This is one of the best books that I have ever read. I am looking forward to reading more of James Webb's books. I recently read "A Nightingale Song" and became interested in Webb and the Naval Academy. I found this book easy to read, with good characters, that told a very powerful story.

Incredible book. As a Citadel graduate, I am partial to Pat Conroy's The Lords of Discipline as the pentultimate account of life in a military college, but Webb's work is neck and neck. Where Conroy takes four years and multiple twisting plots, Webb takes only five days out of the life of the Naval Academy to make his points.

The struggle between the warriors and the technocrats that Webb writes about in the late sixties still exists today. As an member of the faculty as an active duty officer in the mid 90's, I can attest that each of Webb's characters were alive and well in the Yard during that time, only the backdrop was the tamer Gulf War, as opposed to the Vietnam conflict. The war between the "geeks" and the "grunts" rages on. The military is more apt to recruit the skinny kids with the 4.0's in computer science (Webb's John Dean) than the all-around, rough and tough, swashbuckling athletic warriors (Bill Fogarty). Cadets and midshipman are starved for the leaderhip provided by Fogarty and CAPT Leneman, yet the deck is stacked against them by the CDR Pratt's of the world.

A must read...I dare you to put it down.

I have admired Jim Webb since I first heard about him from a close friend, Mike McGarvey. Mike was in Jim Webb's platoon in Vietnam and has remained close to him. Mike lost his right arm just below the shoulder while serving with Jim. One thing about Mike best describes his feelings about his service as a Combat Marine. He has a tattoo of a dotted line around the bottom of his stump and above it the words, "cut on dotted line". Mike is a Patriot in the truist sense. I gave a copy of, "A Sense Of Honor" to a friend's daughter to read just before entering the Naval Academy. She had led a sheltered life to put it mildly. The book allowed her to go in with a "heads up" that would have otherwise been impossible. She receive many awards and honors while attending the Academy and gradutated with honors. The book is not only entertaining but very informative. This is probably the best revelation of what our Navy and Marine Officers go through just to earn the right to become the leaders of the World's finest Sailors and Marines. I wish I could have read "Fields Of Fire" before I served as a Field Radio Operator with 1/3 in the Northern I Corps in '69. Oh yes, Mike is now director of the prosthetics department at a VA hospital.

James N (Nick) Rowe was the quintiessential Green Beret. His story is about how he survived for 5 years as a prisoner of war of the Viet Cong. His story is about the pressures of survival of day to day torture and interrogation. He tells of seeing his friends die. His experience was the basis for the US Army starting the school to teach military personnel how to survive in captivity. He escaped on his way to be executed after Jane Fonda brought a copy of POW personnel files during her visit to North Vietnam. COL Rowe is credited for many saves with the quality of his teachings. The book is a fast read and shows how articulate Nick Rowe was. SIDE NOTE: COL Jame "Nick" Rowe was assasinated in the Phillipines on 21 April 1986. The US State Department called it a "Random Terrorist Act". But he was killed 21 years after his escape on the 2100 block and shot 21 times. Only the Embassy knew his route that day and he was ordered NOT to be armed, though his name was on a "hit" List. Aquino granted freedom to all of his killers several years ago. You can visit Nick's grave. It's on the hill next to the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetary.

Nick Rowe was already a giant among special operations soldiers when I had him as an instructor in Special Forces in 1982. Every page of his book only serves to demonstrate that which he would never claim - Nick Rowe is an American hero of the model few can match. Read the book to understand what character, courage and a will to live really mean. Years later, in the late 1980s, Nick Rowe autographed my copy of his book. I recall telling him how remarkable I found his story. His response, without batting an eye - "sure hate to have to research it again." There, in a nutshell is Nick Rowe, and the kind of wit that kept him alive. Get a copy of this book and read it. Then remember him every time you see the American Flag. Remember this man, James N. (Nick)Rowe died three weeks before Memorial Day, 1989, at a time this country enjoyed peace, and tell me tears do not come to your eyes.

I was learned of James "Nick" Rowe's book "FIVE YEARS TO FREEDOM" on the old Robert K. Dornan TV show in Los Angeles way back in the early 1970's. I bought it and read it back then. In Five Years to Freedom, James Rowe exemplefies all that is good in the American Soldier. All that is good in the Vietnam Vet. Courage, Honor, Duty, so absent today by our political leaders. I never knew or met Col. Rowe, but I felt after reading his book, that I was family. And I cried. When he was assinated in the P.I., I re-read it, and cried again. As a vet, I will miss Nick. GOD BLESS JAMES. This book is A MUST read for all student's of the Vietnam War, and should be read at the HIGHEST LEVELS OF OUR GOVERNMENT. WELCOME HOME NICK.

As a firefighter, I read this book with some apprehension. Other firefighting books have not shown the true realism of the job. THIS BOOK IS THE EXCEPTION. A fantastic view of one of the busiest firehouses in New York City, from the firefighter's perspective. What's it like to go to hell and back? The author has been there and is here to talk about it.

This book is absolutely amazing. I started reading it because I was down to the deadline on choosing a book for a school report and now I'm sure I had the best book in the class. Smith takes you into the depths of a huge fire where you can actually feel the heat and choke on the smoke and then the next moment makes you feel his frustration when he takes you to his tenth malicious false alarm of the night. I have a whole new respect for the firefighters in my community and thank God that I have them. Not untill I read this book did I fully understand exactly what firefighters do. I am totally and compleatly amazed!

This book, when I first read it in the 70's as a kid, cemented my desire to be a firefighter. It went past the gleaming paint and chrome and really showed me the grit of the job; that it wasn't always the glorious one I had envisioned but more of a thankless one. Dennis Smith's vivid imagery makes you feel like you're in the battle right there with his company. It also shows the toll that firefighting takes on it's participants, the physical as well as the emotional scars the job leaves. Smith takes you through his personal life, discussing his humble childhood and the effect his career has on his adult life.

All in all, a wonderful story that grabs you at the beginning and doesn't let go until the last page.

In preparing our list of Christmas books to share with others, we had to search far and wide on amazon to find this particular book, a paperback edition of the classic Night Before Christmas.

This is the book I've used for years when reading this story to my own children, passing on Tasha Tudor and other illustrators. Why?

Although we can find the same poem and pay a lot more, with award winning illustrators, the illustrations provided by Douglas Gorsline are surely the best. They are quite colorful, and offer details little children love looking into...cats lie sleepily on the window sill, we see an overview of the town, the presents spilling from the open sack are intriguing and plentiful, and Jolly St. Nick is -- well, quite Jolly (as you can see by looking at the cover!)

The story is an "abridged version" - I'm not sure about other parents, but we read this on Christmas Eve, and we only have so much time and energy. Everything we remember from the classic poem by Clement Clarke Moore is in this version.

(From "'Twas the Night Before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse" to "He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,"HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!" In between we have everything, from the names of the eight tiny reindeer, to a belly that shakes like a bowl full of jelly, including dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky".

In other words, don't be scared off by 'abridged'!)

Perhaps a hardcover edition might be more appropriate if you're giving a gift (unless you're giving to more than one child), but this book is one of the best offers we've found!

A classic done simply and inexpensively!

I discovered this book 31 years ago, for my daughter and it is still loved by all the family. The illustrations are wonderful, warm, charming and delightful and bring a special meaning to the story. We still read it to all the young children on Christmas Eve and for adults we read the story and pass a grab bag gift every time the word THE is mentioned. It would not be Christmas without this book. It is magical.

We have an inexpensive paperback version (see our reviews) of this classic poem, and we said that's enough for us. That was before we looked through this beautifully illustrated (by Bruce Whatley) edition of The Night Before Christmas.

The lyrics are the same, from book to book, but the fanciful illustrations in this one are enough to engage adults and children as they read this book together.

The perfect gift for any family whose Christmas tradition includes reading this classic!

Here's a near future US Navy thriller that's a lot of fun and full of action. A new US stealth destroyer commanded by a woman captain has the task of single-handedly preventing the Argentine takeover of part of Antarctica. It's a book that moves swiftly, has just the right amount of technical jargon, and develops a group of characters much more alive than the cardboard personae of Tom Clancy. Amanda Garrett is a tough, likable destroyer captain.

If you want to read about an intrepid woman ship commander who lives a few centuries from now (and is, I'm convinced, a lineal descendent of Ms. Garrett) read one of David Weber's novels involving Captain Honor Harrington.

I've read alot of sub books such as "Rites of War" and "The Hunt for Red October", and this one ranks up there with "Red October". I have to agree with most people reviews with this book. Which is that this book was excellent. It had a sense of what the future might be and the description of the technology used was excellent, espically that little index in the back. What James Cobb did was make a great female Captain. He gave great details on Captain Amanda Garret and he really created a foundation for this character. Her crew was written execllently as well. Also yuo could tell Garret was someone who didn't take crap from anyone. And one other thing the battle scenes were great and kept me as a reader glued to the book. A must buy for anyone who wants too read a techno thriller. One more thing, the Cunningham, what a great piece of technology James Cobb came up with.

Cobb does a very good job at writing a near future thriller but making it all seem a natural extension of present day technology. Cobb kept the details beleivable when dealing with the capabilities of the ship. The ship is a truly impressive peice of technology, but certainly was not invincible. Cobb throws plenty of twists at his characters without it seeming contrived.

The action was fast paced, detailed without bogging down at with techincal digressions.

The book left me wanting to read more about the heroine Amanda Garrett and her fine crew. In a genre dominated by action, the action was truly outstanding, head and shoulders above the average fare.

Certainly one of the 20th century's most influential artists, Frank Frazetta has finally been given the showcase his work deserves. Featuring virtually all of the paintings that made him a legend among artists and fans alike (Conan, Tarzan, et al), "Icon" also includes a stack of previously unpublished and uncollected art, photographs, and some fascinating commentary by Fenner and Frazetta himself. From drawing comics for EC to ghosting "Lil Abner" for Al Capp to painting movie posters for Clint Eastwood, Frank Frazetta has proven again and again that he is one of the most exciting creators in the history of fantasy art. Often imitated, never equaled, Frazetta is the best and "Icon" is a *must have* book!

I am a collector of SiFi-Fantasy art. I will state categorically, Frank Frazetta is the finest Fantasy/SiFi illustrator that has ever lived, bar none! Unlike modern artists, who work with air brush, Frazetta's best work is done in oils. The quality of his oil paintings are on a par with the great masters and deserve to be hung next to the likes Rembrandt van Rijn. His compositions are always emotionally stimulating, intriguing, and beautiful. Frazetta has the unique talent to tell a fantastic story with a paint brush. This wonderful book has reproduced some of Frazetta's finest work with meticulous care. The color plates are crisp and vibrant. They will captivate your imagination with their incredible beauty. This is one of those Frazetta collections that will soar in value once it is out of print. Take my advice. Buy it now!

Frank Frazetta is by far the greatest fantasy illustrator of the last 50 years. His paintings are fit for the walls of any fine art museum. Icon is a wonderful book containing many of Franks finest and most famous works along with some never before seen art work from the master. This book is a must have for any fan of fantasy art. It contains interviews and information on many of Frazettas paintings with a wonderful insight to Franks life and legendary carear. Well printed and bound Icon will make a great addition to your coffee table. BUY THIS BOOK!

This is my 3rd novel that I have read by this author and he hasn't let me down yet in giving an enjoyable read. Gage is a heroic character that is double-crossed by his own people, but with the help of a few friends he exacts his reckoning. Sato the knife-weilding bad guy is Gage's main nemesis in terms of fighting and surviving abilities, when they meet sparks and flames fly! The story moves along in Huggins style with good, solid characters and intense action. A must read for Clancy-like fans, but this is better than Clancy in my opinion. Can't wait for this guy's next novel.

I havent even read this book and i cant put it down...Ive read cain, wolf story, and leviathan...im bout to read hunter...All Mr. Huggins books are great.....its hard to put them down! I started reading cain...it was ok...but then i actually started reading it.....it was so great i couldnt put it down...im 14...and most 14 year old athletic guys dont think twice about books.....and thats what i thought....I read it all and needed another book to read. so i got leviathan by huggins.....again at first i thought it was going to be boring....But i read a lot...then i read the rest of it...awesome! Then i had to get another book....I was going to get the reckoning...but they didnt have it... so i got wolf story...great book also... Steve alten is also a great author read meg and the trench... ok cyas

"The Reckoning" is, by far, the best book I have read in 20 years. I read an average of eight books per month in various genres, and nothing has enchanted me quite so much as this delightfully penned story of intrigue. With a plausible plot, obviously well-researched espionage and combat techniques, and realistic characterizations, I was completely drawn into a believable scenario, and read well into the night for the first week or so. Suddenly, I found myself allowing just one chapter at bedtime, and I realized this "rationing" reflected the immense pleasure of savoring every paragraph. James Byron Huggins is the only contemporary author of the thrilling adventure genre who can truly be called an "author" in the best sense of the title. Every sentence is beautifully assembled, and each phrase turned in a lovingly constructed way. From his description of the twilight sky to the probing of the minds and hearts of the characters, to the narration of nocturnal subterfuge, every word falls perfectly into place. This is literature at its best. I thoroughly enjoyed this exciting adventure from the comfort of my fireside, and I look forward to starting in on "Leviathan" next. With "Cain" on the way, I will certainly enjoy the rest of this winter. I only trust Mr. Huggins will be a long-lived and prolific writer -- his is a God-given talent that must find expression. His first endeavor, "A Wolf Story," was an excellent offering in the tradition of "Watership Down" and is recommended for anyone with a heart for our furry friends. Thank you, Mr. Huggins. Review by Barbara L. Pritchard (BLPPA@aol.com)

A must read for all Civil War buffs and those even remotely interested in history. The 600+ pages in this book (both volume I and II are included together) articulately spell out the military career of one of the United States' greatest generals. Grant's Memoirs are well-written, thoughtful, insightful, and offer more than a glimpse into the mind of U.S. Grant.

Volume I opens with a heartfelt preface where Grant explains how his diminishing health pushed him to complete this work and "asking no favor but hoping (his remarks) will meet the approval of the reader." They most definitely do. Following the preface, the reader is given a (very) short review of his early childhood, life at West Point, and early Army life. The next one hundred pages are dedicated to the Mexican War followed by his resignation from the military and civilian life in Illinois. The remainder of Volume I and all of Volume II extensively deal with the War Between the States.

I found Volume I (written before Grant realized he was critically ill) to be rich in detail of the various military campaigns (perhaps too detailed) and his ascension through the military ranks, but it is somewhat lacking in personal observations and insights. It even drags at times--but stick with it. The patient reader will not be dissapointed. Volume II hurls the reader into the conflict, reads rapidly, and is rife with Grant's personal observations and insights.

This second volume picks up where the first left off--following Vicksburg to the campaigns in Tennessee to the Battle of the Wilderness to Sherman's March to the Sea to the Battle of Franklin right up to Appomattox and all the events of April and May 1865. These campaigns are told from the commanding general's perspective with great overview and detail. However, what really makes Volume II (and this volume is much more fast paced than the first) special are all the personal observations and insightful (rarely negative and always humble) comments about those Grant served with and against. Grant is thoughtful and displays much about himself as this great book draws to a close. An eloquently written, detailed, first-person account of the Civil War that offers much to those who read it.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Being a Civil War buff, I just received a copy of the old 2-volume edition of this book as a birthday present. It turned out to be one of the better presents I have received. Grant begins by stating that he will NOT present all the details of each campaign and battle. He keeps this promise. Rather, the book is a general overview of his background, youth, and military career from Mexico through the Civil War. I expected some self-aggrandizement, but was (pleasantly)surprised by Grant's frankness and obvious sincerity. He tells things as he experienced them, with no flourishes. When he was wrong, he says so. When credit belongs to someone else, he also says so. It is a straight-forward story by an obviously straight-forward man. Knowing that he was soon to die, Grant wrote a remarkably honest piece - especially compared to the works of some of his contemporaries. When I finished reading the book, I don't believe that I knew that much more about the war itself. Rather, my strongest impression was of Grant's character; that I had, in a sense, met the man. It is a book NOT be to missed.

That U.S. Grant is telling one of history's great tragic and glorious stories as the key actor would make this book a fine piece in its own right. He has a gift for story telling that renders his Personal Memoirs compelling and engrossing. One of the best books I have read. It is remarkable from several levels. First, it is undeniably great history. The story of our Civil War is moving enough to leave a tremendous impression upon the reader in Grant's hands. Second, this book is a great study in management. Grant succeeded where scores failed at similar command levels throughout the Civil War. He did due to his: knowledge and focus on his mission; his ability to conceive plans that served his mission; his ability to have alternatives that stayed the course; his ability to learn from mistakes and experience; his calm in the face of stress and chaos; his decisiveness and his willingness to take reasonable risks.

This book surprised me by being an excellent management study. The lessons which are easy to take away from the book are aplicable to anyone who is faced with mission definition and achievement. It should be must reading in MBA programs.

Grant's lack of ego is surprising when compared to other Civil War figures and high achievers who have reflected on their lives and actions. By not only focusing on things that went right for Grant, the book has a tremendous credibility borne of real life trial and error, frustration, lessons learned and later employed.

A great book.

Having read George and Martha as a child, I was happy to receive the complete version of Marshall's stories for Christmas this year. The stories are clearly for children, but are humorous for adult readers as well. The pea soup story is a classic. The illustrations are wonderful.

Have you or anyone you know ever been troubled by the complexities of friendship? This endearing collection of vignettes in the lives of two very dear friends, models how to get through the peaks and troughs of human relations. I have had two best friends for over thirty years and I know friendships take a lot of work. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote wonderfully about friendship but James Marshall wrote these profoundly simple, almost poetic stories about two hippos who err, forgive, sacrifice, love, and put up with each other in a most charming and edifying fashion that everyone can understand. George and Martha books are adored by children and adults; they are well illustrated, in simple language and highly allegorical. I have given them as greeting cards to celebrate, apologize, teach, support, and grovel. I bought this full collection as a birthday present for a teenager who loved the stories as a child, and deeply appreciates the lessons as an emerging adult. (Frankly, I wanted to keep it for myself -- but that would have been too selfish, so I bought another.) Enjoy this book and benefits of dear friends.

We started watching the George and Martha TV series while living in Australia. I don't know who is more enamoured with the series - my daughters, or myself. These stories, different from the tv show as far as I can tell, all teach a lesson in friendship. It's a fun way to let those lessons about being a good friend sink in with your child. George and Martha are hilarious, and we love following their adventures. It is a book that even an adult without children might enjoy reading. A real page turner and a well made, quality book!

Giovanni Boccaccio THE DECAMERON. Second Edition. Translated with an Introduction and Notes by G. H. McWilliam. cli + 909 pages. Penguin Classics. London: Penguin Books, 1995. ISBN 0-14-044629-X (Pbk).

Second-hand opinions can do a lot of harm. Most of us have been given the impression that The Decameron is a lightweight collection of bawdy tales which, though it may appeal to the salacious, sober readers would do well to avoid. The more literate will probably be aware that the book is made up of one hundred stories told on ten consecutive days in 1348 by ten charming young Florentines who have fled to an amply stocked country villa to take refuge from the plague which is ravaging Florence.

Idle tales of love and adventure, then, told merely to pass the time by a group of pampered aristocrats, and written by an author who was quite without the technical equipment of a modern story-teller such as Flannery O'Connor. But how, one wonders, could it have survived for over six hundred years if that's all there were to it? And why has it so often been censored? Why have there always been those who don't want us to read it?

A puritan has been described as someone who has an awful feeling that somebody somewhere may be enjoying themselves, and since The Decameron offers the reader many pleasures it becomes automatically suspect to such minds. In the first place it is a comic masterpiece, a collection of entertaining tales many of which are as genuinely funny as Chaucer's, and it offers us the pleasure of savoring the witty, ironic, and highly refined sensibility of a writer who was also a bit of a rogue. It also provides us with an engaging portrait of the Middle Ages, and one in which we are pleasantly surprised to find that the people of those days were every bit as human as we are, and in some ways considerably more delicate.

We are also given an ongoing hilarious and devastating portrayal of the corruption and hypocrisy of the medieval Church. Another target of Boccaccio's satire is human gullibility in matters religious, since, then as now, most folks could be trusted to believe whatever they were told by authority figures. And for those who have always found Dante to be a crushing bore, the sheer good fun of The Decameron, as Human Comedy, becomes, by implication (since Boccaccio was a personal friend of Dante), a powerful and compassionate counterblast to the solemn and cruel anti-life nonsense of The Divine Comedy.

There is a pagan exuberance to Boccaccio, a frank and wholesome celebration of the flesh; in contrast to medieval Christianity's loathing of woman we find in him what David Denby beautifully describes as "a tribute to the deep-down lovableness of women" (Denby, p.249). And today, when so many women are being taught by anti-sex radical feminists to deny their own bodies and feelings, Boccaccio's celebration of the sexual avidity of the natural woman should come as a very welcome antidote. For Denby, who has written a superb essay on The Decameron that can be strongly recommended, Boccaccio's is a scandalous book, a book that liberates, a book that returns us to "the paradise from which, long ago, we had been expelled" (Denby, p.248).

The present Penguin Classics edition, besides containing Boccaccio's complete text, also includes a 122-page Introduction, a Select Bibliography, 67 pages of Notes, four excellent Maps and two Indexes. McWilliam, who is a Boccaccio scholar, writes in a supple, refined, elegant and truly impressive English which successfully captures the highly sophisticated sensibility of Boccaccio himself. His translation reads not so much as a translation as an original work, though his Introduction (which seems to cover everything except what is most important) should definitely be supplemented by Denby's wonderfully insightful and stimulating essay, details of which follow:

Chapter 17 - 'Boccaccio,' in 'GREAT BOOKS - My Adventures with Homer, Rousseau, Woolf, and Other Indestructible Writers of the Western World'
by David Denby. pp.241-249. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997. ISBN 0-684-83533-9 (Pbk).

Ten young Florentine noblemen and women escaping the Black Death in Florence in 1348 entertain themselves by each relating a story per day for ten days - 100 entertaining stories in all, mostly set in and around medieval Florence. Although famously naughty, none of these stories strikes a modern reader as more than mildly erotic. Rather, they consistently astonish by their thoroughly modern message that women are as good as men, nobility doesn't come from birth, sanctity doesn't come from the church, and - above all - true love must never be denied. Amazingly, Boccaccio often delivers this message while pretending to say the exact opposite; sometimes he presents very sympathetic characters who get away with things thought scandalous in his time, offering a mere token condemnation at the end, while other times he depicts someone actually following the accepted code and committing some horrible act of cruelty in the process. Either way - and despite his claims to be upholding convention - we always know what he really means, and apparently he didn't fool too many people in his own day either.

But one doesn't need to focus on the revolutionary aspects of the Decameron to enjoy the book; each of the stories delights the reader with a different tasty morsel, and, you can read as much or as little at a time as you please. Once you get past the introduction, (and that's probably the most serious part of the book, so be sure not to give up before you get to the first story) the stories will make you laugh, make you cringe, and make you sit on the edge of your seat. Inspiring authors from Chaucer to Shakespeare and entertaining audiences for over 700 years, the Decameron continues to delight.

For a book to be even considered to a classic; then it, i.e., the book has to stand the test of time (and by so been read, pondered on and enjoy by several generations). The Decameron (Oxford World's Classics) by Giovanni Boccaccio, et al is one of these few books, e.g., The Odyssey, Thus Spoke Zarathustra et al. The story follows a plethora of storytellers whom all have gone to the countryside to escape the plague. The stories are filled with bravura, vigor, fortitude, a bit of sex and many other subjects (that are all written with an uncanny ability). If one considered oneself to be a scholar or a learned man then this book, i.e., The Decameron (Oxford World's Classics) by Giovanni Boccaccio, et al, is a must have; since not owning or having read it, then one as a person/scholar/learnedman must be considered less then civilized.