I think that this is a good reference book. If you don't no what some of your friends are talking about you can go home and look it up. No more of just smiling and noding. This has helped me so much! I say buy it!

Unlike most historians who consider slavery as an unfortunate sidebar to the ideological and political foundations of America, Finkelman boldy places slavery at the center of America's founding. Beginning with the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and continuing through to Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, his views on race and slavery, and his relationship to a woman enslaved to him (Sally Hemings), Finkelman makes a very valid argument that the "traditional" political leadership of the Jeffersonian era was perpetually - not occasionally - in debate about the issue of slavery, with most of those leaders falling on the pro-slavery side of the argument. The real value of the book is Finkelman's two chapters on Jefferson, whose political influence and opinion where nearly as revered by his peers as they are by contemporary early American historians. While noted historians such as Dumas Malone, Joseph Ellis, and Merrill Peterson have stretched the bounds of interpretation of the few seemingly anti-slavery comments Jefferson made or wrote in order to cast him as the unfortunate victim of an institution which he disliked, Finkelman is one of the first to put all of Jefferson's views on slavery and race - the few that seem anti-slavery, the majority that are anti-black, all of which are contradictory - together in one place, IN THEIR PROPER CONTEXT, up for public scrutiny. For anyone wanting an approach to understanding Jefferson's true views on slavery - based on the historical evidence - this is the book to start and, for now, end with. I didn't give it five stars because its focus is kind of narrow, but that could be because Finkelman has done such a great job of narrowing his focus and successfully arguing his understanding of "Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson."

I am practicing CPA whose clientele is primarily small business. I read the books many years ago and have always considered to be one the best books around for preparing people for what they need to think about before considering going into business.

I stumbled upon "Smile" by accident, intrigued by its unusual topic of a young Parisian man of Moroccan origins. Despite the fact that the main character is a fully acculturated Frenchman and a graduate student of literature at a university in Paris, he is a victim of traditional French prejudice and xenophobia. The depiction of racism against Arabs in France is alarming and vivid, urging readers to reevaluate racial stereotypes. The young student's racial alienation; however, is only a part of his isolation. The plot that ensues as he struggles to write of his life and to come to terms with his identity, family and future also confronts the predicament of being an artist in an insenstive world. I had some complaints with the translation, but the overall message of the novel was not lost. Smile is a beautiful, powerful and memorable story that I highly recommend.

Nick Chase is a former NYPD detective who retired and now runs a cigar store. He keeps finding himself mixed up in murder though, this time as a result of his his first case being made into a movie. The movie producer, Natalie Goodman, more of less blackmails Chase's conscience into investigating the attempts being made on her life. She manipulates all the players into an "And Then There Were None" scenario by inviting them to spend the weekend at her vacation home so that Chase can identify the villain. Of course, nothing goes as planned, and Chase has to investigate a hunky actor with a gay porno film, a fired writer, a dumped investor, a co-producer and his boy-toy of the moment, and an about-to-be-fired writer before they all end up picked off by the murderer. Although Chase is very likeable, I was distracted by having figured out who was the murderer while Chase and company ignored the obvious. However, a nice plot twist redeems the mystery and makes it a fast and entertaining read.

Soaring Gulls and Bowing Trees is the definite study of Goat Island from both geological and historical perspectives. It is
also meant to increase the public's awareness of this ecologically important point of land lying between the American
and Horseshoe Falls. Although it is at times written in somewhat
technical language, it still manages to beguile the reader by its sheer descriptive power. I highly recommend it for both
prospective tourists, as well as students of American history.

this book was somewhat helpful but left out some key points that would have been useful. recommended for intermediate players

This is a facinating book, written over a span of 50 years. The author was a Christian pastor in the teens of the 20th cent and kept a journal of his thoughts and experiences as a minister. Later in his ministry he had a deconversion to Deism, left the Christian church and his ministry and then 50 years later at the end of his life, now a committed atheist, revisited his journal from his youth and then wrote commentaries on his "young self" from the perspective of his "old self." Great and insightful stuff, tragic that this book is out of print. He makes a very strong case for atheism based on logic and reason, and then presents at the end an ethical base for the atheist that uses humanism as the guide. Find a copy and read it, you will enjoy it even if you disagree with it, the contrast between his young and old self alone is delightful.

It may have been the turning of a different century, but it was also the turning of the era of popular song and the fledgling Tin Pan Alley industry. There are insights to music that you may remember from your childhood (March of the Toys), and comedy from the era (Please Let Me Sleep and Nobody). But even more, there are certain social issues that have changed very little over time (She Was Happy Till She Met You, I'd Leave Ma Happy Home For You) and one number in particular from English theatre that is seething with entendre (Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow-Wow). While these are not the most memorable of the era's pieces, they are well worth looking at again, and hardly a waste of your hard-earned entertainment dollars.

Anyone who liked _Thinking in Jazz_, another Paul Berliner book, will probably enjoy _Soul of Mbira_. It takes a similar approach, looking at the history, sociology, tradition and musical nature of the Shona mbira (also known as the kalimba, sanzhi, likembe, or 'thumb piano' - though after you hear Paul's comments on the latter name, you won't want to use it again).

Other musical instruments by the Shona are also covered, but to a much lesser degree. The section on performance is nice, but it is the part which suffers most from 'dancing about architecture' syndrome.

The appendix on 'building and playing your own mbira' is informative, but unless you have access to an anvil and fire, not very practical! It isn't hard to modify the design and make your own anyway, though, it just won't be as traditional.