Charles Williams Books

This book gives great insight in to the true meaning of African American slaves songs. This book also discusses the origin and uses of the songs and provides footnotes for most of the colloquials and variations in dialect for each song.

Those who love spirituals often find the origins of spirituals in general to be elusive, if not impossible to track with any degree of reliability. Though this collection of spirituals is quite limited in terms of being highly localized (versus attempting to comprehend all of the spirituals of all of the South), it covers many of the best-loved Negro spirituals. Published first in 1867, it provides perhaps the strongest link for the largest grouping of spirituals, contemporaneous (or nearly so) with the music it attempts to capture.

For those who love the Negro spiritual, this is a 'must have' for your collection.

There are 136 songs in this book, most of which are no longer sung. They are simply amazing, musically and theologically. An example: "Come and Go With Me", collected in Augusta, GA, presents a major scale with a flat 6th and 7th, and the tune ends on the 4th. Unfortunately, the collectors, as went on for generations as standard procedure, did not acknowledge the names of any of their sources. The original "Michael Row the Boat Ashore" is in here; it is a rowing song from the sea islands, addressed to the archangel Michael as a prayer for safe passage; these lyrics are more striking than the familiar ones. Here are the complete lyrics to "Come and Go With Me", which is singular both in its scale and its notion that heaven is in the present, to be accepted rather than earned:

Ole Satan is a busy ole man
He roll stones in my way
Master Jesus is my bosom friend
He roll 'em out my way

Oh, come and go with me
Oh, come and go with me
Oh, come and go with me
A-walking in the heaven I roam

I did not come here myself my Lord
It was my Lord who brought me here
And I really do believe I'm a child of God
A-walking in the heaven I roam

Oh, come and go with me
Oh, come and go with me
Oh, come and go with me
A-walking in the heaven I roam

It was reported that the freed slaves did not want to remember their old songs. And we all have reasons for forgetting a painful past. But look at these songs; they are the heart and soul's truth of life. It is not too late to learn from these people. Put this music in your heart.

Water spring that never dry, Hallelu, Hallelu
The more we dig, the more it spring, Hallelujah!

Yes, you are responsible your happiness and your life. That is not new and almost every book in the area of self-help will tell you that. But this book cover much more topics than such issue. The author in his 20 to 30 year of practice as a therapist have compiled a list of what he perceives to be permanent points of conflict for us humans, so he tried to present a comprehensive list of those situations together with a "key" for the reader so he/she could determine by itself it such key could place it a different floor from which the person can look at its troubles from a new perspective. Nevertheless, this is not a "how-to" book, it just conveys little droplets of wisdom here and there that are not linked by any particular type of inner logic (or at least I did not saw it).

This book squarely puts responsibility for our choices and our happiness where it belongs, on our own shoulders. No fixations can absolve us from the responsibility to be as happy as we can, as productive as we can, in short, the best we can be. This book gets the message across without debunking very real situations and depressions that we are all prey to from time to time.

This is a total winner! Whether you're "growing up" in your 20's, or having to find your way decades later, Spezzano does a top-notch job of coalescing much of what's pertinent (or what should be so)about life as an adult. It's really all about perceptions, and how we see ourselves and those around us, and how we then manage to relate to each other. We're all the sum of our experiences, and what Spezzano brings to the table is clarity on what makes us what we are, and what we'd like to become. This is not a simple "how to" guide to becoming an overnight "success," but rather it provides substance on understanding life's curveballs, and handling them better. It's an enjoyable and excellent read, and as applicable today as when it was written.

I have used this book to define every scientific term and vocabulary word assigned since freshman year in Highschool. It is a complete refrence for every aspect of the Congnitive Sciences. If you were stuck on a desert island this book will help you do everything from convert sand into a seaworthy ship to finish your honors chemestry report on the ionization of Calcitrate. What is Thermal Latency? It has the meaning as used in 8 fields of science, from Thermal Dynamics to Engineering. The book even has illustrations and models.

Boasting of more than 2,400 pages of well-illustrated references and definitions, this "Academic Press Dictionary of Science and Technology" offers a fantastic value. It provides all you need in a single-volume. It is accessible and versatile. Its authority is unquestionable.
However, it biggest sin is that since 1992 it surfaced, Academic Press has failed to revise and keep it up-to-date. Also, the weight of this book is so heavy that having a CD-ROM version of it is necessary. Nevertheless, I still appreciate its value.

This has got to be one of the best Algebra/math books i have ever used. It's clear and the examples are great. It's better then the textbooks used in most high schools.

service is good. Book condiction is so so.

I found this book in an english shopping mall called Bluewater in Kent at a branch of Jerry's Home Store! The book is very easy to use, well laid out and the food is always fantastic. It has made me look for other titles by the same authors.

this book has a great mango smoothie recipe & some nice dessert recipes. i love the photographs that accompany each recipe - the full left page of each is a picture.

Charles B. Dew describes the relationship between master and slave in a manufacturing setting. His 1994 book Bond of Iron, Master and Slave at Buffalo Forge, as the title suggests, is the story of industrial slavery but in a plantation setting. Under a pragmatic master, slave ironworkers, because of their special skills, were able to exert a degree control over their lives. Specialized knowledge, so essential for the operation, effectively gave them a measure of power over their master. Dew's thesis is that coercion had its limits in the setting of industrial slavery at Buffalo Forge and that slave laborers were able to use the system to affect a degree of control over their own lives.

Dividing his book into three parts, Dew writes first about the master William Weaver, a Pennsylvanian investor. Contrary to his antislavery Dunker and northern origins, Weaver embraced slavery in his adopted home in western Virginia to become an enduring and wealthy iron master. Even though he came from an antislavery family and was a realistic self-seeking master, his real feelings about slavery are known by what he in fact did: he owned, used, and profited from slaves. Without resorting to physical violence, Weaver nonetheless maintained control by selling slaves who proved recalcitrant. Daniel Brady, his nephew, succeeded William Weaver when he died in 1863.

Dew next describes the lives of six of Weaver's more skilled slaves and how they were able to use the task and overwork system to improve their lot in life. The task and overwork system was an incentive and reward system for certain skilled slaves. Weaver credited them for work completed over and above a certain minimum. One of these slaves, Sam Williams, even had his own savings account. Sam, one of Weaver's master refiners, was able to earn extra money for production above his weekly task and had it deposited in a local bank. Another was Henry Towles a skilled forge man. Another, Tooler, used the system to his advantage and, once his quota was met, would do over-work only as he saw fit. His skill as the "best chaffery forgeman William Weaver had" (197) gave him a degree of control over his life. Harry Hunt, Jr. was one of the most versatile slaves filling in for other slaves as necessary. Henry Mathews, another capable slave, could do work at the forge or on the plantation with equal aplomb. He was "the ultimate jack-of-all-trades." (204) Dew reconstructs the Garland Thomson family history through forge records and present-day descendants. It is a story of "pride and the image of strength." (211)

In the third part Dew discusses the effects of the Civil War on Buffalo Forge and how the bond between master and slave evolved after emancipation. The forge was uncompetitive in the new economic order and soon was forced to close down. Former slaves, unable to afford land of their own, turned to sharecropping to eke out a living on the plantation or dispersed.

Dew uses a large body of records fortuitously discovered by dogged research to describe as completely as possible slave life in one location leading up to the Civil War, during the war and the early antebellum years. Important evidence in Dew's analysis is the information about slave payments and purchases gleaned from the "Negro Books" dating from 1830-1861. These were the overwork ledgers at Buffalo Forge. Dew uses them to show how much extra work was done and how earnings were spent. Slaves were allowed to take payment in cash or kind in the company store. The accounts show when purchases were made and what items were bought. Individual slave ledgers demonstrate personal priorities and values. Between master and slave this was an important benefit for slaves. By their own choice they took advantage of the task and overwork system to earn money.

Other than in agriculture, who were the workers in the slave South and were they able to improve their conditions within the slave system? One fundamental precept evident at Buffalo Forge and continuing into reconstruction is the plantation mentality of Southern industrialists. Dew shows that at Buffalo Forge at least slave labor was extremely valuable in Virginia iron making. Weaver rewarded skilled slaves who were able to thus improve their lives. The master, William Weaver, actually preferred slaves to white workers. White workers, transient in nature and prone to drunkenness, were in his opinion unsatisfactory. Cheap labor was seen as a Southern advantage in competition with Northern industry. However because of the ready availability of poorly motivated, cheap, and unskilled labor, contemporary industrialists, unlike Weaver, neglected incentives to improve social conditions.

What was the effect of Weaver's system? Weaver's operation was set up on a plantation to take advantage of local resources, i.e. water, iron, and charcoal. Sloss Furnace, in Birmingham, AL, was similarly located on the site of available resources. Weaver was willing to invest in order to set up his operation and keep it running, but once it was established, he was content. If the market was not quite right for iron, he had his agricultural plantation to hold him over. He would hold back sales of bar iron until the price rose. His slaves were multi-tasked and able to work at the forge or in agriculture. His emphasis was on stability and not innovation. Weaver was unwilling to shift from the tilt-hammer method rather than investing in a modern rolling mill such as at the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond. Similarly at Sloss, innovation was selectively applied to husband capital where cheap labor could be used, even if it was less efficient.

Dew describes an industrial operation in the predominantly agricultural antebellum South. The relationship between the forge master and his slave is most striking. The records Dew researched are unique and valuable and they permit a greater understanding of slavery as a whole. Dew's effort has resulted in a remarkable and valuable treatise on slavery in an industrial setting.

This is a new, different telling of an old story. It really challenges what many have come to believe about slavery and the relationship between master and servant. Highlights the distinction between skilled and unskilled labor that is at the core of so many social problems (race, sex, class), yet is so often overlooked.

As unlikely as it may seem, the foundation for Norfolk Southern's management style can be found within the pages of these two books. Brosnan had quite a role in the earliest days of Norfolk Southern and certainly was no admirer of Norfolk And Western as Volume 2 makes abundantly clear.

It is shocking to read of the horrid treatment so many received at the hands of this man. Morgret strives mightly to depict Brosnan in a positive light, but the autocratic manner in which he ruled Southern Railway comes through loud and clear.

For all the blather about Brosnan's "innovations", the case could be made he was simply lucky to have the booming economy of the 1960's Deep South to work with. Al Perlman of New York Central was just as quick to adopt modernized technology and management styles, but was unsuccessful because of the economic situation within the northeast US during the same time period.

This book is highly recommended as one of the best depictions of modern era railroad management.

The evolution of the railroad business was forseen and then affected more by one man than by the entire rest of the industry. The life-story of Bill Brosnan is a compelling account of a man obsessed with ensuring the long term viability of railroads in general and the Southern Railroad in particular. Some readers may be discouraged from reading this book due to its length, but for those who do start it in earnest, learning of Brosnan's timely intiatives and inventions and observing his unique management style make this book hard to put down. The book's sub-title, "The Railroad's Mesiah" is well put and if you have any interest in 20th century railroading or just in business biographies, this book is full of surprises.

Charles Williams died prematurely in 1945. If he had not, I suspect he would have been at least as well known as his great friend C.S.Lewis and almost as much read as his other Oxford
'Inkling' friend J.R.R.Tolkien. He is the most intellectually rigorous of them, shared their enthusiasm for books like E.R.Eddison's The Worm Oroborous and David Lindsay's A Voyage to Arcturus, and wrote books of considerable originality and strangeness. Many Dimensions, for instance, deals with Islamic spirituality (via Sufism and its Persian elements) as thoroughly as Descent into Hell deals with Christian theology. Williams's
sense of evil and what evil actually is was far stronger and better worked out that the more conventional villainies of Tolkien, Lewis or some of the lesser Inklings. This is a very fine introduction to his best work, which always starts straight in with a bang and never lets up, taking twists and turns which remain absolutely original, can be utterly terrifying, yet rarely leave the familiar world of the 1930s. He is an absorbing and addictive writer whose work has much to say to us on many levels and who should be read by anyone who enjoys ambitious and adult fantasy of the kind offered by Jonathan Carroll, Michael Moorcock or some of the great modern English fantasts.

I have recently begun rereading Tolkien, Lewis, and now Charles Williams. In my reading I have discovered the debt I owe to these mid-twentieth century writers. Their messages are harmonious and I find that I have incorporated them into my life to a degree I had not realized.

I have just finished Descent Into Hell from this compilation. Some of Williams' themes include: respect for truth, beginning with respect for fact; the interrelationship between people as a necessary part of life; acceptance of what exists, for life as it comes rather than worrying or wishing it were different (this is useful when the air conditioning doesn't work); and the knowledge of a deep underpinning of joy in our lives - "peace I give to you." These themes consciously shape my life every day, and I had forgotten that they are best expressed in the writings of Williams, Lewis and Tolkien.

I can't think of greater praise for a book or set of books, and this book certainly deserves my thanks.

Williams' writing is interesting. He cannot simply narrate events because his ideas are deep and complex. So each chapter is a balance between metaphysical description, either from a characters viewpoint or as simple exposition, and plot action. This works surprisingly well in his work. Williams slides from metaphor to metaphor and ties diverse plot lines into the same locale or set of events. The reading is rich but not difficult. The premises and their implications are fun and reminiscent of Philip K. Dick. These books - at least the two I've read - are fun and page turners.

If you like good Christian literature that will shape your life even as you enjoy it, I recommend Charles Williams.

I have been using this series as I teach my six chidren at home. The authors have done an excellent job of bringing us the best of the original McGuffy Readers, returning to the contents of the first series, not those later published under his name. My children are discovering a nobler time and way of life as they learn the basics with these fine readers. The study guide is simple to use with many practical exercises and examples. The only reason for less than five stars seems to be the quality of the paper and binding. In the noble effort to keep costs down, the durability of the product suffers. I am hoping for a hard bound edition. Should one appear, the publishers should be prepared for greater sales than the previous edition. Such excellent content deserves an equally excellent binding with the ability withstand being read again and again.

These are the original 1837 McGuffey Readers before the secular revisions, with slight revisions of archaic grammar. Four Readers and a Study Guide show you how to teach your children to reason cogently, speak persuasively, write clearly--all in a Christian framework. Each lesson has moral and intellectual content, and offers an impressive vocabulary. Words progress from 'learn,' 'keep,' in the early grades to 'assiduity, profligate, efficacious, calcaneous, penury, communition, execrated' in high school. Lessons are followed by spell/define exercises, and thoughtful questions. Ex.: "Is it not better to be industrious and possess a good name than to possess many riches?" "What is the effect of making public opinion the rule of life?" "Have we not reason to rejoice that we live where we may hear the glad tidings of salvation?" Each lesson begins with a basic rule of reading and elocution. Study Guide ties each original lesson to a biblica! l theme. There are 10 years of 36 weekly lessons (grades 1-10). Instructions on teaching reading aloud, public speaking, good writing habits, memorization, logic, love for language as one of God's gifts. Many famous authors like Blackthorn, Shakespeare, Bacon, Irving figure prominently. By the time a child begins the third reader he will have surpassed most of today's high schoolers. Mastery of the fourth reader puts him beyond most college students. Any adult can read the selections with profit. You'll be awed at what was once accomplished in American schools, and resolved that your children grow up with the same advantages. The lessons cover a broad range of worthy topics including history, geography, poetry, and virtue. These are just reading selections,however, and do not as such offer instruction in phonics or grammar. Some of the 19th-century perspecitves are quaint, even funny. These lessons are intended for Christian parents who homeschool their children. ! I'm happy to learn from them myself. I see the sublime ed! ucational value of these lessons, and see the great need for moral and spiritual training for young people. These lessons will provide those in spades.

William J. Palmer's literary mystery stretches the form without crossing the line. Charles Dickens tackles impressively (readers with ancient leg injuries which occasionally act up may wish to avert their eyes) & swims fairly well under pressure. Wilkie Collins conquers a potentially disastrous case of priggishness & may be making serious advances against chronic foppery. Inspector William Field, Irish Meg Sheehey, & the extravagantly gifted Talley Ho Thompson, some sort of grinning dervish genius pickpocket Robin Hood, but watch your watch, all come to life easily & naturally, unburdened by heavy novelistic responsibilities. Ellen Ternan is only awfully pretty so far, but may turn interesting as she ages up nearer to legal. Read the next one, if you can procure a copy anywhere (Amazon seems out), & there may be a third. Palmer can write, & knows how to drop an occasional pearl of wisdom lightly, without needlessly infuriating his patrons. There is a single profoundly unfortunate multi-layer allusion & one short example of illicit typography, but these petty faults are easily overbalanced by genuinely sane handling of the early death of Dickens' daughter Dora plus the best Victorian wenchfight I have ever read. A bonafide romp. This fun is serious. Buy it.

Dr. Joe Palmer was one of my English professors at Purdue University. This novel (and the two "sequels") display the same enthusiasm and love of the Victorian era he brought to the classroom. These books provide interesting historical and biographical details, but are by no means too high-brow or scholarly for mystery fans. If you like Anne Perry, you must read Joe Palmer.