Any one who has been involved in youth ministry or even has been involved with students will be able to laugh out loud at these jokes and illustrations. They are so true that I could relate to nearly every situation. Consider two of my favorites: you might be a youth workewr if you've ever convinced the church treasurer that water balloons and bungee cords are minsitry expenses; If someone says "lock-in" but you hear "purgatory", you might be a youth worker. I guarantee that you will love this book and that it will provide countless hours of humor. It is especially good for those days when you really feel ministry taking a toll on you. Enjoy!

This book is an excellent beginners guide for the inexperienced outdoorsman.

The book contains 10 well developed chapters that will get you well on your way to being able to "live off the land." The topics covered in this book are as follows: tanning deer skins, making fire, cordage, making a bow and arrows, making traps, meat preservation, primitive cooking methods, field dressing and butchering a deer, container making (baskets and pottery), making tools, and making shelters.

Most of these topics are covered in amazing detail with plenty of photographs. The McPhersons do an excellent job of explaining the topics so that even people with no outdoor experience could perform the task almost immediately. The only exception I found was the chapter on making baskets. Even though I read the chapter several times, I do not feel I could not weave a basket (in all do fairness, it may be easier when I actually attempt the task).

I can not stress enough how easy this book makes a seemingly impossible task for people who lack the basic knowledge of wilderness survival skills. The McPhersons don't just give you the instructions, they also explain the physics or logic behind what they are writing about. I recommend this book to anyone who needs/wants a firm foundation in basic survival skills.

This book tells everything you need to know in order to survive in the wild. I've read over 20 books on wilderness survival and primitive living, and McPherson's book is by far the best one out there. I lived off the land in the Alaskan bush and greatly appreciate all the John has done to help me accomplish that. My only suggestion is that when "making" fire with a bow and drill, you MUST relieve pressure a little when the smoke starts billowing so that you'll kick the ember out onto the tinder. Kudos to John McPherson!

This book is by far the best book. Ever written on survival in the wilderness. You make it so easy. That even a small child can understand it. The McPhersons are very talented. It is the only book. That I have read from cover to cover. Without ever putting it down. I have made shelter, fire, cordage, arrow heads, baskets and brain tanning skins. I have only read the book the one time before it was stolen. The details is so simple. It is the only book. That starts at the beginning. From an amature point of view. If you are a true believer in the wilderness as I am. Even if you want to make primative crafts. this book is a must. My 2 daughters are even making things from the book. They were 7 and 9 years old when they started. You can even make the items quicker. Than you could from another book. I even get to spent more quality time with my daughters. Now that they are doing the same as me. For that alone I would have paid a lot more for the book. Thank you McPhersons.

Great Laughs, as usual! McPherson fans and followers will LOVE this one! Before all else, McPherson first! Enjoy!

They say that humor is good medicine for the soul, If that is true then this is a prescription for life. However, if you take it too seriously, you may just die laughing. Yep folks, when it comes to the demented side of humor, MCPHERSON has the cure for your sick minds.

From the way the characters are developed to the background illustrations, all the way to the use of numbers, these jokes are hilarious and hit so close to home its scary. How scary? Youll want to give all own to charity and move to Austriala!

Good heavens this stuff so funny that if you take a heavy dose of this it could cure all you ills, or at least whats ailing you.

What a great, inoffensive, pick-me-up this collection of cartoons is. John McPherson really knows how to bring a smile to your face. From the magician who really has sawed a woman in half to the classroom presentation of a meteor shower, each of the cartoons in this book will have you either laughing hysterically or nodding in agreement with it.

A great book to have around to read on a down day.

More of John McPherson's off-beat humor. A laugh on every page. Food for the fun-loving soul.

Normally, I wouldn't bother with a book that was based on a television screenplay. However, I bought this one by mistake (thinking I was getting MacKinlay Kantor's Andersonville) and decided to punish myself for carelessness by reading it.

It must be admitted that the book reads quickly. This is because it is written at about a third grade level. Unfortunately, this picturesque effect is spoiled by the language and content, which seem to indicate that Vaughn thought he was writing for adults.

The characters are invaribly one-dimensional; the noble ones are totally noble, the evil ones purely evil. About the only one who seemed even remotely human was the commandant Wirz, who seemed to at least have some inkling that the prisoners were being mistreated. But he was able to excuse himself because he was just following orders, and, besides, if the prisoners would just show some discipline and obey the rules, everything would be fine.

Wirz's dialect is a scream, as is the accent of the Confederate soldiers. Oddly enough, they seem to be unaware of it; when one Union soldier (Gleason) escapes and makes his way home by temporarily joining up with the Confederates, he continues to speak his good unaccented Pennsylvanian and nobody seems to notice.

This whole Gleason adventure, by the way, is totally irrelevant to the story, seeming no more than an excuse for a sex scene with a Confederate widow.

There are many moral and philosophical issues arising from the Andersonville experience that Vaughn does touch on briefly, for example, to what extent does our environment excuse our actions? But the development of these ideas never scratches the surface, and there is no closure; the ending is incredibly weak and unsatisfying.

One never really gets the sense of what Andersonville was really like, but then, it would be impossible to make a really true film about it. Get a history book with some pictures of Andersonville captives, and you'll see why.

If you want to read a good novel about Andersonville, get Kantor's. It's not as easy to read as this book--and you'll probably have to skip a television show or two to get through it--but it's well worth the effort.

Robert Vaughan's Andersonville brings to life the horrors that the union prisoners had to deal with on a daily basis. This is not meant to be a historically accurate novel telling the reader all the events that took place in the prison. The book shows the reader what the average prisoner had to go through. Vaughan does a good job showing the savage attacks of the Raiders, a group that attacked new prisoners and robbed them of their supplies. Vaughan also does a great job showing the boredom that filled the prisoners lives. The conflict that man has with himself by not drinking the water and by going a couple of days with out food. This book is a quick read and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat with unique twists in the story line. I recommend this book to Civil war Buffs and anyone who is looking for a good book to read on an airplane or a train.

Andersonville was a most serious death camp for captured Northern Soilders. When I saw the movie it broke my heart to see the way we were treated by southerns. The account was well written and the part where the Raiders were on trial and then the part where they were hung. Showed that there was some justice being served,espically with Wirtz holding them while trial was being readied. The real test was shown with the escape and recapture, it is known now that the first duty of any military personnel is to escape from the enemy. My heart really goes out to those who fought and were captured by the Rebels. In the end of the book the tomestone of Martin Blackburn was a good way to close this book. It os sad to know that Those who died in this conflict put there lives down to defend this country. I pray that we never have a consentration camp here in America with Americans held in it ever again.

Thank you S.R. Haldeman, Scott M. Great Lakes Naval Hospital

This book, written in a so-called 'laid back style', is even hard to read for a foreigner like myself. Quoting from memory, a typical sentence might read like this: 'Put lotsa goop all over and a coupla nails here and there and you're alright'. In another place the author says he 'saw a list of the good woods for building log cabins once, but he lost it'. That's a little too laid back for my liking. The pictures on the cover are good, but on the inside they are ugly black-and-white photos with maybe two shades of gray. The author says he will 'cover notching in depth later', but that chapter must be missing in my copy. All I could find about notching could be summarized by 'scoop out the wood with the chainsaw'. He guides you through the mistakes he made in building the cabin (which weren't few). That may be helpful to avoid pitfalls, but a better idea would probably be to buy a book written by someone who really knows how to build a log cabin. "If I can build a log cabin, you can too" says the author, and I believe him.

I get a kick out of John McPherson's books.

They're self-published guides that can teach you almost-forgotten crafts, such as how to tan deer skins with brains and ashes.

This book will show you how to build a log cabin SHELL (be forwarned) using simple hand tools and back-breaking effort.

To be fair, McPherson apparently considers a cabin complete when the log walls are up and chinked, and the roof is up and shingled. No doubt he doesn't need electricity or indoor plumbing. So, there's not anything here about how to FINISH a cabin--you know, silly things like wiring.

This book is an incredible guide on how to do about two-thirds of the work required to have a liveable cabin. I've lived in dwellings like the one he made, and it can get real thin, after a while.

What is really neat about this book is that it does show you how to erect a cabin in the old style. The most useful parts concern safety. Listen to the man so you won't get squashed like a bug, OK?

For those of you who are really determined, this book will be extremely valuable, since it is clear, practical, and very well-illustrated with about 300 photographs. For the rest, just read the book in your easy chair while drinking a cold bottle of beer, and then go back to watching a ballgame on the telly.

THIS BOOK WAS VERY HELPFUL, ESPECIALLY FOR FIRST HOME BUIDING PROJECTS. HAD EASY TO READ INFORMATION, GOOD INSTRUCTION AND HELPFULL HINTS THROUGH OUT THE BUIDING PROCESS.

My compliments to author John McPherson on his ability to write in a manner that captured my interest on the first page and held it through to the last page. His words and explanations of primitive crafts let the reader know that he has the skill to live as primitive people did. His grammar is a little off key but that is ok because he writes like he thinks and makes it more understandable. Task well done.

I thought this showed a different view than what the average person would look at. If you are looking for a book that makes you think then this is it. It will challeng the way you look at sports forever.

I found this book to be a very enjoyable book to read and if helped fill in a few spaces left about the great names of the Civil War before they became Generals. I have always enjoy reading accounts of the war with Mexico and seeing how the future enemies of the American Civil War fought together, saved each others lives on occassions and learnt the common lessons of war. This is a very interesting and well presented account although I found the battle scenes lacking in depth but I would suppose that was not the authors main focus but more on the people involved. I think it may have helped to have added a few maps of the fighting in Mexico and the Valley as if you have no prior knowledge of these areas you really do not appreciate the efforts involved in moving from one point to another. Overall this is a decent book and most people should enjoy immersing themselves in this bit of history.

This is one of the best Civil War books, I've ever read. John Waugh brings so many of our Civil war Generals, both North and South, back to life. We learn so many interesting details about their lives at West Point. This book had me laughing, with their antics at West Point, it rather reminded me of my own "boot Camp" life in the military 25 years ago. I can still see Thomas J. "StoneWall" Jackson, sweating at the blackboard, to try and solve problems,walking at the same pace, even when the others hurry to get out of the rain. The Fight that almost broke out, in the Church at West Point, between two future leaders.

One of the things, John Waugh does, is very emotionally grab you by the throat, as he describes StoneWall Jacksons dying, his wifes and Lee's reaction, and the funeral. I literally, had to put the book down and wipe the tears from my eyes. I've read about this incident, many times before, but Waughs version, really got to me.
McClellan, A.P.Hill, Pickett, Wilcox, Stoneman, Darius Couch, Sturgis and many others are brought to life.

I have so many Civil War books to read, but I certainly want to read this book again, in the future.

If you're a real Civil War Buff, you owe it to yourself to read this. To me, it was as good as Shelby Foote.

I've been immersed in my Civil War studies for about 2 years, and Waugh/Mc Pherson's effort is an absolute joy. The life and times of key (and minor) personalities of this particular graduating class are spotlighted through their studies at West Point, Mexican/Indian War exploits and sorrowfully, to the final conflict of America's Civil War. One of the true instances where one "cannot put the book down". Highly recommended, indeed.