This book is an excellent source of information for anyone with an interest either in the American Civil War or in warfare in general. For the casual reader, one can find interest in the stories of Read's early career and of his swashbuckling adventures. To the historian, one can find interesting insight into the importance of sea power, during the Civil War. This concept has a sort of Alfred Thayer Mahan ring to it, who wrote about sea power as important to nations during the nineteenth century.

Admiral Dewey said "America never produced a navy officer more worthy of a place in history" and thanks to Jones he has it and we've got a great book to read! Read captured over 20 union ships and burned most of them - he was captured once, made several nearly successful escape attempts, and at one point had over 30 Union ships at sea just to try to stop him. The main part of the book reads like an action novel, but it's all real - as he moves from river warfare to commerce raiding and back, but it has a detailed, 23 page section of notes and an 11 page bibliography. So you'll learn a lot about the naval side of the war, and lots of information is there for those doing research - but read it first for the story - you'll love it!

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**Hey, SOMEBODY [Ted Turner maybe?] ought to make a MOVIE out of this! ** ======

Lt. Read's true story, captured in this well-documented & very readable biography, has All the earmarks of a great, action-packed adventure! -- This Civil War "sea story" has everything: Lt. Read graduated last in his class from the U.S. Naval Academy; he fought on the Mississippi River in various ships, including an ironclad; he raided as far north as Portland, Maine; he was a prisoner of war & made multiple escape attempts... What a fantastic story line for a movie! But this is all true!

This is a very well-written account of a heroic figure, and it's one that will hold you in suspense! (...other than the fact that you already know how the war turned out.)

Bravo, Robert A. Jones!... I like your book!

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All photographs are reproduced in a warm duotone, which brings out the amazing range of light and shadow in the original works. A learned introduction by Robert Flynn Johnson puts Jones in the context of other close-up still-life photographers. The book's only defect is Alice Waters's inane, hippy-dippy Preface: "A bunch of radishes. A bunch of grapes. [. . .] Charles Jones reminds us that horticulture is sacred. There is no other word for it." She drivels off after two pages, but still, that's two fewer of Jones's photographs that we might have enjoyed.

A marvellous and inspiring book, whether you're a gardener or a photographer, or both. Jones' work, found in a trunk in the Bermondesy Market, is quite the most remarkable body of still-life work produced by an English photographer. Reminiscent of the photos of Josef Sudek, Irving Penn or Karl Blossfeldt, it's everything good still-life work should be -- simple, dramatic, evocative and perfectly composed. Since Jones left no negatives -- later in life, he used his glass plates to make cloches to protect his seedlings -- this book is the only public record of his work you're likely to see unless you chance upon an exhibition organized by the author, dealer and collector Sean Sexton. I can't recommend this book enough.

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.

After reading the un-abridged I found the ABRIDGED version a sham and a waste of good paper. Let get political correct and cut out the parts that show the cruilty of the Fedreal troops and just show The Mean Nasty Bad Southerns People supposely were. Cut out the the letters that showed the love and respect that was shown to the slaves and cut out the parts of the Northern Troops raiding and pillaging people homes or setting the houseing on fire with both whites and blacks in them just because the blacks did not want to leave there masters. Cut out the letters of Mother and Childrens crying because they have no food due to the Federal Troops taking it right off their tables or out of ther mouths. Cut out the letters showing druken Federal Troops raping and murdering Southern Women. NOW YOU HAVE THE ABRIDGED VERSION TO SHOW what just a few people want to be shown. Just leave the book a lone and let the letters tell the truith of what happen those terrible days during the war.

I read the ABRIDGED and wish I could get my money back!!!!

Book is composed of actual letters from family members in Georgia during the Prewar, during actual war and after the Civil War.
You get an actual account on how life was day to day, with very enjoyable and easy to read wording. Much more accruate history in this book, than is currently being taught in our schools.

This book shows better than any other the disruptive effect of the Civil War on the lives of real Southern people. In 1,300 letters between many family members, this magnificant book chronicles the Jones family of Liberty County, Georgia from 1854 until the late 1860s. We see the family's lives from day to day as war clouds gather, the son becomes Mayor of Savannah, the army is raised, Sherman's army arrives and pillages the plantation every day for a month, the family becomes destitute refugees from the chaos of war, the slaves become free workers, etc. We see into the minds and hearts of this good family, experience their births and deaths, joys and sorrows and fears, at the time of the nation's greatest political crisis.