White Columns in Georgia

Customer Reviews:

Georgia tourist must-have.......2001-05-03

White Columns is a must have for any person planning a Georgia vacation or a resident who wants to get in touch with their Southern roots. Perkerson not only explores the history of Georgia's most beautiful homes, but shares some of the myths and legends that surround those dwellings. Interestingly, Perkerson is one of the driving forces behind the publication of Gone with the Wind, being that she was Margaret Mitchell's editor while Margaret worked at the Atlanta Journal, making this a great addition to any GWTW collection. Must read, must have, a great guide to Georgia's architectural and antebellum history.

Average customer rating:

Wonderfully twisted tale

White columns ... dark secrets
M. Ellis Edwards
Manufacturer: American International Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 097406730X

Customer Reviews:

Wonderfully twisted tale.......2006-06-11

White columns is a mystery full of twist and turns. Enough to keep you reading late into the night - and then keep you hiding under the covers. Wonderful page turner.

Average customer rating:

WHITE COLUMNS IN GEORGIA

Manufacturer: Am. Legacy Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000H2ATCA

Average customer rating:

White Columns in Georgia
Medora Field Perkerson
Manufacturer: Holt, Rinehart and Winston
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UTHFHM

Average customer rating:

White Columns in Georgia
Medora Field Perkerson
Manufacturer: Rinehart Publ.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NQK736

Average customer rating:

White Columns in Georgia
Medora Field Perkenson
Manufacturer: Bonanza Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UC6318

Average customer rating:

White Columns In Georgia
Medora F. Perkerson
Manufacturer: RINEHART & COMPANY, INC.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OLBU4A

Average customer rating:

White Columns In Georgia
Perkerson Medora Field
Manufacturer: Rinehart & Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UDF11A

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Zorach Explains Sculpture: What It Means and How It Is Made
William Zorach
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Sculpture | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0486290484

Average customer rating:
Zorach Explains Sculpture: What it Means and How it is Made
William Zorach
Manufacturer: Tudor Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OEI3J2

Average customer rating:
Zorach Explains Sculpture: What it Means and How it is Made.
William Zorach
Manufacturer: Publisher Unknown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UY3GXO

Average customer rating:
Zorach Explains Sculpture: What it Means and How it is Made.

Manufacturer: 0
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IBSKAI

Average customer rating:
B. Tobey of the New Yorker
B. Tobey
Manufacturer: Dodd Mead
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Drawing | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Comic Strips | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
General | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0396081959

Average customer rating:
B Tobey of the New Yorker
Rh Value Publishing
Manufacturer: Random House Value Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 051760230X
Release Date: 1985-10-16

Average customer rating:
B. Tobey of The New Yorker (ISBN: 0396081959)
Barney Tobey
Manufacturer: Dodd, Mead
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NQNTAE

Average customer rating:

Misko plants seeds for success

Goldmine for the investor

Not Put Together Well

Better be an Experienced Investor to Buy This Book

Read this review THAN BUY THE BOOK!

How to Finance Any Real Estate, Any Place, Any Time: Strategies That Work (Squareone Finance Guides)
James A. Misko
Manufacturer: Square One Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Real Estate | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Investments | Real Estate | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Introduction | Investing | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Budgeting & Money Management | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

IRA Wealth: Revolutionary IRA Strategies for Real Estate Investment

What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know about Cash Flow... And 36 Other Key Financial Measures

Insider Secrets to Financing Your Real Estate Investments: What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Finding and Financing Your Next Deal

How to Make Money With Real Estate Options: Low-Cost, Low-Risk, High-Profit Strategies for Controlling Undervalued Property....Without the Burdens of Ownership!

Investing in Real Estate With Lease Options and "Subject-To" Deals : Powerful Strategies for Getting More When You Sell, and Paying Less When You Buy

ASIN: 0757001351

Book Description

Ever wonder how real estate magnates become real estate magnates? By filling out mind-numbing mortgage applications? By making personal guarantees to their bankers? Hardly. For years, successful real estate investors have used nontraditional methods of securing funding. They have created effective money strategies that circumvent banks, yet result in profitable deals. Now, real estate professional James Misko makes these innovative techniques available to the general public in How to Finance Any Real Estate, Any Place, Any Time.

In this easy-to-use guide, Jim offers more than forty-five nontraditional ways to buy properties. These are not pie-in-the-sky theories, but proven strategies that will put the wraps on virtually any real estate purchase. In this book, you will learn how to turn your dwindling stocks into real estate equities, how to acquire land without money, and so much more.

If the only thing holding you back from buying your dream house or investment property is financing, maybe it's time to buy "outside the box" with How to Finance Any Real Estate, Any Place, Any Time.

Customer Reviews:

Misko plants seeds for success.......2006-08-08

This book should be titled "How to make deals come together when everyone else said it couldn't be done". I have been in real estate for 23 years and Jim's book is now the touchstone reference that I go to whenever I find myself in a place where the typical conventional solutions won't solve my problem.

Professionally, I have made a lot of money from Jim's "outside-the-box" thinking. If you are in real estate and are sincerely committed to solving your client's problems, then this book should be the dog-eared standard by which you do your business. The concepts are easy to understand and have been tried and proven successful by Jim and hundreds of professionals around the world.

On a personal note, just two of Jim's suggestions (how to put the equity in your home to work and how to use real estate for your IRA, SEP and 401(k) accounts) have made me a bundle. This book gives you real life examples on how to tap into the resources that we all have available to us.

The question is - are you ready to start making money? If so, buy Jim's book and let me know how it turns out for you.

Robert D. Martin, CCIM
Broker
Ravenwood Real Estate
Eagle River, Alaska

Goldmine for the investor.......2006-06-05

Misko's book is not long, but it is not light bedside reading. There are 47 separate strategies for financing real estate of all types, which are presented very (too) succinctly through a short paragraph on the idea, another paragraph or two outlining the actual strategy, and finishing with a scenario or case history of the strategy applied. Each strategy gets 2 short pages of treatment. There is also a glossary of real estate terms which is useful if not exactly complete, a list of potentially useful websites for the investor, a section on IRS trustees and custodians, and the complete Section 1031 (Starker Exchanges) of the IRS code!

Misko's point can be summarized easily: with enough imagination and luck in finding the opposite party to a transaction, almost any deal can go through as a win-win proposition. No one could argue with that.

If there is a problem with the book - and I think that for most people there would be - it is that many of these strategies are quite involved or complicated or at least very novel to less experienced investors, and really need a bit more in-depth explaining. The strategies are given little more than back-of-the-envelope exposition, and would all benefit from explantions targeted to a less sophisticated audience. Additionally, the examples should come with diagrams showing the flow of the deal, and the movement, source and uses, of all monies involved, as well as financial structures used. The strategies would be much clearer, and much more likely to be used by the reader.

On the whole, though, for the investor who is already involved in real estate, this book provides a wealth of ideas, any one of which could help close the next deal. Further, Misko gets the reader thinking in non-linear ways about becoming a problem-solver, which is perhaps the greatest benefit of reading his book.

Not Put Together Well.......2006-03-20

I was very inspired by the title of the book but was dismayed with the content. Having purchased properties through traditional financing techniques, I was looking for other methods of financing to increase my financial leverage.

While I found many of the techniques discussed in the book very inspiring and got me thinking, the author was a sure let down in describing the details of his techniques on structuring the financing. The examples are somewhat abstract.

This is not a good book for the beginner and probably a bit difficult for the experienced. His techniques are not fully explained and are based on many assumptions of the reader's knowledge.

Better be an Experienced Investor to Buy This Book.......2005-12-16

This book does have many creative financing ideas in it. However, many of the scenarios assume that you already own several pieces of real estate, raw land, commercial properties,stocks, etc. to do your creative financing with. The title of this book appeals to new investors, or people looking to get started, with little cash or equity to work with. Out of 47 examples in this book, only a handful would work for this group. Most of the "real-life examples" that the author gives are referenced from the mid 80's and early 90's. Lenders programs and guidelines and real estate investment have changed dramtically in the last decade and these examples are outdated at best.....for example banks getting rid of properties after the Savings and Loan scandal at very favorable terms.

A large portion of the author's examples focus on commercial properties, raw land, and large apartment buildings. That is fine but the new investor would be hard pressed to jump into this arena, especially with the author's examples. That is where the author does give his best advice in the book, and that is to assemble a highly competent team of advisors (accountant, real estate attorney, escrow agent, broker, etc.) to help you with all transactions.

The other critique that I have is that these financing scenarios will work, even for the experienced investor, with less than 10% of sellers. The scenarios follow in the footsteps of Robert Allen's No Money Down scenarios where you may have to go through a hundred sellers before you find one that will accept your terms. There are sellers out there that will and when they do it may be very lucrative for you, but again these strategies are definitely not for the new or average investor.

Read this review THAN BUY THE BOOK!.......2005-10-15

Instead of acquiring a degree in real estate, I choose the less traveled method (but far more productive) of gaining the required knowledge from those who have done it. I've attended countless real estate seminars, purchased almost a hundred "how to" real estate books, and have interviewed many successful real estate investors.

Through out the last 20 years I have purchased, owned, managed and sold more than 50 real estate properties - at one time owning 30 individual multi-unit properties.

I have three sons. I have given each of them 7 books to read to make it through this life.

The only book related to real estate (which I firmly believe for the average person is the surest method of early, quality retirement) on this list is this book.

This book will provide them all that is needed to be successful.

It has more meat per page then any other book on this topic on the market today.

There are more original USABLE ideas in its few hundred pages then any other work ever written.

I see that of the long list of happy readers someone was actually disappointed with the book, good. Go read all the other books - and leave the market open for my sons.

Average customer rating:

Great, detailed account

Glantz finest work to date

Rough riding but informative, 2.5 stars.

Kursk ..... finally explained

A terrific read.

The Battle of Kursk (Modern War Studies)
David M. Glantz , and Jonathan M. House
Manufacturer: University Press of Kansas
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
General | World War II | Military | History | Subjects | Books
Russia | History | Subjects | Books
General | World | History | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler (Modern War Studies)

Before Stalingrad: Barbarossa, Hitler's Invasion of Russia 1941 (Battles & Campaigns)

Zhukov's Greatest Defeat: The Red Army's Epic Disaster in Operation Mars, 1942 (Modern War Studies)

Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front

Colossus Reborn: The Red Army At War, 1941-1943 (Modern War Studies)

ASIN: 0700609784

Book Description

Immense in scope, ferocious in nature, and epic in consequence, the Battle of Kursk witnessed (at Prokhorovka) one of the largest tank engagements in world history and led to staggering losses--including nearly 200,000 Soviet and 50,000 German casualties within the first ten days of fighting. Going well beyond all previous accounts, David Glantz and Jonathan House now offer the definitive work on arguably the greatest battle of World War II.

Drawing on both German and Soviet sources, Glantz and House separate myth from fact to show what really happened at Kursk and how it affected the outcome of the war. Their access to newly released Soviet archival material adds unprecedented detail to what is known about this legendary conflict, enabling them to reconstruct events from both perspectives and describe combat down to the tactical level.

The Battle of Kursk takes readers behind Soviet lines for the first time to reveal what the Red Army knew about the plans for Hitler's offensive (Operation Citadel), relive tank warfare and hand-to-hand combat, and tell how the tide of battle turned. Its vivid portrayals of fighting in all critical sectors places the famous tank battle in its proper context. Prokhorovka here is not a well-organized set piece but a confused series of engagements and hasty attacks, with each side committing its forces piecemeal.

Glantz and House's fresh interpretations demolish many of the myths that suggest Hitler might have triumphed if Operation Citadel had been conducted differently. Theirs is the first account to provide accurate figures of combat strengths and losses, and it includes 32 maps that clarify troop and tank movements.

Shrouded in obscurity and speculation for more than half a century, the Battle of Kursk finally gets its due in this dramatic retelling of the confrontation that marked the turning point of the war on the Eastern front and brought Hitler's blitzkrieg to a crashing halt.

This book is part of the Modern War Studies series.

Customer Reviews:

Great, detailed account.......2006-11-21

This book MUST be owned by any serious military history reader of WWII. The detail, and the maps are unparalleled. The maps are especially impressive, and allow you to follow the account of the battle totally. I look forward to more such books by the author. Just a word of caution, this is not a book about the "human interest" side of the battle; nor is it intended for the casual reader.

Glantz finest work to date.......2006-05-15

Well first of all book is huuge it's 485 pages. Not 300. Amazon really has to make a correction on previous review by Mr. Top 500.
Mr. Glantz is a top rated western historian on eastern front for one simple reason he has connection to people who's got access to russian archives (No westerner has a direct access to russian archives yet). "The Battle of Kursk" is a serious analytical work and surely can't be missed by anyone who is interested in the battle that changed the tide of the World War II.

Rough riding but informative, 2.5 stars........2006-03-01

I agree with another poster who said this book is a bombardment of facts and figures without much readability. If you are looking for facts and figures, check it out; if you are looking for something resembling a story or something more than barely adequate structure to impart wads of information, this probably isn't your bag.

Kursk ..... finally explained.......2005-09-15

Col. Glantz and Mr. House have finally defined the Battle of Kursk in a thoughtful, engaging and methodical approach. More accessible than George Nipe's very good work on Kursk, this is probably the best book on the definitive battle of the Russian Front. A serious, well-researched study.

A terrific read. .......2005-08-08

This book, like almost all of Col. Glantz's terrific books, is far better at covering the Soviet/Russian side than the German side. Yet this, like all others of his, is meticulously-researched, clear as crystal and highly-readable. He makes a good case that the Soviets did remarkably well, and were highly-effective, AND that the Nazi Germans lost the battle because of huge mistakes that any strategist worth his pay simply shouldn't have made. But of course when you are talking about Hitler, you are not talking about an experienced, well-schooled strategist, but an amateur! (Not that Stalin was any better). This is a gripping, fascinating book of unbeatable quality.

The Battle of Kursk: Operation Citadel 1943

Average customer rating:

GOOD READ, NOT SPECTACULAR
Ok, but outclassed by Glantz
A discombobulated account of a great battle

The Battle of Kursk: Operation Citadel 1943
Robin Cross
Manufacturer: Penguin Global
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Naval | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Russia | History | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 014139109X

Book Description

Citadel was the code name for the German attack on Kursk in 1943 and marked the last major German offensive to be launched in the East. However, the advantage had swung towards the Soviet forces and they never let it go. The German thrusts were contained within tantalizing grasp of success, but the Red Army delivered a series of crushing counterblows that drove the Wehrmacht back over the Dneiper. Kursk was the greatest clash of armoured forces in history and the decisive land battle of WW2.

Customer Reviews:

GOOD READ, NOT SPECTACULAR.......2005-06-04

Cross' book about the 1943 Kursk battle, the biggest ever clash between tanks, starts with a long introduction occupying the main part of the book. It's like a movie when one's waiting for the action to begin, but this waiting even continues after the break.

It's interesting to read about the build-up, but this means the actual battle is considered less. And when it all starts, many troop movements are described. But I would have liked to have seen more personal comments of soldiers involved. It contains some, most of them from the German perspective, and they make the book come to life.

Furthermore, sometimes Cross gives hints about the brutality involved but doesn't go into it. For example, in just one sentence he talks about soldiers of the Totenkopf division certainly facing death when captured. It's one of those subjects one would like to read more about, because it added to the harshness of this clash.

Overall, this book is a good read about a decisive battle on the Eastfront. No more, no less.

Ok, but outclassed by Glantz.......2004-07-14

This book is a reprint of his 1993 book Citadel: The Battle of Kursk. It is intended to be a general overview of the operation, including background of the military situation leading to the battle, as well as its aftermath and immediate consequences. The first part is devoted to the development of the Kursk "bulge" as a result of Soviet offensives in the first weeks of 1943 and Manstein's counter-offensive in the early spring. Cross also examines the German and Red armies, as well as German and Soviet military leaders. These background treatments are workmanlike and not particularly noteworthy. The description of the actual battle is disjointed and lacks depth. A few divisions move here, others move there, a breakthrough was gained in one place, and the Soviets stood firm somewhere else. There is little to bring all of these movements some coherence to reflect the overall plans of the Germans and the Soviets. Cross also feels free to jump from sector to sector or forward and backward through time without much more than a new paragraph. The depiction of the progress of the battle lacks any depth beyond where a division might be at a given time. Descriptions of the nature of the fighting are almost completely lacking; even the various methods used by the Germans to break through the defensive "belts" warrant only passing comment. The raw "facts" of the battle are mostly correct, and Cross's errors are of omission. There is very little detail or analysis. This is particularly problematic since Cross tried to write a comprehensive account of the operation. Thus, those who read this (and nothing else) will falsely assume they have all of the relevant information.

Despite these problems, Cross's book is significant for a couple of reasons. First, he is the first to directly question the myth of the battle of Prokhorovka. By showing a chart of German daily tank strength during Citadel, Cross demonstrates that the clash at Prokhorovka barely registers, especially when compared to losses during the first few days when the defensive belts were being cracked. Unfortunately, Cross does not do much to seriously press home this finding. Second, he assesses the landings on Sicily and finds them to be irrelevant to our understanding of the progress of Citadel. Cross notes that several days after the landings, the units on the southern face of the Kursk bulge were issued new offensive orders. He also notes that the Germans were far more concerned with Soviet attacks on the flanks of the German units involved. This is what prompted the German halt and withdrawal.

This book, however, has now been greatly outdone by the one by Glantz & House. So, even though it's interesting, I can't recommend it.

A discombobulated account of a great battle.......2003-12-29

This books covers what many consider the greatest battle of the WWII: the battle of the Kursk Salient, aka Operation Citadel. Lately the word 'Kursk' has received some notoriety due to the disaster on board of the Russian nuclear submarine 'Kursk', however, few people in the West really know why a huge nuclear sub was named after a relatively obscure Russian city.

When people think of the Eastern Front, Stalingrad is usually known as the single greatest battle, and the rest of the action is mired in relative obscurity. While the Battle of Stalingrad was indeed a great and very important event of the war, it was not the real turning point; the great German war machine was stopped and defeated, but the events took place during the fearsome Russian winter, and in an urban environment. The question still remained: could Soviet Army withstand a summer German offensive, something that noone has been able to accomplish to that date? That question was answered in the summer of 1943 on the plains and rolling hills around Kursk. The scale and intensity of the fighting that took place there is unparalleled by any other battle of the WWII. It was truly the Hell of Earth.

The book by Robin Cross attempts to cover the preliminaries of the battle, as well as the battle itself in great detail. The description of the situation leading up to the battle is reasonably comprehensive. However, the account of the main events suffers greatly from author's apparent lack of knowledge of the Russian language (demonstrated by frequent poor transliteration of Russian words) and subsequent reliance on sources available in English and/or German. The most interesting part, battle participants' accounts, is utterly one-sided. While numerous German sources are quoted, the only Soviet sources are those of a few members of high command. So the description of the action on the ground is basically presented from the German point of view, and the Soviet soldiers are thus portrayed as some faceless force that brave (and highly successful, per cited accounts) German forces had to fight through. This create a sense of confusion as to the ultimate outcome; understandably, German accounts concentrate on the few successes encountered during the battle, and it's somewhat unclear from reading this book why the battle has ultimately ended in German defeat. Most of the most vivid eyewitnesses' accounts can also be found in another book, 'Scorched Earth'. In general, the book has the feel of a work put together by rehashing previously published information, without sufficient effort applied to maintain overall self-coherency. Understandably, Soviet and German sources provide rather different pictures of events that took place, as it usually happens with any battle, and any historian attempting an independent and objective treatment has to work hard to present the reader with the picture of what really took place, otherwise the reader will walk away still not really sure what has really took place, as it's the case with this book. Example: the Prokhorovka battle was the single greatest tank engagement of the war, with roughly 1400 tanks involved. Robin Cross, having described the ferocity of the clash, goes on to argue (having based the entire argument on a single source of information of a questionable value) that basically no German tanks were destroyed during an entire day of extremely ferocious tank-on-tank fighting, and leaves this strange fact basically unexplained. Again, consulting more sources would be of great help here.

While the Battle of Kursk was a monumental event that is definitely worth reading about, this particular book is probably not the one to read given any choice.

Average customer rating:
The battle on the Kursk salient: The crushing of operation citadel
B. G Solovʹev
Manufacturer: Novosti Press Agency Pub. House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007AYGAI

Average customer rating:

Well written, good reading but incomplete.

A first class story of this epic

A good account, if lacking in accuracy on the combatants

Good book on a little known battle that changed the war.

Citadel
Robin Cross
Manufacturer: Michael O'Mara Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Strategy | Military | History | Subjects | Books
General | World War II | Military | History | Subjects | Books
Russia | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1854791923

Customer Reviews:

Well written, good reading but incomplete........1999-07-05

A good description of the battle, particularly from the German side. This is one of the four major battles that decided the outcome of WW2. I beleive it falls down in its description of Soviet defenses which ground the Wehrmacht down. These defenses played a large role in German defeat that appears largely unrecorded.

A first class story of this epic.......1999-05-27

I have read a number of books on the battle and found Robins rendition very personal. Other authors simply describe the armies involved with little or no story. I thought the graphics were excellent and I think that with some reference this book could be made into a film winner.

A good account, if lacking in accuracy on the combatants.......1998-01-17

While the overall writing is good, Cross falls into the trap of believing the bulk of the "pre-glasnost" writings on the battle. This leads to inaccuracies at the detail level which, if you are inclined to be pedantic on Orders of Battle and serious historical detail, does mar an otherwise good read. If you are less concerned about the absolute accuracy - a good general account !

Good book on a little known battle that changed the war........1997-07-08

While many other battles are much better known, few rival both the importance, preperation and result of this one battle. Hitler would pit his best troops, equipment and leaders against a Russian defense that was made up of the best of everything and which knew that the attack was coming. The defenders were dug in behind over 100 miles of mines, guns, tanks, artillery, supported by literally thousands of aircraft. The battle would invlove some of the largest battles of armour and aircraft to be seen.

Robin Cross gives all the numbers, as well as descriptions of what was used by who. He gives the events that lead to and shaped this horrific battle. While doing this he also gives the small things that often tell much. An example is the order for gold braid for Russian uniforms. This was an indication of rising moral. An earlier plot to kill Hitler is also mentioned.

Customer Reviews:

Very Good Book.......2002-01-15

For some strange reason I want to give this one 4&1/2 stars although I can find no faults with it. The book perhaps could be called "The Rise of T.R. & the G.W. Fleet". Actually I think I may be confused as I think I read the "Rise of T.R." at the same time and now have a hard time remembering each book separately. Anyhow it's a good book and gives a good overview of naval considerations from 1880 to 1900 as well as telling the story about the 1898 war w/ Spain. It doesn't go into extreme depth but then it's only 200 pp or so.

Excellent account of the rebirth of the US Navy under TR.......1999-01-08

Wimmel has put together an impressive account of the rebirth of the US Navy under the guidance of Teddy Roosevelt. No other US president before or since has had such an impact on the Navy and its role in US foreign policy. Wimmel charts the course from the depths of naval ruin in 1880 (when Peru had a bigger Naval presence then the US) until the capstone adventure of the world tour of the 16 battleships composing the Great White Fleet in 1907. While I do find that Wimmel story line occasionally wanders, he has a habit of bring you right back on track. It is a story full of TR and the men who helped him shape the Navy (Sims, Mahan, Long et all). An amazing story about an amazing future and then serving US President. This is also a very readable work that saves the scholarly details for the appendix, a good source of further study in its own right peppered with comments by the author on those sources. A must for TR buffs and Navy fans alike.

Readable and enjoyable account of naval history ........1998-10-27

Wimmel's "Great White Fleet" reveals a little-known facet of Theodore Roosevelt's unmatched influence on American history. Well researched, this account of the USA struggle to become a viable sea power is a surprising history lesson.

Not surprising is Kenneth Wimmel's ability to present facts in a refreshing, clear, but always interesting manner. This book will not disappoint those who have enjoyed "The Alluring Target", Mr. Wimmel's first book.

Book Description

In this stunning assemblage of words and images, novelist and avid birdwatcher Graeme Gibson has crafted an extraordinary tribute to the venerable relationship between humans and birds.

Birds have ever been the symbols of our highest aspirations. As divine messengers, symbols of our yearning for the heavens, or avatars of glorious song and colour, they have stirred our imaginations from the moment we first looked into the sky. Whether as the Christian dove, or Quetzalcoatl—the Aztec Plumed Serpent—or in Plato’s vision of the human soul growing wings and feathers, religion and philosophy have looked to birds as representatives of our better selves—that part of us not bound to the earth.

With the passion of a birdwatcher and hoarder of words, Gibson has spent fifteen years collecting the literary and artistic forms our affinity for birds has taken over the centuries. Birds appear again and again in mythology and folk tales, and in literature by writers as diverse as Ovid, Thomas Hardy, Kafka, Thoreau and T.S. Eliot. They’ve been omens, allegories, disguises and guides; they’ve been worshipped, eaten, feared and loved. Nor does Gibson forget the fascination they hold for science, as the Galapagos finches did for Darwin. Birds figure charmingly and tellingly in the work of such nature writers as Gilbert White, Peter Matthiessen, Farley Mowat and Barry Lopez.

Gorgeously illustrated, woven from centuries of human response to the delights of the feathered tribes, The Bedside Book of Birds is for anyone who is aware of birds, and for everyone who is intrigued by the artistic forms that humanity has created to represent its soul.

From The Bedside Book of Birds ~

Stevenson remembered the story of a monk who had been distracted from his copy-work by the song of a bird. He went into the garden to listen more closely, and when he returned, after what he thought were only a few minutes, he discovered that a century had gone by, that his fellow monks were dead and his ink had turned to dust. The song of the bird had given him a taste of Paradise, where an instant is as a hundred years of earthly time. Was the same true of time in hell, Stevenson asked himself.

Alberto Manguel

Customer Reviews:

A treat for birders and lovers of folktales in the natural history vein........2007-01-19

I purchased this book as a gift for my Aunt Jen, to whom I am deeply grateful for instilling in me a love of the outdoors in general and a love of birds in particular. She is now mostly confined to a bed and I wanted to get her a book on an outdoor subject she loves which she can enjoy while indoors. Before sending her the book I was able to get a good look at it and I feel confident she will enjoy it. The book is beautifully illustrated and the stories are well-written. All of them are interesting, some are humorous. I highly recommend this book.

This One's Special.......2006-06-19

A beautiful book, excellent for a gift as well as for one's own library. The illustrations are many, varied, and lovely. The text is engrossing.

Beauty on every page.......2006-06-02

I've found myself coming back to this book time and time again, just to open at random. I would recommend this book without hesitation.

A marvelous confection..........2006-03-29

I found this book in the gift shop of the Point Reyes National Seashore visitor center on a recent trip to Inverness and had to own it.

As an artifact it's quite beautiful: the illustrations and text and heft of the volume is sumptuous. This is, as the name says, a bedside book; a substantial hardcover with a creamy, coated-stock dustcover instead of a slick and glossy coffeetable book. The point of it is to open the volume and read.

Many such books are just random tidbits that catch the collector's fancy or have some private meaning to the person pulling the work together but which don't form a larger, coherent work. Somehow, though, this book seems to have an ebb and flow that seems natural, as if Gibson himself it taking ownership of the words, the images, the flavors here.

I bought the book for feel and flavor, but am pleased to note that it is worth owning as a volume in its own right, a perfect bedside companion. Highly recommended.

The Bedside Book of Birds:An Avian Miscellany.......2006-02-17

Wonderful book - amazing pictures. What a treasure

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