Kansas Books

As an ex-CIA polygraph examiner who served for four years in Vietnam, John Sullivan traveled throughout much of Indochina while performing lie detector tests in support of the US war effort. Over a quarter of a century later, Sullivan's memoirs tell the story of a man who, trained by a spy agency to unearth deceit, embarks upon a mission to a Cold War hotspot where he discovers deception and incompetence to be as perennial as the grass in the Vietnamese countryside.

While Sullivan makes it clear from the beginning that he did serve with a number of good men in Vietnam, he expresses astonishment at the degree of operational ineffectiveness (or just plain irresponsibility) on the part of many CIA personnel in Saigon Station and outer lying regions, which strangely enough became a backwater for 'problem' officers despite the country's exceptional strategic importance to US policy makers.

In reference to the author's tradecraft, Sullivan makes three worthwhile points about polygraph testing:

1) "Polygraph is about 92 percent art and 8 percent science."
2) "The fact that intangibles cannot be quantified or scientifically measured challenges the claim that polygraph is a science. I do not believe that it is possible to put a percentage on the reliability of polygraph testing, but under optimal conditions, it is very reliable."
3) Even if a subject registers as being deceptive on a polygraph, "unless an admission is obtained, the final determination is frequently what we refer to as a scientific wild-ass guess (SWAG)."

Although I would have enjoyed hearing more detailed discussions of Sullivan's expertise, I understand that there are limits as to how much can be openly discussed regarding his specialty. Nonetheless, this book scores a high mark in that it enables readers to walk away with a better understanding of both the Vietnam War as well as polygraph testing.

The book starts out one story at a time and some times the thought is "why tell me about a broken desk cover" but at the end you know more about what it was really like in Laos and Vietnam. John was known as the man who would tell the truth to those in power. Now he shares it with the rest of us.

As we see the formulation of a new "homeland security agency" it is a reminder to us that the best way to get good results is pay attention to every step of the process. Our Vietnam operation had great support and many poor operations with the information results (even the good information) seeming to get lost on the way to those who needed it. The lesson I see is that all of the details are important. Bottle necks can kill.

As a history major who took courses on the Cold War in college, I can say with certainty that this book would be invaluable and highly instructive to anyone who reads it.

As an Intelligence Analyst I have come to appreciate the work case officers like John Sullivan have done in service of their country. This book should be required reading for all polygraphers and case officers.

As an officer in the military, I have come to realize that many of the lessons learned from Vietnam have been applied in today's armed services. The book points out low-points in the CIA that can be used to improve (if not already) current operations.

His style of writing makes it easy to follow, and allows the reader to get a good glimpse of CIA operations in Vietnam through the eyes of an honest, hard working, dutiful man.

Anyone who has any interest in Vietnam, whether for school, occupation, or hobby, must read this book to get the full picture.

Many of the stories in the book are very light accounts of annoying conversations: personality conflicts. The author is apparently a real straight arrow and he has endless accounts of turns of phrase and trivial happenstances that annoyed him. Like the guy who switched his cracked desk glass for John's good one. Who cares, I mean literally? There is very little insight given to the interrogation process proper, which I was expecting because that is, after all, the author's specialty. In the end you have a sense that Vietnam was fill of corrupt, drunk spooks, and one lone shiny penny -- the author.

John Sullivan's "Of Spies and Lies" is a fascinating account of wartime CIA intelligence operations in Vietnam that should be required reading not only for students of the Vietnam War, but also for anyone interested in the current war on terror. John's discussions of the difficulties an intelligence agency faces in recruiting penetrations of a difficult and dangerous enemy organization and his descriptions of problems caused by the shortage of officers with the requisite language and area knowledge bear disturbing similarities to headlines we see in the press every day. It is another illustration of the old saw that "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
John's book provides a unique window into life in the CIA's Saigon Station. His description of Agency operations in Vietnam ranges from the controversy surrounding our best penetration of the Viet Cong leadership to the polygraphing of local employees over the disappearance of a few slices of ham at a party (an incident I remember quite well). John also gives unprecedented insights into the important role the Agency's requirement for polygraph vetting plays in keeping case officers, who work daily in the murky waters of spies, fabricators, and con-men, on the straight and narrow road of the pursuit of the truth. CIA polygraphers like John helped lead the way in the development of a systematic vetting process for use in the conduct of clandestine intelligence collection operations. The book illustrates how that process works and how, when the process is ignored or distorted, the entire system can quickly break down.
I served with John in Saigon Station and know his reputation as one of the Agency's best. As a former Saigon Station officer, some of his criticisms of personnel and procedures in Southeast Asia are painful, but their accuracy is incontrovertible. I highly recommend this book.

So writes Pennsylvanian Jacob Heffelfinger after his first battle in the Civil War. Heffelfinger is one of the dozens of veterans whose letters and memoirs Hess examined to write this study of the Union soldier under fire. His chapters examine the visual, auditory, olfactory, and tactile experience of battle; strategies for coping with battle-fear before, during, and after the shooting; and the ways in which combat veterans in the Civil War remembered their experiences (this, in the final chapter, may be the book's single most important contribution).

Unhappily, the book is fundamentally flawed by Hess' strange claim that the Civil War veteran was a victor over his dreadful experiences rather than a victim, and so he seems to appreciate neither the poignancy of the firsthand accounts he cites or the horrific post-war psychological and physical damage endured by the veterans. A book published the same year Hess's appeared, Eric T. Dean's _Shook Over Hell: Post-Traumatic Stress, Vietnam, and the Civil War_, is a more sensitive study, as is Gerald Linderman's _Embattled Courage: The Experience of Combat in the American Civil War_ (1987), a deservedly classic treatment with which Hess explicitly disagrees. In short, Hess deserves our gratitude for the wealth of firsthand testimony he cites. But his analysis of its significance falls short.

Earl J. Hess's book "The Union Soldier in Battle: Enduring the Ordeal of Combat" is a lucid and convincing account of the Union soldier's adjustment to the harrowing experience of combat. Hess's straightforward use of soldiers' correspondence and memoirs presents the reader with an illustrative candor which boldly challenges any romantic depiction of Civil War combat. Before the Union soldier first "saw the elephant", he was often infused by a sense of idealistic patriotism; a romantic notion of war which inspired him to enlist. Hess posits that these soldiers adjusted well to combat, however, and used their common bond with other soldiers to control their fear of both combat and dying. Sure, they retreated at the first sight of combat but Hess tends do defend this by factoring in human nature. We all get scared. In fact, Hess points out that retreating was also used as a strategic motivator. The author's rather humanistic portrayal of the Union soldier suggests that he was not perfect but, at the same time, he knew that he had a job to do and to live up to his part of the bargain. Hess's portrayal of the Union soldier as a pragmatic yet idealistic fighter is most interesting. The grim descriptions of the battlefield given by soldier accounts vividly bring the Union soldier's transformation from civilian to soldier alive. I found this book to be a refreshing read in the sense that it presented a side of the Union soldier that needs to be examined further. It is a needed accompaniment to Bell Wiley's "Billy Yank". In this era of post-Vietnam scholarship on the effects of combat on soldiers, this is a welcome book. The primary research was detailed and the presentation was clear. The only thing preventing me from giving it "5 stars" was that I feel the author may have covered the effects of the Emancipation Proclamation on the ideology of the Union soldier and his reasons for fighting the war. Overall, a great book.

Author Earl Hess has defined the Union soldier in this interesting book covering many topics. Hess has taken a fresh look at soldiering and has brought the psychology of the soldier mind together with insightful material. Topics facing soldiers such as enlisting, fighting battles, defining courage, knowing war, memories and the daily grind of war has been presented in a great format. Hess adds quotes from soldiers that enhance the chapters and bring things to a closer personal level. Hess also explains how soldiers coped after the war and how they filtered back into society. This an excellent book that gets into the psychological mind set of the Union soldier and is not a book like Hardtack Coffee that covers more material topics. To understand the Union soldier this a great reference tool that helps get inside of the minds of these fighting men. 5 STARS!

In this rather short book, Earl Hess goes into detail about what combat was like for the Northern Solier in the American Civil War. Using mainly letters written by veterans, the book explains why most Northern soldiers were able to endure the horrors of Civil War combat, and how this experience shaped their perspective of the conflict.

I found the book fascinating. It really gets into the personal history of the war, as seen through the eyes of thos who fought it. If you are looking for a glimpse into the intensity of Civil War fighting, this book will open your eyes to what it may have been like. The only reason I did not give this book five stars is that the writing is rather dry, and merely factual during certain chapters.

I recommend this book for anyone interested in learning more about the Civil War combat experience of the Northern Soldier. It was gruesome, noisy, confusing, exhilirating, and harrowing. How so many were able to endure this hardship and keep fighting until the war was won still remains somewhat of a mystery to me.

This is the sort of historical writing that I really find interesting: the study of mentalities among a group of people engaged in highly stressful activity. Hess does wonderfully at describing what battle was like and setting forth the ways in which it challenged men's courage. I found, however, that some of his analysis seemed forced. He makes statements which are not really supported by his sources. For example, he makes the claim that veteran soldiers were more likely to call truces with the enemy to trade coffee and tobacco and so on because they felt more self-confident than new recruits. But in fact, other sources I have read indicate that such truces were more common early in the war, before the soldiers got to taking it all so seriously. In other places, too, Hess makes claims about what was going through the soldiers' minds without really supporting these claims with quotes. He gives an interesting analysis of postwar viewpoints and the way veterans psychologically justified the hell they had gone through. I do wish that he or a colleague would write a similar study of Confederate soldiers, particularly on postwar viewpoints, since that would seem to be where they would differ the most.

I am very disappointed in this book. I really don't appreciate some of the unsavory words that are found throughout its pages. This is my first Nancy Pickard book and I must say that if the rest are this bad, forget it. I recently bought several of her selections and I hope the next will be better, otherwise, I am getting rid of them fast.

Good mystery. I sort of had it figured out but its resolution was still satisfying. The only problem I have with the book is the cover. The cover is a composite of a couple of events that happened in the book, but one of them is definitely in the last quarter of the book and I kept wondering when it was going to happen (I won't tell you so as not to spoil it for you as well).

I loved this book. It's one of the first mysteries that got me interested in mysteries. I've read all of Nancy Pickard's books and wish she would write more often or faster. I love her style of writing!

In this wonderful mystery, the author, Nancy Pickard, gives the reader a "Bum Steer" in figuring out the killer in this book. The plot is interesting and well developed. But when the reader gets to the end, the question is, "How did I miss all the clues? I was tricked! I was given a "Bum Steer."

This was the final book by Nancy that I had to read, and I think that it was by far the best one! As she's getting involved in yet another situation, our murder-prone heroin struggles with some deeply personal issues. She had me intrigued to the very surprising ending! Note: The language in this book is a lot stronger than in any of her others.

Wonderful book of Vintage block patterns, makes cataloging some of those old orphan blocks great or making that wonderful vintage look quilt. If you like vintage designs you need this collection of designs.

If you are interested in quilt history or in the names of traditional quilt blocks, this book is an invaluable tool. Carrie Hall sewed and collected various quilt blocks along with their names in what is now an encyclopedia of quilt history. I have used this book both for inspiration in my own quilt block making and also for historical interest (which blocks were named after political events, etc). Definitely one to have on your quilt book shelf.

This is an excellent resource book for those interested in quilt history. The more than 800 blocks were made between 1900-1935. Both pieced and appliqued blocks are shown in color. The pattern section of more than 200 blocks range from easy level to difficult. The template section is very easy to use. Each block is shown in color and then in sections with all template numbers listed. All blocks in this section have been converted to more standard sizes and could be converted to other sizes with relative ease by any quilter. A fantastic book and a must for any quilter's personal library!

Carrie Hall Blocks are a great resource to have. There are 800 different pattern blocks to look at with 200 having the templates completed in the back. But if you wanted to make a block not templated all you would have it do is xerox the picture to a desired size and then draft it. But with 200 templated you have more than enough to chose from. I have made some of the blocks and used this resource to research block names. Not only does she have a copy of blocks, but she also will have copies of blocks that have the same name but different patterns. This one feature has cleared up many confused moments.

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I like the fact that the book has a hard cover. And with 800 patterns, a person should be able to find something they like. However, I found other books on patterns that I like much better ("It's Okay if You Sit on My Quilt", "Once More Around the Block" and "849 Traditional Patchwork Patterns) and I have never used this book for a reference (yet) because I like my other books better. And I'm not crazy about the choice of fabrics that are used; there isn't much definition in value. There are quite a few applique patterns.

I bought this book for my son and he absolutely loves it. We both enjoy reading it again and again and go through the town with the Bear. The color is bright and refreshing. Not only the book introduces different activities the bear does around the town, but also introduces the days of the week. I would recommend this book to anybody with young children.

This is a wonderful little book - loved by both my grandchildren.
The problem is I also ordered another book at the same time called Sharing is Fun (order# 058 4815141 2793915) on May 7th which I still have not recieved! dolores poacelli

I found this book in a used book store and fell in love with it and so did my son and husband. I plan on ordering the others in the series. There are many things to talk about on each page. For example, when Bear goes to the bakery you can talk about all of the different things you can buy at the bakery, cake, cupcakes, bread including regular loaves of bread or long skinny baguettes, cookies, donuts etc. The language stimulation possibilities are endless the with fabulous pictures throughout the books. As a speech pathologist I look for books with pictures that have a lot to talk about and this book fits the bill.

Bear About Town is a refreshing book which is well written and beautifully illustrated. The words are simple enough for your toddler to gradually learn by heart. The map of bear's town is the best part, a great starting point for curious questions and conversation. We trace bear's path and figure out how to get to different places in bear's town. The colors are bright and cheerful, and the mood is just right for reading together. My child is almost 3, and this has been a favorite since before age 2.

Overall, the Bear series of books are fun, educational and highly enjoyable for my two-year-old son. The quality varies greatly within the series, however, and this one ranks the last on my list. It describes an arbitrary assortment of places and shops, which do not coincide very well with the experience of a typical young child. For example, I have not taken my son to a movie theater and do not plan to do so in the near future. If you are new to the Bear series, you should start with "Bear on a Bike", which, being sophisticated and accessible at the same time, is by far the best.

There is little to add to the previous excellent reviews except to express the wish the publisher had printed a separate detailed map book to accompany the text. For the lay reader, the author divides the subject into sensible portions. He points out a Corps is a fighting command not weighted down with the administrative and logistical demands of a division or levels of command above a Corps. The Prologue describes the American philosophy of command; introduces the six commanders in separate entries providing their background and military experience; sums up the different aspects of both allied and German planning leading up to the battle. The battle is dealt with over the balance of the book as reviewers have described. He ends with a brief description of the careers of the major players after the war. In that chapter, to my mind, he raises a fascinating question followed by a mind boggling supposition. As the war recedes more than a half century into the past, Bradley's reputation continues to shrink. What if Troy MIddleton had taken Eisenhower's advice in 1937 and not retired from the army? Since his credentials were far higher than Bradley"s, and he was considered, perhaps next to Marshall, the most highly regarded infantryman of the interwar period, he would have been the leading candidate to command the First Army in the Normandy invasion. He would have likely risen to command 12th Army Group. If that had been the case, it's very unlikely he would have allowed his staff to neglect the challenges of fighting in the bocage country prior to the invasion. Furthermore, he wouldn't have become nervous about closing the trap on the German 7th Panzer Army at Falaise. Despite the many outstanding volumes concerning the German Ardennes offensive, this book is recommended to any student of WWII as well professional soldiers and libraries.

After reading perhaps a dozen books on the Battle of the Bulge including the most recent Alamo in the Ardennes, I really enjoyed the presentation, style, and substance of Professor Winton's book. Rarely have I found presentations that encapsulate the functions of the corp commander and perhaps more importantly the movement of divisions between armies and corps to provide the level and complexity of force required in battle. This book captures also the personalities of the corp commanders and their bosses e.g. Patton and Middleton/Millikin/Eddy as well as Montgomery and Bradley at the army group level. Professor Winton has structured his book to capture all of these aspects well. You won't find this in any of the other treatments of the Battle. However, I will support another reviewer who complained about the number of maps linked to the text. Sometimes I had Toland, MacDonald and others open to figure out the battle space so be prepared. Still,a great read.

I enjoyed reading this book very much. The only problem that I had is that there are too few maps; sometimes only one map for many pages of movement descriptions to towns that aren't on the previous map at all. I really wish there were more showing each phase i.e. defense, regrouping, attack, etc. for each corps. McDonalds book, A time for Trumpets does a better job, in my humble opinion, of providing many more maps that complement the text.
Having said that, I enjoyed reading about this battle from a different perspective, i.e. that of each Corps commander involved.

If you are looking for a book that provides a commanders perspective of the whole Battle of the Bulge, this is the one for you. If you are looking for a book that provides the experiences of the foot soldier in the Battle of the Bulge, this book has no accounts from their perspective. Since I appreciate books that have the accounts of the foot soldier who actually won this battle, this would not be a book that it is at the top of my list. However, of all the books that I've read on the Battle of the Bulge, which are many, this is the most thorough. Even books that pride themselves in telling the whole story tend to focus on one part more than others, whether it be the northern sector (Time for Trumpets) or Bastogne (too many books to name them all here). This book tells the whole story without focusing on one sector more than another. It also clearly lays out the perspective of the whole battle from the command level (all the way from Eisenhower to the division commanders) focusing on the Corps commanders. I came away with a better understanding of the battle after reading this book, and consequently do recommend it to anyone interested in studying this battle.

The book is well written and informative. Even for a veteran reader of WWII books there was much new material, or at least material presented in a different way. However, the basic premise of the book is somewhat flawed. At the early stages of the battle of the Bulge it was a series of small and very brave actions that made the difference in slowing down the Germans. Even later, the Corps Commanders, including those for whom the author has great respect, merely backed up decisions made by subordinates. Indeed the battle, whether in the north with the stand at the Elsenborn Ridge or in south with the releif of Bastogne, would have taken place regardless of who was the respective Corps Commander. Additionally, while the author's description of the education of his players is quite laudatory, some might find their higher command education as insular. A warning, this book is not for someone who has not read extinsively about WWII.

This book has very good points and examples. However, for myself, there were many things to relate to. This is probably becuase of the difference of when it was written and when I was born. But even with the large time difference, there were many things that I could easily grasp and relate to how I live my life. More importantly than that, how I should/can live it.

Not only does Dr. Taylor deal with the disciplined life, but he deals with the disciplined life of the Christian. Not only does he explain what true, Christ-like discipline is, but he explains how to acheive this discipline. For the pastor who needs strength, or "Joe Christian" who needs self-control, I recommend them to prayerfully read this inspiring book.

Not only does Dr. Taylor deal with the disciplined life, but he deals with the disciplined life of the Christian. Not only does he explain what true, Christ-like discipline is, but he explains how to acheive this discipline. For the pastor who needs strength, or "Joe Christian" who needs self-control, I recommend them to prayerfully read this inspiring book.

Richard Taylor writes from the Nazarene perspective which is rooted in Wesleyan Arminianism and the Holiness Movement. I have yet to find one book by Mr. Taylor that I haven't enjoyed and learned from. He has a style of writing that I like. Taylor's book is divided into two parts: 1) The Place of Discipline in Christian Living, and 2) The Path to Discipline in Christian Living. The first part contains five chapters the first of which covers the value of discipline in general for the attainment of power, national as well as personal. Chapter two discusses the marks of maturity in one's appetites, emotions, moods, speech, and priorities, and shows how we can adjust to authority. Chapter three covers the perils of discipline such as the danger of extremes and unchristian asceticism. Also included is an interesting discussion of "undisciplined discipline". Chapter four properly distinguishes and relates discipline and holiness and chapter five provides a defense of, and valuable insights into, imposed discipline. Part Two is the whole of chapter six which tells us "How to Become a Disciplined Person" and provides many words of wisdom. If I had to highlight one bit of wisdom from the book that sticks in my mind, it would be the importance of selection as the law of life (pg. 36). Taylor says, in effect, that we cannot join everything, we cannot participate in every good cause, we cannot give to everything, we cannot go to every interesting concert or lecture or meeting, we cannot read everything,... therefore, we must select! That last part about reading really hit home, especially since I LOVE to read and don't have alot of time to do it. Taylor expounds on this principle of selection as it relates to priorities and makes his points stick.

Other popular books on discipleship and the spiritual disciplines include the following: Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster, The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard, The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson, The Complete Green Letters by Miles Stanford, and, for those who like workbooks, the Navpress Colossians 2:7 Series on discipleship.

Most people want to be disciplined, but cannot find the motivation. That motivation must come from a deep personal conviction. This book does a great job of teaching the reasons behind the principles. It starts with the ideas and moves to the practicals.
This is a must read for anyone wishing true discipline.

I began reading The New Yorker in college, back in the early `60s -- mostly for the cartoons, I admit, but it wasn't long before I discovered the often witty and always beautifully written essays of Calvin Trillin. As a food-lover, I especially enjoyed his culinary pieces, since collected in three volumes beginning with American Fried in 1974. The last, Third Helpings, appeared in 1983, so it's been along dry spell, but now he's back with a new series of adventures that will make you salivate. The chapter in which he tries to get his daughter to promise she'll move back to New York from San Francisco if he can find a dependable source of pumpernickel bagels makes him sound Manhattan-centric, but he also writes a paean to boudin (which, even living in south Louisiana, I confess I don't care for at all), and another to the posole found in Taos (which I like very much). And there's a chapter on nutria sauce piquante that's a real hoot (think sheep-sized rodents). And there's San Francisco burritos, and Casamento's oyster loaf, and fried fish in Barbados, and pimientos in Galicia, and a number of other foodstuffs to be considered. This is a great book to read when you're sitting in the staff room at work, munching mindlessly on a homemade tuna sandwich and a bag of Fritos.

The United States is a nation covering more than 3.5 million square miles, measuring nearly 2,800 miles from Battery Park in Manhattan to the Santa Monica Pier just west of Los Angeles. According to current Census Bureau figures, more than 290 million people live in the U.S., most of whom don't have to trace their roots back too far to find relatives who arrived on American soil from elsewhere. As a nation we are a diverse and interesting bunch. But if you look at what we eat, it is apparent that the great melting pot has been simmering for perhaps too long and is now yielding an increasingly bland porridge. From sea to shining sea, a nation populated by people from all points of the globe has become a gigantic, generic food court that threatens to erase the vast national cornucopia of ethnic eats and local treats. It's a creeping culinary crime that, if left unchecked, may one day turn the entire planet into an Applebee's. But all is not lost.

FEEDING A YEN, the latest effort from the prolific and always entertaining Calvin Trillin, offers an escape for those who have grown tired of food that has suffered a spectrum of indignities, from gentrification to generification. Each of the fourteen chapters in FEEDING A YEN covers a different local specialty, from pumpernickel bagels in New York City, to pimientos de Padron (a dish made with tiny green peppers) in Galicia, Spain, to boudin (a kind of Cajun sausage) in New Iberia, Louisiana, to ceviche (a cold fish soup) in Ecuador --- and plenty more along the way.

If you're looking for a book on pricey eateries, find something else to read. FEEDING A YEN is about simple, honest food, often made from recipes that have been passed down for generations. In describing these various treats and his efforts to find them, Trillin exhibits a palpable glee, particularly when skewering some of the more pretentious aspects of the business of feeding people.

In a chapter on Napa Valley wines, Trillin plays on his own ignorance of the vintner's art as he investigates a test that reputedly proves that even the experts can't really tell a red from a white. Another chapter deals with the good-natured squabbles within a Web community that has emerged via chowhound.com, a Web site devoted to ferreting out great ethnic food in the neighborhoods of New York and Los Angeles.

If you're a fan of Anthony Bourdain's A Cook's Tour on the Food Network, you'll enjoy FEEDING A YEN. Trillin and Bourdain share a passion for the food purveyed in small shops and by street vendors. But Bourdain, who apparently will eat just about anything, has the more adventurous palette. The various treats Trillin describes are often exotic, but never involve anything that you'd keep as a pet or that might buzz around your porch light on a warm summer night. Trillin writes about good, simple food, food rooted to specific locations by tradition as much as by the availability of the necessary ingredients.

Technology has made the world a much smaller place. Mere hours stand between the cargo of fishing boats and the dinner table and, by virtue of the same technology, the idea of a growing season is rendered a moot point. You can get nearly anything you want, anytime you want it. But that abundance and convenience risk the very essence of the local specialty. If you've had the good fortune to travel in the U.S. you've surely noticed that, with the exception of geography and climate, the differences that existed between various points on the map are eroding. And the same thing is happening around the world (for a different take on that issue read William Gibson's PATTERN RECOGNITION). Food is a basic and visceral expression of local and regional culture. If that expression is lost, if people no longer seek out unique dishes like those so vividly described in FEEDING A YEN, then the creeping blandness that has already claimed so much of what makes the world interesting will have achieved another milestone in mediocrity. But if Calvin Trillin has his way, that sad and flavorless day will never arrive.

--- Reviewed by Bob Rhubart

I have a soft spot for food writers. Maybe it's because I enjoy a good meal, perhaps too much, but I think it's because I've found food writers to be charming in their obsession with food related minutiae. No one is more charming than Calvin Trillin whose "register of frustration and deprivation" leads him to travel the world seeking those foods that he can't live without. the result of this is Feeding a Yen. I can't put this book down. He's like an adventurous and kindly uncle. It's a treat.

One of the things I like about Trillin is that he is not a cook. There are no recipes in this book. Although I do enjoy reading food books by people who cook, it's nice to get the view from an unadulterated eater now and then.

Trillin uses this book to highlight foods that he can't get at home in Manhattan, and that is a list that is getting shorter all the time. In fact, you can get exotic foods almost anywhere now. And that is just why he has a hard time luring his daughters back to New York from the West Coast. They can get New York bagels and anything else in California.

I love Trillin's dry humor and skepticism. This is my first Calvin Trillin book (although I have enjoyed his magazine essays) and I'm looking forward to reading his past works.

I read this book on a recent trip to Los Angeles, where I regrettably realized that Nate and Al's in Beverly Hills had better whitefish salad than Murray's in NYC. When Calvin Trillin would visit his daughters in California, he used to take a dozen or two bagels with him from NYC, to tempt them back to the capital of authentic bialys and appetizing stores from the Southern California wastelands of sun dried tomato and bee pollen bagels. What can one make of a world where a London fish and chips salesman uses matza meal to batter coat his fish, San Francisco style burritos are sold in Manhattan, NY Bagels are in LA, and great Chinese food can be found in Paris? Calvin Trillin, in a series of essays ("Magic Bagel", "Grandfather Knows Best", "Chinatown, Chinatown", etc), takes the reader on a very funny and enlightening trip around the world, as he finds the best local foods. My faves were, he eats Chinese from Paris to Prague, he searches for the bagels of Hyman Perlmutter's Tanenbaum's bakery, and he explores the fish taco.

I have read and participated in the AWC staff rides of the battlefields and from that light these book can be instructive at they relate to events and field conditions. They are not for the casual reader or tourist. It is essential that the reader be versed in both the theory and tactics of the time before visiting the site and that you are to read these books while standing on the actual grounds.

These books supplement case studies at the AWC in tactical and strategic thinking. Observe the battleground as a military officer would and try to put yourself in the mind of the writer. What you will be reading are the after action reports written by the officers assigned to write them, of their viewings of events on the field. Beware sometimes these reports can be self serving so take that in mind.

Reading the reports and standing on location will help to give you an incite into field situations and problems that the military officer must see, recognize and solve. One key point to remember is that of communication is not what it is today. The field of battle only existed as far as the individual officer could see. He generally knew nothing of events occuring several hundred yards away let alone a mile or so away in real time. All he knew what what was right in front of him. He never sees the big picture that today's communications can provide or seek instant clarification of orders.

With this in mind and a knowledge of the methods of Civil War fighting these books are very instructive.

These series of books from the U. S. Army War College are the best available resource for conducting ACW battlefield tours - assuming that your purpose in touring battlefields is to study and understand the applicable tactics, strategy and terrain and to develop an appreciation for the objectives and efforts of the participants. If you go to ACW battlefields to gawk and gossip as an everyday tourist then an investment in these guides is unnecessary. If you have an active interest in ACW history, military history in general or fascinating chapters in human history, then these guides are remarkable values, "Best Buys". Helpful maps illustrate troop engagements and key terrain features, excerpts from the Official Records provide first person commentary from the participants at each "Stop" on your tour and concise analysis is provided to tie the story together. Thorough but not intimidating, insightful and objective, with no deficiencies noted. This particular guide is especially insightful in that the tour includes the Battle of South Mountain preceding Antietam and includes "Stops" in backwoods areas of western Maryland and West Virginia which are otherwise unrecognized as significant to the Battle of Antietam. A great way to tour a beautiful area of our country and understand in detail a significant chapter in our history.

If you are interested in the Maryland campaign of 1862, this is the book for you! It includes South Mountain, Crampton's Gap, Harpers Ferry and a good bit of detail on Shepherdstown.

Unlike the Gettysburg guide this book outlines the campaign on an "operational" as well as "tactical" level. Both of which are easy to understand and follow along if you desire to use this book as a battlefield guide.

The driving directions along with detailed maps, historical photos, and reports taken from the Official Records make this book a complete tour and reference package!

If you require an outstanding volume of work detailing nearly every aspect of the campaign, then look no further. I highly recommend this book as "must read" for anyone interested in Marse Robert's Maryland Campaign of 1862. It will also make an excellent reference tool for anyone who cannot make it to the battlefield. It brings the fields of battle to you!

The Antietam battlefield guide is the second of many Civil War guidebooks and continued setting the standard started in the Gettysburg guide. The book covers the bloodiest single day battle of the American Civil War and a Battlefield Park that has suffered very little from commercialization. In addition to Antietam, South Mountain and Harpers Ferry are included. This gives you a detailed understanding of the important battles leading up to Antietam. Antietam is a confusing battle; this is not a battle history as such. My recommendation is to read Priest's book "Antietam" before visiting this field. This is one of a number of guidebooks on the battle and is an option to employing a guide or purchasing a park driving tour.
The series format is directions to a point on the field, orientation, a general lesson on what happened in your view, followed by first person accounts of the action. These guides are designed using the general staff training concept of a Staff Ride. This is when a class is taken to a historic location, discuss what happened and see how the terrain influences the event. Staff Rides are designed to be intensive "on the ground" training coupled with physical observation in the hopes students will gain experience for later use.
I am not saying this to frighten you away from this guide but to tell you this is not a walk about and look at the monuments type of guide. This guide will have several pages devoted to the action at this point. It may contain a critique of the local commander's actions with possible alternates.
My experience is that reading the book prior to my visit works best. This allows me more time observing the field and less time reading the book. Of the tour options, a professional guide is usually the best but most expensive choice. The park driving tour is the best choice for a quick trip through the field to get the kids passport stamp. This book is the best choice for a serious student of the battle looking for a detailed explanation.

Luvas' book provided an excellent itinerary for those who would visit the Antietam battlefield. However, it fails to help the reader understand the context of the given part of the battle to the whole. After positioning you at strategic points he simply reprints copies of the official reports from officers involved in the components of the battle. Since many officers' reports were comprehensive reports of the entire battle, and Luvas takes only a small section of the report for a given area of the battlefield, even the reports lose the perspective of context.

Another thing missing is a comprehensive map of the battlefield with his selected stops, again helping show the context of a given part of the battle with the whole.

After having read Jack Purcel's book on the "Adams Diggins", it made me want to rig up the ole backpack and hit the hills. Jack weaves the different versions of the stories together in a way that makes sense out of the obscure and dim trails of the Adams party and those who sought the riches that lay in a mysterious New Mexico canyon. It's more than a "Lost Treasure Story". Jack's meticulous research of the persons and places gives us a view of the early history on New Mexico and those hardy folks who risked life and limb on the dangerous frontier. I believe that the Lost Adam's Diggins does exist and Jack Purcel knows more about it than any other person and he shares his insight and knowledge with clarity and humor. I recommend this book to all those who think beyond the asphalt!

Sit back, close your eyes and imagine for a moment, if you will, what it would be like to be on the trail of a gold field. You know it's out there, waiting. And it's within your reach, maybe. Okay, you can open your eyes. The gold's there, but that maybe I mentioned is a real big one, because to get the gold, you're going to have to make some drastic changes in your life. You're going to have to give up all your creature comforts. You're going to have to live hard off the land, desert land. Okay, so maybe that gold isn't just within reach, but there are men, real men, who took a chance, gave up everything, threw themselves into the search of gold, found it, lost it and tried to find it again. This book is there story.

First off, the book asks the question, did the Lost Adams Diggings ever exist at all and concludes that they probably did. Then we follow the search for the gold in Adams' own words. We see how he and his partners found the gold, how most of them were murdered by Indians. How he got away.

We follow along with Adams as he tries to refind the field. And we follow along with those that came after him. The gold, these men believe, is out there, waiting to be discovered again.

So, if you're interested in reading about the Old West, the desert, Indians or even if you're hankering to invest in a pick and a shovel, this book is for you.

I must admit that I read The Lost Adams Diggings because the author sent me a copy to review. Normally this isn't my cup of tea, because I'm a city girl. That said, I've got to admit that after I got used to the way these Nineteenth Century miners wrote, I got sucked into their stories, their dream. These were men.

This isn't the kind of book you'll read in one sitting, but it is the kind of book that you'll tell your friends about. I know, because it's sparked a lot of conversations around my house. I just can't get these dream chasers out of my mind.

Review submitted by Katie Osborne

I haven't read this book, but it seems like a travellers tall tale, aka. tour-guide history to amuse city slickers. Better to rent City Slickers.

Some facts to ponder:

--gold in the natural state, as in free Au nuggets, was depleted by prehistoric man. So if gold nuggets exist, why didn't the Apache themselves pick it up? Do we really need crusty old miners? That said, if you're talking sluicing gold using heavy industrial equipment, including mercury/ quicksilver, that's a different story. But the idea of old english-speaking miners finding gold nuggets lying around is ludicrous

--if there's gold in them thar hills, somebody would have found it, not unlike Suiter Mill (CA '49ers); Virginia City (Ag), NV; Klondyke gold fields, even (and especially) South Africa, where the gold is a mile below the surface. Point being: real gold is like money, it attacts real people. "Lost gold" only attracts readers (gullible readers) and tourists.

I give the book two stars since the author knows what he is talking about: spinning a yarn, even a plausible yarn. For that he gets credit.

The last reviewer found the book to be 'bunkum' without reading it. Causes me to wonder why he bothered to review a book he hasn't read.

He/she chose my book to provide an uneducated opinion of the entire concept of lost gold mines and gold that hasn't been found yet. He/she might be right, though a(n increasingly small) number of people believe he's wrong. Technology has allowed a lot of the 'lost' ones to be found over the past few years.

Meanwhile, interest in chasing that sort of dream has certainly waned. The chances are slight that unlocated mines will be the source of any heart attacks for the few geezers left tromping into the canyons to search.

This book would certainly give new leads someone who wants to search for the Adams. Most of the surviving searchers have already bought it. However, that's only a piece of what the book is about.

The Lost Adams Diggings - Myth, Mystery and Madness is a study of a legend and the men who believed in it at a time when men were still inclined to believe in such things, just as the name suggests. It's a study of how the legend began, how it slid through a century-and-a-half, how it was transformed by lies in the beginning and information that wasn't available until much later (and even then not available to everyone who searched).

The book inevitably follows a lot of trails through the Civil War years of New Mexico and Arizona. It's the time when it all began.

I don't recommend that anyone search for the Lost Adams Diggings unless you just need an adventure in your life. If you buy this book I hope you'll do it because you want to learn some history, puzzle over some mystery, shake your head over the things men give their lives for.

I gave a couple of decades of mine in this search. That story is part of the book. I don't care if you choose to believe the legend is bunkum after you've read it, but I do hope you enjoy the read.

I am amazed and delighted in the way Jack Purcell brings his well documented history and legend of the `Adams Diggings' to life. The historical accounts of people and times involved throughout this book and the unique way Mr. Purcell tells the whole story. He definitely brings the Wild West back alive through time. As a reader, you will enjoy the stories told of the tragedies, dreams, and personal lives, of Jacob Snively, Adams, and Brewer. You will read about many others who found their fortune in gold, searched their whole lives for it in vain, or knew where it was and told no one keeping it safe for themselves; all taking place in the trecherous regions of the South West. Pack your trail bag, because you will learn the secrets of where to look for the Adams Diggings, and where they aren't. Adventure, and the American Spirit of Freedom are not for the weak of heart, please read this book with caution.
Gayle Adams Peterson
Shipwreck hunter, and Author of :
Safe Harbor : One Girls Dream of Freedom.