As a novice Civil War Buff and North Carolina Historian, I found the book very comprehensive in its coverage of this interesting facet of Civil War, Reconstruction, and North Carolina history. Click focuses on a group of slave refugees set up in a freedmen's colony by Northern evangelists and Union military personnel and their struggle to survive in a post-slavery world. The book's rich detail is further strengthened by its ease of read and overall interestingness making it a true gem for someone researching or just looking for a good read.

Even though I am a self-taught researcher of local and NC history and genealogies, I had not heard of this publication until I saw the author on PBS TV. I ordered the book from ... and am still in the process of reading it. It seems well documented and contains information I was not aware of until I read this book. I have helped two different African-American individuals research their families and so this subject was of interest to me. I recently was in court as a juror and was approached by a bystander who heard me describe my "line of work." I told her of this book and how she could obtain a copy. She said she would like to add this publication to her personal library of publications on Black Research. I purchased this book for our local historical/genealogical library so that it could be used by everyone doing black research. I ony live about 60 miles as the crow flies from Roanoke Island and had never heard of this Freedmen's Colony until now.

I'm an artist and into designs, and this book is the best! Lots of great close-up color pictures! It also has lots of wonderful old photos of natives of different islands wearing the tapa cloth, and a lot of interesting text (which I haven't read all of because I bought the book mostly for the pictures.) But I really recommend this book for anyone interested in great native designs.

beautiful reproductions of an outstanding collection, along with photographs of the making/use of the cloth

This is the most spiffing book I have ever read. Lots of fish, boats, water, the lot. This fellow Bob is a very fishy fellow. He must eat a lot of fish (and drink a lot of water). I do not think there is a more spiffing book available on the Amazon website. Plus it is very learned, with plenty of long words. To all you people who read this - BUY THIS BOOK! It's spiffing.

The book is worth keeping as a future reference for the future generation of the island of Satawal. The arts of tuna fishing techniques on the island is gradually beginning to fade away.

I found it very difficult to find books on pirates suitable for young children--the majority of them are way too scarey and inappropriate, but this book is great--my oldest grandson, who is 3, loves it. It is giving him an idea of pirate life without being too frightening. He especially enjoys lifting the flaps in a certain order to find the buried treasure which to his delight is a chest full of candy! .... I recommend it highly.

Excellent hands on book. Kids love to lift the flaps to see what is under them.

Excellent book! Not only does the author spell out, in complete detail, the best trout streams in Southern New England, he provides basic maps of all the areas mentioned as well as a list of the feeder streams as alternatives to the main rivers he discusses, if you want to have a better chance of not running into anyone else while on the water. In most cases, he also includes a listing of essential flies (including sizes) that you should have if you want to catch the fish. I've planned several day-trips using this book alone and have absolutely no complaints. All the info he provides is clear & accurate. If you live in MA, CT, or RI and love to flyfish, GET THIS BOOK! You won't be sorry you did.

In Trout Streams Of Southern New England, native New Englander and experienced angler Tom Fuller presents a trout fisherman's guide to the streams, rivers, lakes and ponds in southern New England with all of their variety and fertility sustaining trout year-round. Trout Streams Of Southern New England features 27 maps of the major watersheds, complete access directions, up-to-date information on regulations and stream conditions, recommended patterns to match the hatches, hatch charts and fly recipes. Trout Streams Of Southern New England is informative, practical, and a terrific guide for fly fishing day trips, weekends, or extended vacations.

Do you ever experience that feeling of "goosebumps" running up and down your body when something - an emotion, a work of art, a courageous act - deeply moves you? That is how I felt when Julia & Phil Davies showed me a preview copy of their new book, Turks and Caicos Islands - Beautiful by Nature. I had previously been given the opportunity to read the copy, which itself is an awesome compilation of facts and information about the natural history and heritage of these Islands. However, the combination of the well-researched text, Phil's spectacular photography and Julia's meticulous drawings of selected species tremendously impressed me. Finally, in one comprehensive and beautiful publication, TCI-philes will be able to learn all about the country's magical wonders and how they came to be.

The 176 page, over-sized hardcover book includes 182 color photographs from all around the Islands and 60 hand-drawn illustrations. The lively chapters lead readers from the land and reef's formation through detailed descriptions of marine, bird, animal and plant life to Islanders' sea-based heritage and how recent change and development has affected Turks & Caicos culture. Besides serving as a one-of-a-kind resource for visitors and residents, the book seems destined to be used as an educational text in local schools.

Julia and Phil spent two years in the Turks & Caicos researching the book and shooting the photos and another two years writing the text, completing the drawings and designing the layout. Their creation is truly a life's masterpiece and stunning tribute to the Islands.

If you live in the Islands, you've probably already seen a copy of Phil and Julia's beautiful book, and l hope you've already bought a copy or two. For those who have not seen it yet, I urge you to search it out. Except for Bertie Sadler's historical survey of our country, Turks Island Landfall, this book is the first major publishing effort that focuses on the Turks & Caicos Islands exclusively.

Primarily a photo-essay, Beautiful by Nature is held together by the impressively astute and coherent narrative that outlines the entire history of the Turks & Caicos Islands.

Chapter One starts in the far geologic past. We are introduced to the millennia-long formation of the shallows, reefs, and sand flats that preceded the final emergence of our Island platforms. Chapter Two is a brief and readable short course in Island biogeography. We learn how the first signs of life came to these brand new Islands in the form of windblown seeds, migrant birds from north and south, and wave- washed, castaway snails, lizards, and snakes.

Finally, Chapter Three brings us to our Islands' human populations. In concise historical sketches, the authors outline the successive migrations that have populated these Islands and how these populations have impacted the land: Taino Indians from the south, Bermudian saltrakers from the north, and British Loyalists from North America. Chapter Four covers the Turks & Caicos Islands as we know them today. There is a section on the Salt Islands of Grand Turk, Salt Cay and South Caicos with their colonial charm and laid-back feel. The modern development of Providenciales is highlighted in another. And the final chapter is an outline of the country's plans for the future and a plea that the ever- quickening pace of modern development doesn't catch the Islands off-guard.

Buy this book. Buy it for the stunning photographs and Julia's charming illustrations. It's well worth it. But please, read it, too. The Davies' love for the Turks & Caicos Islands is obvious. And their ability to share it with us in beautiful pictures and well-chosen words is a gift.

The history of what is called America, seen from our Native perspective (as well as that of many other peoples), is often dark and sanguinary -- and thus is frequently obscured. Turtle Island means much that is Good to the Iroquois -- and to other indigenous peoples. And "Good" -- Very Good -- is Bill Borden's use of Turtle Island as he deftly, and with simultaneous depth and height, organizes and coordinates his many gifts -- profound and sensitive insight, wide and reaching clarity, scrupulous honesty and integrity, and a very human humour -- into an extraordinary viewing complex for the bold and intelligent reader who, with vision, reaches out to History and takes this critical and important trip down a fascinating River Of No Return.

In Turtle Island Blues, William Borden draws on his considerable powers as a playwright, novelist, and poet to sweep a rainbow-filtered searchlight over five hundred years of a history too often neglected or interpreted crudely by both ugly and well-meaning revisionists. This slim volume opens like a trickster's can of snakes and its spellbound readers will forever be a little nervous when offered "the truth." Read it aloud like a student of Chaucer and Shakespeare; read it to yourself, but do read it. Turtle Island Blues should be a required text in every American classroom.

In the midst of writing his five volume magnum opus The Christian Tradition, noted Church historian Jaroslav Pelikan was invited by the National Endowment for the humanities to deliver the Jefferson Lectures for 1983. The strange juxtaposition of having the noted custodian of tradition deliver lectures named after a famous opponent of tradition was not lost on Pelikan who incorporated this tension in his presentation. The result of those four lectures is compiled in The Vindication of Tradition and gives a clear exposition of the role tradition plays in Western culture - even when it has been explicitly denied.

The four lectures cover different aspects of tradition: rediscovery of tradition, recovery of tradition, tradition as history, and tradition as heritage. Pelikan surveys the insights historical research has given us to the development of tradition and makes clear the fracture with the past that has resulted in its modern rejection.

Pelikan at one point makes a statement designed to shock both those who reject and those who adhere to tradition without proper reflection. Classifying any acceptance of tradition for tradition's sake as "traditionalism", he bluntly states: "Tradition is the living faith of the dead, traditionalism is the dead faith of the living." It is his best known quote, and deservedly so. In one sentence, he has crystallized both the strengths and weaknesses of traditional movements. As a vehicle to explore deeper truths, it is an essential component of the culture. As an end in itself, it is little more than an albatross. When men like Luther, Jefferson, or Emerson rejected tradition as a source of knowledge, they were really rejecting a stifling traditionalism that had taken hold of their cultural environment. Any living tradition embodies the best of its cultural heritage. Dead traditionalism holds its culture hostage.

These lectures are a brilliant apologia for the role of tradition in society. Although here it is considered in a more general cultural context and not the specific case of the Tradition of the Church, the principles also apply to the Church and examples are explored. For any Christian trying to understand how knowledge is handed down through tradition, The Vindication of Tradition is indispensable.

That is what proper tradition is, according to Jaroslav Pelikan, and I agree! In many circles, especially evangelical ones, tradition gets a bad rap. Pelikan lays out in easy prose the reasons why tradition is not only proper, but necessary!

It is important to note that the discussion in the book is not focused necessarily on religious tradition, and can be applied to many areas of life. One could successfully argue that many of the problems in today's society is a breakdown in respect for tradition - and it is tradition that binds us with the past and preserves our heritage for the future.

As Pelikan points out, tradition need not be dead in fact, tradition ties us to the beliefs of those who have gone before us in a way that cannot be done without it.

In the end, I would call this a philosophy book, not a theology book, and that gives it, I think, a broader audience. All in all, an excellent little book to help anyone understand the importance of tradition in any community.

Excellent book. Well written and the facts seem to strongly support the author's theories. It is my belief that if Atlantis did indeed exist, that James Mavor's book provides the most compelling argment for it's whereabouts.
The premise that Plato's dates are off by multiplication of 10 is very interesting, and the author shows several examples of this discrepancy. This is the foundation of a theory that puts Atlantis in the Agean Sea on the volcanic island of Thera.
It seems that this IS the answer everyone is looking for, but all of the proof is not complete. It's unfortunate that the Greek government will not allow massive underwater exploration of this area. Hopefully someday someone will get the chance to further explore Mavor's theory and the legend of Atlantis will be solved.

James W. Mavor, Jr. Has done for Atlantis what Heinrich Schliemann did for Troy, and nobody has noticed.

Like most rational people I have avoided Atlantis as a subject only fit for airheads and crackpots. But I wanted to know where all this Atlantis nonsense was coming from. Luckily when I went searching for real information I found "Voyage to Atlantis". Mayor is a real archaeologist and oceanographer.

In this book he tells us the source of the Atlantis myth (Plato in "Timaeus" and "Critias") and quotes Plato at length for reference. Plato was in turn quoting a story that Solon had read in Egypt. Mavor's thesis hinges on Solon making a error in translation such that every measurement that should read in the hundreds instead reads in the thousands, while smaller numbers are not changed. This holds true for dates as well as distances and population counts. If the measurements in the thousands in Plato's account are changed to hundreds his Atlantis accurately describes the Minoan civilization of Crete and the Island of Thera (also known as Santorini) in size, population, military strength, and time period (900 years before Solon rather than 9000).

With a valid theory to start with Mavor then did the real archeology necessary to back up his claims, using the latest technology in underwater research.

If you want a good scientific look at the legend of Atlantis read this book.

This book is a remarkable labor of love by Indonesian art historian and art dealer, Bruce Carpenter. The lyrical beauty of the artwork itself and the story of Nieuwenkamp's travels in Bali and elsewhere at the dawn of the 20th century, are reason enough to own the this book. If that weren't enough, the book itself is lovely, and of far greater importance still, the text is well-written, engaging, and extremely well-researched. It's a delight both visually and intellectually. This book is also a tremendous source of inspiration and will fuel the imagination of visual artists, armchair adventurers, lovers of Indonesian culture, and incurable romantics. Hopefully, it will also inspire film producers. I, for one, would love to see a film based on Nieuwenkamp's life and travels.

Lavishly illustrated and clearly written by historian/biographer and well-known Bali expert Bruce Carpenter, this recounts a romantic age when the west "discovered" the unique culture of Bali