Book Description

New picture book with bright illustrations and easy-to-read text will spark historical interest in even the younger children. First in a series of famous Americans. ... Read more

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A great read for adults, too.
This is a very well-written, thoroughly researched book that keeps your interest throughout. A fascinating look into the thoughts and mind of our first President through his own writings. ... Read more

Book Description

In this enlightening and entertaining book, one of the most original and sophisticated musicologists writing today turns his attention to music's most dramatic genre. Extending his ongoing project of clarifying music's various roles in Western society, Kramer brings to opera his distinctive and pioneering blend of historical concreteness and theoretical awareness.Opera is legendary for going to extremes, a tendency that has earned it a reputation for unreality. Opera and Modern Culture shows the reverse to be true. Kramer argues that for the past two centuries the preoccupation of a group of famous operas with the limits of supremacy and debasement has come to define a normality that is the very opposite of the operatic. Exemplified in a series of beloved examples, a certain idea of opera-a fiction of opera-has contributed in key ways to the modern era's characterizations of desire, identity, and social order. Opera and Modern Culture exposes this process at work in operas by Richard Wagner, who put modernity on the agenda in ways no one after him could ignore, and by the young Richard Strauss. The book continues the initiative of much recent writing in treating opera as a multimedia rather than a primarily musical form. From Lohengrin and The Ring of the Niebelung to Salome and Elektra, it traces the rich interplay of operatic visions and voices and their contexts in the birth pangs of modern life. Illustrations: 7 b/w photographs, 19 music examples ... Read more

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An Under Appreciated And Classic Work
I would really enjoy meeting Thomas Lewis, and talking historical facts and old Washington legends with him.

There is nothing flashy or trashy about For King And Country. It is a very well researched and very connected account of young Washington between 1748 and 1760.

I can't help, but, wonder if Thomas Lewis is a descendent of Washington's nephew Lawrence Lewis.There is that much cool headed depth of feeling evident in For King and Country.

We tend to forget that Washington had to personally put up with hundreds of uniquely American cantankerous characters during his youth.Thomas Lewis gives a little flavor to that part of the formation of young Washington's character. When Lewis contrasts Washington's "uncommon ambition" to be recognized by the British, and also recognized by those Virginians with British pretensions real or affected; Lewis firmly grasps Washington's American reality.

I do sincerely hope that Thomas Lewis writes of Geo Washington again. ... Read more

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An amazing account
I thought this might be a tabliod type expose, but to my delight, it really is a thorough, factual work. Each and every president is covered and the historic research is evident. Many sections are dry and boring only because those presidents weren't particularly sex driven men. But the notable exceptions like Lyndon "Bull Nuts" Johnson, Jack Kennedy and others make this an eye opening and shocking account of what our presidents really are doing behind closed doors. After reading this book, you want to give this country back to King George! 5 stars to Nigel for his tireless research and fact finding. ... Read more

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A lighthearted but informative George Washington biography
For kids who think George Washington chopped down his father's cherry tree and threw a silver dollar across a river, Robert Quackenbush's juvenile biography of the first President will set them straight. "I Did It With My Hatchet: A Story of George Washington" is a lighthearted but informative biography that covers all the aspects of Washington's life and public career. Young students will learn much more about Washington's military career than they will about his two terms as the nation's first President (besides, I am not sure that Washington actually proposed the two party system to reflect the different needs of the American people). The accompanying artwork consists of full page black & white drawings with blue & gray shadings and then underneath the text on the opposite page we always find three soldiers huddling around a camp fire at Valley Forge cracking bad jokes about George Washington. However, Quackenbush does a couple of nice twists with the trio later in the book. The result is a very competent biography of Washington that does not resort to deifying the man to convey his importance in American History. ... Read more

Book Description

An educator, top-ranked college ball player and Green Beret who served in Vietnam, Earl Woods reveals the instruction and training secrets that went into raising a child who might be the greatest golfer ever. His teaching method starts with the simplest swings: Putting, chipping and pitching, and doesn't introduce the full swing until the basics have been mastered. The book includes dozens of games and competitions to make golf fun and interesting, teaches mental toughness and emphasizes skills, posture, balance, set-up and grip.

There are also some subtler points for parents to consider: when and how to introduce golf (or any sport) to their child; how to lay the groundwork for open communication; and how to cultivate the right attitude toward competition. Through an intelligent mix of instruction, humor and common sense, Training a Tiger helps parents everywhere lead their kids to love the game, and to play it with confidence, patience, proficiency and passion. ... Read more

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Interesting portrayal of the life of a rising superstar
When you here about a superstar like Tiger its natural to wonder where this incredible talent came from. The book is a bit of a mix of golf how to, parent child relationship and history of Tigers early years. If you are raising kids and want a perspective on what went into developing such a great talent the book offers some interesting insights. The book lacks the level of detail or story telling that could of showed us more of Tigers character and made the book a more interesting read. If you love Golf and want your kids to get involved with the great game this book is a must read. ... Read more

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Best Damn Book on Ted Period.
This revised edition of Ted Williams: My Life in Pictures is even better than the original which was terrific. If one is not moved to tears by David Pietrusza's account of his last meeting with the Splendid Splinter, you have no heart. This book is a wonderful combination of genuine straight-from-the-hip anecdotes and commentary by one of the most opinionated men in the history of the game and brilliant editing of pictures and text by co-author Pietrusza. Coming on the heels of Pietrusza's excellent biography of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, this book establishes him as one of the top baseball writers of his generation. ... Read more

Book Description

George Washington was said to be "First in War, First in Peace." In The Making of the President 1789, humorist Marvin Kitman argues that our first president was also the first American leader to ride his personal foibles to political greatness. Kitman lampoons the modern "campaign insider" books, asking: "How is it possible that a man with no military experience becomes a general? He loses more battles than he wins and becomes a war hero? He has absolutely no political opinions in the most sophisticated intellectual period of our history? He has no ambitions, and he wins?" Through careful research, Kitman exposes Washington's weaknesses for social climbing and high-stakes whist and his relationships with the Founding Girlfriends. "Kitman is applying today's standards to history, and the result is by turns witty, funny, and hysterically silly." -- Christopher Lehmann-Haupt New York Times ... Read more

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Some history, lots of nonsense.
If you can handle Marvin Kitman's repeated attempts to knock Washington off his pedestal you'll enjoy this book. I was one of those public grade school kids who labored under his stern contenance. He must have been god. Or at least god's right hand man. We outgrew this. We know he was just a man. A highly flawed man according to Kitman. Flawed, yes, but also good & lucky. George Washington was America first celebrity. We weren't going to be denied. He lost most of the battles but he did win the Revolutionary War. Actually the British tired of it and lost it. This ultimate politician was not political. In essence he was the only game in town. He had Morris & Hamilton as his spin-meisters, shady land deals & girls-friends. (Beginning to sound familiar?) He looked like a hero, acted like a hero, mostly told the truth although he didn't talk much. He was very brave & loyal especially to the electoral college delegates. Kitman asserts that the U.S. Constitution was written especially with Washington in mind. That may be true. They both have survived, no thanks to Kitman ... Read more

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"My life changed in years later"
Oprah was a young Afican American girl who was raised by her grandmother instead of her own parents. Oprah lived with her grandmother of her childhood until some teenage years. Oprah went to school where it was pretty much all American girls who looked at her different because of her color. Oprah helped her grandma everyday when getting home from school by delivering water around the town. Her grandma bought her a pair of shoes and she was only allowed to wear them while going to school and take them off as soon as she got home, she wore her hair either in a bun or in braids. when going to high school everything was different for her because she was smart and knew what she was going to do for living. She wasn't able to forgive her mother for what she had done to her.
I enjoyed this novel because I got to know more about Oprah's life.
I disliked the way she was treated by her mother and people at school. ... Read more

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Summary of George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver was a slave who was born around 1865.
He and his brother Jim, was reared by their slavemaster and his wife, Moses Carver. George was estranged from his mother at a very early age.

He had a strong interest in the plant life, and was always going in the woods when he was growing up.
He worked his way through high school and college.
Although he was faced with many struggles, racial problems, and disapppointments, he always maintained his focus on his dreams.

In 1896, George was offered a teaching job from Booker T. Washington, who was the principal of Tuskegee Institute in Birmingham, AL.
He accepted the position, and was assigned several responsibilities. One of the assignments was director of the school agricultural experiment station.

One of Carver's greatest concerns was to help improve the well being of other blacks.
He had strong Christian beliefs and always included God in his work.
George became well known for his several creative ways for finding use for the peanut, sweet potato, and other crops.
He received several awards, one of which was the Springharn Medal in 1923. In 1935, George was selected to the collaborator to the U. S. Department of Agriculture's Mycology and Plant Disease Survey.
He pursued his lab and fieldwork the same way he embraced man and nature; with wonder and affection. ... Read more