Customer Reviews:
More a Pleasure Book.......2007-04-12
Good book, nicely written & put together. Easily read for enjoyment.
Not a book for learning technique, layouts, or building methods.
Amazon.com
The relationship between industrialists Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick is an illuminating window on American capitalism as well as a fascinating study of how a strong partnership can give way to vicious acrimony. Les Standiford tells the story of the two men in Meet You in Hell, a book that draws its title from Frick's angry rejoinder to Carnegie's late-in-life attempt at reconciliation. Carnegie and Frick, in Standiford's estimation, represented all that was good and bad in American capitalism. They were self-made men, rising from blue-collar backgrounds to become titans in the burgeoning American steel industry, some of the wealthiest men in the world, and loyal partners, even if they were always somewhat short of being actual friends. But they were also pivotal figures in the infamous Homestead Steel strike, where Frick, acting on implicit orders from Carnegie, dispatched hundreds of private security guards into a testy labor situation, resulting in mayhem and death on all sides and forever casting a pall over the history of American labor relations. While Carnegie and Frick's acumen in getting rich is given due credit, Standiford also tells of the workers who were exploited or killed in that same effort. Standiford presents Carnegie and Frick without prejudice, demonstrating their fierce competitiveness, short tempers, business savvy, and troublesome character flaws. The reader also comes to realize that, although there were some negligible differences, the two men are so similar and so powerful that a falling out was inevitable. Meet You in Hell is a valuable insight into the ideas and personalities that shaped American industrialization as well as an interesting parallel to a contemporary economic reality where American jobs, particularly in the manufacturing sector, are threatened and often lost to overseas labor. --John Moe
Book Description
Here is history that reads like fiction: the riveting story of two founding fathers of American industry—Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick—and the bloody steelworkers’ strike that transformed their fabled partnership into a furious rivalry. Author Les Standiford begins at the bitter end, when the dying Carnegie proposes a final meeting after two decades of separation, probably to ease his conscience. Frick’s reply: “Tell him that I’ll meet him in hell.”
It is a fitting epitaph. Set against the backdrop of the Gilded Age, a time when Horatio Alger preached the gospel of upward mobility and expansionism went hand in hand with optimism, Meet You in Hell is a classic tale of two men who embodied the best and worst of American capitalism. Standiford conjures up the majesty and danger of steel manufacturing, the rough-and-tumble of late-nineteenth-century big business, and the fraught relationship of “the world’s richest man” and the ruthless coke magnate to whom he entrusted his companies. Enamored of Social Darwinism, the emerging school of thought that applied the notion of survival of the fittest to human society, both Carnegie and Frick would introduce revolutionary new efficiencies and meticulous cost control to their enterprises, and would quickly come to dominate the world steel market.
But their partnership had a dark side, revealed most starkly by their brutal handling of the Homestead Steel Strike of 1892. When Frick, acting on Carnegie’s orders to do whatever was necessary, unleashed three hundred Pinkerton detectives, the result was the deadliest clash between management and labor in U.S. history. WHILE BLOOD FLOWED, FRICK SMOKED ran one newspaper headline. The public was outraged. An anarchist tried to assassinate Frick. Even today, the names Carnegie and Frick cannot be uttered in some union-friendly communities.
Resplendent with tales of backroom chicanery, bankruptcy, philanthropy, and personal idiosyncrasy, Meet You in Hell is a fitting successor to Les Standiford’s masterly Last Train to Paradise. Artfully weaving the relationship of these titans through the larger story of a young nation’s economic rise, Standiford has created an extraordinary work of popular history.
Customer Reviews:
The more things change, the more they remain the same........2007-09-01
Bought this for my son, graduating with an economics degree; gives an interesting perspective on past economic crises, the movers and the shakers who bear some resemblance to those calling the shots today. very readable and enjoyable as per my son.
A decent account of Carnegie, Frick & Homestead.......2007-01-24
The book is fairly well-written & is easy to read. As far as it goes, it is an accurate account of the often tumultuous relationship between Carnegie & Frick, focusing of course on the Homestead Strike.
Standiford does a reasonably good job of fleshing out the personalities of the key actors in the drama. While hardly a definitive study of the period, this book would serve well as an introductory work into this particular subject.
A Terrific Balancing Act..........2006-09-13
I just returned from Pittsburgh when I found this book at a local bookstore. Interested in learning more about the Homestead lockout/strike of 1892, I purchased this book and was never disappointed. Very readable... and entertaining. The author has a gift for bringing to life people and events that surely could have been dull and boring. I thank every steel worker who ever worked at Homestead, for every ride at Kennywood Amusement Park and for every steel framed skyscraper/construction that exist in my own New York City home! I thank the author for revealing the 'war that goes on within us' that was exhibited in the personalities of Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick. Thank you.
Great read!.......2006-07-09
Meet You in Hell is well-researched and well-written. I enjoyed it very much and have been recommending it to my patrons who like non-fiction.
A poorly titled book, poorly researched and poorly written.......2006-05-31
Les Standiford's Meet You in Hell is ostensibly a history of the "Parnership that Transformed America" between Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Carnegie. The problem with this book begins there. Its center is the Homestead Strike and labor unrest in an industrial giant and the beginning of organized labor in the face of very powerful and often ruthless business organizations. The author states upfront his goal was to "focus upoon the thread of a relationship (between Carnegie and Frick)and have restricted my attention for the most part to matters pertaining thereto". I was expecting a true look into the partnership between the two such as No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin (where she brilliantly wrote of Franklin and Elenor Roosevelt's relationship and the effects it had on public policy as well as their own lives). I was sadly disappointed.
This book is a short, if disjointed read. Just over 300 pages and it isn't until the last 50 that Standiford turns his attention to the relationship between these two very powerful and driven men. The bibliography should be read before one even reads page one. It is one and a half pages, most undergraduate college papers have done greater "research". The author at times seems to derail himself in the rare instances where he might capture the reader's attention. In discussing in detail the Homestead Strike he states, at the beginning of a chapter, "Had this been a modern-day standoff, with Frick in close touch . . . by cell phone and Carnegie observing the scene via CNN satellite feed . . . ". This incredibly obvious note was nonscensical. All history would be different if communications were instant rather than weeks and even months just a relatively short time ago. Either Standiford is not qualified to write history (certainly a possibility if you see his creditials) or he thinks his readers daft.
This book is only slightly interesting if you would like to learn more about the Homestead Strike and, even there, it adds no real insight. I finished it only as I was determined to learn more about Carnegie and Frick and, importantly, their parnership. I did not. I would caution that any serious readers of history not make the same mistake I did thinking that something could be learned by reading this pithy writing. It cannot.
Most succinctly put, books about history should be written by qualified historians. This one was not.
Book Description
It was on the vast American prairie that people from around the world seized the opportunity for personal and economic freedom promised by free land. Traveling across oceans and continents, these hard-nosed, pragmatic people began arriving in the 1860s with shovels and plows, convinced they were part of something important. They were. Putting hand to plow and breaking the sod for their first crude homes, these hardy settlers left an indelible thumbprint on American history and on the country’s character. Though many of their ventures ended in failure, their risks permanently enhanced the nation’s diversity and its sense of independence and resourcefulness.
900 Miles from Nowhere is the heartfelt chronicle of the daily lives and personal struggles of Great Plains homesteaders, told in their own voices through many never-before-published letters, diaries, and photographs. Believing absolutely that they could control their own destiny, they bet everything they owned, even in the face of insurmountable obstacles. This is the remarkable and ever-inspiring story of life on the grasslands that stretch from Canada to Mexico.
Customer Reviews:
Greater Respect for American Pioneers.......2007-01-31
After reading "900 Miles from Nowhere" I am amazed at the pioneer spirit, and their toughness and tenacity. Settlers of the Great Plains suffered hardship upon misfortune living in crude huts and sod houses and breaking ground in an often inhospitable land. Their prize was 160 acres of free or inexpensive land given by the United States government to help populate the drier lands of the middle west. "All" they had to do was improve their land for several years, during which time they experienced some or a combination of the following natural disasters: drought, tornadoes and high winds, extreme heat, plagues of locusts, and blizzards, as well as personal torments in the form of isolation, scarcity of food and funds, unsanitary and uncomfortable living conditions, disease, and death. That anyone managed to hang on, let alone prosper, in these conditions boggles my "modern day" mindset.
The letters and diary entries in this book showcase the actual thoughts, experiences and emotions of many pioneers between 1860 and 1910. Their stoicism is inspiring and their work ethic is astounding. The optimism and sometimes the bleakness of some excerpts really tugs at your heart. The photographs are amazing, collected from many historical museums in the midwest. You see formally dressed families proudly posing in front of their sod huts, and in the background the flat prairie seems to stretch to infinity, looking more like Mars than somewhere on Earth. It's fascinating to study the faces of these people, and know that you are looking at some of the builders of America who gave it their all.
Several of my ancestors lived on claims in Montana during that same period. Now I know what they must have experienced in trying to get their share of the American dream.
Great history lesson.......2007-01-10
If you're one of those people who think hardships mean your computer is down or you've lost a cell phone call or maybe your morning coffee isn't just the blend you prefer, this book should be a wake up call. Steven R. Kinsella 's "900 Miles From Nowhere," is a compilation of letters, journal entries and other documents in which the settlers of the Great Plains describe in their own words the immense hardships they faced as they established homes, farms and towns on the vast American prairie.
Kinsella, a former press secretary to U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle, now lives in St. Paul, Minn. He is a great-grandson of Great Plains homesteaders. Kinsella did hours of research for this fascinating book which offers insight into the courage and determination our ancestors faced as they struggled to make new lives for themselves in the frontier.
The book's title comes from a letter written by a new bride whose husband had taken her to a sod house in western South Dakota. Still, the 23-year-old woman was cheerily optimistic as she wrote about the construction of her "other house," a two-story frame structure that she was more than anxious to occupy. Her determination to succeed despite being "900 miles from nowhere" is a common theme among the writings, and is a pretty good indication of just how this a large part of this country was settled - by people who refused to be defeated.
History buff or not, most readers will find this a very good read. I received it as a gift and ordered a copy to give as a gift.
Average customer rating:
- Survivor: The American Steel Industry
- Excellent Read
- And if they'd liked each other, then what?
- Overall, A Good Period History
- Fascinating history, very readable
|
Meet You in Hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the Bitter Partnership That Changed America
Les Standiford
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
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ASIN: 1400047684
Release Date: 2006-06-13 |
Book Description
Two founding fathers of American industry.One desire to dominate business at any price.
The author of Last Train to Paradise tells the riveting story of Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the bloody steelworkers’ strike that transformed their fabled partnership into a furious rivalry. Set against the backdrop of the Gilded Age, Meet You in Hell captures the majesty and danger of steel manufacturing, the rough-and-tumble of the business world, and the fraught relationship between “the world’s richest man” and the ruthless coke magnate to whom he entrusted his companies. The result is an extraordinary work of popular history.
Also available as a Random House AudioBook and an eBook
Customer Reviews:
Survivor: The American Steel Industry.......2007-09-06
Reading this book is a little like watching a reality TV show: two overbearing captains of industry stuck together in a bubble, unwittingly entertaining the public. Though there is little new revealed in "Meet You in Hell," Les Standiford's biography of this infamous business partnership, its value is how the book wonderfully tracks, in tandem, the two robber barons. There are already a dozen biographies of these men, but this book is the first to train its camera solely on the relationship, both business and personal. That's a great leap forward. Thank you, Les Standiford.
Excellent Read.......2007-08-04
After moving to Pittsburgh I toured Frick's mansion, Clayton. I find it to be so interesting that I picked this book up from the bookstore on the way home.
It turned out to be a fascinating read and I would definitely recommend it to anyone. The author is able to make the history come alive and make the personalities of Carnegie and Frick identifiable.
Immediately after I finished I gave it to my wife and she loves it too.
And if they'd liked each other, then what?.......2007-05-28
Apart from retelling some ancient gossip, it's hard to figure out why "Meet You in Hell" was written.
That the rise of the American steel and (in a supporting role) coke industries changed the way we live is not news. That the partnership between Carnegie (steel) and Frick (coke) was bitter was, so far as anything this book shows, immaterial to that. The outcome would not have been different if they had gotten along well.
There is an enormous literature about steel and the different approaches of the American and British makers, the consequences of having the foundries concentrated so far east as Pittsburgh when the demand was moving west, metallurgical innovations etc. "Meet You in Hell" is innocent of all that.
A lot of time is spent ruminating over Carnegie's well-known inconsistencies about being rich. How that changed America is not explained. Standiford makes much of the "facts" that Carnegie was the richest man in the world and the most spectacular philanthropist -- neither of which was actually true.
Nor it is explained why Carnegie's philanthropy, which arose from ideas he was forming before he met Frick, had much to do with the partnership. Had Carnegie gone bust -- as might have happened -- Rockefeller would have given away twice as much, and Rockefeller's philanthropy also was based on what he decided in his young manhood.
For a time, while reading the book, I thought Standiford was going to do something with the Homestead strike of 1892, which really was a watershed in the way Americans behave. However, he doesn't do much to explain how labor conditions were trending before the Homestead violence, nor how they did so afterward. Besides, although Carnegie and Frick were feuding about lots of things, they were as one during Homestead.
"Meet You in Hell" adds nothing to what has long been known about Carnegie and Frick. If the intention was to introduce the episode to a new generation that never heard of either man, then the book is short on background.
Overall, A Good Period History.......2007-02-01
Les Standiford's work is, overall, a good period piece evoking the culture and events of late nineteenth century industrial America. He retains a critical perspective without damning his subjects as "robber barons," etc., seeing them in the context of their times and their essential humanity - even when behaving inhumanly.
There are a few inaccuracies, inconsistencies, irrelevancies, and just plain head scratchers: as on page 29, where he states: "In the wake of Ireland's Great Potato Famine, the family sold everything and came, as so many of their fellow Scotsmen did, to America." While this is factually true, one wonders what the Irish potato famine had to do with Scottish immigrants, particularly the Carnegies of Dunfermline. The relevance to the subject remains obscure, unless there's a connection that Mr. Standiford is not sharing with his readers. (?)
In general, though, it's a good read, and a good introduction for the general reader who's just learning about the era, the fruits of which are still part of the life around him: from the 19th century buildings which yet remain in northern US cities, to the remnants of American industry, and the great financial institutions of Wall Street.
Fascinating history, very readable.......2006-08-05
I grew up in Pittsburgh, went to the Carnegie Library and Museum, and my dad's first office was in the splendid Frick Building. Obviously this very readable nonfiction history of Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Carnegie appealed to me for those reasons initially, but it is fascinating on so many levels.
Both men rise from poverty as an immigrants in the US to become the wealthiest men in the US and probably the world. The book is interesting in its coverage of labor issues, the first labor unions, and the srike fiasco at Carnegie's Homestead works which virtually broke unions in the US for 30 yrs. Anyone in the business world will be interested in the story of how one of the greatest and largest US corporations, US Steel, came into being. It was a time in the US when JP Morgan, Andrew Mellon, and others first came into being, and it affected our country more than you realize!
If you enjoy well-written nonfiction that reads like fiction, and that enlightens you while managing to be entertaining as well, you will really love this book.
Average customer rating:
- Introduction
- Wonderful, poignant, multi-layered stories
- A Wonderful Family History
- A wonderfully written and touching story
- Watch for the family trees
|
Homestead
Rosina Lippi
Manufacturer: Mariner Books
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0395977711 |
Amazon.com
The setting for this poignant novel is Rosenau, an isolated Austrian Village, and the story encompasses generations of villagers and their intimate lives. The magic of the novel lies in the author's ability to make the faraway seem familiar, even when it is tragic or brutal. Structured as short stories told from the viewpoints of different members of the village, the novel follows their intertwined lives from 1909 through 1977, layering story upon story to develop the village and the characters.
Lippi's characters are nothing short of wonderful. There is, for example, Johanna, whose heart is torn between her love for Francesco--a soldier hiding in the Austrian Alps--and her sister Angelika, who hides her dependence upon Johanna behind not-so-subtle reminders of familial duty. And there is Katharina, whose impulsiveness causes her to betray her two half-brothers for a ride in a Nazi motorcar, and Stante, who proves his worth not only in the Wainwright's workshop but also by his courage withstanding the Nazis. The character portrayals are based upon Lippi's own experiences living in Austria for four years. You'll hate for these stories to end.
Book Description
Each life has its place, and every variation ripples the surface of the tiny alpine village called Rosenau. Be it a mysteriously misaddressed love letter or a girl's careless delivery of two helpless relatives into Nazi hands, the town's balance is ever tested, and ever tender. Here is a novel spanning eighty years -- years that bring factories and wars, store-bought cheese and city-trained teachers -- weaving the fates of the wives, mothers, and daughters in this remote corner of Austria. To quote Rosellen Brown, "the women in this haunting book are deeply and uniquely of their place, yet they speak (often wordlessly) of women's longings and satisfactions everywhere."
Customer Reviews:
Introduction.......2005-09-28
I was confused with the relationship of the characters to each other. An introduction to the format would have been helpful.
Wonderful, poignant, multi-layered stories.......2003-06-12
I forget who recommended this book to me, but I would like to thank her in absentia. Homestead is spectacular. The setting is an isolated Austrian village, and the inter-related stories span several generations of the villagers, exploring their known and secret links and relationships to each other. The history told in Homestead spans the time from early 1900s to almost 1980, and some of the most gut-wrenching and poignant tales concern the nearness of the Nazi threat during WWII. Once met through the pages of this book, the characters and their motives and secrets will stay with you for a long time.
A Wonderful Family History.......2002-07-05
I picked this book up off a best sellers table when I was in London this past March. I was looking for some good books to read on the long flight home but I had not gotten to this one until now.
I am very interested in family history and have researched my own family line back many generations. I believe that this book truly expresses why family history interests me so much. The tying together and weaving of the lives of the female clan members of this book show just how important heritage and family are. It tells of secrets that all families have hidden amongst their branches, of illegitimate children, of relationships between mothers and their children, of the relationships of mother-in laws with their children's spouses, of love, hate, loss, and triumph.
Even though this story takes place in a fictional place with fictional characters, its message is based on the lives of many that grew up in Austria during a time where farming, dairying, and war were common place. Even though my own life may not be anything like what it must have been like for the strong women figures of "Homestead", it is a life that is based on the choices, dreams, and goals of my ancestors and without them, I would not be where or who I am today.
Another interesting read that is similar to this book is "Oral History" by Lee Smith set in the Appalachian Mountains.
A wonderfully written and touching story.......2002-03-22
This is a marvellous book. It is the story of a small Alpine village over the course of 70 years told through the lives of the women who lived there. Each chapter is the story of an individual woman at a point in time, but the stories weave in and out so that you never lose track of what happened to them. I found the book deeply satisfying to read - at times it was funny, it was always touching and often very sad. I felt I was involved in the lives of these women (and their men-folk), there was great suspense and it was extremely well-written.
I wonder what other readers made of the final chapter - it seemed to me that everything had come full circle. I would love to read this novel as part of a book club discussion.
If you enjoy "literary fiction" this book is for you - you will not be disappointed. It entertains and it stimulates - what more can any reader ask for?
Watch for the family trees.......2001-07-16
Overall, I enjoyed this book. I would have enjoyed it a great deal more if the family trees had been placed in the front of the book rather than in the appendix (since I was a good girl and didn't skip ahead to the end). Considering there is a whole story devoted to a postcard mailed to "Anna" where the intended receipient could have be half of the village, keeping track of the names is tricky. The family trees are really helpful - if you know they are there.
Otherwise, the format of the book makes for good reading. The book is a series of episodes in the lives of the women in three families. They aren't quite short stories since characters and plot lines reappear every so often. At the same time, the stories are distinct enough that I was able to put the book down between chapters.
Bottom-line: A pleasant read with the chance to armchair travel into life in a small Austrian village. Our book group liked the book a great deal although it didn't stimulate an extensive discussion.
Book Description
Joining her husband in the fight to create a home out of a rugged stretch of sagebrush, rattlesnakes, and sand in eastern Oregon, Jane Kirkpatrick uneasily relinquishes the security of a professional career; the convenience of electricity, running water, and a phone line; and, perhaps most daunting, the pleasures of sporting a professional manicure. But the pull of the land is irresistible, and they dream of gathering their first harvest from a yet-to-be-planted vineyard.
Rather than the simple life they had envisioned, Jane and Jerry find themselves confronting flood and fire, government bureaucracies, and runaway calves, among other disheartening setbacks. Jane frequently questions the sanity of pioneering in this remote area, known as Starvation Point, and she fights against panic with each trip down the seven-mile, boulder-strewn, rut-carved “driveway” she calls “the reptile road,” which threatens to spill them into the ravine with every lurch of the truck.
But as she learns to navigate her new life, this novice rancher discovers that disappointment, isolation, and danger can’t compete with the generosity of their rural community, the strength of family bonds, and the faithfulness of the God who planted in their hearts the dream of carving a refuge out of an inhospitable land.
Customer Reviews:
a true story of pursuing dreams.......2007-05-02
Jane Kirkpatrick does not abandon her characteristic figures of speech and writing that touches the soul for this nonfiction book. She tells the story of homesteading on Starvation Point, a remote area along the John Day River in Oregon, where life acquires new significance and she realizes her dream of becoming a writer. This book gives evidence that a person's writing comes from his or her life, the experiences and people encountered on the journey of life. Throughout this book one can find the origin of many events and characters in Jane's novels. Her memoir is a well-written story that gives insight into the pursuit of dreams.
Homestead.......2007-03-28
This was an excellent book! very good reading and would be appropriate for anyone. Good story and I loving knowing it is all something that happened!
Five star book and writer...Homestead.......2006-10-02
This was the first book By Jane that I read. I was so impressed with her story and her writing that I immediately went out and bought her next trilogy. Upon reading the first of those books which I found as interesting, entertaining and historically accurate that I immediately went and bought every book she has ever written and am waiting for the next one.
This from a reader that doesn't read frilly stuff. It has to have substance and thought and be presented in a way that can keep you awake after a hard day of overtime.
Judy Burnett
Salt Lake City
From the Dry, Hard Soil.......2006-06-13
Jane Kirkpatrick's writing carries with it the spirit of the pioneers. "Homestead" chronicles the Kirkpatricks' effort as a married couple to carve out a living from the dry, hard soil of eastern Oregon. They rough it as they go along, working toward a suitable well, a home with an actual foundation, and a road that doesn't rattle their teeth from their jaws.
A fitting testimony to the stubborn stamina and ingenuity of modern pioneers--and a bracing reminder of what our forbears went through--this book is also a heartwarming look into the meaning of family, faith, and friendship. Jane's love of life shines through every chapter, and yet there is no glossing over the troubles, large or small. This is an honest account of the price one pays to pave his or her own way.
While straightforward and economical, "Homestead" is a book that breathes with the fires of imagination and good humor. Jane's writing qualifies this story as a modern masterpiece. My wife and I read some of the chapters aloud to one another, and at a few points we were laughing to the point of tears; at others, we were moved to prayers of thankfulness for our creature comforts and to quiet hugs of love. This is a book for all to enjoy, and one that'll be read for years to come.
Grasp every day.......2006-03-29
Not many people would have the courage to take on what Jane and Jerry do, as chronicled in Homestead by Jane Kirkpatrick. Whether it's shooting rattlesnakes or handling dog seizures, surviving a plane crash or navigating a treacherous road, chasing down run away calves or protecting watermelons from the onslaught of deer, the Kirkpatrick's seem to have faced and conquered it all. Such stories usually make for great fiction. The most startling realization, however, is that this story is real.
Jane recalls everything from the beginning, in this memoir of personal struggle and ultimate triumph. To move to an unbroken land and settle into its rhythms, to find a home among the wilds was a dream that she and her husband shared. More often than not, however, it seemed that this dream was as unmanageable as the road they had to travel just to get there. Everything kept going wrong. From broken machinery to tragedies of a larger scale, the Kirkpatricks found that these events kept drawing them closer to one another. For Jane, the call was to "go to the land and write." And write she did; not only this memoir, but nine novels as well. Settling the land was an adventure and a risk neither of them now regret making.
The book was well written with enough action and personal perspective to keep a reader interested. One can not help but feel Jane's concerns as she watches her husband's vehicle slip desperately close to a cliff edge, as she tries to reach out in the best way she knows how while feeling so inadequate. It isn't within herself or her husband that Mrs. Kirkpatrick finds the strength to carry on. That's the kind of strength she only finds in Christ.
Broken into four parts, the book reads quickly and leaves the reader feeling rejuvenated and wondering, "How on earth did these two manage to do this?" Homestead is a book that challenges while it encourages. It challenges the reader to grasp every day and turn it into something memorable; it encourages to keep eyes focused on the dream, whatever it may be, even when getting to it is tough. This is a good and memorable book for all ages. - Lauren Steigerwald, Christian Book Previews.com
Book Description
In 1973, Norma Cobb, her husband Lester, and their five child-ren, the oldest of whom was nine years old and the youngest, twins, barely one, pulled up stakes in the Lower 48 and headed north to Alaska to follow a pioneer dream of claiming land under the Homestead Act. The only land available lay north of Fair-banks near the Arctic Circle where grizzlies outnumbered humans twenty to one. In addition to fierce winters and predatory ani-mals, the Alaskan frontier also drew society's more unsavory human elements. But through it all, the family survived on the strength of Norma Cobb-a woman whose love for her family knew no bounds and whose courage in the face of mortal danger is an inspiration.
Download Description
MINOOK is an adventure memoir and survival tale; this is the personal narrarive of Norma Cobb, who in 1973 became the last woman to homestead in the Alaskan wilderness.
Customer Reviews:
I was very disappointed in this book.......2007-08-02
I was very disappointed in this book. While the first half is entertaining and interesting, it eventually became offensive to me for a number of reasons. The author, Norma Cobb, refers to herself (in the section about working on the pipeline) as "not unattractive" but then later goes on to categorize Susan Butcher as being not much to look at. Well, from looking at the pictures, I might agree with Norma's appraisal of herself, (though it does sound boastful for someone living in Athapaskan country, where the Natives do not boast about themselves), but to denigrate Susan's looks is simply tacky. Many believe that Susan Butcher was a very attractive, natural and wholesome looking woman. Further, when Norma comments on the passes made towards her by another musher, Rick Swenson, well - that is equally tacky, particularly with a well known individual. Unfortunately, these things, along with other things such as poor grammar and incorrect usage of the English language point to someone who appears to be both rather full of herself and disdainful of people with more education. It is a shame that what was essentially a good story had these elements that detracted from it. I was also bothered by the characterization of others in this book as they did not, somehow, "ring true." This assessment was solidified for me when I read Ken Nelson's review of the book. I normally do not cull books from my personal library but this book won't be kept.
Great READ!.......2007-07-06
This was a great book that was easy to read and hard to put down.
The Artic Homestead.......2007-05-13
If you are looking for a book about homesteading in alaska, this is the book. Of all the books that I have read about alaska so far this is the best. If you are an alaskan enthusist like myself you should love this book. Lee from Georgia
Great Book.......2007-04-25
If you're looking for a well-written captivating book - look no further. This book will only last you a couple days or less. The flow of the book allows the reader to quickly get amerced in the personal voyage of the writer and when you come up for air, the book is over.
Arctic Homestead.......2007-03-30
Great book! If you like to read about the outdoors and tough living conditions, you will love this. You can't put it down.
Product Description
"As thorough a history of a Negro league team as can be culled from the available sources... not just the history of a team but the tale of one city in all its social complexity." --The New York Times Book Review An enthralling narrative about a lost era in both baseball and American History, Beyond the Shadow of the Senators reveals the true story of the greatest baseball dynasty most people have never heard of--the Homestead Grays--and how the fight to integrate our national pastime began with this team.
Customer Reviews:
A Story That Had To Be Told.......2007-02-28
With the backdrop of the emerging black middle-class in segregated Washington, D.C., during World War II, author Brad Snyder tells the compelling story of two baseball clubs and the push to integrate one professional league.
There is Homestead Grays founder Cum Posey, who is looking to relocate his franchise from Pittsburgh before the start of the 1940 season. And there is Clark Griffith, owner of the pathetic Washington Senators, who can briefly shuffle aside his racism for a business deal that will bring a new revenue stream to his bank account when the team is playing away from Griffith Stadium.
This initial tenuous partnership delivered a surprise to Griffith; the Grays exemplary play on the field found them outdrawing the cellar-dwelling Senators and galvanizing a new generation of baseball fans. That success - even with onerous stadium leases common when NLB teams played in facilities used by Major League Baseball clubs - helped propel the integration of MLB in 1947.
The era is also seen through legendary sportswriters Sam Lacy & Wendell Smith, Buck Leonard - the greatest pro first baseman - and in the offices of MLB, especially the Senators.
Griffith - who certainly could have worked out some type of agreement with the Grays for players to bolster the Senators before the Dodgers signed Robinson - was only a pioneer in segregation, integrating his team seven years after Robinson's debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers and ultimately fleeing Washington, D.C., relocating his team to the whiter Minneapolis-St. Paul market.
With the success of Robinson came the slow disintegration of NLB - the league that was truly integrated on the field, in the stands and in the front offices - as MLB teams raided the club rosters for established stars and began scouting & signing younger players to contracts.
Snyder has brought this forgotten period beyond the shadows of the simplistic retelling of the past that plagues all levels American history.
great research.......2005-08-30
Brad is an excellent researcher and writer. This book is not only enjoyable but educational. I met Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe and Lester Lockett, two former Negro League players, a few years ago and their stories started my interest. Brad fed that interest beautifully. I look forward to Brad's next book on Curt Flood and the reserve clause. His attention to detail is consistent with his legal background.
Tim Moreland, PhD
Salisbury, NC
Baseball in the Nation's Capital as a Backdrop for a Study in Race Relations.......2005-08-14
Let me be clear, this is a great book, rather than just a very good one. In nine chapters, plus an introduction and conclusion, Washington, D.C., based attorney turned writer has told the powerful and sometimes provocative story of how the Homestead Grays moved to Washington, D.C., and set the stage for the breaking down of the color line in Major League Baseball (MLB). In this important book Brad Snyder moves beyond the singular actions of Branch Rickey's Brooklyn Dodgers and Jackie Robinson, which most people are familiar with, to explore the broader implications of race relations in baseball during the 1940s.
In telling this story, "Beyond the Shadow of the Senators" is filled with heroes and villains. The most significant hero is unquestionably Sam Lacy, a black writer with the "Washington Tribune," a weekly oriented toward D.C.'s large African American community, who consistently called for the desegregation of MLB. Also heroic are the great stars of the Negro Leagues, especially Buck Leonard, Satchel Paige, and Josh Gibson, all of whom came to Washington to play before large crowds in the nation's capital. They demonstrated through their exploits the quality of talent in the Negro leagues, especially when juxtaposed against the hapless play of the Washington Senators of the American League. The villains include Clark Griffith, the financially strapped owner of the Senators whose willingness to rent Griffith Stadium to the Grays proved lucrative, and Grays owner Cumberland Posey who shifted his team from the Pittsburgh area to Washington to cater to the large middle-class African American community in Washington. Both Griffith and Posey had every reason to keep the segregated system intact because of the money they made. Moreover, Griffith was a blatant racist who integrated reluctantly and eventually moved the Senators from Washington to Minneapolis-St. Paul because, as he said in 1978, "you've got good, hardworking white people here" (p. 289).
Ranging broadly from social history to baseball and back, Snyder captures the essence of the history of the Senators, the Grays, and wartime Washington's racial situation. It is a story of love and hate at the same time, as well as the quest for dignity of the minority population in a divided city. "Beyond the Shadow of the Senators" is a powerful book. Enjoy.
An outstanding historical work.......2005-02-18
"Beyond the Shadow of the Senators'' is a must read for any serious student of baseball history. The author put a massive amount of research into this engaging account, of which I knew nothing even though I grew up in Washington not long after these events took place. This is an outstanding work in every regard. I have never met the author and I am not an African-American (not that anybody should care); I am just a fan of baseball and its history. If you are, too: Read this book.
Symbiotic segregation and a great baseball read........2004-02-21
This is a great, and true-to-life (i.e., "complex") story about the institution of 'Negro' League baseball and the various parties who profited and railed against it.
Key people that are introduced and brought to life are:
Buck Leonard, Satchel Paige, and Josh Gibson -- three of the greatest ballplayers who ever lived;
Clark Griffith -- the pioneering, penurious and controlling owner of the Washington Senators;
Sam Lacy -- the ahead-of-his-time, DC-native who tirelessly advocated for the integration of Major League Baseball; as well as
Cum(berland) Posey -- the shrewd owner of the Homestead Grays -- the dominant team of the loosely confederated Negro Leagues during the late 30's and 40's.
Tangential to this story are:
the decimation of the post 1933 Senators, mostly due to finances and an inadequate ballpark;
the relative prosperity of Washington DC during the years of the depression and WWII and the partial equality of African-American government workers that led to a vibrant culture and ability to spend on entertainment;
the move by Posey and his "partner" (many of the Negro League baseball teams were financed by numbers entreprenuers) to Washington from their Pittsburgh home and the welcome of their rental payments and gate pctgs. by Clark Griffith;
Judge Landis' death, the increasing awareness of America's incongruity in its fight for freedom and democracy in Europe while maintaining a virtual apartheid culture at home; and
the greed/opportunity of baseball owners to find the best talent at the lowest price which ultimately led to Rickey's "great experiment");
This book also fleshes out the background and conflict around Jackie Robinson, who was rightly judged to be a great man and the right vehicle for Rickey's efforst, and the shared opinions that he was a good, but not all-time great Negro baseball player. [Check out how well a 42-yr old Satchel Paige pitched for the World Championship Indians in 1948.]
The shifts in attitude between "separate but equal" and complete integration by the various parties reveal primarily self-interest. Judged by the standards of our time, I share many others' great respect for Sam Lacy and his tireless, moral advocacy and feel sorry for the Negro League baseball owners who were mostly left with nothing as they rarely had enforceable contracts that protected their relationship with their players.
Clark Griffith was an "innovator" in attracting inexpensive talent from Cuba. Many of these players represented themselves well on the ballfield but would only be acceptable if they were of "Spanish" descent.
Utterly inconceivable now, but the norm for over 60 years (since Cap Anson helped institute the "gentleman's agreement" against employment of African Americans in the early 1880's) was to allow a Major or Minor League ballclup to employ pretty much anyone (Swedes, Germans, Irish, Italians, Jews, etc.) anyone, except African-Americans.
It has often been discussed that without Jackie Robinson (& the parts played by Branch Rickey, Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese, Ben Chapman, etc.) the 1954 "Brown vs. Board of Education" decision would not have happened as quickly.
This book provides a wonderful companion story to the integration of major league baseball which, in my opinion, is one of the most significant stories of 20th Century United States.
Book Description
A hands-on text for country living, this book contains detailed advice on everything from selecting a piece of land to raising livestock, from making wine from home-grown fruits to making fences strong and durable. Here is abundant advice from a real country homesteader, a book equally valuable for lifelong farm-dwellers or for the new-to-the-country city folks looking to set down roots.
Customer Reviews:
Best of its type.......2005-11-10
This writer captures the essence of homesteading in what is actually a rather short book. You don't need another reference if you want to be a homesteader.
Breadth without Depth.......2004-04-22
Charles Sanders has created a good primer for self-reliant country living. His material covers everything from required tools to canning to fences to homemade gift ideas. The breadth of the text is truly amazing - in 295 pages of text Sanders covers just about every aspect of establishing a homestead.
However, such breadth in so relatively few pages practically guarantees that no one subject will get its due. Winemaking, for example, receives only 11 pages and raising various varieties of livestock is covered in just 26 pages. In other words, this is an excellent book with which to start the process of establishing a homestead, but anyone intending to actually follow through will want to move on to more comprehensive sources fairly quickly. (Sanders displays his seeming love of trivia in a five page discussion of land measurements that inexplicably includes information on a historical method of measuring invented in 1620 by an English mathematician.)
One very helpful feature is the book's appendix, which offers sections on weights and measures, methods of figuring a variety of volumes and weights, a chart of the reproductive expectations for various animals and more. These charts alone are worth the price of the book. A second appendix of recommended reading and/or websites to turn to when the material mastered within would have rendered the text even more valuable, but Sanders has inexplicably left such a resource out. To be fair, some recommendations are sprinkled throughout the text but they are not as easily found as if they were compiled all together.
This should be your first book on moving to the country!.......2004-01-15
I would highly recommend this book to anyone thinking about getting some land and moving to the country. It covers all the basics of farming, raising livestock to building a farm pond.
It is written in a style that is conversational and his approach is "this is what has worked for me". Many books on the subject assume that you have some starter knowledge on the subject; this one covers the very basics for people that have grown up in the city or suburbs.
A must have book for homesteaders!.......2003-11-06
I agree with the 1st reviewer...great book! What I find handy is that after most chapter, the author includes a list of resources for further reading, just in case (not likely!) you find his coverage of the topic lacking. This book is great not just for homesteaders, but for any one who lives, or aspires to live, in the country! It covers some topics not covered in most other books of this type, including attending an auction, Country games and pastimes, tractors, atvs, and firearms, in addition to the "usual" homestead topics of water, food preservation, etc.
Buy this book now if you want to live in the country!
A great book!.......2003-11-05
This book is an absolute msut for homesteaders, weekend gardeners, hobby farmers, etc. Think of this as an up to date version of popular earlier works of this type.
Sanders' writing style is easy to read, and the book is chock full of good advice. Use just one or two of his ideas, and you'll more than pay for the price of the book!
Customer Reviews:
Land in California.......2005-02-21
When W. W. Robinson wrote this history of land titles in California he was employed by Title Insurance and Trust Company in Los Angeles. He was what was referred to as a Titleman, a person trained to research and interpret land ownership and land titles. As a fellow Titleman for over 40 years I have purchased at least 100 copies of this book, which I use as a training aid in the title insurance industry. It is easily the best introduction to the history of California land ownership and titles and the origins of such legal rights. As a history book, a training aid, or just as a pleasure to read, this narrative would be an excellent choice.
An Excellent Primer.......2005-01-18
"Land in California" is an excellent primer for those looking to get a grasp on how California was settled. It offers a clear description of who the players were in the settling of the state and offers great leads for other fields of inquiry into state history. A "must-have" for any California history buff.
Story of Land in California.......2002-04-05
This was an excellent book full of information not often found in other books on the California Ranchos. The author actually includes a chapter on Indian land ownership that is hard to find anywhere else. Some of the smaller ranchos were left out, which is why I gave this a 4 star reading, but well worth your time.
Land in Californnia.......2000-04-06
This is an engrossing, thoroughly researched book about California land grants and ranchos during the period 1769-1846. Lists all such grants for the entire state. A "must read" for anyone researching the history of California.
Books:
- The Going-To-Bed Book
- The Great Book of Guns: An Illustrated History of Military, Sporting, and Antique Firearms
- The Indian in the Cupboard
- The Knitting Experience: Book 1: The Knit Stitch (The Knitting Experience)
- The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Gift Set
- The New Fine Points of Furniture: Early American: The Good, Better, Best, Superior, Masterpiece
- The Official Blackbook Price Guide to US Coins 2007, 45th Edition (Official Blackbook Price Guide to United States Coins)
- The Penland Book of Handmade Books: Master Classes in Bookmaking Techniques
- The Perfect Wedding Details: More Than 100 Ideas for Personalizing Your Wedding
- The Team That Changed Baseball: Roberto Clemente and the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates
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