Bluegrass Land & Life: Land Character, Plants, and Animals of the Inner Bluegrass Region of Kentucky : Past, Present, and Future

Book Description

A pocket-format, affordable guide, concentrating on a mix of specifically gay-related topics and mainstream subjects together with areas where gay travelers have specific requirements or need extra advice.

Customer Reviews:

Does not include women.......2007-05-07

I was very disappointed in this book. It made absolutely no attempt
to include anything of interest to lesbians. It was all "Where the
boys are" and other itmes of interest to gay men only, such as fashion,
etc. If you are a lesbian, don't bother with this book.

Out of Paris: Days Out and Weekend Breaks Around the French Capital (Passport's Regional Guides of France)

Average customer rating:

Out of Paris: Days Out and Weekend Breaks Around the French Capital (Passport's Regional Guides of France)
Vivienne Menkes-Ivry
Manufacturer: Passport Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0658000624

Out Around Paris (Out Around - Thomas Cook)

Average customer rating:

Out Around Paris (Out Around - Thomas Cook)
Tim Mowbray
Manufacturer: Thomas Cook Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books

Guidebooks | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books

Travel | Gay & Lesbian | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Created in conjunction with the leading Gay newspaper/magazine publisher in the UK, OutAround is a series of pocket format, affordable guides, concentrating on a mix of specifically gay-related topics and mainstream topics where gay travelers have specific requirements or need extra advice.
Each OutAround guide features:
¥ Accommodation, restaurant events, and entertainment listings
¥ Nightlife, clubs, and bars in the area
¥ Gay background and history of the destination
¥ Official and popular attitudes to gays, including do's and don'ts
¥ Sources of support and information

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Children's Encyclopedia of History: First Civilisations to the Fall of Rome: Combined Volume: Warriors and Seafarers / The First Civilisations / Empires and Barbarians (Picture History)

Average customer rating:

Children's Encyclopedia of History: First Civilisations to the Fall of Rome: Combined Volume: Warriors and Seafarers / The First Civilisations / Empires and Barbarians (Picture History)

Manufacturer: Usborne Publishing Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Encyclopedias | Reference & Nonfiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Ancient | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

History | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0746010184

The children's picture world history from 1500 B.C. to 500 B.C: Warriors & seafarers (The Children's picture world history)

Average customer rating:

The children's picture world history from 1500 B.C. to 500 B.C: Warriors & seafarers (The Children's picture world history)
Anne Millard
Manufacturer: Hayes Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B00072ZYUC

Average customer rating:

Warriors and Seafarers
Anne Millard
Manufacturer: Edc Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Exploration & Discovery | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Military & Wars | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Ancient | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Egyptian Temple Sticker Picture Book: With 36 Reusable Peel-and-Apply Stickers (Sticker Picture Books)

ASIN: 0860201406

Average customer rating:

The Cold Warriors
Seafarer
Manufacturer: Graphic Enterprises of Marblehead
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Product Description

This book is a work of fiction. The characters and events, except those actual events recorded as history, are fictional and any resemblance to persons either living, or dead is purely coincidental. However, before there was a submarine launched thermonuclear ballistic missile, there was a submarine launched thermonuclear Regulus guided missile. There were special submarines which carried them on Regulus Missile Deterrent Patrols. One of these submarines was the nuclear powered USS HALIBUT, the only one of her kind ever built. This boat, with her single crew, set standards of excellence and endurance, to which the dual-crewed Polaris and Trident submarines can only aspire. ---from book's end pages

Average customer rating:

Touching, sensitive, beautiful

A Cat Shares Its Feelings

The Cat Who Came in from the Cold: A Fable
Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats: A Journey Into the Feline Heart

Dogs Never Lie About Love : Reflections on the Emotional World of Dogs

When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals

Raising the Peaceable Kingdom: What Animals Can Teach Us About the Social Origins of Tolerance and Friendship

The Pig Who Sang to the Moon: The Emotional World of Farm Animals

ASIN: 0345478665
Release Date: 2004-10-26

Book Description

The New York Times bestselling author of The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats and Dogs Never Lie About Love, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson has given cat lovers a wonderful gift: a magical holiday story about a feline named Billi, who long ago, in ancient India, becomes the first cat to choose domestication.

Cats relish independence and Billi is no exception. He wanders through the Indian countryside among other animals, enjoying a sense of freedom, belonging to nobody. The holidays approach, Diwali, the Festival of Lights; the monsoon season, when the skies go pitch dark and the rains come, has arrived. At a time when everyone is eager to be home with family and friends, Billi is alone . . . and lonely.
Walking into a village, Billi gazes through windows and sees a cozy fire, a content dog, a happy family with children. Inspired, an untamed soul begins the transformative journey to a new life of warmth and togetherness in a world of interconnectedness.
With his inimitable storytelling gifts and his unparalleled ability to penetrate the feline psyche, Jeffrey Masson captures Billi’s inner world–his aloofness, mischievousness, and ultimately his new perspective on the deep connection shared by humans and their feline friends.

Customer Reviews:

Touching, sensitive, beautiful.......2006-02-02

Told from the cat's point of view -- a lovely story of the love and yearning of a wild animal to coexist with Man "kind" -- but is man really kind in this book? Cat, who has to prove his worth, and even then needs to keep his wits about him, seems to be the nobler animal in this book.

And speaking of noble animals, those animals that the cat speaks to, who "surely" have a good life in this world, shock him by letting him know exactly how -- "sacred" and stray alike -- they are really treated by humanity: ignored or brutalized or both....

Shows that human nature has not changed over the eons, eh?

A great read. A sobering read.

A Cat Shares Its Feelings.......2004-12-08

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson's Billi engaged me right away and kept me engaged in a wonderful journey into the psyche of one amazingly enticing cat. I have people buying this book for relatives and friends for Christmas and reading it themselves, of course.

Everyone can learn something from listening to this wise cat go on its journey from the wilds into society.

Some, like me, will fall in love with him, understand his struggles and give him a special place in our hearts.

CAT WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD, THE (Cat Who...)

Average customer rating:

A Wonderful Book
This is a delightful story...great on audio cassette.
The perfect balance of comedy & tragedy...
The cat-lovers' best of the best
A lovely book

CAT WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD, THE (Cat Who...)
Deric Longden
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Cats, Dogs & Animals | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Satire, General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0553089633
Release Date: 1992-10-01

Customer Reviews:

A Wonderful Book.......2004-10-13

I first picked up the audio version of "The Cat Who Came in From the Cold" from our library while preparing for a marathon car trip with my husband (not a man who thinks highly of cats) and sons (ages 23, 20 and 14). I was pretty skeptical that the male majority would really 'let' me listen to a book with a cute little kitten on the cover, but I added it to my stack anyway (it's good to be Queen!). After having had my fill of "Tom Clancy" and his friends, I plugged in "The Cat Who Came in From the Cold" and soon ALL of us were all laughing the miles away. On our return leg of our trip, all these big guys (and their mom AND DAD) wanted to hear the "Thermal" tapes again (listening to a story a second time through is unheard of around here!) Along with most of Deric Longden's other books, we now own our own set of tapes to share with family, and the book version (which my 14 year old son, who hates to read, read cover to cover in about a day). Cheeky Thermal is an oft quoted cat around here. It is also nice to find a book that appeals to everyone in the family without any objectionable material. This is just great, light-hearted fare.

This is a delightful story...great on audio cassette........1999-09-02

I listened to this book on audio cassette while I cleaned my barn. It was so much fun to listen to, I cleaned more and more each day because I didn't want to turn off the tape. My barn is now immaculate, and I was sorry to come to the end of the story!

The perfect balance of comedy & tragedy..........1999-02-12

Having read Deric Longden's first five books (the others include Diana's Story, Lost For Words, I'm a Stranger Here Myself & Enough to Make a Cat Laugh), I can confidentally say that this is when the author is at his best. He delivers enough comedy (something to be expanded upon in subsequent books), but mixed with a subtle version of his own blend of tragedy (already established in previous books). Whilst many thought that his characterization of his mother's mental decline in Lost For Words was distasteful, I would think that even the harshest of critics would fail not to find the story of a lost kitten a least a little endearing.

Although it may be easy enough to dismiss this as simply a children's novel, I would say that, given enough suspension of disbelief & a little imagination, this can be a thoroughly enjoying read, and (cliche) a book that you will want to keep coming back to, time & again, even if only for some of the amusing anecdottes presented by Thermal.

The cat-lovers' best of the best.......1998-05-25

American readers who enjoy authors such as Cleveland Armory are really deprived of the British author Derick Longden's classics. "The Cat Who Came In From the Cold" was the first of his books I read, but was able to read more only because I have a friend who orders them from the UK. Longden imparts personality and (imagined) dialogues and thoughts from his cats, which will have you chuckling and nodding in agreement with his knowledge of our feline favorites. GET HIS BOOKS!

A lovely book.......1998-01-16

I am from England and have bought all of Deric Longden's books there. I am surpries to find that they are all out of print here - he has an amazing way with words that left me laughing out loud. The tale of a small white kitten called Thermal (for reasons which I will not go into here) is one that as well being incredibly funny also has moments of sadness init as well. The books "Diana's story" and "Lost for words" are also not to be missed, although I can guarentee tears as well as laughter with these books.

Average customer rating:

The Cat Who Came In From The Cold
Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
Manufacturer: Wheeler Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literature & Fiction | Large Print | Formats | Books
ASIN: 1587249146

Book Description

A New York Times Bestselling Author

Cats relish independence, and Billi is no exception. He wanders through the Indian countryside enjoying a sense of freedom, belonging to nobody. But the monsoon season has arrived, and Diwali, the Festival of Lights, is approaching. At a time when everyone is eager to be home with family and friends, Billi is alone . . . Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson offers cat lovers a magical story about a feline named Billi who became the first cat to choose domestication.

Available only in Wheeler Hardcover 6.

Average customer rating:
The Cat Who Came In From The Cold
Deric Longden
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IN5DUG

Average customer rating:
The Cat Who Came in from the Cold
Deric Longden
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
20th Century | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0593024206

Average customer rating:
The Cat Who Came in from the Cold: A Fable
Jeffrey Moussaieff; Masson, J. Moussaieff Masson
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OVMNGY

Average customer rating:
Donald Kagin's Personal Guide to Rare Coin Investments
Donald Kagin
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Investing | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0132185040

Average customer rating:
Donald Kagin's Personal Guide to Rare Coin Investments - How to Invest in Rare Coins & Currency for Profit
Dr. Donald H. Kagin
Manufacturer: Des Moines, Iowa: Kagin's Numismatic Investment Corp. 1984
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NX5U54

Average customer rating:
Donald Kagin's personal guide to rare coin investments: How to invest in rare coins and currency for profit
Donald H Kagin
Manufacturer: Kagin's Numismatic Investment Corp
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Coins & Medals | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006YJJCK

Average customer rating:
Personal Guide to Rare Coin Investments
Donald Kagin
Manufacturer: Kagin's Numismatic
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000QRG0AG

Average customer rating:
Donald Kagin's Personal Guide to Rare Coin Investments
Donald Kagin
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OIKEG8

Average customer rating:
Donald Kagin's Personal Guide to Rare Coin Investments
Donald Kagin
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OIQLGA

Book Description

Dear Mother,

I was very glad to hear from home this morning. It is the first time since I left Otterville. We marched from Sedalia 120 miles....I almost feel anxious to be in a battle & yet I am almost afraid. I feel very brave sometimes & think if I should be in an engagement, I never would leave the field alive unless the stars & stripes floated triumphant. I do not know how it may be. If there is a battle & I should fall, tell with pride & not with grief that I fell in defense of liberty. Pray that I may be a true soldier.

Not since Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage have the trials and tribulations of a private soldier of the Civil War been told with such beguiling force. The Red Badge of Courage, however, was fiction. This story is true.

In Testament, Benson Bobrick draws upon an extraordinarily rich but hitherto untapped archive of material to create a continuous narrative of how that war was fought and lived. Here is virtually the whole theater of conflict in the West, from its beginnings in Missouri, through Kentucky and Tennessee, to the siege of Atlanta under Sherman, as experienced by Bobrick's great-grandfather, Benjamin W. ("Webb") Baker, an articulate young Illinois recruit. Born and raised not far from the Lincoln homestead in Coles County, Webb had stood in the audience of one of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, become a staunch Unionist, and answered one of Abraham Lincoln's first calls for volunteers. The ninety-odd letters on which his story is based are fully equal to the best letters the war produced, especially by a common soldier; but their wry intelligence, fortitude, and patriotic fervor also set them apart with a singular and still-undying voice.

In the end, that voice blends with the author's own, as the book becomes a poignant tribute to his great-grandfather's life -- and to all the common soldiers of the nation's bloodiest war.

Customer Reviews:

A Riveting Account by a Union Soldier in the South........2005-06-19

This book is about a Union soldier from Missouri who enlisted in August 1861 at the age of nineteen. His Illinois company fought the Rebels at Stones River, Murfreesboro, Tennessee. In fact, he spent two years of the war traversing this great state of Tennessee, though most was in the Middle section, where people are friendlier. I know, because I lived there for most of my adult life.

In May, 1862, his group was traveling down the Tennessee River over a very rough countryside to Pittsburg Landing, and on to Corinth, Mississippi. On September 1, they came back up through Florence, Alabama, Lawrenceburg, Spring Hill and Franklin to Murfreesboro on the way to Cumberland Gap. On Sept. 7, in Nashville, he wrote "all the country from here to Lawrenceburg is as pretty as it can be." Walking at the rate of fifty miles a day, they found 60,000 troops there.

His brother, John, was killed early in October on the battlefield at Perryville; "would I had died in his stead --- my only, my true and noble hearted brother," he wrote to his mother. He sent her a lock of John's hair, everything taken from his pockets but his "Testament."

November 4 they were on their way back to Nashville from Kentucky. Thirty miles to the SE there were 100,000 Confederates at Murfreesboro waiting for them on December 2. From January 10-25, 1863, it was rainy but "warm as May" at their camp east of Murfreesboro. "The enemy reinforced is reported at Shelbyville 22 miles away."

In Franklin, just outside Nashville, "This is the prettiest country I ever saw...the few people who are left are very friendly and of refined manners." On June 30, they were in Manchester, 13 miles from Tullahoma and July 12 found them in Winchester, "no pen, let alone mine, can describe the horrors of civil war."

He had no high regard for the Southern men and called them names, but "the people are sociable and intelligent and very obliging to the soldiers...the town is healthy and beautifully situated." On August 8, he wrote, "The Dixie gals are awful nice, and it is very pleasant to be here."

He was wounded in the Battle at Murfreesboro on Sept. 27, 1863. His arm healed properly and by March 3, 1864, they were in East Tennessee. March 3, 1864, they were in Newmarket, 40 miles north of Knoxville and on the 25th in Strawberry Plains only 20 miles from town. However, they bypassed us and, from April 16 to May 31, his company was in Cleveland, TN south of Knoxville, 30 miles east of Chattanooga. His last letter was written on June 8 and he was discharged Sept. 5, 1864, with the rank of Corporal.

This was the story of Benjamin "Webb" Baker, based on ninety letters to his mother, grandfather, Uncle Adams, Cousin Louisa, Cousin Amos, and his brother, John. It is written by his great grandson, Benson Bobrick who also used family papers of his late grandfather, James Chamberlain Baker -- which means that Webb got home safely and married, thus a son to look after the legacy of war as he experienced it.

Testament: A Soldier's Story of the Civil War.......2003-12-27

Of the many books published on the Civil War, "Testament" rises above the others. From the first chapter on, the reader is transported back in time and place. The uniqueness of presenting this story using the the diary of a soldier is simply spellbinding. The words from this soldier's diary are intricately woven with narrative so descript and vivid one can truly understand all that a war encompasses. The emotion that pours from the pages is overpowering. The soldier's sense of duty and honor countered by his fear of war's consequences is conveyed so realistically, the reader can not help but feel the internal conflict of morality just as he did. Beautifully written and timeless in nature, this book is a must read for civil war buffs - and - for anyone wanting an understanding of the horrors of war.

Wonderful letters and look at the everyday soldier.......2003-12-24

I enjoyed the letters in this book thoroughly. It is a marvelous collection that explore everything from the mundane to the horror of battle to the deep feelings for family and country. Bobrick set the stage for the letters well and gave a wonderful account of this man's life. I did think that his history lesson was a little overdone and assumed that readers would know absolutely nothing about the Civil War or the conflicts that led up to it. This took away slightly as I was anxious to get back to the "story" during these lessons. But this does nothing to dim the eloquence of the letters themselves. They are particularly poignant as we have young men and women in harm's way again today. You can't help but draw parallels as you read. This book is truly a Testament.

Testament is a record of valor.......2003-10-07

Testament: A Soldier's Story of the Civil War by Benson Bobrick is one of the most insightful contributions to the ever growing body of work devoted to this war. There are other first hand accounts of combat and general living conditions faced by soldiers of both sides....far too many to elaborate here. However, there is something touching almost beyond words about the letters young Benjamin "Webb" Baker wrote his mother.

Benson Bobrick does a good job in weaving Webb's (Bobrick's great-grandfather) letters into a coherent narrative about the war. The narrative covers Webb's entire enlistment period from 1861 to his discharge in 1864. Civil War buffs will recognize the battles included: Pea Ridge, Perryville, Stone's River, Chickamauga, and finally the Atlanta victory. Perhaps of equal value are the letters themselves, neatly placed into an appendix at the end of the book...each included in their entirety for the casual reader to pour over and ponder.

Its all here, the descriptions of battle, of camp life, of marching,...insights into the officers that lead these men, and a general view of the times. The letters read true as anyone who has served in the military will recognize. Red tape is red tape no matter the century.

I encourage Civil War buffs to read Testament. If you haven't read much on the Civil War then this is a good book to start with.

Average customer rating:

From Publishers Weekly:

Testament: A Soldier's Story of the Civil War
Benson Bobrick
Manufacturer: RB Large Print
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MC2RUM

Customer Reviews:

From Publishers Weekly:.......2007-06-23

Civil War buffs will relish this extraordinary new history from Bobrick (Wide as the Waters), based on a collection of letters written by his great-grandfather, Benjamin "Webb" Baker. The letters date from 1861, when the 19-year-old enlisted in the Union army, to 1864, when he was honorably discharged a corporal. As a private of Company E of the 25th Regiment of Illinois Voluntary Infantry, Baker saw action at Pea Ridge, Ark.; Perryville, Ken.; Stones River, Tenn.; and Chickamauga, Ga.; and on Sherman's march to Atlanta. Repeatedly wounded, he was patched up and sent back to duty. That he survived the bad food, poor sanitary conditions and ghastly medical treatment (pus was considered a sign of health), let alone wounds sustained during battles that killed thousands, is remarkable. Webb's letters home are honest, affectionate and surprisingly good-natured considering what he endured. "We had a heavy skirmish in the evening....A ball struck John Hawkins square on the belt buckle. It made him grunt....He picked it up & is around every day now bragging that he is bullet proof," he wrote in 1862. Bobrick weaves excerpts of the correspondence throughout the narrative and includes his great-grandfather's letters in their entirety in an appendix to the book. This is a compelling story, rendered in vivid, graceful prose that should find an enthusiastic audience.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Testament: A Soldier's Story of the Civil War.(Book Review) : An article from: Parameters

Average customer rating:

Testament: A Soldier's Story of the Civil War.(Book Review) : An article from: Parameters
Samuel Newland
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Science & Technology | Subjects | e-Docs | Formats | Books
ASIN: B000BIAP4C
Release Date: 2005-09-20

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Parameters, published by Thomson Gale on September 22, 2005. The length of the article is 891 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Testament: A Soldier's Story of the Civil War.(Book Review)
Author: Samuel Newland
Publication: Parameters (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 22, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 35 Issue: 3 Page: 159(3)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Testament: A Soldier's Story of the Civil War.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of Southern History

Average customer rating:

Testament: A Soldier's Story of the Civil War.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of Southern History
Aaron Sheehan-Dean
Manufacturer: Southern Historical Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000ALR8FO
Release Date: 2006-07-14

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Southern History, published by Southern Historical Association on May 1, 2005. The length of the article is 509 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Testament: A Soldier's Story of the Civil War.(Book Review)
Author: Aaron Sheehan-Dean
Publication: Journal of Southern History (Refereed)
Date: May 1, 2005
Publisher: Southern Historical Association
Volume: 71 Issue: 2 Page: 464(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Testament A Soldier's Story of the Civil War

Average customer rating:

Testament A Soldier's Story of the Civil War
Bobrick Benson
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UF73HI

Book Description

Nan Donohoe was an Irish Travelling woman, one of Ireland's indigenous gypsies or "tinkers." Traditionally, they traveled the countryside making and repairing tinware, sweeping chimneys, selling small household wares, and doing odd-job work. Today, they live on the roadside in trailers and in government-built camps. Told largely in her own voice, Nan's saga begins in 1919 with her birth in a tent in the Irish Midlands; it follows her life in Ireland and England, in countryside and city slums, through adversity and adventure. Gmelch brings to her task not only the resources of anthropology, but the skill of a sensitive writer and a warmth that allows her to see Nan as a person, not a subject. What emerges is a human story, filled with cruelty and compassion, sorrow and humor, bad luck and good.

Customer Reviews:

Nan: The Life of an Irish Travelling Woman.......2006-11-05

A very interesting and heartrending book. While as an Irish person I regularly saw Tinkers, as they were called, their lives were somewhat remote from mine. Through this book, and Nan's experience, I was taken into the heart of their lives and and was able to view with compassion their struggle to survive. In the days when villages were isolated, they provided a needed service to communities such as sweeping chimneys. However, with modern communications, the Tinker's services and wares were no longer needed. They gravitated to the cities in search of work and became scrap merchants, fortune tellers, and beggers, becoming a nuisance to residents, and they were largely ostricized. Yet, while the older Travelling People yearn for the open skies and freedom from the confines of the cities and a settled life, but this is no longer a viable lifestyle. Nan preferred her children to have a settled life.

Stripped of sentimentality, harsh reality conveyed.......2005-05-07

Sharon Gmelch's work, published originally in 1986, emerged from her anthropological doctoral studies conducted along with her husband George's concurrent work into the urbanisation of the travellers. She enters Nan's tales delicately, bringing you as a reader in and out of Nan's anecdotes occasionally before taking again the thread of her long and detailed recollections of a life spent largely outside the confines of city life, but, it is to be noted, increasingly becoming settled within the urban life that takes over for millions of Irish in the latter part of the 20th c., from whatever rural background or tradition.

The highlights of this account I found were in her service for Major Evans at Gretton House in Northants. In this quintessentially British country home, she worked her way up from being a kitchen maid, and her vignettes capture movingly her ability to, being illiterate, to live by her wits. Her subsequent return to Ireland, one senses, was not wished for, even though it brought her back to her traveller lifestyle. For her childhood, as with too many of her own 18 children, she shows how elastic the bonds are between parents and offspring (despite the often asserted claim that for travellers family ties come first), as some of her own children found themselves sent off to institutions to be raised.

The most intriguing section next was how she met her match in trying to survive as a totally untutored fortune-teller in 1940s Conamara, since she could only barter her wares rather than be paid for them from women as poor as she was! After that, the weariness of surviving wears her down into a much older-looking woman than she was when Gmelch met her in the 1970s. Abusive husbands, unending pregnancies, exhausting hustles, and life spent on the road or in substandard housing left her wiped out.
Drink and violence--at one point she casually gives as an aside the fact her husband broke her nose--belie the carefree proto-hippie romanticism that rose-tinted a harsh, gray, and lonely life. (No index and a lack of detailed notes cut this book down a star, however).

A good follow-up is Gmelch's 1976 general account, Tinkers and Travellers, which documents Nan's testimony and that of others, often camped at Holylands near Dublin. George Gmelch wrote a more theoretical, less engaging study of the Travellers, and Jane Helleiner offers more recent scholarly work from 2001.

Review of Nan: The Life of an Irish Travelling Woman.......2001-06-21

I have used this book several times in anthropology classes I teach and this coming fall I am going to use it again. I think of it as a classic because it addresses so many important aspects of a good life history. First, it represents the everyday life of a person living in poverty, an area worthy of academic study. It is also a close study of how women are sometimes, and in some societal situations, subject to abuse and have little recourse. Then, this study is also an interesting look at how historical changes influence the lives of people, in this case the travellers who used to make their living as tin smiths and horse traders and are now forced to adapt to an urban and highly technical world. The book is beautifully written and has always been well received by students

A well-written story about a fascinating destiny.......1998-05-09

This books gives an excellent insight in the life-style of the Irish travellers, as well as it is an enjoyable read. The main character, Nan, is a woman from a travelling family, living like nomads in the developping Ireland that is becoming more and more modern around them. Her life is very harsh, and harsher than the normal life of a travelling person, as the author points out. Nonetheless, or maybe just because of that, it is a gripping story and its contains are very interesting. You don't only get a good read, you also get a good and interesting lesson in the subsociety of the Irish travellers, a group that to a large extent maintains their nomadic lifestyle up to this day.

Nan - The Life of an Irish Travelling Woman

Average customer rating:

Nan - The Life of an Irish Travelling Woman
Sharon Gmelch
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MBKDWM

Average customer rating:

NAN: THE LIFE OF AN IRISH TRAVELLING WOMAN
SHARON GMELCH
Manufacturer: PAVANNE (PAN BOOKS)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SIE9KG

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books