I was given a copy of this book back in 1971 when I aquired my first car, a 1959 Bug. This book helped cement a lifelong love of the Volkswagen Beetle. The author did such an outstanding job turning an industrial wonder into a love story. This book should be included in the glovebox of EVERY new VW and is a must for any Volkswagen lover.

Just what I was looking for, and then some. This book starts at the very beggining, with the Beetle's mentor and VW's founder Dr. Porsche. (Did you know he was Czeck?)
It follow's the company's history (which is to say, the car's history) with just the right amount of coverage to its amazing journey from WWII to the car's EOP (end of production) in Puebla, Mexico. The cronology of this book is excellent. Worthdly of a movie script, this book is extremely enganging. As you read its history, names like Ford, Peugeot, Renault amongst others keep poping up narrating each one's influence on the company's history. (Did you know H. Ford II was offered the factory, for free?)
The only thing that I'd wish from this book was to have the author do either a follow up or a revised update. This book finishes with the beetle's last production car, but the company has certantly not. I wish I could get more info from the company's developement from that point forward, including the launch of the new beetle among other superb new VWs...

In 1969, after I had purchased a new VW, the dealer sent me "Small Wonder" by Walter Nelson. I have just finished reading this book once again, 22 years later, and the book is as applicable in todays society as it was back when it was first published. This book is not only about the Volkswagon car. It contains a good deal of history surrounding pre-war Germany, the rise of Hitler to power, WWII, and reconstruction of the bombed out factory with American assitance following the war. Any person considering a sales career should read and study this book.

If you like the writings of Thoreau, you will love this biography. Thoreau really comes to life and Walter Harding does a great job at aquainting us with Thoreau as if he were our neighbor or close friend. You will love all the stories of his childhood, his many excursions and his never ending desire for knowledge of nature. Also, at the end Harding dicusses Thoreaus's sexuality, which for me was a burning question throughout the book. There is no better biography out there written on Thoreau.

This book looks at Thoreau's life in depth. The first few chapters try to show how Thoreaus young life shaped his older years. Always complicated both in his young and old years. This book also gives great details of Thoreaus many excursions, and the many people with whom he graced with his presence. If you in interested in Thoreau, it would be in your best interest to buy this book, it's the link between his life and his work.

I've alway's been in the habit of reading about the life of an author before acually reading his works and this book has covered all the bases of an incredibly intelligent man. His prose of description was in depth, and at the same time it showed views of alot of his friends in a town full of intellects. It makes you feel like you were there living Concord enjoying the scenes on Walden with thoughts from a perspective that the average person would not usually pull from any kind of methodical observation.

I would read this book again and again for a distinctive and magnanimous outlook from one the most notable Thoreau scholars.

Absolutely amazing!
Chihuly is incredible.
Not much in the way of descriptions, just a brief introduction to each series (Macchia's, Persians, etc.), which I found just enough. What I'm interested in are the actual pieces, and there are plenty of exceptional pictures.
Again, amazing. Truly inspiriational for the novice glass blower and an absolute delight for everyone else!

This book covers just about every game in the casino's. It will tell you the odds on each, the best strategies ( if there are any ), money management, and the absolute best strategy for blackjack. I have read more than one book on gambling, and this is the most all around informitive book ( as well as up to date ) out there. Definately worth the money!!

Awesome story a must read

This book, the most comprehensive reference work on infrared photography, is unfortunately out of print. There's more solid information in this book than in all the pretty coffee-table books on IR photography put together.

Even the most recent edition, 1978, has some outdated data on specific films, but the laws of physics haven't changed, so Gibson's extremely detailed explanations of various phenomena and applications of infrared photography are still as valid as they were originally.

This book really cries out for a new edition, updated with information on digital infrared photography. But for now, if you can only have one book on infrared, this is the one to get.

This book starts with the early beginings of Ferdinand Porsch and relates the entire story of his career as an auto maker , then as the father of the VW beetle. This is the most complete accounting on the involvement of Adolph Hitler and the Nazi party through the war years, and the saving of the factory by the British Army and Major Ivan Hirst. This book also tells the story of Heinz Nordhoff,President of VW from 1946 till his death in 1967. He is the man rsponsible for the VW Beetle becoming the most manufactured car in world history

Required to read Henry for my AP English Language class, I came into the play with a bias. I honestly felt that it would be a boring political play. I was utterly wrong! A huge fan of Shakespeare, I found Henry V to be a formidable match for the Bard's more critically acclaimed plays, such as Hamlet and Macbeth. Henry has it all! Shakespeare's attitude toward Henry the King is certainly one of admiration. By communicating the fact that an effective monarch must have a complete understanding of the common subjects (Pistol and Bardolph and Quickly), Shakespeare sets up Henry to be the ideal Christian king. The controlled language of Henry's speeches, particularly his response to the Dauphin's idiotic insult, also glorifies Henry. I certainly recommend this play to anyone, fan of Shakespeare or not.

Written by Shakespeare for Queen Elizabeth I amidst a time of Irish rebellion, Henry V more than adequately serves its intended purpose of galvanizing nationalistic fervor. It proved itself to be an unwavering and unfaltering impetus of patriotism in Shakespeare's day, during WWII, and still today it continues to resonate and reverberate this provocatively telling tale of the most gloriously revered monarch in English history.

Henry V's stirring orations prior to the victorious battles of Harfleur("Once more unto the breach") and Agincourt("We few, we happy few, we band of brothers") astonish and inspire me every time I read them. Simply amazing. Having read Henry IV Parts I&II beforehand, I was surprised Shakespeare failed to live up to his word in the Epilogue of Part II in which he promised to "continue the story, with Sir John in it." The continuing follies of the conniving Bardolph, Nym, & Pistol and their ignominious thieving prove to be somewhat of a depricating underplot which nevertheless proves to act as a succinct metaphor for King Harry's "taking" of France.

Powerful and vibrant, the character of Henry V evokes passion and unadulterated admiration through his incredible valor & strength of conviction in a time of utter despondency. It is this conviction and passion which transcends time, and moreover, the very pages that Shakespeare's words are written upon. I find it impossible to overstate the absolute and impregnable puissance of Henry V, a play which I undoubtedly rate as the obligatory cream of the crop of Shakespeare's Histories. I recommend reading Henry IV I&II prior to Henry V as well as viewing Kenneth Branagh's masterpiece film subsequent to reading the equally moving work.

On D-Day British officers read Henry's famous words to their men as they approached the beach. When Churchill needed material for his famous "Few" speech, his thoughts turned to the pages of Henry V. From "once more into the breach" to "we happy few, we band of brothers" this play resonates with Shakespeare's paen to England's warrior king. Oh, you'll be a bit confused at the start if you haven't read Henry IV parts 1 and 2, but this is primarily the story of Henry V's victory at Agincourt. Whether the play glorifies war or just Henry you will have to decide. There is much food for thought here for the perceptive reader. But then Shakespeare is always provocative.

Publishing for the first time in 1955, Walter Lord's novel remains unsurpassed in accuracy and excitement. To fulfill his purpose, Lord interviewed the few Titanic survivors in effort to create the most precise and vivid picture of what happened out in the Atlantic on that moonlit night in 1912. This book allows readers to step on board the luxury liner with an explosion of the emotions the passengers felt that night they knew there was no where to go but into the freezing icy water of the ocean. Devoid of Hollywood glamour, Lord tells exactly what happened when it happened as told by those who were actually there. With chapters brilliantly titled with heart-wrenching words of the passengers, Lord is able to describe in complete detail the events as they occurred minute-by-minute from the point of view of different passengers. Some passengers stayed in bed despite the jolt of the iceberg, some continued to drink and smoke in the lounges, and some went up on deck to investigate while others played a game of soccer with chunks of ice. By his exceptional use of lead-ins and transitions, Lord's novel flows in a remarkable manner. Descriptions are depicted in such intense detail that any reader can taste the gourmet meals of the first class, see the excessively adorned quarters, hear the chilling silence, and feel the pain of the frigid water.

Being a huge "TITANIC" fan I was in desperate need of serious reading material on my favorite subject.Going to my favorite bookstore Atlantic Books I purchased my first book on "TITANIC".Anxious to read it,and driving my mother nuts we finally arrived at my house.The anxiety I felt finally opening "A Night to Remember" quickly subsided me as I eased into the almost real surroundings produced by Walter Lord.I was in my glory as I began to feel the excitement of the passengers when they began to leave the port.And of course the chill of absolute terror when they heard that half of them would die and that the surviving half would live to tell their story of that fateful night.They did not know that they would soon be mourned by millions of people who they of course did not know.And yet some 86 years later,on April 14th the world seems to pause at 11:40pm to give their moment of silence to a ship that was said to be "unsinkable".There are also some new characters from the legendary ship that director James Cameron made noticeable such as John Jacob Astor and "the unsinkable Molly Brown. Of course some new characters are fictisous yet they make the story even more romantic.So no matter what the critics or anyone else says if you like "TITANIC" or you just want to read a good book I highly recommended this one. __

I have been fascinated with the Titanic for years, and now with the resurgance of interest due to the movie, I find myself reaching for this book once again. Of all the many books, articles and journals written on the Titanic, Walter Lord's book touches us in a way the 'newer' books don't. He tells the story from survivor accounts and his own experiences after having researched the great vessel with an honesty that is sometimes cold, yet truthful. He worked with what he had at the time--not technology, but merely an interest to tell the story from a human point of view. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Titanic and her legacy. This is one book you will not want to put down and when you finally do, you may feel the emotions welling inside you as so many before when experiencing the wonder of this great tragedy.