Rating: 3
Year: 2001
Genre: Nonfiction/History
Read again? Maybe
First off...printed in Hong Kong?! Really? I'm bombing two points for that. Having a Foreword by WW2 vet Senator Daniel Inouye doesn't make up for it.
This isn't much of a reading book. It's not an in-depth scholarly work. There's just enough information to keep the narrative moving and hopefully enough to make the reader want to know more.
The book's strength is in the pictures. It's lavishly illustrated from cover to cover with period photos and beautifully-rendered paintings.
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The Apollo 11 Moon Landing: 40th Anniversary Photographic Retrospective (Jenkins, Dennis & Frank, Jorge)
Rating: 5/5
Year: 2009
Genre: History / Space
Read again? Yes
I was disappointed by the lack of proper attention given to the 40th anniversary of a couple of guys walking on the FREAKING MOON.
There should have been a years' worth of build-up, partying and meet-ups galore, and carryings-on fit to drown out the moonie idiots who say it never happened. The Onion did a pretty good job of summarizing how excited everyone should have been. Seriously.
Nobel Peace Prize Winner President Obama should have at least held a press conference on July 21, 2009 to say, "My fellow Americans...40 years ago, man walked on the f*cking MOON!!!"
I wasn't even 2 years old when Armstrong and Aldrin (in that order) set foot on the airless regolith a quarter-million miles away from everything we know on Earth. These two men did what's still the coolest thing ever--at least until the later missions where some other guys drove a freaking dune buggy on the moon.
HERE'S your "ultimate driving machine," you BMW losers.
On to the book. It's not a coffee-table photo album, but it makes up for its small size in the quality of the pictures. Most of them are in glossy full color and show excellent detail--more than enough to serve as a detailing guide for a model builder, and plenty for a space geek to drool over.
The narrative takes us from the beginnings of the Apollo program to the days after the astronauts' return home, where they were quarantined in a modified Airstream camper.
As much as I love the space shuttles--they were "my" space ships, as the Apollo craft were for older kids who were lucky enough to see those missions--I gotta say, the Apollo ships and their missions are a damn sight higher up the "awesome" scale.
They went to the FREAKING MOON. 'Nuff said. Great book.
Year: 2009
Genre: History / Space
Read again? Yes
I was disappointed by the lack of proper attention given to the 40th anniversary of a couple of guys walking on the FREAKING MOON.
There should have been a years' worth of build-up, partying and meet-ups galore, and carryings-on fit to drown out the moonie idiots who say it never happened. The Onion did a pretty good job of summarizing how excited everyone should have been. Seriously.
Nobel Peace Prize Winner President Obama should have at least held a press conference on July 21, 2009 to say, "My fellow Americans...40 years ago, man walked on the f*cking MOON!!!"
I wasn't even 2 years old when Armstrong and Aldrin (in that order) set foot on the airless regolith a quarter-million miles away from everything we know on Earth. These two men did what's still the coolest thing ever--at least until the later missions where some other guys drove a freaking dune buggy on the moon.
HERE'S your "ultimate driving machine," you BMW losers.
On to the book. It's not a coffee-table photo album, but it makes up for its small size in the quality of the pictures. Most of them are in glossy full color and show excellent detail--more than enough to serve as a detailing guide for a model builder, and plenty for a space geek to drool over.
The narrative takes us from the beginnings of the Apollo program to the days after the astronauts' return home, where they were quarantined in a modified Airstream camper.
As much as I love the space shuttles--they were "my" space ships, as the Apollo craft were for older kids who were lucky enough to see those missions--I gotta say, the Apollo ships and their missions are a damn sight higher up the "awesome" scale.
They went to the FREAKING MOON. 'Nuff said. Great book.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Quickie: A History of Florida Forts (de Quesada, Alejandro)
Rating: 4
Year: 2006
Genre: History/Forts
Read again? (still reading)
I'm all about forts, especially those built along the Coastal U.S. in the aftermath of the War of 1812. But any fort is cool with me.
I got this book in May 2007 during a visit to the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine. I started in on it, but didn't get very deep in, so this'll be a "quickie" review.
There's a wealth of information in its 200 pages, and plenty of half-tone black & white photos and illustrations. The book's divided into four large chapters:
1. The Colonial Era
2. The Territorial Era and Seminole Wars
3. The Civil War
4. The Modern Era
I seem to remember that the reading was dry, but in fairness it's been nearly 2 years, so I need to start over.
Year: 2006
Genre: History/Forts
Read again? (still reading)
I'm all about forts, especially those built along the Coastal U.S. in the aftermath of the War of 1812. But any fort is cool with me.
I got this book in May 2007 during a visit to the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine. I started in on it, but didn't get very deep in, so this'll be a "quickie" review.
There's a wealth of information in its 200 pages, and plenty of half-tone black & white photos and illustrations. The book's divided into four large chapters:
1. The Colonial Era
2. The Territorial Era and Seminole Wars
3. The Civil War
4. The Modern Era
I seem to remember that the reading was dry, but in fairness it's been nearly 2 years, so I need to start over.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
World's Most Evil Men, The (Blandford, Neil & Jones, Bruce)
Rating: 4
Year: 1990
Genre: Non-fiction
Read again? Maybe
For such an all-encompassing title, this is an amazingly thin book, given all the evil men History has known, but it does make for good reading. Each evil man is given at least a page, just room for the highlights without making a list of every evil deed. Think of it as "entry-level" evil--you read this, you're interested and want to learn more, but if you're not you're only out the cost of one book. Since this is supposed to be the "most" evil men, you won't find lesser evils.
"Most Evil" is broken down into 6 chapters, each telling of a different class of evil:
Twentieth Century Tyrants. Your basic tin-pot dictators, gunboat diplomats, and megalomaniacal emperors for life--Idi Amin, Pol Pot, "Emperor" Bokassa, Papa Doc Duvalier, Joe Stalin.
Merciless Despots--Atilla the Hun, Genghis Khan, Tamerlane the Great, Ivan the Terrible, the Ottoman Sultans.
For God, King & Country--the Borgias, the Conquistadores, the Buccaneers (English pirates Morgan & Kidd), Marat & Robespierre of the French Revolution, Jim Jones of Jonestown
The Nazis--Hitler's rise, the SS & Himmler in the Ghettoes, Heydrich and his camps, Eichmann, Klaus Barbie.
Evil is Big Business--the Mafia, Jimmy Hoffa, Gambino, Galante, Murder Incorporated, Al Capone, Bugsy Siegel
Blood Lust--Caligula, Vlad the Impaler, Gilles de Rais, the Beane cannibal family, German vampires Kurten & Haarman, Chicago's Torture Castle, Marquis de Sade.
Given that evil men seem to ooze out of various worldly orificies (orifi?) at odd times, there is ample room for a second edition--I note that George Luca$ apprently wasn't evil enough for the first edition.
Year: 1990
Genre: Non-fiction
Read again? Maybe
For such an all-encompassing title, this is an amazingly thin book, given all the evil men History has known, but it does make for good reading. Each evil man is given at least a page, just room for the highlights without making a list of every evil deed. Think of it as "entry-level" evil--you read this, you're interested and want to learn more, but if you're not you're only out the cost of one book. Since this is supposed to be the "most" evil men, you won't find lesser evils.
"Most Evil" is broken down into 6 chapters, each telling of a different class of evil:
Twentieth Century Tyrants. Your basic tin-pot dictators, gunboat diplomats, and megalomaniacal emperors for life--Idi Amin, Pol Pot, "Emperor" Bokassa, Papa Doc Duvalier, Joe Stalin.
Merciless Despots--Atilla the Hun, Genghis Khan, Tamerlane the Great, Ivan the Terrible, the Ottoman Sultans.
For God, King & Country--the Borgias, the Conquistadores, the Buccaneers (English pirates Morgan & Kidd), Marat & Robespierre of the French Revolution, Jim Jones of Jonestown
The Nazis--Hitler's rise, the SS & Himmler in the Ghettoes, Heydrich and his camps, Eichmann, Klaus Barbie.
Evil is Big Business--the Mafia, Jimmy Hoffa, Gambino, Galante, Murder Incorporated, Al Capone, Bugsy Siegel
Blood Lust--Caligula, Vlad the Impaler, Gilles de Rais, the Beane cannibal family, German vampires Kurten & Haarman, Chicago's Torture Castle, Marquis de Sade.
Given that evil men seem to ooze out of various worldly orificies (orifi?) at odd times, there is ample room for a second edition--I note that George Luca$ apprently wasn't evil enough for the first edition.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Quickie: A Legacy in Brick and Stone (Weaver, John)
Rating: 5/5
Year: 2001
Genre: Nonfiction, History
Read again? Yes.
Subtitle: American Coastal Defense Forts of the Third System, 1816-1867
I've been a fort junkie since September of 1999, when I visited Fort Pickens near Pensacola, Florida. At first, I just wanted to make maps of it to build a deathmatch game level for the "Star Wars: Jedi Knight" video game. But as I measured and sketched, I got more and more curious about the history of the place. This turned to fascination and a desire to learn and see as much about these buildings as I possibly can.
Mr. Weaver did a short but enjoyable presentation at Fort Pickens around the time his book came out--and I had to have a copy. "Legacy" takes us briefly through the history of each of 42 forts built between 1816 and 1867, all intended to defend the American coastline against assault by sea.
He begins with a short overview of the systems of fortification, then explains some key terms and structures in the science of fort-building and fort-destroying, weapons, and politics.
Then it's on to the individual forts, going from the Northern Frontier, intended to keep those nefarious Canadians from invading via the Great Lakes and various rivers. Then we go from Maine south along the Atlantic coast to Key West, Florida, along the Gulf Coast, and finally Forts Point and Alcatraz in San Francisco, California.
Illustrations include photos from the author's own collection, maps of the general areas, and line drawings. The only down-side to the illustrations is that they can't convey how very large and beautiful these structures are.
Year: 2001
Genre: Nonfiction, History
Read again? Yes.
Subtitle: American Coastal Defense Forts of the Third System, 1816-1867
I've been a fort junkie since September of 1999, when I visited Fort Pickens near Pensacola, Florida. At first, I just wanted to make maps of it to build a deathmatch game level for the "Star Wars: Jedi Knight" video game. But as I measured and sketched, I got more and more curious about the history of the place. This turned to fascination and a desire to learn and see as much about these buildings as I possibly can.
Mr. Weaver did a short but enjoyable presentation at Fort Pickens around the time his book came out--and I had to have a copy. "Legacy" takes us briefly through the history of each of 42 forts built between 1816 and 1867, all intended to defend the American coastline against assault by sea.
He begins with a short overview of the systems of fortification, then explains some key terms and structures in the science of fort-building and fort-destroying, weapons, and politics.
Then it's on to the individual forts, going from the Northern Frontier, intended to keep those nefarious Canadians from invading via the Great Lakes and various rivers. Then we go from Maine south along the Atlantic coast to Key West, Florida, along the Gulf Coast, and finally Forts Point and Alcatraz in San Francisco, California.
Illustrations include photos from the author's own collection, maps of the general areas, and line drawings. The only down-side to the illustrations is that they can't convey how very large and beautiful these structures are.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
