Michigan Books

Hidden Michigan was just selected as an Official State of Michigan Children's Book--its by the same author/illustrator combination that did Has Anyone Seen Christmas? (not only was this a great book, it was a great float in America's Thanksgiving Day Parade last year). Their work, with Detroit Free Press writer Janis Campbell makes this one of, if not the, best children's book I've seen for our great state. Its fun for kids, it teaches them about our state, its unique, the illustrations are incredible--and parents and grandparents and teachers will love it, too.
It is well worthy of it selection as a State Children's Book.

This book is an excellent resource for anyone who is interested in the Illinois and Michigan (I&M) Canal National Heritage Corridor (in Illinois) and its associated parks and forest preserves. The book begins with a nice history of the Canal, and then launches into information on the trail. Starting with Starved Rock State Park, the book then goes through the various sites along the Corridor, giving a nice map of the site, directions on how to get there, and information that was obviously gathered firsthand by the author.

This is a nice book, and (as I already said) an excellent resource. If you are at all interesting in hiking or biking along the I&M Canal path, or are merely interested in parks and forest preserves in North-Central Illinois, then I highly recommend that you get this book!

While I attended Michigan State University right out of high school, I finished my undergraduate work in music at the University of Michigan School of Music (now the School of Music, Theater, and Dance) and later in life, I received my MBA from the U of M Business School (now the Ross School of Business). My wife and I also had our children here in Ann Arbor and raised all of them here. The University plays a big role in the life of Ann Arbor and it has certainly been a significant part of my life.

This book takes us through the various stages of the University's development from the 1860s through the last picture of former President Gerald R. Ford at the beginning of construction of his Presidential Library in 1979. I was in my first year at the music school when the ground breaking took place just down the road a mile or two. And I graduated the same month it was dedicated in April of 1981.

I really like the way this collection shows women participating at the University, albeit in largely segregated ways. And while there weren't many African-Americans at the University, there was a presence and some are represented here. The pictures are centered around medicine, law, the sciences, and athletics. My field, music, is only shown in passing and our school is not even pictured. A disappointment! It is a beautiful building with a lovely pond and would have made a nice addition to the book.

We also see some of the rituals of student life and how the football teams evolved over the decades (just a few representative shots). I love the picture of the big hole being prepared for Michigan Stadium and the shot when the top was at ground level.

A few of the pictures are also in the Historic Photos of Ann Arbor collection, but only a few. Some of these pictures are familiar to those who follow the history of Ann Arbor and the University, but I think some are rarely seen.

Nice collection, helpful captions, good book.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

Michigan Football has more than a century of history and hundreds of thousands of living alumni cherish its tradition as part of their time at Michigan. Millions more follow the program and support it so fanatically you would swear they had a relative playing on the field! I first became a fan in high school when Bo came to Ann Arbor and our marching band (I played trombone) played at one of Don Canham's (the new athletic director who brought Bo as the new coach) Band Day programs to fill the stadium.

This wonderful book has about 200 pages of large format black and white pictures showing Michigan Football from its early years through the Michigan-Indiana game and Anthony Carter's immortal catch in 1979. My wife and I were in the stands that day and it was electrifying and something you can always recall vividly. I can still see the triple coverage, the two defenders basically falling down as Carter as he caught the ball ran past the third into the end zone.

This book has four chapter that match the natural chapters in Michigan Football history. The first chapter covers 1879-1926 that covers the pioneering days and the Fielding Yost years as coach. Chapter 2 covers Kipke and Crisler from 1927-1947 (and the great Tom Harmon). Chapter 3 covers the years when then athletic director Fritz Crisler hired former players as the football coaches. They were Bennie Oosterbaan and Bump Elliott. The fifties also had star players like Ron Kramer.

The monumental influence of the immortals Yost and Crisler carried on into the third great coach, Bo Schembechler. The final chapter covers the Bo years through 1979. I would have liked to see the book go a bit further and cover Bo's final years including the period of his bowl victories. There should also have been a picture of Bob Ufer, the ultimate homer announcer. Still, the book could only hold so much and I am sure there are lots of players and pictures that different people would wish were included. I think Michelle O'Brien has done a good job in selecting pictures that capture each period well and show us the way the team, the uniforms, and the stadiums evolved. Her captions and brief chapter introductions are solid.

Enjoy! I sure did.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

David Cartwright's "A Historical Commentary On Thucydides gently guides the reader through the historians complex narrative paving the way for making this history a very enjoyable read. This book includes a plethora of maps, definitions and cross-references to help modern readers become more immersed in the text. The greatest of all Greek historians was the Athenian general Thucydides (455-400 B.C.E.). Thucydides' classic work, "History Of The Peloponnesian War", provides us with the historical framework for 5th century Greece, a golden age of intellectual achievement and creativity rarely equaled in human history. This history is by far the best account of the bitter war between Athens and Sparta as well as the only surviving contemporary record of the rise of the Athenian empire. Thucydides as a master story teller doesn't just cover the battle scenes, he records the great political speeches of Pericles, leader of Athens, and Lysander leader of Sparta with great acumen. He is recognized as the first historian to actually go and get eyewitness accounts, visit battlefieilds and research documents and records. This work took him over 20 years and it shows!

The lessons he teaches about imperial over reaching and unreasonable peace settlements are prescient today as they were during his times. President Woodrow Wilson, read this book on his voyage across the Atlantic to the Versailles Peace Conference and vociferously fought the other Allies in making unreasonable demands of the Germans. Wilson learned the dangers that the world would be placed in by backing the Germans into a corner politically and economically from Thucydides book.

I recommend this timeless classic to anyone who is interested in political philosophy, and history. I highly recommend you read it with David Cartwright's "A Historical Commentary On Thucydides.

This edition of the History of Connecticut is a reproduction of an 1857 historical treatis by G. H. Hollister. It is not only an interesting historical account of the colonization of Connecticut, but also an excellent window into the perceptions of 19th Century historians whose interpretations are of course quite different from that of today. Bravo to the University of Michigan University Library that created this, and other, reproductions of primary source historical material.

Living in Virginia, I needed historical information on Lynn, Essex County, MA, for genealogical research purposes. I found the book, a new edition published in 1865 (an update to the 1844 initial publication), provided excellent historical background information regarding each location cited in the title of the book, a year-by-year highlight of the more significant events in each locale, biographical sketches, various tables (to include a list of surnames), and a health index. In all, 620 pages of information I would not have otherwise had but for the University of Michigan Historical Reprint Series.

I bought this book as a reference. It sounded dreary, but I figured it would answer occasional questions.

Instead, it was quite fascinating in a variety of ways. It dealt with the background of Michigan's Finnish immigration (the first and biggest 19th c. migration stream), the decline of the tar trade as sailing ships became obsolete, the dreadful winters and crop failures of the late 1860s.

The settlement of small communities is detailed -- interesting to Upper Peninsula people. I had to stop before the meaty chapters on the Apostolic Finns and the politics and purposes of the 20th c. cooperative movement, headquartered in Superior, Wisconsin. Its relics can be seen throughout Finnish rural areas of Upper Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

Probably the author's bi-cultural perspective, being a native of Finland transplanted to Suomi College in Hancock, Michigan, makes this such an interesting book.

Mac-ke-te-be-nessy or Andrew J. Blackbird gives us a personal insight into his life as a lens to view the life of American Indians in Michigan. He explains the legends of his people and the influence of the Christian missionaries on his beliefs. He also writes of the difficulties or what we today call racism that he encountered through his dealings with the US Government and the higher learning institutions of his day (University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University). The history is rich and presented with sincerity. Anyone looking to know more about history from the perspective of a man who lived through it, especially American Indian history in the mid 19th century will benefit greatly by this book.

The text of this book is available in the book, Odawa Language and Legends: Andrew J. Blackbird and Raymond Kiogima.