Robertson Books

This book thoroughly explains each commonly used electrotherapy modality, the physiological indications for its use, and gives thorough guidelines and principles for the dosage and application of each.

It is presented in traditional textbook style and makes use of clear diagrams and graphs to aid one's understanding of concepts. After reading each chapter you will be able to apply principles in a logical way to decide on appropriate treatment for your patient's specific condition.

It is however not an "quick reference" book where you can quickly find the dosage to use for a particular modality. The book is aimed at giving the reader a thorough understanding of why and how to use a chosen modality and would not be easy to use at a glance in a busy practice.

Recommended for students and those with time to read chapters thoroughly.

The amount of work which went into this work is incredible -- Robertson has not only listed every California railroad, but he has also accumulated huge lists of every engine that ran on most of these roads. To give the entries more context, he has included details about U.S. and California history. The only flaw is that he sometimes sends you to other books in the set for details on important California Roads like the AT&SF. Most railfans will appreciate what he has offered, nonetheless!

Railroad buffs, and other sorts--fire buffs, gun and edge weapons collectors and renactors are an an obsessive lot of people.
Probably most obsessive are members od the living history and reenactment groups commemorating past times and events. Of all these probably the most intense are those the War Between the States. In addition to spending hundreds of dollars on reproductions of period clothing and equipment of the soldiers, they include their whole families with wives and children dressing in period clothing and living in the conditions of the period also. Yiu have to be ossessive to run around on a hot July day wearing period scratchy wool clothes. Even their underwear is made in the old fashion!
World War Two buffs also include a whole subset who collect and resdore old soft-skinned and armored vwhicles, gathering several times a year at rallies.
Fire buffs mostly seem to be content with atrifacts and books. Those who run antique fire engines usually are members of established volunteer companies who paticipates in rallies known as msuters and compete in fire fighter skills.
Most buffs (those who are prodwssional hiatorians and curators as well as the otherwise employed) think oten on their subjects in the hours they are not eatng, sleeping dong ohter life activites or making a living.
You might well ask, how does a buff differ from a fan. Iit is a continuum. Most fans are content to go rha rah when thier temams win but think of other things mostly. Those who paint themselves up and go half-naked in cold weather, are way beyond buffery.
Buffery mesns thinking constatly of a favorite subject, devoting most of their spare time to the neglect of household chores, and lots of money on trips, activites, and memoribilia.
Most collect bookds on their favorite subjects and willingly spend beaucoup bucks. You have to f0cus or specializw on a place, an activity, or a particular railroad.
The publishers who serve these niche markets mostly strive to turn out definitive accuaate and complete works. But they are oftne private individuals who can't aafford large press runs which end up in remainder. Railroad books, especially are expensive itmes to produce, photograde coated paper, quarto size ans lansxape format are deriguer, while hard bindings are aleays desired.
When I forst bemame railroad books some forty yeara go, compared to the avwrage hardback which then sold for tow or three dollars, they were over ten dollars then and those were printed on non glossy paper. Since buffs are obessive, they buy everything on their favorie subject. But since they soon go out of print, in constrast to the general market, there is no drop on price, instead it keeps going up. The book here is one good example.
It has to be useful and well made or it would be so high in the market. High demand and short supply, a basic rule of economics.
I ddon't have this one, though I am a buff in many respects, my railroad buffery is down in third or fourth priority. The Santa FE is my focus and the B&O cines a dustant secnd,
One must regret the demise of Bonanza Books which forty some years ago would reprint many small runs and hobby books. Only Dover seems to still be in the game, and they stick mostly to public domain titles.

Henry French was a Harvard-educated judge and farmer from Concord, Massachusetts. Back in 1859, his seminal work, "Farm Drainage: The Principles, Processes, and Effects of Draining Land with Stones, Wood, Plows, and Open Ditches and Especially with Tiles -- Including Tables of Rain-Fall, Evaporation, Filtration, Excavation, Capacity of Pipes; Cost and Number to the Acre, of Tiles, Etc, Etc." was published by A.O. Moore & Co. of New York, and sold for $1.00. Presumably the copyright on the original has expired and this is a reprint.

Technologies and costs have changed in the past 150 years, so these parts are obsolete. But, the book still has historical and literary value. The term, "French drain", comes from it. Here's a quote from the original, found at http://www.concordma.com/magazine/janfeb00/frenchdrains.html:

"No child, who ever saw a cellar afloat, during [an] inundation, will ever outgrow the impression. You stand on the cellar stairs, and below is a dark waste of waters, of illimitable extent. By the dim glimmer of the dip-candle, a scene is presented which furnishes a tolerable picture of "chaos and old night," but defies all description.

"Empty dry casks, with cider barrels, washtubs, and boxes, ride triumphantly on the surface, while half filled vinegar and molasses kegs, like water-logged ships, roll heavily below. Broken boards and planks, old hoops, and staves, and barrel heads innumerable, are buoyant with this change of the elements; while floating turnips and apples, with here and there a brilliant cabbage head, gleam in this subterranean firmament, like twinkling stars, dimmed by the effulgence of the moon at her full. Magnificent among the lesser vessels of the fleet, "like some tall admiral," rides the enormous "mash tub," while the astonished rats and mice are splashing about at its base in the dark waters, like sailors just washed, at midnight, from the deck by a heavy sea.

"The lookers-on are filled with various emotions. The farmer sees his thousand bushels of potatoes submerged, and devoted to speedy decay; the good wife mourns for her diluted pickles, and apple sauce, and her drowned firkins of butter; while the boys are anxious to embark on a raft or in tubs, on an excursion of pleasure and discovery.

"To avoid such scenes as the above, every cellar which is not upon a dry sandbank should be provided with a drain of some kind, which will at all times, secure."

I am currently in an Event Management course and this book has helped me understand the workings of the industry.
It is very clear and has seperate sections relating to the industry eg, catering and rostering.
I bought it because I live in Australia and it has relevant articles to events held here particularly the Sydney Olympic games, it also has large references to Edinbourough/England and Scottish festivals.
All the aside it is an excellent book to help anyone understand the scope of how and what yuo need to take into account for a medium to large scale event.

Five American Infidels is a clever weaving of fact and fiction.
A novel in the true sense of the word, but also a treasure
trove of information to educate us all. While entertaining
with a plot of intrigue, danger, humor and world changing
events, the main purpose is to open our eyes to the looming
danger of radical Islam. Citing the spread of Wahhabbism,
the strictest and most violent form of Islam, D P Robertson
has done an amazing amount of research to back up his work.
From the Senate Judiciary hearings on Wahhabi influence in
The United States, to the alarming spread of Wahhabi
controlled mosques here at home and exposing our so called
friends in the Middle East, Mr. Robertson has spelled it out
for us. An entertaining and very educational read. The
shear fact that this is a totally unigue genre of fiction
with an expose' included implores me to recommend this
novel to avid readers and all Americans for that matter.

Southall is to the writing of WWII, what Tom Wolf is to the journalism of the sixites. He delivers a very subjective history, full of atmosphere, impressions and emotions. But unlike Wolf, Ivan Southall experienced the dangers of operational flying first hand (as a Sunderland pilot during WWII).

For those not in the know, the Sunderland was a converted airliner -- a seaplane used for long distance and long duration patrols over the Bay of Biscay. While no where near as fast (or sexy) as the fighters and bombers that poulate most period literature, it gained a formidable reputation among German aircrew as "the flying porcupine". The pilots and crew of this beast (one of the largest aircraft of it's era) were a unique and highly skilled breed.

"Fly West" is a collection of anecdotes about 416 Squadron (Costal Command) during WWII. Sometimes Southall is part of these missions, more often he is merely recording the stories. Either way "Fly West" (the slang for running away) is an exceptional book, suitable for everyone 12 and up (I was 12 when I read it the first time, 38 the second). While Southall spares us the graphic and more visceral horrors, he doesn't let up on the terror and tension of long (twelve hours or more) operational flights. This is a page turner, with plenty of white knuckled moments.

In short, a must read for any fan of WWII litterature, or flying.

It pulled me gently along for the first half of the novel - just charming me with its marvelous sense of humour and the comforting shared experience of modern life in Toronto Ontario.

And then the little clues that Robertson had been dropping all along suddenly added up to something deeply compelling and I was hooked and shocked at how desperately I'd become attached to the hero and how I felt his jeopardy as if it were my own.

Robertson has a rare gift. He writes with the perfect balance of subtlety that keeps the reader constantly engaged in the story. He doesn't tell you anything. He takes you to his world and leaves you there. 4 and a half stars!

Cheers.

I have been familiar with both the Robertson biography of Geroge Mallory and its contents since well before its first appearance a generation ago becasue I belong to the Mallory family. With respect and appreciation for all the risk-taking, adventuresomeness and care shown by the 1999 explorers, I think that the Mallory cannot be fully understood without knowing about the family and personal context of George Mallory's life, and this biography, wirtten within the family, provides that larger persepctive.

We found this book to be much more meaningful than the "Chicken Soup" or "Life's Little Instruction" books.

It's full of poems, short stories, antecdotes, and sayings. Another great thing about this book is that it's easy to read - just a few pages at a time, or one could spend hours in it.

A nice book, full of wisdom for anyone (not just the graduate).