I picked up this book out of curiosity, noting that most of the shots were taken on Long Island in the 30's. I have been to many of the shows listed. The pictures are a wonderful history of dogs and dog showing mostly in the New York area. The photographer does not limit himself to just the breed ring. There are also shots of dogs at obedience and field trials. The pictures of the rich and famous with their dogs are very interesting. The photos also show how much some breeds of dogs have changed over the years. Notably, the German Shepherd. Nowadays, only the dogs from Germany look like the ones in this book, and they would never win at Westminster. I really enjoyed the beautiful pictures, many many breeds are represented. A great find for a dog lover and/or exhibitor.

This book is a remarkable social document. It's not just the marvelous pictures of dogs and their people at dog shows, but an evocative slice of New York society from the 1930's and 40's.

Bert Morgan's phtographs capture the dogs and the people at play at dog shows, field trials and at home (and what homes!) New York high society obviously felt comfortable with Morgan and it shows. The photos are candid and capture the easy, affectionate relationship between human and canine subject.

What is also fascinating about the book are the photographs which show fashion and style; great clothes, cars and dogs. There are numerous photos of the famous. Jaqueline Onansis with a Great Dane nearly as tall as her in a picture from 1935; actress Shirley Booth arriving in Florida by train with her poodles in 1950; politician and diplomat Averill Harriman at a field trial in the mid 1930's.

And if you are into dog shows, hundreds of vintage pictures of dogs, handlers, owners and judges at historic dog shows throughout the northeast. For the fancier, you can compare the differences in dog styles between show dogs now and show dogs 60 years ago. Some breeds look exactly the same; others look like entirely different dogs.

I was touched by the obvious affection these people had for their dogs and the way Bert Morgan captures those feelings and that way of life.

A book that all dog lovers will enjoy, but also a book for people who want to learn what life was life for the rich and comfortable during a dark chapter in American history.

While it would have been nice to see more commentary, the pictures do speak for themselves and they speak to us many years later.

With its coffee table size "GUITAR: GREAT PLAYERS AND THEIR MUSIC" could easily be passed over as one of the many glitzy but trivial volumes fit for display cases in larger bookstore chains. However, this work by Richard Chapman is not only attractively produced but also extremely thorough in conveying exactly what its title describes.

Chapters are divided into various styles: classical, flamenco, blues, country, folk, jazz, rock & pop ( UK and USA ), Latin & "World". The sketches of the famous and influential players in each of the styles are nicely done, the author having an acutely accurate sense of just what qualities stand out as particularly noteworthy with each guitarist.

To give an idea of the depth of range, profiles are included on:

Andres Segovia, Julian Bream, Nino Ricardo, Paco de Lucia, Baden Powell, Robert Johnson, Freddie King, Lonnie Johnson, Chet Atkins, Tony Rice, Bert Jansch, Richard Thompson, Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, Chuck Berry, James Burton, John McLaughlin, Bill Frisell, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Robert Fripp, Eddie Van Halen, Peter Tosh, King Sonny Ade and Frank Zappa.

Regarding the production aesthetics: Aside from the somewhat gauche cover ( typical of Dorling Kindersley publishers ), the book is tastefully laid out with numerous illustrations and photographs ( at least 50% in color ), some of which are stunningly beautiful.

The short forward by Eric Clapton will hopefully attract readers not normally interested in the "encyclopedic" approach. In the authors ( equally brief ) introduction he puts forth his reasons for writing the book, not the least of which is to inspire people and "point to some of the more obscure and overlooked areas for the benefit of the mainstream reader".

Kudos to Richard Chapman, whose vast knowledge of the guitar, its history and players is shown in quite telling fashion throughout this luxurious and learned volume.

"Guitar" comes on like a nice, well-designed coffee-table book, albeit on a rich topic: guitars and guitarists. Immediately, it becomes much more than that. Eric Clapton contributed the forward, and author Richard Chapman, an accomplished musician, offers a brief introduction. He has a heartbreaker of a story, told in around fifty words. As an English teenager living in a village in Kent in the '60's he loved the guitar, saved his money, and bought one. His parents disapproved. "When I was 14, all my music and instruments were destroyed and burned by my father (...)" You know you are reading a work of passion and love - and great optimism, for he continues, "but this only gave me a greater determination to succeed."

Chapman surveys the guitar's music, history, and many of its most significant players. There is a gorgeous painting of Segovia, and engravings and pages from medieval manuscripts that show guitars or guitar-like instruments. You read his paragraphs in awe of his ability to tell a lot, briefly. He analyzes the music - pleasingly. You get a little music theory, and I welcomed it. In addition Chapman seems to have a deep store of music-history tidbits. On the roots of slide guitar, we learn that W.C. Handy in around 1903 "passed through a southern railroad station and saw a singer playing slide guitar with a knife, producing what he termed 'the weirdest music I ever saw.' "

The book is divided into Classical, Flamenco, Blues, Country, Folk, Jazz, Rock and Pop of the UK and Europe, Rock and Pop of North America, Latin and World. Within those categories are many subcategories. Lots of great photos. The text is orderly and elegant. Influences and origins are given careful attention. There are color and black and white illustrations - historical documents, appropriate snippets of written music, paintings, and archival material. Famous electric and acoustic guitars - Gibsons, Resonators, Rickenbackers, Stratocasters, Martins, others - are in here. There's an enormous amount of material. The layout and art direction is continuously a pleasure, the captions are consistently informative, and the glossary and index are thorough.

Chapman lets you know at the outset that the vastness of the subject necessitated an enormous amount of culling, and then paring down. He loves the guitar, and can teach it, too - and has put that enthusiasm to great use. It's a first-rate documentary that is scholarly, lively, and greatly satisfying.

The translation here strays a bit from the original for the sake of making it rhyme. Although this may raise the eyebrows of some purists, I feel that the english version has charms of its own. The design of this book is really outstanding, and the old duo-tone photographs used to illustrate it are quite poetic in their own right, and seem even more so as a result of the way they are combined with the text. The book as a whole evokes images of a lost paradise, which I have never seen expressed so well outside of the writings of Proust. I even like the way it smells! This would make an excellent gift for any lover of poetry or photography.

This book is not only gorgeous to browse through yet exceptionally poetic and useful at the same time. It is a bilingual book- french and english with absolutely fabulous illustrations to aid the imagination. Sucha lovely work and an intriguing way to involve both adults and children into Baudelaire's complex poetry. Well done!

I can't say enough about this tape and book! I started playing this tape for my son when he was about 2. He loved it. Everytime we drove in the car, he wanted to hear it. It's got a fun beat (easy for parents to listen to!) and a great book with lots of color. In fact, I had to order extra books, because his friends wanted to have their own when they were in the car. My son turned 6 in December. He began sounding out words when he was 4, and was reading words on his own by 4 1/2. Now he's way beyond any of his peers, reading at the 3rd grade, 8th month level. His spelling is also exceptional. I truely believe I owe it to his early introduction to this book!

I purchased Rock 'N Learn Letter Sounds for my two year old daughter. She loved following along in the work book to the very catchy songs. There are many colorful pictures to hold her interest. Also, it has a quick pace to keep her interested, but not too fast for her to keep up. She learned her letters and all their sounds before she turned three. We are now moving on to side two of the tape that teaches her to read whole words. I went to a local teacher supply store and asked for a recommendation for teaching early phonics. They told me this was the best out there. I agree. Furthermore, the music is actually pretty good so it doesn't drive parents crazy.

A tremendous book recounting battles, fire-fights, ambushes, as well as the challenges of leading 18 and 19 year old marines in war time. Gives a good idea about the physical hardships and danger that our men encountered in Vietam. Capt. Camp also admits near the ending that he was "very, very, glad to get out of Vietnam." An honest insight !

Very even and factual account. I would encourage persons interested in USMC history to read this account of one man's perspective of events that occured in the second half of 1967, in I Corps. I have to tell you that I am slightly prejudiced: Captain Camp was my Company Commander in Viet Nam. He is the one against whom all others are judged. Skipper Camp is not only the finest Officer I encountered in the Marine Corps but, also, a real human being.

Quite good in reviewing the basic pathophysiology of endocrine disorders.
This book is becoming the standard for fellows in endocrinology.

This textbook is very user friendly. I prefer this text over the William's textbook of Endocrinology. Very well organized with many good illustrations and tables. Has appendix of endocrine testing as well as common drugs used in endocrinology. Highly reccomended.

This book is all the more shocking when you realize that RIGHT NOW the taxpayer, thanks to credulous politicians like Senator Tom Harkin and Congressman Dan Burton and others, is being made to pay for "medical care" that is every bit as crazy as the things in this book. Someday someone will write a book like this but it will be about *present-day* nonsense, including a National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (the only center in the NIH oriented around the needs of practitioners - CAM practitioners in this case - as opposed to the needs of patients) that pays for psychic power therapy, a White House Commission on CAM headed by a former devotee of the Bhagwan guru whose group launched a biological attack in Oregon, and on and on ...

We have had a boom in interest in "alternative health care" recently, but that interest has been with us ever since there has been a medical establishment to which there could be "alternatives." In the American Midwest in the 1930s three alternative healers began a rise to financial, social, and political power. _Quacks & Crusaders: The Fabulous Careers of John Brinkley, Norman Baker, and Harry Hoxsey_ (University Press of Kansas) by Eric S. Juhnke documents the rise and fall of all three medical conmen, and gives a lesson in the dangers of credulousness.

John Brinkley was a licensed doctor, having graduated from a diploma mill. He latched on to the "gland transplant" experiments done on animals, and believed that transplanting animal glands into humans was a key for rejuvenation. "A man is as old as his glands, and his glands are as old as his sex glands," he proclaimed. Male goats were the randiest animals, so they were the tissue donors, but they turned out to be just the thing to boost female fertility and development of the bust, too. He compared himself to Jesus, gave sermons, and demonized the American Medical Association. Norman Baker specialized in cancer cures. He worked as a machinist and in vaudeville before settling down in Muscatine, Iowa. He persuaded city officials to let him start a radio station that would present honest-to-goodness down home programs as opposed to the high-brow fare coming from the cities. Baker called Morris Fishbein, the head of the AMA, the "Jewish dominator of the medical trust of America," and insisted that his clinic was a bastion for personal freedom and against the evils of urban industrialism. Harry Hoxsey proved to have the most staying power. He specialized in herbal cancer cures as well. Not a physician, he was able to enroll renegade physicians into his service, and he was bankrolled by an evangelist minister. In Dallas, he enjoyed poker, nightclubs, and womanizing, and his diatribes against interference by the AMA and the government won him friends from the political right wing.

Juhnke's tales of these colorful characters are great fun to read, even though the rascals bilked many of their patients of money and sometimes their lives. The eventual success of the AMA against them is not a pure victory; the shortcomings of the AMA at the time are examined here, too. Few people remember these quacks now. The towns that boosted them because they brought in business now view them as an embarrassing part of their histories. It is important that Juhnke has brought them again to our attention. We may no longer have such manifestations as goat gland transplants, but anyone who watches television knows that herbal cures, homeopathy, and healing magnets are still taking money from the gullible. There is still a large group of potential patients who view organized medicine (and governmental regulation of medical treatment) as some sort of conspiracy, and of course there are plenty of faith healers who are glad to have their flocks doubting the efficacy of regular medical treatment. People are finding it harder to pay for physicians, and drug costs are up. Brinkley, Baker, and Hoxsey may have eventually lost their power and their millions, but Juhnke's useful study reminds us that there are always healers ready to take their place.

I have recently acquired the Luftwaffe Colours Collectors Compendium Volume 1 that incorporates:
Birth of the Luftwaffe Fighter Force
Spanish Civil War
Blitzkrieg and Sitzkrieg
Attack in the West.

This series is a detailed study of the colours, camouflage and markings of the Luftwaffe's fighter force that many serious modellers will find extremely useful. Although the narrative is somewhat brief, the series follows the birth, development, tactics and wartime committment of the Jagdwaffe. The amount of research that must have been conducted and accumulated is impressive and is reflected in the many photographs and colour profiles of the machines used or experimented by the the Jagdwaffe. Included are some first-hand accounts by various pilots who flew the famous fighter aircraft of the Luftwaffe. This along with the many illustrations and photographs brings to life the Luftwaffe's fighter arm. This is a wonderful pictorial history and series of the Jagdwaffe.

we have visited vermont many times this book captures all the beauty of this spectacular part of the world

Anyone interested in design, illustration --especailly retro 50's/jazz stylings --- you MUST explore this "godfather" of the movement. Eric dies unfortunatley in WW2 in his 30's -- but his design legacy carries on even today. His work is incredible.