Mississippi Books

I didn't discover Willie Morris until shortly after he died. After reading North Toward Home and New York Days, I gladly would have traveled across the continent to meet him. Few persons are born with as much charm, and fewer still are born with as much intellect. Now Larry L. King has brought Willie back to life in the pages of a generous and understanding biography. You won't find a better opportunity to revel in Willie's company one more time.

I didn't discover Willie Morris until shortly after he died. After reading North Toward Home and New York Days, I gladly would have traveled across the continent to meet him. Few persons are born with as much charm, and fewer still are born with as much intellect.

Now Larry L. King has brought Willie back to life in the pages of a generous and understanding biography. You won't find a better opportunity to revel in Willie's company one more time.

To readers in Mississippi and throughout the South, Willie like Elvis doesn't need a last name.

I first learned of and became a fan of Willie Morris when in the 70's I read his mid life memoir of sorts, North Towards Home. It was one of those books I never forgot. I was less impressed with Morris'later works, especially New York Days.
( Boy talk about industrial strength name dropping. But I digress. )

In this book, Morris' long time friend Larry King provides a lot of info about Morris, his carrer, his friends and enemies, his ups and downs, his affairs, etc. While it is an informative and enjoyable read, it is kind of streange in that the author in many instances seems to abandon his "search" for Willie to indulge in a search for himself since he was so close to Morris. That may be a not unacceptable price for the reader to pay to get the huge number of intimate insights into the life of someone who was nothing if not over the top interesting.

As with any such book, there are places where detail gets out of control and scanning is in order, but they are minimal.

Willie Morris, warts and all, will always be remembered fondly by Mississippians as someone who never lost his love for the state ( and its considerable number of "warts" ).

You might have to be a Mississippian to really enjoy the book, but then again you never can tell. Definitely worth a spin.

I would like to thank Larry King for introducing me to my former brother-in-law, Willie Morris. (If that sounds a little bizarre at first blush, it will seem less so to those who read Larry King's book.) I always liked Willie and respected him for his achievements, but I never had any illusions that I really knew him. While I was aware of most of the "facts" -- albeit after they had passed through some dubious filters -- that was clearly not enough to understand Willie Morris. Larry King supplies many of the missing pieces, and he does so with frequently lyrical prose, wit, and keen insight. Those who want to know about Willie Morris and his times should read this book and "North Toward Home," sparing themselves the subsequent "dueling autobigraphies" of Willie and Celia Morris.

Larry King accurately captures the famous Willie Morris charm. I learned about it first hand in one of our rare private moments. Willie told me that he had never had a brother and was looking forward to the experience. Although I was aware at the time that this probably wouldn't really work out, I was quite taken by this gesture to the "kid brother." After all, I was certain that however our relationship evolved, it HAD to be an improvement over having an older sister. Meanwhile, I was already impressed that he had been a baseball player and that my parents clearly didn't really approve of their daughter's choice of husbands. Thus, his "charm offensive" certainly worked on me and apparently on many others as well.

King also explores Willie's dark side at some length, but does so sympathetically. At the minor end of that scale, King notes Willie's propensity for isolating himself from the outside world, ignoring letters, messages, or other forms of contact. I understand better now why ne never responded to the occasional notes I sent him complimenting him on this or that piece that he had written. (My wife had somewhat better luck.) At least I learned from Larry King that I was in good company and, in retrospect, don't take it as personally as I did at the time. As Larry King makes clear, Willie had much more serious problems to worry about.

As good as the book is, I have to wonder how broad an audience it will attract. (Of course, the question is somewhat academic at this point.) To be sure, Willie Morris achieved much, especially in the early part of his life, and he certainly rubbed elbows with the famous and powerful. Moreover, there has always been a Willie Morris "cult" -- or, more precisely, cult(s) -- that will dutifully read the book. Still, in the grand scheme of things, that is a relatively small and somewhat rarefied audience. While there's nothing inherently wrong with that, I think Mr. King may have missed an opportunity to introduce a broader audience to Willie Morris. That is too bad because Willie has indirectly affected many people who have probably never heard of him. In that vein, I think that Larry King's basic conclusion that Willie Morris should be remembered mainly for his literary contributions is wrong. Instead, I think Willie should be remembered primarily for those whose careers he helped nurture, including Larry King himself. For example, in martial arts, the measure of a master is the skill of his students. Without extending the metaphor too far, to the degree that Willie Morris helped make it possible for David Halberstam, Larry King, and others to create their magical works and reach wider audiences, we should all bow to his memory. The world owes him a debt. THAT should be Willie Morris' legacy.

This is a biography of a life that might have come off the pen of Eugene O'Neill. Willi Morris was a mississippi native who made it big as a writer of a couple books well known in the American literary community, and was head of Harper's magazine for a critical few years.

From this peak of power he degenerated into a life of drinking and womanizing until finally settling down as nominally a college professor back at Ole Miss.

Larry L. King (not the TV host) has written this biography to show Willie Morris as a friend, a genius, a writer and editor of some fame that is now largely forgotten. At the same time, it shows some of the weaknesses, the troubles that made his own life unpleasant.

Willie Morris was one of those people that don't quite reach the highest rungs of the ladder, but come very close, only to fall back down. He was an assist, friend and mentor to many of the best writers of our time.

I have read a lot of books on the Civil War and how it related to the state of Mississippi and I'd have to say that overall this one is one of the best. It is a great treatment of wartime Mississippi that includes a lot of social and political material in addition to information on battles. It also includes a lot of great stories, from the dramatic resignation of Jefferson Davis from the U.S. Senate in 1861 to Ulysses S. Grant's drinking habits during the siege of Vicksburg. My overall impression was that this book is a good, well rounded view of the state during that period. Last year I read this author's first book, about the 15th Mississippi Infantry, and I liked it a lot as well.

It's unusual to find a regional Civil War history which narrows events to one state's experience, but this provides both an introductory overview of the climate of Mississippi pre-war and concludes with its post-war changes, making Mississippi's Civil War as much a survey of the state's changes as a military history of Civil War events within the state. As such it's a top pick not just for military libraries but for any college-level collection strong in Mississippi history and culture - there are no works covering the state's overall experience in this context.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This is an outstanding book. The author writes about the Civil War from the perspective of just one of the Confederate states, Mississippi. He covers the relatively few battles fought in MS as well as the experiences Mississippians reported from participating in other battles outside the state. He also covers pre and post war activites and issues.

The book should be required reading for every Mississippian, expecially those of us who are products of the efforts of the United Confederate Veterans and other such groups to rewrite the history of the war to make it look like the South was the victim of the unpleasantness rather than the instigator of the whole mess. The author makes it very clear that the war was, in spite of certain apologists' claims to the contrary. all about preserving slavery. I noticed that one of the earlier reviewers did not like the book because the author was "rewriting history". Oh please, as if many in the South have not been rewriting history since 1865 to paint the South in a favorable light.

Unqualified recommendation.

I was looking for this book to see if I paid more for it at a bookstore (I did - should've bought it here). I liked the book. I went to school in the Magnolia State and was interested in a book specifically about the state's involvement. My thesis is about Florida's role in the war and I will use this as a blueprint. I cannot understand the one review that didn't like it. I think a reader wanting a good book that is an easy read would be happy with this one.

If you like revisionist history, this is your book. There is no new information on battles and troop movements that is not covered more thoroughly in other more balanced books on Mississippi's role in the
Civil War. The author seems bent on proving his credentials with politically correct crowd. His mantra seems to be that anyone from the Confederacy was evil or at the least, misguided. I am sorry I wasted my money buying something which was not as represented. I will avoid Mr. Wynne's efforts in the future.

Marcus Eriksen writes a wonderful book. I don't usually read from this genre, but I am so glad that I did. The book is littered with humor, agony, truth and healing.

Eriksen's cultivated writing style transported me from the Gulf War to an adventurous raft ride down the Mississippi. Eriksen's ability to interweave the two life-changing experiences in a struggle to find himself will make you laugh and cry.

This review is short because I found the vulgar language in this book to detract from the story and I stopped reading it. Don't get this book unless you don't mind reading this type of language.

This is one of those rare books that comes along once every decade or so that everyone should read. The true story deals with the realities of war, which are sharply contrasted with tales of a raft trip from the source of the Mississippi all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. This book had me laughing out loud on one page and gripping the book in suspense the next.

Through the book, from his time in the First Gulf War to his 2003 trek down the Mississippi, the author is candid and open about his surroundings and the people he encounters along the way, and objectively articulates his own thoughts and feelings, both at the time of the events and retrospectively. The book is an amazing tale of reflection and self-discovery, and the realization that no matter how far your travels may take you, the greatest journey is always the path that leads to yourself.

MY RIVER HOME: A JOURNEY FROM THE GULF WAR TO THE GULF OF MEXICO tells of the author's five-month, 2000-mile voyage down the length of the Mississippi on a homemade raft. It was while on this journey that Ericksen found the courage and ability to understand his war experiences, and here tells of his many military changes from new recruit to self-destructive veteran to a critic of the Iraq War. While MY RIVER HOME could easily have been reviewed as a travelogue or true adventure, what makes it so much more is its insights on military transitions - and so it reviews feature here.

Awesome guide book. I keep it in my cargo pocket while hiking with my wife. So far, everything we've needed to identify has been in there. This book matched with my backpacking handbook are pretty much all I need to answer every question I have while outdoors. Great little book. I just wish it had better photos of single leaves of certain plants. Some of the overall shots make it difficult to identify plants that haven't bloomed yet. All in all, it's awesome though.

Due to its climate and varied terrain, the southeastern United States may have the most varied natural life in the nation. And while it may now be the most populous quarter of the lower 48, the natural world is never far away. The National Audubon Field Guide is an excellent resource to keep close by for those who living and exploring in the southeast.

The book is divided into three main sections. The first covers an overview of the climate, the geography, the habitats and ecology of the south. The second covers the plant and animal life. And the third introduces some of the more significant parks and natural areas of the southeast.

The first great reason this book is valuable is the extensive color photographs and drawings of the different major types of native animal and plant species. The second great reason this book is valuable is its portability. The weekend hiker or boater, and the home gardener will equally appreciate the relative size of this book, as it can be easily thrown into a backpack for easy reference.

The book could do a better job of showing some of the non native plants and animals. Also, the plants and the animals are not indexed, which can make referencing them slower. The final section, which just introduces major parks in the southeast, could have been better with some introductory maps of major hiking and boating areas. That said, this is a fine guidebook that should be useful to anyone in the southeast who enjoys the outdoors.

The book contains a lot of information. It has a lot of good pictures of plants and animals found in the Southeastern States. The info is difficult to access because not all entries a listed in the index. If you are willing to read the entire book you will gain much. But if you want to use it to identify animals and plants you have seen you have to go through each section page by page. A little intelligent thought about providing a proper index would have helped greatly.

This is the BEST nature guide I have found for the southeast, but unfortunately that is not saying much. I have been spoiled by the wealth of naturalist and natural history books available for all different parts of the west, books which not only tell you how to ID a species, but which also give you enough information to feel like you know it afterwards.

I take young people on wilderness trips for a living, and enjoy sharing with them my love of nature. I especially enjoy introducing them to members of the natural community, neighbors they have had all their lives but probably have never taken time to become aquainted with. I grew up in the southeast, before heading west in search of adventure. Now I am back, working with at-risk and adjudicated youth, taking them on canoe paddles in old cypress swamps and along inter-coastal waterways. I normally find a variety of great books to take on trips for my kids to consult when they spot something new. But here in my old stomping grounds, this is the best I could come up with.

The National Audubon guides are great for covering a wide range of information, from weather to constellations to identifying plants and animals. But they won't tell you much of anything about those plants and animals. I know there are naturalists and writers in the south who can do better. Would love to find them (in print) someday soon.

We do nature walks for homeschooling, and I have to say this is the best guide to carry with you. It covers so many plants, animals, reptiles that are easy to find and identfy. The descriptions are concise and informative. I do think it's best to have other books at home for looking up more detailed info at home (or use the internet).

I really enjoyed reading this book. It had my attention from the beginning. The story line was raw, not sugar coated and touched on many topics that were very emotional. Sandrine's charcter had me rooting for her all the way. The only problem I had were the ages of the characters. I found it hard to believe that an 8-9 year old child could have so much wisdom, strength and maturity to handle every obstacle that was thrown at her. It is amazing to see that Sandrine didn't fall apart and have any psychological damage happen to her after all that she experiences in this book. How she managed to keep getting excellent grades in school and she even managed to skip a few grades because it is mentioned that she is in a class with 6th graders?? The men in the book also are mainly portrayed as either being a bunch of perverts, pediphiles or too weak to even fight hard enough to care!! I know it is in the 1970's but no one was smart enough to even report having a suspicious car lurking around a school everyday??? Sandrine's father had me slightly flabbergasted with the way he handled many situations. He was a weak character who could have been Sandrine's and Yolanda's salvation but either he choose to ignore the signs that were laid out before him or he was just too inane to comprehend the desperate help these girls needed?? (he was a country doctor...so I am sure he was educated??) Even though he finally comes to his senses towards the end...... the help he only offers is to Sandrine and not his step-daughter Yolanda who was abandoned by her own mother. I loved Sandrine's charcter but as I said before, I found it too hard for this story to believable with the ages that were presented for the characters. I think it would have worked much better if she were at least 10-12 years old.

This book was excellent and a departure from the usual romance and ghetto novels. I could hardly put this book down. The author certainly channeled the prolific Alice Walker and Toni Morrison and did a great job. Sandrine's story is weird, warped and also very disturbing. . . The reader wonders what makes the people in this story tick, what is the back story behind their actions and what will happen to Sandrine. . I really enjoyed this book and look forward to more by this author.

This is one of the best contemporary novels I've read in a very long time. I agree with the other reviews, reading Sandrine's Letter is a very intense, emotional, and beautiful experience. I couldn't put it down until the end. I want to thank the author for writing such a wonderful book!

This brave, tart and wrenching novel is equally funny and harrowing, frequently at the same time, and moves with smooth fluidity from scenes of brutal suffering to moments of heart-catching beauty. A lovely debut, it tells the story of a young girl, Sandrine Miller, whose sharp intelligence and reluctant compassion are tried and tested by the adults around her, who range from her preoccupied and largely absent father to her grotesque stepmother, her sadistic grandmother, her teachers (who are alternately cruel, clueless, and kind) and above all her warped, stunted mother. Indeed, aside from the author's remarkable creation of Sandrine herself, the portrait of her mother Shirleen is one of the book's greatest achievements. The character is amazingly nuanced, losing nothing of her hatefulness even while we see her as a near-tragic victim herself.

This is territory that's clearly been mined before, as others have noted ("I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" and "The Bluest Eye" come immediately to mind) but Ms. Johnson's work stands up beautifully even by comparison to those classics. It's simply wonderful. Make every effort to track down this remarkable book and read it!

"Sandrine's Letter to Tomorrow" is the story of a young girl who grew up raising herself in a dysfunctional household. The book provided a perspective look into the childhood of young, light-skinned, African American female dealing with issues such as how she was mistreated as young girl by both peers and family. "Sandrine's Letter to Tomorrow" was an overall good book. It is a story that is very plausible in the African American community. I believe a lot of people, especially older generations, could relate to the story.

Reviewed by: Pam

The newer research on the Civil War suggests that it was won in the west and that the action in the east is not what caused the end of the war. Vicksburg was the crucial campaign in the west and while this book can get bogged down in details it does a very good job of providing information. The challenge of taking this city on a hill and the importance of the navy are all well explained here. A look at what happened to the south as the war progressed is not readily apparent but if read in between the lines it is easy to see what happened. The analysis about the importance of opening up the Mississippi to union forces is very good and brings new light on a subject that needs a lot more exploring and debate.

Mr.Ballard's book is another popular history,it contains little if any new information excepting a defense/excuse of the CS commander Gen. Pemberton.

US Gen.Grant is given considerable credit and deservedly so. The various Union naval commanders; Farragut, Porter etc get much attention also. Mr. Ballard does do a fair job of placing credit on both side's better commanders and lambasts CS Gen. Joe Johnston constantly. He lists the manuevering and prior failures of Union forces throughout the Mississippi region but successfully does so without losing the reader.

However, detail is lacking and the writing style itself is tepid and uninspiring. Contrary to some of the other reviewers, I found the maps poorly drawn and overly cluttered. Done in one color, roads and streams litter the maps; competing with arrows listing advances and retreats and unit markers do not differ between CS/US, infantry or cavalry...an attempt to clarify this on this small maps lists various brigade/division unit commanders but without listing what side is what. Numerous misspellings imply either poor editors or poor research. He consistently describes units as "crack" outfits to the point of the reader wondering, were there any "normal" units present? Any force smaller than a battalion or regiment is listed as a patrol or roadblock. His handling of first person history, the best aspect of recent military writings, is slipshod and often generalised. Few regiments are listed and in general, brigades get the most mention in combat descriptions.

A bright spot was the emphasis on the various naval movements in and about the Vicksburg area. Union naval ability and the Confederate lack of, gets serious and well deserved attention.

Mr. Ballard's theme of the Western Theater being the war winner is well supported by many other current works. Overall, this book is no masterpiece nor is Ballard a Pfanz as a writer. Well read students of this theater will not be well served by purchase of the book but it is a fair one for general or new readers to the subject.

This is a good book for anyone interested in studying on the Civil War. As the author mentions, this campaign to capture Vicksburg is a rather unknown period of the war and this is a good book on this campaign. It has its plusses and its minuses. On the positive side, it covers the campaign in detail with a number of human interest stories. The experiences of the citizens and soldiers who lived in Vicksburg, e.g. living in caves, the casualties, the experiences of soldiers in the hospitals (for example, he goes through the procedure that a doctor used to remove a leg - interesting although somewhat gruesome but it highlights the suffering). He is an apparent fan of Pemberton (although he recognizes his mistakes well) and not a fan of Joe Johnston (but I haven't found a Civil War writer who is...). He covers them well and also the top Union generals: Grant, Sherman and McClernand, including Grant's supposed bouts with alcohol and the feud between McClernand and Grant. This is a balanced coverage. On the minuses side, I found myself getting confused at times about what was really happening. For example, the coverage of the battles including the maps which are very confusing, which ramble about this unit and that unit going this way and that. The early book with this Confederate general and that Confederate general doing this and that is also confusing and may cause you to get you to get frustrated with the book, but stick with it. At one point, he has Pemberton in Vicksburg and needing to go to Vicksburg in the same paragraph. So, I read it again, and... huh. But then the story picks up when Grant tries one approach versus another to reach Vicksburg and decides on approaching it from the South. This is very interesting showing the chess moves between Grant, Pemberton and Johnston which Grant ultimately won. This is a good book, on a period that should be covered more. It may be confusing because unlike Gettysburg, where each writer can read the other books and build on them, there are few sources. So, I recommend it.

I like this book for several reasons.Number one, Mr Ballard is very sincere and called everything by its name.When it comes to describing generals and soldiers on either side of the conflict,he tells it like it is.Number two, the way Mr Ballard describes the military campaign in all its details it's terrific which helped me understand the imporatnce of every battle and the strategies involved.The only flaw in the book is really a minor one which is that sometimes the author gives too many details in things that i dont think are not that important.BUt ,in general, it's a very good book!

Dr, Michael Ballard has written an excellent book on the Vicksburg Campaign. Ballard has had good mentors in his study of the Mississippi River City which fell to US Grant in July, 1863
He is has been guided by Terry Wenschel the National Park Chief Historian; read the massive three volume work by Mr. Civil
War Ed Bearss on the campaign and is a lifelong native of Mississipi who has visited Vicksburg since his youth.
Vicksburg was a complex campaign pitting the inept Northern Born Confederate General John Pemberton against the aggressive and brilliant US Grant. Grant's Union Army worked well as a team.
Even though Grant did not like McClernand he used him well in launching the blue horde against the city on the bluffs. Grant
worked well with Sherman and McPherson, Logan and others as they tried many ideas to conquer Vicksburg. Grant and David Dixon Porter worked well on coordinating army-navy operations.
Grant succeeded when his forces crossed the Mississippi to
Bruinsburg, Ms. Union victories at Port Gibson, Jackson and
most importantly Champion Hill (May 16, 1863) led to a 47 day
siege of Vicksburg which fell to Federal forces on July 4, 1863
Vicksburge the key to victory in the Western Theatre was then
put into Mr. Lincoln's pocket. The fate of the Western Confederacy was sealed.
I am surprised how little many Civil War buffs seem to know little about the Western Theatre of the War. Those whose approach has been "Virginia-centric" will find much to explore as they gaze at the Western Theatre.
Grant emerges as a tough, imaginative, never say never commander while the Confederates Pemberton and Joe Johnston wee weak and indecisive leaders. Grant's star rose in the West as Lincoln discovered the man who could beat Lee and win the war!
Ballard's book is well illustrated; the maps are clear and
easy to follow. Ballard has done his homework as the many pages of bibliography attest to his acumen. While dealing with the battles he also quotes the thoughts of civilians of Vicksburg and Misssippi who saw their society rent asunder by the blue
hordes from the north.
Ed Bearss is still the dean of Vicksburg scholars but Michael Ballard has also contributed greatly to our understanding of this vital, complex, too often overlooked campaign. This book
can be read by the buff or the neophyte with equal pleasure. Thank you Dr. Ballard for your work!

Allen Ballard knows how to tell a good story. His characters come alive as we accompany them through the tragic events in 1864-1865 western Mississippi. Both white and black characters come across as real people, and I was sorry to leave them when the book was all-too-soon finished.

My Book Group read this book last month and thought it was terrific. The book did an excellent job describing what life in the south was like (for both soldiers and civilians - particularly the women) during the Civil War. It was an interesting read and it really made us "feel" life at that time. I had to put down the book a couple times as I got so emotionally involved with the characters and their lives. I'd strongly recommend this to historical fiction buffs. I don't think it is a book only for folks interested in black history - I would recommend it to all. I am very impressed that this is the first novel this author has written and I'll keep my eyes out for more by him.

"Where I'm Bound", is a work of historically-based fiction by Mr. Allen B. Ballard documenting the 180,000 African American Men who fought for the Union Army during this Nation's Civil War. Like the "Buffalo Soldiers" who served this Country in its Western Frontier, the 1,000 commissioned officers in World War I, the 370,000 "Doughboys" of World War I, or the Tuskegee Airman of World War II fighter pilot fame, these men and women fought and died for ideas and beliefs for which they have never been fully rewarded.

Rewarded may be the wrong word, perhaps recognition was all they sought. The tragedy of what they sought was something that their white counterparts took for granted, or in some cases took away from them. These African-American Soldiers were in some instances freedmen, in other, slaves who had escaped and then joined the Union Army to march directly back and fight those who enslaved them. They fought to reunite their families, they fought for what they were told would be waiting for them if the Union won, they fought for what the white men they fought and died with had enjoyed under the words, "we hold these truths to be self evident". The truths were self evident if you were white, male, and owned property. If you did not meet these criteria the words were as meaningless then as they are today.

Mr. Ballard recreates the horror of hand-to-hand fighting that was often a part of any given battle in this Country's Civil War. His story is fiction, however it is based upon real individuals that lived and fought, and the battles they fought and gave their lives in. His story contains all that was insidious in this war, however he also brings balance by depicting events that this reader did not expect to have actually happened. The events resolved themselves as one would hope they would, and that was why they were surprising to read, and an even greater surprise to read they are historically accurate.

Those who believed he was their savior refer to President Abraham Lincoln repeatedly in this book. They believed he was going to make them citizens a century after they had been excluded from the populace unless counted as property. What would they have felt, and how would they have fought if they knew this same President, "did not believe blacks and whites could live together"?

There were 180,000 black soldiers in the Union Army. How many African Americans do you see when the reenactments of some of the battles take place? How many paintings by those who chronicle that period of History celebrate the blood that was shed that was as red as any, but valued less because of its source?

If there were a vantage point from which those who have died can see what has resulted from their sacrifice, what changes would they see and what it is they died for, how would they feel? Their decision to fight and in their moment of death they may have indeed been free. But did their deaths bring the freedom they thought they were dying for? The answer is pathetic, as any cursory review of the century following the end of the Civil War will show.

This is an important book that I hope will cause the writing of many more. History is only as worthwhile as it is complete and accurate. African Americans, Native Americans, and other minorities have fought and died for the freedom we all enjoy. Because of books like this History becomes more valuable, for if you were to judge the contributions of African Americans by the number of monuments that have been raised to honor them, you would think they were barely present, much less a powerful positive element in the history of this Country.

Considering that this book is fiction, one might be able to ignore the many historical inaccuracies. Ballard rakes up every atrocity tale, every story of white abuse of African Americans, ever told. Some, like the massacre of black soldiers at Fort Pillow, have some historical veracity. Some, like myths of slaves being randomly shot by Confederate cavalry, have no foundation in any historical document I have ever seen.

But even if one ignores these things, one still has the stiff, unsympathetic, unrealistic characters and the boring, monosyllabic writing style to contend with.

Someone really should write a good book on the African American experience during the American Civil War. Where I'm Bound, sadly, is not that book.

i have been having good luck picking good black books lately, and "where i'm bound," continues my hot streak. the protagonist, joe duckett, is a runaway slave in mississippi, who joins the union army and becomes a trusted soldier and war hero; we also get to see two views of of blacks fighting in the war: one, from the yankee side and two, from the confederate side. what i loved about this story was that mr. ballard not only throughly reasearched his subject, but he told his story in a way that even a newcomer to u.s. civil war history could easily digest. the battle scenes are picturesque; you can see the blue and gray troops on the field charging at each other, the madness and blood flowing in the name of war. i loved the way mr. ballard penned his characters: all of them were multi-faceted and human and were just as much a part of the story as joe. kenworthy, the confederate captain, was the most interesting character because ballard showed through him what war does to a man's mind. kenworthy beacme so caught up in killing, that the line between right and wrong became blurred. captain stiles, the union soldier, valued his black troops and showed his admiration for their feats in battle. i loved ballard's use of quotes from black gospel songs: they seemed to forecast to the reader what was going to happen next. joe was an easy character to like; he seemed larger than life, but his slight drinking problem and knack for mischief made him human, thus believeable. my only complain about the book was that several of the likeable characters: zenobia, pauline, etc die. i know ballard wanted this story to reflect reality, but i was so engrossed in their lives, i wanted them to overcome their adversities and succeed. but this book gets a five star rating. ballard has written a wonderful "thank you" to black men and women who fought in one of the bloodiest wars in u.s. history and also strove to prove themselves worthy to be called americans.

It was a great story or rather, several stories expertly woven together by a masterful storyteller. I truly enjoyed it. I find it hard to believe this is a first effort. I look forward to the next book with anticipation.

I was hoodwinked into buying this book by the few reviews posted here, so I'm hoping to offer a little guidance to others who might actually be interested in political-thriller type novels.

This is a truly amateur, sophomoric effort at fiction writing. And whoever the publishing company is, they've apparently cut out the middleman by foregoing an editor. In a 20-page stretch near the beginning of the book I found a half-dozen anachronisms (using facial tissues in 1915, but not invented until 1930; a female Columbia Law grad in 1917, but no woman at Columbia Law until 1927) and malapropisms (Nez Perce glasses instead of pince-nez, a voice quivering instead of quavering).

The characters are cardboard and events follow the most cliched patterns: in the climactic gunfight in the year 2016 the hero and villain each shoot each other in the right shoulder; then as the villain claws across the floor after his gun, Rush Limbaugh dives onto the floor (at age 65!) to grab the gun and to squeeze off a kill shot. Cheesy, cheesy, cheesy.

This is truly bottom-of-the-barrel stuff. Be forewarned.

I absolutely loved this book I could not put it down. I can see it as a movie and I hope it gets there. I also hope Rush is bright enough to read this. It's a great read.

I loved this book and could not put it down...I found myself up at 3:00 in the morning rushing to the next page. The intelligence and compasion the author put into the book was admirable and fantastic at best! I also could see this book as a movie....Sal....James Gandolfini? Isn't it about time for another great Hollywood Goodfellas movie? Great Book!!

The Assassination of Rush Limbaugh is the story of two immigrant families in search of the American dream. The family from France takes up law, politics, and police work, while the Sicilian family descends into a life of crime. For the better part of a century, the families' courses fatefully intersect and intertwine until, in the climax, the youngest descendant of the French family finds herself in a losing race to prevent the hit man of the organized crime family from shooting America's number one talk radio personality.

Along the way, readers go to artillery training and World War I combat with Harry Truman. They experience Truman's angst for the Presidential decision to use atomic bombs on Japan and they go ashore with American troops invading Sicily in World War II. Readers sit in the courtrooms where three historical trials change the legal face of America. They experience the life of an American Mafiosi from birth through his membership in a violent Brooklyn street gang to his rise to the inner sanctum of a New York crime family.

Readers tune in to the development of talk radio, and the fear it instills in politicians, from its first broadcast at the 1915 San Francisco Worlds Fair to today's round-the-clock diatribes. They sit in on closed-door meetings where that fear gradually leads powerful politicians to plot the murders of the two most popular talk show hosts.

Readers feel the icy fear and terror in the minds of two victims of exotic and deliberate murder by a hit man whose very name means nightmare in Italian.

And finally, readers get to know Jodie Farmer, as she goes from adolescent to college pal of a mafia captain's son to heroic FBI Special Agent. They feel her take a terrorist's bullet while foiling a nearly successful plot to kill tens of thousands in America's northwest. And they're by her side in the climactic gun battle inside Rush Limbaugh's Florida mansion.

I love the book and highly recommend it.

Warfare is characterized by material consumption on a grand scale. Maintaining an army in the field necessitates extensive manufacturing and logistical support. It is no different today than in 1861 when Colonel Abraham C. Myers was appointed quartermaster general of the Confederate States. Wilson explains Myers basic responsibility as quartermaster general was to keep the army properly clothed and shod but the exigencies of modern warfare expanded the boundaries of his bureaucratic fiefdom. Under Myers leadership the military suffered from dire shortages but not necessarily, Wilson argues, as the result of a lack of Southern industrial capacity. In the fall of 1963 charges of profiteering, ineptitude, and mismanagement led to Myers being replaced by Brigadier General Alexander R. Lawton.

Lawton was able to more efficiently mobilize production for military purposes but unfortunately not in time to reverse the fortunes of war. When he took over as Quartermaster General, Lawton needed accurate information on the extent to which the government was exploiting the South's manufacturing capacity. Lawton ordered George W. Cunningham, quartermaster for the Army of Tennessee, to conduct a survey of mills in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. Cunningham's "Statement of Factories Inspected" and other reports showed that, to alleviate military shortages, the government could increase the number of contracts awarded. While wartime expansion was built on an antebellum industrial foundation to meet the needs of total war, changes ultimately led to a new appreciation for the value of manufacturing.

Wilson uses Cunningham's study as evidence of mismanagement as the cause of supply shortages rather than the scarcity of Southern manufacturing. Focusing on raw materials, conscription of skilled labor, and parts shortages Wilson presents a penetrating view of the South's manufacturing capacity. He argues that the experience broke the power of the planter class' opposition to industry and permitted a new more favorable attitude toward industrialization and urbanization. This only became clearer in the war's aftermath.

New information, beautifully revealed!
A must read for Civil War enthusiast.........

Although living in Belgium and being Belgian, I have always being fascinated by the logistical aspects of the American Civil War, especially on the Southern side, because they had to fight this war with such limited resources. There are only a few books on the subject. "Ploughshares into swords" by Frank Vandiver (published in 1940's), that I recently found on Amazon (ten years ago I had vainly tried to order it through more traditional means) which is a biography of the Chief of Ordnance of the CS Army. Another book is called " Confederate Supply" by Richard Goff (published in the 60s)and is nowadays out of print (my copy is a xerox). It deals with the whole supply problem, not least that of feeding the army.
This book is focused on confederate textile industry as it was before the war, as it went through the war and how it successfully recovered from the War. Covering the war period, it basically describes three phases in the mobilization of these resources to clothe the army: the reign of improvisation at the level of the confederate authorities (Quartermaster department) until 1863, the reorganization of their efforts along more rational lines and the increased use of imports from Europe and thirdly the destruction of most of the southern mills by the Union army. This book is well researched, goes deeply into primary sources and adds real value.
I really enjoyed it too because it is well written. Being a trained historian myself it is not difficult to see how much time and effort has been put into it. Not an easy task but a task well done !

When the Civil War began, the Confederacy, with a few exceptions, possessed the resources to logistically support war. However, the South lacked the organization, operational doctrine and planning needed to meet their army's growing supply needs. To correct this problem, in March1861 Jefferson Davis appointed Major Abraham C. Myers, a West Point graduate and career staff officer, Quartermaster General. The author, Harold Wilson, narrates the supply problems that developed as "Myer's strict adherence to.... antiquated regulations earned few friends among field officers." In addition, Myers "failed to grasp modern notions of efficiency and system" plus "he lacked ability to plan." In contrast the Ordnance Bureau under Josiah Gorgas was well organized and properly administered.

The text recounts the numerous problems in the Quartermaster Department and with the textile manufacturers who had problems maintaining their workforce. Some manufacturers were accused of "illicit rewards" while at the same time they faced run-away inflation. Despite the concession of vast martial powers to Myers, the Confederacy had limited ability to clothe its troops. For example, the battle of Gettysburg was participated by Rebel troops attempts to secure badly needed shoes in the town of Gettysburg.

"When Myers could not provide the necessary refit for the army, he lost any remaining confidence in his leadership among the line officers." In July 1863, Brigadier General Alexander R. Lawton was appointed quartermaster general. After failing to sustain Longstreet's army in Tennessee, Lawton initiated a survey of available Confederate resources and reformed the production operations of the bureau. His reforms met great success in Virginia and Georgia; however, strong opposition developed in North Carolina." The account of Governor Vance and North Carolina's opposition to Lawton's policies is most interesting.

"By the end of 1864, Lawton's reputation as a supplier stood high." However, pressing clothing shortages continued, as the naval blockade limited imports and Federal troops burned factories and raw materials. It was found "that large quantities of government clothing are possessed by persons in civil life, and by dealers" as these articles were sold by troops who hadn't been paid in months, or the articles had been abandoned in the field or the dealers had purchased direct from the manufacturers. Most interesting, the Confederacy in 1862 had initiated a "scoured earth policy" to prevent useful assets falling under Union control so that as Sherman and other Union generals marched through the South, both the Union and Confederate armies were destroying facilities.

The author's account of blockade running to supplement domestic supplies is interesting. The text notes "Until the end of the war, most garments and goods provided to the Confederate army came from domestic resources through Alexander Lawton's mobilization of manufacturing." Most intriguing, was the fact that the Confederate government entered into an agreement with William Crenshaw to build and operate blockade-runners. Private vessels were eminently more profitable than Crenshaw's operation, nevertheless Crenshaw continued to operate after heavy loss of ships. Since domestic sources supplied many goods and garments, in addition the runners brought in critically needed new machinery and spares. "As Confederate funds in Europe dwindled, the export of cotton became more critical." So that blockade running became a two-way process with the blockade- runners leaving with cotton to pay for items received.

When Wilmington , North Carolina fell, blockade running ceased. "When Lee surrendered at Appomattox on April 9 and Johnston at Durham's Station on April 26, Confederate quartermaster and commissary stores were mostly depleted....General Lawton's system of supply was in shambles." The text now relates the tortuous process of reconstruction which under President Johnson adhered "to a `white man's country' philosophy and the adoption of a lenient policy toward the defeated South...." Johnson worked with the manufacturers, railroaders, former Confederate officers, etc to revive the South's economy based on manufacturing and technology. Also, to forestall greater chaos, President Johnson quickly moved to restore civil government in the south. By 1870 manufacturing approached it 1860 level.

The author devotes several pages to the problems of Radical Reconstruction that followed President Johnson's lenient policies. Radical Reconstruction produced years of violence and political uncertainty. The book notes "Only a token number of southern manufacturers braved the threats of violence and participated in the new Radical state governments." Most violence was initiated by southerners who resisted giving equal political and social rights to the freemen. Wilson observes that after the end of reconstruction, in the emerging New South there were the problems of discriminatory freight rates, the growth of trusts that violated the practices of the free market economy, the lack of credit for farmers, and the failure of the states to properly control working conditions. Sadly, the author notes "As grievous as the problems were, they were far more amenable to solution than had been the slavery controversy."

This is a well-researched and heavily documented work. However, it is not a very readable book. The author tends to become repetitious by presenting far too many examples for each point that he makes when he could have given just a few examples and included the balance in appendices. In addition, the author basically limits this work to the textile and clothing manufacturers in the South, essentially ignoring critical metal working, foundry and munitions manufacturing operations. The strategic Tredegar Iron Works is only listed in the Introduction. However, serious students and Civil War "buffs" will find much useful information as the text provides the other side of the story about supply shortages suffered by the Confederate armies in the field.

For those with an interest in the Civil War, this book gives new insight into the efforts of the Confederacy to keep its armies in the field during four years of Union onslaughts. Harold Wilson, an English professor at Old Dominion University, looks largely at the textile industry but also focuses on armaments and other production. He also discusses the Confederacy's efforts to supply itself from Europe with blockade-running ships, and the efforts of Northern armies - especially under Sherman - to destroy the Confederacy's industrial base. He also examines the rise of Southern industry in the decades after the war.
This is a solid, well-researched book that covers an important area of Civil War history in unprecedented depth.

I was 'forced' to watch Cosmos in my high school physics class back in 1986. Man, that was probably the best part of high school (except for my time on the debate team). I wish I was more like Mr. Sagan--passionate, articulate, smart and just an all-around swell guy.

I've read just about everything by Mr. Sagan--Broca's Brain, Billions and Billions, etc. So, I found all of the interviews in this book to cover almost everything he has done except in a brief, superficial way.

And I should have expected this. An interview for radio, TV or a magazine is obviously going to be much shorter than anything written by Mr. Sagan.

When Ira Flatow of NPR fame took questions from the audience, the result was predictable. Some lame questions and some softballs. But Mr. Sagan answered the questions with aplomb.

The really early interviews were the most interesting. Knowing the fame he achieved later in life, it was fascinating, almost exciting, to read his interviews when he was a "run of the mill" astrophysicist.

I can't really recommend this for anyone who has read a lot of his work. The interview are simply too "airy". However, if you've seen just Cosmos or read one or two books, then you'll probably find this quite a good read.

Book was a good collection of interviews, even though some weren't strictly interviews - but articles containing snippets of Carl Sagan quotes.

... Not to Sagan. He is, as always brilliant and enthusiastic about science and our place in the cosmos, but the midia... well, the first observation on almost every article is about "his looks", for me, it is emblematic of the image obsession of the general midia: first the appearance, then the caracther. Most of the time, in the interviews, you almost can see the interviewer hardly listening to Prof. Sagan, as if looking at the clock and sometimes (lots of times) cuting his speak short, it is announcers time!
But you can't help getting a glimpse of this great man, shinning through the midiatic maze, if it is your first reading on Carl Sagan, buy others, this is it, just a glimpse, he is worth every word.

I love reading how the conversations really happened. He came alive again for me, his passion shines.

Carl Sagan is best known for his hosting of the PBS series Cosmos but actually has a long history of work in the astronomy field, and an interest in science and space which extends from his childhood - so it's fascinating to learn about his efforts to popularize his interests in CONVERSATIONS WITH CARL SAGAN. Here interviews and profiles discuss all the interests he holds for environment, astronomy, physics, and social issues. Subject chapters blend with interviews to make for a fine survey.

Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch