Kansas Books

This is another fascinating book from Thomas Pangle, this time in collaboration w/ Peter Ahrensdorf. They provide us with a compelling tour through the history of political philosophy by looking at how political philosophers spoke to or about international relations (IR). Their focus on IR takes them to the usual stops on a Straussian tour of political philosophy (Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Augustine, Aquinas, Machiavell, Hobbes, Spinoza, Kant, Hegel, etc.). It also lets them focus on the thought of lesser known thinkers such as Vitoria, Dante, Grotius and Thomas More. They finish their history with searching examinations of Hans Morgenthau and Kenneth Waltz.
This analytical history is very enlightening and very useful whether your background is in philosophy or IR. I am not really competent to critique the way they interpret many of the philosophers they examine but I was very comfortable with their presentation of the philosophers I am more familiar with, e.g., Thucydides, Plato, Hobbes, and Kant. I will also say that their essay on Mongenthau made me put him on my reading list.
I think the best way to summarize their history is to simply state that the recast the old Straussian dialectic of reason and revelation in terms of IR's realism vs. idealism. Consider one of their leading (at worst) or Socratic (at best) questions from their concluding chapter:
"Does the liberal, capitalist achievement of a secure and physically comfortable existence constitute a goal worthy of our human being, or does it not ultimately sap our moral spirit and render apathetic or heartless our civic association?" (p.262)
Pangle and Ahrensdorf take this question very seriously and make very interesting points about it. Not the least is their willingness to see that the Christian tradition of just war theory had (at the least) a tendency "toward aggressive moralism" (p.112 but see the whole of chapter 4). They also apply the (very well developed among Straussians- e.g., see Rahe or Zuckert) classical insight that politics seems to flourish among smaller communities or nations. The size has to be such that the citizens can really share in a sense of the "loved things held in common". How does that aspect of political humanity work into the IR need for a cosmopolitan universalism? Heck, look at our country and think of the same issue in terms of how we can make federalism actually work. If it is hard for us in our single, well-educated and liberal (well, prior to Bush) country, then think of the challenge on the international level.
Pangle in particular is up to the challenge of all these issues. In their final chapter, Pangle and Ahrensdorf talk of the possibility of reviving the Christian tradition of political philosophy. They see the universalism of the God of the Bible as providing a possible way to theorize and then actualize a IR that manages to avoid both the totalitarian possibilities of a world government and the anarchial possibilities of a world where there are numerous nuclear powers of relatively equal power.
I want only to make three points about all this.
First, this book was published in 1999. I would suggest that events since then have created more difficulties for the project of a universalist Christian IR theory. Secondly, Pangle may well be up to the challenge. His latest book, published within the last year is entitled Political Philosophy and the God of Abraham. It too is now on my reading list.
Third, regardless of what you think about the above (hopefully accurate) summation, this book is a liberal education in itself. If you are not very familiar with Vitoria or Grotius or Morgenthau or Thucydides or a small host of lesser players like Pierre Hassner or Stephen Mestrovic then you are going to be much more knowledgeable about the history that ties them all together after reading this book. I am going to go further than that. Because of their particular Socratic questioning style, you will be wiser after reading this book. Maybe only a little (like me), maybe a lot (because you are a better person than I am)but you will be forced to confront some of the difficulties that any attempt to theorize the world runs into. Not bad for a book. Give these two gentlemen a read and let me know what you think.

Edgar Ray Killen! Philadelphia, Mississippi! The names strike fear into those who remember the brutal slaying of three civil rights workers on June 21, 1964. Author Howard Ball follows up his previous book entitled Murder in Mississippi with a retrial of "Preacher" Edgar Ray Killen who was one vote from conviction by a jury in 1967. A woman, who has since regretted her vote, said she couldn't bring herself to convict a preacher. The author provides us with the virulent atmosphere that prevailed in the deep south in the 1960's and the attitudes of those who resented anyone poking their collective noses into their way of life. Many of those who were convicted in the 1967 trial received light sentences and resumed their way of life upon release from prison. For 41 years Mr. Killen was able to enjoy the life of a quasi-celebrity in his home town while others feared to even mention the terrible deed that hung over the town of Philadelphia's reputation. Upon Killen's conviction in 2005 racist Richard Barrett requested a "Killen Appreciation Day" on the lawn of the Neshoba County Courthouse so people could come around and shake this terrorist's hand. Such actions make one wonder just how far we still have to go to bring individuals kicking and screaming out of their sordid past. This is a book that will absolutely disgust you while still providing you with some sense of justice in this country however belatedly it may have occurred.

Paul Kens has written a lively, entertaining, and scholarly intellectual biography of one of the most fascinating justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, Stephen J. Field. Kens traces Field's career from his days as a young attorney just landed in gold-rush-crazed San Francisco in 1849, to his appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court less than fourteen years later, and on to the end of the century. Along the way, Kens discusses the political and economic events that shaped the thinking of Field and those with whom he did intellectual battle. Throughout, the book deals with an issue central to law in the economic realm: Does the economic power with which society might legitimately be concerned stem from government alone, or do other, private sources of power warrant a governmental response? Field clearly answered this question in one way, whereas for much of their history Americans have answered it in another. It may be a question that, every generation or so, Americans must answer anew....

Kens provides a balanced view. It would be easy to characterize Field as an apologist for the wealthy establishment--and he was so characterized by contemporary critics. But that characterization was not correct. Field's logic led him to take politically unpopular stands, especially with respect to issues of race, immigration, and corporate power. His concern about the potential abuse of government caused him to defend a strong role for federal judicial oversight of state legislation--recognizing that state legislatures might be even more likely than Congress to adopt special-interest legislation.

I found this book tremendously helpful with some research I was doing on the Kansas--information I'd not found anywhere else.

This book is incredibly moving and insightful. It will keep you glued to it through the end. Tom Huser is a master storyteller.

Nancy Robinson Masters begins this volume in the America the Beautiful, Second Series by devoting Chapter One, "Kansas Sunshine," to the story of Jessie Spencer. She was an American Red Cross canteen worker from Fredonia, Kansas who was serving in France during World War I. As she gave doughnuts and coffee to soldiers she would tell them, "As long as there is Kansas, there will be sunshine." Known as the Kansas sunshine girl, Jessie Spencer became known nationally because of her efforts to pick up morale. In this informative book, Masters explains why Spencer would feel that way about her state.

The next three chapters of the book are devoted to the history of Kansas, with Chatter Two, "From Seawaters to Statehood," beginning with fifty different times millions of years ago that the area now named Kansas was covered by oceans and ending with the border wars and "Bleeding Kansas" over the issue of slavery. In between there are the Spanish conquistadors searching for Quivira, the opening of the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails, and the Pottawatomie Massacre. The dark days of Bleeding Kansas carry over to the start of Chapter Two, "Pioneers and Populism," which begins with the Civil War, tells of the years Kansas was the frontier, and ends with the Populism that was popular there at the end of the 19th century. Chapter Four, "Mileposts to the Future," looks at the 20th century and the part Kansas played in two work wars, and in the 1950s Dwight Eisenhower, who was raised in Abilene, Kansas, became president and the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the famous case of Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka.

The geography of the state is covered in Chapter Five, "The Nature of Kansas," which looks the four main regions defined by the dominant plains (we also learn the difference between the geographic and geodetic centers of the continental United States, both of which are in Kansas). Chapter Six, "The Land of Ahs," is a play on "The Wizard of Oz," since Dorothy Gale is probably the most famous "citizen" of Kansas in the world, and looks at the places you can visit along the state's "yellow brick walls." The biggest surprise is that the recipe for this book is for pancakes. The town of Liberal holds the International Pancake Derby each February and it does not have to do with cooking pancakes but running a 1/4-mile race while carrying them in heavy skillets (they get flipped at the start and end of the race). I keep telling you these books are informative.

The politics of the state are the province of Chapter Seven, "Governing Kansas," where 47 out of 105 counties are named for Civil War Veterans and another 17 have Indian names (the only county named for a woman is Barton, honoring Clara Barton). When we find out about state symbols we learn that "Home on the Range" is the state song, but there is also a state march ("The Kansas March") and the state flower (Wild sunflower) is actually a weed. Chapter Eight, "Working in Kansas," looks at the fast-growing economy of the state, while Chapter Nine, "Modern People of the Plains," looks at the people who have come to inhabit the land.

Chapter Ten, "Culture and Competition," looks at the famous sons and daughters of Kansas. This includes writers from L. Frank Baum and Laura Ingalls Wilder to Damon Runyan and Sara Paretsky, as well as big names in sports such as Gayle Sayers, Rick Mears, and Walter Johnson. Masters includes those who became famous playing for the University of Kansas, such as Wilt Chamberlain and Danny Manning, and those who played for the closest professional teams in Kansas City, Missouri, such as George Brett. Throughout the book there are dozens of sidebars that introduce us to other Kansas notables like Amelia Earhart and John Brown. These are also were we learn where the name Jawhawkers came from and that the first Pizza Hut was opened by the Carney brothers in 1958 in Wichita.

In the back of the book you will find a detailed Timeline contrasting U.S. and Kansas state history, several pages of Fast Facts providing easy access to key statistics, and list of books, organizations, and Internet sites where young students can go To Find Out More. There all dozens of photographs, both full-color and black & white, and original maps on things like the exploration of Kansas, topography, and the state's maps and forests. These America the Beautiful, Second Series volumes are ideal for young students who have to research one of the U.S. states (or territories) for class, but also if there family happens to be going through the Jawhawk state on a trip.

Kansas isn't just where Dorothy and Toto lived, you guys! A lot of important history went down here, and this book will tell your students about it.

The "Portrait of America" series is a wonderful introduction for pre-teens to the 50 states and to the places and events that shaped the history of the United States. This "Kansas" installment is particularly good. The book is broken down into sections like "History", "Culture", "Economy" etc., and each section is thoughtfully written and edited. The "History" section is especially good and is very inclusive. A good amount of discussion is devoted to the debate that raged around Kansas' status as a free or slave state just before the Civil War

This book, as well as the entire "Portrait of America" series, will prove to be a valuable teaching tool to all primary school educators.

A informative and fascinating piece of work about an elite unit of the German Military. Very informative and highly recommended. A book that you will have a hard time putting down.

I enjoyed this book very much and read it in one day. It is about a young woman named Emily who agrees to an arranged marriage with a man that she has never seen before. When she gets to the town she finds out that something bad has happend. She marries a man named Cade who is looking for a wife in name only. How will it all work. Read and find out

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Arcadia Publishing's Black America Series is worth millions. Each title in the series (currently 82 and growing) focuses on a region or theme, and is written by a local history buff with an obvious passion for their subject. Each is packed with 200 photographs depicting scenes from family, social, business, cultural, religious and political life, with narrative to place them in context. Many of the photos are from private collections and the archives of black newspapers.

The power of making visible what was formerly invisible cannot be overestimated. I have personally reviewed three titles and recommend them all: ANOTHER ANN ARBOR by Carol Gibson and Lola M. Jones, CINCINNATI by Gina Ruffin Moore, and KANSAS CITY by Delia C. Gillis.