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Title: FIELDS WITHOUT DREAMS : DEFENDING THE AGRARAIN IDEAL by Victor Davis Hanson ISBN: 0-684-83570-3 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 25 March, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.4 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Fields Without Dreams
Comment: I must respond, although a bit late, to the review posted in Dec. '99 by "a reader": "As we read this book it became clear that Professor Hansen's uniformly negative opinions of the people who now support themselves as professional farmers are truly clouded by his amateur status as a farmer. The sad thing is that he does not see that himself. In case you are wondering, his profession is, after all, that of College professor."
Clearly the "reader" did not read Mr. Hanson's book carefully enough. As a nearby resident of his town of Selma, I can attest to Mr. Hanson's personal and family legacy of professional farming. He is by no means "an amateur farmer." Instead, he has worked on his family farm more than full time since his pre-teens, and supported his family doing so.
The difficulties Hanson encountered as a farmer were common to the ventures of his particular crops. In addition, his acceptance of a university position at Cal. State Fresno was mainly a way to keep food on the table after the raisin crash. I wish this reviewer had read the book more carefully before tossing out major criticisms.
As an outsider to farming, although my uncle is a cattle farmer in Wisconsin, I developed a passionate respect for farming after reading Fields Without Dreams. Hanson's overriding point, I think, is to emphasize the character and toughness required of farmers in any age. His book is particularly timely because, as he notes, "Family farmers are noble, but vanishing stewards of ancient ground."
Hanson also makes an important statement about farming--that its myth of simplicity and quaintness is unfounded. While capitalism overtakes the family farm in favor of agribusiness, just like it has many other American businesses, what is disappearing along with the family farm is an honorable society we'll never see again. I am glad Hanson is around to capture this moment for us.
Rating: 5
Summary: Brilliant, engaging, impressive.
Comment: A wonderful read. Hanson sweeps the reader up into the the high stakes game, the espirt d'corps of the family farm, the teeter-totter hazards of weather and market demands, the changing fortunes of agrarian culture. A magnificent achievement. One of my favorite books of the last decade.
Rating: 5
Summary: A fun book, so smart, so tragic, so meaningful.....
Comment: I read this laughing, smiling, shaking my head in wonder. A pasionate history of the risk and woe of the farmer's life.
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Title: The Land Was Everything: Letters from an American Farmer by Victor Davis Hanson ISBN: 0684845016 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 20 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: Mexifornia: A State of Becoming by Victor Davis Hanson ISBN: 1893554732 Publisher: Encounter Books Pub. Date: June, 2003 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: An Autumn of War : What America Learned from September 11 and the War on Terrorism by Victor Hanson ISBN: 1400031133 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 13 August, 2002 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: The Other Greeks: The Family Farm and the Agrarian Roots of Western Civilization by Victor Davis Hanson ISBN: 0520209354 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: January, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Ripples of Battle : How Wars of the Past Still Determine How We Fight, How We Live, and How We Think by VICTOR HANSON ISBN: 0385504004 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 16 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
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