Oliver Books

Charles Dickens's Hunted Down: The Detective Stories Of Charles Dickens gathers stories which demonstrates the detective-writing prowess of a classic author best known for his social issues fiction. His influence on crime fiction fostered the development of a genre, while his characters and plots were based on his observations of the fledgling police detective force when he was a reporter and accompanied them on their nightly patrols. Any fan of detective fiction will find this an essential key to the early methods and choices of the genre.

A synthesis of human and wildlife ecology seen through the lens of economics. Practical, grassroots study. Worrisome for the authorities in Malaysia - sets out their responsibilities to avoid the loss of cultural diversity whilst achieving economic development.

"These courageous plays vibrate with deep emotional authenticity and subterranean political consciousness--brave plays by a brave writer speaking for many marginalized voices--speaking with honest passion and lyrical anger. Oliver Mayer is one of the few American playwrights who is showing us today what the theatre of tomorrow can be like."

Jose Rivera, screenwriter | The Motorcycle Diaries

"A great writer with firebrand dialogue. Oliver Mayer contributes not just as a playwright, but as an educator and a Latino who has kept his roots."

Stephen Adly Guirgis, writer | Jesus Hopped the "A" Train

"Like the best jazz, Oliver's work in The Hurt Business is bold, passionate, always brave, always new. He writes about America, in all its colors, and won't settle for less than the truth."

Lisa Loomer, screenwriter | Girl, Interrupted

After our class felt Seattle's earthquake, I found this book. The kids were captivated to learn more about what makes the ground shake. You can also find out how long the longest recorded quake was, why soldiers break step when crossing small bridges, what special equipment rescuers use, what building shape is very strong, and read earthquake legends. There's a brief explanation of the Richter scale and experiments you can do. This book was hard to find on our class book shelf because someone was always reading it.

Wowww...at last, a wonderfully simple guide to food preparation and cooking....wish I had this book 30 years ago, obviously written by someone who knows their onions.

Igor Stravinsky is truly one of the giants, if not the giant, of 20th century music. Michael Oliver accurately captures the essence of the man and his music in this book about the man and his life and times.

First of all, the book is well written. The music is described thoroughly and there is also a discography as well as a catalogue of the works written by Stravinsky. For the most part, this book is a biography with its central focus on Stravinsky. We meet various characters that played an important role in Stravinsky's life including the impresario Serge Diaghilev. I highly recommend this book to anybody who wants to be enlightened about one of the giants of twentieth century music.

Excellent treatment of famous Supreme Court justice's once very famous father. Places many of Holmes, Sr's issues and strengths into current context of the decline of the "public intellectual." Offers a convincing and wide-ranging reading bringing Holmes into larger search for an "American vision" of the best society and the problems of pluralistic culture. Fine example of recent American Studies (and political philosophy) still emphasizing the connections between daily social life and the foundation of long-lasting community in a heterogeneous world. Should lead to re-readings of Holmes' major works. Readable by non-specialists.

One of the most important developments in the historiography of the antebellum abolitionist crusade is the emphasis on the role of free blacks in the North as shapers of the national agenda. We have long known of Frederick Douglass's role in this regard, of course, but in the 1960s historians began to appreciate in much greater depth the role of northern African Americans in the antislavery struggle. Leon F. Litwack's "North of Slavery: The Negro in the Free States, 1790-1860" (University of Chicago Press, 1961) and Benjamin Quarles's "The Negro in the American Revolution" (University of North Carolina Press, 1961) were both undeniably significant benchmarks in this historiography. Historians James Oliver Horton and Lois E. Horton now provide a much richer perspective and make clear the effort was much broader than most have appreciated. The Hortons integrate a broad body of secondary literature on free blacks in the antebellum North with their own research into an elegantly crafted narrative.

The Hortons take as their thesis that northern African Americans not in bondage embraced the ideals of the American Revolution and the early republic for "liberty" and "freedom." As disinherited sons and daughters of the Revolution their constant critique served to remind and press the status quo of white America throughout the antebellum period. As the Hortons write, "American ideals were not bounded by color, and the desire for liberty and equality was strongest to those whom they were denied" (p. xii). Taking a generally chronological approach they trace the cause of freedom and liberty among free northern African Americans from the Revolution to the4 civil War. Along the way they tell the story of Crispis Attucks, an African American killed in the Boston Massacre, those who fought in the Revolution, and those who embrace the antislavery crusade and sought both legal and extralegal means to end its hold over human beings in the United States. Much of this is now familiar terrain, but the Hortons bring a depth to the story not present elsewhere and that, coupled with an elegance of style makes this an excellent reading experience.

More significant is the authors' portrait of the lives of north free blacks. To a degree not seen previously, the Hortons explore the themes of the new social history--especially issues of race, ethnicity, class, and gender--in relation to the lives of this community. To a very real extent they depict the world the free African Americans made in a nation increasingly hostile to their objectives of freedom and liberty in the first half of the nineteenth century. Issues of family lifestyles, kinship, work relations, political power both in the larger society and within the black community, religion, social organizations, the question of re-colonization of Africa, and the abolitionist cause are the meat of this book.

As a unit this is an exceptionally valuable work. I recommend it as a highly successful discussion of one significant aspect of the reform movements of antebellum American society.

The young author gives up his boring job in a bank to head off to the jungles of Bolivia in search of a tree turkey that was supposed to have been extinct for several decades. It's a crazy thing to do, and Oliver sometimes wonders about the sanity of undertaking such an adventure.

He is part of a team, who do succeed in tracking down the elusive Unicorn Bird of the title. For those who are interested, ornithologists would know the bird as the Horned Curassow (Pauxi unicornis). The discovery and census of this bird is only the beginning of the author's adventures in South America. He links up with a novice priest, Dennis, and travels around several other countries on a voyage of discovery like no previous explorer ever enjoyed.

To tell you what he got up to would spoil your read, but I can tell you that he had a lot of fun along the way, and his account will make you laugh out loud.

It takes two minutes to read the first chapter. You should do that and then decide whether it is worth reading the rest. If you take my advice, I am positive that you will want to read on to the end of the book

We purchase guide books like these in an effort to be well prepared for weekend (or longer) trips.

Those books are very specific (where to go with your dogs, where to go boating, etc...) But they leave out other information. This makes it necessary to use numerous books to piece together a plan for where to go and what to do.

We've found this book in particular provides a very wide range of information on many different activities and resources which are represented in a very inviting and knowledgable manner.

The other books may be a good way to find out details about a lake or river, or a campground that allows dogs, but 'Inside Out, Northern California' is a great general purpose activity and traveling guide that includes information on specialized interests such as ours as well.

Just select a portion of the Northern California area you'd like to investigate and this book will make you feel like an insider, armed with a good overview not only of where to go and what to do, but also what the people are like, the history of the area and how it relates to the activities you will find in those areas.

As they say, don't leave home without it.