If you enjoy WWII aircraft, and appreciate the breath taking detail and accuracy of Rikyu Watanabe illustrations, you must have this book. I found my copy 3 years ago at OshKosh, and have been offered (...)for it - no way was I parting with it. It is, without question, the finest piece of reference / art work on these 12 aircraft I have ever seen. Vet, IFR Priv. pilot, R/C aircraft modeler.

I'm a WWII airplanes enthsiast, and this book has filled all my expectations. The text, the scaled drawings, the fold-out panels, everithing is exceptional in this complete guide of WWII airplanes. The drawings of this book are incredibly detailed, and if you're meticulous, you'll never find a book like this. My grandfather was a WWII pilot and became nostalgic when he saw the plane he had flown.

In my opinion, the most beautiful book of WWII aircraft which has ever been published.

I have flown the F4U-5NL Bu.No. 124511 found in the picture on page 253 with Ens. Cawley's name on the side. He was one of our squadron mates in VC-4, NAS Atlantic City in the early 'fifties.

Brings back many fond memories. Highly recommended to all aviators and aviation enthusiasts.

J.D. Williams Lcdr. USNR (Ret)

This book is still the best available for the Western Great Lakes region. Very informative and detailed. The distribution maps are most helpful in attempting to locate the general area to find these beauties. Fred's affection with wild orchids shows in the quality of this publication. I would also suggest his newer book on Trilliums.

This book is extremely useful, especially as a companion to Voss's Michigan Flora and wildflower books covering the Eastern U.S. The photos, although dated, are good. What is especially good about this book, though, is the accurate and descriptive list of habitats that occur in the region, complete with the orchids someone searching the area could find in the habitat. Distribution maps are also included.

A great guide to Midwestern orchids. Fred knows and loves our native orchids and their habitats, and succeeds in communicating that knowledge and love to the reader. Plenty of great photos of orchids and the places in which they grow.

If you sorta like Military History, than you should absolutely buy this book. The book captures the thrill of victory, like never before. If you are like me, and had never heard of Gustavus Adolphus before, than this is an excellent book to read, as a stepping stone to learning more about these men.

An excellent study of exactly why these four generals were so successful on and off of the battlefield. Particularly emphasizes the importance of the cult-of-personality so prevalant in history's greatest generals, while still showing you enough of the army details to let you imagine you're charging across a ditch at Lutzen.

This was a great book for me to read because it influenced me to become the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army,which I am today.I would like to recommennd this book to historians to all people who are interested(especially generals).

World War I, the event that changed everything in European and American history, left Japan little touched -- or so it had long been thought. Frederick Dickinson's book stands many accepted truths on their heads. But it is not a book of wooly revisionist speculation. All of his arguments and interpretations are carefully drawn and meticulously documented. All are thought-provoking and plausible, and most seem to me entirely convincing.

As realist theory would predict, there were few prominent leaders who failed to support Japanese expansion in the favorable circumstances offered by the European conflict. But there was a very crucial divide between those who looked to British-model expansionism of a primarily economic sort and those seeking military-led territorial expansion on the model of Wilhelmine Germany. The struggle for power among (and within) these camps is one major theme of the book. The other is the response of Japanese elites to the wholesale change in the structure of international relations brought by the War, and its domestic correlates. As it shifted from a European power struggle to a world crusade against totalitarianism and the use of force to change the international order, World War I attacked the very foundations of the Meiji state.

I hope that those who (like me) have only slight knowledge of Japanese history will not be put off this book. It is inevitably somewhat dense, but Dickinson avoids academic obscurity, introduces his characters carefully, and pauses frequently for reflection and summary. His concluding chapter ties all his strands together and places the story in a larger context. His contention that it is a vital key to understanding everything in modern Japanese history rings true to me. The book does not require great effort to read, and what effort there is will be well repaid.

There is a wonderful bonus in the book's rich trove of Japanese political cartoons from the period. These speak in a mordant voice that was, tragically, to fall silent as democracy was smothered in the 1930s. They add a great deal to the book.

No doubt many will look at the subtitle, "Japan in the Great War," and conclude that this is too specialized a topic to engage them. In doing so, however, they will miss an important book whose interest extends far beyond the specifics of its subject.

In a field where hardly anyone seems to bring the threads together, this is perhaps the building block to better and more thorough understanding of japanese history during the war. A sound well researched piece which never forgets to be reaable to the average postgraduate and with plenty of resources noted in bibiography for further study.

Politics and international relations of japan pre-1945 require a thoroughgoing understanding of the period before 1931. thisbook offers a great portion of this for the serious scholar beginning or reviewing that quest.

This is a wonderful book that offers many insights into the development of Japanese politics in the first half of this century. Dickenson carefully and convincingly shoots down much of the conventional wisdom about who were supposed to be the cautious elder statesmen in the early 20th century. This debate has important implications for properly understanding Japans expansionist policies in the 1930s. Many people who have been hailed as supposed cautionary leaders are shown to be (soemtimes extraordinary) expansionist. As Dickenson shows, these foreign policies can all clearly be traced back to domestic politics and a clash over the direction the state between the genro and the Kato Takaaki, where the latter aimed for parliamentary overnment. The book is alo very well written with many fascinating quotes and clever and funny illustrations from the Tokyo and Osaka Puck. Political scientists who have read Jack Snyder's "Myths of Empire," should find this a particularly fascinating and elucidating book.

Mr. Forsyth in this book became the voice of millions of suffering Biafrans whose sin was a determination to exist against all odds.

His analysis captured the brutality of the Nigerian soldiers while the rest of the world fell victim to the deceit of the pronouncements of the Commander of the Nigerian Armed Forces...General Yakubu Gowon.

Forsyth is known for his later works the "Day of the Jackal", "Odessa File" and "Dogs of War". This though is his first book and in many ways superior to the rest.

A non-fiction detailed description of the Biafran war, Forsyth pulls no punches describing the valiant but fruitless fight by the Ibo tribe to secede from Nigeria. Outnumbered, outgunned and out financed by the central government, the Ibo finally fell because of the support of the European powers for Nigeria.

Forsyth does a wonderful job in giving us a journalist eye view of the conflict which eventually became known more for the starvation of hundreds of thousands of Ibo. A long forgotten classic that has never been outdone by his later novels.

Engels was the engine behind Karl Marx, one that gave him all the support he could, so to permit Marx to dedicate himself almost completely to the completion of his works. Judging himself many degrees bellow Marx in terms of intelect, Engels nonetheless is capable of writting a book such as this which describes all the impoverishment of the working class in the beginning of the industrialization in England, being helped by some well porputed factories labor fiscalization agents who allowed Engels to flip trough their reports. Strong terms like "the dark satanic mills" describe fully what were the working conditions of the time in a so rich country as England. An historical document lest no one forget what can happen again if the free hand of capitalism is allowed to run free of any barriers.

In this book, Karl Marx's friend and collaborator Friedrich Engels describes the lives of England's laboring classes in the worst days of the industrial revolution. This includes dangerous working conditions, meager pay, child labor and explotation. Being the son of the owner of a textile factory, Engels knew of these conditions first hand. In these days it was said that the fastest way out of Manchester was a bottle of gin. This book contains images that are pathetic in the true sense of word, one catches glimpes of life so wretched that they are scarely belivable. Writings such as this one eventually exposed the misery of the working classes and had a profound influence on socialists and labor movement leaders. The book is a tour-de-force and truly speaks for it's self.

Of the various styles of biographies I've read, I think I prefer what Lock has achieved here. It's definitely not the kind of page-turner which Robert Caro delivers, nor is it heavily weighed down with details such as De La Grange has given us with Gustav Mahler. Instead, Lock gives us intelligently written background surrounding the issues and people as they arise; judicious use of Burke's letters (and letters to him) as well as his writings; and details that help bring the era to life. He also brings the themes together, which means the telling is not a simple chronology. Lock gives us all sides of Burke, too: not just the politician and the family man, but the brother and the farmer. What I also like about this book is that Lock does not hesitate to criticize Burke when his behavior is less than ethical or when Burke's arguments are disingenuous. It's a critical examination, and Lock doesn't dumb it down. (I can't wait for volume 2, although my checkbook can.)

This will become the standard biography of Burke - but this book is not just for scholars: anyone with an interest in 18th century politics and culture will benefit from reading this work.

The narrative is well written, with much detail and necessary (but not too basic) background detail; overall it keeps the reader's interest.

Burke's own works are analysed thoroughly, within the framework of his life.

This is a terrific book. It combines moderately large type with clear writing and lots of well-chosen photographs in telling the life story of Marian Anderson. Complex ideas such as segregation are conveyed in a direct and understandable manner.
I believe this is a better book than _When Marian Sang_, which has beautiful artwork, but has an inadequate text -- at the same time being too complex and too narrow.
This revised version of _Marian Anderson: A Great Singer_ would be appropriate for elementary students, and for anyone who would like a quick and thorough review of Ms. Anderson's life, together with over twenty well-chosen photographs, and a timeline, vocabulary, and list of additional resources.

This is a well written biography with great photographs. The story follows Marian's life from childhood through her retirement in 1965. The writers gently lead us through the injustices and triumphs Marian encountered during her life and career as one of our nations great musical treasures.

The reading level is appropriate for grades 2 through 5. A timeline, glossary, and references for more information are also included. The internet addresses include some wonderful samples of Marian's singing.

I can't wait to share this story with my kindergarten through fifth grade music classes. I know they will positively love it!

This book is astoundingly interesting, attempting to tell the story of a people long ago vanished. The historical and archeological information is well grounded and the book is an exciting read. This hard to find gem is definitely worth a look.

Although written in the 50's, this book still remains one of the cornerstones of Pictish studies.

Divided into several parts (by several authors) which address language, customs, etc., the book explores the pre-Scottish people of Scotland known to history as Picts. Although several issues have been clarified in subsequent years, the basic problems raised by the editor as to origin, language and cultural ethnicity of the Picts remain unanswered to this day.

A must read for Pictophiles!

Peter Simple is the tale of a young British midshipman seeking his fame and fortune on the high seas. Set during the Napoleonic wars, it offers comedy and adventure in an old-school style.

Originally released in serialized form, Peter Simple is a fun, straight-forward adventure novel. It was a best-seller in it's time (1833) and holds up beautifully. I think this will appeal to anyone who ever thrilled to the works of Rafael Sabatini, Bernard Cornwell, or Orczy's Scarlet Pimpernel. It's an easy read and great fun !

Frederick Marryat was a sea captain who served under the famous Lord Cochrane. This book was an inspiration to such later writers as Patrick O'Brian and C.S. Forster. It is a little like Tom Jones in that it episodic, even picaresque. It is very funny in parts, in a way that O'Brian is not--you get the sense that Marryatt is weaving in incidents and characters from his own naval career. It certainly helps to have read O'Brian for a deep understanding of the culture, but with Marryat you feel at times that you are in touch with the real thing.

Another good book in the Heart of Oak series. This novel was quite the opposite of the last one in the series I read, "The Black Ship". I think both novels give good pictures of how life was on the British sailing ships but in "Peter Simple" the crew seems to have a lot of fun and good times as well as taking their work very seriously. They are able to joke around a good bit and enjoy life. This seems much more realistic to me based on my own experiences at sea. "Peter Simple" is written by an actual man of war captain from the Napoleanic era and so probably portrays a much more accurate picture of life on a British man of war than any of the other similar novels. I really liked the novel. Although some of the coincidences and the ending especially are a little too much like a "ladies romance novel" I still think O'Brian fans would enjoy this novel too. The sea battles and ship maneuvers are every bit as good as O'Brian.