Wisconsin Books

In The Minor League Milwaukee Brewers 1859-1952, Wisconsin sports historian Brian A. Podoll presents a straightforward history of baseball in Milwaukee from its debut in that city in 1859 down to the Brewers' last season in 1952. Black-and-white illustrations fill out and nicely enhance this in-depth narration, which is packed from cover to cover with statistics, trivia gems, little-known quirks of great players of yesteryear, and an overall inner core of respect for this great and popular favorite game. If you are a dedicated Brewers fan, then Brian Podoll's The Minor League Milwaukee Brewers 1859-1952 is an absolute "must"!

This article, written by one of the most attractive women on the planet, is sooooo good. It is scholarly, funny, brilliant and a joy to read, and the sexy parts are, well, darn sexy. I don't think i have ever read anything better than this, including Gone With My Wind by Orson Wells, or David Kopperfield, by the noted Dutch author, Charles Dikkens. Too bad this is out of print.

University of Wisconsin Professor of History Curtis Nettles wrote The Money Supply of the American Colonies Before 1720 in 1934. It has since become a classic study of one of the major problems of England's first empire, reflecting both the depression era in which it was written and the early colonial period it explores. Nettles contends that the economic goals of the colonies stood in direct opposition to those of the mother country and that these opposing views lead to irremediable tensions between the two.

England established colonies to provide itself with economic advantages. The colonies were to supply the mother country with unfinished raw material and would purchase finished goods from England. There was no intention to promote growth of separate economically viable societies. A deliberate policy was instituted to keep the colonies perpetually short of hard money in order to prevent the growth of a trading economy that would rival Britain's own interests.

England's domestic currency supply was never adequate for its own needs during the seventeenth century. The British money system was based on both gold and silver coins and improper valuation of the relationship between the two metals caused arbitrage to occur with silver coins melted down to bullion and then exported to Europe. This continual drain of the treasury acted as a brake on the domestic economy and enhanced England's determination to prevent the exportation of currency to the colonies.

During much of the seventeenth century, domestic turmoil, leading eventually to the Glorious Revolution of 1688, distracted England from strict enforcement of this policy. Colonies in North America traded extensively with Spain to obtain gold and silver coins. Pirates were all but welcomed in places such as Massachusetts in order to obtain the specie that had been plundered. Through these extra-legal solutions, the colonies were able to provide themselves with some hard currency. Unfortunately, most of the currency so obtained was soon remitted to England in payment for the goods purchased there.

Later, England encouraged the use of "Bills of Exchange" among merchants and colonial officials appointed by the crown. Similar to a modern check, these bills allowed transactions to occur without the use of hard currency. They were backed only by the faith the creditor had in the debtor's eventual ability to repay the debt in hard currency. Bills issued in the Government's name could take years to be redeemed making it difficult for Colonial Officials to find acceptance for the bills as time went on.

Out of desperation, many colonies resorted to allowing payment of debts in "commodity currencies." A crop such as tobacco or wool would be given legal status to pay debts both public and private. In addition to obvious problems such as spoilage and transportation, a host of other issues arose with such laws. The transformation of any crop into currency meant that all the landowners would immediately produce more causing the value to drop. Creditors would be repaid in a commodity with a fixed valuation by law and a lower valuation in the marketplace. Taxes and debts were usually settled by means of the lowest quality crops leaving the owner free to sell higher quality items on the open market. Crown officials would see their salaries drastically reduced by the expenses of taking a commodity crop in lieu of sterling payment.

The Money Supply of the American Colonies Before 1720 is an indispensable guide to the problems of trade and currency faced by the early colonists in America. It also provides a clear picture of the views held by the Crown during the same period. This book is not exclusively a history book nor is it exclusively a book on economics; it is an excellent synthesis of both subjects. Readers need to have a strong background in both subjects to get the maximum advantage from the work. It is recommended for the graduate level and above.

The book is well-written, providing clear examples of every point made. The author primarily relies on original sources and makes extensive use of Colonial Office documents and contemporary writings. On its publication the work was praised as being the first systematic study of the problems of specie in Britain colonies prior to the American Revolution. Although written almost seventy-five years ago, Nettles' book has withstood the test of time and is deservedly regarded as a classic.

Book contains about 370 pages divided into 11 major sections. Sections are Annuals (29 pages), Bulbs (29 pages), Fruits (34 pages), Herbs and Vegetables (30 pages), Houseplants (30 pages), Lawns (26 pages), Perennials (30 pages), Roses (28 pages), Shrubs (32 pages), Trees (30 pages), and Vines & Groundcovers (30 pages).

What makes the book unique is that each section discusses the material for every month (hence the title, "month by month"). Each month contains about 2 pages of instructions for planning, planting, care, watering, fertilizer, pests, and pruning. Each section starts with several pages introducing the topic.

Example of Melinda Myers advice: Tree section (April), "Do not prune Oaks and Honeylocust once growth begins. Wait until the dormant season to avoid disease problems".

Oops, I wish I would have had this book earlier. I did prune my Oak in April a few years back, and I now have a disease problem.

Besides the great plant instructions, the books contains amazing maps of Wisconsin (page size maps with county names). Maps contain USDA Cold Hardiness, Annual Precipation, Average First Frost, and Average Last Frost. Also includes lists of crop dates, UW Extension Service addresses, dry tolerate perennials, and much much more.

This is an excellent wealth of plant tips for anyone gardening in Wisconsin. It's a must have book!

I am a big fan of Yi-Fu Tuan's books. This is not the sort of claim most people would advance for an academic author - but then, Tuan is not your typical academic. His work represents the best of the geographical tradition. It is synoptic and synthetic, moving deftly from physical culture and landscape to the moral and imaginative aspects of cultural life. His books assume no specialized knowledge on the reader's part, instead gently requesting the reader to follow Tuan's path through his myriad examples toward the lofty goal of self-improvement.

I see Tuan as a major contributor to the practice of moral perfectionism (look for Stanley Cavell's books as a foundation). In Morality and Imagination, and a few other titles he has published, he articulates a uniquely geographical perspective on morality. He ties our moral self-awareness (as individuals and groups) to our awareness and cultivation of place. "Geography" for Tuan is thus an attitude and a way of seeing, rather than a specific body of knowledge. Geography is a way of training the imagination to see certain aspects of our existence - embeddedness in place, the tension between hearth and cosmos - that would otherwise escape notice.

This book is also remarkable for Tuan's readings of "fellow travelers" Ludwig Wittgenstein, Iris Murdoch, and Simone Weil. In his preface, Tuan explains that these three philosophers have served him as guides - as much for what they wrote, as for how they lived. Tuan sees each of these figures as leading exemplary moral lives. In a way, Tuan serves his readers in the same manner. His life, and his books, are exemplary models of ethical living.

Imagination is the key faculty guiding the moral life. Imagination is, as Tuan has elsewhere written, the ability to see what isn't there. In the sphere of morality, imagination means sympathy and connection - seeing moral significance where it isn't immediately apparent. Geography aids the development of moral imagination owing to its synthetic perspective - the ability to see things in networks of relations - and its appreciation of scale.

In all, Tuan's books are unique - not only in geography. His voice is suggestive rather than pedantic. He only means to point out different ways of seeing the familiar, rather than bludgeoning the reader into accepting a single point of view. In this manner, not only is the content of his work significantly concerned with morality - the very style in which he writes and presents his ideas is no less moral.

I love this book! Brunch is such a great way to entertain family or friends. This book makes your guests feel like they are at a Bed and Breakfast! The receipe can be as simple as a wonderful sour cream topping to put over fresh fruit. I love the receipes you prepare the night before so you look like the effortless hostess when you bring these unique dishes to the table. Try the Apple French Toast Strata - to die for. You will invite people for brunch just to have an excuse to make them.

I live in Wisconsin so love to plan visits to Bed and Breakfast Inns - but you don't have to live here to love this cookbook.

Colby Waller's Mountain Biking Wisconsin is a complete, up-to-date guide to mountain biking anywhere in Wisconsin. Waller provides detailed information on bike tire tread type, aerobic and difficulty levels, easy-to-read maps and route descriptions, as well as practical information on Wisconsin camping, flora, and fauna. Mountain Biking Wisconsin is an ideal and enthusiastically recommended guidebook for mountain bikers seeking off-road biking opportunities for health, recreation, and adventure!

This is an excellent book that provides an illuminating history into the origins of dance in education, specifically in American Universities during the early 20th century. Special attention is paid to the influence of Margaret H'Doubler (1889-1982) who in addition to being a dance education pioneer, was a trained biologist who introduced her dance students to anatomical observation using a model skeleton prior to commencing their dance studies.

This is just one of many examples of the historical detail found throughout the text, which beyond being a scholarly work, offers many insightful views of the convergence of dance history, feminism, and the role of women in higher education.

I recommend this book to those interested in a superbly researched history of a dance education as well as those intrigued by the vision and struggles of pioneering women in American education such as H'Doubler.

Gerry Gomez Pearlberg, who won the Lambda Award for her debut collection Marianne Faithfull's Cigarette, follows beautifully with Mr. Bluebird. Whether contemplating the ephemera of pop culture or final things, her poems are born of humor, pain, and an abiding love for language. "Death's the unpatented/gizmo built into all real beauty." She speaks with moving authority to us all.

This beatifully written biography describes the early life and career of wildlife biologist Frances Hamerstrom, the first female graduate student of Aldo Leopold (author of A Sand County Almanac) and pioneer in the field of wildlife biology. Hamerstrom's account describes her upbringing in Boston in the early 1900's, her marriage to Frederick Hamerstrom and their joint careers as graduate students, and wildlife biologists in Wisconsin. Filled with humor, you will laugh to read of her transition as a teenager in Brookline sneaking out to go ballroom dancing to that of a dedicated biologist. Even the biology will make you laugh as she describes trying to capture a hawk by getting it to land on a fencepost-- and 'decorating' the rest of the fenceposts with bouquets of goldenrod to make them un-land-upon-able. A great read!