Nebraska Books

This is a book that will lead the reader into thinking about baseball in the larger context of preparing and sustaining American soldiers during WW II. Bullock has done extensive research on Major League Baseball and how its replicated military leagues counterpart during the '40's contributed to morale building for the troops and the nation. With sparkle and wit, Bullock offers little-known background on an important historical aspect of our "national pastime." Included are incisive insights about some of the baseball greats: Joe Dimaggio, Ted Williams, Bob Feller, etc.

This is a great book for both war and sports fans. It has a ton of information on baseball and how it helped many of our men in WWII. The author goes into detail on how the war changed the way baseball was played at home, and how it boosted moral in the battlefield.

I ran across this book in a political science course that I took this year and I have to say that it was a revelation. I had no idea of just how complex a phenomenon was fascism, not to mention of its cultural dimensions. This anthology gives you the full information set and is very elegantly translated, despite the sometimes windy prose of the materials included. I'd recommend it to anyone who really wants to understand the radical right in depth.

Most anthologies on this subject have been made up of a superficial smattering of articles. Here one gets the real thing: a full-scale corpus of writings from fascism's beginnings to its catastrophic end. The translations are excellent, the selection of texts diversified but coherent.

I like Griffin's anthology as well, but this one gives you far greater depth. I doubt anything will ever take its place, at least in English.

Yep this book pretty much gives you a take on what would happen if genius detective Sherlock Holmes were instead genius cat burglar Justice Raffles. Raffles commits high collar petty theft for fun and profit. He steals jewelry etc and uses his connections as a gentleman to sniff out new opportunities. At one point as he describes the many middle men involved in reselling a piece of stolen jewelry as he explains to Bunny how crime doesn't pay - financially anyway. Often he steals something just because of the challenge involved in stealing it, which leads to interesting and varied stories for us to read. Bunny is his unwitting and later witting accomplice. He narrates the stoires, as a sort of Watson to Raffles' Holmes.

These were very charming stoires. If you like Sherlock Holmes and other victorian fiction then you will probably like these.

When Bunny (a public-school nickname) finds himself hopelessly in debt, and on the verge of ruination, he turns to an old school chum of his, A.J. Raffles. It turns out that Raffles can help him, but not in the manner he had imagined. Having found himself in a similar predicament years ago, Raffles took a novel solution, he became an amateur cracksman, that is, a cat-burglar. Remarkably free from any sort of moral qualms, Raffles takes Bunny on as his assistant, and together they lead a life of gentleman criminals. Sometimes they score stunning coups, and sometimes they suffer humiliating defeats; this is the life of Raffles and Bunny.

A man who was Arthur Conan Doyle's brother-in-law and friend wrote this story in 1899. This book reflects the more gentle style of Victorian literature (as also seen in the Sherlock Holmes stories), where the emphasis is placed on dialogue and suspense, rather than gunplay and action. Raffles is a gentleman, one without a moral compass, but one does know that there has to be a comeuppance somewhere, right? This is a wonderfully entertaining book, one that I recommend to you.

Countless Americans patiently trace genealogies and histories through slowly crumbling archives and weathering marble, seeking answers to questions about the ones who preceded us. This is a story of the meaning of such a search to one searcher. As the book's title alludes, Recovering Ruth: A Biographer's Tale focuses on how recovering Ruth Edgerton Douglass' history affects her biographer, Robert Root. Parts of Ruth's journal are excerpted in Recovering Ruth, and those who are interested in reading her journal in its entirety can look to Time by Moments Steals Away: The 1848 Journal of Ruth Douglass, edited by Robert Root.
Root's task, as the book begins, is seemingly simple and straightforward: edit the 1848 journal of Mrs. C. C. Douglass for publication. The Michigan library catalog attributes the authorship to Lydia Douglass, the clan matriarch who lived to be an octogenarian. However, Root soon discovers that the journal was actually penned by the first Mrs. C. C. Douglass, Ruth Edgerton Douglass. This discovery compels him to reconstruct the people and places of the mid-nineteenth century Michigan frontier, from the then-booming young city of Detroit to the remote Lake Superior outpost, Isle Royale. Although his search begins in libraries and archives, he soon journeys to the places where Ruth triumphed over fears common to us all: loneliness, hardships, and loss.
In retracing her life's journey, Root travels from Detroit to Chicago to Lake Superior's Isle Royale. Root uses his carefully researched details to evoke the Michigan Ruth would have known. He describes their approach of Isle Royale thus: "At last the island begins to rise in the distance, a long thin line above the water that slowly thickens as we thump our way steadily across the waves" (109). His language not only shows the vastness of the Great Lake, but also the treachery and danger inherent in crossing the world's largest freshwater lake even for a modern traveler. Imagery such as this gives us insight into the courage and determination of settlers such as the Douglasses.
During the course of his timely yet timeless search, Root comes to realize that he is in search of the meaning not only of Ruth's life, but of his own. As Root says, "Perhaps I needed to recover Ruth in order to keep from losing myself" (xvi). History is comprised of a series of chance meetings and fortunate accidents not readily apparent by perusing a family tree. Our lives would be immeasurably different if our great-grandparents had decided that it was, after all, too difficult to make their way by wagon train westward to Kansas, if our grandmother had stayed home rather than attended a dance, if our father's soulful brown eyes hadn't met our mother's at a crowded wedding. Root directly acknowledges those subconscious murmurs: "Genealogy identifies lines of descent, who begat whom, the aftermath of events; what it doesn't recount are the myriad alternatives barely missed, the intangibles of attraction and attachment, the possibilities avoided, ignored, or rejected" (25). In recovering Ruth's story, Root sees the ways in which his own choices will impact the future course of history: a painful divorce, a hopeful remarriage, his beloved children.
Root's work serves as a window for us to view the interconnections between our world and Ruth's. As George Eliot wrote at the end of Middlemarch, "the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs." In Recovering Ruth, Root has recorded Ruth's historic acts and unveiled her hidden life.
This book was chosen by the Library of Michigan as a 2004 Michigan Notable Book.

The author not only feels and understands the love of research, he writes of it with eloquence and charm. It reminds me of sections of Robert Penn Warren's ALL THE KING'S MEN, the quest to uncover the hidden truth. Or Byatt's POSSESSION. It is that good.

This author understands history. This author understands style. There are literary references and refreshing asides. It is a marvelous book.

My only regret is that I could not obtain it in hardcover--a luxurious gold gilted edition, say, with easy-to-read print, its own ribbon bookmark, and an annotated index. But it reads fine like it is. Highly recommended.

I bought this book in the hopes of becoming more familiar with some of the "mystic" concepts frequently referred to in the works of Shakespeare, Jonson and Marlowe. The use of magic and potents, signs from the heaven's, dreams and other alchemic elements were used in plays and writings of this time. The primary examples used are Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and Marlowe's "Dr. Faustus."

Not only does the book give you information about these artists, it provides some wonderful general information about the whole Italian Renaissance and how the works of the humanistic, NeoPlantonics and Occultists effected the writings many excellent literarti of the time--and not just in Italy. Mebane discusses the works of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus, Marsilio Fincio, Guilliame Postel, and England's own, John Dee among others.

These writings, thoughts and beliefs and the people who attempted to understand and use "magical" concepts, put themselves at considerable political and personal risk during this time. Bacon, Marlowe were scrutinized. Raleigh spent time in prison. After all, it was the beginning of the great witch hunts of the next several hundred years.

Much of what the Renaissiance writer considered occult, we would more probably view as the early beginnings of science. For example, they considered mathematics a "magical" They were intrigued by the Cabala, old pagan religions, astrology and music.

For the educated man of the times, the occult was part of a dream to recapture "lost knowledge" and return to a "golden age of magic." The English Renaissance thinkers and writers also believed that returning to this age would create a more civilized and humane world.

Wonderful, fun, spiritual, creative, educational and very thought-provoking. Not a frivolous book and defintely a serious "read". The information for a generalist such as myself was as mesmerizing as the ideas Professor Mebane discusses in this book. The author also includes an extensive list of resources that I found very helpful. What a pleasure find for the writer, philosopher or anyone interested in this period of history.

This is a great resource for information of magic during the Renaissance. We have used it in our graduate class this semester, applying it to the drama of the period. It is both readable and informative, and in truth a very reliable text.

I think this collection of REH westerns is some of his best work.The hero of most of the stories,Breckinridge Elkins,is,to quote Howard, "of the Pecos Bill style". The stories go beyond comedy, into slapstick tall tales. Elkins absorbs more lead,cuts, and bashing in one brawl than ten ordinary men,usually before he leaves home.His horse Cap'n Kidd is the only thing on two or four legs thats a match for him and the story "Meet Cap'n Kidd",is one of the best in the book.The character in the next three stories, Pike Bearfield is not quite as outrageous as Elkins,and the stories a bit more realistic,but Howards use of dialect and humor is still very entertaining.The story "The Riot at Bucksnort" is written as a series of newspaper articles, letters and telegrams,and is indeed a riot.In the last three stories,Buckner J. Grimes,is yet more realistic and the stories not as funny,in fact "A Man Eating Jeapord" is a good straight foward western with some humor thrown in. If you like Howard, humor, westerns, or just good entertainment I think you will enjoy this.

Robert E Howard's Western heroes create hilarious chaos wherever they go, from devastation at a crooked Election Day to the insanity produced by a young giant of a man going into a civilized town for the first time in his life. And darned near leveling the whole community. By accident.

Each & every story reads like the Saturday Night Live crew playing the Man With No Name.

Fine Westerns, don't get me wrong. But lots of laughs, too.

Robert E Howard is most famous for his "Conan The Barbarian" creation.

But this collection of Western tales proves his talent wasn't limited to that.

A great book written by a Swedish psycologist(Hedi Fried) about her childhood experience in Sighet. She was in this city for a while until she was sent to Auschwitz. She was there with her sis Livi. This is a touching story for those who survived the Holocaust and even kids and grown-ups today. She reflects on how the camps worked and every where she went. They reach Sweden and Make the city of Stockholm there new home. She was separated from her sis for a while and then reunited. Hedi Fried was lost from her parents then finds out they were gased in the gas chamber. One of the greater stories I've ever read. She tells of the pain and inhumanity of the Nazis and their leader Adolf Hitler. This book leads into Schindler's List a little bit. Hedi Fried did a great job!!!

A touching account by Swedish psychologist Hedi Fried about her childhood experiences in the Transylvanian town of Sighet and later at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Especially moving is her relationship with her younger sister Livia whom she saves from near death a couple of times. Livia repays her sister by reviving her during the liberation of the camp. Although a gripping story about the nightmares of the Holocaust, Fried has the ability to look at the lighter, funnier sides of the hellish reality. Reaching Sweden, Hedi and Livi have recovered and made Stockholm their home. Fried is now a well-known personality in Sweden, famous for her work with traumatized people such as refugees and Holocaust survivors and their second-generation children. A documentary film "Little Big Sister" was produced following the book with the narration of Swedish actress Bibi Andersson.

This is an excellent description of Nebraska geology. We have several books in this series, and we find them very informative, after you get used to the jargon. (We are not geologists!) We returned this because it was a duplicate gift.

The collaborative effort of Harmond D. Maher Jr.; George F. Englemann; and Robert D. Shuster, Roadside Geology Of Nebraska is an informed and informative travel guide to the diverse and appealing geology of Nebraska (including Agate Fossil Beds National Monument; Scotts Bluff National Monument; Toadstool Geological Park; Ashfallstate Historical Park; Ponca State Park; Indian Cave State Park; Schramm Park; and Niobrara State Park) which is quite visible and accessible to anyone vacationing or traveling in the state. From rhinoceroses in natural tombs of volcanic ash, to toadstools in jointed sandstone, Roadside Geology Of Nebraska is packed with maps, visible features seen from the perspective of the state highways, fascinating fun facts, and a great deal much more. If you are planning a trip through Nebraska and have an interest in geology, give a reading to Roadside Geology Of Nebraska for a truly memorable experience!

Anderson's journal, diary and narrative are an insightful look into his personal experiences, observations and thoughts during the fur trade year of 1834. Describing the multitude of people, places and events along the soon to be Oregon Trail , I can see why many historians reference his book for this time period. In typical Dale Morgan fashion, the editing is extremely well done, meticulously picking his way mile by mile with Anderson. Also included is the "Galaxy of Mountain Men" which are short but pertinent biographies of forty five men who influenced and helped shape the fur trade and western expansion movement.

It's kind of ironic, but of all the things offered to the reader in this magnificent book, Anderson's Journal of a trip he took west for his health in 1834 might be the least important. In fact, the Journal takes up less than 50 pages of this 430-page work. But it's all the rest that editors Dale Morgan and Eleanor Harris present that makes the book truly outstanding.

Anderson kept a diary of his trip which he used later to compile the Journal. We get the diary as well, presented in juxtaposition on facing pages with the Journal for comparison's sake. We also get a 40-page introduction on Anderson and his times and a 20-page biography of the man. In addition, we get in full the articles he wrote for the American Turf Register based on his trip and the ethnological notes he kept on various Indian tribes he encountered. Best of all, I think, is the 140-page appendix entitled "Galaxy of Mountain Men," which contains incredibly detailed biographical accounts of over 40 major mountain men, from Kit Carson and Joseph Walker to Black Harris and Rottenbelly (a Nez Perce chief).

William Marshall Anderson was born in Kentucky in 1807. His mother was first cousin of Chief Justice John Marshall, and his father, a Revolutionary War hero, was surveyor general of lands in Ohio and Kentucky. College educated and licensed to practice law, Anderson first organized a cattle import company in Ohio. But he contracted cholera in 1833, and then yellow fever, and decided to take a trip to the Far West to regain his health. In 1834 he made the trip that occupies his diary/journal at the core of this book in the company of William Sublette and a party of fur trappers.

The genteel Anderson stuck out like a sore thumb in this rough company, and he really didn't get along well with anyone except Sublette. A man used to forests and rich farm land, he was unimpressed with the treeless Plains. He was fascinated by the Indians they came across, however, which probably sparked a life-long interest in archeology. He attended the Ham's Fork rendezvous where he met Carson and Bridger and many other legendary figures. Shortly after the rendezvous broke up, Anderson returned to St. Louis with Lucien Fontenelle's party.

A full 50 pounds heavier than when he left, and with his health restored, Anderson married and converted to Catholicism upon his return. He settled near Chillicothe, Ohio, ran for Congress unsuccessfully, and then bought a farm near Circleville. After the Civil War he went to Mexico on an archeological expedition (although actually he was there to help set up a Confederate colony), contracted yellow fever again, and returned home to Ohio. He recovered and went on to study Indian mounds in Mississippi. In failing health, he died in Circleville in 1881.

This book is truly a feast of riches for anyone interested in the mountain man period of the West, and not just during the six months of Anderson's sojourn to the Rockies. Morgan's annotations of the diary/journal are minutely detailed (Morgan is the best at this kind of thing), and the added features make the book almost encyclopedic. Even the bibliography is among the most comprehensive you'll find in a book of this nature. It's a magnificent piece of scholarship. Highly recommended.

This vivid and poignant book is a must-have for any elementary classroom library. The descriptions, pictures, and over all story are exquisite.

The language used evokes the time and place in which the story takes place. The characters are believable, and the story is inspiring because it is a retelling of an actual event. I have read all of this author's books, and my children and I are always delighted. I hope she keeps writing.