I picked this book up from the library and enjoyed it so much I had to run out and purchase a copy of my own. If you love jingles as much as I do you will enjoy this book. Some of the jingles include Gerber, Oscar Myer, Bosco, Chicklets, Aunt Jamima, Tootsie Roll and many more. The music in this book is fairly easy to read and play!

Because of the extreme scarcity of the original edition of Heroes and Martyrs of Georgia, few historians have heard of or utilized the book. This is unfortunate, for this volume stands as one of the most important published sources on Georgia troops in the Army of Northern Virginia. Included in Heroes and Martyrs are eighteen detailed histories of infantry, cavalry, and artillery units, most of them written in the summer of 1864 by Confederate officers in the trenches at Petersburg. The author of Heroes and Martyrs, James M. Folsom, originally intended on issuing multiple volumes that would chronicle the service of every military unit raised in Georgia during the Confederacy. Wartime exigencies, including the destruction of his manuscripts at the hands of Sherman's men, and postwar poverty prevented Folsom from ever completing his project. The one volume he was able to publish through the firm of Burke, Boykin, and Company of Macon, Georgia, appeared for sale in the spring of 1865, only weeks before Appomattox. Today fewer than a dozen original copies of Heroes and Martyrs are known to exist in public repositories. This new edition of Heroes and Martyrs of Georgia contains a new introduction and index prepared by Keith S. Bohannon, a doctoral student in the history department at Penn State University and a seasonal historian at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.

The is the best of the "get acquainted" books for AOL. Since AOL gives you very little documentation, this is the best way to figure out what AOL is and how to use it well.

Beneath some of Montana's grandest mountain peaks lurked a preditor. Caught in the crosshairs of Don Nichols twisted logic was Kari Swenson. The idea of a mountain bride, stolen from a remote wooded trail. Most amazing is how the Nichols' not only managed to elude the persistance of Johnny France, but stayed one step ahead certain death in the Montana winter of 1984 with just the packs on thier backs. You wont be able to put this one down!

This book was written in 1947 when Indiana was a very different place. Yet this book endures as a compelling and sometimes critical look at important people, times, and events in Indiana's history.

Martin tells about Indiana's beginnings: How people came to settle here, what those people were like. He shows how the Civil War played out in Indiana, where every fourth-grade student is now told that "brother fought against brother." He describes the poverty of Indiana farm life and how natural gas made many men wealthy, both in the late 1800s. He tells of the "golden years" in the early 1900s, as cities began to rise. And he explains the troubled years of the 1930s and 1940s, which were fresh in the memories of this book's first audience.

Martin's most compelling writing, however, is reserved for his portraits of colorful Indiana men: Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley, socialist leader Eugene V. Debs, infamous Klansman D. C. Stephenson, and others. The story of Debs is the best part of the book. Martin clearly sympathized with Debs, who championed the worker from his Terre Haute home and, later, from the Presidentail campaign trail and, finally, from prison. Debs's story is all the more interesting to me because I lived in Terre Haute for several years in the 1990s. My apartment was a mile or so north of Debs's home on Eighth Street, which still stands as a historical site. I can imagine the physical setting of Debs's Terre Haute activism as Martin relates it. But it is difficult for me to imagine the spirit of the city in those days, if nothing else because the city's current sleepiness stands in such stark contrast.

This book really helped me. I have never been to Madison, and I even know how it was like to be there. But this book really was a helper on the planning of my trip. It explores the good and bad side of the city, including festivities, museums, shopping and maps.

I have read that there is a second series of the Encyclopedia of Presidents, and I certainly look forward to seeing these informative juvenile biographies redone with better production values. These volumes always look to me like they were printed in the Fifties, which is actually three decades off of the reality. The cover paintings are rather cartoonish and all of the illustrations inside are in black & white so there is able room for improvement in how the book looks. However, if you are looking for information about a particular president, this is a very solid series from start to finish.

All of the books in the Encyclopedia of Presidents series begin in media res, in the epic tradition of Homer, with a highpoint from the President's career. In the case of James Madison we are talking about his role in American history as the Father of the Constitution. This means that Madison's greatest achievement in life was accomplished long before he was elected President, a truth usually reserved for war hero generals (e.g., Zachary Taylor and James Garfield) and Herbert Hoover (best Secretary of Commerce we have ever had). This is also reflected by the fact that Clinton devotes only two of the book's ten chapters to Madison's two terms in the White House, one for the First Term and the other for the defining event of his Presidency, The War of 1812.

The illustrations are mostly etchings and paintings contemporary to the life of Madison, including a couple of political cartoons, which are always a treat. But the chief strength here is the biographical detail. Clinton does a good job of contextualizing the Constitutional Convention and emphasizing the pivotal role played by Madison in the writing and adoption of the nation's most important political document. As far as juvenile biographies go this is not the first book I would recommend to a student, particularly a younger one, but once they have picked up a basic understanding of Madison's life and times from a smaller book, then this one is great for providing additional details and a more advanced understanding of Madison's importance as a Founding Father.

I think we are on the cusp of rediscovering James Madison as the next Founding Father to receive a historical makeover (John Adams is the current figure of revisionist inquiry and interest). Madison was the fourth president of the United States and the Father of the Constitution, but what is emphasized in this juvenile biography by Susan Banfield is the fact he was an intellectual. Of course, he followed Thomas Jefferson, the greatest intellectual ever to be President, in the White House, but once you get him out of that immense shadow young readers can understand Madison's greatness.

Banfield covers Madison's early life and initial involvement in politics during the American Revolution, when he became political protégé of Jefferson. After a concise chapter devoted to Madison as the Father of the Constitution, Banfield covers the rise of Madison's political career as a Congressman from Virginia and Secretary of State. His two terms as President are covered in a single chapter called Mr. Madison's War, which obviously makes the War of 1812 the defining event of his Presidency. A final chapter is devoted to Madison as the nation's Elder Statesman, which shows his active involvement in political issues for the two decades after he left the White House.

The result is an informative and readable juvenile biography of James Madison, which provides a balanced treatment of its subject. Banfield provides multiple sub-headings in each chapter, so young readers get a very good idea of the organizational structure of each chapter. I would not characterize this as A First Book to find out about Madison, but more of a second level effort. The book is sparsely illustrated with works contemporary to Madison's lifetime. This particular volume is part of a series from Franklin Watts examining the United States Constitution, the individuals who were present at its creation (E.g., Alexander Hamilton, George Washington), and some of the pivotal issues that are covered in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights (e.g., Separation of Church and State, The Right to Bear Arms).

The most obvious strength of the Profiles of the Presidents series is that they are profusely illustrated little books. There are almost four dozen photographs, etchings, and paintings detailing the life and times of James Madison, the fourth President of the United States and the Father of the Constitution. However, this introductory juvenile biography is written by Andrew Santella, a prolific writing of books for children on American history, so this is much more than a picture book about Madison. Santella provides the basic biographical information about Madison but there is clearly an emphasis on his pivotal role in creating the U.S. Constitution and the War of 1812, which dominated his two terms in the White House. This book features a glossary, fast facts about the president, a parallel timeline of world and presidential events, and additional resources for young readers to help them better understand the life and times of Madison. The result is an excellent first biography of Madison, or any other President, for young students. Other biography series are going to provide more information, but this is the better place to start, especially for younger students.

James Madison on Religious Freedom edited by Robert S. Alley is a remarkable work on James Madison's views about religious freedom and how they should play a part in the overall fabric of our government.

James Madison is one of the foremost thinkers of the founding generation of Americans. Though he wasn't much to look at, Madison commanded a library of thought between his ears. Being well educated, (Princeton), he was an avid reader of polictical thought, a great legislator, and framer of the Constitution of the United States of America. But he also wanted the development of civil liberties, adovcating the idea of republicanism, and had the courage to want a moral society. A society that was religious, but not one that was dominated by a State or Central religion... in essence he wanted people to be free to worship as their devotion dictated... a liberty of conscience or a freedom of religious inquiry.

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison along with various others, at that time, worked hard to formulate a Bill of Rights guarenteeing this and other fundamental freedoms. Madison's ideas and actions went far in establishing these freedoms... a fledgling nation needed these freedoms so it would not fall back into the hands of the few and privilaged.

This book works through these aforementioned problems, with prominent historians giving view points of Madison by essays on the various aspects of Madison's thought on religious liberties.
There are selected Madison papers with which we read that gives a better prespective as to how Madison got to where he wanted to be... working the aspect of religious freedom.

We get to look into Madison's mind and find how he thought reading here about Madison's own religion, how he had the courage to doubt in a secular republic, and Madison and the first amendment. I found the book to be fascinating as we get to look inside, through Madison's own writings.

Those wishing to get a better picture of the inner workings of Madison should, without doubt, read this tome and it will clear up a lot about how James Madison worked his way through these times, not unlike what we are dealing with today. More wars, aggravation, and human suffering have come about in the name of religion than anything else mankind has known... the founding fathers knew this... what they came up with is an American tradition, taking these principles and making them work for the good of the people.

This is an excellent and comprehensive work that will fill in blanks, an you'll get a better understanding of Madison.