Freeman Books

I first remember seeing one of Richard Brown's spectacular photographs on he cover of Country Journal, a magazine devoted to celebrating rural life styles that ran a span of several years in the early to late 1980s. Brown's stunning photographic style showcased the day-to-day confluence of ordinary Vermonters living their lives in the rural splendor of the Northeast Kingdom in the far reaches of the lovely "People's Republic Of Vermont". Often Country Journal would feature a number of his photos inside each issue, so one subscribing the magazine began to look for them both on the cover and inside, as well. Indeed, his work was what made me search for the latest issue at the beginning of each month.

Here he stuns us with the majesty of Vermont as it transpires the incredibly beautiful cycle of seasons in a way that only a photographer of such obvious abilities could. Herein he shares many of his favorites, and several of these I have seen before in other venues. The problem with a book filled with such gorgeously shot, developed and produced rural photographs is that one is tempted to carefully extract them for framing on the wall. They are really that terrific! Photographs range from shots of landscapes to silhouettes of a farmhouse steaming against the winter cold, from children walking down a dirt-covered tree lined country road exploding into autumn's extravagance to an elderly gentleman leaning against a barn with his favorite cat.

While gazing at the book, one sits transfixed by the sheer variety of scenes and colors so native to the rural landscapes and personal portraits. Brown shows us all of the changes that transpire in the North country, a place where the changes are so frequent and so momentous that they comprise six seasons, adding both the dreaded mud season of early springtime on the one hand, and the so-called `off-season' after the autumn glory has been swept away, leaving cold bare trees and a hauntingly spare and vacant atmosphere to settle over the region on the other. Listen a few times to folksinger Tom Rush's rendition of "Urge For Going" a few times on the CD player and you will get the idea. Brown's imaginative hand is lovingly apparent in this book, displaying both the soulful visages of local inhabitants and the unique flavor of the haunting ever-changing scenery so typically Vermont. This is a distinctive and memorable recreation of what we love so much about being native new Englanders! Enjoy!

we have visited vermont many times this book captures all the beauty of this spectacular part of the world

This is a heart-rendering novel about four brothers who join the Confederate Army in the War for Southern Independence and only one, Dennis Todd, comes home alive. This novel carefully and painstakingly chronicles what daily life was like for the Confederate foot-soldier. About 95% of the time they were starving, either too hot or too cold and very tired with sore feet (they didn't have decent shoes half the time) and were very ill-equipped. Most of the enlisted men could not read or write and had to rely on officers to do it for them. It made me really appreciate what the Confederate soldiers had to go through to defend their Southland. The end is so sad and I am not going to repeat it here, because I want others to read this book. This would be a great book for re-enactors to study. The only thing I did not like about the story, was that it did not focus on his wife, Mary (Dennis Todd's wife) and what was happening during the war with her and the twins, his sons. I guess, being a woman, I am always interested in the "civilian" side of the war. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the author, Steve Freeman, for sharing this beautiful protrayal of his family's history. I think he did his family's history and the South proud by writing this novel. Thank you for reading this review.

This is a little input from the author: The back matter from the book.
Sacrifice, based on the true story of four South Carolina brothers who enlist in the Confederate Army in 1861. Dennis Todd, a reluctant Rebel, follows his brothers from their quiet farm life into the inferno of battle. He soon finds himself charging with the gray legions through the smoke-filled woods of Tennessee and Georgia during more than three years of relentless struggle in the Army of Tennessee. From Perryville to Franklin and Nashville and the Confederacy's last grasp at survival at Bentonville, Dennis and his brothers experience glorious triumphs, and dismal defeats, the horror of battle, long marches, carefree camp life, and the tragedy of personal loss. Through it all, the war careens to its heartbreaking end as the men come to see themselves as the ultimate price of freedom - the Sacrifice. But, when the war is over, is the worst yet to come?

I hope everybody enjoys the book. Don't let my rating of the book fool you, I'm not that full of myself. But what else can I put? This was my first book. It is probably the best story I will ever have to tell and I hope I did it some justice through my efforts.

Great book for someone just starting to learn about ecology. It is easy to read and broken down into small sections of two or three pages for each topic. If you already have some knowledge of the subject, or have taken a class or two, you may want to find a different book This is for people just starting to learn the subject.

This book is a must for all interested in the environment.Well written, in short two page sections, each section covers one aspect of ecology. Easily understandable, the book would be excellent for teachers, for classroms studying the environment, and for families concerned with global environmental affairs.

I was surprised to see that I was the first customer to review this book. Why wasn't this book a big hit? It reminds me of Frank McCourt. Mr. Freeman creates a fascinating and surprisingly sympathetic cast of characters out of the random, ragged, largely alcoholic and thieving crew of a rundown cargo ship. I could not put this book down and hated to see it end. I hope that someday he will write the story of his second voyage on the ship.

How can one begin to describe the madcap antics of the Allanwell's crew? The book is about an Irishman who seeks a job as a radio/radar operator on a nice clean ship with a respectable crew. He ends up on the Allenwell,
a rusty tub with an appalling half-drunken crew and a crazy Captain, too. The ship is carrying a hold full of Vat 69 whisky
from Britain to the United States. The crew is mesmerized as they watch it being loaded into the hold. You know they are thinking of theft. Is it illegal to break into the hold? Of course. Does that stop the crew from frequent pillaging? Of course not! Poor 'Sparks' (the conservative, quiet, radio operator) narrates the various onboard shenanigans throughout the colorful journey and back. Add bad weather, seasickness,
two cooks with the most appalling kitchen ever to violate a health code ordinance and you have the making of a great read.

Here is part of the crew's 'at sea' Christmas dinner:

The portions were hidden beneath a cow-pat of thick, greasy gravy...the ham parboiled to squelchy disintegration. 'At least there's plum pudding to survive on' said Misery.
Toni came rushing in, bearing a huge ball of blue flame on a platter. Mr. Yardley...from a safe distance, peered at the conflageration that was our Christmas pudding. There was at least an inch of...Vat 69 swashing about on the platter. The captain poured (water) over the flames. The sodden, smoking pudding looked like a cannonball come to rest after its explosive trajectory. "Maybe we'll get a bit of Christmas cake at least", said Misery (not a chance! Toni the server trips and cake goes all over the floor).

And so the voyage goes. When the authorities look into the hold and find almost 1000 bottles of whisky missing they search every inch of the crew's quarters. Happily, the crew had quickly opened the portholes and tossed hundreds of stolen bottles into the Mississippi river long before the FBI arrived. No evidence found!

This is a great read about a very colorful voyage!

If you like salty sea-yarns, and want some laughs, this is the book to buy!

A review by
Spyrenee@aol.com

This was a required textbook for an sedimentary and structures undergrad geology class. The images are black and white, but the book is still useful.

This is a very good, thorough, and informative text that covers all the basics of sedimentology and stratigraphy. It is frequently used as a textbook in such classes, including when I took it at Baylor University. It is easy to understand, well-organized, and very clear.

To the curious minds of today and tomorrow:

This book is an advanced treatment of x-ray diffraction, which should adorn the bookshelves of x-ray diffractionists.

It is a pleasure to see that such a diffraction classic is very affordable, thanks to Dover Publications. It is a "best buy" indeed since it offers a lot of substance for its price.

The uninitiated reader in X-ray diffractometry should approach it with caution, however. It is by no means a textbook.

Those who have a well founded working knowledge in X-ray diffraction, on the other hand, may want to read this book because it elaborates the underlying principles with utmost rigour.

As such, I highly recommend this book.

Cheers,

Dr. E
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Well...this book is definitely a "must have" book on diffraction if you're interested in this field. Dr. Guiner,for those who are not familiar with diffraction, was one of the leading scientist in the field and contributed much to the development of x-ray diffractometry. The book is definitely not for the beginner. However, for someone who has made his/her initial steps into the world of x-ray crystallography, this book might be rewarding to read for it discusses the fundamentals rigorously. The book is very affordable as well, making it a very attractive buy indeed...I highly recommend it.

Freeman Paterson's pictures alone make this book worth buying. I have been a fan of his for quite some time and really enjoyed reading the tales of his travels. Those stories really intensified my appreciation for his work. If you like Freeman Paterson's pictures you will like them even more after reading this book.

I am a photographer on the west coast of Canada. I have been a serious one for about 5 years. My love is in the nature of things. Landscape, seascape, flowers, etc. I have admired Freeman Patterson's exquisit work through the lens of his camera for many years. This book was very calming and gave a real sense of gratitude that we as human beings, especially photographers, are given this presious gift in that we can paint with light! I, in my own work try to convey the feeling to the viewer that of which I felt at the time of creating the image. I was also impressed with his text, as he conveys his down home nature through the way his art is written about and expressed. I can only continue to strive to become as good as he in my own right. It truly is my passion. One does not get tired of nature as she is forever giving us new opportunities to freeze moments in time so that we may portray the art of it all. Shadowlight: A Photographer's Life, as all of Mr. Patters! on's publications, was exceptional. A must have for anyone professional, or amature. Yours truly, Joy Gerow

This little book is packed full of ground breaking information that will open the eyes of the most dedicated dieter. Although this is not a "how to lose 10lbs in two weeks" manual, it gives the reader the latest scientific research reguarding the reasons for weight gain and offers a sane hope for getting off the roller-coaster of failure and success.

The title is extremely misleading - it sounds flippant, cursory and disguises the strengths of this excellent book. The author has the ability to explain groundbreaking scientific information in an understandable fashion and place the information in a context that is valuable to the reader. It changed the way I feel about both my body and my relationship with food in a positive way. Highly recommended - even if you are like me and think you know "everything" about weight control.

I am doing research on the Wiener Filter, and this book is a great introduction. Go get it!

... and teachers of the deaf.

Both Peter Denes and Elliot Pinson were communications scientists at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey. Dr. Denes was Head of the Speech and Communication Research Department; Dr. Pinson was Head of the Computer Systems Research Department.

Very useful material: In its own words, this book is "an explanation of processes involved in spoken communication, from the speaker's production of words, through transmission of sound, to the listener's perception of what has been said. The mechanism of hearing is also described."

Highly recommended for teachers, researchers, students, and workers in this field.

Many of the current books written about the West are by natives of the area that have typically lived on a family farm or ranch. They provide intimate details about working the land and lament the daily changes occurring in what many consider the last, best place to live in the United States.
Freemna-Toole is different. She is a sixth-generation Californian and comes to the last free-flowing stretch of the Snake River in Idaho not knowing the impact it would have on her life.
In lyrical, poignant prose she provides an intimate portrait into her search for her own place in the world. It has a profound effect on her life when she finds it in the new, and old, West. Little did she know that her friendship with the owner of the last homestead ranch on the middle Snake River would lead her to encounter the dilemmas facing both natives and newcomers alike in the West.
Her account of having to re-examine her views on environmentalism in light of rural traditions and values is worthy not only for its sensitivity but for its examination of an issue that is at the heart of one of the monunmental changes taking place in the West.
The unavoidable impact of tourism and recreation growth in a pristime and spectacular landscape is noted along with a recognition that is rarely seen in print from a lover of the area, namely that it may be than such tourism will serve to preserve some of the landscape that otherwise might be sacrificed on the altar of economic development.
I heard such an argument made by river guides on a recent trip down the Grand Canyon. They argued that while increased tourism unquestionably places great stresses on the environment, the same tourists, once exposed to such grandeur, are more likely to oppose proposals to develop, dam or clear cut such treasures. Thus, tourists may be the lesser of evils and easier to contain than the alternatives.
There are also chapters on the author's struggle between leaving her family roots in Los Angeles, with all the guilt and uncertainty that predictably creates, and struggling to understand the almost magical pull of the rural West. She writes about her introduction to traditions and a culture that view private property rights, politics, animal treatment, family loyalties and death in a manner that is radically different than the ones with which she is familiar.
Throughout the book are wonderful scenes and descriptions of her young son's introduction to a rural environment and the impact it has on his life.
The book is an excellent memoir about one woman's journey into an enviroment that is harsh, controversial, spectacular and, for an increasing number of people, the end of a long search for a special place that is as much about spirit as geography. A moving, honest, well-written book.

This book will be of interest to natives of the Northwest, as an outsider assesses what it is about their culture that is worth embracing. It will be interesting to city folk to watch one of their own forsake the freeways and the smog of California for a green and peaceful place. During her ten-year indoctrination into the ways of the West, Freeman-Toole faces physical and emotional hardships with heroism and common sense. A first book by the author.