This book was my all time favorite, however I know longer have a copy I have dreamed of finding another, the problem was that I couldn't remember the title. I searched for "meadow" here at Amazon.com just remembering that it had something to do with it and narrowing it down and viola there it was. Just finding the title and reading the reviews made me realize my memories were true. My daughter is just beginning to read and would love for her to have the book for her very own. We went to the local library and checked it out yesterday it was like Christmas to me. It was so nice to know some others loved it as well.

Memories of reading this book with my father as a young child still permeates my thoughts.

My older brother and twin sister and I all would sit mesmerized by Andrew Henry and what he could build. And the care and concern showed by Andrew Henry's family and the rest of the kids' families illustrated to us what a family is and should be to each other.

The detailed illustrations has made me wonder today why (or if) it didn't win any type of award.

I don't know what happened to our family copy. I'm certain a brother or sister has it "hidden". But, I hope to be able to obtain a copy of this book with its wonderful illustrations before I have children in order to pass along a treasured childhood memory!

This wonderfully illustrated book inspires and rekindles the imagination for anyone. Young Andrew Henry decides to run away from home one day; he takes his carpenter's set travels for a few hours and eventually he rests in a meadow. Andrew builds his house, then as other kids arrive at the meadow, Andrew builds their houses too. Andrew designs/builds each house for the kids to suit their hobbies. A bridge house with paddle wheels and sail boats, a tree-house with bird cages, anything you could imagine - he builds it. I remember having this book read to me when I was only 4 (27 years ago), reading it myself when I was 6 and reading it to cousins, nieces, nephews over the years. The book is out of print now (I gave my last copy away over 10 years ago). If you ever find it - it's a keeper! As a grown-up kid you could almost think the message may be "No matter how different we all are, we can all live together".

This book lays out in clear and precise detail the scientific and political bias which has led to the suppression of this simple, inexpensive and effective treatment. Because we were able to find Dr. Brown's book "The Road Back", a loved one who suffered from scleroderma is now in remission. There is still an uphill fight to get this treatment available, because the drugs Tetracycline, Minocycline, and Doxycycline are inexpensive compared to the patented, dangerous, and expensive drugs now used. Total cost of all drugs so far to us: $60! That includes what insurance paid! No drug company is going to sponsor approval by FDA, and the organizations sposoring research, as well as the specialists do not want to believe they have been following the wrong thesis all along. Every patient should have a chance to learn about this protocol and decide. Thse drugs are virtually risk-free, as witness their long term use to treat teen-age acne! Your doctor can prescribe them; an off-label use is perfectly acceptable. The late Dr. Thomas McPherson Brown, M.D. will one day get the credit he deserves.

I read this book because my mother was diagnosed with rhumatoid arthritis and scleroderma earlier this year. The book is well written and the information in it is invaluable to anyone suffering from these and related diseases. It is very easy to read. It is about the method of treating arthritis with antibiotics based on the theory that the disease is caused by an infectious agent. I convinced my mother to give it a try. Her first treatment was at the end of September. At that time, her hands were in constant pain, she would wake up 4-5 times a night and she was extremely depressed all the time. She had absolutely no energy to do anything. Less than a month later, the pain in her hands was noticeably reduced, she was sleeping through the night, and her mood and energy level greatly improved. We have no doubt that this treatment is working for her. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has arthritis or any of the autoimmune diseases.

This book is readable and makes sense. If you have an inflammatory form of arthritis, this could be the answer--an antibiotic treatment which has none of the devastating effects of accepted treatments. I just read this book and am looking for someone to prescribe and monitor the treatment for me--preferably in the US Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico.

This was the most fascinating book that I've read in ... well, I don't know how long! THE BONDWOMAN'S NARRATIVE is a fictionalized yet seemingly autobiographical slave narrative written by Hannah Crafts somewhere between 1856-1860. Hannah delves into the the mind and heart of a slave by telling the story of a young woman's personal experiences.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who chairs the Department of African American Studies at Harvard University, came across this hand-written manuscript at an auction for African American artifacts. He then embarked upon an amazing research project which explored the author's identity. From scientific analysis of the manuscript (handwriting, ink, paper quality, etc) to actual genealogical research (census reports, etc.), Professor Gates attempts to prove that Hannah Crafts was indeed the first African-American woman to write such a narrative. ...This is part of the book is intriguing although I do have one word of advice here - READ THE NARRATIVE FIRST! If you read the Introduction first, you will know much of the story before actually reading it (in his discussion, he gives away the ending!). By reading the narrative first, I found that I was able to reach some of my own conclusions before reading those of Professor Gates and I better understood the informative analysis!

I usually don't read books more than once but I would read this one again!

This book is worth buying to read about Gates' research efforts alone! You will be moved along the rollercoaster ride of snowballing excitement as Gates moves from first reading about the handwritten narrative in an auction catalog to authenticating the narrative to publshing the it as this book. Gates devotes the sixty page-plus introduction to his research and the appendices include the narrative's authentication report, the catalog of Hannah's owner's library(containing books from which Hannah borrowed plot elements), and testimony from another female slave that escaped Hannah's owner as well (Hannah mentions her in the narrative).

While some might feel the novel may seem un-original because of Hannah's "borrowing" from literature of her time, I found the book a pleasure to read. Historian/bibliographer Dorothy Porter Wesley (the narrative came from her library) concluded early on that the narrative was by a black woman because the black characters were treated as people first of all AND that some time would pass in the story before it was evident that a character was black at all. Long used to novels (from Uncle Tom's Cabin to Gone with the Wind) where authors, usually white, took immense pains to point out the literal blackness and lowliness of negroes, Hannah's assumed humanity and ordinariness of her black characters is refreshingly different.

Though some punctuation has been added to aid reading (major changes are bracketed to let you know where), Gates left in Hannah's mispellings, strikeouts and other revisions to keep the narrative as close to the handwritten manuscript as possbile. Overall, this book's an engrossing read from start to finish and I'm now looking for some of Gates' other literary finds to read.

I couldn't have been more moved or impressed with a work of literature than I was with "The Bondwoman's Narrative" by Hannah Crafts and Henry Louis Gates Jr (Editor). Sadly, this is a part of history and literature that I am not that familiar with so I was eager to read this and expand my horizons and knowledge base. WOW! I was taken back in time to a world that I can hardly imagine. As a 27 year old white woman living in 2002 I can't even begin to truly understand what it meant to be a black slave in the South. It is a completely different world and existence that I will never comprehend. The mere fact that she was a self-educated woman who survived to reach freedom should be enough to make this a wonderful work but, it's so much more. It's the human condition and spirit that takes the reader on an adventure with Ms. Crafts. I was charmed.

I found the Introduction by Mr. Gates particularly informative and was entranced by his ease and clear explanations. It is truly amazing how he found this unknown jewel. I am so glad that he did, because it provided me with knowledge that I desperately needed. Thank you!

While many may pass it by as just another horse book, Marguerite Henry's 1949 Newbery Medal-winning classic is truly the story of the bond between a slave boy from Morocco and a horse that become the patriarch of centuries of Thoroughbred racehorses. Agba is a mute young groom in the Sultan of Morocco's vast stables. At the age of eleven, he and his beloved charge Sham, the Sultan's finest Arabian, are sent as a gift to the King of France, only to be scoffed at and left to pull the cook's cart to the market. Throughout the horse's miserable series of abusive ordeals, the faithful Agba sacrifices his own existence to protect and comfort Sham, who never fails to return his devotion.

Beautifully descriptive of numerous cultures spanning Morocco, France, and England, the novel portrays the universal traits of kindness and cruelty in characters of high and low means. As heroic as the horse that maintains his pride in the face of humility is the boy. Agba's devotion is rooted in the special bond that comes from raising an animal, further reinforced by his inability to speak. He and Sham communicate silently, and become one when they are together. The novel will appeal not only to horse lovers, but to anyone who appreciates friendship and adventure.

King of the Wind is composed by Marguerite Henry. I rate this book with five stars. This book is about the adventure and friendship of a spirited horse named Sham and his horse boy. Agba the horse boy is a mute. When Sham was born he
was a weak horse but grew strong thanks to Agba's careful care. Agba and Sham were part of the royal stables in Morocco. The sultan of Morocco wanted to send six of his finest horses and their horse boys to the king of France as a present. Sham and Agba were chosen and endured the rough, long journey to France. By the time the small group of fine horses got to France they were mere skin and bones. The little group was laughed at and sent away lickety split. Agba and Sham stayed to help carry food to and fro the market for the kitchen at the kingdom. Eventually things happened leading them to live in many different places each time with different experiences. They had many rough times and sometimes by themselves. In one of the events a cat joins the boy and his horse. These three are quite n sync with each other and are quiet. The three endure many hardships as the story continues and in the end the story unexpectedly twists leading to a
happy ending.

King of the Wind was an awesome book. As you read this book you will come to realize you can not put it down. Whether you are a horse lover or not you will enjoy this book. This book is written for ages nine through twelve but yet people
of various ages will probably enjoy this book.

This book I read when I was about 9 or 10. I still remember how well Marguerite Henry's imagination worked. This book is about a loyal horseboy and a beutiful Arabian named Sham who is as wild as a lion. In the beggining when Sham is born, with the white spot, his mother will die and she does. Sham almost dies too, but the horseboy saves him with camel's milk and honey. Sham and him grow up together and the one day gets called to the sultan. He sends the to Europe where they perform for the king. After a while they travel all over Europe going through tough times, fun times, and times when they are split up. During the story a cat joins them. Some people are happy to help them when they are in trouble and others cause the trouble. In all the books by Marguerite Henry, I feel as though when she wrote these, her imagination must have flew wildly. What I mean by that is her writing is amazing. Some people think her writing stinks, but in my opinion, she's great.

First I want to applaud Ms. Weir on her research and attention to detail. It was nice to read a more detailed description of Henry VIII than what you usually get in this type book. So much of the book was spent on Katherine of Aragon and so little on the other 5 wives that I was somewhat dissapointed. There seems to be more information available on Katherine of Aragon, however I question the attention paid to some of the sources Ms. Weir has used. Not the validity of them but the obvious bias of the sources. And Ms. Weir continued her unfortunate habit of losing her objectivity part way through the book. I found this thoroughly frustrating in her book "The Princes in the Tower" and almost as frustrating in this book. Still, this is an interesting book if you can overlook the obvious bias she has when writing of Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn.

I must admit I bought Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII with great trepidation. I had read and liked a very comprehensive six-volume biography by an author whose name I cannot recollect, and was therefore wary of reading another author's work on the same subject. I am glad to admit I was mistaken. The book has been well-researched and is written evocatively enough to keep your interest from flagging. As a history student, I am used to poring over dry, dusty tomes; it was a pleasure to feel history come alive as Ms Weir brought to life one of England's most colourful monarchs. To all those who carp about her background research, I have only this to say: From all the reading I have done, her sources are impeccable. Two, you must realise that Tudor and Elizabethan England was far from being puritan. The life-style of the court and aristocracy was one devoted to the pursuit of pleasure. If I cavil at anything, it is that the author does not elaborate about the political situation prevailing. Henry VIII succeeded in giving England much-needed political stability.

Alison Weir has a fine start to a marvelous cycle of history books of the Tudor reign of Henry VIII and his wives and children. The actual beginning of this cycle would be Ms. Weir's book on the Wars of the Roses but this is the true start of the series that looks at the personal lives of the reigning Tudors. This book, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, is a fat and delicious book that brings these very different women to life for the reader. It is the way the author has of drawing the personality out of the sources that is the most rewarding aspect of this book. History lives and is exciting because the reader feels the life within the history. Alison Weir is a marvelous writer and makes the past both exciting and accesible. A fine book of history and a wonderful place to spend a few entertaining hours.

This book is about a little girl Maureen and her brother Paul who live with their grandparents. A ship called,The Galleon has a whole bunch of ponies on it. The ship gets shipwrecked in a storm and everybody drowns except most of the ponies. The ponies swim ashore an island called Assateague Island. There they live a good life for hundreds of years until humans come. Paul and Maureen are some of them. There's a day called Pony Penning Day. A pony called, The Phantom. Paul and Maureen want want to buy the Phantom but she has a colt and they don't know if they have enough money to buy both horses. On Pony Penning Day they find out that the Phantom and her colt are already sold. They go to the fire cheif and see a young boy and his father. They stop and say they are looking for a little boy and girl whowere going to buy the Phantom and her colt Misty. I liked this book because it tells you that when you want something the best thing to do to do is heip someone. If you want to find out the end of this book ,read it !!!!!!!!!!!!

JESSICA REEVES

This book is as exciting and touching today as it was when it was first published, in 1947. First of all, there`s the startling discovery that Western mustangs are not America`s only "wild" horses- the feral ponies of Assateague, off the coast of Virginia, also qualify! Henry begins the story with the possible origin of Misty`s ancestors: they may have been the survivors of a shipwrecked Spanish galleon. She then brings the tale up to the 20th century and introduces young Paul and Maureen Beebe, who are longing to keep a pony for themselves, instead of merely breaking them in for others. The rest of the book deals with their efforts to do just this. Paul has his heart set on the wild mare Phantom, but the siblings hav`nt reckoned on the attachment they develop to her young foal, Misty. The author is expert at capturing the depth of feeling that one can have for an animal, especially that of a child or youth who has just discovered this phenomenon. As well as being informative about Assateague and its neighboring island, Chincoteague[home of the Beebe family], and the annual Pony Penning Day round-up, Henry gives the reader a realistic picture of two young people dealing with a real moral dilemma: whether to give the Phantom her freedom. Misty is a rewarding book, no matter if you`re a child or an adult when you read it. I also give high marks to its two sequels. There just are not many writers like Marguerite Henry these days.

This book takes place both in Assateague and Chincoteague islands. Maureen and Paul Beebee happen to go to Chincoteague Island with Grandpa Beebee. As they are there they come across the beautiful wild herd of horses! Suddenly the most wild mare, The Phamtom comes racing across! As Pony Penning Day is nearing both Maureen and Paul decide to raise enough money to buy the Phantom. When Pony Penning day arrives Paul not only rounds up the Phantom herself...but her filly Misty too! As Maureen and Paul are ready to buy both the Phantom and Misty, tradgedy strikes. Misty is sold!!! How can this be? Will Maureen and Paul ever have their wish? Read and find for yourself!!

A fast paced book that you will not be able to put down! A little too predicting and easy but a great book for any horse lover. I definatly suggest you buy this book today!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~MISTY OF CHINCOTEAGUE~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Anne of Green Gables is about a skinny red haired girl who has both a short temper and a very colorful imagination. She really loves the little farmhouse but the Cuthberts might send her back to the orphanage because Matthew needed a boy about 11 or 12 to help him on the farm.

Sometimes her imagination gets her in trouble. For instance when Marilla asks her to get a pattern from Mrs. Barry she doesn't want to because she imagined the woods between the houses were haunted! The book tells about her life growing up in the 1930's. As she grows, she learns many lessons and meets many friends who help her to become Anne of Green Gables.

This book is wonderful. It is a great book for girls to read. I loved it because the character was funny, spunky, and could talk forever. She reminded me of my sister. Anne never gave up trying to reach her goals. She will keep you interested throughout the whole book!

This is one of the best books ever written and the credit goes to spirited Anne (make sure it's spelled with an "e"!) Shirley. It's not often you find such a charming heroine as Anne. ANNE OF GREEN GABLES is the first of a series on this lovable orphan, and it begins with Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, a respectable brother and sister, living at Green Gables. They are both growing old and need a boy to help out on the farm. But they got a talkative redhead girl instead. Before they can send her back to the orphanage, Anne has managed to win the hearts of Prince Edward Island with her wit and imagination. She seems to affect everyone around her - from busybody Mrs. Rachel Lynde to handsome Gilbert Blythe. And now, Green Gables will never be the same! . . .

It's not often you find such a spirited and lovable heroine as Anne. Captivating and captivatED, Anne is full of enthusiasm and fun, which gets her into all sorts of scrapes. This book is one that you are guaranteed to laugh over, cry over, and never want to put down! It is an ideal novel that you won't want to pass up! (Even if you don't read the rest of the Anne books, read this!)

A few weeks ago, I got really sick of today's children's literature. I had read enough mysteries and trashy books about romance to last me a lifetime. So I wanted something else to read, something well-written with a good plot and lifelike characters. I had to look no further than the first book I picked up- Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery.

Anne of Green Gables is the first book in the Anne of Green Gables series. It takes place, as most of L. M. Montgomery's books do, on Prince Edward Island in Canada. This particular story takes place in the town of Avonlea. It follows young Anne Shirley, an orphan brought to Green Gables to help Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert on their farm. Much to Anne's dismay, Marilla tells her that they wanted a boy to help around the farm, not a girl. However, Marilla changes her mind and decides to keep the dynamic young girl who would become Anne of Green Gables.

This novel is incredibly written, with well-developed characters and an intricate plot. I absolutely loved it. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a great example of children's literature at its height.

....

OK, just go order this book right now and read it.

Now that we have that out of the way. Wow what a story! Ernest Shackleton what a man. Since the south pole had already been "discovered", in 1914 Shackelton decided to dog sled across the continent of Antarctica! Unfortunately opon reaching the east coast his ship became locked in the ice eventually completely demolished by the ice flow. Cast out they lived on a floating ice pack for five months! When they were down to one small berg they abandoned the ice and sailed in very small lifeboats to a barren rock Elephant Island. Here the majority stayed behind and Shackleton and small group sailed again in one of the lifeboats over 600 miles to a whaling port! Talk about endurance, the word pales in the accomplishment of these men. And mostly in the fortitude of will that one man Shackleton had.

Some enlightening aspects:

The men on Elephant Island so desperate for cigarettes they smoked the inside packing of their boots.

Shackleton dirty, stinky and having just climbed over impassible mountains knocking on the door of the whaling portmasters door and stating:

"My Name is Shackleton".

I highly recommend this white-knuckle, bone crunching, gut-wrenching adventure story that you will not be able to put down and will enthrall you. I was so excited I also bought the complete photo record by Frank Hurly.
....

I literally couldn't put this book down. And that rarely happens. Yes, the story begins slowly as Lansing has to give us some background on the crew and some context for the expedition, which goes as planned for the first few months. But both the story and Lansing's telling of it become increasingly compelling as the events become more and more unbearable.

I mean, think about being stuck on a floating island of ice for 5 months, eating seals and penguins, exposed continually to sub-freezing (even sub-zero) conditions roughly 1000 miles from civilization's last outpost. And the truly horrendous conditions are yet to come! The story pushes you well into the territory of the unimaginable... and just keeps going. There seems no end to their trials, no constraints on the degree of their suffering. And yet all survive.

Others have said the Lansing version is the best, and I was very satisfied to read it first. It has narrative power. But I would also recommend you buy Caroline Alexander's book as a companion, mainly for Hurley's amazing photos but also for even more context on the flawed aspects of most expeditions during this period and the class differences among the Endurance's crew.

Still, this a story everyone should know. It really stretches the limits of what one imagines is humanly possible for one to endure. It's as if Shackleton and his men made definitive claim, for all time, to some capacity for survival that should make us all potentially much stronger than we tend to think we are.

The story of the ill-fated 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, bent on glory, but ultimately humbled to the barest thread of survival. The Endurance becomes locked in an ice pack in the Weddell Sea, and is eventually crushed and sunk. The ship goes screaming into the icy deep. The men scurry for safety onto the surrounding ice. And that's just the beginning. I'm frankly surprised ANYONE survived this horrendous ordeal; if this were a novel, I'd say it's far-fetched. But it happened, and all hands survived. Imagine an acute scarcity of food, months on end in darkness, an interminable landscape of featureless whiteness, no sanitary facilities, and all through this you're cold and wet, and it's windy, and the temperature's below zero. You eat your sled dogs. You're nauseated from undercooked food. Your face and hands are frostbitten. You shiver even in your sleep. And no one knows you're marooned. Your only escape is to travel by open boat through the gale-wracked Drake Passage-the most treacherous body of water on Earth. Imagine your fingers are frozen numb, and yet you must chip off ice from the sail, and raise the sail, and tie the lines fast. Otherwise you'll sink and die. These men did the impossible-and they lived to tell about it.

Henri Nouwen has a way of making us look into the places that we would rather not look. When we are drawn into this study of the Rembrant painting we find a darkness that leads us to an illumination of our own lives. In this book it is with great joy that we discover love and forgiveness as well as hope. This book is a must read for all Christians. In going to the place that I did not want to go I found the place that I needed to go. This is the best spiritual book that I have read in years. I wish we had published this book.

The Return of The Prodigal Son is one of those books with a special message that made me want to be a better person. If only it was that easy.

Henri Nouwen used his experiences and feelings surrounding the Rembrandt painting "Return of the Prodigal Son" coupled with time as the father at a group home for the severely handicapped as a back drop for this book. But it is not a book that is about his time at the home, nor it is a book that really reflects that he is a catholic priest. It has a universal message and is based squarely on scripture revolving around the story of the prodigal as well as insights gained from Rembrandt's painting

The pleasant yet challenging surprise of the book is how Nouwen takes the logical path from rebellious son through older brother and landing finally at the role of father and how the Father Himself calls us to become as He is. It is the first time I have read or heard a teaching that moves from the unrelenting love that the father has for the son in the story to the idea that God is calling us not just to accept His love as the younger son does once he realizes how lost he had become, but how God is calling us to become like Him and love the rebellious and lost as He does.

I found it very interesting how Nouwen see parts of Rembrandt's work as being reflections of or symbols of something great and true. These insights made the book more interesting than just a simple bible lesson on an old and familiar story.

Whether you find yourself in a foreign land or just outside the Fathers House, or whether you tend to feel a bit resentful that you're "following all the rules" and yet things just don't seem quite right this book has something important and powerful to say to you. If you are a leader in the church and want to be compelled to try a little harder and move a little closer to being the accepting and loving father that God calls you to be; this book has something for you.

I enjoyed reading this and can highly recommend it.

This book: Nouwen simple faith in a God who loves his runaway childern brings great insight into the life of Grace and being a follower of Christ. A must read for anyone who struggles with pushing too hard to be a "good" Christian. This book delevers to all Christians regardless of background and spiritual walk...Grace and love are the lessons of this text...and a hard one at that...based on the teachings of Christ and Nouwen's meditations of the famous Rembrant painting housed in Russia titled " Return of the Prodigal Son". It is also a good read because it gives us a look at the life of Henri J. M. Nouwen, he eagerly shares his own personal trials and how he has related to the parable of the Prodigal Son. This books is on of my top ten.

"Democracy in America", published in two parts (the first in 1835, the second in 1840), is the great work of Alexis de Tocqueville, a young, aristocratic Frenchman, who traveled through most of the Eastern, Southern, and Midwestern United States during a 9 month period in 1832. Tocqueville had originally set out to study the U.S. prison system but what he saw inspired him to write about much, much more.

The foresight he had for such a young man is really impressive to read 160 years later. What he saw in the morals, work ethic and government structure of the United States led him to accurately predict many of the ways in which the U.S. would lead and has led the world. At the same time Tocqueville was not oblivious to many of the ills in the America he saw. He very wisely writes of the cancer that the institution of slavery was to not only all black Americans, but to the white, Southern farmers and workers as well.

I hate having to give these books "stars" for ratings because in many cases it takes away from the ultimate importance and classic status of a book like this one. Tocqueville does tend to jump around and venture off into different topics that don't fit with the rest of their chapter, which could be attributed to his youth. Also, a few of his predictions, naturally, were way off. A native Texan, I had a good laugh at his view that "the province of Texas is still part of the Mexican dominions, but it will soon contain no Mexicans." But overall Tocqueville's view of America was honest, accurate, and the perfect explanation of why, on a daily basis, people continue to risk their lives to gain the freedom that only the United States of America offers.

De Tocqueville was an amazing man who posessed amazing insight into the workings (and not-workings) of American society. One only laments the fact that he was not a middle caste American politician arguing amongst great minds during the Constitutional conventions. Then again, we are equally lucky of the fact that he was a curious Frenchman of the leisure class who happened to be passing through. This is what gives de Tocqueville the ability to refrain from emotionalism and give us an outsiders view of what makes America good, bad and just plain different.

See, de tocqueville recognizes, as did our founders, that liberty and democracy are key ingredients to a healthy society. On the other hand, he points out that too much freedom or democracy lead to lazy, public-opinion driven conformity, over-emphasis on materialism and restlessness. Another contradiction de tocqueville points out is that although self-government is generally a good idea, there are times when an all powerful aristocracy is just more efficient. He can see all sides.
The best part then is that de Tocqueville doesn't come to any final conclusion. He just observes and reports on America's inner workings as seen by an aristocratic Frenchman.

A few reccomendations to the de tocqueville virgins. First, as this is the unabridged, it may be advised to read the first book, pause to read something else, then read the second book. I read it straight through and found that not only would I have benefited from reflection, but much of the second book is a rehash the first. Second, keep in mind during the second book that the word 'democracy' is also de tocqueville's word for 'capitalism'. The word 'capitalism' would be introduced only years later by one Karl Marx. So when de tocqueville says that democracy increases industriousness, what the reader should hear is that capitalism increases industriousness. This in itself is a brilliant observation by de tocqueville. Democracy and capitalism really are the same thing, different scale. The producer, like the political candidate, cater to the consumer or the voter. Both systems allow the individual to choose the goods and services he wants and reject those he doesn't. This is why one may also want to read 'Wealth of Nations' with this book.

The only other thing I can tell the reader before he or she embarks on a fascinating reading adventure is to keep in mind why de tocqueville wrote the book. He intended it to be read by the french who were not familiar with or had misconceptions about America. Of course, it provides contemporary America with an amazing historical survey. Like the introductory exclamation to MTV's 'Diary' show says, "You think you know, but you have no idea".

The specific edition I am reviewing is the Heffner addition which is a 300 page abridgement. I also own an unabridged edition but I have only read Heffner cover to cover. What is amazing about de Toqueville is how uncanny many of his observations are over a century and a half later. He accurately predicted in 1844 that the world's two great powers would be the United States and Russia. He aptly pointed out that Americans are a people who join associations and he is so right 156 years later. Although there are both religious extremists on both ends, ie fundamentalists and atheists, he was dead on that, as a whole, we are a religious society but that our religious views are moderate. De Toqueville shows how American characteristics evolved from democracy as opposed to the highly class structered societies of Europe. From de Tocqueville, it could have been predicted that pop culture, such as rock music etc, would develop in America because the lack of an aristocracy causes a less cultured taste in the arts. In a thousand and one different ways, I found myself marveling at how dead on de Toqueville was. Most controversially, those who argue that we have lost our liberties to a welfare state might well find support in de Toqueville. Here, 100 years before the New Deal, he forsaw that a strong central government would take away our liberties but in a manner much more benign than in a totalitarian government. There are certain liberties that Americans would willingly sacrifice for the common good. Critics of 20th century liberalism in the US might well point to this as an uncanny observation. By reading "Democracy in America," the reader understands what makes Americans tick. De Toquville was an astute observer of who we are as a people and should be read by all educated Americans.

I want to note that there are several editions of this great work and in deciding which to buy, be aware that each has a different translator. I feel Heffner's translation is slightly stilted but, he did such a wonderful job in editing this abridgement that it, nontheless, deserves 5 stars.