Caldwell Books

A true conservative values logical, independent thought; Miss Caldwell relies upon ranting and cliches to get her points across. A true conservative values freedom; Miss Caldwell values authoritarianism. A true conservative scorns self-pity; Miss Caldwell wallows in it.

These pieces are among the most poorly-written, self-pitying, illogical political/autobiographical essays I have ever read.

Avoid this book at all costs.

This fun little book does not have all of the descriptive language from her other best selling books. Rather, we are treated to objective even blunt observations about growing up tough in her particular hhousehold.Why did the teacherexplain ethnic differences to the children and nothing was ever the same for them again? A version of Mrs. Buttons lives on, donating clothing to charity while snipping the useful buttons for her own use. And when a social worker wants to know how bad things have become at home, of course you "crank one up" truth is relative here, until the neighborhood policeman checks out the parental neglect and lack of food in the house and finds neither.

Honest to God, this book is just awful and on several levels.

I first read this at age 15 or 16 when I was in third year Latin in high school. Yeah, when I was reading Cicero in the original Latin. I went on to major in Classical Languages and history in college, reading even more Cicero and the history of his times then and the next forty some years.

In short, it is a travesty. Just the little coda at the end that has Cicero cooling his heels in Heaven's ante-room and thrilling to the sound of trumpets announcing the birth of Christ is enough to make any reasonable person, much less a trained Classicist, want to throw up in disgust.

However, the worst crime of this author and this book is the sad fact that wildly anachronistic passages from this book are now being bandied about on the internet as legit quotes of Cicero when they are nothing more than Caldwell's right wing screeds, having no basis in history and no understanding of Roman history or politics.

Normally, I am against book burning, but if it comes down to that, this POS needs to be the first on the pyre.

Who said the time machine has not been invented? This book will make you feel the stench of blood and sweat of Cicero's Rome as if you were there.

It has been some time ago since I read this very interesting book.
I am puzzled about the review saying that it was boring. It kept
my interest and I did not think the characters were drab. The
winter atmosphere of the Princeton campus, the mysteries of the
Renaissance text and the murder of one of the students studying
the text make up a plot that will hold your interest.
Probably will appeal mainly to those readers who enjoy the quest
of mystifying ancient texts.

Dull, Drab and Awful

This was a good idea for a book, but it was very poorly written. The effect of this unfortunate combination is a boring book not worth the trouble of reading. I wish that I would have done what others reviews did and stopped after 50 pages.

There are insipid chase scenes devoid of suspense; feigned scholarly discussions that are lacking insight or purpose and a pointless central mystery plot with no hint of cleverness. The characters are shallow, dull, uninteresting, boring, lifeless and just plain drab and awful. While in some professions these attributes might be considered an asset; in a modern mystery novel they are in fact a real detriment. None of the principal players are at all interesting. The four main characters are not at all likeable and I couldn't sympathize with any of them on any level. Count yourself as lucky if you have none of these manikins for friends.

The historic references to the "Hypnerotomachia Poliphili" are the only bright spots in this pathetic waste of a book. The reader will have to force himself through a sluggish plot with boring characters and a slow pace to learn a little about this renaissance love story. There is a modern translation of the original book in question. I wish that I would have read the modern English translation of the "Hypnerotomachia Poliphili" (see: Hypnerotomachia Poliphili: The Strife of Love in a Dream) and never heard of "The Rule of Four".

I have the feeling that "The Rule of Four" is for an early adolescent audience while the serious books are left for the grown-ups.

There is no positive side. Avoid this book like a pot hole in the road.

This book is really just a long list of achievements in African American music and art. Problem with this could be that people are left out and others highlighted. Still will give you an ok overview of it all.

I do wonder about the factchecking of it all. I know a thing or two about Sam Cooke but saw at least three facts about him that were wrong, so it makes me wonder about the rest...

What a pleasure to see the novels of Louise Muehlbach finally being brought back. Muehlbach, the pen name of Clara Mundt, was the daughter of one famous historian, and the wife of another-both professors at the University of Berlin - but in the early 19th century for a woman to become a professional historian was virtually impossible. She therefore turned to writing historical novels, and was one of the best-selling writers in German during the mid-19th century, producing over 100 books, about two-thirds of which were translated into English. This in addition to raising 5 children, managing a large household, and being involved in literary and cultural society! Her work remained popular as late as the first World War, but as with many popular writers - especially women - has never been regarded as "serious" and therefore has not survived. This is regrettable. Her work has, by today's standards, numerous historical errors - probably unavoidable under the circumstances - and she firmly displays opinions and prejudices of her own. On the other hand, most of her novels deal with persons and times only vaguely known to the average English-speaking reader, and offer a fascinating glimpse into strange worlds. And most important, she has the one indispensable gift of the novelist - she is a wonderful storyteller, who keeps the reader turning the pages and wondering what will happen next. Any reader who enjoys historical novels, or who is interested in German history should give her work a try.

This particular item - "Berlin and Sans Souci" - is part of a long series of novels on the Prussian Royal Family. Readers who are not familiar with the time period may find some of it puzzling. The publishers probably selected this volume for reprint due to one of the subplots, which involves a medical student "Lupinus" - who at the moment of his final exam is revealed to be a woman, and who is nevertheless granted her medical degree! This is the kind of side excursion the author always loved, and which adds an erratic charm to her work. Here's hoping the publishers continue to add to the series.

I am amazed and pleased this book is back in print. As a child our neighbors the Caldwell family, including my mom's best friend, were an impressive group of ex missionaries, scholars and writers, of whom the patron was the 80 year old Harry Caldwell. He had been a lifelong naturalist (over 100,000 exhibits in the Smithsonian, birds nests, eggs, wild animals, etc...), tiger hunter, world record holder for big horn sheep kill, and diplomat in old pre Mao China.

I still remember the time I invited him to my 8th grade camping trip. The first thing my teacher said was he didn't realize my friend, then 80+, was so old, then everyone was quickly amazed that he out walked us, plus knew the name of literally every plant, butterfly, insect, ,,,that we passed in our walk. His hand illustrated book on the butterflies of China is still unpublished to my knowledge because of expense of reproducing hand painted water color illustrations.

We ate at their home, visited with Chinese students from Borneo (now Malaysia), and listened to stories of shooting tigers, (once with only a 22!), and Kodiac bears. Harry confided that the world famous Roy Chapman Andrews who wrote the preface and appendix in this edition, had actually wet himself in the blind when they were stalking a dangerous animal. Harry himself only says in his book, about the time when he ran out of bullets while surrounded by tigers, "I have never again felt quite the way I did then."

If you want a taste of the old China of the early 20th century, through the eyes of someone who thought small town US life then was too worldly, take a look. As I recall, the writing is not great, but the story is unparalleled. This a China that even today's Chinese citizens likely do not know.

Book arrived on time and in condition expected - slightly more wear on spine than reported, but overall acceptable.

The author of this book of comic verse on late nineteenth century British-Indian themes, Robert Charles Caldwell, was born in South India in 1845. His mother, Eliza, was the elder daughter of the veteran missionary Charles Mault of the LMS who spent 35 unbroken years in Travancore. His father was Robert Caldwell, missionary bishop of the SPG, who worked for 50 years in Tinnevelly (now Tirunelveli).

Robert Charles' early youth was spent in rural South India where he became fluent in Tamil. He then went to England for his further education. Intending to follow his father as a priest and missionary in India, he trained at St Augustin College, Canterbury (1866-69) and returned to India to work towards his ordination in the diocese of Madras. In 1872, a few months after the first edition of his verses was published, the Bishop of Madras, with the support of the author's father, showed his disapproval of his ordinand's lack of devout decorum by declining to accept him for Holy Orders. Such is the rather sad and surprising background to the publication of these satirical verses. They were a success, the first 1871 edition being followed by a second edition in 1889.

RC Caldwell's work is very much of its time and place, part of the poetry of the British in India. Popular subjects in this large but now ignored genre are migration, Indian landscapes and British rule in India: the lament, the sonnet and comic verse were the forms most favoured. Today this work can often only be accessed in rare out-of-print books and periodicals. However, some of Caldwell's poetry will be found in volume 2 of a new book "The Poetry of British India 1780-1900" by Maire ni Fhiathuin, to be published by Pickering & Chatto.

The first verse of one of the satirical poems in "Chutney Lyrics" reads:-

"THE GOOD SIR GAMMON ROW" *

'The Protected State of Coconutcore!
Where dwells a worthy and well-oiled nation,
Blest with a faultless administration;
The brightest land, with the lightest tax,
And an annual surplus of fifty lacs;
Where happy ryots ne'er pestered by famines,
Till fields, in subjection to blessed Brahmins.
A land of peace, a land of delight,
Where everyone, everywhere, always does right.
Where white men, living in meek minority,
Acknowledge Brahminical superiority.
In short, and I'm sure I cannot say more,
'Tis a heaven upon earth, this Coconutcore.

* Alias - Raja Sir T. Madhava Rao, the Dewan [chief minister] of Travancore.

Some of the verses in the original 1871 edition of "Chutney Lyrics" had previously appeared in "The Atheneum" newspaper in Madras.

Letters are factual documents and, as such, are things the historians miss. It's one thing to research a project, but letters may have the writer's prejudiced view, they still tell the actual events in their own words. The Smoky Mountains soldiers were on both sides, and thus we have a diverse population with differing views and ideas about the matter. Before the Civil War, there were 4,370 slaves owned by 773 slave owners in the seven counties of the Smoky Mountain region. It is not true that the family of Nathan Bedford Forrest in Chapel Hill were slave owners. That's a vicious rumor by Northerner invaders. During the 1700s and 1800s the settlers swarmed to this area, displacing the Cherokee Indians, the first inhabitants. Some re-located to the Chattanooga terrain and called themselves the Chickamauga. Those who were left had to resort to violence like the tribes up around New York and the Eastern part of America. John Sevier used deceit to take more and more of the Smoky Mountain lands from the Indians, even securing the large plot which was named after him, Seviervillle, now a major tourist destination.

In 1813, under the leadership of Gen. Andrew Jackson, 800 troops of Cherokees fought and were successful at Horseshoe Bend against the Creek Indians. Deceived again, that very same leader sent them packing out of his state 25 years later when he was the country's presient. Those who managed to escape 'The Trail of Tears' settled in the North Carolina side of the Smokies.

Many whites who moved South were too poor to own land and they became tenant farmers. For a free house (no rent), they were the same as slaves as they had to work the land for their own food, but the yeoman took most of their harvest to profit. There are many orchards in this area, thanks to Johnny Appleseed. Farms for the most part have mostly died out now.

Bleak House (1858) home of the Armstrongs on Lake Loudon was confiscated by Longstreet's troops and used as Confederate headquarters during the seige of Knoxville and Fort Sanders in Novembre 1863. If you saw the movie, 'Cold Mountain,' you know how deserters were treated as scum (some hanged) and not allowed to reside in the Appalachian Mountain area. This region was divided between Union and Rebel peusuations back then, making our area of the Civil War literally a battle of brother against brother or cousin, just as we're divided now politically. Knoxville is predominantly Republican, but there are enough Democrats to cause a constant rivalry and dissenion. You don't find much laughter in this divided town unless perhaps you visit the bars and drinking places all over town even on Gay Street. Because of their troubled background during the Civil War, this is a drinking town, even out on the sidewalks. Literally.

There is a continuing Civil War in the Smoky Mountain environs, now between native Southerners and too many encroaching rich people moving here from the North for no good reason. As always, they feel superior (they're not!) to those in whose territory they are trying to take over and change things. I predict that the walls they are building will fall down on their heads. We are a diverse Irish-Scots/part Cherokee population and some of us resent the way the UT professors presnt us as "white trash" because we don't have the money to buy the antiquated buildings which the last mayor (for 14 years) allowed to deteroriate and now the rich developers have taken over. But not for good. They are aided by the mayor's office to acquire government monies to ruin this town. The Smoky Mountain area is poor economically with the exception of Asheville, North Carolina, and the Indian casino at Cherokee, N.C., but we'd like to live in peace and continue to enjoy our splendid mountains and towns without intervention from outsiders. Letters tell the story as it really happened. Previously I reviewed a book of letters written home from Strawberry Plains to the Confederate's family in middle Tennessee.

Recién empiezo a leer la guia, y en la página 2 del capítulo uno, hay una descripción general de los motores de 2 tiempos y de 4 tiempos. En este manual de motores Honda leo "all engines covered in this manual are a two-stroke design". Después de un error como este, uno queda un poco desconfiado con el resto de la información...