Very informative book. Well organized.

Being a huge fan of dictionaries and encyclopedias; I simply had to examine The Kentucky Encyclopedia by John E. Kleber(Editor), et al. Whilst, I am not a resident of the state of Kentucky ( I live in Atlanta, GA), I have a neverending thirst for knowledge and therefore I thought that it would be pertient for a person of my taste to read and furthermore examine the mentioned item. It starts out with a beatifully detailed map of the state with all the counties; it follows up with a list of all the people whom contributed to this grand project which was printed by the venerable University Press OF Kentucky. The editorial staff section is also a nice touch and shows how much work that is required to produce on of these encyclopedias. The table of contents is also well developed with the following sections: Foreward, Preface, Kentucky: A Historical Overview by Thomas D. Clark, The guide for readers, The kentucky Encyclopedia, Biblographic essay and finally the index. The The first three sections, i.e., the Foreward, the Preface, and the longer article, Kentucky: A Historical Overview by Thomas D. Clark, are all written in a scholarly tone without being stuffy or pretentious. Especially the Clarke article is fascinating in its coverage of the founding of the State of Kentucky. The guide to readers is also helpful for people that are not accustoimed to using encyclopedias. The entries themselves are well written and the font chosen does not detract from the information. For instance if one wants to know whom Charles P. Farnsley was then one should rread p.309 and realize that amongst many things he was the major of Luisville 1948-1953 and that he received his bar in 1930. The index is also a blessing in its ease of use and makes the searching experience very enjoyable. Overall, this is the encyclopedia to get if one is remotely interested in the state of Kentucky and I would definetely recommend it.

If you buy only one book about Kentucky, this is the book to buy. Every aspect of Kentucky history is covered in detail. This is a compilation of articles submitted by over 500 people on various topics ranging from prehistoric Kentucky to modern times. Each one is a facinating description of Kentucky history that reads like a short story. I never tire of reading this book! Is is a must read for anyone who has ever been to or lived in Kentucky.

This well crafted hardbound volume is in it's third edition and a welcome standard for caregivers of Alzheimer's patients. Written and edited by a team of doctors, nurses, and socialworkers, this book aspires to be the comprehensive guide to caring for patients with dementia. The first section focuses on brain function and how alzheimer's disease is identified; section two turns it's attention to causes and diagnoses of alzheimer's; section three brings forth an array of issues related to patient care and management of alzheimer's behaviors (perhaps the best and most pratical section of the book, because much of it is directly related to day to day care of the patient); section for focuses on special issues such as stress caregivers experience and legal issues; section five is perhaps the second best unit of the book, with practical ideas and solutions for caregivers in finding support and resources in the community to assist in caregiving. Overall, I highly recommend this book. It does have a hefty price tag, but it is well worth it

This well crafted hardbound volume is in it's third edition and a welcome standard for caregivers of Alzheimer's patients.  Written and edited by a team of doctors, nurses, and socialworkers, this book aspires to be the comprehensive guide to caring for patients with dementia.  The first section focuses on brain function and how alzheimer's disease is identified; section two turns it's attention to causes and diagnoses of alzheimer's; section three brings forth an array of issues related to patient care and management of alzheimer's behaviors (perhaps the best and most pratical section of the book, because much of it is directly related to day to day care of the patient);   section for focuses on special issues such as stress caregivers experience and legal issues; section five is perhaps the second best unit of the book, with practical ideas and solutions for caregivers in finding support and resources in the community to assist in caregiving.  Overall, I highly recommend this book.  It does have a hefty price tag, but it is well worth it

This book is written so well I have read it many times. It is set in the depression era and brings you to that time with laughter and tears. Billy C. CLark describes small town living along the Big Sandy River which was once the cities life. I think people of all ages would love this heart felt book.

"Wayward Balloon" is a hard to find short story book about a young boy who gets carried in away in a helium balloon during a carnival in Bladen County North Carolina. I found it to be a cherished collectible as it is so hard to find, as well as, my interests are in Bladen County genealogy and folklore.

Seeking to reprise his earlier success with The Last of the Mohicans, James Fenimore Cooper went on to write several other tales built around his heroic character Natty Bumppo (called "Hawkeye" in Mohicans and "Pathfinder" in the book of THAT name). In this one our hero is known as "Deerslayer" for his facility on the hunt and is shown as the younger incarnation of that paragon of frontier virtue we got to know in the earlier books. In this one, too, we see how he got his most famous appellation: "Hawkeye". But, this time out, our hero comes across as woefully tiresome (perhaps it's because we see too much of him in this book, where he's almost a side character in Mohicans). Yet some of Cooper's writing skills seem sharper here (he no longer avers that Natty is the taciturn type, for instance, while having the fellow forever running off at the mouth). But, while there are some good moments & excitement, this tale really doesn't go all that far...and its rife with cliches already overworked from the earlier books. The worst part is the verbose, simple-minded self-righteousness of our hero, himself, taken to the point of absolute unbelievability. He spurns the love of a beautiful young woman (though he obviously admires her) for the forester's life (as though he couldn't really have both), yet we're expected to believe he's a full-blooded young American male. And he's insufferably "moral", a veritable goody two-shoes of the woodlands. At the same time, the Indians huff & puff a lot on the shore of the lake where Deerslayer finds himself in this tale (in alliance with a settler, his two daughters, a boorish fellow woodsman, and Deerslayer's own erstwhile but loyal Indian companion Chingachgook -- "The Big Sarpent," as Natty translates his name). But the native Americans seem ultimately unable to overwhelm the less numerous settlers who have taken refuge from them in the middle of Lake Glimmerglass (inside a frontier house built of logs and set in the lake bed on stilts). There is much racing around the lake as Deerslayer and the others strive to keep the few canoes in the vicinity from falling into the hands of the tribe of marauding Hurons who have stopped in the nearby woods on their way back up to Canada (fleeing the American colonists and the British at the outbreak of English-French hostilities -- since these Hurons are allied with the French). And there are lots of dramatic encounters, with some deaths, but the Indians seem to take it all with relative equanimity, while trying to find a way to get at the whites who are precariously ensconced out on the lake. (It seems to take them the better part of two days, for instance, to figure out they can build rafts to make up for their lack of canoes -- and why couldn't they just build their own canoes, in any case -- and how is it they don't have any along with them since it's obvious they'll have to cross a number of waterways to successfully make it back to the homeland in Canada?) The settler and the boorish woodsman, for their part, do their stupid best to attack the Indians unnecessarily, getting captured then ransomed in the process, while Deerslayer and Chingachgook contrive to get the loyal Indian's betrothed free from the Hurons (it seems she has been kidnapped by them -- the reason Deerslayer and Chingachgook are in the vicinity in the first place). In the meantime the simple-minded younger daughter of the settler (Cooper seems to like this motif since he used a strong daughter and a simpler sister in Mohicans, as well) wanders in and out of the Indian's encampment without sustaining any hurt on the grounds that the noble red men recognize the "special" nature of this poor afflicted young woman (Cooper used this motif in Mohicans, too). In the end there's lots of sturm und drang but not much of a tale -- at least not one which rings true or touches the right chords for the modern reader. Cooper tried to give us more of Hawkeye in keeping with what he thought his readers wanted but, in this case, more is definately too much. --- Stuart W. Mirsk

Cooper's final Leatherstocking Tale, The Deerslayer, depicts young Natty Bumppo on his first warpath with lifelong friend-to-be, Chingachgook. The story centers around a lake used as the chronologically subsequent setting for Cooper's first Leatherstocking Tale, The Pioneers. Tom Hutter lives on the lake with his daughters and it is here that Deerslayer (Bumppo) intends to meet Chingachgook to rescue Chingachgook's betrothed from a band of roving Iroquois. A desperate battle for control of the lake and it's immediate environs ensues and consumes the remainder of the story.

Throughout this ultimate Leatherstocking Tale, Cooper provides Natty much to postulate upon. Seemingly desiring a comprehensive finality to the philosophy of Bumppo, Cooper has Natty "speechify" in The Deerslayer more so than in any other book, though the character could hardly be considered laconic in any. Though the reason for this is obvious and expected (it is, after all, Cooper's last book of the series), it still detracts a tad from the pace of the story as Natty picks some highly inappropriate moments within the plot to elaborate his position. And, thus, somewhat incongruently, Cooper is forced to award accumulated wisdom to Bummpo at the beginning of his career rather than have him achieve it through chronological accrual.

All things considered, however, The Deerslayer is not remarkably less fun than any other Leatherstalking Tale and deserves a similar rating. Thus, I award The Deerslayer 4+ stars and the entire Leatherstocking Tales series, one of the better examples of historical fiction of the romantic style, the ultimate rating of 5. It was well worth my time.

I just reread this book after 35 years. I loved it as a 15 year old and enjoyed it as an adult. The negatives? The hubrus of Cooper, the successful author, shows up in the form of undeveloped characters and a wandering plot. The positives are the rolicking adventure and the way it makes me remember where I was and what I was doing the first time I read it. If you are under 16 read this on first and the rest just get better. Over 16 read them in the order they were written and try not to be too disappointed in with this later effort.