This book has a great selection of climbs from glaciered peaks like Mt Rainier to remote rock climbs in the North Cascades. The pictures of the routes and the graphics of the rock pitches are excellent. The histories of each climb add to the total enjoyment of doing a route. It is a pleasure to read and a real asset for the climber.

This book includes a great selection of climbs in the Cascade Mountains. From classic routes up Mt. Rainier and Mt. Baker to more obscure climbs in North Cascade National Park, it has it all. The descriptions are clear and contain all of the pertinent information to get you to the top! The pictures of the routes and the graphics of the rock pitches are extremely useful. The history behind each climb also adds to the overall enjoyment of the climbing experience. It is a good resource for the beginning climber as well as the advanced. Read it and hit the hills!

This guide thoroughly describes several climbs in the cascades of Washington, ranging from simple walk-ups to technical rock climbs. It gives detailed information on the best climbs. I have used it extensively on numerous climbs and find it informative, current, easy to read, and very helpful. The maps and pictures with routes are especially helpful. Almost every major climb in the North Cascades is covered and the history section preceding the description of each climb is very interesting. This is a great book and a must for any mountaineer in Washington, whether they be a beginner or a seasoned climber.

Clearly, a lot of research went into this effor. This is an exciting and interesting book. A recommend to anyone interested in native american or american military history.

A Hero to His Fighting Men. Nelson A. Miles, 1839 - 1925 is a biography of an American hero whose good name has been unfairly tarnished. Miles compiled a flawless record of military feats after he began his army service as a volunteer officer in the Civil War. Following the Civil War, in which he fought in every major battle of the army of the Potomac except Gettysburg, and won the Congressional Medal of Honor for "distinguished gallantry at the battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, May 3, 1863," he earned fleeting fame on the frontier. Today, few realize that, in turn, he defeated dissident bands of Kiowa-Comanches, Sioux, Nez Perces, and renegade Apaches led by Geronimo, and then skillfully managed the Messiah outbreak f 1890. The climax of his career came in 1895 with his appointment as commanding general of the army. The driving ambition, courage, and self-confidence that were responsible for his military successes and advancement also made him a controversial officer who begot a legion of enemies. Because the judgments of his critics have influenced the way history has viewed Miles it is necessary to reassess the career of the officer who was appreciated in his day as "the idol of the Indian fighters."

One can readily understand why some of his contemporaries did not wish Miles well. For instance, supporters of Jefferson Davis found it difficult to forgive Miles, when, as jailer of the fallen President of the Confederate States of America, he had his prisoner temporarily placed in chains. Equally apparent is how, in the post Civil War army, at a time when there were few opportunities for advancement, jealousies naturally sprang up between Miles and his rivals for promotion. It is also evident why officials in Washington would resent his outspoken criticism of mismanaged bureaus and campaigns. For example, in his 1886 annual report Miles complained about the shoes manufactured at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth and worn by his men on the Geronimo campaign. The Adjutant General had earlier praised the prison for its products. Miles faultfinding partially explains why the government made little effort to honor him for his victory over the Apaches.

A painstaking search that took over fifteen years, of both manuscript collections and nineteenth century newspapers, unearthed information that justifies reexamination of Miles' career. For instance the Adjutant General's bruised feelings concerning the shoes made at Fort Leavenworth does not completely explain Miles' difficulties following the Geronimo campaign. Miles also had to contend with bureaucratic intrigues emanating from the headquarters of his superior officer at the time, Major General Oliver O. Howard. For example, Howard muddied the details of what actually happened when Geronimo surrendered to Miles. As a result, Miles fell into official disfavor. Miles did not publicly air his exasperation at this disservice, but he reacted after he read the published correspondence of the surrender and realized what had happened. In a letter found in Howard's papers, which has not been fully appreciated by some students of the campaign, it is clear that Miles was aware of how the mischief damaged his reputation.

Seething at what he read in the government document, Miles accused Howard of keeping his report "pigeon-holed at Division Headquarters for nearly a month notwithstanding that I was being denounced, meanwhile, from one end of the country to the other for not reporting the fact of the surrender."

In some bewilderment, Miles continued: "You not only failed to set me right when it was within your power so to do, but you seem to have gone out of your way in the opposite direction."

Another instance in which history has misjudged Miles resulted from strained relations between Miles and the Commanding General of the Army, William T. Sherman. Most Indian War historians have been negatively influenced by an impulsive letter written by Sherman, which Miles probably never knew existed. Greater insight into their feud, however, would be gained by considering an interview of General Sherman by a New York Herald reporter that has not been commented upon in other studies of this period.

Miles, who President Theodore Roosevelt dismissed as a "brave peacock" because of his vanity and love of pomp deserves a more accurate epitaph. A Hero to His Fighting Men reminds its readers that in 1910 a balladeer honored Miles, asserting that the general, who was "solid with the ranks," might be a Little partial to the medals on his chest. He's got a darned right to be; He earned 'em in the West.

Note: Great care was taken to insure that although A Hero to His Fighting Men, Nelson A. Miles, 1839 - 1925 was a scholarly study of the General's career, it was also a very readable portrait of a military leader who deserves greater appreciation for his services to our nation.

1998, c. 568pp., 23 illus. Isbn-0-87338-594-

When this book was first published, here in South Africa its promotion was good. I decided this was my type of book, so I went shopping. None of the bookshops that I usually use had it and so I placed an order at a couple of the stores (explaining I also had another order somewhere else.

It really was worth waiting for, the photography is outstanding. There is also enough information for people who do not live in Africa - just to wet their taste buds

South Africa has had plenty of problems in the past but when I see a book like this, I am very honoured as I know these tribes, they are colourful and very proud.

This richly illustrated book is a fascinating look at the various traditional black cultures in South Africa. The photographer spent time with different tribal peoples, experiencing their day-to-day lives. His magnificent photographs allow us a glimpse into these vanishing worlds as they adapt to modern, urban influences. For travellers interested in meeting people and armchair anthropologists, this is an indispensable read.

P.C. Nelson has done a wonderful job of explaining the doctrine of the Assemblies of God in an easy to understand and thin book. I really recomend this book to A/G ministers and laymen.

"Build Your Own Bethlehem" is a great little book for children or adults. It is beautifully illustrated & the figures are easy to assemble. The text ties the figures into Christian theology and worship & the figures can be used for the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Epiphany & the Presentation in the Temple
(Candlemas). Perfect for parents & children to work on together. It is the only nativity scene I have come across that includes Anna & Simeon from the presentation of Jesus in the Temple. The price is a bargain so I bought several to use as Christmas gifts.

This book is a reprint of Herman Miller company's 1952 catalog and it's a super reproduction. With all the Nelson, Eames and Noguchi material inside, this book shows some of the best furniture produced in the 1950s. Great reprint job.

As a business user in publishing who's just upgraded to Windows XP I found this book excellent. It's mercifully free of jargon and provides a comprehensive guide how to get maximum use out of XP. XP is fast - but it's significantly different in appearance to previous versions of Windows. I'd recommend this guide to the general home XP user as well. It supplies all the basic info you'd expect - creating folders and files, printing, internet use, shortcuts, using the explorer bars - as well as some you might not (eg. how to customize XP for a user with a disability). For the business traveller there's a helpful section on how to use XP on a laptop, including tips on how to specify new dialing rules, use a calling card and encrypt folders.

As someone who in the past has struggled even with one of the Dummies guides I found this book very straightforward as it cuts its way through the jungle of faxing, blocking or routing messages, security settings and conferencing with Net Meeting. Not to mention how to set up a distribution list or a Newsgroup account.

The section on Administrative Tools Demystified is very useful. As the authors point out, data has an inherent tendency to fragment and no user, no matter how expert, can avoid this problem. The advice on checking for disk errors and defragmenting files is lucid and to the point. With this guide every XP user should be able to optimize their system for peak performance.

The book has a pretty neutral tone (unlike the sometimes irritatingly folksy tone of the Dummies series), though a dry wit sometimes surfaces. The section on what the authors' call XP's plumbing aims to supply "all the information you need to appear very knowledgeable the next time that bad-tempered tech-support guy barks his questions at you".

A final section is devoted specifically to business projects. Topics include setting up a small network, working with a client/server network and last but not least troubleshooting system problems and errors (including guidelines for setting up a diaster recovery plan). A useful glossary defines terms like "Ethernet address" and explains enigmatic acronyms (IAB, IANA, ICANN, ICS, IETF etc).

For business users this is definitely the authoritative guide to XP Professional but XP Home users should find it useful too since it also covers features like Media Player and Movie Maker, printing photos, protection from viruses, working with floppy disks, and all those other things which the home PC user is likely to use.

I gave this book 5 stars because Amazon doesn't have a 6-star rating. "Nelson's Ships: A History of the Vessels In Which He Served, 1771-1805" is a strong contender for the top spot on my list of favorite nautical history reference books, and on my bookshelves stands a goodly number of competitors. Peter Goodwin, the Keep and Curator of HMS Visitor - surely a dream job for any Age of Fighting Sail enthusiast - has written several other naval history reference books. His "The Construction and Fitting of the English Man of War, 1650-1850" is a minutely detailed study of just how these marvels of contemporary technology were built. His contributions to the "Anatomy of the Ship" series seemingly make note of every timber, trennal, and bolt used to construct the vessels described. With "Nelson's Ships" I expected something of the same, a close study of Nelson's various vessels as physical artifacts, complex objects built of wood and iron and copper, rigged out with rope and sailcloth. But Peter Goodwin's new book is far, far more than that. In examining the vessels in which Nelson served, Goodwin has produced a remarkably comprehensive look at the Royal Navy itself during Nelson's era.

Twenty-five vessels ranging in size from the little armed brig Badger, Nelson's first command, to the huge first-rates HMS Victory and the captured Spanish ship-of-the-line San Josef are each awarded a lengthy chapter in Goodwin's book. Deck and hull plans are usually presented, along with enough illustrations so that the vessel described becomes real in the reader's eye. But, Goodwin's scope extends far beyond the physical fabric of these vessels. A history of each is presented from launch to ultimate fate, not only confined to the period when Nelson was aboard as midshipman, junior officer, captain, or admiral. Every commanding officer throughout a vessel's service is listed, usually together with the refit history of the ship, showing the frequent repairs and rebuilds which were an integral part of any wooden vessel's existence. Goodwin has drawn from the ships' logbooks a wealth of detail about life aboard each ship, experiences during battles and during peacetime. Punishment lists show, for example, that aboard Victory on August 4, 1804, John Brown, John Hind, Simon Moon, William Cobourne, and Edward Flynn received between 13 and 36 lashes for drunkenness, while John Wells got 48 for disobedience of orders and neglect of duty. We learn that on September 14, 1778, HMS Janus expended one puncheon and one hogshead of beer (or 126 gallons). We find that, among other things, HMS Vanguard received aboard on Thursday, August 4, 1808, 51 feet of 3-inch oak plank, 4000 ball cartridges for muskets, 339 fathoms of rope for signal halyards, and 46 thimbles for sewing. On January 1, 1779, Nelson wrote in the log of HMS Badger: "Moderate and clear Weather, received my Commission and superseded Captain Michael John Everitt in Command of Badger, went on board and read Ditto to the Ships Company. People employed occasionally." Through this kaleidoscopic recounting of ordinary (and sometimes extraordinary) experience, the ships and the officers and men aboard them are breathed into life.

Through this rich detail, Goodwin constructs a portrait of the Royal Navy, its ships, its duties, and its officers and men during the era when it rose to dominate the world's oceans. By concentrating upon a representative sample of warships, a true picture of the greater whole is drawn. Goodwin rejects the popular and out-dated view of life in the Royal Navy of the time as being one of horror, misery, and oppression. Instead, he demonstrates that the seamen were well fed (within limits of what could be preserved aboard ship) with between 4000 and 5000 calories a day to support their heavy labors and that they were in general proud professionals.

I consider Peter Goodwin's "Nelson's Ships" to be an ideal complement to Brian Lavery's "Nelson's Navy". While Lavery provides a thorough structural description of the Royal Navy circa 1800, its institutions, missions, and practices, Goodwin's book presents vivid, specific detail to flesh out that structure. And I would add one more book to make an ideal trilogy: James McGuane's "Heart of Oak" with its marvelous photographs of the implements and objects of everyday life at sea. Those three books together form an incomparable portrait of the Royal Navy in the Age of Fighting Sail.

This book will suprise you with how easy and quickly you can learn Office 2000 and with more depth including important infomation you can use NOW! This book even makes creating databases understandable. You're going to love it!

This book is the third in the author's arsenal, and it is just as useful as the other two. The author is a wonderful photographer, just the images in the book would be worth the price, but the reader gets a lot more:
Detailed descriptions of where to go for the best shots, and the best times to go there. For some of the areas, you get a mile-by-mile log, and even some compositional suggestions. Even if one has been to these places previously, this book contains extremely valuable information for the serious photographer.