Kansas Books

Written by the daughter about her fathers decent into Alzheimer's disease..as the expression goes 'welcome to my world' :(

Most academic books about Natives tend to look at a single tribe at a time, completely missing the extraordinary balances struck by tribes moving through each other's lands or competing in hunting or trading. Meredith (Longhair Clan Cherokee) illustrates that, while WAR is the metaphor for human relationships in Anglo-Saxon cultures, DANCE is the metaphor for tribes on the Southern Plains. Illuminating!

"Day Trips" is filled with enough historical material to keep a neophyte historian busy for a year. Many of the entries are tidbits of the past oft forgotten or never stored in the mental database. The book makes planning each trip an adventure and will help to fill up the weekends with local travel.

Sumida begins with the observation that Clasusewitz has remained inscrutable to most readers in spite of the fact that he is more widely read today than ever before, especially within the U.S. military. Modern understanding of Clausewitz is plaugued by "faulty preconceptions," ignorance of history, a failure to grasp Clausewitz's philosophical sophistication, and the complexity of his presentation--to paraphrase Sumida. These difficulties make On War generally inaccessable because in a sense Clausewitz, the man, has to be understood before his book can be understood. Sumida suggests On War has the characteristics of an "enciphered text" that has to be "decoded." Sumida engages this decoding by examining what other theorists and scholars have said about Clausewitz, the history behind the writing of On War, and the philosophical and scientific aspects of the writing itself. He confines himself mainly to Clausewitz's general method as revealed in books I, II, VI, VII and VIII of On War. Sumida sees Clausewitz as philosophically inventive, not a slave to the thought of Kant and Hegel as much past analysis has ascribed to him. In that sense Clausewitz anticipates later philosophers of cognitive science and mathematics. To my mind, though Sumida claims he presents Clausewitz as theorizing about the practice of war rather than the phenomenon of war, this book intimates that Clausewitz's thinking engages in a phenomenology of war. As such, and I think Sumida would agree, On War provides generalities (or abstractions) that allow one to better discern the particulars--that it never pretends to prescribe, only to describe the nature of war (as a phenomenon) so that the perspectives that lead to that understanding can help in recognizing the particularities of experience. Sumida's last chapter (4) is an examination of how On War can do this for "high command" and "strategic choice." Sumida reaffirms the genius and the quality of On War and thus also asserts its lasting relevance. Highly recommended.

I am ashamed to say that I know a few of the people involved in this horrible case. This book is written in a journalistic style, the author depicts the facts with little emotion. She doesn't need to sensationalize the facts, they speak for themselves. I do think the book would've been more powerful if she'd included pictures of Joshua and his abusive father. And the social worker involved. I changed my opinion of some Supreme Court justices after reading this book. The fact that our local social worker's lack of action resulted in leaving an innocent child severely retarded (with half a brain) is so appalling. Someone should be accountable. No one was. Our local police and our local newspaper are also accountable for their support of the errant social worker. "Poor Joshua" and shame on you, the State of Wisconsin and it's social workers.

Designing And Building from the collective works of Kansas architectural firm of Rockhill and Associates is a truly incredible and conceptually impressive compendium of writings, photographs, blueprints, along with cogent analysis of many truly remarkable buildings. As awe-inspiring as a book on architecture may be, Designing And Building also offers its readers an artistic approach to the intricacies of what beauty may be presented in modern buildings and their architectural elements. as innate works of art in their own right. A welcome addition to professional and academic library Architectural Studies collections, Designing And Building is an intuitive and informative introduction to progressive and subversive modern design, very strongly recommended to all architectural designers, as well as photographers and students of the visual arts.

I've been looking for a book or series like this forever, it seems. So few Bible study books have a sense of humor along with a sense of God's spirit. This combines first-rate exposition with practical exercises and genuine wit. I can't wait for the next ones on Matthew, and Romans/James. Keep up the great work, Wilcox!

We expected to learn much from Gailey and Culbertson's Discovering Missions. My wife and I were not disappointed. We immediately ordered a 2nd copy for our pastor and her church library.
Future challenges and opportunities for building Christian missions worldwide provided by globalization in our increasingly flattened world, with actions vital to successful cross-cultural communications -- related language and linguistics, theological, psychological, sociological, ethno-musicological, personal commitment and other choices and changes -- are proffered in a clear, candid, caring and fittingly passionate textbook style.
We noted with interest the relevance of cross-cultural communications and other lessons learned in the mission field to the influx of foreign born persons into the U.S., with concomitant outreach opportunities for local churches to maintain and improve membership numbers here, rather than abandoning the present, changing, neighborhoods by closing or moving. We will be ordering more gift copies.

This book arrived in better form than was described! Also, VERY SPEEDY DELIVERY! I'll buy from you guys again! Thanks!

The critical events and personalities of the civil rights movement weren't confined to the southern United States. As Gretchen Cassel Eick so ably demonstrates, Wichita, KS was itself a center of the struggle in the critical period from 1954 through 1972.
From a 1958 drugstore lunch counter sit-in that predated the more famous one in Greensboro, NC by two years, to agonizing struggles for school and housing desegregation, this mid-sized city far from the national headlines had all of the elements.
As reviewer Randy Bradbury said in the Wichita Eagle, "Gretchen Cassel Eick's book is a well-documented reminder that Kansas has been and is a place divided along racial lines, where opportunities differ depending on skin color."
Professor Eick creates a compelling narrative by weaving Wichita happenings in with those on the national level. So we see Wichita events in a context of changes in social beliefs, political leadership and even how they shaped and were shaped by infighting in the national leadership of the NAACP.
She also introduces us to a fascinating cast of activists at the center of the local struggle, a few of whom also played national roles.
The book works on two levels -- both as a narrative for the lay reader and as a well-documented study for academics.
As Bradbury wrote in his Wichita Eagle review, the book "must be considered an essential read for anyone interested in the history of race relations in Wichita or hoping for a foundation to begin understanding where those relations stand today. Additionally, however, the book is an exceelent primer on the national civil rights movement..."