Johnston Books

Lynn Johnston is great.

Lynn Johnston is a great writer. Her fans will enjoy reading this book.

In 1949 the Federal Bureau of Prisons published Correctional Institution Design and Construction, a detailed "source book for planning and construction of institutions ranging in type from the small jail and short term detention facilities for juvenile delinquents to the maximum security type of institution." In the books introduction, James V. Bennett, the agency's director, wrote: "There are in the United States more than 300 state and Federal prisons, reformatories, and training schools. In addition, there are several thousand city and county jails and workhouses. This great diversity of institutions which house and handle convicted and accused criminals represents a tremendous investment in physical plants and human lives. Yet there is probably no other type of institutional construction in this country which has been devoid of intelligent planning and direction as has the construction of penal and correctional institutions."

Since the publication of that book more than five decades ago, the United States has witnessed a phenomenal growth in institutional construction and, by necessity, increased attention to prison architecture, thus addressing some of Bennett's concerns.

In 2000 Norman Johnston, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Beaver College, provided the corrections profession a comprehensive and compelling history of the evolution of prison construction and design in Forms of Constraint: A History of Prison Architecture. In addition to its historical value, the book provides guidance for the design and construction of future prisons.

This is a scholarly, well-documented, and richly illustrated volume that represents a significant contribution to correctional literature. Norman Johnston's book adds value to the bodies of knowledge on prison history, institutional architecture, and the development of correctional policy.

A historical novel that is fast-paced and well-researched. The reader does not have to get far into this story to be intrigued. The plot is full of twists and turns that make this book hard to put down. It is a quick read and definitely left me wanting more. The second book in the series "The Gairden Legacy" picks up where this one leaves off. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

The style of writing is a world apart from that found in Dr. Johnston's History of the Light and Color Measurement: Science in the Shadows. Even apart from a comparison of this earlier with his later styles, my educational and work background would allow me to nitpick and even disagree on many of his explicit and repeated points with substatiated and unsubstantiated assertions, but I will do no such thing.
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And I won't because, although I will probably never even meet and almost certainly never befriend Dr. Johnston, I would definitely like to do both. For I now realize that friends don't ever nitpick friends, and whenever possible should only disagree in the strictest privacy.
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Anyway, before picking up this book I had never seriously considered the reality of spectrometers and spectroscopy. Although this book is completely down-to-earth on these two topics, for me, they represent an almost-magical, near-Atlantis-type world of instrumentation and measurement.

I bought this book for a friend that loves Frida but it seemed to have been a book that children could read. The book was in GREAT condition though. Thanks!

I have to say this is the best new poet I read in a long time. It's funny, it's philisophical and sometimes even poignant. I especially liked that last poem about the toad. My only problem is that the table of contents didn't have page numbers, but it's short enough where that isn't a big deal. I would recommend it to anybody.

In 1906 Reginald Johnston (who became the tutor to the last emperor) travelled from Beijing to India through parts of China and Tibet.. in describing his journey he brings us through a part of the world that was probably the inspiration for Hilton's Lost Horizon. Johnston also documented the languages of the area and made a record in his book of these languages. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the temples, the culture of the time! A beautiful travel journey! A great read for any linguistic student or asian studies student as well as anyone who has been to China or plans to go there!

Powerhouse publishing firm JJ Fedorowicz have done it again. This 610 page behemoth contains over 800 photos in a large 9" x 12" format and covers everything you ever wanted to know about the "Funks" but were afraid to ask.

Coverage begins with a technical analysis of the various radio controlled demolition vehicles. Author Marcus Jaugitz guides the reader through the various Borgward, NSU and Goliath models employed by the Germans. Also interesting is the information on the Schwimmwagen 129 modified for demolition service, although it wasn't selected for use in service, this is interesting nonetheless.

The next portion of the book covers the early units which used the sdkfz 265 (Panzer I kleine Befelspanzer) as control vehicles. A large number of images are included in this section and they are of excellent quality and mostly unpublished.

The book then moves on to cover Pz. Abt 300 and 301with their panzer III control tanks. Photo coverage is spectacular consisting of large clear images that are usually only 2 per page (considering that this is a large format book, this makes images that are larger than some full page photos in smaller format publications).

Being a StuG fan, the next 300 pages or so are the highlight of the book as literally hundreds of images of StuG III Ausf G are featured in various situations. Also included are some images of a 3 ton Maultier using a Borgward truck and sdkfz 11 running gear. Only 2 of these were produced, nice to have them caught on film. Also of interest are image of Ferdinands which served or trained alongside these units. Also included are some particularly nasty images of the fighting during the Warsaw uprising,

Tiger unit coverage is excellent with some great action shots as well as detail photos clearly showing the antennae arrangement.

Throughout the book there are numerous organisational organigrams which are very nicely done. The book concludes with 30 pages of nice colour plates from Jean Restayn, handy stuff for the modeller or historian.

It's particularly difficult to give a really comprehensive summary of the material covered in a book of this size, but I can only say that in this case, good things come in big packages. This book is easily as good as JJF's 653 book, in fact based on the quality of the images and the unique subject matter, I would rate this as JJF's best book yet. The sheer amount of unpublished StuG and Tiger images alone make this book essential reference material, let alone the historical value of the excellent text and Borgward coverage.

Very highly recommended.

Once you get over reading the name "Abe Sada" as though it were "Abe Lincoln," you'll have a whale of a time reading Dr. Johnston's account of a famous modern Japanese geisha and killer. He is a professor at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, but don't let his distinguished credentials put you off, he is also a tip top storyteller. Many of us in the West heard about this case first from the shocking "art film" directed by Oshima called, IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES, and many guys who saw this movie back in the day will still not uncross their legs.

Johnston has won access to the original testimony and court transcriptions of Sada's arrest and trial. He quotes from memoirs of Sada provided by the man who interrogated her directly after the crime. "What really left an impression," said Adachi Umezo, "was when I asked her, 'Why did you cut him?' Immediately she became excited and her eyes sparkled in a strange way. At the time people were saying thaat she had cut off Ishida's thing because it was larger than average. But in reality, Ishida's was just average." Johnston asks the question, how did Udezo know rhat Ishida's penis was just average. Who can say, but as Johnston proves, Udezo must have seen a lot of men's genitals to make such a judgement.

As an appendix, the historian wins out over the storyteller, and Johnston's narrative voice slips discreetly away and we hear Abe Sada's own account of what happened, the way she saw it. For the first time, we see the whole murder slash castration story from the point of view of the woman who committed it, and we see that a society, like pre-war Japan, that had driven women to the point of insanity, their backs against the wall, monitored and legislated through rape and coerced brothel activity, might expect plenty more from any woman brave enough to strike back. If Abe Sada was a star, as Johnston foregrounds in his title, she became a star in much the same way that Valerie Solanas did, for political and economic reasons, however badly understood by both perpetrator and victim.