S Books

This book makes it clear under what pressures kids and teens grew up in the thirties and forties in Germany. The writer shows the big riff between the older and younger generations in Germany during the Hitler era. It is personal and detailed. It reaffirms many of the stories I heve heard from my parents and grandparents. A must read for every interested in keeping peace alive.

this is a very well-written book. The lifeline flows in order which makes it easy for the reader to keep track of events as they occurred. This provides a very different perspective because it is from that as a child growing up on 'Hilter's mountain', as well as that of a German citizen. This provides a very good inside look at what life was like in these most terrible of times.

This proves to be an interesting and somewhat insightful look from the perception of child. Irmgard Hunt spent her first 11 years of her life living in Berchtesgaden, under the shadow of Hitler's mountain retreat. She even had a honor of being on Hitler's lap and her parents must have been die-hard Nazis themselves to be allowed to live in that Bavarian village so close to their Fuhrer's own mountain home.

Hunt's recollection proves to be informative on how life was for people who lived in that village where Nazism was so strong. Many of her stories actually make great deal of sense to anyone familiar with the Third Reich and it made whole lot of sense to me especially since, the author was living in Berchtesgaden.

However, I do wondered how much of the book reflects reality. After all, she was very young when all this took place, most normal people do have a hard time remembering what they did, felt or thought when they were eight, nine or ten years old. The author may remembered very few details but I doubt if she could remembered all of it without being compromised by passing years of faded memories.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the story of an ordinary German girl growing up in one of the most nazified villages in Germany. But I would also caution these readers that you are relying on a memory of that child who is now a grown woman and asked yourself how much of your childhood you remembered with such details.

Excellent story of WW2 from the perspective of an ordinary little girl. I loved this story because it was a whole new look at this era of world history, a view not often captured. A must read for any enthusiast of the era.

I lived in Germany in the late 1970s with a family who would have been young people during the War. I was vastly curious about their experience as "average Germans" but they were evasive and would say very little. Irmgard Hunt, who grew up just 30 miles from my foreign exchange mother during roughly the same years, gives us a portrait of what it was like for the average German citizen. Relying on her mother's diary, and interviews with family and friends, it may be some fiction, as an earlier reviewer states, but it rings true to me. You'll enjoy this book more if you know some German.

Author Brian Bentley finally gives us insight into the world of a working Police Officer, without sugar coating or picturing us a glitzy world of glasmour of law enforcement. It really took me back as a law enforcement officer for a large public hospital with a Level One Trauma Center, which has to deal with the day to day hardship of what the "streets" brings into the hospital and tries to treat. I too found alot of comaparisons in my job and just changed the names of work colleagues and supervisors with his! His city government was not only like my city government, but add one more variable...an unappreciative hospital administration who should simply be managing medical care and research, and stay out of the business of police work. Many times they, along with the rest of the hospital support staff be it doctor, nurse, psychiatric staff, substance abuse counselors, all want a piece of the police department. And thinking after watching one episode of "Cops" think they know everything about police work! Should a new candidate dare read this book, it may in fact discourage him or her from pursuing law enforcement as a career. Sad that it maybe, at least Officer Bentley forwarned you before you signed on the dotted line! Law enforcement has it's rewards. But as Officer Bentley astutely puts it, it is "dog eat dog" and one has to do what he/she has to do to survive!

This is a very well written story of a cops everyday life in LA. Very sad that things have to be the way they are but he tells it like it really is. He is misjudged, mistreated and underrated which causes him to doubt himself and everyone else. He fights to stay true to all he believes and has been taught, but at times he is finding himself thinking and acting as the criminals do. Maybe that is how he survives.

Having grown up in S/C LA and also a retired Police Officer, this book give you the real world experience. This book will take you from one extreme to the other. You will laugh, cry and be very afraid. Because it is all so very true. Somebody needs to make this into a movie, Quick. Oprah needs to read this book

One Time is a hardcore and realistic look at the police. The author's writing style kept me interested and I am not a big reader. Since reading the book, I now look at police officers differently.

I very much enjoyed reading this book. It was very easy reading and went very quickly. While the author had some very interesting stories to tell, however, I think the publisher did him wrong for publishing it as is. There are a lot of editing mistakes and typos within the context that at times can make it somewhat difficult to follow. However, despite these mistakes, I highly recommend the book to anyone who is interested in law enforcement, especially in L.A. I'm sure it would be an eye opener. I never realized how violent a city L.A. could be.

This book is a MAINSTAY in my reference library. Though I do only limited back-end development in the applications I work on, this is the first book I look for when I need to be pointed in the right direction. I highly recommend it!

I bought this book as a complete Oracle novice, transitioning from Microsoft T-SQL to PL/SQL. I was worried about the transition being difficult until I read this book.

It is one of those very rare books that presents advanced concepts in a context understandable by users of all experience levels. The author often throws in tips about Oracle PL/SQL quirks to watch out for, as well as some very applicable information about how Oracle works internally.

I've since become more comfortable with PL/SQL, and the book also serves as a great reference. I highly encourage you to read this book straight through.

I recommend this well-written book to anybody wanting to learn PL/SQL, as well as anyone needing a great reference.

Although the information was accurate and useful, I think the strength of this book was it's clear and logical presentation. It is easy to read and very helpful. For example, I needed to know how to dynamically build the "where" clause for select statements and his chapter on DBMS_SQL gave me the tools to accomplish my task at work.

This is definitely an excellent book. No one should rank it less than 5 stars just because it was published in 1996. Please do some research before talk. Actually, Scott Urman has wrote a book, "Oracle8 PL/SQL Programming", which was published in 1997. Buy this one if you want to learn PL/SQL 8.0.

Oracle 8 is out and in this book it only covers to Oracle 7. It is a very well written book. It is a valuable reference however it was published in 1996. Still looking for Oracle SQL Plus 8.0 AND the PL/SQL Programming. I hope the author steps up to the plate and updates his work.

In this extraordinary memoir from 1932-1934, Kitty Crockett Robertson describes her life on the North Shore of Massachusetts during the Depression, a time when she, a Harvard graduate, became a hard-working apple farmer to save the family farm in Ipswich. Her physician father had died, and Kitty, wanting to keep the farm from being sold for development, which her Boston-based brothers favored, decided to give up her job working at the Harvard Library to try to make the orchard profitable enough to save the land.

Working almost single-handedly, she spent the next two years doing all the dirty work, learning in the process that "The Depression was that time of leveling when she and her neighbors kept going on the strength they learned from each other." From her earliest days on the farm, she personally pruned trees, cleared land, repaired sprayers and tractors, gathered swarming bees into hives, hired five workers at twice the going rate (because they, too, needed to make ends meet), dealt with an arrogant banker anxious to foreclose, protected her apples at gunpoint when necessary, and then fought the weather, storms, and a December temperature drop to twenty degrees below zero in her efforts to bring the crop to market.

In the process she earned the love of her workers (who had regarded her, at first, as an idle "North Shore millionaire"), gave up everything in her personal life to devote herself completely to her task, worked up to 16 hours a day for two years during the apple and peach seasons, and gained new appreciation for the values she saw every day among her workers, the wholesaler who bought her drops and cider apples, and the purchasing agent of Harvard, who helped her make commercial connections to sell her crop.

Robertson, who became a newspaper and radio columnist in her later years, was a formidable writer who always recognized the values which unite people, regardless of their "class," and this quality pervades her personal memoir. Unfinished, because her life became too busy to finish it after 1934, it was discovered upon her death in 1979 by her daughter, and it is she who moves the story to its conclusion after 1934. Filled with personal detail and wonderful tributes to those who helped her, Robertson is never self-serving, readily admitting her weaknesses while stressing her efforts to succeed. A unique look at one farm and its history during the Depression, The Orchard is an extraordinary record of the times, written by a truly extraordinary woman. n Mary Whipple

My only complaint about this book is that it only covers two years of the author's life in detail. I hated for the book to end. I wish she had had time to write more, because she was an amazing person. Kitty's father, a doctor, raised his family in a colonial farmhouse by the ocean. Beginning in her childhood, he made Kitty learn to do a man's work in the orchard. He also gave her a series of boats to sail on the ocean. She loved the farm and the sea. She got a college education and a good job in a college museum, but gave it all up when her father died at the beginning of the depression. None of her brothers were willing to do the backbreaking labor to keep the heavily mortgaged farm working. Kitty quit her good job and immersed herself in running the orchard, which her father had always said would save the farm he loved. She lived alone except her beloved dog, with no money and little heat in the winter. Her own family seemed determined to see her fail. She found good, loyal friends though, and though her life was daunting, it was also full of the joy of nature and achievment. I can't praise this book enough.

This book was truly one of the most interesting and capturing books I have ever read. I felt like I was present in the story and now can't wait to go to Ipswich and see this old farm house.

The late Adele Robertson's story of her attempt to save her family's property by establishing a commercially viable apple orchard during the Great Depression is a true gem. Robertson, who later went on to become an award-winning columnist for the Ipswich Chronicle, writes in a clear first-person voice. At times wildly humorous and often poignant, the story is superficially about growing and selling apples. What it is really about is self-reliance and courage. It is no wonder that so many New England high schools now include this book on their reading lists -- Robertson (with the help of her daughter Betsey, who retrieved and edited the manuscript after her mother's death) has produced a riveting work that speaks to a woman's need to "make it on her own" without ever preaching about it.

The Orchard, a Memoir, is a great book. Last week I was on a long flight back to San Luis Obispo from Omaha and I had this book with me, a gift from my mom. I started reading it and totally forgot about the flight, never noticed the movie they were playing. A good number of times tears were just pouring down my face and I'd wipe them away, wondering if the people on the plane around me thought I was a bit crazy.
But I tell you, I'm crazy about this book! Honestly, I read a good deal and this is easily one of the most interesting, deepest, most powerful books I have read in years. Although true, a memoir, it reads just like a fine novel. I was so totally absorbed reading this rare gem of a find, that it was difficult to realize that the author had died some 20 years ago--she, Adele Crockett Robertson, seems so real, so full of life, so gutsy, so immediate.
Briefly, this is the story of a young girl, a smart, educated girl with a good head on her shoulders, who loses her job in the great Depression, and goes back to the family farm to try and save it from the bank. The many people in the book all come to life perfectly and there are surprises aplenty. I am a gardenwriter (author of Allergy-Free Gardening)and have farmed myself, and I appreciate what Adele went through. I would also add that this is no doubt the best picture of life during the Depression I've ever come across.
I plan to review this book every place that I can, because to my mind, this one is so good, so readable, so well worth reading, so enjoyable, so satisfying, that it completely deserves to be a best seller. Do yourself a favor and read this marvelous book!

The best book I have bought. Goes into visualizing,planning,etc. Covers the guidelines for compositions as well as values and mood. Highly recommend.

I bought this book years ago and I continue to come back to this book years later. It's full of good and useful information. Kessler lays out the basics well and provides good solid information for constructing good landscape painting. Her book is a great reference for when I run into problems or am not sure of what I'm seeing when I'm painting. Kessler and John Carlson are the two best books on painting landscapes that I found.

On my feedback I had entered the feedback for the wrong book, my apologies, please. This book does have a lot of great information and gives details using great techniques.

Well written text, for advanced artist as well as the beginner. Kessler explains her topics very well. She uses a lot of earth tones in most of her paintings, but any artist can adjust the color range to suit their taste.

Este libro es estupendo para mejorar tu pintura, tanto seas novato como avanzado, pero especialmente es útil si llevas tiempo pintando, creo que está orientado especialmente para superarte en lo que ya haces. Te hace ver la técnica a seguir, desde que empiezas a inspirarte en una fotografía y su interpretación, la combinación de colores empleados, la mejor composición, profundidad, la forma de trazar con el pincel, y muchas recomendaciones más para superarte en lo ya llevas haciendo un tiempo atrás, como es mi caso. Recomendable para todos.
AVISO PARA AMAZON.COM: Soy español y hecho de menos que tengais un apartado especial para saber las publicaciones en mi idioma. Todos los libros que he comprado los hubiera disfrutado más si estuvieran traducidos al español.

This book is marvellous to improve your painting, so much be raw as(like) advanced, but specially it is useful if you go time doing(painting), I believe that it is orientated specially to excel yourself in what already you do. It makes you see the technology(skill) to continuing, since you start inspiring by a photography and its interpretation, the combination of used colors, the best composition, depth, the way of planning with the paintbrush, and many recommendations more rides to excel yourself in already doing a time behind, since it is my case. Advisable for all.

I WARN FOR AMAZON.COM: I am Spanish and a fact of less than a special paragraph to know the publications in my language. All the books that I have bought had been enjoyed by me more if they were translated into the Spanish. THANKS.

Paws and Reflect: A Special Bond Between Man and Dog co-authored by Neil Plakcy and Sharon Sakson is an excellent anthology that will even appeal to cat lovers. Heck, even if you aren't owned by any pets, you'll still love this collection of short stories that honors that loyal, loving bond shared between these ostracized men and their four-footed bestest friends. The 25 humble tales range from heart-tickling to heartbreaking, entertaining and uplifting. As someone who's worked nearly 20 years in animal rescue, I tend to get a little bitter at times. I keep this book close to my bedside for those days when I need my faith in mankind restored.

The collection of stories is told in first person narrative from several names I recognize from previous readings - like Steve Berman and Victor J. Banis. The stories are as diverse as the men who contributed them, and arranged under the chapters: Dogs of Our Childhood, Dogs Who Make Connections, What We Learn from Our Dogs, Making the World a Better Place for Dogs and Exasperating Dogs.

There are so many special moments collected here: Charles Busch's poignant and nostalgic "The Guardian Shepherd," Steve Berman's mystical and meaningful "Shi Happens," Victor J. Banis' heartwarming and heartbreaking "The Girls," Jay Quinn's amusing and affecting "Travis" and Kevin Anderson's comical and candid "The Dog Who Outed Me."

Contributing authors are: Charles Busch, Jonathon Caouette, Matthew Phillips, J. R. G. DeMarco, Donald Hardy, Steve Berman, Lev Raphael, Andy Zeffer, Jeffery Ricker, Michael T. Wallerstein, G. Russell Overton, Victor J. Banis, Jack Morton, Hal Campbell, Ron Nyswaner, Randall McCormick, Jay Quinn, Randy Allgaier, David Mizejewski, Justin Rudd, Kevin Anderson, Edward Albee, Alistair McCartney, Brian McCormick and Stephen Kwielchek.

A romantic series of short stores of love affairs between gay men and their dogs. Some are real tear jerkers, others quite funny, but all are endearing and a joy to read.

You don't need to be anything more than a dog lover to love this book. Its not about gender its about the dogs and the people they let love them.

I was worried that this would be someone's doctoral dissertation, but it's not. It is immensely readable--I have trouble putting it down. I was reading it in a casual restaurant when I read a passage about a terrier attacking a St. Bernard that made me laugh out loud. When I was a teen, we had a chihuahua who would bark and growl menacingly at the St. Bernard from across the street. When the St. Bernard had had enough of this, she'd just bend down and give our Rusty a big wet sloppy kiss that would drench tiny Rusty which would very effectively shut him up.

Beneath the main concept of gay men and their relationships with their dogs, there's also a subtle secondary story of gay men living happy, successful--and totally normal--lives. I'm recommending this book to all my friends.

I bought Paws and Reflect for my partner for Valentine's Day. He loved it and put it on my reading stack. And I'm so glad that he did. As the proud owner of a sweet one year old dachshund, we just recently decided to get his new baby half-sister, who is now five weeks old. We were a bit skittish about introducing a new dog into our household. Through stories both humorous and touching, Paws and Reflect has made me more aware of our bond with our current boy and made me excited about welcoming a new little girl into our family.

The writing in this anthology is superb. The short vignettes by both well-known and (to me) unknown gay men touched on so many points of dog ownership. Both the positive and the negative bonds were addressed, without a sense of respect and veracity

This book made me feel hopeful regarding christianity again. In a world of hositility and fear the hope of mercy and grace is like drinking a cold glass of water in a desert. I felt I could put into practice the spirit in which the monks live. Well worth the read for a parched soul.

I picked up Radical Hospiality because of a sermon I heard in Boston awhile ago while visiting a friend from college. I did not catch the name of the author, authors as it turns out, but I was sure the minister, a woman, was quoting from a book. When I did a internet search it turned out that the phrase Radical Hospitality is used by religious and social groups from churches to conventions, all around the world. What I amazed by is that so few of the people, like the minister, name where they got their quotes or who they are quoting. This is a very fine book. It borders on brilliant actually and I am not the sort to use such a word casually. Why would anyone not want to give these authors the credit they deserve? The book, Radical Hospitality is challenging in a gentle way. I never once felt like the writers were shoving some agenda down my throat. There is just this level of telling their own experience and stories that any half-brain dead person could tell is from their hearts. Don't get me wrong. It is not a personal experience kind of book and it is not a book for anyone who like fluff instead of substance. But, if you are looking for a book about what has gone wrong in how we relate to one another, this is it. And if you love it too, be sure you tell people who you're quoting!

In Radical Hospitality I found a discussion of Benedictine monasticism and Christian spirituality that surprised me. I'm not exactly sure why but I expected this book to be a practical guide to implementing a monastic rule into one's life filled with specific suggestions and examples cross-indexed to specific rules from within the Benedictine tradition. That is not what this book is.

Instead, it is something much richer and more beautiful. What the book is centers around a discussion of the undergirding and overarching themes and ethos of monastic life and the hospitality that flows from it. Interwoven within these discussions are found wonderful stories that range from the humorous to the poignant taken from the lives of the authors and those they share their lives with. It is from within these elements that the application of these ideas within our lives is discussed in a way in which one ideas flows from and builds on the previous portion of the discussion.

I found my own thinking about how to practice hospitality deeply enriched by this book and I will return to it from time to time to reinforce what I have learned and to reflect on the themes woven throughout the work. I strongly recommend this book to anyone seeking to learn the practice of hospitality from within the practice of monasticism.

This is a must read for Lay Contemplatives who want a way to integrate their spiritual practices with "living ordinary life with extra-ordinary love."

"Radical Hospitality" was given to me by a friend who thought very highly of it, and she was right. This is one of those rare books that is really for almost anyone--highly readable, charming and soothing, deep and practical, and full of wisdom and love. It is not particularly theological--it is about lived Christianity. It would be an excellent choice to give as a gift, and it is certainly also a book one would buy for oneself for one's own growth.

As we awaken to the need to live our beliefs about love, to live generously, graciously, welcomingly, we are confronted by our own frightened hesitancy to be present to the needs of others. This book explores how we can reach out while necessarily preserving our own boundaries. "Radical Hospitality" teaches (with wonderful examples) how and why we should become more open and generous, and concludes very credibly that the essence is "listening," perhaps the most basic Benedictine value, used here in the sense of a kind of loving contemplative social presence. Everyone wants and needs to be truly listened to, the authors say, and especially at the times when it can be hardest to want to listen, when the one being listened to is in pain, angry, afraid. To feel heard is to feel real and loved and a little bit healed.

I found "Radical Hospitality" itself to be a beautiful experience of the authors' hospitality toward the reader. Even the design of the book itself is quite inviting.

Who'd a thunk it? Ronald Reagan finally gets his due. At long last, someone of stature finally concludes, as I did long ago, that President Reagan was not only "The Great Communicator" but also a great leader. To me, it seemed obvious. He came to power at a time when many Americans had come to believe that the United States was in decline and that the job of President had simply become too big and too complex for any one man to handle. Jimmy Carter had supposedly worked harder at it than any other president, yet he was a miserable failure. Then along came Reagan, described by his political enemies as a more or less simple minded actor and shallow thinker who had to be stage-managed by his handlers. But strangely enough, Reagan came to power during a period of crisis, a weak national defense, high unemployment, ultra-high interest rates and inflation, and a persistent national malaise, and somehow solved all these problems. How did he do it? In this book, Mr. Strock explains how President Reagan led and managed and how other would-be leaders should do so. He takes Reagan's seemingly "intuitive" leadership style apart piece-by-piece, explains what each piece means in terms of leadership and why it is important, and cites examples of how Ronald Reagan used each piece in the fabric of his style to help put the nation back on track and achieve his ultimate goals. This is an excellent book which is long overdue. It isn't light reading, but I would highly recommend it to anyone seeking to improve his or her leadership skills, especially those in the highest levels of management.

Who better to learn from than "The Great Communicator"? Studying President Ronald Reagan will not only make you better at politics, it'll make you a better person! Being decisive, negotiating from strength and crafting a compelling vision are just a few of the lessons you'll learn from James M. Strock's fabulous book about President Reagan's leadership.

Let's begin accepting the obvious: I'm a foreigner, I'm not part of the system of politics of USA and I'll never be. And let's make the not-so-obvious plainly visible: I'm a real admirer of USA, and don't buy ideas like imperialism and the like and I think they have some of the greatest leaders of all times. Being Reagan himself one of them and one of my greatest heroes since long time ago. I've got a major in mass comunication and I like to study things like messages, followers, leadershp and so on.

And it's in this sense this book became a disappointment. It so... shallow, I think it's the word best suited for it. The author is a Washington insider but not in the higher ranks. He didn't interview (not for the real thing, at least) the president, and he doesn't have a real academic background in topics like the title of the book promised: leadership and comunication. What did he wrote? Well, he knows some things about the life of Reagan, but of course he knows the best the period of the presidency. So he took a set of events, applied to them his method and ideas of leadership and then concludes "That's why Reagan was such a great leader". Come on... the air controller' strike, the Tripoli bombing, the debate with Bush Sr. about "voodoo econonics", everything was reduced to a man with a mesianic message, total control over his values and the values of the cabinet and total rapport with the familiar values of the american people. In this book, Reagan didn't have a single problem, even the smaller one; he didn't hesitate for once; he was the cheerished of the gods and EVERY scandal in his administration (just for the record: going to Nicaragua challenging the express will of the congress; the s&L scandal, which american people still are paying and will do for the next generations; the raise of the junk bonds of Wall Street; the bargaining with terrorists...) is minimized or dismissed explaining how it was impossible for Reagan to have known about those ugly things.

And I closed the book saying to myself: "One of three; one, Reagan was the son of Apollo or Zeus, Captain Marvel himself and being that is not an example for anybody; or two, maybe Reagan INDEED hesitated and wasn't sure all the time about every single decision but the guy who wrote the book couldn't know that because not everybody speak to a president, so he did what he could: he took the newspapers of the time and wonder what should've HE do had he been the president; or three, maybe it's just the real biography and thoughts of Reagan haven't been written yet...

If you want to learn about some lessons of leadership form some greatest men of America, "Lincoln on leadership" or "The founding fathers on leadership" are better options. Not masterpieces, but at least theyhave the advantage of some SERIOUS historic perpective.

President Reagan has always been a hero of mine. At the age of 8, I became intoxicated with politics in large part because of the 1980 Presidental campaign. As a Canadian, I watched this incredible leader from a little farther away then an Amercian, but came away impressed. I therefore began to read or watch anything I could find on President Reagan. The problem was all the information I gathered failed to answer the key question for me: how did Reagan lead? Much material is available on what he did, but I never received the practical tools I was looking for. Reagan on Leadership clearly and concisely describes his techniques. Strock reached deep into Reagan's tool box and paved the road for how I can apply these tools to my life. It is the only book or article I have read that answers the question I have asking about Reagan for years: not what did he do, but rather how did he it.

A diversely experienced leader and manager with an easy-to-read writing style focused on a great, recent example of truly effective executive leadership and decided to share what he learned. The result was a truly outstanding book of leadership thoughts, concepts, principles, and analysis complemented by exemplary vignettes and anecdotes from the life of arguably the most respected and admired president in United States history. Do not miss this book if you are a student or practitioner of leadership.

The book is a four part study of Reagan's leadership effectiveness: the critical elements of his vision-based leadership approach, his mutually supporting leadership and management styles, the skills that made him the "Great Communicator," and the personal character that transformed his beliefs and vision into powerful realities. At the end of each chapter is a list of summarizing leadership lessons and principles. Strock's thorough research and insightful analysis made each list pregnant with meaning and importance.

Strock made a very strong case that Reagan's brilliance as a leader was his gift of a compelling, five-part vision (family, work, neighborhood, freedom, and peace) and the integrity of his consistent and disciplined actions relative to his vision. Strock also discussed some Reagan leadership flaws and failures-not many, but enough to appear honest and balanced.

Strock's Reagan was an authentic man of vision, purpose, and character. Read this book and you will understand how Reagan was willing and able to communicate great thoughts with authority as the leader of the free world, and why his vision for America was believed in by so many people here at home and around the world:

"Ours is the land of the free because it is the home of the brave. America's future will always be great because our nation will always be strong. And our nation will be strong because our people will be free. And our people will be free because we will be united, one people under God, with liberty and justice for all."

An outstanding view of the War Between the States from the point of view of an "ordinary" soldier.

Perhaps if the writer had put his thoughts to paper soon after the events described he might have remembered a few details! We barely find out anything about his weapons, his leaders, his thoughts on seccession etc... While the small details of camp life and escaping are interesting a better book on that subject is Prison Pen.

Excellent, first had observations made by a common private in during the Civil War. The author IS NOT a professional writer. This makes it all the more valuable. The author is not writing the book to entertain, or to pass along old, gory war stories. This is a story by a simple man trying to tell us his point of view, simple as that. This account is quite valuable to anyone interested in the study of this horrible conflict. Recommend it's reading and recommend you add it to your collection. I do wish there had been more like this one.

This book is a very enjoyable and powerful read. The "War of Northern Aggression" has never seemed such a real happening to me before. It makes well-known battlefield names come alive. Fletcher was a very practical, down-to-earth man and the reader is exposed to the practical everyday concerns of a Confederate soldier. The plight of the wounded is nearly felt by the reader. Fletcher candidly discusses taking food from women and children in Union territory and scavenging the dying. He even expresses regret that he had refrained from shooting an enemy soldier because he appeared very young and he wonders if it hurt his nation's cause. There are very exciting stories about being captured and escaping from a moving prison train. After the war, he heard a North Carolina soldier ask Fletcher's Texas cavalry unit if they had any bacon. When one answered yes, the man said "Grease and slide back into the Union." After thinking about it a while, Fletcher saw the wisdom in that statement and did just that. He became a highly successful lumber entrepreneur. I highly recommend for students of military or Southern history or anyone who likes true adventures.

This is a good, first hand account of the life of a Confederate soldier. Fletcher writes of only what he seen during the war. The only judgement he cast is upon his leaders actions at Gettysburg. This book will definitely change your perspective on the life of a common soldier.

THis story is classic. I use this book so much that I have to retire my old copy and replace it with a new one every couple of years. It is a fabulous vehicle for storywriting in the primary classroom.

I have been reading Pat Hutchins books to children for many years. They are wonderful!! Rosie's Walk is a great book for sound effects! As Rosie goes obliviously on her walk,the fox encounters all sorts of sound effect producing trials. Great fun!

We have the board book edition, and I have to admit, I didn't think my 2-year old was going to like it when I first flipped through it. There didn't seem to be much to it --- no eye-catching illustrations and not much text. Shows how much I know... My daughter loves it. The story is less about Rosie the hen and more about the fox --- what happens to it from page to page. It is truly a sequential story and shows cause-and-effect: on one page you see the fox leaping towards Rosie, who is walking past the pond. On the next page, you see the fox in the pond. Your toddler will make the connection on her own: "Uh-oh. Fox fall in water."

My absolute FAVORITE book as a child! Simple, clever, and humorous all at the same time. GREAT for children starting to read! A+

We fell for this after watching the scholastic dvd series. It's on the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom video and we're hooked - love the detailed pictures and watching where thefox is headed.