Industrial Books

Must rate this volume as the standard reference on the topic. This current edition supplants Ripley's "Artillery and Ammunition of the Civil War." I actually own copies of the original and revised editions. There are a few notable updates, making the second purchase worth the expenditure. While I have found some minor omissions in the listings (particularly discussing some of the poorly documented Confederate gun makers), the authors seem to leave few stones unturned.

Book was not what I expected it to be. I anticipated a thorough study of specific artillery types with color plates and detailed drawings, and with specific histories, usage, success, etc. This is not what I received. It was a hugh disappointment, considering the high price I paid for this book.

A very concise and thorough (almost an encyclopedia) book of the weapons of the civil war.

"Field Artillery Weapons of the Civil War" is the definitive reference work for civil war cannon used in the field. Nothing else approaches its structured grouping and organization of the diverse and confused world of American Civil War field guns. However, this is not a book for everyone since it is quite focused on the specifications, manufacturing origins and methods of the tubes themselves, not on the tactical employment, range charts, the batteries, or the projectiles they fired. (Understandably, many readers will be shocked if they don't realize this before purchase--including me!)

It is hard to over emphasize what a fine job the authors have done in bringing order out of chaos. Their encyclopedic inclusion and explanation of all known types solves many riddles. The complexity and nuances will still require considerable study by the reader to reach a full understanding, but at last it is logically and rigorously catalogued.

The chapter list is as follows: 1. Fundamentals. 2. Federal 6-pounder Guns and 3.67" Rifles. 3. Confederate 6-pounder Guns and 3-inch Rifles. 4. Federal 12-pounder Field Howitzers. 5. Confederate 12-pounder Field Howitzers. 6. Federal Napoleon Guns. 7. Confederate Napoleon Guns. 8. Parrott Rifles. 9. 3-inch Ordnance Rifles. 10. False Napoleons and Gettysburg Replicas. 11. The Small Ones. 12. Boat Howitzers. 13. James Smoothbores and Rifles. 14. The Rare Ones. 15. Too Big for the Field. 16. British Rifled Cannon. 17. Carriages. 18. Conclusions.

The chapters are well illustrated with photographs and schematics of the gun tubes. There are also detailed dimensional specification tables, and some estimated production counts of various types. Following the main text is an extensive set of appendices that serve as a catalog of known foundries, inspectors, designations, foundry numbers, weights, and locations of known survivors,

I highly recommend this work to anyone who wants to be able to identify nearly any Civil War field gun he/she comes across. However, I don't recommend it as a detailed work on the employment of Civil War field artillery--that is not the objective or nature of the book.

Note: The companion work for the heavy artillery is "The Big Guns. Civil War Siege, Seacoast, and Naval Cannon" by Edwin Olmstead, Wayne E. Stark, and Spencer C. Tucker. It follows the same format and style, but its availability is limited.

A comprehensive source of information on the field guns used by both sides of the american civil war. Provides each weapon's history and statistics. Extremely informative.

No civil war library should be without it.

An excellent companion to other book The Big Guns by Omstead and Wayne E. Stark and Spencer C. Tucker which covers the big guns of the conflict.

Most editorial and Amazon reviews praised this book of its value on organisational management. To me, this is more a personal management book which I learnt some new ideas and revisited some present ones, all in a highly comprehensible, interesting and easy reading manner. Some points for your reference are:-

1) The heart is not just an organ for pumping blood, but with the second largest amount of neuron (the same type of cell for the functioning in our brain). We do have a lot of it in our digestion system as well, a possible explanation to our heart and gut feelings.

2) Stress affects our production of hormones and drains our energy. Extended period of stress leads to maladaptation and thus premature aging and health problems. I like the author's refering to the fish in the highly contaminated Hudson River.

3) The analogy of the natural frequency in nature (ref the resonance for string instructment) to the need for dynamic balance inside a human and thus an organisation for optimal performance.

In short, though I dont believe the approach prescribed by this book can help much to improve the culture of many big corps, I do regard this as a very good book and I do recommend this to any business person who still has the heart for improvement.

Balance and Coherence in the corporate world? Ha! Then I read the book.... As an Executive Assistant with over 18 years of experience I wish that each and every Manager, Director, and VP that I have supported read this book - AND practiced the methods that Childre and Cryer describe. I will be buying copies of this book for all my "bosses".

Doc Childre and Bruce Cryer have identified a simple blueprint that I think will be the key to changing existing corporate cultures and organizational climates into what they will need to be to survive in the 21st century. Leaders like Jack Welch of GE and Steven Covey have already told us that what will be critical to success in the future is "soft stuff with hard results" and From Chaos to Coherence shows us how to do that with ease, grace, and success!

For any CEO, VP, Manager, Staff, Front Line worker- the simplicity of the concepts, the scientific foundation of the technology, and the ratio of success achieved by major organizations makes this book worth the read.

The simple premise of exercising, on a consistent basis, the innate positive qualities of basic human nature is consistent with the success we see Fast Companies having. With the increasing mental and emotional chaos written about in many articles, business magazines, newspapers, and management books, this book by Childre and Cryer is not only refreshing, but also provides practical solutions carefully laid out in what they call the four dynamics of inner quality management.

I have already started applying their simple processes to my life and my business problems and am experiencing immediate improvements in my mental clarity, productivity, and emotional state, particularly in high pressure situations. As the phrase inner quality implies, I believe we have to take care of ourselves internally first so that we can take care of business!

Balance and Coherence in the corporate world? Ha! Then I read the book.... As an Executive Assistant with over 18 years of experience I wish that each and every Manager, Director, and VP that I have supported read this book - AND practiced the methods that Childre and Cryer describe. I will be buying copies of this book for all my "bosses".

I am a business consultant. As I read this book the words "This is it" kept running through my brain. These principles of Internal self-management are the antidote to the illness I see in too many organizations. Very talented individuals with a desire to do their very best are losing their spirits and hemorrhaging under the perception that they "can't manage the pace" anymore. Stress and overwhelm feed cynicism which quickly leads to breakdown. Doc Childre and Bruce Cryer have show us the map to restore and sustain organizational vitality and wellness. How to thrive as individuals and then thrive as teams and organizations. I clearly see that these tools are practical, have scientific underpinning and have been field-tested and proven. Imagine the impact on quality, climate and profits if an organization was able to transform even 15% of its Chaos into Coherence. If each organization has a "collective brain", it should be processing its information coherently and creatively, and the lifeblood of that organization (the spirit of its employees) should be coursing thru this oganism with full hearts. Bravo to Doc Childre and Bruce Cryer for showing us how to enter the 21st century with the tools to make this a reality. I'm recommending that every business manager, CEO, VP, administrator and politician study this book, learn the techniques for themselves and bring this to their organizations.

I need to say that after Lead Generation for the Complex Sale: Boost the Quality and Quantity of Leads to Increase Your ROIManaging Sales Leads: Turning Cold Prospects into Hot Customers - those 2 books I was not expecting anything new, even because this one is older than those 2.
But!
I was wrong. This book offers a lot more another type of information, than mentioned above books does,and for your library you must have all of them.
In this book, you will find:

- Special insights on lead nurturing (author calls them as lead development)
- Special thoughts about B2B customer loyalty issues - till now, no B2B books are covering this important topic;

What is bad, that author concentrates too much on lead classification by NAICS codes - that is what you can not use, if you are not selling in USA,so for me as international sales manager, and outside USA this part of book is not useful.

Good book, you will not be dissapointed

This is an excellent book on b2b direct marketing. The book strives to give a broad but balanced overview of the subject and also try to convince the reader why direct marketing is the way forward. You will not regret reading it, especially if you are new to the subject or need convincing.

However, if you are already an experienced practitioner looking to fine tune your implmentation, you may find the book lacking some tips on the execution side. The book tends to focus more on general methodology. None the less, it is not an exageration to say it is a must have, on your book shelf if you are involved in B2B marketing at all.

This book is a wake-up call for marketing and sales organizations. The old ways of going-to-market are no longer effective in today's business environment.

John Coe clearly understands the new sales paradigm and what it takes to be successful. He shows readers what it takes to:
- Break through the marketing clutter and get noticed.
- Obtain high quality leads and convert them to sales.
- Create and execute an effective campaign.

From the very first page of this book, I was hooked - and I'm a pretty discriminating reader. As someone who specializes in new product launches, I'm pretty cynical about most books since they just keep regurgitating old, time-worn strategies and tactics.

This book is different. Well worth the investment.

Jill Konrath

CEO, Leapfrog-Strategies
http://www.Leapfrog-Strategies.com

Founder of top sales portal:
http://www.sellingtobigcompanies.com

John Coe's New Sales Coverage Model explains a holistic approach to marketing, which aligns marketing and sales together.

If you're like most readers you will be tempted to skip over the fundamentals that John Coe lays out such as database design, planning, and micro-segmentation.

The thing about marketing is that many marketers enjoy the creative process but few have the discipline for execution. Coe's book lays out an effective strategy, which requires teamwork and a shared vision involving all players.

This practical book lays out step-by-step what you need to do to sell more and spend less. Great book!

Brian Carroll
Author of Lead Generation for the Complex Sale : Boost the Quality and Quantity of Leads to Increase Your ROI

Coe has a fresh look at how we must do business today. This book is written in a conversational tone with great examples. It's the perfect refresher for a seasoned sales consultant and it outlines the basic principals for entry-level sellers.

This book is a must as a resource and reference!

As the author of this book, I am admittedly biased ... but in all candor I do believe that it is the most comprehensive book available on the subject of air pollution dispersion modeling. I would also like to point out that the book is not out of print nor is it limited in availability. It is completely available at www.amazon.com (but not at www.amazon.ca).

.
This book book is an excellent reference source and working tool for any engineer interested in learning about air pollution dispersion modeling.

It offers easy to understand explanations of very complex subjects and is very well organized. It starts from basic fundamentals and takes the reader through the different aspects of dispersion modeling in simple, easy to understand terms. There are also a good many example problems, worked out in complete detail, which are excellent learning tools.

I recently purchased a new copy of this book from the Market Place at www.amazon.com and it is, by far, the best book I've seen on the subject of air pollution dispersion modeling. I highly recommend it.

I recently purchased this book from www.amazon.com (it wasn't available on www.amazon.ca for some reason) and it is absolutely the best technical book that I have ever read. Everything is explained very simply and very clearly. The example calculations were very helpful. The shipment was very prompt and the book arrived in excellent condition.

Mr. Beychok's book is an excellent reference source and working tool for any engineer interested in stack gas dispersion. I have had occasion to use this book for unusual problems such as flare upsets with aerosol release and found it to be easily used. An especially valuable aspect of the book is its careful development of all data and equations for dispersion models. I highly recommend this book for anyone performing or interested in understanding dispersion.

This is an excellent book for the basics of vehicle dynamics. It covers the main topics in a straightforward, easy to understand way and has good examples. The only thing preventing a 5 star rating is that the book is a little dated having been written in the late 1980's. Some of the references therefore need to be updated.

Professor Gillispie did an outstanding job with this book. He provides a comprehensive introduction to the mechanics of tire forces, handling, ride-quality, noise, vibration, and durability. The level of detail is just right for those new to the field, or needing an occasional reference book. A judicious mix of theory and practice. Highly recommended.

If you are into equations, knock yourself out, this book has a lot of them, and for me, it explains them enough to understand them. I had to remember my days at the university, but it has definitely what I was looking for. I guess is a must for anyone trying to build a car seriously

Most dynamics books are kinda hard to read or dont give adequate examples/problems. I found this book to be useful and easy to read. It covers nearly every topic of the automobile from tires to ride and handling, braking conditions and aerodynamics. All pretty concise but worthwhile. The $100 or so will definitely be worth it. Makes a great reference book for any basic auto dynamics needs.

Thomas Gillespie is able to explain the fundamental principles of vehicle dynamics in his book. For those new to the subject of vehicle dynamics, this work will lay the foundation for more advanced reading. Those with science, math and engineering degrees, or those familiar with technical literature, will find the reading easy to understand in comparison to some other works. This allows the reader to focus their attention on understanding the "big picture," and not getting lost in particular formulae. However, for those doing research in the field or pursuing this as a career, there are more advanced texts available.

After hearing the author speak on a panel about the future, I decided to buy his book. And what a fabulous book it is! Displaying in-depth knowledge, and conveying it in an entertaining and clear manner usually don't go together. That is what makes this book a great read.
If you like ideas, thinking about them, exploring them, etc., then you will love this book.

Highly recommended reading for anyone. It contains important ideas. I think about its relevance, particularly in light of the news [daily] about an upcoming Recession. While this may tend to put us in knee-jerk reaction-mode, thinking about what we have to do presently in reaction to the possible conditions of the next 12-18 months; it is actually now more than ever that we need a framework for thinking about what is on the 10-20 year horizon. If you could effectively do that [i.e., build the scenario for 10-20 years out, and alter your current plans accordingly], imagine how far ahead of your competition you would be -- in business and in life.

I think knowing about trends and anticipating the future is an invaluable skill for consultants and senior HR people. This is especially true for the latter if they want to be a strategic player. If you truly want to make your "place at the table" being a "business futurist" is one way to do it. I just finished reading Eric Garland's Future Inc.: How Businesses Can Anticipate and Profit from What's Next and I think it is excellent. Garland steps you through the process of viewing the world as a system, recognizing trends, developing scenarios, drawing pictures to make those scenarios easier to communicate and then actually communicating the future to your target audience. One tool that I found to be very helpful, in fact I have already applied it to one consulting situation, is what he called the STEEP model. It is a model that you can use to think about all the potential impacts on your situation, as an example, your current recruiting method. STEEP stands for:


Society
Technology
Economics
Ecology
Politics
Thus, if you were trying to determine what future recruitment for you company might look like you would consider these areas and what their impact might be on recruiting. For example, society might include, Gen Y considerations, talent shortages, demographics, migration patterns, and educational shortages. Technology might include the impact of Internet recruiting and video resumes. Economics might include inflation, cost-of-living, and relocation expense. Ecology might include "green" considerations and your company's reputation. Politics might include federal and state legislative changes that would change discrimination definitions. If you get nothing else out of this book other than the use of this tool it will be well worth the price of the book.

Garland then finishes the book with his take on what he calls the "Drivers of the Future." He discusses: Aging, Information Technology, Health Care (versus what we do today which is 'sick care'), Biotechnology, Energy, Nanotechnology, Media and Communications, and Ecology and Sustainability. All of them are important, but for the HR professional the first three are of particular importance.

The key point of his book is to view the world as a system and to realize that there are multiple impacts on whatever you are working on and to be effective in anticipating the future you must consider this system. That is why the STEEP tool is so effective. This can be put to use today in ALL HR departments and it will have an immediate impact on how you view the strategic aspect of your job and how you are viewed as a contributor to strategy.

I was attending a social event and bumped into Eric Garland. His ideas of the future intrigued me enough to buy my own copy of Future Inc. After reading his book, I have come to learn that the study of the future is its own discipline. Studying the future can help organizations "profit from what's next." Truly, the future is something all of us should be thinking about more.

I travel the country speaking and consulting on topics that help organizations build stronger and more profitable relationships. Meeting thousands of individuals and hearing their stories, many folks are singly focused on the short-term gains. This focus makes them miss many important direct and indirect trends and forces. Garland suggests and I agree, that we should use a model to capture the trends and forces. He recommends using the STEEP model (society, technology, economics, ecology, and politics) along with scenarios. Scenarios portray various futures to help decision makers understand the direct and indirect trends and forces that shape their own organizational stories.

Page 27 sums this concept nicely, "When you think about a problem or anything else, no matter how complex, take it apart. If it's a product, find out where its supplies or components came from, who participated in its creation, and where it all began. If you can see all parts of the system, then you have a much better chance of seeing where the next change will come from."

I appreciate the thorough approach to the study of the future along with the practical tools you can use today. I especially enjoyed chapters 5 (Strategic Implications: What the Future Means to You), 6 (Scenario Generation: Drawing a Picture of the Future), and 7 (Communicating the Future--Even to the Skeptical).

As a newcomer to the field of information technology, I was hopeful that this book would provide insights on how to manage change from a technological viewpoint. Although the purpose of the book was not technology alone, the theme was intertwined throughout the book and explored in creative ways. The technology topics were not discussed in depth which left room to explore analysis techniques. These tools will be applicable even when current technologies are obsolete. Therefore, this book will be a reference for years to come.

The book is divided into two sections: Tools and Techniques and Drivers of the Future. In the first section, each chapter discusses one important stage of the futurism process. The second half devotes a chapter each to eight different broad categories of trends. Each chapter contains real world examples that demonstrate companies succeeding or failing at strategically planning for the future. The last page of each chapter contains a handy checklist of the important points from the chapter and a section explaining activities or implications of the topic. This provides a quick reference guide and easy access to information from the chapter.

The basic premise of the book is to introduce futurism and provide the tools necessary to develop scenarios of the future that may not be obvious to the analyst. The step by step process is easy to follow and uses graphics to illustrate key points. In fact, Garland stresses that graphical representations lead to the successful implementation of the futurist techniques. Wagner in "Partners for Progress" supports this when she explains how road maps help leaders focus on ways of conceptualizing the future. Garland uses many real business examples that illustrate his points in dramatic ways. He even manages to show how chocolate bars and bottles of beer are affected by technology trends.

In the second section of the book, Drivers of the Future, the author begins by stating that new capabilities in information technology are leading most changes. Then, he scratches the surface of other topics and devotes a chapter to each: aging, information technology, heath care, biotechnology, energy, nanotechnologies, media and communications, and ecology and sustainability trends. To my surprise, the theme of technology was present in each of the topics. From the notion of smart homes that support the changing needs of the aging population to the nanotechnologies that are changing healthcare, technology is either responsible or reactive to the evolving society. To remain competitive, businesses must stay informed on all of these topics and prepare for the future.

Of these broad topics, the aging trend was particularly interesting to me. Charles Lanigan in "Preparing a Capable Workforce for the Knowledge Economy" underscores the importance of the aging trend as he discusses the effects of the changing demographics. As the shift from physical labor to intellectual labor continues, businesses must face the fact that capturing the knowledge from retiring employees is not an easy task. Businesses must create tools to enable the proliferation of knowledge. In addition, he states that "many problems in our modern world are caused or exacerbated by human beings who fail to think and communicate, relate to others or respond mindfully to changing circumstances". This is one of many reasons why Garland's tools and techniques are valuable for the success of a company.

One other item of note is the chapter dedicated to information technology trends. Although technology plays a major role throughout the book, the ideas presented in this chapter support Nicholas Carr's controversial IT ideas in "IT Doesn't Matter." Garland acknowledges that information technology is becoming more powerful, less expensive, and available to all. Both Carr and Garland treat IT as a commodity that does not provide a strategic advantage from competitors.

After reading this book, I was left with two questions. First, how do companies assign a value to each scenario? The book successfully demonstrates the tools that are required to list possible outcomes, but it is lacking in the valuation department. Secondly, how do companies successfully implement the scenario? Andy Hines, a leading futurist by his own right, provides a complimentary process to Garland's but in six phases. He starts with understanding the present with what he calls "Framing" and "Scanning" steps. Then, he explores the future in the "Forecasting" stage. After his "Visioning" and "Planning" stages he explains the "Acting" stage where he describes how to implement the plan. Garland stops short of this final implementation phase.

In conclusion, anyone involved with strategic planning should definitely have the tools that Garland describes in this book. His step-by-step process engages the organization in seeing the value of looking at a broad range of areas and has brought many companies successfully into the future.

References
Carr, N.G. (2003), "IT Doesn't Matter." Harvard Business Review, (81:5), May 2003.
Hines, A. (2006) "Strategic Foresight." The Futurist, Sept/Oct 2006.
Lanigan, C. (2007), "Preparing a Capable Workforce for the Knowledge Economy." CIO Magazine, March 14, 2007.
Wagner, C. (2006), "Partners for Progress: Creating Global Strategies for Humanity's Future", The Futurist, Nov/Dec 2006.

Developing speech applications is not easy to master. Even with VoiceXML becoming more widely adopted, there are a lot of intricacies that that a developer must understand. This book will provide you with a solid foundation to become an effective speech application developer.

The book did very well in presenting the limitations of the current speech recognition technology (dialog design, large vocabularies, promtp design, etc.) and made suggestions on how to overcome such problems in specific situations.

When this book came out a couple of years ago it was the first and only book on designing speech recognition systems. It was very valuable then, but now more books are available that cover the same information and more, for a lot less money.

This book is simply the best for your bookcase if you are a voice dialogue designer. I would strongly recommend it to novice and expert alike, especially for those learning VoiceXML for the first time, or working with it day to day.

Grounded in hours of human-computer experiments, and a multi-disciplinary approach to user interface design - this book is a rare combination of a careful ear for human language and dialogue, extensive engineering experience, and pragmatic knowledge of the strengths and limitations of current voice recognition technology.

The second edition has brought it bang up-to-date. It cuts through the hype that has always surrounded each successive generation of voice technology - focussing always on the building of robust useable interfaces which work with the user rather than against them.

This book is so well organized and articulated it's bound to be of value to anyone doing ASR application development. My own experience in voice response runs from end-user representative to application designer and I found every chapter enlightening. In this second edition of Bruce and David's ASR style guide, I believe the end users will find the new sections on voice portals and managing your voice talent of particular interest. And all users should take particular note of the expanded discussions of usability testing and performance reporting.

I found the first version of How to Build a Speech Recognition Application so useful that I actually took the time to compared the new edition, page for page, with the original. That was a relatively easy task, because the authors retained the original section numbering wherever possible. My comparison showed that the original guidelines have been substantially updated, based on continuing research and the hands-on experiences of both the authors and other acknowledged experts. In addition, I believe the new sections and expanded discussions of critical design considerations are going to prove valuable to both novice and seasoned developers.

In short, developing effective telephony dialogues is a complex, rapidly evolving and downright expensive task. Given that reality, every development team ought to have at least one copy of this landmark style guide.

Author, Bruce Balentine's goal with How to Build a Speech Recognition Application is to produce the Strunk and White of speech recognition. An electronic musician and composer, Balentine was a pioneer in the speech recognition field. The text's examination of the problems of navigation from human perception to machine recognition give comprehension to even the layman. The book is well organized and structured with the +,/,- system which allows a novice to follow. According to linguist, Dr. John White, the first chapter could stand alone as a treatise on the dynamics of the human speech interface with the machine.

I HAVE BEEN AN ALAMO FAN ALL OF MY LIFE. I HAVE ALMOST EVERY BOOK AND ALAMO MOVIE EVER MADE IT SEEMS. THIS IS A TREMENDOUS BOOK. FOR A VIEW OF THE ALAMO COMPOUND YOU CANNOT DO BETTER THAN THIS BOOK. WELL DONE. IT'S ABOUT TIME. FOR THE ALAMO EXPERT, HISTORY FAN OR SOMEONE WHO WANTS A VIEW OF THE ALAMO AS IT ACTUALLY LOOKED AT THE TIME OF THE BATTLE THIS IS YOUR BOOK. OH FOR THE RECORD NOT ALL OF THE ALAMO DEFENDERS WERE SLAVE OWNERS THEY WERE MOSTLY MEN DEFENDING THEIR LIBERTY. IT WAS ALSO NOT A RACE WAR IT WAR A CIVIL WAR. REMEMBER THE ALAMO. AND I STILL THINK THAT DAVID CROCKETT WENT DOWN SWINGING.

If you are looking for a complete detailed description of the Alamo fortress - this is it ...Great

I seldom enter Amazon reviews but this book so far exceeded my expectations I had to put up a 5 star review. There is nothing I can add to the very good reviews already posted - if you have even a passing interest in the Alamo or Texas history you will be entranced by this book. A steal at the price.

Historians who have focused considerable attention on the 1836 siege and battle of the Alamo have, no doubt, often longed to learn exactly what the place looked like at that time. Numerous paintings, drawings, diagrams, dioramas and models have attempted a close representation of the makeshift fortress, but often have created as much confusion as clarity.

Mark Lemon set out to rescue the original mission-turned-fortress from years of destruction, decay and Hollywood distortion. This he achieved through a thorough examination of surviving records, drawings, diagrams, maps, plats, photographs and archeological discoveries at the Alamo from the time of the battle to the present. His book get's you inside the Alamo, and outside too - what it looked like, almost what it must have felt and smelled like, to both the besieged Texians and their Mexican besiegers. He was able to literally recreate the fortress in a 1/48 scale model, based on all surviving documentation about the Alamo. The enhanced photos of the model by Gary L. Foreman with artistic embellishment by William Hamilton, create a breathtaking panorama of what the Alamo looked like in 1836 when the Mexican army under General Santa Anna approached and laid siege to it. The size of the model enabled the artists to capture incredibly minute details of the fort's interior as well, down to the hand tools used by the Alamo defenders, stretched hides outside the fort's kitchen, and the long-gone iconic statues that once stood in the church's niches.

All of this is supplemented by countless drawings, sketches, diagrams and schematics that detail every corner of the compound, most of which disappeared long ago. Lemon's intricate knowledge of the fort enabled him to create drawings of interiors, including James Bowie's sick room, that were previously the purview of speculation alone.

The book goes beyond mere representation by suggesting how an understanding of the fort's structure enhances our knowledge of the siege and battle. Gun emplacements, for example, are recreated down the finest detail, as is the actual construction of the various buildings in the compound, including thathched-roofed adobe houses that were part of the outer walls.

The book is a gorgeous work of art and an invaluable, historical document that will remain the standard in Alamo representation for some time. The only closer view we'll get of the 1836 Alamo will have to be from a time machine.

Lemon's book should serve as a powerful motivation for the City of San Antonio to recover the Alamo grounds and recreate the fortress to the extent possible. The millions of visitors who walk the grounds each year should be given a far better idea of what the Alamo really was, rather than the tasteless assortment of junk shops that now stand where Travis, Bowie and Crockett fought and fell.

AW

For over forty years, I have been deeply interested in the Alamo and the historic/heroic battle that was fought there. And I have often wondered how the Alamo truly appeared in 1836 and what I might have seen had I been there. Would it resemble the accepted depictions I've seen in numerous books? Would some of the Alamo's unique features be there or would reality reveal something else? When viewing all the graphic evidence together, it becomes both a confusing and difficult task when trying to decide who is right and who is wrong. Am I looking at fact or fiction...artistic interpretation or a true rendering? Well, after carefully examining Mark Lemon's ground-breaking book - "The Illustrated Alamo 1836: A photographic Journey", I can say, "I know...I've been there."

Prior to the release of Mark Lemon's work, artist/historian George Nelson produced - "The Alamo: An Illustrated History" in 1998. A year later in 1999, historian Alan Huffines and historical illustrator Gary Zaboly presented - "The Blood of Noble Men." Both Nelson, and in paticular, Zaboly, began a process of peeling away the myths and fallacies that had become some much a part of the Alamo's architectural legend. Mark Lemon has, not just taken the next step, but has made a gigantic leap...and we, the readers, as well as the Alamo itself, are the beneficiaries. "The Illustrated Alamo 1836: A Photographic Journey" is without question a landmark book that beautifully documents one of this countries most treasured landmarks. Mark Lemon's hard work and dedication has delivered the goods...and believe me, there is much "good."

Clearly, Lemon's penchant for detail, no matter how small, is obvious in each picture and drawing. Every brick, every stone, every stick...every shovelful of earth, appears to have been calculated and accounted for. His devotion to the truth about the Alamo's true architectural history has produced a "must have" book that will be referred to for generations.

Enhancing Mark Lemon's amazing reproduction is the backround work of filmmaker and photographer Gary Forman and graphic designer William Hamilton. The team of Forman and Hamilton have successfully taken Lemon's Alamo and transported it from the worktable to the banks of the San Antonio river. The realistic addition of earth and sky contribute mightly to the effect that "you are there" and help the reader complete the "journey." This is a book I strongly recommend and I eagerly look forward to Mark Lemon's next pictorial endeavor.

Yeah, it's not perfect but it isn't totally dry reading and it is great as one of several first books. I just liked reading it and I didn't fall asleep while doing it like some of the other bee books I have. Also picked up info not in some of the other books. Heck, used ones are so cheap it is very worth buying.

This was the book that turned me into a beekeeper, before I ever bought my first colony. The information on basic beekeeping is solid, and the descriptions are engaging.

I have read most of the beekeeping books that Amazon carries and I will highly recommend this book to anyone looking to get into beekeeping. It goes into a lot of detail just where a new keeper needs it. If you are an experienced beekeeper and are looking for detailed information in things like queen rearing then you may want to to get a book written specifically on the subject because that area in particular is a volume or two into itself.

A nice read, but having kept bees for about 4 months now I found it a little weak. Prior to Vivian's I have read a book by Dadant Publishing which gave a good foundation. Also talking with other beekeepers has also helped conciderably. At times I found the book a little on the quaint-side which for me wasn't of interest. Also found his section on Africanized bees (so-called Killer bees) weak. Presently I am in Brazil working with these bees. Certainly they require a different approach a little more protection and a larger smoker, etc. I've been working with them since I started and am still at it. Certainly they can be aggressive, but one learns to adapt and they are a good producer of honey. An excellent and well informed article on the Africanized Bee can be found in "ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture" by A. I Root. The article gives a balanced and much more positive picture of our little Africans. They tend to be more disease and mite resistant, and build up quickly, etc.. So don't worry to much they might even bring some positive aspects to their weaker European cousins.

This was my first book on beekeeping, and I whole-heartedly recommend it to any beginning beekeeper. I now have some 20+ beekeeping books but this is still my personal favorite. The information on bee diseases is a little old, but the clear concise explanations of all other aspects of small scale beekeeping and his warm writing style more than make up for this. Mr. Vivian obviously enjoys his bees and his affection for them only serves to foster the same in the reader. If you are thinking of beekeeping, or introducing the subject to a friend then this is the book to buy.

This soft-cover book is written like a children's textbook, but Hine's photos look great all throughout. There are quite a few full-page prints, roughly 8x6 sized. I'm very satisfied with the purchase; only Aperture would print a book with better quality reproductions, and that's out of my price range right now.

Lewis Hine was a photographer who took pictures of young children at work. There were many different jobs that children held during the late 1800's into the early 1900's. Hine's photographs were extremely powerful. Each photograph provided information about the types of jobs children held and gave some family history. The majority of the children had little to no education because their parents relied on them to work and earn an income. Many of the factories preferred the work of younger children compared to adults because the children were quicker and were too young to complain. Hine has displayed photos in this book of children as young as four years old shucking oysters. The most dangerous job that was portrayed in the book was coal mining, unfortunately it was also the best paying job; a child had to be at least fourteen to perform the tasks. Parents often lied about their child's age to get them into the mines. The book would have been just as powerful without any of the information. The pictures were enough to convey the children's stories. Russell Freedman has done a wonderful job putting this book together. Seeing the children physically working was moving and emotional, which helped the author get his point across.

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This book weaves Hine's story together with his photographs of kids working in Maine's sardine canneries, Texas cotton fields, New York laundries, Tennessee and Georgia cotton mills and in textile mills all over the U.S. south. He took some of the most haunting photos of dark tunnels and grimy breaker rooms in Pennsylvania coalmines. He went inside glass factories, to farms, and onto city streets at 1 a.m. to photograph children distributing newspapers and 1 p.m. to watch them shining boots.

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If your kids occasionally gripe that they have it tough, get them this book and show them what the word means. Alyssa A. Lappen

This is a nonfiction photographic essay book that will touch any reader's heart. Mr. Freedman seems to know the facts and life of Mr. Hine very well. There is an extensive bibliography at the end of the book as wee. The information at the end seemed hard to believe but true. The book is only 11 years old so the facts aren't that dated. There are many saddening facts in this book. It reveals the truths about child labor in the text and photos.
The book was written to shine light on child labor history and to showcase some of Mr. Hine's photographs. The book is very interesting to read. There are quotes from some kids who worked in the factories and also some quotes from Mr. Hine who took great pride in accurately recording the facts about his subjects. This book could spark an interest in further study of this topic.
The information in this book is broken down and presented in an understandable order. The text is a harsh reality but it is presented well. The style gets the reader emotionally involved. The language is relatively simple and easy to read.
The information is laid out well and the references are listed in the back. There is a table of contents and bibliography and acknowledgement page.
The photos are a wonderful enhancement. The book would be nothing with out them. They are strategically placed and make the book what it is. There are captions that describe the pictures and they are discussed in the text.
This book could be used in the classroom to show what life was like and to talk about immigration and economic conditions.

Freedman has collected dozens of black and white photographs taken by Lewis Hine during the first decades of the twentieth century. Hine worked as an investigational photographer for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC). The NCLC wanted the United States government to pass laws concerning child labor, and thought that photos of the work children did would be more effective persuaders than mere speeches and statistics. Hine traveled the nation with his camera taking photographs, sometimes despite risk to his person.

The text of the book serves partly as a brief biography of Lewis Hine, and partly as explanatory backdrop for the scenes in the photographs. Freeman gives enough background information to put the images in their context, but not so much data as to overwhelm the reader. The machines, tools and environments are so strange to the modern eye that without clarification, many pictures would be meaningless.

The most shocking photographs in the collection are of the young boys involved in the coalmines. The filth on their faces, hands and clothing is astonishing. By comparison, the dangers and deplorable conditions of working in a cotton mill are not as readily apparent as those of working in a coal mine. However, reading Freeman's text exposes the dangers of moving machinery and smothering lint and humidity not so clear in the photos.

The book concludes by sharing the changes in child labor laws that Hine's photographs helped bring about, as well as information on the child labor situation of today.

This book is full of eye opening and shocking information for the unaware. School may be hard, but without child labor laws things could be so much worse.