3 comments about Civil War in the Southwest: Recollections of the Sibley Brigade (Canesco-Keck History Series, 4).

1. Civil War In The Southwest: Recollections Of The Sibley Brigade by Civil War scholar and historian Jerry Thompson presents eighteen distinctive episodes written by members of General Henry Hopkins Sibley's command who fought and traveled more than eight thousand miles through snake-infested bayous to snow-capped mountains to fight and die in more than sixteen major battles of the American Civil War. The brigade consisted of young, zealous Texans who sought to invade New Mexico Territory as a step toward the Confederate conquest of Colorado and California in order to seize their resources (including the gold fields) in support of the South. This compendium of eye witness accounts is positively riveting and is enthusiastically recommended as a unique, invaluable contribution to Civil War Studies supplemental reading lists and reference collections.



2. In Civil War in the Southwest, Thompson has edited the accounts of several members of Sibley's Brigade in its New Mexico campaign, the accounts having been printed in the Overton Sharp Shooter in East Texas in the late 19th Century.

   The accounts are quite readable, some even humorous. The accounts of major battles are accompanied by battle maps provided by Frazier. While the accounts focus on the major occurances within the campaign, they are filled with minutia as well, allowing the brigade to live and ride on again, as vividly as they did 140 years before.

   While the names of many soldiers appear in the accounts, Thompson made no effort to provide complete troop muster rolls, focusing instead only on editing the newspaper accounts. Where names do appear, Thompson has end notes with more information on the soldier, gleaned from a variety of sources.




3. Martin H. Hall was the first historian to write about the campaign of the Sibley Brigade in Arizona and New Mexico, but Jerry D. Thompson's books increase our knowledge about the subject by using an impressive array of newly discovered sources. In "Civil War in the Southwest: Recollections of the Sibley Brigade", Thompson provide a new and deeper account of the thoughts and fights of the young Texans in butternut who attempted to conquer the Southwest for the Confederacy. Now, among the outstanding books concerning the Civil War in the Southwest, Thompson's book is one of the best ones, it is a "must" for all the Civil War buffs.
   Serge P. Noirsain, Belgian Historian. Author of "La flotte européenne de la Confédération sudiste" and "La Confédération sudiste, Mythes et Réalités".

1 comments about Great Depression and a Teenager's Fight to Survive: A Runaway Youth's Adventures in the Great Depression.

1. It was indeed an outstanding surprise to read the powerful and charming biographical books witten by Duval Edwards: "The Great Depression" and "The Senator and the Runaway Teenager". Here you have an exemplary life: a fighting soul, a hard-working boy, a lawyer, a soldier, and a father. These are the role models that America needs, not the phony material that the media presents as examples to our youth. Duval Edwards represents the best that America has to offer to the world - a poor young man, coming out of poverty through hard work, stamina, ingenuity, and good use of the mind.

   My feeling is that these two books (which, by the way, make very easy and pleasant reading) should be in the Must Read in every intermediate and high school in the country. They are extremely inspirational. Thanks Duval.

   Raul Bravo, Professor of Mathematics

5 comments about Josh Gibson: A Life in the Negro Leagues.

1. I HIGHLY RECOMMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE WHO ENJOYS BASEBALL AND THE HISTORY OF THE GREAT PLAYERS IN THE NEGRO LEAGUES. TOO BAD STATS WEREN'T CLOSELY KEPT FROM THAT TIME PERIOD, FOR THE NUMBERS THAT JOSH PUT UP ARE PROBABLY TRULY BREATH TAKING. HE WAS THE BABE RUTH, JIMMIE FOXX, AND MARK MCGWIRE OF 1930'S AND 40'S. THE BOOK DOES A GOOD JOB OF SHOWING US JOSH'S TRIUMPHS AND HIS DARK SIDE. HE WAS WITH FAULTS, BUT THAT MADE HIM EVEN MORE INTERESTING. THIS BOOK ALSO TREATS US TO SOME INTERVIEWS WITH MANY OTHER GREAT PLAYERS OF THAT ERA AND AN IN DEPTH HISTORY OF THE NEGRO LEAGUES. WELL WORTH READING ABOUT A GREAT PIECE OF BASEBALL HISTORY.



2. This is among the very best books I have ever read. Easily the best biography and the best book on baseball (of which I have read a lot). Brashler's account of Gibson's life and the Negro Leagues engrosses you like a great novel. I could not recommend it more highly.



3. Beginning in 1930 with his debut with the Homestead Grays and extending through a career which featured several years with the Pittsburgh Crawfords and stints with various winter league teams in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico, Josh Gibson was quite simply the greatest hitter of his era. While he is often referred to as the black Babe Ruth, the black press and fans of the Negro Leagues during the 1930's called Ruth the white Josh Gibson. Though records are sketchy, Gibson is reported to have hit as many as 70 homeruns in a single season and it can safely be assumed that he hit more than 800 round trippers in his career. There are stories indicating that Gibson actually hit a homerun completely out of Yankee Stadium, a feat no major leaguer has accomplished, and although Brashler's research disputes this claim, there are countless other tales of tape-measure blasts. There was a 525-foot homerun that landed in a Puerto Rico prison, a one-handed homerun in Indianapolis, and a doubtful claim of a 700-foot blast out of Chicago's Wrigley Field. Whether or not the stories are believed, the overall perception cannot be ignored. As the most imposing hitter of the 1930's and 40's, Josh Gibson was larger than life. He was posthumously inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 1972.

   Most baseball fans are familiar with the legend of Josh Gibson, but Brashler brings readers behind the stories of one of the greatest hitters of all-time. Along with the glory accorded a player of such talent, there were disappointments as well. The death of his first wife and the subsequent abandonment of his children haunted Gibson throughout his playing career, and he often felt overshadowed by the showmanship of Satchel Paige. These concerns, combined with the disappointment of not being able to play in the major leagues, likely led him to alcohol when his body began to break down late in his career. When he died in 1947 at the age of thirty-five, months after Jackie Robinson broke in with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Gibson was buried in an unmarked grave. His family couldn't afford a gravestone.

   Brashler's biography of Gibson is complete and honest in its approach to Gibson's character and accomplishments. In addition to Gibson, he briefly profiles his peers, men like Satchel Paige, Oscar Peterson, Judy Johnson, Jimmy Crutchfield, Cool Papa Bell, and others. There can be no discussion of the Negro Leagues without comment on the discrimination which made them necessary, but Brashler avoids the trap of becoming overly sentimental, focusing instead on the facts. For a more complete picture of the players and teams mentioned by Brashler, try Only the Ball Was White, Robert Peterson's comprehensive history of the Negro Leagues.




4. Josh Gibson was a great baseball player in the 30s and 40s in the Negro Leagues. This book chronicles his baseball career, as well as the life in the Negro Leagues and playing in Latin America during the winter months and some summers as well. William Brashler does a fine job writing about Gibson's passion for the game, to the point that I feel like I know him as well as any current major leaguers. In addition, Brashler explains in detail what life was like for Negro League players; the horrible way they were treated in many places in the south; the winter months that they played in places like Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba and other Latin/South American countries. There are also separate short chapters on Cool Papa Bell, Jimmie Crutchfield and Sammy Bankhead, as well as plenty of interesting information on Satchel Paige. I'm glad I had a chance to read about the great Josh Gibson and the Negro Leagues. I believe anyone interested in baseball history would appreciate this book.



5. It's the great chicken/egg debate, was Josh Gibson the black Babe Ruth or was Babe Ruth the white Josh Gibson. Thanks to narrow minded thinking we'll never really know.
   Josh Gibson was a man driven by deamons, the tragic death of his wife made him incapable of letting his emotions go. So he gave his children over into the care of other family members and threw himself into baseball, drugs, and alcohol. Records were kept sloppily back then and are scarce today, but it is believed that he hit approximately 800 home runs during his career. In the end his family couldn't afford a grave marker and for years his body was in an unmarked grave until Major League Baseball paid for one.
   A sad chapter in our history. We can only guess what might have been.

5 comments about Leonard Wood: Rough Rider, Surgeon, Architect of American Imperialism.

1. "Leonard Wood: Rough Rider, Surgeon, Architect of American Imperialism" by Dr. Jack McCallum should be considered a must read for any military leader or anyone in the field of foreign relations. The book is an outstanding biography - well researched and written. It's real strength is found in the story of Wood during the Spanish-American War and his enlightened administration of Cuba after the war. Here the book really shines. Sometimes the book bogs down in it's story of U S Army administration and politics in the early 20th century but that topic is central to the story of Wood's unique career from Surgeon to Soldier to Colonial Administrator to top soldier as Chief of Staff. I purchased my book for two reasons: I wanted to know more about the history of the U S Army during the period of Wood's service and my tremendous interest in all topics related to Theodore Roosevelt. It is in the latter area that the book is somewhat of a disappointment. While there are plenty of references to TR, there is much less on the relationship between the two and TR as a friend and personal confidante than I had anticipated. That aside, I enthusiastically recommend this book for anyone in leadership in the military, the Department of State, military historians and in particular those interested in the U S Army between the Indian Wars and World War I.
   
   George F. Franks, III
   Franks Consulting Group
   www.franksconsultinggroup.com
   http://consultingandcoaching.blogspot.com



2. For anyone who has read multiple volumes about Theodore Roosevelt, the name Leonard Wood has appeared many times. The more that I saw his name, the more I wanted to learn about the man but there was so little material available about him. Dr. McCallum has given us a well written and well researched book about one of this country's most visionary military leaders during an interesting period in our nation's history.
   
   The drawback, if there is one , to reading history is that you often times see the "warts" that existed on or about the subject matter and Leonard Wood certainly had his share of warts. However General Wood, in many ways, was exactly what our nation needed at this period in its development, a bridge from the old school line of military thought to what served as a template to a more modern army.
   
   Thanks Dr. McCallum. I needed this.



3. Leonard Wood is forgotten today, but he was a formidable figure in his day and even came close to becoming President of the United States. He was an able administrator of both Cuba and the Philippines. One flaw in his administration was an authoritarian personality, who always did the right thing but tended not to listen to the people he was out to help.
   
   Interestingly, his story has a great deal of relevance today. It is far more important to succeed in Iraq and Afghanistan because as Europe becomes Islamicized, as it will within our lifetimes, the new majority will need a democratic model on which to base their governance. If they look at the Talibans and Saddams of an unreformed Middle East, then Europe will not be a pleasant place to visit, let alone live. If we can establish a tradition of democracy in even one or two Muslim countries, then we can embrace a Muslim Europe. We weren't out to democratize either Cuba or the Philippines in 1900 and we need to synthesize General Wood's great achievements with a democratic approach. I saw that being done in Afghanistan and I'm sure that that is happening in Iraq.
   
   This is a great story and a great book. It is badly in need of maps, however, and the author has a tendency, sometimes, of telling us rather than showing us the strengths and weaknesses of Leonard Wood. Nevertheless, it is an important book about a very contemporary subject.



4. Leonard Wood: Rough Rider, Surgeon, and Architect of American Imperialism by Jack McCallum is slightly misnamed. General Wood was by no means THE architect of America's brief experiment with empire.
   
   General Wood was in many ways an interesting example of how to run an occupying government. Balancing force with progressive policies, he left Cuba and the Philippines healthier, wealthier, and better educated then when we found them. In that sense, he epitomized a brand of colonialism that was both uniquely American and truly revolutionary.
   
   Having grown up in northern Arkansas, it is challenging to say or write the name Leonard Wood without putting the word "Fort" in front of it. Thus, the installation in southern Missouri intended to honor the man has replaced him to those few who have even heard his name.
   
   General Wood was the son of an unlicensed medical doctor. He was part of the middle class by prestige, but not necessarily by income. A physician himself and having met the requirements for his internship, General Wood had left his training hospital under a bit of a cloud and therefore needed a way to support himself. The army became that window of opportunity. Unable to secure a commission in the medical corps, he hired on as a contract surgeon.
   
   Taking part in the last great campaign against the Indians, General Wood quickly distinguished himself as not only a surgeon but as a leader. His examples were not only the tough junior officers and non commissioned officers of the old west, but also Gen Crook and Gen Miles. From these two fathers, Gen Wood learns how to lead and, from Miles, how to thrive in the politically charged 19th century Army.
   
   Leaving the old west with a commission as a Captain in the medical corps, he accompanies Gen Miles to Washington and builds relationships to the leading republicans.
   
   When the Spanish-American War begins, General Wood becomes a Col in the volunteers leading the Rough Riders raised by his good friend Teddy Roosevelt. A combat promotion to Brigadier General soon follows. Shortly afterwards, General Wood earns his second star and becomes de facto ruler of Santiago and, later, all of Cuba.
   
   It is at this point, the biography becomes useful. While somewhat protected by the weaknesses in his judgment by legislative mandates, General Wood begins to craft a policy of governing that the current policy makers would have been wise to follow in current day Iraq.
   
   Not all of the lessons of this book are acceptable as those on military governance. General Wood is political, devious, and, at times, downright disloyal to his seniors. Yet, this perhaps only makes this a more realistic biography than other books that cover the same period.
   
   Sadly, General Wood has largely been forgotten by most students of history. His career covered a phenomenal period of change. General Wood's experience was shaped by the last veterans of the Civil War and he was the elderly mentor for the generation that fought World War II after his death.



5. The name "Leonard Wood" appears in many places causing one to wonder who he was. Leonard Wood by Jack McCallum is a wonderful, interesting and informative book about a complex man who achieved great things despite significant flaws. The chapters on issues facing insurrection and establishment of self-sufficient governments in Cuba and in the Phillipines offer strong lessons for issues facing the United States foreign policy today. The impact of McCallums writing is detracted by the absence of any maps of the military campaigns or the areas where Wood governed. Given the extensive documentation and footnoting of this 355 page book, surely New York University could have spent a few more dollars to add pages with maps that would amplify McCallums wonderful analysis of Leonard Wood's life and accomplishments.

5 comments about Papa Jack: Jack Johnson And The Era Of White Hopes.

1. This is truly a terrific book - easily the best and clearest view of who Jack Johnson really was. Exhaustively researched and beautifully written - this book is well worth your time if you're interested in learning about one of the 20th century's most controversial figures.



2. Randy Roberts absolutely nails it with this wonderful and thoughtful biography of the extraordinary Jack Johnson. A must-read for any student of U.S. history and the social impact of sport. The semi-literate, one-star review below says far more about its writer than it does about this book. Can this person even read? Ignore these idiotic blitherings.



3. Jack Johnson did tell his own tale but this was in a haphazard, uneven, entertaining if not always believable book ("Jack Johnson Is A Dandy"). Because of this we have to look elsewhere for more reliable testimony. Randy Robert's `Papa Jack' from the mid 80s was for a long time the definitive bio on the first black heavyweight champion. In the absence of people still living from Johnson's day, Roberts researches heavily and of course has the unenviable task of unearthing the facts from the deeply racist and hate filled press of the time (among many other sources all of which are referenced in detail).
   
   The book itself is an easy read. Information from Johnson's early years is scant at best, so Roberts providing an account of his family and how they came to be in Galveston, Texas in the late 1800's is not only fascinating but very admirable. How he came to box and his patchy early years in the fight game are deciphered, as is his rise to notoriety (forced to continually fight the same batch of outcast super-tough black boxers) and historic title winning fight with Tommy Burns and subsequent seven year reign (including defences against the likes of Ketchel and Jeffries), through to a 37 year old, mentally weary Johnson dropping the title to the huge but ordinary Jess Willard.
   
   For the very real danger any black man faced at the time, Johnson's fearlessness is near beyond belief. Robert's does a good job recounting his personal life cavorting with a crew of white men, romancing a string of white women, shady business practices and misadventures the world over, many times correcting the claims Johnson made in his autobiography. It makes for great reading.
   
   As for gripes? A few. The major being Roberts annoying use of obvious misquotes. Supposedly this colourful and intelligent man spoke like this: "de fight was good, erm, me tink Jeffries was good challenger" etc. A man of Robert's intellect should have gathered that this was the racist press of the time stereotyping Johnson in their reports as a mentally slow Neanderthal, whereas existing recordings of Johnson's voice prove he was a lucid speaker. This is made worse because elsewhere Robert's includes more believable coherent Johnson quotes, yet doesn't spot the discrepancy in his own work. Otherwise, what pictures are included are great, but we would have liked more. Also, there is no fight record at the back, nor are many of his later fights covered.
   
   But overall, this is a good read. Robert's does the best he can with what he had to work with, and for so long this has been the reliable and comprehensive account of the Galveston Giant. However, recently Geoffrey C Ward's award winning `Unforgivable Blackness' has surfaced, complete with supposedly far more extensive research and a greater depth of information and material. I look forward to reading that book and cannot at the time offer any comparison, however for a concise overview I would recommend combing the two and educating yourself on the incredible life of the master boxer and controversial man that was Jack Johnson.



4. I guess it would be to much to objectively view Jack Johnson as a man and not a symbol. As with all Johnson biography's the author apparently feels compelled to reduce his subject to a level that is readily digestable to the reader. Though you don't find the author referring to Johnson as a "shiftless coon" in the tradition of Denzil Batchelor, Mr. Roberts summation that Johnson was "not the hero..." places his work in line with practically every other book written on Jack Johnson.
   
   So what makes a man dead 60 years a threat to an establishment and culture which says it long ago set aside the error of its ways inregard to race relations. If this were true would we still be reading books which at every turn question the methods and motives of a Jack Johnson? Would the words of angry racists in the guise of official government reports carry the weight and ring of truth the author gives them while pointing out frequently that the subjects life style, choice of company and words are subject to scrutiny due to his ego and self-centered nature?
   
   In this age of ego driven athletes, businessmen, politicians, clergy etc., it was a wasted point to declare that Johnson's greatest strength "his ego," was his most glaring weakness. I think it safe to make this assumption of many men. Though we have politicians admired for their drive and commitment to the very values which Jack Johnson was and apparently continues to be viewed as a threat to. Their egos nor motives are challenged. What man worth his salt doesn't believe he is the best at the things he commits himself to mastering?
   
   Jack Johnson was harshly scrutinized and mistreated because of his ability to dominate his circumstances. Be they opponents or a system which physically, financially and emotionally abused the hopes and dreams of his people, Jack Johnson was an overcomer. Jack Johnson is despised today as a symbol. A bad example of what happens when one man is allowed to much independence. In every since of the word Jack Johnson was a revolutionary. We are told he wasn't a hero, nor was he a man to be admired but I would disagree whole-heartedly. Jack Johnson was simply a man born a century to soon.
   
   Mr. Roberts says their is no ghost in the house, but how wrong you are Sir. The ghost is in the house everytime a camera snaps a photo of Tiger Woods and his wife. Everytime you see a clip of Ali with his arms thrust high in the air in victory look closely you'll see the ghost smiling his golden capped smile in the front row. For every man who longs to live free you'll find the ghost dancing in his heart. Long live the spirit of freedom and the ghost of Jack Johnson.



5. AS a boxing historian I really enjoyed Robert's book having reread it many times. I feel Robert's did a tremendous amount of research and is very well informed about his subject. You cannot study Johnson without discussing how he reflected his times and how thy effected him. My only criticism and it is a serious one is that I feel Robert's was extremely hard in judging his subject as a man. No athlete in American history had to live through the constant painful attacks that Jack Johnson did every day from 1908 on when he took the title from Tommy Burn's ... the pressures had to be exceptionally overwhelming and in hindsight I feel Johnson should not have been judged so harshly as a man. He deserved better ... he was decades ahead of his time, a highly intelligent, self-educated and cultured man and one of the greatest fighter that ever lived.

4 comments about The Imprisoned Guest: Samuel Howe and Laura Bridgman, The Original Deaf-Blind Girl.

1. Elisabeth Gitter has introduced the 21st Century reader to Laura Bridgman, "the original deaf-blind girl" in her well written and sensitive portrayal of "this pitiful little girl" who "became the most celebrated child in (19th Century) America." Along with her teacher and mentor, Samuel Howe, founder of the first school for the blind in America, Laura became an inspiration for the indominability of the human spirit. Yet, as Gitter wisely and perceptively shows, the multi-faceted character behind Laura's public persona was often overlooked by Howe in his zeal to show the world that, in his words, "obstacles are things to be overcome", and that Laura Bridgman was the prime example of the veracity of his statement. With her extraordinary knowledge of the Victorian era in which the story takes place, and her exceptional command of the written word, Gitter has brought Laura Bridgman the honor and dignity she was often denied her life.



2. The long-forgotten story of Laura Bridgman is riveting: She was the first deaf, blind and mute American to learn English and she did so through the ingenious efforts of Samuel Howe. If author Elisabeth Gitter had done nothing more than reintroduce this story to the world, her book would have been worthwhile. But Gitter does much more. Both Bridgman and Howe were enormously complicated, infinitely fascinating characters and their relationship was unprecedented in human experience (quite a statement, but it's true!). It is incredible, and in many ways, heart-wrenching, to watch their storybook relationship develop and devolve. Gitter wisely tells the story without literary flourishes; it's so remarkable, it doesn't need any. The author is also scrupulously fair to her subjects (few characters in history go from appealling to detestable, and back again, more quickly than Howe) and provides just the right degree of historical background--enough to inform the reader, but not enough to slow down the narrative. A nearly perfect book!



3. Great read packed with info. I've always wanted to know more about her, not just the vague references made in books about Keller and Sullivan.



4. I have read quite a lot about Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan over the years, and I have read a bit about Laura Bridgman. I have read enough to know that "rescue from darkness" comes at a cost and is often not done for the greatest good of the "victim". In Helen and Annie's case, Helen's world was infinitely enriched by Annie's total dedication to her pupil. In return, Annie created a family and garnered recognition for herself. Unfortunately, in Laura's situation, the trade-off was not as well balanced.
   
   Samuel Gridley Howe was a man on a mission to achieve recognition and status among the liberal Boston elite in the early 1800s. His goal was to find and educate an intelligent blind and deaf child and thereby establish himself as a distinguished philanthropist and expert in education and the social sciences. He believed that Laura was a means to that end.
   
   While educating a blind deaf girl may have sounded like an unselfish project in 1837, the horror of Laura's reality is clear today. Laura was often isolated from other children and adults to help make Howe's experiments in education "pure." When Howe felt that he had no more to gain from her, he left her with very limited companionship. So, unlike Helen, her education and socialization, and hence her maturation, stopped when Howe lost interest. As a result, she suffered great loneliness and depression.
   
   Gitter provides a great deal of information about Howe that seems to indicate that he had a narcissistic personality. Her revelations about Laura show that she had great potential for learning and growing that was left untapped as a result of her unnecessary and cruel seclusion from the world.
   
   This book is very well written and clearly reveals the historical and social context of the lives of Laura and Howe. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has even the slightest interest in the subject area.

5 comments about Wild Child: Life with Jim Morrison.

1. I Loved this book! It honestly gave me an idea of what life would of been like with Jim Morrison. I couldnt put it down and finished it quickly. Its a book I'd read over & over just for its realness.



2. As a work of fiction, this book is fabulous. Compelling, nice flow, keeps you interested. But its not true. I would've loved this as a regular old novel in the same way I would've loved Ms. Kennealy's book/cash cow Strange Days. But I cannot understand why she really thinks this stuff is true. Maybe she's brainfried or maybe shes trying to cash in on a chance meeting with a rock star. I dunno but it confuses me. Too many people have told this story and stuck their name in it! Get a life please and write some novels.
   Three stars for the incredibly brilliant web of lies.
   "Storytelling is just an elaborate form of lying." said someone whose name escapes me.



3. I haven't finished reading this yet but I love it! I can't put it down! It tells how Jim Morrison really was. I'm learning a lot about him.



4. gives u a view of how jim really was and what made him great beyond his music career



5. Jim Morrison has become such a mythic figure that it is almost impossible to take ANY biography about the man 100% at face value, but there are some excellent books which have come close to being complete records of the rock star's turbulent career, most notably James Riordan's epic, brilliant "Break On Through: The Life And Death Of Jim Morrison." Linda Ashcroft caused quite a stir with her own contribution, "Wild Child," not because it revealed anything of concrete value, but because from the first chapter it is obvious that this more a work of fiction than an actual memoir. Ashcroft is one of the many attractive, now aged beauties who claim to have had a passionate love affair with Morrison when his band, The Doors, was changing the rock world with it's dark blend of music and poetry. Before Ashcroft the most famous lover (aside from his famous girlfriend Pam Courson) was Patricia Kennealy, a wiccan who married Morrison in a pagan ceremony. Kennealy has photographs and even Doors band members admit Morrison did have some sort of relationship with her, but Ashcroft's book plays more like a well-written fantasy, a poetic daydream without any evidence to ground it in reality. Notice that she includes typical, basic concert photos and official Doors studio shots, and a photo of one curiously handwritten note "from Morrison." The book itself is a literate take on the virginal teenage girl meets wild man story as Ashcroft recalls meeting this poetic, yet dangerous leather-clad singer who breaks down her fears and takes away her virginity. Ashcroft even attempts at inserting herself into Doors history by claiming that Morrison wrote the song "Wild Child" for her, eventhough by better accounts it was written for Pamela Courson. There are some typical Morrison moments where he reads her from Ginsberg's "Howl," or chats about Kerouac. As a novel it is also well-assembled, but as biography it is just undigestable, especially when Ashcroft places herself in specific moments and events that Doors sources have already discounted. One should be impressed at how Ashcroft can keep it all going for 499 pages, as the affair tears her apart inside as Morrison dabbles in hard drinking and drug binges, and of course the 60s swirls around them with Vietnam raging etc. One of the disappointments in terms of fictional writing is Morrison's dialogue which is never believable, it never reads like a normal man talking, but Ashcroft simply writing lines for the mythical icon we've all come to know as The Lizard King. He says exactly what we would expect the Jim Morrison of the album covers, posters and Oliver Stone movie to say, never do we feel like these are two individuals sharing real, intimate moments, maybe because they never did. "Wild Child" has earned it's place among the notable Morrison books to be published in the last 10 years, at least because its so bold in it's invention. Three stars because it is a fun read and Doors fans would get a kick out of it, especially with Ashcroft's referencing of song titles and lyrics, but as a work of truth, this one doesn't pass the test.

1 comments about 100 Essential Lincoln Books.

1. I HAVE READ THIS BOOK AND I OWN ALL OF THE BOOKS THAT ARE MENTIONED ON THE LIST OF 100.I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK!!!!!!!

No comments about Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane: Deadwood Legends (South Dakota Biography Series).

5 comments about Seven from Heaven: The Miracle of the McCaughey Septuplets.

1. I have been a huge fan of them ever since I saw them on a magazine covor. I love this book because it shares feelings and hopes that at first they didn't want 7 babies but after time they couldn't bare to lose one! A must read! This is good for children to!



2. In the rush to see how many they could breed via one pregnancy, neither of the McCaughneys apparently gave much consideration to the serious long-term health problems of their miracles. This book is a continuation of the same circular logic that they subjected the world to during their odyssey.

   As a person with a severe disability myself, I have little sympathy for people who intentionally go out of their way to place a pregnancy in circumstances that can give children a disability. Both Bobbi and Kenny were warned of the risk but apparently placed public relations dreams at a much higher priority than health and well-being.

   Certainly, there is a degree of risk with every pregnancy from environmental factors, but to knowingly place children's health in danger because you have to have your own biological kids at all costs--irespective of who suffers---is selfish and emotionally immature.

   There is nothing brave or heroic about increasing child suffering when there are numerous risk factors already in this world.




3. This is the best book that I've read in a long time that expresses faith in an ordinary, loving person such as Bobbi. (I didn't mean that as an offense) She has done the right thing by glorifying God in the press and in the book. I commend her efforts, because our God is an awesome God, and if we believe and have faith, He will supply ALL our needs, and He has kept His promise to her and her husband. I know that being in the public isn't what she dreamed of, but in this way she Glorified God, and that was meant to be. :)
   God Bless You and Your Family,
   Sandra D.



4. This book was great. I had a really hard time putting it down. I have three kids so I can relate to some of the things that was said.



5. I fell in love with the Mccaughey's right after the babies births. I still find them amazing. This book was excellent. I like the way it was written from both Bobbi and Kenny's points of view. I highly recommend it. :)