5 comments about Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend.

1. Excellent research by the author , considering the lack of documented historical records.He certainly captured the spirit of lawlessness that prevailed at the time.



2. This book arrived on time, and was in as good of condtion as promised..if not better.



3. I was given this book as a gift. I enjoyed the movie Tombstone back when I was in college, and Doc Holliday certainly is a colorful Western outlaw. So I was really looking forward to reading this book to get the facts behind the legend. While I think the author did an admirable job researching the book, I felt his text was too dry much of the time. I couldn't understand how an author could take an exciting outlaw who interacted with so many famous characters and write out the story in a way that made me picture a monotone college professor speaking. Back in the 1990s I read John Myers Myers biography of Doc Holliday and I remember enjoying it much more. Maybe it wasn't as well researched or documented, but it was definitely more lively.



4. This is a truly masterful work. I bought it as I was interested in Holliday and the development of the West. What I found was an historical book with much about the society, economics and culture of the mid-19th Century South, as well as the rapid migration to the central and Southwest. Facinating and exceedingly entertaining and informative.



5. Doc Holliday books always suffer from the well-known fact that Doc left absolutely no written record of his own. He is, as has been noted, known only through the eyes of others. Some of his contemporaries, like Bat Masterson, are probably accurate in their appraisals. However we can never know much more about Doc himself unless something that he wrote shows up. And, it probably never will. The letters from him to his cousin are probably all gone. So we are left with a bunch of facts that we can rearrange and interpret all we want, without any guarantee that we are any closer to the truth. The author of this latest book does a good job of arranging and stacking what is known about Doc, and does a nice job of interpretation. I liked his ideas about Doc's gravesite, but wonder about the pictures...a couple of them don't seem to be of Doc (are they generally accepted to be, or not?). The author also does a nice job of questioning, appropriately, some truths that have been more or less accepted with little proof over the years (like Doc riding alone across the High Plains). A final comment: this book is dry, but is written in such a way that readers can make their own interpretations about Doc and his motivations, character, etc. Overall, a good, worthy addition to the Doc library; unless something new is discovered, this book will give you everything there is to know about Doc Holliday.

4 comments about The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie and The Gospel of Wealth (Signet Classics).

1. Andrew Carnegie played the game of life to perfection, which is how he ended up the richest man in the world. He had so much amazing wisdom. He made very wise choices starting from the earliest age up to the end of his life. Many people gain some wisdom as they grow older, but what's even more amazing about Andrew Carnegie is that he was wise even as a child and a teenager. Perhaps his parents and other elders taught him very well. It seems like Carnegie always made the best and wisest business decisions. The few times something went wrong, it wasn't his fault and it didn't set him back much. Lately I've been learning a lot about business, marketing, and success. I've gotten a lot of great advice about success. And when I read Carnegie's book, I got to see all these success principles in action. Carnegie's life is full of great examples of what you should do to be successful as a person and as a businessman.
   
   I've seen some claims that he was just another ruthless robber barron, but I think that is a very unfair depiction. I think he did a great job of leading the steel industry and making sure that it took advantage of the most advanced technology available at the time and did things on the most efficient and secure basis. He had a great ability to get along with people and I believe he did treat people very fairly. And by the time he died, he had given away 90% of his fortune to benefit the world through education, culture, etc. I think that is a large piece of evidence showing that he was a well-intentioned, good-hearted person.



2. The autobiography gives a good (but sometimes slight) overview of Carnegie's rise from a bobbin boy to one of the richest men in the world. The autobiography doesn't tell you "this is how to become rich", but instead shows Carnegie's values and approach to the working world. The Gospel of Wealth is an interesting idea: the rich got rich by being the most talented and hard-working and deserve their wealth. Since the rich are the smartest and most talented of us, they should best decide how their money gets distributed so that it will best help all of mankind. If money was given to the poor, instead of put into public works and trusts, the poor would blow it because they don't know how to handle money. If they did, they'd be rich! I like this idea, but rarely, if ever do I see it practiced. The rich aren't always the most talented, intelligent, or hard-working people, rarely do they use their wealth for the public good (unless it's a tax write-off), and most of their money gets passed on to their children. I definitely recommend this book. Try these ideas out for yourself.



3. I read this book as a recommendation from the book "Success through a positive mental attitude" and it is a good read. It is a bit slow at first and its written in an older style of English. Once you pick up the style though the book becomes very interesting, I often read it before sales calls to motivate myself.



4. Andrew Carnegie offers an intriguing look into his life story that chronicles his ancestry in Scotland to his journey from child to business tycoon in the US. Carnegie writes in a style applicable to the times, thus there is inevitably a period of acclimatization with the material; however, within a short period of familiarizing yourself with this style of English, you will find it hardly represents an encumbrance.
   
   Carnegie has a knack for being very productive with his abilities as well as often finding himself in the right place and time. Much of his success could be perceived as lucky; however, it will not take long for any reader to see that the effects of his always going the extra mile permitted Carnegie to stand out as a result of his own principles, hardly dependant on luck.
   
   Carnegie exemplifies what one hopes to find among great men; integrity, honesty, hard work, and a passion for profit. Carnegie's giant success is only matched by his good will to human kind. Carnegie explains his thoughts on why he felt the most immoral thing a man can do is to die rich, thus he spent his retirement giving as much of his wealth away as possible. The evidence of Carnegie's lasting name and historical significance provides ample reason to read this Carnegie autobiography. His candidness and honest approach make this book even better.

5 comments about The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher.

1. This book is the excellent product of twenty years of research and documentation by many people. The data upon which the book is based comes from the letters and diaries of the individuals portrayed and from the newspaper accounts about them at the time. The author skillfully weaves the data into a picture spanning from the 1820s to the 1880s.
   
   Reading this book is like sitting before a window and peering into the life of an amazingly charismatic individual and those upon whom he had a great impact. You see his gradual escape from the extremities of religious fundamentalism to an extremity on the other end of the religious spectrum. Along the way he succumbed to his human weaknesses. His temptations were made more potent due to absolute adoration by his followers and his spontaneous and haphazard personality. Perhaps, in this country, he was the most skillful speaker of his century in spite of his inconsistent message. Without him England might have intervened in our civil war on the side of the South profoundly changing our history.
   
   You get, not only, a view of their lives, but also of their hearts, minds and emotions because you read their diaries and most personal letters which were concealed from others at the time. Many are famous people such as Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Mark Twain and his sibling Harriet Beecher Stowe among many others.
   
   As you read this book you begin to understand nuances of the late colonial and early Victorian era that history books miss. You see the holes in the stereotypes of the time. You see similarities to current times and you will see profound differences. You see how lack of modern medical technology and birth control put intense pressure on women. The divisive issues of the day like abortion, promiscuity, drugs (including alcohol) and religious extremes are all still issues today. They addressed them in a different manner and with a different perspective.
   
   I don't read much fiction because it is just fiction and based upon the author's perception of reality at best. This book interests me because it portrays many people's perception of the reality of their time based upon their own written records.
   
   Jim Fuqua



2. I am an author, a Christian, and a Calvinist. I love good history. However, after the deep prejudice against, and misunderstanding of Calvinism portrayed in the first two chapters, I almost put the book down.
   
   Despite these reservations, I am glad I persevered. Applegate writes in an engaging, entertaining style. I finished with fresh incite into the political machinations of early 19th century America, especialy New York, New England, and the history of the early abolitionist movement.
   
   I also concluded down deeply disturbed and distressed by the subject of the book, Henry Ward Beecher. Applegate repeatedly stresses two attributes of Beecher's moral character. The first was his lust for fame and popularity. The second is his continual compromise of conscience to obtain that popularity. These compromises ruined his life and the lives of many associated with him. She closes by comparing him to Dr. Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, and Bill Clinton, all good comparisons, and in my opinion, all deeply distressing hypocrites like Beecher.
   
   I finished the book with mixed feelings of revulsion and empathy for Beecher. He was a first class hypocrite. He continually preached love, but abused and used his wife, his congregation, his business associates and the women with whom he comitted adultery. He pretended to be one thing, but in reality was the exact opposite. Was he weak? Yes, like all of us he was weak. But was he sincere? It doesn't appear that he was. A sincere man seeks help. He wants to change. He humbles himself and exposes his weakness. Beecher did none of these Instead, continually and habitually covered up the damning evidence that pointed to his sins. That is not the definition of a good person.
   
   Did he do some good? Yes. He was a key figure in the abolitionist movement. But, in other respects he was much like the men exposed in Paul Johnson's insightful book, "Intellectuals." He was a man who loved the world in general, but was incapable of loving those closest to himself.
   
   Despite these facts, the author was unwilling to call Beecher what he really was, "a wolf in sheeps clothing." She concludes, "His painful awareness of his own weakness and his ongoing battle to overcome them were the wellspring of his great and lasting contribution to American life: the all forgiving Gospel of Love. As Beecher would have said, without sin there can be no saving grace."
   
   It appears that Applegate, like Beecher, is in love with love, but not real virtue. True loves serves, expends itself, humbles itself, and dies that other might live. But Applegate's conclusion spins evil, refusing to come to grips with it or condemn it. Yes God is love, but He is also justice. The two cannot be separated.
   
   This is not the definition of a good man. I expected Applegate to draw this clear conclusion. I was disappointed.
   
   In short, Applegate writes well. I am thankful for her research, and the volumes of excellent information on Beecher and his times. I am deeply disturbed by her conclusions. They express the same loss of moral compass as the man she writes about, Henry Ward Beecher



3. This book was really great. You feel like you are alive at the time of Beecher. You watch as he emerges from his father's formidable shadow to become the most popular American preacher of his day.
   
   But in the process, you will also see Beecher jettison virtually every doctrine of Christinaity save the doctrine of love for God and for others. Unfortunately, it appears that Henry took the "love for others" part a bit too literally, as he was a very flirtatious and apparently adulterous man.
   
   It is amazing to see how he skirts out of trouble time and again. He somehow has his wife convinced that he is a man of high virtue, and he is also able to convince a number of his mistresses that their affairs with him are higher forms of love, even religious love.
   
   And yet in spite of his peccadilloes, Henry Ward Beecher was an indispuably great orator, a man who had his congregation eating out of his hand. Henry loved to preach about the pressing issues of his day, although one could accuse him of waffling on issues when the boat was rocked. He was at first neutral on the slavery issue, then he was a cautious abolitionist, then he even came to the point of advocating violence if necessary.
   
   Perhaps his most shining moment was in 1863 while preaching in England. His stirring speeches about America convinced the British not to lend their support to the South, and this may have helped Lincoln to preserve the Union.
   
   You will learn not only about Beecher's relationships with women (his wife Eunice, Elizabeth Thornton, Edna Proctor, Chloe Beach), but you will also get to know the New York newspaperman Henry Bowen, who convinced Henry to come to New York. You will also meet the complex Theodore Tilton, who goes from being a star struck Beecher fan to being a jealous husband who wants to see Beecher fall from grace.
   
   Debby Applegate writes in a stirring style, and you will want to drop everything else and keep reading. You learn a lot about history along the way.
   
   The only complaint I have is that Applegate slams Calvinism way too much. She treats it as if it is a terrible system of belief and that it makes happy people dour. She seems to think that Lyman Beecher (Henry's father) was a much better man than his theological system would allow.
   
   I am not a Calvinist, but I respect Calvinism as a viable and reasonable expression of Christian faith. The book would have been just as great without the anti-Calvinist bias.



4. A remarkable read for its insight into the America of the 1850s and 1860s and into the America of the 2000s. The only real difference is that the Evangelists of 1850-60 are now tele-evangelists, still raising money, still getting involved in politics, and still dabbling in sins of the flesh to one degree or another. The more things change, the more they remaint the same.
   
   A thoroughly fascinating read for the information it imparts about that time and the similarities to the times in which we live.
   
   Helps the reader understand in new and different ways some of the causes of the Civil War and puts those reasons in in very human terms. Politics and Religion were entangled then, as now....
   
   Henry Ward Beecher would be as much at home now, just as rich, just as popular and probably just as promiscious as he was in his day. By understanding his day, we have a better, cleaner understanding of this day.
   
   In other words, Men of God can accomplish good, sometimes great things without being perfect people.



5. Applegate's biography on Henry Ward Beecher is very readable, but too short. Some things are covered very well, and others almost ignored by comparison.
   
   You learn alot about his relationship with his father and siblings, but very little about his wife and children. His thoughts and actions regarding slavery are well fleshed out, but I wish word one had been said about his opinions regarding other controversies of the time. What did Beecher make of Mormonism, for example? Applegate doesn't have much to say about Beecher's theology either, after he breaks with his father - at least not enough to satisfy me. She prefers to pay attention to the intrigues and finances of his congregation (which, by all means, is worth while).
   
   In other words: I was left wanting more.

5 comments about WALT DISNEY: AN AMERICAN ORIGINAL.

1. This was a great and interesting book. I loved reading it and learning things about Disney and his history that I didn't know. A great read.



2. If you are a Disney fan this is the one to read. Lots of info about his early days & how Disneyland came to be. He was sure he would die before he had finished what he set out to do. The Disney company was never the same after his death.
   But is John Lassiter the new Walt..... Let's hope so.



3. This book was such a pleasure to read. It allows you to escape reality and enter the wonderful world that Walt Disney created. I loaned it to my father as soon as I finished it, and he cannot put it down!
   Walt was a true inspiration and is to be admired.



4. Bob Thomas gets to the heart of things early: Disney was a greatly talented man whose singular vision lives on in his work. Fair enough. We really do forget that all this, that we call "Disney," was created by a man of extraordinary creative genius. The 60s generation sneered at Disney. Many resented the militarized discipline of the Disneyland work force with their clean-shaved faces, the uniforms and the regimented smiles. Now that the hippies have gone with the wind, we see what is enduring in the culture. Ironically, Disney himself was not a money man, not a finance wizard, not a bean counter. He was in debt most of his creative life, owing millions to the Bank of America. It was TV that saved Disney studios, not Cinderella. Disney cared about quality, cared about product, cared about audience. It is almost quaint to read about such an idealism; it even sounds like a mantra from the 60s. If Disney has become a dirty word, it is because of those who came after the Master himself. The greedy killers of the golden goose weren't interested in Disney's world; they were interested in exploiting it. This biography leaves out much, no doubt, but as hagiography it has its purposes. We see that Disney lived at that moment in America when it was possible to turn suffering into nostalgia. Like many of his generation, the down-home mid-westerner that Disney was put aside memories of mindless drudgery and turned his early childhood into a show, with singing ducks, dancing goats, and happy farmers. Author Thomas makes clear that Disney - like other film moguls like Louis B. Mayer - held a vision of America that had not yet been made anachronistic. But what astonishes most of all is Disney's integrity as a man of the arts. His donations to CALARTS coupled with his wife's gift to Disney Hall in Los Angeles make the Disney name synonymous with creative life.



5. I am very pleased with the poster overall. It is a bit light and fuzzy but that only adds to the era of when the picture was taken. The poster is not signed as in the photo for the review but thats a good thing as it would take away from the art work. I give this item a rating of 5 as it was just what i was looking for in a price range I could afford and in color it beats all expections.

5 comments about President Lincoln: The Duty of a Statesman.

1. Will be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in our greatest president and his time in office. Professor Miller is a wonderful master of his subject.
   
   Abraham Lincoln is rightfully remembered here for the actions he took during the short time he actually served in the White House. This is not a book about Mr. Lincoln's youth, his career in Illinois, or his family life. How this statesman balanced power, people, and ethics in reaching his twin noble objectives is laid out in a most compelling way by William Lee Miller.
   
   (I especially found interesting the material presented on President Lincoln's use of the pardoning power.)
   
   Purchase this book for yourself, or a friend who may question why the world still celebrates a politician who was born almost two hundred years ago.



2. William Lee Miller is one of the most readable and thoughtful of modern American historians. His utterly captivating "Arguing About Slavery," concerning John Quincy Adams' battle against the Gag Rule in Congress, made me a committed fan of both Adams and Miller. Miller followed with "Lincoln's Virtues," a meditation on the decency and moral character of Lincoln that focussed mainly on his life before 1861.
   
   "President Lincoln: The Duty of a Statesman," is a delight. As the title reflects, this volume deals with Lincoln's years as President. Miller is well-versed in the vast reaches of Lincoln scholarship. Unlike the best-selling "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kerns Goodwin, however, Miller actually provides new and revelatory insights that further enhance Lincoln's reputation. Of the current coterie of authors on Lincoln, I have yet to find one who has spent the time Miller does on addressing the substance of Lincoln's critical July 4, 1861 message to Congress, where Lincoln denounced the "farcical" pretence of secession and demolished the myth of state sovereignty as he asked Congress for money and men to fight a war that had become much fiercer than almost anyone had imagined. Douglas Wilson, in "Lincoln's Sword," provides an excellent and in-depth discussion of the drafting of this document but he skirts much of the real substance - which remains controversial in some quarters. Miller shows how Lincoln carefully maneuvered between Union and emancipation. He does not avoid controversy. The message to Congress emerges as a central document in Lincoln's development and in the ongoing debate over "states' rights."
   
   One intriguing episode Miller describes concerns the cashiering of Major John J. Key, who was the brother of one of General McClellan's top aides. David Herbert Donald merely asserts, without attribution, that McClellan was not disloyal. The question is not so lightly to be disposed of. According to Major Key's "silly treasonable talk" (in Lincon's phrase), the "game" was to leave both the Union and Confederate armies in the field until they were exhausted, making compromise inevitable and thereby saving slavery. McClellan is also quoted as asserting his distinct preference for a principled, Christian war that would leave inviolate Confederates' property rights - including their "rights" in slaves. While there is no direct evidence of McClellan's disloyalty, certainly these facts, coupled with his notorious reluctance to fight, his constant insistence that he was drastically outnumbered when he was often in charge of superior numbers himself, and his platform when he ran against Lincoln for President in 1864, suggest the need to consider that McClellan's agenda as a general was indeed to subvert the war effort and let slavery prevail. The fact that Major Key became a candidate for clemency shortly after Lincoln sacked him only makes Miller's point more acutely: Lincoln refused to reinstate Key.
   
   Miller also gives some substantial scope to the accounts of how much time Lincoln spent reviewing charges against Union soliders who had been sentenced to die, and how his reputation for leniency misses the fact that he did indeed allow executions to proceed when they were warranted. One fascinating case concerns an American officer who was apprehended in the act of transporting more than 800 slaves from Africa. A Republican prosecutor pursued the case aggressively with the result that this man became the first, last, and only slave-trader in all of American history to be executed under American law. Lincoln refused to commute the sentence to life, despite the tears of the prospective widow and child and the intervention of many worthy citizens - 11,000 at least - on behalf of the condemned man.
   
   This volume is not a comprehensive history or biography. While it is more than an extended scholarly essay or meditation on our greatest President, in many respects it reads like one. Miller's scholarship is substantial and he has a fine set of notes, not referenced in the text. They are arranged in the back according to the page number in the main text where the reference arises. The result is a book a lay-person can read for sheer pleasure, or which specialists can peruse for new nuggets. Miller is a master prose stylist, not impervious to humor. And, not unlike his subject, he presents powerful ideas simply. Though the story has been told a myriad of times, it gains new richness, depth and subtlety from Miller's telling of it, his selection of different issues to highlight, and his juxtaposition of materials. I have already gone back to re-read portions of this excellent book. I will again, and soon.



3. This is a well written book and a must read follow up to the author's "Lincoln's Virtues". The book delves into Lincoln as he faces the many challanges as President and how his maturing as a politician and his moral beliefs affected that presidency. More than a "backcountry" political figure, Lincoln proves himself as one of our great leaders if not the greatest leader of all time. Any one truly interested in Abraham Lincoln should include both William Miller's "President Lincoln, the Duty of a Statesman" and "Lincoln's Virtues" as required reading.
   



4. Wlliam Lee Miller's new book on US President Abraham Lincoln focuses entirely on the 1861-1865 period when Lincoln was chief executive and the nation suffered through a horrendous Civil War. Miller is an eloquent author and an expert on Lincoln. His book is a combination of narrative laced with a detailed study of several of the moral issues the Kentucky railsplitter faced in office. Among these Gordian Knot problems upon which Lincoln had to decide were:
   1. Whether to supply Fort Sumter by sea or allow the Charleston SC.fort to be surrendered to the new Confederate government without a shot being fired? Lincoln had promised to "preserve, protect and defend" the Constitution in his inaugural address on March 4, 1861. He believed the President of the United States should defend our territory so refused to give up on Sumter. The Confederates fired on the fort leading to a declaration of war with the United States. The Civil War would cost over
   600,000 lives-2/3 of them because of disease and insanitary conditions.
   2. Lincoln made the decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves in Confederate controlled areas as of January 1, 1863. As a wily politician this act did not apply to slaves held in Union held but slave states. All African-Americans in bondage would be freed by the 13th Amendment of the US Constitution following the great emancipator's death
   by assassination on April 15, 1865.
   3. Miller cites several examples of Lincoln's mercy to soldiers convicted by court martial. He could be tough refusing to save the life of Nathaniel Gordon a slave ship owner and a man who shot a white officer leading a parade of black soldiers in Norfolk, Va. Lincoln was a kind and merciful man who was without hubris or self-glorification.
   4. Lincoln showed mercy to most of the Indians who had been involved in the war launched against white settlers in Minnesota in 1863.
   5. Lincoln was a great war leader getting rid of poor generals such as George McClellan and choosing fighters like Grant, Sherman and Sheridan to lead the north to victory. He favored a tolerant policy to the South following the war. Unfortunately he died before Reconstruction which proved to be harsh under Andrew Johnson.
   6. The Civil War, says Miller, was not total war as civilians were not targeted for death although their property was destoyed by armies. This especially occurred during Sherman's March to the Sea.
   7. Lincoln expressed the highest aspirations of republican government in his great speeches. He was in favor of the common person and had no tolerance for rulership by an aristocratic elite.
   Lincoln saw his purpose as President to be dominated by two major themes: 1. The preservation of the United States governed by the Constitution 2. The elimination of chattel slavery and the granting of citizenship to the four million Africa-Americans who lived in America. Lincoln was not a racist but a friend of blacks. He welcomed the black leader Frederick Douglass to the White House.
   William Lee Miller's book should be required reading in any course dealing with the American Civil War, Presidential Leadership or the life of Lincoln. This great and good man shows us that morality in high office can be practiced by a skillful politician.
   This books should be read in tandem with Miller's earlier book on Lincoln's virtues which takes our sixteenth president through his career up until election as President of the United States.
   A book to treasure!



5. First off , Miller writes well. Very well. The voice is conversational. And the insights flow: how Lincoln saw the war as a transcedent matter(after all the South withdrew from the union because they lost an election; no fundanmental rights were infringed;how can any republican government survive that?); the way Lincoln mixed mercy, strategically used, with a firmness to do anything(and anything covered a lot of ground for Lincoln) within his power to save the idea of a republican government; how he never let it be about him and his needs, but always about the greater needs of the cause he served( the writing on how he dealt with McClellan ,and the border states is superb; makes you wish our current politicans had more of the stuff of which Lincoln was made). A must read for anyone interested in the war and, more importantly, on what makes a great leader, political or otherwise.

5 comments about The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy.

1. Charles Morris's "The Tycoons" is a good summation of the Industrial Revolution but is almost certainly poorly sub-titled with "How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould and J.P. Morgan Invented the Supereconomy". The New York Times did a review on October 2, 2005 and Todd Buchholtz hit the nail on the head writing "The Tycoons is not a path-breaking work of scholarship, testing new hypotheses against freshly uncovered facts." In fact a good part of Morris's book has nothing to do with these four very important men of commerce influenced anything. Rather he does show what the principal drivers behind such an economic explosion were. His writings on the four are based upon good, but not really extensive, research. For instance, much of his writing on Morgan is attributable to the best seller by Ron Chernow, The House of Morgan. While this was certainly a terrific book, to have it as THE principal souce or one of your main topics, is to short change any serious effort at research.
   
   He manages to get a plug on the book by I.W. Brands of the University of Texas, one of our most well respected historians on the period. Perhaps Professor Brands saw something I did not. That said, it is a quick read and a rather fun one. A bit more organization would have gone a long way.



2. I picked up "The Tycoons" to read, in one place, a chatty summation of recent research about Rockefeller, Gould, Carnegie, and Morgan, but instead found myself pulled through a keyhole onto a vast landscape new to me: how America invented mass-market manufacturing. We were the first country to figure out how to make two rifles so exactly alike that their components could be mixed and matched on the battlefield. The Silicon Valley of this period was the Connecticut River, navigable down to New York with access, via the Erie Canal, to the midwest markets. This river was the site of all the key water-powered factories where early automation and assembly lines created the first mass-produced items for daily life. Besides famous tycoons, we meet the forgotten engineers and efficiency experts who invented modern manufacturing and then spread its gospel to Europe. Through this book you are present at the birth of American economic dynamism. A readable and fascinating survey.



3. This is a great book for looking at the economic history of the United States. It covers mostly the four mentioned in the title but what was really fantastic and what deserves that extra star is that it covers the economic developments on the side. It looks at how our economy outpace Europe and the shift to make America that extra superpower. WE also have a look at how our ability to move west gave us an added advantage and that we did not have to resort to colonies. While we exported much we still made tremendous gains in internal improvements. He also grasp how the development of the coronation as an institution led to the rise of clerical and accounting positions creating hundreds of service jobs. This book is incredibly well written and really holds your interest. It offered the best explanation of Gould's attempt to corner the gold market I have ever read. It is very well researched and makes references to the top economic historians out there. A must read for anyone who wants to understand how the United States developed economically



4. Alas, I should have listened to my fellow Amazoners.
   
   They tried to warn me that despite the misleading title there wasn't very much in this book about the tycoons themselves. Well, I ignored them and blew the full retail price at a local store. If you want to read in minute detail about how a variety of engineering and manufacturing problems which had plagued industry were finally solved by the great minds of the second half of the 19th century, this book is for you. If you want to read about Gould, Carnegie, Rockefeller, Hill, Stanford, and Morgan, check out Matthew Josephson's classic instead. There's very little about any of the tycoons here.
   
   The editors of this book should have insisted on another, more accurate, title.
   
   As for the book itself, it's a pedestrian-like plod through history. Some books you can't put down after picking them up. This is most definitely not one one of them. I find myself taking taking one or two week breaks in between chapters while I devour other books in two consecutive evenings.
   
   If you want to learn about the background in which the robber barons operated this may be the book for you. Just be forewarned that there's scant little about them between the covers.



5. This is a fascinating book, especially for those outside the US who may, like me, be almost wholly unfamiliar with the period of history covered. Morris is excellent at making detail interesting and compulsive to read. The book weaves the lives four very different men into a coherent story. The way in which these "Robber Barons" presage the emerge of Mr Gates (at Microsoft), Mr Brin and Page (at Google) was a very important message for me. This was something I "knew", but could not support, or articulate clearly. Morris has done the job and I am now keen to read his other books.
   William Forbes (Bedford, England)

5 comments about Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary.

1. Maybe its unfair that I read this book after reading the spectacular autobiography of John Lewis, Walking in the Wind. However, I found that this book was too detached from the man. I did not come away from this book with a better understanding of this man than I did before hand. Thurgood Marshall is one of the most important people of 20th century America but you don't see why in this book.

   The major problem with this book is its writing style which makes reading this book tedious. I found myself bored by page 200. Also, I believe the Brown decision is given 20 pages and his solcitor general appointment is given more.

   If you want to learn more about this guy, study the cases of the era. Sweatt v. painter, Brown of course, etc. Marshall's personal life really is irrelevant towards understanding this man's accomplishments. I would not recommend this book.




2. Juan Williams' biography of Thurgood Marshall is a worthwhile read. Williams has a great sense of the dramatic story in this man's life and he firmly sets him in the historical context of a nation in turmoil. I went away from this book with a better understanding of Marshall's life, personality and importance in American History. Williams also does a very good job with contrasting Marshall's social and political opinions with those of civil rights leaders in the 60s and 70s, with whom he occasionally butted heads. Williams paints him as the feisty individual that he was but he also does not sugar coat his flaws and mistakes. For me, the most interesting aspects of the autobiography were the accounts of Marshall's trials and travels with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and his inexhaustible energy to confront the laws of the times. If you have any interest in learning about this man and his place both in history and in the Civil Rights Movement, defintely pick up this worthwhile book.



3. As a white man from the deep south, it boggles my mind how a totally free republic could twist the best Constitution ever written to deny a class of people their freedom. Civil right, the Vietnam war, the 1960's in general fascinate me.
   
   Mr. Williams book is particularly good at setting up how Justice Marshall came to his way of thinking. He learned early on how to play the game in the other man's (whites) territory. If you want to know how hard it was to operate during these times, with the threats and bigotry, I suggest this book. I think it is paramount for the younger people in today's society to understand the severity of the risk and opposition that people like Justice Marshall had to deal with. I think it would make them realize that even though progress still needs to be made, these individuals put their lives on the line to advance society to where it is today.



4. As a review on the back cover states, this book truly "reads like fiction." It gives a fascinating perspective of his life, and although I've read other technical biographies and his opinions, lectures and decisions, I would recommend this as a "first read" for anyone studying Thurgood. You feel as if you know Thurgood after reading this, and knowing his personal background helps you understand his professional background. His role in black freedom is no less than that of Martin Luther King's. (And quite frankly I think he should be revered as such.) The realities of black history nauseate me, and I can't comprehend how people historically treated blacks -- but Thurgood fought, and he fought legally and intelligently. Our children need to learn more about Thurgood and his overcoming adversity and changing the history of our country.



5. I think this book a "must read" for anyone who wants to know the truth about "back in the days" and "Jim Crow" days and such. Thurgood Marshall was the most inportant African-American man of the 20th century and probably of all time! The things he did have never nor will they ever be equaled. I only wish I'd had the pleasure and blessing of meeting this great man and shaking his hand. I recommend this book to everyone.

5 comments about Rogue Warrior.

1. A couple parts seemed like a stretch, but it was still a great book. I read the whole thing in two sittings, It was just too interesting to put down.



2. For those looking for info or accounts of escapades and adventures a la The Unit, look no further. Richard Marcinko lived the life, lead the life, and ultimately had to deal with that life. From it all he is able to capture an image and accurately convey this to us, and to it is a style all his own.
   
   Right from the first page you are drawn into Marcinko's life and you want to cheer for him. He is fighting for our country and protecting us. Of course there is the gruesome side of the necessity of killing, of the almost joy of killing that underlies Marcinko's writing, not only within himself but within his fellow Seals as well. Alas, to those not in the field this may be hard to understand, but putting yourself in their shoes with enemies all around you, the only course of action is to shoot to kill, and who better to have do this than those that live on that thrill? Gruesome? Yes. Necessary? Yes, in real life and in Marcinko's writing of his life.
   
   We follow him from when he was a Frogman to joining the Seals and going to Vietnam. His personality is very strong and this flared to life in Vietnam and ultimately started his move up the ranks. Then there is the creation of Seal Team Six, which to the laymen is only fathomable on the television, so to hear Marcinko describe what he and his men were up to was absolutely fascinating. Further on his deployment to test the nation's most "secure" facilities... This was a hoot and I loved reading about this. Granted, I don't want to see that our tax paid facilities are as vulnerable as they were, but I would rather have our experts discover these flaws than some other bad guy.
   
   All in all, a great read. We are able to see Marcinko's life with a flare of writing to accurately convey his personality. I would recommend this to anyone.
   
   5 stars.



3. An old pants crapping hippy from the 60s will probably tell you about tripping on LSD for the first time, well Richard Marcinko tripped on Cobra venom in Cambodia. Yes he eats an entire Cobra piece by piece, eats the venom sacs and starts seeing bizarre checkerboard patterns in black n white.
   Wearing tire tread sandals on his feet dressed in black gym shorts Marcinko hunts down VC, shoots, dismembers, blows away and cusses out anyone in his path. Inbetween that he drinks a lot and screws a ton of women.
   
   This book rules, thats about all I can say. I read it in a day, passed it to some friends who also finished in one day. A classic, if you have any desire to check it out, check it out, its like used for 1 cent.



4. I really enjoyed this book Marcinko was one of the last of a dying breed in the military. I have spent most of my adult life in the armed forces and can definitely relate. Oddly enough his story ring true when now more then ever our military is so riddled with political correctness and politics you can't even do your job.



5. This book is an exciting roller coaster ride throught the life of Marcinko. It was hard to put down.
   
   I'm amazed that Marcinko as able to reach the rank and levels of authority he did. He was truly a "rogue" warrior. Amazing man, but clearly one who operated outside the norms of the military.
   
   My only exposure to SEALs was during 3 weeks of Airborne training over 25 years ago. A team was in my class and in many ways they fit the image portrayed in this book. They were extremely close knit non-conformist who could do so many push-ups that the drill sergeants (black hats) had to take turns yelling at them because their voices would go out before they even broke a sweat.
   
   To paraphrase a familiar quote - these are the "rough men" who allow us to sleep soundly in our beds because they are ready to visit violence on those who would do us harm.

5 comments about Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla : Biography of a Genius (Citadel Press Book).

1. As you'd expect from a psychology professor, this biography is an extremely good biography of Tesla as a person, and a very good biography of his life and times. As with most scientific prodigies, the biographers are not equal to their subjects' scientific accomplishments, which leads to a certain amount of benign neglect. The book would not suffer under a few more historical mises en scène. All in all though, it is an extremely good book.



2. Without a doubt the most comprehensive book I have read on Mr. Tesla's life. This edition is meant for that reader who wants very detailed events and accomplishments about the scientist life. Mr. Seifer's research about Nikola Tesla's early life, his early school years, formal education and subsequent acquaintances establishes an overall base on which the reader can reference easily as the book progresses into Mr. Tesla's later years. The author brings to the reader's mind the fact that Nikola Tesla called his "close friends" the most amazing scientists at the turn of the 19th century who themselves became icons in the scientific community. However, Mr.Seifer, illustrates as well the human side of Nikola Tesla thereby keeping in focus the frail aspect of this incredible scientist and those devils his amazing intellect had to fight. I strongly recommend this book to those who wish to literaly know about Nikola Tesla's life. It is truly a manificent tome.



3. This is by all means the worst book on Nikola Tesla ever! This book portrays Tesla in a way that he never was, a confused lunatic with confused visions and a hard line nationalist attitude. It is no wonder that one reader nicknamed huh concluded that Tesla was stupid and was not able to finish most of his inventions (by the way, this guy sounds like someone from Edison's camp). Tesla was born in an environment of constant clashes between Croats and Serbs, and Ottoman empire (not "Asian barbarians" as this author constantly portrays this great Empire) had nothing to do with Tesla's departure to US. Teslas's father was orthodox priest (a hardliner) who wanted to see his son in the Serbian army (it is the same army who completely escaped into Greece which is unknown example of cowardice in the history and whose king also escaped to England leaving his nation to German mercy, thus Tesla did not see anything great in this "great army"). Tesla refused going to Serbian army and he refused being hard-line nationalist. Tesla once said:" I am proud of my country Croatia and my Serbian nationality". This indicates best that he was not hard-line nationalist (keep in mind that Serbian nationalist even today claim that Croatia is occupied Serbian territory and that it will be wiped off the map). This author actually invented many stories of Tesla's life and even more of them are from second or third hand, totally untrue.
   On the technical aspect of this book it is not even worth any comments. Someone who does not know anything about electrical tech must be wondering, what the heck did this guy Tesla invent anyway (hence huh reader again)? I would describe the technical portion of this book as a good joke; even Mr. Bean would do it better. Author just could not sustain a certain hatred for Ottoman empire, which by the way was not much different then eg. Roman empire. Stay away from this book, you will not learn anything from it and could be infected with serious hate.
   This book is a zero mark!



4. If you want to read a good biography of Nikola Tesla I would recommend you two books: Man out of Time or Nikola Tesla: A spark of genius...



5. In my opinion this was a very good book about Tesla, but I must confess, I have not read any other biographies on him so I have nothing to compare it to. As others have stated, the book has lots of details about Tesla's personal life and his relationships with business associates like J.P. Morgan, Westinghouse, Edison, etc.
   
   Tesla was clearly a genius and anyone who says otherwise knows nothing about his accomplishments. Titans like J.P. Morgan became concerned about Tesla's intentions regarding the use of his wireless power transmisson, and other inventions. These corporate puppet masters don't want anything in the marketplace that they cannot wield complete control over. Free, wireless power transmission fell into this category. Tesla wanted to elevate humanity with his inventions, whereas Morgan (and others) wanted to gain greater control over humanity through technology. This is the same plight we are in today, in 2008, a hundred years later.
   
   Tesla's work was by no means the only target for suppression. Those of you fascinated with Tesla will surely be fascinated with the discoveries of Albert Roy Davis and Walter C. Rawls. Tesla's emphasis was on electricity, while Davis and Rawls' was/is on magnetism.
   
   Davis was the first scientist in the world to discover, in 1936, that magnetism consists of two separate and distinct energies, not one as it is still taught in colleges today. Each pole affects all matter in two different ways, so the physics books need to be re-written. Davis and Rawls found that North pole magnetism can not only eliminate diseases like cancer, it can be used to increase the intelligence of animals/people, extend the lifespans of animals/people, increase the growth of plants, make stronger metals/plastics and much more. Read "Magnetism and Its Effects on the Living System", and "The Magnetic Blueprint of Life", by Davis and Rawls. All of their books are great reading, but those two will likely interest Tesla fans the most. Read "The Scope of Biomagnetism", by Walter Rawls, on the Teslatech website too.
   
   I've been told by a credible source that Tesla was involved in the Philedelphia Experiment and that he left it because he knew there were going to be problems. He was also working for RCA laboratories at the time of his death, not just feeding pigeons on a bench waiting for the big sleep.

3 comments about Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson.

1. I was a bit disappointed in this book. Having read and relished The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, I was anxious to read the native narrative of another of the Founding Fathers. Unfortunately, where as Franklin's book combines delightful personal details along with perspectives on the man's government service, Jefferson's autobiography is quite dry and seems to be more an official catalog of committee deliberations than a story about his own life. The rear cover of the books states, in addition to other things, that the book "...presents a detailed account of his young life..." and "...his life in retirement." I think that one would be hard pressed to identify more than a couple paragraphs in this 101 page book in which Jefferson describes his youth or his retirement. The book was interesting, though more from the historical and political perspectives than from any insight it offers into the inner philosophy or personal life of the man.



2. This brief "autobiography" is not a self-promotion, an expose, or a book designed for the purpose of keeping the reader turning the pages in suspense. In fact, it has very little personal information about Jefferson or his life outside of the political happenings in which he was involved concerning the American and French revolutions. Certainly, there is no mention of his black lover, Sally Hemings, and for that matter little mention of his "real" family. Nonetheless it was to me a gripping tale that kept me reading, as I felt privy to the inner workings of the Continental Congress and the French Revolution from an influential American who was on the spot (and in the midst) of the events as they occurred. Perhaps, as a direct descendant of a signer of the Declaration of Independence, of which Jefferson was the author, I had a natural interest in this book. But I think not, as it had been sitting gathering dust on my shelf as I read lots of classic American fiction that I thought would be more rewarding. Despite (because of?) its dry, blunt, intelligent but factual style, the debates and events are center stage, with Jefferson's occasional but not obtrusive opinions being much appreciated. My great experience reading Jefferson's brief book led me to pick up W.E.B. DuBois' The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade, which covers some of the same ground although from a different perspective, and is equally rewarding.



3. Few autobiographies offer such a candid and vivid view of the mind of the author. In this, Thomas Jefferson's autobiography, there is no doubt as to the authenticity of the man, the revolutionary and the statesman: the virtue, wisdom and strength that is visible as Jefferson describes both the minor and major events and moments in his public life of service where his reliance upon the essence of the early Republic's laws and the spirit of the national consciousness were blended with the author's unique insight as to how to maintain the delicate balance of Federal necessity, states rights and the influence of the foreign powers and their affairs upon the young nation.
   
   Unlike the autobiographies of other founding fathers (Adams, Franklin, Hamilton, etc.), whose own accounts are more personal and revealing about themselves as well as judgmental and temperamental about their personal experience with their peers, Jefferson has crafted an autobiography, which is true to form: the form of the man and his beliefs, which influenced national policy without every being advanced to replace it, which served a nation selfishly without requiring anything else in return except for the promise of posterity to "preserve, protect and defend" the liberties achieved and to forever more "admire, relish and respect" the eternal need to defend and uphold, at any cost, both the people and the commonwealth for future generations to behold.
   
   I think it funny that today's democratic-socialists have adopted Thomas Jefferson as their "founding father". If anything, this book redeems the reputation and spirit of Jefferson, not as a democrat or democratic-socialist, but as a Republican, dedicated and sworn to instituting a democratic-republican form of government free from the tyranny of dictators and protected from the ill-conceived attempts of men and women from within to manipulate and pervert a form of government conceived as "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."