The New York Times Guide to Coin Collecting: Do's, Don'ts, Facts, Myths, and a Wealth of History

Average customer rating:

I did not get it from the library...

check it out from the library instead

The New York Times Guide to Coin Collecting: Do's, Don'ts, Facts, Myths, and a Wealth of History
Ed Reiter
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Coins & Medals | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Reference | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0312291264

Book Description

Every coin collector has to start somewherenow The New York Times provides a wealth of information in one concise yet definitive volume. Every aspect is covered, from the history and origins of coins to the ins and outs of professional and hobbyist collecting. Topics include: How coins are made A history of striking techniques, and a look at the U.S. Mint todayS Coin grading: what to look for, and how to obtain professional certified grading Where to buy them: the Internet, coin shops, auctions, and places to find great deals How to properly care for a coin collection The whole spectrum of collectible coins, from novelty items and childrens coin collections to high-end, extremely rare collections.Additional features include profiles of ten historic U.S. coins, a glossary of coin terms, and a detailed bibliography of essential reading. For both seasoned coin collectors and young readers who just picked up their first Statehood Quarter, this book is bound to prove more valuable than a rare mint.

Customer Reviews:

I did not get it from the library..........2007-09-28

...and found it to be excellent, it is THE definitive coin book INHO. And is most certainly not short on details. As for the two grading services...they are absolute industry standards, of course they are the ones discussed. To tell prospective purchasers to "get the book from the library instead" is...well I found such advice to be unpleasant.

check it out from the library instead.......2005-07-08

I'm new to coin collecting so I think I'm probably the target audience. Although he covered a lot of ground, I felt it was quite short on detail. For example, he really only examines 2 of the grading services, so I still don't know how all the others compare. I'd borrow it, enjoy the easy to read style, take a few notes, and then spend my money on an other one. Which one, I don't know.

Average customer rating:
Easy Watercolours for Beginners
Bonnie Frederico
Manufacturer: David & Charles
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Watercolor | Painting | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0715318772

Average customer rating:
Watercolours Made Easy: A Complete Beginner's Guide
Miranda Fellows
Manufacturer: Siena/Paragon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0752526340

Product Description

Softcover, about 8 by 10.5 inches.

Book Description

Hey Noobs! Welcome to fanStory.com is a sarcastically humorous collection of essays and interviews about writing and participating in online publication websites in general and FanStory.com in particular.

Customer Reviews:

the book was very educational........1999-02-09

It had everything i needed to know for my report on England in the 1660's

Book Description

Successful Advertising & Marketing To the Entertainment Industry On the Internet

"The only resource you will ever need to reach millions of excited customers instantly!"

Star Power: Internet Celebrity the successful guide to Advertising and Marketing on the Internet to the entertainment industry is an absolute best seller resource and a must read book for anyone who presently has an online business, organization or is contemplating one. Sonya Swinton brings her 10 years of experience in advertising & marketing management and her savvy expertise on Internet e-commerce together in one book that offers the novice as well as the experienced business professional a jump start education on doing business on the Internet with the media moguls in the exciting world of entertainment.

Customer Reviews:

Yes, you can be an Internet Celebrity!.......2006-11-20

This book has the perfect title, and is a great book for anyone who wants more exposure for themselves or their business. A great marketing book for anyone who wants to market themselves online. It focuses on the entertainment industry but is a good marketing book overall.

Loved the Book!.......2002-11-16

absolutely love this book and I will probably read it several more times. I am awe-struck at the inspiration this book evokes. It is about much more than just making money, it is about being a complete person and going forward with a purpose and a passion. If you want to achieve wealth and still keep your priorities in check, this is definitely the right book for you....

Must Read!.......2002-11-16

Easy to read and a must for anybody interested in internet ad/marketing!
Dean Allen

Concord, New Hampshire

I'm Impressed!.......2002-11-16

After Ms. Swinton's speech, I've received numerous phone calls from colleagues and friends alike asking me, "Who is Sonya Swinton?" and thanking me for the introduction. Allow Sonya to will impress you with her style. Only buy this book if you want to succeed.

Jeff Zeiger
Carson City, Nevada

Read Now!.......2002-11-16

.......read this book, now!!! I had the pleasure to read some of the best information I could get my hands on in years. The beauty of this book is that it contains experience and wisdom ready for you to use NOW. I enjoyed this book so much that I've actually taken the liberty to ask Ms. Swinton to speak to my marketing class.

Julian Ross
Phoenix, Arizona

Book Description

At eighteen months old, Jodi Shaw suddenly changed from being a happy, lively, loving baby into the toddler from hell: withdrawn, refusing to talk, play or be touched, unable to concentrate or be still. Written by his mother but told from Jodi's own perspective, this is a fascinating, funny, and insightful account of growing up with autism. The difficulties faced by Jodi, now 13, and his family are not underplayed, but are recounted with empathy and humor - obtaining a diagnosis, seeking support, and above all, learning to live with autism twenty-four hours a day.

Book Description

The Black Watch is one of the finest fighting forces in the world, and has been engaged in virtually every worldwide conflict for the last three centuries. Named after the dark tartan of the soldiers' kilts, it is the oldest Highland regiment. As part of the British army, their first battle abroad was in Flanders in 1745, but the regiment soon moved to North America to fight the French, and then shared the capture of Montreal, the Windward Islands, and Martinique. The American War of Independence saw the regiment once again in America, fighting horrific battles and eventually storming Fort Washington in 1776. Since then the regiment has held its own from the Napoleonic Wars to the Indian mutiny to Iraq.

Customer Reviews:

Forward the Gallent Forty-Twa!.......2007-08-07

This is a readable, and exciting account of the legendary 42nd Regiment of Foot, Royal Highland Regiment (Black Watch). Robert Parker writes on many elite forces in the world and here has decided to write on this storied and famous regiment. Form its origins as a policing force in the turbulent Scottish Highlands in the aftermath of the 1715 Jacobite Rising, Parker points out that the Black Watch has always been very good in this role. Policing and building trust in the communuty goes back to the origins of the Watch. No small wonder that US forces called upon the regiment to assist in recent actions in Iraq where their skills in this regard far surpassed their own. As a combat unit the Watch is second to none as this book amply shows.

The author glides quickly through various parts of the regiment's history.
I would have preferred a bit more detail on the colonial period in North America, and in particular the Revolution. It was here that the Watch declined any battle honors after the conflict was over because they believed that none should be boasted in a war against "kith and kin". This helped to establish the Watch's very special place in US history.
Unfortunately the author does not mention this in what is a brief chapter on the period.

The Napoleanic and Crimean periods get more attention, and there is some mention of service in Queen Victoria's Little Wars, but a lot is omitted. We do hear in detail the Ashanti campaign of 1871, but little about service in India on the frontier against the Afghans.

All through this period the author freely mentions the use of the pipes and drums in battle situations, yet there is no evidence that the pipers played toghether with the drummers until at least the 1850s in the Crimean War. It was not until this time that a pipe major and six pipers were officially allowed on establishment in all Scots regiments. Of course more pipers were likely maintained off the lists, and the drums were also there, so it is reasonable to assume that at some earlier point they might have combined their assets, but there is no certainty in this regard. Still, popular piping and drumming today owe so much to the Black Watch and other Scots regiments who maintained and developed this ensemble over so long a time.

Much emphasis is placed on the great sacrefices of the Great War, where close to 25 battalions were raised. The author uses several dairies at length to describe this conflict which are both moving and evocative of the struggle. In general, diaries and memoirs are freely used throughout which gives a lot of color to the narrative. The story continues with WW2 where Black Watch battalions endured the full gamult of defeat, trial, and ultimate victory. The post war policing of the downsizing empire gets some attention.

Parker brings his story up to the present with the recent tours of Northern Ireland, which show the Watch in its best form as a policing element, able to work with a difficult community. Service in BAOR and changing army enviroments provide some interesting up to date information.

The recent controversy in Iraq, where the regiment was called upon to do several tours gets special emphasis. It was during the last tour near Fallajah in late 2005, where the Watch were putting all their skills against a hostile enviroment that rumor came true concerning all the Scottish regiments being merged into one. Public outcry against Whitehall and MoD (Ministry of Denfense) fell upon deaf ears as the Blair adminstration insisted upon changing and downsizing the British army, all the while increasing their duties! The regimental system, that trusted espirt-de-corps built over centuries in the British army was largely ended in one of the worst decisions ever made by any government in Britain's history. Yet somehow Blair and co. got away with it.

Today the Black Watch survives in the new Royal Regiment of Scotland where it is accorded 3rd battalion status in order of seniority with the other Scottish regiments in the parent formation. Not a winning situation, but at least the historic name of the Black Watch lives on for the moment.

This book provides a very good, readable history in what is a long and inspired story. All those interested in Scottish soldiers and Highland units should find this book worthwhile. There are some nice pictures included, and the appendix lists allied units in Canada and elsewhere. Deffinately a good read with a lot of exciting moments and memorable characters that reach down through the centuries. The Black Watch takes second place to no other elite formation out there, whether Special Forces or Marines! War saw the 42nd!

Book Description

American Ally is the definitive account of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's support for the United States in the War on Terror. Drawing on his exclusive access to the key players at the White House and Downing Street, Con Coughlin explains what led Blair to risk his political career for a cause that he truly believed in. Just as Bob Woodward called on insiders to analyze George W. Bush in Bush at War, Coughlin now calls on his own experience and sources to offer a critical analysis and account of Tony Blair at war.

Here is an in-depth, probing look at the man who has become America's first ally in the post-9/11 world. Tony Blair's staunch support for the United States since 9/11 has confirmed his position as one of the most important and controversial world leaders of the twenty-first century. In the aftermath of terrorist attacks in London and with Iraq in turmoil, the relationship between Britain and the United States will be critical in determining how future international crises are resolved. American Ally is an essential read for those wishing to make an informed opinion.

Customer Reviews:

Overly sympathetic account of warmongers.......2006-11-28

This account of Blair's role in Bush's wars contains some useful information, but it is overly sympathetic - Coughlin is executive editor of the Sunday Telegraph - relying on inside sources and interviews with Bush and Blair.

Coughlin reminds us how the government's expensive secret services have let us down. In January 2001, Britain's Secret Intelligence Service said, "The actual threat [from Al Qa'ida] does not match the media hype." And, "Their resources and targets tend to be abroad rather than in Britain."

Blair showed his vast conceit when he said to Bush the day after the war started, "I kind of think that the decisions taken in the next few weeks will determine the rest of the world for years to come. As primary players, we have a chance to shape the issues that are discussed. Both of us will have enormous capital, and a lot of people will be with us."

But Britain's role was dupe, not ally. A senior British intelligence officer said, "We were completely and utterly stuffed by the Americans. We should never trust them again, or until we see a change of attitude from the Bush administration. Forget what they say, it's what they do. They simply didn't take any notice of any advice we gave them. They just did what suited them." So all Blair's warm words about Palestine are just chaff. Coughlin gullibly writes, "Blair succeeded in getting Bush to make a public commitment to establish a Palestinian state before the end of his second term."

On weapons of mass destruction, Blair said as late as September 2003, "I have absolutely no doubt that evidence will be found and I have absolutely no doubt [again!] that it exists."

An Al Qa'ida leader said, "prolonging the war is in our interest." Blair wants the same - he said, "I have absolutely no doubt [again!] as to what we should do. We should stick with it. There is absolutely no doubt [and again!] in my mind that what is happening in Iraq is crucial for our own security. Never mind the security of Iraq or the greater Middle East. It is crucial for the security of the world. If they are defeated - this type of global terrorism and insurgency in Iraq - we will defeat them everywhere." He was making the coloniser's confusion of insurgency with terrorism. But the Iraqi insurgents have already won, and Iraq, the Middle East, Britain and the world will be safer when the troops have left Iraq.

Blair's lies and folly are class requirements, not personal failings - the British ruling class wanted war with Iraq, and he was their front man, doing whatever led to war. But enough of this ruling class deception and self-deception. What matters is that the working class acts to end the occupation.

Another Dodgy Dossier.......2006-11-24

As future historians begin to ask how it was that the Britain inherited by Tony Blair, internally secure, economically strong and confident abroad, but yearning for reform at home; turned into the Britain Blair leaves behind - disaffected, facing defeat abroad, with growing inflation and internally insecure, with creeping erosion of civil liberties - they could do worse than turn to this book. Unfortunately, as an account of the Blair premiership it's neither particularly engrossing nor entertaining. Described as `vivid' on the jacket, it reveals little that isn't already in print. Since it relies for its insights largely, as Coughlin himself admits, on high-placed sources insisting on anonymity, we are forced to accept them on a `trust me' basis.

There are minor errors in points of detail which don't inspire confidence. For instance, the UK City of Durham never was a coal-mining city: and it becomes clear that the book is full of apparent statements of fact which actually are assertions: how does he know for instance, that Colin Powell's abortive visit to Israel/Palestine in 2002 failed because `Ariel Sharon had influential allies in the White House who made it their business to ensure that Powell's mission was a failure?'

The book is disappointingly short of authentic personal witness and observation: something one might have expected from what purports to be a definitive account of a personal relationship between two powerful individuals. For instance, it's interesting to compare Coughlin's account of the 2002 dinner at the presidential ranch at Crawford Texas at which, according to Coughlin, Blair `wore a black suit out of respect for the recent death of the Queen Mother' with Sir Christopher Meyer's vivid and much more entertaining personal witness - much rubbished by Downing Street - that on arrival at the dinner Blair had to dash away and quickly change since mistakenly he'd arrived wearing jeans.

Nevertheless, 'American Ally' may offer some clues about the causes of Britain's decay under Blair, offering as it does an exclusively Blair-centric account of his relationship, first with President Clinton, then with President Bush. Beginning with the moment when he declares, " We are a leader of nations or we are nothing", this neo-con Utopian masquerading as a socialist ('...With my class background I could and- lets be blunt about this - would have joined another party....')came to Downing Street possessed as none of his predecessors - save one - of the power of his own belief. The well known high mutual regard between Blair and Margaret Thatcher is once again rehearsed here. The memory of Thatcher's success in the Falklands made a big impression on Blair, reinforcing his will when, early in New Labour's term the Kosovo crisis catapulted him to a platform from which he was able eventually to orchestrate the defeat of Milosevich, dragging the US under Clinton along with him only at the cost of public and Parliamentary opposition leaving him personally at times dangerously exposed. But Milosevich fell and if today Kosovo remains unstable, the adventure brought peace of a kind leaving Blair with a sense of the correctness of his own judgment powerfully re-inforced. Kosovo and the Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement were Blair's finest hour.

From the moment of Clinton's defeat, Blair made it his mission to forge an equally strong relationship with George Bush. The first so-called `Colgate summit ` is once again recounted.. From their first meeting, it is clear that Blair's well-known talent for appearing to agree with each person he meets - whatever their opinion - played a large part in persuading George Bush that here was someone he could work with. For his part, Blair seems to have been progressively deluded into believing that the things he had to say were in fact carrying weight with the President and his team. In fact, not even his much-promoted insistence on the problem of Israel/Palestine seems to have had much effect on the course of events there. Its interesting to read that Ariel Sharon's decision to withdraw Israeli troops from Gaza and pull out of certain settlements was actually negotiated by Elliot Abrams- a leading neo-conservative brought into the White House to work on the `road map'- in Blair's complete ignorance; while in the Rose Garden Bush continued to insist on Blair as `America's staunchest friend.'

As chaos and killing in Iraq grew and spread following the fall of Baghdad, Blair's dismay at the trap into which his personal determination had lead the UK and its military forces grew. The Abu Ghraib scandal, says Coughlin, compounded Blair's deep sense of betrayal at the way the Bush administration handled Iraq. A `Downing Street aide' is quoted; `....we all came to the view that we would never embark on another venture like this with the Bush administration.' So that's all right, then.

With so much instant history already available on the tragic partnership of Bush and Blair its hard to recommend this one, comprehensive though it is. Readers seeking a more balanced and insightful account would do better to turn to `The Accidental American: Tony Blair and the Presidency - James Naughtie's recent masterly account of these crucial years. Those with a taste for something more anecdotal and racy will enjoy DC Confidential, the account by Sir Christopher Meyer of his years as British Ambassador in Washington.

With its portrait of a firm-jawed leader of principle standing shoulder to shoulder with his principal ally, and then, in spite of personal suffering, bravely resisting public and Parliamentary disapproval as he struggles to `complete the job', 'American Ally' reads like a dossier to accompany the job application which Blair is presumably already making to the lucrative American lecture and foundation circuit against his coming exit from Downing Street. And for Con Coughlin? To paraphrase a well-authenticated proposal from Blair himself to the British satirist Rory Bremner: "How does Sir Con Coughlin sound?"

Brings up excellent now rather forgotten points.......2006-03-20

Like how Blair and Clinton handled Desert Fox in the late 1990's. This (for those who don't recall) was when the UK and US both sent planes over Iraq and knocked out suspected areas that were considered dangerous to international security. Author Coughlin explains very well what a deadlock this ended up being for the UK and USA in terms of keeping post-Desert Storm Iraq a safe-place for the Middle East and in fact the entire world. This book also is a testament to how deadly Saddam became after Desert Storm like as it reports how in the late 1990's Saddam was considered by Forbes magazine to be one of the five wealthiest men on earth with a personal fortune of around 5 billion dollars! And that is just the money he personally had. Iraq had lots more from oil sales. Clearly Saddam had to be taken out by George W. Bush before Saddam became so wealthy the Iraqi leader was unstoppable. Read the rest of the book for more great, important details.

American Ally: Tony Blair and the War on Terror

Average customer rating:

American Ally: Tony Blair and the War on Terror
Con Coughlin
Manufacturer: Ecco
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000Q8361G

Average customer rating:

American Ally: Tony Blair and the War on Terror
by Con Coughlin
Manufacturer: Ecco
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OF2OJG

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