Irons Books

This book thoroughly describes design procedures with numerous examples using both LRFD and ASD design, exactly what I need as an intern engineer. Sometimes I find the examples difficult to follow when units are not carried through and commentary left out; however, details are plentiful enough to eventually catch on. The AISC Manual of Steel Construction is constantly referred to and thus necessary to follow examples fully (I broke down and purchased it). Lastly, readers should be on the lookout for typos as I have spotted several.

Given the available books on the market for general steel structural design in the U.S., this is by far the best. The breadth of topics covered is abundant without any sacrifice in depth of full backround and commentary, which is sorely missing from other books of this kind. The layout and presentation of information is very clear and readable.

Although a new edition covering changes in the industry since the last publication would be greatly appreciated, the book taken for when it was published is still very applicable for use now (despite reviews to the contrary given below). Any competent engineer can adjust to changes in industry standards as the base material given in the book is very solid and sound.

The proof in the outstanding quality of this book is trying to use other similar books in the market today, which generally fall short in comparison.

Great book! Lots of theory and examples to support subject matter. Unfortunately, sometimes the theory and layout of the book becomes overwhelming. THE reference for P.E. exam.

This book covers the basics and fundamentals of steel design in such a way that provides a great reference for the structural engineering student or professional. Possibly the best book you can find in the field.
I've been using it since graduate school and through the years as a consultant in structural engineering.

This is simply the best book on steel design out there, and anyone interested in learning the subject needs to read it. It covers the crucial aspects of the AISC code in a unified manner and is quite readable. The authors begin each topic in the book with the detailed background mechanics behind the observed structural behavior and then proceed to verify these ideas with experimental evidence. Next the authors explain how the the code provisions result practically from these ideas. Finally, the authors offer a number of solved examples in design and analysis and explain the methods used to solve them.

This is exactly the way that a book on design should be put together. The code is not a black box, but sometimes it can be presented as such. In order to properly design or analyze a real building, you need a firm grasp of the basic and not so basic principles of structural mechanics and the empirical evidence that backs it up; you can't simply be a "Code Monkey" and expect to do a whole lot more than determining if a W10x16 or a W10x14 should be erected. Salmon and Johnson really explain steel structural engineering in this book, and if you make an effort to seriously learn the material, you will gain tremendous dividends in your understanding of these complex and interesting topics.

...of course it helps that by the time Iron Fist finally got his own series, it only lasted 15 issues. But those 15 issues are great. Once Chris Claremont and John Byrne got a hold of this character, the book soared. Great art, great stories, great characters -- and the first interracial love story in comics history!


While many of the Marvel Essential series are culled from second-rate 70's books, this one is a classic. It's not about Kung Fu or the martial arts -- it's about great adventures and characters. A superior series finally immortalized in book form (albeit in black and white).

Lost Horizon meets Kung Fu by way of the Marvel Universe. Iron Fist is a blast. Definitely one of the better Essentials. This is top of the line superhero and martial arts and other craziness. There is also corporate conspiracy and intrigue, and dodgy looking ballet booties on his costume, according to some writers! A definite bargain.

This is why the Essentials series is handy-- it takes someone with a excellent comics collection and a good cross-referencing system to put all these books together in one place.

Iron Fist was part of the Marvel 70's move to try anything non-superheroic. A bit more super-heroish than Shang-Chi, Iron Fits had trouble finding its feet as a feature. Sometimes a bit derivative (with an origin tale that echoed both Ka-Zar and Scott Summers) and sometimes bizarre (okay, so the magic city is guarded by...um...homicidal plants), the feature was bounced between a few different teams until it was handed over to Chris Claremont and John Byrne, who were just about to team up on the fabulously successful X-Men revival.

With their teamwork, the book acquired the touches for which they would both be famous. Strong women characters using brains instead of boobs. Strong supporting casts. Ties to other characters in their stable (a lead in thsi feature became Jean Grey's room-mate). Byrne's fluid line and Claremont's long-range story arcs.

Unfortunately, the book was bi-monthly, making the long story arcs tough to follow, and after moving from Marvel Premiere to his own book, Iron First was canceled, with several plot threads hanging.

However, Claremont was at that time also writing the Spidey team-up book, which in his tenure became the Marvel Loose Ends Clearing House-- so Fist made a two-part appearance there to pick up most of the loose ends.

Then someone in the House of Ideas decided to prop up the sagging Luke Cage, Power Man book by teaming him up with Fist-- a rather inspired choice to team up Marvel's street-smart black character and a guy from a mystical somewhat asianish city (like the Rush Hour movies...? nah--). Byrne and Claremont were brought in to oversee the "wedding" of the two features, and it's there that there run on Fist ends, and that's where this collection takes you

So here you get one of the better Marvel B-listers, many good cameos, and the early teaming of two comic industry giants. Well worth your time and money!

The 1960s and `70s were a simpler time in comic book writing and art, but simpler but does not mean dumber, merely less complicated (the comics of today tend to be more complex which has its own pluses and minuses). Marvel has been reprinting many of the comics from this period in their "Essentials" series. Having read quite a few of these Essentials volumes over the past couple of years, I can confidently say that not all are equally good; some, in fact, are pretty poor. Happily, the Essential Iron Fist is one of the best in the bunch.

Iron Fist is the superhero name for Daniel Rand. As a young boy, Rand was hiking in the Himalayas with his parents and a family friend in search of the mythical kingdom of K'un-Lun. The friend turned out to actually be an enemy, and his betrayal would cost Rand's parents their lives. Danny, however, survived and made it to K'un-Lun where he was trained in the martial arts. A special quest would result in his obtaining the power of the Iron Fist, which allowed him to focus energy into his fist and make it super-strong. There were other benefits to this power (including self-healing), but he could only use this energy sporadically.

Rand returns to New York City seeking revenge against the family "friend" but finds that it is not easy to achieve. Even as that plot line is resolved, he finds new adversaries, probably none as formidable as Khan. Along the way, he gets allies and friends, notably Colleen Wing and Misty Knight who together form a security company; Misty and Danny also have an evolving romantic interest. Of course, the most notable friend would be Luke Cage, who is only introduced at the end of this volume. Together, the two will become Power Man and Iron Fist, Heroes for Hire.

The strength of this Essentials edition is clearly due to the writer and artist who were responsible for most of the issues within: respectively Chris Claremont and John Byrne. Shortly after their Iron Fist run, they would take over X-Men and transform that comic from a second-string book to the biggest in the Marvel Universe.

I've always had a mixed view on Claremont - he's a good writer, but his storylines sometimes get so intricate they seem to go on forever without any real resolutions. This would be a bigger issue with his X-Men comics, but there are shades of it even in Iron Fist. Claremont could pull it off, but I think his prominence in the industry helped make this sort of convoluted plotting the norm rather than the exception; as a result, there seemed to be less one-issue stories and more that took years to finish. I'm not sure that this was a good trend. Byrne, on the other hand, I have a more positive view of, and this book reaffirms why: his art is top-notch, and is evidence as to why he has been one of the top artists in his field for decades (he's also a decent writer himself). It is not merely the way he illustrates people but his wonderful depiction of action that makes Byrne great.

There are now a lot of "Essential" volumes out there. Iron Fist may not be the big name that Spiderman, Captain America, X-Men or the Fantastic Four is, but that shouldn't keep you from reading this volume. This was Marvel at its 1970s best.

If you want to see John Byrne's art before his run on X-Men; this is the book to see. You get to see a lot of Kung Fu moves and poses that show Byrne's versatility with the genre. I wonder if he studied the moves in any Bruce Lee movies? You don't even have to like Kung Fu to appreciate the book. It's super hero action with all the stars from the 70's. If you like seventies Marvel comics, this is the collection to purchase!

The Iron Brigade is probably the most famous unit from the Union Army of the Potomac which served during the American Civil War. The brigade was made up of regiments from the "Western" states, which in those days meant Wisconsin, Indiana, and later Michigan. Three of the regiments were from Wisconsin, with the remaining two being from the other states. The unit served honorably throughout the war, and fought very hard at a number of battles. This book chronicles the opening fights the brigade had together (one of the Wisconsin regiments had briefly fought at Bull Run) and documents how the brigade was given its name, as the subtitle says.

The author here is focused on the Wisconsin regiments, especially the 6th. Apparently the regiment and its commander, Rufus Dawes, are favorites of the author. As a result, the book focuses on them fairly strongly, spending a lot of time chronicling their adventures during the fights.

The battles covered in the book are Groveton (or Brawner Farm), 2nd Bull Run, South Mountain, and Antietam. Of those four, Brawner farm involved pretty much no other units than the brigade, and South Mountain saw a considerable portion of the fighting fall on their shoulders. They were only briefly engaged at 2nd Bull Run, but right in the middle of the fighting at Antietam, which of course was a bloodbath. The brigade started out the battles strong, but was withered down to a shred by the end of the fighting.

I enjoyed this book a great deal. The author has a good grasp of the larger events of the war, and does a good job of placing the brigade's actions in perspective. I recommend this book.

If you have never read a book about the Iron Brigade, this is the one to begin with. This book reads like an adventure novel. No matter if you are 10 or 100 years old, this easy to read book is packed with page after page of thrilling adventure. I could not put it down. "What will happen to these brave boys next? Will they survive, and if so, HOW?" was constantly on my mind.

The book is the story of the Brigade as seen from within the ranks of the 6th Wisconsin Regiment. It draws heavily from the memoirs of Rufus Dawes, one of the officers leading the regiment. He was an excellent and compassionate writer, and his first hand observations put you immediately in the ranks.

The history of the Brigade, from enlistment at Camp Randall to the Battle of Gettysburg is told in fast paced and very accessible form. History buffs will enjoy this one as well as newcomers to the subject of the Civil War. After reading this book I was so impressed by the valor of these men, I decided to join the Iron Brigade and become a Civil War reenactor!

I read a lot of books on the Civil War. I had kin in the the 6th Wisconsin. I read everything I can find about the Iron Brigade. Mr. Herdegen is one of the great authorities on this famed and proud unit. I have enjoyed and learned from every one of his books. Well done! A must read for anyone who calls themselves a Civil War buff. My God....what a war...what a unit! Many American soldiers are button pushers these days. Back then, a man actually saw who he was fighting. The Brigade fought like wildcats. To get a feel for what it was like read Dawes and Herdegen. Read this book!!!

I found it very helpful and very inspirational. The book's four maps are especially clear. Quite a number of titles are available on this Brigade, and I was happy to find the book by Rufus R. Dawes, "A Full Blown Yankee of the Iron Brigade: Service with the Sixth Wisconsin Volunteers" now out in paper! Mr. Herdegen uses this earlier work, and now it is available to all CW students. I found much to share with others from this book, and I recommend it highly.

Readers who pick up this book will almost certainly read Alan Nolan's book on the Iron Brigade as well. With that in mind, if you only want or intend to read one, read Nolan's.

This book is much more specific than Nolan's in identifying certain individuals in different companies and offers a more anecdotal approach to the story of the Iron Brigade.

But this book centers almost completely on the Wisconsin regiments (2nd,6th,7th and the 5th for the brief period it was part of the brigade): other than a prologue of sorts beginning at Gettysburg, this book covers only up to Antietam. In reading this edition, a reader could easily forget that the 19th Indiana is part of the brigade, and the book ends before the 24th Michigan becomes part of the brigade at all.

The book is entertaining and very readable, The book's title is "How the Brigade won its Name" and it tells that story and stops. However, Nolan's book does that and covers up to "the Last Stand at Gettysburg," until the brigade is diluted with non-Western regiments. As a result, between reading the two, you could come away feeling as though this book's story is incomplete.

Among my circle of geeky friends, this was our favorite system after AD&D. This is a simplified version of the RoleMaster system, but I prefer MERP. Rolemaster adds complexity, such as separate results tables for each individual weapon, which only slows gameplay. MERP uses one result table for each type of weapon, e.g., cutting or crushing, with modifiers for the individual weapon.

The bloody and imaginative "critical hit" tables are a blast. The whole system makes it more fun to play a warrior or thief than a magic using character. Magic users are woefully under-powered and the spells lack the imagination of the combat and skills system. Magic characters select "Spell Lists" rather than individual spells as in D&D. Each list consists of ten themed spells (e.g., fire), but first level characters can only use the first and weakest spell. At each level, they gain access to the next spell and the earlier spells become more powerful. Sounds promising, right? It isn't. A first level wizard who selects Fire Law is only able to boil one cubic foot of inanimate liquid. I kid you not. The full Rolemaster rules only add more unimaginative and underpowered spell lists.

That said, we had a lot of fun hacking our way through Shelob's Lair and the other adventures. And we adopted the critical tables for D&D.

I finally figured out this game! It took me a while but I did it! What a great system! Plenty of races to choose from and very in touch with Tolkiens world. I now fully recommend it to all roleplayers! Bravo! Bravissimo!

Middle-Earth Role Playing is a very detailed game and game setting, it probably is too much if you just want to grab something quick and fun for a dungeon bash, but if you want something a little deeper or more serious, or use some of the setting information, it would be ok. Some complex and lethal mechanics here.

I love this system, it captures the flavor of Tolkien while making for an efficient roleplaying system. Great for fans of Tolkien, even if they aren't interested in roleplaying. The supplements for this game are some of the best RPG supplements I've seen. Loads of fun!

This is an RPG system based on the world of Tolkien's middle earth. It uses a simplified rolemaster system with basic D&D type classes. It uses a level system and magic is well developed and has great flavor. This captures the feel of tolkien and of RPGs well. I would recommend it for anybody who enjoys RPGs and either wants to use middle earth (there are many quality supplements though most are out of print)or new material to incorporate into an existing RPG (as I have done with the material in this product).

Here in Minnesota, Southdale Mall is 50--one of the oldest enclosed shopping centers. This was one of the hundreds of modern conveniences that changed our life in the 20th century--this one changed the way we shopped.

Not all conveniences ended up necessarily being "good things." Example is the credit card. Prior to credit cards, if you wanted to buy something but didn't have the full amount, you'd put it on "lay away," paying an amount each payday until it was yours, paid in full. This was "delayed gratification," unheard of today.

After WWII, advertisers learned that "sex sells." In early 1960, "the pill" was introduced for birth control. Its biggest "side effect" was the sexual revolution, fueled by the Hippies and Beat Generation. Until then, there was a stigma for unmarried women to have sex. However, everything changed again when AIDS and genital herpes appeared.

The author has melded together historical facts with letters and telltale photos from people born in the 1930-40-50s about these changes and how it affected them. These letters were so honest and true.

Until 1969, gay people were deemed "mentally ill" by psychiatrists. This was deleted from the list and now it has become an alternative lifestyle."

The Civil Rights movement saw desegregation, increased rights for African Americans--but at the same time, in 1960, we saw the assassination of President Kennedy, his bother bobby and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., along with riots at the 1968 Democratic convention. Times were a-changin'!

This book focuses on the 1940-1970 era mostly--and this was quite a time after WWII. The country changed and so did the family values.

The book includes sections like: Lifestyle; Sex and Social Mores; Household/homemakers; That's Entertainment; Fashion; Work; Health, and Science. Then there was technology and transportation and...and...and...

Armchair Interviews says: WOW! The memories this book brings backs are worth hours of talking with those who share these memories. It would be a great gift for Mother's or Father's Day as well.

Written by Marta Hiatt and illustrated with a wealth of vintage black-and-white photographs, Remembrances of The Past: Stories and Photos Recalling Life in the 20th Century is a journey of nostalgia touching upon the highlights of modern American History. Vignettes of what American life used to be like and the events that forever transformed it - from the civil rights boycott that began with Rosa Parks' refusal to be discriminated against, to breakthrough advances in germ warfare, to the revelation that women's orgasms came from clitoral rather than vaginal stimulation, to the inception of the Internet. Organized by theme rather than chronologically, the snippets of revelation about how daily American life used to be are often driven home with firsthand testimonies of ordinary people who lived in those times. A virtual American History museum in book form.

Genre: Non-Fiction/History Americana

Title: Remebrances of Times Past

AUTHOR: Marta Hiatt

Looking to spend a couple of relaxing and entertaining hours strolling down memory lane or visiting a time when your parents or grandparents lived without the benefit of computer, cell phone or television? This is the book for you!!

Author Marta Hiatt revisits a quieter, less complicated time when Mother's were at home baking and cleaning, Father's worked and children played games and used their imaginations. Highways were two lanes, sometimes dirt rather than asphalt and cars were scarce. Board games and cards were the entertainment of the day and children played outdoors where their imaginations bloomed. Not everything was easy in the "Good old days" however, people did much more physical labor and household chores were demanding and challenging. Whether you personally experience the first 50 years of the 20th century or are simply curious, Remembrances of Times Past will enlighten and entertain you. The old photographs add to the charm of the stories and add to the reader's pleasure.

The author has a relaxed, down home writing style that makes readers feel comfortable. She has interviewed and chatted with people who experienced the early century and tastefully relays their stories in this book. She is also the author of Mind Magic, Techniques for Transforming Your Life and Inspirational Quotations from the Concept-Therapy Philosophy.

This reviewer found the book educational and delightful. A great read for a lazy afternoon. Reviewer: Shirley Roe, Allbooks Reviews.



Title: Remembrances of Times Past
Author: Marta Hiatt
Publisher: Northern Star Press
ISBN: 978-0-9620929-3-0
Pages:360
Price: $15.95 July 2006

This is about the 20th century in America, at home, around the radio, in front of the TV, at the dinner table, in the garage, behind the wheel, in the kitchen. It's about what we ate and what we listened to and watched. What we bought, what we wore, how we behaved and what we did for a living. Marta Hiatt does an amazing job of weaving nostalgic black white photos of people, places and things with her own beguiling narrative interspersed with quotes from ordinary people who lived during these times. The result is book that I literally could not put down. In fact I put aside some other books to read it.

Remember doing the dishes with soap that wouldn't make suds in hard water? I do. The grease wouldn't get emulsified. It just got moved around. It took 10-year-old me hours to do the dishes from a big meal. Remember the washboard and the wringer that you were warned about getting your fingers caught in? Remember margarine, white like lard in a clear plastic bag, but with a little red ball that you broke and kneaded into the margarine to make it yellow? Remember corsets and garter belts and stockings that got runs in them? Leopold and Loeb, Al Capone, Patty Hearst, and Charlie Manson? Manual typewriters and the milk man? Or when the iceman did cometh and you put a square sign in the window with a chosen side up showing how much ice you needed? Popeye and spinach? Walking a mile for a Camel, and this ad on page 239: "No curative power is claimed for Philip Morris but--...An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure!...Call for Philip Morris"? The ad is from 1934. It is interesting how the tobacco companies projected their fears and revealed that even then they knew that cigarettes may cause disease.

Hiatt remembers all this and a lot more. You will find yourself turning the pages--which is to be expected since photos of those old ads, movie posters, people in quaint clothing, etc. are just so much fun to see; but what surprised me is just how readable the prose is. Hiatt's direct, unpretentious style and her knack for picking people to quote who are also straightforward make this one irresistible read. If there is any single theme that stands out, it would be the liberation of women, or truthfully, the partial liberation of women that has taken place most profoundly in the twentieth century. Hiatt does an excellent job of chronicling this momentous development and she points to some of the changes it has brought about.

The book is organized into chapters concentrating on various aspects of our lives, beginning with "Lifestyle," followed by "Sex and Social Mores," to "Household," through "That's Entertainment," "Fashion," and "Science and Technology," ending with Chapter Twelve, "A Potpourri of Changes."

Reading this is a bit like seeing the changes that have taken place in our lifetimes as in a newsreel (remember them?) sped up and vivid, perhaps like our lives passing before us... Irresistible book.

Ok: It wasn't so long ago we were watching tv on tiny black and white tubes, drinking ice cream sodas from a fountain and Diet Coke hadn't been invented (so women strapped themselves into girdles to banish the bulge.) The pictures in "Remembrances of Times Past" remind us of how far we've come in a century. Since my mom dates from the 20's and I from the 50's, we can together pore over this book and think: when Mom was a kid there was barely refrigeration! When I was a kid, the tv was a novelty and the computer in high school was a terminal from Ford Motor Company and you inserted a punched paper tape to run a single kilobyte program. Wow. It's fun to reminisce. Delightful.

First off, this book is a must own for any blacksmith. I am a self taught blacksmith and the variety of items in this book have inspired many projects. This collection is a national treasure.

The reason that I am writing this review is that on May 25th, 2005 the collection will be auctioned off as individual pieces. This fabulous collection will soon be scattered to the four winds. If you read this prior to the auction date, the Nation Museum of Metal is trying to raise money to buy as many pieces as possible. The donation site is at http://www.metalmuseum.org/donations.htm

This volume is a serious definitive work worthy of the described collection. For those inclined to study the colonial period this book is a must.

First rate work - thanks and hats off to the authors.

This is an excellent resource book for both collectors and individuals who enjoy making reproductions of period pieces. However, having looked at and handled a display of some of the items at a early ironwork conference, it should be noted that a number of those items, about 40 percent appeared to be dated from the Arts and Crafts Period. Arts and Crafts Period pieces, as pointed out to me by a person more experienced than myself at the conference, may be identified by unfinished punch holes, i.e. jagged edges on the back, as well as noticable asymmetry. Before and after the Arts and Crafts Period apparently smiths were in less of a rush and spent the extra minute or two cleaning off rough edges and keeping the item symmetric. Otherwise, this book could not be more highly recommended. Buy this book while you can.

When I first received my copy of this book I could hardly put it down. It is a wonderful and detailed pictorial of the Sorber collection of Colonial and Early American wrought iron. It is a pictorial essay that leads one's imagination into what life may have been like at the time when these items were forged and used.

As a practicing blacksmith and tinsmith specializing in historic reproductions, I find the detail of the photos to be very revealing. Revealing not only in terms of clarity of detail, but revealing of the expertise and finesse that the artisans of those times was capable.

My thanks to Jim Sorber for having the collection, and my thanks to Don Plummer for putting it together so we can all experience it.

Colonial Wrought Iron The Sorber Collection

One of the main points of interest at the ABANA National Blacksmith Conference in Asheville NC was the Sorber exhibit. Mr. Jim Sorber, now is his eighties, has bee a collector of colonial iron work most of his life. Much of his collection includes pieces of Pennsylvania Dutch and German American influence. After attending a lecture by Don Plummer on the Sorber exhibit, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Sorber and Don Plummer. We discussed the pieces in the exhibit and Don's upcoming book on the Sorber collection. They both assured met that the book would cover many unusual wrought iron pieces from Mr. Sorber's lifetime of collecting and that it would be a must own reference book. I received my copy and it is everything they said it would be and more. Don Plummer and Jim Sorber both come from blacksmithing backgrounds and Mr. Sorber was a successful contractor and restorer of old homes as well. This helps Don bring out many details that most people would overlook on the manufacture of the pieces. Details such as many fireplace cranes having a hoist added to lift heavy cook pots and whether a trivet was used for a smoothing iron or for a cook pot. Colonial Wrought Iron is written with the collector, reenactor, museum curator, and modern blacksmith in mind. It has a very interesting text about the manufacture and usage of the pieces with hundreds of clear pictures. Many of the pieces pictured even have close measurements from the originals. This book covers every imaginable group of usable iron utensil from the 18th and 19th century from simple tools to complex clock jacks. There is even an appendix in the back with over 160 blacksmith signatures from the Sorber collection. If you are a collector of wrought iron, recreate early wrought iron pieces in the forge, use replicas of the older piece while buckskining, or reenacting this book needs to be on your must read list.

Buster Grubbs

Set in a timeframe where no writer has gone before, Iron Dawn brings new characters and elements who are both refreshing and compelling. A must!

The best thing about this book is how it combines "dark and grim" stuff with funny stuff. Life in the Bronze Age was hard and brutal, and Stover portrays it as such. However, Stover peppers the book with genuinely humorous dialogue and characters, which keeps the tone from being too dark. Kheperu the unapologetic pervert was my particular favorite. Cynical, lewd, and cowardly, Kheperu spouts some of the books funniest lines, and somehow ends up doing the right thing. Barra is a strong, solid heroine, and should appeal both to fans of Xena and fans of The Mists of Avalon. The only bad thing about this book was when Barra suddenly developed the "sight", which seemed hokey. Overall, though, a highly entertaining read.

What can I say? I did not get very far with this one, the characters seemed like cardboard (the author says they were based on RPG characters). The action justs happens, you feel you need to be in the RPG campaign to get all the character info. I stopped reading it, but may continue sometime in the future. I am starting to believe that in the Science fiction and Fantasy genres only the woman authors are creating characters with any depth. If you are a fan of action, and want to read an RPG-type narrative then this may just be what you are looking for.

Fast-paced, with hard action and a feel of reality to it, Iron Dawn drew my attention on the first page and held it in a steel grip for the rest of the book. I couldn't put it down! The descriptions are vivid, and set the imagination on fire. Barra, Leucas, and Kheperu are all very real people, with pasts and personalities as subtle and potent as they come. Great book if you like playing action sequences in your mind, and don't mind your books tinged with bone and blood. This is a must read!

Though I love fantasy, I tend to avoid reading a lot of fantasy novels, as too many of them turn out to be one in a series of twelve, or doorstop epics with exhaustive appendices and interminable plotlines. That sort of thing is all well and good when one is in the mood for it, but sometimes you just want a light, rollicking adventure, and Iron Dawn delivers that in spades.

Following the exploits of three mercenaries in the Phoenician city of Tyre, Iron Dawn moves along crisply with brisk battles, witty banter, a straightforward plot and a cast of likeable (and hateable) characters. It isn't particularly grand or epic, as fantasy novels go, but it tells a good story and tells it very well. I devoured this book in a few days and gave it a place of honor on my bookshelf. I've already ordered the sequel and am eagerly awaiting it.

Amazon has shown this volume as being out of print, which is a real shame -- I urge you to pick it up used or find it if you can. It's a great read.

I remember reading each issue as it came out when I was only 11 years old. I couldn't believe what ol' Shellhead was going through! And the new armor that came out of it combined with the way the new IM handled his opponent, awesome! Michelinie/Bright/Layton's finest finest finest work!

(Tied with it is the vol. 1, #s 280-300 by Kaminski and Hopgood--we need a TPB!)

I thought this book was an excellent read as it showed how Tony Stark went off on an action-packed costly quest to get his technology out of over people's hand's after discovering it had been stolen from him and used to harm innocent people, wanting to assure it was never used to harm people again, he caused a few deaths along the way and almost crossed the line beyond redemption.

It shows him hunting down armoured villains and attacking government agents. He goes toe-to-toe with the world foremost secret agency, armoured agents from other countries and one of his oldest friends. Not to mention one hell of a near death experience and a change in Armour.

Basically it has everything you need in a good novel, book or comic.

Consistently voted online and off as the best of all Iron Man storylines, this Michelinie/Layton gem details how Tony Stark/Iron Man must attempt to nullify his secret armor technology that has fallen into the wrong hands. The original comics were Iron Man #225-232, and are virtually impossible to find. Nab this TPB whenever you can.

Tony Stark is a man on the brink of deadly obsession over his stolen technology gone awry. This storyline has all the elements you could ask for: action, intrigue, suspense, drama. Iron Man takes on friend and foe alike in his quest to eliminate the product of his genius, and woe be unto anyone who gets in his way! David Michilinie, Mark Bright, Bob Layton, and Barry Windsor-Smith weave a tale that simply shatters the boundaries of comic book fiction, and shows us a side of Iron Man seldom seen. Worth every penny, and then some!

While the "Demon in a Bottle" storyline tends to get the most attention, the Armor Wars saga remains my all-time favorite Iron Man storyline. The Armor Wars ran in issues 225-232 of the original Iron Man series, and featured the creative team of David Michelenie, Mark Bright, and Bob Layton. This team was responsible for a particularly good run of issues, of which Armor Wars was the highlight.

In this storyline, Tony Stark discovers that some of his Iron Man technology was stolen and passed on to various armored villains. Agonized at the thought that his technology was used to cause the suffering and death of others, Stark dons the Iron Man armor and starts hunting down these villains and destroying their armor. It seems simple enough, but what about the technology he provided to the government, such as SHIELD's Mandroids or the Guardians at the Vault? Iron Man's quest soon has him taking on friends and allies like Stingray and even Captain America, and ends up costing him his Avengers membership (though to be fair, it was just the West Coast Avengers, and they hardly count).

This is a fantastic tale of obsession, guilt, and justice, not to mention a seriously cool chance to see Iron Man taking down a whole bunch of armored bad guys. It's about as good a tale as you're likely to find in an 80's mainstream comic book. Michelenie does a great job with the story, and the artwork by Bright and Layton remains the standard by which I judge all other Iron Man artists. The chilling epilogue by the legendary Barry Windsor-Smith ends things on the perfect note, and may be the best modern single-issue Iron Man tale ever.

If you're an Iron Man fan, this is a must-have trade paperback. Marvel fans in general should check it out as well.

Although most of his stories take place in the Old West, they could take place anywhere, as they are primarily about people and how they relate (or don't) to each other. The settings are authentic, though, and L'Amour is one of the very best storytellers we have had.
In the Westerns genre, he is the best, in my opinion, even better than Zane Grey and Max Brand.

This book shows the true versitility of Louis L'Amour. The setting changes from the rough and tumble strees of New York to the rough fronteer of the American west.

Tom Shanaghy was a rough neck from the streets of New York. He knew how to handle himself there very well! Then he had to escape quickly by jumping on a train westward. There was no intention to stay out west long, but he found himself wrapped up in a mysterious situation. He was a man on the edge of being a criminal. Then he became the marshall that a town loved, then hated, then loved again. He still never intended to stay, but he had to stop a theft that would destroy the town. One more thing tempted him to stay long term... the girl. This one was well written and worth your time. It is a little far fetched, but what else do you expect? You'll enjoy it.

"The Iron Marshal" is not as popular as some of L'Amour's other works, but it remains an excellent demonstration of his versatility. A good half of the book is not a "western", per se--it takes place in the Five Points ghetto of New York City in the late 1800's. I recently visited what was once the Five Points district in New York City (now home to the federal and state courthouses and police headquarters) and learned just how much tougher Five Points was than any frontier town in the old West.

This is a fine afternoon book, short and easy to read. The twists and turns kept it moving. I had forgotten how much fun the Iron Marshal is.

The Iron Marshal once again proves Louis L'Amour's incredible range and command of historical fiction. Others may tell the tale of the west, but this novel takes us deeper into the understanding of the life of an immigrant newcomer and how he becomes a part of the western expansion.

Tom Shanaghy is just a boy when the story begins. He's alone and in a strange New York City. Without father or mother this young boy is forced to make it alone. The street becomes his teacher and like so many other young Irishman, he becomes embroiled in political disputes and controversies that force manhood upon him.

Tom seems to be alive only for the moment and this is noticed by the one man he truly trusts. McCarthy, his mentor and teacher, suggests that Tom break away from the road he is traveling. It leads to only one place and that place is somewhere without the support of the powerful people that rely upon his keen mind and strong arm. One day he'll mean nothing to them and he'll find himself alone.

Through events outside of his control, Tom finds himself heading West. From here the story takes on an interesting quality. It's out of control. Many of L'Amour's books follow the tale, but the Iron Marshal is hijacked by the greed of multiple individuals and he again finds himself thrust into a position he had no wanting for.

As an immigrant and eastern city man, this young Marshal is without the keen sense of tracking, rope craft, and small town living. He must rely on near total strangers to unravel the mysteries surrounding him. He also finds himself doubting all of the central characters. Who's a part of scandal and who is not.? How can he protect those that are potentially trying to kill him and this two-bit Kansas town?

Without explanation, the rug is pulled from beneath him and even the few assets he had to work with appear to have been destroyed. Tom, the Marshal, the chief suspect? What was happening? He was the only genuine chance this town had. They were going to move in now. All of it had come to a head right now, and in this moment it was all so clear.

Nelson is a fine novelist and an even better historian. Have read all but one of his books and have never been disappointed.

the monitor and merrimack were both union ships.....why were they fighting each other???? i know the winners write the history books, but at the time, this fight was between the monitor and the virginia(formerly the merrimack).....

Been a longtime civil war buff and recently my attention has turned to the naval side of the war and specificly ironclads. This one covering the battle of the Monitor and the Virginia is easily the best book on the topic I have read so far.

What really makes this one stand out is not just the writing or the scholorship, but the combination of the two. So often civil war history is written by scholors who know their facts but don't always have the best writing talents. In this case however James Nelson is an established author having written a number of fictional titles in the historical naval genre. Here however Nelson shows that his talents as a scholor rival his talents as an author. The result is a book of history that reads like a novel.

The book itself starts off with a bang literally as Nelson chronicles the Virginia's opening attacks on the Congress and Cumberland. From there we go back to the beginning and explore the long and winding roads both the Monitor and Virginia took to reach their epic confrontation. It's a facinationg trip as those in charge try and grapple with this new technology.

The story of the Monitor is especially interesting as it's visionary designer John Ericsson fights the doubters who don't even believe his ship will float let alone defeat the Virginia.

I do hope in the future that James Nelson writes more in the Civil War genre as this book is a must read for anyone interested in ironclads and leaves the reader wanting more.

Reign of Iron is how history should be written. The detail is terrific, every aspect of the building and operations of these ironclads is covered, in greater depth than in any of the other accounts I have read. Nelson, incidentally, discusses at length why the ship was still called Merrimack even after the Confederates had her, and goes into a lot of detail concerning her names. I have to guess the other reviewer has not read the book. William Davis's Battle of the First Ironclads is also incorrectly named.

Anyone who loves maritime history or Civil War history should read this book! I love Nelson's novels, but this makes me hope he will write more history too.

James L. Nelson brings their famous conflict to the fore in Reign of Iron, a historical study of the events leading up to and proceeding after the battle. The book begins with the Merrimack, newly recommissioned Virginia, steaming into its first battle and decimating the Union navy's proud wooden ships blockading Hampden Roads, and the Monitor, after struggling through rough seas down the coast, arriving on the scene at the end of a hard day's fighting. But Nelson, a master tactician himself, tears readers away before the two ironclads meet, taking us back to the beginning of the war and the race by North and South to develop ironclad vessels for battle.

Nelson carries readers quickly but thoroughly through the process, switching perspectives from North to South as each ship takes shape. Before you know it, you'll find yourself back at Hampden Roads on March 8, 1862 -- Virginia has ruled the day, leaving the pride of the Union's fleet -- the Congress and the Cumberland -- as smoking ruins, and the Minnesota aground in the shallow waters and waiting only for sunrise on March 9 for Virginia to finish the job.

But the Monitor, with timing worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster, arrived late on the 8th. Its diminutive size didn't inspire much confidence among sailors of the massive frigates who'd been bested that day, but the plucky iron "cheese box," as it was called, placed herself at Minnesota's side and defended her admirably. For hours, the two iron ships pounded each other with their big guns -- ultimately doing little real damage to each other, but stalemating in a spectacular fashion.

Nelson, a practiced novelist, shows his storytelling skills here by keeping history from being dry despite the long list of characters who appear in the narrative and the lengthy technical explanations that the story requires. This is a thoroughly enjoyable book that will appeal to history buffs, particularly those who enjoy Civil War or battles at sea.

by Tom Knapp, Rambles.(net) editor