Equipment Books

Let me just say one thing: I'm completely in love with this book. It's amazing and full of breathtaking pictures that will take you right away to the very heart of Africa.

The funny thing is that I got it for a very good price as well. The best purchase of my life!

Don't miss it if you're interested in Kenya and its surroundings.

This was bought as a gift, my dear friend who is also my mom had this on her wish list and I bought it for her birthday.
I didn't really know what to expect of the book, since it was not I who wished for it.
When it came, I was completely delighted with it. Not only is it a beautiful, big, coffee-table size volume, but the photographs inside are wonderful! Something else--the text of the book is written in a font that appears to have been written by hand, straight out of the explorers journal. A nice touch when accompanied by these wonderful photos.
A beautiful book, indeed and the price is very fair, in my opinion.

It makes a great gift, too! :-)

This is something of a `summing it all up' book for this photographer of Africa. With four books and an entire lifetime behind her, she is looking back over the path of her days and trying to clarify for herself what her relationship with the land of her birth has become. "I am a child of Africa," she begins by saying, and yet as we wander through the pages of her life it is clear that it is never so simple as that.

The journey that Ricciardi takes us on is made up of long passages of text and an equal abundance of beautiful photographs. This was my first introduction to this talented photographer, and some of her work took my breath away. The photographs each have descriptions and comments written along side them, and I ended up reading these before working through the sections of text.

Ricciardi's life has been vibrant and is fascinating to read about, though her tone is somewhat melancholy. She is looking back on the Africa that was, the Africa of her youth that has disappeared. She is also looking at it through her `white man's eyes', and realizing that although she may be rooted in the land she has always been a foreigner.

The photographs moved me and Ricciardi's words challenged me. As a white woman who loved Africa she has in interesting view point, caught between what her people have done to Africa and what Africa has done for her. Sorrow and pain and regret are unavoidable when it comes to the Africa of today, but they are bound up with incredible beauty. This book doesn't so much show us the heart of Africa, but the heart of a woman who has been effected forever by the two faces of this land.

Although Ricciardi writes eloquently about Africa and shares herself and her deepest thoughts with the reader in a personal, searching way, it is her photographs that tell her story best. She has captured both the last days of the Africa she knew and the beginning of its new life, in this collection of some of her best and favorite work. A beautiful book.

This book contains images of modest nudity, including nursing mothers and children, that would probably earn this book an "R" rating if it were a motion picture.

Having known of Ms. Mirella Ricciardi's work as a photographer in Africa, I expected this book to be the typical photography book. What I found instead was far more interesting and rewarding. The book combines brief essays about her life in Africa with captioned photographs of her family and friends, and of the scenes she visited, studied, and photographed. Extending from a privileged childhood in what was then colonial British East Africa to recently in Kenya and neighboring nations, you see the collapse of a fantasy-like way of life, the rise of a troubled new one, vanishing wilderness, and the reflections of an intensely self-critical woman. If you are like me, you will be moved by what you see and read.

First, you will be impressed by Ms. Ricciardi's frankness. "I was a bad mother, a discontented wife and a frustrated photographer." She blames herself for the death of her older daughter, Marina, at thirty-six. "To this day, I am convinced this tragic event was my punishment." Personally, I think she is too hard on herself. Her story shows a warm heart and an eye for beauty that have enriched all those who have seen her work. I hope she finds self-forgiveness in the future.

Her mother was quite remarkable, as well. Coming from an influential and wealthy French family, she studied sculpture with Auguste Rodin and lived life as an artist in Paris before meeting the author's father, who was an exile from Italy. Relying on her mother's wealth, the couple soon set up a dream-like existence on a vast estate in Africa based in a "vast pink Italian villa" they built there near Lake Naivasha.

Ms. Ricciardi grew up with great wealth, hunting and enjoying the wilderness, and appreciating the native Africans. Later, she learned how to be a photographer while working with her future husband, and produced her well-known photographic work, Vanishing Africa. You will find many examples of that book as well as the details of how it was shot. Married to this adventuresome man, you get a sense of their time together as well as their discontent. As part of this, Ms. Ricciardi recounts her years with a young black lover, and how they handled the social challenges this presented in the class conscious society. Her two daughters were raised in an unself-conscious way with African children, often cavorting together nude as many young children do. You will enjoy seeing these scenes of carefree youth. Ms. Ricciardi's love of nature is matched by her love of the African people, and you will especially enjoy her images of the Maasai.

Moving forward in time, you see photographs of white Kenyans who fought the Mau-Mau, farmed and studied wildlife, the destruction that war brought to Africans, and the retreating wilderness. I especially enjoyed her profiles of people who have found a continued life in Africa whose family roots go back to colonial days. Ms. Caroline Roumegeure was especially interesting to me, with her background as the daughter of a Maasai warrior and a French woman in a family with 6 wives and 26 other children. She seemed to blend the best of both cultures together. Ms. Ricciardi eventually became estranged from Africa and has left it.

The photography captures breath-taking beauty that will stun you with its mystical appeal. You will feel like you are looking at something that is beyond your own understanding, but which will beckon you forward. Ms. Ricciardi's openness to the people, land, and animals will become your own, and you will be the better for it.

After you finish contemplating this deep and self-critical view of another way of life, I suggest that you think about where you are divided from other people and nature in your community. How can you reach out to bridge the gaps in a loving way?

Share your love with all around!

This is a wonderful book not only for photographers, but also for those interested in timeless pictures of Americana. I found the subjects to be most interesting, as they are indeed captured moments in our history.

The book is also of special interest to those interested in Cirkut cameras; I own one and was very glad to be able to obtain such a specialized book that demonstrates what the cameras were capable of in skilled hands.

The book is very impressive, with multiple fold-out pages that do justice to the ultra-wide format photographs that are reproduced. The printing is first rate and everyone that I have shown the book to has been pleased with it.

The above headline pretty much sums it up. Sorry for ending with a preposition ( I should have said "an" to be silly).

The author obviously has a deep respect for the history of photography. The images, reproductions, and explanations are excellent. This is a beautiful book that every panoramic photographer could relish for many years to come.

I have an interest in panoramic photography, currently own a Widelux camera (can take a 120 degree pano on 35mm film), and am looking to buy a Kodak Panoram which performs similarly but on 120 format film. If I could afford a Cirkut camera, and the film and chemistry costs, I'd have one.

I'm also a history buff.

"America by the Yard" combines history and panoramic photography in a series of stunning images that seem to draw the viewer in. Consider it a series of graphic, high-resolution photos showing America growing up from circa 1900 to almost 1950.

The photos have so much detail, and so much width, that the photos continue to reveal new details each time I "read" it.

When showing the book to friends and co-workers, it has the same effect on them: lots of "oooohs" and "aaaaahhhhs" and exclamations.

An amazing book. I can't reccomend it highly enough.

My preschool grandchildren wanted to know what was under our skin. Their parents tried to explain but only when shown this book with its pictures did they seem to understand what they were being told about the human body. They are fascinated with the illustrations, especially the baby in uterus. From the other room, after much time explaining the pictures in the book, we heard the older child tell the younger one, "I mean my beating heart inside, not the red valentine one!" They will be able to reference this volume for years to come to answer their questions.

Very good quality at the cheap price.
I recommended it to my students as well.

This book has great visuals to show the students about different areas of the human body. A must have!

The charts are excellent... photos are colorful and labeled nicely. The print is a little small on the charts but the color and diagrams are very clear and excellently done.

Muench is the Master. This amazing book presents his vision of the Americas before the arrival of man. Stunning, masterful, etc. etc. Sure, I can pile on the adjectives, but simply stated, this is one of my favorite Muench books just because it is so uncompromised - not having to pander to a specific area, it is plain and simple magnificent nature.

David Muench is one of the best landscape photographers I've ever come across. If you can find this book the pictures will blow you away. It is worth the price. I'm an okay photographer, this guy is so good it's hard to believe. These are literally some of the most beautiful pictures I've ever seen. If you see this book on one of the clearance racks at a book shop, get it quick

It's too much. Too much beauty. Muench is the man, and to see so much of his work together is pretty overwhelming. You have to digest this in modest chunks. A vast range of photos from his 40 years provides an insight into Muench's outstanding natural vision - his great gift. Makes a great gift.

This book deserves more than five stars, and is clearly one of the finest color landscape photography books ever published. Go to whatever lengths you must to acquire this amazingly wonderful volume!

Ancient America "celebrates the ancient threads that connect our momentary existence to a universal continuum and bind us to larger meaning." Imagine yourself as one of the first people to arrive in the Americas, having traveled across the land bridge from Siberia or across the Pacific by raft or canoe. There is no smog. There are no buildings. You simply see the grandeur of nature in its most pristine and awesome form. The world is a cathedral to you. That is the vision that Mr. Muench shares with us in this great collection.

The book begins with several stunning photographs that capture the range of the whole book. There is a brief introduction about the photography, then a superb discussion of American anthropology by Brian Fagan that creates a poetic vision of the book's subject. You will learn much about the settling of the Americas in the process. Did you know that humans arrived here only around 12,000 years ago and that populations were quite small until 350 years ago when the European immigrants began to arrive in substantial numbers?

The photographs are subdivided into the following sections: light; earth, rock, water, trees, ruins, and growth. Mr. Muench has a few final words at the end. "Timeless moments of ancient light are for me an expansion of the spirit . . . ."

Mr. Muench has many skills as a photographer. Like Ansel Adams, he is brilliant in using dawn, dusk, and moonlight to capture unusual moments and moods. Also like Mr. Adams, he has an unerring sense of composition that captures the interconnections of nature's patterns in fascinating and rewarding ways. But he exceeds Mr. Adams in his ability to use color. And all of these images are in gorgeous color. The color creates an emotional climate of spiritual peacefulness that will help you regain your sense of wonder, as you shed the distractions of "civilization."

I was particularly impressed to find that many of the images came from parts of North America that I had never seen before. In many ways, this was like exploring a new land to me. That characteristic added to my ability to let go of my preconceptions and existing emotions, and simply drink in the visual manna here.

Here are my favorite images in the book:

Moonrise, Mono Lake, California; Ancient Spruce-Fir-Hemlock Forest, Eagle Creek Gorge, Oregon; White Sands Evening, White Sands, New Mexico; Oregon Seastacks Cannon Beach, Ecola State Park, Oregon; Autumn Dawn, Millpond State Park, North Carolina; Cadiz Valley, Mohave Desert, California; Cypress Dawn, Realfoot Lake State Park, Tennessee; White Canyon Sandstone Labyrinth, Utah; Mendocino Tidal Pool, California; Dead Horse Point, Utah; Delicate Arch, Moonrise, Arches National Park, Utah; Eagle Creek Punchbowl, Oregon Cascades; Atchafalaya, Louisiana; Pinus Aristata, White Mountains, California; Birth at Puu'loa, Hawaii; Anasazi Cliff Dwelling, Utah; Cahokia Mounds, Illinois; and Sand Reed, Minnesota.

Perhaps the phrase that best captures this book is that it contains "some harmony to contemplate in beauty and ancient light the measured pace of the universe."

Having seen what the proper light and setting can do for your spirit, I suggest that you launch a search for places that evoke similar emotions in you and times when you can experience those feelings in private. Then set a regular schedule of visitations, to add a "living meditation" to whatever else you do to get in touch with yourself and the universe.

Shed the unimportant to step into the permanent grandeur of nature, and be refreshed in your humanity!

Excellent collection of Newman.
Everyone does environmental portraits these days.
Newman is the original and the best.
A beautiful and inspirational collection.

I just got back from the Newman exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington D.C. and although I thought I had seen most of his work, I was stunned by the boldness of some of the photo collage work and color work which I had previously only seen in B&W. The book has all of the show and many more. It was $40 there and they were selling like hotcakes. The book is beautiful and has $1 million worth of images in it. Hard to pick a favorite. Certainly Picasso and maybe Isaac Asimov too.

I'm an amateur photographer, so when I heard an interview with Arnold Newman on NPR's Morning Edition, I knew I had to get this book. Newman is considered the inventor of "environmental portraits," in which the photographer uses surroundings to capture essential elements of his or her subject.

The photos collected in this volume span Newman's entire career and range from Senator John F. Kennedy to President Bill Clinton. The collection is mostly black-and-white. Leafing through the book, I've gotten many ideas for my own photography, but I've also gained a new appreciation for many of the historical figures Newman captured in his work.

The book is large and heavy, very satisfying to hold and look through, and will make an excellent coffee table book. Whether you're into history or photography, you'll really enjoy this book.

Arnold Newman died recently at age 88 but his photographic work will live one. Newman was known for his environmental portraiture - capturing the famous faces of his time in the atmosphere in which they created their magic and lived their lives, sometimes private, but most times public.

In this superb collection of Newman's work there are the famous photographs of Igor Stravinsky at his piano, Marilyn Monroe ('she was terrified of aging'), Carl Sandburg, Mickey Mantle, Truman Capote, Pablo Picasso, Frank Lloyd Wright, Sir Cecil Beaton, Diana Vreeland and many more. Each subject is part of a personality scape, accompanied with the trappings that made them famous.

Arnold Newman felt that a subject's environment illuminated the subject, and while many other photographers have followed his lead, Newman remained at the top of his genre. This book is an excellent tribute (though not published as such!) to an artist departed whose legacy will linger. Recommended. Grady Harp, June 06

This book has wonderful ideas for children to explore the elements of art in the environment they are in.

This is a wonderful resource for pre-school teachers! It is filled with many wonderful ideas and projects. I used it as part of an art appreciation theme and found it extremely helpful. I'd recommend it!

This book is layed out very well - one project per page with all the ingredients needed right at the top. Many of the projects utilize styles or techniques of famous artists with suggestions on how you can expose children to their works while still in a fun creative environment. The book is written from an artist's perspective exploring texture, color, space etc. We love the projects and vignettes about the artists.

I am an elementary school art teacher. I bought this book because I teach 2 preschool classes of 20 each, and it has been a struggle for me to find lessons they can handle that aren't just crafty. This book has plenty. It includes lessons on line, shape, color, clay molding, collage, and many more. I will use some lessons straight out of the book. Others I will change the materials. Painting with a group of twenty 4 year olds is not my favorite thing to do!

All of the Usborne Art book are great -- but this is one of my favorites. It has dozens of art ideas and concepts that a teacher or parent could use to inspire a young artist.

I like to just open it up to a new page, and take a new technique to apply to whatever we are working on in class.

It is that easy! Very inspiring.

This book has so many terrific, easy to follow, and imaginative ideas. The eye popping illustrations help as a visual aid to see what the end result may look like.I use many of the ideas for teaching middle school students as well as elementary. A must have for any art teacher.

Like all the Usborne books, this book is a great tool for learning. As an elementary teacher, I bought this book just to have as a handy reference. I have also used it with my kids at home, and it is everything I learned in a semester of college art class all rolled up into this handy children's book. With all my experience with Usborne books, I just can't get enough of them. For more information on Usborne books, visit ...

This colorful art book, is full of great ideas for elementary aged children. The projects are easy to read and recreate. The color images are inviting. The art images serve as inspriation for young artists. As an elementary teacher I plan to use this book full of easy and creative art ideas as my school years art curriculum. I am so excited to have such a wonderful children's art resource book.

There has been very little written on the snapshot, particulary as it relates to the development of photovision. Sara Greenough has put together an excellent exhibit on the subject. This catalogue only goes into the 1970s. Now she has to carry the snapshot into the digital world.

I can't speak highly enough of this wonderfully rich book on the grand topic of the American snapshot. The essays are full of revealing information about how big a role the snapshot has played in our culture. The generous sampling of photographs gives us shots that are entirely unique, each in its ow way, and yet they are also familiar, if you are old enough to remember the days of Kodak cameras, especially the Brownie. I found the best review of this great book at www.ronslate.com.

Sir John F. Herschel gets credit for coining the word "snapshot" in 1860; "The possibility of taking a photograph, as it were by a snap-shot -- of securing a picture in a tenth of a second of time." (He also coined "photography" itself, and was the first to apply "negative" and "positives" to photography.) Given his wide ranging interests, I'm sure he would have loved this book as much as I do.

The editors divide 1888 to 1978 into four periods. The first is discussed in Diane Waggoner's essay, "Photographic Amusements." Eastman Kodak was dominant with the Brownie: "You push the button, we do the rest (or you can do it yourself)."

Sarah Kennel covers 1920-1939 in "Quick, Casual Modern." Their PR folks peppered the roads with "Picture Ahead! Kodak as you go!" Eastman Kodak also tied the permanence of photos to family values: "Kodak began to stress use of the camera to counter the truancy of memory, particularly with regard to family stability."

Sarah Greenough's covers 1940-1959 with "Fun Under the Shade of the Mushroom Cloud." Kodak introduced Kodachrome in 1936 and Kodacolor in 1942. Snapshots were tied to social life. "Life" taught Americans pictorial journalism. Snapping pictures was "modern".

Matthew Witkovsky ends with "When the Earth Was Square." "It is the period when daily life, turned by a nation of consumers into an unending succession of narcissistic photo ops, becomes fodder for media spectacle, creating the lottery-like promise of instant but evanescent celebrity for everyone. ... These are the years when nothing is sacred yet everything is ritualized; when no one and everyone is special, and all things are made potentially interesting in pictures; and when amnesia, which thrives on prosperity, takes, hold, leaving memory to scatter and fade in billions of little prints."

The history is grand and enlightening, of course, but for me the images are key. The book is beautifully printed and bound; there is plenty of white space around each shot. You are free to flip through quickly, or stop and puzzle for lost minutes over a single image.

I have three suggestions for anyone interested in photography. First, read John Updike's wonderful review of this book free online on "The New Yorker" website.

Second, consider the words of Robert Jackson who put this collection together: as Updike writes: "his afterword to the catalogue manages to cast a pall of reasonableness over his curious passion. He coins the phrase 'a visual trophy' for a medium that 'seeks to preserve an idealized and individualized moment in time.' Attempting to explain the collector's motives, he claims, 'It is the anonymous snapshot's immediacy, inherent honesty, and unstudied freedom from external influence that are the draw. . . . The personal can therefore become impersonal.' Ah, but, then again, 'a collector can have a subjective interest in a snapshot's narrative content as a surrogate for life experiences. Thus the personal remains personal, if you will.'"

Third, buy this book.


Robert C. Ross 2008

I love this treasure trove of a book. Leafing through it takes me back time and time again to specific photos from family albums over the years. The book is a collaborative work that captures the essence of Americans' love affair with the camera.

The narrative divides the ninety years into four "generations" of the evolution of the snapshot: thirty years of beginnings followed by three twenty-year periods celebrating the interactions of the technical developments and the cultural idiosyncrasies of each era.

While the "plates" of photographs selected from Jackson's collection for exhibition form the book's core, the authors have introduced a sprinkling of "figures" of other photographs--and Kodak ads, in particular--to complete their histories. The Timeline of Technical Milestones at the end is nicely executed.

I've no idea how the authors would characterize the last two decades of the twentieth century, but I'm certain that the first two decades of the twentieth century belong to digital photography. I'd love to read their take on this generation of the American snapshot.

This book brings together articles from all aspects of digital audio from a multitude of authors into one volume. To find the same information you would have to dig through countless journals and troll the web, thus this book's first service is saving time for the researcher. Most books on digital audio focus on one particular audience - the programmer, the signal processing professional, or the recording professional. This book has a variety of articles from all of these fields. Thus it is likely that not every article will be interesting and useful to everyone, but the book should have enough articles of value to make it worthwhile to anyone interested in this fascinating field. The author himself cites Andrew Glassner's "Graphic Gems" series as an inspiration, and you could indeed rename this series "Audio Gems" and not lose any meaning by the retitling.

Of course, there are articles on the basic science of sound that should be of interest to anyone starting out in the field such as "Understanding the Decibel" and "Sound Propagation". Those interested in signal processing and programming of algorithms will enjoy Perry Cook's "Introduction to Physical Modeling" which condenses much of the material in his book "Real Sound Synthesis for Interactive Applications" into one digestible introductory article. Included are some of Cook's programs that assist in physical modeling, but he saves his real contribution to this field, his Synthesis Toolkit in C++, for volume two of this series. Likewise Albert Bregman's extensive research on the subject of auditory scene analysis is condensed nicely in the article "Perceptual Organization of Sound" and acts as an accessible introduction. My personal interest is in synthesis and signal processing, thus from my perspective I found the article "Timbre Trees: Integrating Sounds and Images" to be the most interesting article of the bunch. It explained a fascinating concept I had never heard of before involving an integrated approach to motion and sound. The entire concept is not explained in this one article, but there are references to other sources of information if you want to learn more details. This is the whole purpose of this book and its series - to introduce the reader to a topic in digital audio via a clear article, and then refer the reader to more in depth material outside the scope of the book should you need to know more. I highly recommend this book to anyone involved in the field of digital audio.

This book is a great book for anyone that works with digital audio. Audio Anecdotes introduces us to the practical side of audio. Just take a look at the Table Of Contents to see that there are papers on a wide variety of topics. Each of the 25 papers are written by experts in their respective fields, and each provides practical tips for creating great sounding audio. These tips aren't ideas that are obvious even to those with years of experience in the field- many of them come from years of research. In addition to the tips and techniques, Audio Anecdotes is filled with example code so you can play around and hear exactly what the authors are writing about. The CD-ROM comes with demos and explanations for most of the topics as well as the software to compile and run each demo. The software includes Caliper (a custom, text-based program used for controlling demo parameters), Flavor (a language, based on C++ and Java, great for multimedia applications), Octave (a language similar to MatLab), the PortAudio Library (a C library for audio I/O), and STK (Synthesis Toolkit- a set of C++ classes used for audio synthesis and processing). Whether you're going to use all this software or if you're simply looking for some practical mixing tips, I recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn more about the practical side of digital audio.

Audio Anecdotes: Tools, Tips, And Techniques For Digital Audio is an anthology of essays by a wide variety of expert authors concerning the exciting field of digital audio, lessons that can be learned from its past, discoveries directly applicable in the present, and anticipation of new changes in the future. Cutting-edge, practical, advice-filled instructionals include "Timbre Trees: Integrating Sounds and Images", "RampTest: Quantifying Audio Performance", "Designing a Movie for Sound", "Perceivable Auditory Latencies" and much more. A highly recommended supplementary educational text for anyone pursuing or involved in a career in the digital audio field, Audio Anecdotes is clearly an excellent addition to career-themed professional libraries as well as audio technology and technical reference shelves.

Ken Greenebaum, who co-edited this book with Ronen Barzel, and wrote some of the articles, indicates in the preface that his motivation for putting Audio Anecdote together was to get the book he had wished for when he was starting out in digital audio. What he came up with is a wide-ranging collection of 25 articles on various aspects of sound--what it is, how we hear it, how it affects us, how it can be produced and altered, and how it can fool us. Some of the articles are rigorously scientific and technical, while others really are anecdotal and personal. Most significantly there is a wealth of information about the manipulation of sound, and there is some history of the development of our understanding of sound.

Most of the material is aimed at people who have an intense interest in audio, and audio reproduction and development, and who already have some knowledge. However this book also works well for a rank beginner (such as myself). The articles are clear and well-presented with many black and white illustrations, tables, diagrams, and mathematical formulas, not to mention programming code! There is a glossary and there is some overlap in the "anecdotes." For example, after a brief overview of the book, Greenebaum begins with an introductory-like article on what sound is and how we measure it. This is followed by a more technical article by Hesham Fouad entitled "Understanding the Decibel." This in turn is followed by Greenebaum's essay on "Sound Propagation." His exploration of the physics involved is clear and easy to read.

One of the many things that I discovered is that "When we speak on the telephone, a portion of our voice output is intentionally played back to us through the earpiece." Derek DiFilippo and Greenebaum explain in their article, "Perceivable Auditory Latencies" that "If we didn't have a clear sense of hearing ourselves speak, we would tend to talk louder and louder because we [would] assume that the listener on the other end...[wouldn't be able to] hear us either." (pp. 74-75)

I also learned (from Oscar-winning sound director Randy Thom in his article, "Designing a Movie for Sound") that the wise film maker should make his movie with sound in mind pre-production, not as something added on afterward. As Thom points out, in the great cinematic experiences, "the visual and aural elements are working together so well that it is nearly impossible to distinguish them." (p. 406) He mentions the opening of Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979) and the bird attack scene in Hitchcock's The Birds (1963), and the opening of David Fincher's Seven (1995) as examples. And I can't help adding the striking opening sequence from Clint Eastwood's High Plains Drifter (1973) as another preeminent example of how sound can be as important, or even more important, than visuals in making a scene a lasting experience.

Included with the book is a CD that you can listen to with examples of sounds keyed to the discussions in the articles. The effect of latency ("the time between human input to a system...and system output," p. 65) and many other sound phenomena are demonstrated in the most effective way possible--by hearing them.

Special mention might be made of writer Adrienne Ross's personal contribution, "Understanding Hearing Losses and Hearing Gains...," which truly is an anecdote, beautifully written about her discovery of a hearing defect that she had lived with most of her life without realizing it. The fact that she had compensated for the defect by using her other senses, dramatically demonstrates how our experience of sound is not isolated from our other sensual experiences.

I found this book to outstanding.This book is full of memories of my life at Castle afb,ca. 1981-1984.

This book is arguably the best book overall on the US Air Force's B-52 heavy bomber covering it's first 40 years, i.e. up to 1995. The B-52 has seen much action in Bosnia and Afghanistan since this book's publishing in 1995, so be aware of this if you are looking for the most recent chapters in the life of this venerable warhorse. Robert Dorr's excellent writing combined with Lindsay Peacock's fascination with the aircraft of the now defunct Strategic Air Command make this book a necessary purchase for all people who have been associated with or are interested in Boeing's bomber masterpiece. Walter Boyne's (a former B-52 pilot) 144-page "Boeing B-52: A Documentary History" first completed in 1981 is also an excellent book but, more for the serious historian or former crew-members due to it's in-depth discussions on equipment and tactics. "B-52 Stratofortress" totals 229 pages and covers a broader range of topics with only slightly less depth. The readability is excellent even to those not intimately familiar with "B-52ese" and/or Air Force acronyms. Chapters include development of the B-52, nuclear bomb tests in the Pacific, technical features, newer models, ground alert operations, weapons, B-52s in combat in VietNam, action in Desert Storm, and aircraft/unit attrition up to 1994. Also included are nine separate appendices covering 39 pages listing each model's specifications, production details, variants, unit usage of each aircraft, B-52 usage of each wing and squadron, base assignments, modifications on each model, a cutaway drawing of a B-52G, individual aircraft distribution of the B-52 fleet in 1964, unit distribution over the years, individual aircraft losses, and details on aircraft consigned to storage. A tremendous variety of excellent photos with informative captions are used showing most every aspect of the "BUFF" in use. Of particular interest to the laymen or Carswell AFB veteran is a chapter describing a low level mission one of the authors got to fly in a B-52H out of Carswell in early 1991.

If you are fascinated by B-52s, this is the book for you... It is not a "general" coffee-table book for the "general" public, though. There is no war-mongering in this book either. It is an excellent survey of a remarkably versatile aircraft.

I really enjoyed this book! It was very well written and the photos are also great. I remember my time in the Air Force and this book really was accurate.

This is a well-presented and useful introduction to anyone interested in the B-52 bomber. Its only drawback in my view is that being printed before recent crises such as the 1991 Gulf War and the 1999 Kosovo crisis, the action of B-52s in recent years are not featured. But if not I liked this book, its text as well as the excellent photographs. line drawings and colour plates.