My kids find the Fandex format easy to use, and the information on them accessible. We have several, and they're fun for all of us to use together.

This Fandex is a little different than some others, as it's not a field guide or atlas, but rather a sort of timeline or chronology of a period of history in America. It begins with the causes of the war, describes secession, touches on significant events during the war, talks about the political issues behind the war, and has a number of pages featuring important persons as well as significant battles. I am not a Civil War scholar, so I cannot comment on the accuracy of the information presented. But I find this an interesting way to introduce the topic to my children.

The only quibble I have about these decks is that sometimes when they're completely fanned out, the edges of the illustrations get caught up in each other, making it hard to close them properly. But other than that, they're cute, informative, and a nice format for kids.

FAntastic Book. Very relevant, concise, practical and almost encyclopedic listing of the huge numbers of ethnic restaurants in Cleveland.

In The Cold War and the Color Line, Borstelmann evaluates how US domestic and international race relations shaped the Cold War and how the Cold war shaped the domestic and international race relations. From my studies, and I imagine the studies of the majority of average Americans, the civil rights movement, de-colonization, and the Cold War happened in individual vacuums - separate from each other, only linked by common abstract dates. Borstelmann shows these happenings are all highly connected - at times acting as catalysts for another. "There was no greater weakness for the United States in waging the Cold War than inequality and discrimination," Borstelmann asserts. The United States had to confront racial segregation and discrimination within its own borders as well as regimes around the world to develop a multiracial global coalition against Soviet Communism. The US had to inspire the newly de-colonized non-white nations to sway towards the "free world." But how was the US to inspire a world, the majority non-white when Jim Crow was still firmly implanted in American society? Borstelmann follows the developments of these issues through the Presidencies that were tempered by the Cold War. I found the book a pleasant surprise. The book went beyond what I expected - being the race situations during the Cold War. Borstelmann took his work beyond that to a living political environment - domestic and international as one - where de-colonization, the Cold war environment, and the Civil Rights movement were taken out of their individual vacuums and thrown into a perspective that understands the complexities of that no so long ago reality. I am positive that anyone interested in race relations will embrace this book. Also I believe for a complete perspective of the Cold War or for any interested in the momentous events that transpired in the 20th century, this well researched book will make an excellent read.

As a Canadian, I have very little knowledge of American history in general and the Civil War in particular. This book walked me through the war in great detail and provides an excellent base for future studies.

Miriam Wood has written a very fine publication on the history of the timber bridge during the early years of Ohio's transportation system. Over the past 40 or so years, she has researched the covered bridges in each county and has compiled her findings in this interesting and informative book, which all bridge and history buffs should have on their book shelves. There are many old rare black and white photographs of the bridges, along with descriptions of them and their builders. The unique, artistic drawings by her husband, Richard, are yet another good reason to own it! It is a bargain at this price!

Images of America, Detroit, Michigan is small snap shot of live in Detroit Michigan. It is not extensive in its coverage but represents typical scenes from the era from 1860 to 1899. It's 128 pages gives a feeling for some of the live style that was going on during this time period.

If you are looking for someone special, it is unlikely that you will find them in this book. You will find what the architecture looked like and how the people dressed. You will find examples of the modes of transportation and the types of commerce.

This book helps to fill in some of the culture of the period. Most of the time when you are looking for genealogy information you find nothing but dates, names and places. This book helps to fill in some of the history that was taking place at the time.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a general snap shot of the era.

This work is more a reference item to keep in your den or living room than a book in the full sense of the word. It has more illustrations than text, and they are exquisite. An excellent collection of old Spanish letters, items, maps, etc. that cover the Spanish empire from the US to Argentina, with even the Philippines thrown in for good measure. The text itself shows, of course, Spain's traditional view of itself and its empire, and its stated objective is to refute "the Black Legend" associated to it.

For a Latin American reader, it is an odd feeling to read a book about your own history written by a Spaniard which shows old Spanish documents, maps of your own city, etc. all accompanied by an English-language text. Among other things, when referring to the Western Hemisphere I will always prefer to read the traditional singular "America" over the plural and exclusionary "Americas" used in English throughout the book. Maybe Amazon will offer the original Spanish-language version some day?

Images of America, Door County is an excellent book. Via pictures this book presents the history of Door County from the middle 1800's until about 1950. The pictures are from all of the cities of Door County.

Some of the pictures include the names of the people shown in the picture. All pictures include the story behind the picture. In some cases the story is lengthly and full of lots of anecdotes. For instance, Door County had a toll bridge from 1887 to 1931. The Leonhardt Music Hall was opened as an opera house in 1900.

The pictures are from many sources, mostly private people so there are pictures that would not normally be available. This adds a special flavor to the book.

If your ancestors came to Door County and you are wandering what their life was like, this is the book to find the answers. By way of the write up given with each picture you will be able to learn a great deal about the people and the place.

Egyptomania is clearly written and to the point. It is a guide to the resurgence of Ancient Egyptian styles from antiquity to the present day. Through analysing the influence of Ancient Egypt on art, architecture, design and religion, Curl examines the persistence of Ancient Egyptian ideas and decorations in the Greek and Roman Empires, the Medieval and Renaissance periods, as well as the Neo-classical movement in the 19th century, the Art Deco movement and its appearances during the course of the 20th century. For the 20th century, the author outlines the discovery of King tut's tomb and its influence, together with creations such as the Louvre pyramid. This is a recommended and essential book for those interested in art history, design and of course Ancient Egypt.

This CD lives up to the high quality standards of the Peterson Field Guide series and is a marvelous introduction to bird songs. I have taught ornithology courses for a number of years and this is the CD I recommend to my students.

To anyone just discovering the joys of birding, visual identification of birds can be overwhelming with over 650 species found in North America alone. If visual identification is difficult, audio identification can be nearly impossible.

BACKYARD BIRD SONG comes to the rescue by focusing the listener's attention on 28 of the most common backyard birds. Learning these songs and calls will boost your confidence and enable you to identify nearly all of the birds you hear on a daily basis. The recordings are grouped into categories of similar sounds such as "sing-songers" and "whistlers." This clustering facilitates comparisons of potentially confusing bird vocalizations.

The CD's one down side is that you cannot go directly to the song of a given bird. You are limited to selecting a song grouping and then waiting for the desired bird.