University of Missouri Books

Corregidor in Peace and War is the remarkable true history of Corregidor, a beautiful island located at the entrance of Manila Bay, and best known for its crucial role in the defense of the Philippines during World War II. Chronicling Corregidor's story from when Ferdinand Magellan claimed the Philippines for Spain to modern developments after World War II, Corregidor in Peace and War is peppered throughout with more than 150 illustrations, including an amazing gallery of black-and-white and color photography. Written to appeal to readers of all backgrounds, Corregidor in Peace and War is an absorbing contribution to Filipino history and deserves recognition for telling the oft-overlooked side of Corregidor's story.

I give this book 5 stars for it's many photos. There are many excellent 7x9 inch full page color glossy photos and many nice B&W photos from WWII and earlier. Also nice color reproductions of paintings, illustrations, and maps from the 1800s and the turn of the century. I think it's a beautiful book. I like that the book starts out with historical background info, but the keeps the bulk of it's focus on WWII and the prior US fortification of the Island. If you're interested in Corregidor I'd highly recommend this book along with Corregidor: The American Alamo of World War II by Eric Morris. Gene.

Corregidor in Peace and War

By Charles M. Hubbard & Collis H. Davis, Jr.

HB, 216 pp. 53 color and 115 B&W illustrations. University of Missouri Press,2006. ISBN 9780826217127.

The purpose of this book entirely escapes me. It is not large enough to be a coffee-table book, although it is largely filled with illustrations. It presents something of a brief history of Corregidor, but that can hardly be taken seriously, and it would seem too expensive to be a souvenir.
The illustrations, largely period photographs interspersed with current color views of the island, are large and attractive, but other than size, offer nothing really new, except perhaps more Japanese propaganda photos than are commonly seen. Perhaps a better strategy would have been to limit the book to illustrations, omitting the text entirely.
The text is, sadly, a disaster. It best resembles a paper written late the night before it was due, by a high school student devoid of any knowledge of the subject. To cap it off, it is not particularly well written, and shows no signs of having been edited at all.
The book is overflowing with errors, many of which are contradicted elsewhere in the same book. Even an hour spent on the Internet would have caught many of the mistakes. A complete list would be tiresome and far too lengthy, but some of the more glaring, or amusing, include: p. 46 ("Arthur Douglas MacArthur, who in 1944 would attain the rank of general of the army"), p. 53 ("Buffington-Crocier Disappearing Carriage" and "on Corregidor, the primary artillery consisted of fourteen-inch and ten-inch breech-loading rifle cannons"), p. 82 ("battery Crockett boasted two 10-inch guns"), p. 54 ("Fort Drum on El Fraile Island . . . had two custom-built fourteen-inch guns"), and p. 86 ["203 mm (9.4-inch howitzers)]. [Emphasis added] By comparison, confusing the GPF 155 mm gun with the Schneider howitzer of the same size (pp. 88-89), and referring to U.S. 150 mm guns (p. 109) are minor errors.
There is no bibliography, but the endnotes show no real effort to consult the National Archives, or even the Belotes' 1967 standard, Corregidor: The Saga of a Fortress. McGovern and Berhow's 2003 Osprey volume is cited several times, but, sadly, they seem to have only skimmed it. (On p. 137, they list Herbert Markland as a member of Battery Geary's crew.)
This is indeed a baffling book. Even a cursory review would have disclosed the internal inconsistencies, if not the more substantial errors of fact and interpretation. Why this book was written, why it was published, and most of all, why anyone would buy it, remains a mystery.

Bolling Smith

A good introduction to Carver, who was a man of charm and impracticality, intensity and feminine tenderness, humility and immense ego, and who was simultaneously devoted to Christian orthodoxy and an ideosyncratic strain of nature mysticism. Kremer's introduction is nicely written and strikes a proper balance between hero-worship and debunking. Despite the black scientist's unusual combination of personality traits, his virtues and faults remained largely constant throughout his career, so some of Kremer's examples seem repetitious. That's no problem. In books like this one, you can skip and skim in good conscience.

George Washington Carver is a pioneer.his accomplishments are the foundations of this Country.a must read for all people who want to know about people that have made contributions to Society&the World at large.

Having read other books on George Washington Carver's life I was very impressed with his faith in God, humility and refusal to accept promotion and monetary gain. Not to mention his incredible scientific contributions to all races. I bought this book thinking it would include a collections of his own writings (which it does) to get a more personal view of the man. Instead it seemed to be a book about George Washington Carver in the author's words. The letters are obviously edited and I found myself at variance with the author on his interpretations of them. Carvers human traits are magnified until he is often portrayed as a egomaniac who continually sought the praise of others and was unsure of his accomplishments. Tuskagee is even portrayed as a plantation! (Chapter 4 is entitled "The Tuskagee Plantation"). The other books I have read certainly did not hide his flaws (which all of us as humans share) but I came away with a desire to read more about a man who I came to admire and desire to emulate in many ways. His humility and sense of God's purpose in his life have been an inspiration to myself and my family. My opinion of Carver remains the same. This book will not remain in our library.

The book is well-written in a lively, engrossing style, but... Oh, dear... I found several factual errors within the first 22 pages. This was the part of the story I knew and had researched, so knew there were mistakes in fact. When I came to the part I wanted to learn about the previous errors cast doubts over what I was then reading. Even if the rest of the story is flawlessly accurate, I couldn't trust it. Truly a pity as the book is, otherwise, very well done.

--since originally writing that, I've done more research on the subject and have gone back to the book... only to find more errors! Some are trivial (but would have been easy enough to get right) and some are significant.

I recently appeared on NBC's the "Today" show regarding my latest scholarly discovery of four new photographs of Jesse James, Cole Younger, Jim Younger and Belle Starr. I assisted Gerrard Petrone in writing, what I believe to be the finest book written about Frank James. The book is steeped in scholarly content and full of specific details that relate the true story of Frank James, not a 19th or 20th century reconstruction of the truth. Petrone's writing style and original newspaper source material from the period, make for exciting reading. The story of Frank James leaps off the page, so boldly, that one feels the excitement associated with reading a newspaper headline of the information for the first time. The story of the trial of Frank James and the resulting verdict speaks strongly about the era of reconstruction in Missouri. The war was over, however many still held strong feelings against the North. The trial brought out some of the South's finest generals and decorated survivors. The jury was in awe of the those called to testify and the courtroom presence of Frank James was very impressive. Petrone also includes true tales of the James Gang that are found in the testimony of many witnesses. These stories, which were told in court, were recorded, but have not seen the light of day for decades. The exciting story told by a teenage boy, hiding in a small post office, at night is a fine example. Clutching and aiming a loaded shotgun, he is anticipating being robbed by a shadowy figure on the other side of a glass door.....who is about to try the door knob. The frightened boy almost stopped Jesse James in his tracks and rewrote the history of the West. Astonishingly, he lives to tell the tale in court, to Frank James himself. I would reccomend the book to anyone interested in the authentic history of the American West or criminal law. I am sure that Petrone's book will become invaluable to any further research about Frank James: the man, the myth , the acquitted.

What a great read! Frank James, outlaw, enters the office of the governor of Missouri and lays down his pistol. His trial was set in a opera house, since the courtroom could not accomodate the large crowd gathered. Fourteen flamboyant trial lawyers and colorful cast of witnesses head up the supporting cast. If you thought the OJ Simpson trial was interesting, check this book out!

Unlike his proceeding book "Few Returned", which was about the struggle of the Italian Army to get out of the Donets Pocket after the Russian breakout around Stalingrad, this continuation is Conti's excuse for what happened to the Italians after the Armistice in 1943. Most of the book is taken up not by the plight of the soldiers, but at complaining about the way the Italian Army was seen by the Allies.

Parts of the Italian Army had been imprisoned by the Germans after the Armistice of Rome and Conti complains that they were treated like a defeated Army by the Allies. Uh. When you lose a war, whether on the battlefield or at the negotiations table, your defeated. Conti who was a twenty-three year old second lieutenant, was 'banished' from two different Army groups. During the time he writes about, it seems that all of the fighting was done by the Poles, with the British and Americans as back-up.

Conti spends half the book writing about 'Christian' Europe but considered the Allies to be half-Christian. That the Allies came to Europe (especially the Americans) and spent their fortune and youth to clean up the 'mess' the Fascists had made, doesn't seem to mean anything to Conti. He just complains about the Communists and Germans and how the Allies weren't doing enough to protect the Italian people.

Conti especially likes to go on about the 'peasants' and how they live a life at harmony with nature. But, it sounds so condescending in the translation, you wonder if something is missing. His paean to the Catholic Church (which was arm and arm with Mussolini) seems to come from a different time and place.

According to Conti, most Italians weren't fascists and had great respect for the traditions of the parts of Italy they grew up in. Everyone is referred to by their pre-reorgimento names and he is able to distinguish them by the way they look and act. We are introduced to poor salt-of-the earth priest who live lives of poverty. His stories of chastity towards the woman he meets and his 'angel' Margharina can get downright 'sappy'.

Personally, I found his comments about Jews who created 'Marxism' and "refusers" of Christ, reaping what they had sowed to be both 'stupid' and anti-semetic. He speaks about hearing from the Poles about the people who are being systematically rounded up and put in the "Lagers", but makes it sound like only "Christians" were rounded up. He mentions the millions killed by the Communist atheists (which they did) but never mentions directly those millions rounded up by the Germans (who are and were Christians).

He speaks lovingly of the Catholic Church and the Pope but never mentions the 'silence' from the Vatican when it came to the "Nuremburg" laws being enforced in Italy after the "Armistice". The Jews of Rome were rounded up within view of St.Peter's but not a word was ever printed in "L'Observatore Romano".

If the only thing you knew about WW2 in Italy was Conti's memories, you would think that the Italians were forced into war by a few 'hot heads' and that the rest of the country suffered because of this.

Zeb Kantrowitz

I really enjoyed Corti's book about the Italian retreat from the Russian Front and I wanted to know more of what became of him after it.
Last Soldiers of the King, gave me more of the same and tied up loose ends for me.
Being interested in the history and actions of the Italian Army in WW2, this book sheds light on the Italian contribution to the Allies cause from 1943 on and the whole situation for Italy as a country at that time.
Like his first book, there is not a lot of combat depicted here, but what he does detail, shows the reader what it was like to fight in Italy.
Corti again, does a very good job of showing national differences in military and attitudes of the combatants.
He does play a fair hand to all involved and while the first book had many instances of the German disdain/mistreatmment of the Italians and the hard feelings of Italians towards the Germans, this book does show Cortis respect to the German soldier.
You also get a glimpse of the relationships between the British, Americans and Italians.
To me, the one drawback of this last book are the long passages related to religion.
Corti seems to be a very religious person and occasionally that comes through like a lecture in this book.
But through it all, you can feel what a long hard struggle the battle for Italy was and the post-war strife looming on the horizon.

"The Last Soldiers of the King" is a continuation of an Italian soldier's memoirs of World War II, which he first related in "Few Returned".

The first work, "Few Returned", was the author's reminiscences of fighting as a young lieutenant in the Italian Army side by side with the Germans against a common foe, the Soviets on the Eastern Front as the Germans and Italians retreated during December 1942 - January 1943. That work was suffused with philosophical musings about the state of man juxtaposed with the state of war, interspersed with misgivings about having Nazis as allies and recollections from his diary about this time in his life.

The second work, "The Last Soldiers of the King", provides additional insight into life as an Italian soldier in World War II after King Victor Emmanuel gave Mussolini his walking papers in July 1943 and, in effect, placed Mussolini under house arrest. (Nazi commando Otto Skorzeny subsequently famously rescued Mussolini and brought him to Germany.) When Italy capitulated to the Allies shortly thereafter the few German forces in Italy became occupation troops as the Germans invaded the northern portion of the country. In the meantime, the Italian Army had essentially disbanded, some joining the Nazis in the north and some fleeing to the south (along with the King, who had left no instructions for the defense of Rome upon his departure).

The new government formed a new army: the "Corpo Italiano di Liberazione" (Italian Liberation Army). Author Eugenio Corti, who had fled south with other Italian Army soldiers, became a member of artillery and anti-aircraft units in the Italian Liberation Army. He infuses his accounts of his experiences in this new army with his Christian faith and the sometimes nettlesome demands that faith put on him, e.g., he struggled, albeit successfully, against the sexual promiscuity, and prostitution, that were the hallmarks of the experiences of other soldiers.

He never seems to lose his faith in God, arguing that belief in God acts as a temporizing force on the conduct and nature of warfare. He also never seems to lose his patriotism or faith in Italy, despairing at the defeatism evident in many of his fellow soldiers and countrymen. (He discovers, much to his dismay, that many, if not most, Italians are not even aware that there are any regular Italian forces fighting the Germans after Italy surrenderd to the Allies in September 1943.)

As a Christian he believes that fascism in any form, including Nazism (which he argues was a misguided racial offshoot of socialism), and communism (which he especially decries as evil) are wrong. He also appears to be conflicted in his feelings toward Jews, on the one hand blaming them for Marxism (and hence communism) and on the other hand stating compassion for them as victims of World War II.

The book is an interesting look at the last two years of World War II in Italy, through the faith-based perspective of an Italian patriot and soldier.

I am certainly not going to review this book, which I edited for the University of Missouri Press. But I will say that this work collects writings of an adult Laura writing to other farm women in the state of Missouri. She was sort of a booster for the small-time farmer for the Missouri Rurlist newspaper, which still publishes. Her "voice" is different in these adult works from what one might expect, but the writer is the same Laura as the creator of the "Little House" books. People wishing to contact me may visit my website at www.literaryprospector.com.

I cannot help but pour forth great excitement and delight in a book I just picked up titled Laura Ingalls Wilder: Farm Journalist, edited by Stephen Hines. Any American worth their salt knows Wilder as the author of the "Little House" books. I myself cut my book-reading teeth devouring these books time and time again, always dreaming of being a modern-day pioneer homesteader.

Before book-writing fame came to Wilder, she was known through the state of Missouri as a popular columnist in the Missouri Ruralist from 1911 to 1923. This book gathers nearly two hundred of these essays together for our profit. Ingalls wrote about home, agriculture, thrift, parenting, women's roles, etc., and gave readers an endless supply of pithy advice and personal anecdotes. She was Erma Bombeck, Will Rogers, Samuel Clemens, and Ben Franklin all rolled into one.

Ingalls' eyes were wide open to the advancements of the future, all the while seeking to keep her hands on the best of the "old ways". For example, in a clip called "Let's Revive the Old Amusements", she writes:
"Sometimes I wonder if telephones and motor cars are altogether blessings for country people. When my neighbor can call me up for a short visit over the phone, she is not so likely to make the necessary effort to come and spend the afternoon, and I get hungry for the sight of her face as well as the sound of her voice."

However, Ingalls was not a sentimentalist in regard to the past. She says:
"Love and service, with a belief in the future and expectation of better things in the tomorrow of the world is a good working philosophy; much better than, `in olden times-things were so much better when I was young.' For there is no turning back nor standing still; we must go forward, into the future, generation after generation toward the accomplishment of the ends that have been set for the human race."

Historians, fans of Little House, farmers, and children will all enjoy this book.

Laura Ingalls Wilder: Farm Journalist is a collection of nonfiction essays written by the famous author of the "Little House " books for The Missouri Ruralist between 1911 and 1924. Complementing and extending the earlier collection of articles titled Little House in the Ozarks, this edition includes an additional forty -two articles and additional material omitted from the earlier collection. Laura wrote her articles addressed to contemporary farm women, making many philosophical and practical suggestions and observations pertinent to their daily life experiences. Her presence as an author is unmistakable. Much of the information pertaining to her years of experience as a Missouri farm wife finds roots in her pioneer history. Her values emerge clear and solid from the minutiae of daily chore lists and how-to suggestions. Her refreshing voice lends its clarity across the generations of technological advancement and finds its niche comfortably. This is a carefully edited collection that will appeal to lovers of the "Little House" books and American turn -of -the- century history too. The skillful adaptation to changing social and political environments while nurturing a stable base of beliefs and values is unique to this beloved author. Highly recommended reading for adults.

Nancy Lorraine
Reviewer

It is sad to me that a book as thoughtful, as quiet and as tolerant as this attracts readers such as the first reviewer. This is both a very scholarly and a very personal and self-reflective study. I was most moved by the fact that Prof. Fellman begins with a confession about her own connection to the 'Little House' series as a young reader and then as a mother, touching on that soft spot reserved in all our hearts for primordial experiences, for our `madeleines.' She then goes on to analyze the political and cultural implications of their impact--as cultural historians would do with such popular books for young people as 'Little Women,' 'Harry Potter' or the fiction of C.S. Lewis. If anything, the first reviewer is representative of the insidious message that Fellman reveals as inherent in a certain kind of political libertarianism, of the animus on which it feeds. She bases her conclusions on vast amounts of archival research, her own interviews, and many contemporary theories--and weaves them into a seamless narrative so that for those who don't want to bother, the endnotes are just embellishment...It is really a tour de force. Fellman brings a feminist perspective to bear on the roles of women, the perspectives of woman, etc., but again, without becoming strident. Her insights on the mother-daughter relationships between Laura and her mother and then Laura and Rose are equally instructive. (Perhaps the most enlightening fact is that Laura did not visit her mother from 1902 till she died in 1924!!!) Finally, the chapter on `Revisiting the Little Houses' with its discussion of the expanding frontier, the effaced Native Americans and `Manifest Destiny' is extremely powerful and informed by immense scholarship. This book is a must for all those interested in popular culture, American culture and the power of fiction on the historical imagination.

The author of this book has NO CLUE what she is talking about. Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about the TRUE historical events of her family's life on the prairies of the Midwest. Yes, some of her stories were somewhat embellished, but the Little House books are basically true, nontheless. The author is obviously a left-wing women's libber who can't quite comprehend that people actually lived the way Laura Ingalls Wilder describes life on the prairie. (And yes, Anita, women actually did a lot of housework back then, content to stay at home and raise their children, instead of donning "Hillary-clone" pantsuits and trying to climb the corporate ladder at the office - SHOCKER!!! - it sounds to me like you have a BIG problem with that). This book disgusts me. It's an obvious slam against conservatism - a view that is sorely lacking in our country. I am a HUGE fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder, to the point of naming my beautiful daughter Laura Elizabeth. I greatly admire LIW and all she stands for - home, hearth, and family - but with an independent spirit as well. I'd like to see today's feminists attempt to survive living the life that LIW and many other families like hers endured. We owe them a great debt - if it weren't for their endurance of the hardships of life on the prairie in the 1800's, we wouldn't be here today. The author of this book has never seen a child's eyes light up when the Little House books are read aloud to her or him, or has never visited one of the sites of the Ingalls homesteads, closed her eyes, felt the prairie breezes on her face,and imagined hearing the sound of the covered wagons. I have. I could go on (and on and on), but I won't. To sum up.......DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY AND TIME ON THIS TRASH. Instead, buy the set of the Little House books, snuggle up with an afghan and a cup of hot cocoa, and no matter how young or old you are, totally immerse yourself into Laura's world of life on the 1800's prairie. You have a real treat in store. And please, please, read the Little House series to your children and grandchildren, so her way of life will not be lost on future generations.

It's too bad the earlier reviewer appears not to understand the nature of fiction. The Little House books are wonderful, but, yes, they are fiction. Readers with an understanding of westward expansion in the US know that the stories are embellished. Fellner's examination shines an interesting light on these favorites and for those with an interest in Wilder's impact on literature and society, it's an interesting read. For those who simply want to love the books for what they are -- cherished childhood favorites -- they may want to stick with Wilder's writings alone.

William Clarke Quantrill entered the ranks of the infamous for sure on August 21, 1863, when he led a band of 450 men into Lawrence, Kansas, and committed what is probably the worst atrocity of the Civil War: the killing of 150 inhabitants and the burning of the town. Other massacres perpetrated by Quantrill occurred, but none was as devastating as what happened in Lawrence. To the Union he was an outlaw, and a price was put on his head. He was feared and hated during his day, and his reputation long outlived him (Castell believes he's one of the most widely known men connected with the Civil War).

He was born in Ohio in 1837, taught school for a while, and then went out west where he was a professional gambler around Salt Lake City. When the war broke out he was living in Kansas, and already had the notoriety of a desperado. His sympathies were with the South, and in 1861 formed a guerrilla band that attacked and destroyed Union property and murdered Union sympathizers in the border states. He helped the Confederates capture Independence, MO, and after the Lawrence atrocity, defeated Union forces at Baxter Springs, KS. His band by this time had become so unruly that not even Quantrill could reign them in, and it split into smaller factions. He was wounded in an ambush in Kentucky in May 1865 (rumor had it, though impossible to prove, that Quantrill at the time was heading for Washington to assassinate Lincoln) and died in a Union prison hospital on June 6, 1865. Whether anyone collected the reward money history doesn't say.

Castel's biography is popular in nature, though backed up with solid scholarship. Invented dialogue is sprinkled throughout the text, but it is not obtrusive and doesn't lower the book's high standards. Castel also recounts some of the legends that cropped up soon after Quantrill's death, some of them having to do with Quantrill's grave sight (desecrated) and his skull.

To some in the South he was a the bravest of the brave, while to most in the North he was a degenerate monster. Castel thinks he was courageous and a strong leader, but also cruel and without scruples. Every year until 1929 there was a Quantrill's Raiders reunion held near Blue Springs, KS. One legacy that evolved from Quantrill's band was that of Jesse and Frank James and the Dalton gang, all who got their start with Quantrill's Raiders. Castel tells the story of this nefarious man with skill and keeps our interest throughout.

This looks to be just another look at the Northern re-write of history after the war. I would not recommend this to anyone wanting anything different than the standard Post-war Nothern view. If that "New York" view of southern history is what you are looking for then this is probably something for you. Otherwise I would recommend a much better and more informative and well researched book by Paul R. Peterson on the topic which includes 500 pages of well done research from several points of view. It is not boaring and offers a refreshing alternative to the politically correct and "parrotted" version that we often see re-published every few years.

My interest in the Civil War is a bit unusual - the impact of the war on the non-combatants in the western border states, specifically Arkansas and Missouri and to a lesser extent, Kansas and the Indian Territory that would eventually become Oklahoma. This book will definitely be a valued part of my research library.

"William Quantrill - His Life and Times" is a balanced look at a young man, unsatisfied with what he had accomplished in life and caught up in the complexities of the pre-war strife in Kansas and Missouri. A gifted teacher originally from Ohio "raised as an abolitionist," Quantrill becomes a thief and scoundrel, Border Ruffian (pro-slavery) and jayhawker (anti-slavery), exploiting the conflict on the border to benefit himself. After the war begins, he goes on to fame..., and his destiny, a heroic legend to many and a barbaric devil to others.

i am happy that this book pays attention to homosexuality in china. finally! it is something worthy respect. however, i also find that the section on homosexuality in the book is not reliable enough (PP. 206-15). especially, P. 208 is too simplified. maybe it is because that the writer relies on Bret Hinsch's book (published in 1990). however, since Hinsch's book is a bit old now and not accurate enough, any scholarship easily dependent on Hinsch will end up problematic. i also find the writer, i mean evans, has to be more critical of the documents from the chinese officials.

Harriet Evans¡¦ Women and Sexuality in China is a well-researched book. The sources include sex education publications, women¡¦s magazines, medical pamphlets, newspaper, official and popular press, women¡¦s magazines, sex manuals. Unlike other books about sexuality on China, Evans has done thorough study on almost all the materials available and has used them more critically than many others. Although I have reservations about her analysis, I am very impressed by her collection of sources and her sincere engagement.

Evans argues against the view that sex has ¡§taken off¡¨ in China in the last decade and that there is stark contrast between the liberalization of the 1980s on sexuality and the Maoist decades. She stresses the continuity from the 1949s to the present by drawing references to the sex related materials published in the 1950s as a result of the Marriage law and argues that the rhetoric and ideology between the now and then are similar. Similar to Frank Dikotter, she believes that medical experts were the authority and they controlled the discourse of sexuality: ¡§Medical experts claimed the authority of modern science to expound the view that biological differences in reproductive and sexual development determined all major distinctions between women and men in sexual and social behavior.¡¨ (3) Her main argument is that even though there are differences between the 1950s and the 1980s, the 1980s still ¡§echoed many of the concerns of the former discourse.¡¨ (3) Also, one of her main concerns is the state¡¦s use of science to enforce the hierarchical gender relationships and tie women¡¦s gender characteristics with reproductive function. She wants to show that women¡¦s sexuality has always been controlled and appropriated for other purposes of the state that serve for the ¡§well-being¡¨ of the society, such as socialist cause and population control.

Evans emphasizes how the theory of biological naturalism was used to define men and women. It stresses the natural characteristics of active and passive. Nevertheless, in the 50s, in promoting the socialist female image, female gender characteristics were deemphasized and a style of ¡§socialist androgyny¡¨ was presented and the signs of feminine beauty was suppressed: ¡§Images of female body suggestive of sexual interest and removed from associations with utilitarian practicality became a metaphor for subject positions with which women could identify only at their peril.¡¨ (136) Evans argues that the official critique on conventional signs of feminine beauty ¡§signifies an attempt to revise gender constructs associated with female appearance so as to correspond with the ideological shift toward the public sphere matters associated with sexual and bodily management.¡¨ (136) I think here is one of the places where Evans can further analyze the contradictions and contestations in meanings of the ideological change. It seems that she could not elaborate freely as she could about the refeminization of female appearance in the mid 1950s. (Or did I overlook her deeper analysis?)

Since the late 1970s, there is a rise of popular discourses, however, Evans argues that the objectification of women for male pleasure and use is reinforced. Even though the discourse is not dominated by the state, it perpetuates the inequality. Nevertheless, Evans also shows that challenges exist and there are some alternative female voices. Despite this new contesting scene, Evans argues that the use of eroticized female image is more prominent. It is interesting that Evans observes the difference in state perception of urban and rural population on the issue of commercialization of women. It seems that the official discourse is arguing that ignorance and poverty the sale of women in the rural society. ¡§The condemnation of prostitution, pornography, and sexual crime is part of an official discourse that is moulded more by moralistic assumptions about sexual propriety, women¡¦s in particular, than by an understanding of gender hierarchy.¡¨ (188) Here Evans contends that it is ¡§gender hierarchies of power¡¨ that is underlying the discourse. Her criticism seems too vague and moralistic. She seems to have taken the efforts and ideology of the official discourse seriously. Is her portrayal and criticism too simplistic? It seems like she is criticizing out of political and social contexts. Moreover, it seems to me that Evans tries to justify some of her arguments by assuming the responses of the readers. There are points that she uses the views of some Chinese women she encountered to generalize as attitudes of ¡§many women¡¨. (18) Sometimes, the responses and behaviors of the common people are just assumed: ¡§ordinary men and women did not conduct their sexual lives according to these texts any more than they necessarily supported or believed in the subject positions they offered.¡¨ (16) How does she know? From what she says, Evans is aware of the constitutive power of the texts and claims that gender and sexuality are culturally constructed: ¡§The sense of being a woman or man is formed within the context of dominant discourses and categorizations, regardless of how individual women and men consciously articulate their responses to them.¡¨ (15) ¡§Whether or not individual persons consciously acknowledge the dominant gender categories of these discourses, they also participate in reproducing them by making representations and self-representations ¡V both consciously and unconsciously ¡V with reference to them.¡¨ (19) (See discussion on p.18-20) Does she demonstrate her argument well throughout her book? Or is it just a statement made in the introduction?

I am not quite convinced by Evans¡¦ overall argument. She seems to be reinforcing the narrative that women is objectified and oppressed. I think representations of women sexuality can be a subversive force, but her interpretation does not seem to tell us alternative interpretations of power. It seems that women¡¦s agency is dismissed in her picture. Even though that she suggests some optimistic alternative discourse arising in the 1980s challenging the dominant views on women¡¦s sexual pleasure, the heterosexist discourse of conjugal responsibilities and category of ¡§woman,¡¨ she still believes that the active-male/passive-female model is still intact. Evans seems to be trying too hard to push her point and dismisses the alternative discourses too quickly. I think it is a waste of materials if all she merely wants to argue that women are still under the hierarchical sexist order. I think she could have complicated the picture more by look deeper into the texts and set them in social contexts.

I am not so clear why she wants to bridge the gap between the 1950s and 1980s. Because of this agenda, I think she tries to fit everything into a neat narrative. It seems paradoxical, if one of her goals is to demystify what is assumed about the sexual liberation in the 1980s. Also, although she marks the years of the publications in most cases, her analyses are sometimes confusing and out of historical contexts. It is not clear what time period and whose voice she is talking about. I also don¡¦t find much analysis on the Cultural Revolution years. I suspect that one of her problems is that she tries to avoid socio-economic or political issues. She carries assumptions about Chinese society even though she tries to avoid it. It seems to me that she does not go inside the society and only attempts to analyze from without.

She seems to be suggesting that the hierarchical natural normative model was a creation of the state or part of the dominant discourse, but the connection between the discourse and the state is elusive. For the sections on the recent period, she argues that the public sexual discourse is not in the control of the state but it in many ways still upholds the old ideology and guards sexual behaviors, yet I am not satisfied with her picture about the tension and contrast between official, semi-official and the popular discourses. .........................

Susan Curtis's passion is more for cultural history than for Scott Joplin. She says as much in her preface where she describes Scott Joplin as "the perfect vehicle for the questions I wanted to ask." I felt I was reading her cultural theories rather than a biography of Joplin. She pays little attention to his music. There are no musical examples. And most of his rags are not even mentioned.

As a book on the culture of his day this is a good read. However, for those who would prefer a book on and about Scott Joplin I would recommend Edward A. Berlin's book 'King of Ragtime'.

Scott Joplin (1868 -- 1917)was a great composer of the unique American music known as ragtime. Ragtime flourished from roughly 1900 -- 1920 when it faded into obscurity with the advent of jazz. It enjoyed a revival beginning in the 1970s with the movie "The Sting", several popular recordings, and the production of Joplin's opera Treemonisha. Ragtime is an enchanting American music, both lyrical and strongly rhythmical that has components of both classical music and jazz. I greatly enjoy playing Joplin's rags on the piano as well as the rags of his lesser-known but gifted colleagues, James Scott and Joseph Lamb.

A full account of ragtime and its place in American culture remains to be written. Susan Curtis's book, "Dancing to a Black Man's Tune: A Life of Scott Joplin" is a start. Dr Curtis is Professor of History and American Studies and Director of Interdisciplinary Studies at Purdue University. It is thus understandable that her book draws widely on American history and on relationships between African Americans and whites in attempting to understand Scott Joplin and ragtime.

Dr. Curtis discusses the important stages in Joplin's life and relates them to ongoing events in the United States with an emphasis on how African American - white relations impacted his music. She emphasizes, and necessarily so, the effects of slavery (one of Joplin's parents had been a slave) and of Reconstruction and Jim Crow. Dr. Curtis describes how African Americans remained on the outside of white America to a large extent. Still, African American music, ragtime in particular, had a great appeal for white Americans and led to the ideal of an inter-racial American culture.

But Dr. Curtis's book shows, I think, that African American -- white relationships resist any simple summary. Joplin surely suffered from the effects of slavery and the rise of Jim Crow and from discrimination throughout his life. But Dr. Curtis also points out the ways in which black and white people worked together, how white people helped Joplin, and how Joplin encouraged the work of white composers of "negro" music. Joplin received piano lessons as a child from a German immigrant who recognized his talent. His music gained attention, probably, at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 even though it lacked official status. There was substantial efforts at inter-racial harmony in Sedalia, Missouri where Joplin settled after a lengthy period as a wandering musician. His music was published and supported by John Stark, a white entrepeneur and he received encouragement from other white critics. When he moved to New York City, Joplin befriended and assisted in the publication of rags by Joseph Lamb, a gifted white composer of the music. Thus there was a great deal of complex interaction between black and white people in the origins and development of ragtime.

The book includes considerations of Joplin's childhood in Texas, his years as a wandering musician, his life in Sedalia which saw the publication of "Maple Leaf Rag" and other early successes, and his final years in New York. The discussion is informed by a great deal of consideration of American history which sometimes causes the book to lose focus. Dr Curtis shows well how Americans were fascinated by ragtime, although the music was subjected to severe and frequently racist opposition, due to the vicarious opportunity it offered to escape late 19th Century Victorian conventions, particularly those sexual in nature, and to liberate oneself.

I found the most insightful sections of Dr. Curtis's book were those that discussed Joplin's relationship with the African American community of his day. When he experienced a degree of success, Joplin moved to New York City but failed in his efforts to gain acceptance by many of the African American musicians and intellectuals in Harlem. Dr Curtis suggests that Joplin had experienced for himself the poverty and difficulty of life in the South in the aftermath of the Civil War while many of the Northern African American leaders, such as W.E.B. DuBois, had themselves received excellent educationas and knew this life only at second-hand. The best section of the book for me thus was Dr. Curtis's treatment of Joplin's failed opera Treemonisha, on which he lavished a great deal of attention following his move to New York. This folk-opera, in dialect (Joplin wrote his own libretto) was probably autobiographical in nature and described life in the rural South following the Civil War. It was out-of step with the then-beginning Harlem Rennaisance. Dr Curtis shows how ragtime showed disagreements within the African American community as well as occupying an ambiguous position in promoting black and white relationships.

The tone of the book is rather dry and academic. I found this unfortunate, scholarly as the book is, in that any book on ragtime or on music, scholarly or not, needs to sing to be effective. I found Dr. Curtis gave too little attention to the purely musical aspects of ragtime. The book has an extensive bibliography, good notes, and shows thought. Dr. Curtis sees ragtime as a step in the direction of an American culture which transcends racial lines and is shared by all Americans. She points out that this is a goal and ideal which has proved elusive and is worth pursuing by Americans today. By writing seriously about Scott Joplin and about ragtime, Dr Curtis's book may take a step in that direction.

Progressing from his study of slaveholding in Western North Carolina (Mountain Masters) and other explorations of Southern Appalachian History, John Inscoe has teamed up with Gordon B. McKinney, the editor of the microfilm version of the Zebulon B. Vance Papers and author of Southern Mountain Republicans to produce the first scholarly synthesis of the Civil War in Western North Carolina. The book breaks new ground in relying on the scholarship of the past twenty years to revise the portrait of a part of North Carolina that was considered to be staunchly Unionist. It explores mountaineers attitudes toward slavery, secession, and the war in general in very broad strokes; these insights are fleshed out with details from specific locales. From the historian's point of view, the authors have not met the rigorous burden of proof in many cases, choosing to base their conclusions on just one or two primary sources; in some cases, they are forced to draw from examples outside of the region (such as Tennessee) which would fail to satisfy the most demanding of those who want conclusive evidence. However, the book is a wonderful tale and in many cases shows the myriad of responses to what has been described as the most influential historical event in United States History.

A few pages into this book it occurred to me that it must be written by a college professor since it was text-book dry. Sure enough, not one, but two of them.
Having said that, it is loaded with an insightful peek into a specific region of our country during a very specific time. A good read for anybody interested in the history of the mountains of North Caroilina.