Product Description
New York Times Bestseller

When distinguished criminal lawyer Venetia Aldridge defends a young man for the brutalmurder of his mother, she views the case as simply another opportunity to demonstrateher brilliance in the courtroom. But within weeks of the trial Aldridge is founddead at her desk, a bloodstained barrister’s wig on her head. And as Commander AdamDalgliesh of Scotland Yard attempts to make sense of events, the murders continue,inexorably spiraling into fresh complexities of horror.Amazon.com Review
Although A Certain Justice begins with news of amurder, the victim isn't set to die for another four weeks. Publiclyrespected but privately loathed, Venetia Aldridge has far more enemiesthan a brilliant London criminal lawyer should--and at least one ofthem is determined to do her in. Venetia plies her superior trade incourts that harbor "the illusion that the passions of men weresusceptible to order and control," but her past and private lifeare exceedingly unruly. Her married lover is intent on giving her up;her daughter loathes her; her fellow barristers are determined thatshe not become the next head of chambers. Even the cleaning womenseems to have something on her.

The outline alone of this complex novel would take pages (as would theeclectic inventory of players), but P. D. James makes us admire farmore than her brilliantly developed plot. James in fact creates acrowded gallery of surprisingly decent suspects, along with onesuitably vile creature--who happens to be Aldridge's last client.

A superior murder mystery, A Certain Justice is also a grippinganatomy of wild justice. James's characters can be overcome by hate,but she is equally concerned with love's manifestations--human,divine, destructive, and healing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (81)

KIndle edition
I'm not sure why Amazon has this listed as a Kindle book with nopricing available.Does that make sense to anyone?

Interesting, very complex, very British novel
I'm perfectly aware that Baroness James is very highly thought of in both this country and the UK for the literary quality of her mystery novels featuring Commander Adam Dalgliesh, educated copper and published poet, but somehow I've just never been able to resonate with her style. I keep trying, though, hoping to find the facet of her books that will allow me entrée into her writing. This one is widely regarded by the reviewers as one of her best, and since the professional world of the law interests me, I gave it a try. The set-up is both straightforward and very complex. Victoria Aldredge, Q.C., is a very fine lawyer indeed; everyone will tell you so. As a person, however, she's often a pain in the ass. She doesn't much like men, she doesn't much care for her eighteen-year-old daughter, she's long since parted from her husband for whom she feels contempt, she often doesn't like the accused whom she defends so skillfully -- and in chambers, she tends to assume her own superiority in practically everything and doesn't really give a damn which of her colleagues' feathers she ruffles in the process. But she doesn't deserve to be murdered, especially with such lack of dignity. And there are lots and lots of suspects. The thing is, James leads us slowly and very thoroughly through the present lives and previous experiences of Miss Aldridge, her father, her mentor in the law as an adolescent, her fellow barristers and solicitors, the Head Clerk of chambers, the cleaners, her daughter, and her daughter's new fiancé -- who was her mother's most recent client and probably guilty of the murder he was charged with -- building up everyone's character in great detail, and all this takes up nearly the first third of the book before we ever meet Dalgliesh and his elite homicide team. This is not a method of recounting a murder mystery I've encountered before, and I don't really know if it's the author's usual method, but while it requires patience, it generally works. James certainly has an ear for dialogue and an eye for description, both indoors and out. There's a subsidiary killing later in the book which leads to a violent climax, though, and which seems a bit out of place compared to tone of the rest of the story. And that is immediately followed by a much quieter and more intellectual climax regarding the original murder. It's an interesting narrative stratagem. I'll be reading more of P. D. James.

Great characters, but weak ending
The key to P.D. James is her profound psyhological insight into her characters. In this novel, you have the lawyer who puts her skills above all concern for the guilt or innocence of her clients and accumulates her personal enemies. The certain justice of the title probably refers principally to the romance that develops between her daughter and a probable murderer she defends successfully. But it refers to the animosity of several who have been affected by her skill in protecting the guilty as well as the innocent, resulting in a number of suspects when she's murdered.This is, as per usual, a great outing for the author and a treat for those who enjoy her style of mystery.`

P.D. James always satisfies
As always, P.D.James and Adam Dalgliesh make for absorbing reading. I don't know how I missed this one, but I'm glad to catch up with it now.

Very Good
Read one PD James novel and you will see right away what separates the truly gifted writer from the merely entertaining.For me, mysteries are a good diversion from the cares of the day, so I tend to read a lot of them.Most are entertaining and written in workman-like prose.Some even have above-average plots that stick with me for a bit longer than it takes to read the book itself.

PD James, on the other hand, manages to entertain while also offering readers attention-getting prose that makes one really think about how the characters feel and how events in the plot might actually affect the lives of real people, with pasts and futures, families and friends, fears and longings.Take this passage, for example:

"I no longer believed in God...I just woke up one morning to the
same grief, the same dull, daily tasks, and knew with certainty
that God was dead.It was as if all my life I had been hearing
the beating of an unseen heart, which was now forever stilled."

You just don't get writing like that from the usual paperback thriller.And James also delivers on the plotting details and elements of time and place that mystery lovers expect from a good page-turner.Overall, this is an exceptional mystery, with James' signature detective, Adam Dalgliesh, in true and rare form.I highly recommend it.
... Read more

Product Description
Sir Ronald Callender's son Mark is found hanged in mysterious circumstances, and Cordelia Gray has been hired by Sir Ronald to investigate. As Cordelia pieces together the facts and delves into the secrets of the family, she finds that Mark had many friends and one deadly enemy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (24)

Classic P.D. James
P.D. James wrote this novel at the height of her power in 1982 and it shows. It is the second, and sadly, seemingly last novel with Cordelia Gray as the protagonist. It's not necessary to read "An Unsuitable Job For A Woman" first but it does give greater background detail on Cordelia's remarkable and unusual early life. These experiences make her wise beyond her years and also sadder than her years.

The novel takes place mainly on an island owned by an eccentric millionaire which will be the setting for an amateur production of "The Duchess of Malfi" by Webster. Clarissa Lisle is a actress staging this revival as a springboard to a comeback. She has suffered stage fright since receiving poison pen letters. She dispatches her husband to hire Cordelia Gray as her bodyguard and secretary and general factotum. The isolated island, only accessible by boat, is creepy and scary, as one would expect. The guests all hate Clarissa for one reason or another. It's unclear whether Lisle actually fears for her life or is just creating drama as is her habit. She is killed-naturally and Cordelia only mourns her failure not to protect her, not the woman herself.

Fascinating characterizations and a detective you continue to root who and like. I liked Cordelia, which is different for me than Dagliesh, because there were times I didn't like him one bit.

The novel moves quickly after the discovery of the body. One can enjoy this crime novel simply as a clever murder mystery or as a fascinating description of the best and worst(mostly) of human nature.

I envy those reading this for the first time.

Universal fears
A lot of details of the plot, about Cordelia Gray, and about P.D. James are given by the other reviewers, so I will only chip in with some opinions. I am in agreement with the reviewers who were not satisfied by this novel; the best way I can describe it is uneven, some parts are very interesting and exciting while others are tiring and hard going.

The most bothersome aspect is the portrayal of Cordelia Gray. As a detective she is shown to be very perceptive and persevering; in the end she solves the "mystery", while the police are nowhere near getting it. But she is almost totally ineffective: she cannot protect her client or any of the others that are in danger and, finally, doesn't pin down the perpetrator of the crimes.James has been criticized about how Cordelia's character changes in the two books she appears in. While in the first, despite the title, she was suitable for the job, in the second she is shown that, after all, she was indeed unsuitable (e.g. see Nicola Nixon's essay 'Gray Areas: P. D. James's Unsuiting of Cordelia').

However, there are interesting themes running through the book. It is a sober work about the universal fear of dying but, also, about what is universally considered to be the second best alternative to immortality: to be remembered; to be famous. The characters assembled at Courcy island are representing more or less all the major means by which one achieves fame: wealth, culture, politics, art and war. Courcy Island, on its small area, concentrates a theatre, a museum, a castle, a torture chamber, a church, a military base; all sites where fame is achieved. Of course, fame proves to be brittle and perishable, just like the skin around the skull; nothing but a thin surface tissue.

But it is even worse; fame is shown to be utterly destructive. Not only does it bring destruction (early and untimely death; prison; loneliness) to those aspiring to it. It is even worse because it destroys the future; more or less all children and young people that appear in the book die either at the hands of the celebrities or because of their actions. It is as if becoming famous is not enough; their fear of death is accompanied with envy and hate of the future. Perhaps, this is an earlier take on the theme that P. D. James works out in her "Children of Men" book.

Another thing that intrigued me about the story, actually it was the first thing that made me to wonder about the book, was the fact that Cordelia and most of the other characters did not seem to want to leave the island after the murders; why did Cordelia even return to the nightmarish castle after her investigation in the mainland? It seems as though they were attracted to this situation; to the danger and possibly to death. An issue that I feel was not worked out though to the end.

These themes I found really interesting, but the uneven way the book dealt with them, together with the disappointing portrayal of Cordelia Gray, make it a not very satisfying novel.

In need of a good editor
I've enjoyed the Adam Dalgleish mysteries by P.D. James, and was hoping that this Cordelia Gray mystery would be similarly enjoyable. I was sorely mistaken. The main action in the book (the murder) does not even occur until you are 200 pages in the story, despite the fact that you know who is going to be murdered from the very beginning. James spends far too much time describing things that are non-essential to the plot, making this story far more tedious and time-consuming that it should have been. The ending is drawn-out and lackluster to say the least. I think there is a fairly decent book hidden within these pages. Unfortunately for the reader, James did not do the editing that her story needed, and more importantly, deserved.

Excellent...
Watertight characterization, spectacular scenery vividly described, a smooth uncluttered prose - a much-polished work! A Victorian setting and even the writing hark backs to that era with multiple narrators; I think it reminded me of "The Moonstone" in that respect. The ending seemed quite realistic to me. James discuses theology, human greed, literature and history seamlessly and succeeds in twining it with the real matter in hand. Never boring and even funny in parts!Her best work, one really is quite thankful of Adam's absence.Classic!!

Disappointing.
P.D. James is best known for her Adam Dalgliesh mysteries, and this is for the very good reason that in Dalgliesh James has created a believable, interesting, and flawed detective whose interactions with his suspects let them tell the story, instead of beating the reader over the head with how great Dalgliesh himself is. Cordelia Gray is another story.

Gray is a Mary Sue of the purest ray serene. Tragic past (mother died when she was born, father was a famous revolutionary, also dead; convent education), described as "attractive and catlike," "sweet," "grave," "a sensitive child," she's about as interesting as processed cheese in this particular concatenation of cliches and contrived shock. The problem here is twofold: James is trying to be Ngaio Marsh, and she is also trying entirely too hard to make the audience fall as clearly as she herself has fallen in love with Gray-as-heroine.

The story is grand-guignol with a little (a very little) of modern crime stuck on top to make it seem an appropriate murder mystery for a private eye to be solving. We have a cast of supporting characters surrounding Cordelia, the murder victim, and her husband, all stuck on a small island two miles off the Dorset coast, wondering whodunit. Without exception the supporting cast is a great deal more interesting and compelling than the central characters; in fact, the individual who resounded most strongly with me is the dying theatre critic Ivo Whittington, injecting a bit of amused self-deprecatory cynicism and a great deal of explanatory dialogue into the book. Whittington, of course, feels protective toward Cordelia; it is in his white-knighting that we see Cordelia for the floppy and helpless female she really is.

In the end whodunit is rather disappointing; a small matter of blackmail and tax avoidance, rather vulgar and modernistic compared to the Revenger's-Tragedy style of the rest of the book, serves for motive, and off Cordelia runs to get herself nearly killed (again). There is no real conclusion to the book. The murder victim's stepson is involved in a dramatic underwater bit of moral quandary; Whittington is seen lying helpless in bed, presumably his deathbed, while Cordelia runs around frantically; and in the end the bad guy does not get his comeuppance, the rest of the cast has already dispersed, and our heroine is blessed with a sudden and inexplicable feeling of well-being which I feel James injected in there in lieu of actually writing an ending.

This is not to say that The Skull Beneath the Skin is a -bad- book, merely a -mediocre- one, and from an auteur like James this is embarrassingly disappointing. Read it for the supporting characters and the descriptions of the island; don't expect to be pleased when you put it down. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Speculating Testimony
A fan of P.D. James' mysteries, I was pleasantly surprised to discover this true crime book she had written with the historian T.A. Critchley."The Maul and the Pear Tree" tells the tale of some sinister and disturbing murders that horrified and shocked the London docks in 1811.Through recreating the time period, studying testimony and accounts of the day, both author and historian have crafted an interesting read about not only murder but also about the restrictions of a rudimentary police system in trying to apprehend an otherwise unheard of serial killer.

In December of 1811, seven people were brutally slain.The first victims were the Marr family; a husband, wife, their infant son, and the boy who worked in their shop.All were found beaten to death with their throats cut to the neckbone, including the newborn son.The second victims were the Williamsons, the proprietors of a pub, who were slain in almost exactly the same manner as the Marrs.

The search that had begun with the Marr's murders, continued when the killer struck a second time.The clues were few, but included the murder weapon alluded to in the book's title.The testimony (both real and speculative) was plentiful, and the community was filled with terror and suspicion.The magistrates had an incredible task before them - to capture a killer before he, or they, since the evidence surely represented more than one killer, could strike again.

In 1811, the different policing agencies did not work together, and very rarely shared the information they received with another branch.This combined with sketchy details, suspicious neighbors, and the number of superfluous informants who came forward with information made a virtual circus of the trial process.Arrested and jailed on circumstantial evidence, a man by the name of John Williams was assumed to be the ghastly murderer that everyone had been searching for.Yet before he could be convicted of any crime, he was found hanged in his jail cell, apparently a self-murder.Yet the evidence shows that more than one person was involved in the murders of these two families.James and Critchley lay the groundwork for who the accomplices, or even who the mastermind behind these murders, might be.The author and historian even call into question whether or not Williams was set up and murdered by the real killer in order to guarantee his own escape.The truth shall never be known about the killer's identity, but "The Maul and the Pear Tree" is a highly informative, entertaining speculation about the Radcliffe Highway Murders.

Regency Era Murder Sensation
The Ratcliffe Highway murders of 1811 were an incredible sensation in their time.The authors do a very good job of portraying a realistic look at life at the time of the killings.Whether or not the person who actually had the murders pinned on him was guilty is a question that can lead to long discussions with friends of like reading tastes.One thing I found surprising was how late people stayed up on the street in this era when street lighting was in its infancy.

I read a first edition of this book so I don't know if it has been updated to reflect some of the newer information that law enforcement has about home invasion murders as well as sadistic killers.That is the only thing I would possibly add to this very interesting history.

Brilliant!
Absolutely brilliant! At first, I wouldn't have believed so. I love true crime stories, but I thought it was a little bit presumptuous to try to solve a series of crime committed in the 1810's. But I read anyway, and it was a wonderful surprise.

First, the local color. The authors portraybeautifully (and gloomily...) the city of London and the life of itsinhabitants. It's also very informative - one comes to know how the Englishpolice force was first arranged, and what existed prior to that.

Thecharacters, as we well know, are long dead, but through a series ofeducated guesses, psychological insight and factual information, theauthors convey what was going through their minds.

P. D. James doesn'tgive us a final answer to the question of whom killed all those people, butshe points a suspect, and by detailing her suspicions the reader is able toform his idea. Her theory is very plausible, to say the least.

In short,it's a book filled with suspense and humorous insights on the ideas andbeliefs of the victorians. If you're interested in English history, famoustrue crime stories and whodunnits, do not miss this one.

absorbing on a 15 hour flight to mexico
a detective and historic read, if you're interested in early nineteenth century london and their ways of life and also interested in murder most horrid, THEN GET YOUR CASH OUT. superbly written, flows like a flowy thing and keeps you hooked like a sharp hooky type object.if you can't get hold of it then i'll sell you mine ... Read more

Product Description
A 10-compact disc audio book. ... Read more

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P.D. James
I love P.D. James, and this is a great way to get audio c.ds without paying too much.They are in good listening order and I pass them on to the local library. ... Read more

Product Description
Cuando la prestigiosa periodista de investigacion Rhoda Gradwyn ingresa en Cheverell Manor, la clinica privada del doctor Chandler-Powell en Dorset, para quitarse una antiestetica y antigua cicatriz que le atraviesa el rostro, sus planes son ser operada por un cirujano celebre, pasar una tranquila semana de convalecencia en una de las mansiones mas bonitas de Dorset y comenzar una nueva vida. Nada le hace presagiar que no saldra con vida de Cheverell Manor.El inspector Adam Dalgliesh y su quipo se encargaran del caso. Pronto se toparan con un segundo aseinato, y tendran que afrontar problemas mucho mas complejos que la cuestion de la inocnecia o la culpabilidad.P.D. James se ha ganado una inigualable reputacion por escribir historias de detectives con una profundidad y una complejidad poco comunes, combinadas con la perspicacia y la agilidad que solo se encuentra en los mejores novelistas./When the notorious investigative journalist, Rhoda Gradwyn, books into Mr. Chandler-Powells private clinic in Dorset for the removal of a disfiguring, long-standing facial scar, she has every prospect of a successful operation by a distinguished surgeon, a weeks peaceful convalescence in one of Dorsets most beautiful manor houses and the beginning of a new life. She will never leave Cheverell Manor alive. When Adam Dalgliesh and his team are called in to investigate the murderand a second death occurseven more complicated problems than the question of innocence or guilt arise. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Buy the individual novels instead......
While the individual books in this three-volume collection are excellent examples of P D James' work, as a whole 'A Second Dalgliesh Trilogy' is not worth buying. The main problem is that unlike the first collection, the stories collected here are NOT in order. In fact, we have 'A Mind To Murder', one of the earliest books in the series, followed by two later books 'A Taste For Death' and 'Devices And Desires'. This plays havoc with the chronology; Dalgliesh is suddenly promoted from Superintendent to Commander, the Deborah Riscoe subplot (tied up in 'Unnatural Causes') is left unresolved, DS Martin gets abruptly replaced by DCI Massingham, and so on. Even the writing style is different, with James' relatively short and taut early novels being a significant change from her epic, character-focussed later works.

The novels themselves, though, are outstanding.

'A Mind To Murder' is one of the best of James' early novels. 'Cover Her Face' was basically Christie-lite, but with her second book, James clearly established her surprisingly dark style. While it lacks the depth of character of some of her later books, it contains the same brooding sense of evil, featuring a community forever torn by an amoral, ruthless killer.

'A Taste For Death' is a personal favourite. By now a Commander, Dalgliesh and his team investigate the brutal throat-cutting murder of a Baronet and a tramp. This book introduced DI Kate Miskin, who would become Dalgliesh's permanent partner, and the sub-plot involving her grandmother provides the shattering climax to the novel. Again, the sense of evil and "sin" is paramount here, and the exchange where the remorseless, gloating killer taunts Kate is one of the best passages James has written (matched only by the similar wrenching climax to 'Original Sin').

'Devices And Desires' is a good book, but not one of my personal favourites. Partly because James has used the plot device of Dalgliesh going away on holiday several times before, and partly because we see very little of his team. Massingham gets unceremoniously "kicked upstairs", and deserved a better farewell than this. And after her dramatic introduction in 'A Taste For Death', it's a pity we don't see more of Kate Miskin. Nevertheless, 'Devices And Desires' has an intriguing plot, with several unexpected twists, and a very strong focus on character development.

All three of the novels in 'A Second Dalgliesh Trilogy' are worth reading. But it's best to read them individually in their proper chronology than to attempt an out-of-order collection like this.

The three-star rating is for the collection overall ; not a reflection of the quality of the individual novels.
... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

James is at her best!
Whether she's the reigning"Queen of Crime" or not (and she probably doesn't care!),
P.D. James is unbeatable with the police procedural.And her latest, "Death in Holy
Orders" is, once again, James par excellence. What scope, what depth, what sheer writing
talent when it comes to a gripping, mesmerizing, no-holds-barred whodunit!James
brushes aside her critics and continues writing in the way she knows best, unassuming and
literate, psychological and breath-taking!

And her main man, Adam Dalgleish is back, along with his trusted assistants, Kate Miskin
and Piers Tarrant, as the superintendent enters ecclesiastical waters in this episode.A
theological student has been found dead on the East Anglian shore, a tragedy ruled
"accidental."However, pressed by the student's father, Dalgleish re-examines the ruling
and James is off to the races in typical (read that "exciting") style.Known as the "dark
poet of Scotland Yard," Dalgleish finds himself, once again, in familiar territory, as he
recalls having visited the College of St. Anselm in his youth; however, momentary nostalgia
aside, he finds more than he could possibly have anticipated.Of course, there is soon
another death and Dalgleish's own "little gray cells" begin working overtime! Indeed, this
may be the more horrifying case he's encountered, as James explores evil as she's never
done before.

Once again, James takes some time to present Dalgleish, the man, as well.Each of the

books in his series provides more and more insight into this incredibly complex policeman.
Dalgleish fans will welcome this, of course."Death in Holy Orders" is yet another of those
books that find themselves almost impossible to put down.James and Dalgleish--what a
combination, what a read! ... Read more

Product Description
Presents three dark and difficult cases for Dalgliesh, P.D. James's investigator. P.D. James has twice been winner of the Crime Writers Association Silver Dagger Award and was awarded the Diamond Dagger Award in 1987. ... Read more

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On a desolate stretch of the East Anglian coast, high atop a sweep of cliffs, sits the theological college of St. Anselm's. Down below, smothered by a fall of sand, lies the body of a young ordinand, the son of a powerful business mogul who wants Scotland Yard to investigate his death. Dalgliesh, doubting there is much to uncover in the case, agrees to go, motivated only by a desire to revisit a place where he spent several happy summers in his boyhood. Yet no sooner does he arrive than the college is torn apart by a sacrilegious murder and Dalgliesh finds himself embroiled in one of the most puzzling and horrific cases of his career: no one is above suspicion, and suspects abound.

Elevated beyond the great classic detective stories of the Golden Age by the power of the writing, Death in Holy Orders grips and moves us from beginning to end, blessed with extraordinary psychological and emotional richness. The memorable characters and the wonderfully evoked wild coastal setting and religious world in which the action takes place demonstrate yet again why P.D. James ranks as one of the great novelists of our time.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

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Product Description
To consistently improve quality, it is important to first minimize variation. Statistical Process Control (SPC) is the driving force. Along with defining and detailing SPC, Statistical Analysis Simplified discusses ways to use measurement, numbers, and data to make better business decisions. Filled with self-tests, exercises, games, formulas, and simulations, this book presents today's complex methodologies in a practical and entertaining style. With its clear and accessible descriptions, statistics become easy to grasp and use to make better decisions. ... Read more

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Good Reference for Beginners
While it is true that this book is not at high academic enough for professionals or SPC practitioners that with strong statistical knowledge, it is true that this book demonstrate the SPC essential elements forengineers who without Statistical knowledge to make SPC functional.

Irecommended this book to some production engineers in my company. ... Read more

Product Description
An omnibus volume of P.D.James' work which features "An Unsuitable Job for a Woman", "Death of an Expert Witness" and "Innocent Blood". The author has also written a special preface for this edition in which she reflects upon her work and the significance of the crime genre in which she writes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Three books in one-1998 thick softcover edition printed in England.
This big book contains three of P. D. James's best books."A Taste For Death" is the first one.Secondly is "Devices and Desires", and last is "Original Sin".Personally, I like omnibus editions which helps keep down the number of books on the shelf and lets you read what is considered some of the author's best writings.Her outstanding novels in this book has Commander Adam Dalgliesh investigate murders in a London church, a Norfolk power station and a Thames-side publishing house.British murder mystery fans - this one is for you! ... Read more

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Includes new material on orthophotography, soft photogrammetry, and digital image capture and interpretation.
* Introduces the latest non-photographic and space-based imaging platforms and sensors (Landsat, LIDAR, thermal, multispectral).
* Provides new information on elementary sampling techniques and statistics. ... Read more

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it is very cheap to purchase from amazon
I purchased this textbook from amazon.com and it is much cheaper than any otherplaces. it is in an excellent condition.

An excellent academicintroduction to aerial photography
This book is an outstanding, in-depth introduction to the science of aerial photography.At the outset, it must be said that this book does not tell you how to bring in, register, or project your aerial photo in a particular GIS application.What it does tell you is how that photo came about and how it might be interpreted or used.The text reads well, but does require the reader's full attention to absorb all the information. ... Read more

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Excellence in service
I ordered Tender Journey through Amazon from a private vendor. The book arrived in less than one week and was in better condition than desribed.

The Unseen EssentialA Story For Our Troubled Times...Part 1 By James P. Gills
This is an awsome read. Inspirering, Encourageing, Joyfull,Tearful. I reccomend it for couples, exspecially if you are considering divorce. I just ordered Tender Journey which is part 2 of The unseen essential ... Read more

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The life and times of a legendary figure in the early West

For over 100 years after this book was first published (1856), much of it was considered factually unreliable, just the boasting and embellishing of a colorful frontier character. But subsequent research into the Fur Trade period of the trans-Mississippi West beginning in the early 1960s has shown much of what Beckwourth reported to be true and basically accurate, with what Huck Finn said about Twain, a few "stretches" here and there. What makes this edition especially worthwhile and useful are the annotations by Delmont R. Oswald, which help separate fact from fiction.

James P. Beckwourth was born in Virginia sometime around 1800 (a very close friend of his gave his birthdate as April 26, 1798, but it can't be proven); his mother was a mulatto slave. His father manumitted him when nearing adulthood, and with his freedom he traveled freely between New Orleans and St. Louis, where his family now lived.

In 1824, he accompanied William Ashley to the Green River rendezvous and began trapping in the mountains. In 1828 he joined a Crow Indian tribe and lived with them for a half-dozen years, taking Crow wives and sharing in their raids and culture. (His claim that he became their chief might be one of his exaggerations.) He fought in the Seminole War in Florida in 1837 under Zachary Taylor, and then became a trader in Santa Fe and at Bent's Fort.

He went to California in 1840 where he procured (stole?) horses and brought them back to Bent's Fort. He then lived for awhile in what is today Pueblo, CO, with a Spanish woman, with whom he fathered a child. He was back in California again in time for the Bear Flag revolt and became a guide for American soldiers during the conflict. In 1848 he was in the just-forming gold mining camps in California and helped lay out a road through a pass that was named after him (Beckwourth Pass). From atop this pass he ran a hotel/trading post for a few years. It was here that former newspaperman Thomas D. Bonner received Beckwourth's reminiscences, which later became this book.

Jim lived another 10 years after the book was published, running freight to the Pikes Peak gold region, perhaps attending the Sand Creek massacre as a guide (this is in dispute), and dying sometime around 1866 (also in dispute).

The book is a major addition to the library of first-hand accounts of life during the pre-Civil War West. Beckwourth relates intimate knowledge of the fur trade, Indian life,western exploration, the conquest of California, and life in the early gold fields. Oswald is excellent at correcting some of his claims and warning the reader when to be wary ("There is no corroboration for this story" is a typical footnote.) But Oswald also shows where Beckwourth was on the mark (for example, much of what he says about the Crows). It's a wonderful book, full of life and adventure - a great source for what life was like on the Plains and in the Rockies during this most exciting time of western expansion. A must-read for anyone interested in the fur trade period.

A challenge to anyone's biases
Beckwourth was a fascinating character; born to a black mother and a white father in 1798, he was apprenticed to be a blacksmith but ran away, and eventually made his way to Colorado and other areas of the western mountain and plains states.He became a chief of the Crow tribe, as well as a scout for the U.S. Army.While this account of his life is widely considered to stretch the truth somewhat, historians agree that he did live a remarkable life.

It's an interesting read -- obviously Bonner didn't record Beckwourth's own words, but couched it in florid 19th century prose, which actually gives it a sort of peculiar charm.It's also not particularly artful -- events occur that I kept imagining foreshadowed something or other, and then turned out just to be incidents with no narrative significance at all, making the book seem more realistic in the end.

I was often reminded of Thomas Berger's Little Big Man; the eponymous hero of that novel is adopted into the Sioux and eventually serves as a scout for Custer.The language and attitudes of Berger's characters seem so reminiscent of Beckwourth's story that it seems certain he must have read it.Apparently plains Indians really did talk about people getting "rubbed out," an expression frequent in both books that I previously had associated with gangsters.

A real peculiarity of Beckwourth's autobiography is the fact that it never makes any mention of his race.Although the edition I read is part of the series "American Negro, His History and Literature," the book itself leaves the impression that Beckwourth was white -- he even refers to another adopted native as a "mulatto."Beckwourth displays a casual attitude toward killing, particularly killing of Native Americans, in this book.He appears to be, if not racist, certainly "culturist," as he frequently denigrates Native Americans, both his enemies and his friends, only to idealize them and their way of life in the next breath.How much of this is Beckwourth and how much his "editor," we can't tell.The end of the book is jarring; he marries Pine Leaf, the warrior woman whom he has wanted throughout his time with the Crow, and then almost immediately abandons her and goes back to "civilization" with hardly a second thought.

All in all, this book is filled with raw, rough-edged adventure, and provides some genuine insights into the American West.While its cultural biases are difficult to empathize with today, they serve as a reminder of just how different our attitudes have become in 150 years or so.Worth reading. ... Read more