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278civil war history in cost and operation. When improvement became necessary, practical and experienced mechanics were motivated by the need to increase locomotive power without increasing weight, speed, or complexity, since managers did not desire to construct expensive roadbeds in order to support fast heavy trains. Throughout the three sections, The Era of Fundamental Locomotive Design, Components, and Representative American Locomotives, the topical approach is utilized. Although an encyclopedic format is suggested by the way in which each subject is introduced with bold type headings, the author does not lose historical awareness or chronological perspective. While there is no attempt to describe social or political backgrounds he does search for the reasons for change, emphasize the contributions of the various mechanics, and describe the usefulness of each invention, arranging his material in chronological sequence. Even though this is a history of standard practice, the author does depict significant designs and components of short-lived existence and limited acceptance . Mr. White does a splendid job of writing an interesting narrative which prevents the reader from becoming mired in the sometimes compactly detailed information. This engineering history is intended to provide new insights for those already familiar with the construction of steam locomotives rather than providing a picture history for the novice. This is accomplished admirably through the combined use of narrative and over 230 highly detailed, sharp and clear pictures and drawings. One regrettable weakness is an incomplete bibliography. Some journals and books referred to in the footnotes for some reason do not appear in the bibliography. Charles H. Clark Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Area Community College Red, White, and Blue: Men, Books, and Ideas in American Culture. By John William Ward. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1969. Pp. x, 351. $7.50.) This intriguing collection of essays presents the writer of history in his most attractive posture: that of the thoughtful scholar working imaginatively with his material and, at times, suggesting again that the historian of ideas can do much to illuminate the subtleties of society and its culture . Having discussed the relationship between history and culture in his initial article, Ward then organizes the remainder under three headings : "American Culture and The American Imagination;" "The Culture of Freedom;" and "The Values of American Culture," this last section dealing with the relationship between the intellectual and the university. As a cultural historian Ward is interested in studying the past from a particular viewpoint, one in which history is defined as the "study of the consciousness of men in the past," and culture as the "organization of book reviews279 social experience in the minds of men made manifest in symbolic action." While his interests are far-ranging, from Benjamin Franklin's personification of the seeming opposites in the American character to the symbolism of Lindbergh's flight, readers of Civil War History will be especially attracted by Ward's analysis of James Fenimore Cooper's The Prairie and Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. Ward insists that The Prairie is of greater social significance than the more widely read of the Leatherstoeking Tales because Cooper attempts in the novel to illustrate the conflict in American life between the real and the ideal or between Nature and Civilization; it is a theme which Ward believes to be an enduring one in American literature, still surviving as late as Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Cooper's own ambivalence was the result of his living and writing in an age in which the first consequences of industrial civilization were visible. The discussion of Uncle Tom's Cabin is an excellent correlation of theory and fact. The novel's enormous popularity, Ward contends, is due not only to the serial-like suspense of the story itself but also because Mrs. Stowe touched upon a universal theme in human experience: a journey which symbolizes the quest for life's meaning. Involved as well were the ancient problems of freedom and the role of the individual in society. Ward's explication demonstrates incisively how literature may reveal much of a society's inner dynamics and be of invaluable assistance to the cultural historian. The historian of ideas in America will discover much in this volume to stimulate...

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