A much needed history book concerning Pennsylvania has finally been published, and that book is "Pennsylvania", edited by Randall Miller and William Pencak. This is one of the best state history books ever, as it is comprehensive, readable, and vastly informative. Its chapters are well written and skillfully documented by notable experts on each chapter's time periods and subjects.
To highlight portions of the book does injustice to the multitude of other subjects. Still, among aspects this book discusses include how William Penn's treaty with Native Americans symbolized a new spirit of cooperation in American, and how his son's breaking of that treaty perhaps introduced another national spirit.
We see how how industrial owners persuaded Pennsylvania government to make unprecedented infrastructure developments in railroads, roads, banks, and canals that both made Pennsylvania an industrial leader and the owners quite wealthy.
The book tells us of the first Paleo-Indians who probably came to Pennsylvania 14,000 years ago. Their lifestyles influence through today, as many present highways follow the same routes Indians used for centuries prior.
19th century Philadelphia's business leaders are described as being more centered on their own businesses than on the state of their community than leaders in other cities. This led to New York and Baltimore surpassing Philadelphia economically.
At the turn of the 20th century, child labor was an important factor of Pennsylvanian family income, often representing one third to one half of what a family earned. One sixth of households increased their incomes by renting to boarders.
Pennsylvania has a temperature and climate that resembles that of Europe. This book combines history with many fields of interest. For readers who wish to gain a wealth of knowledge about Pennsylvania, this is the book to own.

My words are no match for the words of Thomas Lombardi. His love of Wallace Stevens leaps off of each page as one reads it. This book is a wonderful journey, a journey one wishes would never end.

If you are planning a paper on Stevens, there is no other resource so valuable as this book. If you are an English major, it would also be an enjoyable book to pass along the cool fall or winter nights.

In this book the arthur I think did very well in describing the baseball game. He really brought entertainment into the book. In the book a rookie baseball player became the general manager of a MLB team. That is very weird. One thing I really like is that the arthur put alot of problems in the team like the playeres were prejudice of a Jewish rookie.

Despite starting more slowly than the other Tunis novels I've read, the book quickly makes up for lost time Spike and Bob Russell are slick-feilding brothers who come to a Dodger team whose manager fails to inspire. Spike is apointed manager and success increases. But when Babe Stansworth, the Brooklyn catcher is injured, it falls to Jocko Klein, a young Jew, to fill in. In a world of religous bigotry Jocko cracks, making his teamates and opponents alike belive all the more that "Jews are yellow"-that he can't take it. It falls on Spike to stop this horrible stream of verbal (and physical-pitchers throw beanballs to him) attacks and make the team WORK as a team.

It's hard to believe this book was written before Jackie Robinson made his debut with the real Dodgers in 1947, because "Keystone Kids" touches on many things that were dealt with when Robinson became the first black player in the majors. Bobby and Spike Russell are a pair of middle infielders brought up from the minors to the Dodgers during the WWII era. Both encounter the usual difficulties that rookies face in the Tunis series. The difference here is another rookie, Jewish catcher Jocko Klein, who has to endure prejudice from opponents and even his own teammates. While the title of the book suggests the Russell brothers as the main characters, Jocko is the real story here. To me, this book and "The Kid Comes Back" are the two most socially relevant of the Tunis series. Any parent wishing to instill a sense of conscience in their kids could do a whole lot worse than getting them "Keystone Kids."

Sarantakes covers the battle that began Easter Sunday in 1945, candidly dissecting the actions of the American commander in the battle and his resourceful Japanese counterparts. The book then proceeds to cover the political and strategic reasoning for keeping Okinawa under American control. The main reason, Sarantakes notes, is that America did not trust a militaristic Japan to maintain its promises in the surrender agreements, and wanted to be sure they didn't have to fight the battle of Okinawa all over again. Okinawa's strategic central location in Asia also made it very convenient as a forward deployment area should the need arise.

Keystone reads like a doctoral dissertation on the American administration of Okinawa. Historians and political science aficionados will find it interesting, but aside from the first chapter, there is little action. And there is little to no examination of 29 years of post-reversion history, even though Okinawa is still host to several American military bases and personnel.

I served on Okinwawa with the Army for three years, and while this book filled in a lot of the history from the Battle to Reversion, I was disappointed to find no mention of what has happened in the 29 years since.

In this thorough and well-written work, Professor Nicholas Sarantakes relates the story of how the United States occupied and controlled the strategically vital region of Okinawa after World War II, and held it until the early 1970s. No issue is ignored: Sarantakes combines politics, diplomacy, strategy, and even culture in this detailed look at a controversial American policy.

A number of general things make this book especially valuable. Sarantakes writes well, especially in his vivid description of the 1945 battle for Okinawa itself. His research is impressive, as he makes use of material from presidential archives, government repositories, and a good collection of oral histories. His argument that Okinawa was essentially an American colony is clear and convincing, even if policymakers would not have used the term. And, he does a nice job showing why American policymakers began to rethink this approach in the 1970s; not because of any ideals or principles, but because of Japanese resistance to the heavy-handed American presence.

A few things in particular deserve mention. Sarantakes does an excellent job explaining how American policy toward Okinawa evolved, showing that policymakers first wanted control of the area because of fears of a rearmed and aggressive Japan. Then, when it became clear that Japan was not moving toward militarism, American officials still refused to abandon Okinawa, afraid that doing so might encourage Japan to move toward a more neutral position in the Cold War. His account of the political infighting between State Department officials who saw withdrawal as a means to build up goodwill in Japan and elsewhere, and military leaders who clung to the base for its potential strategic value, is particularly insightful. He also does a nice job looking at the way that, especially in the early years, military officials were able to rule Okinawa with an almost iron fist. Finally, Dr. Sarantakes does a nice job putting the occupation in the context of the Cold War; its strategic location, for example, which allowed American planes to threaten targets in Asia and parts of Europe, made Okinawa especially valuable as American fears of Chinese and Soviet expansion grew.

Overall, this is convincing, thorough, and interesting book. I recommend it highly.

In a style similar to Stuart Kaminsky, who has also written fictional mysteries with famous Hollywood stars of the past, Englishman Peter Lovesey has written an excellent thriller with silent screen pioneers Mack Sennett, Roscoe (Fatty) Arbuckle, and the Keystone Cops that Sennett created and made famous. Lovesey sets up an English actor, who has just transited the States doing Vaudeville, as his hero. The actor, whom Sennett dubs "Keystone" falls in love with a Sennett actress, who is endangered by "real" villains on the set. This period-piece book wonderfully recreates the Hollywood of 1914, and the mystery takes many twists and turns before the hero ultimately prevails. Lovesey once again proves his versatility, and he seems to have had fun writing this book. If you like it, check out other Lovesey works, especially The False Inspector Dew.

For present or former Pensylvanians, this book an interesting look at trivial and non-trivial, serious and zany, events in the Keystone State's history.

It's cheap ... not beautifully bound or anything. Buy two or three, and have them ready to give away. Spread the Word of God as revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

'To preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.' I Cor. 1:17

A wonderful book for children. This book helps children accept who they are while helping them to realize there are others out there in this big world who also have worries and concerns. This is a book that can help a child begin to think of others and their struggles and help them to be more open to the plight of those around them, helping them become less self-centered. The repitition of the text with each animal allows the child to interact with the "reader". "You think that's hard?" Kids can really get into this story and particiapte, what a great way to get them involved in reading at an early age!

High folks, I wonder if this book is available in German so I will understand a little bit more about this complex subject. If there is anybody who has some more informations about the author let me know by an e-mail, because it`s strange that I`ve got the same name and prename. Muchas Gracias, Merci, Danke, Thanks