Without doubt, this is the single greatest western novel that I have ever read. It was a gift given to me as a boy, and I have reread it periodically ever since.
This is a magnificant epic of a novel in a single volume. The collossal enterprise of building the first transcontinental railroad from start to finish connects everything, but is really about Neale's love for Allie Lee- and everything he and their friends go through to rescue her. I know that sounds more like a romance novel than it does a western, but, trust me, this is THE western. You actually care about the many skillfully drawn characters- and it hits you hard when they die in heroic sacrifice. I know that some readers will see the characters as western charactatures and stereotypes, but that is only because Hollywood later overused them- the book came first.
By the way, Larry Red King's rescue of Allie Lee from Belle's "Dance Hall" is still the greatest single scene in any western novel, or film, as far as I am concerned.
Oh yeah, not all the language is "politically correct" these days. That's because the men who built this nation weren't politically correct- empire builders never are.
One more thing, the hero of this novel is an engineer, a civil engineer, and a great role model. At least to me, he was.

I started reading Zane Grey's novels about 15 years ago, when a great-uncle told me of the times, as a youth in the 1920s, he had read Grey's novels on cold nights in front of a fire. It must be close to a decade ago when I first read this title, and I can't help but re-read it every few years. It infuses me with wonder and awe every time.

I knew enough about Grey's novels, by the time I read this one, to know that Riders of the Purple Sage was considered his best. But when I got to the end of The U P Trail, I said to myself, "This is the greatest book I have ever read." This novel, which is focused upon the construction of the Union-Pacific Railroad, has something incredibly passionate and elemental about it that not only elevates it above Grey's other numerous titles, including Riders, but makes it a giant in its genre. Grey himself says in his dedication that "it is the book for which I have written all the others."

The book's scope is akin to a giant mirror being held up to reflect, in one grand and allegorical image, the breadth of the human experience in the building of the American West, and the destruction of its frontier culture. It's a tale of heroism, virtue, sacrifice, greed, personal ruin, redemption, betrayal, saintliness, violence, bigotry, lust, depravity, nobility, and so many other aspects of human nature it's hard to list them all here. It is filled with unforgettable characters who represent every social group involved with both the building of the railroad itself, and the white man's ambition to expand the nation to the Pacific coast. Some of the incidents and moments created by Grey will remain with readers long after they have finished the book, if not forever. And central to it all is the tortured story of the lovers Neale and Allie.

As to drawbacks: modern readers may struggle, in places, with the novel's tone and language. The dialogue of its characters sometimes contains the vernacular and political perspective of the era in which the book was written, and held up to modern standards it could occasionally be labeled politically incorrect. Readers may also have trouble accepting the extra-innocent, almost saintly Allie, and the numerous occasions in which her virtue is preserved against all odds.

Generally, though, I believe that the power and beauty of the book will be the primary impression left with those who read it. It should not be missed by anyone who is a Zane Grey fan OR a fan of historical fiction pertaining to the American West. It's a great view of the legacy in which all Americans live today.

The Undiscovered Chekhov is a compilation of superbly crafted short stories by the Russian literary master writer Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), drawn from his work in the 1880s when he was a young man in his twenties. These witty and original short stories are very ably translated for an American readership by Peter Constantine, who discovered these literary gems in the New York Public Library while browsing through old magazines in the Slavic and Baltic division. The Undiscovered Chekhov is a "must" for Chekhov enthusiasts and an essential, core addition to all academic and public library Russian literature collections.

The only elements holding these 43 pieces together are (a) they are short and (b) they are earlier works of Chekhov. They include character sketches, experimental literature, humor, groups of aphorisms ... all done with great wit and excellent writing. The translation is very readable; there is no sense of reading foreign syntax.

Examples of pieces in the book: "First Aid" is a short story in which the inepitude of the civil service/nobility kills a drunk "drowning" victim through folk medicine (tossing on a rug) and vague "CPR" instructions.

"From the Diary of an Assistant Bookkeeper" is a tale of perpetual hope of promotion based on the demise of the current bookkeeper given in the form of a diary.

"Questions Posed by a Mad Mathematician" presents the worst fears for a mathmatics test. Example: "I was chased by 30 dogs, 7 of which were white, 8 gray, and the rest black. Which of my legs was bitten, the right or the left?"

"Confession - or Olya, Zhenya, Zoya: A Letter" is a bachelor's explanation of why he has never married - the disasters (from hiccups up) that have foiled each proposal.

The remaining pieces are as diverse and entertaining. The pieces are the best of over 400 short pieces available from the early period. Even if you don't generally read Russian literature you will enjoy these pieces.

I purchased this book and gave it to a friend to read who had problems at work with a recent contract in which she and others were neglected in the pay increases. Michael Mauer's book is written in such an easy and practical style that it gave her the confidence to initiate an unfair labor practice with the National Labor Relations Board which was signed by the others in her department. The ULP was denied because it was not filed within the 6 months time frame but my friend is confident that the union will not forget them in the next contract. Kudos to Mr. Mauer for writing such a practical and useful book.

Finally, someone has written a book in plain English that explains just exactly what a union is and how a union operates. The Union Member's Complete Guide by Michael Maurer was written for the average American Joe or Josephine to explain the union experience from the point of view of the member or potential member -- in other words, from the bottom-up.

This is a guide book that describes the basic elements of the union in concise terms. What is the difference between the union and non-union workplace? What are dues and how are they determined? What are the rights and responsibilities of being a union member? What is a union contract? What is a grievance procedure?

Because the union experience is so rarely expressed or defined in this country, there needed to be a book like this that spells it all out. Whether you are already in a union or are thinking of joining one, I heartily recommend this practical guide, complete with glossary, "helpful contacts" and index.

Saul Schniderman
President, Library of Congress Professional Guild
AFSCME 2910

George has done an excellent job of photographing the entire UP roster for fans to enjoy. It also serves has a historical guide to Fallen Flag railroads consumed by UP through mergers.

George's main focus with this book has been to provide the reader with a photographic representation of every Union Pacific locomotive type that was on the roster in 1990. He used not only action and ground level shots to give a pictorial review but also down on roof top details that for a modler are simply gold. Since the view of most model trains is down on as they run on the layout you would think that magazine and book publishers would provide easy access to this information. Unfortunately most favor the 3/4 "wedgie" which does not show the horn, air conditioner, fan placement, etc. This book provides a very much needed remedy for those who model Union Pacific.

I found Klein's fantastic first volume on the history of the Union Pacific in the library of a neighboring town. Klein's history covers both the difficulties encountered in building the railroad and the financial/political scheming that went on back east in New York and Washington. After reading Klein's book, particularly with respect to the fraud and politicing, that one fully understands why railroads were feared and government regulation instituted. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the building of the Transcontinental Railroad and/or early US railroad history. (PS: I also found Volume II to be an excellent continuation of Klein's work.)

Professor Klein deals with the turbulent early years with a grace and style not often seen in business history. I had the unique experiance of reading these books in the reverse order, ten years apart, but nothing was lacking in Volume One. Particularly sensitive treatment of the Gould years, and a very cohesive and in depth analysis of the Credit Mobilier fiasco. Klein writes very well; a strong point when dealing with high finance. Great book.

Dennis Tamburello is pure genius. His clear writing simply brings St. Bernard to life in this scholarly portrayal. This goes down with "Ordinary Mysticism" as one of the biggest classics of our time.

intelligently written and great for everyone who loves st. bernard. books written by bernard are difficult to read, you really have to like this guy, he is very flowery and does not speak to us in our time. not contemporary. so in this book you only get small doses of bernard and it is very good. unlike leaders in the catholic church bernard does not shrink from giving priority to faith over good works. catholics today stress being good deed doers. god accepts us because of belief in Christ. this emphasis and other medieval thoughts present in bernard's mystical writings are a pleasure to read being examined by the scholarly author.

This is a story of the USSR which is no longer there (except for its people who remain unchanged since 10 or 20 years ago).

Today, you don't have to pay a doorman to get into a restaurant, and floors at Moscow metro are no longer "fit to eat off". However, old ladies in the street will still reproach you for wearing no hat in winter, and your new Russian friends will still make detailed inquiries about your salary and incomes of other "typical" people in the West.

This informal guide to the USSR is very accurate and well-researched and the authors have remarkable attention to every breathtakingly ridiculous detail of life in the State of Workers and Peasants.

If you have never been to the Soviet Union, you will think that some of the things described there are too grotesque to be true.

If you know the Soviet Union well, you will be astonished by the depth of the authors' knowledge; then you will be laughing out loud as, page after page, you recognize one Soviet idiocy after another.

In addition, the authors offer structured explanation of the things you knew only empirically: i.e., brotherly nations are those which embraced socialism; progressive nations are those which have not embraced socialism but are not capitalist either because they are still working their way through feudalism; hard currency is a currency of any nation which is neither brotherly or progressive.

You will read this book in one evening, even if this means reading until 3 a.m. You will then regret that you got through it so quickly.

This book is a rare combination of first-class writing talent, honesty, humour and a subject matter which ought to be handled only by a writer who is capable of not taking even the grimmest issues seriously.

This book is absolutely hilarious. If you have ever been to pre- or post-perestroika Russia, you simply must read it.

Essentially, the book is a tour guide, but one designed to be read (at least to get the full impact of the humor) after you have been to Russia. I could not count the number of times I found myself saying, "That's exactly right!" or "It happened to me to!".

The humor lies totally in the fact that the authors write in an very subtle, straightforward way that makes the "quirkyness" of many Russian customs and traditions seem side-splittingly funny. For example, you are provided with the step-by-step process for bribing your way past the doorman at a restaurant. Or the description of borshch, the beet soup whose "purple coloring will transfer itself readily to fingers, clothes and subsequent bowel movements." (Probably the only example of bathroom humor in the book). The authors are both British, and this is reflected in the understated style of humor in the book.

Once again, do not miss this book!

This work is primarily on the ideology of the wartime German sponsored Russian Liberation Movement. Its leadership, who had advanced under Stalin and had been captured by the Germans, attempted to combine Communist, Russian nationalist, and Western democratic beliefs, in a platform that would appeal to the majority of Russians, as well as to the United States. The main statements of the Movement, which the author examines, were devoid of Nazi ideology, and the Movement itself never received the full approval of Hitler and his highest subordinates. Because the leaders of the Russian Liberation Movement were able to express their views on the Stalinist system, without the constraints of the system, this analysis of their ideology, would be of great interest to students of Soviet internal politics before and during the Second World War.

Every so often a text appears which dispells the conventional wisdom of what we come to accept as history. Catherine Andreyev's "Vlasov and the Russian Liberation Movement" is such a work. This narrative tells the story of one of the strangest, yet most compelling episolds in the history of the second world war. In July of 1942, a Soviet Army general, Andrei Vlasov was captured by the invading German Army. He later came to lead a non-existant force known as the ROA, or Russian Liberation Army. Although this force had never exsted, he was in fact the ideological leader of an estimated 800 million Russians who were opposed to Stalin and served in various capacities during the war. Throughout the war it was clear that the movement was not, as their opponents had charged, blind collaboration with the Nazi forces but a political movement in its own right. The goal of Vlasov and his group was none other than a free and democratic Russian state. In the course of the movement, it was in fact the Nazis themselves that provided the strongest opposition to the goals of the ROA. They, in fact had desired to use Vlasov only for the purpose of propaganda against the Soviets. Andreyev's story tells the story of the various individuals in the movement and the tragic outcome of this movement. Particular emphisis is placed on different factions involved. In this story we learn about the soldiers themselves who were mostly russian prisoners of war, as well as the civilian emigre groups who supported the ROA. We also see the internal struggle between the Vlasov's group who sincerely wanted to liberate their homeland and the Nazi hierarchy who concidered the russians as being racially inferior and wanted to use them as puppets. In short this is an excellent story of an idealistic, but doomed group of people and their struggle.

Tom Pierce

With the secession of the Southern States after the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and the subsequent secession of the upper South after firing on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, reconstruction, or restoration as William Harris claims, was underway. Lincoln upon his inauguration extended an olive branch to his "dissatisfied fellow countrymen" promising them that the Federal Government, nor he, would assail them or their institutions if they agreed to return to the Union. Lincoln did everything in his power as president of the United States to keep the Southern states intact and a part of the United States of America. It was the decision of the Southern states to pursue war and not that of Lincoln.
William C. Harris, a professor of history at North Carolina State University, chronicles Lincoln's many attempts at restoring the nation to avoid war, and eventually to try and shorten the war in his fine work With Charity for All: Lincoln and the Restoration of the Union. (1997) Harris starts out analyzing Lincoln's first inaugural address and points out Lincoln's belief that the Southern states could not secede from the Union. Lincoln believed that the Union was inseparable and thus there was no legitimacy to the Confederate States of America, and their illegal government. Lincoln felt that individuals and not states had rebelled against the United States Government. Thus, Lincoln's task was clear, he had to suppress the rebellion and restore loyal governments in the South. Harris shows how Lincoln never wavered from this theory throughout his work. The states were indestructible and it was his job as president to return them to there "proper practical relationship with the Union." Everything that Lincoln did during his administration focused on this premise according to Harris.
Harris breaks down Lincoln's actions, from appointing military governors, proclamations, and other means that Lincoln employed trying to entice Southerners into rejoining the Union. As stated earlier the first attempt at restoration was during the inaugural address, in which Lincoln made it evident that Southerners had nothing to fear from him as president. Lincoln had no desire to ban slavery in the South, although personally he was opposed to it based on human dignity.
The second thing that Lincoln tried was the appointment of military governors in Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Louisiana. In this attempt, Lincoln was hoping that the loyal Union men in these states would reestablish governments that were loyal to the Federal government and the Union. For the most part this proved to be somewhat unsuccessful because these states were partially occupied by Confederate forces. Men such as Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, Francis H. Pierpont of Virginia and Edward Stanly of North Carolina served as military governors at one point or another in their respective states. Pierpont is responsible for the addition of the new state of West Virginia, because most men living in this part of Virginia were staunch Union men and did not own slaves nor support the slaveholding elite. Andrew Johnson served as military governor in Tennessee and later became Lincoln's second vice-president in 1864, eventually replacing Lincoln after his assassination.
Harris goes into great detail about the Emancipation Proclamation in which Lincoln declared that all slaves would be forever free on January 1, 1863 if the states that they lived in were still in rebellion on such date. Harris points out that Lincoln would have left slavery intact if the states had agreed to rejoining the Union before this date. The Emancipation Proclamation was another carrot offered in an attempt to end the war.
Harris continues detailing Lincoln's ten-percent plan in which he stated that if ten percent of the voters from the last Federal election took an oath of loyalty to the Union cause that they would be allowed to hold elections and restore state governments. The politics involved in this process are well explained and comprehensive. Not everyone was in total agreement over the restoration of states that had rebelled. Charles Sumner wanted the states punished for their insurrection, by relegating them back to territorial status. This flew in the face of Lincoln's premise that the states could not secede and therefore were never out of the Union. Harris makes this fact clear, and that Lincoln vigorously objected to this train of thought.
Harris also defends Lincoln's pocket veto of the Wade-Davis bill that would further erode Lincoln's policy towards restoration of the Union by taking power out of his hands, and placing it in the hands of the Congress, this too was totally unacceptable to Lincoln.
There is little doubt that Lincoln's plans for the restoration of the Union was a well thought out policy, however with Lincoln's untimely death and no one sure just what he would have done had he lived, Reconstruction turned into one of the most controversial periods in our history. If the Civil War was the defining point of who we were as a people, than Reconstruction in the hands of Johnson and later the Congress was the wedge that nearly split us apart again.
With Charity for All is a tremendous look at Lincoln's efforts to bind the nation back together in the face of trying circumstances to say the least. Harris has created a magnificent book that is current, comprehensive and thought provoking. His straightforward approach to a sometimes-controversial topic is refreshing and greatly appreciated. Many times historians try to waffle around subjects that are controversial in subject, but Harris is clear in his thesis and never veers from his point of view. The materials that he uses fully support his premise that Lincoln pursued his policy based on the fact that he felt that the Southern states had never really left the Union nor could they do so. With Charity for All is a welcome edition to the ongoing scholarship on the life and times of Abraham Lincoln.

Who would have thought that at such a late date, a historian could produce a work that so brilliantly and sharply alters our perceptions of the thinking and policies of Abraham Lincoln, one of the most written-about figures in history? Harris makes the reader realize that previous scholars have not been methodical or rigorous enough in examining Lincon's reconstuction policy. Given Lincon's immense prestige, contemporaries and historians have struggled to make his opinions match theirs. After Lincoln's death, Radical Republicans who bitterly opposed his reconstruction policy keenly felt the need to convince the public (and perhaps themselves) that Lincoln, before his death, had begun to come around to their way of thinking. Too many historians have mistakenly accepted this deceptive assertion. As Harris powerfully demonstrates, Lincoln's reconstruction policies were extremely consistent, and one must also say, very conservative. Due to his desire to prevent anarchy and restore order and stable, "republican" (with a lowercase r) government, Lincoln was willing to allow "loyal" Southern whites an almost free hand in reestablishing state governments, as long as they abolished slavery and granted African Americans minimal legal rights. Contrary to the later assertions of the Radicals, Lincoln evidently never determined to insist on voting rights, or perhaps even full legal equality, for African Americans. (He may have been willing to accept discriminatory "Black codes" or even a slavery-like apprentice system). Given Lincoln's immense prestige, it is more than a little disturbing to consider what the results of his policies would have been if implemented. As Professor Harris points out in his well-reasoned conclusion, however, one should not assume that Lincoln would have stood idly by and let white Southerners brutally and lawlessly reimpose white supremacy, as actually happened. Faced with such a situation, given his undoubted humanitarian instincts, he may well have concluded that only full, federally supported legal equality could salvage the situation in the South, and if he had decided this, he alone had the ability and influence to impose such a policy.

The author shares his experiences of living in provincial USSR prior to the country's collapse. His writings use enough color and detail to help you explore the country along side him. Even when the author describes the living conditions of the Soviet people, you are left feeling that his impressions are real, personal and honest; yet never over-dramatized.

Whether the reader is interested in the USSR or not (I was not particularly), you will enjoy the adventure. I was particularly impressed how open the Soviet people were and how welcoming of strangers. I suspect that a visitor to the US would not enjoy such hospitality.

An incredibly witty, lighthearted look at life of Dr. Walter Hixson, in Kazan in the former USSR. Dr. Hixson, a history Professor at the University of Akron, Ohio, spent 10 months living "native" in Kazan and writes about his life there. This book is full of anecdotes, giving the reader a true look through "western" eyes at life in the east. This book is an easy read, hard to put down and one you just don't want to finish....much like Dr. Hixson's lectures on U.S. History!