Forster Books

Dr. Forster has compiled a helpful book which can be used by students of all ages during examinations. The format of this book is particularly helpful as it is not intimidating in size as so many other prayer guides tend to be. Prayers include those for preparation to study, before exams, prayers for peace of mind and then a range of prayers which will guide the individual as he or she gives account of what they have learnt. This book is a perfect and inexpensive gift for those who undergo examinations.

In this excellent memoir, Margaret Forster has succeeded in writing about death and dying without the usual cliches or overwrought sentiments. She tells two stories of people she loves; her fifty-six year old sister-in-law dying of cancer and her ninety-six year-old father dying of old age. Told with honesty and humor, we can admire her father's tenacity and determination to maintain his identity without having to believe that he has suddenly acquired great wisdom. We can also grieve for the younger person as she endures her cancer treatments without being asked to see her as a soldier losing a battle. Ms Forster is equally forthright in describing her own conflicted feelings of loving compassion mixed with the desire to see the end of her loved ones suffering as they struggle through the last days of their precious lives. The reader will find no angels or great epiphanies in this absorbing book but just might find it all the more inspiring for it's unsentimental look at the human spirit.

If you enjoyed Two Cheers for Democracy and Abinger Harvest, this is the book for you. This book contains more articles by E.M. Forster, varying from literary criticism and biographies to a description of looking to the house of Voltaire through a fence while on holiday. (And yes, the latter is a beautiful read too.) Interesting from a scholarly point of view, but certainly also for anyone with a wide range of interest: an entertaining, sometimes even moving book.

E. M. Forster's homosexuality made him 'different' when it came to the public morals of English contemporary society. The essays in this book explore the intricate link between that fact and his fiction. It is not an easy read for a Sunday afternoon, but certainly it opens a new world for anyone genuinely interested in E. M. Forster, colonialism in literature, queer theory and twentieth-century literature. Indispensable from the scholarly point of view. A beautiful journey through the Forster-landscape, with many great vistas and precious finds.

Charles Edward Stuart is one of the most romanticized figures in Scots history - more kitch history has been made of Bonnie Price Charlie than virtually anyone else in the eighteenth century.

As Forster makes clear from the outset, he was far from romantic in real life: he beat his mistress, he was paranoid, vain, profligate, often drunk (especially in his late years), politically inept and utterly deluded as to his future prosects. In this narrative, we follow Charlie through all the phases of his odd life: upbringing in Rome, life in Paris, arrival in Scotland in 1745, initial triumph at Prestonpans, the march on England, the retreat, defeat at Culloden, life on the run in the Hebrides, escape to the Continent, then gradual decline and relative obscurity back in Italy. Forster's pen is sure; she has had access to the Stuart's family papers, and her grip on the era and general understnading of eighteenth cenruty Europe is superb.

There are some truly odd things about Charles' life: why, for instance, did he so flippantly abandon Catholicism AFTER 1746, when an earlier conversion to Protestantism would have aided his cause in the uprising - whereas a later conversion simply damaged his chances of winning Papal recognition as King of England? Yet there are inspiring things too: his poise and bravery in 1745, his ability to inspire loyalty, his elusion of his Hanoverian pursuers in 1746 (special thanks here to Flora MacDonald), are to his everlasting credit, notwithstanding his later failngs.

Charles' psychological problems seem to stem from one essential truth: his entire life's predicament (as king-in-exile) was bizarre. The central and irrefutable fact of Charles' existence was that he was, by any legal definition, the rightful and direct male heir to the English and Scottish thrones; yet save perhaps for a few fleeting months in 1745, he was never accepted as such. In other words, since the world refused to behave normally, small wonder that Charles himself never could. In this context, perhaps Forster's verdict, while magnificently rendered, is somewhat harsh.

The Great Copper Strike of 1913 is one of the ultimate lessons in labor history and Calumet native Arthur Thurner tells its tale like nobody else can.

The Strike is the subject of an upcoming film documentary titled "1913 Massacre."

It's a topic which still fuels heated controversy on the Copper Range.

.... In light of recent events we have chosen to do this publication because of the immediate challenge presented by the rapid growth of the Radical Right. This study of the John Birch Society seeks to alert all Americans to the alarming drift toward total extremism and its consequent potential of anti-religious, anti racist and anti-democratic doctrines....

But it is now - in the present - that the Society has thrown down the gauntlet. It has challenged everyone of us. It has challenged the processes and the resolves of our democratic republic. It has challenged the orderly progress of this nation toward a deeper understanding of social justice for all men. It has challenged the moral integritty of each and every American citizen....

The Birch Society is part of a dissident phalanx of self-avowed patriots that bores from within, contemptuous of the very democratic processes and safeguards which are its own protection. This is the contingent which cries "traitor" at respected national leaders in Washington, and which in the local town tells a school teacher to "burn in hell" because of her views. This is the organized cadre that spreads accusations of treason by anonymous telephone voices. This is the collective agitator that can tear apart a political club, a church organization, a labor union, or a whole community - as it can tear apart a whole nation....

Considering its political philosophy. its monolithic structure, its semi-secret membership. its divisive tactics and its radical goals - is the John Birch Society truly American?
--- excerpts from book's Foreword by Dore Schary

This book is not for the general reader. It was written for scholars of German history and is a dense analysis of politics from the foundation of the Weimar Republic to its fall under the Nazi onslaught. The focus is on politics with a detailed discussion of political history. Social history, economic history, and diplomatic history figure prominently but primarily in the context of how they affected the politics of Weimar. Mommsen's mastery of detail and ability to integrate these different aspects of Weimar's history are impressive. While the descriptions of political manuvering can be a chore to read, ths level of detail is necessary to achieve a complete picture of the history of Weimar and are the foundation for the often masterly analyses that dot this book. This book is never less than complete and many sections, for example, the descriptions of the collapse of the Imperial state or the rise of the Nazi party, are outstanding. More than anything else, Mommsen provides a vivid picture of the huge obstacles faced by the Weimar Republic. From its inception, the Republic and its commitment to a democratic state faced opposition from several important segments of German society, including the Army, much of the civil service, much of industry, the traditional aristocracy, much of the juidiciary, and most of the professioriate. Coupled with a very unfavorable international situation and the enormous stresses of the Great Depression, it is remarkable that the Republic survived as long as it did.

Rocking the Cradle looks at the many different ways in which lesbian mothers conceive & bring up their children against the background of a hostile society.

The authors suggest that the way of life of these women has significance for everyone's future. The Women interviewed here are pioneers - and they have accomplished will present a powerful challenge to the nuclear family as a basis of western society.

The book expresses clearly the conviction that these women are doing something which is every woman's birth right.

Included here are stories, sugggestions, how-to's, etc. It contains a broad range of philosophical ideas, as well as every-day practical suggestions. There are very few books out there like it.

This two volume set is essential for the Forster scholar. Edited by Mary Lago, one of the foremost Forster scholars, it contains some of the highlights of his voluminous correspondence. Up until his death in 1970, Forster wrote up to twelve letters (!) a day, many of which are stored in the Forster archives at Kings College in Cambridge, England. Dr. Lago painstakingly sifted through those massive archival files and translated Forster's unique penmanship and wonderful letter writing style into a lovely, insightful, and entertaining two-volume set of correspondence.