P Books

This book is a labor of love and committment, the author rocks and provides insights into what it takes to assure that today's actions ensure one's goals/ideals, i.e. wolf recovery, survive into the next generation. The illustrations are sweet and the book is very easy to read and enjoyable.

I grew up in Wisconsin and can relate to Richard P Thiel's accurate and colorful descriptions of northern and central Wisconsin landscape. However, his experiences go far beyond those of most others, helped by being able to track wolves by light aircraft and radio telemetry thus getting a bird's eye view of the scene. A good example of the Scientific Method on the hoof, so to speak. The book does not glamorize the profession of wildlife biology; it tells it like it is, including the governmental bureaucracy, physical hardships, bad weather, and long hours, occasionally punctuated with incredible encounters with the wolves that refused to be excluded from Wisconsin. The book teaches people what to expect when wolves share your living space. And what a great ending ... it brings the reader right up to date and sets the stage for proper management decisions in the future. A great humorous book which will entertain you as well as educate. I couldn't put it down.

Good friends presented us this book as a Christmas gift, knowing that we are very interested in all forms of appearance of the nature, inanimate and alive.
It is of great interest for us since just in this years the wolves also return to the forests of our Eastgerman country.
It is wonderful written, understandable also for the laymen and rich in nice figures.
Most important for us is however, that this book is written by a man who obviously feels responsible for the life on our so endangered earth, who understand that human life is tightly connected with all the other appearances of life and that the good evolution of one kind of life is the necessary precondition for the healthy existence of all another creatures.
Men like Richard Thiel give us the hope that life has a chance to survive at our planet.

'Keepers of the wolves' is Richard P Thiel's follow up to his
wonderful 1993 publication 'The Timber Wolf in Wisconsin.'
Once again the author's informative and personal writing style
makes this very fine book an essential work for any Wolf supporter interested in the more complex aspects of the Wolf recovery effort in the United states today.

Keepers Of The Wolves: The Early Years Of Wolf Recovery In Wisconsin by Richard Thiel (coordinator of the Wisconsin Department of natural Resources Sandhill Outdoor Skills Center, Babcock, Wisconsin) is the true and fascinating story of the restoration of wild wolves to Wisconsin Forest, from 1978 when they had been gone for twenty years to the present day with an estimated 200 timber wolves in 54 packs. Black-and-white line drawings illustrate a story of political controversies, environmental struggles, and the enduring strength of the wolf itself. A conservationist success story, Keepers Of The Wolves is especially recommended for Wisconsin environmental issues reading lists and wildlife restoration studies reference collections.

Look out John Grisham - hang on Patsy Cornwell!!! You have company. P. M. Terrell has written a marvelous first book that demands more.

A page turner that keeps you involved and never confused with esoteric terms.

Ms. Terrell is an author to watch!

KICKBACK is a galloping good read about a lowly computer programmer caught up in corporate shenanigans that could quite possibly get her in deep, deep trouble.

P. M. Terrell has written a not-so-fantastic thriller about very real ethical problems facing everyday people in the workplace.

On it's way to being a bestseller!

I thought I would be bored with this book as I'm not all that computer or accounting savvy, but I really enjoyed it. The plot, characters, and corporations are very realistic and the computer parts are easily understandable for those not in the know. This is an excellent first novel! A sequel is in the works. I talked with the author at a book signing. Her father is an ex-FBI agent and she is supported by the Crimesolvers Association. I expect more great novels from her!

"Kickback" by P.M. Terrell opens with an excellent exposition drawing the reader into wondering why a women is hanging upside-down in her overturned car with dangerous men just seconds from reaching her.

We soon find out Sheila Carpenter is a newly graduated computer programmer who must take down an entire law firm, a consulting firm, and the trucking industry, for giving illegal payments (thus the name "kickback") to companies who would award them contracts.

She unwittingly involves herself in writing a computer program for these illegal activities. Or are they illegal? She really isn't sure; even when her supervisor asks her to create hidden menus that only she can access. And is it illegal, she wonders, when asked to void original invoices, to erase them without a trace so there is no audit trail? Did she take basic accounting classes?

But, okay, she's a country girl just out of Vanderbilt University on her first real job in a big city (Washington, D.C.). She's vulnerable, maybe a little naive to the business world. I'll give her that. It doesn't take Sheila long, however, to turn revenge savvy using her computer skills to set up a sting to get the bad guys. There is also a side-story romantic interest for Sheila. Should she trust him? The reader is kept guessing until the end.

In addition, other large industries, including the FBI, itself, might be involved. There is even a hint of (whisper here) mob involvement. All this while trying to save her only living relative's home from being demolished and warning a best friend that her newly found truck-driving boyfriend may be connected to her ordeal. My goodness, Ms. Carpenter has gotten herself into a pickle!

Author P.M. Terrell has written a mostly page turning novel with a likable female protagonist. By "mostly" I mean the first two-thirds of the book are fast-paced and she keeps the reader wanting to know more. The last third of the book is relatively consistent with small problems coming only in plot workability and conflict toward the end. (i.e., my attention was somewhat drawn from the suspense wondering how much time the real players in a corrupt operation would spend on one programer. Attempts to explain this later in the book fall short.)

In the end, however, I was impressed by Ms. Terrell's writing style. She writes fluently with crisp sentence structure and excellent dialogue. And most importantly, like any really good author, she keeps us guessing and wanting to know more. She writes so well, in fact, that I'm looking forward to reading Ms. Terrell's next book The China Connection, with hopes that the plot is deeper with far more at stake than one person bringing down kickbackers. This book gets a green light. Go for it!

Sheila Carpenter is a computer whiz kid. In a hurry to take advantage of her accomplishments, her employer Douglas Murray and Associates signs Sheila to work as a programmer for a trucking company. By page 20, our heroine learns that she has been hired to hide a kickback scheme. And shortly after, her associates start turning up dead.

Where does a young woman, eager to please, but not eager to break the law, turn for help? She befriends a young lawyer, Matt, from the law firm that she has also been contracted to help setting up a computer system. And she contacts, the FBI.

Soon, Sheila doesn't know whether to trust Matt or not. And the FBI doesn't seem like they are eager to help either. Her aunt is kidnaps, in her mentor is killed by a trucker in front of her eyes. Desperate to do what is right, stay alive, and save her aunt, Sheila devises a plan to blow the lid off the kickback scheme, using her computer skills.

Author Patricia McClelland Terrell (p.m. terrell) is a computer industry professional and has been since 1976. She's also the daughter of a former FBI Special Agent and a longtime resident of the Washington, D.C. area. Her considerable experience and family background adds credibility and depth to this story. Fast-paced, filled with suspense, Kickback starts with a bang and doesn't let up until the very last page.

This inside look at how kickback schemes can work, the realistic character of Sheila, the FBI, the setting, and computereze, educates as well as entertains. This début suspense thriller hits all the right spots and doesn't disappoint. Instead, it leaves a yearning for more that the author has recognized and will fill with the soon-to-be released sequel-Ricochet: The Adventure Continues.

Terrell is also the author of the China Conspiracy, another suspenseful thriller featuring a gutsy heroine familiar with the workings of a computer.

Kickback has it all, including action, great dialogue, characters to root for, and bad guys to hate. Seasoned with an insider's look at the trucking industry, the computer industry, and the FBI, Kickback pulls no punches.

Welcome to the world of suspense writers, Ms. Terrell. You've earned it.

This is a very useful book. It is not meant to be read, but to be used as a reference guide. It is just packed with useful growing information. Information can be looked up easily.

I have taught agriculture and worked in agriculture my entire life. This book encapsulates the growing information for crops very well.

Experienced growers would fare well to have this book on your desk of resource material. New growers will be milestones ahead to familiarize yourself with the information in this book.

This book covers every aspect, from starting from seed, soils, greenhouse and field production. Want to know how long it takes a particular crop to mature to harvest? Its here, along with hundreds of other useful tidbits.

Don't expect everything to be written in paragraphs. You have to be able to read and interpret simple charts and graphs.

If you put into practice even one tenth of the information contain in this book you will grow your garden or crops much better. You fare well to buy this book over many of the others with glossy nice to look at pictures. This is a book of facts with an abundance of information.

I recommend this book to anyone growing vegetables for gardening, hydroponic gardeners, or crop production.

Some years ago I used this book to build a very large farming company. I had no experience and little money but in 5 years I was farming 6000 acres of row crop. This book is fantastic. Eventually I had lots of AG engineers on staff, but this was the book that taught me how to monitor them. I recommend it to anyone, from a gardener to a an agribusinessman. It is wonderful and the current edition is great.

Very comprehensive but somewhat esoteric. This handbook is not for casual reading, but yields results for specific research. The more the book is consulted, one has a better understanding of how the information is presented. The handbook contains a wealth of material.

I give it five stars. This book, which contains a variety of information from a wide number of sources, is not a "how-to" book. Its information is mostly in table form, so the book's main use is as a reference. Some chapters, such as the one on water and irrigation, contain information I've never seen anywhere else, except in technical publications. The chapter contains line illustrations and descriptions that are accessible to the layman. The chapter on vegetable pests also contains (black and white) line illustrations of the insects. Rather than try to list all the information this book contains, I list the table of contents:

Preface

Part 1: Vegetables and the Vegetable Industry
Botanical Names of Vegetables
Names of Vegetables in Nine Languages
Vegetable Production Statistics
Consumption of Vegetables
Nutritional Composition of Vegetables
Selection of Vegetable Varieties

Part 2: Plant Growing and Greenhouse Vegetable Production
Transplant Production
Plant Growing Containers
Seeds and Seeding
Temperature and Time Requirements
Plant Growing Mixes
Soil Sterilization
Fertilizing Transplants
Plant Growing Problems
Hardening Transplants

Crop Production
Cultural Management
Carbon Dioxide Enrichment
Soilless Culture
Nutrient Solutions
Tissue Composition

Part 3: Field Planting
Temperatures for Vegetables
Scheduling Successive Plantings
Time Required for Seedling Emergence
Seed Requirements
Planting Rates for Large Seeds
Spacing of Vegetables
Precision Seeding
Seed Priming
Vegetative Propagation
Polyethylene Mulches
Row Covers
Windbreaks

Part 4: Soils and Fertilizers
Organic Matter
Soil-Improving Crops
Manures
Soil Texture
Soil Reaction
Salinity
Fertilizers
Fertilizer Conversion Factors
Nutrient Deficiencies
Micronutrients
Fertilizer Distributors

Part 5: Water and Irrigation
Water and Irrigation
Rooting of Vegetables
Soil Moisture
Surface Irrigation
Overhead irrigation
Drip or Trickle Irrigation
Water Quality

Part 6: Vegetable Pests and Problems
Air Pollution
Integrated Pest Management
Pesticide-Use Precautions
Equipment and Application
Nematodes
Diseases
Insects
Wildlife Control
Herbicides
Equipment and Application
Weed-Control Practices
Effectiveness and Longevity of Herbicides

Part 8: Harvesting and Storage
Predicting Harvest Dates and Yields
Cooling Vegetables
Storage Conditions
Chilling and Ethylene Injury
Vegetable Quality
U.S. Standards for Vegetables
Storage Sprout Inhibitors
Containers for Vegetables
Vegetable Marketing

Part 9: Seed Production and Storage
Seed Labels
Seed Germination Tests
Seed Purity and Germination Standards
Seed Production
Seed Yields
Seed Storage

Part 10: Appendix
Sources of Vegetable Information
Sources of Vegetable Seeds
Periodicals for Vegetable Growers
U.S. Units of Measurement
Conversion Factors for U.S. Units
Metric Units of Measurement
Conversion Factors for U.S. and Metric Units
Conversions for Rates of Application
Water and Soil Solution Conversion Factors
Heat and Energy Equivalents and Definitions

Index

First published in 1956, this handbook is an indispensable, up-to-date companion both in the field and in the marketplace. Topics include the vegetable industry, greenhouse vegetable production, soils and fertilizers, water, pests, weed control, harvesting, storage, and seed production. Packed with quick-access graphs, tables, charts, and line drawings, the 4th edition offers new information on drip irrigation, seed germination, plant tissue and sap testing, windbreaks, and weed management. It also gives advice on allowable pesticide and herbicide use and on the latest worker protection standards. The appendix contains sources of vegetable information, providers of vegetable seeds, periodicals for vegetable growers, and U.S. units of measurement and the metric conversion factors. A change from the spiral-bound 3rd edition is a sturdy, flexible cover to help hold pages flat.

Takes you back to times I wish I'd live. Also great action hero's, I love books that can let me forget about the real world we live in, it's fun!!!!

I enjoyed the book very much. I find William Johnstone is one of the best writers there is. He alway get my attention from the first page to the last.

I was just as pleased with this book as with others in the last gunfighter series. I congratulate J.A. JOHNSTONE on completing the books left unfinished by William W. Johnstone in his own inimitable style. Zane Grey's heirs have been equally successful in their approach. I only wish the heirs of Ralph Compton (another of my favourite western authors) had been so careful. The Johnstone and Grey families are a shining example for other heirs of great popular authors to follow.

great book-I have most of them. Only improvement that I would like is for the books be numbered in order that they are written so you know what the next book is.. Capt Keith

In a story line that grabs your attention and holds it is a hero that exemplifies the tough and proud western man. Action and drama packed with more gun play than seems possible and a touch of humor that makes for an interesting read. A true western.
Beverly J Scott author of Righteous Revenge

Leading for Growth offers a tremendous insite into paying attention to the detials of the associates, the customers and the investors. A wonderful guide to taking the "ordinary" and turning into the extra-ordinary. Step by step instructions on how to be different and staying focused on creating an experience for the customers.

An outstanding, upbeat read! It was full of ideas for keeping things fresh, stimulating and customer focused emphasizing a teamwork environment but with individual employee responsibility and accountability. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

From the front lines to the corner office of virtually any kind of business, this practical and engaging read has something to offer!

It is written in an engaging style that pulls the reader through very quickly. The insight is unique and practical -- the bank's success speaks volumes for this "unreasonable" approach to managing and maintaining a thriving business.

Leading for Growth is a quick read that reveals the leadership strategies that Ray Davis used to drive relentless growth at his company. Davis shows why many companies stagnate because they fail to realize what business they are really in! He details specific strategies all companies can use to create a thriving culture of growth in their organizations. And he offers leaders everywhere sage advice on building winning teams, leading change, and other critical requirements for growth. I found it very interesting and motivational. It shows that there are simple strategies every leader can use to propel growth. As Davis says, building a company "ain't rocket science."

This is a highly recommended read to anyone who is the leader of an organization (not just bankers). Ray's positive enthusiasm really shines through and helps open the reader's eyes to new, innovative ways of growing a business.

Since reading this book in 1994, I have used it as a reference for my life AND work. Using a warm and witty style of writing, Allen teaches us the physiological and emotional benefits of mirth. My favorite chapter title is "Strike While the Irony is Hot!" So clever!! I recommend this book to friends who are facing life challenges and to everyone who attends my workshops. On a more personal note, since embracing The Healing Power of Humor, I felt freer to add a little levity to my Aunt Alice's funeral. My family was amazingly grateful. Me too!

This book showed me the evidence that I need to have humor in my life on a daily basis. I have always loved humor, but until I read this book I didn't really realize the powerful effect it has on me and my family. This book will help anyone learn how to have a more healthy, mind, body and spirit. --Tom Antion

I was taking a training that was particularly difficult. At lunch and breaks I would open this book and read. It is like the sun coming out after a thrunder storm.

It is fun and serious at the same time. Read and enjoy.

Wonderful book, which truly elevated my spirits so much that people started complimenting me about my positive attitude. Good bedtime reading. Chapters are written so that you study one "lesson" per day.

Educational and entertaining, this book relays convincing evidence as to the psychological and physiological benefits of humor. The author gives concrete and helpgful techniques and suggestions as to how we can begin to bring more joy and laughter into our lives. Lots of humorous anecdotes and examples bring the points home. I found this book informative and motivational.

I bought this book after meeting the author. The book cover doesn't look as pretty as other books but they are wonderful! The writing is marvelous! I learned a lot about the Lewis and Clark Expedition from this book. I was also impressed with the activities that go along with the book. Very nice. I wish I had bought the book on Columbus and the exploration of the New World, it is out of print, but I bet it's good!

This book is full of information and activities that are interesting to kids. Many pieces of information that I never came across in other books. For younger children (4-7), the best one might be Lewis & Clark: A Prairie Dog for the President.

Build a keelboat, learn how to use a compass, carve a canoe - all of these adventures await you in The Lewis & Clark Expedition! Terrific book which makes the Expedition come alive. The activities and illustrations are excellent and have proven to be winners with children of all ages.

What a lot is packed into this brief (112 pages) activity book for children! It's a vivid account of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, rich in adventure, yet also presenting the journey from many political and cultural angles. Activities and lively descriptions bring out not just the physical conditions of the trip, but leadership dilemmas, and moral issues faced along the way.

The book is filled with apt and frequently witty illustrations. Also, numerous intriguing asides about the trip mesh nicely with the main narrative.

Facts are presented; questions are posed. Children are asked to think - and after the mental activity - they'll come away from the book feeling they were there

The Lewis and Clark Expedition, by Carol Johmann, is a fantastic book filled with first-hand information about two of our U.S. history's famous explorers. Johmann includes excerpts from Lewis & Clark's own journals, as well as from some of their fellow soldiers. This lends a great deal of authenticity to Johmann's book, as well as gives the reader a feel of being right alongside these men as they progress on their journey west.
As a home-schooling mom, I especially find Johmann's kid-friendly style of writing refreshing as well as informative. The inclusion of various age-appropriate crafts throughout the book is a great way to stimulate further interest in the reader, and gives the child an even greater understanding of what these two men and their crew dealt with during their journey.
I highly recommend this book. For the home-schooler, this is an excellent social studies curriculum combining intellect with creativity. For public schools, it's a fantastic way to draw the students in and give them a more thorough understanding of the trials and accomplishments Lewis & Clark underwent. For parents who want to give their child(ren) (or themselves) a more informative and well-rounded experience of Lewis & Clark's exploration for westward expansion as well as to determine if a single water route existed across the continent to better accommodate for trade, this is the book for you!
Ms. Johmann, two thumbs up!

When I was teaching mathematics at a small college in the 1980's, like everyone else we were expanding our computer science department. In talking with a colleague, our discussions went to the area of programming in Lisp and Prolog. This generated some interest in me about Lisp, so we purchased an inexpensive Lisp interpreter and I read this book. As I worked through the examples, the contrast with Basic and Fortran, the two languages I was familiar with, was striking.
Despite my initial difficulties, I continued to slowly plow through the examples and began to appreciate the power of Lisp. It took some time, yet was well worth it. The examples take you through the features of Lisp using the programmatic equivalent of baby steps. Even though this edition was written almost two decades ago, it is still an first tool in the learning of Lisp.

The pinnacle of the act of teaching is to be simultaneously clear, simple, interesting, and complete. This is rarely achieved in person, and almost never in writing; "The Little LISPer" achieves it. I believe this defines what a teaching book can be. It is brief. It can be read in snippets, at any pace. It will maintain the interest of anyone who comes to learn. The reader is left ready to write Lisp code, no matter what background precedes it.

I read this book in high school in 1982; it taught me enough that five years later I aced a four-credit independent study class in Lisp (at an Ivy League college) without any further reading. Hey, I *told* him I already knew Lisp! Dr. Friedman, I hope you come across this endorsement some day; please accept my thanks for creating this wonderful little gem. (Pass the pizza, please, I have a little more to write...)

I cannot endorse this book highly enough. If you want to learn Lisp, I know of no better place to go.

...it's been obsoleted by its own fouth edition. No place on the listing for this book do I find a hint that this is the third edition of a book currently in its FOURTH edition. They renamed the book The Little Schemer for the fourth revision. Buy that book instead.

I'm still struggling with lisp, but this book was simple, to the point, and clear. I didnt even get annoyed by his goofy attempts at humor.

I gave an earlier edition of The Little LISPer a glowing review in Byte in 1980. It was then the best introductory book on programming, regardless of language, and I still haven't seen anything to compare with it.

The greatest strength of LISP is its firm base in the essentials of the mathematics of computability, including Goedel's recursive functions and Church's Lambda calculus. It uses a single data structure, the linked list, and a minimum of programming primitives, all with well-known mathematical properties. For those who don't know the mathematics, this base in simple concepts means that LISP is one of the easiest programming languages to understand, and at the same time one of the most powerful.

The greatest strength of Little LISPer is its easy and natural sequence of steps for introducing data types and structures (numeric, text, and Boolean atoms organized in lists and trees) along with the recursive programming structures that are natural for creating and processing them.

I have just ordered the third edition for my son who is learning programming (if he can get it away from me).

My daughter and I own the Golden Book version of this classic story but we've read so many plays on the story and versions and I have to say THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST. It's done in such a nice simplistic way and the illustrations are charming, we got it from our local library and my daughter asked to read it every night! If you are searching for the best Little Red Hen this is it!

Sturdy pages, brights colors, and great story idea. More pages than an average board book, which is nice. I'm glad I bought this for my daughter.

This is a fabulous edition of the Little Red Hen. The text is crisp and clear, the pictures are simple, clear, and bright, and the board book format is friendly to little hands! My boys ADORE this book. It makes for a great bedtime story, too!

My 17-month old daughter has loved this book for months already. It has a rhythmic text and lively pictures, plus it is about animals, which is always a hit with the toddler set.

This book has been a favorite for the last several months. My son liked the repetition and the bright pictures from the start, and as he gets older (he's now 21 months) he also enjoys naming the animals and what they are doing. There is lots in the pictures for a toddler to talk about: planting seeds, cooking, kite flying, napping, and so on. I'm not wild about the artwork in this book, but then again I'm not its target audience--the simplicity seems to work great for young kids.

Insofar as its chief topic is concerned, i.e. Stafford's personal experience as an officer aboard a destroyer escort in World War II, the book paints a no-doubt accurate picture of life aboard one of the Navy's lesser warships. But it strikes me as unremarkable unless one is into the minutiae of the Pacific Theater of Operations, as Stafford's ship saw no major combat.

That said, the chapter in which Stafford leaves his own ship and tells the story of the destroyers and destroyer escorts in the Battle of Leyte Gulf is worth the price of the book alone.

For those who are unfamiliar with the centerpiece battle of the multi-battle Leyte Gulf, its a classic case of the little guy giving the big guy a beating... and nearly dying in the process.

It wouldn't have happened if Admiral Halsey hadn't made the biggest mistake of his career. After pummeling the Japanese Central Force with his aircraft, Halsey took off after a group of Japanese carriers containing less than 50 airplanes that was deliberately sacrificed as a decoy to draw him away from the Leyte invasion force. In short, Halsey was suckered and left the invasion force nearly unprotected.

Far from beaten, the Japanese Central Force of four battleships, eight cruisers and 11 destroyers continued on toward the troop ships. Directly in their path was the task group Taffy 3, consisting of six "jeep" carriers and seven destroyers and destroyer escorts.

I've read a few accounts of this battle, and Stafford's is the most stiring, albeit incomplete as he concentrates on the destroyers and destroyer escorts as they take on the Japanese wagons and cruisers.

The damage and confusion they caused (three cruisers sunk), and the fact that Admiral Kurita thought he was up against the fleet carriers, saved Halsey from a disaster that could have been worse than Pear Harbor. Unbeknownst to Admiral Kurita, he could have broken through to the transports and sunk many of them.

Much of what Stafford writes about the battle has been covered elsewhere. However, his affinity for the destroyer escorts led him to cover the actions of the Samuel B. Roberts in detail.

That includes the story of how Commander Robert W. Copeland ordered his chief engineer to remove the safeties from the engines and boilers so as to make maximum speed. The steam pressure rose to 670 pounds in boilers designed for a maximum of 440, and the bridge pitometer logged 28.5 knots in a ship designed for a maximum speed of 24 knots.

You'll have to get the book, if you want the rest of the story. Believe me. It's worth it.

World War II was my parent's generation's war, and I am consistently drawn to stories of the sacrifices made by them. This is an excellent bit of history, told in a artfull but straightforward way. I highly recommend it.

Lots of histories cover the major events of WWII, but what I liked was the way the author covered small details--little "slices of life" aboard a fighting ship.

It's difficult for readers today, accustomed to the security we enjoy, to appreciate the anxiety that sailors faced. What to us seems like an inevitable victory against Japan was not such a sure thing to the men being shot at, and for that reason alone this book is worth reading.

We are planing a reunion of DE shipmates and would like to give this book to all in attendance. Our ship was commissioned 1 month after DE 343 and we went to the same locations and training. I am amazed at the details and the accuracy of the book. It came to me by chance from my children and will remain one of the most valued in my library. I hope it will be reprinted.

Way back in 4th grade I got a little book on the Battle of Midway (I think it was Ira Peck's) in a book distribution at school because the book I really wanted about making paper airplanes was already taken. I enjoyed that book immensely and began to turn the capacity for detail that most kids my age spend on dinosaurs or baseball towards the Pacific war. This book, though, which I scrounged at a used book store when I was a high schooler, introduced me to the human side of WWII. The people in the book were just plain old folks in a little ship in the middle of a big war. This book turned me into a historian, instead of just a reader of history books, because it introduced me to the concept that all history is biography. People make things happen, they don't happen on their own. You can read what happened, or you can look into why the people did what they did. This book doesn't give too much insight into the grand schemes of the Pacific War; the title says it all. It was, however, the catalyst that matured my interest in history. It is also a very fine read in its own right!