Montana Books

The rise of feminism, equal rights, and sexual liberation has had side effects that many do not view as wholly positive. "Marriage: The Dream that Refuses to Die" looks at the decomposition of one of the world's oldest institutions. Arguing that there is a possibility that the concept of marriage may eventually become a thing of the past, author Elizabeth Fox-Genovese's examination of the topic is thorough and knowledgeable, sure to grant readers all her wisdom on the subject. "Marriage: The Dream that Refuses to Die" is highly recommended for any collection dedicated to relationships.

In the current miasmic atmosphere in public affairs created by the corrupting trinity of big money, indiscriminate television and instant opinion polls, it is salutary to recall those who have lent honor and distinction to public service by honest and relentless pursuit of the common good as they saw it. John and Catherine Morrison have provided such retrospect with their literary pantheon of remarkable Montanans titled "Mavericks," now published by the University of Idaho Press.

The lives, times, vicissitudes, triumphs and tragedies of nine leading actors in the drama of this state's first century are skillfully and accurately delineated in a single volume that is a handbook on our public affairs. Which is not to say that it even pretends to be objective. The authors are unabashed admirers of the Josephs Dixon and Toole, Ella Knowles and Jeannette Rankin, Tom Walsh and B.K. Wheeler, and Jim Murray, Mike Mansfield and Lee Metcalf, as far seeing, fearless progressives. This carefully researched and well organized book is at its best an insightful examination of Montana's populist-progressive tradition as illuminated by these players.

The list does not include Pat Williams, who sustained the tradition in the House of Representatives for 18 years without flinching. In his concise forward though, Williams adumbrates the Morrison's central theme, "...the golden thread of courage." These men and women were as diverse in their backgrounds, personalities, predilictions, and modus operendi as they could possibly be, yet they had one thing in common: when the chips were down and the issue really mattered, their convictions came first and they did the best they could with the rest of it.

The concluding paragraphs are the most intriguing in the book. The authors are relatively young and have not been prominent in public affairs. Yet their six page conclusion is as piercing and enlightened a statement on the state of the state and its future as we've seen. It is informed with an extraordinary sense of the importance, on the one hand, of leadership on the part of elected officials, but, on the other hand, the equal and ever more urgent importance of participation on the part of all of us. Well and deeply considered and elegently written, these few paragraphs are a much needed orientation as to where we are now and a beacon to the future.

I was very satisfied with this version of William Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure." As far as Shakespeare goes, different editions of the plays can be drastically different, not generally in actual Shakespearian context, but in the quality and quantity of footnotes and helpful information. Throughout this book the footnotes are on the left-hand page while the actual play is on the right-hand page. There are also scene summaries in the footnotes at the beginning of each scene, which I found very helpful in understanding. There are also longer notes on some topics at the back of the book. As far as the footnotes go, I have been very satisfied with the amount of information and the layout of the book. My one complaint is that I purchased this book for a class and everyone else is using a different edition and for some reason the line numbers are different in my book from the ones that they are using. Mine are always higher, so I'm assuming I have some additional lines that were edited out in their version, but it causes some problems and I wonder which version is more widely accepted. Either way, I'm very satisfied with this edition and all the supplementary information it provides.

Having just finished this book, I wanted to write my review while it is still fresh in my mind. Marquis gives voice to Leforge's exciting life story and it is sometimes hard to tell where Leforge ends and Marquis begins. But this doesn't detract from the book in the least. Leforge's feelings and thoughts come through, even though they might sometimes be couched in Marquis' literary vernacular. I don't want to cite specifics about this book because the reader should savor his/her first reading without any parts being spoiled. Hugh L. Scott's letters to Leforge in the closing pages add a nice touch and demonstrate just how the old-timers felt about the "good old days." At the bottom of page 350 H. L. Scott writes of a very curious detail not mentioned anywhere in the book regarding the main character. You'll have to read it for yourself. As for what you will find in this book...an authentic retelling of what it must have been like to be alive in the 1860-1870s, and the years following, not to mention all the interesting characters you will meet along the way. If you love this time in history, or just want to read a very memorable book, then you can't go wrong with this purchase.

This priceless memoir is told by one of the early cowboys in Montana, a friend and sometime business partner of Charlie Russell, whom he remembers fondly, as he does a number of other men he worked with and for. As a young man, Price was a horse wrangler, freight-wagon driver, and bronc buster, starting out as a teenager originally from Iowa, and though he was fairly accomplished in these skills, he seems to have been broke most of the time, until at the age of 30 he courted and married the daughter of a prominent cattleman. His story, jumping backward and forward in time, recalls the 1880s, the years before the fencing of the open range, as ranchers moved their herds continually northward, across the Missouri and into Canada, braving winters that sometimes wiped out whole herds. Price himself often remembers working in the coldest of weather, once or twice nearly losing his life in blizzards.

Somewhat ambivalent about Indians, he devotes a chapter to them, in which he grants them a certain dignity above and beyond the typical cowboy's disdain for them. He tells of an incident I've never read before in which Sitting Bull offended the chief of the Crows while on a government-granted visit to the site of Custer's defeat at Little Big Horn. A Crow chief, Crazy Hair, is also revealed as the probable descendant of an African-American that the tribe had given shelter to years before. There is also an illuminating chapter on outlaw Kid Curry. This enjoyable short book (154 pp.) was published in 1945, includes several illustrations, and is apparently out of print. It shouldn't be.

This is a bautiful book that lets kids use their imagination.Is really great!

Cheryl St.John is one of my favorite authors and she does not disappoint in Million-Dollar Makeover. The story is so entrancing that you'll forget all about the time as you read and it's a book you can totally lose yourself into. It is what I would call a genuine page-turner since each page would have me saying, "I'll read one more page, then I'll put it down and go to bed". The joke was on me as I never could put it down. I think you'll laugh and cry with Lisa as she tries to pull fast ones over on Riley. Tension builds from the first page up until the end of the story. I couldn't put it down and stayed up entirely too late in order to finish up Riley & Lisa's story. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.

When Molly learns that her grandfather is ill, she packs up her sons and heads to Montana. Once she arrives, she immediately has questions about Sam Dakota, the stranger who had called her about her grandfather. Just who is he? And why is he working the ranch? Despite everything, Molly can't deny her attraction to Sam--until her ailing grandfather tries to push them into marriage. Moving to the state of Montana is one thing; entering the state of matrimony is another!

Montana is probably the last of the great frontier states that maintains a way of life that goes back generations. This incredibly compact volume will tell you and your students all about it and so much more.

The "Portrait of America" series is a wonderful introduction for pre-teens to the 50 states and to the places and events that shaped the history of the United States. This "Montana" installment is particularly good. The book is broken down into sections like "History", "Culture", "Economy" etc., and each section is thoughtfully written and edited. And this edition is loaded with several beautiful photographs. The "Culture" section is my personal favorite.
This book, as well as the entire "Portrait of America" series, will prove to be a valuable teaching tool to all primary school educators.

Translated for the first time from the original Dutch into English, Montana 1911: A Professor And His Wife Among The Blackfeet presents the diary of Wilhelmina Uhlenbeck, the wife of anthropologist and linguist C. C. Uhlenbeck, who traveled to Montana to conduct fieldwork among the southern Piegan Indians. Her diary is reproduced in full, chronicling her perspective of the three-month stay, and also thoroughly supplemented with notes, an introduction to Blackfeet and their mythology, a biographical sketch of the couple, and a selection of the writings of C. C. Uhlenbeck that parallel the text from his wife's diary. Black-and-white vintage photographs illustrate this remarkable hands-on, up-close and personal perspective of Native American daily life and culture. Montana 1911 is a very highly recommended original source material for Native American Studies collections.