Carrier Books

I found this book to be well written and quite interesting. It is a good companion book to the Norman Friedman book on aircraft carrier design history. I was a little dissapointed that some of the ship status information was incorrect. For example it notes that the Lexington and Hornet were scrapped versus being museums. However, the historic information about the ships and their deployments was described in very good detail.

Norman Polmar has a justly established reputation as the most prolific, insightful, and discerning of naval analysts. In a field where many works are outdated almost as soon as they appear, he has written a series of references and studies that have not only lasting significance, but enduring relevance both as historical studies and compilations of data and lessons learned that can be applied by contemporary decision-makers. AIRCRAFT CARRIERS, v. 2 is a classic example. A sequel to his well-received first volume (covering the aircraft carrier through the Second World War), this work traces carrier employment in the varied conflicts of the Cold (and post-Cold) War era, and its evolution to match both changing strategic visions, the evolving nature of naval aviation and weapons technology, and the transformation of the carrier itself from a fairly small vessel to the gargantuan platforms that now ply the world's oceans, fueled by atomic cores. Readers are in for a treat, as Polmar writes with grace and style, imparting an extraordinary amount of information but never in a dull or pedantic way. Illustrated with well-chosen photographs, with references and a bibliography, AIRCRAFT CARRIERS v. 2 is a worthwhile investment for anyone interested in post-WW-II naval power, and an essential reference for anyone who follows naval aviation.

i bought this book for my 10 month old nice at halloween because she loves playing peek-a-boo. i think she was a little too young for it this year, but i'm sure that she'll love reading it next year. for now she just likes turning the pages on her own!

Our daughter received this book as a gift last Halloween and honestly hasn't put it down since. She absolutely LOVES the text and pictures. In fact, I can hear her right now in the other room making "OOooohh" sounds. I recommend this book for all parents and children. It's so much fun making the "Eeews & Boos together. Hope you can enjoy it as much as we do!

The concept of common carriage is generally assumed and universally misunderstood. One aspect of the historical mythology that is contorted beyond recognition is the liability of common carriers for the goods carried. If a telegraph, telephone (or dare I say Internet network) mangles the message and causes harm, what liability does that carrier have - and more importantly - why? Barbara Cherry looks at the theoretical underpinnings of the regulatory position and how liability faces new challenges in the post telecom act of 1996 era.

Among the myriad works attempting to explain what, if any, fundamental logic guided Congress's 1996 decision to amend the 1934 Communications Act, only an exceptional few succeed. One that does, however, is Professor Barbara Cherry's "The Crisis in Telecommunications Carrier Liability."

Cherry's work employs an historical and institutional approach to decipher seemingly counter-intuitive liability provisions saddled upon incument local exchange carriers and inter-exchange carriers. Rather than focusing exclusively on the text of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Cherry weaves together a rich tapestry of legal and regulatory history on the one hand, with social policy objectives such as universal service on the other hand. This warp is deftly manipulated with a weft of institutional context to provide one of the most coherent and complete explanations of the state of telecommunications law as it exists today in the United States.

The contradictions between social policy objectives and the over-arching concern for opening the last mile to competitive entry by unbundling the network elements (Section 251)is thoroughly addressed in Cherry's work. She manages this tension well and proposes well-informed policy remedies obviously aimed at a lawmaking audience.

Cherry's work benefits from her industry experience as well as her academic style. It is a must read for any student of telecommunication regulation theory as well as telecommunications policy-makers everywhere. It should be included on the syllabi of communications programs nationwide.

I unequivocally give this book my highest recommendation, and hope that it will spark the kind of informed policy debate it was intended to generate.

Anything written about the Pacific War during WW2 will mostly become a book about the ships and the men which took part. Anything written about Truk Lagoon will include mention of the shipwrecks which are found there - and that will involve countless hours of research, research and even more research. There are no short-cuts and, unfortunately, there is no single place one can visit to find all the answers one seeks.

The US operation to sink the Japanese fleet at Truk Lagoon was called Operation HAILSTONE and not "HAILSTORM" as used by Mr Lindemann. His deliberate selection of this title has led to that operation becoming widely, and very wrongly, known as Operation Hailstorm. Personally, I think both the original name and the way in which the fighting was conducted were dramatic enough without Mr Lindemann attempting to make it more so.

At first sight, this incorrect title appears to be a very basic error in this author's research when that is simply not so! Mr Lindemann has produced two authoritative works on the subject of Truk Lagoon and was also responsible for the actual discovery of some of the wrecks found there.

As a professional author, diver and shipwreck historian, I have used Mr Lindemann's work on Truk Lagoon as reliable reference material for some years now. I have never found that work wanting in any way whatsoever.

Pity about the title, but do not allow that to put you off a product which is otherwise quite excellent.

NM

Great to see a reprint of the must reference when diving at Truk Lagoon. Very good

My three-year-old son adores our wonderfully friendly mailman. As a result he is enthralled by any book or video pertaining to a mailman. Harvey Hare, Postman Extraordinaire is one of our favorite naptime/bedtime books. It is a gentle store of the faithful hare who delivers mail to all the meadow creatures in any type of weather. In return the community thanks him for his faithfulness by collecting flora and fauna to create a beautiful gift -- an umbrella to protect him from the elements. The illustrations are beautiful and soothingly dreamy.

A dependable, hard-working mail carrier, Harvey trudges up and down hills in all kinds of weather delivering letters to Squirrel, Mole, Hedgehog and Badger.

Quaintly fetching depictions of animals on Harvey's rural postal route highlight a story of responsibility and appreciation. Ages 5 - 8.

"Trish Schiesser's novel brings to life the steamboating experience of the men and women who sails on the Great Lakes Ore Boats.

Don Levesque 6901st review

Not just for lovers of the sea... oh no. This book is for anyone who craves drama, risk and love. I look forward to her next novel and recommend this one to all vessel oriented minds... salt water and fresh!

The illustrations in this story are so simple and adorable. It's a slice-of-life type story with simple words and a fun, happy end. Very colorful, lovely illustrations. My kids can't get enough of Larabee.

Kindergartners enjoyed this engaging story of Larabee, a mailman's dog, who longs to receive his own mail. Most found the plot just silly enough to satisfy both young listeners (grades Pre-K through K) and young readers(1st and 2nd graders), as it featured simple vocabulary and lots of animal sounds. These five and six year olds liked the illustrator's cartoony style with its bright colors, sparse scenery and humans with huge heads. They all agreed that Lacey McNabb is the book's heroine, and Mrs. Fellini, the villain-- made obvious by that front yard sign! What was our reviewers' favorite part? Larabee's personalized mailbox-- which made them wonder, "Do dog's dreams come true?"

As we face a globalised world of imperialist chaos this book reminds us that Marx's theory of alienation is the only one which can help people make sense of what is going on. Marx understood completely and dialectically that humanity is both a part of nature and also the historically unfolding self creativity of nature. But Marx was able to brilliantly distinguish between what is a characteristic of humanity as a productive species and what is specific to capitalism as a particular form of production. All those who seek to reduce capitalism to a generalised "production" and capital to "tools" etc. are apologists for capitalism who want to convince us that capitalism is only "human nature". Meszaros illuminates the difference between these "primary" and "second order" mediations of human history. Marx had no time for vapid psychobabble, of course, but he had a vision of non-alienated humanity drawn from classical notions of "homo universale" - the many sided, socially integrated and freely self determining individual free from bondage to alienating entities like state, class and race and their associated legacies of war and destruction. Marx, of course, recognised before anyone else the globalising attributes of capitalism - "the prices of its commodities are the heavy artillery with which it batters down all Chinese walls" - and it can truly be stated that only now, with the disappearance of Stalinism and the global dominance of capitalism, does Marx's critique of capitalism attain its true validity and truth.

The subject of the book is fundamental if we want to understand why the « communist » experiment failed and was doomed to fail. The author is orthodox and intelligent enough to be faithful to Marx but he is also fundamentalistic enough not to see the mistake of the orthodox reading of Marx, of Marx himself. Marx wrote before the modern development of advanced anthropology. So he neglects the fact that man, as a species, was made possible in nature due to two great genetic and physical mutations. Brain and larynx, first, that made language, verbal communication, conservation through memory, transmission through education possible. From here rise the possibility to think with concepts and the necessity/possibility to understand in order to plan life and the satisfaction of human needs, hence to represent man's position in nature : from hence come religions, arts, philosophy, science and technology. Man is a speaking therefore representing being. Brain and hand, second, that made the production of tools, the emergence of means of production possible. This enabled the species to get on its way to controling and even changing nature, to producing more than needed, hence producing surplus value that could become accumulated into capital. The road to industrial development started there with the very first tool ever invented and transmitted in its technology. So what the book attributes to capitalism should be attributed to the emergence of the human species as a « producing species ». But Marx was also from a time before the discovery of the human psyche. So he is lost in considerations on good and evil, ethics, aesthetics and other questions of the type because he cannot know the human psyche is both dark and clear, eros and thanatos, love for others (personal and social survival) and death instinct (antisocial and jingoistic survival). But strangely enough the author of this book does not envisage the present phase of human development : the informational revolution, universal communication, globalization, the generalization of music, films, TV and even arts everywhere in society and at any time, the individual revolution of liberated - and yet to be controled, but how ? - impulses, desires, passions, etc... Istvan Meszaros probably wrote too early (1970) and too fast (just after 1968). But if we read it as a standard marxist approach of 1970, we know why the « communist experiment » failed : it negated the real historical development of humanity by rejecting the representative power of man and the explosive dimension of the liberation of individuals and individual initiative.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

I think the book is great for what it discuses but the problem was that even though the title Says modeling the M113 series it is primarily modern and Canadian equipment. So if your work on a Nam era Cav M113 this will be of no help.

I own most of the Osprey Modelling series, but this is the first time I got so excited after two chapters I jumped onto the internet searching for the kits he used. I found 'em! Graeme Davidson is a fine modeller and a good teacher. The photographs of his progress through each "kit-bash" are beautiful, and clear. His writing is also clear, and encouraging. Each project is rated for difficulty, starting with the two "easiest" ones I want to try.

The reason I stated 'relief' in the title: since I first drifted into armor modelling from my former preoccupation with aircraft I've become a little weary of the black-and-white world of WW 2, all the blessed TIGER kits, and even The Shermans, which I had always liked.

Mr. Davidson has helped to open a way out of that for me. If you want to build something fresh in the world of AFVs this book will help. Get one and get started!

This is a good overview of some recent Israeli tanks, APCs and IFVs. One thing to be aware of, though, is that it only covers the most recent developments in the Merkava tank, not a thorough overview of that important tank series. Apparently, you have to buy Osprey Publishing's earlier book, "Merkava Main Battle Tank MKs I, II & III," to get a fuller view of the Merkava program (but, irritatingly, you still have to buy this newer book to get details on the current Merkava IV!). Otherwise, I have very few complaints about this volume. Like most Osprey books, it's brief and thus a bit thin, but informative and well-illustrated. Another quibble: the cutaway views are only from one angle, when some of the details clearly need to be shown from at least two different angles to make much sense.

Unfortunately, Israel has spent its entire existence in war of greater or lesser intensity, and as a result has developed a reputation for excellence in both the technical and operational aspects of armored warfare. At this point, we have a good understanding of Israeli armor in the first half of its existence, including the critical battles of 1967 and 1973. Although Israel emerged victorious in 1973, the cost was very high and the decisive arms of the IDF (armor and air force) were savaged. Much of Israeli developments since then can be seen as a result of the damage inflicted by the Arabs in October 1973.

This book covers the last twenty years, which have been covered only sketchily. During this period, Israel has remained prepared for conventional ground combat, while using armor in low-intensity combat in Lebanon and against the Palestinians. During this period, we have continued to see the characteristic pattern of a few home-grown Israeli systems and the more numerous modernization of foreign vehicles, often beyond recognition.

The book starts with a brief background and then starts with infantry carriers. First the variety of Israeli M113 variants, then all sorts of heavy infantry and engineer vehicles which are a distinctive Israeli specialty. Then the book proceeds to the many variations of the Patton (Magach) and the more recent variants of the Merkava, including the Merkava 4. The information is detailed, considering security considerations.

The layout is excellent, the text is well written and edited, the photographs are good and the color plates by Tony Bryan are outstanding. This book is a winner and a must-buy for anybody interested in the topic.