Bryant Books

They also enable you to plot the progress of the war. They are chosen from most of the combatant nations (apart from Japan) and are very interesting and engrossing, in the way that picture and map books often are. Also many of them are still very funny: the motorist asking for directions in a fuel-starved Britain suspicious of possible spies (or traitors -'fifth columnists') is obviously addressing this suspicion when he says 'If I were a spy or fifth columnist, you still would not want me to waste petrol, would you? Another one shows an irate householder, with a bomber thundering over his roof, just missing it, with a comment about how he thinks he will delay building the extension until after the war.

I found the cartoons produced by the Dutch, Danish and French underground interesting. There are artistic ones, such as 'Autumn' which shows swastikas tumbling like leaves from the trees and being swept up by a figure of death, as a skeleton.There is another harrowing one drawn by an inmate in a concentration camp which shows the air raid siren as thousands of people screaming. Awful.

On a lighter note, one of the most memorable shows two British troops (we drive on the left, unlike you and the Continental Europeans) in a jeep, driving like madmen down a road being shelled, bombed, strafed. The caption is:'You fool, do you realise you are driving on the wrong side of the road?' (as if you'd care!)

Wonderful value and great presentfor a relation who remembers the Second Great Unpleasantness. Get it!

This book by Mark Bryant is a treat for people interested in history and cartoons told through the eyes of cartoonists of that time.Its a visual treat of cartoons collected from newspapers and magazines.What really got my attention was the sample materials from aerial leaflets,posters and never published cartoons drawn in prisoner-of-war camps.The book is printed on good quality glossy paper and also has historical background by the author related to the cartoons.Highly recommended.

It is difficult today to imagine the issues of war, sacrifice, slaughter, and redemption being conveyed by simple, drawn lines. And yet there once was such a time, and we are fortunate that the art of the cartoon reached its zenith during the greatest conflict in our history. In his World War II in Cartoons, Mark Bryant has assembled a collection of more than 300 of the best cartoons from that era. Bryant has chosen cartoons published in the Allied and Axis countries, with the majority of the works coming from England. Bryant has selected well. He gives us a wide sampling of the various types of cartoons-some not humorous at all, some very light, all provocative-as well as the many styles of drawing. Throughout, he succinctly explains the context of each drawing. He is adept at pointing out small details which otherwise might be overlooked by the modern reader.

Although Bryant does not comment on the relative standing of the artists, it is clear that the most accomplished of the wartime illustrators was David Low (later Sir David Low). Bryant has selected more of Low's drawings than of any other cartoonist, and it is easy to see why. No one was better than Low in summing up the moral stakes of a given situation. His three drawings of the Nazi defendants at Nuremburg are masterpieces in the study of the banality of evil.

No collection of World War II cartoons would be complete without American Bill Mauldin, whose most famous drawings are included in this collection. Also included is the haunting image drawn by Clarence D. Batchelor of the New York Daily News in 1936, of Death dressed as a prostitute enticing a young man upstairs to her room. "Come on in," she says to the boy, "I'll treat you right. I used to know your daddy."

By assembling these cartoons-the best of which become art-Bryant has done much to remind us of how issues could be powerfully presented in a small, simple frame. I don't think he-or anyone-can now rescue this art form, but he has done us all a great service by showing what was done during the great blood letting of the last century. "World War II in Cartoons," by Mark Bryant. ISBN 1904943063 (Grub Street), 300 illus., b&w, color, hardcover oversized. 160 pages. Highly recommended.

Hello,
My name is Scott Neely and I liked the spot illustrations that I drew for this book. It has an X-Files feel to it and is a great supplement to the role-playing game. Enjoy!
Scott

The Conspiracy X rpg is one of the coolest around, and the Aegis organisation definitely needed a source book of its own. And here it is. It has loads more stuff on Aegis, including some cool new skils 'n professions. The stuff on Aegis rocks, and the advice on operations and tactics has helped my players get further into character. All in all, an invaluable addition to any Con X player's/GM's library.

This book is easy to read, easy to follow and easy to understand. Steve gets the fact that not eveyone is a technowiz and therefore talks to his readers as ordinary people--he's one of us. Besides losing the fear factor, he also gives great advice on how to use the new camcorder for the readers' fun and profit. Job well done!

This book is great for new camcorder users. Before buying or after buying a camcorder READ THIS BOOK! With Steve Bryant's creative and fun approach to this subject this book is second to none!

This book is an excellent depiction of a man (not a god). Underwood masterfully relays events and conversations first hand and resists the temptation to sensationalize. This is not just a book for Alabama fans but for any football fan or someone who simply wants to know how to win. Winning, for Bryant was an art of knowing your opponent and motivating your team. Underwood doesn't shield for Bryant's shortcomings and displays them almost as if Bryant himself were there to say "This is what not to do". Great read

Growing up in Tuscaloosa, and being around during the period Coach Bryant was coaching at Alabama, I can really appreciate this wonderful book. Over several years, the author spent hundreds of hours with Coach Bryant, and had the opportunity to record many hours of interviews with the Coach. These interviews cover his years of early childhood, his playing days at Alabama and his coaching stints at Maryland, Kentucky, Texas A&M and of course, Coaching at Alabama.

The book is written like Coach Bryant was dictating the whole book....you can just hear and see Coach Bryant telling the story as only he could tell a story. He talks freely and honestly about his early life growing up in Arkansas and his career as a Football Coach. He (Coach Bryant) talks about his misstates during his coaching career and his successes in coaching.

This book and a book by Kirk McNair (editor of Bama Magazine) entitled: "What It Means To Be Crimson Tide" are two of the best books on Alabama football and its rich tradition. Both are a must have for any sports fan.


Buy "Bear: My Hard Life & Good Times As Alabama's Head Coach" if you are a Alabama fan, a coach (of any sport), a businessman or if you just want to read a very good book about a true American Sports Hero.

(The CD of Coach Bryant talking is worth the price of this book.)

Great Trivia question from this book: What year did Coach Bryant first get a job offer to be the Head Coach at Alabama? (1957 or 1958 is wrong.) ......1946...page 107....this book is great!

"Berry Best Gardening Book" is a surprisingly detailed, useful and fun gardening book. This book has everything in it from tulips to creating a special garden for butterflies.

As mentioned, this book has a story running throughout it. Strawberry and her friends plant their very own friendship garden. Each part of the story correspond with what's being talked about in the instructional information about gardening.

Kids learn about how to take care of plants. This book talks about gardening tools, what the right amount of water is for different types of plants and more. It also has a surprising variety of flowers and plants.

Strongly recommended for any Strawberry Shortcake fun or anyone who just wants a berry fun introduction to gardening!

This is a very cute little book with actual gardening knowledge inside! Great for little girls who love flowers and like to help mommy plant!! It also has an entire new Strawberry Shortcake story running through it with her friend Blueberry Muffin!!

No one can deny that casinos have brought money and crowds back to
Atlantic City. Since the first casino opened in 1978, gambling
corporations have invested six billion dollars in the old resort town
and, during the 1990s, more tourists visited Atlantic City than any
other place in the United States including Las Vegas and Disneyworld.
Each year, the city entertains twice the population of metropolitan New
York and those visitors "wager almost enough money to fund the nation's
space program." During the past quarter century, the casinos have
generated eighty percent of the city's total property taxes, five and a
half billion tax dollars for the state, and created over 42,000 new
jobs.

Despite these impressive numbers, in "Boardwalk of Dreams" Bryant Simon
concludes that "the gaming industry has not saved Atlantic City."
Instead, he finds that bringing casinos to the New Jersey shore was a
"devil's bargain." Twenty-six years of gaming, he argues, have left the
city in many ways worse off than it was in the mid-1970s when it was a
decaying, honky tonk resort whose best days had long passed. Today,
Simon maintains, Atlantic City is a dysfunctional place with a jarring
landscape of fortress-like casinos surrounded by boarded storefronts and
derelict houses. Only a few blocks from Donald Trump's "gaudy and
gilded showplace" the Taj Mahal, "are some of the loneliest, most
desolate streets in America."

For Simon, an urban historian at Temple University in Philadelphia, the
story of Atlantic City is a colorful but heartbreaking tale. Long known
as the "Queen of American Resorts,"Atlantic City grew famous in the
first half of the twentieth century as the premier vacation destination
for the middle class. Using a formula later perfected by Las Vegas, the
city's hotels offered exotic architecture and elaborate amenities at a
moderate cost. Salesmen and bookkeepers luxuriated with their families
in lobbies filled with overstuffed chairs, chandeliers, and Chippendale
furniture, but then retreated to rooms that they could afford. At night,
Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Dean Martin, Louie Prima, and Louis
Armstrong provided stylish entertainment to crowds with moderate
incomes. Vacationers donned their flashiest outfits, paraded down the
boardwalk, and proved to the world that they had made it. As an escapist
retreat for the middle class, Simon writes, Atlantic City "was
Disneyland a generation before there was a Disneyland."

Away from the beach, along the streets with names that the board game
Monopoly made famous, the city's working class residents also thrived.
Although Atlantic City was built as tourist destination, generations of
Irish, Italian, and Jewish immigrants from Europe, and African-
Americans from the South, had come to find jobs. They created
tightly-knit neighborhoods filled with corner groceries, ethnic
restaurants, neighborhood taverns, and long rows of houses with porches
where families sat on summer evenings. It was a place where people
walked to work, to worship, to visit friends, and to shop. Like many
urban historians who lament the passing of the old "walking cities,"
Simon lauds the rich cultural and social life of these now vanished
neighborhoods.

In the Italian neighborhood known as Ducktown, Simon writes, "locals
could find three bakeries selling warm, crusty loaves Of Italian Bread."
"Next door were fruit stands and fish markets. Nearby grocery stores
sold milk and eggs, roasted peppers and imported Parmesan cheese.
Around the corner, sandwich makers built long Italian hoagies made out
of lettuce, tomatoes, onions, provolone, Genoa salami,...and hot red
peppers. Neighborhood tailors and barbers played scratchy opera records
and decorated their walls with pictures of the pope and Frank Sinatra.
Ducktown restaurants served big bowls of gnocchi with garlicky marinara
sauce and stubby glasses of homemade wine. Above the eateries and
stores were social clubs likes the Knights of Columbus and the Al-Ki
Club where men who spoke only Italian played nickel and dime games of
hearts."

But even during its golden era when this social fabric was intact, the
city was not without flaws. In order to make the boardwalk a fantasy
world for middle-class whites, Atlantic City was a Jim Crow town.
Police harassed African-Americans who tried to swim at the white beach.
Restaurants refused to serve black tourists or demanded exorbitant
prices from them. When black families tried to check into the famous
hotels, desk managers claimed their reservations had been lost. By
making black tourists feel unwelcome, businessmen and police made sure
the only African-Americans on the "boardwalk of dreams" were bellhops,
entertainers, cooks, and the men who pushed the wicker rickshaws in
which white tourists rode. Even the businesses along Atlantic Avenue
where year-round residents shopped were for whites only.
African-Americans patronized the stores on Arctic Avenue in the black
section of town.

It was no coincidence, Simon contends, that the decline in white middle
class tourism coincided with civil rights activists' successful efforts
to end Atlantic City's de facto segregation during the late 1950s and
1960s. Worried that Atlantic City was "now unmanageable and out of
control, the accountants and clerks who had in the past spent their
summers in town...went into hiding in segregated suburbs, malls, movie
theaters, amusement parks, and outdoor worlds." Many white year-round
residents left town as well.

"White flight" exacerbated other challenges the city faced. With the
advent of air conditioning, television, and backyard swimming pools,
fewer families flocked to the ocean each summer. Cheap airfares allowed
the middle class access to new, distant destinations. "As the white
tourists stayed away," Simon writes, "fancy Boardwalk jewelry stores
turned into hot dog stands." The boardwalk grew increasingly seedy and
soon the black middle class stayed away as well. Crowds still gathered
for the Miss America Pageant each September, and the Shriners still came
for conventions and salt-water taffy, but by the 1970s Atlantic City had
become synonymous with urban decay. It was hardly a place to go to
escape the cares of the world. "Without respectable, well-dressed
crowds," Simon maintains, "Atlantic City lost its ability to host
nightly reenactments of the American Dream of upward mobility, and when
that happened, the cycle of decline was on a vicious, unrelenting
course."

As the situation grew more desperate in the 1970s, city leaders
increasingly viewed casino gambling as a panacea. They had watched
enviously for decades as gaming transformed Las Vegas into a boomtown
and they were certain they could mimic that success. Vegas, after all,
was in the middle of the Nevada desert. Atlantic City was an ocean
front resort situated amidst millions of potential gamblers in New York,
Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.

In 1976, New Jersey voters approved casino gambling in Atlantic City.
Confident that jobs and glittering prosperity were on the way, joyful
residents in the city's working class neighborhoods literally danced in
the streets. "Everyone," one local leader recalled, "was a millionaire
that night." Curtis Kugel, the owner of a venerable Atlantic City
seafood restaurant, spoke for many when he predicted that his town would
"turn around and be what it was in the twenties and thirties." The
"boardwalk of dreams" would be reborn.

When the first casino opened two years later, such hopes quickly faded.
Most of the jobs created by the casinos went to non-residents. Because
casino managers did not want employees competing with gamblers for
parking spaces, they built "intercept lots" outside of town and bused
employees from their cars to their jobs. As result, few workers "ever
stepped foot on Atlantic City streets" and "there was little chance for
any of the casino riches to trickle down into the city."

Restaurateurs and amusement pier operators who hoped to feed and
entertain giant crowds also found disappointment. It soon became
apparent that the new tourists seldom left the casinos. Gamblers lined
up at casino buffets instead. And casino architects fashioned their
buildings in a manner that made access to the boardwalk and beach
difficult. Casino patrons remained sealed in a windowless, clockless
maze of slot machines until their money ran out and tour operators
herded them back onto buses.

Atlantic City's ethnic neighborhoods also suffered. Speculators and
casino corporations bought houses in those districts, tore them down,
and built parking lots. During the early 1980s, bulldozers leveled one
third of the city's homes. Local efforts to resist such change proved
futile and residents who refused to sell found that their quality of
life quickly deteriorated. All of the city's movie theaters met the
wrecking ball. Buses rumbled down the streets at all hours. Crime rose
by eighty percent. Pawn shops replaced corner groceries. The last
vestiges of the "walking city" disappeared. Today, Simon laments, "the
old corner stores, friendly taverns, jazz clubs, Jewish delis, fresh
fruit stands, and butcher shops...are all gone." In their place, is a
"flat, desolate lunar landscape of streets increasingly empty except for
the luckless and dispossessed."

On the boardwalk, the old hotels and restaurants began to shut their
doors. Luigi's, Carl Kruger's restaurant that had once served a
thousand dinners a night to hungry vacationers, closed and made way for
a casino. The massive Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel, a faded masterpiece
of orientalist architecture, was torn down and replaced by a Bally's
casino "that looked like an unimaginative merging of a Day's Inn and a
K-Mart." Even Reese Palley, one of Atlantic City's most ardent gambling
proponents, eventually lamented the changes casinos had wrought. "We
were all innocents," he said later. "We didn't know what would happen...We
didn't have to sacrifice everything."

Although "Boardwalk of Dreams" paints a depressing portrait of present
day Atlantic City, Simon's love for the city and its history is clear.
Even in its halcyon days, he reminds us, the city had its share of
problems. But it was also a vibrant place and Simon masterfully
recreates this lost world full of music, whimsy, culture, and style.
Ultimately, however, his book is a powerful and cautionary tale about
the perils of an over reliance on tourism and of using "quick fixes,
like gambling, to solve deep and vexing economic and social problems."
Casinos, Simon concludes, have not made Atlantic City a better
community. The glory days have not returned. Instead, the "Queen of
resorts" is now "a stark, vacant, poor city with a beach, the Boardwalk,
and,...twelve separate, inward looking casinos...that leave only crumbs on
the Monopoly streets around them."

If you're searching for gripping non-fiction, look no further. "Boardwalk of Dreams" is almost as mesmerizing as a Caesars Palace slot machine.
History Professor Bryant Simon superbly links the fate of Atlantic City to what happened in other urban areas -- blight and flight that culminated in the 1960s. The recurring theme of exclusion in what are assumed to be "public" places is illuminating. Simon unveils a cross-section of pettiness, greed, and corruption close to the heart of the American dream that is sobering.
The author, a New Jersey native, leaves no stone unturned in bulldozing the myth of casino gambling as "magic bullet." The casinos didn't ruin Atlantic City but neither did they revive the city (which was, as Simon shows, predictable since casinos offer exclusion and isolation to relax their customers and keep them coming back).
Depressed areas and struggling industries should read and heed Simon. Horse-racing track operators currently have stars in their eyes about the "necessity" of "expanded gaming" the way many in Atlantic City did in 1976. (In fact -- a fact not mentioned in "Boardwalk of Dreams" -- Atlantic City slot machines supply the purse, or prize, money for races run at New Jersey's Monmouth Park and Meadowlands racetracks). Racing people, especially horsemen's associations, are on track to wake up with a big hangover some day.
The desegregation of Atlantic City and accompanying white exodus is well-documented by Simon. It's undoubtedly true but sad to contemplate just the same. The most recent similar example from history is what happened in South Africa after blacks got the right to vote in the 1990s. Pent-up demand for the blessings of liberty among blacks is unleashed. Some whites view this as unsettling and begin edging toward the door. Some blacks think things aren't moving fast enough and begin stealing etc. (thereby giving freedom a bad name). Whites fight back and/or move to safer ground. Terribly unfortunate and completely impervious to any legislative "solutions." One is left wishing for a divine "Patience" button (similar to the Staples Inc. "Easy" button) that could be pressed to prevent future chains of events along the lines of what happened to Atlantic City.

I am way to old for these books, but I still read them, and I have to say this book is a great Saddle Club book. This is one of my favorites because its at pine hollow, the ones when theyre gone are good too, but I like the ones when there at home better. But I think all the Saddle Club books are good thought.

As with all of the saddle club books, this one is hilarious and entertaining. Stevie, the mischief maker, is sworn to lay off practical joking on her favorite day of the year- April Fool's Day! Max, the girls' instructor, tells them that he will get them tickets to a prestigious horse show--if they will sort through old riding costumes for him. They are thrilled, because their friends Nigel Hawthorne and Dorothy DeSoto will be there-fiancees whose wedding is slowly creeping closer. The old costumes come to inspire a great scheme- they will stage a wedding for Pine Hollow's new stallion, Geronimo on April Fool's day! That way, Stevie can still have fun on her favorite day. The girls are really excited, and they have invited all the riders at the stable to attend. But, when the unexpected happens, last minute scheming will allow the horses' marriage to become a double wedding... As is with all of the Saddle Club books, the three girls' unique personalities allow them to come up with a crazy (Stevie), logical (Lisa), and horsey (Carole) scheme. In this case, the girls get a chance to help other friends when business interferes with pleasure in this funny, clever novel. I would recommend it to anyone who likes horses and/or comedy.

Bear Bryant's success was due in part to his ability to adapt when necessary. In 1971, Bryant knew that he had to make changes to his program or be left behind. Adopting the wishbone was a brilliant move by Bryant; but perhaps his greatest move was adapting to the social changes of the time. Southern football has never been the same since 1971. The author has certainly done his homework with countless interviews with players and coaches of the '71 'Bama squad. This insider's look into this historical season will be enjoyed by all 'Bama and Southern football fans.

Mr. Briley writes an incredibly insightful book about the changing times surrounding the Bear's career. This is a must read for any Bama fan or admirer of the Bear! There are many books written about this amazing man, but none as focused on this particular year in the life of this American icon. Hats off to John David Briley and his outstanding literary efforts. I look forward to reading more works by him in the future.

I've used name-your-baby books and websites to help me name cats, so I was glad to get this. Even if I never take a name from it for a future cat, it's still an interesting, very entertaining read. Besides, the book may help to pique your ideas on naming, considering it gives most actual meanings and goes beyond: "Spencer - For a cat that never leaves marks! "Duvet - A cat that always seems to be on the bed! "Livingstone - You'll always find him eventually." I would've liked male/female names to be grouped as such, but I admit that wouldn't have worked since many names are for both. Also, the black-and-white cat on the cover is enjoyable to see! I wonder what he/she was named.

I belive in Santa, because the book I bought arrived on Dec. 23rd. and it was the best Xmas. gift I ever had. The tales are interesting, and the author suggests intelligent and also funny names to my favorit pet. Congratulations ! It is a pleasant book.

Lynette, you've done it again! These poems captured my exact feelings. I got goosebumps reading this wonderful book. You are truly great. Thanks for sharing.

With this being the first book I've ever published, I am very impressed with Ms. Bryant's writing.