I first encountered this book while in High School as a small piece of it was reprinted in an anthropology textbook. Though Henry goes off of the deep end a little bit in the veracity of his anti-American rhetoric, most of his observations are fairly sound. Probably the best analysis of the educational climate and processes ofcultural and social conditioning in the 1950's that I have read. In a sense, education in America is still very much about "Learning the Nightmare" as he calls it, wherein children are socialized into an overly hierarchical and competitive environment.

Hamilton was one of the small ranchers who traveled to Dakota after the Civil War to find his fortune. Written years after the events described, the clarity with which he recalls the events and the details of daily life are amazing. The good-humored style and the simple stories have the power to make you wish you could have gone along with those hardy pioneers.

A wonderful compililation of letters from an infantryman in an Iowa regiment. Sgt Clayton was involved in actions in Missouri, Louisiana, and Alabama, including a stint as a confederate prisoner. Narrative anb pictures by Dr. Elder really rounded this book out. Clayton was an excellent writer and gives incredible insight into army life and the fighting of the civil war. Best of all you get a flavor for the general perceptions of the common soldier, the ones charged with the dirty work.

I thoroughly enjoyed this highly readable book, in fact resented any interruptions while trying to read it. Thank you, Dr. Elder!!

Daniel Webster contributed a large potion of the Civil War. To begin, he was born in Salisbury, New Hampshire on January 18, 1782. His parents were farmers so many people didn't know what to expect of him. Even though his parents were farmers, he still graduated from Dartmouth College in 1801. After he learned to be a lawyer, Daniel Webster opened a legal practice in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1807.

Webster quickly became an experienced and very good lawyer and a Federalist party leader. In 1812, Webster was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives because of his opposition to the War of 1812, which had crippled New England's shipping trade. After two more terms in the House, Webster decided to leave the Congress and move to Boston in 1816. Over the next 6 years, Webster won major constitutional cases in front of the Supreme Court making him almost famous. Some of his most notable cases were Dartmouth College v. Woodward, Gibbons v. Ogden, and McCulloch v.

Maryland. He made himself the nations leading lawyer and an outstanding skilled public speaker or an orator. In 1823, Webster was returned to Congress from Boston, and in 1827 he was elected senator from Massachusetts.

New circumstances let Daniel Webster become a champion of American nationalism. With the Federalist Party dead, he joined the National Republican party, he joined with Westerner Henry Clay and then endorsing federal aid for roads in the West. In 1828, since Massachusettses had shifted the economic interest from shipping to manufacturing, Webster decided to back the high-tariff bill of that year to help the small new manufacturing businesses grow. Angry southern leaders condemned the tariff, and South Carolina's John C. Calhoun argued that South Carolina had the right to nullify or ignore the law. Replying to South Carolina's Robert Hayne in a Senate debate in 1830, Webster triumphantly defended the Union states by a very powerful but short speech. He said, "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable," made him a favorite and made him well known among many people worldwide.

Webster and President Andrew Jackson joined forces in 1833 to try to change South Carolina's attempt to abolish the tariff, but Webster and the Whigs battled him on other issues including his attack on the National Bank. Webster ran for the presidency in the election of 1836 as one of the three Whig candidates, but he mostly only Massachusetts voted for him so he lost badly because no one else voted for him. For the rest of his career he tried very hard to get to the presidency and ran in many elections hoping to get his shot at the office, but it never happened and he failed every time.

In 1841, Daniel Webster came close to his idea of President but was only named secretary. President William Henry Harrison appointed him to this position. When he got killed in April 1841, John Tyler was brought to the presidency. In September 1841, all the Whigs resigned from the cabinet except Webster. He remained to settle an argument with Great Britain having to do with the Maine-Canada boundary and he wanted to finish the Webster-Ashburn Treaty, which he finally did in 1842. The Whigs finally pressured Webster enough so that he would leave the cabinet with everyone else in May of 1843.

The annexation of Texas in 1845 and the war with Mexico, both which, were disliked by Webster, forced the country to face the issue of expansion of slavery. Webster opposed the expansion but feared even more the separation of the union over the dispute of the expansion of slavery. In a powerful speech on March 7, 1850, he supported the Compromise of 1850, lowering southern threats of separation but urging northern support for a stronger law for the recovery of fugitive slaves. Webster was again named secretary of state in July 1850 by President Millard Fillmore and supervised the strict enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act. Webster's stand on the Act divided the Whig party, but it helped preserve the Union and keep it together for a little while after until the Civil War started.

what can i say? this book is exquisite! having only had the pleasure of hurried, cursory perusals at the local uni library
(thank god they have a copy!), i fell in love immediately with the beautiful illustrations and lovely text. of course the author is italian!

worth every drachma, i'd venture to opine.
break out the lire for this singular book.

William Henry Pratt aka Boris Karloff was perhaps one of the most underated and illused actors in film history. Cynthia Lyndsay's book provides a most personal and loving journey into this gentleman's life. Included too in her portrait is a concise history of acting in the early 20th century as well as a detailed portrait of the actor's craft. Karloff was the consumate professional on stage and screen and off. This book is highly reccomended for any interested in the craft of acting.

This collection of letters were addressed to Henry's final love, Brenda Venus. Right before I read this book, I read "Letters To Hoki". Picking up "Dear, Dear Brenda", I thought 'Here we go again, with some other chick trying to scam Henry's wallet!". How wrong I was. By the end of the book, I had a tear in my eye & thanked Brenda for the kind, gentle & caring way she assisted Henry through the final days of his life. Brenda made Henry's last days marvelous ones, even though his health was failing. This collection of letters should not be missed by any of Henry Miller's devoted fans, as it will make you much more at ease knowing his state of mind around the time of his final days. Thank you, dear, dear Brenda.

I enjoyed reading the book tremendously. Brian's humour is in the great English tradition of geniuses like Ben Elton, Tom Sharpe and John Cleese. Not to mention Benny Hill. Oh, no sorry, I mean: don't mention Benny Hill. As to the ending, a touch of the surreal. Really, could it be, would it work? Could a real Englishman do what Henry did?

A must read for anyone who wants to enter the collective psyche of those two great peoples, the English and the ummm.... ummm... for anyone who wants to enter the psyche of those two strange peoples, the English and the Dutch.

Having read and attempted to comprehend several James novels, it was with some foreboding that I opened "Dear Munificent Friends". I was pleasantly surprised by the accessiblity of James's most prolific body of writing, his letters. The editor has carefully selected about 150 of James's previously unpublished letters written to four of his close women friends spanning a fifty year peroid---from an estimated ten thousand existing letters. These four friends were very influential in the arts, science and politics of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The letters reveal a side of James that is not commonly perceived: he was a witty, compasionate gossip. The letters are a wonderful, very well written record of the social, political and scientific thinking of the times. Did your mother ever tell you that you should chew your food 100 times? James followed this prescription and wore out his teeth prematurely. I was gripped by his narrative descriptions of major events of his time such as the funeral of Queen Victoria and the beginning of World War I. I recomnend this book to anyone who has an interest in James and the remarkable period in which he lived

There are several published books of letters and diaries written by American Civil War (ACW) soldiers --from both sides of the conflict.

Enriching our understanding of the human heart in impossible circumstances is "Dear Sarah: Letters Home from a Soldier of the Iron Brigade," edited with loving care by the soldier's descendant Coralou Peel Lassen.

In my opinion it goes without saying that this recent contribution is refreshing, of great value to not only the modern reader but to posterity, too, to those who want to know more about the men --and women; the real human beings, who lived through and endured the American Civil War. This volume also illuminates the nature of not only the American Civil War but all war.

The Iron Brigade Soldier who wrote to Sarah was a young Union soldier named John Henry Pardington. The intense personal nature of his letters, what he writes about and how, is more than touching. The letters left by John Pardington offer a glimpse into the mind and soul of a man in the midst of a terrible situation and how he copes with it, how it defines him, shapes him, and how he continues to triumph over adversity.

After reading several pages I already felt like I was becoming familiar with the people "back home" that this soldier wrote about 140 years ago. I began to feel the pain of his separation from his wife and daughter, the pain of every aching joint and privation he endured. The more I opened up to John Pardington and the realities of his life at war, the more psychologically invested I became --and the more I read. Knowing the inevitable outcome made some letters particularly poignant. And painful. Often, I found the book emotionally overwhelming and put it down, reflecting. Sometimes I re-read passages with a fresh insight --from John's point of view. It isn't too much to say the book is, at turns and by its nature, not only a body blow but also eye-opening. Reading firsthand accounts of how soldiers of the Iron Brigade's 24th Michigan Infantry lived and died day by day in 1862-63 can leave one feeling "beat" inside, symptomatic of the tremendous impact the reality of John Pardington's life.

I think Ms. Lassen has really done an excellent job editing John's letters. One would think any student of history (or humanity) would want to read this book because John's words are universal. He was a Union soldier of the American Civil War, but his triumphs and failures, needs and wants, yearnings and hopes, etc., are an insight into the psyche of men away at war of all times. Her triumph is bringing John's words to the modern reader and to posterity. If one wanted to know how a soldier might be feeling or what he/she might be thinking, from Marathon to the Persian Gulf, one can find the essence of the human spirit, a soldier's dilemma, distilled and evolving in the letters of John Pardington.

John Pardington's human face on a large historical event; his evident love and longing; his deeply human and often tender observations made me again wonder why there must be conflict, wars that kill far too many John Pardingtons and leave the world a poorer place. Is there such a thing as a tragic triumph? If so, John Pardington's triumph in expressing himself, in his very being, is all the more tragic because of his death at Gettysburg. He probably never imagined his words would one-day reach out across the years to so many people. He would probably be surprised. Rather than flustered or embarrassed to have his innermost thoughts laid bare, I like to think he would ultimately see how his own life matters today, and always.

Ms. Lassen has helped John Pardington speak after all these years and still we hear him. And will hear him.