Honda Books

Like many other reviewers, I first read this book and the other Williamsburg novels in my teens. I loved them, and read them repeatedly. That these books are so beloved of teen-age girls forty years ago should give a good idea of what they're like. This one is probably the best, but all are sweet love stories with an interesting historical setting--good plots, memorably noble and heroic characters, and happy endings, both on the personal and historical level. There's little real pain and suffering, no matter how horrible the historic event described was, and few really bad guys. If you want enjoyable, G-rated escape, these are your books.

Dawn's Early Light, the first book in the Elswyth Thane Williamsburg series, is a delightful read with memorable characters and an accurate rendering of Williamsburg's Colonial days leading up to and through the Revolution. Here we see the beginnings of two families: the Days and the Spragues as well as the beginning of our nation. From the first moment when Julian Day steps off the boat from England and is met on the wharf by St.John Sprague, Thane's story captured this reader who read it for the first time in the 60's and has just finished reading it again. The characters and their stories, their loves and heartaches in the midst of this tumultuous Revolutionary period have become a part of my own story. What better way to learn history than through the eyes of those who lived it. Kudos to Thane for a well-researched account and for the portrayal of flesh and blood characters who captured the heart. It is wonderful book. Enjoy! Ann Westerman

My grandmother passed the Williamsburg novels on to me when I was 16. I devoured all of them that summer. I always wanted to read them again, and yesterday on a whim I decided to do just that. It has been 16 years since I last read the series, and I'm enjoying Dawn's Early Light with a new appreciation.

Thanks to the Internet, I now know more about the author. Elswyth Thane (1900-1981, American) was a romance writer in her time. She wrote several books, but the Williamsburg series are her most popular.

I'd say while these novels have a healthy dose of history -- historical characters like Jefferson and Washington interact with our fictional characters in "Dawn's" -- they are first and foremost romance novels. Therefore, female readers might enjoy them more, which seems to be the case from the comments posted here!

This is the beginning book in a series of books called the Williamsburg novels. I have been reading and re-reading this series of 7 books for over 50 years. They are my all time favorite books. Each book deals with a war or pre-war action (except the war of 1812) in which the US has taken part from the Revolutionary War (Dawn's Early Light) to the Civil War (Yankee Stranger) to the Homing with is the last of the series and the 4th book which deals with WWI and WWII and the years in between. They are a great source of history. Ms Thane (widow of the explorer Dr. William Beebe) has done an excellent job of research for each of the books. I hope others find them as wonderful, and as entertaining as I do. I have read my old copies until they are falling apart. I was very excited to find they had been reprinted and purchased them immediately.

The advice is--- don't make the same mistake I did. Upon reading all the glowing reviews, this series of books sounded like just what I love to read--- long,interesting books, interesting characters. So- instead of buying them one at a time, I bought the whole darned Williamsburg Series, plus a few more by the same author, "Queen's Folly", the "Tudor Wench" and "Tryst". What a disappointment. Since this review is about "Dawn's Early Light", I won't mention how boring the other books were, but I've got to say-- "Dawn" was the best of the lot. However, I could hardly bring myself to finish it, but I did. The other books were just as boring--- if all the references to war had been left out, they would have been pamphlets, but much more interesting. Ladies, these are men's books-- unless you like to read of ambushes, guns, dead horses. I think Elswyth Thane had seen "Gone With The Wind" and was trying to emulate it in her work. She failed miserably. I should have bought one book to see her writing style, and I would have saved some cash, because I wouldn't have wasted my money on the rest.

I was looking for some info on how to rebuild a T-56 6spd transmission and this book came up in the search. It only mentions the T-56 a handful of times. Aside from that, the "principles" of rebuilding a transmission were covered very well. The only thing I would improve upon would be to add more picture diagrams of the labeled individual components.

i got this book so in case of future questions i may have. between 2 harley's, & a couple of ol' chevy's with 4 speeds, your going to need to fix something @ some point or pay someone else. i rebuilt my turbo 350 in my '77 gmc 7 yrs. ago & it still runs great. this guy did a great job as this book is good reading informative! i recommend 100%.

Excellent organization and structure. Lots of information on how manual transmissions work, and how to check and rebuild them. Many excellent color photos to go along with the text.

(NOTE: I am the author so this is a biased review):

Manual transmissions aren't as sexy as some other engine parts that I could think of (like cams, or turbos), but that doesn't make them boring!

This book covers the little-known and little-described topic of manual transmissions. I attack the subject from the angle of a "weekend warrior" mechanic or car builder, which means it's neither dry and academic nor lowbrow.

Manual transmissions, clutches and even differentials are covered in enough detail to be useful without drowning in theory. Unlike many automotive books it's full of meaty details and tips - the chapter on manual transmission diagnosis alone is worth the cost.

Even if you're not a die-hard stick shifter, it's a fun read and an interesting look at the technology behind a manual transmission. If nothing else, you could read it and impress the guys at your local hot-rod spot with your knowledge of gear oil additives.

Besides, where else can you get all the current thinking on manual transmission modifications in one place?

I just got this book and Have to say that it is one of the best automotive books I have ever read. Most automotive Books are either to Dry and Technical or have very little info. This Book is both easy to read and has a ton of information. I'll be referring to this book any time I have a problem with a manual transmission.

Godzilla, Ultraman, Booska... they all come together in this book. Eiji Tsuburaya is a newly discovered hero of mine. Just reading George Lucas considered letting him do the special effects on Star Wars says so much about what place this great man (and his team) held in the special effects industry at one point.

Nice design as well, hefty, hardcover book. It's a coffeetable book really, so many pictures. The first hour I held it I didn't read, I just gasped in awe at all the great, great pics. Highly recommended, period.

This is a fantastic book for anyone interested in Eiji Tsuburaya and his work. It is full of biographical information and anecdotes about the man that is best known for bringing Ultraman and Godzilla to life. -Highly- recommended. ^_^

Amazing Book! Super cool photos! EVERY KAIJU / MONSTER FAN SHOULD OWN THIS!
great inside to the japanese film studios as well.

If you like giant monster movies, and want to know more about how they were made, this book is for you. Not many photos of the monsters (there are other books out there for that) but there are behind the scenes photos. Learn the biographies of the men who made films you still love after all these years. Not much has been published in the West about them, but here it is! Well written and laid out. 2 page essays about certain film makers by noted Western Kaiju lovers. Worth the price, and thankful that it was printed.

This book is a meticulous, thoughtful, well-written, and beautifully laid-out tribute to a true master of special effects. It is a fascinating look, not only into Tsuburaya's life and career, but also the way the film industry works in Japan. An interesting read for non-fans; a must-have for fans of the genre.

Been on the coffee table for 3 years now and always fun to pickup and read sections, still relevant and a great read!

This book is a must for all S2000 enthuiasts. It covers all the aspects of the
car extremely well. It's only negative is it is 6 years old and does not
cover any of the updates the car has had since. The problem is no other
books have been printed on the S2000 (Except for a worthless e-book also
sold by Amazon) If this is the only one, it's a good one.

Not many automobiles have a story to tell. Well, not many autos have the character that the S2000 has. This book by Dan Carney really does a good job on all aspects. Detailed enough for the engineers and broad enough to "read" as a book. This book sat in my office for about 12 months until one day I one day I decided to take a trip to the Honda dealer. Book is great and so is the car.

This is a great book for the S2000 collector or enthusiast. It faithfully covers everything - from the concept, to other Honda and Acura performance cars, the early F1 efforts, the S360 thru S800, the competition (ha!), and the first years of production.
It is a bit dated; it does only cover the AP1.
However, the car hasn't changed that much so any enthusiast would want a copy of this. And if you think there isn't much out there about the S2000, check out Amazon Japan and you'll find a ton of good stuff - including some very unique videos.
-Jeff, S2000 owner and author of S2000Enthusiast.com

Carney isn't a particularly good writer but he did homework when he wrote this fairly in-depth book about the Honda S2000. I really enjoyed the introduction and history about Honda. And especially enjoyed the chapters discussing the development of the engine, chasis and transmission of the S2000.

If you've ever read in-depth books on specific automobiles published in Japan though, you'll see that this book's discussion is rather cursory. However, since there aren't too many such books--written in English on Japanese autombiles--this one does fine.

Overall, the book satisfied my curiosities about the wonderful car but, it also left me wanting to read more in two areas. First, I wanted to know more about the specific technical decisions made by Uehara and his team (stories and anectdotes and such). Second, I wish there was a chapter showing the complete performance specs of the car--and comparing it to its competitors.

Buy this book. It's a pretty good deal.

This book helped me to put my bike back on the road. Great troubleshooting tree. The diagrams and instructions were priceless. If you own the bike, buy the book so you won't have to wait for shipping when you're down for maintenance.

My husband found this great manual to be most helpful of finding a solution to a problem he had with his motorcycle. The manual is very detailed for a great price. He will find is very useful in the coming years for solving other problems he may encounter.

If you have the tools and a little bit of mechanical knowhow, this book can help you do the minor maintenance on your bike with no trouble. If you have a few bigger tools and more knowhow, you can do practically and necessary maintenance on your bike.

If you're a motorcycle repair tech, this book is all you need to fix these motorcycles. It's complete.

an absolute must have for anyone who has this bike. it shows complete tare down of all components for virtually any repair or replacement of any part,
and does this all with real pics and illustrations. anyone who can read and use tools can repair their own bike . Also includes a very in depth troubleshooting guide to help diagnose the problem.

after having some electrical problems i needed a manual that included specs as well as wiring diagrams. this book was very helpful. and i'm glad i bought it. it was however, written for some one with experience in both motorcycle repair and some technical know how. i found it jumps around a lot and can be difficult to follow. but with some patience and plenty of tools you'll be fine.

Great packaging, fast shipping, and really was brand new with the correct item sent! Would buy from again!

I ordered this book to help trouble shoot starting problems I was having with the bike. It gave me very precise instructions, and easy to follow illustrations.

I was able to find and fix the problem in no time. I recommend it if you have this bike.

Shima.

Top quality routine maintenance and repair manual. The pictures with the text and the step by step format is a home mechanic's "right hand" tech manual.

This is just one of many Clymer manuals I've had over many years. Always top shelf material.

Having a slightly flakey Honda Rebel it became very important to me to be able to find my way around the bike. This manual is extremely informative and extremely accurate. It does detail just about everything you need to know.

However for a relative neophyte such as myself it has some significant deficiencies:
1) The photographs are black and white and quite low contrast, you cannot always quite see what they are pointing at and thus finding it on the bike is tough
2) I think these manuals are designed for a motorcycle repair shop, they often assume too much. 'Quickly check the compression before reseting the timing' is not detailed enough for someone that is proud he found the ignition switch ...
3) They were only half updated for the newer model. The 199x model rebels are different to the older ones but all the differences are contained in a seperate chapter

As I say, I don't think there is anything any better ... but this manual will be a little intimidating for a newbie ...

This manual has everything you would possibly need to do repairs on your motorcycle for a fraction of the cost of the a factory manual. A great buy.

Item being reviewed


Haynes Honda Shadow VT600 & 750 Owners Workshop Manual: 1988 thru 2003

THIS MANUAL IS GOING TO HELP ME MORE THAN YA ALL KNOW.
IT IS GOING TO BE AN EXPERANCE AND THEN SOME. BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS MOTORCYCLE,I HAVE A FRIEND TEACHING ME AS I GO..
BUT I KNOW THIS MANUAL WILL BE A GODSEND!!!.
IT HAS LOTS OF DETAIL.. WISH ME LUCK.

Exceptionally clear pictures and caption makes the backbone of this book. I was positively surprised, compared with many Haynes manuals for cars that I've seen.
Clear and consistent division of each chapter into paragraphs (check - removal- replacement - installation etc.) helps the reader to make things in good order and not forgetting anything.
Sections of general interest like maintenance techniques & tooling, troubleshooting, tire changing makes part of this book valuable even after you have sold your bike - take copies!

This book is packed with many photo's and instructions on how to perform many basic and advanced tasks for working on your Honda shadow motorcycle and has proven useful for me in my general maintenance, which also include checking on the breaks, fluids, anti-freeze replacement, fuel filter and so forth. Including helpful hints on removing / getting to some of he more difficult to reach areas.

I feel this was definatly a worthwhile purchase and has saved me money at the shop by better qualifying me to do some more of my own basic work / maintenance on the motorcycle.

I bought this book for myself and have also bought it as a gift for friends. I live in La Honda and I think Bob did a great job on it. He is a local so he really understands our town.

A fabulous book about a truly special little corner of the world. Purchased this as a gift for my sister and she loved it! Would highly recommend.

I bought this book on a whim while at the San Gregorio General Store, and devoured it before the band finished it's last set. Chock-full of eccentric trivia that beautifully encompasses the spirit of La Honda!
I absolutely loved it!

I could not put this book down. I even set aside Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to finish it. What a great story! Bob Dougherty is an author to watch!

As an American who has worked two years in Japan and four years in the US for Japanese automotive startups (and married to a beautiful Japanese woman for six years), I was able to relate to this book on a level that a majority of readers cannot comprehend. I was fortunate to have a Japanese President who took me under his wing early in my career and taught me the lessons of "ho-ren-so" and the like. However, working for the Japanese is a challenge still. As an American, reading through the first few chapters of Mr. Honda's book, I found myself becoming somewhat angry at the accusations and arrogance of the Japanese thinking being explained. After stepping back I realized the author was just providing information to help better explain ideas presented in later chapters and his overall point. This book is not so much "Americans are bad or lazy" and "Japanese are superior," it is more or less food for thought. Japanese or American, working with people requires understanding of one another. Often, the most difficult aspect is getting both sides to acknowledge and accept the good points of one another and adopt them to create true synergy. As for the coward from Pottstown, PA, who doesn't even have the courage to give an e-mail address. He totally misunderstood this book (that is if he read it at all). If Americans are so lazy, then why does the world economy depend so heavily on us? Why do Japanese companies continue to invest billions in new US ventures every year? If it were not for us lazy Americans, ignorant fools such as this coward from Pottstown, PA would not have world dominating companies such as Boeing to work for. One more point for the Japanese to understand. A reporter once asked a former football coach of Notre Dame, "Coach, how do you motivate your players?" The coach responded, "I don't motivate them. They come motivated. I try not to de-motivate them." As pointed out in Mr. Honda's book, Americans enter into Japanese companies with childish optimism and enthusiasm. All to quickly is that enthusiasm shattered and the American becomes just another body punching the clock or "lazy". Until Japanese executives (and many American companies) understand this and learn how to harness this energy, they will never understand the true work ethic of the American worker. If going home to spend time with your wife, children, community volunteer organization, church, or night school at the end of an eight hour workday instead of sitting at your desk looking busy but you really don't have anything to do or as the Japanese at two companies I have worked for, sitting in the smoking area for hours at the end of the day just to get face time, if not wasting my precious time like this is considered lazy, then I am guilty. Ask any Japanese Executive on his deathbed if he has any regrets in life. I do not believe his answer would be, "I wish I had spent more time at work." Thank you Mr. Honda.

It's good to have books of this sort. It's about time someone instill some sort of work ethic in the Americans. Americans are often dismissed as lazy and unambitious, self-centered, which is not far from the truth. I know, I used to work for Boeing Company in America. This should be required reading for people in American auto industry so they make better car,LOL!

Having managed a Japanese invested company in the USA for 8 years, I was exposed to the strengths and weaknesses of the philosophy of operation, style and processes. It caused me to rethink the validity of the mostly unspoken and unexplained management approaches that cause much frustrations and inefficiencies to American workers. Back in the introductory period of American Karate in 1962, I learned, as an instructor, to explain the reasons behind Karate practice and thought processes, rather than leaving the art vague and mysterious. Americans would do well when all the chips and stones are turned and have clear objectives and rewards for the effort. I decided to write, perhaps for the first time by a Japanese executive, a plainly explained managment book on the system of Japanese companies in the USA. No theories but all practical questions and experiences Americans will be exposed in working for or with Japanese companies. Answers to the questons and different experiences are clearly written to assist Americans to succeed in managing a Japanese company which has been expected but being realized so slowly. EVERYTHING IS EXPLAINABLE AND CAN BE LEARNT!

Mr. Honda takes the mystery out for American managers who want to know what to say and do in order to be successful in Japanese companies. He provides numerous examples and comparisons between the American and Japanese styles of management along with recommendations. A special emphasis on diversity-communications is provided from cover to cover to guide the reader on the perceptions and expectations American and Japanese managers have of each other, and how to improve their working relationship. In summary, Mr. Honda's book is long overdue for American managers who are looking for practical tips and guidelines to have a successful career in Japanese companies.

If you like the Older Classic Hondas, and you like the CB750 series even more? This is a must have for your motorcyle library.

This is a nice coffee table book for any motorcycle enthusiast but more particularly an early Honda student. The book contains numerous facts from the historical development of the CB750, to its competitors of the time and its technical specifications. The book also has many inserts on related topics such as personal experiences with the machine, previous Honda models that led to the development of the bike, and excerpts on other interesting motorcycles of the time that were related to the 750. A great book to have around to read in short bursts and a must for any 750 owner interested in where his bike came from.

The book is outstanding and cover the complete spectrum of the motorcycle. Value for money even with the postage and all to had it been forwarded to South Africa.