G Books

This book is truly inspiring. When I was younger my brother Eric (who is mentioned in the book) was diagnosed with a brain tumor and later passed away. This book helped me understand what cancer did to him. This book helped me cope with the loss of my brother! This book also helped me cope with the loss of the other children mentioned in this book! Thank you very much Mara for writing this book & helping me get through this! I highly recommend anyone who has lost a loved one to cancer to read this book!

Mara expresses the same hurts, disappointments, fears, and anger that the rest of the world does when their world is ripped apart, but she tempers it with her knowledge of God's word and His neverending mercy and compassion. She is able to continue to live and give when the rest of the world might give up..... Truly inspirational!

I am probably a biased reviewer knowing the Alexander-Azlin family for about 4 years, but this book is very emotionally moving. I was teary eyed at some points, which should say a lot about the book coming from a guy who usually is an emotionless stone. I am a slow reader and usually it takes me three months to read a book, I read this 500+ page book in just over a week. You will not regret buying this book.

This book was hard to put down. Make sure you have the laundry done and the phone turned off to read this awesome book because once you start reading you won't want to stop! This tragic story of a normal American family's fight against cancer holds on to one thought from beginning to end - God will never abandon us nor stop loving us - ever! Mara's outstanding book includes her inner dialogue along with diary entries that enlighten the reader into feeling they are there with her every step of the way - the highs and the lows; the good and the bad days. This book is beautifully written and an inspiration - filled with information on the National Bone Marrow Donor Foundation as well as an account of the modern day heroes and heroines that pulled together in a time of tragedy.

When you pick up this book, you'll have a hard time putting it down. Mara is an inspirational woman and after you read her story, you will feel like you can get through anything as she has. Although it is a heartbreaking story when you finish you will have an uplifting feeling and believe as she does that God is always there for us no matter what happens to us.

I have shot a bare bow nearly all my life. When I finally decided to buy a new bow with all the accessories, I wasn't sure where to start and how to use all the new stuff. This book was excellent in helping me become familiar with my new bow. The pictures are great and the text very educational. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn or re-learn about the bow and arrow.

This book is great for highlighting many aspects of archery and providing information that is useful for a beginner and experienced archer. It is a nice text that compiles information that would be useful to have as a reference. There are tuning methods, suggestions for shooting form, tips on how to fix your bow and add accessories. A very solid book with plenty of pictures for any archery fan.

I very much enjoyed this book. It was a great refresher since I haven't shot a bow in quite a few years. It also had lots of great information I didn't know, such as paper tuning, in depth information on arrows and arrow selection. I highly recommend this book.

i cant say i have any bow hunting skill whatsoever but this book has taught my what to look for in equipment and to practice my posture. i recomend this for people looking for a vague idea on equipment to buy, but not for the specifics.

EVERYTHING you always wanted to know about Bow Hunting but were too intimidated to ask. Being a woman just picking up the sport of bow hunting at age 37 I would walk into sporting goods and archery stores and be overwhelmed by the amount of information I needed to know before I ever purchased a bow. This book helped me know what equipment I needed and what equipment was just smoke and mirrors. It also prepared me for "target panic" and explained in detail about every other facet that I could have ever thought of and even some I didn't consider. Great for anyone just picking up the sport.

You can hear the creak of the rigging and smell the gunpowder in this time machine of a novel that takes you back to the War of 1812. Wallace makes you understand what an important time in American history it was, and brings you near with a love story that could break your heart. Its people and times come clear in Wallace's knowledgeable descriptions of love and loss--and an important victory--in this 19th century tale.

Willis Holm, NYC

Here is a story of history, romance, suspense, and exciting battle scenes from the War of 1812. The reader is presented with a novel that is hard to put down.

Jonathan Coyne and the love of his life Liz Wade provide the reader with a humanistic love story of separation, loneliness, but never-failing love for each other. Phil Wallace ranks with many fine authors whose books I have read, including DeMille, Wood,Patterson, Sheldon and Grisham.

Mr Wallace has combined touching romance and swashbuckling adventure with page-turning intense momentum, and done it all in a highly accurate historical setting. A fast read but very memorable.

As a sailor myself, I appreciated Mr. Wallace's expert handling of the sea scenes and work on board ship in his "Call of the Sea." The storyline was engrossing and historically interesting and the protagonist was a person you would really like to meet--I found myself pulling for him and for the eventual reunion with his fair lady. A good read.

The answer is unequivocally "indeed!" It is an easy read by an apparent Renaissance Man (read the bio). He has created a fascinating high-seas drama with a strong love interest. Fiction and actual history work especially well together as Washington burns and Baltimore is besieged during the War of 1812. The book is not just for lovers of sailing, the sea and naval history although it will appeal to them especially. It is for lovers of adventure, romance and the drama of life in general. Like Merrill Streep in my favorite movie, Out of Africa, Phil Wallace simply knows how to tell a good story. You will be engaged, engrossed, enchanted and entertained. Do NOT miss this one!

I was only recently introduced to Harry Crews, but this memoir should be required prior to reading any of his compelling fiction. One does not need to know about Mr. Crews to enjoy his fiction, but to read this book first is to build an affinity for the author. His memories of southern Georgia during the great depression and war years are the most accurate in tone of any non-fiction that has come out of the South. He has been linked to Flannery O'Connor, but to me he seems to be a more existential William Faulkner.

Although this book is not a typical work by the literate master of the hard South, it is a testament to his talent. This book made me see and feel the life of a 6 year old dirt farmer in Bacon Co, Georgia, and also give some insight into the basis of characters in Crews' fictional works. This is one of the best quasi-memoirs ever written, and even has a slight belief in human goodness not seen in his other work. Mr. Crews' more typical works (such as Feast of Snakes or All We Need of Hell) are very good novels in their own right, yet Childhood stands apart and above all of his other books combined. If you read nothing else by Harry Crews (which is not a good idea--you should read many of his books), this is the one to choose.

I would suggest this book to anyone who has ever read anything published by Harry Crews; specifically to those who haven't read anything by him, but who are interested in this magnificent author. After reading it, I found myself wondering how Crews was able to escape childhood, much less become of the the greatest Southern authors since Faulkner. Truly a fantastic book that will stand the test of time and inevitably cast Crews as one of the greatest authors of the 20th century!

Several associations, as I was born in Bacon County in the unincorporated community of ScuffleTown.I have never written A review of a book before. I really enjoyed the book because of all the associations of the area of my birth. My qeestion in my review would be. "How does one get from Bacon County to becoming A Professor at the UF?"

I was assigned this book in a tutorial class on the "mind of the south" by a professor during my senior year of college. I was immediately drawn to the author's experiences with tenant farming; being the son of a mother whose own father was a farmer that oversaw several tenents to his own farming operation prior to, and shortly after WWII. Crew's accurate depection of tenant farmer life was valididated, to this reader at least, by his portrayal of an agricultural system that was difficult to not only rural agricultural African Americans, but their white supervisors. Crews has done a wonderful job of incorporating the distinctly southern phrases and dialogue of the rural, agrarian south. I though my own mother was the only person who pronounced "hurricane" as "harrakin". Charachters such as Willalee Bookatee and his family were strikingly similar to those poor blacks, and whites, described in my mother's stories of working in the tobacco fields of rural NC. This book will shed some much needed light on the fact that the hard-core, rural south is not so far removed from the remodeled "New South".

I had read several of Alistair Maclean's novels, and had an 8 year break when I got a hold of this. This novel is a prime exhibit of why I enjoy him so much. A mystery, revealing tid-bits here and there, leaving you guessing who the good guys are and who are the bad guys.

If you want to be on the edge of your seat for a while, this book will do it.

To recommand for all readers to buy, read, and re-read for n number of times. fantastic book

There are lots of surprising twists in this story including a final surprise in the last sentence. MacLean did a very good job when he wrote this book.

I'm not a fan of the circus and I hate clowns. Being a MacLean fan, but with my current mentality, I figured he had finally run out of ideas (at this point in his life). But the cover of the 1975 Fawcett Crest edition (see "customer images" for the paperback edition) was intriguing: a man falling off a high-wire, the bicycle tumbling after him. Is someone killing off circus people? I had to read.

It turns out that the circus plays as a backdrop for a secret CIA mission. Believe it or not, but the agenda in this tale is about an incredible circus performer recruited by the CIA to break into a prison (that the circus "moves" next to) to steal -- as the back of the book explains -- "a formula capable of annihilating the earth itself." Sure enough, MacLean was like the Crichton of the 70s and managed to weave an entertaining yarn around the idea of anti-matter (certainly not new in 1975).

MacLean refrains from delving too deeply into describing anti-matter or how this formula will end up being used. His somewhat amusing approach to it takes place as a discussion between semi-ignorant CIA agents and Bruno, the acquired circus performer, all of whom are frightened by the power of anti-particles.

As the title may suggest, the book is a slight deviant from other MacLean adventure tales, but I rank it up there among his best works. The book is full of extremely original death scenes that, despite being accustomed to MacLean's formulas, took me completely by surprise. There are more twists in the last chapter than there are in some of his better books, and MacLean pulls it off realistically, and without creating a convoluted mess.

Keep an eye out for Carter. While no first name is ever given, he is the doppelganger cameo of Chief Officer John Carter of MacLean's "The Golden Rendezvous." (MacLean has done this with other characters throughout his novels.)

Another great MacLean classic. In this book the hero is an American athlete, an immigrant from eastern Europe. He is recruited by the CIA and is to undertake and unimaginable mission. He, of course, succeeds, but not without the extreme difficulties that macLean's heroes always face. The story twists are awesome and the ending is both expected and surprising. A great read.

From toddler-hood, my father was enthralled with everything that involved flying and aviation, and despite the depression and financial difficulties of the day, my grandfather granted his son one of the greatest gifts of his life by taking him to the Cleveland Air Races. He's never forgotten it, and it remains one of his strongest memories - so much so that he speaks of it again and again, even now at nearly 80 years of age. Well, my father did become a pilot, owned several planes and continues to be an aviation fanatic. This book, with its fabulous historic photos, brings back the experience for him. I'd like to have seen a bit more textual background, in addition to the wonderful photos, but I feel this book is a must for anyone who ever enjoyed that big buzz at Burke Lakefront Airport.

From the poignant photo on the frontispiece to the last page, a superb collection of pictures accompanied by an illuminating and focused text makes for an outstanding presentation.

Thomas G. Matowitz, Sr., a Proud Pop

Thomas Matowitz's book explores the historic Cleveland Air Races from a new perspective. The books gives a wonderful overview of the race locale and setting in the Cleveland area. Many books already describe the aircraft and pilots that participated in this famous race, but this books goes further to tell the history of the airport, the controversies and the early development of air racing in the United States. Cleveland is the birthplace of American air racing competition that continues today at the Reno National Air Races.

Inbetween the two world wars the development of aviation was proceeding at an extremely rapid pace. Both engines and airframes were improving very fast. One of the driving forces was the various air races. To win the Schneider Trophy was the goal of the plane that became the Spitfire.

One of the big time air races was held at what was then the world's largest airport, the Cleveland Municipal Airport. From 1929 to 1949 the world's fastest planes came to Cleveland every Labor day.

In order to make their planes ever faster all kinds of improvements were made in their design. Here retractable landing gear was proven to make planes faster. The photographs show the development start with the first bi-plane racers. Here new planes were flown in to be shown to the world: the brand new DC-2; the radial engined Curtis P-36, soon to be re-engined with an Allison V-12 and become the P-40; the brand new Douglas B-18, scheduled to become the main bomber of the Air Corp; and its replacement the Y1B-17; Seversky P-35s, which with a company name change and a few modifications became the Republic P-47; Grumman F3F-2 fighters, the last biplane flown by the Navy and Marines. And later on, Corsairs and P-51s; and the shape of things to come, the P-80.

This is a remarkable collection of photographs, some of which are said to have never been published before. It's an awesome collection of a couple of hundred pictures.

Tom Matowitz Jr.'s latest regional effort is another stunner for Ohioians familiar with his work. As a former employee of a Cleveland-area library, it has always been great to read Matowitz's various regional magazine and book efforts and this one is among his best.
In fact Matowitz's new book has national appeal as it delves into the fascinating minute of the famous Cleveland National Air Races of the 30's and 40's. This author/pilot has scared up important photographic documentation of this aviation pinnacle and has written some of the most well-researched and humane copy and cut lines I seen in quite a spell. Matowitz is a name Ohioians, and others, will hear again. A must for aviation fans of all stripes.

In the preface the authors thank those who inspired them and the writing of this text, we thank Yarnell, Abascal and Hooper for bringing this body of knowledge to us. This work has been an in-depth resource in our practices of clinical aromatherapy and dentistry. A wealth of botanical information including specific conditions, their prevention and treatment with botanicals; the text is well-referenced, indexed and has useful appendices. We higly recommend this be used by healthcare practioners interested in the use of botanical medicine and read by anyone interested in natural pathways for health and healing.

At last an herb book that is rational, well-documented, and based on true clinical experience. While there are many books on botanical medicine available, this volume is truly informed; the book is written by accomplished clinicians and not researchers who write from literature searches, without true clinical experience as a foundation. Yarnell, a Naturopathic physician and Abascal, a Registered Clinical Herbalist, discuss herbs and clinical treatment plans in their full complexity and do not simplify their approach as is so common in today's herb books. Additionally, because Hooper the editor, is a medical doctor, the truly holistic approach that shines through in this book, provides further credibility to Yarnell's and Abascal's work. While the empirical observations of clinical experience are paramount in this volume, Yarnell and Abascal also support their approach with the available research. Perhaps this is why the American Botanical Council has sourced this book for its online database.
Another positive for the book is that besides the same old tired herbs that everyone is talking about in natural food stores, the lesser known herbs that competently trained clinicians are actually using are also covered. This provides a wider range of options for clinical work and offers clinical insights into Anemopsis (Yerba Mamsa), Bupleurum, and Opuntia (Prickly Pear), and other lesser known herbs.
There is also a toxicology section that covers such herbs as Lobelia inflata, Artemesia absinthium (wormwood), Piper methysticum (kava) and the pyrolizidine containing herbs such as Symphytum officinalis (comfrey). The relative toxicity (or lack thereof) besides the political issues of such herbs are discussed. This is a unique addition to modern books on botanical medicines.
Clinical Botanical Medicines with its four parts;
I Treatment or Prevention of Specific Disorders
II Special Formulas
III Specific Herbal Medicines
IV Issues in Botanical Medicine
targets the medical professional seeking a practical but researched-based approach to using herbal medicines.

This is a wonderful, serious book. The text respects the history of herbal medicine, yet provides peer reviewed literature references for the statments made. The chapters cover important topics, such as hypertension, various cancers, and addiction. I look forward to other work from these authors that would address difficult topics such as the treatment of insomnia, neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer's, and heart disease.

The authors of this book are carrying on the traditions of received from their teachers, some of the great scholars of herbal medicine; Michael Moore, Silena Heron, and James Duke.

This is a treasured new resource for me. When I want some practical advice on herbal remedies, and not the same old echoes, this is my favorite. It is as the title implies, a great source book on herbal medicine for the clinician. And it doesn't shy away from specific dosing details. There are lots of interesting new herbal suggestions here. I'll be citing it frequently, in my teaching and writing. Jim Duke, retired USDA medical botanist.

There have been more books written on botanical medicine than any other subject, including religion. These books run the full spectrum of usefulness, approach, and accuracy. As a clinical herbalist and passionate student of botanical medicine, I have found this book to certainly rank within the top three. It is very easy to spend arm loads of money when studing and researching herbs while attempting to sorce solid/practical knowledge which will ally with clinicians and students alike. The key to saving money is to target the most well deserved educational tools. This book is a finely cut gem that is put forth by authors who really know their stuff. It looms together a blend of the traditional and scientific aspects of medicine. Truly a post mark book for the continually emerging sophistication of Naturopathy. This clearly written source can be of value to students, teachers, and practitioners who are involved with botanical medicine.

This book does a great job at providing information for clinicians by clinicians! Being a student of botanical medicine I also found the reccommendations of some quality educational programs in the Appendix useful. I have found this book to be stimulating and inspiring.

In short, if you are interested in botanical medicine, it is in your best interests to make an effort in obtaining this awesome book.

Herbaceously,
Gabriel Maroney

Chesterton's genius is unquestionable - not because of the topic(s), but because his' logic is irrefutable.

This volume contains essays revolving around GK's conversion to Catholicism. As always, GK is illuminating and entertaining--several parts of these essays had me laughing out loud. GK has a marvelous talent for utterly dismantling an argument, an attitude, or a belief, while remaining so good natured about it that even his intellectual enemies must have liked him at least a little. Here, he mainly takes on Protestantism, modernism, secularism, Liberalism, and several other "isms" of the day that challenged the Catholic Church--some of which at one time or another had even attracted GK himself. In the end, he makes as convincing an argument for Catholicism that anyone could make. In the process, he throws much light on many political and social trends that were just gearing up in the 1920's, like birth control, divorce, moral relativism and secular humanism. GK offers grave predictions for these insufficient ideas, many of which sadly have come true beyond probably even his imagination.

Well worth the price to have ,The Catholic Church & Conversion,The Well And the Shallows & The Thing: Why I am a Catholic,all in one volume. Chesterton's writings on the Catholic faith was one of the reasons I came back to the Church.With common sense,humour & erudition Chesterton will convince you of the Truth of the Catholic Faith. Chesterton like all prophetic writers speaks to our time as much as his own.

G.K. Chesterton has "disturbed" this reviewer again. This reviewer has read Chesterton's books with the view of critisizing his books and ideas. Yet, each time this reviewer has found Chesterton's books a joy to read and "food for thought." Volume III of Chesterton's works is yet another book that thoughtful people should enjoy.

One of the arguments that Chesterton uses in these essays is that Catholic ideas and tradition have lasted while "modern" fads have quickly become dated. One of the agruments that Chesterton uses against Puritanism is that in the early 20th. century, Puritanism was something that no reasonable person would touch with "a barge pole." One of Chesterton's theses in this book is that while Catholcism has remained consistent for 2,000 years, Protestantism has become passe and has changed into meaningless modernism.

Chesterton has an interesting comment on page 280. To paraphrase part of this page, Chesterton remarks that modern Protestantism has replaced predestination with suggestion. The Catholic theologians have defended the Faith (The Catholic Faith) with reason. Along these lines, Chesterton effectively argues that Catholic authorities and theologians helf the beliefs of the Faith in a careful balence. The Protestants and modern agnostics have distorted both their own ideas and concepts by exaggerating parts of religion at the expense of everything else. This has led to distortion.

Chesterton gives reasons for his conversion to Catholicism. He proceeds to explain why other ideas and religious views were not reasonable. He also explains the distortions historians have made regarding the Faith. Chesterton's own intellectual curiousity led him to the Faith which he viewed as more sane and more reasonable.

Chesteron demonstrates historical insight in this volume. This reviewer gets the impression that Chesterton is holding something in reserve in making his historical arguments. He may have been inviting his critics to question his historical knowledge whereby he would give the historical details and knowledge. Readers should note that Chesterton was very knowledable of history.

Another interesting aspect of this book is Chesterton's concern over distoritions of language. He comments that some of the moderns were demanding a universal language and that they got was "journalistic jibberish." Chesterton remarks that Europeans had a universal language-Latin. Chesterton remarks that Latin was a precise language which had been neglected in favor of bad thinking and poor writing.

Chesterton did not engage in ad hominem arguements and was usually generous to his critics. He did not object to comments about his size and appearance. He could laugh at himself. Yet, he offer fierce cefesne of truth and honesty when they were attacked.

Volume III of Chesteron's works is well worth reading. As this reviewer wrote before, some may consider me as skeptic. However, Chesterton's writing, knowledge and reason is enough to make anyone pay attention and read his books to learn and to understand clear thinking.

This particular volume in Ignatius Press' collected Chesterton series pulls together his specifically Catholic books. Widely read in his own time, they were later praised by Hillaire Belloc and other writers during the Catholic revival in Britain. Yet they are little read in our time. One reason is that Chesterton converted fourteen years after writing his masterpiece, Orthodoxy, in 1908, and the current Chesterton revival is fueled largely by his novels.

My introduction to these books came in the brief overviews in Dale Ahlquist's G.K. Chesterton: Apostle of Common Sense, which whetted my appetite to read them. One in particular stood out: "The Catholic Church and Conversion." As with Orthodoxy, it's a lively book with a dull title. I was shocked reading his account of the three stages of conversion: 1. Patronizing the Church, 2. Discovering the Church, 3. Running from the Church. But for me, the book was full of shocks of recognition.

I generally don't like Omnibus type volumes such as the Collected Works, and would like to see Ignatius issue this book on its own, but if this is the only way to read it, I highly urge curious readers to obtain this Ignatius edition (Volume Three of the Collected Chesterton). All of the books in this volume were originally issued individually nearly a century ago, and are eminently worth reading. One of them is interesting because GKC wrote it late in life, and reviews some of the ideas in his earlier books. Were these books available individually now, they no doubt would all have reviews on Amazon. As with Orthodoxy, this volume showed me that Chesterton's non-fiction can be as startling and fresh as his fiction.

with a little experiance of knowing HOW to use this book, it quickly becomes a unique favorite.

A weird book but really quite incredibly on the money. It has profoundly influenced half a century of astrologers of all types and cannot be ignored. The tone (from WW II Germany) can be very dark, but the pithy summaries for each midpoint combination are uncanny. Ebertin was originally a Hamburg School "Uranian" and pupil of Witte; he branched off his own school, called "Cosmobiology," which is another Uranian system. As with Witte, dials and midpoints usurp the place of house delineation, which he ignores--but the book is nevertheless in the library of almost every professional astrologer, even those who have no interest or background in Uranian methods at all.

Dear Foretellers,

I find this book very useful to those who are interested in advanced tools and techniques. It has been giving me lot of light and clarity, always leads closer to the truth. Reinhold Ebertin has simplified `Cosmobiology' so well that anyone who has little more patience and strong love for Astrology would understand and use this book intelligently.

I feel it is matter of pride to have this book in library. If you have this book handy, you need nothing more!

Regards,
Bhavesh N. Pattni

When you have a lot of conflicting info from a "jumbled" chart or a dearth of data in a sparse chart, midpoints can often point the way out, and CoSI by R. Ebertin can be indispensible. I had this book stolen about 20 years ago and need to get a new copy. There may be more modern midpoint definitions out there, but I got along fine with this one amazing Cosmobiology book.

Even if you don't use midpoints in your charts, the information in this classic book is invaluable.

Ebertin gives psychological correspondances (pos & neg), as well as the sociological & biological correspondances for all pairs of planets as well as each planet with Asc, Mc, & North Node. Each planetary position, plus Asc/Mc/NN placements are given by sign and house.

'Probable manifestations' are listed for each combo, & you will find some basic info for every planet--also the psychological, sociological, & biological correspondances for them (which are useful for medical questions, too. Ex: Uranus = pituitary gland, Neptune = pineal gland...that sort of thing).

Much knowledge in a small package--definitely a gem!

This book was a Christmas gift for my husband. Since Christmas he has reread this book at least 3 times. I have to make him put it down so he can go to sleep at night. He loves it. I'm glad I got him something he has enjoyed so much for Christmas.

As an avid Civil War reader, I have sometimes comes across titles that bore the reader and become unnecessarily bogged down in detail. Thankfully, Rod Gragg's gem is not one of them!

The author packs the title with descriptive actions of the 1st and 2nd Battles of Fort Fisher and interesting anecdotes of several of the major participants. Particularly interesting were the descriptions of William Lamb, William Whiting, Braxton Bragg, Admiral Porter, Alfred Terry, Benjamin Butler, and several colonels and other officers. Gragg is also careful to point out the heroic sacrifices of several noncommissioned officers, privates, and black troops who served in the battle.

Gragg's book is well-balanced: an interesting read without being simplistic. The only complaint I have are the few maps in the book - a few more would have made Gragg's book even more enjoyable.

All in all, an excellent read! As a North Carolinian, I'm glad to see excellent books on Civil War battles in our great state. Oftentimes when North Carolina is mentioned in Civil War history, the emphasis is on the large number of troops who sacrificed their lives and physical well-being during the conflict.

Read it!

You should see the movie! It will be premiering on UNC-TV November 6, 2005 at 10 PM. Rod Gragg is interviewed throughout, and it is based on his book, of course. He is a great writer, and it turned out to be a wonderful film.

Gragg's book is very easy to read and is filled with great descriptions of the many participants. He describes why Wilmington was so vital to the survival of the Confederacy and why its capture was so important to the Union for a quicker end to the War.

Some of the most interesting characters of the Civil War participated in at least one of the battles. William lamb was 29 years old when he finished building the fort. Young Lamb had a keen interest in military history. As a young boy of twenty in the mid-1850s, Lamb became captivated by a farawy war that was then being waged between Russia, Great Britain, and France. Fisher's design and physical features drew praise from her Federal captors-and more than a few references were made to the Russian fortress of Malakoff (a defensive bastion at Sebastopol that had greatly influenced Lamb's efforts to strengthen Fort Fisher)that was built during that war.

The First Battle effectively ended the military career of Union General Bejamin Butler, a "Political General" who was a constant headache for both the Lincoln Administration and any Commander to whom he was a subordinate. The Failure to capture the Fort after a sucessful amphiboious landing was the final nail in his coffin and he did not receive another command during the war.

Is there a Confederate defeat outside of Gettysburg and Petersburg that does not have the hand of General Braxton Bragg somewhere behind it? Bragg was in command in Wilmington instead of being cashiered after Missionary Ridge mainly because he was friends with Jeff Davis. Bragg did not send reinforcements to the fort that would have cut off Banks' invaders.

Alfred Terry was in command of the second attempt to storm the fort in January 1865. One of the lesser known of Grant's favorite lieutenants, he is better known as the scapegoat of Custer's Last Stand.

Lt. William B. Cushing USN was a precursor of the Navy SEALS. He had many special forces operations during the war including the sinking of the CSS Albemarle with a mine and doing soundings in a rowboat off Fort Fisher while under fire.

Gragg's book was a page turner for me even though I knew the outcome beforehand and I would reccomend it to Civil War enthusiasts everywhere.

UPDATE: 02/14/2006. NC Educational Television ran a television adaptation of the Book last week featuring a recreation of the two invasions of Ft. Fisher. It really helped bring the book to life.

Fort Fisher, guardian of Wilington, North Carolina, was easily the strongest fort in the entire Confederacy, thanks to the engineering genius Col. William Lamb, who at age 26 was given command of the fort. He quickly determined to make it "a work of such magnitude that it could withstand the heaviest fire of any guns in the American navy." He came very close to succeeding, arming the fort with some of the heaviest cannon in existence, including a powerful 150-pounder Armstrong cannon. However, Col. Lamb was plagued by a serious lack of troops, and his superiour, Gen. Braxton Bragg, was an unreliable moron who refused to believe that Fort Fisher could be taken by any assault.

Of course, there were also infamous morons on the Union side, like Gen. Benjamin Butler, known as "Beast Butler" for his notorious policies during the Union occupation of New Orleans. It was Butler's fault that the first assault of Fort Fisher in late 1864 ended in a near disaster for the Union army, after which he was finally relieved of command. The second Union attack which would take place in Jan. 1865 was to be better planned and had far better officers in command (this time Gen. Terry was to be in overall command). Still, even after days of bombardment from the Union navy, the fort proved to be a tough obstacle for the 10,000+ attacking force, which included over 2,000 sailors and marines.

The sailors and marines attacked one side of Fort Fisher while the thousands of well-armed infantry attacked the other side of the fort. The sailors and marines were bloodily repulsed (one in every five was a casualty) while the infantry slowly fought their way into the fort. Col. Lamb had fewer than 2,000 men but he made the enemy pay dearly for every foot of ground they gained. Finally, six hours after the assault began, the fort finally fell. The Union dead were actually in piles (some estimate as many as 1,710 were killed or wounded in both battles at Fort Fisher) around the fort, and the Confederates also suffered heavy losses, with aprox. 600 killed or wounded during both battles.

Rod Gragg told the story of Fort Fisher in a gripping and entertaining way and he's one of my favorite authors. In fact, his book _The Illustrated Confederate Reader_ was one of my very first Civil War books, bought when I was 8 years old! This book has several great maps and two sections of photos, showing both the main Union and Confederate officers involved in the battle as well as photos of the fort itself. Captain Towle, one of (Union) General Terry's staff officers, perhaps summed up the battle best. "The fort never surrendered to anybody. It was taken by Gen. Terry by force of arms after a long and desperate resistance which did honor to both sides." This book is an absolute must for any Civil War buff!