Missouri Books

great anecdotes and interesting observations about changes in the sports world, journalism, and American culture.

This map is a part of the popular EasyFinder series, a group of durable, fold-out maps of various areas. This one covers the city of Springfield, Massachusetts. As someone who frequently travels, I find this map extremely useful, mainly because it is easy to use and handle. You will have no problems with complicated folding and wrinkling of common paper maps here. The map, which is made of very strong yet pliable material, can easily be spread out and folded back into small form in seconds. In addition to this, you can also write on it with erasable marker or pen and wipe it off later. This is extremely valuable when plotting routes, especially through complicated or unfamiliar areas. For a useful, and most importantly, easy-to-use map, look no further than the EasyFinder.

This is a marvelous gift for parents and their children, from newborns to grade-schoolers, who have any connection at all with St. Louis. It showcases the beauty and the history of some of our sites, and creates anticipation of visits all over the city.
ES

This is a specatacular book.
It reads like a novel and is very, very detailed.
Print of text and pictures are perfect. There isn't a picture wrong, all are great, considering some are over 100 years old.
Describes in lovingly detail growth and decline of city transport in St. Louis. Has good observations on the economical side of city growth and decline of Downtwon area(s).
The only pitty is that the 2 great system maps are printed on the first and last pages of the book, 1 side on normal paper and 1 side on the hardcover, which makes the first mostly unreadable and the second is too small.
Reproductions of them both in a separate folder would have made everything perfect.

Edited by Richard Peterson (Professor Emeritus of English, Southern Illinois University), The St. Louis Baseball Reader is a carefully selected anthology of writings by a wide variety of authors about St. Louis' two most famous baseball teams: the Cardinals and the Browns. Covering St. Louis baseball from its late-nineteenth-century origins to the amazing tales of its hall-of-fame players to how Jackie Robinson stood up to racism and Curt Flood challenged the reserve clause to modern-day games. Articles include "World Champs: Cardinals Wrap It Up" by Rick Hummel, "Browns in American League Since 1902" by Frederick J. Lieb, "The Cardinals' First Publicity Man" by Gene Karst, and many more. A delight for sports fans to page through or read straight cover to cover.

Compiled and edited by Eric Sandweiss (Carmony Associate Professor of History, Indiana University - Bloomington) St. Louis In The Century Of Henry Shaw: A View Beyond The Garden Wall is a collection of essays by notable contributions and was assembled and published in tribute to the 200th anniversary of the birth of philanthropist and entrepreneur Henry Shaw (1800-1889). Touching upon politics, ethnicity, business, literature, and more, these informed and informative treatises offer perspectives upon a thriving cultural center of 19th century America. Enhanced with a number of black-and-white illustrations, St. Louis In The Century Of Henry Shaw is a highly recommended contribution to 19th Century American History Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

"The St. Louis Irish: An Unmatched Celtic Community" is a delightful book which can be appreciated on several levels.

On a personal level, any member of this Celtic Community, which includes Fr. Faherty and myself, can enjoy reading the extensive list of names of people who have enriched our Community over the centuries. In the early chapters we read names familiar to us from a variety of sources. Some names we know from the other historical books we have read or from the mosaics of the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica which we have admired. Other names remind us of streets or businesses which have been part of our community for as long as we can remember. Some names are those of contemporary friends or acquaintances who may be descendants of these notable citizens. In the later chapters we read of people known to us personally.

This book also teaches us the history of St. Louis, which has been shaped, in large degree, by its large Celtic community. St. Louis' unique history as a Catholic center prepared it to be a fertile ground for Irish settlement. Unlike eastern cities whose original aristocracy was Anglo-American and Protestant, the original St. Louis aristocracy was French-Canadian and Catholic. This originally French city welcomed the Irish and smoothly integrated them into all walks of St. Louis life. From the early days of Irish immigration, the Irish have prospered and contributed to the life of the St. Louis community. I was surprised to learn that many of these early immigrants who were proud members of the St. Louis Celtic community were Protestants, as was the case among the Irish of Ireland.

The study of the St. Louis Irish gives us an insight into the histories of America, the Irish and the Irish Americans. Here we see that many of the pre-famine Irish immigrants brought educations and mercantile traditions which were maintained in their new homes. Many Irish, barred, like European Jews of the day, from land ownership and the professions, had turned to mercantile trades for the employment of their talents.

As the world approached the middle of the nineteenth century two related events impacted on our story. The failure of the Irish potato crop in the 1840s sent millions of poor, uneducated Catholics teeming onto American shores. For the first time, millions of Catholic, non-Anglo-Saxons threatened the WASP vision of an American culture exclusively its own. In response to this influx, a nativist movement arose which sought to exclude immigrants and Catholics from American society. This movement found its political expression in the "Know Nothing" party in the years before the Civil War.

The "Know Nothing" movement had a significant affect on the St. Louis Irish. With the mass immigration of the Famine Era, the Irish Community became more working class than mercantile, more Catholic than ecumenical, more self contained rather than an integrated into the local community. The altered national mood made the Celtic community one with which Protestants preferred not to be identified. After this time the Protestant Irish tended to identify with and meld into the predominant Anglo-American identity, leaving the Irish community largely Catholic. From this time on, to be Irish, largely meant to be Catholic.

In the later sections of the book, much of the history of the St. Louis Irish is reflected in the history of the Church in St. Louis. Throughout this period, Fr. Faherty does an excellent job of highlighting many Irish people who played prominent roles in the life of the community.

After World War II, the Irish identity became more a memory than an ever present part of our lives. Irish remained active and prominent in many organizations, but the organizations were no longer exclusively or predominantly Irish in their identity and membership. We now shared our parishes with Catholics of other ethnic backgrounds, rather than worshipping in national parishes as had earlier generations. To a large degree, the Irish have merged into the American melting pot. In order to recover that which we have lost, we now study our past to learn what it is to be Irish. Many St. Louis Irish of today know more about Irish history, culture and art than our ancestors to whom Irish was a way of life, rather than an object of study. Reflecting, perhaps, the divisions in Ireland, St. Louis has become a two parade city. St. Louis Irish now have to opportunity to choose between two rival St. Patrick's Day Parades.

It is said that being Irish is a terrible thing-until you consider all the alternatives. The behavior of the Irish is sometimes bewildering, even to ourselves. This book helps us understand better the way we were and how we became the way we are.

This book is an excellent insider guide into both the university and the city of Saint Louis. The facts in this book are given by students, so it ultimately is the best guide into how SLU really is. I definitely recommend the book if you are considering SLU or even attending. I have learned so much about the university that I would otherwise would not have learned by reading this book. And it is by no means a boring read.... I found the university more desirable after reading it.

Yes, it is a great book. One finds himself immediately going to the years covered by the book when growing up.

Some great pictures of Cardinal stars, too.

To get the record straight: this is mainly a photo book of St. Louis. Bob Costas only wrote the introduction. I think I have to say that I have never been to St. Louis and that a friend of mine (who lives there) gave me this book as a gift. One of my hobbies is photography, so when I see photos by other people, I expect a high standard. I can truly say that I was amazed by the standard of the photos contained in this book. For example, there are great pictures of Eero Saarinen's Gateway Arch and of St. Louis' art deco gems like Fox Theater or Union Station that are really inspiring. In addition to this, the book contains a large section which portrays the industry situated in and around the city. So if you want to know what St. Louis looks (and is) like or want to show somebody, I highly recommend this book.