Missouri Books

Gerald R. Butters, Jr. (Associate Professor of History at Aurora University) presents Banned in Kansas: Motion Picture Censorship 1915-1966. In 1915, Kansas was one of a handful of states that established its own film censorship board. From limiting depictions of sexuality to censoring violence in the 1932 classic "Scarface", the Kansas board controlled what the state's population saw on the silver screen for over fifty years. Banned in Kansas explores the political, social, and economic factors that led to the policy of movie censorship in Kansas, the attitudes of ordinary Kansas citizens toward the censorship, and why censorship continued for so many decades. Banned in Kansas also scrutinizes the daily operations of the film censorship board, and the complexities it encountered with regard to shifting definitions of cultural morality, as well as vagaries of political and legal systems. Black-and-white stills from censored movies illustrate this informed and informative contribution to American cinema history.

This is a brilliant collection of essays by Dr. Samuel Francis, perhaps the leading paleoconservative writer today. As many people don't know, most of today's so-called "conservative" thinkers are in fact "neo-conservatives," or as Francis says "neo-liberals." They accept many of the premises of liberalism, but think liberalism went to far in the 70's. Rather than providing an alternative to the liberals, they are just another aspect of what Francis' mentor, James Burnham, called the "managerial class." This collection contains excellent essays on Martin Luther King, Joe McCarthy and other subjects.

When I was a child one of my favorite books was Understood Betsy by Ms Fisher. I was looking forward to enjoying her as an adult, but I was blown away by her finely crafted stories, their depth and subtlety. Why is this women not well known? She is every bit as skillful as Willa Cather, Laura Ingals Wilder, and Louisa May Alcott.

A most absorbing and well written memoir by a now retired American diplomat who experienced an outstanding thirty five year career in the U.S. Foreign Sevice: Both East and West Germany: Somalia:and Zaire to mention a few. But written with much compassion, humor, humanitarian, and historical insights. To say nothing about his including his experiences with several notable personalities such as Chester Bowles, Robert and Ethel Kennedy::Ronald Reagan: and The Carters etc. etc.

The memoirs of Sideny Drake Jackman add much to our understanding of the recruitment of Confederate troops in Union held territory, specifically in Missouri. Jackman recruited troops in western Missouri in 1862, and fought them at the bloody engagement at Lone Jack before they were drilled. This account contains the best first person account of the battle of Lone Jack in print. Jackman does not fail to credit bravery or mock cowardice. His candor is unusual for books of this genre. All in all this is a good read and a great discovery for students of the war in Missouri. Norton has included a fine introduction and his footnotes are useful and informative.

I really loved the horriffic tales with interviews and tragic details of lofe in a huge public housing project in St. Louis, the Pruitt-Igoe. Amazing insights & interviews with real people throughout the book make for a very impactful, well organized work.

I was much more than pleasantly surprised with this book by a first-time author, Jeni Grossman. Few novices could possibly construct a book that so masterfully maintains the suspense, brings the characters to life and evokes numerous emotions--from laughter to tears. Her descriptions are well done and her dialog believable. It was truly a "great read."

The many facets of the career of Benjamin Franklin have brought one biography after another, with some specializing in one particular aspect of his life. As he had so many active fields of endeavor, the supply of books will continue. Franklin was a scientist, inventor, philosopher, revolutionary, chess player, journalist, essayist, and lifelong do-gooder. He was also a printer, and from that he was a businessman. It is this seemingly ordinary part of his spectacular life that is the subject of _Benjamin Franklin's Printing Network: Disseminating Virtue in Early America_ (University of Missouri Press) by historian Ralph Frasca. Franklin, of course, thought of himself as a printer. It was what he was trained to do as an apprentice. He became a fugitive apprentice when he ran away from his older brother's Boston shop to make his own way in Philadelphia. He succeeded, and although others eventually took over the ink and typesetting parts of the trade while he made himself busy with other things, he extended his influence to other shops and other newspapers. Using his job skills, he was able to rise beyond his class, a common enough and even typically American story now, but something that was just not done in what was still the British social system of the time. He developed a network of printers which was not only lucrative to him, but helped him get the word out about the importance of virtue, morality, and industry.

That Franklin was a success himself as a printer in Philadelphia there can be no doubt, but he was enormously influential in making a printing empire. In 1731, South Carolina invited him to become its printer of official records, but he did not want to leave Philadelphia. He hit on the alternative of sending his journeyman, Thomas Whitmarsh, to Charleston, along with a press, fonts, and funds. Whitmarsh thus was the first member in what we would recognize as a franchise marketing scheme. He surrendered a third of the profits to Franklin, and in return got the start-up costs, as well as almanacs and other books to be sold in his shop, and news stories so that the _South-Carolina Gazette_ would be a sister publication to Franklin's in Philadelphia. Over the succeeding decades, Franklin would select other journeymen to become his distant proxies, always valuing their industry and sobriety, and in this way hoping that his emphasis on virtue might create further examples for others to follow. Eventually, the Franklin printing empire extended to New York, Newport, New Haven, and even Antigua. Not all of the shops flourished, and some not only lost money but caused their founder family heartache. Nonetheless, Franklin's printing network was the largest and most influential of the time. His first partnership started in 1729, and he forged his last over fifty years later. By his franchises, he increased the growth of printing throughout the colonies; by 1755, eight of the fifteen newspapers in the colonies were from the Franklin network, and other printers learned and borrowed from them. Franklin's success was the press's success, and formed the early American printing tradition. Not only were information and opinion disseminated through the network, but also the value of journalism was impressed upon the reading audience. When the new government was being formed, the importance of a free press was not lost upon it.

Perhaps the most important function of the network was that it allowed Franklin to spend more time on other things, the experiments in electricity, the advising on colonial independence, and the appointments to France by which we better remember him. It was the printing that made him, though; in drafting his will in 1788, he went on to mention his other offices, but identified himself as "BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, of Philadelphia, printer..." right at the beginning. He also wrote the wonderful epitaph for himself (not actually used on his monument) comparing his printer's body to a cover of a book from which the contents have been torn out. Even within the sphere of being a printer, however, he went on to be much more. Frasca's welcome book shows just how Franklin made himself into a printing empire, and stresses (just as Franklin would have wanted) how it was done as part of his effort at improving humanity.

Saw this book reviewed in the newspaper and had to order it. It is small and has the most popular plants grown here. These are plants that will grow best and can prevent buying plants that will not survive the winter.

As the title suggests, this book is an EXCELLENT resource if you, like me, love to find the beautiful, out-of-the-way, quiet places to camp away from the RV crowds. I found this book in my local library, and checked it out 3 times for trips to Missouri, and now have finally purchased my own copy.

Each trip I was able to use this book to plan my itinerary in advance, pick exactly the places I wanted to camp and even the best campsites, as well as the hiking and other activities I wanted to do while in the area. With each campground featured you get a good idea of what makes that spot special, a detailed description (and map) of the campground so you can select the site that best fits your tastes, and a description of hiking trails and natural features to check out in the area. There are good directions, and side bars that summarize the details: cost, number of campsites, facilities available, contact and reservation info, etc.

This is a book I will use again and again as I camp!