Stanley Books

This book written by Mike Morgan is an absolute must for anyone interested in military history.Stan Hollis cannot be praised enough for his superb bravery and courage and Mike Morgan does him proud,Hollis is one of the all time British Heroes who makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Highly recommended well researched and well written.

The D.A. Goes to Trial

An early morning train approached Madison City. The fireman saw a dead body by the trestle, and notified the station agent, who then called the Coroner. Mark Crandall visits D.A. Doug Selby on a matter that must be kept confidential. There is important news about the disposition of that hobo's body (Chapter iii). The bookkeeper of the Las Alidas Lumber Company has gone missing. Auditors found a shortage or about $8,000. Their safe had $10,000 wrapped in a newspaper (Chapter iv)! They learn more about the hobo's brother in Phoenix; the conditions point to murder. A banker wants the investigation of John Burke's disappearance ended (Chapter v).

Inez Stapleton has returned with a law degree and has also studied criminology (Chapter vi). Selby flies to Tucson to interview James Lacey about his stolen Cadillac, found in Las Alidas. They learn about the missing Mrs. Burke, and get an identification of the dead hobo (Chapter vii). Selby learned who took $10,000 out of his bank (Chapter viii). Selby is awakened early to hear of a bank robbery and murder of the banker in Las Alidas. Later Selby gets a phone call and learns about Jim Lacey. The fingerprint evidence has startling facts. There is a conflict over the identification of John Burke's photographs. A broker in Los Angeles identifies the photographs as Allison Brown (Chapter x).

Inez Stapleton will defend James Lacey and Mrs. John Burke. The LA fingerprint men checked John Burke's home - the fingerprints there don't match the corpse (Chapter xi)! The events before the Grand Jury have dramatic highlights (Chapter xiii). Selby flies to Phoenix to investigate Lacey's background and finds an important clue (Chapter xiv). The case against Lacey seems wrapped up, but then Sylvia Martin tells Selby about a new witness (Chapter xv). This witness will testify about the identification if needed (Chapter xvi). The trial begins in Chapter xvii. The questioning of a witness is stopped by a surprise objection. Later reporter Sylvia Martin found another surprise witness for Doug Selby. Another witness shows up to repeat what he heard about Lacey's story. If Lacey hadn't first lied to Selby he would've been in the clear. But Selby suddenly asks for fingerprints on a cellophane package. This leads to a solution in Chapter xviii. The guilty person was found out, the innocence of the defendant established. A happy ending with justice. All the loose pieces of the puzzle now fit.

These novels echo Erle Stanley Gardner's 'Perry Mason' series. A lawyer who follows the facts to achieve his goal, aided by an investigator and a female newspaper reporter. The investigation finally uncovers the facts needed to solve the puzzle. [This series deserves reprinting.]

The D.A. Draws a Circle

In Chapter I Mrs. Rita Artrim visits D.A. Doug Selby to ask if he can prevent Alphonse Baker Carr, the famous criminal lawyer, from moving into Orange Heights, the exclusive neighborhood of Madison City. Carr's presence would lower property values. Then Selby gets a letter and photograph from L.A. on bail-jumper Peter C. Ribber. They learn he had been picked up last night, then released. Next a cleaner found a suit with a bloody bullet hole in it. Selby and Sheriff Rex Brandon go to see Police Chief Larkin, and they learn the body of a man was found next to Carr's house! The body is identified by his fingerprints. Pete Ribber's fingerprints are on the gun found next to the body. But two bullets from two different guns are in the corpse (Chapter V). Abner Hendrix, the father of Rita Artrim, visits Selby to tell him of his worries. Then Ellen Saxe, the practical nurse for Mr. Artrim, brings her suspicions to Selby; she has no proof.

Chapter VI has a lesson in practical politics from the editor of the 'Blade'. In Chapter VII Selby learns something from Carr's housekeeper, and they search Carr's house. Upon their return they learn that Ribber was caught in L.A. Selby gets a call from Brandon; Mrs. Artrim's crippled father-in-law has disappeared in the night (Chapter VIII). Police Chief Larkin returns from L.A. with Ribber, who is put into the County Jail. A criminologist from L.A. comes to inspect the bloodstains in Mrs. Artrim's house (Chapter X). The Preliminary Hearing is in Chapter XI. This has a warning for any witness who tries to emulate a corpse instead of using photographs or a mannikin. [The testimony here appears to have been inspired by an actual case.] The judge binds the defendant for trial. The criminologist says a big-city D.A. would only present the evidence that points to guilt; he congratulates Selby on his integrity. [No Brady Rule then.]

In Chapter XII Selby comes up with a ruse to get information. A professional criminal would not drop a gun with his fingerprints near a dead body. They play their hunch in front of Ribber to see what develops. Selby meets Carr, Ribber's lawyer, and tells him what he wants. Sheriff Brandon applies pressure to Ribber by using trusties to spread a rumor. With a new clue Selby and Brandon drive to a small town, and then to a trailer park where they get an answer to their search (Chapter XIV). Their plan works; Ribber talks and spills the beans to save his neck (Chapter XV). Mrs. Artrim will not tell anything. You can read the interesting details and match it to true crime stories. Selby advises Carr to stay close to his house. The people in Madison City value sincerity over slick ingenuity. Does the "big-time lawyer" remind you of a familiar figure in criminal court practice in the 1930s?

The D.A. Goes to Trial, by Erle Stanley Gardner

An early morning train approached Madison City. The fireman saw a dead body by the trestle, and notified the station agent, who then called the Coroner. Mark Crandall visits D.A. Doug Selby on a matter that must be kept confidential. There is important news about the disposition of that hobo's body (Chapter iii). The bookkeeper of the Las Alidas Lumber Company has gone missing. Auditors found a shortage or about $8,000. Their safe had $10,000 wrapped in a newspaper (Chapter iv)! They learn more about the hobo's brother in Phoenix; the conditions point to murder. A banker wants the investigation of John Burke's disappearance ended (Chapter v).

Inez Stapleton has returned with a law degree and has also studied criminology (Chapter vi). Selby flies to Tucson to interview James Lacey about his stolen Cadillac, found in Las Alidas. They learn about the missing Mrs. Burke, and get an identification of the dead hobo (Chapter vii). Selby learned who took $10,000 out of his bank (Chapter viii). Selby is awakened early to hear of a bank robbery and murder of the banker in Las Alidas. Later Selby gets a phone call and learns about Jim Lacey. The fingerprint evidence has startling facts. There is a conflict over the identification of John Burke's photographs. A broker in Los Angeles identifies the photographs as Allison Brown (Chapter x).

Inez Stapleton will defend James Lacey and Mrs. John Burke. The LA fingerprint men checked John Burke's home - the fingerprints there don't match the corpse (Chapter xi)! The events before the Grand Jury have dramatic highlights (Chapter xiii). Selby flies to Phoenix to investigate Lacey's background and finds an important clue (Chapter xiv). The case against Lacey seems wrapped up, but then Sylvia Martin tells Selby about a new witness (Chapter xv). This witness will testify about the identification if needed (Chapter xvi). The trial begins in Chapter xvii. The questioning of a witness is stopped by a surprise objection. Later reporter Sylvia Martin found another surprise witness for Doug Selby. Another witness shows up to repeat what he heard about Lacey's story. If Lacey hadn't first lied to Selby he would've been in the clear. But Selby suddenly asks for fingerprints on a cellophane package. This leads to a solution in Chapter xviii. The guilty person was found out, the innocence of the defendant established. A happy ending with justice. All the loose pieces of the puzzle now fit.

These novels echo Erle Stanley Gardner's 'Perry Mason' series. A lawyer who follows the facts to achieve his goal, aided by an investigator and a female newspaper reporter. The investigation finally uncovers the facts needed to solve the puzzle. [This series deserves reprinting.]

The D.A. Holds a Candle, by Erle Stanley Gardner

There is a frost blight in Madison City that threatens the citrus crop. Ranchers use smudge pots as a defense against freezing. D.A. Doug Selby has to deal with a young man who forged a check. The Sheriff questions Ross Blaine about his activities. They learn about the gambling in the back room of the "Palm Thatch". Sheriff Rex Brandon and Selby visit Oscar Triggs to warn him about corrupting young men of modest means into a gambling habit. The scenes described are of a California that is gone forever, like the inter-urban street cars. A Sheriff has to be diplomatic with the Chief of Police (Chapter IV). A dead man is found in one of the cabins at a motor court. There are three whiskey glasses in a room for two. The investigation brings Brandon and Selby back to the "Palm Thatch" (Chapter V). They question the people around the poker table in the back room.

In Chapter VI we learn about the dead man's history. Then Selby gets a phone call from a woman who says the dead man was murdered; it wasn't an accident! Sylvia Martin talks about "life as it is lived" and the power of the Stapleton family (sugar beet factory). Selby learns more about the case in Chapter VIII and tracks down the buyer of that whiskey bottle (Chapter IX). Why is Selby prying into an accidental death (Chapter X)? The factory owner with the largest payroll in town had power and prestige (Chapter XII). He wants Selby to drop his investigation, or else. Is a wicked coyote chasing the mamma rabbit (Chapter XIII)? Selby continues to follow the leads in this case, and uncovers more facts. Selby gets more information on Emil Watkins, the dead man. This leads to more facts on his daughter Marcia who was injured in a hit-and-run accident, and died. The attending nurse tells about it. Selby retrieves Marcia's suitcases, and finds another clue (Chapter XVI). George Stapleton's old car fits the description of the hit-and-run vehicle, but he denies it.

The L.A. detective explains how gamblers work in pairs. The accomplice plays the prize sucker who loses and loses after first winning from the other players (Chapter XVIII). They go to raid the location. Selby takes one of the gamblers back to Madison City, then arranges a script for a telephone call. This works, the gambler tells all about the murder and the cover-up (Chapter XIX). Do the pampered and idle get into trouble? Inez Stapleton has decided to do something with her life and study law. [This series about a District Attorney in a rural California county reminds me of Gardner's more famous series.]

The D. A. Takes a Chance, by Erle Stanley Gardner

Doris Kane drove to Madison City to visit her married daughter Paula Marlin. But no one was home, and she was frightened by a bloodstain in one bedroom. Doris goes to tell Sheriff Rex Brandon, and D. A. Doug Shelby gets involved. The complication is that her son-in-law Jim Melvin had backed the Shelby's opponent. When they return things have been cleaned. Then A. B. Carr, the Los Angeles shyster lawyer, stops his car to meet Jim Melvin. Carr does not answer their question about a pistol shot. Milton Granby tells his story; he was at that party and a stranger accidentally shot himself in his arm, then drove himself home. Hudson L. Parlin shows up; he is the investor in the parking meter business, and James L. Melvin is his salesman for the region.

Doris had stopped at a motor court. Jim Marlin came by and explained their absence. Jim asks Doris to join them where they are staying. Doris then meets Eve Dawson. their secret house guest, and learns about the secret. The next morning Doris is awakened by a scream from Paula. Eve was dead, a knife in her chest! Sheriff Rex Brandon is called. D. A. Shelby and the coroner arrive. Their investigation continues. Sheriff Brandon explains the source of A.B. Carr's power: he gets the big shots out of their difficulties. Doug Shelby goes with reporter Sylvia Martin to the home town of Eve "Dawson" Hollenberg. They get little information from Eve's mother. The murder weapon may have been bought in Highdale, Eve's home town. They find out about another young woman from nearby, Eleanor Harlan, who roomed with Eve.

There is a surprise in Chapter 15 - fingerprints are found where they shouldn't be found. Paula explains that a device like a self-resetting parking meter can't be sold simply on its merits. Consideration must be given to those who would approve of any sale. [Not unlike closing a sale on a golf course where there are no witnesses.] When Paula gets a phone call and leaves, Doris is left alone at night. Something happens. Brandon and Shelby show up. Later Sylvia Martin reports that Eleanor Harlan overdosed on sleeping pills (Chapter 18)! The Chief of Police arrives with a search warrant, looking for Eleanor Harlan in Sylvia Martin's apartment (Chapter 20).

The true facts begin to emerge in Chapter 21. There is more action in Chapter 22 when a man is arrested. In Chapter 24 a man who sets a trap must be careful not to be caught himself. The newspaper story in Chapter 25 sums it up. Erle Stanley Gardner has written another fast-moving exciting mystery novel. Gardner used municipal corruption as the background to this story, something that Chandler or Hammett never cared to do. Gardner does warn about the problems that a young woman will face if she goes to Hollywood.
There is a problem with self-resetting parking meters. Running for a fixed time allows an independent estimate of the monies taken. A variable time period can allow skimming cash due to a lack independent estimates. That is the reason they used train tickets rather than trust a conductor back in the 1870s.

This was sent to me by Jane Highsmith, a friend from undergraduate days:
"Seldom have I enjoyed reading someone's doctoral dissertaion, but Daddy Sang Lead was different. It was not only well researched and written, but the personal stories and pictures of Southern Gospel groups seemed to prompt me to have a new interest in this unique style of singing. It is my understanding that this is the first research document of its kind. It will definitely be an asset to the South's history. Thank you Dr. Brobston for making such a treatise available."
Used by permission of Jane Highsmith, GA.

Anyone who loves NYC detective books will love this. One of america's great writers is Solomita

Just how fleeting fame can be is handily revealed in John Bierman's autobiography of one of history's first media superstars: John Rowlands AKA Henry Morton Stanley. Today, if he's thought of at all, Stanley is chiefly remembered as the author of comically droll inquiry, "Doctor Livingstone, I presume?"

In "Dark Safari: The Life Behind the Legend of Henry Morton Stanley," we're introduced to an almost stereotypical celebrity. A man who substitutes the spotlight for the affection and love he never received as a child. In this regard you could replace Stanley's name with that of almost any current pop star.

Stanley rose from grinding poverty, abandoned by his mother and then, literally and serially, by every other member of his family. From these unpromising roots, Stanley became the quintessential "self-made-man" reaching the apex of his fame by being knighted by Queen Victoria.

In between these two extremes we are treated to a well researched and lively narrative that illuminates as much about the Victorian era as it does Stanley's life. The story is told chronologically, naturally following Stanley's personal evolution. Seeking to escape the destitution of his native Wales, Stanley wangles working passage on a ship to America where he finds opportunity to match his ambitions. Though having no strong feelings about slavery one way or the other, he enlisted and fought as a Confederate infantryman during the Civil War. He is injured early on and captured. Taking advantage of a amnesty program for those who would swear allegiance to the Union, he joins the Federal navy, survives the war, and following the popular tide, becomes a reporter during the western expansion.

It's in the wilds of the west that Stanley comes into his own displaying his legendary toughness and freedom of thought to buck authority (while craving its approval.) Despite the prejudices of the day, Stanley sympathizes with the plight of Native Americans, writing:

"We know that if the redman could have been enslaved he would have been before this... [A]ll evidence which can be furnished shows plainly that the Indian has ever been the wronged party..."

Stanley considered his experience during the Indian Wars as "a kind of apprenticeship to the longer and more difficult one I was to continue into Unknown Africa."

For all of Stanley's Victorian ideals, he wrote with a personal angle on the events he covered. As Biernan writes, "[Stanley] had an eye for human interest, then a novel journalistic concept, writing not just about the generals and politicians on both sides of the conflict but about the ordinary soldiers and citizens who were caught up in it."

Stanley lived a rollicking life, which he took pains to document, albeit in an idealistic self-serving way. In reading this fascinating biography you'll learn that the rescue of Livingstone was only a small part of Stanley's life. Biernan's meticulous research separates much fact from Stanley's intentional fiction. The end result is not a diminishment of the legend, but a revelation of a man with whom many of us will identify.

If you have any interest in the Victorian era or the golden age of exploration, this book deserves a place of honor in your collection.

David Hume, a philosopher of the period often classified as British Empiricism, is the intellectual associate of philosophers John Locke and George Berkeley. Born in Edinburgh in 1711, he attended the University of Edinburgh but did not graduate. He went to France during his 20s, and spent time there working on what would become his most famous work, 'An Enquiry into Human Understanding', first published under the title 'Treatise of Human Nature'. However, Hume was a prolific writer, and dealt with many areas of philosophy, including politics and ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics. He wrote in the area of history as well, and had a politic career as British ambassador to France and a post as a minister in the government for a few years. His final work, 'Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion', was published posthumously in 1779, although work had begun on it as early as the 1750s.

Hume was very concerned about rationality. Hume was never publicly and explicitly an atheist, but his rational mind, concerned about sensory and intelligible evidence, led him to question and doubt most major systems of religion, including the more general philosophical sense of religion and proofs of the existence of God. The primary arguments in his 'Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion' deal with the Argument from Design, and the Cosmological Argument. There is an assumed distinction here between natural religion and revealed religion, an especially important distinction in the Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment philosophical structure.

- Natural Religion and Revealed Religion -
Natural religion is the idea that we come to know and understand God (and, consequently, what God wants or expects of us, if anything) simply from nature and our sensory perceptions, as well as our interpretations (emotion and rational) of this kind of understanding. From very early in his writing career, Hume attacked the idea of natural religion and most of its conclusions, drawing a sharp line between what we can actually know and what ends up being fanciful extrapolations based on other-than-rational ideas and evidence. Revealed religion is primary what most religions base themselves upon - the burning bush to Moses, the resurrection and post-resurrection appearances to the Apostles, the Buddha's enlightenment under the tree - these are examples of revelation. While Hume does take on the idea of revealed religion in his other works, this particular text does not concern itself with that topic, and stays in the domain of addressing natural religion.

- The Argument from Design -
Arguments from Design have always had a strong appeal to believers within religious frameworks; they have often been used as tools of evangelism, as attempts to show that beyond the revealed doctrines, the very nature of things points to a creator. In very short order, the Argument from Design in Hume's newly-industrial time might have read like this:

- Machines are designed by beings with intelligence.
- The world and the universe it is in resembles a machine.
- Therefore, the world must have been created by means of intelligent design.

This is an argument by analogy, and is convincing to some, but often more convincing to those already inclined to believe in the existence of God.

- The Cosmological Argument -
The Cosmological Argument is at once both more subtle and more simple. The most simple way of stating it would be that God is the 'first cause' of everything. If everything has to have a cause (even the whole universe), then that first cause must be God. In the twentieth century era of thinking of a universe that began with a Big Bang, it seemed to some that the Cosmological Argument was confirmed.

Hume would have been familiar with Leibniz's more subtle form of the Cosmological Argument, which argues for a world of infinite contingent causes. However, there has to be something outside of this system of infinite causes that produced the series - thus, even in a universe with no set beginning or ending, there would still need to be an overarching cause.

- Hume's Arguments -
Hume argues on many levels. His first criticism of the Argument from Design is that this analogy (as are most arguments from analogy) is faulty and not exact; we have no idea if the universe is like a machine. Even if it was, machines are often designed and built by several designers - why argue for one God rather than several? How do we know that matter and the universe don't have their own, internal self-organising principles?

With regard to the Cosmological Argument, the argument is a little more strained. Hume argues that, in any series of causality, once one knows about each cause, it makes no sense to inquire beyond the sequence of causes to some other effect. This is a very Empirical argument, to be sure, and while perhaps not entirely satisfying, it still has merit in philosophy to this day.

- Hume's Structure -
This is a dialogue, set up in the classical way of people talking with each other about the subjects. Hume draws primarily from Cicero, whose work 'On the Nature of the Gods' uses characters of the same names. However, whereas Cicero was concerned about the nature of the Gods (their attributes, powers, etc.) and not their existence, it is the very existence of God that occupies Hume's thoughts.

Hume, despite many years of work on this text, probably never quite thought it was finished. He left the work to Adam Smith (the noted economist, and friend of Hume in Edinburgh), who also thought the arguments against the existence of God were too strong, and likely too damaging to Hume's overall reputation. The tug-of-war over the publication makes for interesting reading in and of itself.

These are important arguments, worthy of discussion and dialogue in philosophy classes, theology classes, and among others who ponder the existence of God.