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Book reviews for "Black,_David" sorted by average review score:

Screwball
Published in Hardcover by William Morrow (01 April, 2003)
Author: David Ferrell
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Satire or farce?
SCREWBALL is based on an intriguing situation: The general manager of the Boston Red Sox, suffering from the Curse of the Babe, is confronted by a video showing Ron Kane, his superstar pitcher (who may be the greatest who ever lived) disposing of a decapitated body.
From there the focus moves to the general manager, Neville Wulfmeyer, and the niece of the owner of the BoSox who are being blackmailed by the sender of the video.
This is where the book begins to go haywire. Wulfmeyer has no scruples. At one point he suggests they kill someone else to throw the police off the trail. In another instance, he kidnaps the manager's wife to avoid paying a bonus.
Certainly hyperbole is a tried and true method in satire, but Ferrell has about as much subtlety as a gangsta rapper. Kane throws the baseball 111 mph on a consistent basis. Every single member of the Red Sox is a ding-a-ling. One of them tosses a teargas cannister into a carload full of nuns. Another holds up a liquor store. About the only stabilizing influence is the manager, Augie "Big Fish" Sharkey. He's developing a king-sized ulcer, guzzling Pepto Bismol like water, but he tries to do the right thing, investigating the murders on his own. Ferrell does him an injustice in the end with a completely unrealistic resolution, the implication of which would destroy Major League Baseball if it were true.
Something else that bothered me throughout the book was an Honus Wagner snuff can Sharkey carries as a good luck piece (until it's stolen). One of the reasons Wagner's baseball cards are worth over a half million a piece is because he objected to his image being used to sell tobacco to children, a hypocritical stand to take if he actually chewed the stuff (which I doubt).

An Intelligent Satire
David Farrell's Screwball is a delightful read-funny, well-written and a joyful, sarcastic take on American major league baseball. It is a very intelligent satire, not only of baseball, but of the American winning-at-all-cost style of life.

Imperfect execution but a Murderer's Row lineup
In attempting to write the Great American baseball novel, David Ferrell starts out with two strikes against him.

For one thing, he's a journalist - worse yet, a sports journalist. That means that he talks more and knows less about the world - especially the world of sports - than anyone else.

As if that weren't bad enough, he writes for the Los Angeles Times, the worst newspaper in the country. Actually, it's tied with about 1500 other newspapers for that honor.

And there are holes in this story. Some of them are fairly minor. I've only been a baseball fan for about 35 years or so, but I was under the impression that if first base is empty and a batter is hit by a pitch, the ball is dead and the runner on second base doesn't go to third.

David Ferrell sees other things that I haven't seen in my 35 years of following the game. He sees a professional sport dominated by career criminals and anti-social elements. He might be confusing baseball with boxing. Baseball does have its share of ne'er-do-wells, and if self-centeredness was a capital crime, the feds would have used the Organized Crime and Racketeering Act to shut down the game long ago. But it's hardly populated by prison inmates.

To be honest, his book is at least partially meant as a satire, and it may be that Ferrell meant to satirize the occasional baseball felon by creating a world filled with them. Ferrell himself may not be sure whether he meant to write a serious work or a dark comedy. The team in this novel, the Boston Red Sox, of course, is genuine baseball team, and the Sox's opponents are genuine baseball teams. The names of players on the Sox and their opponents are a mixture of fact and fiction.

But I doubt that we're supposed to take seriously a parent corporation known as "Amalgamated Ball Cocks, the world's largest producer of toilet valves, floats and rubberized accessories".

The premise in this book is simple: Despite several very close calls, the Boston Red Sox have not won a World Series in the memory of any living person and are widely regarded as a team cursed by destiny with the inability to ever win one. Giants fans can relate to this frustration very well, but then again so can Cubs fans, White Sox fans, Indians fans, etc.

In the book, the Red Sox have put together a team that, in spite of a complete absence of chemistry (the 1919 White Sox were a fraternal brotherhood, by comparison), has the chance to win the gold ring and end that curse - but a rash of serial murders connected with the team threatens to blow away their championship dreams.

This story is largely about a corrupt front office that seeks to obstruct and even mislead justice in order to win a baseball championship, but I found the notion interesting as a personal challenge, rather than as an attack on corporate malfeasance. The book made me look into my soul to find out how far I would go to bring the Giants a world championship if such a thing were possible on planet Earth and if I had such power. I was startled by what I found.

"Screwball" is an attack on a baseball world that doesn't really exist, in spite of the kudos given on the back cover by would-be renegades such as Jim Bouton. Ferrell imagines an ultra-competitive world of sports where winning is everything and subsumes all considerations, moral and otherwise.

But anyone who really believes this has never witnessed any of the numerous occasions where an overpriced superstar received considerably more playing time than a minimum-wage youngster with superior ability. Baseball history is also replete with occasions where management tried to force a successful player with an unorthodox style into conforming with a textbook form that didn't suit him.

And there was a time when major league owners, spending ungodly sums of money on "name" players, were insanely trying to appear penny-wise by reducing their rosters from 25 to 24 - often depriving themselves of talented low-cost substitutes who can often make a difference in a close pennant race.

Winning ISN'T necessarily a priority in baseball; it often takes a back seat to other factors such as egotism, corporate arrogance, budgetary constraints (real and contrived), and, of course, political correctness. Ferrell is wrong to distort and oversimplify the picture by suggesting otherwise.

He should know better because journalists like him, who never would have dared to physically confront John Rocker, an immensely talented pitcher, destroyed Rocker's career for a few intemperate and politically-incorrect public remarks of the nature that most people would chuckle at in private - and perhaps even echo.

The idea that a talented baseball player could be protected from accountability for serial murder - when his livelihood can be endangered for complaining about spiked hair on New York subways - is sheer whimsy.

But for all of its faults, "Screwball" is a very readable story, with a rip-roaring climax that will provide more than enough thrills for any baseball fan or crime novel aficionado.

And Ferrell also gets grand-slam credit for his creation of the awesome and surrealistic Ron Kane: a 110 mile-per hour fastball (!!!!) packed into six feet four inches of impervious and supremely masculine athleticism and ultra-charismatic menace: a combination of Richard III, The Major (from Stephen King's "The Long Walk"), and Sidd Finch.

I worship every foot of ground that Ron Kane walks on and pray that a merciful God will breathe life into David Ferrell's fictitious character and bring him to the Giants. I pray that a vengeful God will clone him, and put one in every neighborhood where a journalist resides. Where ANY pompous authority figure resides.

To borrow again from Stephen King - this time from "Cain Rose Up" - eat the world, Ron Kane! You gulp that sucker right down!


Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago
Published in Hardcover by Scribner (April, 1999)
Authors: Lealan Jones, Lloyd Newman, David Isay, and John Brooks
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OUR AMERICA Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago
Your America may be a bit different from LeAlan Jones's and Lioyd Newman's...welcome to theirs. These young men bring you into their community were you find yourself laughing at time and then wanting to reach out and save them. This reading is not sugar coated...your heart will break. LeAlan and Lloyd have used thier power to speak, listen to what they have to say! Then you will be blessed with John Brook, the talented young photographer whose images grace these pages of this outstanding book.

I have great respect for these men in this book for they are our future. Chicago, my home, is a better please because of these talented men...Continue to speak with your mighty voices.

This is one of the most powerful books I have ever read.
Though I was required to read this book for a course I took, and therefore supposed to be reading and analyzing it over a week's time, I found myself reading the entire book in one sitting. This book shows the unfamiliar reader what poverty really is, how it thinks, acts, looks like, and feels from the words and experiences of children. LeAlan and Lloyd are children growing up in a very adult world, and one is reminded just how young they actually are when you listen to the recordings of their initial broadcasts. Knowing that they and their families are real people, how can you read this book and feel nothing? The tragic part is, those who most need their eyes opened to the state of poverty and violence in our nation will most likely never read this book. For those of us who do, may your eyes be a little wider, your heart a little deeper, and your spirit be called to action.

Stole my breath
"Our America" was assigned reading for my course in Child Social Policy. It grabbed me from page one and I could not put it down until it was through (and then I read parts over again). LeAlan and Lloyd walk you down the streets of Chicago and let you have a little peek into their reality -- a world where violence and death are a part of every day life, and instead of focusing on grades in school, children must worry about survival. These young men represent so many children with talents and dreams and potential who are raised in an infertile, even poisonous environment. I wish everyone would read this book and realize that "America" shouldn't change when you cross the tracks.


The Black Tulip (Oxford World's Classics)
Published in Paperback by Oxford University Press (July, 2000)
Authors: Alexandre Dumas, David Coward, and Franz Zemmler
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Black Tulip grows on you
Having read two of Dumas' longer novels, I was anxious to read one of his shorter ones.

To keep it shorter, there are fewer characters, and therefore the interaction between them is more frequent and intense. The Black Tulip is also a great glimpse into the world of flowers in Holland. Many have heard of the tulip frenzy. This book gives a glimpse of it and what it drove men to do.

Also, there is the forbidden romance between two that should really have no contact at all between themselves. Dumas weaves their tale, and their emotional stress in a very believable manner.

This is Dumas' most famous novel, and one of his shortest. At 200 or so pages it is a fast read full of intrigue and twists. If you like drama with historical footnotes interwoven, then you will enjoy this book.

EJ

Another great book!
This is my second Dumas novel, the first being "The Count of Monte Cristo". This is another excellent tale. Dumas weaves countless details into his plot. One wonders what significance they have at the time. Near the end of the book, you muse aloud to yourself, "Ah! That's why"! Spellbinding, another must read!

A Subtle Novel
A blend of politics, human psychology, subtle romance, and (both real and fictionalized) history. The beginning of the novel is interesting but a little dense and readers may get discouraged, especially as the sentences are fairly complex. However it gets much easier and flows much quicker when the story picks up with the introduction of Van Baerle and his neighbor. I encourage you to keep reading if you are interested in its following key points:

-- The characters are incredibly believable and have developed personalities that are realistically complex.
-- The depiction of tragedy, justice, despair are noteworthy.
-- The story is rich and flows smoothly.
-- It's an interesting look at the past, especially the politics and the references to the tulip-craze of Europe some hundreds of years ago. Even though it has fictional elements it still feels like you're holding a slice of the past in your hand.
-- I've always hated romances, but the love in this story is carefully drawn with a subtle touch and depicted with realism. Genuinely entertaining.
-- It's depiction of the ways that popular opinion can be swayed and deceived by politics, nationalism, and patriotism is chilling.
-- It simultaneously shows us human nobility and human pettiness.

When I first picked up this book I didn't expect much. When I finished it I realized how much the impression it made lasts with me.


White Mans Justice Black Mans Grief
Published in Paperback by Holloway House Pub Co (November, 1988)
Authors: David Goines and Donald Goines
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A compelling novel of prison life
"White Man's Justice, Black Man's Grief," by Donald Goines, is a compelling novel about men in prison. The text's copyright date is 1973. This book tells the story of Chester Hines, an African-American man who is arrested during a police traffic stop at the beginning of the novel. The bulk of the book details his experiences in prison.

Goines creates a vivid portrait of the lives of incarcerated men. He describes overcrowding, filthy conditions, violence, and other aspects of life behind bars. A major theme is the racially charged nature of prison life, with whites as an abused minority within the inmate population. Goines writes at graphic length about homosexual acts in prison; prison sex is always described in the most vile context.

Goines' writing is crisp, and the story moves along effectively. His characters are memorable and disturbing. Some of the social protest (starting with the hit-you-over-the-head title) seems a little forced. But this is definitely not a white-bashing book; there are a couple of sympathetic white characters, and in fact the most abusive and twisted characters are black! Overall, a fascinating look at a "community" (i.e. the inmate population) that most people will probably never experience directly. For another literary work that offers a gripping view of life in a racially mixed prison, try Miguel Pinero's great play "Short Eyes."

OUTSTANDING
I found this book hard to put down. Goines writes in a way to where you can relate with his characters. The book actually revolves around a relation between chester and a guy he meets in the county and against his better judgement builds a close relationship with him that ends up being a fatal decision. Definetly one for the collection

White man's Justice Black Man's Grief was a phenomenal book!
Donald Goines really brought the reader into the life of a prison inmate while reading the book. The story was well written, giving facts and situations about the prison system in america as well as telling you a story about two inmate friends and the wicked betrayal that tore the friendship apart. This is definately a must read!!


Black Storm (Poyer, David. Tales of the Modern Navy.)
Published in Hardcover by St. Martin's Press (June, 2002)
Author: David Poyer
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A remarkable book
In "Black Storm," Poyer subverts the conventional elements of military "thrillers." By underplaying, almost underwriting, the firefights, the political "big picture" background, he leaves room for what becomes a harrowing, deeply convincing, account of men, and women, in battle.
I have no military background at all, let alone combat experience. But Poyer's account of this fictional small-unit mission, by a squad of Force Recon U.S. marines with a Navy missle expert and a biological warfare doctor, during the Persian Gulf War rings true on every page. The achievement is all the more remarkable because his previous novels about the U.S. Navy today have usually been focused on naval and naval air themes.
Poyer captures the strange intimacy of a Force Recon unit, whose members may not even be friends, yet they must be willing to die for each other. As the mission progresses, the squad finally enters Bagdad, and the sense of physical and emotional claustrophobia is almost palpable.
The reader can share in the extreme isolation of these combatants, the constant pressure to avoid detection, to avoid battle, the obsessional nature of the mission objective -- to discover if the Iraquis have created launchable missles armed with a deadly smallpox variant, and if so, to destroy them.
By under-writing the traditional action elements, Poyer lets the characters, with all their flaws and doubts and problems, emerge ever more clearly, and surely, as the focus of our attention. Against all odds, the squad moves toward its objective by all means possible. Over and over again, we're aware of how things both great and small hinge on the decision, the choice of single member of the squad.
Often that is the squad leader, Marine Gunnery Sargeant Marcus Gault. In Gault, Poyer has created a remarkable portrait of the nature of small-unit combat leadership: "Black Storm" could almost (again speaking as a civilian) be a primer on the subject. As the team leader, Gault is continually facing and making life and death decisions, each one measured against the merciless standard of the mission's success.
But Poyer doesn't cast Gault, or any of the characters, in traditionally "heroic" terms. In fact, the character of a sociopathic, if not psychotic, British SAS sergeant, with whom the Marines make contact inside Iraq, acts as a mirror of how the same military virtues Gault displays have the potential to become monstrous.
It is the very "ordinariness" of Gault and the others that is so compelling: young men, most of them, with terrifying responsibilities. And yet..."they soldier on."
In the end we, at least we civilians, are left facing the awe-full mystery of men and women willing to sacrifice their lives.

BLACK STORM WILL JUMP START YOUR HEART
I just finished reading David Poyer's latest tour of duty with Lieutenant Commander Dan Lenson. I recommend it highly to anyone who wants to enlist for an "A-Ticket" ride ready for immediate departure.

LTC Lenson's diaspora scrabbles across the rocky deserts of Iraq only to slosh trough the sewers of Bagdad. Poyer's warts-and-all portrait of personal and military ethics brings the combat experience into fine focus.

While BLACK STORM is set in the closing moments before the allied invasion of Iraq it is not a history lesson. BLACK STORM reads the tea leaves of tomorrows headlines. Read this book before some Hollywood hack neuters it for the screen.

Dan Lenson Is More Real Than Jack Ryan
David Poyer's latest Dan Lenson novel takes us back to the Middle East and places him up against a fantastic nightmare situation. Although the timing is 1991 just before the American ground attack, several of the issues raised are very timely following the shocking events of September 11, 2001. Protagonist Lenson remains human and believable in facing the new challenges, which makes him a more credible hero than Clancy's Ryan, in my opinion. Furthermore, without the burden of Clancy's wordiness, Poyer's attention to detail in the novel's setting, even in the sewers under Baghdad, come across plausibly. And his knowledge of the modern U.S. military is extraordinary. THE CIRCLE remains my favorite Poyer novel in the Lenson series, but BLACK STORM comes close.


In Search of Black America: Discovering the African American Dream
Published in Hardcover by Simon & Schuster (February, 2000)
Author: David Dent
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It was ok
I don't know why, but i didn't really like it. I felt the author had a negative opinion about a lot of the people he interviewed, and i didn't care for a lot of the people he chose to interview. One lady in particular really got under my skin, Ms Holbart, she implied that a lot of black women because of low class didn't like her, and also because she was so beautiful. And that's why a lot of her relationships failed because they were too low class. It was a few interesting things in the book

A new perspective...
Long overdue, this book presents a rich and layered look at middle-class black Americans. We journey along with Dent through his vividly portrayed encounters and engaging text while discovering truths about our society, about ourselves. Read this book, encourage your friends to do so as well. In it lies the hope of finally starting to clear away the misconceptions and stereotypes, seen and heard far too often. The resiliancy and beauty of these people changes you.

A Neo-Conservative View of David Dent's Splendid Work
Both Liberal and Conservative commentators often prefer to perceive black people as card board abstractions able to easily fit within their own ideological preconceptions. David Dent did not fall into this seductive trap. He writes about real flesh and blood Afro-Americans. Regrettably, Dent's work is needed to aid present day Americans to better understand and resolve the racial issues haunting our nation since its earliest history. One can only hope that in the near future this superb work will become essentially irrelevant and of interest to only academics studying the peculiarities of American life at the dawn of the 21st century.

I am a white man who can choose to be indifferent towards his ethnic heritage. It is impossible to tell when I walk down the street whether my ancestors were originally from Russia, England, or Sweden. I am actually of German extraction, and this fact bores me to death. The German language and culture is meaningless to me, and I have absolutely no interest "in getting in touch with my roots." An Afro-American, however, does not have this option. Their blackness is inescapable and perhaps even suffocating. I recall Sidney Poitier's public criticism of journalists who constantly asked him questions pertaining to racial issues. Poitier had to remind these probably well meaning individuals that there were also many other facets of his life that were being ignored.

The very concept of a viable middle class black life is an oxymoron to many decent white Americans. Afro-Americans who garner most media attention are the very wealthy artists and athletes, and their opposites residing within the "permanent underclass" areas of our nation's impoverished ghettoes. Blacks either get their pictures on a Wheaties box, or a wanted poster---virtually nothing in between. David Dent has succeeded admirably well in depicting black Americans as varied socially, economically, and educationally as the rest of "main stream" America. I am glad that I read this book.


Learn to Read New Testament Greek
Published in Hardcover by Baptist Sunday School Board - Baptist Book Stores (July, 1993)
Author: David Alan Black
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a useful supplement
I prefer William Mounce's "The Basics of Biblical Greek" to this grammar by David Alan Black as a first choice for those beginning to learn Biblical Greek; but...

This book has more than a few areas where it deals with its material in a way that is different from (and in some cases superior to) that of Mounce. The preposition section on particular is wonderful.

I highly recommend this text as a supplement to that of Mounce.

Excellent Introduction to New Testament Greek
As a first year Greek student, I found Mounce's large tome on Introductory Greek, with its verbosity and endless depth, to be extremely intimidating. In my opinion, Black avoids such stumbling blocks for the new Greek student, while offering many outlets and resources for the more advanced student as well. Although there were several places in which my own brilliant Greek professor (Dr. Roy Metts) had to adjust and/or replace Black's instruction (e.g., Black's classification system for Third Declension Nouns is somewhat cumbersome), my opinion of this text remains positive and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning the basics of biblical Greek.
(P.S. Broadman and Holman's printing company did a terrible job in the binding of this book. Almost everyone I know who owns this book has had the pages separate from the binding within a few months. Be prepared to glue it back together!)

Clear, thorough introductory textbook
Excellent resource for personal study or classroom instruction in the elements of NT Greek. The author's presentation is very clear, with explanations that will make the grammar easy to understand even for those with little background in the subject.


A Country of Strangers: Blacks and Whites in America
Published in Hardcover by Knopf (November, 1997)
Author: David K. Shipler
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A book for the Miseducated millions in America
David Shipler has truly unvieled truths that the educational system in America has truly miseducated millions of people on the history of Blacks. Until we accept black history wholeheartedley into American history, blacks and whites will remain forever strangers. I've read at least one third of the book and I'm truly amazed at the extensive research shipley has done. I've discovered in his book some artifacts of black history that have long since been conviently left out of America's classrooms.
The book details the stupidity of racism and what it has cost this nation. I especially enjoyed the text on President Thomas Jefferson and his intimate relationship with a black women Mary Hemmings. It's a shame that Jefferson did not take care of all the children he fathered and some of his black decendents today are still fighting for recognition. By today's standards, Jefferson would be considered a dead-beat dad. This book will shatter the clay foundation of traditional education and have you wondering why you were decieved, misinformed, and miseducated. Americal will never have a black President until the conspiracy to distort history is stopped. This book is a starting place for anyone interested in getting at the truth about blacks in America and this book is a starting place for whites to begin the search for their black relatives in their families. Until the search begins we will always remain a country of strangers enslaved by ignorance. America this bible verse is for you, You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. In this book, many interracial couples feel they are the ones who will be the best hope for Americas future because they have the best of both the black and white world.

Honest look at Black-White Relations
Shipler has compiled a great deal of first person accounts and analyzed them in such a way that the reader cannot deny the truthfulness and depth of the arguments. A must read for all.

The truth and more
I found David Shiplers book to be very true and to the point. Being a person of color, I already know how we (people of color) feel about race relations. I found it most helpful to see it through the eyes of a white male. I have been tempted to buy a box of this book and carry it with me to give to people. I believe everyone should read this book and debate the content. Of course, not everyone will agree, but for those who are just beginning to explore race relations, this is a great introduction and a most interesting read.


Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Published in Hardcover by William Morrow (December, 1986)
Author: David J. Garrow
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A Thorough History
I knew very little about MLK and the civil rights movement before reading this book. It was a very detailed account of MLK's involvement in civil rights and his personal life. From the late 50's to his death the author tells you practically everything about his life. Though it would be easy for an author to be bias toward or against King, I felt that Garrow did a good job of just telling the story and leaving conclusions to the reader.

required reading
Although not completed I already have the idea that it should be required reading for Seniors in High School and/or a Freshman College requirement. After all it is a most significant event of modern day history along with the civil war and both world wars. David Garrow simultaneously celebrates and condemns human nature by revealing the courage and strength of Dr. King and his followers even as his wife and daughter are attacked with fire bombs by the hateful white mobs. A very compelling beginning story of Rosa Parks... the injustices and inhumane treatment she suffered at the hands of a hate filled people...sets the stage for a work that could begin a lesson in tolerance and unity for our next generations. I unfortunately believe we are still condemned to live our hateful existence in America and the world until works like this can get the attention they deserve.

The most comprehensive biography on King you'll find
First of all, this isn't a biography for the weak-hearted. It's around 1,000 pages on long. Rather than bouncing from Montgomery to Birmingham to Selma, as if the Southern Civil Rights Movement carried itself entirely on momentum, this book explores the details and compromises that went into King's political maneuverings.

Garrow is also unafraid to discuss King's frailties, implicitly positing (and answering) the question: don't a persons public actions and deeds outweigh their private shortcomings? (yes)

This is not only the best book on King that exists, it may very well be the best book on the Southern Civil Rights Movement of the 60's that exists.


Fire on the Beach : Recovering the Lost Story of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers
Published in Hardcover by Scribner (July, 2001)
Authors: David Wright and David Zoby
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Should be" Wild's African Brigade Revised"
The book purports to tell the story of Richard Etheridge but the first third is about "Wilds African Brigade," a black brigade that committed murder, arson, looting and the hostage taking of white women in Tidewater North Carolina and Virginia in October and December 1863.
On its return to base in Portsmouth Virginia Brigadier General Wild was relieved of command and the brigade disbanded.

suberbly written, well researched
This history of the Pea Island Lifesavers is beautifully written so that the story captivates from start to finish. In fact, I wasn't sure that this was my kind of book, but the early, vivid description of the dangerous coast and the duties of the men who walked the Outer Banks looking for shipwrecks hour after hour convinced me that I had to read the whole book. Clearly well researched, this book taught me a great deal about the Civil War and U.S. maritime history but, more importantly, explored the humanity in our country's history. It takes saavy authors to recognize that the real beginning of the Pea Island Lifesaving Station begins not with its inception but with the lives of the men, namely Richard Etheridge, who served there. Because of the emphasis on people and place, the book reads quite like a novel and, therefore, can be appreciated by a wide audience. Fire on the Beach deserves to be read, for it demonstrates that history must be revealed and retold with all its contradictions, complications, and individuals.

Entertaining History!
I am admittedly not a history buff. I do however treasure the three years I was lucky enough to live on North Carolina's Outer Banks. "Fire on the Beach" was recommended to me & now I would like to pass that gift on to anyone who reads these reviews. This book tells a fantastic tale of a man & a period of time that are both truly inspiring. It does not read like a "historical text", but more like a well plotted out novel. If you have any interest in Post Civil War South, Turn of the century maritime history, North Carolina's Outer Banks, or the US Coast Guard, do not pass this book up!


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