Product Description
The Mississippi River and Mark Twain are practically synonymous in American culture. Known as ''America 's river,'' the popularity of Twain's steamboat and steamboat pilot on the ever-changing Mississippi has endured for over a century.

A brilliant amalgam of remembrance and reportage, by turns satiric, celebratory, nostalgic, and melancholy, Life on the Mississippi evokes the great river that Mark Twain knew as a boy and young man and the one he revisited as a mature and successful author. Written between the publication of his two greatest novels, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, Twain's rich portrait of the Mississippi marks a distinctive transition in the life of the river and the nation, from the boom years preceding the Civil War to the sober times that followed it.

Samuel Clemens became a licensed river pilot at the age of twenty-four under the apprenticeship of Horace Bixby, pilot of the Paul Jones. His name, Mark Twain, was derived from the river pilot term describing safe navigating conditions, or ''mark two fathoms.'' This term was shortened to ''mark twain'' by the leadsmen whose job it was to monitor the water's depth and report it to the pilot.

Although Mark Twain used his childhood experiences growing up along the Mississippi in numerous works, nowhere is the river and the pilot's life more thoroughly described than in Life on the Mississippi. ... Read more

Product Description
2 books, 7 Novels.Shrink-wrapped boxset in cases.Novels:The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,Life on the Mississippi,Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,Puddn'Head Wilson,The Prince & the Pauper,A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court,& Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc. ... Read more

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Raised in suburban Illinois in the 60s, a gifted student and athlete, Anthony Walton went on to Notre Dame and Brown into a career in journalism -- all the while convinced that racism, insofar as it still existed, was on the way out.Covering the racial flash points in New York in the early 80s, though, led him to feel that racism was the marrow in the American bone, and getting worse all the time.

Anthony finally realized this was a demon he had to stare in the face -- which, for him, meant going "home" to Mississippi, where his parents came from and, before his birth, escaped.Still, childhood visits to relatives who stayed gave him the stuff of which nightmares are made.Yet only by learning at last his own heritage could he discover his place and his country's nature. "Mississippi -- perhaps the most loaded proper noun in American English."

What his journey covers is 200 years of history and a huge roster of famous writers, martyrs, bigots, planters and sharecroppers, bluesmen, aristocrats and plain folk, black and white together -- from those who made the history to those who inhabit it today.

Neither travelogue nor lay history, neither memoir nor reportage, Mississippi is a powerful narrative that uses one place saturated in blood and lore -- what Southerners call "the South's South" -- to explore "the tragedies the past and our compulsions have visited upon us, all of us."

A book of tremendous literary and social importance. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

A text book kept my attention better.
This book may have been the most dry piece of writing I have ever read hands down. I am a High School student in AP english and this book was required for the class. I picked it up and ten minutes in i thought of shooting myself in the foot if I had to read anymore of it. Long story short i skimmed the entire book and I never read or looked at this book ever again. DONT WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY ON THIS EXCUSE FOR A BOOK!

One of the best books I almost never read!
WONDERFUL! I read this book twice in two weeks and could read it again. This should be required reading at every high school in the country. Being new to Mississippi, I was looking to find out more about my home state and picked this book up at the library. Thinking it was a travel guide, it sat on my bedside table for a week until one night I picked it up and found everything I was looking for. Thank you Mr. Walton

A road trip through the Deep South
Anthony Walton lets us ride along on his journey back to his Mississippi roots. A story of pain and survival, relayed through the voices of his parents (among others), is skillfully woven with history lessons and Walton's own moving poetry. A very readable and important contribution.

Oh, to see ourselves as ithers see us
This book is about the author, a Mid westerner, travellingto Mississippi to learn more about the state where his people came from.It is extremely well done.The author travels around the state, interviews many prominent and not-as-prominent Mississippians about problems, solutions, and opportunites for the state to move beyond its history of severe racial problems.
In the process he summarizes a lot of history, and introduces many insights about how Mississippi got where it is and what it needs to do to move on.One thing I, as a white Mississippian with a somewhat liberal bent, found refreshing was his not falling into the trap that many of us Mississippians do of saying that all of that stuff is old news and we have moved beyond it.Things are undoubtedly better now than before, but while segregation may not be legal it is still very alive in the hearts and minds of the residents, both black and white If books like Walton's cause us to reexamine some of our "truths" about the state, it will have served an extremely useful purpose.

At any rate, for one wanting to understand more about Mississippi, reading this book is a good way to do it.

Wonderful
A very important book dealing with race and history.A must read for people interested in the subject. ... Read more

Product Description
America the Beautiful, Third Series is bursting with fascinating facts, up-to-date statistics, glorious full-colour photographs, and unusual lists guaranteed to elicit at least one WOW! With the turn of every page.America the Beautiful's new dynamic design and editorial approach to geography, history, people, economy, and government of each state will continue to make this award-winning series the one that students turn to first for researching school assignments. ... Read more

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The popular Rookie Books expand their horizons to all corners of the globe!With the Rookie Read-About Geography series, emergent readers will take off on adventures to cities, nations, waterways, and habitats around the world… and right in their own backyards! ... Read more

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Volume 1 of Mississippi Women enriched our understanding of women's roles in the state's history through profiles of notable, though often neglected, individuals. Volume 2 explores the historical forces that have shaped women's lives in Mississippi. Covering an expanse of time from early European settlement through the course of the twentieth century, the essays in the second volume acknowledge the state's diverse cultural and physical landscapes as they discuss how issues of race, gender, and class affected women's lives in various private and public spheres.

Essays on the state's early history focus on such topics as Choctaw and Chickasaw women's influence on Native American society and tribal councils, daily life for free black women in slaveholding Natchez, and the efforts of white Protestant women to establish churches on the frontier. Several essays cast new light on legal concerns, including two on the pivotal Married Women's Property Act of 1839, while other essays examine the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on women's lives.

The boundaries of race and gender in Jim Crow Mississippi are explored through an essay on the women of the mixed-race Knight family, notably the educator, nurse, and missionary Anna Knight. Women's experiences with rural electrification, consumerism, civil rights activism, social and service clubs, and feminism are among the other twentieth-century topics addressed in the essays. Volume 2 concludes with an essay on storytelling and remembrance that centers on the family of Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist (and Mississippi native) William Raspberry. ... Read more

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FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Grandchildren LOVE this series
My grandchildren, ages 7, 8, and 10, all love this series of mysteries.It teaches them a lot about history and geography.They love to follow the same characters as they visit all these places in the US and all over the world.It also makes them want to travel to see these places! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Story of an Explorer
I have discovered that author Ronald Syme has written many historical biographies in particular for children.I may even have read something of his when I was kid, since he seems to have published since the 1960s.His books are timeless, well written and easy to follow, presented in a story-type format, and including interesting details to personalize the history.I read his book about DeSoto as part of my own research about the Spanish explorers of North America.As an adult reader of this book, I was able to glean a good understanding of who deSoto was and what he did.The last I had ever heard anything about deSoto was in sixth grade, along with a brief mention of the names and discoveries of other early explorers, such as Ponce deLeon.DeSoto's story is really fascinating, and Syme's version is sure to interest today's children.It covers the difficulties met by deSoto's men in crossing difficult territory and confronting hostile natives.It does mention the injustices the Spaniards meted to the natives, but not in the horrific detail that will be found in biographies meant for older readers.I recommend this book as well as other works by Syme to interest young readers in the subject of history. ... Read more

Product Description
A series of televised discussions about Mississippi's famous writers. The history of 20th century American literature is filled with the names of Mississippians - William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Richard Wright, Tennessee Williams and many others. Read more about them in this unusual publication. ... Read more

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An overview of the Mississippi River, its physical features, plants and wildlife, history, explorers, role as a transportation route, and future. ... Read more

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Examines the land and culture surrounding the mighty Mississippi River. ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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The Spies of Mississippi is a compelling story of how state spies tried to block voting rights for African Americans during the Civil Rights era. This book sheds new light on one of the most momentous periods in American history.

Author Rick Bowers has combed through primary-source materials and interviewed surviving activists named in once-secret files, as well as the writings and oral histories of Mississippi civil rights leaders. Readers get first-hand accounts of how neighbors spied on neighbors, teachers spied on students, ministers spied on church-goers, and spies even spied on spies.

The Spies of Mississippi will inspire readers with the stories of the brave citizens who overcame the forces of white supremacy to usher in a new era of hope and freedom—an age that has recently culminated in the election of Barack Obama. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

An unfortunate truth
First, I couldn't put the book down. Then I couldn't believe that this occurred in America. And lastly, I couldn't believe I had never heard of this "Commission" before. This book delivers a crisp, clear story of another side of the Civil Rights movement, a story that typically never goes further than marches, cross burning and KKK uniforms. These are stories of average citizens who were ultimately jailed for applying to college or whose businesses were burned,or who were shot in cold blood, all for trying gain equality. My teenagers loved this book too - it ties into their growing awareness of social justice and why you have to push back when things are unfair.I looked up the MDAH web site and read the original spy reports, now digitized. Chilling. A must read for inquiring minds who know there is always another side to history. The photos were compelling too. Give it to your child's history teacher, today.

I was left wanting
This is the true story of the spy network that tried to destroy the Civil Rights Movements.
In 1956 newly elected Mississippi Governor J.P. Coleman pass a bill called Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission. This bill allowed the state of Mississippi to spy on people so segregation could continue throughout the state.

I was excited to get my hands on this book, it sounded interesting. Unfortunately I was underwhelmed. History isn't one of my strength but still I was left wanting.

Emmett Till was lynched in Mississippi in 1955. Many believed Till's murder help bring about the civil rights movement, yet Bowers didn't mention it. It would've made sense to include since many White Mississippians who were determined to keep the state segregated were threatened by the national attention. This fear was probably one of the main reasons behind the spying bill.

The chapters are very short, many facts felt underdeveloped. In chapter four Pipeline, Bowers discusses men White and Black who went undercover to infiltrate NAACP meetings. Bowers mentions two of the Black informants are found out. Though he doesn't go into any detail. I would love to know what Black men and women fighting for equality would do to someone of their own race who betrayed them.

Chapter nine Never Never Land, is about how segregation was allowed to thrive in Mississippi. The chapter ends with Bowers mentioning Dick Gregory.

"Black comedian Dick Gregory, who gained celebrity statue entertaining white and black nightclub audiences and appearing on national TV, charged that the military veteran, college student, and chicken farmer had been framed, railroaded into prison, abused, neglected, and left for dead."

The first two words I associate with Dick Gregory are comedian, activists. Bowers neglected to say Dick Gregory was a Civil Rights activists, without that fact it makes no sense to quote him. I would've even been okay with "Black social conscious comedian Dick Gregory" just something so readers unfamiliar with Dick Gregory will know why his words held weight.

The chapter on Medgar Evers is eight pages and that includes both acquittals of his killer. I didn't get a good sense of who Medger Evers and what he meant to the Civil Rights movements.

From the beginning, Bowers is quick to move on to a new fact and I was left wondering about what wasn't mentioned.

Alabama's gotten me so upset / Tennessee makes me lose my rest / and everybody knows about Mississippi . . .
When kids think of spies the general impression is almost always positive.There's that vague sense that Benedict Arnold was one and that was a bad thing, but generally their spy-knowledge is informed by folks like James Bond, Alex Rider, and other intrepid adventurers.The notion that spying could be used for evil instead of good doesn't get a lot of play in their literature.So when I read the subtitle of this book and saw that it read "The True Story of the Spy Network That Tried to Destroy the Civil Rights Movement" I was (A) surprised I hadn't run across this story before and (B) I was amazed that we now had a book for kids where we see spies used for the ultimate nefarious purpose.Rick Bowers brings to light a story never before seen in a children's non-fiction publication.It's what went on behind the scenes in Mississippi when racism decided to get organized.In it you'll find both stories of unsung heroes and tales of horrendous crimes.This book is many things.Dull, it is not.

Sometimes you hear talk about the mundane nature of evil and nothing is more mundane than the name "Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission".Its activities, however, were anything but humdrum.In 1956, Mississippi state governor J.P. Coleman signed into law a bill calling for the creation of an agency whose sole purpose would be to protect the state of segregation, as it currently existed at that time.Essentially, this Southern state now had its own publicly funded spy program.Over the course of two decades they would infiltrate civil rights organizations, hire spies, gather information, and do everything in their power to fight the change that was coming.By turns chilling and compelling, Rick Bowers dives into the recently released 134,000 pages of the commission's secret investigative files and supplements them with interviews and additional research to bring to light a dark time in our nation's history. Endmatter includes information on what happened to the key players, selected documents, an extensive Bibliography, Quote Sources, and an Index.

Bowers does do a good job of conveying the horror of what a lot of these Civil Rights activists went through.But the book weighs in at a slim 120 pages, which doesn't allow the author much time to go into people's lives.With that in mind, the author does a deft job of allowing you to get a sense of the book's participants.Enough so that when you read about a man "tied to the back of a garbage truck and forced to load trash in full view of his neighbors" or the student who was placed on a table and beaten with a belt when she was arrested, the demeaning nature of these incidents is not lost on a young reader.And Bowers is adept at plucking out essential details that give you a sense of the whole.When you learn about Governor Ross Barnett, Bowers shows you what a buffoon the fellow is by mentioning, amongst other details, that, "He would become the only governor to name two Miss Americas honorary colonels in the Mississippi National Guard."Mind you, that's a detail that more adults than kids are going to find funny, but I like that it's in there.

I found the way in which some of the information was laid out to be surprising.To my mind, the most interesting passage in the book is a section in Chapter Eight (The Clandestine War) that lists the five steps Ross Barnett took to fight the Civil Rights Movement.Since Bowers has written the book chronologically, this section comes later in the text, but I would have loved to have run into it earlier on.As far as I can tell, it's a fascinating portion that really drills home how to destroy a movement (though we are fortunate that it ran into enough problems to prevent it from ever meeting its goal).I can see why that section comes as late in the book as it does.Less understandable is Chapter 9 (Never, Never Land).This chapter explains why Mississippi was the way it was.One explanation says, "Mississippi had no major cosmopolitan center like Atlanta, New Orleans, or Memphis, where large newspapers carried competing points of view and major universities debated new ideas." Which is great and all, but why introduce it so late in the game?Seems to me that if you're going to understand why things happened, it would be useful to put things into context earlier rather than later.Perhaps this was a concession made to the child readers.Was there a fear that if you put in statistics like the fact that Mississippians were 55 percent white and 45 percent black at the beginning, kids would get bored early on and put down the book?I dunno but it certainly would have benefited the book if it had been introduced at the start of the story.

Though I initially read a galley copy of this book, I was glad that I waited for the final product before reviewing it.The additional backmatter and photographs in this tome make all the difference.The Epilogue, for example, shows that through meticulous interviews, Bowers discovered that the infamous Agent X who infiltrated Civil Rights meetings could have been one R.L. Bolden, a man who conceded to Bowers that he did send his bosses at the Day Agency information on Freedom Summer training seminars in Ohio.The photographs in the center of the book are also interesting, displaying billboard smear campaigns painting Martin Luther King as attending Communist training camps, and photographs marked up by The Commission identifying protesters to harass.And the selected documents from the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission included at the end are truly fascinating and, in the case of the map of the gravesite of Civil Rights workers, chilling.

Bowers does get a touch overly dramatic in his writing, which may or may not work for his young readers.At one point in the Prologue he says of this story that it is, "usually relegated to a footnote in the history of the civil rights movement.No longer.This is how it happened."Or later, when describing some mug shots (provided quite nicely in the center of the book) he says that they show, "innocence mixed with fear mixed with defiance."He has a taste for the dramatic, this one. Then again, these were dramatic times.And at no point is Bowers more descriptive than the folks he is describing. What author could compete with a group who describes activists as "communists, sex perverts, odd balls, and do-gooders"?The material speaks for itself.

To what extent does Bowers cater to a child audience?As I've mentioned, the book is short and the character studies to the point.The dramatic language that sometimes comes up could be a sign of concessions made to younger folks.As it stands, though, this is just a great book for older kids, teens, and adults.Synthesized down to its most essential parts, Bowers has found a new way to highlight the heroism and the horror of this amazing moment in American history.After reading this, kids may find themselves reassessing their thoughts about spying and what it can be used for. It's hard not to love your civil liberties when you see them so expertly trampled.A good read.

Ages 10 and up. ... Read more

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Traces the course of the river Mark Twain immortalized; describes its physical features, history, and importance. ... Read more