No comments about Winter Quarters: The 1846-1848 Life Writings of Mary Haskin Parker Richards (Life Writings of Frontier Women, Vol 1).

5 comments about Frank Sinatra: An American Legend.

1. No wonder this book is so thick- it's filled with numerous photos of Frank Sinatra, his family, and friends over the years. I love looking at these pics, and so will any other Sinatra fan. There is detailed info throughout the book as well. This is one worth having in your collection.



2. Here is Sinatra stripped of everything who leaves me knowing he has deserved my love and admiration all these years. With Sinatra, he drove himself through life going after whatever he wanted and risking the consequences. We get to look at his ups and downs and his prides and his falls. We see him suffer at love and sing about it. We see him finally, after all the aborted tries, finally sink himself into a relationship with his last wife that kept him happy until he died.

   Life for Sinatra was all or nothing at all and he did life his way and fell into lots of tender traps and led some into his own tender traps, like one famous movie star I will let you discover on your own.

   What so special about Nancy's book is that she is amazingly organized and objective in her account of her father's life. And the CD, well the CD is everything. You get to hear Sinatra on Sinatra, unabashed.

   Everyone on the planet needs to buy and read this book to learn what life can be when you go for it all every day!

   Kudos to Nancy for a biography well, well done.




3. This book has excellent pictures with the most vital information for a biography project. A great buy and great read for interested fans of Ol' Blue Eyes.



4. This scrapbook is a real treat to any true SINATRA fan.It is full of pictures of everybody who was important in his life from his parents to collaborators like arrangers NELSON RIDDLE; all his wifes from NANCY to BARBARA;the legendary LOUIS B. MAYER etc.Better than most biographies because it is based on facts not rumours.The early pictures from his beginnings are alone worth the price.I was fortunate enough to get this book at the third of it's price and i went through it very fast because once you open it, you simply can't take your hands out of it.If FRANK became the singer of the past century, it's not by accident, he worked hard at it.I was particulary touched by his loyalty to his true friends.FRANK SINATRA is a mirror of his country. He was the son of immigrants who lived the AMERICAN dream to the fullest.Where is the AMERICAN dream today now that it's last legend is gone?Let's not complain too much ,because everything that FRANK SINATRA ever recorded is now available on cd.Nostalgia when you think of it is a very good thing.SATURDAY is not the loneliest night of the week anymore thanks to the chairman of the board.If you are not already a fan, this book should do the trick.



5. I had to get this book after seeing how low the price came down.The original price was 40 dollars. Nancy Sinatra's book on her Father has everything in here.I couldn't believe Frank weighted 13and a half pounds when he was born on December 12,1915.The Doctor ripped and scarred his ear,check,and neck,plus puncturing his eardrum.Frank wasn't breathing,so his grandmother Rose held the baby under cold running water until he gasped his first breath and cried.This book is like a Diary.It goes from year to year,sometimes month to month.All of Franks movies,records,concerts,TV shows,songs,and the name of the songwriters are in here,plus hundreds of pictures,starting with Frank's baby photo, ending with a touching family photo taken in 1996.There's a wonderfull picture of Marilyn Monroe taken with Dean Martin sitting ringside at the Sands..All of the stars are in here,and family pictures we've never seen before.If you are a Frank Sinatra fan,you have to get this Book.Its huge,and the pictures are fantastic.

1 comments about Terrible Swift Sword: The Legacy of John Brown.

1. John Brown the abolitionist (1800-59) defied the ruling assumptions of the anti-slavery movement by taking up arms against proslavery forces, blending his own brand of militancy with a devout Calvinist piety that many historians still find difficult to comprehend. In the nearly 150 years since his failed raid on the federal armory at Harper's Ferry, [West] Virginia, and his subsequent execution in December 1859, the nation has been divided over the real meaning of John Brown to the United States, and often the line that has been drawn between his critics and supporters has been nearly identical to the color line.
   
   Sensitive to the renaissance of interest in Brown that became apparent in the 1990s, Peggy Russo, assistant professor of English at Pennsylvania State University at Mont Alto, developed and hosted a wonderful multidisciplinary symposium entitled "John Brown: The Man, the Legend, the Legacy," held on her campus in July 1996. A guiding presence at the conference was Paul Finkelman, now the President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law at Albany Law School. Among other works, Finkelman had already edited a collection of scholarly writings on Brown entitled HIS SOUL GOES MARCHING ON, published in 1995 (University Press of Virginia). A decade later these two scholars have published TERRIBLE SWIFT SWORD: THE LEGACY OF JOHN BROWN (Ohio University Press, 2005), a collection of twelve essays gathered from the contributions of conference participants.
   
   The book is prepared in an attractive paperback format and includes some classic illustrations and a basic chronology of Brown's life--the latter being somewhat helpful although marked by a number of errors in dating. The editors have divided the essays into five sections: contemporaries and supporters of Brown, Brown defined, behavioral analyses of Brown, literary representations of Brown, and Brown and cultural iconography.
   
   By far the best section is the first, which features excellent historical research by Dean Grodzins, who provides insight into the social and political background of one of Brown's most notable supporters, the Rev. Theodore Parker. Likewise, Hannah Geffert, an expert on the theme of black participation in the Harper's Ferry raid, shatters conventional assumptions about the interest and support shown by local enslaved people in Brown's efforts. Jean Libby, perhaps the foremost documentary scholar on Brown since the late Boyd Stutler and Clarence Gee, provides insight into the life of Thomas Henry, a leading black clergyman that Brown tried--and failed--to contact and enlist in his efforts.
   
   Other notable contributions are made by Israeli scholar, Eyal Naveh, who explains how and why Brown's image as a martyr was undermined in the post-Reconstruction era, and by Charles J. Holden, who shows how Southern writers in the post-Civil War used their hostile portrayal of Brown to justify the defeated South and its lost cause. On the other hand, William Keeney provides an equally fascinating discussion about the use of poetry by Brown's admirers just prior to the Civil War, and how their literary efforts were designed to circumvent what they found to be difficult questions concerning Brown and his methods.
   
   Editor Russo likewise makes a most enlightening and entertaining contribution in discussing Raymond Massey's cinematic portrayal of Brown in two Hollywood classics, "Santa Fe Trail" (1940) and "Seven Angry Men" (1955). As Russo shows, the former portrayed Brown quite negatively, raising some scholarly criticism. However Russo does not mention that one of Brown's direct descendants actually tried to bring a lawsuit against Warner Brothers for maligning her forebear, and it was undoubtedly "Santa Fe Trail" that Malcolm X later criticized for having made Brown look like a "nut." Russo shows how the social and political context had changed between 1940 and 1955 when "Seven Angry Men" was released, and although Massey reprised his role as Brown in the latter, it was a very different film for reasons both positive and negative.
   
   
   Notwithstanding these notable essays, TERRIBLE SWIFT SWORD is a multidisciplinary collection and therefore bears the burden of contemporary perception and interpretation, some of it trendy more than grounded in thoroughgoing research. Most notable in this regard is the unfortunate section featuring behavioral analyses, the contributions of which are so decidedly biased, unfair, and to a degree meretricious that they have no value to those genuinely interested in studying the life of John Brown the man who lived.
   
   Of course by including such contributions, editors Russo and Finkelman have remained faithful to their intention of presenting the range of views and interests coming out of the Mont Alto conference that, in my opinion as an attendee, included a degree of creative writing and visceral John Brown bashing. Still, the book's subtitle (The Legacy of John Brown) may be misleading since TERRIBLE SWIFT SWORD is really more about the legacy of a fascinating and well-produced conference than about the abolitionist himself.
   
   Multidisciplinary collections like this have their place, but their value for serious students of Brown's life and times is quite limited. For too long John Brown has suffered--perhaps far more than most controversial figures in American history--precisely because the image of him created by novelists, journalists, and others has been too readily embraced as factual. After a century-and-a-half of politically charged diatribes and sloppy characterizations, this biographer hopes that the 21st century will finally mark an era when John Brown receives the kind of fair-minded attention by historical researchers that he deserves. Despite the valuable insights of its editors and several of its contributors, TERRIBLE SWIFT SWORD unfortunately extends the legacy of "knowlege production professionals" whose biases and unstudied presumptions have made a mess of John Brown historiography.
   
   Louis A. DeCaro Jr.

5 comments about Danger Close.

1. The thing I will remember most about this book is that, surprisingly, it was a deeply touching tribute to his mother. The military stuff is all extremely interesting, to the point where you won't be able to put it down. But the book goes far deeper. It's a timeless story from the heart -- one that every son wishes he could write for his mother. On the outside, the author is a tough-as-nails soldier. But on the inside, he's still a little boy who continually reaches back to his mother's love to guide him through life. This is as it should be. God bless all the good mothers of the world.



2. Mr. Yon is currently in Northern Iraq and writes periodic pieces on the web about his experiences with American forces. He is a very dedicated and personable guy who is just trying to do the right thing. I enjoyed this book very much but would have liked to know what happened after the car wreck. How did his SF career end,etc. Anyway those of you who are interested in personal military type accounts will definetly enjoy this book. It received an award for his writing style.



3. I haven't read this book yet (sorry for the 5 star rating), but have picked up on his online magazine (blog). Michael Yon has and is travelling all around Iraq - mostly in the hotspots with the U.S. Army (Strykers), where he does his reporting. I find his weekly dispatches informative and interesting, and will definitely be picking up his book. If you liked his book, please go to http://michaelyon.blogspot.com/ and start reading at the bottom (where he started writing) and work your way up. New dispatches posted weekly (mostly). Also, it seems he's doing this out of his own pocket, so donate towards his blog if you can. From his online magazine:
   
   Michael Yon, author of "Danger Close," is currently in Iraq. Email: [...] Michael Yon is an independent, informed observer chronicling the monumentally important events in the efforts to stabilize Iraq. His dispatches have the benefit of his life experiences without drawbacks based on deadlines or demands of marketplace. The cost of these dispatches is borne solely by Michael. Readers who enjoy these dispatches and want to support Michael's mission in Iraq, can make a contribution using the PayPal links



4. Although Mike Yon and myself both graduated from Winter Haven High School it was years apart and I never had the pleasure of meeting him. I found the book enjoyable because I could relate to some of the local places that he mentioned. But the story was well written and interesting besides being informative despite that fact. Charles E. Gist author of the historical fiction novel "The Other Side of The River"



5. This poignant biographical work hits you in all places of your heart. At times laughing with him and at other times feeling the heartwrenching pain with him, this book captures your attention from page one to the end. While retelling his captivating adventures of being a Green Beret with the US Army, he also includes the less exciting and heartwrenching details of his life--including the untimely death of his mother. I picked it up and couldn't put it down until I was done with it. This book is great for military and civilians alike! If a submarine-hunting P-3 flier can enjoy this book, so can you. Mike Yon candidly opens up and relates life--as is. If you relish the adventure of fiction with the down-to-earth punch of reality, this book is for you!

1 comments about Six Weeks in the Sioux Tepees: A Narrative of Indian Captivity.

1. Sarah Wakefield, being an educated doctor's wife in 1862, had a lot more than many of the people who lived through the 1862 Uprising/Conflict, she was able to relate in a logical way what happened to her, without anger. She tells of the way she and her children were taken care of by Chaska and his family. How their lives were spared because of the Dakota family. Her words show another side of the story, how whites were saved by the Dakota. When many were saying they had been abused, Sarah told of care. When Chaska was hanged on 26th December she was understandably distressed, here was her saviour, who she had promised would be spared as she was, dead, through a quirk of fate. In 1997, I and another woman working on a Native American Committee to honor the dead of the conflict in Minnesota wrote to President Clinton asking for a pardon for Chaska, on Sarah Wakefield's behalf. Chaska's name should be cleared. It has been 136 years and he is still known as a man who abused women and children during a six week war. Read this story and if you feel the same way, please write to the President as well. Chaska saved Sarah's life, his name should at least be cleared of wrongdoing.Thank you.

3 comments about Bull's-Eyes and Misfires: 50 Obscure People Whose Efforts Shaped the American Civil War.

1. General James Ripley's efforts as Chief of Ordnance put more reliable, mass produced, and effective weapons in Union Soldiers hands than any before or after him. Ripley did not (like so many claim without really looking at all available sources) stand in the way of innovation, but rather the chaos and confusion of non-standardized arms and ammunition. Ripley inherited a department that in 1861 had 600 different types of artillery ammunition, more than forty different types of cartidges for shoulder arms, and barely produced 14,000 weapons a year. By 1863 Artillery ammunition was reduced to only 140 different types, and the Springfield Armory was producing over 218,000 weapons yearly. As to Ripley turning down the Spencer rifle, Ripley's judgement was sound and right on. First, the Spencer was never really able to be mass produced like the Springfield. By June 1862 three promised deliveries had not been made, so the order was cut from 10,000 to 7,500. The reason for the delays were obvious; the gun still needed modifications to work properly. Problems obtaining skilled workers, machine tool parts, and raw material also delayed the Spencer. In all only about 12,000 Spencer rifles were delivered during the War. Of the M1860 Carbines, almost half of those produced never made it to the hands of troops before the South surrendered. General Ripley was an ordnance officer since 1814; he was an expert, and understood that breech loading was the next step in weapons evolution. He just did not feel that any one weapon had this principle perfected enough to be mass produced. Dependable ammunition for these guns was still several years away from full development and he knew it. It wasn't the Ghost of Ripley or something "strange" that made the standard weapon of the Cavalry the Model 1873 Springfield carbine. It was the fact that it worked well and the Spencer didn't. S.E. Whitman writes in The Troopers: "Because of the demonstrated faults found in all repeating carbines available at the time, the Ordnance Department reverted to a foolproof weapon of its own design, the Model 1873 Springfield carbine, which was to be the mainstay of the Cavalry until the 1890's."
   At the time Ripley left as chief of Ordnance, the .58 Cailiber Springfield rifle was the standard weapon of choice for the Army. There was no shortage of these reliable standardized weapons or their ammunition. Ripley accomplished this by making his department a production agency for standardized, reliable, time tested weapons rather than a research and development facility in time of war. In my judgement this accomplishment hastened the Civil War's end, not prolonged it.



2. Although I am no "buff," I consider myself fairly well read on the Civil War and I only recognized about ten of the fifty names here and almost none of the stories discussed. The author's research makes it clear, though, that these people had a very important role in the war. You can object to his classifications - most people would think Colonel Gorgas was one of the best administrators either side had, not the "misfire" Mr. Johnson claims him to be - but challenging his judgments is part of the fun.



3. Compiled and written by Civil War Reenactor and enthusiast Clint Johnson, Bull's Eyes And Misfires is an unique anthology of true stories about fifty different people whose obscure and often overlooked roles had lasting impact on the course of the American Civil War. Ranging from how Joseph Anderson and George Rains efficiently kept the Confederacy supplied with cannon and gunpowder, to how Julia Grant helped her husband General U. S. Grant win battles, to "Crazy Bet" Van Lew who ran one of the best possible spy networks for the North, to a series of terrible and costly mistakes of judgment attributed to leaders on both sides, Bull's Eyes And Misfires offers a wealth of lore and evidence of how even small details can have great effects on the tide of battle and is very highly recommended reading for all American History and Civil War buffs.

3 comments about Margin Of Hope: An Intellectual Autobiography.

1. This is a superb work examining post-war ideology and political and social thought in the United States. Howe writes with authority as someone who not only watched Socialism evolve and ultimately decline, he also offers a marvellous vantage point for those of us who are fascinated by the rise and fall of American liberalism. You can understand how events both foreign and domestic altered the thinking of so many members of the "New York School" who remain salient and even sagacious voices in modern America: Daniel Bell, Nathan Glazer, Irving Kristol among others. Howe takes you through conversations with Lionel Trilling and Hannah Arendt and you feel as you "listen" that these giants of post-war thought are just a little more human and familiar. In my opinion, that is a gift. There is also a wonderful moment where Howe speaks of discovering the fictional work of Isaac Bashevis Singer while editing a Yiddish literary anthology in the early 1950's. What a discovery! If you have not read either Singer's novels or stories, do!
   
   If you are an aspiring academic or life-long student, Howe's peregrinations through the university environment are thought provoking and his engagement with the New Left vanguard in the 1960's expresses the cultural and intellectual divide between older Leftists (some loyal, some not) and their youthful counterparts. For example, men like Howe found it difficult to relate to the privileged "bourgeoisie" reformism of young lions like Tom Hayden when his own generation had seen first hand the depradations of working poverty. Irving Kristol, notably, has written about how poverty inspired he and his comrades to work harder to pursue and receive the blessings of the system. Kristol has noted, as has Glazer, that their generation saw opportunity in the American business and intellectual communities and pursued it finding redemption in the ability to work toward success. This is borne out by Howe who observes the transition from ther pre-WWII anti-Semitism in higher education toward the more egalitarian epoch that began in the early 1950's.
   
   This is engaging dialogue and I say "dialogue" because Howe has a discursive style prompting you to think out loud and to wish (I did) that the professor was still with us to field questions. I would also add that for liberals like myself, this is an excellent tour of what liberal thought in America was and has become. I have often wished that some scholar would do for the Left what Russell Kirk did for conservatives and that is write an authoritative history making our intellectual "tradition" a heritage waiting to be claimed. As far as I have seen, this is one of the best books we have to do just that.
   
   Whether you are a socialist, liberal, progressive, conservative or none of the above, stumble into this book if you've a moment. It is hardly dry but rather crackles with the wit and avuncularity of its author.
   
   Five stars. This book is a rare breed of intellectual autobiography not to be missed for those who want to become more culturally literate.



2. Irving Howe was a man of many accomplishments. He is perhaps best known for his political writing, his founding of Dissent magazine his championing of a Socialism which did not degenerate into radical hatred of the West and of America. For close to forty years he was at the intellectual center of American life. He was also a great Yiddishist one of the main people in presenting the Jewish secular writing of Eastern Europe to the world. And he was a skilled literary critic , a man of broad knowledge and careful judgment whose special understanding was the realm where politics and literature interconnected. As a writer he was clear and competent. This autobiography it seems to me has very much the flavor of his general critical writing. It seems to me it lacks a deeper dimension of confessional feeling that the greatest autobiographies have. But it is a very workmanlike, responsible piece of craftsmanship.



3. Though my own inclinations, politically speaking, trend toward the right, I have nevertheless been impressed by the writings of Irving Howe, a socialist who denounced Stalinism, rejected much of the radicalism of the new left, and stayed true to his literary commitments. In short, Howe was a leftist who did not lose his capacity for self criticism. This memoir is a thoughtful look at his life and his relationships with a great many intellectuals of his time, mainly leftists or reformed communists. As the founder of Dissent magazine, Howe is a major force in the history of American letters. And though I still find his ideas on socialism left rather vague (to create a more just society? How, and what, would that be?)he is nevertheless one of the few leftist voices that does not seek to destroy tradition and the past in the name of constructing impossible utopian visions. He also does not have the knee jerk anti-Americanism so prevalent among his successors on the left. His memoir will take readers through his years as a student in New York and an emerging literary power in the world of New York intellectuals. He touches on writers such as Edmund Wilson, Alfred Kazin, Lionel Trilling (and many others), not to mention the editors at Partisan Review, for whom he wrote at one time. An interesting read.

No comments about The Levy Family and Monticello, 1834-1923: Saving Thomas Jefferson's House.

1 comments about COLLEAGUES: RUSSELL AND JOHNSON.

1. I first became aware of the friend of Lyndon John and Richard Russell after reading MASTERS OF THE SENATE. John Caro touches on the relationship and as a result I was interested in finding out more about these two masters of the senate.

   Goldsmith, who was a Washington insider, depicts the rise and fall of the friendship and shows how in some respects it disentigrated because of the passage of time and the failure of the two men, especially Russell to adopt to change.

   Goldsmith's LBJ is much less of a "user" of Russell than Caro's and Goldsmith's Russell is much for fragile than the one portrayed by Caro. But for those interested in the LBJ years and the beginnings of the war in Viet Nam, this is a meaningful work. LBJ is once again seen as a somewhat tragic figure. Russell was very much a father figure to him, but yet in the end he did not attend his funeral or visit him in his last illness.
   For those interested in the legacy of LBJ it is well worth the fairly quick read.

2 comments about Thomas Jefferson: Westward the Course of Empire (Biographies in American Foreign Policy).

1. Kaplan debunks the theory that Jefferson was an idealist in foreign affairs. Jefferson was pragmatic on what he wanted. He was for the United States, and thus made alliances based on what was best for our country. Even though he thought the French Revolution was justified, his reason for supporting the French was as a counterweight to Great Britain. Jefferson may have been accused of some silly things such as the embargo and trying to cozy up to Great Britain at the last minute, but his actions were that of a nationlist, and not an idealist.
   
   The language in this book is a little stilted. In some places, it is hard to read. However, this book gives a good summary of Jefferson's foreign policy.



2. Kaplan clearly likes Jefferson. His recounting of Jefferson's foreign policy tend to give Jefferson the benefit of the doubt. This book is very informational and fairly short at around 200 pages. I harbor many Jeffersonian ideological thoughts, however, I'd have preferred Kaplan to be a bit more critical of some of Jefferson's actions. Even so, the book still stands out as a good survey of Jefferson's foreign policy. 3 stars for a good book- but not exceptional.