Undoubtedly there were thousands of unique perspectives to World War II, but one of the most interesting views was had by a lone woman who sat behind a desk in a small office in the ancient adobe hacienda at 109 East Palace Avenue in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her name was Dorothy McKibbin. During the Manhattan Project, Robert Oppenheimer and his gathering of scientists at Los Alamos designed and produced the first atomic bomb. McKibbin took care of just about everything else. A Smith College grad, Dorothy McKibbin had seen some difficult times in her early life, despite coming from a well-to-do Kansas City family. She spent a year as a "lunger" in a sanitarium in the mid 1920s, and she was widowed with a10-month-old son at the age of 33. But McKibbin was a survivor, a woman of determination. She picked up her young child, pulled up roots, and started over in the small, off-the-beaten-path town that had captivated her as she recovered from tuberculosis in 1925-Santa Fe. The move placed her at a crossroads with history, where in 1942 she would become the Gatekeeper to Los Alamos. She arrived in Santa Fe in 1932 with no job nor any prospects of one, but soon she had a bookkeeper's position at a trading company and was building a stunning adobe home that is now one of Santa Fe's historic properties. She made friends with the "cultural mix" of the Santa Fe area, among them photographer Laura Gilpin, architects John Gaw Meem and Katherine Stinson Otero, poets Witter Bynner and Peggy Pond Church, artist Cady Wells, and such legendary locals as Edith Warner and Tilano Montoya. Life was unhurried and unaffected. Then, in 1942, she met Robert Oppenheimer and that all changed. She was offered a new job at that meeting and took it immediately, saying years later, "I never met a person with a magnetism that hit you so fast and so completely as his did." It was an overwhelming job, but, through it, she and Oppenheimer formed an extraordinary friendship. A strong bond developed between them that lasted throughout their lives. In his history of the Manhattan Project, David Hawkins said it best. "Dorothy loved Robert Oppenheimer. He was her special one, and she, his." Pricilla McMillan of Harvard University has summed up this book well in saying, "this is the story of the beautiful, high-spirited woman who helped Robert Oppenheimer create the Los Alamos Laboratory and became its link to the outside world during World War Two. . . . It is exciting to read and just really excellent in every way."

What a mesmorizing account of a woman's life! I could not put the book down and found that Dorothy McKibbin's image of being a "power girl" ignited my own need to move forward and make a difference in life. Steeper has done an incredibly thorough job capturing the details of not only McKibbin's life and life-long contributions, but also the events of the time period. I highly recommend this book and plan to buy more for my "power girl" girlfriends around the world!

What a mesmorizing account of a woman's life! I could not put the book down and found that Dorothy McKibbin's image of being a "power girl" ignited my own need to blast forward and make a difference in life. Steeper has done an incredibly thorough job capturing the details of not only McKibbin's life and life-long contributions, but also the events of the time period. I highly recommend this book and plan to buy more for my "power girl" girlfriends around the world!

What is most interesting is how Ms. Cook captures the relationships of the women pictured in her photographs. You get a real sense of the proximity or the distance between family members. This book is a loving tribute to the family and would be a great gift to someone in your own.

Marianna Cook renders each family so beautifully with her camera. With words and photographs, this book beautifully chronicles women and their families. No two portraits are alike, and everyone telling of the relationships shared within each.

Accompanying each portrait are interviews of the family members, some surface, but mostly poignant revelations about the relationships that they share with one another. I know that this book will touch everyone, not just those pictured within its cover.

This book provides cooking tips that are so helpful, you'll wish you had thought of them yourself. In addition to having few steps, the recipes have short ingredient lists. Many recipes are health-conscious, and all are tasty. An invaluable resource for anyone who loves good food but is short on time to prepare it.

This is a great book for people who used to give dinner parties but stopped because they are too busy. Its comic style is just the thing to get you to relax and enjoy yourself and stop feeling that you have to spend hours to prepare a meal. The recipies are simple and amazingly good.

Selwyn Seyfu Hinds, Gunshots in my Cook-Up is a gripping and compelling account of hip hop-the music, the business aspect,and the family and societal life of its aspirants. Hinds is indeed a great storyteller. His narrative of hip hop encounters and his personal life is reminiscent of the Black Griots of antiquity. Gunshots in my Cook-Up is a must read,not only for the hip hop generation,but for all age groups.

if you know him from way back in his village voice and source days you know that few writers can touch selwyn seyfu hinds when it comes to honest and intelligent thought on hip-hop, and culture in general. this book is easily the best thing on hip-hop i've ever read, and is one of the best books i've read this year

I found this in a book shop for AUD$120. One of those moments in life when you have the opportunity to purchace a masterpiece. re-released in 1999, it comes in two large books, one full of large plans in a folder, all deserving of framing. The log of this vessel is included in the second part, from its' inception, construction, crew and history of the journey that mapped the east coast of Australia. If you ever wanted to make a wooden ship model of a truly amazing vessel in a time of adventure equivilant to any Wilbur Smith, this is all you will need. It could never be surpassed, as the author is obviously one of those men who is truely dedicated to his art. The anatomy of the ship series should be so good!

I have just taken delivery of this volume and have been unable to put it down. This book is a wealth of information. Beautifully bound and boxed it is printed on the finest paper I've seen in a book like this. H.M. Bark Endeavour is not for the budget conscious. However, having owned it for just one day it is obvious the time, effort and the passion the Author has poured into researching this volume, right down to reproducing a comprehensive set of drawings of the actual ship. For anyone interested in maritime history, shipbuilding (including modelling) or even geography, I think this book is a must.

This is probably the most detailed and thorough guide available to the sacred sites of Buddhism in South Asia, where it first developed. Today this land includes not only the various regions of India, but also Nepal, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, and "Holy Places of the Buddha" includes all of them. Each site is given a full description, including its place in Buddhist history and its condition today, and much of the text is accompanied by helpful maps and photographs. It would take a very long review just to list the many sites that are covered. The real value of this book is in providing a background understanding of the Buddhist holy places, but separate guidebooks (such as the Lonely Planet guides) will be required for instructions on how to get to each place. For anyone interested in Buddhism or South Asian history, and especially for anyone interested in making a pilgrimage to any of the sacred and historic places of Buddhism, I can't recommend this book highly enough.

This book was a friendly companion on my trip to India and Nepal. It fully describes events of the Buddha's life that occured at each location. In doing so it brings these Holy Places to life both then and now.

Home Food is a delightful way to get to know some of America's star chefs! In addition to delicious and easy to prepare recipes, the book has photos and in-depth chef interviews. It is fun to learn about the different paths which led them into the world of cuisine. Be forewarned, you will find yourself wanting some of these chef's cookbooks. Like today, I could not resist "Lidia's Italian Table" and Todd English's "Figs Table".

I've tried most of the recipes in this book and not one has been bad! It's a beautifully laid out book with interesting stories from some of America's greatest chefs. The recipes encourage me to test my skills, while still being recognizable to execute.

The Hot Sauce Bottle Cookbook is a slender, 62-page booklet surveying and showcasing the top brands of hot sauces and offers recipes that are spicy and delicious. From Caribbean Pumpkin Soup, Creole Rice, and Curried Snapper with Mango Chutney, to Baked Brie with Roasted Garlic, Peachberry Salsa, and Firecracker Shrimp, this little collection will prove a kitchen shelf favorite for the adventurous family chef. Of special value are the hot sauce cooking tips on everything from "Measuring the Heat" to "Chile Versus Chili".

HOT off the presses and I do mean HOT, Linda Matthie-Jacobs turns on the heat with her latest contribution to the culinary bookshelves. Linda, author of "Light the Fire: Fiery Food with a Light New Attitude!" (previously reviewed here) as well as "The Fire 'n' Ice Cookbook: Mexican Food with a Bold New Attitude" once again shows us that she knows how to produce and package a hit!

Anyone familiar with Linda's earlier releases knows that her gorgeous cover photos grab the eye and the recipes inside her books will keep your attention once the cover has caught you! Her latest is a tribute to the myriad number of hot sauces available and the bountiful recipes that incorporate their use in places you would not have thought to look!

The book is die cut to bottle shape, just the right size to tuck into a gift bag or basket filled with fiery flavor enhancers, sauces and chiles- - the perfect gift for the person who likes it HOT! Working with Diane Dallas, President of Lost Continent Hot Sauce Traders, Linda has expanded her horizons and recipes by working with and testing the manufacturers suggested recipes as well as modifying some of her own to use hot sauces rather than fresh or dried chiles. She loved the results...and so will you!

Ten companies contributed product and recipes for this book. Each section gives background information about the product, the manufacturer, additional product lines and several recipes and ideas using the featured product. I counted 30 recipes that range from (the unexpected) "Hot Chocolate Truffles" to (the sounds more like what you were expecting) "Screamin' Beef Burritos" with salads, seafood, chicken, salad dressings and pastas included in this recipe round-up for lovers of the red hot! There were dozens and dozens of tips and ideas as well.

Don't be afraid to "sizzle"- - Linda has always said, "the heat should only accentuate, not incinerate" and that is the way that the recipes are written.

For those of you who prefer fiery, flaming, blazing, smoking, searing, and scorching- - you merely adjust the amount of hot sauce upwards to your own taste.

Linda Matthie-Jacobs the undisputed "Hot Pepper Princess" has now laid claim to the title of "Hot Sauce Sovereign" as well!

I had the pleasure of meeting Diane Cook and her husband Len Jenshel when they exhibited some of the photographs from this book at The University of Akron's Emily Davis Gallery. In fact, I actually bought the book directly from them (so my copy is autographed, nyah-na na naaaa na!), and believe me, nothing short of the exhibition and lecture from the photographers could add to the experience of this book. The two photographers are stylistic complements to each other. She works primarily in black and white with a highly technical by-the-book precision, while he works in color using a more freewheeling, seat-of-the-pants approach. The result is that this book never gets boring. The wonders of the various vistas are capably described in a previous review, and I most heartily concur with the reviewer--if anything, he did not wax poetic enough.

But this book contributes more than just a wealth of memorable images (less than 1/10 of the photos from this project that the couple felt were "must use" images). There are stories behind each photo; reading the notes section in the back is a must, but I would suggest that you read it as you peruse the book...the *second* time. Just let the images impact you first, and *then* find out the deeper meaning behind the picture. These notes are not mere technical erata; they create an atmosphere, bespeaking how a certain sacred place has a given effect on the local populace, recalling the curiosity about what sort of people besides photographers would seek out the beautiful desolation of Yellowstone in winter, giving some idea of the true and very active power of some of these places--no still photo can convey the experience of the noise of a lava flow 25 feet below drowning out helicopter blades 5 feet above, or Cook's realization at one point that she had accidentally strayed onto a candy shell-thin layer of cooled stone over molten rock, and to stop walking would have meant instant death--as instant as the next step might also bring. The layout is superb, maintaining a strong sense of organization, even as each new photo delivers something not hinted at by those which came before.

The book's only drawbacks stem from situations which are technically impossible to resolve. While the reproductions of the photos in the book are of the highest quality, nothing can compare with seeing the actual prints themselves, and I consider myself fortunate to have been in a position to compare the two. Secondly, the photographers themselves do not come with the book. Their extended anecdotes and recollections, and the affable, off-the-cuff manner in which they relate them only served to enhance the experience of viewing these images.

This is not just another nice looking landscape photo book. It is a visual description of our (amid uneasy) relationship with Nature as much as a celebration of its beauty. An example illustrating my first point can be seen on pages 32-33. Cook's gloomy black-and-white image showed a house buried in an endless span of dark solidified lava, a lifeless and helpless situation. Jenshel's color work on pages 40-41 included not only a closeup of a scarred trunk but the mass destruction of a forest as a result of Mount St Helens' eruption in 1980. Yet life is showing resilience as fresh vegetation was growing out of the ruins. Cook and Jenshel often present more than one image of the same vista allowing the reader to appreciate the vastness of the place from various vantage points. Their series on Mount Blackburn, Alaska, is a magificent and breathtaking illustration (pages 54, 56-59),a reminiscent of Ansel Adams.
Unlike many photographers who insist on capturing landscapes under natural lighting or occasionally with fill-in flash, Jenshel dared to be different. On page 67, for example, he illuminated the rock in the foreground with his car's headlight. By doing so, he isolated the foreground from the silhouette of the distant Ship Rock, New Mexico, giving the viewer a sense of depth while using the highlighted rock to echo the shape and the color temperature of the approaching storm cloud. Then there are the pyrotechnic extravaganzas of active volcanoes in Hawaii. Each image reminds me of the primordial force that once shaped our continents. This couple have demonstrated a true virtuosity in landscape photography.
Apart from its stylistic and ethereal quality, the book contains enough information on volcanoes for a lay person like me. It even included a glossary of terms commonly used in volcanology. The layout of the entire volume is neat and well thought out. By the time I turned to the last page, I kept asking for more. You can find heaps of landscape pictorials around these days but very few can be so exciting and educational to read or should I say 'To See!'.

I use this book all the time it is excellent for vegetable times and for portions for 1 or 2 people. Easy to follow directions and a good variety of foods. Moms can feel comfortable sending their children off to cook for themselves. I even recomend it for experienced cooks. Makes a great going to college gift.

The author has managed to stuff years worth of cooking know-how into a compact and easy to read book. It is an essential guide to the little tricks and techniques that make simple cooking simple for anyone mounting their first venture into the kitchen. Recepies and advice are practical and easy to follow without sacrificing taste. While the reader won't be able to prepare a world class dining event they will eat nicely. This book sits in a prominant position on my cook book shelf nestled among other more prime titles yet remains one of the most used.