This book goes into considerable detail regarding what was done but provides almost no information on how it was accomplished. Rowlett was one of a small group of mathematicians who were introduced to cryptography by the legendary William Friedman. As recounted in the book, the group had remarkable success in breaking both Red and Purple,the Japanese diplomatic codes in use prior to WW II. Rowlett describes how the group was trained under Friedman's direction but supplies no information what so ever regarding the nature of the training. This is the case throughout the book as it relates to how every issue of importance was analyzed. The section of the book which describes the construction of the device to decode Purple is excellent in recreating the intensity of the event. One can almost smell the odor of burning electrial equipment when the contacts on the first version of the device melt and then fuse. Rowlett was obviously acutely aware of the importance of protecting the technical information related to the activities he was engaged in ; however, in doing so he produced a document which although descriptive is not at all informative. It is highly unlikely, because of antiquated security considerations, that the full story of this remarkable accomplishment will ever be presented at a level of granularity it deserves.

Frank Rowlett's story is an intense day-by-day account of life as a cryptanalyst in the Signal Intelligence Service during the years leading up to WW II. This story puts together important pieces of the historical puzzle. As a story, it is exciting, and brings history alive.

This book was published as a well bound, hardback, dust jacketed book by Aegean Park Press, a publishing house well known for re-printing (keeping available and alive) important Cryptanalytical, Cryptological, Cryptograhic publications in softcover 8-1/2" x 11" format. Just the way this particular publishing house, who specializes in crypto works is treating this book "screams" the high regard they have for it.

If you're looking for crypto course work, the how-to-do-it, Aegean Park Press has it, (though not in this book). If you are looking for the taste and feel, the heart and soul of real cryptanalysts enjoying their work, that IS the form & substance of this book; as well as being an important historical work.

This book by a pioneer cryptanalyst gives a fascinating insight into how Army cryptanalysts developed the skills and techniques that lead to the breaking of the high level Japanese Diplomatic code "Purple". It describes how the team lead by Rowlett duplicated the complex Japanese Purple cipher machine from manually broken intercepted messages - a feat that astonished Navy cryptanalysts. It describes how Rowlett developed the concepts for a code machine used by the United States during World War II that was never broken by enemy cryptanalysts. The overall account is exciting. It gives the reader a behind the scene look at the numerous obstacles American cryptanalysts faced both internally and externally - and how they overcame them. It is written by a man who for security reasons remained in the shadows for years but in the world of secret communications stood as a giant. After reading The Story of Magic one should read Hitler's Japanese Confidant by Carl Boyd. The reader can then begin to fully appreciate how reading Japanese diplomatic messages contributed to the United States diplomatic and military successes.

Like everyone else, I read and enjoyed this book when I was a teenager. It contains some fascinating, mystifying tales, providing hours of entertainment.

I later discovered it was helpful in prompting a couple of young people (aged 10 - 11) to read more, for entertainment. Edwards' vignettes are stimulating enough to capture the attention of today's youngsters, who've grown up with televisions and computers. STS was a good transition tool for pushing them toward higher quality literature.

As an adult, years after taking a university journalism course, I happened to pick up Stranger Than Science again, and immediately discerned how weak the reporting was, how unsubstantiated the allegations and how non-existent the attribution. Frank Edwards didn't seem to be much of a skeptic, which appeared to result in a lot of blithe acceptance of a lot of fantastic tale-telling.

I read and re-read this book as a teenager and was fascinated by the bizarre collection of true? stories. Nothing of concern for youngsters which is a pleasant change. Well worth reading at any age.

As a teenager I read this book, including his second volume. The true, yet mysterious items intrigued me for years, causing me to search out spirituality and everything paranormal that could somehow explain the events listed. It gave me a healthy open mind towards new information. I've thanked the author for giving me an interest in reading and not being a "blind" consumer later in life.

Photograph of Fallingwater (page 46) is reversed left-right.

Maybe the most complete book on Frank Lloyd Wright but despite the numerous photos, the quality is equal to the price. Some pictures like Guggenheim Museum are quite poor. Despite this it's a good book especially for the price.

BEST single-source reference book...
Of course,excellent photography !

OK so I'm not a trained critic and this is just my opinion. Does anyone else see the obvious artifice in his poetry? Constructed to tried and trusted formulae. The other reviews speak of his broad spectrum of subject matter. Reading some of his material, he knows nothing first hand of what he is writing. Maybe I am a sentimentalist, but I prefer poetry to be written from real expereince, from the heart. I find Stevens' writing literally competent, but I can't ever imagine it moving me. I need something deeper, truer.

Stevens is a national treasure. This is poetry of and about the imagination, but it is grounded in our real life experience of things. One should read his work as one would listen to great music, let it flow through you...but don't try too hard to comprehend it intellectually, at least, not on first reading it. If I had to choose one book to take to a desert island it would be this one.

Who knew that the self-possessed and elegant verse of Wallace Stevens actually masked an insecure, nervous man of choleric temperament? Not me. Kermode, a Stevens scholar and biographer, has done a good job of not merely reprinting here the familiar but of finding some true surprises, too. For example, this verse, written in Stevens' 40th year to a college literary magazine that was sponsoring a competition:

I Want to Win The Darned Contest

Please let me win
your poetry contest
I'd like to be a lucky winner today.
I'm dreaming of the fame that will
ensue if you call me to utter
the words that make it worth while:
You're a winner, you're not a loser
any more
you totally have what it takes to
write a poem
that moves us
without making us puke.
Please god, that's what I need to
hear from you.
OK? OK.
Thanks again.
Very Truly Yours,
Wallace Stevens
Vice President.

The book taught me a lot about this great American poet.

Who Speaks For Wolf, a book written by Paula Underwood, Turtle Women Singing, is a story about an Indian tribe who faces the challenge of finding peace with nature. A Grandfather is singing an ancient story of their tribe to his grandson while wolves watch on from a nearby hill. This novel is a Native American poetry book, whose theme is to respect nature. As the Indian tribe moves onto the wolves home, they face the challenge to become one with nature, which the wisest of their tribe has already done. "And so it was that the people devised among themselves a way of asking each other questions whenever a decision was to be made on a new place or a new way." (Who Speaks For Wolf-pg 38) The Indians learnt how to respect the wolves and nature, but in the 1600's the white men came. After they came, the Indians became the wolves, and the white men the Indians, for they had not learnt to respect nature and other people. This book is written in an unusual style. Since the story is the grandfather singing to the son, there are capital letters beginning each paragraph and page, which resemble shouting. Since it is written in poetry, there are many indentions resembling the new verses. Who Speaks for Wolf is a picture book, which is aimed from kindergarten to collage and beyond. Many people enjoy this book for its lesson and understanding.

Who Speaks for Wolf, by Paula Underwood, is a small book with a big meaning. This Native American story teaches the relationship between nature and people. This book is a memorable and educational book with a profound impact. Who Speaks for Wolf is a Native American story, told by a grandfather to his grandson, teaching him about Wolf. This book tells of how the people forget Wolf, and push him off his land. The people become selfish and want the land for themselves. Later, white man come and repeats the same offense. They too don't think about the natives, and push and kill them off the land. The white men now show the same arrogance shown earlier by the natives. The important lesson of the story is to respect not only Wolf and other people, but also nature as a whole. The author does a splendid job of relaying the importance of living in harmony with nature. Who Speaks for Wolf, by Paula Underwood, teaches how important it is to respect nature. Through the Native American's story of a people thinking only of themselves and not of Wolf, we better understand of nature, and a better co-existence.

I am a college student who was required to read this book for my Mediation course. This is a short story with a tremendously important lesson. Written from the perspective of an old native american father, he tells the story of wolf. It follows the life of the native americans and of the relationship between man and animal (wolf). It goes on to show the blatant disregard of wolf when an important decision needed to be made among the native americans, and the fallout of that disregard. From a mediation perspective, it teaches the imporant lesson of diversity, learning to accept all parties involved and listening to and taking them into account. This is an incredible book for young and old...it comes with my highest reccomendation.

A fine example of how Western mysticism is converging with psychoanalysis. To highlight the point, Tuoti holds out Carl Jung, the father of modern psychotherapy, as an authority on mysticism, and frequently employs such Jungian jargon as "individuation," the "anima" and the pronoun "she" when referring to the Holy Spirit. The book also demonstrates how far "Christian" mysticism has strayed from its source. Tuoti shuns the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You will not find in these pages any significance given to the doctrines of sin and salvation, the Blood and the Cross, except perhaps as metaphors for the "true inner self." Today's mystic monks find closer fellowship with Ramakrishna and Swami Muktananda than they do with the apostle Paul. Tuoti proudly cites his mentor, Thomas Merton, who "found more in common with many mystics he met in Asia than with most of his Christian contemporaries..." Presumably, their commonalities did not include obeisance to Jesus' words that "no one comes to the Father but through me."

Merton and his Eastern brethren have undoubtedly tapped into something that resembles the experiences of genuine Christian mystics such as Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross. But if they are not communing with the One to whom only Jesus is the way, what are they experiencing? An answer may be found in the works of another true Christian mystic, John of Ruysbroeck. Man's attempt to connect with his inner being did not begin with Carl Jung. It was prevalent, and successful, 700 hundred years ago in Ruysbroeck's day. Ruysbroeck wrote of those who "turned in upon the bareness of their own being" and "the onefold simplicity which they there possess, they take to be God, because they find a natural rest therein." He said that "[t]his rest is in itself no sin; for it exists in all men by nature, whenever they make themselves empty." But this rest that all may obtain through natural means "is wholly contrary to the supernatural rest, which one possesses in God [and which] is exalted above the rest of mere nature as greatly as God is exalted above all creatures."

The way to this heavenly rest was clear to Ruysbroeck: "For through his own power no man has ascended into heaven, save the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. And therefore we must unite ourselves with Him, through grace and virtue and Christian faith: so we shall ascend with Him whither He has gone before us." Here was a man who was not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.

If you want to find your inner self, Tuoti happily points the way. If you want to find God the Father, read Ruysbroeck or better still the Son who said, "I am the way."

This book is a great solution for all of those who have looked for god and failed to find it because they were looking in the wrong places. It is literally like a breath of fresh air when compared to most varieties of contemporary religious teaching and was definitely an eye-opener. Only for the open-minded. Contains a wealth of excellent references and bibliography.

"Taste and see how good the Lord is!" This book is a delicious presentation by Frank Tuoti of piping hot Biblical truth about the banquet of unrelenting Love to which God calls all of God's creation, and out of which God operates. The recipe is simple but not easy. Tuoti shows how the whole Bible insists that the Mystical life should be the normative Christian experience, as normal as eating, and as necessary as drinking (living) water for health and well-being. Indeed, as Thomas Merton, quoted here by Tuoti, points out, it is "the only cure for the angst" of modern humankind. Tuoti, among a number of contemporary Christian spiritual writers, vividly and emphatically illustrates in many short and readable chapters how the whole of Judeo-Christian scripture reveals taht God yearns for us in wordless self communication that has its most glorious model in the Life of the Holy Trinity. Many Christians will be surprised to learn that for the first 1600 years of the Christian era, contemplative prayer was well understood to be the path for all to take in the way to a closer walk with God and transformation into Christlikeness. And readers will be delighted to learn that all it really takes is grace-filled self surrender to come into this Banquet of God's Love. God will do the rest!

There's more to Mr. Marsalis than his stewardship of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. There's even more to him than his relationship with Albert Murray and Stanley Crouch. This book is--in addition to being a polemic on self-worth, love, and swing--the diary of one of the greatest working jazz bands of all time (well, since Buddy Bolden, anyway): The Wynton Marsalis Septet. Wynton gives you a seat on the bus, and it's an illuminating look at the life of a working band. My only quibble is that too many pictures go without captions: It's up to you to figure out that Wynton is hugging Clark Terry somewhere in Greenwich Village.

The book "Sweet Swing Blues on the Road" is a fantastic view into the life of American jazz darling Wynton Marsalis.

It professes and appears at first glance to be about life touring on the road, but instead reveals itself as a collection of essays about subjects as diverse as bandmates, romance, and of course music.

The tone Marsalis takes is very reminiscent of his good friend, Stanley Crouch, who wrote most of the liner notes for Marsalis' albums. However, while Crouch can come off as losing a ferocious battle against the English language, Marsalis seems earthy, clever, and insightful.

Marsalis writes like a musician or every black preacher worth a drive. He has a cadence. A strong cadence. A cadence that finds resonation in the soul. He developes writing themes like any good improviser should.

It is clear that Marsalis has spent time with noted writer Albert Murray, whose book "Stomping the Blues" finds a kindred heart in "Swing Sweet . . ."

Readers receive a sneak peak at Marsalis' Pulitzer-prize winning epic "Blood on the Fields" as some of the sights of this book reappear in that work. Readers also find themselves agreeing with Marsalis' view of rap ("Rappers have funny haircuts") and misunderstandings of jazz.

Photographer Frank Stewart provides visual compliments to the text in fine black and white fashion. Perhaps the belle of this ball is the out of fucus shot of the late Dizzy Gillespie with an in-focus sillouette of Marsalis in the foreground.

"Swing Sweet home blues" is a great book that people who like jazz would love and those who don't understand jazz owe to themselves to check out.

Wynton Marsalis is commonly referred to as the leader of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra in New York. His fame was established through years of touring with his brilliant Wynton Marsalis Septet. It is from that period in his creative life that this memory album comes. Frank Stewart's genius snapshots are complimented by Marsalis' commentary on a multitude of topics. Some excerpts are just recollections, others read like sermons. If nothing else, one is given a chance to observe Wynton in all of his elements - intellectually, musically, and socialy as well. His band is also introduced throughout the episodes. A highly intimate journey through the life of a jazz legend in our time.

In Transsexualism in Society Dr Frank Lewins challenges medical and feminist models of transsexualism as well as current thinking about gender and sexuality. He demonstrates that becoming a woman is a process rather than a decision. Drawing on interviews with over fifty transsexuals, his analysis of the macro and micro dimensions of their lives shows clearly how some learn better than others the significance and skills of being a woman and 'doing gender'. By locating transsexuals in the wider society, he also demonstrates the significance of the conventional image of feminine women and the perceived necessity for the body and one's gender to correspond. His findings negate the idea that transsexuals are sexual revolutionaries and a third gender, and raise provocative questions about the link between sex, gender and sexual desire. The possibility of a range of socially invisible, psychosexual identities other than 'heterosexual masculine man' and 'heterosexual feminine woman' has implications, not only for understanding transsexualism, but also for how we view homosexuality.

Transsexualism in Society is a scholarly study of sociological aspects of sex change from male to female, based on research done at one major clinic in Australia. As such, it is important but limited in its scope. While some of the conclusions Dr. Lewins arrives at are innovative and intriguing, others seem to have been contradicted by more recent information based on wider research. There is nothing lurid in this book, nor is it a primer for information on transsexualism and the physical process of changing sex--readers hoping for photos or detailed descriptions of sex practices or even the sex reassignment operation itself should go elsewhere. Instead, Lewins, himself a parent of a transsexual, takes a scholarly approach with a (limited) review of the literature, a "case study" of a "typical" transsexual's life that is actually (and admittedly) a composite created by Lewins, and finally an examination of the Macro and Micro process of becoming a woman. At every stage, Lewins challenges the 'taken for granted' assumptions made about sex and gender, with mixed results. It is in the latter chapters that Lewins makes his most valuable contributions, as he differentiates a Macro process, or "the broad social patterns which apply to all transsexuals"; and a Micro process, which is "more concerned with the nature of face to face interactions involving individuals' feelings and responses". In "The Macro Process of Becoming a Woman" he describes a six-stage process. His concept is similar to that of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, who in her book "On Death and Dying" analyses the process of dying abstractly. Lewins' analysis consists of the following stages: 1) Abiding anxiety, 2) Discovery (of information about transsexualism, that is--not the "outing" of the transsexual), 3) Purging and Delay, 4) Acceptance, 5) Surgical Reassignment, and 6) Invisibility (moving away from other transsexuals and blending in as a woman). He points out that not every transsexual goes through every stage, and not all complete every stage; but they do go in order, albeit with occasional gaps. His discussion of the relationship between the transsexual "patient" and the clinical "gatekeepers" is excellent, as is his commentary on social and personal discourse on the body. Where Lewins errs, he errs based on the limitations of his scientific sample. As all of his evidence comes from a single clinic in a single country over a rather limited period of time, it cannot be truly representational. Lewins' most substantial error is one at which many, if not most, transsexuals will take extreme umbrage--he links gender to sexual desire. He sees that the social context of transsexuals is determined by society's rigid view of the heterosexual man/heterosexual woman roles, and can only see transsexuals in that dichotomy, seemingly denying bisexuality, a "continuum of genders", or any possibility that some transsexuals, at least, may self-identify (and proudly so) as a third, separate gender. This is astonishing, given that the majority of studies and transsexual writings propose at least a consideration of such ideas, and that transsexuals are becoming increasingly politically active. To support his claim, Lewins says, that "when a man knows his partner is a transsexual, his sexual emotional response acknowledges her as a woman although intellectually he may reflect on that situation in between times." As evidence he cites psychiatrist John Money's statement, "there are some male partners of pre-operative male to female transsexuals who are strongly attracted to a lady with a penis as a sexuoerotic partner...." Lewins then immediately follows this with the bizarre comment that "the important aspect of transsexuals' relationships is the way their partners see them, that is, as women." But if certain transsexuals' partners see them as "a lady with a penis", then in an effort to deny any evidence of a third gender surely Lewins has twisted the definition of woman to a point where it becomes meaningless. It is impossible to consider these relationships as within the "typical" heterosexual male/female dichotomy. Lewins further claims that "transsexuals who are now homosexual or heterosexual women have been constant in their attraction to women or men...Transsexuals who now have a lesbian orientation, for instance, previously, when living as men, attempted to see themselves as heterosexual men attracted to heterosexual women." This is not necessarily true, and many transsexuals report a change in the orientation of their sexual desire. However, in spite of some serious flaws, Lewins makes a valuable contribution to the literature. The sociological perspective is one that has not often been dealt with, and Lewins goes to great lengths to declare his own interests and viewpoints in an effort at fair and accurate analysis.

Although Lewins' compact, well written study of transsexualism in Australia was inspired by his own son's transition to daughter, it is nonetheless as objective as it is compassionate. Lewins reveals to us that transsexualism is more process than procedure, a case he makes effectively from his study involving multiple detailed interviews of transsexuals.

Myself a transsexual, I found Lewins' informed sociological observations a necessary parallax to the often rhetorical treatment of transsexualism by gender theorists.

Make no mistake about it; this is one of the best first-person narratives ever written about the Civil War from the viewpoint of a common soldier. Editor James M. McPherson glowingly sings the praises of Frank Wilkerson's manuscript, but he provides no additional details about the life of Wilkerson, something Civil War readers have come to expect when a veteran's manuscript is reprinted. The book is an incredible read, but the reader can't help but ask the question: who was Frank Wilkerson? Where is he buried? What additional details are known about the artillery battery he served in? What was the reaction of readers and veterans when Wilkerson's book was first published? McPherson answers none of these questions in his brief introduction. He only points out that Wilkerson made some mistakes and a few exaggerations in the book, and that historians often quote heavily from it, but that's all.

The title of the book was originally: "Recollections of a Private Soldier in the Army of the Potomac," but the publishers, or McPherson himself, have lamely retitled it "Turned Inside Out" - an obscure reference to the pockets of the battlefield dead after they had been looted. I can understand their reasoning for giving the book a shorter and catchier title, but one wonders why they simply didn't shorten Wilkerson's original title to just "A Private Soldier." That would still describe the book in a nutshell. Unfortunaley, the new and enigmatic title will doom this edition to obscurity on the bookstore rack.

Wilkerson's narrative is wonderful and I highly recommend it for all types of readers. But the definative edition of his narrative is yet to be published. I give Wilkerson's narrative 5 stars. I give McPherson's lazy and disappointing scholarship 1 star.

Only recently have I come across Frank Wilkeson's grim little book; and I am surprised I had not been made aware of it years before--say, in school. There must be thousands--perhaps tens of thousands--of Civil War memoirs, with few of them being worth more than a cursory skimming. Wilkeson's book goes far beyond this, and deserves to rank as literature. Perhaps its vituperative tone is what has stood in the way of its wider recognition. Frank Wilkeson's father was the noted war corespondent Samuel Wilkeson. His brother Bayard was a 19-year-old artillery lieutenant whose death on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg provided him with the cloak of immortality that often is the reward of young lives wasted in battle. Frank, Bayard's younger brother, never says what effect his brother's heroic death had on his decision to join the Army, too; but at 16 he ran away to enlist. He found himself part of a group of a thousand professional bounty-jumpers, a low and besotted crew with whom he was forced to travel into action. Coming from a dutiful and relatively refined family, the discovery that such men existed--and in enormous numbers--must have come as an overwhelming shock to him. Much of the book deals with Wilkeson's service as an artilleryman during some of the fiercest fighting of the war--the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Petersburg. His descriptions of camp life and of battle, wounds, and death, are graphic and unforgettable.

Frank Wilkeson's memoirs make compelling reading. From the first page to the last, you are swept along with this feisty, spirited young man who wants nothing more than to fight for his bleeding country. I was especially drawn to the quality of his writing. It is clear, vivid, terse, and ironic.At story's end, readers will, indeed, want to know what became of him. I was not surprised to learn that William Dean Howells compared aspects of this book to some of Tolstoy's writings. I especially recommend it for teenagers.

My husband enjoyed the book but is having problems obtaining the design plans. The book refers to Redmond Designs of Burlington, Vermont. He is unable to locate this company - any assistance your author or readers can give will be appreciated.

If you're an intermediate to advanced wood worker Tom Hill speaks your language. His description of plywood lap strake construction truly does sound the lightest and strongest of the small boat buliding methods. If you don't like the idea of sloppy joints held together with fiberglass tape and you love the sound of a finely tuned plane you'll love this book. The section on lofting is simple, understandable and not at all scary. The tips for tool usage are inovative and fairly sure-fire. I came away knowing I could build a great boat with the plywood lap strake design described here. It is frustrating that the plans for the boats described are not included, (the plans are available from the designer who's address is listed) but anyone dabbling in just the basics of lofting could design their own boat from what is in this book. The method is challenging but not intimidating. It'll get you excited about building a boat.

After reading many of the 'classics' on building small boats, I relied on Hill's Ultralight Boatbuiling extensively to construct my first boat--a Chamberlain Dory Skiff in Gardner's Classic Small Craft. Hill helped resolve many of the mysteries of how to achieve tight lapstrake construction with entry-level woodworking skills and a little patience. The result was very rewarding. I created a light, seaworthy, beautiful craft that proved very durable. I used it for many years before selling it. Now I'm considering another project, but can't find my copy of Hill's book, so I'm back for another.

One caveat: the designs Hill uses in his book to illustrate his techniques are beautiful, but you'll probably need more complete plans for your first project.