I would recommend this book to anyone interested in southern history with at least one qualification. This is a rather serious work. The book is a collection of thirteen historiographical essays on a broad range of southern historical topics. Because it is a late eighties publication, a good deal of the most recent scholarship is reflected in its pages. If its a quick read on southern history you want, this may not be the book. If you want to understand what historians have said over the years about southern history (a must for graduate students), then this is definitely your book. I recently purchased the book knowing shamefully little about southern historiography, and now consider the book indespensible, without substitute.

Written concisely, this is the interesting story of John C. Fremont, an amazing explorer, controversial soldier, and a failure as a Civil War general and a businessman. Black and white illustrations, photographs, and maps add to the book's visual appeal. My fourth grade son really enjoyed reading about Fremont's adventures.

I found the book to be very practicle in its language and concept. It is a good read and one that pastors and congregations would benefit from reading

Very disappointing. Costs much more than the book is worth. It is 149 pages of large print and many pictures. There is too much about the author's life and not enough about Mr. MacArthur.

The section about MacArthur's rise to wealth adds nothing to an earlier book about MacArthur called "The Stockholder". The information in both books is sketchy and incomplete.

There is almost nothing about MacArthur's wives or children.

I think that the information about MacArthur's cause of death is incorrect. The author cites pancreatic cancer but I think it was lung cancer which killed MacArthur.

No one to-date has written a thorough biography of the life of this fascinating man.

This is NOT a biography of "Mr. Mac" but a glimpse of a way of life of a powerful man. I've read much of the background material that the author, Bob Sanford used to create his memoir and it is totally accurate. Since I am a new-comer to Palm Beach Gardens it was great to read something about how this "garden" was created. Since I own the bookstore (the Book Rack) where Bob had his first book signing, I have a special interest and pride in that book. It is obvious that Bob admired John D MacArthur, and so the stories about this billionaire are (for the most part) flattering and entertaining.

I loved this book. I had often wondered about John D. MacArthur when I read of the MacArthur Foundations' remarkably generous "genius" awards in newspapers. Here was a glimpse of him that might never have been recorded had it not been for Mr. Sanford. The photos are remarkable, I suspect, since I imagine that only Mr. Sanford could have obtained them. What's more, it's an absolutely fun book to read, since it obviously captures the "inside story". Thanks, Mr. Sanford for this well-written and informative book.

I decided to give The Devil's Code a whirl because I am a big fan of John Sandford's Prey series. I'm glad I did. If you enjoy a light hearted romp through intrigue, mystery, suspense, sex and high tech complexity, you would be well advised to do the same.

Granted, The Devil's Code doesn't have the intensity of the Prey series. This is the story of a part time artist, part time criminal and part time computer hacker who gets dragged into a high level political investigation that involves the FBI, CIA and other law enforcement agencies. Although he is completely innocent of any involvement, Kidd -- the book's main character - needs to find the real criminals before the investigation leads to him. His mysterious and talented sometimes partner, LuEllen, shows up to help him and add spice to the narrative.

While the Prey books deal in realism, The Devil's Code is pure escapism. One of Kidd's hacker friends is murdered and his (the friend's) sister asks Kidd to help her find the murderer. This sets off an action-packed chain of events involving espionage, conspiracy, violence and suspense. But it's all fairly superficial. From virtually any phone booth or motel room, Kidd is able to access a complex network of computer hackers to get the information he needs. No dial-up problems, no slow network speeds, no disconnects - just instant response with the answers Kidd needs. For a heavy Internet user this seems a bit fictional, but that is what this is, fiction.

And the criminal plot that slowly unfolds before us is truly ingenious. The bad guys have devised a way to access highly sensitive government information for great monetary gain. But I won't reveal what this is because it would ruin the story. Read it, and have fun!

John Sandford's Prey Series has been becoming more and more stale with each book. Easy Prey which was released earlier this year was by far the worst book yet. That is why I was amazed to hear that Sandford was releasing another book so soon. I was expecting the worst. However, I was pleasently surprised to learn that The Devil's Code was actually the third Kidd and Luellen book. I grant you that this one was not as good as the first two(The Fool's Run and The Empress File) but it was still enjoyable. This kind of book is exactly the kind of change of pace that all authors who write a series should write. I agree with some of the other reviews that Lucas Davenport is a better character, but let's be honest have any of the recent Prey novels come even close to some of the earliest books like Rules Of Prey and Eyes of Prey? Take this book for what it is, a very good departure form a great author. The plot drags at some points but overall it is an interesting suspense story. Now let's hope Sandford breaths some life into that other series or we all be hoping for more Kidd novels instead.

This was my first read of the Kidd Novels and I really enjoyed it. The author provides just enough hints of the plot to keep you guessing. The ending is satisfying and leaves you hungering for more. I will now order the other two Kidd novels and have them digested in time for the new one in November. I also have ordered all the early Prey novels. I'm looking forward to good reading.

I have read most of John Sanfords books.

There was no Lucas Davenport, whom I greatly missed, in this book.

I was surprised that I simply could not muddle through this book. I usually devour his books, and, just hate it when the end of the book is near.

I really hate to give negative reviews only because I don't like saying bad things about authors. Anyway, I read a lot of books and have studied 'novel writing'. I say this only to establish that my review isn't based on emotion but on analytical aspects.

This book is sooo boring. I read the first few chapters and wanted to quit but I thought I might as well finish since I've gone this far - what a mistake.

First of all, it doesn't get better nor does the tension steadily increase - two basic things every good thriller novel should poccess. Secondly, there's a phrase 'aw come on' and variations of that which repeat and it really irritated me. Thirdly, the author uses colons a lot and I've never seen this usage of them before.

What a terrible novel.

I would like to give this book eight stars! I am a John Sanford fan, and totally dedicated to Lucas Davenport, anxiously awaiting each new adventure. I was disappointed that this book was not a 'Lucas Davenport' saga. That disappointment lasted only a few pages. I found his writing style different in this book, somehow fresher. Sanford has a habit of throwing so many different characters at me that I cannot keep them sorted. Not this time. In this carefully woven story Anna is revealed in tantalizing pieces. She is the head of a freelance 'night crew' that shoots video of breaking news. After their best night ever-two sensational high dollar videos-things begin to go dreadfully wrong. One of the cameramen is murdered hours after shooting the videos, and unthinkably, it begins to look as though his murder is related to one of these videos. Another of the crew is shot, and we begin to see that the center of the the maelstrom revolves around Anna. But why? Could she possi! bly know this brutal killer? And what would make him do this to the people that she cares about? You cannot put the story down. This is a book to treat youself with, a mini-vacation. It will take you away from whatever problems you think that you have. If you like John Sanford, you will LOVE this book. If you haven't cared for John Sanford in the past, I bet you will like this one. Very much!

This book, written by a minister who runs, is mostly a paeon to dogs. Its running advise is dated and general, and it offers little specifics about running with dogs.