. In an era antedating the modern, national army, the focus of operations was less predictable. Although the professed goal of the Crusade was the recovery of the Holy Land, many turned against other Crusaders, Byzantine Christians, heretics and other Christians as well as favoring looting and pillage over the recovery of lost lands.

The political and military leaders of the Crusading era are well explored. Prominent among them are St. Louis IX of France, Richard the Lion Hearted of England and Sulymein. A series of Popes and other personalities are also discussed.

Much attention is directed to the religious actions and objects which were prominent in the era. The importance and object of pilgrimages throughout Europe and the Holy Land for Christian and Saracen alike are well related. The abuse which Christians, Moslems and Jews heaped upon each other demonstrated the depth of religious fervor. The desecration of the sacred by those of other religions is certainly out of step with contemporary civilized discourse, but may be reflected in the actions of some extremists in the contemporary world. It may be significant that attitudes which are considered extreme today may have been considered laudable in Medieval times.

The shifting levels of respect afforded by Christian and Moslems to these other "People of the Book" give interesting insights into the thought process of Crusader leaders. Much is made of the practice of Sulymein to treat captured Christian noblemen as honored guests until Christian massacres of Muslims caused him to rethink his notions of hospitality.

Near the end of its two century run, the Crusading movement was loosing steam. The decline of the religious fervor from which it had risen and the rise of rivalry among the emerging nation states of Europe combined to bring down the curtain on the Crusading Movement.

The focus of this book is well defined in its title. It is the story of the "Soldiers of Faith", not a history of the Crusades as a whole. It gives the reader an excellent view of the soldiers. It gives us a much less clear view of the history of the Crusades and their influence on world history. For one, like me, who starts with little familiarity with the Crusades, this is an edifying read.

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Soldiers of the Faith: Crusaders and Moslems At War
Ronald Finucane
Manufacturer: BOOK CLUB ASSOCIATES
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OLOSVW

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