George Books

For those who know nothing about the web but would like to take their business online, this is a good book to read before hiring a professional. It will help you to determine if the person or firm knows what they're doing.

For anyone who has launched a website and is struggling to understand what's not working, this would be a good book.

All of the information is available on the web for free, but the author's done a nice job of packaging it and making it understandable for the novice. He's also addresses issues that are not tied to particular platforms (e.g. blogs), so the book won't be completely out of date as trends and technology continue to change.

If you have a few years of experience working with websites, the book may not be as helpful. Generally, though, it's always nice to read other people's take on what works and what doesn't. We are reminded of the solid basics and we always learn something new.

This book is well written and is packed with useful and practical information. It will get you well ahead of "the curve" on becoming successful online.

Well written,insightful and definitely worth the investment !
You can tell the Author has more hands-on experience than the average
Professor/Teacher who dwell on abstractions and vague concepts.
I just wish I had found this book first to save time and money...

I have gone through a host of books on the topic of web presence. This one, by far, made the most sense... It does not overburden the reader with a lot of technical mambo-jumbo; it focuses on what it truly means for the business. During the last two weeks, I have already gained more exposure; traffic increased threefold; and sales are up... Can you spell ROI?

This is an easy to read book with great information. There are lots of great tips. Anybody who reads this will get great value.

Captures very well a particular time and place. The central character, Twylla, has an appealing sweetness, an innocence, just right for the time. She is all the more compelling when corruption and violence erupt around her. Twylla is a fast, fun read.

I cried for this young girl. I thought she showed a lot of courage to finally face the ghosts of her past. Although the story centers around a mystery, with a fair amount of violence, the book is really about people and making the good choices in life. I recommend Twylla to anyone who wants an unforgettable journey in to the real world of both joy and pain.

As well-conceived mystery thrillers go, this one has terrific character mosaics and a bittersweet if not surreal romance going for it. I see this gal as your typical high school sweetheart trying to run from her past only to get swarmed by really evil people trying to do her in. She brings out the hero in all us home-boys.

I cried for this young girl. I think she showed a lot of courage to finally face the ghosts of her past. And I loved the ending. Although the story centers around a mystery, with a fair amount of violence, the book is really about people and making the good choices in life. I recommend Twylla to anyone who wants an unforgettable trip in to the real world of both joy and pain.

As well-conceived mystery thrillers go, this one has terrific character mosaics and a bittersweet if not surreal romance going for it. I see this girl as your typical high school sweetheart trying to run from her past only to get swarmed by really evil people trying to do her in. She brings out the hero in all us home-boys.

This book is for any climber at any level - sport, trad, whatever. I am a 48 year old novice climber, and this book has provided an enormous amount of information I never considered or found in any other book or class. Essential stuff.
My son is quite advanced and has added his endorsement - great info, cool pictures.
We just got back from Lander, Wyoming where we met and climbed with George. He's the real deal! He climbs with passion and teaches the same way.
Climbing is a dangerous sport. This terrific book provides the means to minmize the hazards, and increase the pleasures. Get it now! It's a GREAT - and useful - read!

I just completed an AMGA Course and I have to say this is one of the finest consolidations of safe climbing advice that I've seen to date. The suggestions are simple to follow and make you wonder 'Why didn't I think of that?' I've been a traditonal lead climber several years now and I can honestly say I'll be implementing some of the authors safety pointers the next time I'm on the rock.

I was a novice climber when I met George Allen: George taught me how to climb. Along the way George also revealed climbing safety. He insisted.

What I recall most about climbing with George is that he was always consistent with his competent instruction. That consistency and competency carries over into the book.

The instruction included within "Ultrasafe: ..." is crucial information for climbers of all skill levels. In fact, even experts need to be reminded the fundamentals, fundamentals found within the text. The falls I have witnessed, the injuries, the deaths, were typically the result of disregard for safety fundamentals. How much is your life worth? One nut? A Friend? One more anchor?

Since climbing with George, I have applied many of his insights to my daily life. For example: Don't walk on ice with your hands in your pockets. Good advice, but how many of us walk on ice with our hands in our pockets? After rolling in the cholla I quit approaching with items in my hands. Sound fundamental advice. You will find more within.

I strongly recommend this book. The book is easy to read and the tips herein may save either yours or your partner's life someday, and they are likely to prevent injuries. Thank you George Allen for formalizing these truths.

I have climbed occasionally with George Allen over the past twenty years. His approach on the rock has always been one of caution and complete awareness of his environment without ever lapsing into hyper-paranoia. This thoughtful, cautious approach carries over into this book. No one, particularly those making a transition from the climbing gym to the "real world", should rope up without reading this. Climbing safety is about a lot more than checking your knots and nut placement. Mr. Allen provides the first comprehensive overview of safety for everyone whether they are bouldering or climbing the Yosemite walls.

I am not a climber, so when I had the opportunity to read Allen's "UltraSafe" I planned on a few minutes of reading per evening until it was finished or I just gave up. I opened it up one night and didn't put it down until I had reached the back cover. Yeah, some of the technical terms made whistling noises as they flew over my head, but I managed to catch most of the concepts. What makes this book fascinating is the author's overall approach to climbing safety. He recommends the climber develop a attitude of safety, or a safety culture, rather than just run down a checklist to insure some vital piece of equipment is functional or refraining from doing something obviously stupid. He explains how to encorporate safety into all facets of the sport without turning the endeavor into some sort of perverted govermental compliance exercise. The text has enough tech-talk in it to keep the attention of the hard core crowd but is written so well that it kept my attention (remember me - the non-climber?). The personal anectdotes make it real and the Wizard Tips ("Master" to the "Grasshopper" tidbits of wisdom) leave no doubt that this guy knows what he's talking about. If you're a novice climber, Read The Book before you develop any bad habits. If you're an experienced climber who wants to be around long enough to become more experienced, Read The Book. If you're an experienced climber who thinks you already know enough about safety, Read The Book. Don't let Darwin win.

This book is the best memoir by an enlisted cavalryman I have ever seen, and I read a lot of Civil War books. At the end of the book, I felt like I had just finished a long conversation with Avery. Buy this book and enjoy it.

No matter whether you're a Custerphile or Custerphobe, don't let the title fool you. Under Custer's Command has very little to do with the "Boy General" and a lot to do with the every day life of a Union Cavalryman during the Civil War. James Avery describes life in the Fifth Michigan Cavalry with frankness and honesty, and without concern for the feelings of those who failed to pass muster.
The book details the part the Wolverines played in such famous battles as Gettysburg, The Wilderness, Cedar Creek, and Yellow Tavern, from the perspective of one who actively fought at the front lines, and brings a breath of fresh air to the Civil War narrative. I highly recommend this book to anyone who desires to explore the facts of life for a Civil War cavalryman.

This book is the best memoir by an enlisted cavalryman I have ever seen, and I read a lot of Civil War books. At the end of the book, I felt like I had just finished a long conversation with Avery. Buy this book and enjoy it.

George Armstrong Custer's fabled Fifth Regiment fought with great distinction throughout the American civil war and suffered the third highest total of men killed in the entire Union Calvary. James Henry Avery, a 24 year old farmer from Hopkins, Michigan was on of Custer's feared "Wolverines". He eloquently described his personal war-time experiences in journals and postwar reminiscences, providing uniquely detailed descriptions of Civil War cavalry movements, and presents the only known account addressing the escape of elements of the Fifth Michigan Cavalry on the first day of the Battle of Trevilian Station. Other battles described include Gettysburg, The Wilderness, Yellow Tavern, Haws Shop, Tom's Brook, Cedar Creek, and Trevilian Station. Under Custer's Command: The Civil War Journal Of James Henry Avery provides an astute perspective on the life of a Union cavalryman in the Civil War and is a "must" for all Civil War buffs and civil war studies reference collections.

As editor Eric J. Wittenberg expands his library of Custer-related works, they continue to improve on the already growing collection of first-person accounts of the "Boy General's" Michigan Cavalry. As the preeminent biographer of Brevet Brigadier General James Kidd, Wittenberg provides readers with a sense of "being there," and inescapable feeling that they are sharing a fireside chat with a living, breathing veteran of our own Civil War.

"Under Custer's Command" is sure to please any readers of his previous collections of James Kidd. The latest book, a well-preserved and edited anthology of the personal journals of Sergeant James Henry Avery, an enlisted man who served with Custer during his formative years, continues Wittenberg's efforts to detail the wartime activities of the Michigan 6th Cavalry. One of the most successful mounted commands during the war, the "Wolverine's" received far less acclaim and few of the accolades enjoyed by cavalry units led by men such as Jeb Stuart and Stonewall Jackson.

"Under Custer's Command" is a rare jewel among surviving first-person accounts. The language is frank, yet simple: the work of a man interested less in impressing than in preserving his personal observations of history. Avery's journals offer an invaluable glimpse into the mind and soul of a man fighting for his country, his values, and his family. This wonderful book is a fantastic addition to any serious Civil War Custer library.

Cristy and Tom's book is a book of hope. Imagine if you can losing your best friend and husband hours after giving birth to your first child. Imagine if you can losing your best friend and wife following the birth of your son. Then imagine being "held" in our Father's hand and have him so beautifully bring these families together. If you or someone you know is in need of hope, this is a MUST READ. You will laugh, you will cry, you will grow to love this family.... and you will have hope.

Two individuals who experienced tragedy. Two separate lives, two unbelievable situations. The sweet and the bittersweet - within hours of each other. In reading their unedited stories, you are there with them. Your heart breaks for each of them, as they are honest and straight-forward with their feelings. You walk with each of them as they reassemble this thing called life, after it was wiped out like a building in the path of a tornado. One by one, the pieces are picked up.

The miracle is that each of them comes through it victoriously, through the grace of God and through the help of the other.

In the first pages, you weep with them. At the end of the book, you find yourself cheering them on! Why? Well, you'll just have to see for yourself.

Highly recommended. If you have lost all hope, there's still some left for your situation. There's still a place for good old-fashioned faith. They will prove it to you.

Warning, read the book, and they will become your heroes.

Under the Shadow of the Almighty is a powerful and moving example of God making "all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose", Romans 8:28.

Tom and Cristy reveal their deepest feelings in a frank and emotional account of how God brought two strangers together who experienced remarkably similar tragedies. Out of the depths of grief, He lifted them up and blended them and their children into a beautiful family dedicated to serving Him. They have shared with the reader their private e-mails which tell the tender story of a friendship founded on helping each other heal their grief, helping their children understand the loss of a parent, going through the stages of mutual respect and understanding and then new love.

Their story, amply complemented by Scripture, should help bring hope and healing to anyone who has experienced the grief of loosing a loved one or for anyone else who finds themselves in the depths of despair for any reason.

I received Tom and Cristy's book as a gift upon my retirement from Children's Ministry at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, where we had worked together for a couple of years. I thought I knew them. They were Godly people who taught a missions class together for elementary age children. I found I didn't know them at all. In the first 50 pages, their hearts were laid bare and what I found were a couple of people who went through trials most people only dread to imagine. They walked through these trials as many would, with fear, sorrow, and human weakness. They also walked in the strength of the Lord with trust in Him that brought them a special rebirth in a life together that strongly displays the love of God. What Tom and Cristy experienced brought me to a place of repentance before the Lord for my mundane complaints with life. You will feel like a brother or sister to Tom and Cristy when you walk with them through their years of tragedy and triumph. I very highly recommend their book for everyone and especially those who have experienced the death of a loved one.

This book is outstanding. You will laugh and cry as you read a true story of one man and one woman who experience the ultimate high and most horrible low of their lives and then find each other and God's ultimate power to heal and restore. You don't want to miss this one!

Published to accompany the exhibition "Unknown Territory: The Landscape of Andrew Wyeth" organised by the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1998, following the introduction two essays discusses the critical appraisal of the artist, his approach to his work and his painting methods; the easy are illustrated throughout in colour and black and white. The catalogue of work runs from pages 51 to 199. The book concludes with a further essay which includes a number of comments by the artist. There is also a list of works included in the exhibition but no bibliography.

In total there are approaching 200 illustrations, with the vast majority being in full colour, although the restrained nature of Wyeth's palette does not make this immediately apparent even in the main section of plates. The landscape format of the book accommodates well the predominantly similarly proportioned paintings and drawings, however sometimes the image is reproduced rather small relative to the page size.

A very useful publication which well demonstrates the range of the artist's output even with the designation of landscape.

If this were a hardbound edition (it may exist?) it would sell for an expensive price. The color plates, index and footnotes are exquisitely designed and printed in this softbound catalog edition. Anecdotes are plentiful, critical examination controversial, but this catalog of Wyeth's work is beautifully presented and great fun to examine. The words of critics are always oddly out of place and hard to swallow and fortunately there aren't many critic's editorials contained here. It's the dozens and dozens of paintings that are in this book-exquisite! As many of A.W.'s pieces were of a comparatively large dimension-as far as water-based works go, the plates do not capture the spatial and color phenomena of these paintings, but this is as good as it gets-next to a visit to a museum to view them "live!" One would be hard-pressed to find this many unpublished, heretofore unexhibited Wyeth pieces under one roof! A very enjoyable publication!

A collection containing a number of stunning watercolors loosely executed, rarely included in a book of Wyeth's works. Also includes many of his more labored tempera paintings.

The staff of the Whitney Museum for a 1998 Wyeth exhibition compiled this beautifully printed and bound book. The stock is heavy and glossy and the colors sharp and clear. Many watercolors included have not been publicly seen for years, as many private collectors contributed their paintings for this exhibition. The dates of the compositions range from the early 30's through the late 90's.

The two most recognized American artists of the 20th Century are Andys-Wyeth and Warhol, and they have more in common than their initials. Both are controversial and neither is as "realistic" as accused and/or categorized.

My enjoyment of Andrew Wyeth was never diminished by the fact that I had a lot of company. Popularity does not necessarily mean inferiority in spite of what the self-consuming art world tells us. True, you have to have a certain fondness for bleak settings to properly take pleasure in most of the paintings. I often idly wondered if Wyeth ever painted landscapes in spring or summer and why he was so enamored of bare earth and beige and brown compositions. I have never seen as many abstracts as are contained in this book.

The essays in the book are interesting, but not so prevalent as to overshadow the marvelous prints. My only complaint is the book is an unhandy shape, longer than it is tall, making it difficult to shelve. However, this is minor. Many hours of viewing pleasure are in store.

When you view the work of an artist, who is to be the arbiter of what, in this case the painting is about, what it means? Do you turn to the Professional Art Critic, Art History Majors, you the viewer, or the man or woman who created the work? In this case the Artist is well and painting, and his thoughts about his work are many and well documented.

This book on the paintings of Andrew Wyeth focuses primarily on the media of watercolor and drybrush as opposed to the egg tempera paintings that are the medium for so many of his most famous works. Mr. Wyeth takes up to 6 months for a tempera work, and completes as few as 2-4 a year. The images in this book are produced by the hundreds, and over his career amount to literally thousands of images. This book discusses and publishes many images that have never been publicly shown, and uses this body of work to advance various ideas.

The book is a valuable addition to those who are admirers of his work, the opinions that are expressed by people other than the artist, are either critical to the book on one extreme, or mostly ridiculous from where I sit.

Andrew Wyeth has been a target for the self-proclaimed tastemakers of Art for one reason; his art is widely admired, collected, and highly valued. These elements automatically qualify him for criticism that is so absurd; it adds a comedic aspect to the text. Then there are those who do love his work but feel they must demonstrate that, yes, he is what the critics say he is not, and even more!

The text did help me understand more about the method by which Mr. Wyeth creates these works, and the role they sometimes play in a major tempera piece. I loved his work before this book, and will continue to regardless of what "they" have to say. The only individual whose comments matter are Mr. Wyeth's. His thoughts are documented; I don't see the need for others to presume they know better than he what he paints, and what his intent was when he created the work.

The book is great for the new images it brings to the public. Everything about the construction of the book is as good as you will find in a commercial publication, and the color plates are excellent. As to the text, that is left for you to decide, I am placing the stars above for the Artist and his work, not for what others have to say about it.

This book is a joy to read. George Elsey has told the story of his experiences with clarity and continuity that makes history reading fun. The word serendipity came to mind numerous times while George relates the fortuitous events in his life. He does not belabor the reader with oft-told events that are common knowledge. His narrative style paints a vivid picture of how important and significant world affairs melded together through the 40s, 50s and 60s. Persons who also grew up in this time-frame will immediately relate to the events. George Mckee Elsey still exhibited his sharpness of mind during a recent radio program on NPR called, The Book Guys.

George Elsey was one of the architects of Truman's upset of 1948. Truman even predicted the outcome some weeks before the election to Elsey and Elsey put the prediction in a safe place. Truman was a little optimistic, but he really defied the odds and the bookmakers in Nevada by beating Tom Dewey.
This is a must for any fan of Harry S Truman. Bet they sell lots of this book at the Truman Library in Independence, MO. There were no two people like Bess and Harry Truman.

From National Review Online:
An Unplanned Life, by George M. Elsey. The newly published reminiscences of the author's days as a Naval aide to FDR and speechwriter and advisor to President Truman. Now 87, Mr. Elsey spent many hours with Roosevelt in the White House Map Room, served as the president's personal witness to the invasion of Normandy, and decoded and delivered to Truman the first report of the mission over Hiroshima. The stories are fascinating and engagingly told - the product of careful note-taking, an undimmed memory, and a modest, gentlemanly character. --Matthew Scully

George Elsey was a Harvard graduate student in history who wound up as a 23 year old Naval Aide to FDR in the midst of World War II. Thus began an unplanned career as a key witness, participant, and recorder of one of the most important chapters in our nation's history.

Working in the Map Room, he coded, decoded, read, and transmitted the most top secrets of the war, including:

-Handing Churchill the news that the Allies had sunk three German U-Boats, which Churchill knew meant that we'd broken the top secret German Enigma code. Churchill jumped up and down and shouted "We got them! We got them! We got them!" This was in May, 1943, regarded by many as the turning point of the war.
-Handing FDR the news that Mussolini's government had collapsed in July, 1943.
-Handing Truman the news of the atomic bomb.

But he didn't just pass along news, he made news. He was a key architect of Truman's foreign policy, and also nudged him to proceed with civil rights speeches. And then during the "greatest political upset of the century," George Elsey wrote Truman's speeches during his famous Whistle Stop Campaign, sometimes as many as 15 speeches a day.

He had many more accomplishments in government life as well.

He worked at the Red Cross for over 20 years, 13 as President, and was personally responsible for many of the core tenets that live on to this day.

George Elsey is the kind of man we all want to be, and his story, written with great candor, modesty, and precision, reminds us that giants used to roam the halls of the White House.

While the title of this book could fit most of our lives, most of us do not get to go to Princeton, and then assigned to work in the White House through World War II and beyond.

Mr. Elsey did this and more. He was assigned to the White House early in the war. He was to remain, first with Roosevelt and then with Truman for many years. Later, during the Viet Nam war he worked with Clark Clifford looking for ways to get out of the war. Finally he spent a long career with the Red Cross.

This career placed him near the center of power for many of the critical years of the 20th century. Now at 88 years old, it is clear that his memory is still sharp. And as his attitude towards life comes through it is easy to see how he would have fit into many different assignments.

The photograph section of the book is fascinating as it shows him off to the side or behind the president, but often with people very powerful in their own right.

Vagabonding is a children's picturebook about a young girl's fantasies of traveling the world. The simple verse follow her imaginary adventures from the Taj Mahal to the Eiffel Tower and a Buddhist monastery. Yet no matter how far her mind reaches, she realizes that the comforts of home and family deserve to be appreciated too. "A traveler, / a vagabond! / To wander / and to roam, // for maybe oh... / an hour or so... // and then I'll go back home!" A joyful singsong picturebook ideal for reading aloud to young people.

I picked up this book about a month ago for my 1st grade class as a fun supplement to our geography lessons. There aren't many children's books about travel so I was pleasantly surprised to find one! And I absolutely love it! The simplicity of the illustrations and the fun George has with the main character: a little girl who fantasizes about traveling around the world with just a hobo sack. It is a quick & simple read, but what has my class buzzing is the whimisical illustrations. They love to pick it up and get lost in the drawings, especially the full color page spreads in the middle of the book.

I highly reccommend this book for young children who are just starting out to read and to anyone who wants to expose kids to the art of world travel. As an avid traveler, I think it's great to have a book like this to get kids to open up their eyes to a world outside of the United States or wherever they happen to live. Like I said, there aren't many children's books about travel and hopefully George will continue to fill this void. "Vagabonding" is a wonderfully refreshing way to bust into the children's book scene and I really look forward to new projects by her.

i think this book is a great gift for kids that they would enjoy reading! its really interesting and you dont want to put it down until you finish reading it to the end.

This first effort by the author/illustrator stands out for its simplicity and free spirit. The illustrations are sprightly and appealing as a girl trades places with a gypsy or "vagabond" and dons a red kerchief and gold hoop earrings. We get a quickie around-the-world tour--from Sydney to Tibet to the Taj Mahal and Paris and then, of course, back home in time for supper.

The back flap says George studied travel sketching, and the book has the quirky feel of doodles filled out with dabs of watercolor. Bonus points for portraying a full rainbow of ethnicities too.

Here's a book that celebrates one child's imagination, adventurousness, love of world cultures, and appreciation of home and family. George's casual, facile style lends the book a comfortable, cozy feeling--simple, appealing, and accessible for young readers. Her prose matches her illustrations in its simplicity, creating almost a kind of haiku effect. Completely charming.

This book is a hilarious spoof on our president's first 3 months in office. I can just picture this as a SNL skit. It's great airplane reading - funny and quick.

One hundred days worth of George "W." Bush's secret, innermost thoughts. If anything, I thought it would be scary, not funny, but "W." made me laugh out loud on almost every page. I give "W." an "A."

This book is awesome! I found the book extremely funny and entertaining not because the writers were trying to be funny (they are damn good at it too), but because they were telling as it really is. Buy the book, it's money well spent.

I spotted this highly satirical masterpiece on accident, and loved every page of it. I tried reading it to curb bordem, and kept laughing out loud so much that everyone one had to know what was so funny. All of my freinds, right and left alike, thought it was utterly hilarious. I have lent it out to everyone; My Goverment teacher read it aloud to the class; it even had a bit of a waiting list from time to time.

The scariest element- it is all too true! The book is filled with mispellings, childish handwriting, and mis-informations that sound as if they came from the mind of a 3 year old. Therefore perfectly accurate for the 42nd, er, 43rd President of the United States. ("I wonder if Trent Lott is related to that guy in the Bible whose wife turned to salt?"). Bravo, and encore!

In this book, you will find out why? This is easily one of the funniest books that I have read in a long time.

Yes, it is very easy to poke fun at our president, no matter who that may be, but President Bush sure makes it simple. In this diary-style book, the president's innermost thoughts are scribbled out in 3rd-grade penmanship.

The book is outright hilarious. We get an in-depth look at the president's IRS audit list, his thoughts on making a movie about his "poppy," his feelings about Dick Cheney, and his outright fear of Hillary Clinton. The mental notes are also hilarious, and the added illustrations make for a complete funny experience.

This book was a really fast read, and it was extremely humorous. It is definately for anyone with a mere pulse of a sense of humor.

First, before anything else, he links us to a character, a man named Bert Smallways, who we will follow and this allows us to see what is happening from the view of a normal man within the book. The first few chapters in fact deal only with Bert, pushing much of the major events into the background, suggested by news headlines that nobody seems to notice.
But when wars come it comes with a bam. The Earth's weapons seem to be bomb carrying airships and gun carrying airplanes.
The airships seem to be the major weapon, becoming the terrors of the sky, huge monster craft that carry death to the cities of Earth.
Why airships? The book was published in 1907. While airplanes were just being invented and designs played with, blimps and dirigibles were already flying about in good numbers. By the time World War One cames about, German airships are bombing London. Airplanes started off during the Great War totally unarmed, used for scouting out enemy movements and checking out the landscape. So, for him to suggest that airships would become the wave of the future in combat is not a great leap of logic.
One scene has German airplanes and airships destroying an American fleet of warships, a chilling vision of things to come.
As each nation designs and builds it own aircraft things get out of hand. While the air fleets can bomb the cities, they can't TAKE them (not being able to carry any troops) and they can't DEFEND them (as they carry many bombs, but few weapons to fight other aircraft), so soon the world is nothing but burnt out buildings and thousands of airships attacking anything on the ground that even LOOKS dangerous.
Will Bert survive? Will he get back to England? Will mankind ever learn to live together?

"The War of the Worlds" wasn't the only masterpiece that H.G. Wells wrote with the words "The War" in the title. "The War in the Air," which came out 10 years later, in 1908, is surely a lesser-known title by this great author, but most certainly, in my humble opinion, a masterpiece nonetheless. In this prophetic book, Wells not only predicts World War I--which wouldn't start for another six years--but also prophesies how the advent of navigable balloons and heavier-than-air flying craft would make that war inevitable. Mind you, this book was written in 1907, only four years after the Wright Brothers' historic flights at Kitty Hawk, and two years BEFORE their airplane design was sold to the U.S. Army for military purposes. In "The War in the Air," Wells also foresees air battles, as well as engagements between naval and aerial armadas. His gift of peering into the future is at times uncanny.
We see this worldwide war through the eyes of Bert Smallways, a not terribly bright Cockney Everyman who is accidentally whisked away in a balloon and lands in Germany right on the eve of that country's departure for war. Bert is brought on board one of the German airships, and so personally witnesses a titanic battle in the North Atlantic; the Battle of New York (in which the length of Broadway is destroyed and many buildings near downtown City Hall Park are levelled, looooong before 9/11); and the huge fight between the German and Asiatic forces over Niagara Falls. And these are just the start of Smallways' adventures. Wells throws quite a bit into this wonderful tale, and the detail, pace and characterizations are all marvelous. But this isn't just an entertaining piece of futuristic fiction; it's a highly moral one as well. The author, in several beautifully written passages, tells us of the terrible waste of war, and the horrors that it always entails. In this aspect, it would seem to be a more important work of fiction than even "The War of the Worlds." While that earlier work might be more seminal, this latter tale certainly raises more pressing issues. And those issues are just as worrisome today as they were nearly a century ago. In his preface to the 1941 edition of this book, Wells wrote: "I told you so. You damned fools..." As well he might! And it would seem that we STILL haven't learned the lessons that Wells tried to teach us so many years ago.
Perhaps, at this point, I should mention that readers of this novel will be faced with many geographical, historical and vocabulary/slang terms that they may not be familiar with. If those readers are like me, they will take the time to research all those obscure terms; it will make for a richer reading experience, as always.
I said before that this novel is a masterpiece, and yet, at the same time, it is not perfect. Wells does make some small booboos in prediction, for example. Zeppelins were not more important than airplanes in war; civilization did not collapse after World War I. He tells us that the distance from Union Square to City Hall Park is under a mile, whereas any New Yorker could tell you that it's more like two. Wells mentions that the Biddle Stairs (which were built in 1827, led from Goat Island to the base of Niagara Falls, and were demolished in 1927) were made of wood, while in fact they were made of metal and encased in a wooden shaft. But these are quibbles, and in no way detract from the quality of the work. Indeed, this is a novel that should be mandatory reading for all politicians, not to mention all thinking adults.

H.G. Wells-what a genius. He foresaw the future better than any supposed "psychic." This novel, little known but available again, is the proof.

In the early 20th century, the invention of aerial vehicles precipitates the outbreak of a worldwide war that had brewed for hundreds of years. The aircrafts' ability to wreck unlimited destruction lays waste to civilization, reducing it to pre-Industrial revolution levels. That is the basis of this incredible piece of political and scientific prophesy. Wells unleashes his full understanding of human "progress" and the fraility of political systems, and with every page hits truths about war and technology even more applicable today than during World War I, the combat that Wells envisioned here. He even saw 9/11 and the Iraq War, pegging Western European complaceny so accurately that I felt my jaw drop to the floor on a few occasions.

Honestly, this H. G. guy was one in a billion. He was utterly, incalculably brilliant. He was also a helluva writer, expressing ideas with flashes of humor, irony, and passion. Wells uses a countryside Englishman as witness to the fall of civilization, and manages to effortlessly switch between the epic canvas of war and the cameo portrait of a normal man seeing everything he ever understood about the world fray apart before his eyes.

In a terrific last stroke, Wells writes the final chapter that sums up the possibility that "progess" may be an illusion. This novel deserves to be considered amongst Wells finest, and this new edition with Duncan's insightful introduction, may be the firest step in getting it the wide audience it deserves.

Written in 1908, Wells predicted warfare as we know it now. He foresaw pushbutton wars, "cold-blooded slaughters ... in which men who were neither excited nor ... in any danger, poured death and destruction on homes and crowds..." Paradoxically, Wells also predicted it to be "a universal guerilla war, a war involving civilians and homes and all the apparatus of social life." He predicted weapons "ineffectual for any large expedition or conclusive attack, [but] horribly convenient for guerilla warfare, rapidly and cheaply made, easily used, easily hidden." Specifics of the story needed to be credible to Wells's 1908 reader, but major points could have been drawn from today's headlines.

Wells's war encircled the globe, years before WWI showed how widespread a war could become. Rather than narrate global destruction, though, Wells told his story through the viewpoint of Bert Smallways, an everyman of modest means, achievement, and intellect. In fact, Bert's only real skill was a knack for being in the wrong place when world-shattering events came to pass. Starting from his bicycle shop in England, Bert's involuntary travels made him witness to the destruction of whole blocks and rows of blocks in New York City, then to the rise of Eastern armies that over-ran the Western world. Then, somehow, he made it back to his sleepy village to settle into a post-war agrarian life without technology - easy enough, since the village had slept through the technology of the time anyway.

Despite the zeppelins used as warcraft, Wells's forecasts hit the bullseye of many targets. He predicted the worldwide caches of hidden weaponry, not too far from what we saw in the Cold War. He also predicted the bafflement of the common civilian, who really just wanted to settle down with a spouse, a house, and food on the table. Headlines aside, that's still the case today.

-- wiredweird

Bert Smallways is a rather backward sort, trying (but not too hard) to make a living in England, and watching the advance of technology. But, technology is moving on in directions that he might never have guessed. With the advent of the airship, a secret arms race has broken out among the world's powers, and a new type of war is about to break out.

When Bert is accidentally scooped up by a German fleet, on its way to launch a surprise attack on the United states, he finds himself with a front row seat to the greatest war that has ever been - the war in the air! This new war is to be a different sort of war than all the wars that came before it, unprecedented in its ferocity and destructiveness. When everything can be smashed, what will be left? A good deal less than you might hope.

This now largely forgotten work was written by H.G. Wells (1866-1946) in 1907, and is a masterpiece of forward thinking. While Wells missed the true course of the development of military aviation, his grasp of what a major war, involving fleets of aircraft, would mean was spot on. In fact, this book is quite spooky in its prediction of the destruction of cities and modern infrastructure, and in its portrayal of fleets of warships destroyed from the air! As a prediction of the future, this book is nothing short of amazing.

Well, if the book is so good, why is it now forgotten? In fact, while Wells' portrayal of aerial warfare is right on target, the book, as a novel, is not as good as it should be. The story starts out quite slowly, wasting too much time on the development of the character of Bert Smallways. And, there are many places throughout the narrative where the book could have benefited from some pruning and tightening of the narrative.

So, if you are a fan of H.G. Wells, or are interested in how correct a man of 1907 could have been about modern warfare, then this is the book for you. However, if you are looking for a good science-fiction story, you might be disappointed. Overall, I found this to be an interesting story, one that I am glad that I read. It's almost frightening how close to reality Mr. Wells was. I just wish that he had had a better editor.