Chokecherry Places: Essays from the High Plains

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The Lakota word for bluebird, writes High Plains poet Gilfillan, is a verb meaning something like "to pass by all in blue." Gilfillan turns the endless hazy vistas of Wyoming, Colorado, and the Dakotas into verbs all their own, populating them with crows, magpies, meadowlarks, passing clouds--and always with stories derived from history and from his own travels. He is especially drawn to buttes, river bottoms, and sandy ridges, the difficult landscapes that "house and shelter the talisman and nurturing myth, the taproot metaphysics of any geography." Visiting places like Turtle Mountain, Devil's Lake, and Heart River, Gilfillan offers fine tribute to a little-heralded corner of the world. --Gregory McNamee

Customer Reviews:

Spirit of place gone missing............2001-01-09

CHOKECHERRY PLACES by Merrill Gilfillan did not sweep me away as as one critic on the backcover suggested it might. Nor did I find Gilfillan particularly poetic. I found the book mildly interesting in places, and the sort of thing one might throw into a back pack when traveling the high plains area north-east-west of Denver--which I have done. In fact, I read it slowly, one essay per night, thinking it might bring back some of the wonderous feeling I experienced in this lonesome land.

Gilfillan's narrative is one step up from a travelog, the reader is conscious of a narrator, but he is no Charles Kuralt nor Paul Theroux. Some essays are better than others, but something is missing from all of them. I did not obtain a sense of Gilfillan's spirtual or moral bearing, though I think he might have one.

My own experience in these wild and natural places has been the great sense of awe the Transcendentalists described. I will never forget the first time I saw the buttes, those wonderous islands leftover from the withdrawal of a prehistoric sea. I don't recall Gilfillan contemplating their ontological connections, though he does note their beauty in the late afternoon sun. His writing comes close to expressing appreciation of the scenes he surveys, but he never quite suceeds with words the way Georgia O'Keefe succeeded with paint.

I found some of his stories disturbing. Gilfillan apparently has no qualms about helping a man search for yellow feathers needed to round out a fan. And, no, the old man doesn't collect the feathers from the ground under trees where birds perched and preened themselves as Ben Nighthorse Campbell once suggested when describing how modern Indians make Eagle feather headdresses. The old man kills the little Finches with Gilfillan's help. The killing of these little birds doesn't register a blip on Gilfillan's ethics meter. When I read this essay, I was reminded of the many extinct birds that once lived in Hawaii. You can see their pretty little feathers in the dusty capes and helmets stored in musuem exhibit cases.

Nor does the digging of wild turnips seem a problem. Okay, if Gilfillan was the only person who ever dug them up what would it matter? But he isn't, and by advertising their existance, and the fact he felt no qualms about digging them up, he helps contribute to their extinction. It doesn't even occur to him that one reason the plants have evolved a mechanism for losing their above ground vegetation during the warmer months is for survival.

Gilfillan is not a Naturalist. He is the worst sort of exploiter who roams the high plains and follows a way of life which allows him to indulge his needs and wants and through his writing to encourage others to follow. This is no Pilgrim at Tinker Creek warning us of the extinction of the Monarch Butterfly.

Rich, return-to prose.......1999-11-11

Believe Jim Harrison's endorsement: this is outstanding prose. It is probably the best I, too, have yet read, and I plan to read it again. In an age of so many one-read books, I find this a comfort.

I bought CHOKECHERRY PLACES specifically to read on a recent train trip around the country; I pulled it out only when we were crossing those bowed sky-span spaces of the plains, and relished the reading. I could gaze out the window to the North Dakota buttes that on one of Gilfillan's visits "were taking on that homesick evening-sun look, and I was thinking, I suppose, of erosion and atrophy and wash-away and large, charged events vanishing."

This book reminded me of the potential that lies within words; it is elegantly crafted writing that rests in the mind like a heartfully prepared, home-cooked meal rests in the belly. Gilfillan writes with such detail and grace you'd think that nature itself, his subject, was italicized.

Book Description

In this bold new study, Wendorf compares two arts--biography and portrait-painting--that have often been linked in a casual way but whose historical connections have remained unexplored. Reassessing the great age of English portraiture--from the arrival of Van Dyck to the publication of
Boswell's Life of Johnson--Wendorf reveals that, despite their obvious differences, visual and verbal portraits often shared similar assumptions about the representation of historical character. Rooted in modern theory devoted to the comparison of literature and painting and to the problem of
representation, the book examines each form of portraiture in terms of the other, bringing into discussion such writers as Izaak Walton, John Evelyn, John Aubrey, Roger North, Goldsmith, Johnson, Mrs. Piozzi, Boswell, and such artists as Van Kyck, Lely, Samuel Cooper, Jonathan Richardson, Hogarth,
and Reynolds.

ENGLISH COSTUME : EARLY ENGLISH : MIDDLE AGES : TUDOR AND STUART : GEORGIAN : FOUR (4) VOL. SET

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ENGLISH COSTUME : EARLY ENGLISH : MIDDLE AGES : TUDOR AND STUART : GEORGIAN : FOUR (4) VOL. SET
Dian Clayton Calthorp
Manufacturer: Adam And Charles Black
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000VAL1I4

Product Description

A set of four (4) books for study of English costumes.

ENGLISH DRAWINGS STUART AND GEORGIAN PERIODS IN THE COLLECTION OF HIS MAJESTY THE KING AT WINDSOR CASTLE.

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ENGLISH DRAWINGS STUART AND GEORGIAN PERIODS IN THE COLLECTION OF HIS MAJESTY THE KING AT WINDSOR CASTLE.

Manufacturer: Phaidon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0000CHUY5

English Drawings, Stuart and Georgian Periods, at Windsor Castle.

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English Drawings, Stuart and Georgian Periods, at Windsor Castle.
A P Oppé
Manufacturer: Phaidon 1950.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000L66GQU

Famous beauties of two reigns: Being an account of some fair women of Stuart & Georgian times

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Famous beauties of two reigns: Being an account of some fair women of Stuart & Georgian times
Mary Craven
Manufacturer: E. Nash
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Beauty & Fashion | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B00087J7KO

Fanlights: A Visual Architectural History

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Fanlights: A Visual Architectural History
Alexander Stuart Gray , Charlotte Halliday , and John Sambrook
Manufacturer: Aia Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Home Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1558350624

Four Walls Adorned: Interior Decoration 1485-1820

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Four Walls Adorned: Interior Decoration 1485-1820

Manufacturer: London: Methuen 1952
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000B86ZUA

Product Description

1st edn, 8 color plates and 68 illustrations. London Methuen 1952

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Georgian Gardens
David C Stuart
Manufacturer: Robert Hale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Landscape | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0709172214

The Making of a Great Power: Late Stuart and Early Georgian Britain, 1660-1722 (Foundations of Modern Britain)

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Parliament became paramount

The Making of a Great Power: Late Stuart and Early Georgian Britain, 1660-1722 (Foundations of Modern Britain)
Geoffrey S. Holmes
Manufacturer: Longman Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Textbook Binding

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0582484391

Customer Reviews:

Parliament became paramount.......2006-09-28

Holmes gives a detailed account of how Britain rose to be a Great Power in Europe. At the start of the era he covers, Britain still ranked below France, Spain and Portugal. But Britain then went on to consolidate itself, as Great Britain from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The national unity was also aided by generally wise policies of the government. A key idea in the book is that the Restoration of the Monarchy was predicated on the Monarch acknowledging the primacy of Parliament. Well ahead of any other major nation of the time. Though Parliament was dominated by the House of Lords and the well to do in the Commons, it gave enough feedback about policies to ensure that they would often be reasonable. A vast contrast to the autocracies in the rest of Europe.

An American reader can see clearly the roots of American society being formed here. Not just in the literal sense of the British colonies in North America. But in the deeper meaning of elected government and no divine right of kings.

Book Description

Menopause: Biology and Pathobiology is a comprehensive volume covering all aspects of the biology, anatomy, physiology, pathobiology, and pharmacology of menopause, as well as its diagnosis and management.
The book is divided into four sections: Basic Biology, Epidemiology, Menopausal Systems Pathophysiology, and Intervention. Basic Biology covers such fundamentals as ovarian anatomy and physiology, mechanisms of steroid hormone action, chronobiological effects, and premature menopause. Epidemiology includes, among others, chapters on methodology challenges in the study of menopause, how to distinguish the effects of age from those of menopause, and a discussion of the key differences in demographics, environmental factors, and ethnicity in the menopause experience. The Pathophysiology section contains chapters on menopause and its various effects on the body, including sexuality, skin, brain, the cardiovascular system, cancers, and mood. The final section includes detailed chapters on intervention and management techniques, with topics including alternative therapies to hormone replacement, exercise, and estrogens and osteoporosis.

Key Features
* Presents a comprehensive, research-oriented approach to menopause
* Covers everything from basic biology to pathophysiology to intervention therapies
* Takes a multidisciplinary approach that is useful for researchers and clinicians in many fields
* Presents the latest basic and clinical data
* Contains complete references that allow the reader to quickly locate relevant information
* Written and edited by true experts in the field

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Menopause: Biology and Pathobiology
Jennifer Kelsey, Robert Marcus, A. Rogerio Lobo Rogerio A. Lobo
Manufacturer: Academic Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OH4X20

Book Description

Celebrating the founding of the Flavor Subdivision of the Agriculture and Food Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society, this book provides an overview of progress made during the past 30-40 years in various aspects of flavor chemistry as seen by internationally renowned scientists in the forefront of their respective fields. In addition, it presents up-to-date findings in the areas of flavor chemistry, analytical methods, thermally produced flavors and precursors, enzymatically produced flavors and precursors, and sensory methods and results.

Nero Wolfe: The Archie Goodwin Files
Average customer rating:

A Sequel Better Than the Original

Very satisfactory

Nero Wolfe: The Archie Goodwin Files

Manufacturer: Wildside Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Anthologies | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Series | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Nero Wolfe Files

Stout Fellow: A Guide Through Nero Wolfe's World

At Wolfe's Door: The Nero Wolfe Novels of Rex Stout

The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe: The Case of the Midnight Ride and Other Tales

A Right to Die

ASIN: 1557424845
Release Date: 2005-11-30

Book Description

Since 1977, The Wolfe Pack has published "The Gazette," chockful of articles and tales of America's greatest sleuth, Nero Wolfe, who prefers beer and orchids to working at his West 35th Street brownstone. But thanks to Wolfe's wisecracking associate Archie Goodwin and his agent REX STOUT, Wolfe's seventy-two cases are mystery classics. NERO WOLFE: THE ARCHIE GOODWIN FILES is a new selection of Neronian delights carefully picked from over twenty-five years of The Gazette by veteran anthologist, novelist, and charter member of The Wolfe Pack Marvin Kaye.

Customer Reviews:

A Sequel Better Than the Original.......2006-09-29

This effort is actually better than its predecessor, "The Nero Wolfe Files."

For one thing, the array of topics covered is more diverse. Since more essays had been written, the editors of this book had more source material to choose from in presenting this.

And this gives rise to a very interesting spectrum of opinions. For example, one essay gives a very compelling and persuasive set of arguments that Wolfe was, in fact, born in the United States and then migrated to Montenegro during his childhood. Another essay is just as convinced (and offhanded) in accepting a statement Wolfe makes that he was born in Montenegro and became a naturalized American citizen. Each is compelling and very persuasive.

If you cannot get enough of Wolfe, two things: (1) buy this book, and (2) make sure Marvin Kaye is motivated to release "The Saul Panzer Files" or some suc as soon as possible....

[Maybe "The Inspector L.T.Fergus Cramer Files?"]

Very satisfactory.......2006-01-21

Very satisfactory, as Mr. Wolfe would say when moved to lavish praise on his intrepid sidekick. The Archie Goodwin Files is the perfect companion to Marvin Kaye's earlier The Nero Wolfe Files. But then I'm prejudice. I'm a long time member of the Wolfe Pack, and I am delighted that the best of The Gazette is now available to all Wolfe fans. The Archie Goodwin Files delve into some of the real mysteries in the Nero Wolfe books: how does the Post Office delivery Wolfe's commands seemingly within minutes of posting the letter, which doorbell rang, and why do secretaries appear so frequently in the books? This book will bring new enjoyment to your favorite Wolfe mysteries.

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The Nero Wolff Files Review
A Must for Wolfe Fans
MORE OF WOLFE

The Nero Wolfe Files

Manufacturer: Wildside Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Nero Wolfe: The Archie Goodwin Files
Stout Fellow: A Guide Through Nero Wolfe's World
At Wolfe's Door: The Nero Wolfe Novels of Rex Stout
The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe: The Case of the Midnight Ride and Other Tales
Champagne for One

ASIN: 0809544946

Book Description

Since 1977, The Wolfe Pack has published The Gazette, chockful of articles and tales of America's greatest sleuth, Nero Wolfe, who prefers beer and orchids to working at his West 35th Street brownstone. But thanks to Wolfe's wisecracking associate Archie Goodwin and his agent REX STOUT, Wolfe's seventy-two cases are mystery classics. THE NERO WOLFE FILES is a generous collection of Neronian reading delights selected from over twenty-five years of The Gazette by veteran anthologist, novelist, and charter member of The Wolfe Pack Marvin Kaye.

Customer Reviews:

The Nero Wolff Files Review.......2007-06-08

I enjoyed the book so far and it has a lot of interesting information concerning Rex Stout

A Must for Wolfe Fans.......2006-09-23

Some years ago, Nero Wolfe aficionados formed "The Wolfe Pack" in New York City. This book's prefix was written by the organization's founding president.

The Wolfe Pack produces writings, essays and other items about Rex Stout and his fictional family. This book is the first collection of these essays, and they are outstanding. They start off with Jacque Barzun, the dean of American criticism, and go on to many other well-informed, funny and insightful opinions, observations and haggling about Nero, his assistant, and just about anything else of interest to die-hard Wolfe fans.

And the book was released AFTER the end of the A&E series, which was an incredibly important contribution to the literature of Nero and Archie.

I loved this book and hope you do, too.

MORE OF WOLFE.......2006-05-27

This is a very entertaing book if you love the nero wolfe novels and short stories. Some very entertaining information.I would have like it more if it was longer. Ill try now the gazzette!

The Politics of Truth: A Diplomat's Memoir: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity
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Whether you lean left or right, read this book!

Fascinating & Frightening

The historical record

We owe a lot to Joe Wilson

Discount Bin Book

The Politics of Truth: A Diplomat's Memoir: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity
Joseph Wilson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
Conspiracy Theories | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Price of Loyalty : George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O'Neill

Chain of Command : The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib

State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration

Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War

Conservatives Without Conscience

ASIN: B000EMH5LQ

Amazon.com

While many former Bush administration officials published books airing their gripes and concerns in advance of the 2004 election, few were in a situation as personal as Joseph Wilson's. A career diplomat, he found himself working for an administration that apparently leaked information revealing his wife, Valerie Plame, to be a CIA operative soon after Wilson cast doubt on Bush's claims of Iraq trying to buy uranium from Niger. When columnist Robert Novak named Plame, there was widespread speculation about who leaked the information. In The Politics of Truth, Wilson points a finger at Dick Cheney's chief-of-staff I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby and national security aide Eliot Abrams although Wilson never really presents smoking gun evidence against them. There is little here that breaks new ground in terms of hard facts being revealed, nonetheless, Wilson's account, personal and well written, maps out the human impact of the situation in ways that major newspapers never could. Wilson's animus toward the administration is made stronger by his support of the president in the 2000 election and he held out hope that a centrist conservative approach would help America's position in the world. That scenario withered, in Wilson's mind, when the plan to invade Iraq became increasingly inevitable and, like many traditional conservatives, Wilson mourns the rise of the ideological "neo-conservatives" who shaped foreign policy. But while a true-life secret identity/betrayal story is inherently fascinating, and Wilson's indignation and scorn is powerfully delivered, there is more to recommend his book. Wilson tells of being stationed in the Persian Gulf in the days leading up to the first Gulf War, a haunting encounter with Saddam Hussein, and years of efforts to establish democracy in Africa. The Politics of Truth provides a glimpse inside the high stakes world of international intelligence and, Joseph Wilson says, that world can be vicious. --John Moe

Book Description

Through the last three presidential administrations and two wars with Iraq, no one has personally witnessed, influenced, or fueled news over more history-making events than Joseph Wilson. The last American diplomat to sit face-to-face with Saddam Hussein, he is a consummate insider who has the intelligence, principles, and independence to examine current American foreign policy and the inner workings of government and to form a candid assessment of the United States’ involvement in the world. In February 2002, Joseph Wilson was sent to Niger by the CIA to investigate claims that Iraq had sought to purchase uranium in that country. Wilson’s report, and two from other American officials, conclusively negated such rumors, yet all were brushed aside by the White House. Startled by the infamous words uttered by George W. Bush in his 2003 State of the Union Address: “The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa,” Wilson decided to reveal the truth behind the initiation of the Iraq war. The Politics of Truth is an explosive and revelatory book by a man who stands for the accurate recording of history against those forces bent on fabricating truth.

Customer Reviews:

Whether you lean left or right, read this book!.......2007-09-16

There's a little-known story about the Valerie Plame Wilson affair that has gone almost unmentioned in its aftermath. I have seen this story mentioned once, during congressional testimony on the part of one of her co-workers. The testimony never made it to the public outside of C-SPAN.

Here's how it works. A former covert agent is outed. Immediately, intelligence services in other countries go to work to identify all of the people they can who can be proven to have had contact with the outed agent, going back as far as possible and covering every possible contact, including everyone they can include. The list, which will be huge, is now slowly and patiently shaken down, and people who were formerly "trusted" are now considered "dirty" until proven otherwise. Twenty-year-old survillance photos are pulled from files and re-examined. Field operatives are pulled in for questioning. Possible double agents are identified, trapped and used to reveal more information.

Often when a single agent's cover is blown, even a non-active one, people die for years afterward and entire intelligence networks, networks that often cost many millions of dollars to create and involve years of work on the part of many dedicated people, are destroyed. A blown cover is like a large rock hitting a pool of calm water; the ripples last for a very long time.

There is no doubt that the outing of Wilson's wife caused mayhem at the very least and at the worst, many deaths. This fact goes unmentioned in news coverage, not out of conspiracy but out of ignorance. Most people just don't know.

Whether you are politically on the right or on the left, if you believe in our Republic and wish to preserve it, you should read this book and gain some insight into the mechanisms of politics. The GWB administration has been willing to go farther past traditional limits than any other in history to discredit its enemies and hit back hard, and truth is not (at all) a requirement. It's a Karl Rove tactic, and it has worked well to win elections against not one but three decorated war veterans.

If you are at all interested in the future of the United States, you should read this frank and well-written book, and then look for these tactics in future elections and congressional battles.

Fascinating & Frightening.......2007-07-08

Joseph Wilson has had a fascinating life and having worked as a diplomat in different African nations and Iraq in the run up to the first Gulf war, he is not naive, nor is he anti-war.
This is why it is all the more powerful to hear his side of how the White House has worked to discredit him, because he pointed out that claims they were making about Saddam trying to buy uranium for nuclear weapons from Niger were false.
He never wanted a fight with the White House, but once they outted his wife as a CIA operatives the gloves came off.
All the more telling is the fact that George Bush Snr. invited Wilson to the oval office and warmly thanked him for all he had achieved in getting US citizens out of Iraq prior to the first Gulf war. This same man is being attacked and vilified by the current White House run by the son, simply because he asked for some untrue statements to be corrected.
Very indicative of the sorry state of the Office of the President of the US.

The historical record.......2007-06-08

Certain folks were all over the television last year claiming that Plame's status was never covert.

That's not the case. It's now official; beyond question she was covert.

It's amusing to see people cite the Washington Post as an authority, then turn around and claim the paper is nothing but liberal propaganda.

The truth is that top editors of the Post are noted conservatives Fred Hiatt and George Will. Their sympathy with the administration, and friendship with I. "Scooter" Libby, are apparent in the various editorials cited as authoritative in some of the book reviews that precede mine.

Remember, the same folks who argued that Plame was never covert, also pushed the exact same untruths you see in many of the one star reviews of this book.

For example, the congressional investigation supported Wilson's finding that there was no attempted purchase of Uranium from Niger. The document touted by the administration was a forgery, easily debunked by our allies (in fact it took them just *six hours* to do so).

And yet you still hear people mindlessly repeat that Wilson was proved wrong.

And that's kind of the whole point -- insult to injury -- out his wife, then smear the both of them.

We owe a lot to Joe Wilson.......2007-01-09

I couldn't put this book down. What an amazing life that Joe Wilson has lived, travelling to many different countries and learning so much. His experiences with our current government show that they are willing to defame anyone who speaks out against them, and I cannot believe how they have made him out to be a bad guy. He has done nothing but serve our country honorably, and I hope that someday he and his wife will be vidicated.

Discount Bin Book.......2006-09-02

The Senate Intelligence Com. proved Wilson a liar.

The Washington Post has now stated," Wilson chose to go public with an explosive charge, claiming -- falsely, as it turned out -- that he had debunked reports of Iraqi uranium-shopping in Niger...It's unfortunate that so many people took him seriously. "

The SF Gate/Chron. has now stated," ...it is now clear that all the hype about a Bush-inspired vendetta against the Wilsons is bunk...The outing of Wilson was not an act of treason. It was not a deliberate effort to smear an administration critic. It was not an act of revenge orchestrated by Bush political guru Karl Rove. It was not an effort to hurt anyone's CIA career. It was gossip."

JOE WILSON, PROVEN LIAR.

Book Description

This fully illustrated volume explores the uniforms, insignia, and equipment of American Airborne, Glider, Troop Carrier, and Airborne Engineers in World War II. Included are over 500 detailed, up-close images of individual items, and multi-side views of full combat rig, and over 100 World War II era color and black and white photos, most unpublished, showing the uniforms and equipment as worn by the troops. Covered in this extensive book are: dress uniforms; jump jackets and pants; headgear; boots; jump wings, unit patches and other insignia; Marine Corps airborne; Troop Carrier and Airborne Engineers; equipment, including parachutes, weapons, communications, and many rare and unusual items exclusive to airborne troops; and a comparative section with both British and German airborne gear. Geronimo! is a detailed look at the clothing and equipment of America's Finest, and is an important reference work for the airborne collector, reenactor, historian and veteran., over 630 color and b/w photographs, 9" x 12"

Customer Reviews:

The new bible for collectors of WWII airborne!.......1999-12-30

This incredible masterpiece does for airborne what author Jon Maguire's Gear up! did for US Army Air Force collecting.The close-up photography shows every thread of material on each authentic World War II field uniform thanks in part to the fine studio photographs taken by master photographer Robert Biondi. This book is a must for every serious collector and also for your father or grandfather(or grandmother) who served so proudly! Highly recommended! You will not be disappointed!

Novice beware!.......1999-11-30

This book contributes virtually nothing new to this field - its contents are covered, and covered with greater accuracy and authority, in the books of Michel de Trez, John Andrews, and Gary Howard. Novice collectors of the artifacts of U.S. airborne forces will be especially ill-served by this book if they use it as an authoritative guide because of the author's indiscriminate use of replicas, more than a few of which are of poor quality. There are better books on this subject; do yourself a favor and seek them.

This Book a Must for the Collector or Military Miniaturist........1999-05-25

190 pages of (mostly) color photographs. Chapter 1: Dress Uniforms. Chapter 2: Jump Jackets & Pants - good coverage of the pathfinder & other 1942 uniform articles, plus camoflage jacket/pants/cap. Chapter 3: Headgear; hard & soft - painted, netted, medic, MP, liners & training helments. Chapter 4: Boots (brief). Chapter 5: Insignia - You want insignia? We got insiginia - 30 pages worth. Chapter 6: Marine Corps Airborne - more camo, but also brief. Chapter 7: Troop Carrier and Airborne Engineers - some color & some interesting B&W aircraft shots. Chapter 8: Equipment: This is the mother lode! There's everything here, all the way down to photos of U.S. Army issue socks, underwear & necessary accoutrements for (hoped for) liberty in France. Includes some original WW2 photos of troops preparing to load up for the Sicilian operation. Chapter 9: Airborne Comparisons - This was a very nice bonus: color photos of WW2 British & German paratroop uniforms & equipment. The only criticism I can offer is that I wish Mr. Rentz had expanded this last chapter substantially. Could this possibly lead to one or more sequals? Bottom line: I'm quite pleased to add this volume to my collection. If you paint military figures pertaining to this particular era, you will enjoy this book!

What a well researched book !! Roll on volume 2........1999-05-03

Collectors and historians alike have been waiting for this authoritive book. This is a benchmark for the genre.

Book Description

Crucial Needs, Weak Incentives studies the politics of efforts to reform education and health services in Latin America in the 1990s. Both sectors were common targets of reform -- education because of its economic importance, health care because of needs to reduce great inequities of access and opportunities to increase domestic savings presented by reforms. Both sectors also have large numbers of unionized public employees, whose presence affects patronage as well as political power.

The book presents case studies that offer a wealth of new information not previously accessible to the English-speaking academic and policy community. For health care, these cover Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Peru; for eductaion, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Four chapters by the editors set out for each sector the goals, structure, and outcomes of reform efforts.

Contributors are Marta Arretche, Josefina Bruni Celli, Mary A. Clark, Javier Corrales, Sonia M. Draibe, Christina Ewig, Alec Ian Gershberg, Alejandra Gonzalez Rossetti, Merilee S. Grindle, Peter Lloyd-Sherlock, Pamela S. Lowden, and Patricia Ramirez.

Book Description

Defying conventional wisdom even as it makes an impassioned plea for moral common sense, this book by an award-winning journalist sheds a new light on the history and politics of the African conservation movement. The book will anger and inspire anyone who cares about African wildlife and the people whose future is intertwined with the fate of these animals.

Customer Reviews:

Facing realities of complex African wildlife conservation.......2006-04-10

Ray Bonner is straight on with this book.Even though it was written in 1992 - the same issues, conflicts and concerns are as current today as they were then. The debate over how to manage wildlife and protect it, is the same arguements that Bonner has brought to light in this book, I still hear today. Having been born and raised in East Africa, lived extensively around wildlife all of my life, Ray Bonner has brought out the complexities of managing wildlife in a land with a large number of hungry, poor people and an expanding population. Often our family were called to help control wildlife such as hippos raiding crops nightly, elephant destroying small farms (often the whole food supply for the year!), maneating lion, stock killing leopard. I witnessed the deaths of local African people by elephant or buffalo, and understand Bonners findings why locals teach their children that "elephants are bad - they kill me". Bonner is great at bringing this "other side" to the table. He is looking at it from the African's point of view. His finding is correct that the International organizations, AWF and WWF, sit in their offices far removed from the daily issues of the African, control the purse strings and impose their visions of how the Africans will manage their resources and wildlife.Most of the decisions makers have never lived in the shoes of Africans, around wildlife. He shows that such organizations, arrive and rather than ask what do you think you need help with, the locals are told, this is what you will do. The points he makes that these organizations think "wildlife first" and people "second" is so valid - though in 2006, there is at least some thinking with newer and younger organizations that, "wildlife

On target for support of culling and trophy hunting..........2002-04-01

...off target scientifically and economically. Raymond Bonner, a well respected investigative journalist lived in Kenya for a few years in the early 1990's and he uncovered something. He says that much of the tourism revenue derived from safaris and visits to the big game parks such as Masaai Mara, Tsavo, Amboseli, Serengeti, Kruger, and Etosha was not benefiting the locals in the immediate areas. Further he came to see the dichotomy between how most Westerners view wildlife and how Africans do. Our view is colored by the romantic writings of Dinesen and Markham, and the adventurous hunting life enjoyed by Hemingway. Africans on the other hand see wildlife either as food or something to run away from. He's spot on with the reaction of a typical Kenyan toto who has been taught very early in life that "elephants are bad" because "they kill me." One star to Mr Bonner for his accurate assessment of the inadequacies of tourism development plans and programs for the environmental education of children in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. The book gets another star for its exposure of the cultural biases and narrow self-interest that oftentimes politicizes organizations such as the WWF - the world's largest conservation agency - the World Wide Fund for Nature (formerly the World Wildlife Fund). However Mr Bonner runs out of stars and a persuasive argument when he proposes that it is AT THE HAND OF MAN (read Western white man and his do-good conservation ethics) that there is the greatest threat for the future of Africa's wildlife.

Mr Bonner is strongly opposed to the ban on ivory and he supports culling of elephant herds. Although he is eloquent in saying that he "can't understand" how someone would wish to hunt elephants or other big game, it is obvious from his arguments that he doesn't understand the close connection between culling and trophy hunting. I intend to deal with the book on it's scientific and economic arguments alone, and stay away from polarizing political ideology that sees everything as either cultural or science warfare. (I'm actually quite surprised that this book has not featured more in the debates as it is well written and Bonner certainly isn't shy in offering his opinion). Recent scientific work on the complexity of elephant social life and family structure, particularly the dominant role played by the matriarch, tends to undermine the scientific value of culling. Studies have shown that in times when overpopulation causes degradation of the environment (the main reason for culling) the matriarch utilizes a natural population-regulating system. She simply leads a group of female elephants away from the males in the herd to their eventual demise. Also man-made contraceptives that last for up to a year are now proving somewhat successful. On the economic front, wheras it's true that tourism revenues have not made much contribution due to corruption, mismanagement, or use for things other than community development, this is a double-edged sword argument. There is sufficient evidence to show that the revenues earned from the sale of culled elephant ivory (prior to the international ban) was not going to locals either. Further, when the ban was temporarily lifted in 1997, there was a concomitant increase in poaching. As for the income earned where trophy hunting is allowed as part of a culling process as in South Africa; let's just say "show me the money"! is probably the best analysis. Most of the money does not go to fees paid in Africa but in fact never even leaves the US. The majority is paid to the big US game hunting outfits that equip and organize the African hunting trips.

This book is a genuine attempt by a Westerner, who having lived in Africa, comes to some understanding of the gap between what we think about the continent and what it's really like and seeks to put his insights into words. It's also more than that. It is the work of a bright investigative journalist using his skills to expose some of the complexities of wildlife management and the biases that attend it. Unfortunately the book didn't stop there, it's still more. It's political. Bonner himself makes it so. "It was natural for me to take up this cause. I am a liberal, and a former public interest lawyer; I was a vegetarian for a period in the seventies and still eat very little meat, and I have been opposed to commercial whaling and cutting down forests." Oops there it is! Let the wars begin! and Bonner will desevedly get hit by both sides. Liberals will strike first slamming Bonner for saying that vegetarianism is a qualifying criteria for Liberalism! Conservatives will also go on the attack, when after reading the book, they realize that his real sympathies lie with them, and he makes a hash out of arguments they could defend. Everybody, fire away!

At the Hand of Man. Peril and hope for Africa's wildlife.
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At the Hand of Man. Peril and hope for Africa's wildlife.
Raymond Bonner
Manufacturer: New York Alfred A. Knopf 1993.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000P7B9OO

At the Hand of Man: Peril and Hope for Africa's Wildlife. (book reviews): An article from: Multinational Monitor
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At the Hand of Man: Peril and Hope for Africa's Wildlife. (book reviews): An article from: Multinational Monitor
Sindy Felin
Manufacturer: Essential Information, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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ASIN: B000921MVK
Release Date: 2005-07-28

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This digital document is an article from Multinational Monitor, published by Essential Information, Inc. on March 1, 1994. The length of the article is 1570 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: At the Hand of Man: Peril and Hope for Africa's Wildlife. (book reviews)
Author: Sindy Felin
Publication: Multinational Monitor (Refereed)
Date: March 1, 1994
Publisher: Essential Information, Inc.
Volume: v15 Issue: n3 Page: p28(2)

Article Type: Book Review

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At The Hand of Man Peril and Hope For Africa's Wildlife

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At The Hand of Man Peril and Hope For Africa's Wildlife
Bonner Raymond
Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UD1CPY

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AT THE HAND OF MAN: PERIL AND HOPE FOR AFRICA'S WILDLIFE
Raymond Bonner
Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J3O1OO

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