Camps Books

"...may well be Solzhenitsyn's most stunning acheivement." --Time

In "The Destructive-Labor Camps," the first part of this volume, we experience the terrible plight of the working prisoners, the cruelty and caprice of camp authorities, and the tragic fate of the women prisoners and the luckless children born to them.

This chronicle of inhumanity is made bearable by the vitality and emotional range of Solzhenitsyn's writing that make his work on the "Archipelago" of Soviet repression one of the extraordinary literary events of our age.

"The Soul and Barbed Wire," the second part of this volume, is a magnificent statement on the possibilities of purification and redemption through suffering.

It was at the threshold of the camps that the first volume of GULAG left us. GULAG TWO takes us inside them.

The wit and wisdom of this book is almost beyond comprehension. I defy anyone to read the chapter, "The Ascent", and then tell me they have read a better twenty pages of literature....from any era.

For any who have any nostalgia for the Soviet Union, this book should put it to rest. This book is hard to categorize; it is more than one man's opinion, but less than an objective history. It is, as Solzhenitsyn puts it, "an experiment in literary investigation": a combination memoir and dissertation on the evils of Communism and its inevitable product, the forced labor camp. Some have criticized Solzhenitsyn as an anti-Communist/pro-Western polemicist, but that is not an accurate description. He is a realist, showing not only the faults of Communists, but also those of the West and Western leaders. This should be required reading for European and world history classes. Volume 1 (of 3) describes the arrest and interrogation procedures, as well as life in the Gulag.

This is vintage Solzhenitsyn; his brilliant mind shines forth splendidly. A book that is difficult to put down, places one inside his mind to see what he describes, so much from having spent hours memorizing while in the camps so he could later give us a glimpse of the horror that millions upon millions of human beings endured.

Every one had an opinion on the morality of actresses.
Henrietta saw more to Juliet Drake than the rest of the town.
She literally forced her brother-in-law, Amos Morgan to hired Juliet as housekeeper and companion to his sister, Frances.

Amos, at 36, was not about to fall into the clutches of another designing woman. He had his ailing sister, Frances and an impressionable 16 year old son, Ethan to look out for.

Ethan was favorably impressed with Juliet which further angered Amos. But Frances needed help and he couldn't run the house and the farm both. He could not face the thought of Frances dying.

Juliet's bungling attempts to cook soon had Amos ready to send her back but Frances had other ideas. She taught Juliet how to cook and clean house.

Juliet couldn't believe how Amos could kiss. Her very own first kiss was an eye-opener. Amos couldn't believe that a woman as young as Juliet would be interested in a stuffy old farmer - unless it was for money or security.

Wonderful, emotional love story that just had to work out - more in keeping with the honorable attitudes of the times - wonderful characters - so heart-warming and realistic.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - another of her keepers.

I have re-read this novel many times since getting it several years ago. Since there are not many reviews, I have a tendency to believe most people are missing this gem of a book. The characters in it are so real, flawed in many ways yet endearing. This book makes you laugh and cry. There are touching moments and also humorous incidents.

Our hero is Amos, a 36 year old who you almost dislike at first, yet come to admire in the end much like Juliet does. He is uneasy around women but not really shy. He just guards his heart against any entanglements. And Juliet is an entanglement he doesn't need! Doubting Juliet's morals when he meets her, as time goes by he recognizes she has stamina, heart and is not loose.

Juliet is our heroine, born to the stage she has traveled all her life. She is 24 and has strength and resourcefulness evident in women much older. She is not completely without family. A sister still resides back east and when abandoned on the road by the manager of her latest show, she is just seeking enough money to get back east. She finds the thought of singing at a saloon detestable, and Amos's sister-in-law urges her to become her gruff brother-in-law's housekeeper. Her heart yearns for stability and love which is why she becomes a perfect match for Amos.

Juliet figures that it can't be that hard to keep house. Her disastrous attempts at cooking and cleaning give us our lightest moments. When Amos finds out she is inept, will he send her packing???? The rest of the cast of characters are more supportive of Juliet. Frances, Amos's sister is dying of cancer (a sad and poignant part of the book) and enjoys the beauty that Juliet brings to the household. She teaches Juliet the skills to be a successful housekeeper. Ethan our gangly 16 year old is mesmerized by Juliet. Eventually his puppy love turns to friendship and respect. There is a story surrounding Amos and Ethan's mother that is integral to all the relationships Amos has with others.

As the summer progresses everyone reveals their true selves. You begin to like then love them as Juliet does. I liked that you really get into Juliet's and Amos's minds but of course they do not let the other know their true feelings. This leads to some misunderstandings which are quickly resolved. I don't like that to drag on too long. But is their joy short-lived? Will a memory from the past rear it's ugly head to haunt them. This is a compelling novel. One of my favorites that I enjoy reading again. The title is a misnomer (to me) based on some heirlooms that Amos's mother had. I guess the meaning is that Juliet brought the beauty back into their lives that Amos's mother so appreciated. Truly exceptional writing and enjoyable reading.

This is the perfect book for a first time sleep-away camper who is experiencing overnight separation anxiety. The storyteller, a novice camper, has filled the text with heart rendering fears and exaggerations that would cause most parents to rush back to camp to retrieve their child. There is a happy ending however, when the sun comes out and normal camp activities begin. The illustrations humorously portray the fears this first timer has, with all the "grossness" today's kids seem to love. Since we remember the tune to this Sherman classic of years ago, we've sung it to our grandchildren, who in turn, have memorized the text, melody and all. A great addition to this book would be a CD with a recording of the song for the reader to enjoy.
Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah is a great addition to our grandchildren's library.

I loved this book! The illustrations were great! I hummed the song while I read it! It is definitely being packed in our daughters duffle bag when she heads up to camp this summer!

This is the ONLY children't book available on the market teaching the importance of water safety. It's beautifully illustrated;children immediately identify with the lively, fun fruit characters. Louie and his friends are delightful, but more significantly, underscore a crucial message about the importance of water safety. This book should be 'required reading' for any small child exposed to open water. This beautiful little book makeslearning fanciful and fun, while imparting a potentially life saving message.

Written by Jeana Thomas, Camp Of Champs is a children's picture book about water safety, illustrated by Lisa Allen Triefenbach in vivid color. Since drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death for children under age 14, the message of SAFE - Stop and Find an Adult before you Enter the water is a welcome "must" for every young child, regardless of whether he or she already knows how to swim. Camp Of Champs teaches children to wear a life vest while learning to swim, to always have someone good at swimming watching, and never to chase after a toy that falls into the water. The eye-catching, playful, full-page illustrations help drive home the potentially life-saving message of water-safety. Camp Of Champs is a superb gift book excellent for being read aloud to very young children, and more importantly, carries the highest recommendation for its contribution to child safety.

According to Karen-Marie Yust, professor of Christian Education at my seminary, Christian Theological Seminary, the book `How to Use Camping Experiences in Religious Education: Transformation through Christian Camping' by Steven Venable and Donald Joy is about the only book available on the topic of Church Camping. It is a very brief book, some 120 small pages, and only briefly touches on many practical issues related to church camp planning, leadership, and implementation. Yet, as Yust says, it is about the only book available. True, more general guides on Christian education and youth ministry will talk about camping experiences as part of their text, but not in the systematic way that Venable and Joy provide here, and not with such focus.

In twelve brief chapters, Venable and Joy trace history, theory, and practice of church camp experience in a very practical way. This is designed to aid the current or potential camp leader or counselor, as well as give insight to church school and Christian educators who are interested and concerned about church camp experiences, and how they might fit into an overall programme of education and formation.

`How to Use Camping Experiences in Religious Education is designed to get you up and running as quickly as possible. Chapters 3-11 constitute the `handbook' tools, each offering information on a specific aspect of religious camping. Each chapter ends with an annotated bibliography that points the way to other resources.'

This points to two primary strengths of this book. First, the chapters are brief, to-the-point expositions of specific aspects of church camps. How does bible study fit in? How does worship work at a campground? What makes a good camp counselor? These considerations form the core of the handbook text, which addresses the following topics:

o Getting started
o Small groups
o Camp bible study
o Worship at camp
o Camp counselors
o Rites of passage
o Creative programming
o Choices and strategies
o Developing a leadership team
o Backpacking

The last chapter is a special love of Donald Joy's, so he details the advantages and considerations of holding a backpacking experience camp. This chapter also shows the details one must consider when getting further involves in any kind of specialty camp.

A second strength is the bibliographic material at the end of each chapter, which gives a current guide to outside resources - knowing that this book doesn't provide all there is that needs to be known, it assists the reader in locating useful resources to build upon the broad principles provided in this text. The references are varied and useful on different levels; for instance, the bibliographic references for small groups includes three books of practical suggestions, but also includes an autobiography (of E. Stanley Jones) that helps illustrate through the life of a person the importance of small groups, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer's `Life Together', a book that shows the overwhelming importance of small groups in the face of overwhelming obstacles and life struggles.

It is the combination of these features that gives this book real power. The suggestions are direct and easy to understand, but they are also open-ended in theory and practice, so that the reader will be encouraged to use these guidelines and ideas as a starting point, and not as an end or a set curriculum.

Through the book, the importance of community is highlighted. The formation of camp communities small and large, the importance of community spirit and feeling in and outside of camp, and the power that community can play in the education and formation of campers permeates all the suggestions and narratives.

`Community is not something to be taken lightly. During the time set apart for camp, campers and counselors alike are searching for meaning and significance, and they often find it in the unique bonds that they form with one another. The experience of community at camp is magnified when the homes, communities, and churches we come from fail to reflect and make use of this strength.'

Tying the theory and practice of church camping back to the example of Jesus in his wilderness reflections and wandering ministry, Venable and Joy show a biblical basis to the practice of camping. The authors show their enthusiasm most strongly in the conclusion, where they state they will continued camping ministry `so long as we have breath'. Their final statement, `Blessed camping!', is in fact what this book is to camping. A blessing indeed.

This is one of the best "small in size", yet "great in content" books that I have read on the subject of summer camping in my lifetime! It is filled with ideas, theology, and practical suggestions. The authors provide tips for the effective training of staff and counsellors, discuss the importance of small groups, deal with worship and Bible study in the outdoor context, and speak imaginatively and creatively to camping programs as part of life journeys. They include important sections on rites of passage, schedule planning, and backpacking. Each chapter ends with a solid list of resources. You could plan an entire camping program with the use only of this book.

"Weg! -get the hell out of the way! -he said to me in a rasping voice. I shrugged it off ... but I still existed, and I shrugged it off ... the insults of these people are no more able to reach us than they are able to get their hands on the nightmare we have become in their brains: for all their denying of us we are still there." (p. 51)

These victimizers could live next to you, could walk by you any given day on the streets, they are not German, they are human of any nationality, in this case Spanish: "Sometimes the SS man laughs and jokes with the doctor. And yet, before he was given the job, the SS used to beat him. But now he wears a white coat; he sleeps in a small heated room; he doesn't have to go to roll call; and he eats, and he's pink ... the Spanish doctor rapidly turned into a particularly good example of the kommando's aristocracy." It makes one ashamed to be Spanish, human. And there's no such thing as sin, they say.

It's a hard read because of its sadness, hellish misery, absence of what well-intentioned people call humanity but is nothing but sin and evil. The author cries his soul out, pours his deepest self in words of sorrow, in pages that seek comprehension, but from whom? The author does not say. If its from his readers no help can be given him now.

This is the best account of the experiences of a man in a nazi prison camp during the European Holocaust. Buch better than the popular Primo Levi book. This is a deep, slow-paced, intellectual, thinking-man's guide to survival in Holocaust Europe. There are detailed descriptions of ways of feeling, of sentiments and relationships that are tacit, hard to describe, but which the author in his characteristic French style achieves perfectly.

I strongly recommend to read this book, with a little patience. It takes its time to get into it fully, to grasp the implications and all the meaning of what's going on physically -but specially- psychologically. The book is not spiritual, because there's no spiritual faith. But if humanity is not enough to account for the gravity of the things told here, then who or what to appeal to? If we trust in man alone, and man does these things, then who are we to appeal to? It would be an useless exercise of intellect.

This is the best and most moving account I've ever read of life in a concentration camp, better by far than Primo Levi, better even than Viktor Frankl, and better even than One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, all of which are saying a lot. The book pulled me into the daily life in a way I've not encountered so strongly before. Antelme has a gift for providing details that immerse the reader in the experience, and he has a novelist's skill with characterization. This is a powerful, meaningful work.

This is the true story of a summer program for kids who were too troubled - too anxious, too angry, or too withdrawn to attend mainstream programs. The author's own family was in transition and her children worked as counselors at the day camp, which was held at their home. The camp became a safe place for all involved to exhibit and work through problem behaviors, Eleanor Craig wrote three other books P.S. Your Not Listening - a former best seller about a first public school class for troubled kids, One Two Three the story of Matt - A Feral (wild) Child and The Moon is Broken . If you get to read any of thes above I would love to hear your thoughts -

"If We Could Hear the Grass Grow" Is a touching story of a group of disturbed children and their summer with a gifted teacher and therapist. It is a sad but uplifting account of mental illness, chang, and growth. A must read for anyone who cares about children.

I was given the original hard back by my father Richard W. Walton Sr. (Great Grandson of Col. J.B. Walton, Commander in Chief of the Washington Artillery). Once I started reading the book, I could not put it down, finished it in the same afternoon. I would have enjoyed reading it over and over through the years, but could not due to the age and condition of the original (copyright, 1885) I have read everything that I could get my hands on involving the American Civil War. After reading this book, I feel that I owe thanks to William Miller Owen for taking me back in time. I felt the experience as if I were there. As I came to know the men of the Battalion from day one upon their depature from New Orleans enroute to Richmond VA., I felt remorse in reading of the death of so many of them.

Very well written account of the Washington Artllery's engagements during the Civil War. Describes all major actions from the First Battle of Bull Run to the final surrender at Appomatox. You feel so close to the lives of the troops; makes you marvel at all the struggles and hardships that were endured. A must read for all Civil War buffs. First published in 1885 by Ticknor and Company of Boston. Reissued in a limited edition that is an exact reproduction of the original, with a few additions (an Introduction by Kenneth Urquhart, three additional illustrations, and the list of present-day officers) by The Pelican Publishing Company of New Orleans, June 1964.

Idris Barwick was married to my dad's cousin. He was a great man...I'm sorry that I was so young when he passed away and I didn't have the opportunity to know him as an adult. I remember him telling his story to my parents, but I was young and didn't really care. I wish now that I had listened. His life and story are amazing...how he lived through all that he did. This book should be required reading! A true story of courage, strength and faith from a wonderful man I called Uncle Id.

This book has been a part of my life since birth and it holds a special place in my heart. My father wrote it during the late 1940s while trying to recover from a nightmare. He hoped that one day it would be published but died in 1975 without seeing that dream come true. I took up the cause and finally that day is here. In the Shadow of Death is a brilliant, shocking and deeply inspiring account of one man's struggle to survive a very dark period in British military history. We are incredibly proud of our Dad and his story. It is one that needs to be told and we hope you have an opportunity to read the book. If you would like more information on the book, including excerpts, please visit www.InTheShadowOfDeath.com.