Hamilton has done an extraordinary job with one of America's most enigmatic political figures. Representative Powell was a man hard to figure by anybody. A rascal, decried as a corrupt politician, loved by his constituents and vilified by much of the establishment.

Powell was one of the century's (I guess that is now "last century's") first and longest serving African American members of Congress. He was on the forefront of the campaign against lynching. He brought the moral imperative of the Freedom Rides and the lunch counter sitins going on in the South to the major urban areas of the North.

His position as a vociferous champion of civil rights (more than his indiscretions) led his colleagues in the House to try to oust him. When his constituents rejected this initiative and overwhelmingly returned him to Congress, he had to go the the Supreme Court for his right to continue service (even after being stripped of his seniority.

Great history, and great reading. A thoroughly engaging subject. Even as an out-of-print book it is well worth waiting for.

A fascinating new look at personalities associated in one way or another with Hitlers Third Reich, this
time from the perspective and expertise of Charles Hamilton, the foremost authority on handwriting (and
the man who exposed the "Hitler Diaries" as fakes).
Each entry includes an incisive biographical sketch, usually with one or more good photos (many rare),
and perhaps most importantly for our purposes here, a sample of handwriting.
The entries are expanded for the more important figures, such as Frederick the Great and Hermann
Goering, and for Hitler himself not only a thorough graphological analysis (with special attention to
forgeries) but also a most interesting assessment of his art (again with attention to forgeries).
.
Volume One includes Hitler and his inner circle, the women in Hitler's life (more than one might have
thought), all the leading Gauleiters and other functionaries, and prominent refugees from the Reich.
Volume Two contains studies of Hitler's art and the "degenerate" art he despised, Nazi military and
cultural leaders, cohorts and allies, war criminals, and the brave and doomed resistance leaders.

This top-quality work is highly recommended for history readers, collectors, students, and all others
interested in that outbreak of collective madness known as the Third Reich.

is an excellent professor and researcher, and his book on Kinematics reflects this as it is clear and usable. Of all the engineering books I had to buy in college, this was one of the easiest to understand - excellent diagrams. You will be happy with this book, although, I highly recommend taking Dr. Reinholtz's Kinematics class in addtion to reading this book.

Ms. Seeton adventures are the best reads that I have come across. I am a thirty something that loves these types of British sleuthing novels. I re-read these novels several times a year, I have them all. My favorite used bookstore in Los Angeles had the entire series out of out-of-print ones, so I stocked up on all of them at once. They were over with too quickly. .... Maybe I should have waited and only gotten one book a month!!

They are truly one of a kind. I love the time period and the many scrapes that she seems to fall into. They're truly hilarious, while the novels maintain the suspense. I love Britain and try to get to London and environs once every couple of years or so.

I have read this book several times. The 5th reading was just as capitvating as the first. The author of this book provides a detailed description of Wisconsin's Logging Camps. Better then I've ever seen.

The late Charles Hamilton's work on the elusive world of JFK autographs is a must for any collecter or student of the Kennedy years. His detailed analysis of autopen and secretarial signatures can save a person a huge headache and a lot of money. Kennedy used both means to autograph photos and sign letters which makes an authentic signature rare. Hamilton set the record straight. The only real drawback is that it is a rather pricey volume for one that is so slender.

For a book to be even considered to a classic; then it, i.e., the book has to stand the test of time (and by so been read, pondered on and enjoy by several generations). The Decameron (Oxford World's Classics) by Giovanni Boccaccio, et al is one of these few books, e.g., The Odyssey, Thus Spoke Zarathustra et al. The story follows a plethora of storytellers whom all have gone to the countryside to escape the plague. The stories are filled with bravura, vigor, fortitude, a bit of sex and many other subjects (that are all written with an uncanny ability). If one considered oneself to be a scholar or a learned man then this book, i.e., The Decameron (Oxford World's Classics) by Giovanni Boccaccio, et al, is a must have; since not owning or having read it, then one as a person/scholar/learnedman must be considered less then civilized.

I had to read a good part of "The Decameron" last quarter and I have gone back to read more stories from it even though the Fall quarter is over. This is a great book: funny, entertaining, subtly revolutionary, insightful, and superbly well-written. Approach it without fear. It is a Classic, but it will have you laughing, thinking, and learning far better than any current best-seller. Anyone with an interest in journalism and/or history will profit from Boccaccio's Introduction, at the beginning of the First Day. His description of the Plague in Florence is vivid and gripping, and this eventually provides the background for the setting of the one hundred and one tales that seven young women and three young men will narrate in a villa away from the dying city. Also, the Introduction to the Fourth Day presents the reader with an unfinished, but hilarious story about a man who has been kept away from women. This story is what my teacher called the 101st, and I have to agree with her.

Do not think that all "The Decameron" deals with is sex. The mostly illicit sexual encounters depicted are some times funny, sometimes sad, but they share a common trait with the stories from the Tenth Day, for example (these ones are mostly about sacrifice, abnegation, and servitude), or with those of the Second: Boccaccio's concern for his society and the terrible tensions that had reached a breaking point by the 14th century. The Plague, in Boccaccio's universe, acts as a catalyst of emotions, desires, and changes that had to come.

Read, then, about Alibech putting the Devil back in Hell, Lisabetta and her pot of basil, Ser Ceperello and his "saintly" life, Griselda and her incredible loyalty in spite of the suffering at the hands of a God-like husband, Tancredi and his disturbing love for his daughter, Masetto and the new kind of society he helps create with some less-than-religious nuns, and then it will be easier to understand why Boccaccio is so popular after 650 years. And although it may be skipped by most readers, do not miss the Translator's (G. M. McWilliam) introduction on the history of "The Decameron" proper, and that of its many, and mostly unfortunate, translations into English. This book is one of the wisest, most economic ways of obtaining entertainment and culture. Do not miss it.

Ten young Florentine noblemen and women escaping the Black Death in Florence in 1348 entertain themselves by each relating a story per day for ten days - 100 entertaining stories in all, mostly set in and around medieval Florence. Although famously naughty, none of these stories strikes a modern reader as more than mildly erotic. Rather, they consistently astonish by their thoroughly modern message that women are as good as men, nobility doesn't come from birth, sanctity doesn't come from the church, and - above all - true love must never be denied. Amazingly, Boccaccio often delivers this message while pretending to say the exact opposite; sometimes he presents very sympathetic characters who get away with things thought scandalous in his time, offering a mere token condemnation at the end, while other times he depicts someone actually following the accepted code and committing some horrible act of cruelty in the process. Either way - and despite his claims to be upholding convention - we always know what he really means, and apparently he didn't fool too many people in his own day either.

But one doesn't need to focus on the revolutionary aspects of the Decameron to enjoy the book; each of the stories delights the reader with a different tasty morsel, and, you can read as much or as little at a time as you please. Once you get past the introduction, (and that's probably the most serious part of the book, so be sure not to give up before you get to the first story) the stories will make you laugh, make you cringe, and make you sit on the edge of your seat. Inspiring authors from Chaucer to Shakespeare and entertaining audiences for over 700 years, the Decameron continues to delight.

If you are going to read "The Federalist Papers," you must also read "The Anti-Federalist Papers" in order to get the complete picture. Both books cross-reference each other, and both are instrumental in understanding how our government was designed and how it was intended to work. In addition to the Papers, this edition also contains the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and an excellent introduction by Charles Kesler.

In a time when each colony had its own "constitution," the Federalists believed in creating one strong centralized government (with one Constitution) that could effectively represent the people. The authors and supporters of the Constitution knew that they could not afford to lose the vote in the state ratifying conventions. In an effort to win over his home state (New York), Alexander Hamilton, with the assistance of James Madison and John Jay, began a collection of 85 essays and published them under the pseudonym of "Publius" (named after one of the founders and heroes of the Roman republic, Publius Valerius Publicola). The Papers, published in 1787 and 1788, analyze and defend the proposed Constitution of the United States.

Obviously, the Federalists succeeded in winning the colonists' support. But even though the anti-federalists lost, their ideas were also brilliant and made an important contribution to the history of our government, which is why you should also read "The Anti-Federalist Papers."

This book is a must-read for all Americans. After reading this book, you will have a renewed appreciation and admiration for the wisdom and vision of our founding fathers.

If you are going to read "The Federalist Papers," you must also read "The Anti-Federalist Papers" in order to get the complete picture. Both books cross-reference each other and both are instrumental in understanding how our government was designed and how it was intended to work. In addition to the Papers, this edition also contains the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and an excellent introduction by Charles Kesler.

In a time when each colony had its own "constitution," the Federalists believed in creating one strong centralized government (with one Constitution) that could effectively represent the people. The authors and supporters of the Constitution knew that they could not afford to lose the vote in the state ratifying conventions. In an effort to win over his home state (New York), Alexander Hamilton, with the assistance of James Madison and John Jay, began a collection of 85 essays and published them under the pseudonym of "Publius" (named after one of the founders and heroes of the Roman republic, Publius Valerius Publicola). The Papers, published in 1787 and 1788, analyze and defend the proposed Constitution of the United States.

The Federalists succeeded in winning the colonists' support. But, even though the anti-federalists lost, their ideas were also brilliant and made an important contribution to the history of our government, which is why you should also read "The Anti-Federalist Papers."

This book is a must-read for all Americans. After reading this book, you will have a renewed appreciation and admiration for the wisdom and vision of our founding fathers.

I found this book to be one of the best books I ever read. Instead of giving a lay understanding of some of the arguments, I would like to note what I found exceptional about this book: the footnotes. The footnotes of this book gave detailed accounts of historical references made that shed much light on where the arguments were coming from. There is so much to be had from this book that I know I will read it at least five more times. Should be required reading by all Americans.

As I sat at a traffic light and observed another motorist talking on a cell phone, I recalled Albert Jay Nock's observations in "Snoring as a Fine Art." Like the English novelists Kingsley Amis and Evelyn Waugh, Nock thought that most of the world's problems were caused by people who were too busy, and that the world be a better place if there were less meddling, less anxious do-gooding, and more sleeping, preferably a European siesta after lunch.

John Henry Newman foresaw the modern mentality which knows the price of everything but the value of nothing. Our untraditional "busy-ness" robs us of the introspection and philosophic habit of mind which Newman thought was the purpose of education. Now the cell phones keep us from even one minute of reflection. For once I agreed with Emerson: "Things are in the saddle, and ride mankind."

Nock lived in the progressive era of the early 20th century, the era of Wilson and FDR, whose Leftist militarism, interventionism, and Puritanism were enough to make any man bitter. In these essays he provided what his collectivist age needed -- a healthy dose of skepticism and individualism. Although I agree with Henry Regnery that Nock advanced the conservatism of his time, many of his ideas now look less like conservatism and more like prescriptions for loneliness and isolation. Nowhere did I see a defense of the social group, which has always been the root of conservatism.

His welcome comments in favor of civilization and the humane life contradict his comments in favor of liberty and equality without limitation. What Nock calls radicalism and anarchism do not lead to the humane life or to civilization. Although he quotes Burke, he overlooks Burke's emphasis on ordered liberty. Nock's view that the state is the enemy is a libertarian, rather than a conservative, opinion. Where Nock spends a great deal of time upset at the world, conservatives tend to accept things as they are, with an eye to the smaller satisfactions of limited freedom in a fallible world, a world which often thwarts human desire and ambition. Nock seems to have overlooked the self-evident truth that mankind does not naturally lean toward the angelic, a failing which, according to Alexander Hamilton, makes government necessary in the first place.

There is more than a little Marxism in Nock's attempt to separate Americans into clear categories of upper, middle, and low, and to define them in reference to the idea of exploitation. His desire for equality, moreover, contradicts his desire for a Remnant. On the one hand, he ascribes to the critic the holy vocation of encouraging the Remnant; on the other, he describes himself as superfluous.

Thus there is a mercurial quality to Nock's essays, a curious combination of exaggeration, despair, and an optimism which seems forced and ideal rather than grounded in everyday life. It may be that Nock attained some peace late in life, that he was able to accept men as they are. But that acceptance is the exception rather than the norm in his writing, and usually gives way to an unsatisfying ambivalence.

Albert Jay Nock was perhaps one of the only three truly enduring bellettrists 20th century American letters yielded up. He deployed a truly lyric and insinuating prose style of uncommon grace and oddly puckish wit, and it served to unfurl one of the rarest of American minds - a shamelessly recalcitrant individualist whose intellectual evolution never obstructed or abrogated the core of the man: that the individual deserved his long-stolen propers; that the lowest common denominator should be tolerated but not consecrated or canonised; and, above all, that the State was an organism worthy of that which its crimes ever deserves: the fear and loathing of any and every man and woman who cares a whack about his or her fellows. To read him is a singular joy. And you will find no more sensible or beautifully-balanced introduction to the man and his singularity of writing than in this volume which Mr. Hamilton has composed with uncommon brilliance.

This is a wonderful collection of some of Nock's finest essays. It offers a great insight into one of the most brilliant (and overlooked) minds of the 20th century. He is a very gifted writer and a truly dedicated lover of liberty. If you enjoyed "Our Enemy The State" you will surely cherish this book.

If you're interested in this sort of thing as I am this book could be of great value however the price is unreal. I have a CD that does much the same for the entire country at a third the price of one state however this book is MUCH more accurate and shows county boundaries that only occured for as little as three days. The CD is also easier to use. That said I'll likely ask for the book as one of those Christmas presents I wouldn't buy for myself.