University of Nebraska Books

Oscar Micheaux wrote seven novels. "The Conquest" was his first novel, and his best. If you can only purchase one book BY Oscar Micheaux, this is the best.
Prof. Jayna Brown's introduction is outstanding. Her introduction is tough but fair. The introduction places Oscar Micheaux in his historical context, as a conservative Booker T. Washington follower.
This is the first reprint of "The Conquest" that is not a facsimile copy of the original typeset edition from 1913. As a result, the lettering, font and artwork in the book are modern and elegant.
The book itself is autobiographical. But the book is about more than the struggle of one African-American. The book is also about a whole variety of topics: homesteading, railroading, rural America, and the urban vs. rural divide.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in homesteading, railroading, farming,or American history. Micheaux was one of a kind. The same thing that was said about writer George Schuyler could also be said about Oscar Micheaux:
"He woke up every morning to see which way the world was turning, and he took off in the opposite direction. He loved playing the role of the maverick."

In the current debates over resource management and environmental degradation, the role of government and its interaction with its various constituencies is very important. A Conspiracy of Optimism effectively examines the multiple mandates of the United States Forest Service since World War II and how under increasing political and economic pressure it has chosen to satisfy the demands of politicians, the logging industry, and outdoor recreationalists. What emerges from this well-documented and cogently written monograph is a portrait of mismanagement, confusion, and overharvest taking place beneath and behind the oft-stated and repeated mantras of sustainable yield. Anyone seeking to understand the logging controversies of the current day must read this book.

This series of interviews gives a lively introduction to the works by the West Indian writer from the French island of Guadeloupe. Biographical details as well as political observations contribute to the understanding of Condé's works. I have used it as a launch pad to Caribbean literature written in French.

If you are a gardener, are interested in Native American culture, and especially if you are both, you may value this as highly as I do. Through interviews with surviving women who remembered the details of their tribes' agricultural methods, and the way of life/religion that went with them, the authors have made an important contribution in an area that was undervalued at the time (the early 1900's). But thank goodness they had the foresight to put this information to paper. The book describes tools, varieties, planting methods, and agricultural customs of the Upper Missouri tribes. Thanks to the authors' preservation work, and the work of others, some of the varieties mentioned can still be found. If you are interested, google up the Seed Saver's Exchange in Iowa, and add a new dimension to your gardening.

This is the best summary I have ever read for the time frame of July through September 1862. Footnotes and bibliography are excellant.Mr. Cooling is a first-rate historian. Civil-Warriors will know what I am talking about. If you wish for only one book about pivotal period in the war this is it.

Albert Jerome Dickson was a fourteen-year old youth when taking these notes of his 1864 journey westward to Montana. In later years his son Arthur compiled all his father's notes, journals and papers into this narrative. Young Albert was enthusiastic, sharp-eyed and keen in his observations.
Not only do we read of day to day travel on the trail, but also Indian uprisings and intimidations of the early 1860's; road agents, thieves and murderers and how vigilante groups confronted this behavior; life in early Montana mining communities; the reality of making ends meet while homesteading; establishment of territorial laws; character analysis of such men as Jim Bridger, J. M. Bozeman, military figures, the notorious Jack Slade and many others.
An enjoyable and historical timepiece.

This book is currently out of print, and there's no good reason for it. It's a fine, wonderfully written, well controled narrative about a teenager growing up in a man's world of cowboying in New Mexico and Arizona of the early 20th century. The narrator is all of 14 years old when he leaves home in East Texas, confronting a world of misadventure and discouragement as he looks for work, drifting from ranch to ranch, learning how to break horses, and taking whatever job he can find.

Along the way he meets and befriends a good many men who do the real job of cowboying for ranch owners. One of them is a foreman, Mack, who takes the boy under his wing. A top hand, he is the actual cowboy of the book's title. The boy's admiration for him is heart-felt, and the scenes between them are touching. Meanwhile, we learn a lot about what it takes to become any kind of hand at all, as the boy struggles against all odds to give it his best. A realistic portrayal of cowboy life, without a single villain, stage holdup, or shoot-out on the main street of town. Readers will also enjoy Walt Coburn's "Stirrup High" and Ralph Moody's "The Home Ranch," both of which ARE in print.

J.W. Thomas's 1989 translation of Heinrich von dem Turlin's Arthurian romance, "Diu Crone", The Crown: A Tale of Sir Gawein and King Arthur's Court, is a surprisingly good and delightfully inexpensive out-of-print find to be had for under $10.00, in hardcover, from several of Amazon's used booksellers. I'm on a summer's read/re-read of a variety of Arthurian texts and after an enjoyable read of the Anonymous "The Quest of the Holy Grail" The Quest of the Holy Grail (Penguin Classics), I was a bit disappointed with the Robert de Boron trilogy. Reading up on-line in good ole Jessie Weston and in the comprehensive "The Holy Grail", by Richard Barber, The Holy Grail: Imagination and Belief, I came upon this little studied and only once translated volume. It has Gawein as the main character, the Grail is somewhat marginalized, as just another adventure, and, if anything, there is a definitely secular tone to the story. We hear more of Lady Fortune and Lady Love and their influence on the characters than on Christ and the big guy. It's good fun and, as in "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A New Verse Translation, there is that interesting disparagement of the court of Arthur at the beginning, which I find intriguing. Weston claims that Gawain was the original Grail knight, or something of the sort, because of his roots in the Welsh, Scots, Irish or whatever sources. I'm no scholar, but I find this somewhat later, but still early 13th century, version of the tales a refreshing change from Chretien, de Boron and others. Heinrich can be quite funny. Some scholars reference this as the interminable "Diu Crone" but I find it long but delightful. Also, for the used price in hardback, it can't be beat.

This collection of stories completely fascinated me. I was unaware of the cultural/ethical differences of the former GDR prior to reading this book. The tales told, brought me within a very real human existence. The feel of the book was very bare boned; even gritty. The women depicted within the stories were tough, open minded, believable characters. Through this book I was allowed to realize the daily routines of a society closed off to us. This was a fresh read compared to the dribble of modern american fiction.

Some have complained, over the years, that this book was more novel than biography. Okay, then... what a great NOVEL! This was in my elementary school library in Elgin, AZ, and if I'd studied my textbooks like I studied this, I might have been a MONSTER! Connie Roarke made a great book, and I bless her name for it!

BONUS: Read how Davy was a true Small-government conservative in the Jacksonian (read that "Proto-Clintonian") big-government epoch! It's the true hero tale of the book!

Al