Berry Books

A great guideline for the beginner as well as the seasoned veteran. Fowler writes in easily understandable language, gives clear examples and ways to adapt the information to your own business. This should be the first book you read before starting your own business and you should review it often.

Romanian joke: The first post-1989 American ship arrives at the Romanian harbor of Constanta. A bystander asks the captain, "What took you so long?" The captain replies, "Well, travel by sea is always slow." The bystander responds, "Sure, but we've been waiting since 1945!"
This remarkable book by the highest ranking US civilian diplomat in Romania in 1944-47 describes in great detail the early years of this painful wait. The book is long, slow, and repetitive, but those with an interest in what it felt like to watch the beginnings of the cold war will be fascinated by it. Much that appears obvious now did not appear so then. Burton Berry is a virtually powerless resister as the iron curtain descends.
As the story begins, Romania has just surrendered to the Allies in 1944, and immediately declared her intent to join them in defeating Hitler. (Its alliance with Hitler was not exactly voluntary.) The US, UK, and Russia take tripartite control of the country as the war continues west, but it is the Red Army that has invaded the country, and it is Russia who is first among equals in the tripartite administration.
It quickly becomes clear that Russia has plans for Romania that are different from the plans of the Western Allies. The rest of the book consists of one long appeal for help from Berry to Washington, as he hears the cries of despair of both the pro-Western King Michael and the leaders of the "historic parties", the National Liberal and the National Peasant Parties. The Russians have the guns; the Russians have de jure control of the tripartite administration; and they slowly, gradually, inexorably use their power to bleed the defeated country's economy, harass and imprison the democratic opposition, and install an extremely unpopular and unrepresentative government of their own liking.
Berry's constant protests are futile, and he knows it better than anyone else. He makes it clear to Washington throughout these years that the Romanian democrats are counting on the US to protect them, and the US must choose either to take strong action to do so (possibly risking war with Russia) or abandon its friends to their fate and lose its influence. As in Hungary in 1956, the US chooses the latter course.
Berry is not naive. He knows that his is only one part of a much larger picture. He does not really expect the US to take the riskier path; he simply repeats, as often as he can, what the consequences of not taking that path will be. The book is worth buying simply for his "Top Secret Report Upon Romania, September 1946", and its appendix, "Soviet Methods at Work in Romania, 1944 Spring - 1946 July," both reprinted in full here.
As any Romanian will confirm, the country is unfortunate in its history and geography. One earlier book from this excellent publisher (Radu Florescu, The Struggle Against Russia in the Romanian Principalities, 1821-1854) describes Romania's Russian problem in the 19th century. A second one (Alexandru Cretzianu, Relapse into Bondage: Political Memoirs of a Romanian Diplomat, 1918-1947) describes the slow descent into World War II, as Romania, caught between the advancing Hitler and the waiting Stalin, begs in vain for help from the Western democracies -- in this case mainly France rather than the US. Who can wonder that Romanians view the world with cynicism and mistrust?
This book is a primary document of recent history. It is appalling and fascinating, and it is highly recommended.

This is a history of one town, Rome, New York, compiled from newspapers and other accounts and initially published in 1896. As it originally stood it was an invaluable book for the local history & genealogy fanatic, but was very frustrating to use due to the lack of a complete index. The editors of the new edition have fixed all that by compiling a very complete and accurate index, and boosted the volume's worth even more by adding some period photos and correcting the typographical errors and inconsistencies of the original.

This is an excellant cookbook, full of delicious recipes. I may have a vested interest in this, since it was written by by my great-grandmother, but she is one of the best cooks I've ever known. She's won several awards for her recipes. While probably not as interesting for non-family members, I was quite thrilled that a part of my family history has been documented as well.

This book runs a gamut of emotions as the reader is drawn helplessly into the author's drama. I give this autobiographical account 5 stars. It is a must buy for those seeking answers to questions found only through experience.

I used this book as a source for my term paper which was on shakespeare. I wanted to get essays written by people during the time the plays were performed. This was a great book with lots of essays written by people from all different centuries since the plays have been published. It was an easy book to use...just like a dictionary. All you basically need to find out if the volume number which you can find out quite easily. It was a great book to use and from now on it's the first one I think about using.

This survey of women's fashion issues in 1930s Hollywood provides a fine social history of 1930s film style, survey the impact of female celebrities on fashion and showing how Hollywood used actresses as models during a time of social change. Screen Style explores changes in fashion marketing approaches during the 1930s and is a recommended pick for students of fashion history.

My kids loved these books. I started when they were 3. No biblical approach-just straight and narrow.

It certainly was a treat to read such a nice story about growing up. We all carry a multitude of memories from our past, but Polly Williams has done a wonderful job recreating hers, but also making the reader very aware of history in a small rural town in the early 20th century. Her stories and pictures are heartwarming and very entertaining. You almost feel like you are part of the family when you finish. A great book to read in this modern day fast paced society.. reminds us of what is really important in our lives!

Father Thomas Berry's visionary DREAM OF THE EARTH (1990) changed my life. When I read this 90-page book in observance of Earth Day today, I soon discovered that the four "essays" collected here are actually Chapters 4, 10, 15, and 16 of THE DREAM OF THE EARTH. We are living in "a bitter moment" (p. 60) for the earth, Berry writes. We have subdued the wilderness, devastated the planet in the name of "progress" (pp. 58-9), and "the day of reckoning" is now upon us (p. 68).

"Only in a viable natural world can there be a viable human world" (p. 16). "In relation to to the earth," Berry observes, "we have been autistic" (p. 78) for too long, and we need to listen now to what the earth is telling us (p. 19). Because we "bear the universe in our beings" (p. 35), Berry tells us "we need to go to the earth, as the source whence we came, and ask for its guidance. We need to go to the universe and inquire concerning the basic issues of reality and value, for . . . the universe carries the deep mysteries of our existence within itself" (p. 45).

If you're new to Thomas Berry's excellent deep-ecology books, read his DREAM OF THE EARTH instead of this book, and if you've already read THE DREAM OF THE EARTH, then skip this book and read THE GREAT WORK (2000).

G. Merritt