"Progressivism, the Great Depression, and the New Deal: 1901-1941," offers up a nice little dialectic about the birth of big government. This 19th volume (following the order on the back of the book) in The Drama of American History series by Christopher & James Lincoln Collier looks at how the Great Depression allowed the progressive ideas advanced by Theodore Roosevelt to become instantiated in the Federal Government during Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. Consequently, this volume is ideal for highlighting the strengths of the series: the presidencies of the two Roosevelts would never be covered in this way in the same chapter of a standard American history textbook, and not only the Depression but the First World War would have covered in intervening chapters. With this "central core" approach the reasons for the Great Depression, as well as the attempted solutions by FDR, should be made very clear to young readers.

This book covers this broad area in seven chapters: (1) The Struggle to Come establishes how bad the Great Depression was and then lays out the key causes of the economic collapse, including the laissez-faire attitude government took towards business; (2) The Progressive Era looks at T.R. as a social reformer and the efforts of Taft and Wilson in that regard; (3) The Roaring Twenties looks not at the glamour of the decade but at the changes in economic and social conditions (there is a nice side bar on the failed Prohibition experiment as well); (4) The Incredible Bull Market of the 1920s explains in clear and simple terms the big boom that came right before the big bust; (5) The Hardest Times tries to quantify exactly how bad the situation was during the Great Depression; (6) The Hundred Days looks at the vigorous start of FDR's administration, as well as the limited efforts of Hoover in trying to mitigate the harms of the economic collapse; and (7) The Depression Rolls On looks at the political assault on Roosevelt's New Deal from both sides of the political spectrum and how, in the end, it was the war time economy that finally ended the Depression.

Without the, shall I say, distraction of World War I (which is dealt with in the volume "The United States Enters the World Stage," which also covers the Spanish-American War), the Colliers are able to keep the focus on the economic causes of political reform in the United States during the first half of the 20th century. The volume is illustrated with historic pictures and etchings, although there are not as many of those wonderful editorial cartoons from this period as I like to find in these volumes. The "problem," of course, is how to use this approach in a traditional American history course, which does not readily allow for this type of approach. But if the result is that students can get a much better understanding of how the Depression was caused and what massive political changes came in its wake, then that is certainly worth pursuing. The Great Depression is one of two cataclysmic events in the history of the United States, the other being the Civil War, where the course of the nation was radically changed. Understanding the relationship between what came before and what came afterwards is of no small importance.

Lincoln Kirstein's imaginative retelling of the traditional tale, Puss and Boots, is a magnificent book for both adults and children. Illustrator Alain Vaes, is a set designer for the Bolshoi Ballet, the New York City Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, the Boston Ballet and other companies throughout the world. In Puss and Boots, Vaes used members of the Boston Ballet as his models for many of the delicious characters. Even Puss himself was modeled from a real kitty, who could be considered a balletomine, for 'she' was the beloved pet of a ballerina. The lush elegance of the illustrations and flowing brightness of the words exhibit the grace, fantasy and wonder of the ballet. Lincoln Kirstein's magical additions to the tale, heighten the intrique and present a richer conclusion. This is a book to be read, to be displayed proudly, and above all, treasured, and passed on to your children and grandchildren for their delight and enrichment.

Unlike some Lincoln quote books which rely on dubious sources, the quotes in this book are indeed Mr. Lincoln's. This is a powerful but concise presentation of Lincoln's mastery of the English language.

I attended a reading and writing workshop in Dayton Ohio this summer where Wanda Lincoln spoke. Wow! This was such an opportunity! I enjoyed the presentation, obviously. I found it very interesting that Ms. Lincoln did not advertise her books in anyway, yet simple mentioned them without ever refering to herself as author. This book is particularly good for grades 5-8 and I would recommend it to anyone.

The title of "Reconstruction and the Rise of Jim Crow: 1864-1896" provides a concise encapsulation of what the North tried to do to the former Confederate states after the Civil War and how the South responded. This fits perfectly with the "core content" approach of The Drama of American History series by Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier. The irony here is the cover illustration of Abraham Lincoln reading the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet, since it was the political and social problem of what to do about the freedmen that was the crucial issue following the Civil War and Lincoln's assassination was arguably the biggest factor in what came to pass. As Collier and Collier contend at the end of their first chapter, while we can only speculate about what Lincoln would have done about the problem of Southern Reconstruction and black rights, we can be fairly certain he would have done a better than those who followed him.

This volume is divided into six chapter, each focusing on a key element in the Reconstruction struggle: (1) A Great War Ends and a New Conflict Begins defines the twin problems of how to treat the freedmen and how the Southern states should be readmitted to the Union. On both these topics there were wide ranges of opinion, from the radical Republicans who wanted to punish the South for the Civil War to common citizens who wanted to see the freed slaves shipped back to Africa. What would become important would be which political faction controlled the government. (2) A New President Tries to Reconstruct the South makes it very clear that Andrew Johnson's political motivation was not to give black Americans the vote but rather to bring down the aristocratic plantation owners he had hated most of his life. Consequently, he allowed the Southern states to adopt Black Codes that under cut the end of slavery. This was what galvanized the radical Republicans in Congress to go after Johnson himself. (3) The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson takes the position that the president was going out of the way to antagonize his congressional opponents and that the basis for the impeachment was obviously unconstitutional. However, they clearly dismiss the idea of Johnson being heroic or worthy of praise for his efforts. (4) The Tide Turns when the Republicans gained firm control of the Congress, because of the votes of not only blacks in the South but "scalawags" (poor farmers who felt the Civil War had been fought to preserve the power of the wealthy planters). (5) The South Strikes Back focuses primarily on the rise of the Ku Klux Klan as a reaction to the Northern attempt to promote black equality and the end of Reconstruction with the election of Rutherford B. Hayes, who had promised to give the South a free hand in dealing with the freedmen and other political issues. (6) The South Redeemed looks at how white supremacy was entrenched by the end of the 19th-century and officially endorsed by the Supreme Court's 1896 ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson.

The specific breakdown of chapters in "Reconstruction and the Rise of Jim Crow" certainly gives the big picture of what happened in the South after the Civil War. Rather than being tangled up with the scandalous woes of the Grant administration, the focus is simply on what the North tried to do to the South and how the South responded. Given that the issue of voting and other civil rights for blacks in the South would not be "settled" (for lack of a better word), until the 1960s it is important for students of American history to know that the system of what we now call the Jim Crow South was in place before the end of the 19th century. The book is illustrated with historic etchings and photographs, as well as some choice political cartoons (of which you can never have too many in a history book). This particular volume shows the strength of this series in focusing on a key issue, such as Reconstruction, within a specific time frame, to wit 1864 to 1896, which overlaps other volumes look at concurrent issues (e.g., the rise of industry, the settlement of the west). I know this series is designed for secondary students, but I think this approach to learning about American history would be useful at any level of study.

I'm a Reagan-loving conservative, but I've got an enormous fondness for communist propaganda art. I went to see Mr Cushing's talk at Black Oak Books in Berkeley on June 30, and his passion for the subject in person was infectious. Certainly, in his brief talk to give some historical context to the posters, many in his audience -- largely Berkeley radicals -- shuffled uncomfortably in their seats when he suggested that "things aren't perfect" in Cuba, but while Mr Cushings general support of the Revolution in Cuba was really quite secondary to his brilliant -- and inspired -- explanation of the history of these fantastic works of art.

The book itself is simply beautiful -- with scores of pictures representing each of the major poster styles produced in Cuba since the Revolution. There is sympathy for the Revolution, but no preachyness about the glory of equally available state-rationed asprin or the easy equality of justice in the tropical gulags.

But the book is only about the revolution to give these art works context. It is a book about the brilliant visual artists who provided the color and design splash to their Communist revolution. Each of the posters is a visual treat -- I especially like the Army Chess Tournament poster (a hand-grenade forming the body of a Knight) and a few of the abstract Vietnamese-solidarity posters.

Mr Cushing has done a fabulous job learning about the authors of the posters and he has made a brilliant first effort to understand and celebrate communist poster art in an increasingly non-communist world.

Once you get beyond the tedious and slavish devotion to French Belle Epoch posters among the poster art chattering class, there are too few great poster books as it is -- even of WW2 propaganda posters -- this clearly ranks among them. And to have it be about such a great and underrepresented area of poster knowledge is doubly terrific.

This is a first rate art book and a first rate history book. And if you like poster art at all, this ought to be on your shelf.

Viva Cushing!

"The Rise of Industry: 1860-1900" is one of the volumes in The Drama of American History series that really benefits from the "central core" approach being utilized by Christopher and James Lincoln Collier. By focusing on the Industrial Age without having to entwine it with considerations of domestic politics, foreign affairs, Reconstruction, immigration, urbanization and all other concerns, students will have a much better understanding of how much industrialization transformed America. This is best seen in the first chapter, where the Colliers show how America went from having three-quarters of the population living in rural areas to having half the citizens living in cities within the span of thirty years. This is because they can show the cumulative effect of new technologies, from the Bessemer process for making steel being discovered in 1856 and the first oil well constructed in 1859 to the invention of the automobile in the 1890s and the airplane in 1903. Again, the Colliers deal with the story of "The Rise of Industry" in a series of chapters that break down the topic in to discrete, comprehensible units:

(1) The Power of Technology is one of the most impressive chapters in this entire series, laying out how American industrialization begins with the creation of the textile industry, which benefited from the invention of the steam engine, which meant factories no longer had to rely on waterpower and could now be located in cities. The Colliers make it clear that in the creation of the American industrial system everything was tied to everything else. Steam-powered factories meant more coal, better railroads and stronger locomotives, more high-quality steel, more oil, better communication system, so on and so forth. Students will certainly get a sense for how this radically transformed the country within the lives of two generations. (2) The Coming of the Railroad looks at the transportation system as setting the pattern for other industries. The railroad system was built haphazardly, by people looking for quick profits, with widespread abuses. Eventually, as this book illustrates, the Federal government would have to step in and begin regulating businesses. (3) The Rise of the Large Corporations attempts to explain the economic principles at play during Industrialization. Here students learn about fun concepts like limited liability, liquidity, corporation as artificial (but immortal) persons, competition, pools and trusts. Although the chapter touches on several of the "robber barons," it is John D. Rockefeller who's business career is presented as the exemplar of his kind.

If the first three chapters of this volume deal with the economic upside of Industrialization, the last three deal with the problematic aspects: (4) The Problems With Industrialization basically comes down to the fact that the captains of industry were treating human beings the same way they did raw materials and railroad cars. One mill in Waterbury, Connecticut had 16,000 accidents, 11,287 casualties, and 60,000 surgical dressings given to workers in one year. This chapter documents the plight of American workers during the last half of the 19th-century and adds insult to injury by looking at the popularity of Herbert Spencer's theory of Social Darwinism, which effectively endorsed this treatment. The government's policy of laissze-faire and the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Lochner v. New York makes it clear the government favored the corporations over the workers. (5) The Workers Fight Back details some of the most notable attempts (and failures) by workers to improve their pay and conditions. If the previous chapter detailed the problems with industrialization, then this chapter looks at the first failures to find a solution. (6) Government Starts to Regulate Industry tells young readers of the first chink in the armor of what we would now call Big Business. Somewhat ironically, it was the farmers and not the factory workers who were able to affect the first government regulations by having their congressmen take advantage of the Constitutional provision that required the government to regulate commerce among the states. With that opening the first minor regulatory reforms of the nation's railroads could be advanced along with the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. By the close of this volume the lot of industrial workers has not improved substantially, the precedent has been set.

The organizational structure of the chapters in "The Rise of Industry" works extremely well and young students should have no problem picking up the logical development of this topic. The book is illustrated with historic photographs, etchings, and paintings, depicting the key figures and important events being discussed. The use of specific case studies, such as the railroads and Rockefeller, is quite effective. Even if teachers are using a different textbook for their secondary school history classes, they can still find in value in using not only this book but also this approach to American history. The result would be a much better understanding of the industrialization of the nation than they are likely to get from a standard textbook.

At the end of "The River Road: A Story of Abraham Lincoln," Meridel Le Sueur tells us: "So this is the story of a few months in the life of a boy in the middle country becoming a man--when the sapwood of youth darkened, toughened, under strain and pressure, was fired, made stout and hickory-yielding. Men and nations are made by the firing of such days in their lives."

In 1828 Abraham Lincoln took a flatboat from Indiana, down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. La Sueur takes that journey and makes it a crucible in Lincoln's life. The boy in this story is seventeen years old, chaffing at having to live in a crowded cabin, eager to find out what there is to learn in books and from talking to other men, and eager to get out into the word and make something of himself. This is also the Lincoln coming to terms with deep thoughts on the subject of slavery.

"The River Road" is told in a style that can only be characterized as poetic prose, which rings true even more than Sandberg's celebrated biography. The effect is a portrait of the raw Lincoln who has more in common with the trees he chops down with his ax than with the eloquent orator of Gettysburg. "Much of his history you know," La Sueur tells us, "but you can always as you grow have more knowing, see this great live oak of our history more clearly." I have read dozens of books about Lincoln, and he has never felt more real to me than he does in this compelling wilderness tale. "River Road" was originally published in 1954 and was reprinted by Holy Cow! Press with 1991 woodcuts by Susan Kiefer Hughes.

Although this book is titled "Rock Gardening", it has great appeal to all gardeners. It includes introductory information on how to create rock, bog and woodland gardens, how to propagate plants, maintenance, etc. But the best part is the comprehensive plant descriptions, with practical advice on their cultural requirements, difficulty and propagation. Although there are no color pictures, I find this is the book I rely upon most for accurate information on lesser known rock garden and woodland plants.

"The Rock Star" is about a boy about the age of 16, that lives in Hammerton, California. There is not much to Hammerton, just one school and some residential areas. The boy's name is Tim Anderson who plays the lead guitar for his band of four high school students and friends called the silver sunshine. One day Tim and his best friend Charlie go to the local music and candy store downtown and they see a poster for the national battle of the bands concert coming up. The poster explained that the band who wins the contest gets a contract to Wolf Records. Tim Anderson and his boys start practicing for this contest, but, there is only one problem. Tim is not ver estute at math, and he is having major trouble trying to pass it, and his father took his guitar away. Tim's father then gave him a lesson on why entering the music world is soo bad, and what it can do to you. Tim had to have his guitar, so he steels it and takes it with him to the area concert that night. He and his band play many numbers, and the crowd loves them. They end up getting first place. There is a man there named Hary Jurgan who worked for Wolf Records, who said after they finished that Tim was very good and if he ever was in New York to give him a call and maybe he would do something for him. Tim was very excited, though when time got home his parents found out that he was in the concert playing his guitar, so they grounded him. Tim sad and distressed ran away from home. He met people that tried to kill him and people that helped him. His destination was New York. He lost his guitar and suitcase, so he had to buy a cheap guitar with the 60 dollars he ran away from home with. When he gets to New York he gets directions to the Wolf Records company building, then goes there. Harry Jurgan bearly remembers him, but he hooks him up with a band called the sound system, well, things started out not looking so good. Tim was running out of money and Harry was changing their music and Tim was getting tired of it so he was about to leave, when his dad showed up. They talked for a while and Tim found out that Charlie told his dad where he was. In this book Tim realized that the music world was full of dirty tricks and surprises, and he promised his dad he would never go down that road again. The theme of this book, was to think over something before you do it. Tim didn't do that. Tim's dad was the good guy keeping him back, Harry Jurgan was the bad guy trying to lead him astray, and Tim was in the middle tryig to decide his future. He made a bad decisoin, but corrected himself in the end. The author could have let Tim Anderson become famous and never have any flaws in his life, but he didn't. Just because there is the simple fact that evil is always there to corrupt people like Tim Anderson. We all know that evil can be within to. Tim Anderson had had enough being grounded and couldn't help himself to talke his guitar and leave his home. The evil within Tim was held in to long, and he learned his lesson.