Author: Cecil Frances Alexander

1Life (Alexander Version)

By Griffith Alexander

"What is life?" we ask. "Just one darned thing after another," the cynic replies. Yes, a multiplicity of forces and interests, and each of them, even the disagreeable, may be of real help to us. It's good for a dog, says a shrewd philosopher, to be pestered with fleas; it keeps him from thinking too much about being a dog. - Summary by from the poem preface

2Day at a Time and Other Talks on Life and Religion

By Archibald Alexander

This book [was] written in war-time to minister comfort and, if it may be, to reinforce hope and faith. (from the Dedication)

It sometimes happens, when we are dispirited, that God's gracious gift of reviving comes to us along a very ordinary channel--in the form, perhaps, of some tonic, heartening passage found in reading, or the "morning face" and cheerful greeting of a friend. That is often all that we need--when our hurt is not serious-- to send us back with a new zest and courage to our tasks; and that is the sort of usefulness which is desired for this book.<br><br>It does not pretend to deal with the great themes or the great hours of the religious life, but only with some of its simple encouragements and ideals for everyday. There is a wide difference between the far-off flash of guidance which the sailor steers by in the darkness, and the humbler lights on board which he sees to do his work. Yet he needs them both. (From the Preface)

F. Matthias Alexander was an Australian actor, author and educator, who is best known as the inventor of Alexander Technique, a method for "unlearning" acquired habits of movement and posture that are harmful or suboptimal, and allowing natural, healthy patterns of body use to emerge in their place. Alexander Technique is now taught by specially trained instructors through in-person lessons around the world, and is particularly popular among musicians and other performance artists. In this 1923 book, considered by many to be his best, Alexander explains the principles of his technique and the theory behind it. It includes an introduction by the American philosopher and educator John Dewey, who studied the technique with Alexander. (Summary by Kazbek)

5Final Campaign: Marines in the Victory on Okinawa

By Joseph H. Alexander

The three-month-long battle of Okinawa covered a 700-mile arc from Formosa to Kyushu and involved a million combatants--Americans, Japanese, British, and native Okinawans. With a magnitude that rivaled the Normandy invasion the previous June, the battle of Okinawa was the biggest and costliest single operation of the Pacific War. For each of its 82 days of combat, the battle would claim an average of 3,000 lives from the antagonists and the unfortunate non-combatants.” (Joseph H. Alexander)

6Closing In: Marines in the Seizure of Iwo Jima

By Joseph H. Alexander

Sunday, 4 March 1945, marked the end of the second week of the U.S. invasion of Iwo Jima. By this point the assault elements of the 3d, 4th, and 5th Marine Divisions were exhausted, their combat efficiency reduced to dangerously low levels. The thrilling sight of the American flag being raised by the 28th Marines on Mount Suribachi had occurred 10 days earlier, a lifetime on “Sulphur Island.” The landing forces of the V Amphibious Corps (VAC) had already sustained 13,000 casualties, including 3,000 dead. The “front lines” were a jagged serration across Iwo’s fat northern half, still in the middle of the main Japanese defenses. Ahead the going seemed all uphill against a well-disciplined, rarely visible enemy. But the battle was beginning to take its toll on the Japanese garrison as well. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi knew his 109th Division had inflicted heavy casualties on the attacking Marines, yet his own losses had been comparable. The American capture of the key hills in the main defense sector the day before deprived him of his invaluable artillery observation sites. His brilliant chief of artillery, Colonel Chosaku Kaido, lay dying. ...Kuribayashi moved his own command post from the central highlands to a large cave on the northwest coast. The usual blandishments from Imperial General Headquarters in Tokyo reached him by radio that afternoon, but Kuribayashi was in no mood for heroic rhetoric. “Send me air and naval support and I will hold the island,” he signalled. “Without them I cannot hold.” - Summary by Joseph H. Alexander

7Across the Reef: The Marine Assault of Tarawa

By Joseph H. Alexander

"Tarawa Atoll is 2085 miles southwest of Pearl Harbor and 540 miles southeast of Kwajalein in the Marshalls. Betio is the principal island in the atoll. The Japanese seized Tarawa from the British within the first three days after Pearl Harbor. In August 1943, to meet in secret with Major General Julian C. Smith and his principal staff officers, Vice Admiral Raymond A. Spruance flew to New Zealand from Pearl Harbor. Spruance told the Marines to prepare for an amphibious assault against Japanese positions in the Gilbert Islands in November. General Smith’s operations officer, Lieutenant Colonel David M. Shoup, studied the primitive chart of Betio and saw that the tiny island was surrounded by a barrier reef. Shoup asked Spruance if any of the Navy’s experimental, shallow-draft, plastic boats could be provided. 'Not available,' replied the admiral, 'expect only the usual wooden landing craft.' Shoup frowned. General Smith could sense that Shoup’s gifted mind was already formulating a plan. The results of that plan were momentous. The Tarawa operation became a tactical watershed: the first, large-scale test of American amphibious doctrine against a strongly fortified beachhead." - Summary by Joseph H Alexander

The sermons contain what the author believes to be evangelical truth, in the exhibition of which, his aim has been to render the gospel perspicuous to persons of common understanding. He has, therefore, adopted a style as plain and simple as he could. The sermons are short, and on an average, may be read in fifteen or twenty minutes. And as this is probably the author's last literary work, it is his earnest desire and prayer, that it may be useful in promoting evangelical and experimental religion when his head shall lie beneath the clods of the valley! He invites other Christians to unite with him in this prayer, for the success of the volume now given to the Christian community. <br><br> There is nothing in these sermons which will be found offensive to the lovers of evangelical truth in other denominations. The author, in a long life, has found that real Christians agree much more perfectly in experimental religion, than they do in speculative points; and it is his belief, that a more intimate acquaintance among Christians of different denominations would have a happy tendency to unite them more closely in the bonds of brotherly love. May the time soon come when all the disciples of Christ shall form one great brotherhood under the name of Christians. - Summary by Archibald Alexander in the Preface

The importance of the study of History as a branch of knowledge is universally admitted; and of all History, that contained in the Bible is the most ancient, the most authentic, and the most interesting. It gives us information of those events which we can learn no where else, and with which it is most necessary that we should be acquainted. - Summary by Archibald Alexander