Two Roads to Sumter: Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis and the March to the Civil War

Book Description

Using the early lives and careers of Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis as theme and framework, two of America's finest historians outline each step in the tragic march to the Civil War. By showing how these two major figures--both Kentucky-born--developed divergent attitudes, the Cattons simultaneously reveal why the North and South became increasingly isolated from each other during the 1850s, and why war became inevitable. Also captured: the epic sweep of the era, with its great new railroads, land-hungry westward expansion, and developing industrial and agricultural empires.

Customer Reviews:

Lincoln and Davis - A Brilliant Study In Contrasts.......2005-10-05

By the Grand Master of American Historians, the late Bruce Catton and his son William.

In "Two Roads to Sumter" the Cattons brilliantly analyze how the Kentucky roots of both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis molded their character and their Allegiance to the Union, but also why those two great men chose to walk down different roads in the quest of keeping the United States united.

Always thought of as a kind, gentle man - which he indeed was, Lincoln nonetheless emerges from the Catton work as someone in the Sam Waterston (himself a Lincoln admirer of great standing) lawyer role on "Law and Order" - passionate, yet a pragmatist - and someone who was willing to compromise as he was to stand firm on principle. Lincoln detested Slavery, and was willing to do all he could to preserve the Union - but he chose to be pragmatic in those crucial, fatal months between the outcome of the 1860 election and the firing on Fort Sumter - staying quiet up to the inauguration, and appearing to be uncertain in those last two months before Beauregard gave the order to open fire. David Detzer in "Allegiance" has criticized the great man for this approach, submitting to the reader that a Jacksonian approach to the South might have prevented war.

But - it might have forced the "war hawks" hands much sooner, and that point is well taken by the Cattons. Their premise is that the South was ready and willing to go to war - and might have felt that way from the Kansas-Nebraska Act on. Unlike Detzer, the Cattons applaud Lincoln for staying the course, and being the brave and true man he was.

By contrast Jefferson Davis - who was described by Sam Houston as being as "ambitious as Lucifer" - and with his pointed beard even bore a sad resemblance to him, comes off better than he has at the hands of other historians. The Cattons were among the first to show that while Davis was uncompromising in his views on Slavery and state's rights, he was a fervent believer in the Union who unlike Lincoln had actually shed blood in battle for this nation. They describe his outstanding tenure as Secretary of War in Franklin Pierce's administration; his role in the Gadsen Purchase, in establishing the Camel Corps, in urging the building of railroads across the country. In all this Davis took the high road of country first, region second, even if he was also bettering the South.

When push came to shove however, Lincoln chose the Union, while Davis eventually became an uncompromising acolyte of secession and the south as a separate entity, even if his initial decision to leave the U.S. Senate and declare for a Confederacy was a reluctant one.

An immensely readable history of the story of two Americans - Lincoln and Davis, and the events leading up to the Civil War. To be placed alongside the three great titles on Secession and Fort Sumter - Detzer's "Allegiance"; Swanberg's "First Blood", and Klein's "Days of Defiance".

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100 Road Movies (Bfi Screen Guides)
Jason Wood
Manufacturer: British Film Institute
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1844571599

Book Description

From the earliest days of American cinema, the road movie has been synonymous with American culture. But the road movie is not uniquely American, and other national cinemas have offered their own take, adapting it to reflect their own sensibilities and geographies. Whatever its nationality, the road movie has presented a means by which to challenge and confront convention, remaining an ever-changing, fascinating metaphor for life. Beginning with an expansive essay tracing their historical development, 100 Road Movies is an entertaining but comprehensive guide to one of the most enduring and popular movie sub-genres. Film entries include The Grapes of Wrath, Easy Rider, Two-Lane Blacktop, Stranger Than Paradise, and The Motorcycle Diaries.

American Road Trips - Boxed Set of 4 VHS Tapes (California, Hawaii, Alaska, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Washington and More)

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American Road Trips - Boxed Set of 4 VHS Tapes (California, Hawaii, Alaska, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Washington and More)

Manufacturer: Questar Video Collection
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Product Description

As seen on the Travel Channel. Color VHS set of 4. Still in sealed wrapper. Numbered QV2912 through QV2915. Covers: Red Rock Rim, Northern New Mexico, Natchez Trace, Blue Ridge, Vermont, Michigan, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Washington, California, Hawaii and Alaska.

Biker - How the Original Cowboy of the Road became the Easy Rider of the Silver Screen

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Biker - How the Original Cowboy of the Road became the Easy Rider of the Silver Screen
Bill Osgerby
Manufacturer: Ivy Prospero
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1552677427

Product Description

Bikers , Truth & Myth , & Motorcycle Movies - illustrated with photographs ... 8-1/4 x 9-1/2 "

Lost Highways: An Illustrated History of Road Movies

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Lost Highways: An Illustrated History of Road Movies
Stephen Watson
Manufacturer: Creation Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Driving Visions: Exploring the Road Movie

ASIN: 1871592682

Book Description

The road movie: a complex cinematic journey that incorporates mythic themes of questing and searching, the need for being, for love, for a home and for a promise of a different future, and yet also serves as a map of current cultural desires, dreams, and fears.

Lost Highways explores the history of the road movie through a series of detailed essays on key films within the genre. Through these comprehensive and absorbing studies a clear and concise post-modern picture of the road movie emerges, tracing hitherto neglected intersections with other genres such as the western, film noir, horror and even science fiction.

Book Description

Reminiscent of Kerouac and Bukowski, this collection of poetry by Lee Ranaldo, guitarist of seminal punk band Sonic Youth, mirrors the dark, emotive beauty of the band's wall-of-noise style. The poems were inspired by time spent on the road and are infused with the strange clarity of travel; they have the same surreal, cinematic quality of landscapes viewed through the windows of a rapidly moving vehicle. Grainy photographs of roadside scenes contribute to the overall mood of restless freedom. This tenth anniversary edition contains 50 percent new material.

Customer Reviews:

how different from the sea is the boat.......2000-06-01

This book is small but its contents are Big. On records like Evol & Daydream Nation, Lee would spew forth words "@ breakneck speed, every bolt rumbling", things from real life & beyond whilst the band cranked it up perfectly. On paper it seems different but it helps to read it out aloud yrself. Of course a large part of this has been recorded for a record called Dirty Windows that came out last year, but still it is good to have in this form. In the Kingdom #19 is longer than the song itself was, & you find out what it is about, how THE CAR & DRIVER take over everything in certain moments of raw power & the landscape of rural or urban America. A lustful side of his personality is revealed in New Condo, Me & Jill [appeared on Ciccone Youth: the Whitey Album many years ago] & Angels. Some of the poems are contemplative, others are violent & passionate. Sonic Youth fans [i.e. anyone w/ 1/2 a brain] should enjoy this on some level, maybe fans of modern poetry will too. LEE IS FREE!

Ranaldo is a better musician than poet........1999-05-05

I bought Road Movies at a spoken word performance by Lee Ranaldo and Jim Carrol at the Landsdowne Street Playhouse in Boston, MA. In performance, Ranaldo's Road Movies comes alive. The Sonic Youth guitarist played to a pre-recorded tape of guitar affects, while playing live guitar and reciting his poems. Leah Singer, Ronaldo's wife, was on hand to project her dusty-rural road scenes as a backdrop and accompanyment. The performance was truly animated and exciting. But on paper Ranaldo's words and Singer's photographs come across rather blandly. I don't regret the purchase and I do refer to the book from time to time, but for someone who is not a Sonic Youth fan (or a fan of Ranaldo's solo works, for that matter), I'm afraid I wouldn't recomend Road Movies. Many of the poems featured in Road Movies can also be found in alternate versions on Ranaldo's various recordings with jazz drummer William Hooker.

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Road movies
Unknown
Manufacturer: Ediciones Acuarela
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 8495627035

Road movies: Action-Kino der Maschinen und Motoren

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Road movies: Action-Kino der Maschinen und Motoren
Adolf Heinzlmeier
Manufacturer: Rasch und Rohring
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Perfect Paperback

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ASIN: 3891360193

Road Movies: From Muybridge and Melies to Lynch and Kiarostami

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Road Movies: From Muybridge and Melies to Lynch and Kiarostami
Devin Orgeron
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0230601278
Release Date: 2007-12-26

Book Description

Road Movies engages with two foundational twentieth century technologies: cinematic and automotive. It is a book about road movies, a genre burdened by its own seductiveness. It is also, however, a book about images of human mobility more generally and the social function those images have served. From Eadweard Muybridge’s pre-cinematic experiments through contemporary films by David Lynch and Abbas Kiarostami, road movies are part of a larger imagistic tradition focused on the social costs of modernity and the consequences of a culture moving, often quite rapidly, away from the stabilizing structures of community and communication.

Book Description

The Burning Man Festival is a weeklong spasm of radical self-expression held annually just before Labor Day since 1986. In late August 2003, more than 33,000 participants converged in Nevada's Black Rock Desert for this counterculture event staged as an experiment in temporary community.

The participants gather to rid themselves of the conventional structures of their life and to "sample" the alternatives in hundreds of theme camps. The climax of the festival comes when attendees erupt into cheers and applause at the burning of a forty-foot-tall human effigy described as "part pre-technological idol and part post-technological puppet."

AfterBurn contributor Erik Davis writes of the festival, "Ironic and blasphemous, intoxicated and lewd, Burning Man's ADD theater of the absurd might even be said to embody the slap-happy nihilism of postmodern culture itself."

CounterCulture series editor David Farber summarizes the significance of the event: "[Burning Man is] spiritual discovery, utopian experiment, artistic spectacle, participatory democracy, do-it-yourself anarchism, and communitarian adventure." AfterBurn features ten essayists each addressing a specific aspect of the festival, from the recruitment and management of volunteers, to the artistic and cultural context of the modern conception of Utopia.

Both Lee Gilmore and Mark Van Proyen have attended Burning Man annually since 1996.

Contributors:

Katherine Chen (Cambridge, MA) received a PhD in sociology from Harvard.
Erik Davis (San Francisco, CA) is an author, journalist, and performance lecturer.
Allegra Fortunati (San Francisco, CA) serves on the curatorial committee and board of the LAB.
Jeremy Hockett (Ann Arbor, MI) received his PhD from the department of American studies, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.
Robert V. Kozinets (Madison, WI) is assistant professor of marketing, University of Wisconsin-Madison's School of Business.
JoAnne Northrup (San Jose, CA) is senior curator at the San Jose Museum of Art.
Sarah M. Pike (Chico, CA) is associate professor of religious studies, California State University.
John F. Sherry, Jr. (Evanston, IL) is an anthropologist at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

Stories of the counterculture event that brings together thousands each year for a weeklong spasm of self-expression in the Nevada desert.

Customer Reviews:

Scholars on the Playa.......2007-03-22

I'm pleased to see that academia is now starting to look to subcultural doings as they happen, instead of invoking the fond nostalgia that the Beatniks inspired. The ability to digest and deconstruct the events that take place in this otherworldly space is much to be commended, and I think that by doing so the authors of these various articles may be tapping in to something most of their colleagues shy away from. The articles themselves are intriguing and scholarly, but never lose sight of their subject. I would love to see more editions of this book as the event (and the world around it - the context) changes and grows!

Smell the playa dust..........2006-03-31

in these pages? Read this book and you will. Tho the author comments that this book was a composite of many different burning an festivals, te undercurrent feels strangely like one which puts you there in the middle of things.

There are a few details which, if you've been there, are a little flaky, and the book gets off to kind of a slow start (ergo the 4 stars) but as you bury yourself in this read (and it's one read that, if you're at all a burner, you will end up burying yourself in) you will be amazed... engrossed... wind blown... with a lot of little surprises thrown in that you don't expect, even all the way at the end.

There is another thing, tho... if you've never been to Black Rock City, and wonder what all the hubbub is about, ad you want to know if that ticket's worth it... and what it's getting you into... this book will give you a fairly good idea. Of course, your experience is your own... but, like I said in the beginning... read this, and you can almost smell the playa dust in these pages...

A pleasure!.......2006-01-13

Critical writing up to any academic standards fused with a joy in language and topic. Wonderful! It will make your mind spin with ideas, and what could be better than that!

Reflections on the Reflections of Burning Man.......2005-10-27

Prior to reading this excellent sophisticated introduction to Burning Man, I had dismissed this event as shamanism and tantra for amateurs. However, these well written, knowledgeable, and at times quite learned articles, have convinced me that Burning Man allows for the creation of authentic rituals that are rife with both transformative and aesthetic epiphanies. Moreover, it appears that Burning Man has largely not yet been" recouped" (to the use Guy Debord's term) by bourgeois capitualist society, and thereby succeeds where its predecessors, the Surrealists and Situationists, left off. Next year, instead of visiting the Himalayas or Mongolia for my taste of the (w)holy other, I will just go to Burning Man.

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Great Anecdotes

World Championship History

More like an almanac than a HOW TO book

Great Book on Poker Personalities

The Championship Table: At the World Series of Poker (1970-2003) (Championship Series)
Dana Smith , Tom McEvoy , and Ralph Wheeler
Manufacturer: Cardoza
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Gambling | Card Games | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Poker | Card Games | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King, The : Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time

Harrington on Hold 'em: Expert Strategies for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. III--The Workbook (Harrington on Hold'em)

Poker Aces

Phil Hellmuth Presents Read 'Em and Reap: A Career FBI Agent's Guide to Decoding Poker Tells

ONLINE ACE: A WORLD SERIES OF POKER CHAMPION'S GUIDE TO MASTERING INTERNET POKER

ASIN: 1580421253

Book Description

From 1970 when the champion was presented a silver cup, to 2003 when the champion was awarded $2.5 million, The Championship Table celebrates three decades of poker champions who have vied for poker's most coveted title. This book includes the names and photographs of all the players who made the final table, the last hand the champion played against the runner-up, how they played their cards, and how much they won. The Championship Table also features interviews and conversations with the champions and runners-up as well as interesting highlights from each Series. A tribute to the players who have risked the $10,000 entry fee and pitted their skills against the best in the poker world's toughest arena. A fascinating and invaluable resource book for World Series of Poker (WSOP) buffs.

Customer Reviews:

Great Anecdotes.......2004-05-27

The stories about playing poker on the old pro circuit are worth the price of the book. I enjoyed the brief attention paid to the often lucky final hand showdowns and the much greater time given to interviews with the winners. The big disappointment is the photos attached to the text. They resemble what photos would look like if they were taken by an infant, through a foot of water, with the lights turned off. The pictures should have been omitted; they are that bad.

This is an OK read with some exceptional advice from the top names in poker from the past two decades. Not destined to be a bestseller, but a good book for poker enthusiasts.

World Championship History.......2004-05-11

I greatly enjoyed the book! I found the year by year history of the world championship of no limit holdem facinating. Benny Binion created a fantastic event! It's wonderful to see how the event has grown over time from just a one table event, to probably 1000 players this year. If you are looking for playing advice go elsewhere. There are many other great how to play books available, but if you love poker and are interested in the history of it's biggest event then you will enjoy this.

More like an almanac than a HOW TO book.......2004-04-01

Reminds me of one of those baseball books with statistics but not much else. The stories are short and typically discuss one or two hands at most. If you want history it may have value but it will not improve your play.

Great Book on Poker Personalities.......2004-01-27

I received this book with the compliments of Cardsmith publishing. I am in Iraq and was looking for some good poker books. I read the book in two days! This book was very interesting and sparked my interest in several other poker personalities like Amarillo Slim, Unger, Moss, etc. Very entertaining. In addition, Dana Smith's interviews with the final table participants were very well done. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like a light read about some of the great poker players.

Championship Table: At the World Series of Poker (1970-2007)

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Championship Table: At the World Series of Poker (1970-2007)
Dana Smith , Tom McEvoy , and Ralph Wheeler
Manufacturer: Cardoza
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1580422292

Book Description

From 1970 when the champion was presented a silver cup, to 2007 when the champion was awarded $8.25 million, The Championship Table celebrates almost four decades of poker champions who have vied for poker’s most coveted title. This book includes the names and photographs of all the players who made the final table, the last hand the champion played against the runner-up, how they played their cards, and how much they won. The Championship Table also features interviews and conversations with the champions and runners-up as well as interesting highlights from each Series. A fascinating and invaluable resource book for World Series of Poker (WSOP) buffs. Includes strategy tips from the champions.

Book Description

In Why Nonprofits Fail, author and nonprofit expert Stephen Block explains that many well-intentioned leaders hold on to views of their nonprofit organizations that perpetuate problems rather than help fix them. According to Block, the first step to success is to challenge one's own personal paradigms and ideas and be open to unique and alternative approaches to solving problems. This much-needed book helps nonprofits get back on track and offers advice about the seven most common stumbling blocks, including:

Founder's syndrome
Fundphobia
Financial misfortune
Recruitment disorientation
Cultural depression in nonprofit organizations
Self-serving political performance
Role confusion between the board and executive director

Download Description

Founder's syndrome
Fundphobia
Financial misfortune
Recruitment disorientation
Cultural depression in nonprofit organizations
Self-serving political performance
Role confusion between the board and executive director

Customer Reviews:

Don't fail to read this book.......2006-02-14

Stephen R. Block provides essential information for anybody thinking about forming a non-profit corporation. Good intentions will quickly get drowned unless a LOT of thought and advance planning guides your non-profit organization from idea inception into founding and daily operations.

Contrasting with the cash-rich image of politics, the non-profit world is under girded by frugality and this is especially true for the start up non-profit organization. It must work to establish itself as both an effective and viable resource in communities which might have already-established non-profit organizations performing identical functions. How does the newcomer organization work better than predecessors? Why is supporting the newcomer organization a better choice for people? Starting and then successfully running a non-profit organization requires a LOT of work. It is emphatically NOT something people should do because they are bored or looking for public adoration.

In addition to organization structure, founder psychology is an essential component to non-profit organization viability. Boosting your organization certainly is essential to building its reputation, but cannot be done at the expense of (less-glamorous) long-term planning and idea sharing. How will the organization implement programs? What programs will be implemented versus what programs are not? Furthermore, a founder considering the organization "theirs" consequently will have a difficult time conceding when those ideas are ineffective or even detrimental to organizational affectivity.

However well-intentioned, some founders do not know when to ask for help or when the organization really needs it. This stalling consequently jeopardizes organization efficacy and longevity. Unable to fulfill original intentions, the organization subsequently folds while conversely the problem it was supposed to address remains. Early critical missteps ultimately give non-profit start-ups a very short future.

Block is a recognized expert in this field, but his real genius comes from wanting theories readily applicable to field practitioners, the start-up non-profits themselves. He actually intends this book to help people avoid all-too-common pitfalls in starting up and then running a non-profit organization.

I read this book after having worked at a start-up community organization ultimately unable to complete proposed projects despite good initial intentions; our organization subsequently lasted under a year. Block's `founders syndrome' chapter described the situations I had experienced with perfect clarity. I was also reassured the organization's ultimate failure was not a value judgment on me personally and our missteps happen to many other honestly-well intentioned people who also do not realize what starting up and successfully running a non-profit requires. The first couple of years are especially critical because they establish a non-profit as an essential community resource or a flash-in-the-pan.

This book needs to be required reading for anybody remotely thinking about forming a non-profit corporation or already working in a non-profit organization. It should also be a standard text in public administration courses about the non-profit experience.

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