New England College Books

This is an amazing, and true story of leadership, teamwork, and hard work. This single book represents the creation of a new classroom, one where the student is the main concern, not useless facts and instant recall memories. This book is a must read to any and all student or educatior who feels the modern day education system is lacking. Taylor Morris is a genius.

Good book...but the other review is wrong..it did not start in New York, but New Hampshire.
I recommend this book to anyone. It's great!

Morris had a spat with his wife and to punish her he insisted that she not pick him up from work. He would walk home, about 15 miles. In that brief walk he had an epiphany. The next day he asked his students which would teach them more, a semester in class or a semester walking. Unanimously they voted for walking. Morris rounded up some money and 18 months later took his class for a walk, from upstate New York to Nova Scotia.

Experimenting with various walking styles, supported by an old van for lunch and equipment transport, Morris and a dozen students, his wife and two of his kids took a trip out of New York state and into their minds.

If you liked Peter Jenkins or if you are just wondering what the US is all about, explore a small part of it with Morris and his class. You will read this awe inspiring book over and over again.

This work is truly profound. His composition is genius. The subject matter is an important cultural statement. Alen is without doubt a master photographer. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. The reproduction is perfect. A hidden gem is the beautiful audio cd that captures the the music of these people. What a brilliant work!

A very important body of photographs -- both artistic and historic -- framed by a text of the Travelling people's stories and a compact disc of the people in the book performing their music, over forty years ago. A testament to a great photographer's determination that brings to life a part of Ireland's immemorial past which has vanished in our lifetimes.

The sequel autobiography to "A Journey from Wartime Europe to self-Discovery", Cambridge To Paris And America: A Second Journey Of Discovery by Donald R. Maxwell (Faculty of Medicine, University of Cambridge, and French Literature doctorate, University of Michigan) offers the reader a blend of narrative scholarship that showcases the life of a research scientist from having earned his doctorate at Cambridge University, to his work in the Curie Institute in Paris, to his having earned a second doctorate in French literature back in America, and finally settling down in Ann Arbor with his wife Catherine with whom he had eight children. Enhanced with a block of period photographs, Cambridge To Paris And America is a finely presented and highly recommended memoir showcasing both academic and family life.

Great tidbits of information on the Best Women's Basketball Program in existance, as well as one of the best teams that ever played.

The story concerns a massive bonfire in which the people of the world, convinced that their modern society has reached a state of near perfection,
determine to burn up all the outdated old knowledge from Man's dark past :

Once upon a time - but whether in the time past or time to come, is a matter of little or no moment- this wide world had become
so overburthened with an accumulation of worn-out trumpery, that the inhabitants determined to rid themselves of it by a general
bonfire. The site fixed upon, at the representation of the insurance companies, and as being as central a spot as any other on the
globe, was one of the broadest prairies of the West, where no human habitation would be endangered by the flames, and where
a vast assemblage of spectators might commodiously admire the show. Having a taste for sights of this kind, and imagining,
likewise, that the illumination of the bonfire might reveal some profundity or moral truth, heretofore hidden in mist or darkness,
I made it convenient to journey thither and be present.

As our narrator watches, into the flames go all of literature and art, the titles and insignias of rank, the decorations and medals bestowed upon
soldiers, the weapons, the fashionable clothing, the liquor and tobacco, the clerical vestments and the church buildings entire, all the accretions of
Western civilization, until even the Bible is added :

[A]s the final sacrifice of human error, what else remained to be thrown upon the embers of that awful pile, except the Book,
which, though a celestial revelation to past ages, was but a voice from a lower sphere, as regarded the present race of man?
It was done! Upon the blazing heap of falsehood and worn-out truth- things that the earth had never needed, or had ceased to need,
or had grown childishly weary of- fell the ponderous church Bible, the great old volume, that had lain so long on the cushion
of the pulpit, and whence the pastor's solemn voice had given holy utterance on so many a Sabbath day.

And so, purified in the flame, and rid of all of the hoary old thoughts that had been holding mankind back for so long, the reformers prepare to face
their perfect future. The former executioners, who have cast into the fire the implements used by the various nations for administering capital
punishment, commiserate about how they will no longer have any work, now that Man is perfect, but a stranger interrupts their reverie :

'The best counsel for all of us is,' remarked the hangman, 'that- as soon as we have finished the last drop of liquor- I help you,
my three friends, to a comfortable end upon the nearest tree, and then hang myself on the same bough. This is no world for us
any longer.'

'Poh, poh, my good fellows!' said a dark-complexioned personage, who now joined the group- his complexion was indeed
fearfully dark, and his eyes glowed with a redder light than that of the bonfire- 'Be not so cast down, my dear friends;
you shall see good days yet. There is one thing that these wiseacres have forgotten to throw into the fire, and without which
all the rest of the conflagration is just nothing at all; yes- though they had burnt the earth itself to a cinder.'

'And what may that be?' eagerly demanded the last murderer.

'What but the human heart itself!' said the dark-visaged stranger, with a portentous grin. 'And unless they hit upon some method
of purifying that foul cavern, forth from it will reissue all the shapes of wrong and misery-the same old shapes, or worse ones-
which they have taken such a vast deal of trouble to consume to ashes. I have stood by, this live-long night, and laughed in my
sleeve at the whole business. Oh, take my word for it, it will be the old world yet!'

This brief conversation supplied me with a theme for lengthened thought. How sad a truth- if true it were- that Man's age-long
endeavor for perfection had served only to render him the mockery of the Evil Principle, from the fatal circumstance of an error
at the very root of the matter! The heart-the heart- there was the little yet boundless sphere, wherein existed the original wrong,
of which the crime and misery of this outward world were merely types. Purify that inward sphere; and the many shapes of evil
that haunt the outward, and which now seem almost our only realities, will turn to shadowy phantoms, and vanish of their own
accord. But if we go no deeper than the Intellect, and strive, with merely that feeble instrument, to discern and rectify what is
wrong, our whole accomplishment will be a dream; so unsubstantial, that it matters little whether the bonfire, which I have so
faithfully described, were what we choose to call a real event, and a flame that would scorch the finger- or only a phosphoric
radiance, and a parable of my own brain!

For good reason does he call this tale a '"parable", for in just a few pages Hawthorne presents several of the central themes that unify his work,
ideas which form the very core of the conservative critique : that Man's sinfulness is an immutable part of his character; that rationalists, reformers,
and progressives delude themselves with their utopian notions of the perfectibility of Man; that in their delusion they do incalculable damage to the
culture, while leaving human nature untouched; and that, no matter the "progress" they make, evil lurks, waiting to rear its ugly head and shatter
their dreams.

GRADE : A+

There are literally millions of Americans who claim some French heritage in their ancestry, due in large part to the proliferation of the French Canadians who migrated to the U.S. from Quebec and the Canadian Maritime Provences. America's Industrial Revolution stirred the overwhelming bulk of these migrants to seek work in New England textile mills and factories while a terrible depression was riveting their Canadian homeland. Although bits and pieces of the rich French history in North American are available in scores of mostly out of print books and academic literature, "Steeples and Smokestackes" is the only currently available, or at least, most recently published, English language anthology on a specific group called "Franco-Americans". Author Claire Quintal has dedicated most of her academic career in study of this very proud ethnic group that are responsible for sustaining the industrial infrastructure of New England since before the time of the American Civil War, during World War I and through World War II. The Franco-American culture is special by its history, language and strong dedication to Roman Catholicism even in the face of harsh discrimination from New England's staunch Protestant hierarchy. Besides all of the above, "Steeples and Smokestacks" is a very good read, enjoyable, to the point and, speaking from a cultural point of view, "C'est un tres bon livre".

This is like a great family history book, full of BC football actions which:

1. Tells me a lot of things I DON'T know from days before I was borned.
2. Gives me a review of the days I DO know, nice good names (not legends to most people but good for me!) such as Shawn Halloran, Tom Waddle, Kelvin Martin, Mike Ruth, Glen Foley etc. etc.
3. Of course there is always DOUG FLUTIE! That's a name I would love to see no matter how many times the stories are repeated!

Mind you, I am not even a BC alumni! I hailed from "nearby" BU but I am a Bostonian in heart.

Of course, there are cons...... mainly I would love a season-by-season history, even those that are wasted or not-so-good. This book is simply TOO SHORT!

So I hope someone would come up with a comprehensive history of BC sports!

Go Eagles!

This book provides a fascinating walk through the history of Wellesley College in black and white photographs. Each chapter begins with a one page introduction of the chapter's theme, followed by well-chosen historical photographs with descriptive captions. The chapters are College Hall and the Early Years, Presidents, Academic Life, Student Life, Traditions, Campus Places, and Wellesley's Motto and Mission.

One highlight of the book for me was the chapter on the founding and early history of Wellesley College. Numerous photographs of the interior and exterior of College Hall bring to life the building that housed the college from 1875, when the school opened, until 1914, when College Hall burned to the ground. Behind Tower Court, on the hill where College Hall once stood, Wellesley students of today can see what remains of College Hall - 5 stone pillars erected as a memorial. The photographs and descriptions of this book bring to life that building, the 1914 fire, and the slow process of rebuilding the College after the fire destroyed all classrooms, dormitories, library, and offices in one night.

I also enjoyed learning about the origin of some of my favorite places at Wellesley and about the college presidents and professors for whom they were named. Photographed locations include the dormitories and classroom buildings, as well as "Lucy's point," Shakespeare House, and the impromptu ice skating pond in front of the Science Center. It was fascinating to see photographs of campus places from which I have many happy memories filled with women from various points in the College's history enjoying the same spots. At the same time, Cohen has included recent additions to the College, such as the Lulu Wang Campus Center and the beautiful new walkway around the reclaimed section of Lake Waban.

The writing in the book is informative and concise, giving just enough information to let the reader tie the subjects of the photographs to her prior knowledge of Wellesley. The black and white photographs bring the history of the school to life in crisp detail. One note: Recent graduates looking for photos of their friends will not likely find them here, since the emphasis is more on older photos.

The author, Arlene Cohen, is a 1994 graduate of Wellesley College. While a student, Cohen led campus tours, researched and wrote a senior project on Wellesley traditions, and enthusiastically participated in such events as Flower Sunday, Hoop Rolling, and Step Singing. Her knowledge of and affection for the school and the bonds that are created there shine through in this book.

I bought this because I keep on getting flashbacks of the play I watched, with the Kathleen Turner and gang revival. Nothing like watching this powerful, brutal and extremely clever play by this master of metaphors - bravo to Albee - on stage...and feel yourself squirming in your seat, yet enjoying every gut-wrenching moment of it. Not for the faint-hearted this. A play written ahead of its time. This is a keeper on my shelves.

If you ever get the chance to see a live production of this classic American drama, run and get your tickets. You will not be disappointed. Edward Albee's drama stands the test of time. George and Martha are in the throes of marriage abyss where the lies, unhappiness and frustration rules the relationship. Theirs is a game not to be played by amateurs, enter Nick and Honey, a young married couple about to get stuck in the web of deceit. The booze flows, the barbs fly and the game is on. This is above all else one of the great dramas of American theatre. I was in a production of this great play a few years back, playing Nick. It was probaly the most challenging play I was ever a part of. To totally divest yourself in it by night's end I was wiped out, emotionally and physically. Awesome experience.

I won't bother to go into how terrific a play this is (the five stars should indicate that), but having just seen the touring production with Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin, I have to wonder which version has been published here. The current touring production "is based upon the revised text of 2004" and differs from the original in several significant aspects. Perhaps the most significant change is that the new version never makes it explicit that George is the same character who accidentally killed his own parents--a crucial plot point in the original. Nor do we any longer hear Honey admit that she doesn't want to have children. There are other changes, with several other significant cuts and some rewritten lines here and there. But is this book, which was published in 2006, the "revised" text of 2004 or not? It would be nice to know.

I was shocked to see that the new revision omits the end of Act II, "Walpurgisnacht". George and Honey have a key confrontation. George says "How to you make your secret little murders stud-boy doesn't know about, hunh? Pills? PILLS? You got a secret supply of pills? Or what? Apple-jelly? WILL POWER?"

Several pages are omitted; perhaps Albee wanted to decrease the run-time of the play. I have no idea. The shortening and the omission of key speeches are not worth the addition of the "F" word. Honey and Nick become a less complex and nuanced couple; her participation in secrets and her ambivalence about child-birth and motherhood are, essentially, removed from the text.

It's an unkind cut.

We've all been there: writhing with discomfort as guests in someone's home because the host couple can't seem to stop arguing. That's the predicament Nick and Honey find themselves in after stopping over at George and Martha's house for drinks following a party for the college Nick and George teach at (and which Martha's father owns and operates). But this is no petty disagreement that George and Martha are having; Nick and Honey have become unwitting accomplices in the psychological warfare that George and Martha have engaged in after years of bitter disappointment and rivalry. Where it started is left open for interpretation, although it seems that when George and Martha were married George had his eyes on following in his father-in-law's footsteps, and instead found himself hopelessly stuck after failing to move up in his department (to which Martha nastily insinuates that he just didn't have "the STUFF," a multi-pronged jab at George's career, intelligence, and ability to satisfy his wife). But the depths of their unhappiness -- and other possible explanations for it -- are only revealed in layers, with the biggest twist saved for the final minutes of Edward Albee's diabolical gem of a play. And what of the hapless guests, the newlyweds Nick and Honey? They turn out to have some secrets and disappointments of their own that come out in the course of the evening, but it is George and Martha's pathos that claim the spotlight. Their manipulations, lies, insults, and betrayals may be difficult to watch, but "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" is spellbinding drama at its best, and luckily for those of you who haven't seen it performed, the play reads just as well as it plays. I would, however, recommend watching it after you have read it -- even if only as a point of interest, because the roles of George and Martha have inspired many great performances. Kathleen Turner captivated Broadway with her rendition of Martha in 2005, but if you can't get access to a showing the 1966 movie with the inimitable pairing of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor (with George Segal and Sandy Dennis supporting) is far and away the definitive version. This is not to detract from the written play, of course, just to point out that "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" is that rare play that excells in both formats, and should be experienced accordingly.

William Cronon's book Changes in the Land illuminates the relationship and impact the European colonial settlers had with their environment in New England. The main premise for this book is that different human cultures interact with their environment according to their cultural norms and subsequently have varying effects upon their surrounding environment as a result. Furthermore, Cronon illustrates that these effects created by humans on the environment have consequences which in turn affect the human population and its society. Ultimately he accomplishes the task of showing historically that Americans have the live it up now and pay for it later approach with the environment they live in and unfortunately most Americans still have not learned from previous mistakes with regards to the environment because they still think in terms of wastefulness instead of practical conservation. Even though the concept of Americans being wasteful with their natural resources is common knowledge today, this book truly shows the magnitude of wastefulness European colonial settlers had with their natural resources and the resulting negative consequences for the ecosystem and their own society. Changes in the Land does s superb job of highlighting the fact that this wasteful relationship that Americans have had with their environment has been ongoing since day one they set foot on the North American continent.

William Cronon definitely has the expert knowledge to write a book on the subject of environmental history. In a sense you can say his whole life has involved history and the environment. The afterword in Changes in the Land clearly shows that this book was not only a work that was initially started while he was at Yale as a graduate student, but also was influenced by his own interest of history and the environment even from his childhood. According to Cronon he was inspired as a youngster by his father who was a professor of American history at the University of Wisconsin and by growing up in an area that already had citizens aware and concerned about environmental issues. (pp. 171,173) Furthermore, Cronon's list of academic positions, writings on environmental history, and professional memberships are too numerous to account for in this small book review. Needless to say, after reading his list of lifetime accomplishments in this area on his website it is overwhelmingly clear he wrote this book from an authoritative viewpoint on the subject at hand.

Cronon accomplishes this authoritative viewpoint by juxtaposition of different perspectives and integrating evidence and information from other disciplines. Cronon initially uses the contrast of Henry Thoreau's account of the natural environment in1855 with an over two hundred years earlier account of the environment in New England by an English traveler named William Wood from 1633. Thoreau was obviously disenchanted with changes that had taken place in the environment since William Wood's day which was evident in his comment, "Is it not, a maimed and imperfect nature that I am conversant with?" (p. 4) Famous intellectuals, early naturalists, and traveler's documentation of the landscape were only some sources of evidence. Cronon also used a wide variety of other sources of information such as colonial town records from the courts and legislation, ecological data, and archeological records to build his case although he was wise enough to note that "caution is required in handling all these various forms of evidence (and nonevidence), together they provide a remarkably full portrait of ecological change in colonial New England." (p. 8) In chapters two through five he juxtaposes the European colonists' and Native Indians' society by comparing their relationship with and effect they respectively had on their environment. The general points Cronon makes, hopefully not oversimplifying too much, were firstly, Europeans viewed the natural resources of New England as commodities and the value they attached to them were based on whether or not the were valuable commodities in Europe. Secondly, Indians had a subsistence economy and moved to different locations depending on the season of the year which dictated where adequate food supplies could be found verses the Europeans who had fixed settlements in which they utilized agriculture and husbandry to generate food and eventually a profit for the excess that they cultivated. Thirdly, Indians' perspective of property was they owned the use of the resources on the land and shared the use of the resources with others where as Europeans perspective of owned property was that they owned a specific tract of land identified by clear boundaries in which the land and everything on it was owned by the individual. This comparison served to highlight the impact and consequences on the environment by European colonists due to the way the viewed land and natural resources of New England. The remainder of the book dealt with the consequences of the Europeans interaction with their environment.

Chapter five more or less made the point that due to the impact of diseases on the Indian population and the subsequent restructuring of their social and political system they needed to find a way to survive. One way to survive was to trade with the Europeans and a commodity that was valuable to the Europeans was fur. Indians participated in the decimation of animals that provided these furs and hence they got sucked into the European mercantile trade economy in which eventually they ended up trading their way of life away and the environment suffered for it in the process by losing large populations of animals. Chapters six and seven clearly illustrated the wasteful practices of European colonists with the natural resources such as timber which lead to deforestation, hotter summers, colder winters, and more floods as a consequence. The wasteful shortsighted practices of European colonists were also pervasive by the use of their non-friendly environmental agriculture and husbandry practices which only resulted in a vicious cycle of destruction with the environment they lived in. Cronon used an eyewitness account of the colonial time period to conclude his book. A Swedish traveler Peter Kalm summarized nicely the shortsighted wasteful practices of the Europeans colonists by saying "the grain fields, the meadows, the forests, the cattle, etc. are treated with equal carelessness." (p. 168) Kalm concluded that "This kind of agriculture will do for a time, but it will afterwards have bad consequences, as everyone may clearly see." (p. 169)
With that being said, Cronon did a wonderful job a presenting his case and providing evidence which made this book a very interesting read. The only downside for a reader (which is no fault of Cronon's because he is only the messenger), was the disappointing feeling and thought that this is typical behavior of humans when interacting with their environment and why don't people in general learn from their past mistakes?

This is a very good piece of work. Cronon manages to keep all possible biases aside. He attributes ecological changes or problems to both natives and colonists. However, he argues that English Colonists were responsible for the greatest amount of damage. It was not a 200 page book on Europe ruined America but a well written analysis on European, in particular England, ways of life and how they dramatically altered the face of America. Natives and Europeans has two completely different ideas of property, life, etc. Without criticizing the English he shows how the English colonists ideas of agriculture changed the face of New England. It was not a thirst for destruction but a way of life or agriculture that Europeans worked with for 2-3000 years. Cronon does a good job showing how English recognized the problem, although little was done to fix it, and attempted to find solutions. It was a well balanced piece of work and narrated from a neutral perspective.

This text was assigned as part of a college history course. As part of my initial reading I found the text to be wordy, indirect and a little overly complicated. However, after reviewing the test for an essay it became far more easily to take meaningful information from. Cronon does an excellent job explaining the transition of Indian culture and society. He also does a very good job of explaining the complex interaction between Indians and European settlers and the American wilderness. In my opinion Cronon focuses on capitalism and the transitions towards capitialism and Indian society. Overall a good history read, very applicable to American history.

This is not so much a book about New England per se as on how ecology should mould our understanding of history. For too long historians have ignored the ecological/environmental dimension to history, especially colonial history; and Cronon's book is one among a number of path-breaking works that serves to redress the balance.

As Cronon convincingly argues, the strength of ecological analysis in writing history lies in its ability to uncover processes and long-term changes which might otherwise remain invisible. Indeed, ecological change is used throughout the book as a window through which to uncover the complex long-term changes wrought by the arrival of the puritans to New England since the seventeenth century. The full impact of European colonisation cannot be understood apart from the new relationship they established with the New England ecosystem though their commoditisation of resources and their involvement in the international capitalist economy, both of which greatly impacted the land and its previous inhabitants, the Indians. These changes were cultural as much as they were simply environmental or economic: the arrival of the pig, for one, was bound in a cultural relationship to, among other things, the fence, the dandelion, and a very special definition of property.

Of course, the book also offers up fascinating insights into the changing New England landscape from 1600 to 1800. It corrects misconceptions about an unchanging primeval forest before the arrival of the Europeans, or of Indians as passive agents in subsequent changes wrought. It also establishes the origins of the environmental problems in the region such as deforestation, soil erosion, and resultant climate changes - the legacy of which we still live with today.

If this book interests you, so should other landmark studies on ecological or environmental history, such as Alfred Crosby's `Ecological Imperialism' or Donald Worster's `Dust Bowl'.

William Cronon's book was a seminal effort in 1983 that established a new way of thinking about history. It has stood the test of time. The book describes the modes and manner of the ecological impacts that English settlers had on the New England landscape in the colonial era. Some impacts were intentional, others not so much. For example, by the time first permanent settlements were established beginning at Plymouth in 1620, many Indian villages had already been devastated by European diseases (Europeans, especially fishermen had been frequenting the New England fisheries for decades).

The English settlers brought the English methods of farming, new concepts of property, and a market economy that overwhelmed the tribes and transformed the landscape. Forests were cleared, beaver were over-hunted, fences erected, new and domesticated animals and plants were introduced.

An added bonus in this 20th anniversary edition is a delightful afterword by the author reflecting on the book and how it came to be only through repeated serendipity. An added bonus for Wisconsin readers are his reflections on growing up in Madison as the son of a UW history professor and how those experiences shaped his professional life.

Cronon sagely instructs us to asks 'how so Alien a Then could have become so familiar a Now'. Changes in the Land also wrought changes in the way we think.