This is a very well presented hardback containing the best of Edward Lear. Perhaps not as complete as Holbrook Jackson's Complete Edward Lear, it nevertheless contains his best work, including A Book Of Nonsense, Limericks, alphabets and his most well-known poems, The Dong With The Luminous Nose, The Quangle Wangle Quee, and The Jumblies. The author's quaint illustrations are well reproduced throughout.

The reason this book is so important to comedy is that the incluence on people like Spike Milligan, Beyond The Fringe, and of course Monty Python's Flying Circus is clear. Lear was obviously the 19th century precursor to those humourists. Lear brings an educated and intelligent angle to his humour just as his successors did, and his talent as a poet and artist make this collection much more than just a collection of 'nonsense'!

I can see why Stacy of California thinks this is a weird "incomprehendable" book. The word is "incomprehensible" Stacy. It takes a person of a proper old-fashioned education to appreciate this fine piece of classic literature. We oldsters don't get weird modern art either, or some of the wacky movies Hollywood gives awards to but no one can imagine why.

Edward Lear's nonsense is of the best. Read it aloud! Your kids will amaze you by how fast they can begin to recite along with you! If you remember "The Owl and the Pussycat" from your childhood, you owe it to yourself and your children to share it and "The Jumblies" with them.

This was and excellent book, focusing on President Carter's life after his 1980 loss to Ronald Regan. The president allowed the author, who had complete access to President Carter's records, to interview him several times. Thus the author was able to gain tremendous insight into Carter's personality.

From his involvement in Habitat for Humanity to his efforts in the Middle East Peace Process, the author beautify weaves the character of Jimmy Carter with historical events. The book reads with the ease of fiction.

An enjoyable, contemporary history about a unique individual, it was a pleasure to read.

If you are even slighly interested the post-presidential career of Jimmy Carter, this book is a great work of art! I knew that President Carter was a hard working, great man; I just did not realize How Hard Working, Caring, and Diligent President Carter actually is. He is defintely a man that is a great role model for all people that are interested in running for a political office, or wish to live peacefully on planet earth. Mr Brinkley does a fabulous side of pulling us in to the Carters' world, educating us, and entertaining us. This is a GREAT book!

This book provides insight into the life of Jimmy Carter after his defeat to Reagan in 1980. Every chapter divulges new aspects of Carter's amazing post-presidential life. Brinkley has managed to present an accurate picture of Carter that does not gloss over or mock his faith. Well done!

To the below reviewer who wrote that "Carter has not done an intelligent thing since leaving office", I would say that you are entitled to your opinion but you obviously did not read this book. To make such an assertion needs factual backing. You can say that Carter failed as a civilian ambassador but you cannot deny that he and his Carter Center helped forge peace, eradicate numerous illnesses, free thousands of political prisoners, and inspire millions. That is a viscious, partisan attack and has no place in a review of this book. Interesting to note that outside of the US, world leaders and people would heartily disagree with any assessment of Carter that fails to acknowedge his monumental contributions to peace and human rights. I defy you, after reading this book, to list a single modern president who has done more than Jimmy Carter.

Edward Fella's book of 1134 Polaroid shots of vernacular signs gives a flavor of what can be seen in most US public places, these are the roadside typographic shouts of local commerce. Because the business of America is business signs are everywhere, usually colorful and just asking to be captured by any passing photographer. To avoid looking like other photo books of public lettering and signage the author deliberately goes for a tight shot and most of the photos only show letter parts but as Lewis Blackwell says in his introduction, Fella is not interested in what the letters say.

With the tight photo cropping and a dull layout (all the photo pages are the same: nine, three by three inch Polaroid's, including their white border, butted up to each other, no captions or page numbers) I think this ends up as a very boring looking but nevertheless intensely personal book of public typography. The best images are the ones that have been produced by sign makers, or are obviously commercially printed. Vernacular signs, where someone has painted or scrawled some letters, are mostly produced by amateurs, who given the choice (and money) would much prefer to have something that looked professional, where any repeat letters look identical, have even spacing and all sit on the same base line. Vernacular neon signs do not exist because they can only be made by professionals.

Between the photos there are twelve sections showing the author's own creative typography, loosely based on the vernacular letters he has photographed and consequently showing the same amateurish feel and more critically in my view, a high degree of un-readability. This individuality to type is also reflected in the books production. The few text pages with two columns per page appear to have been pasted up so that paragraphs do not line up, the imprint page and the cover flaps have type that is deliberately unaligned This silly messing about with the text stops short of doing anything to the back cover barcode though, commerce wins in the end!

If I hadn't been so lazy, or thought this had been done already, or thought maybe no one would care to publish this, then I might have done this book myself a few years ago. I wanted to do something similiar but didnt.
However, I don't think I would have done as good a job as Ed did here. This is NOT a bunch of random snaps. The continuity of the medium and the cropping are what makes this a discplined, artful and well-done study. Nice work , Ed!
(So-follow your dreams like Ed did)

I love books like this. I bought it after seeing some of his Polaroids in a recent issue of Dazed and Confused Magazine. He photographs and collects letters the way some do rare birds. This beautifully designed and edited book reproduces over a thousand of his snapshots as well as examples of his own uniquely personal approach to typography. It's an amazing testament to all the unseen hands that have left a mark on the American landscape.

American Passages was the textbook used for one of my American History courses. As my instructor said, it was a much tougher book than the previous one that had been used for the course, and I can understand why. The chapters are very long, sometimes inordinately so, and even though I was interested in the material and a good reader, they often took an hour or more to read through. However, the material _was_ interesting, the pictures, maps, graphs, and additional information well done, and it was well written. It does not go into full coverage of some topics, but I found it to be well-rounded, exploring many of the diverse issues that influenced our history and culture. It's an awe-inspiring journey to look through the past of our nation and see how it has impacted the present!

The book covers history from pre-Columbian days all the way through Clinton's presidency and the various scandals. Not many books can claim to be that current! Certainly a beautiful addition to any collection, and a wonderful resource for anyone interested in American History - just don't wait 'til the last minute if you're reading it for school!

If you are looking for a text to supplement your AP History classes, this book has lots of good material, and many helpful readings. If you combine this with some history readers, you will have a great basis to get your program off to a positive start.

Wyndham Lewis is the kind of writer who everyone respects
but almost no one reads. Apes of God has all the trappings of a masterpiece: iconoclastic prose style, heavy-duty intellectual content, penetrating psychology and a shadowy and mythic, bombastic and possibly insane authour.

The book however, has 2 serious faults IMHO

The first could also be an advantage, depending on your point of view. Wyndham Lewis was a very, very bad man. He shared Ezra Pound's addiction to Fascism and had, in the words of Hemingway "the eyes of an unsuccesful rapist."
His "right-wing" politics were/are the reason he is not generally taught in universities or colleges. He is called a mysogynist, and indeed his female charaters are all exceptionally shallow and stupid. I happen to like the brilliant vitriol and Lewis makes no claim to objectivity.

Secondly Apes of God is too long and exceptionally boring in parts. The long satires of the artsy-fartsy social scene accomplish their goal, but personally I don't find reading about the insipidity of dinner parties very titillating. My biggest gripe however is The Sex. Sexual tension holds the plot together, but Lewis has a strangely victorian inability to write about the act itself. The Socratic homosexual relationship between Dan and the Protaganist Zagreus is rendered in a totally sterile manner.

Wyndham Lewis's ( founder of VORTICISM= the only British Avant-Garde movement of the 20th century)Apes of God is a vicious satire exposing the posture and posuers of the art world then (circa 1920's London/Paris/New York et.al.)and's wholly applicable before and aft as all areas not just the arts are riddled through with scavengery: shams and fakers lusting after popularity, getting on their knees in curtsies and bows before their corrupt Gods whom they shamelessly ape (ie.copy,mimick)in the devout worship of finance and social prestige; for which they sacrifice and abuse the very name of ART, using it only to profit greedy wiles and have no concern whatever as regards beauty or the bettering of humankind, much less the quest for absolute knowledge and solutions to humankinds varied cosmic dilemmas. The apes practice strictly black magic, a voodoo of the dollar whence they make idiot dolls of both the public, and their brethen, and mock the genuine bohemia by fostering appearances, such as upper middle-class citizens dressing in expensive outfits to look poor---the absurdity of the accepted norm really does summons an image of apes wearing clothes to fit in with humans! As comparison is legit and somewhat inevitable, Lewis' satire exceeds in both depth and vituperation that of George Orwell,and in its lyrical balled is more beautiful than Jonathan Swifts'. Lewis is of that rare species of sufficient force to prosper and forge single-handedly a one man advanced guard, as his graphic works equal in everyway and exist on a perfect par with his literary works; he was also, besides brilliant novelist, satirist, and painter who by many is said to best Picasso,he was a profound philosopher, an essayist of biting wit, a rare playwright and poet who wrote "An Enemy Of The Stars" - a futurist-fuelled expressionistic masterpeice published in one of several of his literary journasls' as a fearless, undaunted and unswayable critic he established himself in the guise he took in all his eclectic works: THE ENEMY! In which sense his condemnation was itself a form of praise, testifying to the fact he considered it worthy of his towering abuses. His works, published extensively by Black Sparrow Press, numbers perhaps 50 titles, many of them numbering well over half a thousand pages apeice; he even wrote, as his last major work a spiritual science-fiction trilogy which I pray will be published in the near future...Lastly, Wyndham Lewis unlike his contemporaries, including those like Pound and Eliot who champion his works, has over time wholly retained all the vigour initially constructed round that swirling vortex he single-handedly created, a veritable tower of Babel of achievments which will stand for centuries to come as one of the great wonders of the world of Art; and The Apes Of God, though some claim to be an elephant,ghostly white with wide red eyes, still romps through the literary jungles, levelling with terrifying stomping power all in its way, and a trailing desolation in its wake. His Apes Of God are still pounding their chests, all claiming to reign sole and supreme king of the jungle, yet scatter like field-mice at the approaching tank of a man that is Wyndham Lewis, perhaps the only artist left from his generation or this one that's capable of killing every last one of them who would otherwise take over the planet. I am, and remain, grateful some select few still can revel in his handsomely republished works such as this missive, thanks to undaunted publishers such as John Martin at Black Sparrow, dedicated to the works they print, which is a rare enough occurence these days.

As a naval architect in private practice, I use this book often. It is primarily used as a reference, because it covers almost every topic imaginable. Many of my associates regard it as the most authoritive text (the Bible) on naval architecture. In my opinion it should be on the reference shelf of every practicing naval architect.

This resource rates as a necessity for any Naval Architect or engineer working in the marine industry. Although at times difficult to use, the mountains of useful information contained in this particular volume make it indispensable. It includes all the basic "hand" methods" for calculating strength and stability in floating structures.

Johnson's principle purpose in writing this book is to examine the day-to-day functioning, the progression over time, and the general effectiveness of the Nazi terror apparatus. The discussion is focused on the central instrument of that apparatus - the Gestapo. Johnson carries out this discussion on a personal level, examining the individuals involved: how powerful and pervasive was the Gestapo in the life of the ordinary German citizen?; and how did his experience differ from that of a Jew, Jehovah's Witness or Communist? The last chapters of the book focus on the deportation and destruction of the Jews and examine the participation in the Holocaust on the part of the Gestapo and the domestic German population.

At first sight, Johnson's book seems to be of epic proportions, however his simplistic writing style and the generous type-face means that this book can be read reasonably swiftly. 'Readability' is further facilitated by his narrative style: Johnson frequently describes (often at length) cases which the Gestapo investigated; his use of coded names like Herr R., Hermann K., or Anna P., and the way he attempts to bring suspense into his story-telling sometimes makes his book read more like a detective novel that an academic historiographical work (see for example pp.179-84). Johnson appears to want to bring his accounts to life by intimately describing the characters involved, and while it is welcoming to be able to take more than a cursory glance at the main actors and the way they behaved or were treated, sometimes it seems as though Johnson indulges rather too liberally in amateur psycho-analysis. For example, when describing the men who made up the rank-and-file officers of the Gestapo, Johnson suggests that a commonality between these men was that, "many [had] suffered from the early loss of an important female figure, whether a wife, a mother, or even a grandmother." (pp.67-8) To suggest that men's violent urges and wish to join the Gestapo had roots in the death of 'Oma' seems to me to be well beyond the bounds of historical interpretation.

The inner jacket of the book boasts that 'Nazi Terror,' "deals in flesh and blood narratives - sometimes quite graphically - as well as in facts and statistics to tell the story of how the terror... was imposed by the Gestapo and tolerated by ordinary Germans. These gripping, shocking and powerful first-hand accounts take the reader into the very heart of darkness: inside the Gestapo headquarters where the victims of Nazi terror were tortured and interrogated." This is clearly a commerical attempt to sell copies of the book, but I find something greatly distasteful in a book about the Holocaust promising to "grip" and "shock" with "flesh and blood narratives." This sort of advertising would surely not appeal to serious academics, but more to a (American?) readership wanting, in a perverse way, to be entertained and provoked by violent and explicit material. Those who do buy the book in the hope of reading a sensationalistic account will not be disappointed: Johnson provides plenty of provocative material, especially where matters of sex are concerned. One could argue that Johnson offers an element of what historian Tim Cole has referred to as "peepshow Holocaust" - that is, the unnecessarily graphic description of events in order to satisfy a modern audience's tendency towards violence and the grotesque. To cite just one example, Johnson makes the point that Jewish women in Gestapo custody were forced to endure a more humiliating ordeal than Aryan women interrogated regarding the 1936 Race Defilement Laws which outlawed sexual relations between Germans and Jews. As if to prove this, Johnson then goes on to quote at length the testimony of a Jewish girl regarding her illicit relationship with an Aryan youth, in which she intimately details their sexual encounters. Johnson condemns the Gestapo officers for "delving into sexual cases at far greater length than was needed for a mere conviction" in order to "satisfy [their] perverse voyeuristic urges." (pp.111-2) However, in my opinion, Johnson's aim here with this quotation, arguably of far greater length than is needed for mere historiographical interpretation, is purely to satisfy the perverse voyeuristic urges of his target audience.

Johnson attempts, in Chapter 12 of his book, to answer the question as to how much the Germans knew about the Holocaust. He asserts that information was easy to come by, and that indeed "millions" (p.452) had knowledge of the mass murder of the Jews. He uses the evidence provided in the Victor Klemperer Diaries, as well as transcripts of the BBC's German language broadcasts to the German people during the war, and a 1993 survey (and follow-up interviews) of ordinary German citizens who were old enough before the end of the Third Reich to receive information about the Holocaust. I find Johnson's emphasis on his survey results to be most troublesome. While clearly worthwhile, conducting surveys fifty years after the events leaves ample room for incorrect recollections, confusion and distortion in memory over the years. Equally, it is impossible to prove that people who did know about the Holocaust were representative of the population as a whole. While Johnson realises this dilemma, I feel he is not able to solve it with any more certainty than, for example, David Bankier, author of "The Germans and the Final Solution" (1992). Johnson strongly criticies Bankier for not being able to demonstrate with certainty that masses of Germans knew about the Holocaust; however, Johnson goes little way in doing this himself.

If though, millions of Germans knew about the Holocaust, how does Johnson explain that they did not speak out against the killing? Johnson asserts that it was not due to the fact that people lived under a regime of terror; equally, according to Johnson, the silence did not result from a Goldhagian eliminationsit anti-Semitism (although Johnson does assert on p.381 with unsubstantiated dogmatism that "virulent anti-Semitism was certainly prevalent in Nazi Germany"). For Johnson, the silence was a result of "a mixture of cowardice, apathy, and a slavish obedience to authority" (p.21). Is this then an accusation that the German people, through their passivity, condemned the Jews to death? At times it seems as if this is what Johnson wishes to assert: he writes, "Had the silence been broken and the pretence of the secret been shattered, millions of Jews might not have died" (p.381). Most categorically of all, "it took the entire German population to carry out the Holocaust" (p.381). Elsewhere however Johnson tempers this judgement by writing, "most Germans did not want the Jews to be killed" (p.484).

One finishes this book not really certain of Johnson's overall argument - the varying aspects of the book do not always seem to harmonise together: had Johnson restricted himself to an analysis of the Gestapo, then the book may have been more convincing; yet, with the Goldhagen Debate still fresh in memory, Johnson appears to have felt obliged to address issues of culpability for the Holocaust - I would have thought that the Goldhagen Debate had taught us, if nothing else, that this is a futile and irresponsible method of historiography.

Eric Johnson's skill is to have made us understand how the Gestapo actually operated at local level without falling into the trap of identifying with the police organization. We learn, for example, that senior Gestapo were usually law graduates with a comparatively small number of officers. They relied to a great extent on third party informants often with a grudge against someone. Target groups for the Gestapo were Jews, churchmen and homosexuals. But it seems most "ordinary" German citizens had little to fear from the secret police even when they indulged in that most favorite of pastimes - listening in to the BBC. Gestapo oppression was very real but also selective and even passive on occasion. This reviewer would have liked a little more background on how the Cologne Gestapo, the subject of the study, related to their bosses in Berlin. An insightful study of the "Little Eichmanns" who abounded in the Third Reich. The book is all the more convincing as Johnson has conducted research in the 1990s on what elderly Germans remember about the events under discussion.

In world history of the 20th century the one event that will forever standout is Nazi Germany and the attempted extermination of the Jewish people. This book takes on that very subject and the over 600 pages is simply one of the best books I have ever read on the subject.

Johnson holds nothing back as he shows how one man took a country to the brink of world domination, mislead and lied to the German people and tried to rid the world of one religious group all in the name of power and control.

The book details the Nazi Party and the fear tactics, the Nazi regime and the actions of the Gestapo. You'll read, in stunned horror, the atrocities inflicted on a group of people by the Third Reich, from first hand interviews by those who were there.

While some of the stories are extremely graphic in nature, the overall book is extremely well written and well researched. I was deeply moved by this book and I am very proud to have had the chance to review it. An excellent book - well done Eric Johnson!

I purchased this book and hungrily read it cover to cover. I had looked at the reviews and was expecting a book that would transfer the skills of improvisation to a corporate environment. The book is well written, but does not deliver on its promise. It spends way to much time rambling on about sizes of groups and spiritual references. Of the 263 pages, about 10 are relevant to corporate trainers, and improvisation techniques that are appropriate in business. Disappointing.

Robert Lowe provides a hands-on guide to using the techniques of improvisational theater to increase spontaneity and creativity in the workplace. He shows how to use these "improv" techniques to improve communication, break down bureaucracy and help people in your organization express their talents. He includes many examples, including guided visualizations, fill-in questions and exercises, along with personal stories and accounts from his workshops. While some of the tips on creativity and visualization will sound familiar to those who know self-help literature, Lowe's background in theater and improv makes his approach fresh. We [...] recommend this book as a useful guide for top managers and for anyone leading or working with a group or team. Here's why the show must go on.

I read this book from cover to back, constantly discovering wonderful new things that as an exeperienced improv performer, never quite knew or understood. Mr. Lowe does a splendid job at presenting "easy-to-read" metaphors on how the art of improv can benefit the small to the very large corporation. I would highly recommend this book to not just the savvy CEO but to the SAVVY improv performer who wishes to break out of the stage arena and right into the corporate training world.

Hold on to your seat, Lowe doesn't just present old Spolin games, he defines their use in our technological highly-communication-based era.

This book was compelling from the first page. The relationship between the main character Fitgerald and his flawed wife showed that heroes in books don't always have perfect lives. The terrorists lives were interesting but, only because I wanted to find out what they would do at the end.

There was nothing spectacular about this book, but for some reason I kept reading and reading. I think it is because anytime you see a tragedy happen on the news, you wonder how you would have reacted in that situation. You wonder if you could have been a hero. In this book, a boring average guy becomes a hero and has to deal with the resulting publicity. Then he becomes a suspect and has to overcome the adversity to get his life back.

I think the plot is what kept me reading, and not the characters or the style of the author. I don't think I'll read any more books by Blauner unless they have a great sounding plot, because I don't think he can carry a story on his own.

This book is a well written and fast paced narrative. It brings many social issues into the story, such as teachers effects on their students. It also combines the "hate USA" and Arab terrorism to make for a great story. This is the first book I have read by the author and I am very impressed. He is able to combine a few different plots together to create the whole picture. The characters are described in such great detail, you will have an excellent mental picture.

This is a book right out of today's headlines. Extremist Religious groups, Overzealous Media, Misguided youth, Violence, it's all in this book. Yet the plot brings this all together in one believable story. The author does a great job at showing each character and why they are performing such atrocities or why they have such courage to stand up for their believes. At some points you almost feel sorry for the bad guys because you know why they are in this predicament. This is a fast paced story with great characters and plot development, you will find yourself turning one page after another while you are engulfed in the story.

This book picked up right where "Kilo Option" left off. Bill
Lane and Frannie Shipley are in pursuit of a submarine that was
supposedly sunk by the Russians. Linked up in this conspiracy
is Lane's bitter enemy Valerie Yernin.Lane and Yernin are headed for a final showdown. Before the big event there are several
gun battles and several killings. Lane and Shipley are also recieving problems from the British government.This book proves to be very exciting and readable from start to finish. The ending is also very unique. This is another good read from Flannery. Be sure to read it. You will know who wins the final showdown,Lane or Yergin.

I looked at this sequel to Kilo Option as a dubious option. Kilo had some great moments but overall was one of Flannery's greatest disapointments. Could he redeem himself? In a word - Absolutely. Achilles Heel brings back all the major players, good and bad from Kilo Option for one final showdown.

The Ukrainian villians steal an old Romeo class sub, believed to be scuttled in a Russian submarine graveyard, hide it in the English channel and wait to sell it to the highest bidder.

Subplots - meticulously crafted by the author - bring two investigations together, that of the protagonist, Bill Lane, who thinks there's been a submarine theft, and that of a joint CIA/MI5 operation into thefts of Russian expatriate fortunes. Before long bodies fly, chases abound, and shootouts occur in Swiss banks. All delicious fair that complements one of the best plots Flannery has devised in years.

Characterizations: Some good, some not so good. Bill Lane and his side kick, Frannie are a bit cocky. But they have glib moments that draw a chuckle, too. Yernin - the Ukrainian sociopath, and Morgan the whinny Brit are a bit shallow - two dimmensional. Masslenikov, Yernin's control in the novel is nearly a masterstroke. A bit more complex than the other characters in the novel.

Pace: Nearly perfect. This is where Kilo Option fell short. Clear shot at redemption and he zeros in on the target...bullseye.

Final analysis: By far better than Kilo Option, nearly as good as Winner Take All. Ranks among Flannery's better works

Questions? Email me

Reading this book is like watching a good action movie. The story moves along in a very fast pace, it will keep you interested all the time. I think it's more entertaining than some of the Clancy's novels because it won't get to the point where readers struggle to keep up with too much technical information.