History interests me and I'm restoring my 1931 Model A station wagon, so when I discovered Winnewisser's book I was excited to get it. I rarely buy books, and normally wait for the County Library system to purchase those that I might like to read. Thinking that a book like this might not have a wide audience, so the Library might not acquire it, I decided to fork out the money for it, and I'm glad I did. This is a good book and I enjoyed it quite a bit, reading it in three or four sittings. I lent it to my father, who grew up when Model As were on the street and drove the wagon for thirty-five years or so before giving it to me, and he liked the book, too.

That said, this book could have been better. First, Winnewisser needs an editor. The language is fine and the book is quite understandable, but it contains obvious errors. The caption under the engine photograph on page 9 is typical: it misidentifies the cutout that sits on top of the generator as a generator. On page 220 another caption misidentifies an 1930 station wagon as a 1929 model. Ford made substantial changes in the the Model A body lines between 1929 and 1930, as a reader can see by looking at the 1929 station wagon shown on page 77. When I looked at that photograph, I thought the car must have been made for use in England, as it has right-hand steering. Closer examination - the women are shaking left hands and the man's pocket square is on the wrong side of his suit coat - indicates the photograph is reversed. In discussing sales to its dealers, Winnewisser writes on page 197 that Ford adopted a twenty-two percent discount effective February 6, 1931, and then adds parenthetically that this discount was in effect at the River Rouge plant "as early as November 10, 1931." Is he saying the Rouge instituted a dealer discount 9 months after Ford adopted it, or did he use the wrong year? Good editing could clear up this confusion and the errors I cite above, and would make the book even more enjoyable.

Winnewisser did a lot of research for this book and brings out new subject matter (for me, at least). For example, I was surprised to learn that Ford not only employed African-Americans on the assembly line (as opposed to relegating these men to more menial work), but that blacks supervised white workers in some cases. There are some things that are not in Winnewisser's book. I would have been interested to see visual side-by-side comparisons of the different models and differences between standard and deluxe models. I would have appreciated more information on the making of parts and the painting and assembly of automobiles, since the assembly line was Ford's great innovation, albeit twenty-five years prior the period depicted in this book. I would have liked to have seen a little more information on Ford's AA commercial trucks. Some of this information is available elsewhere, but I would have expected to see it in a book subtitled "the ultimate history of one of America's great automobiles."

These criticisms aside, I'm glad Winnewisser took the time to research and write this book, and to include a bibliography so that I can look for more details when I have a mind to do that. I'm recommending the book to the folks in my Model A Ford Club of America chapter, and to other friends who I think might enjoy a history of another America in another time. I recommend it to anyone who reads this review.

This book does an excellent job of covering the history of the Model A! A great read because it goes beyond the historical and touches on the actual social feel of the car and the times. Filled with fun facts and antecdotes! I would recommed it to any history or antique car buff!

Pictures (B/W) and history of the production of the Model A Ford for all 4 years. Like "The Ford Model A, As Henry Built It", but the entire book (272 pages) is dedicated to the history of the Model A production. Haven't seen any other book which covers this stuff in this detail. Great pictures and images of original Ford documents.

This is THE book to have if you want to learn about the history of tablet weaving, or about advanced techniques. However, it's not a simple book to understand, and presumes that the reader has some experience in tablet weaving. Definitely for the intermediate to advanced tablet weaver.

This is the best book on tablet (card) weaving ever written and will never be surpassed except by a further edition. Collingwood is the acknowledged expert on this ancient and endlessly fascinating weaving technique and his book - an updated edition of the original text - offers the ultimate exploration for both craftsman and historian alike. The descriptions of the various techniques are clear and practical without being in any way over-concise. Only drawback is a few misprints, otherwise this book would easily rate a score of 100%; a lavish, gorgeous book you will treasure. (Particularly useful is the lengthy annotated bibliography.)
Juliet Griffin

The Red Book is the "bible" for comparing and exchanging Ford Pick-Up Parts. Each chapter covers a single model year and provides all pertinent data, including VIN numbers, production codes, serial numbers, specifications, engine and transmission codes, options, prices, paint color, interior trim, and much more.

Tin Lizzie is a wonderful children's book that tells the story of the life of one 1909 Model T Ford, from New to Used to Junk to New again. The story is told simply, with an abundance of fanciful, yet factual, illustrations to delight the eye and ignite the imagination. In the telling, the reader (or listener) learns about the way life once was, and how it has changed over the years. As an antique car restorer, I find it to be an excellent book to share with my nieces and nephews so they might appreciate and understand what Uncle David sees in these old things he's always fixing. I even find some adults enjoy it!

Mostly Harmless is not Douglas Adams' best Hitchhiker's Guide novel. Having said that, we can read the book not expecting the highest quality humor from it. It still contains Adams' comic genius, but I think that he should have included Zaphod Beeblebrox, the funniest character in the series. Arthur's new love Fenchurch is sadly killed off after an accident in space, and it seems that this was done as an afterthought by the author. We meet Arthur's daughter, who, strangely enough, is also Trillian's daughter. Sorry, but no romance there. She merely selected human sperm from an intergalactic sperm bank. The best scenes take place when Arthur crash lands on a planet and becomes "Bob's sandwich maker" to the natives. Ford is still up to his hoopy antics, towel and all. Oh, and they also finally find out where Stavromula Beta is. I don't think that he should have ended the series like this, but fans can still hope for solo Zaphod stories, right, right? It's a good read though, really

This fifth and final installment in the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker's Trilogy is simply amazing. While it seems that a lot of people weren't satisfied with it, I am quite the exception. The tone of the humor in this book (as with SLATFATF) is much darker than the earlier books, but that's just fine by me. I prefer a little darkness.

While this book returns somewhat more to the zaniness of the first three books (at least in comparison to the fourth book), it is not entirely wacky. It seems that this book is, in many ways, quite "fannish," there to please fans of the series with cheap thrills and tips of the hat (one example would be the return of the Vogons, which I don't exactly think anybody was clammoring for). However, in the midst of all this, Adams tells a wonderfully adventurous story that ties together in an ending that will leave you stunned and breathless (I'll try not to spoil it, but it's reminiscent of something that happenned in the first book, HG2G).

The worst part of the book is that Fenchurch just disappears... literally! And we never see Arthur deal with it! Still, Adams provides us with yet another wonderful character to help reveal the human side of Arthur....

I think it is a wonderful, if unexpected and somewhat unnecessary, end to the series. Trillian returns (although thankfully Zaphod doesn't), but Marvin is depressingly absent. Oh and remember Agrajag, from LTUAE? Well, there's a wonderful tie to that whole thing that you just can't miss. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, go read LTUAE and then read this and laugh along with me. Read it. You'll be blown away.

What do you get when you combine interstellar space travel, romance, action, mindless astronauts, parallel universes, religion, and sandwiches all into the same book? Why, you get Mostly Harmless, the fifth book in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams.
Mostly Harmless takes you through the life of Arthur Dent, a man whose house and world have been demolished by the Vogons, a race of evil space aliens that evolution has literally given up on. After losing the love of his life, Fenchurch (she literally vanishes into thin air), he begins to search for a new planet to reside upon... Adams also brings back old favorites from the previous books in Ford Prefect and of course, the aptly named Hitchhiker's Guide itself.
Mostly Harmless is an great finale for an excellent series. Adams does a good job in tying up the story line while still adding his randomness and humor to the novel. If you love a good science fiction story, or just a good humorous read, Mostly Harmless and the rest of the Hitchhiker's Guide series is definitely something you'll enjoy.

I consider myself a collector of Tiger I books and I have read a lot on this awesome tank over the years. This title by Roger Ford is somewhat disappointing. The content is shallow and the illustrations are sub-standard. I have seen cutaways of tanks from many books but the one in this book is just a joke. I guess this book is aimed at those who have no previous knowledge of this tank. Even another book from the same publisher MBI on T-34 deserves 3 stars.

If you are a serious Tiger I historian or enthusiast, don't bother to buy this book. You may look for the new book from Jean Restayn "Tiger I on the Eastern Front", which is a much better presentation of Tiger I.

This book is well written and researched with plenty of b/w photographs and detailed information on the history and development of the German Tiger tank of WWII. Less impressive are the discussions on the role and tactics of the Tiger tank in combat. One plus is the many rare and unusual photographs in the book, some of which I have not seen anywhere else.

But I have to mention that the accompanying illustrations are few and rather poorly done. I would have liked more and better illustrations since the b/w photographs don't really show the different paint schemes and markings well. Also, the description of the Tiger's armament is too brief - there are no detailed pictures of the 88mm gun or the different ammuntion types.

Overall it would be a good buy as a first book but if you already have books on the topic, there probably won't be anything new here except perhaps the excellently done history and development of the Tiger.

The Tiger is surely the most famous tank ever produced to this date, and Roger Ford has done a yeoman's job of outlining all the attributes that made the Tiger such a fearsome weapon while also hitting the behemoth's weak points. Ford's book features many excellent b/w photographs of generally high quality, showing the tiger in production, battle, and in several instances, destruction. There are several schematics and even a couple pages devoted entirely to the Tiger's camoflauge schemes, and Ford goes over the tank's technical data in considerable detail, giving the reader a good idea of what the Tiger's designers went through. The book's major weakness is an almost total lack of tactical history, as Ford chooses to focus instead on the Tiger's overall strategic role in the grand scheme of WW2. More detailed accounts of tank-vs.-tank encounters or even interviews with surviving participants would have made this a complete text. As it is, "The Tiger Tank" is still a quality book, and one I definitely recommend to any armored warfare enthusiast.

I found this book extremely disappointing. Not only was it short on facts and technical information, but every question I wanted an answer to was dodged by saying "best left to experts".

I expected something more along the lines of "Tuning BL's A-series engine" by D. Vizard. I could have gotten what little information exists in the book with a few phone calls to local engine tuners.

I bought this book as there were some important questions I needed answering. Namely Head modifications... which to my dismay were sadly missing. The message to the reader was that such modifications should be left to the experts. Pray tell me what was the point of the book?

covers all critical areas for repairing or modifying the Kent motor. Good research. Photographs are excellent.