This is one of the worst books I've ever read on the Civil War or any war for that matter. The authors go on and on about points that most readers would understand after reading it once. Poorly researched, poorly written and poorly edited. Very poor all around. Terrible book.

Mr. Kirkland has done an excellent job of taking the often inconsistent data available on the Civil War dead from a Confederate state and put it into a format that provides a good foundation for anyone researching Confederate soldiers/sailors/citizens of South Carolina. Paging through this book is akin to the feeling one has when visiting the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington. The supreme sacrifice is evident with each name and place of death. If you are researching a South Carolina Civil War unit, or soldier who was killed during the War, this book is an important addition to your library.

The previous note is obviously misplaced. Broken Fortunes is not a narrative book, but a list of 18,666 men who died while in service to South Carolina. This book is an excellent resource for researchers. John Rigdon

"History has given Mary Custis Lee a bad rap," writes John Perry in the opening sentence of LADY OF ARLINGTON: THE LIFE OF MRS. ROBERT E. LEE. "I'm out to change that."

And change that he does. Perry rehabilitates Mary Custis Lee from a whining, neurotic invalid whose weakness and selfishness made everybody around her miserable and demonstrates that she was, in fact, a charming, attractive woman who turned heads in the Supreme Court chamber as a teenager and who almost certainly received a marriage proposal by no less a man than Sam Houston.

"Over her sixty-five years," writes Perry, "friends, relatives, and perfect strangers consistently described her as cheerful, smiling, welcoming, and industrious. She read Latin and Greek, and when she ordered a copy of LES MISERABLES, she wrote the bookseller to send it in either English or French, whichever was more readily available."

True, had not her great-grandfather been George Washington, and had she not have married Robert Edward Lee, the greatest of Confederate generals, we probably would never have heard of Mary Anne Custis. But Perry shows that she was a fascinating and inspiring woman in her own right.

Mary Custis Lee was an excellent painter, a published author, a legendary hostess, a tireless fund-raiser for charities, a devout Christian, staunch patriot, the mother who cared for seven children when their father was away from home for years at a time, and a devoted wife who nurtured her beloved husband's career even as arthritis crippled her body and the ravages of the Civil War drove her from the only home she had ever known.

Through diligent and dedicated research, John Perry has tracked down false rumors, half-truths, and conflicting claims about his subject and, by bringing the real Mary Custis Lee into the light, has set the record straight.

"Certainly the most exciting discover was Mary's prayer journal at the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond," writes the author. "As far as I can learn, none of it has ever been published or even examined before. Filled with her innermost thoughts, hopes, and fears, it casts new light on every word we have from her."

Was the discovery of Mary's prayer journal a blessing or a curse? Although some readers may rejoice in Mary's expression of religious emotions (concerning which Perry puzzlingly writes, "No one would ever read this"), others may find her diary to be overwrought, tedious, repetitious, and ultimately boring.

Be that as it may, Perry's diligent and dedicated research has tracked down false rumors, half-truths, and conflicting claims, and, by bringing the real Mary Custis Lee into the light, has set the record straight.

3.5 Stars

I was attracted to this book as a result of reading, "April 1865". I found General Robert E. Lee to be a particularly fascinating person, both militarily and in his personal life, and so a biography of his wife seemed to be an appropriate progression. I had never read material on this historical figure, so this books promise of the inclusion of her diary for the first time was also an attraction. The book was less than I had hoped for, while Mrs. Lee certainly held a unique place as a result of The Civil War and her relationship to George Washington, this book did not seem to justify its necessity.

Mrs. Lee like many women of the southern wealthy families lost virtually everything she ever called her own as the result of the war. She also was a beneficiary of the provision of a new home, and a more rapid return to a form of normalcy due to her husband's appointments, and then her son taking his father's place as a college president after the war. This was a return that was measurably longer for other families. The transition she did not make with her husband was the progressive acceptance of what had happened, and acknowledging the new reality that post war America would offer to those of the losing side of the conflict.

Mrs. Lee came from a family that was very progressive with regard to abolition and many other issues typically credited to The North. Unfortunately these thoughts did not carry through the war, and when compounded by her illness and the confiscation of the family homestead, she spent the balance of her life growing progressively angry. The US Government did return the title to her Arlington home after her death, and after it had thoroughly been destroyed as a family home. This home was also the site of many of George Washington's belongings, including the bed he had passed away in, his carriage, silver, literally rooms of possessions. This estate that had been the calling place of successive presidents and dignitaries like Lafayette was turned into a deforested piece of land, a squatter's village numbering several thousand people, and a national cemetery that encroached to the edge of her families graves.

The offerings from the diary are fairly slim in their variety and information they share. They are deeply personal notes of a devout Christian woman, however they do not offer great and original insight to her life.

This book is about much more than Mrs. Lee; it could have been called, The Families of Arlington. There is much that is of interest regarding her relations, and details of General Lee's correspondence, however she alone does not fill this book. Other work has been written about Mrs. Lee, and has received high praise; a reader might be better served to read other work prior to setting out with this offering by Mr. Perry.

I love everything about this book. They way it traces Mrs. Mary Custis Lee's family all the way back to George Washington and takes it forward from their. The way it describes the acquisition of Arlington. I have never seen a biography written better and keep my attention word for word till the end prior to this book.

What I expected was a step-by-step book that got into the basics of building model aircraft. What I got was a collection of articles, some of them old, from Model Airplane News magazine. The articles are tips, organized by chapter on various topics, like "wing building," "building tools," etc.

While some of the tips were useful, I think the title is misleading. Many of the articles weren't building techniques at all. And I was disappointed after reading it that I still didn't have a good feel as to what it takes to build a quality model airplane.

Its an ok book for some of the tips, but don't buy it expecting a "how-to" book on building a model airplane.

The book is well organized and very easy to follow. The author has included lots of pictures to illustrate the numerous building techniques ranging from general construction (ribs, spars, jigs, tips & tricks, tools) to construction techniques focused on gas and electrical models. I'm a little dissapointed in the black-and-white only pictures but very satisfied with the clarity of the instructions. It's obvious that the author has many years of modeling experience, as I hope to have eventually. I would like to see a new edition with color pictures that feature more great building techniques. In the meantime, this book should be a part of any R/C aircraft modeler's library.

I have read many books like this but this beats them all! I am just a Beginner but might rank higher once I'm done reading!

Jefferson Brim Crow is an unadulterated fan of Randolph Scott, and his adoration of the great Western star is evident. Unfortunately, Crow is no film history scholar, and his book is really not much more than an impressively printed fan's scrapbook. Real biographical information is sparse, there are no substantial interviews of Scott's colleagues (of the four "interviews" in the book, two are one-sentence remarks and the other two are almost remarkably uninformative Q&A's of this sort: "Q: 'Do you know his birthplace?' A: 'I don't know.'").
The vast majority of the book is a collection of photographs, many quite interesting, but scattered randomly without connection to the adjacent text, i.e., photos of Scott's late 1950s Westerns in a chapter dealing with his early romantic juvenile period. There is a filmography with minimal detail, and a long section consisting of photocopied newspaper articles about Scott, many of which are no more than publicity blurbs. There is virtually no criticism of any kind; even the worst Scott films are beloved of the author and no critical evaluation of Scott's acting skills is attempted. And whether or not one believes or cares one way or the other about the rumors and innuendo regarding Scott's relationship with Cary Grant, it is astounding to find the one purportedly objective book to focus specifically on Scott's career completely ignoring the fact that such rumor and innuendo had significant effect on Scott's career and personal life. Crow never mentions it. It would be perplexing were it not evident that this is a fan book, written by a fan who has no interest in anything beyond promoting adoration for his idol. It's quite a nice book to look at, barring the abundant misspellings and middle-school syntax. But a real Randolph Scott biography or filmography, one that is useful to serious students of American film, has yet to be published.

Excellent phots but weak on information about production of the films and their audience or critical reception.

As a matter of fact it is a great book on Randolph Scott, our favourite big screen cowboy heroe. I recommend it.

Mario Peixoto Alves

It may be that the best thing about this book is Gilmore's folksy style of writing. He brings alive and makes more readable Native American myths of the Plains' tribes. My chief complaint is that he credits no one for his quotes. He includes a bibliography but no footnotes. It's not a huge omission in a work like this but it means you end of taking a lot of what he says on faith alone.

This book contains short accounts of actual myths and folklores of Native American tribes from the Missouri River Region. Excellent for discovering the stories surrounding some geological features around the Missouri River valley. A good read.

I bought this book based on the positive reviews, and obviously the reviewers didn't know what they were talking about. There is nothing in this book that is historically accurate, and anybody that is a fan of the Aztec Empire will be sorely disappointed. It read to me like an 8th grade adventure novel that had no real substance in it. It's not really worth the time of any adult reader.

Where do I even begin? Bad is not a harsh enough word for this piece of work. From the historical inaccuracies, to the terrible gramatical errors, this book is the last I would recommend to anyone interested in the Aztecs.

According to the back of the book, the Aztecs' "exploits were heroic and this book was inspired by their accomplishments and is dedicated to the descendants of the Aztecs." I don't know what this has to do with the actual content of the book, considering that the Aztecs for the most part are presented as a brutal, bloodthirsty, and evil race. I can't count the number of times the word "evil" is used to describe various aspects of Aztec culture in this book, even Tenochtitlan is described as an "evil city." I can't see how anyone would feel honored by having this book dedicated to them. The only part of the Aztec culture that the author speaks of positively is it's medical accomplishments.

Furthermore, anyone who has any knowledge on the Aztecs will be stunned by the incredible lack of historical accuracy. It's very clear that the author did next to no research to write this book; the only historically accurate things I can think of in this book are that Motecuhzoma was the ruler of the Aztecs at the time of the Spanish arrival, and that the Aztec capital was called Tenochtitlan... That's as far as it goes for accuracy. The Toltec civilization was long gone by the time of the Aztecs, so I don't even know how the story could have taken place to begin with. In any case, the Toltecs were polytheistic, Quetzalcoatl was considered a god rather than a savior bringing monotheism in his wake. Also, the Toltecs practiced human sacrifice, so it's interesting that they're so heavily disgusted by it in this book.

The author uses the "evils" of the Aztec religion as a cornerstone for the plot in this book, but it's clear that he doesn't know anything about the religion further than the fact that sacrifices were involved. But even this aspect of the religion isn't portrayed with any accuracy. The two main Aztec characters are the only "good" Aztecs in this book- they're allowed to be good because they've disowned the Aztec religion. But for being the only two Aztec "good guys," they have the least Aztec names in the book. The name "Madi" couldn't even exist in Nahuatl- the Aztec language does not use the letter D. Where is he getting these names? Your guess is as good as mine.

All in all, this book has little more substance than to be an Indiana Jones-like adventure story taking place in an almost completely fabricated culture that the author merely chooses to name "Aztec."

A friend recommended this book to me and I didn't know what to expect. I sure didn't expect to finish the book so soon as I couldn't put it down once I started. "The Aztec Knight" is a beautifully written book which took me back like a time machine to a period unfamiliar to most. The story is rich in character, scenery, and a plot which is not unlike Shakespeare in its many twists and turns. I recommend this book.

When reading the description, high hopes are raised on the potential reader. Mr. Sugar's selection is disproportionally biased towards boxing. Even Mr. Sugar's boxing selections are disappointing; quite a surprise considering his prestige in the field. Other popular sports such as football, soccer, and basketball are not covered in the depth that they deserve. Furthermore, his oppinions are rarely supported by facts, sometimes leading to disinformation . Sincerely, I regret buying it and I would not recommend it to any serious sports reader.

well what do you expect, it isnt biased towards boxing, boxing is the greatest sport of all time, and many great athletes have been boxers. This book is very thorough and well written.

I have known Bert Sugar personally for almost thirty years and I have always found him to be very interesting with a mind like a steel trap. Reading this book, for me, was a real treat, because, like Mr. Sugar, I fancy myself to be a fan of sports-related trivia. Unlike one previous reviewer, I found Mr. Sugar's rankings to be equally distributed among all the sports. Ranked among the top 5 were yesteryear's incarnations of Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders - multi sports stars who could do everything on and off the field. Jackie Robinson, ranked number 4, excelled at baseball, football, basketball, swimming, track, and even tennis. Number 2 rated Jim Thorpe, in addition to his success in football, baseball, and track, also won (Bert, you might or might not be aware of this!) the 1912 Intercollegiate BALLROOM DANCING championship! Coming in at number one........JIM BROWN, a FIVE sport star at Syracuse in football, baseball, basketball, track, and...get this... LACROSSE! I consider Bert's book to be a must read and a sure-fire conversation starter.

I was OK with the first two chapters of this book. As an independent thinker, I agree with Mr. Ross that a lot of bad doctrine and theology has developed and that the bible does not speak authoritatively on science and history, but reflects the misconceptions of its authors. He loses me in chapter 3 when he argues that since his common sense won't allow him to believe that a loving God can allow suffering, therefore God must not affect and must not even be in charge of earthly events. Having made that assumption, he goes on to say that the bible is in error wherever it reveals God to be omnipotent, a loving Father (what kind of father isn't involved in his children's lives?), or an indwelling counselor. He believes Jesus performed no miracles except for a few faith healings.

Using his common sense again, he states that Jesus is not really equivalent with God, because he doesn't see how man and God can exist in one being. He says that all the writings of John and Paul that reveal Jesus to be God are either flawed theology or have been misinterpreted. He also believes that no atonement is necessary for sin, so the crucifixion and resurrection are religiously unimportant.

I may be an independent thinker, but I believe that the bible must be an accurate representation of who God is, what He has done for us, and what He expects from us. Mr. Ross throws most of it away, reducing his religion mostly to the three synoptic gospels. However, even the synoptics clearly show Jesus to be God ("When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the angels with him, ..." Matt 25:31) and God to be very much involved in the lives of His children ("Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father" Matt 10:29).

If you are interested in the question of how a loving, omnipotent God can allow suffering, try the writing of Hannah Whitall Smith (The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life, the God of All Comfort, and especially The Common Sense Teaching of the Bible - chapters 5 and 9).

Read this book! Seekers, doubters, and non-comfy Christians of all denominations will find straightforward discussions of The Big Questions: Biblical literalism, the divinity of Jesus, the Resurrection -- to name just a few of the biggest. Mr. Ross shoots from the hip, with erudition and, occasionally, with wonderful crankiness. Be advised: This book is in no way a secular debunking of religious truths. The author is clearly a man of profound faith; he demonstrates that it is possible to believe with both eyes -- and the mind -- open.

Every since I was a little kid, I never understood "Jesus died for your sins" (or "washed away your sins") and whenever I questioned it, I basically was ridiculed. So, the basis of Christianity made no sense to me. This book rejects this portion of Christianity by relying only on the portions of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark and Luke) that are consistent. The two chapters "Who is Jesus of Nazareth" and "Can this be Christian?" are so common-sense that I wonder how anyone can still believe the traditional way. I recommend starting with these chapters. Other chapters like "posessions and the use of money" are very inspiring. After reading this book, for the first time, Christianity makes sense to me.

The author did not answer his own question... Whatever happened to Scott after he stopped acting? Why was he so reclusive and so on? The author himself does not know.

The author testifies that his father was wonderful and dignified man, but what would most people write about their fathers? It seems that the son was quite distant from his father, because it was in his father's nature to be distant from everyone and everything.

C.H. Scott is preoccupied with one thing only in this book: refuting rumor about his father and Cary Grant. I sympathize with the author. But if he meant to fight against "the slander", then he fails. Instead of being factual and objective in his refute, he just keeps coming back to the issue with his childish arguments. As the result this book is THE MOST BORING READ ever!!!

The author talks about his own life too much. If this book was titled: "Me and My Dad, Randolph Scott", it would have been appropriate. There aren't even any good photos, except for "the young George Randolph Scott in his family house". The author should have taken a lesson from his father: When you have nothing to say, DON'T SAY ANYTHING!

Originally published as "In the Footsteps of the Giant," (and listed on amazon.com under that title as well), this is a loving tribute of a son for his father. It is not at all a revelatory book, nor in any sense a biography of interest to film scholars. It earnestly refutes rumors regarding Scott's sexual orientation, but unfortunately does so only by calling the rumors ugly and baseless. I personally find the rumors less than convincing, but this book by Scott fils is not part of why I don't believe them. There is less insight into Randolph Scott than one would have liked here, and perhaps a little more about the son than the average film student needs. But it's a valuable book nonetheless, simply because it's one of the few pebbles in the gaping hole where a book-length study of Scott's life and career should be.

This is a wonderfully written book about a very private actor. C.H. Scott confirms that Randolph Scott was the same person off screen as on. C.H. Scott also displays great respect for his family in showing a glimpse of their personal life while still maintaing the level of privacy that was so important to his father.

The amount of information is thinly stretched out in this...thin book! The writing is good but the stories are recycled over and over and not much is discovered. Dial, to me, came off as a big B.S.er. I didn't find his philosophy or effette personality to be remotely interesting. Keep this book in a glass case---read only in the event of an emergency(nothing else to read!)

This book was captivating, easy reading, but yet confusing. It almost seems like a few of the "badges" were tainted, and that's why they stopped pressing to find out who paid Dial to kill Hogan. Could the warden's wife really have made "almost identical" calls? Or was it the same, maybe taped, message? There are too many unanswered questions. If Dial is still alive, I am sure of this; He has a copy of this book to add to his collection of his personal accompishments, and, He is an artist that is proud of his work, and he will surface again,with more of his creations, and stories to tell.

Maybe this man who thinks he is above everyone else, who thinks nothing of ruining the lives of all who come in contact with him, will walk away from this apparently successful evasion! I received and read this book in one night, and thought the author did an excellent job at researching this man's past. However, I also feel that he has just scratched the surface. It is true that Dial is a very complex individual, but Mr. Sasser was successful in exposing this man as someone who has a constant need to feel important. If he can't do it with the truth, he makes something up to put himself in the center of attention, and laces it with enough truth to make it believable! His continued evasion is an outrage, and I do not believe that Bobbi Parker went with him willingly. I felt that Mr. Sasser revealed this through the source he quoted. She only met her twice, and saw the integrity with which Bobbi led her life. I would have liked to have read more from people who actually know her. I am proud to say that I have known Bobbi for almost 14yrs, and she IS that special! Thank you Mr. Sasser, for an intriguing look at the world, or should I say illusion that this man has created for himself. To the family of Mr. Hogan, God's speed, and to Bobbi... we all love and miss you very much!