Barton Books

The text and panoramic format of this very fine volume are a must see and have for all those interested not only about the Great War but also military history in general. One will seek such volumes about other military topics only to discover how rare they are. Here we have a fine book complete with CD rom at a reasonable price. For the student of the never ending study of the Western Front this is an indispensible volume.

The cd-roms are NOT compatible with Mac. They are for Windows users only.

The distinguishing feature of this extraordinary volume is its collection of panoramic photos, nearly all of the Western Front. Long forgotten in the archives, these superb photographic works are used to provide a new perspective for the amateur and professional military historian.

The panoramas provide anchors for the history. Beyond the panoramas, the book is superbly illustrated with hundreds of other photos showing not only the battlefield, but the often surprisingly well-designed trench and underground bunker systems. Contemporary photos of preserved and newly explored systems are provided as well.

The text is just as rich as the photos.

Overall, a wonderful photographic and narrative history of World War I's Western Front which should be on the bookshel of everyone interested in the period. Some of the discussions, such as the ones on mining of enemy trench systems and design of the systems are not only unusual, but extraordinarily informative.

Jerry

When you are interested in World War 1, western front then this is the book for you. It gives great and interesting details about the war under ground. Not only easy to forget facts, but knowledge about how they did it. For example, how did they create the tunnels in quicksand like ground and in the blue clay.

For a variety of reasons, the tunnellers of WW I never got the recognition they deserved. Many of the techniques and tools were never given much publicity at the time, and the work lacked the heroic aspects of "going over the top" or fighting in the air. Beneath Flanders Fields is one of just a few books that address the war underground, and it does a superb job: there are firsthand descriptions, black-and-white photos from WW I, excellent line drawings (on a par with, say, Biesty), loads of maps and sketches, and to top all of that off, many color photos done long after WW I showing the remains of dugouts and other underground works. Looking at a black-and-white photo from 1917 may not be too bad, but looking at a color photo done much more recently of disused tunnels, with rotting supports, knee-deep water, badly rusted bunks, etc, is something else altogether. I would not have enjoyed venturing in to take those photos.

We all know about the gas masks that were needed by the troops in the trenches, but the illustrations of the special equipment that was needed underground after an explosion left dangerous gas will remind you of space suits or alien monsters from science-fiction movies. Counter-mining was ubiquitous, listening devices were sophisticated (an ant crawling would sound like an elephant herd). There were occasional battles underground when tunnels met: the book describes fighting in pitch blackness, and how the tunnelers would feel for the epaulettes that the Germans wore on their uniforms.

A fine book--and certainly not for the claustrophobic!

The authors are to be commended for producing such a fine book on a little known subject, the tunnel war beneath ground during World War One. Some very rare old photos, plenty of details on the equipment, some excellent line drawings and maps and a lot of information on the brave men that fought and died underground. Well worth obtaining a copy if you are a WWI buff. Highly recommended.

This was one of my favorite books as a child and my children (ages 8 and 3) have both loved it. It is a very sweet story about a frog who has big dreams for his dream house. Through the encouragement and support of his new friend, Gertrude, he is able to accomplish the task. We have over 200 children's books at my house and this is one of about five books that my kids keep coming back to (maybe because they enjoy listening to me tell it--I never get tired of it!). Put this on your "must read" list for your kids! I'm so thrilled that it is still on the market (mine is probably 30 years old) so I can buy it for all of my friends who are having babies! It's a great story about gratitude that adults can benefit from, too.

I absolutely loved this book as a child. The drawings--wonderful colors--are fantastic. I am not sure why it is not more well known.
Great book for young children--perhaps particularly young girls.

Bullfrog needs a little help building his "pad on the pond". Gertrude, a new friend, comes the rescue and makes herself indespensible to Bullfrog. Once the house is complete, Bullfrog realizes that life alone in this new house just isn't that great...so it's time to bring Gert back...for good.

Quality illustrations, simple dialog. Quite appropriate from 3 years of age and up. This is one that my own children ask to read over and over.

This story is written using sophisticated rhymes and tells a funny story most kids will identify with. My son asked to have this book read to him every night for weeks, and the clever writing kept it fun for me. I even memorized the book for car rides. It is definately one of my favorite books in his library.

Caterpillow Fight is not only a great bedtime story but is quite charming. Is a tongue-tiwster at times. There is also a lesson at the end of this story which is a great learning experience. My 4-year granddaughter eagerly looked forward to hearing this story and rapidly learned to read it by herself due to the wonderful illustrations. The use of animals in realistic story matters are a great asset for young children. This book delivers all.

I am 4 years old and I like this book the best because they have a pillow fight. I like the pictures very much. The callerpittars are so funny. You should read this book.

I'm usually not a fan of short stories. Too often I feel disappointed by the content, ending, or characters. Marlin Barton's stories took me so deeply into Southern culture and the characters who populate it that I felt I had spent a large part of my life observing and interacting with these people and this place. The depth to which he is able to take a character in one short story continually surprised me. I was especially moved by the stories about fathers and sons. Having grown up the only girl in a family of boys and a mother who worked most weekends while my dad took charge, I was witness to a male world without the keys to enter it. These stories confirmed many of the things I suspected, but never was allowed to experience about this world. I would recommend this book to anyone who seeks to read about what matters in relationships between people, their histories, and their cultures.

The stories in Marlin Barton's "The Dry Well" are at once individual masterpieces and a powerful whole. The characters, several generations of the Anderson family, struggle with their personal "grotesqueness," transcending their community of Delmarville, Alabama into a southern "Winesburg, Ohio." Some, like the bitter cripple, Aiken, are outwardly afflicted, whereas Rafe, the protagonist of the title story, suffers from a dark, inner turmoil which causes him to doubt his own motives. In these characters' sufferings runs a powerful undercurrent of the chiaroscuro within every human soul.

Barton's imagery immerses the reader in time and place, but also subtly reveals the emotional landscape of his characters. For example, on page 36, Rafe saw ... "the moon, perfect in its half-symmetry. Its edge looked as if it had been cut with a knife honed on a fine-grained whetstone; the few streaks of clouds below it save almost the suggestion of blood, as if the cut had done the moon injury." Rafe is thus revealed as a Confederate soldier, no stranger to bloodshed.

The most brilliant moments in Barton's prose, however, are his story endings. Each is a moment of pure finesse, often a surprise delivered in the last line, yet every one is wholly, perfectly, inevitable.

It takes a lot to impress this critical reader. Marlin Barton's "The Dry Well" does.

The stories in this volume capture the South at its darkest - yet at the same time they reveal the brightest sparks of the souls of the characters that have been brought to life so vividly here by Marlin Barton. Centered loosely around a single family, they cover a wide span of time - from the Civil War to the present day. Considering the time and place of some of the stories, it's easy to understand that there is some serious ugliness involved - but rather than play it loudly and cheaply, Barton has chosen to be more of a medium than a creator. In his hands, the words become crystalline, allowing the reader to see effortlessly into the lives and times depicted.

The collection begins in (more or less) the present, with `Jeremiah's road', in which an elderly Black man sees the values to which he has clung for so many years fraying at the edges, most evident in the behavior of members of the family across the road. In this story, as in many here, there is an aching sadness for things that are lost, things that are perceived as vital in order to make a life whole, to make sense of the insensible. There are successes and failures - and all of the grey area in between - represented in these chronicled lives. From `Jeremiah's road', the title story takes us back to the time of the Civil War - but rather than being just another story of battles and bloodshed, Barton instead delicately paints a poignant portrait of a single soldier, touched by what he has seen and experienced in ways that will change him forever. The stories continue to work their way through time, winding up with `The cemetery', set, like `Jeremiah's road', in the present.

Many of the stories here involve struggles between the races - struggles to understand each other, to coexist, to find a way to treat each other with respect, sometimes simply to tolerate. There are no sermons here - right and wrong are presented in turn, and it's not always easy to tell them apart. Hmmm - rather like life. Barton's style is simply an amazing thing to behold. His writing is deceptively well-crafted, allowing its complexity to be shrouded in apparent simplicity - but therein lies his craftsmanship as a wordsmith. I think that `The minister', `Fires' and `The cemetery' moved me the most - but every single one of these stories is an absolute gem. I can't wait to read more by this writer.

What else do I need to say? This book takes you through this couple's relationship like you are living it yourself. I fell in love with her, just like he did, and she hurt me when she hurt him. I dearly wish Frederick Barton had written some more.

El Cholo Feeling Passes is a great book of love and misunderstanding. A young couple living together go through all phases of a relationship. Ultimatly they break up and go their seperate ways but the ending will grab you. If you're a fan of off-beat slice of life love stories, give this one a try

I came across this novel by accident, picking up a tattered copy that some obvious backpacker had left at my home years ago, one I began on a chilled rainy day and stayed with through the weekend. It's a superb novel, particularly for any expatriated southern student, who experience the Seventies, and may be thinking of returning to somewhere back in the low country years later, as did I. My only regret is that I didn't find Barton until recently, as this, his first novel, was published in 1985, yet, remains topical to today's issues of war, race, sexism and the forever lost psyche of us all. The novel provides insights and harmony with many of the struggles I endured, and its wisdom stays with me even now, as I continue to puzzle over the outcome of Barton's story. Thus, the title is the enigma; The El Cholo Feeling Passes. Not, at least for me. Some books - rare ones - come out of the past to gain popularity years later. This is one that deserves just such a rediscovery.

From desciptions of the Durfee and Peck traders to the health conditions at the fort, the construction of the fort itself...a work to be enjoyed. You can feel yourself sliding back in time, to the shores of the Missouri, when there was little west of you except open land and Indians. I relished this book, enjoyed each and every page.

Fort Union And The Upper Missouri Fur Trade by Barton H. Barbour (Assistant Professor of History, Boise State University), is a comprehensive history of the city of Fort Union, one of the most important and enduring fur-trading posts of the nineteenth century. Historian and author Barton Barbour transport the reader to a yesteryear teeming hub of communication and activity between pioneers, Native Americans, trappers, traders, and more. An involving discussion of the legal, political, and sociocultural influence this trading hub had upon American history, Fort Union And The Upper Missouri Fur Trade is an impressive work of deftly presented scholarship which has clearly earned its finalist ranking for the 2002 Western Writers of America Spur Award in the Best Western Nonfiction-Historical category.

When I found that I would be moving to Williston, ND, (25 years ago) I checked to see what all was in the area. I was pleased to notice that the North Unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park was in the next county. I also noticed that there was a National Historic Site nearby as well. The National Park is nice but I have been to the Fort Union National Historic Site far more often. I discovered that a significant chapter in our nation's history took place at the nearby confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers. Thanks to this scholarly work by Barton Barbour, I have been able to read the most focussed, well-written, engrossing book ever published on this local monument.

When I came to this area, the site was comprised of a trailer home Ranger office/Visitor's Center and a roped out layout of where the various parts of the fort used to be. The subsequent reconstruction of the site (which was financed, in part, by significant local contributions) has resulted in a site that looks as impressive as its' history. Much of the local focus seemed to be about the many "celebrities" who came here during the fort's heyday. While there are many well-researched work about the Fur Trade, Barbour's book elevates the level of discourse to an analysis of significant issues. He presents a compelling theory that the fur-trading communities of the Upper Missouri exemplified a society of diversity that was well ahead of its' time. While there were hierarchies involved, there was also a recognition that all parties were interdependant of each other. The resulting respect and cooperation was well beyond the societal norms of the rest of European-settled America. Ironically, this existed at the same time the rest of the USA was fighting the Civil War over, in part, issues of racial equality.

There are chapters that examine the nature of the fur-trading industry and its' relationship to other industries as well as to the US Government and its' various agencies. These 2-3 chapters in particular do tend to slow the reading down a bit but Barbour offers a good overview of the Fur Trade's position in the American Economy and legal structure of the times. The political change that arose from the Civil War are stikingly presented by the author.

Mr. Barbour also offers a look at the effect that the Fur Trade had on the Native American Culture as well as its' impact on the Arts and Science of an emerging nation. He shows how the needs of trader and Indian alike created a market place that was respectful of each. The overhead may have been high but the quality was very good. His conclusions challenge many of the more recent stereotypes of European-American interaction with Native societies.

Barton Barbour has succeeded in creating a much-needed overview of the Upper Missouri Fur Trade. His analysis of Fort Union as the most significant site of its' kind is well-presented. It is much appreciated by those of us in the Missouri/Yellowstone Confluence area who knew that Fort Union was always more than just another fort on another river.

Wish I had this when I was growing up...I am learning History with my kids, and this guy is hilarious! MUST HAVE! Especially for home schoolers!

This is a wonderful DVD series. My children (9,8,5) have loved watching the movie segments about the characters from American history. There are even some that I had never heard of. Mr. Stotts puts a humorous twist on his narratives of each person that keeps the viewer very involved. I highly recommend this video.

Teaches American history as it really happened. Takes the reader on a journey through American history, accompanied by historical figures that paid the price to gain the freedom we enjoy today. Investigates the worldview of our nation's Founders and gives a perspective of American history that has been largely lost today. Designed as a teacher's text, it also makes for a great supplement for any history student.

This was the text book for my history of costume and other classes at University. It, along with it's brief but incredibly helpful pattern book are my first stop whenever creating an historical costume. I have walls of books on the subject but this is, for me, definitive. Dear Lucy, her research is impeccable, her hints on construction are invaluable and the illustrations are informative. I was a professional theatrical costume designer and maker for years and I have always kept this one for my best reference. It is followed, but not supplanted by the Janet Arnold books. These experts knew the extant garments of these periods and were respected by people in their own fields as well as the museum curators, etc. Get this one by all means!

For all the costume books out there- glitzy,gorgeous, full color photos & all- this book is the bedrock for all of them & for any aspiring- or working!- designer this is the foundation of your library. I am offering it as a text for my History of Costume class, as its clearheaded descriptions of historic garments & life are the basis of my lectures anyway; my students mught lose my handouts but it's too great a book to lose!

This was the textbook for my college History of Costume class. I majored in fashion design, subsequently went on to become a theatre costume designer, and for every costume, every show I have ever designed, this book was the initial source. I have NEVER seen a better overall costume reference. A must for anyone with a fascination for human apparel.

A mystery-adventure set in the waning days of the old west, it has 350 pages, I wish it could have been more, James Lockhart trying to clear his name after being falsely accused of stealing the bank notes that he sells plus murder, with his traveling companion Marian Taylor who is accused of being an accomplice, they travel mostly by train with one air trip and several buggy rides from Sacramento to Fort Worth with stops in Omaha, Hannibal, the Oklahoma panhandle, rural Kentucky and other points, my kind of book, hope it is your's too.

Riding the rails, James Lockhart is a traveling salesman of sorts. He goes from town to town selling banknotes to individual banks. However on a train bound to Sacramento, U.S. Marshal Rance Henson arrests James for robbing four of his customers and killing two opeople. Rance, better known as Marshal Doom for arresting over one-hundred "guilty" people, also incarcerates actress Marion Taylor for being James' accomplice.

James knows he is innocent, but thinks Marion might be involved. She likewise believes the same thing about him. However, due to Marion's abilities, the pair escapes from their cells. Though they do not trust one another, Marion and James work as a team trying to uncover which one of his traveling companions is the cold blooded killer. However, they must work fast because Marshal Doom and the real killer are after them.

LOCKHART'S NIGHTMARE is an interesting mixing of a western with a twist of a mystery. The lead characters and the drummers are all well written so as to give a flavor of the old west to readers. However, Marshall Doom seems more like a poor man's Girard and slows down the tale because his motives are not clear. The story line is not quite at the level of Wayne Barton and Stan Williams previous work (FAIRCHILD'S PASSAGE) because it requires several leaps of faith and an abacus to keep score. However, fans of the western who-done-it will enjoy the fast-paced, action-packed ride.

Harriet Klausner

Riding the rails, James Lockhart is a traveling salesman of sorts. He goes from town to town selling banknotes to individual banks. However on a train bound to Sacramento, U.S. Marshal Rance Henson arrests James for robbing four of his customers and killing two opeople. Rance, better known as Marshal Doom for arresting over one-hundred "guilty" people, also incarcerates actress Marion Taylor for being James' accomplice.

James knows he is innocent, but thinks Marion might be involved. She likewise believes the same thing about him. However, due to Marion's abilities, the pair escapes from their cells. Though they do not trust one another, Marion and James work as a team trying to uncover which one of his traveling companions is the cold blooded killer. However, they must work fast because Marshal Doom and the real killer are after them.

LOCKHART'S NIGHTMARE is an interesting mixing of a western with a twist of a mystery. The lead characters and the drummers are all well written so as to give a flavor of the old west to readers. However, Marshall Doom seems more like a poor man's Girard and slows down the tale because his motives are not clear. The story line is not quite at the level of Wayne Barton and Stan Williams previous work (FAIRCHILD'S PASSAGE) because it requires several leaps of faith and an abacus to keep score. However, fans of the western who-done-it will enjoy the fast-paced, action-packed ride.

Harriet Klausner