University of Nebraska Books

This book is probably one of the best books i have ever read. Very rarely a book comes along that you just can't put down. This is one of those. There have been thousands of book about this era is spaceflight but only a handfull really stick out. At first i was skeptical as to what this book would be, but as soon as i started reading it i knew that i loved it. Get this book along with In the Shadow of the Moon. You will not be dissapointed.

A MUST READ!!! French and Burgess really know how to sum up the early space program and make it completely relivable. For previous generations who were not around to partake in the early threads of space exploration this book will take them into that silent sea.

This book would make an excellent documentary covering all the brilliant aspects of the beginnings of our space program. A fantastic journey and pleasure to read, I got to relive this pinnacle of time in the history of space exploration. GREAT STUFF!!! Dorice Odell

Samuel Taylor Coleridge provides the quote that lends its name to the first of a planned ten-volume series chronicling the Space Age. I believe that Francis French and Colin Burgess have chosen well, as Into that Silent Sea, Trailblazers of the Space Era, 1961-1965, is one of the most evocative titles about flying into space I can recall. A good title certainly tells a lot about a work, and this is especially true in this case.

Into that Silent Sea trades between the two sides of the superpower race to the Moon, giving us a wonderful behind the scenes glimpse from Yuri Gagarin's first foray into the cosmos to the harrowing spacewalk of Alexei Leonov, from the competition to be first at Cape Canaveral to limping through a day in Gordo Cooper's dying Mercury capsule.

Burgess' and French's two writing styles mesh easily, and the book speaks with one authoritative voice. The space travelers and others written about in the book have shared their stories and given us all a peek beyond what we are used to seeing.

It is a unique work in that it presents both sides of the race in a clear and succinct manner while giving us real astronauts and cosmonauts, many never before discussed in Western press. The closest comparison would have to be Two Sides of the Moon, by Dave Scott and Alexei Leonov. However wonderful that book is, it doesn't compare with the French and Burgess work in that we examine many more spacefarers than just the one American and one Russian, and put it all in the context of the flights as they occurred.

If I have to find fault with the work, there are two things that come to mind. First, is the lack of an index to aid in searching for the people and incidents that interest us the most. Second, is the paucity of photographs. The space race was a visual feast, in that it showed people racing above the planet, yet most of the photos are simple head shots of the people talked about in the text. Most people today have probably never even seen one of the grainy shots of Leonov's first-ever spacewalk, so things of that nature would have added immensely to the impact of the book. I hope that in future volumes, more effort will be made to include historic and little-seen photos to illustrate the text.

We've read stories and seen movies, documentary and otherwise, that have supposedly told us the inside scoop. As the first in the Outward Odyssey series, I believe Into that Silent Sea will be viewed in the future as the one that led the way to what could prove to be the definitive story of the people involved in our rise to the challenge of spaceflight.

A must read for anyone with a love of Space, Astronauts, etc. Very well written.

I am an Apollo astronaut who entered the space program in 1966, and I knew and worked with most of the Americans that are profiled in this book. In the intervening years I have met most of the Russians also profiled. I was in the space business for many years, including making a flight to the moon on Apollo 15 in 1971, ten years after Alan Shepard made his historic flight. This book is a wonderful history of the original pioneers in space. I could not put it down once I started. French and Burgess have a great touch when it comes to writing. I found it especially interesting when reading about the Russian program and the men and women selected for their spaceflights. The book clearly and engrossingly explains the differences between the Russian Cosmonauts and the American Astronauts, including fascinating personal details of how they were selected, trained and carried on their flights. I found the book a great source of new information that was both well documented and thoroughly fascinating to read - in fact, I believe it is deserving of winning some awards. Before I flew in space, these men and women in America and Russia paved the way and were my personal heros. If you want to know who they were, then this is the book.

The author introduces his book saying it contains "my favorite tools for tuning up the poems you write". From discussing the poet's "job description" to the necessity of writing clear understandable poetry, from how poets should serve the poems they write to the necessity of having an imaginary reader in mind, from the importance of titles and opening lines, to cutting out unnecessary words, from ryhme to writing about feelings, writing from memory, how best to use anecdote, fine tuning similes and metaphors, and to a most inspiring chapter dedicated to "detail", this book guides readers to writing (and reading) poetry with greater sensitivity.

Among the many tools for fine tuning, the author sheds light on the connection between the specific choices a poet makes and their outcome, revealing ways in which a poet could manipulate such choices more consciously to achieve the desired results.

Throughout the book, the author quotes numerous poems to demonstrate his meaning, many of which are striking, some unforgettable. While some of the examples are from his poetry, he draws heavily on the work of other contemporary poets, enlarging the scope of the book to include many other voices and visions than his own.

Although deep insight permeates its every line, the book is written in clear and accessible language and a delightful sense of humor. The author possesses the gift of instructing with a light touch, revealing a great deal of information, while staying out of the way, a feat that requires a delicate and artful balancing act that is the mark of a true guide.

Many books have been written to help one write poems. This slim volume by Ted Kooser is a gem. I did not know Kooser prior to seeing this book tucked in a corner of a bookstore. After reading it, it seems I've known this generous Poet Laureate for a long time.
The work is useful precisely because of its brevity, clarity and warmth. One comes away appreciating the inner workings of a poet's mind. It is never stuffy and wears its intelligence lightly on its sleeve. It does not bog you down in technicalities. Rather,it helps you feel your way and prods you to think better about what you write. It has not turned me into a poet overnight, but, at the very least, it has helped me become a better reader of poems.

This is not an intense workbook to poetry nor a rigid list of rules to follow. Rather, it is a gentle conversation with the author that pleasantly guides you along the finer points of writing poetry.

Interspersed with kind humor, we read sample poems that illustrate various aspects of poetry from voice to how to submit for publication.

It reminds me by its simplicity of "Elements of Style" by Strunk and White.

You might wish after reading it that it had more details and specific exercises to help us develop the poet's skills, but he references a few other works that provide more detail if one is looking for it.

I consider this a enjoyable read that opens up one's eyes to the beauty and nuances of poetry.

Ted Kooser has written a treasure for the beginning poet. The example of the ampersand on pg. 66 is the type of information beginning poets need to hear from accomplished, critically acclaimed authors. To have the insight of a poet laureate who does not withhold any trade secrets, but Kooser lays it all out there for the reader. Tips on what to avoid, like sentimentality, and explanations of the whys and wherefores of rhyme. A necessary book for the writer's library.

I must confess two things: I'm already a Kooser fan and I only found him because he's the current poet laureate of the United States.
But since I came upon him he's become my favorite, not only for his superb writing, but for the person who shines through in every sentence in his poems and in this book, The Poetry Home Repair Manual. What this book isn't, is a list of all the do's and don'ts, of forms and rules. It's not a list at all, but an invitation to have a fireside chat about poetry, get cozy and talk about our favorite subject. And because Ted is a gifted teacher he can't help but share the kinds of observations that let us come away with tremendous insight and learning. What this means is that, as a result of reading The Poetry Home Repair Manual, you will become a better poet (if what you do is write poetry), and someone whose insight into poetry has increased so much that poetry becomes revealed like never before (if you are a reader of poetry). Now here's the bonus: Because Ted Kooser is generous instead of elitist, kind instead of exacting, and possesses a gentle heart and a wise mind you will have access like never before to use your own discernments with regard to poetry. Only last night I was able to put aside a poet with whom I never connected, without guilt. Five stars are not enough! Ted sets you free.

There's an excellent western hidden in the 442 pages of this book, but you will have to wade through all of them to find it. The author writes in the style of Pat Conroy, but is not as gifted as Conroy with his descriptive language and similes. The characters are strong, but they're pretty well disguised in all the words you have to endure to discover them.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Shane" by Mr. Shaefer, but it was 160 pages long and I was engrossed with every page. If "Monte Walsh" had been about 250 pages long I could have said the same thing about it.

If you like westerns it's worth a read, but be prepared for some tedious reading at times.

In my opinion, the latter movie version, starring Tom Selleck, is far superior to the original, which starred Lee Marvin.
Whilst trying to purchase that movie for a 70 year old friend of mine, I found this book, and tried it. The character development is far stronger in the book, and I would have to judge it at least twice as good as the movie. These characters remind me of the 'boys' I was around at my grandfather's ranch, before the virus of political correctness laid waste to this once great land.
In the words of two other movies: "We're after men, and I wish to God that I was with them." (The Wild Bunch) "This was a good ol boy- the kind of ol boy who would find a neighbor's calf stuck in a bog, drop a loop over his neck, take him back to the neighbor's, and expect nothing in return except a 'thank you'. They ain't many of these old boys left, and we're going to miss them when they're gone." (Good Old Boys)
"He's still out there, riding fences; you just can't see him from the road." Buy this book- you won't regret it.

How much longer will it be before little kids don't know what it means to "want to grow up to be a cowboy?" My guess is maybe one more generation...

For those of us that do remember, this is a book for our hearts, 'cause that's what being a cowboy means...

This is by far the best Western I've ever read. Not only are the characterizations real, but the description of the Cowboy way of life is too.

Jack Schaefer is depiciting for his readers not just the story of Monty, but of the old West. I felt as if I were on the trail, eating cold beans, fighting storms, wild animals, dangerous outlaws. The author's knowledge of the workings of a cattle ranch is thorough. His knowledge of the breed of men who make up this world is just as complete.

There is a pathos to the telling of the story, wonderful as it is, that broke my heart. Monte is part of the way of life that is fast disappearing from him. He never loses his integrity--his is the integrity of the land itself--proud, honest, stubborn, soft-hearted towards the weak, and implacable towards evil.

Monte Walsh had become a friend. I had come to love him and Chet Rollins, his faithful buddy as if they were real people.

Monte Walsh makes Lonesome Dove seem like a comic book (and I have long been a die hard fan of LD) In Monte Walsh, the writing is superb, often lyrical. The colors are vivid, the scenes are vast. You can smell the dirt and taste the chili. The men are men and their friendships are rich and soulful. The trails they ride are long and dangerous. Jack Schaefer was a master of his craft and Monte Walsh has become a close friend I've never known, but think of often.

I think this is perhaps the best memoir I've read by someone who survived the infamous Chinese Cultural Revolution. Many other authors have tried to capture the chaos and pain it has caused them, but Fan Shen outdoes them all. I'm glad he told his story, or other people would never know how horrible things really were at that time. Each chapter in this book is captivating, and its hard to put it down. It is also extremely sad, and at the end of the book you wish you knew Fan Shen so you could at least talk with him and give him a hug. :(

A fascinating look inside the chinese mindset. A must read for anyone who wants to know about the crazy history of the Red Guard, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. Also provides a great insight into how the chinese operate today. Fan Shen tells a story that will stick with you as you purchase your next "made in China" item.

I spent about 8 months reading Dr. Shen's book -- not because it bored me, and not because it was overly long. This is just one of those books that needs to be savored in order to be properly enjoyed. It's also one of those books that you really don't want to finish.

Savor it. :)

This is the story of a boy who, from a revolutionary family, eagerly joins the Red Guards at the outset of the Cultural Revolution. As Fan Shen comes of age, he realizes that the Cultural Revolution is a disaster and this book is the story of his attempt to find a way to achieve an acceptable life.

It is readily apparent that Fan is a very clever fellow as well as an intellectually gifted individual. The tales that he recounts are alternatively horrifying, sad, depressing and humorous. As he tells of his experiences, the reader can only imagine the horrors of the Cultural Revolution when you multiply his experiences by the 800 million or so others who lived through the same era.

Fan is a wonderful author and can tell a story exceedingly well. At times, however, the reader is left wondering whether we are actually getting an accurate recounting of Fan's earlier years. The stories he tells are truly beyond belief and, at times, seem to be a bit self-serving. Whether or not this is the case, the book deserves a read by anyone interested in China today or in recent Chinese history.

Dr. Shen is a teacher at the college in MN I attended. It was amazing to read about the life of one of the smartest, kindest people you will ever meet. He isn't an easy teacher, but when you finish your master's degree in a year and a half and your PHD in five years what else would you expect. If you want to read a true story that will leave you in amazed this is book that you will want to pick up. But don't just take my word for it, read it for yourself.

I just finished this wonderful historical and personal account of the race to the Moon, and feel privileged to know a little more about the brave men at the apex of mankind's tremendous achievement all those years ago. The authors have expertly captured the spirit of the times and given us the "warts and all" perspective on the personalities involved. For those who love history but are concerned that this book may be a "technical" account, there's no need to worry - it's exposition of events is clear and uncluttered, and clevery interwoven with the life stories of the people involved.

I strongly recommend this book as required reading to younger, high-school and college-age readers who may wonder today "How did we get there?". (Or sadly, even if we got there at all!). The answers are here, where we learn that despite our ever-present human failings, we CAN do great things when united to a common purpose. By the end of the book it will become obvious why and how we could reach the point where Armstrong and Aldrin could safely land on the Moon and return home - in fact it's almost anti-climactic!

Knowing more about the fallibilities of the astronauts has only deepened my respect for these remarkable and courageous men. As they grow old over a time when we haven't returned to the Moon, it's important to capture their stories for future generations, and French & Burgess have succeeded eminently in doing so.

My only niggle is that apparently the publishers balked at the idea of an index, which would have served as a guide for those who want to return to this book from time to time to "dip in" - as I'm sure I and many others shall do for years to come.

There are and have been hundreds if not thousands of books about manned spaceflight over the years but only a select few have really been able to communicate the true story and feeling generated by one of the most fondly remembered era's in American history. A time most commonly remembered as being one of technological marvel. However the true story is one of the men & Women who supported and flew the missions. This book goes deeper into the "Golden era" or manned spaceflight and tells stories that have never been told all the while keeping the reader enthralled. It touches on subjects long since forgotten or ignored and brings them to the fore. With first hand interviews with the people involved the authors really touch on the human aspect. I was especially taken by surprise that they told the story the way it should be. Not just the American effort, but the Russians too as there story never really gets told. I have read many books on spaceflight and I can honestly say this is one of only a few books that have kept me addicted and wanting to come back for more. Buy this book. You will not be disappointed. Even if you are not interested in manned spaceflight buy this book as you will be by the end. It reminds us all why we were interested in spaceflight to begin with. For a long long time the Book A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin was the book to beat. This is no longer the case.

What authors French and Burgess have managed to accomplish with their book "In the Shadow of the Moon" is a sense of being there.

This book transcends a third-party recounting of events. French and Burgess have created an extraordinary interface between the reader and the people sharing their stories. "In the Shadow of the Moon" does an exquisite job of bringing us into the fold, allowing a rather personal access to these astronauts' lives and innermost thoughts: helping us to better understand an experience we will never have ourselves.

The authors' skillful marriage of informing and storytelling help to ensure that it is a book that will be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of their interest level in space history. The authors did an excellent job of introducing background information on a mission, and then following it up with personal interpretation by someone who was there. The authors' thorough research is apparent, but it is woven so well with the narrative that it allows the reader to simply take it in, absorbing it effortlessly.

By writing this book, French and Burgess share with humanity that which few have experienced. But more than that, they help us all understand a little better the magnitude of our venture into space. The accomplishments of the few, holding meaning for us all.

In the Shadow of the Moon, the second volume in a history of the early space program, does not linger over much over the familier. It's main benefit is illuminating stories of the Gemini and Apollo projects that hitherto have been ignored or lightly touched on by other works. Where else can one see portraits of hitherto ignored astronauts like Donn Eisle or Bill Anders, both hitherto overshadowed by more famous crewmates like Walter Schirra or Jim Lovell?

I own and have read most everything related to the Mercury through Apollo space program and this book shows new information that I hadn't seen in the other books published by many other astronauts and authors. Information was gathered from a myriad of sources and checked against other sources. The book greatly changed my opinion of a few astronauts and paints the entire NASA program in a more accurate light. The passing of time since the event depicted in the book has allowed the authors to see the "big picture" and step away being politically correct and instead be factual and accurate instead.

All the Live Little Things began the golden era of Wallace Stegner's writing career. Finding the right voice in a first person narrative, he followed this beautiful novel with Angle of Repose, The Spectator Bird and Crossing to Safety; all are highly acclaimed.
In All the Live Little Things Stegner brings to the page a great deal of raw material from his life. The character of Marian was a composite of friends who had died of cancer, Peck was a composite of the 60s "beatnik", which in real life caused Stegner to retire from teaching and devote his time fully to writing. The callousness of Dave Weld's bulldozing on virgin land reflected the author's long term concern for the environment. His beautiful description of nature throughout the novel, and use of nature as a learning tool, expressed his life-long love and dedication to the American West. Even Joe and Ruth Allston were drawn from the real life marriage of Wallace and Mary Stegner. This matrimonial understanding and bliss is reflected in the opening page of the recently published "Selected Letters of Wallace Stegner":
What does more to stay us and keep our backbones stiff while the
world reels than the sense that we are linked with someone who
listens and understand and so in some way completes us?

All the Live Little Things flows beautifully. It has rich, well written characters that keep the novel moving towards a bittersweet conclusion. I did not believe the plot was forced or took unnatural turns; rather it followed the characters as they thrashed about with their struggles, sins and destinies, all seen through the eyes of the flawed but wise Joe Allston. As the character says near the story's conclusion: "There is no way to step off the treadmill. It is all treadmill."

Stegner once wrote that "In fiction I think we should have no agenda but to tell the truth." All the Live Little Things does draw heavily from the truths of Stegner's life in the 1960s, but it also holds its own as a thoughtfully written fictitious story of pain, hope, resignation, acceptance, and other qualities that mark the human condition.

just a note for everyone
the hippie in the book was actually based on Ken Kesey

Wallace Stegner's _All the Little Live Things_ focuses on a nine-month period in 1967 in California and the lives of five neighboring families in a rural area on the verge of becoming a suburban subdivision. The first-person narrator, a crusty sixty-seven year old retired literary agent, Joe Allston, describes his relationships with his neighbors and his own struggles to maintain a healthy, ordered garden. Each of the five families has its own philosophy, whether explicit or implicit, and its own eccentricities. Much of the novel examines how people coexist and how lives become enmeshed. The Allston's garden, which despite Joe's efforts is constantly being overtaken by gophers and poison ivy, is a metaphor for how life all too often resists people's hopes and desires.

The Allstons are an older retired couple from Manhatten who have moved west to find solace and comfort in the anonymous quiet of gardening. The Welds have lived on the land for generations as farmers and with each generation must sell more and more land to survive. The LoPresti family is wealthy and socially connected. Fran, the wife, indulges her artistic sensibilities in sculpture, in part to deflect her tense relationship with her daughter Julie. The Caitlins are a young family new to the area. Marian, the wife and mother, is a beautiful thirty-year old woman whom Joe dotes over. The Allstons adopt Marian, her husband John, and their daughter, Debby. Finally, there is Jim Peck, a graduate student, who squats on the Allston property. Jim Peck and his "family" of accolytes represent the excesses of the 1960s counterculture and the dangers of chaos.

The novel works in a flashback sequence. As he walks around his property, Joe Allston reflects on the momentous events of the past year and his feelings of loss. He feels that he is "infected with consciousness and the consciousness of consciousness, doomed to death and the awareness of death." At the same time, he realizes that the loss he has suffered has made him richer (see the quote for the review) because death, in some sense, affirms the experience of having actually lived. Marian's view, which Joe accepts intellectually but not yet emotionally, is that one must "be open, be available, be exposed, be skinless." Throughout the novel, we see Joe stripping back the layers of himself in his self-reflection. We see his rage as well as his sensitivity and acceptance. He even seems to acknowledge that he has fallen in love again to fill the void in his relationship with his wife.

Interestingly, the ending of _All the Little Live Things_ is similar to Stegner's last novel _Crossing to Safety_ and is written with the same intensity. One of Stegner's gifts is his ability to depict multiple generations in his novels and the conflicting viewpoints of generations. While Stegner usually sides with the older generation, there is a continuity in outlooks among the old and the young. Joe learns about himself--his demons as well as his strengths--in his interactions with his neighbors.

This is my third Stegner novel including Angle of Repose and Crossing to Safety. All the Little Live Things has a more 'elemental' style than the other 2 novels. It is compact and extremely logical. There is not a throwaway sentence in the book. For anyone looking for deeper, relevant background reading - I suggest these pre-requisities prior to reading Little Live Things: Shakespears 'The Tempest' - where the literarary figures of 'Calaban (i.e., Peck)' and 'Prospero' are introduced. I would have been quite lost without having first read Tempest. Another great book that I think provides the 'mythological basis' for Little Live Things is Joseph Campbell's 'Pathways to Bliss'. In Campbell's book I learned the basic philosohpy of Jainism - which is the foundation for Marian Catlin's character as well as the title of the book. You get a better sense of the Joe Allison's heroic struggle as he confront his personal demons (personified by Peck)living deep in the gully across the 'spritual bridge' that he cannot bring himself to go across. Quite a hero's journey indeed.

I can't say yet that I read all of Wallace Stegnar's books (I'm working on it) but I have read his prize winners: Angles of Repose, The Big Rock Candy Mountain, Crossing to Safety, and The Spectator Bird (in that order), plus a couple of others. For this one--a prequel to The Spectator Bird--Stegnar gets my personal prize! He simply outdoes himself.

It's the late 1960s just south of the Bay Area. The narrator is a retired book editor look for tranquility after the death of his 30+ year old son who died while surfing, his apparent profession being a beach bum--at least so his dad tells us.

With the arrival next door of (1) a live-off-the lander who reminds his wife of their son, and (2) an interesting, itelligent young woman who he is they way he would have wanted the daughter he never had, the narrator's life gets complicated, less tranquil, but also quite interesting. It is the story of the coming out of a curmudgeon. Stegner's ability to describe nature is never better, despite the suburban setting.

This vies with Annie Proulx's The Shipping News as my favorite book that I've read to date.

I read this book about three years ago, and enjoyed learning more about Elliot See, Ted Freeman, C.C. Williams, Ed Givens, Charlie Bassett, and Roger Chaffee. I didn't know that Freeman graduated from Annapolis in the same class as Ross Perot (1953), and I didn't know that both See and Chaffee were both Eagle Scouts. See is often noted as a "civilian", but he was a Navy Reservist, and stayed that way throughout his time in the Astronaut Corps.

It was nice to learn about the Russian Cosmonauts, since I was familar with the deaths of Vladmir Komarov and the Soyuz 11 crew only. However, I was disappointed that Robert Lawrence was omitted. Lawrence was a MOL astronaut who was killed in a plane crash in October 1967. MOL was cancelled around the end of 1968. There were two other former MOL astronauts who were killed in plane crashes, but not while they were part of the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) project.

The gravesites of Freeman, Williams, Chaffee, See, and Bassett can be found at Arlington National Cemetery. A few years ago, I found them and put flags on their graves. There's also a section of the Electrical Engineering Building at Texas Tech University named for Charlie Bassett. The library in Clear Lake is named for Ted Freeman. Colleagues of Freeman and Bassett have said that these men would most likely have had moon missions if they had not succumbed to early deaths. Buzz Aldrin dedicated his first book Return to Earth to Charlie Bassett, saying "to Charlie..whose place I took."

Another excellent book from Mr. Burgess. I especially enjoyed the great level of detail in this book. Mr. Burgess even provides the astronauts' mothers' and wives' maiden names, their childhood addresses and many obscure yet interesting facts about their early careers. It was also interesting to learn how many of the astronauts had interacted with each other in the years before they joined NASA. While you know the eventual outcome of each chapter, I still found myself hoping it would somehow turn out differently.

I had just started working for McDonnell Aircraft on Gemini 9 a few months before the crash of See and Bassett into the Gemini manufacturing building in St. Louis. This book clarified several details of the accident that had become fuzzy over the years.

The epilogue was of interest to learn how many of the relatives and colleagues have moved on.

If you grew up in the 1960s and could name every astronaut and recount the details of each Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo mission (or, if you didn't), this outstanding work is a very important milestone and accurate record that enables us to remember the sacrifices made to reach the Moon. In great detail from the impressive research conducted by the authors, this book provides very rare insights into the lives of Astronauts Freeman, See, Bassett, Grissom, White, Chaffee, Givens, Williams, and the cosmonauts from the former Soviet Union. The book also dispels some rumors with respect to the accidents that took the lives of these skilled pilots and astronauts, as many of those rumors have been reported, merely repeated, and accepted in other accounts unfortunately as facts.

Thank you for reminding us of a time when America tackled a monumental challenge, and allowing us to be more fully grateful for the lives lived and lost so that we could meet that national challenge and extend the spirit of exploration to the heavens.

As a keen observer of the space program from Mercury through Apollo, I was very impressed by the scholarship and professionalism of this book. Although I have researched many of these incidents, this book provided details that I had never seen. Congratulations on an excellent tribute to these brave individuals.

I'm keeping it short and sweet - If you want to know about the "unsung heroes" of the early space programs in the USA and former USSR, pick this book up and read it - you will see who these men really were, and how any one of them (Americans) could have been first on the moon, instead of Neil Armstrong.

O.k. So I have a minor in philosophy and Nietzsche was one of my inspirations to pursue this as a degree in college. Nietzsche deals with androgony. In more modern terms, men and women are crossing over the line of androgeny with their jock image. They are getting more and more androgynous you can't distunguish between even basic differences between the sexes anymore. While my philosophy professor and classmates dismissed Nietzsche as "not being a first rate philosopher," he does have his points about god and androgeny. This is part of our changing world and in philosophy class I did make my points.

I am a yogi from an educated family, and my parents gave me this book when I was 12. Nietzsche's presentation is typically unsystematic and he was a pioneer ensuring that we could view philosophical beliefs in a non-linear manner. The dichotomy of his unstructured book organization and his clarity and precision of thought create a tension that can break through many Western Black/White, Right/Wrong thought patterns to see deeper truths. When he says "our humanity is to be overcome" - some have used this to justify eugenics, nationalism, and seeing others as "less than." If you read his entire thoughts (get the book!), it is more about overcoming the fragmented aspects of the self that weaken us, so we can be stronger and more pure. This is a spiritual thought from the man heralded as atheistic. Dig deep, and you will find that Nietzsche is beautiful. Yoga community friends - Neitzsche did not justify atrocities. He challenged us to grow and become better than our base qualities. He paved the way for Deserida's gloriously independent thoughts, and was an inspiration for the pop philosopher Ayn Rand's radical worship of the individual over "the masses" (which can be viewed as "cultural conditioning" in our times. This text is applicable to our lives today as the Tao Te Ching. For a completely different perspective (for balance of thought) read about Jainism as well. Then find your truth. Deep wisdom is timeless.

I feel obligated to correct a distortion suggested by `unraveler' below. It is popular to suggest Nietzsche was an anti-semite, but this is a rather lazy habit. Nietzsche's remark on `the youthful stock-exchange Jew' was mentioned. Here it is in its proper environment:

. . . the entire problem of the Jews exists only within national states, inasmuch as it is here that their energy and higher intelligence, their capital in will and spirit accumulated from generation to generation in a long school of suffering, must come to preponderate to a degree calculated to arouse envy and and hatred, so that in almost every nation . . . there is gaining ground the literary indecency of leading the Jews to the sacrificial slaughter as scapegoats for every possible public or private misfortune. As soon as it is no longer a question of the conserving of nations but of the production of the strongest possible European mixed race, the Jew will be just as usable and desirable as an ingredient of it as any other national residue. Every nation, every man, possesses unpleasant, indeed dangerous qualities: it is cruel to demand that the Jew should constitute an exception. In him these qualities may even be dangerous and repellent to an exceptional degree; and perhaps the youthful stock-exchange Jew is the most repulsive invention of the entire human race. Nonetheless I should like to know how much must, in a total accounting, be forgiven a people who, not without us all being to blame, have had the most grief-laden history of any people and whom we have to thank for the noblest human being (Christ), the purest sage (Spinoza), the mightiest book and the most efficacious moral code in the world. . . .

Is this anti-semitism???

if you want to have your moral foundations knocked out from under you, read this book - and then build upon the ruins - Nietzsche's, in my opinion, most accessible work, as his aphoristic style floats over many different topics - don't stop here however, i recommend Kauffman's "Nietzsche, Philosopher, Psychologist, AntiChrist" as a starter if you find the complexity and diversity of Nietzsche's thought to be overwhelming or incomprehensible - he's frequently ambiguous and contradictory but it's more a positive trademark of his works and shouldn't dissuade one from further readings.

If you like aphorisms and philosophy, this book will become one of your bibles. If nothing else, it's just plain fun to read for his incredible wit. Of course you have to put his ideas in the context of the period in which he wrote and understand that he has his own odd prejudices, but the brilliance of his understanding of the human condition really shines through. The biggest mistake any reader could make is to think Nietzsche was an anti-semite---far from it. He was anti-neanderthal. In this book especially the reader sees his low tolerance for received wisdom. This book is nothing less than part of the origin of Western psychology as practiced today. It also represents the demolition of science and philosophy polluted by the received Western theological framework. Some of the best parts are when he skewers religion. You have to love his style even if you do not agree with his pessimistic disgust for piety. This is the kind of philosophy book you need not fret over, unless you harbor wishful thinking about a supremely benevolent deity. Instead of making an elaborate argument about the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin, as preceeding systematic philosophers did literally and figuratively, Nietzsche bends the pin and throws it in the trash. I wish I had read this before his Genealogy of Morals, as knowing his thoughts here would have made that book far more interetsing and understandable. I highly recommend philosophy students first approaching Nietzsche pick up Human, All Too Human to start their study. And if you are religious and want to bolster your faith, well, you should stay far away from this book.

I was initially not going to write a review of this book, as there are already many justly praising it. The one negative review, however, saying that this book has little in it not in Harold Peterson's "The Man Who Invented Baseball" (published over thirty years ago) gave me pause. On one level it is clearly true. I remember as a boy my father telling me about Alexander Cartwright and the New York Knickerbockers, and dismissing the Abner Doubleday story. I don't know that he read Peterson's book, but the timing is right and Peterson did popularize the Cartwright story. This provoked me to dig out my out copy of Peterson and read it for the first time in many years. I can now definitively assure you that David Block is most certainly not just recycling Peterson's book.

They agree that there were earlier versions of ball-and-stick games, which they discuss, and that the version of the game that has come down to us as modern baseball was standardized by the Knickerbocker club.

That may make it look like they have similar theses, but they really do not. Peterson's thesis is right there in his title: someone invented baseball and he knows who it was. Earlier versions were fundamentally different from the Knickerbocker game, and the Knickerbocker game was the product one man's flash of genius. Earlier games are discussed, but they don't really matter, since the Knickerbocker game is taken as being so different. The discussions of earlier games mostly are there to discredit the Doubleday story, which typically has predecessor games being even more primitive than in the Cartwright story

Block's goal is also named in his title: he is seeking baseball's roots. The Knickerbocker game is part of a story that began centuries earlier. Earlier versions aren't a distraction, they are the story. Only by knowing what came before can we see what the Knickerbockers did and didn't do: what parts of their game were selections from an existing menu of options and what parts were true innovations. It turns out to be far more interesting than any myth of a heroic lone genius.

Why should we believe Block rather than Peterson? Peterson's is a book with no footnotes, but with detailed descriptions of events down to quoted conversations. Even if the events were found in histories that actually cited sources, we would know that this is fiction. Peterson probably considered it putting a human face on the story. I consider it making stuff up. He does that a lot. The chapters on early ball-and-stick games are a mish-mash of solid data, poorly understood facts, and utter fiction. So it is that he can, on adjacent pages, give two contradictory accounts of the origin of cricket. He has a story to tell and he isn't going to let facts get in the way. Block's book started out as an annotated bibliography of early baseball sources and Block is meticulous about documentation. When he is forced to interpret beyond the actual evidence he tells us this. You come away knowing exactly what is really known and what is educated guesswork. It is honest history.

I rarely give five stars in my reviews, but I have no qualms about doing so here. The book is quite simply the important book on the subject published in my lifetime. It may be surpassed some day, but that day isn't likely to be soon. For the foreseeable future this is the one book to own if you have any interest in the origins of baseball.

Having just been to Block's talk at the Harold Washington Library in Chicago, this reader got an eeyeful and an earful, bought the book and began reading it on the "el" on the way home and kept reading far too long into the wee hours of the morning.

Althought I'd like to have seen some of the compelling documents that were at Block's library presentation included in this volume, as a reference book on the incredible linkages to the game of baseball, Block's work is fascinating and as he said, still ongoing.

I'm a SABR member, too, as well as the Executive director of The Old Timers' Baseball Association of Chicago. sorry, I've never heard of the 1972 book that the sole negative reviewer mentioned, but this award-winning hunt for the origins of baseball takes odd turns throughout history, and while it may not be worth a hill of beans to fans in the Cubs bleachers today, for researchers, this is a great mystery that will, no doubt, be ripped off endlessly by hack writers for decades to come.

Kudos to ya, Dave; if this is your first big dig, I'm stoked to see what you unearth next!

The author seems to be primarily engaged in trying to debunk three myths: (1) that Gen. Abner Doubleday invented the game, (2) that the real inventor was Alexander J. Cartwright of the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club, and (3) that the game developed from the English game of rounders.

For the first, there has already been so much evidence that Doubleday had nothing in particular to do with baseball, so it would seem there was little more that could be said, except that, in fact, the author finds out some interesting evidence that he believes to be the main reason that A. G. Spalding might have favored Doubleday's claim-- that Spalding and Doubleday were both adherents of the same religious cult!

Regarding the Cartwright claim, the author has much less to say. He accepts that the Knickerbocker Rules were an important step in the development of baseball, but in addition he states that there is evidence that Cartwright's role in developing those rules was less significant than has been believed. And he shows that organized baseball games occured before the adoption of the Knickerbocker Rules.

It is in debunking the third "myth," I think, where the author strains to do something undeserved. So the name "rounders" does not seem to have been used prior to the nineteenth century. But the author admits that "rounders" was simply a name that has come to be assigned to an earlier English game, and that baseball developed from that game. The difference between that and the "myth" he is trying to debunk is minimal. If you really think it makes a difference between saying "baseball developed from rounders" and "baseball evolved from a number of games, but the most important was the game now known in England as 'rounders,'" you can accept this book's argument. I don't see it that way; to me "developed from rounders" and "developed from the game now known as rounders" are not significantly different.

But the book is interesting. It should be in your possession if you're interested in baseball, and especially in its history.

Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search For The Roots Of The Game by baseball historian and expert David Block is a well researched, expertly written, inherently interesting, reader engaging, in-depth study of baseball and its historical roots. Baseball's actual origin is in Europe and Baseball Before We Knew It resents a wry and informative authorship of Block's intricate study of the great 'American' sport. Baseball Before We Knew It is very highly recommended reading for baseball fans and students sports history for its invaluable documentation and seminal, groundbreaking collection of information compiled and comprised to create what may easily be seen as the ultimate book of baseball. No personal, academic or community library Sports History collection can be considered complete or comprehensive without the inclusion of David Block's Baseball Before We Knew It!

I have just read a number of rave reviews for Baseball Before We Knew It, so I won't try to outdo them. But I am a member of SABR and interested in tracing the development of 19th century uniforms and caps. I had email contact with Mr. Block before he finished his book, so my anticipation was high, and now I can say my expectations were more than met. From a practical and special point of view, I can now hang my "uniforms" on Block's chronological reconstruction, knowing that not every issue is settled, but that wide new vistas have been opened for my own research. His chronological flow chart toward the back is most helpful for the historian. Now we need to watch a good documentary movie on the Discovery Channel, so we can "see" what a game of ball looked in the Middle Ages. Would Kevin Kostner be interested?
Great job, David Block!
Jim "Batman" Battenfield of California

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!

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.

Author Gregory Urwin spent years researching the epic defense of Wake Island using uncovered documents, personal interviews of civilian and military survivors, diaries, library archives and just plan hard leg work. The author to this day still honors those that served at Wake by staying in touch with the survivors at their yearly reunions and was instrumental in making the documentary on The History Channel become a reality. 'Facing Fearful Odds' brings the battle to life again through the eyes of those that were there and gives a balanced view on the Devereux-Cunningham contravercy which showed beyond doubt the shabby treatment given to the Navy Commander. The book is a must read to anyone who wants to learn about dedication, friendship, survival and love of country.

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."