Connecticut Books

Different than the flat mass produced puzzle books - this was written and delightfully illustrated by a clever mother and it's loads of fun. My kids loved the legends of the Black Dog and Captain Kidd, while I loved the explanations of Connecticut philanthropists and what the reader would do if THEY were a philanthropist. Lots of variety and kept them busy on a two hour trip to the shore! We bought a copy for our children's teacher.
Highly recomended.

Great book! Who would have thought Connecticut was once teeming with dinosaurs? This book tells the complete tale, and includes trips that transport you back to the age of dinosaurs. Great storytelling-from the discoveries of the past to new theories about dinosaurs being proposed today. Original illustrations of CT Valley dinosaurs. A great book for families looking to get out and do something different or to give as a unique, "made in CT" gift. Guaranteed to be a hit with dinosaur fans or fans of local history.

A great book for hikers, birders or anyone who likes to get out and explore. I spent years hiking the same old woodsy places-until I discovered this book and all sorts of neat new places
I never knew existed. Would make for a nifty gift. Loved the black spruce bog and traprock ridges. I keep mine in the glove compartment(where it's always within reach)!

The pictures of Greenwich of 90-100 years ago are a treat to look at, and the text mixes whimsy, insight, and opinion in a balanced and thoughtful presentation. A great read!

This book was extremely informative and should be a must own for anyone with a strong interest in entomology.

I'm a truck driver and this is the atlas that everyone I work with uses...simply the best. Great detail, easy to read, easy to understand.

This is the absolute best reference book on Handel lighting - period. Defalco & Company show that they are the number one authority on the subject of Handel. I have seen many reference publications with examples of Handel lighting but never such a comprehensive work such as this.

Haunted Connecticut is another in Stackpole's wonderfully entertaining series of regional books on hauntings, this time featuring the Constitution State, Connecticut. Connecticut was our nation's fifth state and with its early colonial history it boasts a very rich tradition of ghost tales. The book is written by Cheri Revai who also penned "Haunted Massachusetts" and "Haunted New York". Revai takes readers on a tour throughout Connecticut for over fifty tales that span from the era of the early settlers right through modern day.

There is the "Curse of Dudley Town" where the Dudley family seemed horribly cursed by death an all manner of misfortunes including Indian attacks, suicides, epidemics, and madness and has long been the source of unexplained noises and apparitions. Union Cemetery in Eastern CT has headstones which date to the 1600's and is known most for the White Lady who appears to motorists along Route 59, even leaving a dent in the pick-up truck of a fireman who struck the specter.

While we are all familiar with the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow in New York , the town of Canton boasts its own headless ghost. It is thought to be that of a French soldier who was carrying a month's pay to French soldiers in Saratoga when he disappeared after stopping for the evening at the Hosford Tavern in 1777. When the tavern burned down a hundred years ago a headless skeleton was found leading to speculation that perhaps the tavern owner killed the soldier and stole the gold and silver.

Another well known spot for ghost enthusiasts is the historic Pettibone Tavern, first built in 1780. When owner John Pettibone caught his wife in the arms of a secret lover he killed them both, cutting off his wife's head. Today, the ghost of his wife Abigail is said to haunt the Tavern which is still in use. A cold chill is felt by women in the ladies room which is where Abigail was killed and lights turn on by themselves after the tavern has been closed for the night.

Revai's book also takes a look at Connecticut 's lesser known, but still haunting witch trials and takes readers on tour of other haunted, historical sites such as the Nathan Hale homestead and Old State Hall.

Because of their historical significance and age, ghost stories of the New England states are always the most quaint and intriguing. Revai completes her book with an exhaustive list of book, magazine, and internet sources. Not only excellent in terms of entertainment, but Haunted Connecticut also provides valuable historical information.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

For those wishing to understand how the choice to secede came about in a state where elitist planters did not dominate the political process (as in South Carolina) this is an excellent book. Thornton clearly shows that secession was a product of populist Jacksonian democracy in Alabama, providing an alternative to the view that only slaveholders supported disunion. Alabama's politics were marked from the beginning by class conflict between the yeomanry and planter class, and politicians learned early to exploit these tensions for political gain. Parties fought to outdo each other in labeling the other side as "elitist" aristocrats who would subvert the rights of freemen for their own selfish interests. This line of argument set the stage for the development of state's rights theory in Alabama, as promoters of internal improvements, banks, and social reform were often portrayed as elitist cabals. However, state's rights arguments were often little more than sophisticated versions of the election demagoguery that characterized debate over all the state's political issues.

Lack of policy-making expertise and the necessity of courting public approval often led the state's legislators to enact laws that hurt Alabama's long-term development. Forged in the Jacksonian era however, the electorate did not accept the Jeffersonian ideal of deferring to their betters in matters of policy, and regularly removed legislators who did not hew to the voters' instructions. Prior to the 1850s, most Alabama voters were not directly involved with the market economy, and were thus less likely to be affected by national economic and political policies, as well as less aware of the character of Northern opinion regarding slavery. Secessionist fire-eaters therefore enjoyed little support during the nullification and secession of 1850 crises, but their arguments gained respect during the 1850s as phenomenal economic growth drew more people into the market and its attendent insecurities, as well as making them more aware of the power of the federal government and the strength of the abolitionists.

Prosperous times and the marginalization of the Whig Party decreased the number of significant issues of disagreement among Alabama's politicians, leaving them in search of an issue to demagogue for political gain. The fight over Kanasas allowed them to portray northerners as elitists who would deny southern men of their rights and reduce them to the status of slaves. Such an argument gained creedence even among non-slaveholders because of the state's long populistic rhetorical tradition, which had convinced the yeomanry that elitist villains seeking to reduce their rights were always afoot, and could be defeated only by political supermen fighting for the rights and values of the electorate.

The southern rights argument clearly resonated among the yeomanry, particularly among those most affected by new economic uncertainties. In both the Presidential election of 1860 and the subsequent election of delegates to the state's secession convention, voters overwhelmingly chose candidates who supported secession or who would do so as long as Alabama would be joined in secession by other states. While Thornton's argument could be more thoroughly reinforced by exploring social factors that led the yeomanry to support secession, his argument for a hyper-democratic political tradition abetted by demagoguery and voter ignorance as a cause of Alabama's decision to quit the Union is quite persuasive.

This book covers mainly the fifties and sixties of last century, when the author was an important CIA agent in Indonesia, the Philippines and Central and South America.
It clearly shows how the CIA (the author) tried to influence directly the political situation in those countries. It supported financially the political party, that it thought would best represent the anti-communist and /or business interests of the US / transnational companies, and it tried to intervene in the composition of govenments.
Contrary to other sources, the author denies vehemently that the CIA was behind or committed assassinations.

The author explains distinctly the real seasons behind the Vietnam War or the Bay of Pigs disaster and reveals some famous names as CIA creatures: Nasser (Egypt) and Frei (Chile).
We meet some very well known people at the beginning of their (in)famous career: Ferdinand Marcos, Sukarno, Lee Kuan Yew, Howard Hunt, Han Suyin.

At the end, disillusioned, Joseph Smith turns his back on the Agency; firstly, for personal reasons (people got promotion for their incompetence), and secondly, because of the Vietnam disaster, Watergate, the bureaucratisation of the CIA (at one point drifting to a Gestapo status) and its spying on US citizens (the CHAOS program).

This work contains also some comic scenes of how the CIA tried to lure KGB agents in their nets.
Fundamentally, it confirms the statement of an old Englishman in Malay:'There are struggles for money, for power, for lust, for greed, because of just plain meanness. But there is no such thing as the ideological struggle...'.

A must read in order to understand the ploys of a secret agency.