Expansion Books

Denton interprets a British ancestor's experiences in crossing an ocean and a continent to join the Latter Day Saints in Utah. Jean Rio Baker was, by Denton's assessment, a wealthy Victorian woman who "fell sway" to the message of Mormon missionaries in the 1840's. Not long after her husband dies, she packed up her children and other members of her extended family and embarked from England on the arduous voyage to Utah.

Maybe it was her reality, but there seemed to be too much Mormon bashing in this book. It might have been that way, but as a biographer she certainly didn't take an unbiased view of the whole situation.

"Faith and Betrayal" tells the story of Jean Rio Baker, an Englishwoman who converted to Mormonism and emigrated to Utah in the early 1850s. The main primary source material for any understanding of Mrs. Baker's life is her emigrant journal. The journal itself covers an emigration period of nine months, is largely silent for the eighteen years that Mrs. Baker was in Utah, contains an entry at the end of that period alluding to Mrs. Baker's economic and religious disappointment during her time in Utah, and ends with a few entries made after she settled in California with other family members. Mrs. Baker's journal has been excerpted or included in several anthologies and collections, including "Saints without Halos" and "Audacious Women."

As a literary and historical document, Mrs. Baker's journal stands on its own, and a book-length treatment of her life would seem to be of questionable value absent the discovery or production of additional primary source material. However, Sally Denton provides little in the way of scholarship or original research in her book. Ms. Denton states at the outset her frustration that the L.D.S. church has gotten so much mileage out of the journal as a representation of the Mormon emigrant experience while failing to give equal billing to the "loss of faith" portion that is the crux of Ms. Denton's book. Ms. Denton states that the purpose of her book is to "restore" Mrs. Baker's voice that the L.D.S. church has "distorted."

Unfortunately, what the reader hears more often than not is Ms. Denton's voice, a voice that oftentimes is not only unsupported by the historical record, but is contrary to it in many respects. Not content with providing a running paraphrase of Mrs. Baker's journal, Ms. Denton cannot resist padding the journal to make Mrs. Baker a more active participant in the events described in the journal. However, Ms. Denton's use of dramatic license becomes more problematic in relation to the absence of journal entries during Mrs. Baker's time in Utah. Based on the one journal entry expressing Mrs. Baker's disappointment with life as it turned out in Utah, Ms. Denton attempts to detail the course of Mrs. Baker's disillusionment over the past eighteen years for which the journal is otherwise silent. Ms. Denton attributes very specific attitudes and beliefs to Mrs. Baker that find no support in the record: in Ms. Denton's telling, Mrs. Baker is personally repulsed by and vehemently opposed to polygamy, the Mountain Meadows Massacre, the Mormon doctrine of salvation, the Mormon principle of consecration, etc. Ms. Denton explains away Mrs. Baker's actual silence on any one of these topics by asserting that the atmosphere in nineteenth-century Mormon society was so repressive that a free-thinking woman like Mrs. Baker was sufficiently intimidated from confiding her innermost thoughts to her private journal. With this sleight of hand, Ms. Denton effectively turns Mrs. Baker into an empty vessel onto which Ms. Denton can project Ms. Denton's personal objections to the Mormon religion and experience as well as many of her modern-day sensibilities. Yet Ms. Denton represents Mrs. Baker's undocumented feelings and views on particular items with such certainty and specificity that one wonders whether Ms. Denton is channeling Mrs. Baker's spirit.

Many of Ms. Denton's factual assertions about Mrs. Baker's life and family are demonstrably false. Key among these is Ms. Denton's portrayal of Mrs. Baker and several of her children's removal to California as a calculated and dangerous "escape from Mormonism." The journal itself makes clear that Mrs. Baker accompanied a sick friend to California as a personal nurse, and had intended to return to Utah but was persuaded by her resident son to stay in California. Ms. Denton supports her "escape" storyline by vague references to family history or tradition, but only ends up contradicting herself. For instance, she claims that certain of Mrs. Baker's sons previously fled Utah for California under cover of night in order to avoid Mormon assassin squads. Her purported source for this assertion is unidentified California Baker descendants. Yet later on, Ms. Denton asserts that those same descendants had no knowledge that their ancestors were either Mormon or had come to California by way of Utah. Further, L.D.S. Endowment House records show that one of the "escaping" Baker sons was back in Utah several years later receiving his Mormon endowment ordinance. The journal itself indicates that the sons left for economic, not religious reasons. In this, as in other significant instances (beyond the limited scope of this review), Ms. Denton ignores contrary facts that do not advance her pre-determined storyline.

The book in part appears to be a vehicle for Ms. Denton to expound on nineteenth-century Mormon society. Ms. Denton goes beyond critical examination to demonstrate an unveiled contempt for all aspects of Mormon history, experience and belief, as well as a superficial and incomplete understanding of them. The factual mistakes are numerous and fundamental. She is unable to concede any good-faith aspects or motivations to either the religious system or its actors, and her nineteenth-century Utah is populated almost exclusively by abusive manipulators or easily-led dupes. This is due in large part to her uncritical reliance on the sensationalistic, anti-Mormon literature of the era.

In the end, Ms. Denton's book is not so much history as it is a polemic, at times veering off into the realm of historical fiction. There is little to no original scholarship evident. Ms. Denton relies on secondary or tertiary sources, freely projects or psychologizes, asserts unverifiable or suspect facts, and refers to uncited and unidentified "family members" as sources. In other words, an independent researcher would be at a loss to verify or fact check Ms. Denton's narrative as it applies to Mrs. Baker, and would have to duplicate Ms. Denton's original research, such as it is, from scratch. Those readers interested in Mrs. Baker's life and journal would be better served by reading Mrs. Baker's account in her own words, which are more engaging in any case, rather than having it filtered and skewed by a compromised intermediary with a personal agenda.

As the PW review states, the book is riddled with factual errors--large and small. It is also full of the author's anti-religious and anti-Mormon prejudice; events and people are always cast in the dimmest light (except the author's own ancestor and family) and Denton seems unable to imagine a religious worldview. I would have like more direct quoting from Jean Rio Baker's journals and a more dispassionate point of view that accounted for the reason people of the 19th century were so compelled to leave their home countries to emigrate to Utah and take part in what Mormonism seemed to promise. I bought this book to get a sense--from Jean Rio Baker--of who she was and why she converted to Mormonism, but the factual errors and value judgments cloud the book's credibility so much that it did not really address those issues.

I was so glad to be able to read this book. I have a Great grandmother who was put on a ship at the age of 13 from Denmark, sent to the Mormans all alone, no other family member came. Her mother and father divorced in Denmark, over this desire of my great grandmother's mother to join the Mormans, she herself never came to America. This left my Great Grandmother to fend for herself. I had never been able to understand how this could possibly have happened, until I read this account. Like Jean Rio, she came to dispise the Morman Faith and her descendents in general refered to themselves as "Jack Mormans".

I was totally captivated with the life of this lady who left her wealthy & comfortable home in England to join up with the Mormon's. That is after they paint a rosy picture of their "Promised Land in Utah Territory". But they certainly failed to mention a few minor things that would take place.

I was raised a Mormon and left it over 35 years ago to become a Bible believing Christian. I was certainly never taught what really happened in the early formative years and this book brings out the true events.

I always wondered how the church could grow as it did and this book explains all of that. It brings out the perverted cult it really was and the hardships put upon this woman after joining. She was never told she would have to give all her possessions & money. Brigham Young lived quite well from the funds given in Utah, while the others lived in stark poverty. They never told the people in England before they left for the new world of the polygamy, poverty, communal living etc... & so much more.

Sally tells the story well, between the entries in the journal & without animosity as she certainly could.

This was a fascinating work and after reading this book I will read the book Sally Denton wrote on the Mountain Meadows Massacre. She has done her homework in the background and setting of this book and I am sure she will do well in the next one.

If you are serious about learning to play Sim City 4 Deluxe, this is your key. Great insight to the game's inner workings and idiosyncrisies. It allows you to cross reference and find the answer to your questions as the arise without having to read it cover to cover before starting the game.

i got this and its helped me out tons and now iunderstand the game alot more!

This manual is a very weak and nearly completely useless manual for newbies trying to tackle the scope of this complex game. The game itself is challenging enough but this manual only scratches the surface of what needs to be done in order to run a successful city. A dissapointment. The Simcity 4 "Rush Hour" expansion pack though corrects many of the mistakes of this older manual.

Everyone in our family LOVES Sim City 4. It is addictive. But while the game interface may be fairly intuitive, the strategies and tips that help you build really big cities can be elusive. This guide gives you all the details you need and gives many useful tips for taking your simulation to a higher level. The book is well organized into chapters on getting started, modes of play, zoning, finance, utilities, transportation, education, rewards etc, and finishes with multiple city play, business deals, disasters, landmarks and even cheats; however, this book does not offer help with the Rush Hour expansion that may be included with your game, so there is no help on driving the many vehicles and their accompanying missions. I also found that some of the things I especially wanted to learn about, like monorails, were not included, so there must have been subsequent changes to the software. Stil this book has been very helpful. There are lots of pictures, though they are a bit fuzzy.

I would recommend this book to someone who wants a handy list of the many details needed to step up the gameplay.

This is highly technical, but not very helpful. It doesn't give you any ideas on how to build a better city. Read it if you've never played any SimCity games before, but otherwise, try out the tutorials first before you spend money on this book.

Alexander the Great comes to Egypt, while Egyptian princess Meriamon and Macedonian soldier Nikolaos strive to forge a relationship.

Tarr's writing flows well and her description is occasionally lovely. I found the plot a little short on action, but generally well-structured. Characters are reasonably appealing, though Tarr's Alexander lacks the sheer fire of Renault's classic portrayal, and the relationship between Meriamon and Niko never quite coalesces for me. It amused me that Egypt's rebelliousness gets sympathetic treatment, while city-states resisting Alexander are perforce black-magic practitioners and baby-sacrificers. Touches of magical elements here are sometimes a bit nebulous, though Meriamon's Anubis-shadow is a nice image.

This book is an absolute jewel. The author's literary style is one of a kind. It is unique in its exquisiteness in the use of the language, colorfulness of expressions, narrative flow in which the events are told as they are follow the internal mental work-about s of a female ancient mind...within another time, a time at which neither logic nor material issues were able to fight the imperial and absolute status held by superstition and perhaps Magic.

Judith Tarr tells a story which is rich with description, and she refreshingly tells it from an Egyptian point of view. There are too many historical fictions told from the Greek or Macedonian or even Persian point of view. An Egyptian perspective is quite fascinating. Meriamon, a priestess, (and the daughter of a Pharaoh) is the main character. We read of her journey, why she must meet Alexander the Great, and how she helps and guides him to his goals. Since I have a great interest in Alexander the Great, I was afraid that the story would deal mainly with Meriamon and Egypt, and not enough with Alexander. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Meriamon's story is greatly intertwined with Alexander's. Also, I was also glad to see that Judith Tarr acknowledged Alexander's close relationship with his good friend Hephaistion, who is often overlooked.

Some of my thoughts on the story: While you don't have to know Egyptian history to read this book, I'm sure it would help. I'm not familiar with many Egyptian gods other than Ra and Anubis, and found myself struggling a bit; also, part of the book is romance- Meriamon falling in love with one of Alexander's close soldiers- and it is done in such a way that it is quite believable. There are one or two love scenes- very short- but they kind of pop out of nowhere. Also, the book switches from Meriamon's point of view to other characters' point of view, so be sure to pay attention or it will become confusing.

I felt that Judith Tarr had a very good grasp on Alexander's character. He was an amazing general and strategist, but he also did some foolish things (as everyone does). Overall, I'd recommend this story. If you'd like to read more historical fiction concerning Alexander the Great, I'd recommend Mary Renault's Alexander trilogy: Fire from Heaven, The Persian Boy, and Funeral Games. I also just finished Melissa Scott's A Choice of Destinies and would recommend that as well.

I bought this book on a whim at an antique store because I *love* anything to do with Egypt. Usually, I don't read all the novels I get for months or years after I get them, but for some reason I started reading this one the night I bought it.

And it was wonderful. I had very many late bedtimes thanks to this book, and Tarr's delightful characters. In fact, I just finished it today, and could not have been more satisfied with the story. The interaction between Niko and Meriamon is very tempting and gives away just enough info at a time to keep the story moving. And the magic isn't too overdone (though at times could drift from historical fiction to fantasy) and is faithful to the Egyptian pantheon. All in all I thought it was an excellent book, even though it's not "the best" book of historical fiction I've seen. I heartily recommend it to anyone looking for some magic. :)

Amazing Novel - Meriamon, daughter of the last pharoah, must bring Alexander to Egypt and convince him to take up the position as pharoah of the Two Lands.


This book is a wonderful read, the relationship between Alexander and Haphaistion, as more than just lovers, is clearly displayed. Meriamon's commitment in fullfilling her duty to her country and to her King is reminiscent of Tarr's strong female heroines. It also has its lighter notes with Alexander's brother Arrhidaios and the fictional chracter Nikos who is Mariamon's love interest.

All in all Tarr has captured the essence of the characters perfectly, you feel as if you know them and wish you could have met them!

"King & Goddess" is also another one of my favorites by Tarr (displays the life of Hatsepshut, Queen-Pharaoh of Egypt)

The Harbinger and Dragon Eye expansions are a great way of accumulating miniatures for your roleplaying enjoyment. Don't expect any professional paint jobs using dry brush and ink techniques, and you'll be well pleased. For the price, this is the way to go to quickly enjoy miniatures battles.

For those that enjoy customizing/painting miniatures, these provide a suitable paint foundation to expand upon. Rather than having to start from the ground up as you would w/typical miniatures you buy for $5 a pop, you can quickly improve upon the look of the miniature through your own drybrush and inking techniques straight out of the box. Add ground cover and you've got a professional looking miniature that closely rivals lead-based.

Another advantage of using plastic miniatures is their ability to withstand being tossed around more during battle, or in storage. Paint on lead-based miniatures tend to chip more often due to their shear weight and inflexibility when colliding with other miniatures or objects.

The drawback w/plastic is that many long swords on these miniatures look more like melted taffy than strong and dangerous instruments of destruction.

Have fun!

I was really excited to see the miniatures when I received it by mail. I opened the box and was really surprised of the quality of the miniatures. They are extremely well sculpted and 95% of the time they are reasonably to very well painted. They save lots of painting hours thats for sure!
Great buy!

Merric's Law of Miniatures: Non-Random Packaging, Cheap Prices, and a Large Range of Figures: Choose two

Okay, I have to admit I don't love random packaging, but it dose have it's advantages.
It allows retailers to carry the product with less fear of less popular models colecting dust and costing them money.
It allows for singluar packaging design, and random allotment on the maufacturing end.
It allows the Customer to get 8 FULLY PAINTED plastic miniatures for the price of 2-3 of their unpainted, unassembled, metal counterparts.
Also since plastic is cheaper than tin/pewter the figures tend to be larger and more robustly sculpted.

Personally the convenience of them being prepainted alone is incentive enough for me. When it comes down to getting 7 painted figures or 2-3 I'll never get around to painting myslef, the choice is clear.

Painting miniatures is a hobby in itself and not one we all have the time to indulge in.

The miniatures come with dual stat cards for each figure. D&D Miniatures skirmish rules and D$D 3.5 stats. These cards are valuable enough that they could be a product by themselves and their value should not be understated.

For a complete review of the harbinger miniature line, please see my post on the entry pack...

What should be stated in addition to that previous post is that the price per miniature is cheaper (even though it provides fewer miniatures than the entry pack) - the expansion packs DO NOT provide the terrain cards, fold-out map, 20-sided die, or rulebook. Expansions packs are a great way to bulk-up on your collection. However, as you start to collect more expansion packs - you will increasingly be provided with the common miniatures that you no longer want and will still be missing some of the more rare miniatures that you desire. This is the result of randomized packaging. Your only hope is to sell your undesired miniatures individually or hope to trade groups of them for a single rare miniature (others like having tons of common miniatures for mass battles).

I only gave the expansion pack 3 stars because I would like to see the price per miniature to be lower, or for them to increase the number of miniatures per package. It should also be noted that the Harbinger series is going to be the BASE miniature line for D&D for maybe a year. After the next series, Dragoneye, is released - the harbinger expansion packs are likely to become unavailable (although the entry packs should be available for the year).

Having read the many mixed reviews of the new D&D miniatures, it was with some hesitation that I took the plunge and bought a few packs. Like those reviewers whom I found most convincing, I think the miniatures, while flawed, are a good value for the money spent.

As others have said, quality of painting and sculpting varies wildly from figure to figure. Most of them -- say, 70 to 75 percent -- stack up pretty well against the typical amateur's paint job. A few -- 20 percent -- are noticeably better, and a very few -- 5 to 10 percent (Axe Sister, anyone?) -- are horrendous.

Here's the short version:

If you like painting your own figures, and have the time to do so in the numbers a typical D&D game requires, these probably aren't for you. But if you'd like to assemble and use anywhere from a dozen to a couple hundred colorful models, sized and sculpted specifically for D&D ... the D&D miniatures are worth your $1.25 each.

Backed into finding out about this book through the reference section in a Hemisynch/Holosynch Brain entrainment audio article. This is a great reference even though it is over twenty years since the last printing. I have just ordered another copy to ensure that I'll always have one around for reference. Superb job of covering the material. Yes the pictures are dated but, if you use this book as a starting point, the techniqes and machines that he discusses are still available and the staying power validates some of the viability of the techniques/instruments. I am on my second time through it because it is a lot to absorb and it is a compelling read.

This is THE book on Mind machines and technology aimed at helping people take control of their consciousness and mental states. It discusses sound and light machines, biofeedback and a wide range of other technologies. It was way ahead of its time when it originally appeared, and I don't know of any other book that has updated it, other than MegaBrain Zones, also by Mike Hutchison. This book is a great way to get a handle on the technologies available for exploring consciousness.

This book was originally released in 1981, and then rereleased in 1986. Although the title states it is about "NEW" tools and techniques for brain growth and mind expansion, the tools and techniques are in fact 20 years old. You should see the black and white photo section of the antiquated electronics! Don't bother with this book - there has to be something more recent out there.

I anticipated a book with a lot of hard information about the use of "mind machines". What I got was a superficial Time magazine article that ran on for several hundred pages. I was unable to force myself to wade through the hash of gee-whiz anecdotes and generally purple prose to get the end of this volume, but it is hard to believe the the second half will make the kind of stylistic change that would make the book interesting or useful.

I read this book in 1986 and bought it back several time since. I learned a lot. I was fully satisfied and that spured me into buying a lot of other books.

I enjoyed this book for not only it's terrific writing style but also of the excellent photographs of historical sites around the world, artifacts, and more. It's a terrific history lesson and some of the strategies Alexander used in battle were unbeliveable!! The book contains the sex lives of Alexander, Darius - his nemesis, and more. When Darius died Alexander acquired Darius's eunich a beautiful young man and they became intimate even as Alexander had a wife. There is a lot mentioned about trysts and more. The main emphasis is on the battles and chase of Darius the coward and the ending is quite remarkable. Once I started reading I couldn't put it down until finished. I give this book my highest rating and highly, highly recommend it. You'll be glad you did. Other books I highly recommend are: Conan, Kull, Solomon Kane, Best of Robert E. Howard, Lord Samarcand, Two-Gun Bob, Blood & Thunder-The Life & Art of Robert E. Howard, One Who Walked Alone by Novalyne Price, The Last of The Trunk by Paul Herman, and The Star Rover by Jack London that was a book REH read and to his mind it was like wine. Enjoy!

The greatest of the great. Laura Foreman wrote a truly great book about Alexander of Macedon. She covered the empire expansionist icon's life thoroughly and systematically. Beginning with Philip of Macedon's rise to power, Foreman chronicled Alexander's birth, his contemptuous relationship with his mother and father and his quest to rule the known world.

Foreman's chapters read like parchment from court scribes who followed the Greece's foremost ruler across the Mediterranean to the monsoon-soaked inland of India. Chapter by chapter, the reader learns how Alexander motivated infantry soldiers and generals alike.

Arguably the world's first multiculturalist and unparalleled military and political strategist, Alexander found ways to have the men who fought with him to rise to heights greater than would seem possible. Foreman leaves no stone unturned as she details the upheavals in the ranks, events back home in Greece, Alexander's questionable marriage to Roxanne and his dubious connection with Hephaestion.

Astonishingly beautiful pictures accentuate this tale of one of the world's greatest leaders. It's an easy read, very informative and without a doubt it makes for either a coffee table book or a personal library keeper.

Before I begin my review id like to point out some inaccuracies from previous reviews listed here..First, there was no Greek nation in ancient times but Greek city-states...Athens Sparta Thebes Corinth and yes Macedonia...Ive read previous reviews where the authors claim that the the Greeks revolted under Macedoanian rule which is true...Greek city states greatly valued their independence even from other Greek city states..Such is the case between Athens and Sparta when they tried to dominate each other leading to the Peloponnesian War..It is natural that they would revolt..Claiming that because the other Greek city-states revolted against Macedonia as proof of Macedonians being a non-Greek people is false!!

Id like to ask or suggest some food for thought to my FYROM readers(Former YugoSLAV Republic Of Macedonia) or disbelievers that the MAcedonians were Greek these FACTS:

1)Why is there no evidence of a non-Greek Macedonian language?
the ancient Macedonians spoke Greek and had Greek names..
2)Where is this non-Greek Macedonian culture hiding?
All ancient Macedonian artifacts are Greek
Are we suppose to believe the that the ancient Macedoanians were not Greek and then one day out of the blue they said the hell with it let's be Greek? Lets speak Greek, worship Greek gods, write in Greek, structure our conquered territory based on Greek ideas and culture, setting up gymnasiums, theater, agoras..etc.. common on people!!! No conquerer has ever conquered a country or territory and then poof in an instant forgot his roots..I once heard someone use Rome as an example regarding its conquering of the ancient Greek city states and adopting Greek culture.Id like to point out that Rome never adopted Greek as its official language. Romans never adopted Greek names ( cicero ceasar aurelias are not greek)and most of all you can clearly see a distinction between Roman literature and Greek..

3)Why did Alexander idolize Greek heroes such as Achilles, why did he keep a copy of the Illiad around as if it were his bible written by another Greek Homer..How is Aristotle his tutor Greek and Alexander isnt when they are both Macedonians?


4) Why would the ancient Greeks place the home of their gods( Zeus Athena Poseidon etc) on MT OLYMPUS which is located in ancient Macedonia??
Does it make sense for a people to place their holy sites in a foreign land??? Doesnt anyone think logically anymore?

Todays inhabitants of FYROM are a mix of Bulgarians, Albanians, Gypsies.
Slavic people arrived in the Balkans in the 6th and 7th century AD...
It is LOGICALLY incorrect for these citizens to believe they are Macedonians...They are Slavs and there is ZERO evidence of the ancient Macedonians being Slavic!

Todays FYROM scholars have NO TANGIBLE EVIDENCE to claim that the ancient Macedonians were not Greek just revisionistic lies!


Furthermore,FYROM's former president Kiro Gligorov in the Toronto Star on March 15, 1992 said: "We are Macedonians but we are Slav Macedonians. That's who we are! We have no connection to Alexander the Greek and his Macedonia. The ancient Macedonians no longer exist, they had disappeared from history long time ago. Our ancestors came here in the 5th and 6th century (AD)."



In an interview with the Ottawa Citizen, Gyordan Veselinov, Macedonia's Ambassador to Canada said: "We are not related to the northern Greeks who produced leaders like Philip and Alexander the Great. We are a Slav people and our language is closely related to Bulgarian" and that "there is some confusion about the identity of the people of this country."

"It is a lovely thing to live with courage,and die leaving an everlasting fame". These are Alexander's words. Whether he was Greek or Macedonian, it does make a difference of course, but it does not change who the man was.The pictures, in this book are gorgeous.Having read so much and still reading about Alexander's life, I strongly feel that Greece and Macedonia were entertwined together,and it shall be so regardless of what we human say about old Macedonia and Greece.After all we are all God's creatures.
The cover of the book by itself is so stunning!!!!!

facts:
1)ancient macedonians worshiped the greek gods.There is no
evidence whatsoever in books written from Fox,Fuller,Green etc
of a "makedonian" god!
2)Alexandros and Philipos are greek names.If so-called "professors" like Gandeto,Borza cannot explain once and for all why they beared greek names then they are real amateurs.
(at least someone provide us with their "makedonian" names...!)
3)Alexander cultivated the greek culture in his entire empire.
This age is called the hellenistic period not the "Makedonian"
period.Why?I think it is obvious.
4)There is no book whatsoever written by a decent historian
in the 19th century claiming that the ancient macedonians where not greek.This whole nonesence whas a conspiracy from Tito to
claim greek teritory.This was aknowledged even from the NATO allies!
5)the so called "MaKedonians" have slavic origins.They
arrived almost 700 years after Alexander's death!!

I've read a few books on LBH and Custer and this one takes the cake for going after Capt. Benteen. If Custer had attacked the Indians with half the vigor that Nightengale goes after Benteen, Custer would have died in a rockingchair in the 1930s instead of the dusty plains of Montana in 1876.

I imagine someone with more knowledge of the fight could take the arguments presented in this book to task. I found the points raised provocative, fun and funny.

My biggest beef is the high price. The book is crammed with glossy photos and old paintings but hardly any worth looking at and many only vaguely connected to the text. Stylistically, it reminds me of a "coffee table" book--the type you'll often see in the 50%-70%-off pile at the national bookstores. This book would make a good paperback and would have gotten five stars if $10 were taken off the price. If you're a LBH nut go ahead and buy the book--you'll enjoy the unique perspectives. If you're a beginner you'd be better off buying two or three other titles for the same price.

A very good summation of what happened when Custer went against the Grant administration and suffered the consequences. Long known as the "Indian Fighter", it was actually his testimony against corruption in the Bureau of Indian Affairs and within the Grant administration, and corruption and ineptness at the highest government and Army levels that set the stage for the Little Big Horn. It is time for the truth to overcome the misinformation of the revisionist Custer "historian". Bravo

First time author Robert Nightengale introduces an interesting theory about 'Custer's Last Stand', however, he is not a professional historian, nor is he, unfortunately, a professional or trained researcher. His theories are simply not supported by historical fact. His theories seem to derive from the concept of "what would I have done if I were in Custer's shoes". We end up with what Mr. Nightengale would have done had he been George Armstrong Custer. I agree with his theory that Custer was betrayed by his subordinate battalian commanders, and there certainly is plenty of evidence to support the notion of an official cover-up of the scandal by Washington, however, Nightengale loses all credibility with his unsupported theories concerning Custer leaving a detachment of troops atop Weir Point, and that Custer got across the river and into the Indian camp, where he proceeded to burn several lodges. There is simply no credible evidence to support this view. Overall, it is an interesting work written by an amateur historian.

This is a good source book on Custer. Undoes much of the revisionist history on Custer, who was a scapegoat for the Grant Administration. Custer did follow orders that day, but had to alter his plans to fit the unexpected circumstances. The big lesson in this is that we should not second guess the commander in the field and use his ememies to testify against him.

We finally have a view of the battlefield from an amateur. what a breath of fresh air i've recieved! it's a game that we as a country have been playing for so long. cover the facts, hide the blame, dead men tell no tales. Mr Nightengale has brought forth a version of this battle and it's clear that custer followed military protocol of that era. the question is, why, when reno was on the hill,and the enemy was carrying the 7th's gidion, did he not acknowledge custer needing support? Benteen, was told to bring up the packs, big village. He watered his horses on the way! The battle field in Montana is littered with graves. this book is the closest i've been to the truth of what happins when a command breaks down. Military duty on the western frontier was a dirty business. Farm boys looking to get off the farm, and thieves,lowlifes,con-men,gamblers, looking for a free ride to the west. This wasn't the civil war days. Custer had an unruly cast of deserters. I commend Bob Nightengale for letting us see the cowards, and the brave men that made up the 7TH calvary.

This book is a deep exploration of the human roots from conception to implantation on Earth. Many questions can be answered if the reader is willing to study this one closely.

Nothing new here.

I personally found the writing stile drawn out and irritating, stating the obvious "mother to child" sort of speak....the authors seem to assume you have just discovered sex, but this is only my opinion, you may enjoy the book and get something out of it.For me,it was an effort and a yawn to read it and eventually I gave up. If you are new to sex (magick) you could do worse....I think.

The book provides an excellent overview of how sexuality is viewed and manifested in our society. It stresses that a person's sexuality is in reality a direct connection to the God-Mind. However, in our society media and religious organizations
deny this aspect and continue to use sexuality and/or sexual energy for their own purposes in control and punishment of the people.
This book is a must read for anyone who really wants to expand their consciousness and know the real meaning of sexuality. It initially describes various sexual conduct and how these are related to specific mind-patterns and programming aspects. The book then invites the reader in use of archetype sentences, visualizations and specific affirmations that can be used individually to enhance the sexuality and God-Mind connection.

The book is great. Makes you think a lot about your relationships, can help you guide you toward a better and more satisfying relationship. A definite for anyone who wants to have a more purer belief towards sexuality.

This book had some insights into sexuality, although I found it to be short on details at times. I wanted a more in-depth examination. It was over-priced when considering the content.

I liked the section about how the Illuminati participate in sex magic orgies to create a purpose that they have in mind at the time of the orgy. You can use sexual energy to create things for positive or negative purposes. Swerdlow suggests that we can have a group orgy for positive results, rather than the negative ones the Illuminati creates. That is, if you can handle it. Swerdlow gives us a very liberal view of sexuality saying that heterosexuality, homosexuality, asexuality, and bisexuality are all legitimate and are all needed. Group orgies can be all female, all male, or mixed for different purposes. --I got a lot of cognitive dissonance after reading Talmud of Immanuel, which is very restrictive on sexuality. Which one is right?--Swerdlow thinks that heterosexuality is promoted to produce and maintain a slave race, but I've heard other conspiracy angles, such as homosexuality is promoted to destroy traditional families and mores, or that the Illuminati actually wants a reduction of reproduction. The Illuminati use sexual arousal to program sex slaves and other slaves because it is easy to program someone in such a state. To deprogram, a male healer has to sexually arouse the male or female victim of the programming. The illuminati use strict control or over-exposure of sexuality to manipulate the minds of masses for their own ends. Puritanical religions, advertising, and porn are given as examples.

This book seemed to end at least 50 pages too soon in the sense that there are only tantalizing glimpses of the last 25 years of geologist, author, would-be mining baron Clarence King's life (1842-1901). "Where's the rest?", I thought. Then I looked again at the front of the book and parsed the full title, "The Explorer King: Adventure, Science, and the Great Diamond Hoax--Clarence King in the Old West". Oh, it wasn't supposed to be a full biography of the pioneering geologist who became nationally known through his colorful writing about travels, adventures and mountaineering exploits that mostly occurred before he tuned thirty. Rather it focuses just on King's adventures (exploring previously undocumented mountain ranges, making first ascents of high peaks, violent encounters with Indians and outlaws), science (education with leading geologists at Yale, field work with the California Geologic Survey, leading, at age 25, his own multi-year pioneering exploration/survey of the Great Basin and publishing several books that were scientific standards of the era) and the Great Diamond Hoax (exposing a huge financial fraud that made worldwide news in the early 1870s).

But if it's not supposed to be a biography why did the author devote almost a third of the book to King's childhood and college years as well as sketches of King's upper strata social life that had little or nothing to do with the themes promised in the subtitle? It's especially perplexing because some of the "exploration" begs for more detail since large swaths of the country that King explored are barely mentioned.

Today King is best known for his once-bestseller Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada, and anyone who has read that book - excerpted and described at some length in Explorer King - will find nothing new here. Likewise there are entire books devoted to the Great Diamond Hoax, and although King played the pivotal in exposing the hoax (and reaped scads of publicity for himself in the process), this episode consumes an inordinate amount of space to set up the story before King (alerted by members of his survey staff) rushes in to save the day. As for the science and King's 40th Parallel Survey's position relative to the other large scale geologic surveys that overlapped his work, I highly recommend Great Surveys of the American West by Bartlett. Apparently the best biographies of King, which author Wilson refers to several times are an unpublished 1953 PhD dissertation, So Deep a Trail, by Crosby and a 1988 work by Wilkins, Clarence King a Biography. These books and others are listed in a three-page bibliography.

I reluctantly concur with another reviewer that this book is something like a college term paper that draws together material from its bibliography but contributes nothing original to the subject. There are 18 pages of term paper style, chapter-by-chapter footnotes at the end of the book but, oddly, the text itself doesn't contain any superscript footnote numbers so it's hard to connect the text to the notes (I didn't even realize they existed until I got to the end of the book). The author pieces together material from his sources in an almost novelistic style and the story skips around chronologically in places, a practice I found confusing.

Recommended to anyone wants to read just a single account of the career and adventure highlights of a leading 19th Century American scientist/explorer/adventurer to learn a bit about the era and its interests and accomplishments. Readers who want to study the era and it's leading figures comprehensively would do well to look elsewhere. Numerous period b&w photos, mostly widely reproduced elsewhere, are scattered through the book but many are too small to see clearly. Two large scale sketch maps cover the regions most prominent in the book but they don't have enough detail to locate all the major events mentioned.

An absorbing biography of famed geologist Clarence King.
I must admit that while not totally ignorant in the sciences, I had never heard of the man.

In his early twenties he accomplished many outstanding feats while climbing, mapping and geologizing in California's high Sierra Nevada mountains. Then, at the age of twenty-five he was placed in charge of the fortieth parallel scientific expedition across the western U. S. The culmination of his career was uncovering the great diamond hoax in northwestern Colorado.

All this field work and close observation of the natural and physical world lead King to his own geological theories of time, space and evolution. For the first half of his life the man was highly regarded and respected for both his demeanor and scientific contributions. Sadly, the second half of his life he basically "fell off the planet ".

This book does not discuss in much detail the USGS and the second half of Clarence's life but it places you in the times of King and during some of the most interesting parts of his adventures in the West. I really enjoyed the book and found that the author created an interesting angle by carefully reviewing King's upbringing, religious beliefs and how he squared his religious convictions with an education and career in science during the mid 1800s.
This is not a historical tome but a fairly light read where the author keeps the material interesting. It is like a rock skipping over the surface of his life. A good read that leaves me hoping others will write additional books to tell other parts of his story.

As a geographer with an interest in the opening of the west I looked forward the this book. Unfortunately it is poorly written and repetitious, and half-way through King's life the author appears to lose interest in the subject. There is nothing about the rivalry between King's Survey and the other great surveys led by Powell, Hayden and Wheeler that lead to the establishment of the U. S. Geological Survey. Nor is there any mention of the political fighting between King and Ferdinand Hayden that led to King's selection as the first director of that agency. A major disappointment.

For me, this book was an introduction to the daring and storied adventurer scientists of the mid-nineteenth century. I bought it with great anticipation and, after reading the dust jacket, I began with a novice's eagerness on a journey of which I knew little. The first chapter was set in Washington D.C., after all of King's great adventures had been accomplished, in the parlor of Henry and Clover Adams accompanied by their usual guests and friends, Clarence King and John and Clara Hay. These five were such fast friends that they were referred to in the inner circles of Washington as the Five of Hearts. And the glue that held them together was King himself, with his great raconteur tales and his abundant charm. Adams called him the most remarkable man in their circle--tremendous praise considering Adam's circle of friends.

What a unique way to establish your protagonist and to whet the reader's appetite for the adventure to come.

Unfortunately the first chapter is as good as this book gets. It is not that the story is not worth reading. For the most part it is. One learns a great deal about geology, surveying, the geography and topology of the West, and the sense of adventure that any white explorer felt in going into these new, wild and dangerous territories. It is that the telling of the story turns flat--never matching, or coming close, to the rip-roaring story telling, charismatic, fast living, adventure filled life of Clarence King. The book is a polite scholastic treatment, if you will. It reminds the reader not of a book, but rather, of a dissertation.

If this were not enough, the author devotes only three pages of the last chapter to the surreptitious last half of King's life and his marriage to a black woman who bore him five children. This relationship he kept secret to the world, with only his most devoted friends having an awareness. This would have been fertile ground to develop even more the complex character and turmoiled person that was King. The author, however chooses to pass by this last 29 years of King's life; instead retreating into the scholastic realm with which the author is most comfortable--the retelling and analysis of a speech that King made at Yale, his alma mater. With this, the book abruptly ends.

It is like a Doctoral student who doesn't quite know how to end his thesis and submits it to the jury of peers hoping that it will be enough. I don't think that it would have earned the degree.

This is a great book if you want an overall synopsis of the history of the American West. While the author has a snarky comment here and there, overall I was beyond impressed with this book. It is a little more text book than straight read, but each section is manageable -- I learned a lot!

This is an excellent brief overview of the history of the American West. I find I wanted to get into this history having traveled a bit in the West in recent years and was not ready to tackle the author's full history (which I'll do later) and I was not quite ready to read De Voto's 3 volumes. Frontiers served its purpose: I have now read one of De Voto's books and am into a second one. The illustrations in Frontiers and the suggested readings list are both very helpful.

The narrative style is lovely. The chronological swath is impressive. The graphics are informative and easy to read. The authors are distinguished scholars. This book has everything going for it... except that it's ruined by politics. Basically, everyone in this part of the world at that time EXCEPT the white men who happened to be building the country has a reason to be proud and pissed off. Mexicans. Indians. Women. Animals. Slaves. Russians. Spanish. Rocks. Trees. Rivers. All of you guys were cool, just minding your own business when, BAM!, a horde of ignorant, exploitative and self-interested white men called "Americans" came along and destroyed your peaceful civilizations.

Too bad. This is really a good book, but it would be a really great book without the white man's guilty conscience.

"...When Cartier met natives along the Newfoundland coast they greeted him with the only European words they knew - aca nada, "Nothing is here" in Spanish."

This is WRONG. I can't believe Hine and Faragher call themselves historians.

The name Canada comes from a chance meeting between Jacques Cartier and two young native Indians in 1535. The two Indians were showing Cartier the route to their village, Stadacona but they called their village "Kanata", (the Huron-Iroquois word for village). The name stuck and Kanata was then used by Cartier and other explorers to apply to an increasingly larger area. In 1547 everything north of the St. Lawrence River was designated as "Canada." The first official use of the name was in 1791 when Quebec was divided into Upper and Lower Canada. On July 1, 1867 - the date of the country's confederation - the name "Canada" was assumed.

On its own terms, this book is a huge success.

It synthesizes the past 30 years of serious historical research which revolutionized the presentation of the history of the American West by rescuing the experiences of groups who had been relatively ignored by standard interpretations. Indians, women, blacks, Latinos, Asians, workers are dealt with at length and with sympathy.

The research of anti-capitalist/neo-Marxist, anti-imperialist and pro-environmental historians is summarized and we can see the importance of the challenges they raise to old style historians.

The range of topics is impressive, and the writing is lively and intelligent. (I'd say this is suitable for the college junior/senior level.) The bibliography is amazingly up to date.

The reason why I don't give it a 5 is its lack of balance. At times the authors editorialize crudely--with dismissive judgements ("nonsense") and exclamation points galore to show us when we should boo or hiss.

Less empowered (victim) groups are too often treated as noble, and the majority as vile. This is the Achilles heel of a generation of historians who went into this field with strong orientations and sympathies.

But even more than the distaste for the majority groups, the biggest drawback is the relative lack of attention paid to them. I'm not saying, in an old fashioned way, that they should extol the "achievement" or mindlessly glorify the "Anglos" or capitalists. There is too much solid evidence here that the achievements were not 100% beneficial and that the white males could act and think in apalling ways. But they were the majority actors and this book can too often lose sight of that. At times it feels like the center is missing.

Still, it's an impressive, thought-provoking book. (The section on attempts by cowboys to unionize should be treasured by anybody who was ever spoon fed the Turner thesis.) But it probably should be the second book to give a neophyte, not the first.