Cities and Buildings: Skyscrapers, Skid Rows, and Suburbs (Creating the North American Landscape)

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Book and a Great Deal!.......2005-09-21

This book came in exactly the condition described. Great deal would gladly buy from his seller.

Book Description

Sage lives with her flighty mother, who is always dropping one dream to chase another. When her mother packs her off to her great-aunts' house in Maine for the summer, Sage worries she's being dropped, too. But she finds warmth, friendship, and a real sense of belonging at Heron Cove. She uncovers a painful family history, but also the strength to help her relatives heal. She also realizes you do not have to give up one home to claim another. This is a tender, compassionate look at one girl's pivotal summer—and at the powerful love that binds families everywhere.

Customer Reviews:

Heron Cove.......2007-01-05

This delightful book gives us hope that there are children out there who can entertain themselves for an entire blissful summer with no regard to televisions, computers or cell phones. Sage Miller is a thoughtful 12-year-old who is sent off to Maine for the summer by her inattentive mother who enrolls in a 6-week herb institute. (This milk-wary mother insists Sage mix juice with her morning cereal.) Sage is at first apprehensive about staying with her two great-aunts, Bea and Addie, in the family home by the shore, but she soon can't resist the joys of the natural setting and the kind people she meets. During the course of her stay with her aunts, she learns enough of her family history to be able to explain her mother's flightiness and distrust of relationships; all the while helping her to learn important truths about growing up.

The reason the book is so charming is that the characters and situations are sweetly old-fashioned, but still very real to children of today. For instance, when Sage meets a local boy, there is no hint of romance and first kisses, just friendship that readers know will continue for many summers to come. Also, instead of someone tragically drowning while balancing on the rocky shoreline, the kids spy a secret rendezvous between the town busybody spinster and an unknown suitor.

However, the story isn't all sweetness and light. Sage must deal with the loss of a father she never knew, a mother who has not been able to lovingly connect with her child, and a family history that isn't always pretty. Her stay at Heron Cove helps her to realize that, according to the author; "You do not have to give up one home to claim another".
Recommended for ages 9 - 12.

Average customer rating:

Blue Heron Cove,
Fanny Lee Weyant
Manufacturer: H. Holt and company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Book Description

The Owner's Manual is a brief reference and guide for parents of young children, as well as a medical record for their child's measurements, immunizations, illnesses, and developmental changes at different stages of the first two years of life. These stages correspond with the typical times that a child is seen by a pediatrician for check-ups. Each section contains answers to the most commonly asked questions that parents have at these different visits. There are also chapters that review safety and emergencies, day care arrangements, the prenatal visit, labor and delivery, and dental health. Also discussed within the 112 pages are child behavior and parenting issues, such as discipline, toilet training, and sleep problems.

The size of this book allows it to be easily carried in a diaper bag or a mother's purse, making it readily available for reading and review, as well as for documentation. This book recognizes a parent's need for a quick reference, and lack of time for more detailed reading.

Customer Reviews:

Much Better Out There.......2007-02-15

I have bought several books while awaiting the arrival of my first child. This book is not even close to as good as some of the others out there. Don't waste your money. It's very thin for 2 years worth of info!!

The best parents manual I've read........2001-12-05

This book is wonderful. I received this book at my daughter's 8week check up. I wish I would have had it for my first child. I think I had every other parent's guide.

The Manual is a quick reference for all the many questions you may have. The contents of the book covers ages two weeks to two yrs. It is divided into sections 2-4wks, 2mths, 4 mths, 6 mths...to 2 yrs, and talks about nutrition, concerns, development and suggestions. The contents also include common illnesses, immunizations schedule, behavior/discipline, developmental milestones and more. You won't be disappointed.

This book will be my new gift at baby showers. It is a must for new moms.

Book Description

They were the deadliest ships of World War II—nine German commerce raiders disguised as peaceful cargo ships, flying the flags of neutral and allied nations. In reality these heavily armed warships roamed the world’s oceans at will, like twentieth-century pirates. They struck unsuspecting freighters and tankers out of the darkness of night or from behind a curtain of fog and mist. For almost three years they led the Royal Navy on a deadly chase from sea to sea and sank or captured more than a million tons of allied shipping.

Masquerading as unarmed merchantmen, the raiders carried an awesome array of weapons cleverly hidden behind false structures and concealed inside empty packing crates on their decks. They fed off their unsuspecting targets, pumping fuel from their prey into their own tanks and taking food from captured pantries to feed their own crews and the thousands of prisoners that they picked up along the way. These secret ships also acted as supply ships for U-boats, helping their fellow hunters remain at large for longer periods. At sea for months—or even years—those raider sailors lucky enough to survive were hailed as heroes when they returned home.

In this fascinating and high-tension account of the German Navy’s “pirate” fleet, James P. Duffy provides detailed descriptions of each of the nine raiders, presented in chronological order based on the date each ship first sailed, revealing a significant but little-known aspect of World War II naval history

Customer Reviews:

Honorable men serving a dishororable regime.......2003-09-09

With only one exception, the captains of the Kreigsmarine's Commerce Raiders were fine men. They did their job as they were sworn to do, despite having to serve under the Swastika flag.
This book shows (in excellent detail) the cruises of these Commerce Raiders and makes interesting reading to aspiring scholars of maritime military history.

Ships that were never glorious - but always very effective........2003-03-16

They were nine ordinary freighters armed with torpedo tubes, 5.9in guns and anti-aircraft guns - all of which were concealed from view. With the ability to change their own ship's profile and, therefore, their own apparent identity, these nine were Germany's secret commerce raiders of the high seas during WW2. They were pirates in the true and historic sense of the word and were even more successful than Germany's best U-Boats. Imagine a disguised freighter with guns hidden behind false panels able to sink an Australian Cruiser with far greater fire power - using nothing more than sheer guile, surprise, and expert gunnery. To this day, the remains of HMAS Sydney has not been found.

"Hitler's Secret Pirate Fleet" is a hard back book measuring 9½" x 6¼" containing 200 pages of fascinating information about those nine ships - all of which have a compelling story to tell. Commencing with the "Atlantis" - the secret name given to the Goldenfels upon her conversion for such war duties, the author commences the story of this ship at the end - with an exciting and very readable account of her loss at the hands of HMS Devonshire. In so doing he has skilfully hooked the reader into wanting to know more and, just as soon as the Atlantis disappears beneath the waves, we are treated to her story - right from her launch. It really is fascinating stuff.

Covering the; Atlantis, Orion, Widder, Thor, Pinguin, Komet, Kormoran, Michel and Stier - in that order, the author reveals the war time exploits of these vessels in great detail and retains his readable style of writing throughout. A few map outlines dotted throughout the book help to convey a feeling of where the relevant actions took place. There is a small selection of photographs in the middle of the book and whilst I would have liked to see more, I do appreciate that 7 of the vessels in question were eventually sunk in action and that, coupled with the very nature of their business, meant that few photographs were ever likely to be available in any event.

Altogether, a most competent piece of work and an excellent book for any long journey.

NM

Secret pirate fleet manned by chivalrous corsairs.......2003-01-14

From 1940 to 1943 nine German surface raiders (Atlantis, Orion, Widder, Thor, Pinguin, Komet, Kormoran, Michel, and Stier) effectively used deception against both merchantmen and warships. These disguised auxiliary cruisers sank or captured 140 ships (including the cruiser HMAS Sydney), totaling over one million tons, and greatly disrupted British and American shipping in the South Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Duffy's "Hitler's Secret Pirate Fleet: The Deadliest Ships of World War II" is well titled; the German raiders were far more lethal than the average U-boat and about half as effective as Germany's top twenty U-boats and best submarine aces.
The German raiders were well armed: all carried half a dozen 5.9 inch guns, 1-2 seaplanes, 5-8 anti-aircraft guns, torpedo tubes, and mines. Deceptive tactics were standard procedure: false flags, deceptive signals, radio jamming (to smother warning and distress broadcasts), stealthy stalking, smoke and false fires, crewmen dressed as women pushing baby carriages. Every week or two the raiders would alter their identities; Atlantis could successfully imitate 26 other vessels. The raiders stayed at sea for months (Atlantis for 622 days, five of the nine for over a year; in contrast a long U-boat deployment was 200 days), rendezvousing with supply ships and tanker U-boats, and sending prize crews and prisoners to Axis ports on captured ships.
Early Allied mistakes aided the raiders. Since raiders jammed the distress calls of their victims, the British Admiralty instructed all merchantmen hearing a distress call being jammed to send their own position and the bearing to the jammed transmission. This located all the merchantmen in a raider's vicinity. The raiders soon sent fake distress calls, jammed them, and then waited for the merchantmen in the vicinity to send their positions and bearings to the supposed distress call. Raiders would cover each other by sending multiple false distress calls to hide a real one.
The raiders' deceptive tricks (and the inattention of their opponents) yielded some stunning victories. For example, the Kormoran, disguised as a Dutch freighter, played an elaborate cat-and-mouse game with HMAS Sydney, hoisting tangled signal flags, garbling identification messages, playing dumb to Sidney's challenges, until Kormoran closed to within a kilometer of Sydney. The Kormoran then ran up the swastika, dropped its camouflage screens and destroyed Sydney's bridge and two forward gun turrets in 30 seconds. Sydney eventually sank with all hands, the worst naval loss in Australian history.
The German raiders' war was (for the Kriesmarine) relatively long; by May 1943 the Michel was Germany's last warship on the high seas. On the night of September 29, 1943, she accidentally but successfully sailed through the middle of an entire U.S. Navy Task Force. In October 1943, Michel's stealth and deception tricks finally failed her. The USS Tarpon torpedoed the last German commerce raider outside Tokyo Bay. But while Nazi Germany's grandiose pocket battleships and battleships were swiftly dispatched (Graf Spee, Bismarck) or bottled up (Tirpitz, Scharnehorst, Prince Eugen), her inexpensive commerce raiders effectively prowled the sea lanes for years. Deception trumped firepower, until bested by counter-deception.
Duffy provides detailed accounts of each raider, every engagement, even the various animals captured from the raiders' prizes. In the tradition of Jean Laffite, raider captains and crews displayed an almost 18th Century gallantry, the stuff of adventure films (after the war De Laurentiis produced Under Ten Flags, based on the exploits of the raider Atlantis). Captured crewmen and passengers were uniformly well treated, sharing the quarters, rations, and entertainments of their German capturers. These tales of raiders' and their crews are well told; Duffy paints richly colored portraits of Hitler's secret pirate fleet and these chivalrous corsairs.

History at its best.......2002-10-08

Even well-informed students of the Second World War are largely unfamiliar with one of its most dramatic and deadly phenomeon, the Kriegesmarine's auxiliary cruisers disguised as Allied or neural merchantmen. James P. Duffy's account of these rogue
vessels is a comprehensive, yet thoroughly narrated history of the "Q-Boats", as they were known to British Intelligence. The most successful raider of its kind was the "Pinguin". In less than a year at sea, she sank 16 enemy freighters, capturing another 16. The "Thor" sent 18 ships to the bottom, making another four captive. But the Germans could also fight it out with capital ships if occasion demanded. In November, 1941, the
Kormoran fought a duel to the death with the Australian light cruiser Sydney, which went down with no survivors. Nine German raiders roamed the oceans of the world, and before all but two of them were eventually lost in action, they destroyed more than a million tons of Allied shipping. Duffy's detailed research brings all these remarkable ships, their dauntless crews, and perilous engagements back to life, thereby making an important contribution to better understanding of the war at sea. His work is unquestionably one of the best books about World War Two in recent years.

A useful book but not a "must have".......2001-11-28

This is quite a useful addition to the naval history of WW2 in
that it covers in one volume all the German commerce raiders.
To me the most interesting chapter was Chapter 7 Kormoran. As he
says its final battle with the cruiser HMAS Sydney remains a
source of debate and controversy in Australia. Being wise after
the event it amazes me that the Sydney approached so closely
an unidentified ship.
Some gripes - on page 48 he refers to "Brisbane Harbor" -
now I've lived in Brisbane , Australia most of my life and there
is no "Brisbane Harbor" as such - Brisbane is a river port.
Also on page 112 he makes the nonsencical statement that
Tasmania separated from New South Wales in 1901.
In fact Tasmania was semi-autonomous in 1824 and a separate
colony on 1856.
Perhaps I am a nit-picker but these two examples make me lack
confidence in other statements he makes which I cannot easily
check from independent sources.

Product Description

THis book has numerous short essays on various famous people. Great for fast research.

Makers Of The Western Tradition - Portraits From History, Volume 1

Average customer rating:

Makers Of The Western Tradition - Portraits From History, Volume 1
J. Kelley - Editor Sowards
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IDBYBS

MAKERS OF THE WESTERN TRADITION 1: Portraits From History

Average customer rating:

MAKERS OF THE WESTERN TRADITION 1: Portraits From History

Manufacturer: St. Martin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000FJ7BP8

Product Description

Profiles of the big movers and shakers, ancient and medieval, including Alex the Great, Julius Caesar, Socrates, Charlemagne, Dante, etc.

Makers of the Western Tradition Portraits from History Volume 2

Average customer rating:

Makers of the Western Tradition Portraits from History Volume 2
J. Kelley Sowards
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GR77CQ

Average customer rating:

Makers of the Western Tradition, Portraits from History , Volume 1
J. Kelley (ED) Sowards
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000S84Q0E

Average customer rating:

Makers of the Western tradition: Portraits from history

Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Genealogy | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0312506155

Average customer rating:

Makers of the Western tradition: Portraits from history

Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0312506163

Average customer rating:

Makers of the western tradition: Portraits from history

Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0312036019

Average customer rating:

Makers of the Western Tradition: Portraits from History (Volume 1)

Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J58GCU

Average customer rating:

Good, but not exactly what I am looking for

Has much of value and interest to offer birdwatchers

Backyard Birding in the Northeast United States
Elmer Waldemar Eriksson
Manufacturer: Seven Locks Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Ornithology | Zoology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Birds of the Northeast

All the Backyard Birds: East (American Bird Conservancy Compact Guide)

New York Birds

John J. Audubon's Guide: The Birds of the Northeast

Stokes Birdfeeder Book : The Complete Guide to Attracting, Identifying, and Understanding Your Feeder Birds

ASIN: 1931643040

Book Description

When men settled on the land in the Northeast United States they cleared land and started raising crops for their families and for trade. The birds in the area thrived in this manmade environment, taking advantage of the abundance of seed and the increase in the insect population. The last thirty or so years has led to the conversion of the land from largely agrarian to a more suburban and urban environment. The result has been a substantial loss of food and shelter for the birds of the region.

For the sake of birds and, in turn, for the best interest of man, it is important for homeowners to do what they can to make up for this debilitating loss. Bird feed and shelter is especially important during the brutal winter months of the Northeast when the bird's caloric intake has to increase but the supply of food has dwindled.

This book gives homeowners a number of ideas for birdhouses, birdfeeders, and bird food options so they can more efficiently help the birds in their area. Not only will the birds thrive but also they will bring their delightful colors and wonderful sounds to the backyards of the conscientious bird lover.

Customer Reviews:

Good, but not exactly what I am looking for.......2006-06-14

I bought this book, hoping to find information and charts about backyard birding, along with some practical information and tips. I am merely beginner. (Probably will never be an expert, but I can live with that)

While this book does include this sort of the information, I wish there is more of it. (yes, a data junkie I am) A lot of information listed seems to be rather general. What's there that I don't really particularly expect is that there is a lot of information about the history of backyard birding, agriculture impact on the bird ecology and ornithology schools.

Not to make fun of this, but perhaps in a charming way, I must admit the writing style is a bit old fashioned. It's rather a slow read, and yes, sometime it feels like my grand mother is reading it to me. "These days, they just don't them bird feeders like we used to..." While I would recommend this book in general, it is not the best source for concise reading and information go-to.

Has much of value and interest to offer birdwatchers.......2003-03-04

Backyard Birding In The Northeast United States by Elmer Waldemar Eriksson is an extensive and "reader friendly" guide for backyard birdwatchers. Covering the do's and don'ts of bird feeders and bird food; how to deal with squirrels; providing nesting sites; and a great deal more, Backyard Birding In The Northeast United States is a 120-page satisfying introduction to the wonderful and pleasant hobby of birdwatching in the northeastern region of the United States. Enhanced with numerous appendices from attracting hummingbirds, to James J. Audubon, to the possible life spans of North American birds, Backyard Birding In The Northeast United States has much of value and interest to offer birdwatchers elsewhere in the country as well!

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