Georgia Books

This is a quietly beautiful and fascinating story--a work of scholarship and a work of love. Joanne Mulcahy has written a stunning book about Mary Peterson, a remarkable woman, and about the cultural revival that both Mary and the author played crucial roles in bringing about. It is something few Americans know anything about--and all of us should.

this is a great book that deals with a man who plots to kill a man to start a revolution in ireland and finds a conscience in the end. a must read. O'Flaherty is the man, i don't read much but i love his books.

This poem is one that is written from an unusual point of view. The point of view is of Judua, the man who betrayed Jesus. Mr. Reece he perfectly placed his own view of Jesus aside and took on the outlook of the man who delivered Jesus into the hands of the crusifers. Judus did so only for a few peices of silver. The poem starts as a man telling a story of his betrayal, then it continues to show a man's remorse and guilt. This poem has many different bible references to the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I would suggest this poem for any religious reader. It will really open your eyes to the views of Judus.

This book is a series of essays on "the black drink" - a form of tea made from the yaupon holly by the Native American cultures of many parts of the Southeastern United States. The customs and ceremonies surrounding the black drink - called "casina" by the Timucuan Indians, "asi" by the Creeks, and known in various forms throughout the Southeast - were a major part of Native American cultures in this region. Since the yaupon holly is the only plant in North America which contains caffeine, it was used for different purposes by different cultures - some ceremonial, some purely social.

While the book was written some years ago, it's a great, fascinating synopsis of what we know about the drink and its place in Native American cultures. Jerry Milanich's chapter covers what we know of the archaeological evidence for the use of the drink, chapters by Fairbanks, Hudson and Sturtevant cover the ethnography and history among colonial-era and American-era cultures, and other chapters explain in detail about the yaupon holly and its range and natural features. For either the specialist in archaeology or history, or the general reader interested in Native American culture, this book is a neat, concise synthesis of what we know about the black drink and its place in our past.

A fun read, and highly recommended.

This book is an encyclopedia listing some of the earliest African-American graduates from a large public university, namely the University of Michigan. Many readers would be surprised to learn that Black students were on the medical campus
in the 1880's, years before Brown versus the Board of Education.
Dr. Johnson conducted exhaustive research to pull together the details of the physicians included in this volume. Especially moving is the author's own tale of struggle and ultimately success after graduating from South Haven High School, attending Western Michigan University, then attending the University of Michigan Medical School after completing just 3 years of undergraduate study. Dr. Johnson and the other physicians described within the book are role models for current and further medical students of all races and backgrounds.

A MUST-HAVE for anyone interested in Black History or for people studying the history of minorities in the health care field.

The mega class-action discrimination suit against Shoney's in the 90's appears to have been overshadowed by the better publicized case against Denny's occuring about the same time. But the flagrant and pervasive discrimination shown by Shoney's management toward its own staff is shocking stuff (Supervisiors were told to blacken the "o" in "Shoneys" to identify job applications from minority applicants). Terrific book - it reads like a detective novel and is hard to put down. Well-written and highly recommended.

P.S. Note that this book was first promoted at the top of a well-known commercial publisher's list, but inexplicably dropped before going to press -- presumably due to legal threats from an offended source. It's out of print now; get it if you can!

This is an excellent book written by a master referee who emphasizes the spirit of the game and the role of the referee in promoting fairness, protecting players and letting the game flow. Dirk Baay was a player at Ajax and has been a referee in Colorado for many years. He has an insider's understanding of the game. He presents the rules and shows how to apply them to help the game flow and keep it under control. He has a knack for briefly summarizing his advice: "Don't blow what you see, blow what you must." At the end he presents an interesting series of game situations and disucsses how to handle them. I have recommended this book to two referees who tried hard but just did not get the game. The book is a must for referees who did not grow up with the game and valuable for those did.

This is an excellent adventure story set in the hidden and occasionally dangerous woods of the Blue Ridge mountains. When it becomes a matter of life and death, two teenage boys learn that friends share much more than just the place where they live.

Just the title provides food for thought: Blue Ridge 2020, An Owner's Manual, reminds us that the public has a responsibility for effective stewardship of the public lands in the Blue Ridge. I also like the play on words of 2020--hindsight is 20/20, and if we don't take a hard, clear look at what is happening to the ecology of the Blue Ridge and work hard to improve it, we will have deep regrets by the year 2020. The human scale of twenty years is very effective. I'm 31--what kind of Blue Ridge will I experience at 51? As a local environmental activist in the Page Valley, I find this book is a tremendously useful and motivating resource. In one book, Steve Nash provides an overview of specific problems and practical solutions. His writing style is clear and accessible. If you care about the health about the Blue Ridge or want up to date information about the quality of air and water in the mountains, this is a book you need to read. This is one of the best "state of the ecology" books I've read, and it is particularly useful for its regional approach.

The fiftieth anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education in 2004 brought forth a plethora of related media. In addition to the tributes, there were also dismissive and negative revisionist histories claiming, for example, that Brown had no impact at all, or worse, that it actually interrupted and delayed the inevitable process of desegregation already unfolding in the South following WWII.

James C. Cobb (Spalding Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Georgia) responds to what he sees as distortions of Brown's legacy with scholarly guns a'blazing in this series of lectures presented for the Mercer University Lamar Memorial Lectures . In the first chapter, he makes quick work of the revisionists' claims that Jim Crow teetered on the brink of collapse by 1954. The second chapter challenges writers who claim that Brown's contribution to civil rights progress was ultimately less significant than its role in energizing white resistance to it. The final chapter argues that Brown and the ensuing civil rights movement accomplished more than its critics acknowledge, not insignificantly by allowing blacks the opportunity to embrace their identity as southerners. He examines the current trend of black migration to the south, as well as the trend to self-segregate not merely by race, but economic class.

His writing is clear, concise and engaging, his research rock solid and his attitude unabashedly liberal. I appreciated the inclusion of his personal observations as a white Southerner growing up under Jim Crow. And he doesn't mince words; in the final chapter he notes that dismay with the civil rights movement could be due in part to expectations. He writes "Many black and white liberals assumed that removing racial constraints on opportunity would somehow produce an unending stream of Alice Walkers but never a Condoleezza Rice." (Or, for that matter, a Clarence Thomas.)

This slim volume packs a wallop, and is must reading for anyone interested in Brown in particular, or Jim Crow in general.