Oklahoma Books

BY HIS OWN HAND? THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF MERIWETHER LEWIS surveys the evidence in the strange death of explorer Lewis, who was found dead from two gunshot wounds while staying at an inn in Tennessee. Who fired these shots may never be fully known, but BY HIS OWN HAND takes a healthy stab at a case with no eyewitnesses. Contributors here are all historians of the West and conduct investigations making the case for different results, with editor Guice dissecting the suicide argument and outlining inconsistencies in the theory.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

By His Own Hand? is a valuable addition to the Lewis and Clark literature. The centerpieces of this slim volume are two extended essays, one by James Holmberg of the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, the other by John D.W. Guice, professor of history emeritus at the University of Southern Mississippi.

In "The Case for Suicide," Jim Holmberg does an excellent job of setting out the evidence that Meriwether Lewis committed suicide in the early morning hours of October 11, 1809. The strength of Holmberg's essay is the overwhelming support of documentary evidence that the people closest to Lewis, including William Clark and Thomas Jefferson, believed he was in a suicidal frame of mind. Holmberg also points out that the supposed tradition of murder did not begin until the 1840s, many decades after Lewis died, when the residents of the area formed Lewis County and began to embrace the legacy of their most famous, if deceased, resident. William Clark's son, Meriwether Lewis Clark, may have also played a role in attempting to rescue his namesake from the stigma of suicide.

By contrast, those who believe Lewis was murdered have never been able to muster much evidence against any of the many suspects and rely heavily on the dubious supposition that Lewis simply wasn't the type to commit suicide. There are big holes in all the murder theories. Fictional accounts such as Frances Hunter's "To the Ends of the Earth: The Last Journey of Lewis and Clark" can fill in such gaps, but no documentary evidence exists that can do so in real life.

Yet Guice's essay, "Why Not Murder?" is more valuable than the confused tales of murder in the night might suggest. Guice points out that, starting with Thomas Jefferson, there has been a long history of retrofitting Lewis's life and actions to point to a suicidal nature. Scholars often point to Lewis's 31st birthday journal entry. Written literally as the Expedition was poised to become the first Americans to cross the Continental Divide, Lewis seems to lament the fact that he's never accomplished a doggone thing in his life. But is this really evidence that Lewis was self-destructive or a raging depressive? And how about the missing journals, or Lewis's failures in politics after the Expedition? Might there be explanations other than mental illness?

Guice does a good job of showing that when interpreted through the assumption of suicide, Lewis's foibles seem much more ominous than they would otherwise. He also points out that the suicide tradition is based largely on hearsay, and calls for an exhumation of Lewis's body to search for forensic evidence that might settle the question once and for all. He notes that over 200 Lewis relatives signed a petition asking the National Park Service for permission to examine the remains, but the NPS denied the request.

I also appreciated Guice's defense of Vardis Fisher, whose Suicide or Murder? (1962) doesn't always get the respect it deserves. Fisher did yeoman's work in compiling the stories about Lewis's death, and his work on the subject remains the most complete on the subject.

There are some good primary source documents included in By His Own Hand?, and an excellent round-up of the arguments by Jay Buckley of Brigham Young University. This anthology is highly readable and well-edited and will be enjoyed with anyone with an interest in Lewis's sad fate.

You talk about true crime, this puts them all to shame. Or was it a crime? For almost two centuries scholars, criminologists, medical professionals and a host of other sleuths have tried to determine what caused the death of Meriwether Lewis of the famed Lewis and Clark Expedition. Was it a suicide, a homicide, or an accident? The shooting on October 11, 1809, in an Inn along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee has created much controversy, speculation, legends, and myths and yet the mystery has not been solved. Or has it? This book is the first to analyze the evidence and, within the full historical context, consider the murder-versus-suicide debate. Four historians outline the facts and present the evidentiary problems; make a case for suicide...and murder; assess the strengths and weaknesses of both arguments; and present a document section from which the reader can examine the available key evidence. What ultimately caused the death of Meriwether Lewis? YOU decide.

After reading "Archaeology of the Land of the Bible" by Amihai Mazar and "Who were the Early Israelites and Where did they come from?" by William Dever, it seemed to me that this book on the Canaanites would be a useful complement to these two works. It was published relatively recently (1998) as part of the "Peoples of the Past" series, and I felt that the author has sufficient scholarly credentials for it to be reasonably objective. It is a fairly short book (160 pages) and its primary focus is on the archaeological and written evidence of the peoples of the land of Canaan from the earliest the period c 8500BCE up to the conquest of the Persian Empire by Alexander the Great in 332BCE.

As with other informative books on archaeology about "The Land of the Bible", there is an introductory chapter which reviews basic assumptions, and this is important because it lets the reader know in advance where the author is coming from. In this chapter, the author defines the ancient land of Canaan as covering the modern states of Israel, Jordan, and Parts of Syria and that the evidence presented in his book demonstrates a population continuity such that the Canaanites known to the writers of the biblical texts are to be seen as the same people who settled in farming villages in the 8th millenium, and that these peoples spoke a Semitic language whose closest modern relatives would be Syriac and Hebrew

The findings from the major archaeological sites up to the end of the Bronze Age are described in Chapters 2 to 5:
Chapter 2: Prehistory: The Neolithic and Chalcolithic Periods (8500 to 3300BC)
Chapter 3: The Early Bronze Age and the Rise of Urbanism (3300 to 2400BC)
Chapter 4: Economic Recession: The Early Bronze IV Interlude (2400 to 2000BC)
Chapter 5: The Middle Bronze Age and the Hyksos (2000 to 1550BC)
Chapter 6: The Imposition of Empire: The Late Bronze Age (1550 to 1150BC)

After reading Chapters 2 and 3, I realized that the author was covering much of the same ground as Dr Mazar in his book "Archaeology of the Land of the Bible". So from then on I read the two books in parallel, which was a useful comparative exercise. While there are some differences in emphasis, Dr Mazar provides considerably more detail, is more analytical about the archaeological evidence and very careful about his conclusions. Professor Tubbs, on the other hand, has a more interpretative approach which becomes clear, for example, in his analysis of the Hyksos Dynasties of Egypt (Dynasties 15-17). He considers this era to have been an imposition on Egypt of the Canaanite civilization which was probably directed by an aristocratic elite of non-Semitic people known as the Maryannu and Hurrians, who seem to have infiltrated and integrated into the Semitic population of Syria during the beginning of the 2nd millenium BC.

Chapters 7 to 10 deal with the invasions of Egypt and Canaan by the Sea Peoples and the rise, division, and destruction of the kingdoms of Israel
Chapter 7: Sea Peoples and Egypto-Canaan
Chapter 8: The Early Iron Age and the Rise of Israel (1150 to 900BC)
Chapter 9: The Late Iron Age (900 to 539BC)
Chapter 10: The Persian Period (539 to 332BC)

I found the discussion on the origin, invasion, and settlement of the Sea peoples to be most interesting, since I have yet to find a book which adequately covers that particular event. In Chapters 8 to 10, however, the descriptions seem to rely more on the biblical texts than on the archaeological evedence, although the author does present fairly detailed descriptions of the excavations at the important site of Tell es-Sa'idiyeh with which he has first hand knowledge. This is a site on the E side of the Jordan valley about 30 km east of Samaria, the capital of later kings of the northern kingdom of Israel.

The final chapter entitled "The Canaanite legacy: the Greeks, Romans, Phoenicians and beyond" briefly covers the return of the Exiles, the Hasmonean (Maccabean) monarchy, and the fortunes of the last Canaanites - the Phoenicians of the Lebanon, and their North African colony of Carthage - before those people were absorbed into the main stream of the Roman dominated Mediterranean civilization.

The maps showing major sites at the beginning of the book, and the photographs, particularly the colour plates, were quite helpful, while the notes, chronological chart, books for further reading, and the index at the end of the book were less so. In summary, I found Prof. Mazar's book to be generally more informative, although Prof. Tubbs does provide some interesting insights on the topics which are more completely covered in his book. I do think, though, that his book provides a good introductory overview on this subject, but if you are interested in detail, then I would recommend Mazar's book. For my part I am quite happy to have both!

The book begins with coverage of Canaanite beginnings in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic Periods (8500-3300 bce) and continues through the Late Iron Age (900-539 bce). It does conclude with a synopsis of Canaanite connections to Phoenicians subsequent Carthaginian ties concluding with the close of the third Punic War. The bulk of the detail of Canaanite culture, however, is provided for the periods between 8500 bce and 539 bce.

The author (Jonathan N. Tubb)has directed the British Museum's excavations at Tell es-Sa'idiyeh in present-day Jordan since 1985 and is curator of Syria-Palestine within the Western Asiatic Department of the British Museum.

Tubb provides easy-to-read details of ancient international trading systems between the Canaanites and other culture groups from the Egyptians and Mycenaeans to Indus River Valley peoples. Though based primarily on archeological evidence to infer Canaanite culture habits, the book also objectively takes into account many historically accurate aspects from written records both Biblical and secular.

Extra-cultural influences upon the Canaanites are inferred through changing burial techniques (particularly Canaanite shaft tombs), architecture, and to a lesser extent, pottery styles. Evidence from archeological sites in Persia and Egypt show how widespread trade was even at such an early time in ancient history.

Pieces of the archeological puzzle are fit together with historical written records to show when and where new culture groups began to settle in the region and what eventually became of the Canaanites. The power vacuum left after the fall of the Egyptian empire allowed for expansion of new groups such as the Sea Peoples from southwestern Anatolia and the Aegean that settled in the Gaza area (of whom included the Philistines), and the Hebrews who eventually established the Kingdom of Israel around the Jordan River in Judea and Samaria. The author posits that the Israelites were in fact a sub-set of Canaanite culture and many parallels are drawn in the book on this point.

I found the book to be very informative and easy to follow. There are both color and black and white photos of Canaanite artifacts and sites in the book that really help to bring about a better understanding of the text you read. A very informative and enjoyable book!

This is an informative, balanced work that will reward an archeology student or patient layman with a fuller understanding of the Canaanite culture/structure. This includes how the cities of Canaan interacted with their neighbors (particularly Egypt), the infiltration of the various "Sea Peoples", Hebrew/Israelite conquest and control, as well as what Canaan gave to the world (the basis of our alphabet), and finally insight into Canaanite culture's powerful Phoenician/Carthaginian descendents.

Canaanites relies primarily on archaeological data. This is both a strength and a weakness since it removes much of the speculative Biblical interpretations (and many agenda.) While the archaeological finds are interesting, they are most interesting when placed into a recognizable historical context and that most often means Biblical, Egyptian or Ugarit type texts. The author often fails to provide this historical context until late in a chapter or in the book, instead leaving the reader to slog through the list of stratum, dates, and Tells looking for a familiar landmark. The work is well written, but for those unfamiliar with the sites and geology/terrain, the book demands a considerable learning curve to be appreciated.

The crucial early summary of Canaan and Canaanites is lost or fragmented among the discussion of how to approach and interpret the archaeology.
Unless one is already intimately familiar with the geology of the Levant, a geographic atlas map is a necessary companion. The two small outline maps provide a fine list of sites, but little else to guide the reader through the geographical text.

Despite the above criticisms, I recommend this book to anyone seeking a balanced, archaeological approach to Canaan's history and peoples, but be cautioned that this is not a work suited for skimming. The author's reasoning and approach to various issues appear sound.

I have some sentimental connection to this book, as my dad did went to Fort Sill for artillery training in the early 1950s.

While it's true this book tells the story of the southern Plains Indians Wars from an Army perspective, that's to be expected, as this story is about an Army fort and Army cavalry of the era.

That said, this is a great book to get a feel of that era on the saddle, especially if you combine it with something like "40 Miles a Day on Beans and Hay."

An excellent, very detailed history of the Southwestern Oklahoma frontier, the conflicts with the Comanches and Kiowas, and this important military post. As should be expected given Colonel Nye's background and the focus of the book, it is written from a military perspective. The book contains a wealth of information and is well worth reading by those interested in its subject matter. Other accounts of the wars and the reasons for the clash of cultures on the Southwestern Frontier after the Civil War may be found in Comanches: The Destruction of a People by Fehrenbach and The Buffalo War by Haley; or a later compilation by Nye of the tales told him by the Kiowas, entitled Bad Medicine and Good.

Having lived in SW Oklahoma off and on for my entire life, I am fascinated with the history of the area. All those places I had visited so often I can now tie to events long before my time.

Aside from solidifying my bonds to the region, COL Nye weaves an interesting and exciting tale of the Plains Indians and the rapidly growing USA. If your knowledge of frontier life comes from John Wayne movies (not that there's anything wrong with that), this book will open your eyes to the whole story.

Crown Oklahoma is shorthand for putting a dome on the capitol. The narrator is the one-eyed lieutenant governor of the Sooner State. The lieutenant governor is also referred to a the second man. His son Tommy Walt plays semi-professional baseball. He is a pitcher. His wife is the founder and the owner of a chain of drive-through markets. Tommy Walt seems to collapse at his job handling baggage for the bus company. He does a riff on lost and mislaid luggage when his father locates him. There is a concern, raised by a national television news story, that a Mafia-type organization exists in Oklahoma. The narrator runs down one suspect, Boomer Sooner, who is in the transportation business as the driver and owner of a single bus. This is not a good prospect for the role of master criminal. Then a bomb blows the guy to bits. Investigators surmise that since the news reports indicated Boomer was part of a new group impinging on mob activity, the mob had him killed. The fallout from climbing the golden ladder to anchordom is described and elaborated in the book. The tales get taller as things proceed. Son Tommy Walt continues to experience difficulty and the excuse given is that he is a pitcher. The crown Oklahoma project is laughable, particularly when planners wonder if it could be made to pay for itself. Oklahoma Indian Territoy was opened up on first-come basis for land claims. Sooners were cheaters, they snuck in ahead of time.

I read this book because I loved The One Eyed Mack in "Kick the Can". I did enjoy "Crown Oklahoma" very much, but I must say that it is no "Kick the Can".

I was particularly intrigued by the story line, and how timely it is today in light of the Jayson Blair and Dan Rather scandals. It is almost as if Mr. Lehrer predicted such events.

It was great to be reunited with Mack, Jackie, and "Leutenant Dad", and it was a very enjoyable book. I highly recommend that you do not read this until you have read "Kick the Can" first.

Wonderful expression of the Oklahoma spirit, mindset and humor! A terrific place and a delightful book.

After reading Albright's first Viv Powers mystery, "Tulsa Time," I was committed to keeping an eye on this intriguing new series. "Daredevil's Apprentice" doesn't disappoint, thoughtfully melding mystery with Cherokee lore, interesting characters, and even humor.

With the second "Viv Powers" mystery out and a third due in 2004, author Letha Albright has a bona fide SERIES on her hands. And what's the most important thing in a series? The lead character, of course.

And heroine Viv Powers has character in spades. She's passionate, intelligent, wry... and very good at being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her day job is writing for a regional magazine, but she picks up a new night job -- sleuthing -- when a land dispute leaves two people dead. Who's to blame? The men who want to open a racetrack in Talequah? Any one of several townspeople, all of whom seem to have motive? Or even Utlunta, a Cherokee legend that might actually exist? Albright keeps the reader guessing until the very end.

The book starts off a tad slow, but the second half runs at a full gallop until the conclusion. There also seems to be a love-triangle-in-the-making: Viv is going to have to choose between her current boyfriend (Charley, a musician) and an ex-lover (Hutch, a detective). Too many peripheral characters clutter the pace at times, but it's otherwise a twisting, turning gem of a mystery. The plotline dealing with Utlunta, a Cherokee witch with a deadly stone finger, makes for truly chilling moments.

Pick up Albright's debut, "Tulsa Time," then read "Daredevil's Apprentice," then wait in line like the rest of us for more Viv Powers books. If you live in Tulsa or Talequa, Oklahoma, there's extra incentive to read these books, as Albright does an excellent job describing these locales.

Letha Albright has a wide range of experience as a journalist, wilderness guide, a sawmill worker, and lately as editor of School & Community, a magazine for Missouri teachers. She earned her master's degree in journalism at the University of Missouri and lives in Columbia, Missouri with her husband, two children, and a cat. This is the second Viv Powers mystery.

Set in Cherokee County, Oklahoma, Daredevil's Apprentice finds Viv Powers bored stiff working at the "Green County Journal." When Lisabeth Ellis enters as the new managing editor, Viv starts seeing trouble brewing. Her musician boyfriend, Charley, stays in the background doing gigs with his band "Powers That Be." But when David Menckle assigns Viv to dig up a story about the disappearance of John Dreadfulwater, forebear of Viv's best friend, Lucie Dreadfulwater, the action opens with a bang:

"Lucie stood in the doorway of the barn, her hands gripping the doorjamb. As a storyteller, drama was her job, but I had never seen her like this. Her face was a changing tapestry of emotions: surprise, fear, indecision, anger. 'What is it?' Some extra sense drew me to the dark interior of the barn. She grabbed my arm. 'Don't go in there.'"

From the very first chapter, Letha has her readers hooked on a very high-powered plot that tangles up our attention from the first chapter. Not only is her writing absolutely exquisite, from her vivid character description to the action which builds to a smashing denouement. Viv is a typically scattered character with a strong heart and some good basic training in self defense from her wise father. She is young, impetuous, and thoroughly likable.

Daredevil's Apprentice is a good, solid Oklahoma story with strong American Indian lore, old grudges, and death that implicates those who are closest to Viv. Viv's sister Maggie provides Shakespearian comic relief, but their relationship is a strong one of caring and playful banter. The legends of the Cherokees and the musical twist shape the story into magic.

Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am pleased to add it to my bookshelves, along with Dearment's books on Bat Masterson and George Scarborough. Dearment's writing is scholarly, fully footnoted, and draws upon a variety of sources, some of which must have been astonishingly difficult to unearth. The focus on gunfighters keeps the story lively, and the action is put in a historical context that provides a vivid picture of life in the Old West.

I am taken aback that the first reviewer of the book describes it as "tedious," while otherwise praising it. I consider it a good read and appreciate Dearment's meticulous scholarship.

Because of the movies and television shows, when it comes to gunslingers on either side of the law, we all know of the "headline stars" of the American frontier such as Wyatt Earp, Bill the Kid, and Doc Holliday. What western history expert Robert K. DeArment has done in Deadly Dozen: Twelve Forgotten Gunfighters Of The Old West is to present the lives and deeds of twelve gunman who were important in their day, but never had the enduring notoriety of their more famous colleagues, competitors, and contemporaries. Here are the stories of John Bull, Pat Desmond, Mart Duggan, Milt Yarberry, Dan Tucker, George Goodell, Bill Standifer, Charley Perry, Barney Riggs, Dan Bogan, Dave Kemp, and Jeff Kidder. DeArment's informed and informative text is enhanced with illustrations, and an "Afterword", along with notes, a bibliography, and an index. Deadly Dozen is a real treat for American frontier history buffs and a very highly recommended addition to personal, community, and academic library American Western History reference collections.

Deadly Dozen provides 12 mini-biographies of "forgotten gunfighters of the old west." While the writing style is rather bland and the prose a bit tedious, it provides the reader insight into 12 rather interesting characters and insight into gunfighters in the old west.

Several themes emerge through these biographies. First is the borderline morality of all these men. Some were clearly evil criminals, a few of which would be considered serial killers in modern times. Others, even those working as marshals or in law enforcement, often straddled or even cross the line into criminality. There are plenty of gray areas in the lives these men lived. A second theme is the extreme violence of these men. They were often considered gunfighters because of their proclivity to resort to extreme violence to settle disputes, disputes for which most rational people may have used other means to resolve. Third is alcoholism. Many of the most violent episodes in these men's lives were often fueled by copious amounts of booze, which of course makes one lose their inhibitions and fear. Fourth, these men did not seem to fear death. Whether one wants to consider it bravery or stupidity, these men had the nerve to face ultimate violence, where others would shirk. Finally, it didn't take being a great shooter or being the quickest on the draw to be considered a deadly gunfighter. It was more the willingness to resort to gunplay and lack of fear more so than proficiency with a gun that made these men so deadly.

Overall this book really is rather a tedious read in some ways, but the fascinating subject matter and insights it gives into what it might have been like to live in the untamed American West saves the rather tedious prose and leaves the reader with a lot of think about.

This well written book provides historical depth on the Oregon Trail as well as interesting reading that gets an important message across about historical truth. Highly recommend it.

At times history can be a Gatling gun of fact and speculation and cause the reader to separate truth from fiction. The underlying theme of Tom Rea's fine work is that given a certain geographical area (in this case Devil's Gate along Wyoming's Sweetwater River), it is the land itself that owns the true stories of space and time. People simply tell them, sometimes to fit their own needs.

Recruiting and interweaving stories from days gone by of this region, whether it be John Fremont mapping the territory, experiences of Oregon Trail emigrants, the Mormon handcarters, mid-nineteenth century Indian wars, Billy Owen's surveying or Hiram Chittenden's engineering for dam sites, to feuds with neighboring ranchers ("Cattle Kate" lynching), water rites, grazing laws, up to the present-day, this is a gifted undertaking of connecting historical meaning.

Enjoyed the stories. Benefited from the insightful viewpoint as well.

This books does a good job of summerizing many historic events in Wyoming's past to a very unique and sometimes forgotten place. It was interesting to read accounts of some of these historic events and some not so historic and obscure events and how this country tied into them. It was an enjoyable read of history but also posed an underlying troubling trend today. It is a very interesting "history" book in that aspect.

This book was incredible. I have never read anything so thought-provoking and well-written. I highly suggest that you read this book to fully understand the transition from membership to management in American Civic Life. Enjoy it.

A very nicely written book that raises several speculations. The author points out that in the 19th century, many of the local groups that people joined were chapters of national or transnational organisations. This was part of their attractiveness. Joining a local group gave comradely ties with others across the nation, that you had never met, and probably would never meet. How peculiar was this to the US, as compared with the European countries from which many of these people recently left? Is there any way to quantify this? A little unfair to ask, perhaps, because of the sheer amount of research needed to flesh it out. But the above questions arise naturally out of the research summarised in the book.

Historians have asked if the US was qualitatively different from other countries. ("Vineyard of liberty" etc.) The issues raised by the book give us another way to address the question. Perhaps Americans were more inclined to join such nation spanning groups because as an immigrant, footloose people, if they did not have centuries of binding to the same soil and neighbours, they wanted some other and multiple means of belonging? Was the striking success of the groups in some part due to such inchoate urgings?

Another way to test would be to look into the history of similar groups in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Skocpol also points out that from the 1960s onwards, the membership of such groups in the US fell significantly. She advanced several reasons. But there is one possible reason for some of the decline that she did not mention. From the mid 1950s, TV became pervasive. Remember that joining a volunteer group is done in your recreational time. TV is a notorious competitor for that time, due to its convenience and cheapness. Plus, and more specifically, if one of your reasons (possibly unconscious) for joining a national group is to be part of a larger world, then TV assuages that to some extent. Granted, some of this may be illusory, but so what?

...

Many years ago, I fell into the habit of joining imaginary organizations. From time to time, depending on the pomposity level of the cocktail party I was attending, I have been:
President, STABB, Society for the Total Annihilation of Beanie Babies.
Executive Director, AAAAPM, "QuadrupleA/PM," the American Association for the Advancement of Applied PeripheroMetrics (Our motto: "If It's Far Enough Out, We'll Measure It").
Senior Logothete, Anarchic Chaotic Licentious Utopians, (ACLU).
And most recently, Associate Visiting Carnivore, Protesters Enjoying Talking Angry (PETA).
But now comes a new endeavor. APPROACH. Articulate Perceptive Persons Resolutely Opposed to American Civic Hypochondria.
Thanks, Theda. I couldn't have done it without you.
The Theda just acknowledged is the prolific and engaging Theda Skocpol, Harvard political scientist/sociologist and well-known commentator on American society, social policy, and all matters there unto pertaining. "Diminished Democracy" is not her best effort, if only because it started out in life as a University of Oklahoma lecture series, and lectures don't always transition well into books. Still, there is absolutely nothing wrong with "Diminished Democracy." It's clear, straightforward, solid, logical.
The problem is the (expletive deleted) genre.
It all seems to have started 50 years ago, with David Riesman's "The Lonely Crowd." Ever since, academics, pundits, and politicians have bemoaned the increasing isolation of Americans from each other, especially their ever-diminishing propensity to join the "voluntary civic associations" which, according to Tocqueville - Would congress please pass a 10-year moratorium on quoting Tocqueville? - provide the essential foundation of American democracy.
By the 1980s, bewailing the isolation had become a veritable fixture of American intellectual life. "Habits of the Heart," a multi-author sociological study that drew heavily on Tocqueville, provided the template. More recently, there's been another template, Robert Putnam's insanely over-statistical "Bowling Alone."
Meanwhile, any number of studies purport to prove that, not only are Americans no longer a nation of joiners, but when they do join (which they do avidly), it's the wrong kinds of groups - either self-interested, undemocratic advocacy organizations or trivial, self-obsessed "small groups" such as fundamentalist Bible study or ASAP, Adult Survivors of Adequate Parents, for people who can't blame it all on Mom & Dad.
Could we please stop all the kvetching and just take a look at what is?
Ms. Skocpol doesn't kvetch. At least, not much. And "Diminished Expectations" does indeed offer some worthwhile insights and prescriptions.
The writer starts with a bit of historical revisionism. Contrary to Tocquevillian myth, the American penchant for voluntary association was never exclusively, or even primarily, local. From the early national period on, most of the important local organizations were actually part of national and transnational federations: churches, lodges and fraternal organizations, unions, mutual-aid, charity, and reform groups. Many modeled themselves after the federal government; many arose and thrived in response to national crises, especially war; many even served as governmental adjuncts. Further, although these groups were officially nonpartisan and/or apolitical, they often took a lively interest in political affairs.
Then people stopped joining. From the 1960s to the 1990s, the size and power of these groups waned rapidly. To some extent, this may have been due to the fact that the Greatest Generation was "abnormally civically involved." But many other factors were involved, most notably the tandem of an ever-expanding federal government and the rise of a professional managerial/expert class.
To simplify: Mass membership institutions became less effective at getting things done than professionally-run, government and foundation-funded, mass mediated, hyper-marketed advocacy and lobbying groups. Memberships were reduced to mailing lists, and to less than mailing lists. When anybody could set up claiming to "represent" some group or some cause or other, real human beings often became more of a hindrance than an asset.
Ms. Skocpol deplores this devolution, but also finds the standard communitarian and political reform responses lacking. Her solution is not to return to some mythical past that never existed - local, apolitical involvement - nor to erect ever greater barriers to citizen participation in politics, but to reinvigorate the past that did exist. Three proposals seem especially striking. First, "memberless" organizations should consider becoming federated membership organizations with local chapters. Second, barriers between political and apolitical activity need to be lowered, not raised. And third, we need, somehow, to generate sufficient leaders who want to generate sufficient followers.
An intriguing idea, but not immediately practicable. I suggest therefore that Ms. Skocpol join my new outfit, APPROACH, the American Public Project to Restore, Orchestrate, and Achieve Civic Harmony.
It'll be a start.

Having spent the majority of my life living in northeastern Oklahoma, I was well aware of Bartlesville, OK. I must have made hundreds of trips to what the Chamber of Commerce touted as "America's Ideal Family Center." It had the reputation of being a conservative, white, upper-class community that was progressive as that term was defined by the dominant employer, Phillips Petroleum. In short, it was a typical, though certainly more wealthy than most, small Oklahoma town. Or so I thought. I have since learned, thanks to Louise Robbin's fine book, that Bartlesville had a dark side, darker than most it turns out, that does not appear in the Chamber of Commerce press releases. It is not a pretty story. Ruth Winifred Brown was born on July 26, 1891, in Hiawatha, KS. She graduated in 1915 with a degree from the Univ. Of Oklahoma. In November, 1919, she became the librarian for the Bartlesville Public Library. She served as librarian for 30 years without a mark on her record. It was, by all accounts, a record of outstanding achievement and exemplary service. On July 25th, 1950, Brown was summarily dismissed by the city commissioners. The reason given was she had caused subversive materials, in the form of magazines such as The Nation and The New Republic, to be circulated to the general populace. To be sure this was the McCarthy era, a time when groups such as the American Legion and the Chamber of Commerce, to name but a few, were working diligently to rid our communities of suspected or perceived communist influence. Thus, if a librarian or two had to be sacrificed in this war to protect our cherished freedoms, it really was not too big a price to pay. After all, many American's lost their jobs, reputations, and families under the tutelage of Sen. McCarthy and his ilk. That's the price of freedom. If this were the real story of Miss Ruth Brown it probably would not warrant the publication of a book. Unfortunately, there is more, much more. Thanks to the scholarship of Ms. Robbins we now know that Brown was fired from her job, not for so-called subversive activities, but because she had been active in promoting racial equality. She had the gall to not only help form a group affiliated with the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) but, even more shocking, to visit a major drug store in Bartlesville in February, 1950, with two black ladies and request to be served. This she did on her own time, without any fanfare or publicity, and some four years before Brown v. Board of Education and other events which began to at least offer a glimmer of hope to those supporting racial equality. Robbins has provided the reader with the history and background of political, social, economic, and cultural events that led to the merger of McCarthyism and racial unrest, which resulted in a sad, black chapter in the history of Bartlesville, not to mention the Nation. It is sad, not only because the community tolerated such behavior by its elected and appointed officials, but also because many of Miss Brown's colleagues knew the real reason for her termination and failed to disclose it to the community. It is also the story of courage and pride exhibited mostly by women during a time when it was not popular to be supportative of African Americans or any other group not on the power structures accepted list. This is a must read book if you are interested in forces ever present in our communities that can, and do, lead to censorship, intolerance, and the suppression of individual rights. The story is about a local event some 50 years ago; the message is about issues that are relevant today. Bartlesville, "America's Ideal Family Center." You be the judge.

This book was required reading for a master's degree course in which I am enrolled, and from the moment I started reading, I was entralled with the story of Miss Ruth Brown and the hardships she was forced to endure due to the personal agendas of such groups as the Chamber of Commerce and the American Legion.

Miss Brown was hired as the librarian for the Bartlesville, Oklahoma public library. Located deep in the oil fields of Oklahoma, Bartlesville was home to Phillips Petroleum Company. Phillips had great influence over many of the areas of Bartlesville, including the library.

One of Miss Brown's favorite activities was planning story time and fun things for children. She included black as well as white children at her gatherings. This infuriated many of the townspeople, for Bartlesville, as with other areas of the country in the late 1940s and early 1950s, was engulfed in racism and segregation. Also, Miss Brown was accused of having "submissive materials", including the magazines "The Nation" and "The New Republic" on the shelves. Many people felt these were Communist-type propaganda magazines that should not be available to the general public.

Miss Brown remained defiant. She continued to hold her de-segregated story hours and shelve her "submissive" magazine, all to the chagrin of the "powers-that-be". She even entered a downtown drug store with two African-American women and asked to be served. She was refused.

Finally, under pressure from the big wigs at Phillips, as well as other people in the community, the city commission removed Miss Brown as librarian for having submissive materials available to the general public, when in reality she was fired for promoting racial equality.

Miss Brown eventually filed suit against the Bartlesville city commission, but she lost on appeal. She then took a job in Mississippi at Piney Woods Country Life School, a school for African-Americans.

Miss Brown died on September 10, 1975 at the age of eighty-four, but her legacy lives on. She promoted racial harmony and equality during a time of the Ku-Klux Klan and lynchings. She promoted free speech and expression during a time of censorship. And she promoted the library as a place of learning which should be accessable to everyone.

This is a fabulous book. From the moment I started reading, I could not put it down. The story told by author Louise Robbins is excellent, and her prose is easy to read and understand. I give this book my absolute highest recommendation. Read it and see how one woman's courageous struggle changed the landscape of censorship, race relations, and libraries forever.

This book provides a fascinating micro snapshot of what was occuring on a macro level across the United States during a turbulant time period in American history---the McCarthy era and the blossiming of the civil rights movement in the South. Bartlesville, OK, presents the perfect, middle-American city for a case study on American upset caused by the post-WW II end of American isolationism (with its concommitant fears of Russian world domination) and recognition that American Blacks were deserving of the same rights they died for the Europeans to have. The book recounts the true story of librarian Ruth Brown, who in fighting against censorship and for civil rights, became the victim of an economic, class, and social structure not ready for change and eager and willing to use ignorance and fear as weapons. I appreciated the author's ability to pull together an interesting, well-organized, and comprehensive story from a vast array of sources with very different points of view. For anyone interested in history made personal, and in seeing how every-day people become heroes and villians by standing up for their beliefs, this book is a true gem.

In the year 1914 in a little town in Oklahoma, a group of young people were taking a ride when they spotted a beehive. They stopped in an attempt to gather honey from the hive and a shot rang out, killing one. His fiancée was abducted and later found in a state of hysteria. Young Mary's scalp was creased by a bullet and she was unconscious. Thus, the beginning of a simple tale, recounting an event which led up to the incident.

In this, the author's third novel, set in small farms and towns in Oklahoma, Alafair Tucker, mother to 12 children including Mary, shows true grit in trying to protect her family and seeking answers to the crime. Meanwhile Mary has to emerge from the fog she is in and recount past stories bit by bit to come up with the clues to identify the killer. She writes in her journal, recounting stories told at the Fourth of July celebration. With each entry more disclosures are told in the novel.

Descriptions of the new state of Oklahoma and life at the turn of the 20th century are real, and the language spoken is authentic frontier-speak. Life, as it was lived at the time, is described with all the hardship and primitiveness that existed at the start of World War I out in the West. If this novel is any indication, maybe we should go back and look at the previous two entries, which we missed.

In 1914 Oklahoma Alafair Tucker thinks the summer so far has been quiet, dry and hot on the farm as she and her spouse Shaw raise their horde of offspring. Life can be hard as she knows having two children of the twelve she birthed die on her, but right now Alafair kicks off her shoes having a child under one year old after a seven year gap.

However, the idyll of the summer of 14 ends when someone kills her half-brother-in-law Bill McBride and rapes his fiancée Laura Ross. With them riding at the time were Alafair's daughters, twenty-one years old Mary whose head was grazed by a bullet and fifteen years old Ruth. Mary suffers from partial amnesia. The killer-rapist tries to murder Laura. Sheriff Scott Tucker officially leads the investigation, but knows his cousin by marriage Alafair will solve the case as she has done before (see HORNSWOGGLED and THE OLD BUZZARD HAD IT COMING); he needs to stay near her and keep her safe.

As with the previous Tucker tales, the atmosphere is incredible so much so that the audience will believe they are spending the summer of 1914 on the Tucker farm. The whodunit is cleverly devised as Alafair knows Mary has the truth if she can only remember. Fans of historical mysteries will appreciate this superb Sooner story as it is Oklahoma just before WW I that makes Donis Casey's saga an excellent read.

Harriet Klausner

Donis Casey has done it again! THE DROP EDGE OF YONDER is the best mystery I've read this year, and I read lots of mysteries. This book has it all: a gripping plot in a great setting with well developed characters. And like the first two books in the Alafair Tucker series, THE OLD BUZZARD HAD IT COMING and HORNSWOGGLED, THE DROP EDGE OF YONDER has lots of heart. In fact, it has more heart than most novels and certainly more than most mysteries. Reading it is like visiting family that you love and have missed.

Like the first two books, THE DROP EDGE OF YONDER is set on the Tucker farm just outside of the small town of Boynton, Oklahoma, a few years after Oklahoma was admitted as a state in 1907. Like the author, I'm a third generation Oklahoman, and my maternal grandparents owned a small farm not far where the story takes place. My mother who grew up on the farm loves the Alafair Tucker books and vouches for their accuracy.

If you read just one mystery this year, make it this one. I assure you that you won't be disappointed.