United States Books

I have read dozens of marketing books over the years. I am a CPA and run a real estate team that produces well over 100 transactions per year.
This book brought be back to the basics of running a business of selling, yes I said selling, real estate.

I am going to read it again. Maybe twice.

Dirk has put together a great resource for ALL Real Estate agents. From the beginner to the seasoned vet, this book can help to focus your activities in the areas most important to you in your career and life.

Dirk has a laid back attitude that is icy to the point and right on with a no nonsense practical guide to being successful in the real estate business.

Dirk's books are always enlightening, follow the steps and you will be jetisoning your way to the top of the RE industry!

I personally found this book to be an outstanding review of what's required to be a top performing agent. I pass this book to all of my new recruits to help them get started.

I have been listing and selling real estate for 24 years and have read many books on real estate sales and this truly is one of the best. I've read it twice in the last month and highly recommend that every real estate salesperson read it.

While looking to see if one of my favorite historical authors (James Alexander Thom) had a new novel out, I came across the books of Allan W. Eckert on of those "If You Like This Book, You'll Like This Too" lists. I had never heard of Eckert before, but based upon the GREAT reviews of this book I decided to give it a try. What a suprise! All of the positive reviews aren't lying. I can't put the book down! It just pulls you in until you feel like you're roaming the Ohio Valley with Kenton and all the other brave folks (White and Indian). The 588 LARGE pages make it extra special for folks like myself who fly through books quickly. I would highly recommend the book and can't wait to start another one by him.

P.S. The books by James Alexander Thom are equally well written for those who are looking for a simular type author.

Wow, what an interesting, exciting, factual book! Just as engaging and excitingly written as any Louis Lamour or Zane Grey novel, except very factual. Based on tens of thousands of pages of interview notes taken from those who lived during this period of history. You will learn a lot of American history and enjoy it, to boot, if you read this book! Don't miss this one!

Eckert has written a truly engrossing book on an amazing figure in American history. Simon Kenton, like Daniel Boone had the lust to wonder the woods for days and both had a immense memory for the scope of the land he wondered. The narrative writing is excellent. It puts you back in the 18th century when America was truly wild. It was a harsh land when one false step led to an early death, often times gruesome. The Shawnees were none to compliant to give up their lands and sold it at a high cost of human life. Tecumseh also emerges here, also one of the greatest figures in history. A Sorrow in Our Heart, which is about Tecumseh is also a must read. In the Frontiersman, the Ohio River flowed blood red with hatred for intruders. There are captivating stories here of the many clashes that took place between whites and indians. It was a time period of two cultures clashing, one wanting to hold on to a way of life etched into the land through balance and harmony, aganst a culture that produced men who were determined to see new vistas and experience the thrill of blazing a trail that many would soon follow. But it was this migration which ruined the very thing they loved most, the feeling of true wilderness. This book captures it all. A must read for those who find history a fascinating subject.

I first became acquainted with Mr. Eckert's books a few years ago while shopping for a gift for my son-in-law who loves local history and someone recommended one of his books. I took it home and while wrapping it, read a page. I was hooked, I went out and bought one for myself. We live in an area rich in history and his books cover our area extensively. I only wish all the history classes I took in high school and college had been this interesting. Our whole family now enjoys Mr. Eckert's books.

I was assigned to read this book for my 10th grade American History summer reading. I loved to read as a teen. I loved history -- I went on to get my degree in it. This book threatened to change all of that.
A ponderous piece of agonizing minutiae, this book brought me to the breaking point. I read it -- the whole thing. As a fifteen year old. I think it actually made me cry, I hated it so much. It's well researched, but seemed almost masturbatory in its envisioning of the motivations of frontiersmen. And excruciatingly long. Some people obviously enjoy this book. To each their own. But for the rest of you, it is okay to hate it. Really. You know you want to.

This book is absolutely amazing. My mother got this book for me when I was about 17 and just really starting to bud out and become an artist. Dan's work was absolutely mesmerizing and inspiring. His colorful life and tragic death spark something in you to go out and change the world.

This is a dense, rich book of images and words left by Dan Eldon, one of those brilliant, outsized people who burn through life like a flare and are gone. He surrounded himself with beauty and horror and tried to both record and to make some sense of his experiences and the constant, jarring disparity between the extremes of life.
If you love photography and art or are just drawn to precocious brilliance and the intense energy of people who are present in every moment of their lives, you should own this book.

After seeing this book in a Borders store, I decided to buy it. I couldn't put it down, page after page offers so much of the author, yet offered so much to the reader. It makes your own imagination soar again, and as a fellow photographer, it gave me a kick in the butt I needed to start shooting again. The vision of Dan Eldon was not only through a lens, but through his heart as well. He accomplished a great deal in a short life, and definitely contributed to the bettering of our world. His photographs of Africa, combined with the scrapbook like additions of text and objects could be considered a new form of documentary photography. I strongly urge anyone who is interested in travel or photojournalism to get this book and have it transform your outlook on life.

Eldon's story of the war-torn Somolia is as much an artwork as it is an engaging story. This "book" is a reproduction of photojournalist Dan Eldon's journal from his travels in the most impoverished regions of Africa. Part insightful reading, part artistic work, this book should be on anyone's reading list who wants to know more about the world we don't see everyday, and it truly makes one think about all we have, and all Eldon lost...5 out of 5 starts easily!

I bought this book upon it's release in 1997. I can remember allowing the contents of this memoir to captivate me for hours on end. I lent my copy to a friend shortly thereafter and subsequently forgot about it. I recently ordered a replacement and I must say, this book is even more compelling than I ever remembered. Dan Eldon was a profound visionary, an articulate statesman and a devoted caretaker. As a Reuters photo-journalist, he traveled the world and served as a dipomatic embassador to many, yet his life was taken prematurely in a stoning riot in Somalia. He experienced more in his brief 21 years than most of us will over an entire lifetime. A MUST HAVE.

I am giving this to a friend of mine's son who is nine who could care less about Derek Jeter or the Yankees. That is how good I think that this book is. It shows how Derek was focused on his goal from age 8, and I am going to get more copies for children of my friends to give to them when they turn 8.

Great book and great lessons for kids. Shows what can happen when you are ambitious enough and try hard enough. Great book about Derek and where he came from and where he wants to go!

After reading the first couple of pages I knew right away that this book would be a good one. The reason Derek Jeter became so well known is because he started very young knowing what he was going to do in life. Throughout high school and college Derek Jeter was an outstanding athlete and student, but at times he did have those people that said that he couldn't do it and that he couldn't make it to the major leagues. This book would be recommended to those who look at Derek Jeter as an idol and also are athletes. Reading this book could change the way you look at Pro athletes and maybe even inspire you to do better.

Book review mod 1

Over the summer I read a few books. One of those books was The Life You Imagine: Life Lessons for Achieving Your by Derek Jeter. I choose this book because I'm a Yankees fan and love Derek Jeter. This book is a great book for someone who needs a role model. Derek Jeter is an amazing role model he had strait A's growing up. In this book Derek Jeter tells you how he grew up and how hard it was for him and how he never stopped trying to get what he set his goals for. This book is wonderful it shows you how any body can do it. His dream his whole life was to play short stop baseball for the New York Yankees. This book is one of those books that will inspire a person to go out and try harder then every one and get what he set out for. That's how good this book is, your are into baseball and trying hardest any way. This book is written well and will show you how a person who really like really tries his hardest and never gives up and will do what ever he has to, just to get what he sets out for. If there was a rating for this book it would get a 10 out of 10 or 100 out of 100 or 5 stars. That's just my opinion. This book is just like I said be for just one of those books that just makes a person want to do something good in life or achieve a goal or something. In this book Derek Jeter said that he would write all of his goals down and check them of as he achieved them threw out the year. This book is wonderful inspiring and just an all around baseball lovers dream book, if I was to recommend this book to anyone it would defiantly be a YES! This book is one of my favorites and would hope it would be one of yours as well. =]


By Kevin Lunn

This book starts off as derek jeter stating that he wil play for the New York Yankees when he is 8 years old. They discuss the 10 rules about how to live you life and what to do. Growing up derek had alot of racial problems with his parents. He had one black and one white, and he had a sister, they were a really close family.

growing up there were many racial problems in his town. He went to college in Kalamazoo michigan. He played baseball there and now hes making millions doing what he loves. He said he loves to wake up every morning knowing he loves his job.

Derek is always saying set your goals high so you are always working toward them. Not too high to where you cannot reach them but just high enough that you have to work at it to get to them.

This is one of the greattest books i have ever read. I will give 2 thumbs up. It was a very interesting book becuase i lvoe baseball and i want to be exactly like derek jeter.

This book was hilarious from front to back! Most would consider this insightful, funny, and one could quickly forget that the author is speaking about a preppy cult! I can say that because I am southern belle, and people stereotype us southern's as well. I love the fact we all live in American and from East to West each culture is different! God Bless American.

I ran into this book in 1982, when I transferred from a small college to a major university-not because I wanted to be Preppy, but because how it had absolutely consumed the majority of the student body to BE as Prep as possible-and it couldn't be avoided, no matter how hard one tried to ignore it. While the book was meant to be somewhat satirical, the impact it had was huge at that time, increasing and encouraging an already present 'us VS them' mindset that I think persists to this day. It's a good book nonetheless, and I'm surprised that a updated/revised version hasn't come out by now. But I shudder at the possible impact that would have.

For those of us raised slightly below true "prep" status--good public schools, went to country club with friends (family too poor for own membership), prep clothes from consignment stores...this book helped us to fake it well. Everything in this book still holds...if one wants to fit into "good" society. Parts are good for a laugh, though, because in our thankfully diverse modern society, it seems antiquated to suggest that one needs to be either White, Anglo-Saxon, or Protestant (i.e., a WASP)to partake of the casually elegant prep lifestyle.

What an unexpected sum-up - I had a blast comparing all the parallels - its very true to preppy life - almost eerily so. from the moment I started this book I could not put it down - I ended up reading it in two sittings (it got late - 2am - and I had to get to sleep for squash).

This book is timeless. It was written before I was even born and much of it still holds true. Some of the references are dated, but most of the material is relevant and funny. It's a nice book to have out on your coffee table for guests to browse through for some light amusement.

I actually paid a little more for "nice" copy of the book. Perhaps it will be a collector's item someday. It is a perfect snapshot of the yuppie suburban family in the 1980's. Seeing as it was written in the EARLY 80's, the material was certainly ahead of its time. J.Crew is still selling madras today, and Lacoste polos are as ubiquitous as ever. The North Face has somewhat displaced LL Bean (mentioned a lot in the book as the "sporty" attire purchased for ski trips..etc). Also SUVs weren't yet on the scene when this book was published.

this is the one. In my opinion, this is the only book you will need. Whether just starting out or a seasoned bodybuilder, this great book puts it all together. Sure there are hundreds of books out there all touting the latest routine or supplementation but Dave Draper plows through all that and gets down to the tried and true facts. His writing style is unique, refreshing, down to earth and motivational. The bodybuilding bug bit me at around age 15. I wish this book was around then as it would have saved me so much time and heartache. Not only is Dave Draper a great bodybuilder, (yup that's present tense for you yougins that think once one stops competing they aren't a bodybuilder anymore) but he's an all around great guy. I "met" Dave many years ago when I stumbled across his website, [...]. I was in a place in my life that needed some bodybuilding direction big time. Due to life circumstances, I let training take a back seat. Dave was kind (and wise) enough to teach me it was ok to get back on the horse after falling off. It's so easy to let life get in the way and make excuses. Buy the book, read it and get going!

Rick Fingerman, CFP(r)

Decades ago I saw on TV the movie Don't Make Waves, and I remembered Tony Curtis's foil the great beast of a man, blond and mostly mute, when the luminous James Wolcott linked to a literate and aging body builder in a blogpost this year.
And so they are the same. This warm and wise book is a great encouragement to those of us whose bodies need the stress of physical work to maintain health and joy.
Part technical guide, part moral guide, part memoir, the Bomber's book is still a whole work and for me it lifts the strange sport of body building, sans steroids, up on Dave's big back to a new level of respect. Highly recommended.

Both informational and inspiring, this book from a veteran bodybuilder will teach you everything you ever wanted to know about the sport.

The most useful part of this book is the advise about how to train around injury and over training. This is what happens when yer an old geezer and want the 18 year old body. I'm 59, and actually don't look like I'll be dead in 13 years. Thank you Dave.

Draper has an odd writing style, but his stories are motivational and informational. Everyone who lifts should read this.

I bought this book as reference material on the advice of an architect friend. He told me "If you need help figuring out the style of a house then buy this book" and he showed me his copy. He was right. The book is well organized which helps compare styles quickly and the many black and white pictures of houses that the author uses as examples are great because the b&w contrast helps your eye focus on details. This a great book to have in any architectural office. Its great for novices and experienced alike.

As a writer, you need lots of details to keep the reader interested, and this book has details on houses most people wouldn't know. Of course, if you give no details the story is not interesting, and if you give wrong details, some reader will know it and be disapointed. A book like this can be invaluable.

Great book!!! I'm using for my company to get a true representation of many styles for many of the house I'm designing. A great resource for any firm!!!

great at housing history
great describe for the house component
good picture to show handy book to show at real estate

After some introductory chapters on the history and theory of homebuilding, the McAlesters commence with descriptions of the different styles. Each major style is described with a large stylized diagram with its identifying features labeled, a description of the major subtypes, descriptions of the style's unique elements, a paragraph on the frequency and locations of its occurrence, some historical comments, and then dozens of black and white photographs. The styles are ordered roughly chronologically, from native dwellings and colonial houses in 1600 to the neoeclectric houses of the 1970s and 1980s. (Even my 2006 printing ended with the 1980s.)

I read the field guide cover to cover - something I never before done with a field guide. By the end, it seemed repetitive, but overall I was impressed with almost everything about this book from the introductions to the last diagrams. Every time I travel though a historical neighborhood, I am glad that I read this book.

Great book on the plight of unwanted and abandoned animals and the humans who care enough to do something about it by rescuing them and finding homes for these homeless pets.

I thought it was an okay book, but as I was reading, I found myself skipping through all the blah blah blah to get to the actual animal stories. The stories about the animals were great, but you have to wade through a lot to get to them.

Terri Crisp is a dinosaur and hopefully she has been replaced by more enlightened people. She randomly euthenized every feral cat she came across, proclaiming that ferals are not adoptable and are basically a scurge. Obvioulsy she has never heard of T.N.R. programs. I was very disappointed in this book and in Crisp's actions and can only hope people will NOT use it as a guide to animal welfare. It is just one uneducated womens accounts of her exploits.

This is in response to the post about Terry Crisp's organization being investigated by California's Attorney General's office. This is what's posted on her website:

Noah's Wish Board of Directors, March 26, 2007

We are writing to inform you that Noah's Wish is in the midst of an ongoing civil investigation by the California Attorney General's office concerning funds received by Noah's Wish during Hurricane Katrina. The California Attorney General has taken the position that certain funds donated to Noah's Wish during this period, and its immediate aftermath, are restricted and may only be used for the animal victims of Hurricane Katrina, rather than the animal victims of other disasters or for general disaster preparedness. Noah's Wish disagrees with the Attorney General's position with respect to those funds, but is working cooperatively with the Attorney General toward a timely resolution of the dispute.

In response to the California Attorney General, Noah's Wish has set aside the disputed funds and agreed not to use those funds pending final resolution of the investigation. Noah's Wish is unable to predict when the matter will be resolved. Because Noah's Wish does not presently have access to the disputed funds, it is unable at this time to continue with its efforts to provide disaster preparedness services and volunteer training.

We will provide you with an update once we have resolved this matter.

We appreciate your patience and also wish to express our gratitude for all that you have done to support Noah's Wish in carrying out our charitable mission.

State probe forces animal-rescue nonprofit to close
Queries $8M raised in wake of Katrina
Sacramento Business Journal - March 30, 2007
by Kelly Johnson
Staff Writer
A local animal-rescue nonprofit that gained national attention for its work after Hurricane Katrina, sparking more than $8 million in donations, was shutting down this month amid a state investigation into how it used that money.
Noah's Wish, which rescues and cares for animals in disasters, was preparing this week to close its El Dorado Hills headquarters. About a dozen workers have resigned or been laid off since late last year.
The California Attorney General's Office has been investigating the organization since last summer, examining how Noah's Wish used donations that might have been designated for relief efforts in the hurricane-ravaged area. The probe led to most of the nonprofit's funds being set aside in accounts where they couldn't be used for other operations.
The nonprofit contends the funds were used properly and said it is cooperating with investigators.
The group received millions in donations after news stories showed its efforts in an area devastated by the August 2005 hurricane. Former Noah's Wish insiders allege those millions were intended to relieve suffering in the storm-battered zone but were improperly used for other purposes.
According to documents obtained by the Business Journal from a former employee, an accounting firm hired by Noah's Wish to examine its books concluded that it would be impossible to conduct a reliable audit because so many records were missing from the period when the group and its volunteers were working on the ravaged Gulf Coast.
Documents filed by the nonprofit or provided by the former employee indicated Noah's Wish had about $210,000 in revenue in the year ended June 30, 2005, and almost 40 times that much -- $8.4 million -- in the next six months.
Expenses shot upward, too, from about $212,000 in 2004-2005 to more than $2 million in the last six months of 2005, including almost $400,000 to purchase vehicles. In early 2006, the group bought a storage building in East Alton, Ill., for $65,125 and leased office space in New York City, according to documents provided by the former employee.
Terri Crisp, founder of the group and its executive director until this week, was paid $6,200 in 2004-2005, tax records show. The documents supplied by the former employee covering July through December 2005 indicated Crisp received compensation of almost $141,000.
The nonprofit's board this week acknowledged the investigation on the group's Web site. "The California Attorney General has taken the position that certain funds donated to Noah's Wish during this period (of Katrina), and its immediate aftermath, are restricted and may only be used for the animal victims of Hurricane Katrina, rather than the animal victims of other disasters or for general disaster preparedness," a letter posted online said. "Noah's Wish disagrees ... but is working cooperatively with the Attorney General toward a timely resolution of the dispute."
Noah's Wish has agreed not to use the disputed funds while the investigation is pending, and the nonprofit cannot continue its work without access to the money, the letter said.
A spokesman for the state's top lawyer would not confirm or deny an investigation.
Ralph Nevis of Downey Brand Attorneys LLP in Sacramento, who represents the group, would not discuss the nature of the inquiry.
Founder was asked to leave board
Staff members are being paid through April 11, but this week only the office manager remained at the El Dorado Hills headquarters to close things down over the next couple of weeks.
At one point, the nonprofit had 15 employees working at offices in El Dorado Hills and New York City and from homes in other states. The three-person office in New York closed in January.
"They've reduced the staff because of funding. It's everybody," Crisp said Wednesday. She said she's taking her remaining days as sick leave, but by Wednesday evening a message on the group's Web site said she was no longer connected with Noah's Wish.
Crisp also served on the organization's board of directors from its founding in 2002 until February. She's no longer on the board, she said, "partly because it's a conflict of interest." The Attorney General's office "had asked for me not to remain on the board."
Because she's no longer on the board, Crisp said she did not have the latest information on the investigation or details about what it covers. Investigators, she said, have not interviewed her and were working only through the nonprofit's attorney and its board chair, Amy Maher.
Maher did not return calls Wednesday. Board members Lyn Kendrick, Gail Monick and David Lesser declined to comment on the investigation; another, Heather Hathaway, did not respond to a request for an interview.
Asked about allegations that the nonprofit inappropriately used money, Crisp said, "I don't know of any misuse of funds."
Lori Polk, chair of the Noah's Wish board during Katrina, left it the month after the hurricane. Before and after Katrina, she said, she voiced concerns about "the organization and the allocations of the donations we were collecting." She said she felt she was "fighting a losing battle trying to maintain my fiduciary responsibility to the organization."
The group "did not make decisions based upon board approval," she said, and made "expenditures without approval."
The former employee, who would only speak on condition of anonymity, said that "the amount of money that was spent by the organization was unbelievable."
The Attorney General's authority over charities includes investigating the loss of substantial funds during one year, illegal use of funds, diversion of funds from their intended purpose and excessive amounts paid for salaries, benefits, travel, entertainment, legal and other professional fees, according to the agency's Web site.
Raising money last month
Noah's Wish was soliciting funds as recently as February. In a letter to potential donors, Crisp wrote the nonprofit had "made a concerted effort to only ask for donations when the need truly exists, and not become a pest with repeated appeals."
Later, the letter said, "So why am I contacting you now? Noah's Wish is prepared for the next disaster, but lately this has become increasingly challenging." Because 2006 was a "fairly uneventful year," Crisp wrote, donations declined significantly.
Tax documents for Noah's Wish obtained by the Business Journal reported revenue of $8.4 million, almost all of it from contributions, between July 1, 2005, and Dec. 31, 2005. Some $4.8 million was in unrestricted assets and $1.5 million in temporarily restricted assets at the end of that year, financial documents indicate.
In June 2006, the accounting firm engaged to audit the books wrote the board that it could not express an opinion on the 2005 financial statements, according to documents provided by the former employee.
"A significant portion of corroborating evidence such as vendor invoices, receipts, deposit slips and other supporting data were not maintained during the period that the organization was responding to the needs of animals during Hurricane Katrina. The records that remain are not sufficient to permit the application of auditing procedures that would be adequate for us to express an opinion on the accompanying financial statements," according to the letter from John Waddell & Co. CPAs.
For the second half of 2005, Noah's Wish paid $405,948 in salaries and compensation, according to the Form 990 supplied by the former employee. Of that, Crisp received $140,900, while the second-highest compensation went to Sheri Thompson at $118,125, the tax documents show.
If the numbers are correct, it appears the compensation for Crisp and Thompson is well above the norm for nonprofits of this size, said Ann Lucas, executive director of the Nonprofit Resource Center. The annual median base salary for the executive director of a nonprofit of this size is $130,000, according to the 2006 Compensation and Benefits Survey of Northern California Nonprofit Organizations, which is produced by the Center for Nonprofit Management in Los Angeles.
Noah's Wish committed $1 million to the city of Slidell, La. for construction of a new animal control center; the old one was severely damaged by Katrina. The city has not received any of those funds, Slidell City Attorney Tim Mathison said.

This book helps see into the confused world of mental illness like no other. Wonderful & hopeful!

This is a book that not only educates but provides the reader with a new compassion for those who deal with mental illness. Ms. Schiller presents a very complete picture of the sufferings of the mentally ill. From her writing, I gained a new perspective- including greater compassion- for those who are victims of this awful illness. I have only the highest praise for her honesty, her insight and her struggle. She is to be highly commended. A definite read.

Primarily Lori Schiller and Amanda Bennett, but also Lori's family, Dr. Doller et al did an excellent work to open the window to the rest of us, socially acepted as "sane", to have a view into the mechanics of an actually "crazy" mind. I hadn't read a book like that for a long time, not a single sentence in this book is fluff! There is also an excellent movie in this book
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Lori, sweetheart, you are brave!!! Not only for fighting your sickness to a manageable state yourself, but also for being bravely honest to narrate your inner world despite "the voices"
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My son, also in his teens, started acting very weird and I thought he was just a spoiled brat, till my wife pointed out to me the obvious; "he wasn't OK" and he started to talk about "voices" and very similar things.
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I didn't really know what to do (he came from overseas to live with me, so I basically didn't know him). I fell like I had gone to a foreign country and would see signs I could not really comprehend. Lori helped me understand things better. I found clear answers to some very concrete questions I had myself about clinical craze
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Thank you Lori Schiller
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This is a unique and beautiful book. Any person with interests in Psychiatry or Mental Health issues must read it. It's the first time I experienced what a schizophrenic felt first hand. A must-read!

Schiller writes grippingly and insightfully of her experience of schizophrenia including the "cold wet packs" of ice water soaked sheets used to restrain and calm her psychotic outbursts and her times in hospital "quiet rooms". The writing style is journalistic and factual when dealing with intense emotions and experiences. She is wonderfully descriptive in explaining the reality of her delusions and hallucinations, the experiences of pychotherapy, suicide attempts, cocaine use, psychiatric hospitals and half way houses. Eventually clozaril helped (with psychotherapy) to bring her back from the abyss of severely disabling schizophrenia. Her full diagnosis is "schizoaffective" disorder as her illness includes a bipolar disorder component. The accounts by Schiller, her family members, doctors and friends lend insight to the course of her disease especially as experienced by her family. I was particularly struck by her parents' progress from denial and resentment of both her diagnosis and her doctors to growing insight into schizophrenia and eventual recognition of the illness in their family history. While the multiple accounts make the narrative more difficult to follow they also add greatly to the story. Highly recommended!

THIS IS THE SECOND COPY FOR ME . SOMEONE STOLE THE FIRST ONE. WHEN I ALLOWED MY STUDENTS TO VIEW THE PICTURES.... A FUNERAL ATMOSPHERE ENTERED THE ROOM COUPLED WITH TEARS AND REQUEST FOR ME TO CLOSE THE BOOK !!! SHOCKING AND EDUCATIONAL... A MUST FOR ANY REAL BLACKMAN AND WOMAN'S HALL OF KNOWLEDGE !!

I haven't read the book yet, but plan to in the future. I went to a website dedicated to it the other day' and it featured those photos and the history behind them. I was saddened and horrified, and am still haunted by what I read and saw. I cannot for the life of me understand how so many of those people, including women and children, could have taken such pleasure in those unspeakable atrocities. I only hope and pray that none of those people involved were in my family.

What I wish they could have added to this book, however, were a few bits on the Native Americans. I'm 1/4 Native American myself and some of my ancestors walked the Trail of Tears. Their people were also persecuted and murdered and treated as non-human---and whites who killed "Injuns" were considered heroes. I imagine some Native Americans were lynched and tortured as well, and likely there were photos.

The pity of it is, I wonder if America has learned from its past? Even now we are tolerating human rights abuses in other countries, and it's only recently that the UN is acknowledging the horrors of Darfur. It's time for America to face its "demons" and really work to change things. If not, God will surely judge this nation for its crimes against humanity. Maybe He has already.

But what I definitely hope people will learn from this book is what hatred and bigotry can do to all of us. Don't hate ANYBODY for their color---black, white, whatever---or for their nationality, religion, etc. If we want to honor the memory of these poor victims, let's rise above the hatred of their murderers and strive to defeat the evil that led to these acts. By learning from history, we can hopefully not repeat it.

As a white man over sixty, growing up in the Northeast, I was sheltered from the realities of racism by my surroundings. "Colored people" were simply not socially acceptable, thats all.
When you go through this book you will cringe and shutter. What reason and why would white people do this. Not only lynch but torture and maim before they allowed the subject to die, and often for no reason - just because it was Saturday night and people needed something to do. Truly a wakeup call for white America to reflect on what we were and really how far have we come.

Buy this book !

Z

This book is the ultimate metaphor for the graphic brutality of Black people in America.
The British poet William Wordsworth once said, "Man know thee thyself, presume God not to scan, the sturdy of mankind is man". How do you begin to understand the nature of evil? The sheer barbarity of these pictures, the nonchalant attitude of the perpetrators and the wicked glee on the faces of the participants (even children) confirms the graphic truth of the institutionalization of racism and evil in our world. Dr. Martin L. King once said that "God will not so much punish the wicked for their evil deed, but for the appalling silence of the good people. For all those lily livered fools in our world, who are quick to parrot that idiotic sentence "slavery was before my time", let me remind you of James Byrd of Texas in 2000. Without a Sanctuary: Lynching photography in America is a profound documentary of unimaginable evil and wickedness. These horrible pictures can only appeal to our conscience as a society to do the right thing. I agree with Dante in his 'Inferno' that the worst place in hell will be reserved for all those who are neutral on the great issues of life. I am profoundly grateful to the authors of this great human document James Allen, John Lewis, Hilton Als and Leon F. Litwack. May the souls of these beings who endured these horrific brutality rest with God forever.

This an extraordinary book.

My father, who was a civil rights activist, wore a button for years that said, "I read banned books." When he died, we made a bookmark with his photo on it wearing that button. When I read Without Sanctuary I used that bookmark. Living here in New York City I often ride the trains, and I like to read during these trips. I decided to take the cover off this book because I was worried about children and anyone else who was not ready to see these photos getting a glimpse of them. But I've talked to my friends at work, and I've even given them peeks of this book because I want so much for people to know about the period of our national history during which lynching occurred. Few people can stand to look.

I once went to a workshop for learning how to undo the effects of racism, which was mostly for people of color. I asked the workshop leader, "What can we white folks do to end our own racism?" He answered, "Put your face into the buzz-saw of racism, and hold it there until you heal." I am still, many years later, trying to follow that suggestion, and buying this book was part of my journey as a white person in acknowledging the racist legacy I inherited growing up in the US. Without Sanctuary puts your face into the ways that white society tried to terrorize and silence a large number of US citizens.

My family immigrated from Lithuania and other countries in Eastern Europe around the turn of the 1900s. As Jewish immigrants, many of them felt that they had nothing to do with slavery, and they certainly had their own problems coming here. My grandfather participated in union organizing with other Jewish workers, and my father turned towards the problems of poverty and racism in our city during the 1960s until his recent death. But I still feel we as a white family benefit from centuries of free labor in the US. The hard fact is, that as white immigrants we bought into the racist system that supported a middle class, or at least the intellectual lifestyle. Today I work as a public school teacher in the housing projects of Brooklyn, but I own my own house and I enjoy a middle class income.

Without Sanctuary reveals and reminds of us of that period following emancipation when white citizens still stood to gain economically by the silence and passivity of African American communities. That period, more than any other period of our history, conditioned us, under heavy terror, to accept the separation caused by so many years of slavery. Without Sanctuary is one of my buzz-saws, and I cherish it. And although no one I know can stand to look at it with me (yet), it is a healing device, because without understanding there cannot be reconciliation. Without pain there cannot be recovery. We as a people must face and feel our own history so that we can move forward to a world without racism.

The question you need to ask yourself before buying this book is, "Am I ready to heal?"

Thank you, to the folks who put together Without Sanctuary.