I purchased this book about a year and a half ago. I must pick it up at least three to four times a week. The realism of Mr. Allen's skill as a model railroader is nothing short of extradinoary. The pictures of his work are amazing. This is the best Model Railroading book I have ever read, and my preference is O guage not HO.

I have an original edition of this book by Mr. Westcott and John Allen's work goes far beyond the model railroad it depicts. Mr. John Allen was one of the great masters of Photography and art. This is a book on light and color and texture as well as model railroading.
I bought a copy for a friend in England who is also a master of the arts. Highly recommended both for the text and the ideas!

Mr.Wescotts story on his friend John Allen is told very well and is a good insight on the greatest model railroad builder of all time. The pictures of the railroad in this book bear out the afore mentioned statement.A must have for anyone interested in model railroading and I'd recommend it to non railroaders who would appreciate a thing of beauty.

I GREW UP WATCHING BARNABY FOR MANY YEARS AS A SMALL FRY. HE WAS AND STILL IS ONE OF MY HEROES. LINN SHELDON DOES A GREAT JOB DESCRIBING HIS LIFE, CAREER, AND ADVENTURES IN SHOW BIZ. HE IS VERY CREATIVE, HUMOROUS, DETAILED, AND WITTY. HE WRITES WITH CLASS AND DIGNITY. HIS TELLING OF THE DARK SIDE OF HIS LIFE (ALCOHOLISM) IS VERY HONEST, TOUCHING, AND HUMOROUS. I AM A RECOVERING ONE MYSELF. I CAN IDENTIFY WITH HIS FEELINGS AND EXPERIENCES. THIS IS A VERY TOUCHING LOOK AT A VERY LOVING AND CREATIVE MAN WHO BROUGHT A LOT OF JOY TO MANY CHILDREN IN CLEVELAND OVER A FEW DECADES. VERY VERY RECOMMENDED.

Although it is about the life of a television performer,one who was a pioneer in the industry, I feel that this book is an easy read, fun, and hard to leave alone...I find myself referring to favorite chapters many, many times. This is not a book about Cleveland, it is a book about everyone. Someone should do a musical or movie about this author.

Like millions of others in this region, I grew up watching Barnaby on TV. Linn Sheldon was on television for 32 years as Barnaby, the elfin-eared pal of children and parents alike. Left to fend for himself at the age of seven, he lived by his wits and with the kindness of sympathetic citizens in Norwalk, Ohio. As a teenager he hitchhiked across America playing the banjo for meals, spent three years on the MGM lot, and returned to the Cleveland area to begin a career as actor and standup comic. In 1948 he joined WEWS-TV in Cleveland, the first TV station in the region, and his accounts of early televion are fascinating. In time his fame spread well beyond Cleveland to Westinghouse TV markets, and he did extensive work in Texas as well. As his career developed, so did his need for alchohol. He made and lost a fortune, married four times, and had serious bouts with depression. His stories about his drinking days and his brushes with the psychiatric community are at once moving and hilarious. Now retired and healthy again, he looks back on his life with the same kind of joy and sensitivity he imbued in the character of Barnaby. Reading it made me feel like a kid again enthralled with the musings of this wonderful elf.

With these words, Professor Linn introduced his American Military History class to his book Guardians of Empire. Even though we were not required to read all of the chapters, I found myself wanting to finish the book due to its captivating nature.

While perhaps lacking the dry humor and probing questions of his lectures, the book manages to provide a striking look at the interwar Army, challenging common assertions of Army doctrine and planning. In the final chapter, Dr. Linn notes that in the search for what happened in 1941, people rarely go back past 1940. This book is an attempt to do exactly that. It probes the decisions, dogma and lifestyle of the American Army in the interwar period.

Wonderfully written and solidly researched, Guardians provides the best treatment of the American interwar establishment to date.

This book is extremely well done and spells out the history of American involvement in the Pacific after 1898 much better than anything else on the market. Although Miller's WAR PLAN ORANGE is also an interesting book, but from the navy's point of view, I feel this one is much better done. Highly recommend this work to anyone wanting background on the Pacific War.

Previous books on the "Orange Plan" of 20's and 30's have usually described it from a Navy point of view. Linn's book takes the various Army points of view, and shows how MacArthur's arguement to defend the Phillippines was not the majority opinion. From a strictly military point of view, the Phillippines was not worth sacrificing the Fleet and and additional troops. Hawaii, because of it's proximity to the US west coast and logistics capability (drydock and fuel tank farm)was worth defending. An interesting appendix shows that the Army consistantly stationed more troops in Hawaii than the Phillippines. With the United States making a stand against Japanese aggression in China, however, the political retoric had to be backed up with military resolve. So thousands of Army troops were sent to their doom to reinforce the Phillippine garrison in 1940-1941. This book, along with Edward S. Miller's WAR PLAN ORANGE: The U.S. Strategy to Defeat Japan, 1897-1945, gives the reader an excellent overview of US military planning and thinking vs the Japanese during the period between World War 1 and 2.

Linn Westcott was a master when it comes to model railroading and his track plans emphasized that fact. This book in it's first edition provided me with numerous ideas for my railroads in various scales over the years. Highly recommended.

I have had this book since it's first publishing over twenty years ago and it still inspires me everytime I look through it. Back then Mr. Westcott didn't inlcude 'N' scale, but the book provides so much information on how to re-calculate the dimensions not just for his layouts but for any designs you might wish to try. It also outlines parameters by which you can design your own layouts.

Excellent manual, but it should list suppliers of odd materials such as the 15 degree crossing. I am trying to build plan no. 15, and can't find this particular crossing.

Every science teacher should read this book! The thought, research, and insight the developers put into the new designs for learning science are wonderful. They listened to students, observed how students made sense of the world around them, and adjusted the technology and learning strategies to connect science to everyday happenings in the lives of students. This book also tells the story of how partnerships between higher education, K-12, and field science organizations can bring relevance and meaning to the teaching and learning of science in our schools. Terrific Book!

From my role as a science teacher, it is encouraging to have a book which is informed by years of classroom research. My experience with the Computer as Learning Partnership project has greatly changed my understanding of how kids learn and what it takes to change the way they perceive the world around them. This book provides a pedagogical framework that has worked very successfully over several years and narrows the gap between academic research and classroom practice. I hope that my responses to the "Ask Mr. K." questions will be useful to teachers in reflecting on their own practices.

Aside from the fact that my uncle illustrated this book (go Uncle Warren!) How could you not love this book? It's a great children's story with beautiful, modern and colorful illustrations.

Warren Linn deserves an exhibit at the Whitney. I have been a fan and a student of Mr Linn's for a couple of months. He has found a way to use and enhance his own language in the realm of youth illustration. In a medium saturated by soft color and Jessie Willcox Smith rip-off's, Warren has managed to revolutionize the world of children's illustration for the rest of us.

This book is a thorough and gentle explanation of the how the process of forgiveness works, and how completeness in our own lives (we who have been hurt and need to forgive the person(s) who hurt us) can be attained through the five stages of forgiveness. It is also a gentle and compassionate explanation of how hurts affect the various aspects of our lives. Linn's format is easy to read and to understand. A must for anyone's bookshelf.

This book helps one to understand the stages they must go through in order to forgive someone who has wronged them along with helping them understand that God did not put them through this to hurt them. Instead it should make them a stronger person once they forgive the one who has wronged them along with growing closer to God.

Once in a great while a book so powerful comes along that it moves our lives in a new direction and reinvigerates us towards action. Dr. Goldberg's book is just such an example. With fluid use of language and stunning insights into what we can do better as humans, along with usefully displayed examples with true models, Golberg shows us how to conquer the obstacles that have become the bain of 21st century American existence: disease riddled lives due to the inactivity and complacency that surrounds modern humanity. This monument of a work clearly puts Goldberg in the small group of modern American doctors such as Dr. Ruth, C. Everett Koop, and Dr. Dolittle that have had such a surprisingly significant impact on everyday life while coming at their topic from the field of medicine. I praise this giant piece of work and the equally large man and his effort that went forth towards its' creation. God Bless Linn Goldberg. Cheers.

Not only does this guide give extremely helpful ways and tips to improve your health significantly, but the author's use of prose is remarkable and captivates the reader. Furthurmore, the exercise models and pictures are well placed and are invaluable to this mastery of literature.

This out-of-print work treats us to the great combination of Bill Veeck's insight and sense of humour as rendered by Ed Linn (recently passed on... rest in peace, and thanks for all the great reading), one of the best authors any baseball figure ever wrote a book 'with'. It is dated about 1966, before the era of free agency, baseball strikes, and Veeck's second stint as owner of the White Sox. It doesn't really live up to the title, it wanders a bit, and at the end it leaves one wondering whether Veeck had a message to convey (beyond, of course, the standard refrain that baseball owners generally shouldn't be trusted any further than one can throw a slider underwater).

The above doesn't detract from my strong recommendation, because even as a dozen-odd independent chapters that relate only marginally to one another, it's still wonderful stuff. Old stories about almost-forgotten figures, commentaries on various owners' catfights, and plenty of gaffs at Ford Frick. One of the most interesting parts is the chapter devoted to the interpretation of the long-mislaid notes of Harry Grabiner. (Who cares?, you might ask? Ever hear of the Black Sox scandal? Well, Harry was in the Chisox front office when that happened. A lot of people should be glad these notes weren't published until 45 years after the fact, and Veeck's commentary on them is most incisive.)

A definite search candidate, and if you dig in it enough, contains a lot of insight into the operation of a ballclub.

Veeck, famous for such promotions as the pinch-hitting midget and the exploding scoreboard, reveals the methods to his maddness and the subtle brilliance behind every move he made in baseball. This book is essential reading for anyone involved promotions or marketing. It's also loads of fun for baseball fans or anyone who just wants to laugh.

S.L. Taylor's review of this book was most helpful, however:
1.) Remember, it doesn't necessarily have to be big to satisfy!
2.) Emile Zola's prose was only turgid after he had been
drinking. the rest of the time he didn't say enough to make
any sense to a reader what-so-ever.
3.) Who wants to be associated with Proust anyway? Nobody named
"Marcel" could have written a book like this in the 1st
place.
4.) Christopher Hitchen's talks funny, but I like his hair.

5.) There are worst hobbies than dead postmasters general you
know, like bowling, air guitar, goal tending, & marrying
cops!
I find the book a fascinating addition to the library of obscure FDR related bits of trivia.

There are 5 reasons that no stamp collector who is interested in stamps of the FDR era should be without this book.
1.) It is not as big as A la Recherche du Temps Perdue.
2.) Brian C.Baur's prose is not as turgid as that of Emile Zola.
3.) Much like Proust and Zola nobody knows who Brian C. Baur is either.
4.)Mr. Baur does not use as many big words as Christopher Hitchens.
5.)This book contains important historical information not found anywhere else.(e.g The names of Postmasters who have been dead for more than half a century.)