Being a polo player myself, I found The Maltese Cat a very interesting and accurate view of the game. Being from the ponies perspective is original and entertaining and it makes me wonder what my ponies are thinking when I play them!

Loved reading it to pieces and can read it over and over again...

I was lucky - I got this book when the exhibit was at the Metropolitan in NYC so I was able to see the actual miniatures. For those who couldn't or didn't see the exhibit, this book is a must have for history buffs of the medieval period.

Nine pioneers of graphic design was the first complete attempt at defining those who set the standard in the developing profession of graphic design. Paul Rand, William Golden, Lester Beall and Saul Bass are all examined. Fairly complete bios begin at birth and explore the origins of these masters to desires to become graphic designers and what influences led them to develop their own unique theme as a designer.

A must have for any serious student of graphic design. Required reading for all others.

General Nelson A. Miles wrote a detailed, history- filled accounts of the Red River Wars and other Indian battles. Illustrations by F. Remington were a big surprise to me, as it was of a direct relative, William F. Schmalsle, Indian Scout, Guide, and Courier. The rescue of the German Sisters is a heartfelt experience. The reader will feel like one is living in the Old West, with all the joys, adventures, and tribulations that the characters experienced. The references in the back offer one further insight into the past. As Miles was involved in other battles besides those with the Indians, the history buff will find a lot of references in the back of the book which will result in many hours of pleasurable research and reading. The General Miles history trail may lead you to a long lost relative, as I found out, with numerous sources of information. So try reading the General Miles books from your library and if you like, order them from Amazon and take them home, or take them camping in the woods and plains, visit the historical places mentioned.

This book should still be in print. Consider yourselves lucky if you own a copy. Keep it for posterity! My wife picked up a copy for $1.50 at a thrift shop - she had no idea of its worth, neither did I until I read it! One man's trash is another's treasure. I treasure it.

Graham states in the preface "...I have attempted to portray something else which does not depend on the latest decisions of the United States Supreme Court ...the endeavors of the Framers, a set of timeless principles ..." Graham meets his objective, and more.

To meet his objective he goes as far back in history as the Magna Carta, he includes real cases that resulted in the formulation of English common law and Blackstone's commentary on it, he includes much of Virginia's pre-Convention Constitution and brings us to the period of the Constitutional Convention. Then he explains, in detail, every issue faced by the Framers. How those issues were resolved by background understanding, rhetoric, compromise and, often, consensus. He explains the struggles faced over "the awful question" - including (speculating over?) what "might have been" had certain people, places, and things not intervened. He explains the post formulation period in terms of events up to and through the awful Civil War and finally the Reconstruction.

Concerning the title of the book, Graham has the founders understanding of "confederacy" - he states it well. It is sans the emotional connotation some place on that term today.

Graham, as he admits, "stands a defender of the South in the American Civil War, doing so as a son of Minnesota, because, after a careful study of this whole problem, I must concede that John Calhoun and Alexander Stephens better understood the design of the Philadelphia Convention than Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln". As he claims Graham made a careful study. As a defender he is not in anyway defending slavery, he adamantly opposes it, then and now. He merely defends the South based on their right to secede. Whether he intended to or not he also wards off attacks of the righteous (my term not his and I am a son of Iowa, the North) as he points out how slavery would soon have ended without the calamity, including 600,000 lives, of the Civil War.

The book's only drawback, as far as I was concerned, was due to my own lack of a classical education - I have no understanding of the Latin. So Latin judicial terms used frequently throughout were both an annoyance and a reminder of my lack of that education.

I am fortunate to have a copy of this great book. Graham instilled in me a further understanding, and a concomitant increase in my admiration, of those who participated in the formation of our Constitution - both pro and con - and some members of Congress, both North and South, in the periods up to the Civil War and subsequent Reconstruction. He also convinced me of, what I can only call, the evil intentions of others, most notably Stanton. And he neither worships nor despises Abraham Lincoln - he merely points out "the good and the bad" as those terms relate to the Constitution. Graham is not a "debunker"!

Graham lived up to the promises conveyed in the title "Principles of Confederacy", the sub-title "The Vision and the Dream & The Fall of the South", and the preface.

I have an original copy of this classic. Not a photo-copy. NOT much else of Americana as spectacular.

An extraordinary and comprehensive study of the Rhone valley and its wonderful wines, plus a section on Rhone-style wines from around the world.
Employing a similar approach, Mr. Norman (at least IMHO) has even surpassed here his previous achievement with the 'Great Domaines of Burgundy'! Focusing on each of the different Rhone appellations, the book gives a superb account of the climate, geography, history, grape varieties, winemaking methods, vintage assessment and a multitude of tasting notes. All that as a background to the beautiful in-depth coverage of every important grower and winemaker.
A great book!

The best book on trapshooting I've read. Innovative photography was used to show the dynamics of trapshooting. The book is over 30 years old and still is the best text on the subject. The Remington Pros especially D. Lee Braun give great insight to the subject that is the number one shooting sport in the world.

1998 is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Maine and the Spanish-American War, instigated, many still say, by William Randolph Hearst. "Yellow" (for yellow journalism) recounts the period leading to the Maine's sinking through the first-person fictional account of Ambrose Bierce, the legendary American artist and writer, as he traveled to Cuba on Hearst's payroll. Fascinating for fans of true Americana. Lynch is a gifted storyteller.

This is the classic story by Wister (1860-1938) of the ranch foreman, known only as the Virginian, his courtship of Molly Starkwood, the "schoolmarm" from Vermont, and his conflicts with Trampas. In 1977, the Western Writers of America voted this novel as the top western novel of all time. It probably started the whole genre (even if one counts the pulp fiction popular in the late 19th century). Historians have always pointed out that there never really was a "Code of the West." This was just something thought up by writers, journalists, and film makers. The West was made up of both good and bad men, just as today. But, in my opinion, this book challenges that concept. Wister based his characters on real people he interacted with in the West a few years earlier. There really were men like the Virginian. There really were people who, unknowingly, followed a Code (just as there are today).

The book "The Virginian" being a western book, I was initially skeptical of it being any better then shoot em up giddyup types of books. However I was quickly taken aback by the fact that they never fully identified the background of the Virginian.
Throughout the entire book he remains a mystery, his whole life a mystique aside from what everyone knew which was he came from the eastern part of the country. With a persona that screams Mad Max "The Road Warrior" he is a modest person who goes for the gusto in his ventures during the book. Working in Wyoming his boss Judge Henry, is not very strong as far as standing up for himself is concerned. When a rival rancher hires some bandits to rob a couple of horses from Henry's ranch, it's the Virginian to the rescue. Eventually the book which includes many other swashbuckling adventures, waters down to a duel between the leader of the Bandits and the Virginian. He even has time for a lovelife in the craziness of the west when he hooks up with a school teacher by the name of Molly Stark. The wedding does not go quite as planned though and I suggest you read the novel to eventually find out what happens. A terific story that has been made into two motion pictures, the plot in Owen Wisters story has more twists then a hostess truckload of strudel. For the person that liked the "Lonesome Dove" mini series this book is for you.

The Virginian is a classic because of the superb characters who fill its pages. The protagonist, known only as the Virginian, embodies a code of manly virtue. He is unique. Without Mary's civilized purity or the Virginian's wild perfection, the book would be a dry, uninteresting Western, full of stereotypical cowboys swaggering around with their pistols on their hips. Instead of a Buffalo Bill, Wister gives us a young man who loves Shakespeare and Dostoevsky and who does unpleasant things because he must, not because he enjoys them. I really enjoyed this book.