Pacific Books

As a student of the Overland experience and a resident near the original trail in Nevada County I was just fascinated by this wonderful account. I wholeheartedly recommend this book and have given it as a gift to other early West enthusiasts.

Edwin Bryant's work is a classic not only of overland travel in 1846 but also of life in early California during the same time period.
The Kentucky newspaperman's writing style approaches poetic composition. He was a keen observer of every minute detail on the trail and when in California:
Geography; Indians; weather; describing the many people along the route; river fordings; acting the part of doctor to the many ailing emigrants; traveling with the Donner party; he and a handful of men separating from the main wagon train in Fort Laramie to go it alone; the perils, mishaps, hazards and beauty of the trail; meeting several celebrated individuals including Joseph Walker, Fremont, Sublette, Hastings, Hudspeth and Kearney to mention a few.
When in California, Bryant walked right into the United States' conquest of California from Mexico. He was a volunteer in Fremont's army to thwart insurgents. These and other timely events are well depicted. Bryant's description of what happened in the horrific Donner party expedition are piercing.
This is an exceptional book and highly recommended for enthusiasts of the early west.

In his own words Bryant describes his life on a wagon train going to California from the East Coast. If Bryant had a fault, it was that he too descriptive of the trail and events on the trail! If this wasn't enough, he was a doctor of the day, well, in his words, "Almost a Doctor." He was going to California to complete his studies. Like any good intern, he kept notes of who he treated on the trail and how he treated them. Also, being a bachelor, he was invited by the father of an eligible daughter to travel with them, "to let nature run it's course." This book should be a text book on the high school or the collegiate level.

There's a great photo of the author holding the first flying model of the M2F1 he built and tested, standing next to the M2F1! That's just one of many. The paperback edition has an update from 2005; what a treat that a program from the 1960s has such an up to date publication. If you're a junky for experimental aircraft you have to have this one.

I've studied these vehicles for years and thought I knew a lot about them. But Dale Reed was there and does a masterful job of melding the history time line with the results of the program. There are probably only a handful of people who could have written this book which is as rich in detail and "colorful" stories as any reader could want. If you've read the story of the X-15, this is the next logical step. If you haven't, you need to to really grasp what was going on at Edwards during this time. Fascinating!

A well written book from the engineer that was at the center of this small group of specialized aerospace vehicles. While detailed and somewhat technical, the author still manages to convey the sense of personal excitement, accomplishment and, at times, frustration experienced by everyone supporting these vehicles. A must-read for anyone interested in these vehicles.

Wonderful for history buffs of all ages. Approiate for younger readers, filled with activities to spark dialog about War and sacrifice.

My 7 year old son is a WWII fanatic and loves this book. It discusses not only events in the war itself, but also the impact of the war on life in the U.S. The activities encourage kids to think about far-reaching effects of war, not just the exciting battles.

"World War II for Kids: A History with 21 Activities" really has three key components. First, there is a history of World War II from Hitler's rise to power in 1933 to the surrender of the Japanese in 1945. Second, Richard Panchyk provides excerpts from actual wartime letters written to and by troops on both sides along with personal anecdotes from people who lived through the war. Finally, there are 21 activities that can show young readers how it felt to live through World War II, both on the battlefield and on the Home Front.

Actually, the first function is the least impressive part of "World War II for Kids," although Panchyk provides a solid history of the war. It is just that the personal writings and recollections, along with the activities, are where Panchyk goes beyond what you would find in your standard American history textbook, which is why this is an excellent supplemental volume. Teachers can certainly use the activities and quote from the letters found in this volume to give students more of a sense of what it was like to live during that time.

The 21 activities are fairly interesting and cover a variety of subjects. Some are fairly complex, such as substituting a potato for an incendiary bomb and following the instructions on how to extinguish it, or staging a radio adventure program, while others are relatively simply, such as drawing a recruiting poster. There is an exercise in code breaking, learning how to camouflage, making a ration kit, going on a reconnaissance mission, figuring oat a coastal defense, the physics of dropping bombs, and a game that helps demonstrate the difference between mortar and howitzer fire versus anti-tank and anti-aircraft fire. There are also "Home Front" activities like making a bandage, putting together a care package, growing a Victory Garden, sending V-Mail, and extending butter, as well as a couple of activities having to do with the Holocaust by making a Jewish star and trying to find good hiding places in your home for the student and an adult helper.

Obviously some of these activities are going to be more practical and more beneficial than others, but Panchyk has made an attempt to come up with different ways of giving his young readers an idea of what it was like for kids and adults during World War II. Again, while young readers can certainly read this book and try the activities on their own, "World War II for Kids" is even better suited as a resource for teachers to use when teaching the pivotal events of World War II. Comparing what life was like for their grandparents during that war as opposed to the rather limited impact on their lives today during the war on terrorism could be quite an eye opener for young readers.

With debates about energy at the political forefront in most countries, everybody should read this book before they open their mouth so that they know what they are talking about.

Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) had a brilliant career as a scientist, teacher, and writer. Best known for his science fiction novels and stories, he also wrote poetry and nonfiction, and prepared guides to several important literary works

Dr. Asimov has taken a difficult subject and made it interesting and easy to read. Even those who aren't science students will find this book about the universe around us dramatic and entertaining. I just wish there were a way to give this book 10 stars instead of only 5.

There is a widespread perception in Japan and the west that the Imperial Japanese Army fought to the last man, often making suicidal banzai charges when all was clearly lost. John Dower argued that this was a manifestation of the race war fought between Japan and the West. Allison B. Gilmore shows in this short study that such was hardly the case.

After a series of failures that often foundered on a lack of knowledge about Japanese culture and language, psychological warfare units under the command of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur developed an approach that emphasized despair. The most effective leaflets and radio broadcasts stressed issues that individual Japanese soldiers could confirm as being true and that did not offend cultural sensitivities. Drawing upon captured Japanese documents, Gilmore argues that U.S. psychological warfare operations were becoming an issue of concern to Imperial Army officers. There was a cumulative effective to the distribution of leaflets in the Philippines campaign. Between October-December 1944, the ratio of POWs to Japanese dead was 1:100 by July of 1945 the ratio was 1:7. MacArthur's command ended up taking 10,000 POWs. At the same time on Iwo Jima and Okinawa where Nimitz's command made only tepid efforts at psychological warfare, the Japanese did fight to the very end. There were few POWs taken on these islands.

Despite its dense topic, Gilmore writes well and easily--far better than your average academic. The book is less than 200 pages of text, so it is a quick read.

As a former US Psychological Operations (PSYOP) specialist, I found Allison Gilmore's study of the US PSYWAR efforts against the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War not only historically interesting but also invaluable. Psychological Operations is often misunderstood as "mind-control" and evoke a dark image of disseminating lies through Tokyo Rose and Bagdad Betty. Although such kinds of "grey" or "black" PSYOP is practiced, it represents a small aspect of PSYOP. Especially in the US PSYOP, truth is held to be the most important weapon in persuading and convincing enemies to give-up resistence. A prime example is the Gulf War, in which the US PSYOP campaign was credited with contributing to the massive surrender of the Iraqi troops: US PSYOPers provided essential news and battle situations information to convince the Iraqi's of their inevitable defeat. Gilmore describes the evolution of Allied PSYOP efforts from the beginning to the end. Contrary to the widely-held view during the war in the US that the Japanese soldiers were impervious to any kind of persuation to give-up their fight because of their dedication to their Emporer, superiors, and their nation, Gilmore delineates, step-by-step, how the Allied PSYOPers analysed impact of battle conditions on the average Japanese soldiers, sorted-out psychological "weaknesses," and formulated proper messages to exploit those weaknesses and evetually defeat the Japanese "psychologically." In a sense, this book provides "how-to" knowledge and dispels myths surrounding PSYOP. As the saying goes, "honesty is the best policy," in PSYOP, verifiable truths, rather than lies, will win-over your enemies. Anyone interested in learning more about PSYOP or Pacific War, "You Can't Fight Tanks with Bayonets" should be an essential part of their reading.

The book follows the development of psychological warfare, at first with a little history and then getting into details about its use against the Japanese. The author points out that the use of propaganda was not very effective till the Japanese started to lose and till the Allies learned what did and did not work. Getting to know the enemy and finding his weak points is as important as selecting the right words to use and finding out if it's working. Truth is VERY important as you want the reader to trust you as a source of REAL information, information he/she can see as observable facts or can be checked on later.
The author breaks down the basics of GOOD psywar operations with a number of general conclusions near the end. A must for anybody interested in military history or the Pacific Theater during World War Two.

This is a great book. It held my interest throughout and I was unable to put it down.

However, I write this review from a biased viewpoint. This book provided me information regarding my father, Gerardo Nery who never talked about this part of his life. Maybe because of its classification or because (like many WWII vets) had no reason to boast about their heroic actions during WWII. This part of history had been a black hole in families' life, which Bob Stahl has been able to shed light. Not only does it describe my father's involvement during WWII but also of my mother's, Nacling Medenilla and her family especially my grandfather, Mayor Medenilla whom I was never able to meet during my adult life.

After my birth in 1946, I was never able to return to the Philippines and so missed out on the entire Filipino Legacy and Heritage. Like my father, I joined the US Army and did a tour in Viet Nam in Special Operations working deep in enemy territory as an Army Ranger as a member of N Co. 75th Airborne Rangers. My Ranger class activated the 75th Ranger Colors and I was fortunate to be assigned to B Co. 75th Rangers, Ft. Carson Colorado as a 2LT Infantry Officer. I was able to continue in Special Operations after flight school and flew several missions prior to the formation of TF 160th SOAR (Special Operations Aviation Regiment).

Thank you, Robert E. Stahl for the outstanding story of the Filipino's involvement in the fight for liberation. You have provided me the information needed to fulfill my family history.

Bahala Na,

Gerard B. Nery, Jr.
COL (Ret) US Army
IN/AV

At age 23, Bob Stahl volunteered to become a radio operator and cryptographer for the largely forgotten and often overlooked Allied Intelligence Bureau (AIB). In You're No Good to Me Dead: Behind Japanese Lines in the Philippines, Stahl uses the southeastern portion of the Philippine Islands from 1943 to 1945 as the lens through which he viewed his world as an agent, gathering intelligence information to help pave the way for the Allied victory over Japan. Inserted miles behind enemy lines, Stahl and his fellow AIB agents from the 978th Signal Service Company, First Reconnaissance Battalion, Philippine Region, a counterpart of the more commonly known, Office of Strategic Services (OSS), established intelligence networks via a series of radio stations deep in the Philippine jungle. Here they conducted coastwatching, weather reporting, and air warning operations for the Allies, in addition to establishing contact with and, often times, operating as part of, the organized guerrilla effo

At age 23, Bob Stahl volunteered to become a radio operator and cryptographer for the largely forgotten and often overlooked Allied Intelligence Bureau (AIB). In You're No Good to Me Dead: Behind Japanese Lines in the Philippines, Stahl uses the southeastern portion of the Philippine Islands from 1943 to 1945 as the lense through which he viewed the world as an agent gathering intelligence information in helping pave the way for the Allied victory over Japan. Inserted miles behind enemy lines, Stahl and his fellow AIB agents from the 978th Signal Service Company, First Reconnaissance Battalion, established intelligence networks via a series of radio stations deep in the Philippine jungle. Here they conducted coastwatching, weather reporting, and air warning operations for the Allies, in addition to establishing contact with and, often times, operating as part of the organized guerrilla effort fighting the Japanese. You're No Good to Me Dead is a riveting account of a young battlefield commissioned lieutenant working autonomously as a clandestine agent. Stahl's memoir brings us from the days of hanging out at ice-cream parlors in the Anthracite country of central Pennsylvania to the difficult lifestyle struggling to survive in the crude camps and disease-infested jungles on the island of Samar and the Bondoc Peninsula on the southeastern portion of Luzon. Portraying his odyssey, Stahl shares his riveting, informative and often humorous story detailing his personal battles to keep station S3L "on the air" every day for fifteen straight months. Often times in short supply of batteries, arms, and food, Stahl accomplished unseemingly difficult missions, moving frequently to avoid Japanese patrols in order to make good on MacArthur's earlier admonition to be careful, because "you're no good to me dead." Having completed two years of research in writing a book title Surviving Bataan and Beyond, I have had the pleasure in reading a number of first-hand accounts on the struggles in the Philippines during the Second World War. I can honestly say that none, even remotely, measure in terms of substance, originality and readability to Bob Stahl's You're No Good to Me Dead. With this book Stahl has filled a void in the narrative history of the Philippine campaign. It is a significant contribution and more importantly, it is extremely enjoyable to read. I strongly recommend it.

This book is a great resource for anyone. The calendar of events makes it a breeze to find dates and times of your favorite things to do on the Monterey Peninsula.

This is the "ultimate" tour guide to beautiful Monterey County, CA (referred to by the locals as Paradise). It truly is invaluable as a resource for locals and tourists alike. I've lived here for 15 years and can't believe there are so many wonderful things to do and see...for FREE! Unlike any other tour guide.

The Ultimate Field Guide to Monterey County this beautifully organized book is a must for visitors and residents of central California's most acclaimed region. From the famous shoreline of the Monterey Peninsula to Steinbeck's Pastures of Heaven and the nation's great salad bowl in the Salinas Valley this edition covers it all. Easy to read, clearly indexed and well designed this book defines the phrase "essential reference" and I especially recommend it for families.

My family loves Zuccinni and this has a great cake recicpe that is very moist. that I use for birthdays now. I first borrowed this from our library. can't believe i found it on here for a penny. if you like the vegetable you'll love the book.

This book is full of wonderfully simple yet absolutely delicious recipes! Great way to use all that extra zucchini from the garden, as well as lots of great recipes that the very large zucchinis can be used.

My all-time favorite recipe, Chocolate Zucchini Cake, is on page 22. This cake is so moist that it needs no frosting and is a great way to squeeze those veggies, especially for children.

My book is so well loved it requires a large amount of tape to hold it together!

If you grow this oddly spelt vegetable, at some time you are going to wonder what to do with it. This cookbook is the answer.
IF YOU DO NOTHING ELSE IN YOUR ZUCCHINI-LADEN LIFE,turn to page 47 for the "Cheese Steaks with Zucchini and Sour Cream" recipe.

By the Lord God, this is Heaven itself. After one season the book will fall open to page 47!!!

100 great biographies of the most influential personalities that affect the markets even today. If you're interested in how our markets developed from it's chaotic beginning this is a great book. I particularly enjoyed the section on crooks and scams. It's amazing some of the things people will do.

This is a great book for reading the short bios of the financial history makers. I just picked and chose the people I was interested in reading about.

Two of my favorite activities, reading good books and hiking good trails, merge in this Oregon Coast hiking guide. Bonnie Henderson was raised in Portland, and lives in Eugene now. Not only does she know these trails, but she is also savvy to all the flora and fauna along the way. Her guide is organized by hikes along Oregon's North Coast, North-Central Coast, Central Coast, South-Central Coast, and South Coast, and also includes interesting information about, among other things, puffins (pp. 40-41), skunk cabbage (p. 51), bald eagles (p. 62), estuaries (p. 73) and silverspot butterflies (pp. 76-77).

I spent a week hiking many of the trails in this guide, including most of Henderson's own recommended favorites (pp. 26, 57, 96): Indian Beach to Ecola Point, Seaside Beach, Crescent Beach, Haystack Rock, Hug Point, and the Yachats 804 Trail. I especially liked the Cape Falcon and Cooks Ridge-Gwynn Creek loop trails. Rocky beaches. Loud waves. Waterfalls. Mossy trees. Old-growth forests. Foggy days. Muddy trails. The Oregon Coast is a hiker's heaven, and Henderson's wise, old trail guide contains some of heaven's best-kept secrets.

G. Merritt

Bonnie Henderson's hiking books are consistently good. This one highlights some lesser-known hikes along the Oregon Coast. My parents live on the coast, and many of these hikes were pleasant surprises to them. Difficulty is accurately noted. The author, an Oregon resident, really hikes all the trails in her books. This book would be a great gift for anyone living or travelling the Oregon Coast.