North Carolina Books

glad to be a sportsman in the Tarheel state. Eagerly anticipating "The Secret Lives of Fishermen".

I came across this book while looking for something to read on a rainy day. The title was amusing and I was somewhat aquainted with Jim Dean's work as editor of "Wildlife in North Carolina" magazine. This is a truly remarkable collection of stories that celebrate the outdoor life. These stories are not just about hunting and fishing, although hunters and fishermen would certainly enjoy them. Mr. Dean has captured a unique way of approaching life. His stories are quite entertaining and will remind you of a time that many think has passed away. A time when life wasn't so complicated and things didn't seem to move so fast. The stories with names such as "The Summers Before Air," or "Dogs Are a Better Class of People" should make you wonder what this man considers important. I highly recommend this book. You will be glad you bought it. These stories will make you feel good, especially on a rainy day. It also makes a great gift for anyone who enjoys the outdoors.

Yesterday I received Karen's "Down Home on Nelson Island" from Amazon. Last night I sat down and read the whole book (147 pages) in one sitting. She has done an outstanding job in capturing the 'flavor' of life on the Outer Banks. Her fictional characters ring true. I've known real-life counterparts to her "Arthur Austin", "Rachel", and "Sarah". What a wonderful warm-hearted antidote for the stress that surrounds us just about everywhere.

If you have not visited the Outer Banks in North Carolina, Karen Dodd's book is so descriptive that you will feel you are there. She explores the relationship between a grandfather and granddaughter and how it grows during the granddaughter's summer visit to Nelson Island. This is a "feel good" book that I enjoyed and, I believe, other readers would also.

The skill, writing style, depth of knowledge, able to comprehend, and pure genius of Professor McGovern is astounding. One of my favorite books.

This is the most brilliantly written book that I have read in years. The author has a clear understanding of this geopolitically vital area. In addition, he was the greatest professor Northwestern University ever had.

Although I fall outside of the recommended age group for this book (well outside!) I ended up reading it anyway. I was surprised at how engrossing the story was to someone of my age. It made me realize that no matter what time period, parallels exist when it comes to the thoughts and dreams of adolescent girls. It took me back to my own days of "Judy Blume" books but gave it a refreshing look from a whole new perspective. Wonderful! I couldn't put it down!

My daughters (ages 10 and 12)and I are in Mother Daughter book clubs that both have read Eleanor Hill and loved it! Eleanor is an engaging character and the book is incredibly hard to put down, a real page-turner. The adolescent issues raised--independence, growing up, parent/child struggles, prejudice--are as relevant today as they were for Eleanor in the early 1900s. Our book clubs say "All thumbs up! Read Eleanor Hill together!"

Peter R. Erspamer, The Elusiveness of Tolerance: The "Jewish Question" from Lessing to the Napoleonic Wars, reviewed by Dr. David T. Murphy, Professor of History at Anderson University, in German Studies Review, Vol. XXII, No. 1, pp. 116-117

The title of Peter Erspamer's study of early German literature concerning what became known as the "Jewish question" is well chosen, in two ways: Not only have the goals of legal toleration and cultural acceptance for eligious and ethnic minorities in Germany and the West proven elusive, but, as this study makes abundantly clear, agreement upon the meaning of the term "tolerance" itself has turned out to be equally difficult to attain. In Germany during the Enlightenment and Revolutionary eras, for example, "tolerance" could and did signify a range of meanings. While the term evoked a narrowly conceived sense of permission or "sufferance of evil" to some, for a smaller group of others it suggested a much broader notion of freedom of convictions.

Erspamer's revised dissertation provides a competent introduction to the early decades of the literary debate over the proper status of Jews in Germany. Taking as his starting point Lessing's Nathan the Wise of 1779, a work whose impact upon public understanding of the struggle for Jewish rights led George Mosse to describe it as the "Magna Carta" of German Jewry, Erspamer follows the reactions which Lessing's philo-Semitic drama provoked among a number of German audiences over the next several decades. The author gives particular attention to the views of Prussian officialdom, as expressed in the writings of Christian Wilhelm Dohm, the responses of Germany's various Jewish communities themselves, the emergence of a short-lived school of emancipatory drama and of course, the beginnings of the more enduring anti-Semitic backlash against the drive for emancipation.

Among the strengths of this monograph is its insightful attention to nuance in the response of Germany's Jews to the public debate about emancipation as it was carried on both within the Jewish community and in the larger Gentile culture. Contrary to widespread Christian perceptions, German Jewry of the period constituted a highly fragmented and heterogeneous group, embracing the reform-oriented Maskilim of the Jewish Enlightenment, the considerable community of "Taufjuden", or converted Jews, and the German orthodox community. The diversity of Judaism conditioned a wide range of responses to the drive for emancipation, from the almost Deistic Judaism of Moses Mendelssohn, the most famous Jewish proponent of emancipation, to the involved struggle toward self-identity of the remarkable converted Jew Rahel Varnhagen.

Erspamer also does a nice job of explicating the emerging anti-Semitic ideology which began to be elaborated in response to demands for Jewish emancipation. At this time, the remarkably durable Judeophobic religious prejudices of the Middle Ages began to merge with the clearly racial anti-Semitism of theorists such as Ernst Moritz Arnt, crystallizing and then disseminating what Erspamer describes as popular "myths of ethnic homogeneity." The author's understanding of the paradoxical ideological appeal of anti-Semitism as both the tool of an authoritarian state as well as a form of political expression of an oppressed people is perceptive.

While this work is well edited in regard to technical matters, it is burdened by a few stylistic shortcomings, including unnecessary repition of key concepts and sometimes of almost complete sentences in the early portions of the book. Clumsy neologisms like "dialecticizing" also crop up occasionally, though that is perhaps unavoidable in a contemporary work of literary criticism. Taken as a whole, however, this is a study whose virtues considerably outweigh its defects and which provides valuable insight into the dynamics of the evolution of ideas.

The Elusiveness of Tolerance: The "Jewish Question" from Lessing to the Napoleonic Wars, by Peter R. Erspamer, reviewed by Erlis G. Wickersham, Professor of German at Rosemont College, in: Choice, July/August 1997--Vol. 34, No. 11/12, pp. 182-83

In this interesting, well-conceived study, Erspamer considers the tolerance debate in Germany and Austria from the publication of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's Nathan the Wise (1779) to the end of the Napoleonic era. Erspamer makes excellent use of sources, presenting a balance of documents for and against the Enlightenment ideal promulgated by Lessing and influenced by the leading figure of the Haskalah: Moses Mendelssohn. He discusses both authors in fresh, insightful ways, while providing a balanced view of historical criticism. He analyzes pamphlets engendered by Lessing's book from writers like Pfranger, Dohm, Ascher, and Diez, and dramas with Jewish themes by writers like Reinicke, Bischof, Lotich, and Ziegelhauser. In such chapters as "Emancipatory Drama after Lessing" and "Myths of Homogeneity: Anti-Semitic Literature after 1800," he traces the devastating effects of nationalistic sentiments inspired by the Wars of Liberation. He illuminates the polemics of antisemitic Romantics like Achim von Arnim and Fichte, using well-chosen quotations in German. Despite quirks of style, Erspamer provides an integrated view of a seminal era for German-Jewish relations, needed materials, and valuable insights. Extensive bibliography, notes, and index. Recommended for all collections.

This is a great book. I enjoy hours of reading it. All of my childhood memories of growing up in Little Rock come back.

Being forced out of Arkansas to California to complete my education after Governor Faubus closed the schools, didn't dampen my view of the South.

I plan to buy all of the new subjects that have just been published by these publishers.

This book is a wonderful, interesting look of the south and it's history and cultures.

The book is well written. It is balanced, and gives an insight into the deep love and commitment Dr. Eric Williams had for the people of the Caribbean, and especially citizens of Trinidad and Tobago. The book discloses in authentic detail, the struggle to reclaim Chaguramas from the United States of America, who had got if from the British in the second world war, ostensibly for defence of North America, South America, and the Caribbean. It is a treasure of history, showing the struggle of a former British colony reaching for its political and economic independence. The book is also well worth reading from a literary point of view.

Eric Williams was a complex and controversial giant who led a small Caribbean nation into independence. Professor Palmer attempts to understand him and his influence on the modern Caribbean by dissecting some of the major issues with which he dealt in the course of constructing his government. The result is a fascinating, well-researched study which should interest students of the Caribbean but also those interested in the problems of governance of small countries generally. He ends his book in 1970, though Williams continued as Prime Minister until his death in 1981; the years of plenty when high oil prices funded an economic boom are not covered, and would also make fascinating reading. However, while there is much more to say about Williams' tenure, what Palmer does cover can be taken on its own merits.

Just one quibble: the author's arithmetic in the paragraph beginning at the bottom of page 228 doesn't add up, making his conclusions unintelligible; I trust this is the result of typographical error??

I wanted to read this book, which actually covers the subject from 1910 to 1948, rather than as the title listed here indicates (1920-1948) because I wanted to know more about the flamboyant and racist Coleman Blease who in the early part of this century was such a prominent figure in South Carolina's politics. This book does tell a lot about Blease and his connection with the mill workers of South Carolina, but I found even more interesting the account of the career of Olin D. Johnston. Those who only watched his career in the U.S. Senate, once he finally got there, on his third attempt, in 1945, may not (as I did not) realize the extraordinary positions he took while Governor from 1935 to 1939--he took over the highway department by force, defying a Supreme Court ruling--and that he ran in 1938 against Cotton Ed Smith on a platform of 100% support for FDR. The racist climate of South Carolina got to him, however, and not till he became more anti-Negro was he finally elected. The book also relates the fascinating account of Peter Richard Moody, a student at Wofford College, and the poem he wrote in 1936 which led the Legislature to order a mental examination of Moody, and the funny account of the result of the mental exam. The book traces the efforts and hopes of the disadvantaged millhands, and amply justifies the title of the work. Anyone interested in Southern politics should read this enlightening and well-researched book. The bibliography alone runs 30 pages, and I found the book unique in its subject. A minor note: a footnote on page 291 says poet Moody became a professor at the U.S. Military Academy, whereas it appears that actually he was at the Air Force Academy.

Fabric of Defeat's title sounds like a downer, but this is an wonderful book that is fun to read. Simon does a particularly good job of talking about race in an industry that was "lily white," as the saying goes. He manages to discuss racist white workers without either apologizing for them or indicting them. Rather he gives texture to their racial ideas, explaining how views of race and class changed in relation to each other as the New Deal broadened the political vision of South Carolina's millworkers. This is a book I would certainly assign to undergraduates.

Like Melvyn Leffler, Zubok believes that Soviet decision making was constrained by ideology and personality. Zubok writes that ideology formed the basis for Stalins decisions regarding Germany. Stalin thought that his proposals for a neutral Germany and socialism in Eastern Germany would be enough for the Germans to flock to the Soviet cause. When this did not proved out to be true, Stalin militarized Eastern Europe for fear of a Western Germany with Western backing. Khruschev did not want to end the Cold War because he thought that Communism would eventually triumph and that he force the West to back down through the fear of nuclear war. Brezhnev implented detente because he feared war, but when he became ill, hard liners took over decision making and invaded Afghanistan. Gorbachev abandoned hardline Communist ideology and thought that a type of European Social Democracy would take over Eastern and this led to the Soviets leaving Eastern Europe in 1989. Hopefully Zubok along with Leffler and Tony Judt will get rid of the myth that Reagans's arm build up and hardline ideology was responsible for ending the Cold War.

This is an excellent overview of Soviet foreign policy during the Cold War. Judicious and fair, and drawing on much new information from the archives, one gets a sense that this will be the definitive work for some time. The only criticism I have is that I wish the author had dealt with the Sino-Soviet split in more depth. It is here, but only episodically brought in to the narrative. But all and all a great book and a fine read.

I've been frustrated for a while now in trying to find a good tree identification guide. I'm a birder, I do know how to use field guides! --but all the tree guides I've tried had one photograph, or one line drawing, which might have been my leaf or it might not have been... and after staring at a few of these in confusion I'd just give up and decide to enjoy my walk.

This guide is different. First of all, there are both drawn leaf outlines and color photographs (lots of them, quite beautiful) as well as verbal descriptions. And the photographs almost all include MANY leaves of that tree, so you can see how much the leaves actually vary from each other. I thought this was a brilliant idea. Best of all, all of these trees were photographed in the fall, so the color really helps you out too!

This guide only covers some 150 species, but it does that very well. I might have preferred it to be about 1" narrower side to side, but with a bit of care it did fit into my coat pocket. Because of how colorful and easy to use it is, I imagine this guide would be an especially satisfying one to take along on walks with the kids.

Fall Color and Woodland Harvests by Drs. C.R Bell and Anne Lindsey is a comprehensive reference book for the serious naturalist. Stunning color photographs by some of the regions leading nature photographers adds incredible richness and detail to the book. Bell and Lindsey are particulary adept at presenting technical information in an easy to read and very understandable narrative form. The authors have spent years exploring the eastern forests and giving seminars and talks on its flora. Dr. Bell is the Director Emeritus of the North Carolina Botanical Garden. Your autumn leaf watching trip will be more enjoyable and more rewarding when you take along this excellent book.