A Treasury of Flowers: Rare Illustrations from the Collection of the New York Botanical Garden

Book Description

Providing in-depth and witty coverage, this new handbook has the most information available on the region. Find out when and where to go so that crowds can be avoided, and enjoy outdoor recreation, history and culture, dining, nightlife, accommodations, and entertainment in Knoxville, Asheville, and other gateway cities.

Moon Handbooks: Tennessee: Including Nashville, Memphis, the Great Smoky Mountains, and Nutbush (3rd Edition)

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Outstanding Tennessee Guidebook
Even Tennessee history teachers should use this book
Mark Twain Lives!
High Expectations Exceeded
Best intro to Tennesee on the Market

Moon Handbooks: Tennessee: Including Nashville, Memphis, the Great Smoky Mountains, and Nutbush (3rd Edition)
Jeff Bradley
Manufacturer: Avalon Travel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Guidebooks | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

Moon Handbooks | Guidebook Series | Travel | Subjects | Books

North America | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1566913683

Book Description

This guide gets to the heart of Tennessee with information on musical attractions, including the new Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and the Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum. It highlights "cultural tourism," and covers the small towns and back roads more extensively than any other book to the state. "Bradley provides mountains of information about Tennessee....it's the little tidbits that make this such a fun read." -- Memphis Magazine

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding Tennessee Guidebook.......2005-11-03

We recently completed a trip to Eastern Tennessee and brought along several guidebooks. After a few days, it became apparent that one guidebook was head and shoulders above the others: Moon Handbooks Tennessee by Jeff Bradley. It is both comprehensive and concise. It contains lots of local color without drowning in it. And it is spot on in its evaluation of sights. (We didn't have any occasion to use it for lodging or food.)

Full credit to Jeff Bradley for a writing syle that is one of the best in the business. He keeps things lively without neglecting the basic facts that need to be conveyed. In almost every instance his entries were more interesting and more complete than other guidebooks, while being about the same total number of words. He seems to know just when to insert a clever turn of phrase or an offbeat tidbit while still writing in a very direct style.

The book covers all of Tennessee. It starts with general information about the state's natural history, settlement history, and culture. It then covers each region of the state. He does a good job of conveying which sights are most worth seeing in each area without neglecting second tier sights. He weaves together a complete tapestry that puts everything in the larger context of the region and the state. Throughout, there is a pervasive sense of the joy of travel in this interesting state. This guidebook is the real McCoy!

Even Tennessee history teachers should use this book.......2005-08-08

You don't have to be planning a trip to Tennessee to appreciate Jeff Bradley's book. If you are, don't leave home without it. Bradley not only tells you what you must see if you have the time, but he frankly tells you what might not be worth a visit, or at least what to be prepared for that you might not expect, such as the bumper-to-bumper, big-city-like traffic in the Smokies, especially in the fall when the leaves begin to change. He also provides interesting facts and historical details you won't find in other travel books. I grew up about 50 miles from Bean Station in East Tennessee but didn't know until reading Bradley's book that a tavern there was the best place between Baltimore and New Orleans to get a bottle of wine back in the stagecoach days. Almost every page is enriched with little-known facts, insights and advice, and the book is organized in a way that takes the frustration out of trying to find what you're looking for.

I once had a job that took me to every one of Tennessee's 95 counties, but I moved away several years ago and my children, unfortunately, know little about this beautiful state that is as geographically and culturally diverse as any in the union. I brought the fourth edition of Bradley's book when I began planning a cross-Tennessee-and-back trip my 22-year-old son and I decided to take this summer in a rented convertible. Taking Bradley's advice, we chose many roads now less traveled (since the interstates were built), visiting places like Jonesborough (Tennessee's oldest town, first capital and home of the National Stortelling Festival) in East Tennessee, Lynchburg (exactly like the Jack Daniels' ads portray it, except for the abundance of shops on the town square selling things Gentleman Jack would never have imagined, as Bradley points out) in Middle Tennessee, and Grinders Switch between Nashville and Memphis, which I had always thought was a figment of Minnie Pearl's imagination. Our trip, thanks largely to Bradley's book, was as much one of discovery for me, a native, as it was for my son, who grew up in the Northeast.

You will enjoy Bradley's book not just for its contents but also for his writing style. As the "About the Author" page notes, this Tennessee boy has been a stringer for The New York Times and taught writing at Harvard, so he knows a thing or two about sringing words together. He writes from personal knowledge of the place with respect but also with wit, honesty and a good measure of irreverence whenever he feel so moved, which is often.

Buy the book or you'll never know how far in advance you need to make reservations for lunch at Miss Bobo's Boarding House in Lynchburg, how to get to the Lovelace Motel Cafe outside of Nashville for the best country ham and biscuits, where to find worldclass white water and bluegrass music in East Tennessee, or that the Talbot Heirs Guesthouse is one of the best and funkiest places to stay in the funkiest part of Memphis, a stone's throw from Beale Street, darn good barbecue and sweet potato pancakes you'll never forget.

Mark Twain Lives!.......2003-04-20

If Mark Twain comes back from the dead to write a guidebook of the state where he was conceived (in Jamestown, as Bradley explains on p. 196), then buy that. But old Sam Clemens would be wasting his time, because in Moon Handbooks: Tennessee, Bradley's already written the "Life on the Mississippi" of Tennessee travel guides.

Like "Mississippi," Bradley's "Tennessee" is so fascinating in in its details and anecdotes that I kept finding myself reading far more than I "needed" to for the travel at hand. And like Clemens, who clearly wrote from a genuine love of the river and the bygone steamboat days that he wanted to capture on paper, all of Bradley's local lore and country cookery reviews and sidebars on everything from roots musicians to the development of the the atom bomb in Oak Ridge...well, these all swirl together to create a sort of love song to the author's native state.

Bradley isn't afraid to criticize where criticism is due--look at his coverage of the outlandish developments near the Smokies. But even then, it's clear his concerns are not based on some disaffected political agenda, but from a genuine, familial concern for a cousin who has lost his way. Consequently, Gatlinburg doesn't "outrage" Bradley, it breaks his heart because of its failed potential. And even then, Bradley doesn't just sneer and proceed into the pristine National Park, shaking Galinburg's dust from his feet. Just as any good family member will make a point of telling you that old yellow-eyed aunt Ruth used to knock 'em dead at the USO dances and can still cook a mean casserole and belt out a showtune, Bradley lingers and explores Gatlinburg on its own terms. He points out its cherished place in many Volunteer hearts (including his own) as a childhood wonderland, and shows that he's not above enjoying the small simple pleasures of a candy shop, or even the more garish wonders of Ripley's aquarium.
If you don't know Tennessee, you won't find a more comprehensive introduction to the entire state. And if you already love Tennessee...you'll find all of the states most endearing qualities captured between the covers--and in the spirit--of this book.

High Expectations Exceeded.......2002-02-21

I have the first edition of this book, and I've raved about it to my circle of friends. I heard this third edition was vastly improved, and I doubted this, but figured I couold always give it as a gift.
This book is going nowhere but to a choice space in my book shelf!
It covers more material, has a format which invites digging deeper into a topic at hand, highlights special topics, has a clearer type face, and is simply loaded with URL's for further cyber digging. I got out my Tennessee Atlas and Gazetteer by Delorme mapping, a topo coverage of Tennesee, my state, and put a "mark" by all the towns and villages Mr. Bradley covered. Not a page without copious markings. What a living history exprience.

He begins in the East as our state did, moves west, and brings out information about people, about the locale, gives historic facts and loads of human interest materal. He covers the Civil War as it progresses in various locations and is in fact more historical than a course or two I've had in Higher Eduction. And READABLE!! His wry, delightful humor graces most every entry. And as you follow this through the topo maps you SEE how history unfolds. Now I know where the Cumberland Gap is, I know where the mysterious Melungeons 'are', I've followed the tragic trail of tears, I know where to find barbeque all across Tennessee etc etc. I know where that terrific meteorite hit Tennessee, where biggie dinosaur fossils are found etc. .
What a book! What a marvelous travel companion, what a history of my state. And I have a store house of "stories and tales" I'll make good use of.
If you have an interest in Tennessee and can get only one book: THIS is it! Hands down. I'm grateful to Mr Bradley for doing it.
Hap Eliason

Best intro to Tennesee on the Market.......2001-11-26

I'm a lifetime Tennesseean, and I couldn't put Mr. Bradley's book down. I know Middle Tennessee and the Smokies fairly well, but as I got into his marvelous book I couldn't believe one author could capture and capsulate so much in such limited space. I've garnered information about my State- so much new to me- that it just blew me away--some info right at my doorstep, so to speak. About locales I know fairly well his presentation is right on target. I especially value the boxes about history, personalities, buildings etc. Don't hesitate. Buy the book!

Customer Reviews:

Good Book.......2000-03-30

An excellent book for those interested in starting a captive breeding facility or simply wanting to breed and sell your captive bred offspring. Discusses the laws for each individual state for what is legal to keep, breed, transport, etc.

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Field Guide to Reptiles and the Law

Manufacturer: Serpent's Tale Natural History Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 188520907X

Product Description

A fully revised and updated edition of this comprehensive guide to U.S. amphibian and reptile legislation at both the state and federal level. Complete listings of the species protected by both CITES and the U.S. Endangered Species Act, as well as in-depth reviews of the collection, possession, import/export, and other special regulations of all 50 states. An essential reference for wildlife law enforcement personnel, herpetologists, and field biologists, as well as hobbyists and herpetoculturists. B/w photos and line illustrations, protected species index, bibliography.

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Complete Practical Encyclopedia of Bonsai: The Essential Step-By-step guide to creating, growing and Displaying Bonsai with Over 800 Photographs
Ken Norman
Manufacturer: Hermes House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1844778991

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Everything you need to know about Bonsai

A Step-By-Step Guide to Growing and Displaying Bonsai (Step-By-Step Garden Books)
Colin Lewis
Manufacturer: Whitecap Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Bonsai | By Plant | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1551100800

Customer Reviews:

Everything you need to know about Bonsai.......1998-09-23

A must if you enjoy the great art of Bonsai.

A Step-By-Step Guide to Growing & Displaying Bonsai

Average customer rating:

This book is a FIND.
one of the best
srsj@narai.diw.go.th

A Step-By-Step Guide to Growing & Displaying Bonsai
Colin Lewis
Manufacturer: Smithmark Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0831751622

Customer Reviews:

This book is a FIND........2004-09-13

I found this book at a used bookstore (sadly it's out of print), and since then I've treasured it as an inspiration. I suppose for so many years I've had a latent love of plants and the beauty they offer-- and this book shows clearly how to tap into that love and develop the skills towards sculpting & refining a plant's image according to bonsai principles. If you're interested in bonsai, and are looking for a good starter book, well-- in my opinion, this is the one. Buy it used from amazon, or go to half.com or wherever-- and make the seven dollar investement; you won't regret it. It's the kind of book that you will find yourself perusing some evenings, learning some new details of this art, and also, as you flip from picture to picture of master-level bonsai specimens, find yourself in awe of the staggering beauty of these lovingly, carefully, meticulously maintained plants. But don't think that this is some kind of museum book for bonsai; well.... it partly is, but there is a large section where the author takes your typical garden-center plants (and I mean, raggedy, rough-looking plants that look like they've failed to sell for some time), and through a series of photographs he clips, trims, wires and repots the plants, transforming them into beautiful bonsai. All for the relatively inexpensive price of the nursery purchase! There is really so much to say about this book, but over-all, every technique is covered, and at the end of the book there is a particularly detailed calendar where the author outlines what can & cannot, should & should not be done during the different seasons (ie. repotting, fertilizing, wiring, pruning). My appreciation goes out to the author and photographer for their inspirational work-- thank you for a book that really has changed my life.

one of the best.......2001-10-29

this is one of the best books i've ever been able to find on bonsai. it helped me tremendously. answers a lot of questions i was left with after reading other books. pictures are just the ones i need; not display, but process. that's important.

srsj@narai.diw.go.th.......1999-06-28

bonza

Book Description

Rabghuzi's The Stories of the Prophets, written in A.D. 1310 in Khwarezmian Turkish, is one of the most important Islamic Turkish texts. Notwithstanding this fact, a critical edition has never before been published. The work contains a mixture of theological discourse, popular stories and poems which together form an important source both for historical linguistics and literary criticism, and for Islamic studies. The present publication offers an edition of the text in two volumes. The first volume contains a critical text edition based on the British Library manuscript (the oldest manuscript extant), but with additions from, and some collation with, two manuscripts from libraries in St. Petersburg. The text edition is accompanied by a selective glossary. The translation offered in the second volume is directly based on the text as established in the first volume. Extensive indices are included to enhance the usefulness of the edition as a whole.

The Stories of the Prophets: An Eastern Turkish Version = Qisas Al-Anbiya

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The Stories of the Prophets: An Eastern Turkish Version = Qisas Al-Anbiya
Nosiruddin Burhonuddin Rabghuzii , Hendrik Boeschoten , M. Vandamme , Semih Tezcan , and John O'Kane
Manufacturer: Brill Academic Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Medieval | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Islam | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Islamic | World | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 9004101691

Average customer rating:

PROVIDES GREAT INFORMATION

Interfaith in action

A remarkable true story

What A Great Read!!

Great on So Many Levels

No Greater Glory: The Four Immortal Chaplains and the Sinking of the Dorchester in World War II
Dan Kurzman
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Religious | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Military | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Military & Spies | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
General | World War II | Military | History | Subjects | Books
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Sea of Glory

The Grunt Padre

For God and Country: Four Stories of Courageous Military Chaplains (Heroes of the Faith (Barbour Paperback))

A Shepherd in Combat Boots: Chaplain Emil Kapaun of the 1st Cavalry Division

The Sword Of The Lord: Military Chaplains from the First to the Twenty-First Century (ND Critical Problems in History)

ASIN: 0812966090
Release Date: 2005-08-09

Book Description

The sinking of the Dorchester in the icy waters off Greenland shortly after midnight on February 3, 1942, was one of the worst sea disasters of World War II. It was also the occasion of an astounding feat of heroism—and faith.

As water gushed through a hole made by a German torpedo, four chaplains—members of different faiths but linked by bonds of friendship and devotion—moved quietly among the men onboard. Preaching bravery, the chaplains distributed life jackets, including their own. In the end, these four men went down with the ship, their arms linked in spiritual solidarity, their voices raised in prayer. In this spellbinding narrative, award-winning author and journalist Dan Kurzman tells the story of these heroes and the faith—in God and in country—that they shared.

They were about as different as four American clergymen could be. George Lansing Fox (Methodist), wounded and decorated in World War I, loved his family and his Vermont congregation—yet he re-enlisted as soon as he heard about Pearl Harbor. Rabbi Alex Goode was an athlete, an intellectual, and an adoring new father—yet he too knew, the day Pearl Harbor was bombed, that he would serve. Clark Poling (Dutch Reformed), the son a famous radio evangelist, left for war begging his father to pray that he would never be a coward. Father John Washington (Catholic), a scrappy Irish street fighter, had dedicated himself to the church after a childhood brush with death. Chance brought the chaplains together at a Massachusetts training camp, but each was convinced that God had a reason for placing them together aboard the Dorchester.

Drawing on extensive interviews with the chaplains’ families and the crews of both the Dorchester and the German submarine that fired the fatal torpedo, Kurzman re-creates the intimate circumstances and great historic events that culminated in that terrible night. The final hours unfold with the electrifying clarity of nightmare—the chaplains taking charge of the dwindling supply of life jackets, the panic of the crew, the overcrowded lifeboats, the prayers that ring out over the chaos, and the tight circle that the four chaplains form as the inevitable draws near.

In No Greater Glory, Dan Kurzman tells how four extraordinary men left their mark on a single night of war—and forever changed the lives of those they saved. Riveting and inspiring, this is a true story of heroism, of goodness in the face of disaster, and of faith that transfigures even the horror of war.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

PROVIDES GREAT INFORMATION.......2007-05-29

I ordered this book for my father, whose brother died in WW11. The family was given almost no information at the time, but by piecing together details, my mother determined that he was almost certainly on a particular boat when it was sunk by the enemy. That fact was confirmed by this book, and it offered a lot of information that is offered only sketchily in other areas. We appreciate the author and the information he was able to provide families, as well as the story of the wonderful chaplains.

Interfaith in action.......2006-09-22

Everyone who's already reviewed this book has said so much about it that it's hard to find anything more to say about how well it's written, what a great gripping true story it is, and the amazing heroism of the four chaplains. This book is so well-written and has such a compelling and involving story that I read it in like two days, and wished there had been even more. Additionally, this heroic tale from WWII has special meaning to many of the people in my area (New York State's Capital District) because Rev. Clark Poling's church was in nearby Schenectady, providing a local connection.

The book itself follows a somewhat nonlinear format, going back and forth between the pre-war lives of the four chaplains and their lives during the war, particularly after they boarded the Dorchester and arrived in Greenland for a very brief stay before going back on the ill-fated ship. After this point, the narrative switches entirely to a linear format, discussing the ship's final night before being torpedoed by a German U-boat and the chaos, heroism, and tragedy that ensued. Not many people could honestly say that they would give up their lifejackets if their ship went down in freezing waters in the middle of the night (Rabbi Alex Goode even gave up his gloves) or remain calm in the midst of such frantic circumstances and such a life-and-death situation. Many people back then also weren't so forward-thinking about interfaith relations, with a Reform rabbi, a Catholic priest, and two reverends from different Protestant denominations being such close friends and reaching out equally to everyone on the ship, largely being nonsectarian apart from when they did things like conduct services. This was still an era in which many Protestants and Catholics didn't associate with one another, to say nothing of the rampant institutionalised prejudice against Jews, and, in a number of areas, against Catholics as well. They set a moving and heroic example for all time, not just in the area of interfaith relations, but also in the area of selfless sacrifice. It was interesting to read in the Afterword about some of the people who have since been awarded the Immortal Chaplains Prize for Humanity Award, such as the Japanese Righteous Gentile Chiune Sugihara, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Omri Abdel-Halim al-Jadah, a Palestinian Muslim who died while saving a young Israeli Jewish boy from drowning. The Afterword also provided information on what happened to the survivors of the Dorchester sinking and the near and dear ones of the chaplains.

As we find out all throughout the book, this tragedy could have been prevented (it was kind of like a smaller-scale Titanic) if only the Dorchester had been inspected more closely or refurbished, or if there had been enough lifejackets and safety instructions provided, and even after disaster struck, the casualties could have been reduced if the nearby American ships had begun searching for survivors and bringing them onto their ships right away instead of thinking nothing serious had happened or going after the attacking U-boat first, but even in the midst of such bungling and such a chaotic disaster, the amazing heroism of the chaplains shone through as well as it would have in calmer circumstances.

A remarkable true story.......2006-09-12

With a sickening thump, an explosion wracked the troop transport S.S. Dorchester - a German torpedo had found its mark. It was shortly after midnight, February 3, 1942, and the ship was about to sink into the deadly cold waters off of Greenland. As men panicked and struggled to find a way to save their own lives, four men walked amongst them spreading calm and encouragement. Helping everyone they could find, even giving away their own precious lifejackets, the four chaplains - Rev. George Lansing Fox (Methodist), Rabbi Alex Goode, Rev. Clark Poling (Dutch Reformed) and Fr. John Washington (Catholic) - sought to serve their God and the fellow men. And when the end came, survivors saw the four chaplains, locked arm in arm, praying on the upside-down hull of the ship, just before it dove beneath the waves.

This book tells the remarkable true story of four men who joined the American military as chaplains, their experiences at their Massachusetts training camp, and their final tragic mission. It is a story that is bound to bring a tear to your eye, but it is also a great story of faith and truly living the life of godly sacrifice. Overall, I think that this is a great book, on that I highly recommend to everyone.

What A Great Read!!.......2006-09-07

If you ever feel that your fellow man has no regard for you, pick up this book and don't put it down untill you have finished it. What an inspiring story of four 'Men of God' and their dedication to that God, each other, and all those fortunate enough to have crossed their paths. You will be stunned by the character of each of these great men.

Great on So Many Levels.......2005-09-27

I became intrigued by this story when I was no moare than 10. I was a stamp collector and came into the possession of the stam honoring the four. In those very pre-internet days and in a very small town with few resources I was only able to learn a small amount of the story. Since then there were pieces here and there but it was not until this book that the whole story was made available to me.
I was almost uable to put this book down once I started. It's well written. It's abook that you can read for factual historical content or faith and inspiration. The story of the four chaplains is one of the many little known inspiring and interestng stories of World War Two. Don't pass this book over thinking it is just another relilgous book. It is much more.
In this day and age when we hand out superlatives like they were penny candy, the story of the Chaplains and the sinking of the Dorchester is an almost must read not just for people of faith, but all people.

Customer Reviews:

Enjoyable but sometimes patchy.......2003-05-19

As a geology major with a focus on the Pacific Northwest, I couldn't help but come in contact with Thomas Condon in many of the books I was reading for courses. I then decided to learn more about him by reading his biography. I have to say I was stunned to learn the details of his life before he began missionary work! Who knew?! Still, this book does a decent job of documenting the highs and lows of Condon's life as it related to his work as an educator. I was, however, a bit disappointed with its lack of coverage regarding his involvement with women's suffrage - maybe, contrary to public belief, this wasn't one of his major focuses? Overall, it was an enjoyable (if sometimes patchy) read.

Condon a winner.......2003-05-14

I must confess a slight bias - we all know Thomas Condon as one of our foremost geologists. I, however, was lucky enough to know him as my great grandfather. Well, not know him - he died well before I was born - but I knew of him. Intimately. And now the common reader has the same opportunity! On the whole the book captures my great grandfather perfectly - but there are a few omissions. If the anecdotes my parents' entertained their eleven children with are true, Thomas Condon spent more time with women than involved in women's suffrage; more time in prison than involved in prison reform. But, bygones - on the whole, a job very well done and I recommend this book heartily for those interested in the pacific northwest, geology, reform, and/or irish americans.

Odyssey of Thomas Condon: Irish Immigrant, Frontier Missionary, Oregon Geologist

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Odyssey of Thomas Condon: Irish Immigrant, Frontier Missionary, Oregon Geologist
Robert D. Clark
Manufacturer: Oregon historical Society Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000O71B98

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