Bradford Books

In the early 1850s, there were no railroad lines west of Missouri, and the two main westward trails leaving out of Fort Leavenworth, the northern Oregon Trail (which extended into Oregon Territory, but not as far west as present-day Oregon) and the southern Sante Fe Trail, made for journeys that were hard for pack animals and almost impossible for wagons. But as the U.S. military extended westward, building forts (which often were little more than camp sites), and especially with the outbreak of the so-called Utah or Mormon War in 1857 and the subsequent construction of Camp Floyd in Utah, huge amounts of supplies needed to be freighted along these trails. It was dangerous work, but fortunes were to be made.

Three ambitious businessmen, William Russell, William Waddell, and Alexander Majors, eventually won a freighting monopoly from the U.S. Army and formed what would become the most famous freight and sutler firm of its time: Russell, Majors & Waddell. In outfitting colossal wagon trains to supply army outposts, the firm also improved the old trails and opened up new ones, thereby encouraging westward immigration. The firm also famously began the Pony Express.

Ironically, the freighting monopoly that the three entrepeneurs managed to wrangle from the Army eventually proved to be the downfall of the firm. Nearly half a million dollars' worth of goods were burned by the Mormons during the very first run that the partners made during the Mormon War (winter of '57). The federal government shamefully failed to reimburse the firm for its losses (the war was unpopular with Congress, which consistently balked at fattening the Department of War's budget), and the three partners, over-extending themselves on thinner and thinner lines of credit, eventually saw their commercial empire collapse. But while it lasted, Russell, Majors & Waddell was a household name for everyone who lived west of St. Louis. The goods it transported westward, the relay stations it opened up for the Pony Express (which in turn served as hostels for all travelers), the new freight lines it opened (such as between Salt Lake City and Denver), and the mercantile stores it opened in frontier towns, all helped to tame and settle the territories.

This is a journal with an entire issue devoted to the Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and its impact on America's Southwest. This is a great example of local history with a lot of original research put into the effort. For a study of the American experience, I would highly recommend this journal volume. It gives the general feeling and history of the pandemic while at the same time concentrating on a very specific, local impact. It is well worth the back order wait!

This book is a great resource. It's organized well and covers all the essentials (and more) of interviewing with great care. Highly recommended!

I am sure you are aware of this - but this is the original title of A Promising Man ... and About Time - or something like that. Fun read.

It has been some time since anyone is concerned about the birth order characteristics of a child. I revisited this book to find it still applies to everyday life. The book is a good reminder of fact that many believed to be a fad in the trendy psychology trade.

This book is great for beginners who want to learn about investing. It teaches practical things rather than some theory about something the average persons doesn't understand. The best part of this book is the Stock-Trak.....it's very fun lets you play the stock market with funny money.

This is a very good book on a most deserving subject. I especially liked the section on Galveston's Broadway, but all of the avenues are most derserving. I really was not familiar with some of the avenues like Cleveland's Euclid, so it was fascinating to see how grand this street was and sadly how much it has changed, that I think is the most resonating image you get from this book is how sad it is that we did not perserve these grand American streets as we should have. Having said that, that fact does not diminish the enjoyment of looking at once was. It is refreshing to see that Americans now appreciate the past more and have a better appreciation of the craftsmanship and skill that went into these neighborhoods along these great avenues, but sadly so much has been lost and what made some of these streets so enchanting will never return, but this book at least allows you to look back at what once was and is no more...sic transit gloria.

Tim Bradford takes us on a mystical journey through the now-disappeared "underground rivers" of London, all of which have been filled in or paved over in the last few centuries. Well, I guess the journey is mostly just drunken, not really mystical at all. There are a lot of sharp insights about London and about how landscapes change, and a few simply amusing tales of the weirdos Bradford encounters as he walks London's winding streets. And there are lots of great random digressions.

This book is a bit more enjoyable if you know London well and can envision the bits Bradford describes. Having a good map of London also enhances the fun, but is not necessary. I suppose this falls into the category of "travelogue" but is far more clever (in a McSweeneys kind of way) and far less pretentious than many (e.g,. Theroux).

Hazardous Materials Injuries is a very usefull guide in the treatment of Hazmat injurys. I have found the protocols very usefull and detailed and it has both a numeric and alphabetic index. I would recomend it for all BLS and ALS responce units.

First of all, this book is very goodt because its different essays are all related to one of the most important subjects that concerns professors, teachers and parents : moral education. All of them are written as a discussion, not in a dogmatic way, what gives the reader a good opportunity to have a critical thinking about them. The essays deal with important known theories, such as Kant's, raising many relevant questions to our life context. Researchers will find in the different essays substantial theoretical foundations.