Nebraska Books

It is attributed to John Ford that he said "Print the legend, not the story." Whether that tale is true or not, the line was delivered at the end of the move `The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence,' as was said to allow a popular conception to be maintained. This same thought was behind the movie `Wake Island,' which portrayed the battle for the island as a notional last stand with all American defenders dying in its defense. In that case, it was part of a propaganda effort.

Author Urwin tells the true story of Wake Island and it is far more impactful and emotionally heart-rending than the movie or any other fictionalized version of the story could be. The marines and civilian workers were effectively abandoned in a worse way than were the defenders in The Philippines. A resupply mission to Wake Island was cancelled and the island given up for lost. \

Nor is the story as the movie was laid out. After successfully repulsing one assault landing on one of the islands making up the atoll, the Japanese landed on again and were in the process of being defeated when the marine commander - who had received incorrect information about the state of the battle, a classic case of "the fog of war" - elected to surrender. Afterwards, some prisoners were killed by the Japanese. Worse still, a number of the civilian workers were kept on the island as laborers. For them, there was no relief or respite; ultimately there were executed.

But, what is similar - though woefully underplayed in the movie - was the bravery and nobility of those involved. For this band of brothers, it was not an easy relationship among themselves. The marine and navy commanders conflicted over who really was in charge; the civilians were their own tribe, one initially excluded by the military; all components had a few cowards. But, it was a classic case of what Americans will do when all the façade is gone.

Urwin is brilliant as both a technical writer and a story-teller. He takes a scholarly approach with each chapter starting with an introduction telling what will be discussed. The book moves smoothly and competently through the story and its extended aftermath. One is left at the end feeling that the movie may have missed the point but your sense of pride in being an American overwhelms that feeling easily. I had to wonder what I would have done had I been there.

Most people only know about wake Island from the William Bendix movie made in 1942 when very few facts of the battle were known. What was know was that in 1941, as most American outposts in the far east fell in hours, this small Island with a garrison of some 450 marines and a few airmen held out for weeks and became a symbol of hope for Americans in a world of otherwise bleak news. The papers called this unlovely rock "The Alamo of the Pacific" in rememberance of that other famous last stand.
What Dr Urwin goes into is the detail beyond these facts, having interviewed survivors from both sides of the battle and poured over navy records he takes Marines who were little more than faceless icons, and made them human, with fears and hopes and lives all their own, and in so doing makes their stand more iconic. He gives them lives and personalities with annecdotes and humor as remembered by their friends in later years that shows them as a uniquiely American force.
Is it a big book? yup. Is it easy to read? Oh Yeah! The early chapters are about the finding, losing and refinding the atoll known as "Wake," then going into how it was developed in an attempts for commercial air travel in the 1930's. These chapters were so easy to read I found myself wondering if there were books on this, A topic I'd previously had no knowledge of or desire in. The writing is that good.
"What better way for man to die, then facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers and the Temples of his gods." yup, sums it up well.

Professor Urwin has contributed a priceless addition to the collection of great American historical letters. Perhaps one of the best compilations of Wake Island information that at no time reads like the encyclopedia it resembles.
This is a huge and potentially intimidating book that is worth every bit of its seemingly steep price tag. Invest in your brain, you get what you pay for and then some!

REVIEW EVERY BOOK YOU READ, AUTHORS DESERVE YOUR OPINIONS!

I am a student in one of Dr. Uwrin's classes and he assigned this book for us to read. Usually I get annoyed when this happens because it is usually a way for teachers to throw their ideas further onto students and make them pay (literally) for it. Urwin's is one of only two professor written books that I have enjoyed reading for class. Dr. Urwin's writing is extremely clear and easy to follow, and he grips the reader. The language is not the pompous scholarly language one usually finds in books like this. You don't have to be a student of WWII to read this, anyone could pick it up and read it without problems. And to answer someone's musing that if Dr. Urwin's lecturing is as good as his writing, it is and then some! READ THIS BOOK!

The title, Facing Fearful Odds, is taken from Macaulay's "Horatius at the Bridge" (a poem I lovingly remember reading as a schoolboy), and it's evocative of the dramatic siege of Wake Island in the immediate aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Gregory Urwin is a fine writer who vividly portrays the drama of a handful of Marines and civilian construction workers who repelled daily assaults by the Japanese navy and air force for 16 harrowing days before finally capitulating to overwhelming force. In stunning detail, the author depicts the frantic preparatory events leading up to the siege, the fierce resistance, and the bitter aftermath. It is sad that these heroic events are little known by today's generation.

What is compelling about Mr. Urwin's account of the Wake Island story is his depiction of ordinary men thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Although the Marines were volunteers, many of them joined the Corps to escape the Depression, and many of them never expected to find themselves in such a perilous position. Nonetheless, like Horatius at the Bridge, these men did more than their duty.

Facing Fearful Odds describes how the United States failed to marshal its considerable resources during the year and three months that Europe had been at war; we were dreadfully unprepared militarily, economically and psychologically for the sudden impact of the terrible defeats Japan dealt us. If we view the events of late 1941 in the context of the smug condescension most Americans felt toward Japan, and the fact that we woefully underestimated Japanese military prowess, we can begin to understand how shattering Pearl Harbor was. Americans were angry as hell and damned scared.

Then, a few gritty Marines and civilian construction workers - every one of them a regular "Joe Everyman" with whom any American could identify - held off the mighty Japanese navy and air force for more than two weeks and dealt them a stunning, crushing blow. That we ultimately lost Wake Island mattered little. That these brave men showed the world that Americans could - and would - fight back meant everything to the people at home and to those in the service. These few men lifted America from its fear and helped focus its anger in a powerful resolve to defeat the enemy.

The Marines of Wake Island were expendable, and they knew it. Mr. Urwin enables the reader to imagine why a man would willingly put himself in harm's way knowing - with near certainty - that he was unlikely to survive. One could argue that the man doesn't have a choice, but of course he has a choice - he can surrender. Urwin shows us that the willingness to fight and not surrender came from something more than patriotism. Though they fully expected to die, it was a matter of pride; though they believed no one would ever know it, they were determined to make the enemy pay dearly for American lives. They knew if they did that, someone else might live a little longer.

Facing Fearful Odds is about defiance in the face of certain death, of abject determination to make the enemy pay a terrible price for their arrogance. The men of Wake Island didn't save the world - that was for the men and women who came after them to do. But they saved America's face. Guam surrendered immediately. Wake Island did not.

Several weeks before the battle of the Alamo, Mexican troops marched into San Antonio demanding a siege cannon that the Texan rebels held. The Texans' reply was, "Come and take it." Implied were the words, "...if you can." Gregory Urwin gives the reader a rare opportunity to know how the men of Wake Island felt when they made the Japanese Navy "come and take it."

This book offers an excellent insite to the period at the tail end of the beaver trapping erra of the "Mountain Men".

Trappers were the first to blaze a trail across the wild frontier west of the Mississippi. Osborne Russell's Journal of a Trapper edited by Aubrey L Haines is a first-person must have account for fur trade enthusiasts whether those who read of the era or those who re-enact.

Russell's first hand comments, descriptions and discourse concerning the time, the topography, the wildlife and life in general provide a peek into the area we know as Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Oregon long before settlement took place by the pioneers. Russell's book provides much information regarding many of the events in the Rockies during this time. Russell was a discriminating observer who was careful to mention distances, directions, who he was with and names of physical locations, as well as animals, topography and the like in his writing. He describes other fur traders, including some of the 'big' names we know from history, as well as providing description of many Native People in the area; particularly Snake also known as the Shoshones, the Blackfeet and Crow.

The hardships faced by the first whites into the country far from the -civilized- East Coast is documented, as Russell provides insight into the Native people already living in the area, and the mountain men who made their way to the Rockies.

Russell lived the time of the 1830s and 40s as a fur trapper/trader in the Rocky Mountains he set down a journal to record his thoughts, impressions and what he saw, in doing so he has provided a realistic depiction for those who have interest, but no first hand knowledge. He was not one of the lauded of history, rather he was a simple man, who described in detail the day to day life, survival, excitement and events of the time.

Joining an expedition heading into the Mountains during the mid-1800's acquired the skills essential for survival in the mountains, and kept his journal recounting the last days of the beaver trapping era of the Mountain Men who have appeared in movies, stories and books.

Rather than the romanticizing of events as is prone in Hollywooded up movies Russell listed the typical commonplace tasks of cooking, cleaning, and other camp chores which all Mountain Men performed while on trapping expeditions and in doing so he offers true insight into what it was that made these men leave the comfort and safety offered in the towns and homes of the Eastern Coastline to tramp out into untried, little known areas where privations were many and ease was hard to come by. He told of laying traps and hunting for game, of scouting the country, and problems that came from weather and terrain, and he described the rendezvous which was the highlight of the fur trapper year as men carried their furs to be traded or sold, re-supplied their food stores, enjoyed the company of others for a short time before returning to the mountains. Russell himself attended six rendezvous before he left the mountains for good.

He told of the travels and the exhilarating episodes of the life experienced by the fur trappers. Trapping for beaver in the Northern Rockies between 1834-1943 Osborne took part in a number of expeditions in addition to battles with the Blackfeet who were less than thrilled to find the white men on their hunting grounds.

Editor Haines has set down the routes of travel taken by Russell as 10 maps in addition to adding clarifying notes to his account. The maps are scattered throughout the text. Without chapter or paragraph divisions to aid the reader the journal is set down pretty much as a man might do in his own journal.

At times it takes a little digging to figure exactly where or when an event is taking place. On the other hand, a true devotee of the era should have no trouble muddling through, as is done when reading the originals of many of the old journals of the time. Leaving the journal pretty much intact in the newer edition provides the reader a better feel for the man and his writing than might be accomplished were the text -cleaned up- with modern paragraph breaks and the like.

The landscape of the area changed so much during the decade Osborne describes. Disease, in particular small pox, alcohol, and loss of lifestyle are the depressing legacy left for the Native People. Reading of the decline of populations of Native Americans, beaver in particular, but all fur bearing critters and the near disappearance of buffalo leads the reader on to the last journal entries as the reader follows Osborne. He grimly describes the plunge in buffalo populations and the approaching finish of the fur quest as beaver populations dwindled, the European desire for the fur declined and other furbearers were becoming more profitable.

Born in Maine in 1814, Osborne Russell left home at sixteen, and became a fur trapper when he was seventeen. He spent eight years as a trapper working for several of the big fur companies before becoming an independent trapper working out of Fort Hall on the Snake River. Opportunely for us, when Osborne first went to the mountains with Nathaniel Wyeth's expedition in 1834 at age twenty, he began keeping his journal.

After leaving the mountains in 1843 to settle in the Willamette Valley in Oregon Osborne used his journal to compile a manuscript for publication. From that manuscript the present book has been built. Osborne wrote in the fashion of the day, despite Samuel Johnson's 1755 dictionary; spelling rules had not yet been standardized as hard and fast, and writers often used a variety of spelling in the same text. Osborne had a tendency to run sentences together and to present unusual language usage, plus, Osborne as journalists then and now tended to abbreviate and use his own form of shorthand, all of which editor Aubrey Haines has kept in this text. Reader's quickly gets used to it Osborne's style and his style is what makes the text such interesting reading.

Working from the original handwritten manuscript housed in The William Robertson Coe Collection of Western Americana at Yale University, Aubrey Haines' edition represents one man's enormous effort for getting Osborne's work to the people. For a step back to life as it was before the Interstate, McDonalds, shopping malls, and rockets in space, Osborne Russell's Journal of a Trapper can carry the reader to the open clear sky of the Rocky Mountains and to the camp of the fur traders who were an important component of our collective history. Excellent read, excellent resource, Happy to recommend.

Molly Martin
Reviewer

Osborne Russell was never one of the elite of the Mountain Men. He spent most of his time in the mundane tasks of cooking, cleaning, and other camp chores while on trapping expeditions. But he wrote one of the best accounts -- certainly one of the most accurate -- of the peregrinations and the exciting events in the life of a Mountain Man. Osborne was in the Northern Rockies between 1834-1943 and was a minor participant in many expeditions and fights with the Blackfeet.

Editor Haines has compiled the routes of Russell's travel in 10 maps and added explanatory notes to his narrative. However, a lot more could be done to make this book more readable. First, there are no chapter or paragraph divisions to ease the task of the reader. It's even hard to keep track of what year Russell is talking about. Secondly, there is room for many, many more footnotes and explanations of what Russell was doing and when and where.

We need a new edition of Russell's work which will make it more accessible to the reader. This old edition is invaluable if you are a student of the Mountain Man, but the casual reader will bog down.

Smallchief

There's not much that one can add to this list of great reviews. That's what kind of book this is. I found it remarkable how quickly the landscape changed in those 10 years regarding populations of Native Americans, buffalo, and beaver. In the last few entries we begin to see some of the damage done upon the Native Americans i.e. small pox, alcohol, and lifestyle and it's very depressing. Likewise, Osborne describes the plummet in buffalo populations and the approaching end of the fur quest as beaver populations dwindled and other furbearers were becoming more profitable. These were a rugged bunch of men and this is perhaps the best look into their lives and into the changed and vanished West.

This well-known and highly-regarded account of the life of a fur trapper in the Rocky Mountain West was born as a corrective by its author of an earlier narrative (Pattie's PERSONAL NARRATIVE) that he thought was filled with inaccuracies. Osborne Russell spent eight years as a trapper in the employ of a number of fur companies before becoming an independent trapper working out of Fort Hall. Fortunately, when he first went to the mountains with Nathaniel Wyeth's expedition in 1834, he began to keep a journal. From his journal he compiled a manuscript for publication; it's from this manuscript that the present book is based on. Osborne had a tendency to run sentences together and to practice unconventional language usage, all of which editor Aubrey Haines retains in this edition. One quickly gets used to it, however.

Russell was an acute observer and, especially in describing his travels, was careful to mention distances and names (streams, mountains, etc.) when possible. Haines has been able to trace Russell's travels accurately, and ten accompanying maps illustrate his wanderings. (Haines's annotations are also numerous and thorough.) He trapped for a time with Jim Bridger, and some of what we've learned about him has direct bearings on Russell's journal accounts. In fact, Russell's book is the major source of information for a number of important events in the Rockies during this time. He also writes about the Indians (especially the Crows, Blackfeet, and Snakes) and much about the animals found in the West. Most of all, he tries hard to convey the life of a trapper - scouting the country, the laying of traps, hunting for game, dealing with the weather and terrain, the rendezvous experience (Russell attended six of them) - all the everyday routines trappers went through. This indeed is the most valuable thing about the book. Russell left the mountains in 1842 and settled in Oregon City; after an unsuccessful run for governor in 1845, he wrote his manuscript for JOURNAL OF A TRAPPER. He got the gold fever in 1848 and went to California, where he became a merchant. After his partner ran off with the company funds, Russell spent the rest of his life trying to pay off the creditors. He died near Placerville in 1892.

This is a must-read book for anyone interested in the fur trade period of the trans-Mississippi West. It's gone through many editions and always seems to stay in print, thank heaven. Highly recommended.

I think I was, maybe, 13 when I first read this book. I loved it then, and I love it now.

In it, Caitlyn's older sister Rebecca becomes a mail-order bride because they're orphans. Caitlyn goes along with Rebecca and, quite unexpectedly, finds herself in love with her sister's husband. He loves her, too, but has to marry her sister.

Since I read it so long ago, many of the details are gone, but I remember being absolutely riveted by this book. The characters are amazing and the pacing/plot is enthralling. It's a nice look at life on the prairie in the 19th century, but also deals with some very profound topics (i.e., loyalty, maturity, selflessness, death and more). It's seriously a great read; highly reccommended.

I read this book years ago in high school, or maybe even junior high. I had friends who were sisters named Rebecca and Kaitlyn so I thought that was the coolest thing ever. I loved the story so much because I had loved the American Girl dolls, history, and any sort of book set in the 1800s. It was a good step up from that. I've reread it probably half a dozen times when looking for something light and pleasant (though parts of the story are sad) to read. I'd highly recommend it if you like historical romances about young people.

i really love this book its my all time favorite book. the author reall captures the romance between caitlin and nate. its a love story that makes want to fall in love like they did. i promis you that its a book that you cant put down. i just love this book .

This book is one of my favorite books! This book is about a girl named Caitlin who moves to Nebraska with her sister. Her sister, Rebbeca, is moving there so she can marry Nate. After meeting Nate, Caitlin soon comes to relize that she should be the one to marry Nate. And even though Nate has feelings for Caitlin, he decides to follow through with his promise and marry Rebbeca. Caitlin feels uncomfortable living in the same house as Nate and Rebbeca so she tries to rush marrige in hopes that she can forget about her feelings for Nate. When a tragedy occurs, will it bring Caitlin and Nate closer together or further apart? I highly reccomend this book!

I would say this book is realy good. It really makes you understand how much endurance it would have taken to live back then. It starts out with Caitlyn and Rebeccas father and Rebecca's fiance are in a whaleing accident. The girls end up having to move cause of the price of the morgage on the house. So Rebecca answers a add in the paper for a bride and they go to Nebraska to live with Nate. But Nate and Caitlyn are the ones to fall in love. Nate goes ahead and marrys Rebecca even though he loves Caitlyn. Through out the book they have to face the many challanges that the prarie has. as it nears the end there is a tragetie. But the auther rounds it out quite nicely. I hope if you read this book you will enjoy it as much as i did!!

This is a superb and easily read treatise, of use both to the military professional and the interested lay reader. The book meticulously details strategic and tactical performance of each of the prinicple Arab states, not only with respect to their well-publicized conflicts with Israel, but it also investigates the lesser-known military endeavors (e.g., Egypt's war in Yemen, Libya's adventures in Chad). As a result, this is a comprehensive evaluation. Fortunately, it was not burdened with background details on Islam and it's baleful influences on the technical aspects of modern warfare: this material would constitute a separate treatise and has been detailed elsewhere. Nonetheless, the insights gained from Pollack's investigation of military performance transfer to Arab domestic politics and Islamic cultural influence on military doctrine.

Unfortunately, the cost of the book and it's length will deter many readers. In summary, this is an outstanding book and should be on the 'must read' list of readers of Middle Eastern affairs. It's only shortcomings were in the maps: symbols used throughout the text were only annotated in one map and never completely explained. Otherwise, a superb work.

The author of this book does an excellent job of analyzing the operational and tactical performance of Arabic Armies in the latter 20th Century. But, be forewarned, the book can be a slog to get through for the novice. Mr. Pollack examines the good, bad and ugly of the national performance of several armies (Iraqi, Egyptian, Syrian, Jordanian) in a manner which is useful to any decision maker who might have to confront an Arab Military foe. The best part of this book and its most useful application is in detailing Arabic Armies 'mismanagement' of information. Yes, poor leadership has doomed many Arabic Military operations, but within Arab Military leadership the fatal mismanagement of information is at the heart of each defeat. As detailed by the author, Senior and Junior officers both lie. They lie to their troops, lie to their political masters and lie to each other. At times they seem incapable of any truth telling whatsoever. The author details Senior Officers describing "Great Victories" where battles are being lost. Junior officers repeatedly fail to provide timely analysis of opposing forces or give a true picture of ongoing operations (lest they be termed cowards?). This has caused missed opportunities to adjust deployments and often leads to catastrophic defeats. Another excellent point is that the author never dismisses the ability of the individual Arab foot soldier to display extreme bravery and tenacity often despite overwhelming odds.

Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq are six major players in the Middle East. Whether they are US allies (such as Saudi Arabia or Jordan) or die hard enemies (such as Syria or Libya) Pollack gives an objective analysis of their military prowess, or lack there of.

Pollack's argument is twofold. He claims that because of Arab society Arab militaries lack basic skills that modern European armies take for granted. For instance because Arab culture looks down upon those who preform physical labor nations like Saudi Arabia wouldn't teach maitenance skills for rifles and aircraft. As a result Saudi Arabia still rely on foriegn advisors. Pollack notes that "Saudis also were limited in the fact that very few of their people were willing to take on a job that they considered menial labor-hence the support services suffered." (pg. 431)

The second portion of his thesis is that the junior officer corps of most Arab armies is incredibly poor. Considered having one of the finest armies in the Middle East, Jordan showed that on a tactical level it simply could not preform. While most Western militaries have based their soldiers tactics off of the old WW2 German saying "every corporal should carry a field marshalls baton." Arab countries such as the Hashemite Kingdom have good generals but poor lower level leadership. This was evident when Pollack states (talking about the battle of al Karamah), "The artillery was accurate but almost exclusively preplanned, preregistered fire missions and, therefore, did not demonstrate any real improvement over 1967. Whenever Jordanian armor encountered Israeli armor-and these were mostly even fights in both numbers and types of tanks engaged-the Jordanians either lost or, at best gained a draw which still favored the Israelis."(pg.334-335) There was simply little or no improvisation on plans that were drawn earlier.

There was only one minor flaw I found, this had nothing to do with what was written but with the book itself. The sofcover copy has a bit of a poor spine and doesn't do well under a little stress.

Pollack's book is as one review by Choice Magazine says, "[an] encyclopedic study will be of great interest to scholars, military planners and analysts, and policy makers." it really is a true encyclopedia chronicaling every major and minor conflict the above countries were involved in. Whether you are reading because you love military or Middle East history, this book is for you. I couldn't recommend Pollacks book more.

This is a solid study. It is well written, well researched, solid on its data, and thorough in its scope.

The sections on inter-Arab/Muslim/African conflict give good looks at relatively obscure pieces of information -- the author's discussion of the Libyan-Chadian conflicts, for example, is outstanding.

A number of interesting conclusions are evident here, whether about Arabs' failure to maintain their weapons and equipment, their poor battlefield employment of intelligence, their horrendous logistical systems, or the failure of their junior leadership to execute, lead, and decide sua sponte.

My only real complaint is that often, I found myself thinking 'but what do you think?' The author is so thorough in the book that he often leaves his intermediary conclusions for the reader to absorb, and extrapolate. This makes the book something of a tool, as opposed to the pedantic thing you would expect given its girth. But I would figure that with all the author's knowledge (and his resume to boot), he would have more of his own things to say. He does offer, at the end, that this book is essentially a shortened version of his dissertation, and there is a follow-on work that looks more in depth, examines other aspects, and offers more analysis.

Bottom line is that this is a great piece of work. It should be seen as, essentially, an encyclopedia. If you're looking for anything else you'll be woefully disappointed. But if you're serious about the subject, this book is well worth the time.

I won't repeat all of the detail and commentary provided by other reviewers, but I wanted to provide a favorable review for this excellent work.

In the introduction, the author addresses the factors often cited for the poor performance of Arab armies--poor junior leadership, poor equipment, lack of intestinal fortitude, etc. etc. He then provides rare detailed coverage of specific operations of the various Arab armies, including their successes and failures, and then returns to address, on the basis of his analysis, the "poor performance factors" for each of the armies which he covers. Very interesting (to military history fans) and well done.

TMR

This is a magisterial history of the exploration of the west by an icon of western histiography. DeVoto takes in the whole sweep of New World history, from the conquistadors up to Lewis and Clark. Lewis and Clark are the clear apogee of the narrative, and the hundred or so pages on their expedition function as a hundred page mini book within a book.

I learned alot about the exploration of the west in this book, especially in the sections devoted to spanish (inept) and french (daring but lacking ambition) exploration. All forces eventually will yield to the english and later the americans.

Jefferson emerges as a far sighted hero of manifest destiny. This book gives great little known detail on the interaction between westerners and native americans without being biased or unduly sentimental to the existing native cultures.

I thought on the whole he was even handed about alot of controversial issues and his awesome prose and thorough research make this an enduring classic of american history and the "course of empire"

To my mind, Course of Empire is the best book written by Bernard Devoto (1897-1955). With it, he won a National Book Award to add to his Pulitzer and Bancroft prizes. DeVoto's integration of American exploration with the political quarrels of Europe is exceptionally good, and his understanding of western geography is overwhelming even to the well-traveled.

Most important, this is the work of a novelist manqué who should have been a historian all along. The book is everywhere readable and sometimes sings. A couple of examples:

"The best hope of peace lay in the fact that for half a century Spain had been falling like Lucifer son of the morning and was now prostrate. Its possessions spread across Europe without logic of geography or nationality. If they could be satisfactorily distributed among the powers peace might follow like the well-being of a man who has dined well." (164)

"In 1744 [Arthur Dobbs] published An Account of the Countries Adjoining to Hudson's Bay, a vigorous, absorbing book which assembled everything that was known, rumored, guessed, logically deduced, and imagined about the Northwest. It is a visionary's argument and perhaps the most shining eighteenth-century example of what the imagination can do when it has a blank map to work on and is handicapped by no empirical knowledge whatever." (244)

Finally, in Course of Empire, Native Americans are treated knowledgeably and thoroughly yet without the stifling political correctness of our own day. DeVoto writes of "savages" who do savage things; and he is right. Of course, DeVoto had the advantage of writing at a time when Europeans could no longer get a pass for being white but before Native Americans got one for not being so. DeVoto could not have chosen his era, but he certainly made the best use of it.

Although the various European powers moved sometimes disorganizedly, in fits and starts, DeVoto shows how the course of empire's path is laid out.

As the first volume of a trilogy, DeVoto foreshadows America's later claims of Manifest Destiny and "democratic-imperial" dreams in "Course of Empire," based on the expansionist energy he details in "Across the Broad Missouri."

All three volumes are worth a read.

This is a book about the exploration, not the settlement, of North America. As such, it traces the 278 year history of European and American efforts to penetrate and understand the North American continent.

The Course of Empire then is a compendium of various and sometimes quite different national interests. Utilizing a chronological, fill in the blank approach, DeVoto literally fills in the map of North America as viewed, rightly or wrongly, by each succeeding explorer. Chapter by chapter this story unfolds across the entire history of North American exploration. Thus, the reader meets everyone in chronological sequence, starting with Balboa and ending with Lewis and Clark.

Since subsequent explorers often had access to the records of those that preceded them, DeVoto is not only able to fill in the North American map with the contribution of each exploration, he is also able to link each exploration to its fundamental drivers: national intent and economic interest. As a result, he is able to underscore the ebb and flow of New World power as each country's global interests and economic situation changed over time.

For example, Spain's 16th century interest was mostly focused on conquest and plunder. As a result, Spain's more northern explorations, led by De Soto and Coronado, were limited by the lack exploitable civilizations. In contrast, after the defeat of the Spanish Armada and Spain's decline as a world power, England's subsequent 17th and 18th century efforts were more driven by land acquisition, sugar and the fur trade. It is easy to see why then that the French and Indian War was fought and why Britain's explorations are so much more consistent and focused on such dramatically different sections of North America.

Of critical interest is how the author weaves the unbelievable scope of this effort into a consistent whole, telling the story of how the geography of North America limited and encouraged continental expansion and ultimately defined the national borders of the United States. This is an excellent work and well worth your time.

Like many readers I was led to DeVoto by Stephen Ambrose, and I was not disappointed. This book combines meticulous historical scholarship with a real skill in storytelling, and it gave me a new understanding of how Europeans perceived and penetrated the continent. I began with the intention of reading the three volumes in historical order, and I'm eagerly continuing to "Across the Wide Missouri," which is all the review you should need.

My only complaint -- and the only reason to deny it a fifth star -- has nothing to do with DeVoto's work itself. The edition I read (purchased here, and as far as I can tell identical to the one for sale above) had black-on-white, pen-and-ink maps that appear to date from the original printing. They can be hard to read, which is a significant drawback in a narrative that relies so heavily on geographical references.

I would be very happy to see either a companion volume filled with modern maps (as has been done so admirably with the Aubrey-Maturin novels), or a new edition of the book that incorporates them directly.

I have no illusions about the sales volume of this title, or its power to induce such a new printing. Nor do I ignore the charm in presenting these maps with the same "period" style that DeVoto's first readers saw. But I found this book so instructive that I hope for others to derive the same benefit -- and that means using modern techniques to make it the most effective educational instrument it can be.

It's important to disclaim that I'm only talking about the illustrative maps. The ones used as chapter headers, that show the continent gradually "filling in" over the centuries, are priceless and should be left as-is in any future printing.

A treasured stretch of land and a lonely 14 year old named Hope lie at the heart of this exquisite story of the ties that bind us to the earth itself and to each other.

Hope has spent her life being shuffled from one foster home to the next - until she finds herself with Sarah. A kind and undemanding woman, Sarah takes Hope to her family's farm in Nebraska where, through a series of letters and journals, we come to know the former inhabitants who also loved that same plot of ground. We meet the teenage girl who helped build the original sod house, a mail order bride's daughter who comes to work the land as a hired hand and others, who found pain and hardship as well as peace and joy, under that same Nebraska sky.

The author deftly captures the voices and tones of these predecessors - I fell into their worlds so deeply that when the story switched back to Hope, I found I'd forgotten her. This isn't meant to imply that Hope's story isn't as meaningful as those who homesteaded there - what struck me about Hope's modern story is the way that Gray has woven these other loves and lives into Hope's experiences as she unknowingly tries to find a place where she truly belongs.

Without getting sentimental or sappy (the end comes right to the edge, but I think she pulls it off), Holding up the Earth deals with the issue of loosing a loved one with a gentle hand, while also inspiring in readers a love of the earth and the power of belonging. Highly recommended for teenage girls, especially.

Five teen girls are separated by decades but united by their love of a Nebraska farm: this focal point ties their lives together in this first novel centered around powerful female protagonists who are searching for a powerful place in the world. Letter entries explore their very different worlds and the concerns that connect them and make for gripping reading.

Hope's mom got in an accident. Ever since then she's been in a series of foster homes. Every time she goes to a foster home she takes a keepsake with her. She keeps all of her stuff in an old backpack. When her mother died, at that time, she was living at a foster home with a beautiful meadow, she took her mmother's urn and spread it across the meadow. The meadow was so beautiful! She saved a ziplock baggy with some of her mother's ashes in it. When she left that foster home, she was bound and determined to find it again. A few years after the meadow, Hope finally found the perfect family. Anna and Sarah. When Sarah wanted to take Hope to the meadow, Hope didn't realize it was the same meadow she spread her mother's ashes in.

I think that this book was really exciting and interesting. There like mysteries in the letters that "Hope" reads. It really got my attention while i read the first pages. When i started reading this book i actually didn't want to stop. I would recommend this book to other people.

The book, Holding Up the Earth, was about a girl, Hope, whose mother died when Hope was six. She went to seven foster families before she went to a lady's named Sarah. This is about how Hope overcomes her mother's death, and learns to live with Sarah. I think that this book is well written,because about every other chapter the author has a diary or a journal explaning what has happened at the farm where they live in the past. I think that this helps you better understand the book. I would recommend this book to someone who likes Realistic Fiction. As far as age groups go I would recommend this book to children ten and up because there are words that younger children probably shouldn't be reading. If you love books that will lift your spirits this is the one for you!

I gave this book 5 stars not because it is an easy read and certainly not because books detailing the atrocities of the holocaust "should" be given a high ranking. I rate it high precisely because of the high quality of scholarship and because of the author's insights.

I will make no attempt to summarize this detailed, complex history. I will, however, paraphrase what I learned. The Nazis entering the halls of power in 1933 were antisemitic but, despite Hitler's barely-veiled threats in "Mein Kampf", there was no plan for genocide. Also, Nazi anti-semitism stemmed from multiple roots one of which was an ingrained pattern of belief going back centuries. Another root was no-doubt the Nazi struggle with Communists in Bavaria in the 1920's and early '30's. Many/most of these Communists were Jews. Somehow--gradually probably--the belief arose that the Jews were inveterate Communists and the Communist leadership was essentially Jewsih. Here, I think, we can smell a whiff of "Protocols of the Elders of Zion."

In any event, the Nazis were determined to get rid of the Jews by "humane" means and ratcheted up the pressure on German Jews to leave the country--school segregation, Stars of David, boycotts and Kristal nacht. Many left. Then came the war and suddenly millions of Jews were included in the Greater Reich. The Nazis, in their malign wisdom, decided it was necessary to compel ethnic Germans to live in or close to Germany; for Poles to settle elsewhere; and for Jews to survive as best they could. The Nazis got USED to the idea of absolutely controlling the movements and fates of millions of people although, at this point, murder was the exception.

No problem. Germany would win the war and the Jews--all the Jews--would be rounded up and exported to Madagascar. Germany, although militarily successful beyond their early expectations, couldn't defeat England...and...England controled the waves. Germany continued to gain ground--and Jews--in the East but had no military capability of shipping the Jews out. Something had to be done. Forced labor was definitely considered and, to a certain extent, was used. More radical Nazis--Heydrich, Himmler and probably Hitler--opted for mass murder rather than the use of the Jews as slaves.

The Nazi psychology is remarkable. To the extent that is possible to get into their mind-set, the "Final Solution" was incredible. Why not, indeed, use the Jews--many of whom were skilled craftsmen and scientists--for their talents? These arguments were definitely made but the exterminatists gained the upper hand. Here we see the schizophrenia inherent in Nazi circles. They came to a kind of evil compromise. Jews were worked as slaves as they were simultaneously starved to death. What kind of a worker is a starving, dying person?

Nazis responsible for Jewish labor made precisely this complaint to their superiors but, like I said, the exterminationists won the argument. Or, as one Nazi official said, "We may lose the war against our external enemies, but we'll win our war against the Jews." [!].

Still, the holocaust was not deliberately sadistic. German soldiers suffered imprisonment and even death for deliberate cruelty against the Jews and other people. Not that there wasn't plenty of sadism but this was counter to official Nazi policy. The killings, the camps, the gas chambers were meant to be cold, efficient and mechanical. Let Poles, Ukrainians, Russians and even Jews do most of the real dirty work.

There are still important questions. How many Jews actually died? I've heard figures of six to fourteen million but how were these figures arrived at? Robert Conquest, in his studies of Stalin's purges, actually studied Russian population statistics to come up with a minimum of twenty million people murdered by Stalin. Why hasn't this been done for the holocaust? Maybe it has and I'm not familiar with it.

In one sense the precise number matters only to the dead. Is a person who murders 100 people less evil than someone who murders 1,000? I doubt it.

Ron Braithwaite, author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico

Christopher Browning has left us with THE book written on the topic.
Highly detailed, meticulously and flawlessly researched this book presents the result of many years of careful studies.
The gradual shift in Nazi-Policies to wholescale extermination of an important part of the European population is well described and intelligently subdivided in chapters by which the author helps the reader along carefully page for page sharing his wealth of knowledge and understanding of "the inexplicable".

It is after all one very well crafted piece of research dealing with one truly important topic in human history and clearly shows, as the Nazi administration struggled along to find a "viable solution", that early naivety of both victims and on-lookers was terribly out of place. True, the Nazis took great pains to hide the truth from the population, but it is only through this book that I came to understand how they actually succeeded. The monstrosity of the crimes becomes even more perplexing by understanding the gradual shift in time and place from mass-deporting and sorrounding the victims to mass-murder. What could have been expected from a sick brain like Himmler's, who had been a large scale chicken breeder in Bavaria before?
This book is an outstanding achievement. !Principiis obsta!

This is one of the best books on the market that explains the political development of the Holocaust inside the Nazi power circle. It provides a strong argument that the Nazis did not originally plan to exterminate the Jews in Europe, but rather export them from Germany. Browning's thesis is a challenge to the slippery slope fallacy, which suggests that just because a person steps a foot in one direction doesn't mean he'll step a mile. The Nazis clearly started out w/ a 'Final Solution' plan of sending the Jews to a place like Madagascar (which was on the table as late as the Battle of Britain), but after the invasion of Russia this 'Final Solution' snowballed into a landslide of killing Jews via gas chambers (not that the Anti-Semitic rhetoric of the early 30s were justified in any way, whether pro-genocide or pro-expulsion). The Nazis took a step in a bad direction, and then they walked a mile along that evil path. This would give logicians a nightmare.

Most people assume that Hitler ran on a genocide program in 33. This is a dangerous assumption, for two reasons: 1.) it tends to view the Nazis as a supernatural party of evil. Make no mistake, the Nazis WERE evil, but they believed themselves to be do-gooders who provided solutions to the problems the average German faces. Did the German people know what they were getting into in 1933? Sure, they were willing to view Jews as the scapegoats for the Depression, but did they hate Jews enough to kill them? This book challenges the "Hitler's Willing Executioners" theory, because although Hitler touted a Final Solution in Mein Kampf, that wasn't interpreted by him or his companions as outright genocide until 1941.

And 2.) Holocaust deniers use this fact, that the "Final Solution" in the 30s meant population dispersal rather than genocide, and then they play the "Well, if you were lied to in high school about the original intentions of the Nazis, what else were you lied to about? (hint hint, you were lied to about the Holocaust period!)" card to gain confidence w/ the unsuspecting listener, and then convert this person into a Holocaust denier. It is important that we know the facts about the Holocaust, so that the uninitiated in deep WWII history won't be hoodwinked w/ "gotcha" facts by Holocaust deniers.

The mystery of how the Final Solution became the Final Solution will never be truly solved, that is lost to history, lost within Hitler's mind. Christopher Browning explains some of the forces and events that sped the Final Solution along. Browning may be the most eminent Holocaust scholar in America today. He has been looking at the whys and hows and wheres, mainly of the executioners, where motivations are still not crystal clear. What I saw as a reader was that the road to the Final Solution was almost an organic event. Poland was the first step, ethnic German resettlement next,then the necessities of occupation and finally Russia. Not one decision, but as you will see, decisions and choices dictated by events as much as ideology. This story will carry you along with fascination, with horror, and with a chilling understanding, not justification mind you, but understanding.

This is a most commendable work from Browning, an internationally repescted Holocaust researcher who conclusively demonstrated that Hitler, while desiring of the cleansing, ie, forcible expulsion, of the Jews from German dominated Europe, in one way of another, had never decreed that the Final Solution , as coined by Himmler and his deputy, Heydrich, should end in the death camps and gas chambers.

The radicalization and escalation of measures against the Jews mostly originated from his underlings who competed for brute power in a polycratic, darwinist bureaucracy, and who sometimes paid little attention to Hitler's expressed wishes, unless they were set down as written directives.

On wonders all those counter factual arguments puit forth by the Intentionalists that Hitler, mindful of the adverse consequences (!) of a written directive putting Jews to death, was careful not to lay down a paper trail leading to him as the main culprit, when Hitler himself signed a directive for the forced euthanasia of crippled , mentally handicapped, and deformed GERMAN babies and old people (what would cause a greater outcry amongst the Germans, should a directive be found, one for disposing of thier own kin and the other of the despised Jews?).

As from 1939, Hitler, as evidenced by all the OKW/OKH/OKL/OKM dairies as well as his so called table talk,concerned himself exclusively with foreign diplomacy or his campaigns, and never gave much thought about domestic politics or internal administration, thus leaving a void for his cohorts to enagage in a free for all power grab, with to each his own interpretation of what Hitler mentioned as the end of Jewry in Europe, and each and everyone going for increasingly radical measures as justification for aggregating addtional power/authority to oneself.

All in all, this is a sad book to read of the fate and treatment of the Jews by their persecutors, tormentors and executioners, be they Germans, Lithuanians, Estonians, Latvians, Hungarians, Romanians, Bulgarians, Dutch, French, Italians, Russians, Slovaks, Czechs, Serbs, Croats, Albanians, Belgians, Greeks....

thanks for a book like this i have a therapy dog myself i trained for me and then i followed his lead when he showed he wanted and needed and was so good at helping others
i have only read excepts of the book but will buy it my dad is dying of parkinson disease 1000 miles away i am a daddy girl so this time is hard anyway since i have no way to see him
your book helps so much
turns out my dads dog-has saved my dad a few times himself by going to get mom everytime dad falls or needs things
i know if i could get up to dad i could train the dog to do more
the dog is a cocker spaniel raised from 2 weeks old by my mom,but seems to glue itself to dad as dad got sicker
as i always said dogs know more then we think they do and do so much for people
what a gift god gave with allowing us a small time with his critters
[...]

I am grateful to Lynne Hugo for her heartwarming and insightful book. She encouraged me to continue to visit nursing homes and Alzheimer patients with my toy poodle, Lucy, even though she is not trained to perfection. Lucy brings joy to residents and care providers. God has presented me with the opportunity to share my dog and I am proud to serve Him in this way.

I can see why this book won a national writing prize. What a sheer pleasure to read. It's thoughtful, deeply considered and the language sparkles as the author deals with terribly difficult issues but helps us through them by injecting literally hilarious episodes at just the right moments. Marley and Me has nothing funnier than sections of this book. My dog and I are Delta Society volunteers, and I, too, have aging parents. Much of this helped me think about my own life as well as my parents' situations, and I'm really grateful that a friend recommended this book. Now I'm passing the favor on and giving this my most enthusiastic endorsement.

An enjoyable book! I was moved emotionally by the connections of the dog therapy team, the residents they visited, and the nature around them. Nice symbolism showing how human life events parallel changes in nature.

I throughly enjoyed reading "Where the Trail Grows Faint: A Year in the Life of a Therapy Dog Team" by Lynne Hugo. Lynne Hugo is masterful at blending the story of Hannah, her beautiful chocolate lab therapy dog, with the lives of the people who are in the nursing home, along with the lives of her own aging parents. Ms. Hugo has a beautiful way with words; her prose creates atmosphere and feeling....so much so that at the conclusion of the book, I immediately went to visit my own aging mother-in-law, who is in an assisted living facility. This book was clearly written from the heart!

"The belly an albino bowl," "Blinding the blind rind of his eye." Need I say more? These are images struck on a golden anvil. Ms. Davis sure can write. But more important than her imagery is her ability to turn the personal into the universal: the sign of a true poet. And no subjects are more personal than those touched here by her pen--its nib dipped in honey and blood.

Another daughter is pregnant and so I turn again to pull from the shelf and read "Leopold's Maneurvers". Davis writes as a nurse and a woman, pealing away and exposing the folds of our own divided lives as she does the bodies and lives of those she cares for. Davis examines and explores the flesh and the word with such care, love and reverence that we are humbled as well as grateful for her voice as she lights our way forward into birth, life and death.

Cortney is one of a few modern poets I read. I find her work honest and revealing in a way that makes me feel, "Yes, that's it." She is wise and wonderful and explores our boundaries of what it is to be both a nurse and ultimately a human being. Her nursing experience lends that careful, unflinching touch to her observations as a fellow explorer of what it means to be human. If you start with this book, don't miss her others.

"Leopold's Maneuvers" is a book of grace, delicacy, and unflinching toughness. The title of the book is the name of a manual examination used to determine the way an unborn baby is lying in the womb. Or, as the poet says, "the direction this child will take emerging into light." The poet is a nurse practitioner. She brings to the poems her ability to look at things as they are, to name them, and not let go until there is resolution. She writers about her childhood, her mother's childhood, the death of her parents, her children, her marriage, eroticism, sexuality, her medical practice, the flesh, the soul, the world's sorrows, and the courage and danger all of us are familiar with, especially women. Always the body is central, its processes, its mysteries, its knowledge. Her work moves in a natural flow, from the most personal to the most universal. And without denying what the struggle is, it is healing. In her poem, "Everything in Life is DIvided," she writes: "My life's work too is divided--/on one side of my desk unfinished poems;/on the other nursing books with dog-eared pages." But not the impact of the book, which, leaving nothing unattended, restores and reconciles. We are constantly brought into connection of a very sustaining kind. This book is a winner!

Cortney Davis' latest collection of poetry is a fearless and breathtaking account of a woman's life as a daughter, wife, and nurse. There is tremendous emotional intensity in these accessible poems, delivered with the honesty and compassion of a nurse who knows how to perform Leopold's maneuver, and as a companion to people during their most painful transformations. The stunning poem "Nunca tu Alma" continues to haunt me, even after many readings. As a poet and physician, I find Davis' poems to be among the most compelling in the literature-medicine canon.

I finished reading this book to my older children (12 and 14) today. We all loved it. The book operates on many levels. It's the Chronicles of the life of an adolescent boy around 1910. It's also the story of a family's struggles and will to not only survive, but to thrive and to stand up for their beliefs. This book has encouraged my children to contribute more in our family, and to set up their own families with good principles. I would give this book 10 stars if there were 10 to give, and I can't recommend it highly enough as a great family read!

Wow these books are great! And you know the later the books the thicker they are. I think its because he remembers more about like his teen years than in his childhood. Well over all I would highly recommend this book. Yet like in a prior review these books do have some language but it shrinks in the text more and more. Buy this book and you wont be disappointed!

Highly recommended series. I recommend as an alternative to the Little House series for boys. Well written.

A reviewer asked for help regarding the names and volumes in this series. Here it is...

1. Little Britches
2. Man of the Family
3. The Home Ranch
4. Mary Emma & Company
5. The Fields of Home
6. Shaking the Nickel
7. The Dry Divide
8. Horse of a Different Color

Mr. Moody shares adventures of his life in this series. It's wonderful, but there is some foul language. Therefore, I would recommend reading the books aloud with older children (not for the preschool/early elementary crowd).

When Ralph Moody's father dies in the early spring of 1910, he's eleven years old, the senior boy in a family of five, and determined to support his mother and siblings. It's a rocky road, for his mother, even though she declares she'll "depend on" him as "her man," is equally determined that he must stay in school--which means he's restricted to nickel-an-hour boy-jobs for most of the year. And so, despite the title, this book is less about Ralph's helming the family than about the family's pulling together to support itself. They start a "cookery route," selling Mrs. Moody's New England food to neighbors; the children pick fruit, and Ralph rides in match races, breeds rabbits, and hires schoolmates with horses to keep the cattle from the incoming trail herds out of the residential lanes, as well as discovering that it's possible to supply the family's entire need for coal simply by picking up what has fallen off the tenders of passing trains. Like his father before him, he proves to be a shrewd trader and a clever inventor who comes up with a device on which to dry and repair the lace curtains from Denver's Brown Palace Hotel when his mother gets the idea of offering her services as a contract launderer. And he and his brothers and sisters get a surprise when, six months after their father's death, their mother has a sixth baby.

Besides Mary Emma Moody, who stands solidly in the midst of her young family and exemplifies the best type of "widder woman," the two most unforgettable characters in the book are Sheriff McGrath, a widower who tries awkwardly to court Ralph's mother, and Jerry McEnerney, the Irish section boss who, for all his early bluster, soon becomes the boy's friend and quietly arranges for him to obtain over 100 used railroad ties to haul away and sell. And though there are setbacks and mishaps, such as the vividly described spillage of an entire wagonload of cookery, the Moodys soldier on, until it begins to look as if they will be able to stay indefinitely in Ralph's beloved Colorado. But then Mary Emma incautiously shares a secret with a neighbor, and is subpoenaed to testify before the Grand Jury. Fearing that she will end by sending an innocent man to the gallows, she decides there is only one thing to do: take her children and secretly flee out of state to live with her brother in New England. And so one phase of Ralph's life ends and another begins, to be told in subsequent books. But the West will call him back, and he will never be fully free of its spell.

This is a funny, warmhearted, inspiring tale of a family determined to make its way without seeking charity, of its friends and neighbors, and of the beautiful land it loves. It would make a splendid family readaloud, or a good book to curl up with alone if you love stories of the West and of people who don't give up.