The author focuses his attention on Sumner's pre-Civil War years when his influence on behalf of the Union and the antislavery cause reached its zenith.

David Donald is renowned for his meticulous research and well written books. He used diaries, manuscripts, scrapbooks, family histories, letters, newspaper files, and valued secondary sources to flesh out his subject. Donald spent ten years on this book and during that time had to absorb the arcane knowledge of the 19th century in such subjects as medicine, law, politics, etc. His scholarship is impeccable. Though forty years have elapsed since the original publication of this book it still satisfies both the casual and serious reader.

If a theme can be assigned to this very good book, it would be, "Sumner was a man who wouldn't compromise his principles no matter the cost." Sumner believed, "...to sanction the enslaving of a single human being was an act which cannot be called small, unless the whole moral law which it overturns or ignores is small." He was convinced that the appeasement of slave holders was impossible; that the various compromises enacted by the Senate were abdications of Northern principle in order to placate the South and to forestall an inevitable constitutional crisis. Sumner pointed out that supporters of the Compromise of 1850 were in fact extreme sectionalists, while antislavery agitators were the true nationalists.

The author points out that slavery was the one great issue beginning in the late 1840s and continuing through the Civil War. Sumner battled the "peculiar institution" for years and made the abolition of slavery paramount. He became the chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, a post which he made more important than that of any Ambassador and more influential than that of the Secretary of State of the United States. By 1851, Sumner was one of the most powerful men on the North American continent and was known throughout Europe.

When first viewing slaves Sumner said, "They appear to be nothing more than moving masses of flesh, unendowed with anything of intelligence above the brutes." This book clearly illustrates why his opinion changed and why this complex man fought the lonely fight to remove all legal barriers that sustained racial discrimination. Sumner believed such discrimination fostered racial inferiority and was psychologically harmful to Blacks. He believed the pledge in the Declaration of Independence for universal equality was as much a part of the public law of the land as the Constitution.

In this regard, Sumner continually excoriated the public to reform slavery and eventually influenced hundreds of thousands of Northern voters. When read today, his fiery speeches seem ponderous and stilted. Further, Sumner often used illogical reasoning and had a tendency to extend a principle to its utmost limits - he could be irritating and obtuse at time. Regardless, he was a powerful spokesman for the antislavery movement and his speeches solidified Northern opinion in the "great crusade."

In reading this book, its clear Sumner was insensitive to the power of his words. He really didn't care as he had a remarkable power of rationalization and convinced himself that expediency and justice coincided where the abolition of slavery was concerned. The author hasn't overlooked the part that fortuitous circumstances played in the selection of Sumner as one of the most powerful and enduring forces in the pre-Civil War government. (He led the Radical Republicans during the Civil War) While the borderline between myth and history is often blurred, the author proves that the myth in Sumner's life more often than not matched the real Charles Sumner.

Sumner's involvement in the slavery issue seems compulsive to 21st century readers but it was an outgrowth of his life and times. The humanity of a society can be measured by the quality of its compassion and its ability to feel the anguish of others. In contrast, the inability to feel the lash that strikes another's back is the most destructive trait a society can possess.

Sumner's moral compassion wouldn't allow him to act otherwise when it came to slavery. Sumner believed the issue was simple: Slavery was evil, stamp it out!

This is superb Americana.

I have not yet finished this book, but the study of Joshua was just amazing. There were so many things I forgot from the childhood stories, plus so much I didn't realize. Learning about the start of the Israelites gaining of the promised land was so much fun. I am not working my way through Judges and enjoying it just as much. Great choice, and I love the IIS method!

This book is wonderfully written. A highly recommended read for all humans. Does the Second Coming of Christ and the end frighten you or make you nervous? Christ Is Coming helps you realize you should keep your focus on Jesus Christ, keeping your trust and faith in Him. Christ Is Coming uses the Holy Bible as its reference to bring back into prospective what the end time events are about and who they are for. Christ will lead His people through. There is nothing to fear as long as your faith and focus is kept on our Saviour and Creator, Jesus Christ. Get the book, Study the Bible, Christ Is Coming......soon.

This book is filled with practical projects. Those who received some of the gifts my children made still have them years later.

As my life becomes busier and more demanding on my time and energy, useful ways to organize and still create important family memories and traditions becomes more important. For these reasons, plus the great ideas, this book is a must! The useful and fun ways to plan for and then enjoy the holidays provided by author Emilie Barnes can make your holidays better and more meaningful than ever.

Clash Within civilizations is an important book to read for those seeking to better understandhow non-Western civilizations are dealing with modernity. IT deals with things such as how traditional Chinese Philosophy in influening China today and how religions like Buddhism and Hinduism are trying to cope with the moderin world. The book also contians a chapter called 'the quest for innovation: Islam and the Challenges of plurism' which is a good resource to better understand the changes in Islamic countries an important thing considering Islam is and perceived to be on the world stage

Fifteen-year-old Bob Royle has just moved to Oxbridge, New Hampshire, with his mother and is starting his sophomore year at Burgess High School. He has no plans of drawing attention to himself right away, but that plan quickly evaporates when a senior, Carl Riemer, befriends him and encourages him to run for class president. From the beginning Carl is in charge and you can almost see the strings he attaches to Bob.

Although Bob loses the election, it doesn't discourage him from joining the tennis team or playing in the school band. He soon falls for Sarah Ott, who at the time is dating a jock (Eric Lombard) and "just wants to be friends" with Bob. Sarah's best friend Renee Webb, however, is interested in Bob. He returns the feelings half-heartedly, but uses her mostly as a link to Sarah.

"Coming About" mainly focus on Bob and Carl's friendship, if you can call it that. A lot of the time Bob is trying to avoid Carl, and who can blame him? Carl has a strange obsession with Admiral Horatio Nelson and war. He's also a chronic liar, but makes a one-lie policy with Bob; he will only lie once to Bob, which I thought was the lie, but it's not. I won't reveal what it is though, in case you want to find out for yourself.

More strange behavior: Once Carl weasels himself into the Royle home, he begins calling Bob's mother "Mom", which I thought was a little bit weird, especially when nobody corrects him. I suppose Carl's "adopting" Ms. Royle was his way of feeling close to an adult since his own home life is so messed up.

It took awhile for me to warm up to this book because it skips around quite a bit. However, it's a fast read (short chapters, lots of dialogue, and only 185 pages) and an overall good book.

The intended audience is 13 to 15-year-old boys (which I'm not), but I still really liked it and would recommend "Coming About" to anyone who likes reading about teen life, particularly if you have an eccentric friend like Carl.

The disturbing anomie of "trash TV"
and its connection to
multi-billion dollar corporate media
consolidation are given a brilliantly-argued
treatment in this concisely-written book.
The authors have produced a clarion call-to-arms
warning us of the dangers of
coagulating media moguldom.

While occasionally marred by
ideological partisanship, the authors' description of the
interconnected web of toxic TV talk shows
and the desolate value-vacuum of a society ravaged
by a culture war is dead-accurate.

Worth the price of admission alone
is the chapter on the rules of the trash talk
show game wherein millionaire "hosts"
act as tabloid ringmasters, flogging
pathetic, often desperate "guests"
into a confessional frenzy.

The diagnosis is clear, but what
is the cure? Abt and Mustazza quixotically call for
government re-regulation, licensure of media
professionals and taxation.
But the sickness outlined here goes beyond
any political solutions.

All told, a classic illustration of
Marshall McLuhan's prophetic vision of the media
as extensions of the human sensorium
and the way new media effect changes
that are never value-neutral