5 comments about Cherokee Proud, Second Edition.

1. I just rec'd the this book and after only flipping through just a few pages on my great grandmother's MCCLURE lines, I'm impressed! Not only am I looking forward to reading this book but I plan on using it for future reference, as I see a few made at the end of one of the chapters and I haven't even read thru it yet - and can not wait! Thank you Dr. Tony MCCLURE. You did your homework because you know your homework. Buy this book! You will not be disappointed!



2. I think it is a great information guide to help people finding their Cherokee heritage. I discovered that I am related to the author.



3. This is a must have for those who are serious into looking into their Native American Ancestry. Its a great book!!



4. I found this book very clear and informative. I know one of my great-grand parents was Cherokee but have found tracing that branch of the family tree very difficult. The records come to a dead stop in Tennessee. Thanks to Mr. McClure's hard work I now have different avenues to take in my search.



5. It was stupendus!! No problems at all!!!
   
   Thank You!
   Alice Helton Smith

5 comments about Where Valor Rests: Arlington National Cemetery.

1. Purchased for Dad for Father's Day. Great Book. High quality book. Great pictures. Nice thick paper and cover. However, did not see hardcover version until later. I would have purchased that had I known.



2. Coming from a military family with blood spilled in every American conflict since and including the Civil War -- Winston's who were killed in the Battle of Atlanta, Pvt. Frank Scott who went down with hundreds of other American soldiers on the HMS Otranto in 1918, "Cousin Bob" who was a Colonel and later Brig. Gen. Robert Lee Scott who was an ace with the Army Air Corps version of the Flying Tigers and is now buried in Arlington, my own father, wounded as a young Marine on Iwo Jima -- I am often skeptical of politicians, the Press and organizations who profess to "honor America's war heroes." However, I can say, with no misgivings whatsoever, that the National Geographic Society "got it right," when they published this richly photographed and beautifully written volume.
   
   Six writers and nine photographers with more than ten Pulitzer Prizes among them, provide readers with a keepsake volume covering the history, people, ceremony, services, and other photographic and narrative views of this sad and beautifully sacred place. 300,000 of America'a fallen lie at rest here and this book captures the spirit of their sacrifice.
   
   With photographs of the grounds during each season, details of how the cemetery came to be established, the influence of John F. Kennedy's funeral on the growth and significance of the cemetery, photographic essays of traditions, funerals, families and the soldiers and sailors behind the scenes, this book serves very aptly serves as an "Encyclopedia of Arlington Cemetery."
   
   Modestly priced at $30.00, this volume belongs in every school, college, military and public library. In addition, it would make a wonderful gift to the veterans of the family on Memorial Day.
   
   R. Neil Scott
   Middle Tennessee State University



3. Bought this for my wife after a visit to DC, inc Arlington. This is one fine piece of work, and the photography is excellent.



4. I've only bought these books for other people who have a personal interest in Arlington Nat'l Cemetery. I've looked at the book and find it well written, well organized, and visually striking. For many people, this will be a book of surprising interest.



5. This book wonderfully depicts the type of people we should be talking about. It shows Arlington through the seasons, showing the beauty of such a hallowed place, it showed the care and compassion of the ordinary people who work there, and it showed the honor with which the military honors those who rest there. The most heartbreaking scenes are those showing family and friends saying goodbye. I wish to salute those who rest there, their families, and those who take care of such a sacred ground. Thanks to all military members and their families

5 comments about Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan.

1. It's more of an academic book, with an apparently controversial thesis to defend, rather than something like David Halbarstam would write. So the firs third is pretty slow and arcane, with lots of details about Japanese politics, and history, with relevant Japanese terms tossed in. Things pick up when WWII starts. I missed an overview of Japanese culture, national psychology and interviews with people who lived through this time. But it's not that kind of a book. It's worth reading, I would recommend it for a very different perspective than you get on the History Channel, where they love to refight Midway over and over. Japanese war planners were tacticians, and overly optimistic, with their heads in the sand. None of them, nor the Emperor, served the people well.



2. Herbert Bix's book more than amply rewards the patient reader. Many of the previous reviews have focused on the emperor's responsibility for World War II, and that's certainly an important theme of Bix's superbly researched book. However, the conclusions the book draws are far from black and white. Instead, Bix lays out his version of the facts and lets those facts speak for themselves.
   
   It's an extremely effective means of rhetoric, and you will find, the closer you read, that Bix leaves oceans of ambiguity regarding the emperor's wartime role. Where Bix's arguments have the least flexibility is where he articulates, using sociology, history, and the personal upbringing of Hirohito, the point that the imperial role during and before the war was far more than symbolic. Yet his discussion of how the cabinet, the parliament, and the imperial advisers circumscribed and/or expanded that role shows that whether the emperor's role was great or small, it defies easy definition.
   
   This opaque method of wielding power is so intuitively correct for anyone who has studied Japanese politics, that it smacks of great truth. And whether you believe that the emperor was a tyrant, a figurehead, or something in between, Bix's sophisticated attempt to trace the myriad strands of power, politics, and battlefield outcomes illuminates Japanese politics and power in a way that no other modern history been able to do, at least in English.
   
   The personalities and events surrounding this extraordinary historical figure make for tantalizing reading. Many previous reviews have described the writing as boring, but it's nothing of the kind if you're interested in the details that made up war and pre-war decisions. Consensus, factions, deference to hierarchy, moving up through the ranks, and an incredible attention to the finest details are all characteristics that will be immediately recognizable to anyone who has lived in Japan for long. Bix's lifetime and intimate ties to Japan are reflected in his thinking and in his style. It's rich and rewarding, but certainly not low hanging fruit.
   
   If you're looking for a thoughtful and thought provoking view on the modernization of Japan, this book provides it. The relationship between Meiji and Showa is fascinating for its scantiness and for the profound impact that the grandfather had on the grandson. The description of the postwar imperial reign creates a cacophonous dissonance with Hirohito's earlier power and involvement in government that literally hearkens back to the occasional Roman emperors who left the seat of power to putter in their gardens.
   
   If you enjoy this book, regardless of your conclusions, even half as much as I did, it will have been worth every single penny.



3. A hnonorable attempt at writing a biography by using secondary resources to support his writings. The Japanese government does not allow people to review the emperior writngs, so we are left with other writings from his colleagues to make a analysis on his character.



4. I always find it fascinating when I reach a completely different conclusion than a noted awards organization like the Pulitzers. But after slogging through over half of Herbert Bix's book, "HIROHITO AND THE MAKING OF MODERN JAPAN," I cannot imagine how this book received much of any award.
   
   I guess at some level it is not a complete washout. The book is obviously meticulously researched. As a reference for academics, it will probably have real value. But in terms of simple readability, it is a disaster.
   
   For me, it seems Bix has been immersed in Japan and Japanese culture for way too long. Like a lot of experts, he tends to speak in a bit of a short hand without remembering that it makes it difficult for laymen to follow.
   
   For better or worse, most Americans are not terribly familiar with Japanese history and culture, especially as it relates to pre-WWII. So the huge cast of characters that Bix throws at you is overwhelming because most readers are not going to know who any of them are. His introductions to each of these characters tend to be very brief and there are so many of them (and so many names that are all alien to begin with) that it becomes almost dizzying. You are constantly flipping over to the index to figure out who someone is that hasn't been mentioned in 50 pages.
   
   Cabinets rise and fall with blinding speed and without much explanation for how or why. Japanese cultural points are raised without deep explanation and without reinforcement later in the text. And the prose itself is leaden. It is not a read so much as a slog. You endure it more than you enjoy it.
   
   More bothersome is that Bix has a clear agenda in the biography. His take? Hirohito was a conniving jerk who misled everyone about his role during the war. Other than being an upright family man, Bix's Hirohito is a Machiavellian slimeball constantly making poor choices and then finding ways to foist the consequences on others.
   
   Now for all I know, this may be totally accurate. But the text reads as almost seething in its anger. I have no issue with a writer presenting an opinion and a point of view. That is a role of the historian and the biographer--to interpret the facts and put them into context. But Bix never lets it go to simply tell the story of his subject. He is constantly slamming Hirohito. Again, his criticism may be sound. It probably is. But it so pervasive that at some point you begin to wonder whether or not Bix is presenting all the facts. Based on the enormous "notes" section of this book, he probably is, but at some point he just needed to tell the story. If the problems and hypocrisy in Hirohito's life are as pronounced as he says they are, that will likely come through to the reader without having to ham-handedly beat the man page after page. It reads less like a biography and more like a polemic.
   
   The only reason I am giving this any stars at all is because I feel I am obligated to give some credit to the sheer depth of research that is evident in the work. This is truly a scholarly effort in its research and I suspect the underlying source documents cited will make this a great reference for future scholars seeking information on the subject. But I found the writing itself to be bad and the Bix's anti-Hirohito agenda to just be overwhelming.
   
   This is an important story that needs to be told. But Bix's work is not the book that gets it done. Obviously, based on the accolades this book received from critics, other readers and Pulitzer committee puts me in the minority but I really am left wondering what book they read when they heaped their praise on this work.



5. My wife is Chinese, to this day there still exists a great deal of hate in China for Japan and her actions during the war. I say this to clarify I am no fan of Hirohito or Imperial japan.
   
   What I had hoped to get an objective review of Hirohito and his role before and during the war. Instead what I got from this book was a foaming at the mouth rabid attack Hirohito all in the first few pages. I really had thought people such as Bix might have grown out of fanatical Marxism.
   
   This is the only time I have thought about asking for a refund from Amazon for a book. I suppose I should have read the reviews of others before buying.

5 comments about Finding Your Father's War: A Practical Guide to Researching and Understanding Service in the World War II U.S. Army.

1. This book is a fabulous resource for those searching for lost relatives, those who died in World War Two or survived but said little about their experiences, and now, having passed away, their survivors want to know more. Highly recommended for those searching for answers - logically laid out, resources aplenty, and an easy writing style.



2. Gawne's book is a must-have for anyone attempting to do research on a family member that served during the war. This book details how to go about finding morning reports, after action reports, discharge papers, and other such textual records that are invaluable to researchers, historians, genealogists, and others trying to find information on a loved ones service during the Second World War, or on the combat or support role of their loved ones outfit. With the fire that destroyed millions of servicemen's records at the St. Louis archives in the early 1970s, Gawne suggests other routes to take and other places to look so that the researcher does not feel like they will ultimately be up against a dead-end. My family was able to find several records relating to my grandfather who fought in the war even though we feared the fire had probably taken everything. The state of Ohio had copies of his discharge papers, and the National Archives was able to find some of his US Army medical records, which gave us more information concerning the wound he suffered while fighting in Normandy in 1944 and the medals he was due, many of which he had never received. This book is an invaluable research tool for anyone interested in finding such records. The photographs are high-quality and the information is easy to follow. Gawne also does an outstanding job of breaking down the various types of records and how to go about finding and requesting them.



3. If you're hitting a brick wall trying to research your father's records from WWII or earlier, this is an invaluable tool for you to use. Most records were destroyed in a fire back in the 70's and it's hard to find anything. I heard about this book from a friend, and ordered it. Even if it hadn't already given me a number of different pathways I could use to locate the records, it would still be an interesting book to read about our Armed Services and how they are organized. I used Amazon to locate a "used" copy of it - and was amazed at the prompt service I received and how they followed up to make sure I had received it. Kudos to Amazon and to the sellers.



4. Excellent Information. One of the best resources we've come across in some time! I would recommend this book to anyone researching WW2. It has been an essential tool in my husband's research.



5. This is a great book to get you started with your WWII research. Even if you are a pro at research, this is a reference work you should keep on the shelf. I just love this book and it has helped me immensely in understanding the research sources available and what things actually mean.

5 comments about The Life of Charlemagne (Ann Arbor Paperbacks).

1. Charlemagne's reign was a brief flash of light in the dark centuries that followed the collapse of the Roman empire. As king of the Franks, Charlemagne unified much of Western Europe - what today is northeastern Spain, all of France, and parts of Germany and Italy. He revived education and learning, repaired existing churches and built new ones, and helped strengthen the position of the Pope in Rome. In the year 800 Charlemagne was crowned Emperor Augustus, ruler of the new Roman empire.
   
   This new empire was short lived, but Charlemagne became legend. Einhard, a scholar in Charlemagne's court and author of this short biography, was faced with a difficult question: how does one write a balanced and honest biography of a revered king, a king that had become legendary in his own time?
   
   Einhard had few examples to follow. The religious biographies of saints were not entirely appropriate. He turned to a classical source, The Lives of the Caesars by the Roman historian Seutonius. Einhard devotes about half of his work to Charlemagne's extensive military campaigns, but his focus remains on Charlemagne the leader and Charlemagne the man, not on military tactics and strategy.
   
   The modern reader will find it helpful to read between the lines. Einhard obviously admired Charlemagne, and his criticisms are muted. Also, Einhard's writing reflects a world view very different from today.
   
   For example, Einhard in discussing the continual uprising of the Saxons says: he never allowed their faithless behavior to go unpunished, but either took the field against them in person, or sent his counts with an army to wreak vengeance and exact righteous satisfaction.
   
   Wreak vengeance? Exact righteous satisfaction? The editor's footnote explains that at the time of a revolt in 782 Charlemagne had 4,500 Saxons beheaded in one day at Verden. Similarly, after a formidable conspiracy in Germany was put down, "all the traitors were banished, some of them without mutilation, others after their eyes had been put out".
   
   Einhard provides many details of Charlemagne's character and private life. Charlemagne enjoyed the exhalations from natural hot springs. He often practiced swimming; few could surpass him in this sport. Einhard carefully describes the clothing worn by Charlemagne. He apparently disliked foreign costumes, and was most comfortable in the common dress of the Frankish people.
   
   He was temperate in eating, and especially drinking. He was particularly fond of roast meat prepared on a spit and disregarded medical advice to eat only boiled meat. He could speak Latin fluently. St. Augustine's The City of God was among his favorite books. He never developed proficiency at writing, although he practiced regularly during his later years.
   
   Einhard's biography was immensely popular and more than eighty manuscripts still exist today.
   
   My copy of The Life of Charlemagne was published by Ann Arbor Paperbacks, University of Michigan Press. The foreword by historian Sidney Painter was quite helpful in establishing the historical context. My copy includes a ninth century map of Europe, footnotes, and a genealogical table for the family of Charlemagne and Hildegard.



2. Written in the decade following Charlemagne's death, Einhard's biography is based on over twenty years of personal service to Charlemagne and gives readers a tightly-woven narrative of the sovereign's life, personal character, and military conquests. Although presenting an idealized version of events, the historical accuracy of most of the book's details have been largely confirmed by modern historians. The book's modern index reaffirms this conclusion by documenting less than ten minor factual errors.
   
   The biography was obviously written to honor Einhard's former patron, but the deeds and exploits chronicled in Einhard's book are nevertheless plausibly presented in a idealized manner reminiscent of patriotic middle school textbook renderings of George Washington or Theodore Roosevelt. The book's format is continuous, breaking only at the end of a four-page preface before continuing on with an unbroken string of pages which are presented without the benefit of chapter divisions. The style of Einhard's writing tends to be wooden and Spartan - the biography tells the reader of Charlemagne's accomplishments but makes scant mention of the difficulties he faced - and any criticism of Charlemagne is obviously muted by the author's attempt to balance the idealized expectations of his partisan audience with the Roman ideal of factual honesty.
   
   Einhard's biography starts with a concise outline of Charlemagne's lineage, beginning with a brief mention of his great-grandfather Pepin of Heristal, followed by three pages summarizing the exploits of grandfather Charles Martel and father Pepin the Short. Due to an admitted lack of source material, Einhard skips Charlemagne's childhood and proceeds directly to his first military undertaking; the Aqauitanian war begun by Pepin the Short. The rest of the book's sixty seven pages are essentially divided into two parts: the first half concisely presenting a chronological, episodic narration of Charlemagne's military campaigns (confining the focus to Charlemagne's motives and decisions while largely ignoring his tactics and strategy), before backtracking to conclude with a twenty seven page glimpse of the monarch's personal and family life.
   
   The author's purpose in writing the book, plainly stated by him in the book's preface, reveal an unmistakable admiration which borders on hero worship. Descriptive phrases like "most excellent," "justly renowned," and "a very great and distinguished man" clearly display Einhard's to write the book as tribute to the greatest man of his age. In this he succeeds; although the book's superficial and miserly accounting of its subject's exploits leave the reader hungry for more details.
   
   The book effectively chronicles the subject's glorious life and accomplishments from the point of view of a member of his court. Simultaneously, Einhard manages to shine some much-needed light onto Charlemagne's moral stature and political machinations, in addition to providing the reader with a general military history of the period.



3. This chronicle was commissioned at the request of Louis the Pious one of Charlemagne's successors, was written by Einhard, a monk, historian, and a dedicated servant of Charlemagne. His Life of Charlemagne, written between 817-830 is clearly in the vein of the famous Roman historian Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars (a text that existed at the monastery where the author worked). The work is brief, to the point, and for the most part does not include tangential information, and is biased. The bias is completely understandable and the introduction to the text points out where and why. His chronicle was written to make Louis the Pious' famous father look good. For example, one of the morally stained aspects of the Charlemagne's reign were the actions of his unmoral daughters, which Einhard carefully does not tell us about. Einhard, in short, sometimes deliberately obscures the truth. However, what is so appealing about Einhard's text is the fact that his most of his information was based off of 26 years as a servant of Charlemagne and his court, and information that he includes of actions before Charlemagne's reign most likely was gathered from sources and documents which he had access to. Lastly, Einhard's attempt at stringently following the model of Suetonius Twelve Caesars makes him connect the characteristics of great emperors such as Augustus to Charlemagne, obscuring Charlemagne's actual habits, personality etc...
   
   The introduction is ok but is mostly summary, the map is good, but the notes are scanty. A MUCH better addition would be the Penguin Classics text, Two Lives of Charlemagne, that also includes the equally interesting (although vastly different) De Carlo Magno written 70 years after Charlemagne's death.



4. King Charles the Great, more commonly known as Charlemagne, was the first truly great leader of France. His reign was one of great expansion as he created a French nation that controlled nearly all of Western Europe. Charlemagne was a great military commander and one who appreciated learning, he did a great deal to promote the relearning of so much that was lost with the fall of the Roman Empire.
   Einhard was one of the learned people that Charlemagne sponsored, and so in this book Einhard quite naturally praises the great king. Yet, it is historically accurate and written in 830 CE, it is contemporary to the life of the great king. Einhard's direct observation of the life of Charlemagne is a historical classic, one that should be read by all students of what we now call the Dark Ages. For Charlemagne was a rare glimmer of light during those times of meager learning and education.



5. This is an excellent book with great information. I used it for a research paper and made an A due to the extensive areas of his life that it covered.

5 comments about Our family history.

1. Love the cover, and the amount of options that it includes. It includes a place for pictures, record special information and a family tree pullout. However, the place to insert the pictures was just a hole, so it was confusing how to insert the photos if it wasn't the perfect size. Also the recordings book had just had the very basic questions. However, the appearance, and variety of stuff it included made me still happy that I gave it away as a gift.



2. I bought this book for my daughter. Then we decided to get another one and fill them with family memories and give them to my two sisters.
   I am very pleased with this book. I recommend it to anyone.



3. I think it is beautiful and am enjoying it. The only reason that I gave it a 4 instead of a 5 was because when you are putting your information in it, the lines are misleading. It appears now that I've already been using it that I was supposed to put the information between the lines rather than on them. Other than that, it is put together very well and I enjoy finding out more about my family history!



4. This book is disgusting and filthy. It actually has a category of "we were married/became partners on." Married is fine, but "became partners" is filthy. This book should be banned. It is disgusting and immoral. The author and anyone who sells it should be ashamed. I'll be praying for them.



5. This is exactly the type of object I was looking for. A great keepsake, one to add info as needed or arises, and attractive on top of it.

5 comments about American Generalship: Character is Everything: The Art of Command.

1. Mr. Puryear wastes no time with fluff. He gets right to the heart of leadership in this wonderfully written book. He has done a superb job in researching and interviewing each of the men he writes about. So, the information you'll receive from this book is both accurate and personal. You can read it casually or blaze through it. Either way, I believe you will be pleased with the nuggets of leadership wisdom revealed by some of the world's finest military leaders.



2. As a career Air Force officer I have read many books on leadership and command. American Generalship stands out as the best I've ever read. The author highlights shared leadership traits held by several of great generals that he gleaned from personal interviews. I give this book to all the officers under my command to mentor them as leaders.



3. Outstanding book on leadership. It covers the dynamics of proven performers through the ages and gives the reader a strong foundation in personal assessment and grow. A must-have for anyone's professional library.



4. The first book assignment in my Strategic Leadership and Decision Making (SLDM) elective for Air War College was "American Generalship: Character Is Everything: The Art of Command" by Edgar F. Puryear Jr. The level of leadership this study aims at is very high indeed - the ranks of the general officers. The kind of strategy that leaders at this level create and conceptualize, during both peace and war, involves all of the nation's forces, and applies itself through large-scale, long-range planning and development, to ensure security or victory. This book deals exclusively with the sort of character, mentorship and values that a leader at this level must possess, and it does so with a tidal wave of good examples and meaningful quotes.
   
   The subtitle of the book, "Character is Everything: The Art of Command", defines the focus of this study in leadership. Although the leaders studied in this book are chosen from fairly narrow sections of time and from only one country (USA), those times are the greatest perils. Ike, Patton, MacArthur, and Clark are drawn from World War 2. Grant, Sherman, Lee, and Jackson are cited from the American Civil War. Extensive passages on Billy Mitchell's experience as well as that of his ardent supporters Hap Arnold and Tooey Spaatz. George Washington's contribution is discussed in detail. There is a far too small, albeit tasty, portion for more recent leaders, like Colin Powell, Schwarzkopf, Meyer, and Creech, who have had to deal with the today's hyperpolitics, scandal-centric journalism, perpetual war and a evaporating budgets.
   
   As good as "American Generalship: Character Is Everything: The Art of Command" is, some important details of the leadership experience are left in rather soft focus. The rationale behind Operation Market Garden (p288, listed in other references as "disastrous"), continued support for Wedemeyer (p318-9, a similar set of "circumstantial" charges against an officer today would certainly be career ending), and clearing the Hooverville shantytown built by "Bonus Army" marchers (p264-265, brutal tactics used and the unfortunate remarks made at the press conference that immediately followed). These details could have provided the all important context that framed these actions and decisions. Character is revealed through actions inside context.
   
   More examples could have been provided about leaders who did not read books. The book only lists one leader, the confederate Longstreet (p152-153), who did not read extensively. On the other hand, the narrative bogs down with mountains of evidence that reading books, particularly biographies and historical works, helps leaders think more broadly and learn from the timeless lessons of the past.
   
   All things considered, "American Generalship: Character Is Everything: The Art of Command" is certainly worth a read. It is a very good book that could have been great if only it had spent a little more time in the hands of an editor.



5. An easy, inspirational read. Clear concise and to point on every aspect of leadership. This should be stressed to be read by any inspiring officer or one on active duty for 20 years.
   
   Excellent application to the civilian world as well. Wish I'd have found this sooner!

5 comments about Slaves in the Family (Ballantine Reader's Circle).

1. By tracing the heritage of several slave decendants' back to the mid 1600s from New York to California, Ball has fulfilled something so profound for those families, almost no words can describe it. Most African Americans in this country are resigned to the fact that we'll never know who our great, great, grandparents were, where in Africa our ancestors once lived. This book will be hard to put down.



2. 
   Great reading. This is an important and interesting historical as well as family history book. This account of the slave trade, and South Carolina's pivotal role in it, is riveting.



3. When talking about America's original sin, it is inevitable that the discussion gets very complicated, very quickly. The historical fact of slavery and its implications are simply too much to wrap one's head around, and it's not unreasonable to ask whether there's anything else to learn and apply about the experience or whether it's just best to let sleeping dogs lie. Edward Ball's book is acutely aware of the question, and it doesn't completely come to a perfectly-formed conclusion on the matter, either. The book links the story of his white family with his attempts to investigate and connect with the descendants of the slaves whose names had earlier been unknown to his family, and whose voices had been unheard by history. The results are often electrifying, as Ball tries to wrestle the pencil away from the winners, as it were, and write another draft of history, despite some misgivings from the older members of his own family.
   
   Slaves in the Family feels more like reportage than narrative nonfiction, and Ball's effort is scrupulously balanced and seeks less to advance an argument than to merely explore the lasting effects of slavery on the descendants of that terrible institution. His interactions with those descendants--easily the best parts of the book--hit many notes, and they illustrate that, if nothing else, the ways in which blacks and whites have dealt with the knowledge of slavery are quite varied. The people who Ball interviews operate on a variety of different worldviews and assumptions--some, for example, think that things haven't really improved for blacks since civil rights and that the battle is hopeless, while others take the contrary view that the improvement has been incalculable--but nearly all are united in a desire to know more, to learn more, and to try to understand what happened. People who read this book looking for what "The Line" is these days when it comes to slavery and race relations are going to be disappointed, as the book seems to conclusively say that such things don't exist, that individuals have dealt with slavery's cruel inheritance by personalizing it in differing, idiosyncratic ways, and that to say that "black folks" or "white folks" feel a specific way about this history is simply not possible. There are, of course, constants that run through the discussions--guilt, anger, denial, sure, but also acceptance and a surprising amount of forgiveness--that present a difficult, nuanced, and rewarding trip through several centuries' worth of history.
   
   Truth be told, the book does drag just a little bit at parts, but I appreciated what Ball tries to do here. The book feels incomplete at times, but that's perhaps inevitable as it is the nature of the subject under analysis. What Ball does is to try to shine some light onto a broad subject, and he finds quite a bit of interest that's hidden in the darkness. The result might not be dazzling new thoughts on our racial inheritance, so much as a new way of thinking about that inheritance, one that disregards myth and pat sloganeering and that credits conversation and knowledge. It's a good message, and one that should be heard.



4. This is the second time I've read this book and I was as pleased with it this time as the first time. This is the story of the author's research into his family's past as slave owners and slave traders. Through painstaking research and wonderful storytelling Ball tracks down his ancestors, both white and black, and tells the story of slavery in this country from the point of view of one prominent family.
   
   We often think of slavery in terms of the Civil War. It's all Gone With The Wind and Mammy and Bette Davis in Jezebel sitting on the porch in hoop skirts listening to the slaves sing spirituals. These are all part of the story, but only part. The wonderful thing about this book is that this story starts with the arrival of the first Ball ancestor in the Americas in Charlestown (later Charleston) in the 1600's and follows the family up into the American Revolution and beyond. One of the Ball daughters was married to Henry Laurens, a delegate to the Second Continental Congress who succeeded John Adams as President of that body. He was also co-owner of a slave trading firm that was responsible for the sale of over 8,000 Africans during his lifetime.
   
   The American Revolution was a boon for many slaves who were able to escape their masters to the British side. A number of people were taken back to Britain where they were given their freedom and some were taken to Nova Scotia to start over - it was people from the Canadian group that founded Sierra Leone and one of them was a former Ball slave.
   
   The book takes us into the present day and brings together many disparate stories as the author struggles to come to terms with his family history and what it means to him. Along the way he meets many relatives he didn't know he had and is able to help some of these people piece together family trees as they trace their genealogy back through the records to their original slave ancestor.
   
   This is not a perfect book and I can understand why some members of the author's family would have preferred he left well enough alone, but I am glad he didn't. It is imperative that we all understand our history, acknowledge where we came from, and find the connections between us. They are closer than we think.



5. This is an interesting book. The author is from South Carolina, and though his own upbringing was middle-class (his dad was a clergyman) his family had in the past been quite wealthy, and owned a considerable number of slaves. We're talking thousands of people here, between the various plantations they owned, and the length of time involved. One of the plantations was only sold out of the family 15 years ago.
   
   So Mr. Ball, who has a journalism degree and writes a newspaper column for the Village Voice, decides to see if he can track down his relatives, and also the descendants of the slaves his family owned. As he works his way through various families in the book, he recounts the history of the Ball family, starting with the patriarch and working his way forward to the Civil War. This event, plus the advent of a female known in the family lore as "Buzzard Wing", impoverished most of the family. Ball also discusses the instances when he feels one of the slave-owners had children with their slaves, and what happened to the offspring of these liaisons.
   
   The whole thing is very interesting, from the all-white Charleston men's club he visits in one chapter to the various families of black people he visits and talks with. The author has a relatively intelligent sense of the history of the subject, and if I think he perhaps attaches too much importance to what his family did, relative to black people, well I suppose I'm not him. At one point he says he bears no responsibility for what happened, but there has to be justice, or something to that effect. It's an interesting concept.
   
   Slavery is a touchy subject in this country, still, and the author should be commended for taking it on. Of course when he does so, not everyone will agree with him. It's the way things are. Good book, though.

5 comments about Japan at War: An Oral History.

1. This book should be read alongside "The Good War", by Studs Terkel, in every high school. Sometimes it seems as if Americans would rather stick to the bright and sunny WWII fairy tales that Hollywood specializes in rather than learn the true story. Please, don't let John Wayne re-write our history. Millions of ordinary people were caught up in this cataclysmic event, and yet the world barely remembers their ordeal. This is real history. Perhaps the most valuable aspect of this book is that it reminds that -"ism"s can quickly turn poisonous if they approach the simple lives most people lead as insignificant.
   
   As a side note, this book is anything but dry and scholarly in tone. It is shocking. Once you begin to accept the reality of what it conveys, it is hard to put down.



2. Pacific War experiences related by those who lived it on the Japanese side. Excellent and moving accounts of what the disastrous war was like "on the other side." Helps us see that all people are human beings, not the caricatures and stereotypes portrayed in propaganda of either side.



3. How do I describe in words the emotion this book evokes. It simply can't be done. Of all the books I have read on this era of Japanese history, this one had the most impact by far. Oral histories are valuable because they reveal the side of history you don't hear about in dry history books, they reveal the human side of tragic events in this case. Anyone interested in learning about Wartime Japan must read this book.



4. I rarely go all in for history books of this type. As an academic it is not in my nature to suspend or withhold criticism. Oral histories typically suffer from a certain blindness to strategic considerations, and end up being little more than advocacy for personal preferences held by the author, disconnected from the reality of the people, places and times of historical events under examination. That is NOT the case with Haruko Taya Cook and Peter Cook's "Japan At War: An Oral History".
   
   In the case of the Cooks' "Japan At War: An Oral History," I have no criticism or suggestion for how it could have been made better, save for my lingering wish that there was more to read of it. The interviewees' stories of personal experiences during the war are well told, well edited, well organized and well chosen. At the same time, the authors preserve an overall context in the strategic picture of what was happening at that time and why.
   
   Without hesitation, I rank it as one of my all-time favorites, and whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone interested in history, World War II, Japan, the Far East, or human frailty, vice, cruelty and endurance.



5. This book will make you laugh out loud, angry, or simply awed by the twists of the human spirit- both good and evil. The stories are exceptional and I cannot praise the Cooks enough for creating this document! If you are a student of history, much less, a student of Japanese history, this book should be on your shelf.

1 comments about How to Do Everything Genealogy.

1. I select and buy books for our Columbine Genealogical and Historical Society to donate to local libraries. This book got my attention when it arrived and I am utterly amazed at the quality and detail of its contents. George is legend in the genealogy community, he has done it all and his advice and examples in this updated 2nd edition are dead on. His examples are perfect and his text lean and to the point. I've done lots of genealogy research, and I was picking up new tips in each chapter, like this bit of advice to get access to today's 'semi-restricted' public records found on pgs 317-318:
   (quote)"... Be prepared by carrying a copy of your pedigree chart with you, along with copies of birth certificates, marriage licenses, death certificates, obituaries, and other documentation that might prove your relationship. The fact that you 'are' prepared to prove your relationship speaks volumes to the people from whom you make these requests." (end quote)
   I have recommended this book to our society instructors as well as numerous friends. Much of the material in this book comes from George's seminars which are always top notch. Considering the price of seminars these days, the book is a true bargain!