Expansion Books

Dale L. Walker's approach to writing American history makes him the most absorbing historian of our times. He tells history by focusing on those who were involved; by drawing vivid and penetrating portraits of the characters who made the history. He is also an amazing researcher, unearthing material that escapes others. This makes him far more readable than Ambrose, and his material is richer as well. Eldorado tells the story of the California gold rush in such rich detail that the whole era springs to life. We come to understandings about what happened, and the men and women who settled California, and the implications of the gold rush that linger even in present times. This is a remarkable work, by a masterful historian, and one that, I suspect, will win literary awards.

Many books have been written about the California Gold Rush, and most recently a popular contender by H. W. Brands, but only the acclaimed author and historian Dale L. Walker, and expert in California history, could bring us such a brilliant and comprehensive account of this time and place of the American West, and he does so in his latest release, ELDORADO.

In the pre-Gold Rush era, California was a mecca of commerce for traders from all over the world. Those who stepped foot on its shores, or made the overland journeys across the Oregon or Santa Fe trails, all sought a prosperous beginning. John Augustus Sutter was no exception, as he left his wife and children and their home in Switzerland, evading substantial debt and economic loss, to start over. Dale L. Walker enlightens the reader on the important role the "Empresario" Sutter played in the commercial and social development of northern California, and ultimately, if not ironically, how such a man in his business ventures suffered, rather than gained, from the discovery of gold at the site of his new saw mill.

Though the story of James Marshall's discovery of gold at Sutter's mill, under Sutter's employ, is likely the key highlight in the history of the Gold Rush, it is a perfect example of how the glamour of such an event can mask the reality of the craze, if not madness, that developed afterward. Walker offers great depth on how the news of the gold discovery reached the media and governments all over the world. How the news was received, who believed it and who didn't, and how those who did attempted to claim their share of the new fortune. Walker offers detailed accounts of the sea journeys around Cape Horn, or the partial sea journeys to the malaria laden jungles of Panama, then to San Francisco Bay - the prices they paid, the accommodations they received, and the fears and anxieties they faced. Rather by land or by sea, the trek alone was dreadful and life-staking. The disease cholera an invisible gauntlet, more so then the social and environmental challenges, to the success in reaching the land of gold.

Dale L. Walker has never failed to provide readers with a compelling, engaging narrative on any of his subjects, but ELDORADO could very well be his best work yet, and is sure to receive worldwide praise and recognition. The book belongs in every public and school library, and in the personal library of world leaders. It's a book for all times and all ages, a tremendous accomplishment, and Dale L. Walker more precious than gold to the writings of American history.

I bought all 6 of the Essentials of US History both to prepare for a state test and to use in the high school classes I'll be teaching. The books do an excellent job of creating a framework that clearly ties US events to the larger world stage. Unlike most history books that weigh the reader down in details, these concise books emphasize cause and effect. The reader is able to retain much more information because history is made a logical process rather than bits to be memorized.

For all U.S. history students and researchers, this little book packs a lot into a small package! This is the best for its size I have ever seen.

"Quick access to important events, dates, and persons."

Included: The Treaty of Tordesillas, The Spanish Conquistadores, English and French Beginnings, Gilbert-Raleigh-and the First English Attempts, Virginia, New France, New Netherlands, The Pilgrims at Plymouth, The Massachusetts Bay Colony, Life in the Colonies, Bacon's Rebellion, The Salem Witch Trials, The French and Indian War, Grenville and the Stamp Act, The Townshend Acts, The Return of Relative Peace, The Tea Act, The Intolerable Acts, THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE, THE CREATION OF NEW GOVERNMENTS ... much more.

Highly recommended, especially for home-schoolers.

Everlasting Fire is so well researched and written, I would recommend it to anyone interested in a history of the Seminole Nation. It answers questions about how slavery played a significant role in the American's thirst to control Florida, and how it almost led to renewed conflict in Indian Territory. The book is a fresh, ground-breaking study into the forces of the times that brought to a head the Seminole need for autonomy, the threat the Seminoles posed to western expansion and military presence among the Five Civilized Tribes.

This book is amust for anyone wanting to know more about early Seminole/Southeast history. It is packed full of historical facts about early Creek and Seminole histories. It is one of the first publications about a chief by the name of Cowokochee or Wildcat who fought long and hard after Osceola to keep his people from being removed from Florida. The author spent 14 years researching from firsthand materials and sources. It also explores the bond with the Seminoles and black slaves and their fight for freedom. The book follows Wildcat from his beginnings in Florida to settlement in Oklahoma, and finally to his death in Mexico. It contains many original maps and photos. This book is a significant publication and addition to early Southeast history.

All Canadians should read this book. It will give you a whole new respect for this country and its amazing history. This book is a page turner from the first chapter onward. Most Canadians are likely not aware of many of the seminal events detailed in this important work. History, often a dull subject, is brought to life in this volume. Highly recommended!

Mr. Orchard eloquently achieves in this book what is most needed in this nation - he writes about who we are, what we have been through, how close we have come on how many countless occasions to assimilation, and most importantly how with vision and luck, we have survived despite all odds and expectations to the contrary. The Fight for Canada borrows from the rich traditions, perspectives and styles of American works such as JFK's Profiles in Courage and the most honoured of history textbooks available in the English language (indeed, I would argue that Orchard writing about Canada could put Howard Zinn writing about America to shame any day of the week and twice on Sundays). Orchard's range is spectatular for at times it is impossible for the coldest heart not to feel a swell of pride and yet, he can turn around with such ease as to give the most patriotic idealistic heart pains for the tragedies that are Canadian history. We have hanged heroes - make no mistake about it. We have hanged honourable men, we have long forgotten genuine patriots and we have vilified statesmen (among whose ranks I count David Orchard himself) who, in any other country, would be imortalized and bestowed with honours and posthumous recognition such that every elementary school child would know their names and heroic acts. With the Fight for Canada being written in such an easy conversational and yet insightful tone and the subject-matter of which being of the gravest of importance to Canada's future, in my mind it is inexcusable to have not read this book and still count oneself amongst the citizenry of Canada.

If you need to read about Puerto Rico or are doing research, this should be your first stop. This book is the most comprehensive and well documented book ever written on the legal situation of Puerto Rico. Anybody who has anything to do with the island needs to read this book first.

THIS IS AN ENGAGING AND EFFECTIVE WAY TO PRESENT THE ETHIOLOGY OF A DILEMA THAT HAS BEEN OUT OF FOCUS FOR ONE HUNDRED YEARS. THE EDITORS HAVE CHOSEN A VARIED SPECTRUM OF VIEWS, AND IT IS THROUGH THESE DIFFERENT LENSES THAT THE ISSUE SHOULD BE DISCUSSED.

For all those folks who loved Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States, this is a great companion piece. Written toward the end of the Vietnam War, It is nothing short of the most comprehensive history of America's adventure's abroad ever written, starting with the conquest of the continent and moving on to the birth of the United States as a world power, and finishing off with the Cold War and the US entry in Vietnam. Along the way it debunks a lot of myths. I think that any activists who is trying to figure out why the U.S. does what it does overseas can profitably start with Lens.

Why is America the sole superpower in the world today? Sidney Lens' book helps the reader answer this question, by looking at the history of the United States from the colonial era through the Cold War and Vietnam.

At the heart of U.S. foreign policy lays a desire for American supremacy over the world-this much is painfully clear today in light of the Iraq war. But Lens traces this thread back to the founding of America, taking a critical look at the territorial expansion of the U.S. on native lands, the occupation of Cuba and the Philippines, the "open door" economic policy in Asia and the war profiteering during both world wars.

Whether it's the Spanish-American war or the Cold War, readers can see many reflections of the past in the actions of governments today. "The Forging of the American Empire" is no mere historical narrative, it's a chronicle written so that we can understand what drives the present era of wars and globalization.

Lens' radical, materialist approach to the history of the United States is refreshing, cogent and comprehensive. It does an excellent job explaining foreign policy, but this leaves little room for domestic affairs and opposition to U.S. imperialism. I recommend checking out Howard Zinn's book alongside this one, for anyone who really wants to understand why America goes to war or bullies weaker nations.

(This is a reprint of the classic Vietnam War-era text that Lens wrote to help guide his fellow antiwar activists in a previous generation. Howard Zinn's introduction updates the book through 2003.)

A thirty-year veteran of the personal growth movement, Howard Wimmer writes with a particular metaphysical expertise in his self-help, self-improvement instruction manual "Inner Guidance And The Four Spiritual Gifts: How To Maximize Your intuition And Inspirations To Become More Creative, Successful And Fulfilled". Sudden hunches and flashes of inspiration occur to us all. If listened to and acted upon, they can often result in the enhancement of the quality of our lives, the achievement of our goals, and the furtherance of our aspirations. The founder of 'Inner Expansions Workshops' and the 'Inner Virtual University', Wimmer writes with a particularly 'user friendly' style that is ideal for the non-specialist general reader seeking to identify and utilize the four gifts that are the common heritage of human beings: prophecy, clairvoyance, clairaudience, and healing. As informed and informative as it is inspired and inspiring, "Inner Guidance And The Four Spiritual Gifts" is a welcome and highly recommended contribution to the growing library of Metaphysical Studies and Self-Improvement literature.

I am a suscriber to Inner Expansion and I have been waiting for this book. Howard has brought alot of things home for me. I feel as if a weight has been lifted from me. Because I know now all of the feelings of guilt and other emotions don't belong to me. This book makes you really think and how we can improve our lives. We can live more productively and simply without taking on the burdens of others. Keep up the good work!

This booklet is one of the fundamentals in understanding how the US banking system works, published by the Chicago Federal Reserve. It describes how various forms of reserves are multiplied by the banking system to create additional money, as of its date of publication in the early 90's. Things have changed since then, specifically in terms of the system's average reserve ratio declining from 10% then to 5% today. It does not get into the current system's various reserve ratios required for different forms of deposits (such as the 0% reserve requirement for sweep account deposits). It does not describe how bank capital affects willingness to lend, and a number of other critical factors affecting the business cycle (often referred to as a 'natural phenomenon).

If unavailable, you may be able to read the text by googling it.

Although this booket is out of print, if you are lucky enough to have a copy of this booklet which at one time available through the Public Information Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, then you will have a very solid understanding of how the banking system works. The booklet describes the basic process of money creation in a "fractional reserve" banking system. It is very interesting to pay particular attention to pages 2 and 3, and the last paragraph of page 6. Since money is such a routine part of everyday life, its existence and acceptance ordinarily are taken for granted. In fact, when in reality 96% of the American population believes money comes into being either automatically as a result of economic activity or as an outgrowth of some government operation. But just how this happens all too often remains a mystery.

Nathan Boone, son of Daniel Boone, was a prominent person in early 19th century Missouri. Following in the footsteps of his father he took up residence on the frontier and made a hazardous living as a trapper, long hunter, surveyor and soldier. He became a militia captain in the War of 1812 and the Black Hawk war of 1832 and participated in early U.S. army explorations of the Great Plains. His life was interesting and exciting and moderately important.

The author has turned out a well-written and researched scholarly biography of Boone. I was impressed with his ability to make Boone and his family come alive and to string together a coherent narrative from many sources. The book is an significant contribution to the history of the American frontier, especially for its insights about White relations with Indian tribes such as the Osage, Potawatomi, Sauk, Wichita, and Cherokee. Boone was a competent, unspectacular exemplar of the American frontiersman on the Middle Border.

Those with an interest in the frontier history of Missouri and nearby states, especially the uneasy relationships between Whites and Indians will find this book worth reading.

Smallchief

While Daniel Boone has become an icon of the American frontier experience and a celebrated pathmarker of America's westward movement, in this informative and entertaining book R. Douglas Hurt makes the case that Boone's youngest son, Nathan, deserves a place there as well. Born in Kentucky in 1781, Nathan Boone learned the skills of the hunter and woodsman from his father and developed both an affinity and an aptitude for the environment very early. He continued his father's wanderlust by moving westward to Missouri as a young man and remaining on the outposts of the United States throughout his life. In so doing, he earned a livelihood as a hunter, trapper, guide, surveyor, and military officer.

The central feature of Nathan Boone's life, and the core of this biography, was his military service. During the War of 1812 he led a company of rangers on campaigns in the Old Northwest. In 1832, at the age of 51, he organized his own company of Missouri Rangers for the Black Hawk War. This time, at the end of the conflict Nathan Boone transferred to the regular army's dragoons at Fort Leavenworth. He remained on active duty from 1833 until forced to take a final leave of absence in 1848. He maintained his commission, even if not on active duty, until 1853 when health finally prompted his resignation. Serving under Stephen Watts Kearny on the Iowa, Kansas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma frontier suited Boone just fine. He also acquitted himself well as a captain in the dragoons and was called upon to lead several expeditions during his active service to patrol the region. He did not, however, accompany Kearny's Army of the West in its invasion of New Mexico and California in 1846, remaining behind on garrison duty in Oklahoma.

This is a straightforward and competent biography. Capably researched and written, it rescues from nearly complete obscurity a figure of moderate significance in the American West in the mid-nineteenth century. Proceeding chronologically, it also excels at describing the role of the army on the frontier in those periods when war was not taking place. As such it is a welcome addition to the historical literature. It is also a worthwhile addition to the "Missouri Biography Series" in which it appears.

Much literature is published on numerical methods for stochastic differential systems but most of it focuses on their use in pricing financial products. There is genuinely a lack of reference books that provide a stronger mathematical basis for the domain. Luckily, this is one of the few books that fill that gap. An excellent book, although the scope of numerical methods presented is limited.

This book is one of the finest written on the subject and is suitable for readers in a wide variety of fields, including mathematical finance, random dynamical systems, constructive quantum field theory, and mathematical biology. It is certainly well-suited for classroom use, and it includes computer exercises what are definitely helpful for those who need to develop actual computer code to solve the relevant equations of interest. Since it emphasizes the numerical solution of stochastic differential equations, the authors do not give the details behind the theory, but references are given for the interested reader.

As preparation for the study of SDEs, the authors detail some preliminary background on probability, statistics, and stochastic processes in Part 1 of the book. Particularly well-written is the discussion on random number generators and efficient methods for generating random numbers, such as the Box-Muller and Polar Marsaglia methods. Both discrete and continuous Markov processes are discussed, and the authors review the connection between Weiner processes (Brownian motion for the physicist reader) and white noise. The measure-theory foundations of the subject are outlined briefly for the interested reader.

Part 2 begins naturally with an overview of stochastic calculus, with the Ito calculus chosen to show how to generalize ordinary calculus to the stochastic realm. The authors motivate the subject as one in which the functional form of stochastic processes was emphasized, with Ito attempting to find out just when local properties such as the drift and diffusion coefficients can characterize the stochastic process. The Ito formula is shown to be a generalization of the chain rule of ordinary calculus to the case where stochasticity is present. The authors are also careful to distinguish between "random" differential equations and "stochastic" differential equations. The former can be solved by integrating over differentiable sample paths, but in the latter one has to face the nondifferentiability of the sample paths, and hence solutions are more difficult to obtain. The authors give many examples of SDEs that can be solved explicitly, and prove existence and uniqueness theorems for strong solutions of the SDEs. And since ordinary differential equations are usually tackled by Taylor series expansions, it is perhaps not surprising that this technique would be generalized to SDEs, which the authors do in detail in this part. They also outline the differences between the Ito and Stratonovich interpretations of stochastic integrals and SDEs.

Part 3 is definitely of great interest to those who must develop mathematical models using SDEs. The authors carefully outline the reasons where Ito versus the Stratonovich formulations are used, this being largely dependent on the degree of autocorrelation in the processes at hand. The Stratonovich SDE is recommended for cases when the white noise is used as an idealization of a (smooth) real noise process. The authors also show how to approximate Markov chain problems with diffusion processes, which are the solutions of Ito SDEs. Several very interesting examples are given of the applications of stochastic differential equations; the particular ones of direct interest to me were the ones on population dynamics, protein kinetics, and genetics; option pricing, and blood clotting dynamics/cellular energetics.

After a review of discrete time approzimations in ordinary deterministic differential equations, in part 4 the authors show to solve SDEs using this approximation. The familiar Euler approximation is considered, with a simple example having an explicit solution compared with its Euler approximate solution. They also show how to use simulations when an explicit solution is lacking. The importance notions of strong and weak convergence of the approximate solutions are discussed in detail. Strong convergence is basically a convergence in norm (absolute value), while weak convergence is taken with respect to a collection of test functions. Both of these types of convergence reduce to the ordinary deterministic sense of convergence when the random elements are removed.

The discussion of convergence in part 4 leads to a very extensive discussion of strongly convergent approximations in part 5, and weakly convergent approximations in part 6. Stochastic Taylor expansions done with respect to the strong convergence criterion are discussed, beginning with the Euler approximation. More complicated strongly convergent stochastic approximation schemes are also considered, such as the Milstein scheme, which reduces to the Euler scheme when the diffusion coefficients only depend on time. The strong Taylor schemes of all orders are treated in detail. Since Taylor approximations make evaluations of the derivatives necessary, which is computational intensive, the authors discuss strong approximation schemes that do not require this, much like the Runge-Kutta methods in the deterministic case , but the authors are careful to point out that the Runge-Kutta analogy is problematic in the stochastic case. Several of these "derivative-free" schemes are considered by the authors. The authors also consider implicit strong approximation schemes for stiff SDEs, wherein numerical instabilities are problematic. Interesting applications are given for strong approximations for SDEs, such as the Duffing-Van der Pol oscillator, which is very important system in engineering mechanics and phyics, and has been subjected to an incredible amount of research.

More detailed consideration of weak Taylor approximations is given in part 6. The Euler scheme is examined first in the weak approximation, with the higher-order schemes following. Since weak convergence is more stringent than strong convergence, it should come as no surprise that fewer terms are required to obtain convergence, as compared with strong convergence at the same order. This intuition is indeed verified in the discussion, and the authors treat both explicit and implicit weak approximations, along with extrapolation and predictor-corrector methods. And most importantly, the authors give an introduction to the Girsanov methods for variance reduction of weak approximations to Ito diffusions, along with other techniques for doing the same. Those readers involved in constructive quantum field theory will value the treatment on using weak approximations to calculate functional integrals. The approximation of Lyapunov exponents for stochastic dynamical systems is also treated, along with the approximation of invariant measures.