Michigan Books

Written by Ron Kramer with newspaper writer Dan Ewald, and comfortably narrated in third person, That's Just Kramer! From Michigan Legend to Lombardi's "12th Man" is the biography of talented athlete Ron Kramer, from his days dominating football, basketball, and track in the University of Michigan, to his time to playing as one of the Green Bay Packers, to choosing his family over his professional career by switching teams and returning home to Detroit, and more. Black-and-white photographs illustrate this down-to-earth chronicle of Kramer's life, career, and passions. An enthralling biography especially recommended for football fans.

I remember reading the following quote in Sport magazine during the late 1950's:

"In 1957 two Michigan exports splashed across the American scene both accompanied by terrific fanfare. One was an automobile called the Edsel. The other was a tank named Ronald John Kramer."

Dan Ewald , who has written books about such Michigan notables as George Kell, Sparky Anderson, and Bo Schembechler has provided us with an excellent account on the life of Ron Kramer who starred for the Michigan Wolverines, Green Bay Packers, and the Detroit Lions. Kramer credits his family for instilling in him the discipline necessary for his success at Michigan, the college he chose to attend so his parents could see him play. For their inept play in 1956 the Green Bay Packers received a bonus pick in the 1957 draft as the rules then allowed. That choice went for Notre Dame's Paul Hornung. With the first choice in the regular round the Packers chose Michigan's Ron Kramer. A broken leg in his rookie season threatened his career, but the arrival of Coach Vince Lombardi in 1959 revitalized his career as it did for several others on the team. Lombardi saw Kramer as an ideal tight end, his "12th man on the field", because Kramer could both catch passes and block for others. This was a position held by Packer veteran Gary Knafelc who lacked the size and quickness of Kramer. This was a team going nowhere under previous coaches Lisle Blackbourn and Ray "Scooter" McLean yet possessed a number of future Hall of Famers. The differences between them and Lombardi was that Lombardi stressed discipline and preparation. Following the 1964 season Kramer requested a trade to the Detroit Lions so he could be closer to home where he felt he was needed due to family matters. It was either that or retire. Had he remained in Green Bay he would have ended up on five championship teams instead of two and most likely cemented his place in football's Hall of Fame. However, family came before football as Lombardi himself stressed, and the trade was made. The situation on the Lions under coach Harry Gilmer compared with the Packers was significant. The book also deals with his family life after football and Kramer's emphasis on the importance on friendship in one's life. I did find one error in the book. The author twice refers to Fordham's Seven "Rocks" of Granite when it should be Seven Blocks of Granite. There have been numerous books written on former Green Bay Packer players and I'm glad to see one on Green Bay's other star player named Kramer, Ron Kramer. Football fan or not, you should enjoy it.

The author has provided a well written and carefully researched narrative about a heretofore forgotten unit from Michigan. Herek consulted a wide variety of original manuscripts, letters, and diaries that add much to our understanding of the unit from a variety of perspectives.

This regiment was unusual in that it contained a single company consisting of Native Americans, many of whom could hardly speak English. Herek explores the prevailing prejudice in a state that was part of the frontier only a few decades earlier, and how notions of citizenship evolved over the course of the war.

I also highly recommend this book to those who are searching for a soldier's eye view of the Civil War. The book is full of details about regimental organization, recruitment strategies, rivalries between officers seeking to recruit companies, daily routines, food, and a host of other minutae.

Finally, the book sheds light on prison conditions in the North, since the 1st Michigan SS were stationed in Chicago doing prison guard duty for much of 1863. There is also a great chapter on the unit's confrontation with rebel John H. Morgan's cavalry raid into Indiana.

My only complaint is that the author should have provided more information in the regimental roster that appears at the end of the book. As it stands, the book is not of much help to those seeking to do statistical analysis or geneological research. For the average reader, though, this is only of passing concern.

I enjoyed this book extremely, all the way through, which is unusual nowadays. This is a real book, by an author who really cares about his subject. So many books nowadays are dashed off any old which way, but this one is obviously a labor of love--and competence as well. It is well researched, well organized, and well written.

It deals thorougly with its subject, and all the aspects are interesting--how the regiment was raised, how the men were trained and supplied, their service as prison camp guards in Chicago, and finally their service in the front lines in the terrible battles in Virginia in the last year of the War.

The author lets the story tell itself without much editorializing of any kind, but I think it is the most telling account I ever read of how bad management can nullify the best efforts of the people in the front lines, and how things sort themselves out over time. Somehow, after a few months, and after many of the original enlistees had been killed or captured, the incompetent officers went on to other jobs, the casualties went way down, and the 1st Michigan Sharpshooters had the honor of being the first to raise their flag over Petersburg.

This is not a book for just WWII buffs. I guarantee that anyone who appreciates fascinating and well-written non-fiction with an original angle will love They Can't Take That Away From Me. What sold me was the unique and artistic style employed in this POW memoir; it brought a fresh perspective to Ralph Rentz's struggle, triumph and the invincibility of his nightmare.

They Can't Take That Away From Me truly is an odyssey of one, rather atypical, American POW. However, it is more than just a "Sentimental Journey". This memoir is unlike any other WWII story, in that it reaches beyond the prosaic collage of nostalgic gore and glory and invites the reader to hear the song inside the bruised head of a musician who finds himself without his band, his saxophone and clarinet, without his freedom and even his own sanity, but never without his music. It is a tough tale, but it is softened with a lyrical literary style that makes it flow like the Pacific. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading about music, adventure and inimitable tragedy.

I am a Grand Rapids native and a lifelong student of history. Gordon Olson is a well-respected city historian and I thought he and his co-editors have done a marvelous job assembling a thorough and well-balanced perspective of growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

It's sometimes awkward for a native to read less than glowing reviews from the perspective of certain groups or individuals. Clearly the fairly homogenous ethnic make up of the city (in fact much of the West Michigan area) makes it easier to overlook the challenges that minorities have felt through the years, and I certainly appreciated the pain expressed by a few of the contributors.

Still, Grand Rapids is a terrific place to grow up. It's large enough to offer plenty of opportunity, and yet small enough to feel like home. It's thought-provoking to get a sense for some of GR's unique character and cultural fabric already being reflected in its citizens more than 150 years ago.

The hard-working, thrifty, community-oriented stock best represented by the city's favorite son, former President Gerald R. Ford, comes through loud and clear. Thanks are owed to the research team that vetted the work that went into this must read for anyone who wants to truly understand what makes Grand Rapids what it is today.

I live in the Grand Rapids area, plus I am a high school English teacher, so my natural interest spurred the purchase of this book. At first, when I started reading, I chose stories by authors whose names I recognized. Then I realized that the stories were presented in chronological order, so I started from the beginning. No matter what order is chosen, every story is wonderful. They are all very different in style and feeling, but a sense of place shines through, as well as a sophistication that belies Grand Rapids' humble demeanor. These stories are universal, engaging and fun. I have read hundreds of short stories, and this collection truly stands out.

White is an perceptive reader of poetry and theological reflections who has his own idiosyncratic but highly accesible style; all at the service of making George Herbert's poetry shine more brightly for others...not at all to stand in the spotlight himself. The "self-consuming artifacts" that Herbert constructs to effectively communicate religious truth and human uncertainty are well represented by White's own writing style, a steady candleflame that slowly and inobtrusively fades into the brighter dawn of Herbert's meditations rising into the reader's consciousness. I would recommend this book equally strongly for someone who has never heard of Herbert, or for a long-time lover of his poems and essays. (2007 note - but you'll have to look around for a used copy now, sad to say!)

White is an perceptive reader of poetry and theological reflections who has his own idiosyncratic but highly accesible style; all at the service of making George Herbert's poetry shine more brightly for others...not at all to stand in the spotlight himself. The "self-consuming artifacts" that Herbert constructs to effectively communicate religious truth and human uncertainty are well represented by White's own writing style, a steady candleflame that slowly and inobtrusively fades into the brighter dawn of Herbert's meditations rising into the reader's consciousness. I would recommend this book equally strongly for someone who has never heard of Herbert, or for a long-time lover of his poems and essays.

This book is totally amazing i got it to study up on some of the more popular historical temperaments before i started to tune them and expirement with them on some pieces i am playing and it astounded me on several occasions. His explanations are clear and easy to understand and the history he provides is very pertinent and valuable. If any of you out there have this book and are looking to sell I'd like another copy so send me an email at Ira_parrot@yahoo.com

I saw this book few times, I like the flowing on each character of ear training. But this is a old book, so it was not easy to fund.

I was really pleased when a colleague suggested this book to me. In the past I'd been fortunate enough to work with only one or two cultural groups at a time, but this year I have students from all over the world. I had questions, but not enough time to do the necessary research to find out even basic information for such a wide variety of nationalities. This book did the work for me. The info. is concise and easily accessible, even offering brief paragraphs on how education differs in the native lands of my students. It helped arm me for what my students might be expecting, as well as what I might expect. I'm hoping a future edition will include a section on the Hmong. Otherwise, perfect!

This book is simply necessary for anyone who is in contact with internationals. I read this book and the information I have found has helped me understand so many things about international students and in general people from other countries and backgrounds.

this is an impressive map that has different zooms of the Ann Arbor area. I took it with me when apartment hunting and it was very helpful. in the interest of full disclosure, there are free downtown maps available here and there (i saw some in the Maynerd parking entrance), but people who saw my map said it was much better.

I don't often rave about maps (in fact, I never rave about maps), but this is one I've grown to love. It's a perfect size and scale and was incredibly easy to read, even as I drove along new streets in my new city. Particularly useful was that large grocery and retail stores are marked on the map. This made it easy to figure out the closest Target, Best Buy, or grocery store from my new apartment, and the stores ended up serving as landmarks as well as new places to shop. Also, when you're on the phone, trying to locate a smaller store, they can say, "We're located across the street from the Whole Foods Market," or "We're at the north end of the such-and-such mall," and you know just how to find them. The map even shows you what block you're on -- helpful when searching for a specific address. I'm one of those people who gets lost going around the block, but this map got me where I had to go every time.

Also included is a very detailed and clear map of campus.

I bought two maps of Ann Arbor but never used the second one. This map did it all. Highly recommended.

A hero with a troubled past. A modern day damsel in distress. Villains with competing agendas who are themselves interesting but keep you guessing. What's not to love? This is Elmore Leonard at his best, epitomizing the genre. Several mysteries come into play as the story unfolds. Perhaps the biggest mystery of all, though, is why this book never got the recognition it deserved or caught the right attention to merit transformation into a great movie. Whether or not this happens one day, the book remains a great read.

My first approach to Elmore Leonard had been "Get Shorty".Nothing especial. But this crime story is really involving and impressing.Absolutely to read.

This is an important book that certainly lifts the value of counterfactual analysis of historical events to a new level. The scholarship is wonderful and the range of disciplines that is covered is truly awesome. While there have been many works that use counterfactual analysis, namely the "what if" technique to consider what might have been had events in history turned in a slightly different way, this work demonstrates the power of the technique to analyse history and to understand the ways in which we need to ask questions. These questions are not only of past historical events, but also of contemporary happenings, where politicians and statesmen seem often to be unable or unwilling to consider alternative means of analysing and understanding events. The volume also essentially demolishes the criticisms voiced by E.H. Carr in his seminal work "What is History" and carries to new heights the thoughts and analyses of important thinkers such as Geoffrey Hawthorne's "Plausible Worlds" and Niall Ferguson's "Virtual History"What Is History?Virtual History: Alternatives and Counterfactuals][[ASIN:0521457769 Plausible Worlds: Possibility and Understanding in History and the Social Sciences
The beginning and ending chapters demonstrate a rigour of thinking and a clarity of expression of the technique of counterfactual analysis that surely must set to rest the quibbles and the disparagement that are heaped on previous attempts. The body of the book takes particular case studies, for example the possibility that the Athenians would have lost at the Battle of Salamis and thereupon Greece would have fallen to the Persians, or the death of William of Orange had it occurred soon after his invasion of England in 1688, would have resulted in the loss of the scientific revolution. These analyses help us to understand not only the plausible alternate futures that might have evolved, but actually improve our understanding of the events that actually did evolve.
Often when reading a book like this the average reader, or the reader slightly educated in history, may be overwhelmed by the level and detail of scholarship of the authors and may be insufficiently equipped to challenge and critique those analyses. In this case, however, the scholarship is clearly cited and the analyses logical and entirely without fancy, and the reader is drawn into the argument and to the conclusions.
The criteria given to the chapter authors by the editors to examine counterfactual analyses are simple and explicit. First, how little needs to change for history to take an alternate road? Second, once a change has occurred,how strong a case can be made for a particular direction to be taken and how far down that path can it be taken? Third,how easy is it to undermine the argument made for this reinterpretation of historical events? So for example, there are no implausible conditions such as an aircraft carrier appearing through a time warp to change the course of events after Pearl Harbour, as explored in the film "Final Countdown"The Final Countdown (Widescreen Edition)At the same time the editors do not resile from the fact that the power of the imagery in the writing of alternate history, in works of fiction, and especially science fiction (the legendary "jonbar point")can bring especially to life the value of thinking about events and their consequences in history and in any life trajectory. Fiction such as Philip K. Dick's "The Man in the High Tower" or L. Sprague de Camp's "Lest Darkness Fall"can aid thinking and analysis.The Man in the High CastleLest Darkness Fall (Pyramid SF, F-817)
The case studies are all concerned with the question of how the predominance of Europe and later America occurred economically, scientifically and commercially and they demonstrate in many cases, in particular in Carla Pestana's analysis of possible consequences of the death of William of Orange, how the changes that seemed to pre-determine the ascendancy of Europe were in fact themselves very fragile and could have easily been undone by countervailing forces, resulting in the re-ascendance of what were the already dominant forces. By concentrating the arguments in a particular domain the authors and editors are able to make a stronger case than has often previously been the case in what are otherwise excellent alternative history compilations in the field, especially of military history. The chapters are uniformly good; readers will be drawn to examples which fit best their intellectual and disciplinary histories.
The book goes beyond historical analysis. It makes a strong intellectual case for the use of counterfactual analysis in any field of endeavour. The consideration of alternative courses of events makes the identification of causes and their probabilogical consequences stronger, by virtue of drawing out the assumptions that are so often implicit in the arguments of authors, be they historians, sociologists or psychologists. This volume may well be adopted as a key text in courses in historiography; it should also be adopted as a reference in courses on critical thinking and problem solving in many fields outside of history.It demonstrates the values of interdisciplinary study and debate, between historians, political scientists and psychologists.
This book has to be given an unequivocal and resounding "tick of approval" for providing such a satisfying and enjoyable exercise in intellectual history.

This volume sets a new standard for theoretical rigour and depth for alternative/counterfactual history. It is indispensable for anyone with an interest in the subject, and Chapter One ("Counterfactual Thought Experiments: Why We Can't Live Without Them & How We Must Learn to Live With Them"), should also be considered by any Historiography course that aspires to completeness or theoretical currency. It is absolutely first rate scholarship, and the bibliography offers fertile ground for further exploration.