States Books

I was given this book for Christmas and - being a huge nostalgia fan - I LOVE it! So many great photos and interesting stories. This is a must for anyone who loves show business success stories.

This is one of the most entertaining reads I've ever had...WOW! What a surprise! Highly recommended!!!

This book is full of wonderful information on the subject of ventriloquism and is a great history book as well, about a bygone era that was once a vital part of American TV entertainment. It's a must read for any trivia buff!!

Oh My gosh, this is THE BEST BOOK I've EVER read! This awesome book is garenteed to educate you on 4 of the best ventriloquists in american history! This is an awesome book, filled with lots of photos and fun stories. WELL WORTH YOUR TIME AND MONEY!

Okay, I admit it: I grew up watching Paul Winchell on TV. And my best friend carved his own dummy, and practiced ventriloquism, while I acted as "audience". So, dummies and ventriliquists formed my warped view of life, later leading to Monte Python and Firesign Theater. What makes ventriliquists fascinating is their combination of surrealism, fantasy and real-life issues, projected into their own, small theater. By "suspending disbelief", these performed create real persons and real stories. If you love imagination and those who create imaginary worlds, you'll enjoy this book.

John Elmore shares shocking and interesting facts, and personal war stories about our legal system. "Fighting for Your Life" provides 150 pages worth tools--from advice that can be a virtual "get-out-of-jail-free card,"--to knowledge that can SAVE YOUR LIFE. I recommend this book for everyone. As a law student getting ready to practice, I found this book to be an easy read, but not easy to forget.

This book is a must have/must read for anyone interested in studying, or participating in, the legal system. John Elmore's experience and insight are delivered in an easy to read way that makes the book an incredible resource for students or practitioners.

Fighting for your life is a resource guide for anyone and everyone no matter what their relationship to the law! Law Students, Practicing Attorneys, Criminal Defendants, or family members and loved ones of somebody who is either in jail, has been arrested, or is facing criminal prosecution can all benefit from owning this book. John V. Elmore offers each of us a practical, hands on, "If I'm in trouble, this is the book I need to read" guide to understanding your rights and making sure that they are not violated. Most importantly, the author has experience and knowledge of the law from every angle; He was a criminal defense attorney, former state trooper, and former prosecutor. In his book, he tells you exactly what to do and how to do it so that when you find yourself in a position where you are fighting for your life, with his book you have a fighting chance to win.

As a African-American prosecutor, I am often frustrated by the number of young African-American defendants who come into the courtroom completely unprepared and unaware of how the criminal justice system operates. John Elmore's book is a must read for anyone facing criminal charges.

Fighting For Your Life: The African America Criminal Survival Guide told by John V. Elmore, Esq. and Foreword by a friend of the literary community, Mr. Tony Rose is the most responsible book on the planet.There is something that rang a familiar air of discord as I glimpsed at the chained arms on the cover of Fighting For Your Life: The African America Criminal Survival Guide told by John V. Elmore, Esq. and Foreword by a friend of the literary community, Mr. Tony Rose.

I knew immediately that if I was not interested in fighting for my life, I would not open the book, and no matter how mysterious the picture on the cover with two fingerprints that look the same, but if you look carefully, do not match at all. My very own hands longed to free the cuffs of another black man whose time did not fit the crime, and by no means do I condone crime. I am speaking for my brother, father, sister, mother, grandparents and friends who lost love ones who wound up behind bars thanks to the unfair practices of the judicial system while their white counterparts got slaps on the wrists, but this is another story.

The truth is, as I read each page of one of the most "Think Before You Act" books ever written to help Black Americans stay safe in situations, or even avoid crime, the focus became clear that this book matches its title, and is indeed the first African American Justice Survival Guide ever to approach the answers to the questions Black African Americans have asked about avoiding the fatal flaws of the criminal justice system. It leaves out subjective opinions or views that could cause even the most innocent man to wind up dead. It happens everyday, and rather than for folks to remain ignorant of the fact that like criminals the criminal justice system does not discriminate between which blacks should suffer the injustices in situations, Fighting For Your Life: The African America Criminal Survival Guide is a wake up call for everyone.

It doesn't matter who you are, where you come from, what you are wearing, how much money you have, or how well you are adored by the community you live in. YOU too can be a victim of the criminal justice system, and not to take away anything from the hard working police officers who protect the community and sincerely care about the communities they protect and serve. We are talking about a universal code of conduct that once this book becomes a part of university law study curriculums, criminal justice undergraduate classes, required by youth in detention centers and those subject to light time in prison, and. or as a gift to perhaps your young son or child, the world will begin to play it safe when it comes to doing the job of being a civilian or an officer of the law.

Fear breeds in those who serve the justice system due to unpredictable deaths and murders of peers in the force that cause underlying tension, and retaliation. Racism still runs amuck. Ignorance still breeds within our own communities when we respond to situations with pride. I say, read Fighting For Your Life: The African America Criminal Survival Guide to WAKE UP and understand that nothing is more important than saving your life, and even if it means you have to fight for it. You will discover Defense Attorney, John V. Elmore's complete tour of the criminal justice system from the point where those who stand accused or violated can acquire a public defender or attorney for hire, the client's rights and crime report to what to do if you are a victim of brutality, wrongly accused, or required to attend preliminary hearings.

Readers will also, be given pointers on attire in court, making bail, and if not...the grand jury process and some top lawyers who can be contacted and will help the accused fight for one's rights. It doesn't get any better than this.

On a lighter note, I have to discard all reviews of books about the criminal justice system after reading this book which really presents the facts. I encourage all urban writers to read this book before attempting to write a single line about crime and outcomes in novels. If you need facts, this is a great tool for the urban writer as well.

As a reviewer, Fighting For Your Life: The African -American Criminal Justice Survival Guide is certainly on the top of my list for fact checking and research. IT is a thorough and accurate guide that is intelligent, sensible, and can be the cure-all of calling a truce between the criminal justice system and those accused. Yes, if you are guilty, there are penalties, but this book wants you to only do the time if it if fits the crime, and keep you living, because even the criminal has a family.

This is about humanity and cutting down the abuse and brutality of youth who are the product of the environments in which they live. The story is not finished, and we still owe another book to the survivors. I would have liked to read more about Hurricane Carter, Alfred Houston, Angela Davis, and even Mr. Tony Rose. This book will definitely welcome the trend of survivor stories. Def Jam's Bruce George is dedicating an anthology to The Bandana Republic, and Neshee Publication is acquiring stories for Fight To The Finish Line. All of these books are in demand

by our youth, young adults, local gang members, those serving time, those of the criminal justice who want to better understand their role as officers of the community, parents and people who care about the state of America on crime, and of course...address what we all need to know to survive. A new genre is born. All praise goes our to John Elmore, Esq., a criminal defense attorney, former state trooper, father of four boys, teacher and attorney general.

Ok....let me just say this book was great!!! I really enjoyed it. But, did anyone else notice a slight change, I love Sweet Valley and if you want to know what I'm talking about read Sweet Valley Kids "Lila's Christmas Angel" and see...

I love this book. My friend recommended it and i was hesitant at first because i'm not a huge fan of sweet valley high but i love historical fiction book. After reading this book I'd have to say it is my favourite book, all the stories of each generation are remarkable!!

I checked this book out from my local library not really thinking that I would have the time to read it. But as soon as I finished reading the first chapter I was hooked. I mean who would have known that Lila Fowler's ancestors' stories could be SO touching. Everything was so descriptive that I could imagine myself being the characters in the wonderful story about friendship, romance, tragedies and just plain fun. If you are interested in ANY of the Sweet Valley series you will definately enjoy this book.
When I was reading this book I was really hooked on the Sweet Valley Twins Series. This book made me broaden my horizon's and got my interested in Sweet Valley Jr. High books, Sweet Valley High books and many other great Sweet Valley miniseries.
Recently, I read the book, The Wakefields of Sweet Valley. This book was even better than The Fowler's of Sweet Valley if that is humanly possible.
The only thing that I didn't like about this book and The Wakefield's of Sweet Valley is that they are SO sad. I have never cried so much in a series. The only time I could put the book down was to get a tissue.
These books in the Sweet Valley Saga series teach you a lot. I hope that you will condsider reading them.(Tip is you read any of the Sweet Valley Saga books: Get lots of tissues.)
I hated how in this book Lili never got together with her true love. It was SO sad.

When I picked up this book I honestly thought that I was going to end up reading about snobs just like Lila-but I was wrong. The story starts with Lili de Beautemps, who narrowly misses the guillotine during the French Revolution, and ends up poor. From there, it eventually goes to George Fowler, Lila's father, and goes into what happened between Lila's parents. A nice read, even though I am not one for sappy romance novels normally. I think I'll pick up a copy of "The Patmans of Sweet Valley" as well.

I was really attracted to the Fowlers of Sweet Valley because I was always curious about Lila Fowler, such as where was her mother and why did she leave her and this book really helped me get an intimate look at Lila's identity. I could see Lila's personality in the characters-for example,her selfishness in Emily De Bocage, her strong willed independence in Rose de Bocage, her stubborn pride in Charles Doret, her inner strength in Lili de Beautemps, and her gentle spirit in Celeste Chardin.
I found each story suspensful and heartwrenching. I really liked Celeste's story because she was kind and gentle and really loved Marc and everything worked out well for her in the end. I didn't really like the story about Rose and Pierre. It was kind of boring and dragged a little with no suspenseful plot, really, just a girl playing a game of hard to get until she finally lost. I do think Rose was kind of a fool to deny Pierre her love when she knew how she felt for him and it's her loss in the end. But the story about the Charles-Isabelle-Jacque/Jack love triangle was the most heartwrenching. But what are the odds of failing to track someone down in France, moving to America, and winding up in the very same town with that person? My very favorite is the Grace Doret/George Fowler love story because I always wanted to know how the met and how it ended and why Grace left her daughter. The book ties in very well with the SVH series, especially Don't Go Home With John, which tells more about Lila being reunited with her mother after being assaulted. Did anyone notice in Isabelle's story the name Evelyn Pearce? She is described as a red-haired gossip. And in Grace's story they mention a girl named Lydia with the same last name, whose one of Grace's friends. Perhaps they are the ancestors of SVH gossip Carolyn Pearce? Lila has such a small part in the saga, but you really see her vulnerable side as a little girl saying goodbye to her mom it's so sad. I was also hoping to get a glimpse of the Wakefield twins in the book, or one of their ancestors, since the series revolves around them and Lila is more of a secondary character but they are not mentioned. This is a really great read and definitely one of the best books in the series. They should come out with more SVH sagas about other characters such as Todd Wilkins, Enid Rollins and even Winston Eggbert would be interesting!

This is one of the most poignant books written about figure skating history. I knew the story of the 1961 tragedy, but this book focuses on each skater in ways I've never seen done before. MUCH more here than just a focus on the famous Owen family. Good reading, well worth the price. ORDER IT!

If you are a fan of figure skating, this book is a definate must read. It opened my eyes to things about skating and competition that I did not know as a former figure skater. It is a wonderful tribute to the skaters of the 1961 U.S. Team.

In 1961, the greatest tragedy in U.S. figure skating history - and possibly world figure skating history - took place when a Sabena-Belgian Airlines Boeing 707 developed problems trying to land at Brussels airport. The plane nosedived into a farmer's field, killing everyone aboard. Among those on board were 18 members of the 1961 U.S. Figure Skating team, who were heading to the World Championships in Prague. This is the story of those skaters.
This book focuses largely on Laurence & Maribel Vinson Owen, as well as Stephanie Westerfield, who were the most well-known members, but also mentions skaters such as Laurie Jean Hickox and Doug Ramsay. It talks in-depth about the training & competitions they went through to become U.S. Figure Skating team members, as well as the terrible accident itself & how it affected U.S. Figure Skating at large - especially the rush to produce new skaters to replace those so tragically lost.
Journalist (and adult competitive figure skater) Nikki Nichols has done an excellent job in telling the very real stories of these people who were the Americans' best hopes for 1964, and never got to perform. Most of today's figure skaters have never heard the sad story of the 1961 US team, and this book is an excellent telling of their story. Highly recommended.

.......the Vinson-Owen legacy in its fifth generation.......?

This is the story of the 1961 American figure skating team whose plane crashed, outside Brussels, en route to the world championships in Prague, killing all aboard and changing the face of American figure skating forever. Previous reviewers criticize the author for relying so heavily on speculation, but for an event that happened nearly five decades ago and many of the people who could tell the story are deceased as well, I think she did an excellent job.

To me, the biggest scandal in the book was not the Laurence Owen/Stephanie Westerfeld rivalry, but rather the dissolution of Stephanie's family shortly before the crash. Her parents have both been dead for over 20 years and therefore cannot tell their stories, but to have a child who was a champion figure skater AND a budding concert pianist.....are there enough hours in the day?

Maribel Vinson-Owen didn't seem to be the most likable person (a vast understatement) but she blazed trails without realizing it. A Radcliffe graduate, the first woman sportswriter at the New York Times, AND she nearly destroyed her coaching career by allowing a black skater to practice at her rink? That took some guts. This skater, Mabel Ferguson, continues to promote skating to the black community.

This book is a quick read, and I ordered it at the library the day before seeing "We Are Marshall", about a plane crash that also killed 75 people. The Sabena crash officially had 73 casualties, but one of the passengers was pregnant and a farmer was killed on the ground by falling debris. It doesn't look like things have changed much regarding the treatment of crash survivors' families, but that's another book altogether.

Most of the 1961 performances can be viewed on You Tube.

I truly enjoyed this book. One of my best childhood friends died in the 1961 plane crash, her name was Laurence Owen. This book brought back many memories of a wonderful young girl taken far to soon. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves Figure Skating. It gives insight to many of the wonderful people who died on that February day.

This is truely one of the best books around for those that deal with inmates, especially those new to corrections!

Great book! I highly recommend this book for anybody in law enforcement or anybody trying to get into law enforcement! It will definitly make you think about what these criminals will do to manipulate you!

This is one of those books that really help you realize that you need to be AWARE. It's hard to do at first, but it teaches you what to look for when you are working with criminals. If you are, then you should buy this book.

This book should be required reading for everyone. I bought it for my husband who is going into law enforcement, but read it myself. After reading it, I made my teenage son, and my four brothers, and my parents, friends and in-laws read it. It is a wake up call for those of us who go through life thinking the best of people, and assuming that everyone else does too. If you have anyone in your life- unstable ex-mates, out of control teen-age kids, outlaw-inlaws, or any other kind of person that seems to want to use or abuse you, then please educate yourself about their agendas with this book. It makes it much easier to protect yourself, and believe me, not all criminal types are behind bars or come with a warning label.

This is an invaluable book for any correctional employee. It should be read by all new employees and reviewed by others from time to time.

Having worked in the corrections field for many years, I have seen numerous variations of these 'games'. The authors do a great job of explaining how setups progress from beginning to endgame. They cover many case studies that show various ways that inmates manipulate some staffers into providing contraband, sexual favors, etc. One would like to think that never happens, but it does. This book can be a great aid in reducing occurrences.

I first read this about ten years ago and just reread it. I learned even more the second time through. It is certainly worthwhile to review.

This book can help correctional workers avoid losing their reputations, jobs, and even their lives. If you work in corrections, buy this, read it, and share it with others.

Books

The Grunt Padre
By Father Daniel L. Mode
Reviewed by Cos Ferrara

When Vincent R. Capodanno, Jr. decided to become a Maryknoll priest, he expected to be bringing the word of Christ to foreign lands. But it is unlikely that he expected to be the Christ-bearer to American soldiers in Vietnam during one of the deadliest of wars. After spending seven years in Taiwan and Hong Kong, Father Vincent requested permission to become a U. S. Navy chaplain and serve Marines in the field of battle. And serve he did.
The Grunt Padre by Father Daniel L. Mode (CMJ Marian Publishers, Oak Lawn, IL, 2000), tells his story. The book is the result of painstaking research over a number of years into the life and death of a quietly heroic Catholic priest. Father Mode read every available account on Father Vincent. He spoke to Father Vincent's family, his fellow Marines, and military officials who investigated the priest's heroism before the appropriate medals and honors could be bestowed on him. Once word of his research spread, Marines from across the country sent their accounts of the grunt Padre to be included in the book.

The Grunt Padre
Father Vincent Capodanno arrived in Vietnam in April 1966, to begin his 12-month tour. The United States had 385,000 troops there, with an average of 40 US soldiers dying there every month. In speaking of Father Vincent's ministry, one Marine said: "He was not standing on any soapboxes. The only thing he asked of the grunt Marines was the honor to be with them, and that meant he had to become one of them." "Grunt Marine" is a term that by rights should only be used by enlisted infantry Marines. They use it to remind themselves of the seriousness of their training: sweat in peace saves lives in war.
Father Vincent lived as a grunt Marine. Another Marine said he "was not a religious leader who did his job and then returned to the comfort of his own circle. Wherever they went, he went. Whatever burdens they had to carry, he shared the load. No problem was too large or too small to take to Father Vincent. He was available to them day and night. In a short time, the grunt Marines recognized Father Vincent's determination to be with them and one of them. The men respectfully and affectionately dubbed him "The Grunt Padre."

Whatever It Takes
He heard confessions, instructed converts, and administered the sacraments. He also walked dangerous perimeters, accompanying Marines positioned in distant jungle outposts.
In his spare time, Father Vincent wrote letters of condolence and information to families of dead and wounded Marines. One family later wrote of such a letter they had received from Father Vincent: "It had been a week of terrible worry for us, and his letter was the most important thing in the world to us."
Asking to be assigned to the operations entailing the greatest risk, Father Vincent went on many dangerous operations. On November 25, 1966, during Operation Rio Blanco, Captain David L. Walker was wounded in an open, flat rice paddy. He lay hopelessly in pain and exposed to enemy fire. He could not move. He later said:

Father Capodanno was the first at my side, even though he had to run about 75 meters through heavy enemy small arms fire. After summoning a Corpsman, he then assisted in carrying me to a safe area where I was med-evaced. During this time he was constantly exposed to enemy fire.

With the Medical Battalion
After eight months working with field combat units, Father Capodanno was transferred to the 1st Medical Battalion. The wounded were carried by helicopter to the hospital 24 hours a day. During 1966, the Medical Corps there treated more than a million South Vietnamese civilians and nearly 6400 wounded Marines and sailors.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation was particularly important to the wounded who were fearful that they might die. In addition, Father administered the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, known then as Extreme Unction, to many about to die.
Lieutenant Joseph L. LaHood, a Navy doctor, commented on the gentle and effective way Father Vincent carried out his pastoral duties:

I am a doctor and after a year in Vietnam saw much. But never had I seen such dedication and selflessness, not as a sticky "piety" but as a "way." For the hundreds of cigarettes he held for the wounded, many of whom could no longer reach their hands to their lips, and for the hundreds of letters he wrote and helped to write for his men, the Marines will never forget that he is one of them. This priest of God is a hero.

Operation Swift
With three months left on his tour, Father Vincent asked for a six-month extension. On September 4, 1967, while people back home were celebrating Labor Day, Father Vincent was accompanying his Marines on Operation Swift. Lieutenant Joseph E. Pilon, M.D., gave this account:

On Labor Day our battalion ran into a world of trouble. When Father C. arrived at the scene it was 500 Marines against 2500 North Vietnamese Army regulars.....
Casualties were running high and Father C. had his work cut out for him. Early in the day, he was shot through the right hand, which all but shattered his hand--one corpsman patched him up and tried to med-evac him but Father C. declined, saying he had work to do.
A few hours later a mortar landed near him and left his right arm in shreds hanging from his side. Once again he was patched up and once again he refused evacuation. There he was, moving slowly from wounded to dead to wounded using his left arm to support his right as he gave absolution or last rights, when he suddenly spied a corpsman get knocked down by the burst of an automatic weapon.
The corpsman was shot in the leg and couldn't move and understandably panicked. Father C. ran out to him and positioned himself between the injured boy and the automatic weapon. Suddenly, the weapon opened up again and this time riddled Father C. from the back of his head to the base of his spine.

Father Vincent was one of 127 Marines who died in Operation Swift in the Que-Son Valley that day. He was awarded the Bronze Star of Valor, the Medal of Honor, the highest military award the United States can present. He also was given the Purple Heart. A United States Navy vessel was named in his honor--the USS Capodanno. Perhaps the tribute that would mean the most to Father Vincent is having his name inscribed on the Vietnam Memorial on the Mall in Washington, D.C., along with the other 58,181 dead and missing soldiers from the Vietnam War.

In May 2006, Father Capodanno was publicly declared Servant of God, the first step toward canonization as a saint in the Catholic Church.

A Painful but Uplifting Read

While this book is not for the feint of heart, it does tell a story of Christian sacrifice that should be heard.


1187 words

A lot of things come when you hear those words. Being a Veteran from the US Navy a Hospital Corpsman I know all to well what those words mean. I know the sacrifices that a Non Combatant goes through when he accepts that Torch of Freedom. Fr Vincent Capadano also understood what it meant to be a Non Combatant as well. He died coming to the aid of a Fellow Non Combatant a Mortally Wounded Corpsman. I read this book and I was forced to put it down several times to calm my nerves and tears. Never before has a book moved me like Grunt Padre.

A week ago I sat in the Stands of Parris Island watching my son graduate Basic Training as a brand new Marine. My thoughts returned to that book I read so many years ago. I bought the book and am giving it to my son as one of his Christmas Gifts. Every Marine should read this book. Every Catholic should Read this book.

"The Grunt Padre" is by all definitions a true testimony to the spirit of peace and slavation that Christ brought mankind and the humble example of Christ's teaching in action as epitomized by Lt Capadono's ministry to his 'Marine congregation.' His story is further testimony to the efficacy of the Chaplain's Corps in maintaining the soldier's ethical and moral compass in the most trying of circumstances . . . war.

One need not wonder that if Chaplains such as Lt. Capadano had been assigned to Ahbu Ghraib whether such atrocities would have ever occurred.

This book should be on every middle school and high school summer reading list if not mandatory reading during the school year. Such a story needs to be told to all our children!

This is a must read. I met Father Vincent while I was in a Chu Lai hospital where he was stationed. It was sometime in January 1967. I remember his first visit with me; he brought to me a small transistor radio and some cookies he had received in the mail. I was immediately awed by his presence. He raised my spirits and made me feel special in a place that was overwhelming and intimidating. For the brief time I was there I would visit him in the chapel and had some wonderful conversations with him. When I returned to my company (C 1/7) area I would occasionally see him. I recall we were on an operation and one Sunday he provided services right there out in the field (one of the pictures in the book). A number of us Marines (regardless of faith) would gather and he would lead the service. It exemplified the importance of faith and the unimportance of individual beliefs; we would all prey to the same God. I recall we were on a line sweep across a field and a Marine about three down from me had tripped a land mind. Two Marines were down. Father Vince ran at full speed past me and went in front of the line with no regard for himself. Within a matter of moments he was the first to arrive at the aid of the fallen Marines. I knew then that he would not survive in Vietnam; his dedication to us would be his sacrifice. It wasn't until after I ended my tour of duty and was home that I learned of his death. There is not a day goes by that I do not think about him. I have this book proudly displayed in my office and enjoy talking about him when anyone asks. Recently I published a book Life with an Angel and I'm working on a sequel which will be based on my experiences in Vietnam and will be dedicated to Father Capodanno. He has had a profound impact in my entire life. For that I will always be thankful that God allowed me to share a small part of Father Vincent's life. I hope that this book and his memory and inspiration will live forever.

I saw the documentary of Fr Vincent Capadano and tears came from my eyes. Something that never or rarely happens in my life. I now have to re read the book again.

While the 17th century witnessed the failure of the libertarian Levellor revolution, the 18th century can be said to embody its partial victory in the form of the American Revolution. The radical libertarian nature of the Yankee revolutionaires has only recently been acknowledged by historians. Bailyn's volume broke new ground when it was published in 1967 by showing the Radical Whig foundations of the American Revolution. He says "attitudes and ideas that would constitute the Revolutionary ideology was present a half-century before there was an actual Revolution".

The two most widely read polemical Radical Whig authors were Thomas Gordon and John Trenchard. By means of their anti-clerical and anti-military essays, known collectively as "The Indpendent Whig" and "Cato's Letters", they kept alive the Radical Whig traditions of natural rights, suspicion of the ever-encroaching nature of state power, and justified rebellion. Gordon and Trenchard were able to transmit these revolutionary ideas in popular form to the American colonies.

Bailyn says "Everywhere groups seeking justification for concerted opposition to constituted governments turned to these writers [Trenchard and Gordon]". He adds "By 1728, in fact, 'Cato's Letters' had already been fused with Locke, Coke, Pufendorf, and Grotius".

Another important connecting link was Thomas Hollis. Bailyn says "that extraordinary one-man propaganda machine in the cause of liberty, the indefatigable Thomas Hollis" distributed libertarian tracts in England and British America, and subsidized the publication of American revolutionary pamphlets, as well as reprinting the classics of the 17th century Whig tradition such as Sidney and Locke. He was instrumental in supplying radical libertarian literature to libraries in France, Switzerland, Italy, and to Harvard University.

Radical Whig libertarianism comprises a coherent body of principles that are held together and given meaning by two fundamental moral principles. The first being the right of the individual to own justly acquired property; the second being the right of the individual not to be aggressed against.

The individual is defined by his physical uniqueness and so has the potential to develop into a mature and responsible acting individual. The individual's uniqueness forms the basic element of all social interaction and is the source of the division of labor and the exchange process. Similarly, privacy is the result of recognizing the dignity, worth, and sanctity of every individual. Only by permitting the individual to enjoy his or her property unmolested, within the protected sphere defined by the self-ownership principle and the derivative right to own property in other physical objects, can there be true privacy and protection of the private side of human life.

Tolerance results from the recognition that all individuals are potentially morally perfectable. As long as no property rights are violated, then all consenting, peaceful activity must be legally protected. Tolerance is vital because it allows each and every individual to exercise moral autonomy. Only by being free to choose between different courses of action can the individual learn from past mistakes and so strive for moral perfection and self-fulfillment.

It is a consequence of the ownership of one's body and the moral autonomy that springs from this ownership that no one can act on any individual's behalf unless expressly and formally delegated to do so. This means that individuals have to begin claiming their rights of self-determination, the right to withdraw or secede from any political organization that is not to their liking, and the right to resist political intervention in their social and economic activities. Bailyn says "Such ideas, based on extreme solicitude for the individual and an equal hostility to government, were expressed in a spirit of foreboding and fear for the future".

In 1765, Charles Carroll of Carrollton said, "corruption . . . will produce the same effects . . but that fatal time seems to be at a great distance. The present generation at least, . . . will enjoy the blessings and the sweets of liberty". Bailyn says "Suspicion . . . of an active conspiracy of power against liberty . . . rose in the consciousness of a large segment of the American population before any of the famous political events of the struggle with England took place".

Bailyn cites the Report of Speech in the House of Lords, 1770: "Lord Chancellor Camden . . . accused the ministry . . . of having formed a conspiracy against the liberties of their country". Bailyn also cites the Boston Town Meeting to its Assembly Representatives, 1770: "A series of occurrences, many recent events, . . . afford great reason to believe that a deep-laid and desparate plan of imperial despotism has been laid, and partly executed, for the extinction of all civil liberty . . . The august and once revered fortress of English freedom - the admirable work of ages - the British Constitution seems fast tottering into fatal and inevitable ruin. The dreadful catastrophe threatens universal havoc, and presents an awful warning to hazard all if, peradventure, we in these distant confines of the earth may prevent".

Colonists such as radicals Thomas Paine and Richard Price added to these fears. Paine is best noted for his popular tract, "Common Sense"(1776), which attacked monarchical government and urged immediate declaration of independence from the Crown and the formation of a Republic, as well as for his passionate defense of the French Revolution in his "Rights of Man"(1792). Richard Price, a Dissenter and self-styled "Honest Whig", defended natural rights, justice, and the right of a people to rebel against oppression in his "Observations on the Nature of Civil Liberty . . . and the Justice of War in America", also publishe in 1776.

Bailyn says "the colonists' ideas and words counted too, and not merely because they repeated as ideology the familiar utopian phrases of the Enlightment and of English libertarianism. What they were saying by 1776 was familiar . . . ; yet it was different." He says "The radicalism the Americans conveyed to the world in 1776 was a transformed as well as a transforming force", namely "to make federalism a logical as well as a practical system of government".

Proponents of liberty were mistrusted as well. Bailyn says "denunciations of the work of seditious factions seeking private aims masked by professions of loyalty, which abound in the writings of officials and of die-hard Tories".

It is significant that Bailyn seems only to touch lightly upon the views of the Tories - predecessors of today's neocons. He draws heavily from the radicals. This cozy accomodation and convenient oversightedness is also suspicious. It is an approach that is commonplace concerning the American Revolution. State public schools do not teach the Tories' views, rather their aim is to justify the present organization of American society.

More questions arise from reading Bailyn's work. Why did the Radical Whig revolution in England fail to attract the ruling elite and beneficiaries of monopoly profits resulting from the political system? And why did their counterparts in the American colonies embrace Radical Whig ideology?

My guess is that, when examined closely, the American Revolution fails to live up to its libertarian origins. My particular concern is with the Declaration of Independence - the supposed listing of reasons for the revolt. The facts indicate that the goals of most of the signers of the Declaration were quite different from their rhetoric. They sought freedom from Britain, it is true - the freedom to govern the lives of Americans THEMSELVES. This is obvious, not only from the words of the Founding Fathers, but from their actions as well.

In short, a valuable collection of primary sources. It should be read alongside Raoul Berger's "The Founders' Design" and Cecelia Kenyon's "Men of Little Faith".

Bernard Bailyn's seminal Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece is the starting point to understanding the central theme of American political thought -- the struggle of Liberty versus Power.

In particular, it demonstrates the crucial role Cato's Letters played in shaping the minds of our Founders in formenting our American Revolution.

Read Murray N. Rothbard's four volume history of Colonial America, Conceived In Liberty, as a magnificent follow up to Bailyn's beginning.

Research on a previous project provided Bernard Bailyn an intellectual treasure trove of over 400 pamphlets, written between 1763 and 1776, from which he crafted his Bancroft and Pulitzer Prize-winning The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992). This work, first published in 1967, remains a standard volume for students of early American studies at all university levels. Bailyn crafted a pointed examination of thoughts of American colonial leaders that culminated into the Revolution. Not only is his analysis wide-ranging, but it explores the depth and fallaciousness of eighteenth-century American revolutionary rationale with force and clarity.

Bailyn lays out the basic argument in the book's sixth sentence: "The ideology of the Revolution, derived from many sources, was dominated by a peculiar strand of British political thought" (v). Around this central thought, Bailyn details the convergence of thought that formed the colonists' case for a break from the British empire; he explains the change over time in American thinking on long-held political views; he highlights contemporary issues, i.e. chattel slavery and established religion, that gained argumentative force from the colonials' complaints against the British Parliament; and he illustrates the difficulties that Revolutionary thinking posed for participants of the Constitutional Convention who sought to replace British authority with a central American government.

The first part of the book describes the vehicle, voice, and ideological basis of the Revolution. The leaders of the Revolution propagated their thoughts through newspapers, broadsides, and almanacs. The primary writing form of the Revolution, however, was the pamphlet, which allowed polemicists of all different vocations to broaden the political debate. The American revolutionary pamphlets, though a "distinctive literature of the Revolution," had roots in seventeenth-century American sermon publishing and early eighteenth-century English polemical pamphleteering techniques.

The Revolutionary crisis did not originate during the crisis period from 1763 to 1776. Elements of the discourse had been long present in the colonies, but the post-1763 turmoil fused the ideas into "a comprehensive view, unique in its moral and intellectual appeal" (22). Bailyn nods to the intellectual influences on colonial leaders from quotations of classical writers, a rather superficial knowledge of the Enlightenment, citations of English common law, and the covenant theology of New England Puritanism. One of Bailyn's significant contributions to the present thinking on eighteenth-century American revolutionary thought is his understanding that "the ultimate origins of the this distinctive ideological strain lay in the radical social and political thought of the English Civil War and of the Commonwealth period" (34). He identifies early eighteenth-century English radical writers, such as John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, as shaping the mind of the American Revolutionary generation more than any other single group.

Change in America did not begin to happen only with the Revolution; it began a century before and progressed slowly. Bailyn constructs an intellectual chronology of Revolutionary thought that consists of three phases, beginning with the years of Anglo-American struggle before 1776, the execution of state constitutions from 1776 through the 1780s, and the crafting and ratifying of a national constitution. The final section of the book exquisitely displays the difficulties encountered by participants at the Constitution Convention to form a federal system of government in the wake of the force of argument put forth at the Continental Congress against the encroaching powers of a central government. Bailyn's discussions of imperium in imperio bookend with sheer mastery his understanding of the entangling intellectual obstacles which American colonists laboriously yet successfully maneuvered to produce the Revolution and the Constitution.

Throughout the Revolutionary period corruption served as the greatest threat to liberty, and, according the federalist view, a constitution establishing a government endowed with the separation of powers would ensure the existence of virtue, the necessary attribute for the sustenance of liberty within a republic. One area of frustration throughout the book is the use of terms like "corruption" and "virtue" that portrays an almost given denotation of such enigmatic expressions.

A true gem within the book is Bailyn's demonstration that the colonial leaders could not contain revolutionary fervor. Opponents of chattel slavery in America and proponents of religious disestablishment used the American leaders' own arguments for freedom from the British Parliament and taxation without representation to assail the continuation of the slave trade and ecclesiastical taxation against religious dissenters.

Bailyn's The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution is nothing less than a most persuasive, brilliantly crafted work that will influence the way Americans think about the Revolution for years to come.

Bernard Bailyn's Ideological Origins of the American Revolution is a centerpiece in much, if not all, of contemporary historians' viewpoints and methodologies for understanding the philosophical constructs and ideological underpinnings of the American Revolution. It was, according to Bailyn and many learned historians, after this writing first appeared in 1967, a revolution of ideas. What Bailyn did was to read prodigious amounts of writings of the time, mostly in the form of pamphlets and synthesize the thoughts that were being discussed and written about at the time. Essentially, he put the revolution of ideas into the context of the time. That was, some forty years ago, revolutionary within of itself.

Many of today's more serious readers of the period have read much of Bailyn and Gordon Wood indirectly, if not directly reading their own work. Both have been that influential in the field. The "disappointment" in this book is caused by Bailyn's own success, ironically enough. It was his work, along with select others, who began to pay attention to history within its own context - that is what was occurring in life and politics at the time rather than a chronological and linear view of the time. More of an interdisciplinary viewpoint and, as such, more accessible to the reader. Since the time of its first publication, many others have emulated its style (a good idea) but made its rather seismic effects at the time, feel much less so today. Effectively so much hype over the years (deserved then and de rigor today) makes for more than a bit of a letdown for today's readers. That said, those truly interested in the ideas, the philosophies, and their interpretations and misinterpretations of the day are well served reading Bailyn. Others should approach the read with caution as it is fairly dense but filled with moments of sheer academic brilliance.

This is a book that all students of the American Revolution should be forced to read. Without understanding Bailyn's argument, that the "conspiracy against liberty" was the main reason why America decided to break away from the British Empire, a student will be forever lost in trying to understand the roots of the American Revolution. Almost all of the books on the outbreak of the American Revolution have had to take Bailyn's argument into consideration; so, if you're interested in the study of the American Revolution, then this book is an imperative read. Read T.H. Breen's "The Marketplace of Revolution" after this book, and you'll have a decent grasp of the roots of the American Revolution.

I read books in a wide variety of topics. I decided to read about Lewis and Clark because I felt I just did not know enough about it and I felt that I should. When I received the book, I opened it and was fearful that I made a mistake because it was made up of journal entries, day by day in Lewis and Clark's own words. I started reading and I found myself immmediately engrossed in the story. I mean immediately. You can read the letter from Jefferson containing the instructions and mission of the expedition- just fascinating. Then you get the story of the expedition, day by day, straight from the horses' mouth. I could not put this book down. I could not stop talking about it. I used Google Earth (so cool!!!) to follow the Missouri River into the Rockies, across the mountains, finally to the Columbia to the Pacific and then back. Canoeing up rivers, down rivers, fighting bears, trading and smoking with indians, fighting with some indians, at times overheated, at times freezing. Surving on the land with strategy and forethought. I learn an incredible amount of information about that time in our country's history. I was blown away. And the greatest part, I had to keep reminding myself of, is that it was absent all of the politically corrected revisionism we read today. This story is straight from them. They are sitting down at night and recording what they experienced in 1804 (05-06). Those notes are delivered to you via an author Bernard Devoto who uses only the most relevant parts of the journals (leaves out the volumes of strict scientific research data). Then, when he has to make the occasion insertion of a letter or two to make sure a misspelled word is not misinterpreted, he gives very clear instruction on how he has denoted the change. He also, upon occasion will give a summary of events, or a note of interest.
The end result is a splendid story, rich in historical information, written by the men who lived it, about one of the most important events in our country's history. I leave you with this excerpt, logged Sunday August 18th, 1805 by a man who is in the middle of the American West, where no white man has tread before, trading and smoking with Indians, shooting bear and deer to survive, canoeing upriver for 2000 miles;
"This day I completed my thirty first year, and conceived that I had in all human probability now existed about half the period which I am to remain in this subluminary world. I reflected that I had as yet done but little, very little indeed, to further the happiness of the human race or to advance the information of the succeeding generation. I viewed with regret the many hours I have spent in indolence..."

I would use one word to characterize this work: Timeless. To relive the great expedition through the words of Lewis and Clark themselves is a fantastic experience. I think that most people who enjoy American history will love this book. People who are not inclined to read or enjoy historical non-fiction might find it tedious (such as students forced to do so for class assignments), as it is long and detailed.

I previously read Ambrose's "Undaunted Courage" (which itself is excellent), which contains many passages from these journals, but the journals themselves are unsurpassed.

I recently took a college class about the hidden history of the West--and it was a great class, one of the best ever--but one of the books we read in there was all about the Native American perspective of the Lewis and Clark expedition and while it was interesting to hear that take on the subject, I couldn't have been more at odds with the discussion that followed, most of which had to do with the low characters of the men of the expedition, the subversive agenda behind it all, and the thought that the world would have been a better place if the entire undertaking had never taken place.
That's because, to me, there has never been anything cooler than the Corps of Discovery, than the journey West, than Lewis and Clark and their whole ragged crew.
Actually, I take that back: the journals they kept...those are even cooler.
From Lewis's insightful reflections, to Clark's lyrical descriptions, to their hilariously bad attempts at spelling, to the thought of moving unknowing into America at its most pristine, these journals have it all. This is the quintessential American adventure story, an amazing account of men against the unknown. This edited collection of the journals, well-compiled by Bernard DeVoto, is one of the greatest things I have ever read, and ever since reading it, I have had an undeniable love for Lewis and Clark, and for their expedition.
Words fail me, but they didn't fail these guys, because here is the West of 1803, vividly rendered for us all to see today. When I first read these in 1999, they convinced me to move into the wild, onto the water, and I spent seven months afterward living out of a canoe...keeping a journal of my own.
If you haven't read these journals, do yourself a favor, and do so now: read them. DeVoto has already made it easy for you, by picking out all the most interesting parts, and by putting them in context with a well-written introduction. You need this book, and you may not even know it.

This work has been edited for the general reader. Many entries have been considerably shortened in the hope of gaining a wider public. For the most part only the highlights are kept, being the actual journal in its full version is so extensive. Most of the original punctuation's and spellings are kept (this gives it a feel of nostalgia). There is repetition. But this, I would think would be impossible to overcome. DeVoto has "produced a straight forward text which could be read without distraction".

The introduction is lengthy; discussed are: the importance of the Louisiana Purchase; the history and purpose leading up to the exploration; earlier expeditions, such as Thompsons' and Mckenzies'; and Lewis' and Clark's background. This was said of these two great men: "The two agreed and worked together with a mutuality unknown elsewhere in the history of exploration and rare in any kind of human association", and "Ingenuity and resourcefulness [by Lewis and Clark] in the field are so continuous that a casual reader may not notice them".

Each chapter is identified by the author whose journal it is taken from, such as Lewis, Clark, Biddle, Orduray, and others. The journal writings have been left as original, giving it that early America mystique. On the 14th of May, 1804, 32 men embark in search of a trade route from the Atlantic to the Pacific:

Dangers lurk around every curve. Indian, grizzly, and immense animal herd encounters are prevalent throughout the journey. To think of the rich bounty contained in the wilderness of the past is beyond comprehension. With leadership that is both strong and wise, Lewis and Clark take this large party of men on a blind epic journey. And on looking back, it was relatively safe. The treatment of the Natives is to be commended, even though many tribes were untrustworthy and warring to other Nations. Trade with the Indians was essential if they were to survive. Also recorded were observations and behaviors of the different tribes. A few of these tribes possessed a huge wealth in horses. Lewis and Clark's party purchased these horses both for traveling overland (which I was never aware) and for food. They did not seem to be displeased with eating horse-meat, dog or roots, which they bought and traded for. The days spent on the Pacific coast were to be the most miserable. The medical remedies used were almost comical; some that were proved beneficial have since been lost through time. The journey ends over 28 months later on the 25th of September, 1806.

I don't know if we can understand completely, how important this expedition was for our country. The undertaking involved in putting this book together from the hundreds of pages of numerous journals is truly amazing. And finally: Appendix I contains Jefferson's instructions; Appendix II is the personnel (32+); and appendix III is the list of specimens brought back.

Wish you well
Scott

I am not an accomplished reader so it has to really hold my attention to finish a book. This book is written exactly from L&C's journals. Lots of mispelled words and some confusion. Sometimes hard to follow. Sometimes the minute details are a bit much. They don't really expound on things. I guess what they go through on a day to day basis is somewhat mundane at times. Overall a decent read IMO...I wouldn't get it again if I knew what I know now. Oh well. Enjoy!

Michael Shapiro does a superb job not only of capturing the excitement of the Brooklyn Dodgers' last pennant-winning season but also of explaining just what the Dodgers meant to so many Brooklynites. Set against the background of the Walter O'Malley-Robert Moses negotiations that would determine the fate of the Dodgers, Shapiro provides logical proof that it was not O'Malley's intention to move the ballclub but that Moses kept making a fool of him to the point where remaining in Brooklyn would have been rather humiliating for O'Malley.

Though never elected to any office, Robert Moses was the most powerful official in New York City in the late 1950s. His power was further enhanced by the fact that the Mayor at that time, Robert F. Wagner Jr. was both lazy and indifferent, and would not have gone far in politics except for the fact that his namesake father was a very popular U.S. senator. If O'Malley was going to get the land and permits to build a new ballpark, he was going to have to go through Moses and Moses couldn't have cared less as to what became of the Dodgers.

O'Malley tired desperately to be taken seriously by Moses and the NYC politicians to where he even had the Dodgers play seven "home" games in Jersey City in 1956. In the end, the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, not because O'Malley plotted to take them there but because L.A. politicians eagerly and actively courted O'Malley to move to their city while their New York counterparts, especially Moses, gave him the brush-off.

O'Malley wanted to build a ballpark at the junction of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues, where multiple subway lines and the Long Island Railroad converge. Moses at first wanted O'Malley to build a ballpark in a hard-to-reach part of Bedford-Stuyvesant and later proposed having the city build a ballpark on the site of what is now Shea Stadium. Anyone familiar with Brooklyn knows that if you're riding the subway, it's easier to get to Yankee Stadium from Brooklyn than to go out to Flushing Meadows, where Shea Stadium is.

In any case Los Angeles made O'malley an offer he couldn't refuse--300 acres in the heart of the city, where multiple freeways converge. New York officials made no effort to compete as Brooklyn didn't count for much in their eyes. When the Mets were created a few years later there was no question in their minds that they should represent New York and use the orange "NY" logo formerly used by the New York Giants, rather than the Brooklyn Dodgers' "B."

50 years have now passed since the Dodgers moved, and Walter O'Malley has been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The ballpark he built and paid for (which opened in 1962) remains one of the most beautiful and popular in major league baseball. Shea Stadium, on the other hand, built by Robert Moses with taxpayers' money and opened in 1964, will soon be torn down. What is more, New Jersey Nets owner Bruce Ratner is currently trying to arrange to move his NBA basketball team to that same junction in Brooklyn that O'Malley originally wanted.

Michael Shapiro is an excellent writer and his book is highly recommended!

This book probably doesn't get the sales or the attention it deserves, because the title and the cover make it look as if it's intended just for baseball junkies. But it's far more than that. In just 332 pages, Shapiro tells four stories:

1. The story of the National League pennant race in 1956.
2. The story of why the Dodgers (and therefore the Giants as well) decided to move to California in 1958.
3. The social, demographic, and economic changes that Brooklyn (and, by extension, much of urban America) experienced in the post-World War II era.
4. Thumbnail sketches of the personal lives of the core players in the Brooklyn Dodger lineup from 1947 through 1956.

None of these four themes is given short shrift. Furthermore, Shapiro has organized this book beautifully. He seems to have done a perfect job in choosing exactly where to break the narrative of the Dodgers' wins and losses, and insert a section about the changing character of a neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Not only that, but Shapiro's writing is superb. Here is his account of the last pitch of the last Dodger game of the regular season - a game they had to win in order to clinch the championship, with Dodger Don Bessent pitching to Pittsburgh's Hank Foiles:

*****
Don Bessent went into his windup. The last thing he thought before releasing the ball was, he later said, "Tight, keep it tight."

Hank Foiles swung. The next thing he heard was the thud of the ball in Roy Campanella's mitt.
*****

You don't have to be a baseball fan to enjoy this book. You just have to enjoy good writing and a wonderful story, wonderfully told.

I have long been interested in the old Brooklyn Dodgers, having read multiple books on the subject. This is among the best. First of all, it is an excellent read. There is plenty of baseball included in its pages, and the Dodgers teams of the 50s were always interesting. But I learned much more than I expected from this book about the politics that led to the team's move to California. It's too bad the franchise couldn't have remained in Brooklyn, but the reasons they left were different than I would have imagined. The book also paints the picture of a post-World War II New York that was rapidly changing. As a lover of baseball, history and baseball history, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Wow. First let me say that I'm not a Brooklyn resident or a Dodger fan and picked this book up without knowing anything about it. The book turned out to be one of the best baseball books I've read in quite some time.

I was drawn into the book immediately. It is clear in the Prologue that Shapiro is a very good writer and that the book is as much about the fifties and Brooklyn as it is about a pennant race. The book is enjoyable on both fronts.

Shapiro does a great job of weaving a portrait of the changes going on in Brooklyn in the mid-fifties and giving younger readers a good idea of what it was like to grow up in that era. It is clear that Shapiro has done quite a bit of research and I think the reader really gets a good look into the personalities of the players and other characters in the story.

Any fan of baseball history will do himself a favor in buying this book. It truly deserves more acclaim than it has received.

THE LAST GOOD SEASON, by Michael Shapiro, earns itself a provisional rating of FIVE STARS in my mind, based primarily on the quality of the writing (which is uniformly excellent) and the depth of the research (which, within limits, is exhaustive). Yet the book deserves, like Roger Maris' "61*", to be only a qualified ***(**) success.

Much of that qualification comes from Shapiro's heavily touted and slanted thesis that Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley was not responsible for the Dodgers' departure from Brooklyn in 1957, after Robert Moses refused to build a replacement for the aging Ebbets Field.

Shapiro's grasp of the facts regarding Brooklyn is somewhat fuzzy. He says, "Jews went to Midwood [High School], poor blacks to Jefferson." Yet in the Dodger era, Brownsville was predominantly (70%) Jewish. It was not until later that Brownsville became a black neighborhood. Shapiro waxes rhapsodic about Midwood (his childhood home?) but slights the rest of Brooklyn. He admits that by the time he became aware of the Dodgers they were gone. Ironically enough, even while granting O'Malley absolution in absentia he makes and supports every argument as to why the man did not deserve it.

Shapiro blames, among other things, "white flight" for the Dodgers' relocation, but then argues that fans come in all colors. It's as if, in pardoning O'Malley, he is trying to convince us of something he really doesn't believe himself.

According to Shapiro, "Robert Moses is the bad guy in this story." This is an incredibly strong statement, particularly since Shapiro admits in many places that O'Malley was mendacious, that he was arrogant, that his plans for a new Buckminster Fuller-styled stadium seemed, at best, to be for public consumption only (O'Malley stole the scale model from the actual designer, Billy Kleinsasser, and used it without permission or recompense at public events), that he dealt with player and staff salaries in increments of hundreds and thousands of dollars not hundreds OF thousands of dollars (i.e., star pitcher Preacher Roe claims his highest Dodger salary was a paltry $28,000.00 in 1955), that he did not understand the "Little People" who were Dodger fans, that he once (as a youngster) traded a stack of Dodger baseball cards for one Giants' Christy Mathewson, that he fined employees who mentioned Branch Rickey's name in his presence, and, in short, that he was not really a fan of the team he owned.

Shapiro wants to paint horns on Robert Moses' head, and in some sense they do belong there, but not necessarily in the sense that Shapiro would prefer. Like the Master Builders of Ancient Egypt he had virtually unlimited power in his sphere. The ironically-named Moses was a man with a vision for New York, and he set about creating that vision of shining, rising buildings (such as Lincoln Center), vast bridges (the Throgs Neck, the Whitestone, The Triborough, and the frighteningly huge Verrazano are all his), and endless parkways (as a sampling, the Cross Island, the Belt, the Northern State, the Southern State, the Meadowbrook and the Wantagh) linking New York City and its expanding suburbs in a net of urban development. Yet this visionary had pathological flaws. Monomaniacal in his sphere, he had no compunction about unilaterally razing hundreds of city blocks, evicting tens of thousands, and altering the neighborhoods and neighborhood patterns of New York without a thought. Such changes brought other, unanticipated changes---the "through" expressways of The Bronx relegated it to a kind of backwater status accelerating its descent into slum conditions, and Moses' chopping up of neighborhoods in Brooklyn balkanized the Borough into a patchwork of disconnected rich and poor enclaves. Moses was more successful on sparsely-settled Long Island and in Westchester, where his road network created rather than changed demographic patterns.

When these two prima donnas met head-to-head, they treated each other with barely-concealed contempt. Although Moses was at first favorably disposed to a new stadium in downtown Brooklyn, this agreement soured within days. Without access to O'Malley's papers (which he was refused by the O'Malley family), the reason for this sudden souring is unknown, and ripe for speculation. Moses pressed, at first, for a new stadium in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a declining neighborhood; O'Malley refused. Moses promised him a new stadium in Flushing Meadow, Queens (the future Shea); again, O'Malley refused, declaring that the team was to remain in Brooklyn---he countered with an offer to build in Brooklyn, on the site of a ramshackle meat market. Moses refused to condemn the property (a first for him).

This bickering was never about questions of civic-mindedness, fan appreciation, nor humanitarianism. This was strictly a personal issue between the two men that affected millions of people.

While this was going on, the 1956 Dodgers struggled successfully through their World Champion season. Shapiro's snapshot of the team is far more detailed than his portrait of the politics, and is a joy to read. Shapiro is at his best as he describes the dynamic tensions that existed between the various Dodgers, the great negotiator of personalities, Pee Wee Reese, and their fanbase. It is clear that Ebbets Field was no longer a suitable home, at least without major modifications. Parking was very poor, a serious concern in the emerging era of the suburban commuter fan; the stadium itself needed to be revamped, the plumbing fixed, the seating rearranged. Still, Ebbets Field was only 45 years old, and was a solid structure, despite its flaws.

If O'Malley was indeed "desperate to stay in Brooklyn" as Shapiro posits, then why weren't his efforts directed toward staying? Why was he engaged in a stalemated battle of wills with Moses over a new stadium? Perhaps O'Malley simply wasn't "desperate" enough. Certainly, Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park still stand in less than desirable locations, but they draw dedicated fans nonetheless. Had O'Malley spent a part of his considerable fortune buying up some surrounding properties and building a parking complex, and then incrementally improved Ebbets Field with better seating and new amenities, the Dodger fanbase would have continued to travel to Flatbush.

O'Malley did not do this. He wanted land, and a lot of it, on the cheap---had Moses condemned the meat market, O'Malley would have bought the property for pennies on the dollar, a very attractive possibility to a man who squeezed a penny hard enough to put a permanent wave in Lincoln's beard. Los Angeles offered him that and he jumped, literally across a continent, to get it, taking his team about as far from Brooklyn as it was possible to go in his desperation to stay. Yet, if he'd REALLY wanted to stay, Flushing Meadow beckoned. And despite the fact that Flushing is not Brooklyn, the New York football Giants play in New Jersey's Meadowlands and still remain a New York team (the O'Malley-inspired move of the baseball Giants from Manhattan to San Francisco is another issue). In 1957, many of Brooklyn's fans were Long Island transplants, and more would be as time passed. Queens, while not the best of all possible worlds, would have been a convenient waypoint for fans from the old and new neighborhoods.

For that matter, had either O'Malley or Moses given a damn about Brooklyn, they would have cooperated in building a new stadium and reinvigorating Brooklyn. Neither cared to.

"Walter O'Malley was not a bad man. He was devoted to his wife and his children loved him," Shapiro points out. That's nice to know. But O'Malley was also an S.O.B. in business. The two are not mutually exclusive. "Only a sentimental man," Shapiro writes, "would have stayed." Maybe so. But the Dodgers and the Dodger fanbase needed a sentimental man, they needed a fellow fan, they needed a man who loved the team and who loved Brooklyn. What they had was Walter O'Malley, who saw the team merely as a moneymaking concern. O'Malley's actions speak for themselves, regardless of Shapiro's revisionism. And if O'Malley was "not unique" among team owners but merely "so obvious" about his profit motives, the blame is still his for eroding the spirit of The Game, and beginning the slide to where we are today in baseball with its overly mobile nonentity franchises, bloated payrolls, stars on steroids, cupidity and stupidity, and fan disinterest.

In the face of necessity, sentiment oft-times does not serve. But in circumstances of choice, such as faced by the Dodgers, sentiment can be a hedge against callousness.

What O'Malley (and Moses) failed to grasp is that a ball team is more than an agglomeration of men in uniform standing around in an open field. He (they) failed to grasp that a baseball game is more than just nine innings and a cold toting of runs, hits, and errors. It is a conversation at a water cooler, a friendly argument over lunch, an invitation to meet at the ballpark on Saturday afternoon for dogs and beer and a chance to see The Duke of Flatbush. It is a sense of neighborliness, a sense of pride, and was---still is---an important part of Brooklyn's special identity.

As Roger Kahn says in The Boys of Summer, "In the best of all possible worlds the Dodgers would be in Brooklyn and Los Angeles would have the Mets."

That's as it should have been.

I recently took a trip to NYC and I got this and a few other maps in advance to get to know the layout of the land. This is an excellent, detailed close-up map. It would be especially helpful for those who are moving to NYC or are there on a long trip.

If your new to visiting New York or you have been there before, this is great to have on you. I found a copy at my local library, wanted one for my trip, no one else had any in stock. Needed it in a week and Amazon delivered in two days. This is a great book, it has everything you need.

In this city, knowing EXACTLY where you're going is valuable because we are on foot most of the time: it's important to be able to plan what subway and/or bus combination it will take to get to a destination without extra walking/trudging about the city aimlessly.

Having every single major building number marked on this street atlas is also helpful as I am not the type that does the "formulas" found in the tourists' books to determine cross streets based on building numbers.

I have lived in NYC over 5 years and am astounded by the value this little book has. Buy it so you know where you're going in NYC!

I purchased this earlier this year, just prior to my trip to New York City.
It was really handy, especially considering it's size.
It's really easy to read, and it makes using the subway simple.

The street numbering is also very handy.

I bought this weeks before my vacation in NYC and it helped in my planning - AND it was invaluable during my stay. The bus maps were highly useful (tourists: take the buses, it's a great way to get from point a to point b) and having the building called out is great. The varying levels of detail are also great. I can't say enough good things about this book. Also, everyone I have shown this book to (both tourists and native New Yorkers) loves it.