Western Books

Besides the book being interesting, it was in great shape and delivered rapidly. Thanks very much!

This book is necessary. This is for everyone from the musician to the music lover. It's for the anthropologist and the student. It's for the one who knows music is just in its accessibility to the masses and the one who insists it is popular culture and not fair game for academia. Professor Fonarow's brilliantly conceived piece of work will change your experience of any gig. You will be looking for "the zones" in every venue, redefine your conception of the "groupie," and see a sacred drama on the stage and in the audience. Fonarow allows us to understand the place indie music occupies in one's life and how aesthetics and metaphysics coexist to invite the idea of your music as your community and your culture as art. After reading this book, music will be participatory for you, whether or not you empathize with the indie ethos. The beautiful afterward (one I've read numerous times) is one of the most poetic endings of any ethnography I've ever read.

Wendy is the Jane Goodall of the indie rock show. I really enjoyed this anthropological treatment of independent music culture. She definitively describes the impossibly malleable subject of what is Indie. She identifies the zones of audience participation: from the sweaty body on body of the front, to the contemplative middle, to the indifferent bar area, and out to the home parlor of the retired fan.
A guilty pleasure for anyone who knows the scene.

College-level students of British music won't want to miss EMPIRE OF DIRT: THE AESTHETICS AND RITUALS OF BRITISH INDIE MUSIC. Its analysis blends ethnographic and socio-historic literature on local music communities and genres, comes from a doctor who has worked in the music industry for several major record labels, and offers results from her thirteen-year study of indie rock. From gigs and performances to behavior, norms, and music perceptions from both audience and performer perspective, EMPIRE OF DIRT helps define both the genre and experience of British indie music.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

A brilliant read. It puts the development of modern individuals, from adolescence to adulthood, into a new meaningful perspective, as well as indie music within the greater context of human activity. I especially enjoyed the examples and anecdotes. The chapter on groupies depicts modern gender roles and attitudes that are too often overlooked in mainstream stereotypes. Her examination of musicians is hilarious as well as therapeutic and identifiable for anyone dissatisfied with the status quo. Her writing articulates the subconsciously absorbed culture and rituals with eloquence, humor, and insight. Her observations and discernment enhance the understanding and experience of music and culture. Thank you, Professor Wendy.

One scholar once called Plotinus 'The most brilliant and original Philosopher after Plato.' While one could also perhaps give that same title to Aristotle or another Philosopher (i.e. Epicurus reached similar speculative heights but in materialism rather than the spiritual side of philosophy), it must be acknowledged that Plotinus is one of the world's most brilliant spiritual teachers, mystics and philosophers, all in one man.

Plotinus was taught by a fellow called Ammonius Saccas, the same man who taught the outstanding Christian Philosopher Origen. Plotinus found Saccas at the age of 26 (so his biographer Porphyry tells us) and proclaimed 'this is the man I have been looking for!' Plotinus is also said to have remarked about not wanting to have his portrait painted because he was in a material body, and telling his students 'to unite the divine in you with the Divine in the universe.'

By the accounts we have Plotinus was a very gentle, intelligent and humble man, probably from the Aristocratic class. While highly virtuous and shunning material wealth, he had many aristocratic friends and also looked after the raising of children and orphans.

Plotinus was a Platonist through and through, regarding all of Plato's works essentially as divinely inspired truth about both the visible and invisible realms of reality. However, Plotinus was also very much in his own right, an original speculative philosopher and mystic of immense creative power. Plotinus was also deeply rational, and was averse to any kind of fanatical adherence to religious beliefs or claims salvation was found by irrational means, such as by magic, divination or worshipping a saviour figure. Plotinus looked sympathetically upon such practices for those who needed the emotional in religion, but for Plotinus, the main goal was to find and unite with the Absolute in so far as it was possible in this mortal body.

Plotinus's cooly rational system is extremely abstract and difficult to fathom. A.H. Armstrong's translation is the best I've seen in English, but even so Plotinus does not write well stylistically and often repeats himself or goes on long digressions over the same point when he doesn't need to. But even so, Plotinus has immense and profound insight into both himself and the Absolute, rarely matched anywhere in the world's mystical or religious literature.

To summarise, the aim and goal of man on Earth is to unite with the highest reality which exists, which Plotinus calls 'The One.' The One is the source of all being, life, and existence, and the creator of the universe, however at the same time it is so transcendant we can't say what it is, only what it isn't. Plotinus identifies the One with the Good and the Beautiful as it occurs in Plato's works, and also says it is unlimited, infinite, and beyond being.

From the One comes the Soul, and from Soul comes Nous or Intellect. From this triad everything in existence rests, comes into being, and returns in a grand procession which never ends.

Despite the fact the One is essentially incomprehensible and ineffable and there is really no way we can rationally understand it as it is, Plotinus believed union with the Absolute was possible by looking within the Self. For Plotinus, this marvelous 'vision', which is the highest happiness to be held in this life, happened four times in his life and references to this estatic mystical experience occur throughout the Enneads. The ascent to the highest reality occurs by looking in oneself once the philosopher has 'purified' himself through the practice of virtue, or by contemplation of the Forms. All help in the ascent to the highest, the One itself.

Plotinus's brilliant mystical philosophy is not only a work of genius in itself, but also had an immense impact on Christianity, Judaism and Islam. St Augustine and many other Church fathers were very deeply influenced by his mysticism, and adopted many elements of Plotinus in their own theological and mystical systems. Plotinus also influenced Islam through the so called 'Book of Causes', attributed to Aristotle, but which in fact was a mixture of the Enneads and Proclus (another Neo-Platonist) in Arabic, especially in Sufi mystical thought.

Today in our age, when the spiritual seems to have less relevance because so much can be explained by material causes, laws and forces through the application of Science, Plotinus can at times seem to be an archaic remnant of an age where irrational belief in magic and the unseen held a superstitious hold over the mind of humans. But, if one tries to read Plotinus not as a master of science but of the spirit, then his striking genius radiates from every page.

Any seeker should try to read and understand Plotinus and listen to what this calm and sagely philosopher has to say.

This Loeb Classical Library edition of the works of Plotinus is in seven volumes. The titles are as follows:

Plotinus I: Porphyry on Plotinus, Ennead I (Loeb Classical Library, 440)

Plotinus II: Ennead II (Loeb Classical Library, 441)

Plotinus III: Ennead III (Loeb Classical Library, 442)

Plotinus IV: Ennead IV (Loeb Classical Library, 443)

Plotinus V: Ennead V (Loeb Classical Library, 444)

Plotinus VI: Ennead VI, Books 1-5 (Loeb Classical Library, 445)

Plotinus VII: Ennead VI, Books 6-9 (Loeb Classical Library, 468)

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Below is the combined table of contents for those volumes:

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR VOLUME I:

Preface (editors)

Sigla (editors)

On the Life of Plotinus and the Order of his Books (Porphyry)

Ennead I:

1. What is the Living Being, and What is Man? (53)

2. On Virtues (19)

3. On Dialectic (20)

4. On Well-being (46)

5. On Whether Well-being Increases with Time (36)

6. On Beauty (1)

7. On the Primal Good and the Other Goods (54)

8. On What Are and Whence Come Evils (51)

9. On Going Out of the Body (16)

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR VOLUME II:

Sigla (editors)

Ennead II:

1. On Heaven (40)

2. On the Movement of Heaven (14)

3. On Whether the Stars are Causes (52)

4. On Matter (12)

5. On What Exists Actually and What Potentially (25)

6. On Substance, or On Quality (17)

7. On Complete Transfusion (37)

8. On Sight, or How Distant Objects Appear Small (35)

9. Against the Gnostics (33)

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR VOLUME III:

Sigla (editors)

Ennead III:

1. On Destiny (3)

2. On Providence I (47)

3. On Providence II (48)

4. On Our Allotted Guardian Spirit (15)

5. On Love (50)

6. On the Impassibility of Things without Body (26)

7. On Eternity and Time (45)

8. On Nature and Contemplation and the One (30)

9. Various Considerations (13)

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR VOLUME IV:

Preface to the Loeb Plotinus IV-V (A. H. Armstrong)

Sigla (editors)

Ennead IV:

1. [2] On the Essence of the Soul I (4)

2. [1] On the Essence of the Soul II (21)

3. On Difficulties About of the Soul I (27)

4. On Difficulties About of the Soul I (28)

5. On Difficulties About of the Soul III, Or On Sight (29)

6. On Sense Perception and Memory (41)

7. On the Immortality of the Soul (2)

8. On the Descent of the Soul into Bodies (6)

9. If All Souls are One (8)

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR VOLUME V:

Preface to the Loeb Plotinus IV-V (A. H. Armstrong)

Sigla (editors)

Ennead V:

1. On the Three Primary Hypostases (10)

2. On the Origin and Order of the Beings Which Come After the First (11)

3. On the Knowing Hypostases and That Which is Beyond (49)

4. How That Which is After the First Comes From the First, And on the One (7)

5. That the Intelligibles are not Outside the Intellect, and on the Good (32)

6. On the Fact that that Which is Beyond Being does not Think, and on What is the Primary and What the Secondary Thinking Principle (24)

7. On the Question Whether there are Ideas of Particular Things (18)

8. On the Intelligible Beauty (31)

9. On Intellect, the Forms, and Being (5)

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR VOLUME VI:

Preface to the Loeb Plotinus VI, VII (A. H. Armstrong)

Sigla (editors)

Ennead VI (continued in volume VII):

1. On the Kinds of Being I (42)

2. On the Kinds of Being II (43)

3. On the Kinds of Being III (44)

4. On the Presence of Being, One and the Same, Everywhere as a Whole I (22)

5. On the Presence of Being, One and the Same, Everywhere as a Whole II (23)

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR VOLUME VII:

Preface to the Loeb Plotinus VI, VII (A. H. Armstrong)

Sigla (editors)

Ennead VI (continued from volume VI):

6. On Numbers (34)

7. How the Multitude of Forms Came into Being, and on the Good (38)

8. On Free Will and the Will of the One (39)

9. On the Good or the One (9)

The numbers in parentheses indicate Plotinus' order of composition, which differs from the order given them by Porphyry and which this edition follows.

The bracketed numbers for the first two chapters of Ennead IV are an alternate ordering for them.

As is typical for the Loeb classical library books, the volumes are physically small, and the original text (Greek, for Plotinus) is given on the left hand page, with the English translation on the right.

The Preface describes the historical context within which Plotinus wrote, offers a summary of this thought, and a survey of Plotinus translations, commentaries, and studies. This material is supplemented by short introductions and synopses at the start of each chapter, and by abundant and detailed footnotes. The footnotes explain translation difficulties (not uncommon with Plotinus), and also identify the sources of Plotinus' references to other writers. These materials are excellent.

The only thing that this edition lacks is an index. The editors plead the difficulty of indexing Plotinus, and recommend "Lexicon Plotinianum" by J. H. Sleeman and Gilbert Pollet as an alternative. This work is, however, out of print (is it even in English? I am not sure) so it is not a very helpful suggestion. As it is, given Plotinus' rather scattered way of writing, an index is missed.

The Enneads are a collection of Plotinus' writings from fairly late in his life. Porphyry, his student, encouraged him in writing down his teachings, and acted as his posthumous editor (he also wrote a short biography of Plotinus which is included in the first volume). The works as they exist today are as they were received from Porphyry. As editor, Porphyry created his own organization for the works based on subject matter. This order is completely different from the order in which Plotinus wrote them. Porphyry, however, did document the original ordering.

From my own experience, however, I would recommend strongly reading Plotinus' writings in the order Plotinus wrote them rather than the order in which Porphyry arranged them. The major advantage I found was that it was much easier to follow the reasons why Plotinus believed what he did, even if the subject matter does jump around a bit. I tried Porphyry's order first, and almost gave up in despair before trying again in Plotinus' order. I have come to the conclusion that much of Plotinus' reputation as a bad writer is due to unfortunate but well-intended editorial decisions by Porphyry. Given that the Loeb edition presents Plotinus' writings in Porphyry's order, and that the Loeb edition is in multiple volumes, reading Plotinus this way does have a certain entertaining quality as well (first get volume IV, read a treatise, then get volume VI, read another, then get volume I, read another, and so on).

An important recommendation I would make for the reader is that he be properly prepared in his background reading. All of Aristotle and all of Plato would be ideal (as well as a worthwhile activity in its own right), but if the would-be reader of Plotinus finds that a little daunting and wants to get started sooner, there are still a few works that he should make a particular effort to read: Plato's "Phaedo", "Republic" (Books VI, VII), "Parmenides", and "Timaeus"; Aristotle's "Physics", "On the Heavens", "On the Soul", and "Metaphysics". Plato, as the earlier writer, should be read first (by the way - don't be discouraged when you find you don't understand the second half of "Parmenides", Plotinus is going to tell you what he thinks it means in due course, so all you need to do is understand the references). If you don't have Plato or Aristotle, for Plato, Cooper's "Plato: Complete Works" (in one volume), and for Aristotle, Barnes' "Complete Works of Aristotle" (in two volumes), are excellent.

Plotinus' logic is second to none. I personally found more from reading Plotinus than from 6 years in college. the Emanationism as illuminated by Plotinus is the only philosophically logical description of the cosmos, opposite to both creationism and Nihilism/athiesm, as well as opposed to Pantheism and Gnosticism, the philosophy of Plotinus is pithy, intense and has NO EQUAL in intelligence and breadth, period.

Having myself many 1000s of books on philosophy and as an translator of ancient pali philosophical texts, I must say i find that most of which I have read in life to be utter trash, or worthless at best, save for Plotinus.

I personally find the Enneads of Plotinus to be my "Bible", his concise and laser-like accuracy to logic and emphasis of "Union with the One" to be the Paramount of metaphysical writtings.

Its unfortunate that so many Christians seek 'God-talk' in the works of Plotinus, when in fact there are none, for Plotinus, an Emanationist who speaks of the insentient Absolute, the Divine, is utterly opposed to a sentient self-aware Creationistic GOD who holds the fate of mankind in his hand.

Its absolutely unreal that Plotinus' works are so unknown, by and large, having read from all the Presocratics, and other Neoplatonists, and Plato and the rest, none approach the intelligent and insight that Plotinus reaches in the Enneads.

A.H. Armstrongs translation is the best available, the work by Mr. Steven MacKenna is poor at best, and that of T. Taylor is incomplete and far too lose.

I cherish this 7 Vol. translation with the Greek more than any other set of works, the metaphysical emphasis of wisdom and Union (EPISTROPHE) with the One in this collection is the best of its kind which exists. Buy this collection and youll never regret it.

While Plotinus has always had his devotees -(Neo-)Platonism has received a heavy bashing in our times, chiefly a legacy of Nietzsche's and Heidegger's strictures. According to them, it was all something of a mistake.

However, the fact remains that 'Platonism' of a certain sort has to be thanked for some of the most inspired - and inspiring elements of Western culture. Meister Eckhart - for instance, who has certainly been back on the map - is an heir to the Platonist tradition. Nietzsche's view of the Renaissance as a kind of 'inversion' of Platonist thought was entirely mistaken. People like Ficino and members of the Florentine Academy were ardent students of Platonism - especially as re-stated by Plotinus.

Walk round any classic Italian city - and the beauty you see is very much a legacy of Neo-Platonism. It isn't - and wasn't, the 'dead' claptrap Nietzsche and Heidegger spoke of. One upshot of the contemporary disdain for 'traditional' Western philosophy is to look at 'Oriental' teachings. That is a fine and meaningful enterprise. Yet Meister Eckhart - highly infuenced by Platonism, is frequently cited as a Western 'thinker' who is in tune with 'Oriental' thought.

Read Plotinus carefully, and you'll be in for some pleasant surprises. He hints about a process called 'henosis' - becoming 'one'd' with the action of the divine energeia. For him, this was not just something inside the cranium, but an actual experience - like a Zen 'satori.' We are no longer accustomed to the kind of terms and language employed by Plotinus, but the effort to recapture his terms of thinking
brings all sorts of precious intuitions. The most dualistic elements of the Western tradition are relatively recent - a legacy of Cartesian philosophy, modern rationalism and the Industrial Revolution.

It is nothing more than a shallow generalisation to 'lump' all the bad elements of Western philosophy together - as a legacy of Platonism. There is much sublimity and beauty in it, and you will find both in good measure - if you digest the writings of Plotinus.

The author does a great job of putting the technical and artistic components of Klezmer music into an historical and cultural context and following its evolution within that context, as well as independent of it. He does it in a way that is both entertaining and scholarly without being ponderous. The discography is an invaluable resource.

Having helped kick-start the klezmer revival, I'm delighted to see for the first time a book that gets the story right. Seth Rogovoy's readable account brings to life the personalities, bands, and stylistic experiments that shaped -- and continue to shape -- this hip, passionate, influential genre. Rich in detail yet down to earth, "The Essential Klezmer" will appeal, I think, to both the novice and the aficionado. The discography alone makes this slim volume indispensible; it should be required reading in any college course about klezmer music. (Disclosure: I was interviewed for the book, but didn't see the manuscript until publication.)

Seth Rogovoy has written a rich history of Klezmer music that should prove to be an important contribution to the field of Jewish music. He has captured the spirit and meaning of this most wonderful and expressive musical traditon that is currently in the midst of a significant rebirth. This is an intelligent and loving tribute both to the musical tradition, and to the men and women who have performed Klezmer from generation to generation.

If you are new to klezmer music like myself this book is very interesting and helpful. A friend took me to a Klezmatics concert and I loved the soulfulness and the jazz-like energy of the music. But I'm not Jewish and needed to know more about what I was hearing. The Essential Klezmer is so clearly written and well organized that you can start anywhere in the book and find out whatever you want to know, whether it's about particular musicians, the history of the music, klezmer in movies and on the internet, or avant-garde groups. The 80 plus page discography is especially helpful.

I'm not entirely unbiased -- Seth has generously praised my most recent book -- but as someone who writes on Jewish music regularly for several papers, I can honestly say that this is the book on klezmer to start with. Seth's ecumenical, eclectic taste and balanced view of the current scene make him a superb tour guide for either a first-time visitor or an old klezmer hand. As a working music journalist, he has interviewed all the key figures in this music -- even the notoriously reclusive John Zorn -- and clearly he has asked the right questions, because his chapters on recent music are insightful and zesty. And the book's lengthy critical discography makes it an indispensable guide for the listener and record buyer.

Titus Burckhardt, whether fixing his attention on the proper philosophy, or the proper architecture, or the proper occultism, brings a liberal yet formiddable intelligence to whichever of these works he sets his hand to.
Burckhardt, when laying out a sacred temple, would have it oriented north-south with one door leading in and one door leading out, ensuring it's earthly and squarely relationship to it's heavenly and circular origin. The language and ideas both sound archaic due to a radical loss of traditional forms and even degenerate customs to the point that what is old now sounds new. Burckhardt, I'm sure, would delight in such a circular manifestation of tradition. In a society where number has lost it's gender, where sacred art has lost it's object, and philosophy it's inner meaning, Burckhardt's plaintive sentences recall all of this and brings the perennial philosophy to bear in many of it's traditional manifestations. This philosophy, this perennialism is shown by virtue of man's loss of meaning when he attempts to abandon it, quite simply will not go away. Or will it?

Titus Burckhardt's brilliant works brings the reader virtually into the domain in which he is writing about. An anthology of the world's great religions and cultures. I read his book Fez City of Islam and was also very impressed. But this is vintage Burckhardt. This is top notch. Burckhardt's works contain a treasure chest full of info. on Morocco & the Moors. He was a Sufi so that explains his writting style, I might also purchase his book "Introduction to the Sufi Doctrine"

Wisdom and tradition were the most important aspects of the writings of the distinguished Swiss art historian Titus Burckhardt.

THIS BOOK PUTS AT THE DISPOSAL OF A WIDER PUBLIC SOME OF THE BEST OF BURCKHARDT'S ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF ART AND RELIGION.

This wide ranging book offers to the reader much relevant work. It will delight both the student and the general reader.

_Titus Burckhardt was one of the great expositors of the perennial philosophy, along with the Traditionalists Rene Guenon, Ananda Coomaraswamy, and Frithjof Schuon. It is obvious to me that he truly experienced what he wrote upon. To him Intellection was not an abstract metaphysical principle. This is the miracle of true contemplative thought in the modern age.

_His emphasis tended more to the nature of what constitutes sacred art. That is why this volume is so well illustrated with both color plates, as well as, black and white images. His central message is that Tradition possesses a secret power that is communicated to an entire civilization; even in those arts and crafts whose objects include nothing particularly sacred. In a theocratic society, the humblest activity participates in heavenly benediction. In contrast, "sacred art" in the West since the Renaissance is essentially profane art with only a superficial religious theme.

_There are some thick, but important, volumes that you find yourself despairing that you will ever get to the end of. However, this thick volume of the essential Burckhardt (like its sister volume on the essential Schuon) is such a joy to read that you never want it to come to an end. Unlike drier works, every page restores your soul instead of draining it.

"Burckhardt's thought (as expressed in The Essential Titus Burckhardt) is clear and soberingly articulated, his argumentation intuitive and profound"

This book is one of the hidden treasures in World War Two personal histories. It is clearly one of the best I've reviewed over the last few years. It is an outstanding read and one I wish I'd read sooner.

The author starts this book on Omaha Beach where the author lands among the first wave of Infantry men to fight in Normandy. His division is the famous 29th Infantry Division. While he serves as an unarmed medic, it is clear his heart is with the infantry. This book details his heroic efforts over the next year as he fights in some of the biggest battles fought in World War Two. Eventually, he becomes a full infantryman.

Interestingly, enough, he never mentions his division by name, and seldom mentions the names of his fellow soldiers. In many ways, this book reminds me of Audie Murphy's To Hell and Back. He tells you very little about where he comes from, his training, and how or why he was involved in the war. He leaves it a war narrative cobbled together from his personal notes.

The book is detailed enough that one can watch the books progress with a map and divisional history of the 29th. However, it never bogs down the way an overly written book tends slow down. In fact, I had a hard time putting it down and was almost late to work because I found myself glued to the last few pages!

Frank Irgang is a real warrior. He doesn't sugar coat his story. This book details close combat from the perspective of a man who did it. He fought with a rifle and his hands. He describes weapons transitions in combat, bayonets and more. It is one of the few books I've ever read that describes brutal hand-to-hand combat with and without weapons. He even had US artillery called in on his position.

This is an amazing book considering only 3,000 were originally published and this book is just now seeing a return to print. I really think it's a major contribution to the history of the 29th Infantry Division's History as well as history in general. I really wish I'd learned about this book long before I made my trip to Normandy in 2004.

Any collection strong in World War II memoir needs ETCHED IN PURPLE: ONE SOLDIER'S WAR IN EUROPE, first published in 1949 and offering the author's personal record of his experiences as a combat infantryman during the war. It's a candid, sometimes brutal survey of first-hand experience and is a rediscovered classic and is a 'must' for any serious military library.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This book is a raw look at life as an infantryman in WWII. Well-written, honest and poignant, this painful recounting of one soldier's experience will stay with you forever.
Don't hesitate to order this book!

In a thrilling, and disturbing, biographical narrative, Irgang reveals the personal hell of hand to hand and squad-level combat in World War II from the Normandy beaches, through the Battle of the Bulge and into the heart of Germany. This is not a broad strategic work, profiling salients and counterattacks, but a step-by-step, ravine-to-ravine account of one soldier's fight to stay alive, and to make any rational sense of the hell played out every day in front of him. Parts resemble the last scenes in "Saving Private Ryan," but this gripping book is much more grounded in reality. What's most interesting is that the book was first published in 1949, when few recently discharged veterans had the stomach and inclination to relive the war. Now, the book has been reprinted in 2008, amid efforts by World War II veterans to keep their stories alive, so the world will have a greater appreciation of the sacrifices they made, and an understanding of the moral judgments that were forced to be made in an instant. There's fascinating detail: such as the order to tape dog tags together that was issued before the invasion, so their clinking sound would not alert enemy soldiers; a morbid description of how German soldiers' bodies decayed differently than Americans; and how uniforms of those landing at Normandy were treated with an anti-gassing repellent. In one digression, Irgang while in Paris is caught up in a raid on Army deserters who were engaged in the black market; and he finds through a newspaper clipping while in combat that his State-side sweetheart was married to a man with a deferment. In an almost unbelieveable coincidence, a clipping from home informs him that three of his good friends died in Normandy. While in an Army field hospital near the landing beaches, he come across the graves of two of them, found in a hastily built military graveyard in Ste. Mere Eglise. For those of us raised on films such as "The Longest Day," "The Bridge at Remagen," "Battle of the Bulge," and "Saving Private Ryan," which provide the geographic context and broad-brush overview, "Etched in Purple" presents the real story of ground fighting by The Greatest Generation. The book is sparse on geography and dates, but time and place are not part of a soldier's mission. It's hurry up and wait, or take that next village or town. There's much bonding here between soldiers -- bonds that in many cases are cut short by artillery attacks, snipers' bullets and simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Suppose that one of the men in the Band of Brothers had also been a top-caliber writer with a keen eye for detail, and a man who wasn't afraid to tell his story without glossing over the grey moral and ethical middle areas all men face in combat, and you will only begin to understand the greatness of this book. As a WWII writer, I've read literally hundreds of memoirs, but none hit me so viscerally as Frank Irgang's powerful 'Etched in Purple'.

Originally published in 1949, only a few years after the war, this book has been given new life by the nation's largest military publisher, Potomac Books, and is being touted as 'The Rediscovered Classic Memoir of World War II'. And that it is.

Mr. Irgang landed on D-Day with the famous 29th Infantry (think Bedford Boys), and the memoir begins as the men load up into their ships for the trip across the English Channel before that momentous day in June of 1944. Originally a medic, Irgang's unit took such heavy casualties that he soon found himself a rifleman and sniper. He witnessed the heaviest fighting in Europe in one campaign after another, and the book tells his story in spare, lean prose. Irgang's writer's eye for detail draws out the intensity of each scene as the reader experiences men fighting for their lives, watching comrades die, dealing with the killing of the enemy and the suffering of the civilians unfortunate enough to get in their path. Along the way, Irgang is wounded, evacuated, treated, and sent back to the front. He tells of watching a Black soldier slowly bleeding to death because the white southern doctor doesn't want to treat the man until Irgang protests. He tells of watching a German woman pouring a kettle of boiling water onto the face of a wounded American soldier, and his instant reaction of shooting her. He tells of watching his friends die, not only from enemy fire, but by malfunctioning hand grenades and stray friendly fire. Jotted down as they happened, each scene has an immediacy that allows the reader to feel they are sitting right next to the young soldier.

In the end, the book tells a reader exactly what war was like, stripped bare in all of its brutality, ambiguity, and heartbreak. But it also shows the loving bond of men fighting and dying side by side in some of the most brutal fighting of the European war. You don't just read this book, you experience it. It will move you to tears at times.

I cannot recommend it highly enough. A must-read for anyone interested in the infantryman's experiences from D-Day through the Bulge and into Germany.

Jamie Ian MacCalister orphaned as a boy is captured by the Indians and along with him was a young girl. Together they plan an escape. Whenever they have a chance they bring into their tee pee dried foods and other necessities. They make their get away and, all of this time he and Kate the name of the girl, run into danger, which keeps the story exciting and fast. Jamie grows into a man. They find themselves a home in Texas. And of course Jamie becomes envolved in the battles of Texas. A top notch read and plenty of real events in history.

I am an Alamo fanatic, and I make no excuses fof it. Mr Johnstone's story of a young man raised by Indians who becomes one of the Alamo defenders is one of my favorites, and when I saw it offered on tape, there was no hesitation in ordering a copy. My only disapointmentment is in the editing(of course, that's what "abridged" means, isn't it?), and I would love to see a full length version on tape someday. Until then, this is an excellent adventure story that can be enjoyed by anyone not offended by the obvious violence associated with the legendary struggle for Texas independance. REMEMBER THE ALAMO!

I have read a few other books about The Alamo and thought that I could not find something new. How surprised I was to find so MUCH, which was new to me. As a fan of Mr.Johnstone's ASHES series I tried EAGLES and was not a second disappointed. It's a good story plot and very special, as far as Jamie MacCallister's thinking and behaviour is concerned. The first book in this series is an appetizer for more of this stuff. A classic western family saga with new elements which makes the whole thing so much fascinating. Congratulations, Mr.Johnstone!

JOHNSTONE'S TALE OF A YOUNG BOY RAISED BY INDIANS WHO BECOMES A LEGEND IN THE WEST AND A SURVIVOR OF THE ALAMO. A GREAT ADVENTURE TALE AND THE WAY THE BATTLE OF THE ALAMO SHOULD BE REMEMBERED, DESPITE WHAT A CAREFUL STUDY OF HISTORY TELLS US IS THE REAL TRUTH. WELL, FOLKS, I HAPPEN TO PREFER MR JOHNSTONE'S VERSION TO A LOT OF OTHERS CIRCULATING AROUND. HIS DAVY CROCKETT DIES WITH HIS BOOTS ON, FIGHTING THE ENEMY, AND JIM BOWIE TAKES MORE THAN A FEW WITH HIM, TOO. THESE MEN ARE HEROES, AND THEY DIE AS HEROES, AND EACH ONE DESERVES THE HONOR AS SUCH. I KNOW BOWIE WAS A SLAVE TRADER AND A CON MAN, AND DAVY CROCKETT PROBABLY DID SURRENDER, BUT THIS IS A STORY OF LEGENDS. READ YOUR HISTORT BOOKS FOR THE REAL STORY. READ THIS FOR THE PRIDE IN OUR ANCESTORS THAT WE SHOULD HAVE. AND READ IT FOR FUN.

This book is jammed full of history. It puts the main guy Jamie at the heart of Americas most revered and most awed battle ever done. To you skeptics who think it is a bunch of lies I beg to differ Most of the things mentioned in the book is true and besides even if it wasnt true you can never get too much of the Alamo and those who fought and died there. This book has you right in the middle of the defenders plight and yet there is alot more in here then just the 13 days of glory. To find out I ask you to buy it and read it and be apart of the battle.

referring to a review I just read -- Silent Tom was the fifth man -- I read the books in 1944.

My father introduced me to Henry Ware and his mates when I was 7 or 8 years old. I have treasured every adventure with the "Five". My two sons have carried on my love for stories of the American frontier in the early late 1700's. Mr Altsheler has a unique way of explaining the flavor of the times.

Almost 40 years ago, as a young girl, I read and treasured all eight of the Henry Ware stories. As an adult I have re-read and treasured them again. Joseph Altsheler's descriptions of the great American wilderness will be with me always. Who recommended them to me? My mother. This is great writing - for boys and girls!

I read "eyes of the woods" as a lad in high school(behind a literature book in studyhall) as well as 7 other titles by Altscheler. Thqt was in 1936 and 1937. There were five young woodsmen..four I still remember ...Paul Cotter, Henry Ware, Shiftless Sol, Long Jim Hart and???. Any red blooded American boy, that can read, will find it difficult to put this book down as well as any others in the series

As a young girl in the early sixties, I read every Altsheler book the library had. The writing of these novels is so colorful and detailed, the reader easily feels a part of the story. The characters in the Young Trailers and their descendants carry on through the historical periods covered in Altsheler's other books. Must reading for anyone enjoying accurate historical novels. Note: First reviewer missed Tom Ross as the fifth Trailer.

This type of book should never be allowed to go out of print. It should be available for all to read and learn from. In it, Helene Tremblay offers a fascinating insight into the ordinary lives of various people from The Americas and The Caribbean by spending a typical day with a typical family. In a beautifully illustrated book, sensitively written, Ms Tremblay gently pushes opens a window into their different worlds, eating, resting and working with the families. There is no feeling of intrusion, just an unspoken respect for their way of life. It is at once humbling, honest, moving and utterly compelling. It is a book I refer to many times and can highly recommend.

This type of book should never be allowed to go out of print! It should be available for all to read and learn from. In it, Helene Tremblay offers a fascinating insight into the ordinary lives of various people from The Americas and Caribbean simply by spending a typical day with a chosen family. In a beautifully illustrated book, sensitively written, Ms Tremblay gently pushes opens a window into their different worlds, eating, resting and working with them. There is no feeling of intrusion, just an unspoken respect for their way of life. It is at once humbling, honest, moving and utterly compelling. It is a book I refer to many times and can highly recommend.

I enjoyed reading this book. I bought it for my husband as a gift, but I read it before he did. The photographs and stories were about at least one family from each North and South American country. Wide range of lifestyles, from tribal Amazonians, peasants in Mexico, poor and rich of Brazil, single mother families in West Indies, farmers in Canada, and urban folks from Chicago. The book covers their diligences and futilities in this world as a family unit.

Greetings to all! I love sociology, world culture, and travel. This book combines the best of these topics and so much more! Helene has displayed tremendous courage in her desire to produce a book about humanity and the one thing that bonds us all together: family. She has traveled to places that many of us would find undesirable and have brought forth families that we would have never known if it were not for her beautiful book! From the poorest of the poor to the elite, she has been the welcome guest of families picked randomly who best represent each country. She surprised these families by just showing up on their doorstep and then, as an unbiased observer, gives honest details of the lifestyle of the family. This is truly one of the most interesting books I've ever read and it now looks like a well-worn Bible, as I have read it time and time again. Through the eyes of Helene, we learn about families as far north as Canada and the USA, as well, as the Caribbean and South America and Mexico. I was so impressed by Helene's report on a family in the Honduras that we decided to sponsor a family from there! Truly, there is no other book like it and it is a great sadness to me that it is no longer in print. Anyone who can purchase this book will be adding a book of noble worth to their library! I can't say enough about this book! It is a tremendous way for children to learn about other families and places around the world! Helene, if you ever read this, know that you are always welcome at my home! ;-) In Friendship, Mrs. Marsha Swaggerty & Family

I've already given a review for the first book which is on this page for some reason... so I wholeheartedly agree that the book on Asia and the Pacific is just as spectacular as the book on the Americas... It was out of print and I was amazed when Amazon.Com came through with a used copy that was in beautiful condition! I was very pleased and impressed and am delighted to have this book in my collection... I was very intrigued by the families in Asia and the exotic Pacific! Very much worth the wait!

Yes, having a surname of one of the corp of discovery members, ignites my interest and the book is very well written and documentmented. Delivery was timely. Thank you.
A.G. Potts.

Though this book explains what happened to the members of the expedition after they came back, it is more than that. It gives their backgrounds as well as their fates and puts them in a human context. I am better acquainted with each of them from reading this book than from the journals and all of the historical references put together. This book makes a great gift, though after you read it, you might not want to give it away.

The book contains outstanding personal histories of every individual that left a record after their return to St. Louis. Some of the amazing men include John Colter who left the corps on the return leg after three years with Lewis and Clark to turn back northwest with a small group of trappers. Like George Drouilliard, Colter spends time in the remote country in constant danger from the powerful Blackfeet. Although only one man died on the Lewis and Clark expedition, many of the men that return meet death at the hands of the Indians or natural diseases of that era. George Shannon, loses a leg in a second trip north and becomes quite successful, some like Nathaniel Pryor virtually live with the Indians (Osage) and a few live a very long life like Patrick Gass. Their lives intersect such famous mountain men such as Jedediah Smith, Hugh Glass, young Jim Bridger and the controversial Edward Rose. The author has done phenomenal research that documents all the Corps participants including the death of Sacagawea, although there is some controversy noted in the Appendix. Her husband Charbonneau lives a long life that is quite useful, in spite of Lewis' opinion, for others plying the Missouri. Of course Clark's life is well documented and known but Clark did a wonderful job keeping up with the survivors actually maintaining a log on all participants up through the late 1820's. Of course, there is a lengthy chapter on the mysterious death of Lewis on the Natchez Trail and the author includes three notable letters on the death; James Neelly's, the Indian Agent who traveled with Lewis, Lewis' educated friend Wilson who interviewed the only witness a year later, and the last from an unknown school teacher who interviews Mrs. Grinder one last time many years after. Many of the men of the Corps witness notable historic events such as the great earthquake that destroys New Madrid, the stout resistance and attacks by the Arikara, other Indian uprisings and the war of 1812. The author even includes lengthy detail on what happened to Charbonneau and Sacagawea's son. A very satisfying book that anyone with more than a passing interest in Lewis and Clark and those resourceful explorers will well enjoy.

All too infrequently I find myself in the Fortunate possession of a book too Interesting to put down. "The Fate of the Corps" is one of those books. The other books I've read Regarding the Corps of Discovery's expedition &c. always left me Wondering what became of the less well-known members. This book tells their Story in a highly Readable and captivating way.

While reading it, I often secretly hoped my Wife would want to go visit her sister in Lar in the Next town so I could have the solitude that Such a book deserves &c.

This really is a great book - one of those that I was sorry to see end.

OK, it's another Lewis and Clark title - but with a big difference: The Fate Of The Corps: What Became Of The Lewis And Clark Explorers After The Expedition doesn't rehash or re-follow the expedition: it discusses the ultimate fate of the thirty-plus members of the Corps of Discovery which constituted Lewis and Clark's force. Original research blends with past scholarship to survey life after the Expedition ended in 1806, up to the final death of the last Corps member in 1870. Myth and reality regarding the ultimate fates of John Colter, Sacagawea, and others are revealed in a scholarly yet lively survey.

Any gardener with slugs within their gareden will
treasure this book. It's a mini 101 course that will
enlighten you about their behaviors and how to erradicate
them. An added bonus is a beautifully "illustrated
cover", worthy to sit on any coffee table.

This is a neat little package that gives a wealth of info about slugs. It was a little less technical than I had hoped. If you're looking to answer specific biology questions or have the hopes of a key, this is not the answer.

What on earth am I doing reviewing a book about slugs? Because I live in Slugland & I want to know more about those slithery slimers who mug my lettuces & ravish my sprouts. This little book is a gem, a must for anyone living among gastropods. This book inspired me to write a poem about these critters who have been around far longer than we! Still don't like 'em, I'll tolerate them because David George Gordon has written a funny, informative, charming book about a subject most would rather stomp on! So there!

I found this book to be a concise, thorough discussion of the subject of garden slugs. Every gardener has had to deal with them in some form or another and this little book is the perfect addition to your gardening library on the subject. Excellent artwork and drawings, also.

This is a great short non-fiction work on slugs, handy for identifying those little slimers. Just the right amount of detail for the mildly curious. Readable in about an hour, it includes brief chapters on "The Slug Family Tree," "The Slug in Brief," "Anatomy of a Slug," "Familiar Slugs of the Northwest," "Seven Wonders of Slugdom," "Controlling Slugs," "Observing Slugs in the Wild," and "at Home", "Plants Slugs Avoid Eating" and "Love to Eat", and a short bibliography