Perhaps no industry has as many unique accounting procedures as does that of petroleum exploration and production. The authors do an excellent job of summarizing the essentials of this complex field.

Researched over a 9 year time span using information gleaned from hundreds of interviews from Vietnam war POW's, this extensive saga of captivity is truly outstanding in its depth.

John G. Hubbell not only relates the stories of high profile POW's from North Vietnam, he explores the many aspects and rigors faced by U.S. servicemen in the brutal Southern Vietnamese prison camps. In helping the reader to truly understand the entire experience, this being a cautionary note to everyone, torture methods suffered by our U.S. servicemen are described very graphically throughout the text and may be difficult to read about at times.

Included in the superbly written and well researched narrative are maps of the various prison compounds, photographs of POW's and their captors, and the entire list of repatriated servicemen at Operation Homecoming in 1973.

"P.O.W. - A definitive history of the American Prisoner of War Experience, 1964-1973" is a very comprehensive and powerful study that makes for a lasting, memorable, and emotional reading experience. Upon recommending this book to everyone with interests in POW captivity, I would also like to suggest the brilliant and epic work "Honor Bound - American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973".

Please excuse my spelling, it's terrible This book is terrific. I started reading this book and couldn't put it down. It is a fine collection of stories ranging from the great soilbank days when Kansas alone had 4 million birds to the Royal hunts in Europe where an average daily bag mesaures in the thousands, It has stories more like mine where the average hunt ends with tired dogs and few birds. The book through it's many differant authors also explores the ethics associated with hunting. This book is for the bird hunter who's cleaning his gun for the third time this week when hunting season isn;t for 6 months. It's for the guy who can't stop dreaming of how his new pup will do his first time out. It's for the guy who spends more time with his dogs than with his wife. All hunters will enjoy this book, but the true bird hunter won;t be able to put it down.

If vampires don't wear polka-dots, and genies don't ride bicycles, then a pirate certainly wouldn't be caught wearing pink sunglasses, would he??

Welcome to book #9 in the Bailey School Kid's series (which I affectionately call the "...Don't..." series for it's wonderful titles of mythical/magical creatures who don't do something or other). This time the kids are off (again!) to camp Lone Wolf (originally visited in book #2, Werewolves Don't Go to Summer Camp). Every year they take place in a rowing competition, and every year they are trounced. That is, maybe until THIS year when Captain Read shows up!

And what a character the Captain is! He sports a striped shirt and dewrag like a real pirate, and even has an obnoxious parrot that spouts bits of wisdom and seems to be spying on the gang. Read seems to know a great deal about an ancient buried treasure that a mad female pirate had buried around Bailey City somewhere. Some kids even begin to think he IS a pirate. But, if he WAS, he wouldn't be wearing those giant pink sunglasses, would he...?? WOULD he...??

I've reviewed the other books leading up to this one, and again I must say that the "...Don't..." series is a fine choice for beginning/intermediate readers. The pace of the text is quick, easy to read (I can polish off one of these books in about 20 minutes) and fun. While not spooky like some others in this series, "Pirates Don't..." is a lot of fun. One can just hear Captain Read growling in a guttural Irish/sea shanty sort of voice as he calls out "ahoy!" and all that piratical stuff (this would make a good selection for reading aloud simply for the chance to make fun voices).

As per usual in the series, Eddie doesn't believe Captain Read is a pirate or is in search of buried treasure, and children could easily copy him and make a game out of arguing if or if not the Captain really IS a pirate. This is a good deal of the series' appeal, I think: the small group of students who seem to be the only ones who notice anything weird going on and their investigations into whether or not these strange folk are what they might be (a vampire, werewolf, ghost, pirate, etc...).

Although the series is in numerical order (as of this writing, it goes up to at least 40), and though some characters make reappearances, it isn't necessary to begin reading at any given point to enjoy the series. Grab one or two (including "Pirates Don't...") and see if YOU too, aren't hooked!!

This audiobook is really good book to listen to. I would Highly reccommend it to anyone who really wants to learn what life was like for some of our country's greatest hero's during WWII. Close your eyes and listen to it and imagine if you could go thru the same trials as they did.

The central object of this book is to explain the Elijah message and mission in its three inter-related phases. 1) That of Elijah the Tishbite in 1 Kings; 2) John the Baptist; 3) God's ;ast day messengers to the world described in Revelation 14. The author shows how the message and mission of God's final Elijah (a movement and a people) is designed to awaken the world to prepare for Christ's second coming through the power of the everlasting gospel. His thesis is carefully worked out from Scripture and is theologically conservative, written in the tradition of the Protestant Reformers, but focusing on end-time concerns as developed in Revelation. At the end of each chapter are four questions for reflection and discussion. The 190 page book is in paperback and cost 11.99. Published by Pacific Press. ISBN 0-8163-1704-6.

I first read Raven in 1988 as one of the resources for my Master's Thesis in Speech Communication. I was focusing on the rhetoric of survivors in an unspeakable event.

This year, after reading Barbara Olson's Hell to Pay, I needed to reference Raven again because of a connection. So many times since I finished my thesis I had needed to reference it and gaining access was alway problematic. I therefore asked Amazon to find a copy and they were able to accommodate me.

The one thing about Raven and the story of Jim Jones is that, once you have been so deeply involved in the story, it is impossible to let it go. Events continue to occur which force you back to the original. Events such as the Waco incident. Raven is an excellent resource for people trying to understand how one man can hold sway over so many people and lead them to such an unbelievable disaster.

Watching as Jones molds and manipulates his congregants is a fascinating experience. Seeing people so willing to forsake home and family for a little security is a startling realization. But it explains a great deal about how easily people will give over their lives to such a leader in order not to have to manage their own affairs.

Reiterman and Jacobs give us a wonderful essay on the inner workings and the secrets which allowed Peoples Temple to flourish. The detail of their investigations into the cleverness and deceit of Jones is extraordinary. This book is, in my estimation the primary read for anyone trying to understand the times and events which allowed Peoples Temple to become a lure for so many people.

A warning is in order. Once you read Raven, you will never be able to let go of the story. But if you learn one thing from it, it should be that there are deceivers in the world who, if allowed, will take your home, your money and your life.

This set contains two now out of print audio books: "Four Card Draw" and "The Turkey Feather Riders." All three are well done with a great cast of characters and special effects. The audio is crisp and clear, easily heard in an automobile's noisy environment.

Four Card Draw. Louis L'Amour starts this audio volume with a short discourse on period books about the old west. "Four Card Draw" is told first person by Allen Ring, a gambler who wins the Red Rock Ranch in Arizona. He is told the ranch is haunted by someone who was murdered there. That someone was one of the three Haslet brothers, owners of a neighboring ranch, who are out for revenge. Allen walks right into the middle of a frying pan and ends up fighting for his life!

Riding For The Brand. Jed Asberry wins a poker game only to find himself robbed by the angry losers. They dump him in the desert with no clothes, left to die. Days later, on his last legs, he stumbles across three recently killed people (two men and a woman)... in the middle of the desert. Taking clothes, guns, and papers from one of the men, Jed becomes Micheal Latch. Micheal was on his way to inherit a ranch, so Jed decides to assume this role. He finds himself up to his neck in serious shooting trouble as someone else is willing to murder to get the property!

The Turkey Feather Riders. Louis L'Amour starts this story by giving a short discourse on cowboys and the cattle business as it was in the 1860's through 1880's (and now). Jim Sandefer is the forman for a New Mexico ranch. His boss, Grey Bowen, makes a sudden visit (after years of being away) with his daughter, Elaine, and some new guests: Rose and Lee Martin. Grey wants to marry Rose, but Jim discovers that she and her son are up to something that doesn't smell right! Then the shooting begins!

Well worth the purchase price. Run Time: 180 minutes.

Elder John Sparks is an ordained minister in the United Baptist denomination and thus is intimately tied to the richly historical traditions of what is general known as the "Old Time Baptists" of central Appalachia, divisions such as Regular Baptists, Old Regular Baptists, Separate Baptists, United Baptist, and a host of other groups, including a wide range of Primitive Baptists. Sparks sets out to document the influence of Shubal Stearns on this entire Old-Time Baptist phenomenon, and his work in excellent in scholarship and analysis.

For those of use who have labored in this this particular field of scholarship, it is a joy and an inspiration to see the field of study added to so wonderfully by an individual who has come from the indeginous base of the phonomenon. Sparks received a degree from Pikeville College in Pikeville, Kentucky, and promptly turned himself in to a excellent scholar. Read this book. You will be rewarded with a much deeper understanding of Appalachian religious history than has heretofore been provided.

Howard Dorgan Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Appalachian State University

I help teach the three and four year olds in junior church. They love for me to read these books to them. I have read several of them so many times that they can almost tell me the stories word for word.