Illinois Books

Mary Pat and I went to Chicago expecting to see something fabulous. I don't get it. We didn't see any of the churches, but we got a great room at the Fairmont. We had full body massages by a Japanese man.

We got lost trying to find John's mansion in Lake Forest or Kenilworth. Anyway, Mary Pat enjoyed the church pictures. After Ernest Thorp's war book, it's my favorite Wapella literary feat.

I bought this as a gift for a friend. It's a great reminder of the church where she got married. It also has the church where her parents and grandparents were married as well, so she was thrilled!

If you are Catholic, from Chicago and dislike the hexagons that are being passed off as Catholic churches in the last 50 years, you will love this book!

Many inner city and suburban parishes are treated, grouped by geographic location.

Agreed it is a little pricey, but it beats driving all over the city and climbing into the choir lofts to take your own pictures.

A great gift idea for parents, grandparents from Chicago!

If you don't believe that Chicago has some of the best looking Catholic churches in America, you should take a look at this book. Sixty-eight of the almost 400 churches in the Chicago archdiocese are featured, some in much more detail than others.

The author seems to have a thing for older, more traditional churches over newer ones, which is just fine by me. Most of my favorites are here - Holy Name Cathedral is present, of course, as is St. Michael's in Wicker Park, which was burned in the Chicago Fire, and Holy Family, which wasn't, although it was almost torn down a decade ago. St. Ita and St. Jerome on the North Side are featured, as is Our Lady of Lourdes, which was once moved across the street, spun 90 degrees, and then split in half to double its size. The South Side has its masterpieces as well - St. Rita of Cascia, St. Philip Neri, the darkly lit Queen of Peace, with its incredibly ornate flat ceiling, and the fantastically bright and beautiful St. Columbanus. The great Polish churches are well represented: St. Mary of the Angels, modeled on St. Peter's in Rome, closed and almost torn down once; the St. Michael on the Southeast Side; the sad and tragic St. Hedwig; St. Hyacinth - now a basilica, and an enormous one at that, the largest and arguably most beautiful Catholic church in the city; St. John Cantius, another nearly destroyed masterpiece, now completely renovated and with its own order of Latin-speaking priests. I could go on and on.

Two churches are not even active Catholic churches anymore: St Boniface was closed 15 years ago, and the fantastic old St. Martin's just off the Dan Ryan Expressway is now Protestant. And there is the wild story of St. Gelasius, just south of Hyde Park, vandalized, nearly burned down, closed, and now being rebuilt as the Institute of Christ the King.

I think a few really great ones are missed. Namely, St. Ben's on the North Side, whose bell tower dominates Irving Park for literally miles, and St. Martin de Porres (formerly St. Thomas Aquinas) on the West Side. Perhaps St. Sabina's on the Southwest Side belongs, although the interior is all screwed up -I don't think any other Catholic church has a big neon "Jesus" hanging over the altar. St. Mary of Perpetual Help, in Bridgeport, is an outstanding church and certainly belongs in the book, as does the beautiful and unique Lithuanian Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Marquette Park.

On the other hand Loyola's Madonna Della Strada is an oversized white barn, and St. Gabriel in Canaryville, despite being designed by the famous Burnham & Root team, is too small and too low. And St. Peter, downtown, while a fine church, is not really in the "great" category, either. The chapel of St. Mary of the Lake at Mundelein Seminary is a great example of Congregationalist church, being all white and almost featureless, but a lousy example of a Catholic church.

But this is quibbling. All the photos, by James Morris, are in stunning full color, and the text is mercifully short, yet well footnoted. Perhaps a bit overpriced at $60 for about 160 large pages. Robert Cameron's Above Chicago, for example, has the same number of much larger pages but costs half as much. All in all, a beautiful book, very suitable either as a gift or a bit of self-indulgence.

Here is a list of all the churches, copied from the publisher's website:

Downtown Chicago

Holy Name Cathedral (Near North Side/Gold Coast)
Assumption (Near North Side/Gold Coast)
St. James Chapel at Quigley Preparatory Seminary (Near North Side/Gold Coast)
St. Peter (Loop)
Old St. Patrick's (Near West Side/West Loop)


North Chicago

Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Lakeview)
St. Ignatius (East Rogers Park)
St. Alphonsus (Lakeview)
St. Vincent de Paul (Lincoln Park)
St. Josaphat (Lincoln Park)
St. Clement (Lincoln Park)
St. Jerome (East Rogers Park)
Our Lady of Lourdes (Uptown)
Madonna della Strada Chapel (Loyola University/East Rogers Park)
St. Michael (Old Town)
St. Ita (Edgewater)
Queen of All Saints Basilica (Sauganash)


Northwest Chicago

St. Hyacinth Basilica (Avondale)
St. John Berchmans (Logan Square/Bucktown)
St. John Cantius (Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village)
Holy Trinity (Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village)
St. Stanislaus Kostka (Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village)
St. Viator (Irving Park)
St. Mary of the Angels (Bucktown)
St. Boniface (Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village)
St. Hedwig (Logan Square/Bucktown)
Holy Innocents (Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village)


South Chicago

St. Michael (South Shore/South Chicago)
St. Martin (Englewood)
Nativity of Our Lord (Bridgeport)
Holy Cross-Immaculate Heart of Mary (Back of the Yards/Canaryville)
Institute of Christ the King (formerly St. Clara⁄St. Gelasius) (Woodlawn)
St. Anthony (Pullman)
St. Gabriel (Back of the Yards/Canaryville)
St. Basil/Visitation (New City/Back of the Yards)
St. John of God (Sherman Park)
St. Thomas the Apostle (Hyde Park)
St. Ambrose (Kenwood)
Holy Cross Monastery (formerly Immaculate Conception) (Bridgeport)
St. Rita of Cascia (West Englewood)
Corpus Christi (Oakland/Grand Boulevard)
St. Anselm (Washington Park)
St. Columbanus (Greater Grand Crossing)
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Shrine of St. Jude (South Chicago)
St. Philip Neri (South Shore)
Our Lady of Peace (South Shore)


West Chicago

Holy Family (Near West Side/University Village)
St. Pius V (Pilsen)
Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica (Near West Side)
Holy Rosary (Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village)
Notre Dame de Chicago (Near West Side)
St. Adalbert (Pilsen)
St. Paul (Pilsen)
St. Nicholas Cathedral, Ukrainian Catholic Church (Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village)


Chicago Suburbs

St. Thomas Aquinas Priory Chapel, Dominican University (River Forest)
Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary (Mundelein)
St. Athanasius (Evanston)
Chapel at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Barat College (Lake Forest)
Marytown, Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe (Libertyville)*
St. Peter (Skokie)
St. Edmund (Oak Park)
Ascension (Oak Park)
St. Giles (Oak Park)
Immaculate Conception (Waukegan)
Chapel of the Holy Spirit, Divine Word Monastery (Techny)
St. Francis Xavier (Wilmette)
St. Joseph (Wilmette)
Saints Faith, Hope, and Charity (Winnetka)

If you are "older" and from Chicago you know there were a lot of places that made beer. This book gets into where they were (all the local places) and how it was done. This is a good darn book. I bought it for my older brother but when my father read it he wanted it. I purchased another one for my brother.

Scholarly and well-researched, with marvelous illustrations. An intimate review of a subject close to the heart of Midwesterners and significant contribution to Chicagoiana. Skilnik is a delightful storyteller whose finger is right on tap.

A good blending of Chicago and brewery history

Bob's book is great reading for beer afficionados, Chicago history buffs, and just anyone who likes a great story. I especially enjoyed the intertwining of events and people throughout the book. Hard to put down...and even includes addresses and maps to locate the old breweries.

Hope Meadows- a beautifully written account of a unique foster care community in rural Illinois envisioned and founded by Brenda Eheart; a woman who refused to take no for an answer. The accounts of the lives of these children and their "foster grandparents" who reside in this unusual setting will touch you, as it did me, in a profound way. It is deeply moving but without pretense. The families lives remain seriously complicated, and nobody pretends to have all of the answers. Yet the community thrives on simple "small town" values and an abundance of physical affection that serves to pierce through the horrendous experiences of these innocent children to their most basic of needs...to be loved and acknowledged by another human being. I too found "hope" in the perseverance of Brenda and her staff.

I have always thought that good foster parents deserved to be viewed as heroines and heroes by our society. Those who do even more and help the children with the greatest needs perhaps qualify as saints. And if they do more than that, I'm afraid that my language skills fall short of being able to capture my full respect and admiration. Naturally, there are never enough of such wonderful people. Unfortunately, many children cannot get foster care and live in orphanages. Others are abused in foster care in various ways. Others live in homes where parents do not take good care of them.

Recently, I read Build Your Own Life Brand! and was drawn to the profile in there of Ms. Brenda Eheart's work in establishing Hope Meadows, a community for children who would never ordinarily be adopted. Nationally, over 20,000 children "age out" of state care each year without such adoptions. Having worked with such children had broken her heart, and she determined to do something about it. This book details her efforts and what has evolved from them.

Hope Meadows emerged from Ms. Eheart's dream of a new kind of community that would match willing foster parents with foster children who had special needs, but also supported by some part-time foster grandparents and some professionals. A closed air force base and her lobbying efforts led to a grant from the state legislature in Illinois to buy housing for the community. Operations began in 1994.

The idea is to put together a whole community of caring adults with the time and resources to give troubled children the extra time, care, love, and attention that they need to have more normal lives. Hope Meadows is supported by the legislature and private gifts. The foster family gets $19,000 in salary, plus free housing. The seniors get low-cost housing. Professionals are in the community to provide training and support. The annual cost for a child here is around $20,000. This is more than the $13,000 usually spent in Illinois on foster care, but less than the $28,000 that juvenile correctional facilities cost per inmate. Most would agree that the extra expense for these children with the most difficult problems is well worth it.

The book mostly details the volunteers who live here, the children they have adopted or assist, and the challenges they have all faced together. Despite very difficult problems, so far around 90 percent of the children placed here have remained.

The volunteers were sometimes foster children or lived in orphanages themselves. Some of the children tell how they want to become foster parents when they grow up. Most of the seniors and adoptive parents have something missing in their lives that the community offers. In some cases it is the chance to have children, and in other cases it is the need to be needed. Many are idealistic people who want to help children, and are working at the limits of their capacity to do so. Single moms with education in this area are raising five and six children with special needs.

The stories are heartwarming, because they show the potential for love and caring to make a difference. You will be astonished, if you are like me, by all the wonderful things that people do. The challenges are enormous. There are crack babies to be weaned, children who are violent and need to be calmed, and young people whose nights are filled with horrible nightmares based on real events.

The book has wonderful photographs of the families that help make the stories come alive.

Do not read this book assuming this approach will sweep the world. As the author makes clear, the continuation of this award-winning program is far from assured. It gets its money annually from the state, and could be cut off at any time. Although there is interest in expanding the program, not much has been done. A second one has been launched in Cleveland with the initial help of McDonald's.

My favorite story in the book is about the six year-old boy who learns that his foster grandmother lives alone, and decides to move in with her so he can be the man of the house and take care of her. I'm sure you will find many stories here that you will love, too.

There's heartbreak too. Some children aren't able to improve. Some are taken away by the courts after family members contest for the children. In one sad section, a foster father who had been a foster child himself dies suddenly and unexpectedly, leaving his family with more to cope with.

Whether this subject interests you or not, these stories will uplift your spirit. They will also tell you something important about our human impulses and needs.

Even if you cannot be a foster parent for some reason, how else could you help these unadopted children to have more normal lives?

May all be loved . . . and feel loved!

A beautifully written book by a talented author about an inspirational community started by a remarkable woman! Wes Smith's writing brings to life the story of Brenda Eheart's noble efforts to build a successful innovative alternative to foster care and adoption. As Smith so eloquently describes "It is a deceptively simple approach crafted by an improbable advocate in a most unlikely place." I couldn't put the book down! The brown-toned portraits collaged on the inside covers initially caught my eye because of their beauty, but by the end I could look at those same pictures and feel like I knew those faces, those smiles. I find myself wishing that I did know them or that I might meet them someday. Smith writes each chapter focusing on a single family/resident of Hope Meadows. Each chapter is an intriguing story in its own right, yet the stories interweave the lives of other residents as well, just as all the lives interweave at Hope Meadows to create the success of this inter-generational, inter-racial community. Smith writes in his introduction "In a world that often seems self-absorbed and hard-hearted beyond belief, it restores your faith in humanity to find that there are still people who believe they can make things better by reaching out and giving of their talents and their time." You will come away inspired by the human spirit and grateful that you had the opportunity to read this book.

I just finished reading Hope Meadows, and I am excited about this book, and the community it represents. The book tells the stories of children, adoptive parents, and older adults who live in a community that focuses on family. Seniors in the community volunteer to work with the kids, who, in turn, help out the seniors. Most of the children at Hope Meadows come from abusive backgrounds and have a multitude of behavioral and physical problems. Wes Smith has done an excellent job bringing these stories to life for the reader- you feel as though these are your neighbors. I HIGHLY recommend this book!....I actually cried reading some of these stories- if this book doesn't move you, nothing will!

A great read. Covering the facts but making it interesting. Clearly telling the whole truth and not a fantasy. Makes a dry subject really interesting.

This book very clearly explains what every injured worker should know. If you think the insurance company is on your side, guess again. You need to read this book to know what they already know, and you should.

This book was very straight forward and easy to read. It provided a clear explanation of what my rights are and how best to proceed in getting compensation for my work injury in Illinois. Highly recommended.

I found this book to be very clear and informative. I also found it to be light-hearted, given the nature of the subject matter. Anybody who has suffered an on-the-job injury in Illinois will find that this book can be an extremely useful resource.

I met Mark Wygoda at a Yom Hashoah event last night in New Orleans. After watching his presentation on his father, Hermann Wygoda, I bought the book and read it cover-to-cover last night.

Absolutely stunning and fantastical - lost in the detritus of human tragedy is often the point that adversity creates heroes of ordinary people.

Hermann Wygoda was just that - a hero.

This is an important story to be shared throughout the generations.

"One of the best stories I have ever read." This is an eye witness account of an able bodied Jewish man who decided not to give up without a fight. Despite terrible personal loss he fought back, and helped many people along the way. It is extremely hard to write a review of such an unbelievable story. There don't seem to be any words to do it justice. The story tells a side of the war many people never hear about. It explains through Wygoda's experiences what the war was like for Jews from the very beginning. Why so many Jews didn't fight back, and how the Nazi's got them into those horrible death camps. I have personally thanked Hermann Wygoda's family for letting the world know him, and his unbelieveable story.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who does not believe that one man can make a difference in the world.

Kelly Mallett Lowe

If Wygoda's story wasn't documented, you wouldn't believe it.
"Audacity", he said, "is a prerequisite for survival", and Wygoda had plenty. Escaping occupied Poland, actually travelling into Germany to work under the noses of the Nazis (even those who could "smell a Jew"), and eventually commanding a division of Italian partisans, the author exhibited a rare courage and determination that earned awards from three Allied nations.
His story, written in later life for his children, is recommended for WWII readers, Holocaust students, and anyone else who enjoys true-life action adventures.(The "score" rating is an unfortunately ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

I would like to share what my father, Harry L. Meyer, a B-17 radio operator during WW II, recently wrote me about this book (with his permission): " In the Shadow of the Swastika" is fascinating reading about the exploits of a remarkable individual. Hermann Wygoda was a man of indomitable will who was blessed with courage, ingenuity, resilience and, by his own admission, occasional good fortune which allowed him to escape some desparate circumstances. The horrendous conditions wrought by the ruthless Nazi regime in Poland and wherever it came into power is the stuff of an appalling nightmare. For a man of his ethnic persuasion to escape the suffocating death trap the Nazis created borders on the miraculous. To do so and ultimately become a respected leader of a heroic partisan resistance movement is the material of legends. His normal disposition was not to be a warrior, for I believe by nature and cultural influence he was philosophic, altruistic and tolerant. This is manifested in his just dealings with others even in the trying and dehumanizing conditions of war. I respect him for not passively submitting to his tormentors, but opposing them with determination and fortitude, thereby helping in no small way to defeat them. When the fabric of a decent society is threatened by the forces of an unconscionable tyrrany, it is to be hoped that individuals like Hermann Wygoda will always be there to oppose them. I have always been proud of my combat service in WW II, but by reading works such as this which so graphically portray the consummate evil of a regime that operated outside the scope of human decency, I am more proud than ever to have contributed in some measure to destroy it.

This book is a wonderful history of the saving some of the Indiana Dunes for our use today. Dudley's pictures were used in the early days of trying to get the dunes set aside for future generations. It also is the history of landscape art in the late 1800's to the mid 1900's. The paintings are beautiful landscapes.

This book is a testament to the fact that, contrary to public opinion, there are more things than cornfields in Indiana. Indiana is home to a diversity of unique landscapes and habitats not the least of which are the Lake Michigan dunes. Reproductions of Frank V. Dudley's brilliant impressionist paintings bring this glorious landscape to the fore in this scholarly tome. We learn from "The Indiana Dunes Revealed" that Dudley's work stretches far beyond artistic endeavor. He was also one of the leading U.S. environmentalists during the first half of the twentieth century. The only thing better than this book is viewing Dudley's many sumptuous paintings or actually standing on the sand overlooking the lake. Dudley convinces this reviewer that I am actually on an Indiana beach feeling the wind blow against my face and the surf move beneath my feet.

Frank Dudley was a gifted artist who became passionately interested in the grass-roots campaign to save the Indiana dunes from predation by Northwest Indiana's steel mills, other industrial encroachment, and pollution. For years, he captured the wild beauty of the region on canvas and, as his fame spread, so did his message. His painting of the 1917 Indiana Dunes Pageant, a sweeping outdoor presentation that attracted over 25,000 viewers willing to trek across sand dunes to see it, remains one of the only eyewitness paintings of the event still extant. This book chronicles Dudley's development as a painter and his life in the dunes; the plates are superb, and if you were unable to view them at Valparaiso University's recent exhibition, this keepsake volume will be the next best thing to seeing his original works firsthand. As an aside, I went to the Dudley exhibit at Valparaiso University, where the book was selling at list price. A few mouse clicks later, I had ordered the book at a deep discount at Amazon.com. Three more days, and it was in my hands. It doesn't get much better than that!

The Indian Dunes Revealed: The Art Of Frank V. Dudley is written and edited by James R. Dabbert (Senior Lecturer in English, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago) with the assistance of J. Ronald Engle (Professor of Social Ethics, Meadville Theological School of Lombard College), Joan Gibb Engel (an activist and writer on Dunes ecology), i9ndependent art historian Wendy Grennhouse , and William H. Gerdts (Professor Emeritus of Art History at the Graduate School of the City University of New York). Frank V. Dudley (1868-1957) was a native of Wisconsin who studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and eventually established a long exhibition record while dedicated more than forty years of his professional life as a landscape painter to the promotion and preservation of the Indiana Dunes - a unique geographical region enjoying state and federal protection while providing ecologists with a unique and truly 'living laboratory' for their studies. "The Indiana Dunes" is a team project that superbly showcases Dudley's life and work including 150 color reproductions of his paintings and another 70 black-and-white images. Because of the continual conflict between development and preservation over the decades, some of Dudley's paintings are the only record we have left of lost dunescapes. Also available in a hardcover edition, "The Indiana Dunes Revealed" is a splendid addition to academic library American Art History collections, and particularly recommended for supplemental reading lists in the areas of environmental studies and American Midwestern history.

I can't add very much to the other reviews, but agree that this book is well-written history and deserves a five-star rating. While the author clearly admires Davout, he contributes clear and objective discussion on the various controversies in Davout's life (did he wish to be king of Poland, why he fell from favor after the disasterous Russian campaign, his conduct after Waterloo, etc.). My only quibble with this book is that it is a bit dry (but not overly so) and it would have been even better if the author had woven a bit more anecdotal material into the book.

Probably one of the best biographies written about one of Napoleon's Marshals, John G. Gallaher does a fantastic job bringing Louis N. Davout to life in a well written, superbly researched and very insightful biography. The author managed to intergated all facets of Davout's life into a single flow that provides clarity and understanding. The two previous reviews have spoken more then enough on this book so I won't go on. It was nice to read a great biography which did great justice on Napoleon's greatest corps commander (my humble opinion of course).

Louis N. Davout was the best of Napleon's marshals. Undefeated in over twenty years of almost constant warfare, he was incorruptible, thoroughly reliable, loyal, an excellent tactician and strategist, and a faithful husband. Balding, grim, wearing special combat glasses that fastened at the back of his head as he was hearsighted, his titles, Duke of Auerstadt and Prince of Eckmuhl, were for battles he won on his own. He led the best trained troops in the Grande Armee, 'and usually got the hardest assignments.' John Gallaher has told his story with accuracy, wit, and near-faultless research, from his beginnings as an unruly junior officer to the end of the Empire and his retirement. This is the best biography of the marshal, and the author drew on much primary source material, including the marshal's correspondence, to give us this undispensable volume. It is a great read, jam-packed with vibrant, valuable information about one of the best generals, not only of the Grande Armee, but in history. Napoleon was served by the greatest collection of military talent ever to serve one man, and Davout was the best of that sterling lot. This volume belongs on the shelf of every military history enthusiast, whether or not your area of interest in the Grande Armee. Few commanders in history were as successful as Marshal Davout, and John Gallaher has presented us with a superb biography of an officer who definitely possessed what Napoleon referred to la sacre feu, the sacred fire, the unconquerable will to win or perish.

This book is the long awaited reprint of John Gallaher's 1976 classic account of one of Napoleon's greatest Marshals, Louis Davout, 'The Iron Marshal'. According to David Chandler, Davout was "one of the least liked as a man, the ablest as a commander, and the most feared - and respected - as an adversary. He was also, from 1798, one of the loyalist of Napoleon's key subordinates."

This is an excellent biography of a Napoleonic commander. The book covers Davout's military career from when he entered the Ecole royale militaire in 1779, through the Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars and finally his death in 1823. The narrative flowed along faultlessly although I would have liked more detail in regards to Davout's battles. However the author has covered these battles well enough and provided eight maps to assist the reader in following the action. Davout fought in numerous campaigns from Egypt to Russia and was successful always, his most famous battle being at Auerstadt.

Mr Gallaher has also supplied the reader with some insight into Davout the man with details of his relationship with his devoted wife and the tragedies of his children. You leave this book with a feeling that Davout was a man who did his all for duty (France and the Emperor) but never forgot his family. I loved reading this book and I felt it was not long enough (420 pages). I fretted about finishing, I wanted more, I did not want to put the book down nor finish it!

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves reading about the napoleonic period or anybody who enjoys a decent military biography. This is a great book about a great commander.

Highly motivational and inspiring. It forces you to create worlds inside your head. Profound! Hi Lea.

This book is interesting, and perhaps groundbreaking. Unlike the previous reviewer, however, I'm not sure I'd want to call this original feminist text "seminal."

Through a series of dazzling prose poems, Wittig tells the tale of a tribe of women warriors overthrowing patriarchy, and she challenges gender constructs through her language. It's a powerful and inspirational book about sex warfare, rather like "The Handmaid's Tale" or some songs by Tori Amos. A definite radical feminist classic worth reading and re-reading.

Published originally in 1963, it was groundbreaking in its exquisite, poetic-stream-of-consciousness use of language (these days oft called "experimental"), its contribution to postmodern theory, feminist thought, utopian literature... really seminal stuff. And so yummy to read. Her vision is of a female (amazonian-like) revolution, a world in which the (patriarchal) strictures of language are dismantled to create something new entirely.

It's a landmark for its contribution, but also as an extraordinary piece of literature in itself. Prose so shining you want to lick it off the page.

For anyone interested in the pre-1920 recording industry--and especially in the history of the earliest recording artists of color--Lost Sounds is the archaeological dig of your dreams. Immaculately researched, beautifully written, and illustrated with photos, advertisements, and lyrics, it's a big stately volume: the growth of the popular song, the emergence of the mass media and entertailment industries, the appalling state of period race relations, the existentially twisted story of the minstrel show, and the amazing evolution of recording technology are all on readable (and sometimes haunting) display. So are the riveting stories of legendary artists George Washington Johnson (the ex-slave whose "Laughing Song" was used briefly in a recent Xerox ad), Bert Williams (featured in PBS' Broadway documentary series), Charley Case (a vaudeville comic who was rumored to be "passing"), and dozens of others. You'll be moved to comb the local antique shops for cylinders, and to try building your own record-yourself-on-tinfoil kit.

This is an excellent addition to the study of African American history, So many of the facts presented are those that not even the "seniors" knew. I have used this book to include information in lectures and class settings.

What a delight this thick book is, and what a challenge to describe adequately in a few sentences.

"Lost Sounds" is a detailed look at an aspect of the American music industry that is not just forgotten; it seems never to have been fully appreciated -- the early years of recorded music, with an emphasis on the essential contribution made by African American artists. The book has been praised as a unique reference work, and it is that; but it is also a rich history of late 19th- and early 20th-century American popular culture, as well as a collection of poignant personal stories of the entertainers who created it. Along the way, the book offers a primer on recording technology. And, although these accounts of once-popular performers and their now-unfamiliar careers and music are not in the least preachy, they do constitute a carefully documented examination of a key -- and painful -- era in American race relations.

Author Tim Brooks is himself an unobtrusive character in these adventures, the modest yet sympathetic researcher who has come along a century after the fact to ferret out the information, breathe new life into it, and in many instances save it from oblivion.

All of which makes "Lost Sounds" not only an extraordinary good read, but also an exceptional good deed.

A few pages into this book, one realizes the title is a double entendre. The recorded sounds documented here - which include popular music, ragtime, jazz, cabaret, classical, spoken word, politics, poetry, and more - are not merely "lost" in the sense that their existence has been uncelebrated. They are also in danger of being lost to us forever if immediate steps are not taken to preserve the fragile materials upon which they live.

Additionally, U.S. copyright laws have made it nearly impossible for anyone to reissue them as CDs. According to the author, there were approximately 800 recordings made by African Americans prior to 1920, the majority of which are still intact but half of which are owned by successor corporations like Sony and BMG who will neither reissue them nor allow anyone else to do so. Which explains why the majority of this material ends up being released overseas.

The book documents more than 40 artists chronologically, assessing their work and skillfully placing their biographies within the context of a complex and tumultuous era. It covers the famous (Bert Williams, Eubie Blake, Fisk Jubilee Singers) and a host of lesser-knows. The Discography provides a listing of CD reissues (if available) for each chapter, plus web sites where you'll most likely find them.

While seemingly an exhaustive tome, the author himself reminds us it's intended to stimulate preservation and future research: the final chapter "Miscellaneous Recordings" examines unissued recordings, "custom" noncommercial recordings, rumored but unconfirmed recordings, records by artists sometimes misidentified as black and more, in the hopes that future research will turn up more information.

Though massive at 656 pages, the book is highly readable and entertaining, very well organized and indexed making it easy to zoom in on particular aspects of interest. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the era of early recording in general, or African American studies in particular, and feel no library shelf should be without it. It's a wonderful resource for interdisciplinary studies.

Accidentally found by an amateur named Russell Burrows, the extraordinary collection of artifacts taken from a cave in southern Illinois has been believed to be a fake and a hoax. Viewed with much opposition and skepticism by many lofty archeological experts. A large subterranean crypt which is accounted to contain gold statues, sarcophagi, coins and medallions, uncut diamonds and inscribed scrolls among many other valuable antiquities. But the most intriguing artifacts to come out of Burrows Cave are the hundreds of portrait stones. All depicting men and women in more than just Roman, Egyptian, Phoenician, Numidian and Hebrew appearances as well as their written languages. This mixture of ancient society found in one unusual setting seems all too good to be true, as nothing else like it has ever been found in the New World. But the author presents a large amount of curious evidence in how authenticity is considered possible, and explains the important links to pre-Columbian history. He tells of many other significant findings made in Illinois, North America, South America and the Old World that provide factual support for verification. Bringing it all together effectively with great persuasive detail.

The author begins with a thorough history of King Juba II and how he and his wife, Cleopatra Selene became rulers of ancient Mauretania in North Africa. Then continues to explain the war waged by Rome against this semi-independent nation and it's effects, or the Mauertanian exodus it caused. All of these events the author illustrates in a slightly dramatized manner. With the majority of chapters that follow, he focuses on the Illinois site; it's relics and the comments of various experts, while giving his own viewpoints and understandings. The information is arranged well with perfect quotes at the start of each chapter, plenty of black and white photos and a summarizing timeline. Because there is still much that remains untold and undiscovered on the subject, could be why the book wasn't closed with a strong conclusion. And I also felt that a few more maps, besides the one of Illinois would have been beneficial to the book. But otherwise I was pleased with it overall.

Whether the existence of a "treasure house of gold" remains entirely true or not, it still is a very interesting and educational read. Even the actions and nature of Mr. Burrows, and the trouble he caused interested investigators, makes it read almost something like a fiction novel. And as controversial as theories can be, it still is a story that shouldn't be ignored or remain lost in time. For starters, Frank Joseph's book will entice your curiosity.

Frank Joseph's latest book offers a good overview of the controversy surrounding the Burroughs Cave,well known in diffusionist circles but less so elsewhere.While he can't prove the authenticity of the artifacts he does clearly lay out how the controversy developed and the reasons he believes the artifacts are 'real'.The automatic anti-diffusionist bias of conventional academia definitely does prevent a fair ascesment of the case, though many diffusionists remain skeptical as well. Where the book shines is in the lucid description of ancient Mauritania's history and how that could fit in with the existance of the cave in Illinois and it's purported treasure.The reader learns about the complex mixture of cultures in ancient north Africa and it's maritime tradition. The story of the province's rise to wealth and cosmopolitan splendour is excellently told, as is it's trajic destruction at the hands of Rome.l feel these chapters are worthwhile even for those unfamiliar with the diffusionist- isolationist debate, revealing a dramatic yet little known chapter in ancient history.lt forms a sort of sequel to the famous tale of Ceaser,Anthony and Cleopatra.Even many students of history may not have been aware or the survival and ultimate fate of the Ptolemaic dynasty after Cleopatra's death.lt has all the makings of an engrossing historical novel.Hence l recommend the book to both history buffs and those fascinated by the possibility of trans-oceanic diffusion in antiquity.

In 1982 a hobby archaeologist discovered the strangest of treasures in an Illinois cave: Many thousands of artifacts and coins, appearing to be all of the below: Phoenician, Mauretanien, Numidian, Egyptian, Roman, Celtic, Jewish, Christian and some others (of various phenotypes, by the way, this isn't exclusively about black skinned Africans). It isn't only about African traces in the pre-Columbian, even pre-Viking Americas, but about that incredible mix.

The structure of the 2003 book is most rewarding. Five chapters (1/4 of the book) is devoted to ancient Mediterranean history, featuring Egypt, Rome (including Greece), Numidia and Mauretania. Starting with Cleopatra and ending with her grandkids. The popularly "educated" via respective Hollywood movies will be left very surprised. The next chapter is devoted to reconstructed history at the time, after Caligula turned the Roman empire's previous amicable relationship with ancient Mauretania (roughly today's Morocco) sour, conquered that African kingdom, leading to an exodus of its multicultural population to the only save haven: The Americas, largely unknown to Rome, but not to the Africans. Seven chapters are devoted to the controversy of most important archaeological find of the century (at least) versus most elaborate hoax. Usually I don't care that much for this sort of focus, but in this case I can promise a most suspensefull and eye-opening reading experience of this major section of the book. Two chapters are devoted to general evidence of Africans in the pre-Columbian Americas (largely not copying Ivan Van Sertima's 1976 classic They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America, but listing fresh findings). Another two are devoted to the evidence of the Illinois cave itself, analyzing the many significances.

Be prepared that this print doesn't finish up everything about Burrows Cave and that you will google it after having finished this book. The reason for that is that within the 21 years after its discovery an all-encompassing scientific analasys of the cave could not take place. For the most absurd, yet fascinating, mostly saddening, frustrating and angering reasons. Yet many objects have been able to get scientifically analyzed, in a CSI fashion. And yes, the way, all of this has been handled could be described as a crime. By virtually everyone involved. That provides for an unexpected reading. Not only focusing on the find itself, but the high-handedness of the discoverer who doesn't want to diclose too much, the greed of some of the involved, asocial private collectors, ignorance and arrogance of prejudiced experts, inadequate laws, the utter passivity of the government throughout the entire affair and many more failures of I-and-I (us) humans who are obviously not able to deal with such a find, no matter from which perspective. As a result, this treasure has survived almost two millennia, getting protected by Native Americans during that time, only to get largely lost, destroyed and otherwise inaccessible within a few years of exposure to current Western culture. I hardly dared to turn the pages for the contrast of awestruck wonder for the 1st century A.D. forgotten Mauretanian exodus with its evidence left behind and the grim despair of having to learn about our contemporaries: "What have they done now to the historic evidence?!".

If you are interested in the subject of early "discoveries" of the Americas preceding Columbus from all sorts of peoples such as Africans, Polynesians, Chinese and Europeans, would like to read an update (of 2006) and are able to overstand German, look for "Bevor Kolumbus kam. Die frühen Entdecker Amerikas" by Rene Oth (literally translating as: "Before Columbus Came: The Early Discoverers of America")

In The Lost Treasure Of King Juba, Frank Joseph provides an inherently interesting and iconoclastic discourse on the evidence of Africans in America before Columbus, outlining evidence obtained from over 7000 artifacts removed from a 1982 cave in southern Illinois. Here Joseph pieces together the common story of how these artifacts came to appear in a hidden cave in Illinois, recreating the story of a fleet of ships which voyaged to a land in escape of their ruined African kingdom. A fascinating discourse.