

A Good Read
Good Read

I think this book was the greatest airport book ever!
An excellent book of the NY airports

A top of the list must for Roman reenactors
An excellent illustrated discussion of Roman army equipage.

Quality time readingWhat may be sought as a boring art lecture is in fact an excellent presentation of Emile Galle's life and work at the end of 19th and the beginning of 20th century.
This is one of the few books that present not only the Glass, but also the Furniture and related works of art created by the master.
The exhaustive image content of the book is very good, and in close relation with the writing.
A book for the connaisseurs, but likely to be appreciated by all art lovers.


An excellent book on dark-ages Europe.

A GREAT history book!!Contents
PREFACE p.7
THE GOLDEN AGE Celtic Europe against the Greeks and Romans 400-52 BC p.9
THE BATTLE FOR BRITAIN Celtic Britain against the Anglo-Saxons AD 43-800 p.36
THE NORTHERN MENACE Ireland and Britain against the Vikings and Normans 800-1200 p.60
CELTIC COUNTER-ATTACK Irish and Scots against the Edwardian kings 1200-1450 p.86
THE FINAL CHALLENGE Irish and Scots against the Tudors 1450-1600 p.116
BIBLIOGRAPHY p.138
INDEX p.141


A Stellar Book for A Stellar Collection

Fabulous book on a topic long overdue for serious study.

Every ranch house should have oneThe book tends to cover each topic in a somewhat truncated manner. And, of course, it's not necessarily intended to be read cover to cover. It's really the sort of book that should be left out on the coffee table, and read at odd times during the day, by kids, adults, and the occasional visitor who happens to notice it. I find our copy wandering around the house, from room to room, as first one person, and then another, picks it up, reads a bit, and lays it down for the next curious interloper.
The book is nicely illustrated with black-and-white drawings and vintage photographs. The photographs, in particular, help capture the flavor and essence of the Old West, from the image of hunters posing with their kill of a grizzly bear to a close up of one of the saddles used by the riders of the pony express. Looking through some of these old photographs I could almost smell the dusty leather and the horse sweat that left it stained. Some of the images are touching; others are gruesome. Together, they paint a picture of rugged individualism garnished with frequent personal tragedy. One photograph, in particular, touches me deeply. It is that of the frozen corpse of Chief Big Foot, killed during the massacre at Wounded Knee.
For me, this book resurrects memories of working my grandfather's ranch in northeast Utah, set against the foothills of the high Uinta Mountains, not far from Fort Bridger. Although my grandfather (James Kent Olson) was born just after the end of the 19'th century, he instilled in me a love for the vanished lifestyle that died with the last of the cowboys. Knowing my love for the Old West, my mother in law bought me this book for Christmas. It's been one of the nicest presents I've had in a long time.
Having grown up with just a taste of the Old West, I immediately looked up Fort Bridger, which was just 30 miles from Grandfather's ranch. As a kid I would sometimes go there with my aunts and cousins, and wonder what it must have been like to have live in the Wild West. We had our horses, and we knew ranch work. Still, it was a sanitized version, and I complained bitterly at having missed the opportunity to grow up in the "real" Old West. My constant lamentations frequently left my flabbergasted mother to proclaim that I'd been born 100 years to late.
Next, I read the section on Butch Cassidy. As a young boy I would coax my grandmother, Sara, to tell me about Butch Cassidy and his gang. Butch supposedly had a hideout near the Green River gorge, not far from the ranch, and she would tell me stories about how Butch would ride through the area. As a young boy I would take my horse up into the hills after cutting and stacking hay, and explore the canyons where wild daydreams filled my head of finding Butch's old hideout.
Reading this book, I often felt transported me back in time. Seeing a photograph of an old pair of spurs I found myself back on the ranch thirty years ago, in the old ranch-house kitchen with Grandmother as she set about cooking chicken wings for lunch. With a creak the old screen door opened and then slammed as Grandfather came in from riding the irrigation ditch. He took of his hat, stained with sweat, and slapped off the dust as he hung it in the entryway. Coming across the old wood floor, I could hear his spurs ringing with each heavy footstep as he walked through the sunbeam that shone through the kitchen window, kissed Grandmother, and noted with approval the aroma of our noonday meal.
Flipping through the pages I came across a black-and-white photograph of an old Remington army pistol and suddenly found myself by Grandfather's side as he gazed along the sights at a rock sitting on a small knoll, the pistol held firmly in his big hands. He took steel aim at the target with his deep blue eyes, and with a tremendous roar the gun discharged and the rock went sailing through the air. He grinned at me with a knowing smile as the thick acrid smoke wafted away through the afternoon sunshine, and I realized, as I gazed across the green hayfields to the Wyoming badlands in the distance, what heaven must be like.
At almost every page I found nostalgia and the old ache that's stayed with me since I was 16 years and working that old ranch. The world moves on. Today, cowboys are just a dream. That way of life is gone, but a part of it lives on in books like this, and particularly in the frozen moments in time that have been captured on film, leaving bits and pieces of clues about the way the Old West was fought, won, and drifted into history.


lots of fotos!if you are from the area or had relatives there, the
pictures will take you right back.
A keepsake of Italian culture in New JerseyFor fans of this book, there was an New Jersey Network documentary that accompanied it, which airs occasionally on NJN and WNET/channel 13. A copy of the video is available.
Also, the Newark Public library ran an exhibit concurrently with the release of this book, and if I am correct, the exhibit is now part of their archives.
Great job Mr Immerso!