One thing you can say about the Superman books over the last several years is that the stories are either too difficult to follow or they are medicore at best. Which desribes this collection of stories for his poor dialoge, lack of character development, and "a sense of rushing the story along", and in the end, it is a waste of both your time and the money you paied buying the book in the first place.

Full spectrum of stories are presented here. Some fun, some touching, some exciting. I highly recommend it.

This is a book that I've somewhat dreaded reviewing. It's a little hard to know how to rate it, and it's hard to review it without going off onto my own interpretation of the topic. (Despite the temptation, I'm going to try and avoid doing that.)

Nesbitt's essential thesis is that the blame laid by some upon General Stuart for the defeat at Gettysburg is unfair. I agree with him. However, I'm not sure I don't think he's right for the wrong reasons.

Nesbitt proposes several beliefs: Stuart's absence brought on the battle; no cavalry was left to Lee; Stuart was "late" for the battle; Stuart wasn't following orders; Stuart was joyriding; and offers to prove them false one by one. He is more successful with some of these proofs than others. He spends much of the narrative on Stuart's orders. I'm not sure this was the best strategy. The orders were confusingly written, we may not have them all, and after the war they were variously interpreted. Harping on the orders and on Lee's aide, Marshall's, possible postwar dishonesty concerning them tends, I think, to weaken Nesbitt's thesis by taking time and attention away from the real weak points in the "Stuart was to blame" argument. He gets caught up in the morass and makes some confusing and contradictory statements himself. In his discussion of the orders he does establish to my satisfaction that Stuart was not outright disobeying, though other readers have disagreed.

Nesbitt is perhaps on better ground with his discussion of postwar events -- the canonization of Lee as part of Lost Cause ideology and the fact that Stuart, being dead and not having been a favorite of some major hagiographers, made an ideal victim. Mosby's refreshingly lucid comments serve Nesbitt well here.

Time is also given to an analysis of the cavalry's role during the battle and retreat. Nesbitt points out, very cogently, that Stuart left men behind watching the Federal army who were supposed to stay in contact with Lee, but he fails to explain why these men did not, apparently, do their duty. This would be a useful thing to know, as would the reason why much of the cavalry Lee did have was off with the Second Corps, thus out of touch with Lee--but not at Stuart's bidding. Also, though the accidental nature of Gettysburg and the fact that it wasn't seen as a "high-water mark" till after the war do receive mention, Nesbitt's argument might have been stronger, I think, had he focused more on those factors.

Some rather unusual photos grace this volume, including one in which Mosby looks startlingly like actor Kyle MacLachlan.

This book will be required reading for anyone interested in the subject, but I'm afraid it may intensify controversy rather than clarifying discussion.

Having read and studied the author's book carefully, the most accurate way I know how to describe it is simply as "factually challenged history." That there are many omitted facts from Nesbitt's book one wonders why the attempt was made in the first place. If someone is looking for a well reasoned treatise on the Lee-Stuart issues at play in the Gettysburg campaign, they need look elsewhere.

Nebitt's SABER AND SCAPEGOAT redefines the depths to which an author bent on historical advocacy is willing to stoop. Nesbitt's attempt to explain why "Jeb" Stuart should not be blamed for any part of the Confederate failure in the 1863 Pennsylvania campaign could not pass History 101, let alone be considered as serious military prose. The author's incredibly narrow criteria that employs only selective use of some portions of certain documents, while ignoring vital evidence such as the historical context in which ALL of the orders were written, Lee's important restraining orders, Stuart's own actions at Haymarket, Dover and elsewhere throughout the ill-fated eight day "raid" that show he was following an agenda all his own, and much much more, reduce this work to a poorly organized, intellectually shabby exercise. With such a spotty and incomplete use of all the available evidence, Nesbitt's work should be viewed with greatest amount of caution and skepticism possible.

It's about time someone has taken the initiative to defend Stuart's rightful actions during the Gettysburg Campaign. Nesbitt's book explains fully what I have known all along. Lee had cavalry with him and failed to use them. That is Lee's fault. End of story. These people that feel the need to keep the blame from Lee and continually find "scapegoats" need to get over it. This was an excellent book that I will recommend to anyone who wants the real truth of the battle of Gettysburg.

...I ordered this book as a gift for my brother-in-law, who's into motorcycles. I thought the book would be exactly what the title said: a celebration of the long, proud history of Harley-Davidson, replete with gorgeous, suitable-for-framing photos of the company's products. The book arrived. I took one look at it, and gave it instead to my friend Bob, who has a taste for oddities. Bob took one look at it, and exclaimed, "THIS IS A COFFEE-TABLE BOOK ABOUT HELL'S ANGELS!" As indeed it is, down to the last bike-chain-wielding bruiser and Jello-wrestling biker babe. Sure, they all ride Harleys, but Harley-Davidson itself is--shall we say--peripheral to the book's actual theme. The photos are very well-done, if suitable-for-framing pix of Hell's Angels are what you want.

Considered a classically American symbol of freedom, the Harley-Davidson motorcycle is captured in 150 full-color photographs and engaging writing in this Thunder Bay Press hardback. "Classic Harley-Davidson" focuses on the machines' emotive power as well as biker lifestyle. Written by Mark Williams. 144 pages.