Kansas Books

This fine book is, as Herbert Hovenkamp has called it, "a monumental achievement." If Ely has missed a connection between railroad law and any other important topic in American legal history, I am unaware of it--everything from the use of slaves to build railroads to insolvency, receiverships, and train robberies.

Ely is not intimidated by the reigning thesis that railroads were "smoking devils" run by ruthless capitalists who bent legislatures to their greed or the notion that judges fell over themselves to protect railroads from tort liability in the name of economic progress. Ely argues instead that far from "allowing carriers a free hand, lawmakers enacted a host of preventive measures and insisted that railroads must bear the cost of regulations to protect the public." (134) Refreshing and right on target is his description of the Mann-Elkins Act (1910) as a "regulatory straitjacket" that helped destroy the railroads.

The potential reader of this book should be warned that though clearly written, it is encyclopedic. Teachers of economic history, legal history, and transportation history will here discover a wealth of illustrations for their classes; a general reader with no absorbing interest in railroads will probably find the presentation overly academic.

James Ely's Railroads and American Law investigates then relationship between the courts and America's first "big business" and the impact railroads had on the American legal landscape. Ely states in the introduction how he wants to avoid stating a thesis (which seems to be a typical lawyer's ploy to avoid committment) but then establishes themes to support his case.

Ely challenges popular myth that railroads literally carried the courts and the lawmakers in their back pockets. The image of 19th century railroads taking land from people and getting all the laws and court decisions in their favor is simply not true. Ely demonstrates how some railroads won court cases while others lost. At times labor or the travelling public won cases while in others railroad interests prevailed. There is no set pattern of cases where one side prevailed over the other. Rates for freight are but one of Ely's examples. Another was railroad mergers and the application of antitrust laws.

This book is not for the casual reader. It is in-depth and at times kind of boring. But legal historians will enjoy the large number of Supreme Court cases referenced and how the author analyses each. I chose this book because I enjoy reading about both topics, railroads and law. Others in this same boat will likely find much offered here.

In Religious Freedom and Indian Rights, Carolyn Long examines the events surrounding the landmark Supreme Court case Employment Division v. Smith, and presents a case study on the struggle between governmental power and individual religious freedom. Using the story of a Native American man fired for worshiping in the manner of his religion, the author illustrates the ongoing struggle in this nation over the meaning of the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment, and its application in American government. As a case study, Employment Division v. Smith is an excellent choice, and Professor Long has done an admirable job of presenting all sides of the issue. By utilizing primary sources such as Justice Thurgood Marshall's personal papers, and through conducting many interviews with those involved with the case, she has written a text that is informative, balanced, and (above all) enjoyable. A great attribute of this book is that it is real; the interviews with Mr. Smith, his attorney, and Attorney General Frohnmayer add a "real life" dimension that many political science case studies lack. The reader walks away from this book knowing that Al Smith is a real person with real emotions and beliefs; that is a refreshing change. The book is a fairly easy read for college students, and the reader is kept interested by the regular "changes in scenery" between the Supreme Court, the attorneys, and the other players throughout the book. Religious Freedom and Indian Rights provides valuable insight into the inner workings of a landmark case and the various dynamics that come to play when one is allowed to take a controversy "all the way to the Supreme Court." This book will doubtless prove to be an asset to those seeking a better understanding of the First Amendment's free exercise clause, and would be a excellent choice as a text for a Civil Rights and Civil Liberties course.

Carolyn N. Long documents the events in the case Oregon v. Smith, the saga of Al Smith, and the Klamath Indians. All the people who played a part in this judicial/legislative/religious tug of war were treated with respect by this author. Long asks us to ponder the question, who is more powerful God or Caesar? The sacramental ingestion of peyote has been part of the Native American Church for centuries. This native belief clashed directly with state and federal laws propelling this case to the highest court in the land. This book is a remarkable work that articulates each argument in a concise manner that is accessible to readers from any discipline. For example, the portion of the book that explains the disagreement between Justice Scalia and Justice O'Conner. Scalia's conclusion that generally applicable laws did not invoke the free exercise clause, was as interesting as O'Conner's refusal to dismiss a century of First Amendment jurisprudence. Controversy and politics make this case especially enthralling. Long describes the legislative process that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act went through. Her focused writing explained how legislative actions sprout and are nurtured through the political process, one reason why this superb book compliments coursework in Political Science. Oregon v. Smith contained interplay between citizens, local politicians, special interest groups and high profile members of the judiciary. The intense political positioning throughout this case, was as intriguing as a good game of chess and more enjoyable than a great work of fiction. Bravo!

In having Dr. Ted V. McAllister as my Western and American Heritage Professor at Hillsdale College,I was able to fully appreciate his historical views on a personal basis. His knowledge of Niccolo Machiavelli and modernity, and the philosophy of Plato relating to Western history is unparalled. His views in his book are presented in a true and indepth fashion. After being his student for two semesters, I will truely miss his insight and knowledge pertaining to historical matters.

McAllister really seems to understand Strauss, which is more than can be said about many who write about Strauss (scholars and otherwise). This will serve as a useful antidote. And of course, Voegelin has long been neglected, so any work treating him seriously is a welcome addition. This should be in the library of serious political theorists.

The title made me shudder a little, since my time at Southwest (class of '86) was deep into the "fall." But the year-by-year accounts of my era were free of finger-pointing, and it was fun and informative reading the history of the old school and seeing all the many fine photographs. I'd highly recommend this for anyone with a connection to Southwest, of whatever era.

My one disappointment is that the book is a little skimpy.

As a graduate of that grand high school Southwest, I was overwhelmed by the memories this book brought me. My only complaint for the author is that I want more--more stories--please! This is a well researched and well told biography of a school that shouldn't have been killed by bureaucratic nonsense.

I hope everyone who ever walked through those magnificent front pillars on Wornall Road will have a chance to read this book and remember.

Personal quotes from current and former rodeo participants enliven this look at one of America's oldest sports. Using the results of a questionnaire, you learn how they think of their lives and their jobs. The authors delve into the good and bad of rodeo, from the financial cost to the medical woes, from the exclusion of women to the changes in the sport, from rodeo history to its possible future. If you're interested in rodeo, you should get this book....

I just recently dicovered this book and boy was I surprised. Personally, I found this book very helpful for the fact that I am a bullrider myself and found the information within it's pages very useful and insightful. It explains the origins of rodeo to the very way to play the game! With in-depth pages on Saddle Bronc Riding, Bareback Riding, Bullriding, Barrel-Racing, and almost every other rodeo event, I don't think you'll find a clearer perspective on rodeo unless you started riding! Please take it from me, for the best book on rodeo, look to "Rodeo In America"

The book arrived in the estimated time and in the condition advertised by this seller.

Donald Rumsfeld was Secretary of Defense (SecDef) under George W. Bush from 2000 to 2006. Rumsfeld is chiefly remembered today for his consistently poor judgment and managerial incompetence, especially in the execution of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the subsequent occupation of Iraq. This book examines how such an excellent and intelligent manager with a brilliant track record (including an earlier (1974-1978) tour as SecDef) could have lost his way so badly. Herspring argues that for all his brilliance and drive, Rumsfeld in the year 2000 was consumed by arrogance, a desire for absolute power, and an unwillingness to learn from anyone. To demonstrate this argument, Herspring reviews how Rumsfeld managed his two most important challenges during his tenure, the Transformation of the U.S. Military and Operation Iraqi Freedom (and the occupation of Iraq). According to Herspring, Rumsfled and his senor assistants in the Office of Secretary of Defense (OSD) engaged both challenges with an unfortunate mixture of overweening arrogance and ignorance.

Herspring also argues that Rumsfeld had an irrational dislike of the U.S. Army and its officer corps. He supports this allegation with antidotal evidence, but the reader is left to wonder if this charge is accurate or not. For example, Herspring states that Rumsfeld choose Marine General Jim Jones as the senior U.S. Military Representative at NATO as a deliberate snub aimed at army and, to a lesser extent, air force general officers. While this may very well have been Rumsfeld's motivation, the fact is that General Jones was highly qualified for the NATO position. He is fluent in French (English and French are the official NATO languages), experienced in dealing with high level foreign civilian and military officials, widely respected both in the U.S. and Europe, and equally capable of unambiguous command and diplomatic maneuverings. Perhaps Rumsfeld knew nothing of these qualities, but there is really no way to tell.

Rumsfeld by any standard is a complicated and not always agreeable person. This book is a serious attempt to examine his second tenure as SecDef. It is a good start, but far from the definitive work on the topic.

Every kid, especially black kids should read this book. They will learn what true struggle is, what teamwork is, what overcoming prejudice and hatred look like. Common white soldiers and their officers who had never seen a black person no less cared about them, came away astounded at the black soldiers' bravery and fortitude in battle. At their strong desire to learn how to read, how to be an independent human. Names like Cold Harbor and Fort Pillow will become almost sacred. This was how modern America was built: On a shared struggle for freedom. For evolution.

In this book Dudly Cornish tells about the role of black troops in the Civil War. This book is one of the most comprehensive accounts of a single section in the Civil War. Until I read this book I had no idea to what extent the black solider played in the war. The union may not have won the war if it were not for those black troops. This book is a must read for anyone interested in the Civil War.

I really enjoyed "Second-Best Bride" In fact I've read it several times. It's refreshing to read ficton that challenges me as well as entertains. Miss P, The Lamb children, and Meg Shaw were interesting characters that I could relate to. I'm looking forward to reading more of Ruth Glover's books.

Like the rest of the Wildrose series, Glover introduces new characters and blends them with the familiar ones in the Canadian bush town of Wildrose. Meg has always lived in the shadow of her beautiful, more outgoing sister Marlys. As she watches Marlys toy with the emotions of homesteader Royce Ferguson, she realizes that Marlys actually has no intention of marrying him and moving to the wilderness of Wildrose. Meg, who knows that she will be happy even among the hard life and simplicity of Wildrose, eventually comes up with a plan to mend Royce's broken heart and to get out from under her sister's shadow. Meanwhile, back in Wildrose, "old maid" Miss P struggles with the fact that she is alone and has no family. As she takes care of many of the Wildrose citizens in some form or another, she eventually realizes that God has a plan for her and that some families are not necessarily made up of traditional parents and children. Back in Toronto, the Lamb family struggles physically and financially to be able to join their father in Wildrose, only to find tragedy awaiting when they arrive. For the Lambs, Miss P, and Meg, faith becomes reality as they strive to live out what they believe that God has intended for them. Second-Best Bride is a thoroughly enjoyable book about faith, love, and families.

Anyone who has ever been engaged in developing an innovative activity in a highly bureaucratic organization will appreciate the information provided in this book. What to do, how to do it, how to organize the activity, how to present the information, how to share it were all issues the Army, Navy, and national leaders of the United States and England had to resolve under the most difficult of conditions. Most importantly, who gets the credit for it was always a factor. The Navy and the FBI do not come out smelling like roses in this very thorough analysis of a critical chapter in the history of WW II. This is not a book for the novice; a familarity with many of the issues discussed is required for an appreciation of the information it provides. Nor is it a James Bond thriller. It requires attention, effort and a glass or two of good wine. It is a valuable addition to our body of knowledge and is well worth reading. Communication techniques have changed dramatically since these events of fifty years ago took place and one can only marvel at how much more complicated things must be in this field today.

Secret Messages is a meticulously researched, carefully reasoned, and well-written account of the United States government's attack on the diplomatic communications of foreign governments from 1930 to 1945, an attack that produced the most valuable secret intelligence on foreign relations and national security that the United States possessed during this period. Secret Messages is one of the first works to make extensive use of the Historic Cryptographic Collection (HCC), an enormous collection of nearly 1500 boxes of documents relating to United States cryptography and cryptanalysis before 1945 that was deposited into the United States National Archives by the National Security Agency in 1996. The importance of this collection to the history of United States code- and cipher-breaking before 1945 is ably demonstrated by Professor Alvarez, and makes very clear that works on United States cryptanalytic intelligence, foreign policy, and national security policy from 1939 to 1945 that do not take account of the HCC are to a greater or lesser extent (depending on the precise topic) both insufficient and out of date.

Secret Messages provides much fascinating detail on the United States's cryptanalytic attack against the diplomatic communications of foreign countries from 1930 to 1945, an effort that after Pearl Harbor became very wide-ranging indeed, and eventually seems to have included almost every country in the world in its list of targets. While the United States's main cryptanalytic effort before the end of the Second World War was directed against Japanese systems, a fact that was made known to the public shortly after the end of the war, and American collaboration with the British attack against German Enigma systems was revealed in the 1970s, details of the work on breaking into many other countries' diplomatic communications during the Second World War was regarded by the United States government as too important to United States national security (or too embarrassing) to be released until recently. Although few eyebrows would be raised at the account in Secret Messages of United States cryptanalytic efforts against the diplomatic communications of pro-Axis neutrals such as Argentina, Spain, and Sweden, more surprising is the story of the vigorous attempts to break into the official communications of more conscientious neutrals such as Switzerland and the Vatican. Most troubling of all is the material on the cryptanalytic assaults against the communications of staunch Allied governments, such as the governments-in-exile of the Free French, Dutch, and Poles. What strikes this reviewer as ironic is that this tremendous and unscrupulous effort, undertaken mostly by cryptanalysts in the army's Signal Intelligence Service (SIS) (but which also included the collaboration of FBI agents who burgled foreign embassies in search of cryptographic materials), was made with the full approval and support of Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, the statesman who in 1929 as secretary of state in the Hoover administration had shut down an earlier United States cryptanalytic unit, Herbert Yardley's Cipher Bureau, on the grounds that it was unethical for the United States to read other countries' private diplomatic communications. Stimson's abrupt change of attitude is one example of the tremendous rapidity that marked the United States's transformation from isolationism to global superpower.

What effect did the intelligence produced by this ultimately massive cryptanalytic effort have on United States foreign policy and national security policy during the Second World War? Despite its great success in providing invaluable insights into the thinking and actions of foreign governments, enemy, neutral, and Allied alike, Professor Alvarez believes that cryptanalytic intelligence had little impact on policymaking. In part this was because the central figure in United States foreign policymaking at this time, President Roosevelt, had little apparent regard for cryptanalytic intelligence - Professor Alvarez recounts the president's usual practice of having decrypts read to him while he was shaving - and did not appear to distinguish between it and other less reliable forms of intelligence such as his casual conversations with old friends who had recently visited war zones. But this may have been an act on the president's part. Throughout his presidency Roosevelt was notorious for concealing his thinking and motives regarding decisionmaking from those around him and this may also have applied to his attitude towards intelligence, he may not have wished to reveal to people around him which kinds of intelligence he found more valuable and useful than others in case by so doing his thinking on policy matters might be deduced. Professor Alvarez's findings in Secret Messages strongly suggest to this reviewer that every major decision of the president's regarding foreign policy and national security policy during the Second World War needs to be carefully re-examined in light of the newly-released evidence on United States cryptanalytic work during the war. Even when it turns out that cryptanalytic intelligence did not contribute directly to a decision being made, it is still critical to take it into account when considering the president's underlying motives. For example the president's knowledge of the devastating impact of Operation Barbarossa on the Soviet Union in summer 1941, which was communicated to him primarily through the intercepted messages of the Japanese ambassador to Germany, Oshima Hiroshi, and that foretold the probable collapse of the Soviet state, tends to undermine the claims of historians who have argued that President Roosevelt believed right up to Pearl Harbor that the United States could contain or defeat the Axis powers merely by supplying anti-Axis countries with lend-lease aid. Cryptanalytic intelligence supports the view that President Roosevelt knew that without full United States intervention in the European War it was very likely that Nazi Germany would defeat all its enemies one by one. The thoroughness of Professor Alvarez's work on the United States's cryptanalytic attack on the diplomatic communications of foreign governments from 1930 to 1945 casts doubt on his conclusion that this kind of intelligence had limited influence on policymaking. Secret Messages is a significant contribution to the laying of the groundwork for a thorough revision of the history of United States foreign policy and national security policy during a most critical period.

A Great book that I can relate too. A slow beginning but starts to pick up once you get into it. I myself have purchase quite a few of these book from Runs on the Wind. Since my girlfriend enjoys reading, I got one for her. She got hooked and told her family about it, and I bought them each a copy. so in my opinion, this book is great!!!

I know Runs on the Wind and he's a wonderful person. (Not trying to make him blush) but in all honest truth he is a great friend.

What starts out as a confusing book becomes richly rewarding. Everything from K's quirky habits (signing the quotes on the men's room walls and talking to herself) to her pattern of working, going to the bar and returning home is well detailed.

This makes it all the more confusing when she starts writing tales which become true. You're never sure though if it's because she's seen the future or if she is causing these events to occur. What's better is when the characters in her stories start interacting and responding to her.

While I won't give away the last portion of the book, I will say the only reason I didn't rate this book a 5 was a few spelling errors and editorial issues.