Oklahoma Books

I found this book to be very interesting and to pack a great deal of insight into a relatively short (300-page) biography. It's an entertaining read, and best of all, Thomas doesn't fall into any sort of hero worship. I found his reading of Stuart's troubles getting to Gettysburg to be completely fair and well-reasoned. Indeed, his overall thesis on his subject is somewhat critical, a rarity for a book on someone as lauded as Stuart is. Thomas is a very good writer and does a good job bringing a fascinating man's life into focus.

One nerdy nit-picky point that I, as someone who lives in the Valley, must make: Turner Ashby was killed in Harrisonburg, Virginia, not in Pennsylvania as Thomas asserts. (Yes, I know how lame I sound correcting one minor point in a 300-page book, but I lived in Harrisonburg too long not to represent a little here.)

Stuart first met Lee as a cadet at West Point, when Lee was Superintendent, in the early 50's, not at Harpers Ferry.

Jeb Stuart would sing these lines at the top of his lungs as he rode with his troops into battle. It must have been some popular tavern song of that time.

A very enjoyable read about this country's finest cavalry officer, James Ewell Brown Stuart, educated at West Point. He was the eyes and ears of General Robert E. Lee, Lee's best scout. He could "command both small and large numbers of horsemen, and he was able to integrate his cavalry with artillery and infantry, as well as to conduct independent operations." This book, like Robertson's biography about Stonewall Jackson is more about the man than actual battle tactics and history. He could trigger stampeeds, just by his presence. Many of his battles were won before they ever started. He and Stonewall were some of this country's finest soldiers of the nineteenth century whose ancestors came from Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

The South's poor horses, that last year of his life, and they had one more year to fight after Stuart's death. They were eating bark off of trees, on scant provisions of feed and hay and regularly slaughtered on the battle field, increasing the number of dismounted soldiers. And of course, the southern soldiers were in desperate straits too.

Thomas faithfully tells the life story of this gallant southern warrior's character. He himself helped to create his legendary character. He was a fighter and one of his last words on the battlefield at Yellow Tavern after he was shot was "I'd rather die than be whipped."

His most famous feat was his twice repeated ride around McClellan's huge Federal host, numbering tens of thousands.

The Civil War was a mass slaughter. Not everyone in this country has revered Abraham Lincoln. My great grandmother whose father was a 16 year old cavalry hand for Nathan Bedford Forrest in Mississippi once remarked at the base of the Lincoln statue at the Lincoln Memorial, "THE OLD COOT!" Would things have turned out differently in that war, if they had had the kind of technology and information we have now available at that time? Could war have been avoided, if the issue of slavery were dealt with differently and laid on the table from the very beginning?? (Sounds like a book for Newt Gingrich).

Particularly intriguing for me was the story of Stuart's apprehension of John Brown, the mass murderer who inflamed the whole slavery issue right before the start of the war. And strange, that this country would exalt a criminal to hero status in song and words. Anyway, it's something to ponder.

Jeb Stuart was a good ole southern boy who didn't touch a drop of liquor following his mother's orders until the last hours of his life. On his deathbed, those gathered in his room sang his favorite hymn, "Rock of Ages".

I did love how retired UGA Athens professor Thomas told his story. This book is probably one of the best biographies of Stuart's life.

I had forgotten I still had this book on my shelf! I used it early in my college years (1991)to write a Cival War Cavalry paper for an English class. I got a B on the paper, but I had so much fun writing it. This book and others were a big help. Thomas uses actual letters, diaries and news stories to tell the story of J.E.B. Stuart. Terrific book and I highly recomend it to anyone who is into Civil War or general American history!

In my humble opinion, Emory Thomas has written what I believe to be the definitive account of one of the 3 most effective calvary generals (Sheridan and Forrest being the other 2) during the Civil War. The writing style flows smoothly throughout the text as the writer goes from one subject to another in JEB Stuart's life.

Among the areas covered include:

1. Stuart's early life and West Point days.
2. His early US Army service before the Civil War.
3. His family life.
4. His Civil War relationships with various generals (Lee, Longstreet, Jackson, etc.) and subordinates (Jones, Rosser, Munford, etc.).
5. Civil War campaigns and ultimate death from a wound suffered at Yellow Tavern, VA in May 1864.
6. His evangelical faith.
7. Stuart's personal strengths and weaknesses.

I appreciated Thomas' ability to respect his subject while also describing his personal weaknesses (extreme vanity and concern with what others thought of him, excessive self-promotion, too much of a flirt with the ladies.). Doing so helped to show Stuart as a mere human being instead of the facade he attempted to portray.

The only complaint I had was not having enough maps showing Stuart's involvement in the many campaigns of the Army of Northern Virginia. The maps in the book were of good quality but there could have been a few more.

All in all, I recommend the book as the best account of JEB Stuart. Read and enjoy!

In my opinion this is what a fiction book should be.The characters are interesting and well developed, the story engaging, there is philosophical intelligent commentary, and it has a happy ending. And, it is hilarious.
If you do not enjoy this book I do not want to sit on a long bus ride or airplane ride next to you.
Thank you Mr. Black!!

I really enjoyed reading Baxter once again. At times, it did run a little slow for someone who is familiar with rodeo, but it was a good book overall. This is a keeper.

Any fan of Baxter or rodeo will enjoy this book. Blacks habit of interupting the story adds a whole new level of humor to the story. His down to earth and simplistic approach to life's curve balls is furthered as he takes on a variety of topics. Without a doubt this is worth the read.

Most reviewers talk about this book as bust-a-gut hilarious, which it certainly is at points, but it's also a whole lot more than that. If you have an interest in rodeo cowboys and their life on the road between those hoped-for 8 seconds of adrenalin in the arena, this book is primarily about that. Exaggerated, you bet, but compared to the yarns told in Bill St. John's book of real rodeo cowboys, "On Down the Road," not all that much.

Baxter Black captures and celebrates the comical that exists in the self-deprecating and unpretentious manner of cowboys. The story of his two cowboy pals doing the summer rodeo circuit all over the western states, with hopes of winning enough money to make it to the national finals, explores that rich vein of American humor between guts and glory and human comedy. There is a fine line between fearlessness and foolishness, and few sports make failure not only ignominious but dangerous (being thrown and getting not only a faceful of dirt but broken bones to boot). It's no accident that in the rodeo arena the hardest working cowboys are surely the clowns.

Black's book achieves one other enjoyable objective; it represents the friendship between two men, a subject that has found its way into the buddy movie, but is seldom treated in literature of any kind. These two guys are different enough to play off each other's strengths and weaknesses, but they're no odd couple. Their devotion to each other, their companionship on the road, their late night talks attempting to make sense of the world they inhabit -- not to mention their adventures with porcupines and "wild women" -- all of it is an entertaining celebration of being best pals.

St. John's book about rodeo cowboys is out of print, but if you can find a copy, I heartily recommend it as a companion to this wonderfully entertaining novel by Baxter Black.

There's no doubt that Baxter is a talented writer, but his style and this story didn't hold my interest throughout. Some parts of the novel were funny, but they weren't rip-roaring funny like some reviewers suggested. If someone bumping their head on a car door makes you laugh, you'll enjoy Baxter's humor.

Another complaint I have about the writing style is that Baxter continually interrupts the reader with his own remarks. Most of the time he does this to point out something that was either implied in the writing or common sense. The constant interruptions took away from the flow of the story. When uninterrupted, the story was a good one. Lick and Cody were very likeable characters. This was a great novel about the lifestyle they led and the friendship they shared.

The last integrationist makes you think about the power the government has to do secretive things that the public aren't aware of. I enjoyed being in the lives of the characther's in the book. Melvin, a black attorney generalhad a lot of pressure on him, to do what was right in the eyes of the media. I learned a lot about politics, by reading this book.

The Last Integrationist was written before it's time, if it were to be released today in the year of our elections, it'd be a bestseller. A tale of a black man and his bid for vice presidency, his unwillingness to go along quietly with the present status quo and his inevitable fall.

This story is deeply written, filled with questions of what the powerful is really capable of doing to the powerless. Recommended reading for anyone who wants to step up a notch!

Jake Lamar's book is a great read! It's well-written, absorbing, and I found myself irritated at being interrupted as I was reading this book. My 24-year old son also read this book, and he said it is one of the best books he's read in 5 years. Set aside some hours of quiet time for yourself, because once you begin reading it, you won't want to put The Last Integrationist down until you finish it.

Question: Under what circumstances would paranoid white supremacists actually support vastly accelerated government intrusion into the lives of private citizens? This story attempts to define such circumstances in a sort of pre-apocalyptic America of the near future. But this premise is ultimately flawed since the is no natural support for the type of actions contemplated, not by conservatives, not liberals certainly not people of color or anti-government reactionaries.

Nevertheless the author manages to discuss significant racial issues, and particularly inter-racial relationships, in a powerful manner. Well worth reading in spite of the unlikely premise.

I will start by stating that I'm not really into politics and, therefore, the first chapter or two, I was thinking that this book really wasn't for me. But, I'm happy to say that I stuck with this book and this was a powerful story of how things COULD be in OUR world today. The politicians in this book were portrayed so realistically that I could envision things that happened in this book happening in our society. Jake Lamar's writing is fantastic and he really told an unforgettable story. I will definitely try reading another book by this author and I only hope it's half as good as this one!

Dennis Banks has obviously witnessed the personal sacrifice of following a path in a cause larger than his own self-interest. He and Erdoes have done well in their writing and story telling of the hey day of the American Indian Movement. Such a sad chapter in the history of this nation but I was awe-struck at the tone of optimism in Banks as a person. He truly embodies a level of hope and spiritual regeneration despite his many flaws---as we all have. The price one pays as he has in his life for pursuing a dream is truly remarkable. Great piece of work that deserves every consideration. Now, if only justice would finally roll down like the waves of a might water for Leonard Peltier.

I purchased this book for an anthropology class and I found it to be
an interesting read, but not an easy read. The book is written as if the author is actually talking to you so it tends not to be very smooth, however the content is very interesting and enlightening. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in what the Native Americans are really like, how they live, and more importantly how they are treated in their own country.

America is a very, very, very old place. We were not here first and it is time we give back what is not rightfully ours. The American Indian is the original American and he should be able to do whatever he wants to do in America.

Buy this book and let us free brother Leonard!!!!

Dennis Banks has much to answer for before he can call himself a "Warrior" ... He needs to disclose his role, and the role of the AIM leadership, in the kidnapping and murder of Anna Mae Aquash, with whom he had an affair while his wife was with child. Anna Mae is a heroine to those who remember her role in the fight for Indian rights -- especially land rights and the restoration of treaty agreements. She was murdered, according to court testimony, because AIM leadership believed she was an FBI informer, a charge later proved false. Who in the AIM leadership ordered this murder? Who knew? Who could have stopped it? Anyone interested in this period of history knows there are troubling, unanswered questions about whom we hold accountable for this crime. Dennis Banks needs to come forward with full disclosure.

Ojibwa Warrior is an autobiography and first hand account of the formation and rise of the American Indian Movement told by one of its founders, Dennis Banks. Banks' book, Ojibwa Warrior, is a multi-dimensional account of the history of racism and empire in the United States which should be of great interest not only to historians but also to anthropologists, philosophers, ecologists and especially social and environmental activists.

Banks begins the book with one of the most important events of the 20th century - the armed takeover and occupation of Wounded Knee by the American Indian Movement in 1973. Throughout the course of interaction between the Federal government of the United States and the remaining Tribal Reservations, the takeover of Wounded Knee was arguably the most important event of the 20th century. The takeover placed the American Indian Movement and the struggle for Native sovereignty into the national and international spotlight. The takeover of Wounded Knee is a fitting beginning for Banks' book, which is filled with various stories and events that combine into a overarching narrative of uncompromising struggle against oppression and determination to better the lives of Native Americans by any and all means necessary.

From Wounded Knee, which is dealt with in detail towards the end of the book, Banks fades back to his childhood years on the Leech Lake Ojibwa Reservation in Northern Minnesota where he was born in 1937. Banks was born into an economically poor yet culturally rich environment where he and his family lived close to the land and relied on natural foods to supplement their scarce and unhealthful government rations. Dennis tells of the close relationship that he had with his Grandparents, who still spoke the Ojibwa language and continued to practice the spiritual and cultural traditions of their ancestors. Throughout the book, Dennis would reflect back on those happy days often. However, the good times did not last. At the age of six, Dennis and his siblings were forcibly removed from the care of their relations to be placed into State run boarding schools. Banks' experience in this "school" was one that can be described as nothing other than a Government sponsored attempt at cultural genocide.

When Dennis returned to the reservation, he found the situation there to be much worse than when he had left as a child. Although the reservation had always been poor and marginalized, the situation was now much worse - increasing numbers of white folks had encroached into the reservation and the state had forced the Ojibwa nation to take out licenses to hunt traditional foods on their own land. The ability to sustain oneself on the reservation had become nearly impossible and Banks did what many youths from poor and marginalized areas often do in a tragic attempt to better their economic situations - he joined the armed forces. Ironically, rather than making Banks into a mindless soldier for America, his time in the Air Force ended up engendering within him a consciousness of the racist and imperialistic nature of the United States:
"I had been guarding the ramparts of the American Empire, but now I felt like those Crow and Arikara Indians who, after scouting for Custer and fighting on behalf of the whites, were pitted against their own brothers, the Cheyenne and Lakota. My Japanese family members were called gooks, slopes, and slant-eyes by whites, and those who suffered from these names were people just like me. Was I not a slant-eye, as all American Indians are? The American Air Force, which I had thought of as a friend, turned out to be an enemy" (p.55).

Although his antipathy toward the Air Force had already been established, Banks extended his tour of duty two years to remain in Japan with his new Japanese wife and child. When Banks was reassigned to the States shortly after, he went AWOL in order to remain with his family. However, his freedom did not last for long and he was quickly captured, court-marshaled, jailed and shipped back to the States where he received a dishonorable discharge.

By the mid 1960s, Banks was remarried with children and living in the "Indian Ghetto" section of Minneapolis where he had sunken into despair and alcoholism. In 1966, he was arrested, convicted and sent to prison for two years for stealing groceries to feed his family. During his time in prison he wrote that he had become invigorated by the growing resistance to U.S. empire both inside and outside the country and was especially inspired by groups such as the Weather Underground and the Black Panther Party. When he was released from prison in 1968, he returned to Minneapolis, determined to organize the Indian community to join in the struggle against racism and empire. On July 28, 1968, Banks organized a meeting in the "Indian Ghetto," where over 200 people showed up to discuss how to best empower their local community - during this meeting the American Indian Movement (A.I.M.) was formed.

A.I.M. began with the formation of a local cop-watch program to monitor and intervene in police abuses of the Indian community. As A.I.M. began to grow and achieve successes in its various struggles, native communities around the country began to call upon the group to intervene in their local struggles. A.I.M.'s tactics were confrontational and although they did not seek violence, they were not afraid to use it if they deemed it necessary to achieve their goals. Coupled with their militant organization and tactics, Banks also describes a spiritual foundation based on a synthesis of traditional native ceremony/spiritualism that was very important to the cohesion and morale of the organization. Although A.I.M.'s tactics were modeled after groups such as the Panthers and Weathermen, those groups suffered from a reactionary anti-spiritualism and disconnected consciousness. It is very likely that A.I.M's spiritual foundation was the key element that allowed A.I.M. to achieve many great successes in their struggles as well as to remain as an organized movement while other resistance movements dismantled and faded into oblivion when faced with the violent repression of the U.S. government under the cointelpro program.

A.I.M. achieved many great victories in their struggles, but they also suffered many devastating defeats. Banks describes some of the more notable actions that A.I.M. undertook during the 1970s and early 1980s, including the six day long occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs headquarters in Washington D.C., the riot in Custer, South Dakota, which ended in the arson of the County Court House, the three month long armed takeover and occupation of Wounded Knee in South Dakota, and the shoot-out between A.I.M. members and F.B.I. agents at the Jumping Bull ranch on the Pine Ridge reservation. Banks also describes he and Leonard Peltier's time together on the run from a massive national manhunt after the Jumping Bull ranch incident and also writes about the time he spent in California during the 1980s while he lived under an asylum granted him by then Governor Jerry Brown.

The importance of Banks' book cannot be understated. As a primary source document, it will remain as an important reference for present and future historians studying the American Indian Movement and the various groups with which it interacted. The book will also be of great importance for present and future resistance groups who find themselves engaged in struggle against the forces of empire and the repressive apparatus of the United State Government - for these people and groups Ojibwa Warrior will provide much needed insight into the strengths and weaknesses of resistance movements in the United States and the strengths and weaknesses of the various repressive agencies of the U.S. government.

I read this novel chapter by chapter, as it was being written. Was it 1997 - 98? The author was kind enough to allow many of his Literatzi cohorts the privilege of taking the journey with him as he unfurled his brain onto the page. It wasn't precisely my cup of tea when it comes to fiction, but extraordinarily well done within the genre. Well done Brian! Bravo!!

Hopkins will keep you on the edge of your seat as he takes you through a journey of pure adrenaline pumping action! No wonder this monumental novel won a Stoker! You can't put it down!
If you review this for any less than five stars- you are impossible to please or joking!

Marc Ruby already did a bang-up job of reviewing this book but I thought I'd throw my two cents in anyway because I want to add a recommendation. I was reviewing Stoker award winners the other day looking for excellent reads I might have overlooked and this one popped out at me. Any book with a title like this kinds of grabs your attention in a "what-the-heck?" kind of way. I had to order an old copy which was pretty expensive. I'm not sure I'd recommend shelling out twenty bucks for this book as it is a pretty stripped down novel; more novella actually. It's certainly not cluttered with much character development or plot. It's also not a horror novel even though it features "vampires". Nevertheless I did enjoy reading it even if I don't think it merited a Stoker.

The author wrote this as a serialization over email in the late nineties and obviously had some fun doing it. It's a straight up story, straight like a baseball bat, featuring Martin Zolotow, an LA detective, ex-cop, and reasonably tough guy, kidnapped by an Oklahoma drug kingpin and sent across the state to rescue his daughter from an even crazier drug lord, Jim McDevitt. McDevitt raises hogs, and like most hog-farming drug dealers, also maintains a biochemistry lab where his pet mad scientists are experimenting with telomerase in an effort to extend human life. These experiments somehow end up making McDevitt and his gang into "vampires" insofar as their increased longevity comes with the requirement of imbibing human blood, with the blood of young black females being the preferred variety for it's enhanced telomerase. The science presented isn't too involved but that would have only got in the way of a relentless 170 pages of Zolotow getting viciously beat upon by almost everyone he meets. He gamefully dishes some back out, but he certainly seems to get the worst of it through most of the story. If you like action-oriented fiction, don't need any plot or characterization, and are in the mood for a good beating scene or three then this is a jim-dandy read. I enjoyed reading it because I like a good tough guy story as much as anyone and it was kind of refreshing to have the protagonist take more of a pounding than what he gives out. Zolotow is your guy if you admire a fellow who can take his beatings and still keep on ticking.

My conclusion? This is a great macho, tough guy vs tough guy, bruise-fest and if you can find an inexpensive copy I'd recommend it as a few hours of fun. However, if you want some really, really good tough guy fiction, with intricate plot, great characterization, interesting stories, surprise hair-pin twists, and unbelievable ratcheting tension check out Charlie Huston. He has four books out that are incredibly good and a sweet, sweet read.

There is a long standing tradition joining Detective stories with the supernatural or involving a science fiction twist. Clive Barker, Phillip K. Dick and Arthur Conan Doyle have dipped their literary toes into this particular pool with fantastic results. Brian Hopkins has added another quality, fast paced volume to the sub-genre with The Licking Valley Coon Hunter's Club.

The hero, Martin Zolotow, joins his predecessors with a few interesting twists of his own. He suffers from a unique malady that can cause bouts of memory loss. It's not the focal point of the story, as is Leonard's little memory quirk in Momento, but it does provide an interesting trait to the character. This little complication explains how his mind is able to make some bizarre connections between pieces of evidence and gives him an excuse to pepper in bits of obscure literary references, poetry and Shakespeare. (Zolotowmemorized bits of prose to train his recollection as a child).

Unfortunately, this same interesting quirk also serves the authors inclusion of several distracting flashbacks of the hero in therapy with the one woman that he seems unattracted to. While these vignettes from his recent past are interesting and do add quite a lot to Zolotow's depth of character, the structure removes the reader from the action and breaks the pace of the story. I wouldn't want to see them removed so much as condensed and possibly included as a prologue or serving as the opening chapter. This however, is the one minor misstep in an otherwise cracking good novel.

The pace is incredibly fast and the action virtually nonstop. The villains are properly menacing and sinister with loads of interesting little eccentricities of their own. Not only that, but there were plenty of them. Every character, save our hero, a misplaced grad-student and a group of kidnapped prostitutes, wears a figurative black hat. Zolotow was really up against the wall in this one.

Licking Valley is a nice, quick read that will leave you wanting more. Hopefully the subtitle- "A Martin Zolotow Mystery" is indicative of the fact that there will be more adventures of my favorite, brain damaged detective forthcoming.

This first novel for Brian A. Hopkins features one Martin Zolotow, a rough hewn, ex-cop with a soft spot for well-turned ankles and a hard fist for nasty, bad guys. He's puppy-dog lovable and wild-animal rugged all in the same breath.

The story opens with Zolotow ("Zolo" to his friends and the ladies) painfully parting with his current lover, a young hooker he's taken off the streets, loved, and is putting on a plane that will send her back to an innocent life with her family. What he finds out immediately after her departure is that some rather creepy bad-guys are waiting to abscond him and whisk him away to... Oklahoma City!

Once in the Sooner state, Zolo's taken to a secluded stronghold somewhere in the OK panhandle, but not before he's recruited to rescue the daughter of a major crime figure. His incentive (besides just staying alive) is the young woman he had just put on the plane. He fails; she dies.

Put through his paces in this wild, action-packed adventure, Zolo battles both the members of the Licking Valley Coon Hunters Club (they're originally from Ohio and not native Oklahoman bad blood) and his own muddled memory, an affliction that is at once his Achilles heel and a strange endearing quality. He's beaten with a ball bat, dragged through cow manure, chased, and shot at, but never totally thwarted because the poetry-spouting detective's acerbic wit and undaunting sense of what's right makes him too driven to stay down. Oh, and also some very lovely women come to his aid.

Mix in a snarling dog, a gaunt bad-guy in a wheelchair, some women who can handle both being sexy in bubble baths and in employing martial arts kicks--oh, and vampires!--and the action is non-stop!

Hopkins takes the reader on a wild romp with sure ease in his knowledge of weapons, chemistry, and women. Yet it's Zolo's revealing himself as kindhearted as Joe R. Lansdale's Hap Collins (and just as unlucky!) and as blindly chivalrous as John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee that make Zolo a whole new breed of hero, the kind who would attack a windmill on a seatless motorcycle in a tiger print bikini brief to save a lady! But that's another adventure all together.

This book was one of the most enjoyable reads I've had in years. The author's lifestyle may be unorthodox to modern ways of thinking, but he presents his life in such matter-of-fact manner that he never comes across as self-righteous or weird. He's rhapsodic about the pleasures of his work on the farm without turning introspective. A really lovely book.

This book is a delight to read. Peaceful and quiet in setting and tone, I return to it often when the dream of moving to our farm seems far away. How simple a one-person farm...and how complex. Winchester takes pleasure in the smallest of details and the largest as well.

This book started out rather dull and almost lost me after the first few chapters...I even told my wife that I doubted I'd finish...then, all of a sudden, the story got interesting. The author might be a tad idiosyncratic, but he seems honest and by the end I came to appreciate his words and observations.

This beautiful little book is one of my favories. I read it every winter and it reminds me why I try harder every year to live a simple life. I wish Mr. Winchester would write more.

This is one of those books that sneak up on you and before you know it you are finished and wish that you had only just began. It is unfortunate that the reviewer from Tulsa, Ok (not the buckle of the Bible belt, Alabama is) felt the need to read his perversions into this book and it's sweetly innocent look at a simple life, it proves that some people just don't get it. Quite the contrary to what that reviewer said, the author seemingly had plenty of friends, who showed up to help him out when his barn was destroyed by a grass fire. One has to ask, did he really even read this book at all, or just skim over it for a book report? Maybe he should just stick with Hemmingway, who by the way, did NOT live on a farm.

Written primarily for the layperson, The Tornado: Nature's Ultimate Windstorm won't disappoint you if you're curious about the most enigmatic of atmospheric phenomenon. Grazulis is well known for his historical tornado data work (and has done a stellar job of it too) and has taken much of his knowledge, put it into this book, and made it accessible for the non-scientist. People like myself who are knowledgeable in the atmospheric sciences may find the book a bit basic, but we're not the target audience. Regardless of your knowledge, this book is an attractive read. In the light of the revision of the old Fujita scale of tornado intensity, I'd like to see a revised edition published.

For a relatively small number of Americans each year a tornado will threaten life and result in a life-changing loss of possessions and property. A greater number will observe the phenomenon but, as luck would have it, remain scared but unscathed. However to the vast majority a tornado is nothing more than a compelling news item on television which highlights the casualties, personal losses and structural damage. This is reinforced by the compulsory 30 second sound bite by someone who has lost everything but survived and another who lived nearby but remains intact. The video from the chasers is breath taking but accompanied by the standard script of 'Oh my god...Oh my god...guys...Holey crap...guys...'

As I write this (May 2008) the tornados currently in Oklahoma have all of these elements. So far this year America has had 103 tornado deaths and this is alarming.

Grazulis has written with a wonderful balance of narrative and scientific text. A reader is drawn through the chapters and will come away better informed on tornados, their cause, observation, classification, magnitude and probability. The relatively small probability of any one person or any one building being struck in any year seems to be a risk acceptable to this conditioned society and to the insurance industry. The declining trend in the number of fatalities is attributed to improving meteorology, warning systems and improving design of structures. There is however a hint those tornados could become more frequent and severe with climate change.

Tornados are now better understood because of Grazulis.

Perhaps the book will be the catalyst that motivates scientists, engineers, architects and urban planners to come together to build improved structures and communities so as to better resist the destructive forces of tornados. Otherwise it seems that society will continue to believe that a tornado is an irresistible force. I promote the idea of engineering-out the likelihood of devastating loss. Perhaps we can diminish the likelihood of Americans following Dorothy and Toto to the Land of Oz.

Since there's a lot of science going on behind tornado occurances -many myths have developed since the phenomena is so scary & hard to explain

Thomas P. Grazillus manages to do just that in this book - explain the science behind the tornado so the average joe could undertand it, while explaining the truth about myths, while trying to understand where these myths have risen from.

From the intorduction, you read that the author's intent with this book was to write a modernized edition of Snowden D. Flora's 1953 book "Tornadoes of the United States" -- which was billed at the time as the first general reference book on tornadoes. In that respect, Tom Grazulis has fully succeeded.

"The Tornado" covers all the basics about tornadoes, like the highly complicated (and still enigmatic) process of tornado formation, forecasting, historical aspects of tornadoes -- as well as major tornadic events of the past, safety, climatology/frequncy, international frequency and major events, the Fujita scale, myths (more than you might think), and a pleasingly non-sensational chapter on storm chasing.

The text is never too complicated, and even the more technical points are easy to understand. The fact that the book is up-to-date is also a plus, as is the scope of the book's coverage. It's also somewhat more relevant to an American audience than Arjen and Jerrine Verkaik's "Under the Whirlwind," which -- though good, and including some of what this book covers -- was written with a Canadian audience in mind. (In which case Canadian readers are advised to read that book before this.)

About the only real minus is that there are limited illustrations, and those in the book are black and white. This text accompanied with more -- and color -- illustrations might have been more useful, although in moderation so as not to draw attention away from the text; at any rate a section of color plates would have been a nice addition.

That aside, this is a terrific guide to all things relevant (or even just the stuff you might have thought of once!) to tornadoes.

I wanted a book for by granddaughter who is 10 and who had expressed an interested in tornadoes. It was, perhaps, a little above her level, however it can be read in parts. I ended up reading the entire thing before I could let go of it to send it on. Puts the tornado,the incidence of seeing one, and the likelihood of experiencing damage all into perspective. Knocks down the myths of tornadoes, when, where and what they strike. A must for any library on meteorology. Sufficient statistics and hard science to satisfy even the already knowledgeable storm chaser.

If you are as into the guns as you are the stories, this is particularly good book. Every few pages is a full color spread of authentic Old west shotguns, lever actions, pistol, and single shots. They are pictures of the actual guns used by famous outlaws, law men, and others from various western history museums - very cool! The text is good but not great. it is wirtten more from a historical perspective than a story telling one. Still a book you should own if you like anything about the old West.

I received "Age of the Gunfighter" last night and have only been able to glance through it's pages a few times.

On the positive side, my initial impression is that the book is a gorgeous encyclopedia of photographs of famous people, towns and firearms.

On the negative side, my cursory glances through the book have shown some significant historical errors. The only sub-section of the book I have any real knowledge about is the Lincoln County War and Billy the Kid. The book contains some glaring errors in this section.

In a photo, the author mixes up the identities of John Poe and James Brent and states that Brent accompanied Poe and Pat Garrett to Fort Sumner when in fact, it was Tip McKinney who accompanied them, not James Brent.

The author correctly identifies a photo of Bob Beckwith but states that he was a follower of Billy the Kid who died when he and McSween tried to escape McSween's burning house. The fact is that Beckwith was a member of the Murphy-Dolan faction and fighting on the opposite side of Billy and McSween that night. Billy and several "Regulators" had already escaped when Beckwith called for McSween's surrender. Something went wrong and after the smoke cleared from the resulting shootout, both McSween and Beckwith were dead.

Finally, the author states that Pat Garrett killed Billy the Kid with a Colt Single-Action .45 when Garrett actually used a Colt Single-Action .44.

I haven't had a chance to read much of the author's narrative so possibly these errors are due to someone else editing the descriptions of the photographs.

For the photos alone, this book is a definite must-have for the Frontier enthusiast and based on this alone should rate the book five stars. However, the questionable historical accuracy of some of it's narrative requires me to downgrade my rating to four stars.

Joseph Rosa presents us with a stunning visual collection of photographs, mainly featuring fine specimens of mid to late 19th century firearms, and vintage photos of emminent gun-fighters of the era. There are several interesting nostalgic paintings displayed as well, by artists such as N.C. Wyeth. Although the illustrations are the most striking feature of this book by far, there is plenty of interesting text as well. The chapters within cover these topics: The Violent West, Feuds and Range Wars, Cowboys and Cowtown Chaos, Law and Order: From Gun to Gavel. In general, this book is an enthralling visual catalog of the firearms, both famous and obscure, that were utilized in the American West during the years 1840 to 1900. Within you will see collections of rifles, pistols, shotguns, and miscellenous historical relics, all arranged in vivid color layouts.

...between the vast number of personalities discussed, and the quality & quantity of the photos included; this is the ultimate reference on the good guys, and the bad guys of the Wild West... the gear they wore, the guns they used, the circumstances surrounding what each gunfight was really about, and the ultimate fate of each legend.

This is the best book I've ever found that extensively shows what the Old West of the Gunfighter was really like.Rosa has done a supurb job of defining all aspects of this intriguing period,roughly from 1840 till the end of the century.
Rosa covers all the Gunfighters whose names and faces who have become legends. He also shows us many of the less known and less written about. He has included some of the best pictures of these people you can find ,and all in one volume. Here we are shown how they dressed,and the guns,rifles and tools and equipment they used. We also get wonderful photographs of the towns they inhabited,both inside views and street scenes.There are concise and factual write-ups on many of the characters and their claims to fame.
Rosa has been consistant in providing the dates of most of the photographs.I am not sure when the photography technology was first developed that allowed such a great record;but it was around the time of the early years of this period.Just imagine,what a true representation of these days would have been impossible without this invention.
If you read many westerns or much history of this era ,you will be forever running into the types of weapons used.You are often left with wondering what they looked like. Well,wonder no more;just pull out this book and you will see excellent photographs and descriptions of these firearms,cartridges,cleaning tools,pistol and rifle cases,watches,holsters,belts,playing cards documents,swords, knives,badges,hats,saddle bags and countless other artifacts of the time.The author also shows the musemms where these artifacts are retained.
Also scattered through the book are beautiful examples of artwork done by famous painters of the period.Several maps are included that make stories and history of the Old West very easy to follow.Anyone who has tried to locate events of this period by using present day highway atlass will appreciate them.
You will also be amazed with the detail that Rosa has collected,obviously verified and included in the book.Not only that,he does it in a manner that doesn't get the reader bogged down in detail. What I really mean to say is that the information is there in great detail;but the reader is able to skip over or delve into;the choice is his.
Another aspect of this book that is also noteworthy is its high quality of construction,binding,paper stock,printing and color rendition makes this a reference book that will stand up to years of use.
This book was first published ic 1993 and again in 2000 and as you can see,it still commands a good price.That certainly proves how good and popular this book is, and would be a very often referred to and treasured book for anyone interested in the Gunfighters and any other History of the Old West.I can tell you it is certainly a favorite of mine.

I was hoping for a revelation about the state home for orphans. I was surprised that no more was there. I knew Glen Ewing well, for he was my teacher in HS. I was very disappointed to read the language that I seldom if ever heard when I was a child and I am 8 years or so younger than Rex. I, too, grew up in this area of Ok. Also the slams given to the Church of the Nazarene were horrible. I have been in the Nazarene church since the day I was born and the Round Grove church since 1949 and have NEVER seen holy rollers, nor people talking in tongues(Pentacostals) that really belonged to that faith. NOR are they people that do not believe in Drs.!! We have many born again Christians who are also Doctors.

I read this book with my book club and was pleasantly surprised by both the high quality of the author's prose and the amazing detail of his memory. Researchers say that strong emotion fixes details of situations in one's head and that was clearly the case for Rex Wilson. His recollections tell the reader not only about his own abandonment, adoption and childhood, but paint a fascinating portrait of life in rural Oklahoma in the Depression years.

I think the editing could have been a little tighter and I would have liked to have seen more photos, but the memoir was great. I'll never look at adoption the same way again.

Not being adopted or knowing anyone who was adopted in my rural community in Oklahoma where I was raised, I did not read OUT EAST OF ALINE for the adoption story but for the portrayal of "life as it was" in northwestern Oklahoma during the 1930's. I was not disappointed! My personal memories (and stories told to me by my parents) and those of the author paralleled each other, yet in a delightfully told, very descriptive manner that made my memories come alive once again. Further, the description of his trip West with his parents, camping along the roadsides, was hilarious! This story demands a sequel as to what happened during his high school and college years that further developed his visions for his future.

Rex Wilson always knew he had two identities that never quite merged into one. He remembered his birth name, his father's death in 1930 when he was four, and his mother leaving him and his siblings in the Oklahoma State Home for White Children soon thereafter. This was not a particularly cruel or neglectful institution by the standards of that time and place, but it had all the usual institutional faults and it left scars. The next year he was adopted by the Wilsons, who wrested a living from the sandy soil east of Aline, Oklahoma, and had no children of their own. They were well-meaning and expressed love as well as they knew how, but the boy to whom they gave a new name was never quite secure.

Despite this he was a lively and intelligent boy who learned much from the family farm and Round Grove School, which had a single teacher and up to forty pupils from first through eighth grades. One of his teachers recognized his unusual qualities, double-promoted him and taught him the value of co-operation in basketball and with an ingenious scheme to get out-of-date mail order catalogues for use in the school's outdoor privies. Daily life in the days before rural electrification is described in great and accurate detail. He also lovingly describes shopping visits to nearby towns and a trip to Arizona that awakens what will become his lifelong interest in archaeology. He catches the exact speech patterns of that time and place with the deadpan humor charcteristic of the region, never once abandoning the viewpoint of the boy he once was. At the end of the book he has graduated eighth grade and is ready to face a wider world.

Out East Of Aline: An Adoption Memoir is more than a biography. Author and retired archaeologist Rex L. Wilson writes from a child's point of view, remembering his own abandonment at an orphanage at the tender age of four and a half years. He was adopted by an Oklahoma farming couple a year later. Thus began his journey into the strange ways of his new home, the heartbreak of learning that his biological mother would never claim him, the unease of living in a community where adopted children were mistrusted as reform school candidates (at best), and finally, gradual acceptance into his new way of life. Out East Of Aline is not only about adoption issues; ultimately a tale of perseverance, hope, and the joys of living. Recommended.

This book is a valuable contribution in refuting the falsehoods spread by the so-called "Christian" Right, and particularly by the far Right Christian Identity movement which is even more extremist. It is a good companion to a wonderful new book titled Real Prophecy Unveiled: Why the Christ Will Not Come Again, And Why the Religious Right Is Wrong, by Joseph J. Adamson. And another good book is A Pilgrim's Path, by John J. Robinson. Thank God for books like these, because they shed light in a world made dark by "religious" bigotry, hypocrisy, and aggression. They give me faith that the humble and meek shall inherit the earth after all.

This is a good history of the Christian Identity movement. The biggest fault this book has is it barely touched on the huge influence the old Mormon faith (before it became pc) had on Identity doctrine. As much of a kook religion as it is Identity theology has always fascinated me. I do find it rather odd that some of the biggest foaming at the mouth Jew haters are people who either practice religions that have roots in the Jewish culture or even claim that they are Jews themselves. Its like they have Jew envy or something.

Barkun recites a Talmudic workmanlike account of Identity recent history, but he is intentionally selective in omitting material which is damaging to his worldview, he is a Russian jew living in USA. In the book, Barkun seeks to downplay the real genealogy of (just what he is) an Ashkenaizic "jew". He omits scholarship such as Prof Wexler of Tel Aviv which shows that the Ashkenazi jews are not at all "Bible Jews". This alone verifies the core teaching of Identity preachers: the illusive Identity of the dominant "jewish" group. What else does Barkun, who is clearly a bright fellow, what else does he conceal in his book and which would undercut his thesis? He speaks of Dispensationalism but he never goes on to tell us that Scofield who concocted a very popular Bible commentary ca 1900, was largely funded by Zionist jews such as Schiff. Schiff was the same Russian jew who through his Wall Street brokerage virtually funded the "Russian Revolution" which resulted in the killings by Russian jews of over 50 million Christians in Russia and Ukraine. You could either attribute these deaths (Christians murdered by jews) as being of Satanic or earthly origins, but they clearly are a part of history. The recent book The Black Book of Communism, which is clearly not "an evil Christian Identity book", lavishly documents these crimes.

What else does Barkun selectively omit from his book. He glosses over Identity persons and groups which he apparently realizes are helpful to the cause of jewish zionism. For instance, he says at the outset that he will have little to say about Herbert Armstrong. Any man who lived through the era of 1930 through World War 2 and on through the 1970s surely remembers listening on the radio to The World Tomorrow --Armstrong and his son Garner Ted Armstrong. But, Armstrong clearly taught Identity and Armstrong LOVED the jews. He cheered on Roosevelt and his jewish advisors who faked the "surprise attack at Pearl Harbor" to bring America into WW II and the deaths of many million Christians --all for the benefit of the jews. The reason Barkun has very little to say about Armstrong is because: here was a Christian Identity preacher whom the jews used to advance their goals of eliminating Germany and creating the marxist experimental State called "Israel". Another Identity preacher of today who serves the jews is Pastor Arnold Murray of Arkansas. In fact, the leading Identity preacher now in 2007 is Murray and his Shepherd's Chapel. He is on TV, radio, Internet, and shortwave. There is no stronger supporter of the jews and Israel. No mention of Murray in Barkun's book. Can you guess why? There are several other very significant omissions in this book. And, it is both obvious that Barkun was shrewd both in making conclusions and in failing to connect the dots in many areas.

This book does a very good job of attempting to trace the origin of Chrisitan Identity up to the current day. While it does cover material that is already common knowldege amongst those familiar with Christian Identity, and it doesn't address fully the current members of this right-wing movement, I would suggest this book to anyone who has a rudementary understanding of Christian Identity but who would like to learn more.

While I highly enjoyed this book and found it meticulously, yet engagingly, researched, I will try to refrain from repeating what other reviewers have already stated. What I would like to add, is that I was unexpectedly impressed with the tortuous connections Barkun unearthed between the Identity/British-Israel sects/movements and other strains of Protestants and Pentecostals. I felt that I learned not only about Identity, but also gained a wider perspective on America's colorful religious history. Barkun also did an admirable job of maintaining a degree of objectivity and emotional distance from his subject, preventing a preachy or moralistic tone from overwhelming the book.