Creators Books

The Manhattan Project is a excellent book on the making of the world's first atomic bomb. From J.Robert Oppenheimer to Paul Tibbits, this book covers the people who invented the bomb,delivered the "gadget", to the horrible aftermath. The last chapter covers the reflections from the people involved---from apprehension to justification, this book covers all angles to make this book a fair-balanced account of August 6, 1945.The Atomic Bomb Collection This DVD collection offers many atomic bomb explosions--awesome showing of raw power and destruction.

A perfect way to become familiar with that famous enterprise which changed the world. In just about two years the Manhattan Project, starting with the basic knowledge about nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium, managed to produce the atomic bombs that ended World War II. The effort was gigantic, involving several hundred thousand people and billions of dollars, conducted in absolute secrecy, at the height American involvement in the war effort. This book uses short abstracts from many sources to describe the Manhattan Project's origins, its activities at centers throughout the country, the dropping of the bombs on Japan, and the impact that atomic energy has had on the world even to this day. A highly recommended source for all things related to the Manhattan Project.

I am a babyboomer, born in 1947 after World War II was over. But my father had worked at Aberdeen Proving Ground during World War II and entered the nuclear filed after the war becoming a reactor theorist at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. So the Manhattan Project and many of the physcists associated with it along woth the post-war movement for peaceful development of nuclear energy became a natural part of my life. This book tells the story about how men like Einstein, Szilard, Bohr the British scientists and British intelligence made discoveries about nuclear energy and the potential for nuclear chain reactions to recognize the potential for the development of a superbomb by the Nazis. After Einstein's letter to Rossevelt, cooperation between the US and Britian and the birth of the Manhattan Project began shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The plants at Hanford and Oak Ridge and the research lab at Los Alamos became the key sites for the project. The book shows how the leadership of Groves and Oppenheimer lead to the rapid development of the bomb over a two year period and as the Nazi were defeated how the goal shifted from the urgency of beating the Germans to the development of a bomb to question of whether to use it on Japan to put a quicker end to the war in Japan.

The book tells the story of the lives of the key figures during this time with Oppenheimer and Groves playing the biggest role. But it also relates many facts and opinions out through the highly classified writings and documents of the period that are now public information.

We learn about security, espionage, difficult decisions and controversy. A lot of interesting discussion is presented about the varying views of Truman's decision to drop the bomb on Japan. Was it really to shorten the war and save lives of the allied forces or might it have been intended to cut the war short before a Soviet invasion.

The post-war desire to control nuclear weapons and to harness the power for peaceful purposes is cover in the last two chapters of the book. It includes Eisenhower's "atoms for peace" speech to the United Nations and goes on to present interesting writings about disarmament and the post-cold war threat from small nations like Pakistan and North Korea. The writings of Gorbachev about the meetings with Reagan in Iceland was very enlightening and interesting.

It is just amazing how much declassified material is available to the public at large. The Manhattan Project is an excellent compilation of previously published material and interview with the many scientists who participated in the development of the A Bomb. While book is full of excepts from other books on the subject, it is put together in such a way as to provide a quick read on the subject. Many of the documents contain technical information that I had not previously been aware of. That we, as America, could develop such a complex infrastructure to extract U235 and Plutonium is truly amazing.

One of the things we want history books to do for us is to give us insight into a world now gone. As we look back on puzzles solved, technologies developed, hardware built--it's hard to recreate the mood when all these challenges lay ahead, and the future was far from certain. How did the people involved view the strange new technology they were creating? This book brings us in their own words, their hopes, their doubts, their fears, their triumphs.

This is not a new approach. Many history books are collections of documents wherein key players describe events or ponder their significance. But Cindy Kelly brings creativity and a deep knowledge of the history and its players, to combine little-known letters and papers with current interviews and brief contemporary notes, to give variety, sparkle and intimacy to this very human story of vast and earth-shaking developments that require our understanding in order to deal intelligently with current events.

We watch, fascinated, as these scientists and engineers work to change the world, while the new world they are creating inexorably changes them.

This book is a unique, factual historical document and, at the same time, a delightfully personal story. A perfect Christmas present.

I have read this book a couple of times. I have used Dr.Colling's book, among others, to reconcile my scientific understanding, specifically concerning evolution, and my faith. I have been able to develop a harmonious understanding between the two topics, that I was told could never coincide. I thank Dr.Colling for his hard work and encourage his continuing research.

In September of last year (2007), Olivet Nazarene University Professor Richard G. Colling found himself embroiled in a controversy over views expressed in this book. Random Designer (Browning Press, 2004) had been used as a textbook in some of his science courses, and recommended by other professors at the university. When certain church members and pastors learned of the content of Random Designer, they objected to Colling's views on evolution loudly and persuasively. Despite the support of faculty at Olivet, several of these denominational leaders wielded their influence to intervene and compel the removal of Colling from the biology department.

One unintended consequence of their action is that I picked up and read Colling's work. Hopefully, the controversy will spur many such new sales, because I believe that many will benefit from reading Random Designer. The book targets some of those very pastors that led the charge against Colling, as indicated on this slip cover blurb:

"Written in easy-flowing personal narrative for working professionals, pastors, religious leaders, public school teachers, college students, and people of all faiths, Random Designer is a story of a loving and caring Creator who miraculously harnesses the random and chaotic forces of nature to accomplish his ultimate purposes. And now, after faithfully laboring for billions of years to bring His creation to an awareness of Himself, He calls to us from the deepest recesses of our minds. Will we hear His voice?"

Random Designer is divided into two sections. Section I deals with the science of randomness. Randomness is the necessary consequence of the laws that govern our cosmos, particularly the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, or entropy. Colling shows how entropy works as a randomizer, and how this same law suffuses the earth with a constant flow of energy which in turn serves to being order to randomness. Hence, in Colling's view, the natural rise of life on earth through evolutionary processes. Randomness becomes the necessary fodder for natural selection, and it is apparently the Designer's tool of choice. If like me, you have contemplated the place of randomness in Creation, you will benefit from Colling's descriptions of these processes.

In Section II, Colling turns from science to the theological and practical considerations of randomness. I want to highlight two of the chapters. One seeks to answer questions that surround Adam. Is Adam an historical figure? Is he a metaphorical "stand-in" for the human race? Colling explores these and other possibilities. A chapter which fascinated me is entitled "The Ultimate Creation". Colling cites science which suggests that the human race may have arrived at the pinnacle of evolution. The same processes of randomness that increase complexity must also serve to maintain complexity. The complexity of the human genome may have reached a balancing point. Or to put it another way, the human genome may be nearing full capacity. If this is true, as genetics suggests it may be, then it is not unreasonable to conclude that we are the ultimate creation of the Random Designer!

Random Designer is written for undergraduates, and as such is an easy read. If you are seeking understandings which bring purpose and order to a world of apparent randomness, you may find Colling's book helpful.

I appreciate the different perspective. I would like to encourage the author to continue his work in this area.

Colling writes in a clear and understandable manner to show how biology, and in particular evolution, is in accord with basic Christian theology. Frankly if you have studied biology a good deal, you'll find this work rather repetitive and simplistic. You want to read something like Perspectives on an Evolving Creation or God After Darwin: A Theology of Evolution. But this book is ideal for the biology layman, who had little training or forgot what they learned previously, and never understood the basics of evolution.

In a sence, Colling is the anti-Behe. Behe wants to show how there are some aspects of life that are inherently complex, and therefore couldn't have evolved. He therefore goes into great detail on the steps of different processes, to show how this is a complex process, and obviously, couldn't have happened "merely by chance". In doing so, he doesn't go into any greater detail than would be found in a myriad of other disciplines, in a higher-level text consulted by experts in the discipline. Behe thus gives an impression of false complexity. Colling instead shows how the basics of evolution are easily understandable, while recognizing that the theory is rather complex. Colling goes through evolution step by step, relating it to our understanding of God in the Bible, thus showing that the issue is more a matter of superior pedagogy and good heuristics, rather than objects which are "irreducibly complex".

The first half of the book shows what evolution is, and why it's believable. Colling explains in concise terms ideas like entropy, neatly side-stepping misconceptions commonly held by Literal Creationists like entropy forbidding the development of complex lifeforms. The second half delves into what the meaning of all this evolution can have for our understanding of Christ as Christians. Particularly of note is the title idea- that randomness exists, and God uses this randomness in his design. Indeed, it is within this idea that Colling actually introduces some novel thoughts, on how failure is necessary for God's success.

This is not a book to convince the unbeliever, nor is it groundbreaking for those who closely follow the Intelligent Design controversy, or the theology of evolution. It is however an excellent work for those new to the discussion, wishing to get their feet wet and understand the basics. In fact, for that purpose, I have never run across a finer book.

This book addresses science and faith. Colling starts out discussing thst the purpose of the book is to attempt to reconcile, explain, and exlore the views of science and faith. The fist part of the book involves bringing non-science people up to speed on basic biological principles and research. The second part addresses the much more elusive aspect of why we were created as we were created.
This book is like beef jerky. It is really tough to chew and the processing is slow at times, but when you get done, you have to have another piece. It is hard to reform ideas about creation from the Christian upbringing to accepting the scientific evidence. It would seem that God could have chosen evolution to create His most prized possession. The informationon the Second Law of Thermodynamics, radio isotope dating, the Big Bang theory, and the possible ways that the first life could have formed was extremely helpful and tactfully presented.
The foundation set in the first part stands firm for the much more subjective second part. Some main points were that we were created to know the Creator, humans are the first creation with the ability to discern the presence of God, life is mainly about intimate relationships , and we are made in the image of God, therefore having the mind of God.
No matter what veiws you hold on this issue, this would be a beneficial book for you to chew on.

This books helps you see that we have the ability to help ourselves....and others! - Life changing for me!

As self help publications go, Healer easily stands out from the crowd. The underlying principles are sound, based on the simple rules of universal love and acceptance.

There is more to us as humans than others can see with their eyes. And there is more to our world than we have been taught to believe. Buried deep within our mind and spirit is an awesome power, the ability to heal ourselves and others. Mark Earlix' teachings exemplify that healing process.

Have you missed a sens of purpose in your life, or yearned for abilities that always seem to stay beyond your reach? Do you feel as if your life has lost its joy, and that your health on a downhill slide? The few simple exercises described in this book - through non physical means that anyone can learn - could lead to a profound metamorphosis.

Earlix shares his own personal odyssey and what he has learned over decades as a healer. He believes that the origins of disease begin with the mental, move to the emotional, and end with the physical. In other words, we sabotage our own well being with our thoughts. Traumas in the form of energy inhabit us at the cellular level. Our lives lose integrity as we become victim to self created dramas and traumas. The author teaches us to shake off fear and negative thoughts to expedite the healing process.

Earlix practices from the viewpoint that we are all healers. But Healer is not a New Age technique you'll find impossible to grasp or perfect in the real world. He believes that our every word, thought, and action is a living prayer. His teachings are comforting and compassionate. Mark Earlix loves his fellow human beings and wants to share a knowledge that will lessen our pain. It's as simple as that. If you are suffering physical or psychic pain, or know someone who is, perhaps you'll find a healing in this book.

Ever wonder how to get through life with out all of those annoying little issues? The answer to that question and others are here. Mark shows, through his words and easy to follow exercises how to do this. He leads you to the truth about how to live and enjoy life as it was meant to be. I could not put the book down. The words have help me see changes in myself and the way I do things. I feel this book can help anyone would is ready to help themselves find happiness and peace.

This book is so simple, and at the same time so profound. The author shares his amazing journey into his own knowing of his healing gifts, and shares concrete and effective exercises that teach how each of us can access that same ability to heal, both in ourselves and others. Besides having a content that is life-changing, the book is beautifully written in a conversational style that is very easy to read and understand. This is a book that I will read over and over and over again.

If you feel there is more "out there" than what you know and what you have been taught, let Creator fill in the gaps. For me, Mark's explanations, philosophy and tenets whole-heartedly answer the questions I never knew I could ask.Then, Mark takes you to the next level. First, he provides meaningful directed meditations and exercises to help you focus in on the still small voice within. Then you will learn to experience energy in ways you never have experienced before. Beyond this, you will be taught techniques of healing in a thorough and understandable way. This book is so full of insight and experience. You will learn and become aware of so much. Your life will be forever enriched. Creator will change your perspective. It will enhance your every day life.

"Meanwhile..." ismuch more than justa biography of MiltCaniff. It pro-vides an insight tocultural attitudesimmediately prior toWWII, during the war, and on into thelatter part of the20th Century. Whileit brings to lifethe creative geniusof Caniff, it alsoprtrays his abilityas a masterful bus-iness man followingsuccess upon successin the managemeentand promotion of hisproduct.I eagerly followedthe exploits of Ter-ry and the Piratesas a youth as wellas Steve Canyon dur-ing my Air Forcecareer and was fas-cinated with Caniff's pursuit ofaccuracy in portray-ing service life andthe role that theAir Force Associa-tion played in as-suring he was keptabreast of the lat-est developmentsthat might affectColonel Canyon.It is a book I willkeep on my referenceshelf and use often.

First, some truth in reviewing. I have known Bob Harvey since we worked together on our college newspaper, and I have long admired his writing skills. We correspond occasionally, and see each other about every two years. And yes, I paid for my copy of Meanwhile...
That said, Harvey has written a fine, highly readable book, and a great one for anyone interested in comic strips and particularly Caniff's great creations, Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon. Indeed, you can think of Meanwhile... as two books in one: A long biography of Caniff and a short history of American comics in the 20th Century. Caniff's career spanned the high and ebb tides of newspaper comic strips, particularly the era of high-adventure strips. And that is no coincidence. Caniff helped pioneer that variety strip and he raised it to an art form. Indeed, I think Harvey demonstrates that Caniff, in his own right, ranked with such icons of American popular culture as George Gershwin, Frank Sinatra, and Humphrey Bogart.
Meanwhile... is not a perfect book. It is long, occasionally repetitious, and in need of judicious editing. Detail is important in nonfiction writing, especially biography. But Harvey, at times, overdoes it. I, for one, could do without a full-page listing of the books on Caniff's shelves or seemingly endless reprinted letters praising him. And as a nonfiction writer, I disagree with the author's decision not to footnote the book extensively.
When I raised these thoughts with Harvey, his return e-mail delved into what he sought to accomplish with the book.
Just as every novelist wants to write the Great American Novel, I wanted to write the Great Biography of an American Cartoonist. Having a suitable subject, Caniff, I next pondered how to achieve my next goal, which was to make the reader "live" Caniff's life as Caniff led it, or some such. I wanted to enable a reader to experience what it was like to be Caniff, to be "a cartoonist." One of the ways I thought a reader's experience of reading, of getting into another world--of being "a cartoonist"--could be intensified was to give the reader verbal information that would engage his or her imagination. As you read, you imagine the things the words are naming; the more concrete those things are, the more imagining you do, the more intensely you experience the "world" of the book you're reading. So when Caniff moves out into "the country" on South Mountain Road [in Rockland County, N.Y] in the 1930s, I scoured around to find out what the vegetation would be along South Mountain Road--what sorts of trees and bushes abounded there and so forth. And when I found out, I put those trees and their undergrowth into the book. In the chapter covering World War II, I quote lots of the letters that Caniff received--because he said somewhere that getting letters was the way he connected to the outside world, the world beyond his studio.... Now you know why I put them all in there.
Harvey, more than most authors, largely succeeds in fulfilling his ambitious goal.
Surprisingly, Caniff emerges from the pages of Meanwhile... as a writer first and an illustrator second--a stunning conclusion, considering Caniff's great innovations in comic strip art and his obsessive attention to detail and accuracy (whether military metals, weapons, or Asian clothing) that won him the admiration of his fellow cartoonists and shows in art galleries.
Harvey argues persuasively that what first carried Terry and the Pirates and later Steve Canyon was not just Caniff's superb craftsmanship and his inventive approach to illustrating, but his talent for plotting his story lines and writing dialogue. Caniff created memorable characters of depth and personality with the deft hand of a short story writer, so much so that some readers believed that Pat Ryan, the Dragon Lady, and Happy Easter actually lived and breathed. As the author puts it: "In fact, he [Caniff] enhanced our experience of his adventure stories by giving his protagonists enough personality to be fully human without complicating them beyond easy recognition: we like them, and because they are conventional, we know they are each `one of us.' And our identification with them engages and holds our interest."
In his analysis of what made Caniff extraordinary, Harvey describes in detail many stories lines of Terry and Steve Canyon (worth the price of the book alone) to emphasize the elements that encompass the development and growth of Caniff's career and talent. The reader is drawn along through Harvey's synopsis, not just by Caniff's story line, but by the author's own talent for making the descriptions intriguing. He is aided by a large number of reprinted strips, which enliven the book and illustrate the many points he makes. Reading them together, you see clearly the evolution of Caniff's writing and illustration skills over the years, as well as the growing depth of his main characters.
Caniff was Midwest born and raised, and he the never lost the sense of patriotism, honor, moral principals, humility, and striving for success that characterized so many people from that part of the nation during his formative years. His environment nurtured him. As Frank Stanton, a Caniff friend throughout their adults years, told Harvey: "It was during his days in Columbus that he developed three sets of central skills essential to his sensational success as the creator of Terry and Canyon: story teller, artist, and actor. He is remarkably efficient in each, and each of these skills reinforces and enhances the other two in his work. It is a rare combination in a rare guy."
--Patrick Young
.

This is the definitive history of Milton Caniff's life as one of the greatest contributors to the art of the comics. It is well-written & complete in detail.

As cartoonist biographies go I daresay that there has never been, and will likely never be, another of the length and depth of R.C. Harvey's "Meanwhile...". Coming in just shy of a four digit page count it could scarcely be otherwise. Even more so when you consider that the impressive heft of the tome is not substantially padded with photos and art. To be sure the book is indeed well illustrated, but only with visual aids directly related to the narrative -- there are no long reprints of Caniff's strips here or lengthy portfolios of miscellaneous art.

It is the nature of any successful cartoonist that they spend the bulk of their life hunched over a drawing board, endlessly skrith-skratching away. This is not the sort of lifestyle that would seem to lend itself to a lengthy biography. When we consider that there are plenty of well-rounded biographies of political figures, film stars, activists, people whose lives are filled day by day with the fodder of the biographer, that manage to tell their stories in a shorter page count, we have to wonder just what in the world Harvey is on about in a page count that rivals the King James Bible.

I for one certainly approached the book with trepidation. I've been a fan of Harvey's work for years, but my enjoyment of his work is tempered with the caveat that he is on occasion guilty of going over the top. When he goes into critical analysis mode he is always perceptive and thoughtful, but he can also beat a horse within an inch of its life. I was concerned that here Harvey would be shooting the works, analyzing Terry, Steve and their creator ad nauseam.

That fear, I'm happy to say, was completely groundless. Despite the enormous page count this book is, wonder of wonders, a tightly written narrative. In the tradition of classic biography, what critical analysis there is is grounded in the opinions that Caniff himself discussed with Harvey and others in interviews. Given that Harvey says the book in its original form was some 700 pages longer (!) than the final revision, I'm guessing that any extended author's analysis fell victim to the editor's red pen. If so, the book is better for it.

So what exactly does lurk between the distantly separated covers of this volume? Well, Harvey was lucky enough to be tapped by Caniff himself as his offical biographer in the early 80s. This afforded the author with ample opportunity to question his subject at great length. While Caniff was, as Harvey relates, not a particularly forthcoming interview subject, by dint of persistence the author eventually ended up with a treasure trove of Caniffiana. The book is, as we might expect given the size, an impressively complete chronicle of Caniff's life and the times in which he lived. However, completeness doesn't necessarilty translate to interest-sustaining or entertaining, and that's where Harvey's book truly amazes. I've read plenty of long form biographies where it got to the point that I was rooting for the subject to kick the bucket to cut the narrative short. That's not the case here. While I couldn't say that every single page is riveting, edge-of-the-seat reading, Harvey does an expert job of keeping the reader involved and interested all the way through. Any reader who is at least moderately interested in comic strips, even those not particularly fans of Caniff, will undoubtedly find the book fascinating.

Speaking of being a fan of Caniff, I should admit that I am not numbered in that legion. Of course I recognize Caniff's importance in the history of comic strips and the artistry of the two strips for which he is most famous. However, I think Caniff's writing is far too precious, heavily laden with hokey slang and tortured vernacular that I find grating and distracting. His subject matter, primarily military adventure, is just not my cup of tea. His cartooning, after a relatively short but glorious period in the early 40s when he was first influenced by Sickles' innovation of chiaroscuro comic strip illustration, later takes things too far for my taste, turning the strip into a series of ink-blots (not entirely Caniff's fault, of course - the comic strip was shrinking more rapidly than he could adjust his art style to suit, finally ending up so small that no one, not even Caniff, could possibly do a realistically rendered adventure strip).

The point is that you don't need to be a Caniff fanatic to thoroughly enjoy the book. I recommend it not only to the ardent Terry or Canyon fan, but anyone with more than a passing interest in the art and business of the comic strip in America. Caniff's story is, after all, the history of the adventure comic strip in particular, and the newspaper comic strip in general. Harvey does a superb job of weaving all the various aspects of the story of American comic strips into the narrative. We see Caniff marketing his comic strips (and find out just how tireless a promoter he was), we see him coping with the miniaturization of his daily and Sunday spaces, we gain a deep understanding of the relationship between the creator and syndicate. We learn one cartoonist's reaction to the unforgiving daily deadline pressure, and how assistants and ghosts can become indispensible in the process of producing a strip that doesn't have the luxury of relying on simplistic art and daily gags. We learn the intricacies of producing an integrated daily and Sunday storyline, a balancing act that is one of greatest tests of skill that any writer could ever face. We see one cartoonist's bold reaction to the demonization of his art form when accused of being, bizarrely, a cause of juvenile delinquency. We see how a cartoonist deals with the use, and misuse, of his creations in other media like movies and television.

I have only a few minor criticisms of the book, most worth mentioning if only so that this review doesn't seem utterly slavish in its support. First, the book is divided into just nine epic length chapters. It would have been more reader-friendly had it been broken up into more manageable chunks that could be read at one sitting. And although there are illustrations throughout the book, usually well-placed to coincide with the related narrative, each chapter ends with a gallery of additional illustrations. These sections would have been better broken up and dispersed throughout the text, if only to relieve the long stretches of type-dense pages.

The narrative flow drags a bit for a hundred pages or so near the end of the book. By this time Caniff was constantly being lured away from his drawing board by an endless procession of accolades and honors from every organization under the sun. Harvey unwisely devotes a considerable amount of space to the details. This section, while it does have occasional interesting points, could have been considerably shortened. If the purpose was to show that Caniff was revered by his peers and his fans, well, that wasn't much of a secret anyway.

Finally I have to question Harvey's use of invented conversations. In the first half of the book the author occasionally uses a device where he stages a conversation, usually set in Caniff's favorite watering-hole, in which we eavesdrop on a group of cartoonists shooting the bull. Harvey uses the device to impart some information in a presumably more entertaining method than dry prose. The device falls flat, though, because the conversations are stilted and too obviously staged for our benefit. And although Harvey makes no secret that the conversations are his own inventions, in a scrupulously researched work otherwise factual throughout I found these passages somehow discomforting from the standpoint of journalistic ethics. Call me a stick in the mud.

These are all picayune little quibbles, though. Harvey's work is, quite simply, a masterpiece of biography. He has set the platinum standard by which all future cartoonist biographies will be judged. Most, likely all, will be found wanting in comparison. It is one thing to produce a thick book, and not necessarily a good thing at that. It is an entirely different thing that Harvey has achieved here. He has produced a work of lasting merit, eminently readable, brimming with meticulous research, a work that must be atop the required reading list of every cartooning fan and cartoonist.

I've been waiting for R.C. Harvey to publish his biography of Milt Caniff ever since he casually mentioned it in the pages of his fine book, "The Art of the Funnies", over ten years ago. The resulting book is not only one of the finest comics oriented biographies but it's a great book in and of itself. I have to admit that after it arrived I was a little intimidated by it. It is after all a massive door stopper of a book and I left it sitting on my desk for a week before I finally cracked it open and began reading it in earnest. Despite its considerable length the pages flew by and I was soon at the end with the distinct feeling of disapointment at the prospect that it was over. Harvey literally transports his readers to an earlier age when there was no TV, no cable, no satelite, no computers and no internet. The general public got their entertainment by means of reading books and magazines, going to the movies, listening to the radio and reading the comics page in the local paper. The Great Depression was battering the country and war clouds were starting to appear over the skies of Eurpope and Asia. Out of those troubled times Milton Caniff became one of the greatest and most widely read storytellers of the age. This is his story and Harvey succeeds in telling it well.

This book was a real pleasure to read very slowly. It is a room by room description of Beatrix Potter's Hill Top farm house and includes the gardens. Beatrix started journaling about what she loved in a home from the time she was nine years old and this house is the cummulation of a life long interest in interior and exterior design theory. She fit in with the whole Arts and Crafts movement of the time. The house was deliberatly her largest artistic creation, she didn't actually live there very much. Again, it is a beautiful book and has many fasinating details about Beatrix Potter, her family and her times.

Being the big fan of Beatrox Potter, the woman and not just the author I was overjoyed to get this as a gift recently and the book is a treat for the eyes. While it has pages and pages of stunning photographs as well as her own water colours, it is the text and complete history of her farms that is awesome.

That and reading and seeing photographs of her as well as her farms and reading why she bought each property and the breeds of sheep she raised was of special interest to me. I loved seeing the inside of her farms, although I had seen the inside of a few, via the National Land Trust to whom she left her properties.

I loved the photographs of Beatrix and how she was so eccentric, kind yet firm and a woman ahead of her time. And it was nice to read that she was a true homestead style woman who had the waste not want not mentality, as well as a deep appreciation for quality and hated to see old bridges torn down for modern ones, although she was quick to make sure the stones and plants, wood and other things being discarded by some, didn't end up in some dump area but were recycled into new walls and buildings and plantings on her property.

This is a book a cottage gardener, keeper of sheep. painters, stone masons and anyone who loves working with their hands will love. As well as sincere environmentalists and organic gardeners and farmers.

A gorgeous collection of photos and information
about one of my most favorite children story writers.

What a beautiful book. Clear, inviting photos, and interesting information. A book you will enjoy reading and sharing.

AT HOME WITH BEATRIX POTTER is a delight to the eye and the spirit for those who love this children's author and her "little books." It is written by Susan Denyer of Britain's National Trust. (Potter's property was left to the National Trust.) The focus of the book is Hilltop Farm, the first farm Beatrix Potter acquired. Although she lived across the road in Castle Cottage, Potter often used Hilltop for its library, guestroom, and workplaces. She also used it to display her "treasures." This book reveals her love of nature, the English Lake District, and of old things--carved dressers, chests, spinning wheels are a few of the "gems" portrayed. Two-page color spreads convey the beauty of the Lake Area, where Potter became a major landowner, sheepfarmer, and a happily married woman. It is wonderful to see the original places, buildings, and objects that she incorporated into her books (examples are shown side by side). The book's layout, photographs, and design are first-rate. Reading this book reminded me of THE PRIVATE WORLD OF TASHA TUDOR and its wonderful photographs by Richard Brown. Like Tudor, Potter drew what she knew and preferred country to city life. (Tudor also was a working farmer in New Hampshire.) Finally, this book presents information about Beatrix Potter and the things and people she loved in an informative and respectful way. This book is not a biography, and Denyer avoids the biographer's temptation to "sum up" or "explain" Beatrix Potter. Rather, we draw our own conclusions after being exposed to the things Potter loved. The select bibliography at the book's end provides a list of works on and by Potter (her journals and letters have been published) that is very helpful to those who want to know more about this author. This is a book to treasure.

I liked the positive aspect of the "Creative State" and the hope it brings for the individual and humanity.

One of the definitions of art is to explore the boundaries of our inner cosmos and bring back the esoteric knowledge that touches the shores of our experience. The Creator State pushes up against these boundaries and takes this concept of art to new realms.

What a fast, fun read! Anyone who has ever ventured into any creative field, and often wondered about where their inspiration might have come from will love going where this joyous story takes you. Started reading it at takeoff from Philadelphia, and before I knew it I was in San Francisco, book and trip complete.

The well developed characters provided the suspension of disbelief from the very original and ingenous premise, and I was left wanting more.

It's a wonderful story that held me from beginning to end. As an artist and novelist myself, I took particular pleasure in the experiment. It's an exciting concept and a great climax. I think it's very possible that if a group of artists got together and tried it, the results would be similar if not the same as those that occurred in the novel. I recommend it to anyone interested in the power of art and the potential we humans have to determine our reality.

I found the storyline to be very engaging in its non traditional approach to bridging art and science. Walter's storytelling is engaging and I look forward to future works from her.

Romano has built one of the great food empires and keeps on creating more. He has had over 25 different restaurant concepts and has made billions. He focuses on the creative content and the principles that have created hit after hit. He also analyzes his failures and the reason for why they failed. While Fuddruckers is arguably his most successful Romano's Macaroni grill has also prospered and even though both were sold off reading about their beginning was fascinating. His newest restaurant EatZi's is a great idea that combines upscale grocery store with eating experience. It will be interesting to see if this idea takes off outside of the large cities it is being tired in but overall this book will fascinate you and leave you wanting to start a restaurant of your own.

Philip J. Romano is "an idea man at heart." The innovative restaurateur launched multiple successful U.S. franchises, including Fuddruckers and Romano's Macaroni Grill. He discovered that people would pay for his concepts, so he kept thinking and opening new restaurants. In this chatty, inside-flavored autobiography, he shares his creative processes and the principles that guide his business decisions. He knows the hot dinner business cold, and doesn't mind saying so. We dish up this light, entertaining read to those who are interested in entrepreneurial success stories or to anyone who wants an insider's view of the restaurant business.

If you're in business, any business you can learn from Phil Romano. His grandmother taught him early about visualization, saying, "Talk of the devil and he will appear, talk about failure and it will happen, talk about success and you'll have it."

Phil never worked in a restaurant before owning one and has never relied on anyone but himself for a paycheck.

As I always like to point out in my reviews and my Blog (The Real Estate Investors Blog) there are several invaluable techniques as far as deal structure. Starting with the structure of Fuddruckers:

After being turned down for a bank loan Phil rounded up 10 investors at $15,000 a pop and gave them 48% and kept 52% for himself. So they put up the money and he ran it and called the shots. That 15k grew to $3.4 million in less than 2 years. This was his 12th restaurant concept and he walked away with $17 million.

His next move is mind boggling. He invested $250k to back the investors of the heart stint and walked away with $165 million over the next 17 years or thereabouts.

Then he's on to The Macaroni Grill, buying entire towns and toying with different concepts. He took a gas station from doing $500k in revenues to $5 million. Then there's Nachomama's, Spegeddies and EatZi's a 50/50 partnership with Phil and Brinker which was doing $3,000 per sq. foot in sales. Everything from the structure, the numbers and the margins are described.

Some Romano-isms:

"I've come to learn that creativity is mostly about identifying a problem and, instead of just living with it, coming up with a solution. Too many companies are resigned to working around problems instead of really addressing their cause."

"I don't predict the future; I imagine it. And my imagination has no bounds. Neither should yours."

"If you make a mistake in hiring someone, don't make the mistake in waiting too long to let them go. The problem will just get bigger and bigger."

"Throughout my life, I've often been asked why I don't do things by the book. Well, it's because "the book" is for people who aren't creative enough to figure out a better way."

"I've had my share of failures, most of which have been outlined in these pages. But something inside me has always said to get up, dust off, and move onto the next challenge with a positive attitude. Life is far to short to dwel on bad calls you've maid. Negative thinking can kill you, and it can infect others."

"I advise people in the restaurant business to dream big, imagine their success, and imagine the success of the employees around them. Negative thinking is toxic."

I bought the book for several of my friends, family and partners who are in the service industry and truly recommend it.

By Kevin Kingston, author of: A 20,000% Gain in Real Estate: A True Story About the Ups and Downs From Wall Street to Real Estate Leading to Phenomenal Returns

I just recently read WINNING by Jack Welch and I have to tell you that book is just a good. It is a real quick read and there was so much great info from front to cover. And, it is actually quite funny.

I reccommend this book as a great summer read.

I love reading about the creativity behind the business. I admire someone who has the courage to follow through on his inspiration. Phil Romano did it over and over again. I do believe that he puts service before profit -- the proof is in the restaurants themselves. This book makes me curious about the ones I haven't tried yet, and I'm waiting for what's next.

I even culled some business tips -- some rules to live by. I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for some inspiration, a good story, and some sound business moves.

Derek Prince adds his vast Biblical knowledge with his own experience to a book that repeatedly hits the nail on the head in regards to the great disaster that is now occuring among believers in America. The divorce rate among conservative evangelicals currently outstrips all other social categories. As a long time teacher in juvenile halls, drug rehabs, etc., I have seen the fruit of "christian" psychology on kids and their parents for over 20 years. The Dobson crowd has cashed in on the sins and sorrows of the Church for too long now, but this book points the right way back to God's original plan for Christian men.

If you are sick of the humanistic junk and want to be freed from worldly philosophies that have cursed far too many, then get this book in front of you ASAP.

This book is a message that all the fathers, wifes, sons & daughters need to hear. I am a clinical psychiatrist, I really get a lot of help from this book.

As a female bookseller, I highly recommend this book for women too. The book provides a quick & concise insight to God's expectation of a Husband and Father's role. He also covers the Building blocks of a successful marriage. Very easy to read for non-readers.

ONCE AGAIN DERECK PRINCE HAS WRITTEN A BOOK THAT IS WELL GROUNDED IN THE WORD OF GOD. HE IS ABLE TO TAKE FROM THE BIBLE THE OWNERS MANUAL FOR LIVING A GOLDLY LIFE AS FATHER AND HUSBAND. ALTHOUGH NOT AN ACTION PACKED THRILLER, IT IS WHAT WE HAVE COME TO EXPECT FROM A WISE AND GODLY MAN...HARD-HITTING TRUTH AND CLARITY. I CERTAINLY RECOMMEND IT TO ANY MAN THAT WOULD LIKE TO FIRM-UP THE FOUNDATION OF WHICH HE STANDS AS A HUSBAND AND A FATHER.

This book is a quick read and really highlights the essentials for a godly Christian family. He speaks with much godly wisdom and a lifetime of experience.

I Love the way the author explains everything in detail the way I can understand. I was'nt intimidated! once I opened the book I could'nt put it down. The illustrations were wonderfully done and so helpful as well as interesting and fun to see. Thank you Lisa DaNae Dayley I cant wait to read your next book. You've helped me so much!

An easy to read, step-by-step guide to Roxio Easy Media 8, this manual answered most of my questions.

This book will substantially reduce your learning curve when using Easy Media Creator 8. The time saved is well worth the modest price. EMC8 is fun to use when accompanied with this easy-to-read self-help manual.

I have the Dummies book for EMC 8 and it leaves many questions unanswered or gives wrong information.

This "In A Snap" book is really wonderful. It shows you what to do through pictures of the screens and simple, easy to understand text. It is extemely easy to understand and allows you to get right to work on a project.

It is just about the easiest computer instructional book I have seen. Just as the title states "Teach Yourself" EASILY.

I purchased this book on Easy Media Creator 8, last April. I have been using Roxio's Easy Media Creator since version 5. The software is very powerful but, at times, can be a bit frustrating. The knowledge in this book will smooth the project path quite a bit.

Just inside the front cover is "Contents at a Glance", every subject or software function has it's own tab which makes using the book as a reference manual very quick and easy. I found the organization of the book and the presentation of the material to be straight forward and easy to understand.
If you are new to the software, I would recommend reading the 25 page introduction, "Start Here", first. If you have experience with the software, the book is organized so that all of the information you will need for your project is in one place (follow the tabs).

Chapters in the book cover:
1.-Start Here
2.-Importing Audio
3.-Editing Audio
4.-Creating Audio Projects
5.-Importing Photos
6.-Editing Photos
7.-PhotoSuite Projects
8.-Creating Slideshows
9.-Capturing Video
10.-Editing Video
11.-Advanced Video Editing Techniques
12.-Authoring DVDs
13.-Creating Data Disks
14.-Backing up Data

Label Creator and Media Manager Tools are bonus content on the publisher's website.

There are other books on Easy Media Creator 8 but unless you'r a Dummie (also a good book) this is the one you will want.

It's amazing that 50 years after it was published this book is still a relevant account of police work in Los Angeles. It still captures the courage, determination, and even fear, involved with law enforcement. But, it now reads like a retro "cop talk" diary from the extraordinary Jack Webb. His language and tone is a peek back into the past, when Los Angeles was a much smaller place and a sense of community still existed. I love this book and I highly recommend it for anyone that has an interest in that time and place.

On radio, in the 1950s television version of Dragnet, and in its 1960s resurrection, Jack Webb was Sergeant Joe Friday, the straight-shooting, no-nonsense exemplar of the LAPD. In this non-fiction book, Webb tells the real stories of crimes that were too violent to be broadcast on "Dragnet." Among them are the famous murder of the "Black Dahlia," a woman who was tortured for days before her killer slit her throat, drained her body of blood, bisected it and dumped her in an empty lot. Another story that made my blood boil was the murder of a 10-year old orphaned boy, whose own mother had just died days before. His father lost a wife and, senselessly, a son within weeks to a murderer who killed for the thrill of it.

Each chapter of the book is labeled with an LAPD rank, from Policeman, to Sergeant, to Lieutenant, all the way to Commissioner(s). The stories in the first few chapters are the most absorbing, as they demonstrate actual, hands-on police work. Yet, it was also interesting to read of problems which confronted, and still confront, Los Angeles and its police force at higher levels. The book particularly presents a good picture of Chief Parker, who is responsible for cleaning up the vice and corruption that marked the pre-1950 LAPD and setting rules that made officers proud to serve.

A warning to 21st century readers: This book was written in 1958 with the stereotypes -- and the language -- common at the time. Some sentences might make you gasp: i.e., in describing race relations in Los Angeles, Webb writes that "It is a dozen collisions, the Oriental, the Mexican, the Indian, the Southerner (both Negro and white), the Easterner and the Westerner; intra-racial as well as one skin pitted against another of a different color." There are a lot of sentences like that, particularly in the later chapters, where Webb was trying to argue that the LAPD of the time was cognizant of ethnic tensions and attempted to ameliorate them. (As an unabashed LAPD booster, Webb marshals evidence to make his case that the department was addressing racism.) And, from a 21st century viewpoint, the LAPD war against bingo parlors seems terribly penny-ante, although perhaps justified by the "broken windows" theory.

But the heart of this book is the stories of crimes great and small, and the police officers who solved them. A must for those interested in true crime stories, Los Angeles history, and the LAPD.

I remember watching "Dragnet" and "Badge 714" when I was a kid. I came across the book "The Badge" during my tenth year in high school, which was in 1960. I read it several times and remember being amazed by the contrast in the way Jack Webb wrote and the way he protrayed the Sgt. Joe Friday character. For some strange reason, this book has always been in the back of my mind, and so when the recent release of "The Black Dahlia" came about in the movie circuit, I, just on a whim, went to Amazon.com to see if an old edition of "The Badge" was floating around somewhere. I remembered that Jack Webb had written about this case in His book. I could not believe that, not only was it available, but available for under five frogskins, and new too boot!!!

I am now in the process of reading this book again, and am again amazed at Jack Webb's ability to write. He was so far ahead of his time, in his ability to tell a story back then that even now, his writing is beyond the typical codswample that is available today. Jack Webb was always so robotic in the way He acted, moving about like he had a two-by-four piece of lumber tied to his spine. His writing ability was another story.

I am once again amazed by this man's ability to write a story. Anyone who buys this book and reads it will NOT be disappointed. In fact, I would suggest that quite the opposite will be true.

THE BOOK GIVES A GOOD INSIGHT TO THE HISTORY OF THE LAPD.....IT LETS YOU INTO CRIMES THAT HAVE HAUNTED THE AREA FOR YEARS AND GIVES YOU AN APPRECIATION TO THOSE WHO HAVE TO WEAR THE ACTUAL BADGE.