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.

An excellent history of the B-36 and its variants, including the YB-60 jet version. Plenty of detail, along with many pictures and drawings. A worthwhile book for students of aviation history, especially those with interest in the B-36.

To those B-36 and SAC fans, this book is well worth it and fantastic. I find it hard to believe all those so fine pictures contained in this book. I am a man of short words, but the only disappointment for anyone is if they did not buy it. So take heed to my advice: do not put off buying it. In conclusion, do not make me say, "I told you so."

"Uncle Sam's newest, biggest bomber -- the B-36 -- is a long, slim gal with a wiggle in her rear. She's a little on the skinny side, but she's beautiful", gushed the New York Daily News.

My earliest memory of her was Jimmie Stewart's arctic crash landing in the Hollywood epic, "Strategic Air Command." Later he falls in love with a younger, sexier plane -- the new B-47 Stratojet.

Looking back, we remember the B-36 as a colossal cold war relic, but the massive B-36 was originally conceived to fight another foe -- Adolph Hitler's 3rd Reich. Describing the Peacemaker, author Dennis R. Jenkins relates, "The story of the B-36 is unique in American history. The aircraft was an interesting blend of concepts proven during World War II combined with budding 1950s high tech systems."

Mr. Jenkins reveals, "The B-36, despite its seemingly conventional appearance, pushed 1950's state-of-the-art further than any other aircraft of its era. Its sheer size brought structural challenges, while its high-altitude capabilities brought engine cooling and other problems. Sophisticated gun and bombing systems presented development, maintenance, and operational headaches."

"Magnesium Overcast: The Story of the Convair B-36" is a high quality, glossy, format book with a jackpot of intriguing photographs (many in color), instructive drawings and tables. Many of the wonderful interior photographs, diagrams and engineering drawings were taken from U.S. Air Force technical manuals. The graphics alone make this one of the finest aircraft books I have ever seen. Mr. Jenkins had done a superior job of presenting all the modification programs in great detail with a clear, concise style. He has meticulously researched and presented the life cycle of the B-36 from conception through scrapping out.

To meet the extreme requirements of its mission, several outlandish design features were tried -- bunks for the off-duty crewmen and a gallery complete with oven to prepare hot meals --- a complex system of 8 retractable remote control dual 20mm gun turrets -- various parasite fighter planes that could be launched from aboard the B-36 when needed -- a nuclear reactor to power greatly modified turbojet engines.

Nuclear powered aircraft theoretically could stay airborne for years. Unfortunately, very heavy radiation shielding was imperative for crew protection.

Thankfully the B-47 Stratojet and the B-52 Buff became operational and finally put an end to the expensive Frankenstein experiments with the outmoded B-36.

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.

"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.

Since my chilhood I've been intrigued by the X-15 and all it's amazing feats, now at last we get a extensive and deep coverage of all the aspects, and persons involved in the program, book is a page turner, informartive, well made and ilustrated, a must have¡¡¡

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.

An outstanding review of post-WWII US Navy fighters. This is a fairly technical book, discussing not just the history of the aircraft but also giving a good view of US jet engine development during the forties and fifties, aircraft systems and an interesting take of how successful each type was based on numbers of squadrons and number of deployments made.

This is a really good look at the evolution of the US NAVAL aviation in the jet age.

I enjoy the history of jet aviation,both the land and naval air powers of the United States and this book is a great read about the jets and ships that built up the post war power of the US NAVY.

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 book is a worthwhile investment not only of your money but also your time in reading it. This book isn't exactly for the novice reader of naval air material. It presupposes that you bring something to the table in terms of basic knowledge and perhaps some aerodynamics. But that shouldn't preclude an absolute beginner from picking up this book. Just looking at the photos (which are excellent) and reading the captions will provide a decent grounding in naval air for the period covered. If that novice should delve into the text, so much the better for there is a wealth of detail that true aeroaficionados will love. The only disappointing aspect of this book is its illustrations (not the photographs). The drawings of aircraft profiles are amateurist, misleading, and definitely not in keeping with the tenor of this book, which is high-class and informative. But that pales in comparison to what is otherwise available between the covers. You will enjoy this book.

Any aviation enthusiast will enjoy this book as it documenters the early years of Edwards Air force base testing jet aircraft beyond mach one to the super fast X15 to the present day fly off of the joint strike fighter project.

Full of high quality photographs and brief history of each aircraft from prototype to production models and some that only made the mock-up stage.

Highly recommended.

I have always enjoyed reading and watching film and videos of the history of flight,especially the early days of supersonic flight. This book is a terrific historical tome on the evolution of the US AIR FORCE fighter force during the years since the days of the P-80 and the early supersonic testbeds that have lead to legends such as the F-86,F-100, F-4 Phantom and the other fine jet fighters of the second half of the 20th century.

I recommend this read to anyone who loves aviation and is interested in its history

In 2001, Lockheed Martin struck the mother lode of aircraft design contracts -- the Joint Strike Fighter. The winning design team amalgamated the F-35 fighter in three high-grade versions that will please the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps for a long time to come.

Back in the cold war days, enterprising aircraft designers like Jack Northrup scrambled against other greats like Bud Flesh and Alexander Kartveli to develop a wide range of jet fighter types. The Air Force's shopping list included all-weather fighters, point-defense fighters, penetration fighters, interceptors and long-range interceptors -- lots of development work for all the manufacturers.

Dennis R. Jenkins and Tony R. Landis cover these gold rush days and have delivered just what Air Force junkies have always wanted: the bonanza of jet fighter development books.

They have done a superior job of explaining the ancestral charts of successful and dead-end jet fighters in great detail with a clear, concise, readable style.

"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.

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.

Surprisingly, the flashy Lockheed XF-90 penetration fighter from Kelly Johnson's famed Skunk works assayed out as only pyrite. Jenkins and Landis explain, "the airplane looked every inch the modern, high-performance fighter, but produced disappointing results." A thorough reorganization at Lockheed lead to a steady flow of high-grade designs to the present day.

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 rediscover fool's gold in the comprehensive chapters of long forgotten early jets like the Lockheed XP-80, Bell XP-83, Republic XP-84 Thunder series, and Curtis XP-87 Blackhawk -- complete with excellent photographs.

This book is a must buy for jet fighter fans. "Experimental & Prototype U.S. Air Force Jet Fighters" continues the publishing excellence of previous works from Specialty Press.

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.

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.

I was a bit dissappointed with the ending, first because it's the end of the PS series, and the other because it sort of leaves you hanging. What the heck happened with Jake and Sam?!?!?!?!?!?!? I'm so clueless. Jake grabbed her hand and led her away, and then... ? And what's with Darby? Lying down beside a half-wild Mustang doesn't exactly make her a horse whisper. Sam and the Phantom have a much more complicated relationship going on. OK, OK I'll admit it was a brave thing lying in the snow with her, and Darby reminds me of myself, (pale, skinny, horse freak, breathing difficulties, etc.). This book was awesome, I'm just wondering what happens with Sam and Jake.

Everything was wrapped up in this final installment of the Phantom Stallion series. Linc Slocum was arrested, the Kenworthy's took over the Gold Dust Ranch with Ryan Slocum and renamed it Harmony Ranch, Brynna had a baby boy named Cody (although the original due date was January 17, but it's not surprising to have had the baby come earlier) and the Phantom can't be captured if he stays near or in the horse valley that he normally keeps his herd in because that land now belongs to the Forsters'!!!!! Whoooooo!!!

I'd also like to tell everyone about an awesome PS Fansite that I am very active on. It's called Wild Horse Valley, and if you go to the Forum, you can find tons of stuff. I go by HorseGirl there! There are also contests around the site, summaries, ect. On the Forum, you can chat about the books, horses, or whatever floats your boat! Go to: [...] Terri Farley's #1 Fansite!

(Please for all of you that have Phantom Stallion fansites, don't take that into offense. It's just a little taste of competition!)

- Wild Horse Valley also has the first Phantom Stallion Newspaper, over the Internet of course! It's called the Phantom Stallion Reader. I am staff, and write the column, Running Free on Wild Horse Island (name credits from me!) and it is all about Terri Farley's brand new horse series, Wild Horse Island! Check out my article, click on one of the two links on the WHV blog, and mine will be the first one to the left. You can find out ALL about Wild Horse Island! Hope everyone joins!

- Poor you, K. Rogers. Darby is the main character of the next horse series! I hope you read the books anyway!

I was sort of sad when I got this book, since I knew it was the last one but it is great! The ending is wonderful and it's filled with adventure and action right to the end. I don't want to give it anyway for anyone but it's great. Brynna has her baby and the Phantom is at risk of being captured through most of the book. The only part that kind of annoyed me was Darby, I didn't care for her.
But all in all this was awesome!

dreams aren't just things that happen in the dark and in your mind. they can happen for real--- and if you go to Terri's website you'll see what i mean.
terri helped me understand that real life, honest to goodness, not so special people can do good things too. you don't have to be a rock star or something, you just have to dream hard enough, love more than is practical, and believe in the unbelievable.
the phantom does exist. she proved it!!! i believe in him. God worked a miracle, and he can do many more.
my dream is to own an honest to goodness black arabian stallion named Shetan, aka the Black, and i don't really care if he takes me to the top or not.
he'll be there--- that's all that will matter.
and terri, if you read this, i hope it makes you smile
thanks so much--- and do us a favor--- don't stop writing about mustangs and crazy dreams.
tia in Idaho owner of two horses,

this is the best book ever!! it's sad that this is the last book in the series, although this is a great ending. my favorite part is at the end, when everything works just comes together. the author didn't leave anything hanging for you to wonder about. everyone should but this book, including the rest of the series!

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.

One things for sure, there are not many books like this.

As readers we get to see the world of a cancer patient through Izzy's eyes, our fourteen year old cantankerous (or regular teenage angst) main character. For six grueling months we follow her from diagnosis, treatment, to conclusion... sorry, no spoilers here. As readers we come away with both an attachment to the storyline and an appreciation of what having cancer must feel like.

I'm happy that someone has finally written a good teen book about cancer that 1. doesn't bog us down with too much medical jargon, 2. chips away at the mystery for all of us looking in from the outside, and 3. gives us a characters we can relate to.

My one complaint is that at times the story feels a bit disjointed. Also, if I ever talked to my Mom the way Izzy does, illness or not, I wouldn't be typing this review right now!

Izzy has cancer - and is back in school trying to catch up. Her descent into illness - and struggle to retain to a world of normalcy - makes SIDE EFFECTS an outstanding survey of cancer recovery, delving into much more than the usual physical issues of struggling with cancer. Leisure readers in grades 4-8 will find it outstanding.

Izzy wakes up one morning concerned because her glands are still swollen from a recent sickness--and she soon discovers that she has cancer. She's placed into a children's hospital where people come talk to her until she no longer hears what they're talking about. All she can do is concentrate on drawing.

Her mother is a basket case and Izzy is in shock.

Now her life has drastically changed. People who were her friends no longer talk to her and people she's never talked to are fake around her. She doesn't quite know how to react, but it's not with the anger her best friend feels.

Izzy goes though treatments: pain, the puking, and the needles, but still never loses her sense of humor.

SIDE EFFECTS takes a deep look into the medical and emotional roller-coaster of cancer patients. With Izzy, you hear the knowledge first-hand, which makes you both laugh and cry.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel

From the author of The Girls (a realistic look into the inner workings of an all-girl clique) comes a novel about an almost-fifteen-year-old who is diagnosed with lymphoma. The once-healthy Izzy is suddenly hospital-bound. The faces of the nurses, doctors, and counselors who surround her blur as she undergoes chemotherapy. Meanwhile, her mom is a mess, her father is fairly steady, her little brother doesn't quite understand what is going on, and her best friend isn't allowed to visit her.

While her body battles cancer, Izzy's tongue stays as sharp as the needles that the nurses stick in her arm. Instead of a book riddled with angst, the story details Izzy's treatments and her physical and emotions reactions bluntly. Instead of being a sob story, this is the story of survival. Izzy refuses to give up, and readers won't give up this book until they've reached the final page. Well-done.

Military aviation has advanced with a rapidity known to very few other technological areas. But those advances have taken a great many experimental trials, some of which ended with tragic consequences, and others which led to America's preeminent position as a world superpower. "U.S. Experimental & Prototype Aircraft Projects: Fighters 1939-1945" explores American fighter projects during the years of WWII that never reached combat forces or did so only in a very limited manner. Author Bill Norton presents a fascinating look at the overall development of American fighter aircraft with an emphasis on the little-known projects that matured to the point of significant design development. These projects significantly advance the science and technology of fighter aeronautics, propulsion, systems, avionic and ordnance carriage. Includes photos, glossary, acronym list and much more. Aircraft enthusiasts will love the history of the secret projects that never made it to combat to the designs that contributed to successful aircrafts used in WWII. Informed and informative, enhanced with remarkable illustrations throughout, "U.S. Experimental & Prototype Aircraft Projects: Fighters 1939-1945", is an especially recommended addition to academic and community Military Aviation History reference collections, and as an addition to the supplemental reading lists of all military aircraft buffs.

There a ton of amazing pictures and fascinating behind-the-scenes stories about the competitions to build America's next greatest fighter. I loved every page and couldn't put it down.

This is a solid book written by someone who took the time to track down all those little details that airplane buffs want to know. There are nice write ups of all the planes listed in this book, and the pictures are first rate. There are lots of planes that I've never heard of, and it was interesting to see all the work the DoD was doing during the war.

If you are interested in WWII or experimental planes, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of this book. You'll be very happy with your purchase.

"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.