From the cover of The New Yorker Magazine, Nov. 6, 2006
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
This Web page and these book reviews are dedicated to the free press in the United States. This freedom was attacked by the Communications Decency Act, which was overturned by the Supreme Court on June 26, 1997. For a summary of the court rulings, click here.
From the cover of The New Yorker Magazine, Nov. 6, 2006
These book reviews started when bearcave.com was founded in 1995. When I started bearcave.com many of the "personal web sites" on the Internet contained lists of music CD collections and family pictures. These sites were largely content free and at best of interest to the authors immediate family. Rather than create another vanity site, my goal was to create a site with content. Since I read a lot, I started writing book reviews. The book reviews turned out to be very time consuming. In the years since bearcave.com was started I have read many more books than are reviewed here. Every once in a while I will add a new review, but I am concentrating on developing software for Bear Products International, rather than writing book reviews. Some of this software is posted on bearcave.com.
Since writing book reviews is time consuming and has no material reward, one might ask why I write them. I certainly hope that my writing will be enjoyed by others, but as I've gotten older I find the saying "writing crystallizes thought" more and more true. The book reviews are a way of reflecting on the book and putting some of my ideas on the work in order.
Dungeon, Fire and Sword: the Knights Templar in the Crusades by John J. Robinson
