Where they differ: Mate and his wife live in Tuscany for good, and I would think that therefore they have a perspective which is a little bit different, more wholesome. I also slightly preferred Mate's book because he writes with a down-to-earth sense of humor, making it easy for the reader to relate (when he describes his first attempts at understanding the speech of a native Tuscan, for example - quite a humbling experience for him!). But like the "Tuscan Sun", this book is a declaration of love for Tuscany, its landscape, its people, and its delicious food.

All in all a very enjoyable read!

What's wrong with using the occasional coupon to purchase a needed item at a lower price? What's wrong with the mental workout of a crossword puzzle? Cancelling a prescription for a life saving medication is totally irresponsible. Canceling all commitments and obligations hardly shows care and respect for those around us to whom we have a responsibility. And dog training is a great way to bond with dogs (including dancing with dogs if that's what interests someone).

If you can read this book and sift out all the nonsense, then you will find some challenging ideas. Or alternately, you can read a different book on simplicity that doesn't need sifting through in the first place.

My one criticism and genuine disagreement with the author is his abandonment of city living as a lost cause. At one time I felt like moving out to his idealic small-town countryside too. I stayed because of the vitality of relationships, my compassionate vibrant neighborhood church, my family in the nearby suburbs. I live within a short biking/walking distance of the beautiful Chicago lakefront, with its miles-long public park system. My tiny backyard (25 x 30')--loaded with veggies, flowers, fruit, etc.-- I call my very very small organic 'farm'. My wife and I only have one car, we walk, bike, bus, and train often. We walk to the corner for milk. We consider the incredible racial diversity of the local parks, schools, and neighborhood a gift to our children, something we never had in white small towns and suburbia. Despite their many charms, diversity is not a hallmark of most small towns, either in the US or, I suspect, in Mate's Tuscany.

Instead of bailing on the city, I am committed to making it a little bit better. This can be done through a million small things --community gardens, a church homeless shelter, block parties, consciously knowing and caring for neighbors. Is this easy? No, but it is possible and it is happening.

All of this said, I am rereading the book now, and in general I find it to be a great challenge to not cave in to to the culture of consumption and advertising. I need the smack upside the head as much as the next guy. Highly recommended.

This is an absolutely gorgeous book. The photography is awesome! It is a "dreambook." You would not look through it in order to choose a boat. Most of them would only be available as used boats in any case. You buy this book for your coffee table, because you love fine, beautiful yachts!

Ferenc Mate has done a remarkable job, bringing together some of the finest sailing yachts, designed by the world's best naval architects and built by some of the best yards. The boats are described in the text, and the building techniques and history discussed, and line drawings presented of the plans, buttock lines, sailplans and accommodations. But, the most striking feature of the book is the exquisite photographs, many of which were made by Mate himself (photographic credits are listed on page 281.)

One does not need to be a yacht owner to love such vessels, or to love this book. However, I have been a yacht owner. I built my own, in my back yard: a ketch-rigged (two-masted) trimaran, the Wild Goose, document number 516550 Net 11. She was a 36' beauty, with a 20' beam that took me four years to build and all the money in the world. We sailed her and lived on her for a couple of years in the Pacific.

Anyone who has ever longed for their own boat will want this fine book to dream over. Such dreams can and do come true. Take my word for it, they do!

Joseph Pierre,
Author of THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS: Our Journey Through Eternity

Selection is a bit arbitrary; the high technology side of the industry is pretty much ignored. But that's not what this book is about. It's about beauty. It's about style. It's about craftsmanship.

Those are great things, in any era, for any reason. But I do join with the previous reviewer: This is an appreciation, not a buyers' guide. By all means buy the Dashews' Offshore Cruising Encyclopedia and educate yourself technically before spending $ 500,000 plus on a boat.

Buy this book and let your imagination soar, into a world where you have the funds and the energy to maintain a sixty-five foot teak-laden palace. True beauty is yours.

The book is broken down into nine chapters beginning with the origins of Los Alamos. However, Szasz begins by discussing the conceptual revolutions of human knowledge during the late nineteenth-early twentieth century.

The illustrations included in the book give the reader incredible insight into the actual events. "The ball of fire," a photograph taken of the nuclear explosion in New Mexico gives the reader a visual effect of the actual event. Photographs of the people offer the reader a little more insight into those involved with the project. The map shows the reader how much of the state of New Mexico was consumed for this project.

Overall, I found the book to be easy to read, although
I knew very little about the subject matter. I did, however, ain a whole new insight into nuclear weapons. My favorite chapter was "The Blast." Szasz spoke to a number of different people from all walks of life who experienced the blast of the Trinity. I chose this book as one of my book reviews for a history class and I found it to be an excellent read.

Of course, not everyone appreciates a simple, clean stylized composition of beautiful women (who have not been injected with silicon) of the early part of the 20th century. To diminish Berko's photographs and talent because one prefers photographs of porn stars in color - frankly, that is just laughable! Of course, there are hundreds of books that will satisfy your minimal requirements of the female form nude - but don't diminish Berko merely because you prefer colorized and from the school of "Hustler."

Amazon has graciously and plainly described the book's content and well as provided you with a cover photo so, this is clearly not for people whose frame of reference amounts to magazines from a truckstop.

If you are interested in photography as an art form ... of beautiful women captured in a stylized but very natural form - a series of photographs that have stood the test of time. Berko's photographs are just as telling and relevant today - if one is looking beyond remedial erotica - this book belongs in your collection!

JB

Don't wast your money. My copy is being returned.

Martyn G. D. Belben

I found it insulting to read that the germans did not start WWII, the british & french did. I guess a 'little' thing like the invasion of Poland isnt a cause of war?

In addition to the above, I was completely turned off by the smug, superior attitude of these authors who have dismissed virtually every other work on aviation that has come before them. They surely do have strong arm muscles from patting themselves on the back.

The material presented is often confusing. I found it difficult to interpert the information on number of planes manufactured, for example.

This is one of the few books that I have ever returned. I do not recommend purchase of this book for whatever reason.

However, its detailed coverage of every manufacturer (and of every factory sometimes) is, in itself, enough to make it indispensable, until someone comes out with a more critically minded work.