James J. Hill: Empire Builder of the Northwest (The Oklahoma Western Biographies , Vol 12)

Customer Reviews:

A Narrow Gauge Bio.......2007-07-28

Right up front Malone admits this is neither an authoritative nor exhaustive biography of Jim Hill and he keeps his promise. But as a pretty quick (280 page) read of Hill it is a solid book if slightly antiseptic and repetitive at times. It is particularly interesting if you want to know more about the history of the Great Northern Railway.

An interesting biography of a business genius.......2000-07-25

«The wealth of the country, its capital, its credit, must be saved from the predatory poor as well as the predatory rich, but above all from the predatory politician» - James J. Hill.

In her 1962 lecture, «America's Persecuted Minority : Big Business», Ayn Rand distinguished two types of entrepreneurs, whom Burton Folsom Jr. was later to label «economic» and «political»: «self-made men who earned their fortunes by personal ability, by free trade on a free market» and «men with political pull, who made fortunes by means of special privileges granted to them by the government.» And according to her, James Jerome Hill was an arch-representative of the former group, because he built his transcontinental railroad, the Great Northern, «without any federal help whatever.»

Michael P. Malone's admiration for Hill, on the other hand, is much more moderate (and for those who think such moderation unjust, he is kind enough to direct us to Albro Martin's «highly laudatory» two-volume biography of Hill, *James J. Hill and the Opening of the Northwest*)

For instance, he puts the phrase «self-made man» in quotation marks when applying it to Hill, for, he says, Hill's fortune «sprout... from the rich seedbed of federal subsidy»: by completing his first large scale project in time (the Manitoba railroad), Hill managed to reap the «seventh largest of the original seventy-five railroad grants», located mostly in the fertile Red River valley. Therefore, Malone says, we should forget the «hoariest, and most mischievous, of all the many legends surrounding Hill»- the one perpetrated by Ayn Rand and, after her, Burton Folsom Jr.- which «rhapsodizes about how he built a great transcontinental line without the benefit of a federal land grant.»

Was Hill therefore just another political entrepreneur? I don't think so.

First, Malone here seems to be conflating federal subsidies and land grants. A federal subsidy, in my understanding, is a transfer of money or produced goods, which by its very essence involves a forced redistribution and is therefore immoral. A land grant, on the other hand, consists in the granting of a non-improved natural resource to its actual developer, in a good approximation of the Lockean ideal of acquisition through labour. What makes it a form of «federal aid» is only the government's assumption of the power to acquire land by some non-Lockean process (i.e. by fiat, or in this case, purchase from another government that had acquired the land by fiat.)

Second, the lands granted to the railroads actually owed most of their value to the building of the roads. As Clarence Carson explains in *Throttling the Railroads* : «the lands granted [however fertile] were worth little to nothing on the market at the time they were granted.» This was so because cultivating those lands would have been economically hopeless without the cheap transportation to population centers provided by the railroads.

And third, Malone's metaphor makes it sound as though Hill's fortune merely grew out of the «soil» of federal subsidy by some natural, automatic process or, to mix metaphors, a snowball effect. Actually, the building of the Manitoba railroad is only chapter 2 of the biography, and there are 6 more chapters to go in which Malone himself offers ample illustration that the building of Great Northern and the rest of Hill's achievements did not simply «sprout» from the government's bounty.

Whatever the motivations for Malone's very mixed final estimate of Hill, he does grant his subject a certain number of admirable character traits, which confirm Edwin Locke's conclusions in *The Prime Movers*. For instance, Malone singles out the following as Hill's distinctive traits in chapter 4: «his remarkable mastery over every detail of what was now a far-flung operation, his vision of the inevitable triumph of transcontinental through-carriers [together forming Locke's virtue of «independent vision»], his insufferable [Malone again...] iron will and work ethic [Locke's «drive to action»], and his recruitment of an able coterie of men [Locke's «love of ability in others»].» And this is only Malone himself trying to summarize Hill's virtues : the book offers much more concrete material for you to make your own identifications and corroborate Locke's analysis.

The flaw of *Empire Builder of the Northwest*, in my opinion, is that it is merely interesting and informative where, given its subject, it could have been epic. Malone himself is no great enthusiast of economic freedom: at one point, he refers to «the simplistic bromides of laissez-faire». Moreover, the book only offers two maps, which makes following some of the descriptions rather difficult. However, if you do not have the time for Albro Martin's longer work and are frustrated by the mere 22 pages in Folsom's *The Myth of the Robber Barons*, Malone's book remains a good introduction to the life of an immensely productive and hardworking man, who was also a voracious reader, a faithful husband and- as the opening quote reveals- a «true believer in the virtues of unfettered capitalism».

left empty.......2000-01-06

Perhaps the author should have written a history of the Northwest, and northern railroads. I found very little of the persona of James J. Hill in this. It is a very historical narritive, not very biographic.

Great Book !.......1999-09-07

A new favorite of our staff..and recomended to our members who would like to understand the Northwest in a brand new light. Malone is an excellent writer and this book a gem !

A good brief bio of the Empire Builder.......1997-05-12

Malone's book is a good introduction for people interested in the early history of the Northwest, the Great Northern Railway, and the man who greatly influenced both. While not as detailed as Martin's 1976 bio, Martin's is at least twice as long and too tedious for many readers.

Both Martin and Malone had access to the James J. Hill papers, a collection of almost every business paper Hill ever handled that is located in the Hill Reference Library in St. Paul, MN. Except for Pyle, previous Hill biographers and railroad historians did not see those papers, such much of what they say is more rumor than fact. Malone (and Martin) set the stories straight.

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Jumbo Elliot
James Elliot
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTEX4Q

Product Description

Nostalgia can serve as a vital tool in the emotional reconstitution and preservation of suppressed histories, rather than sentimentally privileging the past at the expense of present concerns and limiting a culture's progressive potential. Between 1936 and 1938, responding to a military coup in Spain led by Francisco Franco with the support of both Hitler and Mussolini, over 2700 US anti-fascists joined 30,000 volunteers from around the world to form the International Brigade. They came together to defend the democratically elected Spanish government against this early manifestation of the fascist Axis. After three bloody years, Franco's rebellion succeeded, and his dictatorship lasted until his death in 1975. From the moment the first American volunteers returned home, and to this day, they have been holding commemorative events recalling the struggle. For nearly seventy years, the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade have cited and re-cited their activist past in theatrically eclectic, highly emotional commemorative performances, a site for both nostalgia and progressive politics. Literary recitations, scripted dramaticpieces, songs, films, photographs, and celebrity appearances have been juxtaposed with speeches, fundraising, and a rigorous attention to pressing political and social concerns of the day. The history and content of these events is detailed and analyzed here based on a combination of archival and ethnographic evidence. The exemplary role of songs from the war, as both nostalgic triggers and historical artifacts, is also examined. Commemorations of the Spanish Civil War have provided necessary anchors for a period in US history when views now thought extreme were an accepted part of mass political discourse. Through this rich, inter-generational performance practice, a marginalized, vernacular political minority has deployed radical nostalgia as a necessary corrective to an official culture disinterested in America's leftist past, and threatened by its implications.

Customer Reviews:

A Valuable Resource for Every Would-Be Book Author.......2006-05-10

Here's a fascinating look at the bestseller lists from the last century from a true expert and long-time book editor, Michael Korda. I appreciated this cultural look at what makes the list.

In his introduction, Korda writes, "Despite the inherent suspicion on the part of authors that the list is manipulated by somebody, in fact it isn't controlled by publishers any more than it is by bookstores. Of course many of the books on it are reasonably predictable--particularly novels by big, established authors--but at least half of the books on any given week's bestseller list are there to the immense surprise and puzzlement of their publishersd."

See the hope for authors built into the information about bestseller lists? I often recommend this title to writers.

A Skimpy Guide.......2005-10-29

Korda is certainly as intimate with the American bestseller list as it is possible for anyone to be, he's appeared as a writer on both the fiction (1985 for Queenie) and non-fiction (1975 for Power!) lists, and edited something like 40-50 bestsellers during his long tenure at the Simon & Shuster publishing house. However, his intimacy does not really translate into the deep insights and analysis that most readers will be looking for. The book's ten chapters each cover a decade, with a skimpy essay followed by the decade's year-by-year list. The essays attempt to draw parallels between the decade's zeitgeist and the books that appeared on the bestseller list -- and to a certain very superficial extent, this is accomplished. However, as Korda himself points out, until very recently bestseller lists didn't address the huge paperback market. And it is this less pricey market which might more accurately reflect popular tastes! Nor does Korda spend much time explaining how the bestseller lists are constructed, a process whose methodology might further skew results.

In any event, Korda does make a few interesting propositions. Foremost is the notion that American reading tastes are cyclical, and you can look at any decade and find the same kinds of books as might appear in another. For example, historical fiction ebbs and flows, as does the women's novel, political biography, and so forth. And self-help, cooking, diet, and "fad" books (such as crossword books, or game guides), have been around since the beginning. Korda is also keen to point out that the public's taste is not as low-brow as many characterize it, and presents many examples of good serious fiction from the years. Along the way, he touches upon major changes in publishing and the bookselling industry (such as the rise of discounting during the Depression, and rise of mall and chain bookstores in the 70s), but again, not in as much depth as one might like. Indeed, the whole book is a rather superficial riff on the topic, with the actual text totaling only about 100 pages. It's perhaps best read as a reminder to forgotten works that one might want to seek out.

It isn't the books,it's the book business........2004-12-02

I just came across this book a couple of days ago at my local 'big box bookstore'.I enjoy 'books about books'and this one certainly falls into that category.I have never paid much attention to bestseller lists for a couple of reasons.First,I tend to read mainly non fiction.I have found the fiction writers I enjoy,and except for Steinbeck,Twain and one or two others, are not on the bestseller lists.So,of all the fiction out there,new and old,I find so much to read that I don't need a list to tell me what is a bestseller and must be read.Although I have read several of the best seller writers,I haven't been enthused enough to read all their stuff;Larry McMurtry being the exception.I guess he falls into the one a year bestsellers;
but even some of his are getting to feel like publish or perish books.To me, it seems that with most artists their early stuff is the best.I find that so with Steinbeck,Erskine Caldwell,McMurtry and most of my favorite writers.
Merle Haggard once stated that his earlier work was his best because he lived the experiences then but not any longer.I find the same with authors.
I found this book very good in that it demonstrates that best seller lists are something created and pushed by the book publishing and selling industry,and for their interests and not necessarily the buyers and readers of their products.In other words,it is primarily a marketing tool,and while probably very useful to them,not particularyy for the reader who finds his own treasures to read;and doesn't just read to follow what is being pushed in the media.
The book business has had a very rough ride in the last several years and has tended to play catch up or as often said,"lead the parade from the rear."This is very evident from reading this book.The customer (reader)will decide what to read not the marketeer.No matter how much the establishment tries to push their preference it doesn't change anything.
A couple of statements in the book are very telling:
"the bestseller list began to resemble a club that was hard to break into" pg.172
"Do you guys realize how much money the company would make if you only published bestsellers?" pg.173
""a publishing house that plays it safe,even if it satisfies
it's corporate parent,will sooner or later collapse." pg.197
"the bestseller lists of the nineties made for relatively depressing reading,except to accountants." pg.199
"In 1990,for example,the fiction list for the year contained not a single newcomer-all fifteen who made it were established,familiar bestselling writers,most of them on a yearly basis.It was,if you like,the triumph of brand-name merchandizing applied to books." pg.196. In other words the lazy approach.
A great read to see what bestseller lists are all about.

Review of Recorded Books on Tape version.......2002-10-16

This is not a book that lends itself to a good audio recording. Listening to the "text" portions of the books was fine - very enjoyable and very informative - however, it is impossible to listen to the lists of published books without getting bored. I ended up fast forwarding through the book lists and probably missed some of the text as well.

Yes, I recommend this book - but read it - don't listen to it.

Worthwhile for book-hounds.......2002-06-24

Although this "Cultural History of the American Bestseller" is somewhat light on actual text -- it's mostly full of the bestseller lists themselves, going back to 1900 -- it's an entertaining read if you're interested in books. There's a natural tendency to be sort of skeptical of popularity, and one of Korda's themes is that many books that have been popular have also been extremely good. (Literary fiction, etc, always has a place on the charts.) And actually what's most revealing is how the mix of what's on the big lists has really changed very little, or at least it comes and goes in regular cycles. Romances go out -- then they're back in. The sprawling historical epic rises, falls, rises again. There's always some Tom Clancy equivalent cranking out a book of year, and topping the sales rankings every time. It's too bad Korda's text sometimes veers toward the superficial, and a more careful edit would have removed some of his repetitions, but the book is still a fun way to fill a few hours -- and the list of lists alone is a thing worth having.

Making the List A Cultural History of the American Bestseller 1900-1999 [Unabridged] [Audiobook] by Korda, Michael

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Making the List A Cultural History of the American Bestseller 1900-1999 [Unabridged] [Audiobook] by Korda, Michael
Michael Korda
Manufacturer: Recorded Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
ASIN: 1402518722

Book Description

BradyGames Battle Realms: Winter of the Wolf Official Strategy Guide features maps and strategy for the new missions in Kenji's continuing journey. Complete coverage of the Clans, including a rundown of units and structures for each, plus tactics for upgrading them. Multiplayer tactics and skirmish maps give gamers strategies for crushing their opponents. Updated charts and tables are included to help players understand all critical items in the game.

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Battle Realms Official Strategy Guide
Bart G. Farkas , and Bart Farkas
Manufacturer: BRADY GAMES
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Video Games | Games & Strategy Guides | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Video & Electronic Games | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0744000963

Book Description

BradyGames Battle Realms Official Strategy Guide provides detailed strategies for the various missions in the game. Comprehensive coverage of the four main clans along with tips for utilizing and maximizing each component of the living resource system. Complete coverage of rare heroes, also known as Zen Masters, and their mystical abilities.

Amazon.com

PHP and MySQL go hand in hand; the former has been carefully adapted, through the efforts of the open-source community, to the latter. For situations that require dynamic content but don't merit the complexity and development time of Java or .NET enterprise applications, the PHP language and the MySQL database server fit the bill perfectly. That's the point Hugh Williams and David Lane make in Web Database Applications with PHP & MySQL, which combines language tutorials with application design advice to yield a comprehensive picture of its subjects at a reasonable price. Williams and Lane--both Australian academics who use an online wine store in many of their examples--deserve tremendous kudos for their way of presenting recommended coding strategies. Though the code listings themselves aren't remarkably well commented, the authors do a commendable job of explaining in prose what the code is up to.

Case in point: The ever-essential task of using PHP to open a connection to a MySQL database, submit a query to that database, receive a response, and format the returned rows, if any. The book addresses this problem with a straight code listing, followed by text that explains what's happening in five numbered steps. Similar care goes to the other popular applications of the PHP/MySQL duo: session management, shopping carts, and authentication of users. --David Wall

Topics covered: How to use the PHP server-side scripting language and the MySQL database engine to underlie dynamic Web sites (those that rely on database queries) and full-on Web applications, such as those that require session management and maintenance of user rosters. Tutorials in both subjects begin with the basics and proceed through moderately complicated stuff, though there's no absolutely comprehensive reference here.

Book Description

There are many reasons for serving up dynamic content from a web site: to offer an online shopping site, create customized information pages for users, or just manage a large volume of content through a database. Anyone with a modest knowledge of HTML and web site management can learn to create dynamic content through the PHP programming language and the MySQL database. This book gives you the background and tools to do the job safely and reliably. Web Database Applications with PHP and MySQL, Second Edition thoroughly reflects the needs of real-world applications. It goes into detail on such practical issues as validating input (do you know what a proper credit card number looks like?), logging in users, and using templates to give your dynamic web pages a standard look. But this book goes even further. It shows how JavaScript and PHP can be used in tandem to make a user's experience faster and more pleasant. It shows the correct way to handle errors in user input so that a site looks professional. It introduces the vast collection of powerful tools available in the PEAR repository and shows how to use some of the most popular tools. Even while it serves as an introduction to new programmers, the book does not omit critical tasks that web sites require. For instance, every site that allows updates must handle the possibility of multiple users accessing data at the same time. This book explains how to solve the problem in detail with locking. Through a sophisticated sample application--Hugh and Dave's Wine Store--all the important techniques of dynamic content are introduced. Good design is emphasized, such as dividing logic from presentation. The book introduces PHP 5 and MySQL 4.1 features, while providing techniques that can be used on older versions of the software that are still in widespread use. This new edition has been redesigned around the rich offerings of PEAR. Several of these, including the Template package and the database-independent query API, are fully integrated into examples and thoroughly described in the text. Topics include:

Installation and configuration of Apache, MySQL, and PHP on Unix®, Windows®, and Mac OS® X systems
Introductions to PHP, SQL, and MySQL administration
Session management, including the use of a custom database for improved efficiency
User input validation, security, and authentication
The PEAR repository, plus details on the use of PEAR DB and Template classes
Production of PDF reports

Customer Reviews:

MySQl-PHP textbook.......2007-02-19

As usual in text books, there is a lot of useless information that is not necessary, but since writers are paid by the word, this is to be expected.

I wish there was a section on MySQL commands.

I really like this book.......2006-11-18

I really like this book--direct, no-nonsense, and intelligently written with a minimum of jokes.

One thing that seems strange, that I'm hoping someone can clarify:

In the section of chapter 8 dealing with transactions and concurrency, there is no mention of setting transaction isolation levels (SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL command in MySQL). Instead, concurrency is achieved solely by setting table locks.

I can sort of understand this in that the authors are using MyISAM tables. But why no mention of transaction isolation levels using INNODB tables, given that this is the more standard way of dealing with concurrency issues?

Fairly Useful.......2006-11-06

The book got me off the ground with my first client application, a rudimentary database maintenance system. Most valuable were the techniques and thorough understanding required to build a satisfactory security component.

However, it falls way short as a reference tool and could have included a more comprehensive list of mysql functions.

Buy this book.......2006-10-26

If your having trouble deciding on a book for your php & mysql development buy this book. It covers all major aspects of php and mysql web development and then some. You will find something useful on every page of this book, and theres a good amount of book here.

Disappointingly poor index.......2006-06-28

I'm new to PHP and MySQL, but a programmer for over 3 decades. I'm customizing some PHP code, using code examples for ideas. When I (a) see something I want to understand better or (b) want to find the PHP analog for basic functions, I naturally turn to the index to try to find the information I need. However, I found the index very disappointing because of what it doesn't have. For example, simple and basic keywords are not in the index: "comment", "logical operator", "and", "or", etc. I'm going to have order a different book as a PHP reference.

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I'm an accidental fireman too!

Engaging fireman

Working Fire: The Making of a Fireman
Zac Unger
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Firefighting & Prevention | Civil Service | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Working Fire: The Making of an Accidental Fireman

Firefighters: Their Lives in Their Own Words

The Greatest Firefighter Stories Never Told

Report from Engine Co. 82

The Last Men Out: Life on the Edge at Rescue 2 Firehouse

ASIN: 0143034952
Release Date: 2005-02-22

Book Description

Zac Unger didnÂ't feel like much of a fireman at first. Most of his fellow recruits seemed to have planned for the job all their lives; he was an Ivy League grad responding to an ad at a bus stop. He couldnÂ't keep his boots shined, and he looked terrible in his uniform. Working Fire is the story of how, from this unlikely beginning, Zac Unger came to feel at home among this close- knit tribe, came to master his workÂ's demands, and came to know what it is to see the world through a firefighterÂ's eyes. From the raw material of his daysÂ' workÂ—alarm calls both harrowing and hilarious, moments of triumph and griefÂ—Unger has forged a timeless story of finding oneÂ's path, and a rousing adventure about the bravery and sacrifice of everyday heroes.

Customer Reviews:

I'm an accidental fireman too!.......2006-03-16

I absolutely loved this book. It is as close to understanding what it's like to be a fireman as you can ever get...without actually becoming one. I passed it along to my family & friends just so I could say "Here...THIS is what my job is like".

Unlike many other books...Working Fire tells the story of firefighting from the point of view of somebody who didn't grow up with fire in their blood & soot in their lungs. Unger fell into firefighting...whereas so many others view it as a birthright, passed down from father to son.

The best thing abotu this book is that it's so well-written that you don't have to be a firefighter, firefighter's family member...or even a fire buff to enjoy it. It's a great story about a unique character.

Engaging fireman.......2005-04-25

Unger joined the Oakland Fire Department in the 1990's. An Ivy League grad, son of Berkeley intellectuals, he had a calling for dangerous, physical, activities that baffled his parents. From feeling, and looking, like a fish out of water, he learned to be a part of the close-knit tribe of firefighters. Mixing just the right amount of self-analysis with a healthy dose of anecdotes and observations about the social, physical, and physical challenges of big-city firefighting, Unger manages to infuse the narrative with a sense of duty, honor, and respect without sounding sappy. He notes that firefighters spend most of their time answering medical emergency calls, often among the city's least respectable populations. He describes the visceral joy of destruction, chopping one's way through walls and roofs to quench a raging structure fire, of demolishing an expensive car to save the accident victim trapped within. Engaging.

Working Fire: The Making of an Accidental Fireman

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Working Fire: The Making of an Accidental Fireman
what the job is today
The closest thing to actually riding the fire engine
more men than heros
Transcends Typical "Fish Out of Water" Memoir

Working Fire: The Making of an Accidental Fireman
Zac Unger
Manufacturer: Penguin Press HC, The
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Firefighting & Prevention | Civil Service | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1594200017
Release Date: 2004-03-08

Book Description

A remarkable memoir, by turns funny and deeply moving, of one man's coming into his calling and his transformation from ambivalent Ivy League grad to skilled and dedicated firefighter.

Zac Unger didn't feel like much of a firefighter at first. Most of his fellow recruits seemed to have planned for the job all their lives; he was an Ivy League grad responding to a help-wanted ad at an Oakland bus stop. He couldn't keep his boots shined, and he looked horrible in his uniform. Working Fire is the story of how, from this unlikely beginning, Zac Unger came to feel at home among this close-knit tribe, came to master his work's demands, and came to know what it is to see the city of Oakland through a firefighter's eyes.

From the materials of his day's work-the harrowing calls and the hilarious, the moments of triumph and of grief-Zac Unger has forged a timeless story of finding one's path. He never takes himself too seriously, but he comes to take his job very seriously. Because he tells his story with such extraordinary empathy and wit, his fierce passion for his work, his comrades, and the city he protects becomes our own.

Customer Reviews:

Working Fire: The Making of an Accidental Fireman.......2006-03-25

I found this book to be incredibly funny, heartwarming, entertaining and very enlightening as to how our beloved firefighters live their lives. They remain our greatest unsung heros. I could hardly put the book down.

what the job is today.......2005-12-16

As a fireman, I have been looking for the contemporary replacement for the 1970s tome "Report from Engine Co. 82" since I first read Dennis Smith's account of the FDNY. I read and reread Smith's book, checking it out of the library at least once a year until it was rereleased in hardback in the 1990s and I bought my own copy. The fire service has changed since the days when the south Bronx and other parts of other cities were burning at a rate unprecedented before or since. With the advent of emergency medicine and active fire prevention and investigation bureaus, our job has grown in the thirty years since Smith's Bronx burned. Before my career is over I expect as much development or more. These changes only firemen can truly see -- from within the ranks.
In "Working Fire," Zac Unger communicates which traditions remain and which traditions are changing in his piece of the firefighting community, while more broadly presenting the daily reality of the modern municipal fire department. On objective terms, a previous reviewer condemns the firefighting aspects of Unger's book. "Working Fire" it is not a training manual. Nor does it claim to be. The reality is that the specific skills Zac Unger learned on his first days in training are very different than the skills he uses or needs daily on the streets of Oakland. Unger's book is not meant to belittle the pain or suffering of others through its accounts. Nor is it meant to glorify obcenely the acts firemen peform. Unger tells the job as he sees it -- as it stands at the turn of the twenty-first century, in a fire department where tradition is met head-on with the needs of a contemporary society. I have been looking for the new "Report from Engine Co. 82." I have found it.

The closest thing to actually riding the fire engine.......2005-08-19

This is a well written account of what its like to be a firefighter. From the initial training through the probationary period and on towards becoming a veteran, Unger takes the reader through each stage of his career. The vivid language allows the reader to experience the conditions inside a burning structure as the firefighters struggle to contain the fire and save lives. Every aspect of the descriptions here rings true, and Unger has provided a compelling and honest glimpse of the struggles and triumphs of life in the fire station.

more men than heros.......2005-04-22

Very good story, real descriptions of fire life as seen from an outsider who, slowly, join our strange world.
I enjoyed the deeply drawn stories of everyday firefighting, with no heros and with all the lacks and concerns of real life.
Well written too, with irony and neat descriptions of people in and out the fire station.

I am always surprised to read how the fire experiences of a fireman of another country could be similar to mine (italy here).

Transcends Typical "Fish Out of Water" Memoir.......2004-11-08

(Note: this may be a duplicate review.) As a librarian, I am guilty of reading many books and commenting on few. "Working Fire" was just too good not to say so to others.

"Working Fire" is an entertaining, honest, and frequently humorous story of Unger's transformation from crunchy Californian and Ivy Leaguer to firefighter. Like Ted Conover's excellent "Newjack," Unger uses the fish-out-of-water theme to take us deep inside a profession most of us only barely understand. Unlike "Newjack," in "Working Fire" we know that Unger wants to become part of this profession, not just observe it for a while, and this adds elements of tension and authenticity that place this book above reportage and make it a classic coming-of-age story. Unger isn't quite as much out of his element as he would like to make us think--we see that when he makes it through firefighting school while others do not--but the constant tension between his past and present life will keep you turning pages, and the well-drawn characters and situations that serve as foils for his development are entertaining as well.

Unger also wisely limited the number of fire scenes. Those he uses are swashbuckling good reading, but are drawn swiftly enough so that readers with only a nominal interest in firefighting will not lose interest in the larger story. (That said, I turned pages without stopping during these scenes, in part because most of the fire scenes are really about Unger, people, and the larger theme of transformation.)

It is also refreshing to read a memoir where the subject is not in recovery, the parents are not evil, and many of the characters are well-meaning and likeable.

"Working Fire" is due out in paper in 2005. With its readability, essential humanity, and "something for everyone" appeal, "Working Fire" would make a great pick for a book club, but it is also a great choice for anyone looking for a good story well told.

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WORKING FIRE: THE MAKING OF AN ACCIDENTAL FIREMAN
Zac Unger
Manufacturer: Penguin Press, The
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PWU0NA

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Working Fire The Making of an Accidental Fireman
Unger Zac
Manufacturer: The Penguin Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UF72LU

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Working Fire: The Making of a Fireman
Zac Unger
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJACFA

Book Description

First published by UNC Press in 1972, Sugar and Slaves presents a vivid portrait of English life in the Caribbean more than three centuries ago. Using a host of contemporary primary sources, Richard Dunn traces the development of plantation slave society in the region. He examines sugar production techniques, the vicious character of the slave trade, the problems of adapting English ways to the tropics, and the appalling mortality rates for both blacks and whites that made these colonies the richest, but in human terms the least successful, in English America.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Research .......2006-02-26

Dunn does an excellent job of explaining the planter class in the West Indies. His research is excellent and his writing style is clear and devoid of that crazy academic jargon so often found in history books. This is my first book on planters and it gave me a good fund of knowledge on the histories of Barbados, the Leeward Islands, and Jamaica, and it outlined in detail how the planters made or lost money. For me, it's Dunn's careful unraveling of the planters' financial arrangements and entanglements that made this book absolutely hard to put down!

the brutality of the West Indies slave trade.......2003-01-01

In "Sugar and Slaves," Richard Dunn shows not only the brutality of the West Indies slave trade that revolved around sugar, but also how slave owners "created a society...radically different from the one they left at home." He notes that while these planters brought with them to the islands their laws, church and social institutions, these settlers early on "developed their own lifestyle...bent by their eager embrace of African slavery." (46) Dunn persuasively argues that European planters who came to the West Indies traveled literally and figuratively "beyond the line" of normal, British social conventions, and created a world in which "everything goes," particularly the exploitation of slaves and natives in the creation of a dominant master class. These rapacious men, he argues, quickly adapted to harsh climatic conditions by abandoning the use of lower class but white indentured servants in favor of exploitable, controllable Negroes once the sugar boom created a demand. "The rape's progress was fatally easy," Dunn notes: "from exploiting the English poor to abusing colonial bondservants to ensnaring kidnaps and convicts to enslaving black Africans." (73) Unlike his Chesapeake or Lowcountry counterpart, the West Indies sugar lord produced nothing but his staple crop, and relied instead on imports for all other necessities. "In short, the English sugar planter was more strictly a businessman than the senhor de engenho of Brazil." (65) This was a marked difference from other English settlement and colonization patterns, which Dunn concludes is evidence of the atypical class of planter the Caribbean islands fashioned.

Thorough and Readable Study of Plantation Development.......2000-03-27

Richard S. Dunn examines the British colonialization of the West Indies. Dunn considers numerous colonies, but Barbados takes early preeminence. Dunn discusses the adventurers of the first twenty years, mostly small-scale farmers; the cavalier-planters of the 1640s and '50s, Royalist exiles who fled the English Civil War; and the slaves who became a majority of the population in the period Dunn considers.

Dunn offers a detailed contrast between the lives of the planter elite and the enslaved majority. This is a landmark work in the history of plantation agriculture in the West Indies.

The work should also interest readers of Southern history. Dunn compares the rise of a cavalier elite in Barbados to the same development in Virginia. Planters from the West Indies, especially Barbados, dominated the early years of the colony of (South) Carolina.

Other works on this period of West Indian history are Richard Sheridan's Sugar and Slavery and Gary Puckrein's Little England. Works by Hilary Beckles examine the lives of women and Blacks in this period of West Indian history.

Book Description

Exercise your imagination and set off sparks of genius. Explore the "thinking tools" of extraordinary people, from Albert Einstein and Jane Goodall to Amadeus Mozart and Virginia Woolf, and learn how you can practice the same imaginative skills to become your creative best. With engaging narratives and ample illustrations, Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein investigate cognitive tools as diverse as observing, imaging, recognizing patterns, modeling, playing, and more. SPARKS OF GENIUS is "a clever, detailed and demanding fitness program for the creative mind" (Kirkus Reviews) and a groundbreaking guidebook for anyone interested in imaginative thinking, lifelong learning, and transdisciplinary education.

Customer Reviews:

A treasure of insights to be uncovered by readers.......2005-09-19

This is a special book. The authors categorize different modalities of creative activities into 13 different components, and then discuss them in detail, in the format of listing dozens and dozens of quotations from the creative people in the arts and the sciences. The large amount of quotations, subsumed under different categories, is the valuable service done by the authors. How to extract from those gems of quotations something whose significance goes beyond the categorial subsumption is something the authors do not do much. So, it is quite typical that taking away the quotations and descriptions from a chapter, you may often find only one or two pages (sometimes even one or two passages) really contributed by the authors as their interpretations and elaborations of the underlying signficance of the modalities. For the readers who want ready-made guidelines on creative thinking, they might be a little disappointed. But for those who enjoy digesting the insights by themselves and form their own interpretative constructions, this book is a good one.

Informative and Lacks Inspiration.......2005-01-29

This is not a how-to-book. The Root-Bernsteins present thirteen characteristics of what they view as genius. With each chapter they list examples from art, literature, and a variety of other disciplines. I have never encountered references to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Bruno Schulz within two pages of each other. The book lacks enthusiasm. Someone like Desmond Morris or Steven Pinker could of made this material really compelling. Still this book is more insightful than one that encourages someone to visualize certain object to make you an Einstein.

Comprehensive and insightful.......2004-05-20

Sparks of Genius is an excellent analysis of the variety of different types of "tools" or techniques that innovators and creators use. I agree with many of the other reviewers that the authors provide copious examples. For some, this was overdoing it, but for myself, the examples were well selected and properly used to illustrate the tools at issue. I never felt bored or annoyed by them.

Unlike some reviewers, I felt that the authors did provide a solid theoretical or conceptual framework, and not merely a laundry list of examples. Indeed, I was particularly impressed by their identification and explanation of the reasons behind the deep linkages between artistic and scientific endeavors, and by the interesting explorations of the interplay of artistic and scientific discovery in many noted thinkers. Science education in general would be much more interesting to the average student if standard textbooks fleshed out the often artistic interests of the great scientists as well as the Root-Bernsteins.

I would take the Root-Bernsteins to task however, for the rather prosaic presentation of their material. In particular, its a shame for them to so heavily emaphasize visualization and multimodal representation, and to cite the work of Edward Tufte, and then present such a conventionally design book of text and relatively limited and often poorly placed figures, oddly located "appendices" etc. The illustrations, layouot, typesetting, and overall design should have itself been reflective of their subject matter. Perhaps a second edition would rectify this oversight.

Finally, I note that they could have better "rationalized" or categorized the various "tools" they identify, and thereby perhaps shortened the book. For example, Body Thinking is really just another type of Imagining, that is imaging with the body. These captures could have been combined.

Overall, an excellent, enjoyable read. Most non-fiction works like this take me weeks to read. This one I literally could not put down. Recommended.

weak.......2002-01-15

Skip this book in favor of spending time inventing YOUR OWN genius. If you think this is a manual for becoming smart, forget it. The gifts are doled out at birth and the best we can hope to do is make the most of what we have.

Besides, 'genius' only means 'spirit'. The geniuses of the world are spirited people. Look inside to find that, not in the pages of this book.

did not care for this book.......2002-01-08

To me, it seemed like the authors did not write from personal experience. It seemed more like a research project. It reads like a textbook, very impersonal, almost aloof. Nothing wrong with that. I was hoping for a little more, like insight from someone who has been there.

Thinking Tools.(Review): An article from: American Scientist

Average customer rating:

Thinking Tools.(Review): An article from: American Scientist

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

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Sparks of Genius: the Thirteen Thinking Tools of the World's Most Creative People

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Sparks of Genius: the Thirteen Thinking Tools of the World's Most Creative People
Robert Scott Root-bernstein
Manufacturer: Mariner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N7CDB4

Book Description

The careers and ideas of four figures of monumental importance in the history of American conservation—George Perkins Marsh, Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and John Wesley Powell—are explored in A Word for Nature. Robert Dorman offers lively portraits of each of these early environmental advocates, who witnessed firsthand the impact of economic expansion and industrial revolution on fragile landscapes from the forests of New England to the mountains of the West.

By examining the nineteenth-century world in which the four men lived—its society, economy, politics, and culture—Dorman sheds light on the roots of American environmentalism. He provides an overview of the early decades of both resource conservation and wilderness preservation, discussing how Marsh, Thoreau, Muir, and Powell helped define the issues that began changing the nation's attitudes toward its environment by the early twentieth century. Dorman's readings of works including Marsh's Man and Nature, Thoreau's The Maine Woods, Muir's The Mountains of California, and Powell's Report on the Lands of the Arid Region reveal their authors' influence on environmental thought and politics even up to the present day.

Customer Reviews:

Four environmentalists, before the term was invented.......2002-01-03

Dorman explores the origins of American conservation and environmentalism by studying four key men of the nineteenth century -- George Perkins Marsh (1801-1882), Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), John Muir (1838-1914), and John Wesley Powell (1834-1902). Thoreau and Muir appear often in works of this kind, and Powell is occasionally added and is best known for his trip down the Colorado River and into the Grand Canyon. But what of Marsh? This Vermont lawyer, legislator, and industrialist published the book _Man and Nature_ in 1864. His travels to Europe and the Middle East were part of his enlightenment into the relationship between humans and Nature. He was one of the first individuals to admit that "all nature is linked together by invisible bonds" and to see man as a "destructive power" in the scenario. He recommended restoration efforts for the rampant deforestation in the northeastern America of the mid-1800s and suggested governmental control of such an endeavor, in spite of that institution's many failings. For the biography of Marsh alone, Dorman's book is worthwhile reading. But even if you think you already know the basics about the other three personalities, you'll learn something new here. Dorman doesn't just rehash old information; he provides a fresh interpretation of their contributions, illustrating the societal influences that formed their belief systems, and connecting each man to at least one of the other three at least once. A good addition to the 21st-century environmentalist's bookshelf.

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