Since Joseph Campell was such a prolific writer of journals, letters, essays and books, this book was able to capture, in such detail, not only his life events but also the evolution of his studies and thoughts about myth, art, religion and the world. I originally checked this book out at the library but I am buying it as a reference guide because it touches on so many fascinating points about religion and the most prominent spiritual leaders in the last century.

I bought this book after reading Heart of Darkness, Victory, and the Secret Sharer. I wanted to know more about the man who wrote such haunting fiction. The beginning of this book gives an excellent and riveting account of Conrad's parents and their political exile. After Conrad's mother dies he remains with his father in severe and isolated conditions. A detailed account of Conrad's early life helped me to understand how he wrote what he did. Quite fascinating. Also, he did visit the Congo and had experiences there that give great insight into Heart of Darkness. Including marking people he met that are models for characters in the story. Plus he was a seaman, so we learn how he could write realistically on this subject. And we learn about Conrad's psyche, his strengths and weaknesses. I loved learning about his life, but this bio also goes into some detail about all of Conrad's novels. If you haven't read them you may become lost. If you have read all his works this bio will definitely increase your appreciation and add to your understanding of this great writer.

I am glad finally there is a audio play available for this time-honored sea story by Joseph Conrad. Although the narrative has been omitted in this production, the essence and the mood have well kept and best of all, the sound quality is still in top form even though it was produced in the fifties. This is really a vintage radio play at its best, I am sure it will delight fans of the golden age of radio.

It is a good book if you are dooing research on any of Conrad's books. Even if you are not but you like Conrads book this is a fun tool to use to see his point of view.

Like Ford Maddox Ford, Curle was, for a time, an intimate literary friend of Conrad's. His book provides some interesting insights into the great author's writing process and into his personality, as well. For Conradians, Curle is an indispensible source. Jocelyn Baines provides the background. Curle provides the personal reflection, as when he describes Conrad's being subject to "paroxyms of fury, into which he could be plunged by people who, for one reason or another, had angered him."

We don't usually think of the stolid, placid, stoical Conrad as being a human being who could occasionally blow his top. Curle brings him down to earth a bit, as when he reports that Conrad was notoriously afraid of "losing his self-possession, even for a moment." Certainly the pictures of the author that have come down to us try to convey the image of the steady-going voyager and captain, ever-composed and thoroughly self-possessed. Curle's depiction shows us another side to this enigmatic author. One that historians and scholars should not overlook when investigating the great man's works.

As a budding genealogist, I have depended upon this text for invaluable leads on my families and some of the history of early Hampton, NH. I have discovered a few mistakes here and there, but having access to so many more sources, I have been able to substantiate them. I give Mr. Dow and all those who took the time, many kudos for at least attempting to set history down. It boggles one's mind to think just how terribly tedious and self isolating this task was. I am descended from many of the original settlers of Hampton ie Clifford, Dow, Griffin, Hilliard, Tilton, Moulton, Brown, not to mention my favorite; Reverend Stephen Batchelder and his nemesis, Reverned Timothy Dalton.

Professor Newton has written a readable account of the generalship of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston for the period from February 1862 until General Johnson's wounding at the battle of Seven Pines on May 31,1862. The book begins with a brief discussion of (1) the deteriorating trust between Johnson and Jefferson Davis; (2) the Department of Northern Virginia; and (3) the process, including both political and military factors, used in making the decision to move Johnston's army from Centerville, Virginia to be closer to Richmond. The decision and the details of withdrawal are well documented after which the author covers the Peninsula Campaign, the Battle of Seven Pines and ends with an interesting assessment of Johnston's campaign.

Some scholars and Civil War buffs have questioned the expenditure of resources to defend Richmond and speculate that a capitol located in the interior of the Confederacy would have been preferred as being easier to defend. Professor Newton outlines the strategic importance of Richmond stating that it was a critical manufacturing, transportation and financial center. The Tredegar Iron Works alone justified the defense of Richmond. In addition, the city had four major banks, had five railroads lines and was a flour-milling center . Having established the strategic necessity of defending Richmond, the writer proceeds to document General Johnston's defense of the city.

The writer objectively narrates the involvement of Lee in the decisions during this period noting areas of agreement and differences between Johnston, Lee and Davis. While Professor Newton openly states ". . the tenor of this work is pro-Johnston in terms of my assessment of the general's handling of his army" he favorably reviews Joseph Johnston's performance without engaging in "Lee bashing" the approach often used by revisionist historians to support their thesis. He gives credit and/or blame where it is due in his

opinion. This makes for interesting and provocative reading.

Professor Newton gives a balanced evaluation of General Longstreet's performance. Longstreet is depicted as neither a hero nor a villain. The writer may well have summed up Longstreet's Civil War career in one sentence when he wrote ". . that Longstreet, though undeniably talented, was incredibly willful, and his cooperation in operations of which he did not approve was notoriously poor."

The narration of the Peninsula Campaign and Seven Pines is well worth the price of the book. Especially interesting is his description of Johnston's reaction to Federal transports reaching the mouth of the Pamunkey River and the Union gunboats ascending the York River following the Confederate evacuation of Yorktown; a situation Johnson both anticipated and feared. The author observes that at Seven Pines Johnston ". . totally abdicated his responsibility for the overall conduct of the battle when he led Whiting's division down the Nine Mile Road . ." and then makes the interestingly observation that this was a similar failing of almost all Civil War commanding generals, Confederate or Union, in their first offensive battle.

The last chapter is an assessment of Johnston's campaign. Here the author states that Johnston's retreat from Williamsburg was a skillful maneuver with strategic insight. Professor Newton correctly states that Joseph Johnston did in fact successfully defend Richmond. In view of the strategic importance of Richmond in 1862 this was a significant accomplishment. The last chapter is insightful and well worth reading.

The lack of a sufficient number of maps is the book's major shortcoming.

This book covers Joseph Smith's personal, political, and religious life. When you are finished reading it, you cannot deny that Joseph Smith was an honest man.

This book filled in a lot of information for me that I had wondered about. It is well written and easy to read. If you are interested in early Mormonism and the origins of what used to be called the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (RLDS), this is a good source.

However, it does have some gaps. It doesn't give us much about his mother and their relationship. It doesn't really delve into the man's spiritual life beyond what he did when and only talks about his revelations as they affect some program he was trying to bring about.

But I was very interested to learn about his role in the persecution of the Utah Saints in trying to end polygamy. And I did find it kind of funny that a man who was obsessed with others having more than one wife ended up having three and children with two of them. The last one being far younger than him. Sure it is a serial form of polygamy, but...

I am glad that I own it and have read it.

This book is yet another fascinating study between Joseph Smith's words versus those finally printed in the Book of Mormon. A very interesting read.