2 comments about Heart & Soul: The Story of Grand Rapids Neighborhoods.

1. This book is a great pictorial and detailed way to remember, relive, and learn about the history of Grand Rapids, MI. I live in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids presently and for most of my life; I've bought two copies of this book already for family members. Highly recommended!



2. This book is a must for anyone interested in the history of Grand Rapids, MI. It is full of pictures and information that most Grand Rapids residents probably don't know about or are too young to remember. It is presented in an easy-to-read format. This would make a perfect gift for someone. It's too bad that you cannot find new copies of it.

2 comments about Summer Dreams: The Story of Bob-lo Island (Great Lakes Books).

1. Bob-lo Island is now home to dozens of luxury homes and condominiums for the well to do, but for nearly one hundred years it was Everyman's playground. Located eighteen miles south of Detroit and just west of Amherstburg, the island was Detroit and Windsor's favorite summertime destination.
   
   In Summer Dreams: The Story of Bob-Lo Island, Patrick Livingston reveals the island's fascinating history, from the British occupation of the island in 1783 to its development as an amusement park and its current reincarnation as a resort community. More than just a glossy nostalgia trip, Summer Dreams also exposes the back story of racism, youth gangs and mismanagement of the island.
   
   Livingston not only captures the glory years of Bob-Lo with its many amusement rides and attractions, he goes behind the scenes to reveal the inner workings of both the island and the famed steamers used to ferry patrons to and from the island. Also featured are a handful of essays written by people with first hand knowledge of the island and more than a hundred vintage photographs and illustrations. Summer Dreams: The Story of Bob-Lo Island is recommended to anyone who has pleasant memories of riding the Thunderbolt, enjoying a picnic lunch on the immaculately kept grounds or stealing a kiss from your best girl on the Moonlight Cruise.



2. I grew up visiting Boblo Island every year with my grandmother. The boat rides were as great as the park. It is a part of my best childhood memories.
   
   The book takes on a very complete and accurate history of not only the amusement park, but of the island as well.
   
   A must have for any amusement park, coaster enthusiast, or someone just wanting to take a trip down memory lane.
   
   Sad to see it gone.

1 comments about Beyond the Boundaries: Life and Landscape at the Lake Superior Copper Mines, 1840-1875 (Michigan).

1. Larry Lankton has achieved a great deal in bringing us closer to the early history of Michigan's Copper Country, to help us experience this rugged region in a rugged time as though we had lived there and in those days ourselves. This book, his latest, concerns private life during the first decades of the great Copper Rush on the shores of Lake Superior, which began some five years before the California Gold Rush and which was one of the most productive mining eras in human history (did you realize that?). Like many similar books on old times, Lankton's chapters are topical. Some are more interesting than others, and my favorites are the chapter concerning the early frontiersmen, young and scraggly bucks, who first came to the wilds of the Keweenaw Peninsula; another about labor at the early Copper Mines; and finally the one on crime in the early mining communities out in a region that was once at the edge of civilization. Lankton writes in an easy, congenial manner and bounces from topic to topic within the chapters without any organizational principle other than what he thinks we readers might find interesting about life in the woods and at the copper mines. Though this is not a book to start with when studying the Copper Country and its deep history, it is nonetheless a first-rate addition to the literature of the Keweenaw. (By the way, I live summers in Copper Harbor and my great-grandparents were all Finnish immigrants to the Keweenaw.) Thanks for a job well done, Larry.

2 comments about Potawatomi Indians of Michigan, 1843-1904, Including some Ottawa and Chippewa, 1843-1866, and Potawatomi of Indiana, 1869 and 1885.

1. It is confusing to me as to why (as of the date I am writing this) that this book would be selling (by parties other than Amazon--Amazon did not have in stock) for over $100. It is simply the census roll data on the Potawatomi Indians in Michigan for the time period specified in the title. I bought from one seller who fortunately posted for under $15 since I thought perhaps there was additional info, but there was not. Most of this data can be found on internet sites concerning Native American history or Ancestry. So, look around on the internet before you purchase this book.



2. I was disappointed with the content of this book. Only a roll call of Potawatomi Indians that turned up for government money. The title made it seem it was about the Potawatomi, not the government counting of them. Wish I hadn't bought it.

No comments about Michigan Yesterday & Today.

1 comments about Hollowed Ground: Copper Mining and Community Building on Lake Superior, 1840-1990 (Great Lakes Books).

1. July 20. I would like to review this book, except I have not received it. The order tracking shows only that the order was received by shipper and delivery date is June 21. Amazon customer service has asked me to wait until until the end of July before they replace or refund. Gee, is that enough time?

1 comments about Climbing Your Family Tree: Online and Off-line Genealogy for Kids.

1. Kids are invited to become sleuths into family history with Climbing Your Family Tree: Online And Off-Line Genealogy For Kids, a lively title, packed with tips on how to become an ancestor detective. From conducting interviews with family members to tracking down naturalization records, birth certificates, and regional history, Climbing Your Family Tree will appeal to all young readers who become fascinated with the fine art of genealogy.

1 comments about Picturing Hemingway's Michigan (Painted Turtle Books).

1. Ernest Hemingway is an iconic American novelist. What is not so well known is that he was also a gifted short story writer who occasionally sought contemplative refuge and inspiration from the northern reaches of Michigan's Little Traverse Bay area in the early 1900s when the region was evolving from a rural lumbering country into a popular vacationing tourist destination. "Picturing Hemingway's Michigan" is a 200-page compendium of archival period photographs, captions and commentary compiled, organized, written and presented by Michael R. Federspiel (Professor of History, Central Michigan University). An expert in the life and work of Ernest Hemingway, Professor Federspiel approaches this project with impressive credentials as the president of the Michigan Hemingway Society and the general editor of the Hemingway Letters Project. Combining vintage Hemingway family photos with excerpts from Hemingway's writings, "Picturing Hemingway's Michigan" is an exemplary and unique approach to regional American history and a highly recommended addition to academic and community library collections, as well as inherently fascinating, informed and informative reading for students and fans of Ernest Hemingway's work.

2 comments about Michigan: A History of the Wolverine State.

1. As a life-long resident of Michigan, I felt that I needed to know more about my home state. Dunbar and May's work did just that.

   Michigan : A History of the Wolverine State lies somewhere between a textbook and a more casual non-fiction text, with copious endnotes for the historian, yet a clear, flowing style for the casual reader. It would serve as an excellent text for a college course on the subject.

   I found reading this work to be immensely valuable and entertaining, and a great conversation starter. In it you will find explanations of the origins of nearly every facet of Michigan society. Beginning with the ancient history of the Native American tribes, and finishing with the education and tax reforms of the early 1990's, very little is left behind. You will learn such quirky facts as the meaning of the name "Ypsilanti", why Kellogg and Post Cereals are both headquartered in Battle Creek, and the true story of the Michigan-Ohio border war. Comprehensive, lucid, and entertaining. Recommended.




2. I had bought this book because I needed it for a class for college, and as I started reading it I started to understand the drama of how Michigan came about-It was a rough road for our ancestors. The authors pull you back in time in a way that it is not just a history book, but it kind of tells the STORY too.

5 comments about The Life of Charlemagne (Ann Arbor Paperbacks).

1. Charlemagne's reign was a brief flash of light in the dark centuries that followed the collapse of the Roman empire. As king of the Franks, Charlemagne unified much of Western Europe - what today is northeastern Spain, all of France, and parts of Germany and Italy. He revived education and learning, repaired existing churches and built new ones, and helped strengthen the position of the Pope in Rome. In the year 800 Charlemagne was crowned Emperor Augustus, ruler of the new Roman empire.
   
   This new empire was short lived, but Charlemagne became legend. Einhard, a scholar in Charlemagne's court and author of this short biography, was faced with a difficult question: how does one write a balanced and honest biography of a revered king, a king that had become legendary in his own time?
   
   Einhard had few examples to follow. The religious biographies of saints were not entirely appropriate. He turned to a classical source, The Lives of the Caesars by the Roman historian Seutonius. Einhard devotes about half of his work to Charlemagne's extensive military campaigns, but his focus remains on Charlemagne the leader and Charlemagne the man, not on military tactics and strategy.
   
   The modern reader will find it helpful to read between the lines. Einhard obviously admired Charlemagne, and his criticisms are muted. Also, Einhard's writing reflects a world view very different from today.
   
   For example, Einhard in discussing the continual uprising of the Saxons says: he never allowed their faithless behavior to go unpunished, but either took the field against them in person, or sent his counts with an army to wreak vengeance and exact righteous satisfaction.
   
   Wreak vengeance? Exact righteous satisfaction? The editor's footnote explains that at the time of a revolt in 782 Charlemagne had 4,500 Saxons beheaded in one day at Verden. Similarly, after a formidable conspiracy in Germany was put down, "all the traitors were banished, some of them without mutilation, others after their eyes had been put out".
   
   Einhard provides many details of Charlemagne's character and private life. Charlemagne enjoyed the exhalations from natural hot springs. He often practiced swimming; few could surpass him in this sport. Einhard carefully describes the clothing worn by Charlemagne. He apparently disliked foreign costumes, and was most comfortable in the common dress of the Frankish people.
   
   He was temperate in eating, and especially drinking. He was particularly fond of roast meat prepared on a spit and disregarded medical advice to eat only boiled meat. He could speak Latin fluently. St. Augustine's The City of God was among his favorite books. He never developed proficiency at writing, although he practiced regularly during his later years.
   
   Einhard's biography was immensely popular and more than eighty manuscripts still exist today.
   
   My copy of The Life of Charlemagne was published by Ann Arbor Paperbacks, University of Michigan Press. The foreword by historian Sidney Painter was quite helpful in establishing the historical context. My copy includes a ninth century map of Europe, footnotes, and a genealogical table for the family of Charlemagne and Hildegard.



2. Written in the decade following Charlemagne's death, Einhard's biography is based on over twenty years of personal service to Charlemagne and gives readers a tightly-woven narrative of the sovereign's life, personal character, and military conquests. Although presenting an idealized version of events, the historical accuracy of most of the book's details have been largely confirmed by modern historians. The book's modern index reaffirms this conclusion by documenting less than ten minor factual errors.
   
   The biography was obviously written to honor Einhard's former patron, but the deeds and exploits chronicled in Einhard's book are nevertheless plausibly presented in a idealized manner reminiscent of patriotic middle school textbook renderings of George Washington or Theodore Roosevelt. The book's format is continuous, breaking only at the end of a four-page preface before continuing on with an unbroken string of pages which are presented without the benefit of chapter divisions. The style of Einhard's writing tends to be wooden and Spartan - the biography tells the reader of Charlemagne's accomplishments but makes scant mention of the difficulties he faced - and any criticism of Charlemagne is obviously muted by the author's attempt to balance the idealized expectations of his partisan audience with the Roman ideal of factual honesty.
   
   Einhard's biography starts with a concise outline of Charlemagne's lineage, beginning with a brief mention of his great-grandfather Pepin of Heristal, followed by three pages summarizing the exploits of grandfather Charles Martel and father Pepin the Short. Due to an admitted lack of source material, Einhard skips Charlemagne's childhood and proceeds directly to his first military undertaking; the Aqauitanian war begun by Pepin the Short. The rest of the book's sixty seven pages are essentially divided into two parts: the first half concisely presenting a chronological, episodic narration of Charlemagne's military campaigns (confining the focus to Charlemagne's motives and decisions while largely ignoring his tactics and strategy), before backtracking to conclude with a twenty seven page glimpse of the monarch's personal and family life.
   
   The author's purpose in writing the book, plainly stated by him in the book's preface, reveal an unmistakable admiration which borders on hero worship. Descriptive phrases like "most excellent," "justly renowned," and "a very great and distinguished man" clearly display Einhard's to write the book as tribute to the greatest man of his age. In this he succeeds; although the book's superficial and miserly accounting of its subject's exploits leave the reader hungry for more details.
   
   The book effectively chronicles the subject's glorious life and accomplishments from the point of view of a member of his court. Simultaneously, Einhard manages to shine some much-needed light onto Charlemagne's moral stature and political machinations, in addition to providing the reader with a general military history of the period.



3. This chronicle was commissioned at the request of Louis the Pious one of Charlemagne's successors, was written by Einhard, a monk, historian, and a dedicated servant of Charlemagne. His Life of Charlemagne, written between 817-830 is clearly in the vein of the famous Roman historian Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars (a text that existed at the monastery where the author worked). The work is brief, to the point, and for the most part does not include tangential information, and is biased. The bias is completely understandable and the introduction to the text points out where and why. His chronicle was written to make Louis the Pious' famous father look good. For example, one of the morally stained aspects of the Charlemagne's reign were the actions of his unmoral daughters, which Einhard carefully does not tell us about. Einhard, in short, sometimes deliberately obscures the truth. However, what is so appealing about Einhard's text is the fact that his most of his information was based off of 26 years as a servant of Charlemagne and his court, and information that he includes of actions before Charlemagne's reign most likely was gathered from sources and documents which he had access to. Lastly, Einhard's attempt at stringently following the model of Suetonius Twelve Caesars makes him connect the characteristics of great emperors such as Augustus to Charlemagne, obscuring Charlemagne's actual habits, personality etc...
   
   The introduction is ok but is mostly summary, the map is good, but the notes are scanty. A MUCH better addition would be the Penguin Classics text, Two Lives of Charlemagne, that also includes the equally interesting (although vastly different) De Carlo Magno written 70 years after Charlemagne's death.



4. King Charles the Great, more commonly known as Charlemagne, was the first truly great leader of France. His reign was one of great expansion as he created a French nation that controlled nearly all of Western Europe. Charlemagne was a great military commander and one who appreciated learning, he did a great deal to promote the relearning of so much that was lost with the fall of the Roman Empire.
   Einhard was one of the learned people that Charlemagne sponsored, and so in this book Einhard quite naturally praises the great king. Yet, it is historically accurate and written in 830 CE, it is contemporary to the life of the great king. Einhard's direct observation of the life of Charlemagne is a historical classic, one that should be read by all students of what we now call the Dark Ages. For Charlemagne was a rare glimmer of light during those times of meager learning and education.



5. This is an excellent book with great information. I used it for a research paper and made an A due to the extensive areas of his life that it covered.