This is an absolutely wonderful accounting of a man who had a vision of the proper place of athletics in American life. By the end, I had a tear in my eye, even though I have no direct connection to ND.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. While Moose Krause isn't the most recognizable figure in Notre Dame sports history, his story certainly makes him one of the most interesting. Congrats to Mr. Kelly for his enthusiastic, page-turning masterpiece!

as a teacher, i will encourage all my students to read this book. through this marvelous book, i began to appreciate the character of this man called "moose." aside from being a fine athlete and coach, kraus lived his life the way to which we should all aspire. whether or not you're a notre dame fan, this is a great read.

Ms. Reardon's wonderful book underscores the challenge that we all face as we read and attempt to separate fact from fiction and fancy.This book is a case study in the mysterious confluence of objective history and subjective history. Ms Reardon deftly takes the reader from July 3, 1863, the day of Pickett's Charge, to the present day and shows how elusive the truth is. As an avid student of the American Civil War in particular and history in general,I learned three very important lessons from Ms Reardon. First, the thundering violence and confusion of battle make the search for the truth exceedingly difficult. The actual participants in Pickett's Charge were able to vividly and tellingly relate their emotions at the time. However, their reports of actual events and actions were understandably contradictory. Second, as Ms Reardon illuminates throughout the book, the careful reader must consider the possible motives of the author while reading the work. Ms Reardon demonstrates that the Virginia Historical Society was more interested in protecting state pride than searching for the truth. The numerous instances of conflicting accounts of this single day of the Civil War reminds me of Richard Nixon's resopnse to the question of how history will judge him : "It depends on who writes the history ". One can call Nixon's response cynical, but Ms Reardon reminds us that the wise reader will posses a healthy skepticism. Finally, when one pores through a Civil War book,or any book on warfare for that matter, the reader must understand that the neat maps of the terrain and the formations belie the utter confusion,terror, and violence inherent in battle.

Ms Reardon won me over with her eye for the telling detail when she pointed out that the terrain prevented both Union and Confederate soldiers from a panaromic view of the battlefield.The rolling hills prevented the Union troops from seeing large parts of the charge. Meanwhile, a gentle ridge split the attacking Confederates in half. Ms Reardon ruefully notes that numerous historical accounts from both sides provide intimate details of things that were not visible from the participant's location.

Ms Reardon quotes a grizzled veteran who summed it all up when he said,"Picketts Charge has been so grossly exaggerated and misrepresented as to give some color to the oft-repeated axiom that 'history is an agreed-upon lie'."

With new books on the Civil War hitting the stands every day it's nice to see that hard nosed research with attention to detail is still alive. Carol Reardon has brought forth past memories, mirrored with a modern day look at Pickett's charge. As the book unfolds, her style of writing lends itself to a wonderful portrayal of the efforts made to fully understand what happened on 3 July 1863.

No matter what the outcome, American lives were lost during a bitter struggle at a time when brother fought against brother. This book, unlike others that try to de-bunk the stories and battle statistics, goes to the heart of the matter. Truly remarkable and most enjoyable to read!

This book is well worth reading and rates as one of the top Civil War books needed on your library shelf.

Well done!

About 3 years ago, I read the 3 books Gary Gallagher edited that are essay collections on the battle of Gettysburg. While the books dealing with the first and second day had interesting material in them, the one on the third day had a truly interesting essay on Pickett's Charge, by a woman who's a military historian. I'm sure she's sick of hearing it, but female military historians are rather rare, so I read it with some interest. It was worth my time, definitely, and this book is an expansion of the themes presented in the essay.

Gettysburg is a controversial subject, and while there has been much ink spilled adding to the controversy, this book instead aims to dissect the controversy surrounding the denoument of the whole event: Pickett's Charge. Reardon first covers the events of the charge very briefly, then wades right in and recounts the memory and history of the event as it developed over the years. There's a whole chapter, for instance, on the efforts of the North Carolina historical societies and veterans' organizations trying to rehabilitate the reputation of Tarheels who fought during Pickett's Charge, because they were blamed (by Virginians in Pickett's division and elsewhere) for the defeat. Watching the history of an event unfold and change as the generations pass is enthralling, and Reardon tells the story skillfully, keeping the pace up nicely and showing a formidable command of publications on the Battle and Pickett's Charge itself...

All in all, a truly remarkable book and one well worth reading. A 9 is the highest rating I've given here; and I've rated 10 or 15 books now.

a glimpse into 'claude's life' leaves one reeling at the genius of edward t. george's creative faculties and wanting more!

This book, "Claude's Life" exudes a style and form that makes you wish the book would never end.

You enter the world of "Claude's Life" and become consumed by its simplicity and generous laughter.

While it does delve into a life of a slacker, Claude shines through with a magic and humility.

I hope you enjoy this masterpiece by Edward George as much as I did...

It is clear that Edward T. George provides us with a very descriptive and original text in Claude's Life. This is a very modern piece that includes humor. Hopefully we will hear more from this author in the near future.

I've owned a copy of this book for over 25 years, purchasing it in the early 1970's. As an owner of a Model A Ford, I wanted more information about the car and its history. This book has an amazing amount of information about the Model A and its birth, changes over the 4 year production run, and great original factory photographs and charts.

The thing that amazes me most about this book is that, even today after almost 30 years after its original publication, the accuracy of what the authors wrote when the book was first published is outstanding! These 3 fellows REALLY did their homework.

If you only own 1 book on the Model A Ford, I recommend this one.

Best Model A book around. Lots of photos and information not found anywhere else. Got a copy on loan from the library, and would buy a new copy to keep if it was still in print.

I need informatio

A perspective of WWII that I have never read before. Brings the day-to-day experience of the ordinary soldier into brutal reality. Wordy and rambling at times, but still a good book.

On the Way, by Edward Marinello, is a fascinating eyewitness account of the American soldier on European battlefields during World War II. Through the eyes and ears of Edward Marinello, the reader witnesses the fears, challenges, and ingenuity of the men in Battery B. This should be required reading for all American history courses. On the Way gives a powerful insight to the human face of war. It is a reminder of how the courage, integrity, and tenacity of each soldier is crucial on the battlefield. This is a must read book!

I am trying to find out more about the 8th Armored Division, 194

As I was sitting on a bench at the end of a long desolate road, slowly sipping my oolong tea, when I pulled out this book and began to read. Oh the joy. I breezed through the pages as my mind wandered throught the wonderful tales that Mr. Hays spins. I couldn't put the book down and the memories and myths will stay with me for a long time. I recommend this book to anyone that is trying to find their spiritual inner self.

I was a senior in High School when I was first introduced to this author. At that time in my life I seeked guidance in a spiritual sense but found few sources from society to help me. A theology teacher showed me 3 parables from Hays' writing and I quickly went out to buy the book. I won't try to explain the messages you get from this book because everyone takes away something different from reading it. Look at the other reviews and decide for yourself but this book is definetly worth the price and you won't spend too much time reading it since the book's length isn't all that long. Although be forewarned you will probably find yourself picking this book up off the shelf after completing it. I don't think I know anyone who has read it only once.

Fr. Hays is a gifted storyteller. His parables find their way through cynicism and doubt, and work in the reader's heart at a profound level. Having read nearly all of Fr. Hays's books, I recommend _St. George and the Dragon_ as a starting place for his compassionate, loving, inclusive, and atavistic theology. It is the story of a man with a deep spiritual longing who is uncertain how to fulfill it. His mentor appears in the form of an ancient dragon offering assistance, guidance, and a slyly humorous wisdom. This is not a book to be read once and put aside, nor is it a book to be read quickly. It will seem new-age-y to some readers, but it isn't. It will appeal to those who are hurting, those who are young at heart, teenagers, and especially to those whose religious background includes ritual. Everyone embarking on, or already on, a spiritual journey will find something holy here.

Written by America's most inventive poet, "The Enormous Room" is a book of prose set in a French detention camp during World War One. It is a coming-of-age story in which events happen, not always to the narrator (E.E. Cummings), but to the inhabitants of a place that serves as a microcosm for all the folly and brutality of war itself. As a war narrative it is unique -- unlike Hemingway's "Farewell to Arms" or Remarque's "All Quiet on the Western Front," the central story doesn't take place on the front lines. The plot of the book is basically non-linear, with the exception of the first three or four chapters, and several passages are written in French (thankfully a glossary of foreign terms is printed at the back of the book). I would describe Cummings' story as a stream-of-consciousness dialogue with himself, written in the language of a talented budding poet. Most memorable are the wonderful characters Cummings encountered during his short stay at La Ferte Mace, the name of the camp in which he was interned. They are objects of torn humanity and how terrible it must have been for him to leave them, knowing that upon his release many would languish in prison for the rest of their lives. "The Enormous Room" is a unique historical fiction. It is not an easy read, but it is one of those books that is even more difficult to put down. I have never read another book quite like it. [P.S.: There are two editions of the book, one published by Boni & Liveright and the other by Penquin Classics. The Liveright edition is the better one (and naturally harder to locate online or in book stores), and includes samples of drawings that Cummings made during his confinement.]

Some works of literature that I have read in the past required several scans of certain passages due to their thick and wholly unconsumable nature. While reading E. E. Cummings' The Enormous Room, I found myself skimming back over entire paragraphs simply for the sheer joy of reading them again. Cummings' ability to turn a phrase is astonishing. It's not hard to glean from reading only this work that the author has a poetic nature.

The personal journey recounted here amounts to a fantastic tale that happens to be (for the most part) completely true. By turns, bleak and hopeless - then joyous and brimming with a kind of spiritual joy, The Enormous Room takes the reader to extremities of all sorts in its relatively short span of chapters.

Though it takes place during a three month stint in a French concentration camp during the latter parts of World War One, it could just as well be set on another planet, for all of its fantastic characters, settings and behavioral interactions that never cease to alternately amaze and confound the reader.

Even if it seems a cruel statement to make, after having the pleasure of experiencing this world through the prose of E. E. Cummings you will be thankful that he found himself in this squalid and vile place so that we now have the honor of sharing in it.

Reading Cumming's poetry was never a priority in my school days, except such excerpts as appeared in my far from comprehensive American Lit book. After reading this, I wish I'd paid more attention to this truly gifted writer.

The Enormous Room is the story of Cumming's three month incarceration at La Ferte Mace, a squalid French prison camp. Cummings is locked up as accessory to exercise of free speech, his friend B. (William Brown) having written a letter with some pro German sentiments. What Cummings experienced in those three months and the stories of the men and women he met are, despite the straits of the polyglot texture of the book, never other than fascinating. At moments touching (the stories of the Surplice and The Wanderer's family), hilarious (the description of the Man In the Orange Cap is hysterical), and maddening (the smoking of the four les putains), this is a brilliant weft of memorable characters and not a little invective for the slipshod French goverment.

Something I noticed. Though the book claims as its primary influence Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, I noticed a similarity with Thoreau's Walden. In both books, there is the idea of self-abnegation breeding liberty and peace of mind. The idea is to shear away all luxuries, all privileges. But Thoreau had one very important luxury to his credit: Free will. Whereas Thoreau chose his isolated and straitened existence near Walden Pond, Cummings' was involuntary. So, if the touchstone of freedom both men share is valid, is not Cummings, by virtue of the unrequested nature of his imprisonment, the freer of the two men?

This is a fascinating, thought provoking, ribald and intelligent book. I only regret that the Fighting Sheeney was never given commupance...

Mr. Hess purports to present the first tactical history of one of the most famous military actions of the Civil War. He therefore sets high expectations for himself, perhaps too high. Mr. Hess does accomplish this forensic and encylopedic presentation, but either this approach to the subject or Hess's style is dry and emotionally unengaging. Hess does a great job in researching soldiers letters and accounts of events surrounding July 3, some of which see the light of day for the first time I have no doubt. These annecdotes are wonderful.

Mr. Hess also does a good job in rebalancing the participation of Pettigrew's and Trimble's commands in the charge. Many accounts of this engagement focus on Picketts' Virginians, partly because these men left a better aggregate written record of their impressions, and partly as a result of post-war prowess with the pen.

There are some gaps. The account of the immediate post-charge Confederate impressions is thin. Is it due to lack of data or just lack of presentation? Does Hess credit the account found in many histories that Lee lets loose his despair that night telling John Imboden "Too bad, too bad, Oh too bad." Did that happen? Is it post-war hyperbole? The account is extant but Hess is silent about what he knows about it. You are begging for a glimpse of Longstreet's post-charge movements that night or over the next few days. Who did he talk to? Did Lee and Longstreet meet within the days following the attack? If Hess doesn't report it you are left to conclude it didn't happen, but is that an accurate conclusion? The Imboden encounter leaves doubt about how thorough the author has been.

Hess explained the storied background of the officers and men who participated in the charge. He mentions Waller Tazwell Patton, colonel of the 7th Virginia, but says nothing about his relationship to WWII's George Patton. Perhaps these ommission's are minor. If Hess sets himself such high expectations, however, the reader has the obligation to call him on it if he fails to deliver.

As a Civil War historian myself, I'm only to pleases to recommend this and all of Earl Hess' other fine works. One of the best tactical studies to appear in a long while

I have thought Stewart's "Pickets Charge" to be the best source for the past 40 years. Hess has written a book that will replace Stewart for more than 40 years. While a master of the sources, Hess is a thoughtful military historian and a writer of a judicious narrative. I have been reading, writing and teaching about the Civil War since 1960 (and graduated from Gettysburg College) and Hess tells me things that I never knew or failed to consider. This is an essential book on the Battle of Gettysburg and one of the better military history works at the beginning of the new century.

ee cummings is a magnificent poet - almost as much of a visual artist as writer. His poems fall and flow and jump and dance, their patterns and punctuation adding so much more to the words and essence of meaning. I have tried reading cummings' work aloud: it never quite works. He has an exceptional turn of phrase, and with one line (give or take a pattern or two) can bring about powerful emotive responses.
This book is fantastic - I had quite a lot of difficulty finding collections of his poetry, and although I'd found a couple of small volumes, this one was exhaustive. I reread it - or at least parts thereof - more often than any other poetry book I own, and always seem to discover another nuance or aspect or pattern that I hadn't seen before. cummings wraps you in words, and the best way I can think of to describe how I feel after reading his works is to steal a quote from one of his poems - "such strangeness as was mine a little while."
Worldwords. And he is the creator of my favourite quotation of all time...
"listen:
there's a hell of a good universe next door:
let's go."
And there is.

I have a few E.E. Cummings books of poetry, but quickly despaired of every finding them all. This collection is a terrific resource for someone who simply wishes to have all the poems collected in one volume.

Typography was preserved very well (with Cummings this is critical), and I find the order of appearance by date helpful in charting his growth as a poet; the first few poems are radically different from the later ones.

Of course, acquiring his individual issues has its own appeal, but if you simply want to have his work easily at hand, this is your only choice (the indexing at the back is extrememly good at helping you remember a poem by its first lines).

Along with being a poet, cummings was a visual artist-chiefly a painter and sometimes an engraver. With his poetry, he made the attempt to arrange the words of his poems in something of an image. He also achieved this end with the words themselves: if he was to say a leaf falls, he might say: a l e (fa l l s) a f His poetry is not straight forward-if you want something easy to read, look elsewhere. But if you want to be exposed to a new and innovative style, and some exquisite writing and subject matter cummings is for you.

This was a play first published in 1593, with the theme of King Edward's struggle against the Welsh prince Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, otherwise known as Llewelyn the Last. Llewelyn was a prince of Gwynedd who adopted the style Prince of Wales in 1258 and was formally recognised in this role by King Henry III at the Treaty of Montgomery in 1267. Edward I became King of England in 1272 but it was only on his return from the Crusades in 1274 that he had to confront the problem of Wales. In 1277 he invaded Wales and Llewelyn was forced to pay homage. Several years of comparative peace followed but hatred of English laws and settlers caused the Welsh to rise again in 1282. The king crushed the revolt and Llewelyn was killed. These events prompted a Welsh bard to ask "Is this the end of the world?" and another to yearn "Ah God, that the sea would drown the land!".

Llewelyn is rarely mentioned in English literature so I read the play with interest. This edition is edited by the late G. K Dreher who wrote an interesting introduction and modernized the spelling and punctuation. I did not expect to find new historical insights into Llewelyn but was interested to see how he was portrayed to an Elizabethan audience. In fact, George Peele is surprisingly sympathetic in his presentation of the man who posed such a threat to the English crown. As Dreher points out, the play was written for an audience of people who "under Elizabeth were enjoying health, expansion, new knowledge, relish and hope". They were citizens of a country in the midst of becoming a great power and enjoying a cultural renaissance. Peele knew that they would sympathize with King Edward's desire to unite Britain under one monarch but would also respect the motives of the Welshman who fought for the rights and dignity of his own people.

Although practically unknown today, George Peele was highly respected by his literary contemporaries. He was an Oxford "Maister of Artes" and the play contains a sprinkling of the Latin tags and classical allusions that we expect from an educated writer of his time but my own favourite passage is a homely one:

(The Friar's novice responds to his master's command to visit town in order to buy food and wine)
"Now, master as I am true wag,
I will be neither late nor lag,
But go and come with gossip's cheer
Ere Gib our cat can lick her ear ."

This new edition of the play published by the Iron Horse Free Press in Texas.

George Peele's King Edward the First Modernized & Illustrated

Peele, George. King Edward the First. Ed. G. K. Dreher. Midland, TX: Iron Horse Free Press, 1999;
ISBN: 0-9601000-7-5 (hardcover, 224 pages with illustrations).

The publication history of George Peele's chronicle play, Edward I, begins in 1593, as the Stationers' Company register tells us:

Die Octobris./. [1593] Entred for his Copie vnder thandes of bothe the wardens an enterlude entituled the Chronicle of Kinge Edward the firste surnamed Longeshank with his Retourne out of the Holye Lande, with the lyfe of Leublen Rebell in Wales with the sinkinge of Quene Elinour [.]

Alternately called Longshank, Longshanks, and Prince Longshank, Peele's Edward I was performed fourteen times by the Lord Admiral's Men between August 29, 1595, and July 14, 1596. The play's successful stage history occasioned the printing of a second edition, which appeared in 1599.

At least eleven modern editions have been published since R. Dodsley's 1827 text, the most recent of which is: King Edward the First, a retroform edited by G. K. Dreher, published by Iron Horse Free Press. Publisher George R. Dreher, son of G. K. Dreher, notes that the "aim of this edition is to provide . . . a few unriddles in the text, modern spelling and punctuation, and an introduction for readers who are not familiar with the play." Partly a celebration of Peele's life and works and partly a tribute to Dreher's father's scholarship, the volume brings together G. K. Dreher's previous editions of Peele's Edward I (Adams Press, 1974) and David and Bethsabe (Adams Press, 1980). The new edition also includes an introduction, a commentary, and 23 images: 8 medieval illustrations from the British Library, plus 1 each from the Public Records Office, Eton College, and the Beinecke Rare Book Collection (featured in Edward I); 12 illustrations from museums around the world by the artists Raphael, Michelangelo, Salviati, Rembrandt, Chapron, Berton, Beckmann, Picasso, and Chagall (featured in David and Bethsabe). Together these components fashion a useful volume for a general reading audience; indeed, this text does more than any previous edition to popularize Peele's work. Although not a critical edition, the book will perhaps be most valuable as a teaching text for undergraduate studies.

George Peele (1556-96), born in London, was one of the principal writers of chronicle history plays in the Elizabethan literary movement, which culminated in Shakespeare's Henry IV plays and Henry V. Peele was educated at Christ's Hospital, Broadgates Hall (Pembroke College), and Christ Church, Oxford where he won praise as a translator of one of the Iphigenias of Euripides. In 1580 Peele married Anne Cooke, daughter of an Oxford merchant. With Ann he returned to the environs of London in 1581 where he pursued an active literary career in association with the "University Wits", a group of playwrights that included John Lyly, Robert Greene, Thomas Lodge, Thomas Nashe, Christopher Marlowe, and Thomas Watson. Peele's works concern courtly and patriotic themes and can be classified according to three main categories: plays, pageants, and miscellaneous verse. In 1589, in a vitriolic preface to Greene's Menaphon, Nashe suspends his condemnation of most late-sixteenth-century English writers to praise Peele as the "chiefe supporter of pleasance now living, the Atlas of Poetrie, and primus verborum Artifex" who "goeth a steppe beyond all that write." In 1592 Greene considered him "no lesse deserving" than Marlowe and Nashe; "in some things rarer, in nothing inferiour." Peele's surviving plays are: The Araygnement of Paris (1584); Edward I (1593); The Battle of Alcazar (1594); The Old Wives' Tale (1595); and David and Fair Bethsabe (1599). His miscellaneous verse includes The Tale of Troy (1589), Polyhymnia (1590) and The Honour of the Garter (1593), an epideictic poem to the Earl of Northumberland. Excerpts from Peele's writings were first anthologized in 1600 in Englands Helicon and Englands Parnassus.

Peele's Edward I combines three narratives, each announced by the original text's full title: the Chronicle of Kinge Edward the firste surnamed Longeshank with his Retourne out of the Holye Lande, with the lyfe of Leublen Rebell in Wales with the sinkinge of Quene Elinour. Peele derives the first story, the return from the Holy Land of King Edward I (1272-1307), from at least four different chronicles, but chiefly those of Grafton and Holinshed. Peele shapes his account of the life of Llywelyn (?-1282) from popular tales of Robin Hood. The third story is an unhistorical account of Queen Elinor portrayed as a divinely judged murderess. Peele subordinates the second and third narratives under the first in order to frame the play's central plot of Edward's glorious military victories over the Scots and Welsh, especially his devastating campaigns of 1277 and 1282-83 in which he conquered the Welsh principality of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd.

Edward I resounds with nationalistic pride at a time when England's victory, in 1588, over the Spanish Armada continued to fuel public celebrations. Edward's first speech in the play, for example, invokes a providential design for England's history:

O God my God, the brightnes of my daye,

How oft haft thou preferu'd thy feruant fafe, By fea and land, yea in the gates of death, O God to thee how highly am I bound, For fetting me with thefe on Englifh ground?

G. K. Dreher's modern edition standardizes the text's spelling, punctuation, and stage directions, thus achieving a very readable version:

O God, my God, the brightness of my day, How oft hast thou preserved thy servant safe, By sea and land, yea in the gates of death. O God, to thee how highly am I bound For setting me with these on English ground.

This latest return of Longeshank will certainly contribute to George Peele's popular reputation as one of the most important chronicle playwrights in Elizabethan England. In addition to Peele's Edward I, Iron Horse Free Press currently offers three other books by G. K. Dreher: Samuel Huntington, Longer Than Expected (an illustrated essay on the Presidency of Samuel Huntington, first president of The United States in Congress Assembled); Now the Dog is Quiet (a novella written in opposition to world hunger); and Ourselves & One Other (a collection of Christian devotional meditations).

Author George Peele was in a group of London playwrights, precursory to Shakespeare, known as the "university wits" as were Marlowe, Lyly, Nashe, and Greene. In 1587 Thomas Nashe called Peele "The chief supporter of pleasance now living, the Atlas of poetry, and primum verborum artifex (most excellent artist of words)," and "one who goeth a step beyond all that write." Editor George Kelsey, through extensive research of primary sources at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University, has provided a retroform of KING EDWARD I, solving several riddles in the text that he discusses in the 43 page introduction covering Chronicle History Plays, Sources, Structure, Theme, Characterization, and Diction. In the special insert of DAVID AND BETHSABE (SAMPLES) Dreher juxtaposes Peele's verse with parallel Bible passages from the 1525 translation by Miles Coverdale and demonstrates that Peele worked directly from the Latin and used as sources the Psalms as well as Samuel II. Dreher offers a 35 page discussion of Peele's viewpoint, emotional involvement, and style. The book is 6 x 9, 224 pp., with color printed case, 20 illustrations from the finest museums around the world, a Foreword, Introduction, Comments, and Bibliography.