Book Description
"
Gardens of New Spain is certainly approachable by gardeners, cooks, and amateurs of Southwestern studies as well as professional historians...it is an important addition to the sparse literature in English on the Old Southwest in the colonial era."
—
Sixteenth Century Journal
"This scholarly document will be as enduring as the plants upon which it focuses and will reach a wide public audience because of its writing style."
—
New Mexico Historical Review
"With a light hand, William Dunmire traces the fascinating journeys of plants—from the gardens of the Alhambra, to the floating gardens of Xochimilco, to the sunken gardens of California's Mission San Luis Rey, and to all points in between. Deeply learned, with splendid maps, illustrations, and tables, this is an invaluable reference, but it is also a delight to read."
—David Weber, Robert and Nancy Dedman Professor of History and Director of the William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Southern Methodist University
When the Spanish began colonizing the Americas in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, they brought with them the plants and foods of their homeland—wheat, melons, grapes, vegetables, and every kind of Mediterranean fruit. Missionaries and colonists introduced these plants to the native peoples of Mexico and the American Southwest, where they became staple crops alongside the corn, beans, and squash that had traditionally sustained the original Americans. This intermingling of Old and New World plants and foods was one of the most significant fusions in the history of international cuisine and gave rise to many of the foods that we so enjoy today.
Gardens of New Spain tells the fascinating story of the diffusion of plants, gardens, agriculture, and cuisine from late medieval Spain to the colonial frontier of Hispanic America. Beginning in the Old World, William Dunmire describes how Spain came to adopt plants and their foods from the Fertile Crescent, Asia, and Africa. Crossing the Atlantic, he first examines the agricultural scene of Pre-Columbian Mexico and the Southwest. Then he traces the spread of plants and foods introduced from the Mediterranean to Spain's settlements in Mexico, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and California. In lively prose, Dunmire tells stories of the settlers, missionaries, and natives who blended their growing and eating practices into regional plantways and cuisines that live on today in every corner of America.
Customer Reviews:
This book is so delicious - you cant' buy just one!.......2005-01-22
William W. Dunmire's book just published in October of 2004, Gardens of New Spain: How Mediterranean Plants and Foods Changed America, was much anticipated in the field of public history. Dunmire worked in the field of interpretation (writing and exhibiting scholarly data in an entertaining and educational format for the public) in various park sites and administrative positions for the National Park Service for over thirty years. He now teaches at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. This stimulating work was supported and promoted by such noted historians in the specialty area of New Spain as Dr. Felix Almaraz, Dr. Rosalind Rock, and Dr. James Ivy. UTSA historian and Associate Professor, Dr. Kolleen M. Guy, used this work "hot off the press" for her fall 04 graduate seminar in Food and Drink and reported that,
"This book is generally being well received by scholars of Latin American history and borderlands studies. The book definitely opens up new areas of research. I think that we should take public historians and the work that they do quite seriously." (personal e-mail reference)
Dunmire argued that it was "one agricultural society colliding with another (Spanish and native inhabitants) over the last 350 years that forever reshaped the land and the people of America." He restated this argument in other ways: "the proliferation of Old World Foods...ushering in the grandest blending in history of international cuisines," "...the illustrious plant way from Spain had provided the grandest migration of plants, agriculture, and foodstuff in all of human history, and "the one-time clash of cultures has softened into a blend of people and ideas...."
His approach and argument was one of the so-called new methods of historiography, a different perspective, a definite departure from: the Boltonians standpoint developed in the 1915s, Carlos Castenada's Catholic view of the 1930s and 40s, and Habig's and Weddle's positive Catholic, pro-Spanish emphasis in the 1960s. Surprisingly, Dunmire blended the colorful and narrative details of Bancroft's collection and concept of destiny with a naturalist's passion for relating interactions between men, plants, and animals. His emphasis on foods crisscrossing the globe and the motives and technology associated with food's global influence and production gave this book a unique flavor (no pun intended). Weber, Chipman (who Dunmire greatly credits for his support and input on this work), and Dunmire all agree that the reader should look at New World events from all the players' points of view. Here is a yummy, 360 degree perspective that is fascinating to ingest. The tables, maps, and illustrations are one of a kind, accurate, and easy to absorb. This is a book you'll want to have in your kitchen and in your scholarly library!
Where does your food come from?.......2004-12-06
Ever wonder where the tomato you are eating or the lemon you are squeezing really came from? This book has the definitive answers in an easy to read and enlightening format. It is for foodies and gardeners everywhere but focuses on foods that are central to the Mediterranean diet. Cherries, peaches, squash, coffee and chocolate all feature prominently in this food guide. It is a stomach's point of view of the Spanish colonization of the Americas with plenty of information about the natives and the foods that they were meeting. Gardeners will love the detailed descriptions of native gardening and irrigation techniques from the elaborate Aztec chinampas or floating gardens to Hohokam irrigation techniques.
My favorite part is the description of Spanish and Aztec feasts during the mid-16th century. The viceroy's banquet, "Course after course featured an abundance of meats: roasted goat kids, baked hams, and chickens along with native rabbits and venison, doves, and quail (but no turkeys). Heads of hogs, calves, and deer paraded in grand presentation featuring a musical accompaniment with trumpets, wind instruments, guitars and dulcimers...Contrast this repast to the Aztec feast...That one too, highlighted meat courses, but the Aztec selection seems much lighter, almost dainty: lobsters, sardines, frogs, tadpoles, salamanders, small birds, turkeys, winged ants, and locusts (to say nothing of the sauced gophers)."
If you access history through your stomach or are interested in how native Americans in the desert Southwest managed to water their gardens; you will really enjoy this book.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Geographical Review, published by Thomson Gale on July 1, 2004. The length of the article is 1075 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: Gardens of New Spain: How Mediterranean Plants and Foods Changed America.(Book Review)
Author: Karl W. Butzer
Publication:
The Geographical Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: July 1, 2004
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 94
Issue: 3
Page: 405(3)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
|
Sun Angles for Design
Robert Bennett
Manufacturer: Melrose Plantation Press.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Astronomy
| Astronomy
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Astronomy
| Astronomy
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0960171819 |
Average customer rating:
|
Annual Reports in Computational Chemistry, Volume 1 (Annual Reports in Computational Chemistry)
Manufacturer: Elsevier Science
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Analytic
| Chemistry
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General & Reference
| Chemistry
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Physical & Theoretical
| Chemistry
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Clinical Chemistry
| Pathology
| Specialties
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Analytic
| Chemistry
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General & Reference
| Chemistry
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Physical & Theoretical
| Chemistry
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Clinical Chemistry
| Pathology
| Internal Medicine
| Medicine
| Medical
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
All Amazon Upgrade
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Medicine
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Professional & Technical
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0444519165 |
Book Description
Annual Reports in Computational Chemistry is a new periodical providing timely and critical reviews of important topics in computational chemistry as applied to all chemical disciplines. Topics covered include quantum chemistry, molecular mechanics, force fields, chemical education, and applications in academic and industrial settings. Each volume is organized into (thematic) sections with contributions written by experts. Focusing on the most recent literature and advances in the field, each article covers a specific topic of importance to computational chemists.
Annual Reports in Computational Chemistry is a 'must' for researchers and students wishing to stay up-to-date on current developments in computational chemistry.
* Broad coverage of computational chemistry and up-to-date information
* The topics covered include quantum chemistry, molecular mechanics, force fields, chemical education, and applications in academic and industrial settings
* Each chapter reviews the most recent literature on a specific topic of interest to computational chemists
Average customer rating:
- Most inclusive info on MATLAB I've ever seen
|
The Student Edition of Matlab: Version 4 : User's Guide (The Matlab Curriculum Series)
MathWorks
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall College Div
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Applied
| Mathematics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Probability & Statistics
| Applied
| Mathematics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Applied
| Mathematics
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Computers & Internet
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Software
| Computers & Internet
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0131849794 |
Customer Reviews:
Most inclusive info on MATLAB I've ever seen.......2001-07-14
I love this book. Although MATLAB is beyond version 4, this is a deal as a used book. I have always been able to find the most obscure detail about MATLAB functions in it, and it remains on my bookshelf. My co-workers invariably ask "Can I look at your book?", when I come up with the answer to a problem they are having. The book's strength is the amount of detail given for each function, including examples, what each option does, the algorithms that are used for the function, and also info on which MATLAB function is better to use, if there are several choices. The "see also" entries are extremely useful. If the function doesn't quite meet your needs, I've found following the "see also" entries eventually leads you to what you want. It is the only book I've seen that gives extensive detail on GUIDE functions, which is the GUI-generating portion of MATLAB. If you are a GUI programmer, the GUIDE information here is invaluable. Even though this is a used book, most of the functions haven't changed in the more recent versions of MATLAB. Still has useful information.
Book Description
Although Jimmy Flatley had much to do with the U.S. victory over Japan, few outside the close-knit naval aviation community have heard his colorful story. A naval hero in every sense of the word according to former Chief of Naval Operations Admiral James L. Holloway III, Flatley was a formidable fighter pilot in combat, an inspiring leader, and a gifted operational planner. Flatley's combination of talents are fully examined in this biography and reveal why he was so vital to the war effort. Known to his squadron mates at Guadalcanal as "Reaper Leader," Flatley--with Jimmy Thach and Butch O'Hare--was instrumental in communicating tactical advice throughout naval aviation and changing the perception that the supposedly inferior F4F Wildcat fighter was actually superior to the Japanese Zero when properly utilized. His biographer, Steve Ewing, also explains how Flatley's combat experience established the credibility necessary for a middle grade officer to initiate sweeping changes in naval aviation both at the front and with the entrenched naval establishment.
The author credits Flatley's persistence and credibility for successes at Guadalcanal, Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. In post-war years these same qualities helped him make naval aviation what it is today by again challenging the status quo and effecting sweeping and significant changes in naval aviation safety. This biography is the second in a planned naval aviation trilogy that when complete will include the three notable carrier fighter tacticians in the Pacific war--Thach, O'Hare, and Flatley.
Customer Reviews:
The fighter who saved naval aviation.......2006-11-22
After six decades as a superpower, it may be hard for Americans to remember what a terribly small band of warriors stood between the United States and those wishing to do us harm in 1941.
The entire Navy then had fewer than a thousand fighter planes, some of them useless in modern combat, and only a cadre of pilots. Fortunately, although the military had been starved of men, machines and money, the American system was flexible, expandable and resilient. Among its few superb leaders was Jimmy Flatley.
He didn't look intimidating. Overwork and cigarettes kept his weight down to 120 pounds for most of World War II. But he was a thinker, a fighter, a teacher and a leader. When he led his aviators into combat -- his most famous group was the Grim Reapers -- they were a team.
Though outnumbered, in the early days, by the superbly trained and greatly experienced Japanese aviators, the Americans proved superior overall, in large part because of their political and moral system.
While the Japanese created difficulties for themselves, the Americans were notable for working their way around difficulties placed in the way by others. In Flatley's career, the notable example was his debate with the other great fighter leader of the Pacific war, Jimmie Thach, over the four-plane or six-plane interceptor division.
Although the difference may appear to be trivial, aerial combat was a matter of thin advantages, and Thach's idea -- the famous "Thach weave" -- proved vital, especially during the period when the Americans flew slower, less handy planes.
Flatley initially doubted Thach, but, in what biographer Steve Ewing says was characteristic of his moral courage, once persuaded, he admitted he had been wrong -- very publicly wrong -- and worked to educate the rest of the Navy.
Flatley was a positive man in every way. He once wrote a friend that he had "some very definite ideas and . . . the confidence of my own convictions."
He was right more than he was wrong, but his promotion to admiral was delayed because some brass hats thought he talked too much.
In the early '50s, when the Navy was struggling to adapt to the jet age, it was Flatley who changed the Navy's attitude to aviation safety. As a result, deaths dropped from one every 18 hours to one every 18 weeks.
Ewing says some other officers considered Flatley had saved naval aviation and that his peacetime safety leadership was even more important than his wartime heroics.
At every turn, Ewing emphasizes not Flatley's exciting battles but the qualities that allowed Flatley to lead his men successfully through them.
Flatley's outlook was conventional, a walking version of the Boy Scout oath. He was intelligent but not much of a standout in the classroom, steady, honorable. Nobody ever thought him profound.
To the public, he was one of the best-known naval aviators, a tireless speaker and writer.
His career as a publicist portrayed the defects of his virtues. A sort of premature McCarthyite, his frequent lectures on geopolitics were half-baked. Ewing attributes his opinions to "reading prominent newspapers," but he must have picked up many of his ideas from Roman Catholic sermons, more bellicose in those days than what we hear today. Flatley was a Holy Joe, and Ewing says his men, even if not religiously inclined themselves, respected him for his forthright preaching.
Flatley made an appealing personality -- tireless, a genuine war hero, a faithful and sober family man, he was what the bishops were looking for but didn't get when they adopted Joe McCarthy. There is little doubt that he would have been offered help to a national political career after retirement from the Navy -- which would have placed him on the stage at the height of John Kennedy's popularity -- but the cigarettes caught up with him when he was only 52.
A gentle man personally, and adopted as a surrogate father by many sailors when he rose to command ranks, Flatley never flinched from the violence of his calling. He was the ultimate professional, at a time when his country needed professionals more than anything else.
As Ewing says in summing up, "Anyone who knew Jimmy recognized he was always at war."
Book Description
In 1982, Dr. Robert Patenaude was diagnosed with leukemia. This book is the moving, first-hand account of his experience. From the first shock of hearing the diagnosis and the anguish of his hospitalization, to chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, the author gives a painfully frank description of his experiences and shows the incredible survival instinct that helped him beat the disease.
Patenaude offers the reader a complete and scientific understanding of leukemia. Each chapter is written in layman's terms and thoroughly covers the scope of its topic. Patenaude leads the reader through the different classifications of leukemia, how they progress and how they are treated. Scientific explanation is complemented by Patenaude's ability to explain the how and why of diagnosis, prognosis and treatment.
Chapter 1 tells Dr. Patenaude's own experiences with his leukemia.
Chapter 2 discusses matters relating to the circulatory system, such as: the cell; blood; plasma; types of blood cells; bone marrow; blood clot formation; and hemopoietic, cardiorespiratory, central nervous, digestive and urinary systems.
Chapter 3 describes different diagnostic tests: blood test; bone marrow puncture and the bone biopsy; rachicentesis; X-ray examinations; nuclear medicine; and surgery and diagnosis.
Chapter 4 examines malignant blood diseases such as cancer and the different types of leukemia and congenital diseases of the blood system.
Chapter 5 looks at the treatment of blood diseases: chemotherapy; radiotherapy; surgery; bone marrow transplant; and immunotherapy and gene therapy.
Chapter 6 offers practical advice for patients coping with effects such as mouth-related problems; loss of appetite and nausea, gastrointestinal problems, weight gain, and fatigue and anxiety.
Both expert physician and patient, he answers all the questions frequently asked by leukemia sufferers about symptoms, phases, treatments and research.
Surviving Leukemia is illustrated with tables and includes a glossary of 300 medical terms.
Surviving Leukemia is a unique, exceptional book designed specifically for people with blood diseases, their families and care givers.
From the Preface by Dr. E. Donnall Thomas, 1990 Nobel Prize winner in Medicine
In the current high-technology context of medicine, it is not surprising that patients and their families have difficulty understanding what is going on around them. Most books on blood diseases are very technical, since they are intended for nurses and doctors. Therefore, I am very happy that this book has been published. It is very easy to read and will help all patients and their families.
Amazon.com
Harry Wu, China's most prominent dissident exile in the West, spent 19 years condemned as a counterrevolutionary in the laogai, his country's equivalent of the Soviet gulag system of forced labor camps. After escaping to California in 1985 he began a tireless campaign to publicize human rights abuses within the Chinese prison system, including the harvesting of organs from prisoners, and profiteering from forced labor supported by World Bank subsidies and U.S. importing of prison-made goods. Through Vecsey, a columnist for the New York Times, Wu recounts his incessant and intrepid troublemaking, including his clandestine trips back into China, on one of which he was caught, charged with spying, and deported after U.S. pressure for his release.
Book Description
Troublemaker tells the dramatic story of Harry Wu, China's best-known dissident in the West, who continues to risk his life to expose Beijing's human rights abuses--including its prison network, in which millions are enslaved. of photos.
Customer Reviews:
You Must Read This if you are interested in human progress.........2001-04-25
"For 19 years, I was one of those prisoners, held for vague offenses against my homeland. My captors said they wanted to reform me, but really, what they wanted was to work me until I dropped. I was lost in the camps that are strategically scattered all over China, where millions of prisoners produce good for Chinese industry. The authorities have different names for the different stages of their camps. I am an alumnus of three stages: reform through labor (laogai), reeducation through labor (laojiao), forced-labor placement (jiuye). For my purposes, I call the entire system laogai." Harry Wu
I have lived or traveled to many different countries excluding China. A friend ask me recently to go to China and I found myself strangely disinterested. China IS an interesting place, a place of the Great Wall, of delicious cooking, fine silk, martial arts, of the original pasta and gun powder, a country full of tradition and culture...so, what's the problem here, I asked myself. Then I remembered a book that really GOT to me...."Troublemaker" by Harry Wu.
As strange as it sounds, I don't want to go to a place where with a bald face, capriciously and callously, insanely and puzzlingly, people are mistreated. Sounds vague? Read on.
There are places in the world where atrocities against humans by other humans are still committed. They give it the name "human rights violation" but it should be called, "people being cruel, mean and destructive to other people." Africa comes to mind. And, North Korea too and other places in the world. It isn't just the developing countries. Even in the U.S., things like this happen. You don't think so? How about the Oklahoma city bombing? How about the dragging death of a black man in Jasper, Texas by some white men who chose the man just because of the different color of his skin?
China is no worse or no better than other places where human are mistreated and humans suffer, but I just did not want to go to China...I was creeped out after reading Harry Wu's book.
Harry Wu spent 19 years in a hard labor camp for making a statement against the Soviet strike down of an Hungarian political uprising. He was a student at the time and idealistic and still very much innocent. He criticized the Soviet's policies not knowing that the Chinese had backed Moscow on what happened in Hungary AND that for making this one statement, his life would be altered forever. When Harry got out of the laogai, the Chinese gulag, he was 42 years old and it was 1979. For ONE remark, he lost 19 years of his life as well as his wife and his youth. His remark was probably more benign than this Amazon.com review I am writing.
What can I say to you...find and read this book if you are interested in China. It will tell you about what goes on under the surface of every day life in China. It isn't about communism vs. democracy, free market vs. collectivism, it is about a human being being mistreated by the collective just because it can happen. Does this sound like science fiction? It sounds like "1984" that people's thoughts and views are sensored and punishments are doled out for them.
So each time you go to a discount store and buy silk flowers, each time you see a "made in China" label on some cheap trinket, you will know that it came from the labor of people shut off in laogais which are scattered all over China, just hidden from view, hoping to go unnoticed. And what of secret organ harvasting and sales? It is still going on: "prisoners" are executed sometimes for their vital organs. If you are young and healthy, then you maybe a target because your organs would be valuable to some rich old man in China or Hong Kong.
Find out what goes on in the world...many things besides the wonderful world of Amazon.com goes on. We are so previlleged to read and be "educated" and write and live this wonderful blessed life, but many of our fellow human beings are in hell on Earth. This book makes you remember this.
eye-opening account of one man's courage in exposing China.......1999-11-14
This book is a very interesting and thought provoking account of Harry Wu's courage in travelling to China to try and expose more of the injustices of the Chinese forced labour laogai prisons.
An absolute must-read!.......1998-05-13
Harry Wu's heroic account of his travels to China to document human rights abuses is an incredible read. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in hearing the truth about China's barbaric policies towards its own citizens. Mr. Wu helps to uncover the socialist mindset held by the Chinese and their leaders which allows them to deny that forced labor exists and that the laogai are actually "reform" camps. I would like to thank Mr. Wu for revealing the truth of what goes on behind the wall of lies that the communists have erected. Throughout the book you will be brought to tears at the inhumanities experienced by the Chinese "workers" and the book brings them vividly to light. It would surprise me if anyone could not understand why after serving over a decade in the camps that Wu would want to return. He makes it clear that he wants noone else to suffer the injustices he has faced. Thank you Mr. Wu. You are truly an American and a hero. I admire you greatly and hope you continue your work.
Compelling reading; a book difficult to put down!.......1997-09-29
The Chinese have an enormous capacity to absorb and parrot back mistruths, without so much as a blush. I had lunch with one Chinese academic in Beijing not long ago who told me with a straight face that no one died at Tiananmen Square during the 1989 democracy protests. On the face of it, an absurd statement, and yet no less paradoxical than many of the things that the average Chinese says and often times believes. Harry Wu understands this enormous capacity of the Chinese people to adopt a more convenient view of reality, at least for conversational purposes, rather than to face the repression of the Beijing government. After all, Wu is a survivor of 19 years in the Chinese gulag, an unspoken penal system that few Chinese either know about or are willing to acknowledge. For the Westerner who is steeped in the history of the Mao years, China is indeed a puzzle. On the face of it, China resembles very much any other developing capitalist-oriented country. Americans, more than any other people, tend to equate capitalism with democracy. Yet, there are numerous examples of capitalist enterprise economies for which any thoughts of democracy and respect for individual liberties are but a dream. China is simply the latest and biggest example. Bereft of a free press, governed by an undemocratic clique, and endowed with the largest penal system the world has likely ever known, China mystifies us. Harry Wu exposes our myths and misconceptions and argues for Westerners not to brush aside the truths in the pursuit of Asian trade and market share. Many Chinese are antagonized by Wu. China is indeed a better place for the average Chinese than it was during the Mao years. Many Chinese seem to feel that if they just keep quiet, things will slowly continue to get better. Yet, millions of Chinese remain imprisoned, often times for "political" offenses that you or I would find laughable. In the meantime, China is run by unelected elite who, under the guise of capitalism, are allowed to profit from the proceeds of prison labor, while the average Chinese needs to guard his words carefully for fear of becoming a detainee in the "laogai," the Chinese prison labor system.
An eye-opening experience for any reader........1997-04-10
Hongda Wu's book is an eye-opener for any reader. However, Wu is unable to make the reader empathize with him; the reader never truly understands why Wu chooses, more than once, to risk all he has to return to China. In addition, Wu's chronology may confuse the reader, leaving the reader lost as to what happened next. Wu's description of his love for his wife is touching; however, his writing style is a bit dry
Average customer rating:
|
Worth Their Salt, Too: More Notable but Often Unnoted Women of Utah
Manufacturer: Utah State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
West
| Regional U.S.
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Women
| Specific Groups
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| State & Local
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Utah
| State & Local
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Genealogy
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0874212871 |
Book Description
Abraham Lincoln: the Great Emancipator, savior of the Union, and revered national hero. Jefferson Davis: defender of slavery, leader of a lost cause, and forlorn object of scorn. Both Lincoln and Davis remain locked in the American psyche as iconic symbols of victory and defeat. They presided over a terrible war that decided the fate of slavery and severely tested each man's resolve and potential for greatness. But, as Brian Dirck shows, such images tend to obscure the larger visions that compelled both men to pursue policies and actions that resulted in such a devastating national tragedy.
Going well beyond most conventional accounts, Dirck examines Lincoln's and Davis's respective ideas concerning national identity, highlighting the strengths and shortcomings of each leader's worldview. By focusing on issues that have often been overlooked in previous studies of Lincoln and Davis--and of the war in general--he reveals the ways in which these two leaders viewed that imagined community called the American nation.
The first comprehensive and detailed study to compare the two men's national imaginations, Dirck's study provides a provocative analysis of how their everyday lives--the influence of fathers and friends, jobs and homes--worked in complex ways to shape Lincoln's and Davis's perceptions of what the American nation was supposed to be and could become and how those images could reject or accommodate the institution of slavery.
Dirck contends that Lincoln subscribed to the notion of a "nation of strangers" in which people never really knew one another's hearts, reflecting his wariness of sentimental attachment, while Davis held to a "community of sentiment" based on honor and comradeship that depended a great deal on emotional bonding. As Dirck shows, these two ideals are very much a part of the current national conversation--among citizens, scholars, and politicians--that has brought Davis back into the fold of great Americans while challenging many of the clichés that surround the Lincoln myth.
Ultimately, Dirck argues, the imagined communities of these two remarkable men transcend the experience of war to illuminate the ongoing debates over what it means to be an American. Through this engaging and original work, he urges a restoration of balance to our understanding--not only of Lincoln and Davis, but also of the contributions made by North and South alike to those debates.
This book is part of the American Political Thought series.
Customer Reviews:
Continuity from 1787-1865........2002-06-20
Brian Dirck's new book on the U.S. and C.S. presidents establishes a surprising amount of continuity in American political thinking between the ratification contest of the late 1780s and the sectional conflict of the 1850s and 1860s. In doing so, it goes a long way to tie together the American Revolution and the Civil War.
In 1787, advocates of ratification of the federal constitution argued that without it, they Union would dissolve. Their vision of American Union was, as Dirck puts it (I paraphrase here), one of impersonal association, a community of strangers. Their opponents, the Antifederalists/Republicans, doubted that the Federalists' apocalyptic rhetoric accurately described reality, because the Antifederalists could not imagine that mere breakdown of the Articles of Confederation would destroy the America they knew in their hearts. They were at times downright blase' about the problems the Federalists perceived in the 1780s because of their sanguine faith in American nationality.
As Dirck shows, Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis had essentially the same understandings of America: Lincoln, the Federalist, and Davis, the Antifederalist. It makes for a very engaging argument, and one that will be of great use for undergraduate teaching.
The only shortcomings of the book come at the very end, where Dirck says that Davis laid the ground for the idea that blacks were depraved and inferior by depicting the Yankees (that is, northern whites) that way. (p. 239) I for one find it unconvincing that anti-black sentiment had its origins in anti-white propaganda. Secondly, he says that Davis' statement that the United States had set upon a policy in which "no quarter is to be given and no sex to be spared" had an innovative "sexual" undertone. (pp. 238-39) Yet, Davis' claim certainly was not innovative, but was a paraphrase of a claim Thomas Jefferson had made about the British king in the Declaration of Independence (Jefferson claimed that George had sicced the Indians, whose rule of war knew no discrimination of age or sex, upon the Americans). These are minor objections, however, and the book certainly repays a careful perusal.
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 805 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: Lincoln and Davis: Imagining America, 1809-1865.(Book Review)
Author: Michael Fellman
Publication:
Journal of Southern History (Refereed)
Date: August 1, 2003
Publisher: Southern Historical Association
Volume: 69
Issue: 3
Page: 695(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Presidential Studies Quarterly, published by Center for the Study of the Presidency on March 1, 2004. The length of the article is 1373 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: Understanding Lincoln.(The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War)(Lincoln & Davis: Imagining America, 1809-1865)(Judging Lincoln)(Book Review)
Author: Matthew Pinsker
Publication:
Presidential Studies Quarterly (Refereed)
Date: March 1, 2004
Publisher: Center for the Study of the Presidency
Volume: 34
Issue: 1
Page: 167(3)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
describes the contributions of 30 junior high and high school students who have won the Caring Institute's National Caring Award for Young Adults. the students merited this high honor for their work helping AIDS patients the homeless the hungry and the environment among many other worthy causes. In addition to the National Caring Awards the Caring Institute sponsors the Caring Arts photography poster and essay contests; Caring Kids a program that encourages young people to learn the value of caring through internships; and other programs both national and local in scope.
Books:
- Supersonic Sounds, Practice Set
- Taxation, Incomplete Markets, and Social Security (Munich Lectures)
- Taxing Times: A Guide to Australia's Tax Debate (Frontlines (Sydney, N.S.W.).)
- Thanks for Your Trust: Memories of an Untamed Accountant
- The Baring Securities Guide to International Financial Reporting
- The Cpa's Guide to Intranets
- The Dictionary of Banking: Over 5,000 Terms Defined and Explained (Bankline Publication)
- The Price Waterhouse Personal Tax Adviser, 1995-1996 (Price Waterhouse Personal Tax Adviser)
- The Wiley Not-for-Profit Field Guide 2002
- Understanding Quickbooks
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Gluten Connection: How Gluten Sensitivity May Be Sabotaging Your Health--And What You Can Do to
- Outdoor Kitchens: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Design and Construction
- Now You See It
- OPERA 101: A COMPLETE GUIDE TO LEARNING AND LOVING OPERA
- Sink Reflections: Overwhelmed
- Spitz And Fisher's Medicolegal Investigation Of Death: Guidelines For The Application Of Pathology T
- Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World
- Financial Accounting, General Ledger Software Windows Version Data Disk
- Reclaiming Development: An Economic Policy Handbook for Activists and Policymakers
- 1999 North Dakota Business Directory: The Ultimate Sales and Credit Tool
MP College Accounting 1-32 w/Home Depot AR
Study Guide & Working Papers Ch 1-13 to accompany College Accounting 11e Chapters 1-13
Payroll Accounting 2007 (with Payroll CD and ADP CD) (Payroll Accounting)
