General William S. Harney: Prince of Dragoons

Book Description

Between the War of 1812 and the Civil War, General William S. Harney became one of the best-known military figures in America. In a career aided by Andrew Jackson and the concept of an expansible army, Harney saw duty in virtually every part of the country and participated in most of the key military episodes of his time. He chased remnants of Lafitte pirates in Louisiana, campaigned with Abraham Lincoln and Zachary Taylor during the Black Hawk War, developed Vietnam-style riverine tactics that ended the Second Seminole War, and led Winfield Scott's cavalry in the Mexican War. In the 1850s Harney devised the army's largest and most successful pre–Civil War campaign against Plains Indians, commanded troops charged with upholding federal authority in Kansas and Utah, and almost provoked hostilities with Great Britain in the Pacific Northwest. Removed from command amid false charges of disloyalty during the Missouri secession crisis, he returned as a leading member of the Indian Peace Commission of 1867–68.

Harney was bold, ambitious, and innovative, but also impulsive, vindictive, and violent. His career illustrates the nineteenth-century army's role in implementing federal policy, highlights its limited resources compared to its responsibilities, and illuminates key aspects of its organizational structure, the behavior of its officers, and its impact on personal lives.

Customer Reviews:

William Selby Harney was scumbag criminal!.......2006-03-22

In reading a book called The Irish Soldiers of Mexico,(by Michael Hogan) I discovered that William Selby Harney was a cruel, savage, and despicable man. Why anyone would be interested in reading about this piece of sh** man is confusing to me.

During the wars against Native Americans, this criminal had a notorious penchant for brutality and cruelty.

He presided over the hangings of the St. Patrick's Battalion that defended Mexico from imperialist U.S. invasion in 1847.

He had been accused of rape and murder of innocent Native American women and was indicted by a civilian court for the
brutal beating of a female slave which resulted in her death.

He avoided prosecution by jumping bond and escaping from the city where this occured. Legally, he was a fugitive from justice
during the entire war against Mexico in 1847.

Record show that Harney was a reckless, insubordinate and arrogant officer who was also an indicted murdered, an alleged rapist, and a fugitive from justice.(According to The Irish Soldiers book.)

I wouldn't waste my time reading about this s.o.b criminal.

George K. Perez
Chicago, IL

A terrific book.......2003-05-12

I was impressed with Rollie Adams' Harney biography. It's trite to say that this biography "reads like a novel" and that "I just couldn't put it down," but those cliches are certainly true here. I bought this book intending to dip into it for those parts that would help me with a book I'm writing myself, but the introduction hooked me. I read the entire book through, rereading parts of it in my attempt to understand Harney. Mr. Adams must have had fun researching and writing Prince of Dragoons! He certainly made a larger than life historical figure come alive for me. His search for primary sources for this biography are exhaustive and his interpretations of them perceptive. I recommend this well-written, well-edited book to anyone interested in 19th century military history and to anyone just wanting a "really good read."

UNDERSTANDING THE ANTEBELLUM ARMY THROUGH HARNEY.......2001-07-25

This is an outstanding book that is both well-researched and clearly written. It is badly needed and therefore most welcome for students of the pre-Civil war army and its frontier campaigns. When the Civil War erupted, Brig. Gen. Harney was the nation's third most senior general, behind only Winfield Scott and John E. Wool. He was also the country's most accomplished Indian fighter. Yet he has been forgotten along with Gens. David E. Twiggs and E.V. Sumner. Rollie Adams has rescued Harney from oblivion and in the process sheds light on the behavior of the antebellum army's officer corps as well as on the extraordinary unit -- the Second Regiment of U.S. Dragoons, later redesignated the Second Cavalry -- that Harney led as lieut. col. and col. during 1836-58. Rollie Adams is a realist, and so he brings to the reader's attention not only his subject's long suits (valor, strategic thinking, organizational skills, and innovation) but also the warts (impulsiveness, financial irresponsibility, lack of tact and diplomacy, and a persistent streak of brutality). With respect to the short suits, the army court-martialed Harney four times and a civil court near St. Louis tried him a fifth time for bludgeoning a female slave to death. This was a leader who was a very mixed bag in the sense of a complex (and at times unattractive) psyche and command style. That Harney could overcome these short suits to rise as rapidly as he did is a direct reflection of the pre-Civil War army's willingness to overlook a hopelessly contentious, brutal personality because of its needs for his skills and talents. In a sense, Harney was an officer deeply affected by his long-time mentor, Twiggs, and he in turn impacted the contentious behavior of argumentative officers like his subordinate, Philip St.George Cooke. Small wonder that at one point Harney even went so far as to prefer charges against Gen. Scott for executing the sentence of one of the courts-martial that had convicted Harney! For Harney it all came crashing down with his role in the so-called "Pig War" of 1859 -- a clash in the Pacific Northwest in which he singlehandedly almost brought on an armed clash between the U.S. and U.K. in a border dispute -- and then finally because of his mishandling of the political situation in volatile Missouri at the beginning of the Civil War. This book is not only well-written, it is well made -- printed on highly quality paper with a handsome type design and with page headings/numbers displayed at the bottom of each page in such a way as to minimize reader distractions as happens with conventional layouts. I recommend Rollie Adams' book most highly. It ought to be read in tandem with the recent re-issue of Rodenbough's classic "From Everglade to Canyon with the Second Cavalry" and Durwood Ball's new book "Army Regulars on the Western Frontier, 1848-1861."

new harney biography a must for historians.......2001-04-19

GENERAL WILLIAM S. HARNEY: PRINCE OF DRAGOONS, is the first full-length biography of this important American warrior since 1878. George Rollie Adams has combined his skills as an eminent historian and gripping story-teller to bring to print the complete narrative of one of the country's most important, yet relatively forgotten, military leaders. Raised on the Tennessee frontier, General William Selby Harney patterned many of his traits after his neighbor, Andrew Jackson, and like "Old Hickory," often drew criticism from his West Point-trained associates. Yet, when he died in 1889, Harney's military career had spanned seven decades, and he had participated in every one of his country's major wars and military conflicts beginning in 1818. This is an outstanding biography--one that shows the author's years of dedication and research into the life and times of this very important American figure. This book should be nominated for the Pulitzer in biography.

Fascinating History.......2001-02-18

Insights into the complex personality of a prominent Civil War general are fascinating. But this is more than a character study; it is an interesting history of government policy and the role of the military. The author, a gifted writer, has succeeded in making this an engaging human interest story within a significant period of military history. It is thoroughly enjoyable reading.

General William S. Harney: Prince of Dragoons.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of Southern History

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General William S. Harney: Prince of Dragoons.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of Southern History
Cecil B. Currey
Manufacturer: Southern Historical Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008FSARC
Release Date: 2005-07-30

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Southern History, published by Southern Historical Association on November 1, 2002. The length of the article is 526 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: General William S. Harney: Prince of Dragoons.(Book Review)
Author: Cecil B. Currey
Publication: Journal of Southern History (Refereed)
Date: November 1, 2002
Publisher: Southern Historical Association
Volume: 68 Issue: 4 Page: 940(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

This engaging and wide-ranging biography casts new light on the life and careers of Percival Lowell. Scion of a wealthy Boston family, elder brother of Harvard President Lawrence and poet Amy, Percival Lowell is best remembered as the astronomer who claimed that intelligent beings had built a network of canals on Mars. But the Lowell who emerges in David Strauss's finely textured portrait was a polymath: not just a self-taught astronomer, but a shrewd investor, skilled photographer, inspired public speaker, and adventure-travel writer whose popular books contributed to an awakening American interest in Japan.

Strauss shows that Lowell consistently followed the same intellectual agenda. One of the principal American disciples of Herbert Spencer, Lowell, in his investigations of Japanese culture, set out to confirm Spencer's notion that Westerners were the highest expression of the evolutionary process. In his brilliant defense of the canals on Mars, Lowell drew on Spencer's claim that planets would develop life-supporting atmospheres over time.

Strauss's charming, somewhat bittersweet tale is the story of a rebellious Boston Brahmin whose outsider mentality, deep commitment to personal freedom, and competence in two cultures all contributed to the very special character of his careers, first as a cultural analyst and then more memorably as an astronomer.

Customer Reviews:

Lowell in Context.......2002-03-22

The first fully satisfying biography of a man who helped to change astronomy, sustained its popularity and mystery, and tested the wills of mainstream astronomers.

Thorough and Revealing.......2002-01-18

Strauss is not content with telling us the story of Lowell's fascinating life--he portrays each milieu in which Lowell worked and lived with a complexity that gives us the tools to understand Lowell in context. For example, he gives us piquant details about life in the upper reaches of Boston Brahmin culture. One of the more interesting stories is Lowell's move from prominence in academia to the position of crank and critic of the increasing professionalization of astronomy.

This is the portrait of a restless mind, worth delving into.

Surprisingly easy read!!.......2001-11-22

Strauss' historical look at Lowell is extremely engaging and I found this book hard to put down. Some great historical context about Boston and Japan really give you the feeling of what is was like to be there back in the 1800's. I recommend this to all.

Astronomical Outsider.(Review): An article from: American Scientist

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Astronomical Outsider.(Review): An article from: American Scientist

Manufacturer: Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Science | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

Coaching Youth Wrestling is an excellent introduction to youth coaching and teaching young wrestling players valuable skills. It provides all the information you need to coach effectively and help 6- to 15-year-old athletes, both boys and girls, learn and enjoy the game.

Featuring the games approach to coaching wrestling, this book will show you how to make practice more fun for the kids and teaching more effective for you, the coach. Also included are chapters on communicating with athletes and parents, planning and conducting practices, coaching during matches, and specific programs for both boys and girls wrestling.

Developed by the American Sport Education Program (ASEP), the nation's No. 1 coaching education program, and with USA Wrestling, Coaching Youth Wrestling provides volunteer coaches with both an explanation of their role and concrete instructions on fulfilling that role.

Customer Reviews:

Coaching Wresling.......2007-02-20

This book is GREAT for PARENTS to read, who have little exposure to wrestlings, its rules, and the pros and cons it can present to wrestling athletes. Though I wrestled in High School, many years ago, some of the rules and philosophies have changed. For new coaches, former wrestlers, or those returning to coaching, this book would be a great refresher. For experienced coaches, the book may be below their current knowledge level. FOR PARENTS, NEW WRESTLERS, AND NEW COACHES the book however, wouldd be great reading.

Good book, really helped with coaching.......2007-01-19

This book gave excellent tips, ideas to keep practice moving.

Nearfall: Book One - The Adventures of Matt and Mike

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What an inspiring story!
Great Life Lesson Book
Great Book
I couldn't put this book down!
Nearfall: Book One - The Adventures of Matt and Mike

Nearfall: Book One - The Adventures of Matt and Mike
Joe Reasbeck
Manufacturer: Standel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0964772183

Product Description

Standel Publishing is excited to present NearFall: Book One --- The Adventures of Matt and Mike. Joe Reasbeck has penned a story that will become an instant classic within the wrestling and mixed-martial arts communities. The athletic theme and coming of age realities will resonate with kids everywhere. NearFall: Book One --The Adventures of Matt and Mike Get Yours today! For autographed copies call: To schedule an appearance with the author call:

Customer Reviews:

What an inspiring story!.......2007-08-30

This is such a wonderful story that both children and adults will enjoy. The dynamic between the brothers and the family is incredible and each character is so well written that by the end of the story, I was left wanting more. I couldn't put it down and can't wait for the next one.

Great Life Lesson Book.......2007-07-26

I am a father of six, five of whom are girls. The boy would not read, until I got this book for him. I think he's actually read it twice! This is also a great book for anyone interested in wrestling, as it is written by a former college wrestler who knows of what he writes.

Great Book.......2007-07-09

I am a 13 year old boy, and the first page of this book had me hooked. I may not be a wrestler, but it showed me situations that happen at my age, and ways to get out of them. This book will just keep you turning the pages, wanting to know what will happen next. Thank you for this book.

I couldn't put this book down!.......2007-07-06

I am the mother of 3 young boys and I bought this book to give to them. I always try to read the books I buy for them and I usually have to make myself slug through the pages, but I couldn't put this book down. The storyline keeps you wanting to know what happens next and it covers many of the peer pressures of growing up and troubles kids face trying to fit in at school, so I felt like it made my job easier as a parent. It opened the discussion for questions on issues we were just about to cover with our sons. I really liked the way these "growing up" scenarios were resolved and handled. I would recommend this book to any parent for their children. It's really hard to find books for boys and this book my boys loved!

Nearfall: Book One - The Adventures of Matt and Mike.......2007-07-05

As a former high school coach of basketball and softball I found the trails and tribulations of Matt and Mike apply to all sports. I couldn't put the book down I had to find out what happened next.

Average customer rating:

Coaching Youth Wrestling

Coaching Youth Wrestling
Steve Combs
Manufacturer: Athletic Inst
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 9995311410

Customer Reviews:

Coaching Youth Wrestling.......2000-04-01

Well illustrated introduction for coaches new to youth wrestling and its special requirements. Excellent selection of excercises again well illustrated. Must reading for annyone taking on the daunting task of building a winning youth club or team.

Customer Reviews:

French Classic!.......2006-03-04

Alma Lach was a contemporary of sorts of Julia Child, having published her books during the 60's and 70's, however she was greatly overshadowed by Julia's landmark classic (Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol 1) and numerous subsesquent books and tv series, and Alma has been nearly forgotten.

I find both authors very helpful on making classic French dishes, and will consult both authors, and others prior to cooking a particular recipe, to see the subtle or different variations to consider. Few since these authors have had better suggestions and instructions.

The book does lack color photos, not a negative as such was not in vogue among these authors, and one can download photos of nearly every dish from a "Google" search.

Indispensible........2005-06-04

I own hundreds of cookbooks. I have sold over 200 cookbooks after I tired of them. This one will have to be pried out of my cold, dead fingers.
Seriously, there are tips in here, like how to make brown coloring for sauces, that you will not find mentioned even between friends. From pate and snails to green beans with bacon, you could entertain or feed the family , breakfast, lunch and dinner, or a wedding cake. Enjoy.

A wonderfully complex book of Cordon Bleu cooking techniques.......1998-12-26

I first purchased this book in the late 1970's and have used it since. Individual recipes often draw from several locations in the book, and colored ribbon bookmarks allow fast cross reference. The recipes are sometimes complex and engrossing...the perfect formula to take me away from the worldly pressures. My all time favorite recipe is the Normandy Apple pancake. Try it with the Calvados as suggested. I have searched often for this book, without luck, as gifts to friends; and am delighted it's back in print. A true French classic, and a "must have" for the cookbook collection. I'm ordering several as gifts at this price, which is a couple of dollars more than it sold for in the late 1970's!!

This book unlocks the secrets of the French Culinary system.......1998-06-03

I first purchased Alma Lach's book as a Hotel Management student in 1975. As a caterer in Buffalo N.Y. I created a French Dinner using her receipies for 24 thrilled guests just last month. For anyone who is interested in mastering the art of authentic French cooking, Alma's book is a timeless resource. Using her ingredients and techniques, you will prepare food which you might expect to eat at a haute cuisine restaurant, or in a fine French bistro.

I use the book so often that I refer to Alma by her first name. I feel like we are old friends. Since the book has gone out of print I have guarded it like the fine manuscript that it is. Now that it is being reprinted, the world can enjoy her unique insights into the world of French cooking, and I can retire the original to a safe place for future generations. We are lucky indeed.

Best how to French cookbook.......1998-05-22

I'm thrilled that it looks like this book is coming back into print. If they don't screw it up with editing the original, it will be great. It is the best "how-to" of any french cookbook. For example, I have been using Alma's tricks for making a perfect souffle and her suggestions for variations on the classic for years...with never a miss.

Hows and Whys of French Cooking. With a chapter on wine by George Rezek and a foreword by Andre Simon.

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Hows and Whys of French Cooking. With a chapter on wine by George Rezek and a foreword by Andre Simon.
Alma. Lach
Manufacturer: Univ. of Chicago Press c
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Hows & Whys of French Cooking Signed
Alma Lach
Manufacturer: UNIV OF CHICAGO + PRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000VM37MA

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HOWS AND WHYS OF FRENCH COOKING
Alma, with a Chapter on Wine By George Rezek, and a Foreword By Andre Simon Lach
Manufacturer: University of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000VBHEYS

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Hows and Whys of French Cooking
Alma Lach
Manufacturer: University of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000O2RM6E

Hows And Whys Of French Cooking (A Revised and Expanded Edition of Cooking a La Cordon Bleu)

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Hows And Whys Of French Cooking (A Revised and Expanded Edition of Cooking a La Cordon Bleu)
Alma Lach
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OP8VKM

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Priscilla Hauser's Decorative Painting Workshop
Priscilla Hauser
Manufacturer: Sterling
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Decorating | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Painting | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Painting & Wallpapering | Interior Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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Priscilla Hauser's Book of Decorative Painting

Priscilla Hauser's Book of Painting Patterns

Priscilla Hauser's Book of Fruits and Berries (Decorative Painting)

Priscilla Hauser's Flower Portraits

The Big Book of Decorative Painting: How to Paint If You Don't Know How and How to Improve If You Do

ASIN: 1402714777

Book Description

Priscilla Hauser--the "First Lady of Decorative Painting,"--can teach anyone to paint, and for those who can't take her sellout classes, this on-the-page workshop is the next best thing.

Anyone who has ever fantasized about having the skills to paint beautiful decorative home projects, can now make those dreams come true. Priscilla Hauser has successfully developed a technique that allows novices to learn her charming style, effortlessly. Hauser begins by teaching the most basic brush strokes, and uses them to build a basecoat to shade and highlight until a lusciously executed design emerges. Nothing could be simpler, or less intimidating. She discusses preparing the surface, brush loading and double-loading, undercoating, stripping, washes, and other effects, and provides plenty of helpful worksheets. There are also some quick tricks presented for creating intriguing background finishes. Beginners will quickly and confidently master such projects as bright sunflowers and daisies on a watering can, lemons on tableware, a bird-embellished frame, and a butterfly-covered candle lantern.

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Excellent Resource for Parents

Excellent book on raising children with a Christian worldview

Parenting With Kingdom Purpose
Ken Hemphill , and Richard Ross
Manufacturer: B&H Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Child Development | Babies & Toddlers | Parenting | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
General | Parenting | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
General | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
General | Christian Living | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers

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Set Apart: Calling a Worldly Church to a Godly Life

Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture: Bridging Teen Worldviews And Christian Truth

Hurt: Inside the World of Today's Teenagers (Youth, Family, and Culture)

ASIN: 080543299X

Book Description

Almost all teenagers are religious but their views of God and faith vary widely. Most seem to think God exists but don't believe He is very involved in life on earth. This has serious implications for Christian parents and the role they play in helping their kids. Parenting with Kingdom Purpose from youth ministry pioneer Richard Ross (True Love Waits, 24-Hour Counselor) and respected Christian author Ken Hemphill will help Christian parents see what the reality is instilling in their students a faith that has a foundation. Ross and Hemphill will help parents see what they need to be and what they need to show students for faith to be a reality for teenagers today.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Resource for Parents.......2006-04-30

Even though this book is primarily for parents of teenagers, I read it as a parent of a three and five year-old and was still able to get very useful information. The statistics that the authors give are astounding and should reaffirm to Christian parents the importance of open commmunication with your child. Because I am raising my children in a Christian environment, I assumed that I was doing everything right. However, the authors of this book help explain the importance of doing more than just "being" a Christian. They get to the heart of the Scriptures and hold all parents accountable for the commission that is given in the Bible to diligently teach our chldren God's word while helping them to realize their role in bringing others into His kingdom. I am placing this book on my shelf to pull back out when my children are reaching the middle school years. By then I will need the gentle, scripture-based nudging that is provided by the authors.

Excellent book on raising children with a Christian worldview.......2005-07-02

Every Christian parent should read this book and consider the advice, recommendations and helps that it offers in raising what the authors call "Kingdom kids", children that have been raised with a consistent message that conveys a faith-centered Christian worldview.

Near the end of the book, Ross writes regarding problems with youth, "Parents come to the office of counselors and church leaders when they are in crisis. Often they say 'We never thought it would come to this. How did we ever get into this situation?' The answer is often by hundreds of decisions parents and children have made over the years."

The focus of this book is for parents to understand that a primary parenting responsiblity is to see that faith is central in their own lives and to ensure that they consistently live and communicate that message to their children by making it a priority.

Too often, parents will sacrifice to send children to sports camps but not for mission trips. They will skip church to attend a child's sports activity. They drop the children off at church but don't attend themselves. Over time, decisions such as these convey to the child that mom and dad's faith just isn't all that important. As a result, 70 percent of youth will drop out of the church within two years of high school graduation.

The authors don't just tell us what has gone wrong but also offer practical advise for how to stay "on message" with your children.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent bio on an overlooked figure in scouting history.......2000-08-11

Ernest Thompson Seton was the founder of a youth organization based on American Indian Culture. His group, the Woodcraft Indians, was an inspiration for the Boy Scouts, and Seton became one of the main leaders of the BSA. His many works have long served as an inspiration to many. This is the first biography on him in a long time and is well deserved. It is unfortunate that his many works are today ignored.

Amazon.com

"Instead of God I believe in ghosts," writes the literary scholar Ruth Kluger in this harrowing memoir of life under the yellow star, a controversial bestseller in Germany.

Born in Vienna, Kluger somehow survived a girlhood spent in Theresienstadt, Auschwitz, and Gross-Rosen. Some of the lessons she imparts are surprising, as when she argues, against other historians, that the female camp guards were far more humane than their male counterparts, and when she admits that she has difficulty today queuing in line, a constant of camp life, "out of revulsion for the bovine activity of simply standing." Her memories of her youth are punctuated by sharp reflections on the meaning of the Shoah and how it should best be memorialized in a time when ever fewer survivors are left to act as witnesses. Those reflections are often angry--"Absolutely nothing good came out of the concentration camps," she writes, recalling an argument with a naive German graduate student, "and he expects catharsis, purgation, the sort of thing you go to the theatre for?"

But they are constantly provocative, too. Though readers will doubtless take issue with some of her conclusions, Kluger's insistent memoir merits a wide audience. --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

Now in paperback, this European bestseller won huge -acclaim from U.S. critics, Jonathan Yardley of the Washington Post Book World declared this memoir of a Holocaust girlhood and a life reclaimed "one of the best books of 2001 . . . a book of surpassing, and at times brutal, honesty. . . . Among the many reasons that Still Alive is such an important book is its insistence that the full texture of women's existence in the Holocaust be acknowledged."

Ruth Kluger's story of her years in several concentration camps, and her struggle to establish a life after the war as a refugee survivor in New York, has emerged as one of the most powerful accounts of the Holocaust. Still Alive is a memoir of the pursuit of selfhood against all odds, a fiercely bittersweet coming-of-age story in which the protagonist must learn never to rely on comforting assumptions, but always to seek her own truth.

"A deeply moving and significant work . . . compared by European critics to the work of Primo Levi and Elie Wiesel."-Publishers Weekly

"A stunning contemplation of human relationships, power and the creation of history. . . . A work of such nuance, intelligence and force that it leaps the bounds of genre."-Kirkus Reviews

Ruth Kluger is professor emerita of German at the University of California, Irvine. She is the author of five books about German literature and the recipient of Austria's National Prize for Literary Criticism. Her widely translated memoir has won eight European Literary awards. Lore Segal's writings include the novels Other People's Houses and Her First American.

Customer Reviews:

I love reading about the Holocaust, but..........2007-05-12

I found this book extremely tedious, poorly edited, full of boring speculations and philosophical self centerdness. Am shocked at myself being able to say this about any survivor, but there you have it. I kept thinking, "OK, now when are you going to get on with the actual story", before realizing that it just droned on in this way. A much better book that I just read is 'A Jump for Life', a far more moving account and likeable woman.

Amazing.......2006-01-02

There are many excellent memoirs describing the Nazi death camps, but this one touched me in a way that no other book has.

My fiancé died in the World Trade Center, and this is really the only book that resonates with the deep, bitter grief I felt in that disaster's aftermath. I don't mean to compare 9/11 to the Shoah at all, but Kluger articulates many of the contradictory feelings and beliefs I myself have struggled with, including my frustration at being shaped by something that everyone knows about, but almost no one understands. I felt a shock of recognition when she complained about people visiting Auschwitz as a sentimental gesture, because I feel that same (totally irrational) discomfort about people visiting "Ground Zero". Though I have lived my life as an intellectual, Kluger spoke to the savage in me that still rails and howls at my loss.

This is oftentimes an angry, bitter book, but she mentions in passing that she has grandchildren, so I believe she found some measure of joy in her life after her internment. After my tragedy, I was forced to ask myself how someone who doesn't believe in life after death can go on in the face of the gruesome injustice of existence. I never really found an answer, but I kept on living, and I don't intend to stop anytime soon. I heard a lot of my journey in Kluger's voice as well, and I am exceedingly grateful that she wrote this book.

Intellectual Holocaust memoir.......2005-09-03

Ruth Kluger gives a remarkably lucid and thoughtful account of her experiences as WWII Austria, and eventually the concentration and forced labor camps of Germany. Even though English is not her first language, Kluger writes remarkably succinct and cogent English prose, and she confronts the moral and emotional complexity of the holocaust in her memory. "Still Alive" is loosely structured, as Kluger prefers to record the events as she recalls them as opposed to adhering to strict chronology, but the result is very interesting, she superimposes her thoughts and secrets as the horrible events unfold. She paints a vivid and, at times unusual portrait of the Nazi holocaust, often ruminating on the pain and humiliation (she wonders if her father trampled children when sentenced to the gas chamber), but also the sheer enormity of the camps as an historical event, she recalls that when she received her tattoo she felt glee because she realized that she was a part of something that was much larger than herself, something "worth witnessing." A third of the memoir is post-holocaust, Kluger recounts her experiences in New York after the war as she and her mother struggle to regain control of their lives, and look for possible meaning and redemption in their past-suffering.

Outstanding Read.......2004-06-29

The author doesn't simply recount fact and opinion, she has truly analyzed her childhood growing up in Vienna and then through the Holocaust and concentration camp. What a treasure we have in this book to document one girl's life, living through a horrific time in history. It is a bonus that the author is such an outstanding writer. Kluger allows the reader to relate to her life through their own life experiences. She is certainly someone I'd like to know better. Highly recommend.

Review of Still Alive.......2004-04-14

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was written in a way that went through Ruth's life during the Holocaust years. It starts at the very beginning and just talks about her whole experience. I like how Ruth mixed in experiences and comments from the future. This showed how the Holocaust still impacts her life and what she thinks about her surroundings. No one will ever be able to understand what Ruth had to suffer while in the concentration camps. But I feel that by reading her life story it makes it seem more of a reality and brings to life aspects of how the Jews were treated during this time period in American history. All the hardship and discrimination that Ruth had to endure shows the power and willingness she had to live. I liked how she never said it was strength that le ther live rather it was mostly luck. I thought that reading this book made me feel greatful for everything that I have. I would recommend reading this book if you want to realize what life during the Holocaust was like.

Ruth Kluger. Still Alive: A Holocaust Girlhood Remembered.(Book Review): An article from: World Literature Today

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Ruth Kluger. Still Alive: A Holocaust Girlhood Remembered.(Book Review): An article from: World Literature Today
Anna K. Kuhn
Manufacturer: University of Oklahoma
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from World Literature Today, published by University of Oklahoma on July 1, 2003. The length of the article is 1129 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: Ruth Kluger. Still Alive: A Holocaust Girlhood Remembered.(Book Review)
Author: Anna K. Kuhn
Publication: World Literature Today (Refereed)
Date: July 1, 2003
Publisher: University of Oklahoma
Volume: 77 Issue: 2 Page: 128(2)

Article Type: Book Review

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