This collection of diaries and letters from the 19th Century, well inform the modern day readers on the roles and tribulations of three aristocratic Confederate women. The text specifically refers to Mary Boykin Chesnut, a genuine intellectual; Virginia Tunstall Clay; and Varina Howell Davis. The book excerpts of each womens writings are intertwined and make brief statement about each other. A reader is able to see the women's similarities and differences while still supporting their spouse's ideas and goals. A maturity is evident with the progress of the writings from Chesnut and Clay. These two women started their writing prior to and throughout the war. While Davis wrote hers after the war in the 1880's. The author's presentation of the excerpts are sharp and to the point. However they could have been more free flowing and in chronological order. Highlights of the women's lives include: their spouse's roles in the Civil war; as well as deaths, births, disease and injury; and the relocations as the Union pressed down upon the Confederacy. From my view point the book was well written. Knowledge and effort was put into the research and publication, though there were difficulties in following the jumping from year to year. This made it difficult to visualize, the women's ages as well as the correlation with each other. Particular events ought to have been added, such as the specific battles noted in the original letters and diaries. This was the second publication of Mary Chesnut's papers as noted in the book. It was stated that Wiley, the author, added and changed some of the wording to get a fuller understanding of what was written. He also removed what might have been vulgar at that time. In my opinion, an author's original writings should be left intact, and not altered by editors or publishers.

A QUESTION OF PRIDE by Michelle Reid. Clea had been young and naive when Max Latham chose her from the typing pool to be his secretary and, later, his mistress. To Clea, it seems Max only wants her for sex. Then Clea becomes pregnant and discovers Max is looking around for a replacement lover. Max proposes marriage, stating he is "fond" of her. Intense study of the consequences from a love affair.

THE STUD by Barbara Delinsky. When Jenna McCue decided to have a baby, she chose her best friend's brother as a donor. The coldbloodiness of the premise made it hard to get into the story.

A LITTLE MAGIC by Rita Clay Estrada. In a moment of weakness, Marissa Madison and Adam Pierce tumbled into bed together. Then Marissa must contact Adam and tell him she is pregnant. Adam tries to take over Marissa's life, but can't admit he loves her. Adam's growth and Marissa's insecurities are also well-defined. A good story.

I read this after i read On foot through Africa also by Ffyona Campbell, and although I found it an extremely interesting read, I think its effect upon me was somewhat downplayed by the fact that I had already read, what I consider to be a much more inspirational, thought provoking, account of her experiences. Feet of Clay is enjoyable throughout, but the whole experience seemed slightly less challenging than Ffyonas African experience. Although I would highly recommend this book, my advice would be to read it before On Foot through Africa, so that none of the importance and relevance is taken away from the experiences and emotions described throughout Ffyonas journey across Australia.

Stephen Aron's book depicts the two conflicting ideals of how Kentucky is to go down into history by pioneer Daniel Boone and then, the powerful Henry Clay. A very good book answering all the questions of historical Trans-Appalacha. I feel as if Aron could have shortened the book and still be able to get the point across of the two opposing sides.

An admittedly biased viewpoint from an author who would prefer to not hunt if he could not hunt with a dog - many do not have access to dogs, and are still successful.

With that limitation in mind, Mr. Smith provides a decent introduction to each bird's habitat and habits. His knowledge and preference for woodcock shooting clearly dominates the book.

On par with other general works on upland shooting - therefore, three stars.

This is a great book for those of you in Florida who are interested in looking for fossil shark teeth. The book is mainly geared to those sites on the West coast of Florida, mainly Venice. There are a good number of sketches of sharks with sketches of the sharks' teeth included for fossil ID purposes. The book tells of several methods of retrieving the fossils, and gives good tips as to how to find them. As I mentioned before the book is rather rough, but for [this price] you really can't go wrong.

In a moment of weakness, Marissa Madison and Adam Pierce tumbled into bed together. For Marissa, it was love. For Adam, it was depression and too much alcohol. Three months later, they meet again when Marissa must tell him she's pregnant. Adam is shocked, but soon tries to take over her life. It isn't long before Adam wants Marissa in his life forever.

Adam's growth and Marissa's doubts are well done. The reasons behind Marissa's insecurities are also well-defined. A good story.

You should be nice to old dying Apaches you find in the desert, they may draw a map in the sand for your kindness, a map to the Lost Adams Diggings, where the gold nuggets are the size of crickets, and they're just laying around on the ground, waiting for a prospector to fill his saddlebags. The dialogue in this book is positively silly. Pelon, the brutish half-Mexican, half-Apache, one hundred percent outlaw bandit speaks as if he was educated at Oxford, and has a sense of honor not normally found in your average outlaw bandit/murderer. Mackenna knows the map to the gold, so Pelon can't kill him, at least not until the location of the gold is pointed out. Mackenna, of course, is busy trying not to fall in love with the beautiful young hostage, and avoiding the amorous intentions of Pelon's Apache sister. Western escapest literature from the early sixties.

Smith is a black male law professor at Howard University. He selects documents which discuss black women in the law from the time that the first sister was sworn in to the present. This book has great statistical facts and is a good tool for arguing why affirmative action is necessary in law schools. However, I would have preferred if a historian had written this book. As it stands, this is just a scrapbook that included selected writings on the topic. There is much academic literature on women in the law and blacks in the law and it is not incorporated well into this book. In addition, there are a number of incredible black, female law professors out there and their work on black women's legal issues barely gets addressed here. In brief, this book is a nice piece to have, but it could have been better.

This book provides a good overview of the sport. The contents however is dated, and there is little of instructional value. Overall this can only be considered a primer for further reading.