George Hodges (1856–1919)

This book had some good insights and for the most part the author’s story telling style was enjoyable.

However, there were odd modernisations of the Biblical text. For example, wilderness became woods, priests were sometimes called ministers, synagogues were sometimes called churches and the teachers in Luke became doctors.

The author also misquoted Bible, and included elements that weren’t culturally accurate. Admittedly at the time of writing perhaps he didn’t have access to the show more archeological information we have at present. But that doesn’t excuse the Biblical misquotes.

But the aspect that bothered me the most were the large number of theological errors that he made throughout the book. For example, he stated at one point that Jesus came to help us to be good.

For this reason I can’t recommend this book to listeners, particularly children.

The LibriVox narrator was excellent and I appreciate her hard work in recording this volume. show less

Apparently the author thinks that the only legitimate church in America is the Episcopal Church. He goes to great lengths to prove that Anglican (later Episcopal) service was the first one on American soil. Goody! You beat the Lutherans, Methodists and Catholics!

Fountains Abbey: The Story Of A Mediaeval Monastery (1904) is an illustrated history and description of day to day life at Fountains Abbey in York England. It is the largest and best preserved Cistercian monastery in England, although in ruins since the "Dissolution of Monasteries" in the 1530's. Its history mirrors closely that of English monasticism, and medieval history in general. Although I've read a lot about monasticism in high-level history surveys, the story of a single place is show more enlightening. There are a number of books about Fountains monastery, this one by an American theologian in 1904 has a romantic flair that sparks the imagination. There is an evocative full color pull out map in the back which is helpful to follow along as the book acts a tour guide through the stone vaulted galleys and passages, underground prisons, rivers that run through tunnels under buildings, twisty foot-worn stone passages, huge chambers. Fountains Abbey is a ruin today, but protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so despite old Henry's dissolution, it should last a long time, no doubt to the delight of the faithful souls who once inhabited its walls.

The book is available at Internet Archive. For more pictures and maps see also The Ruins of Fountains Abbey (1910) which contains the original 13th century document describing the Abbey's founding, a curious and fascinating read in its own right. Beyond reading, check out the Abbey's website (Google: Fountains Abbey) and look for the "Audio tour" which is about a 45 minute tour of the Abbey as a new monk who is thinking of joining. It's the same audio tour used on-site for visitors and well done.

--Review by Stephen Balbach, via CoolReading (c) 2008 cc-by-nd show less

Rare description of 4 of the large Shogi variants.