Reviews (7)

Learn what the brothers Laffite had for breakfast
In constructing a narrative a historian must choose the details
Grammatically Challenged History
As all of the previous reviewers have said, this is a well researched book. The subject matter is almost intrinsically interesting - pirates, the history of a growing New Orleans, historical conflicts in Louisiana and the United States, et cettera. The book is well documented with careful footnotes, though at times (and especially at the outset) one is confronted with many uncertain but probable or possible pieces of history (perhaps this is to be expected, or at least understood as necessary, given the general lack of definitive or authoritative sources on the subject).
A lively survey of the Lafite brothers' practices and controversial methods
Several new pirate coverage's are on the market this season; but none so extensive a coverage as William C. Davis' The Pirates Laffite: The Treacherous World Of The Corsairs Of The Gulf. Jean and Pierre Laffite's lives coincided with New Orleans' most colorful period in history, just after the War of 1812: they ran a privateering cooperative that provided banned goods to the market and their methods bordered on piracy. Author Davis' extensive history background lends to his scholarly yet lively survey of the Lafite brothers' practices and controversial methods. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 19th century    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Historical - U.S.    5. History    6. History - General History    7. History: American    8. Laffite, Jean    9. Laffite, Pierre,    10. Louisiana    11. Mexico, Gulf of    12. Pirates    13. Privateering    14. Regional Subjects - South    15. United States - 19th Century    16. United States - General    17. d. 1826?    18. History / United States / 19th Century   

Editorial Review

With the same narrative panache and gift for good gossip that made Read more

Reviews (17)

boring tale about flakey mean people
I had to quit reading this book approximately half way through because I had no interest whatsoever in continuing to read about these snobby, conceited and dull women.Don't waste your time.

As The World Turns - Langhorne Style
This excellent biography takes an in-depth look at the famous, turn-of-the-century five Langhorne sisters of Virginia.The author is the grandson of one of the sisters, which gave him unprecedented access to some never-before-published letters and journals. Lizzie, Irene, and Nora take a back seat to highly visible Nancy (Lady Astor, first woman to serve in Parliament) and Phyllis, the author's grandmother. The author weaves historical and political background around the sisters' stories, which gives the book a pleasurable informational heft and weight. I think some reviewers have missed the point
There are many reviews of this book posted and many emphasize the shallowness and unpleasantness of the sisters, especially Nancy. This is true; I think Mr. Fox presented these women honestly, warts and all, but I also think that many reviewers missed a very important point.Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Historical - U.S.    5. Regional Subjects - South    6. Rich & Famous    7. Women    8. Biography & Autobiography / Historical   

Reviews (7)

A story of two exceptional women who gave more and received more than they expected
In the days immediately following the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina two women decide they cannot sit by and wait for others to help those devastated by the storm. A few days later they left their home in New York for Memphis where they rented a van, loaded it with supplies and took off for Mississippi where they planned to distribute their desperately needed cargo.
REBUILDING WHAT KATRINA WASHED AWAY
I can't tell you how touched I am by Cholene Espinoza's inspirational story about rebuilding what Katrina washed away.Her clarity, honesty, and sincerity are compelling, humbling and vivid.While I was reading this amazing story, I felt I was on the site myself and that I personally got to know the people she writes about; I could feel their suffering and their hope.Ms. Espinoza gives the readers a wonderful gift by opening our eyes, our hearts, our pocketbooks, and our tool chests to get in there and give whatever help we can, wherever the need exists.I admire her strength to spread this necessary message; it will help so many people. Thank you, Cholene, for your courage to share your experience with us.

Rebirth & Rebuilding
We all have seen the news - we saw the unbelievable destruction that Mother Nature bestowed upon the Gulf. We saw the raw emotion - and sometimes lack of - on the the faces of the hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who called the Gulf home. Many of us jumped in to help - mostly by writing a check, or sending donations. And, some of us did nothing. For those of us who stood back not knowing what to do, here's our chance.
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Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Case studies    3. Church work with disaster victims    4. Disaster relief    5. Disasters & Disaster Relief    6. General    7. Gulf Coast    8. Hurricane Katrina, 2005    9. Mississippi    10. Personal Memoirs    11. Regional Subjects - South    12. Self-Help   

Reviews (9)

outstanding
After reading T. Harry Williams outstanding bio of Long, I decided to buy this book, and I was not disappointed.Boulard's study of Long's "invasion" of New Orleans, while much shorter than Williams' book, is great in its own right, as well as tremendously researched and detailed. Well-written, well-balanced history
Whatever else we might think of Huey Long, most Louisianans would agree that, as governor and then senator, he was a populist -- right? In the summer of 1934, many residents of New Orleans had reason to think otherwise. The senator and T. Semmes Walmsley, mayor of the city, had once been uneasy allies, but began feuding on many fronts. In January 1934, after Walmsley defeated the Long candidate, the senator denounced what he claimed was election fraud by the Democratic "Old Regulars." Then, never one to bother with courts and the law, he clinched his argument by bringing in the Louisiana National Guard (functioning as the senator's private army) to take over the Soule Building, which housed the voter registration office. The guardsmen quickly set up machine guns at the windows, aimed at the mayor's office across the street. Both sides finally agreed to a monitoring process for the September election, which was swept by the Long slate. The Old Regulars deserted the mayor the following summer and flocked to the senator's banner, thereby setting him up nicely for a run at the presidency in 1936. Long's march on Washington, however, was interrupted by an assassin's bullet in September 1935 (fortunately for all of us, probably). This is an exciting, well-documented, and very well-written account of one of the more unnerving episodes in this state's history.

amazing triumph
I am fascinated with Southern history. This is quite possibly the BEST book I have read on it. Huey Long was a remarkable leader who tried to pull the South into a modern era; but he was held back both by the same ancient forces that were responsible for the Civil War as well as his own dangerous impulses.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1865-1950    2. 1893-1935    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. History    5. History: American    6. Long, Huey Pierce,    7. Louisiana    8. Louisiana - Local History    9. New Orleans (La.)    10. Political    11. Politics and government    12. Regional Subjects - South    13. United States - 20th Century/Depression    14. United States - State & Local - General    15. American history: from c 1900 -    16. Inter-war period, 1918-1939    17. Local history    18. Long, Huey Pierce   

Reviews (6)

Thanks For The Memories,Nate
This is a timeless classic, and not just among memoirs, because the subject was a great American---a man who "had no get-back in him."Nate Shaw (real name Ned Cobb) had an amazing memory, and also an acute understanding of the post-Civil War rural South.The rhythm of the seasons, work routines, knowledge of livestock, nature and people too, combine for a profound view of a vanished America.(If you want to really know about mules, Ned's the man.)But Ned didn't just observe, he worked with the Alabama Sharecroppers' Union and defended powerless friends, serving 12 years in prison for his pains.This activism sets him apart from Kas Maine, a South African sharecropper to whom he's been compared in recent years.The earthy dialect wears out some readers, but otherwise "All God's Dangers" is compelling from start to end.Writers from Wendell Berry to Pete Daniel praise both man and book, while John Beecher's "In Egypt Land" is a moving poetic rendition of Ned's story.R. Kelley, "Hammer & Hoe" vividly recreates 1930s Alabama; on Kas Maine, see C. Van Onselen, "The Seed Is Mine." But Ned tells about his world far better than the others.In living, then narrating, a life of great struggle lived with great dignity, Ned Cobb performed a signal service---for all of us.We are in your debt!

Family, Race, Class and Farming in Alabama
In the middle of Rosengarten's book, truly a masterpiece of oral history memoir making, Nate Shaw says "all God's dangers ain't a white man."This would seem truly a remarkable thing for a black man who spent over a decade in an Alabama prison to say, but as a farmer growing cotton in Alabama during the first half of the twentieth century it quickly makes sense once he explains it.Shaw's story of his chaffing under his good for nothing father's roof; his growing prosperity as share cropper and than as a yeoman farmer; his hucksterism when dealing with violent and hostile whites attempting to cheat him; the defense of fellow small farmers that got him thrown in jail during the Great Depression; and his takes on the science of farming, race relations, the American class system and his own life experiences show Shaw to be a master story teller and Rosengarten and master interviewer.The combination of these two was absolute dynamite.

The Real Nate.
Nate Shaw was the father of my Uncle Oscar Turner's best friend. His real name was Nate Cobb and the family of the son, Lorraine, is prominent in the Middletown, Ohio ghetto.Read more

Subjects:  1. African Americans    2. Alabama    3. Biography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Business & Economics    7. Farmers & Ranchers    8. History    9. History Of Labor    10. Labor    11. Labor & Industrial Relations - General    12. Labor Unions    13. People of Color    14. Regional Subjects - South    15. Sharecroppers    16. Sharecropping    17. Shaw, Nate    18. Sources    19. American history: c 1800 to c 1900    20. American history: from c 1900 -    21. Biography: general    22. Black studies    23. Racism & racial discrimination    24. Social Science / African-American Studies    25. USA   

Reviews (7)

Perfect Complement to C. Vann Woodward's "Tom Watson"
Stephen Kantrowitz, a gifted writer, accomplishes that rarest of achievements in academia: theory that is actually readable. With "Ben Tillman & the Reconstruction of White Supremacy," recipient of the Organization of Amerian Historians' Hawley Prize, he wades through American history's murkiest waters, those of race and gender. And with remarkable clarity, Kantrowitz shows that you just can't sieve race from gender, or vice versa. A Most Innacurate Piece of Fiction
Obvious agenda here by a shallow author looking to capitalize on a recently re-elevated subject.The entire book fails to make any positive remarks about the most popular and elected politician in the history of the state of South Carolina.Most of the research by this "author" is conveniently taken from anti-Tillman press while bypassing all of the many contributions to the state and to the U.S. Senate.Tillman was honored and revelled by many fellow U.S. Senators from opposing parties (and from Northern States). He established Clemson University, Winthrop College and the Charleston Naval Shipyard.There were two U.S. Navy Ships named after him.None of these accomplishments and honors are worthy of mention by this spin artist. He conveniently chose to omit, and obviously failed to research, Tillman's admirable private and personal life as it would destroy the credibility of the subject and agenda. marvelous distillation of powerful truths
The reader from Washington says the book is too long, but he wants more personal detail!How would that happen?Fact is, for a major figure in American political history, Tillman has found biographer whose economy of language is commendable; Kantrowitz only uses 309 pages to do a magnificent job of storytelling and analysis. And it is a great read, especially given the deep and subtle insights that Kantrowitz squeezes from this Dixie demogogue's pernicious but important career.And he does so without turning Tillman into a demon, but rather by revealing that the Senator was not so much a tribute but a trickster of the people, and far from being a populist, served the richest and most powerful of his constituents as he poured salt into the worst of the nation's wounds--the scar of white supremacy.This book is eloquent and profound, and could scarely have been better crafted. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (Benjamin Ryan),    2. 1847-1918    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Government - Legislative Branch    7. Historical - U.S.    8. History    9. History: American    10. Legislators    11. Men, White    12. Political    13. Political activity    14. Regional Subjects - South    15. Southern States    16. Tillman, Benjamin R    17. United States    18. United States - General    19. White supremacy movements    20. Benjamin Ryan Tillman (1847-1918); agrarian; governor; U.S. Senator; white manhood; white male solidarity; slavery; disfranchisement; Jim Crow; political history; gender; race; political discourse; political culture; Reconstruction violence; agricultural reform; Populism; lynching; mob action; temperance; suffrage; restriction; white supremacy    21. Ethnography    22. History / United States / 19th Century    23. History of specific racial & ethnic groups    24. Racism & racial discrimination    25. USA   

Editorial Review

Jimmy Carter's Georgia hometown has been the one constant in his life, and he pays tribute to it with Read more

Reviews (12)

The same Christmas Memories For All
Just sit back and enjoy. We all have these memories wether we are rich or poor, powerful or not. Just how we remember Christmas back home. Warm, endearing and easy to read, maybe somethings you know and some you did'nt. This should be a Christmas tradition.

The Human Side of America's 39th President
I had the privilege and honor of meeting President Carter at the University of Washington, where he signed a copy of this book for me."Christmas in Plains" is a wonderful book that approaches autobiography in a new and interesting way: Jimmy Carter reflects on his life as a series of holiday seasons.We see the triumphs and the failures in eloquent and honest prose. Christmas Joy from the Carters
The short, joyful book contains Jimmy Carter memories of Christmas.His earliest memories begin around 1930 (when he was 5), and involve memories of father Earl and mother Lillian, as well as black neighbors(in an era of separation, his family perhaps represented a light in the South).There are happy childhood memories of finding the Christmas tree and fireworks. Jimmy and Rosalynn always tried to get back to Plains, but there are included a few absent remembrance from Navy years, and a rather tense Christmas with the holding of the Iran hostages.The line drawings by daughter Amy add a family charm to the book.May the Carter's have many more Merry Christmases together in Plains. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. General    5. Personal Memoirs    6. Presidents & Heads of State    7. Regional Subjects - South    8. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Reviews (8)

Honest
Was I ever impressed with her genunine honesty, which is so lacking in the world today. This book is so insightful and emotional. It is more of a biography than a book about bulimia but I do recommed it. Leah let's people know her deepest thoughts and heartbreak. That takes courage.

lacking
I have both me Leah and read her book.I met her on two occasions at conferences I attended.I also read her book.The book does look into the horrors that I know are part of the struggle with the 'demon'.However, I question the sincerity in the author.Due to the reception I received from her at both encounters, I question the sincerity of her attempts and wonder if it isn't all a grasp at further fame.

An honest reflection from a wonderful person
Leah Hulan was my roommate at the 1994 Miss USA Pageant in South Padre, Texas (I was Miss North Dakota). The reflection and insight this book relects is real.Leah truly is a person we would all like to be like... and for her to have the courage and strength to share her story is a gift to the rest of us. The book is wonderfully written. This book would be helpful to anyone struggling with their own disease or for those knowing those who are. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Bulimia    6. Health    7. Hulan, Leah    8. Obesity    9. Patients    10. Personal Memoirs    11. Psychological aspects    12. Regional Subjects - South    13. Social Scientists & Psychologists    14. United States    15. Women   

Reviews (3)

POWERFUL ...like Angela's Ashes
If you appreciated Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt for its presentation and viewpoint of growing up in poverty, you'll like this book for the same reasons--not on the subject of poverty but on race and understanding what it's like to grow up Black (& middle-class) in this country. It just tells, in a straightforward voice, the story of her life. A Daughter's Story
I really enjoyed this book. The author wove together her personal experiences --the pain of growing up in a loveless yet nuturing home in Texas, and a type of everyman's history of the civil rights movement and the annonomous worker bees and vanguard her mother belonged too. She does this in an interesting and engaging way. She weaves her story of being born at the "wrong time" and coping with feelings of being an unwanted late life child which lead to an emotionally and physically abused childhood into the visual story and history of Blacks in media and film at the time Blacks created the protest movement(s) to erase injustice, and pyschological pain the african Americans experienced in America's south. Her story is a compelling one. Especially because it is so universally human. Her love hate relationship with her mother was the most poinant aspect of this book. She describes her response to the abuse of her mother yet she so admired, love, and comes to understand and forgive her finally. Innovative Biography!!
This is one of the most creative approaches to autobiography I've read in a long time. I enjoyed reading and studying it. The book is a highly visual autobiography---part prose, part poetry, part history and historical images. I particularly enjoyed how Ms. Blue revealed the nuances of an African American middle class mother-daughter relationship. Telling her story against the backdrop of the movies that were coming of age when she was growing up provided an enlightening perspective on the powerful influence of American movies on the human psyche. This book is a wonderful gem! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. African American photographers    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Blue, Carroll Parrott    7. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    8. Motion picture producers and directors    9. People of Color    10. Personal Memoirs    11. Photographers    12. Regional Subjects - South    13. United States    14. American history: from c 1900 -    15. Biography: general    16. Civil rights & citizenship    17. Social Science / African-American Studies    18. USA   

Subjects:  1. 1872-1965    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Business    7. Business History    8. Businesspeople    9. Dairy farmers    10. Historical - General    11. Kenan, William Rand,    12. Philanthropists    13. Regional Subjects - South    14. United States    15. Biography & Autobiography / Business    16. Biography: general    17. Kenan, William Rand    18. North Carolina; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; biography; calcium carbide; acetylene; Union Carbide Company; New York; Standard Oil; Henry Morrison Flagler; Robert Worth Bingham; Business History    19. USA   

Reviews (6)

An Amazing Life Story
This book is a wonderfully informative and touching story of a great and honorable man.Through Totch we learn of a nearly forgotten way of life and we see the Everglades as it used to be.I appreciate his honesty and plainspokeness and I'm thankful Totch made this book to preserve an important history.I also recommend the three movies made about him: Totch Brown's tales of the Everglades and 10,000 islands, The Everglades outlaw Totch Brown, and Yesterday's Everglades.

South Florida revisited
Any south Florida history buff will want to add "Totch' to their collection.

Totch a Life in the Everglades
Don't be misled by Peter Matthiessen's forward, this one is not for the ecologically friendly faint-of-heart.Totch was a one man ecological disaster, constantly on the move wrecking havoc on the wildlife wherever he went.His life of slaughtering animals for personal profit was a willful life choice, hardly dictated by the times, as he claims in his self-serving attempts to justify his pogrom against nature.His self-indulgence was carried to the extreme by illegally poaching thousands of alligators in the protected Everglades National Park in defiance of the laws of man and nature.The purpose for his illegal acts was personal profit, to skin the animals, only using their hides.Their dead carcasses, several hundred in a period of a few days, were dumped into the water to rot.This was hardly an act of survival.He did this because he wanted to, not because he had to.There are several other books, more accurate, better written, and less self-centered, that better describe the early pioneers of Southwest Florida.Rather than augment Totch's bloody legacy by buying his book, I encourage readers interested in the Everglades to look elsewhere, and leave Totch's book describing his carnage against nature to rot, like one of his skinned alligator carcasses, on the ash pile of despicable acts by the self-indulgent. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Brown, Loren G    6. Everglades (Fla.)    7. Florida - Local History    8. Regional Subjects - South    9. Social life and customs    10. Sports - General    11. United States - State & Local    12. Biography: sport    13. Local history    14. USA   

Reviews (2)

Reviewing The Beto Book
It was with much anticipation that I read the Walking George book. I am among many whose life was touched by this brilliant scholar and leader.
A Servant Leader
This book provides a detailed biography of George J. Beto, a Lutheran clergyman, educator, and accidential penologist, who made significant contributions to the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and who left an indelible mark on the criminal justice system.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. College teachers    4. Criminology    5. General    6. History    7. Officials and employees    8. Prison administration    9. Prisons    10. Regional Subjects - South    11. Social Science    12. Sociology    13. Texas    14. United States - State & Local - General   

Reviews (1)

A rare memoir that is not self-indulgent or self-pitying
So many memoirs by survivors of extremely disfunctional families are simply impossible to read because of the author's overwhelming desire to wallow in self-pity. This memoir is insightful and clear, hiding nothing, but the tone is never pitiful. This would be a great book to use in a classroom learning about memoir, and also a good book for therapists to use with patients learning how to deal with their own "bad deals" as children. I usually read a book and pass it along to my mother and sister; but I'm keeping this one and buying separate copies for each of them. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult children of alcoholics    2. Adult children of dysfunctional families    3. Alabama    4. Biography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Children of the mentally ill    8. Clinical Psychology    9. Montgomery    10. Psychology    11. Regional Subjects - South    12. Substance Abuse & Addictions - General   

Reviews (1)

A Mind Numbing Curiosity at Best
From the first time I read Downard's article in the cryptic anti-Masonic symbol inspired rant, "King-Kill 33" in "Apocalypse Culture" from that always challenging publisher Feral House, may Adam Parfrey's tribe increase.I have anxiously awaited the release of Downard's auto-biography (or hagiography?) "Carnivals of Life & Death".I was hoping for I admit a exposition of the nefarious cryptocracy littering the American landscape a la Downard.Perhaps in the same vein as Jim Brandon's "Rebirth of Pan".
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Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Body, Mind & Spirit    3. General    4. New Age    5. New Age / Body, Mind & Spirit    6. Personal Memoirs    7. Regional Subjects - South    8. Spiritualism - General    9. Body, Mind & Spirit / General    10. Controversial Knowledge & Mysteries    11. Freemasonry & secret societies   

Reviews (3)

moonshine the life in pursuit of white liquer
this was a preety good book. It is about this guy named Garland Bunting, who has been engaged in caturing and prosacuting men and weomen. To do so he has droven taxi cabs and whatever else you can think of, to get these people to stop selling elligal liquer.he has learned several tips from huntes, they told him that coons can find a illigal monnshine bussnues any day of the week, so from that day on he decided to start raising coon dog's, so that he could catch the scum of the earth (as so he says) who are selling this illigal liquer. This man is 57 years of age and he is of a medium hieght, he has been doing this type of stuff for over 30 years. In north corolina it is illigal to sell liquer on sunday's so the people who are acaholics are always out looking for liquer on sunday's, and that is whern garland is out busting peoepl most of the time. I would recomend this book to any body that is all I have for know thank you for reading my review.

Really excellent reportage.
I grew up in Tidewater, VA, and I've travelled many of the roads and known the sorts of boys Wilkinson writes about. He really nailed that regional culture, and his ear for dialogue and dialect is finely tuned.

An honest look at a vanishing way of life
I grew up not far from Ahoskie, NC, one of the towns author Alec Wilkinson visits in his book. I was astonished at the accuracy of his portrayal of the people and way of life in rural eastern North Carolina. Wilkinson makes no judgments and draws no conclusions. He simply writes a wonderfully detailed and honest portrait of these people and the politics & life of the moonshiners and revenuers of the swamplands. In the past few years this rural way of life has quickly vanished - pressed from the east by the growth of the tourist industry and overdevelopment of the Outer Banks, and from the west by the rapid growth of the Research Triangle. Moonshine has been replaced by homegrown marijuana. Most small farmers have been bought out by corporate farms and the small towns have become bedroom communities for larger metro areas, with people in Gates and Northampton counties working as far away as Quantico and Williamsburg, VA. I've loaned out my copy of "Moonshine" so many times it is falling apart, but I've never found another book that so accurately describes the world I grew up in. For my transplanted Yankee friends here in the Triangle it has been a great introduction to the rural South. The first Wilkinson book I read was "Midnights", his description of a summer spent as the night patrolman in a small coastal town in Massachusetts. I was struck by his powers of description, and the honest effort of researching his subject by spending many long hours on the job. It is also a fine book. For anyone interested in a slice of life, or just great writing, I'd recommend this book without hesitation. Ken Strayhorn Chapel Hill NC ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American - General    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Bunting, Garland    5. Distilling, Illicit    6. Halifax County (N.C.)    7. Liquor industry    8. Literary Criticism    9. North Carolina    10. Officials and employees    11. Regional Subjects - South    12. Sociology - Rural    13. Taxation   

Reviews (2)

The remarkable and true story of one man's determination to discover his familial heritage
Enhanced with the inclusion of twenty b/w photographs and two maps, Twilight People: One Man's Journey To Find His Roots by David Houze is the remarkable and true story of one man's determination to discover his familial heritage and find the three sisters he and his mother had left behind them in South Africa in 1966 to come to live in America. Following Houze through an epic journey that began with the discovery of his sisters in a photograph and his mother's confession concerning their existence, Twilight People simply captivates its readers in a kind of real life detective story through the persistent efforts Houze had to exert in seeking out the members of his long lost family. As the intimate and inspiring tale of one man's incredible struggle to reconnect with three sisters he'd lost contact with so long ago, Twilight People is very highly recommended reading and a welcome addition to any community library collection.
Truth Is the Fruit of the Search
The George Gund Foundation "endowed this imprint to advance understanding of the history, culture, and current issues of African Americans" we learn in the front-metter of "Twilight People," by David Houze. Their money has been well-spent. Subtitled "One Man's Journey to Find His Roots" I think of Alex Haley's ground-breaking book "Roots" so many years ago, and how how well-spent this journey is to re-locate David Houtze in his true life and a truer sense of family--on two continents. Another touchstone at the beginning of "Twilight People" are two maps--Mississippi and Southern Africa.
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. African Americans    3. Anthropology - General    4. Archaeology / Anthropology    5. Biography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Civil rights    8. Civil rights movements    9. Discrimination & Racism    10. General    11. Globalization    12. History    13. Personal Memoirs    14. Regional Subjects - South    15. Social Science    16. Sociology    17. Southern States    18. History of specific racial & ethnic groups    19. Mississippi    20. Racism & racial discrimination    21. Social Science / Anthropology / General    22. Social history   

Reviews (2)

Excellent small book!
Despite its relative lack of heft, this book makes for rich reading.You will learn a lot and think about what Mr. Covington has to say on the subjects of family, land, and place.

Fascinating, in fits and starts
The core of the book, which is the author's wrongheaded and doomed attempt to reclaim his father's land -- now dominated by local hunters, outlaws and vaguely corrupt law enforcement officials -- is fascinating.Covington's attempt to transfer his dream of recapturing his inheritance to the wilds of Idaho is somewhat less interesting.Most dissapointing, though, is the attempt to string together a narrative over what must be about a decade's chronology.All told, a few key days on his father's land makes up the core of the story, and you don't get a sense of how long or how hard Covington's efforts were.Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Florida - Local History    5. General    6. Personal Memoirs    7. Regional Subjects - South    8. Social Situations And Conditions    9. Sociology - General    10. United States - State & Local - General    11. United States - State & Local - South   

Editorial Review

Barbara Jordan spoke in the cadences of a black preacher, backed by the moral force of the United States Constitution, and became Texas's first black senator since the Reconstruction era. She served in Congress for two decades before dying of multiple sclerosis at the age of 59 in 1996."Barbara Jordan was the first African American elected official to become an American hero," Mary Beth Rogers writes. "She broke through previously impenetrable barriers to become an 'inside' political player who was taken very seriously by the white politicians in power." The height of Jordan's power (and fame) came from her interpretation of the Constitution during the 1974 Watergate hearings, a speech that set the stage for President Richard Nixon's resignation. Two years later, Jordan riveted America with her televised keynote speech at the Democratic Party National Convention.Read more

Reviews (8)

A REAL HERO
I'm glad that Jordan is not hear to see how the gov't of the people, for the people, by the people has been so completely perverted by special interests and neo patriots, such as George W. Bush and John Ashcroft.I was only a boy, when like many, I was captivated by this incredible person.She gave me hope that govt could actually serve the people.This book does a great job to capture her spirit and remind us that govt was once a tool and not force for opression.

Inspiring and Revelatory (sp)
This was a very inspirational book.Barbara Jordan's life was really incredible and the reason she accomplished as much as she did had to do with her innate abilities as well as her willingness to deal with the enemy. She kept her overriding goal utmost - the welfare of the people of East Texas. An effective treatment of an amazing woman
This is a well written and effective biography of one of America's most amazing personalities.Mary Beth Rodgers tells Jordan's story with the advantage of being an insider; her access to those who knew Jordan well shows in her insightful and complete telling of Jordan's life.Read more

Subjects:  1. African Americans    2. Afro-American women legislators    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Historical - General    8. Legislators    9. People of Color    10. Political    11. Regional Subjects - South    12. United States    13. Biography & Autobiography / Political