Indiana Books

This book is great for those who like to go "outside the box", and get off the freeway as they head up north, to take in Michigan's unique beauty.

Beautifully illustrated with a wealth of color and black-and-white photographs, Backroads Of Michigan: Your Guide To Michigan's Most Scenic Backroad Adventures is a guide to touring the most breathtaking and scenic natural venues to be found in the Great Lake State. Backroads Of Michigan is a fairly large trade paperback, not meant to be carried in a pocket, purse or small backpack; yet its size also allows the fine detail in its illustrations to shine through, and its typeface is easy to read without a magnifying glass. The chapters are arranged by Michigan subsection, and cover everything from historical sites to river valleys to prime spots for beachcombing to state parks ideal for viewing wildflowers and much more, with maps and general directions. The text is written in a leisurely style that is as engaging to browse for pleasure as it is filled with practical information. Enthusiastically recommended for Michigan tourists and residents interested in the state's most wondrous sights, and also for armchair travelers.

Thomas Burns' BARBARIANS WITHIN THE GATES OF ROME manages something quite difficult. It is a very readable book that manages to be scholarly but still quite enjoyable. Anybody who is interested in this era in western civilization would enjoy this book. The usual view of the decline of Rome-- that it fell for some sort of "moral" reason --is very inacurate and this book presents the real truth of this pivotal era in a very entertaining manner. Burns is the rare academic whose writing is as lucid as it is learned, and this book admirably displays that. If you've never given this era a serious look, this book is a great introduction. I've been interested in the early years of Christianity for many years, and I loved this book.

This is indeed an excellent book for those who wish to better understand Western civilisation and the nature of the relationships between the Romans and other groups within the Empire.

The book is well-written and is the result of outstanding research.

If you lived in Central Indiana from the mid-90s to 2003 you probably saw Barney - Dick Wolfsie's canine sidekick and faithful companion for literally thousands of segments of the WISH-TV morning show. He wasn't a prop or a gag (he was too poorly trained for that) - he was his own man (!) on the show. He was goodwill ambassador and class clown and all beagle.

This is a light-hearted book - full of Wolfsie's wonderful memories - the good and the bad. Really, it's a fluff piece - but this piece of fluff caused my eyes to tear up more than once as he spoke of the day his beloved Barney died and the immediate outpouring of love and concern that central Indiana expressed.

Truly a wonderful little book - be prepared to laugh (my wife and I read parts of it to each other and enjoyed it all the more) but also have the tissues handy!

For those of us that grew up watching WISH-TV in the mornings, noon, evening and late night, we never can get enough. When you say WISH-TV, you think of two things: Mike Ahern and Barney. Two legends that will hardly be forgotten. For this book, it reminds of Barney, and all of the times we watched him on television and growing up with him as well. It explains his days of eating the world whole, which he did often, his love for children, and the man that could never love him enough, Dick Wolfsie. Reading this book gives you such a frog in your throat, you wish Barney never passed and that your children and grandchildren could see Barney forever. But we knew it had to happen, we just did not want to think it. While the rest of the country thinks of a purple dinosaur when you say Barney, we think of a dog, a friend that felt like he was our own, and this book reminded you of that fact. He was not only Mr. Wolfsie's best friend, but ours too. We thank you for the book Dick, and will greatly miss 'our' best friend. Thanks for the memories.

I read this book for a research paper on Barbados, that I chose to write for an undergraduate anthropology class called Caribbean Ethnography. The book is written by Professor George Gmelch of Union College in Schenectady, NY. It is a very simple book with little to no anthropological analysis on the surface. However, upon completing this book you will realize Gmelch's perfect and unintentional introduction to the anthropology of everyday life. That is to say, the Gmelch gives us 20 snapshots of people working in the tourism industry in Barbados. Gmelch brings us, their jobs, their home lives, their concerns and the things that bring them joy.

Gmelch stumbles upon a fantastic way to introduce a culture. As I read this book (about 3 years ago, I am writing from memory which can only mean that this book was very good at leaving an impression), I thought that it would be great if other anthropologists and writers did this for each culture they study, as the lives of the people, their homes and concerns are surely one of the greatest insights into their culture.

This book is generally about tourism, specifically about Caribbean tourism and the country of Barbados. I gave this book to my mother for her to read, as she is a regular big-boat cruise traveler. She loved the book. She told me it brought her a better awareness to the happenings outside of the cruise ship bubble. She was not shot down from ever going on cruises again, but rather took more consideration into planing her cruise, ecologically, economically and culturally.

Item was as promised, good condition, fast shipping, good packaging. I'd buy from them again.

This is by far one of the best books I've read in a long time. It was wonderfully written. As the truely unique characters come to life, you'll be unable to put the book down.

Superbly written by journalist and freelance writer Nancy Crowe, Bethlehem Road a unique small-town America novel with a very special twist. Two women return to their Midwestern roots, Naomi Bittner, a mother who has been spurned by her daughter Marina, and Ruth Greene, a lesbian lover who has also been rejected by Marina; neither fully understands why they have been pushed away, yet both become absorbed in reconnecting with the past and stumbling upon others who closet their lifestyle in secrecy. Bethlehem Road is a truly thoughtful, demonstrably well-written novel and highly recommended addition to the growing library of contemporary lesbian fiction.

Peterjohn's "The Birds of Ohio" is the definitive scholarly work on Ohio Birds. Unlike other books of the same name this book is entirely original and based upon the authors own research. Other books have a more a cookie cutter approach. The publishers have created similar works for other states using much of the same information. While none of these works is intended as a field guide. Peterjohn provides the most complete and useful information for anyone interested in Ohio birds.

Peterjohn's, work is exhaustively researched and very well written, making it an invaluable reference. The species accounts tell the story of each species in Ohio and provide references. For common birds, habitat, migration, and nesting information is provided in a useful way. For rarities, a good history of sightings is provided.

Also included are the maps developed during the first Ohio breeding bird atlas. These provide a good reference on the distribution of these species.

This is the 2nd edition of the book and includes up to date information through 1999. Only a few species have been added to the Ohio list in the following years.

This book is highly recommended.

This small field guide has excellent photos, more than one per species is several cases; a migration map; notes on size; male, female and juvenile plumage; nest, eggs and incubation period;fledgling; migration; food; species comparison; and a great section entitled "Stan's Notes", full of interesting tidbits. Excellent picture guide for beginning birders.

Black Women in America is the most authoritative resource for African-American Women's History on the market. Published by England's Oxford University Press, it explores the historical contributions of Black women to American life. The 3 volume set is enormous in scope, yet is presented in well illustrated compact volumes. Biographies and critical essays illuminate the past from America's Revolutionary War Era to the present. Black Women in America is an inspiring resource for libraries and living rooms. This well researched encyclopedia set reminds us of the noble ideals that make America great.

Those serious about African-American and women's history MUST include this encyclopedia in their reference collections.

very easy to read book. gives a lot of understanding of why the bluebird needs help.

This is the first and foremost book on bluebirds that I know of. It has been my reference for building a bluebird box, watching the adults build a nest, laying eggs, young birds hatching and finally looking in the box and finding only an empty nest. We have 3 boxes on our acre of land with at least 5-10 young birds being hatched each year. Mr. Zeleny's book is a wealth of knowledge for anyone wanting to help save the bluebird.

McWhorter's book was a terrific success in a 300-level philosophy/women's studies class on Feminist Theory. The combination of autobiography and defense of Foucault is tremendously moving and intellectually gripping. McWhorter forced me to reconsider all of my objections to post-modernism. And just when you start to feel bogged down in the theory, you suddenly encounter a memorable character like McWhorter's second cousin Rory. McWhorter is a great story teller. This book has my highest recommendation.

mcwhorter tackles important and complicated issues--sexuality, political activism--from a personal and practical point of view. while a background knowledge of foucault would be helpful, one does not have to be a philosophy scholar to feel the force of mcwhorter's argument. she mixes close textual analysis with very comonsensical, accessible examples. prepare to be convinced of the political power to be found in line dancing and backyard gardening!

That is, write another engrossing history of the Bolshevik Party in revolution. This volume picks up seamlessly where his earlier "The Bolsheviks Come to Power" left off. For those of us who enjoyed his lucid and - at the time - groundbreaking reconstruction of 1917, this volume dealing with the revolutionary aftermath of October has been too long-awaited.

Although the writing gets dense at times, those interested in the subject will find a fascinating wealth of information on just how confused, ad hoc and improvisational were these early days of "Communist conspiracy" and "scientific socialism." Rabinowitch begins with the early negotiations between the Bolsheviks and other parties on the limits of inclusion in the new Soviet government, and concludes with the first-year anniversary of the October Revolution. Throughout the narrative his focus is on the moderate Bolshevik faction and how it was marginalized by Lenin, as well as the pressures of civil war.

Realistically, however, Rabinowitch does not idealize these moderates nor overindulge the what-ifs of historiography. In outlining the transformation of Bolsheviks "from rebels to rulers" he keeps us aware of the harsh realities of civil war that made compromise and negotiation seem suicidal. And it must be remembered that attempts by moderate anti-Bolsheviks, to promote democracy and counsel conciliation on the White side, were brushed off by rightwing army officers and Western advisors who were determined to crush Bolshevism at all costs. With the narcosis of civil war gripping all parties it's very hollow indeed to berate the Bolsheviks alone for being dictators and fanatics, or expect them to rise above these circumstances. This is Rabinowitch's conclusion and is a refreshing counterpoint to the ideologically-driven anti-Bolshevik school led by Richard Pipes and Robert Conquest.

Written by Russian and Soviet historian Alexander Rabinowitch (Professor Emeritus of History, Indiana University Bloomington), The Bolsheviks in Power: The First Year of Soviet Rule in Petrograd is an in-depth historiography of the Bolshevik Party's first year in power after the revolution of November, 1917 that so profoundly affected Soviet history and politics throughout the twentieth century. The Bolsheviks in Power denies the entrenched view that the party's severe ideology immediately changed the Soviet political system into one of brutal authoritarianism; rather, it is revealed that the Bolsheviks struggled to hold on to power amidst a sea of political, social, economic, and military crises, causing the oppressive regime that rose from it to appear virtually ad hoc. Issues discussed include the swift decline and fall of moderate Bolsheviks; the creation of the ruthless Cheka, the Bolshevik-Left SR alliance, and much more. Enthusiastically recommended as an addition to college library world history shelves.