Few people had such an opportunity to view the events of WWII at sea as did Samuel Eliot Morison. Since it was Morison's own idea, the credit must surely go to him as well as to FDR. The visit between Roosevelt and Morison which set the stage for Morison's role as the official WWII naval historian was probably not so much a meeting between a lofty president and a lowly Harvard professor as it was a friendly get-together between two fellow preppies and Harvard grads of approximately the same age. I have assumed that this bond did not unduly influence Morison's evaluation of FDR's performance as Commander-In-Chief.

The introduction to THE BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC 1939-1943 gives a good account of the state of U.S. Navy preparedness between the two World Wars. The appencices help the reader to appreciate the relative strength of the combatants. It is important to realize that the Navy was already making its weight felt in various parts of the world before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States Navy was forced into this situation by the rapidly evolving predicament of Great Britain and her allies. The Nazis had overrun Greece and Crete and had put Russia deep in a hole. It appeared possible that Germany and Italy would soon control all three entrances of the Mediterranean - The Straits, The Dardanelles and the Suez Canal. Much of this book describes in great detail how the tide of war turned from this low beginning to a much brighter picture for the Allies by April 1943. By then Germany had lost the strategic initiative when it failed to capture Stalingrad. The German Black Sea Fleet was fighting a losing battle and Germany was forced to evacuate its remaining troops from North Africa. In addition, the Allies were organizing an invasion of the European Continent while Japan was on the defensive in the Pacific.

The story is a wide-ranging one because the area involved in the Battle of the Atlantic is so vast. At one end we have the supply run to North Russia to give that beleagured country the essential means to continue to fight. At the other end there is the important contribution of Brazil to the ultimate victory by the Allies. In between there is the very dangerous threat of the German submarine offensive and our paralyzingly slow response to it. The tragedy of our substantial merchant marine losses in the early part of hostilities is described in some detail by Morison but the explanation of exactly how this situation developed is one of the more disappointing aspects of the book. The responsibility for the calamity is still being debated and explored. Morison does not go much below the surface in his account of this sordid affair although the author is not necessarily an unqualified fan of Admiral Ernest J. King.

THE BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC 1939-1943 is a very detailed historical record in spite of the book's few shortcomings. My respect for Samuel Eliot Morison is increased by reading it and I highly recommend the volume to anyone interested in the history of WWII.

When the great narratives of World War II are collected in an archive for future generations, this should be the first set of books added to the library. Morison is one of the finest historical writers of all time and any book of his is worth reading. I have read 8 different volumes in this series and always feel that I am in the middle of each conflict (as well I should, since the author was there). I hope, when I retire, to acquire the entire 15-volume set and read it from cover to cover. It makes me hope for early retirement!!!

The Growing Edge is a magazine designed and published for readers with an interest in gardening, horticulture, and hydroponics. The Best of Growing Edge II: Popular Hydroponics and Gardening for Small-Commercial Growers and Hobbyists is a compilation of the best of the magazine's articles originally published between 1994 and 1999. The various articles are grouped into chapters: Introduction to Hydroponics; The Basic Elements of Hydroponics; Building Your Own System; Plants You Can Grow Hydroponically; Breeding and Propagation; Pest & Disease Control; Greenhouse Management; Organics and Hydroponics; Beyond the Basics; Small Commercial Growers; Hydroponics in Education and Public Service. The Best of Growing Edge II is an essential title for personal, professional, academic, and public library hydroponic gardening and horticultural reference collections.

The Best of Growing EDGE is a collection of the best articles, by twenty four different authors, from the first five years of Growing EDGE magazine. It covers hydroponics, greenhouses, nutrients, lighting, and other new and innovative techniques to use in high tech gardening and horticulture. Since the articles are from the first five years of Growing EDGE magazine, each chapter is a comprehensive compendium of cutting edge horticulture without going over the edge! New and innovative seems to be the keyword here. The mainstream gardening magazines and books cover the tried and true techniques of gardening; The Best of Growing EDGE covers the new and innovative. The information can be used by both hobby home gardeners and large commercial growers. The techinques are the same, it is just the scale of the operation that is different. Gardening is possible year round with the information contained in this book

George S. Schuyler was one of the premier black journalists of his, or any other, day. Between his own acerbic style and being published in The American Mercury, he was referred to as the Black Mencken. In addition, he wrote one great satirical novel, Black No More, and a fair amount of pulp fiction. Two of those pulp titles, The Black Internationale : Story of Black Genius Against the World and the sequel, Black Empire : An Imaginative Story of a Great New Civilization in Modern Africa, are reproduced here in one volume. Written under the pseudonym, Samuel I . Brooks, for a black weekly newspaper, The Pittsburgh Courier, these sixty two serial installments in an ongoing adventure story originally appeared between 1936 and 1938.

Reminiscent of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu, Schuyler tells the story of Carl Slater, writer for the Harlem Blade, who accidentally witnesses the murder of a white woman. The black assailant forces Slater into a waiting car at gunpoint, whereupon he is drugged. When he wakens, the murderer reveals himself to be Dr. Henry Belsidus, leader of the Black Internationale, an elite organization of black professionals whom the Doctor plans to lead in his mission to liberate Africa and restore blacks to their rightful position of dominance on the world stage. He explains that the woman had been one of his agents and her murder was punishment for failure. It turns out that Slater was on a list of blacks whom Belsidus planned to eventually recruit to his cause, and now circumstances force him to choose between joining up or being killed. He joins.

Dr. Belsidus is clearly maniacal, but he is also possessed of a compelling vision :

My son, all great schemes appear mad in the beginning. Christians, Communists, Fascists and Nazis were at first called scary. Success made them sane. With brains, courage and wealth even the most fantastic scheme can become a reality. I have dedicated my life, Slater, to destroying white world supremacy. My ideal and objective is very frankly to cast down Caucasians and elevate the colored people in their places. I plan to do this by every means within my power. I intend to stop at nothing, Slater, whether right or wrong. Right is success. Wrong is failure. I will not fail because I am ruthless. Those who fail are them men who get sentimental, who weaken, who balk at a little bloodshed. Such vermin deserve to fail. Every great movement the world has ever seen has collapsed because it grew weak. I shall never become weak, nor shall I ever tolerate weakness around me. Weakness means failure, Slater, and I do not intend to fail.

In the ensuing chapters he realizes this vision, along the way utilizing such visionary technological wizardry as solar power, hydroponics and death rays, and such social measures as as his own new religion, the Church of Love. Carl Slater witnesses it all and--at the behest of Schuyler's editors and readers--falls in love with Patricia Givens, the beautiful aviatrix who commands the Black Internationale's Air Force. The serial ends with Belsidus and his followers triumphant and white Europe expelled from Africa.

Stylistically this is pretty standard fare, following the over-the-top, melodramatic, cliff-hanging, conventions of the pulp fiction formula. It's well written and exciting, though overwrought. What really makes it interesting though is it's politics. Schuyler, particularly late in life, was a conservative. He moved farther Right as he became more vehemently anti-Communist and finished his career writing for publications put out by the John Birch Society (see hyperlinked Essays below). Part of this evolution entailed becoming generally hostile to the Civil Rights movement and to African Nationalism, but apparently in the 1930's he was himself a Pan-Africanist, especially concerned with the fate of Ethiopia after the Italians invaded and with liberating Liberia. There's a tendency to dismiss black conservatives as somehow self-loathing, as if conservative values are necessarily at odds with the advancement of the black race. And you can see something of a dichotomy in Schuyler's writings if you take for instance one of his comments on Marcus Garvey, of whom he was generally skeptical :

Marcus Garvey has a vision. He sees plainly that everywhere in the Western and Eastern hemispheres the Negro, regardless of his religion or nationality, is being crushed under the heel of white imperialism and exploitation. Rapidly the population of the world is being aligned in two rival camps: white and black. The whites have arms, power, organization, wealth; the blacks have only their intelligence and their potential power. If they are to be saved, they must be organized so they can present united opposition to those who seek to continue their enslavement. (George S. Schuyler, writing in the Interstate Tattler, August 23, 1929)

and compare it to what he had to say about the success of Black Empire :

I have been greatly amused by the public enthusiasm for 'The Black Internationale,' which is hokum and hack work of the purest vein. I deliberately set out to crowd as much race chauvinism and sheer improbability into it as my fertile imagination could conjure. The result vindicates my low opinion of the human race. (George S. Schuyler, from a Letter to P.L. Prattis, April 4, 1937)

Taken at face value, he seems to be criticizing his black readership for enjoying stories based on the vision he had extolled in Garvey.

But perhaps this conflict is more easily reconciled than critics would have us believe. Throughout his career, Schuyler seems to have been entirely consistent in his hostility towards those who sought to speak for blacks. It is this general stance which explains his opposition to Garvey, Communists, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and so on. In Black Empire, he presents Belsidus as quite a monster, willing to use mass murder and near genocide to achieve his ends. It's easy to read the story as reflecting both his most treasured dream--the triumph of blacks over racial oppression--and his inherent pessimism about the leaders and means that would be required to achieve that goal.

At any rate, the story is great fun and Schuyler's personal conflicts only serve to add a few layers of tension. The reader is often unsure whether he's writing with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek or whether he's allowing characters to speak his own forbidden thoughts. That you can read it on various levels merely adds to the enjoyment. There's also a terrific Afterword by Robert A. Hill and R. Kent Rasmussen, from which I gleaned much of the information in this review. Altogether, it's a marvelous book and the Northeastern Library of Black Literature is to be applauded for restoring it to print. Schuyler's reputation among academics and intellectuals declined in direct proportion to his increasing conservatism, but his is a unique and valuable voice, deserving of revival.

GRADE : A-

This is an incredibly interesting (to say the least) story ofthe rise of a Black dictator who takes over Africa (and the Blackdiaspora). Sort of "The Turner Diaries" meets "TheSpook Who Sat By The Door." It is noteworthy that Schuyler (asthe notes in the introduction indicate) did not intend for this workto be taken seriously. But many did, and I'm sure that many modernAfrocentric readers would also.

I really enjoyed reading Blink. It was not only full of excitement but also extremely interesting concerning the relationships that develop between law enforcement and the community. The characters came across as real people with real situations and as usual Samuel E. Stone seems to just naturally pull the reader right into the story. You find yourself not just reading the story but experiencing it!!! I found the storyline to be fullfilling as well as educational. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a great read.

Blink is a very enteraining and exciting story. I captures your imagination and pulls you right into the storyline. I enjoyed the experience as well as the insight it gave me to the law enforcement community at work. I recommend this book to anyone who loves excitement and intrigue. It covers everything from romance to murder. It was great.

I found this to be one of the most informative books I have ever read on country blues, breaking it down by regions of the south and containing many in-depth biographies of several seminal blues artists. Essential.

Read this along with Robert Palmer's "Deep Blues" for a great overall perspective on blues music and its history. Informative and interesting for any music lover.

I first became aware of this book via the AMORC Rosicrucians who had made it available for sale for many years, and they have many wonderful books available at amazon for your consideration. They've overall had a sterling international reputation in all respects for nearly a century unlike so many of the kooky new age groups that have sprung up nowadays, thus I believed their assessment of the Jasher book. Furthermore, I actually borrowed the Book of Jasher from the University of Minnesota, so I have little doubt as to its scholarly authenticity as the U of M people are in the business of knowing what they're talking about. The Book of Jasher was suppressed at least twice by Christian religious fanatics to my recollection, and that alone always makes me want to read something. Despite how the frothing-at-the-mouth religious fanatics tried to burn and suppress this Jasher book, it has always managed to survive. Some things, truth among them, have an annoying tendency for that in some people's eyes. I don't know if this book is true or not; but it presents a rationale for the Egyptians not wanting the Hebrews to leave that seems more believable from a socio-economic point of view. Whereas the presently accepted Exodus paints the Egyptians as SO utterly evil that if the Exodus were known to be a work of fiction, I'd critique it for making the Egyptians seem unrealistically TOO evil and thus not believable for that very reason. Is the Jasher book right and the Exodus wrong? I don't know, but if I had to choose I'd play it conservative and stick with the present Exodus book until more proof if any to the contrary would ever arise. Regardless of its veracity or falsity, thankfully we now live in an age where the book-burning "churchianity" creatures (not to be confused with genuinely spiritual people) cannot still unilaterally decide anymore what the rest of us can and cannot read in public or even in our own homes. They just hate that.

The Book of Jasher supports the books of Moses as the books of the Chronicles support the books of the Kings. A better title for this book would be "The Book (or Record) of the Upright," for that is what is the meaning of the Hebrew words. Here the pre-Flood days are more clearly revealed; the problems causing God to bring about the Flood and Noah's walk with God; how Nimrod obtained the garments of skins that God made for Adam and Eve after they sinned; and Nimrod's involvement in the life of Abraham, and how Noah protected Abraham. Here is revealed clarifications to the story of Joseph, and why he still remained in prison after revealing the meaning of the dreams of Pharoh's Butler and Baker. In some ways the book - as published by the Parry Company in the 1800's - is another history book, but it is only a spiritual thing that can bring a greater understanding of the reality and truth of the times from Creation to the early years in Palestine after the Exodus from Egypt, and the magnificent strength and power those sons of Jacob possessed. It is my conviction that this book belongs right beside the Bible's Old Testament.

Now in a newly updated and expanded 8th edition, The Book Of U.S. Government Jobs: Where They Are, What's Available, & How To Get One by governmental employment resources expert Dennis V. Damp is a thorough, comprehensive, reliable reference for anyone considering a possible career in governmental public service. Individual chapters address the basics of governmental employment, and the processes of being interviewed and taking civil service exams, as well as jobs specifically for military veterans, overseas employment, the U.S. Postal service, law enforcement jobs and much more. An exhaustive reference with appendixes of contact lists for federal agencies, a straightforward checklist for job hunters, and much more, The Book Of U.S. Government Jobs is an essential, core guide suitable for government job seekers of all backgrounds and recommended for school guidance office, community job-center, and public library reference collections.

Finally, someone has written a book on government jobs that is not only up-to-date but easy to follow and understand. One of the best career guides I've read. I found all of the information I needed to locate, find and apply for government jobs. The Chapter on Completing Your Application was especially helpful. It shows you step-by-step how to complete your application or resume and it provides an actual job announcement and a well constructed sample application to guide you through the sometimes complex application process. The author also provides an easy-to-follow Job Hunters Checklist that walks you through your federal job search. Loaded with resources such as agency addresses, helpful web sites, and job hotlines and it covers special hiring programs including student hiring, overseas jobs, jobs for people with disabilities and much more. Well worth the purchase and I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a government job.

If you really care about your health and TRULY PREVENTING BREAST CANCER, this book is a must read!

Dr. Epstein is a beacon of truth in explaining how we are exposed to so many toxins and pollutants that our immune systems break down and can't naturally fight cancer cells.

Our current medical approach is WAIT UNTIL THE CANCER SHOWS UP IN A MAMMOGRAM then assult the cancer and your own immune system with poisons and surgery. Dr. Epstein says: Cut your exposure to toxins and strengthen your own immune system so that you reduce your risk of ever getting cancer.

Which approach will you chose?

This book contains valuable information that the cancer establishment will not tell you about. Dr. Epstein presents us with information that will drastically change the way we see breast cancer prevention.It is a must read for anyone with a history of breast cancer in thier family!

I read this story in my son's second grade reading book and instantly wanted to know more about the author. She has a very original style of writing. The story is about a boy who is sent back and forth from room to room while his grandmother, mother and sister are getting ready for a wedding. At each stop, he is handed another item to carry and ends up looking like a bride himself. You will fall in the love with the way the family talks. I was very disappointed to find that the book was out of print.

The story was about a boy who had his hands full. People kept giving him stuff. He looked like a bride. Leon was funny.

Yes - they can. At Heights Elementary in Pittsburg California back 35 years ago or so we would have a jumping frog contest every year in the circles used for kick ball. All the kids would bring giant frogs and let them go from the center of the ring. OH MY! It was so much fun - all because of this book (I am still scared of frogs to this day) but I love the book and every kid should read it.

"Jumping Frog" is a wonderful, hilarious story (among a group of several other great ones) that my father read to me as a kid. If you love Twain, get it.