Having recently learned that my uncle was a member of the 1st Cavalry, 5th Regiment and part of the "Flying Column" which liberated Santo Tomas in Feb 45, I was fascinated by Mrs. Van Sickle's eyewitness account of her time in the camp, and of her retelling of the evening of liberation. Her storytelling STYLE isn't particular gripping, but her STORY itself IS gripping and she tells it with an honest, informative approach.

Emily Van Sickle has written a wonderful memoir of her struggle during World War II to survive internment by the Japanese in the Philippines. Interned in Santo Tomas University with her husband, Emily chronicles the daily boredom, increasing starvation, and then the unbridled excitement of liberation by U.S. troops.

Anyone interested in first-person wartime stories should read this book. It adds a new dimension to World War II stories of internment--this is unlike the experiences of European Jews and of Japanese-Americans, but still gives the reader pause to wonder at the atrocities of war.

Chuck Hogan has a gift for taking the seemingly endless list of instructions on how to swing a golf club and simplify them down to a few keys that can free golfers from the "paralysis by analysis" that can overload the mind. Not only was I able to shave about 7 strokes off my usual 92 (OK, really a 97, but this isn't about me), but I was also able to enjoy the game, the course and my companions to a greater degree. The only reason I held back from five stars, is that the golfing excellence in the title may promise more than any book can deliver. Relative to the cost of new clubs, a private lesson or the expense of a round of golf itself though, this book is a tremendous bargain.

A short but encompassing summary of Lindbergh's life. Unlike Berg's biography, it omits all but the most important details but gives an accurate overview. Well written and interesting.

great book, lots of helpful hints to go back to and look up.

Colson and Van Dess provide a short, but loaded analysis of the overcrowding of the penal institutions, and call for basically a two-part solution. Calling prisons "graduate schools in crime" rather than places of rehab and punishment, they suggest nonvilent offenders to pay back society for their rehab and reinstitution among society, while prisons and punishment are withheld for the violent. Thus, overcrowding solved and rehab can occur.

Biblical support given, for this God's agenda as well. So relevant to the talk now going on among us with a new national administration taking office.

This book gives a good introduction to argumentation theory and its twists and turns over the course of its existence. I found it helpful to get started, especially coming from a completely different field. It gives the essence of Toulmin and Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca but I would have liked to see a bit more on Austin and Searle.But then again the references mentioned are very extensive and can be followed up. All in all a good book if a bit pricey for students (whatever happened to the paperback cover?)

Summary : This book covered the theoretical and practical study on Church and Mission .Charles Van Engen gave an extensive and profound definition on the Church which covered from the biblical images , Church History and theological perspective (Part 1 , pp25-86).The Church is one ,is catholic ,is holy and is apostolic.But Charles Van Engen showed that the Church is also mission-intent for God's Kingdom because Christ's salvation and rule are in the Church and for the World .Therefore the church being the only earthly witness for Christ should engage its essence for the Great Commission (Part 2 , pp87-132) . Every local church is God's missionary people to reachout the whole world into the Lost. To accomplish such a mission task ,four elements in the local church : the Goal-setting , the mission-orientated members ,the commissioned leadership and the church administrative system will all be geared towards mission in passion and vision for the whole world (Part 3 , pp133-192).

Comment : Charles Van Engen's presupposition is that the Church in her essence cannot be divided or separated from her commission in mission to the world because the Church is the only chosen witness for Christ. But the issue is : Does the Church lose its essence when her earthly mission fails ? To make some analogy : (1) Does a man lose his image of God or his manliness if he fallen or paralysied ? (2) Does a cat lose its cat-ness if it loses its four legs and still alive ? My understanding is the Church is still the Church though she has not functioned her entrusted mission to the world . It is the same that Christ is the God in person even if he does not want to save his people on earth ! Because he is still the Lord if he did not be my Savior.

William Barker Cushing was one of the true heroes of the naval Civil War. He consistently defied the enemy and the odds, and came back alive. He almost singlehandedly blew up a Southern ironclad (the CSS Albemarle). Coupled with a section on Cushing's brother, Alonzo, who was at the heart of the third day of Gettysburg, this book will excite, entertain, and educate all fans of the Union and the Navy.

Like the rest of the Secrets Series, this book is meant to cover a wide range of information succinctly. For me, I found it to be a good and quick review that helped focus on the key elements of various nutrition topics. It's not a textbook though so if you want the full explanation you're better off getting a full sized volume. Even if you've studied basic textbooks on nutrition, this could be helpful to summarize the crux of the material. The title is somewhat of a misnomer: I'd call it Nutrition Review Q and A.

PEN, INK, & EVIDENCE is a good companion volume to Nickell's DETECTING FORGERY: FORENSIC INVESTIGATION OF DOCUMENTS. Like that work, it is apparently targeted towards the beginner (me) and NOT the practicing professional. For example, when an analysis technique is mentioned (and not all techniques are covered) Nickell tends not to go into elaborate detail on the actual practices. The chapter notes serve as a bibliography and are valuable leaping off points for more indepth research and understanding.

This book is divided into five major sections: (I) Writing Instruments, (II) Ink, (III) Paper, (IV) Writing, and (V) Examining Documents. There are three appendices covering (1) Eighteenth Century Scripts, (2) Chronology of Writing and Writing Materials, and (3) Laboratory Identification of Pens, Inks, & Papers.

Nickell has access to a huge array of relevant materials which are profusely included in black and white photographs throughout the book. The photographs are of fair quality and I assume that higher quality photos would result in higher price (duh).

Overall, I found it interesting, useful, and satisfyingly broad in subject coverage. Nickell's writing style is accessible and clear. The ubiquitous use of anecdotes is essential and entertaining. E.g., "Of course, one approach to duplicating security watermarks -- like those placed in prescription blanks for alchohol during Prohibition ... -- was simply to dupe a legitimate paper company intor producing paper bearing watermarks." -pg 85. I want to know more about alcohol prescriptions during Prohibition!