William Carter's extraordinary, exhaustive history of Preservation Hall is a love letter not only to New Orleans' venerable rebirthplace of traditional jazz, but to 40 years' musical and personal lives of those watching over it and playing in it.

Carter covers all the bases tracing the Hall's timeline: its creation, mission, musicians and the songs and lives they preserved. He recalls the Hall's strong-willed, soft-hearted entreprenuers, Larry Bornstein and Allen and Sandra Jaffe. He carefully charts musical and personal histories of band members and local legends like trombonist Jim Robinson, drummer Cie Frazier and irrepressible pianist 'Sweet' Emma Barrett (who judging from her spotlight among several breakout pieces, was often sour, bitter, or salty). You realize, as it stands amidst seedy strip clubs and franchises like Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, Preservation Hall exists for those loving the music for what it does for and to them, not the flash it throws at them.

Carter writes that 'enjoy' has the impact in New Orleans 'achieve' has in the rest of the country. But as 'Preservation Hall' winds down you see those words as synonyms describing the feisty comeraderie these heritage musicians brought their work. You come to love their quirks on and offstage, (Carter splits his postscript between hilarious band anecdotes and heartfelt celebrity tributes). You see and hear joy they brought audiences worldwide, including US presidents, Supreme Court Justices and icons like Woody Allen, Frank Sinatra, and Mick Jagger. The Hall and its music helped draw tourists back to New Orleans when the city rebuilt its vacation trade on its jazz and party history. You mourn as original band members, for whom the Hall and its tours provided their long-running work and steadiest income, pass from the scene followed by their manager/mentors, Bornstein and Jaffe.

The book justifiably praises Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Kid Ory, Buddy Bolden and other legendary New Orleans jazzmen, whose spirits pervade every block of Bourbon Street and whose legacy the Hall preserves, not exploits. But sadly, it also charts unkind potshots from modern band members like Dr. Michael White. His disparaging comments about 'a bearded, pot-bellied guy standing there blasting Louis Armstrong solos at 90 miles an hour" seem aimed at Al Hirt and Pete Fountain, men who also loved classic New Orleans jazz, took it mainstream and whetted American appetite for it during the early 1960s "folk music" boom. This is an example of what is at best provincialism or what Carter calls 'Crow Jimism,' a reverse descrimination (acknowledged and hinted at in some of Jaffe's printed interview remarks) where every older black musician is thought more authentic, and thus better, at his instrument than his white counterpart.

'Preservation Hall' will delight those wanting to understand more about New Orleans' rich jazz history, or wanting an historical recreation broken up by hilarious anecdotes and great music. If the book came with a complete musician's list and discography (or better yet, a sample CD!) it would have been perfect. But everyone reading 'Preservation Hall' will rest it hearing New Orleans jazz in their minds, or wanting to.

This is a wonderful book. Mr. Carter has done an excellent job
describing the origins and growth of Preservation Hall, the citadel of traditional New Orleans jazz at 726 St. Peter St.
He profiles many of the musicians who played at the Hall, and manages to do it in such a way that the reader keeps turning the pages. I usually run out of steam about the middle of books like this one, but that was not the case with this one.

If you enjoy traditional New Orleans jazz, and have ever been to or plan to go to Preseration Hall, you gotta read this book.

The authors provide a coherent discussion of fully half of the security challenges facing us in the 21st century. They wisely avoid the debate swirling around the so-called Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA)-but deserve credit for their predecessor "offset strategy"-and simply note that the absence of "A List" threats gives us an opportunity to strengthen and maintain our traditional nuclear and conventional capabilities against the day when a Russia or China may rise in hostility against us. The book as a whole focuses on the "B List" threats, including Russia in chaos, a hostile China acting aggressively within its region, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and catastrophic terrorism. They note, correctly, that most of the spending and effort today is focused on responding to the crisis de jure, some but not enough resources are applied to preparing for the future, and virtually nothing is being done against the latest concept, that of "shaping" the environment through "forward engagement." Perhaps most importantly, they introduce the term "defense by other means" and comment on the obstacles, both within the Administration and on the Hill, to getting support and funding for non-military activities with profound security benefits.

Although others may focus on their discussion of Russia and NATO as the core of the book, what I found most helpful and worthwhile was the straight-forward and thoughtful discussion of the need for a new national strategy, a new paradigm, for dealing with potentially catastrophic terrorism. Their understanding of what defense resources can be applied, and of the impediments to success that exist today between state & local law enforcement, federal capabilities such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and defense as well as overseas diplomatic and intelligence capabilities, inspire them to propose several innovative approaches to this challenge. The legal and budgetary implications of their proposals are daunting but essential-their proposals for dealing with this one challenge would be helpful in restructuring the entire U.S. government to better integrate political-diplomatic-military-law enforcement operations with judicial and congressional oversight as well as truly all-source intelligence support.

Interesting side notes include 1) the early discovery in US-Russian military discussions that technology interoperability and future collaboration required the surmounting of many obstacles associated with decades of isolated (and often secret) development; 2) the absence of intelligence from the entire book-by this account, US defense leaders spend virtually all of their time in direct operational discussions with their most important counterparts, and there is very little day to day attention to strategic analysis, estimative intelligence, or coordination with diplomatic, economic, and law enforcement counterparts at home; 3) the difficulty of finding a carrier to send to Taiwan at a time when we had 12 carriers-only four appear to have been "real" for defense purposes; and 4) the notable absence of Australia from the discussion of security in Asia.

The concept of Preventive Defense is holistic (requiring the simultaneous uses of other aspects of national power including diplomacy and economic assistance) but places the Department of Defense in a central role as the provider of realigned resources, military-to-military contacts, and logistics support to actual implementation. Unfortunately the concept of Preventive Defense has been narrowly focused (its greatest success has been the dismantling of former Soviet nuclear weapons in the Commonwealth of Independent States), and neither the joint staff nor the services are willing to give up funds for weapons and manpower in order to make a strategy of Preventive Defense possible.

This resistance bodes ill for the other half of the 21st Century security challenge, what the author's call the "C List"-the Rwandas, Somalias, Haitis and Indonesias. They themselves are unwilling to acknowledge C List threats as being vital to U.S. security in the long-term (as AIDS is now recognized). I would, however, agree with them on one important point: the current budget for defense should be repurposed toward readiness, preparing for the future, and their concept of preventive defense, and it should not be frittered away on "C List" contingencies-new funds must be found to create and sustain America's Preventive Diplomacy and its Operations Other Than War (OOTW) capabilities. It will fall to someone else to integrate their concept of Preventive Defense with the emerging concepts of Preventive Diplomacy, International Tribunals, and a 21st Century Marshall Plan for the festering zones of conflict in Africa, Arabia, Asia, and the Americas--zone where ethnic fault lines, criminal gangs, border disputes, and shortages of water, food, energy, and medicine all come together to create a breeding ground for modern plagues that will surely come across our water's edge in the future. On balance, through, this book makes the top grade for serious bi-partisan dialogue, and they deserve a lot of credit for defining solutions for the first half of our security challenges in the 21st Century.

This is a quick read about how American Defense has to change from the Cold War strategy to deal with other types of threats. I just returned from Europe and heard from European friends about their feelings on the United States. We are highly respected and looked up to as "the" power. We need to deal with the rest of the world accordingly. The authors give us some ideas as to how to do this.

As I have a great interest in the happenings of Bomber Command during W.W.II because my brother flew with 431 Iroquois Sqdn during this time. I have read the book and continue to use it as a reference when I need to know something. It is a "MUST" for anyone interested in the truth of what really went on and who were not there to witness it. I even managed to come accross the name of my brothers Pilot when he reported a run-in with a JU-88 If you are serious about this subject I strongly recomend this book as I have to a number of people already. Full marks to the authors for their research and for puting together something worthwhile to read

'Reap The Whirlwind' is one of the best books I have read in recent years on the men and machines of the Royal Air Force's Bomber Command during World War Two. First published in 1992 by Crecy Books Ltd this title tells the "untold" story of 6 Group, Canada's bomber force of WWII. As the title suggests the story is about the role of the Canadian contribution to the nighttime bomber campaign against occupied Europe during the Second World War.

However the stories within the book reflect the awful war as experienced by all bomber crews during this horrific campaign. I found the personal accounts to be sad, heroic and sometimes funny but the image that remained in my mind after finishing this book was the untold numbers of men who died and never had the chance to tell their stories. How many crews left their bases on a mission never to return and none of their comrades and families ever knew what happened to them?

They were swallowed up in the dark of night and became victims of German night-fighters or flak, their planes never seen again. After reading this book you'll get an understanding of what these men went through, some of the stories are just mind numbing. In particular is the story of Andrew C. Mynarski, 6 Group's sole Victoria Cross winner. This brave 27-year-old Canadian was a mid-upper gunner on a 419 Squadron Lancaster who lost his life during a mission in June 1944 (pages 276-278).

The narrative is fast paced, informative but never boring or dull. The story is well told and is a brilliant account of the harsh realities of an aerial bombing campaign as conducted by the RAF over Germany. The book starts with an introduction to the first bomber offensive in 1917 and finishes with an account of the 1990 reunion of the survivors. The authoritative text has numerous personal accounts of the aircrews woven into the story and overall the book reads well.

The only complaint I have with this book is the standard of the photographs. I would have liked more and of a better quality. Regardless of that this is still a great story and I think that anyone who has an interest in this period or who really wants to understand why these men did what they did and what happened to them then this is the book to read.

Found this book to be an amazing collection of illustrations by one of the most talented artists in our time. His work has matured over the years to a fine point of perfection.

Outstanding collection of extremely witty and winsome caricatures of entertainment and political figures from the 1970's through today. Most of the work previously graced the covers and feature articles of The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Interview, and Rolling Stone and therefore will be familiar to the reader.

There is much excellent cultural and political commentary (in illustration form) collected in this one book by an outstanding illustrator of the 20th century.

Great for Christmas giving, the book is beautifully printed and guaranteed to bring miles of smiles to the reader.

A captivating, romantic story set in Revolutionary Massachusetts. Not only historically interesting and factual, but the author also manages to take your emotions on a delightful "journey" filled with anticipation and the unexpected right through to the end of this fascinating tale! Author, Mary Carter, has a gift for telling a story and with this novel we, the readers, are the lucky ones to be on the receiving end of her tremendous talent! Bravo!!!

A real treat! This historical novel set in Revolutionary Massachusetts provides a sensitive love story woven around a fascinating journey through New England's revolutionary times. This is a novel that pays careful attention to detail (General Gage really was noted to look just like Samual Adams). Author Mary Carter has a delightful and mischievous sense of humor, and her knowledge of her subject matter shows. A real winner.

Angela Carter (1940-1992) has written a feminist reading of the Marquis De Sade. Catter has also used the work of the Marquis as a springboard for her own insights on the relation of sexuality to power. She is able to demonstrate that sexuality is constructed not from gender but rather form a relationship between power and politics. A must-read feminist classic.

A very thoughtful book which puts Sade's work in a whole new light. Thoughtful, evenhanded and intelligent. This one is worth the read for anyone interested in going beyond the superficial with Sade. There is a lot of nonsensence about him -- finally, someone with something important to say!

I read this book for the first time when I was in eighth grade. It is a wonderful story of young adults dealing with death and life after it. But in the mist of all the heartache that goes with death, Mr. Carter weaves in a delightful love story that will leave you feeling good about yourself and those around you.

I would strongly recommend this book to any young adult reader (or adult reader for that matter) because of the story's simple look at a hard topic. This is one book that you will want to read again!

I rated this book as a 5 star rating, because this story was very interresting the whole way through. It is very difficult for me to get interrested in reading. This story inspired me to keep reading. The tragedy of Sheila was very sad and the help from her friends Bonnie and Jerry was so awesome. I totally recommend this book to everyone to read.

This dictionary should serve as a valuable reference for anyone who deals with multi-disciplinary soil and environmental issues: scientists, students, teachers, environmental managers, regulators, consultants, and policymakers.

The title of this dictionary implies that it is mainly concerned with soil and environmental science, but it covers a broader range of disciplines, including physical geography, geology, and meteorology. Readers needing brief but informative definitions will find it very helpful! Highly recommended for all libraries and all levels of users!

A superbly presented regional cookbook, The Southern Cook's Handbook begins with chapters on the the basics and methods of southern cooking ranging from what equipment to use, to advice on frying, barbequing, and more. Twenty-two chapters are devoted to the recipes themselves and include beverages; appetizers; stocks and stews; salads; vegetables and side dishes; meats; poultry and game birds; fish and seafood; dressings, gravies, and sauces; breads; preserves and pickles; and sweets. Strongly recommended for the family cookbook collection, The Southern Cook's Handbook is enhanced with a glossary of cooking terms, and index, and an index of recipes.

This is one of the best cookbooks that I have had the opportunity to review. It actually tells you all the things that you need to know.

As a Southern cook for over 40 years, this books gives you easy receipes that produce really true Southern dishes.

What happens next? You decide. What a great way to hook a reluctant reader! You live the life of a Robinson Crusoe in this suspenseful adventure (written in second person) as you encounter pirates, treasure, islanders, challenging terrain and animals. Danger and excitement pull you in by asking you to make a decision at the end of almost every page and sending you to the page where that story direction continues. Short segments and hopping back and forth in the book keep short attention spans happy. Whether you read Sugarcane Island to your child or he or she reads it alone, the chance to shape the story is empowering and magnetic. And how nice to be with your child as he or she learns to weigh risks and discover the outcomes of decisions, in this safe fictional environment.

Shipwrecked on a small island, the reader is given various unique and fun choices throughout the story. Each choice changes the direction and outcome of the adventure! Many potential adventures and nice illustrations make this book very fun for young people ages 9-14. The original Sugarcane Island, copyright 1976 was one I could not put down as a child.