Book Description
Meet Denver, a man raised under plantation-style slavery in Louisiana in the 1960s; a man who escaped, hopping a train to wander, homeless, for eighteen years on the streets of Dallas, Texas. No longer a slave, Denver's life was still hopeless-until God moved. First came a godly woman who prayed, listened, and obeyed. And then came her husband, Ron, an international arts dealer at home in a world of Armani-suited millionaires. And then they all came together.
But slavery takes many forms. Deborah discovers that she has cancer. In the face of possible death, she charges her husband to rescue Denver. Who will be saved, and who will be lost? What is the future for these unlikely three? What is God doing?
Same Kind of Different As Me is the emotional tale of their story: a telling of pain and laughter, doubt and tears, dug out between the bondages of this earth and the free possibility of heaven. No reader or listener will ever forget it.
Customer Reviews:
What a Great Read!.......2007-10-10
This book was recommended by a colleague and I could not find it here in Key West. I ordered two copies from Amazon and gave them both to friends (after reading). I was moved to tears by parts of the book. If anybody has any concerns about homeless issues, this book will renew one's faith in what can be done. It is one of the finest books on homeless issues that I have read in many years.
Very touching.......2007-10-01
This is a very readable book. It is also extremely touching. Several times as I read,I found tears streaming down my face. It will restore your faith in mankind and that there is more to a person than meets the eye.
A must read book.......2007-09-29
I don't have proper words to express this "amazing" book.
I can now better understand how it used to be in Slave times,
and feel a better understanding of my own faith and life after death.
I cried at moments of revealation! Would help anyone become a believer.
This book changed my life!.......2007-09-25
It's very easy to forget that this is a true story - it is such an amazing story that it could be fiction! It's a beautiful, poignant, touching book and it changed the way I view the homeless and how I share my resources with others. LOVED IT and I've been telling everyone I know to read it too!!
book.......2007-09-18
I ordered this book for my husband who had heard it was wonderful. He thought it was the best book he had ever read and he highly recommends it!!
Book Description
Amazing Grace tells the story of the remarkable life of the British abolitionist William Wilberforce (1759-1833). This accessible biography chronicles Wilberforce's extraordinary role as a human rights activist, cultural reformer, and member of Parliament.
At the center of this heroic life was a passionate twenty-year fight to abolish the British slave trade, a battle Wilberforce won in 1807, as well as efforts to abolish slavery itself in the British colonies, a victory achieved just three days before his death in 1833.
Metaxas discovers in this unsung hero a man of whom it can truly be said: he changed the world. Before Wilberforce, few thought slavery was wrong. After Wilberforce, most societies in the world came to see it as a great moral wrong.
To mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British slave trade, HarperSanFrancisco and Bristol Bay Productions have joined together to commemorate the life of William Wilberforce with the feature-length film Amazing Grace and this companion biography, which provides a fuller account of the amazing life of this great man than can be captured on film.
This account of Wilberforce's life will help many become acquainted with an exceptional man who was a hero to Abraham Lincoln and an inspiration to the anti-slavery movement in America.
Customer Reviews:
An outstanding person that we desperately need more of..........2007-09-27
When I first started reading this book, the way the author wrote was so different from so many of the science and histories that I usually read, I was prepared to give the book four stars. It seemed like such a serious topic about the efforts made by English gentlemen to curtail the slavery trade, that Metaxas (author) seemed to be almost flippant. But as I read further in the book, and realized what a good, humorous, and loveable person that Wilberforce was, I could understand why the author chose to write in this vein.
I have yet to see the movie, but from reading the book it definitely aroused my interest in the movements of that time period and the people involved. Wilberforce could not have picked a harder social ill to try to bring to the right conclusion, that of stopping the slave trade with the eventual goal which he did not live to see, of freeing the slaves in the Americas. That he worked on this tirelessly for 40 years, through own personal trials and illness, and saw it to its conclusion is a testimony to the strength of his character. Where are those men and women today? Did they all come during that time period from 1750 through the early 1800s? Like our own American heroes from the Revolutionary War and men like LIncoln, who though fallible, did the very best they could to alleviate the sufferings of others? I wish we could clone a few of these people now to fix the many wrongs of our society, including the ongoing pestilence of slavery.
I eventually learned to enjoy Metaxas writing. It's different to be sure, but a nice relief from the overly serious tomes that I usually read.
Karen SAdler
Amazing.......2007-09-21
A highly readable book about an amazing man who optimisitically believed he could make a difference, and did! Like Frank Capra's Mr. Smith, William Wilberforce was a politician who stuck to his ideals. He was very conscientious about living out his faith and seeking God's will. He believed in the humanity of others and the responsibility to better society and help the less fortunate. Highly recommended!
A small man with a great impact.......2007-09-06
Though the name "William Wilberforce" is hardly at the tips of our collective tongues anymore, author Eric Metaxas thinks it should be. In "Amazing Grace," Metaxas relates the story of Wilberforce -- a slight, stooped and sickly man -- whose physical frailty disguised a great strength of character and soul. Wilberforce, as a member of the British Parliament, was (at least according to Metaxas's telling) the driving force behind both the end of the slave trade in the British colonies in 1807 as well as the abolition of British slavery itself in 1833.
The book covers all of Wilberforce's life, from the controversies between Anglicanism and Methodism of his boyhood, through his indolent college days, to his conversion in 1785 at age 24, to his parliamentary career and his death in 1833. Metaxas tells a rousing story of a young man in search for meaning and relevance, in an age of barbarity toward animals, criminals and "lower" races that is shocking to the modern ear. Metaxas sets the stage by discussing animal cruelty -- bull, horse and bear-beating -- that were popular pastimes of the era. His catalog of the evil done to black slaves is chronicled by those who had first-hand familiarity with the infamous Middle Passage or the treatment of slaves on the sugar plantations of the West Indies. Wilberforce's voice is heard through excerpts from his personal diaries, bringing this now-obscure person to life.
I truly enjoyed the book, though with a few reservations. Metaxas's Wilberforce is a man whose worldview would be recognizable to moderns. As a man born of a racist and vicious era, he used his religious views in ways that ran counter to his society. He took seriously the scriptural dictum that humanity is created in God's image, resulting in the inevitable conclusion that people of color deserved the same treatment as whites. A sickly man, he showed great compassion for the poor and the weak, even extending this soft heartedness to animals. Among many other works, Wilberforce was a founding member of the then-named Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The reservations. Metaxas's style is usually staid, punctuated with the occassional tic -- he suddenly gets overly-cute or uses faux-Elizabethan anachronistic turns of phrase. He also tends to give Wilberforce solitary credit for opposing slavery, when this work started long before he appeared on the scene and ended after he left it. Metaxas's evidently sympathetic view of Wilberforce's spiritual life was another problem. In many passages, Metaxas presumes a conservative Christian worldview, lauding Wilberforce for making decisions that are in line with God's will, as though this was self-evident to the reader. Metaxas clearly roots for young Wilberforce to find God, and he speaks from with seeming familiarity with a convert's stages of maturation through during his conversion experience. There's nothing wrong with religious experience, but I found this overt tilt surprising and a bit troubling in a biography. Appallingly, Metaxas describes Anglicanism as a religion practiced in name only by bishops and clergy who no longer believed in its tenets. Metaxas even notes which bishops of the period are "orthodox," as though the reader understands and agrees to his meaning of the word. Metaxas may also be guilty of painting Wilberforce in too-bright colors. His subject's distrust of Roman Catholicism is minimized and his opposition to the right of labor to organize is left unmentioned. Wilberforce is sometimes portrayed as the most eloquent of speakers and other times as having a rather rambling and disconnected style. These inconsistencies and biases diminished the book's impact.
Nevertheless, I do recommend "Amazing Grace". In an age in which the wounds of racism and cruelty are still borne by too many, it is encouraging to read of a man who, though borne to wealth and privilege, put his faith into practice in a way that benefited so many and is still admirable today. "Amazing Grace" makes the strong case that William Wilberforce ought to merit at least a mention when the roll of the history's great humanitarians is read.
Yes he ended slavery.......2007-08-08
William Wilberforce did more than end slavery, he changed Western Civilization. He created the campaign button, used today to elect mere politicians, but he did it to end slavery and bring Christianity to India. He also helped recreate non-governmental organizations for schools, and widows and orphans of war and poverty. He helped change the penal code of Great Britain and bring back the use of morality to effect change for how small crimes corrupted society. (Note, this was the same tactics used by Giuliani to change the crime rate in New York.) Wilber ( his nickname among friends) was a short sickly man, gifted with a a superb speaking voice, great charisma, and the ability to be a great Christian leader without looking like a "stick in the mud" Puritan. He also had a strong backbone that allowed him to let insults, death threats, and 40 years of frustration slide by the way side. One day I hope to read his sons' 3 volume biography of his life, but in the mean time, you can't go wrong reading this well written and entertaining biography of his life.
Amazing book!.......2007-07-25
This book should have been called The Amazing Book. This is really an uplifting book and a must read. We all should have William Wilberforce as our role model.
William Wilberforce was the man to end slavery. More importantly, he is the man who made slavery unacceptable in our minds. Who today can honestly tell you that slavery is not evil or indeed needed for a country's economy? Merely two centuries ago, slavery was not only accepted but deemed necessary. William Wilberforce was the man who extinguished this belief forever! As a side note, I find it interesting that no prophet of any religion has ever succeeded or even tried to end slavery. A mere mortal by the name of Wilberforce not only succeeded in ending slavery, but succeeded into changing our minds into completely rejecting slavery as immoral. As the author says, Wilberforce truly changed the world! An amazing feat, and truly an amazing grace to befall upon us!
Wilberforce was a religious man, but at no time did he claim that he was chosen by God or claimed of ever receiving a vision or message from God. He was a simple good-hearted person who cared about the well-being of others, especially the less fortunate ones. He was kind and generous, and gave a lot of his wealth to the poor throughout his life. Even though at the start of his life he was indeed very rich, he died poor, and not even owning his own house. He lived the rest of his life living in the homes of his children. Yet he never felt cheated by life. He accomplished something that no one has ever achieved. He is indeed fortunate to be receiving prayers from so many till this day!
The book will expose the horrors of slavery, and how at the time the British (and the Europeans, but emphasize was on the British) viewed the African blacks as inferior beings, if beings at all. At the time, killing a black person, whether child or adult, was no different to the British as killing a rodent. Slaves were viewed as a material object to own and to discard of at any time as fit (usually by murdering and torturing the slave).
After reading this book, you will wonder how it was ever possible to accept the concept of owning slaves. What went through the minds of the Europeans at the time to accept such an abhorrent practice as the ownership and trade of slaves? And why do we think differently about this subject today than we did for the past thousands of years? What suddenly changed in our minds? Read the book, and find out how Wilberforce was able to change our minds on slavery. Don't be surprised if you shed a few too many tears.
However, Wilberforce, a member of the British parliament, had to endure many insults and opposition to finally pass the bill to end slavery. In fact, it was a twenty-year fight just to abolish the British slave trade, a battle Wilberforce won in 1807, and a fierce battle in parliament to abolish slavery itself in the British colonies, a victory achieved just three days before his death in 1833.
Wilberforce was hated by many and often called a hypocrite for caring more for the slaves and less for the poor working class. But as the author says, this accusation against Wilberforce was like saying that Christopher Columbus was a hypocrite for not discovering Australia as well. No one man or woman can ever end all the ills of man and woman, but together we can! If each man and woman today accomplishes just one great humane achievement, that's 5 billion humane achievements during our lifetime! If Wilberforce can do so much for so many millions, why can't we?
The author, Eric Mataxas, did an excellent job bringing to life a man who is truly immortal. Throughout the narrative of this book you will feel as if William Wilberforce is right there besides you. No other author could have written about Wilberforce as beautifully as Metaxas. This book is a real piece of art to be treasured in your library for the next generation, and makes an excellent bedtime story for our children.
Average customer rating:
- Short and excellent treatment of the subject.
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Speaking of Slavery: Color, Ethnicity, and Human Bondage in Italy (Conjunctions of Religion and Power in the Medieval Past)
Steven A. Epstein
Manufacturer: Cornell University Press
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ASIN: 0801438489 |
Customer Reviews:
Short and excellent treatment of the subject........2007-07-06
An astoundingly good read! Short and well-supported, this book looks at how slavery changed over the centuries. Originally, slavery wasn't really based upon skin color or ethnicity, but it grew to have those connotations later. In Italy particularly there was a peculiar sort of melting-pot of all cultures/backgrounds of slaves, and since Italy was rather fond of bureaucracy, we have a lot of records of slaveholders, sellers, buyers, and occasionally the slaves themselves. The book includes information about where slaves came from, how old they tended to be, what names they usually had, how long owners kept them, and what happened to them after they were freed or resold. It also discusses the Church's changing opinion on slaves and how to treat them. The subjects of Muslim vs. Christian slaves and owners, piracy, and ransom are also covered in detail. I found the information contained herein to be absolutely invaluable in learning about the practice of slavery during Renaissance times. Don't miss this book.
Customer Reviews:
Be "changed".......2007-08-08
Zach Hunter's youthful writing style brings home a very real and timely point to all. Is does not take "Age" to make a difference in this world, only passion and a committment to see your vision through to the end.
Zach's book speaks to adults as well as teens. So far I have purchased, read and given away three copies of this book, including one to my 12 year old daughter. Every person I have spoken to about this book has been impressed, and many have gone on to buy a copy for themselves and/or their own teenager.
This is a great selection for a teen or adult book study group.
A powerful message for our generation.......2007-06-14
As teen myself, with a heart to challenge my generation to excellence, Zach Hunter is a warmly-welcomed voice of vision, maturity, and biblical truth. His book speaks to his peers right where they are, and inspires them higher.
To the previous reviewer: Zach has demonstrated the ability to work with others to accomplish social good without compromising the convictions that motivate him to act. That is to be commended, not criticized.
Great concept, but too preachy.......2007-06-04
When I first heard of Zach Hunter and sought out this book, I was very impressed by his cause and ambition. That remains unchanged after reading. He truely is a great role model for the up and coming generations. However, I was discouraged to find so much reference to religion, god's plan, and passages of scripture throughout the book. I understand this is where Zach must get his strength and values, however he needs to make it clear that even an athiest can be passionate for social justice. He should just stick to the historical and sociological implications of slavery, rather than try to convince the reader what a "true christian" he is.
Zach is my new hero.......2007-03-16
Never has such a bold message flowed with such simple power. Zach will change your life but more importantly it will change the lives of the hundreds of thousands of slaves living in despair. This is an easy-to-read and easy-to-live message filled with quotes, testimonies, and straight up wisdom from 15year old. Zach is one of my new heroes.
Porpoise Diving Life March Book Review.......2007-03-13
[...]
Staying true to our March 2007 PDL theme ([...]), I think it's safe to say that this young man has laid down his net and is moving headlong into some pretty powerful "follower-ship." Just in case you were wondering, Zach wants to end slavery and human trafficking in his lifetime. He's making a huge difference by creating awareness of a very dire crisis in our world, speaking before thousands of people and simply stepping up to the plate to do his part.
Zach's book is a very engaging and educational read, though it always feels true to the style of a normal 15-year-old. Yes, it's geared toward a younger generation, but the beauty of his writing style is that any normal kid his age (or any adult, for that matter) will see himself/herself as a potential agent of change. Because he's not lofty in his approach, what he's done comes off as doable for the rest of us too.
If you have kids, you'll want to buy this book--if only so that Zach can be an inspiration to them. And maybe in the process, we'll have more kids like him springing up to embrace a hurt world (I think everyone would agree that this would be a good thing). Even if you don't have kids, buy this book and you might be surprised to find his passion is contagious enough for you to change the world, too.
Customer Reviews:
Difficult Topic Handled with Sensitivity.......2007-10-12
Writing about how Nepalese girls are sold into slavery and taken to India to be forced into a life of prostitution is no easy matter -- especially in a YA book. Given the topic, Patricia McCormick manages not only to pull it off, but to pull it off with sensitivity.
McCormick is a writer's writer, and the calibre of wordsmithing is a cut above your average YA fare. She first conjures the natural beauty of mountainous Nepal, even though her protagonist, a thirteen-year-old girl named Lakshmi, is dirt poor. Then, for contrast, she describes the claustrophobic penury and filth of Lakshmi's city captivity. In Nepal, our young protagonist lives with her Ama and her evil stepfather (a twist on the Cinderella motif). It is he who ultimately gambles what little they have away and heartlessly sells his stepdaughter into slavery (she assumes she is going off to be a maid and bravely vows to send what she earns home so her Ama can install a tin roof on their hut).
After a grueling trip into India, Lakshmi slowly discovers what's up and refuses to partake, but is drugged and forced to acquiesce. There are two scenes where it is clear what is happening, yet McCormick is anything but brutal and ugly while describing these brutal and ugly acts against an innocent child. Nevertheless, a mature and sensitive reader is called for, and the book is recommended more for high school aged readers and adults.
Written in free verse, an increasingly popular style of writing in the YA trade, SOLD will move you and anger you -- exactly McCormick's intent. It's beautifully written and worth all of the accolades it has received (it is a National Book Award finalist). Highly recommended.
Sold!.......2007-09-21
This book tells the story of a young Lakshmi. She lives in poverty, and longs to help suppport her family. One day, she finds that her stepfather is shipping her away with her new "aunt." She is excited and nervous about leaving her family to make money. She makes a long journey across Nepal, and is finally turned in to Mumtaz, her new employer. She is shown her room which she finds filled with beds. It is later that night that she realizes she has been sold into prostitution against her will. How will she escape?
This is Patricia McCormick's second novel, and an amzing book. I would reccommend it to anyone over the age of ten. This book hurls you straight into Nepal and the surrounding area, providing a vivid view of Lakshmi's world. Sold is full of courage and hope. It is a powerful read.
Read this book, share it with your children.......2007-09-21
This book is an eloquent introduction to the shame of the exploitation of children for sex. I have been involved in ending global female exploitation for 30 years. This short, accessible book is the best I have read to create understanding and awareness of this complicated problem. It is a first person narrative written in a simple style. In following the story of one girl, the book deftly explains how this horrible practice occurs and resists eradication. Parents may want to read the book first, but it is appropriate for most teen and adult readers. The sexual descriptions are not graphic or salacious, but focus on the impact on the victim. The wealth of details about life in the mountains and the heroine's journey are fascinating and open a door for American readers to a life far removed from our own experience, a life of beauty and poverty. The author carefully keeps her story from becoming too painful too read, while never flinching from sad realities. Read this in your book club, share it with your daughters, and also with your sons.
A life-changing book........2007-09-17
I read this book recently. It affected me very much. I now want to go to Calcutta to help these innocent girls. It is a horrifying story, but the truth is that the things that happen in this book are happening right now. And many girls do not have the happy ending like Lakshmi does.
Sold Book.......2007-09-08
Transaction & product were fine but it turned out it was not the right book I needed.
Customer Reviews:
Worth it.......2007-10-01
This books illustrations tell a story within the story and is worth every penny spent.
wonderful!.......2007-08-25
Fantastic, amazing, stirring, engaging, empowering. I could go on... This book is a treasure & I am so glad to have it in our personal library. We bought this for my daughter and I thought it was so good I had to read it aloud to my husband that same night. Kadir Nelson is always spectacular in his illustrations, and he once again rises to the top in this book. The story is very moving, and with a few words it accomplishes the task of taking you inside the emotions and the questions, fears, and faith within Harriet Tubman's heart. I am extremely satisfied with this book & happy to give it to my daughter. I hope she shares it with her children some day.
Great Book .......2007-06-08
I am an elementary school teacher, mom of three and children's book lover. This book is visually enticing and a wonderful read. All of my children as well as my students loved it!
super good book .......2007-06-08
The cover says it all...and thanks to a great seller for fast shipping and smooth transaction!
Beautiful!.......2007-05-08
What I most appreciate about this book is the way it incorporates the role faith played in Harriet's life into the story of her leading daring escapes from slavery to freedom. Most of the history we learn in school attempts to secularize the truth about the people and events that we hold so dear, but this book does a phenomenal job in telling a more accurate, unbiased story of a remarkable woman. Illustrated by Kadir Nelson (who is GIFTED!!!!!), this is a welcome addition to any children's (or adult's, for that matter) library. I know am already collecting a slew of books
Average customer rating:
- I am in awe
- It doesn't matter how it ended
- Highly imaginative historical novel -- should be marketed to adults not teens
- Challenge your perceptions
- An Astonishing Novel/Puzzle
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The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party
M.T. Anderson
Manufacturer: Candlewick
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0763624020
Release Date: 2006-09-12 |
Book Description
A gothic tale becomes all too shockingly real in this mesmerizing magnum opus by the acclaimed author of FEED.
It sounds like a fairy tale. He is a boy dressed in silks and white wigs and given the finest of classical educations. Raised by a group of rational philosophers known only by numbers, the boy and his mother — a princess in exile from a faraway land — are the only persons in their household assigned names. As the boy's regal mother, Cassiopeia, entertains the house scholars with her beauty and wit, young Octavian begins to question the purpose behind his guardians' fanatical studies. Only after he dares to open a forbidden door does he learn the hideous nature of their experiments — and his own chilling role in them. Set against the disquiet of Revolutionary Boston, M. T. Anderson's extraordinary novel takes place at a time when American Patriots rioted and battled to win liberty while African slaves were entreated to risk their lives for a freedom they would never claim. The first of two parts, this deeply provocative novel reimagines the past as an eerie place that has startling resonance for readers today.
Customer Reviews:
I am in awe.......2007-09-23
This book was profoundly disturbing to me on so many levels. At various points in the book, I almost had to put it down because I was so heartsick. (Before I begin my praise of this amazing work - I do have to ask...this is a work for young adults? Seriously?)
When I added this book to my list - I tagged it as Fiction and Science Fiction. When I started the book - I was sure I was reading some sort of Gothic, maybe post-apocalyptic cautionary tale. When I found out the book was set in pre-Revolutionary Boston - I was shocked.
Once I got over that...I was then shocked to find out that Octavian and his mother were slaves. I kept having to change my mindset as I went through the book...one of the reasons I think I was so affected by it. I was just starting to wrap my mind around the "knowledge for knowledge's sake - consequences be damned" philosophy of the "college" when the sickening reality of Octavian and his mother's imprisonment set in. The frills and finery were torn away to reveal the true inhumanity of their situation.
Again - this book was disturbing on so many levels. Was I more bothered by Octavian's defense mechanisms when confronted by despicable acts" "...after I saw the philosophers of this college acquire a docile child deprived of reason and speech...beat her to the point of gagging and swooning; after such experiments as these, I became most wondrous observant, and often stared unmoving at a wall for some hours together." (Reading that passage again turns my stomach.)
Or was I more disturbed by the complete lack of hope that permeates the book: "Do you feel it child?" he asked. "The wall is gone. Space is gone from behind us." I could feel nothing. "He said, "All that is there now is the eye of God." He shivered. "The pupil is black, and as large as a world." And later, "At long last, you may no longer distinguish what binds you from what is you."
Or was I most saddened by the hideous irony that the men who gave Octavian freedom of the mind were the ones that denied him the freedom of his body. "They gave me a tongue; and the stopped it up, so they would not have to hear it crying." And "...they told me of color, that it was an illusion of the eye, an event in the perceiver's mind, not in the object, they told me that color had no reality...And then they imprisoned me in darkness; and though there was no color there, I still was black, and they still were white; and for that, they bound and gagged me."
And I don't even have the words to address the powerful juxtaposition of the colonists struggle and cries for "Freedom from tyranny!" against the silent reality of slavery.
The way that Anderson phrases the most hideous of realities in the most matter of fact ways is by turns, startling and beautiful. It makes me think that there are no other ways these words could be put together - that the way they are set upon the page is the only way they can exist together.
"What have you observed?"
"The solidity of shackles. They increase the solidity of the body. When I walk free, I am not conscious of my solidity."
"Yes. Shackles, like all matter, are defined by resistance."
"Do not tell me," I said to them, "what is defined by resistance."
As I start into the above paragraph, I am observing as Octavian does. Then I am considering the truth of what he observes - that one does not FEEL freedom until one loses it. That it is difficult to experience a positive without knowing the negative. And then - with a killing blow - my eyes absorb that final sentence...and I feel ridiculous for not mourning Octavian's shackles with him...and then I feel a fierce admiration of his spirit and his refusal to accept shackles of the mind along with shackles of the body. All this - in under 50 words.
I am in awe.
This book made me feel like I do when watching movies like "Schindler's List" or "Saving Private Ryan". Every molecule in my body and soul rebels against the horror I am a witness to. All I can think about is turning my eyes away, making it stop, which is the one thing I am not allowed to do. These atrocities existed, they were real. Humans were and are capable of such evil, such cruelty, such viciousness. It is important to me that every once in a while, I remind myself of this. I am so incredibly lucky to have been born in the circumstances I was, and to have been given the privileges I have, and to have lived in the time an place I do. The least I can do is to acknowledge the pain of those who are not as lucky as I.
This book, like those movies, is one where the reader cannot put aside after finishing and think, "It was just a movie/book." These times and events were real. These things happened, even if details have been changed.
Octavian, and those real people he is representative of, experienced horrors I hope I never do. Horrors that most of our world would say happened in the past..and yet we all know are happening every day - somewhere, to someone. My soul aches for those who are robbed of their humanity by beings inhuman themselves.
Because I am who I am, I must end this review with a beautiful and tragic set of passages - mirror images of the same truth:
"I lifted up the first, blank, page, and surveyed those beneath, to see, as Bono quoth, what the man on the street was wearing. It was a catalogue of horrors. Page after page of Negroes in bridles, strapped to walls,...masks of iron with metal mouth bits...razored necklaces...collars of spikes that supported the head..."
"...Mr. Gitney burned Bono's fashion catallogue an hour later."
"Let us rid ourselves," he said, "of this noisome object."
"But I could not rid myself of it. It was the common property of us all."
Previous to this - there was one of the few glimmers of hope in the book:
"Music hath its land of origin; and yet it is also its own country, its own sovereign power, and all make take refuge there, and all, once settled, may claim it as their own, and all may meet there in amity; and these instruments, as surely as instruments of torture, belong to all of us."
Octavian and his story belongs to all of us. Though not as fully to those who experience such events in their lifetime...it belongs to those of us who must make sure that the realities contained within the fiction become less and less prevalent. We need these "noisome objects" today more than ever.
Any time I find myself feeling complacent about our world? I need only look at the cover of this book.
It doesn't matter how it ended.......2007-08-20
Okay... here's the deal, I love to read. I love to read good books. Our librarian, excuse me, media specialist whatever, at school suggested this book to me. "I don't have time to read it, and I need an opinion. It seems like something you would like. Take as much time as you need."
Believe me, I was extremely excited to read this book. It was different than anything I've ever really read before. So I took it on with great enthusiasm.
At first, I was very intrigued with Octavian and his situation. I really did think that the story was good. But only the story. I was so bored with the book, it seemed to drag on forever. Pages of writing, and I only needed a paragraph. But I persevered because it was so interesting, only bits at a time though, because I could only handle so much.
Then I talked with my friend Katie who was also reading this book. Pretty much in the same situation I was in only a little farther along in the book. She said it didn't get any better and gave up. And that's not like Katie, she reads A LOT and EVERYTHING so I was surprised. But I liked the story so I continued. Farther than Katie had read and farther than I wish I would have read. It never became worth it. NEVER! It sat in my locker for possibly two months because I was determined to finish it no matter how much I hated it. But in the end I couldn't do it. I had moved on to other books and I have trouble reading more than one novel at a time, if I really like one.
So in the end, I say you can try BUT if it doesn't satisfy you within the first couple chapters... don't put yourself through it.
Highly imaginative historical novel -- should be marketed to adults not teens.......2007-07-28
This is a well-written, well-plotted historical novel with an unusually imaginative premise. It takes place in the late 18th century.
I have no idea why it is marketed as a "teen" novel -- it is not a fantasy, nor is it light reading, and it has a number of very disturbing sequences. This is not to say that a well-read, intelligent teen with mature tastes would not enjoy the book -- but the book should be marketed to adults, who are far more likely to appreciate it.
I won't spoil the book by giving a synopsis -- it has a number of surprises, so I advise potential readers to read the book without too much foreknowledge.
I am very much looking forward to the sequel.
Challenge your perceptions.......2007-07-10
Octavian Nothing a historical fiction set in 18th century America illuminates society, politics, education, philosophy and science including a very controversial human experiment. I found it truly thought provoking and look forward to the sequel.
This is rated for grades 9 and up. The writing style and concepts are not lightweight by any means. I think adults will appreciate it as much as teens who are looking for challenging literature.
An Astonishing Novel/Puzzle.......2007-06-22
The bad news is, since you are reading this in the Customer Review section, you have probably read enough about the setting and plot of this excellent novel to have spoiled the carefully crafted setup chapters. (Fortunately, the book's dust jacket contains no spoilers.) One of the central themes follows the boy Octavian's process of solving the mystery of who he is and how he is being raised and, reflecting this process, M. T. Anderson skillfully constructs the opening so that the reader at first can't tell when or where the book takes place. Clues about the characters are gradually revealed, all true and all misleading - nothing is ever quite what it seems, and both the narrator and the reader navigate deeper and deeper levels of understanding as the story progresses.
I have no idea why this is reviewed and marketed as a young readers' book, except that (a) Anderson's prior books were YA, (b) the narrator is a boy, and (c) there is no explicit sex. Anyone who expects this to be delightful and engaging light reading for teenagers will be disappointed. This book is deep, clever, moving, darkly funny and fascinating. The Booklist comment "it demands rereading" is right - it's even better the second time through, because you can see how much foreshadowing there was, and how beautifully everything ties together.
Book Description
The Willie Lynch Letter and the Making of a Slave is a study of slave making. It discribes the rationale and the results of Anglo Saxon's ideas and methods of insuring the master/slave relationship.
Customer Reviews:
Slavery and aftermath was certainly real..........2007-08-09
I read this little book a while ago back when I was about 18-19 yrs old. It was very powerful and thought-provoking that such a plan could be conceived and carried out. But then again, Willie Lynch was not the first white person of tha time to come up with a plan to enslave blacks, both physically and mentally. Up until that point, I thought that if I just got my degree, got a job, and stayed out of trouble, everything would be ok (being a good NEGRO). Of course now I am more conscious about African studies.
I was a bit troubled when before writing this review a couple of reviews that stated. I looked also at a wikipedia article that also mentioned that the actual letter itself may have been an internet hoax. I immediately went back to the pamphlet, which I still have, to see for myself. Now I did notice that the pamphlet is broken into about 5 main parts:
1) Introduction by Mr. Hassan-EL. (with references)
2) William Lynch letter (no reference)
3) Commentary on on Let's Make a Slave
4) Food for Thought from the Internet
5) Short attribute to Africans in America sailors
Now I was disappointed that the author didn't reference the letter itself other than to mention that the letter was "Editor's repeat: This speech was delivered by a white slave owner, William Lynch, on the banks of James River in 1712." The argument is whether or not this letter/speech actually took place. The author doesn't cite where he found the letter or got the information of the letter. I did try to contact Lushena Books, and I was unsuccessful in reaching them for comment. In other words, I couldn't verify from the source that the letter/speech part of the pamplet was true or fiction. So I gave the review 4 stars. And it the letter was in fact a forgery, then it deserves even less stars. I do agree that it is important to make sure that when we bring facts to the table that they are actual facts (either based on experience or documented facts).
So maybe there was no person named Willie Lynch or it was a pen name. Maybe the speech didn't take place in 1712. But what was described in the letter was certainly real. Pitting the 'house negro' against the 'field negro'. One good example of this was rewarding 'good slaves' for turning in runaways or revolters with either lighter work, monetary cashout, or even freed status.
What I will do is attempt to gather actual names of people (besides the common names Christopher Columbus, Sir John Hawkins, George Washington, etc.) who conspired to enslave, murder, rape, etc Africans and Native Americans for their own financial or political gain from the before the 1800s. (Well I guess that would be a lot of people, eh?) Specifically those with a written or spoken plan against the Natives and Africans in America. Then I will revise this review :)
Willie Lynch Letter.......2007-03-14
The Willie Lynch letter is an interesting dig into the psychological control of slaves by slave masters. I am not sure of the validity of this letter, but it is an important part of studying American slavery. The book is a short read that can be easily read in one short sitting.
Willie Lynch letter/the making of a slave.......2007-01-12
Very important to the education of all. Willie Lynch letter has been questionned as to its actual authenticy, but no matter because the content is historically correct and the attitudes remain to this day. That is unfortunate, however, it's value to all Americans changing their attitudes and behaviour have great global implications.
A Must Read.......2006-08-20
This book should bread by every young black male in the United States. Some have proclaimed that it is false but the information is essential to the growth of black males. It sheds light on some of the condition that we face in this country.
Ignorance of the Truth in History is Everyone's Problem.......2006-06-04
First, to Andre M. "brnn64" - - your response was a result of not reading and knowing your history. And, to to all the others who described this as "Fiction", and/or recently written. This material was a "manual" - - a guide actually used by Southerners to learn how to handle their slaves. It may be one of the reasons why slavery lasted as long as it did, and why so much of the same attitudes prevail today. Unfortunately, I have heard many whites say "why should I be penalized for something my ancestors did back then - - well, the answer to that is that "you are still reaping and enjoying the benefits of what your ancestors did back then. AND - - they are ancestors to us all - - with the racial mixing which resulted - - making us all related to each other in some way. But that is another issue.
Some"smart" caucasian thought he was an expert in breaking slaves and thus, wrote his "letter" to other slave owners as an instruction manual. Since we live what we learn - - we have two forms of this mentality present today - - the mental conditioning that has spread in the African American community generationally today that makes us think blacks are not as smart as the white person - that whites are smarter, better, superior, etc. On the other hand, the mental conditioning has spread in the white community generationally, that blacks are dumber, slower, inferior.
The letter gave specific instructions on the process to use, with the major one still affecting our educational systems now - - that if you keep blacks uneducated, you keep the control. Unfortunately, this has backfired, and being uneducated affects everyone.
The overriding factor in this situation is that all of us should look at this document as an example of what we want to get away from, what we want never to happen again - - so that documents like this one can become fiction - - only written in someone's imagination, and not become a reality.
Book Description
From the author of the widely acclaimed King Leopold's Ghost comes the taut, gripping account of the world's first grass-roots human rights movementthe fight to free the British Empire's slaves. In early 1787, twelve mena printer, a lawyer, a clergyman, and others united by their hatred of slaverycame together in a London printing shop and, combining fiery devotion with cool practicality, began one of the most brilliantly organized campaigns of all time. Masterfully stoking public opinion, the movement's leaders pioneered a variety of techniques used by citizens" movements ever since, from consumer boycotts to posters and lapel buttons to celebrity endorsements. A deft account of the precipitous rise of this popular crusade and its fierce, powerful enemies, Bury the Chains delivers all the drama, sweep, and surprise of Hochschild's previous histories.
Customer Reviews:
change is possible.......2007-06-21
Beginning in 1555 and lasting for 350 years, the British empire bought, sold, and enslaved about 11 million African people. This required some 35,000 voyages along the so-called triangular trade route: buying slaves from African slave traders along the continent's west coast, depositing their human cargo mainly in the Caribbean to work on Britain's sugar plantations but also to ports from Quebec to Chile, and then returning to England with imports for the empire. At the end of the 18th century slavery was hardly unusual; it was the rule for most peoples and places on earth. What was unusual was that in the space of about fifty years Britain outlawed the slave trade, and then a while later slavery itself (abolition was one thing, genuine emancipation another).
How did the unthinkable happen? How did an economic system that was so deeply embedded, so profitable, and so taken for granted as normal by almost everyone, disappear so swiftly? Hochschild describes the abolition movement as "one of the most ambitious and brilliantly organized citizens's movements of all time." Many of the political means that we enjoy today were perfected back then-- investigative journalism into the real conditions of slave life, sugar boycotts, 519 petitions to the British parliament with 390,000 signatures, public debates, media campaigns, and every day activism. Progressive women's groups far ahead of their time, missionaries (despised by the plantation owners), British evangelicals, Methodists, and especially the culturally marginal Quakers all provided principled moral argument. The herculean efforts of Thomas Clarkson, the parliamentary leadership of William Wilberforce, and the legal advocacy of the eccentric Granville Sharp were essential.
But Hochschild is careful to avoid the paternalism of self-congratulatory, aristocratic benevolence. After all, when all was said and done, it was the slave-owning planters who were reimbursed for their "losses" by the British government and not the slaves. Whenever possible he allows the slaves to speak for themselves, like the remarkable Olaudah Equiano, whose 500-page best-selling autobiography Interesting Narrative provided a first person narrative of what is still considered the best account of slave life (and is still available today); and Quobna Ottobah Cugoano's Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species. He describes at great length the numerous slave revolts in which fearless and skilled leaders like Toussaint L'Overture led slaves to free themselves and force the British to face reality, however reluctant they were to do so. In these violent and vicious revolts the most beleaguered people on earth defeated the world's two greatest military powers, France and Britain, in Haiti and Jamaica.
Bury the Chains joins Hochschild's previous book King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa (1999) about Belgium's plunder of the Congo. The stories are depressing but inspiring, for however dark these histories, however deep our national complicity, the narratives remind us that we are nor fated to accept injustice to our fellow human beings. Whether in Iraq or Darfur, whether with malaria or HIV-AIDS, the abolition of slavery reminds us that effective movements of genuine social justice are possible.
How a group of activists changed the world.......2007-05-07
Hochschild tells the story of how a small group of Quakers, Anglicans and Methodists brought about the end of the slave trade. It is a story of enormous moral courage against an accepted, and economically powerful interest, and also the story of great organizational skill. The product boycotts, public opinion campaigns, demonstrations and political pressure that the campaigners invented at the end of the eighteenth century are still the mainstays of civil society. It is a wonderful irony that Napoleon's reintroduction of slavery in the French empire was the final, clinching argument for its abolition in the English one.
Useful but one-sided study of the abolition of slavery.......2007-04-12
The British Empire, so praised by our current rulers, was at root a slave empire, held together by slave-trading between slave colonies. Between 1660 and 1807, British-owned ships carried 3.5 million Africans, 40,000 a year, across the Atlantic, more than any other country carried. British property owners were the world's chief slavers.
The British ruling class, not the nation, owned the slave ships, the slaves and the plantations. British workers did not control their own labour power, never mind own other people. William Cobbett noted that in 1832, "white men are sold, by the week and the month all over England. Do you call such men free, on account of the colour of their skin?" Black chattel slavery and white wage slavery were parts of the same system.
The abolitionists ignored the eighteen-hour-days worked by children in Bradford's mills. They backed the laws that attacked trade unions and suspended Habeas Corpus. They funded their foreign philanthropy by increasing the exploitation of their white slaves at home. The trade unionist Oates said, "The great emancipators of negro slaves were the great drivers of white slaves. The reason was obvious. The labour of the black slaves was the property of others. The labour of the white slaves they considered their own." As the Derbyshire Courier noted, "We make laws to provide protection to the Negro: let us not be less just to the children of England."
Bronterre O'Brien wrote, "What are called the working classes are the slave populations of the civilized countries." From birth, they were mortgaged to the owners of capital and land, only nominally owning their own labour power, forced into wage slavery. Britain's property owners extracted far more profit from their 16 million wage slaves than from their million chattel slaves. O'Brien again, "We pronounce there to be more slavery in England than in the West Indies ... because there is more unrequited labour in England."
The empire was based on exploiting wage slaves and used the free movement of goods, capital and labour to extend its exploitation. The wars of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries were fought to keep, or add to, Britain's imperial and slave-trading conquests. For example, in the 1790s, British slave owners united with French slave owners to try to eat Haiti's revolution. The government sent more soldiers to the West Indies, and lost more, than it had when trying to crush America's independence. Of the 89,000 sent, 45,000 died, as did 19,000 sailors. France lost 50,000 dead. Haiti's freed slaves defeated the armies of the two greatest slaver powers, but the British forces laid waste to the island, destroying almost all its sugar plantations.
Slavery lost its former importance to the metropolitan economy. The slave colonies took an ever smaller share of Britain's exports. From 1820 the slump in the West Indies grew worse and worse. In 1832, an official wrote that the West Indies system "is becoming so unprofitable when compared with the expense that for this reason only it must at no distant time be nearly abandoned."
The years 1830-32 also saw the Swing Rising in Britain, revolution in France, a major slave revolt in Jamaica and the parliamentary Reform Act. All led to the 1833 Slave Emancipation Act, which freed the 540,000 slaves in the British West Indies. Parliament gave the planters £20 million (a billion pounds in today's money) as compensation for the loss of their slaves. The working class paid the money in tax, though they pointed out that the Church should have paid, as it owned so many slaves itself and as its priests justified the slavery of both black and white, at home and abroad. The Empire then imposed another form of servitude on the `freed' slaves of the West Indies - compulsory six-year `apprenticeships'. Later in the century, it used indentured labour, workers forcibly imported from India.
Slavery had been profitable in the 18th century; abolition was even more profitable in the 19th. The effort `to stop the foreign slave trade' was designed to damage rival empires and to protect the West Indies planters, now denied annual slave imports, from competition by sugar producers Cuba and Brazil, still reliant on buying slaves. The suppression of the slave trade on Africa's West and East coasts necessitated ever closer control of West and East Africa, at first by private companies like the British East Africa Company, later by the Empire itself. Abolition was a weapon to expand the empire.
Throughout the century, the Empire continued to steal people, land and resources from Africa, reinforcing slavery there and killing millions of African people. The Empire continued to contribute to and profit from the slave trade well into the twentieth century. As Marx wrote, we see in slavery "what the bourgeoisie makes of itself and of the labourer, wherever it can, without restraint, model the world after its own image."
Abolitionism was an early form of the fake internationalism we see today - LiveAid, Live Earth, Blairite calls to intervene everywhere, Oxfam's delusions about Britain being `a force for good on the world stage'. We should be satisfied if Britain was a force for good in Britain.
A Familiar Tale Told With Verve.......2007-03-03
"Bury the Chains" has little new data, but it is still a brilliantly written synthesis of a wide range of material on British antislavery. The subject is larger and more diffuse than the author's earlier "King Leopold's Ghost," but the outlook is similar, and appropriately so. Hochschild represents the neo-abolitionist perspective on slavery: it assumes the centrality of moral issues and the necessity for reforms, and reconstructs the world of antislavery advocates and slaves while also trying to understand the institution's supporters. The author balances several factors culminating in the end of the Old Slavery: humanitarian activism, structural economic changes, and not least slave revolts and revolution. Ultimately he gives primacy to the influence of humanitarianism. The book is rather conventional, even old-fashioned in asserting individual agency in history, though there is due attention given to more impersonal economic developments. A strong chapter on British women consumers as abolitionists adds a refreshingly different dimension to the story. Tragically, there is now a burgeoning slavery promoted by globalization. This New Slavery sadly returns abolitionism to the realm of current events, and enables future historians to shed more light on earlier antislavery movements. L. Sanneh, "Abolitionists Abroad" breaks new ground on African antislavery efforts; K. Bales, "Disposable People" is most enlightening on the New Slavery.
Wonderful writing, with some obvious bias.......2007-02-18
Hochschild has written a compelling, provocative book that I heartily enjoyed. In addition to good narratives and compelling anecdotes, he shines as he tries to make the social conventions and economic realities of the time period comprehensible today.
Mr. Hochschild is of the opinion that Wilberforce has received way too much credit for what was in reality a broad-based, complex movement of many decades. I have no problem with this and I respect his research and credentials. But he does seem to have an ax to grind with Christianity. No, I am not someone naive enough to hold that Christians can do/ have not done any wrong. But while Hochschild sometimes go to great lengths to make the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries comprehensible, he does not make this same effort for the Christians of that era.
Most notably, he singles out John Newton, author of Amazing Grace, for withering commentary. While I am not here to defend John Newton or assert he had no blind spots (like so many people of his day), I do think Mr. Hochschild trashes him unfairly. Christianity is not an instantaneous transformation but a lifelong process. The fact that John Newton left the slave trade, became a pastor but did not become a leader in the abolition movement somehow is incomprehensible to the author who infers that Newton's religion was a blind and hypocritical sham. This is most glaring sore point in an otherwise wonderful book that I am very glad to have read.
Amazon.com
Some stories are so enthralling they deserve to be retold generation after generation. The wreck in 1815 of the Connecticut merchant ship, Commerce, and the subsequent ordeal of its crew in the Sahara Desert, is one such story. With Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival, Dean King refreshes the popular nineteenth-century narrative once read and admired by Henry David Thoreau, James Fenimore Cooper, and Abraham Lincoln. King's version, which actually draws from two separate first person accounts of the Commerce's crew, offers a page-turning blend of science, history, and classic adventure. The book begins with a seeming false start: tracing the lives of two merchants from North Africa, Seid and Sidi Hamet, who lose their fortunes—and almost their lives—when their massive camel caravan arrives at a desiccated oasis. King then jumps to the voyage of the Commerce under Captain Riley and his 11-man crew. After stops in New Orleans and Gibraltar, the ship falls off course en route to the Canary Islands and ultimately wrecks at the infamous Cape Bojador. After the men survive the first predations of the nomads on the shore, they meander along the coast looking for a way inland as their supplies dwindle. They subsist for days by drinking their own urine. Eventually, to their horror, they discover that they have come aground on the edge of the Sahara Desert. They submit themselves, with hopes of getting food and water, as slaves to the Oulad Bou Sbaa. After days of abuse, they are bought by Hamet, who, after his own experiences with his failed caravan (described at the novels opening), sympathizes with the plight of the crew. Together, they set off on a hellish journey across the desert to collect a bounty for Hamet in Swearah. King embellishes this compelling narrative throughout with scientific and historical material explaining the origins of the camel, the market for English and American slaves, and the stages of dehydration. He also humanizes the Sahrawi with background on the tribes and on the lives of Hamet and Seid. This material, doled out in sufficient amounts to enrich the story without derailing it makes Skeletons on the Zahara a perfectly entertaining bit of history that feels like a guilty pleasure. --Patrick O'Kelley
Book Description
Some stories are so enthralling they deserve to be retold generation after generation. The wreck in 1815 of the Connecticut merchant ship, Commerce, and the subsequent ordeal of its crew in the Sahara Desert, is one such story. With Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival, Dean King refreshes the popular nineteenth-century narrative once read and admired by Henry David Thoreau, James Fenimore Cooper, and Abraham Lincoln. King's version, which actually draws from two separate first person accounts of the Commerce's crew, offers a page-turning blend of science, history, and classic adventure. The book begins with a seeming false start: tracing the lives of two merchants from North Africa, Seid and Sidi Hamet, who lose their fortunes#151;and almost their lives#151;when their massive camel caravan arrives at a desiccated oasis. King then jumps to the voyage of the Commerce under Captain Riley and his 11-man crew. After stops in New Orleans and Gibraltar, the ship falls off course en route to the Canary Islands and ultimately wrecks at the infamous Cape Bojador. After the men survive the first predations of the nomads on the shore, they meander along the coast looking for a way inland as their supplies dwindle. They subsist for days by drinking their own urine. Eventually, to their horror, they discover that they have come aground on the edge of the Sahara Desert. They submit themselves, with hopes of getting food and water, as slaves to the Oulad Bou Sbaa. After days of abuse, they are bought by Hamet, who, after his own experiences with his failed caravan (described at the novels opening), sympathizes with the plight of the crew. Together, they set off on a hellish journey across the desert to collect a bounty for Hamet in Swearah.King embellishes this compelling narrative throughout with scientific and historical material explaining the origins of the camel, the market for English and American slaves, and the stages of dehydration. He also humanizes the Sahrawi with background on the tribes and on the lives of Hamet and Seid. This material, doled out in sufficient amounts to enrich the story without derailing it makes Skeletons on the Zahara a perfectly entertaining bit of history that feels like a guilty pleasure.--Patrick O'Kelley
Download Description
An incredible story of shipwrecked American sailors sold into slavery in North Africa and dragged through the hellish interior of the Sahara.
Customer Reviews:
A modern retelling of one of the most influential books in U.S. history.......2007-10-09
We read this book for our book club and had the honor of discussing it with the author, Dean King. As someone without any sort of nautical background, I was a bit worried as I started reading that the book was going to be too technical for me, but I quickly got to the point where I didn't want to put it down. The story, which is true and yet reads like a novel, had a certain "Apollo 13" feel to it...it is hard to fathom that so much could go wrong and yet be overcome. Dean King really did his research and was able to verify seemingly unverifiable elements of the story through his own trek on camel - and in some cases on foot - through the Sahara (such as the branding treatment used for illness and the belief that one cannot be hurt if fallen from a camel).
The original manuscript of Captain Riley's has been documented as being one of a handful of books that was influential to Abraham Lincoln. After his own stint as a slave, Riley - a white man - was able to give voice to the inhumanity of slavery here in the U.S. in a way that, at that time, no black man or woman could. Captain Riley's experiences and the telling of his story certainly had an impact on the consciousness of the American people and its leaders. This book brings history alive in a truly thrilling way. I highly recommend reading the footnotes for each chapter and the extra features (like an excerpted interview with the author) included in the paperback version of this book.
Too Much Camel Urine.......2007-09-20
Skeletons of the Zahara certainly has moments of high drama, and the fact that the story is (mostly) true, adds to the sense of adventure and disbelief. And the poor sailors stranded on the Western Shore of Africa could not have been treated much worse than they were. But for me, the retelling of this story suffered from the same monotony as the sailors themselves must have felt. There are lengthy passages of their travels through the desert that are too similar to other lengthy passages of their travels through the desert. This was interspersed occasionally with the graphic depiction of the devouring of an entire camel. I don't really have a weak stomach, but the numerous references to the green goo inside the camel stomach which became the main entree on the menu was a little too much even for me. Then there was the camel urine, which one and all slurped down like a nice chardonnay. Maybe I need to spend more time with the Touareg to get a better feel for things.
One Heck of a Ride.......2007-07-23
This book rips your throat out and stuffs it up your nose!!!!!!!!!
If you think you are tough.....or if you waste your time watching the goofy fake Survival Reality TV shows.......then you need to cleanse your brain with this book......It will show you what a wimp you really are...I do not know anyone who could take for 24 hours what these human beings endured for the extraordinary amount of time they were subject to these conditions from hell......... Dean King did his homework ...from the library to the turf...He actually ventured into this region and DID SOME REAL HOMEWORK
It'll take your breath away.......2007-06-25
Americans shipwrecked in 1815 and held captive by Muslim slavers in the Sahara.
I was considering ordering Sufferings in Africa by James Riley and Robbins' journal: by Archibald Robbins, the two books King based his book on, but after reading this I didn't think I could stomach anymore of their suffering.
The cruelty and ignorance of the arabs/islamist/muslims is stunning. How could and why would anyone be so cruel? If you don't take care of your servants how are they going to be able to continue to serve you?. These arabs were either too dumb to logic that out or just inherently vicious.
Devoured by the Desert.......2007-05-13
This incredible tale captures the true recollections of survivors of shipwreck and enslavement by nomadic Arabs in the western Sahara in 1815. It's a time when the US is striving to assert itself on the world stage. American men seeking to provide for their families willingly take great risk and leave their homeland and find themselves in the Islamic world, stranded and forced to pay a high price to escape. Survival in this world requires enduring constant threat to life and limb. While some of the Arabs are worthy of respect and admirable in their bravery, even the best examples have a moral code that is hard to reconcile with Western values. Equally true is how Islamic values mirror some of the best and worst of Western values (slavery, cruelty for economic profit, strong familial bonds, communal coherance in a time of threat, and dissonance in a time of abundance). While the story of Captain Riley and his fellow American sailors may stand as one of the world's great survival tales, it is enriched by moral themes relevant to today's world experience.
Books:
- Shenandoah Summer: The 1864 Valley Campaign
- Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors
- Sixty Days and Counting
- Sophie Scholl and the White Rose
- The Captured: A True Story of Abduction by Indians on the Texas Frontier
- The Color Purple
- The Cure for All Cancers: Including over 100 Case Histories of Persons Cured
- The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine
- The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot
- The Historian's Toolbox: A Student's Guide to the Theory and Craft of History
Books Index
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