South Carolina Books

David is an enigmatic figure. He has stories attributed to him that are reminiscent of legendary figures from Greek mythology, yet has other stories that show him as a very flawed, very human figure. He seems loyal and disloyal, caring and selfish, naïve and manipulative - almost as if there were several personalities present. Yet through all of this complexity, the single figure of David is more prominent than almost any other human figure in the Hebrew Scriptures (for instance, David's name appears about 1080 times, compared with 772 for Moses, the next most-cited person). Moses, too, is a flawed person, but the depth of detail of David makes him in many ways a more interesting figure; his close-ness yet distance to the Divine also makes him more like the others of us ordinary human beings.

Steussy identifies four different narrative strands that give the portrait of David to us: The history from Genesis to Kings (in particular, the narrative in Samuel); the Chronicles, a parallel yet distinct history from the other; the Psalms, many attributed to David, others talking about David as God's chosen or special one, and the general sense of all the Psalms being 'of David'; and finally, snippets of David from prophetic literature. While the image of David continues to be replayed and embellished in current art and literature, Steussy confines this survey to the actual Biblical presentations of David.

Steussy devotes major attention to the first three strands of David; the largest strand being the first, the primary history set forth from Torah to Kings. She likens the first strand to being a mural realistically painted, the second strand from Chronicles as being more akin to a stained-glass window image of David, and the Psalms as being a collage portrait of David. The fourth strand is more difficult to pin down, and only one chapter is devoted to it, because the scattered references do not make up, in terms of volume, a significant addition; however, they do add, rather like spices, a flavouring to the other primary pieces. Through all the portraits, 'David stands perpetually at the point where divine power enters our world'.

Steussy also delineates the different ways of approaching the Biblical text: dogmatic, critical, and artistic. Being a professor in a liberal-academic setting, perhaps it is natural that Steussy would approach the topic primary from the scholarly-critical method. However, she does not discount the other approaches as invalid or without value, and draws in on occasion differing possibilities based on the variety of approaches available.

While this is a scholarly text, it is not part of that body of work that is 'by scholars, for scholars'. Steussy avoids jargon and discipline-specific terminology whenever possible, and when not possible, defines and explains the language she is using. Thus, this is a book accessible to any person interested in topics such as history and Biblical studies regardless of specific educational background.

Steussy does have an amazing care for attention to detail; for example, having chosen to use the text of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible as the primary text for references, she then in turn analyses and criticises the translation and word choice wherever it seems to her problematic. This kind of attention also draws in references from outside sources and cross-references in the Biblical texts to further illuminate points along the way.

Steussy has an extensive bibliography which lists many valuable resources. There are endnotes (I have a preference as a reader for footnotes, but the placement decision is often a publisher one rather than an author one), and blessedly a topical index in addition to an index of Biblical references.

This is a fascinating study of David, which would serve well for individual study, classroom assignments and Bible study groups.

Dawn Langley Simmons life story in this incredible autobiography is one full of contrasts. Born and identified as a boy and named Gordon in Britain,she eventually was able to have the necessary surgery in America to become the woman she was intended to be. As a writer Gordon emigrated to America and mixed with the rich and famous and the upper echeleons of society. He became very wealthy in his own right and from a legacy left to him. He was able to buy an historic house in Charleston and have the surgery required to become a woman. Dawn then met and married a poor black man,and faced a future of racism and abuse from the community, eventually having to leave Charleston and after many shifts becoming very poor herself and joining the black community of her husband. She gives birth to a daughter and is now a grandmother. But her husband can be described as a scoundrel,having had affairs,almost killing Dawn with his abuse and then being diagnosed with schitzophrenia. The ! fact that Dawn could be so forgiving is a testament to her strength and character. I first read about Dawn in a magazine in 1997 and spent a very long time tracking down this book,eventually getting it from Amazon.com. Reading of Dawn's British roots in Heathfield and Tunbridge Wells was so neat as all of my relatives come from that part of the world too,so the places she mentioned I was able to picture in my mind. This book is a very good story of an incredible life of unbelievable contrasts. How many people could cope with what Dawn has been through and come out such a lovely person.

Eliza Lucas Pinckney was a young woman who managed a plantation. In her day, this was unheard of! She had a head for business and agriculture. Eliza experimented with crops that brought wealth to the colonies, despite failure due to weather, insects and the jealousy of a sneaky dye maker who destroyed her crop because he didn't like working for a girl!

From seed to harvest to finished product, A Day In the Life of a Colonial Indigo Planter tells the story of indigo and the fascinating story of Eliza Lucas Pinckney, who earned a place in American history.

Most highly recommended!

Dr. Sullivan presents a fascinating account of an important--but often overlooked--era in the American Civil Rights movement. Days of Hope is an authoritative account of the roots of the civil rights struggle. The book is interesting, comprehensive, and impeccably sourced and researched. A must for any student of the movement.

Every now and then you luck into a beautifully produced book which changes your frame of reference. "De Leon" is as close to telling us about who we are and what made our nation as any I've read.
You don't have to be an historian or a scholar or someone with a particular interest in Mexican American history to realize that the De Leon story, in Crimm's telling, is as engaging, exciting, and moving as any part of our American story. "De Leon" offers an understanding not just of a piece of family history but of a whole landscape, storied but unfamiliar to many of us. Highly recommended!

This was required reading for a graduate course in American history.
Brooks book highlights another example of how Americans, demobilizing from a foreign war against racism and tyranny, became acutely aware of their own country's inconsistencies and hypocrisies about race and democracy. This article shows how returning veterans - both black and white - organized protests against the undemocratic machine in their home state of Georgia, but struggled with the degree to which they embraced racial change. Brooks argues that it is difficult to ascertain whether World War II helped inspire change, or just reinforced the status quo in Georgia and the South.

Using both primary sources, such as interviews and newspaper articles, and secondary sources, Brooks recounts the efforts of returning veterans. She regards veteran activism as a "barometer by which to measure the war's political impact" (564) and supports her argument by detailing the opinions of veterans and describing efforts of black and white veterans groups to jointly support political campaigns. Brooks suggests that the contradictions about race, economics and social progress the veterans experienced help define the postwar period as disruptive and destabilizing.

One example of black and white Georgian veterans groups working together was when the black World War II-Veterans Association mobilized so many black voters that they ultimately gave the win to the white Citizens
Progressive League, thereby ousting a less progressive incumbent political machine. Another more direct example is the interracial American Veterans Committee, in which black and white veterans worked to obtain full GI benefits and better housing and to stop police brutality against blacks. They also worked side by side toward change by jointly supporting moderate or liberal candidates. against white supremacist candidates like Eugene Talmadge. Finally, black and white veterans jointly launched an attack on the county-unit system, which apportioned electoral votes so that it discriminated against urbanites, blacks and the working class. A joint coalition, called the Georgia Veterans for Majority Rule, challenged this practice through lawsuits and letter campaigns.

Brooks reinforces the argument of the ambiguity of World War II as catalyst or as a constrictor of racial change by examining the other side of the argument the times when progressive racial reform agendas failed. For example, she details reactionary efforts of veterans who aligned themselves with the Ku Klux Klan or the Columbians, Inc. and how their tactics prevented efforts of moderate politics. She found that the economic situation was an important element in the Ku Klux Klan's and Columbians' ability to successfully recruit white veterans. Many veterans felt entitled to some of the spoils of the reconversion efforts and became disillusioned by the realities of overcrowding and the slow economic situation of post-war Georgia. As we saw in McEnaney's article2 some white veterans fought to claim their position on the top of the economic hierarchy and became afraid of competition from blacks.

Alternatively, these economic concerns inspired other white veterans to overturn the corruption and inefficiency of incumbent regimes. They were also embarrassed by the wartime remarks of fellow servicemen from other states deriding their home state's economic depravity and corrupt politics. Therefore, they fought to change the status quo and successfully ousted the incumbent political machines. However, these white veterans were most convinced by arguments that the corruption infringed upon their economic rights, not necessarily acknowledging the infringement upon the civil rights of their fellow black veterans. These often separate, even opposing, positions of race and economics reflect the ambiguity that is inherent in the definition of progress.
Brooks further reflects this ambiguity about race in her description of James Carmichael's campaign, in which he both attacked the racial extremism of the Ku Klux Klan and advocated the county-unit system. She declares that most white veteran campaigners were forced to adopt a two-faced outlook about progress, in which they advocated for economic growth and modernization while enforcing racial status quo. She asserts that the legacy of this period is one in which racial reform and economic reform walked side by side, but that growth politics
ultimately prevailed over progressive racial politics. While Brooks paints a complex picture of post-war Georgia politics and society, her arguments were incoherent at times. Instead of arguments postulated and defended with concrete examples, she presents incidences of where policies failed and where they succeeded. For example, she discusses how the CPL's campaign for economic modernization of society defeated the
status quo, often racist, Savannah incumbent party then, in the next sentence, discusses how the status quo county:-system defeated a more progressive campaigner, Carmichael. Perhaps, however, Brook's employs these juxtaposed arguments as a scholarly technique to parallel the ambiguity about race and economics and whether World War II helped inspire change, or reinforced the status quo in Georgia.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in American history, civil rights history.

This is an extensive history of the descendants of John Craig, Esq and John Robinson, Sr. Eloise Robinson Craig spent many years of her life researching these families from her home at the Craig Farm in Lancaster County, SC, and her time and effort is outstanding. Eloise was a lovely woman, and died in 1991. She is buried in Old Shiloh Church Cemetery in Lancaster, SC, and the building where she did all of her research still stands on the Craig Farm. Not only are there many branches of the Craig and Robinson family trees, she has also added diagrams, letters and maps. Thanks to Eloise, the Craig and Robinson families will remain alive for many years to come. I have asked her family who still lives on the farm to do a reprint, but at present, there are no plans to do so that I am aware of. This book is highly recommended to anyone who is connected to this family, as I use it for reference in my family research all the time.

College-level health collections as well as public libraries with a strong health information section will welcome DICTIONARY OF PHARMACY - the only English-language reference to provide a comprehensive A-Z listing of abbreviations, weights and measures, ethics, professional associations, colleges of pharmacy in the US, and more. Students will find it packed with all kinds of details relating to the industry - an essential handbook.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

For the definition of a word, we consult the dictionary and find the current acceptable definition of the word. Words can have much more than a definition. Words can have meaning and emotions that change with time and place. Disunion is a word with a definition that has not changed much in 200 years. However, the meaning, the emotions that disunion had are no longer available to us. These were unique to 19th Century Americans in the years leading up to the Civil War. Their reaction to the word disunion was much different and meaningful than ours. This book is a history of the meaning and emotions of one word during that time. The author has recreated the meaning and emotions of those times, giving us a real understanding of this highly charged word.
This book shows how disunion was the code for a "sublimely adaptable concept" that had a wide usage in politics. Disunion was at the same time, a prophecy or a threat, or an accusation and a process. Politicians used all to these tools to force an agenda on their opponents. At the same time, social groups made use of these tools to push forward their causes. From 1789 to 1859, when secession becomes fact, disunion is often spoken or considered by both Northerners and Southerners. The author states she is a firm member of the Emancipation Tradition and declares her sympathies are with the Abolitionists. However, she never lets this keep her from telling all sides of the story. She never allows this to descend into attacks on The South or to keep her from telling the full story. Her even handed treatment results in an excellent history that is well balanced and fairly presents all sides.
This can be a very revealing book to read. Consider the following:
Abolitionists were the biggest users of the word. Garrison wanted disunion and wrote that it was best for the nation.
Disunion petitions were common from people living in the Northern part of the nation.
The South had considered disunion a number of times prior to 1860. Pro-Union Southerners had always defeated this idea. Lincoln's hope that war could be avoided is not such a forlorn hope after reading the history of these conventions.
The history of the word "disunion" is a history of American from 1789 to 1859. The book covers each major political event and many minor ones at the right level of detail. We never get bogged down but we have the information needed to understand the causes and motivations involved. In addition, the reader gets a history of the Abolition Movement and race relations in the North and South. This is quite an amount of information for one book. The author's writing is for academia and can be somewhat difficult. I never found her boring and will state that any "work" involved in reading this book is going to pay dividends later.
I recommend this book to all Civil War readers as an essential foundation to understanding why the war came and many of the decisions of 1860 to 1862. On a personal note; this is my 300th Amazon review. I am very happy to have such an outstanding book in that position!

Item as described, arrived in good shape in a timely fashion. Would do business with again.