Eternity's End

I don't usually write posts about a "limited preview" books on Google Book Search but I decided to make an exception today. In 2001, one of my favorite authors, Jeffrey A. Carver, published Eternity's End. The book is adventurous and captivating and is one of Carver's best. Check out a limited preview of Eternity's End on Google Book Search.

If you enjoy the limited preview then head on over to Starrigger.net to purchase a copy through Carver's website.

He also has an active blog on blogger that is a joy to read. http://starrigger.blogspot.com

Johnnykin and the Goblins

After a couple of historical books I figured that it would be a good time to make a return to literature. Today's feature is Johnnykin and the Goblins, a fantasy novel from 1887 by Charles Godfrey Leland. The book is filled with wonderful illustrations and poetry.

Johnnykin and the Goblins is truly one of the great early fantasy novels that shouldn't be missed.

The Revolutionary War: Introduction

There is a large number of books and essays contemporary to the American Revolutionary War that can be found on Google Book Search. I plan to do a whole series on the subject here but for now we'll start with an introduction to the subject with "A Candid Examination of the Mutual Claims of Great Britian and the Colonies" by Joseph Galloway. The book was published in 1775, just before a declaration of independence that would change course of history for the United States of America and countless other countries around the world.

New England's Present Sufferings...

In 1675, Edward Wharton wrote "New-England's Present Sufferings Under Their Cruel Neighboring Indians." It is a gruesome tale of the atrocities committed by Native Americans against their English neighbors. One of the great things about reading historical texts written and published as a contemporary piece of the events that were taking place is that you see a more clear picture of what was actually happening. Hundreds of years later we have a version of American history that has been intentionally filled with political correctness and ignores the fact that not all of our nations bloody history lies in the hands of the "white man." But I would be naive to not consider that because this is a contemporary piece it is being written by an individual who in all likelihood viewed the Native Americans as savages and knew nothing of their culture.

Any individual with an interest in history would do themselves well to seek out books written when the events they are studying actually took place. You will a world of knowledge and perspectives not present in modern history books.

George Fox

Google Book Search is a treasure trove of old religious writings and one that I've come across is the autobiography of George Fox. Fox was the founder of the religious group the Quakers and his autobiography is really a collection of his journal writings as he traveled the country preaching the Gospel. There are many excellent truths to be learned from the wisdom contained in it's pages as well as some mildly amusing tales of declaring people to be witches in various towns. Check out George Fox: An Autobiography on Google book, you won't be dissapointed.

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

I grew up watching Charlton Heston portray Ben-Hur in the classic movie that was one of the highest grossing movies at that point. This past summer I chanced upon an old copy of the book by Lew Wallace at a library book sale for $0.75. I'm a sucker for library book sales and that 1921 mint condition copy of Ben-Hur was easily the best find of the summer. I'm not sure I had ever really known that Ben-Hur was a book, I had simply grown up on the movie.

The book I found to be even more of a joy than the movie. Even though there are plenty of copyrighted editions available, Google does have a 1908 printing of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ available in full view to read and enjoy.

Johnny Appleseed

The other day I chanced upon a novel from 1915 by Eleanor Atkinson titled Johnny Appleseed: The Romance of the Sower. I had never known very much about Johnny Appleseed other than being a man who walked all over America planting apple trees. Atkinson's book gives a much more detailed, if not highly idealized, view of the man whose real name was actually Jonathan Chapman.

The novel peaked my curiosity and I decided to seek more historical records of the man. The oldest reference I was able to find to him is from a magazine from 1846. This magazine however didn't even know Johnny Appleseed's real name. Most later references to the man though contained his name.

Take some time to relive this legendary man from America's past and the next time you are eating an apple keep in mind that that apple may very well be a descendent of trees planted by Johnny Appleseed.

Welcome

I have found much joy and enlightenment using Google's Book Search feature over the past year and I wish to share the joy of some of the treasures I have found and continue to find.

There are so many pieces of forgotten literature that deserve to be explored.

Historical texts that are contemporary to the times that they were written about that give you a completely different perspective on a time in history than you can get from modern history books that are simply regurgitating the past.

There is wisdom to be found in ancient religious texts. You can find writings from men and women who had the same scriptures available to them as we have to day but approached them from a world view that was shaped by the time period they lived in and so their approach to the scriptures was completely different than any of our contemporaries.

One cannot hope to have even a fraction of these resources available to them at their local library. Google has opened the doors to a vast array of knowledge that was previously only available to the scholarly elite and was in danger of being lost to time forever.