Michigan Books

Detroit Divided covers many issues well-known to residents of SE Michigan - issues such as racism, the labor market, housing, transportation, etc., always coming back to the question of what factors influence the segregation of the city and its suburbs.
It was published in 2000, and is still quite up-to date, but there is no mention of the influence of recent changes in Detroit's downtown, such as GM, sports stadiums, casinos, and current revitalization projects.
What I really liked about this book was the survey data from the census, and from surveys done by residents in the inner city and the suburbs. I liked finding out about what "We as Detroiters" had to say about these issues, and I found myself agreeing with a lot of the findings because I see them on a daily basis. It is nice to have numbers to back up what are vague mental pictures of what the situation involves.
I learned quite a bit about the area, things I didn't know about our history and about the present. Professionals in urban issues will certainly use this book, but I would also recommend it to the general public and especially to residents in Detroit and SE Mich.

Why does this metropolis continue to have the most racially divided composition of the United States? Well, if you find yourself with the same question I reccomend this book. It gives good insight into how metropolitan Detroit became the city it is today and insight into what those of your race and and the other are doing/thinking. If you are curious about the extended population other than the whites/blacks then don't buy this but my money was well spent.

Marijean Levering has done an excellent job giving a history and understanding of this historic Detroit Players Club. The book is well-researched and is more thorough and accurate that anyone would ever expect an outsider to be able to write. If the book has any fault, it is that at 292 pages, her book only scratches the surface of the stories that could be told of this famous mens theater club.

" Detroit on Stage " is not only a history of the Player's Club in Detroit, but also includes other Theater Clubs. It is interesting because it also gives a history of Detroit during the period of 1910-2005. It includes some Prominent Members with interesting facts of their lives, like Edsel Ford asking his Father Henry Ford for money to pay his dues to the Players Club. This book is easy reading, well organized, Indexed and gives the history of Prominent Members of the Players Club.

I ordered the book, but your review is not for Oakland California!
Your review is for Oakland County, Michigan!
Please correct.

Thank you authors, James Conway and David Jamroz, for putting together a wonderful book on a jewel in Detroit's history. Historic Fort Wayne was built in the early 1840's and saw troops going off to fight, from the Civil War in the 1860's through VietNam in the 1960's and all the wars in between. This book highlights the very beginnings of the fort's history (even before - a bit on the founding of Detroit starts the book off) and, through hundreds of photographs, moves us right up to the 21st century where this gem is now (very slowly - much too slowly) being restored.
My favorite pictures are from the Civil War - but there are quite a few from all the wars of the 19th and 20th centuries. And there is even a chapter on its restoration.
Detroit has a history of forgetting its history. I cannot tell you how many historic structures were torn down for one inane reason or another. In fact, it's still happening to this very day - plans to tear down the beautiful and classic structure of Tiger Stadium - built in 1912 - are being discussed as I write this.
But, that's the way Detroit is.
Unfortunately, Detroit has all but ignored Historic Fort Wayne (oh, the powers that be will throw a few pennies toward restoration here and there, but hardly enough to justify any acclamations). It's the Detroit Historical Society that is doing the real restoration work by having Civil War reenactors have mock battles and the such in order to raise money. Maybe some of the city fathers can give a little of their own cash (are you listening Mr. Illitch?) and bring this gem to where it should be. Folks, Historic Fort Wayne is a true ORIGINAL historical fort that just happens to be one of the few remaining structures Detroit has from the first half of the 19th century.

Fabulous array of photos however this book should have been edited by one who was a little more aware of Detroit Masonic History. I found a number of errorsin the text portions.

Eighty years ago, the Freemasons of Detroit had a vision. They dreamed big and they built bigger, erecting the largest Masonic building in the world. Today, the Masons of Detroit seem to have lost their vision, or at least their ability to afford it. The Shriners and the Scottish Rite have both fled to the suburbs, and this magnificent building is in serious danger. A few individual lodges survive there.

Thankfully, the authors of this little volume have captured it on film before it is gone forever. The sheer scope of this 1000+ room building is incredible, and they have packed an enormous amount of history and detail into a brief telling of its glorious past.

If you are a Mason, it is worth trying to visit the Detroit Masonic Center soon. Unless a developer with as much vision as the Freemasons who first built it come to its rescue, it is in serious danger.

A tiny wish for some color shots of the more stunning rooms can be satisfied by hunting the Center's website.

I have glanced over Dales book and it is very informative. I have not yet read all of it, but I am going to now. I was a close friend to Dale and this book, and his others, is now going to become more valueable to me now. Sadly, Dale passed away this fall and it was a very sad time for me. I miss him very much, but every time I look at this book, it reminds me of what he liked to do and I am happy that he was able to see the day, when his hobby came into public view.

I have not yet read Dale's book, but would like to mention to anyone interested that Dale passed away this Fall. I have known Dale as a friend and a teacher since 1972. I will miss his style and humor. Dale was a marvelous teacher and talented artist. He will be sadly missed by many.

Normally I am NOT someone who reads about cemeteries! Therefore I was very pleasantly surprised that this book was so
interesting and well written. It kept my full (undivided) attention
throughout the entire book.

The style of writing used by Ms Hershenzon about the life and history of the persons buried at Woodmere provides an excellent doorway to the activities that lead up to our present time.

This book is entertaining enough to be enjoyable and yet factual enough to be used as a reference book.

I am hoping this author writes another book. I will make sure to keep my eyes open for her name.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Garie Thomas-Bass

The author has taken a lot of time to research the history of this cemetery. Many pictures. Anyone who enjoys visiting cemeteries or has ever lived in Detroit will find this an interesting read.

I enjoyed this written journal by a schoolteacher who spent the winter isolated on the island of Isle Royale, because it is the history of my mother and her family. They were commercial fisherman and spent the winters on Isle Royale, with only a ham radio for communication. It gives a very true picture of the hardships they endured, the amusements they created to combat boredome, and the personalities of the Johnson family

An excellent book giving an insight of how one person experienced the isolated life of Isle Royale during one winter of 1932-33. This is a fast-reading book which is not easy to set down. Anyone who has visited the beautiful island of Isle Royale National Park should find this diary interesting and captivating. Book's epilogue and editorial notes by author's son add special insight.

I read a poem once by Louise Gluck, entitled "Gretel in Darkness." I thought it was a beautiful reflection on the life of Gretel after her childhood trauma. I looked further for poetry that views the lives of our favorite fairy tale characters AFTER "....and they lived Happily Ever After," and I found this book in my college library. It is a WONDERFUL collection of poems that show the stark reality of what the world of these characters might have been like. This book is a beautiful and diverse collection of fairy tale literature.

Mieder has gathered a large range of 20th century poetry that uses the themes from popular fairy tales. Many of the poems are obscure and would be nearly impossible to find while others are standard in the field, such as Anne Sexton, Sara Henderson Hay, and even Roald Dahl. The fairy tales explored are Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, Snow White and Rose Red, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty (which has the most), The Frog Prince, Rapunzel, and Rumpelstiltskin. My only regret is that Beauty and the Beast is not included in the collection. Still, this is an excellent collection of poetry.

Dispersing The Ghetto: The Relocation Of Jewish Immigrants Across America by Jack Glazier (Professor and Chairman of the Department of Anthropology at Oberlin College) is the intimate and compressive history of the massive immigration of eastern European Jews to American coastal cities in the years prior to World War I Readers will follow the increasingly hostile and restrictive discriminations of Jews in their native homeland, through the depressive and seemingly trite struggles for control taken by German-American Jews in America to exploit their co-religionists' naiveté regarding their new homes as their departure from the ghettos of major American portal cities made room for more immigrants, presenting a greater threat to more prosperous, financially secure, preexisting communities of the Jewish middle and upper classes. Dispersing The Ghetto is an informed and scholarly depiction of the Jewish struggle with one-another in times already hard for all, and is very strongly recommended to students of American Urban History, and of Judaic Studies in particular.

In 1901, American Jews with German backgrounds living in East coast U.S. cities established an Industrial Removal Office (IRO). They did this to encourage and to help other German-American Jews locate to other places throughout America not only to better their lives and prospects by getting them out of the crowded, crime-ridden ghettos, but also to separate them from the large numbers of Russian Jews arriving in the ghettos at the time. A primary motivation for the IRO was to try to head off anti-Semitism which could mount against Jews crowded into the ghettos. Its founders were concerned that the undesirable social conditions and related social problems of the ghettos would become magnified by the influx of so many Russian Jews, leading to both intensified anti-Semitism and tighter U.S. immigration policies which would have adverse consequences on all Jews in America as well as Eastern Europe. Despite its good intentions and practical use, the IRO was inevitably controversial. It had some resemblance to a bureaucratic, and even a totalitarian, organization to control segments of a population; and even in the most benign view, it was founded by and reserved for a subgroup of a religious minority whose place and activities in Western culture had long been subject to special scrutiny and oftentimes hostility. It inevitably raised suspicions about Jewish intentions and assimilation among the public, and questions about its propriety and purposes within the German Jewish community. Glazier, Chair of the Dept. of Anthropology at Oberlin College who also has a broad background in Jewish studies, relates the work and brief history of the Industrial Relocation Office, including its controversial place within the community it was meant to serve, with sociological matter and statistics, documents, news articles, and oral history.

Chuck full of facts, images, stories and most all of Michigan men who answered the call to arms at that critical point in our nations history when western states began furnishing troops for the Union. Lincoln's call "Thank God for Michigan" upon their arrival in Washington, could also apply to the major battles in which Michigan men participated.
Michigan's presence in the Union Army is well chronicled by Richard Bak in this book and the book itself is a quality production only surpassed by the quality content within it. Robert Allen: Author: A "Guest" of the Confederacy The Civil War Letters and Diaries of Alonzo M. Keeler, Captain, Company B, Twenty-second Michigan Infantry

Richard Bak has done it again. The man has quite a "can't put this down" writing style that is as informative as any text available on the subject on which he is writing.
To find a book dedicated strictly to Michigan's role in the Civil War - and it was quite a role - has been a dream of mine for many years. Unfortunately, Civil War historians in general tend to overlook states like Michigan and play up Maine (Chamberlain), New York, and Massachusetts. The fact is Michigan played a very important part in the War Between the States, so much so that, in 1861, when 798 men from the 1st Michigan Infantry arrived in Washington D.C. as reinforcements for the nation's capitol, President Lincoln exclaimed, "Thank God for Michigan!"
Michigan's regiments were involved in nearly every major battle of the war, and there was even a song written about some of them called "Michigan My Michigan." In the 10 stanza tune, the lyrics proclaim 'Thou gav'st thy sons without a sigh, and sent thy bravest forth to die...,' and goes on to give accounts of the many battles including Shiloh, Yorktown, and Richmond. The complete lyrics are right here on pages 32 and 33 with the story of how and why it was written.
Another very interesting fact that I had never heard until I read this book was that Henry Ford, the man who put the world on wheels, was still in his mother's womb when two of his mother's brothers were fighting in the Battle of Fredericksburg. One was killed and one was wounded in that battle, and Henry, who was born at the beginning of Gettysburg, always believed he was the reincarnation of a dead Civil War soldier. It goes on to say that both of his uncles' sacrifices and death helped to fuel Mr. Ford's lifelong pacifism.
There is more to this particular story that is very interesting and slightly peculiar. You must, however, read the book to find out what it is.
Besides the battles, the author covers a wide variety of topics and subjects throughout his 227 pages of text, including the military draft, military life, life on the homefront, facts and figures for Michigan soldiers, and a close up look at a number of individuals - male, female, soldier, civilian, young, and old - who played prominent roles in the war, both on the battlefield and at home.
And this book is loaded with photographs!
As a fourth generation Michiganian (and am now raising the 5th generation in our family line), 'A Distant Thunder - Michigan In The Civil War' really brings home (and brings to life) this 140 year old plus war, and Richard Bak's lively writing style will seemingly visually take you back to those heartfelt days.
An excellent book for high school age on up.