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Book reviews for "Smith,_John_David" sorted by average review score:

A Union Woman in Civil War Kentucky: The Diary of Frances Peter
Published in Hardcover by University Press of Kentucky (2000)
Authors: John David Smith, William, Jr. Cooper, and Frances Dallam Peter
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A very Good Civilian Perspective
It's not too often that you get a Civilian view of the Civil War. This book shows how Seccesh and Unionists acted towards each other in a border state, depending upon who's troops were occupying the town of Lexington (Home of John Hunt Morgan). The diary was written by a homebound girl (she had epilepsy) with Union leanings. The area that she saw from her window still exists today, including her home and others mentioned and also show up on a hand-drawn map that is in the book. A very good book for those seeking something besides the same old worn out War stories.

A good civilian perspective of War time KY
A very good diary of the occupation of Lexington KY by both CS and US troops during the Civil War. Since the city was home to both Unionist and Secceshionist Civilians, it shows how each acted depending on who occupied the city at the time. It is a good illustration of Home Front activity.


Short Protocols in Molecular Biology
Published in Paperback by John Wiley & Sons (1995)
Authors: Frederick M. Ausubel, Roger Brent, Robert Kingston, David D. Moore, J. G. Seidman, John A. Smith, Kevin Struhl, and John Wiley
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an excellent brief reference book
This is a well-organized, clear, short reference work. Well done

The (little) Red book...
Here is the little red bok.
If the big one is too expensive for you, you can always buy this. You'll find inside all the important protocols and data for molecular biology.It's up to date, and clearly presented.
Try it, and then buy the big one!

A very good reference manual
This book is an essential tool for people in the scientific field such as Molecular Biology (obviously), Biochemistry, and Neuroscience. It is comprehensive and up-to-date as far as the techniques are concerned. It is good value in a sense that you don't have to buy the whole "Current Protocols Series" which costs an arm and a leg if you do. Although nowadays, a lot of "kits" are commercially available, the techniques found in this book explain principles and provide different alternatives suited for your needs. Molecular Cloning by Maniatis et al., although needs updating, is still a helpful reference in my opinion and it complements this book.


The GODS OF GOLF
Published in Paperback by Pocket Books (01 June, 1997)
Authors: David Smith and John Holms
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Birdie for the concept, bogie for the delivery
The Gods of Golf is one of those books that almost make it into the realm of classic golf fiction like "Kingdom" or "Bagger Vance". Interesting characters, a great basic premise, yet the authors fall short of making any real conclusions about the link between life and golf that the "classics" tend to make. That link is what draws all avid golfers back to the course for another round of constant abuse and occasional success. Instead, The Gods of Golf comes off like a trip through a teenager's video game -- interesting but forgettable.

Excellent book, well written, funny...
Excellent book. It was funny, and had a great story. Even if you are not a golfer you can enjoy it. If you are a golfer you will enjoy it even more. The group of gods are excellent. I loved the book.

Great book.
All 'hackers' should read this book


John Brown: A Biography (American History Through Literature)
Published in Paperback by M.E.Sharpe (1997)
Authors: W. E. B. Du Bois and John David Smith
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j. brown
good book. he uses a lot of good quotes directly from john brown. recommended

An Amazing Man
John Brown, one of the most influential and important people of his time and of ours is captured by soul in this book. He is my great great great great great grandfather, which i know sounds a little off-the-wall, but even though he is so far down the line, i am still very proud of it. Keep his story alive, this man deserves appreciation.


Van Evrie's White Supremacy and Negro Subordination: The New Proslavery Argument, Part I (Anti-Black Thought, 1863-1925, Vol 3)
Published in Hardcover by Garland Pub (1993)
Authors: John David Smith and John H. Van Evrie
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White Supremacy and Negro Subordination
This book was published in 1868, but was actually written around 1860, before the U.S. Civil War, just prior to Abraham Lincoln's first term in the White House. Tension was building up between the North and South - the abolition movement was gaining support in the North, while the Southern economy depended on slave labor. White Supremacy is a response to these abolitionists.

Van Evrie's central theme is that white Caucasians are superior to every other form of life on this planet, and that God created other races of men, particularly black Africans, to serve whites. Because blacks are naturally inferior to whites, Van Evrie says, it is the natural order of things to force them to work, and what is called "slavery" in the United States is not slavery at all. Rather, because blacks are naturally subordinate, they are only free when put to such labor.

In support of this, Van Evrie includes a comparison of the white Caucasian and the black African, detailing the superiority of the white man's hair ("there is certainly no physical or outward quality that so imposingly impresses itself on the senses as a mark of superiority, or evidence of supremacy, as a full and flowing beard"), color ("color is the standard and exact admeasurement of the specific character"), features, language, senses, and the brain. This is all accompanied by hideous caricatures of the races, showing the tall and strong Caucasian, and the slouching, lazy Negro ("the anatomical formation ... forbids an erect position"), and all the races in between the most superior and most inferior.

Blacks all look alike, says Van Evrie - this is because, aside from age and sex, they are alike. They have no likes and dislikes, or at least not on the same level as whites. They cannot express emotions as whites can, and therefore do not have emotions at the same level. They do not learn like whites, and in fact peak mentally at about the age of fifteen.

Because of these things, it is ridiculous to want equality for blacks in the sense of treating them as whites. Rather, it is our God-given right, and even obligation, to use the "mud races" to our advantage.

It is a thoroughly disgusting work, but also an extremely important work, as it illustrates some popular beliefs during one of the darker periods in American history.


Western Literature in a World Context, The Ancient World Through the Renaissance
Published in Paperback by Bedford/St. Martin's (1995)
Authors: Paul Davis, Gary Harrison, David M. Johnson, Patricia Clark Smith, and John F. Crawford
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Lots of great literature all in one place
This is a good collection of literature from the Enlightenment to the early 20th century. Some of the choices were wuite interesting such as Wuthering Heights as the example of the Victorian novel, (I, myself, would have chosen Jane Eyre), but all in all this is a well put-together collection. The biographical information before each author is also interesting and puts the works into context. This is amust-have for English majors and literature fanatics alike.


Black Judas: William Hannibal Thomas and the American Negro
Published in Hardcover by University of Georgia Press (2000)
Author: John David Smith
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In defense of William Hannibal Thomas
It is extremely racist for the author and other "liberals" to denounce William Hannibal Thomas for "betraying" his "race." Isn't "race" a fiction? A mulatto is not a Negro. Thomas was really no different from the average mulatto in his views regarding mulatto superiority and Negro inferiority. He was just more public about it. Even your mulatto "black" hero W.E.B. DuBois believed in mulatto superiority. What do you think his "Talented Tenth" was? Do you recall how DuBois described Marcus Garvey in the most perjorative racial terms because the latter was black and not mulatto?

If the liberal author condemns Thomas as a "race traitor," then he is indirectly endorsing the view of white supremacists who believe in white "race traitors." If "race" is not a biological fact, how can there be any "race traitors"?

In defense of Thomas and other Anglo mulattoes and mixed-whites who proudly reject the black stigma, may I ask why Latinos (also a mixed race, partially black group), Indians, Asians, etc. have never been condemned for the same "sins" of looking down on blacks and identifying more with whites? Mexican elites, for example, were willing to condemn blacks as inferior as long as Mexicans as a group could have the honored label of "white." Why don't they receive the condemnation and sneering that Anglos of mixed-race receive even when they just live their lives and make no statements on "race"? Why? Why don't liberals rejoice at THEIR misfortunes and proclaim that the uppity in-betweens had it coming to them?

Smith should condemn himself as a "racist" for promoting the "one drop" myth and forced hypodescent. As a liberal, he misleads people of good will into endorsing anti-mulatto racism as a defense of blacks. That is the source of the "race traitor" accusation against William Hannibal Thomas. He is being used as a scapegoat.

A.D. Powell has issues
As a biracial, i'm compelled to say: You are a bigoted woman. Most mulattoes do not think they are superiour over blacks, they are not hateful like you. W.E.B Dubois was proud to be a negro, he help found the NAACP.

You Must Read This Book--Excellent
A thorough, detailed account of how William Hannibal Thomas transformed from an activist and advocate into someone who projected his own feelings of insecurity and inferiority onto his fellow African-Americans. The author does an excellent job of giving Thomas's changing perceptions historical context. All in all, a compelling book.


The Wild East (New Perspectives on the History of the South)
Published in Paperback by University Press of Florida (12 February, 2001)
Authors: Margaret Lynn Brown and John David Smith
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Recommended for fans
M.L. Brown's The Wild East: A Biography of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park is the amazing story of the centerpiece of eastern wilderness. Introducing herself and her work with a refreshing and highly personal account, Brown immediately enlightens the reader as to her motivations. What proceeds is a history that is so meticulously researched that the wildness of the park seems almost suburban, making The Wild East simultaneously fascinating and slightly disappointing. But pathos is bound to ensue after the mythical GSMNP is taken off of its pedestal, and Brown delivers a heavy dose of reality by focusing on prior land use within the park, the contradictions of park management, and the nebulous concept of 'wilderness'. The result is an accurate account of the park's creation that de-shrouds it of some of its wild mystery, an effect that might not be enjoyed by every reader.

In Brown's defense, she had few complete histories of the park to update and examine (outside of D.S. Pierce's The Great Smokies), and the litany of personal accounts, newspaper articles, and other histories that she unearths make for a tremendous piece of scholarship. Brown leaves no stone unturned in describing the opportunism of the Tennesseans and consternation of the North Carolineans, and she fully reviews both sides of every major argument that enveloped the park to the present. Of particular interest is her focus on making the history of park and area residents seem less like 'hillbillies' and more like average Americans of a century ago, with many personal accounts of day-to-day Appalachian life.

But missing in her attempt to please everybody is a sense of the rancor and vitriol that must have surrounded the park's formation, guided by a healthy dose of eccentricity from all of the wonderful folk who gave a hand in helping of hindering the park's will to survive. Her most flagrant omission is an unbiased discussion Horace Kephart and his contributions to both regional anthropology and the park's development; Kephart is only mentioned in passing. For a park with such a dynamic history, one might wish for a more dynamic story, with a greater sense of the conflict and character that makes the Great Smoky Mountains the centerpiece of eastern wilderness.

Again, a good portion of the park was settled, and thus its status as 'wilderness' is a matter of debate. To this end Brown inexplicably addresses eminent environmental historian William Cronon on the topic of wilderness in her conclusion, which is a departure from her storyline and should have been omitted. Had she debated wilderness directly throughout the book her conclusion would not be so disjoint.

An argument that Brown does develop is the issue of land management both within and around the park, with a focus on the Gatlinburg area and conflict surrounding park managers and policies. Her bear management discussion is particularly strong, as is the history of contrasting land development on the North Carolina and Tennessee sides of the park and park management of Cades' Cove.

In short, despite its shortcomings, The Wild East is a necessary read for all GSMNP enthusiasts. Brown's honest history might make the park lose some of its luster, but will also surely create new leagues fans for the dynamic GSMNP.

Interesting
Margaret Lynn Brown's "The Wild East" is an important contribution to the field of environmental history. The author seems to know the region where the Great Smoky Mountains is in, well. She traces the history of the Smokies and of the people living there. She analyzes how the Smokies came to be under the federal government's jurisdiction and how the landscape was changed profoundly.

What I find most interesting is the attempt by a superintendent's effort to preserve the mountains as pristine as possible but he came up with some strong objections by surrounding residents who were concern about bringing money in to the region. Also, surrounding towns began to flourish as attractions like Ripley Believe it or Not and even Dollywood became the focus of tourists going to the Smokies to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. It's almost ironic that there is such drastic difference between the Smokies, where wilderness is preserve and the very commericialized towns surrounding the mountains.


Dvorak's Inside Track to the Mac/Book and Disk
Published in Hardcover by McGraw-Hill Osborne Media (1992)
Authors: John C. Dvorak, Mimi Smith-Dvorak, John Albert Murphy, and Bernard J. David
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Outdated, but an interesting artifact.
This well-written, fun book is definitely required reading for any would-be Macintosh expert. Although it's now far too outdated to be of very much practical use, it is full of colorful tidbits, descriptions, pointers and secrets from the Mac's "middle period" -- when System 7 was state-of-the-art, when Steve Jobs, the chair behind his desk at Apple still warm, was trying to make NeXT Computing the next big thing, when the PowerPC processor was years into the future. Perhaps the most interesting thing about "Inside Track to the Mac," however, is that its author, John Dvorak, is now notorious for his anti-Macintosh opinions as a columnist for a prominent computer magazine and website. That makes this book fascinating as a relic of Dvorak's past, as well as of the Macintosh's.


Double Force Tennis Strokes
Published in Hardcover by Third Level Books (1994)
Authors: John D. Borsos, Kalman, and David Smith
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Double Force Tennis Strokes
Borsos' premise that tennis teaching technique is stagnant has in fact been confirmed by the success of the Williams girls. The tennis 'talking heads' can't figure out how this was done. However, Borsos' book is overwrought with complexity. His technique modifications are unrealistically involved and variable. The sad fact is that the few players with the flexibility of mind to look for and make adjustments in order to grow their games will do so. The rest are destined to 'plateau' and play their games in a futile treadmill fashion. Heck, they still have fun. They still compete.


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