43% Off Discounts: Buy Cheap Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War Review

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Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War Review

Although I don't know more than the average person about the Civil War, I've always had a sneaking suspicion that it is still with us somehow. Tony Horwitz's "Confederates in the Attic" confirmed that suspicion and in a most amusing, touching, and balanced way.
A War reenactor friend recommended I read the book. We were talking about the modern-day states rights concerns and he said that the debate had its origins at Fort Sumter. So, I picked up the book thinking it would simply be a survey of what I now know is called neo-Confederate thought. But I was more than a little bit thrilled to find that it was not just a sociological study, but also a travelogue-probably my favorite kind of book.
After returning to the States from an extended time abroad, Horwitz's childhood interest in the Civil War-and especially Rebels-was rekindled after a band of hardcore reenactors showed up in his yard on their way to a battlefield. Soon he began to tour the South visiting relevant War sites and interviewing the Confederate descendants that kept that cause's heritage alive. Horwitz's has an amazing gift for storytelling and it shines through in this book. He has an uncanny ability to come across mundanely interesting characters in his travels and to write their stories with an original verve.
The book is also balanced. Although he is a Yankee, Horwitz's affinity for the Rebels is evident. But he checks that affinity with a good dose of history and reality. He conveys the notion that the South's resentment of the North is not wholly unjustified, but actually often well placed. At the same time, though, he illustrates the willful naivete that makes Gods of Confederate generals and that forgets the Old South's uglier sides. Horwitz manages to do all this while highlighting not just the tragic, but also the fun and curious stories of the Civil War and its remnants today.
Every American should strive to learn a bit more about the War, and this is a great place to start. It's a fun, touching read that demonstrates why that chapter in our history is still important-and indeed still with us-today.

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32% Off Discounts: Best Buy for A Place of Remembrance: Official Book of the National September 11 Memorial (9/11 Memorial) Review

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A Place of Remembrance: Official Book of the National September 11 Memorial (9/11 Memorial) Review

A chilling, eloquent tribute to those we lost in an unforgivable, unforgettable tragedy. This book moved me to tears on several occasions as the authors recounted the terrifying moments leading up to the most deadly massacre on US soil in history. Filled with vivid photography and packed with historical content, this is a must-read for anyone looking to learn more about the events and people surrounding 9/11 as well as the incredible process of trying to rebuild and reunite a devastated country.

A Place of Remembrance: Official Book of the National September 11 Memorial (9/11 Memorial) Overview

On September 11, 2011, the world will be watching as the National September 11 Memorial opens on the site of the World Trade Center. With photographs and architectural plans never before published, paired with comments in the very voices of those who witnessed the event, those who struggled in its shadow for days and months after, and those who have dedicated the years since to rebuilding a place of hope and meditation at Ground Zero, this book will stand apart from all the rest on the tenth anniversary of that world-changing event. Heavily illustrated and elegantly designed, the book recalls the excitement and symbolism of the Twin Towers, the horror and chaos of the attack of 9/11, the fierce devotion and exhaustion as rescue of living victims became recovery of remains. But it also carries on from that date in history to tell the inside story of the long, complex, and sometimes contentious efforts to turn eight acres of Downtown Manhattan into a lasting memorial to those lost in New York, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon. A solemn reminder, a historic keepsake, and a fascinating read, this is the official book published by and about the National September 11 Memorial, created by those who have been working for years to honor those who died that day. A special fold-out lists all the names of the victims, making the book itself an enduring memorial to those who died on September 11.


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Buy Cheap Coming of Age in Mississippi Review

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Coming of Age in Mississippi Review

Believe it or not, I was actually forced to read the book, "Coming of Age in Mississippi" as a freshman this past year by my college history professor. It was such a thick book, and I was sure that, knowing my professor's tastes, it would be a boring read. However, upon reading it, I had a pleasant surprise. It was such an insightful, moving, and eye-opening book. It had me glued from page one. As a book about a young black girl's (the author) struggle to overcome racism in the south, it is a very potent history lesson. I had thought that I understood what it was like for young African-Americans of the 1950's and '60's, but I couldn't have been more wrong. This book opened up my eyes and made me truly see the harsh reality of growing up as Anne Moody did. She has many recollections of childhood and adult aquaintances murdered by the Ku Klux Klan, as well as the story of her Mississippi Freedom Summer when she had to hide at night in high grass to avoid the Klan. It was at this time that she realized that she was on their so called "Black List." These very vivid circumstances were a slap in the face that almost made me tremble right along with the characters. Furthermore, Ms. Moody's use of common language, and the very realistic way in which she describe's her life, greatly aided me in fully understanding the enormity of the situation at that time.Another book that can be compared to this one is, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou. Although this book is much more harsh and gritty than Ms. Moody's, it gave me much of the same feeling of insight.The only disappointment in Anne Moody's book to me was that the ending left me feeling somewhat unsatisfied. Unlike Maya Angelou's book, it does not have a sequel. But then again, this may be part of the book's genius in that it mirrors Anne Moody's own disatisfaction with the sluggishness of the Civil Rights Movement and shows that there is no conclusive end to the struggle against racism

Coming of Age in Mississippi Overview

Written without a trace of sentimentality or apology, this is an unforgettable personal story—the truth as a remarkable young woman named Anne Moody lived it. To read her book is to know what it is to have grown up black in Mississippi in the forties an fifties—and to have survived with pride and courage intact.In this now classic autobiography, she details the sights, smells, and suffering of growing up in a racist society and candidily reveals the soul of a black girl who had the courage to challenge it. The result is a touchstone work: an accurate, authoritative portrait of black family life in the rural South and a moving account of a woman's indomitable heart.

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39% Off Discounts: Purchase Cheap Seabiscuit: An American Legend Review

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Seabiscuit: An American Legend Review

Seabiscuit's "gallop was so disorganized that he had a maddening tendency to whack himself in the front ankle with his own hind hoof." And so the spell-binding story about a horse that runs with a duck waddle, a jockey (Red Pollard) who is blind in one eye, a trainer (Tom Smith) who is practically mute, and an owner (Charles Howard) who brought cars to the West is born. This unlikely group of misfits joins together through chance -- and because all three men immediately see the untapped potential in a mistreated, high-spirited, and lazy horse named Seabiscuit. This trio devotes their love, skills, and energy into turning Seabiscuit into one of the most phenomenal horse racing legends.
Tom Smith, perhaps the original "horsewhisperer", spends hours learning and understanding his horse. When Seabiscuit is first put into his care for training, the horse is nervous, paces incessantly, weighs too little, and suffers from a sore body. Tom spends time caring for Seabiscuit, showering him with affection and carrots, even sleeping in Seabiscuit's stall at night. A daily routine is introduced plus animal companionship. Before long, Seabiscuit has his own entourage: a cow pony named Pumpkin, the little stray dog Pocatell, and Jojo the spider monkey. Under Tom's care, the high-spirited Seabiscuit learns to trust, becomes calm, and, most importantly, starts winning horse races.
The triumph of Seabiscuit is ultimately the story of what any person (or animal) may accomplish when their talents are recognized, supported, and expanded. Seabiscuit, given his inauspicious start in life, could just as easily have faded away into non-existence running third tier races. However, the love and care he receives from his owner, jockey, and trainer have you cheering until the end of the book for Seabiscuit to keep running (and winning) with his heart. Not only does Seabiscuit capture the hearts of the misfit trio, he will capture yours.

Seabiscuit: An American Legend Overview

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Special Prices for Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen Review

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Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen Review

Born to Run succeeds at three levels. First, it is a page turner. The build up to a fifty-mile foot race over some of the world's least hospitable terrain drives the narrative forward. Along the way McDougall introduces a cast of characters worthy of Dickens, including an almost superhuman ultramarathoner, Jenn and the Bonehead--a couple who down bottles of booze to warm up for a race, Barefoot Ted, Mexican drug dealers, a ghostly ex-boxer, a heartbroken father, and of course the Tarahumara, arguably the greatest runners in the world.
Born to Run is such a rip-roaring yarn, that it is easy to miss the book's deeper achievements. At a second level, McDougall introduces and explores a powerful thesis--that human beings are literally born to run. Recreational running did not begin with the 1966 publication of "Jogging" by the co-founder of Nike. Instead, McDougall argues, running is at the heart of what it means to be human. In the course of elaborating his thesis, McDougall answers some big questions: Why did our ancestors outlive the stronger, smarter Neanderthals? Why do expensive running shoes increase the odds of injury? The author's modesty keeps him from trumpeting the novelty and importance of this thesis, but it merits attention.
Finally, Born to Run presents a philosophy of exercise. The ethos that pervades recreational and competitive running--"no pain, no gain," is fundamentally flawed, McDougall argues. The essence of running should not be grim determination, but sheer joy. Many of the conventions of modern running--the thick-soled shoes, mechanical treadmills, take no prisoners competition, and heads-down powering through pain dull our appreciation of what running can be--a sociable activity, more game than chore, that can lead to adventure. McDougall's narrative moves the book forward, his thesis provides a solid intellectual support, but this philosophy of joy animates Born to Run. I hope this book finds the wide audience it deserves.

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen Overview

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Best Price Face the Winter Naked Review

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Face the Winter Naked Review

Face The Winter Naked is a poignant tale of a family's plight during the Great Depression. Plagued by traumatic memories of the First World War, Daniel abandons his family, leaving his wife LaDaisy to fend for herself and the children. The narrative alternates between Daniel's life as a hobo seeking work and LaDaisy's struggle to keep her family alive while fighting off the advances of a man with the power to leave her and her children homeless. Turner's engaging writing tells their stories with compassion and insight and vividly brings to life the feel of the era. If you liked Water for Elephants, this is one for you.

Face the Winter Naked Overview

Daniel Tomelin, a battle-worn veteran haunted by the carnage of the First World War, deserts his family in the Great Depression and goes on the road to seek relief from his soul-shaking trauma. He's too proud to return and face his loving wife without a job, but LaDaisy is determined to care for their family alone, if that's what it takes. After leaving his loved ones to cope with a hell he helped create, does Daniel dare show his face again? Sometimes LaDaisy feels like killing him.FACE THE WINTER NAKED is a story for today's struggling economy and unemployed citizens, set in a tragic era when hope was sometimes all they had.Bonnie Turner's Face the Winter Naked is set during the Great Depression, but her story encompasses issues that reach far beyond that era and know no time constraints"war. Political strife. Economic collapse. Environmental catastrophe. Division of families. Cruelty and oppression. Poverty, inequity, and all the faces of prejudice. But it is also about love. And faith. And strength. And hope, forgiveness, and perseverance. Face the Winter Naked provides an engrossing read in which Turner interweaves history, geography, and a compelling love story. More than that, it is a story that looks beyond the surface, delving into the inner workings of the human mind"a powerful narrative that illuminates larger issues of humanity that are timeless and volatile and just as apropos today as decades ago. “~ Karen Donley-Hayes, M.A.I.S., author and editor____"FACE THE WINTER NAKED is a gorgeously written and evocative novel of an earlier economic crisis: the Great Depression. Readers looking for a stunning read, intelligent and emotional on every level, will not be disappointed."~ Lauren Baratz-Logsted, author of Crazy Beautiful and The Education of Bet

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48% Off Discounts: Best Buy for Barron's AP Environmental Science Review

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Barron's AP Environmental Science Review

This book was well written, and has a good amount of visuals, which help a lot in understanding concepts in environmental science.
However good the book was, it didn't seem to reflect what was on the actual AP exam very well.
It claimed that pollution would be about 30% of the test, when really I only remember a handful questions on pollution. Also, not everything that was on the exam was covered.
So, it's good, but it didn't quite hit the mark for what the APES exam actually is and covers.

Barron's AP Environmental Science Overview

This updated test preparation manual presents two full-length practice exams plus a brand-new diagnostic test with all questions answered and explained. Also included is a detailed review that covers all test topics. The topics fall into three categories: Earth Systems and Resources; The Living World; and Population. Each review section is filled with practice questions and quizzes with answers. The manual also presents an overview of the test, helpful test-taking strategies, and hundreds of diagrams and illustrations.

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Best Price A Sand County Almanac (Outdoor Essays & Reflections) Review

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A Sand County Almanac (Outdoor Essays & Reflections) Review

I would give the actual ORIGINAL version of the text a 5 star rating, and indeed do so for the Oxford University Press edition. That version is slightly more expensive in Paperback, but has a better introduction and, more importantly, is actually printed as originally written by Leopold. The Ballantine version has been censored by the publisher to remove several sentences which either explcitly use the word "evolution" or which imply it.
Granted, these are only a few sentences out of the entire book. But it makes this work something other than the work which is seminal in the field of environmental philosophy and naturalism, and such censorship is intrinsically objectionable-note also that the publisher nowhere in this book tells you that such alterations have been made nor is this version described as an abridged or edited version. Further, this change makes this version unacceptable for use in teaching science courses where censorship because of ideology or market share is beyond the pale.
If you find any hint of evolution to be distracting (for one reason or another) from the fine naturalistic writing in which Leopold engages (evolution is not central to his argument or description), or are too cash-strapped to shell out an extra few bucks for the OUP edition or something at your local used book store or don't have the time to go to the library, by all means purchase this version. It is similar in most ways to Leopold's written work. But this is not to be mistaken for that work in its entirety.

A Sand County Almanac (Outdoor Essays & Reflections) Overview

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37% Off Discounts: Lowest Price Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History Review

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Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History Review

I've been a meteorologist for 20 years. Trained by Dr Bill Gray, I've walked in the eye of three hurricanes and flown in they eye of one. One recent book interest has been adventure stories including THE PERFECT STORM, INTO THIN AIR, ENDURANCE, etc. I had shyed away from ISSAC'S STORM because I couldn't imagine what Larson could tell me I didn't already know about the 1900 disaster at Galveston. I shouldn't have waited. Even the most seasoned weather geek will learn from this book. Like Carl Sagan, Larson has a knack for putting complex concepts in layman terms. I took away new simple descriptions of tropical meteorological concepts. However, that is not the genius of this book. Erik Larson did a wonderful job piecing together thousands of bits of information and crafting it all into a gripping read. What's missing? Photographs. Like SHIP OF GOLD IN THE DEEP BLUE SEA, this book is screaming for a companion book of photos. Eric said he waded through over 4,000; 250 of the best would make a super addition to this treatise. Rick Taylor, vorticity@aol.com

Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History Overview

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19% Off Discounts: Purchase Cheap Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England Review

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Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England Review

This is not so much a book about New England per se as on how ecology should mould our understanding of history. For too long historians have ignored the ecological/environmental dimension to history, especially colonial history; and Cronon's book is one among a number of path-breaking works that serves to redress the balance.
As Cronon convincingly argues, the strength of ecological analysis in writing history lies in its ability to uncover processes and long-term changes which might otherwise remain invisible. Indeed, ecological change is used throughout the book as a window through which to uncover the complex long-term changes wrought by the arrival of the puritans to New England since the seventeenth century. The full impact of European colonisation cannot be understood apart from the new relationship they established with the New England ecosystem though their commoditisation of resources and their involvement in the international capitalist economy, both of which greatly impacted the land and its previous inhabitants, the Indians. These changes were cultural as much as they were simply environmental or economic: the arrival of the pig, for one, was bound in a cultural relationship to, among other things, the fence, the dandelion, and a very special definition of property.
Of course, the book also offers up fascinating insights into the changing New England landscape from 1600 to 1800. It corrects misconceptions about an unchanging primeval forest before the arrival of the Europeans, or of Indians as passive agents in subsequent changes wrought. It also establishes the origins of the environmental problems in the region such as deforestation, soil erosion, and resultant climate changes - the legacy of which we still live with today.
If this book interests you, so should other landmark studies on ecological or environmental history, such as Alfred Crosby's `Ecological Imperialism' or Donald Worster's `Dust Bowl'.

Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England Overview

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34% Off Discounts: Special Prices for Lost in Shangri-La LP: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II Review

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Lost in Shangri-La LP: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II Review

This book is a true story, but Mitchell Zuckoff does such an amazing job of telling it that reads much like a novel in that it grabs you right from the beginning, and for me, was darn near impossible to put down. Imagine going on a fly-over sight seeing tour of one of the most beautiful mountain jungle areas in the world to see an almost hidden, untouched valley and then crashing into a mountain and being one of the few survivors trying to find a way out. But getting out or back to the base isn't easy in a place with no roads or paths, just dense rain forest vegetation, a huge tree canopy and tangled vines both above and below you. Imagine being injured with open wounds and having to exist in a place that's perpetually wet and steaming with all sorts of bacteria and fungi and little to keep it out. You don't even want to think about all the bugs and critters that call this place home. Add to that the stories you've heard about spear throwing, cannibalistic natives and you wonder how these people didn't give up right then and there.
Having read the description of the book and knowing that it was a rescue and reading pretty much what the outcome was, I was a little concerned that the book might not hold my attention. But, not to worry, as soon as I started reading I was mesmerized by the amount of detail and how gripping the story was. Mitchell Zuckoff notes that no liberties were taken with any of the facts, characters, dialog or chronology which must have made it a double challenge for him to put the diaries, notes, news stories and newsreels and interviews all together in a way made me feel like I was there, personally involved with these people.
Besides being such a good read, it added to my knowledge of the history of WWII. With so many battles going on all over the world, New Guinea isn't a place that you read that much about in history books on the war. This book tied a lot of what was going on in that area together for me. There are lots of characters in this book besides just the survivors and Zuckoff gives us the background stories on several of the rescuers and people at the base camp as well as some of the politics of the time. He does it in such a way that it doesn't interrupt the main action, but rather adds to the insight and makes it that much more interesting.
This would be a good book for any World War II buff, history lovers, action adventure enthusiasts, and really, anyone who just loves a good read. And because one of the main characters in this story is a woman who enlisted in the WAC, I think it would be equally interesting for both men and women. Two thumbs up for this great book that left me blurry eyed this morning after "just one more page" kept me up the better part of the night to finish it.

Lost in Shangri-La LP: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II Overview

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36% Off Discounts: Best Buy for In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin (Random House Large Print) Review

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In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin (Random House Large Print) Review

It has been observed that for evil to win all that needs happen is for good men to do nothing. That was what the United States government did, at least officially, for much of the lead-up to World War II. Too often chances to speak out and try to stop the madness that was engulfing Germany were ignored. Too frequently the atrocities were overlooked. Too many times our response to the crisis over there was nothing, nothing, nothing...
But there were exceptions. George Messersmith, who worked at the Berlin embassy, was one of those who tried, often in vain, to bring about some change in the US policies, though he was often ignored as having too vivid of an imagination. So, too, were various Jewish groups in the USA, though they were often ignored for being Jewish. And, eventually, so did William Dodd, the United States ambassador to Germany, though he was ignored because, frankly, too many people didn't want to believe any of what was happening in Berlin.
Before reading this book I had a slightly better than average knowledge of the history of World War II and what led up to it. But even for me there were things to learn. I'd never heard of Dodd or Messersmith. Never heard of Rudolph Diels, or Ernst Hanfstaengl. I knew, at least a bit, about the Night of Long Knives and some what lead up to it, including Ernst Rohm's penchant for pretty young men, but I didn't really grasp much of what was going on that led up to it.
Now, thanks to Erik Larson's latest work, I know these people and I have a much, much improved understanding of what was going on in Germany from 1933 to 1938. Larson gives you a great "on the ground" view of what was really happening, what people thought was happening, what everyone said was happening and why the differences between these things matter. You really get a feel for how Berlin functioned, or didn't function, during this time period.
Larson's previous work, Thunderstruck, where he tried too hard to link the stories of Dr Crippen and Marconi, didn't really work for me, which was a disappointment, since The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America remains one of my favorite books. I'm happy to say this book is at least as good and engaging as "Devil in the White City". This is an excellent, well-written, suspenseful book. Even though I did know the fates of some of the people involved, Larson's writing was still engaging enough to keep me interested, and to occasionally make me wonder if my memory of their lives was wrong (it wasn't).
Anyone with even a casual interest in the events leading up to the war will find this an invaluable read. It's easily the best book I've read this year, and likely to stay that way. A truly wonderful read!

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin (Random House Large Print) Overview

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33% Off Discounts: Best Price Cleopatra: A Life Review

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Cleopatra: A Life Review

Her ancestry is,"an ungainly shrub of a family tree," full of incest. Cleopatra's great-grandmother was both wife and niece of Ptolemy VIII. Cleopatra's own husband was also her brother and a mere boy at the start of their marriage, ten years old to her eighteen years. Of the fifteen family marriages, ten were full brother-sister unions. Two other Ptolemies married nieces or cousins.
Schiff has done an admirable job of taking the reputable historians accounts, chopped away at the absurd and pandering or those filled with a particular hatred and whittled Cleopatra's life down to a fascinating and believable historical account.
What of that story wherein Cleopatra arrives in the palace of Caesar wrapped in a hemp rug to curry favor for her reign over that of her husband/brother? Did she really seduce Caesar and thereby bear his son? Or was it Caesar who seduced her?
Stacy Schiff herself admits, "there is not universal agreement on most of even the basic details of Cleopatra's life. So much of this history is simply not known." Childhood was simply not a subject worthy of papyrus and further, papyrus did not survive the ravages of time. So even Schiff is often left with, "may have's," "may well have's," and must have's" in an attempt to piece together the life of an alluring woman that began in 69 BC.
Schiff's conclusions are fair and well researched making this a historical account of great significance, however, there is so little absolute verifiable information about Cleopatra that Schiff and all other historians are left to make an educated guess at best about actual details of her life.
If you are looking for a light read about this fascinating woman the cover art might fool you into believing this is the book for you. It is not, if however, you are looking for an historical account full of minutiae and conjecture this will delight you.

Cleopatra: A Life Overview

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Purchase Cheap Reading the American Past, Volume I: To 1877: Selected Historical Documents Review

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Reading the American Past, Volume I: To 1877: Selected Historical Documents Review

I had my doubts about purchasing my book on Amazon because of soaring identity thefts. I was pleased that the process went smoothly. Also, my book was in perfect condition! Amazing!!! When I purchased my book something went arie and the purchase did not go through. I thought: the mess-up will definitely happen here. But to my surprise it went flawlessly!!! Because this was my first experience with Amazon and I was pleased, i'll definitely check them out next semester and tell others about my experience. KEEP IT UP AMAZON!!!

Reading the American Past, Volume I: To 1877: Selected Historical Documents Overview

This two-volume primary-source collection provides a diverse selection of voices from the nation's past while emphasizing the important social, political, and economic themes of a U.S. history survey course. Edited by one of the authors of The American Promise and designed to complement the textbook, Reading the American Past features over 150 documents, each accompanied by a headnote and questions for discussion to encourage students' understanding of the sources.

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Purchase Cheap The Writings of Abraham Lincoln, all seven volumes in a single file, with active table of contents, improved 8/19/2010 Review

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The Writings of Abraham Lincoln, all seven volumes in a single file, with active table of contents, improved 8/19/2010 Review

I had posted an earlier review, commenting on the lack of a Table of Contents making this book hard to navigate and, lo and behold, the publisher went and added a Table of Contents.
Imagine having all of the writings of this incredible statesman in one place--and for ninety-nine cents! It's amazing. The availability of this kind of content is one of the things that makes the Kindle worth having.
Many, many thanks to the publisher for putting these writings together!

The Writings of Abraham Lincoln, all seven volumes in a single file, with active table of contents, improved 8/19/2010 Overview

This immense collection includes Lincoln's speeches, letters, and telegrams. It provides a vivid picture of history as lived day-to-day, without the filter of hindsight. I just added a complete table of contents, referencing every one of the nearly 2000 items. At the beginning there are links to each of the seven volumes, and contents for each volume appears at the start of each volume, with links to every single item. According to Wikipedia: "Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 - April 15, 1865) was the sixteenth President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1861 until his assassination. As an outspoken opponent of the expansion of slavery in the United States, Lincoln won the Republican Party nomination in 1860 and was elected president later that year. During his term, he helped preserve the United States by leading the defeat of the secessionist Confederate States of America in the American Civil War. He introduced measures that resulted in the abolition of slavery, issuing his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and promoting the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1865."

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Special Prices for America: A Narrative History (Eighth Edition) (Vol. 1) Review

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America: A Narrative History (Eighth Edition) (Vol. 1) Review

I had to buy this book for my college history class. This book was easier to read than other texbooks that I've bought and I think that it lives up to it's title. It reads more like a narrated story than a boring history lecture. This book is pretty straightforward and that makes it easy to understand what is going on in the chapter. That's what I liked about it.

America: A Narrative History (Eighth Edition) (Vol. 1) Overview

A book students will read.
America, now in its twenty-fifth year, has sold more 1.2 million copies over the past seven editions and remains the most affordable history text on the market. The narrative wins students over with compelling storytelling, colorful anecdotes and biographical sketches that make the material more memorable. The text includes helpful in-text study aids, and a host of electronic media resources to help teachers teach and students learn.

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Best Buy for In a Pirate's Arms Review

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In a Pirate's Arms Review

Wonderful settings, wonderful locations, especially the scenes set at sea. (I liked both the battle scenes and the chess scene). While I guessed immediately that Brendan and Marcus were the same, it didn't bother me. I thought the interplay between the two characters was terrifically romantic. What I want to know now is, when is Mary Kingsley going to write a sequel

In a Pirate's Arms Overview

They call him the Raven, the most feared pirate to sail the Atlantic, his black cloak swirling about him like the dark mystery that hides his identity. In the days preceding the War of 1812, his pirate ship swoops down on English frigates in tropical seas, and he takes what he wishes. But he meets his match in Miss Rebecca Talbot of Washington. Taken captive while accompanying her beautiful sister on a voyage to London, Rebecca makes a daring bargain. In return for her sister's safety, she will become the Raven's mistress.What happens next stuns them both. Their time together is a revelation, a storm bound by flesh and spirit neither can control. But the day comes when Rebecca and her sister are rescued, and they must say goodbye. Back on land, Rebecca tries to get on with her life, until she hears a shocking bit of news: the Raven is dead.But life still holds surprises for Rebecca, in the person of an unexpectedly attractive man, with secrets of his own. With events building toward war, she have the chance of a future, if she has the courage to grasp it. If she can forget finding love'in a pirate's arms.“Pirates, the British Navy, and the new city of Washington provide a perfect backdrop for Mary Kingsley's daredevil plot and heartlifting love story." Romantic Times, 4 stars.

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Buy Cheap With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa Review

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With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa Review

As I found outshortly after I first read With The Old Breed...Gene Sledge and I were in the same replacement draft which joined the 1st Marine Division on Pavuvu, British Russell Islands, but were in different units in the division. We both made the Peleliu and Okinawa landings, and his account of both battles--the savagery and bloodletting is exactly as it was. Coinicidentally, I was a stretcher bearer supporting Company K, 3d Battalion, 5th Marines, Gene's outfit but I didn't know that until long after the war. Gene became a close friend after his book was published and we exchanged experiences. With The Old Breed deserves every commendation it has received over the years, from Marine veterans and others We lost Gene to cancer several years ago, but his memory and memoir will live on and be an inspiration to Marines of this and future generations, as will the exploits of the 1st Marine Division in all of its combat operations. Benis M. Frank, Chief Historian of the Marine Corps, Retired.

With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa Overview

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33% Off Discounts: Special Prices for Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History Review

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Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History Review

Mr Gwynne has written a masterpiece. It is the story, first, of a deadly land: Endless miles of grassland with no shelter and almost no water. People died from the heat, thirst, lightning strikes, and simply from getting lost and giving up hope in an enormous area, every acre so alike in appearance that it was like looking at the water of an ocean. The primary story is of the people who wanted this deadly land and who were willing to kill for it. The Spanish. The Mexicans. The Apaches. The Comanches. The Texans. All of these people were tough and stubborn. They believed in vengeance and they went after it.
Mr Gwynne does not take sides. He describes the ruthlessness and savagery of all involved, he tells what happened and allows the reader to make his own decisions and retroactively take whatever side he wants to. But Gwynne does more than tell of people's violence. He shows the same people at home, caring and fun loving.
Chief Parker, Cynthia Parker, Ranger Hays, Colonel Mackenzie, and several others were fascinating people and Gwynne makes them real to our modern eyes. It is evident that he admires them all, for their toughness and their determination and their courage. After reading this excellent book, most of us will admire them all, too.

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History Overview

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Best Buy for The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration Review

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The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration Review

Isabel Wilkerson, the Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper writer, has now come back to write a fascinating and sweeping book on what she calls ""the biggest underreported story of the twentieth century."
This is the story... no- make that the stories... of the "Great Migration", the migration of sharecroppers and others from the Cotton Belt to the Big Cities: New York, Chicago, Detroit, LA and etc in the period between the World Wars. Over one million blacks left the South and went North (or West). Of course we all know the tale of the "Dust Bowl" and the "Okies", as captured by Steinbeck in words, by Dorothea Lange in photographs, and even in song by Woody Guthrie. But this was as big or even bigger (estimates vary), and to this day the story has not been covered anywhere near as well as the "Dust Bowl" migrations.
Wilkerson's book has more than ten years of research in its making, and thus is a large and weighty volume at more than 600 pages. It is also personally researched, the author having interviewed over 1,200 people. She picked three dozen of those to interview in great depth, and choose but three of those stories to present to you here.
The title of this book is taken from Richard Wright's "Black Boy: A Record of Childhood and Youth": "I was taking a part of the South to transplant in alien soil, to see if it could grow differently, if it could drink of new and cool rains, bend in strange winds, respond to the warmth of other suns, and, perhaps, to bloom."
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Boy-Record-Childhood-Youth/dp/0060834005
This book is a not an easy summer read, mind you. At times both heartwarming and heartbreaking, at times so riveting you won't be able to put it down- but at other times so moving that you'll need to put it down for a while.
The author peppers her book with interesting side notes and anecdotes, such as when some of the migrants, being unfamiliar with a Northern accent, would mistakenly get off at the cry of "Penn Station, Newark," the stop just before Penn Station, New York. Many decided to stay there,according to Isabel , giving Newark "a good portion of its black population."
A personal note: My Dad got his Masters on the GI Bill, then took us to Los Angeles to be a teacher. He was partnered with a more experienced teacher- a lady we called "Miz Edna" who had migrated to LA from the South. Our families became friends, as also "Miz Edna's" husband had served in New Guinea with my father (as a cook, however, remember the WWII Army was still segregated) . I remember many of her stories, and especially her rich melodic voice, with just enough of the South remaining. Thus, I "heard" many of the quotations and personal stories here in "Miz Edna's" voice.
This is a deep and great book, I highly recommend it.
Further reading:
Arnesen, Eric. Black Protest and the Great Migration: A Brief History with Documents
Grossman, James R. Land of Hope: Chicago, Black Southerners, and the Great Migration
Lemann, Nicholas. The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration Overview

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