Ruth, A Portrait: The story of Ruth Bell Graham

Book Description

Ruth Bell Graham is known as the wife of evangelist Billy Graham. It was Ruth who influenced Billy, as his most trusted life-partner. In Ruth, a Portrait, we meet this fascinating and remarkable woman. Brimming with anecdotes, this is a breathtaking journey, with stops at many of this century's epoch-making events.

The childhood years of the future Mrs. Billy Graham were spent light-years away--in the China of the 1920s and 1930s. The daughter of medical missionaries, she and her family were caught in a crucible of unspeakable hardship; in addition to pestilence and plague, there was the unstable political and military turmoil surrounding the Nationalist government, the Communists, and the Japanese invaders. These hazardous realities shaped Ruth Bell and her family, a family inured to difficulties, but buoyed up by their deep belief in God's abiding will.

Virtually raised by the Grahams, the author is a repository of Ruth Bell Graham's stories and has seen firsthand the spirit of this courageous woman. Patricia Cornwell not only gives readers a full, rounded, and intimate portrait of Ruth Bell Graham, but also insight into the life of the Graham family and particularly Billy Graham.

Customer Reviews:

Just a really great read; excellent book!.......2007-08-30

I bought this because I'm a fan of Cornwell's other work, especially the earlier stuff. My expectations weren't very high, since most books about religious "greats" tend to be syrupy or on a witch-hunt.

Instead, Cornwell brings in just enough of her personal experience with the Grahams to explain her adoring views of Ruth. But for the rest of the book, she manages to take herself out the story masterfully and give us a three-dimensional portrait of a strong, stubborn, soft-hearted woman's walk through life. Both of the Grahams are seen as normal, flawed, generous people with single-minded commitment to their lives' callings. The realistic presentation of both of the Grahams really highlights God's presence and action in their lives. I loved that Cornwall just trusted the facts to present a well-rounded picture, without inserting a lot of personal opinions. It's a perspective on Ruth that you won't find in a lot of simpering bios which show her as the ever-supportive, ever-submissive wife of an equally flawless evangelist. Here, you get to see her as a worthy match with a quick mind, a soft heart and sharp tongue.

The most incredible chapter is the last one, where we see how Ruth's compassion and acceptance of wounded and lost people had such on effect on the author's life as well. Just a really great book. I'm officially gushing to everyone about it!

Not the usual Patricia Cornwell.......2007-07-27

I don't enjoy reading the much and I'm also a slow reader in that I get lost in the content and descriptions. This is definitely not a Patricia Cornwell suspense novel. She was very close friends with the Grahams and begged Ruth to let her write the book for people to see the woman behind the man...Billy Graham. She did it so well that Ruth did not speak to Patricia for about 3 years after the book was published. Sometimes the truth hurts and sometimes it will set you free. It was an interesting, easy read for me. It was a book I kept picking up to want to read the next chapter...something that's very hard for me...something keeping my attention. I've loaned the book out to several friends and they have all enjoyed it. I read it about 3 months before Ruth died.

Amazing book on the spunky Ruth Bell Graham; colonial America to China.......2007-06-16

Ruth Bell Graham was ailing this week and died yesterday. I had meant for the longest time to read this book, but just never got around to it. I guess I just thought she was perfect, and perhaps the book might be about that, but I was so moved by her life ending that I just had to know more about her. I knew I was going to miss her presence in our lives and country. Yesterday was the impetus to start reading the book. Fascinating. Far from being just about "churchy" stuff and a woman who was seemingly "pefect", author Patricia Cornwell (who as a little girl befriended Ruth's parents Dr. and Mrs. Bell first and later Ruth who was already married to Billy Graham) covers so much ground about these fascinating, wonderful, decent, giving, generous, sacrifical, funny, Godly people. Ruth was born and raised in China and her parents took over the hospital run by legendary American author Pearl Buck's parents! Author Cornwell does such a masterful job, I felt I was standing in China at that time, with all of the turmoil, the attacks of the Japanese, and spunky Ruth -- who was open-minded and truly loved and cared for all different kinds of people at an early age (when she and her sister would get into physical skirmishes, the family's Chinese help would actually place bets about which sister would win!). And the hand of God was on them too, protecting them from the bombings of the Japanese war planes, as their train sat enveloped in fog. Ruth didn't make perfect grades at Wheaton College, in fact she actually did very poorly in some subjects, but was a superb human being and very funny. Also covered was the Bell family history in colonial America, as well as the Graham family,and their ties to Thomas Jefferson, Princeton University, and even the fact that Ann Arbor, Michigan, is named after one of the "Ann's" in their family. Ruth's and Billy's courtship wasn't entirely smooth and perfect either, as they learned to discern whether they were meant to be together or not, and struggled with that decision, but finally conceding their deep love for each other. And of course the hand of God in their lives, and their deep love and concern and ministry for others. I laughed and cried and pondered life's deep answers this family sought from and were given by God and have given others. Powerful book. I am so grateful author Patricia Cornwell never gave up her dogged pursuit to write Ruth's biography. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Valuable and informative.......1999-10-31

An interesting story of a remarkable woman with unusual strength and deep insight into faith, Christ and christian living. Thus defenately worth reading. Yet the book left me spiritually hungry; I would have wanted to hear more Ruth's own voice, get closer to her and her way of figuring things out. That would have also brought more warmth into the biography. A book called "Coffee and conversation with Ruth Bell Graham and Gigi Tchividjian" fills that kind of needs better.

Ruth Graham: today's great role model!.......1999-09-15

A well written biography of one of the best examples of a Godly woman

Ruth, a Portrait: Story of Ruth Bell Graham

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Ruth, a Portrait: Story of Ruth Bell Graham
Patricia Cornwell
Manufacturer: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0340721472

Ruth, A Portrait: The Story of Ruth Bell Graham

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Ruth, A Portrait: The Story of Ruth Bell Graham
Patricia Cornwell
Manufacturer: Guideposts Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GJQAAE

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Ruth, A Portrait: The story of Ruth Bell Graham
Patricia Cornwell
Manufacturer: Galilee Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000QYH3NM

Ruth, A Portrait: The Story of Ruth Bell Graham/Hijacked: The Real Story of the Heroes of Flight 705 (Reader's Digest Select Editions in Large Type, Volume 100: 1999)

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Ruth, A Portrait: The Story of Ruth Bell Graham/Hijacked: The Real Story of the Heroes of Flight 705 (Reader's Digest Select Editions in Large Type, Volume 100: 1999)
Patricia Cornwell , and Dave Hirschman
Manufacturer: Reader's Digest Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GBHZDS

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Ruth, A Portrait: The Story of Ruth Bell Graham
Patricia Cornwell
Manufacturer: Little Brown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J30MRY

Book Description

The "Great Captains" frequently looked to crucial battles to learn lessons that they themselves employed. While the battles of antiquity have often been examined, Western generals looked to the wars of the Greeks and the Romans, the Chinese to their own campaigns, and so on. Never before have military leaders and other students of military history had the benefit of a systematic look at the key battles throughout the ancient world. In this volume, Gabriel and Boose examine the 31 wars, campaigns or battles from Megiddo (1479 B.C.) to the fall of Constantinople (A.D. 1453) that had the greatest impact on the ancient world, stretching from the Mediterranean through the Middle East to Japan and Korea. Beginning with Megiddo, the first battle in history for which there is a relatively detailed account of strategy and tactics, Gabriel and Boose provide a systematic survey of major battles, wars, and campaigns. Each analysis begins with the Strategic Setting, which places events within the larger political and strategic context; then looks to The Antagonists, providing a comparative look at each army, its equipment, tactics, weaponry, logistics, style of combat leadership, and doctrine to assess its major strengths and weaknesses. The authors then examine The Battle, offering a detailed account of the struggle complete with maps and charts to clarify the analysis of what happened on the battlefield. The final section, Lessons of War, dissects each battle for its successes and failures that are particularly relevant to the development and conduct of war in the modern age. Each survey ends with a bibliography of key sources for further reading. This volume is designed to be an invaluable reference source for military historians and professionals as well as the general reader.

Customer Reviews:

Waaaaay Overpriced.......2003-06-07

This is an enjoyable and very informative look at ancient warfare, from the beginning of recorded history to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The title of the book is somewhat misleading in that this really isn't a series of essays on individual battles, it is actually a bit more encompassing. Instead of Cannae, for example, we get the entirety of the Second Punic War. There are chapters on the campaigns of Caesar and Alexander, there are chapters on the Greek way of war, (both with the Persians and among themselves), the Chinese way of war, the Japanese way of war, and the Swiss way of war. And there are chapters having to do with individual battles: Hastings, Megiddo, Teutoburg forest, etc. As far as I can tell, they didn't miss anything important, although I'm sure there are some experts out there who would disagree.

The chapters are nicely set up in that they first give you an overview of the societies and personalities involved. They then go into a detailed discussion of the weapons, armor and tactics, followed by a detailed examination of the battles themselves. Following this, the discussion has to do with lessons learned, one of which and perhaps the most important is that in order to win a war, an army must have the unqualified support of its citizens. No matter how great the general, no matter how powerful the army, it is destined to ultimately lose unless it can count on its citizens and its government.

It is a great book, but the question is, is it worth the price? Look above. Does the almost exorbitant amount of money they're asking for this seem like a typo? Well it's not. That is the price. But why? When I bought it, I assumed that the book would be oversized, with glossy paper perhaps, and with colored illustrations. Perhaps I would hang onto it for a few years, then present it as a gift to some precocious teenager to pique his interest in ancient warfare. But no. The book is standard sized, about 700 pages, with stock paper, and with black and white lined drawings and maps. Nothing more.

So, again, is it worth it? You want my answer? Well, here it is: no.

Excellent review, very relevant today.......2001-01-17

Gabriel and Boose start out with the hope that they can make the study of military history relevant in an age of precision guided munitions and CNN. At this, they succeed brilliantly. Starting with the first well-recorded battle, at Meggido, they effectively span 3500 years of combat to detail the advances, reverses, and stalemates of military fortune.

Each chapter covers a separate battle or related series of battles. It begins by describing the societies that went to war, their politics, economy, organization, and weapons. Then, the authors describe the strategic situation that led to war between the antagonists, the goals of both sides, and the value of victory and cost of defeat. Once strategy is out of the way, they deal in great depth with the tactics used in each battle, with an emphasis on the major developments of a given era, whether technical, tactical, or operational. Finally, they give a list of "lessons" from each battle.

Overall, the book is excellent for students of both ancient and modern military thought. I especially enjoyed the first chapter, which gave a chronology of weapons, armor, supply, and typical casualties. It really changes your view from the typical Hollywood picture of ancient warfare. Who knew that most were not injured in the battle, only to be slaughtered once their side broke to flee?

One negative is the "lessons" section of each chapter. Rather than draw direct parallels with contemporary policy, the authors give a laundry list of ideas and principles. These are generally informative in the context of the specific battle, but are too vague to work as a textbook for modern practitioners of conflict. The real value is in drawing these parallels for yourself, which the superb organization of the rest of the text makes quite easy.

At what price ............2000-06-02

I just finished this book and found it to be an excellent survey of "The Great Battles of Antiquity." However, as insightfull and informative as the analyis IS in this volume, if I had to do it all over again I would get a collection of much cheaper paperbacks on the various campaigns.

Good primer but details are sometimes fudged to fit theory.......1997-10-29

This survey of 31 ancient battles is tailored to fit the "lessons learned" or principles of war approach used in traditional military academy texts. It is a handy introduction to the battles in light of the Art of War but the reader should be cautioned that the authors seemed limited to (based on the limited bibliographical lists) secondary sources and these do not usually reflect the latest or most accurate scholarship. This is particularly important regarding ancient military history where the original source material itself has to be cross-checked with many other accounts since ancient authors or editors were so often biased or simply uninformed.

If you are looking for a handy review of ancient and dark age battles in general, this is a good place to start. However, if you need to research a particular region or campaign, by all means go to specialist studies and don't limit yourself to those suggested in this survey. Jim Bloom

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The Great Battles of Antiquity: A Strategic and Tactical Guide to Great Battles That Shaped the Development of War
Donald W. Boose Richard A. Gabriel
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTU8RW

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Pushes the debate about "Empire" to a new level

Crucial for understanding Empire

Empire's New Clothes: Reading Hardt and Negri

Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire

Empire Empire

Debating Empire (New Left Review Debates)

Politics of Subversion

State of Exception

ASIN: 0415935555

Book Description

The publication of Empire last year created a sensation that spread from academia to the media to cocktail-party buzz. A book that causes such a "scholarly commotion" comes along "only once every decade or so" wrote the New York Times, as the book's radical vision of imperial power in the new millennium sparked both histrionic condemnation and serious academic engagement.
After September 11 this discussion of Empire's political and legal theories was closely linked with the struggle to redefine America's place in a changed world. The book was read as a diagnosis of our era and a call for liberatory action, while Michael Hardt was acclaimed as the next Jacques Derrida. Framing the debate about this landmark work, The Empire's New Clothes brings together leading scholars to make sense of Empire's new vocabulary and tackle its claims head on. Does the authors' vision accurately describe the power structure of today's world? Do the processes of "globalization" today represent a fundamental break from the past? Is the book really a "communist manifesto" for the new age?
Empire's New Clothes investigates these and other key issues, giving academics, students, and lay readers a handle on a work that touches the most vital themes of current political, social, and economic life.

Customer Reviews:

Pushes the debate about "Empire" to a new level.......2004-02-22

"Empire's New Clothes" is a scholarly collection of essays that critique and comment on Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri's influential book "Empire". The analysis is consistently incisive, penetrating and thought-provoking; many of the contributors offer their own theories and challenge Hardt and Negri's interpretation of the works of Deleuze and Guattari, Foucault, Marx, Spinoza and others. The result is a book that pushes the debate about "Empire" to a new level of philosophical sophistication.

Interestingly, each chapter focuses on a particular theme found in Hardt and Negri's "Empire". For example, "Immanence", "Transcendence" and the "Market" comprise the subtitles of the first three chapters, respectively. I found this helpful as it provides value when using the book as a research tool.

In several essays, Hardt and Negri's concept of the 'multitude' is critiqued. Instead of a multitudinous and spontaneous 'being-against' Empire as envisioned by Hardt and Negri, Ernesto Laclau argues that "any 'multitude' is constructed through political action - which presupposes antagonism". Because Laclau believes that "political articulation" will be needed to coordinate struggles among diverse groups to achieve liberation, he concludes that "Empire" offers "incoherence" between mobilizing the multitude and achieving specific political objectives.

Peter Fitzpatrick points out inconsistencies in Hardt and Negri's theory of U.S. exceptionalism. The assertion that the U.S. serves as the vital center of global economics clashes with Hardt and Negri's claim that the U.S. 'is not [Empire's] center'. Fitzpatrick goes on to highlight the imperialistic and exclusionary history of U.S. conquest and expansion to contend that the U.S. record has not been substantially different from past and present European empires, in turn implying that historical circumstances have not changed significantly enough to suppose that Hardt and Negri's revolution might occur anytime soon.

Kevin Dunn contributed a very interesting essay about Africa's ambiguous relation to Empire. Challenging Hardt and Negri's assertion that there is no 'outside' to Empire, Dunn describes African power relations to show that the continent does not conform to the Western development model. The militarization of borders in Africa and elsewhere argues against Hardt and Negri's 'smooth space' of Empire. The embrace of a uniquely conservative brand of Christianity among many in Africa also suggests that differences within the multitude pose problems for mobilization as envisioned by Hardt and Negri but may suggest alternative strategies for organizing resistance against Empire.

However, my favorite essay was the feminist critique penned by Lee Quinby, who compares the millennial rhetoric found in "Empire" with the use of dualities (such as good versus evil) in the Christian Bible. Quinby finds fault with the assertion that the revolt against Empire will be an us-against-them event as depicted by Hardt and Negri. Quinby also critiques Hardt and Negri for overlooking Foucault's lesson that resistance against power manifests in many forms and for different reasons. This point leads Quinby to a discussion of Hardt and Negri's failure to locate gender as the predominant source of power, violence and poverty. Ultimately, Quinby cites Amartya Sen's work about women's struggles as offering greater insight into the "intricate gendered relations between sovereign power and biopwer" when compared with "Empire".

Jodi Dean's article about "communicative capitalism" was also informative. Dean addresses the problem of articulating politics in a communications media dominated by large corporations that mainly produce what Hardt and Negri term 'spectacle'. Dean believes that Hardt and Negri offer "hope" but little concrete evidence that the multitude might be successful in constructing a language of liberation in the face of such overwhelming oppositional power.

In a key section, Michael Hardt answers some of the critics in an interview with Thomas Dumm. Hardt states that he and Negri recognize the need to develop a more comprehensive theory of the multitude and its possibility of realizing a political form, which he believes is the book's greatest shortcoming. Hardt also responds to some who objected to the "eclecticism" found in "Empire", contending that "dogmatism" stifles understanding and that communist thought does not necessarilly begin and end with Marx. Hardt defends the idea that the nation-state must be overcome to achieve "absolute democracy"; elsewhere, he explains why he and Negri reformulated Foucault's top-down conception of "biopower" into a bottom-up theory of emancipation.

Other noteworthy articles include Malcolm Bull, who stresses the importance of politics that are founded in hybrid cultural identities; William Chaloupka, who faults "Empire" for offering a weak environmental critique of capitalism; Saskia Sassen, who finds in many political struggles identifications with particular urban locales and disadvantaged populations; Ruth Buchanan and Sundhya Pahuja, who discuss the role of the World Bank and the nation-state in controlling and enforcing the world market system; Slavoj Zizek, who contends that the state is exercising power in the "strongest" terms yet, as evidenced by the war on terror; Kam Shapiro, who envisions a politics of diversity that is "experimental, tactical and provisional", as opposed to uniform; and Paul Passavant and Jodi Dean's concluding essay on the need to resurrect a politics that values life and non-capitalist values in a manner that provides "a more adequate response" to the threat of terrorism than surveillance, oppression and war.

I highly recommend this outstanding book to everyone who has read "Empire" and may want to further their understanding of its key themes and ideas.

Crucial for understanding Empire.......2004-01-10

This book is vital reading for anyone and everyone interested in thinking about Hardt and Negri's "Empire." Most of these are new essays--not recycled book reviews. And, the topics and contributors are amazing--top people in law, feminism, environmentalism, sociology, philosophy, new technologies, international relations etc. There are chapters by Ernesto Laclau, Slavoj Zizek, Saskia Sassen, Peter Fitzpatrick and a host of others. There is also an interview with Michael Hardt. In a nutshell, this book establishes THE debate over Empire.

Addressing empire.(Power: a Radical View)(Empire's New Clothes: Reading Hardt and Negri)(Book review): An article from: Theoria

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Addressing empire.(Power: a Radical View)(Empire's New Clothes: Reading Hardt and Negri)(Book review): An article from: Theoria
Roger Deacon
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Empire's New Clothes; Reading Hardt and Negri

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Empire's New Clothes; Reading Hardt and Negri
PAUL PASSAVANT
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MUGQY2

Book Description

Surface coal mining has had a dramatic impact on the Appalachian economy and ecology since World War II, exacerbating the region's chronic unemployment and destroying much of its natural environment. Here, Chad Montrie examines the twentieth-century movement to outlaw surface mining in Appalachia, tracing popular opposition to the industry from its inception through the growth of a militant movement that engaged in acts of civil disobedience and industrial sabotage. Both comprehensive and comparative, To Save the Land and People chronicles the story of surface mining opposition in the whole region, from Pennsylvania to Alabama.

Though many accounts of environmental activism focus on middle-class suburbanites and emphasize national events, the campaign to abolish strip mining was primarily a movement of farmers and working people, originating at the local and state levels. Its history underscores the significant role of common people and grassroots efforts in the American environmental movement. This book also contributes to a long-running debate about American values by revealing how veneration for small, private properties has shaped the political consciousness of strip mining opponents.

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To Save the Land and People: a History of Opposition to Surface Coal Mining in Appalachia.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of Southern History
Ronald L. Lewis
Manufacturer: Southern Historical Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00082J60K
Release Date: 2005-07-31

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Southern History, published by Southern Historical Association on May 1, 2004. The length of the article is 461 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: To Save the Land and People: a History of Opposition to Surface Coal Mining in Appalachia.(Book Review)
Author: Ronald L. Lewis
Publication: Journal of Southern History (Refereed)
Date: May 1, 2004
Publisher: Southern Historical Association
Volume: 70 Issue: 2 Page: 468(2)

Article Type: Book Review

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