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The book doesn't flow--it is a collection of facts that are not well synthesized.
Although the characterization of the Indians is certainly not politically correct today, it does reflect the experiences and attitudes of the time. It makes it clear that relations between Indians and the frontiersmen varied greatly by tribe, the individuals, and circumstances.
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IN A DARK WOOD WANDERING is the story of Charles, Duke of Orleans, grandson of a king, nephew of a king, cousin of the French dauphine saved by Joan of Arc, and father of the man who followed Louis the Spider king to the throne. Most importantly, Charles, Duke of Orleans was a great French poet of the Middle Ages. Some think he is comparable to Dante in Italy or Chaucer in England.
It's easy to become tangled in Louises and Charleses, but here goes: Charles (our hero) had a father, Louis, Duke of Orleans, who was the brother of Charles VI--one of the kings of France during the 100 Years War between England and France. Charles VI was the French king who was bested by Henry V the English king at the battle of Agincourt. When we see Shakespeare's play 'Henry the V' we see the English version of events at Agincourt. Few of us think about the dreadful day from the perspective of the French who saw many of their finest young men killed or captured.
Charles, Duke of Orleans, was captured at Agincourt. Owing to the politics at home (the sympathy of the House of Orleans for the young Dauphin--Charles VI's son), the Duke of Orleans was not ransomed by the Duke of Burgundy, as was the custom in those days, but allowed to languish as a prisoner in England for most of his adult life. Charles younger half-brother continued the Orleans struggle on behalf of the dauphine who would become Charles VII in 1427.
In 1422, when Charles VI died, his young son was prevented from assuming the throne by the Duke of Burgundy. About this time, a young woman had a vision that instructed her to leave her small village and travel to Orleans and help the Dauphin. She persuaded the House of Orleans she could help their cause. Joan the Maid of Orleans bested the English and the Duke of Burgundy, and suceeded in taking the Dauphin to Paris where he was crowned Charles VII. Later, Joan was captured by the English and burned as a witch by the Duke of Burgundy.
While he was a prisoner in England, from 1415 to 1450, Charles, Duke of Orleans was aware of the events back home in France and his family's continued struggles with the Duke of Burgundy. He knew of the association of Jeanne d'Arc and the House of Orleans. As a manifestation of his appreciation of this connection and his growing spirituality, Charles, Duke of Orleans produced some of the most beautiful poetry ever written in French.
In addition to the story of Charles, Duke of Orleans' life, IN A DARK WOOD WANDERING contains excerpts of his beautiful poetry (in French and English). The title of this book refers to the topic of his poetry, the long journey of the soul which until it is united with the object of it's love is lost, in a dark wood, and wandering.
The storytelling here is wonderful and spellbinding! I found myself within the pages and deeply involved within the characters lives. After finishing the book I wanted to learn more and actually researched online some of the main characters (since so much of the book is based on fact).
Definitely give this story a chance, give your brain a challenge and keep a dictionary nearby if need be, but do it. I believe you won't regret it!
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In the book's final chapter, Fox and Miller use their model of discourse as a conceptual tool for assessing the efficacy of an array of real-world programs designed to employ discourse in governance. Their case analysis ranges from instances of elite-dominated manipulation at one extreme to expressionistic anarchy at the other. While they judge both these forms of participation to be democratic dead ends, they find hope or "intimations" in a few cases--for example, bioethical health decisions in Oregon, the Phoenix Futures Forum, the neighborhood health-care program studied by Cam Stivers--that discourse of the kind their model prescribes is possible. These projects had problems, but they also show possibilities. Such "nascent" forms of authentic discourse suggest that where democratic process approximates the out-lines of their model, it begins to achieve the structuration and coherence required of efficacious democratic discourse. As a final note, Fox and Miller prescribe a proactive role for public administration, whereby each administrator would capitalize on every opportunity to reach public action through a process of agonistic discourse with citizens. The key to administrators being able to achieve a proactive stance is that they must learn to listen, which is, of course, the core of the inclusiveness that their idea of discourse seeks.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE ANALYSIS: I mentioned that I found the critiques of the Blacksburg Manifesto and of communitarianism to be especially engaging and that the book's description of the post-modern political condition is one of the most cogent and gripping I have encountered. These were great highlights. The standout feature of the book, though, is the general integrity of its argument. I have used this book as a supplementary text in two of my graduate courses. While my students (most of whom had minimal exposure to philosophy of the sort employed in the book) often found the philosophical concepts and argumentation to be difficult, they were, nonetheless, thoroughly engaged and followed the argument well. I disagree with the suggestion that this book is thin on practical proposals. I came away from it, and certainly from my discussions of it with students, with a vividly clear idea of what these authors were arguing. In this respect, it is a great book for fostering the very productive discourse that it advocates.
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The author provides a good flavor of the grassroots level mining activity of individuals of the period. Moreover he gave some unique insights of Depression-era government policy as it affected the larger mining industry, especially silver and gold. President Roosevelt's explicit desire to maintain the status quo with the federal mining law (to enhance mining employment) was one example. Another example was the historical review of hydraulic mining in California--both contemporaneously to the Depression as well as the 19th century.