North America Books

I have been to the author's website many times, and liked it. The book has lots more information than the website, which is massive. It is interesting to read about so many of these events. Most of the descriptions are short, but considering there must be over 5,000 events, that is understandable.

There are quite a mix of illustrations that match an event on their page.

The sections on the tribal name meanings and the Indian "moons" was both fascinating, and fun.

The index is one of the most comprehensive I have ever seen.

This Day In North American Indian History: Important Dates In The History Of North America's Native Peoples For Every Calendar Day by Phil Konstantin (freelance writer and member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma) is a unique and original historical reference. For each day of the calendar year, a momentous or significant occasion in Native American history is listed which occurred on that same day. Spanning over 500 years of recorded Native American culture, war, law, and societal change, This Day In North American Indian History is enhanced with a handful of black-and-white photographs, an extensive index, a bibliography, and three extended appendices (Tribal Names; Alternative Tribal Names; North American Indian Calendars). A meticulously compiled and "reader friendly" reference, This Day In North American Indian History is enthusiastically recommended as an informed and informative addition to any personal, academic, and community library Native American Studies collection.

I have been to the author's website many times. Having all of this information in one place is great. Yes, yes, yes, there is information on events in Canada. There are about 100 photos and they are matched to an event on the page where they appear. I really like the sections in the back which list tribal name meanings (Erie = cat people) and the "moon" names. If you are interested in North American Indian history, this is a great book.

This Day in American Indian History by Phil Konstantin is a fascinating resource for everyone interested in North American Indians. I think it would be especially useful for educators who want to include American Indian History in the classroom, but fear they have neither the time nor the resources to do it. Taking five minutes to select and read one event a day the class is a good way to raise awareness, open minds, and start discussions.

As the co-author of a reference book, American Indian Contributions to the World, I've learned to be very selective about the books I keep in my library. Phil has come up with an accurate and interesting volume that is filled with teachable moments. I couldn't put it down. This one is definitely a keeper.

I would read this book even if I wasn't required to, it's just interesting to know these things. It came in excellent condition and fast shipping.

This book takes the reader through many Native American groups and explains the cultures, ritual, religion, and current issues that face each group today. This text focuses on how the "white man" changed the lives of these Native American groups and how it still changes them today.

It is unfortunate that many Americans don't know about the struggle of the First Nations in this country, and this book will help open everyone's eyes. The book reads easily and quickly. The information is interesting and is nowhere boring. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about these amazing people and the struggles they have faced for over 200 years. This book is a great tool for any cultural anthropologist and student.

Had to buy this as an anthropology textbook and I really did enjoy reading it. Informative but read-able to even non-anthro majors.

From the history of specific indigenous tribes, to current issues and religious traditions every chapter in this book provides a lot of information and stresses the differences and similarities between various groups. This was a required book for one of my college classes and it has helped me gain an appreciation for North American Indians in termes of their struggles for federal recognition and their assimilation into mainstream society while maintaing their interesting traditions and practices. This is a must read for anyone interested in cultural anthropology and/or Native Studies.

I highly recommend this book. It has opened a door for me. I need to read more about native people and their relationships to Africans. The story of the Shoeboot family is very interesting.

I use to be annoyed with obviously African looking folks proclaiming to have "some Indian in me", though these same people never claim such pride in being of AFrican descent. They still annoy me. I do think it has it basic in self hatred. However, this is my humble opinion.

This book provides excellent insight into a little known part of American history. Few people realize that some American Indian tribes (particularly the "Five Civilized Tribes") practiced slavery and this text delves into the complex relationships resulting from it. The impact of the practice has repercussions still felt today. Most importantly, it reveals the rarely addressed interaction between African-Americans and Native Americans dating back to the earliest history of the United States.

I recently finished reading Tiya Miles' book. Several things impressed me regarding this work; the first one is the topic. I was surprised to learn that at one time Native Americans owned slaves! I am a college educated retired teacher and I believe this is something I should have learned somewhere in my education. I was also impressed with the research that was used as a basis for Ms. Miles' writing. A reader of her work has more than ample supply of resources to use for further reading. I also believe this book should be required reading for any American history curriculum at the college level.

First, let me say how much I enjoyed this book. It is a work of tremendous research informed by a mature mind which deeply understands the roles of history and story in creating self-identity.

I was alerted to its existence by Ilene Shepard Smiddy, author of DAUGHTER OF SHILOH, also a splendid narrative/adventure retelling a part of the Shoeboots story, but centering on Clarinda Allington and her children.

Dr. Miles provides us with a helpful family tree in the front of the book, and inside there are maps that help orient the story. The historical asides and reflections using Toni Morrison's BELOVED are treasures. Inside too are several illustrations and pictures, including one of a Shoeboots descendant. The text is divided into logical chapters. The notes are easy to follow and delicious to read, and they are followed by a full bibliography and a comprehensive index.

I would like to see the notes expanded to include the family of Napoleon Bonaparte, perhaps a grandson of Shoeboots, or of one of the Shoeboots, and who entered the mainstream population in Kentucky as a free black.

As Dr. Miles points out, there was more than one individual who was referred to as the Boot or Shoeboots (and other nicknames, in both English and Cherokee), and I suspect that this was a concept name involving the crow or the rooster--the hero of a Cherokee parable. It is fascinating to read about here, and her arguments are engaging. Highly recommended reading!

David M. Lubin's "Titanic" offers valuable and interesting insights into James Cameron's 1997 Academy Award-winning film by the same title. Lubin, a professor of art at Wake Forest University, brilliantly positions the film within its artistic, historic and cultural context, relating it to art (Frederic Church's "The Icebergs" and "Heart of the Andes," George Caleb Bingham, Jacques-Louis David, among others), literature (Crane, London, Twain, Whitman, et al.), music (Offenbach's "Orpheus in the Underworld," Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde," etc.), theatre (the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, etc.), and even to still photography (Lewis Hines' "Young Russian Jewess at Ellis Island," Alfred Stieglitz's "The Steerage"). Lubin also connects "Titanic" to numerous other films, especially "It Happened One Night" and "A Night to Remember," and filmmakers, including Hitchcock, Welles, Ford and Kubrick. Lubin says "Titanic" is "not by any means an intellectual film," yet his book seems to belie this statement. How could a film that poses "questions about society's divide between rich and poor, the nature of love, the meaning of sacrifice, and modernity's faith in...technological prowess and mastery over nature" be anything but an intellectual film?

For a movie that was almost universally loathed by "high-brow" critics, "Titanic" gets a very lovingly detailed and in-depth analysis courtesy of Mr. Lubin. His analysis is interesting and well-researched without going too overboard or reaching too far for metaphors and artsy-fartsy obscure parallels, as some BFI contributing authors have.

This book afforded me a fascinating 12th look at a film I've already seen 11 times, and I feel enriched for having read it. It is scholarly without being boorishly so, and resists the chance to take gratuitous potshots at the flimsiest part of the film -- the dialogue. Lubin rightfully defends writer/director James Cameron's film even at its weakest points, probably because to single out the flimsy and shallow dialogue is to overlook the mastery that went into every other single detail of getting this epic film made. Visually, it is so rich in detail and craft that to malign it for "teen-speak" dialogue is just to be petty. But make no mistake --- Lubin is not playing the cheerleader for the sake of doing so. He is carefully examining the film for its comments on class distinctions, its parallels to art and opera, its classic story structure, and how the timing of the making and release of the film is nearly as significant as the timing of the actual sinking from the perspective of changing cultural and social mores. Or something like that -- Lubin phrases it so much better than I ever could.

To those who would chastise Cameron for the dialogue, let's see how well YOU do writing dialogue while simultaneously juggling the 40 thousand details, large and small, of a project this massive!

Lubin acknowledges the film's flaws but also pays due heed to the elements that work well, and the film is full of them.

Just read the damn book, folks.

Any movie as large (in every respect) as James Cameron's TITANIC, deserves to be understood, not only in the contemporary consumer context in which it was created, but also through the complex philosophical, cultural, and artistic history which served as its genesis. David Lubin's splendid, captivating, and handsomely packaged little book is a rare jewel for any reader interested in popular culture as subject for serious analysis. We come to understand Cameron's film, although cloaked in melodrama and crude dialogue, as a fully realized "synaesthesia," striving (not entirely unsuccessfully) to consume and re-imagine everything that came before it. Lubin, without a hint of pedantry, goes a long way towards revealing the mysterious zeitgeist at the heart of a global blockbuster. This is a marvelous book, and it deserves to be read.

You think you understood this simple (if expensive) movie? Think again. David Lubin demonstrates why Titanic can really be seen as an allegory--about race and class, humanity and technology, and much more--with amazing depth and sophistication. He's an academic but he writes like a journalist, and you'll be amazed at all the fascinating tidbits he comes up with. Plus the book is beautifully produced with dozens of photos from the film to illustrate (literally) the points he's making. Just a great read.

Woodward, the dean of southern historians, was the author of numerous definitive works on the south from 1865-1900, including THE STRANGE CAREER OF JIM CROW and ORIGINS OF THE NEW SOUTH. He won the Pulitzer prize for editing the diaries of Mary Chestnut, but he probably deserved it for this, his first work. Woodward was a master prose stylist, but I don't quite think he ever quite matched this book in wit and irony. The first half of the book is replete with CHARACTERS worthy of Anthony Trollope, John Brown Gordon, the "plumed knight of Appomattox" and main player in one of the great stock market scandals of the day; Joe Brown, the former confederate governor of Georgia also known as "Old Judge-MENT"; Alexander H. Stephens, the former vice-president of the Confederacy and a force to be reckoned with even in declining health; and last but not least Robert Toombs, a TRUE unreconstructed rebel, who refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Union after the war, who hated the railroads (and the use of public funds in their development) almost as much as he hated the North. Even though he was unable to hold public office, he maintained influence just by his force of personality. Above them all is Watson, a man who loves (and hates) not wisely but too well. A man of infinite paradoxes. An apologist for the "old south" who proclaimed the common interests between black farmers and white farmers. A white man who, more than once, would defend black political allies from lynching, but later would be the most vociferious defender of the practice. A crusader against corporations, he would grow fearful of socialism. A democrat with authoritarian personality. A man of the people who was one of the largest landowners (and landlords) in Georgia. A powerful "demagogue" (in the root sense of the word) who was a remarkably BAD politician and political strategist, eventually turning on every constituency and ally. Incorruptable, but in the end wholly given over to his (and his region's) prejudices, hatreds, and pathology.

This is a definitive biography, but not the last word on Watson--certainly not the last word on populism. As much as we see of Watson's psyche, this book is very much an account of a public life, the personal dimension and familial relationships are only touched on, sometimes only hinted at. If every there was a subject fit for a "psychobiography" it is Watson.

As to the movement he lead, the somewhat idealized portrait needs to be balance with reference to THE WOOL-HAT BOYS and BLACKS AND THE POPULIST REVOLT. But when all is said, this book is a classic. Worthy of sharing shelfspace with Boswell's LIFE OF JOHNSON and even Trollope's politcal novels and Gore Vidal's historical novels.

Jimmy Carter has always referred to the demagogic Tom Watson as a political mentor. Hardly surprising since Watson was a phoney and a bigot who began his career supposedly championing Poor Whites - AND - Blacks, and ended it an acolyte of the Ku Klux Klan, a Jew-baiter, Catholic hater, a political hack of the Segregationist Democratic Party and unrepentent Racist who "stabbed" the backs of the very Blacks he once claimed to be as friends. His notorious role in the judicial murder of Leo Frank*, as Woodward related, was especially repugnant. In effect, Watson called for mob rule - and chortled "Jewish Libertines take Notice" after Frank, who was innocent of the murder of Mary Phagan, was judicially murdered by a bunch of Watson's minions and hired thugs.

Carter of course started off in reverse, but there is really no difference between the two outside of their half-baked, suiting their needs "Liberalism". Watson was a coward and a bigot, Carter no different.

Woodward also gives the reader an overview of post-Reconstruction Georgia, with cast of characters including John Gordon, the Confederate General who became a U.S. Senator, pledging loyalty to the United States, yet in effect continuing the policy of the Confederacy including ensuring that Black Americans lived little better than slaves. A fertile breeding ground for a Watson - and later, Lester Maddox and James Earl Carter Jr.

*p.s. Frank was innocent, and the courageous Governor Slaton chose to commute the death sentence pushed by Watson. By doing so, however, Slaton was forced to flee Georgia when his life was threatened by Watson's minions and by the Klan, leaving Frank to a horrible fate. Many years later, the true killer of Mary Phagan confessed. It is interesting though, that Mr. Carter NEVER signed a posthumous pardon for Mr. Frank. It was finally signed by his successor in office.

Watson's story is a fantastic one, and this book tells it well. This book is superlative to follow Georgia politics in years Watson affected it. One is totally repelled by Watson after 1904, not only by his vicious anti-Catholicism but even worse by his role in the Leo Frank case. This book is a sheerly interesting book about an awful man. It is of interest that Woodward describes Autobiography: The Story of an Old Man's Life, by Nathaniel E. Harris as "one of the most remarkable books ever written." I wonder where I can find the book.

Woodward was a master, and is sorely missed. Tom Watson is an epic and tragic story of a man, and the history of Populism as a movement, with all the aspirations and limits of American democracy. The single best work of history i have ever read. If it is out of print, that is a true shame.

What an amazing book! I actually had some synchronistic adventures while reading this book. It's powerful and has been one of my very favorite books since I first read it about 5 years ago. I've given it as gifts to friends it is so incredible.

A wonderful account of two men, a writer and a photographer, who become enveloped in a new consciousness; or more accurately an old one. I was up until the wee hours every night until I finished it. And each morning I found myself more aware of the Creator's presence in every stone,tree and being - an awareness and an awakeining that they are all following God's instructions. Thus, I was gently brought to the question: am I following the Creator's instruction? The "Origional Instructions" Harvey and Steve have passed on to me in this volume have helped me answer that question.

This book is a must read for anyone who has read any of the works by Harvey Arden and/or Steve Wall! Extremely well-written and the chapters are in the first person of both authors. It is, I think, their best work that I have read so far. This is an honest, unpretentious, examination by the authors of their own journey connecting with the elders and the insights they offer. You will not be able to put it down; I read it in one afternoon without a break. I intend to re-read; it is that good.

These tweo white men are chosen to take a journy in life. This is not a come on along along and pack you bags. This is an inner and spiritual journey for these two men as much as it is a journey for the elders of different nations to accept and trust these men to some of the their most private thoughts and lives. a book well written and appericated that it shows The People as the caretakers that they are to the world.

This book is among my all time favorites in Native American studies. Two Leggings was not the greatest or the most famous of the Crows, but he seemed true to his culture. This gave the book the very rare feel of cultural and spiritual authenticity. Bueno.

If you are interested in learning about spiritual power--sometimes referred to as medicine--amongst the plains Indians, then this book is for you. It discusses Two Leggings search for power through traditional vision quest and his inability to receive anything substantial. Ultimately, he receives something of value extended to him by his father-in-law. Also covered is what happens when a person makes a committment to spirit then dishonors that committment--the colapse and end of Sun Dance for the Crow people until it is returned years later through the Shoshone people.

This book was prepared by Nabokov from notes from interviews between the ethnographer and collector Wildschut and the aged Crow warrior Two Leggings. Those looking for a general account of plains Indian life in the mid to late 19th century may be disappointed. This book deals almost solely with Two Leggings spirtual pursuit of 'power' or 'medicine' to give him success in horse raids. And by extension status within his tribal society. The book highlights the significance of dreams to the Plains Indian and the impact they had on the real world. The book documents Two Leggings various attempts to acquire 'power' through fasting or vision quests and also gives accounts of numerous horse raids he made against his tribal enemies. The end of the days of freedom on the plains and the reservation period are largely ignored for, as far as Two Leggings was concerned, nothing of interest happened after the buffalo disappeared and horse raiding ended.

All in all an excellent book which reveals how the spritual world and warfare were so interwoven in the mind of the Plains Indian.

In 1919, anthropologist William Wildschut, living in Billings, Montana, at the time, befriended Crow Indian chief Two Leggings, who was living along the Bighorn River. Wildschut was interested in gathering Two Leggings's reminiscences. Bringing translators with him, Wildshut met with Two Leggings at his homestead over a lengthy period of time and wrote his memoirs down. The final 480-page manuscript was deposited in the archives of the Museum of the American Indian, where Peter Nabokov discovered it. Nabokov reworked Wildschut's manuscript somewhat, usually tightening up his expansive style, and this is the result.

The most striking thing about these reminiscences is how Two Leggings is not nearly as interested in Indian-white relations as he is with his raiding adventures against other tribes, especially against the Piegans. It seems his whole existence is centered on this activity. Almost equally important are his vision and dream quests; all important decisions are based on what are conjured in dreams and visions. Raiding enemy tribes, gathering coup, stealing horses - all these activities were primary to anyone wishing to be a great warrior chief. Possessing strong medicine that produced powerful visions was also important. Two Leggings relates his story up to about 1888 when the Crows were restricted to their reservation; he concludes, "Nothing happened after that. We just lived. There is nothing more to tell." His memoir is a fascinating one, and one that makes little acknowledgement of or concession to the white man's world.

"Unbelievable" (first published in 1987) was Australian author Paul Jennings' second collection of short stories for kids, published while he was still working as a teacher. They're quirky, inventive, funny, occasionally gross and fun for all ages really. They really evoke Australia too, particularly the state of Victoria and the city of Melbourne, which I've always liked about Paul's books.

There are nine stories here:

"Pink Bow Tie" is something of a story within a story, involving a machine that can make the user younger or older. I quite like it, and it must be a popular one, because it was not only adapted into an episode of "Round the Twist" but also made into a very special Paul Jennings comic as well.

"One Shot Toothpaste" was a story I always found really creepy when I was a kid. Dentists, experiments with teeth. It's not surprising, really. Great little tale, and another story within a story.

"There's No Such Thing" is an interesting piece about a dragon who lives in the drain.

"Inside Out" has a punk ghost, a horror film lover, a "spook exam" and even a magic trick or two. The ending comes on rather suddenly, but it's a decent story.

"The Busker" is a pretty intense story for a children's book, I've always thought. It's a reflection on money, greed and friendship, and it's pretty sad too. I know it's made one or two people cry reading it. Yet another story within a story, part of which is set on Australia's shipwreck coast.

"Souperman" sees a comic book fan meet his hero living a few apartments away. He's not quite how he is in the comics though. Seems this real life superhero needs soup for souper powers. Silly, but I like it.

"The Gumleaf War" is a very Australian short story. It's got slang, it's got an Australian folk song, it's got the bush and it's got old men playing gum leaves. It's also pretty funny. What more could you want?

"Birdscrap" features a ghostly seagull and a load of guano. That's all that needs to be said there!

"Snookle" is short and strange, all about an invisble ghost that grants your every desire, even the tiniest of whims must be granted. Is that something you'd really want?

It's all great fun, easy to read for young and old. A great introduction to Paul Jennings for the newcomer and a great addition to your collection for a fan. Highly recommended.

This book is the best! My teacher from london who flew heunbelivible,imangtive but i forgot the other one!re to usa! in K-mart she found there books of him
we read a the stories like Ice Maiden, Birdman, Little SQUIRT,Magic Hermonica, The Vevlet Throne, eXPOSER,and one that we are reading now,Sloppy Jollpy it has a lot of britsh acent because paul jennings is an australing aouthor mates!

I recommend this book to those who like to laugh. I definitely think that it's UNBELIEVABLE. It was just the funniest and most entertaining book I've ever seen before. Be ready!!!

though is a old book but the content is very interesting that is still practical that the things inside may still happened the stories always have a twist at the ending. my friend recommend this book to me and i will surely recommend to somebody else

Like most everyone, I have been slightly familiar with Audubon's Birds of America-but I had no insight into the man or the world that produced his famous series of meticulous paintings. From the first page, William Souder's excellent book drew me into its engrossing narrative, making the carefully researched details come alive. Because of the detail and the direct writing style, the world Souder portrays seems close and immediate-almost like today-but in many ways it was light-years from today's modern world.

In detailing Audubon the man, Souder shows us a fascinating, infuriating character, obsessive in his hunting, exploring and collecting efforts, relentless in his painting, while often oblivious to his domestic responsibilities and economic situation. Reconstructing an immense amount of research materials, Souder describes Audubon's acclaim and success in Scotland and England, leading to the historic publication of the monumental Birds of America. While cutting a flamboyant, confident figure in Europe, we also see Audubon's private torments. His incompetent letters to his wife- addressing her as "dearest friend"- provokes an extended almost tragic transatlantic misunderstanding. Reading these passages should make us forever grateful for telephones!

Under a Wild Sky is full of wonderful rich description, and for this we can thank Audubon and others for having kept detailed journals and letters. But I was most impressed with Souder's ability to write in a familiar, personal style that weaves it all into a highly readable, intelligent and entertaining narrative that-as I said before-really makes the subject come alive. Highly recommended.

I am pleased to give my unprejudiced review of Under A Wild Sky by William Souder, my son.
The author paints a picture, in words, of a 19th century complicated man, dedicated to giving his and future generations beautiful and accurate portraits of Birds Of America. This is a great book for all interested in learning about the life of the man and his work.

William Souder doesn't just describe Audubon's personality. Souder appears to be Aubudon's best friend who has been watching Audubon for years. Now, Souder is telling the reader how his best friend works and what drove his friend to make "Birds of America."

It's been over a century since naturalist John James Audubon's death, but his fame is no less for it, and author William Souder's biography Under A Wild Sky: John James Audubon And The Making Of The Birds Of America provides both a well-researched biography and an inviting leisure read recreating Audubon's time and passion. Chapters tell of the lush abundance of species Audubon was called upon to catalog, and tells of his struggle to gain recognition for his work. A 'must' for any Audubon fan.

I'm an Egyptologist, but I like to read outside my own field. This excellent summary of years of work in the field was a real joy. It was exciting to read of a culture "done in" by a change in climate (we think this also happened in ancient Egypt!), and heartwarming to read of ancient irrigation technology revived to help people today. I feel this book is a must for anyone who cares about the past . . . and people today

If you can't go to Bolivia, this is the next best thing. The archeological information about Tiawanaku is fascinating. The cultural information regarding the Aymara is great too. But, my favorite part was the project to reintroduce abandoned agricultural practices to the area. Much larger populations were supported in ancient times due to the micromanagement of climate using irrigation and raised fields. And it was dramatically demonstrated that it works in this book! Good reading!

I think this is my favorite book I've read about South America before and after a trip there. The author introduces us to the people who live there and are his friends. We get to see how Tiawanaku looked when it was in use and learn about customs and traditions which live today. The project to re-introduce ancient agricultural practices of raised beds and irrigation, was exciting. We were kept on the edge of our seat waiting to see if a freeze killed the crop and put the population in jeopardy. A real armchair trip to Bolivia!

I really enjoyed this book and have since read further volumes on South American Indian cultures because of it. Written by the primary researcher at Tiahuanaco, Alan Kolata, the text covers the origin of the earliest pre-Inca highland civilization, the Ayamara. So impressive was the legacy of this people to their successors that the Inca themselves sought to legitimize their claim to empire by seeking to place their roots at this site. I found Kolata's successful test of his economic hypothesis regarding population density and farming methods (by the reintroduction of raised bed and canal farming at altitude) especially profound. It certainly made abundantly apparent the pertinance of modern day archaeology, not only to the preservation of the world's ancient inheritance but to the material well being of modern populations as well. This book is a good place to start for anyone with an interest in ancient South American cultures and to applied archaeology.