The Truth About Day Trading Stocks: A Cautionary Tale About Hard Challenges and What It Takes To Succeed (Wiley Trading) Review

The Truth About Day Trading Stocks: A Cautionary Tale About Hard Challenges and What It Takes To Succeed (Wiley Trading)
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If you are searching around on Amazon for a book that will get you started in day trading, this is it. Josh DiPietro will give you the straight truth about the reality of being a day trader. It is a career choice like any other. It takes hard work to become successful. Almost every beginning trader blows out their account before learning to manage risk. You can read books and take seminars but only real trading will make you successful. I have been a trader for over 6 years and I agree completely with these observations from the author.
Josh's key points are to start with 100 share blocks only, to limit exposure and build skill. Do not move above this amount until you have been successful for months, then only increase trade size very gradually. You can make money trading 100 shares at a time through out the day. This also keeps your emotions under control when no one trade has to much riding on it. Use preset stop losses if your trade goes against you. Most amateurs make the mistake of stubbornly holding losing positions or even increase their position on the way down, this can be disastrous. The key to day trading success is consistency, making the money you need daily, by having a great win ratio.
Josh's system is scalping .20 cents to .40 cents off nice steady consumer staple stocks that trade at least a million shares daily on the market. He uses the previous days support and resistance levels as a trading range along with volume. His trading seems to be primarily counter trend, shorting at break outs to new highs and going long at support to try to catch retracements to profit. I have used this system in range bound markets for much success. So I can say his system is sound from my personal experience. He also wants to avoid stocks if they are in the news or earnings are expected, because that will disrupt the range and lead to volatility and trends.
He also explains the value of using pay per share brokers versus pay per trade brokers. If you qualify for an account with a pay per share firm you could get 10 to 1 or even 20 to 1 leverage. This is for the advanced and you must show them your ability to trade before they will release that much buying power to you. But it enables you to be profitable with $10 and $20 scalps because a 100 share trade is about .35 cents. This is an opportunity amateurs rarely hear about.
I have read over a hundred trading books and day traded successfully through this recent financial crises, with a 31% return from September 2008 to July 2009. I also was one of the rare people who went to a cash position in my 401K on January 5th of 2008. With my background I still learned several things from this book and it was great to get my mind focused during this break from trading. I highly recommend for all beginning and intermediate traders. I wish I would have had this book when I started day trading it would have saved me both money and time.

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Jedediah Smith (Wld Explorers) (Z) (World Explorers) Review

Jedediah Smith (Wld Explorers) (Z) (World Explorers)
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i thought this book was very well written and i learned a lot about jedediah smith and after i read this book i went to my local library and checked out another book on jedediah smith i also learned about other pioneers

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Chronicles the exploits of the mountain men who opened many trails and passages through the American West in the early nineteenth century.

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An American Hedge Fund: How I Made $2 Million as a Stock Operator & Created a Hedge Fund Review

An American Hedge Fund: How I Made $2 Million as a Stock Operator and Created a Hedge Fund
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I really do not like giving negative comments, but after reading the book and having been an active trader for over 6 years, I KNOW this book will not help anyone in their trading or yearning for insight or knowledge. I do not believe Tim is a very good trader, but was able to take advantage of a special time in history to accumalate great returns. He tries to argue that its the regulations of the hedge fund industry that hindered his ability to raise funds and hence limit his success. After getting stuck in a very bad Investment (not trade)his limited capital prevented him from taking advantage of other trades.........Well that was the blessing.

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$2 trillion is invested in the hedge fund industry, and yet, due to industry regulations, the general public knows little about them. This book will change everything. Timothy turned $12,000 of Bar Mitzvah gift money into $1.65 million trading thousands of stocks from 1999-2002, managed the #1 Short Bias Hedge Fund from 2003-2006, starred in the television documentary Wall Street Warriors, and appeared regularly on CNBC all before the age of 26. It's been a wild ride. This `Rocky'-like story is the first realistic look at the world of stock trading and hedge funds-it will educate and inspire everyone.

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The Chouteaus: First Family of the Fur Trade Review

The Chouteaus: First Family of the Fur Trade
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A movie of the life of the Chouteaus would have to be one of those generational epics running as a week-long series on channels such as HBO. "This family [featured] energetic, adventurous men destined to play significant roles in the advance of the United States and Euro-American civilization westward from the Mississippi River." The Chouteau men were active mostly before the Louisiana Purchase. By their explorations and commercial ventures in large parts of the area of the Purchase and contacts with Native Americans, they eased the growth of the United States beyond the Mississippi River. Some of the Chouteau men were prototypes of the mountain men who became legendary in American lore; though the Chouteau men were usually more entrepreneurial (rather than individualistic) in their activities and aims.
One of them spent time in a Spanish jail in the Southwest for misunderstandings with Spanish authorities about his presence in Spanish territory. And rather than trapping themselves and selling or trading the seasonal catch, most of the Chouteau men worked to create business networks of Native American tribes, European and American buyers, and varied commercial interests such as transportation and banking. In general, the Chouteau men also recognized the desirability and in some ways necessity of relations with governmental authorities.
The first of the Chouteau men were actually children of a man who has come to be known historically as Leclede and a Marie Therese, the wife of Rene Auguste Chouteau, who after some time in New Orleans returned to France abandoning her. The children were given the Chouteau name because the mother had to keep this name since the parents' Catholicism forbid them from divorcing. It was Laclede who set the pattern for the following two generations of the Chouteau men who had such an influence on opening the West for Euro-American settlement and development. In sympathy with French claims to upper parts of the Mississippi at the time of the French and Indian War, Laclede "committed himself to the proposition of constructing and operating one of the first franchised trading operations in the barely explored wilderness of the Mississippi Valley." In 1763 with his teenaged son Auguste a member of his crew, Laclede set out by keelboat up the Mississippi from New Orleans. During this trading venture, in the Spring 1764, Laclede named a site where cabins for shelter and sheds for storage of furs had been built Saint Louis in honor of the French king. This was the origin of the city of Saint Louis which at first an outpost, later became a key crossroad in trade between the western lands and the eastern towns and cities. Before long, Laclede's wife moved from New Orleans to Saint Louis with their children. One of these was named Pierre Chouteau.
Auguste and Pierre Chouteau and their male children carried on the tradition begun by their father Laclede. Pierre's eight sons especially had an incomparable role as sources of information about the areas and in advancing trade and other commercial interests as a prelude to settlement as they pursued their varied interests. Hoig--professor emeritus of journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma--follows the adventures and accomplishments of the Chouteaus through developments relating to the Louisiana Purchase up to the Civil War.

There are many legendary explorers and pioneers in the story of the United States' westward expansion. But the Chouteau's are unique in that they were generations of one family whose combined efforts largely in pursuit of business opportunities and becoming wealthy are beyond compare.

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In the late eighteenth century, the vast, pristine land that lay west of the Mississippi River remained largely unknown to the outside world. The area beckoned to daring frontiersmen who produced the first major industry of the American West--the colorful but challenging, often dangerous fur trade. At the lead was an enterprising French Creole family that founded the city of St. Louis in 1763 and pushed forth to garner furs for world markets.
Stan Hoig provides an intimate look into the lives of four generations of the Chouteau family as they voyaged up the Western rivers to conduct trade, at times taking wives among the native tribes. They provided valuable aid to the Lewis and Clark expedition and assisted government officials in developing Indian treaties. National leaders, tribal heads, and men of frontier fame sought their counsel. In establishing their network of trading posts and opening trade routes throughout the Central Plains and Rocky Mountains, the Chouteaus contributed enormously to the nation's westward movement.

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Frontier Diplomats: Alexander Culbertson and Natoyist-Siksina among the Blackfeet Review

Frontier Diplomats: Alexander Culbertson and Natoyist-Siksina among the Blackfeet
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Having lived among the Blackfeet and discovering that my Dr. here in WI is related to the main characters, this was a great read and one that kept my attention. Having the map in the book helped identify the places that they had traveled. Anyone interested in American Indians, especially the Blackfeet will enjoy this book. Cabke

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This dual biography highlights the human dimensions of the Upper Missouri fur trade. Focusing on two major figures, Alexander Culbertson (1809-1879), trader with the American Fur Company, founder of Fort Benton, and the first white American to live among the Blackfeet Indians, and his wife, Natoyist-Siksina' ("Holy Snake") (1825-1893), daughter of Two Suns, the chief of the Blood (Kainah) tribe, Lesley Wischmann shows the great influence this couple had on the region. Culbertson and Natoyist-Siksina' worked together for thirty years to promote cooperative relations between Native inhabitants and newly arrived white adventurers and played key roles in the Fort Laramie Treaty Conference of 1851 and treaty negotiations with the Blackfeet tribes in 1855. As she tells the story of these "frontier diplomats," Wischmann also challenges conventional wisdom about the character of fur traders, the nature of the Blackfeet, and the role of Indian women.




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Strategies for Profiting on Every Trade: Simple Lessons for Mastering the Market Review

Strategies for Profiting on Every Trade: Simple Lessons for Mastering the Market
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Although there are many insightful and terrific lessons to be learned here if you are a Pristine Trained Trader you will recognize the book to be a compilation of Paul Lange's weekly trading lessons. A free weekly service from Pristine. I suspect Mr. Velez' name was added for name recognition and, thus more sales. It is Mr. Lange's book, however, make no mistake. That said Paul Lange is one of the most astute traders and best educators around. I had the pleasure of working with Mr. Lange and was constantly amazed at his trading prowess and his ability to convey the information. It's simply this book offered nothing new.

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The Asylum: The Renegades Who Hijacked the World's Oil Market Review

The Asylum: The Renegades Who Hijacked the World's Oil Market
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If you've ever wondered who on earth is behind $4 gasoline or $100-plus oil, look no further than this book, which tells the story of the untrained, rebel scrappers from Manhattan who built this stranger-than-fiction monstrosity. It's all here, which is why some haters on this page don't want you to read it. (If I were them, I wouldn't want you to, either.)
Just to clear up a few of the debates raging on Amazon and elsewhere, the oil market being discussed in `The Asylum' is quite literally where the U.S. gets its energy prices. No one contests that. (Just check any news outlet -- Nymex oil is the world's reference point.) It determines what we pay at the pump for gasoline. It has been the global benchmark for the past 30 years. When oil tops $100, where do you think it comes from? Outer space? Nope. It comes from this market and the unshaven, bet-on-anything maniacs who are running it into the ground.
How weird is it that the enemy is not outside U.S. borders but primarily a bunch of greedy people in and around Wall Street and Washington who dine and hunt and golf together (among other, more salacious things we won't get into here, due to Amazon's policy against blasphemy) hell-bent on taking their pound of flesh, to the detriment of us all?
It might be the most spectacular shell game ever devised by man.
This is the story of who, exactly, these people are, how they got to do what they are doing, and why their wild antics threaten us all. This book was released Feb. 15 -- the same day oil prices began their latest trek to $100 and up. I wonder how long it will keep going?
One thing is for sure (as made clear by 'The Asylum'): no one's about to stop it. Congress and financial regulators would have you believe that it is the Middle East and Big Oil who are solely to blame for high energy prices. Why? Because if they point to factors outside their control, they don't have to do anything about it.
The sad thing about this book is that we've met the enemy...and the enemy is us.


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Trappers of the Far West: Sixteen Biographical Sketches (Bison Book) Review

Trappers of the Far West: Sixteen Biographical Sketches (Bison Book)
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I believe five separate collections of mountain man biographies have been published now by Bison Books, all containing biographical essays culled from LeRoy R. Hafen's ten-volume series THE MOUNTAIN MEN AND THE FUR TRADE OF THE FAR WEST, published between 1965 and 1972. This was the second of the five. Sixteen biographical essays are produced here, detailing the lives of some of the most important figures of the early American West, including Etienne Provost, Milton Sublette, James Clyman, James P. Beckwourth, Robert Campbell, and Lucien Fontenelle among others. The essays are written by various experts of the Fur Trade period. The biographies read like long encyclopedia articles, and relate as much of each man's life as is generally known (including specific movements across the West on yearly trapping expeditions); footnotes abound. The book, as is the entire series, is an excellent research tool, as well as a great jumping off source for more specific investigations (many of the trappers written about kept journals or wrote accounts of their experiences). Anyone with an interest in the pre-Gold Rush American West will find this book (and the series) indispensable. Highly recommended.

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In the early 1800s vast fortunes were made in the international fur trade, an enterprise founded upon the effort of a few hundred trappers scattered across the American West. From their ranks came men who still command respect for their daring, skill, and resourcefulness. This volume brings together brief biographies of seventeen leaders of the western fur trade, selected from essays assembled by LeRoy R. Hafen in The Mountain Men and the Fur Trade of the Far West (ten volumes, 1965–72).
The subjects and authors are: Etienne Provost (LeRoy R. Hafen); James Ohio Pattie (Ann W. Hafen); Louis Robidoux (David J. Weber); Ewing Young (Harvey L. Carter); David F. Jackson (Carl D. W Hays); Milton G. Sublette (Doyce B. Nunis, Jr.); Lucien Fontenelle (Alan C. Trottman); James Clyman (Charles L. Camp); James P. Beckwourth (Delmot R. Oswald); Edward and Francis Ermatinger (Harriet D. Munnick); John Gantt (Harvey L. Carter); William W. Bent (Samuel P. Arnold); Charles Autobees (Janet Lecompte); Warren Angus Ferris (Lyman C. Pederson, Jr.); Manuel Alvarez (Harold H. Dunham); and Robert Campbell (Harvey L. Carter).Trappers of the Far West is the companion to Mountain Men and Fur Traders of the Far West.

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Wintering Review

Wintering
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I read the Broken Blade,in school and I loved it. So i read this on my own. I normaly hate reading, but the Broken Blade was so good that I had to buy it. Good thing too, It is even better than the first. I really liked the part where the bear went crazy. I think that this book would be great for anyone who likes adventure and humor... thanks

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High Probability Trading Strategies: Entry to Exit Tactics for the Forex, Futures, and Stock Markets (Wiley Trading) Review

High Probability Trading Strategies: Entry to Exit Tactics for the Forex, Futures, and Stock Markets (Wiley Trading)
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Before we get started, if you are looking for a mechanical trading system, give this book a pass.
The author presents four very useful tools for trading stocks, commodities, or currencies. These are: two time-frame momentum indicators, Elliott waves, Fibonacci with price, and Fibonacci with time. You can use these four tools as a discretionary trading system, but the Fibonacci discussion is especially valuable in and of itself. The author has been around 20 years providing trading advice - an indication of some quality.
I appreciate that the author isn't trying to hard sell his software and newsletter. You can apply the ideas in the book without buying anything more from the author! That is an honest touch that is appreciated. Still the author sells a software package that make things slightly easier, I would imagine. UPDATE: Many people comment negatively that the book is just a sales pitch for the software. Since the book discloses all the four tools, I think such a statement is untrue.
The style of the text can be somewhat annoying at times; it is repetitive and has too many comments about not-so-good advisors out there somewhere. (No need for the author to point this out unless he wants to name the offenders.) It would have been good if the author told the reader how this book compares to his earlier book Dynamic Trading: Dynamic Concepts in Time, Price & Pattern Analysis With Practical Strategies for Traders & Investors. My take is that the current book introduces the two time-frame momentum and streamlines the other information on Elliott and Fibonacci, but it would have been useful to get this information from the author. Is the previous book superceded in his mind or does it still have value?
All positive reviewers (13 of them at the time of writing) have only reviewed this book and nothing else. Clearly the author has a fan club. Irrespective, I can really this book. I am not part of the fan club and I try to give out as many one star and five star reviews.

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Rendezvous Reader Review

Rendezvous Reader
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A good book to keep by the bed to help you fall asleep with images of a time that is gone forever.
Not to be confused with a history book written by any one person, A Rendezvous reader is a collection of selections from journal entries, newspaper articles and books, most only a page or two long, that show the culture and folklore of the mountain men and the beautifully wild world in which they lived. It describes everything from trapping techniques, encounters with grizzlies, descriptions of giant heards of buffalo, bloody fights with blackfeet, common and uncommon sources of food, surgery on the trail, beggers, weapons, river crossings, whisky, everything you might ever want to know about rendevous, why many were motivated to let out for the mountains in the first place and so much more.
The selections in this book offer the sights and sounds, smells and tastes of yonder mountains which makes worthwhile reading.

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The early plans for Mount Rushmore called for blasting heroic likenesses of mountain men--Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, and John Colter-—into the solid mountain granite of South Dakota. Readers of this colorful volume will see the heroics and the brutally rugged individualism that made these fur trappers candidates for legend and infamy. The accounts of the mountain men are spun from the experiences of a nation moving westward: a trapper returns from the dead; hunters feast on buffalo intestines served on a dirty blanket; a missionary woman is astounded by the violence and vulgarity of the trappers' rendezvous. These are just a few of the narratives, tall tales, and just plain lies that make up A Rendezvous Reader. The writers represented in this book include a dyed-in-the wool trappers, adventuring European nobles, upward-gazing eastern missionaries, and just plain hacks who never unsheathed a Green River knife or traveled farther west that the Ohio River. What these writers have in common is that all of them, whether they dealt mostly in fact of entirely in fantasy, helped to create a uniquely American icon: the mountain man. Though A Rendezvous Reader will certainly be of interest to the historian and the historically curious, the true purpose of this anthology is to bring together in one volume the liveliest most readable accounts by and about the mountain men. Whether you sample or devour this anthology of mountain horrors and delights, it is a book guaranteed to entertain as well as inform.


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The Infidel: A Novel Based on the Life of John Newton Review

The Infidel: A Novel Based on the Life of John Newton
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The Infidel is a sometimes dark but powerfully moving story of one man's struggle to understand and accept God's faithfulness and divine grace. Mr. Musser crafts a vivid and compelling account of the life of John Newton, a British sea captain and the author of the beloved hymn "Amazing Grace." From Newton's lonely childhood through his tumultuous teenage and adult years aboard various military and slave ships, Mr. Musser expertly crafts this adventure. The story tracks Newton's life through his physical and spiritual journey filled with riches and rags, love and loss, hope and sorrow, debauchery and redemption. I thoroughly enjoyed The Infidel and highly recommend this book for its entertainment value, historical perspective and its ultimate message of redemption through God's truly amazing grace.

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A faithless wretch of a man in a vile and violent profession, John Newton stood as the infidel, a life lived in opposition to the gospel.Blinded by ambition, he was lost in a sea of greed, money, and power. But this slave ship captain would have an encounter with a grace so amazing that not only would it change him; it would also bless the world with his writing one of the most endearing and enduring hymns of the Christian faith.

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A Life Wild and Perilous: Mountain Men and the Paths to the Pacific Review

A Life Wild and Perilous: Mountain Men and the Paths to the Pacific
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In the years between 1804 and 1847, Americans explored the Louisiana Purchase, the Rocky Mountains, took California from Mexico, and colonized Oregon. And the explorers and trappers called mountain men were instrumental in all those events.
Utley starts his account with George Drouillard and the legendary John Colter, both members of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and concludes his main story with Kit Carson's actions in the Mexican-American War. However, this book is not a collection of biographies. Utley does provide sketches for some mountain man, the events they are most famous for, and, sometimes, details of their deaths. He does not provide any real details about their gear or trapping and fighting methods. Utley concerns himself with a broader theme: how the travels of mountain men filled in the maps of the west, expunged certain geographical fantasies from the public mind, and drew people west.
Some of the mountain men here are famous. Besides Colter, we meet Jim Bridger, trapper, Army scout, guide, and establisher of the famous trading post named after him. We also, briefly, meet Hugh Glass who once swore to kill Bridger after he and another trapper left Glass for dead after Glass was mauled by a grizzly. Kit Carson's adventures with John Fremont are discussed.
But Utley also covers less well-known, but important, mountain men. The greatest explorer of all, Jedediah Smith, trapped beaver mainly as a means to subsidize his extensive wanderings. Atypically literate for a mountain man, he kept extensive journals and maps -- most of which vanished after his death. Utley considers another trapper, Joe Walker, the most accomplished of all in the mountain man craft and, as an explorer, second only to Smith. Others had less august reputations. Edward Rose, a trapper who lived for many years with the Crow, was frequently sought as an interpreter but never really trusted. Too often negotiations he was involved with broke down, and he was suspected of mischief for private ends. Old Bill Williams was known as an eccentric mountain man. Jessie Fremont, John's wife, even accused him of cannibalism.
In their quest for beaver pelts, before changing fashion, overtrapping, and substitution of nutria made trapping untenable, the mountain men not only added to geographical knowledge but served as agents, intentionally and unintentionally, for American expansion to the Pacific. They traveled to Spanish California and helped bring it into the Union by their settlements there and their actions in the Mexican-American War. But California was not the only Pacific territory whose national ownership was disputed. American mountain men, and this book is concerned with American citizens or those mountaineers who served American interests, competed with the English Hudson Bay Company in the Columbia River basin. Their knowledge inspired and guided missionaries and, later, settlers into what became the Oregon Territory. British interests there were supplanted, and some mountain men, like Joe Meek and Doc Newell, became important political figures in Oregon's early history.
Besides the broad story of mountaineers as the vanguard of American expansion west, there are other things of interest here. Taos, New Mexico and its importance to fur trading is covered. Utley talks about the little known 1823 punitive expedition against the Arikara. Writer Washington Irving shows up as an important source for this period of history.
Though it is not a main point of the book, Utley does talk some about relations between the mountain men and Indians. The attitudes ranged from racism to toleration to admiration. Some tribes, like the Blackfeet, were constant foes of the mountain men. Others, like the Shoshone and the Nez Perce (at least during the time of this history), were almost always friendly.
Utley uses his last chapter to wrap up the loose ends of some of his subjects' lives and the ultimate nature of their contributions to American development. Cartographer Peter Dana has the final say with an interesting chapter on how the book's extensive topographical maps, detailing the travels of various mountain men and the fur trade in general, were prepared from satellite photos.
Utley organizes the book along geographical lines and accounts of how particular routes of travel were developed. This leads to some confusion since he jumps back and forth in time. However, Utley's clear style and a well-done index help keep things straight. The footnotes are not only extensive but full of useful information.

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The Wanderer: The Last American Slave Ship and the Conspiracy That Set Its Sails Review

The Wanderer: The Last American Slave Ship and the Conspiracy That Set Its Sails
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Though it is obvious to us that slavery is unfair and immoral, it was, of course, not obvious to those who had practiced it as a tradition. Changing away from slavery in America was not done all at once, but involved various steps away from the practice. One of these steps was that in 1820 the federal government made illegal the importation of slaves from Africa. Slavery continued, but only from the stock already present (and exports of slaves continued to other places, notably to Cuba). But why should Southern slave owners pay any attention to federal rules? Indeed, as animosity towards the North grew, the prospect of flouting the law had attractions of rebellion as well as financial gain. There were successful but illegal imports, and the last one known was in 1858, on the ship the _Wanderer_. It is an almost forgotten episode, but Erik Calonius, a journalist, has brought back its history in _The Wanderer: The Last American Slave Ship and the Conspiracy that Set Its Sails_ (St. Martin's Press). It is an important story, and Calonius has told it vividly, casting light on the slave economy, relations with Britain, and the personalities of the radicals that took the South into war.
As the South's economy flagged, some were eager to improve it by resuming the importation of slaves from Africa. Many were "fire-eaters", the name for extremists who not only hated Yankee domination, but fired by horrific images of the anarchy and rape that would inevitably occur after emancipation of slaves, urged that the South boost its pride and maintain its customs, at least partially by celebrating its traditions of slavery. One of their number was Charles Lamar, a wealthy and well-connected Savannah businessman who openly declared his defiance of the Constitution and his intention to import slaves. His unsuccessful attempts to do so led him to become a partner with William C. Corrie, a like-minded South Carolinian, who arranged to buy the _Wanderer_, a swift 114 foot pleasure boat, and thereby gain entry into the prestigious New York Yacht Club. It was covertly fitted to hold hundreds of slaves and taken to Africa, where the captain entertained the officers of British Navy ships which were supposed to be keeping the slave trade down, before taking on his cargo and evading them. Aboard were 487 slaves, packed with the heartless minimum of space allotted to each. Eighty of the slaves died, and the rest made it to Jekyll Island, Georgia, for further profitable dispersion.
Charles Lamar was used to getting his way by whatever means. He predicted that he could bring the slaves in and suffer no legal consequences, and he was right. Not only were local officials sympathetic to his cause, Lamar used kidnapping, tampering with evidence, and intimidation of witnesses so that neither he nor anyone else in the case was found guilty of the importation. Lamar thought the success of the endeavor was a blow against the union, and he and his fellow fire-eaters were delighted at the prospect of Lincoln being elected president. Lamar said, "We shall have disunion, certain, if Lincoln is elected. I hope Lincoln is elected - I _want dissolution_ - and have, I think, contributed more than any man South for it." Indeed, he and his fellow fire-eaters became pamphleteers and crusaders to the many Southern farmers and merchants who were not slave-holders and who supported the Union. They brandished the scary image of freed slaves plundering the South, and so, shortly after the _Wanderer_'s successful voyage, secession had far more popular support. Calonius cites this as an example of radicals overwhelming the will of a weak, unfocused majority, while restraining himself from drawing contemporary examples. But having brought on the conflagration, the fire-eaters faded; none ascended to power in the Confederacy or in the reconstructed South. This is a troubling episode of American history, no less so for the revelations of how both North and South supported the slave trade in different ways. The lost history of the _Wanderer_ is recalled with exciting storytelling here, with all its implications for North and South and the war this particular slaving voyage helped to start.


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Out of Slavery: The Journey to Amazing Grace Review

Out of Slavery: The Journey to Amazing Grace
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Deftly written by Linda Granfield, "Out of Slavery: The Journey to Amazing Grace" is the true story of John Newton, former slave trader and ship's captain who found redemption during a storm in 1748, when his slave ship, the Greyhound, was threatened with destruction. John Newton prayed for salvation and he promised that if spared, he would renounce the lucrative business of slave trade forever. When his prayers were answered he went on to fight slavery, becoming an Abolitionist, and finally, he wrote the beautiful song, "Amazing Grace." "Out of Slavery" is a meticulously researched nonfiction account of an amazing man's experiences during a time of great change and social upheaval. It is tastefully illustrated by the paintings Janet Wilson in full color depicting some of the historical events described. One of the most moving parts of the book comes at the end in quoting his epitaph: "John Newton, Clerk,/ Once an infidel and libertine,/ A servant of slaves in Africa,? Was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour/ Jesus Christ,/ Preserved, restored, pardoned,/ And appointed to preach the faith he/ Had long laboured to destroy..." "Out of Slavery" is recommended for all ages above 6.

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Wide Ruins: Memories from a Navajo Trading Post Review

Wide Ruins: Memories from a Navajo Trading Post
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"Wide Ruins" is a wonderful reading experience on an interesting topic. Sallie Wagner weaves a personal tale of her experiences as the trader at Wide Ruins, Arizona, in the 1940's. Her story progresses quickly and she seems to provide enough detail of her experiences without lingering too long on any one topic. She vividly describes the role of the trading post and of the traders. The trading post was a general store, a pawn shop, and a safety deposit box. The traders were resourceful businessmen who could conduct business without any actual money trading hands. They were esteemed residents who helped the Navajo people survive a difficult time in America's history.
This memoir is a significant piece of literature because it was written by one who actually lived in a world that few non-Navajos ever get to see. She decribes the Navajo people and the Navajo culture in a way that makes their time and place real. It is not an academic study by a distant scholar of the culture. It is a personal account of a world that no longer exists, and as such, it is a treasure. I would also recommend "Navajo Trader" by Cladwell Richardson in addition to "Wide Ruins".

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Newlyweds Sallie Wagner and Bill Lippincott came to the Navajo Reservation in 1938. Before they knew it, they owned a trading post at Wide Ruins, Arizona. The years they spent there were the best of their lives, and this lively, honest memoir recalls them in detail. Trading post life combined business with the kinds of experiences generally associated with anthropological field work. Like many traders, Sallie Wagner influenced the weavers whose rugs she purchased. She was one of the traders who persuaded weavers to use vegetal dyes, leaving a permanent legacy in Navajo weaving. Tourists discovered Indian reservations in the 1930s, and the Lippincotts were visited often by friends and strangers alike, many unable to navigate reservation roads.
"This story is a must read for those interested in the Navajo people in the early days. Sallie Wagner has managed to catch and retain the essence of what it meant to be white in a Navajo world that was unbelievably different."--Edward T. Hall

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Wall Street Lingo: Thousands of Investment Terms Explained Simply Review

Wall Street Lingo: Thousands of Investment Terms Explained Simply
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I found the title of this book deceiving in the best way possible. Wall Street Lingo is more a guided tour of Wall Street and its inner workings than a simple glossary of investment terms and lingo. Any novice to intermediate investor will benefit from Peterson's backstage pass to one of the world's most lucrative investment forums.
Peterson keeps an otherwise dry and heavy read manageable with her extremely user-friendly format; on top of dividing the over 1000 defined investment terms into logical chapters, a full index at the back of the book makes for quick referencing. At first glance, the sheer number of topics covered seems intimidating to the financially untrained eye. However, the step-by-step approach demystifies every aspect of investment, from the basics of exchange operations to interpreting financial statements to paying the tax man. Charts, tables and explanations of key strategies interspersed throughout the definitions in each chapter help to drive home important points. Those in need of extra investment help will find plenty of additional resources tucked into the back of the book, with lists of acronym definitions, investor resources and relevant publications.
Wall Street Lingo delivered all that it promised and more. The up to date instruction and information is sure to benefit any potential or practicing investor wise enough to develop their investment knowledge before hitting the market. The way the information is presented is the icing on the cake, as even a beginner can navigate the guide and come out confident in their financial prowess in the end.


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Finally, a finance dictionary compiled with the individual investor in mind. Wall Street Lingo does more than define the terms your stockbroker, the Wall Street Journal and CNBC pitch at you, it explains them in a way that traditional dictionaries can not. Where other dictionaries start at A and end at Z, Wall Street Lingo is organized in chapters, by subject. It begins where you begin with a topic that has piqued your curiosity and ends only when your curiosity has been satisfied. Have you ever wondered about the difference between CPI and PPI? In other dictionaries, you ll find the definitions 200 pages apart. Wall Street Lingo brings them together in the chapter Economics for Investors. EBITDA. Gross Profit. Net Profit. Shareholders Equity. You could waste precious time searching for explanations to help you analyze a company s financial condition. Or you can open Wall Street Lingo to the chapter Decoding Financial Statements. If you think technical analysis is only for the pros, flip to the chapter Technically Speaking for dozens of plain English translation to stock chart terms like Bollinger bands, MACD, Elliott wave theory and Bearish Divergence. It might change your mind. Whether you re an experienced investor or are exploring the market for the first time, you ll appreciate the easy-reading style and unique structure of this innovative investment tool. - Over 1,000 terms individual investors need to know and understand for profitable investing - Definitions organized by topic - Fully indexed and cross-referenced - Exhaustive list of commonly used acronyms - Helpful resources, complete with websites Wall Street Lingo is an essential reference that translates the jargon used on Wall Street into direct, easy to understand, Main Street language and organizes it the way you use it.

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