Sheridan Books

I considered this book to be one of the more readable and well researched books surrounding the Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1864. The book centered around the Battle of Cedar Creek where Phil Sheridan lost and won a battle all in one day. That left poor Jubal Early as the man who won and lost the same battle in the single day. The book was well written and very easy to consumed. It was generally geared for the public consumption since nearly half of the book was geared toward giving background information prior to the battle itself. Of 350 pages of printed narrative, only 150 dealt with the battle itself. It has a nice order of the battle but I wished there were some strength numbers to go with it. But overall, its intersting book with many things to say. The author is clearly very familiar with the subject matter and that ease make this book quite a fast reader despite of the details he provides.

For anyone interested in the history of the ordination of women as rabbis, this book is excellent. It is written primarily from, and dealing with women in the British rabbinate, but is beneficial and applicable to all. It raises interesting discussions about women's involvement in Jewish leadership, and even highlights the first woman rabbi in modern times - who was ordained in Germany in 1935. It would not be until the 1970's that women would be ordained in America. As an American Jew, I found this book very interesting and I gained insights into the Jewish community of Britain.

Great story of brave Doctor who was first to sail ALONE to Antarctic....with analog watch, and no GPS! ! !

people feel the urge to risk their lives in endeavors like this one! I had to wonder about the incredible amount of money that must go to re-enact such a dangerous voyage, too. But the story makes fascinating reading. A first-person account of sailing some of the most treacherous seas in the world really brings out the dangers faced--involuntarily--by Ernest Shackleton and his men.
One change I wish for the book: a detailed map comparing Fuchs' journey with Shackleton's. Fuchs mentions several options Shackleton might have taken, but without a map, I can't see them for myself. Otherwise, this is a very readable (though I did have trouble with nautical terms, not being a sailor myself) and interesting addition to the literature of polar adventure.

Like any other scuba diver, I often go out to sea in one sort of boat or another. The sea is a dangerous environment and we look to the boat owner for our safety. This book is an essential addition to the library of any person who either owns their own inflatable (including rigid hull inflatable known as a RIB) or has the responsibility of maintaining such craft for other people.

Dag Pike combines his 40 years experience of the sea and 30+ year experience of small boats into this book which, I have to say, really was worthy of the effort involved. With sections on different boats, design and development, RIBs, engines, fittings and other equipment, handling, navigation and weather, safety, launching, care and maintenance, sport and adventure, professional use of and alternative craft I think it is fair to say that just about every owner of an inflatable boat will learn a great deal from this book. How easy would my life had been at one time had I known about the existence of certain ancillary equipment.

Thoroughly recommended

NM

I bought this book after I had been sailing for a while and is about the 5th or 6th "how to" sailing book I purchased. I bought it mainly as a "coffee table" book because it is easy to read and understand and has great photography of sailboats and sailing scenes.

It is however a good introduction to sailboats and the sailing experience. Chapter one is titled "Sailing for Everyone" and Peter Blake does and excellent job of making this book an "Introduction to Sailing" for everyone.

The book discusses wind and sail power issues, how to select the right boat, buying secondhand, building yourself, and various boat types from cruisers to racing boats. He even discusses sailboat racing and tactics.

This is not an "in depth" technical book or reference on all types of sailing and sailboats, but it does a good job of providing an introduction and gives you a lot of great photos to look at and use to get oriented to sailing and sailboats. Well worth the price.

This book is great in many senses of the word. Its stories are brief and to the point, delivering the chills and delicious spookiness of old Irish ghost stories. It is very accurate (a story in this book about the Irish bride jumping over a cliff to her death after her newly-wed husband is mistaken for a sleeping guard off-duty and is shot, is also in another of my favorite ghost books, 13 Ghosts. Both stories measure up to each other.) My mother just got back from a trip to Ireland and she got this book for me, and I just started reading it. It is extremely enjoyable to read, and if you love ghost stories that are easy and fun to read, consider this book. It truly is cool.

While done in scientific fashion, this is by no means a hard-to-absorb book. The author groups the various cephalopod types and then discusses each of the aspects of an over-arching topic (anatomy, reproduction, commercial usage, etc.) for each group in turn. Due to the date, a very large portion of the book is devoted to giant squid, only poorly known then (and not much better understood now).

There are quite a few drawings for anatomical descriptions, and about thirty photographs (all black and white) of the beasts in natural and laboratory environments. Some of the descriptive text is so-so (for example, very little of any understandable form is said about the eyes of these animals), but some is quite good (i.e., the section pertaining to the color changing abilities that all of their type possess). This may be due to the concentration of the author in that particular area, or to some other process. In any event, the same uneven attention can be seen throughout the book.

However, you can't beat the price for this book, and it is head and shoulders above anything else that is in the price range.

The Magic of the Swatchways is a collection of stories and annecdotes written by the author during the decade following the first World War. His knowledge of the Thames estuary, the fisheries and the wildlife is extensive and authentic. Griffith's knowledge of the local people and local craft provide the substance for his accounts, yet there is an easy charm and a timelessness to these stories which sets them apart from others of the genre. The book is among the best of the type.

This book is a facinating assembly of condensed stories about disasters at sea - yacht disasters. If you think that you are immune when at sea this book will wake you up. My family and I are considering some long range cruising and this book has impacted our thinking. You must be well prepared and vigilant in your efforts to plan well and this book really puts many things into perspective. A great read for boaters!