Maryland Books

I've read a number of novels by James Michener, and this is the first one that grabbed me totally on the very first page. I was completely gripped and can't wait for enough time to pass so I can read it again. I've also loved these other books by him, but each one took me a different number of pages to really get hooked, but hooked indeed I did get: "The Source": 90+ pages (read twice, took 90 pages both times); "Centennial" 100+ pages; "Hawaii" about 200 pages and 2 attempts but became one of my all time favorites in the end (it's a must read again for sure); Haven't gotten gripped enough on "Space' yet, and tried twice; "Alaska" was a very hard book to get into, but have achieved nearly 900 pages with few regrets. But I do look forward to a second time around with "Chesapeake".

This is the first book I read by Michener; I couldn't put it down, and I didn't--read the whole book cover to cover straight through. This is the book that instilled my interest in James Michener's Books.

I've always been put off by the length of Michener's novels, but when a near relative so enthusiastically recommended this book, I decided to give it a try. Well! I have to say that I thoroughly, completely enjoyed every page. Michener's style is so simple, so clean, almost innocent in his delivery, and yet his characters are vivid and believable. Michener touches many deep interests: a love for American history, a quest for theological and ethical truth, ecological preservation, and the poignancy of many great lives and places vanished away in time. Near the end of the saga, as Michener brought me to stand in the midst of a run-down trailer park, remembering the beautiful marsh filled with wildlife that once flourished there, I was surprised at the sadness and regret I felt. Powerful! I'll be reading more of him.

Very good book. Some parts were a little dry but it still can easily be read from cover to cover. Sail the Chesapeake with pirates, learn about Coastal Indians and watch a family build an Empire. A fun read from a master of adventure.

A phenomenal masterpiece; Michener takes the reader to multiple continents through many centuries following people and animals in the history of the Chesapeake region. Some fine reviews above describe many of the topics in the book, but the chapters on slavery were most moving and eye-opening. Michener decribes the horror of the Africans being betrayed and captured in their villages, the brutal transportation to the west coast of Africa and finally to the Americas. Especially disturbing are the Biblical quotes (cited in the book) that protestant ministers and Catholic bishops used in the pulpit to "justify" slavery. There were a favorite dozen or so passages, referring to the treatment of slaves in the old testament that these men of the cloth grabbed to "prove" that God sanctioned slavery. But then that was some two centuries ago. Certainly the Bible wouldn't be perverted to preach hatred against a minority today.

Barth surely had great fun writing this book, but it is far too long and self-indulgent with all sorts of behind-the-hand snickering at the author's tricks and wiles. Not recommended.

A hilarious book. One of the most absurdly funny books I've read. The challenge is the length and the sprawl of the book, along with occasionally bizarre (and hilarious) situations.

I've owned this book for many years and recently decided to read it. I've loved everything I've read by Barth, so I don't know why I waited so long to read this. I'm glad I did.
Most people know someone who considers themselves a poet, and a good majority of those people tend to be overwrought, prone to drama, and a bit too fond of their own work. Obviously Barth does, because Mr. E. Cooke, Poet Laureate of Maryland, has to be one of the more deftly drawn satirical figures I've read about. I could just imagine every line of dialogue spoken by Ebenezer to be delivered in a cry of hair-rending anguish. Henry Burlingame is a typically Protean Barth character, and I can see where David Foster Wallace drew part of his inspiration for "Westward the Course of Empire Takes its Way" from his "Girl With Curious Hair" story collection. The rest of the characters invite laughter and on occasion pity. The story is essentially a take off on the historical 18th century "cock and bull" stories like Tristam Shandy and Tom Jones. Each situation is more ridiculous than the next, and the majority of the book can be considered 'ribald' and fairly dirty-minded, which is sort of funny since most people consider most pomo writers to be deathly serious and all about literary pretension.

There are already some great reviews of this book here. Suffice it to say that "The Sot-Weed Factor" is a bona fide riot and one of the five or so novels I'd choose to be stranded with on a desert island. To think Barth was in his twenties when he wrote it is bewildering, so proficient is the language, so deep the erudition, and so scathing the satire.

I laughed aloud repeatedly during the reading of this book; the mind-boggling plot will keep you on your toes and guessing. Potential readers should not be dissuaded by its bulk, because I doubt there has ever been a 756-page novel that moves so quickly. Ebenezer's transformation from innocent dandy into disillusioned anti-hero is stunning both for its humor and its truthfulness. The colorful and protean supporting characters are like so many juggling balls--there's no telling where they'll come down, but Barth does a nimble job of catching them.

And if the book's humor, pace, and interesting subject-matter were not enough to recommend it, "The Sot-Weed Factor", like all great literature, has incredible depth, revealing verities and realities that are relevant in any day and age (not the least of which is "virtue ain't always its own reward"). Read this book, and I can virtually guarantee you won't be disappointed.

I didn't really get this book. I found it too long and almost boring. The plot is so complicated that I gave up on following it. At the same time some parts of it, especially near the end, completely strain credibility. The idea that some people, despite having notable physical characteristics, would be able to repeatedly diguise themselves so completely that even close friends could not recognize them is ludicrous. The frequent philosphizing of the book, while not annoying, tends toward the sophomoric. Above all, I found the book to just too pointlessly scatalogical. I know it is supposed to be funny, but I doubt if I laughed aloud once. (Yes, I do have a good sense of humour, and no, I am not a prude).

I read it a while ago and I read a lot of books so I don't really remember all of it. I do remember that I loved this book. It was sad **SPOILER** that they never got to see each other again. I think this book is a classic.

"The Vanishing Point"
By
Mary Sharratt

May Powers is no stranger to a good roll in the hay. In fact, she's a little bit too familiar with it. Her honor gone, and no hope of finding a respectable match in her small English town, her father sends her to America to be wed to a distant cousin's son Gabriel. May's sister Hannah is distraught about this, she doesn't want her sister to leave her all alone with their ailing father. Knowing they will meet again after their father dies, May leaves for America and Hannah is left to cling to her few and far between letters.

Once her father is gone, Hannah departs for America to join her sister but immediately knows that something is wrong. The plantation where May was supposed to be living is all but unreachable and upon arrival she can see that the land has not been worked in a very long time. May is nowhere to be found, only her husband is left behind living like an Indian off the land. Desperate to find her, Hannah looks for answers in Gabriel but ends up with only more questions, questions that threaten to break her sanity and eventually seething guilt and remorse.

"The Vanishing Point" was another one of those books. I started out loving it, couldn't put it down. I could feel in my bones that this was going to be one of those great historical fictions that leaves you wanting more and more. Unfortunately Sharratt let me down in the end.

"The Vanishing Point" started out gripping, I was engaged with the characters and wanted to know more about them. I was in love with Hannah, found her to be very deep and wanted her to be happy with her new life in the colonies. But as the book went on I liked her less and less. May's "disappearance" was given a very direct answer to in the very beginning of the book, but then it kept coming into question, then again, and again, and again. I was sick of hearing about May from Hannah's perspective. It just seemed like the girl couldn't let her sister go and let herself be happy.

In addition, just when I was really starting to like Hannah and wanted more to happen with her and Gabriel, the book switched tones and direction and changed to May's perspective. This I found annoying as opposed to being helpful to the plot. It just seemed like Sharratt couldn't decide who to write about or who her main character was supposed to be. "The Vanishing Point" took a cruel twist from historical fiction to mystery in one fell swoop. Totally not expecting it, the story was soured for me at that point.

I also felt like at the end Sharratt was grasping at straws. The ending consisted of an elongated letter that served as an epilogue and I found it to be the "easy way out" if you will. It was almost like she didn't know how to finish the story but her editors were demanding an end. I was sincerely upset at the end of "The Vanishing Point."

I admit I was entertained, but books that leave me annoyed at the end really get under my skin. I give it 3 stars for entertainment value, but can't go over that and would prefer to really give it 2 ½ stars. After the disappointing genre twist the book just went south. All and all I was left with a bad taste in my mouth after reading "The Vanishing Point" and for that reason alone I cannot review it in high regard.

I enjoyed this book for its setting, and slight mystery. As the novel progressed I became more disenchanted with it. The characters of the two sisters are so different, it never seems convincing that they would be so close. Though the book started out promising enough, and the mystery of May's demise kept me interested- I was rather disappointed in the ending chapters. I don't want to give away the plot, but it seems like some of the most exciting bits of Hannah's life (traveling as a boy) are left out.

This book was fun and took me by surprise. Not super literature but it takes the reader to another place and the main characters are interesting.

In this transcendental novel, beginning in the year 1689, The Vanishing Point tells the story of two sisters -- May and Hannah Powers -- and their struggles to find each other and, in turn, themselves after they are torn apart. May travels from England to Colonial America to wed the son of an impoverished planter. At twenty-two, May's reputation is tarnished. She loves sex and has no qualms about sleeping with attractive young men. Why should she give in to propriety when she loves to give and receive pleasure so much? But when things come to a head, she has no choice but to accept her father's wishes, if only to appease him and her sister. Her father won't be alone; he will be with Hannah, his favorite, the one he had taught all of his skills in physik. At fifteen, Hannah knows she'll never be a physician. She's a woman, after all. She is also not as beautiful as her older sister, and she will no doubt end up an old maid. But when her father dies, she decides to sail to Maryland to be with May. Little did she imagine how life would turn out once she reaches the Washbrook plantation. The plantation is in a state of shambles. Its new master, Gabriel Washbrook, May's husband and son of Nathan Washbrook, is all alone. His father died not long ago. May is also dead, having died after giving birth to her child, who also died. Gabriel lives like a hermit, hunting and gutting rabbits for food and fur, with no one but his dogs for company. Heartbroken upon hearing about her sister's death, Hannah decides to stay at the Washbrook plantation, and then a chain of twists and turns unfold as she and Gabriel embark upon a passionate but forbidden love affair.

Lies, betrayal, suspense and star-crossed relationships are the main themes in this wonderful, riveting novel. It is so difficult to find novels set in the turn of the eighteenth century Colonial America, and I feel as if I've found treasure with this wonderful book. Mary Sharratt does a wonderful job bringing this time period to life. She truly transported me to the late 1600s and early 1700s. The language and historical details sound very authentic. The main characters are well-developed. They are flawed characters -- you'll love them and hate them at times, especially May. Gabriel is an eccentric, naïve, enigmatic and beautiful character. His pain and isolation are understandable. The last page made me want to cry. The suspense, with its many twists and turns, left me turning the pages because I couldn't wait to know what would happen next. The story goes straight to the point, no useless and pedantic dialogue/narrative to suffer through before you get to some action. But it's also not so fast-paced that you feel you need to catch your breath and wish for the ebb and flow of the story to slow down a little. It's perfect, readable from beginning to end. It is also literary. Feminism is an underlying theme in this book -- two women ahead of their time who refuse to live with the limitations society places upon them. May is sensual and passionate, Hannah is a career woman at heart, and they pursue their desires, even if the results are less than desirable. The Vanishing Point is a five-star read for me. The only fault I find in this book is that though it is centered on Hannah and May's love for one another, it is Gabriel and Hannah's relationship that touched me the most. Still, this is an incredible read. Some people have suggested reading the books by Beverly Swerling because they are centered on American history. I might give them a whirl. In the meantime, I cannot recommend this gem enough. Pick it up and savor it as you read each delectable chapter, and get ready to time travel to a beautiful time period. Lovers of historical fiction rejoice!

She is so good and portraying life as it realy is among the Amish.What A good book.Nadia REhmani

This book truly is entitled properly "Sacrifice," as that is exactly what it is for Leah most of all.

At the beginning though, the twins Mary Ruth and Hannah are both of courting age now and are dating the Stolzfus boys, Elias with Mary Ruth, and Ezra with Hannah. Mary Ruth especially is so much in love with Elias, and when the doctor's son Robert comes to town, a tragedy occurs. On one very dark night after the singings, Robert doesn't see the horse and buggy and runs them down in his car causing a deadly accident. Elias dies at the hospital, and Mary Ruth completely goes to pieces. Robert is studying to be a minister and he is simply sick all over about this, even though pardoned by the People.

It is a long time before Mary Ruth comes around, and when she gets back into living again, wants to attend high school against her Dat's wishes naturally. Mary Ruth is so hurt and everything though, she doesn't care what her Dat thinks, and goes ahead anyway to live with the Englishers she babysits for, and begin her high school career. Abram is furious over his daughter doing this, and bans her from the rest of the family. Ida the mother, has a secret fit, but must abide by her husband's wishes.

Leah is becoming in love with Gideon, the smithy's son. They have plans to marry later, but all that will change when Ida is pregnant with their fifth child, hoping for a boy this time around, and another tragedy befalls the family.

On Christmas Eve, Ida is having severe pains and getting ready to deliver the baby. Leah and Hannah were out during most of this time, and stopped on the way back from church services to see Mary Ruth at the Nolt's. When they finally get back, they discover their mother in dire pain, and as the birth progresses, Hannah has to seek immediate help for their mom with the midwife as she is bleeding quite profusely. Sadly, Ida is beyond help and dies right after getting to hold her son Abe only one time. The whole thing falls on dear Leah's shoulders now, as she feels responsible for her 2 year old sister Lydiann, and Abe now.


Leah knows she cannot possibly marry Gideon at this time or maybe never, is she is now responsible for mothering two kids. She is very committed to both children and like her aunt Lizzie, will be a maidel for a very long time.

Interestingly enough, Ezra, Hannah's love, has gone into the English ways, and the two have grown further apart. Gideon though has taken an interest in Hannah, and the two fall in love and will marry in this book, having their own children.

Abram has serious regrets and begins to soften more in this book as time goes along. He welcomes Mary Ruth back into the fold again, and his other oldest and long lost daughter Sadie comes back into the picture again. Leah is not ready to welcome Sadie back with open arms from all the hurt and betrayals in the past. There is a lot of pain between those two, so it seems it will take awhile to truly make amends.

Death-bed vow to mom:

Leah will care for siblings.

Good-bye courting years.

I LOVED this book!!! Abram's Daughters are one of my favorite series. Honestly, tears were rolling down my cheeks when Leah's adoptive Mama died. And when Sadie came home and told Leah she hadn't married Jonas, I started crying/laughing with relief. The whole book was just superb, the only problem was that I wanted read #4 right after #3 and I didn't have it yet!

#3 in a series of 5....... and this one keeps you coming back for more!! More twists and turns as expected from Beverly Lewis; fantastic series!

Since I loved WHAT THE DEAD KNOW from this author, I decided to try her Tess series. This was a really good start. It has interesting characters and the premise was interesting. I look forward to reading more of the Tess books and getting to know more about the different characters.

I was excited to find a new female lead mystery series to start reading...and was a little disappointed. It was a slow read, but got better towards the end, & I'm going to continue on & think positively that they'll get better! She seems like a great author. On a personal note, it bothers me when people/characters drink a lot, & I was particularly bothered that Tess smokes weed, but I guess I'm a little odd-man-out to be bothered by something like that. *shrug*

This is the first book of Ms. Lippman's I've read and I was extremely pleased. Her latest, "What the Dead Know," arrived in yesterday's mail. Need to set aside to read in one sitting. I know it is a cliche, but "Blues" did keep me up until 2AM. I'm looking forward to catching up on her other Tess Monaghan books later this year.

I had never read any of the Tess Monaghan series before this one, and I'm glad I started in the right place.

I love the blend of humor and character development this book provides for the reader. While Tess is not my favorite female protagonist of all time, she quickly became one of the most interesting. I like her little habits: she buys a new journal each year, writes her goals for that year on the first page, then promptly puts the book away with all the other journals and never writes in it again. Heh. I can respect that. ;-)

I like the fact that Tess is a character who kind of stumbles along and often knows as little about the realities of her life and personal interactions as we do. In a way, the reader comes to understand her life and her personal relationships as Tess does. That might not seem like a huge thing, but it's kind of neat. Some characters--you are told a whole lot in paragraphs of character description. Not so with Tess, at least not for the most part. Rather, she has things revealed to her or she uncovers facts she'd never known, and you learn what her life is really like at the same time that she does. Hope that makes sense to you.

You'll like Tess and her circle of friends/family. Try this series out!

I have to admit that I don't read very many American mystery/crime writers, and those I do tend to be overwhelmingly male (my two favorites are probably George Pelecanos and Elmore Leonard, just to give you a sense of my taste). And when I have sampled female-written series (Patricia Cornwell and Janet Evanovich are the two that spring to mind), they have utterly failed to connect with me. Nonetheless, Lippman's Tess Monaghan series came highly recommended to me, and the nearby Baltimore setting was a big draw.

This first in the series finds heroine Tess teetering on the brink of 30, and somewhat adrift following the closing down of the newspaper she worked at. She lives in a cheap apartment above her aunt's bookstore, and barely makes ends meet working as a clerk in the store and doing an odd job for an uncle. Her personal life is equally in flux, as she doesn't exactly have a slew of friends, and her love life is vacant, save for the random booty-call by her ex-boyfriend who cheats on his current girlfriend with Tess. The one constant in her life is a daily crack-of-dawn appointment with her racing shell and the Patapsco river.

This daily exercise has led to a friendship with another avid rower, Darryl Paxton. One day he hires her to check up on the activities of his type-A fiancee, and thus Tess embarks on her first session of amateur sleuthing. However, what starts as a fairly simple tailing job turns into a high profile murder case, as the fiancee's high-profile boss at a prestigious law firm has his head bashed in. Darryl is charged with the murder, and Tess is put to work by his defense lawyer as a gopher/investigator. Of course, when a lawyer is killed, one has to start digging into his past cases and soon Tess is following all kinds of threads in an attempt to clear Darryl.

The book definitely feels like a debut -- it starts sluggishly and takes far too long to pick up speed, as Lippman struggles with pacing. Many of the supporting cast are archetypes (the brassy aunt, the ambitious journalist, the patrician lawyer, the breezily confidant best friend) rather than full-figured characters, and few are colorful or engaging enough to want to spend more time with. Tess herself is somewhat generically flawed and feisty character, rather more clueless and prone to blundering than seems reasonable. However one can see glimmers of what could become a rich series character with further development.

The writing is also uneven when it comes to the various relationships. For example, Tess and Rock's easy friendship is handled quite well, however her reaction to the killing of someone close to her doesn't seem to distress her nearly as much as one might expect. The plotting is also somewhat uneven, as at times the reader will be three steps ahead of Tess and grow weary of waiting for the amateur to catch up, while near the end, events start to unfold much more rapidly and with more surprises. Many reviewers have lauded the Baltimore setting as amazing, and while I found the details all quite accurate, they never felt like much more than deliberate local color. Of course, I'm fairly familiar with Baltimore, so perhaps it's all a little more fascinating for others. In any event, it's not a great debut, but not a bad one either, and I'll probably read the next two to see if it gets better.

I've always been curious about the animal liberation front and whether you agree or disagree with their tactics, it's still an interesting read.
It's a very unlikely story. A cop "turning to the other side" for the good of animals.
I highly recommend that you check this book out for yourself.

True story of the begining of the ALF in North America. Ordinary people combining skills to pull of amazing day time and night time raids to free the animals. From the former head of PETA.

Ingrid Newkirk is a hero, a genious, and a revolutionary. God bless her in every way for everything she has done for animals.
The book is absolutely wonderful...I finished it in 3 days!!! The only reason I put it down is because my eyes started to hurt after reading for 2 hours. This book stole my heart and encouraged me to do what I have been doing to protect animals (im a vegan and an animal advocate).
This book is full of action, emotion, relates to real life, and it will make you cry as well as sigh of relief every time you read about ALF's success at the end of each chapter.
It is a masterpiece that has painted beauty of our fellow non-humans and ugliness our own species who have inflicted such cruelties upon innocent animals. It is a masterpeice that paints courage and strength, conviction and determination of those who have put their own lives in danger to selflessly help those who need our help the most.
ITS A MUST READ!!! IT IS WORTH EVERY SINGLE PENNY SPENT!!! YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO PUT IT DOWN!!! Please be kind to animals and protect them by any means necessary. God Bless You All!!!

I came to this book not knowing whether or not I supported the actions of the ALF. I'm an animal activist, but I wasn't sure if I would go so far as to support property destruction in name of a political cause. So I read it.

Besides entertaining (the stories of animal rescue are very suspenseful), this book really shined a light on the ALF for me. I've heard of the philosophy and so on, but this provided an actual account, though perhaps second-hand (necessarily), of how and why the ALF in the US was started.

By the end, liking the book for me wasn't a matter of whether I agreed or not with taking beagles out of labs. It's a great book, it has great stories and very interesting and compelling philosophy. No matter what side you sit on, at some point you'll be rooting for the "underdog" while reading this book. And for all you know, you may wind up supporting every action described.

This book is a good book for getting people educated about animal rights and the abuses that are out there. Well written and to the point. As far as the review that gave this 1 star and said it created a "third use" - ( that being sarcastically using people in experiments instead of animals ) I agree - and he should be first to go. It's about the only way he could achieve empathy of any sort.

My prof used it as a required text in the course I took. It's great! Through this book I can understand why things didn't work at my previous work experience at a higher ed. institution. I definitely recommend the book to everyone, including those who work at the social sectors as you'll understand why you need to use politics, pay attention to human resource and organization structure!

Though I had to purchase this book for a leadership class, after reading it, I thought it was very good with lots of useful information.

I just started management school and this is the first book I had to read. I must say that if nothing else, this book was enlightening! I really liked the way the author broke down any given corporate scenario in 4 different viewpoints.

Personally, I really liked the HR Frame, followed by Political Frame. Those two were the ones I really thought helped me at my work place. The Structural frame, I thought was kind of boring.....nothing to really look forward to. The Symbolic frame really talks about corporate culture; something half the corporate world never thinks about any more!

Wont be bad if you have to read it for your MBA!

The fact that Reframing Organizations is often used as a university textbook should be a subtle warning that this is not a quick-read or how-to book. However, it is THE overview of the broad practice of organizational theory. Bolman and Deal utilize models based on four different views of the organization to show how to analyse and comprehend the dynamics of organizational structure and function. As a software engineer I found this "multi-model view to understanding" similar to how we model software systems from a variety of perspectives.

While comprehensive, the book is yet readable and accessible to the layperson, and quickly gives the reader a broad understanding of organizational dynamics and structures viewed through the lenses of the four "frames." This book won't give you quick practical fixes for your organizational problems - but it will give you a broad base of understanding for thinking about the problems you face in organizational life and understanding why your organization functions (or dysfunctions!) the way it does.

This book is still very timely, but I also highly recommend "Growing Great Employees" by Erika Andersen as an addition to this book. Growing Great Employees: Turning Ordinary People into Extraordinary Performers

In late summer 1862, the Confederate Army is invading the United States of America. Major Nate Starbuck has been given command of the Yellowlegs, a battalion composed of failures and cowards. Starbuck does his best to train the battalion and to lead them to the battle against the northern garrison at Harper's Ferry, and then to the bloody battlefield of Antietam where around twelve thousand men died just in some hours. Starbuck and his friends are struggling to survive, not to be killed by the enemies wearing blue uniforms and also by the enemies behind their backs.

This book is the fourth one in the Starbuck Chronicles. Like other Cornwell's books, this one is an excellent read. However, if you already read Sharpes, you would find a lot of similarities between these two series.

Despite the fact that the entire Starbuck series seems to be a rewriting of the familiar Sharpe series novels, one cannot help but like these books. This, the final addition to the series, is perhaps the one I enjoyed most. Yes, its more of the same but the battle description seems longer in this one than in the others. The theory for how McClellan came to have Lee's plans is interesting and draws in the guerrilla aspects of the war not often touched upon. Cornwell's books are not "great fiction" in the sense of telling a story with deep significance beyond the story, but they are finely spun tales that entertain and that is of value in itself. But do not expect something original in characters - these are Cornwell-templates fleshed out in slightly different situations as with his other novels.

Bernard Cornwell can really tell a story. He keeps my interest from start to finish.

'Through me the way into the suffering city.' That city (in this context of course) is Sharpsburg, the location of one of the most horrendous days in American Military history only to be rivaled in horror by the Normandy Invasion. The weight of that day is so succinctly summarized by Mr. Potter, who notes that the battle would one day be in the history books, which he finds odd, "because we came to America to escape history."
If you've read this book you already know how well Cornwell can wrap his words around a scene of battle. A battle as profound as Antietam requires more than just description of historical events, it requires an intimate retelling. Cornwell's words read as a eulogy for those soldiers that met on that day, he brings you to Burnside Bridge & the Sunken Road, he brings you right under the kepi. I found this last outing some of his most powerful writing and easily the best in the series. He hints in the ever present "Historical Notes" section that "Starbuck will march again."
Here's hoping!
PA23 Volunteer Infantry
Birney's Zouaves

I will quote from Cornwell's book, The Bloody Ground, " 'There are still yankees in the wood,'Starbuck said, pushing down the lever that rammed the revolver's chamber. ' I shot one,'Lucifer said. 'You damn fool, ' STarbuck said fondly. 'They're fighting for your freedom.' ...'but you shouldn't be fighting. Hell, these ba**rds are trying to liberate you...'" -pages 320-321
Cornwell, Benard. The Bloody Ground. Harper Collins Publishers : 1996.
First off, the yankees were not fighting to free Lucifer, Starbuck's servant, or any other black in the South. In fact, at the battle of Sharpsburg where this scene is taking place, the Emancipation Promclimation was still three months away! And even when the document was signed by Lincoln, it did not free a single slave. The Emancipation Pronmclimation was like saying that slavery can live in the U.S. but in Mexico it will be abolished. The goverment made those, "forever free" where they had no control and let those who they did control be oppressed. It was a military move, a right for the military forces of the North to conscript free and inslaved blacks in the South. I am not a lost cause revisonist. If you can state one fact contridicting mine about what I have said then go for it. But I look to historical documents, letters, and quotes for historical fact. I have quoted from a scene in Cornwell's fictional novel, The Bloody Ground. Now let me quote from history itself...
"It is stated in books and papers that Southern children read and study that all the blood shedding and destruction of property of that conflict was because the South rebelled without cause against the best government the world ever saw; that although Southern soldiers were heroes in the field, skillfully massed and led, they and their leaders were rebels and traitors who fought to overthrow the Union, and to preserve human slavery, and that their defeat was necessary for free government and the welfare of the human family.

"As a Confederate soldier and as a citizen of Virginia, I deny the charge, and denounce it as a calumny. We were not rebels; we did not fight to perpetuate human slavery, but for our rights and privileges under a government established over us by our fathers and in defense of our homes." -Richard Henry Lee, Confederate Colonel

"We are not fighting for slavery. We are fighting for independence." Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America


"If the South had only wanted to protect slavery, all they had to do was go along with the original 13th Amendment, offered in early 1861 after several states had seceded, which would have protected slavery for all time in the states where it then existed. This was not inducement enough to bring South Carolina or any others back into the fold. The States of the Confederacy, even today, could block the passage of the 13th Amendment, and certainly could have then. This is why the slaveholders wanted to stay in the Union. Their "property" was protected by the Constitution." -Charlie Lott, historian

"The assertion that the South fought for slavery is Yankee propaganda and a monstrous distortion." -Jefferson Davis

"[Defeat] means that the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy; that our youth will be trained by Northern school teachers; will learn from Northern school books their version of the War, will be impressed by all influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors, our maimed veterans as fit objects for their derision, it means the crushing of Southern manhood ... to establish sectional superiority and a more centralized form of government, and to deprive us of our rights and liberties." -Patrick Cleburne, Major General

My three stars for this book is inspired by the wonderfully illustrated battle scenes. The characters in this book are very fine and mold dramatically with the scenes and the story. Though I do not enjoy Cornwell's slander of the South, though fictional, I pray for a fifth book in the series. I believe that Major Starbuck, Captain Truslow, and General Swineyard have many more glorious and tragic stories to live in the coming months and years of the 1862-1865. I would love to see the series continue after ten years waiting for a fifth novel. If we are indeed treated to a continuation of the series, I hope that Bernard Cornwell will give a little more historical truth to the South's cause and its soldiers.

Harriet Tubman and Langston Hughes are two African American leaders that I admire most, and for the life of me, when I went to the DuSable Museum in Chicago, I paused and wondered why I'd never read a book about her but had read several on him. Then it hit me: History books avoid so many important African American female leaders and slaves. You get the occasional paragraph about Rosa Parks and Phyllis Wheatley, but Harriet Tubman (as amazing as her strength and achievements were) is ignored in mainstream history books. For that reason alone, I definitely appreciate Dorothy Sterling for writing this book and the museum for carrying it.

With that said, this book was hard to read. The book was excellent, and I enjoyed the documentation of Mrs. Tubman's accomplishments, but the more I read, the more I admired and was terrified for all of the things she faced. I still can't stomach the brutal actions in slavery and segregation. I'm not totally convinced about Lincoln's intentions. I also respect Tubman even more than I already did, but the craziness she endured is something that makes me want to label her THE strongest African (American) woman that I've ever heard of. Please pick this book up. It's worth whatever you pay for it and then some.

I am reading this book right now in t.a.g/school and it is very good. It inspires all chilldren to take a stand. This is a good book for excellent readers!!! Buy the book for 5 dollars on amazon.com and read great book Freedom Train!!!!~~~~!!!!

The book I read was called freedom train. It was about harriet tubman trying to escape. An one day she found a tunnel that lead to Canada. Happy as she was she went to tell everyone. and they were free!and also this book made me feel I could do something too. Because when she caped on saying I can do it!And she never gave up!I will reccomand this to my friends because I hope they will enjoy the things she did,And feel the same way I felt.

If I could, I'd give this book 6 stars. It's the story of Harriet Tubman who was born into slavery. Harriet Tubman escaped and then helped other slaves escape with the underground railroad. I learned more about the Civil War and how courageous Harriet was. It is a good book for those who want to learn more about the Civil War. This would be good for all ages to read.

Harriet Tubman has to rate as one of the most amazing heroines in history. A slave born in America in about 1820, (I say about as she never really new her birth date). She was always fired with a stronger will than her 'master' and 'mistress' liked. As a very young girl she was taken to the big house but she never got on with the mistress. She ended up whipped and sent back to be a field hand. She was short, but she worked so hard she soon was capable of doing a mans work. However she never wished to bow her head to any one.

When she was quite young she helped another slave escape and in the process was badly injured. Despite leaving her with sudden sleeping spells she escaped and went on to join the freedom train. Her inspirational way, strength and sheer will made her extremely successful at freeing many others - even when they eventually had to take the 'train' all the way to Canada. She even helped her elderly parents escape.

This is as much a story of slavery in America as this outlines the background of what Harriet was doing. Why she suddenly had to take her 'passengers' beyond the Delaware border to Canada. The wrangling of the slave-owning congress who wanted all slaves returned, that Lincoln refused to allow black troops in the civil war at first - and paid them only 2/3rds of what the white troops were earning.

It also talks about Harriet's life after the end of the civl war and her support of her family, friends and freedmen institutions to better her community.

This is a very well written, informative and entertaining book suitable for 8-12 year olds and I would highly recommend it. It is inpirational - about a girl who would not give up hope and when she could acted on it. I really liked the fact that this story is about someone who actually made change. This is not a glamouress herione, but one who really changed the face of America.

The exercises could be improved upon. The book needs a good teacher/instructor in order to "come alive" - not a book for self-study. But then again, which Finance book is?

although I got one in good shape. Did not get the CD i was promised.

I felt that the book was good. Some of the concepts could have been explained in better detail. I notice that on a lot of the chapters the authors repeated some of the material more than once. Some chapters need more practice problems like in chapter 5. This book explains the basic and fundamental concepts good but does not explained the difficult concepts good. Overall, this book was good.

This book's explanations were poor at best. It utilized undefined terms, and had a weak glossary/index.
Explanations of financial formulas were sorely lacking, and the organization of these formulas so that one could ever find them wasn't even attempted.

Not recommended.

This book falls into the category of professors who know the material, but just can't communicate it. I can tell it was written on a schedule...sloppy wording, confusing definitions, and unintuitive examples and explanations. This information isn't that tough to understand...poor writing makes it so.

Here's a paragraph defining WACC, p.11.
Financial managers also must make finance decisions relating to how to finance the firm. In particular, what mix of debt and equity should be used, and what specific types of debt and equity should be issued? Also, what percentage of current earnings should be retained and reinvested rather than paid out as dividends? Along with these financing decisions, the general level of interest rates in the economy, the risk of the firm's operations, and stock market investors' overall attitude toward risk determine the rate of return that is required to satisfy a firm's investors. This is a return from investors' perspectives, but it is a cost from the company's point of view. Therefore, it is called the weighted average cost of capital (WACC).

As in the rest of the book, too many words, no directness or clarity.

Don't buy this book for self-study; you'll spend most of your time trying to decipher the obfuscating sentences.