CLEANSE THEIR SOULS: Peace Keeping and War Fighting in Bosnia 1992-1993

Book Description

This is a young cavalry lieutenant's moving and shocking account of front line service in the cauldron of war. His troop of Scimitar light-armoured vehicles was attached to the 1 CHESHIRE Battle Group (under the charismatic command of Colonel Bob Stewart). Fresh from Germany he and his men found themselves in a highly political and lethally dangerous civil war. They witnessed appalling atrocities and human tragedy on a giant scale. Both the soldiers and civilians showed massive courage and resilience.

Thanks to the Author's diary we have here an extraordinary spontaneous and important account of British troops performing vital military and humanitarian tasks. War correspondent and MP, Martin Bell describes it as 'earning its place among the impartial narratives of the Bosnian War.

Customer Reviews:

A logbook that leaves reader wanting more.......1998-12-05

The logbook style of D'Aboville's book doesn't lend itself well to a deep understanding of what goes through the mind of a solo rower travelling across the ocean. The reader gets glimpses, but not a coherent narrative. The terse entries make for a fast read and the subject matter is interesting.

Alone : The Man Who Braved the Vast Pacific - and Won

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Alone : The Man Who Braved the Vast Pacific - and Won
Gerard d'Aboville
Manufacturer: Arcade NY 1993
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000R4XSGM

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Alone: The Man Who Braved the Vast Pacific--And Won
Gerard D'Aboville
Manufacturer: Diane Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Sports | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0788199897

Book Description

A definitive guide to contemporary health administration. It provides comprehensive coverage of detailed functional, technical, and organizational matters that pertain to organized delivery systems.

Health Care Administration, Fourth Edition: Planning, Implementing, and Managing Organized Delivery Systems (Health Care Administration)

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Health Care Administration, Fourth Edition: Planning, Implementing, and Managing Organized Delivery Systems (Health Care Administration)
Lawrence F. Wolper
Manufacturer: Jones & Bartlett Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N6ZW04

Book Description

Your best friend is getting married, it's up to you to throw the shower. Now what? Forget the paper plate—ribbon bouquet. Times have changed and people are delving into tradition with contemporary flair. With four unique party themes, Wedding Showers offers menus, decorating ideas, creative projects, and activities to suit a range of personalities and visions, making it the ideal guide for today's shower host. A traditional afternoon of tea invites guests to a selection of mouthwatering cakes, tarts, and cookies. A tropical cocktail party carries the festivities outside. The day-at-the-beach shower takes a fun and casual approach with its bountiful barbecue and brightly colored canopies. An intimate beauty shower centers around luxuriant home-spa treatments followed by pretty boxed lunches. From making the plans to decorating the venue, the authors breathe new life into the long-standing tradition of the wedding shower.

Customer Reviews:

It deserves 6 stars!.......2007-01-15

This is a great book! Although it is limited the quality and it's thoroughness are wonderful. Once again a book you could use for more than just wedding showers. The pictures really add to the book and give great visual inspiration. I'm planning a pampered indulgence shower and will be combining ideas from several chapters...it lends to itself beautifully.

Classic elegance on every page, a relief from the "create a tp bride" books that are out there!

Beautiful ideas and recipes.......2004-04-26

First off, this book is written by two editors from Martha Stewart's Living, so you know the ideas and recipes will be wonderful. They are!

My problem with this book is that it is very limited. As a first time maid of honor (AND bridesmaid), I am completely lost as to how to throw a wedding shower. This book has a little bit on the history of the wedding shower and what goes on during one, but that's about it for basic info. After reading this book, there were still many aspects to a shower that I found unclear. I know that there are suppose to be activities/games during a shower, but none were listed. Another problem I have with this book is that all the ideas and recipes require a bit of money to pull off. Silk napkins? Bamboo sake cups? Rose petals in the punch? It's all great and wonderful, but for someone on a tight budget, it's just not going to happen.

So what does this book have, you ask? Four really beautiful themes for wedding showers. With a good amount of pictures. We have "An Afternoon of Desserts" where everything is sort of dainty and pink. Very elegant. There's "Tropical Cocktails" with fun island inspired recipes and decorations. "A Day of Beauty" lacks decoration ideas, but has wonderful favors. Last but not least, "Beach Barbecue" is great for outdoors. Each theme has decoration ideas, menu ideas, and favor ideas. There is also a timeline guide so that you have an idea of when to do things.

Overall, I would recommend this book, but I would *definitely* have other wedding shower books around. This was the first book I purchased for shower planning, and have bought two others since then. I'm now ready to throw a party. :)

Cute but very limited.......2002-04-27

Mainly recipes and focuesed on only three themes: Beach BBQ, Deserts, and Tropical/Asian theme (sake, coconut, etc)...would have liked ideas on the more traditional shower.

Creative and Modern Ideas.......2001-12-16

Creative and modern ideas for throwing a modern day bridal shower. Exquisite still photography showcasing each shower favor, table setting, food item, and room decor. Very different from the existing bland works that currently sit on the bookstore shelves. Some of the ideas are too posh or "stuffy" for middle America, but the ideas can certainly be adapted to your budget and tastes.

Classy Bridal Shower Book.......2001-11-03

Very "Martha"; Elegant and modern day ideas for various themed bridal showers; not many classy books on bridal showers but this is an exception.

Average customer rating:

Antique Guns

Flayderman's Guide

Flayderman's Guide

Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms and Their Values

Flayderman is Out of Date

Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms and Their Values
Norm Flayderman
Manufacturer: Krause Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Uniforms | Military | History | Subjects | Books
Firearms & Weapons | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Reference | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Industrial, Manufacturing & Operational Systems | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Shooting | Hunting & Fishing | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Blue Book of Gun Values

Antique Guns: The Collector's Guide (Shooter's Bible)

2006 Standard Catalog Of Firearms: The Collector's Price & Reference Guide 16th Edition

Standard Catalog Of Military Firearms: The Collector's Price & Reference Guide

Standard Catalog of Firearms 2007: The Collectors Price And Reference Guide (Standard Catalog of Firearms)

ASIN: 0873493133

Book Description

Truly the best reference and price guide available for antique American arms. The combination of historical reference, vastness of scope, and authoritative pricing make this the ultimate antique American arms value guide.

The world's best-known antique arms dealer and authority expands and updates prices and adds more historic information in this new eighth edition. Identify and price more than 4,000 antique American firearms manufactured between 1850 and 1900, using two grades of condition. A detailed history of firearms adds to the reader's knowledge of how a specific gun is priced.

Prices have been fully reviewed to reflect current market values. A quick reference section includes a detailed index to guide collectors to specifications, values, and historical data on specific arms.

-Best reference and price guide for American antique arms
-Fully updated to reflect current market values on 4,000 guns
-Expanded historical information on individual firearms
-More than 1,700 large scale photos aid in identification

Customer Reviews:

Antique Guns.......2007-02-22

Flayderman is the bible of antique gun collecting. Very informative historically with good bibliography for specific manufacturers. Only issue is copyright is 2001 and values have changed a lot in the interim.

Flayderman's Guide.......2006-06-29

I am an ardent collector of antique firearms. Flayderman's is an absolutely essential resource with detailed information about practically every firearm ever produced in early America. There simply is nothing comparable.

Flayderman's Guide.......2006-02-26

I am a CW buff, and often would look at items listed on the various sites, not knowing the details. Now I can be sure I know the model, date of mfg, value.

Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms and Their Values.......2006-01-31

One may disagree with some of the prices given but if a novice collector bought only one book, this should be it for the wealth of information found within its almost 700 pages of photos and text. Whether your area of interest is Civil War arms, Indian guns, air and spring guns, or even whaling guns you'll find this book helpful. My only criticism is the arrangement of the index and that was the responsibililty of the publisher.

Flayderman is Out of Date.......2005-05-09

Flayderman's has not revised gun values since 2001. They put a date on the reverse of the fly page of 2004, but it just a re-print of the one compiled in 2000 and printed in 2001. I hope others are not fooled like I was thinking they are getting an updated book. I feel I wasted my money. Gun values have changed too much in the last few years, and I find this book worthless.

Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms... and Their Values

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Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms... and Their Values
Norm Flayderman
Manufacturer: Krause Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O8QS3Q

Customer Reviews:

EXCELLENT GUIDE FOR ANYONE PLANNING TO BUY KACHINA DOLLS.......1999-05-06

This is the perfect place to begin to learn about Kachina dolls. Whether you are a novice or an experienced collector, this guide will be of great help. The detailed descriptions and information are a must for any collector. For those planning to buy a kachina doll, I highly recommend THE NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN ARTIST DIRECTORY. It will enable you to find the kachina carver you are looking for. When you find a kachina you like in one of the Jacka or other fine Southwest Indian art books, check the name and then find it in the directory - along with mailing address and phone # ! Call the artist directly, make an appointment, take along your COMPLETE GUIDE TO COLLECTING KACHINA DOLLS and have a great time!

Hopi Kachinas - The Complete guide to Collecting Kachina Dolls

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Hopi Kachinas - The Complete guide to Collecting Kachina Dolls
Barton Wright
Manufacturer: Northland Press/Flagstaff
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000MLQX7Q

Product Description

Oversize softcover includes Index at end of book.

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HOPI KACHINAS The Complete Guide to Collecting Kachina Dolls
Barton Wright
Manufacturer: Nortland Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000W215MS

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Hopi Kachinas The Complete Guide to Collecting Kachina Dolls
Barton Wright
Manufacturer: Northland, 1994
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000H278MO

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Hopi Kachinas: The Complete Guide to Collecting Kachina Dolls
Barton Wright
Manufacturer: Northland
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JJTF7G

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Hopi Kachinas: the Complete Guide to Collecting Kachina Dolls
Barton Wright
Manufacturer: Northland
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000LZFZBI

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Hopi Kachinas: The Complete Guide to Collecting Kachina Dolls

Manufacturer: Northland Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GQRXMG

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Hopi Kachinas. The Complete Guide To Collecting Kachina Dolls.
Barton Wright
Manufacturer: Northland Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NUMFYG

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Lavish Flowers
Peach Panfili
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Flower Arranging | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0207172986

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Lavish Flowers
Peach Panfili
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OORLYU

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Lavish Flowers
Peach Panfili
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Australia
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OP3X32

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From a mom of 2 colic babies who are patients of Dr. W.

A Little Bit of Sanity for Sleepless Parents

An Intellectual Approach to Infancy

An Intellectual Approach to Infancy

Soothing for fussy babies and their parents

Sweet Baby : How To Soothe Your Newborn
Marc Weissbluth
Manufacturer: Northwestern Childrens Practice
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Marriage & Family | Sociology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Babies & Toddlers | Parenting | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
General | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
Sleep | Children's Health | Personal Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child

Your Fussy Baby

Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect, and Communicate with Your Baby

What to Expect the First Year, Second Ed

The Mother of All Baby Books: The Ultimate Guide to Your Baby's First Year (U.S. edition)

Accessories:

Health o Meter HDC100-01 "Grow with Me" Teddy Bear Scale for Babies and Toddlers

Braun IRT 4020 ThermoScan Ear Thermometer

ASIN: 0966614011

Book Description

This book explains why babies become fussy. It teaches parents how to soothe their babies to reduce fussiness so that fussy babies do not become crying babies. Parents learn how to help their baby sleep better; thus, creating a firm foundation for life long healthy sleep habits.

Customer Reviews:

From a mom of 2 colic babies who are patients of Dr. W........2003-08-09

Both of my children we colic! I have a 22 month old and a 6 month old. We lived by this book during those tought times. My kids are also patients of Dr. Weisbluth's. I can not say enough about the book about the support/guidance it gave me in probably the roughest time of our lives.

Our first child cried for an average of 14 hours a day. I would do what ever I could to soothe her. After I read this book, I tweeked a few things and it really helped. Sometimes parents of colic children just need a little professional reassurance. This is it!! I would go to this book when I needed some reminders of what to do. Especially with the first. Any first time parent needs that ego boost to let you know you are doing the right things.

With our second child, the crying lasted for 8 hours at its peak. I could not believe we were going through this again. And when I needed the extra guidance, this book really helped me calm down and know that I was not crazy or a bad mom.

I am very lucky to have Dr. Weisbluth as my children's physician. He is the most gentle and caring person. As in his book,in person he educates you so you understand colic. For someone who has to understand and have background information to start feeling comfortable and more confident, I think his approach is perfect.

He also taught me, as parents, tend to worry so about the baby and the crying.......you also need to take care of yourself to make it through the tough times. Without him, I would have just driven myself into the ground.

Now we are through the colic and concentrating on sleep. I followed his programs to teach my children to sleep. My kids sleep 12 - 14 hours at night and take long, great naps.

He is terrific!!!!!!!!! A must have for families!!!!!!

A Little Bit of Sanity for Sleepless Parents.......2003-04-03

As a first time mom, I was in for a rude awakening when my baby began, at two weeks old, to have long, loud screaming bouts that lasted for hours, and absolutely would not sleep for more than 10 hours (sometimes less!) in a 24-hour period. My pediatrician informed my husband and me that our child had colic, and that there was no known "cure", that it would simply go away on its own when the baby was 3 or 4 months old. Not really knowing anything about colic, I did a little research on the internet, and came up with this book. "Sweet Baby" does not profess to have all the answers as to what causes colic, nor does it offer much of a solution beyond the usual (pacifiers,rocking, etc....). What it does offer is a background on the history of research and beliefs about colic, what current research and theories say about colic,parent testamonials and stories about their experiences with colic, and colic myths debunked. This book takes an academic stance toward trying to explain colicky babies. I was grateful to have been able to read this book, because it gave me more of an understanding of what colic is all about. After reading it, I felt more sympathetic towards my child, rather than bewildered and frustrated. I also felt like I wasn't alone in my experiences, because I was able to read about and relate to every single one of the parent's stories featured in this book. It made me feel like there was someone out there who understood what I was going through with my child. So many people (whose chldren have never had colic and who do not themselves have a medical degree) have given me so-called "advice" on what to do for my child to "cure" the colic, all of it very tiresome and insulting, because it implies (oh-so-subtley) that it is the parent's fault that the child has colic. This book emphasizes that IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT!!!!! Thank you Dr. Weissbluth for writing this book and thank you Amazon for making it available for parents like me!

An Intellectual Approach to Infancy.......2000-09-07

If you own "Sweet Baby" you need no other book, guide, or-as some refer to the "What to Expect" series-"bible" to caring for your newborn.

In "Sweet Baby" you possess the history of scientific research on infant fussiness in a relatively well-organized and accessible short book. From the first book in the English language on pediatrics, "The Book of Chyldren," to contemporary studies completed at the world's top universities, Weissbluth, in the comprehensive style of the best academics, bases his conclusions on broad knowledge of the topic.

What are his conclusions? I hate to give them away. In some sense his book reads like a mystery only Hercules Poirot can solve (and Dr. Weissbluth himself, refer to the photograph on the back jacket, is every bit as refined and debonair as this fine, Belgian detective). First, Weissbluth debunks the myths (11) about why babies fuss (e.g. gas, brand of formula, breast milk, drugs during labor, birth order of infant, constipation, family tension, etc.). Next he focuses on the methodological difficulties of determining degrees, rates, and instances of infant fussiness (e.g., Would a researcher ever actually spend evening hours with her/his case studies? Just as results peak, they begin to ebb, etc.). Then, Weissbluth informs us about what about infant fussiness actually can be scientifically proven (e.g., average amount of crying for normal, non-colicky babies is three hours per day; extreme fussiness usually last for three to four months; research on melatonin and seratonin levels in the brain of a newborn probably relevant to our understanding of infant fussiness and infant sleep; gestation of homo sapiens adapted from twelve months to nine months when humans began to walk on two legs, therefore first three months of infant's life actually complete gestational development which once took place in the womb, and others.). Finally, Weissbluth offers, on the basis of these firm conclusions, how parents and caretakers can effectively approach the problem of infant fussiness. He offers care, on the analogy of a teenager in adolescence, over cure.

Indeed, Weissbluth's what-to-do pages are the most bland. They are not different from most other books, tapes, and places of advice to which one can go for information on infants. Rhythmic rocking, serious hugs, baby massage, sucking and so on, all, as most mothers know, usually work. Crib vibrators, hot water bottles, herbs, lamb's wool, nipple shapes, and diets for nursing mothers, all, as most mothers know, usually do not, or rather, as Weissbluth cleverly heeds, "Everything works for a while."

"Sweet Baby" is, however, not for some. Perhaps the second half of the title "How To Soothe Your Newborn" is not accurate. "Sweet Baby" is an intellectual's approach to the problem of infant fussiness. As stated above it offers very little that is new in terms of ideas for soothing your child. Indeed that is Weissbluth's point!

So if you are looking for a self-help book in the style of those which proliferated on our bookshelves in the 1980's offering quick fixes, glib responses, and easy solutions, this book is not for you. If, on the other hand, you solve problems by understanding them better, this book is for you.

For my part, I was enormously relieved to find "Sweet Baby." Having read it I was armed for a Weissbluth-approach to our second child. Unfortunately, he never cries.

An Intellectual Approach to Infancy.......2000-09-07

If you own "Sweet Baby" you need no other book, guide, or-as some refer to the "What to Expect" series-"bible" to caring for your newborn.

For my part, I was enormously relieved to find "Sweet Baby." Having read it I was armed for a Weissbluth-approach to our second child. Unfortunately, he never cries.

Soothing for fussy babies and their parents.......2000-07-04

As a parent of two formerly colicky babies, now four years and four months old, respectively, I found this book to be deeply comforting and affirming of my experience. Most people who have a colicky infant will hear tons of (often unsolicited) advice, most of it unhelpful, some of it outright insulting. Dr. Weissbluth explains that extreme fussiness is a developmental stage that will, indeed, come to an end. That in itself is something every parent of a colicky infant needs to understand in those first trying and exhusting weeks. There are no magical cures, there is simply patience and understanding, and Dr. Weissbluth certainly gave us the prescription for these traits in this book. There is also very helpful advice about how to help your post-colicky baby emerge from extreme fussiness. I would recommend this book to any parent who is going through the torment of colick.

Book Description

He was jazz's first hipster. He performed in sunglasses and coined and popularized phrases like "that's cool" and "you dig?" He always wore a suit and his trademark porkpie hat. He influenced everyone from B. B. King to Stan Getz to Allen Ginsberg, creating a lyrical style of playing that forever changed the sound of the tenor saxophone. In this groundbreaking biography of Lester Young (1909-1959), historian Douglas Daniels brings to life the man and his world, and corrects a number of misconceptions. Even though others have identified Young as a Kansas City musician, Daniels traces his roots to the blues of Louisiana and his early years traveling with his father's band and the legendary Oklahoma City Blue Devils. Later we see the jazz culture of New York in the early 1940s, when Young was launched to national and international fame with the Count Basie Orchestra and began to accompany his close friend Billie Holiday. After a year spent in an Army prison on a conviction for marijuana use, Young made changes in his music but never lost his sensitivity or soul. The first ever to gain access to Young's family and many musicians who performed with him, Daniels reconstructs the world in which Young lived and played: the racism that he and other black musicians faced, the feeling of home and family that they created together on the road, and what his music meant to black audiences. Young emerges as a kind friend, a loving parent, and a gentle and sensitive man who had, in the words of Reginald Scott, "the saddest eyes I ever saw."

Customer Reviews:

Don't Be A Repeater Pencil.......2007-04-29

Lester Young is my musical hero. I think you can learn so much from him, his sound, his approach to jazz. I have spent hours and hours studying his solos, playing along on sax, trying to get into his sound, his mindset, his soul. I was really excited to see a new biography of him.

Unfortunately, Douglas Henry Daniels was more interested in academic pontifications, theories of how racial inequality impacts society, and was only using Lester Young as a leaping off point, if you will, for his own half baked essays, sometimes digressing from his stated topic for 10, 15, 20 pages at a time.

The writing in this Lester Young biography is so dry and academic, that it is an insult to a cunning linguist like Lester, who made up his own esoteric slang, and coined many terms and phrases that have entered the hipster lexicon. If he saw a pretty girl in the audience, he might turn to his bandmate and say: "Startled doe at 2 O'clock." He called all other musicians Lady, not just Billie Holiday, who was dubbed Lady Day. Count Basie was Lady B, and Sonny Stitt was Lady Stitt. Billie Holiday gave him his nickname, Pres, because he was President of the Vipers, slang for the musicians who smoked reefer. Here is a man who used mf practically every other word. But reading about him in Douglas Henry Daniels' pretentious tome, you'd think he was describing a fellow faculty member at a retirement luncheon.

Furthermore, he knows nothing of music, obviously is not a musician himself, and if he had even an ounce of musicality in him, he would have been able to construct at least one sentence that didn't make us wince. A lot of his comments about Lester's music are just wrong.

If you are really interested in Lester Young's life and music, you might want to wade through this, but I have actually seen a comic book that did a better job of presenting Lester Young to the interested reader. Wish I could find that book.

Terrible.......2006-07-02

I really am sorry that I actually paid money for this book. Lester Young is my favorite sax player and when I saw a new biography out on him I jumped at buying it. Lester Young really is just a pawn here. The author basically uses Lester's experiences with racial discrimination as a launching pad to go on huge rants of "Well, Black people weren't allowed to do this" and "Black people weren't allowed to do that" rather than actually talking about Lester. If Danials is so intent on writing about the mistreatment of Black people then he should have written a book on that instead. I mean, let's be serious. Most of us have been learning about the Civil Rights Movement and how poorly Black people were treated in those times since second grade. This is an adult biography and I think that the vast majority of people out there already know that Black people were not treated fairly in those days. There is no reason to spend 70% of the book bickering about it. I recently read a biography on the Irish patriot Michael Collins that was excellent. The author could have taken the same approach as Danials and spent all his time complaining about how England was responsible for centuries of murder and terror in Ireland, but he didn't. The focus of the book was always on Collins. Don't let this lousy book deter you from other stuff on Lester. Lester is one of the most interesting (if not the MOST interesting) of all jazz musicians. For a much better read on Lester Young check out "You Just Fight For Your Life." It was written WAY better than this book and is probably the best biography on Pres out there. It's out of print so you would probably have to get it through your library.

Not a very good source on Pres.......2005-02-07

I don't know what the author's intentions were in writing this book, but it certainly seems as though the life of Lester Young was not the main topic. Daniels spends more time on topics like racism and the unfair treatment of black musicians rather than actually talking about Lester Young. While it is important to talk about these topics in some detail to explain how it affected Lester Young, the author did not have to spend over half the book on them. Here's a little advice Mr. Daniels: If you're going to write a book on the racial inequalities of these times, write a book specifically on that, and with a title that suggests that topic. Don't write a book with a title of "The Life and Times of Lester "Pres" Young" and spend nearly the whole time talking about racism and racial inequalities.

Highly biased!.......2004-12-11

The author is an African-American militant and he's more worried on pamphletizing his political views than on narrating Prez's life. His views of the Jazz world are extremely naive and he tends to idealize everything related to African-Americans. One's got to be balanced...

Wish someone who loved Pres and knew music had written this.......2003-04-12

Unfortunately, this is not the great full, musically, and factually satisfying book I hoped it would be when I bought it. Still if you love Pres, you do need this book.

Everything the other comments say negative about this book is true. I say this as an academic who has written texts that have been used in Black studies for decades. I do find his comments about racism and reception of Young and his attempt to draw on comment on Young in the Black press to be interesting and to the general point. However, to explain why these forces had one effect on Lester Young, and say another effect on Duke Ellington is the real task of a biographer.

Daniels sounds like a neo conservative of the Albert Murray Wynton Marsalis variety. He tries to shoehorn Lester Young into his own beliefs in the strength of traditional conservative Black middle class culture and institutions regardless of the facts. To do this, Daniels goes off on long digressions where any practical information about or reference to Lester Young disappears, and instead we suffer under Daniels's blather.

For example, even though Lester quit school in the fourth grade and always said he hated school, Daniels tries to paint Lester's success as a product of his parents stressing the importance of education (LOL). Even though Lester stopped going to church as soon as he was old enough not to get a licking for it, Daniels tries to paint him as a product of his own fairy tale view of the "Black Church."

There little sytematic discussion of Lester's music, his saxophone playing as it relates to the real art of the saxophone, or of Jazz and popular music. There is no commentary on some of the more interesting studies of Lester's music: Günter Schuler's analysis in his Swing book comes to mind. In fact there is almost no discussion of Lester Young's real role in the Count Basie Orchestra on a musical level. This, the central part of Lester's work, is simply brushed aside.

Aside from the interesting comments about his relations with his family that mainly come from Daniel's hard work locating and interviewing friends and family of Lester Young, Lester Young's personality seems to disappear as the book procedes. What we get instead are excuses for Daniels to launch on 5-10-20 page essays on his views about African American culture, racism in America, the strength of the Black middle class, and other topics.

Even Daniels does not believe the reader can really understand Lester Young by reading this huge expensive tome. He constantly refers to matters that he expects the reader to already know about fully from somewhere else. He leaves out so many things and he has a number of factual errors. He seems to be ignorant of a lot of things that are available in other texts on the subject that would support his arguments as well as stuff that would not

One droll example is that in an interview about continuing swing bands in the 1950s, Pres sarcastically answered, "Bob Crosby is still swinging." Daniels is so ignorant of Lester Young and music that he takes this statement for good coin about Pres's appreciation of the Bobcats. Daniels' is ignorant of the obvious sarcasm in the remark. Pres considered Bob Crosby so square that he used "Bob Crosby" his nickname for narks! If he needed to inform a fellow pot lover to lay low because of a narc, Lester would say, "Bob Crosby is here." If the heat was heavy, Pres would say, "Yeah and his brother Bing too!" Isn't there someone who really knows about Lester Young and loves him enough not to make such mistakes able to get a research grant and a book contract to write the book this should have been?

What is good about this book is that Daniels has unearthed a lot of material about Lester's family, his growing up, and how relatives and other musicians viewed him personally. The portrait of Lester personally is much more like what people I have met who knew or met him have given than what any other book has given us.
He does provide some information, though scant, about Lester's marriages and female affiliations,

Even in this regard facts that are apparent in other texts that would question the picture of Pres as simply a family loving, square representative of Black middle class values that loved family and golf and had a good relationship with his wives all along are neglected. For example Daniels briefly mentions Elaine Swain, the woman who lived with and helped out Pres in every way in the last years of his life when Pres left his wife, home, and kids and moved into the Alvin Hotel in Manhatten. Daniels says nothing about Swain's relationship with Pres. He really doesn't seem to know that other sources indicate that Lester's scene had gotten so far Daniels' picture of Pres's supposed suburban bliss that Swain shoplifted to support Pres during those final days.

Daniel's tries to defend Pres's post war music against those who claim it deteriorated. I agree about that, and find Lester's Last regular recording, Laughing Just to Keep from Crying a masterpiece: it stayed replaying on my CD player a full day after I got it. However, Daniels just doesn't know enough about music to provide a real description of the place of his later music and its relationship to Pres's art as a whole and the history of Jazz. Daniels has nothing to say about Pres's self-destructive drinking other than to say other musicians and Barrymore were alcoholics. Because he is simply ignorant of Jazz and music, he can't really point out the great albums in Young's post war work like that one and The Jazz Giants, or for that matter the great cuts on his work with basie and Billie before the war either!

The information on the family and personal life--taken with a grain of salt and only accepted where Daniels is presenting documented information about Lester Young as opposed to his own general ideas--is useful, but only if it is added to other work on Lester.

Again, isn't there someone else who loves lester young, is really familiar with the literature about Lester Young, knows enough about Jazz music to write intelligently about the music, and who cares enough to write the book this should have been.

Average customer rating:
Lester Leaps In the Life and Times of Lester Pres Young
Daniels Douglas Henry
Manufacturer: Beacon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UIN086

Average customer rating:
Lester Leaps in: The Life and Times of Lester Pres Young
Douglas Henry Daniels
Manufacturer: Beacon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OLYMHC

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