James Russell Lowell (22 February, 1819 – 12 August, 1891) was an American editor, critic, poet, lawyer, and diplomat, born in Cambridge MA

Henry David Thoreau (12 July, 1817 – 6 May, 1862) was an American writer and Transcendentalist born in Concord, MA. Thoreau was also known for civil disobedience as well as an avid abolitionist.

Booker T. Washington (15 April, 1856 – 14 November, 1915) was a prominent author, educator, politician and orator in America during his lifetime. The last to represent African-American leaders born in slavery, he was a dominant figure in the African-American life from 1890 till his death.

1 ) The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu, the first book in the series, is actually a collection of short stories. The novel was originally called The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu but the title was changed when released in America. 2 ) Fu-Manchu’s goal is to restore the Chinese Empire to its former glory. Even though he uses some despicable and cruel methods, the book does show him as a benevolent man who uses compassion as well as ruthlessness. 3 ) When MGM adapted The Mask of Fu Manchu in 1932, the assembled group of Asian villains (Chinese, Persians, Indians, Arabs) stated that they must “kill the white men and take their women”. The statement prompted a group from Harvard to petition MGM to stop from making further films based on the novels. 4 ) Before the US entrance to World War II (around 1940), the State Department asked MGM to stop making future films starring Fu-Manch. This was because China was an ally against Japan. 5 ) Once the US entered World War II the books’ publisher, Doubleday, ceased publication of the series for the duration. 6 ) The author, Sax Rohmer, stated in his biography that “Of course,…

Article first published as Book Review: The Technologists by Matthew Pearl on Blogcritics. About: The Technologists by Matthew Pearl is a fictional book about the early days of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The story takes place in the years after the American Civil War during a very fragile time in our history. The pub­lisher is giv­ing away one copy of this book— enter at the end of the post. 496 pages Publisher: Random House ISBN: 1400066573 My rating for The Technologists – 4 Great price on this book in paper or electronic for­mat through the Man of la Book Affil­i­ate Account More books by Matthew Pearl Thoughts: The Technologists by Matthew Pearl (website) is an entertaining read with wonderful historical detail and a bunch of nerdiness thrown in for good measure. While I wasn’t sucked into the book as much as I would have liked, I found the characters captivating and the plot line interesting. The author does a great job interweaving reality and fiction as well as the dialog which was spoken in that time period. The harsh social norms of the time are presented in the form of a lone MIT female student who is forced to study in isolation. There were…

Based on JQA’s diary which spanned an amazing seven decades – arguably the “most valuable historical and personal journal kept by any prominent American”