King Books

Even today his memory is still strong for those of us who knew him and his name is a talisman which opens doors which otherwise would be sealed.

Many people claim to have access to special or unknown collections. Proctor was the real deal.

This book was a labor of love for Proctor. He set out to publish pictures that had not been seen in other books...he spent an unbelievable amount of money, time and effort tracking down unpublished art and securing the right to publish it in this book.

He then published this book himself because no publisher would print it at the level of quality he wanted. He was particular about the paper, the binding and the detail of the reproductions...

Proctor then was able to get Jean Tulard to do the preface...virtually impossible for an American author...and even launched the French version of the book at a reception at Malmaison (I was there).

Proctor never intended to make money on the book...It was his intention to bring these works to an audience who would otherwise find them inaccessable. I know for a fact that at the print run he authorized he lost tens of thousands of dollars just on the royalties and fees he paid for the permission to reproduce these paintings.

This book is in a limited print run in English and in French and when they are gone they will be gone. Just like Proctor.

Proctor I will miss you and I thank you for producing this book.

Which is precisely what editor Harvey Arden has accomplished with his passion for keeping alive the wisdom of the American Indian. In this book, Arden, a former senior editor for National Geographic, has compiled a comprehensive volume of the thoughts, philosophy, humor and spirit of the great Oglala Lakota (Sioux) chief.

Noble Red Man was born Mathew King in 1902 in Grass Creek, S.D., a small community of Indians from different bands. He died in 1989. In the long stretch of time in between, he absorbed knowledge, wisdom and experiences that molded him into a sage and respected leader.

After three years in military school, his parents enrolled him in the Springfield Indian Seminary to become an ordained Episcopal minister. Hunger, more than faith, was his motivation.

"If you converted you ate better," said Noble Red Man. "To help feed the starving Lakota my father and uncles became missionaries." During training, he concluded that - despite being very spiritual - that the clergy was not his calling. He had misgivings over Christian theology. "I have always believed in the Great Spirit and worshipped Him in my own way," he said. "These people don't seem to want to change my belief in the Great Spirit, but to change my way of talking to Him."

Instead, Noble Red Man set out to do the Great Spirit's work by teaching Indians to "earn their bread by the sweat of their brow," finding work and securing labor rights for thousands of Indians over the years. He became a voice not only for the Lakota people, but American Indians everywhere, taking their case to court, before Congress and even overseas. His passion was fighting to regain South Dakota's Black Hills, sacred land promised the Lakota by the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, but swindled from them five years later when gold was discovered.

The federal government belittled the Indians' claim to this revered land in the 1970s by offering them $100 million. Noble Red Man retorted: "The Black Hills aren't for sale. What if we offered you a hundred million dollars for the Vatican, for Jerusalem?" The money still sits in escrow, unclaimed.

Arden first met Noble Red Man in 1983, on the 10th anniversary of the Lakota occupation of Wounded Knee, S.D., a reservation hamlet that was the site of the American Indians' last stand in 1890, as federal troops massacred over 350 Indians. The 1973 occupation - which was met with an FBI siege for 71days - was staged by the American Indian Movement (AIM) in protest over the government's harsh treatment of Indians. He and venerated Chief Frank Fools Crow provided moral support to the occupiers, while placating armed FBI agents.

As Arden attempted to explain to Noble Red Man why he'd come to Pine Ridge, the chief shot back: "I know why you're here! White Man came to this country and forgot his original Instructions. We Indians have never forgotten our Instructions.... I can't tell you what those were, but maybe there are some things that I can explain...."

That is what Arden has done. Culled from his interview notes and tapes, Arden felt that he didn't have enough material to compile the book that was Noble Red Man's unrealized dream. After the chief's death, Arden visited his daughter, Lavon King, who had kept her father's old reel-to-reel tapes in a trunk. In a labor of love, by 1994 Arden finished the job he began 11 years earlier. With this book, he has put into print Noble Red Man's credo, reflections, recollections and hopes.

There is even a good measure of humor, which captures Noble Red Man's keen sense of irony. My favorite anecdote was how he became a smoker at age four (!) by rolling cigarettes for his grandmother, Cane Woman. She "was blind, and I had to guide her around with her cane. People really laughed when they saw us....We must have been quite a sight, the two of us, both smoking Bull Durham cigarettes while I led her around by the elbow."

Reading his words, I was struck by how senseless the gulf between American Indians and the Americans occupying their land is, for they aspire freedom in the truest sense. However, more than any other people, American Indians have been systematically denied that freedom.

Yet, Noble Red Man kept optimistic. He counseled his fellow Indians to stay true to their heritage.

"Only one thing's sadder than remembering you once were free, and that's forgetting you once were free. That would be the saddest thing of all. That's one thing we Indians will never do."

Now, just let me say, I LOVE THIS SERIES! I especially love the character of Taliesin. He is my favorite from all of Morrison's books and possibly from any others I have ever read. His voice is exceptionally distinctive in the telling and very consistent. He is a very unassuming character, terrified out of his wits most of the time and sure that everyone knows it, yet is completely honest about this fact. I love the style of these books too. The prose is perhaps a bit cumbersome when you first begin reading but it is defiantly an epic tale, every event fraught with dan from now 'till nevermass, and all the characters with the seeds of greatness in them, Arthur most of all. I love this particular universe because it is so imaginative, Celtic legend mixed with sciencficiton in a successful blending.

Now, the Kirkus reviewer has a point when he says that Patricia Kennealy-Morrison has a "general air of self-importance". He hits the nail right on the head. She is continually prating on the virtues of the Kelts. How they are so much more evolved than "other societies I could name" in that they have magical arts, no rape, varying marriage laws, and women are considered equals. It is an attitude hard to avoid throughout her books, but this is the only detraction I will make and, you will admit, not a very serious one.

If you have read the Copper Crown and its counterparts you will be intrigued when you discover that the writing style is completely different from the first triology. This is writen in first rather than third person. It is rare that an author has such talent as to switch styles. The style change means that you will never tire of the Keltiad. Instead of boresdom you will find love for the lore as past history links all the books together.

The first and most weighty reason why the New Scofield Bible is not a Scofield Bible at all is shamefully simple. Dr. C.I. Scofield did not edit it. Dr. Scofield died in 1921!

A book which claims on its title page that a dead man (Dr. Scofield) is one of its editors.

The text of the New Scofield Bible is NOT a King James Bible and it is NOT a Scofield Bible.

See also pocket size.

This book is a sequel to The Hammer and the Cross. I have not read the earlier book, but people speak very highly of it, and this sequel deserves just as much praise. It's an alternate history with supernatural elements involving Viking, Christian, and other religions. It is carefully and intricately constructed with interesting technology developments (for the so-called Dark Ages) and different cultures.

I do have a problem with the description on the back jacket of the book (also repeated as the Amazon.Com description), because I think it's not at all accurate. The jacket identifies the Knights of the Lance as Shef's chief enemies, but in most of the book his chief enemies are Sigurth Snake-Eye and his brothers. The Knights of the Lance don't play much of a role in this book, though it looks like they will in the next one

I will be lookin for the next book in this series, and I hope it comes out soon.

This is kind of like the classic fantasy story (by Brooks, Jordan, and so on), but a bit lighter on the descriptions, etc., and much quicker paced than most. Things happen quickly in this book!

Though, again, it was "classic fantasy" I thought it still had quite a bit of originality with the character Zack (from our Earth). I liked the way he was introduced and how he "fit" into the overall story - this was a trciky thing to do.

I also loved Cookie and Djar - they were both great and you didn't get overwhelmed with the overused "reluctant hero" bit that so many fantasy stories (over)employ.

My only problem is if Blackmore waits another 9 years to get a book out! Get to work, Gareth!!!

Perfect for girls from eight to fifteen.