Irons Books

Within the realm of Family Values, children are taught to value not only family, but also friendships. As adults, however, there is great pressure to discount the value of friendships among males and females, between men, and between women - particularly where marriage values are strong. For many adults who live away from childhood friends, or who have no childhood friends, close emotional support expected to be found in friendships may not be present, or cultivated as the necessary social relations they are. Most are the result of work or sports groups with whom people spend time but may not contain the emotional depth of childhood friends. The quality of dual gender non-spousal friendships is always suspect, increasing the need for male friends, or female friends, which may not be readily available for the types of associations adults require, as the natural consequence of having had childhood friends. Patterns of friendships and their sources (as well as their depth) is one of the little studied human behavior, perhaps the world over. At times, even the quality of friendships is undefined and confusing often being the result of mutually beneficial social or economic relationships rather than the simple, mutual appreciation and admiration of that between childhood friends. Intergenerational friendships, if at all, are often those associated with grandparents or other family members rather than outsiders, and increasingly problematic in view of recent news articles where children are exploited through friendship. A review and evaluation of the integrity of relationships between friends is more likely the need which this analysis begins to address to understand the need for, and the quality of, real friendships and hopefully, how they are made, since, for men, quality friendships are increasingly rare commodities unless they are rooted in the trust of childhood friends, carried over to adulthood. A relatively new field of exploration, the dynamics of adult friendships is unexplored territory in human relations.

Rarely do you seem to see D20 supplements on really new and unique options for fighter types. This book is full of them. Absolutely fantastic.

The heart of the book is the combat maneuvers. It's a toolkit of options to build new maneuvers (like disarm, sunder, etc. - only they are much more varied and interesting).

Also included is a new race, the Ironborn, a golem-like race. Very tight rules and very flexible (for instance, you can choose which ability score modifiers you get).

And while I generally have little use for new feats for D20, the three new types of feats in this book are so well put together and so interesting that they have made be want to include them in my game.

Overall, a fantastic supplement.

I am a direct descendent of Henry King Burgwyn Jr, with the exact same last name. I know all about my great great uncle and this book is a very good describer of him, his family, and life and times. I have lent this book too many Civil War buffs and it always comes back with a raving review.

BUY IT!!!

This is an outstanding book that provides a high level of very technical detail on Insular Iron Age swords, to include information on metallurgy, enameled decoration, dimensions, along with line drawings of some of the more important finds. The book even touched on some subjects not covered well in other works, such as chagrinage and the use of decorative brass foils.

Mostly, though, the book is intended as a survey of all known British Iron Age sword finds, and insofar as I can tell is quite complete.

There are a few shortcomings. Some of the technical descriptions leave unanswered questions of concern to a craftsman attempting a reconstruction. For example, the grip on the magnificent Kirkburn sword is still hazy as to how, exactly, it was built. It is unclear how the iron portion of the grip was constructed (perhaps a single small iron sheet wrapped around a rod and the seam welded?) and how exactly the organic core fitted within this. Thanks to this excellent book, I now certainly have much more information on this sword then I previously possessed, but still not quite all that I hoped to find.

For some reason also, there are no illustrations of the simpler British swords that are covered in detail in Dr. Stead's now long out of print "Iron Age Cemeteries in East Yorkshire", which seems odd to me, as this sub-group of shorter weapons is probably more representative of the "typical" warrior's weapon (as opposed to Kirkburn, et al, which clearly belonged to the elite) and in several examples we have actual organic remains to study, which is extraordinarily rare from really any period.

These are, in the end, minor shortcomings. For those with a general interest in Celtic swords, or a specific interest in the Insular types, this book is absolutely essential, and one of such scholarly bent should not delay in procuring a copy. Now, if only someone would do an equivalent or better work for Continental Celtic swords!

Your kids will love this book. I laughed so hard while reading one of the stories about Super that I cried, and my own dog sat up to see whether I needed help.

The Middle Earth Game is a timeless classic that will live forever in the RPG world. This is an excellent addition to it.

Noll's book, Canaan and Israel in Antiquity, is a very concise, yet thorough introduction to the field of syro-palestinian archaeology. He assumes that the reader has had enough background study in history to grapple with the controversial nature of the field, and so presents point by point argumentation of all sided and viewpoints on every issue. His study proceeds chronologically, beginning with the paleolithic period (+18000 BCE) and ending with a survey of Israel at the dawn of the Hellenistic age. I recommend this work to anyone who wants a thorough and erudite introduction to the field. The author is admittedly writing from the humanistic prospective and often takes positions that go against the Biblical narrative. Yet, he does a good job of not trying to force these conclusions down ones throat and takes pains to present the evidence on all sides with respectful objectivity. Highly recommended.

This is as good a book about tanks as one would wish to have. Perrett does what so many military historians neglect to do: he explains what a weapon is for, what a weapon does and why it is needed. He is both comfortable with the subject-matter and capable of stringing a sentence together - again, a rare combination among military historians. And in a series of self-contained chapters, he takes us from the fields of Cambrai in 1917 to the armored flanking movements of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Particularly impressive are his stories of the World War One armored car units, as well as his account of the British yeomanry during the Battle of Alamein 1942. His judicious use of first hand information gives you a firm impression of what it is to live, and die, inside these machines.

As a collector I always hoped that someone would write an illustrated and accurate book on cast iron automotive toys. This book, more than fulfills my expectations. A must for anyone who collects. A must for anyone who played with these toys as a child. This is how books on collectibles should be written. It is not only a history of the subject but an encyclopedic account of the toys, their catalogs, and their accessories.Well done Schiffer and the Outwaters!

A powerful story of how a woman overcame pain, abuse and addiction in her life. An inspiring read of transformating a life that is full of pain into one that offers freedom and happiness. Chock full of wisdom, a great read for anyone looking to recovery their life from pain and drama; or just improve on a life that is stuck.