Bryan Books

As the title suggests, this product really is a fan's best friend. Never have I seen such a comprehensive and informative product such as this. It is arguably the best sports guide I have ever owned. A must for any sports enthusiast!

My son wrestled in junior high school and high school and I was constantly explaining the rules to other parents. This is a sport not widly understood and having a clear, consise, handy guide such as the Sportspectator Wrestling Guide would have been a great asset to the parents, coaches and athletes. I highly recommend it.

One thing that can be said about this book is that whether or not it broke the mold on the way out, it has definitely raised the bar of what you should expect in a true masterpiece of a novel. This book will make you laugh; it will make you cry and so very much more. It is superbly written in being reader friendly as well as there being philosophical ideas carefully interwoven into the storyline with flawless transitions.

I couldn't even begin to recall how many books that as you read through, you can very easily predict what the ending will be, what the characters will do next, etc, etc. This book most certainly does not stray anywhere near to doing this. Every step of the way it will leave you guessing as to which direction things will shift towards. The ending is absolutely perfect, because I never expected everything to unravel anywhere near how they did! I finished the book last evening and am still glowing over how the last chapters turned out and just reflecting on the overall piece in general.

DO NOT dismiss this book as being "another talking dog book," because it will quickly lay your fears to rest. This is a book that I would highly recommend everyone read at least once in their lifetime. I'm planning on reading it at least a second time myself, as well as it being a stocking stuffer for some loved ones over the upcoming holidays!

The Kent-Wolkoff affair that is the topic of Bryan Clough's detailed book is about the arrest of Tyler Kent, a code clerk in the American embassy in London, in May, 1940. In the U.S. it is often referred to as the Tyler Kent affair.

Kent was arrested for having hundreds of cables to and from the embassy in his unlocked London apartment. Also implicated was Anna Wolkoff, a Russian émigré who was supportive of pro-German political factions in London - factions supported by American isolationists, including Tyler Kent himself.

The arrests were made in late May, 1940, just as Dunkirk is about to fall after the German blitzkrieg swept France that month. It is before Hitler starts the planning for Operation Sea Lion but the invasion of England is considered an imminent threat within the U.K. At the same time, Hitler keeps sending secret peace feelers to the U.K. - and an element within the U.K. still thinks they are worth considering.

Notably, it is also before Franklin Roosevelt's run for an unprecedented third term as president, with the election six months away. It is a time when England's resources for war appear limited - and discussion of American support by supplying arms is starting, including what would become the "Lend Lease" contract.

The Kent-Wolkoff affair is historically minor, except when considered in the context of the period. Today it would appear that Tyler Kent's possession of hundreds of secret dispatches would be a serious security violation. But security of the period was lax and others - including the ambassador routinely took government documents for personal files.

The importance of the affair was in its early moves against British pro-German citizens; in what may have been political maneuvering to force the resignation of U.S. ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy (the father of John F. Kennedy); and British attempts to prevent the embarrassment of Franklin Roosevelt in the pre-election period.

The arrest of Tyler Kent is notable in that he was sentenced and interned in the U.K., rather than being sent back to the U.S. for trial in public, as might have been the case if not for the delicacy of the U.K. government trying to solicit American support for the war.

Clough's conclusions on the Kent-Wolkoff affair are dramatically different than when he started the book. It would spoil the story to reveal them - but, as an English reviewer noted on the amazon.co.uk site, "most books on espionage are rubbish" and this book highlights why.

As a result, the book should be required reading for journalists as a lesson in fact-checking and the reliability of witnesses.

Some aspects of the book may be slightly confusing to Americans not familiar with things like British social structures or MI5 and MI6 in the U.K. but an occasional Wikipedia search is helpful.

The one criticism of the book is that as Clough peels back the onion on "cover stories" from the U.S. and U.K., he might have done a better job of highlighting what changed in the public version of the Kent-Wolkoff affair from chapter to chapter.

Honestly, this book is so accessible that instructors could make students read the modules and never lecture. An excellent reference for individuals who infrequently perform data analyses and need a quick primer. Great use of salient examples throughout... if all statistics textbooks were written like this, students would no longer fear ANOVAs and regressions.

Although status is an essential concept in classical sociology and a crucial feature of social structure, it has been much criticized in contemporary social theory and to some extent replaced by a Marxist concept of economic class. In this book, Bryan Turner argues that social stratification has three major components: political-legal rights (status as entitlement), cultural distinction (status as life-style) and economic class. The relationships between these elements are historically contingent and determined by social struggles over resources. He examines the historical variations between these dimensions in slavery, feudalism and capitalism, and argues that in contemporary society the decline of economic class and the struggle between status groups over welfare resources have given life to a new form of political life: status bloc politics under the administration of the state. His analysis of status concludes with an examination of the effects of mass consumption on cultural distinction and a consideration of the implications of cultural postmodernism for the traditional struggle between high and low culture. His main thesis is that economic, political and cultural inequalities can only be understood from a conflict-sociology perspective.
--- from book's back cover

Great ARCH book. I use these as a review for Bible lessons. The kids love the rhyming words.

The vividly colored illustrations add to the enchantment of this tale adapted from Southern Nigeria about Ma Sheep Thunder and her Son Ram Lightning. The words loll along in a rhythm that will remind the reader of a storytelling festival held beneath the stars around a tribal fire. Not only does the folk tale explain why thunder and lightning occurs, the moral of the story will remind children of the importance of listening to and obeying their parents.

Streets of Danger by Bryan Alexander is a realistic story about a 16 years old boy living on the streets of a typical city in mid to late '30s. The author experienced, or witnessed, similar events when he was 16 and some of the descriptions are based on these events. The description is clear and vivid and the humor is well placed to avoid letting the reader get too serious about the story. Although the story is realistic, it is a concentration of adventures in the life of the characters, filled with interesting and exciting adventures, occasionally embellished to enhance the effects that can and did occurred during the depression of the '30s. The adventures flow smoothly and the reader should not have any difficulty in following the characters as they stumble through the dangerous streets trying to survive. The dialect is that of the location and time, and is also realistic. Although, to preserve the integrity of the story, the language can be rough at time, there are no significant profanities and should not be objectionable to most readers. This is a very funny story with some very dramatic situations, which will make you want to continue to the end in one sitting.

Diane Elliott has so completely captured the experience of settling Montana in the 1860s as seen through the eyes of Electa that it is hard to believe this is fiction, and not a true diary. She reminds us of the incredible hardships families endured, the fear and deprivations experienced by these pioneers, and the everyday threat of violence under which they lived. All this is twined around the short and intense romance and marriage of Henry and Electa. The book leave you wanting more of Electa, and lets you draw your own conclusions about the mysterious and complex Plumer--misunderstood hero, notorious road agent, brilliant sociopath, or something of each. I couldn't put this down until I finished it.