William Berry has written a well-detailed, although brief, look at his attempted escape and captivity after the fall of Correigdor. While not a scholarly look at these events, the author gives a good account of his capture, escape and trek through the jungle, recapture and liberation by American servicemen from Bilibid prison in Manila. He painfully recounts the agony these men went through as they were crammed, up to 13 men at one time, into a 10 by 10 cell and forced to sit, without flinching, and stare at the wall all day.

As a recaptured prisoner, Berry and his two comrades somehow survive the war, as the usual penalty for escape is execution. They were sent to the maximum security prison in Manila for "special prisoners", and many prisoners stopped here only long enough to be sentenced and shot. Berry, who was a fledgling lawyer before enlisting in the Navy, saw these skills save his life and the lives of his friends when being sentenced, not so much his arguments, of course, but rather how he shaped it to fit his audience (A Japanese tribunal)

This book does not take long to read, but it is an interesting tale, and well worth the time invested. But, if you want greater scope and detail of Americans in Japanese captivity, read "Prisoners of the Japanese" by Gavan Daws, an extremely informative and well-written look at the horrors these men had to endure daily.

The author of this book is my grandfather. I found this book to be inspiring as I am also a soldier. I am in the Army and found this book to give me a greater appreciation of my profession as well as bring a greater understanding of my grandfather's life and why he is so proud. I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to understand what POWs in the Philippines went through. I have lent my copy of his book to several of my friends and they all gave it great reviews as well.

One of the few true to life books written by a WWII POW. As a history buff I find the first hand accounts in this book of the authors experiances and the others he came in contact a first rate story of America's darkest time. A must for all those who want to know more about POW's of the Japanese.

Having been stationed in the Philippines and traveled to Battan and Corrigidor it brought the meaning of those visits a little sharper in focus.

This is an entertaining if odd little book and is much overated. I had two problems with it: 1) There are no footnotes but all sorts of two-hundred year old dialogue provided. The author has verbatim discussions taking place on the remote island that certainly could not have been recorded (but how would we know since none of it is footnoted?). Mostly, the author made it up it seems and the device shadows the credibility of the whole book. 2) And if I was not incredulous enough over the history-as-soap opera style, the author saves his blockbuster thesis for the last chapter. He agues that the crusty Captain Bligh and Spencer Christian were really gay lovers and this explains the combustibility and passions that came into play. Bligh according to this view was jealous of Christian's love affair with the Tahitian girl he later fathered three children with. The author offers not one shred of evidence for this, not one shred, and says as much in the final pages of the book. This book has an amateurish feel, written by an author who got away for too long with writing pseudo-histories. This book is not without redeeming qualities; it certainly is interesting and a good read. The 1984 movie The Bounty was based on this account, though the movie, mercifully, skipped over some of Robert Blough's more nutty conclusions.

I can't remember exactly where I came across my copy of this book...I think my parents unearthed it in thier attic one afternoon and gave it to me, the family's avid reader. I took it with me to St. Croix as a means to pass the time, and there sitting in a hammock on a beach not unlike the ones described in the book I began my adventure.
"Mutiny on the Bounty" chronicles the story of the HMS Bounty under Lt. Bligh, a thoroughly tyrannical leader if ever there was one. Shortly after thier departure from Tahiti (to get breadfruit trees for the slave colonies of the West Indies), the mutiny takes place and Bligh and a dozen other loyal crew members are put into the Bounty's open launch and set adrift. The remaining pages are dedicated to those left behind on the Bounty, both mutineer and loyalists.
"Men Against the Sea" tells the story of Bligh and the other loyal crewmembers who were stranded with him in the launch, and of thier gripping journey back to civilized land, covering some 3600 miles according to the book.
"Pitcairn's Island" continues the saga by finishing the stories of Fletcher Christian and his small band of remaining mutineers trip to the deserted island of the same name. There they set up a safe haven to hide in, until the Tahitian men rebel...
I read this book, unable to put it down. All three of the stories are amazingly gripping and this book is a true page-turner in every respect. Maybe being on a tropical island added something to it, I may never know, but I would certainly recommend this to anyone who just wants a really good story!

The subject matter is engrossing and will leave you wanting for more when it's all done. I'm a sometime visitor to Pitcairn Island's website, check there to see how the decendants of the original crewmembers are doing :)

The Bounty mutiny is perhaps the most fascinating and stirring sea adventure in world history, even more so than the TITANIC. Hough's book is an excellent reexamination of the story and of the complex relationship between William Bligh and Fletcher Christian. While I don't agree with Hough's conclusions as to what was really at the heart of the mutiny (I won't spoil it for you by revealing that here) the relationship was combustible and was at the heart of the mutiny.

The Bounty crew were for the most part hand-picked and young. Christian was only in his early 20s, Bligh was in his early 30s and only a very few of the crew were in their late 30s or early 40s. Despite the popular image of the story, Bligh was actually pretty lenient with his crew when it came to punishment and he made it all the way to Tahiti losing only a single man. During his epic open boat voyage after the mutiny, he made it to Coupang having lost only one man en route, although many of the survivors died within weeks of their rescue. Bligh was a complainer, a nagger and had a viciously sharp tongue though which was more than the youthful Christian could bear.

Far from the heroic image that Christian is given in the movies, Hough shows that Christian was impulsive and not much of a leader. While Bligh, sharp tongue and all, was able to save nearly all of the men who were kicked off the ship with him, Christian and his men met with disaster at almost every turn, primarily because Christian was a failure as a leader. The mutineers' disastrous attempt to settle on Pitcairn Island is perhaps the most gripping and fascinating part of the story.

Hough's book is excellent and the Mel Gibson/Anthony Hopkins movie "The Bounty" was based on it and is by far the most authentic and best of the Bounty movies.

This book was the primary text in a university workshop I just took on "Philosophy in Children's Literature." Being a big fan of Benjamin Hoff's "The Tao of Pooh," I approached the book with great hopes. Williams' tongue-in-cheek conceit is that the Bear of Little Brain is, in fact, the greatest philosopher that ever lived. All of western philosophy before Pooh was mere preamble and the twentieth-century existentialists were familiar with an heavily influenced by the "Great Bear."
I felt that Williams was more interested in being clever than in whatever other goal he had in mind. He presents the philosophical concepts too briefly and dismissively to be of much value. Worse, it seems he spends more space extolling the brilliant Pooh that really discussing how the (sometimes stretched past the breaking point) passages from A. A. Milne's stories relate to philosophies. Like any one-joke movie or TV series, it just got repetitive and annoying after awhile.

This book is funny. The author has a great sense of humour in making his arguement. I found it enjoyable even though there are philosophers that he obviously enjoyed writing about more. As a bonus, it serves as a great indroductory "philosophy for dummies" sort of book for a beginner to the subject like me.

"In which it is shown that all of western Philosophy is merely a preamble to Winnie-the-Pooh." This book proves, once and for all, that Pooh bear is in fact a Bear of Enormous Brain. It also shows how Eeyore is obsessed with the Platonic Forms, and how Christopher Robin is indeed stupid compared with the Great Bear. This book will delight all readers, not just Ursinian scholars (students of Pooh) and philosophers.

Jeremy Isn't Hungry - this is an adorable book that any mom can relate to! I bet most older siblings can relate to as well. The author, Barbara Williams wrote the story to be sweet and funny.

This book had me, my husband, and our 6 yr old daughter giggling and laughing from beginning to end. The story describes the woes of a mother and her kindergarten-age boy as he attempts to feed his baby brother while she showers and dresses in preparation for a school meeting. This tale really hit home, as we have encountered similar humorous consequences in our own home with our daughter and her baby brother.

This is a vastly undervalued novel treatment of LA architecture and urbanism. It is critical to understand the Anglo roots of LA through literature and art. He "gets" exactly how one after another attempt to find a canonic LA style was attempted without success. This is psycho-analytic cultural history of the highest order, with probing analysis of key visual artifacts, from early photos and revealing orange crate art panels to investigations of LA psychology through works by Ed Ruscha and David Hockney. You can not be disappointed by this fine book.

If you care anything about Los Angeles or are interested in how that unique American city got that way, you should read this book. Don't be put off by the fact that it is published by a Unversity Press. McClung has written an eminently readable examination of L.A., a city that bears analysis. For scholars he provides 40 pages of notes and credits at the end of the book, a courtesy that neither interrupts nor intimidates the average reader. Entertaining as well as insightful, the author clearly has had a love affair with Los Angeles, but has been able to objectively and eloquently analyze the object of his desire. McClung manages to reveal and explain a city that can confuse the novice. Like the city itself, McClung covers a lot of territory: art; architecture (the Getty to Disneyland, and Hollywood palaces to the Hollywood sign); city planning, or lack of it; literature (my favorite section which includes everyone from Chandler to Twain to Waugh to Didion and Isherwood, et. al). McClung has an impressive ability to "read" and explain architecture, especially useful for the reader like myself who otherwise would have underappreciated this measure of the city. McClung avoids cliche, explodes myths, and reveals obvious and discrete disappointments and enchantments of a complex city. This is a text for those who think they know Los Angeles, as well as for the rest of us. One gripe, and University of California Press please note: The book has some 150 illustrations - photographs, maps, fruit box labels, Disney cartoons and more. It should be coffee table size, and the illustrations reproduced in color where available. One hardly sees L.A. in black and white. We'll look for the improved format when the paperback edition is published.

The book, Secrets to the magic of oil painting is one of the books to be followed by students of oil painting. This book mainly deals with painting a variety of landscapes, with emphasis on mountains and a wide variety of trees. The author thoroughly explains the kind of brushes and other tools to be used to bring out the real-life effects and also the kind of colors to be used that are not quite obvious to a novice in oil painting. The only drawback about the book is that it could have included more number of paintings and a variety of other landscapes, in particular. However, it provides very good starting tips to any novice in oil painting. A sequel to this book, Secrets to the magic of oil painting - 1 written by the same author is one of the books that can be used by students wishing to master landscape paintings.

This is an exact reproduction of an older version by William Alexander, titled: Secrets to the Magic of Oil Painting II. Excellent beginner's book for those interested in his wet-on-wet technique. This famous technique should be taken advantage of as it can enable you to produce the basic painting in very little time, after which you can elaborate as it suits you - more details, etc.

This book documents the friendship and political careers of two of the Confederacy's most important statesmen. Davis does a nice job of providing historical detail while also weaving a readable story. However, at times, the prose is too informal and almost needlessly dramatic. Moreover, much of the history is quite derivative, as I learned very little new information about the men in question or the political tenets of the Confederacy. His previous book, "A Government of Our Own," is a much better historical treatment.

Toombs and Stephen examplify the problems within the Confederate
government. These incredibly close friends of the strong Georgia delegation were powerful national political figures whose bitterness over personal issues, Toombs, and Stephens' strict constitutional views undermined the Davis administration. Stephens never seriously worked with the dominating Davis and was later opposed to the administration over constitutional issues in the face of bigger war emergencies. Toombs loses the opportunity to become the first President by his bellicose enthusiams for the office coupled with drink which lowers his place in the new government and raises Stephens' star. Excellent description of both men including Toombs rise as Secretary of State, his anti-Davis stance and his mercurial and short military career. The author also covers the end of the era of both men including Stephens' attempts to rewite history in a light more favorable to him then his actions were in reality. These two powerful men and closest of friends could not see the big picture of the war seeking their narrow views in spite of the war effort. Together with Governor Brown of Georgia, they represented a crisis of independence within the Confederacy that no doubt contributed to the fall of the Confederate government.

What a delightful little book! And frankly, I don't often use the term "delightful" in a book review. *The Union That Shaped the Confederacy* is a swiftly-paced, lightly written work that details the friendship of a pair of Georgians - Robert Toombs and "Little Alec," Alexander Stephens.

It is very important to know exactly what you are not getting with this book. You will not get a standard biographical treatment of Stephens and Toombs, and author Davis makes this abundantly clear from the outset. You will not receive great insights into the minds and thinking of these two men, but will come to appreciate the antebellum, war-time, and post-bellum periods of American history as these two men saw it.

William C. Davis does not attempt to make his subjects either heroes or villains on the Confederacy's stage. They were what they were - friends who for the most part held similar political beliefs, worked for the same ends, and became, as the war progressed, more and more bitterly opposed to the administration of Jefferson F. Davis.

Because of the nature of the work, the reader receives a slice of Civil War-era history from a perspective he or she would not likely get. Along the way, one receives insights into the functioning (and dysfunction) of the Confederacy's Executive Branch, as well as the building of the "loyal opposition" to Davis's administration. We see the strengths and weaknesses of these two prominent Georgians, as they struggled to establish a new nation out of the old.

Davis's writing style is loose and fast, and almost reads as if a good friend is telling a story of another pair of friends. To some, this may be distracting, but I found it to be just part of the story. *The Union That Shaped the Confederacy* can be read quickly, with a great sense of satisfaction. This book comes highly recommended.

To prospective buyers it may be helpful to know that this is a British book: the selection of names is heavily influenced by this. For example "lacewood" is given here in the literal sense, as quartersawn wood of a species with high rays, with a "lacy" ray fleck, originally Platanus spp. Later (although the book omits to mention this) the woods of the Proteaceae (both the Australian silky oaks and the South American roupala) were also so used. The American use of "lacewood" for the Australian silky oaks, however sawn, is somewhat of a misnomer.

If you ever wondered what a certain wood looked kie, here is the answer book. A nessacary item for every cabinetmaker.

I found this work particularly useful in designing a woodworking project as a novice who wanted to make something beautiful and lasting. Selecting hardwoods for my project was a major undertaking because of high expectations I have of the woods from which I built my dining table. I wanted beauty, durability, and contrast; at the same time needing compatibility among the five different woods I used. While the book has its critics, as a lay woodworker, it served my purposes admirably. The concise information featured for every wood was extremely useful. If the book sees a new edition, I hope a competent editor will preclude the many minor grammar errors, typos, and several inconsistencies I noted. The text fails to be consistent in always providing data critical to my own project: not all entries provide information about the stability of the wood in service.

The Folger Library series are your best Shakespeare source. They specialize in Shakespeares' greatest plays and are quality books that are perfect companion and translator to Shakespeare. It is loaded with page after page of translation from the Old English expressions that are no longer in use to our modern talk, and pictures as well as historic background information on th Elizabethan era and Shakespeares' life. Hamlet is without question Shakespeare's greatest tragedy, remaining in our theatrical culture to this very day. It has become a conversation piece for English professors, dramatists and screen actors (Mel Gibson tackled the role in 1991) and even psychologists, who claim that Hamlet had the Oedipal complex, especially when they read the scene in which Hamlet is in his mother's bedroom. What makes Hamlet so great ? Why does this old play still come alive when performed on the stage in the hands of the right actors ?

Shakespeare, believe it or not, was a people's person and knew about the human condition perhaps more than anyone in his day. Hamlet deals principally with obscession for revenge. Hamlet is a prince whose father has been murdered under the evil conspiracy from his uncle Claudius and even the support of his mother, Queen Gertrude. Depressed, wearing black all the time, and very much as solitary as any "Goth" would be in our day, Hamlet laments his situation, until his father's ghost appears and urges him to avenge his death. The mystery still remains, is this ghost real ? Is it, as many in Elizabetheans thought, a demon in disguise ? Or is it simply a figment of Hamlet's own emotions and desire for revenge. At any rate, Hamlet's father appears twice and Hamlet spends most of the play planning his revenge. His most striking line that reveals this consuming need is "The play's the thing, wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king!".

Pretending to be mad, he scorns even the love of the woman he genuinely loves, Ophelia, whose mind is shattered and heart is broken and who has an impressive mad scene. The deaths of Hamlet's friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, are also in Hamle'ts hands and a consequence of his revenge. The famous soliloquy in the play, is of course, "To be or not to be", taken on by such great actors as Lawrence Olivier and Orson Welles. Hamlet muses on the brevity of life and the suffering which can only cease through death, as he holds a skull and is evidently suicidal. Finally, the last scenes are the most dramatic. Hamlet duels with Laertes, Ophelia's brother, and with Claudius himself. The deaths of the main cast, including the Queen, goes to show how tragic the human desire for greed and revenge is.

This is Shakespeare's finest tragedy, and quality drama, best seen in a live stage performance, but that also works as a film. As for this book, as I said before, this is the Hamlet to have. You will become more acquianted with Hamlet and Shakespeare even more than taking a year's course with a teacher. This book itself is the teacher.

If you could read only one thing in your lifetime Hamlet should be that one thing. It is Shakespeare's best work by far, and within its pages is more meaning than you could find within the pages of an entire library full of books, or plays as the case may be. A mere review, a couple words, cannot do Hamlet justice. At times I realize that the language of Shakespeare can be difficult that is why I recommend the Folger version because it helps to make the images expressed by Shakespeare's characters clear to the reader, and allows them to get their own deep personal meaning from Hamlet, Shakespeare's greatest work, with out being bogged down in trying to decipher and interpret his antiquarian English. Don't just listen to what I say, or read what I write, read the play on your own outside the cumbersome restraints of a classroom and see for yourself what I mean.

Ah, yes. Hailed by many as Shakespeare's Magnum Opus (is that right?), this is certainly one of his most significant dramatic works. Hamlet is an atmosperic story of internalization - of feelings (guilt, love, hatred), of people, thoughts, and actions. Marked by indecision and a strong sense of self-pity and self-consciousness, Hamlet makes the slow transition from fear to determination in his quest to avenge his father's death. Oedipal complex, supernatural powers, royal incest, revenge - these are all explored in the play. Several famous questions are posed and thoughts explored - of existence, suicide, meaning, value. Hamlet is just packed with philosophy, psychology, and humanity. A must-read in which you will find many of the most famous soliloquies in all of Shakespeare. Thrown in Yorick's skull, poor Ophelia, good Horatio, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, you've got yourself one awesome play.

This is one of those books that is almost impossible to objectively review. The writing is elegant and evocative of an era in the South that died almost in tandem with Mr. Percy and yet I find some parts of it so arrogant and condescending that I feel myself grinding my teeth. You see, I am descended from those Mississippi hill people Percy so despised and, even after all this time, I can almost see the languid gaze and soft, drawling voice. My people came to the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta after the Flood of '27 and we build and earned what we got without the benefit of the massive slave labor that built Mr. Percy's fortune.

But this is a book review and I'll put aside old feelings to say that this is a literary gem that brings to life a way of life on which so many stereotypes of the South are built. And Will Percy is amazingly honest in his descriptions of his society. However, a society this simple and yet this complex takes more than just one book to grasp.

Thus, I also recommend "Rising Tide" by John Barry and "The Most Southern Place on Earth: The Mississippi Delta and the Roots of Regional Identity" by James Cobb to balance your view of this time and place in history.

Bottom line: This is a wonderful, beautifully written story that is refreshingly candid with none of the defensiveness and politically correct breast beating of many of the works of southern writers of recent years.

Percy's autobiogrpahy offers excellent insights into the heart and mind of those of his class (as close to an agricultural elite as this country has ever produced. But the best of this book is offered unconsciously, by accident or indirection.
If you're only going to read one book about the South, or about this elite, read John Barry's Rising Tide, a truly brilliant and magnificently-- almost breathtakingly-- written book. There you gte all of Percy's story plus more perspective and deeper understanding-- indeed, RT may even give you a deeper understanding of Percy than his autobuiography does.
If you're going to read 2 books on the South, then read RT and Mind of the South by Cash. Cash focuses more on the mindset of the rednecks, while Percy is very much an aristocrat. To a certain extent the Percy and Cash books complement each other. In fact, to Percy the word "anglo-saxon" was an insult. He considered himself descended from the Norman conquerors of the Anglo-saxons, and saw them as serfs. That little insight comes from Rising Tide.

Noble, refined, and distinctly tragic in sentiment, this book captures the proud soul of William Percy in eloquent prose. A man, in love with a vision of what is best in the world, in love with what is best in his fellow men, in love with what is best in his home emerges from these pages. He stands defiant in defense of the vision, despite all its imperfections, confident that its beauty outshines its faults. The book stands not only as a proud memorial to a noble vision that has passed into history, but a testimony to the beauty of the human spirit that continues to animate men to strive for nobility of life and the security virtues.