Appearance
Turning The World Upside Down: Inside the American Revolution
This is no huge exhaustive history, but it is probably the best short (450 pps.) account of the American Revolution I've seen. It's accessible and commonsensical, written in a "you are there" style that puts each incident and character into perspective. It has nothing new for the serious scholar, but it's ideal for someone who still has a lot to learn about the Revolution.
Turning The World Upside Down: Inside the American Revolution
Superficial, scattered, disjointed, and just poorly written are all relevant to this pastiche of hearsay and historical dilettantery.Not worth the price and not worth the time.
Pocket Puerto Rico: The Best of the Island with Beaches and Shopping (4th ed)
Don't buy this book if you already have Fodor's Caribbean. The book is taken verbatim from this book. (they actually tell you this in a short note at the bottom of one page). It is a very basic tour guide with only minimal information you could easily find anywhere. I suggest you look elsewhere.
Aircraft carrier (A Bal-Hi book)
It is January, 1945 and a young naval officer is assigned to Carrier Division Six in the Pacific. He would end up on the attack aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, and keep a diary for much of the remaining portion of World War II. During his stay, the Yorktown would refit and rearm in the great atoll harbor of Ulithi with its islands of Asor, Mog Mog, Falalp 400 miles southwest of Guam. Today, as seen from Google Earth it remains impressive, but what it would have looked like during the latter stages of the war with 100 ships anchored within its confidence must surely have been something to see from the air. From Ulithi, the Yorktown began to operate off Japan in support of the Okinawa landings.The Yorktown was the epitome of the new paradigm for force projection, nestled in its protective shield of battleships, submarines, cruisers, destroyers and tankers, a huge armada bringing retribution far and wide. In fact, while Bryant was aboard, it would register its 21,000th air craft landing in March of 1945.Bryant's account of life aboard a Pacific aircraft carrier is at once personal and yet explanatory in its detail - the harsh heat, the sudden call to battle stations, the Japanese bomb penetrating below decks, bouts with malaria. There is a large measure of the daily scuttlebutt so prevalent aboard ship, with many concomitant CIC's ("Christ I'm confused") moments. There are skunk (surface contacts) alerts and bogey (air contacts) alarms and wry humor: the chaplain explains that "Today is Palm Sunday. Last Sunday was bomb Sunday."This is really not a work of grand strategy. Instead, it is a charming tale of young men in a serious war, or as Admiral William F. Halsey called it, "This yarn in diary form." Nevertheless, it resonates with power and insight, and casts in sharp relief life aboard the attack carrier battle group, which even today remains the enduring paradigm for force projection at see, then seen in its initial, muscle flexing stage.
Paul and the Macedonians: The Life and Letters of Paul
Designed to be a six-week Bible class study guide, author David DeSilva brings an interesting and informative examination with his 108-page book "Paul and the Macedonians" (paperback 2001). This quick study presents Professor DeSilva's analysis of St. Paul's three 1st century letters to the Philippians and Thessalonians.The book is divided into six easy to read chapters that contain multiple sections designed for participation, leading, and teaching. These sections host several questions in caption boxes that will evoke group discussion.DeSilva tells St. Paul's missionary story with an eye to chronological events by means of specific faith-filled vignettes. Although no footnotes or maps are provided in the text DeSilva's biblical scholarship is apparent. He cites many Bible verses throughout the book. The book is replete with information about St. Paul, 1st Greek and Roman Philippi and Thessalonica, and 1st century Mediterranean culture.Perhaps the only downside to this book is the author's protracted use of St. Luke's secondary source "Acts of the Apostles" for Paul. (Certainly, when Luke is good he is really good, but when Luke does not know information about Paul of Tarsus, he is really bad!) It is much better to use Paul's own words to navigate his story and sprinkle in Lucan certainty occasionally.DeSilva is a very good study book. It is recommended to all who want to study St. Paul, his Macedonian letters, or the 1st century Greco-Roman world.
The Novel Writer?s Toolkit
Good book. My writing instructor recommended it to us and it's more than everything nice she had to say about it.