Posts

Showing posts from September, 2017

Review of " TURNAROUND: A Six-Month Plan for Change"

TURNAROUND: A Six-Month Plan for Change Charles S. Ricks Seagull Publishers ISBN: 978-0-9835883-5-1 98 Pages (Includes front and back matter) Thomas Jefferson once opined, "Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude." In an era where the need for change is often invoked as a panacea to return to a foregone era, few set out to actually make significant change.  Rather, many are happy to pay mere lip service to the idea of change but invariably settle numbingly into their routine.  Life becomes drudgery through the slough of despond where ideologues lament the status quo and are powerless to do anything about it. Dr. Charles S. Ricks has written a compelling short work to help people pull themselves up out of the miry clay and actually change their lives for the better.  His TURNAROUND: A Six-Month Plan for Change is not filled with gooey epithets inten...

Review of "Death of An Assassin: The True Story of the German Murdered Who Died Defending Robert E. Lee"

Author: Ann Marie Ackermann Title: Death of An Assassin: The True Story of the German Murdered Who Died Defending Robert E. Lee Publisher: The Kent State University Press Year of Publication: 2017 Bönnigheim is a sleepy little village in the Stuttgart district of Germany that is home to about 7500 people. In the modern era, travelers are wooed to visit by its idyllic landscapes, historical buildings, and its penchant for wine, as this village has been a site of viticulture for its entire documented history. On a fateful night in October 1835, perhaps after having indulged in some of this notable wine, Mayor Johann Heinrich Rieber was murdered by a rifleman who hid among the shadows. After gunning down the village’s mayor, the unknown rifleman dashed out of the village and was seemingly lost to history. Into this inauspicious murder mystery, Ann Marie Ackermann, has produced a worthy tome that seeks to identify this killer. Those who enjoy true crime nonfiction or are int...