Ohio Books

In "Mid-Century City: Cincinnati At The Apex", the historic photography of Sarge Marsh is nicely supported by the brief narrative text of John Fleishchman to present the city of Cinncinnati, Ohio in the mid-nineteenth century at the height of World War II when this American Midwest metropolis featured downtown movie palaces able to seat 1500 people at a time, when there was an airport served by shiny, propeller-driven DC-3 and DC-4 aircraft and people dressed formally to fly, when a typical business office worker was equipped with a wooden desk and a black telephone, when afternoon shoppers got their lunch in noisy, boisterous cafeterias. A superb showcase presenting a now time-lost yesteryear of Cincinnati, Ohio, "Mid-Century City" is a nostalgic series of images that is especially recommended for anyone who still remembers what it was like more than half a century ago.

I live in Oh and bought the book in OH. I have not figured out how to tell which state the book is for. I can tell you that everything matches with what I know. It is excellent! It includes lots of good practical information. I grow Blueberry, Red and Black Raspberries plus the garden vegtable and fruit plants.

I.M. Lewis is the recognized expert on Somali cultural anthropology. He presents detailed and accurate information on clan and family structure that aids in understanding issues facing the culture (and nation/s) today.

After studying in Illinois for two years, well I wouldn't call what I was doing STUDYING, I happened upon this book. I saw the light! It is so clear, user friendly and succinct. I feel that I owe the authors something. As you can see, I've crossed a couple borders over to Ohio. Thank goodness the publishers make many many state editions. Never too much of a good thing. The sixteenth edition of this book comes with a study CD-ROM which is fabulous. If you've "studied" real estate and have yet to pass your exam, just take the quizzes over and over until you achieve 90-100% accuracy. That will be soon and you will blaze through the state exam.

Author should develop a link with online editions of "Roadside America"..the national (2nd ed.) covers mostly major "tourist traps"...out west.

This book concerns the escape of Confederate General John Hunt Morgan from his prison cell in Columbus, Ohio. Easily read by the novice reader, yet deep enough for a traind historian, this book will tell you most of what there is to know about how Morgan and his aide, Thomas Hines, escaped recaptured. It even relates a different version of the tale, and why it is not likely to be the correct interpretation. If you like the Civl War, you should buy this book. It's only fault was that it could have used more pages to tell even more of this incredible story.

I am a community sexual health educator and I consider this book as one of my most valuable tools. The book is a compilation of letters from people (women and men) seeking advice about contraception and family planning during a time in history (not so long ago) when this subject was illegal. Legislation known as the Comstock Laws made it impossible for even married couples to gain information and services that would allow them to plan the size and timing of their families.

Each letter in this book conveys desperation and heart ache. Children died or were raised in devistating poverty simply out of ignorance. As my young students read the letters, they get the deepest sense of connection to history at a very personal level and they recognize the important privilage and responsibility that they now have with safe and legal access to family planning services.

This book is inspirational and invaluable. An excellent reminder of "the way things were."

Robert Silverberg tells the fascinating history of the rise and fall of the myth of the Mound Builders in a massively-researched book. Not many people know, for example, that the myth of the Mound Builders was finally laid to rest by the work of the Smithsonian Institution in the 1870s and 1880s under the direction of John Wesley Powell, the Civil War hero and one-armed explorer of the Colorado River (note "Lake Powell).

By 1800, the mystery of the tens of thousands of mounds in the eastern United States called out for a solution, and that solution was not to be found in the Native Americans, who were considered too lazy to have constructed such great works. The mounds had to have been the work of some superior lost white race--notably the ancient Hebrews, but also others.

Prejudice was so strong that few, if any, scholars believed that the Indians, themselves, constructed the mounds (the view from our time). The logic of racial superiority, national pride, religion, and the pocketbook demanded a history in which the Indians killed off an ancient white race of "Mound Builders."

A vast continent lay at the feet of a young nation, and the only thing obstacle to its settlement were the Indians. Silverberg writes with brilliance and humor: "The dream of a lost prehistoric race in the American heartland was profoundly satisfying; and if the vanished ones had been giants, or white men, or Israelites, or Danes, or Toltecs, or giant white Jewish Toltec Vikings, so much the better."

Silverberg sees both "Manuscript Found" (1816) and the Book of Mormon (1830) as expressions of the Mound Builder myth. In about 1816, the Reverend Solomon Spaulding wrote a novel about two races in ancient America. A narrator in the story claimed to have found 28 parchment scrolls, which he translated. The scrolls tell the story of a shipload of Roman Christians who are blown across the ocean to America. Once here they meet the fair-skinned race of Mound Builders.

That civilization is described in detail, including its laws, religion, priests, money system, tools, animals, agricultural products, as well as a magical seer stone possessed by its prophets. Letters are exchanged between leaders (the Book of Mormon has "epistles"), "Censors" are the rulers ("Judges" in the Book of Mormon), and lists of generals are given for armies of tens of thousands. The mound builders also have horses and "mamoons" (mammoths).

The dead from great battles are heaped up in mounds (false explanations for the orderly Indian burial mounds of real history). The white race has continuous wars with a darker-skinned race, but hundreds of years of peace are established by a great teacher ("Bosaka" in "Manuscript Found" and Christ in the Book of Mormon).

This extraordinarily long period of peace ends in a battle near a hill. In a last battle in which the white race is exterminated, there is an incident in which a man is beheaded in a sword fight.

Silverberg is dispassionate about these similarities of plot elements to those of the Book of Mormon. "Neutral observers," he writes, "generally suggest the possibility that both works drew their inspiration from the fund of Mound Builder legends then in circulation, leaving aside the question of possible borrowing by Smith from Spaulding" (p. 96).

Silverberg continues this compelling history by showing that the Mound Builder myth continued independently of its expression in the Book of Mormon (1830). By 1839, the vastly popular play "Behemoth" had audiences transfixed with its portrayal of "Behemoth," rogue mastodon who destroyed the mound builders. Whole armies attack Behemoth, and even forts were of no protection against the raging mastodon!

During the early 1800s, copper Indian ornaments (described as "plates") were found in the mounds, and some of these ornaments were even mistaken for parts of swords. From such errors, the mound builders were soon thought to have had iron and steel. And so the myth grew (Thomas Jefferson was among the few who thought that the Indians themselves constructed the mounds).

Read this book if you would like some perspective on why a book like the Book of Mormon would emerge during the early 1800s. It is a brilliant unraveling of a forgotten part of American history.

See my negative, one-star reviews of books by Mormon authors: "Echoes and Evidences," "By the Hand of Mormon," "Lehi in the Deseret," and others. Click here: Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion Lehi in the Desert, the World of the Jaredites, There Were Jaredites (Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol 5)

Your comments--good or bad--are appreciated. Thanks.

Mountain Bike!: The Midwest is a comprehensive guide to classic biking trails throughout the American midwest. Authors Richard Ries and Dave Shepard introduce the cyclist to the sheer physical beauty and easy riding routes Ohio; the Scioto Trail State Forest; Wayne National Forest; Indiana; throughout Illinois (including the Chicago/Rockford area); the Shawnee National Forest; and much, much more. Each route is profiled with at-a-glance key information, a thorough ride description, a detailed trail map, helpful sources of information, proximity of important services, valuable commentary on elevation changes and possible hazards, and a rescue index. Enhanced with candid and evocative photographs, vivid descriptions of native flora and fauna, a glossary of mountain biking terms, and tips on mountain biking etiquette, Mountain Bike!: The Midwest is a "must" for dedicated cyclists exploring the biking trails of the American midwest.

For those interested in Cincinnati history or the names and former addresses of family members who came from there, this book can be a valuable resource. Includes maiden names, clubs, ancestral Societies, Debutants and "other matters of Social Interest" according to the book itself