Iowa Books

Heywood and Thomas give a thorough recounting of Cornell's history from the founding in 1853 up through the present day. While most friends of Cornell will probably be satisfied with Charles Milhauser's Cornell College: 150 Years From A to Z, this is a great two volume set for those interested in the comprehensive story.

Count Your Blessings is an Harlequin Romance book and it is great and is written by Kathy Clark but on this web page they have mistakenly written that it was written by famous mystery author Mary Higgins Clark . I could be wrong but I seriously doubt that famous mystery writter Mary Higgins Clark has ever wrote romance books for Harlequin and I would have to assume that Mary Higgins Clark and Kathy Clark are not the same author but two intirely different people!

My grandparents on my father's side lived in a house with no electricity, running water or any other modern convenience. Up until the day my grandmother died in the early 1990's, she used devices that were largely unchanged since the arrival of the twentieth century. They farmed using only horses up until my grandfather had a stroke in the late 1950's. Since their farm was approximately ten miles away, I recognized and have used nearly every device illustrated in this book.
While the times depicted in this book were simpler, they were also harder. Sleeping in an unheated, un-insulated house in the dead of winter is not something I would like to repeat. Getting up in the morning is an experience to say the least. You carry out a serious debate with yourself as to whether it would be better to wet the bed or get up when the interior temperature is around zero. Once you do, you have to walk outside to the privy and expose your privates to an even greater cold. However, as Artley mentions, there is no greater pleasure than pressing your backside up to the hot stove after you have done your business. As someone who has performed hard physical labor, I know exactly what Artley is saying when he talks about the delivery of lunch and how incredibly refreshing a cold drink can be.
In this book Artley draws scenes of those times with text that explains what the scene depicts. Most of the sketches are of devices that were used on the farms before they were mechanized. If you have used these tools, then this book will bring back memories, both fond and of situations that are best left behind you. Those who have no experience will get a lesson in how it was on an Iowa farm before the modern era. It reminded me that those who have nostalgia for the simple times probably didn't have to live through them.

Good mystery in the Series Of Amazing Gracie mysteries. Couldn't put it down until I reached the end.
Booksbyfay, Keystone, Iowa

I thought this would be a dull read but was pleasantly surprised to find it anything but boring. The history spans a time of great changes in Iowa and the midwest and the newspaper industry. The exemplary index is a wonderful aid to this book.

I like this book. I like black baseball players. Jackie Robinson is my hero, he played for the Dodgers, and was very black. I think that I will start liking Thomas Edison Alston better because of his story on page 108-09. He was a tall black man from North Carolina, I live in South Carolina so that is close to my home. I am not black though, if that matters to you. I have a learning disorder and writing this essay will help with bettering my condition. I think that if I lived in 1947-59 I would like black people better than those mean white baseball players did. I mean some of those players names I have heard before because they had strong black powers to hit the ball far, like Hank Aaron, he played in Atlanta, I live near where he played too, and my daddy watched him hit home runs very far. He was number 44.

The best daguerreotype portraits are some of the most striking photographic likenesses you'll ever see. Talk about verisimilitude: Those who posed for daguerreotypes in the last century seem about to start speaking, or to step right out of the image. The pictures are practically holographic in their three-dimensionality, and you feel you could almost reach out and touch the faces captured therein so long ago. The generally small size of the images doesn't detract from the experience; in fact, like the finest Mughal miniatures, the reverse is true. As you draw close to the frame, you find yourself entering the daguerreotype's exquisite little world. The experience is enhanced by the thought that, since daguerreotypes are positive images, the photograph before you is the only one in existence.

A daguerreotype's power is greatest when you're seeing the actual image before your eyes, of course, but the reproductions in this beautifully designed coffee-table book, many of which are reproduced in actual size, are so stunning that you're truly getting the next best thing. Here you'll find likenesses of some of the most famous figures to traipse through the 19th century -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry James, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jenny Lind, Tom Thumb, James Whistler, Dorothea Dix.

The author, Melissa Banta, a kind of curator-at-large at Harvard, was not content simply to ferret out all daguerreotypes then existing at Harvard (over 450 images, some of which are seeing the light of day for the first time here). She delved into the often compelling stories behind each image's creation, life history, and curation. In lyrically written short essays, we learn how the first daguerreotypes of the moon came into being in 1851, why Louis Agassiz had daguerreotypes taken of slaves forced to disrobe, what Harriet Beecher Stowe was thinking at the time her likeness was taken, why Asa Gray collected daguerreotypes of his fellow botanists (all images that appear here).

In short, this is a coffee-table book with substance and personality. It will serve as an excellent introduction to daguerreotypy for the layman, and a must-have compendium for the avid daguerreian. Highly recommended.

A wonderful compililation of letters from an infantryman in an Iowa regiment. Sgt Clayton was involved in actions in Missouri, Louisiana, and Alabama, including a stint as a confederate prisoner. Narrative anb pictures by Dr. Elder really rounded this book out. Clayton was an excellent writer and gives incredible insight into army life and the fighting of the civil war. Best of all you get a flavor for the general perceptions of the common soldier, the ones charged with the dirty work.

I thoroughly enjoyed this highly readable book, in fact resented any interruptions while trying to read it. Thank you, Dr. Elder!!

I read Davenport and found it to be an extremely informative and interesting book. I learned a lot about the Quad Cities and it's amazing history throughout the years. I never realized what a bustling town Davenport had been. I found the author's website as well and have found it to be just as if not more informative than his book. You may find the same. [...]

Excerpt from book's Preface:

"The discovery of inscribed tablets and elephant pipes by members of the Davenport Academy developed into one or the major controversies in the interpretation of prehistoric America. The private documents bearing upon this incredible example of nineteenth century research have never been previously published or even cited. Full disclosure provides a sordid example of amateur investigations gone awry during difficult transition to professionalism in American archaeology."