Arthur Books

There is always so much imfo. in these war books that whenever one reads them it's impossible to take it all in. I read the first Forgotten Voices book (WW1) and most of it was about the Trench Experience. WW2 however was just so huge that you feel the author struggles admirably to get it all in and at the same time maintain the entertainment factor of the first book. Practically everything in the book is an account of something told by a survivor. Max Arthur obviously has to try and use accounts which are funny perhaps, or sad, or imformative or all three. The book just can't go into depth about certain things. There is a D-Day section, a concentration camp section, Market garden, Africa, Japanese etc. and there are books out there about these things in their own right. For instance I just read Armageddon by Max Hastings which is about the battle for Germany in '44/'45. But this book, Forgotten Voices, is not really about the war. It is about the ordinary people/children and soldiers fighting/existing in it so there's a big difference between this and all the others. On several occasions while reading it I've had to put the book down when reading of a situation someone had found themselves in- I've just put the book down and thought 'Oh my God!' and have needed time to think about it before continueing.
It is a mainly British perspective with the occasional American/German/Dutch input etc. I would strongly recommend it and if you like these Forgotten Voices books then you would also like All Quiet on the Home Front. A similarly told book of mainland Britain during the first world war.
Good reading!

There are any number of books written by people involved in World War II, most of them of course by Generals. This book is different.

Like Steven Ambrose's collection of recordings from vetrans in this country, the Imperial War Museum has taped the accounts of thousands of ordinary participants from World War II.

Here is the report from the young British sailor. He got a pass and with his friend picked up two girls to go to the movies. Suddenly the movie was interupted with a message for all sailors to return to their ships. They went to Dunkirk.

Some of the recordings are from the Axis. A Japanese naval officer reports: "Our forces were ambushed by the American forces... My ship was hit by more than a hundred shells in, I think, about a two hour engagement. At that time I was quite high on the deck, and I was holding the binoculars with both hands. A splinter came up and cut off both my arms in the middle.

What a wonderful book for the 9 -12 child. It goes the distance in providing INTERESTING historical information. This book has inspired my "non-reader" to investigate more on Francis Marion.

South Carolina was the setting of more battles during the American Revolution than any other state. This Palmetto State had its share of heroes, foremost among them Francis Marion. Veteran storyteller, Kay Cornelius, colorfully details Marion's life from his plantation childhood through his valiant fight for freedom and his return home after the war. Marion's Brigade made a name for themselves in outwitting the British by slipping in and out of their headquarters deep in the swamp. British cavalry who tried to pursue them sank into mud. A British commander said, "We'll never find that cursed Swamp fox!" From then on Marion became known as the Swamp Fox. This Revolutionary War figure deserves attention as a hero and worthy role model. Young readers need more books like this. The addition of a glossary, chronology relevant to Marion's life, Revolutionary War time line, index, and suggestions for further reading make this book enticing for classroom study.

I have many of the audiobooks on economics. This is by far my most favorite. I have listened to it three times over the last few months. Very entertaining listening to Knight's views on people with his sarcastic comments thrown in. This is a biography and does not go into his theories.

I have the whole "Great Economic Thinkers" set on audio cassette. I found the material quite interesting and the presentation excellent. These presentations are more than just a book turned to audio media. Even if you have a fairly short commute, you can get through this material in a week.

The Chicago School is towards the end of the series. You may want to start with Adam Smith and work your way forward.

Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine and speaking only French until the age of ten, Arthur Boardman went on to a career as a teacher of literature in English for forty years (thirty of them at the University of Colorado). Characterized by a poet's flair for images and reflection, Boardman's poetry reflects his life story in the form of luminous vignettes on a wide range of subjects and images ranging from birds to roadside cafes. Once A Rabbit: Behind the truck, some movements on the road/Ahead attract my eye--a cottontail,/I see as I walk on, to no avail/Tugs at a smaller one, clearly to goad/Or drag it to its feet and living mode./When I come near as all the efforts fail,/The rabbit runs, leaving behind the frail/Small carcass, surely once its living load.//The sparrow's fall is watched, a rabbit's too./Maybe, and one September day a fall/From high, down past a many-windowed wall,/In Baghdad a boy carried off, the blue/His jeans were at the seat dark from a small/And obvious stain--fall after fall to rue.

Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine and speaking only French until the age of ten, Arthur Boardman went on to a career as a teacher of literature in English for forty years (thirty of them at the University of Colorado). Characterized by a poet's flair for images and reflection, Boardman's poetry reflects his life story in the form of luminous vignettes on a wide range of subjects and images ranging from birds to roadside cafes. Once A Rabbit: Behind the truck, some movements on the road/Ahead attract my eye--a cottontail,/I see as I walk on, to no avail/Tugs at a smaller one, clearly to goad/Or drag it to its feet and living mode./When I come near as all the efforts fail,/The rabbit runs, leaving behind the frail/Small carcass, surely once its living load.//The sparrow's fall is watched, a rabbit's too./Maybe, and one September day a fall/From high, down past a many-windowed wall,/In Baghdad a boy carried off, the blue/His jeans were at the seat dark from a small/And obvious stain--fall after fall to rue.

This excellant book should be read with its four accompanying volumes to obtain a detailed and elegant account of the Royal Navy during the Fisher era.

This is one of a set that analyzes the Royal Navy during WWI. Marder is a world class naval historian. His books are readable and interesting. He tells a tale that is occasionally sad as he describes a Royal Navy that tries, and at Jutland fails, to live up to its Nelsonian traditions. All in all, great history and worth the study. Accompanied by good maps.

We are planning our first trip to Hawaii and have been amazed on the amount of information that is out there. This book summarizes all of the hawaiian islands and helped us plan our 3 week trip. It reviews not only hotels, but restaurants, activities and hot spots to see. All for less than $20! I feel that it is a must for any traveler to the island.

This book is the bible for anyone traveling to hawaii. You can plan your vacation based on the activities you like and you will not be disappointed by their recommendations. The hotel reviews are very accurate and I used the restuarant reviews exclusively. Even on my second trip I found the book to be extremely useful.

This book is another fine installment of the Frommer travel guides. It doesn't include any information about every country in Europe but rather the ones that are most often visited. I think that's a good idea because they were able to devote a significant amount of time on each country. Not only does it include info about European countries but it also has important information about traveling abroad. It even gives advice about customs and Passports With this book you won't even need a second travel guide. It's over a 1100 pages with numerous maps. For this price you cannot go wrong. Pick it up by all means!!

I've used Frommer's Europe budget guide before (also a great book!) but this time wanted to check out its regular Europe book. It's just as great as the budget book--and it even comes with a bunch of color photos and a map. I just finished planning my trip to Florence and Tuscany and this book really helped a lot! See you in Siena!

"Frommer's Jamaica & Barbados" is an outstanding guide to the finest (and most affortable) shops, sites, hotels, and restaurants on the two islands. Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince also give us candid, in-depth "Best Of's" at the beginning of the book. If, for instance, you're an avid tennis player, the Best Tennis Facility in Barbados is at the Sandy Lane Hotel. And one of the Best Honeymoon Resorts is, ironically, Half Moon Golf, Tennis & Beach Club in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Other fine sections include: "Fast Facts: Jamaica/Barbados," "Calendar of Events," and "Planning a Trip to Jamaica/Barbados." The authors do a first-rate job of giving you the low-down on Jamaica without scarring you off ("There's no denying that it's plagued by crime and drugs...But many visitors are unaffected; they are escourted from the airport to their hotel grounds and venture out only on...organized tours"). If you're planning a trip to either of these two lovely islands, don't plan it without the aid of this top-notch guidebook.

The 2nd edition of this travel guide was useful, informative and well read when we travelled to Jamaica in 1994. We are planning on going back and will be purchasing Frommer's Guide to Jamaica and Barbados (3rd ed.). The guide was well segmented and easy to use. Reviews were right on and the extremely accurate price guides helped us plan for everything. The historical information made for interesting reading and the people and local culture were exactly as described! This is a well done and very user-friendly travel guide. It's also a bargain at Amazon.com!

Recently I went on a mystery New England road trip...so I decided to purchase a book to aid me along the way. This one came in quite handy! We went across Massachusetts, up Vermont, down New Hampshire, and even caught a glimpse of Maine--and had a great time, thanks to Frommer's! we were able to go on the back roads and see how it is really in those states, and at the same time incorporate some of the "must sees", making our trip more unforgettable than ever! Thanks to Frommer's for doing such a great job, making it easier for us to see what it's like with the great pictures, and easy directions to get there without any difficulty at all. If you need to get away...pick this book, and have a great time!

Historic New England - from behind the wheel of your sports car or RV

Excellent guide to seeing New England with a sports car or a recreational vehicle (RV; a home on wheels). You will enjoy some great driving tours and routes through North-Eastern USA.

Frommers has recently come out with more "Best-Loved Driving Tours" series ... guides that are not very inexpensive, but are very well researched and quite comprehensive. One will have plenty of driving tours and routes to chose from, whether you like arts and museums, scenic roads and breathtaking views, urban towns and shopping, or just want to experience a regione's culture and life.

Unlike the other Frommer guides that are fatter and heavier, this little book gives you not too many specifics on lodging or eating. It is geared strictly for the person behind the wheel and her or his passengers.

I have had a great experience using this guide and will recommend it to anyone who can afford it. Also, you might want to check to see if your library carries it and check it out for the duration of your visit abroad.

When I backpacked 4 months through Europe I had a copy of the Lonely Planet for Europe (a thick and heavy book) because it covered more cities and esoteric towns, a ripped chapters of all the international youth hostals Europe of the countries I visited, and as primary guide for nominal cities and capitals I used Frommers (ripped the book and kept only chapters of countries planning to visit - so I can keep the weight down).

I have read many books about the Native American people and culture but I did not expect to pick up a book on the fur trade and enjoy it. This book is interesting... high praise indeed when the subject is usually written in a dry and sedating manner. The author has blended history with fascinating bits of mythology. She has written honestly about the people and presented them with their dignity and with their flaws. There were decent and fair traders such as Alexander Culbertson who cared about the Indians, and then there were the rats who sold the killer whiskey and killed and cheated them. The author showed that the Indians were not ignorant to what was happening with their world, but that they were hopelessly outmatched by the Europeans.

Alexander Culbertson's Blood wife, Natawista was an intriguing person. She lived effortlessly in both the white and the Indian worlds; as comfortable in a ball gown as she was galloping across the prairies on her horse. Perhaps the partnership between Natawista and her husband was a major reason for his success, for he was intelligent enough to listen to her advice.

This book is highly recommended for those interested in the fur trade, and in that period of time of Native American history.

This may well be one of the best fur trade history books written and delivered to the public in the last 25 years or more.

Frontier Diplomats: The Life and Times of Alexander Culbertson and Natoyist-Siksina is much more than a biography of Culbertson (1809-1879) and his Blood (Kainah) tribe wife Natoyist-Siksina (Holy Snake) (1825-1893). This 400 page book with maps and photos is a history of the Upper Missouri River, the American Fur Company, the upper Missouri Indian tribes and the western expansion of America.

In the bible of biography of the fur trade LeRoy R. Hafen's ten volume set of The Mountain Men and the Fur Trade of the Far West, published by Arthur H. Clark Company from 1965-1972, Culbertson's biography is covered by Ray H. Mattison of the National Park Service in a mere four pages. Mattison listed 14 references and used no primary source material in preparation of Culbertson's biography.

Wischmann spent an intense thorough 10 years researching Culbertson and his wife. She examined Culbertson's journals, that of his contemporaries, his business records and the business records of the American Fur Company and other companies of the times. Culbertson was also a liaison between Upper Missouri tribes and the politicals of Washington, D.C. These records were also examined. The bibliography 14 pages of hundreds of books, journal articles, newspaper articles, government documents, unpublished resources, archival collections of university, Fort Union Trading Post National Historical Site and other forts and posts of the west and state historical societies.

Wischnmann said that she was concerned about her lack of prior knowledge about the fur trade. This was not a hindrance but an immense help in that she goes back to the beginning of the Fur Trade era examining its development through Lewis and Clark and on through the St. Louis, Mo. company's exploitation of the tribes as fur and hide sources. She takes the history from the beaver to the hide trade to the delivery of annuities for the tribes as treaties with the "Great White Father" were made, signed and violated through the 1870s. She takes the time to give the background information so the setting is known during the time Culbertson was active as a part of this historical period in American development.

Culbertson was born near Chambersburg, Penn. to a Scottish-Irish family in 1809. He worked for his uncle on the frontiers of Florida and Minnesota before joining the American Fur Company in 1833. He headed west to Fort McKenzie near present-day Fort Benton, Mont. serving the Blackfeet. In 1840 he was put in charge of Fort Union near present-day Williston, N. D.

Culbertson and his wife worked together in creating good and relations with the upper Missouri tribes. John Ewers of the Smithsonian Institution described Natoyist-Siksina, or Natawista, as her family called her, as comparable to Sacagawea of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Culbertson and Natawista worked for more than 30 years to forge relations between the whites and the tribes of the Upper Missouri.

Culbertson founded and built Fort Benton, the "birthplace of Montana." He had a reputation as an honest trader which helped negotiate the end of the 1833 Crow siege of Fort Mckenzie. He also hosted a multitude of ministers, artists, world travelers, scientists and government surveyors during his tenure on the Upper Missouri.

They are referenced in the journals of John James Audubon, Charles Larpenteur, Nicholas Point and Pierre Jean DeSmet, among others. Culbertson was instrumental in the success of the Fort Laramie Treaty Conference of 1851, guiding the 1853 Northern Pacific Railroad Survey party under Isaac Stevens and played key roles in negotiating the treaty with the Blackfeet tribes in 1855 and other treaties in following years.

This is Wischmann's first book, an Arthur H. Clark Company publication released October, 2000. The book is Volume XXVIII of the Arthur H. Clark Company's Western Frontiersman Series. The red linen cloth book is printed on acid-free paper and with a foil-stamped spine and front cover, no dust jacket and was issued as a 750 limited edition and no doubt will go out of print quickly.