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26 Works 411 Members 3 Reviews

About the Author

Richard Bak is a veteran journalist who grew up in Detroit and now lives in Dearborn, Michigan. Bak, who worked on the assembly lines at Ford and Chrysler, has written widely on the Fords and the automobile industry

Works by Richard Bak

Detroit: 1900-1930 (1999) 16 copies

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Common Knowledge

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Excellent book. Although more time is spent on Lindbergh than any other single competitor, it is a comprehensive look at all the attempts to cross the Atlantic from the start of the age of flight.
 
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jztemple | 1 other review | Dec 3, 2012 |
Aviation as we know it today started to come into shape in the 1920's. And the great leap forward, equivalent to the moon landing in 1969, was the race to be the first to fly non-stop across the Atlantic between New York and Paris. I am almost done reading [The Big Jump] by Richard Bak which tells the story of the race to claim the $25,000 Orteig Prize. As most everyone knows Charles Lindbergh was the winner but the book does not just focus on him. There was a bigger cast of characters trying to win the prize before Lindbergh. Six of them died making the attempt and on test flights. I find the courage of these men unimaginable today. Excellent history, well written. I recommend this book highly.… (more)
½
 
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ALinNY458 | 1 other review | Aug 12, 2011 |
This is a handsome coffee table sized book of the history of Detroit's cemeteries and memorials, is full of black and white photos and small stories of heroes and villains of Detroit. It starts with the burials of people in the 1830's cholera epidemic through today.

A lot of what is in this book can be generalized to the United States as a whole. I learned that the embalming did not become common until the 1880s. Many people sick from the cholera were buried alive. People who were in comas were also thought to be dead. My own great grandfather, although not in Detroit was put outside in the dead of winter when he was thought to be dead. Later when a relative came back to take measurements for his coffin, the relative noticed that he was alive.

There are also stories that are specific to Detroit, the funerals and burials of the greats of the automobile industry, of the funeral customs of different ethnic minorities, of grave snatchers and style of headstones through history, the burial of the poor and prisoners.

Richard Bak states that our treatment of the dead shows our values and culture. You can see for yourself the shift through the history of the burials.

I recommend this book for anyone interested in Detroit or the history of cemeteries in United States.
… (more)
 
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Carolee888 | Feb 28, 2011 |

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Works
26
Members
411
Popularity
#59,241
Rating
3.8
Reviews
3
ISBNs
48
Languages
1

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