Joy Harjo is a multi-talented artist - poetry and music (with Poetic Justice) available. Here she has paired her words to Stephen Strom's photographs. His photographs of landscapes have an unusual and very effective use of colors ... many reminding me of the softness of watercolor or pastels.

Joy Harjo has provided text - somewhere between prose and prose poems - that engage the accompanying photographs to create a mythic sense. For example a photo of rose-tinted desert sand with no sky (Overlook west of Tuba City)is accompanied by "Two sisters meet on horseback. They gossip: a cousin eloped with someone's husband, twins were born to his wife. One is headed toward Tsaile, and the other to Round Rock. Their horses are rose sand, with manes of ashy rock."

An excellent book.

Nowhere have I read poetry that so completely encompasses the Native American view of the connectedness of all things. Harjo's writings, coupled with Steven Strom's photography of "Indian country" make this a book that I read over and over, each time drawing something new. It is one of the only books I've ever read that convinces me that language is "alive", as alive as we are, as alive as the shoulder bone of a mountian, as alive as a comet which streaks its way across the sky. It is my favorite book. Period.

Written in the highly polished Augustan prose style of the period, this is a fine selection of essays from the pen of the great Scottish philosopher, historian and economist, David Hume. The essays range from aesthetics, commerce, history and ethics, which include such pieces as "The Epicurean", "The Stoic" and "The Sceptic" (Hume's own credo) all which are rather curiously positioned and excellently written guides to living. "Of the Immortality of the Soul" and "Of Suicide", two of Hume's most controversial essays touching on theological topics, are also included in this volume. Both succeeded, with their bold, original arguments, in outraging the British clergy, which helps us to understand why Hume decided to have them published posthumously.

This comparatively short book consists of extremely well-selected essays by the great Scottish philosopher and historian, on everything from public credit to delicacy of taste. Also included are the different classes of philosphers, including the class Hume falls under, The Sceptic (Hume's sp.). There is also an exceedingly interesting essay on the populousness of the world in ancient times. Apparently, the accepted notion at Hume's time was that there were hordes of people in ancient times and that our race has been dwindling ever since. Hume, on the other hand, proposes the radical notion that just the opposite is the case, and sets out to prove it quite handily.-Overall, the best introduction to one of my favorite writers that I've yet to read.

The authors do an excellent job of showing how the Allies were able to use their material superiority to best advantage and defeat the Luftwaffe. Counterintuitively, the main advantage gained by the strategic bombing program was the defeat of the Luftwaffe. It was only when the bombers started hitting important targets in Germany accompanied by escort fighters that the German fighters had to fight at unequal terms.

Great description of how the air war was won.

If one wishes to learn about the contributions of the US ArmyAir Forces in Europe during World War II, the literature is repletewith books and articles about strategic precision daylight bombing. However, in To Command the Sky, the authors have broken from the strategic bombing mold to inform us of how air superiority was achieved, and how important that victory was to allow the Allied forces to not only carry out their strategic bombing mission, but also to prepare the battlefield for D-Day. Indeed, without air superiority over the landing areas, the D-Day invasion of the continent would have certainly been more costly, if not impossible to achieve. This excellent book recounts how the Luftwaffe was defeated through a combination of strategic bombing and, more importantly, attrition of the Luftwaffe planes and pilots. Although the book begins with a brief history of military aviation and doctrine, the highlight for this reviewer was the chapter dedicated to training, especially since the authors look at both the American and German programs. Flaws in the German training programs directly contributed to their aerial defeat in 1942 - 1944. Due to the prohibition to maintain a German air force by the Treaty of Versailles after WW I, the Luftwaffe started training its pilots in Russia and Italy during the 1920s and 1930s. By the time Hitler announced to the world the existence of the Luftwaffe in 1935, he had established a formidable force. For myriad reasons though, problems consistently nagged the Luftwaffe and ultimately led to its defeat. These included a lack of training planes, a lack of qualified instructor pilots, little instrument flying time, and shortages of aviation fuel. The authors develop these shortfalls throughout the book and keep coming back to the conclusion that inadequate training was a major factor in the Luftwaffe's demise. Two other aspects of the battle for air superiority that the authors examine are the realizations that fighter escort would be needed to defend the bombers on their strategic strikes, and attrition warfare would be needed to defeat the Luftwaffe. Despite the fact losses from attrition warfare were high, the Allied commanders were willing to accept them knowing that replacement aircraft and qualified pilots were readily available. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading To Command the Sky as I felt it gave a truly balanced account of how fighters and bombers were both needed to achieve air superiority and bring about the defeat of the Luftwaffe. Lastly, the authors' insight into some of the key commanders (Eaker, Doolittle, Spaatz, Arnold) thinking was especially enlightening and appreciated. It put the struggles they faced in commanding such a large force in perspective, especially with regard to the D-Day timeline under which they operated. I believe To Command the Sky is a must read for anyone wishing to study the air campaign against Germany during World War II.

I've bought this book many years ago (translated Dutch version) and I still consider it to be one of the cornerstones of my book-collection.

It is a title which is hard to find (especially in Dutch ;-) but definately worth your while...

I have an old copy of this book that dates back about 10 years. I've only seen one copy. Mine. Its a great read, I highly recommend it to any who should come across it.

This is a great book for the seasoned artist as well as the beginning collector. The photography is great and the text is very readable. It's a pleasure to carry with and read while traveling, as well as to study the photographs for ideas. I enjoyed reading about the artists, especially the ones I already knew; and learning about the ones I was'nt familar with. The photography was a pleasure, as well as the the text. I would recommend this book to anyone intested in teddy bears and artists!

Stephen Cronk, former editor of Teddy Bear Review, has compiled a collection of more than 100 wonderful photographs of beautiful furry teddy bears created by many of today's leading teddy bear artists. The format reveals techniques and inspirations behind the photographed bear as well as some history on the featured contemporary artists. The teddy bear lover cannot resist the lovable images created to reveal the spirit of this collectible art form.

I loved the organization and format of this publication. I also enjoyed the 6-page historical perspective Steve offered spanning the history of the teddy bear from 1902 through the development of domestic and foreign shows, collector clubs, and charital organizations formed to distribute teddy bears to those in need of comfort.

You will be able to easily locate some of the best known teddy bear artists today. Their addresses are also featured in this book.

This book is a must for collectors and fellow teddy bear artists. You will love this book as much as I did.

I'm now about 2/3 of the way through the book, and it really has not been a difficult learning exercise. It gives a great overview of web servers, and the included videos really are a great learning tool - nothing like seeing someone actually telnet into Apache and fake out a browser request. There are some errors in cross reference to the CD-only book, and some audios are out of place, but that'e life. Well worth the money.

This multimedia volume is well worth the purchase price. Exceptionally written using real-world examples, this volume creates a virtual education factory for webserver training. As a partner at a major e-services firm I require this volume be used by all my web practicioners.

This book tells the tale of the rise of one of Ireland's greatest professional cyclists, Stephen Roche. It is co-authored by David Walsh, who also wrote the definitive biography of Ireland's other great professional cyclist, Sean Kelly.

Roche describes his humble beginnings as a milk man apprentice for his father through his rise through the ranks to become only the second cyclist to win the "Triple Crown," the Tour of Italy, The Tour of France and the World Championship in 1987.

Packed with details only an insider would know, Roche and Walsh have written a highly entertaining and informative book about the world of professional cycling, the greatest sport in the world.

I highly recommend this read to anyone interested in WWII or anyone who has experienced it. I'm 32, and I learned a lot about the war that our grandparents didn't like to talk about. The letters that Mr. and Mrs. Lane left behind are true treasures. It was like the letters were being wrote to me. Very romantic, emotional, sad at parts and happy at most. I don't think I've ever read a book so fast, just so I could find out what was happening next. You'll laugh, cry, and WON'T be abole to put it down. This makes a great gift for anyone. I bought one for my grandmother, and she loves it! My grandfather was in the war, and I know she can really relate to it. ENJOY!!

This historical and sociological study of Buddhism in the U.S. from 1844 to 1912 provides insight not only into American Buddhism but also into American culture in the Victorian period and the interactions between new religious movements and the values and beliefs of the dominant culture. The book is academic but not obtuse, and it's relatively engaging.

Tweed explores in detail the ways in which European-American converts to and sympathizers with Buddhism in the Victorian period both dissented from the dominant culture and also consented to it, and he observes that to be successful, a new or transplanted religious movement needs to be different but not too different from the dominant culture. Tweed argues that Buddhist adherents and sympathizers shared a number of basic Victorian American values and beliefs that Buddhism, as it was then understood, seemed to contradict: theism; individualism (a label that Tweed actually uses for two distinct things: the belief in a substantial and immortal self and an emphasis on self-reliance); optimism (a belief in the basic goodness and inevitable progress of individuals and history); and activism (an emphasis on moral action to uplift individuals and reform societies). In contrast, Buddhism was seen as atheistic, nihilistic, pessimistic, and passive. Although some Americans attracted to Buddhism were able to reject theism and the belief in a substantial self, very few were able to relinquish their commitments to optimism and activism, and they rejected interpretations of Buddhism as pessimistic and passive. Tweed finds that two major sources of Buddhism's appeal during the Victorian period were the perception that Buddhism was more compatible than Christianity with science and the perception that Buddhism was more tolerant than Christianity and Victorian culture toward religious and cultural outsiders.

Tweed also provides an interesting typology of Euro-American Buddhist adherents and sympathizers in Victorian America: the "esoteric," "rationalist," and "romantic" types.

This title, in two volumes, covers the vast sweep of Asia Minor's history, from Alexander to the height of the Byzantine Empire. The first volume concentrates on two major periods; the early part of the 3rd century BC when Celtic tribes settled throughout the interior, and the coming of the Romans and their colonisation of the eastern flank of their empire. Mr Mitchell has crafted an enormously readable history of the region. The detail is extraordinary but the prose never becomes turgid or obtuse. By examining the intertwined complexities of people's relations to the land and their Gods, Mr Mitchell has broken new ground and produced a book that is that most unusual of beasts, both readable and scholarly.