Gregory Books

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.

Gregory Michno has a talent for researching a subject and presenting the knowledge he's gained in an interesting and easily understood way. He turns a non-fiction story into something which holds the interest of even those not particularly interested in history. he's done it again with USS Pampanito: Killer-Angel. We aren't encumbered with technical stuff but feel as though we're slicing through the water with the crew of this sub. The Pampanito served the U.S. well then suffered personal anguish when they learned they had helped sink two Japanese ships which held Allied POWs. The sub risked their own safety to return and rescue many of the POWS.

This is an excellent portrayal of life on a WWII submarine. It is a good picture of what life was like for the enlisted men, and for the service in general. I served on the Pampanito with the author's father. This is what it was REALLY like on a submarine in the Pacific during WWSII. I commend the author for his thorough research into the history of an unusual submarine and the living conditions aboard them during the war.

There have been many books written about individual US Navy submarines during World War Two in the Pacific, but almost invariably they are written from the viewpoint of the commander or executive officer. "USS Pampanito: Killer-Angel" is different. This is a book which, for the most part, tells the story of a submarine at war through the eyes of her crew, the men who kept her engines running, who scanned the skies for enemy aircraft when surfaced, who strained to load the torpedoes into her tubes during convoy attacks.

Sparked by the stories told by his late father, a crewman aboard the Pamapanito during her first two combat patrols, Greg Michno collected the tales of fifty of the men who served aboard her from her launch in 1943 till the end of the war. Together with extensive research into official records, Michno has woven these firsthand accounts into an absorbing portrait of ordinary men at war. His recounting of a harrowing depth charge attack with the Pampanito at a depth of over 600 feet could have come right out of "Das Boot". But the story is more than just combat. Day-to-day shipboard life in insanely cramped quarters, jury-rigged repairs upon vital malfunctioning equipment, wild R&R escapades ashore which could cause as many casualties as a battle at sea, conflicts and comradeship among the men and officers ... it is all here in this book.

The Pampanito appeared on no one's list of "top" submarines as measured by merchant tonnage sunk or major warships sent to the bottom. All too often her successes were more than balanced by bad luck or, perhaps, less than stellar leadership. But on one remarkable occasion, the boat rescued 73 Australian and British POW's whose ships had been sunk during an attack on a Japanese convoy. The story of this rescue and the subsequent close bond formed between these former prisoners, many of whom had worked on the notorious "River Kwai" railroad construction, and their saviors creates an emotional high point of the book. Many of the Pampanito's crew felt that saving those men was more important than the sinking of any ship.

As it happens, the Pampanito is still afloat today. Spared the scrapyard, the fate of most of her contemporaries, the Pampanito has been declared a National Historical Landmark and is docked at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco for visitors to board.

The book is well illustrated with maps of the combat operations plus numerous photographs of crewmembers, both as impossibly young men during their war and as elderly veterans visiting their boat during a recent crew reunion.

"USS Pampanito: Killer-Angel" is an excellent look at ordinary men on an ordinary submarine during an extraordinary time.

This is a well-written, refreshing look at submarine warfare in the Pacific during World War II. Unlike many previous submarine books, including fictitious ones, which are written by the skipper or the exec and therefore put the sub in the best possible light, this book is written from the point of view of the enlisted men with "warts and all". Instead of concentrating on target data computers, gyro angles, and attack solutions, the story concentrates on the ultimate success or failure of individual torpedo attacks, descriptions of depth charge attacks, the rescue of P.O.W's and shore leave. Rather than reading yet another description of the intensity of being in command, the reader learns of the intense dislike of the captain by most of the crew which did not prove a hindrance in causing some damage to the Japanese war effort.

The author is particularly adept at describing interesting facts or procedures in context, sometimes glossed over or ignored by other sub authors, without becoming bogged down in unnecessary detail. These topics include distilling "torpedo juice", decoding mechanisms, how a torpedo arms itself after it is fired, a comparison of Japanese convoys to U.S. ones, ordinary shipboard routine, venereal disease, and the mechanics of carbon dioxide exposure in a submerged sub.

The author also achieved the number one objective of all stories--he kept the narrative moving forward.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in the "silent service". I look forward to visiting the "Pampanito" someday.

After a recent tour thru the actual USS Pampanito (twice!) at Fishermen's Wharf in San Francisco, I bought the book at the bookstore next to the sub which is run by volunteers of this wonderful floating National Historic Landmark. What a thrill to actually see the sub in real life and then read a book about its' six patrols during WW2. As a son of one of the sailors who served on it, author Michno said he used to listen to his dad's war tails with some disinterest as they grew with each beer and retelling. Later he visited the sub with his own son and after realizing that it was his father's boat he was inspired to research and write a book about it, saying he wished that he had been a better listener. The book starts by giving a brief early biog. of six or eight men, where they were born, educated, etc., and how they came to be on the Pampanito. How it was built in New Hampshire, its' commissioning and shakedown and then an interesting and never boring account of each of its' six wartime patrols in the Pacific. It brings alive the details of the boats' activities and daily lives of the men, developed through oral histories given by them. Containing numerous photos, especially interesting were the recent photos of and recaps by the men, now in their eighties, who attended the fiftieth reunion in 1995, aboard the Pampanito. Touching was reading about the tolling of the bells ceremony where the ships bell in rung once as each of the names of the fifty-two subs lost in WW2 was called off. Well written and researched, Michno provides an exhausting list of footnotes on many of the details in the book. An interesting and scholarly work that is a fascinating and easy read.

This book provides an excellent overview of the history of the dust bowl Okies and the culture they (we) have created in central California. Gregory explores the religion, music, and politics well in clear language. The book is short enough to be enjoyable and while goes into some depth on a few issues, it is not so filled with unimportant details as to be muddled. Gregory sprinkles the text with brief excerpts of the many interviews he conducted with the Okies.

James Gregory has put together a outstanding history of the migration and culture of the dust bowl migrants who settled in California. I have probably read Grapes of Wrath four or five times since first reading it in high school, but after reading Gregory's description of the way these poor south-westerners struggled with poverty and at the same time maintained family unity and cultural pride, Steinbeck's book takes on a whole new meaning. Gregory goes step by step to show what motivated many to move, and then what motivated them to stay even though they suffered great privations and predjudice. I especially enjoyed learning about the influences of country music not just upon the migrants, but on the entire nation. A must read to make Grapes more clear!

Overall a good study of the last great westward folk migration in American history. I would add that many of their predecessors in the "classic" frontier period were just as broke and hungry as these migrants, but there was little mass media around to record them. An interesting, well-done slice of folk Americana.

I thought that this was a good book. I read it for a history course on the Great Depression and it was definately worth reading. It can get a little bogged down in detail or a little dull ocassionally, but overall it is a good view of "okie culture". It really helped be to understand the diversity and impact of the migration. And it contains a few interesting personal stories as well!

This is a good concise way to study different aspects of medicine. I really like that each question has a full explanation of the answer.

Only 100 questions for this price is too little. Questions are good, same format as Kaplan questions. Good help when you are studying specific subject for the shelf or the boards, before you can do integrated subjects tests form other books.

Portable! Complete! Pertinent!
These are three strengths of this book. This white coat pocket-sized book allows one to complete 200 questions anytime and any place (including during rounds). The questions vary in difficulty from easy to more difficult. Nonetheless, the key facts to be learned are well explained in the answer explanation section, which covers not only the reasons for a correct answer but also outlines reasons that the other answers are incorrect. It is an excellent source of questions and a great starting point. If used to prepare for the actual Medicine shelf, then one can finish the entire book in under 4 hours! Some additional time will be needed to review the answers.

The new edition of the book now has 200 questions (twice that of the previous edition). The questions are arranged in the same style and length of the current Step 2 format. The questions are broken up into 5 question blocks. Each block has the answers with an explanation of why the correct answer is correct and (most importantly) why the other choices are incorrect. The questions in the book provide a good review of fundamental concepts with the more involved "2-3 step" questions found on Step 2. I think this is a great resource to use for Step 2 as well as a third year medical student on the wards. Many of the same concepts come up with actual patients in the hospital.

This little book is great on so many levels. It consists of, as the title would indicate, of questions concerning Business, Politics and Ethics. There are a total of 223 questions. The book is completely and absolutely nonjudgemental, as it gives no answers to the questions nor does it supply any opinions. This job is left up to you! The questions are well written and very plane it that they are, at first glance simple. Far from it. When you read one of the questions here, you will have almost an instant "gut" reaction, or instant answer, but, after giving it some thought, you will find you self thinking, "hey, this is not as easy as I thought." This is a wonderful book for group discussions, but beware, some of the questions could be discussed for days and days, answers would change and opinions swayed...it is just that type of book. I love to brouse through it, read a question, and then just think, asking myself questions about the questions asked. The issues addressed here are ones we face on a daily basis in our society and are not particularly addressed only to business and politics. Highly recommend this one!

Far too many of us wait until faced with an ethical dilemma before figuring out what our personal ethical stand is. This book, used correctly, provides the opportunity to flex your brain muscle and reflect on your ethical perspective before it becomes necessary.

I use it to challenge my site management team every morning with great effect.

The only criticism I would have is that some questions while provacative are not for the meek.

Great job Mr Stock

The original "Book of Questions" made a good conversation-starter and, in my opinion, inspirational tool for writing or journaling. "The Book of Questions: Love and Sex" is better for helping you to see your own relationship values and how they may be helping and harming you and your loved one, and it can also be used to help open up communication in a relationship if approached carefully. "The Book of Questions: Business, Politics and Ethics," on the other hand, is perhaps best for pushing you to explore your own moral values and how well you're living up to them.

What's most impressive about this is that very few of the questions seem to imply a "right" answer or try to push some sort of specific realization, and even those that do sort of come across that way don't have to be read in that way. Dr. Stock specifically says that he doesn't want to push an agenda--he merely wants to spur people to think more carefully about what it is they're doing and why.

The questions run the gamut from economic programs to health care, international policy to business. There are questions about hiring and firing employees, stealing from or betraying employers, tradeoffs in public programs and government spending, and so on. Many of the questions seem particularly relevant to today's political situations. While I wasn't as fond of the tradeoff questions in the "Love and Sex" book, I think that in this one they come across much better. Somehow they end up feeling less arbitrary and more like realistic quandaries.

Dr. Stock tries not to give us easy questions with easy answers, instead forcing us to truly think about the hard issues.

I have the screen saver version of this book, which is integrated with the original The Book of Questions for Windows computers. The graphics and sound effects are great and I get lots of people in the office asking me about it. It's a real head turner that engages people in conversation.

Talk about a book to get your heart rate up. It makes you think very hard "what would I have done in the same situation?"

The legal and didactic commentaries are excellent. The chapter format is very logical and makes for great and fast reading.

This is a must, I think, for any young ER doc just starting out.

This is a well written book using real life examples all EM docs can learn from. This will always have a place in my library.

Actual cases from a real and very busy suburban ER. As you follow along the timed and dated notes as they came off the chart, you get a sense of what the ED physician was thinking. Meanwhile you know that something is amiss. I agree with the previous reviewer, these are lucid little mystery thrillers. Each takes maybe 10-20 minutes to read and then you end with a well documented best-practices commentary from Greg Henry. Perfect for medical students, primary care physicians and ED professionals. Frankly other non-medical members of my family picked up the book and enjoyed it. Well worthwhile.

This book reads like a mystery novel. It presents actual cases with common presentations but unsuspected serious disorders for which patients "bounced back" to the ED because of initial misdiagnoses. Thorough discussions of the cases and appropriate work-ups follow. This is an excellent book that can help every EM and primary care physician avoid disasters in their patients.

I found Broken Wings very informative with detailed information on major aviation disasters. A must read which I highly recommend. Very impressive with well researched facts and background information on each accident. The book will scare the pants off anyone having a phobia for flying.

This book is filled with incredible details and facts involving the struggles of aviators, past and present, trying to open the vast, unforgiving expanses of our northernmost state, Alaska. This book is well researched and written, with details and maps that make it seem as if you are along for the ride. Once you start reading the book, it's hard to put down. A great salute to those pioneer heroes.

An excellent account of aircraft disasters in the "Last Frontier". The author tells the complete story of each accident in layman's terms, from the beginning through the post accident investigation, drawing the reader into the horror of each tragedy. There are many interesting facts on the background of the aircraft and crews, as well as the factual data from government transcripts and search and rescue information. I highly recommend this book. It should be read by every pilot as a source of what can and will often go wrong in aviation.

I found this book well researched and written. An insightful history of aviation told through a chronological sequence of aviation accidents in Alaska over seven decades. The book was interesting, educational and entertaining. The photographs were excellent and maps acurate.

This is a resource that recognizes that homeschooling, even Catholic homeschooling is by no means one-size-fits-all. This book has a little bit of everything. There is a chapter for the hyper-organized and one for unschoolers. There's one on burn out and one on the joy of homeschooling. There's info on teaching the gifted as well as the autistic. And yes, there is humor.

I just noticed that the last two reviews were by people who participated in the book. I thought I would write a review as someone who has no connection with the book. In summary, it is excellent.

I have found that in so many homeschooling books, authors tend to repeat themselves needlessly. Authors write in 100 pages, what could easily be found on someone's website written more clearly and concisely. This is not the case with this book. There are almost 500 pages of solid advice on Catholic homeschooling. Every chapter is written on a different subject by a different author, and the breadth and depth of the information is excellent.

A good example of this is the chapter on Art Appreciation: Recognizing Symbolism in Religious Art by Pattie Kelley-Huff. She explains what many religious symbols in artwork mean. For example, an anchor is a symbol for hope and steadfastness. She has entire lists with what the symbol means. The author also gives resources for further study.

Many of the chapters recommend additional material. I, personally, love mathematics, and I would consider that one of my strongest subjects. However, in the chapter on math, the author provides a listing of Math literature by grade level that I never would have known about on my own.

The only negative, I would say, is that because the book is written by various authors, some chapters are weaker than others. The chapter on teaching a foreign language would be an example of this.

I truly believe that this book will provide something for every Catholic homeschooler. In fact, even non-Catholic homeschoolers, or Catholics that want to enrich their child's school education might also find information in this book. Overall, I couldn't be more pleased with it.

I wrote a chapter in this book, as well as did proofreading for it. The most amazing thing about this book is that I found new resources and ideas. I'm a homeschooling veteran, so it takes a lot for me to get excited about a homeschooling item.

When I read many of the essays, I discovered new things for math, new things for science, and new things for literature. I was so excited, I couldn't wait for the book to get out so I could recommend it to all homeschoolers.

Catholic homeschoolers will appreciate the faith-filled pages, but all Christian homeschoolers will find support, guidance, humor and love in the pages of this book. The authors wrote to share their stories, but also to share resources, ideas, help and knowledge. This book is a real gift to the homeschooling community.

There are chapters written by dads and older homeschooling students, too, which I found so encouraging to read. This book goes beyond what most homeschooling books can do because it has over 40 authors. That's a lot of good ideas in one book.

I am a contributing author to this book, so I am not unbiased. However, that said, I have also read the book and found so many essays which were thought provoking treatments on pedagogy, as well as more practical elements such as home management and mother's well-being. There are also essays authored by and directed towards fathers, who are under-represented in this subject matter. This book is as useful to those starting out as well as those who are preparing children for high school and college. This is a necessary book for those interested in or actively involved in Catholic education in the home.

Catwalk is fabulous! I bought this for my niece Annie and we read it at the same time -- I loved the way the girls follow their dreams and overcome their obstacles and she loved the fantastic fashionista scene at Pashmina's school and the wild but relatable characters! It's a perfect next step for Cheetah Girls fans worldwide. A great book!

I could not put this book down! It is so well written. Deborah did an awesome job with the dialouge and such! =D I cannot wait for the sequel!

CATWALK is a romping good read. It;s witty and hilarious. Deborah Gregory's voice is sharper than ever. This the perfect book for girls who have outgrown the Cheetah Girls and are ready for something with a little more edge and spice.

As a student at Fashion International High School, Pashmina has her sights set high.

She's entered a competition to create her own fashion line, and she's got multitudes of ideas. Along with her three best friends, they'll compete for a chance at a fabulous career, a scholarship, and their own show.

CATWALK is a lively and energetic novel that is tons of fun. Though it is endlessly engaging, the constant use of the girls' personal jargon does grate on the nerves rather than come off as fun and whimsical like THE CONFESSIONS OF GEORGIA NICOLSON series. However, if readers can get past that, they're in for a fun and wild adventure through the fashion world, where the only size that matters is the size of your style.

This is a wonderful read for those girls who've outgrown The Cheetah Girls.

Reviewed by: The Compulsive Reader

My 8 year old loved this book -- the story of a special group of horses --told in lyrical prose that stretched his imagination -- with gorgeous pictures -- Buy this book as a gift and it will be treasured for years!!

This book is dedicated to the spirit of the American mustang, inspired by the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary in Hot Springs, South Dakota.

Every page of this large picture book is filled with breathtaking paintings of the scenery and horses of the west. The main character is a mare, a Medicine Hat mustang (named for their markings), and this book tells of her life in the wild with her herd. They undergo many trials--including an attack by cougars, and attempts by men to round them up.

Gregory Manchess is an award-winning painter who has worked on projects for Time and the National Geographic Society. This is his fifth children's book. If you love horses even a tiny bit, the stunning paintings of the horses running wild and free in their hills will stir and inspire you. The artist is especially good at depicting movement and speed.

This book will make a perfect gift for readers who love wild life, history, the west, and of course, horses.

Armchair Interviews says: The story will appeal to all ages and the illustrations of running horses are incredible.

Greg Manchess' oil paintings for this book are simply jaw-dropping. He captures in a wonderful painterly fashion, the movement and pure energy of these horses, something which a very hard thing to do, the animals appear to be in motion, simply in paint. For the art alone is it well worth buying and I give it my highest recommendation.

Written by Brian Heinz and illustrated by Gregory Manchess, Cheyenne Medicine Hat is the story of a mare leading a herd of wild horses amid the rocky lands and the prairie of the American West. Named Medicine Hat for her markings that Sioux warriors believed were sacred protective shields in battle, she must help her fellow mustangs survive the search for food and water, attacks from predators such as cougars, and perhaps most threatening of all, the advance of horse wranglers. The utterly stunning, full-color illustrations distinguish this powerful and emotional picturebook story, featuring text involved enough to be ideal for young readers who are almost ready to move on to chapter books.