There is little that I can add to what has already been written. Fehrenbacher is clear, thoughtful, and comprehensive.

I read the abridged edition of 1981, titled Slavery, Law and Politics. I can only echo what the other reviwers have said. It's about a court opinion but it is anything but dry. You learn much about the law and politics of slavery, from the founding of the nation forward. You learn about the Dred Scott case itself, including the legal maneuverings in the lower courts. The author's analysis of Chief Justice Taney's opinion for the Court is one of the best single chapters I have read in a history book in a long time. The author is learned but the prose is engaging--elegant, even. You feel you are in the company of a wise teacher, who is not trying to impress you but simply to impart his considerable knowledge without ego on a topic that turns out to be an excellent prism through which to view an important swath of our history. Read it!

This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. It might seem that a 700 page book (600 pages of text; 100 pages of notes) on a 19th century court case might be the epitome of exceedingly dry material suited only for particularly motivated graduate students. But I found this book captivating. What came through in every paragraph was the work of a skilled and judicious historian sleuthing his way to an understanding of the background and ramifications of the enormously important Dred Scott decision. Not one page in this book read like the work of an uninspired academic sawing his way through a pile of research notes.

Fehrenbacher focuses on the political, legal and constitutional aspects of the Dred Scott case. He explores the background and developments, from the arrival of the first slaves in the colonies in 1619 through the bitter political battles of the 1850s. His discussion of legal developments is particularly interesting because this is one area where the reader encounters the concrete complications and conflicts between various state and federal laws affecting slaves and slave owners. He also shows how legal developments and constitutional theories were affected by the increasingly acrimonious political battles over the rights of slaveholders. His analysis of Chief Justice Taney's opinion was particularly impressive. Finally, his discussion of the immediate and longer term impact of the Dred Scott decision was fascinating. When I finished the book, I was disappointed that he hadn't carried the thoughts in the last chapter further (even though it was clear he had chosen a good stopping point for his analysis). I was also tempted to go back to the beginning and re-read the book immediately! It is so rich, and there's so much of importance to understand. (Instead, I started in on Fehrenbacher's more recent book, The Slaveholding Republic.)

One of the strengths of the book is Fehrenbacher's attention to the relevants facts and texts. His text never reads like a cut-and-paste compilation of other authors' conclusions. Throughout, Fehrenbacher was doing his own thinking - and he came through as quite skilled in asking good questions, identifying all the relevant facts, weighing the possible meanings and interpretations, and arriving at fair conclusions. (Whatever the topic, it's always a pleasure to read the work of someone who works as Fehrenbacher did in this book.)

I highly recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in American legal or constitutional history, in the events that lead to the Civil War, or in race relations in America.

it's short but packed with information, it tells the history of people seeing flying sausers and other odd thing in the sky, and it doesn't take sides either way on wether the objects are space ships or not, which means it's not biased.

For those who were born after 1960 and have never watched old science fiction films on TV, the above words are those spoken by the heroine in "The Day the Earth Stood Still" to stop the alien robot Gort from destroying the world. Nardo mentions this classic film in this excellent study of twentieth-century reports of flying saucers and aliens. He points out that the plot of the film was copied subsequently by several people claiming to have made contact with the saucer people (hence their name: the "contactees"). Just about all the aliens these people described looked and talked like the leading actor in the movie and also claimed to be on earth for the same sort of mission: to end war and save humankind from destroying itself! In other chapters, Nardo shows, in surprising deatil, how other events and trends in society and the popular media colored the saucer reports, which changed dramtically over the years. To me, this shows that the phenomenon is more a figment of society's imagination and fears than anything real. This is a fascinationg, very well researched book that both high school and adult readers will enjoy and benefit from.

Definitely one of the better books out there on the subject. First of all, it doesn't take sides, but presents viewpoints from both sides of the issue, which is obviously a controversial one. I like the way the author shows how the saucer and alien reports evolved and changed over the years, reflecting social and political changes in the USA and the world. The book was written for young people but almost anybody will be able to learn something from it.

An exceptional work that is a delightful "read". In a very friendly yet literate style, Ms. Kalil lays an easy foundation for finding harmony with our career focus and personality. The included card set is an amazingly simple way to find your direction and learn about your "True Colors". The book is truly informative, and very helpful.

My most recent college career planning class was instructed to purchase the book Follow Your True Colors to the Work You Love as well as the workbook. The students were given weekly homework reading assignments from the book. During class they completed individual and group exercises from the workbook. The book provided a framework for understanding the career planning process based on an individual's true color personality profile. The workbook provided an opportunity for the students to apply the principles learned from reading the book. In conjunction, the two books complimented one another and increased the students' understanding and application of the concepts.

During the course, several students approached me independently and commented on how much they enjoyed the readings and exercises they were assigned. Some individuals felt that the author was speaking directly to them and their circumstances. Other students were amazed by the author's uncanny ability to pinpoint their personality traits and characteristics.

However, I had no idea until I read the finals submitted by the students at the end of the class how universally these two books had impacted people. Even students who were initially skeptical about the usefullness of this class and its approach to career planning were quite pleased with the insight and information they had learned about themselves. Overall, students benefited greatly from reading and using these exercises for self discovery and understanding presented in the book and workbook Follow Your True Colors to the Work You Love. These two books will definetly be required reading for my future students!

Thank you. Your book has truly changed my life. Family and friends have always stated "you think to much", "Don't analyze me", and "You have a hard time getting in touch with your emotions". I have always been a perfectionist at work and have been hard on myself. I have to be competent in what I do and I love a challenge. Once I was able to recognize my true colors I was able to understand me!

When I read Chapter 6 on Green Personality - Knowledge is Power- I saw myself. My true color. What I represent in actual writing. Reading that chapter helped me to understand who I am. Something I often question. I have to accept I am green to full accept myself and that is deep. I have to realize my strengths and weaknesses.

I see how my weaknessness have caused problems in my work, family, and relationships. I have to work on these weaknesses to have inner peace.

Your book has helped me to realize a lot about myself. Your book gives me the guidance to explore my life and see what I am missing. I realize I have been missing a lot. I have always been hard on myself. I push and push myself. Everything I do has to be perfect.... I am so quickly to judge things around me that may not be perfect. I did not realize I have prided my 30 years on being perfect and having an answer for every question. Sometimes in life there ar no answers. I have been searching my inner soul and realize I must change to be truly happy. I realize I have let my critical self hurt me.

I want to thank you Carolyn Kalil for coming into my life. Your book has let me see where I need to go instead of where I am. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

A great book for anyone who likes to read about football or just reality and how the real world is from another persons perspective. It almost feels like you are in the persons shoes walking in their yard playing football or full grown in college playing the big game against ole miss. I gave this a five star rating for many reasons besides the descriptions though. I loved the way he thought about how c.p. was not just centered around football and that he actually liked to read poetry too and was good at something besides football like in many books that i have read that are about a football star. this book is great and anyone that can get their hands on it should read it

I was a 14 year old in 8th grade when I read this compelling book " The Forever Season", by the ever-so-talented Don Keith. To me, Don was a devious spider, weaving his finely spun web (The Forever Season) and I, I was the defensless fly, struggling to get through the cobwebs of suspense and mystery, only to find myself being hooked deeper into the realm of twisted strands leading their way to a shocking and unbeliebable double ending. Once I picked up this book of books, I just could not put it down. It was as if it were glued to my hands. I really related to this book, for Don wrote the majority of it in Southern slang and I'm partly from the South. When Don had put down his pen, what he had in font of him was an elaborate maze. One which you must be prepared for the unexpected to be able to escape its walls of words, and its traps of enigmatic conclusions. I truly recommend this book, for even my words don't do it justice.

I was a 14-year-old in 8th grade when I read this compelling book, "The Forever Season", by the ever-so-talented Don Keith. To me Don was a devious Spider, weaving his finely spun web (The Forever Season). And I, I was the defensless fly, struggling to get through the cobbwebs of suspens and mystery, only to find myself being hooked deeper into the relm of twisted strands leading their way to a shocking and unbelievable douple ending. Once I picked up this book of books, I just could not put it down. It was as if it were glued to my hands. I really related to this book, for Don wrote the majority of it in Southern slang and I'm partly from the South. When Don had put down his pen, what he had infront of him was an elaberate maze, one which you must be prepared for the unexpected to be able to escape its walls of words, and its traps of enigmatic conclusions. I truly recommend this book, for even my words don't do it justice.

Ghost in the wire is a fascinating account on the Vietnam war. I was riveted to the book, and didn't want to put it down, it was like a roller coaster. I difinately have mixed emotions of the Vietnam War, wondering if it's a just war or not, but this book took all of the politics out and it was just an awesome read. I believe it's a must read for anyone.

I recommend this book because it explains better than others I have read about the Vietnam war veterans and what they went through when they returned from the war. It is sad in parts, but the humor and almost poetic cadence of Mr. Rast makes me feel that at least no matter how hard the obstacles---most of the soldiers still had a heart and sense of humor. It gives a good view for people my age on what the 60's and early 70's were all about---the Vietnam conflict, racial unrest, drugs, and an almost reverance for those that returned to tell their stories in a manner that is well-captured by Mr. Rast. The thoughts in the book seem to stay with me, and it is very different from other books about the war I have read.

This is the second book I've read by Mr. Rast and he seems to not have skipped a beat in his manner of bringing characters in the true-life situations that draw a reader into the story. It picks up where his first book Don's Nam ends. The flashbacks, highs and lows and really unpredictable (both comical and sad) plights of returning Vietnam vertrans make this an easy-reading, entertaining but yet truly informative narrative that is highly recommended.

Having read some of Mr. Cox's short meditations, I wondered if his longer work would have the same immediacy and impact. No need to worry - this collection is even more powerful and moving than his meditations. Mr. Cox has an original, deeply personal and moving style. I've gained three things from his work. First, he has given me a new view on the people who live in prisons, and our penal institutions. Second, he illuminated the realities of chemical dependence that really helped me (even more than the Al-Anon literature I've poured over, useful though it is). Third, he has inspired my own spiritual life during several dark nights of the soul. Therefore, I give this a high (and very grateful) recommendation.

This book has great meaning for me and my adult son. He has read it to his fourth grade Sunday school class. I plan to share it with my middle school Sunday school group as we study spirituality. The students listened with interest to the chapter titled "The Old Folks." and want to read more. I hope we can have a correspondence with the author.

I have had the pleasure of actually meeting and visitning with Bo. I don't think that there is a better representation of wonderful people in prison than Bo Cox. This book jerked tears from my soul. I have actually worked at Joseph Harp, the facility where Bo is currently housed. He stood by the tree outside the unit, often times with "Jerry" and always took the time to say, "Good Morning" as I walked by. This book is very, very true. It paints an extremely vivid picture of Bo's day-to-day life. Bo, I cannot wait to hear that you have been released from state custody. You and Deb deserve a great life, and I know that God has a plan for the both of you. Keep praying, smiling, and believing. God Bless You and Keep You.

From a time in our country when people were not just sheep and actually had to depend on themselves to get by and not the welfare check!!
Elmer Keith inspires all hunters and shooters with The story of his life in a time that we can only dream of and wish for.
This book is a must read over and over again!.

During his half-century of prolific writing, Keith explored virtually every aspect of the shooting sports and firearms development. His writing style is engagingly coloquial and every bit as concrete as his epistemology.- If Keith wondered how many teeth there were in a Camel's mouth, he would find himself a camel and count 'em. Likewise, before the general availability of the counter-chronograph, Keith knew the performance parameters of his loads. While his contemporaries might simple guess at pressures and velocities, Keith would pack his cartridges off to the White laboratories for the straight scoop.

In Hell, I Was There, we learn the inside story of what it was like to be a gun writer in the glory days. We also get a clear picture of life as it was during the early decades of the Century. Keith emerges as a dedicated family man and a responsible citizen of his era.

Those who have read Keith's other books and magazine articles will find themselves in familiar territory, nevertheless, the most dedicated Keith reader will find something new in Hell, I Was There.

I have read this book three or four times now over the years and find that it helps me remember and respect the hard lives lived in the not to distant past. Reading Elmer's life story is like involving yourself in an epic. If you remember the movie "Little Big Man" with Dustin Hoffman from the 1970's you can get a feel for this book. The movie was a life story told by a 100 plus year old man. This book reminds me of that. You wish you had been there but wonder if you really had the strength and courage to endure the hardships as those folks did without complaint.Well worth the read.

This book overflows with helpful and "do-able" advice for eliminating distractions to writing. For someone who publishes quite frequently, I hate writing and will find nearly any excuse to avoid doing so. Perry Mason re-run? Cleaning the diffusion bowls (you know, those things around the lights on the ceiling)? Nearly anything becomes more attractive than writing. Aslett and Cartaino cut away all of life's frippery to help you get down to writing.

OK, I have to admit, I am a published writer for 22 years, as a journalist and commentator. Yet, despite my many promises to myself, I have not moved myself to the stage where I can proudly add AUTHOR to my list of achievements. Why? I have enough material to publish some collected work type books, and enough ideas to put together a bunch more. But, getting organized and THINKING, ACTING (as in taking ACTION) and FOLLOWING UP in an organized manner have been my nemesis. I just read this book today and have to give the author credit for putting together an EXCELLENT resource and collection of USEFUL and USABLE ideas, tips, thoughts, and even action lists. A MUST HAVE book (and quite a bargain at the price I saw here) for anyone who is serious about writing that book he/she always wanted to - finally! Good luck.

This is a must have for anyone wishing to write a book of their own!

I've been doing book reviews for the Society for Technical Communication for about 6 years now and haven't come across a book as interesting as this one! It's very difficult to put down.

Currently, I'm writing a book of my own outside of my 40-hour writing position as a software documentation writer. I've made more headway on my personal book in the last three weeks than I have during the past year by following the tips suggested in this book. Other writers with whom I work are asking me about Don's book, as I have been taking it to meetings to read during those first few minutes that everyone is waiting for the meeting to begin.

This is a factual, well documented text. And that's just what it is: A text fit for an honest, college level sociology course. I found it very informative, especially the final chapter on Constitutional issues. However, I found the chapter dealing with the Fourth Estate, the press, a little curious. It seems that Kates bent over backwards giving excuses for the press's behavior, but went on to reveal a clear case of premeditated libel. Oh well, I didn't let that color my judgement of this well balanced presentation. I highly recommend this book because of the revealing statistics and their erudite presentation. A highly reliable book.

What is lost on many reviewers is the political history of the two authors which would cause some to assume that they would be viciously anti-gun. Well, they were, at one time.

Don Kates is a former "Criminologist of the Year" award winner, as is Florida State University's Gary Kleck. Kates is lawyer specializing in civil rights, and was instrumental in writing the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Part of Kate's life experience that shapes his views today were the violent attacks on the civil rights workers by roving bands of KKK. The local police would not come to their aid, so Kates found himself standing armed guard around the homes of NAACP officials. The KKK wisely kept clear. Even given this, Kates had fallen for the gun controlers ruse, "Saturday Night Special" (SNS) which are claimed to be disproportionately used by criminals. Kates later researched the subject and found that the term got its start in the post Civil War south. The original term was actually "Niggertown Saturday Night Special." It was used to villify inexpensive firearms (the only ones the newly freed slaves could afford) and resulted in only well-made and expensive guns being legal. Viola! Blacks were slowly disarmed and easily attacked by the newly formed KKK. Kates discovered that criminals actually prefer high quality firearms (just like the rest of us) and wonders, if the SNS theory is true, what the benefit would be to arm criminals with more expensive weapons the didn't "blow up, jam, or were more accurate."

Kleck is another self-described liberal Democrat. He is a member of ACLU, Common Cause, and Amnesty International. He was so firmly anti-gun that his original study was admittedly started to show that guns in the hands of peaceful citizens were not used very often to stop crime. His final study found that they were indeed used at least 2.5 million times per year in face to face confrontations to thwart crime. For this work he won the Hindelang award (most significant work by a criminologist in several years).

Despite their pro-gun data, Kleck and Kates still think that "gun control" and "registration" is a good thing in general. I don't. To find out why, look into Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership. It was founded by holocaust survivors who saw Hitler confiscate Jewish firearms using registration data just before he killed six million of them.

Kates and Kleck present a reasoned discussion of the possession, control and use of guns and their impact on violence and crime in the US.

The book is a refreshing change from the pre-programmed argumentation that characterizes most of the "gun debate". As a gun owner, I dislike the lack of intellectual honesty that is endemic in the anti-gun literature but I also recognize the repetitive, almost ritual pro-gun prose.

Kates and Kleck address the traditional guns'n crime issues but also say that some types of gun control are desireable (ones aimed at disarming or disabling people who've demonstrated membership in the "criminal class").

They address in some detail the intellectual dishonesty behind much of anti-gun "science" and the biases in much of the press coverage of the "gun debate".

It's a very informative and readable book. I recommend it highly.

Although I prefer Peter Cameron's novels (Leap Year, The Weekend, Andorra, The City of Your Final Destination), he first made a name for himself in the mid-1980s with wistful short stories. All but two of the stories in this collection were in his first collection (One Way or Another). The additional stories focus on gay characters with a background of AIDS death and were first published in the_ Yale Review_. "Deparing" is the mbryo of his novel _The Weekend_ and one of three stories in the collection ("Homework" and "Excerpt from Swan Lake" are the other two) that were selected for O. Henry Awards.

Seven of the seventeen stories were first published in the _New Yorker_. Somewhat offbeat children and young adults of both sex experience the oddness of adults and the complicated relations among the adults they observe who are dying or have survived divorce, or are thinking about getting married. Not much happens and (as with many contemporary literary stories) the stories tend tostop rather than be wrapped up. Life and its uncertainties will go on for the somewhat perplexed, somewhat perplexing and never-fulfilled characters.

Almost every story has an observation or dialogue that makes me laugh out loud. My favorites are two stories about young New Yorkers visiting relatives in Maine with a possible marriage partner ("Fast Forward" and "Nuptials and Heathens," the latter with the best absurd line in the book) and one about a young woman who has to pass calculus to begin Columbia MBA program in the fall ("Fear of Math"), though I was not sorry to have read any of the fourteen stories.

Peter Cameron is a superb novelist. If you want proof, read "The Weekend" or his fantasia on love life in New York City called "Leap Year." The short stories collected in "The Half You Don't Know" are the first stories of his that I've read. And now I plan to buy his other two collections. What a wonderful writer. His characters are so full and rich, even when Cameron tells you very little about them. He is especially good with young people like the boy in 'Homework' whose dog, Keds, "got smashed by some kid pushing a shopping cart;" or Julie in 'Fear of Math' who begins a casual affair with her summer school calculus professor in order to pass the course; or Mark in 'What Do People Do All Day' who brags that his monogram is MTV, or Patrick in 'Fast Forward' who agrees to accompany his friend, Alison, to Maine where Patrick will pretend to be her fiance, so that, supposedly, Alison's mother can die happily.

Comparisons are odious, but I have not found so much delight in discovering a writer since I first read the stories and novels of David Leavitt. Cameron and Leavitt are not at all alike in their writing styles but they both do have such a warm, loving compassion for all of their characters, especially the ones who do not know how to solve their problems, but nevertheless, keep trying to find a way out.

I especially treasure a story called 'Slowly' in which a young widow and her late groom's brother try to move on with their lives, to comfort one another and to complete the grieving process.

Cameron always leaves the 'half you don't know' as a mystery. He refuses to fill in all the blanks with his characters. They are our relatives and friends. They are us. We laugh with them and when they are in trouble, as they often are, we empathize greatly with them. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

The collection includes some of Cameron's finest short stories: "The Secret Dog," "Slowly," "Jump or Dive," and others. The collection also includes the short story he eventually turned into the novel "The Weekend."

Cameron has an eye for details, dialogue and simple and original descriptions that make you say, yeah, that's exactly how it is, how come I never thought of it that way before?

I did find, however, that the stories are best read during separate sittings. Otherwise, the similarity in tone and characterizations begins to wear a little bit thin; and the sweet, poignant, almost hapless characters start to seem kind of passive-aggressive.

My girlfriend at College used to have a big crush on Cameron back when he was wowing the campus with his poetry in the school literary magazine. I was jealous of him then. Now I'm just jealous of his ability to write such great short stories.