Sherman Books

I have read most of the books and articles written by those who were in Burma and China with the American Volunteer Group just before and at the beginning World War II, and those who were not. This book is easily among the best of both genres. "Escape from Hell" includes both an account written by 3rd Squadron, Hell's Angles, Vice-Squadron Leader, Lewis Bishop, and by his daughter, Shiela Bishop Irwin. Lewis Bishop describes in the first three chapters of the book bailing out of his plane on May 17, 1942 while leading a mission over railroad installations at Lao Kay in French Indochina (now Viet Nam) and his next three years as a POW. He wrote the manuscript in 1945 and 1946. Shiela accompanies this narrative with additional information in text boxes and footnotes.

The next three chapters are written by Shiela about her father's formative years and his experiences with the AVG up to the time of becoming a POW. These well researched chapters, as well as the ones that follow, are also enhanced with informative text boxes and footnotes. While I doubt Shiela considers herself a scholar, this is certainly a scholarly book. It includes a brief history and background of the AVG Flying Tigers, many photographs and reproductions of documents, a bibliography, appendices, and an index.

Chapters 7 through 9 discuss the life of Lewis Bishop after he returned to the United States. Drawing on research done on POWs in wars over the last 60 years, Shiela both sheds light on the life of her father and her own experience of him as a father and as a human being who had gone through experiences most of us can only faintly imagine. In the final chapter Shiela provides a personal account of her relationship with her father and how writing the book was process of discovery for her.

I recommend this very readable book to anyone who has an interest in the AVG, POWs, the China-India-Burma Theater, World War II, or the exploration of the relationship between a father and his daughter.

Escape from Hell is clearly a labor of love undertaken with skill and dedication. It is much more than a story of war and soldiers, it is a story of the human condition as seen through the life of one man. The author is to be applauded for taking on this task and for seeing it through to such a resoundingly successful conclusion.

I have been a "fan" of the Flying Tigers story for many years and have a substantial collection of books written by members of that marvelous group. I have also known several members. I am a retired AF pilot with 34 years of service and three combat tours behind me.

I find this book a wonderful gap filler in the history of the Tiger pilots in that other books made regerence to the shoot down of Lewis Bishop, but no one knew what happened to him following that event. The telling of his story is an essential part of the history of, not only the Flying Tigers, but also of that phase of the war in the Pacific. His heroic survival in the face of terrible odds to the contrary is a great testimony to the power of the human spirit. Shiela Irwin has done a superb job of her research in putting together this fascinating story of her father's survival and the traumatic results of his abusive treatment at the hands of the Japanese while a POW. A wonderful addition to the history of that era.

This is a great story and a very readable book. Its a well put together story about Lew Bishop and the authors relationship to him. The author did a great job with this. I recommend it.

This is quite a book.

Nominally it is the story of the war time exploits of Lew Bishop, an Ace and Vice Squadron Leader of the Flying Tigers. This part of his story is broken into two parts, the first part of the book begins when he bails out of his P-40 over what is now Vietnam and talks about his three years as a prisoner of the Japanese, his subsequent escape and return to the U.S. This part was written by Lew Bishop.

The second part goes back to his earlier life both in the United States and his activities in China. Remember that this was before the U.S. actually entered the war. The Flying Tigers, technically called the American Volunteer Group (AVG), were American military pilots who left the American military with the promise that they could return with senority continuing through their Chinese service. They were sort of mercenaries, sort of part of the Chinese Air Force, and sort of a covert action of the United States.

While this part of the book is not unlike others on the Flying Tigers, it is very well done and has numerous side panels that provide very informative insight into points like Roosevelt's role in the establishment of the AVG, the theories of Gen. Chennault and the way he was treated by the military establishment (the military does not treat original thinkers very well, and even worse when they are proven correct).

Finally the third part of the book goes into life after Lew Bishop returned to the U.S. This is a story of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder before we even knew what it was. Mr. Bishop was never really able to put his life back into order. The effect on his life and that of his daughter (who wrote the rest of this book) is described tenderly and with insight.

Really not until after Mr. Bishop's death did his daughter begin the 'journey of discovery' (raising three boys of her own took a lot of her time) that led to this book. I, for one, am glad that she made the journey and that she has shared it with us.

I wish all the pieces in this book ended like the piece "Split Decision". "When the bell rang at the end of the fight
after Joe Frazier had floored Ali with a left hook
you must remember that Muhammad Ali was still standing

he stood up."

There was some hope in that ending, but not in a lot of the others. This book made me very sad and angry about the past and what we as a people continue to do today. How much we have destroyed and how much we have missed by always wanting to stick to who and what we know and surround ourselves with possessions.

Each essay or poem is sharp and clear and vivid. Each scene that is described can easily be pictured but the emotions can only be imagined. It would be wonderful if many, many readers were to be exposed to Sherman Alexie's work.

With a voice that begs contemplation and makes you want to find the everyday magic in your own life, Alexie gives us a heart-filled and heart-breaking collection of tale-like poems about Amerindian life in the 20th century and beyond.
Stunning.

Sorry if that sounded gushy, but throughout the pathos and humor, I coulldn't help but marvel at this man's spirit-- and his literary skills. I've seen his interviews and featured bios on television and reading his work brings it all to life. I wish I had his ability to draw verbal pictures. Thank you for being you!

A very sad collection of pieces by Alexie, covering all manner of topics of res life. More impressive, however, is his use of style and technique in these works. Sometimes in traditional poem format, sometimes in prose writing, flirting with fiction storytelling. Around every page is a new experience. This is a great collection.

Sherman Alexi is an in-your-face poet, there's no doubt about it. He has a voice that demands to be heard, and you will listen, even unwillingly. His style is unique, mixing short, terse lines of verse alternating with long lines of prose that carry contrasts of charged emotion against the calming voice of reason. It is not an easy read. There are harsh truths, but truths that need to be addressed and heeded. His voice is the voice of many and the voice of few, but all demand you hear them. Powerful and moving.When I finished reading it, I felt as if I'd been shot in the back with many arrows and was left carrying around holes in my heart.

When you do, after reading this book you will be vividly aware of what is passing through your nostrils and into your lungs. You will have learned where the air you're breathing orginated, what assaults it's been subject to, and what you may have to do to improve it. The air you, and your children, breathe needs attention. This passionately written account examines the history of air, the people who have investigated it and the problems we're confronting in keeping it breathable. Although the story grows increasingly grim as it progresses, Sherman finds ways of offering some hope and solutions.

Air means breathing and Sherman laments his failure to see his son's initial breath. There were distractions - a Caesarean birth and the condition of Sherman's wife. A forgiveable lapse, one hopes. From that incident, however, the author derived a deeper interest in the air we, and his wife and son, respire. Air, transparent and ephemeral, still captured the interest and imagination of early thinkers. Aristotle's famous dictum of the four basic "elements" placed air after earth in importance. Few doubted that air was essential to life, however. Although the air was thought to hold things like spirits and deities, actual investigation of air didn't come about until the Enlightenment. Shedding the myths, people like Lavoisier, Dalton and others detected "new aire" and the idea of air comprised of several gases began to emerge. More than one experimenter put his life at risk investigating the properties of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Even with the new studies, the long-standing idea of the air containing "phlogiston" as evidence of burning was not easily dismissed.

Although all life has its effect on air, whether taking it in for use or expelling waste gases through breathing and less polite means, Sherman is most concerned with humanity's influence on our "breathable sphere". He offers a long discourse on the impact of various forms of smoke, particularly coal. In the Industrial Revolution, coal smoke was a sign of "progress", new wealth, restructured society with urban growth and gainful employment. That attitude carried across the Atlantic to the USA as industrialisation progressed there. As smoke and various other pollutants began choking the cities, objectors arose. Movements to curb smoke were organised, with minimal success. Britain's problem was exacerbated by the onset of fog. When combined with coal dust and smoke, the results were devastating. A Public Health Act was one of the first serious attempts to address the problem. Although the Act listed many noxious vapours, enforcement was lax and largely ineffectual.

With similar problems emerging in the United States, opposition grew apace. Again, smoke and "progress" equated. There, however, the incipient women's rights movements made clean air one of its subsidiary themes. Concern for public health generally and children's health in particular, brought many women into the fold. One businessman, W.P. Rend, declared smoke to be the "incense burning on the alter of industry". With other industrialists and many politicians echoing this sentiment, those seeking cleaner air through legislation faced firm resistance. While some progress was achieved, the onset of the automobile created a fresh problem. The USA's love affair with cars has been well documented. Sherman traces the rise of "smog" in the Los Angeles basin and the halting attempts to curtail it. One thing was certain, people weren't about to reduce car use and the problem could only be addressed at the factory with new means of curbing emitted compounds. The impact of such regulation hasn't kept the USA from being the planet's greatest polluter.

Sherman's answer is necessarily a little weak. Although he's covered the Western world, it is his own nation that provides the readership he wishes to convince. He wants his fellow-countrymen to be aware they inhale 19 thousand times per day. "What enters your nostrils and lungs each time?", he queries. Think of the dust, mites, bacteria and chemicals carried on that air into your body. He reminds us that there are delicate membranes in the lung, which, if spread out fully would cover a football field. That very expanse means a thin membrane easily affronted. It takes little effort to damage the lung. And those inside your rib cage can only be taken care of by their owner. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

I am a Joe Sherman fan.

Gasp! is, by far, Mr. Sherman's best cultural history to date. This book can be read as a history of cultural perceptions, a meditation on the element we take most for granted, or a demand for social responsibility in an increasingly toxic world.

Mr. Sherman at heart is neither a fiction, nor non-fiction writer. He is a cultural narrator. Part historian, common-sense speaker and fabulist with Gasp! he invites the reader to join him in a wrestling match with Air. He extracts specific and telling details and riffs both on the facts that underlie them, and the possible consequences they leave for us living in a Tailpipe World.

I have read several of his previous books including: 'Charging Ahead', 'In the Rings of Saturn' and 'Fast Lane down a Dirt Road'. These previous books all explored odd and specific topics as metaphors for our culture and times. Electric Car Innovations, GM's Business Unit of Saturn and the 20th Century History of Vermont are topics which Mr. Sherman converted into stories unfolding larger cultural and social truths.

In Gasp! he reversed his usual manner process and come away with a stunning book. Instead of a strange and specific topic being explored as windows into larger social forces, Joe undertakes the entire history and scope of the atmosphere. It worked. Somehow, it worked. Mr. Sherman has left me aware and pondering of every inhaled breath as chemical process, spiritual process and an underappreciated act of biological chance.

Joe draws on an incredable knowledge of the Automobile Industry, cultural history and the sciences to this book a wonderful read.

This book is part Social History, Science History, and a meditation on a common-sense need for environmental awareness. If John McPhee and Studs Turkel had collaborated on work about the Air, it might be something like this book. But for those who have read him before, it is definitely the strange and insightful Joe Sherman writing this work. This book is some his best writing. Somethign to be thankful fo.

Last night, Mr. Bush the leading supporter of the Clear Skies Act, won the election. Unable to sleep, I instead finished Gasp!

Placing Mr. Bush's 'Clear Skies' into the context of Mr. Sherman's 'Gasp!' is something worthwhile for anyone who would care to better understand the Air and our relationships to it.

Among the big problems with air is that it is invisible (with luck) and that we don't have to pay for it. We get to regard with specific attention the food we buy, and if you don't like the tap water you pay for, you can always spring for bottled. Air, on the other hand, is taken for granted, and you usually don't even think of even one of the 19,000 breaths you take every day. Like any other big subject we don't think about, air is hugely complicated, but in _Gasp! The Swift and Terrible Beauty of Air_ (Shoemaker & Hoard), Joe Sherman has covered the topic fully in many different ways. He writes, "Understanding air, which is both big and amorphous, and small and right in front of you, demands a few mental oscillations." He makes the oscillations fun, from basic principles of gas exchange within your lungs to the different gods of the sky people have believed in to the evolution of our planet's atmosphere to the current worries about pollution and global warming. As if the subject isn't big enough, he has taken many discursive asides; he just has so many facts he has to disclose to the reader, but his grasp of his subject is sure and his ability to convey complexities in understandable terms is excellent.

Much of the book is devoted to the history of our understanding about the air and the thinkers who have tried to break down the invisible to see what it was made of. For instance, in 1648, the mathematician Blaise Pascal repeated the experiments of Torricelli with the new invention, the barometer. Not only did he check air pressure at the bottom of a tower stairs and at the top, he went to the mountains to try the effect. Pascal reasoned that air would weigh less and less the further one ascended, eventually winding up in a void. This sounds sensible to us, but it was anathema to the church; if there was a vacuum way up there, there was no Aristotelian scheme of higher spheres, especially the one that was where God lived. Pascal's ideas were attacked by the Jesuits. Lavoisier and Priestley eventually helped do away with the concept of phlogiston when they discovered oxygen, but the air explorers were not just at work in their labs. There is Other chemists took to the air in hot-air balloons and later hydrogen balloons. In 1862, Henry Coxwell and James Glaisher rode their basket gondola beneath a hot-air balloon to become the first to reach the stratosphere. Their altimeter indicated that they had reached 35,000 feet, but like most of the equipment and procedures of the flight, it went wildly wrong. They had a truly heroic battle against cold and a new malaise, altitude sickness, that imperiled their judgement and their lives.

The universe has spent a long time producing our atmosphere, and Sherman starts from the Big Bang to the Cambrian explosion of half a billion years ago, when oxygen was boosted to current atmospheric levels by plants, enabling the eventual takeover of the land by animals. The final third of _Gasp!_ is devoted to our very recent destruction of the atmosphere that was so long in coming. He has lived in Los Angeles, and he has written before about American car culture, and he is disdainful of how little attention governments in general, and our government in particular, are paying to air's problems. The phasing out of Freon and other such chemicals because of their destruction of the ozone layer that protects us from the ultraviolet is actually an environmental success story. Sherman shows, however, that just as in the current debate over global warming, such anti-regulation politicians as Tom DeLay insisted in 1995 that banning chemicals that destroy the ozone layer was all based on dubious science. The current administration is eager to relax rules that might bother business, and has wanted to relax pro-ozone rules as well, despite the documented reaccumulation of ozone since the rules were enforced. Profit-making corporations, Sherman shows, have a good history of making profits, and a bad one of serving public health. We have industrial (especially automotive) pollutants and the potential for weather changes that are going to reshape civilization; but he reminds us that "Clean air is about as public a concern as it is possible to imagine." It might be that corporations will get eager to forego profits for health, and it might be that government will get eager to draw up rules to make this happen; but don't hold your breath.

Oxygen may not strike you as a lively protagonist for a book. Think again.

In a masterfully inventive biography of air, Joe Sherman weaves between geology and history, myth and science, to retrace our understanding of life's most precious gas.

From the Ionian philosophers of ancient Greece to the eccentric chemists and scientists who tested daringly with air through the Renaissance, Enlightenment and Industrial eras, Sherman invokes a lively, little known chapter in Western history.

He also explores myths in Hindu, Maori and Viking culture, showing the ways societies tried to make sense of the invisible gas that surrounded and sustained them.

In "GASP!," Sherman--whose non-fiction book on General Motors, "In the Rings of Saturn," was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize--blames the auto industry, weak government policies and America's obsession with cars as key factors tilting the scales of climate change towards disaster.

But "myth came before science and will outlast it" he writes in a meditative, vaguely hopeful tone. After narrating a 20th century atmosphere filled with germ warfare, radioactive pollution, smog and global warming, hope is about all we have left.

Read this timely homage to air--and make sure you take a few deep breaths.

I found GASP to be invaluable in telling the story of air "up close and personal." After 17 years in the air quality biz, I was stunned to find out facts I never knew about this much ignored but vital natural resource. From its cosmic beginnings to current techno solutions to air pollution, GASP reads like a biography, with air as its mysterious main character - - unpredictable, brooding and misunderstood. This book brings air down to earth; it makes us want to do things in our own lives to protect "one clean breath" for future generations. Bravo Mr. Sherman on a thorough and fascinating presentation.

I have loved this book my entire life. It is such a pleasure to read aloud. Children of all ages (even old children like me!) love it. Once in college in a drama class, we had to memorize a selection to recite on stage. Although the professor thought she was rather clear with her instructions, I found the loophole that allowed me to recite "Gwendolyn the Miracle Hen" instead of some stuffy Shakespeare soliloquy! I did not have to memorize this book as it was already committed to memory from childhood. Everyone loved it. The illustrations are fabulous and really stand out in a child's mind. Good over evil. It is truly a wonderful tale.

Even at $70.00. I bought one in a thrift store 17 years ago for 45cents and have completely worn it out with my 3 children. It is their favorite book. I had no idea we had a collectors item in the house until I tried to buy a copy for my future grandchildren. This is a treasure. The story and the way it rhymes it's way to a happy ending is fantastic. Not to long and not to short, the perfect childrens book. Take good care of it. I saw one on e-bay for $253.00.

The hen -- loyal to her kind farmer -- outwits a greedy old man. With her clever laying of multicolored eggs, she saves the farm. and, with her cleverness, all in rhyme. "Cluck, cluck," said Gwendolyn, "You'll see. Just leave the whole thing up to me." My children loved this classic example of good triumphing over evil, and wittily too.

The hen -- loyal to her kind farmer -- outwits a greedy old man. With her clever laying of multicolored eggs, she saves the farm, all in rhyme. "Cluck, cluck," said Gwendolyn, "You'll see. Just leave the whole thing up to me." My children loved this classic and witty example of good triumphing over evil.

The hen -- loyal to her kind farmer -- outwits a greedy old man. With her clever laying of multicolored eggs, she saves the farm. and, with her cleverness, all in rhyme. "Cluck, cluck," said Gwendolyn, "You'll see. Just leave thw hole thing up to me." My children loved this classic example of good triumphing over evil, and wittily too.

Have you ever read a book and felt like the person said exactly what's been in on your mind? That's how Sherman A. Jackson's Islam and the Blackamerican is for me. As a "Jamerican" (Jamaican and African-American), I feel this book can also apply to Black Caribbean Muslims who are unwittingly converting into "Modern Islam" and becoming Salafis.

I sincerely hope to be a part of the "Third Resurrection" Mr. Jackson so eloquently discusses in this book. If I had my way I'd require every Muslim in America to read it.

Dr. Sherman Jackson's book is concerned with the "third resurrection" of Islam among Blackamericans. The first resurrection refers to the period before the death of Elijah Muhammad and his proto-Islamic movement, which was essentially a "holy protest" against white supremacy and anti-black racism. In the period of the second resurrection, it was charismatic leadership rather than "any objective method for scriptural interpretation that made or unmade doctrine." The third resurrection would hopefully be characterized by the "appropriation and mastery of the Islamic tradition." Dr. Jackson defines "appropriation" as the "enlisting of a set of non-indigenous ideas or doctrines for one's existential or ideological struggle." In other words, Blackamericans will not come to a foreign Islam that looks to the world through the prism of others' historical experiences ignoring their own experiences and predicaments, nor to a domesticated Islam that appeals to the dominant groups rather than combating supremacy and striving for a just peace.

In order to clear any misunderstanding, Dr. Jackson spent considerable time detailing his vision for the third resurrection. The protest spirit of Black Religion must be maintained but not to the detriment of the moral and spiritual. Put simply, what is required is a balance between protest and piety, activism and spirituality, the pursuit of secular goals and the quest for eschatological success. Black religion must rid itself of the exclusive obsession with race and the insistence on eliminating the evil of white supremacy without an attempt to contribute good to the world. Blacks, and the other Muslims, must understand that they need to recognize the US constitution and embrace America "in protest," something that Dr. Jackson authenticates and justifies using the Islamic sources and tradition, and not to destroy themselves by victimology, glorification of ignorance, and rejectionism. At the same time, the last thing needed is a theology of accommodation, dictated by certain tendencies in Immigrant Islam especially after the catastrophe of 9/11, where Islam is domesticated and used to bolster the assumptions of the privileged groups and to beg for their recognition.

Dr. Jackson deals with aspects of the relationship between Blackamerican and Immigrant Islam focusing on the monopoly exercised by the immigrants over the interpretation of the faith and the determination of the substance and priorities of Islam in America. His analysis is elegant and deeply objective. This is clear from his refusal to make one historical experience the sole determiner of the goals and objectives of Islam in the US and his refusal of "false universals" where a version of Islam is considered to be the "true" Islam without paying any attention to the particularities of the various Muslim communities. Rejecting "false universals" does not at all mean compromising anything essential to the doctrinal integrity of Islam; it means taking the historical experiences and customs of the different Muslim groups into account while formulating a vision of Islam that helps them in this life and the afterlife.

Despite his correct and convincing critique of Immigrant Islam, Dr. Jackson also deconstructs the assertions of "Black Orientalism"---a tendency by some Blacks to consider Islam the (main) enemy of Black people. The fundamental problem with Black Orientalism is that it analyzed the historical experience of Black people through the prism of American slavery. Dr. Jackson did not deny the presence of anti-Black sentiments in the Islamic tradition. Backing his arguments with historical facts, he calls for an objective assessment of these since there is a huge difference between societies which produce expressions of racial and color prejudice and societies that are founded on notions of racial superiority of some people and the utter inferiority of others who do not have the same skin color.

Dr. Jackson's book is a must-read for anyone interested in the future of Islam in America. The most important thing about his prescriptions is that they can be embraced by all Muslims regardless of their background. First, they are faithful to the definitives of Islam. Second, they are balanced and take the different aspects of the Islamic faith into account. Third, they are based on the emphatically tolerant and pluralistic Islamic tradition---something that should promote intra-Muslim tolerance and, most importantly, prevent any particular group from laying exclusive claim over the divine truth.

a very interesting book- extremely analytical- especially in its critique of Black Orientalism- while unlike regular Orientalism which misinterpreted the Muslim world in order to dominate it, misinterprets the Muslim world in order to protect black identity from influences which supposedly threaten the African core. He's very adept at making comparisons- and highlights some issues that are certainly the most pressing towards the Black Muslim community today; now that Black NAtionalism is no longer a common rallying point for black Muslims, and now that immigrant influence has seen to be obnoxious and domineering, it is indeed time for a "third resurrection"- for blackamerican Muslims to appropriate the mainstream Muslim tradition for themselves so that they are neither dominated by Muslim foreigners nor simply using Islam as a protest ideology without an authentic religious connection. To become more in a sense like the West African Muslims who so impressed Blyden- deeply Muslim, yet dignified having appropriated it for themselves, not having been dominated by non-black foreigners. Sherman Jackson's solutions are interesting (it is after all just a book meant to start off discussion)- his consideration of Sufism interesting- I certainly hope to see more such discussion in this direction- but of course- it will be long before the masses see the issues above as lucidly as the academics.

Sherman Jackson has delivered a powerful piece on the history and current situation of religion in the Blackamerican community. Jackson dispels some myths as to why Islam has found such popularity in the Black community. He also provides poignant insight into the nature of how Islam has come to operate in the West. Alternative choices are outlined and provided to the Black community in reconciling with their uniquely Black and Western heritage. I cannot recommend the book enough. A must read for anyone who has religious, social or anthro-social interests.

Dr Jackson write a remarkable summary of the condition of Islam in America, specifically as it relates to the Blackamerican (a term he justifies using early in the book) and Immigrant Muslims. For academics and laypeople, the insights he draws from his research and his own experience as a Blackamerican Muslim are eye-opening, especially as he relates the challenge of indigenizing Islam in America.

He concludes the book with a chapter on Sufism, Muslim spirituality, and the Blackamerican struggle. While I disagree with some of his conclusions, he nonetheless offers Blackamerican Muslims a natural entry point into Sufism, a part of Islam that is greatly maligned in some Muslim circles.

Overall, a must read for Muslim Americans, immigrant, white and black!

A light, fun, gentle romantic read. I couldn't put it down, and the characters were very engaging. All SHerman's books are so much fun. I also recommend The SIlver Falcon.

King's Son, Magic's Son is the perfect book to read when you want to remind yourself why you started to read fantasy in the first place. This is high fantasy with one major difference-- it's done well.

While it might sound rather cliched with its many Faerie Folk, magicians and sorcerers, Josepha Sherman brings them all vividly to life. It's classic fantasy, done with high adventure and a romantic air.

To sum it up in one word-- EXCELLENT! If you're a fantasy fan of any sort, King's Son, Magic's Son is a refreshing change from some of the trash that gets published.

This has got to be one of the most enjoyable fantasy books I have ever read. Usually, I don't like books that are set on 'this' earth because they are too realistic. This book, however, manages to combine faeries, fantasies, kings, and princesses without getting dull. Aidan is a very likeable character, and I sympathized with him through his trials. This book has just the right pace, and doesn't need a sequel (although that would be enjoyable) to tie up the loose ends. A classic tale tale of bot meets girl, boy finds out he is a prince, boy helps brother (the king), and boy saves everyone.

I thoroughly agree with the other reviewers. I love this book and have reread it so many times that I need a new copy! I find it hard to believe that, with so much rubbish around, this book is out of print! It was not based on any fairytale that I am familiar with - and isn't about two brothers in love with the same woman. . .rather it is a story in which Ms Sherman weaves the powers - and obligations - of a magician into a wonderful mixture of love, sorcery (black and white) and good triumphing over evil. Aidan, the son of a (good) witch and a king finds he has a brother and promises his dying mother that he will help his brother, the king. He does so despite the fact that he would rather stay with his true love, an elven lady in a land which bears a strong resemblance to a pagan Wales. He faces the suspicion of his brother's courtiers and new wife and the emnity of a neighboring king who dabbles in black sorcery and has a pact with demons. This king captures him and he gets free only with the help of one of the Fair Folk for whom he has done a favor. When he gets back he finds he is being blamed for the death of his brother's wife. Once he gets over the illness engendered by his imprisonment he finds a perfect match for his brother AND defeats the wicked king and his dark allies. Splendid stuff! Definitely read it if you liked her "Shattered Oath" and Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar and fairy tale series !

Josepha Sherman writes a lot of books about elves, both in urban settings and in more traditional settings. Out of all her books (the ones about magic and elves anyway), this is my favorite. "King's Son Magic's Son" is about Aidan, a human magician raised in the forest by his witch mother. Magic is second nature to him and he even falls in love with an Elven maiden. When his mother dies she makes him promise to get to know his half brother, who happens to be the king of the neighboring country. Reluctantly, Aidan leaves the forest and his lady to find his brother.

The reason I gave this book a five was because I can go back and read this book again and again. Aidan's arrival into a court full of "civilized" courtiers that are both suspicious of the King's bastard brother and of magic in general is both funny and exciting. The characters, though represent the usual fare in fantasy, have a certain depth. The main characters are especially unique. Aidan is torn between wanting to help Estemere, his wary brother, and going home to his lady. Estemere wants to trust his bastard brother, but is cautious of his position and politics.

This is the type of book that isn't too in depth or long, but is satisfying and a pleasure to read. I highly recomment it and if you can find it, read it quick!

I thought this a good book for anyone reading about or studying Major-General William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea and the March through the Carolinas. It captures the thoughts and personalities of the Army behind the man and gives the reader an insight to why they did some of the things that are so controversial today.

I have to confess a bias; Professor Glatthaar taught me US history in my first semester of college and was a very engaging, entertaining and clear teacher.

This book is history of the very best kind. It is extensively documented from primary sources, it is well written and draws the reader in and the text of the book is free from cumbersome and often distracting academic citation apparatus. It also has selected a topic of almost epic proportions.

The March to the Sea, coming on the heels of the devastating fall of Atlanta was the straw that broke the South's back. After years of war and the related hardships, the devastation that this march produced in the South dealt a death blow to the South's war effort.

In one of the great strategic decisions of the war, Sherman breaks his lines of communication and supply and, like a modern day nuclear sub, disappears only to resurface at Savannah. The freedom of movement that this decision allowed made this march even more effective.

Further, the productivity of the South, even after years of warfare is evidenced. The author presents data showing an increase in the weight of soldiers due to the richness of the diet they were able to secure from those unfortunate enough to be in the path of Sherman's army.

To quibble with a prior reviewer, this is not a novel. This is academic history of the best sort but written in a easy and accesible manner. A great book.

This book contains an examination of the army that General William Tecumseh Sherman led through Georgia and the Carolinas, in late 1864 and early 1865. Instead of being just another narrative of the March to the Sea and Carolina campaigns, however, Glatthaar's book is a look at the individuals that composed the army. In it, he examines the social and ideological backgrounds of the men in Sherman's army, and evaluates how they felt about various factors of the war--slavery, the union, and, most significantly, the campaign in which they were participating. The result is a fascinating look at Sherman's campaigns through the eyes of the everyday soldier. Glatthaar makes the army come alive, and shows the men not as heartless animals who delighted in wanton destruction, not as mechanized marching machines who could perform the most difficult marches without even flinching, but instead as real human beings, complete with sore feet, empty stomachs, and minds engaged in contemplation over the ethical ramifications of what they were doing to the people of the South.

This book, and others like it (such as James McPherson's For Cause and Comrades), is a refreshing change from the norm in Civil War history. The value of this book lies in its helping the reader understand that the war was fought by individuals, not masses of blue and gray, and that these individuals felt and thought a great deal about the cause they were engaged in. I have read much on the subject of Sherman's march, but never before this book did I truly feel like I understood the mentality of the 60,000 man army he led. This book will not give you a detailed and thorough account of Sherman's campaigns, but it will give anyone who already is somewhat familiar with the marches an incredible amount of insight that, I believe, cannot be gained elsewhere.

Individuals who belong to a Civil War reenacting association, history buffs, and serious scholars of the Civil War will all find quiet enjoyment in Joseph Glatthaar's historical novel on Major General Sherman's march to Savannah and through the Carolinas. Glatthaar's perspective of bringing the war down to the level of the individual soldier is not always found in historical novels. He writes about the soldier's innermost feelings, not about the glorious generals, the great armies, or the magnificent campaigns. I believe that individual battles do not win wars, but that it is the men composing the fighting force that can turn a potential devastating defeat into a glorious victory. Mr. Glatthaar has done a great justice in his portrayal of the men who conducted the march to the sea and beyond. I would highly recommend the book to anyone who wishes better to understand the soldiers that fought for Sherman

Joseph Glatthaar wrote this book in order to examine Sherman's march across the South "from the level of the common soldier, both enlisted and officer". In the introduction he states that by writing the book from this perspective, he hoped "to restore the reality of the campaigns, to understand the underlying motivation of Sherman's men for adopting a policy of devestation and to shed light on the total-war concept in military history".

Mr. Glatthaar's efforts have resulted in this very informative and engaging book. I did not know a lot about Sherman's Army before reading this book, and feel that I now have a much better understanding of the men who filled the ranks and led the regiments in their famous march to the sea. In his text, Mr. Glatthaar presents many quotes directly from letters and diaries written by Sherman's men, which really enhances the story and his conclusions.

I recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn about Sherman's Army- why it was successful, why it adopted a policy of total war, destroying much of the South, and why it remains controversial to this day.

Very helpful manual for the advanced modeler. I am not an advanced modeler but even I found the book helpful. So it is suitable for all skill levels.

Steve Zaloga is a superb historian of US and Soviet military equipment, and a very capable model builder, as well as an extremely talented writer, so you really cannot go wrong with any title he has written. Where Amazon has gone wrong is that they have confused his two books on "Modelling the US Army M4 Sherman Tank" as different editions of the same book. If you click on the "paperback" edition link above, you'll find the companion volume, which deals with building the early variants of the Sherman family with the 75 mm gun. This second volume deals with the later, 76 mm gun versions.
Since space is at a premium in these little booklets, Zaloga just addresses variants actually used by US Army units (some types, like the M4A4, and late M4A2 versions were used mainly by Allied troops). He points up some basic improvements needed to make the available kits accurate, and includes very helpful "in progress" photos to illustrate the fixes. He also shows the novice how to deal with the individual link tracks included in some Sherman kits, which are challenging to assemble unless you build a simple jig as demonstrated in the book. And since he likes to display completed models in small vignettes, you get some nice tips on producing simple but effective dioramas, as well.

This book is really geared for advanced modelers. It does have some nice color photos including some beautiful models by the author. But the modeling tips are really more advanced and are a bit beyond my current abilities. Maybe someday I'll be able to put this to better use.

I am an experienced armor modeler but I am always looking for new painting and weathering techniques. I found this book to offer several color schemes and painting approaches for the Sherman tank. I have been able to take and adapt the author's ideas to my work on some recent models. My litmus test for modeling books is simple: whether it helps me improve my skills in the hobby or not. This book did.

I do not have the time or patience for scratch building using styrene plastic and I seldom use aftermarket parts on my models--in part because I have a hard time making large cuts on a $40 plus tank model that I may or may not be able to repair. The author provided information about upgrading Sherman tank models with aftermarket parts and scratchbuilding parts. That is not, as stated, my interest, albeit it may be interesting or valuable to another modeler with different skills.

I have three other books of the same genre by the same author; I have ordered another. My opinion is that these are good products for the serious modeler and worth the money.

Dr. Mark McDonald

Mr. Zaloga, a noted armor historian, strikes again with this volume in the Osprey Modelling series. This volume is themed around the famous M4 "Sherman" tank with the 75mm gun. The later "Shermans" with 76mm guns will be in a follow-on volume. This voluime has a brief overview and several model projects in different scales. The quality of workmanship is tremendous and each chapter has lots of historical information as well as modelling techniques. Each model has in-progress photos as well as descriptions and photographs of the finished project. This book is very handy for beginners as well as advanced modelers and should be in the collection of any person who enjoys military vehicle modeling.

If you're in a need of some inspiration, read this book. PowerTools will get you energized to turn your dreams into a reality. Reading all the touching and motivating anecdotes from other women will empower you to take action to achieve what's most important to you.

In the wonderful book, "Think and Grow Rich," by Napoleon Hill, he advises readers to think of role models who at night, just before going to sleep, you imagine are in a meeting with. During this imaginary meeting you are asking them to teach you what you most admire in them.

And he calls these people his invisible counselors.

Aliza, in essense, is doing this, through "PowerTools For Women in Business," by telling the story of 10 women who continue to convert their most adverse life experiences into propelling causes, work and prospererty.

Because, as Mary-Scott Welch, "Networking", said, "It helps a lot to get other women's ideas about your problems, not in the abstract but in the very specific terms of a real-life situation," a book like "PowerTools is a great beginning for women to walk through the examples of other women, to bring out the best in who we are.

As a journalist, I have the opportunity to meet many authors, and I must say that some of them do not live the messages that they promotee in their books - but Aliza certainly does.

This book contains easy to follow, real life stories of women maximizing their strengths, while never forgeting to be women.

Thank you, Aliza for living your mission.

Aliza Sherman writes a powerful guide filled with tips and tools that inspire, challenge and help you grow professionally and personally.

Aliza Sherman's PowerTools For Women In Business is an enthusiastic, can-do optimistic guide that teaches women how to best take advantage of their own strengths and personalities to succeed in the business world. PowerTools For Women In Business is about keeping professional and personal lives in harmonious balance, never sacrificing one at the expense of another, when for women especially they tend to become all too intertwined. Personally imposed barriers to success, and emotional obstacles such as guilt or unease wielding power can be confronted and conquered. Very highly recommended reading for any female executive, especially one who is relatively new to the cutthroat, male-dominated, complex and demanding world of business!

I loved this book! Aliza has a wonderful way of drawing compelling stories out of high-powered women and creating "rules" for success based on how these big girls have done it. As a matter of fact, Rule #1 is "Share Your Stories -- Teach, Inspire, Motivate, and Learn by Telling and Listening." A critical lesson, that by overcoming our fear of asking for help and appearing needy, we can actually get farther faster by talking about the areas of business we are stuck in and learning from the advice of others. Powertools was a fun and informative read.

The Rain At Midnight is a book of poetry that was sent to me by a friend. I have only read a few poems from the book but have found that even these few poems touched me in a way that lets me know the author Joseph Hutchinson understands me as a human being. I was particularly touched by the poem "The One_ Armed Boy" which goes:
The One-Armed Boy
has taught himself
to play catch with the
walls of his house.
With great difficulty
has learned to open jars,
trap grashopper, write in
straight lines. Has over time
discovered how not to hear his
mother weeping, or his father
roaring drunk.He carefully trained
himself to deflect the cutting
comments of his schoolmates.
If only a saw had gnawed it off!
Or some gigantic shark, as in his
recurring fantasies.If only he hadn't
been born like this.And yet near sleep,
the arm that never was reaches out,
touches something even the boy can't
name. Like rain at midnight falling
into a field of poppies, it gently
bathes his non existent hand.

This one poem spoke to me because my mother and I have often felt the way the boy in the poem felt about his missing arm. If only my learning disability etc., were caused by some accident and I was not born with it then people would understand what I was going through better and come to my aid instead of me having to fight for any little bit of help that I was able to recieve. I identified with the boy in this poem and I believe that anyone who reads this book will find at least one poem that they will identify with. After all the poems in this book are about the human condition with all its imperfections, longings and frailties. I highly recommend this book.

The poetry of Joseph Hutchison showcased in The Rain At Midnight is almost physical in its impact on the mind, erotic in its effect on the imagination, and lyrical in its framing. Punishment: Two lovers with no future/going at it: the bed's headboard/bumps the wall, hung upon which/Van Gogh's manic Irises knocks//gently; nails sunk into studs/and plaster grow a little looser./Such punishment is why the house/will collapse someday, the world//being what it is: a planet/full of lovers with no future--/only now, now--and that famous "it" all of them keep going at.

"Icy water races past your racing heart,
under raised arms that ache to balance
whatever you carry, what you must (you
suddenly understand) be willing to let go.
Chin-deep. Perched on a slippery stone
that shifts with each shivering breath.
no choice but to take the next step-
deeper into the black river"
~Black River

"The Rain at Midnight" is a collection of poems that so aptly describe the male perspective. Joseph Hutchison delves into a variety of situations ranging from the observations he makes in nature to the inner experiences he weaves into poems. Each poem is an adventure into the reality of existence. At times his words are playful, profound or show a focus on presence.

I loved how he talks about tidal pools photographing his face or how the sun is like "apricot fire dripping." He uses such vivid images and often sexuality is never far below the surface of his thoughts. I like the unbridled words in "Internal Combustion." It seems anger is sparked and it burns or sinks down inside him writhing like a demon.

Joseph Hutchison explores everything from the awakening jolt of youthful discovery to the slow passionate ritual of languishing in love. He also explores the tragedy of a failed relationship.

"Brightness and Shadow" reveals the romantic nature of love, while other poems touch briefly on the tragedy of broken promises. I love "Brightness and Shadow" and would recommend the book for just this one poem alone. Here, he is remembering a night of love while he finds various items all over the room. It is loving and sexy and quite exquisite.

There is a sad, yet sweet acceptance in "An Amusing Anecdote" as he sits with his ex-wife after their divorce is final and "perhaps" an analysis of decisions leading to the situation, in "Good."

"I might have denied myself your kiss, your caress.
I might have sneered, "What's happiness worth?"
I might have let my duties define my desires.
I might have hurt no one. I might have been good."

How could a man living at this depth of awareness be satisfied with less than a downpour of love? Yet, his heart makes choices and leads him to love and wounds, failures and bitter struggles that keep the peace at bay.

In the first poem, he showers while trying not to wake his family and in the last poem, he pretends to sleep while listening to the rain at midnight as the rain drops become the chattering voices of three beautiful sisters.

"or maybe they'd simply blend back
into rain, a dark rain, the lull of it,
the sweet nothing noise and the kiss of it,
the tears and the healing sleep of it at last."

Joseph Hutchison knows how to transform even the most casual observation into pictures where rivers of words tumble over slippery stones and you can imagine yourself lost in the river, stumbling near a shore of "ink-black" pines where "feverish stars have risen" and there is a cold comfort in the "bone-white moon."

It seems life gives us choices and then at times, it throws us into a dark river where we have no choice but to swim deeper into life itself.

These poems are about surviving life and appreciating beauty along the way. Even in the cold, black river, you can look up and see the stars.

~The Rebecca Review

I have read two of Mr. Huchison's books, "The Rain at Midnight" and his chapbook, "The Heart Within the Heart." "Rain" is a collection of observations about life, choices, reality and changes. I found it deeply satisfying. Several of the poems in "Rain" struck me with the pointed force that comes only with the truth. I feel that Mr. Hutchison has a unique talent for using imagry to convey an idea or a progression of ideas. "Heart" is particularly good at illustrating moods, philosophies, thoughts and a progression of ideas. Mr. Huchison is succint and graphic in a way that creates an image in my mind, then the complete thought emerges. This poetry is very accessible and I recommend it to everyone, expecially people new to poetry.

Los Angeles poerty maven Carlye Archibeque of Indepedent Review Service writes: This is the fourth book of poetry by Joseph Hutchison and the first time I have come in contact with his work.So poetry goes.THE RAIN AT MIDNIGHT is organized into five sections. The poetry in each section is excellent but I favor the first two sections: "St. Failure's Hospital" and "The Oldest Fear" and the last, "Brightness and Shadow", for their straight forward approach to telling a story. The piece I keep returning to is in the first section and is titled "Daffodils"."Let's speak of anguish at the root / of daffodils..." the poet begins, and falls hopelessly into the most spectacular diatribe about hopelessness. "Let's talk about how sick we've become / of breath....Let's lie down in the dirt and blossom in silence." Everything in Hutchison's world is alive with longing and regret, especially the writer. In "The One Armed Boy", the protagonist lies almost asleep and "the arm / that never was reaches out, / touches something even the boy / can't name. Like rain at midnight / falling into a field of poppies, it / gently bathes his non-existent hand." His is the language of bones, flesh and blood caught up in a world that feels cruel, but may just be unconcerned. His work also reflects a sense of humor of the sort that has made bitterness bearable in the work of better known writers like Billy Collins or Tony Hoagland. In "Sandman", the writer tries to coax the saint of insomniacs into a drunken sleep so that he too may sleep, but finds, "He's taken a powder...and wants to talk, / talk, talk about his sleepless life. Well, / what can I do? I hug him like a brother. / I let him cry on my shoulder till dawn." I could go on for a while about Hutchison's way with words, but it would be much better if you took them out for a spin for yourself.