If you're looking for a good interpretation of excellent illustrations, then this is your book! The illustrations are par none, but the writing lacks substance. Much of the descriptions are but interpretations, some based on fact, but many imagined. Readers looking for a very broad overview will enjoy this book. Those looking for detail about the ship or about the history of the time-period would do better with something else.

Essentially a reprint of a book published originally in 1924, the book manages to have both modern prose and a dated (nonpajorative in this case) perspective. Because the author is chronologically close to his subject, his focus on the meat of the matter is excellent. Complemented by excellent illustrations from Gordon Grant, Culver's prose flows forth, at once detailed, humourous, and filled with romance. An easy read that will probably be enjoyed by enthousiast, history buff, and devout non-fiction reader alike. We can only hope that this book does not go out of print for another 75 years.

The big type, the philosophical filler pages, and the fact that he's basically saying "call around for hours, and see if anyone has anything they are desperate to get rid of, then turn around and sell it at a profit" fulfilled my expectation that this book would be virtually worthless to anyone trying to find out exactly HOW to make money in this business.

This book was biased towards antiques, which I know absolutely nothing about, and would certainly lose my shirt attempting to sell. I had hoped instead for some SPECIFIC examples of where to go and find items to sell. Instead, this book is mostly vague "you can do this" rah rah stuff. Utterly worthless to me, especially at the obscenely high price for a paperback with big type.

A couple of years ago, a friend and I decided to try our hand at the surplus business that everyone was talking about. He ordered a course from a company called ACL and after months of frustration with the material and company, we almost gave up the idea. We ran across Mr. Kulesza's book, "Hidden Wealth: How to find, buy, sell and broker surplus and liquidated goods" and fearing it might be another scam, we almost didn't buy it. What a mistake that would have been! After we read the book several times, the whole concept of the industry suddenly became clear to us. We were on the wrong track all along, thus our frustration. Since then we've built up a great closeout/surplus business that supports both our families very well. When we heard that Mr. Kulesza released a new fourth edition, "Hidden Wealth: How to reap huge profits from surplus goods and equipment in the 21st century" we had to have it. He outdid himself with this updated edition. Anyone wanting down-to-earth, no bull, step by step information about surplus must read this book.

Contrary to what one reviewer wrote, there is nothing in the book about antiques! Don't know where that came from. And the text is not large...it's small and packed on pages with no filler material. A meaner, leaner version of the previous edition.

I'll forever be grateful to the author for his fine work and dedication to the industry. There's a good reason this book made it to the fourth edition. It changed our lives for the better. It's the best forty bucks I've ever spent.

This short book is mostly composed of self righteous lectures about how to improve the world or one's own life. There is very little detail or anecdote. I believe only a die hard fan of the sailing era could derive any value from this.

Anyone who enjoys Patrick O'Brian's novels, the Hornblower series, or the like, will be fascinated by this true-life autobiography that reads like a novel. Leech joined the Royal Navy at age 12, and was in the crew of the Macedonian when she was captured by the frigate United States during the War of 1812; his account of that battle is worth the price of the book all by itself. This book was a best-seller a century and a half ago and ought to be one again today. The fine intros add that much more, and the Naval Institute's "Classics" format makes a solid, handsome volume. (Disclaimer: I edited one of the early volumes in the series myself-- but this is an unsolicited testimonial; the book is a good read.)

As far apart from the Disney classic as the movie version of Moby Dick is to its literary partner, Alice in Wonderland portrays the fanciful tale of the little girl, Alice, wandering about in a world of her own childhood imaginings and storybook recollections. If you have never actually READ the book, than you have a chance to know what your mother always thought would scare you as a little child, but really just adds to the fantastical wonderland which was the author's intention.

This book is great but little less juicy than Cecil's other books. I would say four of the eight stories are great but again his style makes up for much of it. Hardly ever you will read court stories written in such witty fashion. After reading his books you might feel "why not find a judge's job". But one thing is for sure that none of his stories are similar -immaculate British English

This book provides a firsthand look back at two crucial events in the forming of the United States: American's response to and reasons for fighting against taxation by the British, and arguments about the Constitution.

In the first half, Letters from a Famer in Pennsylvania, John Dickinson takes great care to explain why Americans should oppose all taxes that the British impose merely to raise money, namely the Townshend Acts. Dickinson expresses his concern over precendents being set, and draws heavily on the previous American refusal to pay the Stamp Act. This section was fairly interesting in that it helped explain some of the reasons Americans didn't want to pay British taxes, but it did become fairly repetitve throughout the letters.

In the second half, Letters from the Federal Farmer, Richard Henry Lee puts forth his arguments about the Constitution before it was ratified by the states. Arguments included why state governments should wield more power than the federal government, whether a bill of rights should be included in the Constitution, and why too much power was located in the federal government outlined in the Constitution.

All in all, the book was a fairly difficult read that was boring at times, but it did provide an interesting look into the opinions that shaped the US.

Stephen Aron's book depicts the two conflicting ideals of how Kentucky is to go down into history by pioneer Daniel Boone and then, the powerful Henry Clay. A very good book answering all the questions of historical Trans-Appalacha. I feel as if Aron could have shortened the book and still be able to get the point across of the two opposing sides.

It is, in my opinion, probably more noteworthy for its portrayal of the human spirit and for its satire of virtually everything associated with the 18th century than it is for overall literary value. Fielding was suffering from, sadly, fatal, health problems when he wrote this, but that serves to free him from any traditional parameters of restraint. He glances at nearly every conceivable arena of 18th-century life, and his satire is uncanny. It is, however, a tedious read unless: 1-you truly enjoy Fielding; 2-you are interested in 18th-century English literature; 3-you are interested in the literary genre of travel books; or, 4-you are interested in masterful satire. Additionally, if you are a student and you have been required to read this, you will unfortunately find few resources available to help you in your understanding of this book.

"On the Altar of Freedom" was an interesting book in that it compiled the letters sent to a newspaper by Corporal James Gooding of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry (the "Glory" outfit). By reading the letters (ie the book), one can get a view of Civil War life from the view of a black Union soldier. The major drawback to the work is that Gooding was sending the letters to the newspaper for the express purpose of them being published. What would have been more interesting would have been to see his private (if any) correspondence. That way the reader would have been able to see the private man. This book is also an interesting read because of the mention of unapolgetic black CSA sharpshooters being captured by Union forces outside Fort Wagner.

As a student I was excited to find so many new ideas in one place. However, when faced with writing a review of the ideas in this book, I needed to review my finance and accounting texts. If you want to be up on the popular terminology read this book. If you want to reinvent your financial office look somewhere else.

Reinventing the CFO is an extraordinary book. In Austria, Business Administration and Financial Management is over all based on hard "financial" facts. It is good to get to know a perspective, where strategic tasks are truly part of a CFOs work. The book is an excellent guideline, full of ideas. Remarkable is the invention of a socalled "Quickgrid" which allows the reader to check the situation of the financial function in his/her company. The only disadvantage: For a book of about 170 pages, it is very expensive (well, not if you pay amazon`s reduced price).

Some people find it hard to understand this book. But if you're an MBA graduate, terminologies like "value chain" isn't so hard to undertsand. Better to take Startegic Management first before reading this book.