Customer Reviews:
leading edge.......2003-03-11
Enlightening, sometimes radical penetrations of thought revealed by one eminently qualified at the task.
Capra explores leading edge thought in a readable and enriching way.
Excellent book.
Hidden Treasure.......2003-03-05
I have found all of FC's books very helpful. He has been able to take many exceptionally complex ideas in science and make them accessible to the lay reader - such as myself. In particular, he has made the link between the New Physics and Living Systems and the ancient wisdom.
Uncommon Wisdom takes a different approach to his other books. His traditional books are based naturally on explaining the ideas. This book is grounded in experience and in relationship. Here FC takes a personal and musing approach. He shares his own life journey, doubts, fears and hopes, as he meets, talks and develops relationships with some of the great thinkers of our time. He shows us through his story how his thinking develops. We as readers share the unfolding process in his own being as he too struggles with the import of what he is learning.
The ideas in this book are embedded in story and in people. As such they are more "sticky" than ideas simply defined and outlined. It is one thing to have Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle explained. It is so much better to listen, via FC's ears and eyes, to Heisenberg talk.
Another lasting impression I received from the book is what a time the 1970's 1980's was. Was it our Golden Age? Much of the book is located in the 1970's and 1980's when the idea of the breakdown of the Cartesian view and the rise of an interrelated view of reality was so new.
The book is out of print and I encourage him to persuade his publisher to get it back on the shelves. Why? In middle age, our youth has a pull. FC's current writing is already looking back at the 1970's which he now sees as a "Turning Point". Now in late middle age he and many millions of us are looking back with a new perspective. It is worth re-discovering the wonder of that time. In Uncommon Wisdom we travel back with FC and sit at his shoulder as he hears for the first time the ideas that are changing our world 30-years later. Maybe we have digested this time enough and we need to remember when we questioned more and to pick up the gifts we left aside as we turned away to raise our children and to get on in the world.
A wonderful book full of compassion and wonder
A fine introduction to Capra........1999-02-08
This is an excellent book that acquaints you with the intellectual odyssey and personality of Mr. Capra. Filled with brilliant insights and fascinating discussions with people like E.F. Schumacher, R.D. Laing, Gregory Bateson, Geoffrey Chew, Krishnamurti, Warner Heisenberg, and many other giants of the 20th century who shaped Capra's thoughts in the writing of Tao of Physics and The Turning Point. Gives you an underpinning for The Web of Life too. An insider's multidisciplinary look into the intellectual cutting edge of the 60s and 70s. Warmly written and very pleasant. I highly recommend it as a starting point for a deep understanding of Fritjof Capra.
Customer Reviews:
A fun look at Ohio history.......2005-08-03
I really enjoyed this book. As a history buff who also enjoys strange and offbeat stories, Neil Zurcher's new book satisfied both of my interests. Whoever dreamed Ohio could lay claim to such people, places, and things as cows who "race", the man who invented disposable diapers, a slingshot car, and an Ohio prison camp that actually housed German POW's. Each story is like a little gem--interesting and well-told. Anyone who wants a really different side of Ohio history should read this book. I plan to keep it on my nightstand for weeks to come.
Book Description
A vibrant social history set against the backdrop of the Antebellum south and the Civil War that recreates the lives and friendship of two exceptional women: First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln and her mulatto dressmaker, Elizabeth Keckly.
“I consider you my best living friend,” Mary Lincoln wrote to Elizabeth Keckly in 1867, and indeed theirs was a close, if tumultuous, relationship. Born into slavery, mulatto Elizabeth Keckly was Mary Lincoln’s dressmaker, confidante, and mainstay during the difficult years that the Lincolns occupied the White House and the early years of Mary’s widowhood. But she was a fascinating woman in her own right, independent and already well-established as the dressmaker to the Washington elite when she was first hired by Mary Lincoln upon her arrival in the nation’s capital. Lizzy had bought her freedom in 1855 and come to Washington determined to make a life for herself as a free black, and she soon had Washington correspondents reporting that “stately carriages stand before her door, whose haughty owners sit before Lizzy docile as lambs while she tells them what to wear.” Mary Lincoln had hired Lizzy in part because she was considered a “high society” seamstress and Mary, an outsider in Washington’s social circles, was desperate for social cachet. With her husband struggling to keep the nation together, Mary turned increasingly to her seamstress for companionship, support, and advice—and over the course of those trying years, Lizzy Keckly became her confidante and closest friend.
With Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckly, pioneering historian Jennifer Fleischner allows us to glimpse the intimate dynamics of this unusual friendship for the first time, and traces the pivotal events that enabled these two women—one born to be a mistress, the other to be a slave—to forge such an unlikely bond at a time when relations between blacks and whites were tearing the nation apart. Beginning with their respective childhoods in the slaveholding states of Virginia and Kentucky, their story takes us through the years of tragic Civil War, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and the early Reconstruction period. An author in her own right, Keckly wrote one of the most detailed biographies of Mary Lincoln ever published, and though it led to a bitter feud between the friends, it is one of the many rich resources that have enhanced Fleischner’s trove of original findings.
A remarkable, riveting work of scholarship that reveals the legacy of slavery and sheds new light on the Lincoln White House, Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckly brings to life a mesmerizing, intimate aspect of Civil War history, and underscores the inseparability of black and white in our nation’s heritage.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Well written, informative and compelling.......2006-02-16
After reading this book I feel as if I know the two ladies, their lives and their times.
Two for the price of one, dragging on, but ending nicely done........2005-12-14
Going back and forth between biographical chapters of the two ladies for a good portion of the book left me tireless and bored. Almost rejoicing when the book finally picked up after what seemed to be an ad infinitum of the two woman's seemingly ordinary lives, nothing really there to surprise from previous knowledge of both a white and black's reality of that particular time period, I in all honestly could have done without the meticulously detailed first half of the book. On the contrary I did find that the many similarities between the two such as same birth year and rather close birthplace, both in the south to be rather ironic in conjunction with their very different social standing and contrasting, perhaps even a bit complimenting personality traits. This is possibly the only helpful information I was able to take from the first half of the book.
Fleischner does appear to know plenty on each individual, but enough's enough, I picked up the book for an interesting read about such an odd friendship between the pair.
Forcing myself to get through these lackluster chapters, the meeting and companionship of the two very different women at long last appeared! Before getting to this point of the book I would have been generous in giving the book two stars, however after their first encounter, the day before Abe Lincoln's Presidential inauguration in 1861 I actually found myself enjoying my time reading it.
Keckly, a mulatto, grew up in a harsh life of slavery, eventually independently able to buy her way out and prosper in the seamstress business. Thus being the reason, lavish and somewhat peculiar Lincoln called upon the former slave for her distinguished dress-making skills. The last chapters did seem rushed, and I was left wanting more details on the actual societal aspects of the South in the nineteenth century. I enjoyed the mentioning of how times were back then, always being captivating to me. The prices, fashions, and entertainment of Civil War times really absorbed my interest, however short-lived those parts were. The association and reference of historical people and events i.e. W.E.B Du Bois, Cassius Clay, Bleeding Kansas allowed me to relate the reading to History class, always bringing unexpected excitement to a learning student.
The brilliantly unlikely friendship between Mrs. Keckly and Mrs. Lincoln did get its justice in Jennifer Fleischner's double biography. If you have patience for dullness, and are willing to stick it out for what turns out to be a great story of two apparently opposite woman who grow together in a historic tale of true friendship, then don't hesitate to pick this book up. Three stars for getting two bios for the price of one, the book might have dragged on, but turning out rather compelling, and nicely done.
Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckley.......2005-10-26
I was disappointed in the viewpoint of the author who seemed less interested in the relationship of the two women than in the social problems of a free Black woman who was the confidant of Mary Lincoln. I began reading the book in an attempt to understand both women and the circumstances in which their friendship occurred. The book, however, leans heavily toward Mrs. Keckley & portrays Mrs. Lincoln at her best as a spoiled White woman & at her worst as a lunatic. The final paragraph sums up the author's reasons for writing the book in a complaint that Mary is buried in the Lincoln vault with President Lincoln (where else would she have been put?)& Mrs. Keckley's unclaimed body lies in an unmarked grave..."like those of her mother, slave father and son". The book is not about Mary Lincoln or Mrs. Keckley; it is a social commentary.
Sometimes interesting, but often puts me to sleep.......2005-09-10
The characters in this book and their stories are interesting at times, but the author takes far too much time imparting their stories. I am reading this book for a church cirle book review, and I am having trouble reading it. If I want a nap that day, all I need to do is pick up this book and read it a while!
Interesting, but needs more detail! .......2004-08-24
I did enjoy reading "Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckly: The Remarkable Story of the Friendship Between a First Lady and a Former Slave." It rates a 3 out of 5 stars for me because of the lack of depth, particularly in the latter part of the book.
Like most people, all I had really heard about Mary Lincoln was that she had emotional issues and ended up being committed by her own son. This is true, and the book does a good job of relating the childhood events that warped the young Mary Todd.
Lizzy Keckly, the slave who buys her freedom and becomes Washington DC's leading "modiste", is a fascinating personage who well deserves the attention the book gives her life. I found the description of Lizzy's life in slavery to be very powerful. In particular, the passage where her master hires someone to "break her" made my stomach turn and the barbarity of slavery struck home anew.
The beginning of the book starts out strong. The chapters alternate between the lives of the two ladies. After Mary marries Lincoln, however, I feel the book loses steam. I craved more description not only of their lives but of the historic events that surrounded them. Maybe my perception of this book was hurt by having just finished David McCullough's masterful "John Adams", which is lavish in detail. Maybe there just isn't enough evidence out there about Mary and Lizzy's lives after they hit middle age. (I'm willing to buy that about Lizzy, but about Mary? It seems unlikely.) At any rate, by the time you hit the last few chapters, it seems as if the author is hurrying to finish up and I think it ends abruptly.
Book Description
Berkeley is as much a concept as a city, resonating powerfully with those on all sides of the political spectrum. But insiders know it as one of the most exciting cities in the country, where eclectic neighborhoods, a sparkling waterfront, and world-class festivals coexist happily with radicals, hippies, and political correctness. This sumptuous photographic tour with text shows exactly what makes the city special, offering dazzling images of the city's vibrant street life, gorgeous natural attractions, emerging arts district, lovely Rose Garden, legendary Claremont Hotel spa, and much more.
Customer Reviews:
A fine coffee table addition or celebration of one of the state's most notable cities.......2005-09-06
Berkeley, California residents, natives, or visitors will relish this pictorial display of Berkeley's finest houses and scenes in Berkeley: The Life And Spirit Of A Remarkable Town. Kiran Singh's full-page color photos trace the town's most notable neighborhoods and structures, from Telegraph Avenue, the 'Haight-Ashbury of Berkeley' and home to many counter-cultural influences, to the campus of UC Berkeley and West Berkeley's early settlements. A fine coffee table addition or celebration of one of the state's most notable cities.
Average customer rating:
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Tales from the North And the South: Twenty-four Remarkable People And Events of the Civil War
Frances H. Casstevens
Manufacturer: McFarland & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| 19th Century
| United States
| Americas
| History
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General
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
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General
| Civil War
| United States
| Americas
| History
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Confederacy
| Civil War
| United States
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General
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United States Civil War
| Military
| Leaders & Notable People
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General
| Civil War
| United States
| Historical
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
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All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0786428708
Release Date: 2006-11-14 |
Product Description
In June 1862, James J. Archer was promoted to the rank of brigadier general by Robert E. Lee. Serving with distinction in prominent battles such as those at Bull Run, Chancellorsville and Harpers Ferry, this lawyer-turned-general earned not only the respect of his superiors but the esteem and admiration of his men. Imprisoned first at Fort Delaware and then at Johnson s Island, Archer was one of the First Fifty (and as it turned out only) officers to be part of a Confederate/Union prisoner exchange. Upon returning to the Confederacy, Archer resumed command and served until his death from battle wounds in October 1864. From doctors to lawyers and privates to generals, this volume records the stories of a few special people-such as General James Archer-who chose to serve their country during the Civil War. Twenty-four individuals from both sides of the Mason-Dixon line are remembered for their extraordinary and often little known contributions to the Confederate and Union causes. These include Colonel Thomas Rose, who was in charge of the Libby Prison tunnel; Colonel John R. Winston, who was one of the few to escape from the Federal prison on Johnson s Island; Sally Tompkins, who ran a private hospital in Richmond; and Sergeant Richard Kirkland, who risked his life to take water to the Federal troops at Fredericksburg. Other featured individuals include Susie Baker King Taylor, Colonel Hector McKethan, Dr. Mary Walker and Richard Thomas Zarvona. Contemporary sources include a variety of correspondence and diaries from these subjects and those who knew them. Appendices contain a roll of participants in the Great Locomotive Chase; a list of Federal prisoners who escaped through the Libby Prison tunnel; a directory of Confederate officers on board the Maple Leaf; and the history of the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Confederate Roll of Honor. A number of contemporary photographs are also included.
Book Description
John Roebling had a dream.
He would build the world's longest bridge and he would build it in a new way. But his way was too new. It took 15 years to convince people it would work. And then, just as construction was to begin, John Roebling was killed in a freak accident.
That should have been the end of the story of The Brooklyn Bridge. Instead, it was the beginning. For John wasn't the only Roebling who could dream.
The Brooklyn Bridge is about a legendary feat of engineering and an extraordinary family. Through rare, historical photographs, informative diagrams, and powerful illustrations, we learn exactly how this magnificent bridge was designed and constructed. From the Roeblings, we learn of loyalty, courage, sacrifice, and commitment.
The Brooklyn Bridge is the story of a bridge across a great river and a bridge across generations, a bridge of stone and steel and one of the human spirit.
Wonders of the World series
The winner of numerous awards, this series is renowned for Elizabeth Mann's ability to convey adventure and excitement while revealing technical information in engaging and easily understood language. The illustrations are lavishly realistic and accurate in detail but do not ignore the human element. Outstanding in the genre, these books are sure to bring even the most indifferent young reader into the worlds of history, geography, and architecture.
"One of the ten best non-fiction series for young readers."
- Booklist
Customer Reviews:
The Brooklyn Bridge.......2002-04-10
This is a great book for kids and it has wonderful illustrations. I am using it in a lesson plan for a fourth grade art appreciation class on New York architecture.
Descriptive and brings the brooklyn bridge story together.......1998-10-29
Excellent.Very good for young kid
An extraordinary book.......1998-04-08
This is an extraordinary book, which would make a lovely gift for any child fascinated by bridges - or New York City. Its text is both informative and lively. And the illustrations are as fine. There are original illustrations of both the bridge and the people involved in its building, diagrams that clearly show how the bridge was built (and prevent the author from having to muddy up the text with too many technical details) and historical photos. Truly a creative approach to illustrating an inspiring book. My son, 8, has asked me to find him Elizabeth Mann's other books - she's written one about the pyramids and the Great Wall of China - right away. What a recommendation.
Average customer rating:
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The Boss: The Remarkable Adventures Of Ernest Shackleton, Heroic Antarctic Explorer
Michael Smith
Manufacturer: Collins Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Exploration & Discovery
| History & Historical Fiction
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Historical
| Biographies
| People & Places
| Children's Books
| Subjects
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Polar Regions
| Fiction
| Explore the World
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General
| Ages 9-12
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General
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Shackleton, Ernest
| ( S )
| People, A-Z
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1903464579 |
Average customer rating:
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Boundary Breakers: Remarkable People (Shockwave: Social Studies)
Jerrill Parham
Manufacturer: Children's Press (CT)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
History
| Subjects
| Books
| Africa
| Americas
| Ancient
| Arctic & Antarctica
| Asia
| Audiobooks
| Australia & Oceania
| Europe
| Gay & Lesbian
| Historical Study
| Large Print
| Middle East
| Military
| Military Science
| Russia
| United States
| World
Reference & Collections
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General
| History & Historical Fiction
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Historical
| Biographies
| People & Places
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ages 9-12
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0531177521 |
Books:
- Your Daily Walk with The Great Minds: Wisdom and Enlightenment of the Past and Present (Pocket Edition) (Spiritual Dimensions Series)
- 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
- Against All Odds: My Story
- Air Force (U.S. Military Series)
- America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It
- At Her Majesty's Request: An African Princess in Victorian England
- Between Worlds: The Making of an American Life
- Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West
- BodyMinder Workout and Exercise Journal (A Fitness Diary)
- Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power: Race and the Intimate in Colonial Rule
Books Index
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The Turning Point: Science, Society, and the Rising Culture
The Hidden Connections: A Science for Sustainable Living
The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems
The Tao of Physics
Belonging to the Universe: Explorations on the Frontiers of Science and Spirituality
