Roberts Books

This is a good telling of the life of St. Francis of Assisi geared for parents to read to their children.

Beautiful book that I have shared with friends. Sender was prompt and the book delivered in new condition.

My children (ages 5 & 7)and I enjoyed this book thoroughly. Well written, captivating with lovely pictures. Held our interest and really brought Saint Francis of Assisi alive for us.

This is a large hardcover book, and it is overwhelmingly beautiful. It is beautifully illustrated, and beautifully written. Robert Kennedy Jr. is a person I feel I know now, and I would say he is a remarkable soul. His father must be very proud of him for writing this holy book...it will touch many souls and lead them closer to heaven...where his father is now.
This book may be for children, but I am an adult. I will treasure it always and pass it down. It sits on my coffee table, and I framed the piece of art of Saint Francis attached in the book. It hangs on the wall above my couch. Needless to say, this book is a holy treasure from an honorable man.

I ordered two copies of this story, one for my nephew who loves animals and one for myself. Saint Francis was one of my mom's favorite saints to pray to and she also loved animals. So, I was curious as to her quite devotion to this saint, now that she has passed. This story brought much understanding and peace to me. It is so well written and illustrated, I could read it over and over. I also like the way the author begins the story and explains his devotion to Saint Francis and the impact he had on his life. The author is also the son of a man who had a great impact on my life, Robert F. Kennedy. His father would be proud of this book and the work he does for the environment. I plan on purchasing more copies of this book for my other nephews and nieces. Great way to spark their interest in one of God's many great inspirations.

Robert Grossbach's A SHORTAGE OF ENGINEERS is a tragic-comic laugh-out-loud must read for people who enjoy a good chuckle at the absurdities of bureaucracy, managers who cannot manage, and parents willing to risk their seven-year-olds for the glory of a soccer game.

Fresh out of engineering college, an idealistic Zack has nothing to do for the first seven weeks of his first job with a large engineering firm. Then suddenly the rush is on to meet impossible deadlines, as he tries to work through a Kafkaesque bureaucracy with only Alice-in-Wonderland characters to help. Pitted against hypocritical managers, insane cynical coworkers with bizarre philosophies and agendas, and nearly impossible electronic tasks, Zack manages to preserve an ideal of engineer as miracle worker.

Surprises, sex, and hilarity characterize Grossbach's latest novel. There are no shortages of comic situations, crazy but true-to-life characters, serious issues, and laughs--lots and lots of laughs. The flow diagram of an engineer asking for a date in the middle of the novel is worth the cover price alone.

If you've ever worked in a corporate bureaucracy (not necessarily an engineering one), you'll love Shopper Jim's consistent ability to tell it like it is. What's more, if you've been in the workforce, you've most likely met and worked with most of the characters in the book... some of whom are heartbreaking, others despicable, all true-to-life. A little bit of slapstick keeps the pace manageable. An absolute must read for anyone who's an engineer or is thinking about becoming one; certainly of interest to anyone else (my retired mom loved it). If you're a displaced Long Islander, you'll also enjoy the local flavor.

Anyone who has ever worked in an engineering firm will love this book. Or should I say the parts of the book which deal directly with life in a large, mismanaged technical firm.
This is the story of a recent college graduate working in a defense contracting firm. He quickley relizes that what he learned in school is next to no good to him in here. Parts must be orderd before a design is made, his boss is running a consulting business on the side, and people dress backward. Grossbach brilliantly sums up the frustration of college students hitting the 'real world'. He does it so well that I gave the book 4 stars. The actual plot is not that of a four star book. But the book was so funny and insightful I gave it a favorble rating.

It didn't take long for me to read this novel. I was surprised because the idea of reading a story about engineers didn't really strike me as "interesting." However, when I found out that Robert Altman was doing his next film based on this novel ("Voltage", which at the moment is on hiatus), I decided to check it out. Boy am I glad I did! It's hilarious! I mean, I laughed my butt off on practically every page of the book! Robert Grossbach is VERY good with dialogue, sarcasm, dry humor, and so on. Very much embraces the way the engineer thinks (I know many guys like the ones described here). Actually, if one were to compare the humor to that of the film, "Office Space," I'd say it's very close, if not, even more laughable.

I love the way this novel exposes the total absurdity caused by workplace bureaucracy, politics, etc. All of the characters are so fascinating and real. Similar to Catch-22 in the sense that none of the policies make any sense, none of workers really care to follow the management's rules, so much complacency and such a rude awakening for a young man entering the workforce three weeks after graduating from college. It's enough to embitter someone for a lifetime.

Some examples that set off "out-loud laughter" are Zack's Urinary Styles and Strategies, Shopper Jim's rules of the workplace, aside from all the other incredible idiosyncrasies that all the characters possess. I especially snicker at the way the author describes dressing style of one of the female characters, Lilah. Florescent-colored dresses? My God! For a story set in the late 80s, it's perfect! Still these facets are just a tip of the iceberg.

A few issues that made me wonder was 1) Is it true that most guys are as horny and so quick to fantasize and physically react to beautiful women as the main character in this book, Zack Zaremba? I had to consult my husband on this one and he said "Not really," although I now wonder if HE was telling the truth...and 2) Other than the constant horniness, Zack seemed to be rather mature for a 22-23 year-old male. But hey, maybe I just didn't know any mature 22-year-old males in my lifetime!

The preceding issues aside, this novel is still very entertaining and disillusioning all at the same time, but never depressing. Very much like the character of Shopper Jim, it's written in a manner that's not meant to be taken too seriously, you could cry at the total absurdity of the engineer's world, or you could just laugh...and laugh...and laugh!

If you've ever worked in design engineering, and you've got a sense of humor (OK, I admit that limits the potential readership), then you've got to read this book. I was hooked after the first half a dozen pages, when the newly graduated, newly hired young engineer fantasizes, on his first day, that he is going to work for this same company for the next 45 years, until his retirement. If that doesn't make you bust a gut, nothing will!

There are just so many situations and characters that you'll recognise from real life. For instance, have you ever been asked to submit a detailed list of materials and components to purchasing- before you've even begun the design work? Have you ever been assigned a design project only to have to consult a dictionary to find out exactly what the item is that you are supposed to design? Have you ever worked forever on a project that the entire team knew was doomed from the first week? As for characters, well, I'm strongly tempted to change my screen name to "Shopper Jim"- that advice to always keep enough boxes in your office, or trunk, to move all your stuff is just too close to the mark....

Prior to this, the only humorous novel that I ever found dealing with engineers was Vonnegutt's _Player Piano_. While that book is excellent, and reminds me of my early days, this novel is right on the money with the current state of the profession.

Oh yeah, after you've read this, the fact that manufacturing (and engineering) in the U.S. is packing up and/or dieing off is alot easier to take....

This book was fun, lightly suspenseful and magical. I could really relate to the characters. Very nice!

The magic has drawn you to this book! In this book Song of the Unicorns, by Rachel Roberts, there are three girls who have magical gems and powers. Adrian is fearless and brave. Emily is happy-going and caring. Kara is the drama-queen.
The book starts out in New Mexico. In this book the three mages find baby unicorns. The unicorns grow their horns and become more magical. But an evil warrior comes to steal the unicorns' newly attained magic. The unicorns, helpless with out their magic, will surly not survive, or will they? Read the book to find out. In my opinion this book is thrilling. It keeps you on the edge of your seat. It is full of magical action. If you like fantasy, you will love this book. I myself think this book is perfect. The book is absolutely thrilling!

This book is Awesome!! This book totally deserves 100 stars. Emily invites her friends with her Colrado to visit her dad thouh she tries to get along with her step mother. Anyways she then finds these baby unicorns and quickly has to send them to Dalrida before somebody else will capture them first. U must read this book it is awesome and you won't regret it.

Now starting the quest for magic series the adventure contuines as Emily invites her friends to New Mexico but... is upset with her dad's new wife and Emily tries to ignore her.As Emily and the rest of the group things are going to be normal their wrong big time. Baby unicorns come to Earth and the mages quickly have to send them back to Dalradia before this evil knight will capture them first. As they will Emily the healer has this dream thats almost like a vision of what may become of the unicorns if their to late to save them.

Bingo! I've been waiting for this ever since I saw it advertised, and it was even better than I thought it would be! It's a great doorway to another Avalon series with great new characters. The mages seem to have gotten quite a handle on their magic--well, except for Kara, who's having problems with hers.

And the big question that's answered is--is the magic always there, even if you sacrifice it?

Come to this book! It's calling to you. Listen! Hear it???

I have lived on the fringe of the world Bob describes, and I was amazed at how he could take me inside. The descriptive language made this one of those books that is your home for a while.
It left me with a great many things, but mostly the hunger for what is next from this author. Bob has many hats, and wears them all so well.
Let's hope he puts the author hat back on.

John H. Bidwell

This book is a wonderful mixture of fictional literature combined with the political backdrop of the reunification of Germany and an insider's view of the classical music world as seen through the eyes of a student conductor, Cooper Barrow, a conservatory dropout returning to his first love, although the challenges he faces are significant. The story follows Mr. Barrow's studies with a master conductor suffering from his own demons, in Germany where the culture, language and methods are not familiar, where he falls in love with a fellow musician, which of course has its own complications. The book is extremely well written, and is a pleasure to experience, sweeping the reader into the world in which Mr. Barrow is trying to make his mark. He is tormented by his teacher, trying to learn all he can under extremely difficult conditions pitted against other student conductors in an overly competitive environment, always with the fear of failure hanging over his head. The lessons he learns take him to new heights in his musical endeavors, forever changing his perceptions of music, and through his affair, his perceptions of life.

There is a bootcamp sort of relationship between our protagonist and his tough German professor who has been through the worst of Hitler's attrocities. Both wounded geniuses need a little bit of love and a chance to realize their true talents and role as real players in the world of concertmasters. A female oboeist from Eastern Germany plays a role in both of their lives while she deals with her own deamons escaping from the East. There is real passion in the romance that occurs, but the over-riding theme seems to be the affects of the pain and suffering that some of the Germans have lived through during the reign of communism and Hitler.

Sometimes, the story seemed a bit harsh and strained, although in the end, I think it was very realistic and the outcome certainly not a stretch. And for a non-musician, there is huge and interesting insight into the world of musicians and the huge effort and talent it takes to get to the top.

Identity and power characterize both the themes of The Student Conductor and the writing itself. Ford knows the world of classical music profoundly. Everything is depicted correctly. Astonishingly, he simultaneously captures the tremulous mindset of an American in 1989 Germany. This is a novel in the mold, curiously, of Faulkner. It is about a time and a place, but it is mostly about memory and love. Like Faulkner, Ford explores both individual and collective experiences of history as well as of life and music. While perhaps not quite on Faulkner's plane, Ford is a superb writer, though given to the occasional stiff turn of phrase. This is an extraordinary novel, and ranks with Frank Conroy's Body and Soul as one of the best fictional depictions of the world of classical music.

After finishing 'The Student Conductor' and replacing the dust jacket, I noticed that the front flap contained a blurb comparing its author, Robert Ford, to John Fowles. I hadn't thought of that but instantly agreed on seeing it. In fact, make it a blend of Fowles and Erich Ambler. Mr. Ford's writing exudes erudition and clever insights without even a hint of showing off or straining for effect. He effortlessly creates an authentically European ambiance and engages the reader with his characters' (and his own?) finely-tuned sentiments contrasting today's healthy Germany with its profoundly divided and dysfunctional predecessor during the cold war. In this setting Ford weaves an Ambler-like tale of intrigue involving a promising American apprentice conductor, a brilliant but unstable teacher who seems bent on surreptitiously destroying his best pupils, and a beautiful oboist with an enigmatic past.

But that's not all. Ford delivers much more than just an engaging yarn to anyone who might be curious about the trade secrets of conducting, the ambitions and anxieties of classical musicians, and the nuts and bolts of orchestra management. He has mastered the technique of using professional jargon and recondite references in such a way that the reader is gradually drawn into the psyche of the protagonist (Cooper Barrow, the student conductor) and begins to acquire an enhanced musical understanding that feels real. And in fiction, the feeling is what counts. I confess to a little thrill of edification on learning that the famous tuning note A-440 actually vibrates 443 times per second.

A trio of tiny glitches stands out only because the book is, overall, so perfectly crafted. On page 15 "lay" is used where "lie" belongs. On page 216 "lay" again appears where "laid" should be, and on page 231 "affect" incorrectly takes the place of "effect."

Mr. Ford's first novel is a treat on several levels and I am glad to recommend it with enthusiasm.

Okay, so it's a story we've all heard before, but that does not change the pure loveliness of this story of a seed that does not quite understand its purpose. The prose is beautifully sing-song and the art is enchanting, both handy for drawing this to its sweet and touching conclusion.

I love every book of Jan Karon that I have read. This one was very inspirational. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Jan Karon is an excellent writer. I gave this book as gifts with packets of "moonflower" seeds attached and it was received with awe and appreciation. It's a very fun book and you can read not only the story and enjoy the illistrations, but make your own annalagies in your own life.

Such a sweet story and full of encouragement. I hope there are some primary school teachers and parents that read this little story to children. The story is simple and with the little bit of repetition makes it easy to remember, but still ends with a surprise. It surely is good for all ages!

Many times it takes an adult to get the meaning of a child's story. Patience is the thing that is stressed and there are so many who need to learn that when you are patient, good things can happen. I am a Master Gardener and Moonflowers are a favotie plant of many of us. I give this book as a reward to other Master Gardeners who have served our association in some way. I also include a jelly jar and a pack of Moonflower seeds. Jan Karon is also a favorite author and I read everything she writes.

Sybil N. Phillips, Alabama

This book is amazing. I have some experience with Flash video and video production techniques, but I felt like I had a lot of gaps in my knowledge. This book covers everything I need to know, and the included code is priceless. If you want a robust Flash player, with auto-detect, auto-update, etc., but don't care to learn the ins and outs of Actionscript, just use what's provided. You'll have Player up and running in minutes.

I ended up sharing the book with our Video Production team, too. They used a lot of the instruction about good compression, proper aspect ratios, and creating alpha channels for FLVs.

Rob Reinhardt is the master of Video deployed in Flash. I was so happy to see he finally has written a book that captures his knowledge, experience, and excellent teaching skills. Rob is clear, concise and you can be guaranteed that he has tested, used and deployed all the techniques he demonstrates.
Bravo!!!!!

this book is a decent hands-on approach to creating video players using AS3 & AS2. Two of the missing things that I think are necessary are creating custom volume controls and handling full-screen mode.

There's nobody more prolific and comprehensive in the world of Flash video delivery than Reinhardt. Considering the enormity of topics and goals addressed in this book, he's really outdone himself this time. Essential for anyone interested in serious deployment of Flash video.

My company bought other Flash Video books, but this book had the ActionScript 3.0 code I was looking for. The DVD included with the book rocks--I've always wanted to test HD footage in Flash, but didn't want to spend too much time looking for huge files on the Internet. The DVD has lots of HD content to use as sample content.

I took the course offered by Udwadia last semester because of the rave reviews I saw on the web. I thought they were too good to be true. So I was 'cool' to him at the start. But I was wrong, dead wrong! This guy is in fact even better than what the reviews say about him. He is SIMPLY SUPERB.

His book is awesome! What I enjoyed most was the simplicity with which things are put. Each idea is presented as a simple, near-obvious idea, but the sum total of all these thoughts is amazing. What was most impressive was that Udwadia thinks in just the way he writes. He thinks along simple patterns. But there have been so many reviews of his book that there is little I can add to them, except that it truly, truly is an OUTSTANDING book. Those working in dynamics who have not read it are missing something, for sure.

So let me tell you about the guy, a bit. He is the first Professor that I have met who had a welcoming look on his face when a student went to see him. Most of them can't wait for students to leave their offices! He has a tremendous sense of humor, in class he often took us from humor, to history, to philosophy, to math, to dynamics, along one continuous thread of thought. The guy is a genius, I think. I was continually bowled over by the breadth and depth of his knowledge, so unlike an Engineering Prof.

I realized as the course progressed that the guy is deeply dedicated to teaching and helping students. He gave each student/student-group a 'semester project,' suggested the topic to most of us, and actually worked with each group of students on their projects. He even debugged my computer program. It took me quite a while to get over that because I have never had a Professor do that for me. I eventually wrote a manuscript with his constant help that I planned to send out for publication, and I naturally put his name on it. He removed his name, saying that it was I who did the work. What a shocker, from a guy who I know must survive in a 'publish or perish' environment.

As I got to know him during our meetings I realized that this was an unusual person of the most unusual kind: exceedingly well-read, unusually helpful, a superb listener, and a person with enormous grace and dignity. He has standards of integrity that far exceed mine, and I suspect, most others I know. I always felt a sort of comforting presence when I was around him, and, as several others have said, I learned more from him, far more, than just analytical dynamics. He opened my eyes to the way we all should be. And for that, I will always be grateful.

I just wish USC could clone a few more guys like Prof. Udwadia. One last thought: I wonder if he is religious. What religion? Does anybody know? I'd be interested to find out.

I just took the course taught by Professor Udwadia on Analytical Dynamics at USC this semmester. Wow! This guy is not just good, he is TOPS! From the very first lecture I was in amazement with the facility he has in teaching this subject.

I can now see why the book he has written is fantastic. He used it as a text, and then went well beyond it.

He is definitely the best teacher I have ever had. He is a delight to listen to, and was an inspiration to every student in the class. His lectures sparkle, they concentrate on ideas not algebra, and he seemed to have something to say in every lecture that touched me and went well beyond dynamics. The thing that impressed me most is that despite his enormous knowledge of the subject, he is a really humble fellow, a superb listener, a great guy.

For those of you who think the book is superb, you haven't seen nothin' yet until you get to hear this guy speak. Take a ride on his course, he takes you on an incredible journey. It was more than worth my time; and I assure you, you will also find it so.

I recommend that everyone dealing with mechanics get a copy of this gem, and read it! It is the most amazing technical book I have read! I don't want to repeat what others have said in their reviews, and so there is not much more for me to say other than that this book has got to be a classic.

This is the best Professor I have ever had in my entire college education. He is just a wonderful person, extremely erudite, a superb mathematician, physicist, and a man steeped in the liberal arts. His teaching style is unforgettable. He is very clear in what he says, and he knows how to emphasize the key aspects in any given material.

He struck me as an unusually humble person, always willing to learn from his students, which is something very refreshing to see. It is only when he starts to speak that you realize that this guy is a completely different type of person from the average university professor. His knowledge is amazing: philosophy, history, art, science, literature, it is simply baffling. I don't think I have ever met a man like him.

What impressed me most were his human qualities: integrity, humility, and kindness. I think transferring these qualities to students is what education should be most about.

USC's School of Engineering is one lucky place to have a guy like him on its faculty. His book is a mild reflection of him; his course is something more than that, because I am certain he puts in a lot of effort in preparing every lecture, and this results in 'teaching at its best.'

There is a lot said about this book already in the comments given by others, so I won't waste your time saying the same thing: THE BOOK IS A MASTERPIECE. GET IT, READ IT, AND ENJOY!

What I want to say is that Udwadia's course is a million times better than his book. He is about the most well-read man I know. As a person he is just awesome! He is an excellent listener, unusually humble, ready to acknowledge a mistake (catch a Prof. doing that!), and has a spontaneous sense of humor that is difficult to match. His facility with the English language left most of us in the class just dumbfounded! He can weave words together like I haven't seen before. He is a mathematician, a scientists, a historian, a philosopher, and indeed an artist in the way he teaches. USC sure is lucky to have a guy like him on their teaching faculty.

I remember reading this book way back in Grade 12. Its not so way back considering that it was probably two or three years ago. This book ranks among the best war books I have ever read. In some places, I laughed so hard I nearly dropped a lung. In other places, I remember being so sombre and imaging the horror experienced by Mowat and his band of Hasty Ps.

This is a must read for any Canadian even remotely interested in the Canadian role in World War II.

I didn't really want to read another war book, but a friend convinced me he thought this was the best one ever written. However, I came away from it thinking it wasn't as good as "The Forgotten Soldier". The last chapter about the battle over the Moro river was just as good. However, the depth of the first three chapters I felt was diminished by the author's sense of humor and his tendency to exaggerate. For example, the dying of the inscrutable A K Long - taking out his pipe for a smoke and a book to read when he was so seriously wounded, calm in the midst of terror - struck me as unrealistic. In sum, this was a good book but I would say, not really memorable.

I bought this book almost in a state of doubt. I had seen the name Farley Mowat and automatically assumed it was a good piece of writing as is most if not all of his other pieces of work. He is perhaps one if not the best Canadian writer ever to pick up a pen and paper. And after reading this book, i quickly realized why.

I had been searching for a book that could possibly inform and educate me on a Canadian's standpoint of the second world war. I quickly realized that I had picked out a good book. It puts you in the mind of a young man reaching adulthood and as had every other young man at the time, had his mind set in joining his fellow Canadians and Allies in the battle. This mindframe had been to be fairly excited and actually happy to go to the frontlines. As it had obviously not been programmed to the unfortunate reality of the war itself. Farley Mowat tells a great and wonderful story of his life before and during the timeline of the Canadian military's part in the war itself. Whether it was the obvious anxiety of waiting to be shipped overseas to the frontlines, or the brutal and graphic reality of the battle itself, Mowat unveils a true and dramtically emotional story of World War II.

Myself I was seaching for a book such as this one. It retold the historically correct graphic and terrifying nature of war, more specifically that of the Second World War. I know that one such as myself will never know and hopefully never experience the reality of war but, I can honestly say that I have infinite gratitude and thanks for those who fought for our freedom. All in all, a WONDERFUL book and I highly recommend it to any Farley Mowat fans or anyone who likes great historical literature. I just cannot seem to express how great of a book this really was. Hope you like it too!

Undeniably the best war memoir written by a Canadian who served in the Second World War. The book chronicles Mowat's experiences in 1943 as a participant in the invasion of Sicily and Italy, and in classic Mowat style captures both the stark reality and lighter side of his experiences. Mowat also wrote a history of his unit--one of the first books he published, and which was later revised (and is somewhat difficult to find at the moment)--entitled The Regiment.

This book was a great surprise for me. I picked it up at a local library because I saw the name Mowat and thought, "Funny, Isn't he a Canadian naturalist? What's he doing in the History section?" What followed was a fascinating voyage of war,adventure,hilarity and,ultimately,tragedy and pain. Walking into the experience of WWII with a completely innocent demeanor, anxious to get into a fight, this brilliant writer has many funny and almost fatal false starts. When the fighting gets serious, the glib descriptions of his units treacherous challenges are positively riveting. I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN. If you like your war personal, exciting and honest, get this book to a comfortable chair and be prepared to not move for a night and a day. A brilliant book by a Canadian national treasure.

Like virtually everyone else, I was completely blown away by this Apogee book, and wholeheartedly concur that the included DVD is well worth the price alone.

I only wish one or more of the Apollo 11 astronauts themselves were engaged to provide a commentary sound track on the DVD. Afterall, such is common practice on most theatrically based movies available in this media format. Nevertheless, there is wealth of pure video film footage, but unfortunately mostly of exceedingly poor (originally recorded) audio quality, or simply long periods of silence, with no voice chatter whatsoever, apparently due to lack of narrative communications skills on the part of the first moonwalker during their EVA on the Moon. NASA's mission control must have notice the lack of voluntary information voiced by the astronauts, since a couple of times CAPCOM in Houston asks Armstrong and Aldrin for a radio check. (To some extent this lack of commentary of what the astronauts were doing and observing, thankfully, was remedied in later missions.) Also, during the EVA, LMP (Buzz Aldrin) voice communications with Neil, the Mission Commander, as well as Mission Control are particularly difficult to understand, because of frequent transmission dropouts within the lunar surface voice communications link. Also, because of the relay used, there is an intrusive echo. However, this is the way it actually was during several of the Apollo missions. Apogee did the best they could with what they had to work with through no fault of their own, and in fact seemingly added value to the audio track whenever, and as much as possible. What a pity the original sound recordings from NASA's archives were not already somehow rerecorded to improve their value for posterity.

Nevertheless, the book and especially the DVD are an Apollo era collector's dream of priceless, nearly four decades old, still historically significant material. I think this is the only Apollo related book DVD combo of its kind with so much A/V and textual information about a singular mission. The content of both is also well organized and Apogee's Robert Goodwin deserves much praise for his efforts in creating this unique DVD. Without question, it adds much additional value in Volume 3 of the series of Apollo 11 Mission Reports.

I especially liked the DVD segment of the actual lunar landing sequence. Apogee added subtitles to augment the hard to hear voice transmissions - this time from the "actual" LM pilot, Neil Armstrong. The landing segment starts from LM Eagle's PDI (descent stage deceleration rocket engine burn) at 50,000 feet, and take the viewer second by second, all the way through to the last minute (unplanned) detour to the actual landing site. The book, and to a lesser extent the DVD, explain why the LM landed nearly 4 miles beyond the originally planned touchdown coordinates; a risky, but necessary, decision made by Armstrong, to bring the ship down, from his perspective at the controls, to a visibly safer landing area. The landing finally occurred with ~30 seconds of fuel remaining. That decision took real guts!

The book includes numerous pages of figures depicting the LM's powered descent from high gate (~7200 feet), to low gate (~500 feet), to actual touchdown. The camera's view of lunar terrain at close range, if you pay real close attention, reveals some of the small craters and boulder fields directly before the belated landing site. If I was aboard for the flight, I think "terrifying" could best describe the situation, yet the astronauts voices on the cockpit recorder, are completely calm, cool and collected through the entire ordeal. Their pre-flight training must have prepared them for any possible contingency.

One of section of the book, supplemented by A/V footage in the landing segment, covers several aspects of the mission that actually did go wrong. Mostly about equipment failures that did not present any dangerous conditions to abort the mission, lest not life threatening to the astronauts. Nevertheless, they were still interesting to learn about after all these years since man's first successful lunar landing occurred.

For example, just after the astronauts' EVA, while back in the LM, they discovered a broken switch handle on the ascent rocket engine ignition arming circuit breaker. In addition, earlier in the mission after liftoff from the KSC, a pressurization heater in one of two O2 tanks in the Service Module was suspected of failing. (This was something that relates to the previous and two subsequent Apollo missions, which eventually had diastrous consequences for Apollo 13.)

In the blackness of space and shades of gray on the surface, even in bright sunlight, the landing site on the Moon, both videos and still photography, appears in exceptional good quality. This is because much of event was originally filmed with a 16mm color movie camera fixed to the LMP window. Plus, the astronauts used a high resolution stills film camera called a Hasselblad.

There are many video segments thoughout the double sided DVD, of greatly enhanced picture quality because of NASA's use of both these camera. The famous television footage, for network TV broadcasts of the event in realtime, is frankly horrendously bad in quality. But, do not let that dissaude you from getting this particular DVD. Apogee has elevated the video chronology of Apollo 11 to new heights.

Fortunately, both Neil and Buzz's first steps were recorded by fixed field of view fixed mount 16mm color camera, in addition to the TV camera, and therefore from multiple angles. The results are surprisingly good from the color camera filming from behind the LMP's interior window. Of course, the astronauts come in and out of view using this technique.

Still, the viewer can clearly see about a 30 foot area of the lunar surface immediately outside the LM and the astronauts working around the American flag. Apogee had to time stretch each frame of the color camera film recording for purposes of synchronizing with the black and white TV broadcast.

Intersperced with the motion picture film are numerous still color photos from the Hasselblad, and the way Apogee sequenced and coordinated all three picture image sources is masterful edited to create this unique DVD.

The DVD has several consecutive segments covering the moonwalk, about 2 hours in duration, each selectable in chapters from the DVD's main menus, one for each side of the disc. On the flip side are several key in-flight maneuvers during the mission, plus the complete sequence from PDI, up until the actual lunar landing. The landing has the realtime audio track from the cockpit communications with CAPCOM and occasional PAO ground loop narratives.

The in-flight maneuvers shown include extraction of the LM from the spent S-IVB third stage booster rocket on the way to the Moon, all docking and undocking maneuvers between the CSM and the LM, both pre and post lunar landing. Each of these is from the vantage point of each of the two maneuverable spacecrafts. There is also an eerie view of the Moon's many cratered and barren features, from the windows of the CM while still in lunar orbit.

The DVD concludes with a large (menu driven) selection of "color" pictures of Tranquility Base, showing the LM, ALSEPs and nearby lunar landscape, while Amstrong and Aldrin were walking around on the Moon. Some of these photos are well publized, but many others have rarely been seen in other Apollo publications. Again, these photographs were shot with the Hasselblad and therefore are in fairly good resolution; all sharply focused and of unsurpassed color quality given the generally colorless imagery of the lunar surface.

Overall, this book and included DVD, are a goldmine of Apollo 11 Mission facts and figures, and a complete A/V photographic record of the event. The jam packed DVD is sure to become a prized possession of enthusiastic space buffs of the Apollo era. The only thing better would have been as an eye witness, voyager to the Moon in the capacity of a sightseeing passenger astronaut.

Apogee has given us that vicariously, in this richly rewarding DVD, placed in a vinyl jacket inside the pages of another one of their very fine Apollo Mission Reports. These are perfectly complementary to one another, and Volume 3 of the Apollo 11 Mission Report series is by far the most unique assemblage of diverse source material of all the Apollo Missions in the Apogee Mission Reports portfolio.

This 3 volume series on Apollo 11 is a treasure of information on this historic flight of the Apollo Program. The CDs are a wonderful addition with incredible resources for use in the classroom. As a high school science teacher, it is wonderful to have these great resources!

For producing the DVD alone, which includes rare NASA film footage, much of which has never been viewed before, Robert Godwin deserves some sort of award for this. It's absolutely brilliant.

As the others point out here - the included DOUBLE SIDED (flip it over for more!) DVD is worth the price of admission and more!

There is a lot of raw 16mm onboard film footage that is interesting including, docking sequences and orbit shots but the fully synchronised sequence of the first ever moon EVA is good. The whole of the powered descent - it is FANTASTIC. Watch them practice in the simulators in the Tom Hanks series "From the Earth to the Moon" (the only place I know where you can get a sense of how hard a moon landing was) then listen to the real Armstrong's telling comment "This is harder than the simulator" on this DVD.

The only thing missing from the powered desent commentary is the full mission control loop - and really it has to be for clarity - leaving just Charlie Duke as CapCom as the voice of Mission Control set against Armstrong and Aldrin. The only thing you can do to better this is to actually visit the Apollo exhibit at NASA in Florida where you get a snip of the powered descent in an AV display and you DO get the control room loop which includes Gene Kranz's call - "if we lose comms or get that program alarm again - call an abort". They didn't - and you can't help but get the feeling that if Kranz had called an abort at 100ft Armstrong would have just kept going. Mission Control were already having kittens about how long he had flown on manual, the comms breaking up (listen to the "Switch to Omni and set it in slew" - on the DVD for a clue - if you ever hear the Mission Control loop it sounds much worse!) and how low the fuel really was - and on this DVD you can almost hear Aldrin saying on the cockpit loop "Damn Neil PUT HER DOWN" (he doesn't but you can hear it in what he does say).

Yep the book is good too (as are the other two that make up the Apollo 11 report) and for the Apollo buff you must have all three. If you jut want to know what the first moon landing and moon walk were like - buy volume 3 - for the DVD

The book is what I've come to expect from Apogee. But the CD Rom included with this is worth twice the price of the whole package. I feel like I've just seen the landing for the first time. The EVA also is just wonderful. What brilliant use of technology Apogee.
My hat is off to you once again.
PS Please do the same with Pete Conrad's mission!!!!