Minnesota Books

This booklet does a fine job of describing Minnesota's Split Rock Lighthouse. Using pictures, drawings and interviews, the author gives an accurate picture of the history and functions of this historic structure. Besides the lighthouse there is also the fog signal building.

The storms of 1905 on Lake Superior made the need for a new lighthouse apparent. Numerous ships were destroyed or damaged that year during the shipping season. And over 100 lives were lost on the Great Lakes in 1905 due to ships crashing on the rocks or sinking in the storms.

In 1907, Congress approved funding for the construction of a lighthouse and fog signal at Split Rock. Construction began in 1909 and finished in 1910.

Mr. Hall does a good job of describing several of the men who worked at Split Rock prior to WWII. And he also recounts many of the stories of the children of the lighthouse keepers. They lived in the homes built next to the lighthouse.

Mr. Hall also gives a thorough and accurate description of the technology used to create an effective and timely light in the tower.

"...the opening of the North Shore highway in 1924" was the seminal event in making the lighthouse a major tourist attraction. Once the lighthouse was accessible, the tourists came to see it. According to the author, Split Rock received "...five times as many visitors as any other station" in the U.S. Lighthouse Service.

Split Rock's fog signal ceased operations in 1961. And the lighthouse followed in 1969. But the tourists have continued on.

In summary, Mr. Hall gives a very well done survey of Split Rock Lighthouse. Its construction, history and people are all covered here.

Includes maps and photos of the cemeter

This book is a wonderful history book on Summit Avenue. If you are going to visit Summit Ave or if you have visited, it's a great book to read. The pictures were wonderful. I would highly recommend this book.

This is a great book packed with many different fun facts about Minnesota. My 4th graders love it!

Although status is an essential concept in classical sociology and a crucial feature of social structure, it has been much criticized in contemporary social theory and to some extent replaced by a Marxist concept of economic class. In this book, Bryan Turner argues that social stratification has three major components: political-legal rights (status as entitlement), cultural distinction (status as life-style) and economic class. The relationships between these elements are historically contingent and determined by social struggles over resources. He examines the historical variations between these dimensions in slavery, feudalism and capitalism, and argues that in contemporary society the decline of economic class and the struggle between status groups over welfare resources have given life to a new form of political life: status bloc politics under the administration of the state. His analysis of status concludes with an examination of the effects of mass consumption on cultural distinction and a consideration of the implications of cultural postmodernism for the traditional struggle between high and low culture. His main thesis is that economic, political and cultural inequalities can only be understood from a conflict-sociology perspective.
--- from book's back cover

Reed is one of the most acute, fearless and useful commentators on American politics and intellectual history. I rarely agree with everything he says (I tend to give more play to identity politics and see more value in culture, esp. popular culture), but no one can make me question my own take on a subject as assiduously as Reed. For my purposes this volume is not quite at the same level as Class Notes or his masterpiece on WEB DuBois, but for those with an interest in urban development/planning it is definitive (though see also the new volume on post-Katrina New Orleans). The chapter on the Malcolm X revival of the early 1990s was enjoyable for someone who lived through it and gives Reed an excuse to provide a nutshell version of his take on post-1963 African American politics and rehash his critique of Jesse Jackson. But it also gives him a chance to show off his old-codger dismissal of hip hop. Oh well--no one is perfect.

Ably edited by Newell L. Chester for the modern reader, The Story Of A Regiment is the narrative account and history by Judson W. Bishop of the Minnesota Veteran Volunteer Infantry's Second Regiment that fought all through the Civil War from 1861 to 1865. This superbly presented edition is enhanced for the reader with a history of Judson Bishop and additional and informative chapters by Chester. This was a Union Army regiment that was awarded eight Medals of Honor for one action near Nolansville, Tennessee; participated in the first major Union victory at Mill Springs, Kentucky; charged up Missionary Ridge out of Chattanooga, Tennessee; earned General George Thomas acclimation as "The Rock of Chickamauga". The Second Regiment fought all four, bloody years of the Civil War and finally returned home to Minnesota intact. The Story Of A Regiment is an invaluable, much appreciated, and very welcome addition to Civil War Studies collections, and "must" reading for all Civil War buffs.

A wonderful book full of interesting details about the streams and rivers of Minnesota. Even small streams and tributaries earn some attention in this book. This is a very thorough reference tool whether you spend time on the water or just enjoy the countryside around it.

I've read everything Trevor Scott has written, and this book is right up there with Fatal Network and Hypershot. The difference? This book is not a traditional thriller, but a small town mystery. Scott makes Bear Lake, Minnesota one of the characters in this book. You actually feel like you're on the lake and in this small northern Minnesota town. His actual characters are full and flawed and good, bad and ugly. This guy can write! When I tell my friends about Trevor Scott, they all say "Who?" Well, everyone is about to find out soon enough. You heard it here first. Bravo!

This book was a good read for someone who is both a film history teacher and an indefatigable tourist in Rome. Clearly and fluidly written, Rhodes' study of Pasolini's city is not heavy on theoretical language, so it invites both the ordinary (but serious) filmgoer and the film critic to think about the familiar city in a new way. Some particularly nice insights about "Accattone!" and "Mamma Roma" are woven into the history and architecture of 20th century Rome.