United States Books

read this book when I was much younger. I cannot help but to refer back to the message and images given to me by Tom Brown from "Grandfather" every time I go out into nature. A great book to give a young person that will perhaps spark an interest in the natural world.

In 1988 I happened upon the earlier edition of THE VISION by Tom Brown, Jr. It was one of those books that seemed to "jump off" of the book-store shelf and right into my hands. Later, when THE GRANDFATHER was first published, I immediately purchased it and was not disappointed. In both books Tom describes his childhood adventures of meeting and learning from an old Native American medicine man named Stalking Wolf who was also called "Grandfather." These are still today among my favorite books, worn and dog-eared. Tom's explorations, the instructions he received from Grandfather, and the meditations contained in this book, helped me return to that core connection with my Native American relations and to renew my pilgrimage into Native American spirituality.

After reading Tom's book, The Vision, I telephoned him to ask about his survival training program. He described a program that sounded far too rigorous for me at that time in my life, so Tom recommended I contact the Sun Bear Tribe that offered a softer and easier program started by the late Sun Bear, a Native American medicine man. That began a pilgrimage to a wilderness program and then to a life changing vision quest, all of which has deepened and enriched my personal spiritual life.

So these books hold a honored and holy place on my bookshelf. THE VISION is out of print, but I highly recommend THE GRANDFATHER to anyone interested in deeping their spiritual life and in increasing their awareness of our connection to nature and to all of life.

However, don't read this book if you want your life to remain as it has always been and to see things as you have always seen them.

The Rev. Dr. Prentice Kinser III, author of LIMITLESS LIVING, A Guide to Unconventional Spiritual Exploration and Growth

I have several books by Tom Brown and liked this one the best of all.

This is a great spiritual story about a real man. I have given 6 of these books away and will probably order more. Robert Esslinger

YES!!! "The Tree Speaks" chapter changed forever how I view the purpose of my life and how I view the world. I no longer fear natural death. It has been the truth I've been searching for my whole life.

I cannot believe how so many have pondered the meaning of life and why we are here, and then it gets answered so very simply in only a few words.

I recommend this book to ANYONE who is interested in Native American beliefs, history and/or a good story about a great man.

Like others have said, I know this sounds mythical even as my review almost makes this sound like some kind of cult but it's just very simple, and true. There is no nutty religious views here.

Every environmentalist should read this book.

We wasted years and tons of money in non-productive therapies, attachment work, medication, and family therapy till we bought and utilized this book. Dr. Federici hits the nail on the head when he describes how to "de-institutionalize" children. It was hard work but safe, structured and successful. We read so many other books about using "attachment therapy"; logic; medication and even knowing when to "give up". This book gave us, who truely felt "Hopeless" a chance to gain control over our two very disturbed Romanian children that all the other "specialists"(including some of the big people in the child development field)had given up on.

Dr. Federici is the only author and professional we have found who truely understands what parents having very disturbed children go through. His book is easy to read, right to the point, and provides hope and a great deal of ideas (hard solutions) to problems. He mixes no words, but gives hope and understanding in a compassionate way. We have contacted him, heard him lecture, and know that he is "on target" , where all these other "experts" miss the entire boat, especially these so-called "attachment therapists. His Second Edition is now out that we will get soon.

This was the most common sense and practical book a person could buy who has felt totally overwhelmed by two very troubled children adopted form eastern Europe. No "sugar-coating" here, as Dr. Federici get right down to the cold, hard facts that helped put our family back together. All the other books played around with "RAD", "ADHD", and other catchy terms but never got to the right way to treat damaged children. We hope there are more books coming from this author.

This book is an indispensable source for those who have adopted children from orphanages. I wish I'd had it when I got home from Russia 7 years ago. My child can't be found in the Dr. Spock books, but he's all over the pages of this one. Thank you for confirming some things we've already discovered and given us a guide for where to go next.

Finally, someone wrote a book about very troubled children without being afraid to actually tell you what to do. We have struggled for years with our two emotionally disturbed Russian-adopted children and have covered every type of therapy with no positive outcome. We even tried all that "holding-attachment therapy" which was a waste of time and money. Medication after medication, play therapy, talk and family therapy all failed, as our kids were smarter than the therapists. Dr. Federici has taken a very direct approach that puts parents back in charge and keeps the family moving forward. No frills or hand holding-just hard work. We contacted him frequently for advise and he was very helpful. We know his "volume two" is due soon and will surely continue this family centered approach.

E.B. White, the author of the classic THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE, shows off that style brilliantly in this highly literate, amusing, and passionate memoir of New York City in 1948. Although the surface details of New York have changed in sixty years, the spirit remains the same, and that's what White is really writing about. White is also disturbingly prophetic when he writes, "The subtlest change in New York is something people don't speak much about but that is in everyone's mind. The city, for the first time in its long history, is destructible. A single flight of planes no bigger than a wedge of geese can quickly end this island fantasy, burn the towers, crumble the bridges, turn the underground passages into lethal chambers, cremate the millions." I doubt that a book such as this could be written today. Some editor would "dumb it down" and politically correct it. But how refreshing it is to read such wonderful prose. This is really a 56-page essay between hard covers, rather than a "book." As such, it's very a very easy and exhilarating reading experience and would make a wonderful gift for anyone who loves New York or would like to visit it someday. Five stars, absolutely.

The reviews I read said that White gives the reader a feel for life in New York. Nonsense - the book is vague to the point where it could have been titled, Here is London, or Here is Shanghai. If you want to get a feel for New York, or at least the Bronx where I grew up, read "World Fair" by Doctorow.

Anything by E. B. White is fine - he must have been quite young when he wrote this but I enjoyed reading it and getting a sense of what New York was like at that time - some of it is still true but much has changed.

Early to a party, I was looking at a friend's bookcase and pulled this slim volume from a shelf. After reading the first sentence, I knew I had to have it.

Originally published in 1949, E.B. White, who no longer lived in New York City, captured the soul and spirit of the place. Nothing has changed. At the time, the United Nations building was under construction, and the bombing of London was fresh in his mind. He ends the book with a vision that perfectly balances hope with danger, in words prescient of September 11 - I re-read those paragraphs on every anniversary, it has become my ritual.

But what originally drew me to the book is not only the truth and insight of White, but his style, his felicity of expression. The author of "The Elements of Style" certainly knew the rules, and knew when to break them, as well. The second paragraph ends with a run-on sentence 198 words long, a thrilling joy ride which itself demonstrates how impossible it is to capture, in prose, the enormity and importance of this city.

I agree with Russell Baker, this is "the finest portrait ever painted of the city."

HERE IS NEW YORK is a truly spectacular 1948 essay that originally appeared in Holiday magazine. Written by E.B. White and named one of the ten best books ever written about New York, this is a quick read that will leave you years later savoring White's timeless observations.

Writing in a hotel room during a sweltering heat wave, White takes the reader through the essence of New York City and its eight million inhabitants who he notes roughly fall into three groups: the natives, the commuters and the transplants.

Warning that "no one should come to New York unless he is willing to be lucky," White lovingly explains how the city is more a collection of thousands of small neighborhoods that implausibly operate independently of each other, completely oblivious to what is occurring only a few blocks away.

Though it was written almost 60 years ago, HERE IS NEW YORK is just as accurate today as the moment it was written. Yes, the city has changed but the basic structure of life in New York remains the same.

Overall HERE IS NEW YORK is a very positive book that will leave everyone feeling welcome and needed in America's biggest city. But eerily the book presciently warns that "a single flight of planes no bigger than a wedge of geese can quickly end this island fantasy, burn the towers, crumble the bridges, turn the underground passages into lethal passages, cremate the millions."

Though it was tough to read that passage right after 9/11 as I did, I still whole heartedly recommend HERE IS NEW YORK to anyone who lives in New York, commutes to and from there, or has just moved there and is now, as White observed, generating "enough heat and light to dwarf the Consolidated Edison Company."

- Regina McMenamin

In "Howard Zinn: A Radical American Vision," Professor Davis Joyce has made a valuable contribution to twentieth century American historiography. This intellectual biography of Howard Zinn is scholarly and entertaining. Davis provides lucid summaries of Zinn's major books. He also skillfully places Zinn's works within the context of recent American history. Anyone who is interested in better understanding Howard Zinn's approach to history would benefit from reading this book.

This volume is a very good introduction to the life, thought, and times of Howard Zinn, which should be of broad interest to students of society. I found the details of Zinn's struggles with John Silber fascinating (such university presidents are not at all uncommon--right Kern?). While many readers will be familiar with Zinn through The People's History, they should especially enjoy the overview and critique of such writings as Disobedience and Democracy (very relevant today), and The Politics of History (addressed to all of the social sciences). Dr. Davis Joyce is an excellent writer; he obviously admires both Zinn and his thought (if not his grading policies). This is truly an excellent intellectual biography.

BUY THIS BOOK as a gift for someone in need of hope.

In these times of desperation for so many among us around the world, it is in the inspiring story of Howard Zinn that the message every individual makes a difference, shines bright. That our collective efforts, both large and small, do indeed change the world.

Howard Zinn makes me proud to be a liberal and an intellectual, and his well-written biography gives me hope that in the end, reason, compassion, and common sense will prevail over prejudice and dogma. After reading it, I feel energized, and optimistic about the future, confident that my efforts at stemming the tide of ignorance in this country are worthwhile.

This book, is in my opinion, a must-read for all liberal-minded individuals. Howard Zinn's life is an inspiration, and his clear, concise viewpoints are brilliant -- a much needed counterpoint to Medieval, Dark-Age ideologies.

Zinn shows us that we are not, as special interests would like us to believe, "an obedient, acquiescent, passive citizenry." He articulates what many of us feel, that the ideologies which we take for granted "...are not the result of independent thought on our part, and indeed do not match the real world as we experience it..." A real eye opener. I enjoyed this book, and I'm sure you will too.

Howard Zinn: A Radical American Vision
Davis D. Joyce, Published by Prometheus Books
By Denis Mueller
I met Professor Zinn about eight years ago and began, with my Co-filmmaker Deb Ellis, a journey that would lead to a film about his life and the idea that the individual can make a difference. It was an amazing experience and one that has changed my life. I learned how to speak in public by watching this tall angular man walk to the podium and begin his talk with a joke usually about himself. I learned about his courage both physical and intellectual. Zinn was a bombardier who risked his life against the war on fascism, so when he gets to academia, it is nothing to risk his job for what he feels is the right thing to do. This gets him fired at Spelman for supporting the Civil Rights Movement and constantly at war with Boston University dictator John Silber.
What we did not do was chronicle was his development as a historian and teacher. A film cannot do everything, and some historians felt we had left out his importance in the study of American history, but if that was what they were interested in there is no better place to look at some of those critical debates than here in this book by Davis D. Joyce. Howard Zinn's book, A People's History of the United States, has sold over 1,000,000 copies and has helped change the study of history itself. He has been at the forefront of American radicalism, both as an activist and as an intellectual, yet some in the historian profession fail to understand the importance of the activist-scholar. He was a leader in the Civil Rights movement as an advisor to the Student Non-Violent Co-coordinating Committee, an adult who respected the students, and gave them the intellectual backing they needed in the antiwar movement during the Vietnam era. He remains an outspoken critic of our disastrous policy in Iraq.
Yet, when American historians are mentioned, some dismiss Zinn as a populist and fail to understand his importance in the study of American history. Davis D. Joyce, while acknowledging his work as an activist, goes a long way to correct that assumption and positions Zinn as a leader in what could be described as a revolution within the study of American history. Joyce looks at all of his work but plays special attention to his book, The Politics of History, which is perhaps as important as A People's History. It is here, more than anywhere else, where Joyce is able to fuse Zinn's influence as a historian and his life long commitment to a history that speaks to the great issues of our time. Joyce does this quite well when he illustrates the importance of a quotation by Denis Diderot on the writings of Voltaire, which Zinn uses in The Politics of History.
"Other historians relate facts to inform us on facts, you relate them to excite in our hearts an intense hatred of lying, ignorance, hypocrisy, superstition; and the anger remains even after the memory of the facts has disappeared."
Joyce has a keen eye for a quote and his selection of quotes from Zinn, whose quotes are a dream for any biographer, is one of the great joys of this book and they are used quite well to articulate Zinn's unique point of view. This is a book that is needed to help illustrate Zinn's contribution to the intellectual development of American history. In an essay about the historian as citizen, and the forgotten role of the public intellectual in today's society, we would be wise to listen to what he has to say:
"In a world hungry for solutions, we ought to welcome the emergence of the historian-if this is really what we are seeing- as an activist scholar, who thrusts himself and his works into the crazy mechanism of history, on behalf of the values in which he deeply believes This makes him more than a scholar; it makes him a citizen in the ancient Athenian sense of the word."

This is a great book for boosting morale on any campus at any level. The ideas are fresh and enlightening for building relationships and team building. This book would be a great way to boost staff development, and active participation from all staff members.

This is a wonderful resource for Staff Development. If you are tired of having teachers yawn through your important presentations, this is a book full of ideas to help add fun to your work. The activities keep the audience involved, listening and learning throughout your presentation.

This book gives the administrator and anyone who supports the teachers in a school some great things to think about and ways to help the teachers on a day to day basis.

thanks for a wonderful job, the book and the service is excellent. well done

I had the honor to see Ms. Connors speak at a teacher conference this past week. I was feeling a bit jaded over the profession of teaching after completing my second year of teaching and after completing a research study proposal on the sad state of teacher retention due to low administrative support. I was at an oh-too-typical low point...

Ms. Connors' words (both in spoken and written form--I flew through her book after listening to her speech) really hit home. This is a book that every teacher and every administrator should read. It gives simple solutions that could and would make a big impact upon the current state of education today. I encourage every person involved in teaching students to read this book and think about the roles they currently play and the role they could play. THANK-YOU MS. CONNORS for humorously yet seriously pointing out both the problem and the necessary solutions.

Written in the 1970's, and finished by a colleague, David Potter's depiction of the 1848-1861 timeframe is a finely researched book on the subject. Most importantly though, unlike other writers and historians (in particular James McPherson) who look back on this time with modern day hindsight, Potter writes a book which follows this time as it was, with all the issues and ebbs and flows of that era. Potter gives us refreshing perspectives such as:

- The Republican Party, upon rising to prominence in the mid-1850's, were fellow travellers in many ways with the nativist "Know-Nothing" Party.

- Not only was 1860 a sectionally divided presidential election, but so was the 1856 contest. The Republican John Fremont was a non-factor in the southern states, while Millard Fillmore (with the Know-Nothings) ran strongly in that region. The opposite was true in the northern states (which allowed James Buchanan to win the election).

- The reputations of Buchanan and Stephen Douglas fare much better in this book. Douglas in particular is portrayed as one of the few people who could see how the electoral divisions were going to lead to secession, unlike the Lincoln/Seward Republicans.

- The South's tactical victories in the Compromise of 1850, Kansas-Nebraska Act and Dred Scott decisions were actually strategic defeats. The South became more isolated as a result of these events, and less powerful.

Many books on this subject present the Civil War as an inevitable result of the 1850's, yet Potter illustrates many examples where the middle ground may have prevailed and possibly prevented the conflict. Other issues were important in this day, particularly the tariff issue which created the same sectional rivalries that slavery did.

Overall it's a refreshing, well-researched book that I would highly recommend to anyone interested in this era.

This is without a doubt, one of the greatest books on the Ante-bellum period. I read this book when I was in college in 1991 and was impressed with it. It remains one of my favorite books to this day on the Ante-bellum period. Your library is truly not complete without this work.

Potter's insightful history leading up to the Civil War is a must. He explains the culture, the split, the issue of slavery in easy to understand language to edify the reader's understanding of the things leading up to the secession as soon as Lincoln was nominated yet before he took office. Anyone interested in the history of this time period, it is the best book I have read on the subject. Potter not only discusses the politics, but also gives us a look into Lincoln and his actions to prevent the war.

This is the best account I have ever read about the events leading up to the Civil War. Mr. Potter does an excellent job presenting the information and carefully analyzing it without taking sides. Whether you sympathize with the Union or the Confederacy, if you have an interest in the Civil War, you will enjoy this book.

Abraham Lincoln's 1860 election as President of the United States was the catalyst that set off the American Civil War, but this book traces the political processes that led to that result during the just over a decade between the end of the Mexican War in 1848 and the start of the Civil War with the firing on Fort Sumner in 1861.

Today it is easy to look back and regard the entire process as inevitable. What David Potter does in this classic, first published in 1976, is present the politics behind each step that pushed the sections of the country apart over the slavery issue. One apparent mystery has been what drove the astute politician Stephen Douglas to force through legislation tearing up the Compromise of 1820, which had extended a line from Missouri westward, north of which slavery would not be permitted. It was a colossal blunder that opened what had been a more or less settled issue, fanning the flames of sectionalism needlessly.

His Kansas-Nebraska Act opened those territories, north of the line, to a concept of popular sovereignty, in which those supposedly living in the territories would be allowed to vote on the issue. This may have sounded democratic, but it led to a wave of Abolitionist settlers from New England, and pro-slavery visitors from neighboring Missouri, resulting in "Bleeding Kansas", with attacks and massacres from both sides, and very little democracy. Potter shows that Douglas started from a powerful need to organize the territories so a Pacific railroad could be built, preferably from Chicago in his home state of Illinois. That simple point of departure led him into a series of moves that only deepened the sectional divide.

Potter describes how the southern slaveholders won a whole series of meaningless victories that did nothing to extend the slave territories but did intensify feelings against slavery in the North, from the Mexican War and Kansas-Nebraska to the Dred Scott decision and the hanging of John Brown. He traces the rise of the Republican party out of the ruins of the Whigs and the Freesoil Party, and exposes the latter not as advocates of rights for black people, but driven rather by a deep-seated racism aimed at keeping blacks out of the territories. Complicating the 1850's political map of America was the American, or "Know Nothing" party, dedicated to stopping the recent flood of mainly Catholic immigrants from Europe.

He also demonstrates that the Unionist candidates did better than generally believed in the four-sided presidential election of 1860, and that the voting system itself gave the secessionists of late 1860 and early 1861 far greater strength than their actual numbers.

If you want to get deep into the politics that split the powerful Democratic Party and ultimately the nation, this book has what you are looking for.

I own and have read most everything related to the Mercury through Apollo space program and this book shows new information that I hadn't seen in the other books published by many other astronauts and authors. Information was gathered from a myriad of sources and checked against other sources. The book greatly changed my opinion of a few astronauts and paints the entire NASA program in a more accurate light. The passing of time since the event depicted in the book has allowed the authors to see the "big picture" and step away being politically correct and instead be factual and accurate instead.

Just when I thought I had read everything about the space program, French and Burgess have done it again will a follow-on effort to their book "Into That Silent Sea."

I have no idea when they have the time to create such excellent work, but the latest book begins where the first one ended and includes much information I had never seen before, especially the chapters on the Apollo 1 pad fire and monumental Apollo 8 mission, it alone, a historic accomplishment rivaling the actual Moon landing.

Riddled with numerous never-before seen accounts (at least by me), the book is simply bulging with information such as Lola Morrow's dire premonition concerning the Apollo pad fire, and the raw emotional impact experienced by the crew of Apollo 8 upon seeing the first Earthrise observed by man.

I sincerly hope that Francis and Colin keep up the good work; maybe they could do a similar effort on underwater exploration? That would be such a contribution....

C. Newport, D.Sc.
Author of Lost Spacecraft: The Search for Liberty Bell 7

I just finished this wonderful historical and personal account of the race to the Moon, and feel privileged to know a little more about the brave men at the apex of mankind's tremendous achievement all those years ago. The authors have expertly captured the spirit of the times and given us the "warts and all" perspective on the personalities involved. For those who love history but are concerned that this book may be a "technical" account, there's no need to worry - it's exposition of events is clear and uncluttered, and clevery interwoven with the life stories of the people involved.

I strongly recommend this book as required reading to younger, high-school and college-age readers who may wonder today "How did we get there?". (Or sadly, even if we got there at all!). The answers are here, where we learn that despite our ever-present human failings, we CAN do great things when united to a common purpose. By the end of the book it will become obvious why and how we could reach the point where Armstrong and Aldrin could safely land on the Moon and return home - in fact it's almost anti-climactic!

Knowing more about the fallibilities of the astronauts has only deepened my respect for these remarkable and courageous men. As they grow old over a time when we haven't returned to the Moon, it's important to capture their stories for future generations, and French & Burgess have succeeded eminently in doing so.

My only niggle is that apparently the publishers balked at the idea of an index, which would have served as a guide for those who want to return to this book from time to time to "dip in" - as I'm sure I and many others shall do for years to come.

What authors French and Burgess have managed to accomplish with their book "In the Shadow of the Moon" is a sense of being there.

This book transcends a third-party recounting of events. French and Burgess have created an extraordinary interface between the reader and the people sharing their stories. "In the Shadow of the Moon" does an exquisite job of bringing us into the fold, allowing a rather personal access to these astronauts' lives and innermost thoughts: helping us to better understand an experience we will never have ourselves.

The authors' skillful marriage of informing and storytelling help to ensure that it is a book that will be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of their interest level in space history. The authors did an excellent job of introducing background information on a mission, and then following it up with personal interpretation by someone who was there. The authors' thorough research is apparent, but it is woven so well with the narrative that it allows the reader to simply take it in, absorbing it effortlessly.

By writing this book, French and Burgess share with humanity that which few have experienced. But more than that, they help us all understand a little better the magnitude of our venture into space. The accomplishments of the few, holding meaning for us all.

There are and have been hundreds if not thousands of books about manned spaceflight over the years but only a select few have really been able to communicate the true story and feeling generated by one of the most fondly remembered era's in American history. A time most commonly remembered as being one of technological marvel. However the true story is one of the men & Women who supported and flew the missions. This book goes deeper into the "Golden era" or manned spaceflight and tells stories that have never been told all the while keeping the reader enthralled. It touches on subjects long since forgotten or ignored and brings them to the fore. With first hand interviews with the people involved the authors really touch on the human aspect. I was especially taken by surprise that they told the story the way it should be. Not just the American effort, but the Russians too as there story never really gets told. I have read many books on spaceflight and I can honestly say this is one of only a few books that have kept me addicted and wanting to come back for more. Buy this book. You will not be disappointed. Even if you are not interested in manned spaceflight buy this book as you will be by the end. It reminds us all why we were interested in spaceflight to begin with. For a long long time the Book A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin was the book to beat. This is no longer the case.

The book starts out with, "Don't read this book if you are pregnant" (or something like that). I was six months pregnant with my first child, yet steamed ahead anyway. I am glad that I did. The description of the insanity, temporary or otherwise, that can be brought on brought on by modern motherhood that Ingman paints is exactly what a parent-to-be like myself needed, because it prepared me for the worst, and let me off the hook from the overambitious expectations that I had (elaborate birth plan that did not go as planned? check. Dreams of cooking my own organic baby food now making way for Gerber jars? check). The writing had a way of taking me to the absolute depths of her experience while at the same time injecting humor and compassion that made me feel like everything was going to be all right. I didn't expect to laugh out loud, but I did many times while reading.

This book is WAY more complex than any review can possibly hope to convey. It's personal, and political; funny, and sad. While reading, you realize that a lot of the problems Ingman faces are not just parents' issues, but women's issues. Are the mothers crazy or is the world crazy? Read and decide for yourself.

I think pretty much everything that the author has to say can be (and is!) said in the first 30 pages or so. After that, it's bits and pieces, loosely strung together but without a goal in sight. Neither a great resource for those dealing with PPD nor a good comic relief.

"Inconsolable" is smart, funny, and heartbreaking. This book should be required reading for any woman considering motherhood--it rips off the layers of Hallmark sentimentality and reveals exactly how agonizing post-partum depression can be. Frankly, it made me want to send my mother a bouquet of three dozen long-stemmed red roses.

This is a brave book written by an astonishingly talented writer Whether or not you're considering having a child, this book will change the way you think about motherhood, pregnancy, and mental health long after you've put the book down. I will never play Nine Inch Nails without thinking of Marritt ever again, and man, I play a lot of NIN.

Thank you for this book, Marritt.

When I suffered from debilitating depression after the birth of my 2nd daughter, I searched everywhere for something to grasp onto. Anything to grasp onto. Somehow I found this book. All of a sudden, here was someone like me - someone else who wanted to drive off a bridge. I felt like I had finally made a connection and I wasn't alone in this anymore.
I can honestly say that this book was pivotal in my (LONG) recovery. It is what ultimately encouraged me to push through, connect with others and reclaim motherhood. Marrit's accounts of early motherhood are real, moving, poignant, and honest. I highly recommend this book to any new mother - if you aren't suffering from PPD yourself, you might be able to understand and reach out to someone who is.

If you are a mom and you think you are loosing your mind, read this book!! You'll find out that you are not alone. I think all moms feel this way at times but most are too worried about what people will think if they admit it. Props to Marrit for being brutally honest.

This is one of the better first-person accounts I've ever read. I highly, strongly recommend that you take the time to read it. It's well-written, relevant, and hard to put down.

A great day in an day out story about the war. No hype, no frills. Just the story of what the days were actually like for a foot soldier in WW II.

I had to read this book for a course on WWII. Neil does an excellent job of "putting you there" as the cliche goes. The complexities of battle, to the horrid conditions to the mindstate of men about to die are all covered well in this novel. Neill really does a good job of keeping the reader attached to the book, and helps bring to life something that many people have only read about in history text books. I recommend this novel to anyone interested in War in general, and of course in WWII.

George Neill presents a front line soldier's view of what it was like to be part of the WWII American infantry. While reading the book, I almost felt the cold and fear that were the soldier's constant companions. while the rear echelon soldiers got the winter boots, and the generals got heated quarters, Neill and his fellow soldiers tried to survive the cold, boredom and attacks. I felt like I was there. This book gets my very highet recommendation.

The ASTPer's were the brightest, most intelligent young citizen soldiers of their part of the World War II generation. Originally deferred from military service to be allowed to attend college, they were thrown into the battlefields of Europe when America needed bodies to make to final push to Berlin, just in time for the Battle of the Bulge. Infantry Soldier: Holding the Line at the Battle of the Bulge is an accurate account of the fighting and front-line conditions facing the common infantry rifleman during one of Europe's coldest winters. Neill not only served as one of these men, he has done the research and interviews needed to complete the picture, not just of the men on the ground who knew little beyond the events of their immediate foxhole, but events on the German side and U.S. Army rear echelon and high command decisions. Included is an excellent description of the destructive power of a German artillery barrage, and the problems encountered when supply lines are stretched and items desperately needed by the front-line soldier for survival are being diverted to rear-echelon personnel. Neill also takes an intelligent look at war in general, and the conclusion is that we should never forget the horrors and untold human suffering caused by war.

The life of John James Audubon could have been a historical novel. This West Indian French bastard survived revolutions, wars, earthquakes, floods, economic collapses, and epidemics. He called everywhere in North America, as well as Europe and the Caribbean, his home. He combined entrepreneurial skills with a love of the outdoors and the gifts of the naturalist and artist (not to mention hunter). His equally-amazing English-born wife Lucy took to the frontier as readily as he, raising a family and providing frontier hospitality wherever their fortunes took them.

A biographer or historian may lack a novelist's eye for the kinds of background details that make the past come alive to the reader. But Richard Rhodes has immersed himself in his subject's world. He's read everything, not only what Audubon himself wrote, but also what his family, acquaintances, and others who experienced the same things wrote. Suppose you'd been in New York City on 9/11 but hadn't written much about your experience. A future historian might use the descriptions by others who were there too to fill in the gaps. That's what Rhodes has done for Audubon.

Before this book, Rhodes was known for his Pulitzer-winning history of the development of the atomic bomb. Now he's known as Audubon's biographer, having edited the Everyman's Library edition of The Audubon Reader and contributed an introduction to the forthcoming Audubon: Early Drawings. This is a remarkable book by someone who really knows his subject, his period, and his craft as writer and historian.

This book is nothing short of MAGNIFICENT! Rhodes is an elegant writer who knows and loves his subject as well as history and gets it all right. This is more than the biography of one brilliant man; it is a history of frontier America in its early days and is populated with much more than birds. There are Indians, friends, enemies, 4-legged animals, and yes, loads and loads of American birds. The voyages back and forth from Europe to America are enlightening and amazing to think about. I knew next to nothing about birds when I bought this book; I bought it because of an interesting book review I read a couple of years ago.

There is another Audobon book that came out the same year, Under a Wild Sky by Souder, and I own that book, too. The Souder book was a finalist for the Pulitzer, but I really don't know how it could have been selected over this book by Richard Rhodes. For example, this book goes into all the details of Audubon's personal life right up to his last days on earth, whereas the Souder book covers most of it in a few paragraphs at the end of his book.

I LOVED this book! I had a couple of bird books next to my chair as I was reading (one, a condensed version of Audubon's Birds of America), and referred to them throughout reading, which was fun and very enlightening and educational. Audubon knew and loved his birds so well that he even wrote biographies of individual species, and indeed individual birds themselves! What could be more amazing than that?

This is a truly delicious book that I wish more people would read. Right now there are only 18 individual reviews, which is much less than this book should have. I always blame the publishers for not doing justice to the fabulous books they are entrusted with. Do yourself a favor and read this special book! It is about a great man, yes, but also covers so much more. In these days of being green, Audubon predicted (and saw the beginnings of) the sad ruination and ultimate demise of nature in all its forms, and that was in the early 1800s. He was a pioneer as well as a bright man, and a funny man, and a driven man who loved and adored his family and his birds.

In its own way, this book reveals as much about the early 'natural history' years of the nation's founding as "Roots" does about early 'social history' years of Americans' tangled involvement with its imported slave population. Just as a national audience sat transfixed before TV sets watching a human drama unfold, so too, a reader following Audubon's manic treks back and forth from the East Coast to Louisiana to capture and sketch American birds, and his inspired obsession develop and finance a folio of ornithological plates by selling subscriptions in England, would marvel first at his tenacity, second at his self-awareness, and finally recognize that we live in a much less fecund animal world than the one he captured.

Audubon was an innovator of the first rank, in devising a systematic methodology (wire-frame supports) for accurately posing the bird in its natural setting, and a keen observer of the world he was both illustrating and helping to eradicate. Throughout his collecting and drafting career, he noted the transformations of habitats and ranges, and recognized that the 'natural' world he knew would look very different after his death. Large-scale conversion of woodlands to other uses, and the relentless pressure of colonization, exerted a profound impact on the distribution and range of avian species, and Audubon watched it happen in real time. His descriptions of the 'bird counts' he conducted tell the story. Repeatedly, he describes flocks that 'blacken the sky' - something we'll never see today.

Rhodes' biography is exhaustive, and a review should note that there is quite a bit of superfluous detail brought into the description of his early years. Furthermore, Rhodes in this effort did not turn out to be a great prose stylist, so some serious editing for length would have helped. Those criticisms aside, the Rhodes biography succeeds in bringing to life a vanished world, one in which colonists, pioneers and settlers were surrounded by 'wild nature,' and most of the people could actually name the animals (and birds) they saw!

If you want to really gain a great deal of insight into the forming of the American Frontier...read this book! It is really far more about that than it is about JJ Audobon although he is a very interesting character all by himself. A fascinating person at a fascinating time in history. I highly recommend it.

In the tradition of the great biographers, Rhodes leaves no stone unturned in his exploration of this remarkable fellow. The author carries us through the journey of the quintessential self-made man as he comes into maturity with his new country, the United States.
This is a study of a man, not an ornithological treatise. We all have seen the beautiful portraits of birds (terrific color plates in the paperback edition I have) and, through Rhodes efforts, discover Audubon's ingenuity in rendering them with the sort of lifelike quality he hoped to achieve. He earned his passage on many early excursions as the boat's hunter and trapper requiring lone forays into the hinterland. He clearly absorbed everything in his environment while he was making his way. His love for wildlife extended beyond avian society to all flora and fauna contained in the natural environment. He painted other animals and plants, as well. In his waning years, he executed a series of North American mammals with his sons. He had hoped to do much more.
Audubon's history is entwined with early America. He surely enjoyed his notoriety in European courts but always longed for his wild territory. In his later years (he died a decade before the Civil War), his assessment of the burgeoning nation was that it was becoming too crowded, overpopulated; ruined. THAT America was gone before Audubon died but Mr. Rhodes allows us an almost palpable glimpse at it as he illuminates one of it's most colorful citizens. Who would be a better guide into the young U.S. than this great naturalist, so skillfully revealed by this delightful writer?