Book Description
Erwin McManus wasn't raised in a Christian home, so when he came to Christ as a college student, he didn't know the rules of the "religious club." He didn't do well in Shakespeare courses, so he didn't really understand the KJV Bible he was given either. But he did understand that prayer was a conversation, and he learned to talk to God and wait for answers. Erwin's way was passionate and rough around the edges-a sincere, barbaric journey to Christ.
Barbaric Christians see Jesus differently than civilized Christians. They see disciples differently, and they see Christ's mission differently.
The Barbarian Way is a call to escape "civilized" Christianity and become original, powerful, untamed Christians-just as Christ intended.
Customer Reviews:
Passion.......2007-06-20
I am a new consumer of McManus' work and I have wondered why it took me so long to find this guy. This book will inspire you, bring you to tears and use personal and touching examples in it's quest to move you on from your "boxed in" Christianity.
If your faith is not what it's cracked up to be, then you should read this book.
Become a Barbarian.......2007-05-16
The Barbarian Way definitely takes evangelism to a higher level, it takes it back to what Jesus and His disciples did and challenges us to get out and just do it.
Challenging the Christian Status Quo.......2007-05-15
McManus challenges comfortable Christians to face a God who calls them to more than a satisfied faith. The term Barbarian turns out to be a good thing, but the white, upper middle class men in my Bible study kept having a hard time with trying to think barbaric thoughts. It is worth getting past that to the core truth that God is not safe, this faith is not weak, our cause is great and our opportunities are boundless. Perfect for a men's group.
I want to be a Barbarian .......2007-04-10
I was in Zambia when a friend gave me this book to read. It spoke to me so vividly as I worked and served among the shantytown of Mapalo to people who see very little hope except for their tremendous faith and beauty of expression of that faith. I have spent most of my life wanting to "feel like" other Christians seem to feel, but never have. I have done all the Christian "things", but never felt like I had what everyone else seemed to have. This book made me realize that, in fact, I don't. I feel the love and the passion in a different way that makes me want to embrace all those who feel unworthy of the Christian church and religion. It has made me accept my faith and love in a wonderfully unique and accepting (of myself and others) way. I am so thankful to McManus for giving me permission through his book to accept and confirm my spirituality and to my friend in Zambia for sharing it with me.
Amazing.......2007-04-01
This book is incredible. It was recommended to me by my youth pastor and i guarantee that you will be left ready to take the untraveled road and pursue Christ.
Average customer rating:
- WOW!
- Incredible Book for Animal Lovers
- Gorgeous
- Untamed
- I LOVE THIS BOOK
|
Untamed
Steve Bloom
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Photographers, A-Z | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Nature & Wildlife | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Animals | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:
-
Elephant
-
Untamed: Animals in the Wild
-
Spirit of the Wild
-
Vanishing Act
-
Through the Eyes of the Gods: An Aerial Vision of Africa
ASIN: 081095611X |
Book Description
For more than ten years, wildlife photographer Steve Bloom traveled all over the world, roaming through the jungles of Borneo, the African savannahs, and the frozen banks of Antarctica to assemble this dazzling collection of photographs of animals in their natural environments. With an international range that is rare in books of animal photography, the 200 photographs in Untamed bring to life a vast panorama of animal diversity, and of the landscapes, climates, and habitats in which they live.
Here we see the serene gaze of a gorilla relaxing in the trees, a shark jumping in midair to catch its prey, a Siberian tiger traipsing through the snow in search of food, and penguins congregating on an ice floe. Bloom's anthropomorphic approach reveals rage, tenderness, and even humor in his subjects, capturing those fleeting moments when the gap between animal and human seems to disappear altogether. These amazing images, augmented by a personal account of Bloom's unforgettable career as a wildlife photographer, make Untamed an essential volume for all animal and photography lovers. AUTHOR BIO: Steve Bloom is an award-winning wildlife photographer who also founded his own wildlife stock photo agency and fine print gallery in the mid-1990s. His first photography book, In Praise of Primates, has been published in ten languages. His other publications include Thank You for Being a Friend! and We Are Family! .
Customer Reviews:
WOW!.......2007-09-25
Steve Bloom has taken pictoral essays to new heights. In September 2007, a stroke of Irish luck led me to his exhibition in Dublin, Ireland. I spent a mesmerizing hour wandering St. Stephen's Green Park admiring his outstanding mini-billboard sized photographs and felt cheated when I ran out of time. So I bought the book, it sits on my coffee table, and I enjoy it day after day. Untamed is not a collection of animal photos. Instead, Steve gives us a greater understanding of the beast through a series of incredible exposures. Anyone who enjoys wildlife and excellent photography must own this book. It would make an excellent gift for those who share a passion for the wildlife that is vanishing before our eyes.
Incredible Book for Animal Lovers.......2007-09-01
Steve Bloom is by far one of the best animal photographers! The pictures he captures are incredible. Untamed is a great/huge collection of awesome pictures. The pictures and pages in the book are all high quality. Well worth the money.
Gorgeous.......2007-01-22
This is an absolutely gorgeous book, oversized and chock full of awesome photographs of all sorts of creatures. Bloom works in the wild, from a distance and close up enough to devote a full page to an elephant's eyelid. He works in Antartica, in the Amazon, in Africa, Asia, all across the world, with herds of animals and with singles, young, old, and in between. Some of the photos are panoramas, with 2 pages opening towards the middle to full effect.
I first saw the book displayed on a table in an interiors store, and fell in love with it, came home and ordered from Amazon to save $$$. Now it's on the table in *my* living room. Eventually I will give it to my son to go through and share with my now-4-year-old grandson.
Untamed.......2007-01-17
Saw the exhibition of these photos in Copenhagen and had to have the book. A must have for animal lovers. A genius at capturing the essence of animal life.
I LOVE THIS BOOK.......2006-05-11
I LOVE THIS BOOK, THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE BEAUTIFUL! I BOUGHT THE BOOK FOR MY 8YR OLD NIECE, EACH TIME I VISIT, SHE WANTS ME TO LOOK AT IT WITH HER! YOU WILL NEVER BE BORED! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND EVERYONE TO OWN THIS BOOK. IT ALSO LAYS GOURGOUSLY ON YOUR COFFEE TABLE.
Average customer rating:
- Enchanted
- A metaphor can only be taken so far....
- Worthy of at least five sighs and maybe a toe curl or two
- never have i thought
- Excellent Read
|
Untamed
Elizabeth Lowell
Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Lowell, Elizabeth | ( L ) | Authors, A-Z | Romance | Subjects | Books
Fantasy, Futuristic & Ghost | Romance | Subjects | Books
General | Romance | Subjects | Books
General | Contemporary | Romance | Subjects | Books
General | Historical | Romance | Subjects | Books
Lowell, Elizabeth | ( L ) | Authors, A-Z | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
General | Contemporary | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Fantasy, Futuristic & Ghost | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
General | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
General | Historical | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:
-
Enchanted
-
Forbidden
-
Only Mine
-
Winter Fire
-
Autumn Lover
ASIN: 0380769530 |
Book Description
Returning home triumphant from the Crusades, Dominic le Sabre is determined to claim the bride promised to him by the king, but the high–born Celtic beauty is equally determined to resist him.
Customer Reviews:
Enchanted.......2007-05-07
Another title by Lowell that I enjoyed. As with other titles by Lowell, the plot is strange, but eventually they become clear. This title too is great if you find historical romances interesting. Once again Lowell offers you a strong female main character who has unique abilities. Good from cover to last page.
A metaphor can only be taken so far...........2007-02-19
I was unable to finish this book, despite my determination to not let it beat me. But I was unsuccessful. What eventually did me in was the tedious overuse of the "falcon" metaphor, although that was only one straw of many that broke my back. I only managed to get to page 160, but by that point the whole "falcon" imagery had been beaten like the dead horse it was and I'd had enough. It was obvious and contrived anyway, and only a skillful writer could have taken a dud device like that and made it somewhat tolerable. This Lowell could not do. Throw in a slow-moving plot where nothing really happens (the pacing was agonizingly slow), a heroine straight from an embarrasingly high-scoring Mary Sue Litmus Test, a risible mysticism/curse, and a really unlikeable "hero", and you have a total dog of a book. Woof, man. Woof. Thank God I paid nothing for the copy I read.
Worthy of at least five sighs and maybe a toe curl or two.......2006-08-07
In an age and a land filled with war, Dominic le Sabre is longing for peace and a land he can build on, with a wife who will bear him sons. As a reward for his heroic acts during the Crusades, King Henry I grants him his wish. Dominic is given Lady Margaret as his wife. She is the heir to Blackthorne keep.
Dominic arrives at Blackthorne and finds it filled with intrigue he must unravel and spies he must discover before he can gain full control of the keep. Most important of all is the puzzle surrounding his wife. Meg is a Glendruid witch, the last of a dying Celtic clan living under a curse. A thousand years ago, because of a betrayal, the Glendruid witches have not been able to bear sons. The stipulations are thus: If the witch is raped on her wedding night, she will not bear a child and a withering curse will descend on the keep. If her husband gives her pleasure, she will bear him a daughter. If, however, the witch and her husband are in love with each other, she will bear him a son.
Dominic approaches the problem as he would a war: to lay siege to his wife and win her love. But Meg sees through him and knows only that Dominic is incapable of love and she is, therefore, unable to bear him a son. Despite that, Meg pours her healing efforts into Dominic, to heal the wounds inflicted on his during the Crusades and hopefully to restore his heart.
Elizabeth Lowell is an enthralling storyteller. She weaves a compelling story filled with suspenseful intrigue and dynamic characters that will steal your heart and breath away. You'll be captivated to the last page.
never have i thought.......2006-08-02
This story is good. It is good enough for you to spend your money. Buy all of its trilogy. It's worth it.
What is worth to live a life with richess and lands if you don't have someone to share your love?
Excellent Read.......2006-01-01
I loved this book from beggining until the end. I look forward to reading the next in the series.
Book Description
Just what was so wild about the Wild West?
Americans have had an enduring yet ambivalent obsession with the West as both a place and a state of mind. Now one of the most knowing observers of the Western scene offers a monumental cultural and historical analysis of how ideas of wildness have shaped the ways Euro-Americans have perceived, reacted to, and acted upon the West for nearly five hundred years. Bringing the sensibility of a poet to a sweeping discussion of place, Michael L. Johnson considers how that obsession originated, how it has determined attitudes toward and activities in the West, and how it has changed over the centuries.
Investigating views of Western wildness from pre-European times until the present, Johnson tells how explorers and settlers bent on exploiting the West brought with them Old World ideas, full of muddled and even bizarre contradictions, that have defined the region in its most fundamental aspects. And he shows how those contradictory ideas were woven into an ambivalent ideology of conquest that has given us today's degraded wilderness areas, overtaxed water supplies, and sprawling suburbs.
Brimming with word-play, personal anecdotes, and telling vignettes, Hunger for the Wild provocatively addresses a cornucopia of Western personalities, phenomena, and events. Invoking a vast array of writers and thinkers-from Claude Lévi-Strauss to Black Elk to Richard Etulain-Johnson casts his critical eye on conquistadors and cowboys and revisits myths of Noble Savage and "red devil" alike. His kaleidoscopic text examines Dust Bowl woes and Wild West shows, and whether contemplating the Disneyfied frontier or the Ralphlaurenized range, he takes readers on an intellectual romp through the wilds of the contemporary West, with its UFO fanatics and postregional cowgirls.
Emphasizing his call for seeing the West as "a place of roots as well as routes," Johnson's tour de force marks a major contribution to the deeper history of the region and points toward a more sustainable West for the future. It should interest not only Western historians but also art and film buffs, ecocritics, cross-cultural specialists, and rodeo fans-anyone fascinated by the wild, Western-style.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful photographs.......2006-09-21
I enjoyed this book very much. I learned some new things about life in parts of my home state of Louisiana with which I was not familiar. Although Jenkins' love of nature and people is very apparent, I was somewhat disappointed that his vignettes of the people he interviewed and sometimes lived with, were not more in depth.
Book Description
She had promised herself that once they left the fjords of Norway, she would never look back. The promise of free land lures Roald and Ingeborg Bjorklund from their beloved home high above the fjords of Norway, and after three long years of scrimping and saving to buy tickets for their passage to America, they finally arrive at the docks of New York City. This new land promises a rich heritage for their children, and here they hope to build a good life. After a long journey by train and then by covered wagon, the Bjorklunds finally arrive in Dakota Territory, where they settle on the banks of the Red River of the North. But the virgin prairie refuses to yield its treasure without a struggle. Will Roald and Ingeborg be strong enough to overcome the hardships of that first winter? Proud of their heritage and sustained by their faith, they came to tame a new land.
Customer Reviews:
Entertaining Read!.......2005-09-08
An entertaining read, and the author has done her homework on the life and times of people in the late 1800's. This descriptive story is about Norwegian emigrants/pioneers on their way to farm land in the the Red River Valley of North Dokota. The details of life back then are so vivid and I have fallen in love with the characters. Couldn't pick up he sequel fast enough... Enjoy!
Great reality.......2003-04-07
This was a great book with lots of reality in it. As someone who lives in this area, it makes it so real that you almost think you can go find their desendents (you can find close enough ones anyway!). Ingeborg and Kaaren face so much and come through all the more human and enjoyable as they face the prairie's hardships.
Adventure, Handship and Faith.......2001-03-29
Two young couples, each with a small child, migrate to America from Norway around 1880. They have no end of hardship and heartache. Their journey to homestead land is filled with pain. Even after they arrive, they have absolutely no idea the misery and heartbreak they will face their first full year there. It is a wonder they survive with their sanity - or do they?
This is Snelling's first book in the series Red River of the North. I am well into book two already.
Fabulous Christian frontier literature.......2000-01-11
The grueling life of this Norwegian pioneer family made me so thankful for all the blessings in my modern life. They had so few material possessions, worked so hard, endured such hardships, but yet maintained their faith in God, the most important possession anyone can have. I've read all of the books of this series, but this one stands out above them all.
Very Enjoyable.......1999-10-24
"An Untamed Land" was VERY enjoyable. It was exactly the way it was. I am sure because of the stories I've heard from my mother and her many relatives who grew up as Norwegian North Dakota farmers. Uff-da, the characters even speak Norwegian occasionally. Anyone from this heritage will get tears in their eyes and a lot of joy.
Average customer rating:
- 3 stars
- lighthearted historical romantic romp
|
The Untamed Earl
Taylor Jones
Manufacturer: Leisure
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Action & Adventure | Anthologies | Fairy Tales | Family Saga | Gay & Lesbian | Historical | Horror | Medical | Men's Adventure | Metaphysical | Movie Tie-Ins | Political | Religious & Inspirational | Sea Adventures | Sports | War | Westerns
General | Romance | Subjects | Books
General | Historical | Romance | Subjects | Books
All Deals | Blowout Books | Stores | Books
Literature & Fiction | Blowout Books | Stores | Books
Romance | Blowout Books | Stores | Books
General | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
General | Historical | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:
-
The Naked Earl (Zebra Historical Romance)
-
Sinful Between the Sheets
-
The Secret to Seduction
-
The Duke's Proposal
-
The Duke's Indiscretion (Avon Romantic Treasure)
ASIN: 0843958456 |
Customer Reviews:
3 stars.......2007-04-01
Estella's great love of pranks backfires so that she finds herself married to the boring Godolphon, Earl of Seabrook. She is utterly miserable, for the marriage is not based at all on love. She simply found herself trapped and having to save face, while her husband married her to get access to information to help in his investsigation into a smuggling ring. However, one of their wedding gifts, a "dog training" manual, offers some hope in Estella's quest to turn her union around. Yet, there is danger all around, and someone is taking advantage of Estella's penchant to make her look bad. Can the mismatched pair find love, or will circumstances tear them apart?
*** This is an unusual story. Estella often seems vain and shallow, while Godolphon's hair-trigger temper combine to make this romance seem utterly unworkable. Somehow though, a certain charm comes through as the sum of the parts of this book proves to be greater than the individual facets. ***
lighthearted historical romantic romp .......2007-03-30
Estella loves pranking people, but her latest effort proved the joke was on her as she crossed a line, which ends up with her married to Lord Seabrook, a prim and proper person she dislikes. Their wedding gifts are standard fare as no one in either family or their friends show any imagination; at least that is how the bride sees it with one exception. Someone gave Estella a training book on controlling unruly canines that she thinks with an ironic smile she can apply to Godolphon, her spouse.
Godolphon knows he could have prevented the marriage, but he sees his nuptials as a means to prove his new father-in-law is a smuggler. He has access to the house and plans to find the ledgers and then he will deal with his prankster wife. However, he failed to factor in one key ingredient in his otherwise perfect plan; he wonders if he can send to prison the father of the woman he loves.
THE UNTAMED EARL is a lighthearted historical romantic romp starring a unique lead female protagonist who should have been a card carrying road member of the merry pranksters instead of the Ton. Era aside, the canine manual will remind the audience of the Sandra Dee- Bobby Darin 1960s film If A Man Answers. Readers will enjoy the makeover of the hero more so from suspicious accidents than the dog book; Godolphon changes the objective from proving his in-law is a dangerous felon to keeping his beloved spouse safe. Taylor Jones provides a fun romantic romp with relatively late suspense adding to the enjoyable story line.
Harriet Klausner
Book Description
Running from angry villagers and the man who ravaged her, the witch Lucinda flees into the forest to have her child. But Lord Jackson Wulf hunts her down, believing her death will break the family curse that transforms him into a monster. Instead of killing the witch, Jackson is moved by her beauty and desperate plight. And Lucinda seizes the chance to find safety for herself and her babe when a bargain is struck between this outcast woman and this doomed man-and sealed by their marriage in name only...In return for his protection, Lucinda has promised that her magick can free Jackson from his torment. But this pretty witch soon finds herself in danger of being seduced by Jackson's charms and pursued by the man who would see both her and her child dead. Can she trust a Wulf with her safety and the safety of her child? Can she trust her heart to Jackson? To surrender to a Wulf is a terrible risk, for love will either unleash the beast within the man....or finally set him free.
Customer Reviews:
double nice.......2007-08-23
if you read the first book you must read the rest in the series, I read all three books in less than a week, couldn't put it down........
ALRIGHT FOR THE WULFS OF LONDON!.......2007-05-01
ANOTHER DELIGHT TO MY COLLECTION.I ENJOYED TREMENDOUSLY JACKSON THE DRUNK..(LOL ) AND WITCHY LUCINDA...
THEY BOTH CAME TOGETHER IN PERFECT HARMONY. FOR THOSE WHO DIDNT CARE FOR THE SERIES..HEY...YOU CANT PLEASE EVERYBODY ALL THE TIME..
TRY SOMETHING ELSE AND LEAVE THE NEGETIVE COMMENTS TO YOURSELF!
Boring..........2007-04-15
I could not read all of this book and that is the reason for the 1 star. The beginning contained scenes with the heroine that seemed unnecessary. The middle lagged on and on and I found more solace in washing dishes. The end confrontation was the best part. Not worth the money, sorry.
Outstanding paranotmal romance thriller.......2007-02-10
The plot here while somewhat traditional is more twisted than the first book. Jackson is seeking out the witch that cursed his family hopping mtha by killing her he can break the curse. He finds a witch, Lucinda, just as she is in labor and in trouble. The plot thickens from there. Nicely done seduction sequences and nice characters and plot development. Resolution is not entirely traditional and over all well done. A little more humr than then the first book but not much. Very good read.
Didn't like this one as much as the first.......2006-12-29
But that's my only criticism. I like this series a lot so far.
Average customer rating:
- unrealistic
- Blah
- To Recommend or Not to Recommend...
- Loved it!
- Fun, early Roberts
|
Untamed
Nora Roberts
Manufacturer: Silhouette
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Romance | Subjects | Books
General | Roberts, Nora | ( R ) | Authors, A-Z | Romance | Subjects | Books
Paperback | Roberts, Nora | ( R ) | Authors, A-Z | Romance | Subjects | Books
General | Contemporary | Romance | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:
-
From This Day
-
Temptation
-
Suspicious
-
Mysterious
-
Secret Star
ASIN: 0373218435 |
Customer Reviews:
unrealistic.......2007-03-15
Nice romance story, but not very realistic. All through the book we see how passionate Jo is about the circus. All too suddenly, in the last 4 pages, she gives it up to marry Keane.
Blah.......2006-07-24
I expected SO much more out if this book. Nora Roberts tends to be a great writer, but this book was short and dull. Skip it, so on to a better book.
To Recommend or Not to Recommend..........2005-04-06
UNTAMED is a bit of a different story line for Nora Roberts and as an avid reader of her books, I found myself perplexed. I usually enjoy escaping the stress and deadlines in my life for a short while by becoming absorbed in the fictional book currently in my hands. With UNTAMED I just kept wondering WHY? - there was no escape for me in this one.
Jo Wilder comes from a long line of lion trainers and has made it to center ring when the new owner of the circus shows up to review the business aspect of the show. Jo, along with many of the other long time performers are worried that Keane Prescott will sell the circus or even disband it. She decides to try to convince him that the circus is more a family than a business and is frustrated by Keane's entire attitude.
She convinces Keane to travel with them and see first hand the excitement that can only come from being involved in a small-time circus like this one. Jo begins to think that he is softening towards her but after her performances with the big cats and her no-fear attitude, he puts the shield up once again. She can't figure it out and continues to wonder. Yep, it's the old "does he love me or not" plot. I won't give you any more details or the outcome since it doesn't have a lot going for it, you might as well be surprised with the ending! (By the way, I found the ending to be out of character for Jo, and it seemed as if Nora Roberts had to hurry and end the story so she threw it together at the last minute with little forethought).
Even though the story is mundane, there are a few touching scenes in this book. One of the best passages is when Jo is comforting her oldest lion. She's known for some time that he's ill and not going to live much longer. She makes the decision one night to end his suffering and euthanizes him. The warmth and compassion shown for this animal can be a prime example to many humans on how to care and open their hearts to other living things (human and animal alike). This is a great glimpse at what a human can accomplish if they open their heart and care.
Other than that, UNTAMED is weak on plot and subplots. Nora Roberts misses the boat with the opportunities to create unforgettable characters and has mediocre ones for the most part. Can you image the subplots when you could choose from the trapeze family, the circus clowns, roadies, etc.? My mind was in overdrive trying to fathom the possibilities. Unfortunately, Ms. Roberts's didn't come through on this aspect.
I'm not really sure if I recommend it or not - I guess I do, after all there is a lot of garbage on the market nowadays. It's a thin book and will only take a couple of hours to get through so you wouldn't be spending tons of time with it. If it consisted of several hundred pages, I have to advise against it. How's that for waffling?
Loved it!.......2003-08-24
This book is a relatively quick read, good for a rainy day. I highly recommend it along with another book " HE NEVER CALLED AGAIN."
Fun, early Roberts.......2003-08-21
The thing I liked most about this story was the setting - a travelling circus! It is very different, although the rest of the story is trademark Roberts - the characters start off on the wrong foot and spend much of the story fighting the inevitable. The ending is a bit confusing, but the story is still interesting, romantic and (at times) comical and even sad.
I borrowed this book, it was a quick read and cute.
Book Description
In 1790, America was in enormous debt, having depleted what little money and supplies the country had during its victorious fight for independence. Before the nation's greatest asset, the land west of the Ohio River, could be sold it had to be measured out and mapped. And before that could be done, a uniform set of measurements had to be chosen for the new republic out of the morass of roughly 100,000 different units that were in use in daily life.
Measuring America tells the fascinating story of how we ultimately gained the American Customary System-the last traditional system in the world-and how one man's surveying chain indelibly imprinted its dimensions on the land, on cities, and on our culture from coast to coast.
Customer Reviews:
Measure for Measure.......2006-05-20
This book will probably interest people already curious about the subject but will be a harder sell to the average educated reader perusing library shelves and on-line catalogs for an appealing general history.
Yet Measuring America is indeed a good general history, decently (if discursively) written, with good arguments made throughout. (David McCullough blurbs that he "was caught up from the first page.") Perhaps the subtitle's claim that land surveys "fulfilled the promise of democracy" is a bit over the top, but Linklater does correctly associate increased private ownership of real estate with the rise of democracy and the dramatic increase in population of the Thirteen Colonies that allowed them to outstrip New France and New Spain. Linklater also shares some clever thoughts about the strengths and weaknesses of farms and city blocks turned into squares and rectangles.
Actually, Measuring America deals as much with weights and smaller linear measures as with the rectangular survey that turned the Midwest into grids stretching to the horizon from twenty thousand feet. Some of the most interesting chapters treat the possible window of opportunity during the early national years that might have permitted the United States to adopt a decimal measuring system superior to metric, which then might have taken the place of the latter as an international standard.
The shaping of America.......2005-08-09
This book tells an important chapter of America's early history; specifically how the land west of the original 13 colonies was measured, carved up, and sold off. Involved in this process was the contest between those who favored a decimal system for America's weights and measures and those who favored the non-decimal English system. The former was pushed by Thomas Jefferson as more systematic, efficient, and highly organized. Unfortunately, the French Revolution and its ensuing systemic, efficient and highly organized executions helped to kill this and many other French-inspired ideas. Instead, the traditional method of feet and inches took hold.
The book describes the mapping of the other states besides the original 13 and how this process showed a precision and efficiency that was unique to America. A look at the US map shows that the original 13 states have highly irregular borders. But as one looks west, state borders become straighter, cleaner, and smoother. Essentially, the original 13 states had their border decided after people moved in and created towns, farms, and villages. This process was reversed to various degrees in the other states, where borders were layed out first to maximize the ease by which the land could be subdivided for sale. Such a process helped America spread westward with ease, speed, and minimal legal hassles and conflicts between neighbors.
The book covers all the major figures involved in this process, from Presidents and other government officials making the decisions, to the cartographers in the wild who drew out the lines in the forests, praries, and fields. All told, this is a good book to read with a text easy enough for most high school students. It should be required reading in high school history classes.
This book really measures up!.......2005-01-17
The subtitle of this highly readable book is a bit purple -- "How an Untamed Wilderness Shaped the United States and Fulfilled the Promise of Democracy" -- but what the author has to say makes a good case. It's also an amazingly action-packed adventure story. Any genealogist learns early the practical ins and outs of frontier settlement and the titles, grants, and other documents that land claims inevitably produce. In this country, there are two distinct methods of recording those claims: "metes and bounds" in the original colonies and some of their western lands (such as Kentucky) and in Texas, which describe the boundaries of one's land in terms of the points at which it adjoins or "meets" a neighbor's land, and the rectangular survey system developed for use in the public land states created from the nation's later territorial acquisitions. The latter is far more rational and allows a claim to be filed based on geographical location without having actually set foot on the land -- but it also requires preliminary measurement by a party of government surveyors. Linklater lays out in much detail, and with colorful anecdotes, how the first surveys were decided upon and carried out (more or less) in the Northwest Territory, and later in the Plains states and the West. He describes how, thanks to the efforts of Thomas Jefferson, the U.S. nearly adopted a rational metric system early in its history (which in France and Prussia was an instrument of centralized government policy), and how that goal was waylaid by clinging to Edmund Gunter's English chain/furlong system, which had the virtue of being easily understood by semi-literate surveyors with minimal mathematical skills. He relates the part played by rapacious land speculators (most of them members of the old aristocracy of New York, Massachusetts, and the Carolina low country), by frontier town-builders enamored of rectangular blocks (and why Manhattan has narrow, skimpy blocks compared to Philadelphia or Chicago), and how the railroads used the land-survey system to open up the continent while amassing enormous wealth. Though this volume is intended for the popular market, it also includes endnotes and a good bibliography.
This book answers a lot of questions!.......2004-01-24
This book draws together a broad range of history concerning measures, measurements and the people who make them. Then it tells the story of how these interactions have affected American history, politics, geography, home ownership and many other things.
Did you every wonder why the US didn't adopt the metric system when it was first proposed by France? Well (like many other things) the story I was taught in school was short, dull and misleading.
The real story is full of action and adventure.
The action involves a secret last meeting of Louis XVI with his scientific advisors the night he attempted escape, a man with a passion for collecting rare flowers, a hurricane in the Caribbean, a treacherous French governor, pirates, an Indian massacre of US Army troops on the frontier, and the struggles between Thomas Jefferson and real estate speculators!
An interesting history.......2003-12-30
I really enjoyed this book. This is one example of the kind of history that can be informative and yet hold the reader's attention, though I admit it is a subject that has interested me a lot anyway.
The book's primary thrust is the history leading to the fact that we do not normally use the metric system in the U. S. I must say that it makes a good case for an idea that I'd never run across before: that this is primarily because the French, in devising the definition of the meter, departed from an idea that many people, including Thomas Jefferson, thought would give the most internationally reproducible standard. Reading this book, it really seems he has his facts right, and his argument is convincing.
I found that the book clarified a number of points that I have wondered about.
One negative thing is that his appendix in the end has some (probably typographical) errors: one table shows 101, 102, etc. for what slould really be 10 with exponents 1, 2, etc.) and in several other tables, "grains" becomes "gains."
Books:
- The Enchanted Forest Chronicles: Dealing with Dragons / Searching for Dragons / Calling on Dragons / Talking to Dragons
- The First Lady
- The Forever Dog
- The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists
- The Harry Bosch Novels: The Black Echo, The Black Ice, The Concrete Blonde
- The Hidden Records: Ancient Pyramid Star Maps Decode the Secret of Human Origins
- The Irish Devil
- The Lady in Question
- The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook
- The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty: Delhi, 1857
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Mind Hacks: Tips & Tricks for Using Your Brain
- Dungeon Master's Guide: Core Rulebook II
- The 2007-2012 Outlook for Calcium Channel Blocker Vasodilator Pharmaceuticals in Greater China
- Understanding Architecture: Its Elements, History, And Meaning
- What Color Is Your Parachute
- Clinician's Pocket Reference
- A Gundog Handler's Guide to Picking Up
- Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting
- The Domus Aurea and the Roman Architectural Revolution
- The wildflowers of Wilson's Promontory National Park
An Unstoppable Force: Daring to Become the Church God Had in Mind
Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul
Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment
Soul Cravings
Stand Against the Wind: Fuel for the Revolution of Your Soul
