Minnesota Books

Those of us who have been south of the United States know parts of Latin America fit a stereotype of how tropical countries look. In my case, the stereotype's from old black-and-white movies on television and foreign films. In Latin America, I found the lush greenery I was expecting to find. What I didn't know was quite a bit of it wasn't native. Instead, much of what I thought of as typically tropical was brought in from somewhere else. That's why today's Latin America has bamboo, bougainvillea, citrus, hibiscus, mango, oleander, poinsettia, sugarcane and tamarind!

When did this happen? Jill Casid pinpoints the SOWING EMPIRE activities of the 18th century. During that time, England and France built rival empires in the Caribbean. The English in Jamaica and the French in Saint-Domingue quickly controlled labor, land, technology, trade and transportation. How? They moved things, plants and people around in ways tying Caribbean colonies to the English and French mother countries. They brought some equipment to cut down forests, clear land, and build roads and plantations. African slave labor did the rest. Everything was held in place by non-native plantings and plantation landscaping.

Sugarcane from Java and Tahiti became big cash crops for the Caribbean. Elm, lemon and oak trees lined roads and marked off plantations. Gardens grew and town markets sold apples, artichokes, beans, cabbage, carrots, celery, cucumbers, figs, lettuce, melons, onions, peas, radishes, strawberries, and turnips. None of all this was native.

Successful plantation owners also owned land in their native countries. They hired landscapers to clear these lands, plantation-style, for artificial lakes and such non-native greenery as banana, cherry and pineapple trees. The most famous English landscaper was Lancelot Brown. Colonial landowner, imperial fortune-holder, and English title-holder became one through the Caribbean sugarcane trade. So Brown tried to mix foreign and familiar, non-native and native so comfortably it was as if the English landscape always looked that way. But the result was the same as in the colonies. Having money meant changing the landscape and planting costly non-native greenery. It also meant ordinary people lost their land and their forest and water rights.

The writing style's a bit academic. But the author organizes the facts, the examples and her interpretations well. She includes helpful diagrams, as well as telling art from the times. It's interesting how beautifully non-native plants fit into the Caribbean. It's also interesting how scientists, planters and landscapers became so sure of what should be grown when, where and why. The book's history. But its concerns can still be timely. For don't we worry about what to grow when and where? In our case, though, isn't the why more in terms of current and future diversity and well-being?

This book was in brand-new condition, arrived safely and quickly. I appreciate it ~ I'll be back!

Deftly edited by David Backes, Spirit Of The North: The Quotable Sigurd F. Olson collects the words of wisdom and insights of conservation activist and writer Sigurd F. Olson (1899-1982) whose many honors include the highest possible from the Sierra Club, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Izaak Walton League. A moving and poignant testimony, Spirit Of The North is an impressively memorable and inspiring compendium of reflections upon the power and beauty of nature, and of man's duty to help preserve the natural world, the higher philosophical issues concerning who we are, and what truly has meaning in our lives. "Final victory always goes to those who keep fighting for a worthwhile ideal in spite of reverses."

This booklet does a fine job of describing Minnesota's Split Rock Lighthouse. Using pictures, drawings and interviews, the author gives an accurate picture of the history and functions of this historic structure. Besides the lighthouse there is also the fog signal building.

The storms of 1905 on Lake Superior made the need for a new lighthouse apparent. Numerous ships were destroyed or damaged that year during the shipping season. And over 100 lives were lost on the Great Lakes in 1905 due to ships crashing on the rocks or sinking in the storms.

In 1907, Congress approved funding for the construction of a lighthouse and fog signal at Split Rock. Construction began in 1909 and finished in 1910.

Mr. Hall does a good job of describing several of the men who worked at Split Rock prior to WWII. And he also recounts many of the stories of the children of the lighthouse keepers. They lived in the homes built next to the lighthouse.

Mr. Hall also gives a thorough and accurate description of the technology used to create an effective and timely light in the tower.

"...the opening of the North Shore highway in 1924" was the seminal event in making the lighthouse a major tourist attraction. Once the lighthouse was accessible, the tourists came to see it. According to the author, Split Rock received "...five times as many visitors as any other station" in the U.S. Lighthouse Service.

Split Rock's fog signal ceased operations in 1961. And the lighthouse followed in 1969. But the tourists have continued on.

In summary, Mr. Hall gives a very well done survey of Split Rock Lighthouse. Its construction, history and people are all covered here.

Includes maps and photos of the cemeter

This book is a wonderful history book on Summit Avenue. If you are going to visit Summit Ave or if you have visited, it's a great book to read. The pictures were wonderful. I would highly recommend this book.

This is a great book packed with many different fun facts about Minnesota. My 4th graders love it!

Although status is an essential concept in classical sociology and a crucial feature of social structure, it has been much criticized in contemporary social theory and to some extent replaced by a Marxist concept of economic class. In this book, Bryan Turner argues that social stratification has three major components: political-legal rights (status as entitlement), cultural distinction (status as life-style) and economic class. The relationships between these elements are historically contingent and determined by social struggles over resources. He examines the historical variations between these dimensions in slavery, feudalism and capitalism, and argues that in contemporary society the decline of economic class and the struggle between status groups over welfare resources have given life to a new form of political life: status bloc politics under the administration of the state. His analysis of status concludes with an examination of the effects of mass consumption on cultural distinction and a consideration of the implications of cultural postmodernism for the traditional struggle between high and low culture. His main thesis is that economic, political and cultural inequalities can only be understood from a conflict-sociology perspective.
--- from book's back cover

Reed is one of the most acute, fearless and useful commentators on American politics and intellectual history. I rarely agree with everything he says (I tend to give more play to identity politics and see more value in culture, esp. popular culture), but no one can make me question my own take on a subject as assiduously as Reed. For my purposes this volume is not quite at the same level as Class Notes or his masterpiece on WEB DuBois, but for those with an interest in urban development/planning it is definitive (though see also the new volume on post-Katrina New Orleans). The chapter on the Malcolm X revival of the early 1990s was enjoyable for someone who lived through it and gives Reed an excuse to provide a nutshell version of his take on post-1963 African American politics and rehash his critique of Jesse Jackson. But it also gives him a chance to show off his old-codger dismissal of hip hop. Oh well--no one is perfect.

Ably edited by Newell L. Chester for the modern reader, The Story Of A Regiment is the narrative account and history by Judson W. Bishop of the Minnesota Veteran Volunteer Infantry's Second Regiment that fought all through the Civil War from 1861 to 1865. This superbly presented edition is enhanced for the reader with a history of Judson Bishop and additional and informative chapters by Chester. This was a Union Army regiment that was awarded eight Medals of Honor for one action near Nolansville, Tennessee; participated in the first major Union victory at Mill Springs, Kentucky; charged up Missionary Ridge out of Chattanooga, Tennessee; earned General George Thomas acclimation as "The Rock of Chickamauga". The Second Regiment fought all four, bloody years of the Civil War and finally returned home to Minnesota intact. The Story Of A Regiment is an invaluable, much appreciated, and very welcome addition to Civil War Studies collections, and "must" reading for all Civil War buffs.