Mississippi Books

The amount of detail in this account of the 11th Mississippi Civil War Regiment is astounding. As a descendant and a civil war buff I was spellbound and as a genealogist I found it full of new and useful information. Overall I thought Steven Stubbs' book was a monumental achievement.

Jim Harrison
Huntsville, Alabama

This is without a doubt the best account of the day to day activities encountered by our ancestors who served in the Eleventh Mississippi Infantry Regiment. From chapter to chapter, as I read, I feel I am with them. As a genealogist I have found more information about several of my ancestors, most who were members of the "University Greys" Co. A" in this book than I have found after several years research in Libraries and Archives. I commend Col. Stubbs for compiling the greatest account of any Civil War unit I have ever read. I highly reccomend this book not only to Civil War buffs but also to Genealogists. There is priceless information in this great book.

Steven H. Stubbs labor of love which documents not only the 11th Mississippi Infantry Regiment, but also the individuals who comprised it, is everything a regimental history should be. Unjustly overlooked by historians due in large part to the fact the regiment served as a part of two different brigades (the first a very unusal mixed-state command), the 11th Mississippi's combat record in Lee's Army of Northern Virginia is second to none. By the time it was assigned to Brigadier Joseph R. Davis's brigade in early 1863, combat reputations at the brigade level had unfortunately already been established and "carved in stone." As a part of Bee's/Whiting's/Law's hard-hitting "mixed" brigade, the 11th Mississippi, 2nd Mississippi, 4th Alabama and 6th North Carolina comprised one of Lee's premier combat units and played a major role at 1st Manassas, Gaines Mill, 2nd Manassas, South Mountain and Antietam. However, the brigade was broken up in late 1862 and the units reassigned to more traditional "state" commands. The two Mississippi units went on to form the core of Davis's new brigade which came to grief during the Gettysburg Campaign. Although the 11th Mississippi missed the debacle at the Railroad Cut on July 1, it was present for "Pickett's Charge" forming the highly exposed left flank of the Confederate line once Brockenbrough's small Virginia brigade broke to the rear. The remnants of the 11th Mississippi, along with the other units of Davis's Brigade, also suffered in rear-guard actions at Williamsport and Falling Waters. Thus, the outstanding performance subsequently demonstrated by Davis's brigade following the Gettysburg debacle, during the Overland Campaign and the fighting south of Petersburg in the closing months of the war, was largely relegated to brief passages or footnotes in the works of most Civil War historians. Steven Stubbs history of the 11th Mississippi helps correct this serious error of omission. Highly recommended.

Mr. Stubbs has written an excellent history of the Eleventh Mississippi Infantry Regiment. The Eleventh fought from First Manassas to Appamattox and had as colorful and as glorious a record as any regiment in R. E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. That record, until now, has largely gone unnoticed. Finally it has been told in great detail. As an Ole Miss alumni I especially enjoyed reading about the University Greys who were University of Mississippi students who made up Company A of the Eleventh. I also liked the roster included in the book. It gives the service record of every man in the regiment, some 1500 of them total. I would recomend this book to Ole Miss students, Ole Miss alumni, Mississippians in general, descendants of these men and anyone interested in the Army of Northern Virginia.

Steven Stubbs has truly immortalized the men of the 11th Mississippi Infantry Regiment in his heavily researched history of this famous Confederate unit. I have read several regimental histories through the years, but none as detailed or with more documented sources as this one. From organization, through the first battles, into Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, and on to the heartbreak of Appomattox, the author describes the activities, movements, and everyday lives of these men of the South. Especially interesting to the genealogy buff is the detailed roster of all men known to have been a part of the 11th Mississippi. Overall, this is by far the best regimental history that I have ever seen. The "boys of the 11th" are not forgotten!

I grew up poor (though not as poor as the Presleys). There were 6 people living in a 2-bedroom home. That Elvis slept with his parents (it gets cold in northern Mississippi and Tennessee) doesn't really shock or surprise me.

What does surprise me is that someone like Dee Stanley, who put her own sons in foster care so she could pursue Vernon Presley, would condemn them.

I am also not surprised that Elvis was never able to form a long-lasting relationship with a woman. Most of the women I have read about seemed only interested in what they could get from him. not what they could give to him; a total contrast to his Mother.

I thought Elaine Dundy did a masterful research job. Too bad the history books kids use in school don't usually match this level of research and dedication to facts.

This book is not just about Elvis, it is about poverty and how it shapes people and stays with them throughout their lives.

Buy this book, you will treasure it.

Just loved this book it was fascinating about Gladys and Vernons background. How poor they were and the sadness of the birth of Jesse Garon and Elvis it's to much to tell every Elvis fan needs this book. You will be amazed on how much understanding of the Presley family you will have after reading this book. This is why Elvis had such a kind and gentle way about him and a giving heart it hurts me to know that the people he loved the most used him for there own fame and fortune. All i can say is buy this book you will not be disappointed and you will come to know Elvis a lot better than before it's a must for every Elvis fan.

I've read quite a few books about Elvis and this one is excellent. The author spent a lot of time with people who knew Elvis back then and uncovered some very interesting and heart-warming stories. I learned a lot about his childhood and school days that I hadn't heard before. I'd recommend it for any Elvis fan.

What impressed me most was the account of Elvis' intense, enduring interest in performing beginning at an early age. She cites his participation in school shows, contests and courthouse jamborees, his involvement with entertainer Mississippi Slim, and his 240 mile hitch hike to compete at the Jimmie Rogers Festival. Elvis's association with Bill Black, his first bass player, occurred long before that famous Sun session that produced his first hit. Those who think that Elvis was just a truck driver that lucked up on a record hit are sadly mistaken. Elvis was into the music scene from the get go. He may have been lucky, but like they say, you make your own breaks. He was there, prepared, looking for the opportunity and taking the initiative.

The life of Gladys and her influence on Elvis are well documented. I've read several Elvis books, and none provides a better description. Gladys had her own dreams of stardom which filtered through to Elvis.

The author does a thorough, excellent job of researching and developing her own independent conclusions. For the most part, her logic rings true. In a very few instances, she may infer too much.

The author, Elaine Dundy, not only tells the story of Elvis and his mother, she traces back several generations into the history and psyche of Elvis' ancestors: the Scotch and Irish who settled the Southeast and tamed the Mississippi Delta. Although she is British, her extensive research and comments about post-Civil War Southern society, customs, lifestyle, and mindsets are dead-on. I grew up in the rural Deep South and many of the influences peculiar to the South that Dundy sites in this book were still a part of my mid-20th century experiences.

The reader closes the book with one thought about Gladys (and Vernon) and that is that these two parents loved their son more than life itself and that they simply did the best they could. They were handicapped from the beginning by poverty, ignorance, and also quite possibly genetic pre-dispositions towards depression, obsessive/compulsive disorders, and addictions. It was not uncommon throughout the 19th century and into the 20th that first cousins would marry and have children. The inter-marriages within the Smith and Presley families were pervasive and no doubt exacerbated genetic tendencies.

Gladys' relationship to Elvis was very close in that she put his needs above everything else in her life. She was the only person who could have ever "saved" Elvis from his excesses. But unfortunately, she succumbed to her own drinking habits early on. Once she was gone, his life spiraled out of control.

Elaine Dundy leaves the question unanswered: If Elvis had such a close relationship with Gladys, why wasn't he ever able to form an equally enduring and intimate relationship with a lover? The answer comes from the reader's personal conclusion that the mother-son relationship was close to the point of crippling to Elvis. Just as he reached young adulthood his fabulous success story began. He was stretching out for independence and Gladys figuartively and literally abandoned him -- through death. Elvis was always able to keep the "enduring" part of a relationship going (i.e. he could never let Priscilla go) but his love affairs seemed to mirror his relationship with Gladys in bizarreness, obsessions, and misery.

Jesus comes to the congregation at the Sweet Pilgrim in a most unusual form. The book is very entertaining and, at the same time, very inspirational. A good quick read.

The Librarian at the local library recommended this book to me. She stated that she has read it many times. I had not heard about it and decided to check it out immediately. It is such an enjoyable and light read, as well as thought provoking.

Now, my co-workers want to read it.

I consider it as one of the best books I've read in 2004.

Highly Recommended!!!!

This novella just makes you feel good...I hope to see more fiction work from Clayton Sullivan. I have ordered his other non-fiction books, but this remains his best. I hope he publishes more fiction work soon.

This book made me laugh out loud more times than I can count. And in the end it made me cry because the writer was so absolutely right! Unfortunately, I lent my copy to a friend who lent it to a friend -- and now no one knows where it is. I want it back because it's the kind of book you read over and over, and catch new levels of meaning in each reading...and you can finish it in one sitting -- rare indeed!

"Jesus and the Sweet Pilgrim Baptist Church" is one of those rare books that hooks you as an entertaining novel before you realize that it is really a thought-provoking social/religious commentary. It is a gripping story of hatred, racism, forgiveness, redemption, and faith. As a parable, it is something that Jesus him/herself would have been proud to tell.

I listened to it on tape while in college, and I'm thrilled to see that it is being re-released.

In this fabulous book, it tells you the remarkable story about how the first teddy bears were made. Not only is the story exellent, but it has fabulous illustrations! GREAT JOB MR. MURPHY! i give this book an A+++++++++++++++.
-Stephanie,
Connecticut

The Legend of the Teddy Bear is a "must have" book for every home. It's a beautifully illustrated story that all children will enjoy while actually learning a piece of history. Imagine a child in your life explaining the story to an adult who doesn't know how the teddy bear got his name! This book belongs on all bookshelves, it will captivate children and adults alike. Looking forward to reading more from Frank Murphy!

I didn't read the book. I gave it as a birthday gift to my niece who is a teddy bear enthusiast. The rating I gave was based upon her overwhelming response to the book.

She was so taken with the story that she excitedly wrote a letter to the author. To his credit, the author responded with a handwritten letter that, along with the book, became a show-and-tell project for her 2nd grade class. She talks about the whole thing with stars in her eyes. It's truly priceless.

I give 5 stars to both the book and the author.

Cuddling Teddy Roosevelt is kinda strange...but cuddling a soft bear is better. Who would've known that the teddy bear was named after a president!
In this children's picture book, children will be amazed that they know a bit of history after they read this beautifully written/illustrated book.
~Erin
Age 11

This book appeals to all teddy bear lovers- young and old! It is a great way to share history with children. My kindergarten class throughly enjoyed it cover to cover! A must for anyone who ever had / or has a teddy bear!!

I read a review of this book in my local paper, bought the book the same day, and read it cover to cover while my toddler destroyed the house around me...I literally could not put this book down. I was also fortunate enough to hear the author speak about, and read a passage from, Losing Malcolm at my local bookstore. I can say with assurance that the world would be a better place if everyone would read this book!

Losing Malcolm: A Mother's Journey Through Grief is the compelling and candid story of Carol Henderson's traumatic experiences arising from the death of her infant son. Writing with a sometimes painfully honest insight, Henderson chronicles the events that ran her through a gamut of emotions including bewilderment and fear to a bone deep grief to a transforming recovery. Losing Malcom is especially recommended reading for anyone who has ever suffered the devastating loss of a loved one, as well as those that care about them and seek to substantively assist them in dealing with their suffering.

I am the mother of a child with congenital heart disease. I suffered much the same as this author, only my daughter lived. This is a wonderful book & I could relate so much, even given the fact that it was not death I was dealing with. Though I did deal with the "death" of the healthy child I thought I had given birth to. And in her place was my very sick & dying child. This author had to deal with death as a result of heart disease & I am having to deal with life as result of it. Either way it rips at your heart.

I went through a period of depression & anger. Like this author I withdrew from the world. I wanted to hide from everyone, including my closest friends. I wore a mask. I wanted everyone to think I was ok. But really anger was inside me eating at my soul like cancer. I thank Carol Henderson a thousand times for writing this. I AM NOT ALONE!! Buy this book along with a box of tissues. It will make you cry & laugh.( I particularly enjoyed the part describing "an innocent." So true...)

Losing Malcolm is a moving, first-hand account of unbearable loss and grief-and the growth that ultimately results from it. Carol Henderson struggles with the alienation that naturally occurs following such tragedies (only women who have lost babies can truly understand the experience), exacerbated by her temperamental/ familial or, as she describes it,"WASPy" tendency to withdraw in the face of emotional pain so as not to put anyone out. (She learns to cope this way early in life: her mother suggests the same solution to all emotional pain --- lie down and get some rest.) Ultimately, the author discovers real answers that lead to healing: find a community of women that has experienced the same loss, seek out a loving therapist who absolutely understands what she is going through, and, somehow, garner the courage to have another child. Through her painful odyssey, Henderson finds meaning and redemption in Malcolm's short life. This is a helpful book for both professional healers and family and friends of bereaved parents.

This is a beautiful book about a very difficult subject, grief. I finished the book within 24 hours of having bought it. It is not just about the death of a child but about how we are transformed by such tragedies. Henderson's life is deepened and matured by this profound experience and reading her book I felt I had changed too.

Reading Malinche's Children was a very humbling experience for me; I grew up in one of the "jewels" next to Carmelas, and attended Ramona School through 8th grade. In fact, I think the home my dad bought in 1955 might have been the very home that served as the development office mentioned in one of the stories. I didn't live in Carmelas, but I played there with friends, visited some of their homes, attended their birthday parties, fell for their sisters, bought candy at the Mexican Store, and even pulled a little red wagon down those dusty streets selling newspapers on Sunday morning when I was five years old.

And still, I knew very little about their history, and their beliefs. Daniel Houston-Davila is a wonderful writer, and I thank him for each and every jewel he has written for this collection.

This is the sort of book whose characters you miss when you put it down. I found myself many months later thinking of people I'd met in this book and wondering about them. Houston-Davila has the gift of the well-turned phrase... the book doesn't feel so much "written" as it does "lived". The path of this book was obviously chosen by the characters themselves and not the author-- but it's the author makes them come alive on the page with such passion. An excellent read. I should be so lucky to find another book as engaging anytime soon.

Daniel Houston-Davila's "Malinche's Children" heralds the introduction of a wonderful new voice in Chicano literature. Spanning a hundred years of love, hate, work and struggle in the Southern Californa barrio of Carmelas, Houston-Davila paints in vivid colors the lives of people he certainly knows well. His language is muscular, poetic and vibrant. "Malinche's Children" marks the beginning of what I hope to be a long, productive writing life for Houston-Davila.

Yes, this book is a warmly written and detailed chronicle of Mexican Americans in southern California. But it is more: a richly imagined and compassionate exploration of human aspiration. Houston-Davila's characters want what all of us want: love, home, a sense of meaning. Seeking these things in a transplanted, impoverished environment, the odds would seem stacked against them.
But they succeed. Again and again, with humorous, bold and poignant leaps of faith. This book is a rare treat: enjoyable, yet good for you. It nourishes the soul, expands compassion and understanding of what it means to be human.
The author has a rare ability to paint characters who are in a profound sense innocent, yet never insipid. He helps us see, through them, what really matters.
While appreciating the author's unique insights into the culture and times of its characters, don't miss its deeper truths.
Expect a lot from this book. You won't be disappointed.

Yes, this book is a warmly written and detailed chronicle of Mexican Americans in southern California. But it is more: a richly imagined and compassionate exploration of human aspiration. Houston-Davila's characters want what all of us want: love, home, a sense of meaning. Seeking these things in a transplanted, impoverished environment, the odds would seem stacked against them.

But they succeed. Again and again, with humorous, bold and poignant leaps of faith. This book is a rare treat: enjoyable, yet good for you. It nourishes the soul, expands compassion and understanding of what it means to be human.

The author has a rare ability to paint characters who are in a profound sense innocent, yet never insipid. He helps us see, through them, what really matters.
While appreciating the author's unique insights into the culture and times of its characters, don't miss its deeper truths.

Expect a lot from this book. You won't be disappointed.

The product came on time, well packaged, and exactly as described. A great shopping experience.

Already have an Atlas, topo CD set of Northeast, Garmin GPS Vista with topo/street maps. Once I found these Gazetteers, I bought one for every state in New England and New York. Each of the above provide different levels of information and alternative routes and access to various locations, often places with no direct road or trails. The gazatteers provide fast detail access to areas in question over the GPS or atlas and are invaluable to me while in the vehical. Although, the GPS is my lifeline away from the vehical, the gazatteers are large and not weather resistant.

I currently own CO, TX, TN, VA and now AL atlas & Gaz.
all are useful for home hunting, trying to locate a key area, etc.
don't count on this for in depth directions. but a good look at contours and gps this works.
this one isn't as good as the TX or TN version.

These are fantastic maps! I have several others, and use them quite often. I don't know of another one that will be better than this one.

I wanted to get this atlas, especially to help us find places to go camping and hiking.. It's not always easy to find campgrounds or primitive campsites (since they're not always located in clearly identified campgrounds), so having these detailed maps is very useful for that. We recently used the atlas when we camped in the Catskill Mountains region, and I was glad we had these maps to help us out.

I really enjoyed reading Only a Few Bones by John Philip Colletta. It's good family history, it's good local history, but--most importantly--it's a ripping good yarn which combines entertainment and enlightenment.

There are so many levels to John Colletta's "Only a Few Bones."
It can be read solely as a "Whodunit," and will keep the reader guessing with each new theory put forth. It's a fascinating detective story -- and it's all true.
It can be read on a historical level with its wealth of mid-19th century history in the South.
It is an excellent example of documentation. It must be a given that few books have ever been so well researched and documented.
"Only a Few Bones" can be read as the story told by a professor with a PhD in an entirely different field who could no longer ignore the calling of genealogy.
It's a quality example of using social history to flesh out the "bones" of all our ancestors.
But, most of all, "Only a Few Bones" is a fascinating read.

"Only a Few Bones" is a MUST read! From the very first pages, "Bones" presents the reader with an amazing array of richly descriptive word pictures. Some almost seem fictional. Yet taken as a whole, they detail a rural Southern family's "social, political, economic, cultural and geographic conditions." These very real, but personal and emotional, images--as seen a century later by a descendant, a young man who had never been south of the Mason-Dixon line--are conveyed with sensitivity and descriptive language not ordinarily seen in a genealogical story of one's ancestors.
Colletta's use of language is exciting, bringing the everyday features of a rural family's life into an enticing and constantly revealing array of surprises. "What could possibly be next?" the reader keeps asking. But the historical and personal events of this family saga continue to unravel the family myth that the author as a teenager had heard from his grandmother as she cut out dress patterns on his mother's dining room table. Grandma's "facts" were only a part of the story; actually it was the unanswered questions that proved to be the impetus for a young genealogist's journey to an unknown area, the Mississippi Delta.
Rooted in a grandmother's stories, some of which were fact and some were mythical, "Bones" became reality to replace what for years had been a mystery: who set the fire in which great-grandfather had died? As the young, impressionable, family history seeker made his way from one small, backwater rural town to the next, to their local cafes and small-town hotels, the ghosts of the Delta--with the eventual help of newspaper accounts, census records, obituaries--began to reveal more and more. Grandma's unanswered questions slowly came alive and begged for answers, as more information was unearthed surrounding the mystery.
The results are a wonderful, exciting, and revealing account, really a very personal and emotional story, of what embracing and exploring a family myth can give to a dedicated researcher. Even a genealogical spouse will not want to put down this book! "Bones" is a MUST read!
William Gann, Independence, MO

I've been fortunate to hear Dr. Colletta speak at several genealogy conferences. He is a master at gleaning facts from newspapers, family tales, and other sources to illustrate his family stories, and this story of trying to find the truth behind a family tragedy taught me so much about putting together a readable family book. I never even thought to look at weather reports to see what was going on the day someone was born, married, or died. In his book, Dr. Colletta weaves everyday details such as the weather in with his narrative that give it a richness and immediacy. Any genealogist who want to create a family history with more than names, dates, or places, should read this book.

It's a truism that, even among genealogists, few of us are truly interested in the details of other people's family histories. But now and then, a story comes along that is not only instructive in research methodology and interpretation of evidence, but is also an absorbing tale in its own right. And anyone who has heard Dr. Colletta lecture at a conference or speak at a banquet knows he's a born storyteller, a natural entertainer. Though he's based in Washington, the author is often identified with his hometown of Buffalo, New York, and with the subject of immigration research, but he also has Southern connections. When he first became interested in his family's history at the age of fourteen, he interviewed his grandmother and heard from her a sketchy and rather garbled account of the violent death of her own grandfather, Joseph Ring, in the fiery destruction of his store in Rolling Fork, Issaquena County, Mississippi, in 1873. (Though even most of those few facts were not known to her.) And when Joe's widow was returning to her family in the North, she was beset by another tragedy: The death of her infant son in a steamboat wreck. That was the beginning of a thirty-year quest to uncover the facts, a process Colletta describes here, step by step. Was Joe Ring killed by marauding ex-slaves? By local planters who opposed the arrival of recent immigrants? Was it bandits? Disgruntled customers? Or was it an Act of God? Reading newspaper accounts and the scant courthouse documents, tracking recollections of events in other branches of his family, walking the site of the store itself, he considered many hypotheses, eventually discarding all but one. (I won't tell you which one!) But while it sometimes reads almost like a novel, this volume is also an extended research report and every attributed personality trait or speculation on motive is accompanied by a footnote. And his conclusions are carefully bolstered by the available evidence. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

This is a superbly written and spellbounding book that offers tremendously unique insight into daily life during the short duration of Hitler's "Thousand Year Reich." I and my father, for whom this book was initially purchased, read the book non-stop cover to cover in two nights' of reading. A must read for any student of 20th Century European history and, in particular, WW II Nazi Germany.

This collection of short reminiscences by adult Germans who were children in Nazi Germany at the end of World War II is not quite as captivating as the author's own memoir "German Boy" but it is a fascinating nonetheless. If anything, given its format, this book would be even more accessible for a pre-teen reader than "German Boy."

For me personally, the biggest revelation in these stories is the repeated memory of children of running for cover from strafing fighter planes ("Tiefflieger"). Many of the children in this book mention this experience. Anyone who has seen the PBS documentary "A Fighter Pilot's Story" will find these descriptions of the air war over Europe from the point of view of children walking home from Kindergarten particularly chilling.

I enjoyed reading this book because I am interested in the social aspects of WWII not tactical battle discussions. This book does a good job a telling what happened in post war Germany through a child's eyes... even though the interviewees are now senior citizens.

The extreme hardships and moral dilemmas that faced women and children in an occupied country come to life. The book does an excellent job of illustrating how often women and children become the victims of war. Starvation, begging and rape, become daily events in the lives of once comfortable middle and working class children.

The difference between the kindness of the Americans soldiers and the often cruelty of the Russian forces is a major point. A shortcoming of the book is that no mention (in the narrative) is made of how most Russian soldiers probably came from villages that had been destroyed by Nazi forces (not that this justified their cruelty, but helps to explain it.) Several other books I have read explained how Russian soldiers entering Prussia were shocked at the apparent prosperity of Germany and wondered how they could be so greedy to take over less prosperous Russian land.

The book is well written and worth a read.

The War of Our Childhood is a perfect compliment, perhaps unintended, to German Boy. The trials and tribulations of a boy, which are seen in greater detail in German Boy, appear in lesser detail and intensity throughout the profiles of other children. Yet, in their collective memories a common thread is revealed, a golden thread if you will, of all the positive qualities necessary to succeed. It is most significant that amid the horror and setbacks, and in spite of it, the children behave with prime elements of mental health. There is a common display of flexibility under stress, recognition of individual assets and limitations, and a commendable quality of productive activity. The War of Our Childhood is a showcase of the human spirit at its best. It is beyond admiration that such human spirit appears in children during circumstances that may be unbearable to so many adults.

I purchased this book for my wife who survived the war as a child in Berlin. She said the book was so true and is was difficult to relive the repressed memories of the childhood she was robbed of by the horrors of war. She said the book was a factual and riveting description of events, and she wants our childern to read it. My wife never wanted the children to know what she experienced, but she now feel they probably should know these things.

I purchased this book for my son, a high school student who was assigned HUCKLEBERRY FINN in an American Studies class, and promptly fell in love with it. The commentary is delightful, and the many illustrations (many taken from the original edition,) photographs, prints, cartoons, and maps give a real sense of time and place. Homey details that might not be familiar to the modern reader are explained in some detail, as are customs of the time. The author includes material from Twain's notes and details about his life, always in a manner that illuminates the passage.

HUCKLEBERRY FINN frequently turns up on lists of banned books, and it's interesting to read of the controversy that dogged this story from the beginning. The particulars of readers' outraged sensibilities might change, but the response this book has always engendered suggests the timelessness of Twain's targets: ignorance, cruelty, hypocracy, racism. The story is a clear-eyed yet subversive look at a society in transition, and a relentless skewering of treasured myths concerning childhood. These themes remain as troubling today as they were in the 1840s, the supposed setting of the novel.

This book is an excellent resource for students and teachers, as well as for those of us who love Mark Twain's stories. The book itself is beautiful, with high quality paper and binding. A worthy addition to every library!

The greatest American novel, still. The country it sees is still in front of our eyes. The Americans it shows, we still are, though we live nearer to highways now than rivers. Twain's tale can be read both intellectually (yuck) as symbolic of the American quest for masterlessness (see Studies in Classic American Literature by D.H. Lawrence) and as a kid-on-a-raft-let's-see-what-happens story. Art and fun. Not an easy achievement to tie those two rascals together with one rope. Master of structure and flinger of fun though he be, the most exciting reason to read Twain is the language. The book is a hundred and sixteen years old, the writing ain't --"Steamboat captains is always rich, and get sixty dollars a month, and they don't care a cent what a thing costs, you know, long as they want it. Stick a candle in your pocket; I can't rest, Jim, till we give her a rummaging. Do you reckon Tom Sawyer would ever go by this thing? Not for pie, he wouldn't. He'd call it an adventure-that's what he'd call it; and he'd land on that wreck if it was his last act. And wouldn't he throw style into it?" --One caveat: Be careful the illustrations don't mess up the pictures the author can put in your head with his sentences.

Mark Twain at his best...great pictures and annotation...that are first rate. Due to time restraints, I have only skimmed the book. What I have read is great. It is a Norton book...always-great editions. If weight means anything, then this is a heavy-duty book. I look forward to reading the entire book after graduation in the spring. In addition, it even looks good on the shelf....

No repeats of the due praise by previous reviewers. If you have never read Huck Finn before, do not start here, the annotations would make it difficult to read with a curious eye to the margin notes breaking up the flow, like watching a DVD movie with the director comments turned on. But do come back when your done a non-annotated version (or even audio); travel down the river again with the annotations by your side, here as lengthy as the book over again, a whole new magical worlds awaits in the margins; you will discover the hidden depths and meanings of one of the most important literary works about America ever written. An amazing book lovingly produced.

Mark Twain opined that a classic is a book everyone wants to own but nobody reads!
However if you want to read Twain's best book with a full
critical apparatus, an introduction over 100 pages and excellent
illustrations this is the volume for you!
Anyone teaching Huckleberry Finn in high school or college should make use of Michael Patrick Hearn's well researched notes
which make this volume required reading.
I have read all of the Norton Annotated Classics and found this one (along with the Sherlock Holmes volume) the best.
Huckleberry Finn deals with the tragedy of 19th century slavery as Finn helps the black slave Jim escape down the mighty Mississippi river. In Huck's odyssey down the river he also travels from boyhood to manhood.
Twain's use of dialects is amazing as is his dissection of prebellum southern/southwest society rife with violence, bigotry, child abuse and cruelty.
Norton is to be commended for their series of classics opening up new ground for all students of Mark Twain. Excellent!