North Carolina Books

This is a very detailed book on the Southern Coast of North Carolina. It has everything from restaurants, shopping,lodging and more. If you are planning a trip to the Southern Coast of North Carolina it is a must have. Great book at a great price!

I just about read this book from cover to cover in one sitting. It is so full of useful tactics and information for most of the sport fishing in the coastal Carolinas. The book is well organized by species allowing you to find the chapter for the fish you seek.

Tha only thing that I dislike about the book is that it is not water-proof so that I can safely pack it along on the boat!

I tried to find this guide in a local bookstore - a big one - and they were out (it's popular here) so I got it based on past experience with Insider Guides - all of which I have used and liked.

We were planning a trip to New Bern and it exactly fit the bill. It listed the attractions and did a good job of explaining them, some of which we would have missed if we did not have the book. For example, if you buy a ticket to the Tryon Palace, it includes admission to four other attractions, a fact we might have missed were it not for the guide. We also relied on it for restaurants, and ate at four that were listed, all were good. I chose the excellent place we stayed in New Bern, a Bed and Breakfast called "The Aerie", from Tripadvisor.com, and noticed that the guide also had given a good description of it. The history of New Bern given in the guide was also very interesting. Shopping? We discovered two places to visit - a quirky hardware store and a Farmer's Market we surely would have missed if not for the guide. In addition to shopping, they also covered "arts", "nightlife", "annual events", "recreation and parks" and all kinds of other outdoor sports and camping.

I have not used the guide yet for the other place we will be visiting soon, Pine Knoll Shores on what is called "Bouge Banks", but a quick look at this section told me it will be very helpful here as well.

For those who want an overview of what is covered in this guide, it includes the following: Beaufort, Morehead City, Swansboro, Bogue Banks (from Atlantic Beach to Emerald Isles), Oriental, New Bern, and the section of North Carolina called "Down East". The Central Coast is referred to as the "Crystal Coast" in NC tourism material. The Guide covers the same areas mentioned above for each of these places/areas, as well as vacation rentals and many things that may apple mostly to people who are moving to the area - neighborhoods, worship, education, retirement, healthcare, etc.

In sum, "Insider's Guides" is a good series and if you are really interested in an area, these are the guides to get.

This book is well worth every penny! It has all the information you would need for relocating or just for vacations. I would highly recommend it. My sister found it invaluable when she recently moved to the Wilmington, N.C. area.

D.C.Behrend

Insurgent Cuba tracks the transformation of racial and gendered narratives of the revolution from the abolition of slavery to the war of independence. In this fascinating and pathbreaking book, Professor Ferrer reveals that, with the emergence of late 19th century Cuban nationalism, narratives of race, slavery, and the place of black people in the revolution shift dramatically. Through the voices of leaders like Jose Marti, black insurgents were constructed as color-blind patriots committed to the liberation of Cuba, not slaves and ex-slaves attempting to overthrow the regime of slavery and demand equal rights. Black people were transformed in these three decades from a problem and threat to the republic to the symbols of Cuban nationalism's commitment to multiracial democracy. Anti-racism became a weapon in the hands of Cuban revolutionaries in their battle against Spain, which changed the status of black insurgents, put them on a pedestal in a way, and made their stories fundamental to the narrative of the new republic--one that is colorblind and willing to incorporate everyone as long as they are patriots. For blacks and mulattoes, this discourse gave them a platform to complain about racism in the ranks of the army, in everyday life, everywhere. On the other hand, the ellision of racism in the discourse of Cuban nationalism and the celebration of multiracial republicanism was often used against critics of racism in Cuba. "To speak of race, then," Ferrer writes, "was to challenge the depth of racial and national unity." Any attempts to mobilize on the basis of racial solidarity was then dismissed as divisive and unpatriotic. By reconstructing these different narratives in the context of specific revolts and campaigns, Ferrer offers us a stunning alternative narrative of the struggle for Cuban Independence. Insurgent Cuba is perhaps the best book available on race and Cuba.

"Interpreting the Free Exercise of Religion" has been selected for listing in "Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments: An Entheogen Chrestomathy."

Steinfeld's book challenges the usual view of the history of American employment law. The usual nutsell account goes: For centuries there was laissez faire; now we at least partly protect worker's rights.

Steinfeld stresses that the at-will rule is a ninetheenth century invention and a radical one at that. He examines the period before the at-will rule to show that the background of modern employment doctrine is the quasi-feudal master-servant relationship, reflected in institutions like 18th century indentured servitude. Steinfeld's achievement is to pull together relatively well known facts and show step by step, how 19th century individualism reacted to prior law by creating the otherwise puzzling body of law known as the at-will rule. A must read for any labor scholar.

The USS Monitor was a very revolutionary vessel that was the prototype for all military vessels today. The discovery of the Monitor was not by salvors or divers that regularly dive the Graveyard of the Atlantic but was found by a group of geological and oceanographic scientists that were conducting topographical measurements on the ocean floor. The wreck was discovered in 1973 by the lead scientists Robert Sheridan, Harold Edgerton, Gordon Watts and John Newton and several members from Duke, University of Delaware and University of Rhode Island. One of the best nautical books that you will ever read is Robert Sheridan's book on the discovery of the Monitor entitled Iron from the Deep - The Discovery and Recovery of the USS Monitor. The interactions between the the academic world, the military and the government is a a unique glimpse into the maniacal world of bureaucracy and ego. Although there is a fair amount of science, it is extremely interesting and lends credibility for the discovery and identification of the Monitor. I find it quite interesting that the story of the finding and recovery of the Monitor has always downplayed the role of these fine scientists. Hopefully, with the new Monitor Center, their scientific exploits and their significant role in the discovery of Monitor will be captured for the generations of future marine scientists. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in shipwrecks.

Irregardless Chef and Owner Arthur Gordon has been a significant presence on the culinary / restaurant scene in Raleigh for more than 30 years. His time-proven recipes in "Irregardless Cooks" are classics that share common roots with another of its contemporaries, "The Moosewood Cookbook".

"Irregardless Cooks" is now out-of-print with no current plans for re-issue. However, you can find it online as "used" from a variety of sources. By all means, be sure to get yourself a copy while you can still find them. And if you're ever in the Raleigh area, stop by the Irregardless Restaurant and Chef Gordon will be happy to sign your copy. Nice guy.

For those of you that already have a copy of "Irregardless Cooks" and want more great recipes from the restuarant's menu selections, Chef Gordon is writing a new cookbook which should be in print by mid to late 2007.

I have Dr. Domenico for 20th Cenutury Europe. He is one of the greatest teachers and funniest man that I have ever met