Missouri Books

The study of vernacular architecture involves consideration of all types of ordinary buildings as significant cultural artifacts. Over the past fifteen years, this field of inquiry has grown rapidly, incorporating scholarly methods and theories from disciplines such as art history, anthropolgy, folklore, social history and cultural geography. The twenty essays collected in Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture II represent the best and most recent scholarly work in the field. They deal with such significant issues as the forms of common buildings and how they are altered; diagnostic characteristics of building types, geographic and social contexts of buildings; influences of ethnicity, technology and fabric on structures; and methods for understanding and recording vernacular architecture. Articles that appear in this volume are selections based on quality and originality of their contributions from among papers presented during recent annual meetings of the Vernacular Architecture Forum. All other papers are abstracted in a special appendix. The Vernacular Architecture Forum itself was formed in 1980 to encourage the study and preservation of all aspects of common buildings and their context.

The good news is that this 1948 book has just been republished by the South Dakota State Historical Press and my signed copy, that arrived today, from author Gilbert Fite (87) now accompanies the 1948 original that this fine historian also sent me two years ago.

This publication on Senator Norbeck has been virtually unobtainable which is why I tracked the author down after reading his excellent 1952 book 'Mount Rushmore' - still the best on the politics and history of the great memorial and fortunately still available via Amazon's used book service.

Norbeck was a most unusual Republican, supporting state enterprises, but one who suited the times and Fite shows how he successfully prevented the Nonpartisan League enjoying the same success in South Dakota that they had enjoyed in North Dakota by capturing their political ground.

While attacking them as radical socialists and disloyal to the Great War effort, the then state governor denied he was a socialist and that entrance by the state into certain lines of business was not socialism, particularly when it prevented exorbitant profits being made by monopolists. Shades of Teddy Roosevelt.

Whether it was progressivism or socialism Norbeck certainly promoted things like rural credit programs, a state coal mine and cement plant (the latter lasting for three-quarters of a century) while his sponsorship of good roads, railways free text book schemes, assistance to war veterans, grain-marketing acts are all detailed.

Given all this it is perhaps not surprising that Norbeck was one of the few GOP survivors in the era of FDR and the New Deal. Fite describes vividly the tensions in Republican ranks in SD between the prairie populist and conservatives in the leadup to the 1932 watershed election that obviously pointed to the end of Republican rule, under the impact of the Great Depression.

After an easy primary win Norbeck was returned for a third term when he beat his Democratic rival by 26,000 votes, despite the fact that in the presidential contest FDR carried the state by 84,000 votes. By the 1936 election the ailing SD Republican senator was positively endorsing FDR against GOP challenger Alf Landon!

Like the earlier Roosevelt (TR), Norbeck was also a great conservationist and as Fite points out Mt Rusmore, Custer State Park, the Badlands National Park, the Migratory Bird Act are all testimonials to his efforts as both a state and federal legislator. Norbeck's wish, "I would rather be remembered as an artist than as US senator," would certainly earn favour with all those, (including this Australian reviewer), who have travelled along the aesthetically pleasing Needles Highway in the Black Hills,as part of the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway, artistic proof of his insistence for the road to blend in with the environment rather than disturb the beauty of this wonderful area.

Norbeck's capacity to understand the importance of harmonising roads and tourism with the environment has helped make the Mount Rushmore and Black Hills area such an enduring attraction.

As an agricultural historian and a native of South Dakota, Professor Fite, is clearly at home with his subject and his works have continually survived the test of time. The re-publication of this fine biography is long overdue and hopefully it will be well received by American readers and, like his 'Mount Rushmore,' is well worth reading by anyone with a passion for western or Great Plains history.

On a personal note I wish the author, now in Florida, a long and healthy retirement and thank him for his contribution to making South Dakotan and American history such a pleasurable experience to the reader.

This modest little book fired my imagination when I first read it in high school some twenty years ago. The chapter dealing with pre-Columbian agruculture is beautifully and lovingly writen. I intend to read this again and hope others will discover this gem as well.

If I had to pick one person to be emperor of the world it would, in all seriousness, be Paul Alpers.

His book, furthermore, is a must-read for students of the Faerie Queene (and hey, who isn't?), althought it is necessarily a bit out of date. I'm sure Mr. Alpers would do a thing or two differently if he were to write it again (cf. What is Pastoral?), but this book is worth hunting down none the less. Let's get that sales rating up!

I read this book for a graduate course in Roman history.

Pompey loomed large in Roman history in the thirty years after Sulla retired from Roman politics. At the age of twenty-three, Pompey privately raised an army and supported Sulla in his march on Rome. During the decades of the 70's and 60's BCE Pompey became a very successful general. He assisted in restoring peace in Spain, helped to suppress the slave revolt of Spartacus in Italy, and very efficiently cleared the Mediterranean of the pirates that were bedeviling Rome.

Peter Greenhalgh astutely wrote about Pompey's poor political acumen. Pompey's apex of power and glory was in 61 BCE, when he returned to Rome to receive his third triumph after his victories in the Middle East, brought new territory and treasure to Rome. With his sterling military reputation and great personal wealth, one would have thought that Pompey could dictate terms to the senate. However, Marcus Porcius Cato 95-46 BCE and his optimate party associates in the Senate, fearful of Pompey's power and ambition and wanting to protect their own political oligarchy, were successful in keeping political power out of his hands. Not only did Cato force Pompey to disband his legions as a condition of his receiving his triumph in Rome, he also embarrassed Pompey by insuring that the Senate did not make any land grants to Pompey's veterans. These actions weakened Pompey's political strength. It kept him from giving out positions of patronage to his supporters and it also lost him favor in the eyes of his veterans. As a result, it also had the effect of making him look like a political weakling when he would later try to stop the ambitious Julius Caesar. Once again, Plutarch observed that although Pompey may have been a great military general, he was no match for others as a political leader. "And well had it been for him had he terminated his life at this date, while he still enjoyed Alexander's fortune, since all his aftertime served only either to bring him prosperity that made him odious, or calamities too great to be retrieved."

While Cato and the Senate were going out of their way to quench Pompey's fiery ambitions, Julius Caesar started to make his grab for power over Rome. Caesar hailed from one of the minor and less politically active patrician families. Although a senator's son, Caesar's standing in society was first improved by the fact that Marius became his uncle by marriage. Secondly, to further his own political career he married Cornelia, the daughter of the Roman consul Cinna. In 80 BCE Julius Caesar embarked on a military career and made his mark quickly as an able military commander. Early in Caesar's life he already mastered "how to exploit his talents to the full...he was already a respected orator and, a dashing officer that had shown bravery." There were two dominant political parties in Rome at the time. The optimates were dominated by the conservatives who worked to protect the prestige of the senate, the rich, and the status quo of Rome. The populares party that Caesar belonged to, played to the lower class multitudes of Rome in deed and word.

By 59 BCE Caesar had made several moves in his life which furthered his political career and gained him his first consulship of Rome. Caesar worked hard at getting the two most powerful men in Rome, Pompey and Marcus Licinius Crassus 115-53 BCE, to reconcile their differences. Crassus was a businessman and the richest man in Rome. Caesar further allied himself politically with Pompey by giving his daughter, Julia, some thirty years Pompey's junior, in marriage to him. All three men banded together in a triumvirate to wrest power from the optimates in the senate. Their vehicle for doing this was to bring about a new agrarian law over the strenuous opposition of the optimate senators. The agrarian law that Caesar introduced as counsel served several purposes. It was helpful in relieving the overcrowded conditions in Rome by allowing landless people the ability to settle on uncultivated land in Italy. In addition, some of this land would also be used to finally reward Pompey's veterans that had been loyal to him. Of course, it would be extremely popular with the multitude of Roman citizens who owned little if any property. In order to insure the passage of the bill, Pompey put the word out to his veterans to come to Rome where they made their presence known by running off the opposition senators out of the forum while Caesar was advocating for the passage of the bill in a speech to the people. "Caesar's...agrarian laws show him as a politician with an outstanding talent for dealing with social problems." The nasty political fight between Caesar and the optimates earned him some serious political enemies. However, with the help in the Senate from his political allies the populares and from Pompey, Caesar was appointed a proconsul of the province of Cisalpine Gaul. This province was a part of northern Italy, which he was to rule for five years. Soon there after, the governor of Gaul, a territory beyond the Alps, died and this territory was added to Caesar's territory. Though the future looked bright for Rome in 59 BCE, the greed and distrust between the two strongest military leaders of the triumvirate would eventually cause Pompey and Caesar to become enemies and turn on each other in their quest for ultimate power in Rome.

Most historians observed that Caesar's new appointments gave him command of four legions, the ability to win prestige in battle, and to acquire much booty during his conquest of Gaul. Few in Rome, most importantly Pompey, could have imagined that "by the brilliance of his generalship, and the swiftness and totality of his conquests...this loquacious and unprincipled politician could achieve so much." Caesar spent nine years in Gaul, and by 50 BCE, his army grew in number to twelve legions. Caesar's army was made up of many battle hardened professionals. In addition, Caesar's successes made it easy for him to gain new volunteers to swell his ranks. Caesar's soldiers and many of his officers were undoubtedly motivated by money and pride, which kept them loyal to Caesar. These accomplishments served to secure Caesar's unrivaled political standing. It was Caesar's loyalty from the army coupled with the treasure necessary to buy favor of the Roman citizenry that gave him the political power necessary to conquer Rome. One can also see from Caesar's actions that he learned well from his uncle Marius on how to raise an army and keep its loyalty. These lessons were also learned by his successor Octavian. However, Caesar's success in conquering Rome would not happen without fighting a bitter Civil War against the optimates in the Senate who were allied with Pompey.

In 51 BCE, the optimates now allied with Pompey in the Senate, tried to have Caesar recalled to Rome so that they could put him on trial for misconduct. Caesar knew that he needed to hold onto his position in Gaul and run in abstentia for consul in 49 BCE, so that he could have a political office to protect him from prosecution by his enemies. Though much political bargaining went on between Caesar, Pompey and the Senate, by 49 BCE the Senate voted to deliver Caesar an ultimatum. "Caesar was to dismiss his army by a fixed date on pain of being regarded a public enemy." If Caesar followed the dictates of the Senate, he would have been a private citizen for six months and open to his enemies for reprisal. Thus on January 10, 49 BCE, Caesar and his army crossed the Rubicon River, even though it was against ancient Roman law. This action automatically made Julius Caesar an enemy of the state and precipitated a bloody Civil War that changed the course of Roman history. Upon hearing the news of Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon, Pompey ordered all senators and citizens who considered themselves patriots of Rome to flee the city. Pompey was overconfident that Caesar would not enter Rome and told his followers he would easily raise the legions necessary to stop Caesar. Pompey was wrong on both counts. Caesar felt he had no choice in his actions, and throughout the Civil War he went out of his way to protect both the property and the honor of all the people who he captured. In addition, Caesar pled his case, explaining the untenable circumstances in which Pompey and the Senate placed him, and implored all of his former enemies to join his side in the Civil War. Caesar was quite successful in this endeavor. While Caesar was chasing Pompey to Brundisium, he spent over a week in Rome setting up a government and instituting legislation that restored economic security to the country. In the mean time, Pompey took his army to Brundisium and narrowly escaped Caesar's advancing army by ship to the Greek peninsula. By 48 BCE, the deciding battle was fought in Pharsalus, with Pompey's army outnumbering Caesar's by two to one. However, Pompey's mainly inexperienced soldiers were no match for Caesar's battle tested soldiers. Pompey lost the battle and fled by sea to Egypt where he was later murdered, much to Caesar's chagrin. Caesar went on to conquer Egypt and installed Cleopatra as his regent on the throne, and then returned to Rome in triumph. The Senate showered Caesar with all manner of honors heretofore never bestowed on any other man of Rome. In addition, the Senate made him Dictator for ten years. He accepted the honors and new powers while repeatedly remarking that he would work towards reconciliation with his former enemies and would not become a despot. "He had only fought the Civil War to save himself from dishonour. His victorious army had done battle to protect its rights and Caesar's dignity."

Recommended reading for those interested in Roman history, military history.

"Porcupine, Picayune & Post: How Newspapers Get Their Names" is a fascinating and analytical history of how many of America's newspapers came to carry distinctive, even whimsical, names like 'Jimplecute', 'Acantha', 'Zephry', 'Gondolier', 'Iconoclast' or 'Bazzo'. Author and word sleuth Jim Bernhard also reveals why there are so many newspapers around the country that carry the words 'Herald', 'Journal', 'Post', and 'Tribune' in their titles. Sometimes the names had their roots in politics, sometimes they were personal, sometimes they were meant to represent a philosophy or mission. "Porcupine, Picayune & Post" is wonderfully informative read that is as entertaining as it is instructional. "Porcupine, Picayune & Post" is a well deserved and popular addition to both academic and community library Journalism and American History reference collections and supplemental reading lists. A work of seminal scholarship, "Porcupine, Picayune & Post" is also very highly recommended to non-specialist general readers curious about the origin stories behind their own favorite newspapers.

The Portable Famine is an eclectic collection of the great poet Rane Arroyo's most astute and memorable work. Among other great poets of modern day, Arroyo depicts an incredible perspective of the human condition, American mentality, and his intimate encounters with life itself. Mayberry, RFD: Not even one illegal Mexican/in the body shop? No Guatemalan/maid at One Hour Motel? Not//a Puertorriquena owning/a Tex-Mex restaurant? How/white is white? Poor Opie,//taught to fear jalapeños./Even in imaginary America,/America has to be imagined.

"Portrait of America" was a popular video documentary series in the mid-eighties, a product of collaboration between Superstation/Turner Broadcasting Corporation and Ambrose Home Video. Well-researched, each video is divided into 5 segments covering most unique historical, social, and cultural aspects of each state. Watching such an interesting documentary, each being roughly about 50 minutes long, without advertisements and other interruptions seems to be a privilege in these days!

A Portrait Of Missouri: 1935-1943 by Paul E. Parker (Professor of Political Science, Truman State University, Kirksville, Missouri) is an impressive and evocative collection of black-and-white photographs drawn from the historical archives of the Farm Security Administration. Documenting the impoverished farm economy during the Great Depression as well as part of the World War II era, these striking images preserve a memorable portrait of small town and rural history itself. The extensive, informative, scholarly text places the photographs within their historical context and complements this superb and highly recommended photographic gallery.

David Fitzgerald is one of Oklahoma's top photographers and this book just makes you want to travel to all the wonderful spots he's captured on film!