Sheridan Books

>The Nazi Seizure of Power< is a solid history book, good enough for use in a college-history syllabus, which is where I came across it. It is an eye-opener. Nazism, i.e. "National Socialist German-Worker Party," was as enigmatic at the working level as its name was long, which helped it hoodwink German voters, and prove that you can establish a dictatorship with ballots as easily as you can with bullets.
Nazism in "Thalburg," Professor Allen's renamed sample city, came into being through the tireless effort of Party workers, many of whom had no clue about the Party's true intentions:
from >The Nazi Seizure of Power<
1)A housewife put it clearly: "The ranks of the (Nazis) were filled with young people. The people who joined did so because they were for social justice or opposed to unemployment."
2) Others joined because it looked as though the Nazis would be victorious and they hoped to profit.
3) "Most who joined did so because they wanted a hard, sharp, clear leadership. They were disgusted with the internal political strife of parliamentary party politics."

One cannot read >The Nazi Seizure of Power< and not be impressed by the techniques used by the Nazis to sway voters:
1) In the early months of 1930, the (Nazis) held a meeting nearly every week, advertised with such titles as "The German Worker as Interest-slave of Big International Capitalists," or "Saving the Middle Class in the National Socialist State."

For the Nazis to succeed, they had to restrict private organizations:
1) There is a proverb, "Two Germans, three clubs." This was almost true of Thalburg where, in 1930, there were no fewer than 161 clubs.
2) There were 21 sports clubs, 47 with an economic or occupational function, and 23 religious or charitable societies.
3) Social discrimination against Jews was practically non-existent.

Distinctions between schools had to be eradicated:
1) There were three public primary schools, arranged so that children could also secure religious orientation.
2) Burgerschule I was Lutheran; the Katholische Volksschule served Catholic children; and the Burgerschule II was non-denominational.
3) Each school had its own School Advisory Council, elected by the pupils' parents.

The process of dissolving private or exclusive spaces in German society was called "Gleichschaltung," i.e. linking to one source.
1) Eventually no independent social groups were to exist. All of society would exist whereby each individual related not to his fellow man but only to the (Nazi) State.
2) With their social organizations gone and with terror a reality, Thalburgers were isolated from one another. By reducing the people to unconnected social atoms, the Nazis could move the resulting mass in whatever direction they wished.

The Nazi leader in Thalburg was "Kurt Aergeyz," not his real name. Aergeyz was "cynical, ruthless, and brutal," Professor Allen writes. Indeed his name means "ambition" in German:
1) It is possible to construe the actions of Kurt Aergeyz, after he came to power, as expressive of class divisions. Nothing is more difficult than discovering the truth about personal motivation, but many of the actions taken by Aergeyz suggest they were a product of social resentment.
2) As a result, Aergeyz did things to the social elite that he never did to his political opponents. The same approach characterized all of his actions with the town's upper crust.
3) Kurt Aergeyz was possibly attempting to triumph over the environment in which he had grown up and which condemned him to the condescension of his social betters.

The >Nazi Seizure of Power< is an important insider's view.

Sheridan writes an engrossing, and often humorous, real life story that is well told with useful lessons on handling money. This is solid advice and motivation for all who seek financial independence.

This an excellent reference text for persons who want a comprehensive, but not overwhelming summary of the essentials of seamanship. One of the most notable aspects of the book is the 'cut-outs' that refer to navigation lights. These distinct pages of the book are very effective in testing the readers knowledge. These illustrations give a clear indication of an opposing vessel's position and situation without the reader having to refer to previous chapters. Moreover, the explanation and following illustrations of how to clear a fouled hawse are probably one of the best around. This book is recommended for those persons involved in the marine industry in a commercial sea going capacity. It would be a good addition to any mariner's library.

Virtually every person I know has a favorite Christmas tradition, an activity that they perform every year that is theirs and theirs alone, and that sums up the Christmas spirit of peace, good will, and love. For my own tradition, every year at this time, I reread this wonderful book. Why, you may ask? Well, I'll do my best to explain. I received this book as a Christmas present from a dear friend when it was first published in 1982. It quickly became my favorite book, and I find that it both inspires and delights me with every new reread. I was an actor and theatre person for many years, just long enough to discover one truth about Sir Noel Coward: This stylish and elegant man, actor, singer, playwright par excellence, and all around bon vivant, simply knew more about life in general and the theatre in particular than any other person I've ever encountered. Whether dealing with stubborn, recalcitrant actresses who refuse to wear their hair properly (i.e. Mary Martin), or facing the loss of a livelong confidant (his personal secretary, Lorn Loraine), Coward's show of sheer courage, strength, and determination in facing the everyday stresses and strains of life, and with considerable humor and great goodwill, seems to me the essence of the Christmas (and, by extension, the human) spirit. Organized in chapters by the years the diary entries were made (1945 to 1969, with a prologue that covers the World War II years as one section), the book is a very relaxed and enjoyable read (usually, a chapter a night works well), and covers the time period of the years following his initial successes (by the time the entries begin, Coward had already written his best known works: Private Lives, Desigh for Living, Hay Fever, and Blithe Spirit) through the 1950's and the years of abuse at the hands of narrow-minded critics (who considered him too "shallow" and "commercial"), and on through the 1960's and his renaissance period (when many of those same critics found his plays fashionable once again). Through it all, the successes, tragedies and failures, the many, many encounters with the rich and famous (Coward knew virtually every famous person of his day and counted many as lifelong friends), and most of all, the wit and wisdom of one of the most fascinating persons of our time will keep the devoted reader enthralled for all 700 plus pages. I could say much more about The Noel Coward Diaries, but a hundred reviews could not contain it all, so I will close by saying please make this book a present for yourself (and/or someone you love). Trust me, it will be one of the wittiest, most delightful, and truly Merriest Christmases you have ever spent!!!

Item in fantastic condition. Just what I expected. I will make future purchases here. Seller gives very accurate descriptions.
Thank you.

Why was this book written at all?

It appears that the author's wife, Naomi James, having taken up sailing only six weeks earlier, decided to sail around the world, solo. Two years later, in 1977, she set out on that adventure (in the 53-foot yacht, Express Crusader), and she accomplished it in record time (that record has since been broken), becoming the second woman in history to sail around the world alone and the first to do so via Cape Horn. Clearly, she got plenty of advice (especially on navigation) from her husband (also a circumnavigator), Rob, the author of this book. And that may be why this book was published.

Naomi James was not alone for her entire voyage. She did take along a cat named Boris. Actually, I think the tradition of having a ship's cat has grown ever since the First Statute of Westminster in 1275 stated that if any living thing (including man, dog, or cat) escaped from a stricken vessel, then it was no wreck. Well, Naomi did survive her voyage, but the cat was lost at sea.

Naomi eventually received a Ph.D. in Philosophy in 2006.

As for the author, he died tragically eleven days before Naomi gave birth to their daughter, Lois. In March, 1983, he went overboard from a 60-foot trimaran in eight-foot seas in the English channel. Although the boat did get along side, they were unable to recover him until it was too late.

Well, what's the book like? It's pretty good. It starts with material on yacht (and rigging) designs and construction, as well as advice on accommodation. Next is a chapter on navigational planning, followed by one on crew and shipboard routine.

We then get to fifty excellent pages on sail handling and setting, both on and off the wind. Following that is one on crew safety and yacht survival. Yes, there's a section on man overboard. Do not lose sight of the victim! And some advice on life rafts: by all means prepare the raft when you think you are sinking, but do not get into it until absolutely essential! And there's advice on an "abandon ship kit." Keep those water containers with an inch or two of air in them so that they will float with their tops visible if they are thrown into the sea!

What do you do in a gale? You take down and lash all sails. And then do you lie a-hull (secure the helm hard over in the direction that will hold the bows up towards the wind)? Or do you run off (steer downwind with the windage of the hull and rigging providing the driving force)? James somewhat prefers running off, although neither idea is clearly best. As he points out, the only time Naomi tried lying a-hull on that 16-meter yacht, she "was knocked almost upside down." Small yachts are at more risk. James mentions that the 3-meter "yacht" Yankee Girl did successfully make the trip from Virginia to England in 1979, but its chances of surviving a bad storm were fairly small.

Next come thirty fine pages on navigation, including a discussion of V.M.G. (velocity made good) and how to fix a yacht's position by taking sun sights using a sextant.

After that, we're told about food, water, and health issues. Grapefruit, bread, and eggs are among foods that will last for months. Make "storm stew" in rough weather. Carry 2 quarts of water per person per day. It's not a bad idea to include a ship's doctor when there is already a large crew. And when starting to feel seasick, go below quickly, lie down at once, and relax! And there is a good chapter on breakage, repairs and maintenance.

There is an interesting chapter on multihull sailing. Large trimarans are generally better bets for racing than large catamarans. But both are fast compared to monohulls. After all, the maximum speed (in knots) for a (non-planing) monohull is best approximated as 2.5 times the square root of its water-line length in meters, and for a 14-meter yacht with an 11-meter water-line, that means around 8.3 knots. And there's a discussion of trimaran stability in a squall.

The penultimate chapter is on single-handed sailing (I think we can guess why). How does self-steering work? What about sail handling? And there's a mention that given the need to sleep, single-handed sailing (without any escort) is, in a maritime sense, illegal, as a "seamanlike lookout" is not kept. Unless one wakes up every 20 minutes or so, especially in busy shipping lanes (maybe every 60 or 90 minutes when well away from them), there are significant chances of being hit by a ship.

The final chapter deals with a couple of special hazards: lightning and whales. James does not mention the Robertsons, who were rescued after surviving for 38 days on a raft and a 9-foot dinghy after their yacht was sunk by killer whales west of the Galapagos. But he does mention Maurice and Maralyn Bailey, who survived 117 days on a raft and rubber dinghy before being rescued, after their yacht was sunk by a whale east of the Galapagos.

At the end are some appendices: apparent wind formulae, excerpts from the nautical almanac, sight reduction tables, a suggested medical chest, and an emergency medical box.

I recommend this book.

At last, we have a book which will take the place of Mary Blewitt's dated "Celestial Navigation".

These men have co-operated to write what will become the bench-mark manual for this subject which they explain in plain simple language.

I learned Celestail Navigation using the sun and stars (I learned in that order too!) using this book and have now crossed the Atlantic three times using my sextant as my main navigation instrument - and the GPS as my back-up.

There is nothing so satisfying as checking that the GPS is reading correctly using your sextant!

Approximately 80% of modern pleasure craft are constructed from glassfibre, but instead of being the wonder material needing no more than a qick rub over with a damp rag to keep it in good condition, it is not quite the trouble-free, indestructable material originally envisaged.

As Tony Staton- Bevan explains in the Revised and Expanded Edition of his highly acclaimed Care and Repair of Glassfibre Yachts, the signs of damage to GRP construction are often not detected at an early stage and this can lead to expensive yard bills or loss of value.

Osmosis, or 'boat pox' as it is sometimes known, has struck fear into the heart of many a GRP boat owner, and this is one of the problems which Tony Staton-Bevan sets out to deal with here. His common sense advice on the prevention and cure of problems with hulls, decks and fittings, with cracks and blistering, with stress crazing, fading gel-coats and collision damage will help owners detect potential trouble spots and repair the damage.

Two recent major developments in the treatment of osmosis are covered in this new edition - a gel coal peeling machine to remove blistered gel coats, and the use of special infra-red lamps to dry out hulls in a fraction of the time it has taken in the past. A new question and answer section has also been included for quick reference. More than 80 black and white photographs and illustrations plus an 8 page colour section help identification and repair.
--- from book's back cover

Out of the Storm.
By Mary Sheridan Janda
Reviewed by Edward E. Saunders

This is a captivating true story of an American army family: an officer, his wife, and two coming-of-age daughters. Their home was Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm in 1990 -1991, and they all faced enemy fire. The husband/father was a career soldier and faced a wrenching decision: fight the enemy on the front lines, or return to his home in Riyadh and defend his family who were under attack from Iraqi SCUD missiles. The wife/mother faced the agonizing decision to stay at her husband's side or leave with her children for safety in America.

Only three times in history have American families been in a war zone and endured enemy fire: the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and Operation Desert Storm. Over forty American military families were stationed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia well before the war began: as the families' husbands/fathers were part of an existing American military advisory unit to the Saudi Arabian military. Mary Sheridan Janda is the mother of a military family and wife of Jim Janda, a career army officer assigned to that military advisory unit in Riyadh before, during, and after Operation Desert Storm.

In clear, easy-to-read prose, Mary begins by writing of the military life and how accepted definitions of "home" and "family" have to be revised and redefined. Relocating is part of the military life and relocating is not without consequences and heartbreak. Military families don't move from one side of town to the other, they move from side of the planet to another. Families are not tag along baggage. "Home" is not defined by an address on any street in America; "home" in the Army is where the Army assigns you.

The Jandas moved to Saudi Arabia in 1989 for what the Jandas and other American army families there thought would be an exotic and totally different experience. But life in Saudi Arabia was not without restrictions. Mary writes of smuggling family items, bibles, religious tracts, and Christmas trees, past the Saudi censors. The Saudi government restricted women's activities: no driving by women, families had to sit in certain sections of restaurants, and certainly no displays of feminism.

The American army families lived on large enclosed compounds. This living arrangement was common throughout Riyadh and not unique to Americans. Mary writes in charming detail about their life with spacious living quarters, the indispensable water cooler, and the surprising almost custom-tailored-to-your-anatomy warm toilet bowls in their house. This was indeed their home, with their furniture, their two cats, and where their daughters even had separate bedrooms for once. Here is where they lived; they loved; they slept, and they cried.

Invasion. A harsh and violent word changed their lives on Thursday, August 2nd. 1990. Iraq had invaded Kuwait and Mary Janda's world became a violent and deadly one, where survival was at stake. Her husband had to go north with the Saudi military forces to the Kuwaiti border to face the Iraqi army, with Mary and daughters still living in Riyadh.

In her book, Mary Janda uses excerpts from her personal diary, the diaries of her relatives back in America, and her husband, Jim's, personal letters from the front lines. These candid and revealing excerpts are windows to the very heart and soul of people facing war and enduring war.

Astonishingly the American government did not issue a mandatory evacuation order for American families in the war zone. Each family had to decide to stay, and gather strength from one another, or leave their husbands/fathers for assured safety elsewhere. Mary looks at both sides of her decision to stay or to leave. She includes an excerpt from her relative's diary in America, "I am so frustrated and angry with Mary for not leaving. I am angry that her family unit is jeopardized, that her love for her husband will get them killed." Of her decision to stay, Mary writes: "The human spirit can survive many things. I simply wanted to stay as close to my husband as I possibly could." Mary's daughters were also adamant about not leaving their home in Riyadh; they kept on with their daily routine as best they could: even attending their Girl Scout meetings.

Iraqi SCUD missiles struck Riyadh. SCUDs could carry lethal nerve gas. Jim Janda's army unit fitted the children of American military families with gas masks: Mary and Jim's daughters included. For very small children and babies, Jim's unit set up a large protective inflatable bubble and tent: each bubble could hold 35 small children. When the air raid sirens sounded, Mary, and other families, would gather their children, their gas masks, and race down the street to one of two protective bubbles and safety from a chemical attack.

Mary writes of her husband, Jim's, military duties on the front line and in Riyadh. Jim would occasionally drive back to Riyadh and the family gathered strength and encouragement from each other. But in a day or two, Jim had to leave and face the enemy again. The Janda family agonized: will this be the last time we will see one another alive?

You will be riveted to Mary's day-to-day diary entries and her clearly written account of life in war. The reader can't help but wonder: will the Jandas stay in Riyadh or leave for certain safety? Will Mary, her daughters, and other families, win the frantic footrace to the bubble for protection against possible nerve gas attacks or not, and ultimately, who will live; who will die - including her husband, Jim.

With war on-going in the Middle East, Mary Janda's Out of the Storm is very important now for non-military and military families alike to truly understand the very heart and soul of an American military family and the dangers they sometimes face. Readers, from historians and political leaders, to every-day people with family in uniform, will welcome Mary's book - as did I.

I stumbled across this book by accident in my father's bookshelf, and started reading it on a rather uneventful Sunday afternoon. I have always been interested in sailing, but this book really lit a fire under me to go cruising. I've since re-read this book and am still planning my dream cruise to the south pacific. The book talks about the Cornell family (parents and 2 young kids) spending 3 years sailing in the pacific. their story of visiting Pitcairn's Island forced me to reread Mutiny on the Bounty. It is a delightful read, and makes me wish my parents had taken me on a long sailing journey as a child. By the way, Gwenda is married to Jimmy Cornell, who has written a number of cruising books. Pacific Odyssey is a great read, but beware, you may not be able to get rid of the cruising bug. I know I haven't.