William Russ Books

Russ McDonald is not someone many people have heard of, unless you happen to live in the world of Shakespeare scholars, in which case, I would be surprised if you have not. Mr. McDonald was for a long time associated with the Folger Library, and has edited numerous volumes of the Penguin Shakespeare editions, among other credentials. I have had the good fortune to be in one of his classes, and I can think of no one else I have ever met that has so much love and appreciation for Shakespeare's genius, while simultaneously being able to pass that to his students. I honestly don't think there is anything this man *doesn't* know about Shakespeare.

That being said, The Bedford Companion is less about The Bard, and more so about the times in which he lived. While attention is given to his plays, equal attention is given to such things as the history of the Globe Theater, Shakespeare's early life, the economic situations of the time, and a history of Shakespeare appreciation, or "Bardolatry". It shows Shakespeare as a human, as a buisinessman, a family man, and how he eventually become know as the greatest writer in the English language. (Most of his plays weren't published until after his death.) This book may not help you fully understand Hamlet, but it can certainly make it more interesting.

Russ McDonald's book provides excellent materials that help students to see the time in which Shakespeare lived. I use it everytime I teach Shakespeare. Note, I'm 13 and under, but Amazon's review system is funky (see!).

I recommend this book for those who enjoy reading British literature from the 16th and 17th centuries not just Shakespeare.

Its been almost 13 years since I had the pleasure of enjoying Russ McDonald's insight on Shakespeare first hand and it was a pleasure re-engaging with his wit and insight again via this text.

This book is a great overview of all things Shakespeare. It intorduces the man himself, the language of the works, the culture of the Elizabethans and the theatre, sosurces, and basic scholarly criticism and ideas. A wonderful foundational text with primary documents which greatly enhance the reading and give the subject a new life.

Bedford's handbook is quite handy for a non-expert. Anyone who's going to be teaching Shakespeare but hasn't written a dissertation on him ought to pick one up.

A well written and well illustrated look into the common soldiers of North and South of this conflict.

Nicely written and well illustrated. A good book to have for those interested in this subject.

This book is a fantastic source of information about the lives of the men fighting the Civil War. It is not focused on causes of the war or the governmental issues that fueled it except where these related the personal lives of the men who fought. It was about common men: Yankee and Rebel. It gives us a snapshot of their passion, the conditions they endured, their joys and sorrows.

The book shows us how common men of all walks of life, and nationalities became soldiers (or not). There are many excerpts and quotes from the people who were there. It gives insight into how they fought, the equipment they used, the pride they felt and what it was like when it was over.

The pictoral history in this book is wonderful. There are pictures from the actual conflict as well as pictures of artifacts photographed later.

Davis' writing style creates such a vivid picture of the world these men lived in. This book is a long way from the dry accounts many history books provide.

I highly recommend this book!

This book is a fantastic source of information about the lives of the men fighting the Civil War. It is not focused on causes of the war or the governmental issues that fueled it except where these related the personal lives of the men who fought. It was about common men: Yankee and Rebel. It gives us a snapshot of their passion, the conditions they endured, their joys and sorrows.

The book shows us how common men of all walks of life, and nationalities became soldiers (or not). There are many excerpts and quotes from the people who were there. It gives insight into how they fought, the equipment they used, the pride they felt and what it was like when it was over.

The pictoral history in this book is wonderful. There are pictures from the actual conflict as well as pictures of artifacts photographed later.

Davis' writing style creates such a vivid picture of the world these men lived in. This book is a long way from the dry accounts many history books provide.

I highly recommend this book!

An unrivalled source of information on the uniforms, insignia and appearance of the civil war fighting men. the Fighting Men of the Civil War covers subjects as diverse as the drill movements, the life at sea,Zouaves,Black troops,weaponry and many more. Each page is fully illustrated,includes more that 100 photographs and diagrams, as well as alot of pages of full colour artwork that provide the precise level of detail demanded by the enthusiast or any historians. Hundreds of photos of real items use in the civil war make this book one of the most enduring and popular military publications ever produced. Willian C Davis, has produce accessible reference resource for military history enthusiasts of all

This book should be One of the handiest one-volume sources of information ever assembled: serious, and surprisingly hard to find, information on the nation and its people is interspersed with the many colorful characters and incidents so often associated with this dramatic conflict.

Key interests and user groups;Artists and illustrators, Collectors, Costumiers, Historians, Historical societies and interest groups, Modellers, Re-enactors, Restorers, Special interest groups, Wargamers, Schools, Educational Establishments.

An oversized, handsomely illustrated look at the Civil War, with emphasis on the soldiers themselves - camp life, uniforms, weapons, etc. Perhaps the most interesting and rewarding chapter, because it is so rarely dealt with in most other books about the war, is the one entitled "Willing Spirits & Weak Flesh," all about the sordidness of army life: drunkenness, prostitution, theft, and insubordination, among many other miseries. An excellent book that focuses on the human side of war, not the politics, the generalship, the maneuvering. An excellent addition to anyone's Civil War library.

There is virtually no end to the books that have been published on the Civil War.
This is a very large book,10 1/2 X 13 1/2 inches with 256 pages. When first seeing it, one might be tempted to write it off as just another glossy coffee table book. That would be a big mistake. This is one of 3 books in the Rebels & Yankees Series,by two who have great knowledge,involvement and experience andwho have done much consulting work on TV,Films,Museums and other historical efforts on the Civil War.
When I first thumbed through the book, I was immediately impressed by the artwork on the cover and drawings of men and officers in military dress. These are actually more than just drawings; they are full page works of supurb art and detail. The book is loaded with some of the best photographs taken during the war which are used to explain much that is glossed over in Civil War mooks ;that tend to concentrate on the battles. Then we are also given dozens of excellent photographic plates showing, as well as explaining,the uniforms,equipment,pistols and swords that were actually the ones used by the well known as well as those not so well known. These photographs were made from artifacts now held in the best museums in the country.
Not only is the artwork and photography outstanding; the text throughout extremely informative;but it also covers a lot that is not usually found in history books.
The book does a teriffic job of showing how in 1861,there were a relatively few militarily trained, organized or equipped men in the the country and how the great armies were put together in such a short time. The book deals mainly on how the officers were created and how and why some were successful as well as why those who were not,got into the positions they held. Personally,I've often wondered how come some of the great Generals were only in their twenties. After reading this book,I have a much better understanding. Another thing that often made me wonder was the variety of both weapons and uniforms;which is well explained. Another thing that intrigued me was the ever present image of the fancy swords carried by all the officers.The role of those is also explained.
There is still one thing that I still wonder about is the gold boxed epaulettes that appear in every photograph of officer's uniforms and equipment. In all the actual photogrphs as well as the portraits the epaullettes almost never appear.They seem to have been used on only 'dress" or very formal occassions. For instance the portraits of Grant and Sherman on page 172, or Lee on page 195 don't have them .That being said,they do appear once in a while as we see on page 10; or at the Cavalry School of Practice on page 220.
The book is of excellent construction with fine paper,printing,color rendition and binding. The hard cover even has a glossy surface identical to the dust jacket. It is hard to imagine anyone with an interest in the Civil War who would not be impressed with the effort that went into this book and the results achieve.

Davis and Pritchard have created a wonderful work that is sure to become a hit with anyone who studies the Civil War. This book uses words and a generous amount of pictures to tell the story of the leaders, both talented and flawed that held together the two struggling armies in a time of chaos and devastating loss. Although many of the stories have been told in one form or another, "Commanders..." compiles this study in a single book that makes it very easy to compare and contrast the styles and techniques employed by officers of both armies. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would highly recommend it to others. I look forward to reading the next book in the 'Rebels and Yankees' series.

This set of 3 books is a good reference for history buffs or collectors. It is fully illustrated and goes into great detail in reference to dress and equipment.

In a Melville-like tale, the true account of a young man emerging from bare-chested innocence to the beginnings of a powerful adventurer, this story of 1937 life on a four-masted schooner on the northwest coast of Alaska is an exceptionally worthwhile read. Like an old friend recounting a fascinating experience, Mr. Hofvendahl writes a compelling story of the power of nature and of the iron men who survived on the last of the heavy ships of sail.

Although most of these articles could mostly be found in their own writings published in other publications (which is typical for a book like this), the authors of Passionate Conviction do a great job overviewing some of the basics in Christian apologetics. There are six parts, including evidence for the existence of God (emphasis on cosmological and moral arguments), Jesus, comparative religion, and Postmodernism. In the first chapter, William Lane Craig writes on "In Intellectual Neutral," and he points out the encouraging point that more and more Christian thinkers are "coming out of the closet and defending the truth of the Christian worldview with philosophically sophisticated arguments in the finest secular journals and professional societies." This is awesome. Yet he later points out how Christian laypeople are not exercizing their mental faculties and need to become "intellectually engaged." He writes, "Our churches are filled with Christians who are idling in intellectual neutral." His article was a great way to get this book started, and I think many laypeople would benefit from an overview book such as this. (I highly recommend Lee Strobel's writings as other good places to start, as he deals with many of these same issues in a layperson-friendly format.) However, some of the articles are going to go over the layperson's head as several authors delve into some deeper philosophy. But, overall, I think this book would be a good primer for a Christian who wants to tackle the issues of faith and understand how we can make a better case for Christianity in the marketplace of ideas.

Before Robert Kenneth Jones(THE SHUDDER PULPS),Ron Goulart(CHEAP THRILLS),Peter Haining(THE FANTASTIC PULPS and THE CLASSIC ERA OF AMERICAN PULP MAGAZINES),Lee Server(DANGER IS MY BUSINESS),Frank M. Robinson&Lawrence Davidson(PULP CULTURE),there was TONY GOODSTONE."THE PULPS(Fifty years of American Pop Culture,Compiled and edited by Tony Goodstone)"is a hell of a book.It's the first important survey and anthology of pulp art and pulp literature from the period 1896 to 1953.A large cofee&table volume,contains 100 full-color reproductions of rare original cover art and more than 50 stories,poems,features,and articles.They are presented with their original b&w illustrations and aids and are integrated into their social context by an illuminating commentary by the Editor Goodstone.
Famous writers are represented in the book:EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS("The Resurrection of Jimber-Jaw"),MAX BRAND("The Ghost"),LUKE SHORT("Tough Enough"),DASHIELL HAMMETT("One Hour"),ROBERT LESLIE BELLEM("Death's Passport"),RAY BRADBURY("Wake for the Living"),ROBERT E. HOWARD("The Purple Heart of Erlik"),H.P.LOVECRAFT("Continuity" and "The Gardens of Yin"),STANLEY WEINBAUM("Parasite Planet").A surprise:"The Vengeance of Nitocris"(Weird Tales,1928)by Pulitzer Prize winner TENNESSEE WILIAMS.
Artists represented(with color reproductions):CLINTON PETEE,ARNOLD KOHN,MARGARET BRUNDAGE,FREDERICK BLAKESLEE,RUDOLPH BELARSKI,JOHN NEWTON HOWETT,EARLE K. BERGEY,H.J.WARD,HANNES BOK,WESSO(Hans Waldemar Wessolovski),J.ALLEN St.JOHN,FRANK R.PAUL,HOWARD V. BROWN,WALTER M.BAUMHOFER,H.W.SCOTT,HUBERT ROGERS,JEROME ROSEN.
TONY GOODSTONE(The Bronx,NY,1934-Los Angeles,CA,2002),was an actor,producer,and writer,who assembled a noted collection of American memorabilia.In this book he was helped by the late SAM MOSKOWITZ,the famous Science Fiction connoisseur.

This is an excellent book, full of illustrations, rare pictures and excellent profiles of thirteen of the most important battles during the Civil War. I would recommend this book to Civil War buffs.

Korey's study has to be singled out for its thoroughness, sharp focus, and use of a wide range of primary and secondary - mainly Israeli and other Jewish - sources. On the subject of official Soviet antisemitism in the 1960s-1980s, it is the most detailed and informative analysis published so far. Korey manages to put together, and relate to each other, data on all relevant aspects of post-Stalinist Soviet antisemitic policy including education, cultural matters, propaganda, and foreign relations. As Korey rightly points out, one of the greatest successes of the Brezhnev regime's thinly disguised antisemitic campaign was the infamous 1975 UN-Resolution on Zionism - `a form of racism and racial discrimination' - sponsored by the delegations of the USSR. Until its subsequent repudiation by the UN, this resolution played a major role in Soviet `anti-Zionism' in that it seemed to lend legitimacy to the abstruse theories of the `Zionologists`.

I haven't read any Ben Jonson plays, but I am interested in the entire English Renaissance genre so I took a flyer with this book. It is one of the best Shakespearean Scholarship reads I've found, I am usually disappointed when the Scholars feel a need to write above 'popular' scholarship (where they believe they need to dumb things down). To me, this book hits a challenging happy medium of thoughtful argument without flights of fancy indecipherable literary rhetoric. IOW ...

It is thoughtful and accessible without all their esoteric jargon. Be prepared to think because the Arthur has done some homework. I don't always see things the same way as him, but his arguments show some determination at reasonable analysis, rather than blindly endorsing some flavor-of-the-month view, regardless of how outrageous many of them are.

Unfortunately, I cannot use this review as a basis for recommending other books by the same Arthur.