Illinois Books

THE FINE COMPANIES WHO PRODUCE REPRODUCTIONS HAVE NO OFFERED A NUMBER OF BOOKS ON STEPHEN DOUGLAS, NONE OF THESE OLDER WORKS OFFER THE CLEAR, SOMEWHAT IMPARTIAL PICTURE OF THE LITTLE GIANT THAT JOHANSEN GIVES US. AS ANOTHER REVIEWER POINTS OUT IT GIVES THE LINCOLN ENTHUSIST SOMETHING TO HTINK ABOUT AND AT THE SAME TIME ATTEMPS TO PUT DOUGLAS IN HIS PROPER PLACE.
THIS IS A LONG BOOK NOT WRITEN IN AN EASY TO READ BOOK. IT IS WELL WRITTEN, VERY WELL RESEARCHED, AND MOST WORTHWHILE FOR THE SERIOUS STUDENT OF NINETEENTH CENTURY HISTORY. IT WILL NOT PLEASE THE INDIFFERENT STUDENT.

The standard biography of Lincoln's political rival has much about Illinois politics involving both men, and of course the book treats great national issues on which they took opposite sides. The volume is massive and well documented. Its treatment is sympathetic to Douglas but not unduly so, raising points worthy of consideration by admirers of Lincoln

Stephen A Douglas was the political heir to the great nationalist politicians who first became prominent during the War of 1812. He literally followed the footsteps of Clay and Webster. His leadership was vital to passing the Compromise of 1850. Douglas always took the course that he felt best kept the nation together, always supporting expansion and economic development and decrying the rise of divisive slavery politics. He was not an apologist for southern radicals however. Despite being know as Abraham Lincoln's nemesis in Illinois, Douglas ended his life as a supporter of Lincoln's war proclamation. I really gained a level of respect for Douglas after reading about his forlorn tour of the South during the election of 1860 where he tried desperately to stave off secession. Douglas though was a virulent racist and it is hard to speculate if he would have continued to support Lincoln through Emancipation.
One the best biographies I have ever read.

This is probably going to stand as the ultimate political biography of the Little Giant.
It's all here. Beginnings, rise to prominence, decades of tireless work, Kansas-Nebraska in detail, the Senatorial campaign of '58 then the eventual breakup of the country in '60.
I did not know until reading this book what lengths Douglas went to in order to try to keep our Union together. He was willing to stand WITH Lincoln, (his political rival!), in order to keep our Union together. Many were furious with him for aiding a Republican. But Douglas was a great man who transcended party for something much more important. He felt that party affiliations were secondary to the safety of our nation. How many politicians would have the guts to do what he did today?
This is a very long book-more than 800 pages. Lots of detail.

A five-star political narrative history of the leading statesman of the nation after the passing of Henry Clay, but a four-star biography as it barely touches the subject's domestic life. However, the author has painstakingly accounted for almost every political act of Douglas, who the reader discovers was the only possible savior of the Union in 1860. His electoral failure was the failure of the nation to understand what the disastrous consequences would be - a total civil war willingly initiated by abolition and secession extremists. Although as racist and expansionist as most of his contemporaries, his political motives were of the purest democracy (as he understood it). His constant attempts to get the nation's attention away from slavery and back on nation-building were futile was were his attempts to find a compromise on the eve of war. His anguish at seeing his beloved nation and party fall apart brought on his untimely death which left a 25-year void in the leadership of the Democratic Party. A great read for antebellum political junkies!

As N. Chomsky brilliantly states, `Alex Carey draws the veil of deceit and imposed ignorance in the struggle for freedom and justice.'
Alex Carey shows how corporate propaganda protects corporate power (the few) against democracy (the many). Skilled manipulation conceals the real human nature and the needs of the common man in the interest of corporate efficiency and profit, in other words, in the interest of the privileged segments of society.

The effectiveness of propaganda depends on the availability of emotionally charged symbols and ideas. The most powerful ones are nationalist symbols. Therefore, corporate propaganda tries to identify the free-enterprise system with US national values, and strong unions, interventionist governments, communists and alleged liberal fellow travelers with threats to national security, subversion and tyranny.
A surveillance network detects early signs of ideological drifts. Corrective persuasion is immediately disseminated through the media, completely controlled by fellow megacorporations. As the social scientist H.D. Lasswell said: `propaganda is the one means of mass mobilization which is cheaper than violence, bribery or other possible control techniques.'

Another means of manipulation is the filtering of social science studies. Only those which improve the industry's image and interests are propagated.
Alex Carey shows the nonsense and fundamental hypocrisy of alleged `basic' social experiments (the Hawthorne studies, the experiments of K. Lewin and F. Herzberg), which `prove' that salary, job security and good working conditions are only of secondary importance for employees. In the meantime, corporations pocket superprofits.
Alex Carey's dissection of the Hawthorne studies is simply devastating. He unmasks social scientists as servants of power and union busters.

This book contains also excellent historical information (the McCarthy crusade, the great steel strike of 1919) and exposes rightly the link between propaganda and the pragmatism of Dewey and W. James (the promotion of false beliefs is justified if they are socially useful).

This is a very revealing book and a must read for all those wanting to understand the world we live in.

Alex Carey's work is absolutely some of the best. My favorite quote of his is this: "The 20th century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy." This has become a touchstone for Sheldon Rampton and me in our books Toxic Sludge Is Good for You, Trust Us, We're Experts, and our writing for PR Watch. Carey is much missed.

Mr. Andrew Lohrey informs us in his introduction, to this collection of essays by the late Australian psychologist Alex Carey, that Carey was prevented from going to college by his parents after he finished secondary school as they wanted him to manage their sheep farm which he did with such success that he could sell it about a decade later and enter a university.

Here and there this book is dreadfully dry, particularly towards the end. His ideas probably would have been made clearer and much better organized if he would have been able to put together a regular book instead of a book of essays put together by someone else but he died in 1988 before he could get it done. But the topics he discusses are very important especially now when business and government propaganda has never been more powerful.

The main title of this book describes what big business and their intellectual and political minions have tried to do particularly in the United States as rights to vote and to organize in this country were extended to large segments of the population of this country over the last hundred years. Carey's old friend Noam Chomsky quotes in his preface the numerous intellectual advocates (Walter Lipmann, Harold Laswell,etc.) of what Thomas Jefferson called late in his life "a single and splendid government of an aristocracy" made up of the "banking institutions and monyed incorporations" whom he feared would destroy the freedoms gained during the American revolution. Many prominent liberal intellectuals devoted loyal service to the state during World War one particularly in the government propaganda agencies putting out massive bogus atrocity stories about the Germans and turning a largely anti-war population in a short period into a bunch of maniacs looking to destroy everything remotely connected with Germany and German culture. A young German soldier named Adolf Hitler was deeply impressed with the allied propaganda effort and blamed German weakness in this field for their defeat and vowed that Germany would learn its lessons by the time the next war came around.

The best part of Carey's text, by far, is about the first five chapters. The first topic discussed is the Americanization movement begun in the few years before World War one by big busisiness associatons who were particularly worried about such events as the victory of the IWW led strike of textile workers in Lawrence Massachusetts in 1912. Big business was particularly worried about the influence of IWW-type radicalism on the U.S. immigrant population which mostly worked under very bad conditions at very low wages and set to work with a somwhat successful drive to inculate immigrants as well as the population at large with "American" values like free enterprise and the status quo and social harmony and against alien values like socialism or the welfare state or non-pliable unions. Out of this campaign came the Fourth of July holiday signed into law into 1918. This campaign culminated in the government crushing of the labor movement during 1919-21 under the cover of chasing communists and German spies.

The labor movement, says Carey, did not recover until the Great Depression which forced the U.S. government to enact very basic welfare legislation and protection of unions. This greatly alarmed important segments of big business. The National Association of Manufacturers literature in 1938 warned of the "hazard facing industrialists" of the "newly realized political power of the masses."

The end of World War two saw the beginnings of a massive attack on independent thinkers and organized labor under the cover of a red scare. After a lag in the early 1970's, the elites in this country began to steer this country towards a very markedly right wing political climate, seeing the rise of previously regarded fringe elements as represented by such think tanks as the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage foundation which featured such profound thinkers as former Nixon and Ford treasury secretary William Simon who fulminated about how the Carter administration was steering the country towards collectivist totalitarianism.

He goes into some detail examining the right wing apparatus in his native Australia. He ends with discussion of some matters dealing with industrial psychology and industrial sociology culminating in a study of the Hawthorne studies, laborious research at an Illinois assembly plant made up of female workers in the late 20's and early 30's where a group of industrial psychologists tried to secure evidence that workers don't care about money and just want to be left alone to do the wonderful jobs that the labor market has forced on them. The Hawthorne chapter is in large part almost unintelligible and very dry, probably inevitable given that it is a scientific paper.

Carey points out that citizens living in totalitarian regimes have no choice but to tow the government line out of fear for their personal safeties. In free societies, Carey explains that more subtle means are used to keep populations under control. Specifically, propaganda is used to ensure that most people will think in a manner that is consistent with the corporate agenda (such as belief in the free market and business' right to unlimited profit). Carey documents how Americans and Australians have been subjected to corporate propaganda during most of the 20th Century, and explains how these efforts have perverted our democracy (for example, American's over willingness to fight communists, real or imagined, to protect capitalism). Indeed, while many Americans were conditioned during the Cold War to believe that propaganda existed only in the Soviet Union, China and other communist regimes, Carey persuasively argues that propaganda actually played (and continues to play) a more critical role in molding the attitudes of citizens in democracies.

"Taking the Risk Out of Democracy : Corporate Propaganda Versus Freedom and Liberty" is a pioneering work in the field of corporate propaganda analysis which reveals just how much of a major force corporate propaganda is in contemporary society. Alex Carey quotes the business press as stating that the public mind is the greatest "hazard facing industrialists."

"Taking the Risk Out of Democracy : Corporate Propaganda Versus Freedom and Liberty" points out that there are two types of propaganda, each of which have specific societal functions. The first type is aimed at the educated, articulate sectors of the population that are involved in in decision making and setting the agenda for others to adhere to. The second type of propaganda is aimed at the unwashed masses, to keep them distracted so as they don't interfere in the public arena where they have no business in being. All in all, "Taking the Risk Out of Democracy : Corporate Propaganda Versus Freedom and Liberty remains a seminal analysis of corporate propaganda and its uses in creating an obedient elite and a subserviant citizenry. Very enjoyable.

i had little knowledge of this crime before reading the book, the book is very informative and put together well, and it is also interesting to see it from the eyes of a detective that worked the case.

Set In a much more naiive time-the apple pie America of the fifties-One cannot imagine how horrifying these brutal murders must have seemed. James Jack is the ideal narrator, balancing insight with detail ; I hope we are lucky enough to read more stories written by this man

Incredibly insightful, powerful, and personal look at a horrible crime from the detective that lived it. I was unable to put the book down from the moment I opened the cover. Dedicated Detective James Jack took it quit personally and was relentless in his pursuit to apprehend the person or persons responsible for these crimes.
I would recommend this book to anyone who reads true crime stories. This book is an eye-opener from a point a view most of us will never experience. The pain, conviction, and dedication to capturing this killer is evident in every page. Information is power for those who keep childrens safety at the top of their list. This book is a must read- the suspense is undeniable.

Based off the experiences and 1st hand accounts of Detective Jim Jack this is an incredible yet sad story of 3 innocent children who lost their lives. The book puts you right in the middle of one of Chicago's greatest manhunts. I highly recommend this book to all.

James "Jimmy" Jack has laid out in vivid, chilling detail the trail real Chicago detectives followed to close the infamous cold case of one of the City's most horrendous crimes. In a city where crime never takes a holiday, Jack exposes the sickness that dwells in the heart and mind of one man hellbent on committing the unpardonable sins of pedophilia and murder. This crime story, which grabbed national headlines in 1955, is poised to seize the nation's attention again in the Chicago-style writing of Detective Jimmy Jack in "Three Boys Missing." Must read!

Well written tale with strong plot line.

Another great one from Hugh Holton. The story begins when a young Larry Cole overhears a murder plot and the action just keeps going and going and going. Mr. Holton knows how to keep you at the edge of your seat. All I can say hang on and enjoy the ride as this novel has it all.

See my review of "Presumed Dead."

I started reading Hugh Holton's books this year. Just found it on the library shelf. I wanted to read them all. I have read all of his books and find "Time of the Assassins" to be the best one yet. I have ordered it, also his new book "The Thin Black Line" and "Red Lighting" which I could not get from the library. I am sorry that we will not be able to read more books by him. A sad lost to the readers and writers world. Gripping suspense and a surprise ending. What a writer he was. He writes about things we know, but are afraid to say. So today.

This time Hugh Holton gives us an excellent story that is both believable and entertaining. This is Holton going with his strengths -- solid characters, great police procedures and enveloping mystery. It doesn't get much better than this unless you're also a fan of Eleanor Taylor Bland's Marti McAllister Mysteries (which apparently Holton is since he mentions her in his acknowledgments). However, unlike the McAllister police character, Holton's Chief of Detectives Larry Cole is still one dimensional. He sacrificed his wife and son for his career and ends up becoming a stud puppy for two very deranged sisters whose plot (despite his super-cop instincts) Cole fails to recognize. Go figure. Nevertheless, Time of the Assassins is a far better effort structurally than Holton's Red Lightning, Left Hand of God or Presumed Dead. The high-quality work which brought Holton and his cop character, Larry Cole, to national prominence, Chicago Blues, is evident in Time of the Assassins. Bravo, Mr. Holton, Bravo!

This book was one that opened my eyes to the welfare program and the problems it has. It has also illustrated the social gaps that have been created by gender, race, and poverty. Rosemary did an excellent job in description in the life that she lead, and to how she has overcome the many barriers in her life. A great read for all!

Unafraid of the Dark is a beautifully written, inspirational and deeply touching book. I was unable to put it down from the moment I read the first page. I admire Rosemary and feel that she is an inspiration to all African American women.

This woman knows how to write and she has something to say. She makes her point very effectively. For the cost of a paperback, you can give a copy to every Republican or other person who matters to you who doesn't understand or support Aid to Dependent Children or welfare, etc. Her book leads people to care about her and understand.

A deeply moving, inspiring story. I felt like I was right there with her when she described her brief childhood encounter with Martin Luther King. Her writing brings characters alive like the best fiction I've ever read. I would seriously consider trying to get my school to order this book (I'm studying to become a high school English teacher).

Rosemary Bray's memoir cuts through the anti-welfare hype and contempt for poor people, especially poor black women, that brought us "welfare reform." Her mother went on AFDC because her father was a violent gambler, and she had four kids to raise. Welfare enabled rosemary to grow up in threadbare but at least decent poverty--food on table, roof over head,school supplies and so forth. Far from promulgating the "culture of dependency," welfare helped Bray's mother get some independence. And far from passing welfare on to her daughter, Rosemary went to yale. Bray writes so perceptively about her family and her childhood, about the racism of l960s Chicago (and of yale). she made me think about all the little cruelties and deprivations poor people are expected to just accept, and how wrong this is. I wish every white person would read this book, and every person who thinks people are poor because they "don't want to work." Isn't it interesting that even in the midst of the "memoir boom," this book didn't get front page reviews?

This is a wonderful book relating human resiliency and the good of which people are capable. Should be mandatory reading in all college human service programs.

This book is a love feast. Story after story of Bill and the "frens" who were fortunate enough to be a part of Bill's circle, including the regulars on the bus who were cheerfully greeted upon boarding, the day care children who had a happy transition from parents dropping them off for day care, the nice lady prostitutes who enjoyed his happy harmonica tunes when he was in Washington, DC to be honored for his achievements. Not only does the book make you glad to know about Bill's magnificent gift of loving, it gives hints about how to nurture that in life. The book is for everyone who celebrates the great diversity of gifts that make life wonderful

This uplifting story will appeal to anyone who is interested in how the human spirit overcomes great adversity. It is also of local interest to residents of Iowa City, as it recaps events that happened in this town and on this campus. A thoroughly enjoyable read that I would highly recommend.

Dr. Walz tells the life story of Bill Sackter's triumph over disability. The book is written from Bill's perspective and tells of his journey in a Minnesota mental institution to being named Iowa's Handicapped Person of the year. There is a wonderful Christmas story which makes this book particularly timely. I would recommend this book to readers of all ages.

The story of the life and times of William ("Bill for short") Sackter is as remarkable and inspiring as any in American history. Bill's story is re-told by his good friend Professor Thomas Walz (now retired from the social work department of the University of Iowa) in such sharp, believable detail as even to go so far as to write the majority of the book from Bill's point of view, using the sort of speech, broken perhaps but very gripping, as Bill had used; this aspect brings a great deal of accuracy to the book. The Bible says in I Thessalonians 5 to rejoice always and to give thanks in all circumstances. Bill Sackter took these principles to the extreme, and as a result, made everyone who knew him take a much closer look at themselves and the world around them. His life still has that effect on people today.

I'm not going to say here what all happened in Bill's life; the book will do a much better job of that than I. However, I will simply say that this book will open your eyes to an incredible sense of optimism little known in the world we live in today. I can't imagine someone reading this book and being disappointed.

One thing more: for those of you who have seen and loved the movies "Bill" and "Bill On His Own" (which have been out of print for who-knows-how-many-years), they are available from the very good people at Wild Bill's Coffee Shop at the University of Iowa.

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in history as told through the eyes of an individual. I have always found history texts very difficult to read because they tend to be just a presentation of facts. Mr. Dannenmaier weaves the Korean War and his personal experiences into a well- written book. And there's a lot to be said for comic relief!

Having read several Civil War, World War II and Vietnam autobiographies (e.g Seven Roads to Hell) I found this one to be among the best. Easy to read and interesting from beginning to end. I wholeheartedly give it 5 stars and recommend it for any history buff.

Bravo!!! This is one good book. At one time I read a lot of the 'my personal point of view' vietnam books and this is better than those. They all had a discernable 'hook' or angle which was entertaining but also tried to masquerade as substance and didn't quite pull it off. Dannenmaier's story is substance. Innocents is a simple and straightforward account of a real experience in war and it rings so true.... I am not so much impressed as thankful for the enlightenment of this experience - one I came close to but didn't have.

Thanks to the author for writing it and sharing his life with us. It is a heroic thing to do - getting what is inside of you out and letting us all see it.

First, this book is very well written and an enjoyable read. Dr. Dannenmaier's style is informal and engaging. It also offers a very good description of the many petty aspects of military life: the pointless regimentation, the boredom, the friendship, and the physical discomfort and depravation.

I would have given the book a five-star rating but for one serious flaw. I found the author reluctant to discuss the horrors of war that he surely experienced. Even his account of the battle for Outpost Harry is oddly detached, detached and vague in a way the rest of the book is whenever the subject is the violence of war. Although Dr. Dannenmaier is very articulate and detailed in his descriptions of the mundane aspects of military life and his judgments about the men he served with, he is almost silent about the experiences that so obviously traumatized him when he came home.

His life after the war offers what we would call today an instance of "post-traumatic stress syndrome." While he describes horrible headaches, concern over his irrational feelings of rage, and an almost sociopathic regard for human life that he dealt with after the war, he says very little about the experiences that led him feel this way. In one touching scene he describes being near to tears when confronted with the first hot meal of good food in a warm, dry, and safe environment in months as he prepared to come home. At the same time, he describes his feelings upon learning the war was over this way: "I never felt more desolate or empty in my life. My meaning was gone, my life was without purpose."

This is a fascinating contradiction. Dr. Dannenmaier was clearly damaged by his experiences during the war, and yet, at the time, he found those experiences exhilarating, a true source of meaning and value. Though I can't know, the explanation for this contradiction must lie in the horror of what he experienced. A book that purports to be an honest account of wartime experience should have dealt with this seriously and honestly. The author does not. For example, we never even learn whether the author killed anyone during in the war. Yet, we are regularly treated to detailed discussions of the minutia of daily life on the line.

I whole-heartedly recommend the book for what is does well. But I can't help but think that there's only half a book here. But what a half. . . .

The Korean War has sometimes been labelled the "Forgotten War," lying as it does between the titanic conflict of World War II and the contentious struggle in Vietnam. For many Americans today, the term "Korean War" only brings to mind episodes from the television series MASH--a fact deeply resented by veterans of this savage fight that cost almost as many American combat deaths in three years as the Vietnam War did in ten. True, within the past few years, the Korean War has begun to creep back into the public eye. From the belated dedication in the nation's capital of a Korean War memorial to a spate of books and a (most controversial) television series, the conflict is finally attracting attention as a watershed event in its own right. It remains the only occasion since 1945 in which the armies of two great powers have met on the battlefield. It is filled with military drama (e.g. the destruction of Task Force Smith; the United Nations drive to the Yalu) and an extraordinary cast of characters, such as Harry Truman, Douglas MacArthur, and Matthew Ridgway. Largely missing from the recent literature has been the story of the soldier, sailor, and airman--an absence all the more curious because one of the most prominent trends in recent military history has been a sharpened focus on the human being confronting the chaos of war. It is here that William Dannenmaier's manuscript promises to make a decided contribution. Based largely on letters that Dannenmaier wrote to family members during the conflict, the memoir skillfully weaves these primary documents with the author's later analysis to make an account that is often captivating in its immediacy and thought-provoking in its reflectiveness. A highlight at one end of this spectrum is the author's riveting description of the brutal fight for Outpost Harry. In the broader sphere, the author's observations on the reaction of fighting men to the challenges of combat and to the incredibly harsh environment present the reader with certain eternal verities. The fact that Dannenmaier's comrades came from a society that seemed largely unconcerned with or even dismissive of them --when coupled with the reality that even their own army was all too often indifferent to their fate--adds poignancy to this story. Transparently honest, occasionally touching, and frequently humorous, "The Korean War: A Citizen-Soldier's Reality" is war literature of a high order.

It has been awhile since I read this book so I have to rely on my memory somewhat of the book's contents. Yes, it is a very interesting book and as a Motown fan, I certainly enjoyed it. Sometimes, though, I wonder about some of Mr. George's comments (and if you are reading this Mr. George I mean no disrespect).

Did he really have to describe the talented Kim Weston as a "dark skined woman with a tendency to put on weight?" Was she really laughed at when she got on stage? To me, Kim Weston was one of Motowns most talented female singers. Couldn't the author have spent a little more space on her vocal talents?

He dismisses the Supremes post-Diana Ross career in a few sentences. Did he ever listen to any of those records? The post-Ross Supremes made some wonderful music which is just now being rediscovered.

He writes off white singer Chris Clark as a "not very gifted singer". From the few songs I have heard, she may not be a virtuoso, but she's not that bad! I know of some rabid Chris Clark fans who would challenge Nelson George on that point.

He spends a lot of time on certain subjects such as Motown's post-70's decline, but seems to spend very little time actually analyzing the music.

A writer, of course, has a right to his opinions and I think, in all fairness, he does a very good job with the book. My biggest complaint is that he seems a little cynical about Motown. I know that not all was happy beneath the wonderful music people heard, but there is still something in his attitude that bothers me a little. Sometimes he seems a little bit mocking in his tone. He wrote a later book about hip hop (a music style I don't care for) and seemed to treat the whole subject with more respect.

I'm probably being a little too analytical about this book.

Anyway, this is still a good book. Put on some Motown music and enjoy.

One of my smartest purchasing decisions was to pick up this work by Nelson George in June 1986 when it was still in hard cover. I've never let it out of my sight since. Time has proven it the precursor of a deluge: `Dreamgirl,' & `Supreme Faith' by Mary Wilson (1986, 1990), `Temptations' by Otis Williams (1988), `To Be Loved,' by Berry Gordy (1994), `Inside My Life' by Smokey Robinson (1989), `Dancing In The Street' by Martha Reeves (1994), and `Between Each Line of Pain and Glory,' by Gladys Knight (1997), among others. I bought them all and I read them all. By far the worst, was the October 1993 work by Diana Ross, `Secrets of a Sparrow,' which was quickly named the worst non-fiction work of the year by People magazine. I couldn't argue with them.

`Where Did Our Love Go,' on the other hand, proves a truth we discovered in the day of the very music it chronicles: no amount of tepid covers surpasses a towering original. Perhaps because Mr. George was not an insider at Motown in the 60s, his history of the company is so objectively good. I've read it many times in over 16 years, and haven't found a date or factual mistake.

And it is balanced. The wonderful music of those glory days in Detroit is given the respect and affection it deserves, as well as the how-it-came-about details. Mr. George acknowledges as most of us do, that Motown's 60s sound is timeless, and is going to outlive Berry Gordy, the artists whose names appeared on the labels, and we baby-boomers who were weaned on it.

Yes, the who-struck-John stories of disappointment are delineated fairly too: the career declines and /or disappointments of folks like Martha Reeves, Gladys Knight, Chuck Jackson, Marvin Gaye and, especially Florence Ballard. But unlike the recollections of the authors listed above, `Where' is not told by a writer needing to come out smelling blameless or put-upon at the end.

All these years later, `Where Did Our Love Go,' by Nelson George remains the single most essential biography of Motown Records you can own. Buy it anyway you can manage to, even used - just don't ask to borrow mine. Beyond it, there are two companion works you should also seek out for some fair and detailed `inside' looks of Motown in those days: `Divided Soul,' David Ritz' account of Marvin Gaye's life, which appeared first in 1985, and might have been helped in its excellence by the fact that its subject was no longer around to censor it or `advise.' Finally, from 1989, J. Randy Taraborrelli's `Call Her Miss Ross,' could likely be a dozen times more factual and objective than the 1993 work of the former Supreme herself could ever be!

I found this book to be very informative on the music that I grew up with but it also revealed how Mr. Gordy has ruined the lives of talented but uneducated people.

For the time that it was written, I found this book to be my Motown bible. I still enjoy reading this book on Motown by someone who does not have an axe to grind with the company. Upon seeing the first review of this book, here at Amazon, I felt the need to respond. The reviewer mentioned that the author should have focused on Kim Weston's talents more than he did. Since 1986, Kim Weston has had a ton more recordings released by Motown then ever before. She never even had an album with Motown during her tenure. Her solo stuff released since 1986 could easily fill a box set. Her duets with Marvin Gaye could fill another two CD's. Had these recordings been available when the author had written his book, I would agree with the first reviewer. Her best recordings have only seen recent release. Kim Weston is probably the most talented woman to ever come out of Motown. Diana Ross had the luck and the hits but there was a stable full of women at Motown who were much more talented than she was. Also, the first reviewer mentions the talents(?) of Chris Clark. I love the whole Chris Clark persona and story. There are about four of Chris' recordings that I do love. However, if you listen to all of the Chris Clark recordings currently available on the Motown label (about three CD's worth) you'll question her talents, as the author also did. Mr. Gordy, in all of his arrogance once said, "Give me a singer who can sing three notes and I'll get a hit on her." I think he might have been thinking of Ms. Clark when he said it. By the way, he never got a hit on Chris Clark. This is an amazing book & a great introduction to Motown.

Although a little short on photos (it was obviously not the authors' intention to be another photo book), this is in many ways the best book for someone really interested in the subject of Motown to own,in that the author pulls no punches. Other books on this record company/hit machine of the 60s & 70s suffered from censorship by the record company's head and his people.

This book does not suffer that hinderance, and it allows us to read what really went on behind the scenes. It was not such a happy family with Berry Gordy Jr. as the paternal head as it is often depicted.

An excellent book, both readable and informative, and well worth getting hold of for all fans of the music who want to know what really went on as the records were made and the tours were run.

Marti MacAlister, a Chicago homicide detective, is investigating a case, which involves a group of kids from her past and from her first novel, Dead Time. The kids are older with different problems and one is accused of murder. Also, someone from her dead husband's past is looking for him. Marti is trying to solve the murder and figure out how the other's from her past fit in. This mystery has plenty of twists and turns as a challenging case for Marti. Once again Bland cleverly brings attention to issues of the homeless, elderly and children.

You work all your life trying to make it only to see yourself passed over for jobs that are rightfully yours. At first you grin and bear it until your temper flares and you strike out in anger. It lands you in jail. You do your time and released. Now you're free. Free to avenge all those wrongs done to you. Free to set the record straight. Johnny MacAlister, the cop who put you behind bars, is dead but his widow, Marti is very much alive. Now is the time to punish her with your death sentence.
Windy City Dying is a marvelous tale of the intricate workings of a killer's mind who is set to right the so-called wrongs done to him by society and the court system. His methodical preying and elimination of his victims evokes feelings of fear as you get into his mind. Marti, is completely oblivious to the murders even though this funny feeling of something is wrong hits her now and again. She ignores it and works on a far more pressing case that takes her and Vik back into their past.
Bland does a sensational job in telling a story that has various twists and turns to the point where you are kept on edge. A man's insatiable lust for revenge impacts upon a foster child who is suspected of murder. Marti and Vik's investigation of the the child's case takes them back to an earlier time when this same child was part of a group of throw away children. Marti and Vik helped those children then but now find themselves having to intervene again.
I enjoyed the book for its intrigue, exploration of the foster care and juvenile justice system and for its showing how disparate events can be interconnected. You also get to see the situation from the avenger's point of view. On top of that you see Marti dealing with the daily challenges of family living and becoming more concerned about those children that she helped years ago. This is one of the best of Bland's books in the Marti MacAlister series.

For fans of Detective Marti MacAlister, this latest in the series is a gratifying read - sure to keep the determined reader up in the wee hours of the night. Marti has moved on from the death of her first husband, but unknowingly someone from the past has it out for the deceased cop Johnny McAllister.

Bent on revenge and fresh out of prison, Adrian Quinn still feels he was innocent of his horrendous crimes. One by one he hunts down the people he feels were responsible for his downfall (guilty verdict). Since Johnny has long been deceased, he turns his destructive plans towards Marti, her new husband and their children. Adrian's crimes leads Marti and partner Vik back to an old case from four years earlier involving neglected children. One of the children is now a suspect in a murder case.

If you have not ready any of the books in this series by Eleanor Taylor Bland, this book serves as a great introduction to one of the stronger female detectives in the literary world. Detective Marti MacAlister has never appeared larger than life. At times her tough side comes out when dealing with criminals, the men in her field or any injustice. On the flip side, her vulnerability is easily relatable when it comes to her family. All around a very likable heroine.

In WINDY CITY DYING, Marti McAllister's job as homicide detective in Lincoln Prairie forces her to go back to Chicago, where her husband, also a cop, was killed five years earlier. It seems that one of the men Johnny McAllister helped to put behind bars has an agenda to avenge the wrong he felt was done to him by the system, by the world, and, namely, by Johnny McAllister.

Marti and her partner Vik are also reunited with a child from one of their previous cases. Marti and Vik found Jose Ortiz, along with several other throwaway children, living in a library not long after Marti relocated to Lincoln Prairie. Now Jose is accused of murdering his foster sister. It's always tough when kids are involved, and Marti and Vik set out to do what they do best: get the bad guy, whether it's Jose or not.

Once again Eleanor Taylor Bland brings the life of Marti and her family to awesome characterization. Her characters are like old friends; consistent people as real as can be. In WINDY CITY DYING, Bland takes the characters to a new level, a feat for which she should be applauded.

Reviewed by CandaceK
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Prairie Hills homicide detective Marti MacAlister doesn't pay any attention to the notice saying that Adrian Quinn is being released on parole because she doesn't know the felon as it was her dead husband Johnny who was one of the arresting officers. Johnny never spoke about the case to her. Marti has made a very big mistake not paying any attention to that notice because Adrian plans to take revenge on everyone responsible for being incarcerated.

His diabolical plan begins when he breaks into his defense attorney's home killing a person he assumes is one of his children, but instead murdered a foster child. The other foster child is blamed for the killing. Marti and her partner work the case not realizing that this murder has nothing to do with the girl who was killed. Their investigation takes them down many false trails while Adrian kills or severely injures many people, including two Chicago police officers. Marti doesn't realize until it is almost too late that she is scheduled to be his last victim before he takes off for Mexico.

After reading WINDY CITY DYING, every reader will understand what a police officer has to put up with and the fear they feel every day they go out on the streets not just to themselves but too their loved ones as well. Part of the story is told from the killer's warped "logical" point of view. Adrian feels no guilt or remorse for what he is doing, including killing innocents who had nothing to do with his being sent to prison, because he believes this is his divine right.

Harriet Klausner

I live in the Chicagoland area and was just at the museum today. As expected, the dollhouse is as amazing as it was when I was a little girl. I saw this book in the gift stop. IT ONLY COSTS $24.95!!! Please, please don't pay these people double what the book actually costs! Go to the Museum of Science and Industry's website at http://site.msishops.com/books.html and look for the book at the bottom of the page. I'm sure there's shipping that's not included. There might even be tax, but it'll no doubt still be cheaper than paying these people $50-$60 for the book. What a rip-off!!!

THE COLOR PHOTOS ARE FABULOUS! I ENVY THE FAIRY PRINCE AND PRINCESS THAT LIVE IN THIS FABULOUS CREATION. THE WORK OF PROFESSIONALS IS EVIDENT--I JUST WISH I COULD HAVE HAD MORE VIEWS OF THE TREASURES INSIDE! BUY IT! IF YOU LOVE DOLLHOUSES AND FANTASY, YOU'LL LOVE THIS TOUR OF COLLEEN MOORE'S DOLL CASTLE!

I was browsing in Amazon.com when I discovered this book. I was so excited that I couldn't wait to order it. Chicago's Museum of Science & Industry is one of my all-time favorite places on earth. I still go there whenever I go back for a visit. As a little girl, growing up in Chicago in the 60's, one of my favorite things was going to see Colleen Moore's Doll House every year. I'm sure you can probably imagine how magical this huge, intricately planned, priceless, bejeweled dollhouse seemed in a darkened room by itself, lit with soft lights, telephones all around it so you could listen to discriptions of each room as you peered through the glass barrier surrounding it. This book captures much of the beauty of the amazing miniature treasures and the magic of the house itself-and definitely puts a smile on my face.

When I was 7 years old, my mother, grandmother and a cousin of mine went to Chicago, and one of the places we went was the Museum of Science and Industry.Before we went, my mother told me that as a young girl, she had seen the fairy castle when it toured the country before becoming a permanent exhibit at the museum. She told me how much she loved it, and I couldn't wait to see it. I was not disappointed. This IS the ultimate dollhouse. Every time I go to the museum, you can't get me to leave without seeing the fairy castle.I took my own daughter to see it, and now she loves it, too. The last time we went, I found this wonderful book at the gift shop, and was thrilled that now I could look at my beloved fairy castle whenever I wished. This book is a real treasure, with beautiful pictures of the castle. Anyone who loves dollhouses, and the fairy castle in particular, will love this book. It never fails to provoke happy memories for me.

I recently had the pleasure of visiting the castle in Chicago, and can hardly find the words to say how magnificent it was! Still, in the time I had to view it, so many details were missed. That is why this book is so great. It not only displays the castle with better lighting, it gives you a chance to savor all the tiny details you might never have seen. There is also some wonderful biographical information on Colleen Moore herself. A must for miniature lovers, little girls, and dreamers everywhere!