One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd

Book Description

One Thousand White Women is the story of May Dodd and a colorful assembly of pioneer women who, under the auspices of the U.S. government, travel to the western prairies in 1875 to intermarry among the Cheyenne Indians. The covert and controversial "Brides for Indians" program, launched by the administration of Ulysses S. Grant, is intended to help assimilate the Indians into the white man's world. Toward that end May and her friends embark upon the adventure of their lifetime. Jim Fergus has so vividly depicted the American West that it is as if these diaries are a capsule in time.

Customer Reviews:

Profound historical fiction...........2007-10-18

Been on a bit of a western reading Jag lately after reading Dances with Wolves and Across the High Lonesome(both are excelletn by the way) when I stumbled across this book. I ended up reading this book over the course of one weekend. I found Fergus' research on the Plains Indians and how he wove it into a fictional story fascinating. He does lean on stereotypes in places but the fictional premise of this novel drew me in and would not let go! Perhaps not a classic, but a very worthy historical fiction.

Wild story from the wild west.......2007-10-08

May Dodd is the daughter of a wealthy family in Chicago who humiliates them by running off with her lover and having two children by him without marrying. Her family has her committed to an asylum as her indiscretion could only be caused by insanity. But she is ultimately given an opportunity to gain her freedom from the asylum - she must relocate west and become the bride of a Cheyenne Indian.

Little Wolf is the Cheyenne Chief who proposes to President Grant that the two nations trade 1000 white women for 1000 horses. It is Little Wolf's belief that by having children with the white brides that the offspring will bring the Cheyenne closer to the white world and thus begin the process of assimilation. The US Government takes the Indian Nation up on its offer in secret sending only those women who volunteer or want the freedom to escape their current lives, such as women in asylums and jails. May Dodd jumps on this opportunity and becomes a leader amongst the other women who believe the west has something to offer.

This novel is comprised of the journal entries of May Dodd and letters that she writes to loved ones back home understanding that they will never be mailed. Her writing chronicles the daily life of the Cheyenne from the elaborate wedding ceremony the white women experience, to the everyday chores and friendships that are born on the vast prairies. It is a unique look at how the Native American life may have been in the late 1800s, but also provides a sharp contrast between that life and that of the whites. The story is not without conflict and does a good job of presenting the perspective of the Native American as the white man trampled over their lands and customs.

Something about this book just didn't grab me and hold on. It was interesting and informative, but I had trouble buying into the May Dodd character. She was a bit too strong willed to be plausible. While others around her experienced terrifying fear, she almost brushes her own experience with fear and danger aside too callously. Not to say that she didn't acknowledge the people and circumstances that scared her, but it was minimized in such a way that it became hard to read her as a believable character. The story is moving, but was missing something that is hard to put a finger on.

Engrossing read.......2007-10-06

I loved this book! At the very beginning I was a bit skeptical but once I got into it I couldn't stop listening. I read some other reviews that mentioned finding men writing in a woman's voice not believable but I disagree. An author is a story teller and can tell a story from many perspectives, you need to use your imagination... it's fiction! After only a little way into the book I was immersed in the time, place and beauty of the setting. I loved the characters, a lot of variety and different peronalities. The Native American way of life was quite interesting and although this book was written in a plain spoken way it really came alive for me. I would highly suggest this book to anyone. It's an easy read and I think a "page turner."

Loved it.......2007-10-03

I loved this book and am so sad that it ended. I hope his other books are as good as this one because I really liked his writing style. I read all the time and this is the best book I have read in a long time. Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down. I would highly reccomend it!

Great read with unexpected story line.......2007-10-03

I asked some friends what was the best thing they'd read lately. When they mentioned the title of this book I could not imagine what it was about and visualized something like the Million Man March...in reverse? :-)
Even when they told me a bit of the plot line I wasn't sure about "One Thousand White Women". But they said they couldn't put it down so I gave it a try. I loved it - so much so that I bought it as a gift for someone else. The book intertwines a bit of a real story with 'what might have been'. I found myself so engrossed in the book that I forgot it was fiction...and wished it wasn't.

Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West

Average customer rating:

Fremont's Reputation
one of the best
Thoroughly engrossing biography of Kit Carson
Reads almost like a novel!
Blood and Thunder

Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West
Hampton Sides
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

ASIN: 0385507771
Release Date: 2006-10-03

Book Description

Praise for Blood and Thunder

“Kit Carson’s role in the conquest of the Navajo during and after the Civil War remains one of the most dramatic and significant episodes in the history of the American West. Hampton Sides portrays Carson in the larger context of the conquest of the entire West, including his frequent and often lethal encounters with hostile Native Americans. Unusually, Sides gives full voice to Indian leaders themselves about their trials and tribulations in their dealings with the whites. Here is a national hero on the level of Daniel Boone, presented with all of his flaws and virtues, in the context of American people’s belief that it was their Manifest Destiny to occupy the entire West.”

—Howard Lamar, Sterling Professor Emeritus of History, Yale University and editor of The New Encyclopedia of the American West

“The story of the American West has seldom been told with such intimacy and immediacy. Legendary figures like Kit Carson leap to life and history moves at a pulse-pounding pace—sweeping the reader along with it. Hampton Sides is a terrific storyteller.”

—Candice Millard, author of The River of Doubt

“Hampton Sides doesn't just write a book, he transports the reader to another time and place. With his keen sense of drama and his crackling writing style, this master storyteller has bequeathed us a majestic history of the Old West.”

—James Bradley, author of Flags of Our Fathers and Flyboys

“Blood and Thunder is a big-hearted book whose subject is as expansive as they come. Hampton Sides tackles it with naked pleasure and narrative cunning: In his telling, the vast saga of America’s westward push has a logical center. The dusty town of Santa Fe becomes the nexus around which swirl the fortunes and strategies of a mixed set of serious overachievers, from Kit Carson, the original mountain man, to James K. Polk, the enigmatic president whose achievements, in the dreaded name of Manifest Destiny, were almost biblical in scope. Sides is alive to the exuberance and alert to the tragedy of the taking of the West.”

—Russell Shorto, author of Island at the Center of the World

“For a huge percentage of us immigrant Americans (those whose ancestors arrived after 1492), Hampton Sides fills a gaping hole in our knowledge of American history—a vivid account of how ‘The New Men’ swept away the thriving civilizations of the Native Americans in their conquest of the West.”

—Tony Hillerman

"BLOOD AND THUNDER is a balanced, thoughtful summary of the American conquistadors in the 19th century Southwest. Hampton Sides has re-created violent events and such inflammatory figures as Kit Carson without bias. Carefully researched, thoroughly enjoyable."

-Evan S. Connell, author of SON OF THE MORNING STAR, CUSTER AND THE LITTLE BIGHORN

A Magnificent History of How the West Was Really Won—a Sweeping Tale of Shame and Glory

In the fall of 1846 the venerable Navajo warrior Narbona, greatest of his people’s chieftains, looked down upon the small town of Santa Fe, the stronghold of the Mexican settlers he had been fighting his whole long life. He had come to see if the rumors were true—if an army of blue-suited soldiers had swept in from the East and utterly defeated his ancestral enemies. As Narbona gazed down on the battlements and cannons of a mighty fort the invaders had built, he realized his foes had been vanquished—but what did the arrival of these “New Men” portend for the Navajo?

Narbona could not have known that “The Army of the West,” in the midst of the longest march in American military history, was merely the vanguard of an inexorable tide fueled by a self-righteous ideology now known as “Manifest Destiny.” For twenty years the Navajo, elusive lords of a huge swath of mountainous desert and pasturelands, would ferociously resist the flood of soldiers and settlers who wished to change their ancient way of life or destroy them.

Hampton Sides’s extraordinary book brings the history of the American conquest of the West to ringing life. It is a tale with many heroes and villains, but as is found in the best history, the same person might be both. At the center of it all stands the remarkable figure of Kit Carson—the legendary trapper, scout, and soldier who embodies all the contradictions and ambiguities of the American experience in the West. Brave and clever, beloved by his contemporaries, Carson was an illiterate mountain man who twice married Indian women and understood and respected the tribes better than any other American alive. Yet he was also a cold-blooded killer who willingly followed orders tantamount to massacre. Carson’s almost unimaginable exploits made him a household name when they were written up in pulp novels known as “blood-and-thunders,” but now that name is a bitter curse for contemporary Navajo, who cannot forget his role in the travails of their ancestors.

Customer Reviews:

Fremont's Reputation.......2007-10-14

This is an excellent book except for the Fremont-bashing that seems to be fashionable. It is especially distressing that the material about Fremont came from a non-historical work with no scholarly background entitled "A Newer World". The author would have been better advised to supply his own supporting references. That is enough of a reason to knock off a star.

one of the best.......2007-10-13

If you have any interest in American History please read this book. We read the entire book outloud, quite an undertaking, so I'm glad to see that is available as an audiobook. The writing is riveting, the bibliography reassuring, the story enlightening. This book is a springboard into the conquest of the Western United States and will give you new eyes if and when traveling through these areas. Read the book.

Thoroughly engrossing biography of Kit Carson.......2007-10-12

This is an excellent biography of a famous American pioneer--Kit Carson. What sets it apart is its humane treatment of a complex figure. Carson appears to have been the "real deal," not a manufactured hero.

The book proceeds by interweaving several story lines, which can be somewhat confusing at times but, in the end, this serves the author well. Among the story lines--Kit Carson's exploits, the Navajo leader Narbona's story, General Stephen Kearney's episodes, and so on.

Kit Carson's role--from trapper to hunter to scout to military officer--is the glue that holds this book together. In the process, the reader learns a great deal about the events of the 1830s through 1860s that transformed the United States. The Mexican War dramatically expanded the size of the country; the American conflicts with the Indian nations opened new territories for settlement and economic development; the Civil War ended slavery (although, ironically, perhaps not in the southwest, as Native Americans sometimes served a similar role after the Civil War); the West was opened for development.

What humanizes this book is the treatment of Carson. He was sometimes mercurial (with an occasional burst of temper); he was a person of action, and he sometimes was cruel and brutal; he was also a person of honor; he had a perception of the larger picture in the West, and could see that white aggression was the real problem--not marauding Indians.

On a personal note, the book traces Carson's family lives (he had at least two real families, one with a native American wife), his struggle to be a good husband and father while he was off on one adventure or another most of his life.

This is a strong biography which is set in a larger context. It is well worth looking at.

Reads almost like a novel!.......2007-10-12

I first encountered this book when I heard the author speak at our local bookstore. I am a history lover and wanted to know if this man could pull of another interesting book on American History. I had a copy of the book ready and took copious notes on the blank pages in the back. The author was fascinating to listen to.

Since then, I have read the book thoroughly and found it read almost like a novel. Each chapter led you to want to read on.

I have purchased copies as gifts for friends and even gave a copy to my American Indian History professor and he was enthralled.

Good work. Loved it. You will, too.

Blood and Thunder.......2007-10-09

This is a highly readable and comprehensive account of the adult life and times of Kit Carson and the people/places he touched. It's not a biography, but a series of vignettes documenting his involvement in a variety of professions -- from mountain man to military man -- as the needs of the West evolved. There's a great deal of information about Carson's contemporaries as well. I read the book with a map of New Mexico at hand to more closely identify the places mentioned. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Western history, including the several battles of the Civil War fought in New Mexico.

One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey

Average customer rating:

True to the man
A modern day "Thoreau"
Just as Good the Second Time
Homesteading in Alaska
inspiring

One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey
Sam Keith , and Richard Proenneke
Manufacturer: Alaska Northwest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0882405136

Book Description

To live in a pristine land . . . roam the wilderness . . . build a home. . . . Thousands have had such dreams, but Richard Proenneke lived them. Here is a tribute to a man who carved his masterpiece out of the beyond.

Customer Reviews:

True to the man.......2007-09-29

Ten years ago I spent a summer volunteering for the National Park Service at Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, in Alaska. My remote rangers cabin was located at Twin Lakes. Being on the lower lake, I was about 9 miles from my nearest neighbor- Dick. We spoke daily on our walkie-talkies, checking in about the weather, any visitors, or interesting wildlife viewings. I trekked up his way several times over the summer, and enjoyed a few meals with him. I can't remember if it's in his book, but his favorite sandwich was the "Twin Lakes Special": sourdough flapjaks, raw onion, and honey; don't knock it 'til ya try it! Just like his book, he was a gracious, thoughtful man, a true naturalist. Also the most spry 82-year-old I think I'd ever seen! I was saddened to hear of his death several years ago, and was grateful the NPS kept his cabin as a historical site; it is a cozy place, dark inside, smelling faintly of woodsmoke and 1948 sourdough starter, with wonderful decorative touches throughout. Dick was truly a special person, and this book captures his voice, his no-nonsense manner of talking, as well as his appreciation of the beauty of the natural world, perfectly.

A modern day "Thoreau".......2007-09-16

You cannot visit Alaska without reading this book FIRST! Just the photography alone will make you want to go. I dentify in many ways with Dick as I lived in a cabin in the White Mountains of NH for many years. He didn't intrude on nature...he simply lived in harmony with it. He appeals to all of your senses in his simple but beautifully written words, never mind the pictures. He is definitely portrayed as a "loner" but that is a good thing..for a loner has much higher self esteem and sense of character than those who can't survive in the world without people around them all the time. Dick is a true steward of the land because of his deep, abiding love and connection for this piece of God's Creation. His beautifully chronicled life in Alaska will remind you of Robert Frost's words.."We love the things we love for what they are." Enjoy!

Just as Good the Second Time.......2007-09-12

I was telling my husband about this book as I started reading it. He said, "Don't you remember, we read that many years ago when Alaska Magazine published it"? I knew that Babe, the pilot, seemed familiar. It didn't matter. I was happy to read it a second time which is unusual for me. Oh, how I would have loved to have been able to do what Mr. Proenneke did and to live where he lived. There is nothing dull about this book and I suspect the people who find it dull haven't any interest in living in the wilderness without Blackberries, i-pods, automobiles and restaurants.

Even though most of us who enjoyed the book probably don't begin to have the skills that Richard Proenneke had which made what he did possible (and a pilot friend who delivered for free) I think we all wish we could do what he did. I know I do. I didn't realize that a sequel exists. It costs big bucks, but if it's anything close to as interesting as this book, it's worth it. Maybe I'll find out if the Mission Girls ever showed-up.

Homesteading in Alaska.......2007-08-16

The year was 1968. The setting, the Alaskan bush. The mission, to live simply, deliberately, and self-sufficiently off the land, free of the trappings of contemporary society. The protagonist, clearly not what you might expect given the era. He was not some young, free spirited hippie, luddite, or draft dodger. Rather, he was a skilled hard working machinist/woodsman, who at age 51 decided to permanently leave the rat race behind.

Why this man, Dick Prenacke, suddenly left behind his conventional existence to live in a remote and unforgiving section of Alaska is never fully explored in the book. While snippets do reveal his distain for modernity, it never fully embellishes on what ultimately drove the author to do what few would ever conceive of doing. Perhaps Dick realized that at 51, the physical and physiological fortitude required to make such a transition would soon be out of his reach. More likely however, he foresaw the end of an era. No more than a few years after his departure into the wild, Alaska would enact laws prohibiting trappers and homesteaders from freely trudging off into the woods to live the quintessential "Alaskan experience." Soon Alaska would become like the rest of the lower 48, where people like Dick would be considered trespassers and evicted from any land that they did not rightfully own. Fortunately for the author, the laws were grand fathered in.

While the book is essentially a personal account of Alaskan homesteading, the author episodically weaves social commentary into his writings. He laments a society that is wasteful and superficial. The hunters that come into his Alaska, products of such a society, leave garbage and animal meat behind, unaware that the author cleans up after as well as makes use of their squander.

The author also reveals his anxiety for a society that is increasingly consumed by materialism. He feels that man is entrapped by things that he doesn't need and he seeks to avoid the superfluous at all costs. To the outsider, surviving in the wilds of Alaska would seem to require an extravagant amount of equipment and gear. One can only imagine the bill the average suburbanite would amass at the local REI in preparation for such an endeavor. Yet the author demonstrates just how little is required to not only to survive but also to prosper in such an inhospitable region.

The book closes with some thoughts on technology, and the rapidity of change that comes with it. The author's words are both haunting and prescient as he elaborates on his first year in Alaska and how his experience conflicts greatly with society at large.

inspiring.......2007-07-14

Inspiring book. Diarist was over 50 when he began this journey. Helps me look to the future for myself.

Average customer rating:

good book
Billy the Kid
A Commendable Biography Based on Limited Information
A very well researched work
The Life as Well as the Legend

Billy the Kid: The Endless Ride
Michael Wallis
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0393060683

Book Description

From the best-selling author of Route 66 comes this long-awaited biography of one of America's most legendary folk heroes.

Award-winning historian Michael Wallis has spent several years re-creating the rich, anecdotal saga of Billy the Kid (1859-1881), a deeply mythologized young man who became a legend in his own time and yet remains an enigma to this day. With the Gilded Age in full swing and the Industrial Revolution reshaping the American landscape, "the Kid," who was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett in the New Mexico Territory at the age of twenty-one, became a new breed of celebrity outlaw. He arose amid the mystery and myth of the swiftly vanishing frontier and, sensationalized beyond recognition by the tabloids and dime-store romances of the day, emerged as one of the most enduring icons of the American West—not to mention one of Hollywood's most misrepresented characters. This new biography, filled with dozens of rare images and period photographs, separates myth from reality and presents an unforgettable portrait of this brief and violent life. 60 illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

good book.......2007-10-16

A great story with not a lot of facts to bore it down. A easy read.

Billy the Kid.......2007-10-11

This book was a well written examination of Billy the Kid. It clarified much of the myth that still surrounds the man. I appreciated the author addressing some areas of the Kid's life where there is just not enough information to come to a definite conclusion about.

A Commendable Biography Based on Limited Information.......2007-10-01

Several efforts have been made in an attempt to untangle the short and controversial life of Billy the Kid. I would suggest that this book by Michael Wallis is probably the best since he acknowledges when little is known about his subject, and speculates about what may have happened when information is lacking. That may not satisfy some people, but that is the best he can do. Billy the Kid actually did not pick up his charismatic title until the last year of his life. He initially went by the unlikely name of Henry McCarty, then changed it to Henry Antrim when his mother remarried, William H. Bonney, and finally Billy the Kid. Where he pulled out the name of Bonney is unknown. He was a very literate person, enjoyed music, and considered Turkey in the Straw and Silver Threads Among the Gold as his favorite songs. His tuburcular mother moved the family from the eastern part of the country (New York City)? to Indiana, Wichita, Kansas, and then to the southwest into New Mexico territory in hopes of improving her health. Following her death Billy was left to shift for himself. Kid was a common nickname for juveniles at that time, and wirey would probably be the best term to describe his short and slight frame. When the book got around to describing the Lincoln County war between competing factions involving horse thiefs I had difficulty keeping track of all the individuals involved. The Kid sided with an Englishman named John Tunstall who ended up getting murdered. Billy became somewhat of an anti-hero with his dramatic escape from jail in which he killed two guards after being sentenced to death. Kit Carson comes off as a villain with he and his men laying waste to Navajo Indians, their homes, food, horses, and other animals. The remaining Navajos began a 450 mile journey to join the Apaches. This became known as the Long Walk. This brought up reminders of the Cherokee Indians in 1839 under the regime of Andrew Jackson. I believe you will find the book to be enjoyable. The author has done a commendable job based on the information available on his subject.

A very well researched work.......2007-09-01

Michael Wallis has studied his subject well. Unlike many other authors he provides quite an insight not to just Billy the Kid, but many of the other players in his short life. This then gives a complete picture of the corrupt times in which he lived. This book is a must have for Billy the Kid students.

The Life as Well as the Legend.......2007-08-05

"This is the west, sir," the newspaperman tells Jimmy Stewart in _The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance_. "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." And for over a hundred years, that is just what has happened to Billy the Kid, starting in countless dime novels and then historical reviews, a ballet by Aaron Copland, and scores of movies. Obviously the legend has a life of its own. The attraction of _Billy the Kid: The Endless Ride_ (Norton) by Michael Wallis is that the legend is fully appreciated. Wallis mentions but does not detail the many media representations the legend has presented after the Kid's death, but does show much of what the papers had to say about him during his life, and also what people who knew him said years after his death, and how unreliable it all is. There are certainly enough facts within the biography, but it is also a realistic look at the Kid's status as a legend in his own time. There were not only many false reports and representations of the Kid, but there are also voids of his life that no one can do anything but guess at. Wallis presents an enjoyable summary of what we can know as accurate and what is pure myth.

The Kid grew up in a changing masculine culture often known as "The Code of the West", which was a new way of dealing with threats. The tradition from British common law was that a man under threat was obligated to retreat until his back was against the wall and there was no alternative but to use deadly force against his opponent. The Code of the West, often celebrated as part of frontier self-reliance and integrity, merely signified that no such restraint under threat had to be shown; the courts even found that a "true man" did not have to back away from a fight, and it was a given that a man could pursue an adversary even once the threat had been lifted. The Kid was certainly one to stand his ground, and probably was on the offensive more than most, but his homicidal actions have been exaggerated. He has four confirmed killings to his name, some completely in self defense, but even before the end of his short life, the tally was being exaggerated. His enemies had good reason to do so. The Kid was caught up in what is called the Lincoln County War, a complex conflict that Wallis says "had been spawned long before in Ireland and England, in boardrooms and court chambers, in saloons and places of worship." It featured private armies of hired killers attempting to settle the conflict of two competing commercial property interests, with governmental corruption and ethnic clashes thrown in. Neither side represented "The Good Guys", and the Kid as a hired shootist was as culpable as any of the other members of the "banditti", but his opposition used him as a targeted bad boy. His own side didn't lack for corruption or malevolence, but the other side could mask its own corruption and malevolence by deliberately playing up the Kid's outlaw role and making him (despite a limited number of crimes) the most wanted man in the Southwest.

So it was that after an astonishing escape from the jail in Lincoln, the Kid was pursued by a posse including Pat Garrett. None of the legends about the Kid and Garrett being companions, pals, or fellow-outlaws are true. Garrett gunned him down in 1881, and his death was world news. A New York paper didn't start the exaggerations, but merely continued them, when it wrote that the Kid "had built up a criminal organization worthy of the underworld in any of the European capitals." The distortions were present during the Kid's lifetime, and have continued; he is a psychopathic serial killer, or a loner out for justice against the system, or a benefactor of the downtrodden, depending on which version of the legend is favored by times or tellers. Wallis's is a winning account of a small life which popular fascination has insisted on writing large.

Threshold Resistance: The Extraordinary Career of a Luxury Retailing Pioneer

Average customer rating:

An American Treasure
The rest of the story....
Great lessons in life and business
Billionaire Claims Innocence

Threshold Resistance: The Extraordinary Career of a Luxury Retailing Pioneer
A. Alfred Taubman
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0061235377
Release Date: 2007-04-10

Book Description

In the tradition of Alfred Sloan's MY YEARS WITH GENERAL MOTORS and Thomas J. Watson, Jr.'s, FATHER, SON, AND CO., this is the story of America's most innovative developer and luxury retailing pioneer Malcolm Gladwell has called him one of the unrecognized giants of modern retailing, but he is more widely known as the billionaire who went to jail for his role in a price fixing scandal. Clearly Al Taubman has had an extraordinary life. A dyslexic Jewish kid who grew up in Depression–era Detroit, Taubman made several fortunes in businesses as varied as architecture, land speculation, mall development, luxury housing, chain restaurants, and, of course, the fine art auction business. THRESHOLD RESISTANCE reveals the theme that has run through each of these endeavors. In this memoir, Taubman explains his distinctive point of view about what makes shoppers buy and how the needs and habits of individuals shape the retail environment.

Customer Reviews:

An American Treasure.......2007-07-02

This is an incredible book! It was fascinating, heart wrenching and motivational all at the same time. The hard work and determination of Mr. Taubman is inspiring. His description of his trial and prison stay was unnerving. But to see the influence he has had on America is truly inspirational. Everyone in the retail industry should read this book to see what a difference we make. Thank you Mr. Taubman.

The rest of the story...........2007-04-17

Having just finished reading A. Alfred Taubman's new book, "Threshold Resistance", I am thoroughly intrigued and amazed with this story. With his entire life focused on doing the right and best things for as many people as possible, how could it be that he ended up on the wrong side of the Government and spent time in our prison system? As with any situation where the primary information comes from new sources, internet, or just word of mouth, this book reminds me as a reader that there is a second side to every story. I felt the sincerity in every word written by Mr. Taubman and I can only wish that the entire jury had been able to hear the whole story before convicting him; I believe the course would have changed. However, his own words of "Faith, along with friends and family, can get you through the most difficult of life's tests" truly confirms that he left prison a far richer man than when he entered.

Great lessons in life and business.......2007-04-16

I found this book to be remarkable. Taubman writes with humor and humility. I would suggest that this be required reading in business school classes in entrepreneurship and ethics. His story is one of a Shakespearean drama - his rise from depression era poverty, funding his education through the selling of shoes, to being a young architect boldly suggesting to an industry icon that through design a better sales and profits would result. Then starting his own firm with $5,000 to becoming a billionaire who brought creativity to the business of selling art, root beer and charitable giving. Then as in any great drama the betrayal of a trusted person (Dede Brooks CEO of Sotheby's) and the revelation of his untold side of the trial including prosecutorial misconduct and a judge with more than questionable judgment.
Al Taubman has had an extraordinary career with a story of determination and redemption that will serve well those interested in family business, marketing, functional design, the history of real estate development, trial strategy, charitable giving, art history and personal accomplishment. 5 stars!

Billionaire Claims Innocence.......2007-04-13

Finally, we get "his" side of the story. In this excellent memoir, Taubman reflects on his successes in the shopping mall and real estate world. The details are fascinating and his entree into the world of high finance and the art world are entertaining...we learn that perhaps selling art is not at all like selling root beer. When he stood trail for the Sotheby's/Christie's price fixing scandal in 2001, he went against his better judgement and intuition, and listened to his lawyers. He never defended himself on the stand! Sounds like his got terrible advice from his high priced advisors. I was left with more answers, but a feeling of a missed opportunity on his part. Why did such an intelligent and clever man fail to speak up and tell his version of the truth when it was obviously called for? If we believe his side of the story, the true criminals are still out there in the public - it is a scary tale- a miscarriage of justice and real life tale of greed and deceit. Glad I got my hand on this book! The lesson learned is this....ALWAYS trust your intuition!

Average customer rating:

History done right
The Jamestown Project
A Good "Atlantic" Reworking of the Jamestown Story

The Jamestown Project
Karen Ordahl Kupperman
Manufacturer: Belknap Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0674024745

Book Description

Listen to a short interview with Karen Ordahl Kupperman
Host: Chris Gondek | Producer: Heron & Crane

Captain John Smith's 1607 voyage to Jamestown was not his first trip abroad. He had traveled throughout Europe, been sold as a war captive in Turkey, escaped, and returned to England in time to join the Virginia Company's colonizing project. In Jamestown migrants, merchants, and soldiers who had also sailed to the distant shores of the Ottoman Empire, Africa, and Ireland in search of new beginnings encountered Indians who already possessed broad understanding of Europeans. Experience of foreign environments and cultures had sharpened survival instincts on all sides and aroused challenging questions about human nature and its potential for transformation.

It is against this enlarged temporal and geographic background that Jamestown dramatically emerges in Karen Kupperman's breathtaking study. Reconfiguring the national myth of Jamestown's failure, she shows how the settlement's distinctly messy first decade actually represents a period of ferment in which individuals were learning how to make a colony work. Despite the settlers' dependence on the Chesapeake Algonquians and strained relations with their London backers, they forged a tenacious colony that survived where others had failed. Indeed, the structures and practices that evolved through trial and error in Virginia would become the model for all successful English colonies, including Plymouth.

Capturing England's intoxication with a wider world through ballads, plays, and paintings, and the stark reality of Jamestown--for Indians and Europeans alike--through the words of its inhabitants as well as archeological and environmental evidence, Kupperman re-creates these formative years with astonishing detail.

Customer Reviews:

History done right.......2007-06-24

Kupperman does an excellent job of establishing the cultural, religious, and political atmosphere at the time of the colony's origins. I found it fascinating to immersive myself in the whys of the colony: why was it started, why were people interested in investing in it, etc. I also felt there were a lot of interesting parallels to the story of the colony and to that today--of how government and corporations often place financial interests far above humanitarian interests. The book also gave me a much more accurate idea of what it must have meant to be a colonist and helped dispel the myth that in fleeing England these people found a land of freedom and opportunity. It also gave me a very deep appreciation for the first settlers as without them, I surely would never be here. This excellent work does a wonderful job of providing an intelligent, in-depth examination of our origins as a country and it does so in an engaging manner so that it reads more like a novel and nothing like a dry textbook.

The Jamestown Project.......2007-05-13

Once I started it I couldn't put it down! Very factual and riveting. The author did an exceptional job of relating what these poor people actually lived to start our great nation.

A Good "Atlantic" Reworking of the Jamestown Story.......2007-03-28

Karen Ordahl Kupperman revisits territory she knows well with this latest history of Jamestown. What distinguishes Kupperman's history from the slew of other books which have come before is the very self conscious effort to put the founding of Jamestown within an Atlantic history context.

For people who are looking for a detailed history of Jamestown itself this is not the book. Instead you should perhaps try one of Dr Kupperman's other books. She only gets to the actual founding of the colony in the last two chapters of the book. Instead she discusses the world which brought about the colonization. That is the true purpose of this book and why it is called the Jamestown PROJECT. By placing the story of the colony within the larger background of financial expansion, political maneuvering, and geopolitics, Kupperman makes us very conscious of the contingency of Jamestown. This was not an inevitable event, the precursor to American history. Rather, it was the END of a long series of events and trends which contributed to the settlement there and the way it developed.

Along the way Kupperman takes us on a sweeping journey of the Early Modern world. Her topics range from the waxing and waning of Islamic powers, to the routes of Spanish expansion, to the creation of Caribbean colonies, the continental wars of 16th century Europe, and the life of Native Americans both in America and Europe. All of this is, while at times disjointed, a welcome background to the colonization of Jamestown and reframes the familiar story in illuminating ways. The background explains why the colony was founded the way it was: why did the colonists refuse to grow food? Why did they interact with the Natives the way they did? Kupperman's book is a useful one for anyone interested in the early history of America or the Atlantic world.

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No way does this deserve a Newbery Award
Fall into the time period!
Hooray for Hattie Big Sky
What? No shock value?!
Hattie Big Sky

Hattie Big Sky
Kirby Larson
Manufacturer: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0385733135
Release Date: 2006-09-26

Book Description

Alone in the world, teen-aged Hattie is driven to prove up on her uncle's homesteading claim.
For years, sixteen-year-old Hattie's been shuttled between relatives. Tired of being Hattie Here-and-There, she courageously leaves Iowa to prove up on her late uncle's homestead claim near Vida, Montana. With a stubborn stick-to-itiveness, Hattie faces frost, drought and blizzards. Despite many hardships, Hattie forges ahead, sharing her adventures with her friends--especially Charlie, fighting in France--through letters and articles for her hometown paper.

Her backbreaking quest for a home is lightened by her neighbors, the Muellers. But she feels threatened by pressure to be a "Loyal" American, forbidding friendships with folks of German descent. Despite everything, Hattie's determined to stay until a tragedy causes her to discover the true meaning of home.

Customer Reviews:

No way does this deserve a Newbery Award.......2007-08-05

I waited for a very long time until I finally found Hattie Big Sky at the library. Hearing some very good reviews and reading the general synopsis for the book, I was excited about reading this story. And now, once again, I'm going to veer from what everyone else has said and give my part.

Hattie Big Sky follows the story of Hattie, who catches some luck when her uncle, Chester Brooks, unexpectedly sends her a will deeming her the sole owner of some new land in Montana. This is particularly fortunate because Hattie, orphaned very young, was on the brink of having to work at a boarding house. The story basically follows her path and journey in making her home her own.
First of all, kudos to the author for keeping everything clean. I do greatly respect that.

Now, the bad part. Hattie is a little too perfect for my taste. I'm not saying I wanted her to break out and rob someone or anything, but like many stories I'm so tired of reading because of the protagonists' syrupy sweetness, this made her extremely dull. At several points in the story, Hattie makes a remark that if her aunt could only see her, she would have been disapproving. This made me flip back and go disapproving of what? One of the times, the author did make the source clear and the others were just kind of thrown in. So Hattie's constantly saying I'm doing things people won't like and none of the things she's doing really seem wrong at all. And I don't get the impression it was about her taking care of her home all alone...
Then of course there is Hattie's quicksilver change of feelings that I believe was a mistake on the author's part. She contradicts herself constantly, saying she feels a certain way and then two paragraphs later the author writes something going against that.
----SPOILER----
Hattie is asked to sell her land right after a kind of heat spell as if the person is too eager to wait until she isn't weak. Her first reaction is anger, and the author verifies this. "I fought down the hot anger boiling up in my stomach..." This one is not as contradictory as some others, but she quickly changes her feelings, going from anger to, oh, he's so right. She immediately, only a sentence later, begins to take on another thought process entirely. I should really be thankful he's doing this...yadayadayada...This was annoying.
----END SPOILER----
I think all characters should be rock solid in their development. Hattie seems too vacillating when it comes to her own choices and is too good, which I hate hearing and saying, but it's true.

Continuing on a note of characterization, I also found major problems with the character of Perilee, who quickly becomes friends with Hattie. I kind of felt like I was reading a Stepford Wives-Little House on the Prairie blending. Perilee is also too perfect, although her character remains one-dimensional the whole story. She mentions horrible things that happened in her past and stays absolutely, sickly pleasant about it all. Also, at times she seems overly kind and childish. I don't know why. She wasn't developed enough. Perilee's husband (And I just knew they'd have something like this.), Karl, who just so happens to be a foreigner and living in Montana during World War I, is generically ostracized and is thrown through the usual torment of these types of characters, mainly there, I am beginning to think, to fill in the empty pages that needed filling. Everyone in the town refuses to help or even be seen with his family...blah, blah, blah. I'm so tired of this type of plotline that I didn't even care; plus, he wasn't very well written either.
My biggest problem with this story was the way everything flashes by so fast. Hattie mentions some major hurdles, like moving across several states just to reach Montana, having to learn, after living in the city, how to plant and take care all of the inherited land by herself, building a fence that reaches regulations, and farming her land. But each of these problems never lasts long and is quickly done away with. Hattie's journey to Montana is barely even mentioned; she arrives to a house that looks more like a shed and that fades away. She states that she knows nothing about farming, gets some manuals on the subject and only a paragraph later is an expert...Nothing is ever drawn out. Also, she has money problems which, like everything else, is resolved immediately. This became so annoying to me that I wanted to jump into the story and strangle the main character. Basically, following Kirby Larson's writing, homesteading seems very simple, more than simple, child's play...I say, if you're making a point of writing a story about a young girls' difficulty in surviving and raising her own land, there needs to be some evidence, not the miraculous sponge that Hattie turned out to be, reading and using her read knowledge with precision.
It sounds like I hated this book and after writing this review and reviewing the many issues, I almost do, but not quite. I am just very picky about everything, from plotlines to miniscule details. While Hattie's character was too nice, she was not unlikable, and while I didn't take too much of a shine to the story it was okay. I did feel like I wanted to keep reading although most of the time I was frustrated and wondering just where exactly I've heard this story before, finding familiar, overly-used elements that have been written much better over the years...

Overall: Okay read, nothing worth a Newbery, which I find incredibly hard to believe and almost impossible to believe; but the facts speak for themselves. I would not have read this if I knew beforehand what it would turn out to be like, nor would I recommend it. Waste of time.

Fall into the time period!.......2007-07-01

Within the first few pages I felt like I was right back in 1918 Montana. Enjoyable book, well written.

Hooray for Hattie Big Sky.......2007-03-26

I love historical fiction, and this is one of the best books I have read in a while. I couldn't put it down and felt connected with the characters. It is about a simple 16-year-old girl who has moved around from relative to relative ever since her parents died. Then one day she gets a letter with her Uncle's will that he left her his claim in Montana. Hattie goes along with the journey and meets very exciting people along the way , dealing with troubles of proving up her claim and being friends with a German in WWI. This is a great book and anyone who loves historical fiction will love this book.

What? No shock value?!.......2007-03-23

It's refreshing to read an elementary/middle school appropriate book (award winning or otherwise) that does NOT rely on shock value tactics such as inappropriate language or behavior. Just proves that the opening lines or paragraphs of a novel do not have to be filled with swear words or questionable words or acts worthy of a much older audience. Thank you.

Hattie Big Sky.......2007-03-09

HATTIE BIG SKY is a wonderfully written story with likeable characters. Larson portrays both the pioneer life and America during World War I very well. However, the book failed to wow me.

Sixteen-year-old orphan Hattie Brooks is tired of being Hattie Here-and-There, so she was so happy to learn that her deceased uncle whom she never knew has left her his Montana homestead. Off she goes from Iowa to Montana, basically to the middle of nowhere, to begin her own life in her own home. With the help of her neighbors, most especially the Muellers, Hattie works to prove up on her claim so that the land is hers forever. Meanwhile, Hattie deals with the anti-German sentiment in the community as well as sacrifices what cannot be sacrificed to help in the war effort. By the end of the book, Hattie has grown up considerably and has learned the truth about home and family.

This book was sweet, but I've read bits and pieces of it in other books. In many ways, HATTIE BIG SKY reminded me of MONKEY TOWN by Ronald Kidd, which I enjoyed more. The questions that faced Frances, the heroine of MONKEY TOWN, were deeper. However, I'd still recommend HATTIE BIG SKY as an enjoyable story about one young woman's search for a place to call her own.

PS. I absolutely love the cover.

Simon Kenton: His Life and Period, 1755-1836 (The First American Frontier)

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Simon Kenton: His Life and Period, 1755-1836 (The First American Frontier)
Edna Kenton
Manufacturer: Ayer Co Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

ASIN: 0405028652

Average customer rating:

Beautiful story
The choice
Fantasict
you will love this book
A great childhood book about history

The Sign of the Beaver
Elizabeth George Speare
Manufacturer: Yearling
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0440479002
Release Date: 1984-07-01

Product Description

. Young Matt is alone in the Maine wilderness awaiting his father's return to their cabin when he is attacked by a swarm of bees. To his surprise, he is saved by an Indian chief and his grandson, Attean. The boys come to know each other, many months pass without a sign of Matt's family. Then Attean asks Matt to join the Beaver tribe. Should Matt abandon his hopes for his father's return and join his new family up north? Paperback.

Amazon.com

When his father returns East to collect the rest of the family, 13-year-old Matt is left alone to guard his family's newly built homestead. One day, Matt is brutally stung when he robs a bee tree for honey. He returns to consciousness to discover that his many stings have been treated by an old Native American and his grandson. Matt offers his only book as thanks, but the old man instead asks Matt to teach his grandson Attean to read. Both boys are suspicious, but Attean comes each day for his lesson. In the mornings, Matt tries to entice Attean with tales from Robinson Crusoe, while in the afternoons, Attean teaches Matt about wilderness survival and Native American culture. The boys become friends in spite of themselves, and their inevitable parting is a moving tribute to the ability of shared experience to overcome prejudice. The Sign of the Beaver was a Newbery Honor Book; author Elizabeth Speare has also won the Newbery Medal twice, for The Witch of Blackbird Pond and The Bronze Bow. (Ages 12 and older) --Richard Farr

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful story.......2007-09-14

This is a great book about a boy who forms a friendship with and Indian boy named Attean, and in fact with his entire family. I found it a pleasure to read, because it offered a different historical perspective than most books that come from the white man's perspective. While Matt was white, most of the book is filled with his interactions with the Indian people. We get a glimpse of how they lived, and how very practical it was as opposed to the white man's way of life. It was more in tune with the land, for sure.

I'm getting off track, but I was very touched by the story. Matt is essentially invited to join the Beaver tribe by Attean and his grandfather, and Attean calls him his brother. The warm acceptance that grew between the two boys was heartwarming, and toward the end it brought tears to my eyes, but not due to sadness; instead due to the love the two boys shared.

The choice.......2007-06-05

This book is about A boy named Matt who builds a cabin with his father and then his father leaves him alone to pick up the rest of his family. Now Matt is alone and puts marks by every day that passes.Then Matt meets an indian named attean and they become friends. Now Matt is teaching Attean to read and write and Attean is teaching Matt how to survive on his own. then time goes by and his dad never returned so Ateean is asking Matt to head north with the beaver tribe and Matt does not know if he should go with Attean or wait for his father.

Fantasict.......2007-05-30

You will think this book is fantastic because it's really interesting to see how the indians live.The beginning of the book starts out kinda of slow but it starts getting really good after the indians save Matt from the bees.My favorite part of the book is when the indians start to like matt because this is the part of the book when Matt starts to learn how to start hunting and becomes friends with Attan

you will love this book .......2007-04-18

You will love this book because this book is an adventurous book. if you like books that envolve the olden days then you will love this book.you will want to read about what happens when the boy sees the hidden beaver signs and when the boy finds out that the indians saved his life.this book showws what could realy happen

A great childhood book about history.......2007-02-10

This lovely book is a great book to show children tolerance between cultures. It is a study of how one boy sees the Native Americans in a positive light. Matt is able to experience friendship, loyalty, and acceptance. I was touched at how the grandfather showed love towards Matt. Also, Attean's final gift to Matt shows how much he thought of Matt-generosity and sacrifice. It is interesting for its historical perspective too, as the work of the Native American woman was shown in this book!! A highly recommended read.

Average customer rating:

Writing at its best
Couldn't Put It Down
The Frontiersmen
What a book!
My All Time Favorite Historical Narrative !!!!

The Frontiersmen: A Narrative
Allan W. Eckert
Manufacturer: Jesse Stuart Foundation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0945084919

Book Description

The frontiersmen were a remarkable breed of men. They were often rough and illiterate, sometimes brutal and vicious, often seeking an escape in the wilderness of mid-America from crimes committed back east. In the beautiful but deadly country which would one day come to be known as West Virginia, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, more often than not they left their bones to bleach beside forest paths or on the banks of the Ohio River, victims of Indians who claimed the vast virgin territory and strove to turn back the growing tide of whites. These frontiersmen are the subjects of Allan Eckert's dramatic history.

Against the background of such names as George Rogers Clark, Daniel Boone, Arthur St. Clair, Anthony Wayne, Simon Girty and William Henry Harrison, Eckert has recreated the life of one of America's most outstanding heroes, Simon Kenton. Kenton's role in opening the Northwest Territory to settlement more than rivaled that of his friend Daniel Boone. By his eighteenth birthday, Kenton had already won frontier renown as woodsman, fighter and scout. His incredible physical strength and endurance, his great dignity and innate kindness made him the ideal prototype of the frontier hero.

Yet there is another story to The Frontiersmen. It is equally the story of one of history's greatest leaders, whose misfortune was to be born to a doomed cause and a dying race. Tecumseh, the brilliant Shawnee chief, welded together by the sheer force of his intellect and charisma an incredible Indian confederacy that came desperately close to breaking the thrust of the white man's westward expansion. Like Kenton, Tecumseh was the paragon of his people's virtues, and the story of his life, in Allan Eckert's hands, reveals most profoundly the grandeur and the tragedy of the American Indian.

No less importantly, The Frontiersmen is the story of wilderness America itself, its penetration and settlement, and it is Eckert's particular grace to be able to evoke life and meaning from the raw facts of this story. In The Frontiersmen not only do we care about our long-forgotten fathers, we live again with them.

Researched for seven years, The Frontiersmen is the first in Mr. Eckert's "The Winning of America" series.

Customer Reviews:

Writing at its best.......2007-10-08

If you like compelling writing that generates a lightning bolt narrative about manifest destiny and those who were major players in this exciting but heart breaking game, this book is for you. I also recommend another thunder storm of a book: Walking the Trail, One Man's Journey Along the Cherokee Trail of Tears by Cherokee author Jerry Ellis. He was the first person in the modern world to WALK the 900 mile route of the Trail of Tears and the book was nominated for a Pulitzer and National Book Award.

Couldn't Put It Down.......2007-08-27

This was a great read. Once I started I couldn't put it down. I plan on reading the other 5 books by Allan Eckert. It takes you back to pure human nature and puts you in touch with yourself. You have to ask how you would respond to the situations encountered by these brave frontiersmen. I'm telling most of my friends about this book.

The Frontiersmen.......2007-08-15

A very powerful and informative historical narrative of some of the personalities that shaped the settlement of this country ;from the perspective of Simon Kenton. A "must read" !

What a book!.......2007-07-28

I can't decide which I like better, this book or Eckert's 'Dark and Bloody River', but they are both MUST READ's for any history fan. For even a casual reader this book will hold your attention, and provide you with a facinating insight into our nation's history.

My All Time Favorite Historical Narrative !!!!.......2007-06-05

This is a fantastic book if you love Early American Historical Narratives which I love. I first read this book about twenty years ago, and recently read it again. The author's foot notes and reference material allow you to really dive into the time period of the book!

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