Despite an over reliance on personal anecdote and pop psychology, which mars his book, Shelby Steele offers one really terrific insight, that "...the racial struggle in America has always been primarily a struggle for innocence" and therefore :

Guilt is the essence of white anxiety just as inferiority is the essence of black anxiety.

This perception yields an invaluable analytical tool for examining race relations : always look to see who has cloaked themselves in the mantle of innocence.

The great strides in civil rights came when the peaceful demonstrations of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. were met with violence and even murder. Clearly whites had much to feel guilty about and blacks properly felt aggrieved, therefore programs were passed. But then came the riots, some triggered by the assassination of King, and white guilt was replaced by white fear. Then came the confrontation over use of affirmative action programs and whites, the overwhelming majority of whom had played no part in the oppression of blacks, were able to reclaim title to innocence. Since then, relations between the races have become much more problematic, with temporary flare ups of white guilt, justified or not, after episodes like the Rodney King beating and the Mark Fuhrman revelations, quickly replaced by white outrage after the King riots and the OJ verdict. The general trend though is towards a relative lack of guilt, even a lack of sympathy, on the part of whites for the black predicament. This trend really came to a head in the fight over Welfare Reform, passage of which (with some Democrat support no less) would have been unthinkable just twenty years earlier.

The problem for blacks, as Steele points out, is that blacks have not abandoned the victims role. "Leaders" like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton continue to make claims for special treatment solely on the basis of skin color and historic bad treatment. But their claims fall on increasingly deaf ears and unfortunately serve to foster a corrosive atmosphere of black dependence on white largesse. Helpless victimhood might have some value, though it seems unlikely, if it was still at least winning financial and political concessions from the white majority, but to continue in this beggarly posture even after the spigot has been turned off can not be doing the black community any good.

One interesting newer issue to apply Steele's insight to is the movement for Reparations--compensation to blacks for the economic costs of slavery. I've stated previously that one reason the idea is worth exploring is because it might help to permanently dispose of this innocence/guilt idea. A massive cash settlement would in all likelihood both assuage white guilt and buy off black victimhood. This transaction, no matter what kind of high toned language the actual process was dressed up in, would be exactly as crass, self-serving and distasteful as it sounds here, essentially allowing white America to repurchase the moral high ground for the modern equivalent of forty acres and a mule. At any rate, you can see how Shelby Steele's way of looking at our racial divide helps to illuminate such an issue and strips away the noble facade to reveal the rather tawdry psychological moorings which really underpin it. His book is worthwhile for this contribution alone.

GRADE : C+

Shelby Steele's strong opinoins and in that context contraversial lifestyle choices (i.e., being a tenured professor having a white psychologist as a wife) leads one regardless of race or political/philosophical leanings to instinctively back away from what he has to say- unless you are a hard core conservative with a secret axe to grind. Yet this book is a constnt reminder that it is a lot more than the strange impulse that makes people look at car wrecks or moths fly into flames that makes you not just hear him, but listen.

This book can be painful for black people and white liberals alike, but it is a symphony of illumination and a love letter for every American. His unveiling of the (not so) secret architecture of psychology that lies underneath the actions and arguments of so much of us when caught in the race issue and experience, is a much needed call to stand up and regain the honor and integrity that has to a large degree been lost as we all continue to cross over into the promised land, but lose the spirit that got us there. I first read this book several years ago, and it has since become all the more important, as the changing information society is still making us all run to old expressions of made up social fears to mask our personal insecurities.

He has never been, nor I believe will he ever be, stupid enough to believe that racism as an issue has disappeared from the American landscape. Nor would he say that it has stopped being a dynamic deeply affecting if not destroying the opportunities, spirit and lives of many many people. in fact, if anything, he is saying that it is there almost as strong as ever, just in such a complex and hidden form that negative ideas and problems are prostituting once powerfully positive solutions.

This book is deeply effective and affecting, and would make you think hard about what Martin really meant when he gave the speech from which its title is derived.

Among countless other things, we owe Martin reading books like this with an open mind and courageous heart. He teaches us a great deal about what constitues our souls, which transcends color.

This tome by Shelby Steele was written slightly over a decade ago. However, the problems of race and class that defined much of the black experience in America at the time of its writing still hold for today. And, while I agree with Steele's general assessment of the state of black America, and especially with the solutions he outlines, I do agree somewhat with his critics, black or otherwise, who believes Steele tends to underplay the current levels of racism in our society.

However, here's the rub: Racism can be an excuse to fail, or a reason to improve one's lot to the extent that blacks are empowered to make racism less relevant to their individual and collective destiny. For what Steele is proposing is a return to the proud ethic first elaborated upon by such civil rights pioneers as Booker T. Washington and Marcus Garvey.

I give this excellent book four stars instead of five for the following reasons: 1). As it was compiled mainly from magazine articles previously written by Steele, it is a bit repetetive, and; 2). Steele draws quite a bit on history of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s, but I believe that by tracing many of our societal trends to the turn-of-the-century competing visions of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, this would have been a more well-rounded book.

At a brief 215 pages of double-spaced narrative, "A Thread Across the Ocean" as a book stands in sharp contracst to the Herculean feat it resurrects for modern readers. We have come to take instant communications so much for granted that we tend to forget that prior to a mere century-and-a-half ago, it took news many weeks to cross the world's great oceans. Though dwarfed in memory by such other mammoth engineering feats such as the Panama Canal and the Brooklyn Bridge, the laying of the first Trans-Atlantic cable in 1866 was every bit important in the delvelopment of the modern world, if not more so.

Author John Steele Gordon tells the tale with easily readable prose and superb storytelling. Along the way, he enhances the historical memory of Cyrus Field, the visionary entreprenuer whose single-minded devotion to the project kept it going despit many setbacks. Field's project was the perfect marriage of private and public enterprize in an effort that greatly bennefitted both. Field's story is as interesting as that of the cable itself.

The one main drawback to the book is that its brevity doesn't seem befitting of its subject matter, even more so since Gordon throws in a number of anecdotes that are sidelights to the main story. He commits a major factual error with one of the side stories, stating inaccurately that General Zachary Taylor led the American Army to Mexico City during the Mexican War when in fact it was General Winfield Scott who accomplished that task.

Overall, despite a few flaws, "A Thread Across the Ocean" is a worthwhile read that will be of primary interest to history buffs.

A thread across the ocean is the story of one man with a dream and the Herculean efforts it took to make the Atlantic Ocean and the English-speaking peoples it divides a 'pond'. Laying the transatlantic cable for the first telegraph communications from Europe to North America was an epic feat and one that deserve to be told.

We take for granted the fact that when the Queen Mother dies or the stock market in Germany drops that Americas with TVs on will known sooner than Europeans who have the set off. We take it so much for granted the seeming necessity of the global communications that it is hard to believe how few people embraced this idea after the invention of the telegraph. It was the vision of one man to span the ocean and it took him twelve years to do it.

Short on technical details and long on profiles of the men involved in the project; this is a book for those who enjoy history more than those who enjoy technology. But both groups will come away with respect for those who dreamed big dreams and made them realities.

In these days of instant communication, when one can send an e-mail quickly and reliably to any part of the world, it might seem unnecessary to examine the laying of telegraph cables between Europe and America. But the delightful book, _A Thread Across the Ocean: The Heroic Story of the Transatlantic Cable_ (Walker) by John Steele Gordon, gives a lively history of an epochal achievement which was only eventually a success despite costly failures, calamities, and mistakes. It is good to be reminded of just how difficult this beginning of our communications technology was to achieve, for as the title mentions, the story is indeed heroic.

The hero is Cyrus Field, a man of enthusiasm, determination, and optimism who would not let his cable idea die. The appeal of the story is eventual success despite many heartbreaking failures, but as Gordon demonstrates, the failures were mined for lessons learned, and each subsequent attempt to lay the cable was a bit cleverer, a bit more comprehensive. There were broken cables, unexpected storms, and suspicion of sabotage in the different attempts. The public was wild with optimism and then wild with mockery when the cables failed. One laid in 1858 actually worked to send a message from Queen Victoria, but slowly, and then went forever dead. The final success in 1866 came in large part because of the gigantic ship _Great Eastern_, the final project of the brilliant engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The huge ship was a bit of a white elephant, but was the only vessel capable of carrying all that cable almost three thousand miles at 3,575 pounds per mile. The coiling it into different levels of the great ship without kinks was an engineering feat in itself. The ship also took advantage of the perfected paying-out machinery and brake, developed by a wealthy amateur tinkerer, a device so successful that it is still used in laying cable today.

There is no real suspense to this story, of course; Gordon has, however, written an exciting tribute to Field, the other entrepreneurs, and the technicians who put an exceedingly difficult project into action. The cable, after many attempts, many years, and many dollars, worked and became indispensable. Two weeks after the cable was open for business, for instance, the market quotations in New York and London became equalized, as they could act together. The _Great Eastern_ went on to lay five other cables, and by 1900 there were fifteen, with competition between the firms that ran them. Wireless telegraphy, radio, and satellite communication have not made the cables obsolete; most transoceanic communication is still by reliable strands of wire, or of fiber-optics, beneath the sea. _A Thread Across the Ocean_ vividly tells an important and overlooked story of perseverance and triumph.

I just can't believe some of the reviews this book has received. Obviously, these poor misinformed fools thought this was related to something else, or they are completely ignorant of the impact cyberpunk has had conceptually and thematically across all mediums of expression...not to mention the impact on the technologies of those mediums.
This is an excellent short story collection...

This book is not a novelization of the movie Hackers, it is a collection of short stories by some of the best SF writers (cyber or otherwise) out there today. Fans of Gibson's Neuromancer "series" will definitely approve, and Sterling is getting better with age if not his exposure to REAL technology. Heavy Weather ROCKED!!!!

This is just a book of stories. I don't like cyberfiction, but it is just fiction. Plus since they are science fiction they are about hackers of the future or something not real ones. I don't know what kind of people hackers "really" are & I don't think the point of a FICTION collection is to tell me. As for the lame movie I don't think the stories are related to it.

I have ordered around 100 products ...and I have never been as disappointed as I was with this book and with The Art of Shapes. I bought them for a three year old child thinking that he would start getting acquainted with famous works of arts from all over the world. With a few exceptions the artists selected are completely unknown. There are millions of famous beautiful European and American masterpieces that would have been more suitable for a child. ...

The great thing about this books is that I TOTALLY disagree with the reviewer ...

The author has selected new and emerging artists instead of the tried and true. As a parent I enjoyed learning about new artists instead of sitting throught Intro to Art History again. My child has benefited from from learning her colors and being exposed to new artists.

I read about this book in a parenting magazine and thought that my baby daughter would enjoy it. My husband is an artist, so I thought that it would be a great book to teach her about art in a fun way. What I did not figure on was how much I would LOVE it. This book shows an artist's work in a specific color. It tells the artist's name and a brief description of their work. On the facing page, it tells the color, then translates the word into 3 other languages. It is short so it keeps my daughter's interest and she is facinated by the color. My husband and I have enjoyed talking about the art on the pages. Forget about the child wanting to look at the same book over and over again -- with this one, it is ME who wants to. I am buying the other two books in the series today.

I've always enjoyed Danielle Steel books, but the stories have become so predictable that I keep asking myself "why do I continue to read her books?" While I enjoyed reading many of her earlier books, I'm becoming more dis-illusioned with her writing. Her books have such a predictable cadence to them. They all "read" the same except that the storyline varies slightly! I read "House on Hope Street" on recommendation of friends and because of the online reviews. I thought maybe this book would be different. One thing that disappointed me was the length of the book ~ it is not a long book, barely over 200 pages, with large print! I'd really love to sink my teeth into a great book by Danielle Steel once again. Books like "The Ring", Jewels" and "Silent Honor" I'm still waiting!

Ever wonder what would happen if you lost the person you love? Of course you do. We all do. The moment any of us are in a relationship and we realize that our lives are intertwined with another's, you start to notice that they have a responsibility to you... to your life. If they risk their lives, they risk yours as well... for if something happens to them, it happens to you.

Well, in "The House On Hope Street", Danielle Steel touches upon these feelings, worries, and thoughts that anyone who has ever loved another has had.

This is a simple story about a woman [Liz] who has the "Norman Rockwell" life. She has a loving husband, a blissful marriage of 18 years, five wonderful children, and a happy (almost a little too perfect) family. Her and her husband ran a successful family law practice and Liz had everything she ever wanted from life and felt her life would end just the way she envisioned. Then, one fateful Christmas day her perfectly painted life would be shredded when her husband [Jack] meets an early death as he left for, what was supposed to be, a ten minute trip back to the office.

Now, Liz finds herself barely keeping her head above water while simultaneously being both parents, raising five children (one with special needs), maintaining a two-person law practice, and trying to make it from one day to the next picking up the pieces of her shredded "Norman Rockwell" picture-perfect life.

Liz battles from one holiday to the next, trying to make it through life without Jack. Then, a new figure is painted into Liz's life when an accident with her oldest son, Peter, brings Dr. Bill Webster. As Bill mends her broken son, he also begins to inadvertently mend her broken heart... and ironically... Liz begins to unconsciously mend his as well.

Can Liz write a new chapter in her life... turning the pages with Jack and moving on from the past to begin a new chapter with unwritten pages involving Bill?

Can Bill find a way to overcome his past and find the courage to fight his fears and hesitations in order to find a new sense of peace and happiness with Liz and her children?

I gave the book 4 stars (3 for being a average book [and 3 is in-between 5] and an additional star for great characters).

"The House On Hope Street" is somewhat predicable. Ok, let's face it! If you read the synopsis on the book, you pretty much know how the book is going to turn out... at least... you think you do until you hit a couple of twists that may cause you to question (just for a moment) your precognition skills. If you own movies, then think about this: why buy a movie since you know how it's going to end because you most likely have seen it before? Even though we may know or have an idea of how something is going to end... sometimes experiencing the journey is still worth it. "The House On Hope Street" may be predictable... but it has GREAT characters (especially the children) and as predictable as the book may have been... it was still worth the journey.

Like many of the other reviewers, I have and love all of Danielle Steel's earlier books. In the last few years, starting with The Klone and I, I became turned off by Ms.Steel's writing. In fact, I waited to read House on Hope Street and The Wedding until my name came up on the list at the library. Now, these two books will definitely be added to my collection. The House on Hope Street is a fast, easy, exciting read. I was in tears by page 61 and had to stop and put myself together. You actually feel the pain Liz has to deal with. You get wrapped up in her life, and by the end of the book, you can feel every emotion, good and bad. This book is a must for all of the early Danielle Steel book lovers.

Like many others, I found the constant repetition VERY tiresome. I skimmed a lot in this book, and read it much more quickly than I normally would a book of this length. I figure she probably could have cut about 150 pages with all the repetition!

And to make Bill such a jerk after they're out of the hospital is just dumb. He seemed *much* more intelligent than that. I realize people react after such a horrible thing happens to them, but it seemed out of character.

Danielle Steel still tells a good story, but her stories are getting bogged down in her words. We don't need to be told over and over and over that Isabelle's son is sick and that's why she would never leave the idiot of a husband she has. We don't need to be told over and over and over again how they feel about each other, or any of the other things she repeats ad nauseum througout the book.

I hope Danielle Steel reads reviews on sites such as these. The repetition has been an ongoing problem in her last several books.

Isabelle Forrester and Bill Robinson live in different continents but carry on a friendship via the telephone and a few visits here and there for four years. Isabelle stays at home with her sick child Teddy and her hateful husband. Bill is in a loveless marriage and doesn't want to get divorced because he's afraid it will hurt his career. Isabelle and Bill decide to meet in London for a few days to spend some time together. While in London they share a passionate kiss while at practically the same moment their limousine is hit by a double-decker bus. Their lives are forever changed.

The Kiss is an OK read. The characters are well developed and the storyline for the most part is good. However, there are some parts that are a little far-fetched, such as Bill's hospital bed being wheeled into Isabelle's room everyday. The story seems to get stuck at times and the same details are repeated, which seems is becoming a habit for Ms. Steel. But, once you get past the repetitive parts the story picks up and is interesting and easy to read. The reader is anxious to get to the end to see how the story ends. This is not one of Ms. Steel's best books but is OK to pass the time reading. A nice change of pace and escape in today's world.

Other than one of her earlier novels, I believe, "To Love Again", did I feel so much for the principals in this novel. My heart went out more to Isabelle more so because that husband of hers was just plain heartless. but to just be kissing and to crash like that, that was a bit much. But I got to give this couple one thing, they didn't carry on no affair, they took their time, and to be real, didn't nothing disrespectful happen in this book. Bill was so hard to feel that he couldn't love that he almost lost out on love until it was almost too late. I really love these kinds of romance. Ms. Steel made a good one this time. I usually read her novels just as they come out now for over twenty three years now,when I first read "The Promise". this one young girl had it, and I went out and bought a copy, and I've been hooked by Steel ever since. and I am not always a disappointed customer. Now when they make them movies is when I really get mad because they mess up the story line. Other than that, her books are alright by me.

I usually read right before im going to bed, and i just couldnt get into this book, the information was the same and it was all very predictable. Im sure that if i wouldve finished it, then i would have loved it, because i love almost all of danielle steel's books. If you havent read most of them, then your missing out, so stop reading this boring passage, and get into a book of hers.

I have been reading Danielle Steel's books for over 15 years now. Sometimes they do get a bit "all the same" with most of the characters being important, successful, beautiful people who live in "stately homes" and wear "important jewels and furs". Sometimes I think the characters are more about what they have then who they are. Despite this, I always enjoy her books - they are easy to read, romantic and make you forget about everyday life for a couple of hours while engrossed in the book. Personally I think her earlier books are more enjoyable and get more involved in the characters than some of the later books she has written.
This is one of those books about the "beautiful" people. I enjoyed the romance and the wedding planning but felt that it wasn't as good as some of Danielle Steels earlier books - "Thurston House", "Palomino" and "Changes" for example. The story in this book never seems to get developed as well as it could of been. I finished the book wanting to know more. If you are a die-hard fan you will enjoy.

I have been a DS fan since I was in high school her books help you forget all your troubles their are light hearted and have great characters. I loved this book I bought it without question because her name was on and it I started to read it and I really get into it. I got a little annoyed with Allegra at times she was rich beautiful and about to be married to a man who adored her and yet she still complained anout her life but despite all that it was a great book and if you are a die hard Danielle Steel fan then you will love this novel.

I would also recommend: Secrets,Full Circle,Jewels,The Ring, Now and Forever,Palomino,Fine Things,Daddy,Remeberence,Vanished, and Malice

This book is really an eye opener. It cuts through all the bull that we normally get in the press or from politicians. It suddenly puts everything in focus and you realize why things are the way they are now, especially if you were around in the 50's as a pre-baby boomer or a baby-boomer. I think it's even more important that people born in the 70's read it so they can get a grasp on where this country is headed. Intelligent, clear, well documented writing, it should be included in every school curriculum as required reading.

I am amazed that the other reviewer would tout the Reagan years as being fiscally "hunkydory." Reagan was the one who gave us years of defense budgets which certainly benefited defense contractors (Lockheed, Martin-Marietta, McDonald Douglass, General Electric) but nearly destroyed the country by running up the national debt to astronomical levels. It is now being learned that this debt was not designed to "protect" us from the Soviet Union, which was even then on its knees, but a deliberate attempt to destroy all New Deal social programs (Medicare, Social Security, etc.). And if the above were not enough, Reagan deregulated the savings and loan industry which led to a feeding frenzy by unscrupulous people thus costing the American taxpayer $1 trillion to clean up.

The 80's were truly the era of GREED and should not be held up as a model of fiscal responsibility, let alone a model for emulation.

Reagan was indeed good for a few; his friends at the top 1% did get richer - immorally richer. The rest of us learned how to tread water really good.

Barlett and Steele have done a great service by writing their books and giving the American people a chance to see what has really been done TO US.

Tis a usually natural reaction to want to lash out at the bearer of bad news, this book defines the limitations and restrictions that various pressure groups have inflicted on that dysfunctional corporation known as the United States.

"America: What Went Wrong" is just as important and relevant today as it was when initally released. America's overall economic situation is much worse today than it was when this book was initially published. This book accurately forecasts the problems America has as it loses its manufacturing base and became a service-oriented society (Wal-Mart supposedly has 700 Chinese factories of its own). Now the multi-national's factories are fleeing Mexico in 2002 for the slave-like workers of China.Unsettling for sure, I challenge you to read this book and don't be surprised if you re-read parts of it as the late 1990s Clinton/Greenspan artificial economic bubble unwinds into a 1930s style worldwide economic depression.

As a builder and collector of AR-15's, I purchased this book in the hopes of getting some new info on the military versions of the rifle. The cover of the book certainly caught my eye, and perhaps that was the intention. However, I found myself getting a bit "depressed" as page after page of non-M16 info was thumbed through. Finally, after reaching nearly the end, there was one story on the M4 Carbine. It was just enough to make me keep the book. That's more than I can say about a few other books I also ordered.

I was really disappointed with this book. It was more of a outlet for the authors to brag about themselves and complain about their ugly guns that were never excepted and produced by the military.

When you think "assault weapon" you think AR15, AK47, AK74, FAL, right?

There was almost ZERO info on the FAL. How can you right a book on assault weapons and not dedicate pages to the arm of the free world, the assault weapon used by over 90 countries?

There was little info on the AR or AK too. No real shooting techniques, cleaning ideas, or model info.

If you are interested in reading about the authors home made guns and a UGLY 22 cal. machine gun, this book is for you.

If you want valuable info on real assault weapons and there many variations look somewhere else.

This book has almost all the right things to be a hit. It has tons of pictures, gun tests, gun specifications, and hard to find information about guns never built. You can read it once and be amazed and then you can still pick it up and learn more. you can never stop learning from it. The reason I gave it four stars, though, is because of its lack in amount of guns. I understand it is the fifth installment in a series, so I can't wait for the sixth!

Twenty Years at Hull House is an outstanding example of the humanitarianism movement in America at the turn of the century. Jane Addams, the author and narrator of the book, was born in Illinois. Early in her life she began to see the effects of poverty on people. She recalls one incident early in her life of seeing a homeless man on the street. She asked her father why that was, and he replied that that was just the way things were. Her father was a Quaker and the most prominate role model in Jane's life. As a child she grew up wanting to be just like him. For a while, she aspired to be a mill owner just like him. Her mother is not mentioned in the book at all. Jane went to Rockford College and soon toured London. It was there that she came up with the idea of the Hull House. Hull House was a settlement house in Chicago. It offered day care and college level classes for women. Spawning from her work at the house, Jane joined many causes that she passionately fought for. These causes included working hours for women, child labor laws, and juivenile court. She could be considered an early feminist. Also from her work at Hull House, Jane started studing the causes of poverty and the effects it had on society. She was not satisfied with just the success of her house; she wanted to know why there was a need for it at all. Later in her life she joined the womens sufferage movement. Jane Addams was a wonderful reformist and feminist that sought to better the country. Twenty Years at Hull House offer insight into one of America' most interesting time periods.

Like many of her fellow "Progressives," Jane Addams was born in the midwest and received an exceptional scholastic and religious education. She was strongly devoted to her father and shared with him a reverence for Abraham Lincoln not just as a man, but as a living ideal against which all men should measure their ideas and actions. Typical of many reformers of her era, Addams was not attracted to evangelical duty. Missionary work left her with a sense of futile detachment from the wretched social conditions she witnessed in East London. After visiting Toynbee Hall, Addams decided to establish a similar settlement house in the rapidly-growing city of Chicago, where "the evil and vices of American life seemed to be exaggerated." Her experiences at this settlement house are the subject of this book.

Although, on the one hand, Addams seemed the typical Progressive; on the other hand she did not follow many of the ideas of the more radical reformers. She was very practical and refused to be swayed by the claims of certain social movements and untried panaceas. she did not become a socialist. Although she greatly admired Tolstoy, she found his message "confused and contradictory" and doubted its suitability to the situation in Chicago. She deplored any violent tactics associated with socialist and anarchist groups despite their "noble motives." Addams demostrated an understanding of the ways in which strikes had a detrimental effect on people outside the labor movement (her dying sister was unable to see her family because the transportation system was blocked due to the Pullman strike. Unlike most reformers, she also had respect for the immigrant cultures represented at Hull House. A labor museum put native sewing machines and other instruments and crafts on display for all to enjoy.

One observation made by this reader was the animosity on the part of European reformers toward the work of the settlement residents. Tolstoy offered petty criticisms and one English visitor concluded that reformers in America were indifferent to the plight of the poor because they could not recite the "cubic feet of air required for each occupant of a tenement bedroom." Such remarks smack of a "caring competition." Addams, however, was well aware that the settlement house experiment was far from complete. Jane Addams' honest and humble account--albeit long and sometimes rambling (don't let the skinny paperback fool you)--demonstrated her unwavering commitment to achieving the improvement and unity of humanity.

Although, I did find this book to be hard to read at times, I did find it very interesting. It was an inspiring book, showing what a group of dedicated ladies can do when they set their minds to something. Jane Addams is quite the heroine along with the many other ladies that helped her run Hull-House. A very inspiring story. We should all be as dedicated to doing good in the world.