Adam Books

Henry Adams should be required reading for all US students. This version of his writings - Library of America series includes all his best writings in a small book. Amazon delivered as agreed.

The Library of America is one of the best organizations. Here at last are both novels, his interesting autobiography, and Mont St Michel all under one roof.

"Democracy" is one of the best political novels of all time and speaking as a denizen of the nation's capital, very little has changed. Esther is attempt deal with the "woman question." Clearly the inspiration of both books is Mrs. Henry Adams. Known as "Voltaire in petticoats" (Henry James), she later tragically took her own life following a period of depression. The death of his wife led to Henry Adams' retirement from public life. This subject is covered in Ernest Samuels' wonderful biography (which I also recommend).

I suggest a look at his biography since the subject of Marion Clover Adams is avoided entirely in "The Education of Henry Adams." Henry Adams may not discuss his wife, but he does touch on nearly everything else of importance in his autobiography. "Growing up Adams," life in Europe with Garibaldi's forces, life at the British legation in London during the Civil War are all addressed. The best and probably the most key chapter in the book is the one entitled "The Virgin and Dynamo." Adams uses the 1876 cenntenial fair as a departure to meditate of the impact of the industrial revolution. Adams believed with the growth of technology that man would somehow outgrow the simple humanity of the Middle Ages (it would have been interesting if Adams had lived long enough to meet someone like Carl Jung to see what he would have to say on this subject!). One of the foremost historians (the Library of America has also issued the history of Jefferson and Madison's Administrations, which is a classic), Adams became interested in the Middle Ages and his survey of the two great cathedrals of France Chartes and Mont St. Michel is the final book in the volume. I cannot recommend this book too highly, it is a must for all fans of Henry Adams and those who would like to experience him for the first time.

While Adams novels (Democracy and Esther) may be lightweight, the other two works included in this volume are two of the best non-fiction American books ever. Adams has the kind of intellect that seems capable of encompassing everything. Like Joseph Campbell or Harold Bloom, Adams often leaves the reader in awe of how much he knows and how he is able to make the connections that so clearly illuminate everything he touches upon. This is one of my favorite volumes in the Library of America series, and I know that anyone who appreciates intelligence, wit, and charm in a writer will enjoy reading it.

This little book/dictionary has a brief and succinct account on almost every main event, person, court case, legislation, etc. It even conveniently includes a copy of the US constitution at the end. If you are looking for a quick reference or maybe something to refresh your memory, then this book is perfect for you. However, if you are looking for an in depth analysis on various historical events, people, etc. then I wouldn't recommend this book.

Dictionary of American History, Michael Martin & Leonard Gelber

The authors attempted to provide a reference to events of American history such as economics, finance, labor, law, social welfare, literature, industry, science, religion, commerce, and foreign policy while not skipping political and military events. They carefully selected and edited this range of materials for the widest audience. Biographical items provide the essentials, as determined by the authors' judgments. They used 714 pages in this 1978 edition. You will be rewarded by any random search of the entries. There is an amazing number of facts that will educate and entertain the casual reader, and provide a starting point for more research. [One miscalculation was to list the ERA as Article XXVII.]

"Gas Industry" tells of the use of gas for lighting since 1806 in Newport RI. Baltimore in 1816 became the first city lighted by gas. Boston in 1822, New York in 1823, Philadelphia in 1837, the Capitol in 1847. "Income Tax" tells of its progressive features. It first exempted ordinary people (who earned less than $600 in 1861). By the 20th century most states had income tax laws to raise revenue. "Tenant Farmers" tells how the Bankhead-Jones Act of 1937 provided loans for the purchase of family farms. "Tenement Laws" improved the fire and health hazards of housing with new standards for plumbing, fireproofing, ventilation, and light. Old law tenements still existed in the 1930s until Federal laws allowed their replacement by low rent housing. "Granger Laws" were state laws that regulated railroads, grain elevators, and storage warehouses for the benefit of the midwest farmers. After these laws were declared unconstitutional in 1886 by a Supreme Court influenced by the railroads, Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887. Further amendments affected other industries. "Fair trade laws" allowed manufacturers to fix retail prices for their products for every retailer. In 1951 the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional any state law that affected interstate commerce.

"McCulloch vs. Maryland" was the 1819 Supreme Court decision that Congress could not be limited in its power if the end was legitimate and the means used were appropriate. The "Glass-Steagall Act" created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, restricted Federal Reserve Bank credit from speculation, and banks from dealing in foreign securities and as securities underwriters. [Its modification in the early 1990s allowed Investment Banks to use a perfectly legal form of "pump and dump" to swindle investors in the High Tech stock bubble of the late 1990s.] "Drake, Edwin Laurentine" drilled the first oil well in western Pennsylvania in 1859. The "Social Security Act" of 1935 provided for compulsory savings for wage earners to provide an annuity upon retirement. [Their figure of a "3%" deduction and monetary figures are long out of date.] "Wyoming" produces cattle, coal, oil, wool, and timber. In 1869 it allowed woman suffrage in national elections, and elected the first woman governor in 1925. It was called the "Equality State". "Palmer Raids" arrested and imprisoned thousands of aliens without a legal trial. Accused of violating the Constitution, A. Mitchell Palmer did not win higher political office. The "Yazoo Land Frauds" occurred when the Georgia legislature was bribed to give 35 million acres to a company for $500,000. This was declared unconstitutional and led to a long legal battle.

I'm a French studient and I'm studying English at University. The University library had it and I find it very instructive so I recommand it to the other students.

Rene Descartes is often considered the founding father of modern philosophy. A true Renaissance man, he studied Scholastic philosophy and physics as a student, spent time as a volunteer soldier and traveler throughout Europe, studied mathematics, appreciated the arts, and became a noted correspondent with royals and intellectual figures throughout the continent. He died in Sweden while on assignment as tutor to the Queen, Christiana.

Descartes 'Discourse on Method' is a fascinating text, combining the newly-invented form of essay (Descartes was familiar with the Essays of Montaigne) with the same kind of autobiographical impulse that underpins Augustine's Confessions. Descartes writes about his own form of mystical experience, seeing this as almost a kind of revelation that all past knowledge would be superseded, and all problems would eventually be solved by human intellect.

In the Discourse, Descartes formulates logical principles based on reason (which makes it somewhat ironic that this came to him almost as a revelation). Descartes had some appreciation for thinkers such as Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes, but he thought that Bacon depended too much upon empirical data, and with Hobbes he disagreed on what would be the criteria for ascertaining certainty.

Descartes was a mathematician at heart, and perhaps had a carry-over of Pythagorean mystical attachment to mathematics, for his sense of reason led him to impute an absolute quality to mathematics; this has major implications for metaphysics and epistemology. Descartes method was a continuation in many ways of the ideas of Plato, Aristotle and the medieval thinkers, for they all tended toward thinking in absolute, universal terms in some degree.

Descartes in his first section discounts much of Scholasticism, stating that the only real absolutes are theology and mathematics; because theology is based upon revelation, it is therefore beyond reason, and thus, mathematics becomes the only rational truth. Descartes develops this idea further with rules of method, which include ideas of intuition, analysis and deduction. He uses some of his method to come up with his greatest proposition:

Cogito ergo sum - - I think, therefore I am

'The Cogito is a first principle from which Descartes will now deduce all that follows.' This permits Descartes to deal both with rational elements and empirical data.

The other major piece in this collection, 'The Meditations', includes several different mediations, including that on the existence of the soul, the existence of God, the material world, things we may doubt, and other philosophical problems of the time. These meditations do incorporate Descartes attempt to employ his method to some degree, but at the same time divert into other means. For example, Descartes' meditation on the existence of God is in many ways the Anselm ontological proof revisited, and has a certain circular reasoning to it.

This is an important text, one that I read the summer before I went to college, and makes a good study for those who wish to see the personal element in the development of philosophy.

Great book, go buy it! Descartes is one the true geniuses of this worl

Descartes has written one of the greatest classics in the history of philosophy. He gets down to the elements of how we can know truth. This is in sharp contrast to the majority of philosophy books that give another mans opinion, but not on how we know truth. Descartes begins his book by saying that there are contrary opinions among philosophers, other people and just in general. For every opinion given there is a contrary opinion, so how do we know truth, if knowing truth is even possible? He writes in his book, that what we know as the world ,could be the creation of a demon who fools us into thinking that what we know is real. So he writes that one should doubt everything. Then he says that someone is doubting, so there must be something real that is doubting. Hence he arrives at his famous self evident principle "I think, therefore I am." He then states that we begin our search for truth on self evident principles such as "Truth exists" and his principle stated above among others. We divide our problem and solve it starting from the easiest to the most difficult. As a final step we take in all the evidence into review. This is an excellent method in which to find truth. His first step though is the most important one, that is, establishing doubt. We can't really know what a thing is and hence we should be doubtful. This is a far better method than the scientific method and far easier to implement. Science does not and cannot arrive at truth, because truth is eternal and has no limit. The most science can do is to have a utility value. That is it can make life easier for us by mastering nature. To find truth we leave that to the religions such as Christianity and Buddhism and also to the philosophers like Descartes.

After reading the book,I became able to understand more about the fish they call 'King' of the fresh water aquarium. Both of these men have years of experence in breeding and care of these fish. Jack Wattley has introduced new stirains to the fish world by cross-breeding . I found the color photos in the book to be best stills I have seen in years.

Discus Today is easy reading with loads of beautiful color photographs. This book deals mainly with successful breeding techniques so it is not really a beginners type book. However, it can be a wonderful reference book for the serious hobbyist that wants to take Discus keeping one step further.

This is a really kickbutt book. Has tons of info on breeding and keeping discus. If your serious about your discus then this is the book for you. The pictures in this book are the best that I have ever seen. This is really the bible of Discus keeping. The section written by Jack is a masterpiece. Jack shows us why he is the king in raising discus.

Who would have thought you could write a thriller about a cure for heart disease? Well, Trevor Scott knocks one out of the park with this book.

Trevor Scott's international intrigue catalogue continues to expand with his third international espionage thriller, The Dolomite Solution. Mr. Scott is a former weapons expert with the Navy; a former captain in the Air Force; holds a masters degree in creative writing from Northern Michigan University; and now resides in Oregon and Michigan. He continues to travel extensively in Europe.

The Dolomite Solution is set in northern Italy; Innsbruck Austria; and Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. Two scientists have combined research to find a cure for heart disease. They are set to turn their findings over to an Austrian biotechnology company and are a shoe-in for the Nobel prize when one of them is killed on a mountain road. Jake Adams, former Network agent, has just moved to Innsbruck for a break from his exploits when he receives a strange phone call which propels him into the most convoluted web of murder; betrayal, and industrial espionage he has yet encountered:

"Quinn laughed to himself, gazing through the night vision goggles at the dumpster that Adams had just scurried behind like a frightened rat. His shots had gone way over the man's head, but then Jake had no way of knowing that. It was perfect. When he first heard that the man who had ruined his life would be in the same city as him, he couldn't believe his good fortune. When he had actually seen the man, he knew his luck was changing for the better. He had thought long and hard in prison, projecting a scenario for this very meeting. The city didn't matter. Circumstances like this couldn't be ignored. He had Adams just where he wanted him."

Trevor Scott delivers with The Dolomite Solution. Jake Adams is up against a bitter enemy, and with his usual aplomb Scott ratchets up the action. He is an expert at thoroughly deceiving the reader, drawing us into a seemingly insolvable plot just as he fascinates us with action that is non-stop. Jake is his usual disarming self, understated in a thoroughly fascinating way until his enemies inflate with their own devious cunning. We can't wait for him to succeed, and we can't help but be relieved when he finds his true lady love in the end...a wonderful read.

Shelley Glodowski, Reviewer

I saw this book mentioned in Publishers Weekly. They said that former CIA agent Jake Adams was back for more male action-adventure in his third international mystery thriller, THE DOLOMITE SOLUTION by Trevor Scott. "Previous titles have fit the Tom Clancy techno mold, but this topical tale of DNA research and a possible cure for heart disease falls more in the James Bond tradition of fancy cars and fast women."--Publishers Weekly. When I read that, I bought a copy online. They're right. This thriller is one heck of a wild ride. I can't wait to read his first two books. Who would have thought you could make a great thriller from the discovery of a DNA cure for heart disease? Great Scott! He did it.

The book is written beautifuly and I learned about my fellows Polish immigrants a lot. I can be proud of them. It is written with genuine talent of observation, showing interesting details, thoughful thoughts, impressions. I recommend the book for everyone who wants to immigrate, not to scare him/her, but to appreciate the circumstances the others had to go through. This book helps to appreciate the new adopted country, and... to love the old country - Poland.

The talented writer shows her interest in Polish immigrants to Canada - their life and struggles, their hopes and dissapointments. It shows the achievement and happiness they found in a new country and a new environment. The book is true, touching and very well written.

In the monthly magazine published in Paris "Kultura"(9. 504 1989), a review of the book "Dreams and Reality" was published. Benedykt Heydenkorn stressed that the author of the book, Aleksandra Ziolkowska, a young Polish writer, depicted the Polish immigrants in Canada in an interesting way, with a great talent, but also in a very objective way. He remarked that she didn't want to prove anything, she only wanted to share all kinds of stories of people's lives, their views on Canada and their views on the old country Poland. He stressed that she didn't generalize anything.

In the quarterly Ossolineum "Dzieje Najnowsze" ( 3-4 1988), Prof. Marek Drozdowski wrote that the stories are written with talent and understanding. He asserts that the reader can learn about the painful episodes that immigrants faced in establishing themselves and finding their own place in a new society in Canada. He liked the philosophy of immigration shown in one story about Irma, and he also liked the way Ziolkowska portrayed the Canadians Indians.

Professor Marcin Kula , the well recognized historian at Warsaw University, wrote in the Krakow scientific magazine "Przeglad Polonijny" (NR 2, 1988 ) that the book "Dreams and Reality" teaches more about the problem of immigration than the scientific essays about that subject. The book gives material for reflection about the myth of a "gold Eldorado" that was so popular among the people leaving Poland.

Loved it. Wished I read it before I saw the movie, that way I would have had a purer vision of the play.

This is a great modern play. I loved all the references and word games

I'm directing the play in The Netherlands. Never had to dig so deep as in this play. Did the play before, and now I did some completely new discoveries. What about this: I think Nick is the only true victim. May change that opinion the next rehearsel: 'Woolf' never stops amazing!

This was recommended to me by my local book store as I was recently trudging through an on-line college American History class, and was required to read Paine's Common Sense. It has been years since I've been in school and this was perfect for a quick and easy to understand reference to the document. Plus the original was included too. It was a life saver.

What? Paine's Common Sense adapted for all ages? That was the question I asked myself when I came across this book for the first time. I was one of the first reviewers on the last edition (5 stars) and became extremely curious on why a larger publisher had picked it up. Happily, and even surprisingly, the new version is a stunner. Clocking in at 216 pages (Amazon shows it at 192, which is wrong) the original version was a mere 100 pages. Philosophically, this new book is much more expansive and ambitious, adding in adapted versions of The Boston Port Act, The Olive Branch Petition, and King George III's Proclamation for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition. Every one a major contributing factor to the start of the American Revolution. Brilliant inclusions, because these documents are subtly referenced in Thomas Paine's rant against the Monarchy in his Common Sense pamphlet. I had never read the Olive Branch Petition or Port Act before, mainly because of "Olde English"...although, I had read about their tremendous effect on the colonists. All are fascinating, in their purpose and historical context. Next, I loved the humorous illustrations in the book, and happily--there are more of them in this edition. They clarify much of the text in key areas. (Look for the logo on the chamberpot in the Quartering Act cartoon, I'm still laughing.)

A stranger and more entertaining history book probably does not exist. But I can't imagine any age group not learning a lot about American History, and the effect of Paine's Common Sense on galvanizing revolution, through these adaptations. This book adds more depth to the understanding of early American documents, and history, than most others I have ever seen. And, like Paine's purpose in 1776, this book too is written in language for everyone. PLUS, the original Common Sense is included as well...so you can compare the two and better understand the original.

PS: The website that goes with the book has a game where you get to be a Colonial Police Sketch Artist and design a King George III Wanted Poster. I have no idea how to critique it, nor should I probably try, but I was very entertained.

As a 5th grade teacher that has to teach all subject areas to a self-contained classroom, I am always trying to find a way to link lessons from various subjects together.

For Social Studies I am required to teach American history from the early colonies through the Revolutionary War. I ran across this book and asked my school librarian if she could buy a few copies to see if I could use them for guided reading discussions during my students' literacy time (by the way, the book includes guided reading questions after each chapter). I was amazed at how well it made the issues we were discussing in Social Studies come alive.

This book is an easy read for my students and I love it because it gives them access to what I have always thought to be one of the most important pieces of writing from early American history. After having several of my students read the book, two of them actually went online and downloaded the audio-book of Paine's original version (these kids and their iPods!) and three others became so excited and inspired by Paine's arguments that they wrote their own version of Common Sense and presented it to the class during one of our Revolutionary War simulations in Social Studies. Paine, one of them said, was a true American hero for standing up for what was right even if others disagreed with him. Almost all of the students who read this really got into all the activities this book offers online (there is an icon on several pages that asks readers to go online for interactive activities that correspond with the text on that particular page) and for the first time in a long time, I had students getting on their computers at home to - get this - READ HISTORY.

Wow. All of that from bringing this book into my classroom. I have since ordered a classroom set and it will be a part of what I do for years to come.

If you're a teacher of early American history, this book is a "must-have" in your classroom. It teaches, it enriches, and it inspires. Wonderful.

Adams' poetry rocks! Anyone who can appreciate traditional forms and witty allusions but who also wants poetry to be to voice of the cultural moment will want to get Adams' first collection.

In "For Pandemonium," for example, Adams juxtaposes, or, perhaps more appropriately, appropriates, the primal post-lapserian (Miltonic?) city with/for both an urban (industrial?) love gone wrong and the limits of poetry itself.

Adams' poetry is smart and touching, often funny but always witty. I really enjoyed reading it. It is diffcult today to find a modern poet that writes both meaningful and fun poetry.

"Epistles from the Planet Photosynthesis" is masterful in its use of traditional and free verse forms. From Sapphic stanzas to sestinas, from sonnets of extraordinary beauty to a canzone whose repetitions reunite a splintered family, Mary Adams' poems demonstrate the ideal marriage of form and content. Confident and versatile, the poet is capable of heart-wrenching intensity ("What I Should Have Told You"), rare compassion, and genuine wit (see especially "Cerberus at the SPCA," a poem of humor, grace, and metrical virtuosity). Perhaps my favorite poem is one of the best villanelles of recent memory, "Queen of Grieve," in which form, image, and sound combine with unforgettable results: "She ruled a ruin, did the Queen of Grieve..." In all, a first book of singular vision and most impressive skill.

I recommend this one highly! It's formal without being snobbish (in fact, sometimes the form sneaks right past you, a subtlety which more poets should only be able to manage), but it has free verse too, for those of you who are fleeing in terror from any of the sneers which occasionally characterize the New Formalism. There are no sneers here. The book contains a number of love poems (not sentimental even at their most painful, though), and a number of "epistles" from the incarnate ET's of the Heaven's Gate cult (both poignant and funny), and a number of--I guess they'd be called "other poems." On a purely mundane level, this is certainly the book I'd reach for after a betrayal in love, but it's much more than that too.

My personal favorites are among the "others", with my all-time favorite being "Cerberus at the SPCA." I can't think of another poet who could combine the three-headed dog guarding the way to hell with the concrete and urine of the animal shelter, and it's an incredible combination; an appropriate treatment for people who abandon or negelct their pets might be to be tied up, preferably in the animal shelter, and have this poem read to them until they understand what they've done...Cerberus surveys the ranks of the damned in hell in just the way that visitors to the shelter look upon the caged animals, before he's caged there himself; that it's in Dante-esque terza rima only adds to the power of the poem. Cerberus says "I recognize that terror and that trust." So do readers of Adams' poems.

This short book is an outstanding analysis of how nations end wars, or accept peace. Ikle shows how governments often prefer obviously self-destructive courses rather then compromise peace terms. The problem is most acute when factional interests dominate strategy rather then a rational unitary interest. In such a circumstance, factions that benefit from continuing the war will accuse those pursuing peace of treason. Sadly, there is no equivalent derogatory word in English for those who pursue war to the detriment of their country.

The book was first written in 1971, and most of the examples are from the two world wars. The work is still extremely relevant, and at 130 pages it's well worth the time.

Highly recommended as a first book to read on ending war.

This book should be read by everybody on any side of the current debate as to what are future Iraq (Iran?, N. Korea?- w/ the current set of maroons you never know) policy should be.
Ikle was Undersecretary of Defense for the Reagan administration. He is one of the original neocons. This book had an enormous influence on how Bush I and Powell decided to end our first Gulf War. He revised this book in 1991 and revised it again and wrote a new intro in 2005.
My point is that this man is no cut and run liberal (and I should admit that, right now, I am leaning toward just that position). However, what makes Ikle stand out from his demented neocon brethren is that he is willing to face up to ALL of the possibilities, the difficulties and the ambiguities that are inherent in any foreign policy, let alone a war. He mentions many of the wars and theatres of those wars in the twentiety century and points out how many times politicians and generals went wrong because they would not 1. clearly set out the goals they were trying to accomplish in a war and 2. constantly reevaluate those goals in light of the developing situation.
Ikle outlines a few of the difficulties that are obstacles to such a course. Rather prophetically, he talks about how difficult it is to get good intelligence to base your policies on. Sources from within the country of your opponent may mislead you for their own purposes. Agencies within your own government are posturing with the intelligence to protect their influence. Does any of this sound familiar?
In one of my favorite chapters of this book, Ikle talks about a tendency that occurs when things start to get difficult in a war. Those who are supporters of the war will start posturing as patriots and referring to the opponents of the war as traitors (or, in the parlance of the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, as "surrender monkeys"). Again does this sound at all familiar?
Here is another one for ya. Ilke argues that it is essential to know why exactly you are fighting. Otherwise, you will never really know when you have won. It is very clear that the whole WMD was just what Rumsfeld or Cheney (I have forgotten which- neither one of them has said anything about the war that is worth remembering in a positive sense) said it was-the one justification they "could all agree on." The role of America as the Great Democratizer has faded into memory. Now we are left with The MisDecider telling us that it is all about leaving Iraq with "a viable government" What does that mean? How is that different from what they had under Sadam?
Here is my main point. Here is what makes me so angry. Powell, Rumsfeld, and Cheney all read this book back before the first Gulf War. Nothing has changed in the world to make the recommendations of this book any less vital. These men and women were supposed to be the most experienced foreign and military people the Republicans had produced (which should blow all claims to the Republicans being the party of security out of the water). They ignored these lessons because they choose to and went ahead and made what may be the most serious strategic error since Hitler invaded the Soviet Union.
I am hopeful that the Dems now have more power but only slightly so. We need to have a serious discussion now. Not posturing. It may be that we should simply leave at this point because the decline of Iraq into chaos is inevitable. But as someone who is an internationalist, I think we need to look long and hard at the results of doing that before we simply do so. We owe it to the people of Iraq and the surrounding area to do whatever we can to minimize their suffering, to restore a working infrastructure and government to their country and to restore peace to their daily lives. Facing up and discussing the issues as suggested by Ilke is our duty as a democratic polity. There are no easy answers here except for the obvious fact that we cannot rely on Bush and his minions to do what needs to be done.
Give this book a read. It is not gracefully written but it is short and direct. You may find it one of the strangest ironies of our time that one of the most telling critiques of the administration comes from someone who is their ally. The main difference between Ikle and people like Bush is that Ikle takes the world more seriously than his ideology.

The twentiety century taught us a lot about wars and how they end. World War I showed us that making strong demands on the defeated (who didn't admit defeat to their own people) set the stage for the next big war.

World War II was fought until the Unconditional Surrender of the Germans and Japanese. Something that thinkers still debate as having made them fight all that harder.

VietNam was fought with no clear end in sight, and "another VietNam" entered our language.

The first Gulf War was ended when Colin Powell and Bush II debated how to end the war. They stopped before they had to go in and see what the Sunni's, Shiite's and Kurds made of the power vacuum left by the removal of Saddam would have created. Bush II is learning about this now.

This is the second revised edition of this book, originally published in 1971 and then updated in 1991 and now 2005 to reflect happenings in new wars.

Still some of the old wars had interesting insights that I didn't know before, such as how Finland, originally on Germany's side against Russia, made a peace with Russia and kicked the Germans out before they became a Russian province. Great Book.