Ohio Books

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad devotees went into ecstasy in the 1980's when Deane Mellander and Bob Kaplan published William P. Price's collection of Kodachrome slides on B&O steam in two volumes ("B&O Steam Finale"), mostly on the portion of that railroad east of the Ohio River. But Willis A. McCaleb's magnificent Kodachrome slide collection goes one step further in three ways. First, he covers a portion of the B&O left undocumented by Bill Price, almost all of the area west of the Ohio River. Second, Morning Sun Books has pulled out the stops to assure that National Geographic-quality color will be available to present Willis McCaleb's photos. Third, Willis McCaleb was by profession, a photographer employed by the Nickel Plate Railroad to document their operations; however, he had a special affection for the B&O and took along with him, a Kodak Retina 35-mm. camera loaded with Kodachrome color slide film to document the B&O while on Nickel Plate assignments. Nickel Plate trackage paralleled the B&O throughout much of Ohio, which is what allowed those B&O side trips for McCaleb. His unique position as a professional railroad photographer gave him access to operations of the B&O that wouldn't otherwise be given to non-railroad personnel, for railroads have always been very particular about unauthorized individuals being around rail yards and rail equipment in general, naturally for safety reasons. By virtue of having authorized status, Willis was granted access to areas of B&O operations that otherwise would not have been given to newspaperman Bill Price, who essentially was relegated to locomotive "pass-by" photography. For example, look at Willis' photography of Benwood Junction, West Virginia, and the truly unique silhouette photo of engineer Bartock reading his orders on p. 55! It was to Willis' credit and fortune that he was able to get such pictures and to Bill Price's misfortune not have the vantage points that Willis had. However, my statements are not to discredit Bill Price, who had the advantage of being able to look down onto B&O trains from a hilltop and the use of a Leica camera, the "Mercedes-Benz" of the 35-mm. format.

In conclusion, a truly magnificent book, worth every penny of its $50.00 price and then some! By all means, get this book before it goes out of print if you want to see some classic railroad photography! And if you can luckily find an out-of-print copy of either Bill Price volume, snap that up also! Both Willis McCaleb's and Bill Price's collections complement each other.

This is a magnificant book about a magnificent Locomotive. The photography is superb. They were real "monster" locomotives, but the tragedy is that not one was preserved for the B&O Museum.

Whether you are a slight fan or an avid fan of trains and railroads, you don't want to miss this book! It is very well written and the pictures are great! Bob Withers is one of the best writers ever.
S. Smith, Ravenswood, WV

Harry Ellard had amazing foresight in 1907 to write this book. Without it, most details surrounding the formation of baseball's first all-professional team (Cincinnati Red Stockings) would have been lost. The book is written in a Victorian style with tremendous detail about the people and places which fostered Cincinnati's historic franchise. Harry gives as much attention to the 1867 and 1868 Red Stockings as he does the fabled 1869-70 team. Afterall, Harry's father, George Ellard, was one of the fathers of professional baseball and operated a sporting goods store in downtown Cincinnati, and Harry simply views the 1869 team as part of a long evolutionary process. Harry also explains how his dad came up with those first uniforms with red stockings which led to the team's name -- first, the Red Stockings, and later, simply the Reds. Harry gives careful attention to Cincinnati locations important to the franchise. A marvelous document.

This splendid photographic record of an Ohio small town would make a great gift for anybody who lived in Summit County, but its lively images of real people and places from yesteryear make it a valuable resource and inspiration for anybody interested in small town America or nostalgia. The faces, though they belong to bygone eras, will bring the past to life. Costumers, historical reenacters, writers, theater folk all will find this is a source of true-to-life pictures of American life in the fascinating, and sometimes wild past.

Bazhanov is the most anti-communist writer and the only one who really was inside in the top of Bolshevik government understanding the whole nonsense of the system. We can't trust him in every word, especially about his escape from USSR, but as a good storyteller he tries his best to open for us a real picture of evil time.

One other example for reality (truth - considering the author!)being far more riveting than fiction! The decay of american Law (and society, for that matter) is traced back to how a profession betrayed itself! The "Miranda" debacle of Bobby K. started the real breakdown. An entire virtual industry emerged from it and corroded the integrity of not only the legal profession, but dragged down with it also the medical one into a "profit-sharing" business! BRAVO! Mr. Mayer should team up with other disillusioned professionals to create similar eposes!

While today it's not a high-profile city, in the mid-19th century Cincinnati was the third-largest city in the US, and the wealth derived from that status led to the creation of many cultural and educational landmarks, most of which still exist today. For example, the city's top-regarded Symphony Orchestra is made up of the members of the Musicians Union, #1. By the early 20th century Cincinnati's power and resources attracted the notice of political bosses as far away as New York, who took over the city only to be turned back in a precedent-setting, peaceful citizen revolt that created the City-Manager form of government.

Against this backdrop, in 1988 Cincinnati celebrated its Bicentennial, taking in the various periods of its history: a crude, frontier settlement; a lively time as a major stop for inland water trade; a period preceding Chicago as "Hog Butcher of the World"; the main target of Prohibitionist Carrie Nation's wrath as the headquarters of many breweries; and today as a sophisticated, economically and culturally diverse city. And more - whew!

To mark this occasion the Cincinnati Historical Society published this lavishly illustrated, highly readable history of the city, initially in two spiral-bound, hard-cover editions in 1988. What made it special among such histories is the fact that during the Works Projects Administration days of the Depression a cadre of skilled but unemployed historians and writers were hired to write a history of the city, and this book incorporates nearly all of that brilliant work, simply bringing it up to date.

While at times some institutional reverence shows through, by and large the book is independent of its sponsors and tells the city's story, warts and all. From the 1930s to the mid-1980s Cincinnati was a politically conservative town, although that has changed in the past 20 years as an influx of economic immigrants have joined the ranks.

The native, long-time resident or newcomer to Cincinnati will find something to delight in this book. Yes, I live in Cincinnati and love it, but appreciate the criticiams aired in this book. It should be a model for any popular urban history.

I loved this book. We are a home schooling family and I wanted a book to use to learn about the state of Ohio. This book has lots of worksheets that are fun and inviting. I recommend this book.

The Big Rivers is an excellent book. It takes the older elementary student through the water cycle using the big flood of '93 as a living example. I recommend this book for every library. Teachers this book is a great non-fiction book for use as supplemental reading for any environmental education curriculum.