Mississippi Books

I love the blunt honesty of the student voices in this guide. It really makes you feel like you're talking directly to a student instead of reading something wholly technical. There are sections on everything from diversity to nightlife, to academics of course. Everyone thinking about University of Missouri should get this Prowler book.

Upper Mississippi Valley By Motorcycle by Kay Fellows is an informative guide for exploring the areas in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin surrounding the Mississippi river by motorcycle. Concisely covering all road systems from the Quad Cities in Illinois and Iowa, and the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Upper Mississippi Valley By Motorcycle knowledgeably informs readers of the most scenic and majestic roadways, the kindest people in the most friendly stops, and so much more that is useful when traveling all around the "Father of Waters" by motorcycle. Upper Mississippi Valley By Motorcycle is very highly recommended for all readers searching for an interesting and well authored mapping of the Midwest surrounding the Mississippi River for a fun and beautiful exploration from atop a motorcycle whether alone or in the company of others.

There are secrets buried in these elegant pages. At least one of the lithographs of Mr. Lewis has been decried as fanciful. It is not. What historians claims does not exist is in this book. THe truth is coming out. Mr. Lewis will be revered as a final witness to the one of the most amazing secrets of American history when it does

This is a fantastic item, and very reasonably prices. We will be taking a vacation in which the travel back home will take us past the Vicksburg battlefield. I feel this product will allow us to make the most of that visit.

It features an annimated movie that details Grants Mississippi campaign which concluded with the seige of Vicksburg. This give a great background on the importance of this site in the entire war, as well as how battles leading up to the Vicksburgh seige set up the final confrontation.

In addition to the above movies are featurettes detailing individual battles, complete with 360 degree panoramic photos from the modern day battlefield site. It even features small featurettes detailing the weapons of that day and time.

For those who visit the battlefield itself, there is a Tour Guide CD that will walk you through your visit at Vicksburg.

To get a full understanding of this battle, and more importantly the entire Civil War, this is a highly recommended product.

On July 4, 1863, Confederate General John Pemberton surrendered the City of Vicksburg and its defending Army to General Ulysees Grant ending a long campaign and siege and giving the Union uncontested control of the Mississippi River. It was a great victory, probably the decisive event of the Civil War; but it has been overshadowed in the memory of most people by the Union Army's simultaneous victory at Gettysburg from July 1 -- July 3, 1863.

The military history of the Vicksburg Campaign has been told many times. In his recent book, "Vicksburg's Long Shadow" (2005), Christopher Waldrep discusses the ways in which Vicksburg has been perceived by successive generations of Americans. The book is part of an ongoing effort by many historians to study history and memory -- to study the way in which the history of an event has been perceived to better understand the event and the culture. There have been a number of studies of history and memory as applied to the Civil War and Reconstruction, but this is the first such book to focus on the siege of Vicksburg in American memory.

Waldrep is Professor of American History at San Francisco State University and he has written extensively on the American South, including a separate study of Vicksburg and Warren County,Mississippi, "Roots of Disorder: Race and Criminal Justice in the American South. 1817 -- 1880" (1998).

Although Waldrep considers how and why the Battle of Gettysburg was commemorated differently, and on a far larger scale, that Vicksburg, most of his book is given over to different themes. The first of these is the conflict between reunion and racial justice in considering the legacy of the Civil War. A second theme is how the commemoration of Vickburg was used in the context of changing American values over time -- thus, in the late 19th Century, the creation of the Park was tied to the growth of capitalism as well as to a spirit of nationalism; during WW I, the reunions at Vicksburg were in part a means to secure support for the war effort. In the Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps did extensive work at Vicksburg, and with the New Deal the Park again became an important symbol of American patriotism and unity.

The book opens with a brief overview of the Vicksburg campaign, focusing substantial attention on the battle of Milliken's Bend in which African American troops performed heroically under fire. Waldrep gives substantial attention to the Reconstruction Era in Vicksburg, in which the goal of racial equality was frustrated for many years in the name of national unity.

Waldrep discusses the commemoration of the strategic and military aspects of the Civil War in the memoirs written by Grant, Sherman, Joseph Johnston, and many other military leaders. He considers the political efforts that led ultimately to the creation of the Vicksburg National Military Park and to its monumentation. Waldrep describes well the different roles of Northerners and local Vicksburgians and Southerners in the creation and use of the Park, finding that Vicksburg, unlike Gettysburg, was a Park basically built by the North in a key battleground of the former Confederacy. Unlike the situation at Gettysburg, African Americans in Vicksburg were heavily involved in the use of the Park, making it a focal point for many years for the celbration of Memorial Day. There were two chapters of the Veterans group, the Grand Army of the Republic, in Vicksburg, one for African American soldiers and one for white soldiers.

Throughout his study, Waldrep contrasts two competing views of the Civil War and its aftermath: the first view sees the Civil War as leading to a united America and to the reconciliation of North and South while the second sees it as part of an ongoing effort to achieve racial justice for all Americans. His book shows admirably how these visions competed and interacted in the commemoration of the siege of Vicksburg, and how these themes continue to deserve the attention of Americans today.

Robin Friedman

Paul LaViolette has painted a sensitive portrait of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The discriptive scenes, written in short vinettes, have the reader looking through LaViolette's eyes at the flora, birds, and marine life that dwell in this unique area of the United States. His scientific background as an oceanographer certainly added to my personal understanding of the coastline and waters of the Gulf Coast. However, it is written with such a personal touch that I feel like a visitor to LaViolette's home.

William Rodney Allen's Walker Percy: A Southern Wayfarer is one of the finest studies of novelist Walker Percy. While most Percy criticism emphasizes Percy's theological interests--sometimes to the detriment of the works--Allen offers a complex reading that blends biographical research, psychoanalysis, and intertextuality. His readings are mostly unassailable, and he makes a fine case for Percy as not just an important Southern or Catholic author, but an important American author as well, working with and subverting some of the ideas of Twain and Hemingway. Highly recommended.

The book was bought as a gift. I only skimmed the contents so I cannot review the book adequately. It appeared to be a complete record of Walker's Texas Division.

Waltz the Hall is a great resource for play party games, otherwise known as folk songs with dances. I have used it to teach many times. It also contains historical information about the American "play party."

I own a very old copy of this- perhaps even a first edition- that is well worn and loved from reading it again and again over the last 30-some years I have owned it. This is a wonderful trip through Ireland of the early 20th century, a calmer time, in some respects, and early days of Irish freedom. You visit with the author the Guniess brewery (and hear some hysterical stories by the employees about other visitors!), you stay overnight at the Mt.Melleray monastery, and spend time on the Curraugh watching beautiful thoroubred horses. You come to know the Irish people in ways that the average tourist does not, sharing their homes, their meals...and even their mysterious moonshine, poteen.^_^

While reading this book, you will find yourself relaxing and enjoying the surroundings, and living the life and legends of Ireland of that time, and when the book is finished, you will find yourself mourning that this is a bygone era. But it is a book that should have a place on the shelf of anyone who has any interest in Ireland and the Celtic peoples.