Books published by publisher Greenbook Publications, LLC Aug - 2010

This book is the original autobiographical work by Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company. In this book, Ford details how he got into business, the strategies that he used to become a wealthy and successful businessman, and what others can do by learning from the examples he has outlined. Ford takes you through a journey of history, business and lessons to be learned from which he used to develop his financial empire.

Sutton Elbert Griggs (June 19, 1872 - January 2, 1933) is best known for his novel Imperium in Imperio, a utopian work that imagines that within the United States there is a separate African American state. This work centers on the disclosure of an African American "empire within an empire," a shadow government complete with a Congress based in Waco, Texas. The two main characters are childhood friends separated by wealth, education, skin tone, and political outlook; one is a militant and one an integrationist. The light-skinned and more militant Bernard Belgrave has been hand-picked to serve as president and advocates a takeover of the Texas state government, while the dark-skinned, college-educated Belton Piedmont argues for assimilation and cooperation. Bernard has Belton executed as a traitor, leaving the potentially violent and unstable Bernard in control of the Imperium as the novel ends.

A satirical novella is set in the world of Flatland. Edwin Abbott Abbott writes pseudonymously as "A. Square" a plane form living in a two dimensional reality in order to offer pointed observations on the social hierarchy of Victorian culture. His place in the social hierarchy is in the middle class, and he describes effectively the other classes within his world. The dangerous Women, or single lines, the dull yet powerful Isosceles Triangles, or soldiers and laymen, the Equilateral Triangle, or tradesmen, the Nobility class, or Polygon class, and the Circles, or Priests, all combine to make a social order within Flatland. Their existence is complete with class strife, discrimination, alteration, regulation, wars, and power struggles, just as any other society in existence. When A. Square dreams of another world, Lineland, he is struck by a need to explain to the inhabitants the error of their one dimensional viewpoints and introduce them to a second dimension. Noted science writer Isaac Asimov described Flatland as "The best introduction one can find into the manner of perceiving dimensions" in a foreword to one publication. As such, the work is still popular amongst mathematics, physics and computer science students.

Letters from the Earth is one of Mark Twain's posthumously published works. The essays were written during a difficult time in Twain's life; he was deep in debt and had lost his wife and one of his daughters. The book consists of a series of short stories, many of which deal with God and Christianity. Twain penned a series of letters from the point-of-view of a dejected angel on Earth. This title story consists of letters written by the archangel Satan to archangels, Gabriel and Michael, about his observations on the curious proceedings of earthly life and the nature of man's religions. By analyzing the idea of heaven and God that is widely accepted by those who believe in both, Twain is able to take the silliness that is present and study it with the common sense that is absent. Not so much an attack as much as a cold dissection. Other short stories in the book include a bedtime story about a family of cats Twain wrote for his daughters, and an essay explaining why an anaconda is morally superior to Man. Twain's writings in Letters From the Earth find him at perhaps his most quizzical and questioning state ever.

In this 3 series of Unspoken Sermons, George MacDonald states his theological views and among other things. The work itself is a Christian classic spoken of highly by C.S. Lewis. In his introduction to George MacDonald: An Anthology, C. S. Lewis wrote of MacDonald's theology: "This collection, as I have said, was designed not to revive MacDonald's literary reputation but to spread his religious teaching. Hence most of my extracts are taken from the three volumes of "Unspoken Sermons." My own debt to this book is almost as great as one man can owe to another: and nearly all serious inquirers to whom I have introduced it acknowledge that it has given them great help-sometimes indispensable help toward the very acceptance of the Christian faith." Never one to shy away from a difficulty, MacDonald explores some of the most challenging and perplexing passages in the Gospels, each time rising to newer heights in his elucidation of the mysteries of Gods Love.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is considered one of the most famous and popular works in American literature. It has been said to be the first American book to be taken seriously by Europeans as a literary work. The work is a delightful self-portrait that has been translated into most every language. The work covers Franklin's life up to his prewar stay in London as representative of the Pennsylvania Assembly, including his childhood years, occupation as a printer, experiments with electricity, political career, as well as an accumulation of many more subjects. Franklin's account of his life is separated into four parts, reflecting upon the various periods during which he wrote them.

A Doll's House made Henrik Ibsen world famous; the play is still Ibsen's most popular and one of his most acclaimed. Frequently called the first feminist play, A Doll's House is a fierce critique of Victorian society's conduct toward women. The play revolves around the lives of Nora and Torvald Helmer. Nora is treated as a juvenile, foolish woman by her husband. In reality Nora has been secretly working odd jobs to pay back the money she borrowed when Torvald was ill. This selfless act saved Torvald's life. Nora borrowed the money from her father's bank by a forged signature and has been plagued with the fear of Torvald discovering her secret. When Torvald discovers the existence of the loan he berates Nora, calling her a deceitful and corrupt woman and telling her she is unfit to raise their children. He says that he will stay married only to maintain appearances. Nora realizing that Torvald's love has always been conditional on her maintaining a traditional role as wife and mother decides that she must leave to find out who she is and what to make of her life.

Best known for his poetry, William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) was also a dedicated exponent of Irish folklore. Yeats took a particular interest in the tales' mythic and magical roots. The Celtic Twilight ventures into the eerie and puckish world of fairies, ghosts, and spirits. "This handful of dreams, "as the author referred to it, first appeared in 1893, and its title refers to the predawn hours, when the Druids performed their rituals. It Consists of stories recounted to the poet by his friends, neighbors, and acquaintances. Yeats' faithful transcription of their narratives includes his own visionary experiences, appended to the storytellers' words as a form of commentary.

This blanded-down version of the Cinderella tale is based upon what is generally-agreed upon as the definitive "first" Cinderella, which is by a French author named Charles Perrault, printed in 1697. What is added here is a bunch of "lessons" which children should learn by the story. For example, when Cinderella is late leaving the ball, thus necessitating her walking home in rags, the author tells his readers: "[This] is an everlasting lesson to all the pretty little Cinderella’s in the world to keep their word, and to act in good faith by such as befriend them."

There are numerous time-honored stories which have become so incorporated into the literature and thought of our race that a knowledge of them is an indispensable part of one's education. As a matter of course, some of these stories are better known, and therefore more famous, than others. Some have a slight historical value; some are useful as giving point to certain great moral truths; others are products solely of the fancy, and are intended only to amuse. Some are derived from very ancient sources, and are current in the literature of many lands; some have come to us through the ballads and folk tales of the English people; a few are of quite recent origin; nearly all are the subjects of frequent allusions in poetry and prose and in the conversation of educated people. Care has been taken to exclude everything that is not strictly within the limits of probability; hence there is here no trespassing upon the domain of the fairy tale, the fable, or the myth.

In this 3 series of Unspoken Sermons, George MacDonald states his theological views and among other things. The work itself is a Christian classic spoken of highly by C.S. Lewis. In his introduction to George MacDonald: An Anthology, C. S. Lewis wrote of MacDonald's theology: "This collection, as I have said, was designed not to revive MacDonald's literary reputation but to spread his religious teaching. Hence most of my extracts are taken from the three volumes of "Unspoken Sermons." My own debt to this book is almost as great as one man can owe to another: and nearly all serious inquirers to whom I have introduced it acknowledge that it has given them great help-sometimes indispensable help toward the very acceptance of the Christian faith." Never one to shy away from a difficulty, MacDonald explores some of the most challenging and perplexing passages in the Gospels, each time rising to newer heights in his elucidation of the mysteries of Gods Love.