DK eyewitness books are some of the greatest non-fiction books around. The distinctive white background and high-quality photography gives this book an edge over any other pirate picture book. And -- these pictures are real! They're beautiful photos of historically piratey things, accompanied by informative captions and text.

Learn about Anne Bonny, a fearsome female pirate, peruse the pictures of pirate treasure, from Spanish doubloons to richly ornamented crosses. Compare the different pirate flags, and learn about who made each one. Check out the different types of ships, authentic pirate clothes and weapons, and a storehouse of other REAL pirate information.

If you know someone (young or old) who is fascinated by all things pirate, then you must introduce them to this book! It's a visual crash course in pirateness, and it's excellent!

This book gives lots of fascinating information about the weapons and tactics pirates used. The information is divided into small fact capsules with illustrations, which keeps it from ever being boring or overwhelming. And there's so much on a page that the book's worth re-reading several times, in case of something missed or forgotten. A gotta-have for the piratically-minded!

This is a very good book with lots of facts about anything that has to do with piracy. If you are inturested in pirates, get it. It is well worth the money.

A Perfect book for people looking for colourful pictures. Ideal for amatures, and semi-pro. It has a great deal of information available, and rich in ideas for photographic techniques. Has various chapters dealing with different types of photography. Uses plain good comprehensive English. I highly recomend it to all Photography 'lovers'.

I recently made the switch to digital cameras from film cameras for many reasons. I found once I did that a large amount of the photography books out there were only applicable to traditional film cameras. Not so with this book. While there IS material in this book for traditional film photography the main focus of the book is how to take color pictures. The author divides the subject into separate sections which I have typed out below. Within each section are the related topics which contain detailed discussions for properly photographing the kind of subject matter the topic is concerned with. The book contains a nice introduction to the topic of color in the beginning and then moves into the subject matter discussions by topic. Each topic contains excellent color photographs that act as samples to both inspire and teach you how to take good color photographs. I REALLY liked this book. I highly recommend it to photographers of all levels.

Sections in this book: [1.] What is Color? (7 topics) 16pp. [2.] Working with Color (7 topics) 14 pp. [3.] Picture Composition (14 topics) 32 pp. [4.] Moods of Natural Light (18 topics) 38 pp. [5.] Using Artificial Light (4 topics) 8 pp. [6.] Subject Lighting (8 topics) 30 pp. [7.] Materials and Techniques (6 topics) 14 pp. [8.] Equipment and Darkroom (10 topics) 20 pp.

An excellent book on various types of subjects for colour photography. Almost every picture, from the sweeping landscape to the subtle close-up are of excellent quality. You get heaps of practical advice on how to make the most of colour in your photographs, and Hedgecoe takes you through the theory of colour and light, composition and technical information as well. The advice you get from this book not only takes your photography one, but several steps further. It boosts your creative thinking, gives you a lot of valuable information, and inspires you to go right out and take those great photos! Top marks!

My son's kindergarten teacher has this in his class. All the 5 year olds love it so I'm getting it for our son for Chrismas. My husband and myself both enjoyed reading it to our kids and they really enjoyed the detailed pictures. If your child likes Richard Scarry, they'll probably like Stephen Biesty.

I was amused to see that this book listed under the 'children's' section. This book is for everyone! Hey look at me -- a graduate student going nuts over my thesis -- but thanks to Biesty, I *finally* know how aluminum foil, matches, CDs, donuts, + chocolates bars are made! If you like "How Things Work" - you'll love this book. Even if you already know how everything is made, the detailed illustrations are amazing and humurous, get it! (other cool things dissected - nails, diamond rings, race cars, rockets, cheese ...)

This is truly a one of a kind book. Stephen Biesty has done another wonderful job explaning what or how things look or work. This book was excelent choice! It helped me at school to understand what the teacher at school was talking about when she trys to explaine how things work! This should be #1 on your shopping list! Have fun reading!

Richard Platt has written books on a number of subjects as varied as photography, ornithology and smuggling. In this exciting collection of adventure stories, he dramatically recounts the true-life exploits of outstandingly brave individuals who pushed themselves to the limits of endurance.

There are three sections:

Discovery, Conquest and Loot
Dangerous Times in Wild Lands
To the Ends of the Earth and Beyond

Many of the stories are about the restless urge to wander, while others focus on desires to be famous or rich. For some adventurers, the hunger for excitement for life itself is what spurs them on to new territories and challenges.

"In 1963, scientists dug up 1,000-year-old Viking objects in Newfoundland, Canada.This suggests that Vikings-perhaps even "Lucky" Leif Eriksson-really did visit America five centuries before Christopher Columbus." -pg. 7

Adventurers include: Hannibal, Leif Eriksson, Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Hernan Cortes, Benvenuto Cellini, Miguel de Cerbantes, Moll Cutpurse, Claude Duval, Alexander Selkirk, Blackbeard, James Cook, Alexander von Humboldt, Lewis and Clark, Davy Crockett, Rene Caillie, Lakshmi Bai, Burke and Wills, Ned Kelly, Mary Kingsley, Amundsen and Scott, Manfred von Richthofen, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Thor Heyerdahl, Hillary and Tenzing, Yuri Gagarin and Armstrong and Aldrin.

Some of the most interesting stories:

Voyage around the Cape - where it is said Vasco da Gama threw the charts and navigational instruments into the sea and declared he did not need a navigator because God alone was the master and pilot. Days later, they rounded the Cape and turned northward, up Africa's east coast. Having stood at the top of Table Mountain and almost drowned in the ocean in Cape Town, I can say his adventure must have been truly harrowing. The ocean there is wild! After that vacation, we decided to head to safer waters.

The Real Robinson Crusoe - "I am cast upon a horrible desolate island, void of all hope of recovery." -Robinson Crusoe He scanned the horizon for ships until he finally saw the mastheads of two British sailing ships. To his horror, the ship disappeared into the darkness, but he was finally rescued days later.

An African Adventure - Where Mary feels sorry for a leopard and tries to release it. Once the leopard was freed it moved close to her and for a moment she was terrified. After commanding the leopard to go home, it obediently turned and slunk away. A hunter hiding in a tree thought she must be a goddess to command obedience from such a dangerous animal.

The illustrations bring the adventures to life. Each story is filled with gripping accounts of danger, dramatic full-color illustrations and color photographs of people, places and objects that put the stories in historical context.

The Illustrated Book of Great Adventures by George Sharp features a full-color jacket with drawings, paintings and photographs of great adventures. Inside it presents the activities and accomplishments of great adventurers throughout history, including the Viking explorer, Leif Erikson, and astronaut Neil Armstrong. It is very interesting with lots of full-color realistic drawings and paintings on every page to satisfy the most hungry young adventurer. A great picture book!

I'm a teacher and I find the Eyewitness books highly educational. I like the way the concepts are presented in a form without backgrounds. This gives clear facts to the reader without over taxing the attention span. The books are highly informative, presenting difficult concepts in comprehendable chunks that stimulate interest. I have almost the whole collection for my own children and they LOVE them!

DK eyewitness books are some of the greatest non-fiction books around. The distinctive white background and high-quality photography gives this book an edge over any other nonfiction picture book. And -- these pictures are real! They're beautiful photos of all things related to shipwrecks, accompanied by informative captions and text.

Learn about sunken treasure, lighthouses, ships, rescues-at-sea, and many other shipwreck-related topics (all augmented by museum-like photos).

If you know someone (young or old) who is fascinated shipwrecks, then you must introduce them to this book! It's a visual crash course in shipwrecks, and it's excellent!

This amazing book folds and opens out as a HUGE pop-up history book...from the Big Bang to the 20th century. Each 'slice'of pop-up history shows they way people were in ancient times. Illustrated in a lively and humourous way by Stephen Biesty, this book is sure to keep anyone bored, busy. This amazing book can even be hung up on the wall; great as a unique decoration, toy or classroom tool.

This is a really fun book. It shows the happenings of the inhabitants of an apartment building: 3 families, 1 movie star, an artist, and a scientist. Plus, you get to follow the days of the 2 workmen. Watch as the scientist's apartment blows up, reporters interview the movie star, one family has a party, another moves in, and many, many more events. This book is fun to look at again and again. You can follow the day of just one person, or check up on the doings of all the residents. It'd recommend it to anyone of any age.

Illustrator Stephen Biesty carved out his own niche in books by grabbing a concept and doing it well, over and over again. The concept was to take well-known but complex things, like ships, machines, geological formations, and the human body, and make them more understandable by giving a series of drawings, for each object, showing what that object would look like if it were sliced in sections. Kind of sounds like an MRI in medicine! The drawings are bright, colorful, and extremely detailed. With each, there is a short, clearly-written description of the object and some of its aspects. These books make great gifts for older kids, who will get a kick out of the fact that most items show the bathrooms in use, and don't be surprised if an adult or two peeks at the book several times.

you should definitely try to get this book. I am a landlubber, who has just discovered the pleasures of Hornblower and Aubrey/Maturin (via Austen's Persuasion). Along with a number of more serious naval non-fiction reference works, notably THE WOODEN WORLD by N.A.M. Rodger (ISBN 0393314693; ASIN 0393314693)I found a copy of this wonderful book first at my public library and then in a sale at my local store.

This is an oversized book, thin but full of detailed information. A man-of-war, one of the mainstays of the Georgian fleet during the wars of the 1700s and early 1800s, is "cut away" section by section and deck by deck to illustrate life on board as well as the structure of the ship. The first works better than the latter, although I got a very good idea of how the ship's anchor works as well as how the ship crew handled guns and gunpowder (as well as the dangers of a loose gun). I wished that the authors had provided a bird-eye view of the ship from the top of the masts, and showed sailors working the sails. Apart from this and other minor quibbles, I think I learned more from this book faster than I had expected.

Yes, this is a children's book, but it is highly recommended by sites specializing in naval fiction of the Georgian and Regency era (think Napoleonic Wars, Revolutionary Wars, as well as sites devoted to O'Brian and Forester). Children will be delighted by various grosser aspects of life abroad (the very basic toilet and bathing facilities, the surgeon in action during battle, and of course the maggot-filled biscuits), not to mention trying to find a certain stowaway. Adults will revel in little details that explain things that have puzzled them.

I started out not knowing port from starboard, and very little else. By the end of this book, while I cannot claim to be proficient, I certainly understand that a ship has three masts in several sections, that it has several decks, and that life at sea was more complicated than is sometimes depicted in fiction.

You might also want to try "The Visual Dictionary of Ships and Sailing" (ISBN 1879431203; ASIN 1879431203) which apparently discusses different types of ships, the sails and ropes, and so forth. I have not seen this book yet, but it looks interesting.

Biesty's book is terrific. Wonderful illustrations and great detail. My son and I learned so much about life aboard a ship. Fascinating things I would never have guessed at before I read this.

I purchased this book as a birthday gift for my husband (yes, I know it's a "kids book"). He collects books about naval history and ships, and I was gratified to see that this book quickly became one of his favorites (the kids love it too). It's an absolutely fascinating read; the illustrations are wonderfully detailed (and often somewhat disgusting, much to the delight of the kids). A really fun book.

Illustrator Stephen Biesty carved out his own niche in books by grabbing a concept and doing it well, over and over again. The concept was to take well-known but complex things, like locomotives, ocean liners, airliners, castles, churches, and the space shuttle, and make them more understandable by giving a series of drawings, for each object, showing what that object would look like if it were sliced in sections. Kind of sounds like an MRI in medicine! The drawings are bright, colorful, and extremely detailed. With each item, there is a short, clearly-written description of the object and some of its aspects. These books make great gifts for older kids, who will get a kick out of the fact that most items show the bathrooms in use, and don't be surprised if an adult or two peeks at the book several times.

Wow! This book is really great! From opera houses to medieval cathedrals and castles, this incredible book of cross sections pinpoints every last detail! It shows all the different parts, what they are used for, and tons more! Buy this book today. You won't be disappointed.

Who of us can't remember the excitement of looking at some wonderful building or structure and wondering *what was going on in there*? Stephen Biesty deserves an entry in Who's Who for thinking of this wonderful format for readers who wonder. This is a wonderful and exciting book for older kids and adults who are curious about how things work behind-the-scenes. While it can be tricky for younger children to envision how the objects go back together, there will ample material for others to enjoy. Eighteen human-made objects are cross-sectioned: a castle, an observatory, a galleon, ocean liner and submarine, a coal mine, military tank, oil rig, cathedral, jumbo jet and car factory, a helicopter, an opera house, a steam train and a subway station, a fishing trawler, the Empire State Building and the space shuttle. The sections are filled with defining activity, and Richard Platt's accompanying text is informative and amusing.

First published in 1992, this book is also a fascinating testament to the breathtaking pace of change we experience. Many of the objects have changed a great deal in the past decade, so this is more a snapshot of one era's mechanisms than a blueprint of state-of-the-art technology. For that reason the book succeeds spectacularly with historic objects such as the castle and galleon, and only slightly less so with outdated items like the tank and helicopter.

If you are interested in how things work, these unique views of engineering marvels in operation will thrill you.