Sherman Books

I love to read about the Civil War, especially when the author was Wisconsin-educated. I have my own kind of connection to him since I became good friends with his first wife many years after she helped him produce his earliest published writings about the War.

This short book is really three separate essays about three of the North's most controversial generals. They seem to be arranged in the author's estimation of them, with McClellan being the poorest general and Grant the best. The essays are insightful, and Williams argues some interesting points that differ from what most historians believe, especially in the case of Sherman and McClellan. Throughout it all, he seems to remain, for the most part, fair, neither condemning nor fully praising any of the three. I don't personally agree with his argument that the primary objective in war should be destroying the enemy's army, and thus would rank Sherman higher than Grant, but I do think he makes an interesting point. If this book was documented (that is, if Williams showed where he got his information), it would be a lot better, and a lot more scholarly, but as it stands it is nevertheless an interesting argument on three of the North's most important generals.

This was a fabulous biography of Margaret Chase Smith. Sherman does a great job of relating her themes to the narrative. Connections are emphasized regarding major points. This book is very readable as well as informative.

I confess to a weakness for biographies of U. S. senators. I seldom see one I don't want to read, and when I saw this one I knew I would have to read it. Smith actually had an amazing career (elected to the House of Representatives in 1940 and to the Senate in 1948, reelected in 1954, 1960, 1966, and defeated for reelection in 1972) and this unpretentious book, solidly but not exhaustively researched, recounts it well. It is quite laudatory, but will be critical when it is clear criticism is warranted. Mrs. Smith was not a great brain but she was a great working politician, ably assisted by her AA.

This is a true help when writing lesson plans for books. It is filled with countless practical ideas to use in the classroom. Included are journal questions...vocabulary concepts, bulletin board ideas...etc....it is wonderful!!!

I have recently become a reading teacher. When looking for books in my schools bookroom to read with my 7th grade students, I came across Number the Stars. When during a search on Amazon I came across this unit plan. There were a lot of other "lesson plan/activity" books to purchase but I decided to purchase this one without really being able to preview what I was buying. Let me tell you... it was WELL WORTH IT! The plan comes with all sorts of good stuff. One thing I really value are the VERY DETAILED lesson plans for all chapters. Each lesson has objectives, materials needed.... It also comes with assignments for each lesson (vocabulary, study guides...). It has quizes (short answer and multiple choice), writing assignments, and FIVE different Unit tests. It even comes with bulletin board materials, extra ideas, and even puzzles (crossword, word search...). Best part is... I downloaded it Sunday night... printed it up and started using it Monday afternoon. I will warn you that the lesson are not the most "creative" but they worked quite well with my 7th grade reading class unfamiliar with the Holocaust. My job just became a whole lot easier thanks to this thing!

The right one for you might be the person you thought you wouldn't be caught dead with. "Opposites Do Attract" tells of two friends and their two desired women. Mike and Ron have struck out more often enough when it comes to finding the one, but what they seek might come in the most unexpected of places. Ron finds Monica, a future lawyer when he is a man who no self-respecting woman would be seen with, while Mike seeks Renee, someone who wanted nothing to do with the urban type of persona that Mike exudes. "Opposites Do Attract" is a tale of romance coming from the unexpected, a recommended read for younger romance fans.

Opposites Do Attract by Sherman Smith is a crazy, fast-paced book on relationships from a male's perspective. Mr. Smith introduces us to some off-the-wall characters that will have each of us laughing, crying, and wishing them the best of luck at the end of this tale of love, trust and bad judgment.

Ron, Dee and Mike are three best friends who are well-known bachelors in Washington, DC. Mike, the more conservative of the two, is looking for love but when he is snagged by Lisa, a pompous overzealous manipulator, who is set in her ways and wants the world given to her, will he be able to handle this materialistic woman like this or will he sacrifice his own upbringing to accommodate Lisa?

Ron is a broker and not shy at all when it comes to the ladies; that is until he encounters, Monica, with her exceptional beauty, brains and potential to be a top lawyer. Ron is smitten with Ms. Monica but is she enough to make him change his womanizing ways? Monica has not always been rich; she too came up in the hood and refuses to tolerate Ron's behavior. Will Ron keep jumping from woman to woman or will love conquer all and he reunite with Monica?

Dee is a laid back ladies man who loves and appreciates all types of women, no matter the background or environment. Dealing with the conservative types as well as ghetto divas has Dee at a crossroad. Which lovely lady sends sparks down his spine?

I loved the quality and details of this story and many of us can relate to the woman's side as well as the man, when it comes to who you fall in love with. This was a great read and I recommend it to everyone who is skeptical about opposites attracting.

Reviewed by: Cheryl H
APOOO BookClub

The author manages to make his various topics (glaciers and their effects on our world here in Ohio, development of flora and fauna of the region through history, etc.)very accessible to the lay person. He has a sense of humour about nature and a beautifully descriptive eye.

Sherman's excellent book was recommended to me by a colleague while I was preparing to teach a college course in bioregional biographies, and it is clearly the best I've seen. His rendering of geological, botanical, and biological information is both lucid and lyrical, and--unlike David Raines Wallace, whose Klamath Knot is also a wonderful model of this sort of writing--Sherman needs no incidental narrative device to hold the layers of deep history together. Mr. Sherman is a gifted writer and naturalist, and A Place on the Glacial Till is clearly a classic of natural history writing.

Great book to have in your white coat. Detailed and practical. One of the most practical book to carry around during wards. It has treatment and work ups on most problems in the hospital. A must have for residents. Highly recommended.

This is the only book I carry, along with my Palm Pilot. It's got an algorithm for most dilemmas in medicine, all evidence based. I look forward to the next update on this book.

My kids have dabbled in making simple flip books before, so when I saw this, I thought it might spark more creativity. Basically the book has 8 flip books that they have started for you (about 2 x 6 inches each), and you finish it up with your own sketches. Their flip books have nice backgrounds already printed on them, like a frog on a rock, and they give you instructions on where to draw the fly and the frogs tongue. Each book has about 35 pages and it is pretty cool when they get one done. Included are the clips to hold the flip book together and a few little markers to use for coloring. It does not include any blank pages to make your own flip books from scratch, and the paper they use is thicker than regular printing paper. 3x5 card would probably work well.
Still, it is pretty fun, although once you rip out all the flip books, you will have a shell of a book that has a little bit of info in it, but won't be something you want to store.

My son is 8. He's addicted to video games. But when he's grounded, he's not allowed to use them. I have despaired of finding any activity that interests him as much as Mario games on the Wii...until his 8th birthday party, when a friend gave him this Quick Flip Books project as a gift. He has spent the last three days working on this, with only brief interludes to go play outside or whatever. Video games have not been touched! He's obsessed with the flip books and I only wish there were more (different) flip book project kits like this one. It's a real winner.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I liked learning about the Boston Strangler story and the theories surronding the killings. I also enjoyed Sherman's investigations. Great book!

I was surprised and disappointed to find that this was actually the same book that came out just last year from a university press when it was called, A ROSE FOR MARY, one of the very best books of the year, Did Warner Books think they had to spice up the cover so that people would know it was all about The Boston Strangler?

Or maybe some were disappointed in the previous title, A ROSE FOR MARY, and they thought it was about ROSEMARY'S BABY. In any case I think it's a cheap shot when a paperback changes the name of the hardcover because there will be many, like me, who buys both books falling for the misleading new title and thinking it a new book.

What's great about Casey Sherman's book is that, although he's a little fellow, he had this great determination to avenge the death of a woman who died before he was even born, his mom's sister Mary, who died in January 1964. Casey isn't a midget per se but he brings up his perceived lack of height several times in the book, leaving the reader feeling that this is indeed an issue in his life. He is a powerful writer and delivers a book filled with regret and rage, and the eerie silence of a family touched by crime. For in the Sullivan family there was a great loss, an empty space where once Mary had laughed and sang. He digs up a certain amount of DNA evidence that makes it seem as though, whatever else he was guilty of in his crazy life, Albert De Salvo certainly didn't kill Mary, even though he was implicated in her death. Casey Sherman analyzes the corrupt state of the police back in the 1960s and the ways in which pressure was put on top politicians to "bring in the killer" and it seems clear they didn't mind if they fried an innocent one, as long as the murders stopped.

It was like JAWS in that, so many women were being killed in Boston, that tourism had come to a complete halt!

Mary is smiling now that justice has been unearthed. Good for you, Casey. Warner Books, stop chiseling money out of the pockets of the citizenry!

This is a very good pictorial recounting of the M4 "Sherman" tank as it was used in many of the campaigns in World War II.

As with others in the "Images of War" series, the real emphasis in the book is on action photos and many readers may find it somewhat lacking in background details.

If you are just looking for an amazing variety of photos of the Sherman tank in action in the North African, Italian, and Normandy campaigns (and beyond to Germany itself), however, then this is a good book to have.

Excellent information, description, and detail about the old Sherman tank. Brought back a lot of memories to me, as I was a tank commander in the Battle of the Bulge through the end World War II. Helpful also since I am writing a book about the life and times of my old outfit, the 740th Tank Battalion--twice through the Siegfried Line in the M4 Sherman. Highly recommended.

This is a brief but highly informative look at Sherman's march through Georgia from Atlanta to Savannah in Nov-Dec of 1864. Both Sherman's reasoning in undertaking such a campaign and the main details of the march are discussed. Beyond that the author corrects many misconceptions about that decisive march of 150 years ago.

Sherman was hardly the brutal, non-caring individual often portrayed by apologists for the South. It is certainly true that Sherman desired to destroy infrastructure in Georgia (railroads, etc) and ravage the countryside to supply his huge army of 70,000 men, consisting of four corps, with up to four divisions per corps. However, it was a campaign of demoralization instead of massive killing intended to persuade Southerners of the futility of continuing to fight the war - at least for those who did not already know that.

Sherman basically cut off all communications with the outside world - telegraphs not allowed. The Southerners had no idea of his destination, believing that either Macon or Augusta were most likely. He completely surprised state government officials at Milledgeville forcing them to flee on a moment's notice. His use of an overwhelming force avoided a bloody siege at Savannah. He left an escape route for the small Confederate army which was wisely taken just a few days after Sherman had easily assaulted Fort McAllister. An interesting side to the book is the manner of warfare in pre-airplane days. It was simply assumed that soldiers would have to be sacrificed in taking positions. Hopefully, enough troops would get through the fusillade of bullets to take the objective. That was the strategy for capturing Fort McAllister.

Sherman was hailed as a military hero for his devastating and quick march through Georgia and capture of Savannah. Some have focused on Sherman's racist views and he was a racist by modern standards. Yet he did oppose slavery, if not equality. There were many eyewitness accounts of his shaking hands and talking with blacks on his march but especially so in Savannah.

The author also intersperses about 15 brief biographies of key individuals directly or indirectly involved in Sherman's campaign, most of them being generals for either the North or the South. There is no doubt that 1864 was a bad year for Atlanta and Georgia. It is easy to speculate that Sherman's campaign was not necessary as the South was already on its last legs. But he may well have spared lives as was his intention.

John F. Marszalek, Giles Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History at Mississippi State University, presents Sherman's March to the Sea, a no-nonsense examination of General Sherman and his role in enabling the Union's victory during the American Civil War. Sherman's March to the Sea looks critically at sources that would vilify or sanctify Sherman's actions or personality beyond what the events of history say, and focuses upon what Sherman himself intended his wartime strategy to be: not a "total war" in which civilians are brutally slaughtered en masse, but rather extreme property, city, and supplies destruction designed to force the South to end the war as quickly as possible, therefore saving lives in the long run. Sherman's March to the Sea also analyzes Sherman's tactics, recounts the destructive details of Sherman's march, portrays Sherman through both white and black eyes as well as scrutinizing what positive and negative propaganda had to say about him. Of particular interest are the conclusions drawn about Sherman's racial views - while he was definitely racist enough to believe that black Americans were inferior to whites, neither was he the monstrous, hate-filled demon toward blacks that past and contemporary propaganda would portray him as. An absorbing portrait of a complex man and his unforgettable contribution to both American and world warfare history unfolds.