Bradford Books

The copy I aquired was published 1951 for $1.50. A young couple from Mass., after reading Henry David Thoreau's adventures in the mid 1800's, decides to test Mr. Thoreau's theories and heads to the 'new' state of Alaska. The lack of grocery stores, electricity, or 'modern' convienences pose little hardship for the Angiers, but instead this book profoundly shows how simple life can be, if we let it. One must wonder, in this day of 'futureistic' computers, if the life they lead in "At Home in the Woods" could ever be found again, or survived, by those of us today. The peace, yearning, and tranquillity that one gets from reading it seems to draw the reader to the wild once more.

In the average book store, one finds literally dozens of historical atlases. Most atlases are arranged with a generally chronological focus, but some have a specialized focus on a particular historical theme. Military history tends to be the most common theme among those atlases with a historical theme. Military history is naturally suited for the purposes of an atlas, because military campaigns and battles simply can not be properly understood without the aid of maps. One of the best of these military history atlases, currently in print, is the Atlas of American Military History. James C. Bradford, the editor of the Atlas of American Military History, is an Associate Professor of History at Texas A&M University and the author or editor of a dozen books, including: Papers of John Paul Jones, 1747-1792 (1986); Command Under Sail: Makers of the American Naval Tradition 1775-1850 (1985); Captains of the Old Steam Navy: Makers of the American Tradition, 1840-1880 (1986); and Admirals of the New Steel Navy: Makers of the American Naval Tradition, 1880-1930 (1990).

The nineteen chapters of this book are divided logically in a chronological fashion and contain almost 200 excellent color maps. In addition, each chapter contains a brief history of the conflict or period in question. Prominent historians, such as Carol Reardon, Graham Cosmas, Alan Wilt, and Spencer Tucker, contributed the historical text for each of the chapters. This book is quite current and even includes a brief discussion of the American campaign in Afghanistan in 2001. I have nothing but positive things to mention about this book and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

This book is by far the best review available of its subject to date. It covers behavioral, psychophysical and neurophysiological studies of attention at an appropriate depth and breadth to be useful for scientists working in the field. Extensive reference lists follow each chapter. Unlike other works of this sort, it is not particularly biased towards the author's work. And I believe amateurs and science enthusiats as well will find the writing to be understandable and of above-average clarity.

Bradford Keeney begins the book by recounting an incredible story. He and his crew arrived in Bali in 2000 to interview and photograph a number of balians, who are the traditional healers of Bali. They can be male or female. The first problem was that their photographic equipment and luggage did not show up at the airport. Well, that happens. Bradford Keeney then turned in for the night in his guide's compound. At two in the morning he woke up to a huge explosion and the sound of rocks and sand sliding down the outside of his room and a thunderous stomping of feet on the roof. He was terrified and called for help but nobody heard him. Bradford Keeney wondered what he should do. He didn't really want to stay in Bali another night.

Then he remembered that balians make magical drawings. The cameras were gone, so he decided to change the nature of the project and publish a book about these magical drawings. His guide could collect them and he could leave Bali immediately. Instantly the terrible noises stopped. When he emerged in the morning everyone thought that this was a sign of what he should do. His guide then took him to Mangku Alit, the top balian in Bali, who went into a trance and contacted the god for all shamans, Jero Gede Macaling. He confirmed it. The luggage turned up without explanation. It was a good omen.

For a month they visited various balians, all of whom confirmed approval of the project. The book contains interviews with six balians, Mangku Alit, Jero Sekar Manik, Jero Tapakan, Jero Mangku Srikandi, Mangku I. Made Pogog and I Gusti Gede Raka Antara. They are not terribly revealing. There is no analysis or explanation such as undertaken by Angela Hobart in Healing Performances of Bali. The interviews are short and the balians just explain that the Balinese visit them when they suspect that invisible forces are at work and want protection. The balians go into trance and get the reasons for any misfortunes. Often they prescribe magical drawings. The vocation usually runs in the family.

The book's strength and interest lies in fifty five magical drawings. There are also pages of wonderful black and white photographs, although many do not appear to have anything to do with the subject matter of the book. That does not matter. The drawings are in a unique Balinese style, but probably influenced by Indian Hindu art. They are powerful and wildly surreal in appearance: deformed bodies, disembodied heads, multiple limbs, half human, half animal, snake like protuberances and tails, and flames emanating from heads, knees and feet.

Balians can be of the right or the left side - those on the right side use their powers for good. The drawings depicted in the book are all of the right. They are not frightening; they are just very strange. A page is devoted to each drawing and facing it is a brief description, how it is prepared and its purpose.

The magical drawings are usually drawn on white cloth with Chinese ink. They can also be engraved on gold, copper or tin plate, or even clay fragments. Some are worn in your pocket or belt for safety; some are attached to the entrance gate of a compound to stop evil forces or robbers from entering; and some are placed above the bedroom door to give you long life or above the bed for protection. One is drawn on a betel leaf and spat at a person who needs protection from witches. Another is drawn on a turmeric root and swallowed to stop you being poisoned. Yet another prevents smallpox entering the compound. The most intriguing are those than can make you invisible or help you fly. They are not all to do with people. Some protect animals; some prevent mice coming in; and some protect crops against disease.

The drawings are intriguing works of art in themselves. They are not art for art's sake: they have a serious purpose and function. Indirectly they lay bare the innermost concerns of the Balinese. They remind me of the elegant, energetic, expressive drawings of the remarkable I Gusti Nyoman Lempad, who lived from 1862 to 1978. It would be good to research if he was influenced by them. He was well-known to be interested in sorcery.

The magical drawings of the balians were shrouded in secrecy. This book reveals a bit of that secret knowledge and provides us with a great opportunity to see them. Most people never get the chance.

Murni
Ubud, Bali

The books arrived in perfect condition and I like the way the seller wrapped them in brown paper to recycle his paper grocery bags.

This 4-volume set is a must-have for serious study of the Civil War.Twenty years after the end of the war, the editors of Century magazine set out to publish accounts of the war from both sides of the fighting. What resulted was a very popular series that has now become four books. The books give a fresh perspective on the war from foot soldiers up through the highest-ranking military officers and are never dull reading. Includes many illustrations and maps. Highly recommended.

Black Sparrow Press, as most people know it, is famous for publishing the works of Charles Bukowski. But anyone who loves to read the advanced guard of American Literature, knows that BSP is actually the leading independent publisher in the world. Looking through this scholarly resource book might seem dry (it basically describes the title page, size, layout, printing history, etc. but NOT reviews, or summaries of the books) to the uninititated, but for anyone serious about 20th Century American Literature this book is a necessity. The authors, besides Bukowski, that Black Sparrow has published in its 35 year history regularly fill anthologies of "America's Best." Just to name a few, you'll find books by: Gertrude Stein, Cid Corman, Sam Shepard, Fielding Dawson, Micheal McClure, Joyce Carol Oates, Diane Wakoski, Wanda Coleman, Gerard Malanga, Tom Clark, Wyndham Lewis, D.H. Lawrence, Sherril Jaffe, David Bromige, Robert Creeley, Charles Olson, Ed Dorn, Paul Blackburn, etc., etc. New voices such as, Eileen Myles, Lucia Berlin, Andrei Codrescu, Lyn Lifshin, and Michael Lally come later in the press' history, and therefore their work is not compiled here. This is one of the two problems with this book; it's seriously outdated (representing only the first 12 years of BSP's existence), and the photos of the beautiful book covers and title pages are in black and white. Hopefully, they plan to do a new version for the coming millenium! Still, this volume is a valuable source material for scholars, collectors, and fans of the best of the best. Get this along with the bibliography of Bukowski's work by Aaron Krumhansl and start collecting!

Gregory Murphy begins this extraordinary book by saying, "Concepts are the glue that holds our mental world together". This is actually an understatement. Without concepts there would be no mental world in the first place. Concepts are mental representations that tie together specific instances, and are essential for relating ongoing experience to knowledge from the past. Concepts allow us to move from William James' "blooming buzzing confusion" to structured and adaptive thought.

Murphy is one of the leading scholars in this area, and he reviews a messy and complicated literature with honesty, clarity, and wit. This is going to be the classic text in the field for a very long time. It is one of the rare cases where the standard back-of-the-book blurb is actually true: Anyone seriously interested in concepts and categorization - seasoned researchers, graduates and advanced undergraduates, or scholars who simply want to get a sense of the field - really must read this book.

(Note: this is an excerpt from a review that was published in the journal "Nature")

This book is an excellent source for intermediate and advanced students of Spanish, linguists and general language specialists. It provides a sound syntactical explanation of different grammatical aspects of Spanish taking into account phonological explanations, semantics, pragmatics and translation issues.

LOVED THE BOOK......
GREAT INSIGHT TO A MAN WHO HAS ACHIEVED HIS DREAM IN AVAITION AND IN LIFE. IF YOU ARE A SMOKER....READ THIS BOOK........!!!!!.....AND IF YOU ARE NOT.....READ IT ANYWAY!!!!!!