Jeffrey Ethell put together a wonderful collection of original WWII vintage color pictures of military aircraft, primarily from the European Theater of Operations. The book is light on text, but the pictures more than make up for this shortcoming. Mr. Ethell, who unfortunately died in a crash of a P-38 in 1997, was a foremost authority of military aircraft and amassed an amazing collection of color photographs from WWII. Just a small fraction of these are displayed in this wonderful book. If you are a fan of WWII military aircraft, this book is a must for your collection.

This is by far the best concert DVD that I've come across in a long time. The quality of performance is simply matchless.

The set opens on a darkened stage with a few guitar notes played in tremolo style, then unto a guy setting the pace on a percussion instrument making way to Don Felder and Joe Walsh alternating on classical guitars that shortly turns into the familiar opening strains of 'Hotel California' - giving this rock standard a classical air so far removed from the electric treatment in its original studio version - before Don Henley takes over in his wailing vocals. What a way to open a concert!

Don Henley, Glen Frey, Timothy Schmit, Joe Walsh and Don Felder never sounded better. In fact the songs sound far superior in this concert than in the original studio versions, which in itself is a novelty considering that studio versions are supposed to be more polished and refined than live versions. This only attests to how great performers The Eagles really are.

Some of the Eagles standards are performed in this concert, from the high notes of 'I Can't Tell You Why' featuring Timothy Schmit to the fine harmony of 'Take It Easy' with Glen Frey taking the lead. Joe Walsh's rapid fire guitar work in 'Life In A Fast Lane' is a thing to behold, not to mention the mandolin-flavored 'Tequila Sunrise' with Don Felder tinkering with his stringed instrument. 'Desperado' is simply outstanding in its simplicity, with the bulk of the instrumental work focused on the piano ably played by Glen Frey.

New materials, some of them lifted from Don Henley's previous solo album releases, are also featured, showing to full effect Don Felder and Joe Walsh's guitar virtuosity, Don Henley's prowess on drums and Timothy Schmit's subtle but fine bass playing. Timothy takes the lead in the uplifting 'Love Will Keep Us Alive' and Joe does his thing in 'Pretty Maids All In A Row' before Don takes over in 'New York Minute', the somber 'The Last Resort' and the fast and exuberantly danceable 'Get Over It'. What a pleasant surprise that a rock band like The Eagles could be so effective doing a pure country tearjerker, the sad and melancholic 'The Girl From Yesterday', with Glen Frey emphatically taking the lead with full orchestral backing. The guy can obviously give those Nashville folks a run for their money! One has to wonder though why Don Felder did not take the spotlight as lead vocalist in any of the songs in this program, just contentedly concentrating on his electric/classical/slide guitars and mandolin.

As singers and musicians, The Eagles are difficult to match. In 'Hell Freezes Over', the group really soared to new heights!

Place the Eagles - Hell Freezes Over DVD in your DTS compatible player, fire up your DTS receiver, sit back and enjoy Eagles hits from the 70's and 80's all in incredible digital clarity eminating from 5 different locations in the surround field. Fan or not, once you hear the spaciousness of this concert, you wonder how you'll ever listen to a stereo track again. Eagles present most of their chart toppers in an intimate concert setting complete with a string section as well as numerous back-up musicians and singers. As an extra the DVD contains a bonus track in DTS audio that is simply stunning, (Seven Bridges Road). Hell Freezes Over deserves 5 stars!

This reunion concert of The Eagles is a memorable event, from 1994, when the guys decided to get back together after many years apart. The opening song has a brilliant rearrangement in a deelectricfied set....Hotel California! The sound of the guitars' strings being plucked are crystal clear, in the incomparable DTS format, and after the synchronized guitar intro - Don Henley's voice hits his "On that dark desert highway...." notes superbly, with the center speaker solely devoted to him on this track! An incredible version of this classic song - which, of course, received favorable airplay on the radio! My favorite song: I Can't Tell You Why, has bassist Timothy B. Schmidt singing his lead vocals, dead on, to the 1979 studio recording....Glen Frey soothes the listener with his keyboard playing, on this one. Overall, this is The Eagles best concert recording, ever! I own the first 1999 DVD release of Hell Freezes Over, which happened to have the DTS audio! The sound on this disc is phenomenal....you'll have to hear it to believe it! I treasure this DVD of mine; I know you will too! Take It Easy!

I have read the novel several times and have seen the film version several times.Both are excellent. It is a real tour de force that Forsythe makes irrelevant the fact that we know that De Gaulle was not assassinated. The pace is so fast and the storyline so gripping that we are carried along by the thrill of what happens to the exclusion of the fact that De Gaulle will survive. The detail of the preparation for the kill is credible and superbly researched. In particular the novel details for the first time, as far as I'm aware, the best method of applying for a passport in a false name, something with which the Jackal is all too familiar. You enter easily into his world and yet you never really know who he is, even his nationality. His anonymity is attractive. A personal point of interest is that I spotted an error in the text that has persisted since the book's original publication in 1971 but should be corrected since I have pointed it out to the current publishers. It's a really freudian slip in chapter 18 when instead of asking about the "make and number" of the car Lebel actually asks about the "make and murder" of the car. Strangely enough the italian translation of the novel corrects the mistake. I was curious to know if Forsythe had made the mistake in the original text, particularly if he had handwritten the original. The publisher did not forward my question to the author or give me an e-mail address to correspond with him. If anyone knows it I'd be grateful.
This novel must rank as one of the greatest thrillers of modern times. I highly recommend it to those who enjoy thrillers.

They are the veterans of the futile war in Algeria. The President cares nothing for them, their cause or their forgotten colony. Attempt after attempt to take the life of the president have failed. Simply put: the OAS is dying. With informers at every level and no money left, they seek retribution.

The only man on earth capable of full filling their lust for vengeance is an anonymous, blond english man who calls himself -- The Jackal. Unknown to every police force and secret service on earth, The Jackal does not exist. With a price of half a million dollars The Jackal will assassinate the most heavily guarded man on earth-President Charles de Gualle.

With utmost precision and professionalism we follow the Jackal through his elite plan to kill his target.

This was a sweet novel. This book should be read by any would-be assassin and by every would-be writer who wants to write about Assassins...

One of the things a reviewer must bear in mind is not when he read the book but when the book was written. Day of the Jackal is a ground breaker that has since been copied countless times.

The book is about an assassin hired by the OAS (nowadays, they would be called French terrorists, patriots, far-right extremists etc) to kill Charles DeGaulle, president of France. The OAS was composed of French war veterans who felt betrayed by the country they had served with enormous sacrifice to their lives. When Charles DG gave up Algeria, he became the symbol OAS decided had to be struck down. Events turn out such that a foreign professional assassin had to be hired to do the job, and of course, to ensure the balance, the French police had to be tipped off. Thus the game of cat and mouse began. As the author detailed the workings of both sides, readers are captivated and would actually root for both sides, nevermind the author did explicitly state CDG survived.

Of course, critical readers may find certain about of suspension of belief required. First, it was the repeated failed attempts of the OAS members to do the killing themselves that cost OAS its support. The cause of the failure was supposed to be sheer bad luck and silly oversight of the OAS, who were supposed to be experienced soldiers. They may not know much about politics, but to fail in such operations seem rather unforgivable.

Second, the serendipidity of the authorities getting on the right track to hunt the Jackal was also incredible. Whereas the Jackal, codename for the assassin had relied on careful planning and relied not on luck, luck was the only thing the authorities had. The message might be that detective work is long labourious and luck only favours the prepared.

Third, I guess there is no way the author can short change the Jackal's effort except to make the assassination attempt fail by the sheerest bad luck.

Nonetheless, the structures introduced by the author to the assassination and manhunt was wonderfully captivating. This novel definitely makes true the saying the goal is the journey, not the destination.

This Higgins classic is a suspenseful tale of World War II intrigue. Interesting characters on both sides of the plot and an unpredictable conclusion. If you only read one Higgins book, this should certainly be it.

If there are two Jack Higgins books you absolutely MUST read, then this one and also EYE OF THE STORM are top of the list! This is perhaps his best known one in the UK - in 1943, Germany plots the ultimate undercover operation where an assorted ragbag of NAzi sympathisers and German paratroopers(Kurt Steiner being the main character here) clandestinely invade England to kidnap Prime Minister Winston Churchill. One of the main protagonists is Liam Devlin, an IRA fighter who teams up with the Germans and enjoys a romance with farmhand Molly Prior throughout the story. Everything seems to go smoothly until two children almost drown and one of the Germans tries to rescue them - and the residents of Norfolk village Studley Constable(where a lot of the action takes place) soon discover what exactly is about to happen. At this pojnt, the action moves swifty and builds up to an unexpected climax. One wonders if such a thing really did happen during World War 2, on reading the closing lines in the book . . . you never know! A real page-turner, which, although written in 1975, is still a winner today.

It's been a while since I read this awesome WW 2 adventure. I still remember the story though. A crack team of German paratroopers are sent to England to kidnap or kill Prime Minister Winston Churchill. There's also an IRA gunman helping the Nazis on their mission. He gets romantically involved with an English farm girl.
The story is very well detailed. The SS scenes are probably as realistic as they get. The Germans blow their cover when they try to rescue a boy from drowning in the English village of Studley Constable. This leads to the hold-up of hostages in a church. That's when the action really begins. Like Higgins states in the book, at least 50% of this story is documented historical fact. You have to decide for yourself how much of the rest of it may have actually happenned.
If you like this book, also check out "The Dark Side of the Island," one of Jack Higgins' lesser known books. It's another great adventure.

Unless you're a real military history buff, reading about battle isn't as fascinating as one might think. I love history - particularly World War Two - so I was excited to read Ambrose's book, particularly in light of the HBO miniseries. For the first 150 or so pages, I found the book compelling not just as history but as a vivid account of the human spirit and resiliency under extreme conditions. Unfortunately, my interest started to wane at the halfway point as Ambrose lays on thick the American patriotic chest-thumping. While America certainly helped bring WW2 to a close, this book portrays the British as a bunch of disorganized . (A common characteristic I've found in American literature written about the era.) The British withstood the Nazis for two years before America came in. To portray them as anything less than heroes does them a severe disservice and fatally taints what should have been an enlightening read.

Based on the first two episodes of HBO's miniseries adaptation, in this case, I recommend skipping the book in favor of the movie where, rather ironically, the role of Winters, unquestionably Easy Company's most stalwart hero, is brilliantly played by a Brit.

BAND OF BROTHERS is about the close relationship of the soldiers who volunteered for Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. It follows them through Normandy, the Arnhem campaign in Holland, The Battle of The Bulge, and the capture of Berchtesgaden, Hitler's Eagle's Nest. I had previously read Ambrose's CITIZEN SOLDIERS, which had enough characters to make a Russian novelist proud. Like a journalist, Ambrose would fully identify a soldier the first time he's mentioned, then assume the reader knows whom he's talking about thereafter. With BAND OF BROTHERS there's more of a focus. Captain Herbert Sobel, the first C.O. of Easy Company gets a lot of attention. Sobel was a training officer, pretty much hated by the men. Lieutenant Richard Winters, who was cool under fire, is the exact opposite. Forty-seven years later he still receives letters from some of the regular troopers. Of the enlisted men, I found Pvt. David Webster the most intriguing. Before the war, he was a Harvard English Lit major. Ambrose uses the book he wrote about his war experience extensively.
An especially interesting part of the book was the part about the troopers' relationships with French, Dutch, Belgium, and German civilians. Their attitude toward the Germans was rather surprising.
Ambrose provides an epilogue where he details what became of the men after the war: An inordinate number of them became teachers or were involved in the construction trade. Several became millionaires. The most tragic case is that of First Sergeant Talbert, who never was able to shake the trauma of war.
If you have as much respect for the soldiers who fought in WWII as I do, you will find BAND OF BROTHERS a compelling read.

Stephen Ambrose has written a gripping account of an airborne infantry company in World War II -- from its origins in a Georgia training camp, through its combat operations in Western Europe, to its eventual capture of Berchtesgaden, Hitler's retreat in Bavaria, at the close of the war. Ambrose comments tellingly on the roots of personal courage and unit cohesion in the face of violent conflict, cold, hunger and the possibility of imminent death. On a broader scale, he shows how the grand-scale strategies of General Eisenhower and other commanders become implemented in the specific tactics of Easy Company and other allied units in the field. I particularly liked the small maps provided for the interested reader to trace the tactical movements of Easy company, and also the photographs of its personnel. The televised series based on Ambrose's work was interesting, but it could not give us the texture and breadth that the book provides so well. This is a book that I will re-read in the future and I highly recommend it.

I read all of MacLean's books when I was a kid, and although Where Eagles Dare is not his best, it is easily his most exciting. I remember being up at 4 a.m., unable to stop reading.

Unusually, this is MacLean's only book in which he wrote a screenplay first, then based the novel on his script (that's why the film seems such a faithful adaptation). As a result, the book is shorter and leaner then many of his novels, and it definitely works for the story. The suspense never stops building, the action sequences - especially atop the cable car - are some of the best he's ever written, and the characters have a very entertaining repartee between them, particularly Smith and Shaffer. Where Eagles Dare also features some of MacLean's sexiest female heroes, not always present in his books.

The Guns of Navarone had a greater scope and deeper character development, H.M.S. Ulysses was harrowing, gritty and deeply humanistic, Ice Station Zebra had a plot with more twists and double-crosses, but Where Eagles Dare was MacLean's all-time action/suspense fest.

Alistair Maclean weaves as good a tale of intruige and unexpected plot twists as anyone, and he did it better in the 1970s than anyone. When compared with today's similar action adventures by authors such as Tom Clancy, however, Maclean's come up only slightly second best.

Even with that being the case, Maclean's books, and WHERE EAGLES DARE in particular are worth a look.

In this book, set during WWII not long before D-Day, an American general who is one of the chief planners for D-Day is shot down over Germany. British intelligence decides to send in a top-flight group of agents to try to rescue him from an impregnable castle fortress in Bavaria. The leader of the group, Smith, is accompanied by 5 other British agents and an American, Shaffer (not to mention a woman who is part of the endeavor, known only to Smith).

Smith is completely British, including his humor, while Shaffer is completely American -- including American humor.

This is a fast read, at only a little over 200 pp., quite a bit shorter than the 400+ pages of Clancy's works. The dialogue is good, the plot development and its twists and turns are great. There is not a lot of depth of character development, just enough to carry the story, but the action and suspense make up for it.

As you probably know, this book was made into a movie starring Richard Burton as Smith, and Clint Eastwood as Shaffer. The movie is quite faithful to the book, including dialogue directly from the novel. They kill fewer people in the novel than in the book -- Shaffer and Smith both come across as being more gentle, still cold-blooded, but gentle, than in the movie.

Keep an eye out for Shaffer's falling for Heidi -- something that doesn't happen in the movie.

It's a good, fun, summer read.

4 stars.

Be careful out there!

Alan Holyoak

Alistair Maclean's novel, 'Where Eagles Dare,' is a great adventure story that takes the reader back to the desperate days of World War Two. The story centers around a crack British commando team infiltrating a Bavarian stronghold to rescue a high-ranking American officer. From start to finish this is riviting fiction. Maclean's protagonists are the kind of characters that make you want to cheer and the plot contains enough twists to keep you guessing right up to the end. The movie version of this novel, which stars Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood, is one of the the most faithful film interpretations of a book ever made. Read the book and then see the film!

I first read this book in the winter of 1988 -- along with a majority of my friends. At that time I proclaimed it to be my favorite book of all time and hurried to read all of Pat Conroy's other works.

I just finished The Prince for the 3rd time a few weeks ago. While Tom Wingo's images stayed with me for ten years (Tolitha laughing with her legs in the air, sibling love and devotion), I found myself getting more out of this book than I ever had before. I like Conroy's writing a lot, and am able to overlook his five-dollar words to get to the heart of the story.

Pat Conroy writes a beautiful story about a boy's love for his brother and sister and his strange relationship with his parents. This book touches upon all our raw emotions -- love, hate, friendship and lust. You will dive into this book and feel what Tom Wingo feels, cry when Tom Wingo cries and laugh uproariously at the foolishness of some characters.

As I say to all my friends, read The Prince of ! ! Tides, then let's talk.

Pat Conroy's novel, which is a long read if you've seen the book or if you've read it, is a rich and romantic story telling of the lives of Tom Wingo, a Southern man with a dark past, and his love affair with New York psychiatrist Susan Lowenstein. But then novel is much more than that. It looks at the world of children, innocent in play and fancy in imagination, their trauma with an abusive father, issues of morality and of parental love. The novel is very narrative, Tom Wingo is a character whose mind can fill an entire palace of memories. There are many elements of the story that people nowaday can relate to. Look at the characters of Tom's mother, his sister Savannah and the charming urbane Dr. Lowenstein and her father-deprived son and you will see how closely connected to reality this novel can be. It is a romance, and in fact, in its depiction of an affair almost close to Bridges of Madison County. This novel will make you cry, will make you think and will warm your heart. So pick up a copy and read it before bed, perhaps listening to the music of Bach, who is the favored composer of Dr. Lowenstein's son. You will fall in love with Conroy's imagery and romanticism. A five star read.

I've read this piece of "flawed, outrageous humanity" no less than a hundred times, and have yet to find anything more truly gorgeous, more terrible, more moving, or more hilarious. Pat Conroy chooses the most beautiful words of the English language and strings them together like jewels; the story crafts the lovely as well as the hideous. Mr. Conroy tells a story that is so engaging that it is nearly impossible to stop reading. Somehow this book is especially appealing to those people whose families and backgrounds are less than perfect-yet even these people are able to find something to identify with in this book. I would recommend this to anyone over 18, due to some mature subjects.

If you like short stories, you'll love this book--it's a compilation of them. If you like novels, I've never read anything so accessible yet so challenging. If you think your life was hard, read this book. If you love beauty, poetry, nature, words, literature, or the south, read this. Mr. Conroy's other books are also several notches above excellent.

PS-skip the movie. I've only ever seen one movie that was as good as the book, and this wasn't it.

This book takes Stone Barrington from detective to lawyer. It was so interesting. This is a great charactor. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a great mystery. Easy to get into and not a boring page. Stuart Woods is one of my favorite authors as I have now read five of his books and plan on reading them all. Don't miss this one.

This book is Stuart Woods at his best. Woods does a fabulous job of creating the well rounded Stone Barrington character. This was not the first book I had read in the series, so it was interesting to see how Stone Barrington went from cop to lawyer. The plot line in the story is excellent and definitely keeps the pages turning. I had no idea what was going to happen at the end, and that is just the way I like it. I highly recommend this book and can't wait to start the next in the Stone Barrington series.

This was the first book by Stuart Woods that I have read. I couldn't put it down! Now, I have gone and purchased all of the books published in the Stone Barrington series. I hope the rest of the books are as hooking! This book kept me turning pages without even noticing the time. I really like a book that keeps me guessing as to "who done it" and trying to piece the clues together. This book does just that. It is the first in the Stone Barrington series and I would definitly recommend it to anyone who likes a mystery! I hope you enjoy!

I am surprised that this book is not mandatory reading for all education students. I had the pleaseure of reading Beach music this summer and chose this becauce I had enjoyed his other book so much. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Conroy had an early career in education.

As an 8th grade teacher I enjoy reading books about others in education, but quality teaching stories are hard to find.

I loved this lyrical tale of Conroy's year spent teaching on a remote South Carlina island. He faced immense challenges in this primative school, but loved his students and made a great impact on these young lives.

I found his stories both tragic and humorous. Aternatley lauging and crying. Conroy is a gifted story teller capturing the children, the island and himself woth poignancy and clarity. This was delightful to read!

The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy is a great book. The Book is about a white school teacher going to Yamacraw Island to teach the deprived black children. The book touches your heart and makes you think how well you have it. You will learn many things from this book like what it is not to have a house, electric, and even a good education. I think that all teachers should read this to understand how much some people love their job and this book can help you improve the way you teach. This book is also shows how if you want something so bad and you work at it you can achieve your goals.

Before Pat Conroy became a successful author he was a teacher. This book chronicles the one year he spent teaching in a two-room schoolhouse on Yamacraw Island off the coast of South Carolina. It is a moving and often funny story of one man's attempt to bring education to eighteen mostly-forgotten black children. Children who didn't know the name of the ocean at their front door, didn't know who was their President, didn't even know the name of the country they lived in. However the story never becomes maudlin and the tone is upbeat throughout. Many times I found myself laughing out loud. Mr. Conroy is an excellent writer. I recommend this book highly.

The first half or so of this story was a page-turner, a young boy born into not so nice circumstances turns out to be a musical prodigy. The descriptions of the boy, Claude, as he delves deeper and deeper into the world of music held my attention though I am not a musician and cannot read music.

After the discovery of music beginning was over though, I feel the author had nothing else, after that every possible cliche that could be fitted into the story was, the characters were unreal and one-dimensional, everything was just too good to be true.

If you're a music lover, this book will probably interest you in spite of the lame plot.

My teacher, knowing I was a pianist, recommended that I read this book for my summer reading assignment. I'm not a realistic fiction type of person, but I fell in love with this book after reading the first chapter. Conroy's style of writing, neither dry and terse nor florid and gushing, makes reading the words a pleasure.

From a pianist's point of view, it is immediately obvious that Conroy did his homework on the technicalities of that instrument and of music as a whole. The thing that impressed me the most, however, was the intensity of his descriptions of Claude's feelings about the piano and about his music. Conroy's description of the "wall" that Claude faces was a wonderful insight as well. I have yet to come across another author whose descriptions harmonize with my own experiences. I understand (or at least think I understand) Claude's feelings and his dilemmas; that is due entirely to Conroy's writing. I seldom find books that draw me in like this one has. It's one of those rare books that have the ability to let the reader lose himself in the pages.

This read this book years ago, when it first came out, and just reread it for the second time. It's as fresh and true as the first time. The story of Claude, his troubled mother, how he found his way to the piano and thus, the rest of his life has stayed with me as few have. I know nothing about playing the piano, but the way the author describes how a person like Claude hears sounds, the patterns they make and how they influence his music was fascinating. I ran out and bought an Art Tatum tape, thinking I would understand and better appreciate jazz after reading this book, but unfortunately, that was not the case. Any way, another reviewer has described some flaws in the book as far what a real concert musician would or wouldn't have done. I suppose that's the trouble with reading books that have to do with something you have some expertise in---little details get in the way of your enjoyment of it. More's the pity, because this book is a wondrous experience. It will pull you in from the first page and not let you go til you are finished.