With The Possum And The Eagle: A Memoir Of A Navigator's War Over Germany And Japan (North Texas Military Biography and Memoir Series)

Customer Reviews:

Fighting a Dangerous War, Observing Leadership.......2005-12-09

Possum was General Haywood Hansell; Eagle, General Curtis LeMay.

Ralph Nutter was a student at Harvard Law when Pearl Harbour occurred. A few weeks later he was in the Army Air Corp headed to navigator school. (A few years later he was the only survivor of his 22 fellow graduates.) A few months later and he was in England as a navigator on a B-17. In an incident where he knew where they were and none of the others did, Eagle made him the lead navigator of the group.

As the European was was winding down, he was transferred to the Pacific and B-29's. Again he was made lead navigator. Eventually LeMay was sent to the Pacific and Nutter returned to work with him.

This book is both a story of the war, and a story of leadership in war time. His insights on LeMay are enlightening and impressed me. LeMay's general reputation is a lot lower than that held by Mr. Nutter.

Insight into Wartime Leadership.......2004-01-17

Although we had to wait until after General LeMay's death, we finally find within "With the Possum and the Eagle" the real story of the leadership of General Curtis LeMay. If you're interested in the history of World War II and the significant role aviation had in both the European and Pacific campaigns, Ralph Nutter's account is difficult to put down. Nutter's close proximity to senior aviation leadership during the war gives the reader a rare glimpse into what those wartime leaders faced and the decisions they had to make vis-a-vis both logistical and environmental constraints to operations. A superb account.

Lucid and Honest.......2002-02-21

Ralph Nutter writes with extraordinary candor and clarity about a period in our history when he and others of his generation faced terrible odds in the struggle to save the world from Fascism. His account is as compelling as it is straightforward and unvarnished. A must-read for anyone fascinated by the true meaning of courage under fire.

They were Expendable........2002-02-04

Reads like a good, fast paced novel. Exciting, building chronicle of the air war over Europe and the Pacific.

Explains with starteling clarity the cockpit horrors that left no alternatives to the area bombing of Dresden and Tokyo. Makes it very clear that the A-Bombs were redundant and unnecessary.

A terribly real sense of our "losing years" and the desperate process of a war of attrition. The author, being one of only two survivors of his navigator's class of 22, lets us glimpse the terror and the heroism of an air war where victory would finally go to the combatant who had more young men to "expend"...

Average customer rating:

Enlightening and thought-provoking

Best personal account of depression I've ever read

One of the best books abot Depression I have ever read

Hope for those who suffer

A great book about a personal struggle.

The Beast: A Journey Through Depression
Tracy Thompson
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Depression | Mental Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0452276950

Customer Reviews:

Enlightening and thought-provoking .......2007-09-01

I have suffered with major depression for over 16 years now, but was officially diagnosed with depression just a couple short weeks ago. The title of this book is what immediately caught my attention. I knew I had to find a way to read it. I decided to check to see if my local library had a copy. It didn't. But I was able to get a copy from a public library in another city through inter-library loan.

I saw myself so often in this pages of this book. It made me feel less alone. Reading Ms. Thompson's book was like having an intense personal conversation. This book is extremely well written. Ms. Thompson has some great insights. I love her brutal honest. She gives an honest and complete disclosure. She talks openly about the good, the bad, and the ugly. I would highly recommend this book to people who suffer with depression themselves. But I would also recommend it to those who are struggling to understand the struggles of a friend or family member who struggles with depression. There are things in this book that caused me to think about my own situation in a new way. Some of her insights are profound. It couldn't have been easy for Ms. Thompson to write this book. After all, she was a well-known journalist. She was risking her career by writing with such brutal honesty. But I am so glad that she was able to overcome her fear of rejection. She has done all of us, especially those of us who suffer with major depression, a great service. I am so thankful for this book.

Best personal account of depression I've ever read.......2007-06-30

Like other great heroes, Tracy Thompson probably does not consider herself heroic. Nonetheless, she is very much a hero of mine. "The Beast" helped me soldier through the blackest days of my life, for which I will be forever grateful to Ms. Thompson.

"The Beast" is an exceptional and excellently written description of a deeply private, highly accomplished woman's journey out of a dark night of her soul.

If you suffer from depression or if you wish to better understand depression in order to support a loved one, I encourage you to read "The Beast."

One of the best books abot Depression I have ever read.......2006-10-07

This is a book from the inside out, meaning the author writes well about the subject because it comes from within. I have read several books about depression, and this is the one that has impressed me the most. Honest, well-written, and it tells it like it is. At times I found myself disagreeing with the author's actions (but who am I to judge) as if she was a character (see, it reads like a good book, a novel even, definitely not self-help and never ever patronizing), but I always appreciated her honesty and "straightford-ness." Somehow I found this book at the time I needed it the most, when I had given up all hope of getting better. I'm still not convinced I will, but this book has me rooting for the author. I am ever grateful and thankful it exists.

If you suffer from depression, just want to know more about it, or someone you love suffers from it, please READ THIS BOOK. Most of the time, in anthologies and even some "memoirs," I think: this person has no idea what they are talking about, I can't relate. Not here. This book is accessible and, I truly believe, helpful to anyone who reads it. Do yourself a favor and read this book. It is an asset to the field. And, subject not withstanding, it's a good book on its own. In other words, as a memoir it is interesting, entertaining, and you'll slow down your reading just to make it last longer (and to me, that's often the mark of a good book and an excellent storyteller). Best of luck to the author. And for anyone who reads this book because they "need" it, I get it. More importantly, so does the author. Good luck, then, to all of us.

Hope for those who suffer.......2006-08-11

I read this book shortly after it was released. My first thought was "Wow, someone understands how I feel." It is an excellent book for those around us who do not understand depression and the mental and physical problems that accompany it. I have read this book several times. I have also recommended it to many including my counselor. Tracy Thompson helped remove the stigma associated with mentai illness.

A great book about a personal struggle........2006-07-28

This is a great book about a personal struggle with depression and it might help those who love someone with this disease understand just a bit about the daily struggle and battle with the beast. It is a good title and you want to turn the page and see how things work out and you hope that it will work out, but you know that it doesn't always work out in the way in which you hope for.

Average customer rating:

Weak

Evaluating Beer
Brewers Publications
Manufacturer: Brewers Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Beer | Drinks & Beverages | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Reference | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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The Beer Enthusiast's Guide: Tasting & Judging Brews from Around the World

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How to Brew: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time

ASIN: 0937381373

Book Description

From defining off-flavors to analyzing competition-winning beers, Evaluating Beer will help develop your tasting and evaluating skills.

Customer Reviews:

Weak.......2006-06-08

I originally bought this book to give myself a crash course in how to evaluate my own homebrew beer. My goal was then to condense the content and provide a quick and dirty process for my beer drinking friends to provide me feedback on my beer.

This book doesn't give me this. Its a compilation of a wide range of author contributions including the lead man of contemporary homebrewing Papazian himself. Each author's contribution is in their own style and the result is a "grab bag" of chapters without a lot of cohesiveness between them. While some of the chapters are decent others are pretty weak and never really deliver any substance.

In the end this book reads like a random collection of chapters that falls way short of enlightening you on how to evaulate beer. I even recognize some recycled text from some of Papazian's other books. Not cool.

Book Description

Many masters of horsemanship have studied horses and riding over the last centuries, but few have given the subject greater consideration than Agoston d'Endrdy. In preparing this book, he gave considerable thought to the practical principles of riding and to the process of becoming a good rider. And he explains why horses perform more or less successfully according to whether they are mounted by a talented rider or by one of limited natural abilities. In Give Your Horse a Chance, his goal is to reduce the disparity between these two divisions of riders by carefully delineating the processes of good riding and training. The first part of the book explains the proper development of horse and rider so that both learn to enjoy their work. The latter part offers excellent, concise training advice for combined training and show jumping. Lt. Col. d'Endrdy was a member of the Hungarian Olympic Three-Day Event Team, a member of the Hungarian International Show Jumping Team, and a champion race rider.

Customer Reviews:

The most complete guide to trianing your horse yourself........1999-07-11

This book gives your detialed information on every aspect of riding dressage. It shows clearly how your seat and hands influence the horse and how you can use all your aids in a clear way to guide your horse through the various training stages. If you are unsure how to coordinate your leg hand and seat to ask for a lateral bend this book will show you exactly how to ask for it and suggest ways to use your aids to get the desired result. If you are having a problem of any kind, Driving western or english this book will give you the tools to trace the source of the problem and then retrain to overcome it. It takes a bit of consintration to read as it is very step by step and packs a lot of info into a pharagraph. I think every serious rider should have a copy of this book It teaches classic time honored methods that are easy on the horse.

Book Description

Over a thousand years ago in Nara, Japan, anonymous carpenters erected a number of temples and pagodas for a newly founded buddhist monastery known as Yakushiji. Not only is one of those pagodas still standing today, but also surviving are the dedication to quality and the technical skill of its builders as seen in the work of modern-day craftsmen. The Genius of Japanese Carpentry focuses on such practicing carpenters, who combine in their work the timeless past and the living present. What precisely is a Buddhist temple, what a temple carpenter, and what relationship do they have to Japanese woodworkers and carpenters in general? Azby Brown raises and answers these questions before taking up the subject that lies at the heart of the book: the construction of the Picture Hall, one of the temples lying within a sub-compound of the Yakushiji monastery. Founded in the eighth century and subject over time to the depredations of fire and warfare, the Yakushiji is now in the midst of a complete renovation that will, by the year 2030, restore its original appearance. As one part of this project, the construction of the Picture Hall has now been completed, employing the methods, the architectural style, and to a large extent the technology of its Japanese historical predecessors. From the day work commenced on the Picture Hall to the day it was finished, the author was at the site, camera in hand, recording its step-by-step erection: the selection of wood, the fabrication of parts, the detailing, the joint-making, the laying of the foundations, the pillars and beams going into place, installment of rafters and struts, the laying of the roof and rooftiles, and, finally, the holding of the festive ridge-beam ceremony. In addition to documentary photographs, the book is remarkable for the author's drawings, based on the plans of the master carpenter himself.

Book Description

This book contains the proceedings of The Mycology in Sustainable Development Workshop in 14 chapters organized by subject. Four chapters discuss the management of the Pine mushroom "matsutake" (Tricholoma magnivelare) as a model for the emergence and management of non-timber forest products. The value of sustainably harvesting "matsutake" could exceed the value of logging trees in some parts of North America. Three chapters provide an overview of the monitoring and inventory of fungal biological diversity, in order to determine methods for successful sustainable development in each North American country. In the section entitled Environmentally Friendly Technologies, authors discuss the use of mycorrhizae in land restoration, fungi as biological control agents of weeds, and endophytes as instruments of ecological management. Finally, several authors consider the potential for cultivation of novel fungal products and the use of fungi in pharmaceutical bioprospecting.

The Mycology in Sustainable Development Workshop brought together Canadian, Mexican, and U.S. scientists involved in establishing the biological bases for integrating fungi into sustainable plans and practices. The workshop facilitated the exchange of ideas and experiences, analysis of current practices, and the charting of future goals for successfully utilizing and integrating fungi in sustainable development. This book reflects these developments.

Differences between the perspectives of the three North American countries are highlighted, but a regional viewpoint is also included that encompasses common economic and environmental concerns of these convergent economies. Authors discuss how current and proposed legislation, as well as public perception, affect the ability of each Region to include fungi, a grossly underused resource, in sustainable land management. Issues of economic reciprocity and property rights are addressed in many of the chapters. In addition to providing a unique approach to this timely subject, several of these chapters are comprehensive, up-to-date reviews of a specific subject area.

This book will be of interest and use to a broad audience ranging from biologists and other scientists to administrators and policy-makers.

Customer Reviews:

An Optional Addition to the Mycological Library.......2001-11-07

Given that virtually all of the papers in this book juxtapose mycorrhizal fungi with Pacific Rim forests, the title of this book should really be `Mycorrhizae in Sustainable Agro-Forestry'. The majority of the chapters focus on the mycorrhizae and forestry, and the book as a whole attempts to make a strong case for greater research, development, and support for applied mycorrhizal research. Chapela and Palm introduce the papers by intelligently and eloquently stating the need for and practical use of sustainable development while at the same time providing background on the individual papers.

That said, the first three chapters provide a detailed history of wildcrafting of Matsutake mushrooms in British Columbia, the US Pacific Northwest, and Mexico, and elaborate upon the attempts of government and conservationists to regulate the harvest of this non-timber forest product so as to promote resource conservation and sustainable use of the regional forests. Several chapters further elaborate various aspects related to mycorrhizal fungi- from their plant associations and recent attempts to inventory plant-fungal associations to the utilization of mycorrhizae in land reclamation and biocontrol of weedy trees and grasses.

The last two chapters are quite possibly the most interesting part of the book and briefly present two attempts toward developing new markets for fungal products. In these chapters, we learn of successful attempts by Central American farmers to organincally cultivate mushrooms, principally Pleurotus species, using various types of agricultural waste. We also learn of attempts in many lesser developed nations to exploit their fungal bioresources and the efforts underway to make certain that developing nations and indigenous peoples reap their fair share of the proceeds from bioprospecting. The final chapter also argues that bioprospecting is a viable means of conservation and sustainable development.

While the book is interesting, the text could be taken more seriously had the editors only acknowledged the fundamental challenges of sustainable myco-resource utilization, fungal inventory monitoring, and development of fungal-based biological control agents. In their defense, more than a few of the contributors do point out the inherent challenges associated with management of sustainable development and fungal inventory research. Nonetheless the reader gets very few successes and a lot of dubious triumphs from the field of mycorrhizal ecology. In addition, the researchers conveniently neglect to state two very important points about the Matsutake myco-industry. Since Japan is the major market for Matsutake, this fledgling myco-industry would face ruin if this market collapsed. Furthermore, the opening of new Matsutake reservoirs in Russia, Central and South America continuously expands the supply-side while the demand-side has remained relatively constant. This in turn has had the obvious effect of lowering supply-side prices worldwide. As a result, although wildcrafting of Matsutakes and other botanicals is an important source of income in impoverished forest communities, it can not be looked upon as a key driver of sustainable development in these rural regions.

Although Chapela and Palm's Mycology in Sustainable Development starts off brilliantly, it quickly devolves into yet another thinly veiled plea for more funding for the contributors' pet research projects. The book's premise that the fungal kingdom has much to offer the worthwhile cause of sustainable development is quickly overpowered by paper after paper highlighting some dubious applications involving mycorrhizal fungi. Given the `global' title of the book, I was rather dismayed at the limited number of regions and countries represented and the overwhelming emphasis on the mycorrhizae. Granted, the mycorrhizae are a neglected area of research and do have much to offer the worthy cause of sustainable development. However, it would have been nice to see other classes of fungi and examples of sustainable development using the fungi in other regions of the world, particularly Africa and Asia, given an equivalent amount of exposure. Moreover, I was extremely dismayed at the paucity of information on edible mushrooms other than expensive exotics like Matsutake, given their often critical role in the health and nutrition of many of the world's communities and their extraordinary potential for global environmental improvement.

In conclusion, although this book contains some interesting information, it ultimately remains an optional addition to the library of the applied mycologist.

Book Description

Goes beyond a simple tent to restore; it's designed to help couples avoid two common relational errors that can affect reconciled couples for a lifetime.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderfully well written!.......2007-05-11

Exceptional clarity of thought and presentation. Realistically addresses the gamut of emotions that a couple has to navigate if they are serious about rebuilding their relationship after infidelity.

Customer Reviews:

The most articulate champion of Israel .......2006-05-03

Abba Eban was Israel's most articulate and persuasive Israeli spokesman to the world. His remarkable presentation of Israel's case at the time of the Six- Day War made many friends for Israel. He was a career diplomat of enormous intelligence and skill. In this work he looks at the struggle of Israel for statehood, recognition and peace with its neighbors. He is an inside observer , and one who does not refraim from criticism where he feels it due. His great intelligence and wisdom, his understanding of diplomacy and political reality are revealed in every page of this volume.
Read this book and you not only get to know about the history and development of Israel you also get to feel and perceive the heart and mind of one of its greatest representatives.

Personal Witness revisited.......2003-12-13

After completing Paul Thompson's History of the Jews, I revisited my first reading in '95 of Personal Witness. This reading was much more meaningful in light of Thompson's outstanding work. Eban's cogent testimony of Israel's struggle for nationhood was filled with dextrous gems of awesome and often droll prose.

Eban's book also gives valuable insight into the workings of the United Nations and its genuine as opposed to perceived role in world government. His insights on the character of national leaders and venerated diplomats is frosting on the cake.

Highly recommend this difficult to lay down book for some eye-opening lucidation on Israel and its struggle against absurd obstacles.

Richard A. Macales, columnist, "Mac's Facts".......1999-06-18

Known as the man with the "golden tongue," Eban recounts his years in Washington and at the U.N. as Israel's first envoy, and later as foreign minister. As the saying goes, he has been there, seen it and met with everyone who is anyone among the world's leaders in Israel's formative years.

Personal Witness: Israel Through My Eyes

Average customer rating:

Personal Witness: Israel Through My Eyes
Abba Eban
Manufacturer: Putnam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NWOCKY

Average customer rating:

Personal Witness: Israel through My Eyes.

Manufacturer: 0
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IC2F26

Average customer rating:

Personal Witness: Israel Through My Eyes
Abba Eban
Manufacturer: Jonathan Cape
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OPEHIM

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