Turner Books

With informative captions provided by Emily and John Salmon, "Historic Photos Of The Siege Of Petersburg" is a photographic documentation of the Union siege of the Confederate city of Petersburg, as part of General Ulysses S. Grant's campaign in 1865 against the forces of Robert E. Lee. This outstanding compilation of hundreds of historic black-and-white photographs showcase the soldiers, their fortifications, their casualties, their effectiveness, and the ultimate fall of the city to Union forces. A work of immense value, "Historic Photos Of The Siege Of Petersburg" is a fundamentally important addition to academic library American Civil War Studies reference collections and will prove to be of intense interest to Civil War scholars, as well as highly recommended and informative for non-specialist general readers with an interest in Civil War history.

The Siege of Petersburg lasted for over nine months so the troops on both sides had too much time on their hands. Their officers obviously had to not only keep them supplied and trained, but also had to put them to work building fortifications, digging tunnels under the enemy positions, and more. This book contains a couple of hundred wonderful pictures of the men and their units as well as some of the amazing temporary structures they built.

Look at the little village of gothic style log structures all made from local timber on pages 96 and 97. And I can't believe you won't be amazed at the neo-gothic church made from the same materials on 98 and 99. The other wooden structures in the pages following are not something I had previously associated with fighting the Civil War.

Also, look at the uniforms of the various Pennsylvania companies on pages 60-62. Have you ever seen those uniforms (particularly the hats) in a Civil War movie? I haven't. Very different than anything I had seen before.

The post fighting photos of battlefield fortifications, dead soldiers (usually posed) and the shelled town are all fascinating stuff. I also enjoyed the photos taken in the years and decades after the battle of what people did to commemorate this important part of the war. The photo are all reprinted in very high quality and large format so you can really study them, even with a magnifying glass to see some amazing detail.

The accompanying text is very informative, helpful in explaining the pictures without every getting in the way. The information balance is perfectly done.

Very much recommended.

TR has become one of the more popular historic Presidents and many books have been written about his life and his work. The Library of America has a collection of his books and another of his letters. I recommend both heartily. And I also encourage you to add to your understanding of the life of Theodore Roosevelt with this collection of a couple hundred photographs taken from all periods of his life. A few of them you will have seen in the popular images and in the biographies, but most you will not have seen unless you are a TR specialist.

This book was put together by Stacy A. Cordery who is a scholar on TR and his daughter, Alice. She has written an excellent foreword and captions for the pictures. Cordery lets the pictures do most of the work, but adds just the right touch of context to help us understand better what we are looking at. She also notes that we have so many of these helpful photos because TR was so adept at using the press and getting them to help him get the publicity he wanted.

While the photo is printed to very high quality standards, the pictures come from a time when the skill of the photographer mattered a great deal to the final product, so you will notice some variance in the texture of the photos. They are not because of the publisher. And the large format allows us to study the photos very closely. Get out a magnifying glass and see the detail you can pick up. It really is quite cool.

A very nice book.

Upon the unexpected assassination of William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt found himself being sworn in as the 26th President of the United States and went on to become one of the most dynamic, charismatic, energetic, and popular president is American political history. "Historic Photos Of Theodore Roosevelt" is a compendium of period black-and-white photos of TR visually documenting his life and exploits as a soldier and explorer, a conservationist and big game hunter, a scientist and writer, a family man, and his time as the governor of New York, his brief term as a vice-president, and as a president. With informative captions given them by Stacy A. Cordery (web bibliographer for the National First Ladies Library in Canton, Ohio) "Historic Photos Of Theodore Roosevelt" is a fittingly pictorial biographic presentation of a remarkable man whose political policies, ideas, and influence are still resonating in American culture today. "Historic Photos Of Theodore Roosevelt" is an impressive body of work and a strongly recommended addition to academic and community library reference collections in the areas of 20th Century American History, Photography, and Biography.

I ordered and received this book a couple days ago and have already read through it twice. Author Gregory Miller has picked the most awesome historical photos of Toledo for this book and added captions. The book is just GREAT!!!!!!
Greg has helped me often while at the Local History Department of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library and has always proved to be most helpful and knowledgeable about the Lucas County, Ohio area. Greg you did an excellent job!!!!
Gaye Gindy, Sylvania, Ohio

Toledo is a solid mid-western industrial town with a lot of history and the ups and downs we in the Great Lakes region are used to. If you look at the Southern border of Michigan, you will notice that it isn't straight across as you might have thought. That jut northward on the Eastern part, including Toledo, was claimed by both Michigan and Toledo and was the subject of a "war" that involved a lot of walking around in the woods and drinking without any shooting. In the end, Toledo went to Ohio and Michigan got the Upper Peninsula. Ya! We sure did!

This fascinating book of large format photos picks up after the Civil War and ends with a pair of pictures from the 1970s. One is the urban renewal project that tore down the Town Hall Burlesque Theater, showing it in ruins. The other is of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Seven of the crew lost when that ship went down in 1975 were from Northwest Ohio - including its captain.

The book is divided into four periods. 1870-1899 when Toldeo was and up and coming city. The second period is from 1900-1929 showing Toledo as a rising industrial, entrepreneurial, and commercial center with its port and river access playing an important part. While there are many cool shots, the one of Roy Knabenshue and his dirigible earning his $500 prize by taking off and landing from the A. L. Spitzer building is pretty near the top. (pg. 41).

The third chapter take us from 1930-1949 and shows us the effects of the Great Depression and World War II on the life and work of the people of Toledo. The last chapter takes us from 1950-1975 and the rise and fall of the American mid-west's industrial might.

Gregory Miller provides excellent chapter introductions and captions for the photographs he selected for the book. The back jacket information says that he has been curator of photographs for the Local History Department of the Toledo Lucas County Public Library since 1991. They provide internet access to more than 100,000 images through their website.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

Compiled, edited, and captioned by Bob Duncan (County Historian and Director of the Maury County Archives, Columbia, Tennessee), " Historic Photos of World War II: Volume 2 -- Pearl Harbor to Japan" is a coffee-table book style compendium of full-page black-and-white historic photos of battle scenes from the Pacific Theatre. Visually documenting one of the epic saga's of the twentieth century, this photos were drawn from both public archives and private collections. Collectively they depict the struggle, sacrifice, and horrors of war in the Pacific. They also document the courage, resolve, and determination of the American soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen who fought a determined, aggressive, and relentless enemy to liberate the captive peoples of the Pacific nations free from their Japanese overlords. "Historic Photos of World War II: Volume 2" is a welcome and highly recommended addition to personal, academic, and community library Military History, Photography, and 20th Century History reference collections. Also very highly recommended is Bob Duncan's earlier work, "Historic Photos of World War II: Volume 1 -- North Africa to Germany" (Turner Publishing, 2007).

I think most people know more about World War II in Europe than they do about the war in the Pacific. Yet, for America, the War began and ended in the Pacific. Maybe it is just harder to do movies about ships and island invasions than it is about ground campaigns. We always talk about Omaha Beach, and we should, but there were many invasions of islands in the Pacific that were more costly in life for us and the enemy.

This book has more than 200 well chosen photographs that show us some views of Pearl Harbor and the various battles of the Pacific that are not always shown. Obviously, some of them, such as the photo of the Hiroshima bomb detonation, are well known. I learned some new things from the photos and the captions by Bob Duncan. For example, I knew that there was tremendous loss of life during the attack on Pearl Harbor, but I didn't know about those trapped in the Oklahoma and the rescue efforts that saved some, but others lingered for two weeks until they died in the dark of the overturned ship.

The shot of the Missouri firing her guns and the water "boiling" from the concussion is simply breathtaking. While there are plenty of shots taken during the fighting and there are some shots of the dead, none are gruesome or shown for the sake of horror. But the effects of the war on those who fought it are explained quite well. We also get a humorous shot of a soldier sitting on an unexploded shell from a 16-inch gun emptying the sand from his shoes. Talk about the definition of nonchalant!

The book is in three parts: Crisis in the Pacific (1941-1942), Learning New Ways of War (1942-1944), and A Colossus Emerges (1944-1945). There are many great shots of the ships, planes, guns, and soldiers who fought in the war. Mostly American soldiers, but a few Japanese show up. Mostly we see the Americans doing their level best to kill as many Japanese as they can, which, during the fighting, was an important task.

This is a terrific book and should be viewed and read by everyone.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

I love this book. I don't understand why its missing pictures, its such a shame because they would help the motivation levels. But otherwise this is my domestic bible, the content is awesome. It has tips on everything from organising and cleaning room by room, to planning a Christmas that all the family will be amazed by.

I got this book few months back by didn't order it from Amazon. I LOVED IT, I can depend on it to make my small apartment into a nice, cozy perfect place. I don't consider myself as a domestic Goddess but everybody love my place, touches, parties .. etc. The book contains excellent lessons in (De-Cluttering your home, cleaning, removing stains, shopping, entertaining, children and pets) many tips and ideas and love the 4th lesson on cleaning room by room. The only thing I missed in this book is the illustration, would be perfect if they added some photos and illustrations for gift wrapping or sitting a table for example. I'm looking forward the next book (early 2008).

A book that will lift your spirits and warm your heart!

Willy was once an abandoned, handicapped chihuahua puppy dumped on the streets in a cardboard box.

Thanks to his adopter, who discovered the world of wheelchairs for dogs, Willy learned to fly!

Adults and children adore this book, and it is especially significant to the handicapped who share a special bond with Willy.

How Willy Got His Wheels and How Willy Got His Wings are wonderful stories! Willy is a real dog with real challenges... children can relate to him and learn. Parents and teachers will love sharing them with their children!

In Praise of Folly (Encomiun Moriae in Latin) was written in 1509 by the Dutchman Erasmus of Rotterdam when he was guest to his English famous friend Thomas More,or Morus if you prefer, the author of the celebrated book Utopia. Given internal religious strife in Europe, and England was in no exception mood, these were pretty much dangerous times and many heads rolled and were to roll, More"s included, due to the persecution by Henry VIII. Whatever was to be said about the nettlesome religious matter had to be done with extrema caution in order to avoid the perilous verdicts of the Holy Tribunal.

Along with Thomas More, Desiderius Erasmus was one of the most important representatives of the Renaissance literary movement in northern Europe and what was casually presented by Erasmus as a booklet inspired by a casual play of words with the surname More (which is almost equal to Moriae, madness in Greek), was in fact an attempt to salvage what should be rescued of the Classical Greek Antiquity in Erasmus' opinionated argument and incorporated in the Christian thought of the time. Beneath an almost non-descript façade was an issue of utmost significance to the evolution of the so-called Natural Sciences, that were to benefit from advances of recent discoveries in Physics, Chemistry and later on Biology, but which were hindered to evolve by the so-called aristotelian taint inherited by the Scholastic medieveal tradition so dear to the traditionalist Catholic Church, a task difficult in itself but which Erasmus easily outdone with a satyrical style that offended no one, preserving all the respect to the Church hierarchy and its dogmas and, most importantly, the figure of Jesus Christ.

The book is in fact a small one but the reader is much rewarded by the richness of its content, where the author takes him by his hands and strolls with him trough ancient Greek and Roman mithology in a verbose prose at the same time easy, vigorous and stimulating, where one is impressed by the author's astounding erudiction, as if he was a northern true inheritor of the Tuscan Dante Aligheri (the Divine Comedy) in this purpose. This is certainly one of the best literary works of late Renaissance and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Desiderius Erasmus was surely the most logical and objective viewer of Europe's plight in the early 16th century. He was a reformer without being an extremist, and a Catholic without being a slave to superstition or conservatism, truly the quintessential intellectual.

A beautifully written story of the Creation for children , aged 2 to 8 , in the form of a poem , illustrated by exquisite bright paintings :
"G-D said WORLD
and the world spun round
G-D said LIGHT
and the light beamed down"
A wonderful introduction to young children , of G-D and the Bible.
Sutiable for children of all faiths.

A very simple, original and beautiful look at the story of creation. The paintings are colorful and captivating and illustrate the beauty of the world. I've read this over and over to a group of 3-5 year olds and they love it!

The questions posed to the reader in the first few chapters are all answered by the end of the book with many fascinating and some heartbreaking twists and turns in between. The intertwined stories of these well developed characters address both fact and fiction concerning Christian and Jew in the Zionist movement of the WW II era. Once I started this book I couldn't put it down.

Noticing that there is no synopsis, I would like to supply one. The book is about Major Reuben Steinmetz, USMC, stationed in England during World War II. He and his best friend Major Nick Foxx endure the hours of boredom and the seconds of terror that constitute air warfare during that era. They find among the others stationed on the same base a group of people with whom they share the same post-war dream. Will they live to see that dream become reality? Or will their dream die with them?

This book is great. I was a biology major at MIT and I couldn't tell you how many lectures for my classes seemed to come write out of the book. It's certainly not enough to use by itself, but it's a great way to focus the information either prior to a lecture or even prior to a test.

This is an impressive book intended only for the serious student or major. I was quite pleased to find the book in my local Borders Books, although I would say it's significantly more technical than what most people would probably be looking for there. You'll need to have read at least one other introductory upper-division text or taken a course on cell biology or molecular biology to benefit from it. I have had that but as I am mainly a neurobiologist by training I was pretty rusty at this point and so I only understood about 1/2 of the book. :-)

That having been said, since the book is only about 300 pages you can use it to get a quick refresher or update on many topics as I did. Some of the topics were still familiar, such as basic DNA replication, the cell cycle, and recombination. But some of the more specialized topics weren't, such as the E. coli sigma 70 promoter, cosmids, YACS (yeast artificial chromosomes), and BACS, and RNA Pol III genes: 5S and tRNA transcription. There was also a section on oncogenes which is something I didn't know much about. The illustrations and diagrams are plentiful and are excellent too and really help supplement the text.