ERA Reviews

I bought this for an art history course in college. The book has many high quality illustrations and half of them are in color. The book also features many details of the works presented in it. There are also comments about what was happening in the artists' lives when they were painting the works shown. The book also includes the political events that occured during the 18th and early 19th centuries. There is even a timeline in the back which shows what was happening in the art world and in the political world at the same time. The book focuses on the Rococo, Neo-Classical, and Romantic movements in painting and sculpture. There is no mention of architecture. This is a great book to have if you like art history.

Written at the beginning of the Great War at the behest of certain influential Anglophiles, Hunt's work was intended to celebrate one hundred years of peace between America and Britain, and, perhaps, to dispose Americans to the British side of the developing cataclysm.
Whatever the intent, the result is a valuable window into life in the new Republic, discussing matters of State and politics, but focusing on social conditions and the matters of everyday life among the ordinary (and, of course, largely rural) people. Travel, education, food, medicine, and amusements are just some of the subjects touched upon in this very useful and readable work, and the author has the happy gift of incorporating necessary numerical information in a most painless way.
Hunt's clear-eyed evaluations of the social institutions of the day, particularly slavery, may grate on modern sensibilities, but the work is valuable overall in its view of life in an era little known to most Americans.

(The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

That quote comes from the review on the back, but you have to wonder how _important_is this book?
Keeping in mind this book was written in 1945, you can enjoy this book for what it is - a sort of science fiction/fact book. For example, "Universal and perpetual peace will reign in the Era of Romic Energy...". The reasoning seems solid - no reason to fight for fuel, all raw materials could be mined from the ocean and war would be too destructive (all Mr Dietz's reasons). However, as we know, these things did not happen.

This book is recommended highly just so the reader can enjoy how the future was supposed to look from the viewpoint of 1945. It certainly is a different view than the current one and, as it says on the back cover, "should be a part of the lirary of every intelligent American."

One of the most interesting commentaries on the actions of the government I have ever read. What was revealing to me was the pinpointing of when and how the "hate campaigns" started in politics. Should be brought to the attention of anyone concerned about the way Government is headed today.

Kanin's research is solid, and for those interested in San Francisco during the Gilded Age, or labor history, this is a must-read. Focusing in on a clique of unionists that seized contol of the city government, with a particular emphasis on Patrick Henry McCarthy. No, he was not a typical business unionist, but rather a urban progressive who combined a pratical wage-worker consciousness with a social reform mentality. On the other hand, he had no problem fusing a racist ideology into his form of progresivism. If you bothered to read this review, buy this book.

Fabulous content and detail, with accurate factualilty throughout

It isn't easy reading history; good historians are plentiful, but combining that with good writing, storytelling, and narrative flow is darn near impossible these days. Brent Kelley delivers a touching, thoughtful treatment of baseball in the 1950s. Each chapter tells a season's worth of information, anecdotes, and news. He covers much ground, but the reader never loses track of people or events as the summer odyssey unfolds. If you want the whole story of 50s baseball, get it here, in one stunning volume.

Morris examines the development of a Mississippi community from early frontier to its rise as a center of the cotton culture. The book is extremely well written. Unlike most historians who attempt to write community studies, Morris writes with the reader in mind. His prose is accessible yet informative, sophisticated yet always enagaging. A must read for anyone who wants to learn more about antebellum Mississippi.

It was to my great advantage to be spending the summer of 1992 in Lenox when I read this book, purchased from the local village. Carol Owens has provided a supurb look into the lives and lifestyles of the gilded aged super rich as well as an excellent portrayal of the architecture of the summer cottages of the Berkshires. Filled with historical facts and "twice-told tales", this book is a rare gem giving the reader a vivid and pictoral view point of life during this era among the social ellete and powerful industrial magnates. I was able to see many of the homes by using Owens' book as a tour guide. It was thoroughly fascinating! I even got a bit carried away when I decided to take an unauthorized tour of the massive (and deserted) 92 room Elm Court, once owned by Emily Vanderbilt Sloane White. The local police were less impressed with my venture. Lookout for the flowershop owner who works out of what used to be Elm Courts' carriage house--he is a real snitch. If you enjoy reading about the "400" and the gilded age or the architecture of this period, you must read this book. It is a real treasure!

Best Companions is a 532 page compendium of letters between Eliza Middleton Fisher and her mother, Mary Hering Middleton. The letters bridge Charleston, Philadelphia to Newport, through the years 1839-1846. This seven-year conversation, encompassed in some 375 letters, connect the cultural and social life of the North and the South even as other forces conspired to tear America part from within. Enhanced with an Epilogue, extentensive bibliography, and comprehensive index, Best Companions is intimately showcases the joys, sorrows, frustrations, and widespread opinions of a close mother and daughter. Best Companions is not to be missed!