Reforming the Military Retirement System

Book Description

The current military retirement system dates back to 1947, when Congress implemented a common system for the military services and for officers and enlisted personnel alike.

Reforming the military retirement system (USAWC strategy research project)

Average customer rating:

Reforming the military retirement system (USAWC strategy research project)
Jefferey A Gibert
Manufacturer: U.S. Army War College
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Retirement Planning | Aging Parents | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
Accessories:

ASIN: B0006R726M

Amazon.com

There probably were not a pair of more ordinary Union soldiers than the Iowa farm boys Andrew Jackson Brayman and Edward Barney Brayman. Neither left any kind of written record of their service, but they had the good luck of having a sister whose grandson (veteran reporter Orr Kelly) and granddaughter-in-law (genealogist Mary Davies Kelly) would take an interest in their story one and a quarter centuries later. This carefully researched book makes use of regimental histories and other material to crack the mystery of where these two boys fought and how they died: one on an obscure Arkansas battlefield called Marks' Mill and the other in a military hospital. Along the way, the Kellys describe how typical soldiers lived and died. This is not a book of presidents and generals, but of men who fought and died and were largely forgotten. The ghosts of both Brayman boys rise from their patriot graves and come to life on these pages. Many Civil War histories pay little attention to the enormous sacrifices individuals and their families made during the War Between the States; Dream's End rightly places them front and center. --John J. Miller

Customer Reviews:

History Comes Alive.......2000-06-24

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The authors obviously researched the material well and provide a well written story. A must for anyone interested in history, war, and human resilence.

Book Description

Concentrating on the most important popes, this work provides an overview of one of the oldest and most influential institutions in the world. Notable popes are analyzed in comprehensive entries divided into five historical sections:

Early

Medieval

Renaissance and Reformation

Early Modern

Modern Section introductions place the popes in historical perspective and include general bibliographic references for the entire age. Individual essays provide specific bibliographic references. Unlike multivolume references that cover all of the popes, this source focuses exclusively on popes who played crucial roles not only in the institution of the papacy itself, but also in European and world events. Beginning with Peter and ending with John Paul II, the contributors to this volume offer a wealth of information. They provide insight into the institution of the papacy and its outstanding members. Combining fact, explanation, and analysis, the essays provide readers with a detailed understanding of the ways in which the papacy, and these individuals, have influenced world events throughout the centuries.

The Pope Encyclopedia: An A to Z of the Holy See

Average customer rating:

WONDERFUL REFERENCE PIECE
For the true info-junkie...

The Pope Encyclopedia: An A to Z of the Holy See
Matthew Bunson
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Vatican | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

History | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

Religion | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

History | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0517882566
Release Date: 1995-09-26

Book Description

Containing more than 2,000 entries in handy alphabetical format, this provocative, illustrated book explores the whole lively and entertaining history of the Vatican and its rulers.

Customer Reviews:

WONDERFUL REFERENCE PIECE.......2006-10-22

Like the last reviewer, I am not Catholic either, but found this book an excellent resource on the papacy and the Vatican. Much of Western and European history has been influenced by the Roman church so it is wise to know what the popes have done and how the Vatican operates. The book's format is most helpful, including the popes and other features of importance in Rome and elsewhere. After each entry on a pope, his successor is listed. All in all a wonderful reference piece.

For the true info-junkie..........1997-12-26

I read this book cover-to-cover as soon as I bought it. I love things that are organized and encyclopedic, and though I'm not Catholic, I love this book. I frequently look up information in it, it contains not just information on Popes, but many Vatican buldings, departments, and artwork. This would be invaluable to anyone taking a trip to the Vatican. I have also read Bunson's Encyclopedia Sherlockiana and found it to be equally detailed and informative. I heartily recommend these two books to anyone who is even remotely interested in either subject. After you're through, you'll be more than remotely interested, you'll be hooked.

Average customer rating:

Encyclopedia of the Papacy
Hans KuÌhner
Manufacturer: Owen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

History | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007JF2KC

Average customer rating:

Encyclopedia of the Papacy
Hans Kuhner
Manufacturer: Philosophical Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IUA444

Average customer rating:

Encyclopedia of the Vatican and Papacy

Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Vatican | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

History | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

Religion | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books

Comparative Religion | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0313289174

Book Description

This comprehensive source book focuses on the Vatican from the Renaissance through the 1990s. Developments are studied within the broad context of European and world history. Crucial pre-Renaissance events are included as are entries on all of the popes, and the twenty-one councils from Nicea (325) to Vatican II (1962-1965). Alphabetically arranged, the entries provide valuable and often difficult-to-find information on the structure and organization of the church. While the emphasis remains on the interaction between the Vatican and Papal Institutions within the wider political, diplomatic, social and cultural world arena, theological questions are considered as well as the attitudes and reactions of the Vatican to key historical events, such as the French Revolution, Imperialism, World War I and II, the Ethiopian War, and the Holocaust. Entries on heresies and condemnations are included along with those on the Vatican reaction to various ideological movements such as Arianism, Jansenism, Gnosticism, Fascism, Racism, Marxism and Americanism. Entries address current issues such as the Papal position on social questions, abortion, homosexuality, liberation theology, and birth control. A valuable tool for Papal scholars and researchers, this informative encyclopedia provides, in one volume, a wealth of easily accessible information on the influence of the Papacy and the Vatican throughout the development of the modern world. In addition to complete listings on all of the popes and all of the councils, topics and individuals are thoroughly indexed.

Average customer rating:

Enough material to exhaust the curia

The Papacy: An Encyclopedia
P. Levillain
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Religious | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Reference & Collections | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

History | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

Religion | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

History | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0415922283

Book Description

The original French edition of this encyclopedia, the Dictionnaire historique de la papauté has been recognized internationally as one of the most esteemed reference works on the papacy. Now Routledge is pleased to publish this acclaimed resource in a revised, expanded, and updated English language edition, translated by a team of experts in papal history.
This comprehensive three-volume reference not only covers all of the popes (and anti-popes) from St. Peter to John Paul II, but also explores the papacy as an institution. Articles cover the inner workings--both contemporary and historical--of the Holy See, and encompass religious orders, papal encyclicals, historical events, papal controversies, the arts, and more. This set is destined to be the standard English-language reference for all issues concerning the papacy. Also inlcludes five maps.

Customer Reviews:

Enough material to exhaust the curia.......2004-03-25

This three-volume set is a translation of the Dictionnaire historique de la papauté, originally published in 1994. It is very comprehensive. Those accustomed to using one-volume dictionaries of the papacy (J. N. D. Kelly, Richard McBrien, Claudio Rendina) will be pleased to see entries that run to several pages for important popes such as Damasus I or Leo I. The work contains entries for all of the popes as well as articles on the usual topics like primacy and infallibility but also on "Greeks in Italy," which deals briefly with the immense impact of Greek clerics and even several Greek popes (not necessarily from Greece but from Greek-speaking areas such as Sicily) in the Early Middle Ages.

Not as unique but equally helpful are articles on the major Roman churches associated with the papacy such as Santa Maria Maggiore and Saint Paul's Outside the Walls. Articles appear on the visual arts including "Painting" and "Architecture, Papal," but not articles on music or sculpture per se; the catacombs also rate a separate entry. As always, there are puzzles-no entry on Palestrina but one on the Vatican railroad station. There is also an entry "Castrati of the Papal Chapel," surely a first.

JECS readers will be curious about entries on the early popes. The news is basically good. The contributors have done thorough jobs and include a great deal of information. The presentations are lucid and cover many aspects of the popes' lives and pontificates. The articles include much technical information such as the popes' involvement in financial and legal decisions or their involvement with the liturgy and church construction. Most of the secondary sources are French or at least European; few are North American although this is not unusual in European reference works. Just so many titles can be included in a bibliography, and the original audience was Francophone.

The primary sources do not appear at the end of the entries but are cited in the text. Readers can then turn to the list of abbreviations to check the originals. This is good practice. The information is there for the scholar who wants it, but the volumes are not burdened down with excess bibliographical references. This facility of use also extends to the indices, which are clear and easy to use.

My only reservation, and it is a major one, is the series' tendency to exclude items which reflect negatively on some popes. The word "exclude" is not chosen lightly because the omissions are of well-known facts. The article on Damasus I does not mention the two famous anecdotes always associated with him-his nickname of "the ladies' ear-tickler" and the observation by a noble pagan that he would be happy to become a Christian if he could live like the bishop of Rome. More seriously, the entry overlooks Damasus' repeated refusals of the requests of Basil the Great to help the Nicene cause in the Eastern regions of the empire because of the pope's obsession with who held the see of Antioch. The entry on Gregory I proves that he deserves the epithet "the Great" for his governance of the Roman church, his aid to the oppressed Italians, and his outreach to the barbarians, but the entry makes no mention of his rebuke to an Italian bishop for reading classical literature or his "unworthy jubilation" (J. N. D. Kelly) at hearing that the usurper Phocas had murdered the emperor Maurice.

This approach reflects the days when Catholic scholars felt the way to make a pope look good was to avoid mentioning the bad. The contributors could have realized that acknowledging that the popes had faults does not diminish them but only makes them human. Unfortunately, this meliorism did not end with the ancient Church. John Paul II is appropriately heroic and widely beloved et cetera, but there is no mention of his refusal to let the Jesuits choose their own superior general and his imposition of his own candidate on the Society because he did not like the leading candidate for the position.

The entry on Peter would have benefited from a good look at modern biblical scholarship. Peter's commissioning by Jesus (Matthew 16.18) is treated as an historical event despite the arguments of leading exegetes, including Roman Catholics, that this is a post-resurrection understanding by the evangelist.

There is an amazing article on Paul VI (1963-1978), particularly on Humanae Vitae, his 1968 encyclical on birth control. The author, the general editor himself, believes that the encyclical intended to establish a principle, not set down a law. Speaking of the difficulty Humanae Vitae encountered in Anglophone countries, Levillain says, "A law is to be obeyed, whereas a norm tends to inspire practice without imposing an obligation on the conscience. The distinction, incomprehensible to the Anglo-Saxon mentality (my emphasis), confounded the analysis, reduced the text to the level of the prescriptive and the binding, and undermined the authority of Rome" (1142). We may be able to understand why something so ridiculous and insulting appeared in the original, but how did it end up in an edition intended for Anglophone readers?

Given the size and depth of the articles, this three-volume set could have become a standard research and reference tool, but since the uncomprehending Anglo-Saxon mind considers objectivity a virtue in scholarly writing, the blatant editorializing in the articles will always make the learned reader wonder what has been left out. This is unfortunate, and it is annoying; I had truly hoped this work would be a valuable one.

The formidable price, understandable for so large a work, will make this more a tool for the university or seminary library than for private ownership.
Joseph F. Kelly

Average customer rating:
Encyclopedia of the Vatican and Papacy
Greenwood Press
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTU75K

Book Description

Virtually every home heating system requires a chimney or vent, making this an important topic for both home ispectors and homeowners. The text explores the efficiency and life expectancy of various types of chimney and wood heating methods. Components and potential problems of wood furnaces are discussed for regions of the country where this heating method is common. Wood stoves and wood fireplaces, popular throughout North America, are also covered.

Customer Reviews:

rod is great.......2007-07-13

YOU CAN TELL FROM ALL THAT I HAVE PURCHASED THAT I AM RALLY A BIG BIG ROD STEWART FAN. I CAN'T GET ENOUGH. WOULD LOVE TO MEET HIM. THE BOOK IS REALLY GOOD

Passable Bio .......2004-11-19

A little too much gossip in this one but the authors do make attempts to capture the real Rod Stewart. A few stories about Rod's early days in music are here (since some of them are unique to this book, I can't say wether they are true) but too much is made of his love life--we can read about all that in People if we wanted to. But overall this is not a bad book.

Book Description

A collection of stories, vignettes, and experiences as told to the author by Lyle Emerson George of the Suquamish Tribe in the Northwest. Lyle served as Tribal Council Chairman for many years.

Get an insider's look at graft, corruption, lawlessness, insurrection, and the political struggle for power on the reservation.

Customer Reviews:

Filled with memorable, candid experiences.......2002-06-05

Courage To Follow The Vision: The Journey Of Lyle Emerson George is the story of Lyle George's life, as told to friend and colleague Tom Wilson. Lyle George was a Tribal Council Chairman on the Squamish Reservation and participated in the National Indian Council. George's daily life, as well as his duties, often involved figuring out ways to combat the chronic and endemic problems plaguing the Native Americans he represented, including the all too familiar specters of poverty, alcoholism, corruption, boundary disputes, and crime. An informative and engaging account filled with memorable, candid experiences, as well as a personal look at Native American culture today, Courage To Follow The Vision is an impressive contribution to Native American Studies supplemental reading lists and academic reference collections.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books