The West : An Illustrated History by Geoffrey C. Ward, Dayton Duncan has got to be one of the most "Can't put down" type of books I've had the wonderful pleasure of owning, ever! The illustrations, to many to count are of the finest quality I've ever seen in a book not to mention that the editorial choices were perfect. The photos depict the exact expressions that capture those lost moments in time... If you can get this book - buy it! It is for all ages and you could never grow tired reading it, as well. A certain coffee table type book! I rate this book a 5 STAR!

The world has known the American West as the wild and untamed land of cowboys and Indians that Hollywood brought along with it's movies. The real story of the West is much more amazing than at first sight. Ward's story is beautifully illustrated with magnificent text that makes it a worthy successor to the movie series. He tells the story through the eyes of those who lived it and that is something very important in the history of the west. Without first hand accounts our knowledge would be vague, but this book captures the essence of all the west had and has to offer: adventure, a beautiful landscape, and a great mysterious past...

Being sucked into this book is not hard at all. With it's wonderful photographs of Native Americans and western pioneers, you get a true feeling of the life and culture. Geoffrey C. Ward is an excellent writer, and has put together one of the finest books of early American history and culture. I highly recommend the reading of this book to anyone whose roots derive from this era.

As a TESL teacher, I found this book rhythmic for students to recite aloud and kindling children's imagination. Especially in teaching pronunciation, it renders an active help. Also, the numerous exquisite illustrations, sometimes set between words, add greatly to the value of the book. I recommend it as a useful reference book for teachers in getting children to build up an abundant vocabulary.

Every year right before Opening Day I watch the Ken Burns documentary "Baseball," which is why it is clear to me that "Shadow Ball: The History of the Negro Leagues" is not simply a watered down version on what appears in the documentary series or its companion volume. This book, authored by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns with Jim O'Connor, has as much new information about its subject as it has borrowed from the PBS television documentary on which it is based. This means you will find everything you remember from "Baseball," such as the stories about Moses Fleetwood Walker and Josh Gibson, along with much more. "Shadow Ball" has seven chapters: (1) A Gentleman's Agreement looks at how blacks were kept out of the major and minor leagues; (2) Barnstorming tells how black baseball teams that traveled around the country looking for games; (3) Two Innings Ahead of Everyone Else covers how Rube Foster created the Negro Leagues; (4) The Guy People Wanted to See tells about Satchel Paige and the other big draws of the Negro Leagues, such as Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard; (5) The Great Experiment, of course, is the story of Jackie Robinson breaking the color line in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers; (6) The Oldest Rookie in the Game returns the focus to Satchel Paige, as well as other early black stars in the Major Leagues; and (7) The Death Knell for Out Baseball contrasts the success of black players like Hank Aaron in the Majors with the quick demise of the Negro Leagues once the racial barrier was gone.

Illustrated with dozens of photographs, several of which are captioned with memorable quotations, "Shadow Ball" is a nice addition to your collection of baseball books, whether as an introduction to the history of black baseball in America or as a chance to learn more about the topic. This is one of a series of three volumes based on the "Baseball Documentary," the others being "25 Great Moments" and "Who Invented the Game?" (the latter is grossly misnamed since it is essentially a history of baseball and pretty much a condensed version of the documentary).

This book fills a glaring need in history books. Not many people know more about Susan B. Anthony than she was one the dollar coin. This book corrects that oversight, and then some. Not only does the book give a balanced and well thought out look at Anthony and Stanton, the reader is also introduced to many, many other women who worked so hard for women rights.
I especially liked that the book didn't shy away from some of these women's more controversial stands, such as taking on the black person's cause.
All in all, a very good book.

This book provides insight and history on the struggle that women went through to get the right to vote. It includes all kinds of interesting background and perspectives. It was a real eye opener for me and I'm giving it as a gift to all the young women I know.

This book was an eye opener for me. Every woman should read this book to understand the fight for our right to vote. These women devoted their lives to something they knew they would never even see in their live time! Its a story of courage and strength. It's makes one feel proud to be a woman.

This illustrated biography of one of America's most memorable and beloved authors holds quite a few surprises for the unsuspecting reader. Anticipating anecdotes from Mark Twain's life that would portray him as a kind, altruistic, and loving man, I was shocked to learn he was also an irrascible, guilt-ridden, tight-fisted lover of alcohol and cigars who was often looking for ways to get rich.

He was born in 19th century Missouri and raised during a time when major political, economic, social, and cultural issues were forging America's identity. The rugged 19th century also molded Twain into an outspoken critic of those forces, providing him with an unending stream of material for his cogent and waggish observations.

Amid a collection of excerpts from his novels and speeches, articles and essays, as well as numerous pictures and illustrations, the authors present an insightful analysis of the man best known for writing TOM SAWYER and HUCKLEBERRY FINN. What becomes obvious is the relevance, creativity and importance of all his work, not just the books we were assigned in high school.

This book is a treasure; the kind of book that can be referred to often. It can give food for thought for hours of reflection. It is Highly Recommended.

Finally! A "coffee table" book that has top-quality photos and an excellent text.

MARK TWAIN: AN ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHY is a companion to a two-part, four-hour documentary film, directed by Ken Burns, on the life and work of Samuel Langhorne Clemens and his "famously, irrepressibly rambunctious alter ego Mark Twain."

Ernest Hemingway once said that Twain is "the headwater of American fiction" and called THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN "the best book we've ever had. There was nothing before. There's been nothing as good since."

George Bernard Shaw referred to Twain as "America's Voltaire."

William Dean Howells described Twain as "incomparable, the Lincoln of our literature."

Susy Clemens once wrote of her father: "He is known to the public as a humorist, but he has much more in him that is earnest than that is humorous. He is as much of a Philosopher as anything, I think."

In this reviewer's considered judgment, Twain is the greatest literary genius America has produced, a thinker of remarkable depth and substance.

Twain's life was filled with many travels, adventures ... and tragedies. Born in 1835, when Halley's comet made its appearance, he lived for 75 years, until 1910, when Halley's comet returned. He survived, and suffered, the death of his beloved wife "Livy" (Olivia Louise Langdon), and three of their children: Langdon, who died in infancy; Susy, who died of spinal meningitis at age 24; and Jean, who died of a heart attack evidently brought on by an epileptic seizure.

"The secret source of humor itself," wrote Twain, "is not joy, but sorrow. There is no humor in heaven. ... [Our] race, in its poverty, has unquestionably one really effective weapon--laughter. Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand."

Laughter and sorrow: Twain was well acquainted with both. Known superficially to many admirers as merely a humorist or funny man, Twain was essentially, as he described himself, "a moralist in disguise" who preached sermons to "the damned human race."

Twain's literary corpus abounds with excoriating criticisms of racism, anti-Semitism, religious hypocrisy, governmental arrogance and imperialism, petty tyrants, and Philistine culture. His often deadpan humor bristles with barbed satire and withering sarcasm.

In addition to its narrative text, this volume includes five bonus essays: "Hannibal's Sam Clemens," by Ron Powers; "Hartford's Mark Twain," by John Boyer; "The Six-Letter Word," by Jocelyn Chadwick; "Out at the Edges," by Russell Banks; and an interview with Hal Holbrook, "Aren't We Funny Animals?"

MARK TWAIN: AN ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHY is a rich and rewarding book.

I wonder how many people could have led the life that Samuel Clemens did and kept their sanity. He went from riches to rags (even though it was his own fault...he spent money like it was going out of style and made some horrendous investments), which forced him, at the age of 60, into making a 10 month long physically and mentally draining around-the-world lecture tour. The tour enabled him to pay off his debts and regain his financial footing. Unfortunately, money was the least of his problems. The authors do not specifically state it, but it is clear (to me anyway) that Clemens suffered from manic-depression. At various times, and not coinciding with anything bad going on his life, he considered suicide. He had lifelong moodswings, as well as a volatile temper. (His daughters were afraid to be alone with him, as his behavior was so unpredictable. They made sure to visit him as a group.) The authors recount one incident where Clemens, angry over a missing button, opened an upstairs window and tossed all of his shirts out into the street. Saddest of all, Clemens outlived almost all of his loved ones. His beloved wife, Livy, who was almost 10 years younger than him, predeceased him, as did 3 of his 4 children. His one surviving child, his daughter Clara, suffered a nervous breakdown when Clemens was almost 70. A heavy load to bear, indeed, but somehow Clemens bore it and carried on. One thing that helped was his worldwide fame. Clemens was hungry for fame, even as a young man. He became well-known early in life, and remained famous and popular right up until he died. (He was a bit of a "ham." He would purposely time his walks for when people were emerging from church, and would then saunter past in his trademark- pun intended- white suits.) This book is an absolutely perfect blend of narrative by the authors, liberal excerpts from Clemens's many writings, "guest essays," and page after page of terrific period photographs. (The research done for the photographs, alone, must have been backbreaking.) The narrative and essays made this a good book. The addition of the excerpts and the photos turned it into a great book. The excerpts are not just from Clemens's well-known works, either. He was once asked to address an organization which consisted of descendants of the Puritans. The written text is reproduced in the book. Twain skewered the original Puritans for killing Native Americans and for kicking everyone who wasn't a Puritan out of Massachusetts, even though, as Clemens makes sure to emphasize, they left England under the banner of religious freedom. (You have to think that when the organization invited Clemens to speak, this wasn't quite what they had in mind.) One of the many interesting items included in the book is a list of the famous sayings "Mark Twain" supposedly uttered....but didn't. (He was so famous that it was assumed that anything clever originated with him.) Unfortunately, one of my all-time favorites was included in this list: "When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years." On the bright side, he DID say "The rumor of my death has been greatly exaggerated." One caution: the excerpts will make you want to read or re-read all of Twain. I've already ordered a copy of "The Innocents Abroad" as somehow, in my youth, I missed that one. Hats off to Geoffrey Ward, Dayton Duncan, and Ken Burns for this wonderful book!

If you are interesting in Extreme Programming or need to evaluate it, I recommend this book. It is a very readable book but does have some drawbacks:

1. It is way overpriced. Too thin, not enough info for [price], even if Amazon discounts it. Ideas are repeated over and over again.

2. These authors (and others who review their buddies' books on Amazon and give biased reviews) are making a living off you buying into XP. It is funny how they say the last thing you want to do is adopt XP only partially.

3. So don't waste your money on more than one book from this group of XP diciples who are rehashing the same info over and over in about a dozen different books.

4. You can adopt only some of the principles provided in XP without adopting the whole practice. I've seen it done successfully in many places. These principles existed before XP and they can exist without it.

This is the most practical book among all the XP books ever published. You do only need to read Kent Beck's XP manifesto "Extreme Programming Explaining" before studying this book. Then you may skip all other books from the "Extreme Programming Series" and start to interpret written material about individual XP practices:

- Design Improvement: " Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code " by Martin Fowler;
- Test-Driven Development: "Test Driven Development: By Example " by Kent Beck;
- Sustainable Pace: "Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency" by Tom DeMarco;
- Pair Programming: "Pair Programming Illuminated" by Laurie Williams and Robert Kessler;
- Whole Team: "Agile Software Development" by Alistair Cockburn;
- Planning Game: "Planning Extreme Programming" by Kent Beck, Martin Fowler;
- Small Releases: "Software Project Survival Guide" by Steve C McConnell.

This book covers most of the XP practices at a glance, but with sufficient level of details. It tells in practice:

- How to introduce XP, how to overcome managers' and developers' resistance, how to set the right attitude (Part One);
- How to remember XP core values, how to handle exceptions if something has broken, e.g. the customer won't write stories or the number of developers is odd, how to do pair programming or stand-up meetings, how to steer and how to plan the whole project and the individual iterations, how to write tests, to create the pair-friendly space, how to refactor, and how to reduce the risk (Part Two);
- How do design the simple, what collective ownership means, how to automate acceptance tests and not get distracted by the code, why the overtime is not the answer and how to coach and keep the score (Part Three);
-How to "sell XP" (commercial aspects of XP projects, e.g. how to bill the customer), how to "scale XP", and how to "measure XP" (Part Four).

Enough said, this is the most practical book among all the XP books ever published.

As a complete newcomer to XP I bought this book based on the review by Peter Lindberg (see below) and I agree with his comments.

Some parts of the book assume that you know a little about XP at the start and you have to wait for a fuller description further on in the text to gain understanding. I didn't find this too much of an issue but you may want to buy one other introductory XP book to help.

I enjoyed the authors writing style and liked the use of guest experts in reinforcing the methodology.

Well worth the cost as you only need to buy this book and perhaps one other to get the XP story.

Although this book is not the typical Grey Western/Pioneer novel, it carries many of the charactics that earmark it as a genuine Grey. The adventerous Ken Ward, his rambumctious brother Hal, and few new characters guide you on an exciting journey through the jungle. Grey, as usual, decribes the jungle in a manner such as to make one think they are there. Although off the beaten Grey path, this book will be pleasurable for the Grey fan, or any other reader.

Hey! My dad's name is Ken Ward! What a coinky-dink! he he he :D

This book is a wonderful 1-volume history of the Civil War. It succeeds in many ways, it gives a strong historical base and perspective regarding the reasons for the war. It follows the war's strategies with great skill, and it looks at the aftermath as well.

The book is a visual delight, with pictures and maps everywhere. As someone who has complained vigorously of the lack of maps in other war books (see my complaints about Keegan's World War I history), I was quite happy with the care shown in this area. There is great first-hand information on the life of the grunt. You really get a feel for what the war felt like, from a wide variety of perspectives.

I also appreciated how the political/military relationship in the Union is covered. Lincoln did many things militarily due to political reasons. Those reasons are explained wonderfully.

Two major flaws in the book. The Shelby Foote interview is a waste of paper, he comes across sounding like a senile old man in a wheelchair, rambling on and on. The other issue I have is the way Gettysburg is covered. In the book, Gettysburg comes from nowhere. Why did both the Union and the Rebels see this as a big battle BEFORE it was fought. What did each side hope to gain from the battle outside killing the other army? There had to be some overall strategy, but the book gives none.

Overall, a great 1-volume starting point to learn about this time in American History.

An outstanding book...you get all the emotion and history of the war without even watching the movie. Most accounts of the war that I've read do not approach this level of personal touch (Bruce Catton being a notable exception) and this weaving of everyday life with the battle details makes for an exceptional perspective. I especially enjoyed the integration of photos with Ward's outstanding writing style and the digressions into cultural issues (slavery, politics...)which really gives the reader an intimate "feel" of what the times and the war were all about. The war in the West is given equal billing to the more celebrated Virginia account and Ward proves that the Union momentum sprang largly from these battles. Lastly, I've never seen better maps of all the battles...these really made each confrontation stand out and gave me a better "picture" of "who went where". I bought this book thinking I'd get a summary of the movie and a brief overview of the war...I now think that this belongs on any Civil War library shelf. Highly recommended!

In 1989, one of the finest, documentary films ever shown on TV appeared on the Public Broadcasting System (PBS). That film was the groundbreaking, multi-part documentary "The Civil War," by Ken Burns, Ric Burns, and Geoffrey C. Ward. A few months after "The Civil War" was broadcast, I found "The Civil War: An Illustrated History," the companion book to the film, in our local bookstore. It is authored by the same trio responsible for the film. (Geoffrey Ward is the principal author, ably assisted by the Burns brothers.)

"The Civil War: An Illustrated History"is an outstanding book - like its film counterpart, an excellent work of history, powerfully written by gifted writers with a genuine passion for their subject. Ward and Burns have written a graceful and eloquent basic survey of the Civil War that even the most battle-hardened Civil War buffs will find a wonderful reading experience.

The authors provide a straightforward narrative of events without much historical interpretation of events. That doesn't mean there isn't any analysis of historical events, however. In what I consider an act of literary genius, Ward and Burns enlisted the help of some of America's greatest Civil War historians - writers like James McPherson , Shelby Foote, Barbara J. Fields, and the late C. Vann Woodward. These outstanding historians, and others, wrote a series of essays that provided outstanding analyses of the causes, effects, and events of the Civil War.

"The Civil War: An Illustrated History"is far more than a few hundred pages of stuffy historical text. It's as visually appealing as it is wonderful to read. Nearly every page is crammed with Civil War era paintings, photographs and maps. The paintings add tremendous color to each page, but the photographs that pack the REAL emotional wallop! Many of them were taken by famed Civil War photographer Matthew Brady. In this book you'll see famous photographs, like Brady's renowned portraits of Lincoln, Grand and Lee; and other, starker, but less famous pictures, like the Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and Petersburg battlefields as they appeared in the days following their respective battles.

"The Civil War: An Illustrated History"is one of those rare "companion" books that not only complements the PBS film series from which it originates; it towers alongside it. Readers should have no hesitation in reading this book without having first seen the film series.

The title of this book based on the PBS documentary "Baseball" is "25 Great Moments," which is of some importance because the claim here is not that these are the GREATEST moments in baseball history. So do not expect to find everything you might think to find on this list. You will find some of the games most memorable home runs, from Babe Ruth's called shot and Bobby Thompson's shot heard 'round the world, to record breakers by Roger Maris and Hank Aaron, World Series game winners by Carlton Fisk and Joe Carter, and back-to-back jacks by the Griffeys. But then there are also several moments that do not happen in a baseball game as with Lou Gehrig Day and Sandy Koufax's retirement and the formation of the Negro League and first professional women's league. Sometimes the great moment lasts an entire season, as when Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams had historic seasons in 1941. Unlike the "Shadow Ball" book in this series, this one does not get beyond what we saw in the documentary, so you will get a bit more than what we saw, but not much. Note: The key photographs for each moment usually have a quote imprinted on them, often in silver ink, which sometimes is very hard to read.

I'd always been a pretty big baseball fan, but once I splurged and bought myself Burns' documentary on video I looked at the game in a completely different way, becoming much more of a fan of the history of the game, and, by extension, the GAME itself, rather than just an individual team or a few players.

To respond to some of the criticisms I've read: yes - the documentary does focus heavily on baseball in New York and Boston. But guess what? Until expansion, and the Dodgers and Giants up and heading to California, 5 of 16 major league teams played in those two cities. And those teams *always* won in the early years. And yes, Burns does overdo it with the 'talking heads.' Some are great (I especially like Robert Creamer, and, of course, who can resist Buck O'Neill....) But Mario Cuoumo? I'd have really appreciated more interviews with players and plain old fans, not folks with other agendas.

But I still give it five stars. I pull this out and watch an episode at least once a month, and I can't watch anymore without keeping a copy of the Baseball Encyclopedia near at hand. It's an absolutely stunning film.

In keeping with the tradition of the Civil War Series, Ken Burns has meticulously researched the game of baseball and created a most enjoyable history on video. Each video in the set is divided into innings, with a top and bottom half. Burns begins his study back in the 1870s and continues through the present day. All of the classic moments are captured here; from the great Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, and Honus Wagner to modern day heroes such as Ken Griffey Jr., Tony Gwynn, and Cal Ripken, Jr. The Black Sox scandal of 1919 is told in great detail, and the great teams of the 30s and 40s are described as well. Perhaps the greatest World Series ever, the 1975 Red Sox-Reds classic, comes to life in this video, too. Burns devotes 1 tape to the great Babe Ruth and the impact he made on the game. Burns points out that Ruth hit more home runs in a season by himself than many TEAMS did collectively.

Using excellent still photos and real game footage, Burns brings the game of baseball to life as only he can. This excellent set is definitely worth the money. I highly recommend this series. Baseball fans everywhere will definitely enjoy it.

I was so impressed with this collection. When it first aired on PBS, I was glued to the set. Anyone who wants to know in depth history of baseball, this is a great source. I have rented the videos a ton of times.

One of my favorite episodes is "Shadowball" which focuses on the Negro Leagues and the admission of minorities into Major League Baseball. Buck O'Neil, the charismatic player, coach, and historian has some great insight to the old game. By the way, if you are ever in Kansas City, stop by the Negro League Hall of Fame. Chances are Buck will greet you personally and spend time discussing baseball with you for as long as you like. It was one of my most cherished baseball moments.

Burns triumphs with a granular look at the various eras in baseball. For the die-hard fan, this is a must for your collection. I tear up every time I hear Gehrig's "luckiest man alive" speech, sing along with the "Say Hey" song, etc. Burns puts you right in the moment.

You'll love it. I just wish Burns would add one more volume to update until the end of the century. But we would always be going back for more as long as the game is played.