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Lt. Ralph Clark's decision to produce George Farquhar's early 18th century comedy, The Recruiting Officer, with an all-prisoner cast leads to many emotional conflicts. Though the play provides the participants with a way to achieve a measure of dignity, they must still bow to the strictures of the colony off stage. Many prisoners wield cruel powers over other prisoners, while Marines and administrators exert power over both the prisoners and the aborigine inhabitants of the area. The restrictions imposed by the church, in the person of Rev. Dick Johnson, aggravate tensions by concentrating on rules of behavior rather than on the human soul. Against this backdrop of the restrictions on their lives, Keneally's characters are set in high relief, their humanity contrasting sharply with the impersonal forms of government which are imposed upon them.
Meticulously depicting 18th century England, its government, its penal system, and its social structure, along with early Australia, its first western inhabitants, the decimation of the aborigine population, and the social conflicts faced by its characters, this is one of Keneally's greatest novels, a timeless story based on real journals, stunning in its effect.
Clark's task is the staging of a play in celebration of the king's birthday. Assembling a cast from the convicts, he's confronted with a range of personalities from house maids to forgers. Keneally's research has dredged up backgrounds of these transported felons; the thieves' guild oath is a particularly fine touch. His real talent, however, is in presenting this material through his characters . Each of his figures projects a reality surpassing other writers of historical fiction. While his descriptive narrative may make modern allusions, none of his persona are dragged out of their original time frame. Ralph Clark is particularly well drawn. Keneally has a special talent for presenting us with an 18th Century man's feelings and aspirations as much as it's possible for us to know them.
That this book has been returned to the active sales list is a testament to its value. It should be read by more people. The 18th Century setting is less important than what Keneally has to say about people. Add this book to your shelves with confidence. It's worth more than a single read.
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After the assassination, stories about how Yarborough and "refused" to ride with Johnson the day prior due to their ongoing "feud" became legendary. This feud among these giants of Texas Democratic politics of the 1960's--Yarborough, Johnson and Connally--serves as the fuel to power Dr. Patrick Cox's compelling story. Cox deftly applies his storytelling skills, honed as a former Texas newspaper editor, to weave a taut and fascinating tale of Yarborough and the other giants before and after the assassination.
Known in the U.S. Senate as "Mr. Education", Yarborough's fingerprints can be found on such landmark Great Society legislation as the Higher Education Act, the National Science Foundation, Head Start, Job Corps, Vista and many others. But Ralph Yarborough:The People's Senator is more than an academic treatise about the legislative accomplishments of Ralph Yarborough. He was a profile in political courage, the only southern senator from either party to vote for all the major civil rights bills from 1957 to 1970, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
This reader is left to conclude that LBJ's fall in 1968 and Yarborough's political defeat in 1970 market a turning point in American history. With protests over Civil Rights and Vietnam dividing America, Republicans began hacking away at the "ills" of the Great Society. Yet, the lynchpins of the Great Society and much of Ralph Yarborough's contribution still survive and thrive.
This book was a delight to read from start to finish. For political junkies this is pure 100% oxygen. But the novice should enjoy the ride as well. In Ralph Yarborough: The People's Senator, Patrick Cox has unearthed a giant of the 1960's and breathed life into a great American. Ralph Yarborough deserves our attention and appreciation.
Yarborough was LBJ's peer & frequent rival but they buried the hatchet when JFK was killed and, together, created a massive record in civil rights, education and the environment. To understand the legacy of the 60's it is essential to understand Yarborough. It is doubtful that there will ever be a more thorough or more readable treatment of Yarborough's amazing roller coaster career than this one. Highly recommended.
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What makes this book fun is that every little thing Sarah does, from dancing to shaking hands, has something to do with ancient Egypt. Gantos and Rubel work in about a dozen such factoids all within the context of the story (and Sarah's research). Rotten Ralph is news to me, although I have since learned he has been misbehaving in books for a quarter of a century and in now finding news ways of being bad in an animated series (in Greece, Rotten Ralph is known as Ralf o Kakomathimenos, a.k.a. Ralph the Badly Behaved). A book like "Rotten Ralph Helps Out" is the sort that would make a teacher of young students want to do a unit on the ancient Egyptians, even if they were not thinking of doing so. However, Kiara, my own cat, refrained from making any comments on this book whatsoever...
Sherlock Holmes- Henry Comor, Dr. Watson- Gerard Parkes, Barrymore-Gillie Fenwick,
Heed the Baskerville family legend of the Hound: avoid the moors in those hours of the night when the powers of evil are exalted. Every Baskerville that has lived in the family home since the Legend began has met with a violent death. Dr. Mortimer writes to the one man that can help him, Sherlock Holmes, to exorcise the "Legend of the Hound" that plagues the Baskervilles. This radio adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's masterpiece traces Sherlock Holmes' adventure of superstition and revenge on the barren, gloomy moors in this thrilling mystery.
The BBC has once again done a masterful job of adapting the novel to the format of radio drama. When I first stumbled on to the BBC Holmes series, I thought Clive Merrison to be a scandalous over-actor, but going back and rereading some of the Holmes stories for the first time in decades shows that Merrison, of all the portrayers of Holmes, just might have gotten the oddball genius most nearly right. Holmes had a histrionic streak which caused him to keep his deductions secret until he could reveal them in the most sensational fashion possible, and Merrison captures this quirk of Holmes' character perfectly.
"The Hound" is unique among the Holmes novels because for a large part of the mystery, Holmes' character is offstage, appearing only at the last moment to bring events to a hair-raising denouement. Holmes' joint penchants for secrecy and sensation almost bring his client to grief, but all's well that ends well. This radio play begins, continues, and ends very well.
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Ralph introduces you to the various species of trout and char that you will find in the Sierra, along with valuable information on their preferred habitat and environmental preferences. His chapter describing the fishery will help you understand why the Sierra Nevada enjoys such a wide mix of trout, and will give the history buff a load of trivia to share at the evening campfire or while moon-watching from a granite bluff.
Backpacking is a minimalist's sport and yet fly fishers have a reputation for carrying everything with them but the kitchen sink. The chapter "Into the Backcountry" gives great guidelines on what to take, what to leave, and what to expect to run into on a fly-fishing/backpacking trip. The chapter on "Trout Foods" includes information on all the major insects on the Sierra trout's menu and includes a hatch chart with some general recommendations to compensate for elevation differences. Ralph again takes the well seasoned backpacker's approach to his recommended fly assortment. You really can imitate most of the available insects in the Sierra with just a handful of flies.
The chapter "Locating Productive Waters" will enable you to make an educated guess about where to find trout by analyzing the features of the 7 1/2 minute maps of the areas you wish to explore.
As if that was not enough, the book includes distribution charts (listed by county) of all the rivers and lakes found in the Sierra that hold trout. These charts also tell you which USGS map they can be found on, the watershed they belong to, the elevation, and even the species of fish you can expect to find in the area you're considering. For example, if you want to fish lakes in the EL Dorado County area of the Sierra for Golden Trout, you can use these charts to plan your trip. My brother and I used this information to find a lake a few years ago that contained golden trout at 8100 feet of elevation and only a 6 mile hike in. The full moon illuminating the granite cliffs over the lake that night, and a sparkling jewel of a 14" golden trout the next day, quickly made me forget any soreness from the effort it took to get there.
The book is printed on top quality glossy paper and the pictures alone make the book worth buying. The 8½" x 11" pages are easy to read and handle, and the softcover allows you to easily slip it into your backpack. Don't go into the Sierra without it.
I want to thank you for your kind words and encouragement. I am most grateful.
Permit me to say, no book in this century has had more influence on the rise of civil engineering than has Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice. Since its first publication in 1948, the book has guided a multitude around the world, spawned countless other books, and set a stage of research for a geotechnical generation gone by, there is, and yet to come.
The library of a geotechnical engineer cannot be said to be complete without a copy of this book.
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Definitely goes "beyond bbq and chili" to wonderful fusion of the traditional and the most up-to-date. You will not be sorry you bought this.