C Books

Actually sought this out to give as a gift to a very big fan of Shelby. This work is tremendous and for the fan or the enthusiast a brilliant read.

Bought this after I went on a self guided tour of Gettysburg one gray winter day, and wanted to learn more than I did or could remember from Elementary/High School.

Wonderfully written. I just wish there were more of the maps in the book to refer to as he talks about the movements.

Highly recommended

I could write a long review about how good this book is but that would be a diservice to the author. We lost a great historian when Shelby Foote passed. He was a historian who prefered to be remembered as a novelist. As a proud Vermont Yankee, professional historian, and living historian of that period, I tend to get cranky about revisionist views or the whole Sourthern "lost cause" foolishness. However, Mr. Foote, a proud southerner, wrote about the most important event in our nation's history without the prejudice or regionalism, so many bring to the topic. He could write excellent history and tell the story with the readability of a novelist.



We are poorer for his passing but the body of work he left behind on the Civil War will remain some of the must have items in any serious collection of books about that second birth of our nation.



We'll miss you Shelby but thank you for what you left behind.

Imagine, if you can, a book written by a modern historian that actually seeks the truth. Imagine a book written by a modern historian that is not slanted to promote his/her politics. Imagine a 20th century historian that does not even mention the sexuality (alternative or otherwise), of any historical figures in an entire book.
If you are looking for "the truth" at Gettysburg, "Stars In Their Courses" is for you. Shelby Foote is a fine author, and has written the book in a captivating manner that I highly esteem. Pick this book up and give it a try, one chapter should do the trick. You will have a good feeling afterward that you have learned something worthwhile about American History.

Heth upon hearing a rumour that Early's men had over looked a suppy of shoes (many of his men were barefooted) when they passed though Gettysburg the week Sent his lead brigade under Johnston Pettigrew to investigate. Johnston Pettigrew returned on thr 30th of June, mindeful of Lee's warning not to bring on a battle till the whole army was at hand, prudently withdrew when he encountered Federal troopers along a creekbank west of town.
Heth still wanted those shoes so he took Pettigrew with him to repeat what he had seen to Hill. Hill responded "The only force at Gettysburg is calvalry, probably a detachment of oberservation. Mead's infantry are still down in Maryland and have not struck their tents." Heth was quick to reply "If there is no objection, I will take my division tommorrow and go to Gettysburg and get those shoes." "None in the world" said Hill.

Thus what started out as a movement for shoes ended in prehaps the most important battle of the War!

Sheby Foote is a master story teller who turns history in to classical literature. He includes many maps to help understand the grand movement of both armies.

Standing in the way of Heth's men to'get those shoes' was John Buford, a tough, Kentucky-born regular with a fondness for hard fighting. Though Hill was correct that at the moment there were only cavalry in Gettysburg, these troops (two brigades) were armed with the new seven shot Spencer carbine. They belong to Reynold's Corps who's infantry were that night camped just six miles from Gettysburg.

What would you do to 'get those shoes'?

*The title is from John Buford addressing his troops on 30 June 1863. "....You will have to fight like the devil until supports arrive."

Simon Wiesenthal is best known as the man who had been indefatigable and single-minded in trying to bring Nazi criminals to justice as long as there was a single one of them left. For him this was an absolute moral imperative and something that he felt he owed to the memory of the murdered millions of Jews, of whom Wiesenthal could so easily have been one: he was the survivor of a succession of concentration camps: the Janowska camp outside Lvov, Plaszow (the camp of Schindler's List), Auschwitz, Gross-Rosen, and finally Mauthausen. It may come as a surprise to some readers that Wiesenthal was sensitive to the moral problems raised by the issue of forgiveness - yet this book is a moving meditation on that theme. According to his biographer, Hella Pick, Wiesenthal had `always considered it his most important book'.

Cruelty and casual murder were everyday occurrences in the Janowska camp, and are described in gut-wrenching detail in the first half of this episode from Wiesenthal's life. While doing slave labour at a military hospital near the camp, he was secretly brought to the death-bed of Karl, a gravely wounded 21-year old SS officer whose conscience was wracked - not just at death's door, but apparently immediately after the event - by his participation in a horrific massacre of Jews in Dnepropetrovsk. The officer got a nurse to find `a Jew', who happened to be Wiesenthal, to whom he could make his confession and from whom he could seek forgiveness. Wiesenthal wanted to get away; but something - apart from the dying man's grip - made him stay to hear him out. A Catholic priest later told him that that alone should have helped the man to die in peace, since confession and genuine repentance are more important than any absolution. But at the end Wiesenthal left the room without saying anything. Quite apart from the sufferings he was himself undergoing at the hands of the SS just then and from his expectation of death at their hands at any moment, it was not for him to offer forgiveness on behalf of the victims of Dnepropetrovsk. But the issue haunted him - had he done the right thing? After the war he sought out the SS man's mother. The young man had come from a devout and Social Democrat family who were distressed when their son had joined the Hitler Youth and even more when he had volunteered to join the SS. But the mother was convinced that her son had been a good man. Wiesenthal said nothing to her about what her son had done... The short but haunting book charges the reader to put himself in Wiesenthal's shoes and to ask himself `What would I have done?'

Before publishing his book in 1969, Wiesenthal sent his manuscript to a number of distinguished thinkers for their response, and the comments of ten of them were included in the first edition. Further contributions were made by others to the 1997 and 1998 editions: there are now 53 altogether, and they make up nearly two-thirds of the book. They include - to name only the most famous - those of the Dalai Lama, Cardinal König, Primo Levi, Deborah Lipstadt, Herbert Marcuse, and Desmond Tutu.

Some of the respondents seem to me to veer away from the question Wiesenthal had posed, and draw a distinction between forgetting and forgiving; others discuss the question of collective guilt (some reject it; others blame all the bystanders) - interesting, but irrelevant in the context of this story. Almost all agree that whilst individuals can forgive offences committed against themselves, no human can forgive in the name of other victims. In such cases, if the victims cannot be asked because they are dead, perhaps only God can be asked for forgiveness - though one respondent says that God was hardly fit to forgive something which He had after all allowed to happen. And the Jewish tradition has it that even God will not forgive the unpardonable sin of murder. It is unpardonable, because it is the one sin for which reparation is impossible. The Christian tradition, basing itself on Jesus asking God to forgive them, `for they know not what they do', and on the idea that you must hate the sin, but not the sinner, shaped the answer of some Christian respondents. Some say that forgiveness is not only a boon to the penitent, but also for the victim, freeing him from the burden and poison of hate. Two Asian contributors, one a survivor from the Khmer Rouge and the other a victim of the Cultural Revolution in China, blame only the top leadership, and have some understanding for those who were brainwashed.

One respondent hopes that Karl will rot in hell; others also refuse to accept the genuineness of his repentance, indeed stress the offensiveness of him putting a Jew - chosen not as an individual but picked at random - under the moral burden of hearing the confession and being asked to forgive. Wiesenthal at least saw Karl as an individual and is capable of some compassion towards the dying man and later towards his mother (but one respondent thinks that Wiesenthal did wrong to shield her from the knowledge of what her son had done).

These are just some of the responses to Wiesenthal's question. It is a question addressed to all of us, and it is not surprising that this book has been used as a text in many courses on the Holocaust.

Multiple issues arrived ahead of schedule and are in new condition.The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness (Newly Expanded Paperback Edition)

A wonderful short story of 100 pages, written very well. The opinions of all the commentators afterwards on Wiesenthals dilemma is very intriguing. This book gets you involved, and could be the best book ever written on the topic of forgiveness. You just can't help but think deeply about the author's decision to forgive, and also about forgiveness in your own life.

This book is a must for anyone who wants to understand the mortal dilemas which affected those who suffered so much from the violence of the holocaust. Amazing that ther author was able to retain his huaminity in the face of such evil, and a testament to his moral character.

This book focuses on a cogent question by way of a true story and invites response from all sorts of people with pertinent experience, providing biographies of these respondents. The topic is forgiveness. I found the analysis by Dennis Prager, an L.A. talk show host, the most understanding of Christian/Jewish outlooks and Jose Hobday's perhaps the best of the Christian contributions. I am eager to discuss it with members of my theology group.

On the morning of July 2, 1881, Garfield was preparing for a trip to New England. While waiting for his train in Washington's Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station, the president was felled and gravely wounded by the shots of an assassin. Garfield was carried to the presidential mansion, the White House. For weeks he was nursed there. Later he was moved to Elberon, New Jersey, to be with his family. Garfield never left his sickbed, and on September 19, 11 weeks after the shooting, he died.

Garfield's assassin was Charles J. Guiteau, a religious fanatic and a Stalwart, who was apparently angered because he had been refused a government job. He stated that he shot Garfield in order "to unite the Republican Party and save the Republic." Guiteau readily gave himself up after the shooting, certain that the people would understand the high-mindedness of his purpose. He was found guilty of murder, however, and was executed in 1882.

Vice President Chester A. Arthur succeeded Garfield as president. A member of the Stalwart faction, he had sided with Conkling in the dispute over Garfield's appointments. He gradually replaced all of Garfield's Cabinet with Stalwarts, but picked them for ability rather than loyalty to Conkling. The shocking nature of Garfield's death fueled a movement in Congress for civil service reform, which had been started but stalled under the Hayes administration. As a result Congress passed the Pendleton Act, which President Arthur signed into law in 1883. It established the Civil Service Commission to ensure that federal jobs would be awarded according to qualifications rather than connections

Several hundred pages of text on Garfield and the politics of his day may seem a stretch, given the gray, hyper-partisan, issueless politics of the Gilded Age. But in Ackerman's hands, the story of Garfield's presidency and murder comes brilliantly alive. Ackerman (an attorney who has worked on Capitol Hill and in the White House and written about Gilded Age scandals) relates with gusto and fizz the story of Garfield's unanticipated nomination as Republican presidential candidate in 1880, his election by a whisker, the travails of his few months in office, and his assassination. It's a story mostly of the struggle for spoils and patronage between two wings of the post-Civil War party of Lincoln. In fact, the lonely, unstable assassin, Charles Guiteau, was a resentful partisan of the wing that Garfield didn't fully reward. Soon after the president's death, and largely as a result, Congress enacted civil service reform. Ackerman brings to life all this and the colorful political figures, mostly senators, who strode the nation's public stage. The trouble is that, like so many works of history these days, it's long on narrative and short, very short, on analysis. You wouldn't know that the political deadlocks of the 1880s deeply, and disastrously, affected the lives of freed slaves, nor do readers learn of agricultural and labor crises, industrial growth or financial shenanigans-the very matters that factional fighting and political murder kept under the rug. It's a pity that Ackerman doesn't apply his skills to such central matters of context and significance.

Can't praise Ackerman enough for a detailed study of late 19th century political machinations - if you've ever wondered how local politicos could control the nation's power base, this superb effort makes it perfectly clear and understandable. How few people truly understand the power of a relatively unknown figure such as Roscoe Conkling (even if you already knew of Boss Tweed's legacy.....and yet Ackerman's magnificent research and analysis opens this character for the reader's astonishment. Outstanding reportage of the dealings involved in the 1880 Republican convention power-brokering, the desperate struggle between the Stalwarts of Conkling and Arthur versus the Half-Breeds of James Blaine and Garfield, the defining battle for the NY Customs House appointment. Garfield's early bio and in fact his assassination history are not the focus of this book, but who cares? The incisive political intrigue of a mere 8 or 9 months of our presidential history makes for both a terrific read and a wonderful expose of a truly watershed milestone in the evolution of the American governmental system. My highest recommendation for anyone who thinks he knows the Gilded Age, but wants an eye-opener with the readability of an indulgent summer novel.

I enjoyed this book so much, I sent this letter to the author:
"Dear Mr. Ackerman, I recently read and thoroughly enjoyed your fantastic book, Dark Horse: The Surprise Election and Political Murder of President James A. Garfield. I feel it is worthy of a Pulitzer Prize for History. I found your writing style to be engrossing as, even though I knew much of the history you recounted, I read each page of the book most eagerly. I had just finished Roy Morris' Fraud of the Century and, as much as I enjoyed it, I found your book to be a more compelling tale. Your character development is superb and I love how you tied the thread of the Conkling/Blaine feud of 1866 to events throughout the book. The final weaving together of the tale in Chapter 15 is a beautiful closure to a moving story that, as you accurately captured, impacted and captivated large numbers of Americans. Your research and documentation were extremely thorough and quite logically incorporated into the chronological flow of events. Your footnotes are pure joy for a politics and history buff (like me). I didn't really feel I had finished the book until I read the endnotes, as they added to my deeper understanding and appreciation of the events. Having lived through the Kennedy assassination, the comparisons with Garfield's demise are most intriguing and the distinctions also profound. Both were younger presidents who had won narrow victories to gain the White House. Both were succeeded by vice presidents who were clearly 'ticket balancers.' But Kennedy's assassination has forever been plagued with conspiracy theories, while Garfield's had no doubt as to the assassin. Alas, to pursue this line of thought would invite rambling on my part, but these ideas do cross my mind. I think your book would make a great movie, except for the sad reality that Hollywood would inevitably destroy a great story. Also, most likely, it isn't the kind of story that would capture much interest among our populace, at least in my judgment (keeping in mind the kinds of movies that seem to proliferate theater complexes these days). If only I were wrong about this! Your recapitulations of future developments of each of the prime players in the book (Chapter 15) are tailor made for the closing of a great film. I found particularly touching the telling of Mollie Garfield having married Joe Stanley Brown. Some minor observations, suggestions, and thoughts I have are as follows: - A table of the results of the 1880 Presidential Election and a national map of the results (as I have attached) might have been a good addition to the book. I did thoroughly enjoy your tables of the key convention ballots. (Obviously, my bias as a mathematician and cartographer is showing.) - I am working on a book (well, it is really more of a tutorial) of the History of Partisan Representation in the United States Congress. As you are well aware, the story of the evenly divided 47th Senate, in and of itself, is a fascinating one and your accounting of the battle for control of the Senate is most illuminating. Your description of the tie-breaking (precedent setting) votes of Chester Arthur is great drama. -- In this vein, while you point out that one of Arthur's first actions as President was to call the Senate into special session to choose a President Pro Tempore, you never related who they selected for this position. My research indicates that Thomas F. Bayard (D-DE) served from October 10 to 13, 1881, David Davis (Independent-IL) from October 13, 1881 to March 3, 1883, and George F. Edmunds (R-VT) from March 3 to December 2, 1883. Perhaps with the Senate evenly split, this particular tale was too complex and off the focus of your storyline to include. - Not to nit-pick, but in case your book is ever reprinted, some minor points: -- on page 205, last line of paragraph two, the spelling of 'ungentlemanly' missed the editors gaze, -- on page 234, end of line 15 should probably read 'In fact' instead of 'If fact.' -- the last endnote 'I am a poor hater' should be attributed to page 453. - If space had provided for it, including the White House family portrait on the cover of the book would have been wonderful. Just viewing this photo (in the context of the murder of Garfield and all you shared about his wife and children) truly conveys the personal tragedy that occurred, separate from the great loss to our country. - Indeed, as you note, we do need a solid, contemporary biography of James G. Blaine. Equally, I would welcome one of Chester A. Arthur. While a product of machine politics, as you described him, he showed character, spirit, decency, and integrity that made him attractive. I would enjoy reading more about him. Again, please accept my thanks for your superb work and for sharing this wonderful tale. Sincerely, R. Bruce Telfeyan"
--By the way, he did write me back a substantial note of thanks. As did other reviewers, I subsequently visited the Garfield NHS in Mentor, OH, and his burial site (really a beautiful shrine) in the eastern part or Cleveland, OH.

I read this book desiring a biography of James Garfield. This book failed at being a true biography. What I received instead was an excellent description of a year and a half of American history, starting with the 1880 Republican convention that eventually nominated Garfield to President Chester Arthur's taking office following Garfield's assisination.

This book reads like a novel. It also contains numorous historical nuggets. It is fair to each of the people dealt with. For example, Senator Roscoe Conklin is not very likeable, but it points out he was one of the few to welcome a black senator.

The focus of this book is the division in the Republican party at this time, which was a factor of Garfield's assisination. While there is no effort made on the part of Ackerman to give a warning to us today, one can learn from the intense hatred that existed in this time, and try to avoid the same in our present day.

This is a fascinating look at a little known president in American history. It covers the convention that nominated Garfield where he was not even a contender. Garfield was a representative for General Sherman who was against General Grant and James Blaine. This convention was one of the most interesting in our history and shows how the freedom of delegates can result in a compromise that gives a candidate acceptable to many. While none would wholeheartedly jump behind Garfield he was able to take a nomination. The New York crowd who backed Grant was particularly bitter. Roscoe Conkling who is made out to be the great villain in this story provides an interesting foil. Chester Arthur is shown to be a man even more unlikely than Garfield for the presidency and it is telling that after his term is up he is hardly even considered for another. The election process also proves to be interesting showing a time before TV and radio when stump speeches reigned supreme. Garfield's assassin turns out to be one of his campaigners who want a political appointment. He feels that by killing Garfield he will be rewarded with a patronage position. Garfield's election seems to bring about a divide in the country that is already distrustful after the election of Rutherford B. Hays. Ironically it is the death of Garfield and the unlikely ascension of Arthur that will heal the nation. This dark horse unified the country in his death and paved the way for civil service reform. For those who have an interest in the Gilded Age this is a must read. For those who are fascinated by political history they will find this a riveting tale that cannot be put down.

A very enjoyable read and inspirational. I went out purchased a sketch pad and started drawing after finishing the book!

This is a great book! I read it in an hour and a half. I enjoy knowing the process people take in order to deal with life's occasional hiccups that knock the world out from under you. It helps to know that you're not the only one sometimes. It's always a relief when the person works it out positively and thinks enough to want to share it with others. Thank you, Danny!

love it, love it, love it !!!!
a wonderful inspiring little book.
perfect smaller size (6"x8") to carry along with your sketchbook to keep you encouraged in your drawing.

I suppose I had some misperceptions of this book. I was assuming there would be more inspiration that would cajole me into journaling and artwork. I also thought is was he who was disabled - it was his wife. There was little mention of how his wife's diability figured into the whole pictue of his life. As a disabled person, I thought there would be some insight into overcoming disability to do what you want. I do however, love the way he draws and journals. In the end I saw this as a simple journal that anyone might have done. I still have his other book and I have higher hopes for that.

i loved it! i recived the book for valentines day and finished in a day...its very intresting to examine dannys drawing and learn about his life in nyc..

This book was very informative and useful to me. Everything that is described about these conditions helped me feel that I was on the road to recovery with what my doctor had prescribed, and know with the added knowledge provided by this book I have added supplements, excerise, and a positive attitude to my dealing with my depression.

Healing Anxiety and Depression is one of the most scientifically valid discussions of these disorders. Dr. Amen's use of SPECT brain scans to analyze "emotional" and "behavioral" disorders is a welcome contrast to the speculative theories which have dominated treatment of anxiety and depression. This book is generously illustrated with SPECT brain scans of actual patients and clearly reveals physical imbalances in brain blood flow distribution. More importantly, the scans show improved function, with appropriate treatment. Psychiatry is the only medical speciality which does not routinely examine, image or measure the organ system, which it treats. Functional brain scans and neurotransmitter testing are finally moving psychiatric treatment beyond the trial and error guessing it has been mired in, for decades. Amazingly, SPECT gamma ray cameras are available in almost every hospital cardiac unit, where they are used for cardiac stress tests. Hopefully, they will begin receiving additional use, for brain scanning.

Interestingly, Dr. Amen has included a SPECT scan of his brain. Inclusion of his own scan speaks volumes, concerning the safety of SPECT brain scans.We will probably wait a long time before we learn of anyone practicing electro-convulsive therapy (ECT), who has submitted to ECT electro shock therapy.

The scans and case histories reveal the reality of disorders including traumatic brain injury, depression, pernicious anemia, obsessive compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome, ectasy and marijuana abuse. Improvements produced by diverse treatments including Prozac, Lamictal, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and St. John's Wort are clearly revealed in scan images. The image of impaired blood flow distribution, due to Xanax will confirm what many suspect-Benzodiazepine medications impair brain function.

Amen and Routh provide an overview of diverse treatments including most pharmaceutical treaments and many nutritional and herbal treatments, in addition to cognitive behavioral therapy, systematic desensitization, biofeedback, exercise, deep breathing and EMDR.

This book was published in 2003, before the sleepwalking syndromes associated with Ambien became more widely publicized and Lunesta became available as a safer alternative. Although Amen and Routh recommend GABA supplements, for anxiety, GABA seldom crosses the blood-brain barrier, and we have seldom found an anxious patient, who responds to GABA supplements. Neurotransmitter profiles of our anxious patients indicate excess glutamate causes more anxiety than deficient GABA levels.

Florida Detox has referred patients to Amen Clinics, for SPECT brain scans and the scans have revealed useful clinical information, especially when patients suffered severe anxiety or had multiple chemical dependencies.

I suspect many readers would like to see a larger, expanded version of this book, with more case histories and scans. After performing over 20,000 SPECT scans, Amen Clinics certainly possesses the scans and case histories needed for a larger sequel to this book.

Steven Sponaugle, Research Director, Florida Detox

I had knowledge on this subject for years, so most of the material written in this book was mainly old news to me. Most of the material in this book is an overview of the disorders and a lot of pics of brain scans. (Including before and after shots) There is a lot of talk about medication as well and different categories of antidepressants. Honestly there isn't that much extra material that books like "Don't Panic" doesn't cover (although this book isn't as dry as "Don't Panic"). If you are new to all of this, then it's is a decent read. If you been dealing with this for quite a while now, chances are that your doctor has found the right meds for you and that you've been properly diagnosed. You may want a book that goes a little deeper in the topics of "rational vs irrational thoughts", "self-esteem", or "phobias". I gave this book 3 stars only because I was expecting more with all the 5-star reviews and didn't pick-up anything new, but it's a good book if you are new to all of this and want a primer about the road that's ahead of you.

WOW! What a book. I have many books, on the above subjects, being a sufferer myself, and feeling like I'm hitting a blank wall trying to fully understand it, but also a book that actively helps you to accept there is more information about diagnosis, PROPER treatment available, and REAL solutions to these debilitating illnesses, not just psychotherapy, or medication. It delves into the psysiological reasons and chemistry of the brain and how SPECT scans can verify diagnoses and help to correctly pinpoint the specific type of illness you may have. I have read many medical books and was 'till now unaware of the physiological markers to look out for, but also that these scans help to pinpoint accurate treatment for your specific type, of which there are 7 main types. It is not for the novice necessarily as medical jargon is used, but is well worth the read and there are addresses and phone numbers for contacting doctors that help diagnose and treat patients.It helps to self diagnose to a point, and makes you feel like there is light at the end of the very long tunnel. About time a book like this has come along. I plan to use it extensively and rid myself of the bain I carry around daily!

There are a lot of self help books out there, and in that there are a lot of them that don't help. This book helps people do what they need to do to not suffer anymore. It talks about medication if needed, and other natural alternatives as well. I like how Dr. Amen stresses that it is a change in a whole lifestyle. Taking medicine, natural or not needs to be accompanied by a GOOD DIET (supplements) and EXCERCISE! For anyone that is sick of being anxious and or depressed, this book is a great place to start! He gives tools to help a person get out of feeling stuck.
Highly recommend to really read the book. Kind of like a textbook. Going back to pages if one has to, to really understand ones behavior, and what one needs to do to be healthy. Highly recommended!

This is a clever book. It is well thought out. It has clear explanations of the plants chosen and where and how they can be grown indoors. I like the variety. Fifty plants is not an overly cumbersome number so it is a manageable read. If someone has allergies some of these plants or their fragrance may be problematic. Matt Cohen MD

When I first read the book I kept wanting more. More plants, more info on each plant - then I had to remind myself the title and objective of the book was to highlight 50 plants and it only has 144 pages. Well worth $12.24.

The pictures are amazing and the information on each plants needs such as water, light, and feeding allowed me to choose which would be suitable for my home.

i highly recommend this book. it is easy to understand. the pictures are great and all of the plants are available at your local nursery.

Very clear and concise book that is also interesting to read and nice close-up pictures so you know you are buying the right plant. If you are concerned about your indoor environ and want cleaner air in your home, this should be your bible for choosing your indoor plants. With our dry Arizona indoor air, it's nice to know which plants transpire the most so we don't always have to run our humidifiers.

Not many products both clean the air and are beautiful. How to Grow Fresh Air explains how houseplants do just that. Beautiful book, well written with plenty of information, this book is wonderful.

I didn't find this book to be very helpful. It seems to be geared to having a pack of dogs as opposed to a single dog.

Either my dog is incredibly bright (okay, he is) or the book implies that dogs need far more training than I have found it to be for my dog.

My dog is completely blind. It happened over a period of a couple of months. He does very well at home and away and does not require all the aids the book suggests a blind dog might need.

My senior dog recently lost most of her vision. This book is excellent in providing ideas that work to help her navigate in the house, down the stairs and outside. The rug at the top and bottom of the steps helps her find her way and the scents added to certain door frames allowed her to find her way in and out of rooms without bumping her head or causing panic. I recommend this book to anyone who has blind or sight impaired animals.

I was devastated when my dog lost her vision. This book has helped me cope, given me reassurance and helped my dog enjoy life again. A must read for someone with a visually challenged pet.

This is a great book for someone who has a newly blind dog. Excellent tips and training advice!

I highly recommend this book if you find out your dog is going blind.
There are many good ideas in this book that will help you to help your pet adjust to the many changes they will encounter as they go through this difficult time. Some of the ideas in here have made a difference for our dog.

It is understandable why this book earned a Pulitzer for the author. Written in the early 1950's, it was the first time Civil War events were treated from a human versus fact-after-fact view. However, Shelby Foote later wrote a superior account that not only provides the human side, but also presents all the historical data.

It would be an almost impossible task for anyone to figure out just how many books have been written dealing with the American Civil War. It would also be difficult to determine which Civil War historians are most often cited by their peers but there is no doubt that Bruce Catton would be near or more likely at the top of any such list. The reason for this is quite simply that Catton was one of the great historical writers of all time. Very few people can take their readers into the heart of an army, both those of it's soldiers and leaders like Catton and even fewer convey their story in the very clear and easy to read style that this author has mastered. To read this book of pure history is in many ways like reading a historical novel and even the reader who already has a firm grasp on the historical facts of this story will sometimes find themselves wondering what happens next.

This is the story of the last campaign of the Army of the Potomac, that Ill-fated army that had so often been humiliated by Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. This campaign was to be different however because there was a new man calling the shots and having a man like U. S. Grant at the helm made all of the difference in the world. It took Grant a while though to convince this often badly led army that he was any different than his predecessors. Different he was however and once he locked horns with Lee he wasn't going to let up until one army or the other was destroyed. In other words Grant understood what had to be done and he was determined to do it.

Catton's main field of study was this man Grant but one of the author's most endearing qualities is that he makes no effort to whitewash or hide his subject's faults. Catton also does not attempt to build Grant up by tearing away at Lee like many of the more recent Grant biographers have done. He simply makes Grant's greatness apparent by telling the story the way it happened and it doesn't take long for the reader to figure out what an outstanding general Grant was.

The author has done a lot of searching through soldier's letters and memoirs as well as regimental histories and this leads to a very personal perspective of the last year of the war. The stories he has gleaned from these sources are poignant, somber, gleeful and funny. For example, one entire brigade falls out of the final advance upon Lee's army to chase down and cook some chickens that have been scattered by artillery fire. I think it was Napoleon who said something about an army traveling on it's stomach.

I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the Civil War. The hard core Civil War reader will find new information here and the casual reader will find that this book is fun to read and no one should have a problem following the story. If Amazon allowed six stars this is one of the few books that would qualify.

Part 3 of Bruce Catton's fantastic trilogy of the civil war is an interesting look at how the Army of the Potomac ended the war. From a discussion of a daring plan to plant dynamite underneath confederate lines to the chasing down of Lee's Army by Grant a true sense of what happened during the civil war can be gathered form this trilogy. An essential collection to any civil war historical library.

A Stillness at Appomattox is the last in the trilogy of the Army of the Potomac and covers from the period from late 1863/early 1864 (before the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Campaign) to April 1865 (Appomattox).

While the book is certainly heavily weighted in its coverage of the Union side, Catton is fair in his assessment of the various Union leaders. Of course, there is also the unique writing style that Catton possessed - a free flowing and smooth narrative rich with details.

My only complaint is the lack of maps. However, one must also bear in mind that the first edition was written in 1953, a time when books did not have the number of detailed maps that you would find in more recent titles.

Complaint aside, I highly recommend the book and series as the best coverage of the Union Army of the Potomac during the Civil War.

Read and enjoy!

This superb narrative about the Union's Army of the Potomac in the war's final year captured the 1954 Pulitzer Prize. The book is one of several superbly readable volumes on the Civil War by author/historian Bruce Catton (1899-1978).

This narrative covers the Army of the Potomac from the start of the brutal 1864 wilderness campaign through the war's end a year later at Appomattox. The author shows that General Ulysses S. Grant was more capable than brilliant, and fiercely determined to keep the pressure on General Lee's rebel army until the Confederates had no choice but to quit. Given the Union's advantage in men and material, the strategy made sense. What was less sensible were costly errors by Union officers, frightful casualties, and a sickening Union failure to clinch victory on the first day at Petersburg (thus reducing carnage on both sides).

The author perused many soldier diaries and letters to show us the life of the average Union enlisted man. That soldier was well-paid ($16 a month), but forced to endure boredom, rough weather, marching, stress, and dangers from disease and a tough, determined enemy.

This moving look at the last year of conflict is probably the best of Catton's narratives on the Civil War.

I truly enjoyed this book. It is somewhat parochial regarding the air force, but not awful about it. Some of the personal anecdotes were quite interesting, especially the description of the Saudi officers. I laughed out loud at the anecdote of "you are now leaving Saudi Arabia, please set your watches ahead 600 years".

This book assumes the reader has something of a military background, which isn't an issue to me but I can imagine some people struggling w/the story. If your interested in military history in the mideast, you can easily afford the day or two it will take to read this.

Boy, I certainly enjoyed this book. It really keeps you on the edge of your seat as you relive his experiences in Iraq and with GEN Schwarzkopf during the Gulf War.

With his unique first-hand experiences in Iraq and the Middle East and being fluent in Arabic, Col. Francona has certainly had a most exciting career. I'm sure he must still be an extremely valuable consultant to the Bush administration in Washington.

This is the best book I've read in quite some time!

He was right in the middle of the Iraq war with eyeball accounts of things that were happening. Great if you like behind the scenes info. Well written.

If you were an intelligence officer fluent in speaking Arabic and served in Iraq during its war with Iran and later as General Schwarzkopf's interpreter during Desert Shield and Desert Storm you would have a lot to tell that could not be found in American news reports--and Rick Francona does just that in Ally To Adversary.

This book takes you into Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, where you will come away with a better understanding of the political, military, and cultural mishmash of the region.

The book is full of revealing tidbits, such as:
--Government Control - In order to mail a letter outside of the country of Iraq, one must get government permission to buy postage stamps. A woman "sobbing quietly" told the author that she had a sister in the United States but could not correspond with her.
--Bunker Opulence - The Saudi king's bunker deep below the palace is itself an underground palace with kitchen, living areas and medical clinic, "opulent beyond description."
--Allies? - When the first Iraqi missiles hit Israeli soil, inside the coalition operations center every Saudi officer was on his feet applauding and cheering the attack.
--Monster Marines - The fighting ferocity of a small group of U.S. Marines surrounded and greatly outnumbered by Iraqi soldiers spread through the Iraqi army spawning wild perceptions about American marines. Among them: each marine had to have killed a member of his own family as a condition of entering the corps; and that marines practiced cannibalism on the bodies of their foes.

Find out why Iraq did not use chemical and biological weapons against the coalition forces.

At a time when many Americans want to understand Arab and Islamic influences and their effect on current events, Rick Francona's book is an excellent and enduring source.
As an Air Force intelligence officer, a Middle East veteran, and a fluent Arabic speaker, Rick had seen the Iraqis, first as an ally, and later as an adversary, as the title suggests. Early in the book he tells us about visiting Iraq during its long war with Iran. He visited areas of grinding combat around Al-Basrah and observed, as an ally, the army we would later face in the Persian Gulf War. His unique, first-hand observations would be invaluable later. He also entertains us with stories of life in Baghdad, once even escaping his Iraqi escort and conversing in Arabic with surprised ordinary Iraqis in the marketplace.
Later in the book, he gives us an insider's view as General Schwarzkopf's interpreter at the meeting at Safwan where Iraq was to receive surrender terms. Asked to translate instructions to the senior Iraqi representative, Rick tells us, "I translated the words into Arabic; the Iraqi interpreter, a brigadier who had spent several years living in Michigan, nodded to Sultan Hashim that my translation was correct." He ties many of his experiences together at a meeting later in the book when he finds himself facing an Iraqi major with whom he had worked during the Iran-Iraq war. "I was stunned to be now face-to-face with Majid Al-Hilawi, whom I had not seen since my last night in Baghdad at the end of the US-Iraq military relationship in 1988. I simply walked over to where Majid was sitting and offered my hand which he took warmly."
Rick Francona makes us feel like a personal witness to all these events. This is a great story from an observant eyewitness. It is all the more compelling because we saw the highlights on CNN and many of the observations will probably be relevant far into the future.

Playwright Peter Shaffer is an exceptional dramatist. His characters are unforgettable, and each one is dealing with a psychological struggle. In "Amadeus," Shaffer examines seventeenth century Vienna and the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his rival, court composer Antonio Salieri. This play shatters the view of Mozart as an innocent child prodigy, and instead paints a picture of a childish, scatologically minded, yet ultimately tormented musical genius. Trapped by the financial demands that are placed upon him, and the demands of a domineering father, Mozart strives to make his music and to be excepted.
The main focus of the play is upon Salieri, whom the audience sees as a sweetmeat loving, conniving schemer who is appalled by Mozart's new ideas and manner. However, Salieri is not one demensional. He is a sympathetic character, who wrestles with his conscience. Feeling betrayed by a god who shows favoritism, he recounts his desire to make music that will provide him with unsurpassable fame. However, his music is ordinary when compared with Mozart's genius, and Salieri is fully aware of this whereas ordinary citizens of Vienna are not. Vowing revenge, Salieri decides to lash out at Mozart: "God's Flute," therefore providing an opportunity for a terrifying confrontation in which Mozart is driven into madness and early death. Everyone can relate to the character of Salieri because we have all felt betrayed when our own specific talents were regarded as inferior to someone else's.
Shaffer introduces us to two tortured individuals who are nevertheless sympathetic and unforgettable. Please give this play a chance.

When I was younger, I almost never reread anything. My hunger was so voracious that I gobbled up a book and then rapaciously moved on to the next. But as I've aged, I read less frantically, returning again and again to a few works that especially move me. At the top of the list of such works are the plays of Peter Shaffer. And at the top of that list is his masterpiece "Amadeus."

What I find remarkable about Shaffer's "Amadeus" isn't so much the title character, Mozart, as the character who becomes Mozart's nemesis, Antonio Salieri. Salieri is one of the great tragic figures in literature. He's an individual who appears to genuinely love musical beauty, and who genuinely wants to dedicate his life to it. (In an early scene, for example, he makes a deal with God. "Signore," he begs, "let me be your flute, your mouthpiece. Let me produce absolute beauty. In return, I'll be your slave.") But Salieri is also a hopeless mediocrity. He knows good music when he hears it, but he's simply unable to create it himself. His compositions are acceptable, and sometimes even pleasing to the ear. But when compared with the music of Mozart, they reveal themselves for what they are: technically proficient, but utterly uninspired. The awareness of his own mediocrity, coupled with his absolute yearning for beauty and his life-destroying jealousy of/admiration for Mozart, is the heart of the play. (Milos Forman's 1984 cinematic production of the play unfortunately rewrites the script to put Mozart rather than Salieri centerstage, thereby missing the whole point.)

When one thinks about it--and I believe that this is what makes Shaffer's play so poignant and profound--Salieri is everyperson. Let's face it: most of us are mediocre. We fall somewhere in that great middle zone of "average." We'll never be able to create artworks that express the yearning for beauty that even the dimmest of us occasionally feel.

As if that's not bad enough, the world, as Shaffer demonstrates in his play, is unforgiving of mediocrity when it comes to art. One can work like a demon, as Salieri does, but it's genius that the world wants, genius that the world demands, and genius that the world rewards. Moreover, the creative genius is allowed anything by the admiring world--in fact, the world expects its geniuses to walk to the beat of a countercultural drummer. The mediocre artist, however, is allowed no latitude whatsoever in personal lifestyle.

The paradox of this situation, as well as the horrible burden of mediocrity felt by artists like Salieri (and the rest of us), is the tragic message of "Amadeus." When Salieri at play's end tells us, in his decrepitude and madness, that we can pray to him when we feel the sting of our own shortcomings and he will bless us, most of us ought to shiver. For, after all, we don't want our mediocrity blessed, do we? And yet the tragedy of the human condition is that, blessed or not, it's what we are. And so Shaffer leaves us with this question: how do we overcome our Salieri-like resentment and frustration at not being able to create beauty long enough simply to appreciate beauty when we encounter it?

The best part of the book is the introduction, which tells of the changes made to the script over the years, based on on-going research by the author. I saw the movie and the play, then bought the script in order to compare the different renderings of this amazing story.

Peter Shaffer's award-winning and highly popular play AMADEUS is in many ways a morality play but seen through the eyes of a complicated postmodern villain. The play is called AMADEUS but the chief character of the story is Antonio Salieri. Salieri is the Court Composer for Emperor Joseph II of Austria during the end of the 18th Century. He is held in esteem not only by the Emperor and Court, but by the masses as well. Then Amadeus Mozart makes his way to the Austrian Court at Salzburg and Salieri recognizes in the young man a musical genius superior to anything musical he has ever heard. He becomes enraged with bitter jealousy. Feeling that God has abandoned him and given the talent that he has trained to develop and possess his entire life, Salieri declares a war against God that he will fight on the battleground that is Amadeus Mozart.

AMADEUS is a fantastic play. Author Peter Shaffer has revised the play several times since its first performance in 1979 and this version of the show (written twenty years later in 1999) is in my opinion the best because it is the one that portrays Salieri more than just an evil man, but as a human being that the audience and readers can relate to and actually understand somewhat. A must see play that anyone who enjoys theatre should be familiar with.

Like a newspaper article, theatre has to convey its story with an economy of words.

In this way, great playwriting is a rare skill much like land the penny toss at the carnival and Shaffer is that rare playwriter who accomplishes his task so seemingly effortlessly.

Deftly, Shaffer tosses his Amadeus and Saliere together and in so doing plays each against their type rendering his Amadeus into the simple squeezebox which provides the background for the languid single note of Saliere's mournful jealousy.

What's so amazing is that in telling us the story of Amadeus' art, Shaffer shares important insights about his own. Don't have too many or too few notes but just the right number. Don't be so flashy in being good that people concentrate on the flashiness instead of the point.

And don't become so engrossed in your art that you lose sight of the ultimate ends it was meant to service in the first place.

Whether we are each more Amadeus or more Saliere we can connect with this play.