The current issues of the British "House of Lords" and the need for a "United States of Europe" led me to research the founding of the United Stes of America. This is a subject not much taught in British schools where we tend to to be complacent about our "unwritten Constitution". I found this book to be an excellent overview for a first time student. It raises fascinating revealations on the such issues as the States entered the constitution , inter ailia, to increase their sovereignty (actually their survival) which is the opposite to the view currently expressed in Britain. The book did not satisfy me for its lack of detail on the Founding Fathers deliberations but it has led me to further research. I suspect that this was the authors intent.

"Creating the Constitution, 1787" is the most atypical volume in The Drama of American History co-authored by Christopher & James Lincoln Collier. Most of the volumes look at decades (e.g., Andrew Jackson's America, 1824-1850") if not a century or more (e.g., "The French and Indian War, 1660-1763") of American history. But this 6th volume focuses on the year in which the U.S. Constitution was written and ratified. Of course, "Creating the Constitution" does look at more than just the year 1787, starting with the Articles of Confederation, which passed Congress in 1777 and were ratified by the states in 1781, when the Revolution was almost over.

The Colliers cover the creation of the Constitution in six chapters: (1) The Articles of Confederation looks at the covenant that governed the new nation in between the Continental Congresses of 1774 to 1781 and the ratification of the Constitution in 1787. Specifically, the chapter establishes the flaws in the system that required something new; (2) Danger Everywhere explores the problems facing the United States at this time in terms of foreign powers, Indians, Barbary pirates, and national debt, as well as questions over state borders and the insurrection of the Shays' Rebellion; (3) The Great Men Gather talks about the collection of "demi-gods" who came to Philadelphia to create the Constitution; (4) Compromises focuses primarily on the conflicting interest of the larger and smaller states, with resulted in the compromise of the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as the issues dividing North and South; (5) Principles looks at the guiding ideas of the Constitution: natural rights, the social contract, Federalism, Nationalism, and Separation of Powers. This is the most important chapter in the book since it gets at the heart and spirit of the Constitution rather than the letter of it that you get from reading the Articles; and (6) Ratification and the Bill of Rights covers the history of the ratification, including the hard fights in Virginia and New York, and the universal recognition of the fact a bill of rights had to be added.

The book concludes with an Epilogue that talks about the significance of the Constitution that remains remarkable intact. Ultimately, it is as much the analysis of the Constitution as the history of its creation that matters in this volume. The chapter on Principles epitomizes the goal of this series to strip history down to a "central core." Certainly this volume provides a more detailed look at the process and its results than you will get from a standard American history textbook. The book is illustrated with historic paintings and political cartoons, as well as more contemporary photographs representing Constitutional issues in modern times. "The Drama of American History" series is a wonderful approach to the study of the nation's story, although I would think the cost of providing classroom sets would be prohibited to the vast majority of educational institutions. However, teachers of American history can certainly use this model to organize and supplement their classes.

G. Harry Stine's Handbook of Model Rocketry is the bible of model rocketry. This book is the teacher's field guide. Nicely illustrated (which I give big applause), and simply written, anyone who wants to start model rocketry should treat themselves to this simple, yet thorough study in model rocketry, and a guide to the experimentation (safe experimentation, I may add) in that hobby. The authors and editors of this book have given something to the hobby that all of us enthusiasts should be proud of.

It was really great and useful to me

Mr. Utley's High Noon in Lincoln is an interesting book. Most of us have some idea that the western frontier could be a violent place from movies and stories read in our youth. But very few know of any of the real escapades that helped generate the material for the likes of Zane Gray, John Wayne or Clint Eastwood. Mr. Utley's book chronicles one of the most infamous episodes of western violence, the Lincoln County Range War.

This book is well researched and introduces many charactors (Lew Wallace, Pat Garrett, Billy the Kid and John Henry Tunstall to name a few). It is a solid chronology of the disputes and charactors that made Lincoln County a lawless, murderous place for a few years in the late 1870's. Warning for those expecting someone to be wearing a white hat in this tale, there is no romance in this telling of the old west.

Noted frontier military historian Robert Utley deverves credit for writing about this often professionally neglected event of Western history. The Lincoln County War is typically the domain of amateur historians and Billy the Kid enthusiasts and not professional scholars. This has resulted in what you might call a less than scholarly tone surrounding the discourse about the conflict between the Dolan and McSween factions. Utley, for the most part, avoids this partisanship and gives an even handed description and interpretation. But the work has some flaws.

The first problem is the problem inherent to historicism itself. Utley, as you might expect, views the Lincoln County War as a typical expression of violence on the Western frontier--a product of the zeitgeist as the "code of the West." By taking this position, Utley fails to see the unique character of the Lincoln County War. It must be said that Utley notes that the Lincoln County War was not a typical range war, nor a regular case of frontier vigilantism. No, it appears the mere fact that violence occured and it was on the frontier made it a "typical case of frontier violence." Considering the regularity of violence in human relations throughout history it is a bit disengenous to single out frontier violence in the 1870s in New Mexico from, say, European violence of that period, or indeed violence anywhere around the globe at that time. The second problem is that, in his desire to be neutral and not take sides, Utley fails to see the obviously more sinister character and motives of the Dolan faction. In particular, Utley, apparently under the influence a a couple of amateur historians, describes Brady as an honest and competent lawman and Col. Dudley as a blustering drunk but not necessarily as an overt Dolan supporter. If Sheriff Brady was honest and competent I would hate to see what Utley considered dishonest and corrupt. Also, there is a great deal of documentary evidence that Dolan and Dudley conspired prior to Dudley's intervention in the five day battle that resulted in McSween's death. I find it hard to believe that Utley was not aware of this evidence. For whatever reason (probably in the desire to remain neutral and not present one side as right and the fact that Utley is a military historian and therefore partial to military figures and lawmen) he chose not to include it.

All in all, I would certainly recommend this book. Despite a few flaws, it is an important step toward improving the level of debate on the Lincoln County War. Utley, as a writer of history, is second to none. He writes clearly but with an engaging sense of style and drama that gives life to his subjects without romanticizing or, just as importantly, disparaging the past.

We all "know" the story of Billy the Kid from sources like "The Left Handed Gun," "The Tall Man," and most lately "Young Guns I & II." What a surprise it becomes to learn that Billy the Kid was little more than a footnote in that bloody and lawless chapter of Western History known as the Lincoln County War.

The remarkable thing about Utley's book is that it's a scholarly study of the effects of the breakdown of law and order in a frontier community. Why, then, is it such an interesting, exciting reading experience? How can it be so entertaining when its aim was to be educational? Utley works with an intriguing subject matter and presents it in a workmanlike fashion.

We learn the real issues, the real protagonists, the real course of events, and the real winners. The truth is even more remarkable than all that Hollywood fiction. Utley pulls no punches in describing the hardship and suffering caused by strong willed parties contesting economic issues by extralegal means, and the unfortunate consequences of mixing guns, alcohol, and the "Code of the West."

Okay, I have to admit that I went to high school with David Long, so I may be a bit biased. However, as a dedicated fiction reader who ventures into history, I must say that I learned a lot about not only the election, but Lincoln himself. David is an unadulterated Lincoln fan, and the book is written from a mid-western point of view, which I found refreshing, since we normally hear the Southern or the Yankee version of the war. The basic premise that Lincoln showed incredible courage in even holding the election in a time of crisis was most interesting, but the sections on the racial diatribes of Lincoln's opponents after the Emancipation Proclamation are fascinating. Well worth the read for even the modest history buff. This book is almost too well documented which is hardly a sin, and he rarely veers into personal opinion and speculation, and certainly never wildly. Definitely worth the time.

Those readers who hate unsupported assertions and enjoy copious citations--and I am one--will love this work.

The Title of Professor Neely's biography of Lincoln is taken from Lincoln's second Message to Congress dated December 1, 1862. It is an inspiring phrase and an apt title for a Lincoln biography. Professor Neely's biography is good and solid in its analysis of Lincoln's life. It lacks, however, something of the eloquence and vision of the title and of Lincoln's words. We never learn why Lincoln considered the United States "the Last Best Hope of Earth" or what that can mean for our country today.

That said, this book is a good introduction to Lincoln and his Presidency. The book skims briefly over Lincoln's life before he became the 16th President. There are advantages to this, but the treatment of the Lincoln-Douglas debates and of the Kansas-Nebraska Act which led to them is too brief to help understand sucession and the Civil War which followed.

The book's treatment of Lincoln's relationship with his Generals and of the strategy of the War is probably the best single chapter. It has something to teach even those who are familiar with the military history of the war. The chapter on Lincoln as a pragmatic politician and on the 1864 campaign is also well done. The book treats the Emancipation Proclamation at length but to me anyway left something to be desired. (The text and some explicit treatment of it would help) and discusses the fate of Civil Liberties during the War and domestic development during the war in good but not dispositive detail.

If you are looking for an understanding of Lincoln and of the Civil War this is a good place to start but not to end. I suggest reading the book together with the complilation of Lincoln's own speeches and writings in the Library of America series.

I really enjoyed this work. I felt it could have been more in-depth, but only so much can be expected from its relatively short length. It is a good resource and point of departure for the Lincoln historian or enthusiast, but I would recommend additional reading to fill in the gaps.

This book is an excellent insight into the design and production of the unibody Lincolns produced from 1958 through 1969. The author gives you the behind-the-scene view of bringing the Lincolns to production as well as specifications of the different models produced during that period. Anyone interested in these 'classic' Lincolns and Continetals would be pleased with this publication.

This is a good book for those interested in Lincoln's. It contains many photographs, in black and white, of the design stages and final production models. It also has ads used in magazines of the various Lincoln's. There's also several pages on Presidential Lincoln's and their features. The only drawback is the fact it's not in color. Otherwise it's a good book for those of us who know "what a luxury car should be."

I was not sure whether I wanted to read a biography of Farragut after having read Loyall Farragut's biography of his father, but I enjoyed Duffy's book. He does not blindly glorify Farragut's memory, but clearly shows why David Farragut's long career in the Navy and perceptive intellect made him one of the most effective military leaders during the Civil War. Duffy is also one of the few authors/historians to portray Adm. David Dixon Porter in a negative light by shedding light on Porter's attempts to upstage and undermine Farragut's accomplishments via his connections in Washington.

I read this book when it was first published in 1997 and although I had never heard of Admiral David Farragut I had heard "Damn the torpedoes..." from some where (I'm an Australian!). I found this book to be a very easy to read biography of a very interesting man. I have very limited knowledge of naval matters (I was a grunt) but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was enjoyable to read and the battle scenes were vivid and easy to follow. I would recommend this book to anybody who has an interest in the American Civil War.

Professor John Diggins's study is part history, part philosophy, and part polemic. The title of the book suggests a study of Abraham Lincoln and his impact on American values. The exploration of this subject alone is a formidable task, but Professor Diggins adds to it with his discussions of the American Revolution, the political philosophy of Locke, the observations on American character of de Tocqueville, the political economic theorizing of Veblen and Weber, the studies of American liberalism by Louis Hartz, and much more.

Professor Diggins argues against those scholars who see Lincoln exclusively as a pragmatic policitican and claims that our Sixteenth President sought a foundational, non-relativistic source for our political values in the principle that all men are created equal, and in the right of all to work and to strive to own property and to better themselves. Lincolns' philosophy, Diggins claims, had its roots in the Declaration of Independence and in Lockean ideas. His reading of Lincoln is supported by discussions of numberous speeches and writings, most of which can be found in the wonderful two-volume Library of America edition of Lincoln's writings.

The broad targets of Professor Diggins's book are philosophical relativists. Much of the book, however, is devoted to a polemic against modern multiculturalism and deconstruction. Lincoln, the philosophy of consensus (one shared broadly by Americans irrespective of their interest group, race, sex, status), and the value of work motivated by material self-interest are defended as an integral part of the American vision, striven for by all and, paradoxically, expanding the scope of our liberties.

The book suffers, I think, from being overly ambitious and from its structure. The arguments are unduly repetitive and this, I think, hinders Professor Diggins from developing them with the depth they deserve. The book strays too far from Lincoln. While much of the discussion of other figures in the book is valuable and illuminating, particularly the discussion of Professor Hartz and of the Federalists, it moves too far from Lincoln or, more precisely, it gives the book a loose free-wheeling character with ideas suggested rather than sufficiently developed. Similarly, Professor Diggins's criticism of multiculturalism, with which I greatly sympathize, is not well integrated with the rest of the book. It is simply too much to do a political polemic, a study of Lincoln, and a treatment of American intellectual history in a single, relatively short volume.

These quibbles to one side, the work is well worth reading. It explores our American heritage, challenges prevailing orthodoxies and offers much for further study and reflection. This is a worthwhile exploration of important issues in the nature of our precious American experience.

This book presents an excellent and very articulate summary of not only President Lincoln, but the entire nation as a whole. It sure seems that John Diggins has been 'diggin' through a lot of material, and has come up with excellent research, and it shows in the quality of this publication. Two thumbs up!

The author covers the Joint Committee activities in detail and makes a convincing argument about their goals and actual accomplishments. Bruce Tap gets into many primary sources to paint a complete picture. However, the book is very readable and doesn't bog down in the details. It is a very important addition to Civil War historiography and closes a gap in the activities of Congress during this period.

In this penetrating study of the Joint Congressional Committee on the conduct of the war Bruce Tap shows us the danger of giving Politicians too much control over military affairs. The Committee's radical majority almost certainly played a role in persuading Abraham Lin- coln to turn the Civil War into a war for slave liberation, but at a terrible cost.The Committee had this bizarre idea that wars are won not by military professionalism but rather by superior ideology. Consequently the Committee harassed and discredited competent Generals who happened to be Democrats. At the same time they promoted the careers of incompetent Generals who expressed Abolitionist sentiments. Considering all this it is almost a miracle that the Union won the war. This book is a cautionary tale about what can happen when a divi- ded nation goes to war. Even if you are not a Civil War buff this book is well worth reading.

Abe Lincoln gets sent into a time machine and doesn't rembember anything. If they don't get Abe Lincoln back to the past, time will be totally be changed. Brian doesn't want Abe to go back because if he doesn't Brian gets rich and Cody and Max will disappear.