Margaret of York: Duchess of Burgundy 1446-1503

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The forgotten Princess

Margaret of York: Duchess of Burgundy 1446-1503
Christine Weightman
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0312103239

Customer Reviews:

The forgotten Princess.......2004-04-17

Margaret of York was the sister of Kings Edward IV and Richard III of England. She lived through the War of the Roses and the end of Duchy of Burgundy and its eventual marriage into the house of Hapsburg.

Margaret quite literally made the Marriage of the Century when she married the Duke of Burgundy in 1475 and her wedding ceremony was a display of unparalled Medieval magnificence. After her husband's death in 1477 she spent the rest of her life in the lowlands as the powerful and much respected Dowager Duchess of Burgundy.

This is the only biography of this important, but mostly forgotten lady, in English. Having said that however, it does suffer from the his-story syndrome that affects many biographies of important women right through till early modern times. This book gives you a good panorama of the turbulent transitional period that Margaret lived through at the end of the middle ages to the first dawn of the Renaissance, but it fails to give you a good feel for her personality. Instead it is the story of the events that took place around Margaret that she "may" or "possibly" had some influence on.

This lack of real feeling for the Duchess herself more likely has to do with the lack of real sources of information on her life rather than the research skills of the author. Although Margaret was a noted bibliophile she has left little real evidence of her interests and opinions of any real substance. This book is lavishly illustrated in black and white pictures of the little that is left of Margaret's life, but in the end I felt I knew more about the deeds of the "Great Men" of Margaret's era than I did about Margaret herself.

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Daughter of York: A Novel
Anne Easter Smith
Manufacturer: Touchstone
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0743277317

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Margaret of York: Duchess of Burgundy 1446-1503
Christine Weightman
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTHC9E

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An absorbing if highly fictionalized account of the Michigan Assassin

******************Haunting, Epic, Heroic, Boxing Tale*******************

Hold On People. This is fiction.

Author JCB has done it again!

His Best Yet

The Killings of Stanley Ketchel : A Novel
James Carlos Blake
Manufacturer: Amazon Remainders Account
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: B000GG4I6K

Customer Reviews:

An absorbing if highly fictionalized account of the Michigan Assassin.......2007-10-10

As always, Blake writes with wicked verve and electricity as he gives his account of the Stanley Ketchel saga. Part travelogue, part compelling character study, part epic flaying of the American soul, The Killings of Stanley Ketchel takes the reader all over the American West in its first half, and then on to New York and back again as Blake traces the antic doings of Stanley Ketchel, the mercurial if short-lived middleweight champ. It's a dynamic rendering that depicts its subject in full, but centers on Ketchel's growing obssession with restoring the heavyweight crown to the white race after it has been captured by the impertinent, outspoken, and outlandish African-American, Jack Johnson.

One caveat for the reader: I felt Blake took a little too much poetic liberty with his re-creation of the Ketchel-Johnson heavyweight championship bout in Colma, California in 1909. Blake's rendering has Ketchel's infamous double-cross decking of Johnson being so punishing that the champion is down and almost out for a count of 8. Johnson then recovers, lunges at Ketchel, and knocks him cold (and minus some teeth) for 15 minutes with a thunderous right. Johnson thus retains his crown but leaves Ketchel, although battered practically beyond recognition, hungering for another shot at him. This is a gross over-exaggeration of the facts. Ketchel did knock Johnson down in the 12th round, but Johnson barely brushed the canvas before he was back on his feet, walloping Ketchel with that lethal right. The fight film shows this. But it must be conceded that it better serves Blake's fictional potrayal of the obsessive Ketchel to have him come within a hair of victory only to be manhandled in a way he had never experienced before.

More accurately presented in the book is the most famous of Johnson's fights, the one against the Great White Hope, Jim Jeffries, in Reno on July 4, 1910. Blake conveys vividly the total dominance of the black champion over the former champ, and the agony and despair of the virtually all-white crowd as they share Jeffries' humiliation. The aftermath of the fight, with Johnson, Ketchel and the racist author Jack London all driving down to a negro brothel, is made up entirely out of whole cloth, but really does no disservice to the truth of Ketchel's life in the same way that the misrepresentation of the Ketchel-Johnson fight did.

It's probably quibbling too much to even bring up the above elements. The book is, after all, a novel, one that features a fascinating main character and an extremely colorful, if almost relentlessly violent, storyline posted on an amazing American landscape. Blake brings to life the early twentieth century in hardscrabble America, and in doing so does that thing which he always does so well, which is to reveal the teeming, dark underbelly of the American dream -- or is it the American nightmare?

******************Haunting, Epic, Heroic, Boxing Tale*******************.......2007-03-23

I just finished this book. Bravo James Carlos Blake! This was masterfully conceived. I love the old days. I love boxing. I love great writing. This book has all of those, and more.

LONG LIVE STANLEY KETCHEL!

Buy this book.

Hold On People. This is fiction........2005-10-11

I've been reading reviews. The more I read, the more I see that readers are believing this novel is Stanley Ketchel's biography. It may be well written as readers who are fans of Mr Blake's stories, will attest. But, do not be regaled, into believing this, smarmiest of the smarmy tale. The elder Mr. Kiecal was not Stanley's step-father. Stanley Ketchel did not leave home because of any violence between he and his father. At 12 years of age, his mother gave him permission to leave home. He was not an alcoholic, he seldom drank at all, he was a prankster, and he only smoked cigars, when he attended social events. The factual tale, is fabulous without benefit(?) of fiction. So, please, don't settle into this story. This fictional composite, dabbles more, in folk-lore, than what actually happened in this courageous, and powerful young man's short life. Thank you, and please remember. This is written from imagination. Creative, but predominantly, a fabrication, none the less.

Author JCB has done it again!.......2005-10-11

In this engrossing novel based on the life of middle weight boxing champion Stanley Ketchel the Ragtime era of the early 1900's is brought vividly to life. The story begins with Ketchel running away from home and riding the rails as a teen-aged hobo after a fight with his step father which he believes has resulted in his death. It progresses smoothly into his discovery as a boxing prospect while working as a bouncer in a saloon out West. It then chronicles his rise and astonishing record of wins and K.O.'s both in and out of his weight class. The descriptions of the fights are edge-of-your-seat exciting and gory in places. His womanizing ways are also marvelously and entertainingly evoked. The dialogue is crisp, realistic, and humorous throughout which is one of this author's major strengths along with painting a vivid picture of that time period. Boxing fans and readers who like historical/biographical novels will really get their money's worth out of this book!

His Best Yet.......2005-08-29

Having read everything he has written and having great anticipation for the release of each new book he puts out, you might say that I am prejudiced to state this is definitely Blake's best work to date. As good as Red Grass River and Wildwood Boys were, this work just slightly outdistances them both in making you live the life and times of one of the great boxers in history, and following the pace of the story as it follows Ketchel as anti-hero. This is an absolutely entralling read, and the depth of research that he has undertaken to write it when combined with his gritty and realistic prose makes this a near-impossible book to put down once you pick it up. Blake has cornered the market in basing his novels on actual historical characters living on the edge of society, usually viewed in historical retrospect as less than stellar citizens, and who are ultimately pushed toward tragic ends by the circumstances of their times and the course of their self-created destiny. Why none of his works have been turned into a movie baffles me, as they are replete with action, historical detail, and pathos that would translate well to the big screen. The only bad part about reading this book is that you then have to realize that you are probably a year away for him to publish his next novel.

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This Book Is A Loser

Stanley Ketchel
Eugene Skazinski
Manufacturer: Xlibris Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1413426654

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This Book Is A Loser.......2006-03-23

As I attempted to read this so-called "biographical narrative novel," it reminded me of the days when I had to correct student compositions as a high school English teacher. The book was loaded with grammatical and typographical errors that made it painfully obvious it was never proofread before publication.For example: "He was loosing interest in the fight game." "On April 27th,Ketchel in his arrogant manner, along with his peculiar feeling shame over his small physical stature which taunted him throughout his career..." " 'Ketchel acted like a rah-rah boy and fought like a man in a trance.' Said one indignant ticket holder." Even the most ardent Ketchel fan would feel insulted reading stuff like this. I know that I felt duped, having paid almost twenty bucks for this amateurish attempt. Come on! Poor "Sarn Langford" is probably turning over in his grave!! Aside from the many technical errors, the writing itself is extremely weak,and with all due respect, at a sixth or seventh grade level. The author, Gene Skye, is from Grand Rapids, Michigan, which is also Ketchel's birthplace, so he was apparently attempting to write some sort of hagiography, but please give us Ketchel fans a professionally written work! There is precious little out there now about this fascinating fighter, so when anything comes along about Ketchel we hungrily devour it, but this book is unacceptable.

Strength of characters: Q&A with James Carlos Blake.(novelist)(Entrevista): An article from: Semana

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Strength of characters: Q&A with James Carlos Blake.(novelist)(Entrevista): An article from: Semana

Manufacturer: Newspan Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000B7OKJ4
Release Date: 2005-08-30

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Semana, published by Newspan Media on July 31, 2005. The length of the article is 1002 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: Strength of characters: Q&A with James Carlos Blake.(novelist)(Entrevista)
Publication: Semana (Magazine/Journal)
Date: July 31, 2005
Publisher: Newspan Media
Volume: 11 Issue: 648 Page: S3(1)

Article Type: Entrevista

Distributed by Thomson Gale

"The Michigan Assassin": The saga of Stanley Ketchel, world's most sensational middleweight champion

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"The Michigan Assassin": The saga of Stanley Ketchel, world's most sensational middleweight champion
Nat Fleischer
Manufacturer: s.n.]
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007IXPPC

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The Killing of Stanley Ketchel
Blake James Carlos
Manufacturer: William Morrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UEWE1E

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The Killings of Stanley Ketchel
James Carlos Blake
Manufacturer: William Morow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J180GQ

The Killings Of Stanley Ketchel : A Novel

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The Killings Of Stanley Ketchel : A Novel
James Carlos/ Blake, James C. Blake
Manufacturer: William Morrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEOM4M

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R. Nathaniel Dett, his life and works, 1882-1943 (The Sigma Pi Phi series)
Vivian Flagg McBrier
Manufacturer: Associated Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: B0006CVYT8

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The way of "Street Fighters"

The Most Worthless Book

Pointless and Self-Contradictory

Witty indeed

Very good book and is a must for WOD games

World of Darkness: Combat : The Big Book of Beating Ass (World of Darkness)
Steve Long
Manufacturer: White Wolf Games Studio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Montreal by Night (Vampire: the Masquerade)

ASIN: 1565043162

Customer Reviews:

The way of "Street Fighters".......2001-11-08

This book is based upon the rules of "Street Fighters", which was unsccessful series in White Wolf products. I thought that the combat system of "Street Fighters" was not so playable for "role playing game style". This book contains the same problem. But this book show us how the creatures of World of Darkness fight with martial arts. That is interesting to me.

The Most Worthless Book.......2000-06-08

my friends and I call this the worthless book in the World. WOD does not surround around combat. This book gives new rules for combat that aren't better than the old rules. The book goes over old rules. Personaly I don't need 50 guns listed and 15 melee weapons to play an RPG.

Pointless and Self-Contradictory.......1999-09-24

Even if you're uninterested in roleplay, and are in it merely for hack and slash, this book will do nothing by detract from your game. The rules are far more complex than they are realistic or likely to allow a player to change the outcome of combat with a stroke of tactical inspiration.

Witty indeed.......1999-05-14

Indeed interesting of a book. I have trained various styles, as my clan teaches them, and I have found that this book can actually improve some of the lesser known techniques, as Maka Wara and Jeet Kune Do. Nevertheless I have found that specific styles are not as deeply described as I had wished, as to say, many of the various Tae Kwon Do kicks that I find most useful in pursuing vermin like Ventrue and Lasombra, including the Dyt chagi and Ap chagi as well as the Neryo chagi, have been left out. Also, karate is described as a very basic, broad style. I find that, visiting orthodox schools, this is not true. A good supplemet for beginners, but skilled fighters can live without it.

Uther Algaan, Assamite Elder

Very good book and is a must for WOD games.......1998-09-26

This book is filled with martial arts and new weapons including new specializations that is compatable with any world of darkness game.

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Comment on "The New Supervisor"

Comment on "The New Supervisor"

Is this the kind of supervisor you want to be?

HIGHLY USEFUL FOR THOSE JUST GETTING INTO THE ROLE & OTHERS.

The New Supervisor: How to Thrive in Your First Year As a Manager
Martin M. Broadwell , and Carol Broadwell Dietrich
Manufacturer: Perseus Books Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0201339927

Amazon.com

The New Supervisor: How to Thrive in Your First Year as a Manager, by long-time management trainer Martin Broadwell and his daughter Carol Broadwell Dietrich, clearly and practically addresses many of the key issues of concern to anyone thrust into his or her very first position of corporate responsibility with little real training and no true guidance. Now in its fifth edition, this book offers specifics on dealing with bosses and subordinates, getting work started and completed, solving problems, and planning for the future. New information has been added on stress management, delegation, and team building. --Howard Rothman

Customer Reviews:

Comment on "The New Supervisor".......2004-02-21

If you are a new supervisor or will be promoted as a supervisor in near future, you may find this book ¡§The New Supervisor¡¨ is useful for you.

This book covered a wide range of areas that a new supervisor needs to concern and make notice, including: a new attitude toward the job, the subordinate, and the boss; supervisors¡¦ relations with their coordinates; stress management, effective communications; planning and organizing; directing and controlling; delegation; motivation; interviewing; training; good meeting; problem solving; presentations; team building; and self development. The author gives advices on each area and there are chapter summaries provided which recap the important points for the readers.

The most important thing for the new supervisors is that they need to understand their new role; they have to supervise their subordinates to achieve the goals instead of doing the job themselves. They need to trust their subordinates¡¦ abilities and motivate them to do the job. Therefore, appropriate level of delegation and motivation is good. They also need to trust their boss and share the burden with their boss and remember not to create any extra problems to their boss. Treat the boss as the way you want the subordinates to treat you. It is a good guideline for the new supervisors to think of.

The new supervisors also need to keep good relations with supervisors in different departments and have an effective communications among them. They should work cooperatively to achieve the common goals. This can help to facilitate the efficiency and effectiveness of the work in an organization.
There are some important skills that are required for the new supervisors such as leadership skill, interviewing skill, and problem solving skill. They are all included in this book.

Although I¡¦m not a new supervisor, this book still provides some insights to me. This book enhances my knowledge about what a supervisor needs to do and his roles. Moreover, I think some of the contents of this book are useful for all people and not only for new supervisors. For example, the six principles for handling stress mentioned in this book are useful for all people including me because everyone would be under stress in facing this challenging and highly competitive world. In addition, problem solving skill is also useful to me, the author mentioned eight steps to solve a problem, including 1) identify the problem 2) search useful information 3) find out the origin of the problem 4) list out all possible alternatives 5) choose the best solution 6) apply the solution to the problem 7) mark down the results 8) see whether the problem is really solved. I would try to use this problem solving skill when I face problems.

Since I¡¦m a university student, and most of my coursework are in a team base, the chapter that about the team building is also quite useful to me. The author suggests some criteria for developing a successful team and what the team members should do in a team. All these give me insights about how to be a good team player and how the team can work more efficiently and effectively.

The last chapter of this book, self-development and evaluation also gives me some insights for my personal development and understand myself better.

If you are a new supervisor, this is a useful book for guiding you. However, if you are not a new supervisor, you can still get some benefits through reading this book.

Comment on "The New Supervisor".......2004-01-30

Many new supervisors would find difficulties in their new working situation. After changing to a new position, they may not know how to handle the relationship with their subordinates and their boss, and even may not know how to handle their work. If you are one of them, ¡§The New Supervisor¡¨ will give you some insights.

In this book, it suggests that being a new supervisor, new attitudes toward their job, subordinates, and their boss are needed. The authors suggest that a new supervisor must understand that his role has been changed; he needs to supervise his subordinates and work with them to achieve the goals of the organization.

In fact, I am only a university student, the recommendations to new supervisors seems not applicable and practical to me. However, I still gained some insights from this book. The suggestions about stress management are most useful to me. Authors recommend six stress management principles to readers: 1) Do not hasten to react with a matter that arises abruptly, it is better to take some time to think it in details and react. 2) Do not be a clever-clog, since others may have lots of great ideas. 3) Get along with others, and try to compromise with different opinion. 4) Do not do the work at the last minutes; this can help in relieving pressure. 5) Good planning can have a clear direction to future; this can reduce chance of getting stress. 6) Keep a happy mood can increase your efficiency and effectiveness in working. Yes, I do find those suggestions are practical not only to working people with great pressure; also students like me can apply them to manage my pressure in my studies.

After reading this book, as I know that my relative who is a supervisor having problems in managing his subordinates, so I told him what I¡¦ve learnt from this book, and ask him try to find some useful recommendations. Actually, he did not delegate the work to his subordinates properly, so he has great pressure in handling all of the jobs. When he understood it is important and it is his responsibilities to supervise his staff and work with them together to complete the tasks, in order to attain the goals of the company. He tried to adopt some recommendations from this book, e.g. communicate with other department heads and his subordinates; delegate the work to appropriate subordinates, this help to increase the morale of his staff; and he will also express his appreciation to his subordinates if needed, which improve the relationships between him and his subordinates.

After adopting those recommendations, he started to understand how to work with his position ¡V supervisor. And he enjoys his job now.

This book really gives lots of constructive ideas to supervisors, but the organization of the contents is not very well. Since the authors repeated and repeated similar ideas in the same chapters, it bored the readers and it is better to write in a simpler way.

But it is still a book which will useful to people who are the ¡§beginner¡¨ of a supervisor. You are one of them? Find new and practical ideas from ¡§The New Supervisor¡¨ You may find it useful.

Written by Ng Shuk Yee Shirley from City University of Hong Kong, Department of Marketing

Is this the kind of supervisor you want to be?.......2001-06-10

This book offers a very cliched, narrow vision of supervising people that emphasizes power over teamwork, delegation over coordination. Other advice is very commonsensical - "Make to-do lists," etc. It is not a sophisticated analysis, but rather, the transcript of a superficial one-day workshop.

HIGHLY USEFUL FOR THOSE JUST GETTING INTO THE ROLE & OTHERS........1999-04-13

This book is loaded with practical advise covering a very broad range of key areas including: power; relating with subordinates, superior and peers; managing stress; communications; planning and organizing; directing and controlling; delegation; motivating by enriching the job; interviewing; training; meeting leadership; problem solving; making presentations; team-building; and self-development. There are helpful chapter summaries and exercises. This is a highly useful work, especially for those just getting into the role and also of value to more seasoned supervisors. Reviewed by Gerry Stern, founder, Stern & Associates, author of Stern's Sourcefinder: The Master Directory to HR and Business Management Information & Resources, Stern's CyberSpace SourceFinder, and Stern's Compensation and Benefits SourceFinder.

The New Supervisor: How to Thrive in Your First Year As a Manager

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The New Supervisor: How to Thrive in Your First Year As a Manager
Martin M.; Dietrich, Carol Broadwell Broadwell
Manufacturer: Perseus Books Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OOT0X0

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Jeremy: The Epic Travelogue Concerning Locations Pertaining to St. Nicholas and/or Santa Claus

I Personally Found it to Be Interesting but Also Boring

A fascinating biographical and spiritual account which readers will enjoy year-round

The history of the legend, mixed with a travelogue

Nicholas: The Epic Journey from Saint to Santa Claus
Jeremy Seal
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The World Encyclopedia of Christmas

ASIN: 1582344191
Release Date: 2005-10-13

Book Description

An elegantly written, idiosyncratic biography of Santa Claus, from his saintly origins in Turkey to his current reign as the king of Christmas.

Nicholas is a biographical travelogue tracing the evolution of one of the greatest cults of modern times—the rise of Santa Claus from his origins in Byzantine Turkey to his role as the jolly man who grants every child’s wish. It is a compelling story of religious worship and strife, cultural interpretation, and mass commercialization brilliantly framed by Jeremy Seal’s modern-day voyage in Santa’s footsteps. Saint Nicholas, as Santa was originally known, lived and worked in Myra on the southern coast of Turkey 1,700 years ago. He became a revered figure in the Orthodox and Catholic churches, attracting devotees across the Christian world as his cult shifted westward with the centuries. The saint’s bones are said to still exist, and Seal’s dogged pursuit of these relics launches his quest for Santa’s true lineage—one that takes him through present-day Turkey, Italy, Holland, England, America, and finally Lapland as he pieces together the history of this extraordinary man-to-myth transformation. In the tradition of Bruce Chatwin and Tony Horowitz, Jeremy Seal is a natural storyteller, weaving fascinating history and intrepid travelogue into a book every bit as enchanting as its subject

Customer Reviews:

Jeremy: The Epic Travelogue Concerning Locations Pertaining to St. Nicholas and/or Santa Claus.......2006-12-31

Chronicling the evolution of a 4th century Byzantine bishop named Nicholas to the 19th and 20th century pop culture icon by the name of Santa Claus would make a fascinating book. Unfortunately, Mr. Seal subscribes to the gonzo school of journalism, so this book is about his experience searching for the origins of St. Nicholas via a globe-trotting vacation rather than being about St. Nicholas becoming the legendary figure of Santa Claus.

If the reader is willing to wade through all the autobiography and melodramatic musings, there is some good history on the spread of the cult of St. Nicholas and the development of the legend of Santa Claus. The author's tone is rather pleasant although his long-winded tangents might occasionally cause his audience's eyes to glaze.

If you are interested in reading about how St. Nicholas became Santa Claus without the inclusion of the researcher's life story, then you might want to read WONDERWORKER: THE TRUE STORY OF HOW SAINT NICHOLAS BECAME SANTA CLAUS by Vincent A. Yzermans or ST. NICHOLAS OF MYRA, BARI, AND MANHATTEN by Charles W. Jones. WONDERWORKER is a deceptively simple book. It is short and sweet, and its flaw lies in its lack of citations and bibliography rather than its brevity. ST. NICHOLAS OF MYRA, BARI, AND MANHATTEN is an extremely thorough and well documented but also an extremely scholarly and dry biography of St. Nicholas. Be forewarned that Mr. Jones irreverently refers to St. Nicholas as N. throughout that entire work.

For biographies of St. Nicholas minus Santa Claus, there are ST. NICHOLAS: LIFE, SERVICE, & AKATHIST by St. Dimitry of Rostov and TRANSLATION OF THE RELICS OF ST. NICHOLAS: ACCOUNT AND LITURGICAL SERVICE translated by Isaac Lambertsen. Both of these pamphlets are available from St. John of Kronstadt Press.

I Personally Found it to Be Interesting but Also Boring.......2006-07-12

In order to make this book interesting the author had to fill the book with his traveling experiences in his mission to find out who the real Santa Claus was and if he existed. I found it painful to read and wanted to get straight to the historical facts which were sparse but interesting to read about. He didn't use the easiest of language which made the book even more painful to read.

I'd recommend this book as a Christmas gift to history buffs and ones who are into poetry or Shakespeare, because the author uses similarly difficult language.

A fascinating biographical and spiritual account which readers will enjoy year-round.......2006-03-05

Nicholas: The Epic Journey From Saint To Santa Claus arrived too late for more timely holiday mention but still provides a fascinating biographical and spiritual account which readers will enjoy year-round. The rise of Santa Claus from his origins in Byzantine Turkey to his modern jolly friend of children image is followed in a survey of religious worship and changes around the world. The author's own travelogue in search of Nicholas' spirit and bones makes for a passionate, lively study.

The history of the legend, mixed with a travelogue.......2005-12-30

If you have a long winter night, you may take to "Nicholas: The Epic Journey from Saint to Santa Claus" by Jeremy Seal, which is a serious work of historical biography. Seal, an experienced travel writer, begins with the tale of the real St. Nicholas in Turkey in the fourth century and concludes with his own children, surfing the Internet to watch the virtual Christmas Eve journey of a chubby guy in a red suit and his flying reindeer.

Seal reveals how the man turned into a legend and how the related traditions evolved by pursuing him geographically, around Europe and into the New World. He shows that Santa/Nicholas is a universal figure, though different in each country, and the saint's legacy changes a bit with each generation.

The book is interesting and has some nice phrasing, but be warned: This is not "Santa: The Musical" - the going gets a bit dry. Still, some of it is also heartwarming, because it's interspersed with anecdotes from the author's own Christmas memories and his children's experiences.

Book Description

After World War II the United States faced two preeminent challenges: how to administer its responsibilities abroad as the world's strongest power, and how to manage the rising movement at home for racial justice and civil rights. The effort to contain the growing influence of the Soviet Union resulted in the Cold War, a conflict that emphasized the American commitment to freedom. The absence of that freedom for nonwhite American citizens confronted the nation's leaders with an embarrassing contradiction.

Racial discrimination after 1945 was a foreign as well as a domestic problem. World War II opened the door to both the U.S. civil rights movement and the struggle of Asians and Africans abroad for independence from colonial rule. America's closest allies against the Soviet Union, however, were colonial powers whose interests had to be balanced against those of the emerging independent Third World in a multiracial, anticommunist alliance. At the same time, U.S. racial reform was essential to preserve the domestic consensus needed to sustain the Cold War struggle.

The Cold War and the Color Line is the first comprehensive examination of how the Cold War intersected with the final destruction of global white supremacy. Thomas Borstelmann pays close attention to the two Souths--Southern Africa and the American South--as the primary sites of white authority's last stand. He reveals America's efforts to contain the racial polarization that threatened to unravel the anticommunist western alliance. In so doing, he recasts the history of American race relations in its true international context, one that is meaningful and relevant for our own era of globalization.

Customer Reviews:

Race Relations - A Global Perspective.......2007-04-12

"The Cold War and the Color Line" by Thomas Borstlemann was a textbook in one of my stepson's history classes at Southeastern Louisiana University. He thought I might enjoy it and I did. The focus is on the presidencies of Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson during the U.S. civil rights era. Borstlemann describes how America's practice of racial segregation (and support of European colonial powers, and the segregationist regime in South Africa) hampered it in the minds of third world countries as these mostly non-white countries chose between capitalist and democratic systems and the Communist model. An interesting observation of Bortlesmann's is that the presidents that did the most in support of civil rights for racial minorities were those who grew up in the South--Truman (Missouri) desegregated the military; Johnson (Texas) got the Voting Rights Act passed, and both Carter (Georgia) and Clinton (Arkansas) took a strong interest in the rights of both African-Americans and blacks in Africa. On the other hand, the presidents raised outside the South (Eisenhower in Kansas, Kennedy in Massachusetts, Nixon in California, Reagan in Illinois and Bush in Connecticut) viewed racial equality as a secondary issue at best, or in some cases even worked to reverse past gains. As a "50-something", I lived through most of this era (albeit in central New York state, not the deep South), and found Borstlemann's work to be very illuminating. Since I've lived in the south (South Carolina, Virginia and Louisiana) for the last 30 years, I appreciated the book from the "new South" perspective as well. Highly recommended to students of history and race relations.

The Cold War and Race Relations out of their Vacuums.......2002-07-25

In The Cold War and the Color Line, Borstelmann evaluates how US domestic and international race relations shaped the Cold War and how the Cold war shaped the domestic and international race relations. From my studies, and I imagine the studies of the majority of average Americans, the civil rights movement, de-colonization, and the Cold War happened in individual vacuums - separate from each other, only linked by common abstract dates. Borstelmann shows these happenings are all highly connected - at times acting as catalysts for another. "There was no greater weakness for the United States in waging the Cold War than inequality and discrimination," Borstelmann asserts. The United States had to confront racial segregation and discrimination within its own borders as well as regimes around the world to develop a multiracial global coalition against Soviet Communism. The US had to inspire the newly de-colonized non-white nations to sway towards the "free world." But how was the US to inspire a world, the majority non-white when Jim Crow was still firmly implanted in American society? Borstelmann follows the developments of these issues through the Presidencies that were tempered by the Cold War. I found the book a pleasant surprise. The book went beyond what I expected - being the race situations during the Cold War. Borstelmann took his work beyond that to a living political environment - domestic and international as one - where de-colonization, the Cold war environment, and the Civil Rights movement were taken out of their individual vacuums and thrown into a perspective that understands the complexities of that no so long ago reality. I am positive that anyone interested in race relations will embrace this book. Also I believe for a complete perspective of the Cold War or for any interested in the momentous events that transpired in the 20th century, this well researched book will make an excellent read.

The Cold War and the Color Line: American Race Relations in the Global Arena.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of Southern History

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The Cold War and the Color Line: American Race Relations in the Global Arena.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of Southern History
Kenneth O'Reilly
Manufacturer: Southern Historical Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008E0O9K
Release Date: 2005-07-31

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Southern History, published by Southern Historical Association on August 1, 2003. The length of the article is 728 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 Cold War and the Color Line: American Race Relations in the Global Arena.(Book Review)
Author: Kenneth O'Reilly
Publication: Journal of Southern History (Refereed)
Date: August 1, 2003
Publisher: Southern Historical Association
Volume: 69 Issue: 3 Page: 742(2)

Article Type: Book Review

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Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests:Asia and the Pacific.......2000-01-26

This book is important book

The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests: Asia and Pacific

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The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests: Asia and Pacific
N. Mark Collins , Jeffrey A. Sayer , and Timothy C. Whitmore
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests. Asia and the Pacific.

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Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests. Asia and the Pacific.
N.M COLLINS
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OUKZ2O

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