Source The Books

Technical, but very useful information for canonical studies and general issues regarding the relations between the East and West.

Martin Gilbert, now Knighted as Sir Martin Gilbert, is one of the great historians of our time, and he has written the definitive biography of Sir Winston Spencer Churchill. He has been at work for 38 years, and the task is not yet complete. The biography itself was completed in 1988, the production of these companion volumes continues.

The biographic work itself is 8 volumes in length, and presently there are 15 additional companion volumes that contain every note and correspondence imaginable. These books get right down to the one-sentence telegrams of congratulation. To give you a sense of their scope and detail, this volume that covers 9 months runs to 1,370 pages with notes.

The books are fascinating for what they contain, and for the completeness they represent. All the information is here, these were not meant to be widely read, but to be documentary, so there is nothing missing. I also enjoy them as they give the reader a glimpse in to the world of the Biographer, a man who in this instance has spent nearly 40 years of his life on his subject.

These put the work of the Biographer in perspective. It may be more appropriate to say a Biographer of Mr. Gilbert's stature. It is often remarked that no biographical study has ever been so complete as his work of Churchill, and if you happen to have one of these books you will certainly see why. I enjoy reading them a bit at a time, as they bring you into Mr. Churchill's day, note-by-note, letter by letter, and they document an incomparable life.

Never Surrender is yet another volume in what already is the longest biography in the world. (At least according to the good people at the guiness book of world records. ) It is a collection of all the speeches and papers of Winston Churchill during the most critical phase of his Prime Ministry, and perhaps the most critical phase of World War Two. In this volume we get to witness Churchill's reaction to Dunkirk, the fall of France, and the Battle of Britain, and we also get to witness Churchill's heroic response to them. In this volume we see Churchill at his absolute best.

The offical biography is written by Martin Gilbert, a task he assumed after Randolf, Winston Churchill's son, died. The bigraphy consists of eight biographic volumes, and each volume has a few volumes of relevant documents to support it. Never Surrender is one of the document volumes which support the biographic volume "Finest Hour: 1939-1941" which is perhaps the finest volume of the entire biography. With all biogrphic volumes and the supporting books, The entire biography now stands at 23 volumes. Roughly 7-10 more are expected.

Never Surrender is probably the finest supporting volume of the entire set. It covers possibly the most important moment in British history, and it is a fine read in itself thanks to the usual outstanding work of Gilbert. The book is not for everyone, only those well versed in Churchill lore, and also keep in mind the book is not a narrative, but more like a collection of letters. But to anyone truly interested in Chuchill, or this era of English history, the book is nearly a must-have.

If you are a Churchill fan, you should get at least one volume of his "war papers" that Martin Gilbert has compiled. That way you can see the sheer volume of output that he generated, plus the sheer magnificence of the things Churchill grasped in his role, and that he communicated to those that he told to do something, those that he asked for help, those that he shared his empathy with, and, may I add, those of us many years later that get a better understanding of his role and his valor through reading his actual words written on a daily basis during the struggle of the war. I've seen where Churchill was born, and where his remains now are buried, but Churchill's words are still alive and available, through these books that Gilbert has been so useful in issuing. A note of caution--they are sometimes tedious reading, since there's over 1700 pages for 1941 alone (can you write almost 5 pages a day as Churchill did back then, for a whole year, way before there was a computer to instantly accept your keystrokes as you type?) An astounding range of material and an astounding range of human communication.

Ever wondered what comes after, "Four score and seven years ago..."? Do you know how many Constitutional rights you have, and if so, what they all are? This book will guide you through the clouds of ignorance concerning some of the most important speeches and documents in the history of our United States. It starts with Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" (something I think our society is seriously lacking these days), and ends with LBJ's speech, "The American Promise". I highly recommend this very enlightening compilation!

I live in Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean and my Supervisor who has travelled extensively around the world has recommended "Citrus Varieties of of the World" having himself bought a copy a few years ago while in California.

I presently work in the Citrus Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Trinidad and I wanted a book that can explicity explain the various types of Citrus varieties that we propagate having originally acquired the planting material from California. I had very little knowledge initially on the new types until reading this book.

Now my work seems less hectic when I have to explain to farmers about the different types of Citrus.

The book explains the varieties from history to development to taste and I would recommend it to anyone that has an interest in Citrus.

Dexter Samm

One seldom recalls that black students caught up in the civil rights movement were also struggling during this era simply to get an education. The author takes us through a turbulent era from inside the hurricane as both teacher and participant in the civil rights movement. Dramatic, gripping and filled with dry humor, this is a must read for anyone interested not only in the civil rights movement but in the history of black education in this country.

Anyone seriously interested in the American Civil War ends up with a sizable shelf of reference volumes, and this one should be on that shelf. After an introductory year-by-year summary of campaigns and major battles (easily found in many other sources), he discusses the organization, weapons, formal tactics, and actual practices for each branch of the service. This includes such uncommon units as the Mississippi Marine Brigade and the Indian Home Guards. Where else are you going to find the details of each state militia's formation and organization, both North and South, not to mention the standard uniform? Everything here is exemplified in hundreds of period photos with excellent captions (especially useful for militia uniforms), and there are numerous excerpts from personal reports, diaries, memoirs, and regimental histories. Katcher also includes short biographies of major military figures, each accompanied by a portrait (not the same ones you'll find in _Generals in Blue_ and _Generals in Gray_). And there are footnotes and short bibliographies throughout. An excellent ready-reference tool.

"The Civil War Years" is, as the subtitle indicates, A Day-byDay Chronicle of the Life of a Nation during its greatest trial.

The Prologue gives the background to the main factors which were important in the war. Thereafter, the body gives an entry of events for every day from January 1, 1861 to May 30, 1865.

Each month begins with a summary of the situation as it existed at the beginning of the month and a brief explanation of the trends which played out during the month. The daily entries follow thereafter.

The entries cover the gamut of participants in the war. Political, military and naval leaders share space with the diaries of enlisted men and civilians. Author Robert Denney treats us to the opportunity of following the lives of individual diarists throughout the war. Prominent among them are John S. Jackman of Kentucky's "Orphan Brigade" which could not return to their Union occupied home state and Lucius Barber of the 15th Illinois Volunteer Infantry.

Barber's entries were of particular interest to me as my great-grand-father, Patrick R. Nealon, was also a member of the 15th. As I read Barber's entries I felt that I was able to get an insight into what Patrick went though during his service. Although his name was never mentioned, I always wondered if he was involved in any of the reported acts of bravery or mischief. There were some thing which I was surprised to learn about the service of the 15th. I did not know that they were only held prisoners for 47 days and that the did return to combat after their parole. The story of their participation in the Grand Review was another surprise for me.

All in all, this is an excellent example of the popular history of the Civil War, which will provide knowledge and enjoyment for any student of the that conflict.

Being a Cival War connoisseur with an eye for accuracy, it was most rewarding to find the brilliance of word and text as I turned the time dated pages of this particular book and adding it to my collection became a must. By that I mean the pages are actually a delight to the eyes in a bright, glossy finish, which produces a clear defined print and an ease of turn ability. The shadow boxing of both the orginal photos by Matthew Brady and the rare historic newspapers of the times is another touch of quality and beauty. An excellant job by Eric Caren and Stephen Goldman and the publishing company of Data Trace for this most brillant book. This is a must have for the home libary.