It was all too easy for a Yankee like me who grew up during the Civil Rights struggles to be smug about who lived on which side of the Mason-Dixon line and who as such was more "enlightened" on the issue of race. Particularly raised as I was by a father who called people like Huie's characters "Rebs". It was another thing entirely to be told later in life by an African-American friend of Alabama roots (where this book is set) that she'd rather live down there than up here in western New York--white people of her home state were less "two-faced" (her words) about the race issue than we were up here. This book was the first book I ever read that puts a human face on people connected with the Ku Klux Klan. In recent years, I've come to realize that the Klan gave America our earliest experience with terrorism. From right here at home, not foreign shores. But "The Klansman" presents all of its characters on both sides of the issue as people with real feelings. A bit disconcerting for a kid like me who had a good guy/ bad guy perspective from popular entertainment, which is to say the bad guys are monsters, not people. But then again, Nietzsche once suggested that life's most valuable lessons are anything but easy. This book's anti-hero is Sheriff "Big Track" Bascomb, a complicated sort of guy who on one side is a Bull Connoresque uniformed soldier for the cause of segregation, but on the other side is a caring husband and father. His teenage son Allen is an embyonic New Southerner whose generation today is in power in states like Alabama. His wife Maybelle doesn't care so much about political issues as she does about the well-being of her family. His best friend is landowner Breck Stancill, whose family traditions lie in the anti-segregationist direction, but in truth, Stancill is a helper of the needy regardless of race. In leaner years, Big Track himself was a beneficiary of that, and is torn between his loyalties to the segregationist cause and his more personal feelings of obligation and gratitude to Stancill, who by his own admission has served as a surrogate older brother to him. Military historian Gwynne Dyer once said that the only way to make a fighting man out of a civilian brought up to believe that it's wrong to kill people is to suggest that the enemy aren't really people. To this day I retain my hostility to racism, but Huie has created a cast of racists here that I can't with any conscience claim aren't real people. Actually, I'm a bit surprised that this book is even available used. After all, not every book that deals with a hot button issue of a particular era can cross the gulf of time into status as a "historical novel". Maybe Huie is no John Jakes, but Churchill did say that if you don't learn from history you'll end up repeating it.

Huie, now deceased, writes a very exciting novel about a Klan-ridden Alabama community during the timeframe of the civil rights movement. I haven't ever been to Alabama, so I can't honestly say whether or not it was at all reflective of small-town situations in that state during the late 1960s. However, the picture it paints is not terribly dissimilar from those I've seen in non-fiction writing about the period.

The language is harsh and the scenes are described with shocking vividness; this book isn't for the faint of heart and contains a lot more sorrrow than joy. Such were the times. However, it does present a wide cross-section of interesting characters, and avoids painting a picture of complete good vs. complete evil--just about all the characters display faults and redeeming qualities, rather than a cast of nothing but saintly, unselfish civil rights workers or hog-nosed adder-mean racists. It doesn't take deep reading of this book to see how racial prejudice is often manipulated as a power tool.

If you can find a copy, and you're interested in the topic, don't let it get away.

This is a great book. I originally picked it up at the library, not realizing (when I logged on via modem) that it was for kids. It has some great, fun projects, colorfully and appealingly illustrated, which makes it great for kids and informative for adults as well. I went out and bought a copy shortly afterwards. I've made one project in it (the jester hat), which turned out GREAT, and have others planned. Good, simple, fun and appealing book--well done!

This book is extremely helpful for beginning-intermediaate crafters! It gave me many of ideas on what to do with my growing supply of fleece. It contains great projects like blanket in a pillow, fleece frog, and pom pom hat! This is truely a great book!

The biography of Brad Washburn makes a terrific yarn, even for us armchair adventurers. This is a well-told tale, with a transcribed "oral history" from Mr. Washburn, interspersed with the narrative supplied by Mr. Smith. The significance of Mr. Washburn's life, and what makes this book worth reading, is that his mountaineering adventures were part of the 20th century's final conquest of high places in this world. The high mountains were the last frontier, and Mr. Washburn lived it, wrote about it, mapped it, and (more importantly) photographed it. Fortunately, National Geographic chose to include a variety of Mr. Washburn's best photographs. His friendship with, and admiration for, Ansel Adams is apparent. Buy this for the read, but also buy it as a coffee table book.

In this pictoral autobiography of Bradford Washburn, an adventurous life is experienced firsthand by the reader. The photographs of ice and rock are breathtaking as are the more personal images of life and love at it's fullest. Anyone interested in the classical era of mountaineering (when unclimbed peaks danced in the dreams of world-class climbers), nature photography of the highest caliber or an excellent work to add to their library, this book is for you. A National Geographic classic in every sense of the word.

This book had influinced my life considerably, an impowering and comforting guide through the wilderness and any spiritual struggles. Long takes his owm personal experiene when God chalenged him and disciplinned him, and gives us guide lines on how to bare these dificult times in the spiritual life. Truly brillient and impowering book, five stars are not enough for this masterpiece that has helped so many.

Brad Long has prepared a feast in the wilderness. PCUSA minister, former educational missionary to Taiwan, and currently executive director of Presbyterian And Reformed Renewal Ministries International, Long has co-authored two books with Doug McMurry on the power and joy of the Holy Spirit. In Passage through the Wilderness, he presents another side of the Christian experience, and in doing so, provides a feast to sustain all those experiencing "the dark night of the soul" and a guide to all those who stand by, helplessly watching a parishioner, a patient, or a loved one struggle through the wilderness alone. In the author's own words, "It is an extreme book, written for times of extremity in our spiritual journeys." Through a combination of Scriptural examples and intensely personal accounts of his own battles with Satan, self, and God, Long richly illustrates the pain of living through feelings of dryness, abandonment, and/or overwhelming pressure in one's spiritual life, and the importance of clinging to the Lord though he is seemingly absent or overbearingly harsh. "Whom the Lord loves, He disciplines," and Long testifies clearly to the purpose in the pain - the outcome is often an increase in the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit, bringing growth in the life of the believer and the advancement of the Lord's Kingdom. For many, the reading may be labored by the sheer intensity of the subject matter. But for those who are experiencing or reflecting in bewilderment on such pain, it is a banquet of expression and meaning, and comfort. To the hopeless, it offers a lifeline of promise that the Potter is shaping his vessels for His use. To those who have suffered unspeakable grief, it offers a voice and an affirmation for the heart-cries of the soul. To those who have fallen on their knees and their faces in fear and trembling before the judgement of a Holy God, it offers common ground on which to stand firmly in and for Him. To those who have continued to "cry 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace," it stands as a stark reminder that "common ground" is no substitute for Holy ground. Marge Mills - (Review First Published in The Presbyterian Layman)

A good read. This story of a New England family over three generations does a nice job of personalizing concurrent American historic events. Especially good for those of us who have a hard time swallowing history in its pure academic form.

A key to the mysterious "great names" of New England, this lively and well written account of the Winthrop family is a real winner. For anyone who has spent "Time in New England" as a vistor, student, or resident, this fast moving yet through work is enlightening reading. In addition, it is a great story of a wonderful person, cleverly written by a loving hand. The numerous illustrations are masterfully done. It is a revealing view of American history, credibly told from the inside.I had a hard time putting this book down until the last page.

I really liked this book. I learned a lot. It was interesting. Sally was a spunky girl. She had the courage during a bad time to help her family.

This book is about Sally Bradford, a young Confederate girl during the Civil War. This gives a Southern perspective of the war. Sally's father and brother are away fighting for the south. Even though the Brafords own no slaves the Yankees still burn her house and the family must flee to Richmond. Then, Sally's brother gets typhus and is sent to a Richmond hospital. He needs quinine but the stores have none because of the war. Sally must travel across enemy lines to get medicine for her brother before it's too late. This book showed that there was more to the Civil War then the slavery issue.

The Animal Kingdom sports roughly 35 basic body plans, or phyla, but 90 to 95 percent of all animals fall into just eight phyla. Divided into eight chapters, this companion to the PBS series describes each major phylum, and discusses what science has learned about the history of life on Earth. A few passages might be a little elementary for long-time natural history buffs, but not enough to keep me from recommending it. Also highly recommended for students and readers new to the subject.

The author took this topic and made it very easy to understand and very interesting. It follows the PBS series while keeping its own voice. Loved it! Rich content and super photos!

THE SOUTHERN TRADITION AT BAY was Weaver's doctoral dissertation but did not see publication until after his early death in 1963. Not a few critics regard it as his best book, surpassing even his classic and influential IDEAS HAVE CONSEQUENCES.

Here Weaver surveys the literature of the South from the postbellum era and shows how a variety of writers, from soldiers,journalists, and lady diarists to poets, novelists, and scholars, regarded the traditions of civility, gentility, piety, natural order and individualistic self-sufficiency the South so valiantly defended in the War Between the States. Weaver, though he expresses a discernible point of view in this matter, does not let partisanship hamper his responsibilties as an honest scholar. If he sees some logical fissure in the thinking of one of his featured writers, he notes such unflinchingly. He also permits the voices of dissent from the prevailing orthodoxy in his study, most notably those of Walter Hines Page, George Washington Cable, and Henry Grady, among others, who would, to one extent or another, qualify as Southern liberals. Yet Weaver concludes that even these apostates found much to commend and preserve in the Southern tradition and thus did not denounce it totally.

This is a fascinating study, eminently and surprisingly readable, exhaustive but never exhausting, and well worth the time and attention of anyone truly and seriously interested in the "mind of the South."

Richard Weaver was one of the best philosopher/writers of this century. This book is far-reaching in scope and theme starting with his first section, The Heritage, which encompasses - The Feudal System, the Code of Chivalry, the Education of the Gentleman and the Older Religiousness - to describe how the world view of the old South came to be.

He illuminates the Southern literary renaissance better than any of the poor attempts I've read by others.

Using a vast amount of material, published and unpublished, he presents in a very well organized fashion the South's own portrait of itself, as accurately as it has ever been presented.

Mr. Angier presents fascinating and practical information on the very basics of survival-shelter, water, food and warmth. Conventional travellers would do well to carry the few items that he recommends-just in case. Hunters hikers and campers have a bible in this book. I have tested his methods of starting a fire, and finding potable water-He's right on target. Adventure writers will find this book an excellent resource-too bad it's out of print! I was hoping to find an updated version. Mine was published in 1974!

This is the best book that I have ever read on survival. It tells eveything from how to build lean to's to log cabins to igloos. Also it tells how to build traps to catch animals and fish which is a must if lost in the woods. As well it tells every way imaginable to navigate and tell what your long and lat. are. It tells plants that youcan and cannot eat, how to clean your water, how to make bread, bows and arrows, bolas, survival strategies for the weather, and much much more. I would reconmen this book to any one who loves camping hunting hiking or any one who is interested in these sort of things

This amazing woman has shown much of what is denied to most outsiders. Her information helped me understand many traditions that I have been wondering about.
She explains the whys of traditions. I found myself reading her words aloud with a Navajo accent as I became engrosed in this book. Her pictoral history of the last century of Dine gives us a look into the real lives of the people.

Walking Thunder immerses herself as a healer and delights in being human. Her rich heritage, generous heart and possessing a full understanding that she is the vessel the holy ones work through, makes this an "enriching read." Written wisdom is not the same as shared lived wisdom. She shares many lessons from her teachers and her abundant respect of Mother Earth is humbling. Less you think all medicine people are humorless, her laughter and pranks can be heard throughout the book. Walking Thunder is respectful of her culture, elders, family, friends, and Mother Earth. You can experience this from her voice on the compact disc that is included with the book. For those who want to further their appreciation of medicine work, while deepening their understanding of The People, this is the book for you.