Inspiration for Further Studies - Rated 
Dr. Sophia Wellbeloved defines Gurdjieff's concepts and ideas in the light of the existing writings using Gurdjieff's own books and lectures as her primary source. Other authentic origins supplement her information and update the key concepts giving them freshness. The result is an index in clear language with references within the book to related ideas and books for further studies.
The Key Concepts should not be confused with the index to Beelzebub made by The Traditional Studies Press (which is an excellent tool for studying All & Everything). Dr. Wellbeloved gives a few explanations for some of the important 'strange words' Gurdjieff used in Beelzebub, but almost all of the key concepts and all definitions are in English ('Conscience', 'Emanations', 'Money' etc.).
At the same time the book is a commentary on Gurdjieff's ideas and his writings, the Work organisations and the changes to the Work in his lifetime and after his death. These keen observations enable it to be read not only as an index and a reference work for study, but also as a 'book with many threads'.
300 Gurdjieffian Concepts, A to Z - Rated
Sophia Wellbeloved's "Gurdjieff: The Key Concepts" describes more than 300 Gurdjieffian concepts, organized A to Z. Dr. Wellbeloved has chosen her source material well. "Gurdjieff: The Key Concepts" is a work of scholarship, referenced and footnoted, with extensive bibliography and index, a forward by Paul Beekman Taylor, and biographies of many of Gurdjieff's students and proponents. Although Gurdjieff's ideas have been formative for contemporary New Age spiritualities, due to their complexity and the strangeness of Gurdjieff's language, they have been largely ignored by academia and rarely studied in their totality by Gurdjieffians themselves. "Gurdjieff: The Key Concepts" will change this.
Gurdjieff addressed perennial questions concerning the meaning of life. His ideas, based on theories of evolution, integrated cosmology and psychology and emphasized the human relationship to God and Earth. By posing ancient questions within a microcosmic/macrocosmic worldview and formulating answers in modern terms, Gurdjieff serves as a bridge between ancient wisdoms and modern thought. However, Gurdjieff expressed his ideas in a bizarre brew of sci-fi social commentary and mythology promising "all and everything" making his thought very difficult to access. Gurdjieff called his writing style "burying the dog deeper." Dr. Wellbeloved's book does an excellent job of disinterring Gurdjieff's deeply buried dog.
Dr. Wellbeloved places Gurdjieff's ideas in their social and intellectual context shedding new light on his sources, the influence Gurdjieff had on intellectuals and artists of his day, and the influence people and ideas may have had on Gurdjieff. Because she draws on sources from various time periods, the evolution of Gurdjieff's thought is apparent. In this A to Z listing, inconsistencies and contradictions come to the forefront. This is a very interesting book. If Gurdjieff's ideas are new to you -- if you don't know what Gurdjieff meant by planetary influences, type, personality, essence, friction, magnetism, idiotism, will, buffers, accumulators, reciprocal maintenance, the Laws of Three and Seven, or any of about 300 other ideas -- this book with save you time. If you are familiar with Gurdjieff, this book will be a frequently opened addition to your Gurdjieffian library, best shelved between "Beelzebub's Tales" and "In Search of the Miraculous." If you are a scholar, the Gurdjieffian door has just been opened.
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