Works Books

This is the most update book I have seen. I love the charts and the chapters. It is extremely well organized.

This book is by far the best book that I have read on miscarriage. It helped me to truly understand what was going on with my body during a very scary time. It also gave me hope for the future. It combines real life stories with the scientific data. I recommend this book for anyone the is miscarrying, has miscarried, is pregnant, or wants to get pregnant. 2 thumbs up!!!

This is the book for women who want to take control of their fertility life. This book explains what causes miscarriages, how to test, and what your probabilities are of having different diagnosis or future miscarriages.

Even if you are just wanting to be able to ask intelligent questions to your doctor or fertility specialist, this enables you to have your research done.

No place online - No other book - Nothing I have read has enabled me to feel in control of this situation giving me a direct way to help diagnose myself (to an extent) and give me freedom and ability to question the - "Just go try again." line that you get from doctors.

Strongly recommended to anyone who has had an unfortunate multiple pregnancy loss such as I have.

I was initially a little apprehensive about this book, wondering if it was going to leave me feeling more worried or be full of information that I could do nothing with. It doesn't. This is one of the best books I've read so far and it is so full of up to date information. The author makes it so easy to read, even though it is primarily medical info. The stories that precede each chapter are touching, and a great way to add a personal experience you may relate to. In short, great book, worth every penny, wonderful information. You truly will feel armed with the info you need to confidently experience pregnancy again.

I recommend this book to anyone wanting to have a baby. I wish I had read it before we had a miscarriage and then an ectopic pregnancy. It is reader-friendly and is packed with invaluable information about every aspect of pregnancy loss: physical, emotional, relational, medical. The author speaks from personal experience as well as the experiences of many other couples. Armed with the information in this book alone, I feel confident that we will realize our dream of a healthy pregnancy. I now know what questions to ask, what medical support to request, and when to advocate for my self and my baby.

As a beginer I fould this book priceless! There was a section on basic blacksmith tools, another on some art tipe work, and a lot of have to know about the forge and fire. I would highly recomend this book if you are starting out.

I took this book to the local 'smith meeting in Woodville, Tx. I think everyone there has a copy or is looking foward to getting on.

Thanks to the the author for producing a great book. Looking foward to the next one.

Gary Antley
Possum Walk Texas

This is a great book to add to your collection. There is lots of information and pictures. I bought this book for my husband who has done a little blacksmithing and is wanting to set up a shop at home. He has several other blacksmithing books and really liked this book.

A good beginners book, But as a working smith I enjoyed it and found some good tricks, and ideas for my own work.
Great illistrations, good projecte.

This is a good beginner to intermediate book to help someone understand and start blacksmithing. The suthor is well versed in her art and provides good pictures for students to better understand the forging process. Like most books of this kind, however, a student is best served having taken a ahort course in blacksmithing to better understand the terminology.

Although I am very familiar with working with Metal, and many other forms of crafting, I knew little of Blacksmithing. I have always been interested in Blacksmiths since I was a child, but knew nothing of their background, history, and the tricks of the trade so to say that they used to form beautiful and more importantly, useful items that they created.

I recently had the opportunity to work in a blacksmith shop, but I had to do so alone, as the former blacksmith had moved on. Hence I purchased several books to learn of their ways.

I was very interested in this book for one just because it was written by a female blacksmith, something I found to be unheard of, as I never in my life saw a female blacksmith working any forge I ever encountered. I felt that I had to have this book over all others as it would give me not just knowledge of blacksmithing, but a woman's point of view on it, which I felt could be very enlightening.

I could not have been more correct. This is so far the best book I have purchased on blacksmithing, and I have purchased 8 here through Amazon. This book is very well written, depicted, laid out, and explained. I loved the mixture of some of the history, and more so the insight of the craft. For example a simple account of how you will keep getting burned, I laughed over for some time, and yes, so far, I have gotten burned twice. Yea, I'm a newbie, read the book, you will laugh and only then really understand this statement. Also how the Blacksmith bug will bite you and you know it has if scraps of iron start to almost call out to you, grabbing your full attention since as you look at it, you depict in your mind all the things you could make that piece into. I for one remember that line in the book since I have already noticed that the Bug has fully bitten and infected me.

Out of reading the whole book, I was only left with 2 or 3 items that I didn't understand, and that may have been that I missed something in my reading of it, since I did so in a hurried piecemeal fashion. In other words, when I had to put it down or get fired from work, I hurriedly picked it back up as soon as I could to read more!

This is an awesome book. If you are to buy only ONE book, then make it this one. Even the projects in the back are as good as or better than a Project book I purchased. LOL... Enjoy!

Received it as a gift and it sits on my coffee table (always viewed by guests). I bought it for my stepdad who said "It's a great toilet book--I read an entry every day."

I purchased this as a gift for a friends 15 year old daughter (who has become a huge Beatles fan). When she opened it up, her eyes said it all...she absolutely loved the photo's and the captions for each picture. I thought it was literally one page/ picture for each day of the calendar year...so I went to look for June 15...and it wasn't there, but there were about 4 pages on June 8. So it does add up to 365 days and crosses the years from 1964-1970, but if you are like me and wanted to see what the Beatles were doing on your birthday, you might not get to find out. But it's a great book and a great gift.

Absolutely stunning! Beautiful and personal photos that covers all four with stunning acuracy.

This book is an absolute treasure and worth every penny of the steep price I payed for it.The pictures are large and extremely high quality and most of them are in vivid color.Another wonderful thing is the fact that they are in chronological order,almost day by day from the end of 1962 to 1970.This is perfect for students of the Beatles because it gives an accurate visual history of the band to suppliment all of the written histories.This leads me to another important point.Anyone with eyes knows that not only is the music great but The Fab Four were indeed VERY nice to look at!And I don't think you have to be a woman,as I most certainly am,to notice that!This book is alot of fun.Because of the date order you see that Paul is wearing the same shirt almost two days in a row on their 1966 American tour!Wonder what happened?! Didn't Neil get to the local cleaners?No clean shirts left?I bet Paul was less than thrilled.To see their clothing styles change every 6 months or so is also interesting.The pictures of the concerts are fantastic especially the color ones.Some of them are large closeups.It also includes some of Bob Whiticker's beautiful photos.He took some of the best pictures of the Fabs and I don't mean the silly Butcher shots.This book should be in every Beatlemaniac's collection.

Excellent book with hundreds of rare photos.
High quality paper.
Recomended.

Written by a hard core Blythe fan, this book contains many full color pictures of the Blythe doll in real-life settings. The doll becomes more interesting as you look at the pictures. While I am NOT a fan of the Blythe doll, this book showed me why so many doll collectors have found her so fascinating, leading to her being re-made in Japan and gathering many more fans through out the world. This book was a labor of love for the photographer/author.

I think I got into Blythe dolls after seeing so many of clothes and accessories made for them on etsy.com. I bought this book to get some ideas on how to dress up my dolls and I just thought it was so cute! Some of the outfits are really great and a few are just out there. Overall, this is a great book to flip through. I gave it 4 stars because I think it would be really cool if they showed us the process of creating the looks for these dolls.

This is a fine book. All of the images make you suddenly forget they are dolls; you start feeling like watching models displaying designer clothes.
If you like Blythe, this is a must.
The edition is excellent.
Mint item...!

If you love Blythe dolls -- or dolls in general -- you will certainly love this book. It's got really creative photos of Blythe dolls. Very imaginative and well-done book!

I own a Blythe doll, which just recently arrived here at home after a lot of research on my part. I know about face types ("superior and "radiant"), the different companies who are allowed to reproduce the dolls (which were originally released in 1972 for one year only, by Kenner), customization of Blythe dolls, and the best websites to read tutorials on that, and where to find outfits for my new, fantastic Blythe!

As you may have guessed by now I am a "reading-type" person! Because of this, I felt that it would be fun and important to also add the books which photographer Gina Garan had created, to my Blythe collection.

The way the story goes, Gina received an original Kenner Blythe doll as a gift from someone who felt that Blythe looked like Gina. Gina began taking her on photoshoots and practicing taking pictures using her as a model. Shortly Gina was never without her. Since that time Blythe has travelled the world with Gina, making each of them famous both in the fashion arena and in charity work as well. Many of the Blythes in this wonderful book are dressed by top couture designers, and were later shown off in Vogue Nippon magazine, ultimately to be auctioned off to support children's charities. How great! The introduction to this book explains how that came about and is written by Junko Wong, a lovely person who met up with Gina and really got much of the interest in the Blythe phenomenon to grow.

As a mother of two children with severe dsabilities (and five sons in total!), I am always gratified to read about events which raise money for children's charities of all sorts!
However, that is actually beside the point in one sense. This book stands on its own as an elegant testimonial to a fantastic, personality packed creation...the doll who is Blythe.

Blythe dolls have four different eye colors! What you do is pull a string on the back of her head to make her eyes click to a different color. She has two "straight ahead" colors, then there is one which looks off to the right, and one which looks off to the left. One of the "straight ahead" colors is what is called the "main color". In the case of my doll, it is described as a "mysterious purple" color. I love all of her eye colors and they do change her expression and personality. Add a collection of doll clothes, such as the great ones you can get through Gina's own website, www.thisisblythe.com, which I thoroughly recommend, and you will be having the time of your life dressing up your own doll, photographing her, if you enjoy that, or just..loving her.

If you don't want to spend the money on a doll, buy this book instead! Or consider this other book This is Blythe, by Gina as well, available here on Amazon.com . Gina has captured every expresssion, every mood, every situation you might imagine coming up in a doll's daily life. She has accomplished it in a thoroughly charming, beautifully photographed manner!

If you have never seen Paris, see it with Blythe as your companion! Feel like a day at the beach? Blythe does, too!

Quiet times, dress-up times, visits to foreign countries galore; you will have a ball with Blythe at your side. I totally recommend this book and would not be without it. I love my doll, and I love Gina Garan for rediscovering the treasure that is Blythe!

This wonderful book (a Christmas gift) arrived quickly and in perfect condition. I belong to a "foodie book club" and they recommended this book. Thanks

I've read several books with food tips and I have to say this one has left me feeling a bit more inspired and more excited to cook. I know that's a bit corny to say but this book offers that extra information a cook needs, stuff other books only offer a small portion of. I definitely recommend this as something to add to your cooking collection.

I bought this to replace the copy I shared with my family. I should have ordered several. It is a great first cookbook and a good reference manual for experienced cooks. The alphabetical layout makes more sense and the book is full of good basic ideas for all types of food and methods.

I love this book! It's organized alphabetically making it an easy reference for quick questions, yet is written in an easy-to-follow, enjoyable tone that keeps me reading after I've found my answer. Listings include ingredients, techniques, and culinary approaches (ie "Cooking for the Week") and encyclopedic answers are enhanced by recipes, illustrations, "fascinating facts" (onions neutralize paint fumes) and endless tips. I've read many books on kitchen science but I return to this one most often for speedy references. As enjoyable for absolute beginner chefs as it is for seasoned pros.

An interesting concept is at the base of this book. It provides hundreds of recipes--as a part of what is described as 5,000 "ingenious kitchen hints, secrets, shortcuts, and solutions."

Coverage is from A to Z. Some examples of helpful hints. On page 3, substitutes for alcohol in recipes are noted. Instead of one tablespoon of sherry or Madeira, use one tablespoon of apple juice. Another item under A is the choice of the right apple for the right purpose. For example, Golden Delicious apples can be used for sauce, baking, salads, and eating; McIntosh apples are best for eating and sauce; and so on. And immediately after these hints, there is a nice recipe for spicy applesauce (using McIntosh apples). On page 75, for those readers addicted to Buffalo Chicken Wings, there is a recipe for Buffalo Hot Sauce. While I would prefer old-fashioned Tabasco Sauce, the recipe calls for somewhat milder hot pepper sauces, for palates that aren't as willing to burn. In addition, there are a couple recipes for using the sauce other than on chicken wings. What about making Mango Salsa? Page 268 features a simple, easy to make recipe. Polenta? Pages 377-378 provide a veritable "how to do it" mini-manual, including what to do if you err in making it (such as burning the bottom of the polenta). On Page 531, you can read how to prepare vegetables for grilling. For asparagus, snap off the tough ends and use direct heat to grill the vegetable. And so on and so on. A to Z? What about getting the zest from oranges to use in recipes? Here is one of the few places that I have run across this "how you do it" tidbit.

All in all, a very nice and useful volume.

I'll be brief. If you're a fan of adventure, of swashbuckling, of novels like Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo" - this book is for you. It's a thrilling novel full of vivid descriptions and interesting characteres.

I came to the novel "Captain" by something of a back door. Years ago I saw the screen version and loved it. As a matter of fact, I first read Prescott's history as a teenager and have been entranced with the Conquest ever since. In the last number of years I decided to write and, being a true aficionado of Mexican history, I explored the possibility of writing about the Conquest. Surely, I thought, there has been abundant English-language fiction written on this, one of the most phenomenal conquests in history. I was wrong. Except for Schellabarger, there seem to have been few novels written on the Conquest...from the Spanish point of view.

Having decided to write on the Conquest and, recognizing that Schellabarger and I would necessarily be walking on the same ground and contending with the same people--and recognizing that my novel[s] must be entirely unique--I purchased his book and read it thoroughly and critically. I believe I succeeded and my novels, "Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God", are the result. Are my insights and is my writing as good as Schellabargers'? I obviously can't answer that question myself. It's up to the reader.

My lead character, Rodrigo de la Pena, is a far darker character than Schellabarger's Pedro. Rodrigo is no "Count of Monte Cristo" and his relationships with women and Hernan Cortes are more tortured and complex. This doesn't mean that I don't enjoy Schellabarger's tale. Quite the contrary, I love it and think it is one of the truly great novels.

Ron Braithwaite author of Mexican Conquest novels, "Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"

I picked this book up for twelve cents (yes, twelve cents) at a used book sale, and it was by far the best twelve cents I have ever spent. I had previously read Shellabarger's Prince of Foxes while on a swashbuckler kick last summer, and so had reasonably high expectations for Captain from Castille. This book went well above and beyond my expectations. I find it hard to express just how good this book was. The reason I like the genre of swashbuckler books is that in them one finds the truest expression of the unbridled youthful imagination. From sword fights and pirates to code of honor and witty dialogue, this genre is the embodiment of the imagination of every young man. I have rarely, if ever, encountered a book which so stirs this sort of imagination as this book does. I think Shellabarger rises above even Dumas in this category. I am still amazed at the greatness of this book. How it is so unknown is beyond my means of explanation.

Captain from Castille is the account of the adventures of Pedro de Vargas, a young Spanish nobleman from Castille. He encounters the corrpution of the Spanish Inquisition, flees to the newly discovered New World, and joins Cortez in his war against the Aztecs. I have never read such an accurate depiction the journey of an innocent boy into a worldly-wise man as Shellabarger has created in this book. The transition is so smooth and seamless that it is not until the end of the book that you suddenly realize how far he has developed. It is only then that you can look back and see how incidents slowly shaped Pedro's thinking. In respect to innocence, Shellabarger seems to me to be exactly half-way between the childlike innocence of Robert Louis Stevenson and the crafty/worldy Dumas. Stevenson's books were born of the imagination of a young man confined to his mind by illness. Dumas' were the product of real-world experience. Shellabarger has sucessfully combined the two, managing to retain the innocent imagination of Stevenson along with the real-world practicality of Dumas. Pedro himself makes the journey from the one to the other in this book, and in the end rejects the latter for a newly-understood version of the former.

I really have little else to add that has not been said by previous reviewers. A few reviewers have been bothered by some of the chauvinistic remarks in the book, or by the justification of the conquest of the Aztecs. I think they have entirely misunderstood Shellabarger himself to be promoting these things. He was simply writing the book from the perspective of someone living in the 16th century. He actually spent a significant amount of time researching the people, places, and events he wrote about in this book (which is remarkably historically accurate), and what he wrote of those subjects in the book could easily have flowed from the quill of a 16th century writer. The fact that Pedro struggles with the morality of killing the natives, and in some cases tries to prevent it, shows that Shellabarger understood the problem, but purposely wrote it from the perspective of a Spanish man fighting the Aztecs. To those who decry the savage portrayal of the Aztecs as lying human-sacrificers: well, it's actually quite accurate. It is hardly fair to call Shellabarger culturally insensitive for accurately depicting the Aztecs.

In short, if you like swashbucklers in the style of Dumas, Stevenson, Sabatini, etc., you need to find a copy of this book. For a long time The Three Musketeers has reigned (in my opinion) as the best swashbuckling book, and the Captain from Castille is its first significant challenger. If Shellabarger's other books are nearly as good as the Prince of Foxes and this book, he well deserves to be enshrined alongside Dumas in the lists of great authors.

Overall grade: A+

"The dream, not the realization; effort, not fruition; battle, not victory - these were life." -Fray Bartolome Olmedo (CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE)

The words of Father Olmedo fire the spirit of young Spanish nobleman Pedro de Vargas for glory, riches, fame, and honor in the New World in 1518. Falsely charged with the crime of heresy by The Dominican Inquisitor of Jaen, Father Ignacio de Lora, and the scheming and greedy aristocrat Diego de Silva, Pedro and his family are imprisoned and condemned to suffer unspeakable torture and certain death. From this exciting beginning of CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE we follow Pedro and his two closest friends Juan "Bull" Garcia (recently returned to Spain from the Indies with gold in his purse and adventure in his blood) and Catana Perez (a poor but beautiful dancer and servant girl at the Rosario Inn) as they leave the decadence and corruption of the Old World behind to explore the promise of the New World with Captain General Hernan Cortes and his small Company of Conquistadors. Along the way, from Cuba to the Yucatan Peninsula and then to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, they discover a strange world that is both enchanting and frightening, beautiful and savage, and forge the bond of friendship that will be severely tested in the coming years and will carry them through many harrowing adventures and confrontations with Aztec warriors and Spanish evildoers alike. This is an extremely well-written novel rich in history and full of excitement. I highly recommend it.

A few readers may be put off by the author's portrayal of the indigenous people of Mexico during the 1500s as being brutal and bloodthirsty. The Aztecs did practice human sacrifice by tearing the beating hearts out of their captors and then cannibalizing their corpses. One reviewer expressed a concern that Samuel Shellabarger condoned the thrashing of a wife by her husband. In the 16th century, women were considered to be chattel and fathers and husbands had the power of life and death over them. Mr. Shellabarger's novel brings to light the realities of the time.

This one had a lot of promise. Written by a fairly reputable author, still in print after fifty years, a best-seller in its time, and with the Cortez conquest of Mexico as its backdrop, it seemed like can't-miss historical fiction. Well, it isn't awful or anything, but there is much, much better out there.

The story is about Pedro de Vargas, the scion of a Spanish nobleman. His family becomes ensnared by the Inquisition through machinations of the one-dimensionally evil Diego de Silva, and they must flee Spain. The father and mother make it to Italy, and Pedro goes to Cuba, where he meets up with and joins the Cortez expedition.

This, of course, makes up the bulk of the novel and as far as it goes, it's pretty good. You really can't go wrong with subject matter such as this; my goodness, this has to be one of the most thrilling stories in history. And Shellabarger gets the details right: there's Cortez burning his ships, there's Montezuma as a Spanish captive, there's Alvarado massacring the natives, and there's the Spanish retreat on the night of tears.

The problem is that there's nothing especially illuminating about any of this. The Cortez character is about what you'd imagine him to be, no more, no less. The same for Montezuma, the vacillating emperor. History shows that he was weak-minded. He's weak-minded in the novel. The Spanish soldiers lusted for gold and were devoutly Catholic; the Aztecs practiced human sacrifice and lived in the stone age. Just like we've all been taught.

In the meantime our hero has a book-long love affair with a cabaret dancer and a book-long faithful friend who suffers his triumphs and tribulations along with him. The tension comes from de Silva who follows him all over the place to give Pedro and us something to worry about, and also the pretty but empty-headed noble girl he left behind in Spain and whom he feels guilty about not marrying.

Again, this isn't a terrible read. But for adventure, Sabatini and G. M. Fraser are more entertaining; for fiction with this subject matter, Aztec, by Gary Jennings, is more imaginative; and for a strictly historical aspect, The History of the Conquest of Mexico, by Prescott, though a history, is frankly more exciting.

Another wonderful Chicken Soup book. Stories that will make your eyes well up. If you like this, you may love: The Ultimate Volunteer Guidebook for Young People. Buy both as a gift today and the volunteer in your life will love you for it.

'Chicken Soup for the Volunteer's Soul' was well received by our volunteers, and it has also touch many people's hearts.
Marion Jones
The Connecticut Institute for the Blind/Oak Hill

I am a volunteer my self at the my cities animal shelter. And I am going to let the president of the volunteers borrow it after I am done. I hope they make more about volunteering.

I just finished "Chicken Soup for the Volunteer Soul," which is an excellent and inspirational book. Also, a few weeks ago, I went on a Social and Service Justice Retreat. Since reading this book, making the retreat, and other inevitable signs, I feel inspired to find a place to volunteer.

Sarah

Gurnee, Illinois

I would recommend reading "Chicken Soup for the Volunteer's Soul" to anyone who has a sincere interest in his fellowmen and possesses the capacity to relate to the needs, sorrows, and joys of others. I was impressed by the work's intent, format, and content. The selections are comprehensive and meaningful, offering a wide range of volunteer experiences for the information, delight, compassion, and consideration to the book's readers. Hopefully, this publication will encourage countless individuals to find the necessary reason and desire to give of their own time, talents, and hearts to those in need in our society. For others, it will provide an understanding of the wonderful gifts of volunteering for the volunteer.

I have read a many survival guides and things of such. One definite plus over most is colored images for identifying things that may be harmfull if eaten. It covers a lot of different terrain, weather and just about anything you might need. The best thing about this is it is very small, and if you are a hiker (or outdoors man) you can throw it in your pack to reference as situation arises without worrying too much about taking up too much space.

I just bought this book the other day and it is amazing. It gives you the facts you need for survival. If I get caught in a situation from the book and I don't know what to do, I will be suprized.

This great book teaches you how to survive. It has so many detailed descriptions with graphs. It is so compact that I even carry it everyday in my backpack. It might be really useful when the war starts or an earthquake takes place.

One of my friends bought the big version that had a little more information in it. I read it and when I saw that you could buy a pocket version I was thrilled! Wisemen gives an informative description of everything you need to survive almost anywhere. I'm confident that if I were in a survival situation I would be able to survive.

I've had this book for a few years now and have read it over and over again. The information is amazing. There's not a topic that Wiseman doesn't cover or at least touch on.
Not only is it small, it's tough too. It's been on every camping trip, hike, deployment and just about every other trip with me for the past three years and it's still in great shape.
Friends of mine that could have cared less about a suvival book have read mine on airplane rides and afterwards went and bought thier own.
You can't go wrong

I have been a shell collector for more than 25 years and along this years, this is the first time that I get such an interesting, well-documented, beautyfully illustrated and skillfully designed book on this subject. I am very happy with this purchase. The book has 411 pages with information and has about 12 photographs in each page giving a perfect appreciation of thousands of shells from everywhere. Each photo includes the common name (obviously valid in English speaking countries only), the scientific name, average length of adults (in centimeters and inches), brief information of geographical distribution and synonym names. Oh!, I almost forget to say that the authors,R. Tucker Abbott and S. Peter Dance are two famous conchologists leading this field of science for many, many years. So, this book informs, teaches and makes it very funny to learn and investigate in the universe of shells. "Bon apetit", collectors!!!

I had an earlier printing of this book (1983) and was disappointed to find that the 2000 edition I just purchased was virtually identical apart from a page of corrections at the end which would be much more useful if incorporated into the text. I feel that this excellent book needs updating to keep it as the No 1 general book on seashell identification.

This book is very informative and descriptive if you're looking to collect exotic shells from different parts of the world.

I have been a shell collector for a very long time now. This is now my second copy of this book, as I have worn the first copy out. It is the most comprehensive identifier book around. The color photos are excellent, and the amount of species depicted is impressive! This book, along with Jerome M. Eisenberg's A Collectors Guide to the Sea Shells of the World, are probably the only two books on Sea Shells, a novice collector will ever need. The serious collector will also benefit from these books as well.

This is a great book which hv given me alot of info, but still can upgrate by increase more pictures & decription for seashells of the world.

If you really want to know the history of Coney, this book is a must. I grew up in Brighton Beach during the 50s, and this book was a wonderful read.

The Terra and Belgenio patriarchs arrived in Coney Island at the turn of the 20 th centuty--legend has it that they got on a train and got off at the last stop--Stillwell Ave. This wonderful book put me in touch with them and my parents who lived and died on 15 th and 17 Streets between Mermaid & Neptune Aves. up until the mid 70's. My grandfather Anthony Terra sold ice in the summer and coal in the winter while his wife Maria ran a fruit & vegetable store and raised 6 children--one of whom was my father George, who knew everybody and everybody knew him. This book --the narrative and photos--ignited so many memories for me that I cannot read it without shedding some tears --as I am doing now. Buy the book--you'll love it! Dr Anthony Terra

This is the best book I've ever read on the history Coney Island and I've read every one I could find. It is extremely well researched and written, has incredible photographs and graphics, and a personal story that's moving and deeply felt.

Like many of the other reviewers of this book I grew up in the Coney Island area (Brighton First Street). Coney Island has an almost magical draw for me, so much so that I recently completed writing and illustrating a novel called, "Coney Island Book of the Dead" that takes place in 1956. Charles Denson's book proved to be an invaluable source of facts, lore, and pictures, but, even more importantly, of inspiration. If my novel ever gets published (I'm looking for an agent as of 6/08/07) I hope all of you coneyislandaphiles read it.

Also, you might also be interested in a new book by Charles Denson called "Wild Ride! A Coney Island Roller Coaster Family." I just ordered it.

I actually got a copy of this book from my grandfather -- who was featured in the book. I enjoyed this book so much that I have since bought this book for every friend and relative who has moved out of state. This is a great gift for any occassion... for any Brooklynite.

Like many of the other reviewers, I'm a Coney Island native. Unlike them, I grew in Trump Village, located on the border between Coney and Brighton. Growing up in the 1970's and 80's, central Coney was always a bad neighborhood and I'd only heard vague stories about how great it used to be. While I have since read books and seen documentaries about Coney, Denson's book goes even deeper, especially with his wonderful use of oral history.

I had always been told that before Trump Village and Warbasse, there used to be nothing but empty land in that area. Thanks to this book, I have finally learned the truth, that there used to be a vital, functioning and even happy lower and middle income neighborhood called the Gut, before Fred Trump, Robert Moses and other developers and politicians came along and destroyed all that. Despite it's unfortunate beginnings, Trump still ended up being a decent, affordable place for many middle class Jews and Russian immigrants to live, thanks to this book, I'll always see the ghosts of the homes, theaters and people who came before everytime I go home.

For anyone who is interested in Coney Island or the rise and fall of a city neighborhood, this book is most definitely recommended. And if you grew up in or even near Coney, this book is a must-read.