It will be found shocking to many African Americans (and educational for many Caucasians) to discover that Uncle Tom was the HERO of this classic novel, and not a "weakling" by any stretch of the imagination. "Uncle Tom", or its shorter form "Tom", has become a slanderous term within the African American community and implies a weak and Caucasian-controlled person, when in actuality Uncle Tom was a powerfully moral man who was willing to die for his convictions rather than succumb to the will of his worst oppressors. In fact, this book was credited by Abraham Lincoln himself as the catalyst that won his election on the abolition of slavery platform, and the resulting Civil War that followed. "Uncle Tom" became a negative slander one hundred years later only after Malcolm-X and the Black Muslims used it to slander Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who exemplified similar characteristics of strength and courage--from a similarly peaceful perspective--in his approach to the Civil Rights issue. As with the fictitious character Tom, Dr. King also died for his convictions without raising a hand against his oppressors. I highly recommend this book to people of all colors and races because of the lessons of self-sacrifice and courage it contains. Caucasian readers will hopefully learn of the pain and suffering of the slaves and gain a deeper compassion for its lingering legacy today. However, I especially recommend Uncle Tom's Cabin to African Americans, for contained in its pages are stories of love, compassion and courage--by both black & white--that will offset the painful legacy of that period caused by the suffering of so many. May the ignorance of the "Uncle Tom" slander be eradicated from their minds as they read of the courage of this fictitious character--who reminded others of Dr. King himself--and the other characters whose struggles and triumphs are contained in its pages also. I also recommend the books: No Apology Necessary, by Earl Carter, Let's Get to Know Each Other, by Tony Evans, and my own book, which is-- White Man in a Black Man's World (tm), by Richard Vermillion.

I don't study Insects proffesionaly, I am simply curious about living things around me. I have several Field Guides that offer very little information about the Insect in question (which I suppose is all to be expected from a small book) and I wanted to know more. For instance how do the mouth parts work, what are the different body segments and what do they house or what is their function.Well here it is in "Black and White" litteraly... If you want pretty color pictures this is not the book for you. The figures in the book are however, very detailed, expertly drawn and all body parts are labled. So far every answer I have sought has been answered by this book.I believe that this book is well worth the high price tag. Remember this is only MY opinion, I could be wrong...

I had to purchase this book for a class in my undergraduate work. However, as a graduate student, I use this book every semester. I am presently working in a lab and i.d many samples of insects. Some common, some not. I often reach for it to get to family so I can key to genus and species if I need to take the i.d. that far. The numbered keys are great! They reference forward and backward, which really helps if a mistake is made. Definitely a good one to have on the shelves.

It is the most appropriate book I have seen for graudate student who want to be an entomologist. It have a comprehensive knowledge on how to study the insects.

What struck me most about this book is the story of slaves during the Revoluntary War. I'm a RW buff and hardly ever, and never in school's histroy books was this subject touched upon and to me it really had an astounding effect on the war. I didn't know that people in the 13 states feared for their lives when the British offered freedom to the slaves if they joined up with them. And then after the long war, slave owners came up from the south looking for them and dragging them out of bed. The story was to the point with a lot of interesting personal stories. I think this book should be put in all schools and this side of history should not be avoided. I suspected Jefferson was a jerk long ago and this confirms it even more. All these leaders of our country spouting words of liberty and owning hundreds of slaves. How could they have thought it was part of God's plan and design? .

Simply, the research team covers everything from much needed basic history to indepth discussion in a conversational tone.

Great attention is given to documentation of facts. Written for all to enjoy, from the novice to the advanced scholar.

A literary masterpiece. MUST read!!

"Africans in America" is a great book that vitalizes the Black American's history, and paints a perspective on slavery as an economic horror, not a moral evil. I HIGHLY recommend to all.

Herein we follow a young man, Tim Hunter, destined to be one of the greatest mages in history, as he introducted to magicks past, magic in present day world, the lands just beyond commonplace reality and magicks future by four DC Comics magicians: the Phantom Stranger (condemned to walk for eternity); Dr. Occult (who switches gender and personae as the occasion demands); John Constantine, Hellblazer (a con man and rogue, few powers but he has taken on the Devil himself and survived); and Mister E (a dangerous fanatic on the side of order). Gaimen's story makes for an excellent read, and three of the four illustrators involved: John Bolton, Scott Hampton and Charles Vess create beautiful illustrations throughout. (Sadly I didnt really like the artist's interpretation in the fourth chapter, it's the only reason I rate this book 4 out 5 stars instead of 5 out of 5.) These books were the basis of the ongoing DC/Vertigo comic book series by the same name (of which graphic novel collections are available). One drawback, common to many graphic novel collections (like Warren Ellis' "Planetary" books or Mark Waid and Alex Ross' "Kingdom Come" (both series also collected): to get the most of the story, it helps to have some familiarity with DC Comic book characters and history.

The Books of Magic establishes a history of Magic and Magic use in the DC comic Universe as seen through the eyes of Tim Hunter, the potentially most powerful mage to ever come in the modern age, and of established characters, The Stranger, Constantine, Dr. Occult & newly-introduced Mister E. As an adventure in the normal comic sense, it is not anything of the sort. Although there are some exciting scenes, but for comic fans who enjoy reading a new definition of established characters (hero & villian), it's well-worth the money. The art (painted by 4 of comicdom's best artists) is outstanding, and easily among the best anyone has seen in years. Neil Gaiman's writing is concise, brilliant, and gives more than a few twists that no one could predict. Best of all, it brought forth possibilities that are still being defined in DC's various occult titles. As such, the Books of Magic is a must buy, especially for Gaiman and occult fans. But best of all, for the story and the art

The Books Of Magic, Like Any Other Gaiman Story,is Breathtakingly Amaazing in its Telling,and the art compliments the story wonderfully. This is arare and unique instance where an established artist such as Charles Vess works on a Comic book.There are cameo sequences in this book that include scenes with Dream,Death,Destiny,Etrigan the Demon,Deadman,Zatanna,and the Spectre, just to name a few characters. Timothy Hunter is one of Gaiman's finest creations,and he is an actually believable and interesting one,as well. The Premise of the story is: Timothy Hunter, a very Young man,Pre-teen in fact,has the potential to become the greatest sorcerer of this age. The Trenchcoat Brigade,whose Ranks include The Mysterious Phantom Stranger,The incorrigble Hellblazer,John Constantine,The Enigmatic Dr. Occult, and Mr.E. His name says it all. The four decide to show Tim the magical history of Earth,and the universe,and some of the major magical players that exist in the DC universe.The Stranger shows Tim the past,Hinting at his origins all the while,and making the reader rather curious about him.The Second Tour guide on the Magical Mystery Tour is John Constantine, and this is a very True-to-form Constantine story,in that most of the people whom they visit have some sort of grudge against everyone's favourite Constantine,and Tim is introduced to many of the prominent contemporary characters Like the Spectre,Jason Blood,and Zatanna.The Third story is about Dr.Occult taking Tim on a guided tour of the lands of Faerie,The Dreaming(Neil Gaiman's writing, did you honestly think that Morpheus WOULDN'T show up?)Charles Vess did the artwork for issue 3, and that contributes to the magnitude of superb story this story inside of a story has.Also, if you read SANDMAN, you see Titania,and find out what Happened to Shakespeare's son, Hamnet.It also hints at the shadowy background of Doctor Occult.Issue Nimber Four is also very amazing,in that Gaiman tells us what's going to happen in the future.Or it might.Tim sees just what he might be,witnesses the final battle of the age, and into the mind of Mr.E.and makes his decision about Magic. I would Recommend this book to anyone wanting an introduction to the Vertigo Universe,anyone who wants a fantastic story,and if you have any sort of literary appreciation, you should go and buy this book as soon as you get a chance to. The ongoing BOOKS OF MAGIC books dont have the wonderful feel that this book gives off, and you wont feel nearly as satisfied about them. I recommend any Neil Gaiman,Garth Ennis,and Alan Moore stories(especially their DC work).

First off, I am a Peanuts fanatic. My child's nursery has a My Little Snoopy theme, and, as a child, I wrote to Mr. Schulz and received a print of Snoopy, with his own "pawprint" autograph as my return gift.

This book, which is the most comprehensive biography of Schulz I have found, is a gem for a fan like myself. For those who are just peripherally interested in Schulz, this book will probably be too detailed and discuss issues of no interest.

However, for a fan like myself, hearing the true story of the "Little Red Haired Girl" and reading of Schulz's perceived failings in his life was very insightful.

Though Charles Schulz created one of the world's most popular comic strips and became a celebrity in the process, he remained a very private person. He was a rather simple man, and though he took the name of Charlie Brown from an old friend, Charles Schulz was the true soul of that lovable loser. GOOD GRIEF examines the life of Schulz, his work, and it's effect upon society. The book remains the most informative work on Schulz and gives insight into the inspiration for most of the Peanuts gang and even the story about the real "little red-haired girl". The only real flaw is that the book skips around from past to present from description to analysis from looking at Schulz to talking about one of his characters. It's not a bad style, but unfortunately in this case ruffles the flow of the biography. Nevertheless, it is a wonderful book for any Peanuts fan to read and also would be a good reference for anyone wanting to gain an apprectiation of one of the best comic strip artists of all time.

This book is such a wonderful find for any peanuts fan. A wonderful book by a wonderful person, Rheta Johnson. I look forward to any other books by her that may be published in the future...

This book allows us to slip into a world of half realized expectations and subtle dreams. It is a magnificant journey into the mind of one of the most interesting personas of the prose poem. Johnson's words swirl about you and settle amid your beliefs and preconceptions before you know what hit you. A must read for anyone interested in exploring themselves and their world.

In a genre that is never in the limelight, Peter Johnson uses a variety of interesting symbols, characters, and situations to bring prose poetry to its highest level. Instilled with subtle pain and humor, Pretty Happy is filled with poems that will take you into the lives of characters you know on paper for only a few sentences, but that stay in your head for days.

Here's a handy rule: always be wary of any person or institution who claims to have produced a list of "essential" items in any field. A case in point: "Sacred Fire: The QBR 100 Essential Black Books," by Max Rodriguez, Angeli R. Rasbury, and Carol Taylor. The book is a list of 100 books from the African Diaspora, each with a brief descriptive commentary. The book features a foreword by Charles Johnson. While informative to a degree, this list is, in my opinion, seriously flawed.

In his foreword, Johnson mocks other recent attempts to create "essential" lists. He complains, for example, of the "nervous tokenism" of the "100 Best English-Language Novels" list from the Modern Library. Ironically, such criticisms could also be applied to this book! How did they come up with the list? Rodriguez is fuzzy on that point in his intro. He notes that the list stems from a request, addressed to individuals, to name 10 Black books that had the greatest impact on them. Rodriguez claims, "We asked everyone," then immediately admits that such an absurd statement is false. But he does note that he asked his sister!

Most of the books chosen are indeed essential classics. But I found the list as a whole too "safe," unimaginative, and narrow of vision. Johnson acknowledges the omission of such writers as Samuel Delany and Rita Dove in his foreword. Books with an experimental, cutting edge quality seem to be absent. I was also dismayed by the failure to include many historic literary milestones by African-American women. Books by Black gay men that deal directly with the black gay experience are also largely absent. Black lesbians are represented by a token appearance by Audre Lorde (with her book "Sister Outsider"). A number of groundbreaking anthologies also fail to appear. And where are the Afro-Hispanic writers? Even the remarkable science fiction author Octavia Butler is solely represented by "Kindred" -- an excellent book, but probably the "safest" and most conventional choice from her incredible personal canon.

Just a few books I would add to an expanded edition: Adrienne Kennedy's "In One Act," an anthology of plays by this award-winning, boldly experimental pioneer of drama; Phillis Wheatley's "Poems on Various Subjects," an 18th century landmark in poetry; Harriet Jacobs' "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," perhaps the most important autobiography by a 19th-century Black woman; "Nine Plays by Black Women," a stunning anthology edited by Margaret Wilkerson; and Ann Allen Shockley's "Loving Her," a novel which broke new ground for the portrayal of sexuality in the Black novel.

Also try Audre Lorde's poetic, moving "Zami"; Alexis De Veaux's "Don't Explain: A Song of Billie Holiday," an amazing biography told in poetic form; "Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men," the anthology edited by Essex Hemphill; "A Puerto Rican in New York and Other Sketches," by Jesus Colon, who proudly claimed a Black Latino identity decades before it was politically correct; Anna Julia Cooper's "A Voice from the South," a pioneering collection of essays; "Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology," edited by Barbara Smith; Pat Parker's "Movement in Black," the rich poetic testament of an outspoken Black lesbian; and Samuel Delany's "Dhalgren," an enigmatic epic which extends the boundaries of both science fiction and the African-American novel. I could go on, but I'll quit here.

This book should be a part of the library of those who study black culture and history. It is an excellent guide to literature past and present. About ten years ago the Oakland Public Library published a list of the one hundred books that were classics. Supposedly by having read these books you would be considered well read. There were many I had read but people of color was sorely missing from this list. I am grateful that Max Rodrigues, who also puts out an excellent review of books by and about black people- QBR: The Black Book Review, published this great resource. Of course one can think of more books to be added to the list and in the publication last year readers were invited to add their own list of favorities. This book is a great referral tool and a timeless keepsake.

If your knowledge of black lit doesn't go beyond the latest Oprah pick, this book is essential. Although some of the picks can be argued, the short, opinonated summaries are fun to read and the list itself is a great guide to a year's worth of good reading.

I have already read the book and study many of the examples, my classmates and I have found many mistakes in the fourth edition, however the information contained and the subjects studied are very complete. I hope the next edition will have those examples solved in a correct way in order to clasify this book as an excellent text.

The book is a great textbook for students and practicing engineers. It covers pretty much all the steel topics. It has plenty of examples from ASD design to LRFD design. I think that out of all of the steel design books out there, this is the best.

This book provides both the theory and practical applications needed to understand both LRFD and ASD Steel Design. The problems provided at the end of each chapter can be worked using either method. The example problems within the chapters provide valuable insight to procedures and techniques in solving problems. Having read many different books by Mr. Solman I have never been disappointed, and have always gained great knowledge from his books.

Kingsblood Royal is largely successful at what it attempts. The reason I didn't give it five stars is because there are a few one dimensional characters in it. Though Lewis tries for complexity in his African American characters, in a few of them, he misses the mark. And occasionally the book suffers from that "can't we all just get along" ness that enlightened Caucasians can't help but aim for in books like these. Overall, though, the book is a great success. What struck me time and time again, was the rage with which this nation has demonstrated its belief in the resolute inferiority of black African genes. That having only 1/32nd black African ancestry could cause people to view you entirely differently, proves the potency of the belief that one drop of identifiable black African blood, poisons the entire pool. I recommend this book to anyone who seeks to really understand the racial craziness of America.

There was never an author who understood the mind of the Middlewest better than Sinclair Lewis. I liked his characterizations in Main Street, Babbitt and Arrowsmith. When I found this book, I didn't know what to expect. It's a little like jazz: if I have to explain it to you, you don't understand it. (Only in the Middlewest would the Blue Ox National Bank Building be the tallest building in a town called Grand Republic.) Here, Lewis describes the racist attitudes of the folks in progressive Democrat-Farmer-Labor Minnesota. This would be an excellent novel for high school students. They most likely won't grasp the sarcasm, but it will help them get a better grasp of racism and white "priviledge". The US in 1947 was still a white man's country. Considering how many people have conniptions over Huckleberry Finn, I wonder how many high schools have this on their reading lists, or even know the novel exists.

What if you discovered you were part black? Only 1/32nd, not enough to darken your skin, but beyond the pale in 1947. When Neil Kingsblood uncovers his heritage, he also discovers his conscience, finding it difficult, finally impossible to not express his outrage at the racial status quo.

It is important to note that Kingsblood has so internalized the beliefs of his community about racial purity that he soon comes to see himself as being a "Negro," and not simply the bearer of a small amount of nonwhiteness (something not unusual in America). When he comes out--a phrase Kingsblood often uses and one that takes on additional resonance today--the white community instantly sees him as being a racial imposter, a black outsider. He understands his transgression, he knows what he is losing, but does it anyway, and even when further experience reveals just how much is at stake, he does not back down, giving Kingsblood a nobility he lacked before the revelation.

Lewis's characters are felt-through creations, not cardboard cutouts. Although the novel's violent conclusion was considered melodramatic by white critics back then, several decades of truth-telling since 1947 have proven the hard-core truth of Lewis's premise: racism and violence go hand in hand.

But what gives the novel its emotional drive is Kingsblood's relationship with his wife, Vestal. Not an outright bigot--she's too well-bred for that--Vestal is both fiercely loyal to her husband and dismayed by his annoucement, yet over the course of the novel you see her attempts at growth and in the novel's denoument, her final decision.

It's a novel that is suited for adaptation to the screen, with the added advantage nowadays of there being so many well-known African-American actors. A quality movie, in fact, would be much in line with Lewis's ethos of writing in an accessible style to reach the masses but with a social activist message. It would be an eloquent rebuttal of the novel's initial poor reception.

DREAMER held a lot of promise and was a very deep read. The story involves Chaym Smith, who offers himself as a decoy/stand-in to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., because he bears too familiar a resemblence to the good Doctor. Told from the perspectives of Dr. King and one of his aides, Matthew Bishop, the novel took us from marches to meetings involving heads of state to the breakdown of Chaym's personality, which was a complete 360 degrees from that of man he was hired to impersonate. The author was able to structure the personalities of the players involved and made the fictional charaters of Matthew and Chaym convincing and compelling. However, the book was so weighed down with thoughts and agendas that were so complex in context, that it was a little hard to get back on track, especially when you have forgotten where you left off, and you are still reading the book. A good read for those wanting something different and four-dimensional.

Dreamer by Charles Johnson gives a unique look at the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. By using a fictitious double, who must examine his own life in light of the civil rights era, Johnson allows the reader to see both King and Chaym Smith, the man who would be his stand-in, struggle with issues of nonviolence and its meaning in a violent world. This well-researched novel presents a fresh look at King's life by allowing artistic license to soar while it never clouds the truth. Although some details are the product of the author's imagination, others are well documented among King scholars. The presentation of fact in the environment of creative detail allows a glimpse of King that I have seen nowhere else. The story moves quickly and never digresses into detail that is irrelevant to the narrative, but gives enough pertinent detail to help those unfamiliar with the setting, while convincing those who know more details concerning King's life that the author is also a brilliant scholar. A GOOD READ.

Like Faith And The Good Thing, Dreamer works as philosophy and social criticism as well as fiction. Mr. Johnson has the personal courage to eschew trendy thinking and to pull together the truth from all corners of the world, ancient and modern. I like reading him because he tells me the truth; I can trust his judgment. He's incredibly erudite and yet there's no jive in his prose style, no textbook tone, no pretension. It's obvious thatl he's learned a few things while becoming a man and isn't afraid to show it. He demonstrates admirably that "rapping" needn't be doggerel. Kudos! Long live Martin Luther King!