North America Books

I am a novice gardener in the PNW, but I am having considerable success thanks almost entirely due to this book. I have read it cover to cover several times, and whenever I have a question I look here first. Thus far, the suggestions I have implemented have been practical, affordable, and shown good results.

I found this book to be incredibly useful. I get tired of being told to wait until my soil thaws in the spring, and articles talking about those humid summer nights are definitely not by locals. Much of the advice that applies well to gardeners across the continent comes up pretty short around here. From soil fertility to choosing suitable varieties to planting schedules, Steve Solomon covers all the specifics that make Cascadia a unique growing climate.

He is realistically, thoughtfully organic. Most organic authorities seem to blindly promote anything that seems like a natural product, and shun anything that seems like a chemical. Steve realizes that blood meal comes from the meat industry and may not be in line with the goals of healthy gardening (Mad Cow, anyone?) although he chooses to take his chances. He suggests Roundup in a couple of sections and explains why it's not just another persistent harmful chemical.

The only irritation I have is that he clearly has a bigger garden than I do. I've got about 200 sq. ft. He talks in fractions of an acre. Sheesh.

This is a great resource for gardeners in the PacNW. My only caveat is that it's not geared towards beginners. If you're looking for something to help you get started you should probably get this and something else in conjunction. This'll help you tailor your garden to the unique conditions of the Northwest.

This is the bible for NW people and gardens....clay soil? Fertile valley soil? It helped me work on the best soil and is great for the unpredicatable NWest winter, spring and summer. Add this to your collection and be sure to read it !

I like this book very much. It has all the information I needed for planning a trip to some hot spots. Besides that it has beautiful color photos as well and therefore it is a pity that the paper is rather thin and the size rather small.
But OK, the book had to be a guide in the first place and therefore limited in size and weight, but the book is also nice to watch the pictures.

Fairly complete on where the location is how to get there. Is some-what complicated, although they also inform you exactly where to go (public parking on south side of street). There are two sections dealing with location: 'Directions' and 'Remarks'. The directions are complicated at best but, they make up with the remarks section. However, the directions are listed towards the begining of the article and remarks are towards the end. Should have had them next to each other.
Liked the fact that they give you what you are likely to see, when to see it, and how often you are likely to see the trains. Also, liked that they give you radio scanning codes, places to eat and things to do, close by.
HATED the fact that they could not make up their mind as to wether use page numbers or the 'hot spot' number. The 'hot spot' table of contents lists the spots according to alpha state and gives the page number. No indication as to what the 'hot spot' number is. Then you turn to the map page, and everything there is listed by 'hot spot' number, NO page numbers. So, you are left thumbing through the whole book anyways, trying to find the dang 'hot spot' number. Even then the 'hot spot' number is listed on the inside of the odd numbered pages so you can NOT see the 'hot spot' number. And like I said the table of contents lists only the page so there is NO WAY to associate the page to the 'hot spot' number. VERY DUMB. Map should have used page numbers.
Also, kinda small in size but, i guess that is so you can store the book in your glove box for traveling.

This is a great guide with complete information for the railfan. It includes items such as how many trains to expect at the site, what types of trains, radio frequency the railroad is using to communicate, etc. I bought three of these books, one for me, and one for each of my adult sons to use while traveling, so that they can show my grandsons all about trains.

I like this book very much. It has all the information I needed for planning a trip to some hot spots. Besides that it has beautiful color photos as well and therefore it is a pity that the paper is rather thin and the size rather small.
But OK, the book had to be a guide in the first place and therefore limited in size and weight, but the book is also nice to watch the pictures.

A Half-Life of Cardio-Pulmonary Function: Poems and Paintings
by Eric Gansworth

THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOKS I HAVE EVER READ. IT'S TENDER AND MOVING, OPEN, HONEST........IT ASTONISHED ME. AND I DON'T USUALLY "UNDERSTAND" POETRY -- SO THE FACT THAT I LOVED IT SO MUCH WAS AN ADDED TREAT.

A Half-Life of Cardio-Pulmonary Function: Poems and Paintings (Iroquois and Their Neighbors)Eric Gansworth is a son of the Niagara Peninsula, who cherishes the flow of rivers, streams, time, and the life blood of his recently deceased brother, his sisters and nieces. He augments his poetry, love poems to his environment and family, with paintings that likewise are inclined to flow. The painting on Page 45 shows cycles: the heartbeat stopped, and the rain that continually returns, the people, the writer, and the reciprocal flow of blood and air. In the set of three paintings on the front and back cover jacket he mediates between the Iroquois Life Sustainers, the Three Sisters, corn, beans, and squash, and the three women, likewise acknowledged as life sustainers in the culture reflected in the self-portrait, connected by strings of wampum. His poetry, like his novels of Tuscorora life, carve an ever-deeper groove in the genre of Native American literature. This publication, like his others, is capable of standing alone, but his entire body of work has a most satisfying current.

If you happen to be a Bob Dylan fan, such as I am, you will recognize the reference in the title of this review. Some may find it strange to start out a review of one poets work by referencing the words of another, but anyone who knows the work of Eric Gansworth will understand why this is appropriate. It is especially appropriate because of the latest work by this prolific writer (proliferation being yet another tie that Gansworth has to Dylan). In his new book, "A Half-Life of Cardio-Pulmonary Function," Gansworth enters a new league of writers. Half Life is every bit as beautiful and profound as anything I have read by Billy Collins, Robert Frost or Bob Dylan.

Half-Life is a perfect book. The themes that Gansworth deals with throughout his body of work are themes that permeate much of the Native American literature of the last few decades. Whether you are reading Louise Erdrich's "Love Medicine" or Gansworth's "Smoke Dancing" you will find a common theme, the survival and adaptation of Native American culture in the midst of a pervasive American culture. As common as this theme is, however, its relevance has never been as well articulated as it has been here.

Native Americans have been battling to keep and remember their culture for years, but it has transformed into a new culture. It is a culture of both Cornhusk Dolls and Pink Floyd. To steal a metaphor from Gansworth, Native culture today has "emerged from the scraps left behind amid the harvest" of traditional Native American culture. Much of it is a memory. Think of the stereotypes that survived: rain dances, feathers, hatchets. It is as if the American culture has taken away what it thought was in someway useful. It commodified a culture it sought to destroy. But what the larger culture has left in the field, Gansworth has managed to weave into a series of poems that are not only profound, but fun to read! To steal another of his lines, "remember the husk is not a useless part of the body."

Take the case of his poem, "Loving That Land O' Lakes Girl." Gansworth is able take the iconographical use of an "Indian Woman" by Land O' Lakes butter and turn it into bitter sweet and humourous poem about loving this image. "She is the first lesson in love for many Indian boys," Gansworth begins, "all tanned hide and feathers, features straight out of Hollywood." He tells us how she "stares out at all from a burst of sunrise." But the poem moves on to reveal that you "fold her spine back, and back again without regard to the vertebrae you snap along the way" (87). This is a perfect subtle commentary on the commodification that I was writing about earlier. But Gansworth ends on a humorous note. "you leave an impression that stays until the next hot thing comes along. Is it any wonder Indian women have grown tough and strong with competition like that?" (88). It is a perfect double entendre. And this book of poems is teeming with such beauty.

Gansworth has included a blend of pop culture and traditional Native American culture. Interestingly, many of his music references are from the British Invasion. In a series of poems entitled for the hotel in front of which John Lennon was killed, "Dakota [I-IV]," Gansworth is able to pay homage to Lennon while also exploring the life of a relationship as it moves from the exciting moments of unity to the loneliness of decline and end, "knowing you will not see me on the dark side of the moon" (113). And as you can see by this last line, he is able to bring Pink Floyd in as well! In another great poem that exemplifies this "cross pollination" of cultures, he pays tribute to being "(Not) Born in the U.S.A."

It is truly impossible for me to write about all of the themes in a short review such as this is. Gansworth masters the theme I have already mentioned, but he does so in the pursuit of more universal themes such as love, grief, desire, aging. My favorite poem is a love poem. Prior to reading Half-Life my favorite love poem was Billy Collins, "Osso Buco," which no doubt is still a brilliant poem, but it has now been replaced by "Arrivals and Departures."

Much of the book deals with the death of his brother. Much of it deals with the anxiety and rebuilding of our lives following 9-11. Every image is concrete and works together with the themes of the book. He creates for us the memories as distinct as the photographs he speaks of. A moment in time is encapsulated perfectly in a phrase.

The poem that best epitomizes the book, however, is "Cross PolliNation." The title alone is a masterpiece! Even more brilliant is that the poem has two columns that one can either read line to line straight across or one column at a time. That is the major theme of the work and it has never been so masterfully rendered. But that is to be expected in "Half-Life." Every word impacts. Surely, the half-life of "Half-Life" will be centuries or millennia. This is a book that needs to be read. One that should put Eric Gansworth on the short list for Pulitzer prize in poetry. After all, like Dylan, he knows his song well before he starts singing, which is best demonstrated in his last poem, "Learning to Speak."

One should also note that the book includes numerous of Gansworth's paintings as well, which add to the themes of this tremendous work of art.

The National Book Critics Circle has voted Eric Gansworth's A Half-Life of Cardio pulmonary Function to third place in the Spring 2008 "Good Reads" list in Poetry. The other four poets who's books made the list are; Grace Paley in first place, Frank Bidart in second, Marie Howe in fourth, and Robert Pinsky in fifth. This puts Gansworth's Half-Life in some very good company!

The National Book Critics Circle "Good Reads" list is a relatively new qualitative alternative to the familiar Best Sellers lists. To be voted to this list by the 800 member national association of professional book reviewers and critics pretty much says it all!

This book was actually recommended to me by several veteran fly fishermen. I am a relative novice to fly fishing, and I wanted a book that could help me to get to that next level of understanding . . . this is that book. The best thing about this book is that it covers the complete life cycle of aquatic insects in enough detail to make it very understandible. It also nicely ties in the appropriate flys and techniques to most effectively match these life stages.
The biggest surprise for me is that this book is more than just a reference . . . it is a very enjoyable read as well.

A beautiful reference book with great info for the fly fisherman. This book could serve as a college entomology reference, so complete is its information. It belongs in the collection of every fly fisherman. The book starts with an introduction to the Mayfly, which gives the neophyte a very detailed overview of the insects and their life cycles. From there, the book moves on to the general hatches for North America, covered in very useful chart form. These charts give times, sizes, imitation guides with names of flies to use. The book moves on to more detailed infomation about the various mayflies, including their characteristics and how to tie the flies that imitate them. The latter part of the book contains a lot of specific info about mayfly imitation and tying which will be helpful in all aspects of fly fishing.

I think if you could have but one book about insects important to fly fishing, this would be the one. It eliminates the guesswork and is simply a great book that I highly recommend.

Outstanding work on the Mayfly - the life cycle, location of specific hatches (and importance in the region), and even recommendations for flies to be used. There is a section of color photographs of nymphs, duns, and spinners of almost every species covered (noted if male or female) and tying instructions for some of the recommended flies. Bottom line, for the money, this is an excellent book you'll be thoroughly happy with. When you've read it though once you'll have a much better understanding of the subject and almost feel like a pro.

Caucci and Nastasi provide a detail study and examination of the mayfies of interest to trout flyfishermen in North America. Hatches can be read cover to cover and continue to be used as a reference for years to come. I reference this book at least weekly as I flyfish my way though life.

I saw this book in the bookstore and it's really interesteng. So mesmerizing that I couldn't put it down (thus being late to work). I realized just how much I had missed on my first visit to New Orleans. I plan on going again in Spring and I'm taking this book as a guide of sorts. Full of many great odditites of New Orleans.

If you're going to New Orleans largely because you're a fan of Anne Rice's Vampire and Mayfair Witches novels, then this is an essential.

I used it on my first trip to New Orleans. It includes self-guided tours of the French Quarter and Garden District that include Vampire Chronicle and Mayfair sites respectively without leaving out the must-see unrelated sites and experiences. The only caveat is that zoo fans should be aware that the Audobon is one of the best in the country.

Three types of sites are covered - those related to Anne Rice herself, those used in - or speculated to have inspired locations in - the books, and those where parts of "Interview" were filmed.

With chapters on guided plantation, swamp and cemetary tours, as well as restaurants and hotels (the last including descriptions of ambviance that helped me considerably in my choice of hotel), you'll have everything you need to plan your trip and not miss anything like the Ursuline convent where Louis found Claudia and the Gardiner House that inspired the home that Lestat, Louis and Claudia shared.

Best of all, Ms. Dickinson wants us all to be careful out there in a city that can become ominous if you go too far off the beaten track sans tour group - especially at night. As she wittily reminds us, we're not all as indestructable as Lestat, and if an area - even one that contains an Anne Rice site - is unsafe, she doesn't hesitate to tell us so. Following her advice, you'll see everything you want to see and get home safe and sound.

I gave this to my wife as a gift before our recent trip to New Orleans, and she carried this book everywhere. While any book like this is a bit out-of-date as soon as it is published, it was still very useful for finding all the sites and giving us good background information. One important note though is that Anne Rice is selling off her doll collection and the orphanage, so there is no longer any tour. That was really a disappointment.

Last year, for Christmas 97 we had to go to New Orleans to see my father's family, I was having a a horrible time because of the weather. (We went the year before for Mardi Gras, the weather makes my hair go afro-y; it doesn't help to use your normal hair-care products.) We went to the French Quarter the day we were leaving and pow there was this cool book. I had to get it, I've read all of the Mayfair Witches books. I recommend it to anyone that's ever wondered about where their favorite characters lived.

I had a hard time finding this and so glad I finally did. Its fantastic, simply beautiful. Nerburn is in a league all his own. I keep his books by my bedside.

When I picked-up this book from our best-reader Friend, who gave us a chapter from SIMPLE TRUTHS, I expected it to be equally as simply written! Not simple in the ways of writing or organized! Since his Prologue, entitled "A CANTICLE OF ECHOES, Kent grasped my attention with his first quote from a - Pueblo saying, "We do not own the land. We belong to it. And by our sweat & breath shall she know us, and welcome us upon our return."

Kent begins: "We are children on this land a shadow on the still life of time.." Employing words as far more than commentary to his Pueblo saying. He measures words economically descibing past generations "whose arrival is scribed upon the line of history...(yet not adrift) on winds of story, or float upon the shrouds of myth!" I read in his brevity, layers of past, present & future!

From earlier pages he takes us back to BURIAL, "My home is over there. Now I remember it." - A Tewa song..."I am standing before a northern lake on a windswept point of land as a young Indian boy is lowered into the earth by his friends and family.

"It is a strange and lonely funeral-- they all are in their own way...In the Indians who made their home here-- like my young departed friend-- Something lives that invests this harsh land with spiritual values."

Kent never misses chances to relate the present back to the past history of his Northern Lands, even in his continued quoting of Indian Tribes: As in NATVITY: "What is life?...It is the breath of the buffalo in the winter time..." A Blackfeet death oration. After a gripping mysterious picture of a giant buffalo, Kent is at home with his short Essays based on, BLUE, JANUARY, URN, COPSE, GOOD FRIDAY, OFFERING, WIND. Poignant quotations are adopted from Sioux, Papago, Iroquois, Delaware & Crow Tribes. There are parallels between his essays based on tribal quotes and Haunting Reverence of Christian worship in all Nerburn's books... newly birthed from his majors of Religion and Art!

He refers to religion in MEMORY of TREES, "I see men but they look like trees, walking." Again in Solitudes: "The holy silence is God's voice." Golden treasures wait being discovered! Retired Chaplain Fred W Hood "Barbara377" (Fayetteville, GA United States)

I loved this book; it is about nature, spirituality and seeing things in a new way. The author helps one to see and feel what he is.....I have used many of his books as gifts...they are a forever treasure.

I found this book by accident. I liked the title and I love nature writing. But this isn't nature writing like anything I have ever read. This is some of the most beautiful poetry and storytelling I have ever read. It is the most spiritual nature writing I have ever read. This book took me to a place like prayer. Kent Nerburn is a genius.

I've used this book on countless trips up and down the California coast. It may have been an older version of this but years later now, other than price references, it's still a staple for me. The maps are great and much more detailed than you'd find in an atlas. I also used a Hidden Guide to the Pacific Northwest which I didn't find nearly as informative or easily used, but this California book is essential if you are going to be planning as you go, from the road, as I so often do.

"Hidden Coast of California" is a well written book-- very easy to read and divided into neat sections. The book goes from northern California to southern, from beginning to end, so it is especially helpful for those who are going on a "real" California roadtrip.

This book has been especially helpful with the planning of my future trip to California. Even though I haven't been able to test out the accuracy of the book, I feel as though I've lived there for years because of all the detailed information the book offers. Planning a trip down the coast of California isn't easy especially when you have a time limit, but this book has helped me sleep at night knowing that I have the knowledge to get the most out of my trip (and money).

I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who is planning a trip to California and those who want to see some little known hideaways.

"The Hidden Coast of California" by Ray Reigert was a godsend that allowed New Yorkers to see a side of the California Coast that the residents appreciate every day. Starting with the San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon and Mr. Riegert's tips on lodgings, sights, and restaurants added up to a great vacation. Mr.Riegert's recommendations surpassed the two (2) other well known travel books. The tip to see the "La Purisima Mission" as the best of the twenty-one missions was pure gold and saved us valuable time that we alloted elsewhere. The recommendation on restaurants was absolutely priceless and the "Sojourner Coffeehouse" turned our dismal one night stay in Santa Barbara around. Our stays at both the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Parks cottages and The Asilomar Conference Center on the Monterey Peninsula were on the money and gave us the chance to combine our overnight stays with scenic views. I am now waiting for the release of the 1999 "Hidden Florida" before planning my next vacation.

This is the most useful guidebook to the Golden State that this native Californian ever has seen. Riegert packs an astonishing amount of information into this conveniently-sized paperback. This guidebook, now in its eighth edition, clearly reflects extensive exploration and research. The book begins with general material on the California coast including a brief history, weather, wildlife, outdoor adventures, camping, a calendar of events, tips on what to pack, and advice to senior travelers, women traveling alone, gay and lesbian travelers, even foreign travelers. Each region of the California coast is introduced with a brief overview and capsule history, followed by details about scenic wonders, parks, beaches, hotels, restaurants, campgrounds, sports, shopping and nightlife. The author manages to maintain a lively style throughout five hundred pages of text. Included are colored AAA-style road maps of the most important coastal areas, supplemented by black and white maps of many regions and towns. Michael Michaud, Vienna, Austria

I have used other books in this series and they never dissappoint. There is far more here than you can do in any one vacation, but I like it for the full overview that you get of the entire state. Don't expect a lot of maps and directions, but do expect some neat "insider" tips and different travel recomendations.

Having only been to Idaho three times (once for 10 minutes!) I can say that this book will undoubtedly help me plan my next much longer excursion to the great state of Idaho. The chapters cover sections of the state with details on various cities, what to do, where to eat, etc., all of which will be helpful. As with any book on this subject, some items may be out of date even as the book is printed, but I trust that the author's references to restaurants and lodging are dependable. Having looked at other books on Idaho, this one not only covers the hidden gems, I think it covers all the unhidden gems this state has to offer. Though I already admitted I'm no expert on Idaho, I found this book to be comprehensive enough for someone planning a two-week trip to explore this corner of the US.

This book is helpful. There are not a lot of Idaho-specific guidebooks, and this one is pretty comprehensive. One drawback is that it does not have any pictures. Idaho has some beautiful wilderness areas and a few pictures would greatly enhance this book.

This book was a fabulous guide to planning a family vacation. As it turned out, we followed a similar path as the one described in the book --across Idaho to Yellowstone. Advance plans included sites described in this book, and when we added activities, we always checked with the book first. It was never wrong. Using this book helped make our family trip (with three teenagers!) a fun adventure. Thanks Richard Harris for all your good research and tips!

I first read this one in 1982 and have returned to it time and again. I, like a couple of other reviewers, cannot understand why this book has not recieved more attention. It is well written, funny, informative and just simply fun to read. It is a collection of tales, stories, or what have you, of the western portion of our country. The author has wonderful insight and certainly knows his subject. I cannot think of a page of this work I did not absolutely enjoy. Highly recommend this one.

I first read this book in the mid-1980s, and have been a huge fan of it ever since. It was out of print from a long time after the original publisher, North Point Press, went out of business. I am delighted that it is now available once more. It deserves to be read by anyone interested in the American West.

This is a wide-ranging book that deals with many aspect of the American West in general and the desert areas in particular. Schultheis is a gifted writer, and has a knack not only for telling a good tale but also for turning a wonderful line. He is highly attuned to the remarkable and the humorous in almost every situation, and the book is a marvelous blend of the unexpected, the reflective, and the funny.

My favorite moment might be an occasion he recounts of visiting a store in Navajo territory. While in the store, an elderly Navajo stumbles up to him and says, apropos of nothing, "Hey, I hear that Elvis died," in a tone that almost suggests the Schultheis and The King were lifelong pals. After replying, that yes, Elvis had died and that he had evidently been pretty sick, the Navajo, ignoring what Schultheis had said, continues, "Yeah, Elvis and Hitler, two of your greatest leaders, dead." (I am quoting this story from memory, so don't call me to task for specific inaccuracies.)

This is a book filled with many wonderful and marvelous moments. I would heartily urge anyone with an interest in literature about the American West or the desert to read it as soon as possible.

A cousin tipped me off to this little known masterpiece, which consists of a short, well-written series of anecdotes and tales about the West. An expert in verbal imagery, Schultheis takes you gambling at Native American pow-wow, canyon ratting in Utah, meeting a jack rabbit who lures motorcyclists to their doom, and other esoteric topics with equal aplomb.

His best tale, and the one you won't forget, is the last in order, a fictional episode during the next great Western drought, when the xerothermic climate brings disaster west of the Mississippi.

Schultheis is very readable, and each essay is thought-provoking. I predict you will enjoy this wonderful book. As the previous reviewer cautions, however, loan it out at your own risk.

Rob's imagery and cutting edge mind put him up there with the best - I like him better than the proverbial Ed Abbey (Rob's a little more cerebral). I'm an avid reader of anything to do with the desert Southwest (and West), as well as a desert rat myself, and I was hard put to find anything I'd read to date that was this good. You won't be disappointed with this book - buy an extra for your friends, because they'll "borrow" it and never return it (I've now bought 3 of them and can't find my latest copy...hmmm, now that I think of it, I suspect it went to Hawaii with a friend...)

As Hinge fo Fate opens in early 1942, The Japanese had just destroyed most of the American fleet at Pearl Harbor; Japan was about to drive Britain from Southeast Asia and (perhaps) invade Australia; German and Italian troops under Romel were about to invade Egypt, and Stalin's Russia was under attack by the German Army, which had completed itsoccupation of virtually all of Europe, from France to Norway, Lithuania to Greece. Parliament was calling for Churchill's head. This was a true world war (contrast, Bush's War on Terror)--and Britain was losing.

Churchill's reaction--the entry of America and Russia into the war as Britain's allies guaranteed that the Allies would ultimately win--Britain, US, and USSR simply had greater resources than Germany, Japan and Italy. Thus it was only a matter of time.

The attack by Parliament was a sign of a healthy, strong democracy--as Churchill said, how many countries had strong enough political institutions to allow this type of no holds barred debate while under attack, and still survive.

And survive they did. The first half of Hinge of Fate describes a series of worldwide disasters, unbroken by a single significant Allied victory. Then came the legendary battle of Alamein--where General Montgomery beat Rommel, the Allied landing on the north coast of Africa, the US Naval victories at Midway and in the Coral Sea, and Russia's effective resistance against the German Army at Stalingrad and in the Caucasus Mountains.

By the end of 1942, it was not yet clear that tha tAllies would win, but they looked a whole lot batter than they did at the beginning. Along the way, Churchill gives us his impressions of the politics involved--both internal British, within the larger Commonwealth, among the Allies--and particularly his relationship and struggles with Stalin--and the tension between the British (focused on Europe) and the Americans (pushing for more resources to fight the Japanese in the Pacific).

Hinge of Fate continues Churchill's inimitable style, mixing contemporaneous, detailed, memos, telegrams, letters, and directives he wrote, the responses he received, connected by new (in 1950) commentary by Churchill himself. This makes no pretesne at being an "objective" or multi-focused history of WWII. It is clearly, and exclusively, the war from Churchill's unique perspective. But, what a perspective!

Winston Churchill was remarkable, as much as for any other reason, for the sheer volume of words he produced. In a long life, during which he was often preoccupied by both family matters (he had four children) and matters of state, he nevertheless found the time to compose an inordinate number of books. I say compose, because he perfected a system during the first war, which revealed its efficacy more than ever in the second, of working through secretaries. There are many odd anecdotes told about Churchill, not the least of which is that his secretaries, sometimes working in rotation throughout much of the night, were obliged to attend to him and take down what he said, even in the bath. This way of getting the material down in print proved to be very effective, as the tens of thousands of published pages of his work amply demonstrates.

His long history of the Second World War continues with "The Hinge of Fate." Although he was personally assured that the American entry into the war meant the ultimate defeat of Germany, he still had to see to the day to day running of the war machine, and counter the perverse effects of both German victories and British pessimism. Now began, as well, the long battle with Stalin about opening up a second front in France, to take some of the heat off the Russian armies in the East. In fact, his relationship with the Russian leader is one of the most interesting sources of anecdotal references throughout this series.

This is history being well told by a man who was, while perhaps not a trained historian as such, so steeped in the history of his family and his country, that he an utterly unique point of view. The fact that he was also a central figure in the war itself, means that we have, if you like, a one in a million chance victory on our hands, as though we had just won a lottery of sorts, by being able to read him.

Churchill's fourth book, `Hinge of Fate', covers the time period from January 1942 to June 1943. The Japanese, after Pearl Harbor, were advancing through the Malaya peninsula and onwards towards Singapore. With bold offensive strokes Hong Kong, Burma and Singapore were soon in Japanese hands. In the Atlantic, U-boats were taking high tolls in allied shipping and soon the British, Dutch and Americans were being run out of the Pacific. The gains in the African desert were soon lost as Rommel regain the offensive and retakes Benghazi. Churchill now faced censure at home and soon he needed to reorganize his Generals. Hitler was pushing forward on the Eastern front towards Stalingrad and many setbacks were shifting the balance.

This volume is well named as there is much offensive and defensive struggles going on in the Pacific theater, the African desert and the Eastern front. All three Allied countries were up to their necks in trouble, and the Axis forces still had the upper hand. It wasn't until Alamein, on the African coast that the hinge turned in favor of the Allies. Churchill states that "Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat." Some of the most interesting parts of the book are Churchill's relationships with Stalin and FDR. Much has been written about these and it is nice to get Churchill's views and opinions about these men and the struggles they faced. Churchill acted, in many ways, the diplomat and statesman greasing the way between the Allied powers and paving the way for Torch (French North Africa), Bolero (Administrative preparations for invasion of France) and soon Overlord (France liberation 1944). Stalin wanted the Western front cross channel attack, of German held France in 1943 as planned, but because of the efforts on the African desert it wasn't until 1944 that Overlord was able to take place. Churchill needed great diplomacy and FDR's help to convince Stalin of the inability to make Overlord work in 1943.

It is great to read Churchill's rendition of this time and place. He was right in the middle, and at this time, still in command of the allied war effort. Well worth reading and adding to the history shelf.

Because he was writing for a population that had lived through World War II and knew its facts, Churchill's 6-volume history of that time can be more than a little daunting for contemporary readers. His is a kind of top-down history that approaches unconscious autobiography: Churchill seems to feel that reproducting his memos, letters, and "minutes" -- in painfully small type -- will provide the reader with all the info necessary to completely know and understand the war. Of course we know it ain't so; Cornelius Ryan, John Toland, and Stephen Ambrose, just for starters, have written far more accessible and comprehensive histories that present a variety of viewpoints and don't gloss over difficult or unsavory moments. Instead, one should read Churchill in order to read Churchill-- in order to enjoy the company of that most remarkable statesman, in order to savor his impeccable prose and snicker at his wicked humor, in order to marvel at a life that began in mid-Victorian times and ended in the heyday of the Rolling Stones. The man's prescience was uncanny, not only in recognizing the evils of Hitler long before any other world leader, but in comprehending the nature and extent of what was then a genuine Soviet menace. Despite his anachronistic attitudes about people of color, Churchill was no racist; he simply lived in his world as we live in ours, and his story is an object lesson for the present. How much of what we now revere as received truth will be questoned, even debunked, 50 or 60 or 70 years from now? Yet authenticity and honesty will always last longer than glibness and flash, and Churchill has more a & h on one page than the easy-to-read historians have in their entire oevre. I'm afraid our puny and wan little world, so beset with its infantile fears and carefully nurtured insecurities, gooey with political correctness, dizzied with the hoohaw and the yelping of the media, is now far from capable of producing such a giant. Young Winston would be given Ritalin in school today and taught that white males like him are born evil. To paraphrase "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," he saved the world -- a lot -- and he did it with the English language.