Missouri Books

A most absorbing and well written memoir by a now retired American diplomat who experienced an outstanding thirty five year career in the U.S. Foreign Sevice: Both East and West Germany: Somalia:and Zaire to mention a few. But written with much compassion, humor, humanitarian, and historical insights. To say nothing about his including his experiences with several notable personalities such as Chester Bowles, Robert and Ethel Kennedy::Ronald Reagan: and The Carters etc. etc.

The memoirs of Sideny Drake Jackman add much to our understanding of the recruitment of Confederate troops in Union held territory, specifically in Missouri. Jackman recruited troops in western Missouri in 1862, and fought them at the bloody engagement at Lone Jack before they were drilled. This account contains the best first person account of the battle of Lone Jack in print. Jackman does not fail to credit bravery or mock cowardice. His candor is unusual for books of this genre. All in all this is a good read and a great discovery for students of the war in Missouri. Norton has included a fine introduction and his footnotes are useful and informative.

I really loved the horriffic tales with interviews and tragic details of lofe in a huge public housing project in St. Louis, the Pruitt-Igoe. Amazing insights & interviews with real people throughout the book make for a very impactful, well organized work.

I was much more than pleasantly surprised with this book by a first-time author, Jeni Grossman. Few novices could possibly construct a book that so masterfully maintains the suspense, brings the characters to life and evokes numerous emotions--from laughter to tears. Her descriptions are well done and her dialog believable. It was truly a "great read."

The many facets of the career of Benjamin Franklin have brought one biography after another, with some specializing in one particular aspect of his life. As he had so many active fields of endeavor, the supply of books will continue. Franklin was a scientist, inventor, philosopher, revolutionary, chess player, journalist, essayist, and lifelong do-gooder. He was also a printer, and from that he was a businessman. It is this seemingly ordinary part of his spectacular life that is the subject of _Benjamin Franklin's Printing Network: Disseminating Virtue in Early America_ (University of Missouri Press) by historian Ralph Frasca. Franklin, of course, thought of himself as a printer. It was what he was trained to do as an apprentice. He became a fugitive apprentice when he ran away from his older brother's Boston shop to make his own way in Philadelphia. He succeeded, and although others eventually took over the ink and typesetting parts of the trade while he made himself busy with other things, he extended his influence to other shops and other newspapers. Using his job skills, he was able to rise beyond his class, a common enough and even typically American story now, but something that was just not done in what was still the British social system of the time. He developed a network of printers which was not only lucrative to him, but helped him get the word out about the importance of virtue, morality, and industry.

That Franklin was a success himself as a printer in Philadelphia there can be no doubt, but he was enormously influential in making a printing empire. In 1731, South Carolina invited him to become its printer of official records, but he did not want to leave Philadelphia. He hit on the alternative of sending his journeyman, Thomas Whitmarsh, to Charleston, along with a press, fonts, and funds. Whitmarsh thus was the first member in what we would recognize as a franchise marketing scheme. He surrendered a third of the profits to Franklin, and in return got the start-up costs, as well as almanacs and other books to be sold in his shop, and news stories so that the _South-Carolina Gazette_ would be a sister publication to Franklin's in Philadelphia. Over the succeeding decades, Franklin would select other journeymen to become his distant proxies, always valuing their industry and sobriety, and in this way hoping that his emphasis on virtue might create further examples for others to follow. Eventually, the Franklin printing empire extended to New York, Newport, New Haven, and even Antigua. Not all of the shops flourished, and some not only lost money but caused their founder family heartache. Nonetheless, Franklin's printing network was the largest and most influential of the time. His first partnership started in 1729, and he forged his last over fifty years later. By his franchises, he increased the growth of printing throughout the colonies; by 1755, eight of the fifteen newspapers in the colonies were from the Franklin network, and other printers learned and borrowed from them. Franklin's success was the press's success, and formed the early American printing tradition. Not only were information and opinion disseminated through the network, but also the value of journalism was impressed upon the reading audience. When the new government was being formed, the importance of a free press was not lost upon it.

Perhaps the most important function of the network was that it allowed Franklin to spend more time on other things, the experiments in electricity, the advising on colonial independence, and the appointments to France by which we better remember him. It was the printing that made him, though; in drafting his will in 1788, he went on to mention his other offices, but identified himself as "BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, of Philadelphia, printer..." right at the beginning. He also wrote the wonderful epitaph for himself (not actually used on his monument) comparing his printer's body to a cover of a book from which the contents have been torn out. Even within the sphere of being a printer, however, he went on to be much more. Frasca's welcome book shows just how Franklin made himself into a printing empire, and stresses (just as Franklin would have wanted) how it was done as part of his effort at improving humanity.

Saw this book reviewed in the newspaper and had to order it. It is small and has the most popular plants grown here. These are plants that will grow best and can prevent buying plants that will not survive the winter.

As the title suggests, this book is an EXCELLENT resource if you, like me, love to find the beautiful, out-of-the-way, quiet places to camp away from the RV crowds. I found this book in my local library, and checked it out 3 times for trips to Missouri, and now have finally purchased my own copy.

Each trip I was able to use this book to plan my itinerary in advance, pick exactly the places I wanted to camp and even the best campsites, as well as the hiking and other activities I wanted to do while in the area. With each campground featured you get a good idea of what makes that spot special, a detailed description (and map) of the campground so you can select the site that best fits your tastes, and a description of hiking trails and natural features to check out in the area. There are good directions, and side bars that summarize the details: cost, number of campsites, facilities available, contact and reservation info, etc.

This is a book I will use again and again as I camp!

Experienced outdoorsman Charles Farmer presents The Best Of Fishing, Hunting, Camping, And Boating In Missouri: Tips From An Outdoor Enthusiast, a primer of basic techniques and strategies to get the most out of one's wilderness experience in the Show-Me State. From where to find the premier fishing lakes and trout parks, to advice for which fishing lures to use and how to fish with kids, optimal habitats for hunting, various Missouri hunting clubs, camping checklists and safety tips, boating basics, and much more, The Best of Fishing, Hunting, Camping, And Boating In Missouri is a superb primer. Black-and-white photographs embellish this plain-terms introduction to the joy of experiencing what Missouri has to offer.

"Best Of The Best From Missouri Cookbook: Selected Recipes From Missouri's Favorite Cookbooks" is a spiral-bound collection of hundreds of recipes drawn from a large number the most beloved cookbooks published in the "Show Me" state by private individuals, non-profit organizations, and small presses. From Plum Bread, to Gooseberry Salad, to Chicken Dijonnaise Strudel, and so very much more, these wonderfully diverse recipes combine flavorful explosions of favorite local ingredients, easy how-to instructions, and the solid stamp of approval that comes from the test of time. The "Best Of The Best From Missouri Cookbook" is enthusiastically recommended as a 'kitchen cook friendly' addition to any home and community library cookbook collection! Cookbook collectors are encouraged to visit the Quail Ridge press website for a complete listing of all of their "Best of the Best" series of cookbook compilations.

This memoir is as compelling as a novel. It describes the author's stay in Moscow and St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) as an English teacher in 1982, and in particular her romance with Kolya, a Russian living in St. Petersburg. She describes a return trip the following summer to see if the relationship had a future, and I was completely engrossed by the story. This is a very candid memoir, and Alberts is very honest about her own insecurities. In addition, the memoir is an accurate portrayal of life in the Soviet Union (at least according to my wife, who spent her first forty years there, and who also read the book).