This book gives a comprehensive overview on the Island's environments, geology, weather patterns, and history. The book is filled with up-to-date maps of all kinds and color photographs. The book contains statistical information that is difficult to find in any of the other publications concerning the Hawaiian Islands.

Don't be deceived, this is not just a book of maps. This title is a comprehensive look at Hawaii: its physical environment from geology to earthquakes, its biotic environment from animals to plants, its culture from archaeology and history to religion and architecture, its social environment from land use to communications, and complete with appropriate tables and statistics. Color pictures, graphs, and excellent maps add to the quality. The only shortcoming in the book is that there is only a one paragraph discussion of VOG, volcanic emissions that cause significant pollution on the island of Hawaii and that are sometimes blown to other Hawaiian Islands, as well. Since this is likely the main source of air pollution in the islands, a more serious discussion would have been worthwhile. Aside from this, this is an outstanding work, by two University of Hawaii-Hilo professors. A must have for people that love Hawaii.

Hawaii is one of the remotest locations on the face of the earth...However, this much awaited new Atlas of Hawaii has been prepared in such a style as to intrigue the reader to explore deeper into these islands, combining events of cultural significance with statististics it instills a closeness that one does not get from a typical atlas. From the turning of the first page, the feel of the premium stock, the wonderfully drawn cartography in conjunction with the up to date color photography, and the hundreds of sources and contributors leaves little doubt of it's quality. This is a serious endeavor a remarkable achievment that will be the ultimate reference tool for the islands.

88 spectacular works of art tell the story that haunts us still of the Confederate States of America: its leaders & commoners, its determination & spirit, its pride & romance with a lyrical supporting text that explains historical details.

The Civil War was not what either side expected or wanted. A few hotheads - militant abolitionists from the North & secessionists from the South - fed the flames while the majority of Americans stared on in bewilderment as the Union disintegrated.

In The High Command Mort Kunstler gives us glimpses of the movers & shakers of the battles to come; fresh in their uniforms, devout in their cause & James Robertson's narrative keeps pace with this artist's energy & insights.

Through heat of summer & cold of winter, over trackless hillsides & through mud- coated towns, Mort Kunstler keeps us going; from bloody battle fields in the mists of morning to cavalry charges into the smoke of cannon fire; from sunbaked drummer boys to bone-weary marchers; from cheering infantrymen as their leaders ride by to face-to-face gun fights in wooded ravines; from heartbreaking bad news to new babies born; from dazzling balls to heroic stands in broad daylight to dismal retreats in the dark of night.

A wonder-filled pictorial history book, rich in the details of the life & times of the people of the Confederacy with fascinating stories. A must for any reader of American history. Do visit my site for my full review of this & many more books on history & art.

Having taken a Civil War class from James I. Robertson at Virginia Tech, I can tell you that this man is a poet. When reading this book you can actually feel yourself in the shoes of these brave men. Most people can speak or write, but Robertson can do both. He paints a picture with his moving words. Even if you aren't a Civil War fan, this book will open your mind to a side of the Civil War rarely seen.

This book is a must have for any follower of Mort Kunstler's work. It is packed with 88 of his Confederate based works, including 30 not before found in any book. A true gem. These works are complemented by the text of Civil War historian, James Roberston Jr. I highly recommend it to any collector of Civil War books.

You can spend five minutes or five hours at a sitting with this gem. Even a casual browse through a few pages will teach you something you didn't know about Vikings. A must for anybody studying Norse culture, and a valuable addition to their collections.

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A cultural atlas presents its readers with a tremendous amount of information. Even a casual browsing through this work reveals enough information to provide the seeker of knowledge with a firm grasp on the history, geography, and culture of the efficient, effective "Warriors of the North" known as Vikings or Northmen.

This atlas explains and defines the Viking Age, beginning in the 8th century and ending in the 11th century with the creation of the Scandinavian nations of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Iceland. These tall, blonde, blue-eyed Vikings also left their mark on lands from North America, across Europe into Russia -- which was named for the Rus, a Swedish tribe -- and into the Byzantine Empire of Asia Minor and beyond. The Vikings endowed the Europeans who followed them with the Viking genes for bravery, impudence, physical beauty, and intelligence, genes which Viking warriors spread widely in the Northern Hemisphere.

The compilers of this work, edited by James Graham-Campbell, present the reader with a plethora of charts, maps, and captioned photographs illustrating and enriching cogent expository text.

Everyone on the planet, ... will recognize this book as a valuable tool in the study of a great European people.

I love this book. It has lots of maps and illustrations. Best of all it covers the entire gamut of the Viking universe. It is a wonderful resource for getting your head around the big picture of the Viking age. I have researched Viking Age history for years now and this is one of the BEST books I have ever found

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Considering his humble origins in an England heavily rooted in class, and his rise from a bugler in the Royal Engineers to a mechanic in the Royal Flying Corps to one of the finest fighter pilots of the First World War, James McCudden shows that anyone can aspire for greatness, provided one is willing to work and sacrifice.

For anyone with a curiosity about what air warfare in the First World War was really like, READ THIS BOOK. I highly recommend it.

This biographical account of the one of Britain's leading aces from World War I is one of the best flying tales ever written of any era. At the age of fifteen, McCudden started out as a bugler in the Royal Engineers before becoming a mechanic in the Pre-WWI Flying Corps when aeroplane technology was still very immature. He witnessed, indeed participated, in the trials and tribulations of the nascent Flying Corps and, as war arrived, saw the fragile craft used in experiments with armed combat against troops on the ground and against enmey flying machines. His interest in flying led to passenger rides in a variety of aircraft and eventually to his performing aerial observer and gunner roles in combat where he was decorated. That was just another step in his aeronautical adventure as he was subsequently selected to train as a pilot and thrown into combat in the same sector as some of the leading German aces such as Voss and Richtofen where he not only survived, but eventually become a leading ace himself. His description of his five years in the Royal Flying Corps was written while the war was still ongoing and literally days before his posting as a squadron commander and tragic death in a flying accident en route to his new squadron. His writing style is fresh and immediate capturing the day today life and passions of WWI aviators. His impressions of his foe and the relative performance of the various flying machines are unique and better than any other author from that conflict. The publishers deserve credit for recognizing the value of this slice of history and making sure it remains available to the public. The rating system only allows 5 stars...this book deserves special status beyond that. Indeed, it has such on my shelve.

James McCudden's book is one of the finest written about aviation of the first world war. It is basically written by a man who was a hero who was very modest, It takes the form of a diary and gives more or less a day to day event of what it was really like to fly planes made of canvas against an enemy who McCudden had great respect for. For anyone who has a passion for first world war history this is a book not to be missed,(maybe i'm biast) Please remember when reading this book that the man had very little schooling and wrote the book in a matter of weeks and the last entry is only a few days before he was killed. A GREAT BOOK.

Gods and Generals: The Paintings of Mort Kunstler rivals its previous companion book to Gettysburg. Kunstler tells the story leading up to the battle of Gettysburg using his masterful brush to translate history into color paintings. The text and the paintings weave the tale of how America eventually tore itself asunder in the Civil War. Its an excellent collector's piece and great introduction into the Civil War.
I also found Kunstler did not paint as many movie scenes in this book, instead capturing the actual historical looks of these "Gods and Generals" of the Civil War. Any lover of history or military art will appreciate his attention to detail and riviting scenes. Enjoy!

Mr. Kunstler has provided us with another book of his arrestingly beautiful paintings. Art, of course, is largely a matter of taste and proverbially in the eye of the beholder. Mr. Kunstler, however, even from as objective a standpoint as possible, has no peer as a chronicler of the Civil War. I have been interested in that period of history for about half a century, but it has been Mr. Kunstler's paintings over the past dozen or more years that have brought that war to life for me, and, I am sure, for many others. Although he is a prolific artist, he never compromises with quality, and the quality of his work is unsurpassed.

The subjects of Mr. Kunstler's paintings are invariably interesting, and he does not like to paint scenes or events that have been done previously by other artists. This book is the companion to, and illustrative of, the events and people of the novel "Gods and Generals" by Jeff Shaara, soon to be made into a motion picture of the same name. It follows four exceptional soldiers through the first two years of the war: Robert E. Lee, Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, Winfield S. Hancock, and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.

In this book, there are many new paintings not yet published elsewhere, but whether you are an old Kunstler aficionado or newly introduced to his work, you will find this book unequaled. The reproductions of the paintings are eye-catching, displaying each painting in vibrant, striking colors, true to Mr. Kunstler's originals. I say above that his paintings are educational, and so they are. I urge you to look closely at every work of art. If you do, you will not only see an astonishing amount of detail, but also learn much about the people, the times, the objects people used, and the war. Again, we have Mr. Kunstler's constant striving for perfection to thank for paintings which are correct in every detail. He is the quintessential perfectionist, who painstakingly researches every detail, no matter how small, to provide his audience with true, as well as beautiful, depictions of people, places, and things. He consults with knowledgeable historians, such as Professor Robertson, who wrote the text for this book, on even such matters as the weather on the particular day that he wants to depict in a painting. All of the accouterments are true, as well as the animals, the uniforms, the weapons, the landscapes, the battlefield situations, the lighting -- everything. Rarely does one find, in one individual such as Mr. Kunstler, artistry to the point of genius coupled with an unceasing demand for perfection in all of the details of his art.

I admit that I am no connoisseur of art and that I can claim no expertise or experience in art. Even someone such as I, however, can at least partially appreciate the artistic techniques used by Mr. Kunstler. His positioning of people, animals, buildings, and other objects to lead the observer's eye to the main subject of the painting, his extraordinary use of light to play on this or that subject in the picture in greater or lesser brilliance in order to accentuate or subordinate that subject, and his use of color, always precise, to delineate bright sunshine or dark shadow, or to emphasize or minimize, are all techniques that even such as I can note and admire. His paintings are so life-like as to defy the observer to differentiate them from photographs. But no photographs could depict such wonderful color and the precise instants in time which Mr. Kunstler so deftly chooses to picture.

Mr. Kunstler has, with every book he has introduced, been able to obtain the very best in historians/commentators to draft the texts. He has obtained the services of, for example, Henry Steele Commager (for the book "The American Spirit: The Paintings of Mort Kunstler"), James I. Robertson, Jr. (for "Jackson and Lee: Legends in Gray," "The Confederate Spirit: Valor, Sacrifice and Honor," and the current work), James M. McPherson (for "Gettysburg"), and Dee Brown (for "Images of the Old West"). Dr. Robertson's text in "Gods and Generals: The Paintings of Mort Kunstler" is, as always, the perfect complement to the paintings. As with Mr. Kunstler's art, so also with Dr. Robertson's narrative, one can learn much, whether one is a novice or an experienced hand.

Thus, whether you are a "Civil War buff" or simply interested in exceptional art and edifying prose, you will enjoy this book (and you would do well to consider obtaining Mr. Kunstler's previous books, named parenthetically above). You cannot go wrong with the team of Kunstler and Robertson.

This book is worth 5 stars!! My 8 year old son is just beginning to discover what it means to be born in the south. I want him to have an accurate picture of what the civil war was all about. It is hard to find civil war books with enough pictures to keep him interested. This book has plenty of high quality art for him to see and includes text that we can read together! I highly reccomend it based on those gorgeous paintings.

Good for everyone who ever wanted to tell someone just how much they love them. Kind and loving, it's a sentiment that everyone should want to share with a loved one- child, sibling, parent, friend or whatever. There is no way you'll feel bad after reading this book..

Elizabeth Hickey's nationally award winning video "Children: The Experts on Divorce" contains a scene where a little boy is asked, "So what do you think parents should say to their children when they're going through divorce?" The young man, without hesitation, replies, "They should just tell them that they love them." Armies of mental health practitioners, divorce lawyers and judges know from their experience the wisdom of that little boy's advice.

Elizabeth Hickey's new book, I Love You More Than . . ., offers a beautiful way to deliver this message of love and caring. The story is a conversation between a little girl and her father, part real and part imagined. The photographs, illustrations and text combine to create a moving and powerful message of love between a parent and child.

The book is cleverly constructed to be universally applicable since the family structure of the characters is ambiguous. While father speaks of his love for his daughter, the message is acknowledged "from Mommy, too." The story does not state whether the parents are together, separated, unmarried, married or divorced.

It was heart-warming to share this book with my eleven year old son, Mark. Here are Mark's comments:

The story I Love You More Than . . . walks you through a little girl's dream about how much her father loves her. The beautiful illustrations contribute to the story greatly by giving the reader a picture of the child's wonderful dream. I thought that the photographs were adorable. They reminded me of when I was a toddler and my parents read stories to me. I think that all children and adults will find this story inspiring and touching to the heart.

Unlike fairy tales, this story makes the child whose parents read them this book feel that their parents really love them. I am sure that all kids would enjoy having this book read to them as much as I did. This book is sure to be a classic bedtime favorite.

Mark's responses reflect those of other children and adults who have encountered this book. I Love You More Than . . . conjures warm memories of the best parts of the reader's relationship with his or her parents. These combine in such a positive and gentle way to melt the heart of all parents and help them share the warm glow of their parental love with their children. This book is a treasure. The world is a better place because it is available.

This is a magical book that will take both parent and child on a lovely journey reminding them both of the love they have for each other. The illustrations are done in wonderful detail and will provide lots of opportunity for conversation and expectation during subsequent readings. It is sure to become a favorite with many, especially the Daddy/Daughter combination. I have sent copies to each of my young grandchildren and they all love it!

Jim's Journey: A Wake Island Civilian POW's Story is the compelling, true-life account of James A. Allen and his survival of 1,354 days of imprisonment as a civilian prisoner of war after being captured by the Imperial Japanese navy in December 1941 when the Marine garrison on Wake Island was finally overwhelmed. Jim was held in Japanese POW camps in China, Korea, and Japan. In addition to his eye-witness account of life as a POW, Jim's Journey also relates what happened to him when he was finally liberated and returned to America. It would be thirty-seven years before the U.S. government would official recognize that Jim and other eligible civilian POWs for their contributions to the dramatic defense of Wake Island against insurmountable hostile forces. Jim's Journey is a welcome and much appreciated contribution to the history of POW experiences arising from World War II in the Pacific Theater.

This is the story of a civilian POW contracted to help build a naval air base on Wake Island shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is a thoroughly researched and compelling account of a young man whose early life and influences shaped him in ways that would only be beneficial to his efforts to survive terrible hardhips later. After playing a vital role as a civilian defender of Wake Island, Jim spent more than four years in various POW camps. On many occasions, he was a hairs breadth away from death, but his persistent courage and ingenuity sustained him. He used his intuitive understanding of Japanese culture to outwit the enemy in ways that required them to see things his way and thus spare his life. Japanese pride dictated that they give in to prisoners' demands at times in order to "save face". Jim's keen intelligence and resourcefulness kept him alert at all times as he constantly sought ways to help himself and his fellow prisoners to stay alive.
This book is a remarkable memoir, vivid and graphic, sometimes uncomfortably so, in its portrayal of the horrific experiences of the POWs and their unflinching will to survive. It is a living testimony to the freedom of the American spirit and should inspire great respect for all those men, whether military or civilian, who did not shrink from the responsibility of defending this country in a dark time of history. Some of these heroes,like Jim, were fortunate enough to live to tell us about it.

God Bless Jim and all his Wake Island buddies. There is a place already set aside in heaven for all of you.

If Only I Were...., is a great story about a typical grey mouse, who is sick of getting chased around by a large cat. Of course, she wishes to be something else, first a great big cat, then other types of animals, once she becomes a human she really wants to be a mouse again. The story is fun and the pictures are very detailed-look around when you read this book, you'll see all the great fine points the vivid color illustrations bring out.

Envy...the thing that makes us think that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Kids struggle with it as much as adults do. This was a great book that teaches kids that no matter who you are, you will have difficulties.

Every little dreamer who's wanted to be someone else will love this story. Little Missy finds out all too well how that wish is a futile mistake and actually creates more problems for her. I liked it because it touches the issue of self-esteem. It would be a valuable conversation starter for any parent or teacher.

I had the pleasant opportunity to meet with this fine author during his book signing. Several of my friends and family have passed a copy of "Remembering Father Flye" and they all read it cover to cover without putting it down. A unanimous response that it was a story worth telling.

Father James Harold Flye is best known as the mentor of Pulitzer Prizewinning author James Agee. William Hampton's new biography of the eccentric, independent, and unforgettable priest should give Father Flye his own--well-deserved--billing.

Father Flye, born in 1884, lived a a full century--more than twice as long as Agee--with uncommon relish. It's clear from the recollections that Hampton has gathered that Flye had a lasting effect on everyone who met him, from the mountain boys he taught to the New Yorker writers who visited him at his cluttered apartment in Greenwich Village.

And now, when our country is presented with unprecedented challenges, the story of Father Flye-who knew history, loved humanity, and endured with strength-is especially relevant.

Father Flye's story is not without heartbreak and loss. It's about life, after all. But a remarkable and exuberant life. The stories collected in this book are mostly transcribed radio interviews and letters. They focus on the particular, and that's what makes them so charming.

Father Flye was married at age 30 to Grace Houghton, a quirky portrait artist 10 years his senior. His first parish assignment was in Milledgeville, Georgia. After that small disaster, he took a temporary job at St. Andrew's School on the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee. The school was founded by monks of the Order of the Holy Cross to teach local mountain boys who came from extremely primitive circumstances. Father Flye, a Yalie, and Grace, who had had a studio in Italy, stayed at St. Andrew's for 36 years.

The Flyes had no children, but the St. Andrew's students were their boys. Grace painted their portraits and sewed their clothing. Father Flye gave them elocution lessons. He taught them history. He punished them for trying to flush a frog down the toilet by making them stand outside and recite poetry. He gave them self-respect, respect for learning and life, and futures. "Piffle," they called him. His antics left them wide-eyed. His love filled their hearts. His poetry settled in their minds. He corresponded with them for decades after they left St. Andrew's.

Readers looking for intriguing history, biography or "something inspirational" will love Father Flye and his quirky wife, Grace. Grace was "no bigger than a bar of soap after a hard day's wash." A victim of Addison's disease, she became more reclusive with age. Father Flye was a vegetarian. Grace, anemic, ate a little meat. She saved tea bags to shred to make nests for the mice at her "Noah's Ark." She moved her broom to different locations on the porch as a signal to her neighbors that she was fine, still alive. She is listed by the Smithsonian as one of America's finest portraitists.

In a recent memoir published in American Places, historian Bertram Wyatt-Brown writes affectionately that the Flyes were unquestioned intellectuals. He describes them entering the chapel in their black robes, looking like nothing so much as "a pair of underfed crows."

The book is "Mr. Holland's Opus," "Music of the Heart," "Dead Poets' Society," "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," the Mitford books, and a costume drama. Its two eccentric protagonists will warm the hearts of readers as the Flyes warmed the hearts of those they befriended, from Appalachia to Greenwich Village.

Mr. Hampton, a retired radio announcer, was one of the lost boys that Father Flye saved.

And through this book, Mr. Hampton has saved Father Flye for us.

I have just finished reading "Remembering Father Flye" and I wanted to acknowledge how deeply moved and impresed I am with Bill Hampton's extraordinary work of oral reminiscenes that are fused so well together in the telling of the journey of such a remarkable human being as Father Flye who was consumed by history in all its elements as well as the beauty of life itself.

Hampton has magnificently woven a rich mosaic diffused with both light and darkness of the life of a man whose pilgrimage as an educator of both young and old minds from, "the Mountain" of Sewanee to the streets of the City of New York, was always filled with enriching the lives of those he met on his way with great compassion and love.

In this expansive work of love, in which the meticulousness of historic detail is in itself a wealth of knowledge, Bill Hamptom has shared not only an unusual story but years of wisdom and grace that are not often found in an ordinary life.

George Stable has a problem. George is twelve and still needs his teddy bear to make him not nervous when he sings. George wants to become a rock starbut on his journey he discovers a problem. There's a case of stolen jewels. I really liked this book because it was like a roller coaster. There were some really good parts and some really bad parts. You can't tell what happens around the corner! I would recommend this book to people who like teddy bears. I can't wait to get the sequal.

This is my favorite book from childhood.
George Stable is an amazing character. He is introspective and self-depricatory, creative and extremely perceptive. Somehow Collier makes his character believable despite George's young age.
I love the humor in the book; the crazed bohemian artist of a father, the strange world inhabited by child performers and their dreadful parents, and criminals who can never seem to do anything right.
The illustrations by Lee Lorenz are wonderful. Mr. Lorenz was a cartoonist for the New Yorker AND had graduated from my high school. I decided to use an excerpt from the book as my Senior Year Book quote.

This is a great book to read. As soon as I started reading this book and could not stop. When I was reading THE TEDDY BEAR HABIT it felt like a movie and if I stopped reading, I missed the whole book. I also read the sequel called RICH AND FAMOUS and it was also good. I think that THE TEDDY BEAR HABIT is better because it has a new character and a new plot. This book is funny and sad. Once again you should definetly read this book-and it's sequel!!!!