This book represent White's memoirs; and while it does tell us a great deal about White's life and his exploits in electoral politics, it also gives us a detailed account of the rise of the conservative movement over the last 50 years. Conservatives and liberals alike will appreciate the history lessons found throughout. The "behind-the-scenes" details of the presidential elections of the last half of this century are particularly interesting and insightful.

All in all, this is a wonderful read about a man of character, dignity and ability who is sorely missed.

The Red (symbolising the church, the scarlet of cardinal's robes) and the Black (symbolising the military, the uniform, etc.) were both options held out to me early; in fact, I rejected both for a while, but have found myself drawn back in the red direction.

The story is one of coming of age as a bookish fellow in a working-class family, then ambition (but not overpowering ambition; in fact, Julien's father wishes he had more), then shifting careers (rare in an era and country where one's path is usually set for life early; however, this was the post-revolution era in France, in which some things were giving way, some more than others, it seems). Julien is pulled by events rather than being the director and creator of realities; Julien finds he loves the affect of various roles in life (more than the substance and responsibilities that come with such roles) -- for instance, he loves the swagger and the horsey-ness of being a soldier, but doesn't particularly like to get dirty or have to fight. He likes the trappings of religious office, but isn't inclined so much to spirituality, and Julien ran up against this in seminary:

The seminary director said to Julien: 'Truth is austere, sir. But our task in this world is austere, too, is it not? You must take care to guard your conscience carefully from this weakness: Excess of feeling for vain exterior charm.'

There is love, a love triangle in fact, romance and thwarted desires, and loves fulfilled, if not completely. It ends with a dramatic homicidal act, trial, an execution, and a most bizarre funeral. The melodramatic performance of Mathilde (re-enacting an earlier story with which she was familiar in which the heroine carried the severed head of her lover to his grave) provided the most animated conversation among ministers and psychologists I have ever witnessed.

Stendahl often built a character's name out of words that were descriptive, which is sometimes lost in translation as the names often don't get translated in the same way, or may have lost the immediacy of their meanings over time. Julien may be a play on Julian the Apostate, enemy of Christianity; Abbe Castanede is decidedly Spanish and inquisitional; Noiroud and Moirod come from words meaning swarthy and mottled; many other examples abound.

This is a very hard book to encapsulate in such a small space. It is not easy reading, but it is rewarding reading.

And again, an interior dialogue of Julien in seminary helps inform me, and keeps me thinking (both for and against in many ways):

'In the seminary, there's a way of eating a boiled egg which declares how far one has progressed down the saintly path....What will I be doing all my life? he asked himself; I'll be selling the faithful a seat in heaven. How will that seat be made visible to them? by the difference between my exterior and that of a layman.'

Choose your path wisely.

His background was in personel which provided him with the opportunity to interview 250,000 people in his career. This comes accross brilliantly in all the characters which populate his stories, everyone of them infused with a richness and truth that is rare in all forms of fiction. His works are perfect examples of the medium, meaning that they could not be told in any form other than sci-fi.

Please give him a try. If you do pick up the collection, then I highly recommend the last two stories, "What Now, Little Man?" and "Hang Head, Vandal!" The former story impressed me with the most profound sense of the meaning(and meaninglessness) of life that I have ever encountered in literature. He is such an underated and unknown master of sci-fi, it would really be great for some of you to discover him as I did. And if you like what you see, then you might want to try one of his few novels, "When They Came from Space." Don't let the cheesy title fool you. It's a wonderful satire and contains an inspired debate on the differences between faith in science and faith in miracles.

In this book, Cliff White meticulously records the entire process -- beginning with Nixon's loss in 1960, and culminating with the GOP National Convention at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. White paints a fascinating picture of how he and an initial group of 33 activists changed America. Goldwater's victory was the beginnings of electoral successes of the modern conservative movement, first Nixon, and then Reagan. White's efforts paved the way for these future victories; the activists who were introduced into politics by the Draft Goldwater movement were the leaders of the 1976 and 1980 Reagan campaigns. The donor mailing list was the seed corn that raised hundreds of millions of dollars for Reagan, for other conservative candidates, and for conservative organizations like the Heritage Foundation.And most importantly, Barry Goldwater himself galvanized an entire generation of conservatives, giving a voice to their beliefs and giving them a reason to get involved.

If you have any interest in political history or the history of the conservative movement, you ought to read this book.

It was the bloodbath at Shiloh in '61 that turned Lucious Bratton into cowardly returning to his Peoria home. Once there, he found his teenage son Tory loathing him so he left for the West. Years later, Lucious is serving in Custer's Seventh cavalry when he discovers gold in the Black Hills. He decides to desert the military, seeing this as an opportunity to make his fortune and reconcile with his son, who blames him for the deaths of his brother and mother.

Before he can see his boy, Indians trap Lucious. He is willing to die to enable his partner Pettis to escape on the condition that he gives Tory his only possession, a gold watch. Pettis agrees and Lucious dies, enabling him to escape. Pettis performs his death wish vow by finding and giving the watch to Tory. However, Tory finds a map inside that leads to Lucious' hidden gold and perhaps the forgiveness that the now deceased father needs from his son.

UNDER THE BLACK HILLS is a fabulous Americana historical fiction work that makes the Civil War and the period that follows seem so real. The action-packed story line is filled with excitement, authenticity, and several intriguing characters. The father-son pair makes the tale seem even more genuine. With this novel and MASSACRE AT POWDER RIVER, G. Clifton Wisler is rapidly heading to the top of this sub-genre.

Harriet Klausner