Frank Books

I don't do needlepoint but used one of the Persian rug charts for a bead knit bag. The charts are big, no small projects here, but they are striking and wonderfully detailed. Really striking color photos.

I couldn't resist this book! I love oriental carpets, but of course they're expensive and require a lot of space. This way I can have the designs I love, in miniature. The rugs he chose are lovely, and the designs easy to follow, plus he provides the color numbers for the yarn if you want to use his colors. (This is particularly nice if you live overseas like I do and need to order the yarn.) I would have liked some hints on how to come up with designs for other rugs, but it's easy to figure out by looking at his designs. The book is obviously for a niche market, but if you like oriental carpets and needlepoint, I doubt there's anything out there quite like this.

This book is a wonderful introduction not just to making miniature rugs in needlepoint, but also to the subject of Oriental rugs. Each of the 24 rugs is well-photographed so that you can appreciate the detail of the original weaver's design. There is also a clear pattern for use in doing your design that will copy clearly, as well as suggested colors to authentically recreate the design. But the author also provides commentary on the history, themes and features in the rugs he included so that the reader also learns something about what makes these rugs repre- sentatives of the cultures of their makers. I really enjoyed this book!

This is the book you've been looking for if you want to make pillows, footstools or "whatever" for a room that would welcome orientals. The reproductions are beautiful, the charts are clear. I just love it!

I adore this book. While I have owned it for a few years, I have only recently begun to create some of the rugs featured in the book. In the interim, I've enjoyed reading the history of the rugs, looking at the beautiful pictures as well as appreciating the complexity of the designs.

Last but not least, I have also been grateful for Frank Cooper's attitude towards the projects. It is apparent that he does not expect you to slavishly follow his charts to the last detail. If you feel like making some color or design changes of your own, then go ahead. He certainly felt free to make changes as he worked the rugs (after charting them) and he tells the reader all about it in each write-up.

Book as described and would be more than happy to order again as service was great.

Usually, scientific reference works are all text and few pictures. "Parrots of the World" take the opposite approach: all pictures and very little text.

I don't think serious biology students would be very happy about this book. However, if you want to impress your friends, it's perfect. Put it on your coffee table, place it prominently on a bookshelf or opposite your parrot cage, for the best effect. If you're really daring, buy a copy for your kids (not the smallest ones) and tell them to make colorful drawings of the parrots in the book. Just don't give it to your pet parrot!

:-)

"Parrots of the World" illustrates all known species of parrot, and many subspecies as well. However, it doesn't illustrate the various mutations bred in captivity. "Only" wild parrots are included (yes, our good friend the rose-ringed parakeet is there, too). There are range maps of each species and short description of their habits and habitat. Some extinct species are also illustrated on the color plates.

I bought the book mostly to flash. But no, I don't regret it. However, those who want a more meaty work on parrots should probably invest in a copy of "Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 4, Sandgrouse to Cuckoos", which also includes a extensive section on parrots.

Did I mention the parakeet?

:-D

A gorgeous book. More usable than the previous edition: physically smaller (still a coffee-table book, but lighter & smaller - binding should hold up now), much more up to date, no more hunting for pictures. Downsides: text refers to color plates but color plates don't refer back to text, and a short bibliography (<100 cites. It does cite the previous edition and Juniper & Parr, each with over 700 cites, but you'd need those to track references). Compared to Juniper & Parr's Parrots: A Guide to Parrots of the World, it's cheaper, more recent and better for phylogeny; but has less information about each species and doesn't cite references for each species. The larger size allows an elegant layout but makes it a poor field guide.

Excellent product, bought mostly for the pictures and for ID-ing birds. Illustrations good and easy to find. Text informative but not intrusive.

This book is very comprehensive and the illustrations are beautiful. I like the illustrations because differences between parrots can be more easily pointed out the using illustrations than by photographs. There are so many different parrots in this book with information about each one.

The dictionary definition of `odyssey' is a `long adventurous journey. This single word aptly describes the immense effort that went into the quest for a deeper understanding of the `workings' of nature and what makes up the range of particles that define our universe.

This book competently describes that journey, outlining the `voyage' into the heart of matter, not only into the atom to study the protons, neutrons and electrons that make up what were once thought to be the ultimate `building blocks' of nature, but then going deeper into the `world' of quarks, which we now know are much more fundamental. These, together with leptons (which include electrons) make up all the particles found in nature.

These particles of ordinary matter, i.e. protons, neutrons and electrons are only part of the story. There are myriads of short lived particles that are seen in mesons or generated in particle colliders such as the super proton synchroton at CERN in Switzerland. To make sense of it all, in the form of the Standard Model, is an achievement beyond compare. The Particle Odyssey describes this achievement in an easy free flowing style, and with beautiful, and magnificently descriptive photographs and illustrations.

The work of delving into, and deciphering the inner workings of nature is a tribute to human ingenuity and inventiveness. If a person would like to get to know the people involved, the machines they used, the results they found, and the conclusions they drew, during this gargantuan task, then look no further than this book.

The Particle Odyssey (2002) by Oxford University Press has few, if any peers: an oversized book (a little under 12 by 9 inches) suitable for display on a coffee table, filled with fascinating photos, and yet one that will appeal not only to the enthusiastic layman but even to undergraduate physics majors.

The Particle Odyssey is an excellent introductory overview of particle physics from the unexpected discoveries in the 1890s of electrons, x-rays, and radioactivity to the meticulously planned, large scale experiments in the mid-1980s that detected the W and Z particles (thereby confirming the Standard Model). Furthermore, the three authors - Frank Close, Michael Marten, and Christine Sutton - offer a lucid, intriguing overview of major challenges now facing particle physicists as they continue to unravel the fine structure of matter, and as they join forces with cosmologists to explore the moment of creation.

Even numbered chapters generally focus on the researchers and their massive machines. Odd numbered chapters describe the subatomic particles. Surprisingly, this unusual even-odd arrangement works quite well.

The Particle Odyssey, despite its abundant photos and diagrams, does require careful reading. The reader encounters neutrinos, muons, pions (pi-zero, pi-plus, pi-minus), kaons (K-zero, K-plus, K-minus), J/PSI, D (D-zero, D-plus), upsilon, lambda, sigma (sigma-zero, sigma-plus, sigma-minus), xi (xi-minus, xi-zero), omega minus, and charmed lambda. And don't forget, there is an antiparticle for every particle. There are also various resonance states for many particles.

The three authors (Close, Marten, and Sutton) published an earlier edition, titled The Particle Explosion, in 1987. This new edition, The Particle Odyssey (2002), has two major advantages: one, the material has been updated to cover the years 1987-2002 and two, the graphics are even better.

Recommendation: For a more technical look at the standard model, Deep Down Things (John Hopkins Press, 2004) by Bruce A. Schumm is quite good.

Rarely does a scientific book achieve the successful balance of well-written content and lavish, relevant illustration. The Particle Odessey sets a new standard for popular scientific books. The historical overview of particle physics tell the stories with tantilizing detail without distraction. The photos generously embellish the storyline and in many cases, are astonishing to say the least. This book deserves prominent display on your bookshelf and would be a great gift to the science buff looking for a great read. One of the best books in popular science available...

I've always been fascinated with the large and small extremes of physics and while on the cosmological scale there's a surplus of visually enchanting material there hasn't been as much when it comes to physics on the particle level. This book fills that demand.
Tracking the advances made in particle physics over the last century, the book includes beatiful images illustrating what the scientists of the time saw and the equipment they used. All of this is clearly and simply explained. The difficulty level of the book increases as it progresses through each new discovery which is to be expected as the underlying physics and detection methods became more complex as well. Still, to someone with an interest in science and will to learn this is a great introduction to a mysterious world.

Can you imagine a coffee table picture book on particle physics?

That's what this is, and it's beautiful.

Particle physics began in the 1890's, when the early experiments of Thomson discovered the electron. Things moved slowly, the proton during the teens's. The newtron and several other particles in the 1930's. And that's basically where physics was when I got my physics degree more years ago than I like to remember.

Then beginning in the late 1960's the world of particle physics exploded. There are more than three dozen known particles. New theories about the formation of the universe have come about. What happened at the big bang, what particles existed in the first few nanoseconds? The development of testing machines undreamed of not so many years ago have begun to answer some of these questions.

The title of this book is well chosen. It has been an odyssey. To the outsider, not working in particle physics, it has been mysterious. Newly discovered particles with names like quark, newly discovered attributes like charm, color, and strange have made it impossible to keep abreast of the developments.

Here in one easy to read, beautifully illustrated and rather short book is the whole story laid out in a way that conveys just what you want to know.

After reading his earlyworks you can see how Chandler used his previous stories and ideas to develop these incredible novels featuring his most famous detective Philip Marlowe.

Chandler is arguably the best detective story writer out there. If you expand this genre to all mystery writers, he would still be one of the best.

Detective stories aren't as common as they once were, but if you look at the offspring of the Pulp magazine once so popular, television, they are still as popular as ever. Chandler was one author who defined what a detective story was. This book contains four novels:The Lady in the Lake, The Little Sister, The Long Goodbye, and Playback. These are wonderfully entertaining stories that contain the archetypical hard-bitten detective, Philip Marlowe. After reading these stories you will forever see Marlowe in every detective story you see or read, from Magnum to the latest TV cop. How can you not love an author who sums up Modern American Capitalism with lines like these? "We make the finest packages in the world, Mr. Marlowe. The stuff inside is mostly junk." Or an author who in the early 50's, (50 years before the current 'Queers Dress Up' shows) so presciently wrote, "The queer is the artistic arbiter of our age, chum." Or his comment on a speech by a politician, "He did not bore us with any facts."
These books are not just riveting, fun reading, but full of thoughtful quotes like the above.

Chandler also is must-reading for his understanding of criminality, venality, human nature, Southern California, Movies, American culture and American relationship dynamics. I hate to use the word "classic" to describe stories that are just so plain fun to read, but I find it hard not to.

This volume also contains a screenplay, Double Indemnity, and a few essays and letters. The essays "The Simple Art of Murder", and "Writers in Hollywood" should be required reading for anyone interested in 20th century culture, movies, and literature. Just a few tidbits more. Chandler on English Mystery Writers - "The English may not always be the best writers in the world, but they are incomparably the best dull writers." Chandler on boredom - "There are no dull subjects, only dull minds." Chandler on critics - "The average critic never recognizes an achievement when it happens. He explains it after it has become respectable."

My only criticism is that the plots are contrived and sometimes complicated. But such criticism is like complaining that the Mona Lisa would be a fine painting if only it were of a different size.

Chandler is simply wonderful, funny, cynical, and yes, - respectable.

First, let me say that there's a separate volume of Chandler's early novels. As much as I liked this volume, I actually enjoyed the earlier novels just a little bit more and suggest starting there. I started reading one story and wound up going through all of them in both volumes in the space of a few months. I also wound up reading and enjoying all the Dashiell Hammett stories, but I give Chandler a slight edge.

I won't try to list all the ways these novels are great and entertaining, but here's one thought that hasn't been mentioned in other reviews. Chandler is excellent at presenting a hero-character who has to worry about money and making a living. Indeed, Chandler makes this issue integral to the character's persona and to the plot line. Yes, the books are escapist in so many ways. Yet, in this respect at least, they are far more realistic than almost all of the fiction, and much of the non-fiction, these days.

This book, contaning Chandlers later works, is perhaps the best collection of Chandler you can find. Sure, does not contain the better-known novels - The Big Sleep and Farewell my Lovely - but it does contain The Long Goodbye, which is not only Chandler's finest, but a great novel by any measure.

Chandler lived a tough, hard-drinking life, and these later works came out of his mind with difficulty. But the quality of The Lady in the Lake and The Long Goodbye (The Little Sister is less memorable) make this collection essential.

In addition, the book contains some essays and letters, including Chandler's writing on the mystery genre, which will interest any budding suspense author.

In short, read this book! Read The Long Goodbye, then read it again. This is not just a great mystery, but it is also great literature.

C-L-A-S-S-I=C HIGH/low notes. These stories are like a deck cards, all aces...... but there are way too few left. I finished "Little Sisters" (GREAT), "Farewell, My Lovely"- is recommended in the other half (earlier edition). The hook is Marlow. In times where many take the easy/cheap way out, I ride hard with Marlow. Marlow does it with style, humor, wit, grit, and nothing less than an all american: get the job done. But in a way that is the opposite his nemesis: the monopolies of power & money. Of course they admire and hate him. But it just doesn't get any better than Chandler. Need an excuse? Then read it for the wrting alone. The best!

I give this to my first level Reiki Students to help take away the mystery of how Reiki got started in the United States and it's source.

This book explains the beginnings and history of Reiki and gives examples of how to use the energy not only for healing the body, but getting rid of old guilts and fears, helping your plants grow, and much more. Such dramatic results have been seen with this method that more and more hospitals in the U.S. are having a Reiki Master on call to help in aiding the healing process of their patients. Even though the symbols are not shown, this book gives the author's tested examples of the results achieved using this universal energy that is available to all of us. I highly recommend this book.

This is an excellent book. I highly recommend it for my students and for other Reiki Practitioners.

Thank you Frank Arjava Petter for being daring and brave to bring the 'real' version of Dr. Usui's Reiki to the west. I had from the beginning a little difficulty to accept everything which was said about the 'grand-masters' and their likes. And in the past very little facts were given about Dr. Usui and mainly in a kind of fairy story tale. Now I can accept Reiki as I believe Reiki should be: free from major money making and available for all people who truly wish to heal themselves, others and the world. God and Reiki bless us all. B. Müller, Reiki Master, South Africa

I have studied Reiki and am a Reiki Master. I give this book to all of my Reiki students because it explains Reiki so simply and well. I especially like that it is informative without giving the impression that only the author's opinion of Reiki is important, and also that it sites Reiki's founder, Dr. Mikao Usui. It is clearly a tool to help one further one's understanding of Reiki.

My grandmother loved River Rising and said it was the "best book".

I am not Cherokee, or even Native American, but I have always felt an affinity with the Cherokee especially. The characters in your book came alive for me and I went on the Trail of Tears just as they did. I felt their sorrow and grief, their joys and triumphs, and felt as if I knew each one. A superbly written book!

I finished reading River Rising just the other day & must let you know how much I enjoyed it. I thank Mr. Stewart for writing this wonderful fiction. Although aware of the tragedy of the "Trail of Tears" I had very little knowledge, if any, of behind the scenes maneuverings, conspiracies, etc., prior to the roundup, during the forced trip and finally the settling in new territory. Fiction can show a human side to suffering where non-fiction only gives facts. I resented each interruption during my reading...as I neared the end I wanted to slow down knowing once I read the last page that was the end of this take as written here...From the heart, all I can say is "Wa-do".

I have to tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed reading "River Rising". Your thorough research was very evident throughout the book. I am proud to own a copy. It is very good reading.

All of the above and more. I found it to be educational and moving. Don't let the number of pages scare you. Large easy to read print. If you like historical fiction, romance, humor, adventure, surprises and just a plain good story this is a must read book. For me, an eye opening account of the truth of the white man's encroachment into a culture, a people and a land. We can't change the past but we can be changed by it. Read and learn.

This book is really exciting to read. I have been trying to find a book on Soviet weapons for a while and came across this book. I must say I was amazed of the amount of content and detail included in this book. The book lists different strategic missiles from the very first ICBM to the latest model that was produced in the Soviet Union. The authors even lists different missile bases and production sites i.e. (closed cities) and warhead depositories, and the nuclear fuel cycle . Even though the Cold War is over I'm wondering if some of the material should still be classified.

This book goes through the early history of the production of missiles, naval fleets, information of strategic aviation sites and production facilites and locations. This book has a section on nuclear tests which lists nuclear explosions. It also describes the decision making process of the strategic nuclear forces in the event of a nuclear war. The chapter that was interesting was the "Strategic Defense" chapter which includes missile and space defense forces, antisatellite and space surveillance the Soviet version of the United States SDI program was interesting. Toward the end of this book includes the present state of Russian strategic forces.

I would recommend this book to anyone that's interested in soviet military thinking and the history of Soviet/Russian weapons systems. A great reference.

This book is interesting in some ways but heavily focused on facilities and process rather than the history of development of some of the critical technologies. A good reference but a bit disappointing.

For most readers interested in Soviet missile development I would recommend Zaloga's The Kremlin's Nuclear Sword: The Rise and Fall of Russia's Strategic Nuclear Forces. Covers some of the early debates on missile development and strategy, with special emphasis on competition between the design bureaus.

Note that both of these books only focuses on Strategic missiles, as their titles certainly acknowledge, so there is little detail on short and intermediate range missiles except for the earliest missiles such as the SS-3 and SS-4. If you are looking for Scud information you won't find it here unless you are looking for the submarine launched version.

Pavel Podvig's Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces was initially available only in Russian, however when it was finally updated and released in English we received the absolute most authoritative and detailed report on the subject available in the civilian sector.

Podvig's effort is to be highly commended, as he has compiled an impressive amount of research, much of it relating to the technical side, though good write-ups and historical overviews are included. From R&D to production and finally deployment, every Soviet/Russian ICBM, SLBM and Strategic Bomber system is discussed in extensive technical detail, including such well researched and hard to find details such as Circular Error Probability of all Russian strategic systems.

The book is a heavy volume containing nearly 700 pages, none of it filler, so you can imagine the sheer amount of information in this volume for anyone interested in attaining a deeper understanding of the subject. Given the price, it really is a no-brainer. Furthermore Pavel Podvig maintains a frequently updated and detailed web site which continually adds newer information, essentially making this a "living research" project on the subject. You can locate his site here:

Seems Amazon edits out any links in reviews, so to try again Podvig's site can be found at russianforces.org

Once again, for the incredibly low price this book is offered at, you have nothing to lose, and a wealth of knowledge to gain.

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Mr. Podvig, aside from being someone who has been won over by his dedication and research to the subject at hand.

Mr. Podvig's book, "Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces," is an excellent unclassified look into the world of Russian/Soviet nuclear weapons. The book covers weapon systems, facilities and nuclear tests since the dawn of their nuclear age. The diagrams and tables are clear and concise.

This book was very helpful in allowing an individual to quickly memorize (or 'compare and contrast') different missile ranges and warhead yields. Very useful if briefing American missile combat crews on potential nuclear threats, or if writing 'peace-nik' papers on the evils of nuclear weapons. Honestly, I don't care what your bent is - if you want to know about nukes, this book needs to be added to your library.

Nuclear forces, like other branches of the military, are divided into two categories: Tactical and strategic. Strategic division of the nuclear forces covers the armaments that have a wider scope of effect. These are the forces that have kept the MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) balance between the superpowers so far. Strategic nuclear forces have air, land and submarine launch capability of nuclear warheads targeted for intercontinental targets.
This book covers every aspect of the Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces from the very beginnings up to post-Soviet restructuring. It covers detailed development phases of strategic bombers, land-based launch platforms and the submarine leg of the nuclear triad. There are detailed data on the organization of the nuclear command, early warning systems and launch protocols. There are also detailed data on the Soviet/Russian nuclear complex and their products. At the end of the book, there is a long list of the nuclear tests undertaken by Russia.
All in all, this book should be read and kept as a reference by all those who want to have a well-balanced look at the Russian Nuclear Strategic Command's capabilities and importance. Readers of this book will appreciate why the latest efforts by the United States for a missile defense system will be highly counter-productive.

Despite being a novice player and owning other excellent end game books, in this book there is much material that is not out of my intellectual reach. It feels like I will be learning from this book for decades to come!! The accuracy and clarity of the text with the numerous diagrams makes the book excellent to even the weaker players. Doubtless this book has even material useful to grandmasters. Enjoy reading it, I do.

Ok, endgame books are mostly raw facts and calculation. Accuracy is more important than writing ability. If you purchased this book, there is no doubt what you expected to take from it.

When I found the first typo on the first page of chapter one I thought I made a bad purchase. I don't care about excuses...poor editing, hard to translate from German, or anything else.

As I continued to read I found the book to be better than I had expected. Once I got used to the codes and symbols, the book was very enjoyable. The exercises were outstanding. They hammered home the critical ideas without wasting your time on exercises that would never occur in an actual game. And yes the book was very accurate. I learned a few new ways to quickly evaluate complex positions. The order of the exercises was perfect. Each exercise built on the previous exercises as they flowed smoothly through the book. You can not spend too much time with a book like this.

After living and playing in Germany for the past two years I am amazed at the strength of German players and their passion for the game. They are absolutely crazy about chess. I find chess everywhere I go in this country. These two authors are a direct reflection of chess in Germany today. I will look for more of their books.

This is a rather difficult book for us, C-players, to follow. The positions have only two types of pieces, Kings and Pawns. In order to win, some Ps must reach the 6th or 7th to demonstrate to us that game is decided. The King- and Pawn-moves are single squares; therefore to achieve this goal the game must take many moves. This makes the variations of many (sometimes dozen of) moves deep. Unless we have the visual ability like the masters or grandmasters do, we need a chessboard or program to follow the moves incrementally. To study and understand these deep analyses, the authors recommend us, average players, to use chessboard and play them through. I think this is good for even masters and GMs. For us, amateurs, with 10 percent of its knowledge we could hold ground fairly against our opponents. I need at least one year or so to go through all the details the book provides.
I just caught three major mistakes that I wrongly believed all these years.
1) Two isolated P's separated by 1 file against a King are an automatic win. Wrong.
2) Two connected passed P's with the rear P blocked by enemy lone P is an automatic win. Wrong.
3) In pawn ending with two P's each, the outside passed P wins always. Wrong.
Above are three of many simple rules I often aim for when reaching the pure P endings.
Diagrams 8.01D, 4.07 and 3.12 from this book debunks my beliefs. What is missing with my simple rules? The King-position. In the pure pawn endings, the K-position is the single most important factor. The list on the Crash Course page is very helpful. There are about 40 different themes. So far I could recognize and understand 3 or 4 of them, but not 100% certainty, unless I have to carefully and quietly study the book.
This book is worth 5 stars. Hope I could use what it offers in real games. At C-class, our games are often over during the middle-games by blunders. The fewer pieces on our endgames are, the stronger (or more equal) are we. Good luck to all.

This book starts with the basic concepts of King and Pawn against King, gives a thorough tour of the situations arising with progressively more pawns, and ends with general advice about finding plans in complicated situations. The whole exposition is given in clear, logical prose supported by valuable and well-diagrammed game analyses and exercises. The authors do not shirk giving clear explanations of the basics, while there is enough advanced material to give food for thought, I suspect, to much stronger players. In short I was delighted with this book, and strongly recommend it.

I'm a class C player interested in seriously improving my game. My first endgame book was by Yasser Seirawan, Winning Chess Endings. I didn't really get enough out of the book's section on pawn endings. Due to this I decided to purchase this boook and I was amazed at what I could learn and how quickly. I believe this is the easiest to understand book on any aspect of chess theory I have ever read.

To get the most out of this book I highly recommend playing through the positions against a strong chess engine (Fritz, for example). Evaluate the test positions in your head and if you get any incorrect play through the positions against the engine.

I rarely reach endgames in my play, but I'm sure that I am able to correctly evaluate if I should trade off into an ending or not when I am faced with the choice.

This book had me laughing and crying in the first read. It was so captivating. From a young boy to a man with a heart warming love story in between. You'll love the guidance from the wise Indian grandfather. Though I am not really into war stories, I am still glad I read it to know what happened over in Vietnam. I am telling everyone that will listen to read this book. This book goes on my bookshelf to be read again with my other favorites such as Gone with the Wind, Embraced by the light and Bridges of Madison County.

Montana at its best and Vietnam at its worst. A great read for those who want to know what really went on over there. My wife loved the book as much as I did, we've read it twice now. Rather haunting, to say the least.

Mr. Hadley is a wonderful author.. he has brought forth so many different aspects of the Vietnam War and how people tried to cope.. this is a wonderful book for those that served and for those that don't know much or anything about the war. I found myself getting caught up in the story and amazed at how it affected me. Mr. Hadley is a wonderul person, I met him, and he is so kind and caring and I am completely empressed with his novel and ability to bring out the "hidden" part of this War so many were affected by and so many try to forget. Congratulations Mr. Hadley!!!!!

This is a great book that's hard to put down. It has all the elements to keep an audience interested thru to the end. Normally, my wife and I have different tastes when it comes to books but, we both enjoyed this one. This book will go up on my read again shelf....

I couldn't put the book down. Im normally a slow reader and it takes me a while to read a book. This one I finished extremly fast. Everytime I wanted to put it down I couldn't stop thinking of what was going to happen next. GREAT BOOK...READ IT!

Frank Hurley's book is a mastepiece of photographic art. Having read many Antarctic books already, particularly "South" the story of the endurance expedition, I devoured this book to see the whole story in detail.

The book is a work of technical genius and without artistic equal among work of that era, particularly when you realise what awful conditions he worked under.

The notes accompanying the pictures relate the epic tale in only slightly less detail than the South book, but you still fully appreciate the efforts which went into it's production.

Other members of the crew could have been more resentful of Hurley, due to the time he spent in his darkroon (he was not part of the ship's crew, therefore was not obliged to stand watch) and shooting film. Instead they regarded him with great respect, especially the numerous occasions he risked his life for the best shots. The true measure of the respect he engendered from the crew is the book itself. When the ship went down and the crew faced an uncertain future, all personal possesions bar a few photos and each man's personal journal were lost. Shackleton still insisted that many heavy glass plates be preserved dragged across the ice and sailed to South Georgia via Elephant Island. Still more were smashed by Hurley, once prints were taken (see "Green Collection" in Scott Polar research Library Cambridge UK) as he could not bear them to be left behind.

This book would form an essential addition to any Antarctic library. The faces all became attached to the names I already knew so well, seeing them at the start of the voyage then lost and forlorn next to the upturned boat on Elephant Island tells it's own harrowing story.
This bleak tale is uplifted by the magnificent images, which match the joy felt by all when Shackleton, "The Boss", returned to collect them safe and well. Even as a first foray into Antarctic literature.
(NB earlier reviewer incorrectly stated that Shackleton went back to UK after South Georgia returning to rescue the crew from Elephant Island. In fact He could not rest knowing the men expected his return and after only a few days rest, when his crew from the "James Caird" were ill in bed he took a whaler and eventually got the men safely off the Island several weeks later, after two unsuccessful attempts.)

I found this book to be a wonderful companion to "Endurance" by Alfred Lansing. It includes plenty of material about the Endurance expedition as well as all of the surviving photgraphs of the expedition taken by Frank Hurley. The photographs are excellent (including a few taken in color), and we find out plenty about what equipment Hurley used at the time.

Not only are the photos impressive in their own right, they are also very informative about how the Antarctic looks and what life in that region can be like.

I like this book very much and I'm happy to recommend it to everyone.

This is the most defenitive retelling of Shackleton's adventure in pictures. Frank Hurley was an exceptional photographer who just happened to take pictures of a journey that without them would be simply unbelievable. Any Hurley's picture of the Endurance expedition is a treasure, and in this book are all of them!

I was fortunate that I could follow Shakelton on T.V. while reading and viewing these excellent pictures. This book is outstanding and I would urge anyone interested in either Shakelton or photography to get it. I could not help but think that every member of this expedition had story to tell. We have heard only a few. Amazing the limits of human endurance and to think that they had a photographer with them who realized what he was filming, and did so for all of us to see.To Hurley was far ahead of his time, and I am inclined to think that Ansel Adams had probably learned from Mr. Hurley.

This mammoth book is the definitive pictorial account of the voyage of Ernest Shackleton and the crew of the 'Endurance', on their death defying journey to Antarctica between 1914 and 1917 as told through the camera lens of master photographer Frank Hurley. The book is approximately twelve inches square, and can easily be mistaken for a (very large and heavy) coffee table book from afar. Once it is opened, though, it is obvious that this in no trifling work. It contains background and narrative on Shackleton and the expedition and all of the surviving Hurley photographs (almost 500 of them total) and in scope is the most complete and amazing account of the expedition I have ever seen.

The text is enlightening and wonderful, but the photographs are the unmistakable stars of the book. Hurley was taken along to document the expedition, and document it he did, despite the fact that it turned out completely differently than any of the men would have ever wanted or imagined. The photographs range from breathtakingly beautiful pictures of water and ice, to fascinating character studies, particularly of life aboard the ship, to poignant photos that are impossible to view without being choked up, of which I place the photos of the dogs and cat at the top, realizing that all the animals, their most faithful of friends, were ultimately killed on Shackleton's orders to conserve food (many of the dogs were eaten.) It is truly fortunate that Hurley was along to document the voyage; mere words alone could never do justice to one of the greatest survival stories ever told, and certainly the most harrowing that I can imagine.

The book is a timeless masterpiece and belongs on the bookshelf of anyone with an interest in the Antarctic, polar exploration, or man's ability to endure untold hardships yet emerge victorious over the elements.