Missouri Books

This book connects between two worlds I care for, the baseball world of my childhood and the Jewish world of America and Eastern Europe. This alone is enough for it to provide a certain enjoyment and insight.

Now that the Krimsker Jews we met in Small Worlds have emigrated to St. Louis, Hoffman can explore questions of what makes a people? How are a religion and its religious to adjust to new surroundings? The novel's invention and humanity are matched by Hoffman's great skill in the craft of writing. Scenes work so well, and his denoument is fitting and intriguing. I'll look for the third in this series.

This is a well written sequel to Hoffman's first book. I found it interesting, but at times confusing. His reintroduction or reference to characters in Small Worlds are not always clear, especially if it has been some time since one read the first.

Before she died, Agnes Sutton made arrangements with several shop owners that her slow-witted son Toby would do odd jobs for them. All of the shop owners, including flower shop owner Bretta Solomon, like Toby and are happy to oblige. Toby was liked by all, which is why it's so perplexing that someone would murder him by rigging a hornet's nest set to fall and break open when Toby opened his bedroom door. Even more perplexing, the motive seems to be that Toby discovered someone was stealing his mother's hibiscus plants. Bretta has investigated some murders in the past and with the encouragement of the other shop owners, she looks into Toby's murder. She has plenty of suspects, including all the shop owners Toby worked for, some who weren't as kind to Toby as Bretta initially thought. When Bretta isn't busy selling flowers or investigating the murder, she is working on rebuilding a relationship with her father and turning her house into a boarding house. But even that has its problems as Bretta wonders about the relationship between her father and interior designer Abigail Dupree. As Bretta investigates Toby's murder, she realizes that many people and events aren't what they seem to be on the surface.

"Bindweed" was a mixed bag. Author Janis Harrison's greatest strength in writing is her characterization and Bretta Solomon is a great character - a widow rebuilding her life and in a new relationship with Bailey Monroe. Her struggles with her weight, as well as her struggles in dealing with her father are well written and believable. Other characters are equally well written especially Toby, Bretta's housekeeper DeeDee, her coworkers Lew and Lois, gruff Sheriff Sid Hancock, and the various shop owners. Even Agnes, Toby's mother, dead before the book starts, is well written, as people talk about what she was like and we get to see inside her house and how she set it up for Toby. But other parts of the book didn't work as well for me. Since this book was part of a series (which I didn't know when I picked it up) I felt confused about some things in the book - like how Bretta's husband died and why her relationship with her father was so strained. Also, the mystery elements didn't really work for me. There were two murders in the book, but neither seemed realistically done - I never could figure out how the murderer was able to get the hornet's nest in Toby's room without letting the hornets loose. And the motive for the murder was convoluted and unbelievable, as was the killer's reaction when caught.

"Bindweed" had its moments, but ultimately was disappointing.

In River City, Missouri, before she passed away from a terminal illness, Agnes Sutton arranged with the Hawthorne Street shopkeepers to hire her brain damaged son Toby to do odd jobs for them so that he can remain somewhat independent. Though only mentally functioning like a child, Toby is a dedicated helper doing his chores diligently like washing store windows and taking out the trash.

Thus when Bretta Solomon, owner of the flower shop, learns that her conscientious helper died from hornet bites, she takes it personally perhaps because her late spouse Carl was a deputy sheriff. Bretta wonders why anyone would kill the harmless Toby by planting the deadly nest inside his room. The only possible motive she can think of must be Agnes' odd-looking flowers that someone stole from the deceased woman's garden. She ponders whether these flowers can be valuable enough for someone to REAP A WICKED HARVEST that led to murder. She ivestigates while also slowing down her romance with a neighbor and coping with her father's thirty-something squeeze wanting to redesign her home.

This is a terrific amateur sleuth tale in which the clues are discovered by the heroine in a reasonable but clever manner. The support cast provides the eccentricities of small town living specially Bretta's battling assistants Lew and Lois who argue over everything even that critical 1960s question of Superman or Spiderman and her father with his "designer girlfriend" who becomes her cohort in sleuthing. Readers will enjoy the latest Gardening Mystery.

Harriet Klausner

Janis Harrison has put together a gardening mystery series that makes me wish I had "the touch" for flowers -- arranging or growing. Ms. Harrison certainly has the touch for writing wonderful books. I actually read "Bindweed" first. Loved it! So I sought out her other books and read those in order. Well, I did not believe it but I am so bonded to Bretta and her household and her flower shop -- and, of course, Bailey! (I hold a special place in my heart for Carl.) If Bretta had a dog or a cat I would probably love him or her also. I even love the SUV (but glad that she is footing the fuel bills). This is just an absolutely wonderful series and I can hardly wait for more from Janis Harrison.

I liked the book thick and thin, from front to back! I am glad to sell this book and review it! Henry is a genius and I guess Bill too!

scott elfwood "CHICAGO SUN-TIMES" TM

Henry did a great job on this book. It truly describes is life as he only knows it. It is great I came out to St.Louis in October 98 and this pass weekend for his 90th at WEBSTER UNIVERSITY 10/29/30/99 IS DATE AND A CLUB CALLED BB'S JAZZ BLUES AND SOUPS MILLIONS OF PEOPLE LOVE Henry and his Music. A billiant man! Judy west

This book is about the life of Blues Legend, Henry Townsend. It gives a vibrant touch to his life before his around the world music playing days and during. Henry and Bill show us how it feels to be a Blues Legend and how to learn how to go at a career as a bluesman, Henry and Bill has wrote a masterpiece in itself. And I and hopefully others hope that this masterpiece will be followed with another. You can Find his cds on this amazon.com and others. "The 88' Blues" can be found in St.Louis and blueberry hill.com

Dr. Lee Cheek is a fabulous author, he takes advantage of every sentence. Every thought is loaded with political genius from a true student of politics. Dr. Cheek has a love and energy for politics that is pure and refreshing. He brings a new perspective to a often misunderstood historical politician. Cheek brings Calhoun back to life and shows that his thoughts and political theories are still relevent in the modern America. It is fabulous and I would highly recommend it for anyone who wants a good read in American Political Thought.

There is no doubt that Dr. Lee Cheek is a brilliant author whose command of the English language is indeed impressive as displayed throughout this discourse. As a new student to understanding the political thought motivating early Americana, this book serves as a highly evolved analytical treatise to the Calhounian theories between the role of State v. 'general' government, majoritarianism, constitutionality, popular rule of society and much more. Many of Calhoun's cognitive exploits are excerpted from his original Papers and his two major works, i.e., the Disquisition and the Discourse. Although this work clearly stipulates many views of substantive Calhoun detractors, the author tends to discount the majority of their missives by stating that those detractors have often misunderstood Calhoun's more contemplative meanings on many issues. It would seem that given the numerous footnotes referencing other authors on Calhoun throughout this work, there is much more to the Man than is portrayed in this volume; certainly, it must be entertained that those discussions may fall well outside the scope of this volume. Calhoun's experiences and writings have given rise to a great deal of debate about the Man and his objectives. Even today, 152 years after his death, he remains an enigma of political discourse. To more fully appreciate this work by Dr. Cheek, it would behoove a student interested in pursuing a more indepth look into Calhounian thought to digest the unabridged texts of his Disquisition and his Discourse, and perhaps, many of his Papers.

~Calhoun and Popular Rule: The Political Theory of the Disquisition and Discourse~ outlines the political theory of the esteemed southern statesmen John Caldwell Calhoun who is often lauded as the last American Founding Father. H. Lee. Cheek, Jr., the author, presents an astute exposition of Calhoun's political thought. Cheek does so by coupling objectivity, cogent reasoning with an enthusiastic appreciation for the contributions of Calhoun to political science. He presents Calhoun as a versatile, bold, and original thinker, but not aloof from the American political tradition wrought out in the formative years of the Republic. Calhoun is a complex figure in his own right, though somewhat influenced by the liberal and Enlightenment tradition, he stil rejected the liberal philosophy of natural rights and the Enlightenment's positive view of human nature. Cheek explicates Calhoun's concurrent majority with remarkable clarity and insight. Calhoun's statesmanship is neglected these days, and shoddy partisan scholarship glibly dismisses him as a firebrand voice for sectional interests. Calhoun attached a fervent willingness to defend the American republic, to stave off dissolution of the federal regime, and eschew consolidation as a means of strengthening the republic.

This book is a well thought-out exposition of Calhoun's political theory. Even some of Calhoun's thorough biographers such as John Nevin among others have obfuscated Calhoun's political theory at times, and muddied the waters by incorrectly elaborating upon it or simply explaining it in reductionist terms. As result of their neglect at more careful study, Calhoun's contribution to political science is oft neglected and apt to be misunderstood. Cheek's effort is a poignant, well-written, and cogent elucidation on the Disquisition, the Discourse, and the principle of the concurrent majority. He clears up many matters, and soundly expounds Calhoun's political thought, chiefly that of the Disquisition and Discourse.

Calhoun was a member of that Democrat Party, yet he was opposed to the nascent demagoguery of Andrew Jackson and he rightly recognized the "limitations of the emerging plebiscitarian spirit within American democracy." He insisted only delineating himself as a "Republican" throughout his career. Calhoun was a most sober democrat, precisely because he recognized the limitations of democracy. For Calhoun, democracy works best by being dispersed (or localized) and is most tyrannical when it is centralized. Calhoun was focused on the search for a proper understanding of popular rule.

The first chapter, `Calhoun and the American Political Tradition,' sketches a background of the American political tradition from its inception. Cheek presents Calhoun as a heir and expositor of the South Atlantic republican worldview. This view, succinctly stated, was shaded by "moral and philosophical overtones," it affirmed the principle of subsidiarity, it saw the necessity of virtue amongst the citizenry of the States (inculcated by religion and fear of God), and it recognized the need to protect a "decentralized, group-oriented society." Following in the footsteps of his father Patrick Calhoun (who like Patrick Henry) was skeptical of the work wrought out in the 1787 Convention, John in turn was not doctrinaire to the dogmas espoused by Madison and Hamilton in the Federalist. Calhoun nonetheless admired the federal polity, but sought to solidify popular rule through concurrent majorities. "Calhoun's political theory should be understood as a reflective journey," notes Cheek, "towards recovering genuine popular rule amidst the national crises that occurred during his career as a statesmen and political philosopher."

The second chapter, `Calhoun's Early Republicanism,' elaborates upon his mode of political reflection and the In this chapter, Cheek weaves together history interspersed with Calhoun's reflections, political views, and defense of the principles of 1798 in the interposition statements in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. In précis, Cheek paints a background to Calhoun's mode of political thought through the lens of the "South Atlantic republican experience." Calhoun's embrace of interposition as a counterweight to federal usurpation encapsulated and shaped Calhoun's political thought. Calhoun like many other statesmen from Robert Hayne to Thomas Jefferson found the notion that federal government would be the exclusive interpreter of whether it was operating within the scope of its powers to be anathema. Giving the States, no recourse against federal usurpation was the very embodiment of tyranny. Calhoun's republicanism compelled him to affirm dual sovereignty, and more resoundingly affirm the reserved rights of the states which he perceived were being encroached upon in his time. Calhoun saw the Constitution as a compact between the States and the general Government. Embracing the idea of corporate liberty, Calhoun recognized that not only the institutions within the general government, but also the States acted as a check against usurpations by the central authority.

The third and fourth chapters, `The Political Theory of the Disquisition' and `The Political Theory of the Discourse' are trenchant analyses of Calhoun's Disquisition and Discourse respectively. Calhoun rejects natural rights, and scoffs at the self-evident egalitarian proposition in the Declaration, and embraced the doctrine of original sin in shaping his political thought. Yet Calhoun recognized authority existed to preserve liberty and he made a careful effort at structuring the interrelationship between the two in his writings. He was an organic political thinker weaving together communal, societal and government interests in his thought. Because of the sinful impulse of man, government was needed, and because of that same sinful impulse, government was to be restrained. "Intended to protect and preserve society," government has "a strong tendency to disorder and abuse of its power, as all experiences and almost every page of history will testify," argued Calhoun. Mere adherence to popular rule did not suffice to restrain government, and popular rule could give a locus of legitimacy to the most tyrannical oppression. Calhoun recognized this and affirmed his belief in constitutionalism. Calhoun takes issue with Madison and his notions of an "extended republic" acting to alleviate the intensity of factional strife merely because of the geographic scope of the nation. The idea that the extended republic would stifle majoritarian tyranny was absurd on its face. For Calhoun this was tripe and wishful thinking to think that friction amongst groups would be alleviated merely by enlarging the body politic. "Calhoun confronted a political situation in which the twin attributes of expansion and independence from group interests had failed in practice," notes Cheek. "If extending the regime had proved fruitless at reducing conflict and preventing the coalescing of forces, Calhoun envisioned the solution for America as a return to the original instrumentation of diffused authority." Calhoun recognized that without a continuous conscious effort at affirming a vision of federalism (with states' rights and the concurrent majority as its fulcrum) would in the end prove futile in staving off factional friction, and the undesirable road of either consolidation or disunion.

The final chapter, `Restoring the Concurrent Republic,' is an astute capsule of Calhoun's political theory and his labors to recover the concurrent majority within the American political tradition. Calhoun's contributions have been ignored, and reductionists who demean his reform efforts as nothing more than a proposal allowing for a dual presidency. The concurrent majority allows for genuine popular rule within a constitutional framework. The search for the concurrent majority in popular rule represents an endeavor of restoration and preservation since it embraces mutual negatives and institutional checks and balances while guarding against the tyranny of King Numbers or majoritarian tyranny. "Instead of yearning to dicatate all decision making by controlling government," notes Cheek, "the concurrent majority recognizes and incorporates the natural divisions of authority into a coherent whole through a mode of deliberation premised upon compromise. With the numerical majority (and more absolutist forms governing), the only path to power is found in the domination of the government... [T]he concurrent majority relies upon compromise among the constitutive parts of the republic to ameliorate tension and promote cooperation." The concurrent majority protects the minority interests, thwarts the all-or-nothing game at the national level and stifles coalescing of factions to the detriment of another faction. The concurrent majority represents a constraint against majoritarian tyranny, and acts to produce a peaceful consensus making a polity more workable with less friction amongst competiting interests. Cheek presents Calhoun's affirmation of "a South Atlantic republican inheritance" in a positive light, as well as his efforts to "return to the original diffusion of political authority and authentic popular rule."

With much bravado and clarity, H. Lee Cheek, Jr. has made a most remarkable contribution to political science; he very soundly elucidates Calhoun's political theory with an incisive analysis and insight.

* * * * * * * * * * *
Quotations from the late Senator John C. Calhoun:
"To talk of liberty, without a Constitution, or, which is the same thing, an organic or fundamental system of legislation, by which the will of the Government may be effectually coerced or restrained, is to utter ideas without meaning; and to suppose an ultimate power, on the part of Government, to interpret the Constitution as it pleases, and to resort to force, to execute its interpretation, against the authority which created the Constitution itself, is to be guilty of the greatest political absurdity that can be imagined."

"[I]n governments of the concurrent majority... mere numbers have not the absolute control; and the wealthy and intelligent being identified in interest with the poor and ignorant of their respective portions or interests of the community, become their leaders and protectors. And hence, as the latter would have neither hope nor inducement to rally the former in order to obtain the control, the right of suffrage, under such a government, may be safely enlarged to the extent stated without incurring the hazard to which enlargement would expose governments of the numerical majority."

"But, as there can be no constitution without the negative power, and no negative power without the concurrent majority - it follows, necessarily, that where the numerical majority has the sole control of the government, there can be no constitution; as constitution implies limitation or restriction - and, of course, is inconsistent with the idea of sole or exclusive power. And hence, the numerical, unmixed with the concurrent majority, necessarily forms, in all cases, absolute government."

"On the contrary, the government of the concurrent majority, where the organism is perfect, excludes the possibility of oppression, by giving to each interest, or portion, or order - where there are established classes - the means of protecting itself, by its negative, against all measures calculated to advance the peculiar interests of others at its expense. Its effect, then, is, to cause the different interests, portions, or orders - as the case lay be - to desist from attempting to adopt any measure calculated to promote the prosperity of one, or more, by sacrificing that of others; and thus to force them to unite in such measures only as would promote the prosperity of all, as the only means to prevent the suspension of the action of the government - and, thereby, to avoid anarchy, the greatest of all evils. It is by means of such authorized and effectual resistance, that oppression is prevented, and the necessity of resorting to force superseded, in governments of the concurrent majority - and, hence, compromise, instead of force, becomes their conservative principle."

"The concurrent majority, on the other hand, tends to unite the most opposite and conflicting interests, and to blend the whole in one common attachment to the country. By giving to each interest, or portion, the power of self-protection, all strife and struggle between them for ascendency, is prevented; and, thereby, not only every feeling calculated to weaken the attachment to the whole is suppressed, but the individual and the social feelings are made to unite in one common devotion to country. Each sees and feels that it can best promote its own prosperity by conciliating the goodwill, and promoting the prosperity of the others. And hence, there will be diffused throughout the whole community kind feelings between its different portions; and, instead of antipathy, a rivalry amongst them to promote the interests of each other... Under the combined influence of these causes, the interests of each would be merged in the common interests of the whole; and thus, the community would become a unit, by becoming the common centre of attachment of all its parts. And hence, instead of faction, strife, and struggle for party ascendency, there would be patriotism, nationality, harmony, and a struggle only for supremacy in promoting the common good of the whole."

"The concurrent majority, then, is better suited to enlarge and secure the bounds of liberty, because it is better suited to prevent government from passing beyond its proper limits, and to restrict it to its primary end - the protection of the community."

This book is excellent for the "fleshing out" of characters and personalities of which the preponderence of us only know by name. Dr. Gerteis creates non-fiction which reads like an unfolding panorama of events which could have only been spawned with the creativity of the human mind. But these things happened and they are the property of time. Dr. Gerteis allows us in the salon where before we had only been allowed to peek in the door.

Gerteis' book is valuable to those who are interested in the intricacies of the larger Civil War and to those who are interested in the history of St. Louis. I fall into both categories and loved the book for those reasons alone. Two categories of the times about which I had read very little were the roles that women filled in during the war and how filling those roles lead to social changes after the war (like a prelude of Rosy the Riveter) and also about the role of first runaway slaves, then contraband slaves, and then African Americans of all sorts filling the cities of the border states. The details of some of the characters in history for these two moments--women's roles and integration of black into society--are ones that I will carry with me forever.

Gerteis is a story-teller. He really knows how to make the material move, and it was fun just learning about the intertwining families of St. Louis and how their relationships played out in odd and sometimes violent ways. Very good writing.

(...) Gerteis, professor of history at University Missouri-St. Louis, has created the best single work on the subject yet produced. The breadth of this book is its greatest strength, starting with the lynching of Francis McIntosh in 1836 and ending with Reconstruction in the 1870’s. In between is the expected cast of characters like Thomas Hart Benton, Dred Scott, the Blairs, Gratz Brown, Basil Duke, Claiborne Jackson, Franz Sigel, James O. Broadhead, Sterling Price, Joseph W. Tucker, the Fremonts. . . well, you get the picture. The list could continue to impressive lengths, and does so in Prof. Gerteis’ book. Abraham Lincoln isn’t elected president (en passant at that) until page 77.

Of particular pleasure was the inclusion of significant material on lesser-known, but important, figures like J.E.D. Couzins, James E. Yeatman and the Western Sanitary Commission, Rev. John Richard Anderson, and James B. Eads and the river navy. Prof. Gerteis also does an excellent job of weaving the German thread
into the Union quilt as seamlessly as it has ever been done.

Trowbridge's Kong poems are great examples of the relevancy and potential of contemporary poetry. Although Kong's power as a cultural icon is basically antique, Trowbridge creates a fresh and complex personality who tells the story of his Hollywood lifestyle in the form of poetry vignettes. The book almost reads like a comedic novel.

There are many hilarious moments in the collection, including Kongs power lunch with Godzilla and his try-out for the Chicago Bears. But the book is more than a few good laughs. Each poem reveals more of the persona Trowbridge has created within his simple, effective verse. It's like a clebrity bio without all the whining and impossibility of authenticity. Kong represents the American idea machine at its biggest, and Trowbridge knows just how to manipulate the figure to teach and entertain.

Also available in a hardcover edition, The Complete Book Of Kong by William Trowbridge is a unique and highly recommended collection of poetry celebrating that famous giant ape of the silver screen, King Kong. Trowbridge presents a varied and lyrical depiction of this fearsome beast and the forces he symbolizes, in a reader engaging and refreshingly adventurous series of imaginative verse. Kong's Crush On Madonna: It was that steel/brassiere, leveled/at my heart. Cupid's/twin warheads,/heat seeking,/armor piercing.//Her eyes locked on./She counted down./I had ignition,/lift off.

The life and fate of the Eighth Wonder of the World is the playful and poignant subject of Trowbridge's latest collection. Each of the poems is written from the point of view of Kong (the gritty 1933 version, not the fluffy, disco Kong of 1976). Kong takes mambo lessons, tries video dating, meets Godzilla in the commisary (''I felt this could be/ a big step for me, though at first/ he just sat there drumming his talons,/ nursing a vat of Courvoisier''), all attempts to get his life in order after Fay. (Sadly, no mention is made of MechaniKong.) The jokes are there (many riffing on Kong's size and strength), but Trowbridge takes the conceit to surprisingly serious and sad places. When Kong competes on Let's Makes a Deal, Trowbridge writes, ''the great door opened/ to reveal a big TV with a La-Z-Boy recliner/ and a woman dressed, I think, for mating./ Cheers swarmed like biplanes. 'Am I human now?'/ I asked, feeling bare, and somewhat smaller.'' Altogether, Trowbridge puts the big oaf of an ape in perspective and paints a picture of a melancholy titan just as vulnerable as the rest of us.

Christopher Phillips provides the reader with a fascinting insight into the character of Nathaniel Lyon. Rarely in reading a biography has the reader come away with such a clear and precise understanding as to what the central character's personality was really like.
By providing this insight into Lyon's character the reader can clearly understand what motivated Lyon to take the actions he took in the troubled 1860's in Missouri. Lyon was a not very likable individual, He brought a zealot's zeal to virtually everything he believed in or did regardless of the conseqences. In the end this zeal brought about his own death. A great read...two thumbs up.

This paperback* is useful as a cheap (book can be purchased at a deep discount) means to get an idea of what occurred in Missouri during the first part of the Civil War. Phillip's attempt to psychologically profile General Lyon with today's sensitivities provides the reader with comic relief in this account of some of the darkest days in our history.

*note: one needs to be able to read between the lines of Phillip's politically correct revisionist slant on history.

Damned Yankee provides a surprisingly detailed study of the life of U.S. Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon. Author Chistopher Phillips probes deeply into Lyon's background, family, and military career. The product is a fascinating portrait of a determined and disturbing figure.

Nathaniel Lyon seized the initiative in Missouri, never allowing the determined secessionist governor an opportunity to guide the state out of the Union. While Missourians overall desired neutrality and elected secession convention delegates who soundly rejected secession, the elected state government leaned far more Southern than strictly neutral. From the moment of his entry onto the scene in St. Louis, Lyon worked tirelessly to frustrate Southern ambitions on the Federal arsenal. He butted heads with his more passive superiors in St. Louis; and he successfully conspired with various political figures to usurp and replace these impediments to his perceived mission.

Lyon is a unique personage with an intensely individual interpretation of right and wrong. The author's central theme is that Lyon sought to punish those who strayed from what Lyon perceived to be the right path; and the author is effective in presenting his case. Lyon's disagreements with superiors and fellow officers were frequently intense, often to the point of insufferable insubordination. His punishment of subordinates for infractions was also extreme to the point he was successfully court-martialed for excessive punishment.

The events in Lyon's career I found most disturbing related to his sanctioned and authorized reprisal massacres of Native Americans in California. This certainly makes his declaration of war in Missouri far more threatening: "Better, sir, far better, that the blood of every man, woman and child within the limits of the State should flow, than that she should defy the federal government."

As a military commander and organizer, Lyon proved incredibly capable. Here was a commander with the bold aggressiveness of Grant, the self-assured intensity of Forrest, and the discipline of Stonewall Jackson. However, he also possessed huge flaws such as an inability to get along, political inflexibility, and subversive intrigue that likely would have undone him had he not perished at Wilson's Creek. His eccentric and caustic beliefs were likely to produce outrages.

The author does a fine job of presenting the various viewpoints and back and forth of central characters. When he does present his own conclusions though they are not always convincing. The argument that Lyon was the irritant that leading to much of the eventual conflict in Missouri falls particularly flat, as does the pronouncement that without strong Federal action Missouri's pro-Southern governor and government would still have been unsuccessful in their aims.

I'm also highly skeptical of the author's characterization of Lyon's reasoning for fighting at Wilson's Creek as being a punitive crusade. Lyon was right that he must use his force or lose it. He was also correct that if he retreated without a fight he would give the secessionists control of southwest Missouri. I can't fault the logic of forcing an engagement before determining whether or not to retire in such a circumstance.

There are a few errors in the descriptions of events in Lyon's Civil War campaign, but overall they are well presented. I will note that I was disappointed the author did not point out Lyon's quartermaster Justus McKinstry was later successfully court-martialed for his activities in disrupting Union supply. No doubt that would have detracted from the author's case against Lyon's circumventing of a clearly broken supply system in St. Louis.

Despite the above observations about the author overselling points of his case I agree with his central theme. This is a well-researched book and provides a complete profile of Nathaniel Lyon as a soldier and a man.

A very interesting book. Thoughtful and fun. Amazing sentence structure - I do not remember reading anything quite like it - it was rather refreshing. I note that the author is a Prof. of English at U of Iowa - I do wish I had had someone like him teaching fourty years ago. Hope we see more of his work.

I can't recall ever reading a memoir similar to David Hamilton's Deep River. I don't know if that's because I've just haven't read the whole range of this kind of literature or because his book is unique. What I do know is that I enjoyed it, that I found myself reading it again, that it is beautifully written and that it is still kicking around inside of me.

The book is not organized around any immediately recognizable principles. Yes, all right, there are sections where Hamilton leads us to believe that he is now going to concentrate on the issue of slavery in western Missouri, or on the movement of pioneers through western Missouri, or the Civil War as it affected western Missouri, as well as, of course, on his memories of growing up on a farm next to the Missouri River. But the problem is, or perhaps I should say, the delight for the reader is, that all these various themes keep slipping into one another, folding in and folding out, forming a kind of fabric. The reader starts with one thread and then is diverted to another, and then another, until he meets the first thread again, now somehow changed.

Contradictions abound. Hamilton's careful scholarship is hedged with cautions than none of these "facts" may be supported by careful scholarship. He floods us with handed-down stories of the region, but asks us the question: How is he to compose a readable book except by choosing the most readable stories -- whether they are true or not? His detailed, graphic and beautifully written accounts of how he learned to hammer a nail, dig a fence post hole or which objects his uncle carried in the back of his pick-up truck, are set against a sweeping historical and pre-historical panorama that takes us back past the Missouri Indians to possible evidence that this land was inhabited by humans 35,000 years ago.

And on and on. Although I have read nothing else of Hamilton's (he is a professor of English literature at The University of Iowa and the editor of THE IOWA REVIEW), I suggest that this book can most successfully be approached as poetry writ large, and in reading it, above and beyond its engaging parts, we are being offered Hamilton's very personal take on the nature of reality.

DEEP RIVER is about much more than a Missouri bottom-land farm, although that farm and the author's family who worked it are central. Hamilton delves back in time to the days of Indian tribes and of slavery, and along the way spins some great stories about Frank and Jesse James, Blind Boone (a virtuouso pianist), and other colorful characters. He gives a memorable account of growing up in rural Missouri and of his school days. I found the book absorbing, and relished the author's shrewd insights and morsels of wisdom. It's the nearest thing to Thoreau's WALDEN I've seen in a long time, and it too deserves to last. Not incidentally, Hamilton, for many years the editor of THE IOWA REVIEW, writes like a dream.

Doniphan and his ragtag force of Missouri ruffians represent all that is admirable in the non-professional military ideal. They proved what a citizen army can do when led by competent citizen leaders. The end of the story is a bit of a tragedy in that Col. Doniphan comes to see the Mexican war as a war of aggression and sees himself and his men as pawns in that evil game. As a true soldier, he carries the fight for peace to the end.

This is an awe-inspiring tale of ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances inspiring heroic actions. At the same time it is a biography that traces the effect war and political intrigue the individual. Col. Doniphan's military campaign journey and political journey show us how men can change. He and his rugged men rightly wear the honored title of "American Xenophon."

"Doniphan's Epic March" explores the experience of the 1st Missouri Volunteers in the Mexican-American War. A volunteer unit formed in June 1846, just after the declaration of war against Mexico, the 1st Missouri formed an integral part of the Army of West led by Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny. Under the command of Alexander William Doniphan-an able young Missouri lawyer, militiaman, and politician-the 1st Missouri performed admirably in the conquest of New Mexico and northern Mexico in 1846-1847. He led it on an epic march of 3,600 miles throughout the Southwest, commanding it to victory over two larger Mexican forces at El Brazito and Sacramento. Joseph G. Dawson III, on the faculty at Texas A&M University, tells this story with enthusiasm and pungency.

The significance of Dawson's work rests on his analysis of the role of citizen soldiers in the wars of America, using Doniphan as a case study, both in the context of combat operations and in military governance of captured territory. In many respects Doniphan was a Cincinnatus at the plough, answering the call of his people to defeat perceived enemies. As such he was like many other Americans both before and since. Dawson explores this issue in relation to the nineteenth century American military establishment, an establishment that gave Doniphan, and indeed all other non-career officers, grudging respect at best. In a rare episode, the Army even invited Doniphan to address the cadets at West Point in the aftermath of the war. Dawson concludes that such citizen soldiers as Doniphan have been an important source of strength for the United States throughout its history. Yet they have received scant attention and even less analysis by military historians.

Dawson also uses Doniphan to evaluate the role of the military in governing conquered foreign provinces. This was something that the United States did not have to deal with before the Mexican-American War. But the acquisition of New Mexico and California by invasion of the Army of the West raised important questions about the status of the peoples residing there and the form of government to be established. Doniphan's legal background made him an ideal advisor to Kearny as he dealt with these questions in relation to New Mexico. With the mission of bringing New Mexico into the United States, Doniphan counseled Kearny to swear its residents to allegiance to the conquering nation and to establish a civilian government as expeditiously as possible. Kearny did just that, and Doniphan wrote both an oath of allegiance used throughout the territory and a law code that served well the now U.S.-controlled territory of New Mexico. This approach, championed by Doniphan, set a precedent that has continued.

"Doniphan's Epic March" is a good book. It is solidly researched and well written. Most important, it offers broad conclusions about the role of volunteer officers in American military history.

Dr. Joseph Dawson's new book is an outstanding study of perhaps the most grueling and longest campaign in American military history. Following in-hand with Dr. Roger Lanius' superb recent biography of the Mexican War's quintessential citizen-soldier, Alexander William Doniphan, colonel of the 1st Missouri Mounted Volunteer Regiment, this is a regimental history well-done and well-told. Dawson's strong military back-ground, meticulous research, and smooth and vibrant writing style brings color and passion to a great military venture. The reader is carried away in the struggle, the dust and grime of the march, but it never loses the focus of the winds of Manifest Destiny and the tidal-wave of national expansion. Glory and gore fill the pages as Doniphan, the most unlikely hero of the war, leads his rag-tag, motley command of Missourians hundreds of miles deep into Mexican territory, winning two major battles on the way. His ability to paint the difficulty and drudgery of the march, the courage and sacrifice of the men, and the unfolding national events in Washington and Mexico City are all woven into the fabric of splendid prose. The only area that may be considered a shortcoming is the last chapter that spends so much time and ink on the sectional crisis over slavery. Here, the flow loses some focus from the previously straight and direct narrative of the war and Doniphan's march. Joseph Dawson succeeded is telling the story of a great but little known military operation that is rivaled only by Alexander and Napoleon's feats.

excellent legal tale with a timely theme at its center: how drugs are brought to market. a foreign takeover of a small pharmaceutical company offers insights into the origin and importance of trademarks and the fda approval process. smooth, confident narrative tone and engaging characters.

john grisham style with john. very tough to put this book down. keep up the rachel gold series.

Real life lawyer Kahn does a good job with his female lawyer character, Rachel Gold. Her raunchy friend, Benny, keeps Ms. Gold from taking herself too seriously. For people who know St. Louis, the book is full of local references...you always know where Rachel is about town. I had several good laughs in this book, in my opinion, the best of Kahn's Rachel Gold books.