Bennett Books

This is a great book and everygirl would love it! It is about girls from all parts of the southern united states! They all come together and create wonderful friendships and go through tuff situations but no matter what stick together! In the end may the best gurl win!

I think its cool how so many girls with different personalities and backgrounds could band together but still compete agianst each other.

This is an excellent, totally awesome book! I couldn't put it down! I don't know who my fave character;each of them has a totally different personality. The main characters are cool but the book also focuses on the other pageant girls. Read it, you'll see!

I bought this book on my vacation, and when I started to read it, I couldn't put it down! I read it three times in almost one week. My absolute favorite character has got to be Scarlett-Caress.

I loved it listening to all the girls home lives! My favorite girl in this book was Dawn. I envy her courage. And its great how the author puts in The Virus. I mean how could it be good without a bad guy. If you haven't read it you have to. All the girls have problems and secrets to hide. It fun to listen to them all!

I found this book very interesting and educative. Not only did I get to see some magnificent photographs, I also got to learn some about the history of Japan.

This is a book about a very unfortunately forgotten era of photography. The Early works of the great photographers in Japan is finally brought to the general public and now we can see photos that we would have had to go to Japan to view. The Author has done exceptional research in getting the proper attribution to the correct photographers. I would now like to see a second volume from 1912-2007.

This book is for anyone who enjoys old photographs of other cultures. A collection of photographs that will never be seen anywhere else. The text is well done discribing all aspects of each photo. Great Book!!!!

Japan's change from a feudal society to a modern state is captured here in photos that cover its pivotal transitions between 1853-1912, when Commodore Perry compelled the reclusive nation to open its doors to the world. Some 400 old and vintage images from the period have been culled from museums, libraries and private holdings around the world - over half appear here for the first time - and thus no collection, even the most extensive Japan historical holding - will be duplicating by purchasing the 'must have' Photography in Japan 1853-1912. It will reach both specialty art libraries and college-level collections on Japanese history and culture alike.

Many of us have grown up on the myths of Japan, on the fairly tale land of samurai and geisha, of castles and 10 foot square huts. Like the knights of Europe, it can be hard to distinguish between the real living beings and the legends. However, fortunately for a brief moment the ancient and the modern intersected, and cameras were able to capture a feudal society on the brink of change. Cameras are like time machines. One little click of a button, and a small slice of the past is captured and preserved, opening a window from then to now, and allowing modern people to experience something so far lost as to almost be unreal. While they seem to be relatively modern inventions, cameras have been around for over a century, and the images captured from so long ago are a fantastic treasure.

"Photography in Japan 1853-1912" is much more than just a picture book, however. It is a complete education on the history of photography in Japan, from its barren beginnings to its flourishing boom as the country modernized and a craving for Western technology meant a constant demand for new equipment and skilled photographers. Absolutely everything is here, including the earliest known photograph of a Japanese person, a castaway rescued by sailors, as well as impressions from Eliphalet Brown Jr., the official daguerreotypist for the Perry Expedition. This could easily be a college text book, and its depth and breadth of knowledge is astounding.

But for those less than interested in a history course on photography in Japan, and just want to be blown away by the images, it also has exactly what you need. Gathering the best of 50 worldwide collections, over 350 images show the ancient Japan of our dreams, with full-page, hand-colored images of samurai in their finest armor, and beautiful geisha in their most expensive and extravagant costumes. Some of the photographs would be impossible to achieve know, like castles uncluttered by power lines and parking lots. Not that everything is just posed work. Several photographers of the time were interested in more photojournalistic "slice-of-life" shots, showing people going about their daily business blissfully unaware that these stolen moments would be studied and appreciated in a book over a hundred years into the future.

It is a great Book our Son has one for Bedtime and we wanted the same for our next Baby due any day.

Thanks

This book has been around a long time. When my grandson was little his mother and father read this book to him each night along with several books he was allowed to choose. When I visited him he asked me to read the book, even before his afternoon nap. Ageless......

My 5 year old loves to say a prayer every night and each morning. This book has prayers for all occasions. They are simple for her to remember. The illustrations are wonderful and fit in great with the prayers. She knows which are night time and day time prayers by looking at the pictures. You can never go wrong with Little Golden Books. I look forward to sharing this for years to come!

Over the years that I have taught Sunday school I have used this book on many occasions. The words in it are simple enough for small children to say and meaningful enough for us older children to use.

The amazing invitation in Scripture to actually talk to the Father in Heaven through His Son, is something that every child needs to know.
The world is often a frightening place to little ones. This lovely little book, so beautifully illustrated, helps us teach little ones about a kind, good, powerful Heavenly Father Who cares and hears our prayers.
It also serves to link generations in a communal perspective because the prayers in this wee book were offered up by grandparents and parents of past generations. I am delighted that it is still available! In a world where selfish ambition drives and greed thrives, this little book directs focus to another realm and encourages excellence: God, make my life a little song/That comforteth the sad,/That helpeth others to be strong/ And makes the singer glad.

I was an Army broadcaster for nearly thirty years, commanding major audio-visual activities and the largest radio-television network in the Defense Department, located in central Europe. In these assignments, all of Dr. Zettl's texts were used as our training gold standard. When I managed the Army "audiovisual school", the Soldiers Manual and other texts for television production were written with his principles, theories, and practices in mind. As an educator pioneering a film and TV school in a large college, all my TV courses in production were Zettl-based. I found that many leading industry executives (who's who among top networks) began their early education - as I did - in colleges that used the Zettl TV Production Handbook. In TV hands-on assignments, I continue to use his lighting templates and theories. I admonished my students to never cash-in his texts at the end of the course, but to keep them as references.

I have the essential text series: Video Basics, TV Production Handbook, and most especially, Sight, Sound & Motion. The best DVD on the subject ever produced is his own Zettl TV Lab 3.0.

I can't imagine any professional without the "Bibles" of visual information and TV production. All are well worth the price if you are career-minded, or a current industry member but learned your trade "on-the-job". The texts will not only provide context, but with details and information to help you throughout your career.

I love that you offer these books so inexpensively. If I went to my universtiy bookstore I would have paid three times as much. I can use my own money without having to use loan money to pay for books!

The book is totally new and under very good condition, and the dilievery time is much earlier than i expected.

This text thoroughly explains the intricacies of applied media asthetics in a concise and completely accessible way. It is a well organizied text that ehances its presentation through the use of many illustrations. I believe that this is the best text on the subject and that it has been since its first edtion.

"Sight, Sound, Motion: Applied Media Aesthetics explains the WHY of film and video production. If you're looking for HOW then turn to another book."

I would disagree with the above review. Only by learning WHY first, can we learn HOW later. This book is more than a cookie cutter approach to film and video. If you want to "click and drag" your way through an editing program, then true, this book is not for you. Add this to your collection if you want a book that teaches how to see and create film. Sight, Sound, Motion: Applied Media Aesthetics has staying power.

Mr. Bennett has penned a work of spiritual fiction that follows the Native American Shamanic revelations to guide the main character from the rational world to the invisible realty of the dream world.
The story is full of intrigue, tension, and characters that hold your interest from the first page to the last.
"Spirit Circle" is a well-written, thoughtful, informative book of ideas and information on how you can find peace, strength, or power through dreaming. It teaches you how to see beyond our own conflicts and passion to find universal wisdom that helps transcent self-involvement. "The shaman's stories remind us to look and listen through the eyes and ears of other people."
This is a beautiful bookk that lingers with you long after you finish reading it. It allows you to open your mind and heart to the people and world beyond us. Spirit Circle is a book that you will read many times to find more nuggest of information that will help you enrich your life.

Spirit Circle demonstrates the power of storytelling to weave a tale that both teaches and entertains. Ancient and modern shamans dare to journey into the vastness of the unseen realms and come back to the world of five senses to report on that which they have seen. The shaman is the messenger but the truth is for all of us. Spirit Circle is a shaman's tale written by one who knows the path. At once fun and believable. A great read.

Ancient ruin -- ragged rock wall, wide window into the shamans' realm. Step through the window -- they're waiting. Waiting to show you luminous landscapes, ephemeral as adobe. Waiting to suspend your book-learned sense of space and time in ceremonial smoke. Waiting to introduce you to someone -- your self.

All the voices ring true, the surroundings are painted with a knowing and loving brush, and a shaman likely breathed the life into each character.

The story and the teller move me deeply. I read of the gateway to the shamans' gathering ground and I'm swiftly swept out to the ruin on the western ridge at Chaco Canyon, to a wide window filled with brilliant December morning light. I could have stepped through...

A few months ago and quite by chance, I ran onto this author/writing instructor in the strangest way. I was surfing the Internet and happened to find this website for writers. It's a very informative website with a little bit of everything for everyone in the literary world. I clicked on the discussion board to see what was happening. I'm not one to join a discussion group because I don't have the time, but like I said, the website is full of writing information. The discussion group actually has comments posted by published authors, giving helpful information to the fledgling writers. In so doing, these published authors not only have my respect, they have my attention. After reading some of the informative posts by Hal Bennett, I was impressed with what he had to say. I sent him an e-mail conveying my compliments. Being a man of intelligence and good manners, Bennett thanked me via an e-mail, thus allowing me access to his website by his reply. I think I would have eventually found it anyway, but it saved me a lot of time. Bennett's book on "Write From The Heart" took my attention first and I ordered it. Very impressive. I concluded the man knew how to write a non-fiction book on the subject of writing. I rated him as being in the caliber of Brande, another great one. So, figuring he knew how to write non-fiction and hold my interest, I'd find out if he could write fiction and still hold my interest. I'm a romantic by nature, always have been, but I'll read anything that's well written, whether it's mystery, suspense, self-help, non-fiction, etc. For a long time, I've stuck with the really big name authors, but eventually I think we all live and learn. I'm pretty gutsy and I'll venture spending the price of a book by any author who has my attention and interest. I don't know if you'd call it cheating when you open a book to the center or the end and read a few excerpts to determine whether it's a good book or not, but I'm famous for doing this. I DIDN'T DO THIS WITH "SPIRIT CIRCLE". I started on page one and read through to the end. I hardly put the book down until I finished reading it. The story was very different and touched me deeply. Bennett writes a book like I would venture to say he teaches writing, straight from his heart. The story plot, the characters, the vivid description of beautiful setting, his vast knowledge of Native American culture and last, but not least, the superb editing of this book, makes it an excellent read. Bennett is very gifted and well-educated, and quite obviously in good standing with his Muse. I do highly recommend this book to anyone.

Dr. Tara Fairfield, a young anthropologist, is on a quest to find her father, renegade tabloid journalist, Drew Fairfield, who has missed most of her life, but most notably has been missing for the last two years. Tara has received a letter from Drew containing photos and artifacts which she believes might be proof of the existence of a secret society of shamans hidden deep in the New Mexico desert. Either this, or it is an elaborate hoax, perpetuated by her father, who is not above foregoing integrity for a good story. To uncover the truth, she leaves her young daughter and travels to New Mexico, where her search leads her through a shamnic journey to find her own soul. She meets spirit guides who shape-shift and take her to places beyond the tangible world she knows. An old friend of her father's who has returned to his Zuni childhood origins, teaches her the way of the Medicine Wheel. She is at once the teacher and the taught as she takes the reader on a magical voyage between worlds, all the while tripping over her own skepticism. With an old shaman, she journeys to meet the crone, Mongwa, who tells her "You are a messenger. You have no choice." Tara's mission is to bring back to her world the teachings of the "fifth world," where understanding the Spiritual Source eliminates all appearance of separation between time, place, and physical identity. Bennett's writing is visually stunning, taking the reader into the quiet beauty of the desert mesa and deep into the caves hidden high on the cliffs. A masterful storyteller, he weaves spell-binding adventure and spiritual revelation. This book begs for a sequel.

This is a amazing, life-altering book!! I've read many other feng shui or decluttering books, and Your Spacious Self goes way beyond the rest - it's SOOOO holistic - such a combination - not just de-cluttering, but good soul stuff too!

I highly recommend it for individuals, but also for groups. Three friends and I used this book to form a Clearing Circle - and the book was so helpful as it gives you weekly suggested meeting formats, which is a great support. All four of us loved the book, and it has helped us each immensely in our lives - it's amazing how de-cluttering impacts ALL areas of your life!

We've all been excited about our clearing journeys - ranging from basements, to email inboxes, to smaller steps (like Stephanie Bennett Vogt writes in this book - one paperclip at a time). One of my friend's job situation has changed for the better and she has a few exciting job opportunities in the horizon, and she truly believes it's because she de-cluttered mentally and physically and thus opened room for these opportunities.

Since I'm so busy with kids, my decluttering has been on the smaller side - for example, cleaning up the sippy cup level of that drawer, or the lazy Susan, or 1 bathroom. A powerful excercise in that regard has been the idea of everything having it's own place - just putting the dental floss back every night in the same place has been MIND BLOWING!! Truly! And has flowed into other areas!

Another powerful unexpected outcome for me has been Stephanie Bennett Vogt'S concept of emotions being just 'weather' - now when I stub my toe or 10 hats fall on my head, I just let it be THAT - a stubbed toe or 10 hats on the ground, instead of the good old days when it snowballed into so much more. Granted, some days I can't help that, but overall, I've been AMAZED at the change in that regard!!

What a gift this book is! It has changed my life!

For those who are still having trouble de-cluttering, I highly recommend this book. Stephanie's book is by far the best I've read about de-cluttering--and also about Space Clearing. I highly recommend it to anyone who feels "stuck!"

Melody LeBaron
Transforming Space, Transforming Self

I read half of it last night, and I'm taking it to Chile with me in order to read the other half and have these words of wisdom by my side so I can remain expansive throughout the entire trip. Stephanie has such a wonderful, exuberant, knowledgeable, and witty writing style that makes this book a joy to read. I know this book will be life altering, especially after I apply these principles to my life. Thank you!

I have savored the pages of Your Spacious Self, doing many of the exercises that are offered, and have been amazed by all that I have accomplished and learned about myself. Stephanie does a beautiful job of describing challenging concepts, including her analysis of clutter as physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual energy that follows us everywhere! I love the premise that when we can sit with our fears with greater awareness and acceptance, healing can happen. I found Stephanie's personal stories of her experiences in Mexico to be powerful and humerous, too!

Self-improvement and self-motivation books are everywhere, these days. You can follow the laws of attraction, you can find your north star, and you can discover the person you were always meant to be. But how do any of those approaches apply to the piles of papers and memorabilia that are filling up the corners of your space? They probably don't. But that's OK. Stephanie Bennett Vogt can help you come to grips with that problem.

Vogt's process is quite different from that of the organizational experts you see on cable TV. It's not as simple as merely sweeping through a room one afternoon, dividing the stuff into a "keep" box and a "toss" box, and setting up new cabinets to house the remainders. Vogt is a "space clearer." And "space" is here defined quite broadly -- so much so, that once you start reading, you realize that you and your own "monkey mind" are the first spaces that need the most clearing. While she does attend to the physical mechanics of sorting and finding a home for each one of your cherished possessions, the majority of the text goes much further than that. It calls for introspection, for thinking before and during and after, and for understanding the reasons why your clutter accumulated in the first place. Along the way, you are sure to experience "weather" -- feelings that move through your entire body as you proceed. Key for me personally is noticing the "tolerations" -- the broken bits or unfinished projects that sit well within eyesight but have become such a part of the landscape that they're no longer seen. Now that I can give them a name, I'm finding even more of them! And I took care of a few before I was even done reading the book.

Many of the chapters include repeatable mantras, "try these" activities, clearing practices, and recommendations for conducting a local clearing circle as a support and advice group. Vogt has an easy-going manner and presents her ideas well. Even so: this is not the kind of book that you can just read once and fully grasp or internalize. Some of it, quite frankly, is currently just beyond my mental and spiritual reach. But I expect to continue to learn from it in the months to come. I have already incorporated some of the mantras (which helped me through a stressful meeting) and have benefited from the analysis of "weather" and emotions. As Vogt says in the final chapter: "The clearing journey never ends; it just gets better, more juicy, and more fun!" An inspirational and instructive paperback for seemingly incurable pack-rats.

This three volume set is what I expected. It is well written and informative. I expect to learn a great deal from studying this text.

This trilogy covers all of the Jewish holidays superbly. It not only covers how and when the holiday is observed, but it goes into a great deal of background information as to why the holiday is observed and what the meaning is behind the observance. It is written in an interesting manner, and I have a hard time putting it down once I start reading it. It is worth every penny that I paid for it.

Just a small warning though for those who are a bit less familiar with Hebrew and basic Jewish ideas: This may not be the first book you want to pick up. I did find myself creating a list of words to look up later that I did not know. I found that this aided with my memory of a number of key Jewish terms though, so this may not be a terrible problem really. If I could suggest an intro book before this one, I would suggest "To be a Jew" by Donin.

Rabbi Bulman did the Jewish world, and for that matter the world at large, a favor by translating this classic work by KiTov. Now Jews who labor under false ideas and others who do not have access to the true beauty of the Jewish year can read, learn understand and perhaps fullfill that which Jews have known for thousands of years.
The prose borders on poetry. The organization is superbe. The complex has been rendered simple in this wonderful book.

This is the most comprehensive book on Jewish Lifecycle events that I have read. It discusses the entire Jewish Calendar and reviews ever significant date. In addition, he discusses areas that surprised me, such as Rosh Chodesh (the lunar calendar and celebrating the new month).

The series also covers the intermediate days between holidays and the laws that apply. The detail in which he covers Sukkot and the "Four Species" is amazing".

The wonderful part of it all is that the author traces the history of the events, and the pertinent Halacha (Jewish law) all the way back to the time of the First Temple.

An excellent, comprehensive work! It is done in a very easy reading style and yet thoroughly covers the subject. This is a resource for someone who really wants to learn about living Judaism!

I for many years learned with the Hebrew version of this work , called ' Sefer HaToda-ah.' This book was turned to whenever we were approaching a holiday or time of special meaning. Then the interpretation of KiTov his reading of the sources would greatly enrich our learning. I too believe this should be a part of the library of every Jewish home.

I have read both of Timuel Black's books and recommend both highly. Black is the right person for this job, having a nearly perfect memory for a past that includes important work as an activist, educator and scholar. He knows what his subjects are getting at and knows how to tweek the most out of them. Timuel Black's memories intertwine with the memories of his subjects and create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. It is truly living history

This is a book that everyone should read but can particularly important to young people, black and white, who don't quite understand that they are standing on the shoulders of giants.

I loved Bridges of Memory Volume 1... and this book doesn't dissapoint either. I love his interviewing style and the variety of people he has choosen to interview about their personal Chicago experiences. This is a well written book and I am looking forward to reading the next volume when it is released.

Here's my bias. I like history. I like to hear people talk about their lives. I like intelligent, articulate, effective language. And I loved this book. The people interviewed are fascinating, and Timuel Black helps them tell their stories in an unpretentious but by no means diffident way. I learned a great deal and enjoyed myself for many evenings.

What a gift this collection is!

In 1988, Timuel Black began to record and preserve the recollections of people who had lived in Chicago a long time, particularly the first generation of the Great Migration. When he wrote the introduction to this book, he had recorded over 125 conversations and still had "many , many more people with whom I would like to speak." Thirty-six of those conversations are presented here, with two more volumes planned to follow.

The interviews are conducted using the "participant observer" technique, and since Dr. Black - a long time resident himself - is an "insider" these interviews are essentially honest, intimate conversations among old friends, many of whom have now passed. As Dr. Black makes clear, this book is not intended to be a history of Black Chicago and its institutions, but rather a collection of oral memories from people who participated in shaping those institutions. But his field work provides invaluable data for future researchers attempting to compile that history.

If this book contained nothing more than the biographical information about each of the 40 participants (some are joint interviews), it would make fascinating reading. But the interviews bring each vividly to life. We meet people from all walks, including civil servants, educators, politicians, jazz musicians, railroad workers, business people, even two generations of South Side Chicago represented by mother and daughter Mildred Bowden and Hermene Hartman. Some, like George Johnson, tell a story of "from rags to riches." Others fall into a category of "just keep on keepin' on."

But all are riveting. I look forward to the next two volumes!

The strength of this book is in its informality. Mr. Black is friends with nearly all of his interviewees (he has known several of them for over 40 years), and the sessions read as a conversation rather than an interview. This book is especially useful for one looking for supplimental material about the neighborhood of Bronzeville in Chicago, segregation (from an individual perspective rather than scholarly leaning), and smaller aspects of city history and social change that are often forgotten. Some of his interviewees include a man that owned a company that distributed hair straightener around the U.S., a man that started what would become the Illinois state lottery, well respected teachers, and military servicemen.

There is a great deal of repetition that could have been eliminated regarding DuSable High School, locations of buildings, boundaries of the neighborhood, and references to people that are not elaborated upon; it is possible that Black chose not to edit this out to keep the interviews intact. It would have been extremely helpful for maps of Bronzeville throughout the past 80 years were inserted among the small selection of pictures that are included, in order to help those unfamiliar with the neighborhood navigate through some of the interviewees' memories of businesses, theaters, and homes.

I LOVED the book and would recommend it to anyone that is getting a new puppy or needs advise on training. It is very well written, easy to read and holds your interest throughout. The relationship between Jeff and Courtney is that special relationship that we have with our dogs and the author captured this in a unique and creative way.

Bravo... At last a quality book with a gentle touch. Brad has written a sensible story that shows us by example how to create a well behaved dog. It's so great I'm using it on my husband... Courtney's wit keeps you wanting more... Anyone who has watched as some ones dog cowers when spoken to will appreciate that there is another way. A great gift for dog owners!

I absolutely loved this story!!!! It was so creative how Brad told the story through Courtney's view on how to train a dog. It was the easiest training lesson I have ever read because it was so nice being told through a story. Would love to see more training stories from Brad. He is an amazing author.

I have had the oportunity to work with Brad personally. He was referred to me to help me to do the right things for my new puppy Hurley. He is amazing!!!! He helped me to succeed with bringing Hurley into our family with love and praise. I read Coversations with Courtney. My experience with Hurley is exactly like he writes in the book. What a difference his outlook towards dogs and families made in our lives with our beloved American Bulldog Hurley. YOU NEED TO TRY HIS METHODS.....THEY WORK!!!!!!

I absolutley loved this book!! The author captured the true essence of the relationship between humans and their beloved dogs. The book showed me how to better communicate with my dog using love and praise!!Thanks Brad!!!

Bennett was a brave 19th century freethinker, and Bradford tells the story in an easy, engaging style. I learned a lot about Bennett's arch foe, Anthony Comstock. I also learned that Bennett disagreed with the great 19th century freethinker Robert Ingersoll on matters of personal morals, Ingersoll being far more conservative than Bennett.

The only mistake I could find is that Bradford refers to the lake near Ingersoll's Dresden, NY birthplace as "Lake Seneca"; it's actually Seneca Lake.

Highly recommended.

Bennett was 19th century America's most controversial publisher and promoter of free speech, founding the 'blasphemous' NY periodical THE TRUTH SEEKER in 1873, which was widely banned. This biographical considers his influences, life, achievements, and the sentiments of his times, offering a far-reaching and insightful glimpse into the ideas and ideals of his times. More than just a biography, it's piece of history not to be missed by any serious college-level American history holding; particularly those specializing in free speech rights and issues.

Since I had set out on a project to research ancient civilizations, their religions and their rise, decline and fall, and related matters after obtaining a Research-Reader's authorization to enter into the "Stacks" at the Robart's Library in 1970, I have read and studied many works of DeRobigne Mortimer Bennett! Here is where I first came across a Hardcover Volume of over 1100 pages called "Champions of the Church" and other works of this author -- including Bennett's "An Infidel Abroad!" While over the years I have expanded the original "Champions of the Church" into four volumes (with over 2000 pages), since I am not an author per se, I have simply added these volumes to my own personal library of some 25 Books.
I have always wondered if someone with the ability and courage not only recognize but understand the effects religious bigotry in 19th century New England would come across the history of Mr. DeRobigne Mortimer Bennett and decide to write a biography! Therefore, I cannot fully express how pleased I was when I recently learned that Mr. Roderick Bradford had done just that! I have now read this amazing book "word for word from cover to cover"; and, since I felt I'd been quite familiar with the details of Bennett's life prior, I soon learned that I really did not know as much as I had thought!
Thus, I found Roderick Bradford's work not only an "Excellent Read," but since it was flowing with a more realistic perspective of the kind of "Comstock Insanity" of the times under review [times, sadly, once again appearing to return] describing events and places that seemed to come back to life [at least in my mind], I could hardly put the book down without longing to continue ASAP! I can, and will, personally recommend this book to anyone [many friends over the years have heard me praise Mr. Bennett] who desires to understand just how such religious bigotry existing in the so-called "Age of Reason" has affected the mental growth of humankind today!
As author Christopher Hitchens, in his Book "god is not GREAT" asserted "... God did not make us; we made God!"
All books have purpose -- some more purposeful than others! The rationale of Mr. Bradford's work is obvious; to offer a contentious point of view unhindered by any religious rhetoric in the hope that those who may have concerns about the current state of affairs in the U.S. (and Canada) has offered some guidance to survive what we now perceive is a growing and insidious entangled web of religious revivalism among otherwise educated peoples.
Sincerely Expressed,
Ron Malloy.

Roderick Bradford of Allentown, Pennsylvania, author of the complete biography of DeRobigne Mortimer Bennett (1818 - 1882), is a freelance writer and independent video producer who has also written articles for American History magazine, The Quest, and American Atheist.

Bennett, the first of three children to poor farming parents, encountered differences in faith at a young age, with a father who was "moral" but didn't attend church and a mother who was a devout, church-loyal Methodist.

His ethic of hard work developed when he was very young; he began working for a publisher of mostly Bibles when he was twelve years old. When his father abandoned his family, he shared his 1830 salary of $1.50 per week with his mother.

His life changed when he joined the Shakers, a communitarian, strictly celibate offshoot of the Quakers. Officially, the Shakers were known as The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, or more simply, The Millenial Church. Originally from England, the group became known as the Shakers due to their ecstatic and often violent shaking contortions during their religious services. The less respectful of society called them the Shaking Quakers, although they preferred to be known as the Alethians, for "children of the truth."

Occasionally the vows of celibacy, harshly enforced by the Elders, did not mesh in young minds, and the urge for companionship outweighed the safety of the simply, communal life of the ever-productive Shakers. On September 12, 1846, Bennett shocked the Shakers, who denounced him for leaving them to elope with Mary Wicks, another heretic Shaker, when he was twenty-seven years old. DeRobigne and Mary visited the Shakers without exception every five years thereafter.

The mid-1840s, a time when the orthodoxy was strong, and the Victorian-style Christian, God-fearing Idiocracy was in control of the religious and a majority of the secular media, was an unsettled period if there ever were one. In 1848, the first women's rights movement organized in Seneca Falls, New York, under Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, both public critics of the Bible.

People were reading Thomas Paine and Voltaire, of all people.

The year 1848 also saw the beginning of the spiritualist movement, led in Rochester, New York, by Margaret and Kate Fox. The beginning of the movement quickly led to a national pseudoscientific craze, which wasn't appreciated by the orthodoxy either.

When the women and many of the men began embracing feminism, the orthodoxy became further perplexed.

Anthony Comstock, America's "self-appointed arbiter of morals," began, with the sanction of the City of New York, to clean up the mails by arresting those who would dare send obscene (PG-rated by today's standards) materials through the U.S. Postal Service. Comstock, an icon among conservatives, had thousands of people arrested during his career, including Bennett, with nary a second thought: "Some of the country's most powerful and pious citizens backed Comstock, who bragged about driving fifteen people to suicide in his Christian-sanctioned mission to `save the young.'"

Bennett considered himself a freethinker as of 1850. Freethinkers at that time were called "infidels," defined by Webster as not-faith, not faithful, or not full of faith. Freethinkers at that time called themselves "liberals," and were the founding fathers and mothers of the Liberal party. A liberal during the post-slavery Reconstruction Period was defined as "one who does not acknowledge the authority of the Bible or admit the supernatural character of the Christian system," and was not limited to far-left politics or atheism but also included free religion and agnosticism.

When in 1859, Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species was published, the conventional Victorian society was shocked, the intellectuals were stunned, and the religionists were infuriated.

After the election of President Grant, the alarmists began to sound their bells: "Some of the nation's most widely read publications printed articles about the frightening prospects of an irreligious world."

D. M. Bennett added to the irreligious world by founding the Truth Seeker in 1873. He and it were devoted to science, morals, freethought, and human happiness, and he and it were inspired by Thomas Paine. The literal title of the publication was the "Truth Seeker: Devoted to Science, Morals, Freethought, Free Discussion, Liberalism, Sexual Equality, Labor Reform, Progression, Free Education, and whatever tends to elevate the human race. Opposed to Priestcraft, Ecclesiasticism, Dogmas, Creeds, False Theology, Superstition, Bigotry, Ignorance, Monopolies, Aristocracies, Privileged Classes, Tyranny, Oppression and Everything that Degrades or Burdens Mankind Mentally or Physically."

He worked from pre-dawn to late at night seven days a week, and the length of his periodical's title is characteristic of his writing: his premise on most platforms became known in the occasionally retrospective, often descriptive, occasionally mud-slinging, and frequently inflammatory articles. He was outspoken with a gift of gab, and developed friends and enemies in high places.

His issues were many, his thoughts well documented. Often embroiled in heated arguments with his opponents in the press, he left diplomacy behind and let his enemies receive his temper with both barrels. He was both revered and reviled.

Bradford gives this biography special impact with his expertly handled flow of words, a precise, rhythmic literary zoom into the character and back out to society to give the reader a seamless, omniscient view of the man and the culture. I highly recommend this action-packed book to the lover of biographies as well as the lover of history, and especially freethought history.

In this day and age it seems that the right wing Christians are in control of the country, and we wonder how this happened. We also tend to suspect that this is unique in American history. Unfortunately this is not true. The US swings back and forth from a heavy Christian attitude to a more liberal view.

One previous heavy religious time was in the late 1800's, especially when Anthony Comstock, the U.S. Post Office's 'special agent' in weeding out anything non-Christian.

At the other end of the scale at this time was DeRobigne Bennett. Bennet founded the 'blasphemous' magazine Truth Seeker in 1873 and presented stories such as identifying the wrong doings of religious leaders, free thinking, and denouncing Christianity, which he called 'the greatest sham in the world.'

Eventually Comstock won, by getting Bennett convicted of various crimes that today would be laughed out of court.

This is a well written history of what happened to a man we could use today.