Vermont Books

I'm not an impatient guy. But after years of grading student essays and writing books and articles myself, I've come to the point where I have little use for prolixity and needless fillers. That's why I find Cathryn Prince's Burn the town and Sack the Banks! so frustrating.

Prince sets out to tell a story that needs to be told, because we tend to over-romanticize the American Civil War. Her tale is about the late 1864 Confederate raid on St. Albans, Vermont, which was part of a larger rebel plan to conduct guerilla warfare in the northwestern states. The goal was in part retribution for the hard war conducted in the south by the likes of Sheridan, Sherman, and Grant, and in part an attempt to break the morale of northerners and force their leaders to the negotiation table. This kind of warfare, which ignored distinctions between combatants and noncombatants, was much more prevalent in the Civil War than we typically hear.

The problem is that Prince doesn't seem to want to tell it. She spends an inordinate amount of time writing about topics that only relate tangentially--e.g., Vermont in the Civil War, the "burning" campaign of Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley--and leaves herself only about 100 pages to tell the story of the actual St. Alban's raid. After awhile, I found myself impatiently flipping pages in search of the point of it all. I was amazed to discover that I'd flipped through well over half the book before I found it.

A disappointment. As Francis Bacon said, some books are to be devoured, others are to be skimmed. This is definitely a skimmer.

....at touching things without leaving fingerprints. Few things illustrate that better than this history of the northernmost battle of the Civil War. Mrs. Prince has written a fine book that can be equally enjoyed by historians, by readers wanting to learn about a little-known aspect of the war, or even by anyone wanting a darn good adventure story.

Those who study the Civil War are aware that the Confederacy had clandestine operations run thru Canada all during the conflict. Though officially neutral, Canada was home to many Southern sympathizers who could be counted upon to give safe passage to smugglers, spies, etc. I sure would have liked to meet Sarah Slater.... In 1864, Jacob Thompson and Clement C. Clay were sent north with "instructions". Just what they were told by Jeff Davis, Judah Benjamin, and War Secretary James Seddon will, of course, never be known; that is the nature of secret operations. The commissioners, with the help of George Sanders and others, commenced plans for an operation with several objectives:

[1] To gain a measure of retribution for the actions of war-criminal Phil Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley.

[2] To raise badly needed money.

[3] To make the Yankees say "ouch", and, maybe, open a new front of the war. Northerners had been fighting on our soil for three years. They weren't fighting for their own freedom [which was never threatened], but to take away ours. Maybe if THEIR land was invaded.....

An invasion was planned....twenty one escaped POW's, led by Lt. Bennett Young, a 21 year old native of Kentucky who had ridden with John Hunt Morgan infiltrated St. Albans, Vermont. On October 19, 1864, they sprung their trap, robbed all three banks in town, and escaped to Canada. They were captured, "jailed" [in a luxury hotel], tried twice, and released twice. All of the plotters, and raiders, lived out their days...Bennett Young was a highly respected citizen who lived till 1919. Though other raids were rumored, none ever took place. Still, objectives [2] and [3] were met...the fear on the northern border lasted long after the war....

Mrs. Prince is a very nice lady who has written a very fine book. She and I differ, however, when it comes to the Lincoln Assassination. She offers speculation that the murder of Dishonest Abe was an offical Confederate operation. Of course, no proof is offered; there isn't any, because it wasn't. The worst that can be said is that Mr. Benjamin had people working for him who had rogues for friends and relatives. We've all "known somebody who knew somebody" when it comes to something. John Surratt worked for Mr. Benjamin...his mother was guilty...he knew Booth...BUT, John Surratt was acquitted. Dr. Mudd was guilty in the Lincoln plot; he may have been involved in the "Doctors Line" of spies. But there is no hint that he knew any high official. Sarah Slater worked for Mr. Benjamin...she knew Booth, and others, but....nothing. To call the murder a Confederate operation implies the involvement of Jefferson Davis, plus at least ONE of a very small group; Benjamin, Seddon, Stephens, Cooper, Bragg, Breckinridge,...that's about it for something this big. I'll boil it down to two points, and I'll be brash enough to claim to be an expert on Mr. Benjamin:

[1] IF it were an official plot, Benjamin would have run it. There's no evidence that he did, and he was good at keeping secrets, BUT, he wouldn't have dared without orders from Jeff.

[2] Davis would have NEVER traded Lincoln for Andrew Johnson. He may have had no love for Abe, but he respected his intelligence and ability. He despised, and had no respect for, Johnson.

Assassination aside, this is an excellent book, that I heartily recommend. Plenty of background, even if some of it is speculation. We will never PROVE what Jacob Thompson discussed with Davis and Benjamin. If I disagree with the author on a side issue, I can still state that you will enjoy reading about a rather obscure aspect of the Civil War.

The Confederate attack on St. Albans Vermont is one of the fascinating sideshows of the American Civil War. Together with the Greek Fire incident in New York City and the attempt to spread Yellow Fever, they show us the workings of the Confederate Secret Service. Additionally, we can develop a sense of the desperation in Richmond as the war moves into 1864. Many of these operations have some of characters that will appear during Lincoln's assassination. This possible link only make any history of these events that much more interesting. Another major element of the story is the Confederacy's use of "neutral" states to stage these operations. The support Great Britain and Canada extended to Confederate operatives in violation of their laws is astounding. Lincoln's unwillingness to start a European war and the Crown's backing away at the last minute prevent armed conflict. When it was over, very little had been accomplished but the scars lasted for years.

The basic plan for the St. Albans raid is for a number of men to establish themselves in the town. Quickly, take control. Rob the banks. Set fire to a number of buildings and escape. "Neutral" Canada provides both the jumping off point and refuge after the raid. The raiders would take advantage of the undefended border, lack of military age men and the general absence of modern weapons in the United States. Working with these assumptions, a small number of men could cower a much larger group with a show of force. The raiders expected to be on their way within an hour, well before organized opposition could start.

Things went very much as planned. A group of about 20 CSA soldiers crossed the border, established themselves in the town and attacked on October 19, 1864. They robbed three banks, killed one resident and wounded a couple of others. The rain soaked buildings refuse to burn and one raider is wounded during the escape. The Canadian authorities refused requests for extradition, while treating the raiders as heroes. The United Sates added this to the list of grievances against the British Empire and the normalization of relations begun in the years prior to the war suffered.

This is a fertile field and one that has seen little work. We need books covering these subjects to give us a better understanding of the international aspects of the war and the impact on Washington's decision-making. Cathryn Prince writes well, the feel of the narration is more of a novel than a history. This style makes a readable and interesting story but I find it detracting from the idea that this is a serious history. An abundance of quotes without footnotes contributed to this feeling. The quotes are in the endnotes, listed by page and the first few words. The book contains a good Bibliography and index. The Epilogue contains the much of the same information you have read and contributes little. A standard set of photographs of the main characters completes the book. Both the author and publisher did not feel that a map of the town is necessary. I found this disturbing having no idea of the location of banks, hotels and the town green. These locations are important to the story and a map would have aided my understanding of the raid.

The book starts with an overview of Vermont's contribution to the war, a history of the town and background of many participants. This consumes a little over half of the text, leaving just under one hundred pages for the raid and aftermath. I found this very disappointing wanting a detailed history of the raid, trials and international tensions. In its' place, I was treated to a glimpse between the curtains but not the full detailed view I wanted. While it is not the book I wanted, this is not a bad book. It is a good introduction and a very entertaining read.

I love this book. I've read it numerous times over the years, yet the message is still relevant. The characters are so real, they feel like old friends. The humor is still fresh, and it never fails to have a "theraputic" effect on me. I highly recommend this book for any woman, but especially for any woman over the age of 21.

After reading her first two brilliant novels, "Kinflicks" and "Original Sins", I found myself wondering why Lisa Alther is not more highly regarded by the American literary establishment; several of her books are currently out of print. Perhaps the fact that she is a woman may have something to do with it; most of America's current literary lions (Updike, Irving, Roth, etc.) are male, whereas other talented female writers (Alison Lurie being a good example) are also neglected.

Having now read Alther's third novel "Other Women" I can now understand something of the reason for the decline in her reputation, because it does not come close to living up to the promise of her first two books. The book is set in New England; unlike its two predecessors it makes no reference to Alther's own Southern heritage. References to events such as the Jonestown massacre and the Sino-Vietnamese border war date the action to the winter and spring of 1978-79, although there are occasional slips. Caroline's children, for example, would not at that date have been able to inform her about the plot of "Raiders of the Lost Ark", as that movie was not released until 1981. (The book was written in 1984, some years after the events it describes).

The main character is Caroline Kelly, a 35 year old nurse. Caroline is an extreme pessimist, caught in an ideological misery trap. She believes that life- her own life and human life in general- is pointless and miserable and that she, and everyone else, is doomed to an existence of unhappiness and suffering. She has tried what Alther calls "all the standard bromides", including marriage, true love, communism, feminism, God, sex, work, alcohol and drugs, but each "enchanted for a while, but ultimately failed to stave off the despair".

At the beginning of the novel Caroline sees herself as being left with only two options- psychotherapy or suicide. The book tells the story of Caroline's course of treatment with her therapist, Hannah Burke, and as this progresses we learn something of her past. She is a divorcee, having left her doctor husband Jackson for a left-wing radical named David Michael, but this affair proved to be short-lived. She is currently in a lesbian relationship with a colleague, Diana, but this is also proving unsatisfactory; although the two women still live under the same roof, the sexual side of the relationship has all but come to an end and Diana is pursuing another, younger, girl. Like Ginny and some of Alther's other female characters, Caroline is bisexual; indeed, Alther seems to take the line that all people, or at least all women, are essentially bisexual, effectively leaving them free to choose their own sexuality. (A line that will not endear her to many in the gay community).

The aim of Hannah's therapy is to enable Caroline to take control of her life by coming to terms with her past. Caroline was the child of well-to-do, middle-class parents, politically and socially liberal but remote authority-figures, unable to cater for their children's emotional needs. The main result of their liberalism has been to inculcate their daughter with ineradicable guilt feelings about her privileged upbringing. Hannah sees Caroline's subsequent life of falling into a predictable pattern (by the end of the novel this has become capitalised as The Pattern) of clinging to substitute mother or father-figures and then being rejected by them, although it seemed to me that Hannah's psycho-analytic theories were not always borne out by the facts of Caroline's life. (For example, it was Caroline who left Jackson, not vice versa, largely because she could not accept that the needs of his patients might sometimes have to come before her own. She also walked out on David Michael, although with greater justification given that he was a serial womaniser). The book ends, according to the blurb on the back of my edition, with Caroline "gradually realising that she is being healed", although as she was still actively contemplating suicide in the penultimate chapter this healing is obviously a slow process.

Alther's first two novels have serious themes, but they are often very funny, and she is capable of writing with a brilliant, satirical wit. In "Other Women", however, there is very little wit or humour; the tone is deeply serious throughout, although some of the characters cry out to be satirised. The Lisa Alther of "Kinflicks" would have had great fun at the expense of David Michael, the sort of bourgeois fun-revolutionary who has taken up left-wing politics in order to increase his chances of scoring with women, or of Caroline's earnest, do-gooding parents. The main problem with the book is that Caroline is so difficult to like. In "Kinflicks" Alther had created, in Ginny Babcock, one of the most likeable heroines in modern literature- often infuriating, often wrongheaded, always fascinating. It is difficult to believe that the depressing figure of Caroline could have had the same creator. Reading the book was like spending several hours in the company of an acquaintance one would much rather avoid, not because they are wicked or malicious but because they positively radiate gloom and despondency.

Alther made something of a return to form with her fourth novel, "Bedrock", an amusing satirical look at New England small town life. The main character in that book, Clea Shawn, is an older (but not necessarily wiser) version of Ginny Babcock, although her best friend Elke is clearly an older version of Caroline. I have not read Alther's most recent novel, "Five Minutes in Heaven", but of her first four "Other Women" is by far the weakest.

One of the best books I have read in a while. I just couldn't put it down until I had finished it, and then I was sad that it was over. This book has everything: Humor, compassion, wisdom, insight, and great characters. It makes you think deeply about your own life and your relationships. The slow transformation of the main character Caroline is fascinating as she goes through therapy and takes a critical look at herself and her past. I have bought copies for all my friends to read and they all liked it just as much. If you tend to get depressed during the winter months, read this book as it may not only cheer you up but may also give you a fresh new perspective on your life.

As a canoeist I can only pray for titles similar to this series to span the continent. These guides offer listings by region and alphabetical indices, area maps, launch site directions and parking advice. Wilson mentions special points of interest -- geologic formations, settlements, graveyards, and odd indigenous species -- with sidebars covering nature lore. A super gift for the New England canoodler in your life.

I purchased this book as a guide book for kayaking lakes that I may have not known about. I found the book lacking on listing ALL the possible lakes not just some the author knew. I was looking for a lake guide book that list every lake, pond, maybe river not just a few. I had the older book and that listed even less. This also concentrates on the wildlife and plant life rather than describing the actual lake. This could be a really good guide book if it were done better...........

Excellent book, I recommend this to anyone. I use this book for canoe trip planning with my family. Detailed information is given here. As usual it is another fine book by AMC.

Yes, my name really is Ethan Allen. This is an excellently researched and well documented account about a very little known chapter of the American Revolution. The book is the story of Vermont's struggle for statehood. It explores the economic, social, and political pressures that led Vermonters to create their own government in spite of threats from Enland, New York, and Continental Congress. This book is a good study of how government derives its power from the people. The reading is a little slow at times, but good history often is, and this is more than worth the effort.

After the fraud Belleisles perpetuated in his Arming America book, I must confess that I read Revolutionary Outlaws with a more than sceptical eye. It is well written, but I find myself wondering if I can trust this author again.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in 18th century American history. It deals with a light hand with complex issues of both economic, political and religious history. It is also very cogently argued and entertaining.
Great stuff.

Looking through the Book, I will keep it with me while on road trips and when planning camping trips. I bought the book to see if I could learn anything more about my area central & northern New Hampshire. It only dedicates about 10 pages to Northern NH and everything that is listed on central NH I already knew.

Actually, I would normally rate this book a 4 but I thought the previous rating showing a 2 was too low. I found the book to be very helpful. Not being familar with Maine, VT, or NH, I was able to quicky determine not just where to fish but where not to fish. The book is targeted more toward fly fishermen (I am one of those) and it lists what hatches are on the stream. A familar fly fisherman knows roughly what month such hatches are around. I would highly recommend this book over a Maine Gazette map which will not give you the detailed directions to some popular fishing spots.

A nice collection of maps and general info, however, this title doesn't supply much more information than the NH Gazetteer. Can't speak as specifically to the VT and ME sections. Little info on when to fish, just general descriptions of how to get there and what may or may not be stocked. Really just a surface survey.

I thought I was ordering a small book with more information. It was just a one page double sided laminated brochure with the pictures and names. Just expected something more in depth.

I was very pleased with the prompt delivery and the condition of the book. I will be very excited about purchasing from Amazon again.

Thanks again,
Bonnie

This "paperback" is a good example of why it is important to read the entire description of an item carefully. It is neither a paperback nor even a book. Instead, it is an (apparently sturdy) accordian-folded sheet that expands to 8"x22". It is not an "introduction" to the birds, but simply color illustrations of each bird (I assume they are all males) along with the common name, scientific name, and size. That's it. Birds are arranged into five groups (perching, waterbirds, nearshore & wading, birds of prey, and "doves, woodpeckers, etc."). I saw it listed as a "paperback" and so ordered it. I failed to note that it's length is listed as being only 12 pages. It has its very limited use as a quick reference tool. It seems better suited to be a fold-out reference appended to a comprehensive field guide to birds, rather than being a stand-alone tool.

I was required to buy this book for my Journalism 1 class in college. It has a great online student center and the material covers a wide variety of topics. I thought this book was more interesting than most of the textbooks I have had to buy for school. It also comes with a CD-Rom that enhances the material.

The book covered many concepts of the world of communications. I found the text to be rather slow, but I was able to continue to the end, not only for the course I bought it for, but because I am interested in the field. It is a college textbook, so the organization is a bit more formal and less reader friendly, but it has a great deal of interesting information.

I highly recommend this guide to anyone who will be traveling in the Northeast as well as Canada. This guide gives you everything from upcoming events for the year to where to stay & eat. The maps are easy to read and follow. I have been a reader of the Mobil Guide for many years and it is continuing to give the most accurate, up-to-date travel information. This is the MUST-HAVE for the Northeast traveler.

The book gives a good overview of the areas with many addresses. Anyhow I found it a bit too black and white. It gives useful maps, but no coloured pictures from the areas, which would make it a bit more pleasant to read.

This book chronicles the arrival in rural Vermont in the early 1950s of a widow and her five young children, and how they established a new life for themselves together there. Melissa Mather had been living on an army base in Virginia with her husband and children. The Korean War was looming, and it became obvious that her husband would be deployed overseas. Meanwhile, one of her children, Mike, was autistic, and his uncontrolled behavior on the base was making him unwelcome there. Melissa set off in search of a rural house that would be cheap and far from neighbors and traffic so that Mike would be safe living there. At last, in Vermont, she found a house meeting her requirements. But life seldom goes according to plan, and before she was ready to move, Mike was expelled from the base and her husband's plane went down, so it was off to Vermont in March for the grieving family, while the snow was still thick on the ground.

Mather must have had a phenomenal amount of inner strength, strength to feed, house, and clothe her growing brood. She quickly learned how hospitable Vermonters can be as neighbors, how they accepted Mike's differences without passing judgment on her or her other children. Of course, some people could still be hard to live with, like the neighbor who couldn't be bothered to fence to his cows properly, but most were fine characters.

As I read this book, I found myself drawn deeper and deeper into Mather's tragic story, and her heroic struggle. For chapter after chapter, I could not put the book down. Then, suddenly, Mather seemed to run out of steam as Vermont farm life began to define her experience, and the story began to drag. Towards the end of the book, she devotes almost an entire chapter to the detailed history of a 1950s town politics debacle over school expansion. By this point, it seemed almost as though she were clutching at any material she could to fill out the book to monograph size. On another level, however, bringing out the importance of town politics certainly demonstrates how her priorities changed once she had settled in. She was no longer focused so much on the day-to-day details of survival; she was in the slow lane at last.

This is a warm and tender storyof a yong war widow during the 1950's in Vermont. While living on an army base with her four young children, Melissa finds tha she is a widow and expecting another baby. with only her small nsurance policy she sets off to find a homefor her family.From the moment she pulls into the drive of the old yellw farmhouse her heart is lost and so is the readers. A story where the straykittens, neighbors, and all thepeople in the little village nearby become our friends too.

A teenage boy asks Frank and Joe to go come to his home in Vermont to investigate a series of forest fires which he believes have been set by a zombie. Also, a circus owner asks Frank and Joe for help when his Big Top is plagued by accidents. Perhaps I expect too much from those books with titles like "Track Of The Zombie", "Night Of The Werewolf" or "The Witchmaster's Key", but rarely have the books ever lived up to such appealing titles (that is not to say that the books were bad, though). This book was mistitled because the zombie parts could have easily been eliminated without changing the plot much. The story isn't bad, it is fairly fast-paced, and has a fair amount of action, but for anyone anticipating a story about a zombie, you'll be disappointed with this one.

Well, overall this book was good. The zombie was definitely human, and it's hard to say if it seemed real or not. The other parts of the story are okay, and some are hilarious. If it had a few more funny parts, I'd think this book wasn't a mystery book at all. So it's hard to say wether I liked it or not. Especially because of the characteristics of some sort. And really, the Hardys didn't seem their best in this one. I can't believe I wasted my time on this...but it seems good...