Wholesalers Books

As everyone has stated, this is a good book with lots of good information. One thing to know about it, however is that the information is presented more in a 'conversational' style than an 'encylopedia' style. If you are looking for a traditional 'field guide' type style with color-coded cross-references and the like, you may want to look elsewhere. However, if you don't mind a more casual presentation of the information - and it is that way in this book - then this one is for you. In other words, you'd be more inclined to pick up this book for some casual reading than you would a traditional field guide.

I live in southeast Alaska and this is the book I have been looking for years. I love it! It goes into such depth, but it is simple to understand.
I enjoy hiking and like being more informed of who/what has also pased this way before me. Great Resource for anybody who enjoys hiking. The photo's are excellent.

I usually check out tracking and reading sign books from the library because I would rather spend my hard cash on backpacking gear, fuel, and tires to get up and down those rocky roads, but this book was one that I had to buy. Most tracking guides have sketches and if they have photos they usually are not very good quality. This book has amazing photos that will aid you in scat and sign identifying. It is a great book for begginers and just a pleasant read. I would have to agree with another reviewer that he does tend to focus on northern or eastern animals. Learning about Mule Deer sign would be more pertinent than learning how to read Moose sign. There is also another book on Amazon that is PACKED with photos and has more photos of dens, tracks and sign. I would have to rate that book higher than this one, if I had to choose one, but this book definately earns 5 STARS!

This book provides an excellent introduction to reading animal tracks. In the first chapter the author explains why we should try to understand the tracks around us in the forest, and what we might see. He then delves into the kinds of observations we need to make, such as trail widths and trail patterns and scat. The rest of the book is divided into chapters by animal family, including chapters for rodents, rabbits, weasels, dogs, cats, bears, and hoofed animals. There is also an extensive bibliography and index.

Each chapter is comprised of short articles about the specifics of tracking the individual animals that make up the family covered in the chapter. Rezendes provides a short informative description of the animal with a color photograph. The descriptions cover behavior, range, and diet. Rezendes also includes black and white photos of the animal's feet, both front and back. The next section of the article covers tracks and trail patterns, and it includes illustrations or diagrams, photographs, and typical trail width and stride measurements, as well as a lot of information to help you sort out this critter's tracks from all the others out there. He also includes short sections on signs, such as dens, food caches, kill sites, and scat, also with photographs or illustrations.

I purchased this book after moving out into the country because I wanted to identify the critters that visited at night leaving their tracks in the snow around our house. I found Rezendes' approach captivating and easy to understand, even as a beginner. Rezendes explains how tracks can tell us much more than just the identity of an animal- -through a careful study of tracks, you can determine how fast the animal was moving, whether it was browsing, being chased, or chasing another. This book is a highly informative reference; it's also a delightful read on a blustery winter afternoon.

I am an old guy-pushing 60-and have examined books on tracking ever since I was a child. No other book compares to this one. I purchased it based on the positive Amazon reviews and on this book they were right on the mark. I mean, this guy not only provides excellent photos of tracks, he has photos of the ANIMALS' FEET! What a simple yet sensible idea! I very much like his philosophy of tracking, his emphasis on looking at the whole picture of the impact an animal makes on its environment. Good job, Mr. Rezendes.

DENNIS R. JENKINS &TONY R. LANDIS are THE best AERO/SPACE historians.I have other titles by them.

Please provide list of ALL titles by them.

THANX VLC

Dennis R. Jenkins and Tony Landis write wonderful books about amazing machines.. (Check out America's super bomber XB-70)

Their style of writing is pure technical eloquence. They can take a complex subject and make it compelling reading whilst not dumbing it down or glossing over it.

The story evolves at a terrific pace and is neatly framed in the events and context of the era they occurred in.

The quality of the images matches the quality of the text. This is a book you will come back to year after year!

This book is an exceptional addition to anyones library on aviation. If you are a X-15 freak, it is an absolute must to have.

This research work was obviously a labor of love and reverence for the authors. They gave credit where it is due, from the pilot astronauts, research scientists, program managers, air force personnel, senior engineers, technicians, and even a handful of glad-handing politicians.
For the first time, the reader wil learn details of the B-52 mothership personnel.

The photo-documentation is vast; I find it hard to believe that a companion volume ("Scrapbook") was needed for photos and illustrations beyond Hypersonic!'s coverage.

For modelers, the AFFTC blueprint on page 179 is definitive data on the X-15 fuselage. Info in the text will enable accurate reproduction of wing and tailplane structures.

Hypersonic! will remain the standard reference volume on the X-15 for decades to come.

Not to take from old Chuck's efforts, but I've always thought the X-15 was the more interesting program. It's amazing the level of accomplishments they made, yet the X-15 is far from being as well known to the public as some other programs in aviation. If you like the X-15, this is definitely the book. It's not the kind of book you just fly through and look at the photos, then throw on a shelf... It is definitely worth your while to take the time and really read through the details of how the aircraft worked, what the Pilots went through, and how the milestones were achieved technically. The flight log in the back is amazing in it's detail, evening listing the chase aircraft and chase Pilots involved in each mission. I purchased it along with the X-15 Scrapbook, and they work well together.

A great long range bomber that served in SAC to perform as a bridge between the "prop" planes and the pure jet. This book is throughly
researched and easy to read. Many photos.

The photos in the book are worth the price of admission, so it shouldn't be a surprise that the accompanying text is so flat. The book focuses almost entirely on the technical side of the aircraft and completely ignores the political, military, and economic forces that shaped the B-36. There are no crew accounts of 30 hour missions. There are few indications of how the B-36 was used (or more importantly, why it wasn't used). In fact, one gets the impression that upon leaving the factory each plane was just rotated back to the factory for an endless series of upgrades.

Still, the detail here is marvelous. Photos and diagrams are provided for nearly every important part. Changes are often detailed down to individual planes. While the book does have a tendency to get bogged down in model numbers and lingo, it still manages to impart a sense of the majesty of this huge and innovative airplane.

Very good reference on the B-36 Peacemaker. Well illustrated with black and white as well as color photographs. Many cut away drawings and diagrams. Considerable technical information A good source book for the serious researcher or individual interested in this Cold War era bomber.

From page 1 this work contains details of the design and prduction of the B-36 that will satisfy the aircraft purist. Practically every page has drawings, diagrams, or photos that illustrate the print text. I highly recommend this book to anyone who actually saw and heard these great airplanes in the air, and to anyone interested in aviation history and SAC. Incidentally, if you never saw or heard one of these in the air, there is a great Jimmie Stewart movie, The Strategic Air Command, that is built around the B-36 unit that was stationed at Carswell Air Force Base in Ft Worth, Tx during the '50's.

"Magnesium Overcast" is just what an "airplane book" should be: large, attractive, detailed, with a wealth of superior illustrations, many in color. I'd hazard a guess that there are more than 300 high-quality photos and drawings, including a rare chart of the Convair production line.

In any case, it's all here: something for "rivet counters" and "number crunchers" alike. The authors deserve full credit for the thoroughness of their work and the obvious care they lavished on this project. Kudos also go to Specialty Press for producing this significant volume in such lavish style at a reasonable price.

One of the best books I have ever read about aircraft and their developments. It is a must for anyone in aviation or anyone interested in history. Well researched and the author gets the point across with out laboring on the subject. I wish he would write one on the attack jets of the era.

This book is an outstanding look at the most fertile period in aviation, the transition to jets, specifically the creation of high performance aircraft that could accomplish the most difficult feat in flying- carrier operations. Thomason reviews the misfires as well as the world-beaters, from the little-known Vought Pirate to the masterful McDonnell Phantom. Well written, concise and authoritative. Highly recommended!

This is a very interesting, complete and nicely illustrated review of US Navy carrier aviation from post WWII to Vietnam conflict.
In my opinion the best way to understand how US Naval aviation transitionned from post war interrogations to angled fly deck with F8 Crusader and F4 Phantom.
A must have for Naval aviation enthousiasts.

When ground forces in Iraq run into trouble, they have on call air support -- Navy F18s in orbit -- ready to come into action. Although these fighters are based on aircraft carriers far out to sea, they are able to remain on patrol in Iraq.

In his new book, Tommy H. Thomason skillfully describes a time when the Navy struggled to find ways to keep its fuel-hungry jets in the air for minutes -- not hours. In those days, an aircraft's endurance was key to naval air operations. Early carrier operations depended on carefully cycling thirsty aircraft on and off the ship.

"U.S. Naval Air Superiority: Development of Shipboard Jet Fighters 1943-1962" is a comprehensively researched volume is stuffed with engrossing photographs, first-rate 3D Drawings, and very helpful charts and tables.

The author has meticulously gathered information on Navy aircraft starting with the modest McDonnell FH Phantom I, through the all-world McDonnell F4U Phantom II.

I found Mr. Thomason's coverage of several lesser-known designs to be very interesting.

Consider the FJ-1 Fury, which was an updated version of the famous U.S. Air Force F-86 fighter that adapted surprisingly well to the aircraft carrier -- it was loved by its Marine pilots.

What Navy fighter had great success against the Migs in Korea? The harmless-looking F3D Skyknight night fighter bagged 7 Migs against only one loss.

"If Vought's F8U program had faltered, the J79-powered Super Tiger would likely have been the Navy's premier day-fighter instead for two decades," ventured the author.

His book comprises 15 chapters arranged in chronological order. The Navy jets have been marshaled into chapters chronicling first designs, second-generation jets, Korean War fighters, aircraft carrier innovations, supersonic jets, and mach 2 fighters.

The author has dedicated a full chapter each to the innovative Vought F7U Cutlass -- the "Ensign Eliminator"; the well-mannered Douglas F4D Skyray -- a very fast climbing, radar equipped all-weather fighter; and the standard setting McDonnell F3H Demon -- the only all-weather, radar-missile-armed fighter in the fleet before the F4 Phantom II.

The Navy had three jets operational in the Korean War. The F2H-2 Banshee, F9F-2 Panther, and F3D-2 Skyknight. Most of the Navy missions were flak suppression and cutting communist supply lines. Air battles were rare because Migs did not often go into the areas of Navy jet operations.

Due to problems with Westinghouse jet engines the Navy could not deploy swept wing jet fighters that were more of a match for Mig-15s. The Korean War proved that refinements to Navy carriers were needed including better catapult systems, lighting, navigation and instrument approach aids for night and all-weather landing operations.

In analysis, Mr. Thomason reveals that carrier based aircraft by nature have more difficult design requirements than land based aircraft. He suggests that this contributed to lower speed and range performance in early Navy aircraft.

In retrospect, Mr. Thomason suggests, "The Navy's approach to creating a world-class fighter was straightforward. It simply funded successive aircraft programs with five different manufacturers until experience and competition generated one." The Navy did not give up on its traditional suppliers even after successive failures.

In many cases, Navy fighters suffered most from inadequate power. Mr. Thomason argues, "As engine companies were challenged to produce more thrust with less fuel and at a lower weight, engine durability and reliability occasionally suffered."

Looking back on this period, the author explains, "As it turned out, straight-wing jets were relatively easy to operate from aircraft carriers with minimal changes to the carrier itself. Swept wing aircraft took considerably longer to put into service, partly because the Navy was too ambitious with the mission requirements in the late 1940s and partly because Westinghouse could not repeat its early engine success."

Ironically, the Navy fighter's highest priority of defending the fleet from attacks by supersonic bombers was never tested.

An excellent overview history of the development of early Naval Jet Aircraft. Informative and Well illustrated.

Convair B-36 "Peacemaker"
Warbird Tech Series Volume 24
By Dennis R. Jenkins
Reviewed by Ned Barnett

Renewed interst in the B-36 has made this fine volume even more useful and relevant - and the release of 1/144th scale Peacemaker kits add a further incentive for modelers (as well as aviation history buffs) to revisit this remarkable little 100-page book.

The B-36 served operationally for just 10 years, from 1948 to 1958 - it was slow for it's time, cruising at just 250 mph, but the Peacemaker flew so high that it was largely invulnerable for most of it's career. With an unrefueled combat range of 10,000 miles, missions of 40 hours were not uncommon - though they must have been butt-busters of monumental proportions. This book - from Specialty Press's excellent Warbird Tech series - does an excellent job of capturing the sheer enormity of this remarkable huge aircraft, known with irony and a bit of affection as "Magnesium Overcast." The war-winning atomic bomber, the B-29 Superfortress, looked like a Piper Cub when parked in the B-36's shadow (which Convair and the Air Force did a lot, for PR purposes).

It also captures the details, with sketches of the turrets and engine installations, close-up photos of cockpits and bomb bays and low-slug auxiliary jet engines. It should come as no surprise that the B-36 was frequently modified to fulfill special missions - perhaps most amazingly as an aircraft carrying an operational nuclear reactor (which did not power the plane, but only tested airborne radiation shielding). At least one B-36 was modified as an all-jet YB-60, intended as a competitor to the Boeing B-52 but - at a top speed roughly 100 mph less than the B-52 - too little, too late.

The book has a relative few color photos - most B-36s weren't all that colorful - but the author found a color shot of a gaudy B-36 used to drop test atom bombs over Nevada and the Pacific - this one looks like a cross between a circus wagon and an 8th Air Force "formation ship." Modelers who see this photo will absolutely want to figure out a way to build it. However, what it lacks in color it makes up for with line drawings - many from documents created by Convair and the Air Force for Peacemaker crews and ground crews - that really make this aircraft come to life.

Whether you like military technology and aviation history or whether you're a modeler looking for reference material and interesting ideas, the Warbird Tech Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" is a book you'll want to add to your personal library.

This book allow a history of one of the most controvertial bomber, the B-36. The book explain the evolution of this "monster" whit a singular name "Peacemaker", irony?. The B-36 servered to the future evolution of the bombers, and servered to the platform for a lot of experiments about new technologies.

Mr. Jenkins has captured the history of the Peacemaker and its many variants in an easy to read 100 pages of text and rarely seen photographs.

The descriptions of the many systems of the B-36 are easy to understand and are supported with photos and drawings. The details provided of the many experimental versions of the aircraft give a rare glimpse of the state of development of military aviation during the 1940's and 1950's.

Because of the extreme secrecy that surrounded this aircraft during its service with SAC, very little was known about it publicly. Mr. Jenkins has done a superb job of bringing back to life an almost forgotten aircraft - an aircraft that is responsible for all of us being alive today. I hope that he will someday consider writing an even broader book about the Peacemaker and its' many contributions to present day aviation and to the preservation of world peace through strength.

This book is a "must read" for every student of aviation history.

Considering this book is only 104 pages long it contains an incredible amount of data. This is an update from the original version of this book that I saw many years ago - it has a few more pages and is printed on much better (glossy) paper. It also has many new photographs. If you only want to spend $20 on a B-36 book, this is the one to get. If you want to spend double that amount, buy Magnesium Overcast by the same author - almost 300 pages of every detail you would ever want to see on the B-36, C-99, and B-60.

I think this book is perfect if your looking for a history of the Harley Davidson Motorcycle and the company. This gives great dates and also tells what was happening in the world beyond harley davidson.

If you love Harleys, then this book is an absolute must for your bookshelf. Great historical treatment of the company with plenty of pictures to satisfy even the hungriest eyes. Plenty of cultural references, too. If you saw the TBS special on Harley-Davidson, this will take you one step further.

I received this book as a gift several years ago and have enjoyed it each time I've flipped through its pages. It mixes american nostaliga with Harley history giving you a point of reference. It's a great timeline book. If you want to understand the mindset of america when certain Harley-Davidson models were around, then get this book.

This is another outstanding aviation book from Specialty Press and is a fitting companion to their U.S. NAVAL SUPERIORITY: DEVELOPMENT OF SHIPBORNE JET FIGHTERS - 1943-1962. The quality of the writing is excellent and authoritative, and the protographs are of high quality and illustrate the subject matter very well. More color would have been welcomed; however, the quality of the black and white photos in the book is probably far superior to most surviving color photos from the 1940s and early 1950s.

Coverage of the topic is comprehensive and begins with some of the last propeller-driven designs that were developed in an attempt to squeeze out the last bit of performance prior to the transition to jets. It finishes with the JSF prototypes, which brings the book right up to the present.

I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in military aircraft development.

During the cold war, hobby stores were filled with plastic model kits of these jet fighters. As boys, we assembled and admired them, not knowing much about the real thing.

Bookstore bargain counters were flooded with jet fighter books with big pictures and little captions. Yet, we wanted to find out more.

Dennis R. Jenkins and Tony R. Landis have done a superior job of presenting the ancestry of successful and failed jet fighters to great detail with a clear, concise, readable style.

They have meticulously researched and presented the development of dozens of Air Force jet fighters from conception through cancellation -- beginning with the Bell XP-59A Airacomet and ending with the Joint Strike Fighter.

"Experimental & Prototype U.S. Air Force Jet Fighters" is a high quality, glossy, format book with a "jackpot" of intriguing photographs (many in color), instructive drawings and illustrations in 12 chapters.

Many of the wonderful interior photographs, diagrams and engineering drawing were taken from U.S. Air Force documents. The graphics alone make this one of the finest aircraft books, I have ever seen.

During the cold war, fighter technology had not progressed enough to deliver a good all-purpose fighter. Using the 'shotgun' approach, manufacturers were simultaneously tasked with developing specific jets to fill the all-weather, point-defense, penetration fighter, and long-range interceptor missions.

Readers will enjoy the extensive coverage of the famous Century Series from the cold war days, as well as jet fighters participating in the Gulf Wars.

Of great interest, the authors have featured the development of the hot new stealth fighters such as the Lockheed Martin YF-22, and Lockheed X-35 as well as their rivals: Northrop YF-23 and Boeing X-32.

Long forgotten, Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Landis present a rare failure from Kelly Johnson's famed Skunk works -- the Lockheed XF-90 penetration fighter. The authors explain, "the airplane looked every inch the modern, high-performance fighter, but produced disappointing results."

The authors learned, "The XF-90 was overbuilt, using thick skin and a robust structure, that unfortunately also added considerable weight." This penetration fighter design was doomed by the slow development of more powerful engines with afterburners -- the heavy XF-90 required rocket assist on every takeoff.

Modestly describing their book, the authors state, "This is not intended to be the ultimate or final history of experimental and prototype Air Force jet fighters. The project actually began as a photo scrapbook, intended to show seldom-seen photographs of these aircraft."

But, as their research continued they were able to uncover much new data, which is included, giving the reader the progress and outcome of each program including crucial Air Force decisions made along the way.

Where much new information was uncovered, the authors chose to include it instead of presenting redundant data that has been already published in other works.

"Experimental & Prototype U.S. Air Force Jet Fighters" continues the publishing excellence of previous works from Specialty Press.

No one presents aviation history better than the team of Dennis R. Jenkins and Tony R. Landis. Few authors match the scope and breadth of their research, their painstaking accuracy and their meticulous attention to detail. Virtually none match their ability to unearth previously unpublished information on interesting aircraft. "Experimental & Prototype U.S. Air Force Jet Fighters" is an outstanding example of Jenkins and Landis at their best. Very much in the tradition of their earlier works "Valkyrie" and "Hypersonic," this latest book covers some of the most fascinating aircraft ever built. There are no "paper airplanes" here. All of them reached the hardware stage.

The decade just after the end of World War II saw a bumper crop of experimental and prototype aircraft, as the U.S. Air Force, faced with the nuclear challenge of the Soviet Union in the Cold War, tried to tame the relatively new jet engine technology for its fighters and bombers. This was the time when the famous "Century Series" fighters--the North American F-100, McDonnell F-101, Convair F-102, Lockheed F-104, Republic F-105 and Convair F-106--first flew, and when other even-more-advanced concepts, such as the Republic XF-103 and North American XF-108, were on the drawing boards.

The first eight chapters of "Experimental & Prototype U.S. Air Force Jet Fighters" (about 75 per cent of the book) cover this period, separated into logical, bite-sized chunks such as "The First Jets," "All-Weather Fighters," "Point-Defense Interceptors" and "Penetration Fighters." Chapters 9 through 12 look at later aircraft, such as the Lockheed YF-12, General Dynamics F-111 and F-16, Lockheed F-117 and the Boeing and Lockheed Martin prototypes that led to today's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

Exquisitely printed on thick, glossy paper, "Experimental & Prototype U.S. Air Force Jet Fighters" is filled with crisp, sharp, well-captioned photographs and drawings (some of them in stunning full-color) that perfectly complement the authoritative, comprehensive, informative text. The balance of illustrations and text is perfect. Jenkins and Landis did a superb job of digging up rare photographs from government and private archives, and of unearthing hidden details about the aircraft of this period. Their efforts make this volume an exceptional addition to any aviation enthusiast's bookshelf. As an added bonus, you'll find an appendix with historical summaries of the companies that built these aircraft. Most of them eventually succumbed to the frenzy of takeovers and mergers that created the three mega-firms that today dominate America's aerospace industry (Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman). But true aviation "buffs" will never forget storied names, now vanished, such as Bell, Chance Vought, Seversky and Vultee. Here you'll find out what happened to them. Most highly recommended.

"We feature Automation Pays! in our point-of-sale training video. An excellent resource."; Larry Jackson, Business Technology Association.

This is the foreword to Automation Pays! by Corley Phillips President, Telephone Response Technologies, Roseville, CA: Computers are becoming an integral part of our everyday lives. This is especially true in businesses, where computers have gone from being a luxury to a necessity. Companies, such as Wal-Mart, have shown retailers how sophisticated inventory management through automation can give a company the competitive edge it needs to become a leader. It was this distinct advantage of automation that led my company to choose its mission statement: "Helping Growing Businesses Operate More Effectively."; Automated businesses truly are more effective. Those who do not automate find themselves at a particular competitive disadvantage. Their automated competitors always seem to have the popular items in stock, while those with manual systems have "dust collectors" soaking up carrying costs and profits. Competitors conduct rifle-shot marketing campaigns based upon current customer data, while those without customer information are still scattering their marketing dollars in shotgun fashion. Their competitors respond instantly to new trends based on up-to-date information, while the ones with manual systems find themselves guessing - often wrong. So, where do you turn for information on automation? In an industry as young as the PC software industry, it's unusual to find a guy like Chuck Atkinson who can provide a decade and a half of automation experience. His deep-seated conviction that automation is not only a necessity but a very profitable investment comes from years of experience in developing products for retailers and seeing the resulting benefits. This book will clearly demonstrate the advantages of automation in very practical terms.

This book lists over 8000 B-17's by Nose Art Name, Bomb Group, Squadron, Serial number, and if the auther has a photograph of the aircraft. Not all information is availible on all aircraft but this is a remarkable amount of information.

For my purposes, the book is phenomenal. I often need to know the accompanying Bomb Groups and Squadrons for a given B-17 so that I may paint the nose art on A-2 jackets. As the description states, it does list the Nose Art names with the associated Bomb Groups and Squadrons if available. It does also list the serial numbers for the B-17s and if there is a known picture in existence. THERE ARE VERY FEW PICTURES IN THIS BOOK, IT IS BASICALLY A LONG LIST OF NAMES AND SERIAL NUMBERS. IF PICTURES IS WHAT YOU WANT, GET "VINTAGE AIRCRAFT NOSE ART" by Gary M Valant AS THAT HAS NEARLY 1000 PICTURES OF DIFFERENT NOSE ART SAMPLES. Incredible amount of information packed into this book. if you're a true WWII buff, get this when you can as it seems to go in and out of print and sometimes is hard to get.

I saw this book in my local bookstore, and the front cover was already curved back from being read - it was brand new! so I gave it a whirl, and it's AMAZING.

this is the pocket-sized edition, and it's cheaper than the bigger version of the same graphic novel.

the story is that of sophie, a young girl who enjoys being free, who is placed into a very tough job as minister of meridian when her father is killed. It's truly an amazing storyline, and the artwork alone is worth ten times what you pay. The only reason not to buy this book is if you've already bought the bigger version.

Picked this up on a whim - hey, look, ten dollars! - and absolutely adored it. It very, very much fits the fantasy mold, as a plucky heroine must save her homeland from an evil uncle, but it goes through the motions with style and warmth. The efforts (though moderately faint as of this volume) of the publisher to tie in the narrative to other events in the publisher's "universe" (aka, crossover ahoy!) is a little more sketchy - I've never understood the comic book mentality to shun stand-alone works - but it doesn't hamper the story.

Beyond that, I really hope that other comic publishers follow this pricing model - ten bucks is absolutely ace. It's an absolute bargain and you'd be a fool to pass it up.