Book Description
This debate-style reader is designed to introduce students to controversies in American history through readings that reflect a variety of viewpoints. Each issue is framed with an issue summary, an issue introduction, and a postscript. Taking Sides is supported by our student Web site, Dushkin Online (www.dushkin.com/online/).
Customer Reviews:
American History, Volume I (Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in American History).......2006-08-21
Good Book
An in-depth look at issues from both sides........2000-09-20
Taking Sides is a great way to find out more about contraversial issues from the period of Reconstructin to the Present. It dives into issues such as whether or not women of the nineteenth-century overcame the hardships of the west; if Booker T. Washington's philosophy and actions betray the interests of Afican-Americans; if the 1950's were America's "happy days", and much more. This great book reveals both sides to the issues. Your stand is not suede, but you are able to make your own decision.
Book Description
In this stunning retelling of World War II, Harry Turtledove has created a blockbuster saga that is thrilling, troubling, and utterly compelling.
It is 1943, the third summer of the new war between the Confederate States of America and the United States, a war that will turn on the deeds of ordinary soldiers, extraordinary heroes, and a colorful cast of spies, politicians, rebels, and everyday citizens.
The CSA president, Jake Featherstone, has greatly miscalculated the North’s resilience. In Ohio, where Confederate victory was once almost certain, Featherstone’s army is crumbling, and reinforcements of uninspired Mexican troops cannot stanch a Northern assault on the heartland.
The tide of war is changing, and victory seems within the grasp of the USA. Still, new fighting flares from Denver to Los Angeles.
Indeed, as the air, ground, and water burn with molten fury, new and demonic tools of killing are unleashed, and secret wars are unfolding. The U.S. government in Philadelphia has proof that the tyrannical Featherstone is murdering African Americans by the tens of thousands in a Texas gulag called Determination. And the leaders of both sides know full well that the world’s next great power will not be the one with the biggest army but the nation that wins the race against nature and science–and smashes open the power of the atom.
In Settling Accounts, Harry Turtledove blends vivid fictional characters with a cast inspired by history, including the Socialist assistant secretary of war Franklin Delano Roosevelt and beleaguered Confederate military commander Nathan Bedford Forrest. In The Grapple, he takes his spellbinding vision to new heights as he captures the heart and soul of a generation born and raised amid unimaginable violence. This is a struggle of conquest and conscience, played out on American soil.
Customer Reviews:
Fast paced.......2007-10-18
A fast paced and exciting continuation of the rest of the series. I enjoy reading Turtledove's stories but his constant retracing of his steps drives me insane. A good storyline but the constant backtracking to cover the past character storyline will make me happy when this series ends.
Turtledove is M.I.A. from the "Grapple." .......2007-08-09
Harry Turtledove seems to have been missing in action when he wrote "The Grapple (Settling Accounts, Book 3)." That said, thankfully the dean and master of alternative history wasn't away for good; just long enough to turn what might have been a superior entry in this series into a rather average book.
Despite this, even an 'average' outing from Turtledove is far and above what any other writer in "his" genre can do. The story, by now, is very clear to the readers who have stayed with Turtledove when he opened the ball with the totally fantastic book, "How Few Remain," in what seems like eons ago. That book established how the United States and the Confederate States began their separate national existances, a thread which he has cleverly weaved through an alternate World War I, The Depression, and now World War II.
In "The Grapple," Turtledove now takes us from the shattered battlefields around Pittsburg, PA to the heart of the Confederacy as the United States delivers its frequent and seemingly incessant counterpunches. Much like the Nazi attack on Stalingrad in the factual World War Two, the tide of Confederate victory has been checked and been replaced by a grim determination to hold on.
In the meantime both sides are racing against time to develop atomic weapons that they hope will secure final victory. This is a very compelling plot point and keeps the narrative fresh and fast flowing. The other key element, which helps to elevate the book from the ranks of the rather dreary and predictable, is that no one is quite sure how the next battle will turn out.
Although it might seem obvious to the reader that the North now has the upper hand and will trounce the South into submission the way Stalin's army beat Hitler's, Turtledove manages to leave enough doubt that you are literally compelled to read the next several pages in order to be sure. That may be the mark of how truly great a writer the author is. At the same time, the satisfaction one gets after the plot point is resolved, is quickly lost when he decides to switch gears and develop the other threads of the story instead.
This can be frustrating for an impatient reader. At the same time it is positively ingenious and keeps the reader turning the pages even while your body is saying 'go to sleep.' But the really frustrating thing is that there doesn't seem to be a satisfactory end to it; like being on a roller coaster, you might have enjoyed the ride but you wonder if it was worth the time spent in line waiting to get on.
That's the weakness of this book. Although it is fast-paced, there is something of the 'empty calorie' feeling about it; it was filling but you don't quite feel 'full.' Indeed, after rushing through all 615 pages of the trade paperback version, and the 10 un-numbered pages of the next book in the series in five days, I was left wondering if the train left the station without me.
The other major threads, one invovling a Confederate 'Final Solution,' as well as an incipient black rebellion within the Confederacy, are also dealt with by Turtledove, though one sort of wishes he had broadend his focus to show the true scale of the Holocaust, instead of just the one camp. That said, the human story, both of the prisoners and their guards, is straight out of Auschwitz and the author makes no attempt to spare the reader the horror of what is actually taking place.
In this Turtledove shines like always, adding that special human touch of his to an already compelling and intriguing story. One hopes that he will continue to do this in the final book in this series. One also hopes that can find a way to end this series on a highly satisfying note, instead of the slightly off-pitch one that "The Grapple" seems to end on.
Turtledove's best in this series since *How Few Remain*.......2007-07-06
I really enjoyed reading this installment of Turtledove's "what if the South won the civil war" alternative timeline. In fact, in my estimation, it was the best in the series since the inaugural volume, *How Few Remain.*
Other reviewers have commented, at length, about the book's (and the author's) failings, which are mainly that Turtledove tends to repeat some elements ad nauseum (e.g., Sam Carsten's pale skin sunburning, how good CSA tobacco is vs. the cigarettes from the USA, etc.), that he plays fast and loose with the "laws" of history, and that the series doesn't really provide more than glimpses into the wider World War.
Though these criticisms are not without merit, I found this the second-most engaging and compelling novel in Turtledove's Southern victory timeline. General Irving Morrell's brilliant campaign against the CSA not only sees the Confederate forces being routed in Pennsylvania and Ohio, but also drives the Confederate forces southward until they reach Atlanta, paralleling Sherman's march to the sea in our version of events. The Freedom party's West Texas death camp, Camp Determination, is attacked and exposed, and many "good Confederates" pay the ultimate price for enabling this monstrous facility. The transformation of Jeff Pinkard from a henpecked steelworking vet to engineer of genocide is complete. Negro guerillas in the South wreak havoc on rural white populations and in turn face attacks from Mexican conscripts. And as victory appears increasingly assured for the USA, both sides continue to work on the ultimate weapon, uranium bombs. And the CSA, in a surprising twist, reveal a few cards still up their rebel sleeves.
If you've liked the characters and interweaving storylines thus far, this novel will be a treat. Yes Turtledove tends to repeat himself and often uses shorthand to remind the reader of the extra-long back story, but that's ok. I couldn't imagine writing a story arch this massive without falling back on some of those same strategies. What makes this novel successful is that the story itself, filled as it is with both moral ambiguity and outrage, is one of the better chapters in the overall eleven-volume arch.
As I put the book down I could not wait to read the next and final volume.
First Part of Book Three Reads like half a book.......2007-06-30
When Turtledove set out to bring this series to a close, he originally had planned this to be a trilogy but the book got so out of hand and in order to wrap up all of the numerous characters involved, wrote almost 1300 pages. He therefore decided to publish the last book in two parts, which is why the "Settling Accounts Trilogy" has four books.
One of the things that make this series so readable is that Turtledove chooses to write in four and five page vignettes for each character that he then intersperses through out the book. If you wanted, you could actually follow each character one at a time through the book and just go back and start again on another character. I've actually done that when I've gone back to read the books and skipped the characters that I didn't care about.
This volume follows the USA/CSA Civil War based on the occurences of WW2. The siege of Pittsburgh follows the details of the siege of Stalingrad and though the US counterattack through Kentucky follows Sherman's March to the Sea. The 'population reduction' of the Blacks in the South follows the destruction of European Jewry, as the Mormon rebellion is a reflection of the Polish uprising.
Turtledove has telegraphed many of the final parts of the last volume if you just know where to look and remember some of your history. It should be an interesting conclusion to a wonderfully written series.
If you notice, there is a lot more mention of the war in Europe and plans of the Japanese Empire. I'm wondering whether Turtledove plans to give us the 'rest of the story' by giving us a parallel trilogy of 'alternate' Europe and Japan in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries?
Dull...Repetitive...BORING!!.......2007-03-22
I have read all of the preceding books to this one in the series, and I have just about given up hope that the author will ever GET TO THE END! I started out with high hopes that some of the issues would finally get resolved---but NO! The author has become formualic in his treatment, so utterly plodding, and totally without any excitement or verve in presentation, that I finally gave up 2/3 of the way through and simply quit. I actually couldn't stand to finish this installment, and I seriously doubt that I will ever read another Harry Turtledove book. He is undoubtedly paid by the word, and he blows as much hot air onto the printed page as possible. I gave it one star only because there is no button for NO stars. Don't waste your time or eyesight on this utter drivel!
Book Description
When Union General George McClellan marched toward the Confederate capital of Richmond in 1862, he encountered the Warwick River "where it wasn't supposed to be," causing a delay in his strategy and criticism from Northern press. McClellan was following a map created by an esteemed and experienced topographer, but the map was wrong! The map McClellan was following, reproduced in
Great Maps of the Civil War, shows lines in pencil along the true course of the Warwick, apparently drawn after it was too late.
Most people interested in the Civil War are fascinated by maps - for what they tell about the battles, for what they tell about the terrain, and in some cases for their artistic beauty. But maps reproduced in books have limitations and there is not a good way of preserving a map collection - until now. Fifteen chapters in
Great Maps of the Civil War each contain two or three maps that can be pulled out of a pocket. Ten of the maps are 18" x 24"; others are smaller. In addition to a discussion of the battles and the roles of the maps, the book tells about Civil War mapmakers and the methods they used.
Stunningly designed, this unique full-color book will make a significant addition to the library of any Civil War enthusiast or those who are fascinated by maps and mapmakers.
Customer Reviews:
very informative.......2007-05-25
this book will be convienent for any civil war buff, historian,and wargamer. I really like the way the maps also can be removed to look
at better,this comes in handy when reading other civil war sources
for ease of reference or when visiting the actual sites. It also explained
the map making process at the time and the various methods used, with the
mention of many of the cartographers of the time, and in both armies.
I personally wish they would make more of these books on different eras of history
Great Maps of the Civil War: Pivotal Battles and Campaigns Featuring 32 Removable Maps.......2007-04-12
I purchased the book for my son-in-law, who is a Civil War buff, mainly for the removable maps. I was quite pleased to see that it will be not only a nice addition to his collection but also is a handsome tabletop book. Since he and his family live near sites of some of the great battles they, they'll be able to take a map with them when they visit. My grandson, aged 11, should also enjoy this as the commentaries bring the War to life. Now I'm going to have to buy one for us as my husband wanted to keep it for his own enjoyment!
civil war maps book.......2007-03-08
VERY WELL LIKED by cicil war buff I gifted it to!!!!!!!!!
Great Maps.......2007-02-21
I gave this book to my husband for his birthday and he was ecstatic. He has studied each map and marked them with colored markers. He emerges from its covers about twice a week to thank me again for getting it for him. I don't think I've ever given him a birthday present that he has liked more.
A Living History.......2007-02-14
I'm a child of the South and relish Civil War history. This book is just great in all respects. The text is clear and readable, tells the story well, and the maps are wonderful. The book itself is beautifully printed and the pages are substantial. It's a real treasure to have it in our library.
Customer Reviews:
Superb Look at Civil War .......2007-06-15
This superb overview of the civil war in photos, maps and illustrations makes you feel as if you're there in Federal Blue or Rebel Gray. One can learn much from author Bruce Catton's readable prose, or by merely viewing the hundreds of photo's and illustrations. Readers get a feel for the tragic conflict, from its pre-war controversies to the sad days when North and South were at each other's throats. We learn about military leadership, strategies, army life, battles, morale, slavery, sociology, politics, etc. Catton has done an excellent job, although this book is more overview for general audiences than detailed history. For that reason Civil War buffs will want this volume as a companion to detailed writings from authors like Catton, Shelby Foote, James McPherson, etc. Still, this is a superb effort, one that should be of equal interest to general readers and aficionados alike.
EXCELLENT overview of the American Civil War........2006-03-03
This was my second Civil War book, which I received for Christmas when I was 12 (thanks Mom!). My love of the subject probably has a lot to do with this excellent volume, which I pored over for many years. It is loaded with photos, illustrations, and maps as well as Bruce Catton's EXCELLENT narrative. While this narrative does not go into extensive detail (the enormous scope of the war prohibts this), it is clearly written and a treasure trove of knowledge for those interested in a one-volume overview of the Civil War. Catton was a much respected Civil War historian who influenced many of today's historians. This book (which had been out of print for years) has recently been reissued with all new photos and illustrations while still preserving the original Catton text. As these new illustrations tend to be more informative to the Civil War student than the original version's (the original had a lot of photographs of Civil war battlefields as they appear today, which are of limited usefulness), this is the preferred edition. The new edition has a white dust jacket, while the original had a grey dust jacket. Either edition, however, will serve you well in studying the deadliest war in United States history. HIGHLY recommended, especially to beginning Civil War buffs or anyone who would like to read about one of the most important chapters in our country's history.
Just What I Was Looking For.......2005-07-06
This book was precisely the book I was looking for. This particlar book had maps and drawings that no other book had. I remember the book from my high school days and have looked everywhere to find it. I expected it to be an older book and the one I got was in great shape for its age. The seller was very concerned that I knew it was and older book and communicated with me to make sure I was satisfied. Boy!! was I. should have come to Amazon in the first place when I first started looking for the book. A lesson learned.
Not enough phtographs.......2002-07-30
I was looking for more detail. It did not have enough actual photographs for me, there were too many paintins. If you want a history of the civil war there are good books to read.
The Civil War.......2002-05-27
This book is filled with illustrations of paintings as well as photo's of the time period. A great find for the civil war buff. It has a index of battles and units that make it a fun for anyone who needs a good resource of information. It is Hard bound and is a large book. I have the book on World war 2 and Love it also.
Book Description
Harry Turtledove–the master of alternate history–has recast the tumultuous twentieth century and created an epic that is powerful, bold, and as convincing as it is provocative. In Drive to the East he continues his saga of warfare that has divided a nation and now threatens the entire world.
In 1914, the First World War ignited a brutal conflict in North America, with the United States finally defeating the Confederate States. In 1917, The Great War ended and an era of simmering hatred began, fueled by the despotism of a few and the sacrifice of many. Now it’s 1942. The USA and CSA are locked in a tangle of jagged, blood-soaked battle lines, modern weaponry, desperate strategies, and the kind of violence that only the damned could conjure up–for their enemies and themselves.
In Richmond, Confederate president and dictator Jake Featherston is shocked by what his own aircraft have done in Philadelphia–killing U.S. president Al Smith in a barrage of bombs. Featherston presses ahead with a secret plan carried out on the dusty plains of Texas, where a so-called detention camp hides a far more evil purpose.
As the untested U.S. vice president takes over for Smith, the United States face a furious thrust by the Confederate army, pressing inexorably into Pennsylvania. But with the industrial heartland under siege, Canada in revolt, and U.S. naval ships fighting against the Japanese in the Sandwich Islands, the most dangerous place in the world may be overlooked.
Download Description
PRAISE FOR HARRY TURTLEDOVE
“Turtledove [is] the standard-bearer for alternate history.”
–USA Today
Settling Accounts: Return Engagement
“The author handles his huge cast with admirable skill. The insights into racial politics elevate this novel to a status above mere entertainment, although it provides that aplenty.”
–Publishers Weekly
American Empire: The Victorious Opposition
“Powerful . . . demonstrates Turtledove’s continuing mastery of historical fiction . . . almost impossible to praise too highly.”
–Booklist (starred review)
American Empire: The Center Cannot Hold
“Turtledove never tires of exploring the paths not taken, bringing to his storytelling a prodigious knowledge of his subject and a profound understanding of human sensibilities and motivations.”
–Library Journal
American Empire: Blood & Iron
“Nobody plays the what-if game of alternative history better than Turtledove. . . . This book begins a panoramic story, a new trilogy at least, that promises to be immensely fascinating.”
–Publishers Weekly (starred review)
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Book 2 Drive to the East.......2007-08-23
Another awesome sequel to the first book by Harry Turtledove "settling accounts return engagement. Great story in recreating a different outcome for World War II.
A Great Read !!!.......2007-07-21
I find this book a truly great read. The story line is good, and the outcome is believeable. I just hope Turtledove continues in this trend, and shows the U.S.A. how they get their just deserts from the Confederacy as they continue to beat the hell out of them.
The trouble with a multi-volume saga..........2006-11-11
...is that there's always the risk that your wellspring of ideas is going to dry up and you wind up recycling. The "Settling Accounts" series isn't so much as series in its own right as it is a continuation of Turtledove's "American Empire" saga. And now it looks like he's falling into the trap of a lot of alternate reality storytellers and taking events from this reality and just changing the players around like in volleyball. For the Confederacy to be led by a disgruntled bigoted enlisted veteran of The Great War should have been a tipoff, but there are so many other things. Like Utah's Mormons sending out suicide bombers. Plus an all-American Holocaust using the same sort of death camps, the same sort of industrial approach, even the same type of chemicals. And I've got real problems with the American Confederacy becoming that much like the Third Reich in spirit. Like any other Yankee schoolkid, I was taught about what big meanies the South were, and the news media reinforced that indoctrination during the 1960s Civil Rights struggles; Wallace, Bull Connor, you name it. Then, later in life, I learned about New England's Legion Of White Decency and their similarity to the Klan, including a visual resemblance, white robes and all. Which made my own region's demonization of the "Rebs" all the more hypocritical. So Turtledove has made this series allegorical, but about as biased an allegory as you can get.
The war gets uglier.......2006-11-02
It is the winter of 1942. Six months have passed since Jake Featherston -- President of the Confederate States of America and "the Sarge" of the ruling Freedom Party -- gave the order for the surprise attack on the United States of America, but the Confederacy has failed in its mission to quickly knock the USA out of the Second World War and restore Confederate hegemony in the Western Hemisphere. The Confederacy's grip on Ohio still has the USA cut in half, while C.S. bombers kill the President of the United States, Al Smith, in his bunker. But his successor vows to continue the war, and for each day that the war drags on, the USA gets stronger, while the CSA's borrowed time slowly runs out. Featherston and his chief of staff, Nathan Bedford Forrest III, devise a new plan that will deliver the coup de grace to the crippled USA -- but will it work? Will Operation Coal-scuttle bring total victory to the Confederate States of America and its madman leader? The blacks in the CSA hope otherwise -- Featherston's henchmen have already cleared several cities of their presence, and the construction of an enormous camp in the empty Texas prairie brings a terrifying new dimension to that mysterious slang-term: "population reduction."
I thought this was a good book. After the bangs and thrills of the first few pages, the book takes a while to get started, but once the operation on which the title of the book is based begins, the action picks up. I also liked the parallels to the Civil War -- General MacArthur's misguided attacks on Fredericksburg, Virginia, mimics Ambrose Burnside's assault oo December 13, 1862, while Jonathan Moss gets used to life in a prison camp in the middle of Georgia called Andersonville.
We also see some new characters -- which means other characters die. One of them was well deserved; the death could not have happened to a nicer person, even if the death comes at an inconvenient time plot-wise.
All in all, a good read for the middle of a series. If you're just getting started with these books, then you'll do better to begin with How Few Remain and work your way from there, but for veterans this book picks up right where Return Engagement ended and doesn't stop.
Gripping..........2006-10-31
Turtledove's magnus alternate history continues to grab one's attention. The story line he has developed has grown well and he meshes actual history to this world he had created. Like others have noted, if you are a student of history, there are few surprises thus far. The South in a surprise attack (note the name of the operation!) starts the WW2 in the US while Europe erupts again too. You see familiar faces trying to deal with a changing world and a brutal war complete with a black holocaust. The US is despertely trying to stem the Confederate advance while an exhuberant South prays for a quick victory.
A few techinal glitches pop up that military historians would arch an eyebrow over (automatic small arms turning the tide of so many battles for instance, the German society Turtledove models the South on, had few autmatic rifles) but over all its a good fast read. I read it in less then 3 days...
He is not developing characters as well as he did in earlier books. As they are killed/die off, few are coming forward to replace them. I do hope he will return to improving the characters the books evolve around.
Looking forward to the next books in the series!
Book Description
For the general reader and the Civil War enthusiast, here's a fascinating and lavishly illustrated account that details the uniforms, weapons, and equipment employed in one of history's greatest conflicts. An astonishing compendium of items relating to all enlisted ranks, including those fighting the war at sea, this historical graphic catalog is packed with full-color photographs that document surviving examples of rare uniforms, personal equipment, insignia, medals, kits, and paper ephemera, plus period photos and detailed drawings.
Average customer rating:
- profound and poetic
- Confusing and Sad
- Review by Marcus
- Day of Tears
- Day of tears
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Day of Tears
Julius Lester
Manufacturer: Jump At The Sun
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Rosa
ASIN: 1423104099
Release Date: 2007-03-20 |
Book Description
Emma has taken care of the Butler children since Sarah and Frances's mother, Fanny, left. Emma wants to raise the girls to have good hearts, as a rift in morals has ripped the Butler household apart: Sarah and their mother oppose the inhumanity of slavery, while Frances and their father, Pierce, believe in the Southern lifestyle and treatment of blacks.Now, to pay off mounting gambling debts, Pierce decides to cash in his "assets." He hosts the biggest slave auction in American history, at the price of his humanity. During these two days, the skies weep on the proceedings below, for although Butler promises Emma's parents not to sell her: money, desperation, and greed enable him to justify his any misdeed. Through flashbacks and flash-forwards, and shifting first-person points of view, readers will travel with Emma and others through time and place, and come to understand that every decision has its consequences, and final judgment is passed down not by man, but by his maker.
Customer Reviews:
profound and poetic.......2007-08-23
I read this book to understand what my daughter had been assigned to report on. And since I've read it, I am so excited to have discovered a truly gifted author who has many more books I can explore.
Normally, I don't like dark stories about slavery because of how difficult it is to experience the senseless cruelty of it. This story truly illustrated that cruelty. However, the dialog format allows you to get more absorbed in a "conversation" than just experiencing a painful piece of history.
Lester explains that he wrote the book to give voice to those "who did not have an opportunity to tell it for themselves." Because history only tells of this incredibly large slave auction and the details of the white slave owners and sellers, Lester fills in the details of the experiences of the slaves during this incredible event and after.
I loved how he allowed us to peak into the minds, emotions and motives of parties from all sides: the slave owners, the southern people absorbed in the slave culture, the slaves, both old and young, as well as those who disagreed with slavery and how they walked out their beliefs. And just when you were reading an account of a "villain" or a some other character whose views you disagree with, Lester would hit you with a profound, provocative statement that would transcends all social, economic, or others barriers and speak to any human condition, compelling you to take stock of where you really are on your own "road to independence."
This book is no easy read though it is a fast read. It confronts you with the consequences of institutionalized hatred, ignorance and greed. It also forces the reader to search his or her own heart to discover what part they play in their own contemporary environment of backwardness and to open one's eyes to the residual effects of this often "forgotten" institution of slavery.
Confusing and Sad.......2007-07-30
This is NOT what I expected--I expected an actual story of slaves and their experiances but instead it is a book of a Play told in story form, where it gets confusing and frustrating trying to piece together who goes with whom. The author also leaves you hanging in the end--the final chapter starts out as if there is more then suddenly it ends and is over--nothing more. Many threads were left untied and hanging and those that weren't were short and not too sweet--very confusing but great on historical facts aside those which were also short not much to this book and certainly not worth buying--borrow it from the library instead.
Review by Marcus.......2007-05-30
Day Of Tears by Julius Lester is about slavery in the mid 1800s and how slaves felt about getting sold off at a slave auction. The book is also in dialogue. The characters in the book reminisce about their experiences with the slave trade, and what happened on the day of the auction, and also how they are feeling.
The book was very interesting. I think its good enough to read. It really shows how the slaves were feeling about having an owner, for example they didn't like getting sold off to mean owners.
Day of Tears.......2006-12-13
The main character in the book called Day of Tears by Julius Lester is Emma. Emma is a young black woman, and she lives a life as a slave. Emma is faced with very many challenges. She is the nicest person in the book. In this story Emma is a slave for this man that has no name in the book except "master." Emma thinks he would NEVER sell her, so at the slave auction she told all the other slaves that they had nothing to worry about because he wouldn't do that to them. The master's daughter who is nine falls in love with the slaves and treats Emma like her mother. Master doesn't like that because his x-wife was a "slave lover" and he didn't want that for is daughter. Emma tries to run away with others but it doesn't work and they get caught. Master is very upset with Emma, and threatens to sell her. She can't believe her ears. I really like this book. Its non-fiction book and it's great. It was one of my favorite books. I would recommend this book to anyone.
Day of tears.......2006-10-12
This book is called Day of tears by Julius Lester. This book is VERY suspenseful. It is about the largest slave auction in ever held in America. It takes place in Savannah, Georgia. It is a non-fiction book and at some parts it can be really sad. Some of the main characters are Mattie, Will, and Emma. They are a family of slaves that work for a guy named Mr. Butler. Emma, is the daughter of Mattie and Will. She takes care of Mr. Butlers daughters, Sarah and Frances. Their mother, Mrs. Butler, died a few years back, and Mattie's job is to clean the house and greet guests. Will works with other men in the fields and in the stables.
A very unexpected thing happens. Mr. Butler decides to take one of the three people (Mattie, Will, or Emma) with him to the auction. He takes the chosen one not to get sold but to help him with his daughters. I was very scared when this happened because I was afraid because I thought he was taking this person to be sold.
I really liked this book. I could read it a thousand times. If I had to pick my favorite book I would definitely choose this book. I think this book was at a good reading level for me. I am not a great reader but not a bad reader so I think it is a good book for 4th- 7th graders. As long as the 4th graders parents approve. I think that when I am older or an adult I will remember this book and still encourage kids to read it! This book has some parts I know I would easily remember what they were or what they were about. I would encourage every one to read this book and I think every one would enjoy it!
Book Description
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian C. Vann Woodward and Chesnut's biographer Elisabeth Muhlenfeld present here the previously unpublished Civil War diaries of Mary Boykin Chesnut. The ideal diarist, Mary Chesnut was at the right place at the right time with the right connections. Daughter of one senator from South Carolina and wife of another, she had kin and friends all over the Confederacy and knew intimately its political and military leaders. At Montgomery when the new nation was founded, at Charleston when the war started, and at Richmond during many crises, she traveled extensively during the war. She watched a world "literally kicked to pieces" and left the most vivid account we have of the death throes of a society. The diaries, filled with personal revelations and indiscretions, are indispensable to an appreciation of our most famous Southern literary insight into the Civil War experience.
Customer Reviews:
5 stars as source for papers, 3 stars as a reading experi.......2003-07-05
I've recently developed an interest in Civil War history, an era that had not heretofore intrigued me. In doing some reading on the subject, I kept coming across references to "the diaries of Mary Chesnut," and decided to read them. Most historians look upon these diaries as a major source of information on what took place in the South during the Civil War, because the lady was present at some of the important events and was certainly herself effected by them. As the editors write, she was often reduced to moving "eventually from one place of refuge to another as a fugitive from military invaders (p. x)" and "Living out of her trunk in hotels or rented rooms (p. x)." The quotations or information gleaned from this resource do indeed illuminate the narration in the historical works in which one comes across them. They are not, however, easy to read.
I gather from the introduction to this book that the diaries had been edited for publication as a continuous narrative--minus the more embarrassing self-revelations--entitled by a hand other than the lady's a "Diary from Dixie." The author herself had died long before the book was ever printed, leaving the details of publication to a relative. The editors of the current text despair the latter work as "heavily cut and carelessly edited (p. ix)," because it prevents the reader from knowing well the lady as a character herself.
The Private Mary Chesnut is just what the Diary from Dixie is not, a real diary. As such, it contains entries that are for the most part endless mentions of people with whom the reader probably will not be knowledgeable unless he or she is very "into" the South and Civil War history. One is frequently reduced to checking the footnotes for information on the individuals named. Unfortunately the editors of the diary give only the barest of facts about them, usually social or military rank or relationship to Mrs. Chesnut or another individual mentioned in the diary. The writer's comments often leave one trying to read between her lines for some inkling of "what's really going on!" because there is the merest glimpse of some probably very interesting underlying story. The editors of the text, however, either will not or cannot give these details. Because of this dearth of underlying social information, the book comes across as either confusing or a little boring, a simple catalogue of parties and people met at parties, of polite social visits paid back and forth. This is definitely not an Edith Warton!
Spaced throughout the document are nuggets of truly golden information about the Civil War and antebellum period. [THOSE WRITING PAPERS IN AMERICAN LITERATURE OR HISTORY TAKE NOTE] Because the lady was well connected by virtue of her own social status and oft sought company, she is privileged to the opinions of and gossip about significant individuals. She knew people who had met or knew the Lincoln family and was herself intimately acquainted with the Jefferson Davis family. One of the more interesting quotes was gossip associated with Mary Todd Lincoln's notorious household economy in the White House (pp. 30 and 31-32). This gives a much truer picture of what the social elite thought of the Lincolns, particularly in the South, and makes clear, that Washington D. C. was--and probably still is--more part of the southern social milieu than that of northern or national.
Certainly the lady herself comes across quite real in these diaries. In short she is often vain, opinionated, over-indulged, and wasteful by modern standards--at least by middle class standards--but she is also a well educated, astute and outspoken judge of political events and of the social ills of the institution of slavery. [THOSE WRITING PAPERS IN AMERICAN LITERATURE OR HISTORY TAKE NOTE] Her discourse on its ills, particularly of misogynation, are eminently quotabl--and often are. My favorite is that beginning with "I wonder if it be a sin to think slavery a curse on any land (p. 42-43)," etc.
While the book is difficult to get through, for those with a desire to know more than just the bare facts about the Civil War period and its society, this book is probably a good source for that information. [THOSE WRITING PAPERS IN AMERICAN LITERATURE OR HISTORY TAKE NOTE] This would definitely be considered a primary rather than a secondary source for the topic.
America's Own Pepys.......2000-05-02
This is the one indispensible book for anyone interested in what went on in the South behind the battle lines. As Pepys gives us a living picture of the London and court of Charles II, so does M. Chesnut give us a bird's eye view of the Confederate government and the society she lived in.
A wise and witty woman, Mary Chesnut spent most of the war years close to ground zero in Richmond, VA. She knew Jefferson and Varina Davis intimately. She rubbed elbows with congressmen and cabinet members. Mrs. Chesnut was a sharp tongued woman who pulled no punches and she tells us much that, but for her, would remain unknown about the leaders of the "Lost Cause".
Anyone who enjoyed the Woodward/Muhlenfeld editon of Mary Chesnut's memoirs can't afford to miss this publication of the materials from which she created her masterpiece.
Book Description
"In recent years a highly industrious school of historians has begun asking whether the war should have been fought at all and whether it was perhaps not more the fault of the North than of the South. Seeking to revise earlier judgments they have become known as the revisionists, and one of the most gifted and studious of them all is Avery Craven, whose The Coming of the Civil War . . . is one of the landmarks of revisionist literature."—Bruce Catton, American Heritage
". . . those who would examine the democratic process during a period of progressive breakdown, in order to understand the dangers it embodies within itself, will find The Coming of the Civil War a classic analysis."—Louis D. Rubin, Jr., Sewanee Review
"The book has always been recognized, even by its most severe critics, as a work of consummate scholarship."—T. Harry Williams, Baton Rouge Morning Advocate
Customer Reviews:
Is History Politically Correct?.......2007-09-29
MANY HISTORIANS SEEM TO RELEGATE AVERY CRAVEN TODAY TO A POSITION OF PRESENT IRRELEVANCE. TODAY'S READERS MAY NOT FIND HIS IDEAS "POLITICALLY CORRECT" BUT THE QUESTION REMAINS SHOULD HISTORY BE POLITICALLY CORRECT?
CRAVEN IS A GREAT HISTORIAN WHO WILL NOT BE LIKED BY ANY PERSON DEEPLY IMBEDDED IN THE RADICALISM OF EITHER SIDE OF THE MASON AND DIXON LINE. HIS PERSONAL PACIFICISM KEEPS HIM FROM SEEING THIS WAR AS AN IRRESISTABLE CONFLICT. IT MAY BE A GOOD TIME FOR US TO LOOK AT ANY WAR AND ASK IF IT IS IRRESSTIBLE. YOU MAY NOT LIKE THIS BOOK BUT IT WILL HOPEFULLY MAKE YOU THINK WHICH IS THE PURPOSE OF HISTORY.
A PREVIOUS REVIEWER HAS STATED THAT FOR HIM THE BORING PART OF THE CIVIL WAR BEGINS AT FT. SUMPTER. I FULLY AGREE. THIS BOOK GIVES A FRESH LIGHT ON THE MOST INTERESTING PERIOD OF AMERICAN HISTORY--THE ANTEBELLUM PERIOD. A GREAT BOOK WELL WORTH READING. sIMPLY LOOK AT THE TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Civil War as rabble-rousing run amok.......2003-01-22
This book is interesting in that it not only examines the key political issues of the antebellum period but also delves into the culture of the time, especially that of South. But the author's views are tilted toward those of the antebellum South. He goes to great length in describing the Southern plantation system with its incorporation of slave labor and compares it somewhat favorably with the industrialization and the "so-called" free labor of the North. In addition, the exaggerated Southern claims of social superiority seem to strike a chord with the author.
A great deal of the book is consumed with describing the reactions and views of leading spokesmen and of various publications in the North and the South concerning major antebellum political developments. The question of the Mexican Cession and the Wilmot Proviso in 1846 moved the question of slavery squarely into the political system resulting in the formation of the Free Soil Party and talk of secession in the South. The Compromise of 1850 quieted some voices, but only until the next expansion of slavery.
Interestingly, of all of the political crises of the mid-1850s where slavery was front and center, that is, the Kansas-Nebraska bill, the bleeding Kansas crisis, and the Dred Scott decision, the author claims that the Southern response was relatively moderate compared to the extremists of the North. Yet that moderation seemed to have evaporated with the John Brown raid at Harpers Ferry. And the Southern reaction to Lincoln's election the next year was beyond shrill and ultimately self-destructive.
I think it is fairly obvious that this author regards the Civil War as occurring as a result of emotionalism and opportunism run amok. And despite the fact that the South was unwilling to honor the untainted election of a President and failed to comprehend that all of the conservative candidates together far outpolled the Republican, I believe that the author holds that Northern forces largely provoked the Southern secession and then were unwilling to accept that fact by offering some kind of compromise.
This author fails to grasp, or at least state, that slavery and its ramifications were the great moral issues of the day. Of course, tremendous emotionalism was evoked by the issues. And those issues could not be simply managed or downplayed in the Second American Party system. Slavery was conceptually wrong for America and produced an unsustainable divide between two sections of the country. Emotionalism may have obscured that fact then and now, but it is superficial as an explanation for the Civil War.
Fascinating antebellum history.......2000-11-29
To me, the dullest part of the Civil War began at Fort Sumter. The greatest deficiency of Ken Burns' celebrated documentary (enough to make it almost useless)is that he spent almost no time on the causes. I have always found the political maneuvering between North and South, between the two great parties(and within them as well), the occasions when secession and war almost happened, and the dramatic compromises that held off disaster to be essential for understanding the war and why it was fought the way it was. The political battles over the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Lecompton Constitution are more interesting to me than the dramas of Antietam, Chancellorsville or Gettysburg.
Avery Craven was one of the so-called "revisionist" school of American historians, those academics who asserted that there was blame for the war on both sides, that condemned radical abolitionists and Southern fire-eaters equally. Although he may not have intended it, Professor Craven makes an even more interesting assertion. There were not two sides in this affair but three. The West(what would now be the Middle West)was a region with its own economic interests. And this region, for the most part, wouldn't have gotten all that worked up about slavery if its farmers could have gotten their goods to market. But Southern political ineptitude and indifference to Western interests alienated that region from the South and probably cost the South the war.
All in all, an excellent history of the antebellum United States. Whether you agree with Professor Craven's ideas or not, this book is well worth your time.
Book Description
First-hand accounts that include diary entries and personal letters describe the experiences of boys, sixteen years old or younger, who fought in the Civil War.
Customer Reviews:
The boys war.......2006-11-28
With the many boys who fought in the civil war most of them lied about their age. A lot of them wrote letters or had a diary. Johnny Clem had run away from his home at 11. At age 12 he tried to enlist but they refused to let him join because he was clearly too young. The next day he came back to join as a drummer boy. "I was not happy to trade a musket for a stick". He got his wish in the battle of Shiloh and he became a soldier. I recommend this book to people who want like war and/or personal stories. I liked it. I hope you will to.
EXCELLENT STARTER WORK FOR THE YOUNG READER.......2006-01-20
Jim Murphy has given us a wonderful account of the Civil War with emphasis on the role the young soldier (teen and pre-teen) played in that conflict. The text is quite understandable and the illustrations, black and white photo of the Civil War, make this a valuable and interesting tool in sparking an interest in the young reader. The author uses many first hand accounts and has done a very good job with his research. The writing is not of the dry variety and seems to be able to hold the youner readers interest while still filling his or her head with many interesting and important facts. Highly recommend this one.
Very good book.......2003-03-06
This book is very good & understandable. I like it mainly for the pictures.
Wonderful intro to young soldiers lives in the Civil War.......1999-01-07
Read this aloud with my children about 2 years ago. It sparked my son's interest in Civil War historical fiction. He is not an avid reader, but has read several civil war books including "Red Cap" by Clifton Wisler and just picked up "Across Five Aprils" for his sixth-grade historical fiction assignment. Jim Murphy is a fine writer, weaving quotes, diary entries and anecdotes into a lucent and revealing account of the lives of youths who participated in the Civil War. A fine book!
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