This book was one of the best that I have read in a long time. I love the realness that the book gives of the DC area. I read it on a airplane trip from NY to LA. I could not put it down. I really like the way that he finally puts the Republican party in a good light! You should read this book. It was thrilling!

I could not put it down. I found that every detail was authentic to what a real campaign is like. If you like politics, you will like this book.

We will never see these lovely posters on the hoardings in Chicagoland or Northwestern Indiana, but this wonderful book does as much as is possible to capture the glory of that long-gone, pre-Depression advertising age. The articles are interesting to railway aficianados and help to put the artworks in their proper context, but the crowning glories of the book are the full-page reproductions of all the known surviving South Shore Line posters. Yes, it was a simpler time; and No, the artists were not on the forefront and fringes of experimentation. But the posters do not pretend to be anything other than what they are--railway advertising--and they are superb examples of that, comparing favorably with the contemporaneous works of the Big Four in Britain, who were themselves experiencing a Golden Age at the time. Now if only someone would do for North Shore Line posters what this book does for the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railway! Buy two copies: one for the shelf, and one to cannibalize for prints to frame. (I know, I know, the thought of cutting up a book was anathema to me at first, but the results were spectacular.)

"Moonlight in Duneland" is a wonderfully subtle exploration of a marriage between the golden age of advertising and twilight of passenger rail service in suburban Chicago and northwest Indiana.

The Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad has served the region for about ninety years, but in the 1920s the once floundering commuter train became a sudden success due to the advertising campaign commissioned by new owner Samuel Insull.

Intending to create a ridership for the line, the ad campaign showed sophisticated Chicagoans what wonderful scenery and activities waited for them a short ride east in Indiana. The lithographs reprinted on the pages of "Moonlight in Duneland" are wonderfully rendered in the style of such illustrators as Maxfield Parrish and the Prairie Deco artists of the day. Each poster illustrates one of the many activities in different seasons. One could see Notre Dame football in the fall; relax on the Lake Michigan beaches in the summer; or snow ski on the Dunes in winter. The pages are mainly full page reprints of the photos with just enough text in the front of the book for explanation.

This book is very well made and the prints are very well reproduced. I recommend it to anyone, but fans of Art Deco design and railroad enthusiasts will enjoy it.

A must-have coffee table book for anyone connected to N.W. Indiana. Living history in a medium long past.

The story of the invasion is laid out beautifully before the reader as seen through the eyes of those who were there. The accounts are quite vivid and give the reader a succinct discription of D-Day.

Men rose up and took charge while others shirked their duties. Young boys barely men, lost their lives and friends witnessed comrades being blown to bits before their very eyes. Yet, the will of the men was to persevere, and on they came.

The accounts take us back to that fatefull time and allows the reader to see into the horrors of war. The only addition, if any to this work, would be stories of those from the Axis side of the battle; along with a few smatterings of what took place in the lives of these men after 6 June 1944.

A enjoyable book to read that flows quite nicely. Highly recommended!

"Voices of D-Day" is the powerful testimony of some 150 different participents of the Normandy invasion. This book is a thouroughly facinating read, and the relaxed manner in which these stories are told, makes the D-Day experience come to life. However, Drez does not go far enough. Although he starts off by giving accounts of how and why soldiers joined up to fight, he does not follow up by revealing how their post D-Day experiences fared. There are a handful of old pictures of some of the soldiers discussed but there are no new photos. There is no mention of how these guys got home, what they did after the war, and where they are now. There are even a few pictures of soldiers who are not at all mentioned. Drez includes one personal account of a French girl who came out on to the beach to help with the wounded. He mentions at the end of her segment that she ended up marrying an English soldier, but he neglects to explain how they kept in touch during the war, when they got married, or where and how they lived. It is (I assume) quite unusual for two people to met, and eventually marry, right in the middle of history's largest invasion. What a story! Yet Drez doesn't tell you the whole story; no details. He doesn't even include a picture of the couple. This book is an excellent companion as a follow up to the movie "Saving Private Ryan", but it does not go beyond that point. I would like to know more about the lives of the men who fought and died for freedom and democracy. Voices of D-Day does not give you more; it only gives you the basics.

This is not a book that details planning, strategy or tactics. Instead, this is a series of interviews collected in connection with a decade-long project by personnel of the Eisenhower Center of the University of New Orleans. In addition to selecting and editing, Ronald Drez actually collected many of these interviews himself. The result is a skillfully pieced together vision of D-Day utilizing the authentic voices of the men who were there, who witnessed first hand the carnage and success of the largest amphibious invasion in history. These are the words of men who lived through the night jumps, the hellish push from the sea to the coast, the inch-by-inch clawing up the sand flats and cliffs of the Overlord beaches to hookup with the airborne troops already inland. The voices are French, German, British, Canadian and American. From 1st Sergeant Len Lomell on Pointe du Hoc with the 2nd Rangers, to Frank Simeone of C co. of the 116th on Omaha making his way up the Vierville draw, to my friend and neighbor, Ken Russell, of the 82nd Airborne hanging from his chute on the church at Ste. Mere Eglise before taking out a German AA truck, these are words chosen by the fighting men themselves. Contained in their words are the voices of the dead, voices felt and heard only with the heart and who perhaps speak loudest of all. And they speak to us of the price of freedom they and their comrades were willing to pay for us.

Published on the fifty-year anniversary of D-Day it is a fitting tribute to the gallant men of that generation who lived and died that day and is a fine companion piece for Ambrose's excellent "D-Day".

The book presents a collection of stories from various principals in various types of school organizational structures. The individual chapters vary highly in their content and their form of review. It includes everything from specific incidents to general perceptions of the first year. The book is not organized into themes or categorized at all.

The somewhat disappointing element is that some of the stories are dated. A number of the individual views are from seasoned administrators looking back many years later. This can vary the perceptions and accuracy of a true first year experience. It can also make it less of a reflection of the office as it is currently.

Another, and even better choice, is "New Voices in the Field" which provides current inside stories within a well organized and researched framework.

These excellent stories will support any new principal entering the profession. Stories are written by existing principals, commenting on the challenges of leadership in public schools, what they found, how they handled crisis, and how they survived that first year. Readers who are in the profession will realize that they are not alone in their day to day struggles to keep student learning a primary goal.