Coleman Books

Granted no one can live up to Mick Foley, But this is average at best. The Kid comes off as being bitter towards some of his contemporaries in the business. If you are looking for in depth history of his life, this is the wrong place to look. If you want to share in his memories of his career, who he respected in the ring and who he thought was garbage, then this is the book for you.

this book is a great insight to the Dynamite Kid, and a fascinating read!

I have long been a fan of The British Bulldogs, and was eager to collect the original U.K. print of Dyanamite Kid's book, Pure Dynamite. A lot of people claimed the book was very negative, and that Dyanmite was bitter and crippled, and had little respect for anyone who was not a legit "tough guy" like Dyanmite, so I went into this book with a lot of curiosity.

I discovered that the book was FAR from what was rumored. Dynamite's book was as brutally honest as it gets. This is probably one of the best wrestling books I have ever read. Dynamite is very honest about everything from his drug use, to his attitude, likes and dislikes of other wrestlers and promoters, and his penchant for his often destructive ribs.

Dynamite's book comes off as if you were a buddy of his, sitting down in the pub for a few drinks with him, just telling old stories about the business to you, both the good memories and the bad.

To dispel a few myths about Dynamite and his book:

--Dynamite is far from bitter about the circumstances that led to him being confined to a wheelchair. While it is true that he prefers to be remembered as he was, rather than pitied for the way he is, he freely admits, that it's nobody's fault but his own. Between cocaine, steroids, speed and everything else that he did "living life in the fast lane", as he puts it, combined with his very physical ring style, he is very mellow, admitting he misses wrestling and the cameraderie of being in the wrestling business, and has absolutely no hard feelings about the business, because he made good money, and enjoyed entertaining.

--He does not hate Davey Boy Smith, they just fell out of touch with each other. He does admit to be disappointed with Davey Boy on several levels. He feels that Davey Boy was always kind of a kiss ass, and that he was led around by Diana. He felt that Davey abandoned him when he was hurt, never coming to visit him when he was in the hospital, except for a photo opportunity, and that Davey's trademarking of the name "British Bulldog" for himself and not allowing Dynamite to use it later on was wrong because Dynamite used the name before (which a case could be made in terms of use; if Dynamite used it before, and that could be proven, Davey Boy's trademark could be revoked), especially in light of the fact that it was Dynamite who gave Davey Boy his start.

--He doesn't hate everyone who isn't a tough guy, he just prefers working with guys who actually know what they are doing in the ring, tough or not, just so you're a good worker. There are several pebut liked, and vice versa. He was close to Abdullah the Butcher and Cactus Jack, neither of whom are what you would consider "tough guys". If he likes you, you're gold to him, just don't jerk him around.

An excellent and compelling read, one of the best since Foley's first.

Review of Pure Dynamite

Pure Dynamite is an autobiography of Tom `The Dynamite Kid' Billington. From a boy who grew up in Lancaster England to one of the best wrestlers their ever was in the squared circle, Pure Dynamite is a must have for any true wrestling fan.
The book mainly covers the wrestling industry as it was during the late 70's and all thorough out the 80's, all from the point of view of Tom Billington. It gives the reader an awareness of the deception that takes place in the wrestling industry, and whenever one of these events comes up Tom simply say's, "Hey, that's the business I got into".
This book is intended more for a true wrestling fan because it focuses more on Tom's wrestling career in Japan and Canada, rather than the WWF. So unless you have an interest in more than just the soap opera that is the WWF, you should steer clear of Pure Dynamite. Tom writes about the back-stage politics of all the different organizations he has been apart of. He openly lets people know what he thinks of each owner, manager, and wrestler. He had no problem with telling it like it is, whether it was telling everyone about Hulk Hogan's lack of wrestling talent, or about the young Chris Benoit who he could tell was going some where while training with him in the legendary Hart Dungeon. (A.k.a. Stu Hart's basement.
Tom also tells us about his medical problem, as a result of too much "high" flying in the ring. Though he leaves no delusion and openly admits that a lot of his problems are from the drugs: steroids, crack, LSD, etc.... As bad as it sounds, steroids were a necessity for Tom because he was a small guy in a land of giants. The steroids gave him some extra size. He lets everyone know that while he was on top, he lived life in the fast lane, and even after his first seizure, caused by the drugs, when he was 30 he was not ready to give that up.
Tom was always the troublemaker of wrestling. He would play jokes, or ribs as they called them, on all the other wrestlers just to get a good laugh. Even though some people took offence to them and he ended up in some trouble, he kept ribbing on all the other wrestlers.
The book gives is a perfect historical reflection of the old wrestling industry as Tom started out at age 13. Then, when Bruce Hart gave him an invitation to wrestler for his Dad, Stu, in Stampede, in Canada, where he made his debut in North America. AS well it keeps account of his career through out his legendary matches with Satora Sayama (a.k.a. the Original Tiger Mask) in Japan, and finally to the end of his career.
To rank the book, I give it a perfect score. I think that this book is defiantly one of the best I've ever read. It has an extremely interesting story, with an unexpected climax, and it gets points for pure wrestling material. If there was one downfall to the book it would be Tom's English accent comes through in his writing, but in some ways it adds a little bit more of Tom and enhances the reader's perception of Tom's life.

Without the benefit of the multi-million dollar marketing machine of the WWF, Pure Dynamite unfortunately slipped past the radar of a lot of wrestling fans which is definitely unfortunate. Having read most of the wrestling autobiographies of recent years I will attest that Tom "Dynamite Kid" Billington's book is probably the best of the whole bunch (with the possible exception of Mick Foley).

This book is basically the chronological life story of Tom "Dynamite Kid" Billington, believed by MANY to have been the best technical wrestler throughout the 70's and 80's and a wrestling legend throughout Japan, Canada, Europe. He was best known in the U.S. as one half of the British Bulldogs tag team in the 1980s WWF.

Here are the main highlights of the book:

- He describes his childhood and how he broke into the business as a teenager and his beginnings in the British independent scene

- He details his meeting with the Hart family and how he trained further and wrestled for the Harts in the Stampede promotion in Canada

- His journeys into other territories like the Pacific Northwest, tours of Germany and Hawaii

- He details his legendary career in Japan (All Japan and New Japan) and his battles with Tiger Mask

- He talks about his teaming with his cousin Davey Boy Smith (the British Bulldog)

- He details his beginnings and career with Vince McMahon and the WWF

- HIGHLIGHT: He goes into VAST detail about the dangers of the wrestling world and life on the road with drugs (not only steroids) and the numerous risks and pounding his body took with his wrestling "bumps" over the years.

- HIGHLIGHT: He talks about all the "ribs" (pranks) he's pulled over the years with other wrestlers

- HIGHLIGHT: Tons of anecdotes about life on the road with (and his blunt assessments of) all the other wrestlers of his time including notable legends like: Bret Hart, Harley Race, Terry Funk, Antonio Inoki, Giant Baba, Abdullah the Butcher, Dan Spivey and WWF 80s stars like Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Don Muraco, Billy Jack Haynes, Hercules, Nikolai Volkoff, the Iron Sheik, Bob Backlund, the Rougeaus, etc

Overall, this is simply a GREAT collection of the history of the sport and one man's perspective on it over a near 20-year period. Dynamite literally talks about his dealings with the all the big names, including GREAT stories from the road. Aside from that though, more than just about any other book out there, he tells about of the DANGERS of life on the road including the boozing, the drugs, the fighting, etc. He goes into strong detail about how on numerous times he literally lost his life due to problems with steroid and other drug abuse.

Obviously meant for a more mature audience, there's tons of swearing and drug references in here. If you've read all the other wrestler biographies and not this one, DO NOT PASS THIS ONE UP. It is one of the best. If you are interested in learning more about wrestling or becoming a wrestler, this is REQUIRED reading.

Highest Recommendation

Excellent information for parents on how to cope with a difficult family situation. Family estrangements are growing more prevalant today between parents and adult children and Dr. Coleman has been generous with his time by providing an excellent book, website for parents and bringing this problem to the attention of other professionals.

This book has healed the rift between me and my 22 year old daughter. Healed it. I can't thank you enough, Dr. Coleman.

I only gave 3 stars because I have not completed the book. What I have read so far has been good. If the book was available in audio I would have finished it by now.

Simply put- the best parenting book ever. Every parent should read this at least once during their journey as a parent. Different chapters apply to different challenges we face with our children. I wish I had found this book sooner.

Excellent source of information. Recommend to any parent that has or is having problems relating to their children of any age.

Jane Candia Coleman's "Doc Holliday's Woman" is well researched and well written.
Kate's basic story comes from Professor A.W. Bork's research and interviews with Mary Katharine Haroney during the 1930's. Ms. Coleman had access to volumes of notes and interviews. She traveled to Texas to search the archives at Stephens County and Shackleford County, did archive work in New Mexico and actually rode parts of the Western Cattle Trail to get a sense of place.
From the time of her mother's death in 1866 Kate became a lonely figure moving from one tragic affair to another. Episodes with a riverboat captain, St Louis and the convent gave her a background and eventually the name Kate Elder.
As Kate moves west through the bustling cattle towns of Kansas we get a first hand account of the girls and madams that occupied the bawdy houses. Later in Griffin, Texas Kate spends time at Shaughnessy's saloon with Doc Holliday.
Wyatt Earp shows up on the trail of an outlaw. Doc points Wyatt in the right direction and once Wyatt hits the trail Kate gives a glimpse into the future. `Doc and Wyatt; Wyatt and Doc. Two men, each part of the other's destiny, each part of mine.'
During a poker game Doc called Ed Bailey for sneaking a look at the deadwood. The offended Bailey pulled his gun; Doc deflected the shot and planted a knife in Bailey's gut. It was a defensive move on Doc's part but when Ed Bailey died of the wound his pals planned to hang Doc in spite of the circumstances. The sheriff put Doc in protective custody but Kate took things into her own hands and pulled off a dandy escape. Next stop Dodge City, Kansas.
Kate got her man and the two of them spend time in a tumultuous, on again, off again relationship. After spending time in Dodge City and Las Vegas, New Mexico Kate and Doc wind up in a silver mining camp called Tombstone.
1881 was a year of chaos in Tombstone, killings stemming from gambling disputes, a gang of outlaws called cowboys intimidate the citizens, but a botched stagecoach robbery and the killing of Bud Philpot and a passenger got the most attention. Doc was accused of being in on the holdup and hauled into court. A note signed by an inebriated Kate prompted the charge against Doc. However, in court Kate recanted her signed statement and the judge threw out the complaint. Even though the case fell apart Doc felt that he had been betrayed by Kate and wanted nothing more to do with her.
Kate took a stage to Globe, Arizona and went to work in a hotel. Kate tells the rest of the Tombstone saga from a distance, the shootout at the OK Corral, Judge Spicer's Hearing, the shooting of Virgil Earp and the murder of Morgan Earp.
Order a copy, you'll enjoy Kate's story.

Tom Barnes author of "Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone."
"The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle."
"The Goring Collection."

Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone: The Life and Times of John Henry Holliday
The Hurricane Hunters And Lost in the Bermuda Triangle
The Goring Collection

I was absolutely transported to the time and became friends with the people in this book. I don't remember when I've been so thoroughly engrossed in a book as much as this one.

Very disappointed in this novel. So much so I cancelled the pending order for "Allie Earp Remembers". No atmosphere or sense of the times or the terrain. Trite dialogue on the level of a sub-B western. Reading a good historical novel one has to continually remind oneself that it is fiction and not history. Examples are Pete Dexter's "Deadwood" or Robert B. Parker's "Gunman's Rhapsody".

There are books that make you use your imagination about a character than there are books that sit you in the character's boots. And that is this book. The book is written where you can sense and feel what she felt and what it was like to be real. Not to mention a woman immigrant who had to make it on her own.

I have been studying Kate for over a year and this book was a suggested read. A novel? I am not so sure that title fits what to me is more the less a biography.

In my research I have toyed with the idea of following Kate's paths and visting the places she was known to have been, just to prove she was more than Doc Holliday's woman or some prostitute.

Here is a woman who was not a US Citizen and is buried in an Arizona Pioneer Home Cemetery. Thanks Ms. Coleman for bringing to light what a true Pioneer and entreprenaur Kate really was.

And thanks for the awesome read!

I was impressed most by how this story shows that history can be made fascinating by the dramatic genius of a novelist, without taking liberty with the facts, while blowing life into long gone actors and creating full sensory appreciation of their time and place. Author Jane Candia Coleman, has been recognized for her special touch in this respect, with three Heritage Awards from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame (more than any other woman has received) two Spur Awards from Western Writers of America and five Pulitzer nominations, to say nothing of numerous grants for research. Her twenty-two books all disprove the knee jerk presumption that academics are dull writers, since she is a mentor in the MFA in writing program of Carlow University at Pittsburgh, where she co-founded the Women's Writing Program and initiated a unique program called Madwomen in the Attic.

Here novelist Coleman has brought to truly magnificent fruition the earlier work of research that finally revealed to the public the true identity of Doc Holliday's Woman, familiarly known either as Big Nose Kate or Katie Elder. The facts derived from that research not only included Kate's own thumbnail biography, but her letters and recollections of family and friends who knew her.

In 1976, a noted Earp writer and researcher turned his sleuthing genius to Big Nose Kate. His discoveries up till that time and in fact until this day have made available to the public most of the new information uncovered since 1965 about Wyatt Earp and his coterie of associates. Most notably this was the source of all that was new and authentic in the two most recent Earp movies. His trailing of Big Nose Kate started when a college history student asked him if he knew more about Kate than had been published up till that time. Which is to say more than the highly speculative pictures drawn by several pseudo-biographies of Doc Holliday, which contained little about Doc, but a lot about his era. In fact one of them, unaware of even Kate's real name, nonetheless confidently dashed off a few pages of psycho-biography of Kate as an ignorant, bonbon eating strumpet of the variety portrayed in movies by a varied cast of female stars, including Linda Darnell, Jo van Fleet, Faye Dunaway, and Isabella Rosellini with Italian accent intact - bless Hollywood for sterling work here in repairing America's notorious, lamented but uncorrected deficiency in historical knowledge. Pray they don't turn to mathematics in similar sturdy resolve, or future generations will puzzle over the sum of two and two.

The above researcher stuck his neck out and told the curious college student he might show her something they didn't teach in academic history courses. Here serendipity rushed to his rescue and he was actually able to do that. He fortuitously encountered a lead to Dr. Albert William Bork, who as a graduate student at the University of Arizona had attempted Kate's life story due to her request through a mutual friend. She was at that time spending her sunset years in the Arizona Pioneer's Home, where she died in 1940 as Mary Katherine Cummings, and lies at rest today in their cemetery. Other writers had approached her, and as Kate told Bill Bork, "They don't pay so I don't talk." One of them resentfully cooked up the story that never dies about how Kate was fatally shot in Bisbee, Arizona's Brewery Gulch The bullet entered in an unusual physical locale that rendered the location of the wound hard to find. In this vicious canard, the bullet hole is finally located through an examination by Doc Holliday (now a surgeon instead of a dentist). Aside from this lesson in forensic medicine, there was no "fundamental" connection to reality in the fabrication. This was about par for the course regarding what was known about Kate. Wyatt Earp, who knew her, and most likely had done his own youthful examination of her physique, went to the grave mum on the subject. He also didn't know her real name. One wonders if Doc did. If so he never said. In fact he said nothing about her in print.

As a result of finding Dr. Bork, a mutual effort resulted in telling the world for the first time the true identity of Big Nose Kate. The news broke in an article in "Arizona and the West," the Quarterly of the University of Arizona.

Among the more startling revelations - and it is dramatically told in this book - was that Kate, far from being a frontier floozy, had been born into minor Hungarian nobility in the city of Budapest. Moreover, her father had been a physician to Maximilian, and accompanied him on his ill-fated attempt to become Emperor of Mexico. His name was Michael Horony, and he exercised greater discretion than Maximilian and fled Mexico before the collapse of the condemned expedition from which the French army withdrew support. (The close of the American Civil War freed troops to overawe the chicken French Emperor, Napoleon III, and cause him to drop his meddling project in Mexico.)

Michael Horony settled among the numerous Hungarian refuges in the city of Davenport, Iowa. He and his wife died within a year, leaving Kate, age sixteen, and her four siblings as orphans, and county wards. Kate fled her foster home, where her foster father apparently was attempting to examine her physique in a manner that disgusted her. She decamped on a Mississippi River steamer, and disappeared from the pages of history as Mary Katherine Horony, to reappear as Big Nose Kate, feisty consort of Doc Holliday.

If the reader thinks he or she knows exactly, or even approximately, what happened after that they are apt to be much mistaken. This book tells the story as historical fiction that is close to biography and it is indeed a fascinating drama. Of course some of it is speculative, which is a matter accepted artistic license. But not to worry - we may look forward to Hollywood uncovering, as a public service, whatever errors appear. I hope they spell her name right. If this author and the aforementioned researcher, on whose findings much of this book is based, make as much `moola' on a `moom-picher' as he did from the recent two Earp movies (that appropriated his research through piratical surrogates), they won't be able to buy a sack of potato chips with their take.

I note only one disappointed reviewer here, "coming to foretell" the necessary book "that finally tells the full story." Due to my own experiences I conjecture that another aspiring psycho-biographer whose "crystal ball" fantasies were pre-empted by the earlier appearance of this book, will grant an awe-stricken world with that "full story." As is usually the case in these epiphany-books, I predict that Coleman will one day be asked by a puzzled friend if she rewrote this book under a pseudonym and offer to loan her money if she's that badly in need of it.

Rumi is one of my favorite poets but Barks does not do him justice. The translation poorly written so it feels choppy. Furthermore, he changes it so it water down the power of Rumi's poetry. Do not choose this book.

If there is only one book of Rumi you purchase, this should be it. But warning, the purchase may send you into a frenzy to learn and read more.

Barks' works as a translator here make poetry come alive, leap off the page and fly circles around your mind. A single poem can bring a person to great thoughts.

The book begins with a great introduction to Rumi's life, work, culture, spirituality, but Barks also includes some history of Sufi poetry. Then Barks divides the poetry into logical sections. Some involve community, others involve love, some love of God, peace between religions, inner life, work, home, playing... The range of catagories Barks creates represent human life in a wholeistic manner. They make Rumi's poetry easier to grasp, much more enjoyable, and center on the needs of all human beings. Barks also introduces each section (usually no more than a page). Barks' intros are concise, clear, and point toward key ideas in the most notable poems of each section.

This large collection of poetry is worth reading for a lifetime. Not to mention as Robert Bly asked of Barks years ago, Barks follows through in "releasing these translations from their cages."

It would be pointless for me to really try to "review" this book. I can only highly, emphatically recommend it. This book is the first introduction I've had to Rumi, and it's been an incredible literary experience for me. This book has really touched and inspired me. I've been reading it slowly over the last few months, digesting it bit by bit, because I wanted to savor it instead of rushing through it. One day in particular, I remember being in a foul mood, fed up with people and the world, and after reading a handful of Rumi's poems I felt peaceful and transformed. If you have any interest at all in spirituality or poetry, do yourself a favor and buy this book.

I find it absolutely amazing that those who claim to be admirers of Rumi, online reviewers and editorial reviewers, do NOT even know where he was born! Persia, not Afghanistan, was his birthplace. Afghanistan did not even exist until the 19th century, thanks to the British.The land that is now called Afghanistan was part of the Persian Empire and remained so for centuries AFTER Rumi's death (500 years to be exact!). Rumi is a Persian poet, has been and forever will be. His poetry exemplifies pure, eloquent Farsi (language of Persia/Iran). The utter ignorance of this fact on the part of some reviewers, nonetheless, does not detract from the brilliance of the poet and the excellence of this translation. An absolute gem.

Coleman barks translation in my opinion is superior to any others who have attempted Rumi. I really liked this book.

I never knew about this side of American history, and I would suspect that these types of feuds were fairly common during the time period. However, this family-feud seems extremely excessive and horrorific; and there were inner-state complications after the gunfire ended which left feud survivors with extreme anxiety of being carted off across the border to face the gallows. I believe Coleman Hatfield should be honored for bringing this story to light.

This book takes away the old stereotypes of barefoot, bibbed-overhauled, corncob pipe smokin', hayseed idiots who walk with a limp due to climing the rugged mountain terrain. Instead, we get to read about a Civil War confederate soldier who who eventually went AWOL so that he could head back to his West Virginia home along the Tug River. Though a Hatfield and McCoy once fought as comrades in the same troop, they eventually became mortal enemies and through the account there was a Logan County bloodbath.

If I were to pick a book for any of my history buff-buddies, I would certainly choose The Tale of the Devil.

Buy it, own it and cherish it -- then pass it down to the grandkids. This is good history.

I grew up around the tales of Devil Anse Hatfield because Dr. Hatfield happens to be my grandfather as well. They way he told them to me when I used to sit on his lap is exactly as they are portrayed in this book. I was reluctant at first to read it, because his storytelling is so vivd and I didn't think the page would capture that. It has, and I'm proud to see such a meticulously researched account of my ancestors being praised as it should. My grandfather put an infinite amount of work into this account, history buffs enjoy!

I read this hardback book, and I have to candidly admit this biography is great! I love pioneer and American history, and this work vivedly portrays the mountain life of Appalachia in the 1840s through the turn of the century. These Hatfield family members were tough hombres, and the McCoys were hardheaded as well. The thing that makes this a real unusual story for its time is the inter-state rivalry, the WV Hatfields and the KY McCoys. For instance, Cap Hatfield, the son of Devil Anse, spent the rest of his life worried about being deported to the Kentucky side of the Tug River. The time period is expertly displayed through Dr. Hatfield's prose, and the words of Robert Spence. In all, this is a magnificent biography of historical proportions. Although I suppose the chances are slim, I still hope that this work earns literary accolades and a solid place in the library of great American biographies. I recommend this book for everyone who wants to know more about this country and its people.

A collaborative effort of Coleman C. Hatfield and Robert Y. Spence, The Tale of The Devil purports to be a biography of Anderson Hatfield, more commonly known as Devil Anse Hatfield, of Hatfield and McCoy fame, but it's more than that. Assisted by original manuscripts from Coleman A. Hatfield, a grandson of Devil Anse, the authors describe several significant members of the Hatfield family in their changing mileaus.
Not intended as an account of the infamous Appalachian feud, The Tale of The Devil nevertheless describes the issues surrounding the feud from an insider's perspective, admittedly from the vantage point of a Hatfield, yet respectful of the McCoys, and written with an awareness of the existence another point of view.

"Geography explains people." The story goes on, beyond this opening statement in the forward to prove the truth of it, including a description of the geography in which the events will take place, and of the people who lived there, in the area along the Appalachian mountain chain, near the Kentucky border in what is now known as Logan County, West Virginia.

The authors depend heavily upon research conducted by Coleman Alderson Hatfield, the son of William Anderson (Cap) Hatfield, and the eldest surviving grandson of the legendary Devil Anse Hatfield. Coleman A. Hatfield was a lawyer with a photographic memory and a passion for the truth of his heritage, even when it wasn't pretty.

Chapter one begins where you might expect, with the birth of Anse Hatfield in a log cabin on the Straight Fork of Mate Creek, a tributary of the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River which marked the border of western Virginia, now known as West Virginia, and Kentucky.

Then the authors back up briefly, introducing the reader to the lives of Ephraim (Big Eph) and Nancy Hatfield, the Devil's parents, and describing the importance of the land to the people who lived there.

While we know Anse Hatfield as the leader of the Hatfield family during its feud with the McCoys, the Devil would rather have been known for what he enjoyed most, bear hunting. His first bear hunt took place in the fall of 1854, when he was fifteen years of age. Out of bullets, the bear treed, he determined to stick it out. That he did, for two days, until his brother finally found him, and went to get some bullets. Anse Hatfield was to kill many more bear during his long life.

While the book is a biography of the Devil Anse Hatfield, the reader is invited into what is known of the lives of many of the people around him, including the first Ephraim (Eph-of-All) Hatfield, his great-grandfather, who died when Anse was sixteen years old.

A great deal of space is devoted to effectively describing the setting in which the Hatfield family lived, so that the reader can understand decisions that have so often been misinterpreted.

Other Hatfield family members, friends, and allies that you will learn of include Abner Vance, Anse's great-grandfather on his mother's side of the family, who was executed in 1819 for the murder of a man who had taken advantage of his daughter.

Other significant Hatfields appearing in these pages are Anse Hatfield's eldest children, Johnse and Cap Hatfield, both of whom were born during the Civil War. Often described by feud authors as being the meanest of the Hatfields, Cap Hatfield is given a human face by the authors, although not excused for all of his actions.

Cap's older brother, Johnse, was popular with women and had frequent love affairs, including one with Roseanna McCoy, the daughter of Randal McCoy, which many authors have cited as the cause of the Hatfield-McCoy feud. The authors dismiss this theory, pointing out that Johnse's first wife was Nancy McCoy, the daughter of Harmon McCoy.

Around 1870, Anse Hatfield took in a young man by the name of Dan Christian, who became like a brother to Johnse and Cap. During the later feud years, Dan was to save the life of Cap and his stepson, Joseph Glenn.

Readers of this book will learn about James Nighbert and Henry Clay Ragland, both of whom were to have a lot to do with the changing economic landscape of Logan County.

While various authors have traced the beginning of the Hatfield and McCoy feud to the Civil War, and the fact that the Hatfields were mostly in the area of southwestern Virginia, a Confederate state, while the McCoys resided in Kentucky, a Union state, the authors of The Tale of The Devil point out that many of the McCoys fought on the side of the Confederacy, and that Anse Hatfield and Randal McCoy were together involved in the killing of General Bill France, an action that was indirectly connected to the feud only because of events later in the war and by the impact it had on the lives of the two men.

While Randal McCoy was a Confederate, his brother, Asa Harmon McCoy was a northern sympathizer and close friend of General France.

Learning that Asa Harmon McCoy was was seeking revenge against Anse Hatfield for the killing of France, Jim Vance, Anse's uncle on his mother's side, took preventative action, capturing McCoy and, perhaps accidentally, killing him.

The authors cite, as the beginning of the Hatfield-McCoy feud, the week of August 7, 1882, when Ellison Hatfield, Anse's younger brother, was shot in the back and killed by a group which included Tolbert, Pharmer, and Randal McCoy, Jr., the sons of Randal McCoy.

That night, someone took the McCoy brothers across the Tug where they bound them to pawpaw bushes and shot them dead. Devil Anse Hatfield was suspected of the crime, but was never convicted of murdering the McCoys.

And the feud was on. The authors follow its progress, describing the roles played by several other family members, friends, and others.

The book doesn't end with a conclusion to the feud, however. The end, in fact, is gradual and uncertain, while the reader shares in the changing times and politics of Appalachia, the birth and actions of other Hatfields who were to have an impact on their worlds.

The Tale of the Devil includes a mixture of humor, darkness, and insight, told with a sense of reality that can only result from familiarity.

Anyone with an interest in American history will enjoy this book, and those who desire to learn more about a tale of which so much has been written will appreciate learning the truth about the Devil Anse Hatfield.

I guess I am a little partial to rating this book high due to the fact that I am a big fan of the Solaris Games and all the politics that take place on Solaris VII. This book fueled my idea for a Campaign which turned out to be fantastic.

It's been a while since I picked up a BT novel, and now I have I can't put it back down. Set on Solaris you get to see the big conflict being played out in the universe on a much smaller scale... Davionist fighting Steiners, Free Worlders fighting Caps and disgruntled ex-clanners fighting anyone who stands in their crosshairs. An excellent read, and a great place to jump back into the BT universe.

This is a gladiator arena like no other. On solris 7 the games are here. this is the first real solris 7 book and it rocks. But the mechs in this book go outa the arena and on the streets cause theres a war goin around in the gaming world between the fed comm supporters and the lyrans. the battles are great, no time to breath through the whole book. this is an awsome book with mech to mech action like no other. i recomend this book to all.

I though noone could get me to see the planet of Solaris 7 from the arena fighters point of view, but Loren Coleman did just that. This is a killer book and one that is a must read.

Being a great fan of the BattleTech Universe, I was hoping for a book that would grip my imagination enough to prevent me from putting it down. This book does just that. Coleman doesn't simply slap the storyline and facts down for you to plough through, he actually molds the plot and the characters throughout the book. This gives it a whole and rounded feeling. There was only one problem - it was over too quickly! I could have read another 500 pages, but they just weren't there. Bigger book next time, LC?

This novel introduced me to the field of cryptozoology. There is something for everyone in this book. If you enjoy exotic and mysterious creatures or beyond cutting edge technology you will find plenty. It took me a little while, 4 or 5 chapters to get to know and like the title character and begin really pulling for him to be successful. I enjoyed the book and found it hard to put down. It is an excellent book, especially for a first effort from a new author.

I shall begin my brief review with the statement that I enjoy cryptozoology, particularly regarding bigfoot/sasquatch, and feel that anyone with an interest in any of the subject matters of cryptozoology will findd this book a worthy read. Some people will enjoy it far more than others as you can see from the other reviews. For this particular book, I found it interesting but not captivatingly so. The author makes a concerted effort to employ your imagination with the legend of the thunderbirds and tries to get you to suspend your beliefs on secret research organizations.

In the case of the Chimera Foundation, I just wasn't buying the hole setup of it, I found it to be rather James Bond-ish with its secret accesses and gizmos. I felt no real connection with the characters of Ian or Alma but hope that will change with the next book. I did like the neurotic conspiracy theorist Myers and the security head Burroughs. The relationships between Ian, Alma, and Amelia (?) are weak and uninteresting. As for the inclusion of the thunderbirds, that draws enough interest to get me to read the book. With heavy influence from Native American lore, the author does an adequate job of getting you to believe in the thunderbirds and the adventure leading up to their 'discovery'. But to be honest, I only found this book readable, and I probably will not read it again in the future (this being a deciding factor on the 3 out of 5 star rating).

A detriment to the book, which is by no fault the author', is the shoddy job of editing and typos (at least in the copy I have). However, there were various points in the book when I felt that Mr. Tanner was getting a bit long-winded and was dragging out unimportant points or backstory to where I would lose interest and set the book aside for the night. I am truly hoping the next book is more enthralling as this one was just passable for me. As I mentioned earlier, other people will enjoy this book much more than I did and it is worth reading once.

This is a fascinating story with a strong Native American myth storyline. The chapters flow well and keep you wanting to continue with the story. The characters are interesting and the creatures are fully explained as to why they might exist. I am looking forward to reading the second installment in the trilogy.

This series is exciting and entertaining for even the uninformed in cryptozoology.

I read this book over a long weekend and couldn't put it down. This is a good read. It's an exciting story about an under-utilized area of fiction(?). The facts were detailed and obviously well researched. I now know more than I thought there was to know about thunderbirds. I've contacted Mr. Tanner and the minor editing problems he had will be fixed in the edition coming out this spring. I attended his SCCS Conference in November and was impressed with the width and breath of his knowledge. I look forward to his next book about bigfoot.

I have been a student of cryptozoology for over 35 years. My collection of books on this subject by diverse authors is quite extensive. The greatest challenge these writers face is to make what can be a daunting intellectual journey interesting and enjoyable to long time students as well as to those new to the field.

D. L. Tanner has accomplished this in spades with "Shadow of The Thunderbird." In this book he has taken most all of the reliable reports of these creatures from years past and woven them into a novel. Since I have studied this subject in the past it was very nice to have so many disparate facts gathered in one place. Mr. Tanner could have obviously written a dry textbook or doctoral dissertation on this subject, but has done us a far greater service by putting forth his case in this book.

I wholeheartedly recommend this fine work of cryptozoology research to anyone with an interest in the field.

I also recommend it without reservation to anyone who is interested in an interesting and well written adventure novel.

Finally, it is my hope that we see many more good things from Mr. Tanner over the years to come.

Thats all I think of when I read this book. Really fast-paced and engaging, with characters you'll never forget!

love it! this book is loaded with action. u have never seen a battle like this with cappellians. the ending was forced but other than that its great. i recomend this book to all

The mech combat in the book was good, which is the only reason that I didn't give it one star.

After churning thru the pages between combat, I thought "What have I read here? Nothing but filler!" There was hardly any interesting things outside the combat.

And the ending was so rushed, I thought my head was going to spin off. After cruising leasurely throught the story line at about 20mph, it kicks in the boosters and jerks you back awake. The whole story resolved in less then 20 pages.

If only the rest of the book had been that fast paced.

The fights are great, specially the first one with the Hachetman. They show what a mech can really do. The customs, characters and worlds are well developed, but I didn't like two things about the book: 1. Aris Sung fall for every trap put in his way. You know, when you are entering a battle, you have to be prepared for everything, and the Hiritsu warriors were not. A little too naive from their part. 2. Two times in the book, Aris and Terry climbed to the cockpit of an enemy Mech. One time just scared the pilot, the second time the cockpit is destroy by a bomb. Dont you think that is a little too easy? If that was the case, any infantry could destroy mech and then what would be the purpose of those enormoues mahcines? But the rest of the book is great, an easy to follow history, to help you understand what it means to be a Mechwarrior loyal to a honor-bound house.

Aris Sung a warrior of the Cappellan Confederation and a compatriot to his country, is assigned a mission to take a planet that is controlled by the bitter enemies of the Cappelan Confederation, the Sarna Supremacy. In this book you see the ruthless acts committed by both sides in the desperate struggle for the planet. The battle of this novel is not a battle to have ultimate control of the universe or a battle to destroy a entire Successor State but a battle for the resources of the planet, this resource is mainly rice. This is a must read, and depicts the struggles of the Successor States in more realistic terms of politics and economy rather than destiny and history.

I'm so glad that this book exists! All the simple and proven methods of food preservation that any of us can use and all without a freezer or complicated sterilization processes.

What a joy to read about simple and natural methods that not only preserve fruits and vegetables, but that make them taste better and in many cases make them positively gourmet!

Every person should grab a copy of this book whether they grow their own vegetables or not. Imagine being able to purchase fruit in season at reasonable prices, and then take some of it and preserve it for the dark days of winter when it would be prohibitively expensive. Our forefathers (and those great foremothers that did the preserving and came up with the 'recipes')knew to preserve not only the bounty of the summer and fall harvest, but to preserve the nutrition that is stored in the produce.

Vinegar, oil, salt, alcohol, sugar, drying methods too simple to name were all developed so that they (and we!) can eat food fit for the Gods all winter until the spring harvests. Each one of us can make a simple salt and water brine and preserve green beans. Each one of us can string a multitude of fruits and vegetables on strings and dry them for later rehydration in stews, soups, cobblers and pies.

What a book! What simple and flavorful methods! I'm so glad that this collection from the 'Gardeners and Farmers of Terre Vivante' was compiled so that all of us can benefit not only from their expertise, but from the nutrition and flavor that we can capture and hold over from harvest to harvest.

Get this book. Bronze it and pass it on to your children, friends and family. Everyone should know how to preserve food...whether they have bought it or grown it. Invaluable! TEN stars!

GREETINGS:

The rising costs of food and it's transportation by truck is forcing us to grow more veggies, and if you believe in the peak oil crisis, and we have no rail system to back up food truck deviveries,;then this book has great ideas of the past for safe canning, etc.

I ordered this book a bit over a month ago. I received it very promptly and read it front to back the same day. I was totally amazed by the varied methods of preserving- from using root cellaring to fermenting to using salt and oils and even making jams and jellies! This book is teaching me a lot of methods that I remember my grandmother telling me and my cousins about. Up til now they were lost to time as she died when I was young and too little to remember everything she did. The most exciting thing for me is first making sauerkraut and then the dandelion wine recipe. I have already started the wine, and once I bottle it (next week) I'm using my crock to make some kraut. I can't wait. I'm also anxious to try making some jam. I really like the idea of not using high-temperature canning, since I've always thought that it changes the flavor. When I taste before canning, I love the fresh flavor, but after having been canned, its just off somehow. My mom tells me I'm nuts, but we'll see when I try out one of these recipes that doesn't use that method. I'm sure the freshness will come through.

I read some other reviewers saying that the recipes aren't concise enough, not giving exact amounts, etc.. I find this to be a lot of hooey. The recipes are as concise as they need to be. Sometimes you seriously need to use some common sense. Its not too far fetched to see these mothers and grandmothers from the Terre Vivante just adjusting recipes to their own taste. Thats all you need to do when you are questionable about amounts. Adjust them to meet YOUR standards. After all, when all is said and done what they did doesn't matter, it matters what you do and what your tastebuds tell you.

The most useful part of this book, I think is the chart at the back showing the basic and alternate methods of preserving almost every fruit or vegetable I can even think of, and then some. The descriptions of each method at the beginning of each chapter and the introductions at the front of the book are all also very informative. And of course, the descriptions of what to do in the recipes in the farmers' own words, along with who they are and where they're from are priceless. They put me in mind of my grandmothers' recipes. Totally authentic and interesting to me to see how they actually make them. I think anyone who wants to learn about traditional methods should get this book! And maybe a second one too if your as messy in the kitchen as me! I'm sure to need to get another one in the coming years as it'll be like the rest of my favorite recipe books, splattered and spilled on til the recipes are almost unreadable. :o) hehe. -FYI this review by, MRS. S.G. Bewley

I read the previous edition of this book ("Keeping Food Fresh"), then bought this edition for my daughter. All of the methods I have tried from this book have been very good. I appreciate knowing how to preserve food the way people used to (and obviously some still do), without having to destroy so many nutrients through canning. Many of the recipes in here can be adapted to other foods. For example, I took a recipe on pickled onions (lactic acid fermentation), eliminated the spices, and substituted garlic for the onion. I now have a wonderful method of preserving garlic to get that fresh taste all year long. I can also just use the juice. These methods also preserve food for a longer period of time than freezing does.

For the most part, I really like this book. I have lots of ideas that I am dying to try when my garden starts to bear. I have a ceramic-invection cooktop so I am wary of putting a fully loaded 30 quart pressure cooker on top of it.

I would consider purchasing an additional book if you are unfamiliar with food safety and home food preparation. I gathered that the contributors and the authors are aware of these practices, but did not really elaborate on them very much or stress crucial points necessary for food safety, like cross-contamination or not washing the vegetables well. The book does stress the importance of not using chlorine-treated water so it must be filtered in some way to remove it. Don't want to kill the good bacteria, I suppose.

I'm not sure how well these concepts would work if you have a very small kitchen or don't have a keeping room or cellar. Instructions are given for digging out a small keeping area and topping it with a large flat rock you can slide off. I just gathered you need a good work and storage space.

Directions for making drying racks with screen are given. I have heard of using a discarded screen door for large amounts of drying.

I often do not have huge amounts of fruits and vegetables on hand to do massive canning. The amounts here seem to be very manageable, as well as easy to try out the different types of preservation on the same item to see which you prefer.

I didn't quite know what to make of the jelly/sugar section. The blueberry recipe sort of bewildered me as you are to mix fresh blueberries with what is left of last year's blueberry mixture (not pure blueberries). Sorry, but I don't have any of last year's mixture as I just bought the book and I'm not even sure what was in last year's mixture. I assume it contains some sort of fermented starter, like a fermented bread starter.

I was intrigued by the alcohol section, especially the recipes for elderberry and dandelion wines.

Some of the recipes are for basic canning. You have to have hot, sterilized jars. It wasn't mentioned, but when the recipe tells you to place the lids on the jars for a seal, I think the jar still needs to be hot. The overall impression of some of the recipes is that you meander around the kitchen and process when you feel like it. I saw my grandmother do this when she only had enough to fill a few jars and she called it canning, even though she also used a pressure canner.

This is not a literal cookbook to me. This is a collection of recipes from residents in Terre Vivante. Some of the recipes are vague at best, offering no measurements or ratios. Some are more specific, thankfully. As I am unfamiliar with the finished product, I am afraid that I might over or underestimate the amount of herbs or spices. Some of the recipes gave instructions on how to preserve zucchini and other vegetables through drying, but no idea how to use it in a recipe. Do you put it in dry or have to rehydrate it first?

A few of the recipes seemed to be different versions for the same item, so perhaps those could be combined for one functional recipe.

A fine writer! I am reading a whole series written by her. She holds my interest. By the way - the gal knows Texans.

Purchased book for wife. She is a constant reader and this series is one of the best ones she has read. Was a good deal all around.

This is the fourth and final book in the Texas series, which chronicles the life of the wealthy Coleman family. Billie is the main character in the first book of the series and she is again featured in this last book as she nears death. Some of the female members of the family are in bad marriages and the young males seem unsure of their ability to be head of the family fortune. This book often seems formulaic and some situations are forced into the plot rather than coming with the natural flow of what has occurred before. There are loose ends which are too easily tied up and there are some plot lines, such as the airplane that Sawyer is designing, which are left hanging. The earlier characters were much more interesting which is another reason that this book is not as good as the ones that came before. If you are a die-hard fan of the series, read this one by all means, but just don't expect it to be as good as the rest.

I JUST LOVED TEXAS SUNRISE, AND ALL THE TEXAS SERIES. I WAS VERY SORRY WHEN I READ THE LAST BOOK IN THE SERIES. FERN MICHAELS IS A MASTER STORY TELLER. I CANNOT WAIT TO READ THE KENTUCKY SERIES AND THE LAS VEGAS SERIES. THE SAME NAMES COME UP IN ALL THREE TRILOGY'S.

What a stunning conclusion to the Coleman saga. Fern Michaels is so very good at telling her stories. The whole series was such an emotional read. I was so attached to all the characters, but I knew before starting the book that since it all started with Billie, it would likely end with Billie. I had to keep more than a couple kleenex handy.