Missouri Books

As a local historian compiling data on free people of color, I found Ms. Winch's book to be outstanding. Her research into the backgrounds of the elite helped me track emigrants from Norfolk, Virginia to St. Louis.

I read the original book by Clyprian Clamorgan published in 1858. I am sure this edition will be equally as good. The author takes you on an interesting and humorous journey through the black community of " the colored aristocracy " in St.Louis during the middle of the 19th century. The book provides sketches of the members of "the colored aristocracy" who move in the same circles, who by education,wealth, or ability form an elite of the race....... Good and informative reading.

I have not read this book but I was told about it by someone on my Clinton Main Street Board. The book evidently does not include Clinton, Missouri in its data. I would like to visit with the author regarding her statistics and question her as to why Clinton, Missouri was not included in the 2-hour radius of Kansas City, MO. Clinton has recently received an award as an All America City for the year 2000. With a population of approx. 10,000 and close in proximity to Truman Lake, we have a lot to offer. We are approximately 1/2 way between KC and Springfield, as the "crow flies". I am Project Manager for Clinton Main Street and can be reached at the above email address or my phone # is 660-885-2121. I would like to invite Shifra to our community and would like her to reconsider Clinton, Missouri as a viable tourist area within a 2-hour radius of KCMO.

Thank you - Marsha Dark Project Manager Clinton Main Street PO Box 173 Clinton, MO 64735

Whenever I feel stressed out, I get on a two-lane highway, with this book in hand, and go to off-the-beaten path places that are great fun. Last week I went to two small towns only 30 minutes from where I live in Kansas City and shopped at antique stores, had lunch at a fabulous cafe, and got some great gifts thanks to this little guide. Indispensable. Wouldn't be without it!

Great book. Very thought provoking. Arrived in good condition from this supplier.

"The first edition of this collection, published by Pennsylvania State University Press in 1993, contained a third section, which included several essays by scholars dealing with one or another aspect of the work of Strauss and Voegelin or with comparisons of their work. Partly for reasons of space and partly because the past decade of scholarly work would require significant revision of these papers to make them as useful today as they were then, we have omitted them from this edition." Introduction, 2004 Edition, p XXIII.

The 2004 edition only contains section 1, the correspondence between Strauss and Voegelin, and section 2, which consists of 4 essays - 2 by Voegelin and 2 by Strauss, and NO section 3. ...It would have been only sporting if this had been mentioned in the editorial remarks for the 2004 edition here on the Amazon site. And, to add insult to injury, if you click on the link 'look inside this book' (on the 2004 edition page) it shows you the index (of the 1993 edition) with the absent third section included! You are NOT getting, in the 2004 edition, essays by James L Wiser, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Stanley Rosen, Thomas J.J. Altizer, Timothy Fuller, Ellis Sandoz, Thomas L. Pangle and David Walsh. A pity - the Gadamer, Rosen, Altizer, Sandoz and Pangle pieces look quite interesting.

The collection of letters is well worth owning. I give only three stars because the absence of section 3 was never mentioned.

Two great minds share their thoughts on the rise of the main strategy used by the U.S. in the Cold War. Lukacs is arguably the only "conservative" historian worth reading. Well worth the cheap price.

This is not the typical work of diplomatic history, as it comprises a series of letters between George Kennan and historian John Lukacs in the mid-1990s. In his well-written and informative introduction Lucaks lays out his aim in writings the books, which is to chart Kennans's views on the Soviet Union prior to his writing of the Long Telegram and the Foreign Affairs article "Sources of Soviet Conduct."

They counter the New Left/revisionist thesis that the U.S. pushed the Soviet Union into the confrontation that would eventually become the Cold War. Rather, they believe that the U.S.'s response to Stalin was too little too late. Kennan criticizes the FDR Administration for playing up the cordial alliance with the Soviet Union, which had clearly being fighting for its own security and couldn't have cared a lick about democracy or friendly relations with the Western nations. Rather, as early as the middle of 1945 it was apparent that Stalin would not rest until the whole of Eastern Europe was led by people who were personally loyal to him, a loyalty that was enforced with violence and intimidation.

He then follows this thread discussing the difficulties of public sentiment, and how we transitioned--not very smoothly--from "friendship" with the USSR to being their rivals. While insisting that we should have taken a tougher line, however, Kennan also takes to task conservatives who turned containment into a domestic battle against supposed Communist infiltration. One of the reasons he wrote "Sources of Soviet Conduct", he states, was to "assure these people that even though it was impossible to collaborate extensively with Moscow, this did not mean that it was impossible to live without catastrophe in the same world with the Soviet Union" (56). Kennan then goes on to outline his view that negotiations should, at the very least, been attempted to hash out the future of Europe. He believed that Stalin was never in a position to risk his leadership of the Soviet Union by sending Russian and Warsaw Pact forces into Western Europe, and that this made a discussion of political issues a possibility.

All-in-all a very well organized and revealing look at the thinking of one of this country's superior diplomatic minds, especially in a time period that is not often the focus of Kennan studies. It is a very short work, and thus left me wanting to read more, which I suppose is a double-edged sword (more buying books I can't afford). A helpful and comprehensive bibliography of sources on the end of the Second World War and the origins of the Cold War is provided.

This well-crafted mystery, with richly described characters, will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Set in the Midwest, St. Louis and surrounding cities provide the backdrop for Lieutenant Hastings as he experiences the ultimate chase of his law enforcement career. Ordered to investigate a homicide and abduction of a highly visible heiress, Hastings calls upon his intuition and investigative skills to track down ruthless kidnappers.

As you can imagine, local law enforcement is trumped by the FBI in running the big show, and politics and posturing are clearly going to run their course when solving the question of where the heiress is hidden. Will the kidnappers return her even after the ransom is paid by her father at the end of a terrifying and life-threatening "drop?" Is she dead or alive?

Enter into the life of the serious, dedicated and focused homicide Lieutenant Hastings, and you'll definitely be caught up in a riveting, suspenseful, compelling and deadly chase against time.

Armchair Interviews says: If you like police procedurals like this, check out Hunt's other books.

In an affluent part of St. Louis, attorney Tom Myers and wealthy Cordelia Penmark attend a Christmas Party thrown by his firm's senior partner Sam Fisher. They leave the gala and go to his BMW5. While she waits in the passenger seat, he puts the key into the driver's side door when she notices two men seemingly come out of nowhere on each side of the car. The one on Tom's side pulls the trigger of his gun twice killing him. They abduct Cordelia.

St. Louis police detective George Hastings is selected to work with the FBI because of his recent work exposing a bad Fed (see THE BETRAYERS) on the homicide-kidnapping case that has very few clues as money is not the prime motivator though Cordelia's dad is wealthy; apparently political posturing is. Hastings investigates family members of both victims hoping to find a clue that will lead him to the culprits and save the life of the young woman, but most are not forthcoming with the truth. Still he prods each of them motivated by knowing how he as a divorced father with custody of his stepdaughter would die if this happened to her.

GOODBYE SISTER DISCO is a fascinating police procedural starring a likable lead character who diligently works the case with a law enforcement team distrusting of one another and two seemingly disinterested families. The story line is fast-paced with plenty of action that grips the audience as the hero begins to slowly out together the true motive. Although the support cast is stereotypically weak, sub-genre fans will enjoy James Patrick Hunt's entertaining tour of St. Louis.

Harriet Klausner

Bruce Clement's novel I Tell a Lie Every So Often is an engaging tale of Henry and his brother Clayton's quest to find a lost relative in the nineteenth century Midwest. The story takes many turns, from sinking ships to shooting rifles, all because of a tiny lie Henry told. The reader continuously wonders what will happen next.

Henry, although young and a bit naïve, has many profound insights throughout the tale. He confesses to the reader shame for not speaking up for a person he respects, and realizes the folly of his actions. Although he does not act in time to prevent some of the misfortunes that occur during his travels, he follows his conscience and does what he believes is right, sometimes against what is taught to him by his elders.

The back of the book describes Henry as "Holden Caufield invented by Mark Twain." I would not go so far as describe him this way; there are few characters in my opinion that could be compared with Holden Caufield. I will agree that Henry and the journey he entails are in the spirit of Holden, Huckleberry, Tom and their adventures, especially the latter two.

This is light and pleasant reading, but also touches on some deeper issues, such as the treatment of Indians during the frontier. A good story of an odyssey that didn't need to happen, but I agree with Henry and I am glad it did anyway.

The first page of "I Tell A Lie Every So Often" is well written. In it, our narrator tells us in no small terms that due to a single lie, "Somebody got shot because of it, and I had a visit with a beautiful naked girl who stood up in front of me early in the morning and talked in a foreign tongue, and I saw a ball game with a hundred men on one side, and a boat sank, somewhat, under me, and my brother Clayton started acting strangely and sleeping with a loaded rifle, and there were some more things too". Which is a good sentence to begin with. If you're going to spin a humorous yarn about the crazy things that can come from a single lie, that's a good way to begin. Unfortunately, the first page of this book is about as good as it gets. Though this book is on more than one list of "Great Forgotten Children's Books", I have to admit that after reading it I came to the undeniable conclusion that it should remain forgotten. Though it tries for an easygoing vernacular and a series of crazy adventures in the vein of Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn", instead it comes off as a loosely connected series of half-thought out ideas and schemes. I was sorely disappointed by it.

Henry and Clayton are brothers living in the American South in 1848. Clayton, the older of the two, is unofficially courting Caroline, twin sister of a girl named Clytemnestra. When Clemmy (her nickname) tells the boys one day that Caroline stuffs her bras, Henry is sent by his distraught brother to raid the girl's chifforobe to see if this is true. Henry, however, chickens out and instead lies to his brother that he did the dirty deed and that Caroline does not stuff. To take Clayton's suspicious mind off of further questions, Henry goes even farther and makes up a completely random out-of-the-blue lie. He tells Clayton that he met a man that told him about a red haired girl that lives with the Indians and runs faster than the wind. This lie is an allusion to a cousin of the boys who disappeared years ago and is suspected to have been taken in by the Native Americans. Consequently, this lie catapults Clayton into action and suddenly he sees it as his god-given quest to find and rescue cousin Hanna from the heathen scourge. Which is to say, he'll make Henry do it.

The rest of the book is a series of adventures in the course of this quest with Clayton becoming more pig-headed and "godly" (in his own eyes) as his little brother merely looking on. Parts of the story from here on in are amusing, but mostly the book's just plain annoying. I suspect author Clements decided that Clayton the buffoon would provide much of the comic relief in this tale. Unfortunately, Clayton's a painful read. He's racist to the point of homicide. He puts down Henry in every way he can, a fact that Henry never contests or questions. It's one thing to have a droll sweet natured narrator. It's another thing entirely to have a wimpy narrator traveling with the kind of brother that would shoot his own kin and later explain his mistake with talk of how the kin deserved it. Had the book been written without Clayton as a character I can't say it would've captured my heart, but it at least could've made a play for it.

This isn?t to say that there aren't amusing parts to this story. The laugh out loud point of the book comes when Henry decides to write a mock love letter to Clemmy and use the most disgusting terms he can think up. Written in the form of a Shakespeare sonnet the poem contains such classic lines as:

"Tis true my holy love I'll throw up soon,
And spread it all around beneath the moon!"

His follow up poem (entitled, "The Love Lament of a Doomed Worm") is just as good. Unfortunately, they set me up and made me expect further hilarity. No such hilarity ensues.

The greatest flaw to this book is the inability of its author to link scenes and ideas together properly. Therefore, Henry's random lie at the start of the tale comes from nowhere and hits the reader completely out of the blue. The fact that it later turns out to be true makes it even odder (not to mention coincidental when she turns out to be adopted by the book's only Native American character with a speaking part). Henry's continual acquiescence to his brother is not just annoying but frustrating. In some ways, this book feels like a work in progress. Almost as if this was the first draft with all the good ideas put together without much in the way of any semblance or order.

So I was disappointed. This is not a great lost classic. It is a classic that is great because it's lost. Would that it remain lost a little longer and forgotten entirely in time. Except for the first page and Henry's poems, I wouldn't grieve its disappearance.

I used to for my EIT test. It's a great book preparing me for IE EIT.

If you were expecting something akin to the breadth and depth of material found in the general FE review manual (which is excellent), or other discipline specific manuals by Lindeburg, the preparation manual for the industrial discipline specific test will leave you wanting.

The manual is short, and essentially a practice exam. You will need other study materials, such as the Handbook of Industrial Engineering, to augment your study to adequately prepare for the exam.

A suggestion for future editions would be a review of the subject material like you find in the general review manual.

I really enjoyed Corti's book about the Italian retreat from the Russian Front and I wanted to know more of what became of him after it.
Last Soldiers of the King, gave me more of the same and tied up loose ends for me.
Being interested in the history and actions of the Italian Army in WW2, this book sheds light on the Italian contribution to the Allies cause from 1943 on and the whole situation for Italy as a country at that time.
Like his first book, there is not a lot of combat depicted here, but what he does detail, shows the reader what it was like to fight in Italy.
Corti again, does a very good job of showing national differences in military and attitudes of the combatants.
He does play a fair hand to all involved and while the first book had many instances of the German disdain/mistreatmment of the Italians and the hard feelings of Italians towards the Germans, this book does show Cortis respect to the German soldier.
You also get a glimpse of the relationships between the British, Americans and Italians.
To me, the one drawback of this last book are the long passages related to religion.
Corti seems to be a very religious person and occasionally that comes through like a lecture in this book.
But through it all, you can feel what a long hard struggle the battle for Italy was and the post-war strife looming on the horizon.

"The Last Soldiers of the King" is a continuation of an Italian soldier's memoirs of World War II, which he first related in "Few Returned".

The first work, "Few Returned", was the author's reminiscences of fighting as a young lieutenant in the Italian Army side by side with the Germans against a common foe, the Soviets on the Eastern Front as the Germans and Italians retreated during December 1942 - January 1943. That work was suffused with philosophical musings about the state of man juxtaposed with the state of war, interspersed with misgivings about having Nazis as allies and recollections from his diary about this time in his life.

The second work, "The Last Soldiers of the King", provides additional insight into life as an Italian soldier in World War II after King Victor Emmanuel gave Mussolini his walking papers in July 1943 and, in effect, placed Mussolini under house arrest. (Nazi commando Otto Skorzeny subsequently famously rescued Mussolini and brought him to Germany.) When Italy capitulated to the Allies shortly thereafter the few German forces in Italy became occupation troops as the Germans invaded the northern portion of the country. In the meantime, the Italian Army had essentially disbanded, some joining the Nazis in the north and some fleeing to the south (along with the King, who had left no instructions for the defense of Rome upon his departure).

The new government formed a new army: the "Corpo Italiano di Liberazione" (Italian Liberation Army). Author Eugenio Corti, who had fled south with other Italian Army soldiers, became a member of artillery and anti-aircraft units in the Italian Liberation Army. He infuses his accounts of his experiences in this new army with his Christian faith and the sometimes nettlesome demands that faith put on him, e.g., he struggled, albeit successfully, against the sexual promiscuity, and prostitution, that were the hallmarks of the experiences of other soldiers.

He never seems to lose his faith in God, arguing that belief in God acts as a temporizing force on the conduct and nature of warfare. He also never seems to lose his patriotism or faith in Italy, despairing at the defeatism evident in many of his fellow soldiers and countrymen. (He discovers, much to his dismay, that many, if not most, Italians are not even aware that there are any regular Italian forces fighting the Germans after Italy surrenderd to the Allies in September 1943.)

As a Christian he believes that fascism in any form, including Nazism (which he argues was a misguided racial offshoot of socialism), and communism (which he especially decries as evil) are wrong. He also appears to be conflicted in his feelings toward Jews, on the one hand blaming them for Marxism (and hence communism) and on the other hand stating compassion for them as victims of World War II.

The book is an interesting look at the last two years of World War II in Italy, through the faith-based perspective of an Italian patriot and soldier.

An interesting, well-written mystery with a much-appreciated twist. This book will be enjoyed by mystery and gardening fans, and also by another group of readers who are rarely, if ever, represented in books of any kind -- folks, especially women, who struggle throughout their lives to lose and maintain the loss of large amounts of weight. Ms. Harrison's protagonist is a woman who has lost 100 pounds, and is maintaining that loss, but fights a daily battle against cravings for high-calorie food. Other characters in the book are in a similar situation, and the danger posed by individuals who prey upon the desperation of those trying to maintain large weight losses is central to the plot of this novel.

"Lilies That Fester" is an extremely absorbing read, that really keeps you guessing as to the identity of the villain until the very end.

Bretta Solomon may be feeling good about herself now that she's shed some weight, but the headache of coordinating the first floral competition at the Branson Florist Convention, has done quite a bit to sour her mood. Dealing with avid competitors who will not stop hounding her to reveal more about the different categories that Bretta has thought up for the competition, plus in-house wrangling amongst the board members has been enough to make her wish that she had never agreed to oversee the competition. The only bright spot in the horizon is that she seems to have picked up an admirer -- good looking, single and an amateur gardener to boot! And then just before the festivities start, Bretta receives an urgent message from a couple, the McDuffys, that her dead husband used to know. Knowing about her ability to solve perplexing mysteries, they leave urgent messages with her, pressing for a meeting. Having had no success with actually meeting Bretta so far, they leave a letter and a cassette, with instructions for Bretta to read the letter if they fail to make the planned meeting for the following morning. However the McDuffys fail to turn up the next day. Reading the letter, Bretta discovers that the couple want Bretta to discover what had happened to their daughter just before she died of a heart attack. Her behaviour had changed drastically the few months before her death, and the McDuffys suspect that someone was at the root of all her unhappiness that caused her death. Bretta is of course saddened by the letter, and is not sure what she can do. And then she discovers that the McDuffys seem to have mysteriously vanished. Although her hands are quite full with trying to mange the competition, as well as deal with her many back-stabbing colleagues, she feels she must track down the McDuffys, if only to talk to them. But where to start? And then someone starts playing a series of dangerous pranks on Bretta, and her would-be beau starts behaving strangely. What exactly is going on? And how are the McDuffys connected to all this? Bretta is determined to find out.

This is by far the best Bretta Solomon mystery novel, and I was quite engrossed. There are so many things I liked about this mystery novel: the mystery was an intriguing and interesting one, and the plot unfolded smoothly and flawlessly till the very end where Janis Harrison pulled everything together brilliantly. Bretta Solomon is a wonderfully clever, warm hearted and feisty amateur sleuth, and "Lilies That Fester" showcases this character superbly. (I absolutely loved the wry tone she used when observing the silly antics that other members of the board indulged in) "Lilies That Fester" is definitely a first rate read.

What a pity editor Bellow could not include his great long short story " The Old System" in this collection. As it is it contains a number of truly wonderful stories, including the very great story that Bellow translated into English and is one of the most remarkable stories ever written Singer's ' Gimpel the Fool' But there are many other treats here which make for much absorbing reading.

When a collection contains stories by such writers as Agnon, Aleichem, Babel, Malamud, Singer, and Zweig, you know that you're not going to get a bunch of junk ! Sure enough, there are some great stories in this volume, some by people perhaps not so well known, like Joseph Opatashu and Leo Litwak. There are also weak links, but "weak" is certainly in the eye of the beholder, I admit. Nevertheless, I'd have to say that this is an uneven collection and I wonder what the purpose of it was, other than to say, "Yep, we can compile a bunch of stories written by Jews and mostly about themes which relate to Jews." Perhaps the time for such collections has gone by and we can now say that as people, Jews have intimate connections to every aspect of human existence, just like everyone else. Is there really "African-American literature" which is only of interest to African-Americans ? Is there really a "Jewish" literature ? This book provides proof of two answers: one is yes, the other is no. I suppose it depends upon your already-existing perspective. Anyhow, if you want to read some excellent stories, whether you are Jewish or not, try this book. There are a lot of five star stories here---I give the book three stars as a "concept".