Brown Books

This book rules. David Plowden takes the coolest photos in the world and this book contains some of his best work. It is also beutifuly writen. It deserves to sell more copies then the bible

This beautifully produced book of 170 black and white photos by David Plowden, taken between 1956 and 1992, captures everyday man-made America before it vanishes, railroads, steamboats, farmland, small towns, bridges and the subject I like best, the grittyness of the US industrial city. Each page photo has a generous border and a caption centred below.

All the photographs are wonderful compositions, many of them divided into threes, horizontally, some land in the foreground, then a freight train and finally the sky. This is interesting because they show things that could not be moved, unlike studio photography, here the photographer had to move the camera to get the best shot. David Plowden seems to know instinctively when he sees something that it will make an interesting photograph. If you want to have a keepsake of slowly disappearing man-made America get this book.

Buy this collection.It is testament to the power of the elegant photographic record,as well as to the subject being recorded. Plowden is The American Photographer.

Imprints is a wonderful representation of the America of our fathers and grandfathers that will soon exist no more, for better or worse. The photographic record in Imprints speaks wonderfully of the articulate and experienced eye of David Plowden. His images depict the unglamorous parts of life that most of us grow up with. Yet, at the same time, his keen vision shows us that there is beauty and art in everything. I grew up in the American Midwest in the 1950's and this book elicits nostalgia, sentimentality and a sense of loss. I wish I had been more observant, aware, appreciative at that time. Plowden has given me a second chance.

David Plowden has spent a lifetime taking his camera into small towns and down the backroads between them trying to capture an America that has almost completely vanished. We are fortunate that he arrived in time with a wonderful sense of composition that invests his black and white photographs with grace and beauty. This retrospective collects the best of these images into a cohesive photo essay of small towns, lonely farms and abandoned railroads. Placed against these small and quiet images are Plowden's photos of brutal industrial and mechanical structures. These nightmare images of factories and elevators and rail yards, draped in smoke and soot, make us as uneasy in turn as the rural photos made us nostalgic for the old ways. Plowden can cross between these two worlds so easily because they are really two sides of the same American coin. His brilliant photograph of a dark, brooding steel mill at the end of a grimy residental street combines the best and worst of the American dream. Plowden clearly would return to the simple small town days, but he has seen enough to understand that we are too far down the other path to turn back now. The photographs in this book are heartfelt. Some are very sad, and some impart a terrible sense of unease - as though we have stumbled onto an ugly secret. Plowden can take his place next to Walker Evans and Wright Morris with this book. He has captured our lost America and, for better or worse, marked the way into the new century.

Con esta herramienta usted podrá hallar con facilidad la palabra hebrea que anda buscando, e ir directamente a la página del Lexicon Hebrew and English de Brown, Driver, and Briggs en donde está. Este libro le guiará versículo a versículo a travéz de la biblia con las palabras originales de la Biblia. Es un libro barato para la prestación que ofrece. Inseparable e indispensable para usar con el Hebrew and English Lexicon de Brown, Driver and Briggs.

If you are studying a Hebrew passage using BDB then you need this book. This book makes it a lot easier and faster to locate a particular word in BDB.

The print is on the small side, but if you are using BDB, you are dealing with that already.

Some use this book without BDB, because they are attempting to make a rough translation. This will work well, but there are times when the English equivalent given is more appropriate the Hebrew word in general rather than the particular usage.

While there are some mistakes in this book, this is not much of a problem when you consider the scope of this book.

Ancient Hebrew is not an easy language to master, and so it is often useful to have a BDB Hebrew Lexicon at hand. But that too can be difficult to use (especially if you are relatively new to Hebrew). This Index is the link between the text you are working on, and the detailed knowledge "hidden" in the Lexicon. The trouble is, the Index is so helpful I feel almost guilty using it. (Hebrew shouldn't be easy!) Just one provision, if you are over 45 you will probably want to go out and buy a magnifying glass, the print is extremely small, and can be difficult to see.

This index is so very helpful that it verges on cheating. Anyone who has translated Torah knows how very difficult it can be to strip out the grammatical parts of the word to get to the right root. BDB is useful and interesting, but my havurah still sometimes had difficulty getting to the right entry. I found this Index to BDB at a used book store, and it has really speeded up our translation! It lists each BDB reference in chapter-verse order. You can instantly see which words in the passage you are translating are defined in BDB, including page number and definition number. There are still difficult words that are not indexed (because they are not referred to in BDB), so we still get some practice in figuring out the roots! But the Index to BDB (along with the BDB, of course) is very useful in getting the surface translation so that we can start looking at the meaning of the text.

Brown Driver & Briggs (BDB) contains a lot of information, but its arrangement can cause a person to tear one's hair out in clumps, especially for those of us who do not use our Hebrew every day. Einspahr helps you find the listing and discussion on a particular vocable quickly and easily. Unfortunately, this volume list only words used ten times or more. I found myself making notes for words used less often. There are errors in the volume and I also found myself writing to the publisher to make them aware of the mistakes I found. On balance, this volume makes Hebrew less frustrating. I wish it had been available when I took my first year Hebrew course.

I went to my college bookstore and they wanted almost $200 for this same book, and I found it on here for 70 dollars less, new!

So this is a fantastic book. Explains all concepts and terms well.

Book is in much better condition that that which I would expect from a used book.

This is not an easy book, however it is the easiest Chem book I have ever seen. The CD-ROM and the CengageNOW are worth their weight in GOLD! USe them because they SURE make this process a ton easier. BY getting this through Amazon I save a good bit on what the FCCJ bookstore is selling it for. Plus I got this delivered directly to me AND no long lines to stand in. This is a good book! Enjoy it! Have fun with Chemistry!

I bought this for self-study, to refresh myself on general and organic chem and to get a solid introduction to biochemistry. So far, I'm enjoying it. Well written with good illustrations although aimed at an introductory audience.

This book is in its 8th Edition with two new authors. The style continues the high standards set in the previous edition. I find this book to be a very good quick reference guide for chemical reactions, stoichiometry, organic and biological chemistry. I am very sad to see that Bettelheim and March have passed away!

The two reviews below are absolutely correct. Pierre Berton has written a great masterpiece of narrative history. I first read this book almost 20 years ago, and I can still recall the enjoyment it gave. This is perhaps the best book of history in terms of enjoyable reading which I have come across. The only author in the same league today is Simon Schama, and he generally works in somewhat more esoteric, less popular areas. I have also discussed the excellence of Berton's writing in a review of the companion volume Flames Across the Border: 1813-14 which, along with this text, makes up as fine a two volume set of North American history as can be obtained.

A wonderful book by Canada's foremost historian commemorates the War of 1812 as Canada's War of Independence.

The War of 1812 was initiated by President Madison as a war of conquest against Ontario (or Lower Canada, as it was then known). The British forces were arrayed against various un-coordinated American attacks, and the Americans fared particularly badly in 1812-13, notably losing Detroit.

This instalment does not reach the later events of the war, in which more of a stalemate developed (and the Americans scored some big naval victories). But the Canadians never doubted that the campaigns covered in this book - of 1812-13 - had marked a long-term strategic victory, guaranteeing Canada's separate identity, and the inner leadership clique of English-speaking, ethnically Scottish Presbyterians who ran the war effort became the ruling elite of Canada for over a century (if not to this day).

Many key characters of American history come here: General (later President) Harrison; Indian chief Tecumseh; President Madison and President Jefferson. This volume, however, gives equal time (if not precedence) to the Canadian heroes of the campaigns, including in particular celebrates loyalist heroes such as Brock and Strachan. Superb account of the war's critical, indeed decisive, early years.

The invasion of Canada is one of the most engrossing books on history I have ever read. Ms Berton brings to life the characters, events and atmosphere of a continet on the brink of war. This is achieved by Ms Bertons skillfull blend of historical research and artistic licence, which give even the most uninspred reader of history something to get thier "teeth into". I found it avid reading and look forward to sampling more of Ms Bertons work.

This volume is an excellent introduction to the War of 1812. The Canadian author maintains his objectivity throughout the volume, and gives accurate and telling details to causes, politics, and leadership on both sides of the northern North American border and how that affected the progress of the war. After reading this book, the reader will come away baffled and outraged at the level of incompetence shown on both sides (initially the US side however), and the level of audacity and caution exhibited by both sides as well. In summation, a highly recommended book, that will provide a good base upon which a detailed understanding of causes, effects, and results of many aspects of this war can be attained.

Best book on history I ever read. Most books on the war of 1812 focus on the 'high level' intrigue--congressional debates, executive office plotting, etc. This book focuses on the front lines. Learn about how Madison decision to appoint imcompetent generals (He didn't want the war, and it was his way of keeping it from happening) led to human suffering. Get a good sense of life on the frontier and the fear Americans had of the local Indians. Read this book.

the cuban missile crisis almost brought an end to life on earth as we know it. who saved the day? maybe it was j.f.k.... or maybe it was the number one soul brother james brown. douglass wolk makes a good case for the godfather of soul in this well-researched, compelling, funky good time book.

A simple but effective running of the history, with comments on the individual recordings, of the songs that appear on James Browns first major album hit, "Live at the Apollo" recorded in October 1962 alongside the then occurring critical world event of the Cuban Missile Crisis, makes for an effective time capsule telling by Douglas Wolk of the making of this classic recording.

While the author veers towards the over stated at times (did the 1,500 in the audience based on the limited public news released really behave as they did based on the belief they could die in a week!) he does a much better job of nailing the history of James Brown. These include how he got to make this recording against his record company's indifference; his on balance limited hit record success to date offset by his constant touring of an all action performance, but most of all that what was on show here was one man's personal and stylistic interpretations of a suite of songs that covered black music across the 20s to the early 60s. Some songs had undergone numerous adaptations and recordings by others plus JB before the versions done here (the ripping of of other peoples songs seems almost to have been a lifelong JB hallmark). What was really being performed was an exercise where songs could only last for less than a minute to over ten minutes as JB backed by his ever tight band riding on their leaders moods and his reading of the audience emotions laid down one of the truly original live recordings made.

The fact that the LP was in popular demand for many months after to be played in full on R&B radio stations at a time when single hits were paramount was testament that something unique that connected with the black audiences of 1962/1963 had occurred and it was to be some time before JB reconnected in such a way again (and certainly never again with another live album, despite several attempts).

Wolk also does a very good expose of Brown's ego and resulting mis-treatment of all around him plus how the recording was not a true full recording from having to be adapted and edited from the true JB live revue show, which while visually spectacular would not have translated into such an effective audio format.

A story telling which is certainly "on the good foot" throughout.

Fans of James Brown will find Douglas Wolk's slim but hard-hitting classic, Live At The Apollo: 33 1/3, brings to life Brown's performance in 1962, piecing together what took place, what was recorded that night, and Brown's musical heritage and contributions as a whole. Live At The Apollo recommended pick for any avid fan of Brown and a welcome contribution to 20th Century American Music History collections.

A great short read about the live recording sessions that led to the creation of one of the seminal R&B albums. The writing is punchy, respectful, and never overwrought -- except for the glaring and jarring detours into the Cuban missile crisis. The episode is clearly relevant to the story, because the concert in question took place in roughly the same 24-hour time span that the crisis was unfolding, but while everyone in the Apollo that night may have had the crisis on their minds, the digressions into what the fighter planes and the decision makers were doing at exactly the same time that James Brown was wiping sweat off his brow as he switched gears and tore into another song are distracting and ultimately tell us little about why the crisis made the night charged. Wolk should have stuck to the performances and the music or else found a better way of weaving the crisis into the book.

Given a book-length space to fill, many magazine writers do what comes naturally: they write a book-length magazine article. Wolk, however, approaches his narrative from the top down, treating the long form with the reverence and intricate attention of a clockmaker god. His story moves chronologically in an evening's frame, but it's also shot through with a series of gears and patterns, nibble-sized pieces, and odd bits of synchronicity that align in unexpected choruses. Gliding across it all, of course, is the electric, eccentric energy of James Brown. Scrapbookers, beware: this is more than simple homage. It's a work that stands independently, with one hell of a soundtrack to boot!

The plus side of this book is that it has a very warm story with colorful pictures about how happy everyone in a family is for a new baby to arrive. The only down side for me is that this is not a board book (the pages are made of paper) and I have to be careful that my toddler doesn't rip them out as I read it. Other than that we really like the book.

Anticipating the arrival of a baby is perhaps one of life's most treasured experiences -- for the young and old alike. Rebecca Bond captures the essence of the experience with captivating illustrations and a precious story of the whole extended family pitching in to make the baby's arrival a special one. I have taken to buying this book for the preschoolers in my life who are expecting a little brother or sister. This is the book my daughter, age 5, asks me to read to her more than any other. She and I are also enchanted with Ms. Bond's other two children's books. She is a relatively new author (with this being her first book), but I have a feeling (and I sure hope) we will be seeing much more of her writing in the years to come.

For any family who's ever experienced the joyful expectation of a newborn baby.... with all the hope and promise for the child's life.... there are 2 titles by Rebecca Bond that are SURE to please! The warm illustrations.... rooms full of books (and no TVs!).... and the tender multi-generational love for new life --- it doesn't get any better than this! JUST LIKE A BABY and BRAVO MAURICE by Rebecca Bond are the perfect "snuggle up and read-to-me" books. A word of advice: Your budding artists will want to duplicate the bright colors, textures and patterns.... Bond's art is contagious, so have the crayons, paper & paints ready!

I'm buying a second copy as a gift. Lively illustrations, fun story. This will be read to our grand daughter over and over.

I was delighted with the red-faced, charming characters in Rebecca Bond's first book. Her illustrations are bright and cheery. The story is sweet, a bedtime delight. I enjoyed this as much as my children. A must read for all little ones, and a perfect baby gift.

I loved this book. He seemed genuine and really care the fate of the Hong Kong Chinese.

Regardless of the so-called hidden agenda behind the rush to the democracy before the handover, the truth was back then none of the patten's predecessors had the political reforms in agenda. They were all diplomats and they only really concerned to kowtowing Beijing. Patten was a politican and he tried to work and fight for the benefits on behalf of HIS constituents i.e. people of Hong Kong. He got unfairly smeared by Beijing in return just because the truth hurts.

The bottom line was Chris Patten did leave a legacy way better than Tung che-hwa, the chief executive of Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region-not the disease) could ever dream of. What an irony it was when the white Anglo-Saxon master who make Hong Kong prosperous and better than the mainland Chinese themselves.

When the Union Jack lowered the last time on June 30, 1997, it symbolized not only the beginning of the fall of Hong Kong, but also spell the death of Hong Kong. Hong Kong-the beacon and the crown jewel of what a Chinese society ought to be back then ceased to exist.

I loved this book. I thought it was a great narrative on Chris Patten and his governorship and the hardships he endured. The book spares almost no detail, but I would have liked to see more of the Democrat's point of view. This book is absolutely necessary for people who wish to know in-depth about his governorship.

After reading the online review of Theroux's Kowloon Tong (a fictional account of the 1997 Handover of Hong Kong), I am surprised to find that only one customer have contributed a review to Dimbleby's marvelous work on the historical events. Dimbleby provided an excellent and comprehensive account of the political events that led to the signing of the 1984 Sino-British agreement, the arrival of Chris Patten, the introduction of legislative reform, and the eventual derailment of the democratic movement by the Communist Chinese Government. Dimbleby also tell the stories of several Hong Kong citizens and their views of the Handover. Being a native of Hong Kong who have spent my last 12 years in the States, Dimbleby's book brought me up-to-date on the big political stride taken by and the obstacles awaiting the people of Hong Kong.

This book is one of the best books about the history and political development of HK. It not only gives a brief but interesting historical outline at the beginning of the book, it also traces the development of HK politics. What the governors before Chris Patten did and what have been changed since the arrival of Patten. It also outlines lots of power struggles between the governor and the ministers in Britain and how Patten dealt with them. For sure the relations between the governor and the Prime Minister John Major is a key factor contributing to the "success" of the governor. Of course one would have no doubt about that the close relationship between the governor and the writer, Jonathan Dimbleby, who followed Patten to come to HK and spent several years with him, which does enable him to access some crucial but secret matters that are not easily accessed by other journalists. Being a HK citizen, reading the book enables me not just to know the past better but it also enriches me about the situations of HK at that time. Reading it is just like passing through the history once again, with all those political arguments between China and both Patten and Britain reappearing in real life. Another interesting thing about the book is that it also touches lots of the everyday lives of the ordinary people living in HK, how did they feel about the political arguments and what did they plan to do after the handover of China. This makes the book more lively. This book is definitely a book that students of history/Political Science/HK Studies should read.

Jonathan Dimbleby's The Last Governor is a tour de force that gives the reader an insider's perspective into the tenure of Hong Kong's last colonial leader, Chris Patten. Dimbleby treats the reader to a narrative account of the trials and tribulations that Patten faced as he attempted to enact democratic reforms in Great Britain's last colonial jewel. Although one would undoubtedly expect the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to be vociferously opposed to any belated attempt by the British colonial authorities to bequeath a semblance of democracy on Hong Kong, Dimbleby makes the case that Patten's biggest enemies often came from within his own government. Dimbleby's revelations that selected British cabinet and Foreign Office officials shamelessly sought to downgrade the importance of Hong Kong and sacrifice Patten's proposed reforms on the alter of commercial relations with the PRC, resulted in Dimbleby being investigated by the Foreign Office for possible receipt of secret intelligence materials. Dimbleby was cleared of these allegations, but the vast array of insider information that Dimbleby amassed for this book strengthens the strident arguments that Dimbleby advances. Only a handful of participants in The Last Governor emerge with their reputations unscathed. Hong Kong's local and international business elite is portrayed as willing supplicants in the PRC's efforts to scale back personal and political liberties after Hong Kong's reversion to PRC sovereignty, a position easily enforced by PRC threats to their commercial interests. Martin Lee and Emily Lau, two of Hong Kong's leading democracy advocates, are portrayed as actually weakening Patten's push for democratic reforms through their uncompromising approach. The various representatives of the PRC are painted as unbending ideologues with little appreciation of Hong Kong's way of life. Dimbleby is most critical of the British officials, past and present, who acted to either inadvertently or deliberately sabotage Patten's governorship. Most prominent on this list is Sir Percy Cradock, Great Britain's lead negotiator in the 1984 Joint Declaration and former Ambassador to the PRC. Cradock comes off as a modern-day Neville Chamberlain, willing to cut a bad deal with an unsavory power for the sake of diplomatic expediency. Cradock compounded this error by working both privately and publically to weaken Patten's political position and policies. Dimbleby also argues that the Cradock mentality had infected the entire Foreign Office and selected members of John Major's cabinet, who worked to undercut Patten and sell-out Hong Kong in favor of better commercial relations with the PRC. The greatest strength of The Last Governor is also its greatest weakness. While such open access to Patten gives this book the necessary dramatic propulsion, it also strikes the reader as serving as Patten's mouthpiece. While Dimbleby does downgrade Patten for underestimating the challenges he was to face as Governor, Dimbleby's portrayal of Patten as the lonely David fighting against the multi-headed Goliath seems to diminish the numerous allies Patten needed to help him accomplish the limited reforms he was able to enact. Dimbleby could have also delved deeper into the political rationale behind the PRC's bargaining position and policies regarding Hong Kong. The Last Governor is highly recommended reading for anyone interested in Hong Kong, Chinese, or British affairs and to readers interested in how bureaucratic politics affects international diplomacy. Dimbleby's prose is brisk and should easily captivate and entrance the reader. Keep in mind that this is not an academic tome, so Dimbleby's point of view is repeatedly expressed without reservation or apology.

This is the best lego mindstorms book ever printed it is in-depth in the theory behind the robots.

This is the book of the greatest, most complex Lego pieces to date, and I highly recommend it to anyone thoroughly engrossed in the area of Lego programming. It is an invaluable resource with amazing graphics, and very creative new inventions which serve as a wonderful catalyst for my own ideas. Great guide.

This book has gathered together "Masterpieces" from some of the the world's greatest LEGO creators. Builders from the US, Canada, Italy, Netherlands, and Japan have brought you their passions, the theories behind each masterpiece, and detailed building and programming techniques. "LEGO Mindstorms Masterpieces" is truly at the zenith of all related books and I believe it will become a true masterpiece both in name and in reality.

This book began in July of 2002. And, while the the creation, writing and editing was extremely difficult, the authors fought mightily to accomplish our goal: to build LEGO robots both suitable for Master Builders and worthy of this book's title! Amazing PneumADDic II and Synchropillar by Kevin as a computer processor specialist and creator of LPub and LSynth. Splendid Stair-Climber by Doug who is a well known creator of several Omni Drive Vehicles. And, two awesome works - Learning Brick Sorter and The LEGO Turing Machine that were invented by the famous Ferrari brothers - they are co-authors of the best selling "Building Robots with LEGO Mindstorms" and have been called the "DaVincis of LEGO". Biped robot expert Miguel created complex SSCT faithfully based on the real robot that was active for life search and explore in WTC, New York. Lastly, a robotic arm driven by 10 motors and feedback system - CyberArm IV that I have created as a series in four years. All of these are the real robots that are backed by real robotics - only the materials are LEGO! We are very pleased that we could explore a new frontier in LEGO Mindstorms, and be able to offer it in book form.

As the one of pioneers of LEGO robots, I have had my experience of the results in the MIT Media Lab fortunately in the middle of the 80s, and the result of my writing of over half year keeping is included in bundle CD-ROM as a over 50 pages bonus chapter. I have tried to write about a lot of topics to explain the world of robots and LEGO Mindstorms - history of LEGO robot or their philosophy of the LEGO Group, precious list and description of early LEGO educational sets for control learning, personal robot boom in the 80s, from a more than 300-year-old Japanese automata (the Karakuri) to the latest state-of-the-art robotics. I believe that my discussion and description about the way of thinking and creation - included building, programming, CAD and even about Art - are useful in particular.

We hope that this book will never lose its value and that it will become loved by people of all generations.

From Tokyo
Hideaki Yabuki
Media Activist

Included are complete building instructions for some truly amazing robots/machines. You'll need LOTS of Lego to build them though. Even if you haven't you'll be inspired by the authors imagination and ingenuity. The writing is good, and the descriptions/instructions detailed and clear.
The best reason though for buying the book is the included CD which contains no less than ten other Mindstorms books in PDF format,including the most excellent 'Building Robots with Lego Mindstorms'. I had expected to find software and sample programs, but their absence is more than made up for by the books.

After building many of the robots presented in Lego Mindstorms Masterpieces published by Syngress, I feel I am now qualified to give a fair personal assessment of this book. I have purchased many Lego Mindstorms books and each one has great ideas and a lot to offer. All books have shortcomings and room for improvement. How good a book is depends on how well it address the readers needs. My needs center on my use of Lego Mindstorms to teach mechanical engineering, logic, programming and robotics to my 13-year-old daughter. Lego Mindstorms Masterpieces is the newest addition to our Lego toolbox. There are so many positive things to say about this publication I'll place the very few items I would have preferred done differently at the end of this review.

A few key benefits this book offers to anyone involved with Lego Mindstorms are complete, well illustrated assembly instructions, detailed commentary by the authors with additional tips to aid in the construction, explanations of where the inspirations for the creation came from with historical references, web site listings for additional information and a e-book CD-ROM with program files. Many of the authors have active web sites of their own and are available to generously help people stuck during construction.

Lego Masterpieces not only expand the reader's knowledge of Lego Mindstorms applications, but engineering and robots in general. The concepts presented can be applied anywhere the logic, computers, or machines are designed and built. The book shows that the construction of a machine must go hand in hand with the programming to best fit an application. Giulio Ferrari explores basic Artificial Intelligence and the foundations of modern computers with the Turing Machine. Another chapter presents the mechanics and theory of creating logic cells amazingly through the use of pneumatics and then combining them into the synchronous PneumADDic II calculating machine by Kevin Clague. And again by Kevin, the building of an asynchronous artificial muscle using Autonomous Pneumatic Circuits in the Synchropillar without RCX programmed control. An all terrain wheeled vehicle by Doug Carlson uses his Tri-Star drive design called the Stair Climber and will crawl over and out of almost anything. A spy robot by Miguel Aguilio called The Shape-Shifting Camera Tank utilizes Vision Command's camera, can increase or decrease it's height and you may control it with it's own Lego parts constructed joystick. The Learning Brick Sorter by Mario Ferrari, which combines a robotic arm with an automated task, blends the machine with excellent basic AI programming, which can learn new tasks. And finally, the most advance Lego robotic arm I've ever seen is in the chapter on CyberArm IV by Hideaki Yabuki. Not only does this arm have five Degrees of Freedom and 180-degree rotation, but you can also build the optional Power Glove to operate the robotic arm from your own hand movements!

The few complaints I have of this book are that the Bill Of Materials on some of the chapters are printed so small and illegible that I couldn't read them with a magnifying glass! Adding a page and printing the illustrations larger and clearer would have better represented the quality of the overall material. The other complaint is found in most books. Someone should proof read it before publication. Spell checkers don't think!

My final message about this book is BUY IT and start collecting the parts you'll need. It expands the frontiers of Lego Mindstorms and you'll need all the parts you can get your hands on!

This book is a unique piece of literature from the Great War. What sets this apart from others, like Sassoon or poet Owen, is that it gives a picture of how it was not only at the front, but also at home, and that it includes a woman, Vera, in it who communicated with her 4 closest friends through letters. An excerpt of these letters is, in edited form, available in this book.
The letters, written real-time one could say, in stead of polished as novels are, give an interesting insight on how life was back then, how youth thought, how war affected the people of the generation swept in it, and how human nature somehow manages to conserve its hope for the future. The fact that all 4 of her friends died in these events and that their generation is almost no more, makes the title and this war stand even more apart. Essential reading.

I have been interested in Vera Brittain since her autobiography, Testament of Youth, was featured on Masterpiece Theatre in the 70s. I came across this new book by chance when looking for Testament, which my book group is reading and enjoying this month. This collection of letters not only recaptures Vera, her brother, and three close friends, it adds great dimension to their WWI experience. This is a book I will treasure a long time.

Anyone who is interested in WW1 and the men and women who lived it, should read this account of the war first hand!

This is what the war really meant to people, both in and out of the trenches, for these are the letters written from and to them.

A thought provoking book, that it is true, is even more shocking.

It is about a generation of people that we should never forget.

Ever since 14 July 1988 when I read Chronicle of Youth with absorbed attention and keen feeling I have been fascinated by Vera Brittain. This fine work, without duplicating Chronicle of Youth, sets out the letters written by her and her brother and friends till all her correspondents were killed in the war. This is a poignant work, well worth reading. One stands amazed and impressed by the eagerness of these Englishmen to serve their country, even though they knew the hell that the Western Front was, and though so much was repellant about the condition under which they soldiered.

Anyone who is interested in WW1 and the men and women who lived it, should read this account of the war first hand!

This is what the war really meant to people, both in and out of the trenches, for these are the letters written from and to them.

A thought provoking book, that it is true, is even more shocking.

It is about a generation of people that we should never forget.

During the Pacific Conflict of WWII, the Japanese where characterized as brutal imperialistic conquerors, hungry for more territory and more resources as well as greater control over their asian neighbors in China, Korea, Southeast Asia, and the Phillipines. The United States is viewed as the pure of heart liberators who had come to rescue and aid such people. It is a sad and shameful fact that America had roughly committed the same act of vicious colonialism on the Phillipines years before Japanese troops set foot on the islands.

After the fall of Spanish-American War, rather than attempting to help the Fillipinos to rebuild their occupied homeland, the United States government, in a deeply disturbing turn to greed and arrogance, opted to occupy them just as their Spanish adversaries had done. Huge divisions of soldiers where sent to the Phillipines. The Fillipino guerillas and resistance fighters found themselves battling an enemy that they had considered a friend and ally only a few years before. Though a "successful" counterinsurgency, the Phillipine Insurrection is often thought of as a precursor to the American experience in Vietnam.

This is a conflict that the history books should stop trying to ignore. I love this country but if we want to avoid brutal and senseless campaigns like those in Iraq and Vietnam we need to take into account the wrongdoings of our country such as the occupation of the Phillipines. In fact, during WWII many Fillipino guerilla groups where reluctant to join forces with the US troops and even considered attacking BOTH sides to ensure that either Japanese or American occupation would not happen.

Those who ignore history are condemned to repeat it.

(click the author's name for several other editions of this book)

From: Philippine Daily Inquirer May 26, 2003 SECTION: 8

"LITTLE BROWN BROTHER" is the title of the book Leon Wolff wrote in 1961. It was an eye-opener not just for Filipinos but for Americans as well, most of whom had grown up believing the American seizure of the Philippines, along with Cuba and Puerto Rico, before the turn of the last century was done with the noblest of intentions and wrought through the most benign of intrusions. The original title of the book was "Little Brown Brother: The Forgotten American Bid For Empire Which Cost 250,000 Lives," which was eventually shortened. The subtitle pretty much sums up what the book is about. The 250,000 lives were of course the Filipinos', the American occupation force, as in Iraq more than a century later, suffering few casualties.

Wolff's book told not just of the way a good portion of the new colony's population was wiped out but of the way the entire population's memory was wiped out. The first claimed only 250,000 lives, the latter the souls of nearly every inhabitant of the island. Superimposed on the horrific reality was the general patronage movie version of the occupation, not unlike Fernando Poe's, which told of the making of the "little brown brother," the sidekick, with the face of Dencio Padilla, who would forever be at the hero's side. It was to become the cornerstone of "special relations," relations which have proven especially comfortable for the United States and especially excruciating to the Philippines. "


From The Washington Post, February 24, 1985:
The story of how, and why America liberated the Philippines from Spain and then took the islands back from their inhabitants two weeks later is a complicated one, already well told in one of the classics of American historiography, Leon Wolff's Little Brown Brother, published in 1960.



From BusinessWorld October 21, 1998:

"Little Brown Brother." The author is Leon Wolff, who also wrote the celebrated "In Flanders Field." The subhead on the front cover title and the introduction by the publishers provide an idea of the contents:

"America's Forgotten Bid for Empire Which Cost 250,000 Lives - At the end of the last century, when British imperialism was at its peak, the United States embarked on an acquisitive venture unique in that freedom-loving nation's story. The extra-ordinary circumstances of the annexation of the Philippine Islands and the bloody three-year war that followed the insurrection of its eight million inhabitants (a war in which a quarter of a million U.S. troops and Filipinos died) are today all but forgotten, even in America...

"It was after America's easy Caribbean victory in the war with Spain (1898) that the imperialist faction in American politics, whose leaders included President McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt, provoked a political controversy of almost unparalleled bitterness. Meanwhile, ten thousand miles away in the western Pacific, Filipino patriots under Emilio Aguinaldo, who had helped the invading Americans drive out the hated Spaniards, found themselves betrayed by their liberators and saddled with a fresh domination - against which they promptly revolted."

Wolff presents a balanced narrative, depicting an America split between the anti-imperialists, typified by William Jennings Bryant and Mark Twain, and politicians like McKinley, with his delusions of his country's "manifest destiny," and Roosevelt (Theodore), the former Rough Rider, who lumped Filipinos along with the native Americans whom he had fought in the bloody Indian wars.

According to Wolff, in accepting his vice-presidential nomination, Roosevelt declared: "... the presence of (U.S.) troops in the Philippines during the Tagal (Tagalog) insurrection has no more to do with militarism or imperialism than had their presence in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wyoming during the many years which elapsed before the final outbreaks of the Sioux were definitely put down... (Self-government) under Aguinaldo would be like granting self-government to an Apache reservation under some local chief..."

This attitude was reflected in the way the Americans conducted the war. Two officers of a U.S. regiment leaked a particularly gory episode to the New York World, which wrote:

"... our soldiers here and there resort to horrible measures with the natives. Captains and lieutenants are sometimes judges, sheriffs and executioners... 'I don't want any more prisoners sent to Manila,' was the verbal order from the Governor-General three months ago... It is now the custom to avenge the death of an American soldier by burning to the ground all the houses, and killing right and left the natives who are only 'suspects.'"...

Liberation meant conquest
New York Times Review March 5, 1961
...Wolff also author of "In Flanders Field," condemns a few cruel men, but writes understandingly of the pressures and counter-pressures that led to inhuman conduct. The struggle became, for all the participants, a nightmare war fought in torrential tropical rains and ankle deep mud, involving incessant fatigue and hunger and a sudden horrible death along jungle trails...Wolff, drawing upon a mass of contemporary writing, published documents and the memoirs of Anguinaldo, has succeeded admirably in re-creating both sides of this nearly forgotten conflict. It is a shame that the American troops, fighting with courage and fortitude, were not enlisted in a better cause. At the time it appeared far more noble than it does today, but even then a British magazine commented, "There have never been more wicked wars than this...but never a more shabby war."

"Little Brown Brother" gives the reader an excellent introduction to the American conquest of the Philippines. With a copyright granted in 1960, the title may be dated, but the narrative is thorough.

This book is concentrated on the Philippine theatre of the Spanish American War. Leon Wolf begins with backgrounds of the Imperialist sentiment in the U. S. and the Philippine struggle for independence. The nature of the Spanish domination of the islands, largely through control of government and church offices, is laid out.

Action in the Far East began with Adm. Dewey's destruction of the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay on May 1, 1898. This left a multi-polar balance of power, with American dominance of the Bay, challenged by German and British fleets and the city under the control of the Spanish, but surrounded to landward by the Filipino insurgents. This state led to a series of discussions during which the Spanish negotiated with the Americans for an arrangement which would satisfy their pride while protecting them from massacre by the Filipinos. The Filipinos, meanwhile, were negotiating with the Americans for support for their revolution. These negotiations would lead to conflicting claims as to what was promised which would be adjusted by the American Army. With the build-up of the American Army the balance of power shifted and the American conquest began. Extending over several years, the Americans occupied first the Bay, next Manila and, after a drive across Luzon, the entire archipelago.

Much attention is devoted to the political struggles over whether the U. S. should take the islands and, if so, how much they should take. Other nations stirred in the troubled pot. Japan's offer to help govern the islands was spurned. German bellicose behavior was opposed by the Royal Navy.

American debate over taking the islands was reminiscent of more recent debates over foreign interventions. Many of the issues are similar to ones which have arisen at other times in history and which continue to arise. As the war with the Filipino insurgents dragged on, the Americans were accused of conduct which was similar to Spanish actions which led to American intervention in Cuba. Imperialists and Anti-imperialists argued over whether or not American treasure should be expended and blood spilled in tropical jungles and whether we were liberating or murdering their inhabitants. The concentration of natives in villages was not only reminiscent of Spanish measures but prescient of American actions decades later in another Asian battleground. American actions in the islands became a political football, while Filipino patriots attacked American troops while awaiting the election of William Jennings Bryan in anticipation of receiving a grant of independence from his hands. With the reelection of William McKinley, Filipino independence was deferred for over 40 years.

Throughout this book I enjoyed reading the history and comparing its issues with those of later eras. The conquest of the Philippines really set the pattern for American victories and defeats throughout the rest of the 20th Century. These comparisons provide fuel for hours of contemplation.

Throughout this work the author maintains a good balance between detail and broad themes, without ever becoming bogged down or detached from reality. It is informative and readable. As you can see from my other reviews, a really good book earns four stars from me. Only the exceptional ones, such as "Little Brown Brother", earn five.

Mr Wolff has compiled a classic account of this savage and mostly forgotten conflict that brough America into a war that would be very similar in the sixties. A brilliant telling of both sides of the war, from the political figures, Filipino field commanders, volunteer soldiers from Oregon and Kansas, the "Buffalo Soldiers", Marines, Moros wielding their razor-edged barongs to generals like Lawton, Merritt, Pershing, Funston and Arthur MacArthur. If you are interested in this story, I recommend this book and Muddy Glory by Russel Roth to name but a few. History as it should be taught in school.

This is the Philippines Centennial Year of celebrating a noble attempt at Independence as a Nation . Incredible that in this day and age, nothing much has changed in the Philippines. Today wears a cloak of sophistication, outward love of all things American by a population that has no idea of the blood that was spilled by America in the process of a rough and dirty attempt at colonization of the Philippines. The Little Brown Brothers were denied their birthright by the American Gatling gun on the pretext of replacing the well known cruel tyranny of Spanish rule with the so called justice of the United States. 100 Years later, - it is just a bit more modern, the action faster. the politics the same, the poor still poor and the rich much, much richer. The Reader is vividly reminded that everything is the same. Powerful authenticated stuff for the modern educated Filipino, far more enlightening than Rizal's "Noli ne Tangere" and should be compulsory reading for all Filipino's. - if it were available