Kansas Books

I loved the characters, the descriptive writing was very good. I felt like I was part of the old West, and felt right at home with the story line.I was impressed with the author's first published book and am looking forward to # 2.

I thought that this was a very good book. It will appeal to western enthusiasts, history buffs (although it's fiction), and general readers. I thought that there was some similarity to Louis L'Amour by the descriptive train of thought throughout the book.

All in all, it was quite entertaining, and I will be very happy when the next two installments come out. I look forward to reading them soon.

Mr. Frazier gets my vote as a good and entertaining author.

A fast paced, action packed thriller. it was a hard book to put down. You are always wondering what will happen next. The author makes you think as he weaves the various parts of the story together. I am anxiously awaiting the next book in the series.

The action in this book takes you from China, into California, Kansas, Arizona, and Colorado. The lives of many people change forever when they meet Ben and Su Chang as they settle in Kansas, and are running from Chinese warlords and the Tong of the Black Hand. There are kidnappings, murders, and rescues. It brings the Old West vividly back to life.

The book was an easy and very informative read for me. I am the family historian and this added additional depth to my family research. When you delve into the history during the time your ancestors were living and experiencing it, it adds another dimension to your research. My mother's famiy were slaves in Overton Co. Tennessee and made the exodus to Kansas.

This is a good solid historical account. Well documented and relentless in the telling of the story. It was another reminder for me of the intensity of the oppression of the American southern blacks before and after the Civil War. Once Reconstruction was effectively ended in 1876, the black people of the South were abandoned by the politicians of the North and left to the tender mercies of the southern planters and their hired help.

The Exoduster movement involved the movement of approximately 6,000 southern blacks from the South to Kansas starting around 1876 and peaking in 1879. It was a reaction to the terrorism used by the planter class and the white authorities of that time to keep the blacks in their place politically and economically. The fact that blacks outnumbered the white planter class and their minions in parts of the South meant that "appropriate methods" needed to be used by these same people to prevent the black populace from voting.

A story worth telling and well told by the author. It is a well documented and footnoted book. The book pays homage to the courageous spirit of the Exodusters, but also provides a reality check against those that would have us conveniently forget terrible injustices in our history.

Something to remember as we go forward in our grand national adventures in this year of our Lord, 2007.

The migration of the Exodusters, blacks who moved to Kansas searching for a place in which to be truly free, is a massive and massively overlooked part of history. Nell Painter, in her book Exodusters: Black Migration to Kansas After Reconstruction, does a credible job of restoring this overlooked part of frontier history to the realm of academic discussion. It is a good book, yet, disturbingly, the voice of the Exodusters is missing. Painter claims that the exact number of Exodusters is unknown, but estimates from 6,000 to 20,000 have been made (184). Constrained by the prices gouged out of their harvests by tenant bosses, they dreamed of a land of milk and honey. This dream, in turn, with a small amount of exaggeration, helped to send them looking in Kansas for what they wanted. Yet, most of this book is about the conditions that led to the movement of the Exodusters and not what they found there, or how they adapted to life in a strange land. There are no reminiscences, no narratives, or stories from descendents. Painter points out the Southern credit system crushed them economically (55), that their schools were inferior (50) because of the practice of hiring deficient white teachers over exemplary black instructors, but there is no mention of whether or not change was achieved in Kansas.
Stylistically, Painter has the odd habit of taking end paragraphs to both sum up the previous chapter and introduce the next chapter. It breaks the flow of the book and makes it difficult to read. Also at times, Painter seems to be saying too much too fast. Some of her ideas, the study of black schools and the racial politics that controlled them, and the lineage of the black spiritual/political leaders for example, are books in themselves.
Early on, Painter posits that class was just as important as race in the history of the Exodusters (vii). Respectable African-Americans, that is those who agreed with the Anglos, who had been to white schools and spoke like the whites, came out against the Exoduster movement, and for the political party of the planter. Interestingly enough, in the discussion of class issues, Painter doesn't touch much on the poor whites and how they felt about the black movement to Kansas. For example, whether it became easier for them to find work and buy land. Painter is silent on this issue, other than mentioning that poor whites had at one point united with poor blacks in political clubs (39).
Painter argues that it was the enactment of certain rules that led to the Southern black's desire to leave the South. These rules forced black membership in "clubs" that obligated them to vote a Democratic party line, required passes to move around freely, and attempted to stop them for owning property. The well-known poll tax (37) is an example of these rules that were an attempt to control and curtail the political power of the African American. These rules led to stress and that stress bred a desire to move whether it be to Africa, to Kansas, or to Oklahoma to establish that territory as a black state (259).
Painter does a good job of portraying the changing of the Exoduster leadership from the un-educated but intelligent Henry Adams and the spiritual leader Pap Singleton, who saw the move to Kansas as one of Biblical import and spiritually motivated, to the classically Anglo-educated leaders who emerged in the beginning of the twentieth century.
In the first section of the book, Painter brings out the fact that for the first time since the Civil War, whites felt challenged by blacks. Many former slaves could read, they had bolstered their self-esteem through Army service in the war, they were older, wiser, able to buy property and the white planters, their former owners, were running scared (5). Painter spends a lot of time discussing the political machinations of the blacks and how the whites used political separation to help divide and conquer. The many different ways the wealthy whites attempted to stop the blacks from gaining power are detailed: "bulldozing", the terroristic activities by the KKK and groups like them, by disarming them, or out arming them by theft from government armories, and by stopping their attempts at cooperative ventures.
Although Painter does say that some whites "helped" the Blacks by warning them of bulldozing attacks, she claims that this was merely an attempt on the part of the whites to bolster their own opinion, making them feel better about themselves, and to disenfranchise the blacks by proving that they could not take care of themselves without the outside paternalistic influence of the Anglos (18).
Part Two of Exodusters involves the big figures of the movement, Henry Adams and Pap Singleton, a man who saw himself as the sole reason for Kansas immigration and that immigration as a holy obligation. These men helped lead the movement that casted around for a new black homeland. Cyprus, Liberia, and Kansas were all under consideration. All the factors that Painter had enumerated in the first part led to the desire and madness for moving that eventually landed tens of thousands of migrants in Kansas with no means of support and no free land as they had thought.
Painter details the different groups of Exodusters. The first came from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi, and then later waves from the Gulf States. He discusses the political upheaval which this massive migration caused in both the states from which they were leaving and to the territory in which they would soon arrive. Rents suddenly dipped in the regions they had left, leading planters to promise safe-conduct and better treatment. This was a promise that many of the Exodusters treated warily and refused to accept (211). Finally, when reaction from the exodus had begun to set in, the South began to realize that it must change. Leading newspapers, for the first time, advocated the sale of property to blacks (240). Still though, many Exodusters didn't return. Painter's figure is that, "in early 1880 roughly fifteen thousand migrants still remained in Kansas" (256).
Painter points out that while the Kansas Fever Exodus was mad and rushed, with no central leadership and little thought given to actually making a living once arriving in Kansas, in contrast, later moves would be well-thought out and carefully planned. Yet all that careful planning did not keep the Exodusters and their saga alive in the minds of most Americans. It is especially tragic that because of the fact that the Exodusters were second class citizens, little if any of their accounts were recorded. It is America's loss as we attempt to come to terms with our national Western myth that we do not have more accounts like the Exodusters with which to work.

A very comprehensive look at the events precedeing and including Black migration from the South after the Civil War. A must read for anyone interested in Black history or the Civil War.

Nicole Etcheson does a masterful job of weaving the chaotic detail of the early Kansas chaos into a cogent history. She convincingly demonstrates that the stories we heard in high school of the motivations underlying the conflict were over generalized at best, and usually misleading. Her narrative is lively and her insights are enlightening. This book should be read by anyone interested in the events leading to the Civil War.

This an excellent account of a complicated political dispute.
the author gives a clear and logical history of bleeding Kansas.
After reading this book, I finally felt like I understood the
issues involved.The author includes lots of information
about how the people of the antebellum period felt to help
the reader understand the conflict. I read alot of popular
history and this is the best I've read in quite awhile.Hats
off to Etcheson for this excellent work. I look foward to
her next work.

It seems to me that the author overrelies on newspaper accounts in her research, which are often notoriously unreliable, especially if far removed from the events that are being described. In addition, newspaper accounts during the Border War were characterized by extreme bias, and Etchison quotes them often without commenting on inaccuracies and distortions, which only reinforces their error. She is sometimes coy in the narrative mode, so much so that even in the description of John Brown ruthlessly hacking to death and shooting the Doyles at Pottatawatomie Creek, she fails to mention who is killing and mutilating, only referring to an "angular old man" in charge and does this for fully a page of text, then only referring to the maniac Brown indirectly, as "old man Brown." What "old man Brown"? What is more incredible, no, flabbergasting, is that she doesn't mention that Brown is killing the three Doyles because they carry warrants for John Brown's arrest for intimidating a Kansas Territorial supreme court judge, a dismal failure in research it seems to me. She also uses the old hackneyed propaganda terms, "bushwhackers," instead of the more accurate, value-neutral term "guerrillas" in describing Missouri insurgents, and also, laughably, employs Horace Greeley's coined, centuries-old, favorite propaganda term, "Border Ruffians" and "ruffians" to describe the Missouri elites' actions in Kansas, an unforgivable, antiquated lapse by someone affecting objectivity. Etcheson's simplistic, description of the Border War is insulting to those who don't share her "liberal" interpretation of events. After 150 years of winners' histories, it's time for a lot more objectivity by our so-called "professional" historians. They should tell it like it is, not how they wish it to "appear" to the uninitiated.

Professor Etcheson's book is a thorough, objective view of "Bleeding Kansas," the years leading up to the Civil War (1854 to 1861.) She makes the politics of the time as interesting as the armed combat between the (Kansas/New England) Abolitionist and the (Missouri/Southern) Border Ruffian. Etcheson also looks at all points of view with a frank and honest eye, not lionizing the anti-slavery faction or villainizing the pro-slavery faction.

It is by far the most up-to-date and historically accurate book on this important era. A must-read for the Civil War buff and for those in Kansas and Missouri to understand the integral part the region played in setting the stage for the War Between the States.

I can recommend all mr Citino's books. It is on the operational level that a battle/war is won and mr Citino's ability to explain and analyse operational warfare is unequalled.

In this follow-on to the author's "Quest for Decisive Victory", Citino analyzes how armies from World War 2 on achieved or failed to achieve decisive victories, including many cases rarely mentioned in other military histories. Although not quite meeting the extremely high standard set by the earlier book, it is still an outstanding book. Its footnotes will tell you what books to read to learn more about a particular campaign, and giving the strengths and weaknesses of each, which I think is extremely helpful. If you have any interest in an operational analysis of modern campaigns, but this book.

Robert Citino has written an excellent military history that has descibed the development of combined arms warfare. The first section of the book, Citino compares the military doctrines of the United States, Germany, Britain, and Russia during the Second World War. Citino believes that German military doctrine was severely flawed since it was mainly adaptable to wars in Western and Central Europe and did not make logicistical provisions for the campaigns in North Africa and Russia. Citino also praises Russian military doctrine for being able to plan for the mass encirclements of the German army in 1943-1945, but criticizes the Russians for lacking personal intiative in combat. Citino also criticizes the British for only attacking with tanks and showing no personal intiative on the battlefield. However Citino praises the American for being flexible and massing their forces on a single point during Operation Cobra.
The second part of the book, Citino praises the personal freedom allowed officers to conduct battle in the Israeli and Indian armies and writes about the lackluster performance of the Iraqi and Iranian armies that lacked competent officers. In the closing chapters of the book, Citino believes that the victory in Operation Desert Storm was due to superior firepower as well as tactics while Operation Iraqi Freedom was dangerously based on the assumption of internal rebellion and was eventually won by the use of armor. I would reccomend this book for anyone who believes that technology can replace officership and armor.

Despite all of the new technology, the rules of warfare always remain the same. In Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm, Citino analyzes every major military campaign from WWII to the present. The details are amazing. Most history books just tell you what happened, Citino tells you how. Every major battle is broken down into divisions and corps with a complete description of their objectives, capabilities, and commanders. His narrative tone makes book the enjoyable and entertaining while at the same time, informative and stimulating. This book is a must read for anyone interested in topics such as 20th century history, military history, or modern war studies.

This is an interesting and provocative book, well worth reading; see the other reviews for that. Unfortunately, it makes very clumsy reading. I think this was not Citino's fault. This seems, in fact, to be the worst edited book I've ever read. The main problem is not typos but repitition: Citino will often say virtually the same thing in virtually the same way within paragraphs. (See for example the comments on the US M3 tank on pp. 58-59.) This is the kind of understandable mistake a writer makes in the course of writing a book, and it is why publishers hire editors and pay them (albeit not very well). This book was published by University Press of Kansas. They need to have a stern talk with whoever edited Citino's book; they have done him an injustice.

As a Missourian and a professional historian, I looked forward to reading what many consider a classic (even Boatner cites Monaghan). I was misled. This is an insufferable book, almost unreadable, a waste of time. Presuming to knowledge he cannot have, the author is pleased to describe (without citations) the innermost thoughts of historical figures. He insists on calling William Clark Quantrill "Charles;" writes Elias Boudinet for Elias Boudinot. Wallows in cliches (e.g. calls James Lane "the Grim Chieftan" at every opportunity until you want to gag) and racial stereotypes (e.g. his characterization of the "primeval passions" of naturally savage Indians, p. 210; see also every reference to black people). His writing style is so florid and bombastic at times as to rob it of clarity. Thus, while he describes obscure battles covered by few other scholars (hence the second star), it's sometimes hard to tell what's going on. If you want the politics of Bleeding Kansas and the early days of the war in Missouri, see the second volume of Nevins's classic "Emergence of Lincoln" and the first volume of "War for the Union;" if you are interested in the bitterness and hatred that fueled the violence in Missouri during and after the war, Fellman's "Inside War" is the book to read. But don't bother with Monaghan.

This book explains very well why there was so much violence in the Western scenario. If you like, it also explains the violence following the civil war in the reconstruction era. If you are used to draw a gun whenever you see a political opponent one should not be surprised about the cruelties committed by the Klan after the war.

This book also shows the problematic stand the civilized (Indian) nations were confronted with, being forced to choose between Union or Confederacy.

To all Southerners, this is a ballanced account descibing that particular period of time. Buy it.

A very well written book on the history of the Civil war west of the Mississippi. Monaghan covers many of the battles I had tried in vain to locate details on. Covered are the battles of: Carthage, Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove, and Westport. I especially found interesting the involvement of the Five Nations out of Oklahoma. Much is covered concerning the conflicts between Kansas and Missouri, but Texas, Arkansas and others are treated with some detail. Monaghan's writing style is excellent, giving you a good feeling for what happened. You will read and re-read this one.

Fanatical politics of the western frontier, immigrant abolitionists with loaded Spencer rifles funded by mysterious personages back East, cut-throats, gin heads and horse thieves, colorful character descriptions... This book ranks up there with Pea Ridge by Shea and The Civil War by Foote. Absoltuley a must read.

I'm always thrilled when a new Soviet memoir from the Second World War is released. In practically every instance I always get to learn something new and read about a plethora of experiences the author went through which enrich my understanding of this time period and WWII as a whole. This book highlights Isaak Kobylyanskiy's experiences as a 76mm gunner (gun commander and battery commander) during the Second World War on the Eastern Front while he served in the 87th Guards Division, 2nd Guards Army. To those interested in gritty details of offensive operations that undoubtedly contain hand to hand combat and the savagery of war, you will not find much of that here. In this book you will experience war from an artillery officer's point of view, although this artilleryman was not in the rear, he was right up there with the soldiers in the front lines providing direct fire in support for their actions, etc.

What I greatly appreciated about this book is that it is divided in half. The first half of the book is devoted to the author's experiences during the war and the other half to his thoughts on the war and the people he served with, the Red Army, writing letters, marches, leisure at the front, being a Jewish Red Army soldier, political workers within the Red Army, his views of the Germans (both soldiers and civilians), rear services troops, drinking alcohol, etc. Usually, one hardly ever comes across such a division within a book, most of the time all these ideas are dealt within the pages of the author's experience throughout the war, but there might be some added benefit to having chapters devoted solely to the war and then chapters devoted solely to stories which might not necessarily deal with the war. While in at least one chapter the author highlights the dubious side of some soldiers within the Red Army, he explains that the Red Army was not made up solely of such characters but these were simply people and events which he encountered throughout the war for the first time, these became lessons he learned for life. I should also like to mention that the editor, Stuart Britton, does an excellent job, a lot of contextual information is given to make the books progress and flow smoothly.

To begin, the author discusses his life in Vinnitsa and Kiev before the war began. It was interesting to learn about the author's reading habits, going from children's books to a plethora of foreign works including Twain, Hemingway, Dumas, etc. The famine of 1933 that took place in Ukraine, and other Soviet areas, was witnessed by the author, although he himself, his family, and his school mates did not suffer much. Also of interest was Kobylyanskiy's description of the "Great Purge" years when his father's boss was arrested and the next day the author's father "obliterated" his boss's face in all the pictures he could find in his photo album with black ink, for fear of being arrested himself. The author himself went to such lengths with some of the certificates of merit that he had received. The author's insight into the political situation as the USSR grabbed land from Poland, the Baltics, and Romania was interesting to hear as well as his thoughts on the winter war, which he was not in agreement with.

When the war began the author encountered Jewish refugees from Western territories, including Poland, streaming through Kiev. Eventually, his mother and brother, amongst many others, would be evacuated but he does recount how some Jews refused as they remembered the German occupation from WWI during which they were treated well enough by the Germans, something that is often repeated when looking for reasons why so many Jews 'stayed' behind. The majority, if not all, of those Jews who remained in Kiev would wind up being shot to death at Babi Yar.

The author's story about a Red Army soldier who wandered too far from his own lines, while wanting to do some ice fishing, and then was caught by the Germans was quite interesting. After 10 days the soldier escaped from the Germans and within a half hour OO (osobyi otdel) troops had tracked him down and taken him away. Although the author says they never heard anything more about the soldier, I personally, don't think this should denote automatically that the soldier was executed. While it is a distinct possibility, it is also possible that he was sent to a Penal formation or assigned to convoy duty, etc. In another episode the author discusses a soldier who shows up after being a POW for months, SMERSH (death to spies) officers had no interest in him. As well, when going through liberated territory the Red Army often received reinforcements from the local population, in one such case it was eventually brought to the attention of SMERSH that one soldier collaborated with the Germans in locating Jews and even executing them. He was sentenced to death and hanged.

A moving account is offered of how Kobylyanskiy had to make a choice of putting a gun crew in danger, by attacking a dozen or so tanks and self propelled guns, or letting them take on Red Army infantry who had yet to fully dig in. Without thinking twice Kobylyanskiy gave the order to fire, the end result was a dead gun commander, but the enemy's tanks did not advance. The author's experiences in what he dubbed "The Ravine of Death" were quite telling of the time period. While the 2nd Guards Army failed in their offensive endeavor, and the commanding officer was dismissed, it took a few days to understand that the failed offensive was in fact a huge help for other sectors of the front, namely in the Kursk area, thus the army in the end received some recognition for its actions. One of the most interesting parts of the book is when the author took it upon himself to try and stop a retreating group of soldiers by firing his pistol into the air, cursing, and threatening to shoot them. Eventually, with help from a few other officers, the retreat was stopped and the soldiers went back to their positions. I also enjoyed the rendition of a speech his divisional commander gave, where in he stressed how quickly houses, buildings, and factories could be rebuilt but how precious soldiers lives were; noting that officers should be careful with their men's lives.

Descriptions of Political workers are offered in the second part of the book and prove interesting, in regards to both the good and bad. The same is true for the examples offered of what it was like being a Jewish Red Army soldier and how Kobylyanskiy dealt with the stereotypes of Jewish soldiers, at times risking his life to prove that a Jewish soldier was just as good, if not better, than any other. The author's frankness in regards to his thoughts about Germans was revealing as well as his honesty in detailing sexual crimes and the Red Army. While he himself did not witness any prosecution within his unit for violation of orders from above (which forbid such activities) he did hear from Germans themselves and through rumors about what some Red Army soldiers did and how some Germans suffered. Especially touching was the story of a German girl, Annie, who on her way back home from Pillau was stopped by numerous Red Army soldiers and made to "lie down." The author is correct that this is a part of war, he stresses, and as would I, that this is not an excuse but should be an accepted fact. War is not pretty, innocent people suffer, but their suffering should not constitute cause for hypocrisy. While Red Army soldiers raped, so did western allied soldiers and so did German soldiers, etc.

While I have more than given away a good deal of what this book is about and what it contains within its pages I can guarantee that you'll find all of this and much more.

At last, memoirs from the Soviet side of the Eastern Front of WWII are appearing in English. From Stalingrad To Pillau is the second such Soviet memoir I've read, and several things took me aback before I barely had this book's spine bent. First Isaak K. is a Jew who fought the Soviet war. It apparently wasn't a horrid experience--something like being a black soldier in the U.S. Army at that time--simply distasteful.

The second eye-opener had to do with men and women fighting side by side almost from the start in this conflict. Lest you swoon at the egalitarianism of this revelation (and there is much to consider in that regard, given the years) be advised that the women soldiers often felt it wise to quickly pair off with the first decent men they met, lest they be sexual fodder for the rest.

And the third revelation has to do with the tone of this memoir: much vodka drinking, dancing, and general all-round emoting by Soviet soldiers. If you're now picturing these Soviets as a large, gun-bearing band of Gypsies, rub your eyes. The Soviet soldiers as portrayed here were dedicated, clever, inventive, and persistent while living lives as austere as the vaunted Wehrmacht soldiers. I wonder whether such emotive displays might have given impetus to their ability to re-tool their own war machine in the midst of a horrendous German occupation and conflict.

Mr. K goes to great lengths to present the most basic details of the war, from daily hygiene to smoking materials (tobacco or a local weed called machorka). It seems he remembers more of this sort of thing than the battles, the tactics and various implements of destruction.

Kobylyanskiy was married to his childhood sweetheart during the war. After the war, and as the nation sought to rebuild and restore electricity, sanitation etc., (this is something few consider, I think, in contemplating that Soviet "victory"), the couple lived in a one room apartment with his parents while he sought work and completion of his education as an engineer. One would think a grateful nation would bend over backwards to accommodate those such as Isaak, but this wasn't the case; he was turned down for work and had to fight for re-entry to school. Only through persistence did good things happen for him.
He emigrated to the U.S. in 1994. The great mystery to this memoir is why. Maybe he'll tell us more in a second, equally compelling book.

FROM STALINGRAD TO PILLAU
A Red Army Artillery Officer Remembers The great Patriotic War
Isaak Kobylyanskiy

(University of Kansas Press 2008)

Isaak Kobylyanskiy was an18 year old student, a Jew, in his hometown of Kiev when he joined the Red Army in October 1942. For the next three plus years (until his discharge in the spring of 1946) he was an artilleryman, first a noncom and then an officer. He was in a battery of 76 mm short barreled field guns which gave the infantry close support (many times they were within 100 meters of the line) in the fighting from Stalingad to Pillau; and this is his story. And it is a story that I respect - as I respect the author.
This is not your usual "war story". While I am as suspicious as any of you about any kind of "war story" this one comes across as true to me. This man writes with a voice of sincerity. I believe he probably had access to regimental records to record the names of his comrades in so many different circumstances and so many different places where they marched to do battle; but taking taking the book by its four corners this is the story of a decent soldier who was - and is - proud of his country and of what he did in its defense. (He emigrated to this country ten years ago after a successful career in electronics.) There's not much blood and gore. No heroics Just a real story about how it was to be a fighting man on the move day and night, a story of companionship and pride. I recommend it to you without reservation; and I know everyone of you who has the privilege of reading this would like to sit down and talk with the author . He's a good man. Maybe a bit matter of fact. Not much blood and gore. But a true story and a good one.

A VERY GOOD READ, TRUTHFUL, INFORMATIVE AND ENTERTAINING*
By Vadim Brevdo (Brooklyn, NY USA)

As a son of a veteran of the Great Patriotic War (GPW), I have been interested in the topic of the WW-II during most of my mature life. Particularly, I have read plenty of books and memoirs about the WW-II, especially about the GPW (1941-1945).

After reading this book I express my unbiased opinion to all readers who have genuine interest in the GPW's history and its dramatic but little known details: this book is the best war memoirs I have ever read. The author's complete truthfulness, openness, sincerity, and living language make the book unique. It is also evident that the book is perfectly edited by Stuart Britton.

In my opinion, the most valuable features of Isaak Kobylyanskiy's book become apparent and attract the reader when the author describes:
- his brothers-in-arms' and his own feelings while in combat;
- soldiers' interrelations in his multiethnic detachment;
- several characters (most but not all positive) of his brothers-in-arms. (Especially, Boris Glotov's portrait is so vivid!);
- his different reflections on the life in the USSR before, during, and after the war;
- loves and fates of several women who served in the same rifle regiment as the author did;
- his reflections on the anti-Semitism and how Kobylyanskiy being an ethnic Jew "fought" at the front with this phenomenon;
- his feelings and encounters with the Germans, both civilians and soldiers;
- his own one and only love.
I must stop this list - it's too long. Let the reader learn the features completely on his/her own.

Finally, I urge everyone:
MUST BUY, MUST READ, WILL NOT REGRET

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* The Military Book Club named Isaak Kobylyanskiy's FROM STALINGRAD TO PILLAU the main selection of March 2008.

It's a good book to pull the stories from around my area into one source. The writer does admit to having only 1 source for 2 or 3 different stories. I almost gave it 3 stars, but she admitted it and that's worth an honesty point to me. I have only had it a couple weeks and already 2 friends have borrowed it. It's a good conversation starter for long road trips. It also give me an idea of something to do some summer nights. It reads easily, in good 'haunted book' format.

This book is really cool if you live in this area. It talk about addresses and areas that really do exist. Very interesting!

If you live in Southeast Kansas this is a very interesting book to read. I knew alot of the places mentioned in the book but had not heard all the stories before I read it! Very cool for residents here in the area.

This book is definite for those who want to know about the haunted history of Southeast Kansas or simply wants to read a good ghost story on those dark stormy nights. The stories within this book tells haunted tales of about ghosts that haunts Southeast Kansas. You can read about the haunted highway in southeast Kansas and the ghosts that haunts many homes.

This book is a definite for ghost hunters in Southeast Kansas or for those just wanting a good scare. This is the kind of book that you would whip out in October to get into the Halloween mood!

Great job, I hope to see more books like these come from Cheryl!

My daughter has all of these American Girl mysteries. They are excellent for Elementary School age girls. I have read them all as well.

Ever since her mother's death two years ago, twelve-year-old Ida Kate Deming has done all the housework for herself and her father on their Kansas homestead. The year is 1878, and life on the prairie is difficult, dangerous, and lonely. Ida Kate's father has decided the time has come for him to remarry. He puts an advertisement for a wife in an eastern newspaper, and a young widow, Caroline Fairchild, who has a one-year-old son, responds. Ida Kate is eager to have a mother and a brother, and her father is eager to once again have a wife. But all is not right with Caroline. Soon, Ida Kate begins to suspect that Caroline may not be Caroline at all, but someone else entirely different. But if "Caroline" is an impostor, what happened to the real Caroline? And are Ida Kate and her father in danger? This was a wonderful addition to the History Mysteries series that brought alive life on the prairie in the 1870s. Ida Kate was a spirited, adventurous heroine. I reccomend this book to all those who enjoyed the other History Mysteries books.

This book is all about Ida Kate. When her Mother dies, she is left all he chores, and can't attend school. A friend of Ida Kate's mother dies also. Her father sent away for a mail bride (that is where two people send lots of letters, and then the lady comes and they get married). Her friend's step-mother was very nice, so Ida Kates father decided to try. When Caroline (his mail bride) gets there she brings a big surprise with her. This is a very good story!

It's 1878. Ida Kate Deming and her father live on a farm on the Kansas prairie, several miles from the nearest town. Since the death of Ida Kate's mother, she has had to take on the household chores: cleaning, mending, cooking, etc. It's a big job for a young girl, and it doesn't leave enough time for Ida Kate to attend school or see her friends much. Small wonder, then, that Ida Kate is excitedly looking forward to the arrival of the mail-order bride that is coming from back east to marry her father. Trouble arrives with the new member of the family, however. Her hair is the wrong color, she's too short, she cooks too well and sings too well, she isn't allergic to the cat, and her handwriting is different from the handwriting in the letters they received. Who is this woman, really? What happened to the woman Ida Kate and her father were expecting?

While portraying the hardships of life on the frontier in the late 1800's, "Riddle Of The Prairie Bride" also gives kids an intriguing mystery to sink their teeth into. "Formulaic" it may be, but this is fine for kids. A plot with too many complications could be overwhelm a young reader. My ten-year-old daughter got quite caught up in this tale, and wanted to "keep reading" each evening until we finished it. Readers of other "history mysteries" will not be disappointed with this one. If you have never read one, give one a try.

This is a book that contains a very detailed state map broken up over 60-80 pages. It shows practically every road in the state, even unnumbered dirt roads. It shows railroad tracks, power lines, and even dry stream beds, so you absolutely can't get lost (if you are a halfway decent map reader). I bought this book to use while storm-chasing. It was a must-have. We always knew exactly where we were on the map. It is not the kind map book you would need if you are just zipping through the state on an interstate. It's more for people who will be traveling off the main roads.

They have done a good job on this Gazatter. I has been a few years since it was updated but can get you where you are going. They give Latitude and Longitude in Decimal and Degree,hour & minutes, which is a plus.

Once again, Delorme atlases won't lead you astray. Living in Kansas City, I often take excursions into Kansas when I want to get out of the city. With this atlas I can head onto almost any back road and not get lost. These maps are great for finding places that the basic road maps can't show. Whether you're birding, hunting, or camping, you'll find this atlas useful. You can get to Lyon County Fishing Lake, Quivera NWR, Morton County or any place in Kansas easily. Highly recommended!

I was born and grew up in Kansas, yet there is much of the state I've never seen. I recently began driving the back roads of Kansas to get from my house to my daughter's on the western side of the state. I am learning to appreciate the undervalued beauty of Kansas. This atlas, showing all the roads in Kansas, including county roads and minimum maitenance roads is an excellent resource for finding my way around the state. It's fun to look in the atlas and find the little dirt road that runs by the cemetery or to see the gravel road that edges the pasture owned by a friend. I didn't realize map reading could be this fun!

Kansas City Jazz is a chronicle of the golden age of jazz music, an era that put Kansas City on the map along with the more heavily documented jazz havens of New Orleans, Chicago, and New York. Jazz authority and former record executive Frank Driggs combines his talent Kansas City native and radio host Chuck Haddix to present an in-depth chronicle jazz styles that encompassed rough-and-tumble urban blues, and pounding piano music that would come to be known as "boogie-woogie". A tour of jazz cultural landmarks such as the Reno Club and colorful profiles of jazz figures from Mary Lou Williams and Big Joe Turner to Jimmy Rushing and Andy Kirk, along with an inset section of black-and-white photographs, distinguish this "must-read" for jazz music history enthusiasts.

Any serious student of Jazz needs to know about the Kansas City sound. The book reiterated what I already knew which is that KC was a major contribitor to bebop and to r&b due to the styles that came togteher from that part of the country. Generations of musicians were influenced by the Basie Band and Charlie Parker. You will also get an education of what life was like in the black community of a midwestern city. Kansas City, which happens to be one of my favorites among cities, had a parallel identity with the world of Negro Leagues baseball and both jazz and baseball are remembered through a museum which I plan to visit soon. I recommend the book to anyone unfamiliar with the subject and interested in jazz.

Great book, both of the other reviews so far are quite good. It's good to see a city with such a great history finally getting a thorough treatment.

As a Kansas City native, I would like to point out that co-author Chuck Haddix is quite possibly the best DJ in town, as well as a fine author. His Friday and Saturday night show The Fish Fry plays some of the best jazz and blues anywhere. You can learn more as well as listen to past shows at http://www.kcur.org/fishfry.html, there's a link to the archives on the righthand side.

With vivid descriptions of the "wide-open" town of Jazz era Kansas City and its dramatic denizens, you can envision the scenes of Basie's coming of age, Charlie Parker's KC childhood and musical evolution, big bands dueling each other, glamorous theaters and giant dance halls, bars open 24 hours, remarkable women, "sporting men," police looking the other way, and so much more. The extensive research really pays off with quotations from reviews and ads from "back in the day," interviews with legends, a generous array of photographs, and a cohesive and accessible presentation of information from many sources. The sights, sounds, scents, and sentiments conveyed by Chuck Haddix and Frank Driggs in Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop are the next best thing to a time-machine. Next, Oxford needs to put out a companion CD (or DVD with photos and copies of the original media) with the recordings of the music and performers to help us fully appreciate the musical innovations from the Paris of the Plains.