I wouldn't have met Piti if it hadn't been for a chichigua. To translate chichigua as a kite does not do justice to these beautiful creations of...
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It's hard to add to what's said by better known reviewers above. Perhaps this: the subtitle's "Betrayal of Reconstruction" is true, but maybe "Betrayal of America" would have been better: after reading this book, it's hard not to think the Supreme Courts that penned 'Cruikshank' and 'Slaughter-House' deserve to be as infamous as those who decided 'Dred Scott' or 'Korematsu.' That mass murderers of at least 60 black Americans went "unwhipped of justice," as President Grant put it, was a manifest injustice, but arguably not even the greater part of the legal crime that occurred. It seems to me 19th century activist judges simultaneously and with malice aforethought maimed the true meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment, consigning all black Americans in the South to decades of oppression and terror worse, in some ways, than slavery itself. Lane deserves great credit for bringing this shameful chapter of American history back to life. If you are interested in Civil War history, you owe it to yourself to read this book and wonder: is this what tens of thousands gave 'the last full measure of devotion' for? Were they not betrayed as well?
-- For more thoughts on the book, see "The Great Betrayal, judicial activism, and a living Constitution" at http://tinyurl.com/24qpfkl.
This is a beautifully illustrated and written book, celebrating the nearly universal urge children have to draw by telling the story of one "kid who made good" in medieval/Renaissance Italy. The artwork echoes Giotto, particularly the faces, but has a distinctive, spare charm of its own. Like the art, the writing is simple, and almost dreamlike. This book prompted us to see some of Giotto's work when we were in Florence.
PS: there's currently an unaccountable typo in the title. It's of course just "A boy named Giotto."
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The Day Freedom Died: The Colfax Massacre, the Supreme Court, and the Betrayal of Reconstruction by Charles Lane
Thomas, October 3, 2010
It's hard to add to what's said by better known reviewers above. Perhaps this: the subtitle's "Betrayal of Reconstruction" is true, but maybe "Betrayal of America" would have been better: after reading this book, it's hard not to think the Supreme Courts that penned 'Cruikshank' and 'Slaughter-House' deserve to be as infamous as those who decided 'Dred Scott' or 'Korematsu.' That mass murderers of at least 60 black Americans went "unwhipped of justice," as President Grant put it, was a manifest injustice, but arguably not even the greater part of the legal crime that occurred. It seems to me 19th century activist judges simultaneously and with malice aforethought maimed the true meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment, consigning all black Americans in the South to decades of oppression and terror worse, in some ways, than slavery itself. Lane deserves great credit for bringing this shameful chapter of American history back to life. If you are interested in Civil War history, you owe it to yourself to read this book and wonder: is this what tens of thousands gave 'the last full measure of devotion' for? Were they not betrayed as well?-- For more thoughts on the book, see "The Great Betrayal, judicial activism, and a living Constitution" at http://tinyurl.com/24qpfkl.
A Boy Named Giotto by Paolo Guarnieri
Thomas, April 27, 2006
This is a beautifully illustrated and written book, celebrating the nearly universal urge children have to draw by telling the story of one "kid who made good" in medieval/Renaissance Italy. The artwork echoes Giotto, particularly the faces, but has a distinctive, spare charm of its own. Like the art, the writing is simple, and almost dreamlike. This book prompted us to see some of Giotto's work when we were in Florence.PS: there's currently an unaccountable typo in the title. It's of course just "A boy named Giotto."
(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)