I first owned this volume of poetry in 1978. That book simply fell apart after more than 20 years of reading and handling (sometimes roughly by my children). I replace this book with a new one just last year.
The old favorites are all here; Fireflies in the Garden, The Road Not Taken, Fire and Ice, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, and a hundred more. In my opinion this is the definitive volume on Frost.
I have always been awed by the number of poems Frost wrote about the stars. A Star on a Stoneboat, The Star Spitter, Stars, Canis Major and many others. Truly Robert Frost is the astronomers poet.
Also in this volume is perhaps my favorite Frost poem, Brown's Descent.
If you love reading Frost on a crispy fall evening, then you'll love reading him when the crickets chirp. You'll need to own this book.

Robert Frost was and is America's greatest poet. Excepting, perhaps, W. B. Yeats, he may be the greatest poet to write English in the twentieth century. (To me, it's a toss-up.) To read this volume systematically or desultorily is to become convinced of that. But Frost is, above all, accessible, so the casual reader may not appreciate the difficulty of what he does. Like much of the greatest art his looks easy, even inevitable.

All of Frost's poems are here, plus his two dramatic Masques. When this book first appeared (in 1969) it caused a furor: the editor, it was angrily asserted, presumed too much. He dared to clarify - inserting a hyphen here, excising a comma there. That furor has since died down, as people realize that he did not do away with the sacred texts (any emendation was noted), but simply performed his job as editor. He regularized spelling and the use of single and double quotes (though not Capitalization, which can legitimately be thought of as integral to the poet's expression (think of e.e. cummings!)), and corrected other obvious errors. The notes give the published variants for each poem, so if you wish you may make your own call on some of these finicky issues.

I cannot emphasize enough: BUY THE HARDCOVER! After all, you will be reading this book for the rest of your life. It is a beautifully-built volume, of an easy size and heft for use, with understated appealing typefaces and an exemplary design. Put out by Frost's long-time publisher, this is one of the few essential books of American literature.

"It is absurd to think that the only way to tell if a poem is lasting is to wait and see if it lasts, The reader of good poem can tell the moment it strikes him that he has taken an immortal wound-that he will never get over it...The proof of a poem is not that we have never forgotten it, but we knew at sight we would never forget it."

Robert Frost

I have to admit it! When I first met Robert Frost's poetry in Freshman English class I took an immortal wound-that I will never get over it. Perhaps the then recent memory of the white haired poet who inaugurated Camelot that cold, January day conditioned me to receive the wound. Maybe Fr. Sheridan's teaching opened these poems for me. Most of all, I think that it is the words themselves which have made the poetry of Robert Frost such an important part of my life for almost 35 years.

This complete collection complemented the high school text book to which I had so often referred over the years. Here is the source of lines which I have often quoted. Many family vacations have begun with: "I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep" (Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening).

When my son tries to silence his sister's singing he is reminded that "Of course there must be something wrong In wanting to silence any song" (A Minor Bird).

Here we find philosophical reflections. "Good walls make good neighbors" counters "Something there is that doesn't like a wall" (Mending Wall).

Here "The Death of a Hired Man" challenges us to reflect upon how we value and treat others while "Christmas Trees" reminds us that not all things have prices. Here we are invited to follow the road of the poet who wrote "I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference" (The Road Not Taken).

I have writen just a sampling of the treasures to be found in this collection, but I have written enough. It is now time to indulge again with words I have never forgotten. "I shan't be gone long-You come too." (The Pasture).

If after reading this book, you don't find yourself playing mental gymnastics with the rye-humored-memories imprinted on your brain - YOU'RE DEAD!

This is one of the funniest and more intriguing books I've ever read. You can't help wanting to deck a number of characters in this book - but just as surely, you'd deck anyone who would try! It's that kind of dichotemy that makes for one memorable book!

I've developed an entire list of "Elliott Notions" and "Donnyisms". Nearly every day since reading this book (which BTW I've done 4 times in as many months!).. I find myself laughing - many times fully out-loud - at situations which in my daily life mirror conditions from this book: not even related to fishing, guiding or the West. They are just the human condition - full, raw and life-on-the-limb.

Read the book. Experience the uncanny humor Robert Lee has brought to life in this whimsical tale. And answer this: "How many times did you say you'd like to 'see the movie'?"

Enjoy ...

Finished this book in one night. Actually got it for my husband, but got hooked after the first 2 pages of "browsing". "Number Three" is a funny, yet realistic representation of some of our most interesting characters here in Montana. I laughed out loud while digesting Number Three's philosophies on fishing, women, hobbies and life here in God's "last best place". I also am hoping for a sequel to follow Number Three's continued growing pains. Thank you Mr. Lee!!

I loved every minute of this book. I read it while I was fly fishing in Montana for rainbow. It was the perfect book to settle into every night before getting up early to fish again the next day. The characters are wonderful. I felt like I knew them personally. The author has a great sense of humor. Even though this book was very funny, it has a moral to the story. I hope Lee writes another one.

Knowing Professor Dalzell and Mrs. Dalzell personally, I was incredibly curious to see how they blended the two seemingly connected but perhaps contrasting topics of George Washington and his home. Essentially, they were connected very successfully. The entire history of the home itself is told vividly with photographs, anecdotes, and objective descriptions of its development. Following, Washington's own personal, military, and political history is told in light of the times, and in the book's shining ability, in relation to the home itself. The Dalzell's cleverly-melded arguments and discussions leads the reader to a full knowledge of Mt. Vernon and its inspiring owner.

I openned this book expecting to read a story about a house and how it was built. I was surprised, and impressed, to discover that what went on as Mt. Vernon took form was far more interesting than I had expected. This is not so much a book about a house as it is the story of how George Washington related to the slaves on whom he relied to execute his architecture. In other words, the story here reverberates far beyond the boundaries of the plantation. It went to the heart of the republic, and it goes to the heart of this nation. Slavery is encoded in our national DNA (sorry, Jefferson). The Dalzells make it clear that it is also mortared in the wood and plaster (cut and painted to look like stone) of our national edifice. Are you tormented, or at least intrigued, that a slaveowner could style himself father of a republic dedicated to freedom? Maybe Washington was, too. Find out. Visit Mt. Vernon, and do it by reading this book.

Mount Vernon was both architecturally innovative and a true mirror of Washington's feelings and mind. He never wrote an autobiography and his diaries consist largely of farm accounts, but in Mount Vernon, the authors write, "he produced a text from which it is possible to coax a remarkably full sense of his political convictions and of how, over time, they changed." The book, George Washington's Mount Vernon, combines the public and the private sides of his life and uses the combination to enrich our understanding of both.

I have a real passion for the American Civil War and, if truth be told, I usually enjoy reading about it from a Southern perspective. I am though no Robert E. Lee worshipper and can see the good and the bad in the man and the soldier. He was not the perfect general and he did make mistakes (some very costly) but he is a fascinating character and any understanding of him leads to an appreciation of duty and honour. In those respects he was a paragon of virtue.

I'd read so much about Lee during the war that I needed something more, to find out what happened to him after the war. Charles B. Flood provided that "something" and I am so happy that I decided to go for this purchase. It was a snap decision but one I shall never regret.

The first ten chapters of the book are worth the price of purchase on their own, dealing as they do with the surrender of the marvellous Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox and the subsequent weeks and months as Lee made his way back to Richmond and waited to see what fate awaited him at the hands of the victorious Union.

I don't believe Flood was laying it on too thickly but the devotion felt towards Lee by his old soldiers (Pickett excepted of course) and the civilian population of the South are incredible. The stories of soldiers coming to see him before they set off on foot to return home are just so moving and Lee will not say no to anybody who wishes to see him.

After those opening incredible chapters things slow down somewhat and we learn of Lee's transition into what could be called a 'normal' life which sees him take up the presidency of the Lexington College in Virginia. It's not rivetting stuff by any stretch of the imagination but it's interesting and we gain a greater insight into what drives Robert E. Lee... duty and honour. He could have cashed in on his name a thousand times to retire a wealthy man, but he would not sell out and knows that his example, a dutiful one, will be followed by so many former Confederates in those dark post-war days.

Lee also refuses to incriminate his former comrades when pressed to do so and it is a measure of his standing even in the North that no-one dares to bring charges against him, despite the clamour from some sections of society that he be tried for treason.

The picture that Flood paints of Lee is not always flattering though. He is shown to be a stubborn man in some respects and his family are always in awe of him, especially his daughters, of whom he is extremely possessive. So much so that all three will die spinsters!

One of the last things that Lee does before his death in 1870 is to go on a short trip into the deep south and that again provides an incredible picture of his standing in the old Confedracy. Though he craves privacy word gets out that he is on a train and telegrams break the news ahead of his journey. Consequently, thousands turn up just to get a glimpse of him, with old soldiers bringing their children (man of who have been named after Lee). It is a very moving account of just how deeply his people felt for him.

My only complaint is that I would have liked just a little more reaction to lee's death around the South. How did the people react? What did the papers say? That sort of thing. An omission that could easily have been avoided in my opinion.

All in all though a hearty well done to Charles B. Flood for an excellent biography of Lee's last years. If my review sounds a little soppy then believe me, the book isn't. It is a solid, fair and well constructed picture of the last years of Robert E. Lee's life. It may move you in ways you weren't expecting though!

This book shows a side of Robert E. Lee that seems to have been lost in the history books. After the end of the Civil War, we hear little or nothing about General Lee. In truth, he died five years after the war ended, but he made the most of that time in trying to repair the damage done by the war. This book is an excellent chronicle of those years.

Lee lost most of his property during the war. He was a career soldier, and didn't have many prospects for employment. He hoped to move onto a farm and to live quietly in the country.

However, other plans were being made for him. The trustees of Washington College in Lexington, Virginia, voted unanimously to offer him a job as president of the college. Lee was not a professional educator (although he had served as superintendent of West Point), but the trustees believed that his leadership and integrity were just what the college needed to survive the harsh economy left by the war. For his part, Lee saw this as an opportunity to help young Southern men to become productive citizens.

The college's wager paid off. Enrollment grew each year that Lee spent at the helm. The college developed new programs, and Lee's stature and good reputation were such that Washington College received large donations from philanthropists, even in the Northern states. Lee took a personal interest in the students, learning to address them by name and taking responsibility for disciplinary measures.

Yet Lee's last five years were not years of unabated bliss. His health declined steadily, his wife was an invalid, his brother died, and his reputation suffered from some unjust attacks in Northern newspapers. Throughout it all, Lee held his head high and maintained his dignity, his character, and his principles.

Lee put much effort into healing the wounds left by the war. He appreciated the esteem in which he was held by his fellow Southerners, but he encouraged them to be loyal citizens of the United States of America. He never said a word against General U.S. Grant, and even rebuked an employee of Washington College who did. One of the most fascinating (and mysterious) episodes in the book is Lee's trip to Washington, D.C., to visit President Grant in the White House. No one else was present for the meeting, and so no one really knows what they discussed.

The book ends abruptly with an account of Lee's death, without going reporting on his funeral and his family's life without him. Even so, this book makes great reading and has fascinating insights into the private life of an American icon.

This was a passionate story of the last five years of the life of one of our greatest American heroes. Finally, we have a look at what Lee accomplished AFTER the war! From the first chapter to the end, I was enthralled with the story of Lee's dedication to God and country. The author used interesting stories to detail Lee's character which made the book easy to read and immensely enjoyable. I judge this to be one of the very best biographies I've ever read.

This is one of my favorite books of all times. It's written as a play, so unlike many wordy and obtruse novels, it flows very smoothly. The authors depict Thoreau very well in his life and detailing his ideas and views on individualism, nonconformity, nature, and corrupted governments. For anyone who has dreamed of being different, you must read this book. It's so easy to grasp onto and filled with enough wit and humor to entice you to finish it within one sitting. Highly recommended.

This is a great play to read before reading anything by Thoreau himself--it will help you to get a better understanding of him. Also great for Thoreau fans, or anyone who likes to read something worthwhile. This book is simply amazing, you will not regret reading it. I don't often cry when reading....but I'll admit that I did when reading this one. The authors of this play depicted Henry David Thoreau's life and philosophies so clearly yet with such an eloquent and touching manner. I loved this play 100% and I will definitely read it again!

Review of ¡°The night Thoreau Spent in Jail¡± Henry David Thoreau, born in Concord, Massachusetts, in early 1800¡¯s, rejected paying taxes because the U.S. government exercised its authority to the slaves, Mexicans, and pageants through the fugitives slave law, the Mexican War, and so on. The play, ¡°The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail,¡± written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, is based on his spending one night in jail. The circumstance, a cell in the prison, allowed him to recall his past and discover himself as a pencil-maker, a school teacher, an author, a handy man, etc. Each scene implies his various talents as showing him not just as a great philosopher or a writer, but as a human being.

Thoreau had been inspired by the humanism speech of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was the Sage of Concord. In order to follow Waldo¡¯s lecture, he declared himself free, and he tried not to yield another¡¯s will. He practiced his philosophy by teaching the nature to the students, trying to distinguish himself from others, surveying living things in the meadow, and refusing the taxes to the unfair government. He was so called, a ¡°transcendentalist¡±, and he kept emphasizing ¡°BE YOUR OWN MAN!¡± His saying, ¡°The freest man in the world! And you, out there, are chained to what you have to do tomorrow morning!¡± in jail showed his position against the civilization and the world. After spending one night in jail, Thoreau eventually decided to face the real lives instead of avoiding them.

Thoreau met another prisoner, Bailey, who had waited for the chance to prove his guiltlessness and had never spoken up for himself to avoid trouble. Bailey barely understood what happened in the world or what were right things to be done. He stands for the victims, who can¡¯t get along with others and be protected by the authorities, like Henry Williams, an escapee and slave trying to get to Canada. On the other hand, Deacon Nehemiah ball, the chairman of the Concord School Committee, stuck to insisting on having an obedient attitude, taking the strict policy. He is the symbol of the power and violence.

Thoreau¡¯s brother, John, understood, supported, and ran the meadow school with Thoreau, but he died young from lockjaw. Besides John, the young lady Ellen Sewell also understood Thoreau¡¯s transcendentalism. She attended his lectures and attracted his attention. However, she didn¡¯t dare to stand up to the authority. One more woman is there, Lydian Emerson, who is Dr. Emerson¡¯s obedient wife. She, who is warm-hearted, tries to make Thoreau get in the mainstream. Despite her sympathy toward Thoreau, she maintains her position, observing the majority. Sam Stapler, the constable in Concord, has difficulties because he persuades Thoreau to pay his dues. Finally, he carries out the law and arrests Thoreau.

This play is not just for those who started to know new spirits, which are the transcendental movement and the abolition movement in the late 1800¡¯s, but for all of us who are educated, rationalized, and law-abiding in the societies, so that we can justify their own determinations. We always assimilate social conditions to be alike. We often forget thinking about what we are doing as keeping pace with others. This play is insightful enough to extend their point of view about the world and think over our attitudes toward societies. It deserves the best compliment and is recommended to read. Why don¡¯t you stop wandering around in your cage to see your outside world?

Christine Bennett is in the process of readjusting to "normal life" after spending 15 years as a cloistered nun. At a town meeting, she speaks in defense of disabled twin brothers accused of killing their mother 40 years before and to her surprise is put in charge of researching the case. As she starts to dig into the past, she meets a helpful (and smitten) police officer who helps in her search for the truth.

Christina does not run around accusing people of the murder without evidence, judge suspects harshly for their past actions or deliberately place herself in danger which is a refreshing change. This is a refreshing cozy mystery with likeable characters and an engrossing mystery.

If you can read (or listen to the audiobook version) this story and not be in tears by the end, you are a stronger reader than I am. This was one of the most moving stories I've ever read. Ms. Harris is able, in the guise of telling the simple tale of a nun who left the convent and gets involved in a mystery simply through the process of living her everyday life, to create characters who are so sympathy-engendering as to make them part of your life. They become like family--and their deaths had me sobbing.
Add that to a well-crafted mystery story, and you have the beginning of a mystery series of books which one will want to read, and re-read in later years.
May Ms. Harris be able to keep on writing Christine Bennett
mystery stories!

This was the first Christine Bennett mystery I read. It was so good I recomended it to my family. I was in my fifties then but the book was rated as superb by my daughters in their twenties and by my husband. From then on I've read all Ms Harris' books. She's fabulous. Maybe you could say they're cozies but I don't think so. She has a deep sense of plot and characterization. Kix is a real person, the men and women involved in her investigations are psychologically correct. To make things short, I love Ms Harris books. They are not only good mysteries for the dentist's waiting room: they are very good novels.

Strolling through the Mall I decided to stop in for a brief visit to the mass market oriented bookstore. Thumbing through the Civil War offerings I picked up this outstanding book. I did not recognize the name of George Walsh. He is a Yankee writing on the army whose story has been so well told from Southern superstars such as Douglass Southall Freeman, Clfford
Dowdey and Shelby Foote. Why plunk down a Visa card to purchase it?
Curiosity satisfied is the answer! Walsh writes in a personal style introducing the men and the units making up Lee's fabled Army of Northern Virgnia. Even an old Civil War buff such as I learned new things about the Victorian warriors of Dixieland who lend the forces of Lee against the enemy.
This book is an excellent survey of the war in the Eastern theatre. It is a valuable additon to my Civil War library. I highly recommend Walsh's book to anyone even casually interested in learning more about the American Illiad that is our Civil War!

George Walsh hit a grand slam with DAMAGE THEM ALL YOU CAN: ROBERT E. LEE'S ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA. Told almost exclusively from the point of view of the Confederate side this book does a wonderful job of getting into the hearts and minds of the men who fought for the Confederacy. The stereotypes of the lost cause or southerners as a pack of racists are replaced by a very human portrait of the men (and sometimes their loved ones too) who fought and died for what they believed in. Walsh has done a very real service to the memory of the Army of Northern Virginia. The battle narratives are really good as is the analysis of Lee's thoughts, decisions and occasional frustration with his subordinates. An excellent treatment!

"Damage Them All You Can:" Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia written by George Walsh is quite frankly one of the best accounts of The Army of Northern Virginia that I've ever read. General Robert E. Lee assembled the best army to ever, to this point in time, fight on American soil. In fact, The Army of Northern Virginia man for man, out Generaled, out fought all that the North could throw against it.

Walsh's book is a true delight to read, the principles in the book seem to come alive as you read on in the book. The prose is written with vivid descriptions and the author gives the reader insights albeit shrewd of how the battles were fought.

I got the inpression that I was there with the incisive insights the author gives the reader, from the Generals, to the commanders, right down to the trenches, told with deeply moving detail. I encourage anyone interested in reading about the Civil War or the "Yankee War of Aggression" to read this book.

I've read Foote, McPherson, and Catton's writings about this time in American History, but Walsh's account here is the best and most personal one that I've ever read, with a probing into the character and the battles that made them feel like they were fought right before your eyes.

This book is, by all accounts, for a single volume the best book written about one of the best fighting armies the Confederacy ever had... the Army of Northern Virginia. This book is worthy of a place in your library on American History.

I had heard about this book from somebody who had similary enjoyed the same speculative (not quite sci-fi) novels I like, and was sort of blown away by its oddity and fresh voice. Reality merges with time travel. Or is it all in the mind? What I like is the confusion of past and present, Civil War era with the 1960's. The author questions the nature of time itself, but isn't afraid to write paragraghs almost incongruously funny, especially when viewed against serious and rather tragic historical material. A strange and entertaining read.

Was in the authors G thru I section of my favorite used bookstore when the title of this book caught my eye. The description on the back seemed interesting, and it was certainly different from anything I had been reading, so I bought it with a, "Why not?" attitude. I absolutely love this book. I literally wept over Lee's last days in battle, and the book has kindled in me a desire to learn all about the Civil War. I am now deep into Shelby Foote's trilogy and have also purchased a dozen or so other Civil War books recommended by various experts on the net. Also, I bought two more copies of M.A. Harper's book from Amazon so that I could send one to a sister in N.C. and keep one extra to loan to friends. I am an uprooted Southerner (by choice), born the same year as the author, who identifies with so much she has written. This book has caused me to rethink so many things I had stopped thinking about, and has given me new pride in my birthplace and heritage. I may even go back to the South to wind up my days--I understand things differently, now; I no longer feel ashamed of where I'm from. I know I'm laying a lot at this book's door, but it affected me most profoundly, in many different ways. And I am always reading, I'm never without a book--I'm picky about what I'll spend my time reading, and I won't waste my time with junk. Harper's book just blew me away! I hope she keeps writing.

I think I need to retract the (very favorable) review I just wrote about this book yesterday. The author is a very close personal friend, and believes it unethical for me to submit it. Maybe she's right, because I am partial to her in many things, although my stated opinion of the work is true. In any case, she doesn't want to see her credibility questioned in any way, so please squelch my review, since she's pretty worried about this. Thank you.