1 comments about William Johnson's Natchez: The Ante-Bellum Diary of a Free Negro.

1. My stepfather asked me to purchase this book for him since he did not have a computer. He read the first 400 pages within 3 days. He called me to tell me that he totally enjoyed this book and he asked me to order the book for another person(he raved so much to this person about the book). He's leaving the book to the family (once he passes on) to let each
   member to read and learn about Afro American History.

5 comments about Joe Hill.

1. This is a well-researched, fairly well-composed telling of the life and the trial and execution of Mr. Hill, which led to the famous and wonderful song, "I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night." However, it convincingly argues that Joe most likely did MURDER two people that night in Salt Lake City in a botched robbery. So the explosive part of the story is not that "The copper bosses killed you, Joe" as the song declares, but that Joe got a fair trial, for his era, even in Utah. He was his own worst enemy during the legal proceedings, unwilling to cooperate with his attorneys and unable or unwilling to declare a credible alibi. This does not negate the power of some of his labor songs, or the power of songs about him, for songs do not have to tell the truth to be good songs. But to see four reviews, none of which point out that Joe was guilty, after all, is amazing. You can't read this book and respect Mr. Hill quite as much after you are done as you did when you were ignorant of the circumstances of the case. The song says "They framed you on a murder charge" and there has NEVER been any believable evidence produced to support the line. I wish the song WAS true, frankly.



2. This was a christmas present for my son. He really liked it. He heard about Joe Hill at a Joan Baez concert, and wanted to know more about him.



3. One of my friends, a Yale student, was reading this during a trip and I picked it up mostly out of boredom, then pratically made myself car sick finishing it on the bus. Anyone with a nominal interest in politics and labor unions should consider this an important part of their required reading, as well as anyone who is simply interested in fascinating and well-written books on subjects that too often disappear into the dusty shelves of public libraries. Pick it up; try it out! Reading is fun.



4. This book has never been out of print! It is afterall, the book that got author Gibbs Smith into the publishing business.



5. It's a shame the publisher is no longer printing this book. In a day and age of extremely poor role models Joe Hill is a breath of relief. These are the kinds of books that should be required reading in history and government classes. I highly recommend this book, especially if you are a democrat. It's no wonder this is on the Rage Against the Machine reading list...

2 comments about Into the Air: The Story of the Wright Brothers' First Flight.

1. INTO THE AIR The Story of the Wright Brothers First Flight is a comic book style biography. We learn lots of neat things about the Wright Brothers in this book. We learn that the brother first started out inventing bikes and later learned of gliders. They wanted to make a flying machine. Learn about all of their trials and triumphs in this neat book.
   
   
   
   I like that the book was written in a comic book style. Sometimes kids feel like biography are boring. This format spices things up a bit making them enjoy the reading. The illustations are also interesting to look at as they read.
   
   
   I would recommend this book to reader ages 8-11. The books tells just enough about the Wright Brothers without overwhelming the reader with details. It would make a great book to read during a unit on flight.



2. My son loves to read, but has recently gotten into the "comic book" stage. This book satisfies his desire for reading comic books, without the cartoonish characters that I detest. And to top it off - it's educational!

   It tells just enough about the Wright brothers without overwhelming the reader with details. A great book, with wonderful illustrations at a fantastic price.

   I purchased this book for my son from the Smithsonian Air and Space Musuem and he really loves it. A+ book! (I'm currently looking for other historical books of this nature!)

4 comments about An American Prophet's Record: The Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith (2nd ed).

1. nar·cis·sism ( P ) Pronunciation Key (närs-szm) also nar·cism (-szm)
   n.
   Meanings:
   1. Excessive love or admiration of oneself. See Synonyms at conceit.
   2. A psychological condition characterized by self-preoccupation, lack of empathy, and unconscious deficits in self-esteem.
   3. Erotic pleasure derived from contemplation or admiration of one's own body or self, especially as a fixation on or a regression to an infantile stage of development.
   
   If you are still unsure on the meanings, please pick this book up today for clarification.



2. This is one of several books that attempt to get at the root texts of Joseph Smith. We are in an unusual position with Joseph Smith: we have no autograph manuscripts of previous church leaders, such as Buddha, Moses, Mohamed, or Jesus Christ, but whit Joseph Smith, we have a tidal wave of primary documents that can be studied.

   This book has the precious 1832 autograph history which has the second earliest version of the First Vision ever recorded, the earliest being D&C 20:5. It also has transcripts from his official journals. It is wonderful to have this book of the real words of Joseph Smith. The most surprising thing is to see that there was no monkey business going on with Joseph Smith's official history.

   This edition is by Signature Books, which is a publishing house not friendly to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which makes this book even more interesting. The problem comes with the silent editing (p. xvii) that occurs with the book, especially with the disputed texts, such as the 27 July 1838 entry (see footnote p. 198), or the 26 September 1843 entry associated with the temple endowment, where the silent editing becomes rather loud.

   The font is somewhat small, but it is quite readable, and this edition contains the manuscript strikeouts and misspellings, which impede reading a bit. This book has great biographies on people mentioned in the journals, and has a superb index, and a chronological overview of Smith's life. On the down side, there are no illustrations, except for the RLDS portrait of Joseph Smith.

   This is a good one-volume alternative to the two-volume "Papers of Joseph Smith" published by Deseret Book, since it covers his entire life, stopping days before his assassination on 27 June 1844.




3. In the 1842-43 journals, it's written "I wish you had my soul long enough to know how good it feels." I suppose that I came to this book trying, in a sense, to borrow a little bit of Joseph Smith's soul long enough to see how good it felt-- or at least trying to understand a little bit of the person behind the history.

   It's more opaque than that. Although there are flashes of personal insight-- particularly religious insight-- these journals are more the record of Mormonism and the issues about it that concerned Smith as he moved across the country. From lists of payments and donations, to intra-faith quarrels, to visions of Nauvoo, to complaints about lawsuits, it gives a clear day-to-day picture of the man and his movement.

   The diaries and journals were written by a mix of Joseph Smith and various secretaries acting in his name. In the introduction, the editor comments that he was trying for ease of reading rather than faithful photostatic reproduction-- and I have to say that I would have hated to see what happened if he'd tried for faithful, because the major problem I had with the book was that I found it very difficult to read-- all shorthand, omitted words, crossed out words, and misspellings were noted as they occurred in the text and while I'm sure that it's more valuable as a scholarly text because of the inclusion, it was very distracting. Also, some annotations about historical events wouldn't be amiss rather than the reader always being forced to refer to the (very sketchy) timeline at the beginning. I suppose that most people who will read this would be scholars of Mormon history rather than people with a more casual interest, but it would have illuminated parts of this book much more clearly for readers like myself.




4. This is an excellent collection of the personal writings of the founder of the largest pseudo-Christian cult in America--the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (commonly known as the "Mormons"). It is a valuable resource for any cult apologist or theologian desiring to better understand the Mormon cult founder

1 comments about The Jefferson Image in the American Mind.

1. Peterson's book captures snapshots of how Americans have viewed Thomas Jefferson throughout our history. On July 4, 1826, Thomas Jefferson died, and this is where the Jefferson image begins to take shape. The thesis concerns "the composite representation of the historic personage and of the ideas and ideals, policies and sentiments, habitually identified with him" (Preface). We watch how his image is refashioned and molded by various politicians over the course of one hundred and fifty years that this book covers. We are led by a great historian who has written eight books on Thomas Jefferson. It is a stimulating, whirlwind journey. The intellectual beginnings of the strains about slavery start with the Jefferson image. Ambiguity seems to sum up his points in his writings. It became possible for abolitionists to point to the Declaration of Independence and his comments on the Missouri Compromise, "it was like a fire-bell in the night" sounding "the knell of the Union" (189). The pro-slavery side could use Jefferson's and Madison's Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798 and cloak the issue as states' rights. To make this jump, however, the states' rights supporters had to change the interpretation of nullification from a consortium of states to a single state. These issues made for a gigantic loggerhead that would only be solved by a Civil War. Peterson shows us with great clarity how both sides claimed they were the true heirs of the Jefferson mind. Alleged sexual relations of a president are not only in twentieth century politics. Jefferson's affair with Sally Hemings is described and refuted by the author. Peterson pulls out three possible roots for these "rumors." They are all very interesting arguments; however, it has been proven true by DNA tests. Abraham Lincoln shines in this account as the person capable of synthesizing the conflicting ideas of Jefferson into one whole. I would argue that it is Lincoln's portrayal of Jefferson that we all have come to accept as our standard. Lincoln combined "the work of Alexander Hamilton, on the basis of the principles of Jefferson; and thus united...the two strands of political philosophy..." (220). This was Lincoln's genius as a leader, to bring a powerful government together with the ideals of the Declaration. This has made the image of Jefferson and Lincoln interconnected in the American mind. Jefferson falls into disrepute after the Civil War because of his intellectual dilemmas that helped shape it; consequently, there was a resurgence of popularity of the Federalists and particularly of Hamilton, Jefferson's nemesis. The twentieth century ushers in a new era over the Jefferson image. Differing policies and presidents resurrect Jefferson in the Progressive movement, the Wilsonian New Freedom, and Theodore Roosevelt's New Nationalism (331). This leads us to the same conflicts that Hamilton and Jefferson had, especially concerning the role of the federal government. It is, however, a changing country that will soon no longer be the agrarian dream that Jefferson would have liked. The U.S. had become an industrial and political powerhouse in the world, and there was no going back. The image changes to fit the times as the New Deal comes. Franklin D. Roosevelt uses Jefferson to provide a symbol to rally around, but it also seriously undermines and revises Jefferson's ideals. A big government program like the New Deal would not have been a priority according to strict Jeffersonian principles. Peterson writes that the Jefferson Memorial which was built in 1943 during FDR's administration "testifies to the artistry with which the New Deal combined reverence for the symbol and freedom of revision" (333). The book concludes in 1943 with the completion of the Jefferson Memorial and his birthday centennial. What are we left with at the end? We can quote a variety of different aspects to the Jeffersonian image depending on whose interpretation you prefer. You can quote Jefferson, "the anti-statist, states' righter, isolationist, agrarian, rationalist, civil libertarian, and constitutional democrat" (445). This division of the mind of the Sage of Monticello has created a boon for historians and politicians. We can all find something about Jefferson to argue and point to as a support for our position. Peterson has written a wonderful guide book though American thought on a very enigmatic figure in our history. Occasionally, the book gets bogged down in little details. It mostly provides extremely clear arguments concerning the historical disputes over who is the heir to the Jeffersonian image. Merrill Peterson has made an important contribution to the interpretation of a complex American figure. After consulting recent bibliographies, no one has written a similar work. Only the author himself could have improved on this book. The book has been republished and it currently available.

3 comments about John C. Calhoun and the Price of Union: A Biography (Southern Biography).

1. In his opening remarks John Niven makes the promise that he would not undertake psychoanalysis of John C.Calhoun, Much to his credit, he is true to his word. What Niven has delivered is an eminently readable and straightforward account of South Carolina's greatest political figure. We forget all that he did: senator, secretary of war, secretary of state, and vice president, in a distinguished career that began in the early days of Madison's presidency and concluded during the Taylor-Fillmore administration, a span of nearly four decades.

   Niven's disclaimer, however, is telling. There is a tendency to use Calhoun's career as a sort of national inkblot. For constitutional scholars and ideologues of many stripes Calhoun's writings survive as either the last great stand of states rights or as a subversive manifesto for the tragic secession that would follow. For politicians and observers of human behavior, Calhoun is either the consummate patriot or his own worst enemy.

   From the data Niven provides, it can be said that while Calhoun may have been eccentric, he was not crazy. Everyone born in primitive eighteenth century America survived with a history, and Calhoun, born in 1782, was no exception. His family and his colony shared a history of terrible suffering at the hands of the British [those were Calhoun's people slaughtered in Mel Gibson's "The Patriot."] Calhoun himself was orphaned as a young teen and appears to have spent a studious but lonely existence until he studied law at Yale under the famous Timothy Dwight.

   Calhoun arrived home with his diploma just in time to ride a wave of strong Carolina resistance against the Virginia-New York axis that seemed to control presidential elections. This handsome, passionate, articulate favorite son soon found himself elected to Congress where he naturally became a leading advocate of war against the hated British. On June 18, 1812, Calhoun and other hawks got their war, but the thoughtful Calhoun quickly ascertained that the United States was woefully unprepared. Calhoun regretted his impetuousness, and nothing would absolve his guilt for this nasty war.

   Calhoun would do penance for his sins by serving as Secretary of War under Monroe. Niven commends him for an outstanding tenure during which Calhoun reformed the army's purchasing policies, developed stronger defense outposts in the west, and crafted an almost enlightened Indian policy. An ambitious man, Calhoun not unreasonably expected his War Department success to catapult him toward bigger and better things.

   But here one of the major themes of the book emerges: Calhoun was an unlucky politician. It was his bad fortune to reach his prime concurrently with an unusually large class of outstanding statesmen: Henry Clay, William Crawford, John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Andrew Jackson, and Martin Van Buren, to name a few. While he could console himself with the role of "everybody's favorite second" in the 1824 election, that convoluted contest left him tainted goods in the eyes of many, and an outsider in the Adams cabinet to boot.

   Calhoun reluctantly threw his lot with Jackson in 1828, but by this date the South Carolinian was having long thoughts about his home region. Cotton prices were low, and protective tariffs seemed to him to exact a crushingly heavy toll from southern growers like himself. And although he shared some of Clay's enthusiasms for internal improvements, most notably transportation systems for the inner reaches of the Carolinas, Calhoun became increasingly suspicious and hostile of the federal government, dubious about its ability and will to protect slavery and Calhoun's idyllic picture of the agricultural southern life. A highly sensitive man, he internalized what he saw as the political treachery of Clay, Van Buren, and especially Crawford, who raised Calhoun-baiting to an art form, for reasons never precisely spelled out.

   Calhoun began to write prodigiously on the subject of states rights and federal encroachments. As Niven observes, his writings were alternately brilliant and contradictory. Potboiler states rights speeches and pamphlets were common in America as the young nation sorted itself out. But how far could a politician really go on the matter of a state's autonomy? Until the Jackson era there seemed to have been a gentleman's agreement that the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions represented the boundary of political good taste. Calhoun crossed that line in his defense of nullification, increasingly preoccupied by perceived threats to his beloved South Carolina, In doing so Calhoun lost his national political base and a sense of the national pulse. No longer viable as even a regional candidate for the presidency, he assisted President Tyler by his skillful negotiating with Great Britain on the Oregon border question. But he objected to the Mexican War, not on humanitarian grounds but because he feared the socioeconomic consequences of the acquisition of Mexican territory, i.e., new free soil states. He was correct in his assessment that the consequences of the Mexican War would bring political turmoil to the United States. He had few horses to trade on the floor of congress as the Wilmot Proviso was debated, but his style till the end was magnificent.

   From Niven's account it is fair to say that Calhoun was never a universally recognized spokesman for the South during his own lifetime. The Richmond Junto despised him. Unionists were still a majority in the South at the time of his death in 1850. Moderate southern businessmen even in his home state found his philosophy antiquated and at times deleterious to their state's economy. Many found him unbearably pedantic. Only later, as the nation polarized, would his political philosophy become a revered creed for those who dared to think the unthinkable.

   Niven's work is a fine presentation for the casual reader and a more than adequate primer for those eager to delve into the mind and works of the consummate antebellum apostle of states' rights.




2. John Niven, professor emeritus of American History at the Claremont Graduate School, has shed new light on a statesman that history has long viewed as just another inconsistent headstrong Southerner, John C. Calhoun. Niven convinces the reader that this prominent politician of the antebellum south was much more consistent and levelheaded in both his public and private lives than his typical portrayal as a protean, stubborn hot-head from South Carolina would suggest. A lifelong advocate of the South, John C. Calhoun served as a member of Congress at the time of the War of 1812, secretary of war under James Monroe, vice president with John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, secretary of state under John Tyler, and then as a senator from South Carolina until he died in 1850. The key to Niven's success in bringing to life to this "cast iron man" is drawing on Calhoun's personal life and experiences in order to gain persuasive insight into the motives and stances of his political career. (back cover) Instead of telling the classic tale of Calhoun's shift from nationalism, during the War of 1812 and the tariff of 1816, to sectionalism and states' rights in later years, on the issues of the protective tariff and slavery, Niven convincingly exerts the original contention that Calhoun had always stood behind individual liberty and states rights. In Calhoun's view, as supported by his own papers, his apparent nationalistic support of the war and the tariff of 1816 was actually an effort to "provide for the common defense and to utilize the resources of all to strengthen the states as individual entities." (p. 127) When national policies began to benefit northern states at the expense of his home, the South, is when his states' rights sentiment began to manifest itself as sectionalism. The weakness of Niven's otherwise masterful biography is that "as a northerner, born and bred in New York and Connecticut," Niven is never able to completely shake his own predisposition against slavery and present Calhoun's feelings on the issue as being valid views with their own arsenal of support. (p. xv) Although he obviously attempts to be completely objective, Niven's own views show through in his portrayal of the slavery problem as Calhoun's resistance against the antislavery movement as opposed to the antislavery movement threatening Calhoun's southern way of life and ingrained teachings. John Niven's somewhat unconventional view of the career and motives of one of the leading spokesmen for the Old South, John C. Calhoun, is convincingly and understandably expressed in this original biography. He succeeds in depicting Calhoun as a very consistent man with a humanity and complexity entirely devoted to the preservation of the South.



3. Prof. Niven's book fails on a number of counts, but mainly on that of familiarity with the sources of Calhoun's political thought. For example, in describing Calhoun's indebtedness to the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, Niven says that neither document contemplated action by an individual state. To correct this impression, one need only consult Jefferson's draft of the Kentucky Resolutions; how anyone who had even read this five-page document could see it as anything other than a threat to interfere with enforcement of the Alien and Sedition Acts within the boundaries of Kentucky is beyond me. The book is full of similiar evidence of Niven's failure to acquaint himself with even the most basic sources. Try Bartlett's Calhoun biography, instead.

4 comments about Texas Women on the Cattle Trails (Sam Rayburn Series on Rural Life).

1. It's a tall order, because there are so many good books on Texas history, but Sara Massey's book really shines. I've always been a sucker for cattle trail tails, and I was deep into Haley's book on Charles Goodnight when I went down to Gonzales for a book fair and signing. I missed the author, but picked up Texas Women on the Cattle Trails anyway. From the moment I started reading, I couldn't put it down!
   
   The information gathered is well-researched and each of the stories entertainingly written. I very much appreciated information, where available, on burial sites and original homesites - thanks to this book, I was able to find Harriet Cluck's gravesite in Cedar Park, making an educational reading experience a personally affecting one as well. I learned a great deal more about the town just by reading this book.
   
   This oughta be on the required reading lists in Texas history courses at universities (wouldn't hurt for women's studies majors to read it as well). Texas Women on the Cattle Trails provides provocative and enlightening information on a well-canvassed but rarely understood portion of Texas history.



2. Almost everyone has heard of Annie Oakley, Belle Starr, and Calamity Jane. But how about Kate Medlin, Hattie Cluck, Margaret Borland or Cornelia Adair? These are just four of the sixteen fearless women featured in "TEXAS WOMAN ON THE CATTLE TRAILS," a compendium of short biographies written by sixteen Texas writers, and edited by Austwell resident Sara R. Massey.
   
   
   
   Some of the featured women were young newlyweds when they went up the trail. Others were middle-aged mothers, and one was pregnant. They were widows, business women, heiresses. Some were cultured and educated. Almost all encountered Indians, bandits or rustlers. They endured blizzards, floods, stampedes, disease, death. They made deals with cattle buyers and sellers. They witnessed a new country in its earliest growing pains, and most lived to tell their tales, even to embellish them over time.
   
   
   
   Take Minta Corum Holmsley of Comanche, Texas, who rode her horse up the trail sidesaddle, she said, "because we didn't have better sense." On that drive she claimed to have met John Wesley Hardin masquerading as an Indian, and later to have encountered a hundred Sioux who had fought Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn. She managed to save her favorite cow pony by screaming in one Indian's face until he let go and fled in fright.
   
   
   
   Another woman, the widowed Margaret Heffernon Borland of Victoria lost four of her seven children to one epidemic of Yellow Fever. And Margaret herself died at the end of her own cattle drive in 1873. The Wichita, Kansas newspaper announced her death on July 5, at the age of 49, as having been caused by "mania, super-induced by her long, tedious journey and over-taxation of the brain." Her nephew had her body shipped back to Victoria and she is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery.
   
   
   
   I particularly enjoyed glimpses of familiar Texas places as they were in the 19th century: the loud bawling of the cattle as they forded the Shoal Creek in Austin; a house in Banquete, once a Confederate hospital and said to be inhabited by ghosts; a roving band of hide-skinners scouring Goliad after a brutal winter decimated the cattle population.
   
   
   
   All of these sixteen were ranchwomen, skilled at riding, either sidesaddle or astride, or at handling a horse or mule-drawn wagon. They were proficient in the use of lariats, branding irons, whips, and castrating knives. They carried their share of the workload, and faced all the same hardships and hazards of driving cattle up the trail as the men. In these pages, you won't find a single damsel in distress. There are no dance hall queens or saloon floozies either. The sixteen women profiled here validate the importance of ordinary lives and offer new insights into the reality of the frontier West.



3. There's enough excitement and derring-do in J. Marvin Hunter's "Trail Drivers of Texas" for anyone interested in the Old West, but out of curiousity, I picked up a new book on the cattle drives, "Texas Women on the Cattle Trails."
   To my pleasant surprise, the book was every bit as good as Hunter's great classic. Edited by Sara R. Massey, this new volume features the stories of sixteen remarkable women who either accompanied their husbands up the trail or managed herds on their own. Facing the same hazards as the men, these women rode astride or sidesaddle, drove buggies or wagons, and endured thirst, danger, storm, and stampedes. None of these women were common people; all exhibited above-average ambition and courage. Most went on to lead successful lives, but their stories, ably told by eighteen knowledgeable contributors, are not altogether happy ones. Even so, the book is interesting, thrilling, and inspiring. A good addition to anyone's Old West collection.



4. I have really enjoyed this book it is historically correct and well referencedit has been a big help in my research.

2 comments about Ted Bundy: The FBI Files.

1. it appears that these are in fact... official FBI files, but all the interesting information has been blacked out... and so i say
   ...................WHAT IS THE POINT?



2. This book contains very little info and is not what you may think with tons of interesting documents. There is much blacked out on every page. Don't waste your money.

5 comments about Joseph Smith: The First Mormon.

1. It was a relief. After having read Fawn Brodie's "No man knows my history", her eloquent literary style and description of Joseph Smith's mind, Donna Hill's biography became so simple , descriptive - and dare say wordy. Hill's writing style is like a storyteller. It can be boring in the long run. She never guesses what people thought in any situation - it is not a psychiography as Brodie's of course. Hill has weighed several sources and draws conclusions whenver possible, but sometimes she leaves it open.
   
   I found Joseph more holistic and not that controversial in Hill's writing. Even if Brodie used the same quotes and situations, in Hill everything came natural, Joseph seemed natural - something he surely was. People who are acquainted with scholarship, know very well, how important it is to not draw any unconfirmed conclusions about the past. Some episodes in Joseph's life - which normally take a lot of pages in other books, such as the writing of Book of Mormon, the coming forth of Book of Abraham, First vision, are treated just as equally as other episodes of his life - his escapes, his constructions, his involvement in politics etc. This is a healthy approach.
   
   For example, about the First vision, Hill wants to say that notwithstanding the several accounts, there are some similar details and in the context of 19th century religious atmosphere, nearly everybody had some extra-body experience. She treats the Book of Mormon as how an ordinary believer in those days saw it - a sign of latter days and she doesn't go into its "source" or try to decipher who copied who. The most difficult issues of early LDS, such as the consolidation of prophet's power, plural marriage and Afro-americans, are handled subtly and gently. The perspective introduced on plural marriage, is healthy, it is not judging or positive - it's neutral, because as a historian, she has researched on the "why" and on the "how". The issue of Afro-americans - they received the priesthood one year after the publication of Hill's book - confirmed my belief that Joseph never intended to shun them away. He had his prejudices but he did hot let these come in the way. He ordained an Afro-american to be a priest.
   
   Joseph's life, his environment, is difficult to understand, especially when it comes to the hostility shown to him and his movement, the different financial details such as the Anti-banking in Kirtland, the land speculations, his trouble with the law - which haunted him all the time. But Hill shows how patient he was. Something that gave me a further insight, was the reflection she made when Joseph saw the hatred of the people in Carthage, who killed him. She writes that it was the first time he understood how hated he was. How pity!
   
   I am fascinated with this personality, not as a believer, no, but as a humanist. Reading Hill and her account of the hostility towards LDS in those days, makes me angry - what did these people do besides being good Christians? This hostility exists today from anti-LDS Conservative Christians, directed also to Liberal Christians like me. Even though Joseph made mistakes ( excommunications of friends, Nauvoo expositor, Council of Fifty) - as Hill shows, I appreciate the good he did.
   
   He opened a new realm and understanding of god and scripture, which has changed the lives of millions - and even mine, though I don't believe in a supernatural god. Hill, though, too wordy, has done a detailed job. She has taken into account the environment, Joseph's ancestors - which clearly confirm again the fact that Joseph was nurtured by his family's religious activities and conflicts in his prophetic career - the arguments of his enemies and a detailed description of governor Ford and other mildly helpful non-LDS. I do not agree with one of the reviews below, that she writes a lot about Danites, no! She has only written three pages about them, and more than 40 pages about plural marriage and some 20 about Afro-americans, and some 15 about Book of Mormon - she has treated Joseph as a whole.
   
   Hill has demonstrated that one can write a non-polemical and truthful biography of a religious person. Good done, ma'm!



2. This is certainly the best biography about Joseph Smith so far. I believe it is certainly the most objective, it does not bash Smith or praise and defend him. Its objective is to attempt to understand Joseph Smith. I feel for the most part it does achieve that goal. I felt after reading it I certainly had a better understanding of who Joseph Smith was. I appreciated the fact that Hill did not get off on issues such as whether or not the Book of Mormon is real history or if Joseph Smith was a true prophet, that was not the books goal. My only criticism is it does not really focus on Joseph Smiths culture or enviroment that he lived in. It also sometimes seems that it is more of a early history of the Mormon Church than a biography. There are more biographies about Joseph Smith currently being written that I believe will replace this one as being the most definitive biography of Joseph Smith. However right now there is no better biography about Joseph Smith available. And having spent several hours of my own in the Churches Historical department studying certain aspects of Joseph Smiths life, I do feel somewhat qualified in saying that.



3. I have no doubt, now more than ever, that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. A human being with imperfections, yes. But indeed an inspired man chosen by the Lord for a great cause. Great book, great man, and an awesome God!



4. This is certainly the best biography about Joseph Smith so far. I believe it is certainly the most objective, it does not bash Smith or praise and defend him. Its objective is to attempt to understand Joseph Smith. I feel for the most part it does achieve that goal. I felt after reading it I certainly had a better understanding of who Joseph Smith was. I appreciated the fact that Hill did not get off on issues such as whether or not the Book of Mormon is real history or if Joseph Smith was a true prophet, that was not the books goal. My only criticism is it does not really focus on Joseph Smiths culture or enviroment that he lived in. It also sometimes seems that it is more of a early history of the Mormon Church than a biography. There are more biographies about Joseph Smith currently being written that I believe will replace this one as being the most definitive biography of Joseph Smith. However right now there is no better biography about Joseph Smith available. And having spent several hours of my own in the Churches Historical department studying certain aspects of Joseph Smiths life, I do feel somewhat qualified in saying that.



5. This book is billed as an unbiased history/biography of Joseph Smith. I had read Fawn Brodie's, No Man Knows My History... and was "itching" for more. I think Ms. Hill should just openly admit that her brother wrote a major work, that she quotes liberally, while working at BYU--she may not be Mormon, but she has a vested interest in the cause... promoting her brother's work? This book was a cheap second.... Read Ms. Brodie's work

5 comments about Growing Up King: An Intimate Memoir.

1. I absolutely loved this book. I read it awhile back and it was a well written book. It's a very moving and lovely story about ML KING JRS second son growing up, and it also tells about his family and the King Center. I rate it 5 stars since it is such a fantastic book. A must read for ML KING JR fans. For those of you who would like a good book about ML KING JRS family, and the King Center, this is a must have.



2. Dexter Scott King's memoir accounts for the tremendous history of the King family and his life as the physically favoring, second son of Martin Luther King, Jr. Through the story of his life, Dexter answers the questions many Americans have about the last 34 years: Where did the dream go? What happened to the King family? What finally happened in the assassination case? Dexter Scott King describes the aftermath of the civil rights movement and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr....his father.
   
   Growing Up King allows you to look back at the last thirty years with clarity. Dexter King is reflective and honest, humble and dutiful. He is a man without a calling, called to be that man. He reveal his earliest childhood memories of loving family life and also the tolls of his father's work. He sheds a unique perspective on events that changed history, and evokes respect for all who supported the survival of his family. He openly shares personal memoirs, and modestly describes his influence on the King Center and other social and political projects.
   
   The private access to the King family is refreshing, as Dexter provides up-to-date reports about his mother, Coretta, his oldest sister Yolanda, his older brother Martin and his younger sister Bernice. Their stories, and those of cousins, uncles, and grandparents describe an American saga of love, dedication, commitment and strength. Dexter also discloses the intricacies of the assassination case and resolutions thus far. Growing Up King connects the present to the past, the next generation to the dream.
   
   Dexter's tone in Growing Up King is as natural as a journal: generally chronological, informative, and quite intimate. If anything, we readers see that the second son of America's greatest social and political leader still has some growing up to do. His attitude is of one who has gotten the bad end of the stick, one who does not yet truly believe in his own power, whether in his own light or his father's shadow. There seems always the unattainable quest to be great in his own right, to find his own dream. By reading Growing Up King I realize, Dexter Scott King has not only lived up to his family name, he has allowed the dream to live on.



3. This was a very insightful read for me. No, this is not a story about Martin Luther King, Jr .. it's about living the life as Martin Luther King, Jr's child. It reveals the ups and downs of being born to a public figure such as the late GREAT Martin Luther King, Jr. Dexter does a pretty good job of showing us the hurdles he and his family have had to cross. I think it's good for people to read, because you get to see what the family members are faced with (a sort of behind the scenes glance at being in the shadow of one's famous father). Dexter also gives you insight on The King Center. I recommend this read to all people. Teachers and professors should also have this book on their list of student required reads.

   Tonya Howard
   http://www.sisterdivas.org




4. This is NOT a story about Martin Luther King, Jr...But then again, it is! With such an imposing aura and legendary persona that Martin possesses even in death, it would be extremely hard for anyone trying to extract meaningful context without him playing a prominent role to analyze anything for or against it. GROWING UP KING is Dexter Scott King's story. He being the youngest of Martin's four children, sets out to give revelations for the first time what it was like growing up within the huge monolithic shadow of greatness, and how his fathers' maxims continue to inspire and inform his own ideas on race matters. I would imagine amid the aura of being a member of such a prominent family it would behoove one to set a sustained agenda to carve a preferred path. With this book, you'd think that definitions would be finally told in the first person. I wanted to be rational as I read this book and try not to compare the Martin of yesteryear to what his offspring needed to bring forth. But to do this, I knew I had to do so with an open mind. Thus, I read it with mixed emotion, and tried to be objective in attaining a reasonable view to support the author's intent, and more importantly, to see if certain truths would come forth to quell rumor, and set the record straight on a multitude of issues. Most notably the controversy surrounding The King Center for Non-Violent Social Change.

   I came away with a feeling of loss, as if something truly was missing that wasn't said that should have been. I kept looking for reasons to give standing ovations to a member of this family who had the courage to give insight to all questions the public wanted answered. For those looking for insight that hasn't been before public domain, there may be something that Dexter espouses that may warrant merit. File this one on the shelf with the rest of the books written about the King family legacy. I rate this book above average, but still worthy of a read if nothing more than to give chance to this scion who endeavor to be his own man.




5. The progeny of great men and women are usually compared to their venerable parent. Such is the case in the Martin Luther King, Jr. family. Since his death a microscope has been placed over his children comparing them to him. Dexter, the second son and third child of King attempts to break out of the shadow of his father and reveals to us his hopes, dreams and aspirations for himself and his family. Dexter's text is a good try but fails in its efforts.

   Growing Up Kings gives the reader the perspective of a child raised in the Martin Luther King, Jr. family. Dexter reveals the challenges that he faced in living under the shadow of a famous father. We as readers are shown the stresses and pressures put upon the family as they faced tragedy after tragedy but continued on with the dream as articulated by King. Dexter does a fair job in sharing with us some of his family's personal matters but is very restrained in critiquing the actions of his mother and other civil rights icons.

   As you walk through the narrative, you will find Dexter repeating himself and giving the reader a history of the civil rights movement. He shares his foibles but was again there is a restraint in his revelations. Just how much is Dexter telling us that is true? Our author seems to never be able to stand on his own two feet without invoking the shadow of the King family over his life.

   The best part of the book is his explanation regarding the safeguarding of M.L.K Jr.'s speeches and intellectual property that is not in the public domain. You will learn that there is another side to the story and Dexter tells it well. You also receive a bit of insight regarding the functionairies of the King Center and how Dexter chose to resign his position as president rather than become a puppet.

   Like many people I was attracted to this book due to the nature of its contents. Who wouldn't want to know what it is like growing up under Martin Luther King, Jr.? Dexter's story was interesting but lacked a greater depth in terms of his own vision for the future beyond his family. He appeared to be trapped in the King mystique although he tried to become his own man. The book neglected any full scale treatment of his relationships with his mother and siblings. Yes, he throws tidbits concerning his failed love relationships but those appear to be mere diversions to keep up your interest. In general we are given a decent perspective of the King family.Hopefully a more definitive portrait of the family will come from the rest of his siblings.