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“’Tis God gives skill, but not without men’s hands: He could not make Antonio Stradivari’s violins without Antonio.”
–George Eliot

Antonio Stradivari (1644—1737) was a perfectionist whose single-minded pursuit of excellence changed the world of music. In the course of his long career in the northern Italian city of Cremona, he created more than a thousand stringed instruments; approximately six hundred survive. In this fascinating book, Toby Faber traces the rich, multilayered stories of six of these peerless instruments–five violins and a cello–and the one towering artist who brought them into being.

Blending history, biography, meticulous detective work, and an abiding passion for music, Faber embarks on an absorbing journey as he follows some of the most prized instruments of all time. Mysteries and unanswered questions proliferate from the outset–starting with the enigma of Antonio Stradivari himself. What made this apparently unsophisticated craftsman so special? Why were his techniques not maintained by his successors? How is it that even two and a half centuries after his death, no one has succeeded in matching the purity, depth, and delicacy of a Stradivarius?

In Faber’s illuminating narrative, each of the six fabled instruments becomes a character in its own right–a living entity cherished by artists, bought and sold by princes and plutocrats, coveted, collected, hidden, lost, copied, and occasionally played by a musician whose skill matches its maker’s.

Here is the fabulous Viotti, named for the virtuoso who enchanted all Paris in the 1780s, only to fall foul of the French Revolution. Paganini supposedly made a pact with the devil to transform the art of the violin–and by the end of his life he owned eleven Strads. Then there’s the Davidov cello, fashioned in 1712 and lovingly handed down through a succession of celebrated artists until, in the 1980s, it passed into the capable hands of Yo-Yo Ma.

From the salons of Vienna to the concert halls of New York, from the breakthroughs of Beethoven’s last quartets to the first phonographic recordings, Faber unfolds a narrative magnificent in its range and brilliant in its detail. “A great violin is alive,” said Yehudi Menuhin of his own Stradivarius. In the pages of this book, Faber invites us to share the life, the passion, the intrigue, and the incomparable beauty of the world’s most marvelous stringed instruments.

• Sales Rank: #1261523 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-05
• Released on: 2005-04-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 8.40" h x 1.30" w x 5.80" l,
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

From Publishers Weekly
One of modern technology's greatest embarrassments is its inability to produce violins with the awesome musical qualities of those made almost 400 years ago by Stradivarius. This engaging appreciation celebrates the maestro's legacy by following the adventures of six of his instruments. Faber, the former managing director of British publishing house Faber and Faber, begins with a short account of Stradivari's life (1644–1737) and methods in the Italian city of Cremona, where violin-making techniques achieved their zenith. As the Cremonese violins passed through the hands of musicians, the instruments' rich tone and penetrating sonic power stimulated a new style of virtuoso violin-playing that held Europe's concert halls enthralled. And as time passed and the violins' value soared, they spawned whole new industries in collecting, appraising, curating and faking them. Faber's stylish account savors Stradivari's marvelous acoustics and the individual personalities of his instruments while exploring the science behind them (X-rays, chemical tests and tree-ring analysis have all been deployed to unlock their secrets) and regaling readers with colorful tales of the musicians who built their careers around them. The result is an illuminating look at an enduring cultural monument. Photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737), Cremona's greatest luthier, pioneered the modern shape of the violin. Working from designs begun by Nicolo Amati 100 years earlier, Stradivari built sonically superb, exquisitely crafted instruments meant to last. Faber begins with a brief history of Cremona's luthiers, the biography of Stradivari and his sons, who continued his atelier, and a discussion of Stradivari's innovations. Faber then traces the journeys of five violins and one cello through the hands of famous players from Paganini and Joachim to Marie Hall and Yo Yo Ma, and also of famous dealers, such as W. E. Hill of London and Vuillaume of Paris, who often repaired and, more notoriously, copied many instruments, and continuing until their whereabouts today are accounted for. Perforce, Faber concisely covers three centuries of the performance and ownership of what are considered the finest-sounding stringed instruments ever made. Sadly, private collections and museums own many instruments and keep them unheard. Those whose stories Faber tells so are but five of more than 1,000 instruments from Stradivari's workshop. Alan Hirsch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
Advance praise for Stradivari’s Genius

“Toby Faber’s engaging new book on Antonio Stradivari traces the history of a handful of his instruments–their biographies, who played them, where they went–and through it we learn a lot about how violins are made and the music world. It’s fascinating, accessible, and enjoyable reading.”
–Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl with a Pearl Earring

“A captivating book that follows the trail of six of Stradivari’s creations. Like strange totems that cast an irresistible spell, these instruments bring out the best and the worst of those who would own them, and Faber deftly tells the stories in all their rich and surprising detail. Avarice and intrigue compete with generosity and love of music in a drama that Faber brings alive at every turn. An extraordinary accomplishment and a compelling read.”
–Thad Carhart, author of The Piano Shop on the Left Bank

Most helpful customer reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful.
Simply the Best
By Rob Hardy
Quick, name a violin maker. For most people, there is only one name that comes to mind, Stradivarius (or in non-Latin form, Stradivari). It is not so surprising that the name lives on: "More than 250 years after his death, Stradivari's violins and cellos remain the best in the world." So writes Tony Faber in _Stradivari's Genius: Five Violins, One Cello, and Three Centuries of Enduring Perfection_ (Random House). The master made more than a thousand instruments and six hundred are documented as still surviving. Faber has chosen six Strads upon which to fasten a story of art, history, and science. He admits they aren't the most celebrated instruments, nor are they all now used by famous players (in fact, only two are being played at all). But in examining them, we get an idea of what makes the brand so special, and why they are so fervently beloved by listeners and players, and sometimes so firmly locked up by museums and collectors that they cannot come out and play.

Stradivari was born in 1644, in or near the Amati family home, Cremona, Italy. He lived to be 93, working all his years, and fathered eleven children, but not a family dynasty of instrument makers. His instruments, mainly violins and cellos, but also a few violas and a single harp, were valued in his own lifetime, and he was wealthy. The instruments were eventually perfect for playing in large halls because of their ability to project their sound. It was as if Stradivari predicted that larger halls and a romantic sound were going to come into permanent fashion. At least partially because of Stradivari, violins have a prominence as the chief instrument of the orchestra. Faber follows the fortunes of five of Stradivari's violins - the _Lipinski_, the _Viotti_, the _Messiah_, the _Paganini_ and the _Khevenhuller_ - and of one cello, the _Davidov_ (now played by Yo Yo Ma). Stradivari didn't name his instruments; they acquired names usually from famous owners. Not the Messiah! The way it got its name is typical of anecdotes in this book. The instruments have all been sold and handed down many times (some of them have holes in their provenance, periods of time when no one knows where they were). The yet-to-be-named _Messiah_ was in possession of a certain dealer, one Luigi Tarisio, a carpenter and violinist who loved instruments from Cremona. He made trips to Paris to sell off parts of his collection (sometimes with "a little judicious forgery," as he was a bit of a trickster), but he teased potential Parisian purchasers by not bringing along what he told them was a perfect 1716 Stradivarius. During one such visit, the violinist Delphin Alard exclaimed in exasperation, "So, your violin is like the Messiah, always expected and it never appears." The name stuck, and the _Messiah_ eventually appeared, of course, but it almost never made a sound. More than any other Strad, its lifetime has included being owned without being played.

That controversy was settled by science, but there has been surprisingly little scientific capacity to answer the big question: What makes these instruments so good? There are lots and lots of theories, and it is worth speculating about, because if there is a secret, it can be followed and instruments of this quality can be made again. Perhaps it is the varnish; no other part of the violin, and of Stradivari's violins in particular, has been argued about so much. Yes, a bad varnish can deaden a violin's sound; but can good varnish actually enhance the tone? And what varnish did Stradivari use? We don't know. Electron microscopy has revealed that there is Pozzolana earth, a volcanic ash, between the wood and the varnish; is it the key? Perhaps it was that the spruce was floated down the river for transportation, a soaking that road transportation subsequently eliminated. Or maybe it was deliberately soaked in salt water. There are, Faber shows, just too many variables to test. Even if test violins could be made to test all variables, they would still have to be played for long enough by good enough players to bring out their tone, and they would have to age fifty or a hundred years. Such requirements mock the capacity of the scientific method. The career of one violin here, the _Lipinski_, demonstrates the need for an answer, though; it was played for two hundred years, and restored, and revarnished, and internally patched. Perhaps all the work was necessary, but the sound understandably diminished, and since its last sale in 1962, it has not been heard from. Violins are machines for making sounds, and like all machines, they wear out, even the finest ones. It is thus fascinating and sad that our technological capacities have not been able to unlock Stradivari's secrets. Centuries later, no one is building instruments better than these, the ones that shaped the world's musical history.

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Five Stars
By Grateful
Wonderful book for the artist, wood worker, violinist...

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful.
Lord of the strings
By Eric J. Lyman
Like most people, I had heard of the renowned Stradivarius string instruments, but aside from a vague idea about how well made, rare, and expensive they are, I knew little else about them. If you are in that same category, then author Toby Faber's passionate and well-written Stradivarius: Five Violins, One Cello and a Genius is worth a look..

I didn't say it is a must-read, because any conclusions one draws about these outstanding instruments after reading the book's 300 or so pages comes from a kind of triangulation based on the six chapters, one each about the six best-known examples of violin-maker Antonio Stradivari's work. Each story is compelling in a different way -- my favorite is about the so-called "Messiah," believed to be the only Stradivarius in existence that has never been played -- but the quality of each tale varies a bit.

One of my favorite quotes from the book is from the writer George Eliot. "Tis God [who] gives skill," she wrote, "but not without men's hands ... He could not make Antonio Stradivari's violins without Antonio." Quite an endorsement from a writer not known for hyperbole.

The most interesting theme with a subject like this one is how and why these instruments made with relatively crude technology and tested by Mr. Stradivari's more or less untrained ear during a brief span starting more than 300 years ago have elicited praise like Ms. Eliot's and, according to most experts, have never been equalled in quality. But that important story is told here as much by implication as by intent; I would have liked to have seen more discussion or analysis in this area, perhaps in some kind of concluding or summary chapter.

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* Ebook Download Queen: The Life and Music of Dinah Washington, by Nadine Cohodas

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Queen is the landmark biography of the brief, intensely lived life and soulful music of the great Dinah Washington.

A gospel star at fifteen, she was discovered by jazz great Lionel Hampton at eighteen, and for the rest of her life was on the road, playing clubs, or singing in the studio--making music one way or another.

Dinah's tart and heartfelt voice quickly became her trademark; she was a distinctive stylist, crossing over from the "race" music category to the pop and jazz charts. Known in her day as Queen of the Blues and Queen of the Juke Boxes, Dinah was regarded as that rare "first take" artist, her studio recordings reflecting the same passionate energy she brought to the stage. As Nadine Cohodas shows us, Dinah suffered her share of heartbreak in her personal life, but she thrived on the growing audience response that greeted her signature tunes: "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes," "Evil Gal Blues," and "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)," with Brook Benton. She made every song she sand her own.

Dinah lives large in these pages, with her seven marriages; her penchant for clothes, cars, furs, and diets; and her famously feisty personality--testy one moment and generous the next. This biography, meticulously researched and gracefully written, is the first to draw on extensive interviews with family members and newly discovered documents. It is a revelation of Dinah's work and her life. Cohodas captures the Queen in all her contradictions, and we hear in this book the voice of a natural star, born to entertain and to be loved.

• Sales Rank: #510881 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-24
• Released on: 2004-08-24
• Ingredients: Example Ingredients
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 6.13" h x .37" w x 9.25" l, 2.06 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 576 pages

From Publishers Weekly
A significant blues and jazz diva, Washington rivaled Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith with her soulful singing and her tempestuous ways. Once known as "Queen of the Blues and Queen of the Juke Boxes," Washington lived a tumultuous life, ascending to early fame with Lionel Hampton's band and flirting with all the temptations of a musician's life on the road. Drawing on archival materials and interviews with the singer's fellow musicians, Cohodas (Spinning Blues into Gold; Strom Thurmond and the Politics of Southern Change) provides a much-needed portrait of Washington. Born Ruth Jones in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in 1924, the young singer and her family soon moved to Chicago, where Jones left school to pursue a singing career. By the time she was 18, Washington was singing with Hampton's band at the Apollo Theater. In a few years she had made such a name for herself that she left Hampton for her own solo career, recording an album almost every year for the next 20 years until her death in 1963. Cohodas provides a detailed chronological account of Washington's turbulent life and career, including her seven marriages. Although Cohodas swamps the reader with a mass of exhausting details and her interpretations of Washington's music sometimes lack depth, she has written the definitive biography of this important singer.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
When Dinah Washington (1924-63) died, she seemed poised to become the female Nat Cole--the first black woman to be America's favorite pop singer. Her career had already spanned more than 20 years, and she had become first the queen of the blues, sophisticated big-band variety, and then a premier jazz singer before turning to the orchestrated pop treatments of "This Bitter Earth" and "What a Difference a Day Makes" that began making her a household name. This exhaustive biography-- Cohodas seems to have found every scrap of writing about her and talked to every living soul who knew her--shows that no one worked harder for her success than Washington herself. Indeed, she probably overworked herself, and what Cohodas characterizes as her premonitory sense of her image--that is, her determination, before thinness became an American obsession, to be remarkably svelte at all costs--indubitably killed her. Although it doesn't include enough appreciation of her honey-and-vinegar voice and her recorded legacy to please Dinah devotees, this is an invaluable document. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
“The Queen: God bless her. Anyone who loved Dinah Washington as I did will appreciate this book by Nadine Cohodas, which beautifully documents the joys and sorrows of the life of this lady who was a peer of her contemporaries Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Billie Holliday.”
--George Wein, author of Myself Among Others and founder of the Newport Jazz Festival

“Dinah Washington died at thirty-nine, but packed so much life and incident into every moment it’s a wonder that Nadine Cohodas could sort it out; the marital adventures alone might have daunted a less avid biographer. Nor does she slight her music. Dinah could make every kind of song vital and personal, no matter the context–jazz, blues, swing, pop, r&b, or r&r. Cohodas captures the Queen in all her obstinate spitfire glory.”
--Gary Giddins, author of Weather Bird and Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams

Most helpful customer reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
A Dinah Washington Fan!
By Marina
I have loved the beautiful voice of Dinah Washington since I first heard her in my early teens. Dinah's voice is her own, such a sense of fun, laughter and tragedy. This book is insightful, poignant, and brought Dinah to life for me. Dinah was always impeccably attired, her sense of style was beautiful. Dinah accomplished so much in her too short life. I was saddened by her early death, I would have loved to see, and hear her perform live.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful.
Still Waiting for the Definitive Bio...
By Bay Area Book Fiend
Dinah Washington, like Etta James and Esther Phillips, is one of the underrated singers of the post WWII era, and very little has been written about her. So when I saw this book and who its author was,(Nadine Cohodas, who wrote a superb history of Chess Records,Spinning Blues Into Gold), I eagerly anticipated reading it.

After finishing it, unfortunately I'm still waiting for the definitive biography of the Queen. It's very apparent that Cohodas did a lot of research, but the result was turned into a laundry list of club dates, recording sessions, clothes inventories, and rotating musicians and husbands which becomes numbing. What is missing is context and interpretation of these events aside from the repetitive assertion that Washington was narrowly promoted and marketed because of race. I wasn't looking for sensationalism or psychobiography from this book, but I was hoping to gain some insight into Dinah Washington's life, or music, and the lack of analysis left me still wondering both who she was and how she created such wonderful music.

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful.
It's only the music I love.
By Richard L. Pangburn
I finished this book while listening to her multiple CD collections. The book gets five stars for its scholarship, its extensive notes, its all inclusive index.

But still it seems too cold for the subject at hand, or perhaps I'm just disappointed that Dinah Washington was more shallow than I imagined her to be. Probably the latter.

Also Cohodas's appraisal of the albums I enjoyed most is just the opposite of what I feel myself. What I hear as honest and tragic, the biography calls tired and too husky. And the other way around.

I had no idea that Dinah Washington did "It's Too Soon To Know" before Etta James (who owns the song in my estimation). Etta James came later, and she idolized Dinah Washington and made her sound her own, strings and all.

When Etta James spotted Dinah Washington in the audience at the nightclub where she was singing, she abandoned her original program and sang "Unforgettable" as a tribute to her idol. The song was broken up by Dinah Washington screaming at her, pointing a finger at her saying, "Girl, don't you ever try to do the Queen's songs."

According to Cohodas, Dinah Washington's lovers, to whom she dedicated songs, were usually gone by the time the records were released. She was married seven times and had many lovers in-between. Such as the "Rafael" she mentions on her cover of Irving Berlin's "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm."

Dinah was dead at thirty-nine, but her music lives on and always will for this listener. This biography reminds me again that Art is part the author and part the reader, part the singer and part the listener. What I hear in her music has not changed.

See all 12 customer reviews...

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In the Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music, by Nicholas Dawidoff

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In a series of indelible portraits of country music stars, Dawidoff reveals, among others, Jimmie Rodgers, the “father of Country”; Johnny Cash, the “Man in Black”; and Patsy Cline, a lonely figure striding out bravely in a man’s world. In the Country of Country is a passionate and expansive account of a quintessentially American art form and the performers that made country music what it is today.
 
Both deeply personal and endlessly evocative,  In the Country of Country pays tribute to the music that sprang from places like Maces Springs, Virginia, home of the Carter Family, and Bakersfield, California, where Buck Owens held sway. Bestselling author Nicholas Dawidoff takes readers to the back roads and country hollows that were home to Chet Atkins, Doc Watson, Emmylou Harris, and many more.

• Sales Rank: #627570 in Books
• Published on: 1998-04-28
• Released on: 1998-04-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 7.95" h x .85" w x 5.24" l, .85 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 386 pages

Review
“There is no book that better conveys the spirit and passion that informs country music.” –The Boston Globe

“A fine portrait of country musicians and the places that spawned them.” –The New Yorker

“Dawidoff’s passion for his subject shines on every page . . . . [His] search for personal messages in the lives of country music has a resonance and grace that is likely to find readers for a long while to come.” —The Chicago Tribune

From the Inside Flap
From the author of the bestselling The Catcher Was a Spy comes an exhilarating exploration of the performers, places, and experiences which form country music--a genre which is uniquely and authentically American. 40 photos.

"From the Hardcover edition.

About the Author
Nicholas Dawidoff is the author of The Catcher was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg and In the Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music, and is the editor of the Library of America’s Baseball: A Literary Anthology. He is also a contributor to The New Yorker, The American Scholar, and The New York Times Magazine. A graduate of Harvard University, he has been a Guggenheim Fellow and a Berlin Prize Fellow of the American Academy. He and his wife live in New York.

Most helpful customer reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Labor of Love
By Tyler Smith
Having finished Dawidoff's somewhat disappointing account of his year following the NY Jets (see review), I began this book with a bit of trepidation that was swept away after I finished maybe two pages.

This is a very well written and researched book about the roots of country music and the contemporary scene of the late 1990s. The language is rich, respectful of its subjects and very informative for either new or seasoned listeners.

It's essentially a literary and musical tour of America populated by portraits of musicians from Earl Scruggs and Buck Owens to Emmylou Harris and Jimmy Dale Gilmore. Clearly a lover of country music, Dawidoff isn't afraid to be critical, noting that Johnny Cash's creative output diminished relatively early in his career, his late work with Rick Rubin notwithstanding. But he's always respectful and takes great care to show the musical links between the musicians and their influences. Hank Williams, who is not the subject of a profile, nevertheless hovers over the proceedings, a musical and spiritual touchstone for most of the figures he speaks with. The only minor quibble I would have is that he touched very little on Steve Earle, gave only brief mention to Townes Van Zandt and spoke of Guy Clark not at all. Those three, I believe, were and are key transmitters of roots music. But you can't discuss everybody, and I don't have any criticism of the musicians he did include.

Fans of contemporary "country music" will probably not be fans of this book. Dawidoff castigates the popularized pop-rock of the late '90s labeled "country" as soulless and sterile (I happen to agree) and takes a couple of well-placed shots at Garth Brooks in particular.

Agree with that view or not, it's a strength of the book. Like any good critic, Dawidoff has a well-formed point of view and sticks to it throughout this long and very interesting drive through the country.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful.
Strum und Twang
By A Customer
In the Country of Country strikes a compelling balance between first-person testimonial and straight history text. In a series of chapters focusing on early "country" artists & groups, Nicholas Dawidoff travels to meet musicians in their own environment, often travelling with them to the towns they grew up in. The book records the surroundings both through the eyes of Dawidoff, seeing the place for the first time, as well as through the eyes of his subject and their memories of the place. Through this mix of perspectives, the book gives a great sense of the effect of history in the present day, as well as the enduring power of the music described. His careful choice of subjects also helps define and articulate what many hold valuable in both country music, and music in general. One gets the impression he takes the role of author as through he is the curator a historical exhibit, showing a common thread among country artists of the last 80 years. This is of course with the notable exception of Hank Williams, which at first I wondered about, but later accepted, seeing as plenty had been written about him already as well as the fact that the invocation of his legend might well overshadow the other artists featured. He is though, like Elvis, a constant presence in the book, whether explicit or unspoken. In the Country of Country can serve as a great introduction to many who know they like country music, but get lost in boot-scootin' commercialism or monochromatic alt-country. The companion compliation CD sounds like a great start towards further investigation.

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
a must read.
By Nicole
This book was a very informative read. I had to read it for a class, however, I learned so much about some of my favorite artist. Some of which include Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Doc Watson, Garth Brooks and soo many more. This is such a great read and I recommend it to anyone who loves country music.

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* Get Free Ebook The Greatest Generation, by Tom Brokaw

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"In the spring of 1984, I went to the northwest of France, to Normandy, to prepare an NBC documentary on the fortieth anniversary of D-Day, the massive and daring Allied invasion of Europe that marked the beginning of the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. There, I underwent a life-changing experience. As I walked the beaches with the American veterans who had returned for this anniversary, men in their sixties and seventies, and listened to their stories, I was deeply moved and profoundly grateful for all they had done. Ten years later, I returned to Normandy for the fiftieth anniversary of the invasion, and by then I had come to understand what this generation of Americans meant to history. It is, I believe, the greatest generation any society has ever produced."
        
In this superb book, Tom Brokaw goes out into America, to tell through the stories of individual men and women the story of a generation, America's citizen heroes and heroines who came of age during the Great Depression and the Second World War and went on to build modern America. This generation was united not only by a common purpose, but also by common values--duty, honor, economy, courage, service, love of family and country, and, above all, responsibility for oneself. In this book, you will meet people whose everyday lives reveal how a generation persevered through war, and were trained by it, and then went on to create interesting and useful lives and the America we have today.

"At a time in their lives when their days and nights should have been filled with innocent adventure, love, and the lessons of the workaday world, they were fighting in the most primitive conditions possible across the bloodied landscape of France, Belgium, Italy, Austria, and the coral islands of the Pacific. They answered the call to save the world from the two most powerful and ruthless military machines ever assembled, instruments of conquest in the hands of fascist maniacs. They faced great odds and a late start, but they did not protest. They succeeded on every front. They won the war; they saved the world. They came home to joyous and short-lived celebrations and immediately began the task of rebuilding their lives and the world they wanted. They married in record numbers and gave birth to another distinctive generation, the Baby Boomers. A grateful nation made it possible for more of them to attend college than any society had ever educated, anywhere. They gave the world new science, literature, art, industry, and economic strength unparalleled in the long curve of history. As they now reach the twilight of their adventurous and productive lives, they remain, for the most part, exceptionally modest. They have so many stories to tell, stories that in many cases they have never told before, because in a deep sense they didn't think that what they were doing was that special, because everyone else was doing it too.

"This book, I hope, will in some small way pay tribute to those men and women who have given us the lives we have today--an American family portrait album of the greatest generation."
                
In this book you'll meet people like Charles Van Gorder, who set up during D-Day a MASH-like medical facility in the middle of the fighting, and then came home to create a clinic and hospital in his hometown. You'll hear George Bush talk about how, as a Navy Air Corps combat pilot, one of his assignments was to read the mail of the enlisted men under him, to be sure no sensitive military information would be compromised. And so, Bush says, "I learned about life." You'll meet Trudy Elion, winner of the Nobel Prize in medicine, one of the many women in this book who found fulfilling careers in the changed society as a result of the war. You'

• Sales Rank: #461470 in Books
• Brand: Random House
• Published on: 1998-11-30
• Released on: 1998-11-30
• Ingredients: Example Ingredients
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 9.52" h x 1.49" w x 6.45" l, 1.80 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 432 pages

Features

• Great product!

Amazon.com Review
Veteran reporter and NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw went to France to make a documentary marking the 40th anniversary of D-day in 1984. Although he was thoroughly briefed on the historical background of the invasion, he was totally unprepared for how it would affect him emotionally. Flooded with childhood memories of World War II, Brokaw began asking veterans at the ceremony to revisit their past and talk about what happened, triggering a chain reaction of war-torn confessions and Brokaw's compulsion to capture their experiences in what he terms "the permanence a book would represent."

After almost 15 years and hundreds of letters and interviews, Brokaw wrote The Greatest Generation, a representative cross-section of the stories he came across. However, this collection is more than a mere chronicle of a tumultuous time, it's history made personal by a cast of everyday people transformed by extraordinary circumstances: the first women to break the homemaker mold, minorities suffering countless indignities to boldly fight for their country, infantrymen who went on to become some of the most distinguished leaders in the world, small-town kids who became corporate magnates. From the reminiscences of George Bush and Julia Child to the astonishing heroism and moving love stories of everyday people, The Greatest Generation salutes those whose sacrifices changed the course of American history. --Rebekah Warren

From School Library Journal
YA-Brokaw defines "the greatest generation" as American citizens who came of age during the Great Depression and the Second World War and went on to build modern America. The vehicle used to define the generation further is the stories told by a cross section of men and women throughout the country. The approximately 50 stories are listed in the table of contents under eight topics: Ordinary People; Homefront; Heroes; Women in Uniform and Out; Shame; Love, Marriage and Commitment; Famous People; and the Arena. The individuals are brought to life by photographs within each chapter. YAs will find this book to be a good resource for decade and World War II research. Unlike any era YAs have known, the 1940s are characterized by a people united by a common cause and values.
Carol Clark, formerly at Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
NBC News anchor Brokaw argues that Americans born around 1920 make up one of the greatest generations that ever lived. An NBC-TV special is scheduled for December.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Most helpful customer reviews

139 of 154 people found the following review helpful.
A legacy to our children
By A Customer
I bought this book for my children. I am so thankful that someone told this story. This Greatest Generation is slowly slipping away. I am a baby boomer and my father [their grandfather] was an Italian immigrant. He was very aware of the freedom he enjoyed in this country and was willing to fight against the tyrrany of a very sick dictator! Their other grandfather fought at Pearl Harbor. Their future wives worked hard here at home for the war effort. Both men thankfully survived to go on and help rebuild this country where their families could grow up safely and with more opportunities than they knew. These dear family members have now passed on. I wanted my children to understand what their grandparents endured and to be very proud of the unselfishness of that Greatest Generation. They didn't have state-of-the-art everything, but they had loyalty, integrity, determination and grit that far overshadowed any doubts or fears. Their example of selflessness was an honorable trait. We should all strive to emulate their noble character.

142 of 161 people found the following review helpful.
An Impressive and Moving Story
By Stan Vernooy
This very moving book teaches more lessons than I can include in one review. By now most readers probably already know the basic theme - it's the story of a number of representatives of the generation that lived through the depression, fought World War II, and built post-war America. Many of the stories will bring tears to your eyes and make you recognize how far we have fallen from the standard of sacrifice and non-whining patriotism that these people took for granted as standards to live by.
But perhaps I can point out an additional, less-commented-on lesson from the book: Despite the consistent themes of responsibility and duty which underlie almost every account, these people were far more diverse than we today have given them credit for. They were not monolithically conservative, worshipers of the Establishment, traditionally religious, obsessed with making money, conformist gray-flannel people with 2.6 kids and a stay-at-home mom in each family. For example, when the Viet Nam war and the associated 60s protests arrived, the reactions and tolerance levels of these people varied widely. Their values and lifestyles were about as diverse as those we find in our new century.
The one clear difference between that generation and subsequent ones can be summed up in two words: no whining. In the entire book, I don't recall a single individual even mentioning the word "rights" as they applied to himself or herself. No one believed that he or she was entitled to special privileges or to live at the expense of anyone else. No one expected the world to be fair. They took the world as they found it, and made the best of it.
The only failure that the Greatest Generation can be charged with is that they were so successful in building a society where everything came easily. That in turn gave rise to the generations of adult brats who gave this book negative reviews because they couldn't believe some of the UNsolved problems could have been so hard to solve. The life of ease bequeathed to us by the Greatest Generation has obscured the natural hardships of life that made loyalty and hard work a necessary trait for survival. People now have the luxury of sitting back and leisurely lecturing their forebears on how THEY would have done everything better. When we hear (or read) such nonsense, I don't know whether the proper reaction is to laugh condescendingly or to throw up.

98 of 112 people found the following review helpful.
A Great Tribute To A Great Generation But Mediocre Writing!
By Bobbewig
Brokaw deserves credit for providing a major tribute to a generation that for too long has been underappreciated. Unfortunately, people in their late 70s and older are just seen -- particularly by Gen Xers and Gen Yers -- as OLD; with most of us having little understanding of the sacrifices and contributions they made towards making America what it is today. I agree with Brokaw that the WWII generation may be the greatest generation in America's history for the various reasons he cites in his book. As a book, however,The Greatest Generation, while interesting, does not fulfill the promise I was anticipating. Basically, what Brokaw has done is provide a series of short, somewhat fluffy chronicles of the lives of WWII veterans from various cross-sections of the United States. While these chronicles, as I said, are interesting, they do not provide enough depth and insight into how these individuals' wartime achievements contributed to what they accomplished after the war. Nonetheless, The Greatest Generation is a book worth reading for the main value it provides -- making each of the post-WWII generations understand and appreciate better a generation which, sadly, will not be with us for too much longer.

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** Download Princess Noire: The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone, by Nadine Cohodas

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From the author of the acclaimed Dinah Washington biography Queen comes this complete account of the triumphs and difficulties of the brilliant and high-tempered Nina Simone. Her distinctive voice and music occupy a singular place in the canon of American song.
   
Tapping into newly unearthed material—including stories of family and career—Nadine Cohodas gives us a luminous portrait of the singer who was born Eunice Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina, in 1933, one of eight children in a proud black family. We see her as a prodigiously talented child who is trained in classical piano through the charitable auspices of a local white woman. We witness her devastating disappointment when she is rejected by the Curtis Institute of Music—a dream deferred that would forever shape her self-image as well as her music. Yet by 1959—now calling herself Nina Simone—she had sung New York City’s venerable Town Hall and was on her way.
 
As we watch Simone’s exciting rise to stardom, Cohodas expertly weaves in the central factors of her life and career: her unique and provocative relationship with her audiences (she would “shush” them angrily; as a classically trained musician, she didn’t believe in cabaret chat); her involvement in and contributions to the civil rights movement; her two marriages, including one of brief family contentment with police detective Andy Stroud, with whom she had her daughter, Lisa; the alienation from the United States that drove her to live abroad. Alongside these threads runs a darker one: Nina’s increasing and sometimes baffling outbursts of rage and pain and her lifelong struggle to overcome a deep sense of personal injustice, which persisted even as she won international renown.
 
Princess Noire is a fascinating story, well told and thoroughly documented with intimate photos—a treatment that captures the passions of Nina’s life.

• Sales Rank: #1115306 in Books
• Published on: 2010-02-02
• Released on: 2010-02-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 9.55" h x 1.40" w x 6.45" l, 1.83 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 464 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Cohodas follows her biography of Dinah Washington (Queen) with that of another prominent African-American jazz singer—although Nina Simone would bristle at that label, insisting from the very start of her career that her music was grounded in the classical. (Eunice Waymon only began performing in nightclubs as Nina Simone after a failed application to the Curtis Institute of Music.) If Cohodas is respectful of Simone's legacy, particularly the impact of songs like Mississippi Goddam and Young, Gifted and Black on the civil rights movement, she's also forthright about Simone's contentious relationship with audiences and critics, and the possible mental illness underpinning that turmoil. It seems as if every one of Simone's onstage outbursts is recounted, along with every review describing her as a very angry young woman or wishing she'd stop playing protest songs. One of the few areas in which Cohodas shows full deference to her subject is in brushing off rumors of lesbian relationships, although a passing comment that Simone was inexorably drawn to the playwright Lorraine Hansberry raises questions. For the most part, though, Simone's complex personality—arrogance and brilliance in equal measure—receives a long-overdue elaboration. B&w illus. throughout. (Feb. 2)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Born in 1933, Eunice Waymon was a musical prodigy, amazing North Carolina churchgoers with her piano playing beginning at age four. Serious, proud, and hardworking, she dreamed of becoming a classical pianist and only began performing her unique blend of classical, gospel, jazz, and pop when she took a nightclub gig to earn money for graduate school. Eunice’s spontaneous invention of her alter ego, Nina Simone, is evidence of her formidable capacity for improvisation, the lifeblood of her world-altering music and the skill that helped her survive the bloody turmoil of the civil-rights era. Cohodas infuses every scene with electrifying detail and penetrating insights into Simone’s struggles as an African American musician of phenomenal talent and exalted ambition. Cohodas provides gripping descriptions of Simone’s indelible music along with profoundly moving accounts of her commanding, increasingly militant, and eventually downright bizarre stage presence. From her regal demeanor to her friendships with James Baldwin and Lorraine Hansberry, courageous activism, and the tragedies that pushed Simone into mental illness, Cohodas chronicles every turn with precision and empathy. The result is a wrenching story of how racism can undermine even the most ascendant life, and a dramatic portrait of an uncompromising, audacious, and beleaguered musical genius of conscience. --Donna Seaman

Review
Queen: The Life and Music of Dinah Washington
 
“Nadine Cohodas’s superb biography restores the luster of Washington’s crown, detailing a life lived not always wisely but certainly with vigor.”
—The Boston Globe
 
“Vital . . . Copious reporting [makes] Queen essential reading.”
—The Washington Post Book World
 
“Rises above the limitations of the usual star bio.”
—Chicago Tribune
 
“Enthralling . . . Cohodas has done her homework . . . Her biography of this peculiarly modern performer is essential reading for people interested in pop culture.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
 
“Cohodas vividly portrays the troubled singer, often allowing Washington to speak for herself.”
—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 

Spinning Blues into Gold
 
“Cohodas’s absorbing history is more than a story of the proto-rock era . . . It’s a captivating American story of improvisation at many levels.”
—The Wall Street Journal
 
“Combines the intelligence and conciseness of a political reporter and the contagious enthusiasm of a dyed-in-the-wool music fan.”
—Billboard

Most helpful customer reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful.
A Worthwile Biography, But Not The Best
By David Penn
Nadine Cohodas' biography of Nina Simone is well researched, yet I find that the author paints an untrue picture of events that supposedly took place during some of Nina Simone's concert performances. Much is made of her erratic behaviour on stage, in one instance in a Billie Holiday Tribute that Simone took part in at the Hollywood Bowl. I have an audio tape of her complete performance. It was one of Nina's very greatest performances, yet the reader is led to belive that her appearance was a disaster. Cohoda's brief review of Simone's 1976 Montreux Jazz Festival appearance (which exists on DVD) makes one wonder if the author actually watched the entire performance. Too little attention is made of what made Nina Simone such an important and original artist. Her prolific recording activity and filmed performances should have been given more attention. I found another biography, "Nina Simone: Break Down and Let It All Out" by Sylvia Hampton, David Nathan, and Lisa Simone Kelly to be a more intersting read. This book does contain some fascinating photographs, though.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful.
A TRUE ARTIST UNDER APPRECIATED
By Wooley in PSL
Nina Simone has often been an enigmatic figure. A tremendously talented singer/musician and a recognized figure in the Civil Rights Movement, she often showed a troubling personality. Nadine Cohodas has done a wonderful job giving us a biography of this prominent lady. Born Eunice Waymon in North Carolina, when she was very young she started showing great musical talent. Usually she is classified as a jazz singer but Simone hated classifications. Her failure to be selected in to a prestigious musical school for being black set a feeling that would follower in her live. Now singing as Nina Simone in New York she became a huge performer and would enter into the world of the black intelligentsia. Soon her passion was the Civil rights Movement. But this book shouts out at the problems she had in life. Often she was perceived as having bad behavior with her audiences, and even friends. Turns out she was suffering from bipolar disorders and these were hidden from almost everyone until after her death. Cohodas does a good job writing about her life and giving us background on her mental issues.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
The High Priestess of Soul
By G. E. Harrison
I became a fan of Nina Simone as a teenager in the 60s after seeing her in concert on TV, much to the puzzlement of my friends who considered her 'uncool'. However, I've remained a fan although I never saw her live - I did have the chance to see her at the Bishopstock Festival in Devon UK in 2001 but by that time her voice had gone and I chose not to attend that night and to remember her through her records. There are several biographies of Nina, including an autobiography, which all seem to have their supporters and also their critics, this is the latest and so can draw on these previous memoirs together with fresh interviews to give a comprehensive overview of this unique artist. She wasn't really a jazz singer, a blues singer, a folk singer, a soul singer, a protest singer, a pop singer, a cabaret singer, a show singer or a classical pianist - although her work contained elements of all these genres, combined into Nina's own unclassifiable style.

When first skimming through the book I was a bit surprised that her performing career only began from pages 60-odd onwards but these early pages dealing with the lives of her parents and family and her own young life give an excellent context to her later life and also to the place of black people in America at that time. Nina emerges as a determined and very focussed child, who was opinionated and knew her place in the world from an early age (a foretaste of the diva she was to become in later years). Even in her earliest performances she didn't put up with what she considered disrespect but there are also instances of unreasonable behaviour even in her 20s which must have been early indications of the bipolar disorder that she was diagnosed with in later life.

The book charts her career progressing from small club dates to international concert appearances, a constantly changing procession of backing musicians, her recording sessions and her fight to get royalties from these records. It also notes Nina's gradual involvement with the civil rights movement and her increasing militancy and sympathy with black power. In line with all these the book also catalogues increasing bad behaviour both on stage and off and although some have criticised other books for focussing on this behaviour unfortunately it was unquestionably a feature of many Nina Simone performances in her later years. However, the book also details how many musicians, promoters and friends remained loyal despite the bad treatment they sometimes received from her and also how audiences still greeted her ecstatically despite late appearances, erratic on stage behaviour and failing vocal and musical powers.

I found Nadine Cohodas' book a good, very objective study of the life of a truly unique artist. I've previously read Nadine's 'Spinning Blues Into Gold' - the story of Chess Records - which I also found very interesting but like this book strangely 'cold' - it was so objective that you couldn't tell if she was fan of Miss Simone or hated her. There are some excellent photographs of Nina throughout the book but these are printed on the same pages as the text rather than separate glossy pages, which no doubt keeps costs down but does reduce the quality of the images. The book ends with a comprehensive index, a bibliography, a (very) short list of CD/DVD credits, acknowledgements and 40 pages of notes. The notes contain several very interesting snippets together with the page numbers that they relate to but at the back of the book they are completely isolated from the text - I felt it would have been better to include the notes at the foot of the relevant pages or to annotate the text with reference numbers to link with the notes.

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Princess Noire: The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone, by Nadine Cohodas PDF
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~~ Ebook Forever Free: The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction, by Eric Foner

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From one of our most distinguished historians comes a groundbreaking new examination of the myths and realities of the period after the Civil War.

Drawing on a wide range of long-neglected documents, Eric Foner places a new emphasis on black experiences and roles during the era. We see African Americans as active agents in overthrowing slavery, in shaping Reconstruction, and creating a legacy long obscured and misunderstood. He compellingly refutes long-standing misconceptions of Reconstruction, and shows how the failures of the time sowed the seeds of the Civil Rights struggles of the 1950s and 60s. Richly illustrated and movingly written, this is an illuminating and essential addition to our understanding of this momentous era.

• Sales Rank: #28475 in Books
• Brand: Foner, Eric/ Brown, Joshua (EDT)
• Published on: 2006-11-14
• Released on: 2006-11-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 7.96" h x .63" w x 5.15" l, .62 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Amazon.com Review

A Timeline of Emancipation

In Forever Free, Eric Foner, the leading historian of America's Reconstruction era, reexamines one of the most misunderstood periods of American history: the struggle to overthrow slavery and establish freedom for African Americans in the years before, during, and after the Civil War. Forever Free is extensively illustrated, with visual essays by scholar Joshua Brown discussing the images of the period alongside Foner's text.

1787 The United States Constitution is ratified, containing several protections for slavery, including the Fugitive Slave Clause, three-fifths clause, and a cause prohibiting the abolition of the slave trade from Africa before 1808. 1829-31 Publication of Appeal ... to the Coloured Citizens of the World by David Walker and The Liberator, a weekly newspaper edited by William Lloyd Garrison, marks the emergence of a new, militant abolitionist movement. Diagram of a slave ship from an 1808 report 1831 August 22 Nat Turner launches a slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia, resulting in the deaths of 55 whites persons before the uprising is crushed. 1846 August Congress adjourns after intense sectional debate over the Wilmot Proviso, a proposal to prohibit slavery in all territory acquired in the Mexican-American War. 1860 November 6 Election of Abraham Lincoln as president, representing the anti-slavery Republican Party 1861 February 4 Seven seceded southern states form the Confederate States of America April 12 The Confederate attack on South Carolina's Fort Sumter begins the Civil War. A woodcut published in an 1831 account of the Nat Turner uprising May 24 Gen. Benjamin F. Butler declares fugitive slaves at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, "contraband of war," who will not be returned to their owners. August 6 First Confiscation Act provides for the emancipation of slaves employed as laborers by the Confederate army. 1862 April 16 Congress abolishes slavery in the District of Columbia with compensation to loyal owners, and also appropriates funds for "colonization" of freed slaves outside the United States. July 17 Second Confiscation Act frees slaves of disloyal owners. September 22 Five days after the Battle of Antietam, Lincoln issues the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which warns the South that if the rebellion has not ended by January 1, he will emancipate the slaves. It also promises aid to states that adopt plans for gradual, compensated emancipation and refers to colonization of freed people outside the country. 1863 January 1 Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in areas under Confederate control. It exempts Tennessee and parts of Louisiana and Virginia and does not apply to the border states, and also authorizes the enlistment of black soldiers. "Contrabands" in Cumberland Landing, Virginia, May 1862 July 30 Lincoln insists black Union soldiers captured by the Confederate army be treated as prisoners of war, not escaped slaves as Confederate president Jefferson Davis has threatened. December 8 Lincoln issues the Proclamation of Amnesty of Reconstruction, offering a pardon and restoration of property (except slave property) to Confederates who take an oath of allegiance to the Union. 1864 September 5 New constitution of Louisiana abolishes slavery; new constitutions in Maryland, Missouri, and Tennessee follow suit in the next six months. November 8 Lincoln reelected as president. January 16 Gen. William T. Sherman issues Special Field Order 15, setting aside land in coastal South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida for settlement by black families in 40-acre plots. March 3 Congress orders emancipation of wives and children of black soldiers. March 13 Confederate Congress authorizes enlistment of black soldiers. April 11 In the last speech before his death, two days after Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox, Lincoln favors limited black suffrage in the South. Company E, 4th U.S. Colored Infantry, at Fort Lincoln, Washington, DC April 14 Assassination of Lincoln. December 18 Ratification of the 13th Amendment irrevocably abolishes slavery throughout the United States. 1866 April 9 Over the veto of President Andrew Johnson, Congress passes the Civil Rights Act, establishing citizenship of black Americans and requiring that they be accorded equality before the law, principles later written into the Constitution in the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868. John Wilkes Booth assassinates Lincoln, April 1865 1867 March 2 Congress passes the Reconstruction Act, again over President Johnson's veto, extending the right to vote to black men in the South and inaugurating the era of Radical Reconstruction, America's first experiment in interracial democracy. 1877 February After intense bargaining to resolve the disputed presidential election of 1876, Democrats agree to recognize Republican Rutherford B. Hayes as president, and Hayes agrees to end federal support for remaining Reconstruction governments. A March 1867 cartoon, following the passage of the Reconstruction Act, shows President Johnson and his southern allies angrily watching African Americans vote.

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Probably no period in American history is as controversial, as distorted by myth and as "essentially unknown" as the era of emancipation and Reconstruction, award-winning historian Foner (The Story of American Freedom; Reconstruction; etc.) argues in this dense, rectifying but highly readable account. His analysis of "that turbulent era, its successes and failures, and its long-term consequences up until this very day" addresses the debates among historians, corrects the misrepresentations and separates myth from fact with persuasive data. Foner opens his work with an overview of slavery and the Civil War and concludes with a consideration of the Civil Rights movement and the continuing impact of Reconstruction upon the current political scene, a framework that adds to the clarity of his history of that era, its aftermath and its legacy. Joshua Brown's six interspersed "visual essays," with his fresh commentary on images from slavery through Reconstruction to Jim Crow, buttress Foner's text and contribute to its accessibility. In his mission to illuminate Reconstruction's critical repercussions for contemporary American culture, Foner balances his passion for racial equality and social justice with disciplined scholarship. His book is a valuable, fluid introduction to a complex period. 139 illus. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School–This is a more accessible, though equally distinguished, treatment of the material covered in Foners Reconstruction (HarperCollins, 1989). It draws on his earlier work and also on more recent scholarship to present a particularly complex time in American history and to correct common misconceptions about the period (1865-1877). Especially significant is the clear explanation of how the historical record refutes negative stereotypes of ex-slaves widely disseminated after the Civil War. Racist images of these newly enfranchised citizens as inferior, passive individuals easily manipulated by white anti-Southerners were accepted by many historians well into the 20th century, and the distortions were supported in the wider culture by popular entertainment, novels, and films, e.g., Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind. This book shows that African Americans took active roles in fighting for freedom and leading postwar attempts to establish political and social equality. Six absorbing Visual Essays, edited with commentary by Brown, use archival illustrations and photos to examine how graphic arts influenced public attitudes toward African Americans during and after Reconstruction. An epilogue, The Unfinished Revolution, links the main themes to issues still challenging the U.S. at the beginning of the 21st century, raising questions virtually assured to prompt classroom discussion.–Starr E. Smith, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Most helpful customer reviews

64 of 67 people found the following review helpful.
Unique format of this book makes complex subject matter much easier to grasp.
By Paul Tognetti
Somewhere deep in the recesses of my mind I remember reading about emancipation and reconstruction in my high school history class. To the best of my recollection, the sum total of the coverage devoted to these issues in that high school textbook might have been a dozen pages or so. My ideas about these issues, formed about four decades ago, have pretty much remained with me to this day. In his new book "Forever Free: The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction" Eric Foner, a Professor of History at Columbia University, shatters most of my pre-concieved notions about these monumental events in American history. It just wasn't that simple. Drawing on a wide range of long-neglected documents, Foner illustrates how African-Americans actually played a much more pivotal role in the events that were unfolding than was previously thought. "Forever Free" is a real eye-opener!

Although the reality is that employment opportunities for the vast majority of African-Americans would continue to be quite limited during the period of Reconstruction I was surprised to learn just how many former slaves would go on to positions of responsibility and prominence during this period. At the conclusion of the Civil War large numbers of former slaves poured into cities and towns all over the South. Once there these black men and women quickly established their own schools, churches, hospitals and fraternal societies. Some of the men harbored political aspirations and many were elected to posts at all levels of government. Still others dreamed of owning and working their own piece of land. These people knew what they wanted. All over America the perception of Black Americans was changing and for the most part changing for the better.

What makes "Forever Free" a truly unique book are the six visual essays offered by Joshua Brown. Each of these essays includes important illustrations and photographs from the period. These images will impress upon the reader that as time went on African-Americans were being taken much more seriously not only by local and national newspapers and magazines but also by large segments of the public at large as well. I particularly appreciated the powerful images of the legendary Harper's Weekly cartoonist Thomas Nast. For the first time in American history, black people were becoming a force to be reckoned with. For an all too brief period of time the future looked cautiously optimistic. "Forever Free: The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction" is a thoughtful and well written book that challenges much of what most of us learned in school. In my view this is is book well worth investing your time in. Very highly recommended!

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful.
Freedom Finally Rings
By doomsdayer520
This is a powerful and insightful history of the emancipation of the slaves at the end of the Civil War, and the subsequent period of Reconstruction. Eric Foner contends that Reconstruction is probably the most misunderstood era of American history, as commonly accepted pronouncements about the period were mostly from hostile opponents of the sweeping social changes that the government tried to enact at the time. In fact, as Foner ably demonstrates, Reconstruction was actually an intensive program to include former slaves in the political and economic life of the South, and to quickly implement a wholesale replacement for the ruined slave economy that previously dominated the region. It actually worked for about a decade, with the emergence of many Black politicians and community leaders. But unfortunately the system was overthrown by the White power elite who yearned for a return to the system of economic and social subjugation, leading to the shameful Jim Crow system that was an embarrassment for America's democratic goals until the Civil Rights era.

This outstanding work of historical research by Foner uncovers the true issues behind the efforts of African Americans to achieve equal political and economic rights, and he also adds many insights on how deep outstanding issues from the Emancipation, Reconstruction and Civil Rights eras are still relevant to racial equality today. (Plus, an interesting bonus in Foner's work is the realization that the Democratic and Republican parties, when it comes to everything from race relations to fiscal policy, have completely reversed their positions since the late 1800s, and have effectively replaced each other.) Also, this book is very richly illustrated, and be sure to check out the essays contributed by Joshua Brown, who in an especially eye-opening way examines the representation of African Americans, and civil rights issues, in public art from different periods. The picture is often ugly, but this book brings the knowledge that extinguishes ignorance. [~doomsdayer520~]

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful.
The Truth is Marching On...
By James Hiller
... in Eric Foner and Joshua Brown's brilliant new book, "Forever Free". The U.S. has long heard the story of Reconstruction through the eyes of prejudice and misinformation, not allowing all groups a voice in the story . Foner and Brown attempt to correct the picture by providing an incredibly well-rounded view of this time, through the eyes of newly freed people who were promised the world, only to have it ripped out from underneath them.

Forever Free is really two books in one. Foner's story of slavery, and eventual emancipation, is the history lesson. He brings to the story great scholarship. Quite early on, it's evident that he has researched more than the usual story. By looking at authentic sources of information, such as black owned newspapers, diaries and oral histories, he successfully brings to light their story. As a slight scholar of this time myself, I was pleasantly surprised at the information he brought to light; for example, the slaves in South Carolina who created their own society after being freed, only to have to give it up immediately upon an ill-fated decision by President Andrew Johnson. Little gems of information like this are constantly mined throughout Foner's sections.

Joshua Brown's contribution is equally as vivid. He traces a visual history of African-Americans throughout the time. It is through his chapters that Foner's points of discrimination and stereotypes are emphasizes. Brown provides endless cartoons, photographs, and other art forms that serve to illuminate the book as a whole. To bounce from Foner to Brown is not disjointing at all; they have successfully married the two to form one united, powerful book.

Forever Free should be required reading for all history students, high school students, and teachers who continue to propagate the incorrect story of Reconstruction. It is clearly in Reconstruction that the need of our amazing Civil Rights movement was born. It is in those decisions made so recklessly, so based on misunderstanding and prejudice that endure today. As noted in the book, famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass had it right; "Peace among the whites" was paved with the shards of African-Americans' broken dreams of genuine equality and full citizenship.

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