Europe Books

A heavy book packed with information. More a refererence book rather than a read in its own right. jam-packed with lots of good information including many stand-alone information sections detailing all aspects of life at sea - for the men as well as the ships. If you have an interest in naval warfare in the age of sail this book is a great investment

It's one of the best books of that type I've ever read, too much details, but not boring, explains everything and gives you a full idea about how the seamnship of that period, strategy life at seas and of course of the battle of Trafalgar. I would reccomend it without any hesitation.
Probably the title of the book isn't so attractive as it's the book itself.

The Trafalgar Companion by Mark Adkin looked very much like his Waterloo Companion that he wrote earlier. The book covers three subject matters. First is the Trafalgar campaign and battle. Second is the biographical overview of Horatio Lord Nelson and finally the third coverage deals with anatomy of navies and ships of this period although the Royal Navy get most of the coverage. Each three subjects are spread apart into sections and interlocked with the overall coverage of the topic. There are also many side bars notes that inserts interesting trivial if not important information regarding the subject matter at hand.

The book proves to be well written, well researched and easy to read. There are over 200 illustrations that covers everything from battle scenes, diagrams, tactical maps, drawings, ship equipments and so on. There are several pages of a great cross section from the top down on HMS Victory (deck by deck) which showed the ship in battle readiness and show the positions of each crew member by position and officers. There's also a full page coverage on each British, French and Spanish ships involved in the battle as well as history of some of its officers. I can write considerably more on all the great stuff that this book contains.

It pretty obvious that the author went all out to provide one of the most complete coverage of Trafalgar campaign and battle within a single volume. Each of the subject matter appears to be well written and researched. Nelson's biography may not be as detail or indepth as some of the full scale biographies but the coverage proves to be impressive and insightful. All of Nelson's previous battles are in the this book and well covered. While not as detail as Brian Lavery's book, Nelson's Navy, the study of the Royal Navy in this book should satisfied almost anyone. The coverage of the campaign and battle of Trafalgar proves to be complete and highly detailed, helped by charts and maps that gives a clear understanding of the subject at hand.

There is also a short but detail coverage of post-Trafalgar period, fate of the ships, officers and burial of Nelson. Interesting tidbits that can only enchance the reading experience.

In conclusion, while there are books out there who may do a better job covering just the battle or just Nelson or just the details of wooden navy, I believed no book does a superior job in putting all three together and making it work. The 555 pages of this book is crammed with information that can only benefit the reader to the utmost. Its well worth the price you pay.

What a book! This book is huge and contains just about everything you would want to know about the people, the ships and the battles. I was really impressed to see the hour by hour description of the battle and the detailed descriptions of the ships appearance as well as its statistics.
I have no hesitation in recommending this book.

The Trafalgar Companion is probably the best reference book on the Royal Navy in the time of the Napoleonic Wars. It has about 550 pages of small type and is jam packed with information. However, it is much more than its title suggests.

This book could probably be divided into three main parts: the life of Nelson, the Trafalgar campaign, and the background of the Royal Navy. There are nine sections, each with subsections and most with an epilogue. The epilogues comprise the first part, as they describe some aspect of Nelson's life or career. If one wanted to read only about Nelson, one could jump to the end of each chapter and read a very good biography of Nelson. The epilogues include his early life and career, the battles of St Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen; his stay at Naples, Emma, and a few others. The reader really comes to know a great deal about Nelson. The second section, the background of the Royal Navy, gives the reader about 150 pages on topics such as ship construction and classification, seamanship, navigation, officers, seamen, marines, uniforms, gunnery, tactics, and many others. This section alone is invaluable to understanding the Royal Navy. The third section is about the Trafalgar campaign. The subsections include British and French naval strategy, the fleets, command, opening moves, the battle itself (about 60 pages), and the aftermath of the battle.


So, what makes this such a great book? The topics have all been discussed in tons of other books. Well, first, this book is like an encyclopedia--it brings everything together under one roof. If you want Nelson, you got 'im. If you're reading Hornblower, Ramage, Kydd, or Aubrey and you need some background info on some topic, it's here. However, this book is more than an encyclopedia. If you have several hours to spend on a great story--the battle itself--you've got a great read in front of you. Second, in addition to the text, this book is filled with hundreds of illustrations, diagrams, lists, quotes, maps, paintings, and drawings. For example, the section on fleet comparison devotes a page to each ship from both fleets. The pages include a drawing of a ship, its rating, number and type of guns, number and type of crew (i.e. naval, infantry, marine), a biography of its commander, what the ship did during and after the battle, and, for the British, a list of all its officer--all the way down to the purser! In the section on guns, gunnery, and tactics, there are eight fabulous color illustrations, each covering two pages. The first is a cross section of the Victory with all the rooms labeled. The ship looks like a mini city. Then there are top-view illustrations of each deck. Not only are the guns and other parts of the ship labeled, but also where crew members would have been assigned. I didn't know that a marine was assigned to each gun on the ship. In some cases even known personalities can be placed in certain areas on deck. There is even a page showing the number and arrangement of lanterns to indicate signals in the presence of the enemy! I particularly like the 19 maps in the battle section. The reader can follow the movements and firing of the ships throughout the battle. There are so many topics and all are treated exhaustively.

I could go on and on giving examples of the breadth and depth of this book. Besides the information, the color illustrations and quality of paper make this book visually pleasing. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone interested in the Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars. It's worth every penny you'll pay for it-you won't need anything else.

I had read a couple of biographies of Tycho Brahe years ago, but never anything on Johannes Kepler except the bare-bones discoveries that made him famous. This book was a well-conceived and well-written biography of both men. Starting with Tycho and his observations and ending with Kepler and his discoveries based on Tycho's data, the book interleaves their lives in the middle where they were contemporaries. What a shame that Tycho died only a year or so after taking Kepler on board. It's interesting to speculate what might have happened if Tycho had lived. But he didn't, and Kepler's brilliant use of Tycho's data made them both famous and greatly advanced the science of astronomy. Thruout, you can see astronomy splitting away from astrology and leaving it in the dust.

Kitty Ferguson tells the tail of the unique and often humorous relationship between Johannes Kepler and Tycho Brahe that led to some of the greatest astronomical discoveries of our time. Going against the common belief of the geocentric universe, Kepler changes the world forever with the essential help of Brahe's observation on the heavens. Although the result of their relationship is extraordinarily beneficial to astronomy, the relationship is not as peaceful as one would think. Ferguson makes this evident throughout the story and gives numerous examples of their feuding and bickering over their work together. It reminded me of a 17th century spin off of the odd couple. Both informative and entertaining, this book covers everything from Brahe's golden nose to Kepler robbery of Brahe's information and is definitely worth reading if you are interested in the subject.

Tycho and Kepler: The Unlikely Partnership That Forever Changed Our Understanding of the Heavens, by Kitty Ferguson, is a 402-page dedication to two astronomical greats of the early seventeenth century, Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler. Beginning with an examination of the society into which Brahe was born, the book traces him throughout his childhood and adulthood, from the building of Uraniborg, Brahe's astronomical observatory on the island of Hven to his banishment from the kingdom of Denmark. Not until nearly the hundredth page is Kepler discussed, but from that point forward, tales from each man's life are alternated. It seems that more time is devoted to Brahe. The two stories come together when the men meet, and it follows them together from that point forward. When Brahe passes away, the focus immediately and entirely shifts to Kepler and follows him to the end of the book. The story comes to an abrupt finish with Kepler's death, though the volume also contains three appendices explaining and elaborating on complex astronomical terms discussed in the body of the book.
I think Ms. Ferguson decided to recount this story because she was interested in both astronomy and history. From reading the book, one can feel the interest the author has in the subject matter. While reading this book, I became interested in the topic as well, but sometimes felt a bit lost. Occasionally, it seemed that she went too much in depth on certain topics, such as the construction of Uraniborg, which she described in great detail. In general, however, Kitty Ferguson seems to like enjoy writing about this topic, and conveys her enthusiasm in her writing.
This is a good book. I read it for a school assignment, and was not especially interested in the topic at hand at first, though I rapidly became drawn into the story. I only grew bored of the book when it began to explain complex astronomical concepts. While all ideas were explained in full and in understandable language, accompanied by appropriate pictures and diagrams, it was still somewhat tedious for someone not especially knowledgeable about astronomy to wade through. The flow of the book is excellent. It never felt rushed, and the transitions between sections focusing on each scientist were smooth. The one thing that I really disliked about this book was its sudden ending. It ends at Kepler's death; it does not even mention the impacts of Brahe and Kepler's work on later scientists. Despite this inadequacy, I was left with a good impression of Ms. Ferguson's book, and with much more knowledge about astronomy, Tycho Brahe, and Johannes Kepler than I had when beginning to read this book.

An amazing and inspirational account of one of the greatest stories in the history of science. Extremely well written and scholarly. I have average reading skills but at times found the book impossible to put down. In spots I had to stop reading it because emotions took over. The best book I ever read about the classical scientists.

Tycho & Kepler - The Unlikely Friendship that Forever Changed Our Understanding of the Heavens is, for the most part, an excellent novel and easy read. Although it is a little confusing and dry at the times when complex astronomical concepts are being explained, they are outweighed by the wealth of historical accounts and gratuitous, but juicy tidbits. For instance, besides explaining the extensive instruments that Tycho built, Ferguson offers that he was also the first Dane to write a poem in Latin, that he had a twin that died at birth, and his aunt and uncle kidnapped him from his parents who wanted a girl and didn't much care. As for Kepler, not only did he develop the Harmonic theory, but had a miserable marriage, a mother accused and tried for witchcraft, and was the first author of a science fiction novel. Kitty Ferguson thus tells the life stories of the astronomers Tycho and Kepler in an informative, educational, yet narrative and interesting way. She effectively spans the 20-year gap between Tycho and Kepler by beginning the book describing Tycho's childhood and indeed his life exclusively up until the advent of a comet on December 27, 1571. Ferguson explains that, when Tycho saw the comet, he was out at one of his 60 manmade fish ponds on his estate at the Danish Isle of Hven, catching fish for dinner that evening. Meanwhile Kepler saw the same comet, but he was only five, and it was during a rare warm moment that he shared with his mother on a hilltop in Leonberg. Thus Kepler enters the story. For the rest of the book, Ferguson fluidly integrates the two men's lives, switching back and forth in an understandable, connected way. She eventually merges the two stories in a dynamic, functional manner, and shows how they used each other, and that many of their final results were synthesized versions of their combined efforts. Basically, Tycho provided excruciatingly accurate data that Kepler confirmed mathematically and extrapolated on. Kepler could have never figured out all that he did with out Tycho's data; he had bad eyesight and could not observe the sky he so dearly slaved for. It was because Tycho initially mistrusted Kepler that Kepler received only slight amounts of data that Kepler discovered that planetary orbits are elliptical - Tycho gave him only data on Mars, which happens to have the most extreme elliptical orbit, otherwise Kepler never would have noticed. Tycho also used Kepler to advance his own work and complete (among other things) the Rudolfine Tables, which are not merely the positions of planets, but guides to figure out what positions they are in at any time, (now, 586 years ago, or one thousand years into the future). The aptly-named chapters are elegantly punctuated with helpful pictures, like paintings of people discussed, illustrations of instruments, maps of the places mentioned, explanatory diagrams, and more. There are also obliging appendixes in the back, explaining astronomical terms (even though they are well-explained in the reading), and an index.
Just as the accomplishments of these men were great, so were their lives, which is probably why Kitty Ferguson felt compelled to tell the story of them. I would highly recommend it, even if you do not much care for astronomy.

This book covers the history of "Ukraine" from time immemorial until the late 20th century, laying out all the important dates and leaders. It is without doubt the most extensive and lucid English-language account of the development of regions and peoples which constitute today's Ukraine.

Its crucial fault, however, is that it fails to overturn or even question the nationalist mythologizing of Ukrainian history. It assumes the permanent historical unity of the Ukrainian nation when in fact no such unity existed until at least the early 1900s. It marginalizes the role of Poles, Russians, and even Germans in laying rival claims to the territory and peoples now called Ukraine. It leads us to believe that Ukraine was destined to exist in its current form, when in fact the creation of Ukraine was highly contested and its current shape anything but pre-determined. This book presents the genealogy of regional figures and struggles which have been appropriated into Ukrainian nationalist mythology, but gives little sense how or when Ukraine actually came to exist, nor how its history fits into larger European narratives.

Mr. Subtelny's "Ukraine: A History" rates a notch above Mr. Magosci's. Well-written and very readable. This is the volume one reaches for when facts on the Ukrainian history are required.

First published in 1988, Orest Subtelny's Ukraine: A History has again been newly updated in a third edition. This 736 page volume spans from the earliest times to the modern day, covering everything from ancient Greek colonization to the recent Ukraine diaspora. Orest Subtelny (Professor of History and Political Science at York University) goes into extreme depth and detail with a text that is significantly enhanced with maps, tables, and the occasional black-and-white photograph. Highly recommended for its lucidity, meticulous attention to detail, and scholarly precision, Ukraine: A History is a "must" for anyone who wants to learn about this fascinating land and its people.

Its full of knowledge and many interesting rarely seen historical photos. I have learned much more information that I ever knew before about Ukraine. Excellent book that I would recommend to everyone.

Orest Subtelny's book on Ukrainian history is intelligently written and very readable, among the growing number of books on Ukraine. It's at the top of the list. A must for any Ukraine enthusiast!

This book is a treasure because all the text is handwritten and the illustrations are fabulous.....there are recipes and a great deal of history & information about Venice. This kind of book will soon be a relic.

If you have ever experienced cichetti in Venice, this book will bring it all back. In addition to the recipes, the illustrations are charming, representative of the real Venice that the average tourist never sees but that those who take the time to learn and love the Serenissima truly cherish.

"Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are" Brillat-Savarin declared. Judging by its cuisine, Venice must surely qualify as the ancient and modern day city of princes and artists. Sally Spector vividly brings to life the importance of Venice as the crucial stepping-stone for cuisine in Italy and Europe in "Venice and Food".

Little did I know that world famous dishes such as risotto, polenta, tiramisu and many other delights originate from Veneto and fair Venice - until I read Sally's superb description of their origins. She elegantly evokes the typical dishes of Venice with such accuracy that I could almost smell the aromas while reading her book - especially her enticing descriptions of the "Cuttlefish stewed in its ink" and "Bacala a la Vicentina". Such descriptions of typical Venetian dishes are beautifully interwoven with their historical origins. Even their essential ingredients are traced back to their roots. Who knew that eggplant, the basis for Melanzane al Funghetto, emanates from China?

An additional bonus and particularly attractive aspect of "Venice and Food" are the illustrations throughout the book. They are done by Sally herself who is a talented artist. Moreover, the whole book is written in her own elegant handwriting - a unique and superbly pleasing feature.

In sum, from the minute I picked up this book, I could not put it down until the next day - the first two days of my visit to Venice. It served as a magnificent introduction to Venice - not only the city of romance but also certainly of history and cuisine.

"Venice and Food" is a must read for any food enthusiast!

I purchased this book soon after it came out. I found it at the wonderful Kepler's bookstore in Menlo Park, California in among the cookbooks. Which makes sense, because, in part Venice & Food is a cookbook. But Venice & Food is two other thing as well: a book about Venice and its history and an art book of Ms. Spector's remarkable drawings of Venice. What is also remarkable about this book is that it is not typeset. The book is entirely written in Ms. Spector's hand printed text and the illustrations are annotated with her script.

Ms. Spector is a wonderful artist and her drawings of Venice are beautiful. The drawings illustrate essays on topics ranging from where Venice gets its fresh water to the history of corn in Europe and Venice. Since this is a cookbook, Ms. Spector also writes about the history of food and cooking in Venice, including a few accounts of modern food. In writing about food and cooking through history, Ms. Spector comments that for the vast majority of people through most of human history, the concern was not about the sensuality of food, but simply having a full stomach.

The beautiful artwork, the observations about Venice, its history and its food are what make this book a treasure. I am sad to say that I read the book cover to cover and did not find a recipe that I wanted to make. Although I will not be using this as a cookbook, I will always treasure the book for its beauty.

Just another rave review for this beautiful book. If you love Venice, you will love this book. If you know anyone who loves Venice, get them this book as a gift. Sally Spector knows Venice and obviously loves the city. Her drawings and history of details behind the food and recipes is a joy to read and to look at. If you have been to Venice, this book will take you back and get you looking forward to your next trip. In the meantime, you can savor the delicious recipes and the warmth of Venice and Food....

Venice for Pleasure is an off the beaten path sort of guide, filled with anecdotes, character sketches, and historic photos. Links takes his readers beyond the famous facades and brings the "theme park" to life. Fun to use then to keep and reread for reminiscence afterwards.

Terrific read for those intent on seeing the Venice that lies beyond Piazza San Marco and the Rialto Bridge. Whether you follow the author's routes on his strolls thru the sestieres, or just use his walks as a source of inspiration (as we did), this book is an indispensable addition to the library of anyone planning a trip to Venice. Thanks in large measure to encouragement offered by this book, we ventured into some of the nooks and crannys of this amazing city... we'll see St Mark's Basilica next time we go.

What a strange and wonderful little book!

Venice for Pleasure is essentially four walking tours told in a charmingly conversational style by an author who is clearly in love with Venice. Stopping in a Venetian cafe to read a passage is like having a friend leaning over your shoulder to recall the local history and gossip, point out fascinating details that you probably wouldn't have noticed, and make you smile with his dry wit.

We did all four walking tours and thoroughly enjoyed Links' companionship along the way; I can't recommend it highly enough if exploring Venice on foot is your aim. We also found the directions infallible.

Please note that this isn't a conventional guidebook, so you shouldn't expect logistical information.

If there is no such thing for you as having too much information, then think about buying this book. This book has walking itineraries including places to stop for rest and refreshment, and wonderful details on things to look at while you are walking and even while you are sitting down. This book is not useful for restaurants or hotels or hours that sites are open. Includes history, and comments on Venice from famous writers of the past like John Ruskin. It is to be savored.

Fantastic Book!!! I bought this for my wife as a memento of our 25th Anniversary trip to Venice. It was perfect. I highly recommend it to any armchair traveler who wants to "visit" the world's most romantic city. David

I received this book as a present, too add to my building library on books on European monarchy's and this book has quickly become one of my favorites. It is massive and I would recommend setting it on a flat surface, coffee or end table would be best I think.
It is filled with photos of random nooks and crannies within Versailles and of course photos and things we are all familiar with, like the Petit Trianon and all the beautiful fountains or gardens. It also includes a few photos that I find almost haunting or eerie, pathways engulfed in fog you almost expect someone to appear in it.
I think this book would be great for any one who loves beautiful photographs or enjoys all things French.

This book was absolutely gorgeous - arrived quickly and the price was right! Good job Amazon - as usual!!

Five stars PLUS! I have a new edition and it is very well bound - no need to worry about it falling apart! If you've ever been to Versailles this book will mist you up! If you're planning a return trip this book will be your bible... It is amazing how inexpensive this book is when you consider the spectacular colour photos.

Truth be told, and I am a hard-core Versailles-o-phile, this book left much to be desired in the history department. What, no reproductions of the Enfants de France? And where's Marie Therese? The binding was superior to what I'd been lead to believe by other reviews. Overall, an adequate addition to a casual collection of the Chateau de Versailles.

What an amazing book, it is nothing short of spectacular. The pictures are vivid and the book quality is of the highest caliber. The other reviewer was correct in noting that the reader has to been careful with this book, the pages are so heavy that it will pull from the binding if you are not careful when positioning the book. I have always had a facination with Versailles and this book really captures the chateaux, it makes you feel like you are stolling the gardens and taking in the sumptuous wonders of the palace. Unlike other books on Versailles this one is complete, it covers everything and in striking detail. I urge anyone with any interest in Versailles to buy this book, even used at 200 U.S., it is a bargain. I assure you you will not be disappointed in this book.

I received the book in very good condition and came very well wrapped and quickly. I am very satisfied with it.

Walks Through Lost Paris: A Journey Into the Heart of Historic Paris

This is a wonderful book, except for one thing. It is so small that the maps are almost unreadable, and the print is not so easy to read either. I've been to Paris twice and walked through all four areas in the book before, but the book opened my eyes to a lot of history and details I'm looking forward to seeing first hand. I am taking it to Paris in a couple weeks, and I'm looking forward to the walks, but I'm going to have to blow up the maps so I can read them without a magnifying glass. This book would be far more enjoyable in a larger format.

If you love Paris (and who doesn't?) you'll appreciate this book. It takes us over well-trod streets, past ancient buildings, and brings them alive by examining their past. Atget documented Paris as it was; this book predates that.

Beautifully produced book with superb use of 19th century & current photos to show changes in Paris locations pre & post Haussmann. A great read for anyone who loves & knows Paris, and doubles as an "advanced" and specialized walking guide for those lucky enough to be on site.

Whether one takes the recommended walks or just reads the words, this is a great little book, full of wonderful then and now photos (I especially like the photo of the people in the boat on Rue Jacob during the flood of 1910--see the hats!) and interesting discussions of how Paris came to be what we see today, how sections of the city were saved by those who loved them, and how other sectors were changed and updated. I have a number of walks-around-Paris books, some written for Parisians themselves, and I think this is the best and most interesting. It entertained my husband when he recently spent a week in the hospital. It is not especially touristic, and not a book for those dropping in for a day or two to see the highlights of Paris. This is a book to wallow around in. I found the English version first, but will look for the French, as I'm suspicious of translations.

An excellent book with a different perspective. It is not only well written but beautifully printed and bound. A joy to read and to walk in the very steps of these two historic and romantic personalities. Take it along on your next trip to Paris.Floyd McRae, Napoleonic Alliance, International Napoleonic Society.

Delightful, informative, exciting. Great for a sophisticated traveler -- a perfect gift for any tourist planning a trip to Paris -- and also a stimulating, fun read. I loved it.

Diana Reid Haig's beautiful, well researched book is invaluable on two levels; as a work of art and as a practical walking guide. Walks Through Napoleon and Josephine's Paris will interest Francophiles as well as those who love history and art. This extremely readable history of Napoleon and Josephine chronicles the rise and fall of the doomed couple--a history which is also inexorably linked with the history of France and the French Revolution.

A blend of words and art, Haig's book is wonderful to page through, but is also a great read. I recommend this work to both armchair travelers and frequent visitors to Paris. This book is a brilliant new way to see and enjoy Paris.

I had the delightful privilege of hearing Mme. Haig read from her book at the French Institute in New York which in turn, plunged me into an exuberant frenzy to learn as much as I could about Napoleon and even more so - Josephine. Mme. Haig's writing comes from a genuine passion about her subjects and is wonderfully researched, with fascinating detail. Should you be travelling to Paris with a teenager, this book could ignite a passion in them as well about history before Britney Spears' first marriage.

Diana Reid Haig has produced a delightful book that is at once fascinating and useful. She tells short anecdotal stories of Napoleon and Josephine and their times while showing us beautiful photographs of the places they would have known and then showing us how to find them. No one who is interested in Napoleon should ever visit Paris without consulting this book, and even those who will never set foot on the Champs-Élysées will enjoy thumbing through its pages and reading Haig's well-written little vignettes of one of history's most famous love stories.

The book is organized into four "walks," which generally correspond to Napoleon's early career and meeting of Josephine, life as First Consul, the coronation, and the return of Napoleon's body in 1840. To these she adds a tour of Fontainebleau and Malmaison, two places where Napoleon and Josephine lived. Each walk comes with a map that clearly shows the major places she discusses as well as shops and other areas of interest. The maps are easy to follow and a dotted line traces her suggested route. A map of Paris showing where in the greater scheme of things these maps fit would have been useful, but any visit to Paris will be enhanced by this book.

One of Haig's most endearing qualities as a writer is her ability to provide interesting and useful information in a way that both informs and entertains. Throughout her book we hear of some of the standard discussions of Napoleon and Josephine, such as her affair and their near breakup after his Egyptian campaign. But we also are given brief glimpses into their daily lives and their relationship with the buildings that we can see on her tours. Haig also includes interesting "side boxes" on topics the basics of which are common knowledge but the unknown details of which can be quite interesting. For example, we all know of Napoleon's famous hat, but from Haig we learn that he ordered four a year as First Consul and later had at least fifty ordered from his hatter, Poupard, who charged exorbitant rates. Indeed, Haig presents enough interesting history that a scholarly reader is left wishing she had provided references.

This wonderful little book is like none other that I have seen. It is beautifully produced and well written. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in seeing and understanding Napoleon and Josephine's Paris.

J. David Markham, Author
Napoleon's Road to Glory: Triumphs, Defeats and Immortality
Imperial Glory: The Bulletins of Napoleon's Grande Armée

The war in the Pacific was a bloody confrontation for the resolution of opponents and the straining combat environment. Flying under such pressure was undeniably a great feat and sustaining a proper level of operational capability was a superb example of airmanship. In this book all aspects of air combat come alive with the intriguing personal tales of the pilots who served in this theater. Each account reveals the insight of lifestyle, tactics and training that led to amazing results in aerial battles. From their personal experience, it is possible to catch the feelings the pilots had about their machinery, climate and combat methods before actually flying the missions in their harsh frontline.

Beatifully written, this volume is really easy to read, even if some accounts disclose a predilection to be stylish or glorifying from time to time.

In Aces Against Japan, military historian Eric Hammel provides the reader with riveting first-person accounts from thirty-nine American fighter aces who fought their way across the bloody skies of the Pacific and East Asia from December 7, 1941 through the final air battles over Japan in August 1945. An effective interviewer, Hammel presents fascinating and informative air-combat tales and anecdotes from the men who were their. Vivid, superbly presented, Aces Against Japan is enthusiastically recommended reading for all military buffs and a very welcome addition to any World War II history collection or reading list.

Reading about the Pacific airwar in the recent novel, The Triumph and the Glory, sparked an eager interest in me in the topic and prompted me to order this book. I found "Aces Against Japan" great reading, filled with gripping accounts of action from the men who fought the air war against Imperial Japan. If you are interested in WWII aerial combat this book is for you!

A truly great book. I recommend it for anyone, not just history enthusiasts. The first hand accounts are well written and bring the stories to life. Equally as good is Hammel's other book, ACES AGAINST GERMANY.

This book is about the many pilots that fought for the US navy in the pacific Theatre.Many of which were very young but would die for their country!It talkes about their experiences of there first kills and becoming aces, shootings down zeros,and betty bombers and imperial japenses crusiers of all sorts in the pacific. Pilots talk about their experiencs in the battles of Pearl harbor,Midway,Port Moresby,Guadalcanal,Rabaul,Lyete Gulf,and Okinawa. Fly with 1st Lt. Jim Swett as he nails 7 bandits out of the sky with his F4F wildcat. Fly with pilots in their warhawks,wildcats,lightnings,Thunderbolts,mustangs,and corsairs agaist the 1 of the best navys in the world.Another book i want is Aces against germany but they dont print it anymore!Buy ACES AGAINST GERMANY and listen to the stories told by are heroes of ww2.The men that kept us free,the men that kept the axis from taking over the world,the men that died for us! Now id like to salute all the men that died for us in ww2 thanx guys! -HEAVEN BELONGED TO GOD.THE SKY BELONGED TO AMERICA'S ACES.

This large, high quality book is an exhaustive reference of maps and related commentary regarding the various stages of Armenian history. It is a must have companion for any aspiring Armenologist and a nice coffee table book for all Armenian families.

This is an amazing atlas presenting in-depth covering of the long and turbulent history of Armenia. There are numerous publications on Armenian history, but they either contain plain maps, or plan text. This one not only presents an enormous number of extremely valuable and rare historical maps covering about three thousand years' history, but also presents in a very reader-friendly style unbiased historical facts associated with every single map. More than that, it presents invaluable statistical information, such as the population by regions. It also presents very intriguing architectural data. One of invaluable features of the book is the coverage of the Armenian genocide and the first republic.
This is more than a book - it is a great treasure that anyone interested in history in general and Armenian history in particular MUST have.

A comprehensive collection of cartographic information related to Armenian History and Geography. The acompaning text is also very informative.

Although it is published as an atlas, through both historical and contemporary maps, diagrams and text, Robert Hewsen manages to trace all the important cultural, military, geopolitical and geographic influences and changes within Anatolia and the Caucasian region. For those interested in Armenian, Roman, Persian and Ottoman/Trukish history, it serves as a comprehesive, yet easy source, for both scholar and non-scholar alike.

Robert Hewsen's "Armenia A Historical Atlas" is a true masterpiece. This atlas contains 278 detailed color maps that chronicle Armenian history from antiquity to the present day. The maps are meticulously accurate, very detailed and visually appealing. They also show precise topographic, political, religious, onomastic and historical details. There is a mixture of many regional maps, detailed local maps, city maps and even building plans.

Each map is accompanied by a very detailed overview of the time period and theme covered in the map. The work is a remarkable feat of research, drawing on countless primary and secondary sources in numerous languages.

The real strength of this work is that it chronicles, in both visual and written form, Armenian history from generation to generation over millennia. As such, this book is an invaluable resource for all histories that coincide with Armenian history, especially the regions of regions of Eastern Anatolia, Western Iran and the Caucasus. You will find numerous historical details about Byzantine, Persian, Eastern Christian, Seljuk, Georgian, Ottoman, Russian and Soviet histories not easily found in other historical atlases.

I highly recommend this atlas to anyone interested in Armenian history or in the history of this region.