Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War

Book Description

From the bestselling author of In the Heart of the Sea—winner of the National Book Award—the startling story of the Plymouth Colony

From the perilous ocean crossing to the shared bounty of the first Thanksgiving, the Pilgrim settlement of New England has become enshrined as our most sacred national myth. Yet, as bestselling author Nathaniel Philbrick reveals in his spellbinding new book, the true story of the Pilgrims is much more than the well-known tale of piety and sacrifice; it is a fifty-five-year epic that is at once tragic, heroic, exhilarating, and profound.

The Mayflower's religious refugees arrived in Plymouth Harbor during a period of crisis for Native Americans as disease spread by European fishermen devastated their populations. Initially the two groups—the Wampanoags, under the charismatic and calculating chief Massasoit, and the Pilgrims, whose pugnacious military officer Miles Standish was barely five feet tall—maintained a fragile working relationship. But within decades, New England would erupt into King Philip's War, a savagely bloody conflict that nearly wiped out English colonists and natives alike and forever altered the face of the fledgling colonies and the country that would grow from them.

With towering figures like William Bradford and the distinctly American hero Benjamin Church at the center of his narrative, Philbrick has fashioned a fresh and compelling portrait of the dawn of American history—a history dominated right from the start by issues of race, violence, and religion.

Customer Reviews:

Educational book.......2007-09-26

This is a very informative, accurate writing of our history. More people should read and know the real history of our country.

Not what I expected, but.......2007-09-16

the book was still a captivating piece of literature. I read this directly after reading In the Heart of the Sea by Philbrick, and was expecting the same type of story. That was not the case however. The title is a bit misleading in that one thinks they are going to be reading (or at least I did) a story of the journey. The subtitle should have cued me in. The book is about the struggle between the settlers and the natives more so than it is about the voyage to the new world. All that being said, I still loved the book. I gave the book four stars because I wish there was more about the actual voyage, and I think the title is a little misleading. All in all though, it is a superb piece of literature.

Clear & Interesting narrative of a difficult and complex period.......2007-09-13

There really aren't very many good, recent books about the early years in Massachusetts. This is an exceptional treatment...very engaging and clear. The number of Indian tribes, the various Pilgrims, Puritans, etc. can be a real mess to understand. And of course, there is usually a biased or pointed perspective you have to deal with. Philbrick has genuine regard for the good on both the English side and the various Indian sides and heartfelt disdain for the vicious and stupid acts on both sides that caused this war and ultimately turned it into a 14 month blood bath throughout New England. Makes me want to do some real research here in my New Hampshire home town.

Myth History and Real History.......2007-09-13

Every American teen should read this book. Myth-busting, rich in suggestion and detail, comprehensively researched. The defining text for this country's first sixty years.

Teaches you something not learned in elementary school........2007-09-12

Would have preferred more maps, a Summary timeline of key events and Summary of all key individuals, especially relationships of all the Indian tribes and geographical locations. Occasionally the skipping around between times is a little confusing. But, the index is helpful.

Map of Southern New England and New York during King Philip's War should be brought forward to "Kindling the Flame Chapter," so that the battles could be followed with the map.

Mayflower: September 6, 1620 to November 9, 620 (65 day voyage)
102 members is cut to 50 by spring of 1620)

William Bradford (- 1657) - Leader, Wife falls off the Mayflower upon the arrival.
Christopher Jones - Mayflower Captain returns to England April 5 - May 6 1621
Pastor John Robinson ( - 1625) - Left in England influences Mayflower Compact
Miles Standish ( - 1656) - Strict/Brutal Military Captain for pilgrims, which laid the base of strength for the pilgrims position amongst the Indians
Thomas Weston & the Merchant Adventurers - Investment backers of the mayflower - Finally paid off in 1648. First payment lost to the French

King Philip's War
Josiah Winslow, Plymouth Leader
Mary Rowlandson, he Sovereignty & Goodness of God (Feb 10, 1676)
Captain Samuel Moseley, Massachusetts Bay most ferocious Indian fighter. The only good Indian is a dead Indian
Benjamin Church, Key military leader during the King Philip War, style opposite of Moseley
Treat the enemy like a human being
Learn as much as possible from the enemy
Bring the enemy to your way of thinking
Loyal Indians: Mohegans, Pequots, Niantic (subset of the Narragansetts)
Tri-axis: Nipmuck-Narragansett-Pokanoket
King Philip, Son of Massasoit (Pokanokets) King Philip's War 1675 - 1676
Killed in battle, quartered, head is placed as a fixture at Plymouth for over 2 decades; hand is a showcase through New England

July 1675: Pease Field Fight
Sept 3, 1675: Richard Beers Ambush 21 of 35 killed
Sept 1675: Bloody Brook, Captain Thomas Lathrop 57 of 65 killed, Moseley joins battle and saved by arrival of Major Robert Treat and friendly Mohegans
Dec 1675: Jireh Bull's Garrison 15 killed
Dec 19, 1675: Great Swamp fight Winslow, Church (injured) and Moseley and Pequots and Mohegans against the Narragansetts: Critical battle injuring the Narranansetts. Fort built by the Narrangansetts destroyed. Defensive stance questions the involvement o the Narranansetts in the war.
March 1676: Clark's Garrison Massacre
March 1676: Pierce's Massacre
April 9, 1676: Canonchet killed, beheaded, quartered and burned, Charismatic leader of the Narragansett with Philip
July 1676: King Philip's death: Church and his men. Caleb Cook and Pocasset named Alderman

Times called for brutal discipline. Fighting against odds of weather, food, Indians and other Europeans.
Similarities to "Praying Indians" & Japanese internment camp
1863 Abraham Lincoln officially established Thanksgiving

Average customer rating:

Positively Brilliant
Another enjoyable Artemis adventure
The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony
Keep them coming!

The Lost Colony (Artemis Fowl, Book 5)
Eoin Colfer
Manufacturer: Miramax
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Perfect Paperback

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ASIN: 0786849568
Release Date: 2006-09-12

Book Description

Ten thousand years ago, humans and fairies fought a great battle for the magical island of Ireland. When it became clear to the fairy families that they could never win, they decided to move their civilization underground and keep themselves hidden from the humans. All the fairy families agreed on this, except the eighth family, the demons. The demons planned to lift their small island out of time until they had regrouped and were ready to wage war on the humans once more. However, the time spell went wrong, and the island of Hybras was catapulted into Limbo, where it has remained for ten thousand years. Now the tainted time spell is deteriorating and demons are being sucked back into the present space and time. The fairy council is concerned about this and is monitoring any materializations. But when the spells deterioration accelerates, the materializations become unpredictable. Even the fairy scientists cannot figure out where the next demon will pop up. But someone can. Artemis Fowl, teenage criminal mastermind, has solved temporal equations that no normal human should be intelligent enough to understand. So when a confused and frightened demon pops up in a Sicilian theater, Artemis Fowl is there to meet him. Unfortunately, he is not the only one. A second, mysterious party has also solved the temporal equations, and has managed to abduct the demon before Artemis can secure him. Once again, Artemis will have to pair up with his old comrade, Captain Holly Short, to track down the missing demon and rescue him, before the time spell dissolves completely and the lost demon colony returns violently to Earth.

Customer Reviews:

Positively Brilliant.......2007-10-07

Out of the entire Artemis Fowl series, this is easily my third or second favorite!
Well, assuming you've read the title to my review and assuming you've acknowledged this first sentence, you must realize just how great I believe this series is.
For starters, the concept in itself is brilliant. The stories are centered around the main character Artemis Fowl, a young (once evil) genius slowly growing a concience (I greatly apologize to everyone for spelling that last word wrong.) His partner is the young boy's bodygaurd, Butler, and his only real friend at first. He soon discovers a fairy civilization living beneath the surface of the earth where he makes friends with Holly Short, the newly annionted member of sector eight, Mulch Diggums, dirt eater extaordinare, and Foaly, the genius with four legs and a serious case of paranioa. Toghether they team up in order to save an entire species from extinction while preventing war between the human world and theirs.
Eoin Colfer knows exactly what he is doing. The Lost Colony, although a little monotonous at first, quickly became a fast paced nail biting ride in which he flawlessly combines magic and science into one great story. In fact, I only have a few complaints. First, the beginning was a little boring. Second, the ending surprise (in which Artemis finds out he is a big brother) is unecissary and did not particularly arouse curiosity for the next book. Still, these are negligible compared to the wonderful writing Colfer has done. Great job, 4.8 stars.

Another enjoyable Artemis adventure.......2007-09-26

I found certain aspects somewhat predictable, but it's nice that Artemis has met another genius to contend with. Can't wait for the next one!

The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer.......2007-09-10

As usual Eoin Colfer takes us into the world of the Elves with our No1 criminal Artemis Fowl.But is the young lady who appears in this book to be his nemesis or love interest.You wont find out till the end.

Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony.......2007-08-31

I enjoyed this book as much as the other books. I couldn't put the book down. I would recommend this book to anyone to read.

Keep them coming!.......2007-08-23

This last adventure was just as intriguing as the other ones, yet the climax really surprised me. I genuinely recommend this book, as well as the rest of the Artemis' series. To be honest, I started reading them a couple of years ago, to cover the space between Harry Potter's books. After the second one, I just got fascinated with the plot and the characters. Harry, you do have quite and adversary there!

Average customer rating:

Excellent end to the series
i think its running out of gas but its still got some go juice
Different than its predecessors
An excellent novel that stands on its own merits.
A fast read

The Last Colony
John Scalzi
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0765316978
Release Date: 2007-04-17

Book Description

Retired from his fighting days, John Perry is now village ombudsman for a human colony on distant Huckleberry. With his wife, former Special Forces warrior Jane Sagan, he farms several acres, adjudicates local disputes, and enjoys watching his adopted daughter grow up.

That is, until his and Jane's past reaches out to bring them back into the game--as leaders of a new human colony, to be peopled by settlers from all the major human worlds, for a deep political purpose that will put Perry and Sagan back in the thick of interstellar politics, betrayal, and war.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent end to the series.......2007-10-05

The Last Colony is the third book in the series. If you haven't read the other two, Old Man's War and The Ghost Brigades, then I urge you to get your hands on them and read them. The Ghost Brigades was probably my favorite of the series, but really, all of the books, including the novelette, The Sagan Diaries, are good and contribute to the overall story arc.

As of this moment, I think this may be the weakest book of the three, but don't take that as a criticism. I often find it takes me a little while after reading a story to fully appreciate it. By writing this review right away I'm being unfair. I haven't had time to appreciate the subtleties.

I'm amazed by how well Scalzi was able to surprise me with the story. Yet, he somehow, comfortingly, allowed me to predict a few things. I like that combination.

The story progressed at a good pace, constantly keeping me entertained, unlike Excession, where I felt bogged down for days and weeks suffering through what seemed like mindless background to get to the good stuff. In the end Excession paid off, but I didn't have to wait until the ending twist for The Last Colony to pay off.

*** Spoilers Below ***

Even though I feel all glowy about the book, I do have a few complaints. I didn't feel much for the new characters. When Hiram Yoder is killed it should be a poignant scene, but it isn't. Yes, I feel a loss of someone important to the colony, but not to the story. Even Savitri, who is an interesting character to be sure, lacks the depth that gives me any feeling for her. Hickory and Dickory are the only new characters that I really felt a sense of attachment.

I felt much more for the characters introduced in the other two novels: John, Jane, Jared, Harry, even Szilard and Boutin.

I'm also a little disappointed that the werewolves disappeared after a critical scene. What happened between them and the colony? Was it possible to negotiate? I know it would have needlessly extended the book to go into those details, but I still wonder.

Overall though, it's an excellent end to the series. Scalzi wrapped up the plot and the series in a happy ending without making it sappy or unbelievable. In the afterward he said he wouldn't be coming back to these characters. Although I'll miss them, I'm glad. As I get older my patience for long series grows short. Even though each book he's written so far can stand alone, I don't think I could stand another 10 year series.

He hasn't left out the possibility of returning to the world again one day and I look forward to new stories from this world.

i think its running out of gas but its still got some go juice.......2007-10-02

While this novel didn't have the charm that old man's war did, it was entertaining to a point. the political motivations were a bit obscure and never felt real for me. A large build up in the colonization phase that never fulfills any depth it ends with too neat of a solution for my taste. I'm trying to not spoil any plot elements here but i think if the universe is a messy place its gonna have some messy endings, no?

Different than its predecessors.......2007-09-10

"The Lasr Colony", alas, is also the last of a trilogy that began with the brilliant "Old Man's War" and was followed by the inventive "The
Ghost Brigades". The first two volumes literally crackled with excitement, very interesting future technology and reverberated with good old-fashioned space combat.

John Perry, hero of "Old Man's War" and Jane Sagan, formerly of the Colonial Special Forces, have taken up housekeeping on the colony planet Huckleberry. With their adopted teenage daughter Zoe, they live a reasonably content, if placid life. (Without ever saying so, Scalzi does lead you to think about why anyone would want to be a colonist anywhere, any time, regardless of the technology available. In a way, Scalzi describes a simple life that would drive most urbanites out of their minds in short order.)

One day General Rybicki appears on the planet to make Perry and Sagan an offer they can't refuse: take leadership of a new colony to be established by the Colonial Union. Reluctantly Perry and Sagan accept and become the leaders of Roanoke, a new colony of Earthlings.

A rather large problem looms since an (unbelievably) secret organization of more than 400 races from around the Universe have formed the Conclave which has ordered that no new single race colonies be created. (Scalzi's Universe, by the way, is not at all a peaceful place.)

Unlike the two earlier volumes, "The Last Colony" is largely a story about interstellar politics and old-fashioned diplomatic gameplaying. Sadly it is not nearly as exciting as its predecessors. There's not a whole lot of science in this fiction.

Scalzi, in earlier works, did a bang-up job of centering the story individually on Perry and then on Sagan. This time, he tries to spread the attention over Perry, Sagan, the young Zoe and her Obin bodyguards, hostile (but humane) generals, local political opponents . . . and, frankly, too many people. Scalzi doesn't fail, but he does dilute the power of his writing.

Overall, "The Last Colony" is a good read, but probably only if you've read "Old Man's War" and "The Ghost Brigades". Scalzi tries to fill in the backstory, but really can't. Standing alone, I don't think "The Last Colony" would have made a lot of sense.

Like many, I am sorry to see the end of the John Perry and Jane Sagan characters, at least in the roles we'vd become accustomed to. By the same token, Scalzi is a very strong writer and I will be interested in seeing what next springs from his imagination. (I also recommend Scalzi's The Android's Dream).

Jerry

An excellent novel that stands on its own merits........2007-08-28

Although I did not read the first two novels in this trilogy (an oversite I intend to correct), the author has created such a wonderful novel here that I found it to stand out amongst the deluge of science fiction books that have past across my desk recently. Scalzi gives you enough background on the main characters, and weaves his intricate plotline through one of the most successful excercises in "world building" that I have seen. I found myself wrapped up in the storyline, and dreaded any interruption that took me away from this book. The author has a witty, clean style of writing that is a pleasure to read, and I highly recommend another of Scalzi's novels: "The Android's Dream" which was originally published in late 2006.

A fast read.......2007-08-23

This third book in the series was over too quick. This is not to say that it was too short -- just that I enjoyed it so much that I read it quickly.

Too Close to the Sun: The Audacious Life and Times of Denys Finch Hatton

Average customer rating:

Lackluster
a life changer
A good background on Finch Hatton and Africa of the times
Snapshot of the unique society of British East Africa
"Too Close to the Sun"- Denys Finch Hatton

Too Close to the Sun: The Audacious Life and Times of Denys Finch Hatton
Sara Wheeler
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1400060699
Release Date: 2007-04-24

Book Description

Denys Finch Hatton was adored by women and idolized by men. A champion of Africa, legendary for his good looks, his charm, and his prowess as a soldier, lover, and hunter, Finch Hatton inspired Karen Blixen to write the unforgettable stories in Out of Africa. Now esteemed British biographer Sara Wheeler tells the truth about this extraordinarily charismatic adventurer.

Born to an old aristocratic family that had gambled away most of its fortune, Finch Hatton grew up in a world of effortless elegance and boundless power. Tall and graceful, with the soul of a poet and an athlete’s relaxed masculinity, he became a hero without trying at Eton and Oxford. In 1910, searching for novelty and danger, Finch Hatton arrived in British East Africa and fell in love–with a continent, with a landscape, with a way of life that was about to change forever.

Wheeler brilliantly conjures the mystical beauty of Kenya at a time when teeming herds of wild animals roamed unmolested across pristine savannah. No one was more deeply attuned to this beauty than Finch Hatton–and no one more bitterly mourned its passing when the outbreak of World War I engulfed the region in a protracted, bloody guerrilla conflict. Finch Hatton was serving as a captain in the Allied forces when he met Karen Blixen in Nairobi and embarked on one of the great love affairs of the twentieth century.

With delicacy and grace, Wheeler teases out truth from fiction in the liaison that Blixen herself immortalized in Out of Africa. Intellectual equals, bound by their love for the continent and their inimitable sense of style, Finch Hatton and Blixen were genuine pioneers in a land that was quickly being transformed by violence, greed, and bigotry.
Ever restless, Finch Hatton wandered into a career as a big-game hunter and became an expert bush pilot; his passion that led to his affair with the notoriously unconventional aviatrix Beryl Markham. But Markham was no more able to hold him than Blixen had been. Mesmerized all his life by the allure of freedom and danger, Finch Hatton was, writes Wheeler, “the open road made flesh.”

In painting a portrait of an irresistible man, Sara Wheeler has beautifully captured the heady glamour of the vanished paradise of colonial East Africa. In Too Close to the Sun she has crafted a book that is as ravishing as its subject.

Customer Reviews:

Lackluster.......2007-08-24

This book contained no new information but simply rehashed and quoted extensively from previous books. The writing is lackluster, repetitive, and very awkward in some places; it did not receive proper copyediting. Extremely disappointing.

a life changer.......2007-08-22

Why some books win prizes and others do not eludes me; this one is a prize winner.
Too Close to the Sun has set me on a worthy adventure to understand the Victorian/Edwardian cusp especially in British Africa and for this I am thankful because those were glory days.
Through Ms. Wheeler I have met persons Much More Interesting than me and my friends. Her dogged research has invigorated my life. For her reader's delight, the author darns together memories, letters, and written data concerning a self-effacing gentleman, Denys Finch Hatton. Luckily for us we may now tag along in the glow of his charisma and be voyeurs of his well-born and lively acquaintances. We may celebrate with African settlers as they host a wilderness New Year's dinner 'comme il faut', we may sit in our a.c. as British soldiers portage battleships across a brutal continent during WWI, we may brush dust off our jackets after cavalierly shooting two charging lions with a double-barreled shotgun, we may politely manoevre and entertain a persnickity Prince of Wales.
I thank Ms. Wheeler for her Fascination of What's Difficult, to paraphrase Mr. Yeats, because pulling together a three-dimensional picture of This Time using only carefully chosen evidence is difficult and more honest than throwing together hearsay and calling it a book.
Her talent as a lover of language is evident as she brings us the scents, sounds, atmosphere, gossip, innuendo, mores, jokes, custom, and emotion that enliven her facts and put feet in Finch Hatton's footsteps. Ms. Wheeler's pages rebuild that World before the Wars that we 21st centuriers can't understand and most often wrongly judge.

I sprinted to the bookstore for more news of the largely-lived lives mentioned throughout Too Close To The Sun. I'm now hooked on the soap opera of the Blixens (the 2nd Mrs.,too), Lord Delamere, the Masai, Lord Carberry, various British Generals, the younger Mr. Roosevelt.... I can't think of any group more instructive to learn about!
Beryl Markham's West With the Night was my next read. What a woman, and how fascinating to get to know her from her own writing, so different than her appearance in TCTTS. I have ordered Bror Blixen's African Hunter, to catch his and Dr. Turvey's viewpoint on the Kenyan crowd. I plan to read Elspeth Huxley's book about growing up on a coffee plantation. Like craning to hear the whispered name of someone you love, I want to hear again the names that Ms. Wheeler has called forth.

A good background on Finch Hatton and Africa of the times.......2007-07-30

While the early phases of Finch Hatton's life is a bit dry, and the author makes reference to a lot of different friends/relatives of Finch Hatton's--which is a bit tedious and difficult to follow--she does a great job of providing the historical context to his life and that of his friends, including Blix and Dinesen. Overall, it's a very well written historical biography... makes me want to go back and watch "Out of Africa" again.

Snapshot of the unique society of British East Africa.......2007-06-08

Ever since I saw the movie "Out of Africa" I have been captivated with the lives of Karen Blixen, Beryl Markham and Denys Finch Hatton. "Too Close to the Sun" focuses on the unique life of Denys and tries to explain how and why he lived his life according to his own rules.
The book also describes the history of British East Africa or Kenya as we now know it.
This biography was a facinating read and hard to put down!!!

"Too Close to the Sun"- Denys Finch Hatton.......2007-06-02

This account reads like a novel. All the facts are backed up adequately. I would rate it highly for telling the love story and presenting the exotic background of Africa with this man acting out his life's dream.

Average customer rating:

Revolutionary Literature with a Pulse
Revolution of thought
Understand the Psychology of Violent Revolt
Poorly written, few new ideas...
An Analysis of Bad Behavior and Greed

The Wretched of the Earth
Frantz Fanon
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Algeria | Africa | History | Subjects | Books

North Africa | Africa | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0802141323

Amazon.com

Frantz Fanon (1925-61) was a Martinique-born black psychiatrist and anticolonialist intellectual; The Wretched of the Earth is considered by many to be one of the canonical books on the worldwide black liberation struggles of the 1960s. Within a Marxist framework, using a cutting and nonsentimental writing style, Fanon draws upon his horrific experiences working in Algeria during its war of independence against France. He addresses the role of violence in decolonization and the challenges of political organization and the class collisions and questions of cultural hegemony in the creation and maintenance of a new country's national consciousness. As Fanon eloquently writes, "[T]he unpreparedness of the educated classes, the lack of practical links between them and the mass of the people, their laziness, and, let it be said, their cowardice at the decisive moment of the struggle will give rise to tragic mishaps."

Although socialism has seemingly collapsed in the years since Fanon's work was first published, there is much in his look into the political, racial, and social psyche of the ever-emerging Third World that still rings true at the cusp of a new century. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

Book Description

A distinguished psychiatrist from Martinique who took part in the Algerian Nationalist Movement, Frantz Fanon was one of the most important theorists of revolutionary struggle, colonialism, and racial difference in history. Fanon's masterwork is a classic alongside Edward Said's Orientalism or The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and it is now available in a new translation that updates its language for a new generation of readers. The Wretched of the Earth is a brilliant analysis of the psychology of the colonized and their path to liberation. Bearing singular insight into the rage and frustration of colonized peoples, and the role of violence in effecting historical change, the book incisively attacks the twin perils of post independence colonial politics: the disenfranchisement of the masses by the elites on the one hand, and intertribal and interfaith animosities on the other. Fanon's analysis, a veritable handbook of social reorganization for leaders of emerging nations, has been reflected all too clearly in the corruption and violence that has plagued present-day Africa. The Wretched of the Earth has had a major impact on civil rights, anticolonialism, and black consciousness movements around the world, and this bold new translation by Richard Philcox reaffirms it as a landmark.

Customer Reviews:

Revolutionary Literature with a Pulse.......2007-06-19

Frantz Fanon's political commentary on colonization is the perfect example of revolutionary literature with a pulse.

It explores the entire ordeal of colonization: from the early pangs of colonized animosity, to armed rebellion, to the destruction of the colonial bourgeoisie, all the way up to the psychological effects of colonial warfare. Fanon asserts that for the colonized: "To live simply means not to die. To exist means staying alive." Thus, it can be inferred that Fanon's portrayal of the Algerian Revolution is one that deals with individuals stripped of the human faculties of identity and forced simply as human beings to exist in the sense of breathing: a morbid assertion at best.

The entire book thrives on the notion that, in order to harness a sense of social identity among the "wretched of the earth," or the colonized masses, it is imperative that violence, or any other possible means, be used to destroy the colonialist foreignors (specifically, in Fanon's case, the French colonists in Algeria). Jean Paul Sartre, who wrote the controversial preface to the Wretched of the Earth, asserts that the only thing keeping the predominantly dehumanized wretch humanized is his desire to kill the colonist, to take his place (an idea also asserted by Fanon himself). Fanon does an excellent job merging the different ideals espoused by the respective sections of the colonized movement, including the urban proletariat, the lumpenproletariat, the tribal leaders, and the colonized intellectual, who Fanon holds in contempt for submission to Western thought (though he later asserts that the intellectual can regain his bearing in the liberation movement if he/she integrates with his/her brethren in the mountains and villages).

The work extensively examines the economic portion of decolonization, and demonstrares Fanon's vehement support for a redistribution of wealth and a unification of resources in order to distribute among the people seeming trivialities, such as grapes and other commodities previously witheld by the colonizer. The memorable conclusion demonstrates Fanon's ideals in his call for the Third World to create a distinct delineation between itself and Europe in order "to create a new man."

Overall, the Wretched of the Earth is one man's cry for a Third World reawakening delivered in miltantly abrasive prose that still resonates to this day.

Revolution of thought.......2007-06-03

This book should be required reading in schools worldwide. It explains and reveals the true condition of colonialism, which is just a euphemism for conquering. All of the European conqueror nations used the same pattern of heinous and inhuman tactics on millions of people all over the world. This book is life-saving for those who inherited the "conquered/colonial condition".

Understand the Psychology of Violent Revolt.......2007-04-27

This was required reading for a graduate course in the Humanities. Frantz Fanon (July 20, 1925 - December 6, 1961) was a Martinique-born French author and essayist. He was perhaps the preeminent thinker of the 20th century on the issue of decolonization and the psychopathology of colonization. His works have inspired anti-colonial liberation movements for more than four decades.

"The Wretched of the Earth" (French: Les Damnés de la Terre, first published 1961) is Frantz Fanon's best-known work, written during and regarding the Algerian struggle for independence from colonial rule. As a psychiatrist, Fanon explored the psychological effect of colonisation on the psyche of a nation as well as its broader implications for building a movement for decolonization. A controversial introduction to the text by Jean-Paul Sartre presents the thesis as an advocacy of violence. This focus derives from the book's opening chapter `Concerning Violence' which is a caustic indictment of colonialism and its legacy. It discusses violence as a means of liberation and a catharsis to subjugation. It also details the violence of the colonialism as a process itself.

Structural politics of race and making oneself is a continuous theme of Pan Africanism 1950', 60's. Colonialism is toppled , growing awareness of colonial conditions and kinds of people that emerge from it, no one comes out of it unchanged both colonizers and subjects recognize colonialism is product of Enlightenment reason a perversion of what it stood for and its ideals. Justify feelings of superiority people of science over people of mythology. All people are transformed by colonization. Justify economy of colonization. The colonizer has to invent a new human being, the colonized. Sigmund Freud and W. E. B. Du Bois are intellectual fathers of Fanon. Colonialism depersonalizes people in their own country. Theory of Manichean logic. Binary thinking, thinking in duality. A society structured around race is Manichean. Social and racial structure of colonialism is Manichean. Us or them, no in between. Black is bad, white is good, etc. Fanon argues to get over this, a new world must be created. A Utopian idea. He advocates revolution and violence. 20th century preoccupation with violence that which is formative of the subject. Theme of 20th century philosophy and psychology. We finally recognize we are violent. 1968 Algerian revolt shakes French society and history to its core. Algerians were promised full democracy for years, they finally get suspicious. Men were cheap labor and biggest import to France. Economic downturn in 1950's causes France to bar Algerians from working in country, so violence ensues. French intellectuals push out old guard and old thinking, student protests, etc. Jean-Paul Sartre led the movement, and wanted to find a genuine authentic voice of this revolt, he finds it in Fanon. Fanon questions who is crazy, tortured or torturer.
For Fanon, there is nothing more consistent than racist humanism since the European has been able to only become a man thru slavery. 2 groups are opposed they can't get along. Empire needs slaves. He critiques Enlightenment. 2 people live as perpetual protagonists. Colonizer and colonists are backed in a struggle. Colonization is good and colonized are amused by this. Both see each other as morally superior. Colonizer uses violence to keep colonized in check, so they learn to use more violence to overthrow colonizer. Colonizer has their history, and history books on their side. Colonized see them as delusional they see the propaganda as a form of violence. Colonized people will accept servitude because they fear death. Once they don't fear death you can't control them. Anger and rage starts to build and 1st violence against their own people and family, and finally they turn violent on colonizers. As soon as they see colonizers can be killed, they will revolt, it gives them self-respect. Oppression is practiced and institutionalized violence. Oppression must be done cruelly and violently. This is what will overthrow Manichean world. A different kind of person will now emerge. He is openly celebratory of violence. He is shaped by his history. Fanon's work in Algeria changes his way of thinking. He concludes counter violence will make a new man. Violence leaves scars on people. Subject consciousness in his book violence is dialectic of master slave process. Colonialism is another stage of slavery. Colonial racism in crudest form anthropologists say colonized have no culture, then they say there is a hierarchy of culture colonizer higher than colonized. He makes links to culture and economic relations and how change in one changes the other. Fanon argues that when the oppressed are lazy, it is one more way for them to sabotage. Laziness is passive resistance. This is a stage in process before colonized is ready to fight back. Colonized can use subtle ways to resist laws and mores. Colonized do this to revolt against oppression. Colonized must develop framework of collective struggle to fight against oppressor. Fanon believes that to have a new person violence is necessary to destroy category of blackness and whiteness Manichean racial duality. Decolonization is always a violent phenomena. Replacement of 1 kind of man with another kind of man. Must have a clean sweep of change in society. Fanon's insistence on violence grounded in his history and personal nature. Psychoanalytic theory of his is different than Freud's, they come from different society and culture. Freud never took race into account in his theories.

On his return to Tunis, after his exhausting trip across the Sahara to open a Third Front, Fanon was diagnosed with leukemia. He went to the Soviet Union for treatment and experienced some remission of his illness. On his return to Tunis, he dictated his testament "The Wretched of the Earth." When he was not confined to his bed, he delivered lectures to ALN (Armée de Libération Nationale) officers at Ghardimao on the Algero-Tunisian border. He made a final visit to Sartre in Rome and went for further leukemia treatment in the USA. Ironically, he was assisted by the CIA in traveling to the United States to receive treatment. He died in Bethesda [Maryland, US], on December 6, 1961 under the name of Ibrahim Fanon. He was buried in Algeria, after lying in state in Tunisia.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in history, psychology, or philosophy.

Poorly written, few new ideas..........2007-03-06

I find that most reviewers have based their evaluation on their agreement or disagreement with the ideas of the author. Although I liked many of his ideas, this book was very poorly written and contained very little new thinking, so I give it the rating it deserves.

Fanon doesn't state his idea and then support it, he just rambles on and beats around the bush and it's up to the reader to figure out what he's trying to say exactly. The result is that he uses a great many words to say very little. This makes for a very frustrating read.

The ideas he presents are not original either. Most of them can be found in Gandhi's "Hind Swaraj" (it's easy to download free English translations of this work off the internet and I stronlgy recommend reading it; plus it's much shorter than Fanon's book). Considering that "Hind Swaraj" was written almost 50 years earlier than "The Wretched of the Earth", the ideas Fanon presents were already old by the time he wrote the book!

Although Gandhi advocated non-violence while Fanon believes violence is inevitable in anti-colonial struggle, there isn't much that Fanon says that Gandhi hadn't already discussed. For instance, Fanon is often credited for predicting (or warning about) the fact that the intellectual and political elite of newly independent countries may simply replace the foreign oppressor. Gandhi had already warned his people about that, when he said that the leaders who overthrow colonialism by violence will also govern by violence. The example if India, which is one of the few colonies that gained independence by non-violence and which is one of the few that has been and remains democratic, proves that Gandhi's predictions were better than Fanon's since Gandhi also knew that violence was not inevitable in the fight for independence and that non-violence was the best way to avoid a simple substitution of the opressor.

In other words, if you want to read well-writen work and interesting ideas about anti-colonialism, don't waste your time with Fanon, read Gandhi instead...

An Analysis of Bad Behavior and Greed.......2006-11-28

Approximately one hundred and fifty years after the Gaul- tites wreaked havoc on the island of Hispanola, they've unleashed themselves again, this time behaving badly in Algeria. Using colonialism as the weapon of mass destruction the author gives a first hand analysis of the psychological and physical warfare during a time when he was assigned as a physician by the colonizing country to this geographic location. He leaves no stone unturned, including his depiction of the petty indigenous elite some of whom are highly educated, but are unqualified, unable to run the government and lead the people without going to their daddy, the colonist, for answers. And though the piece is somewhat over analyzed and redundant in some cases, this work is essential for gaining a clear understanding of colonialisms collateral damage, its affects on the colonized and the psychology behind detestable invaders. The long term destruction , as seen first hand by the author, undeniably can be seen openly now .

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

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Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

The Colony: The Harrowing True Story of the Exiles of Molokai

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"Unclean! Unclean!"
I Plead for Caution
The Colony
audio version of The Colony
A must read!

The Colony: The Harrowing True Story of the Exiles of Molokai
John Tayman
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0743233018

Book Description

Beginning in 1866 and continuing for over a century, more than eight thousand people suspected of having leprosy were forcibly exiled to the Hawaiian island of Molokai -- the longest and deadliest instance of medical segregation in American history. Torn from their homes and families, these men, women, and children were loaded into shipboard cattle stalls and abandoned in a lawless place where brutality held sway. Many did not have leprosy, and many who did were not contagious, yet all were ensnared in a shared nightmare.

Here, for the first time, John Tayman reveals the complete history of the Molokai settlement and its unforgettable inhabitants. It's an epic of ruthless manhunts, thrilling escapes, bizarre medical experiments, and tragic, irreversible error. Carefully researched and masterfully told, The Colony is a searing tale of individual bravery and extraordinary survival, and stands as a testament to the power of faith, compassion, and the human spirit.

Customer Reviews:

"Unclean! Unclean!".......2007-06-05

I suppose that the government officials in Hawaii in the 1860s assumed that they were doing the right thing by isolating lepers on an almost uninhabited island. Compared to the biblical era of rags, bells, and calls of "unclean, unclean!", they may have been somewhat correct. What they didn't realize, however, was the human toll living on that island would take on those people. It's actually amazing that so many surivied for a long time, considering the conditions. Of course, eveyone has heard of Father Damien, but the story doesn't begin, or end, with him.There were those who dedicated their lives to helping these people, and were successful , mostly. It's a grim and harrowing tale that this well-written book tells, but it should always remind us that even the best of intentions don't always turn our the way that we had intended them.

I Plead for Caution.......2007-06-03

I am little more than 100 pages into this book and already I can find more than a dozen cases where I question the author's over-dramatization and/or artistic license. I caution everyone who may read this and--goodness forbid, choose take it as a definative work of "history"--to approach the book with the skepticism it deserves. From the first pages of the preface--where the author quotes Jack London entirely out of context and leads the reader to believe London believed something he did not--to the blinding acceptance of newpaper accounts of the time as entirely factual (when, in fact, newspapers were notoriously biased in the days of the haole-controlled government), this book is already riddle with enough suspect material to make me shy away from it entirely. I'm certain Mr. Tayman did much research, but whether he has distilled it into a factual account is highly suspect to me at this point. It reeks of sensationism and I implore those who choose to read it to keep that in mind. This may indeed be more fiction than substative fact.

The Colony.......2007-05-28

It was well written and easy to follow. A lot of information in the book which I did not know. If there is/are anyone still afraid of leprosy should read it.

audio version of The Colony.......2007-05-11

I RECENTLY BOUGHT THE AUDIO VERSION OF THE COLONY, A NON-FICTION ACCOUNT OF THE HISTORY OF THE LEPER COLONY ON MOLOKA'I. THE BOOK IS TERRIFIC. BUT THE READER IS NOT. HE COMMITS THE CRIME OF MIS-PRONOUNCING ALL OF THE HAWAIIAN PLACE NAMES, FAMILY NAMES, AND WORDS. HE EVEN MISSPRONOUNCES THE ISLAND NAME OF MOLOKA'I!!!!!! THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THIS FAILURE TO GET THE PRONUNCIATIONS CORRECTLY!!!!!!!!I REALIZE THAT THE READING ACTOR'S IGNORANCE IS NOT DIRECTLY THE FAULT OF AMAZON. I WOULD LIKE, HOWEVER, AMAZON TO PASS THIS COMPLAINT TO THE AUDIO RECORDING DEPARTMENT OF THE PUBLISHER, SO THAT IN FUTURE THEY HIRE ACTORS WHO READ WORDS IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE WITH ACCURACY.

A must read!.......2007-04-12

I originally listened to this book on tape because my son spent two months bumming around Hawaii and I wanted to have my 'own' Hawaiian experience. I was so taken by the factual accounts of the brutality and the lives of the Hansen's patients, that I am buying extra copies for my four children - I want each of them to be introduced to a part of American history that hasn't been taught in their classrooms. Wonderfully researched and well written, this book is a must read - especially today, in the face of AIDS.

Average customer rating:

James Bond saves the galaxy
Super Reader
You forgot to write an ending!!!
Gridlinked leaves you Gridwinked
Promising first novel

Gridlinked (Tor Science Fiction)
Neal Asher
Manufacturer: Tor Science Fiction
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0765349051
Release Date: 2004-08-26

Book Description

Gridlinked is a science fiction adventure in the classic, fast-paced, action-packed tradition of Harry Harrison and Poul Anderson, with a dash of cyberpunk and a splash of Ian Fleming added to spice the mix. Cormac is a legendary Earth Central Security agent, the James Bond of a wealthy future where "runcibles" (matter transmitters controlled by AIs) allow interstellar travel in an eye blink throughout the settled worlds of the Polity. Unfortunately Cormac is nearly burnt out, "gridlinked" to the AI net so long that his humanity has begun to drain away. He has to take the cold-turkey cure and shake his addiction to having his brain on the net.Now he must do without just as he's sent to investigate the unique runcible disaster that's wiped out the entire human colony on planet Samarkand in a thirty-megaton explosion. With the runcible out, Cormac must get there by ship, but he has incurred the wrath of a vicious psychopath called Arian Pelter, who now follows him across the galaxy with a terrifying psychotic killer android in tow. And deep beneath Samarkand's surface there are buried mysteries, fiercely guarded. This is fast-moving, edge-of-the-seat entertainment, and a great introduction to the work of one of the most exciting new SF talents in years.

Customer Reviews:

James Bond saves the galaxy.......2007-08-28

I'm sorry, I just don't get it. Science fiction has, haltingly and with lots of recidivism, gotten a little bit beyond superheroes who can outgun/outguess/outfight everybody else in the universe. This book is a throwback. Our hero has no personality; the villain is scary, but of course the good guy drops him in one shot when they finally get together. It's pretty well written (hence the two stars) in between the cliches, but it's ultimately pointless.

Super Reader.......2007-08-04

Ian Cormac is a super agent of sorts. He works hand in hand with the Artificial Intelligence government. A cold, methodical man, he seduces and kills with aplomb, as necessary.

He is linked to the AI personally, and they tell him it is time for a break, to regain his humanity. He resists, but they have a job for him. He is to go and investigate a strange breakdown of an interstellar travel gate.

From earlier incidents, he has a serious enemy, a psychotic killer and his deranged android killing machine called Mr. Crane.

Cormac does gain allies, and there are androids on his side, but he discovers something even worse in his investigations.

You forgot to write an ending!!!.......2007-07-24

This book was a solid four stars until the last couple of chapters. If you've ever read a book and then gotten suspicious as you approached the end, because there didn't seem to be enough pages to wrap things up believably, then you know exactly how the end of this book feels.

I'm not an author, so I don't know how this happens, but maybe the author gets tired of writing and just slams 4 chapters of revelation into a couple of paragraphs and sends it to the editor. Who knows?

But as other reviewers here have said, the subplot of the rebel leader who wants Ian Cormac dead is a little distracting, but tolerable. The main story line is quite interesting. Basically, mankind (and Ian Cormac in particular) is caught up in some sort of struggle/conflict/police action between two very large, and powerful alien beings.

But at the end, you are never really told what was going on between the two beings and what happened. I really thought maybe my book was missing the last chapter or two.

Asher has huge potential. His writing is very readable and enjoyable. As another reviewer mentioned, some of his clever weaponry made the book even more interesting. It is space opera drama in great form - until the ending. Perhaps he will improve the wrap ups and become a good author, but I cannot recommend this one as the ending is too poorly done to leave the reader with satisfaction.

Gridlinked leaves you Gridwinked.......2007-06-29

Read the excellent review by J. McIntyre! Gridlinked, Neil Asher's first novel (a space opera of hard SF dimensions) had a good start but alas, nothing really new. Gridlinked began with a lot of promise (especially after all the hype it received). I found myself skipping some of the dross narrative and the writing was uneven where the plot line jumped around too much. The villain Arian Pelter and the sadistic Mr. Crane (the psychotic Android) where pretty cool yet all of the characters seemed too one dimensional for my taste. Then half way through the book, a new alien entity is introduced which appears as an after thought. The best thing about the book is the action and high-tech wizardry. Though in reality we'll probably living in a new stone age by that time. The book reminded me a lot of Alistair Reynold's Revelation Space saga. Even though the book does have a lot of shortcomings it's a fun read and one that makes you look at the future with a jaundiced eye. Glad I'll be long gone when and if this comes to light.

Promising first novel.......2007-04-09

Gridlinked is a slow starter but ends up a fast burn in the second half. I was close to putting the book down after 100 or so pages, as the story line was confusing & the writing somewhat uneven. Once the real action started, I was hooked, & stayed hooked until the final page. Good complex story, solid treatment of good/bad guys and bad/good guys. Fans of cyber thrillers will enjoy this book, & I look forward to watching Mr. Asher develop as a writer.

Thanksgiving on Thursday (Magic Tree House #27)

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Jennifer's review
MY BOY LOVES READING IT
It's an okay book
Boring, Boring, & Thanksgivingnesh
The Magic Tree house

Thanksgiving on Thursday (Magic Tree House #27)
Mary Pope Osborne
Manufacturer: Random House Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0375806156
Release Date: 2002-09-24

Book Description

The Magic Tree House whisks Jack and Annie back to the eve of the first Thanksgiving. There they meet the Pilgrims as well as Squanto, a Native American who helped them. The story offers an age-appropriate, in-depth picture of what life was really like for early settlers, as well as the usual Magic Tree House adventure and excitement.

Customer Reviews:

Jennifer's review.......2007-02-02

Jack and Annie travel back in time to the year of 1621,the time of the Pilgrams.Jack and Annie was sent by Morgan Le Fay to find the art of magic. Jack and Annie were in a forest and spied on the pilgrams when they got there, but Annie saw a dog which scared Jack and alerted the pilgrams. Jack told this fib to Squanto and the pilgrams. After the fib, all of the kids went hunting and gathering while Jack and Annie went into the water, in search for eels and clams in the ocean. After, they went to a house and cooked turkey for the feast. Jack ruined the turkey and felt horrible. It was all right and they had a feast outdoors. Jack and Annie returned home after finding the magic of community.

MY BOY LOVES READING IT.......2007-01-07

My 1st grader hates to put it down, he would rather read Magic Tree House books, than play video games. He even reads them to his class and explains the story for show and tell. In his kindergarten class the teacher would also let him read the Magic Tree House books out loud, not to give her a break, but to promote reading out loud. Great books!

It's an okay book .......2006-11-07

Thanksgiving on Thursday is an okay book because it is about a boy (Jack) and a girl (Annie) that go back in time to the first feast of thanksgiving. They help a woman prepare for the first Thankgiving dinner. They had to gather some of the food for the harvest. Jack gets caught in a snare set for an animal! Read it--it's okay!

Boring, Boring, & Thanksgivingnesh.......2006-10-31

All this book is about how the Indians and Pilgrims started Thanks giving. I read thi book when i was 8. It was alright back then.

BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU READ THIS BOOK !!!!

The Magic Tree house.......2006-06-12

The story startes out when Jack and his little sister Annie are on their way to a place called Plymouth. At first they had no idea where they were until Jack was hung after he accidently steped into a trap; they finally found out where they were.

First, this story takes place during the time of the pilgrims coming to the United States from England on a ship well-known as the Mayflower. The story's sequence startes when Jack and Annie are introduced to all the pilgrims and an indian; his name Squanto. Sooner on in the story Jack and Annie learn how to hunt and fish for there own food. While in a women's house Jack learned how to cook over the fire. But, they run into a problem; they didn't know how things ran around there. But a women nice enough told them just that. Her nam was Prinscilla.

Last in the story they have wonderful and unforgiving diner. Also known as the First Thanksgiving Feast. Jack and Annie enjoyed their time in Plymouth because they have learned as much as I did.

I thought that this book was an awesome experience for me because I have learned alot about the pilgrims and what it was like back in the day.

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Another Life for the Colonies
Old Man's War
Fun read.
Great Read
Great read!

Old Man's War
John Scalzi
Manufacturer: Tor Science Fiction
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0765348276

Book Description

John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife’s grave. Then he joined the army.

The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce—and alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So: we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding.

Earth itself is a backwater. The bulk of humanity’s resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Force. Everybody knows that when you reach retirement age, you can join the CDF. They don’t want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living. You’ll be taken off Earth and never allowed to return. You’ll serve two years at the front. And if you survive, you’ll be given a generous homestead stake of your own, on one of our hard-won colony planets.

John Perry is taking that deal. He has only the vaguest idea what to expect. Because the actual fight, light-years from home, is far, far harder than he can imagine—and what he will become is far stranger.

Customer Reviews:

Another Life for the Colonies.......2007-10-10

Old Man's War (2005) is the first novel in a new series. Sometime in the future, the Colonial Union controls access to the colonies. Some Earth citizens -- mostly losers in the Subcontinent War -- are allowed to migrate at any time. The rest are restricted to signing up for the Colonial Defense Forces at age seventy-five. Either way, only CU officials are allowed to return to Earth, so none really knows what happens to the recruits.

The colonies were originally surveyed and settled by Earth using the skip drive. Somehow the colonies gained technological advances that they did not share with the home planet. The outward symbol of this is the Nairobi beanstalk, which is neither economically feasible for any nation on Earth nor technology possible within their knowledge base.

In this novel, John Perry makes his final visit to the CDF recruiting station to complete the paperwork and receive his tickets. Since his wife died almost eight years before, John had severed all his ties on Earth to prepare for this event. Now he is ready and even eager to leave.

Leon Deak is also reporting for duty at Colonial Station. Leon has attached himself to John in Chicago and is clinging to him like a leech. Leon is a bigot and proves it every time he speaks. He doesn't like blacks or tans and has a special aversion to the colonists who are migrating outward. John thought that he had escaped the man by taking the early beanstalk shuttle, but Leon is also aboard.

Jesse Gonzales is another CDF recruit who happens to be Leon's next victim after John temporarily avoids the man. John joins their argument by disagreeing with Leon. Then John and Jesse manage to convince Leon that they are hopelessly liberal.

After Leon abandons them, John and Jesse are joined by Harry Wilson, a former physics teacher. Before teaching, he had worked in the civil engineering department at General Electric. He has some interesting things to say about the beanstalk.

After the beanstalk shuttle reaches Colonial Station, the recruits are met by two CU apparatchiks who poke and prod them along to the space shuttle that will take them to the CDFS Henry Hudson. The recruits pass colonists and even aliens on their way through the station. Once they pass a Gehaar eating chicken wings and Harry almost has to be dragged away from the alien.

In this story, the recruits are taken directly to the mess hall aboard the Henry Hudson, where they are invited to eat donuts and drink coffee. They are gradually joined by more than a thousand others who have arrived earlier. After a long while, a Colonial Union diplomat greets them and provides an initial briefing.

After the briefing, John discovers that his bunkmate is Leon. The next morning, he tries to wake Leon for breakfast, but is told to leave him alone. In the mess hall, John meets Thomas Jane, Susan Reardon and Alan Rosenthal. When he returns to his cabin, he finds Leon dead in his bunk from a heart attack.

After this excitement, John reports for his physical examination. The physician encases him in a creche -- an all encompassing container -- and examines the findings. Except for a minor testicular cancer, John is in good health for his age. Then the doctor places a cuplike attachment to his head and the pain starts.

When John returns to his messmates, he -- and they -- are wearing a dusty speckled gray field of twenty thousand sensors embedded in the skull. Then they are put through some very strange tests. They only discover the purpose of these tests when they receive their new bodies.

This story tells of John's subsequent training and experiences as an infantryman in the CDF. It seems that most of the other spacefaring species are not very passive. Some even like to serve man . . . for dinner.

John almost dies in during a landing, but is rebuilt back at the base. However, he has one memory that haunts him: hearing the voice of Kathy, his late wife. Later, he discovers his rescuer and finds her wearing Kathy's body, but with a different personality.

This tale presents a convincing case for individual combat in limited wars. Nonetheless, the author has loaded the dice against wars of mass destruction. The more advanced species apparently are not interested in sheer destruction, but limit combat to individual weapons. One species -- the Consu -- seems to have incorporated individual combat into their religion.

This work has much in common with Heinlein's Starship Troopers. However, Heinlein included weapons of mass destruction -- nuclear and chemical -- within his work. Also, the individual protection in this story is much less effective than Heinlein's armored suits. Naturally, Heinlein's troopers were not old people. And his troopers were unmodified humans.

Highly recommended for Heinlein fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of armed combat, geriatric mindsets, and a very unusual romance.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Old Man's War.......2007-10-09

I picked this book up at my library because the first line really caught my attention. The whole book was well written and seemed like it could really happen. (at least, if we could travel through space!)

This would have been a four star book,(not five stars because it's not a book that I would read over and over.) I gave it a three, however because it was crude with quite a lot of bad language. Most of it went with the story, but I still found it disturbing.

I would have pursued the sequal, but didn't because I didn't want to be exposed to more sex and bad language.

Fun read........2007-10-05

I really enjoyed this book - a very fast fun read. The only negative I will mention is that the Heinlein influences are not -all- good. Some of the chummy chit-chat is a bit cloying and artificial-sounding, but, also like Heinlein, it's easy to get past it to the really good stuff. This doesn't seem to be much of an issue in the 2nd book, The Ghost Brigades, which I'm enjoying even more.

Great Read.......2007-10-05

I was very impressed with Old Man's War - and I defy the average reader to NOT want to continue reading the series once this book ends (and it does have a good ending, with no overt call for it being a series except for popularity and the bounty of stories the vehicle offers).
I loved the pace and the characters - the voice was right on for me.
About 3/4th of the way in, there was a bit of a lull - and some awkward exposition - but this was balanced by the pleasure of reading the rest of the story.
I'll be following Scalzi's other work, and also trusting the jury for the Hugo awards, for the foreseeable future.

Great read!.......2007-09-30

I was looking for some good "pulp" sci-fi and somehow stumbled across this book. I thought "sure, it will probably be a fun read" but I was really unprepared for how much I enjoyed this book. My wife and I typically describe books and movies in a "writer meets writer" format and I described this book at Robert Heinlein meets Joss Whedon. Great setting and action plus really snappy and clever dialog.

I liked this book so much that I immediately ordered the next two books set in the series (which I also loved).

I highly recommend this to anyone who likes sci-fi.

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