Product Description
Ground-breaking when first published in 1945, Black Metropolis remains a landmark study of race and urban life. Based on a mass of research conducted by Works Progress Administration field workers in the late 1930s, it is a historical and sociological account of the people of Chicago's South Side, the classic urban ghetto. Drake and Cayton's findings not only offer a generalized analysis of black migration, settlement, community structure, and black-white race relations in the early part of the twentieth century, but also tell us what has changed in the last hundred years and what has not.This edition includes the original Introduction by Richard Wright and a new Foreword by William Julius Wilson.

"Black Metropolis is a rare combination of research and synthesis, a book to be deeply pondered.... No one who reads it intelligently can ever believe again that our racial dilemma can be solved by pushing buttons, or by gradual processes which may reach four or five hundred years into the future."--Bucklin Moon, The NationAmazon.com Review
"The facts of urban life presented here are in their starkest form," Richard Wright wrote in the original foreword to this penetrating study of Chicago's South Side, first published in 1945. "To have them presented otherwise would have been to negate the humanity of the American Negro." Nearly 50 years later, sociologist William Julius Wilson wrote that Black Metropolis "allows us to consider the significance of a segregated community heavily populated with working poor adults in contrast with a segregated community largely populated with nonworking adults." Simply put, sociologist St. Clair Drake and researcher Horace Cayton produced one of the most comprehensive studies of an African American urban enclave ever written. As in W.E.B. Du Bois's groundbreaking treatise The Philadelphia Negro, the contradictions and complexities of the Afro-American experience are expertly articulated without Eurocentric bias. Using traditional scientific methods of analysis, Cayton and Drake show the existence of a racial color line that keeps blacks segregated in economics, education, and politics, creating a vital cultural city within a city. More importantly, though, Black Metropolis makes the South Side come to life, with Drake and Cayton's hilarious, idiomatic references to the areas' many social groups--from the clothes-conscious, number-running "Upper Shadies" and the respectable "Race Men" of "Bronzeville" to the hypocritical "jackleg" preachers--and their richly detailed explanations of such phenomena as "passing" and the black Chicago community's interactions with white-led organized crime. --Eugene Holley Jr. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Relevancy of St. Clair Drake
Following receival of this book, I immediately begin my research on the issue of Re-Africanization, a concept used in the African Diaspora particularly connecting Afro-Brazilians in their identity search.Knowledge of the impact of the often minimized Great Migration of those of African descent following the death of Booker T. Washington (1915) until 1935 (during the Great Depression).Drake's analysis unveils what Sernett's Bound for the Promise Land suggested, i. e., the migration of Blacks from South to North carried also the differing diametrically-opposite views of Washington & Du Bois.The influence of these two Blackamerican giants' ideologies were manifested as Blacks made the most dynamic, significant move which impacted the personal lives and the personal faith of a historic people.Drake shares the sociological perspective needed to understand the Black Church and its impact and changing ideology which is not necessarily based on theology, as it also may be the sociological.Drake method at examining the City-dwelling of Blackamericans, if followed more closely, takes a view of Black life in the Black Community which differs significantly from the "deficit approach" taken by White Sociologists and Blacks who bought into this belief without giving due consideration to the differences which exists between the races, especially in an age where so many are attempting to encourage one size fit all and to disprove America's heritage about the plight of the "Negro in America."The nonsensical which persists the blindness to the words of Daniel Patrick Moynihan's National Call to Action which authenticated the theme of the 94th Annual Session of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASLAH) founded by the late Carter G. Woodson, PhD who raised the question about when Blacks would receive the Citizenship promised.Even Moynihan responded it would be two generations in the 1965/66 report.Anyone truly interested in their minds and thoughts being rejuvenated and opened to another way of life would benefit greatly from this writing, even after all these years.An excellent guide for studying Black families today in light of the information which would prove most useful in interpreting Black Family life after the deficit and failure of many sociologists and psychologists to see the life of others through different lenses.

A Classic
Black Metropolis is perhaps the founding document of African-American studies, a classic work of sociology that still resonates today. It is a paradigmatic expression of the Chicago School of sociology, however, aschool that today stands in some disrepute, at least in some circles.Indirectly, it was the target of James Baldwin's famous attack on RichardWright in his essay, Everybody's Protest Novel. The claim of the criticismhas been that the Chicago School, due to its insistance upon using a"scientific approach", merely reproduces the very terms underwhich African-Americans have been oppressed--a claim that has proceededunder the warrant of European intellectuals such as Theodor Adorno. Still,Black Metropolis is a landmark study, and, unfortunately, many if not mostof its observations and conclusions remain true today, and in fact it couldbe argued that conditions in the Black Belt of Chicago have gotten worse,not better, since 1945, the year of Black Metropolis' publication--whichlends a certain credence to the criticisms mentioned above, though perhapsit should be qualified by saying that they are not so much criticisms ofthe Chicago School as they are criticisms of American society. Since then,as we know, we have witnessed a great shift in American public opinion awayfrom what some consider to be the excesses of those days; so much so, infact, that the work of Black Metropolis may again be regarded as aprofoundly useful book. Embodying American liberalism as it does--whichcounted as a grave sin thirty years ago--Black Metropolis may possibly bedue for a fresh look. ... Read more

Product Description
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

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Interesting connected short stories
I grew up in the plains in farming and ranching country. I now live in the Los Angeles area. This series of connected short stories - each complete in itself but with continuing characters, has been very enjoyable reading. The stories take place in the early farming and ranching days of the central California coast. Definitely before irrigation came to the central valley. The narrator is one of two British brothers who came as early settlers to the area. I would have given the book 5 stars if I could have selected which story to read from the table of contents. As it is, it is not bad to be forced to read from the first story to the twentieth. At least you recognize names from the prior stories. ... Read more

Product Description
Throughout his work, the Roman poet Horace displays many, sometimes conflicting, faces: these include dutiful son, expert lover, gentleman farmer, man about town, outsider, poet laureate, sharp satirist and measured moraliser. This book features a wide array of essays by an international team of scholars from a number of different academic disciplines, each one shedding new light on aspects of Horace's poetry and its later reception in literature, art and scholarship from antiquity to the present day. In particular, the collection seeks to investigate the fortunes of 'Horace' both as a literary personality and as a uniquely varied textual corpus of enormous importance to western culture. The poems shape an author to suit his poetic aims; readers reshape that author to suit their own aesthetic, social and political needs. Studying these various versions of Horace and their interaction illuminates the author, his poetry and his readers. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an OCR edition without illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from GeneralBooksClub.com. You can also preview excerpts from the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Original Published by: Upham and Beet in 1858 in 504 pages; Subjects: Laudatory poetry, Latin; Latin poetry; Literary Criticism / General; Literary Criticism / Ancient & Classical; Literary Criticism / Poetry; Poetry / Ancient, Classical & Medieval; ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Best available English translation
Of the various translations of Horace's Odes into English, this is the best I have found.The translations stay close to the literal meaning and sequence of the originals, yet are rendered into English poetry (not a prose crib.)Horace is a frequently complicated, dense poet, so the translations are often rather complicated and dense.A reasonable number of explanatory notes are provided in the back.My main reason for withholding a fifth star is the cheapness of the physical presentation:in order to save space, the poems are run together rather than being presented on separate pages, and the typeface is small. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an OCR edition without illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from GeneralBooksClub.com. You can also preview excerpts from the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Original Published by: Yale Univ. Press in 1916 in 404 pages; Subjects: Religious education; Children; Family & Relationships / Parenting / General; Religion / Christian Education / General; Religion / Christian Life / General; Religion / Education; Religion / Christian Rituals & Practice / Sacraments; Religion / Christian Theology / Ethics; Religion / Christian Education / Children & Youth; ... Read more

Product Description
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

Customer Reviews (12)

A Truly Spectacular Book
This reviewer became fascinated with Horace Trumbauer after a number of visits to both the public and private spaces of the The Elms in Newport. Michael Kathrens' book is among the finest ever published on architecture.
Thirty-eight of Trumbauer's designs are featured in this lavish work with beautiful photographs, floor plans, and fascinating narratives about the houses and their history. Ironically, The Elms, despite its grandeur, pales in comparison to Trumbauers's mind-boggling projects such as Lynnewood, Whitemarsh, and Shadow Lawn. Hopefully, Acanthus Press will begin to publish this masterwork again making its price accessible to architecture buffs, and devotees of Mr. Trumbauer. This book is truly spectacular.

One of the earliest and best Acanthus Press editions
This is the first Acanthus Press edition I bought of their ongoing series of great estates. I own many other books on this subject, old and new, by other publishers.I regard this one as among the best of the Acanthus series not least because it chose to document the creations of perhaps the greatest mansion architect of the Gilded Age. Trumbauer was at least the equal Richard Hunt and Charles McKim. And because Trumbauer's mansions were so famous in their day, they were extensively photographed. And here they are again !!
One is saddened by the loss of some of these monuments like Whitemarsh Hall and Lynnewood Hall, and horrified to think that The Elms, as recent as the 1960's, was slated for demolition.What I would give to be able to have seen them in their original glory.But this book will have to do.
A required addition to your collection.

SUPERB MASTER OF CLASSIC REVIVAL ARCHITECTURE
This is a tremendous work, spanning the decades of the gilded age glory of architecture. I first became interested in Trumbauer in researching Whitemarsh Hall, as well as Lynnewood Hall and Miramar, both constructed for the Widener families. In all, thirty-eight of his works are represented, with a fabulous array of photos, floor plans, and written history of each. This is the penultimate coffee table book (but I prefer to shelve it in my library) with great detail and incredible pictures of his prime works. As previously stated in another review,it also details the current state of each of the houses. Sadly, Whitemarsh was demolished in 1980, but sixteen pages are dedicated to the magnificent grandeur that was Whitemarsh Hall. This book is out of print, to the best of my knowledge, and is very expensive, I have seen it on EBay for $500.00.If you are lucky enough to have a copy, treasure it! Trumbauer was an understated genius.

Great Book!
I enjoyed reading the book, and examining what at times were too tiny notations on the floor plans in the book, but not paying for it. At $75 list, it's not a book you'll casually purchase. At $350 in the used market, moreso.

I was a bit surprised at the fact that the authors stayed away, as much as possible, from words used only by architects (loggia, for example) but were able to keep the book both scholorly and entertaining.

Real Splendor
It would take a much larger book to do justice to all the works of Trumbauer.Wish there is one on public buildings by him. However, it is the best one out so far. ... Read more

Product Description
Fiction

"Quietly entertaining, thought-filled. . . . The narrative voice is
particularly congenial--cool and unflappable, often humorous."
--Washington Post Book World

Not since The Moviegoer has a first novel limned the human condition with such originality and subtle insight. A small-town iconoclast who is at once deeply principled and occasionally as absurd as the world he rebels against, Quintus Horatius Flaccus (or Horace) has assumed the name of a Roman poet and has forsworn automobiles, and entertains himself by telephoning strangers to ask them what love is or what they think of St. Bernards. His neighbors in the Midwestern town of Oblivion consider him wacko. This suits Horace just fine, since all he wants in life is "the serenity of not caring."

But people are conspiring to make Horace care about them. There's the dying librarian who finds Horace's morbid curiosity oddly bracing. There's the mysterious woman whom Horace rescues, only to become obsessed with her identity. And as Horace finds himself drawn into their affairs, Horace Afoot depicts the unruly dialogue of his mind and heart with sly wit and splendid generosity of feeling.

"Delights continuously with its humor, originality and . . . unfolding personalities." --Rocky Mountain News ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Holds a surprisingly rich reward
This story held me at arm's length for a bit. The narrator is disconnected, a stranger in a town named Oblivion, no job, with little apparent purpose in life. But I am glad I stayed with it. Horace Afoothas a singular charm. The story develops a unique, pleasing movement onceHorace actual connects with someone - the lovingly depicted librarian Mohr- and the 'aboutness' of the tale emerges. I look forward to readingReuss's new book, 'Henry of Atlantic City'.I have a feeling that Reussmay be one of those authors - Thomas Mallon is another to come immediatelyto mind - whose story-telling skills grow to match a quietly inventiveapproach.

Good thing it was short, or I never would'a finished...
Some very fine writing, mind you, and entertaining in the way of a walking philosophical chatauqua...but not for an instant did I ever believe in Horace', nee Lucius', nee William Blake's existence.I like quirkycharacters, but this is no Ignatius J. Reilly.As for themystery...predictable from seventy-five pages out.The last 10 pages,nearly worthless, far too riddled with epiphanaic resolution.As for theinsights scattered throughout the book, not much of it is fresh.Lots ofre-hashing going about.I'd suggest picking this book up at the library tosee if it's worth the ten bones (for me, it wasn't).

HORACE AFOOT, while a bit ambiguous, is thought provoking.
Oblivion and autarkeia ("the serenity of not caring") are the underlying themes of Frederick Reuss's first book. The book's narrator, Horace--full name Quintus Horatius Flaccus, a name and identity borrowed from the classical Roman poet of 65-8 B.C.--is an enigmatic self-absorbed individual who is financially independent and in relentless pursuit of the answer to the existential question Who am I?

Unlike Cervante's eccentric hero Don Quixote, Reuss's narrator is the antihero who expends his time re-reading favorite books, recording memorized literary passages and philosophical thoughts, telephoning strangers at anytime of the day or night asking enigmatic questions on a variety of subjects, walking "afoot" (Horace disdains all mechanical transportation) to the Indian burial mound of questionable archaeological significance or to the small airport on the outskirts of his adopted Midwestern town called Oblivion, and rocking endlessly in a chair on the porch of his neglected house.

"I have been rocking on the front porch for three days now, and I have discovered something: time passes, and I enjoy having it pass. Inactivity is no easy accomplishment, and finding pleasure in it means overcoming conditioned reflexes."

Although Horace is indifferent to nearly everyone and everything about him, his unintended interactions with the local sheriff who belligerently questions Horace's eccentric behaviour in an unsolved crime, a dying librarian who befriends Horace and in the process discovers his own life's quest, the earthy young woman recently laid off from the town's defense contractor factory who challenges Horace's repressed sexuality and compassion for others, and the town juvenile punk who threatens Horace's mortal existence all compromise Horace's need for oblivion and give hope that Horace (or William Blake or Lucian of Samosata or ...) finally will answer the Why in his own life.

A metaphysical mystery and often very funny
This book is marketed incorrectly and deserves a wider audience.Such is the fate of a debut writer in the hands of a small independent press.I think more people would read this novel if it were sold as a comic mystery novel - and I mean mystery in the medieval sense.This novel, about a seemingly aimless ponderer of life's absurdities and profundties, is looking for some larger answers to the inexplicable mysteries of everyday life.The catch, and wonderful surprise, in this novel is that Horace(a curmudgeon, at first) undergoes a true epiphany and begins to feel and act like a real human.What changes him?A chance encounter with a naked, amnesiac woman who he saves from an unseen gun-toting rapist.Who is she?Who attacked her?Why was she in a cornfield near the local Indian burial mound?None of these intriguing plot elements are mentioned anyway on the jacket blurb or any of the marketing materials for this book.It seems that the publisher was attempting to sell this very accessible novel to an intellectual, philosophy minded readership.This was a mistake.Reuss' novel is a delight and I was truly surprised by who Harace meets and how he is affected by these encounters in his wandering adventures.

Imagine "Zen and the art of walking around a small town".
The narrator's attempt to live in and react to the world as if he were the person whose name he has currently taken brings a new way of viewing the world, particularly that of a small town and its sometimes bizarre, inextricably inter-related residents. ... Read more

Product Description
China's involvement in Africa has provoked much debate and discussion. Is China just the latest in a line of exploiters of Africa's rich natural resources who put their own economic interests above humanitarian, environmental or human rights concerns?Or is China's engagement an extension of 'South-South solidarity'? Does China's involvement enable African countries to free themselves from the tyranny of debt and conditionality that, through two decades of structural adjustment programmes, have reversed most of the gains of independence? Or is Africa swapping one tyranny for another?Much of the commentary on China in Africa focuses either on assessing how Western capital's interest might be affected, or on denouncing China for practices that have for centuries been the norm for US and European powers - support for dictators, callous destruction of the environment, exploitation of minerals, and complete disregard for human rights.Lost in that noisy debate has been the voice of independent African analysts and activists. They are heard in this unique collection of essays from the prize-winning weekly electronic newsletter, Pambazuka News.As these articles demonstrate, there is no single 'African view' about China in Africa, but the authors are united by their concern for, and commitment to, social justice for Africa's people.The contributors include: Ali Askouri, Horace Campbell, Michelle Chan-Fishel, Moreblessings Chidaushe, John Blessing Karumbidza, Daniel Large, Anabela Lemos, Firoze Manji, Stephen Marks, Ndubisi Obiorah, Kwesi Kwaa Prah, Daniel Ribeiro and John Rocha. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Nice collection of African views
This is a nice collection and cross-section of African views on China's fast-growing relations with Africa.No stunning analysis or data, and not a very wide range of viewpoints, but it is useful to hear from some African experts themselves rather than from China or international relations scholars, journalists, or political pundits with a particular bias.

Offers different views united by their concerns for social justice in Africa
African Perspectives on China in Africa offers college-level material for any library serious about China's involvement in Africa. Traditional commentary focuses on either assessing how the interests of Western capital might be affected or denouncing China's practices - the same actually as those of the West and Europe. This collection of essays from the prize-winning electronic newsletter Pambazuka News offers different views united by their concerns for social justice in Africa.

Knowledge is a good thing
This book provides, in a series of essays, a reasonable overview from several perspectives of the involvement of China in Africa.Really, it is a necessity for any person who considers themselves to possess a well rounded educated and a lively interest in the world to read books such as this.We need to keep ourselves informed in regards to the background of present situations, the firsthand observations of people and their opinions.Understanding of politics and events in various African countries such as Zimbabwe or Sudan is facilitated by reading books like this.There are several such books available.This one is both highly readable and informative. ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fantasy fiction, English; Fantasy fiction, English; Fiction / General; Fiction / Literary; ... Read more

Product Description
Though Gary was an industrial city founded by U.S. Steel, the Horace Mann neighborhood evolved into one of the most exclusive residential areas in northwest Indiana. Skilled craftsmen from the mills were able to live among doctors and lawyers as well as businessmen and supervisors from U.S. Steel. From the boom years of the 1920s through the 1960s, residents of diverse economic backgrounds sent their children to the same schools, prayed together in the same houses of worship, and shopped in GaryÂ's popular downtown. GaryÂ's West Side: The Horace Mann Neighborhood is a pictorial history spanning four generations of one of the Steel CityÂ's premier residential districts. Through archival photographs, family snapshots provided by former residents, and shared memories, the reader is taken on a nostalgic journey from the cityÂ's founding in 1906 through to the 21st century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

review of westside gary
I READ THIS BOOK AND FOUND IT TO BE SOMEWHAT GENERIC IN IT'S DESCRIPTION OF THE HORACE MANN DISTRICT. IT'S SOMEWHAT FUNNY THAT A PERSON FROM EMERSON WOULD HAVE ANY CLUE TO WHAT THE WESTSIDE WAS REALLY LIKE. TOO MANY DETAILS WERE MISSING BY THE AUTHOR. TIVOLI TAP, SOKITS BAKERY, MACDONALD'S, THE WATER TOWER, THE LAGOON, EVERYTHING ABOUT BROADWAY, THE PANTRY, THE SUMMER CARNIVALS,JEFFERSON AND JACKSON PARKS,MANNBRIDGE,WISEWAY,A & P., ON AND ON; COULD LIST HUNDREDS MORE. AUTHOR SHOULD HAVE RESEARCHED MORE COMPETELY WITH ACUAL RESIDENTS OF THIS AREA. IF YOU LIKE GENERIC, THEN THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU!!!

Was hoping for more about Horace Mann
I attended Horace Mann in the 50's and 60's and was elated to hear there was a book written specifically about the neighborhood in which I was born and raised.The book contains some very good pictures and numerous nostalgic recollections of my childhood.I even learned a few facts that I previously didn't know.My only criticism would be that I was hoping to find more detail regarding the actual neighborhoods and Horace Mann School itself, and a little less detail about Gary's industrial history, houses of worship and Holy Angels school.Many thanks, however, to Mr. Trafny for writing it...I bought a copy for myself and one for my brother! ... Read more

Product Description

THIS EDITION HAS BEEN REPLACED BY A NEWER EDITION

Horace (b. 65 B.C.) claims the lyric poetry of Sappho and Alcaeus as models for his celebrated odes. His four books cover a wide range of moods and topics: friendship is the dominant theme of about a third of thepoems; a great many deal with love and amorous situations, often amusingly; others deal with patriotic and political themes. The seventeen epodes, which Horace called iambi, were also inspired by a Greek model: the seventh centuryiambic poetry of Archilochus. As in the odes, love and politics are frequent themes; some of the epodes also display mockery and ridicule, of a harsher variety than we find in Horace's satires.

Product Description
Fans of superheroes will love this brand-new deluxe boxed setstarring Horace Splattly, The Cupcaked Crusader. Join Horace,his nefarious genius little sister, and his friends as they fightcrime around the weird and wonderful town of Blootinville!Featuring Horace’s first four adventures, Horace Splattly: TheCupcaked Crusader, When Second Graders Attack, The Terror ofthe Pink Dodo Balloons, and To Catch a Clownosaurus, thedeluxe gift set also sports fold-out art panels that transform itinto a keepsake box and bookshelf poster.It’s theperfect gift for superhero wannabes everywhere! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Dillon
Fascinating account not only of a most interesting life, but of a period of history, social norms and practises not often encountered in biographies. Wide ranging and entertaining. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (4)

An interesting and intimate view
Horace Busby provides and intimate and interesting view of President Lyndon Johnson in THE 31ST OF MARCH.Although Busby provides selected views of other incidents that were key moments in the Johnson presidency and of course the story of how he became involved with Johnson the focus is on LBJ's decision not to seek re-election and the process of announcing that decision to the world.

Busby's view of LBJ is that of a much more fragile man than generally preceived of. It's a quick read.Busby's walks the reader through the family quarters of the White House and the inner workings of the presidency with facinating detail.One particulary interesting aspect of the story is how Johnson was treated at JFK's funeral. Most accounts are totally sympathetic to the Kennedy's but in reading Busby, you see that LBJ had a side too. The reader comes away with a very unique view LBJ.

Though brief, the work is very powerful.It is the story of friendship, loyality and devotion.I wish that the son, who edited the work would have provided a brief description of the relationship between Busby and LBJ after the White House years.It would rounded out the story.

A Fresh Look at our Thirty-Sixth President, Lyndon B. Johnson
"The Thirty-first of March", by Horace Busby takes a heart-warming yet candid look at Lyndon B. Johnson, as few had known him. The book makes for fast, interesting, and enjoyable reading.

Horace Busby was an assistant to Lyndon B. Johnson from 1948 to 1968; those twenty years gave Busby the opportunity to know Lyndon B. Johnson as both a politician and a human being. Busby writes of a thoughtful, engaging, and at times ill-tempered congressional representative, senator, majority leader, vice president, and president of the United States. Readers will find that "The Thirty-first of March" offers a rare look at the human side of Lyndon B. Johnson.Lyndon Johnson was the congressional representative for the Tenth District of Texas, described by Busby as the politician who swam against the political tides; who despised the Texas "sacred cow" (oil utilities), along with big business. Busby writes of Johnson's ability to balance his social insecurities with boundless energy and passion for the causes he so firmly believed in.

According to Busby, Johnson's passions may have been a result of Johnson's close association with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Johnson is described as a politician who wished to continue the work that was left incomplete by Roosevelt's "New Dealers". Many know the Lyndon B. Johnson who was arrogant, quick-tempered, reclusive, and a veteran of the political arena - he may have even been a conniver at times. However, many are unaware of Johnson's compassion for ordinary people - the downtrodden. Horace Busby brings this to center stage by giving readers a clear view of what most mattered to Lyndon B. Johnson, who believed that

"[p]eople are good . . . what the average folks want is very simple: peace, a roof over their heads, food on their tables, milk for their babies, a good job at good wages, a doctor when they need him, an education for their kids, a little something to live on when they're old, and a nice funeral when they die."

Busby writes of his own good fortune in making the acquaintance of such influential and powerful people as Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and their families. The book is sprinkled with short stories of these enduring encounters, which make for interesting reading. It is, however, the relationship between Busby and Johnson that the memoir brings to the forefront, which will most interest readers. Busby recollects how passionate Johnson was on domestic issues such as housing, education, healthcare, and conservation. Busby also describes Johnson's anguish and distress after receiving the news of Martin Luther King's assassination; not just for the country, but for the King family and all American people - African Americans as well as whites....

"The Thirty-first of March" was not meant to encompass Johnson's political career, but readers will gain a new understanding and respect for the ideas, accomplishments, and sacrifices of the political phenomena that was Lyndon B. Johnson. The book will also give readers and future biographers new insights into the persona that was LBJ.

Intimate insight on a fascinating character
Querying "Lyndon Johnson" on Amazon generates over 18,000 references. The man was a dominant figure in US politics for over 20 years, which goes some way to explaining why he has been written about so prolifically.
Few books though can surely be as intimate and interesting as Horace Busby's memoir of the man he worked with for most of Johnson's career on the national stage.

The twenty-four year-old Busby joined then Congressman Johnson's team in 1948, a few months prior to Johnson winning a Senate seat. His initial brief was to "put a little Churchill" and motivation into the Texas politician's speeches. He remained with Johnson, in some capacity as adviser, speechwriter, confidante and sometimes almost as therapist until March 31 1968 when Johnson made his famous utterance to the US people that "I shall not seek and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your President," - lines written by Horace Busby.

This is a wonderfully warm, penetrating look at the psychology, temperament and mindset of LBJ particularly in the days prior to his famous announcement. The manuscript was discovered by Busby's son after the author's death in 2000, hence the publication date of 2005. Unfortunately, much of the manuscript seems to have been lost as it does not deal at all with the President's period in the Senate, which by all accounts he bestrode like a colossus.

The reader can appreciate why Busby was so highly rated by his political patron. Much of the bookcontains wonderful writing and descriptive passages including a very humorous account of how the infamously impatient Congressman Johnson treated Busby when he first reported for work in 1948 - three days later than expected.

Busby crafts some wonderful images, not least when he recounts the terrible events of November 22nd, 1963. The author was in Washington when President Kennedy was assassinated in Johnson's home state of Texas. Co-incidentally, Busby's wife was in Johnson's Washington home doing some research for Lady Bird Johnson at the time of the shooting. She stayed in the house until Mrs. Johnson returned from Dallas - "she saw as no one else did that day, the cold passing of power," as the secret service took control of the house and presidentialcommunications infrastructure was put in place, even before the residents returned from Dallas.

Busby appears to have been a true confidant of the towering Texan. Few (if any) who worked under Johnson would claim he was an easy person to deal with. He could be mean, nasty, uncouth, self-centered, insecure and tyrannical, yet he had very strong motivational skills, sometimes conveyed with great good humor. Johnson was blessed to have a number of very loyal and competent aides - Jack Valenti, Joe Califano and of course Busby who writes of Johnson almost as a son might of a father.
Because of his close relationship with LBJ, Busby writes compellingly on a number of little known episodes about the President including a dirty tricks campaign initiated by White House insiders to prevent Vice-President Johnson from gaining the nomination to run with Jack Kennedy for the presumptive 1964 campaign. LBJ believed he had but one friend "in that place - President John Fitzgerald Kennedy himself."

The account of the 31st March, when Busby was called to the White House to draft Johnson's final words is both riveting and compelling. Many of Johnson's family and aides did not wish the President to remove himself from the race and blamed Busby for influencing his decision.

The initiative to withdraw though was Johnson's, but when Busby handed him four pages of script - much more than expected, the President `threw up his hands. "Damn" he exclaimed. "You must really want to get me out of town." `

Johnson on a one-to-one level was surprisingly humorous with strong motivational skills, something that rarely came across in his public appearances. Unlike his predecessor, JFK, Johnson never mastered the new media of television.

For those interested in one of the most intriguing characters to attain the presidency, this book is a little jewel. The one regret is that it covers such a short period of the political life of a man whom the author writes was "extroverted, gregarious, and roughshod," but who "sheltered a sensitive, introspective, and unaccountably fragile self inside."

Snapshots From The Great Society
Horace Busby was one of the more interesting witnesses in Robert Caro's biography of LBJ, and I was sorry to hear he had passed on a few years back, here in California.Busby knew where all the bodies were buried in his capacity as top speechwriter for Johnson, extremely close to the man for twenty years or more, and inventor of the catchphrase, "The Great Society."

The book, while never less than elegantly written, is scattershot in its approach, and jumps back and forth in chronology like a human pinball machine, skimming the surfaces here and there, then coming down to dwell lovingly and cinematically on some unlikely venues, such as a trip with Johnson in November of 1963, to Brussels for a conference.LBJ in Brussels, of all places, it's unreal!Here Busby really goes to town, exploring the insecurities that fueled Johnson's drive to the top and which made him the most feared man in politics.

And yet he had his charming side too, and Buzz was there for large chunks of it.There's a long, fleshed out memoir of arriving with Johnson at Hyannisport in 1960, not knowing whether or not Kennedy would want him as his candidate for Vice President.There's no denying that Johnson was the odd man out among the Kennedys; in one hilarious moment he can't understand JFK's accent, despite trying to read his lips.You won't get this kind of intimate, novelistic detail anywhere else.

But often "Buzz" seems overdiscreet, drawing a veil over the very things that the reader wants to know more about.Buzz's son Scott, who introduces this posthumously published memoir, suggests that Buzz came to feel he had given all his "good Lyndon stories" to Caro in their many interviews, and that the book we now have represents perhaps the not-so-good stories which Caro didn't find interesting enough to include in any of the three volumes published so far.And sometimes Buzz's speechwriting strength betray him as a memoirist; his highly praised alliteration for example, grows inane when it is employed to open a paragraph with "The prolonged procrastination was highly provocative . . . "

What else is memorable about this all too brief book?Well, I liked finding out more about Johnson's religious background as a "Digressive."I never even heard to term before, and now it seems utterly key to understanding the man.Buzz' dad, a strict preacher type, hesitated before giving his boy his blessing to work for LBJ, fearing that the latter's "Digressive" qualities would corrupt Buzz.Johnson's own father emerges as a salty old son of a gun, telling his son not to forget that "If a fella starts trying to climb a pole, he usually ends up showing his ass."It was a lesson Johnson was never to forget.

In one touching chapter Busby, together with Interior Secretary Stewart Udall, travel to Gettysburg to represent the administration at the Eisenhower farm, as Ike and Mamie prepare to leave their home forever (they have deeded it to the National Park Service).Both Eisenhowers come to life vividly, and their lives together for forty-five years touchingly adumbrated, in Busby's careful rendering of a moment in time.

Busby provides lovely word portraits both of fragile, thoughtful Jackie Kennedy and the amazing Lady Bird.Either of these would make the book worth reading all by themselves, but yet there is a whole lot more in THE THIRTY-FIRST OF MARCH.Don't let this one slip under your radar. ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Biography ... Read more

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A Companion to Horace features a collection of commissioned interpretive essays by leading scholars in the field of Latin literature covering the entire generic range of works produced by Horace.

• Features original essays by a wide range of leading literary scholars
• Exceeds expectations for the standard handbook by featuring essays that challenge, rather than just summarize, conventional views of Homer's work and influence
• Considers Horace’s debt to his Greek predecessors
• Treats the reception of Horace from contemporary theoretical perspectives
• Offers up-to-date information and illustrations on the archaeological site traditionally identified as Horace's villa in the Sabine countryside