The cover of this tenth volume in The Drama of American History series by Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier is a bit deceptive. First, the title "Hispanic America, Texas, and the Mexican War: 1835-1850" really covers only the first two-thirds of the book. The final third deals with the settling of California and the political situation under which it was admitted to the Union. Second, the cover illustration shows how the Indians of the Great Plains built a culture around horses after acquiring them from the Spanish, an interesting fact but really but a footnote given the focus of this particular volume.

The period 1835-1850 begins with the establishment of Texan Independence and the Missouri Compromise. However, the first two chapters of the book go back much farther. (1) The Coming of the Europeans to the Southwest deals with the Spanish conquest of Mexico, Central America, and South America, albeit in abbreviated form. This chapter provides a southwestern counterpart to earlier volumes in the series devoted to the settlement of Virginia ("The Paradox of Jamestown") and New England ("Pilgrims and Puritans"). (2) The Creation of the Southwest Hispanic Culture, looks at the mixing of Spanish and Indian cultures and take the reader up to the siege of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jancinto. The key chapter in the book covers the concept of (3) Manifest Destiny, which becomes the justification for expanding America from the Mississippi river west to the Pacific. Within that context the first major acquisition of land results from (4) The War with Mexico, which offers one of the better explanations of the war's campaigns that I have seen in a juvenile history book. (5) California, Here I Come actually looks at the history of the west coast up to the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill. Similarly, (6) California Compromise deals with the whole western migration, covering not only the 49ers but also the Mormon trek to Utah.

Reading this volume I recalled the idea that when the United States won the Mexican War it basically took all of the "best" parts of Mexico. This made me wonder if America would have taken a similar approach if it had succeeded in conquering Canada: i.e., just take the southern parts and leave the frozen wastelands alone. Just a passing curiosity. Anyhow, I am really appreciative of the approach taken in this series, of focusing on the "core content" rather than a deluge of names and dates. This book is quite representative of what the Colliers are doing in this series, providing a historical context for key parts of American history that have resulted in the country we live in today. The book is illustrated with historic illustrations, including early photographs and political cartoons, all of which are presented with detailed captions making them more footnotes to the main text than mere pictures.

"Indians, Cowboys, and Farmers and the Battle for the Great Plains: 1865-1910" is basically The Drama of American History's volume on how the "West" was won. The Great Plains is specifically defined as the area between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains; the story of California and the Southwest were covered in the earlier volume, "Hispanic America, California, Texas and the Mexican War, 1835-1850"). This series is geared for students in grades 6-9, but the basic approach of focusing on the "core content" of American history rather than a deluge of names and dates, seems to me to be eminently applicable to any age group (which is a polite way of saying that teachers of American History can use these books to structure their classes in a way that might be more beneficial than simply following the narrative flow of their current textbook).

This particular volume starts in 1865 with the end of the Civil War, but actually begins by talking about the Great Plains (1) Before the White Man and focusing on the establishment of the horse culture that sprung up there after the Spanish brought the animals to the New World and the idea of reservations that was started in the 1830s. (2) The Flames of War Rise Higher tries to cover the Indian Wars that ran from 1861 through the 1890s, including the wars of conquest being fought amongst the native tribes. In the wake of the decimation of the buffalo herds there were several key encounters between the Indians and the cavalry troops: Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce, the Battle of the Little Big Horn, and the massacre at Wounded Knee.

What the White Man did once the Indians were removed as obstacles is covered in the next three chapters: (3) The Legendary American Cowboy covers the "Cattle Kingdom" that arose as the buffalo disappeared and the cities of the East needed meat for their booming populations. (4) The Railroads Go West is a bit of a misnomer because the same trains that shipped settlers out to the Plains were shipping beef back East. This chapter covers both the evolution of transportation and communication that had to meet the challenge of covering the great distances from the Mississippi River to the West Coast. (5) Settling the Plains is evidence by the maps and statistics provided in this chapter. A series of maps showing the rats of travel from New York in 1800, 1830, and 1860 gives students a real sense of how things were changing. In 1800 it would take 4 weeks to get to New Orleans, 2 weeks in 1830, and 5 days in 1860. Charts detail the population growth of the Great Plains states from 1870 to 1900 and the different in labor costs for farm work done by hand versus by machine.

The final chapter offers a transition to the 20th century: (6) The Farmers Fight Back talks about the political struggle of the farmers and other Western interests, which resulted in the rise of the Populist movement and three time Democratic nominee for presidency, William Jennings Bryan. Collier & Collier make an interesting point about how weather conditions and economic prosperity alleviated a lot of the farmer's problems at the turn of the century, but that severe reversals of both of these elements would result in the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. This underscore the author's intent to focus on the broad strokes of American history with an eye towards how they impact the future. The volume is illustrated with historic paintings, drawings, photographs, and such, most of which are usually accompanied by informative captions that make it clear the intention here is to continue teacher and not just to give the young reader something else to look at besides column after column of text.

For anyone who wants to learn more about "The Secret Garden" and its author--where the original garden really was, how an English robin differs from an American robin, how to make a nesting station for birds in your garden, what "oatcakes" and "doughcakes" are and how to make them (along with other recipes from the book), how to plant a miniature secret garden, how to make a windchime from keys like the one that unlocked the Secret Garden, and lots more! Wonderful gift. Tasha Tudor illustrations.

An imaginative and subtle book written with wonderful lucidity. One of the smartest studies of modern French literature.

In what he calls a number of assays but what reads as a complete book Collier debunks a number of popular myths and shines a new light into some dark corners. Among the myths are the fact that timing in Jazz is rigid (it ain't), blacks are the originators (a case is made that the black creoles were much more important) of Jazz and critics know what they are talking about (it seems they frequently don't). The final chapter is typical of the whole book. In it Collier describes the importance of the local amateur and semi-pro players to Jazz and argues that Jazz wouldn't be abe to exsist without these dedicated people, a fact which is frequently overlooked by almost everybody. This book definately isn't the be all and end all of Jazz studies, it is on the whole to superficial and fails to deal with any of the music except in passing, but it definately makes one think about some long held beliefs and popular 'myths' in Jazz.

"The Drama of American History" series tells the story of American History by focusing on the "central core" of that history rather providing "a swamp of factual information." This eighth volume in the series look at the period from Thomas Jefferson's election in 1800 to when James Monroe left the White House in 1823, when the country was led by "The Jeffersonian Republicans" (Technically there is a bit of an overlap with the previous volume, "Building a New Nation," which covers the period 1789-1801; but this is simply because that volume ends with John Adams, the last Federalist president, leaving the White House while this book begins with the election that put Jefferson into office). However, despite the book's title, this is not a look at the political philosophy that Jefferson and his heirs brought to the government. Instead Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier focus on six important topics from this period:

First, A Contested Election looks at what happened when the presidential campaign between incumbent Federalist President John Adams and Democratic-Republican challenger Thomas Jefferson was thrown into the House of Representatives because Jefferson and his running-mate Aaron Burr received the same number of electoral college votes. When Jefferson was sworn into office in 1801 it was the first time a nation had seen a civilized transfer of power in the history of the world, yet that election was also the first (of many) to reflect the tawdry nature of American Politics. Second, The Louisiana Purchase is presented as Jefferson's most significant accomplishment in office. His unilateral decision to agree to the purchase is presented as being consistent with his republican beliefs that it was important for there to be land for new landowners rather than contradicting his disdain for big government. Third, The Lewis and Clark Expedition considers the exploration of the Louisiana Purchase as representing the opening of the way west for the nation (sort of a proto-frontier thesis). Fourth, The States versus the Federal Government: The Supreme Court Steps In, provides a concise but detailed explication of the pivotal Marbury v. Madison case, when Chief Justice John Marshall established the key principal of judicial review. This is the most important chapter in the volume, and the one that does the best job of taking advantage of the format of this series to establish why this issue and its outcome are so important.

The War of 1812 is the subject of the volume's last two chapters. Fifth, The War of 1812 looks at entire confluence of issues, both foreign and domestic, that led the United States and Great Britain to go to war once again. Readers will certainly get a sense for why it was this war, rather than the Civil War, that constituted the "Second American Revolution." Sixth, The War Begins, despite its title, looks at the entire war, including the Battle of New Orleans, fought and won by the Americans after the peace treaty had been signed and which created the false appearance that the United States was the clear winner in the war; after all, we won the last battle, which is what winners do. But then again, winners do not usually have their capital city burned. Consequently, while the scope of this volume runs to 1823, you are left with the implicit belief that nothing of consequence happened between the end of the War of 1812 and when President Monroe left office, thereby ending the "Era of Good Feelings."

I think there is a lot to be said for this "central core" approach to teaching American History, which goes for depth rather than breadth. This book provides students with the broad strokes of what happened during the six terms the Jeffersonian Republicans controlled the White House and I cannot think of anything that should have been covered instead of what this volume offers. My only concern is that as a practical matter, providing students putting together classroom sets for a series that takes ten volumes just to get through the end of the Mexican War, is going to prove too much for the vast majority of schools in this nation. "The Jeffersonian Republicans" is illustrated with historic paintings, etching, and political cartoons, all of which are reproduced in color (even if it is just tinting). As always, it is the later than impress me the most, because they invariably provide more of a sense for the tenor and emotions of the time than any formal portrait of a political leader.

If you're a lacemaker, embroiderer, or simply appreciate great textile crafts you'll enjoy this book. Collier offers photographs and diagrams of an amazing range of handmade lace fans. Instructions are given for enough of them that a decent lacemaker could figure out how to make the others, or variations of them. A book to spur your creativity, or just put a smile on your face.

"Language" can not adequately convey the importance/value of this book to those who seek to understand the "original meaning" of the United States Constitution. When I purchased this book, I was concerned that, upon close examination, I would discover that its purpose was to justify much of the Supreme Court's illegitimate jurisprudence over the past 100 years by misrepresenting (i.e. taking out of context) various historical documents. I quickly learned that this was indeed NOT the case. The Editor-in-Chief, Thurston Greene sums up the content of the book quite nicely in his preface, "It is strictly factual. There is no commentary, no speculation, no theorizing, no argumentation. Not a word that was written after the constitutional cake was baked . . . This book is a tool for the curious, for all those who realize how much more there is to know . . . ." Well said sir, well said.

Michael Collier's fourth book of poems shows us, with clear-eyed honesty, how we negotiate, survive, and live in our multi-faceted, perilous world(s).

A master of understatement, and detail accurately rendered, Collier leaves us,in "The Hammer" grieving the wounds of fathers and sons, but also appreciating the completeness, the perfection via inscrutability, and unchangingness, of a lie a son has told to his father, which has become, (ironically and powerfully) "incorruptible."

The somber, quiet majesty that reigns all through this collection is immediately rendered in "Argos" which is the opening poem, and which sets the stage for us, as readers, to grieve, to weep "more deeply," to appreciate, to savor and experience Collier's vision and multi-layered insights which make his latest offering a resonant, marvelous, true being.

This book was hard to put down. It is a must-read for anyone with a serious interest in literature. Amy Collier has a compelling way with words, and I look forward to more books from her in the future.