Lincoln Books

Here is one for every Civil War buff. Accurate, detailed, accounts of the real life of a private. Not just battles (even some major battles) but the days of muddy marching, hungry days cut off from supplies, lonely hospital days and more. All was preserved in letters (May 7, 1861 to June 18, 1864) from Pvt. John R. McClure, 14th Regiment of the Indiana Volunteers. It was amazing that, although wounded, John survived three years of the war's fighting.

Nancy Niblack Baxter, who edited the letters and did the introduction, also includes a paragraph of information preceding many letters placing Pvt. McClure's exact location, plus preceding military and political events. Many of McClure's misspelling and language is retained, adding to the delight of the reader. Baxter is a well-known Hoosier author, having written several other books, many relating to Indiana, including the four book series of "The Heartland Chronicles."

Although the letters document the activity of one Indiana regiment, primarily, this book is a delightful inside look at the reality of pride, feelings, grief, and hardship of any Civil War Union soldier. It was "privately printed for the family" so it's one to grab when available. Happy reading to historians.

This book is just what the doctor prescribed at this opportunistic time of questions about the Castro regime in Cuba. The storyline keeps you constantly wondering "what is going to happen next". It was a well written fictional account with obvious attention to detail in communist Cuba. Fidel would enjoy reading this. Some bright enterprising soul will make this into an award winning movie. The book or the movie would make an interesting subject of conversation throughout Cuba as those people assess where they stand with the government and each other.

Reviewed by Ellen Hogan for Reader Views (3/06)
Mrs. Abbott's book gives us a glimpse at life on the farm from the early 1900's until the late 1980's. The book is based on her memories and stories told to her by other farm families. She tells of traveling salesmen who stopped to peddle their wares. Of people stranded and looking for a place to rest their head and a good meal. It was a kinder, gentler life. The big events were barn raisings and corn carnivals, when rural families got together to help one another or celebrate.

Life on the farm then and now is very different. Each task has been improved by better farm equipment or just the addition of air conditioning so the house doesn't get too hot from canning.

Anyone who ever lived on a farm would be interested in this book. Its simple stories will touch the heart of many a country folk.

House of life is a euphemistic term used by Jews for cemeteries. It's beth hachaim in Hebrew. This term is often used because it implies that cemeteries are where the dead await the coming of the Messiah and their resurrection. House of eternity (beth olam) is also used; as is beit kevarot, house of graves.

A group of Jews settling in a new place would establish a cemetery before they would a synagogue. Since Jews were often not allowed to buy land, a group would try to lease a suitable plot of land for centuries in the hope they would eventually be able to buy it. Despite the problems and obstacles Jews had in obtaining land for cemeteries, as this work evidences, they nonetheless were able to establish cemeteries throughout Europe, including major cities, which have endured for centuries. Whatever arrangements were made for use of the land, they were reliable enough so that Jews put much planning into the cemeteries and large tombstones and mausoleum-like structures were common features. Antique architectural plans and old city maps and plans marking the areas of Jewish cemeteries attest to their permanence and acceptance. A German landscape artist, the author Jacobs is not only interested in presenting the survival of Jewish cemeteries throughout history and the establishment of more recent ones, but also in their evolution from Roman times, how they reflected the culture around them, and in some cases as with cemeteries founded after the Holocaust, the particular circumstances of their founding.

"This book charts this process of change [in Jewish cemeteries] in Europe...starting with the catacombs in Ancient Rome." Jacobs' evolutionary perspective then moves to Jewish cemeteries in the Middle Ages, followed by the Renaissance and Baroque Periods. The geographical area covered in the time period coming down to post-World War II extends from England to Eastern Europe and Istanbul, from St. Petersburg in Russia to the Iberian Peninusla. Cities and towns of all sizes are included not only to show the variety of Jewish cemeteries, but also how they reflected the local or regional architecture of the period and the customs of the broader culture. Thus cemeteries not only in the major cities of Paris, London, and Berlin are represented, but so are ones in the villages and small towns of Venosa, Furth, and Faro. Jacobs' tour not only takes one to the venerable, far-flung, varied Jewish cemeteries throughout Europe, but is also a narrative on aspects of Jewish culture and burial customs throughout the ages. Sephardim and Ashkenazim culture within Judaism and the renewal of Jewish religion and culture after World War II partly through the founding of new cemeteries are particular topics Jacobs turns to in the broad historical approach. "How is this returning life reflected in the continent's post-war cemeteries?" is a question answered with both text and photographs.

The variety of Beyer's photographs and related historical visual matter match the range and specifics of Jacob's text. The abundant photographs range over inscriptions on tombs, above-ground ornate, antiquated tombs, park-like areas, vaulted walkways, old iron fences, high surrounding walls, buildings, and in a few instances, adjacent neighborhoods.

Not the usual type of counting book, this title combines traditional counting activities with a simple "I Spy" flair on each double page spread. Each spread features a different scene, from kitchen to playground to bedroom, in which different numbers of animals frolic in fun. A child in each picture encourages the reader to "count the animals and put your finger on the number" found in a list on the right side of the page. Four different types of animals in various numbers appear in each spread, prompting the reader in a column on the left. Once prereaders are comfortable with the basic mechanics of counting, the book is simple enough to be read alone as a seek and count activity. Enforcing number concepts playfully, this counting book will have more reading mileage as children become comfortable with counting and number recognition. Zero, often neglected in counting books, is also introduced. There might be two sharks in the bathtub, but no octopuses on the towel rail!

This book is wonderful for teaching number concept to toddlers and preschoolers, but not recommended for large storytime groups with its interactive format.

Highly recommended.

This book would work in a Civil War unit. This book is another fascinating book in the series. There are historical facts, photos, and the drawing, which will actively engage students. The drawing may be appropriate for students with limited written English, enabling them to express curricular content through drawing and prompting them to discuss concepts orally.

Essays and case studies consider why and how urban places can be made greener for those who live there, packing in a 22-minute film on DVD to accompany text examples of how more humane metropolises are built. College-level collections strong in urban studies will find this perfect for classroom discussion, assignment, and for college-level contemporary social issues reference libraries.

Like Alcibiades arriving late and drunk to the Symposium, I seek not so much to offer a sober oration, but rather an impromptu and heartfelt encomium praising the life and works of Professor Hazel Barnes.

At the age of twenty-one, I first discovered a tattered 1959 edition of Hazel Barnes's Humanistic Existentialism: The Literature of Possibility in a small Connecticut bookstore. The binding was creased; the pages were already beginning to separate from the spine--but like Alcibiades comparing his homely master Socrates to a statue of Silenus, I glimpsed things inside the book's covers "so godlike--so bright and beautiful, so utterly amazing--that I no longer had a choice." Like Socrates' tragic student, I had no choice except to take up the moral, philosophical, and aesthetic challenges posed by Barnes's interpretation of the existential tradition.

And just what is existentialism? It is, as Walter Kaufmann points out in his own Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre, "a label for several widely different revolts against traditional philosophy.... Existentialism is a timeless sensibility that can be discerned here and there in the past; but it is only in recent times that it has hardened into a sustained protest and preoccupation" (11-12). And in her Humanistic Existentialism, Hazel does a peerless job presenting the sustained protest of these often misunderstood philosophers, especially the post-WWII French existentialists Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, and Simone de Beauvior.

Existentialism is not synonymous with radical nihilism or immature hedonism. Rather, existentialism is in fact a deeply ethical philosophy that demands extreme personal responsibility. If according to Sartre "existence" does indeed "precede essence," then you as a conscious individual are free to decide what it means to exist and be human. Because an essential self is an illusion, an existentialist cannot make excuses for his or her behavior by saying, "I can't help it. It is in my nature to lie, cheat, steal, kill, etc." According to this philosophical system, a person's self is the sum of his or her actions. You are what you do. You exist in this world as a conscious individual, and it is your free will that will choose at each moment how to act or not to act without resorting to someone else's standards. However, this does not give you license for narcissism or criminality. Just as you value your free will, you must also value and protect the free will of other conscious minds. To treat someone as an object (being-in-itself) rather than a free, willing human being (being-for-itself) is to live in existential Bad Faith.

Some existentialists were atheists; some were believers--but all were so overwhelmed by the horror of human suffering that they had no choice but to rebel against this metaphysical injustice. Existentialism is frightening, heady stuff. It asks hard questions of both man and God, questions few have ever dared to ask.

When I discovered the works of Hazel Barnes, I was in a deep crisis of faith--a true existential crisis. If everything happens for a reason, how can a supposedly rational and benevolent universe allow so much suffering, especially the suffering of innocent children? Even though Ms. Barnes draws much of her interpretation of existentialism from Sartrean ethics (indeed, she was the first English translator of Being and Nothingness), she also has a deep understanding of existentialism's roots in Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, and Fyodor Dostoevsky, author of the most important novel ever written: The Brothers Karamazov. (Don't believe me? I dare any great-souled man or women to read The Brothers Karamazov and not come away profoundly changed and shaken.) In truth, Hazel Barnes was the first person to guide me toward the peerless Dostoevsky, who to this day stands as my spiritual guide and master.

Professor Barnes, you opened the doorways of the philosophic life for me, and I owe you a great debt. I have never sat in your classroom, but I consider myself one of your students. Your life's work serves as an inspiration to us all--a life lived with integrity and courage. A life lived in existential Good Faith.

With respect,
James B. Pepe

References:

Kaufmann, Walter. Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre. Cleveland: World Publishing, 1956.

Huskers Handbook: Stories, Stats and Stuff About Nebraska Football By Eric Nelson, Chris Jenson

In the interest of full disclosure, I have a couple of fan stories in the book, and I'm referenced as one of the many fans who were interviewed. The author is a friend and former roommate.

"Huskerville" asks the questions pondered by many Nebraskan fans, particularly those of us who've left the state but still call it home. Why does Husker football mean so much to Nebraskans? Why is the connection between Nebraskans and Husker football so strong? Is this connection unique?

Aden provides the answers, referencing countless Husker fans, and a fair amount of Nebraska history along the way. It's a good read. It's heavier than your average sports book, but Aden treats the subject seriously while throwing in some fun.