Hard Tack and Coffee: Or the Unwritten Story of Army Life As Published in 1887

Book Description

First published more than 100 years ago, Hard Tack And Coffee is John Billings' absorbing first-person account of the everyday life of a U.S. Army soldier during the Civil War. Illustrated with over 200 sketches by C.W. Reed.

Customer Reviews:

An excellent and fascinatingly informative work.......2002-11-13

This is a very genuine and accurate account of a subject that has always fascinated me. It is written by the person who would know the material best--a genuine Civil War soldier--in excruciating detail and a suprisingly lively, colorful style for a book of nonfiction, not the stuffy, pompous style of encyclopedias. It contains well-articulated, balanced, open-mided opinions that are probably as unbiased as is possible for someone so close to the source.

Be aware, though, that this book contains only the personal experiences of the author, and is thus a source of information only about the Union, not the Confederacy. Still, it is an extremely informative book that reads almost like a novel, and I highly recommend it to any intellectual who is curious about conditions for the common soldiers in the American Civil War.

A highly readable view of Life in the Union Army........1998-06-03

Josh Billings served with the 10th Mass Battery of Light Artillery during the Civil War. After having written the Official "History of the 10th Mass Battery" he responded to numerous requests to write a book about daily life in the Union Army. "Hardtack and Coffee" is an unpretentious, humorous look at life in the Union Army, Particularly the Light Artillery During the Civil War. Mr. Billings paints a vivid picture of living life under canvas, in the field. He addresses such topics as Army food, The day by Bugle calls, Beats (people who "avoided work"), punishments and more. This book is not a comedy, but is written with a light and readable style that makes it interesting to the average reader, as well as to those interested in the Civil War. this book is a must read for all readers of Civil War literature.

Hard Tack and Coffee: Or the Unwritten Story of Army Life As Published in 1887

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Hard Tack and Coffee: Or the Unwritten Story of Army Life As Published in 1887
John D. Billings
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MUKEKY

Amazon.com

When National Public Radio commentator Tim Brookes set out to write a book about the hospice movement, he assumed it would be a straight-forward task. But shortly after signing his book contract, Brookes received a letter from his mother in England, stoically informing him of her impending death from pancreatic cancer. What began as a research topic--the right to die with dignity, surrounded by familiar comforts and family--suddenly became a personal quest. Signs of Life: a Memoir of Dying and Discovery is an exquisitely written reminder that facing and honoring our deepest fears--the death of a loved one, the death of ourselves--is often what liberates us to face our life and family with our deepest love.

Book Description

"For a nation obsessed with the happy ending, we give remarkably little thought to our own," writes journalist Tim Brookes. "Our fictions are full of the desire to shape these final mythic moments -- the good dying peacefully, or tragically, the bad falling from a great height onto sharp objects, the death perfectly or ironically illustrating the quality and virtue of the life. Yet in real life we'll do anything to avoid even mentioning death, let alone anticipating it. The only encouragement we get to plan for our death is from life insurance companies who will go bankrupt if we don't."

Brookes initially intended to follow a methodical plan in order to gain insight into the mystery of our final days. He would volunteer at a local hospice to learn all he could about this growing movement -- one that promotes a new level of emotional and physical care for the dying and that has become a powerful alternative to the often dehumanizing experience of death in a hospital or nursing home. He would also interview patients and experts in hospice care in hopes of limning the difficult decisions imminent death brings to the surface.

But Brookes's plans changed shape dramatically when, shortly after he'd begun research for his book, his mother called to report her diagnosis of terminal pancreatic cancer. What began as an investigative report evolved to embrace the author's intimate account of meeting -- and accepting -- his mother's death on its own terms. Slowly Brookes began to fill in the outlines of what he'd learned about hospice with the subtle shadings of his mother's experiences. Abstractions about death with dignity, the role of hope, and the need for family became powerful and immediate realities. Yet amid the sorrows came unexpected and joyful signs of life: a reconnection with long-forgotten relatives, a new opportunity to get to know his mother more deeply than ever before, and even laughs as the whole family struggled through a journey we will all take one day.

Signs of Life blends insightful reportage of a revolutionary program for helping the dying and a son's frank account of coping with the fears, concern, and love he holds for his dying mother and his growing appreciation of mortality. Brookes discovered that the hospice experience imbued his mother's dying with profound meaning; her death and the process of grieving enabled his family to grow closer together even as they came to recognize the levels of distance among them.

With intimacy and eloquence, Tim Brookes has written a deeply personal travel guide for the road that lies ahead. While not shying away from the difficulties of such a time, Signs of Life shows us that some of the most important revelations and changes are possible only near the end of life, when not only the dying but the survivors are completing a journey towards the deepest intimacy they may ever have known, a journey of discovering and letting go, and of coming home.

Customer Reviews:

beautiful heartfelt and cathartic.......2005-05-02

My beloved father passed away on March 3, 2005 after living for 2 years with Stage IV lung cancer. I was his caretaker for the last 6 weeks of his life whe I moved to New York to care for him. This book is a beautiful heartfelt story of the author's experience with his own's mother's illness and death. I found it to be very cathartic and appreciated the beauty of his words. i even found things within to adapt when writing my dad's eulogy. If only i could write so well to write something beautiful for my father. Thank you Tim Brookes, bless your family and your mother, may she live though you all who loved her so. Lori

Going Beyond the Limits of Medicine.......2000-05-25

Tim Brookes offers a well written, engaging account of the dying and death process. My father was diagnosed with a brain tumor a few weeks ago and a dear friend put this book in my hands. It is a tribute to life and dignity in dying. As I write this we are still in the middle of searching for treatment and I find the words of this book comforting and a guide of sorts to the process of living, essentially with a death sentence. The author shines a light on a process we are all engaged in, as we all eventually face the dying process. This book would be helpful for family members as well as professionls...and not only those dealing with cancer.

An uplifting book on a difficult subject.......1999-11-16

When my grandmother was diagnosed terminally ill(suffering from COPD), the family chose hospice care instead of a nursing home. I went to the library to get a book on hospice and this is the book that carried me through the heartbreaking yet beautiful last week of my beloved Nany's life. I know that every dying experience is different, but there were similarities between the author's mother and my grandmother's. It gave me great comfort to read Mr. Brookes words as I sat beside my grandmother's bedside. Many thanks for putting into words what my family and I were observing and feeling.

A journey towards life through the experience of death.......1997-05-06

Tim Brookes very eloquently voiced some of my own thoughts, feelings and struggles as I experienced my mother's death from cancer 2 months ago. It is a time of great intimacy and discovery about the very meaning of life. Our culture's beliefs and fears around death are interwoven with his very personal story, which he shares with great poignancy. This book is NOT a downer but a tribute to life. It is HIGHLY recommended for everyone, as death is a part of everyone's life

First-person microethics: deriving principles from below. (analyzing ethical principles in books about disability and death): An article from: The Hastings Center Report

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First-person microethics: deriving principles from below. (analyzing ethical principles in books about disability and death): An article from: The Hastings Center Report
Arthur W. Frank
Manufacturer: Hastings Center
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Science | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Hastings Center Report, published by Hastings Center on July 1, 1998. The length of the article is 5361 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: First-person microethics: deriving principles from below. (analyzing ethical principles in books about disability and death)
Author: Arthur W. Frank
Publication: The Hastings Center Report (Refereed)
Date: July 1, 1998
Publisher: Hastings Center
Volume: v28 Issue: n4 Page: p37(6)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Customer Reviews:

Remains valuable as historical perspective.......2003-08-19

Erikson's psychosocial stages of human development are standard fare in introductory psychology textbooks. In this slim volume you will find Erik's personal explanation of these stages and three short chapters by Joan (25 pages total) that elude to an additional ninth stage. Both authors were long-lived (Erik to 91; Joan to 93+), and, accordingly, offer a perspective that relatively few others will share.

Having spent most of the last year teaching cognitive psychology, I was struck by the antiquated writing style and absence of empirical justification for Erik's conclusions. He is clearly indebted to the clinical observations and theoretical formulations of Sigmund Freud, and he devotes his entire first chapter to the task of making this indebtedness clear. It reads as though he were attempting to justify his slight deviation from the master.

The second chapter is another apologia, this one specifically addressing the synthesis of Freud's psychosexual with Erik's psychosocial stages. It is in this chapter that Erik presents his (in)famous eight-stage chart, but it is not discussed in depth.

The more detailed elaboration of the eight stages is attempted in chapter three. Erik starts with old age, rather than with infancy, arguing that the end goal is necessary to understand how the stages relate. His stage explanations are filed with word etymologies, casual references to clinical examples, and sweeping generalizations that embrace world histories, social movements, and philosophies. It would be hard to imagine how one could write this material to be more distinct from the careful limitations and operational definitions required in current psychological research.

Erik's last contribution is an extension of the individual emphasis in psychoanalysis into the social realm where he develops the concept of ego development within a social milieu.

The concluding chapters by Joan are quite different from what comes before. She advocates a ninth stage beyond old age but does not explicitly define details compatible with Erik's earlier charts. Her metaphorical style paints a picture of gerotranscendance (emphasis on "dance") in which healthy resolution of earlier stage conflicts leads to a deepening appreciation of the past while living within the constrained, care-receiving present. In this present moment Joan finds an expansion of self that embraces others and a sense of communion with all things, including death itself. These chapters read like a self-eulogy rather than additional theoretical work.

I believe that more psychology students should read this book because it so clearly demonstrates the differences between what psychology once was and what psychology has become. There is quite a gulf between speculative theorizing and science. That a book this ensconced within the psychoanalytic worldview could have been published as late as 1982 gives one pause.

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Broodyear report for Olympic Peninsula national fish hatcheries broods completed in 1996-97 (SuDoc I 49.2:B 79)
Thomas R. Kane
Manufacturer: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Western Washington Office, Aquatic Resources Division
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B000111AJI

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The Life Cycle Completed: a Review
Erik H. Erikson
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J2KZ04

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great book

best book on gumbo; gumbo recipe below evolved from book

Creole Gumbo and All That Jazz: A New Orleans Seafood Cookbook
Howard Mitcham
Manufacturer: Pelican Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Seafood | Meat, Poultry & Seafood | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Cajun & Creole | U.S. Regional | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
South | U.S. Regional | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0882898701

Customer Reviews:

great book.......2001-08-23

I have used this book fro over a decade and am about to order a fresh copy. It is a great read and a great, practical cookbook. I have used it constantly.

best book on gumbo; gumbo recipe below evolved from book.......1999-11-15

Creole Gumbo (makes 12 quarts = 48 servings, can be made in smaller batches)

Recipe below evolved and adapted for the beach from "Creole Gumbo and all that Jazz" by Howard Mitcham,who nails it far better than anyone in print. This book is highly recommended.

6 quarts chicken stock or water 6+ washed tomatoes 2+ lbs washed medium shrimp 12+ washed live crabs (essential, buy 18 before boarding ferry)

Bring stock to boil. All in same stock, boil tomatoes 1 minute, skin and seed. Boil shrimp 4 minutes, shell and fridge the meat. Boil live crabs 20 minutes. Eat some crab meat for lunch, return all crab parts, well crushed with shrimp shells, to same stock. Boil vigorously 15 minutes, no longer. Strain stock well e.g. through paper towels and colander.

stick butter flour bunch scallions 3+ onions 1+ heads of garlic 3+ red or green peppers 4+ sticks celery

Melt butter in heavy nonstick. Add flour bit by bit till thick slurry. Stir with spatula over med heat till deep tan or as dark as you dare, without burning. Add chopped veggies (chop garlic and onions at last minute) and saute till soft. Move to heavy gumbo pot if this wasn't it.

3 lbs okra, fresh or frozen 2+ lbs good ham 3 bay leaves bunch fresh thyme bunch parsley 2-3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1-3 tbsp tabasco sauce 1+ tbsp freshly ground black pepper 1/2 lb double smoked bacon 2+ lbs fresh Andouille sausage or similar hot sausage, or kielbasa

Add okra sliced into rounds, diced tomatoes, diced ham, thyme tied into bunch, minced parsley, bay, any meat you crave and have (chicken? beef browned in bacon fat?). Add enough stock to cover solids and keep sloppy. Add some Worcestershire, tabasco, pepper. Slice and cook bacon, crumble and add. Braise sausage in inch of water till ready to eat, poking with fork to release fat. Slice and save.

Simmer gumbo 2-4 hours, low enough and stirred often enough to never stick at bottom. Tasting over next few hours, remembering flavors will "cure" and salt gets added at end, gradually add more W,t,p to taste. Add sausage 30 minutes before serving, shrimp 10 minutes before serving, add any seafood you crave and have (oysters? lobster? crawfish tails?). Salt generously to taste, serve with ample cooked rice.

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Creole Gumbo and All That Jazz: A New Orleans Seafood Cookbook
Howard Mitcham
Manufacturer: Da Capo Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OL22GA

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CREOLE GUMBO AND ALL THAT JAZZ: A NEW ORLEANS SEAFOOD COOKBOOK.
Howard. Mitcham
Manufacturer: Addison-Wesley,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N7EBCI

Customer Reviews:

California Bill delivers the sacred texts.......2000-03-29

Long before the small block chevy hunted the streets, the GMC was the way to go. California Bill tells all. Fun to read, cool to browse, I'm always picking mine up. Turn up the way back machine Sherman and gaze at ancient speed parts offered by long forgotten manufacturers. It's an exact copy of the original and you don't have top worry about the binding falling apart. Very Cool.

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Devoid of North Peninsula Info

For Bay Area Mothers - a babylicious resource

A "must-have" for any parent of the Bay area

Disappointing

Somewhat helpful

Babies by the Bay: The Insider's Guide to Everything from Doctors and Diapers to Playgrounds and Preschools in the San Francisco Bay Area
Michelle L. Keene , and Stephanie S. Lamarre
Manufacturer: Council Oak Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Marriage & Family | Sociology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Babies & Toddlers | Parenting | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
Child Care | Parenting | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
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Accessories:

Health o Meter HDC100-01 "Grow with Me" Teddy Bear Scale for Babies and Toddlers

ASIN: 1885171862
Release Date: 2005-10-01

Book Description

Having a baby in the San Francisco Bay Area? Your timing is impeccable . . . Babies by the Bay: The Insiders Guide to Everything from Doctors and Diapers to Playgrounds and Preschools in the San Francisco Bay Area has just been revised and updated to include all the latest resources and will surely become your baby bible.

With more than 2,000 listings, Babies by the Bay is the most up-to-date, in-depth guide to everything for baby and parent throughout the entire Bay Area, covering San Francisco, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa, Santa Clara and Alameda counties, with additional listings in Napa, Sonoma and Santa Cruz counties.

Customer Reviews:

Devoid of North Peninsula Info.......2006-09-12

Overall, this is a good list of resources, but is probably most useful to the first-time parent or someone who is new to the area.

For most sections, they cover the criteria you should consider when making your selections and perhaps the process. Very useful information. I found it very good for explaining exactly how one hires a nanny in the bay area or how you get your kid into preschool.

Much of the listings for activities, museums, etc. can be found in a phone book. And the "ratings" don't really help for any of the activities because most of them are unrated, but the few that are nearly always rated 5 stars.

The books biggest failing is its dearth of information for the Peninsula and South Bay, two distinct areas which they merge together under the heading "South Bay". I guess they do that to disguise how thin the info is compared to that for San Francisco and the North Bay.

Note that if you live in the "north peninsula" (Milbrae, San Bruno, South San Francisco, Daly City) that for these 4 densely-populated towns the listings are ESPECIALLY thin, even compared to the lightly covered Burlingame, San Mateo, Redwood City, and Palo Alto. On the north peninsula, you will not find a single listing for any preschools or parks, and only 2 daycares are listed.

Sections are:
Ch 1: Obstetricians, Midwifes, Pediatricians, Hospitals, Birth Centers, Prenatal educators, labor doulas, cord blood banks, infertility treatment programs, adoption, help for kids with special needs, resources to protect your workplace rights.

Ch 2: Pre- and Postnatal aerobics, yoga, pilates, fitness classes, personal trainers, fitness facilities with childcare, walks/hikes and Moms groups that do walking/hiking, pregnancy and postnatal massage. (Note: This chapter seems the most thorough)

Ch 3: Maternity clothes, including national chains, local retailers, online outfits and resale shops.

Ch 4: Baby Equipment. national chains, local retailers, nursery designers and muralists(!), equipment rental, online/mailorder/used, baby clothes retailers, toys/books, resale shops, where to donate used goods/clothes, babyproofers and safety goods.

Ch 5: Postpartum help: Baby nurses and Doulas, breastfeeding resources, postpartum depression resources, parenting hotlines, meal prep & delivery.

Ch 6: Parenting classes, parenting clubs/groups,

Ch 7: Classes for Kids: recreation departments, gym/gymnastics, swimming, music, art, dance, drama, foreign language, sports, misc

Ch 8: Activities: parks & playgrounds, beaches & pools, zoo & wildlife, indoor playgrounds, museums, rainy day activities, libraries and storytelling, trains and boats, adventures (iceskating, Bonfante gardens, etc.), restaurants, special events for kids, resources for local traveling with kids, birthday parties (entertainers, caterers, planners(!) etc.)

Ch 9: Childcare: seminars on finding childcare, day care licensing offices, childcare referral networks, regular day care centers, drop-in/sick-child daycare. Resources to do independent searches for nannies, do background checks, handle the legalities, benefits and taxes, nanny placement agencies, au pair agencies, babysitting services & resources.

Ch 10: Preschool. Preschool education consultants(!), preschools.

For Bay Area Mothers - a babylicious resource.......2006-06-06

This late 2005 edition is a rich resource of all things mothers and fathers need to know for bringing up baby. A very helpful maternity insert for new gifts for Bay Area babies.

A "must-have" for any parent of the Bay area.......2006-04-04

Expertly co-authored by Michelle L. Keene (Executive with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) and Stephanie S. Lamarre (Active member in various North Bay parenting groups) Babies By The Bay: The Insiders Guide To Everything From Doctors And Diapers To Playgrounds And Preschools In The San Francisco Bay Area is a thoroughly "user friendly" reference to everything necessary to know for San Francisco, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, and Alameda with additional information on the counties Napa, Sonoma and Santa Cruz. A "must-have" for any parent of the Bay area, Babies By The Bay really covers every given ground for having a child and taking proper care with cost efficient and intelligible techniques and reference to every imaginable necessity. Babies By The Bay is very strongly recommended to all mothers of the Bay area.

Disappointing.......2005-06-28

First, I read this book when my son was 10 months old. I was able to skip over the first 2/3 of the book about doctors, hospitals, maternity clothes and much of the gear that goes with babies. Even then, I noticed that it had the same information that one could find by searching the yellow pages or Yahoo. For a better written how to find gear book, check out "Baby Bargains" and even "Toddler Bargains" by Denise and Alan Fields.
I was looking forward to finding activities for family outings in my area but again found the standard things that I could find on the net or in the phone book. The book seems to focus on North and East Bay and SF. The content for Peninsula and South Bay are pretty lacking.

Check it out of the library if you have to.

Somewhat helpful.......2004-08-02

This book is pretty helpful, but not all that thorough when it comes to my neighborhood, which is on the peninsula. It leaves out a lot of the activities that I and my fellow parents participate in, and is not really accuate or thorough with respect to preschools.

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