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Stress and the Family Vol II: Coping with Catastrophe (Psychosocial Stress)
Charles R., Ed. Figley
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Stress and the Family Vol I: Coping with Normative Transitions (Psychosocial Stress Series: No. 2)
ASIN: 0876303327 |
Book Description
A bold new assessment of how the violence, racist nationalism, and grief aroused in 1914-18 changed the course of history
To many, the years of the Great War seemed to signal Europe's collective suicide. A century later, the conflict continues to dominate the imagination of the West--not least because it became the matrix from which all subsequent disasters emerged.
The authors of 14-18: Understanding the Great War have set aside the overly familiar scholarly tasks--assigning responsibility for the war, accounting for its battles, assessing its causes--and instead examine three neglected but highly significant aspects of the conflict, each of which changed national and international affairs forever.
First, the war was unprecedented in its physical violence: Why was this so, and what were the effects of tolerating it? Second, each side seemed motivated and exalted by a vehement nationalistic, racist animus against the enemy: How did this "crusade" mentality evolve, and what did it mean for Europe and the world? Third, with its millions of deaths the war created a tidal wave of grief: How could the mourners ever come to terms with the agonizing pain? These are the elements that are vital to understanding the Great War.
With its strikingly original interpretative strength and its wealth of compelling documentary evidence drawn from all sides in the conflict, this innovative work has quickly established itself as a classic in the history of modern warfare.
Customer Reviews:
Food for Thought.......2004-07-14
This book is a series of essays on various topics related to World War I. It does not claim to be a thorough analysis of the war, but it does point in directions for further thought and research. I found the book to be quite fascinating. For example, there is a chapter about forced labor behind the front lines that was new material to me. Also, there is quite a bit about how the war was remembered and memorialized that is very intriguing. A major thesis of the book is that Paul Fussell's idea about a big cultural disconnect resulting from the Great War is wrong. The authors endeavor to show that, other than some avant-garde artists, most people continued to understand the world in traditional terms. Overall, a very stimulating book.
Limited evidence leads to sweeping conclusions.......2003-07-11
It took me a while to understand why I was so disappointed and uncomfortable with this book. The subject matter and chapter topics seemed intriguing; the writing style wasn't bad. Then I began to understand that the problem is with the authors' scholarship. In an attempt to reinterpret the war and make it meaningful for a contemporary audience, they used the inexperienced-author-survey style of writing, which takes an anecdote or two and turns this limited information into the basis for broad, sweeping conclusions that are inaccurate, or worse. As an amateur historian who understands the rules of scholarship, I was finding it impossible to suspend disbelief as I read through this series of interrelated but lightweight essays. Some of the information presented is indeed interesting, but the conclusions are not, and overall it does not hold together well as a book.
If you're looking for a recent WWI publication that is informative, well-researched and engaging, get Winston Groom's book, A Storm in Flanders.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Historian, published by Thomson Gale on June 22, 2005. The length of the article is 514 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: 14-18: Understanding the Great War.(Book Review)
Author: John H., Jr. Morrow
Publication:
The Historian (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 22, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 67
Issue: 2
Page: 343(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
With a well-earned reputation for tolerance of both prostitution and miscegenation, New Orleans became known as the Great Southern Babylon in antebellum times. Following the Civil War, a profound alteration in social and economic conditions gradually reshaped the city's sexual culture and erotic commerce. Historian Alecia P. Long traces sex in the Crescent City over fifty years, drawing from Louisiana Supreme Court case testimony to relate intriguing tales of people both obscure and famous whose relationships and actions exemplify the era.
Long uncovers a connection between the geographical segregation of prostitution and the rising tide of racial segregation. She offers a compelling explanation of how New Orleans's lucrative sex trade drew tourists from the Bible Belt and beyond even as a nationwide trend toward the commercialization of sex emerged. And she dispels the romanticized smoke and perfume surrounding Storyville to reveal in the reasons for its rise and fall a fascinating corner of southern history. The Great Southern Babylon portrays the complex mosaic of race, gender, sexuality, social class, and commerce in turn-of-the-twentieth-century New Orleans.
"Long brilliantly charts the historical roots and evolution of the culture of commercial sexuality in New Orleans. . . . The result is a landmark book all should read."—Darlene Clark Hine, coauthor of A Shining Thread of Hope: The History of Black Women in America.
Customer Reviews:
Review from the New Orleans Times-Picayune.......2004-07-20
In 1903, a guidebook promoting New Orleans’s Storyville red-light district provided a directory of elite prostitutes. Entitled the Storyville 400, the guide offered practical information for those in search of such services. Many of the guidebook’s readers may have also chuckled at the sly parody of the “First Four Hundred”--the famous roster of New Yorkers prominent enough to be invited to parties thrown by socialite Lina Astor. Astor’s ballroom, it was said, could only accommodate 400 people. A list of prostitutes that lampooned Fifth Avenue snobbery must have been a matter of some hilarity for the “sporting men” and tourists who frequented New Orleans bordellos. But while the guidebooks spoofed Americans’ turn of the century obsession with respectability, the men who frequented Storyville also willingly paid a premium to visit brothels that affected Victorian refinement.
In The Great Southern Babylon: Sex, Race, and Respectablity in New Orleans, 1865-1920, Alecia Long vividly recreates the tempestuous Storyville-era when increasingly conservative national values collided with New Orleans’s decadent culture. For Long, colorful and conflicted women like Mary Anne Deubler epitomized this period. A former prostitute, Deubler went on to become one of Storyville’s most successful madams. Her success was, in part, due to her ability to combine the trappings of high society with the lascivious entertainment of bordello culture. Her Basin Street brothel--the Chateau Lobrano d’Arlington—mimicked the elegance that typified Victorian domesticity. But while the oak paneling, heavily draped windows, and fine furniture might have resembled the drawing rooms of Garden District mansions, many “gentlemen of taste” preferred the services of Deubler’s “cultivated” girls to the respectable company of their wives. Long argues convincingly that madams like Deubler “sagely manipulated the idea of respectability that permeated American culture” and, by so doing, amassed impressive fortunes. Yet, even Deubler grew embarrassed by the source of her wealth and longed for entrance into polite society. In an effort to reinvent herself as a Victorian lady, she purchased a splendid residence on Esplanade Avenue, toured Europe, wore the latest fashions, and summered in Pass Christian and Covington.
Although Deubler may have craved respectability, Long argues aptly that unlike many other cities in the United States, New Orleans never fully embraced the Victorian ethos. While the city had prominent and outspoken reformers such as Philip Werlein who pressured officials to stamp out vice, lawmakers responded with conflicting or half-hearted measures. Officials did move against the concert saloons on Royal Street where bawdy burlesque and minstrel performers entertained working-class crowds. Those boisterous saloons were, after all, only a short distance from some of the city’s most respectable dining and shopping venues. And even politicians who frequented the saloons felt obligated to respond after notorious incidents such as bar owner Otto Schoenhausen’s conviction for drugging and robbing one of his own patrons.
In another effort to appease reformers, in 1897 councilman Sidney Story (for whom Storyville would be nicknamed) introduced his famous ordinance that created an officially sanctioned red-light district on the edge of the French Quarter. Because the ordinance banned prostitution in most of the city, Story could claim to be a reformer without shutting down the sex trade that drew thousands of visitors to New Orleans each year. Story’s ordinance, Long argues, made the city unique and notorious. Although other cities had de facto vice districts, New Orleans was alone in “the frank and direct way the city’s leaders chose to delineate its vice district through municipal ordinance.” In 1897, Long writes, “in an extremely direct and decidedly non-Protestant fashion, New Orleans city officials, acknowledging their belief that sins of the flesh were inevitable, looked Satan in the eye, cut a deal, and gave him his own address.”
For the next twenty years, men like Mayor Martin Behrman protected Storyville from those who railed against it, particularly evangelical reformers from the northern part of the state. Behrman viewed himself as a realist. “You can,” he said, “make prostitution illegal in Louisiana but you can’t make it unpopular.” To be sure, some prominent businessmen and local politicians hoped New Orleans would, instead, emulate “New South” cities such as Atlanta that emphasized manufacturing, banking, and commerce. But as long as Storyville flourished economically, others were happy to promote the city as a bastion of decadence and difference.
Intertwined with this struggle between sex and respectability were equally contentious matters of race that arose, Long contends, because some of New Orleans prostitutes were women of color. New Orleans had had a long history of tolerating relationships “across the color line.” The system of placąge that flourished during the antebellum era clearly set New Orleans apart from the rest of the South. And many men and women of different races fell in love, had children, and lived together out of wedlock. Although these relationships faced significant social and legal constraints, they remained prevalent throughout the nineteenth century. During Reconstruction, interracial marriage was even briefly made legal. As the forces of white supremacy gained ground after 1877, however, race relations grew far more rigid, even in the Crescent City.
For Long, it is no coincidence that the ordinance that created Storyville in 1897 came on the heels of the United States Supreme Court’s infamous 1896 decision in Plessy v. Ferguson that sanctioned legal segregation. Although Sidney Story’s ordinance did not prohibit white men from visiting black or mixed-race prostitutes, it did move those activities into what had been a predominately African-American neighborhood and out of the eye of respectable white society.
Some pragmatic Storyville madams, Long notes, managed to use these increasingly rigid racial mores to their advantage. Self-described “octaroons” like Willie Piazza and Lulu White marketed their brothels as exotic destinations where white men could find light-skinned mixed-race women who were refined but “skilled” in ways more prudish white women were not. Since romantic relationships “across the color line” were no longer as acceptable as they were in the antebellum era, commercialized interracial sex became highly profitable in New Orleans. By allowing men to violate a central taboo of the Jim Crow South, Long contends, Storyville brothels served as a “safety valve” where southerners came to “escape racial, religious, and behavioral strictures.”
Storyville’s heyday was short-lived. By 1909, Louisiana conservatives from Shreveport and other northern outposts, successfully urged the state legislature to target prostitution. New state laws banned musical instruments in saloons, prohibited blacks and whites from drinking together, and barred women from establishments that sold liquor and not food. To circumvent these laws, some brothels added tamale carts and other food concessions to their dance halls. But other restrictive measures soon followed and in 1917, as America mobilized to fight World War I, Storyville suffered a fatal blow. Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, convinced that the district posed a threat to troops stationed nearby, ordered a reluctant Mayor Behrman to close the district down. Although some brothels survived Daniel’s assault, Storyville’s boom years were over. By the mid-1940s, the district had fallen on hard times and the city razed most of its buildings to make way for the Iberville Housing Project.
In The Great Southern Babylon, Alecia Long provides a dazzling account of the cultural forces that created and destroyed the infamous Storyville district. She also provides a skillful and thought-provoking analysis of the lasting impact the district has had on the city. She argues convincingly that Storyville helped New Orleans to resist the homogenization that most of the nation embraced. Story’s ordinance gave the city a unique “reputation for tolerating, even encouraging, indulgence of all varieties.” Although this reputation may have been in place long before the advent of Storyville, the creation of a legal authorized tenderloin district marked the moment when civic leaders began to exploit New Orleans’ decadent image “in order to profit from it and draw people to the city.”
Since its demise, Storyville has become part of New Orleans lore. The unpleasant and degrading aspects of prostitution have been filtered from collective memory and replaced by images of Jelly Roll Morton, the early days of Jazz, and smoke-filled nights nights in ornate bordellos populated by colorful characters. “More than a century after Storyville was established, and more than eighty years after it was abolished,” Long concludes, “the city’s reputation for sexual liberality, sensual tourism, and laissez-faire morality remains intact. It also remains indebted, at least in part, to the romanticized mythology that has developed about Storyville.”
Could Anyone Write a Boring Book on Sex in New Orleans?.......2004-06-17
Ms. Long could and did. With 38 pages of footnotes for a 232 page book, I should have known better than to read it.
To be fair, it's her PhD dissertation made longer and more detailed so as to appear more academically substantial.
Is there a place for this information? Yes, on the website of a university history department so researchers could search and access the material effectively for other academic studies.
This does answer one important question. Is the political fix alive and well in New Orleans? Yes, it's published by the Louisiana State University. For them to waste money on publishing this, it took enormous plitical clout and the author's last name is Long if that rings any bells.
Fortunately, not even this could ruin the city's reputation for excitement.
Storyville & New Orleans Sex Business Revealed........2004-05-07
Storyville has long captured the imagination of Americans. A vision of a wide open sex district in the heart of turn of the century New Orleans has inspired a great deal of fictional writing (some donning the mask of history) and the movie Pretty Baby. Alecia Long peels back the layers of this fascinating vice district and reveals a world far more interesting than Hollywood could ever imagine. Love across racial lines, upright citizens trying to control vice, and business minded women carving a role for themselves are all discussed. Long's texts moves smoothly and maintains the reader's interest--all the while grounded solidly in scholarship. An entertaining, informative, and enjoyable read!
Book Description
In the aftermath of the Civil War, white southerners clung to the hope that a "New South" would arise from the ashes of the old. In The First New South, 1865-1920, Howard N. Rabinowitz examines the myth and the reality of the period in which the South sought to adjust to the political, economic, and social upheavals of the post-Civil War years. Central to that adjustment was the status of the region's newly free black population who played an active role in the drama. Throughout the book, the author emphasizes issues and characteristics that produced internal divisions as well as unity among both blacks and whites, treating neither as monolithic groups.
The book examines critical questions, such as in what ways was the First New South different from the Old South yet still unlike the North? Despite the impact of change, Rabinowitz argues, by 1920 the South was more as it had been in 1865 and less like the North than New South proponents had claimed. He explores ways in which this was due to a combination of spectacular changes in the North and resistance to change in the South. The problem, he says, was not that the New South was not new, but that it was not new enough.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Mississippi Quarterly, published by Mississippi State University on September 22, 1994. The length of the article is 786 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: The First New South: 1865-1920. (book reviews)
Author: William A. Link
Publication:
The Mississippi Quarterly (Refereed)
Date: September 22, 1994
Publisher: Mississippi State University
Volume: v47
Issue: n4
Page: p702(3)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
Writers know only too well how long it can take—and how awkward it can be—to describe spatial relationships with words alone. And while a map might not always be worth a thousand words, a good one can help writers communicate an argument or explanation clearly, succinctly, and effectively.
In his acclaimed How to Lie with Maps, Mark Monmonier showed how maps can distort facts. In Mapping it Out: Expository Cartography for the Humanities and Social Sciences, he shows authors and scholars how they can use expository cartography—the visual, two-dimensional organization of information—to heighten the impact of their books and articles.
This concise, practical book is an introduction to the fundamental principles of graphic logic and design, from the basics of scale to the complex mapping of movement or change. Monmonier helps writers and researchers decide when maps are most useful and what formats work best in a wide range of subject areas, from literary criticism to sociology. He demonstrates, for example, various techniques for representing changes and patterns; different typefaces and how they can either clarify or confuse information; and the effectiveness of less traditional map forms, such as visibility base maps, frame-rectangle symbols, and complementary scatterplot designs for conveying complex spatial relationships.
There is also a wealth of practical information on map compilation, cartobibliographies, copyright and permissions, facsimile reproduction, and the evaluation of source materials. Appendixes discuss the benefits and limitations of electronic graphics and pen-and-ink drafting, and how to work with a cartographic illustrator.
Clearly written, and filled with real-world examples, Mapping it Out demystifies mapmaking for anyone writing in the humanities and social sciences.
"A useful guide to a subject most people probably take too much for granted. It shows how map makers translate abstract data into eye-catching cartograms, as they are called. It combats cartographic illiteracy. It fights cartophobia. It may even teach you to find your way."—Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times
Book Description
Lance Sijan was always a special kind of person: as a kid growing up in the Midwest; as a cadet who made his mark in the Air Force Academy. But it took Vietnam to show how special he was—in an epic of jungle survival and prison-camp defiance. On the night of November 9, 1967, Sijan was ejected from his crippled fighter-bomber over the steep mountains of Laos. Although critically injured and virtually without supplies, he evaded capture in savage terrain for six weeks. Finally caught and placed in a holding camp, he overpowered his guards and escaped, only to be captured again. He resisted his interrogators to the end, and he died two weeks later in Hanoi. His courage was an inspiration to other American prisoners of war, and he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
Customer Reviews:
Great Read.......2007-08-28
The story moves along quickly. Its not a book you are going to struggle to finish. It will hold your attention and is a great motivational story as far as will and mental toughness are concerned.
A very inspirational book.......2007-05-16
While in the USAF, back in 1987, I had first read this book. This is the type of book, that, when you begin to read it, you cannot put it down until it is finished. The author writes in a very easy to read style, no "big" words, but, is very descriptive and detail orientated in his telling of Sijan's heroism. Although, this is a war "related" story, I feel that it is not a "War Story". Malcolm McConnell, through his attention to detail, chronicles the extremely brave and selfless actions of an otherwise ordinary man from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After I had originally read this, 1987, I was so overwhelmed by the author's accurate depiction of what had been "Folk Lore" in the Bay View area of Milwaukee. Because of this book, I have always thought of Sijan, and all that he had endured, whenever an obstacle or challenge is placed before me. This is a very inspirational book. As I was driving on Kinnickinnic Avenue in Bay View, I passed by a Flag that is displayed right next to the road, in a little ballpark that is named Lance Sijan Field. And, every time that I pass it, I instinctively Salute. But, this time, I also bought this book, actually, four, one for my Father, two for my Brothers, and, of course, one for myself. By the way, this time, again, I had also read it in one sitting!
Inspiring.......2006-01-06
I read this story years ago and remember being inspired by the courage of this young man. One reviewer stated that his plane was shot down, I thought that the bombs he was dropping detonated prematurely and caused the crash. Regardless, it's a great story about a guy who never gave up.
Conflicted:.......2005-02-01
While I am inclined to agree with the title of a previous review "great story, terrible book", I would not go so far as to say it was a "terrible" book. However, for some reason (I am just a reader) McConnells writing did not pull me in and hold me.
Further, while Sijan's story is incredible and moving, (crawling on his back in a severely injured condition for 45 days and some 5-6 miles to reach an enemy transport road) I still have not justified in my own mind why he persisted in tactics that ensured his death.
I did not want him to escape, I wanted him to survive (as did his fellow prisoners.) I can only consider that in his condition he was unable to think clearly/rationally. Which lends itself not so much to bravery as it does to insanity. i.e. he considered allowing capture by the enemy while still in the jungle in order to procure life sustaining food and water but decided against it for surely he would be killed. Yet, once captured (the first time) and given some care, he persisted in escaping before he was in any condition to do so with a reasonable chance of survival, even if he wasn't recaptured.
Into the Mouth of the Cat.......2004-07-15
I just re-read Into the Mouth of the Cat by the military historian, Malcolm McConnell. It is an undisputed classic--undisputed execpt for that jerk Amazon reviewer from Ft. Campbell, KY who stated, erroneously, in 2001 that Mcconnell "never served." He served as an Army enlistedman in 1957-58, but more importantly, he served as a civilian intelligence officer in the Congo in the 1960s and in Vietnam. I know because I was there with him. Unlike Ft. Campbell, McConnell knows what combat is. His book shows this.
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Into the Mouth of the Cat: The Story of Lance Sijan, Hero of Vietnam.(Book review): An article from: Air & Space Power Journal
Nicholas Evan Sarantakes
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
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Release Date: 2006-11-28 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Air & Space Power Journal, published by Thomson Gale on December 22, 2005. The length of the article is 446 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: Into the Mouth of the Cat: The Story of Lance Sijan, Hero of Vietnam.(Book review)
Author: Nicholas Evan Sarantakes
Publication:
Air & Space Power Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 22, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 19
Issue: 4
Page: 97(2)
Article Type: Book review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Customer Reviews:
America's Greatest Civil War Poet.......2006-07-12
Reviewers in 1866 were mostly unimpressed with Melville's poetry because it frequently lacks metrical polish and rejects established forms. They were also put off by his pessimism.
Although not every poem here is a masterpiece, they are consistently interesting because of Melville's reading of the events he describes as symbolic and portentous. Compared to items like "The March into Virginia" and "The College Colonel," Whitman's Civil War effusions come off looking rather vapid.
Herman Melville's Civil War Poetry.......2006-04-03
Melville's "Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War" (1867) intersects two of my great interests: the Civil War and American literature. This collection of poetry has never been well-known and critical opinion about it has always been varied and mostly lukewarm. But I have returned to it many times for its meditiative quality, for Melville's varied and conflicted insights about the Civil War, and for the tortuous quality of its poetry. This collection includes the full text of Melville's poems, including his notes to the poems and the prose essay, titled "Supplement", with which the book concludes. I find the book invaluable and eloquent in understanding the Civil War, contemporary reactions to it, and Melville himself.
In his short introduction, Melville tells the reader that the poems were almost entirely composed following the conclusion of the War. They were composed at different times and with no thought of unity in the collection. Thus they are not an epic or informed by a single theme (although the unfinished dome of the Capitol runst through them as a metaphor) but rather present a series of separate, disjointed thoughts on the war. Most of the descriptions in the book derive from journalistic reports, although Melville had more first-hand experience with the Civil War than is sometimes realized. The major part of the collection, "Battle-Pieces" begins with John Brown's raid and ends with a poem title "America" in which Melville ponders the changes the Civil War had already wrought, and would bring about in the future in the United States.
As a student of the Civil War, I find it valuable to read this book for Melville's depictions of conflicts, including Fort Donelson, Shiloh, the clash between the Monitor and the Virginia, Stones River, Antietam, Vicksburg, the Wilderness, Appomatox, and much else. He gives some details of the battles while reflecting on the courage of the soldiers, the terrible carnage of the War, the scourge of slavery that brought it about, and the uncertain and ambiguous future of the United States upon the War's conclusion. Melville realized that the War did not lead to clear conclusions or to false optimism. His poetry reflects the difficulty of a complex mind thinking about a terrible war. For this reason, the book has seemed pallid to some readers. But its lack of force is due to the depth of the struggle in Melville's mind to understand the conflict.
The book is written in verse with meters and rhymes that frequently are awkward. Here again, some readers take this as a sign that poetry was not a congenial form to a Melville burned-out from the effort of writing his novels. But for much of the verse, the awkwardness of the poetry reflects the difficulty of the War as Melville works to understand the conflict and to present differing perspectives. Some of the selections, including "The Portent", "Shiloh","Rebel Colorbearers at Shiloh", the two poems about Stonewall Jackson, "Formerly a Slave", "On the Slain Collegians", and "America" seem to me to work as poetry. Other individual poems are, perhaps, more valuable for what they try to say than for Melville's poetical skills in saying it. On the whole, I think the quality of these jagged works is high. When read with Mellville's notes, they have a quality of trying to communicate directly with the reader.
Most of the successful poems in this collection are short, but I found some of the longer ones, such as "Donelson," "The Amries of the Wilderness" and "Lee in the Capitol" cast important light upon their subjects. It is interesting that in much of the poetry and in the "Supplement" with which the book concludes, Melville took a reconciliatisnt view of the conflict and its aftermath. Brave committed Americans fought on both sides, Melville tells the reader, although one side had right with it, and he urged Americans and their leaders to put aside their differences and work towards reuniting the Nation. This view has come under deserved scrutiny in recent years, as many have questioned whether it did justice to the needs of freed African Americans. But it is valuable to be reminded of how contemporaries saw the issue, as reflected in the words of some highly complex and thoughtful minds.
Although Melville's Civil War poetry will never win widespread critical or popular appeal, I have gained a great deal from repeated readings of this work. Students of the Civil War and of American literature can only benefit from knowing and reflecting upon it.
Robin Friedman
Interesting But Not Memorable.......2003-01-21
These days it seems like only English professors and their students are reading Melville's poetry. MOBY DICK, and other works undoubtedly proved that he was a master of prose, but the critics weren't so convinced about his poetry, instead giving it lukewarm reviews at best, and calling it amateurish. For this reason we find Melville's prose in the literary canon while his poetry remains on the periphery of obscurity and limbo.
The poems are dense and full of Civil War references, so it would behoove the reader to brush up on his history. Likewise, the reader will quickly realize why Melville's poetry didn't receive the critics' acclaim. They are melodramatic, with an overemphasis on composing within the traditional (some would say archaic) rules of poetry: rhythm, rhyme scheme, etc., which does not translate well into our time and makes it not the most entertaining style to read...
These are interesting poems, but seem to have more historic value (U.S. history and the history/development American poetry) than poetic.
My personal favorites include: "The Stone Fleet," where Melville experiences romance for the whaling ships sailing out of harbor and which, consequently, he never sailed on; and, "The House Top," from where he overlooks the New York enlistment riots, where he implies that those who don't fight for our country aren't for God.
--ross saciuk
What The Library Journal Does Not Know........2002-10-03
I am one of the editors of the Prometheus Books edition of Melville's superb book on the Civil War. Alas, the Library Journal review, posted for the volume, is pathetic: two sentences, only one on Melville's poems, and that one half wrong, for Melville had NO direct experience of actual fighting in the war. What is more, there is no reference to the extensive supplementary material in our volume--including fine essays by Helen Vendler and Rosanna Warren. Caveat emptor regarding any such "review" of the "critics."
Poetic Prose, but not Prosaic Verse.......2000-03-28
It has been said of Herman Melville that his prose is poetic, but his poetry is not. In his time, in fact, his poetry was little-read and quite unpopular. Of course, _Moby Dick_ received only a lukewarm reception back then. Now, his poetry deserves a reassessment.
First, _Battle-Pieces_ should be credited as artistic, sometimes beautiful, poetry. Some of the poems are somewhat doggeral, and would be much improved by a few less forced rhymes. Others, however, are truly moving.
In these latter poems, Melville conveys the horrors of the war--and occasionally the humanity that shone through, uniting the brothers across the battlefield. Few men or women of the time had the experience (he participated in a chase of a Southern soldier) and writing ability to show us this time so effectively. As a result, he produced what, in my opinion, is a book at least as good as his most well-known novel.
At the end of the book he includes an essay on Reconstruction, in which he pleads for an easy reconciliation with the conquered South, more along the lines with Lincoln and Johnson's plans than the Radicals'. While somewhat disappointing (we'd like the man who created QueeQueg to support Southern blacks' rights a little more), the essay is well-written, and allows us to read the nonfictional beliefs of a man we usually associate with fiction--just as the poems let us read the verse of a writer of prose.
Book Description
A forgotten episode of World War II, the Supreme Court case it sparked, and the precedent it set.
It's a true story that reads like gripping fiction: in June 1942, eight German terrorists landed by submarine on the shores of Long Island and Florida with a mission to blow up major buildings and railroad hubs throughout the United States. In Time of War tells the dramatic story of how they were ultimately betrayed by one of their own, tried by a special military tribunal appointed by FDR, and zealously defended by an army colonel. Six of the eight were executed. The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently upheld the president's power to order the military trial that passed the death sentences.
More than sixty years later, President George W. Bush, in the wake of the deadly 9/11 terrorist attacks, cited Roosevelt's act as precedent for imprisoning over six hundred suspected "enemy combatants" in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and indefinitely detaining U.S. citizens suspected of terrorist activities. In a riveting account of this remarkable episode in America's history (much of it based on documents never before available), O'Donnell, one of the country's leading trial lawyers, illustrates the parallels between then and now, offering a cautionary tale of the danger of unchecked executive power in a time of crisis.
Customer Reviews:
Hitler's Attack.......2007-03-12
This book gives a fascinating account of a critical event in WW II history. You can't read this book without changing your view of FDR and J. Edgar Hoover. Colonel Major becomes my hero.
Misleading Title & Historical Context.......2006-03-13
It's not completely fair to blame the author for the subtitle, "Hitler's Terrorist Attack on American," since titles and subtitles are usually chosen by the publisher. But I'm listening to the author on CSPAN at this very moment and he doesn't seemed the miffed in the slightest by the inaccurate subtitle. He seems delighted by it and the parallels he is attempting to draw to 9/11.
These Germans were saboteurs rather than terrorists. They intended to destroy facilities of military value not terrorize the nation by pointlessly killing civilians. Unlike today's Islamists, the Nazis weren't stupid. They knew they were dealing with a nation that had backbone (the U.S. after 12/7 and not today's France and Germany). They knew that indiscriminate terrorism would make us fight all the harder.
And if you recognize that distinction, then the author's rather contrived parallel to Bush and the events that follow 9/11 collapses. Because terrorism threatens ordinary people whereever they live rather than well-guarded military facilities and factories, terrorism requires an even greater effort to avoid a show trial that could be used for propaganda and recruitment purposes. When you're talking about the potential for tens of thousands of deaths, there can be no margin of error.
Also, compared with what the British were doing, FDR's openness in this case is rather impressive. German spies caught in Britain were given a stark choice: either face an utterly secret military trial followed by a secret execution or become a double agent for the British with a possible pardon after the war. If I remember right, every one chose to become a double agent. That's why we were able to pull off D Day so successfully, including a 'phantom army' led by Patton that was to land at Calais..
Fortunately, this book seems to be selling rather poorly and in the nine months since it came out, it hasn't generated much buzz, even among liberals. Perhaps that's a hint that many liberals disagree with their more vocal colleagues (Deaniacs and the NY Times). They're decent enough, they don't want to cripple Bush's War on Terrorism to bring about a repeat of 9/11 that might lead to a Republican defeat in the 2006 and 2008 elections. They're putting their country above their party, and that's to their credit.
--Mike Perry, Editor, Dachau Liberated
Title is a Subterfuge.......2006-01-27
The book was presumably written solely for the purpose of attacking the Bush Presidency, rather than advancing our knowledge of a WWII event. While struggling to stay on his subject initially, he soon switches to his real reason for writing it......to attack President Bush. His choice of the flaming "liberal" Anthony Lewis to introduce his book is evidence enough as his true purpose.
There are other true historical accounts of the German landing in New York and Florida if readers are looking for an historical perspective. They won't find it in this untruthfully entitled book.
Relevant History.......2005-10-02
Pierce O'Donnell has written a find history of an attempted terrorist attack on America by Nazi Germany. He examines it from the legal side of how it was handled. In doing so he looks at the legal precedents set earlier such as those from the Civil War, and other key periods in history.
The first section of the book called "Military Necessity" covers the entire sabotage mission, from the preparation, through the operation, and finally the betrayal by one of the saboteurs which resulted in all of them men being arrested. O'Donnell does a good job of telling us about the saboteurs, why they were chosen, how they were trained, and what they did when they were in the United States.
The second section titled "The Rule of Law" covers the legal aspects of the case. It tells us why a Military trial was used, and how President Roosevelt tried to force a quick guilty verdict and execution. The best part of this section though is the details of the representation the saboteurs received from Colonel Kenneth C. Royall.
The final section is titled "A Cautionary Tale", and it covers the aftermath of the trial, as well as what happened to the key characters involved in it. It then moves on to relate the actions by President Roosevelt then to those undertaken by President Bush after the September 11th attacks. He covers the Supreme Court cases which have resulted from the administrations policies, and being a lawyer he is able to attack the actions of the administration from strong legal grounds. It is this section of the book which changes this book from a history of an event at the start of World War II, to one which has strong input into current events.
It is refreshing to read a book which touches on September 11th and the war in Iraq which doesn't resort to name calling, but rather deals with the issues intelligently, looking at historical and legal precedents. Oddly enough the strength of the book is also perhaps its biggest weakness. The legal discussion is clearly Mr. O'Donnell's strength, but it can be difficult for those without a legal background to follow. Nevertheless, this is a book which should be read
Solid 5 Star and Super Read.......2005-07-19
This book is timely and has intellectual weight. It is a well-researched and well-written story of the eight German terrorists who traveled by U-boats to America and landed on the beaches of New York and Florida during World War II. The book outlines the terrorists' backgrounds, their motivations, the circumstances of their arrests, and an interesting view of their trial by a military commission set up by FDR. This book of history is a pleasure to read because it moves like a fast-paced novel with characters of depth. As for the legal analysis following the history portion of the book (i.e. Chapter 22 and following chapters), I make no comment nor take any position.
However in the history portion, Pierce O'Donnell demonstrated that he is not only a great trial lawyer, but a great writer. Bravo!! A well-deserved 5 star read.
Average customer rating:
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In Time of War: Hitler's Terrorist Attack on America.(Book review): An article from: Army Lawyer
Christine M. Schverak
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
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ASIN: B000J208RY
Release Date: 2006-09-25 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Army Lawyer, published by Thomson Gale on March 1, 2006. The length of the article is 4182 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: In Time of War: Hitler's Terrorist Attack on America.(Book review)
Author: Christine M. Schverak
Publication:
Army Lawyer (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: 23(5)
Article Type: Book review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
- Accomplished Career, Tedious Autobiography
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In the Thick of It: My Life in the Sierra Club
Michael McCloskey
Manufacturer: Island Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1559639792 |
Book Description
In 1961, Michael McCloskey was hired as the Sierra Club's first field representative for the Northwest. From there, for nearly forty years, he rose to guide the oldest and most powerful environmental organization in the world. He helped to pave the way for the original Wilderness Act in 1964, and as the club's conservation director worked to see it implemented. He successfully lobbied for the creation of new national parks and wilderness areas, the North Cascades and Redwood National Park among them. As executive director, he was present at the creation of Earthday in 1970, directed lobbying for the enactment of over one hundred environmental laws, and watched Sierra Club membership rise from about 70,000 to more than 500,000. In the nineties, he led the Sierra Club in mounting fights against attempts to undercut EPA regulations and against trade agreements that curtailed environmental programs.
His tenure was no walk in the park. He survived the ouster of his mentor, the charismatic but controversial David Brower, succeeding him as the second executive director in the club's history, and put the Sierra Club back on firm financial footing. Under less than ideal political circumstances, McCloskey helped to keep the environmental agenda moving steadily forward, even in the face of Ronald Reagan's virulently pro-development Interior Secretary James Watt (whom he was instrumental in expelling from office).
In the Thick of It describes not only McCloskey's life as an environmental activist; it reveals the inner workings and politics of one of the nation's most influential environmental nonprofit organizations during an era of ground-breaking environmental legislation. He demonstrates how it is indeed possible to turn idealism and hope into practical action that can make an impact at the national level. With this book McCloskey offers not only invaluable insight into the past, but also inspiration to carry into the future.
Customer Reviews:
Accomplished Career, Tedious Autobiography.......2006-11-26
Michael McCloskey has had a huge influence on conservation and environmentalism in America, and he's truly eligible to be the subject of an informative biography. Unfortunately, he should have had someone else write it. I am a volunteer officer with Sierra Club, active at both the local and state levels, with an interest in the organization's history. For that reason I was attracted to this autobiography of the man who served faithfully with Sierra Club and other important groups for some 40 years, and was one of the Club's most influential Executive Directors. However, even I had trouble keeping up my interest as this book dragged along, and I can't imagine any general reader (who may very well crave knowledge about conservationist history) being able to hold more than a polite semi-interest. This is because McCloskey's story, as told by himself, becomes an interminable list of brief reports, presented strictly in chronological order. Milestones and achievements are presented monotonously with an unchanging focus toward their importance and influence, or lack thereof, and there are very few deeper insights or analyses of historically important trends in conservation.
Granted, there are a few useful tidbits here and there, especially in Chapter 13 in which McCloskey discusses how environmentalists can build alliances with labor, minorities, the poor, and business interests; while in a few other places he has some good advice on the specific financial and tax challenges face by non-profit advocacy groups. But on the other hand, most of the book dwells on minutiae of dubious usefulness, most notably the tedious coverage of several decades of internal power struggles within the Sierra Club leadership - passing strife that now means little to current Sierra Club members and even less to the interested layperson. McCloskey is also regularly prone to an underlying, yet subtle, self-righteousness. Once again, McCloskey is immensely influential in American conservationism, he was a strong leader of an important organization, and his lifetime of accomplishments is ripe material for a biography. But in the form of a self-aggrandizing autobiography, his story does not receive the insight and analysis that could be delivered by a professional biographer or historian. [~doomsdayer520~]
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