Most contemporary histories of the Civil War cover the 1864 Overland Campaign as a series of maneuvers from the Rapidan river ultimately to Appomattox with emphasis on the major battles fought at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna River, Cold Harbor and the siege at Petersburg. Little is publicized concerning the planning and marches to and from these prestigous battlefields, until Gordon Rhea's study of this series of battles. In Cold Harbor, Rhea's latest in this series, he comes clean with the details of the maneuvers from the North Anna river to Cold Harbor and the ensuing battles on June 1st and 3rd, 1864. By providing such a complete and comprehensive campaign history, Rhea sacrifices (in my opinion) some of his previous improvements in "readability" and essentially redefines what a "campaign history" reads like.

Even though this period does encompass a significant amount of maneuvering, cavalry battles, small infantry engagements and entrenchments, Rhea, as in his previous works, feels obligated to discuss all of it in detail. While he does accomplish an amazingingly organized study of this amazingly complex series of movements, he loses many a reader to these details and ultimately the whole book suffers somewhat in terms of quality.

This isn't to say that this is a bad book...on the contrary, as I've previously stated, Rhea presents an impressive study, taking no liberties in his research to uncover what really happened and when. We start out with the armies facing each other at the North Anna river. U.S. Grant, having realized that R.E. Lee's inverted "V" entrenchment south of the river is indeed a trap, decides to again move "by the left flank" and steals a march on Lee by crossing the Pamunkey river with his sights set on Richmond. Lee finally discovers this and sets up strong defenses along Totopotomoy creek between Grant and Richmond. Cavalry battles at Haw's Shop/Enon Church, Bethesda Church and Matadequin Creek presage the infantry "skirmishes" along Shady Grove Road and Old Church Road.

Then "a fateful cascade of events had brought Cold Harbor to the forefront Grant's and Lee's attention. Federal commanders initially had no intention of using the place in their offensive operations. They considered the road junction significant only because Confederates might exploit it as a staging area to harass Union supply lines and thwart (Union General Baldy) Smith's arrival." Lee, sensing Grant's intention to capture the crossrads and use it as a launching pad for an invasion of Richmond, sends Cavalry to Cold Harbor to prevent them from taking it. Union Cavalry under Phil Sheridan fears that the Confederates plan to attack him there and goes on the offensive. Lee conversely thinks that the Cavalry attack is the vanguard for a major Union attack and shifts an entire infantry corps there. Grant sees this and starts his infantry there and the engagement is on.

The famous confrontations on June 1st and 3rd mark the true battles at Cold Harbor and Rhea hits his stride in discussing them: "Writers later alluded to a 'Cold Harbor' syndrome, claiming that the carnage Union soldiers witnessed in the fighting there persuaded them to shy away from assaulting entrenched positions. In fact, by the time the Army of the Potomac reached Cold Harbor, veterans had already learned that valuable lesson. Cold Harbor is where newcomers discovered what old timers already knew." Famous engagements involving the 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery and the 8th New York Heavy Artillery are detailed here making these stories a remarkable companion for the History Channel's "Civil War Combat" episode on Cold Harbor. These army-wide assaults against the entrenched Confederate positions have driven many historians to indict Grant for mis-management of this battle and garnering him the reputation of a "butcher". Rhea dispels these myths: "When viewed in the war's larger context, the June 3 attack falls short of it's popular reputation for slaughter. Grant lost more men each day in the Wilderness and on two different days at Spotsylvania Court House than he did on Jume 3, making his main effort at Cold Harbor only the fifth bloodiest day for the Federals since crossing the Rapidan." What Grant and the Union army is guilty of is army-wide coordination. Time and again, they have an advantage taken away when coordinated movements go awry and the Confederates are able to capitalize...Rhea documents these in his closing chapter and discusses Grant's feeling that this was not a major defeat, but just another obstacle in his road to defeating Lee's army.

A study not for the general reader, but an essential component for historians and of Civil War history, Gordon Rhea's latest book continues his impressive documantation of the close of the war in Virginia and I would encourage all Civil War buffs to read these books.

Gordon C. Rhea marshals an impressive mass of detail about the events between Ulysses S Grant's movement from the lines on the North Anna River to the end of the Battle of Cold Harbor proper on June 3, 1864. I have heard many of the opinions about the battle ranging from the judgment of Grant as an unfeeling butcher on a large scale to Rhea's revisionist approach, which puts the casualties into some perspective for the campaign and the war as a whole.

The title of my review, which comes from a quote by Lt Col Charles Cummings of the 17th Vermont, is a good description of the main battle. Cold Harbor looks forward to the grim battle lines of the First World War, where men dug in and ventured from their trenches at their peril. As the war went on, the veteran troops on both sides learned to dig in. It was the gung-ho new regiments from the North that had the heaviest casualties: They had not yet developed the basic survival skills.

Rhea's study went in for such heavy detail that at times, I yearned for an occasional editorial perspective, which this author pretty much restricted to the first and last chapters.

Robert E Lee came out relatively unsinged from Cold Harbor, but Grant has taken much of the blame for the unfortunate general staff culture of the Army of the Potomac. Remember that it was only a short time before that he took over the command, and he had to make do with prima donnas like Meade -- who comes off particularly badly -- as well as Burnside, Warren, and Wright. Even Baldy Smith, Grant's friend whom he had rescued from the country club atmosphere of Butler's command at Bermuda Hundred, spent most of the time (though somewhat justifiably) complaining about lack of food and ammunition, and contradictory commands from the top.

After I finished reading this book, I looked up Grant's own memoirs and saw an interesting bit that Rhea omits entirely: After the battle, there was an exchange of letters between Grant and Lee (which Grant quotes verbatim) in which the Union general requests a truce to collect the dead and wounded. Lee refused repeatedly, until several days later, by which time only two of the many thousands wounded left on the battlefield survived. This is a serious charge and should be addressed in any book on Cold Harbor, if only to dismiss it. Perhaps Rhea will put it in his next volume?

I was enchanted by Lee's inherent ability to create good ground for a battle by his knowledge of the countryside and his superior relationship to his staff officers. He was for certain a formidable and great adversary. Grant, on his side, was walking on eggshells. The nominating convention to select a candidate to run against Lincoln was about to take place: A complete route of the Union forces would have led to, God save us all, a President George B. McClellan.

Mr. Rhea has provided a clear, lucid account of that portion of the Overland Campaign from the North Anna River to Grant's decision to invest Petersberg instead of Richmond. Although somewhat over generous in presenting minor details concerning the movements of the Armies and details of the various assaults,
his narrative is fairly easy to follow and to comprehend. I especially appreciated the numerous, detailed maps which did not overlook showing locations whose place names appeared in the text.

This information is available from the Office of BLM for free.
The book was not well written and the type too hard to read.
I'm not willing to pay $100 a year for land I may never work on, and the Bureau of Land Management will reclaim the land if you don't.

The coupon in the back of the book was worth the book alone. Me and my wife just returned from Las Vegas and stayed free at the Lady Luck Hotel. The 3 free days was worth it! Next time we will visit one of the other 20 cities. The coupon is reusable!

Enjoy your trip!

I've worked for the BLM and I've read the book. We do not issue some of the forms in the book. I found the book informative and very enlighting for anyone not familiar with the program.

There is eroticism, angst, desire and complete submission described within, but all internally. Initially, I could not put the book down nor did I want to. As I continued to read on, I found it full of fantasies of a man who obviously wants to be desired. A man who wishes women grow weak in the knees at the mere thought of him being punished.

In his daily conquests, he describes women who are almost stumbling over with desire and interest in him. This does not seem realistic to me. It seems that the author wants to make himself feel desired for having such "naughty" fantasies, as opposed to moving on to the core of the story. I don't want to know that all these different women wanted to know, or got excited knowing he was going to see a Domme. I want to know how he felt, what he did to prepare, and so on. I understand that he deals with daily life bored and unfulfilled. I also understand that it is a story filled with fantasy. However, a lot of people do practice or act out such fantasies in real life and they are not necessarily attractive, good looking or desired by every female (or male) they come accross. They are everyday people, whether attached or not, whose desires go beyond what is considered norm to most.

The sensations he described are phenomenal...however the path to getting there, or his daily situations are uninteresting and unfulfilling. Good book if you want to know "what may happen" bad if you want to be "realistic."

This book delves into the thoughts of the author, a male submissve who has two lives. His one life as a successful businessman, and his other more "secret" life as a male submissive who on occasion seeks out the services of "pro Dommes" to cater to his fantasies. It's interesting in the book how he seems to somehow "balance them out," for weeks on end having to put out numerous "forest fires" on the job, and then submitting to "cruel Mistresses" on the side. Further adding to this strain is the fact that his wife whom he loves deeply doesn't understand his need.

The highly intense scenes described in this book are done so with great care and detail, with Dommes as beautiful as they are cruel. After having read this book, I gained more of an understanding of the desires that submissive men carry and how this male sub (ie the author) deals with them. A fascinating read for anyone interested in erotic power exchange.

I think that this is one of the best books that I have read describing the experience of the submissive male in the world of spanking and S/M. The first section of the book is stronger than the second. The description of the author's mental journey to prepare for his visit with the dominatrix as well as his thoughts throughout the experience is moving and enlightening. I hope that we see more works from Grant Andrews/Antrews. All his other books seem to be out of print. Mr. Andrews - if you could indicate in your author information whether these novels will be re-published and available - or an email address, it would be very helpful.

Once again, DC's trade paperback division (no doubt actually the primate cage at the New York Zoo) has managed to miss completely the point of this wonderful series by Grant Morrison. The first nine issues of this series do not comprise anything that even remotely resembles a coherent story, but that's what DC chose to reprint, and by god, that's what people will be reading for the next ten years. THe story becomes interesting around issue 12, and Buddy descends into a kind of meta-narrative hell that leads to one of the most startling, original, and above all, moving conclusions in the history of comics. That's in issue 26. This trade, however, reprints only the first nine. While some of them animal rights issues are downright whiny, the seeds of greatness are readily apparent in here. Issue 5 ("The Coyote Gospel") has already been rightly recognized by another reviewer as being "simply THAT GOOD." Other standouts include "The Death of the Red Mask" and a fantastic Mirror Master story, whom Morrison has found a way to slip into every mainstream title he writes. This is the beginning of the book's evolution from a peurile animal rights diatribe to a comtemplative treatise on the nature of fiction, but it is only the beginning. Be amazed, be enthralled, be frustrated.

What we have here is a TPB that reprints one of the earliest works of Grant Morisson, now famous mostly for "Invisibles". Morisson took an already existing, but underused and relatively anonimous, character that is named Animalman and he tried to make him into something more appealing to people/readers. A goal in which he succeeded reasonably well. This trade makes clear why Animalman later turned out to be suitable for the Vertigo-line, the 'feel' is already here. Overall it is a pretty good read. There are 9 issues in here with 6 of them good, 1 superb and 2 a little less. The flaw of those two issues that aren't that great is that they are both part of a multi-series cross-over DC had going at that time named "Invasion". These issues are a little hard to place without reading the rest of the cross-over. The other issues are a very nice read for both people who are into superheroes as for people who are more orientated outside the superhero-scene. ONE issue named "The Coyote Gospel" stands out because it is THAT good. It's a great tale about an animal who everybody fears but turns out to be the only reason mankind as it is still exists. Full of methaphors and symbolism it's one of the better issues there is from the early days of Vertigo. I'd recommend this trade to people who are into Vertigo and to people who like to read about the more human side of superheroes. If you are in one of those categories you'll probably like this trade.

Back in the 1960s, there was something about a minor comic book character appearing in STRANGE ADVENTURES that stuck with me long after his obscurity had become more than mere. That character was Animal Man and apparently he had a similar effect on British comics genius Grant Morrison. This book is a collection of the first nine of Animal Man's contemporary adventures under Morrison's competent pen. While Morrison's ever-present wry humor is present, there are sufficient superheroics as Animal Man and his family, a pretty bourgeois group, come to terms with life in the Eighties, super powers, and the conflict the two can create. This is a must-read and must-have for all graphic novel collections and fans of the other Brit comic masters Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman will find much to enjoy here as well. The art is also fabulous; even the superpeople look like actual human beings.

I am British and I now live in Israel having emmigrated here (albeit in 1999 and not 1946). And I love Tel Aviv and its history.

To be honest I was quite surprised by the reviews that this book got since I was underwhelmed by truth in the writing. The book's description of Israel just strikes me as very flat and though there are portraits of inhabitants and characters (ie Yekkes, refugees, British soldiers, activists) the writing does not take you to what is the real Israel.

The writing style is good but as should be clear here not in my view prose fitting to describe Israel.

I am leaving aside socio- views - take it from a Londoner, what is overwhelming about Irael is the heat, the humidity, the vitality of the people. This absolutely does not come across in the book, to my mind. I realise 1946 was different when you are mixing amongst Yekkes and camp surivors but the still the description of the Kibbutznikim in the book did not describe the energy that jumps out of peoples'skin here.

The smells in israel, the colour of the sky, the heat, nature, the sea - all these things are overwhelming to a native Londoner and certainly a cosseted girl circo 1946 but none of this comes in the book. If you have never been to Israel and want to understand what I am talking about a good start are Israeli painters of this century such as Kalishman, Shalom Reisner, Aharon, Agam, Nahum Gutman.

The professional cricital reviews to this book that I have seen are very positive, To be honest I don't know why. Perhaps because they are written by people who are looking inside the lines of the book for some kind of cathartic English literature explanation for the State's Establishment and whatever they think they should read is contained within?..

This is one book that should bear out my personal experience to an extent but disappointingly I did not find that it did capture the lust and intensity of this land and instead was a tale of a Londoner who finds herself in the Middle East and just muttered "öh."

Linda Grants' story was captivating. It reminded much of my own experiences of living as an immigrant in Tel Aviv. I learned a great deal from her story about the early immigrants to the city and their unique characters and ways of behavior. The story follows a young English women who leaves England for Palestine in the years before the establishment of the State of Israel. One learns of the kibbutz experience and its hardships, of the difficulties of adjusting to life in a new country with its different cultures and norms. The descriptions of the British and the many different immigrant groups in Tel Aviv were insightful. As someone who has lived in Tel Aviv many of Linda Grants' descriptions run true to this day. This is book worth reading. As a side note Ms. Grant recommends a book on Tel Aviv by J. Schlor which I recently purchased which is fantastic. It offers historical insights into the creation of the city of Tel Aviv

Ms. Grant's fascinating tale of the life of a girl of confused and sometimes ambiguous identity is both enthralling and pleasurable to read. Its locution and intrictae symbolisms bespeak the literary facets that have in the past molded extolled classics. Notably, however, "Modern Times" is just as accessible as it is enigmatic. It is first and foremost a quest for understanding- of the human character, of sexuality, of nationalism, of race, of culture. The main character is juxtaposed with the convulsive chaos which is her setting, an Israel under a waning British regime seeking its own unique independence. It is a tale of femininity and masculinity, one of communism and capitalism, of the melange of Europeans who clash whilst Israel clashes with the British Empire. It reconciles wealth and poverty and death and life.

And from these entropic maladies and elysianities, a new sense of being is engendered- the modern one, in which time looks forward rather than backward, in which civilisation marches on in a triumphant Israel, and in which the main chacater finds herself abandoning a past which will be useless to her in the new state. Divorce from anachronism, from Europe, and for Jews from a hostile world is the explicit ideology, but that is also juxtaposed with the diversity of people who come into contact with one another- and are often in conflict culturally and ideologically.

This book will be a staple in classrooms within twenty years- it has such power. I encourage a thorough digestion of its multitudinous ideas.

I've read 40+ plus books by or about TR and this is the worst, one-sided view of this complex, multi-facted man. This is as bad as the radical-left "Howard Zinn-ism" revisionist history of TR's foreign policies.

There are too many "blatant" errors to list in this mini-review, but just for starters:

1). TR did not, as the author claims, visit his mother's Georgia plantation "10 or more times". It is well documented that TR only visited Bulloch Hall twice -once as president and once post-White House. He did not have a very high opinion of most Southerners, despite the author's claims to the contrary. His wife abhorred most Southerners.

2). TR did not force his children, particulary Alice, to attend church every Sunday. Edith was the religious task master of the family and in her quiet manner usually rounded up all kids, except for Alice. Alice was a well-known, open atheist from her teen years until she died. TR and Edith had accepted the teenager's refusal to be confirmed in the Episcopal church or any other church. Their son Archie also grew up to be an agnostic.

3). TR most certainly did NOT shower Edith with flowers and jewels. He never even remembered her birthday (though he never forgot the date of their engagement and wedding anniversay). Edith hated receiving extravagent gifts from anyone, especially her husband. They did have a very happy marriage and home life but he also known for taking off on 3-month hunting trips soon after Edith would deliver another baby.

4). TR most certainly did like to attend parties and was a professional social butterfly because he knew he would probably end up as the main attraction - just what his ego needed. The author paints TR as a man who shunned social gatherings to be with his family 24/7. Definitely not true. He LOVED being around people of all and any type, though his wife certainly like to stoke the home fires more than making the social rounds.

5). TR never made any speeches about abortion. Abortion was not on the radar screen in his time. The author uses quotes that TR said about women not wanting to get married and raise families to make it seem as though TR were speaking direcly on the subject of abortion.

6). TR believed in and preached on the separation of Church and State. He wanted to remove "In God We Trust" from the US coinnage and even pushed one of the leading artists of that time, Grant LaFarge, to create a new design. The "religious right" of his time went ballistic over this decision and he later backed down. He made many speeches proclaiming that the Church stay out of the affairs of the State. Indeed, he was a strong, "old school" Christian who did preach to the citizens the value of religion, a happy home life, and following the morals one teaches to his/her children. However, he also thought a country would head down the dangerous path if a certain religion or belief were forced upon its citizens.

I would not recommend this book on TR to ANYONE.

In some ways, this is a very good book. It does a great job of bringing to light the many virtues of a most interesting and complex man. It sorts out the various aspects of Roosevelt's life and personality very nicely and does so in an engaging manner. TR was a fascinating man, and I really enjoyed learning more about him. But "Carry a Big Stick" also has some serious problems. For one thing, TR's blind spots and political mistakes are not even touched on, much less discussed in any depth. This makes the narrative somewhat facile and simple-minded, not the thorough, intelligent treatment that I would like in a biography.

In some ways, the hagiographic nature of the book did not bother me overly much because I bought the book for my bright 5th grader. She was supposed to read a presidential biography for a school project. Having a treatment that deals only with the most admirable aspects of the person seems appropriate for this circumstance. Unfortunately, the vocabulary in this book is too advanced for someone in the 5th-7th grades, even if the level of discourse is not. In the end, my daughter and I read the book together, stopping every few sentences so that I could provide a synonym for a difficult word. Now you might think this is not so bad, but if an author is going to write a simplistic biography, why not make it accessible to the most likely audience? In most cases, the esoteric words were not necessary, and I could easily come up with synonyms that my daughter knew.

What finally made me decide that I really didn't like the book was that toward the end it took on a political tone, very preachy and heavy-handed. It showed that the author had a very conservative political agenda that had little to do with Theodore Roosevelt. Until the last 50 pages or so, I enjoyed the book, but the end really ruined it for me. I was VERY glad that I was reading it along with my daughter because I was able to provide some perspective to counteract the political propaganda.

George Grant has written a delightful book about a delightful man. Theodore Roosevelt, perhaps the most energetic, athletic, multi-faceted president that has ever served our great country, receives bully treatment in this little book.

Grant shows that Roosevelt - once described as "that damned cowboy" by a political adversary - was more than just a cowboy. He had tremendous natural abilities, and he made the most of them. There doesn't seem to be an academic field that he didn't know, and his knowledge often impressed the experts. He seems to have lived every moment of his life to the fullest.

He was a devoted husband and father, and held strongly to his Christian faith. His Christianity and his respect for marriage and family were more important to him than anything else. His firm adherence to his principals was more important than party loyalty. He was more interested in doing what was right than in doing what was convenient, or politically advantageous.

Few men in history - and certainly few, if any, in American history - can be said to have lived as Roosevelt did. Reading about his life is the next best thing. Anyone who is interested in leadership and character will find this book worthwhile, as will anyone who is simply interested in living life to the full.

Hey all you people that say that Jesus did not claim to be God what about the tombs dated to no later than 42 A.D. One of them says Yeshua and right next to it says Yhwh which would be the name of God. Another example is the one that was translated that said (Jesus the Redeemer) sounds like a divinity claim to me. Check the site out Jerusalem Christian Review for more on these tombs.

Dr. Jeffery's book is a great beginning book for anyone who is interested in understanding the historical Jesus controversy. Unlike most authors who are trying to support the under-informed Jesus Seminar, Dr. Jeffery's writes from an evangelical perspective which is inviting and encouraging. If you are searching for a book to intrigue you while also educate you, this is the book for you. May the Holy Spirit use his book for the ultimate glory of God and the furtherance of the Kingdom.

First off, I have to refute an earlier review from CL8 on 11-11-2000. If I understood his review, he gave this book a poor rating because it was not consistent with the Jesus Seminar. I say, of course it isn't consistent with the Jesus Seminar. The Jesus Seminar is a huge joke! Basically, the "theologians" of the Jesus Seminar vote on whether or not Jesus actually did what the Gospels state He did. They VOTE on it! When they vote, they have 4 different selections: definitely, maybe, not likely, and not at all. And, the majority rules. So, if 5 people vote that Jesus definitely did something, and 6 other people vote that Jesus didn't do it at all, then, according to the rules of the Seminar, Jesus didn't do it at all. What a joke!

Forgive me, I digress.... Back to the book.... This book covers everything from the writing and dating of the gospels, to the Dead Sea scrolls, to the Shroud of Turin. I find the evidence given by Jeffrey to be very compelling. I have been truly rewarded by reading this book. I still find myself somewhat skeptical about the Shroud of Turin, but Jeffrey does paint a very interesting picture of the shroud. Jeffrey does remain Biblical in his reasoning, so if he doesn't agree with some other scholars, that might be why. I have loaned out my copy of this book several times, and each time my friends found it insightful and a rewarding read. I would recommend this book to anyone.

The writing and story is actually very good, but because I believe that the authors underlying biblical views are in error, that it looses it's relevance.

A gripping and enjoyable account of possible world events surrounding the future invasion of Israel prophesied in the Book Of Ezekiel.

In this account Russian and Arab forces invade Israel amid the spectre of a nuclear holocaust, intent upon the eradication of the Jewish State.

Very timely and appropriate in view of current world events and very readable.

A pre-cursor to the follow-up entitled 'Spear Of Tyranny', which is based around events following the above invasion and the rise of the Anti-Christ and his one-world government/religion.

Both books are very enjoyable and will hold your attention from cover to cover.

By Dawn's Early Light is a wonderful read, convincing a panel of judges to award it the 2000 Christy award for excellence in Christian fiction in the end-times category. (BTW, I, for one, am tired of seeing inane reviews where someone who obviously hasn't not read the book trashes it just so he can praise WE ALL FALL DOWN.) By Dawn's Early LIght is a fast-paced, sensitive portrayal of end times--truly a winner! I love prophetic novels, have read several, and this is one of the best!

I got this book for Christmas along with a Dream Interpreter CD. This book basically has listing of many dream symbols as well as 'actions' such as 'if you lit a match..'. The reason I rated this book a three is that it's been somewhat helpful. A lot of symbols I wanted to know, I could not find them in the book and found them online instead. Searching for a dream symbol is a pain since the alphabetized symbols are all smashed together. Each symbol is CAPITALIZED but you also have many bolded words in there that makes it all a big mess when trying to find symbols. However, I believe this book is for more casual dreamers who just want to know a few things. If you're a serious dreamer who want it all, this book is not for you.

Fun to read but I don't take the analysis too seriously. The alphabetical listings were a nice idea (rather than lengthy chapters), but they should have at least marked the page where each letter of the alphabet begins. Maybe I'll just insert little sticky-note tabs myself.

So what does it mean when you dream that your best girlfriend has a purple beard?? You'll know in about 5-10 minutes if you have this book.

The illustrated dream dictionary gives you what over 2,000 things mean in dreams including, people, events, places, and objects.

I purchased this book a while ago and still use it. It gives you very basic definitions of what things could mean in your dreams. Everything is listed in alphbetical order, making whatever it is your looking for, easy to find.

I have noticed though that a lot of things mean the same exact thing as something else. I can't tell you how many times I have read 'this is a good omen', or 'this is a bad omen', and then they don't elaborate on what kind of bad or good thing it could be.

So if your just looking to have a little fun and not take your dreams THAT seriously then this is the book for you, but if you really want to know the hidden meaning of your dreams I would buy a book that gives a little better description for things.