The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-02-18

BY PAL Barbara Winslow," by Elizabeth Ellis,
 Dodd, Mead & Co.,, publishers, January, I 1906
 Barbara Winslow, Rebel" Is a tale of | adventures and romance that Is excep- | tionally well written and full of lively | interest to the reader from the very 1 first page. In fact. the preface Is also delightfully."- written and is of special ] concern to the reader. Here the authop writes:
 Whether James, Duke of Monmouth would have succeeded in his enterprise had different fortune attended his army at Sedgmoor is a favorite subject for speculation among historians. Certainly had victory attended the invaders troops in their first battle many wanderers would have been drawn to his standard and the ranks of his supporters might have been swelled by the large class of | politicians who measure the righteous ness of cause by it's success"
 But all know the abject failure of the pretender, and as the author writes, Not l into the hands of such men as this are
 
 l is a picturesque period however, and Miss Ellis has chosen the closing events of the defeat of the Duke of Monmouth | as a setting for her story. Hence her heroine who Is bewitching and vivacious, bears the subtitle of Rebel" for her | courage and devotion to the lost cause was no less than her sweet womanliness
 The story is strongly written and holds | to really remarkable degree the very atmosphere of those animated times so | full of romantic action and stirring inci- l dents. The central interest of the story 1 is concerned with two whose lives drifted 1 together through a fateful turn of events 1 and in whose hearts love was awakened I through hatred of tyranny. Barbara is a l strong, sweet character and her bewitch- l ing nature is best described in the toast | offered her in the story, "To the bravest comrade In misfortune the sweetest com | panion in peace, and at all times the most courageous of women-Barbara | Winslow."
 l The book itself is choice specimen of | the publishers art and the illustrations are by John Rae.
 | Dick" by Willie Drennen Russell. Pub | lished by the Neale Publishing com 1 pany.
 Just received from the publisher and bearing the imprint of 1905 is the little romance entitled Dick" by Willie Dren- nen Russell The authors name Is a well known one here in Birmingham and will no doubt be of special interest to Mrs. Russells friends and acquaintances here 1 The story Is dedicated ITO my uncle. Walter Melville Drennen," and is very | appropriately illustrated by Charles | Sykes.
 The scene of the story Is laid at Blount l Springs, using some of It's quaint charac- | ters as an individual setting for the 1 romance, though towards the close Bir- mingham comes in for It's share in the relation of events. The story is not a l lengthy one. and Is smoothly written and | easily conceived. The plot of the play | is not an intricate one, but entails the love affair of "Dick" and Ruth and the consequent unfolding of accompanying mishaps and misunderstanding. How | ever, all ends happily and acceptably con- l cludes a very pleasing little story. l "Ku Klux Klan," by J. C. Lester and 1 D. L. Wilson. Published by the Neale Publishing company, 1905. This short though very interesting vol ! ume on the organization known as the | Ku Klux Klan Is full of interest to all ! southerners. for they so fully realize the 1 important part that it played in preserv- l ing to the south It's integrity at peril ous time in it's history There is always | something fascinating about the Ku Klux l Klan which may be attributed to the weird jingle of the name or more likely l to the romantic mystery that surrounds | the idea of its organization. l The present volume gives many inter l esting and valuable facts, and is full of l rare personal "reminiscences. The intro | duction by Dr. Walter L. Fleming, author of Civil War and Reconstruction in Ala bama," which was reviewed in these col ,1AIer rad thority on reconstruction history, is par ticularly valuable, the material having been collected by him personally from many former members of the order who are now willing to disclose all they know about the famous brotherhood.
 Dr. Fleming writes: "The authors | Capt. John c. Lester and Rev. D. L. Will son. were residents in Pulaski, Tenn where the first den of the klan was founded. Major Lester was one of the l six orgiaal~mgnfbers of the Pulaski den or circle. He made a fine record as soldier in the Civil war"
 In the opening lines of the book proper | the authors write;
 serhere is no stranger chapter in Ameri- can history than the one which bears for title 'I<u Klux Klan The organization which bore this name went out of life as 1t came Into it, shrouded in deepest mys- terv, It's members would not disclose it's secrets; others could not. Even Ihe
 investigation committee appointed by Congress were baffied, The veil of se- crecy still hangs over it's grave. We pro pose to lift it
 The book as a whole is most interesting and certainly of very grave importance and value.
 Received Beside a Southern Sea- by Elizabeth May Montague. Published by Neale Publishing company 1905. Chiefly from Castles in Spain,' by
 Sophia Chandler. Published by the Neale Publishing company.
 Chiefly from Castles in Spain Is respectfully dedicated to all the sometime tenants of those base less fabrics" It is a quaint book of rev cries and refiectons--disjointed and en- tirey without any apparent incentive or specific raison d'etre. It is certainly a