Book Description
What would it take for slaves to escape from slavery in the Deep South, 1,000 miles from freedom and then on to England during the period of the Fugitive Slave Act? For most slaves the thought of escape was unimaginable. But fear did not stop Ellen and William Craft from chasing freedom.


An inspiring and riveting story of two amazing people stopping at nothing to fight for freedom and racial equality, this thrilling true tale chronicles Ellen and William Craft's lives from their flight from slavery in Georgia to their rise to world-wide fame as heroes of the Abolitionist movement.


Illustrated with period artwork, newspaper clippings, and archival photographs, 5,000 Miles to Freedom captures the unforgiving realities of slave life, the political hatred between North and South, and, above all, the extraordinary achievements of this remarkable couple. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

This year's non-fiction winner
At what point did the National Geographic press for children just decide to whop the competition upside the head and produce book after book after book of fairly fabulous non-fiction like some kind o' history creatin' machine?I was willing to turn a blind eye the first two or three times this year they cranked out marvelous material, but after reading "5,000 Miles To Freedom", I can keep silent no longer.Written by the Fradins, Judith & Dennis respectively, the book is riveting.Mr. Fradin has, on his own, written "almost 150 books" of which I have read zippo.Zilch.Nuthin'.To what, then, do we owe this truly exciting tale of escape, villains, heroism, and more than a touch of cross-dressing?Truly the stars were in alignment when all parties involved decided to work upon this title.Relegated from my "I Don't Want To Read This Book Because I Suspect That It Is Good For Me" pile to my "I Love This Book and You Can Read It After You've Pried It From My Cold Dead Hands" pile, this is the story to hand to kids if you want to inform them about the Underground Railroad and slavery in a manner that is both factual and fascinating.A non-fiction must read, to say the least.

Their story is incredible precisely because it is true.On the morning of December 21, 1848, Ellen and William Craft escaped as slaves from a plantation in Macon, Georgia.Their plan was an original one.Ellen, light-skinned, disguised herself as a young gentleman slave owner.William, darker, was her "slave".Together the two were going to go from Macon to the Altantic coast.From there they would travel, sometimes by boat and sometimes by train to the North.The book follows the two every step of the way, including many of the close calls the two had to suffer.Even when they planted their feet on the New England soil, however, their lives were not at peace.They were heroes for their actions amongst the abolitionists and famous for their cleverness.With the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, however, there was always the danger of their being recaptured and forced to return.Only living in England, 5,000 miles from Macon, would allow the two to live in relative freedom on their own.This is the story of a couple who would stop at nothing to do what they wanted, whether or not it was what slaveholders or abolitionists had planned for them.It's a tale about an escape and return and all that those two things would come to entail.

What keeps this book pumping is just how exciting it all is!I never expected when I picked up, "5,000 Miles To Freedom" that what I had on my hands was a truly amazing thriller.Sure, the Crafts' initial escape is intense.But does it stop when they reach the North?Oh no, sir.They are tracked and hunted and must flee time and time again.It must have been truly awful for them but in terms of writing a book, it creates just the right amount of momentum.Though everything you may find here is based on fact, the excitement locked away in these 96 pages almost strains belief.A person begins to wonder why there hasn't been a biography of these intrepid couple since the 1971 Simon & Schuster title, "Two Tickets To Freedom".

So is it a children's book or a teen book?I guess I say children's, but with a couple reservations here and there.The Fradins work very hard at trying to let young readers understand just how horrific slavery could be, right from the start.I suppose they want to get it out of the way and establish their heroes and villains from the get go.To do so, however, they tend to describe an array of particularly nasty tortures, sometimes with accompanying illustrations.The rape of slaves is also freely discussed her, once in terms of Ellen's own mother (explaining successfully why Ellen was light-skinned).Basically, this book is best sold on a kid by kid basis.Some children will be ready for what it has to say.Others may not be.Eventually, however, every kid needs to at least be familiar with its content.It may not always be pleasant, but it certainly is real.

The book is also sophisticated in terms of linking the industrial changes of the time to the "success" of slavery.I have never read a children's non-fiction book on the subject that took the time this title did to explain that it was the rise of the railroad that made cotton transportation noteworthy and, more importantly, profitable.Plus the fact that "nearly all of the slaves who escaped to free soil came from states near the North such as Maryland, Virginia, and Kentucky" was news to me.Later there is a mention that when the Crafts moved to England they found a new kind of prejudice."England was much less race conscious, but far more class conscious".Kudos to the Fradins for putting all this information together.

What the Fradins also do well here is to present the facts surrounding the Crafts' life in such a way that it isn't all black and white, good vs. bad.Yes, the slavers and slave catchers were perfect villains.More interesting, however, was that sometimes the abolitionists weren't perfect saints.At one point two Southerners come to Boston to recapture the Crafts.Their plan fails in part because the abolitionists do what they can to protect their friends.At one point, however, a crazed Bostonian pulls a gun and tries to shoot one of the slavers.Later on the Crafts meet with a great deal of resistance when they try to break away from the abolitionists' hold on them.The couple comes to feel that in many ways they are pets of the movement.Their desire to strike out (as they often did) and do something on their own again and again is almost as breathtaking as their original escape.

I appreciated that the authors took the time to interview and give much respect to the descendants of the Crafts.There's a lovely Afterword to "5,000 Miles To Freedom" that includes some of the interviewed descendants, as well as their photographs.It's good for kids today to know that though there isn't a single photo of the Crafts in this book, they were still real people.And nothing is more real than hearing about a person's kin living, breathing, and talking today.Plus the heroic duo is all the more interesting when you consider that their story had a happy ending.I don't know too many escaped slaves that could have said as much.

When you begin this book you notice the following Author's Note just before the Contents: "Old documents, letters, diaries, newspapers, speeches, and personal narratives provided most of the information for this book.Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom, by William and Ellen Craft, is the source for nearly all the dialogue".I'm glad the authors happened to mention this.I, personally, always get a teensy bit out of sorts when I run across a supposedly "non-fiction" book sporting dialogue.Authors of every stripe tend to have a hard time displaying their real life characters in a sympathetic fashion without relying on "hearing" their voices.The irresponsible people will preface a long string of speech with something like, "Mr. X might have said something very much like this when this situation occurred".Far cleverer to take the words directly from your subject's own autobiography.Especially if that book gives you the dialogue you need word for word.

When I read the remarkable, "Maritcha: A Nineteenth Century American Girl" by Tonya Bolden I recall the author saying something about the illustrations and pictures she included in the book.Ms. Bolden had some difficulty finding depictions of African Americans, "given the scarcity of nonderogatory images of blacks in pre-Civil War America".The Fradins must certainly have had similar problems.Yet for all that, their book is brimming with remarkable images that aren't in the least bit stereotypical (with the possible exception of freedmen's school).From the breathtaking "first aerial photograph ever taken in the United States" from a balloon over 1860 Boston to the fabulous illustration of Ellen modeling her male garb in the 1851 Illustrated London News, no expense has been spared.The design of this book is very pleasing to the eye.Photographs and reproductions of original receipts abound.It breaks up the text very nicely indeed.

In the back of the book you will find a Time Line, list of Sources, a Bibliography, and an Index.I did notice that the Fradins have offered a very old-fashioned form ofBibliography here.Yes, they cite book, newspaper, video, and personal interview sources.These days, however, it's always a good idea to include some reliable websites on the matter.Even if Dennis and Judith never spent so much as a minute online, the single best way to keep kids informed on a given subject is to direct them to something other than Google.Children will certainly pick up one of the cited books if they're interested enough, but for those kids who idly want to know more, you may as well hand them a section entitled For More On the Craft Escape, Try These Websites, or something along those lines.

In the end, though, what the Fradins have done here is capture the paranoia, horror, and bravery of this most remarkable period of American history.They have done what every good biography strives for.The tale of the Crafts isn't just about two little people.It's about how they played a part in a massive struggle for basic human decency and freedom.The authors have gone beyond just placing facts on a page and have created a form and a structure that is not only informative and well-cited but also a gripping read.No biographer could hope to do more than what the Fradins have accomplished here.Consider, "5,000 Miles To Freedom" a necessary purchase for every library in America. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A Daring Escape to Freedom!!!
Ellen and William Craft were a young (mid-20's) slave couple who made a daring escape to freedom.Light-skinned Ellen cut her hair short and dressed in the suit and tophat of a white planter.Since she was illiterate, her husband William made a sling for her arm, so she had an excuse not to sign hotel registers.And since she had a womanly voice, the couple devised a poultice tied around her jaw indicating she had a bad toothache and could not speak. William played the role of his white massa's slave.And the couple traveled by train, steamship, and wagon to their destination in the north.They soon became popular lecturers in the United States and Europe.This is a remarkable story of daring and bravery and should be read by everyone.Anyone who wants to introduce their children to good historical fiction should get them The Journal of Darien Duff, an Emancipated Slave, The Diary of a Slave Girl, Ruby Jo, and The Journal of Leroy Jones, a Fugitive Slave.

Engrossing
I read this for a college history survey course before it was mistakenly announced that the book was out of print.The book was dropped from the syllabus, but I am glad I read it anyway.

The first and shortest part of the book is William Craft's powerful account of how he and his wife Ellen executed a daring escape from servitude in Georgia.Their plan was remarkable in its ingenuity: The almost white Ellen, outfitted with a master's clothes and a poultice on her face to prevent incriminating speech with strangers, and her husband William, disguised as a servant, escaped to freedom in the north.Travelling by rail, the pair exultantly crossed over into Canada and from thence headed for England.

The second part of the book is a third person summary of the couple's travels after their ambitious escape.It follows them from Georgia through the slave and free states, in which they were well received and protected (especially in Boston), up to Halifax and across the water to England.I found the final two thirds of the book the most enjoyable, as it treated of foreign travel, in which I have a keen interest.Both portions of the book are beautifully written and often gripping.I hope a few of my classmates read this before that announcement.This book is both pleasurable to read and historically vital.

The Freedom you will get when you read this book.
This book is a captivating account of the injustices of slavery and a amazing story of two fugitives running for there freedom.This book is a great story that should be taught in schools and should not be ignored in American History classes.It opened my mind to the horrors slavery actually caused.It represents a part of our history that should never be repeated.5 plus stars.

Unique Plot and Style for a traditional topic
While taking an African American literature course in college I was introduced to this novella written by William Craft.It is a must-read for American and African American history classes.The novella is a quick andeasy read, with the capacity for great discussion and in-depth analysis. Humor, suspense, mystery and action is all provided in this wonderful taleof escape and hypocrisey.

A must read for American history students
Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom is a must read for all American history students and should be required reading at least at the high school level.This book gives the reader a first-person view of that"Peculiar Instition" known as slavery and to what lengths onewill go to achieve personal freedom. This book will change your view ofslavery forever. ... Read more

Book Description
Light, airy, rooms...clean-lined wooden furnishings...richly patterned rugs and fabrics in colors inspired by nature. William Morris was the first to champion the styles that remain quintessentially modern today. William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Home is both a profile of this innovative tastemaker and a lavishly illustrated guide to decorating with these ever-popular elements. Over 200 photographs capture the Arts and Crafts look, both in Morris's own residences as well as in contemporary homes where the classic Morris aesthetic of simple beauty prevails. Organized by element, chapters on the legendary patterned fabrics and wallpapers he designed, his artisan wooden furniture, curtains and carpets, ceramics and metalwork all serve to illustrate Morris's unique vision. Informative, engaging, and delightful to peruse, William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Home captures the beauty and simplicity of these influential designs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Lovely details
If you appreciate anything to do with the Arts & Crafts movement, you'll really like this book -- even if you look only at the pictures. It's separated into sections on exteriors and gardens; interiors (architecture); decorative patterns (wallpapers and woven fabric); furniture; softer elements (curtains, rugs, carpets, etc.); finishing touches (ornament, tiles).

Each has plenty of detail: you see the overall effect (the entire wall of wallpaper) and the specific design (a zoom in on the wallpaper's design). Even if you care about only one element (you're into fabric for instance) you'll get plenty out of this book.

For Lovers of Arts and Crafts Homes
William Morris changed people's attitudes towards architecture and interior decoration when Victorian excess was at it's height.I love the use of wood in an Arts and Crafts house.For others who feel this way, this book is a treat.At the back are two useful sections: Where to See Arts and Crafts Homes and a listing of Specialist Supplies for anyone renovating an Arts and Crafts Home.
You might also want to read The William Morris Stained Glass Pattern Book and The Life and Works of William Morris.Take a look also at Craftsman Homes: Architecture and Furnishings of the American Arts and Crafts Movement.
... Read more

Product Description
This book is not intended as a full history of the life of my wife nor of myself; but merely as an account of our escape; together with other matter which I hope may be the means of creating in some minds a deeper abhorrence of the sinful and abominable practice of enslaving and brutifying our fellow-creatures.\' (Excerpt from original Introduction) ... Read more

Book Description
William Esper, one of the leading acting teachers of our time, explains and extends Sanford Meisner's legendary technique, offering a clear, concrete, step-by-step approach to becoming a truly creative actor.

Esper worked closely with Meisner for seventeen years and has spent decades developing his famous program for actor's training. The result is a rigorous system of exercises that builds a solid foundation of acting skills from the ground up, and that is flexible enough to be applied to any challenge an actor faces, from soap operas to Shakespeare. Co-writer Damon DiMarco, a former student of Esper's, spent over a year observing his mentor teaching first-year acting students. In this book he recreates that experience for us, allowing us to see how the progression of exercises works in practice. The Actor's Art and Craft vividly demonstrates that good training does not constrain actors' instincts—it frees them to create characters with truthful and compelling inner lives. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

beautiful calendar
I am very pleased with my 2008 calendar selection.Great collection of William Morris to pop on your wall. ... Read more

Book Description
Architect George Howe thought there were three pioneers of American architecture: Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, and William L. Price. Although history has borne out Howe's observation on Sullivan and Wright, Will Price still awaits discovery. ?

Architect George Howe thought there were three pioneers of American architecture: Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, and William L. Price. Although history has borne out Howe's observation on Sullivan and Wright, Will Price still awaits discovery. ?

Price, a disciple of Frank Furness who practiced in Philadelphia from 1833 to 1916, established the architectural character of the two of the nation's greatest resorts, Atlantic City and Miami, thus shaping the architecture of the Roaring Twenties.Although his biggest and best-known projects, the Art Deco Traymore Hotel in Atlantic City and the Chicago Freight Terminal, are both destroyed, his arts and crafts utopian community in Arden, Delaware survive to attest to the vigor of his ideas and the leadership he exerted.?

Price left a legacy of exquisite houses, railway stations, and commercial structures stretching from Atlantic City to Chicago and from Canada to Florida taht were widely emulated and reacall the best works of Frank Lloyd Wright and Greene & Greene.In addition, Price was accomplished writer and furniture designer whose work was regularly featured in Gustav Stickley's The Craftsman.?

Price's role in shaping American architecture in uncovered in this lavishingly illustrated volume, which documents the architects complete works—including over 350 hotels, houses, and pieces of furniture—bringing to light this unknown American master. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Great Architect, less great book
William Price is indeed an overlooked architect.While I'm hesistant to call him a genius, his work has a breadth seldom seen in the work of his contemporaries.He was one of the last of the Philadelphia architects tocome from a background of manual training rather than an academicbackground, but clearly he was able to apply the lessons of contemporarypractice learned from books, and stretch into new areas of the Arts andCrafts movement and advanced design in reinforced concrete.

The authorspends an inordinate amount of time in the book describing howPhiladelphia, with a strong heritage of innovative industrial design isleft behind in the architectural world due to an academic bias of the pressbased in New York and Boston.While this is important to Price'sreputation, it has little to do with his actual work.The prose in thebook is repititious, reading as a series of loosely related lectures ratherthan a single thesis, and the book design does not help the reader.

Theillustrations, largely drawn from the firm's archive now held by theauthor, are very well produced, but could have been supplemented by morenew photography.A significant number of Price's buildings do survive, andcolor photography would bring out the great qualities of material, color,and texture that were so important to his work.

In summary, a book onPrice was long overdue, but one would have hoped that it would focus moreon the great qualities of his architecture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Shells, (New Craft Series)
Nice book, Has some instructions but wouldn't be my pick if you want to a "how to" book

SHELLS by Mary Maguire
This is a good book for those who have always wanted to experiment with the craft of shellwork. Mary Maguire's book is descriptive in text and also offers great photos with step-by-step instructions for the 25 featured projects, both large and small. Perfect for both the beginner and the seasoned shell crafter. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Great Escape, Graphically
I think this series is a very good one.I use them with my ESOL students as they learn English and American History.The story itself is a good one and told very well.Recommended. ... Read more

Book Description
6 3/4 X 9 3/4 In, 256 Pp, 2 ColorIllustrations, 128 Black & White Photos,65 Line DrawingsOriginally Published In 1916 When The Arts and Crafts Movement Was In ItsHeyday, This Is A Virtual Textbook ofMaterials, Color, Techniques andDesigns. Arts & Crafts Design Is A Practical Guide To The Creation ofHigh-Quality, High-Style Furnishings Through The Industrial Arts. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Arts& Crafts Restorationand Project Source
If you are restoring a Craftsman Bungalow home or furniture or are building new versions, and need DETAILS of "how they did it", then this book is a must.
It is written to a hands-on audinece, for people interested in creating items with the distinctive Arts& Crafts design detail.
Ceramics, jewelry, metal-smithing (copper) etc, are also covered in a very complete review of the Craftsman style esthetic. To the point of including color formulas for wood stains, ceramic glazes and building instructions for simple woodworking and metal fabrication projects.

THIS IS THE REAL THING!, Not a modern review, or opinion.
If you want a coffee table book with big color pictures,and not too many words, then move on to another selection.

If you need a concise beginner/intermediate source for Arts & Crafts era design elements, give this one a try....
Just in case you want to know a bit of why I have such a strong approval of this book, I have a background in art/architecture/design which started as I grew up in the Belmont Shores burb of Long Beach, CA...in a Craftsman Bungalow home. I have worked in the design trade for 20 years, with 2 Bungalow restoration projects currently in progress in California...it's an educated, and more importantly, an experienced opinion.

If you are a student or a trades person interested in the Arts & Crafts style, you will probably keep this book in reach as sourcebook.
Crafters, woodworkers, metal smith-ey, potters...will enjoy making one or two of the projects detailed in the chapters!

A great disappointment. The best part is the cover design.
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I was looking forward to an Arts and Crafts treat but, alas, received a thoroughly boring textbook full of questionable design theories and rules that are largely the author's pontifications. I have a university degree in art and am no stranger to professors, textbooks, theories, and rules. A really good professor needs no text.Thank God I didn't have Varnum as a professor!

Understand that Varnum wrote this text in 1916 and Hansen merely wrote the short preface to its reprint in 1995. This is an Industrial Arts Design textbook and not an art book, per se.

From start to finish this book is loaded with theoretical design minutia, formulae, and "rules," many of which have little obvious relevance to aesthetics. The text even includes test questions.

Aesthetics involves feelings and emotions, not cook-book formulae and rules. I am convinced that this book is the result of Varnum's inner need to organize the subject matter in his own mind rather than to impart knowledge and a "feel" for design to the reader or student.As such, it is both tedious reading and boring.I would rather suffer through another graduate statistics text than wade through Varnum's self-proclaimed rules, many of which are just Varnum's personal opinions and make no sense to me.

I give it a generous two stars because of the small pictures of furniture and fittings of the period scattered throughout the text. Save your money and buy one of the many good books on Stickley, Morris, Mackintosh, or the wonderful eras of Arts and Crafts, Craftsman, or Mission.

Al Thompson, Brady, Texas ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Recommended Read
I found this book very insightful. Reading sermons by a pastor who clearly takes the issue of discipleship seriously enough to produce sensible, accurate, and biblical discourse is very refreshing. Reading these sermons will unveil many long-accepted, church-constructed, social norms that have been rather insidious.

The editors have done a worthy task to select sermons topics that are cross-sectional representations as well phenomenological at the same time. In addition to this type of biblical discourse, this book offers serious critique on each sermon. Each critique deconstructs the sermon text to highlight the author's rationale in a way that is both flattering and helpful.

How I wish all pastors submitted themselves to such critique. I was discipled as a result of reading this book, and I submit that most others would be as well.

Too bad the analysis doesn't match the preaching
This book works from an interesting premise-take selected sermons by a noted and popular preacher about main themes in his work, then have someone write analysis.Some of the sermons are brilliant as in Easter is an Earthquake, the opening sermon and one of the best I've ever read.However the sermons are a bit uneven as is the analysis.

It's worth the price of the book-especially used- for the opening sermon.Recommend with reservations ... Read more

Amazon.com
A glance around any posh urban design store indicates that wirework is making a comeback, perhaps because its simple lines can work just as well in a cottage as in a city setting. As the 25 easy-to-follow step-by-step projects in this book demonstrate, hand-formed wire objects may be charmingly rustic (such as the wall-hung spice rack) or elegantly utilitarian (such as the graceful copper bowl). But the effect need not be stark: even if you didn't think you wanted wire accessories in your home, the scrolling delicacy of the picture frame, the clean geometrics of the woven wire chair seat, and the lacy elegance of the garden lantern may hook you. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Some nice projects, but...
There were some very nice projects in this book.However,detailed instructions are lacking severely.In fact, the amount ofwire needed for each project is not in the materials list.Sometimes you get lucky and the instructions state to cut a certain number of pieces a certain length.I need an idea of how much wire I need to have in a continuous length.(Try "Making Wire Jewelry" by Clegg & Larom for great jewelry projects with step-by-step instructions).Also, the authors seem to be fascinated by chicken wire.Far too many of the projects use chicken wire; from the look of the cover photograph, I really didn't think this would be such a sculpting book.And forgive me for being snide, but there is even a *pipe cleaner* project.I was really hoping for more examples of the fine work done on the cover.However, it does have some great projects, and the chicken wire stuff is very nice.I am exaggerating here - I guess there are only 3 chicken wire projects.Combined with the pipe cleaners, and silly projects like the "Pocket Clips" (really, I can't begin to explain them), the toilet paper holder (yes, really!), and the bicycle toy, I was really disappointed.

But there are a few gems.There is a votive candle chandelier that is fabulous, along with the bowl seen on the cover.The toast rack is too cute.There are no jewelry pieces in this book.If you are looking for a solely wire book (as opposed to wire mesh/chickenwire), this book is not for you.It really is a nice book, but just not what I expected.But then again, for the price, it is a nice little book.

Fabulous!Wonderful projects abound in this book!
I loved this book!Photos are beautiful--instructions are easy andunderstandable even for the beginner. Projects are varied--from thechandelier to the seascape mobile to the wine bottle carrier.Great how-toinstructions for every technique. ... Read more