Mr. Wright's story of Morgan's rescue mission is phenomenal. All of the characters -- good, evil, starring, and supporting, could be real--no, they ARE real. I cannot believe that this book is out of print -- Mr. Wright's sequel to this, "The Captives", and two other books I have had the fortune to find, "Gone to Texas" and "The Last Plantation", are also wonderful tales, told from the heart. I have read "The Woodsman" and "The Captives" three to four times apiece now, and I still would stay up all night to read them again. If you have a chance to buy or read this book, DO IT.

I have searched for ten years for this book with no luck until I looked for it on amazon. This book would make a great movie. I will now try to get the sequel "The Captives" also by Don Wright.

I loved this book too! My sister is "streetcar" and I found this book for her after hunting for it for weeks. She was very happy to have a new copy!

This is a great novel. Recently an old REAL plantation, known as the 'Fairview' Farm was purchased and is now being developed with expcnsive homes and the title the develepment is 'The Last Plantation'. It is located just South-West of Gallatin, TN. We need to have this novel republished and the author, Mr. Wright, is presently the Mayor of Gallatin. This old plantation, Fairview Farm, is not the one Mr Wright writes of (I think) but it really existed and still does. My mother and grandfather worked on this farm in the 1910-1920 period. Thank you. (I wish I had a hundred copies of it) (I have one on order and will try to have Mr Wright autograph and send to my sister in Shawnee Mission KS) If this can be reprinted it is more than twice the price shown.

This book should appeal to many different types of readers. Civil War buffs will love it. The war is much more real to me now. It should definitely be read by anyone living in Middle Tennessee, especially Sumner County. There's action and romance. I can't wait to read the rest of Don Wright's books.

I read this book for a college course I was taking and wasn't too excited about having to read it. Within a few pages I knew why the teacher had recommended it to me. It is still one of the best books I've ever read. It has everything comedy, tragedy, romance, and action. The characters touched me as if they were real and I was a privlidged participant in their lives. I still laugh when I think of Cotton and I still wonder what happened to Clayton later in life. This is a must read for any one interested in an a great epic novel.

I write as a member of the conservative, confessional Orthodox Presbyterian Church, which was created when J. Gresham Machen was excommunicated from the liberal Presbyterian Church-USA, for advocating that theological liberalism was a completely different faith than Christianity and that liberals ought to admit this and withdraw from the Church. This volume is published by the PCUSA's publishing house, Westminster-John Knox Press. Consequently, it is decidedly liberal in its outlook. But therein lies its great value.

It denies a covenant of works, marginalizes Princeton theology and refers to Machen as a militant. It has no entry for the doctrine of imputation yet feminist theology and universalism seem to have had no trouble having their articles included.

Nonetheless, I personally have enjoyed and benefitted from the entries on covenants, the Church and numerous others as well as the articles that cover liturgical issues.

When I want the quickest word on what the liberals are thinking, I can find it at my fingertips. When I need more, many of the significant articles have bibliographies of relevent resources. It also notates any words within a column that may have its own, more comprehensive article.

I recommend this book for nearly everyone in a historic Christian Church: Lutherans, Presbyterians and Reformed, conservative or liberal, laymen and minsters.

Your library isn't complete without this work. If you're missing this volume, you're missing out.

This is a very good attempt to pull together the different strands of reformed thought into a single volume for quick use. Of course, any book of this type will leave some unsatisfied ,and my own objection to it is that too much space is given to theologians and organizations which are really NOT reformed in the sense that most of us would understand it. I don't see any need for a long article on the World Council of Churches right after a long one of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. Many of the theogians selected were reformed in background alone and changed entirely in view. Still, the material on Protestant scholaticism is great and most of the major points are hit. Though a book twice the size is needed, this is certainly a fine attempt.

This book is an excellent study, in marvelous detail
and analysis, of one of Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpieces
of architecture. Too often the words "artist" and
"genius" only dimly suggest the true nature of the
person or work being discussed; but this book with
its keen and accurate delineations about Robie,
the client and his desires, Wright, the architect/
artist/genius and his desires, and the work of art
itself -- the Robie House -- help one to fully
understand the harmonious combination of elements
which can come together in producing a masterpiece.
The author of this work is Donald Hoffmann, and
he has himself produced a work of magnificence
in this full presentation of the design and execution
of a "dream house." Hoffmann gives full and interesting
accounts of Robie and of Wright as their two psyches
come together to promote an "idealized" artwork which
pleases both client and architect.
The book also has wonderful footnotes filled
with insightful comments and quotes. Here is
an example of one:

Louis H. Sullivan at the end of his life wrote
quite beautifully that Wright was gifted with
"an apprehension of the material,so delicate as
to border on the mystic, and yet remain coordinate
with those facts we call real life." (p. 31)

The text itself is filled with suggestive and
provocative commentary:

Wright's ideal was the comprehensive and unified
work of art, the *Gesamtkunstwerk. German culture
fascinated him. He spoke of Bach and Beethoven
as the two greatest architects, and he confessed
his love for the old Germany of Goethe, Schiller,
even Nietzsche. (p. 14)

Wright stood almost alone in his intuition of
the prairie. * * * Everything about the site
suggested a long, low, stream-lined, ship-like
house: the prairie, the nearby lake, the new
sense of speed, * * * and the shape of the lot ,
three times as long as it was wide. (p. 17)

Radical and masculine, the Robie house would be
built in a part of Chicago characteristically
stern and urbane. (p. 13)
-------------
The book is filled with "160 carefully selected
illustrations" --which include architectural
drawings and many photos, both of the house,
of Robie and his family, of Wright, and of some
of Wright's other previous houses leading up to
the Robie House. Hoffmann also did excellent
research by gaining access to complete
taped transcripts by Robie, and interviews with
Robie's son, and others.

There is something very compelling and involving
to my sense perceptions about Wright's long, sleek,
tiered approach to architecture, as well as the
various designs of lamps and chairs and lights
which he included in the house. But on seeing the
photos of the dining room...and the rigid but
beautiful "Gothic" like chairs, as well as the
photos of the "stuff" that the Robie family
cluttered the Spartan rooms with in their
attempts to "customize" it to their living
desires...the house seems incredibly beautiful,
but not incredibly utilitarian: idealized, abstract,
geometric beauty and organic harmony with the
beauty and structure of Nature, but not necessarily
"organic" in its relation to people and "common
creature" comforts.

Dieses Buch, wie sein Thema, wird wie ein Ziegelsteinouthouse aufgebaut. Unassailable Forschung. Gute Arbeit, Don.

Don Hoffman's book gives and accurate description of how this magnificent home came into being from its inception to completion. It discusses how the sketches evolved due to the environmental considerations of the landscape showing how Kentuck Knob was build to coordinate the house and the hill upon which it was built into one organic structure.

It explains Wright's architectural philosophy as to why he makes the decisions he did when building this house.

Visually the book itself is elegantly designed with excellent photographs giving a true feel for the nature of the house and providing some insignt to the wise, artistically minded people whom conceived of and lived in Kentuck Knob so happily and with such a great respect for the environment which the house occupies.

As a child I spent a great deal of time in this house, being close family friends with the original owners, so I would know if there were any inconsistancies with the book and reality and find it most accurately written.

This would be a great gift for anyone interested in architecture, environmnetalism or whom is a particular fan of Frank Llyod Wright's architecture. Also it is so beautifully done that it would just be a pretty coffee table book to keep for yourself or for in a guest room.

In this book, noted architectural scholar Donald Hoffman outlines the contributions of these two men and others to the fledgling skyscraper movement. Among the topics examined are the profit motive behind skyscraper construction, the importance of light in skyscraper design, Sullivan's soaring idealism, the "anti-skyscraper," exemplified by Wright's Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and many more.

Accompanying the perceptive, carefully researched text are 100 excellent illustrations, including rare photographs, floor plans, and renderings that document such important structures as Sullivan's Wainwright Building in St. Louis, along with his Masonic Temple, Reliance Building, and Marshall Field Wholesale Store in Chicago; the A.T. Stewart store in New York; the San Francisco Call Project; Wright's Larkin Building in Buffalo, New York, as well as his dazzling but never-constructed National Life Insurance Company project, Chicago, and St. Mark's Tower project, New York.

Architecture enthusiasts will find this comprehensive, authoritative study filled not only with an abundance of insights into the early development of the skyscraper but also with the ideas and influence of two master builders who played key roles in one of the most revolutionary developments in modern architecture.

I always use one or two statements from this little handy book, to inspire or encourage my colleagues and or friends. Now, a friend of mine wanted to buy it, I think I have to buy one and airmail it to her in Israel.

Dr. Donald A. Wright gives one of the most profound looks into the human condition. Through his combination of psychology and spirituality, he reveals what we go through, without robbing of us of our integrity. His words are sensitive, yet thought-provoking, and the tone of the book is such that you will have a difficult time putting it down. I must warn you, this book is for those seriously interested in finding out why they struggle with certain issues--not for the faint of heart. I would recommend this book to anyone who is ready to wrestle!!

James Wright was of course one of the 20th century's great master poets. Each poem in this book bears his stamp of completely precise, beautiful communication. His writing can teach about the art. It does, though, seem kind of pretentious to me the way this one approach to poetry, which has its sense in it, is the only way for the words to be poetry, which James Wright must have believed or he wouldn't have done it that same way every time.

This collection of Wright's work includes his experiments with formal blank verse, translations of German poets, experimental prose pieces, and characteristic free verse that made him one of America's strongest national poets with a regional identity. Wright's topics range from the pastoral landscape of people, wildlife, and industry near his Ohio hometown to the philosophical challenges of individuality, death, renewal, and union. The gray mountains, coal trains, steel bridges and murky Ohio River take their places beside docile horses, musical insects and colorful characters. But never does Wright falter to the mere reporting of a landscape through his poetry; the vision is always fresh, exacting, tense, and redemptive. I have used his work with many of my English students, and the feedback is celebratory. If you are a fan of poetry or a student of the craft, familiarize yourself with this book. Donald Hall's wonderful preface does justice to one of America's most fondly remembered poets.

James Wright's mastery of the traditional formal elements of poetry coupled with his contemporary and timeless themes makes his collection of poetry one of the best I have ever read. The first reading of his works leaves the reader wondering. The second brings comprehension. The third and any subsequent readings mesmerize as Wright's web of imagery and contemplation becomes more intricate. It is a shame that more readers do not know of his fascinating works.

This is an historical books about this house but all the pictures are in B & W. And it's so sad for such a masterpiece of frank Lloyd Wright.

This book is one of the best I have seen for describing in detail the challenges of creating one of America's architectural landmarks. Anyone who reads this book will be reminded of Thomas Edison's comment about genius being 99 percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration.

Fallingwater came as a commission after one of the longest dry spells of Frank Lloyd Wright's career. Despite having no work to do, no money, and few prospects, Mr. Wright dawdled with the project while trying to sell his client, Edgar Kaufmann, as many other projects as possible. Contemporary accounts suggest that Wright only began sketching something on paper when Mr. Kaufmann was about to arrive at Taliesin in Wisconsin, where Wright did his work.

Mr. Kaufman was not an easy client. He was the head of a major department store, and was used to getting his own way. Client and architect often clashed, with bent feelings on both sides. Independent "experts" got involved who also added to the controversy, mistakes, and misunderstandings. Mr. Kaufmann deserves credit, though, for sticking with Wright as the costs soared way above the original budget for this most unique house.

Interestingly, the two were brought together by Mr. Kaufmann's son who had come to study with Wright in Taliesin. The book contains a brief introduction by Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. who ultimately gave the home to a local nature conservancy.

Even without the challenges of the human relationships, Fallingwater was a most ambitious commission. In a remote part of the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania, Fallingwater is sited on top of a waterfall. The potential for the water to undermine the house is enormous. Mr. Wright also wanted to keep as many of the original rocks and trees as possible. The site survey was often wrong, and the designs had to be adjusted to reflect the reality. The design also provided other unusual problems, and the first cantilever was built incorrectly due to changes made under Mr. Kaufmann's direction.

The book contains a wealth of maps, letters, summaries of interviews with those who worked on the project, drawings, plans, and photographs of the work in progress in black and white. This detail brings the challenges to life in a very real way.

The fascinating part of this book to me is that Fallingwater's final effects are the opposite of its creation. The home seems to float above the water, like a mirage. It seems to exude tranquility and peace. Yet, its every stage of movement toward becoming a reality was like a Sumo wrestling match with enormous heavyweight egos and ideas colliding at high speed and with little regard for the impact on the other fellow.

As much as I love Fallingwater, I love understanding more about how it was created even more. Anyone who wants to leave a mark of greatness behind should read this book.

After you finish thinking through the implications of Mr. Wright's vision and ways of implementing it, I suggest that you think about your own personal life and work. Where are you lacking in vision? Where are you lacking in the processes to implement worthwhile visions?

Turn your dreams into beautiful realities . . . for everyone!

Of all the books on Fallingwater, this is the best when you want to know about how the house came into being. I have 2 copies of the book, one that accompanies me on all my travelling, and one to keep in my library. I have at least read it 8 to 10 times, and already look forward to the next time. The black and white photography is quite good, although the book would even be better with some color takes. Hoffman did a great job researching on the subject, and reading the book, it occurs that this was no easy task to get everything in order, chronoligically.