Containing wonderful watercolor illustrations of crocodiles, this is an inspiring introduction to life as seen through the eyes of a crocodile. I especially enjoyed the illustration showing the mother crocodile carrying the baby crocodiles in her mouth. My 8 year old daughter and I had read about this in research she did for a project so it was nice to see this scene depicted. My four year old enjoyed and learned from the book as well.

Before reading this story, the thought of a realistic book about crocodiles being a soothing bed time story seemed unlikely. _Imagine You Are a Crocodile_ manages it quite well. The prose has a nice cadence; the alliteration is wonderful. The words glide off the tongue. The watercolor illustrations are a perfect match for the crocodile's swamp.

The book is written with plenty of action without being too graphic. The crocodile hangs in the water; she jumps and snatches a heron as it flies by; she yawns, closes her eyes and sleeps in the sun. The mother crocodile cares for her newly hatched babies. The book even has some tension as a snake slithers toward the as yet unhatched crocodile eggs.

The words paint a lovely picture of the crocodile's home. The words invoke the senses and invite discussions of the swamp. Flies buzz in the sunshine. The swamp is murky and green. At night, the swamp is steamy and black.

Although this book is a fictional story, it does slide in some interesting information for those newly interested in crocs. Birds pick food from between the crocodile's teeth. The mother crocodile carries her babies in her mouth.

_Imagine You Are a Crococile_ is a favorite at our house with both the parents and the kids. This one I'll never get tired of reading.

This book featuring the Raptor is well detailed, and a fun book to browse. Plentiful pictures, and some descriptions of its awesome capabilities. If you'd really like to know what it is to appreciate this fine piece of technological marvel, see the other books on the F-22. Comparitively, I did not find it as indepth as another available soft-cover - see Bill Sweetman's version: F-22 Raptor. I have enjoyed both books, but would recommend Sweetman's - let's just say I am a genuine "Warplane Buff". I have not read the more expensive book, by Aronstein, but from its review, and the fact that it has an insider's view, it should be very interesting...(if you don't mind paying more) - Aronstein's is quite possibly a five-star! ...in my opinion.

This book tells you everything you ever wanted to know about the air force's newest future fighter.-----excellent!!!!!

His views on life were timeless, what a better way to get to know Frank L. Wright as a man than hearing his own words. The interview covered many topics, media(they did not even have a word for it), sex, politics, etc. Frank Lloyd Wright favored 'bottom-up, non-artificial' approach to life and his philosophy reflected in all of his work.

After reading "The Man Who Stayed Behind," I thought the title should be changed to "Memoirs of a Masochist - How to Spit on Me in Ten Different Ways, Comrade."

Rittenberg's decision to stay in China had more to do with his pathological need for acceptance than some strong revolutionary desire. As a foreigner, his ability to speak Chinese was what provided him admission into the Chinese Communist Party at a time when international support for their cause was lacking. He was just a freak at the right place and the right time.

As I read this book, I thought how weak and cowardly he was. When Rittenberg wasn't running from bombs like a little girl (he states how he was always the only one to run for safety), he was constantly crying and begging the jailers to accept him as a true Communist Party member.

Actually, I was surprised by his lack of embarrassment or shame for the opportunist life he lived in China. He criticized Zhou Enlai for his "unbecoming obsequiousness" to Chairman Mao yet the same mirror can be applied to Rittenberg as he continuously groveled like a lapdog to be accepted as the "only foreigner in the Chinese Communist Party."

The first time he was sent to a Chinese jail was due to his naivete. The second time it was due to his stupidity. His hubris and egotism was the real cause for the senseless waste of his life in a Chinese prison.

In this whole story, his second wife, Yulin, and later his children, were the only ones with intelligence and character. Rittenberg comes off as having the integrity of a worm.

I gave this book three stars because of its readability - the font size was very comfortable to read.

This book should be read in order to provide insight into the psychological weaknesses of individuals who join cults, extremist political parties, terrorist groups, etc. I am sure the American's who joined the Taliban and Muslim terrorists groups have a similar psychological profile as Mr. Rittenberg.

B. Polk
Beijing, China

The real heroine of this book is the authors second Chinese wife. Even after 16 years in a Chinese prison the author thought that Communism was the total answer to the problems of the Chinese people. He admits that he was wrong in almost all the decisions he made in supporting Communism in China and that he was eventually double crossed by every high ranking Chinese leader that he decided to support. Only after he returned to the United States were he, his wife and four children completely hsppy!

The Kirkus Reviews above claim that this book is a "dramatic odyssey of an American who cast his lot with mainland China's Communists following WW II--and who lived to regret it.", I wonder if the reviewer really read the book or not, since the author expressed explicitly in serveral places as well as the feeling run throught the book that he never regreted any of his experiences in China, instead found himself enriched, strengthened, and grateful for it;

Another reviewer's comment that "How this man earn a living in the US as an expert on a country he never seemed to understand is beyond me.", is actually beyond myself. I doubt if a man can't at least learn one or two things about a country if one lived there for 35 years, especially with about half of the time shut in a prison, devoting to a course he believed in. What the course is and whether it is really there or an illusion, is another matter.

In my own experience the book could be read on serveral levels: a personal autobiography from youth to the old age; the story of an American youth's adventure in the middle kingdom across 1949; Chinese revolution, from Yanan period to its end in late 70s, in the eyes of a foreigner of left wing political persuation, especially as an active (foreign) participant's memory/story of Culture Revolution. The experience is rich as well as unique, writing clear and smooth, reading the book is highly enjoyable and educational.

But here also weakness of the book lies, that different themes and levels of discourses can be in conflicts to each other: chinese revolution and Culture Revolution could be too big, social and impersonal to constraint and present in a biographical framework; events and various persona, from Chairman Mao to individuals living around the author, could only be presented from one perspective, without other independent references.

Still, the experiences are unique, stories moving, themes grand, the book is highly recommended.

Aside from a proverbial axe that Mr. Wallace is grinding (especially in the Reagan essay), the text employs a down-to-earth approach, avoiding the typical multi-syllabic lingo that is usually associated with academia. In addition, the broad purpose of his text is applaudable: the deconstruction of the myths and ideologies of history and the return to historical research and study.

However, I can say that while I agree with most of Mr. Wallace's viewpoints, I should also note that he has many fallacies in his case studies, particularly those with Disney. As a former Disney employee, I have to wonder how much time he truly spent researching the inner cogs of the "Mouse Machine," and who he spent time interviewing.

As a volunteer museum curator/collections manager, I must agree with other reviewers about Mr. Wallace's critical analysis of museums. "Could," "should," and "would" are great words when theorizing and idealizing about the historical preservation process, but until one actually experiences the real-world struggles of museum revitalization and artifact preservation, I tend not to pay any heed to the noisy cymbals of criticism.

Finally, as a graduate student of Popular Culture, and from an academic viewpoint, the lack of detailed citations and direct references in this book raises my concern about the integrity of the research that was done. The bibliography, while impressive in its depth, is not annotated enough to make up for the missing footnotes of works cited.

for someone interested in museum, spaces of exhibition and the like you will find section one and two of this book quite interesting. the first deals with different sorts of museums placing a critical point of view from communitary museums to opend air museums, to technology museums. the second part is great dealing with the forms of exhibition at disney. dystory, that special kind of reality that it is at once purified and sanitized and tha is quite part of the essence of thematized environments. parts three and four deal, respectively, with the restoraton movement in america and the politics of culture during regan's era, specially with the enola gay case.

Mike Wallace uses the kind of academic writing that all scholars should aspire to achieve--lively, free of jargon, and entertaining. His subject, as suggested by the book's title, is history and the debates that surround different depictions of history. Wallace observes, astutely, that the struggles over how to portray history reveals much about ourselves, our beliefs, and our agendas. Wallace points out that history is never neutral, a point that is well worth reinforcing.

My particular interest is Disney Studies, and Wallace has a section (actually two essays) devoted to Disney and it use of history. The first essay concentrates on Disney's use of history in its theme parks, particularly in places such as the Hall of Presidents and EPCOT. While Wallace does not shy from criticizing Disney's portrayal of history (in fact, one of Wallace's strengths is he does not shy from representing his own viewpoint clearly), he also does not simply dismiss the potential in integrating history, entertainment, and the kind of technological wizardy that Disney is known for. He makes a serious case for a reconsideration of Disney and its techniques, all without constantly hitting his reader over the head with things. In his second essay, Wallace concentrates on the failed Disney's America project, providing background information and a critique of Disney with a call to re-examine Disney's use of history as emblematic of other movements and struggles over American history. He also makes it clear that he believes simply dismissing Disney is not an effective strategy for considering how portrayals of history could engage the public. The strength here is that Wallace is not afraid to criticize both Disney and kneejerk criticisms of Disney, or to envision the melding of history and entertainment. Nor does he abandon the quest for critical presentations of history that open history to even further investigation. While this is no easy task, Wallace does succeed.

If there is one thing I would suggest, perhaps the element I feel is missing, is a better development of these strategies for the presentation of history that Wallace supports. Although that could indeed be a book in itself, it would have been nice to see more of Wallace dwell more on his own engagement with, even answers to, the questions he has raised in this book.

This book was a complete waste of money. The format/set up is horrible. Save your money!

While many of the question in the book were interesting, they did not have that timeless quality that makes a book endearing. Readers may want to check out "The Ultimate Trivia Book: Quizzing" which I found to be very interesting and immensely enjoyable.

I recently bought this for a friend for graduation and then bought it for myself as well. It is chalk-full of information that you find on quiz shows and in board games. Think you're a useless trivia buff? Take a look at this book; it ranges from the complex to the simple and back again.

It is good for the entire family, if you're family consists of those aged at least 16 years old. Kids won't like this because the information is not aimed at them; it is geared towards adults. It is a nice book and will keep you entertained for hours.

This rather short coffee-table book is most notable for its collection of photos of Eleanor Roosevelt and her family. The photos are extensive, and a few have not been seen before by non-historians like myself. Otherwise, there was almost nothing new to be learned about this very remarkable and intelligent woman, much to my disappointment! Most amazing was that her grandson actually admitted that he was ignorant of her role on the public stage until her death when he was 20 years old!

I love everything and every pictures too. Thank you.

I couldn't wait to read this book. Any book which honors the actions of our veterans is a "must read" for me. But I was greatly disappointed by this work. While I enjoyed Mr. Wallace's introductory essays, I was confused by the politically correct agenda he presented in the selection of some those who earned the Medal of Honor. Also, Mr. Mikaelian's prose is awkward and laborious: I didn't think it possible to take such incredible acts of bravery and make them almost tedious, but this is exactly what happens here. Spend your valuable time reading well-written books like "Flags of Our Fathers" or "Ghost Soldiers," which give proper homage to the legacy of American heroes. Mikaelian's book does not do them justice.

Like everything else in life, this book tells about sad times and happy times due to the fact that a military man was awarded the highest honor for valor this nation offers. This book gives descriptions of the battle event that was reponsible for the medal for a number of veterans from the Civil War through Viet Nam. The writing is interesting and points out what some men are capable of when their back is against the wall. If you like war stories, this is a winner.

There have been many books written on the Medal of Honor, and this effort was an enjoyable read. The most important aspect managed to show a human side of the recipient. Each chapter covered a person who earned (not "won") the medal; the author did a very good job in tying in other stories of recipients pertaining to a campaign or battle to carry on the story.

While some of the stories are well known, others were not, and this is what is needed. I have seen several of the deceased recipients' graves at Arlington National Cemetery that are covered in this book; Edouard Izac's story is amazing in his continuous efforts to gain secrets of submarine warfare while as a prisoner of war in WWI, along with his escape attempts.

The book manages to show that while these men (as well as the sole female receipeint, Mary Walker) were indeed brave in their actions, they are mere humans that have lived in wealth or poverty, and encountered success as well as failure.

I would have given the review five stars if the book was illustrated; as I believe that it would have assisted the reader to put a face with the name of the recipient. While reading the book, one may want to visualize the person they are reading about. If you enjoyed this book on a more human aspect, I would also recommend "Beyond the Medal" by another Medal of Honer recipient, Peter Lemon

Although a little out of date, this is a well-researched history of the F-15 and variants. There are lots of large full-color photos and an excellent section on special, test, and NASA Eagles. Since it was published in '94 there have been a few changes and additions to the Eagle fleet, but overall a good addition to any aviation enthusiast's collection.

This book is amazing in its number of errors, shallowness of analysis, and conceptual ignorance. Even for the most significant battles of World War II, the author gets numerous facts wrong. For example, in discussing the Pacific war, he notes the Japanese had 2 carriers sunk in the Battle of the Coral Sea (they lost 1 small one) and 3 at Midway (4 were sunk). He states that German blundered by not launching an amphibious invasion of England, even though the Germans lost the war in the air(most military historians would regard launching an amphibious invasion without having air supremacy against a country with naval supremacy suicide). He blames the German Air Force for the fact that German industry didn't go into a war footing until 1943. Huh? Blaming an armed service for flawed industrial policies? This is the most error filled history book I've ever seen and ranks top among the biggest blunders on military history in the 20th century. Considering the high quality of the History Channel, it's amazing that they would associate themselves with such a book of errors.

As other reviewers have said, it's shallow, riddled with errors, and ultimately unsatisfying. Yet it mentions a lot of incidents, some of which I'd never heard of, like the Queen Mary colliding with her escort. This book's salvation would be a good bibiography, so the interested reader could follow up -- but there is none. No notes. Nothing. For a good book of this sort, read "From the Jaws of Victory", by Charles Fair.

This book was prepared as a companion to a History Channel series and it has the depth and detail one would expect from a television program. As some of the other reviewers have noted, there are sporadic factual mistakes, but the greater shortcoming, to my mind, is the lack of much to say. The factual issues discussed are pretty much common knowledge to anyone having much familiarity at all with military history (or history in general) in the Twentieth Century. Worse yet, the insights and commentary provided are little more than unimaginitive "conventional wisdom." I had some suspicions about this book being of a mass market paperback quality, but I picked it up because it was one of the first in .mp3 audio format. This proved to be a mistake as my first concerns were conclusively proven correct.