Book Description
Some losses are so subtle they go unnoticed, some so overwhelming and cruel they seem unbearable. In painful moments we must make a choice: Will we allow the difficulties we face to become forces of destruction in our lives, or will we find a way to transform our suffering into a source of strength?
A theologian with the heart of a poet, Rabbi David Wolpe explores the meaning of loss, and the way we can use its inevitable appearance in our lives as a source of strength rather than a source of despair. Wolpe creates a remarkably fluid account of how we might find a way out of overwhelming feelings of helplessness and instead create meaning in difficult times.
The national bestseller by "a rabbi who is as gifted with words as he is with wisdom."--Chaim Potok
"This is a book to pass on to people who are grieving--i.e., every single person we know." --Kirkus Reviews
"An exceptional book. Through a mix of scholarship, pathos, anecdote and personal experience, David Wolpe takes on this most crucial subject with the healing hands of a teacher. I gaze with awe at his completed task."--Mitch Albom, author of Tuesdays with Morrie
"In this wonderful volume, Rabbi David Wolpe combines wisdom and compassion; it is also highly readable."--Elie Wiesel
"Wolpe is a gifted writer...melodic and lyrical."--Los Angeles Times
Customer Reviews:
I was able to make sense from my loss..........2003-05-31
When the adoption of two foster children fell through and they left our home, I was heartbroken. I said kaddish even though the children were still alive. I sat shiva by myself. Family and friends were sad with us but most found it too uncomfortable to discuss. My rabbi suggested that I read this book, and I'm so glad I did. Rabbi Wolpe soothed my broken heart and helped me to accept what I could not control. His words gave me the courage to have faith in G-d again, because he made me see that I had an important role in the children's lives.
We suffer losses more often than we like to admit. Rabbi Wolpe enables us to embrace them and use them to make ours and others lives better.
A universal spiritual guide.......2000-07-28
From the viewpoint of forty years as a liberal Christian minister, reading Rabbi David Wolpe's MAKNG LOSS MATTER was a pleasant journey. Generally speaking, Christians believe in a future existence beyond death, while Jews do not. Wolpe leaves a door open when he writes, "The soft insistent voice of something more whispers in our ear. Can this be all?" Wolpe's open heart and lucid prose touched me time and time again. I have underlined many of his thoughs such as, "I am a rabbi because there is in me, as there is in you, a child, a child that knows that somewhere we not alone, that this world is bathed in miracles, and that for every pain there is beauty, for every loss there is love, and for every waste there is wonder." All members of the human race can be lifted by his beautiful lines such as, "Refusing to succumb to despair is the greatest act of faith. We may despair for a moment. Darkness seems ascendant. We cry out. But stirring is the certainty that the pain of a particuar loss is a sign of having loved. Where the capacity to love has been, it can be again." Not just for Jews, his book speaks to all who suffer or rejoice.
Wisdom and comfort for anyone.......2000-02-09
First I checked it out of the library serendipitously; then I had to own it and purchased my own copy from Amazon. Within a week I had referred it to a number of people whose lives it touched. There is no one who doesn't need this book. It is 21st century wisdom with the depth of ancient sages and vast scope of religous tradition behind it. Wolpe understands life. He crafts sentences that go to the core of the matter of loss and life and difficulty and human nature. Though I am not Jewish, I relished getting out my Old Testament and re-reading the stories of Abraham, Jacob, Job and others after reading Making Loss Matter. As one who has an interest in things spiritual and God-based all her life, I find this book among the best I have ever read and cannot recommend it highly enough--to ANYONE who is human.
"I will not let You go until You bless me.".......2000-01-04
Like Jacob, who wrestled with G_d and refused to let Him go until he extracted a blessing from Him, and thus earned the name "Israel" (he who struggles strongly with G_d), David Wolpe tackles one of the oldest and hardest questions, "Does my suffering matter or is it just meaningless chance?" Poignantly, after throwing away his first attempts which were drawn from his extensive scholarship and erudition, and making the scary decision to write instead from his own heart, he found out that his young wife, a new mother, has cancer. No easy answers here, but a lot of deep thought and honest feelings, plus a way of at least approaching life's inevitable losses with real courage born not of bravado and forced stoicism, but of a struggling faith that will not let go until it has received a blessing---the gift of knowing that the struggle is not in vain.
Exceeding the Title's Agenda..........1999-12-16
I made two assumptions about this book before reading it: a) that it would be a book about spirituality (since a Rabbi wrote it) and b) that it would be about death and mourning. While there is certainly allusion to both of these, I found it much more compelling as a work of psychology, an archaeology of "loss" as an existential proposition rather than some vacuous "how to cope" cheer. For those that eschew the popular self-help canon, this book is a compelling resource as it grounds its propositions in the wisdom of historical, secular literary figures as well the usual roll call from the Torah and Talmud, and tempers the admixture with sensitivity and common sense. The book's uplifting quality results not just from the reiteration of the sages, but from its baseline humanity, the degree to which it addresses the decent human being coming to terms with mediocrity, foolishness, defects of character, and/or miscarried hopes that drain the optimism from the average life. The reconciliation it ultimately espouses, the "making loss matter" aspect, reinvests the individual with the perspective necessary to manage not just the "big deaths," but the more subtle demises, the death-by-papercut drainage of our happiness, individuality, and sense of connection to something greater than ourselves.
Customer Reviews:
Personal Experience.......2002-03-27
I came across this audio tape just by chance months after my father died. Listening to it helped me to get through one of life's most difficult times. Dr. Peck brings the reality of death to the meaning of life - a begining and an end. So make the most of the middle. It's a shame this tape is "out of print".
for the first time death did not scare me........1999-09-11
though one can not rule out the possibility of the fear that people have of "death" but this book definately makes it seem simple. well i would say that after reading it one has a positive approach towards death, the only thing we need to remember is that we should'nt forget what this book teaches for most of the people forget things after a while. its definately an extraordinary reading.
Average customer rating:
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A Mountain Too Far: A Father's Search for Meaning in the Climbing Death of His Son
Karl H. Purnell
Manufacturer: NEW HORIZON PRESS
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ASIN: 0882822047 |
Book Description
When his son Chris is killed in an avalanche, Karl Purnell is shattered. He decides to retrace his son's climbs from the rock walls of Yosemite National Park to the French Alps and up to the Himalayan mountains.
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Making Sense of Death: Spiritual, Pastoral, and Personal Aspects of Death, Dying, and Bereavement (Death, Value and Meaning)
Gerry R., Ed. Cox
Manufacturer: Baywood Publishing
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Life on the Line: Ethics, Aging, Ending Patients' Lives, and Allocating Vital Resources
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Sacred Dying: Creating Rituals for Embracing the End of Life
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In the Presence of Grief: Helping Family Members Resolve Death, Dying, and Bereavement Issues
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What Dying People Want: Practical Wisdom for the End of Life
ASIN: 089503249X |
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The ABC's of Grief: A Handbook for Survivors (Death, Value and Meaning)
Christine A. Adams
Manufacturer: Baywood Publishing Company
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0895032430 |
Book Description
ABOUT THE BOOK The ABC's of Grief: A Handbook for Survivors meets bereaved persons wherever they might be in the grieving process, providing snatches of meaning, hope, empathy, and understanding. The handbook is a product of the author's own passage and includes materials collected over a three-year period of the grieving process. Confronting her loss, Christine Adams found that it was all right to grieve at her own pace; one day at a time, one thought, word, and letter at a time, she grew and healed.
Customer Reviews:
Helping health care pros empathize with terminal patients.......2001-07-17
This book was written mainly for professionals in the field supporting families of terminal cancer patients. Interviews were done and related to help professionals see the experience from the family's point of view. It was a study conducted by oncology RNs. I would definitely recommend this for health care professionals.
I would also recommend this book for families facing life with a terminal cancer patient. I found some comfort in reading about the emotions other people have dealt with in the dilemma of living with and dying of cancer. I didn't find any "answers" in this book, but recognized myself in its pages.
The book is a quick read. It was also overpriced. But I guess that is because it was a clinical study, and not widely marketable.
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Personal Care In An Impersonal World: A Multidimensional Look at Bereavement (Death, Value and Meaning)
John D., Ed. Morgan
Manufacturer: BAYWOOD PUBLISHING COMPANY
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ASIN: 0895031094 |
Book Description
The purpose of this volume is to ask and propose a positive answer to the question "Can we attend to the personhood of individuals within systems and cultures which are mass oriented?" One of the most interesting changes in contemporary thinking has been the emphasis on the unique person. While the distinction between a person (a unique rational being) and individual (one of several similar things) has long existed, it is in the twentieth century that we seem to have become fully conscious of this distinction. There is good reason for such as emphasis today. Repeatedly in this century the case of the person was deemed less important than some policy. Innocent persons slaughtered in the name of some "ism," political bombings and kidnappings, and mass unemployment to name but a few. The cause of our dehumanization seems to be the reduction of the individual person to a part of the political, economic or religious system.
The death awareness/hospice movement has played an important role in counteracting this anti-person orientation. The hospice death awareness movement was begun as an antidote for this "mass thinking" and holds the philosophy that individual persons are primary and that political, social and economic systems are there to serve people, not the other way around. It is within the tradition of that movement that the following chapters are written.
Product Description
An acclaimed theological reflection on death that includes insights from medical, sociological and philosophical disciplines. Well written for a general audience.
Book Description
The success of the First Crusade, and its capture of Jerusalem in 1099, has been conventionally explained by its ideological and political motivation. This book looks at the First Crusade primarily as a military campaign and asks why it was so successful. Modern writing about the crusade has tended to emphasize the moral dimension and the development of the idea of the crusade, but its fate was ultimately decided on the field of battle. This book looks at the nature of war at the end of the eleventh century and the military experience of all the contending parties in order to explain its extraordinary success.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent - but not for everyone.......2005-08-08
For its time, the First Crusade was breathtaking in scope and stunning in its success. Nearly 100,000 people (knights, servants, women and children) departed from all over Western Europe and marched thousands of miles overland to Constantinople and then across the forbidding terrain of Asia Minor to the gates of Jerusalem. In the process, they swept the fearsome Seljuk Turks from Anatolia, captured the major city of Antioch, took the Holy City in a fierce siege and annihilated several Moslem relief forces from Syria and Egypt along the way. By comparison, the Norman invasion of England and the Battle of Hastings in 1066 was a sideshow.
Much of the secondary research on the First Crusade focuses on what motivated the mass expedition to reclaim the Holy Land in 1095 and how the rivalries between the leading princes on campaign led to the establishment of Christian city-states in the Levant. Little energy has been devoted to explaining precisely how those remarkable achievements were attained, which is exactly what John France sets out to do in this book.
The first three chapters review the basic nature of warfare in the eleventh century and demonstrate how the experience of fighting feudal wars in Western Europe directly shaped the military actions of the Crusaders in the East. Above all, the author stresses that warfare in this period focused on the control of strategic strongholds and the ravaging of an enemy's land as a way to simultaneously support the invading army, destroy the enemy's economic base and alienate the local population from their supposed feudal protector. Major set piece battles (such as Hastings) were a rarity and only fought under highly favorable conditions and for the greatest stakes possible. These topics are covered in the first quarter of the book and are "generalist" in nature.
The rest of the book offers a highly detailed analysis of the various military actions that made up the First Crusade. France does an impressive job of primary research (including fieldwork) to present a comprehensive review of how, when, where and why the Crusaders engaged their various Moslem adversaries. Every Crusading chronicle or memoir that had anything to say about a given battle is examined and assessed for accuracy. His work is exhaustive and at times overwhelming in detail. For instance, he devotes a hundred pages of dense analysis to the siege of Antioch alone. If you're only looking for the "big picture," the last three hundred pages of this book will be tough going.
A couple final points on "Victory in the East." The author has included twenty-three maps and diagrams that greatly facilitate understanding of the various sieges and ambushes. On the other hand, he writes paragraphs of Brobdingnagian dimensions. It isn't uncommon for single paragraphs to span several pages, with the text just rolling on in one monolithic block as France goes from one subject to the next. Needless to say, this style doesn't add to the readability of the rather arcane content.
In closing, for those with a keen interest in Medieval Warfare and a strong pre-existing understanding of the First Crusade "Victory in the East" offers an impressive blend of research and analysis on a remarkable event in the annals of military history. If your five favorite books on military history were written by authors with names like Clancy, Ambrose or Keegan, then this book most definitely isn't for you.
Great Military History of the 1st Crusade.......2005-03-31
France's work is certainly the best military history of the 1st Crusade in print. Contrary to popular belief, many nobles of the First Crusade did indeed have experience leading and/or fighting in organized, well led military ventures in Europe. Robert of Normandy and Robert of Flanders were both experienced campaigners. Duke Godfrey of Boullion was at the great Siege of Rome, and Bohemond of Taranto (clearly the Crusade's most able tactician) had long experience fighting against his Guiscard relatives and the Byzantines in the Balkans. France admirably refutes any idea that the 1st Crusade was simply a horde of fanatical barbarians. He does a fine job of explaining how relatively large-scale logistics and planning were skills that a number of nobles brought with them to the East. In fact, the ultimate success of the venture could not have happened without such expertise. Understanding this fact helps the student realize that the 1st Crusade's success cannot be entirely attributed to (a) religious fanaticism, (b) Islamic divisions, or (c) luck (all of which many past historians have subscribed). Certainly, all 3 of the above were factors, but none of them can fully explain the amazing success of the late 11th century European knights in Turkey, Syia, and Palestine. As France explains, martial skills conquered the Holy Land. Other considerations, from a military perspective, are peripheral. The religious fanaticism of the crusaders certainly helped them in their conquests (defeat of Kerbogha, especially), but such fanaticism couldn't defeat an enemy alone. After all, the People's Crusade (1096) of Peter the Hermit had equal fanaticism, and it was cut to pieces almost as soon as it stepped on Turkish soil. By the same token, Islamic political divisions after the death of Malik Shah certainly contributed to the Crusade's success. However, even with such divisions, the Crusaders were at huge numerical and/or resource disadvantages against their Islamic opponents. After all, the Crusaders were often outnumbered, were fighting thousands of miles from home on unfamiliar terrain, and had virtually no supply line. It took leadership and force of arms for such wondrous military achievements to take place.
France does about as good a job of analyzing the military decisions and actions of the Crusaders as I have read. He covers in detail all of the major clashes (along with many minor ones) with Islamic powers: Nicea, Dorylaem, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Ascalon. Battle tactics and strategy are well covered, maps are understandable and relevant, and results are clearly explained. France, like other historians, recognizes that the European's greatest asset was the heavily mailed charge. The Crusaders were rather more heavily armoured than their Islamic adversaries, and the charge was a devastating weapon. However, the heavily armoured charge was in somewhat of an embryonic stage in the late 11th century and certainly wasn't yet what it would be come in the 12th and 13th centuries. Because it was a relatively new innovation, it took quite exquisite leadership and martial ability to use it effectively. It took even better generalship to coordinate the cavalry with the infantry. One of the greatest strengths of France's work is his coverage of how these skilled soldiers (Bohemond in particular) were able to link cavalry actions with infantry actions and how the Crusaders quickly and continually learned these lessons after encountering the Turks' alien fighting style. The lightly armed Turks presented the Crusaders with an opponent that they had not seen before. They were highly mobile and fought primarily from the saddle with a composite bow. Their tactics frequently involved encirclement and feigned retreat. These were tactics, in fact, that troubled European knights for 200 years in the Holy Land. Still, the 1st Crusaders were able to modify their own tactics enough to clear the way of Turks on their way to Jerusalem. Again, such adaptation shows just how militarily sophisticated and skilled these Western "barbarians" really were. Again, a strength of France's work.
On the negative side, there was not enough comparative study of the weapons available to Christian and Islamic armies. We are told that the Europeans were rather more heavily armoured than their Islamic opponents and that they typically carried far heavier lances. However, there is no detailed discussion of these issues. Short mention is made of mail and lamellar, and very little comment is made about relative hand weapon size/construction/type/etc. That said, France certainly does not believe that military technology was a decisive factor in the Crusade's success. Hence, he can't be faulted too much for not including information not relevant to his thesis especially when he considers technological differences to be either non-decisive or negligible. France also tends to get ahead of himself in parts of the work which may cause some to question its focus. The work reads fairly chronologically but will at times go into tangents covering events which are not yet put into context. The problem is not serious, though, and does not affect the quality of the work.
This is the premier military history of the First Crusade, and its value cannot be overestimated. It certainly deserves to be on the shelf with R.C. Smail's classic "Crusading Warfare: 1097-1193" and Christopher Marshall's "Warfare in the Latin East: 1192-1291). Other valuable works, while not about the Crusades specifically, are France's other great work "Western Warfare in the Age of the Crusades", Maurice Keen's "Medieval Warfare: A History", Charles Oman's "The Art of Warfare in the Middle Ages", and especially J.F. Verbruggen's "The Art of Warfare in Western Europe during the Middle Ages from the Eighth Century". A number of other works about the First Crusade specifically are extremely valuable in that they cover far more than just the military aspect. See, for example, Thomas Asbridge's new "The First Crusade: A New History", Runciman's dated but still valuable "The First Crusade", and Jonathon Riley-Smith's "The Crusade and the Idea of Crusading". I don't agree with some of his ideas, but David Nicolle has written some valuable works such as "The First Crusade 1096-1099: Conquest of the Holy Land". There exists a large number of quality general histories of the Crusades as a whole. Anything by Riley-Smith is excellent. Without naming too many, Jean Richard's "The Crusades c. 1071-1291", Hans Eberhard Mayer's "The Crusades", and Robert Payne's "The Dream and the Tomb: A History of the Crusades" are all valuable resources as well.
Exciting and innovative.......2004-09-06
This step by step account of the first crusade by John France is an excellent piece of military history dealing with a complicated subject which can be explored from many different angles. Truly, the innovation of this book is looking at the crusade as a single campaign consisting of aspects like supplies, different possible marching routs, pitched battles as well as smaller expeditions, economy, alliances and much more. John France's writing is remarkable. I can recall many nights at which I simply couldn't let go of the book and often had to read until the end of the chapter just to know what happened to the crusader army. The battle descriptions are very interesting (especially if you have an understanding of the period's way of waging war) and together with the illustrations make for a complete understanding of the situation.
If you are looking for an exciting book about history - this is it !
as good as it gets.......2002-07-08
I was prompted to say something about this book after viewing various reader lists concerning the crusades and medieval war and finding this title absent; omissions due to ignorance, surely. Victory in the East is, simply, the best book on the First Crusade that you are likely to ever read. Trust me.
Not just military history, but lucid exposition.......2000-05-26
I first encountered this book at the Byzantine Center at Dumbarton Oaks. Six pages into it, I realized I had to own it. It is not just an invaluable account of a complicated time, but a superb military history, as effective to the novice as to the expert.
Dr. French shows himself to have a gift for explaining strategy and tactics clearly and for setting them within a context of politics (war by other means, if I may invert Clausewitz's dictum) and religion.
His diagrams are easy to understand, and his exposition of the siege of Antioch makes it readily comprehensible.
A very valuable work for the specialist, scholar, writer, or serious reader.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Canadian Journal of History, published by University of Saskatchewan on December 1, 1995. The length of the article is 883 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: Victory in the East: A Military History of the First Crusade. (book reviews)
Author: Carola M. Small
Publication:
Canadian Journal of History (Refereed)
Date: December 1, 1995
Publisher: University of Saskatchewan
Volume: v30
Issue: n3
Page: p493(3)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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