Henry Peter Bosse's exquisite photographs of the Upper Mississippi River, taken between 1883 and 1893, are little known today owing to their great scarcity. Fewer than two hundred of his images have ever reached the open market, and there has yet to be a major museum exhibition of his work. Despite this, Bosse's large cyanotypes currently sell in the twenty thousand dollar range and are much sought after by museums and discerning photo collectors. A first rate book on his career and images has been needed for over a decade.

Sadly, that need has yet to be fulfilled. Mark Neuzil's decidedly poor offering contributes only badly reproduced photographs and a text that, while eminently readable, is overshadowed by glaring inaccuracies.

Early on, Neuzil opines that Bosse "...was tutored in Greek and Latin and completed classical studies at Magdeburg (Germany) where he added courses in engineering and art..." (pg.7). But in the next sentence he notes, "There was no university at Magdeburg at the time...", and cites a sole obituary as a basis for his "facts" regarding Bosse's education. Since Neuzil also notes that there are no known historical documents pertaining to Bosse prior to his arrival in the U.S. this attribution seems something of a stretch.

On the next page he names Montgomery Meigs, U.S. Civil Engineer, as a possible photography tutor to Bosse, citing Meigs' experience with a camera and his own cyanotypes. A little rudimentary research on the author's part would have revealed that all of Meigs' known photos date from AFTER 1893, by which time Bosse had apparently stopped taking pictures.

Two paragraphs on, Neuzil emphatically states that, "In the floating office that was the BARNARD (a Corps riverboat) Bosse possibly enjoyed the company of Mark Twain...(because)...Some of the author's river travel in 1882 came via the BARNARD, ...captained...by a friend of Twain's."

This must come as a huge surprise to Twain scholars. The author's 1882 Mississippi River trip was fully chronicled by the popular press of the day and neither they nor any Twain historian since ever stumbled across this piece of information. Neuzil offers no source for the tidbit, and actually can't do so - for the simple reason that it never happened!

The author also claims that in 1878 Bosse began work for the Rock Island Engineer Office, "...where he was employed as chief draftsman until his death in 1903." However, Mary Forresta's introduction to Neuzil's book states (correctly) that F.S. Eastman was chief draftsman at Rock Island when Bosse arrived. Indeed, Bosse only achieved that position after Eastman left the job some years later.

An author's perceived veracity is of paramount interest to the reader, particularly when that author is writing history or offering himself as an expert on the subject at hand. The errors mentioned here occur IN THE FIRST TEN PAGES and only the need for brevity prohibits pointing to more. Add to the mix a collection of images that, while fascinating, are still bland and tepid versions of Bosse's originals and you have VIEWS ON THE MISSISSIPPI.

That said, buy it anyway. Henry Bosse's photographs deserve far wider circulation than they have achieved, which is a pity. His images offer us an intimate glimpse of Mark Twain's Mississippi River, up close and personal - or at least closer than anyone else of the period. If you enjoy Mark Twain and/or the Mississippi you'll enjoy Bosse's photos - but take the attached history with substantially more than a pinch of salt. Actually, take it with a great honkin' truck load.

Mike Conner

Mark Neuzil and Merry Foresta have brought back to life with this book a Mississippi River that has long since disappeared below the brackish water of the Big Muddy. Henry Peter Bosse captured on film the Mississippi River that Mark Twain navigated as a river boat captain, the Mormans had to traverse leaving Nauvoo, IL for points west and that Lewis and Clark travelled on the way to the west coast. He did this at a time just before it disappeared below the backwaters of today's lock and dam system. Bosse's photographs, while valued at over $1,000,000 are priceless to those of us that have looked out over the river as it exists today and wondered "What lies below the surface of that water?" or "What did the river look like before the lock and dams were built"
If you have ever lived on or loved "The River" this book is a must buy!

The content was just a re-wording of a FREE white paper on MSDN...

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There was hardly anything in this book that anyone with half a brain couldn't figure out after one or at the most, two, business trips - or even a vacation trip by air. I had been hoping for some real insight and there was very little.

McCormack's latest offering on business travel is quite exceptional. While he is the head of his own firm, the book is well-written and contains many tips of use, even to the lowest business traveler on the corporate chain. I read it in about 5 hours (while flying). He explains concepts quite well, and offers practical advice, fitting for even the busiest of business travelers.

The best part was the twelve pages of solid black near the middle. I don't know what the second-best part was. Maybe the jars of rotting mayonaise. Hey, as long as the grant money keeps pouring in, it beats working for a living.

If you enjoy contemporary art and are open to new ideas with distraction, William Pope.L: The Friendliest Black Artist in America is a must have. William Pope brings forth challenging, comforting, and inspiring notions to the average american.

This is the first of Irving L. Jensen's books with which I have worked. I have been using the book for my personal study as preparation for leading an adult study group in I and II Peter. The book contains a good balance between teaching and thought provoking questions. The outlines are done very well and help provide a road map to the epistles. One drawback is that the lessons are much too large for one group meeting or personal study time slot.

For those unfamiliar with Burma ( Myanmar ) and her long struggle for democracy, the book sheds light on the fact that the military that has ruled the country in many guises and is always ready to resort to force to hold on to power rather than relinquish it for the sake of the country's welfare. But, it is not clear whether the author, Dr Maung Maung, is on the side of the repressed or the rulers. Nevertheless, the book makes interesting reading.

This is an excellent book of MMPI profiles. It is organized according to profile types and has documentation of many actual cases to show characteristics of people with particular profiles. The book is valuable to the psychological profession but not to the layman. If you use MMPIs for testing, this book is great.

Adding Cross to Crown is a welcome evaluation of the political machinations around the man we know as Jesus. A more comprehensive though challenging book would be the wonderful "The Autobiography of Jesus of Nazareth and the Missing Years" by Richard G. Patton. In "The Autobiography..." the political scene is central, rather an incidental, to the human personality and extensive training of Jesus. He is portrayed in terms that would be real enough for "Larry King Live". 'Adding Cross to Crown' addresses a different audience, but still unfortunately presents the 'Icon' of Christianity. Having said this, I immensly enjoyed this offering by Mark Knoll et al. and look forward to their next publication.

Published by the same press as "Attics" (Creative Homeowner Press) this book has lovely color illustrations, but adds little to the simpler book.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel written for enjoyment, the adventures that Huck has are somewhat comical and enjoyable for everyone. There is also a more serious side to the novel where Twain uses Huck to learn the evils of society that the story takes place in. Through Huck, Twain tells his opinion of slavery and shares his own moral values. Because this is a realistic book, Twain can convey his thoughts and morals to readers of every level, not just highly educated scholars. Using realism, Twain lets people know how he thinks and shows that people can change. Realism is utilized to allow all people to be able to relate and understand what is going on in the novel. I believe everyone at one point in their life should read this novel.