Michigan Books

Being a fan of the Motown Sound, this book gives excellent reference materials to the person who is trying to collect records from the old Motown catalog. The discographies for each individual label (Tamla, Soul, etc.) is complete and very accurate. My hats are off to Mr. Bianco on this book.

This is a nice little book about the Heidelberg project, one of the most amazing art installations in the world. Buy it and get inspired!

I really wanted to give this book a bad review. Bowersock has some truly screwy ideas about Late Antiquity (see below). But I just had to give this book five stars for three reasons: (1) Bowersock is an excellent writer, (2) he knows his stuff, (3) he writes about things that, at least to me, are fascinating and important.

This book covers that period of history called "Late Antiquity". This is a euphamism for the time when the Roman Empire simultaneously became Christian and fell apart. Of course only the western part of the empire completely fell apart as soon as it became Christian - while the eastern part (which is what Bowersock is primarily interested in) simply entered into a prolonged irreversible decline.

The book begins with a look at John of Ephesus - a mid 6th century Christian missionary in western Anatolia who was horrified to find 1500 (by his estimate) active Pagan places of worship. To make things even worse, these Temples and shrines all sent representatives to study and "receive the law" at a central main Temple. Like this story, much of the book has a "regional" focus, and Bowersock's main thesis is that "Hellenistic" culture had made itself right at home throughout large parts of "the east" - and that this Hellenism never really replaced the local cultures so much as it became the language through which various local cultures not only expressed themselves, but were able to communicate with each other.

Bowersock is explicitly, and illogically, opposed to the idea that Late Antiquity was characterized by a struggle between Paganism and Christianity. He even goes so far as to promote one of his pet theories (to which he has devoted a whole other book) that Julian's desire to revive Paganism was both ill-conceived and completely at odds with "real" Paganism. Julian, according to Bowersock, was never really a Pagan, but rather a misguided Christian who just tried to create a completely new kind of Paganism that was really nothing but a mirror image of fundamentalist Christianity. In other words Julian was some kind of Late Antique Satanist! Despite Bowersocks loopy ideas about Paganism, this is nevertheless a wonderful little book that provides a wealth of information about some of the ways in which Paganism persisted even as Christianity "triumphed".

Anyone looking for information on primative burials in the southwest knows how hard this information is to come by. I was glad to see an actual archaeological dig written up so well. The pictures are equally interesting in showing positions of the bodies and possibly the significance of such. Although the dig site is in New Mexico and occupied in the 1300's it was especially interesting to see that in one burial, there was a "cache" of points that were of Texas origin AND from the Archaic time frame. The book also includes tons of charts and graphs for the very serious archaeologists out there.

This is a great edition of the works of Hesiod, with the translation done remarkably well. As a Greek, I enjoyed both books-Hesiod: Volume I, Theogony. Works and Days. Testimonia (Loeb Classical Library No. 57N) and Hesiod: Volume II, The Shield. Catalogue of Women. Other Fragments. (Loeb Classical Library No. 503)- since its, in my oppinion, one of the best mythological accounts i have ever read. I may be biased since I am greek, but I think you will agree with me once you have gone through both volumes of this edition.

Hidden Michigan was just selected as an Official State of Michigan Children's Book--its by the same author/illustrator combination that did Has Anyone Seen Christmas? (not only was this a great book, it was a great float in America's Thanksgiving Day Parade last year). Their work, with Detroit Free Press writer Janis Campbell makes this one of, if not the, best children's book I've seen for our great state. Its fun for kids, it teaches them about our state, its unique, the illustrations are incredible--and parents and grandparents and teachers will love it, too.
It is well worthy of it selection as a State Children's Book.

This book is an excellent resource for anyone who is interested in the Illinois and Michigan (I&M) Canal National Heritage Corridor (in Illinois) and its associated parks and forest preserves. The book begins with a nice history of the Canal, and then launches into information on the trail. Starting with Starved Rock State Park, the book then goes through the various sites along the Corridor, giving a nice map of the site, directions on how to get there, and information that was obviously gathered firsthand by the author.

This is a nice book, and (as I already said) an excellent resource. If you are at all interesting in hiking or biking along the I&M Canal path, or are merely interested in parks and forest preserves in North-Central Illinois, then I highly recommend that you get this book!

While I attended Michigan State University right out of high school, I finished my undergraduate work in music at the University of Michigan School of Music (now the School of Music, Theater, and Dance) and later in life, I received my MBA from the U of M Business School (now the Ross School of Business). My wife and I also had our children here in Ann Arbor and raised all of them here. The University plays a big role in the life of Ann Arbor and it has certainly been a significant part of my life.

This book takes us through the various stages of the University's development from the 1860s through the last picture of former President Gerald R. Ford at the beginning of construction of his Presidential Library in 1979. I was in my first year at the music school when the ground breaking took place just down the road a mile or two. And I graduated the same month it was dedicated in April of 1981.

I really like the way this collection shows women participating at the University, albeit in largely segregated ways. And while there weren't many African-Americans at the University, there was a presence and some are represented here. The pictures are centered around medicine, law, the sciences, and athletics. My field, music, is only shown in passing and our school is not even pictured. A disappointment! It is a beautiful building with a lovely pond and would have made a nice addition to the book.

We also see some of the rituals of student life and how the football teams evolved over the decades (just a few representative shots). I love the picture of the big hole being prepared for Michigan Stadium and the shot when the top was at ground level.

A few of the pictures are also in the Historic Photos of Ann Arbor collection, but only a few. Some of these pictures are familiar to those who follow the history of Ann Arbor and the University, but I think some are rarely seen.

Nice collection, helpful captions, good book.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

Michigan Football has more than a century of history and hundreds of thousands of living alumni cherish its tradition as part of their time at Michigan. Millions more follow the program and support it so fanatically you would swear they had a relative playing on the field! I first became a fan in high school when Bo came to Ann Arbor and our marching band (I played trombone) played at one of Don Canham's (the new athletic director who brought Bo as the new coach) Band Day programs to fill the stadium.

This wonderful book has about 200 pages of large format black and white pictures showing Michigan Football from its early years through the Michigan-Indiana game and Anthony Carter's immortal catch in 1979. My wife and I were in the stands that day and it was electrifying and something you can always recall vividly. I can still see the triple coverage, the two defenders basically falling down as Carter as he caught the ball ran past the third into the end zone.

This book has four chapter that match the natural chapters in Michigan Football history. The first chapter covers 1879-1926 that covers the pioneering days and the Fielding Yost years as coach. Chapter 2 covers Kipke and Crisler from 1927-1947 (and the great Tom Harmon). Chapter 3 covers the years when then athletic director Fritz Crisler hired former players as the football coaches. They were Bennie Oosterbaan and Bump Elliott. The fifties also had star players like Ron Kramer.

The monumental influence of the immortals Yost and Crisler carried on into the third great coach, Bo Schembechler. The final chapter covers the Bo years through 1979. I would have liked to see the book go a bit further and cover Bo's final years including the period of his bowl victories. There should also have been a picture of Bob Ufer, the ultimate homer announcer. Still, the book could only hold so much and I am sure there are lots of players and pictures that different people would wish were included. I think Michelle O'Brien has done a good job in selecting pictures that capture each period well and show us the way the team, the uniforms, and the stadiums evolved. Her captions and brief chapter introductions are solid.

Enjoy! I sure did.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

David Cartwright's "A Historical Commentary On Thucydides gently guides the reader through the historians complex narrative paving the way for making this history a very enjoyable read. This book includes a plethora of maps, definitions and cross-references to help modern readers become more immersed in the text. The greatest of all Greek historians was the Athenian general Thucydides (455-400 B.C.E.). Thucydides' classic work, "History Of The Peloponnesian War", provides us with the historical framework for 5th century Greece, a golden age of intellectual achievement and creativity rarely equaled in human history. This history is by far the best account of the bitter war between Athens and Sparta as well as the only surviving contemporary record of the rise of the Athenian empire. Thucydides as a master story teller doesn't just cover the battle scenes, he records the great political speeches of Pericles, leader of Athens, and Lysander leader of Sparta with great acumen. He is recognized as the first historian to actually go and get eyewitness accounts, visit battlefieilds and research documents and records. This work took him over 20 years and it shows!

The lessons he teaches about imperial over reaching and unreasonable peace settlements are prescient today as they were during his times. President Woodrow Wilson, read this book on his voyage across the Atlantic to the Versailles Peace Conference and vociferously fought the other Allies in making unreasonable demands of the Germans. Wilson learned the dangers that the world would be placed in by backing the Germans into a corner politically and economically from Thucydides book.

I recommend this timeless classic to anyone who is interested in political philosophy, and history. I highly recommend you read it with David Cartwright's "A Historical Commentary On Thucydides.