Missouri Books

I thought this was going to be a book of funny and interesting items about the south and southerners. What it turned out to be is a text book! I tossed it into the trash, but pulled it back out so I can donate it to Goodwill.

John Shelton Reed does it again in this hilarious book. I have finally become addicted to his writing which is some of the most accurate and funny I have seen in quite some time, since I have been in academia for most of my life now. Anyone living in the South or those who have left and remember it well (like myself) will love this gem of a book.

I am from Brooklyn, New York and spent four years in a rural Virginia town. I was informed I was the third Jew to have lived in the town. Too bad, this book didn't exist when I lived down there. I just read it and couldn't put the book down and stop laughing. I learned about Professor Reed from the book Culture Shock USA, The South. An invaluble book for those who want to do business with Southerners, or move down there and become "Damn Yankees" (as my Alabama cousins call them). (You know you are liked, when you are promoted to Damn Yankee). To the reviewer from Birmingham, England. Explore the South and enjoy!

A Brit like me needs all the help he can get when it comes to understanding the South - and John Shelton Reed is the man to supply it. Readers may find the review from a reader in Vermont a little misleading - this book is not written for laughs although it is often very amusing. Reed is no Bill Bryson - but neither is Bryson a John Shelton Reed.

The book is a wonderful collection of short esssays that illuminate and explain "Southern-ness". Pinning down Southern characteristics - or indeed even where "The South" begins and ends - is like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall. However, that does not prevent Reed making the attempt with humor and considerable scholarship.

Most of the chapters have previously appeared in journals or are based on such papers. Reed's tone is light and entertaining even though the underlying purpose is serious. Perhaps the most overtly scholarly is the opening chapter that deals with the geographical extent of "The South". It is well adorned with plates taken from a very wide range of academic journals showing the incidence in the contiguous states of various factors suspected of reflecting Southern-ness. All the usual suspects are here: self-perception, cotton cultivation, incidence of lynchings, members of Baptist chruches, and 'Southern Living' readers. However, Reed has other less familiar indicators of Southern-ness such as where kudzu grows, ratio of active dentists to population, states mentioned in country-music lyrics, ratio of homicides to suicides, or chapters of the Kappa Alpha order.

It makes for fascinating reading and a shifting pattern of where the South is. Other chapters deal with such disparate issues as the depiction of Southern women in Playboy magazine, violence in country music, the Southern diaspora, and life and leisure in the New South. Reed's real achievement is to disguise his scholarship as an entertaining and informative read.

This is a very different kind of book from Reed's 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About the South. That was more an eclectic collection of facts, both familiar and unfamiliar, grouped loosely around broad themes. It was more for dipping into than reading straight through. The present book is more limited in its aims and obliquely explores a few specific questions in greater depth.

All in all, this is an immesely enjoyable book that is full of surprising revelations about the nature of Southern-ness. Some of the material on which it is based is getting a little dated (the bulk of sources are from the 1970s and early 1980s) and we can only hope that Reed is moved to bring out a new edition.

Richard Watson's book was an entertaining read -- it was hard to put down once I started reading it. It is not just about his struggle to learn French -- it is about how it feels to be on the outside looking in, and about how it feels to face unprecedented, inexplicable failure. The author is introspective, and he relates his experiences in an amusing and thoughtful way. Although he gives us a peek into a world most of us will never encounter (that of Parisian philosophers specializing in Descartes), we can easily empathize with his feelings of frustration, humiliation and cultural confusion. Since I am also struggling to learn to speak French for the first time, I was gratified to see I am not alone in my frustration.

When Richard Watson tries to learn to speak French decades after having learned to read it fluently, he has trouble. He tries very hard, hires a tutor, labors hours every day over exercises and audio tapes, but it just won't come. He spends months in France and still, he can't pass his exam.

Watson is a philosopher, therefore he must analyze the situation to death. He dissects his failure, perhaps it is because French sounds un-masculine, maybe he doesn't like the French, perhaps it is something deeper. Well, seeing as how he has evidence that his French really has improved by the time he leaves France, maybe he just set his goals unrealistically high.

The self-analysis gets tedious sometimes, but the story is interesting and understandable. Everyone has difficulty learning something, no matter how smart they are. And the observations of different cultures are eye-opening. Watson's story about an American who speaks fluent Japanese, traveling in Japan, being refused lodging in an inn because he didn't speak Japanese, even though the lengthy conversation with the proprietor took place entirely in Japanese, was amusing.

No, this is not a book about "learning to speak French", as the subtitle indicates -- rather it is a book about a man trying to overcome his linguistic shortcomings in fluently speaking the French language, while skewering the Alliance Francaise (language school), French scholars of Descartes, and French bureaucracy, all in one extended essay (too short to be dignified as a "book", really). It passes all understanding that the author believes that anyone other than his nearest and dearest care about his traumas in taking French lessons or being snubbed by his fellow scholars in Paris (or being stung by a yellow jacket in the good old U.S. of A., for that matter). A total waste of a long afternoon. Watson and the reading public would have been better served had he just bought a set of Pimsleur CDs and then shut up.

What I particularly love about Richard Watson is that his francophobia has the breadth to include the French language itself: "The poem played on tape was about how to paint a bird. First you paint a cage, then you paint flowers and plants around it, a beautiful sky, and so on. You wait. Your painting is bad if a bird doesn't come and land in the cage. If one does, it is good and you can erase the cage and sign your name to the painting of the bird. Putting aside the cuteness of all this, what made me realize how much I disliked the sound of French was the continual, unctuous, caressing repetition of 'l'oiseau' ('the bird'). It is a word the French believe to be one of the most beautiful in their language. It is a word that cannot be pronounced without simpering, a word whose use should be restricted to children under five."

Confere Anthony Burgess's hatred of the consonant deficiency of French: "The French seem determined to destroy their Roman inheritance by chopping up words until they become as short as possible, and as capable of being confused with other chopped-up words as only a genuinely morbid condition of language can allow. Even when a French word or name bears some visual resemblance to its classical original, the spoken form submits to the axe. I can never grow used to pronouncing 'Jesus Christ' as 'Jezu Cri', and I feel that if the French could cut the holy name down to something like 'Je Cr', they would."

This is an attempt to look at President Harding from a different perspective. The general opinion is that this man was one of the worse presidents this country has every had. Although Mr. Ferrell does not try to totally reverse this opinion and make President Harding out to be a great president he does attempt to explain how the Harding Administration was a reflection of the 1920s and what the people wanted and needed from their government.

The many "deaths" relates first to his physical death. President Harding was -- contrary to what his aides wanted people to believe -- not a well man and had a severe heart condition. He went on a tour to the west coast and was so beaten down physically that he was laid up on bed rest for several days with reports on his conditions being monitored by the news media. The first couple of days the reports were grim and then suddenly the reports became optimistic. Then, just as suddenly the man was dead.

The other deaths of President Harding relates to the death of his image. He reportedly had affairs and illegitimate children. His name was mired in the Teapot Dome Scandal. His accomplishments were diminished by the events that followed his administration. In the end most President Harding's accomplishments were forgotten and so, too, was President Harding.

Americans have always had a love hate relationship with the truth. We love the truth because it's something that we believe in, but we hate the truth when it is less entertaining than tawdry details dreamt up in the minds of scandal mongers. Such is the case of the Nation's 29th President Warren G. Harding, for whom lore wins out over the truth.

"The Strange Deaths of President Harding" is Robert Ferrell's painstakingly researched retort to the years of lies, myths and lore that have enveloped the legacy of President Warren G. Harding, the nations 29th President (1921-1923). At the time of Harding's death in 1923, he was one of the most beloved people in the nation. During the trip that returned his body to Washington D.C. for the State Funeral, millions of Americans lined the railway tracks to pay tribute to him. Adding to the speculation of wrong doing was Mrs. Harding's death in 1924, leaving both Harding's defenseless against the rising tide of tales surrounding them and the President's appointees. The Harding's reputations were so harmed by the public's inability to separate the man from his appointee's actions that their final resting place, completed in 1927 wasn't dedicated until 1931.

Ferrell's strength is not in writing a juicy tell all, but in writing a well documented expose on the truths about the Harding's, and the truth is always less juicy to the American people than the rumors that have persisted. Ferrell does an outstanding job at stripping away the salacious speculations (for example, Mrs. Harding did not kill her husband as Gaston Means speculated) and circumstantial evidence that has damned Harding to be appraised as one of the worst Presidents in American History. Indeed, once free of innuendo and false labels, Harding actually comes out as an average President who gave to much power the wrong the people, and suffered dearly because of this loyalty.

So if you are one of those who believe that Mrs. Harding and Dr. Sawyer conspired to kill Harding, or that Harding fathered Nan Britton's baby or that even Nan Britton worte "The President's Daughter", Ferrell is poised to poke you in the eye with fact patterns and research that show that Harding died of end stage heart disease, no concrete evidence exists to support the paternal claims of Britton and that Britton's book was most likely written by her middle-age mentor.

Despite Ferrell's outstanding work, this book will never enjoy the success it and its writer fully deserve and that is a true American tragedy. Had Ferrell set out to trash the reputation of an American hero, this would have been a best seller, his face would have appearred on the cover of Time and Oprah would have chosen this for her book club. Regardless, this remains a must read for those people who value truth over myth, and honor over dishonor.

I read through this book very carefully, as well as that of John Dean's recent one on Harding. Dean's is much more balanced, and gives a sense of Harding's attributes in the context of his very real and deep weaknesses for women and drink and gambling. Why is it that Ferrell cannot see the whole man and must whitewash him into a hero? To me the real hero is one who overcomes his failings to succeed. Also, I suspect the author is old, because it is amusing that he dismisses every woman's opinion as "gossip" yet takes as bible truth the gossip of men like the mail clerk! I also read a book about his wife and noticed that this book uses a sanitized "for public eyes" version of the doctor's notes - while the Mrs. Harding book uses the raw handwritten first and real notes. And the most obvious fact - the face of Nan Britton's daughter - speaks more obviously to the fact that Harding did father the child. Why is it hard to believe that a ditzy mistress can't remember exact times and hours of everything and did as she was told to burn every single letter her great hero asked her to? If you want to see a rush job and a lot of failure in biography - this is the one. But if you want the real story of the Hardings read John Dean's book, Professor Murray's excellent book, Francis Russell - who actually interviewed many of the people involved in the 1950's when they were old-timers, and the Mrs. Harding story.

The Strange Deaths of President Harding, by Robert Ferrell is a well researched and documented work that concerns itself with debunking many of the myths that surround the legacy of President Harding. Ferrell begins by recounting a story about a time when he was in college driving through Ohio with a carload of friends. Nearing the Harding Memorial, he drove onto the memorial grounds and stopped the car. At that moment, he pointed out to his friends that it was Harding's tomb, and everyone including Ferrell, laughed. Indeed Ferrell's story as he indicated, demonstrated how the passage of years can change a person's mind. And yet, as he also indicates, Harding continues to be ranked last in the presidential polls. Ferrell sets out not to argue that Harding should be considered a great or near great president--he simply calls for an honest reconsideration of Harding. Ferrell begins by offering evidence that Harding died of a heart attack, from overexertion and after years of suffering from heart disease; He disproves the theory that Florence Harding poisoned her husband. Ferrell then challenges the claims made by Nan Britton, who claimed Harding fathered her child. After which, Ferrell discusses the scandals of the Harding administration and the aftermath. He goes into great detail questioning the motives of a few journalists and authors who relentlessly attacked Harding's reputation and the many salacious biographies written before the Harding papers were opened that relied on rumor, gossip and unsubstantiated claims--and subsequent biographies after the Harding papers opened that continued to rely heavily on these earlier, albeit inaccurate works, giving little to no consideration of the Harding papers. Ferrell makes a compelling argument that many of the stories surrounding Harding would have been disproven had the Harding papers been available. He also suggests that Florence Harding, in her well meaning attempts to protect the legacy of her late husband by burning his papers,(she believed she had burned the majority of his papers but was not aware that she possessed only a very, very small portion of his papers) unwittingly helped hasten the maligning of her husband. Overall Ferrell makes a compelling case that given the inaccuracies that have persisted for decades regarding Harding, there should and must be a reexamination of Harding's legacy that separates fact from fiction.

There is little reason to describe the author's purpose in writing Testing The Claims of Church Growth, for the title makes it self-evident. My initial interest in this book was based on the description which says, "For 13 years prior to entering the ministry, Rev. Rodney E. Zwonitzer was a high-level corporate marketing executive for Westinghouse, Storage Technology, and United Technologies Mostek. Now he lays bare the real basis for Church Growth, finding that it is not in the Bible but in business." I assumed this book would examine the claims of church growth through the eyes of one who is adept at studying and evaluating marketing.

The book began in a promising fashion with the author providing a primer in marketing; defining it, explaining how it works, and describing his role in it when he was working with large corporations. The most notable information in this initial section is the paradigm shift companies undergo from having the product as the dominant force to the customer being supreme. There were clear reflections of the Church Growth movement in his analysis.

Interestingly, there was very little discussion of marketing beyond the initial section. Instead, the author continually compares and contrasts the claims of Church Growth advocates with claims of Confessional Lutherans and we see that the primary purpose of this book is to address the issues of Church Growth within a specific part of the Lutheran body. While this is not what I had expected, I still found it tremendously helpful. Zwonitzer argues from within the clearly defined, historic, structured framework of conservative Lutheranism. While I have read many evangelical responses to Church Growth, they often reply from within the chaos of evangelicalism. I would also point out that the author has a very strong grasp of the methodology, message and claims of Church Growth. This means that he is not arguing against a mere caricature of a movement, but instead probes to the roots, examining men like McGavaran and spending very little time with the modern-day heroes of church growth such as Rick Warren and Bill Hybels. He also gives credit where credit is due, praising Church Growth advocates for their desire to reach the lost, but at the same time affirming that to do this we do not need to resort to such extreme measures in marketing, theology and ecclesiology.

He writes, "I cannot fault CG [Church Growth] for its fervent desire to seek and save the lost. However, I must ask, Do you give up anything in this rush to grow, to succeed, to be relevant, to please the customer? The evidence convinces me that the answer must be yes. CG gives up the purity of the Gospel and the correct administration of the Sacraments in its zeal to grow."

In the end, having examined many of the most pressing issues raised by Church Growth, he concludes that the Lutheran Church must respond to this issue and "hammer out a concord through the same means used by our Confessional forefathers." He goes on to say that "The new controversy of Church Growth has been allowed to spread for more than two decades among our Confessional churches, bringing a scandal from outside our confession. This scandal must be addressed now before it is given more time to spread. It's time for concord. It's time to show our allegiance. It's time to be Lutherans."

So while I am not in the target demographic for this book, and while I disagree with some of the author's ardently Lutheran theology, I did find it a helpful read.

Having spent 20 years in the marketing business before becoming an ordained minister, I think the book pounds a decisive (hopefully) final nail in the coffin lid of the co-called Church Growth Movement. Zwonitzer clearly knows his stuff. Like a well-schooled marketing manager the author prefers evidence instead of anecdote, and he relentlessly exposes the dog-eared clichés and unproductive stratagems of a failed system. There's no "bait and switch" here. The book delivers what the cover promises, which is more than a careful observer can say for the CG gurus.

Rather than test the claims of the church growth movement the author tests the dated claims of only two church growth advocates. An attack on marketing the church rather than a serious critique. And this coming from one whose webpage uses marketing to encouraging purchases so his church can make money?

In the preface, Rev. Zwonitzer basically summarizes his entire book by asking, "Were Jesus, Paul, Martin Luther, and even C.F.W. Walther marketing men as the Church Growth Movement claims? This ex-marketer-turned-theologian says NO! Marketing is an overarching approach that seeks to please the customer, claiming customer king. True theology can have no customer sovereignty. THE PRECIOUS GOSPEL MUST BE SOVEREIGN." Folks, if you don't see the overwhelming fundamental truth in this last statement, don't buy the book. You really wouldn't understand it. I suppose the following statement is how I would summarize this book. Ultimately, the Church Growth Movement leads to the blind leading the blind.

For someone interested in how the world's largest airline got it's start, this is a must read. It's filled with details and facts that could only be properly told by someone who was there.

William Braznell's An Airman's Odyssey is the engaging and informative story of the airline industry's early years and the pioneer airman who launched commercial air travel and transportation. The critically important beginnings with the awarding of the first air mail contracts in 1925 to the infamous "Airline Spoils Scandals" of 1934 are chronicled, as is the advent of the DC-3, America's first great passenger airship; the tremendous advances in aviation technology, and the rapid development of aviation technology following World War II; as well as the reasons American aircraft manufacturers and airlines lagged so far behind the British and the French in ushering in the Jet Age. Threaded throughout this remarkable history is William Braznell's personal story beginning with his fledgling air mail pilot's education in aerial survival and subsequent progress up the ranks to chief pilot, and ultimately to vice president and director of American Airlines' six-thousand-man flight department. An Airman's Odyssey is a "must" for aviation enthusiasts and students of American domestic and civilian aviation history.

The combination of this book's lucid prose with its fascinating photos, drawings, technical information, newspaper accounts, and personal stories make for a compelling history of early American aviation. The stories of the legendary as well as the unsung pioneers are full of adventure and more than a little humor. Walt Braznell's own life and career are models of an American Dream, and the other characters and events woven into the story bring an exciting period of American history to life. It's an obvious choice for aviation enthusiasts, but it also has a wide appeal as an entertaining and informative biography and history.

On a late fall evening, two police officers are machine-gunned down on the streets of St. Louis, Missouri. The questions asked by the officers on the scene were: Did the cops pull over the wrong person, or did one or both of them have a connection to something else?

Lieutenant George Hastings 'catches' the case. Because his partner is in the hospital, he's paired with the well-connected detective Bobby Cain. The two police officers focus on the slain officers' lives to determine if one or both was involved with something that got them killed.

Slain officer Chris Hummel did a year-long stint undercover and his work contributed to the arrest and conviction of a big-time career criminal. Cain is not sure that Lt. Hastings' take on the case is correct, but he reluctantly follows Hastings orders. The trail begins to lead, not to Hummel's work as an undercover narcotics officer, but to the women in his life.

The Betrayers is filled with good cops, a bad cop, evil mobsters, an assassin and the women these men are involved with personally. The plot is fascinating and it's a fast read. My criticism is that there are so many characters that it's difficult to get to know them very well. Some of them show up and then disappear. And those that stick around, even the bad ones, weren't well-developed enough to really care about them or dislike them.

Armchair Interviews says: This is a good read, but based on the plot, could have been much better.

In St. Louis two county deputies Chris Hummel and Wade Childers make what seems to be a routine traffic stop of Jimmy Rizza, only to be killed by Mike Dillon. St Louis Homicide Detective Lieutenant George Hastings leads the inquiries into the murders of the law enforcement officials that have all the cops outraged and in turn concerns the criminal elements who fear mass intrusion in their business.

The first thing George realizes that makes the case seem less random than first thought is the weapon of choice was a machine gun. George wonders if the homicides are drug related with Hummel and Childers lured into a trap. As his superior Captain Karen Brady places increasingly unfair pressure on him to catch the culprits, George also feels unhappy with that young punk son of an affluent lawyer, Sergeant Bobby Cain, assigned to assist him. Ignoring his feelings of being a sandwich meat, he considers who could have set up such an operation including the hit order. Incarcerated drug lord Steve Treats or vicious felon John Zanatelli come to mind but what makes the investigation convoluted are the follow up executions that occur to eradicate the trail.

Though the murder victims are different the fascinating use of a crime thriller to look at dysfunctional group dynamics will remind the audience of Fritz Lang's classic 1930s movie M (starring Peter Lorre). The investigation takes a back seat to the interactivities and relationships within the two prime groups. For instance, George has no respect for or trusts either his direct supervisor or the sergeant; the same holds true within the criminal circles as Jimmy only relies on his brother while Matt has his machine gun. Fans of tense fast-paced crime thrillers will want to read this terrific police procedural.

Harriet Klausner

James Patrick Hunt's hard hitting fourth novel, The Betrayers, begins on a cold November night as two St. Louis beat cops, Deputies Chris Hummel and Wade Childers, sit in their patrol car, discussing how to handle the owner of a Pathfinder they've pulled over. Although all seems normal, there's something about the guy that gives them pause. Suddenly, a black Pontiac Bonneville pulls up behind them; before they can react, machinegun fire erupts from that vehicle, killing them both. The driver of the Pathfinder then leaves with his compatriots in the Bonneville.

Enter Lieutenant George Hastings, saddled with the burden of handling the highly volatile situation. With few solid leads, Hastings is forced to follow tips from any source, no matter how tenuous or shaky. One, which posits that Hummel might have been on the take, leads him down a dangerous path, towards a brutal killer with enemies on both sides of the law.

As you might have guessed from the title, the novel delves deeply into betrayal and its effects on individuals and groups. All of Hunt's characters are driven by the act of betrayal, either committing it themselves, or in dealing with the collateral damage those acts precipitate. His examination of this complex milieu is simultaneously horrifying and uplifting, illustrating the heights and depths law enforcement officials and criminals can rise or fall to. Hunt manages this tight rope act beautifully, expertly evoking his eclectic set of characters, sometimes making you despise the cops, sometimes creating sympathy for the crooks, but always holding you spellbound.

Interesting premise, and although the writing is a bit uninspired, a reasonable read. I am still not quite sure what problem the Mr. Weiss was trying to solve (but, indeed, the book is provocative, as the author promises). I also was struck by the apparent refusal of any of Curt Flood's teammates to speak with the Mr. Weiss about Flood's career. I think there also could have been a bit more discussion of Jackie Robinson's testimony at the trial and what prompted it.

I did spot a few minor errors which I would suggest revisiting should there be a second edition.

page 103, top paragraph, for Keane (who was dead by 1967) should be Schoendinst.

page 106 there is a repeat of the phraase "-and Mickey Lolich"...which I think is unintentional

page 114 The museum housing the old masters in Amsterdam is the "Rijksmuseum", not the "Reichsmuseum" (probably the last thing the Dutch would want the place called"

page 140 Not really an error, but when the Phils were trying to lure Flood to come in 1970, the artificial turf of the Vet was still more than year away

page 175 In January of 1970, the opposing teams in the Superbowl were Kansas City and Minnesota, not Green Bay and Minnesota

My only other observation is that whatever the myth was, Flood was a fabulous player and in 1967, when the Cards came to New England for the Series, many of thought that with the excepton of Frank Robinson (who had come to the Orioles the previous year) the American Leagues did not have players the likes of Flood, Bob Gibson and Lous Brock.

This book is a good read and not only for a baseball fans. It is primarily about a player's reasons for sacrificing his career, and in that sense it is extremely provocative. It directly attacks the eulogistic and long-standing view that Curt Flood was a hero who sacrificed his career on behalf of a noble cause--challenging baseball's reserve system in the courts. In that sense it is a psychodrama.

According to the author, this book is the story of the life of a sensitive, brooding St. Louis Cardinals star center fielder who became unhinged after misplaying a costly line drive in the 1968 World Series, feuded with his boss, Gussie Busch, and the Cardinals front office, and then found himself traded. Bound by his contract that obligated him to go where the Cardinals sent him, or retire, he chose a third option--to challenge baseball's reserve clause which he believed, after conferring with his lawyer, was unconstitutional. The writer argues, successfully in this reader's judgment, that Flood's unusual decision, sacrificing his career, was another in a series of bad decisions that stemmed from his misplay in 1968. In this smoothly written book, Professor Weiss also argues very cogently that although Flood, because of his challenge to the reserve clause, is viewed by many people as the father of free agency, actually he was at best the grandfather, and perhaps only the Godfather, of free agency.

While this is yet another Bretta Solomon mystery from the beloved Harrison, I didn't think this was one of her all-time best like "Lilies That Fester", but this was a good, strongly-plotted mystery, and there is a denoument that'll shock even the most seasoned of mystery readers. Don't take my word for it, though. Buy this lovely little gem and see for yourself if you don't fall in love with Bretta!

It is going to be a wedding extravagance and the mother of the bride is driving florist Bretta Solomon crazy with all weird endless string of ideas. Other River City, Missouri merchants are also going certifiable trying to satisfy a woman whose plans keep changing and turning more complicated and stranger by the second. Days before the wedding, Evelyn Montgomery calls for a meeting to include Sonya the event coordinator, Dana the caterer, and Claire the hair stylist.

Before Evelyn can ever speak, Oliver dies from a heart attack while staring at the other merchants.. Late that same day, Bretta visits Claire's Hair Salon because the stylist hinted she knows something about Oliver' death. Bretta arrives at the beauty shop too late because Claire is dead, the victim of a murderer. A few days later one of Claire's clients is killed in a gas explosion and Bretta thinks all the deaths are linked. Unable to keep her curiosity in check, Bretta decides to investigate not realizing that somebody will go to any lengths to stop her.

This is the fourth Solomon mystery and it is the best by far. The characters are all likable, even the pesky mother of the bride, so readers won't want any person in A DEADLY BOUQUET to be the villain. The climax is shocking, and nobody will be able to figure out what is really going on until Janis Harrison reveals the perpetrator in her cerebral puzzler that is nothing short of genius.

Harriet Klausner

I read the first book in this series, "Roots of Murder" and enjoyed it. I missed the next two, then happened on this one. I expected to enjoy it as much as the first but was very disappointed by the amount of violence in it. Also, the author increased the level of suspense higher than I prefer. Our heroine was run off the road, seriously injuring her romantic interest (who did that? We're never told). Her car was vandalized, a woman was gruesomely stranged, another was blown up, there was arson -- far too much mayhem for a traditional cozy and as that's the type of book I prefer, this was not for me.

Progressing from his study of slaveholding in Western North Carolina (Mountain Masters) and other explorations of Southern Appalachian History, John Inscoe has teamed up with Gordon B. McKinney, the editor of the microfilm version of the Zebulon B. Vance Papers and author of Southern Mountain Republicans to produce the first scholarly synthesis of the Civil War in Western North Carolina. The book breaks new ground in relying on the scholarship of the past twenty years to revise the portrait of a part of North Carolina that was considered to be staunchly Unionist. It explores mountaineers attitudes toward slavery, secession, and the war in general in very broad strokes; these insights are fleshed out with details from specific locales. From the historian's point of view, the authors have not met the rigorous burden of proof in many cases, choosing to base their conclusions on just one or two primary sources; in some cases, they are forced to draw from examples outside of the region (such as Tennessee) which would fail to satisfy the most demanding of those who want conclusive evidence. However, the book is a wonderful tale and in many cases shows the myriad of responses to what has been described as the most influential historical event in United States History.

A few pages into this book it occurred to me that it must be written by a college professor since it was text-book dry. Sure enough, not one, but two of them.
Having said that, it is loaded with an insightful peek into a specific region of our country during a very specific time. A good read for anybody interested in the history of the mountains of North Caroilina.

If one is looking for a detailed study of the skirmishes and battles of western North Carolina in the American Civil War, this is not the research. Inscoe and McKinney may only reflect on the skirmishes and battles, however, they skillfully present the detailed sociopolitical and geopolitical "tone" of western North Carolina and the American Civil War. To embrace western North Carolina's entry and struggle during the Civil War, East Tennessee and western North Carolina must be studied.

Equal examinations of the two regions allow a balanced view. Moreover, as border states, East Tennessee had a strong pro-Unionist sentiment. Tennessee and North Carolina were also the last two states to secede, and, with several North Carolina highlander regiments fighting numerous skirmishes and battles in East Tennessee, both states are examined. The Heart of Confederate Appalachia: Western North Carolina in the Civil War provides the reader with the war's "prelude to the aftermath" in Southern Appalachia. There are 368 pages, with 67 pages dedicated to accurate and detailed primary and secondary sources. It is considered a "must have" addition for the student and scholar of Southern Appalachia during the so-called War Between the States.

Matthew D. Parker

This book is written like a academic thesis, however it does not include the most significant information that would have made it worthwhile - the names of the individuals who were responsible for the lynching. One has to wonder what the motivation of the author really was. It seems only to meet the basic standards of "publish or perish". It is too important a topic to be used as a college term paper.

Must read for those who thought that these things only happen[ed] in the South. Informative and very well written.

As a 20-year old young lady, born and raised in Sikeston, Missouri (the subject of the book), I am thankful that someone has finally seen fit to make sure Mr. Wright's life wasn't in vain. This book is a scholarly, yet stomach-turning account of vigilante "justice", sociological cause and effect, and old-fashioned racism. Properly put into historical context, the tragedy is made painfully clear. May we continue to learn from our mistakes.