As a college student in the late '60s, R. Thomas Collins Jr. felt torn over Vietnam. Would he enlist or resist? He never had to choose. He flunked his draft physical because of a pustule on his rump.
A quarter century later, he finds himself in a Hanoi hotel room struggling with the ghosts of war. Now a Mobil public relations executive, Collins is on the front line of the battle for drilling rights along the shore of America's former enemy. He finds the waters of Southeast Asia remain treacherous, the political currents swift and unpredictable -- and that's before all hell breaks loose when a reporter leaks word of the secret negotiations. Collins soon discovers that the passions of a long-ago war remain strong on both sides of the Pacific.
In Blue Dragon, Collins has gathered up all the ingredients of a first-rate political thriller, but he gets no credit for imagination: It's all true. Collins, a former journalist, reports insightfully on this little-known coda to the war that helped shape his generation...

The photographic material, sideboxes and quotes alone are enough to make this book a 5 star rating; the actual book itself is revealing, involved but does not seem to dwell on individual topics for too long, leaving you feeling you "vaguely read something about that". The material is interesting, there could just have been a bit more of it.

However it offers a very interesting perspective, and the stories and quotes are very dramatic. It's a book you'll keep picking up, and whilst it seeks the truth about Bomber Command, it shows great respect for the men and women who's lives were given and lost in it's operation.

Couple this game with an online WWII simulation like iMagic Online's Warbirds, and it will give you a new insight into the aerial combat.

I have attended and heard Dr. Gary Collins's seminar based on the same book title and this book just refreshes what he teaches in his seminars. If you are starved for time, make time to read this book to learn how to take control of your life.

Delightfully written and charmingly illustrated by Ross Collins, Busy Night is a whimsical children's picturebook about a young boy whose attempts to sleep are disturbed by ghosts, the tooth fairy, the Sandman, Santa Claus, and just about every other scary or fantastic creature imaginable. Eventually he has to order them all away to enjoy his sleep, in this colorful story which is perfect for bedtime reading.

As an English graduate student looking forward to a career of teaching, I have read several books on the subject. This particular text is one of the most useful I've seen so far. The articles cover a myriad of teaching approaches and exercises for potential students.

While not forcing one particular philosophy on the reader, articles by authors like Peter Elbow, Douglas B. Park, Lisa Ede and Andrea Lunsford offer different perspectives on different ares of the teaching process. These articles help the reader decide how important "audience" is, and whether literature has a place in a freshman composition course.

Chapters cover such areas as: "Teachers," "Students," "Approaches," "Perspectives," "Composing and Revising," and "Styles," among other things. This book would be incredibly useful for a new teacher, a potential teacher, or even a student interested in further developing his or her own writing skills. The book offers ideas for a teacher to help a student with typical writing roadblocks: how to start, how to get organized, and how to overcome writer's block. An invaluable tool that has helped me not only develop my own philosophy on teaching, but has also helped me in my own writing process.

I attended a conference presentation where two of the editors outlined some of the ideas that are presented in the book. The information about negotiating salaries, finding a mentor, and dealing with departmental politics and the personal stories presented will provide invaluable for anyone starting out in academia, or even for those who have been there a while!

This is an excellent book to read about the life of Casimir Pulaski who was a hero in the Revolutionary War. Pulaski was from Poland, yet came over to America to help fight against England. There is a monument and a fort named in his honor in Georgia. Best read by 4th graders and older. Middle School students would enjoy the book and read it easily. The cover of book offers a nice visual for early elementary students during a study of Pulaski's life.

I personnaly bought and used the 1994 edition of this great book to plan a trip including Scotland. It's size and details were great as an "on the road" reference. Now I can really say-"Been there, Done that, Got the shot glass from Eilean Donan"

This is a very special book about you. It talks about the changes, the feelings, the struggles, the surprises, the dreams, and the joys of growing up in the teenage years. You are at a point in your life when you are no longer a child. You are on the path to becoming an adult, and this means taking on a whole new set of responsibilities and making decisions you've never had to think about before. This book can help you to make the most of your life. You may be asking yourself, "How can I really become the best I can be? What does it take to reach the top?" Well, there is no simple formula, but this book offers a few suggestions. This book can help you understand yourself, like yourself, and become the best you can be.

No matter what the genre, Brandilyn Collins knows how to captivate her audience. "Cast a Road Before Me" is set in the little town of Bradleyville, Kentucky. Jesse goes to live with her aunt and uncle when her mother dies. All the while, Jesse is looking forward to moving to the big city where she will make a career out of helping people. What she doesn't plan on is falling in love or caring so much about the town of Bradleyville. Once you enter Bradleyville, you won't want to leave either! Pick up "Color a Sidewalk for Me" and "Capture the Wind for Me" to spend more time with the background characters in this novel. It will definitely be worth your time.

Ms. Collins' command of characterization is nothing less than phenomenal. Every individual in the story is someone who could live down the street, and yet so intriguingly drawn that there is nothing ordinary about any of them. This is the kind of book that wets your appetite for more with every page turned, and yet contains too much meat for a single sitting. Be prepared to get cozy once you open the book. You'll be sitting for a long time, then reluctantly step away to get on with "real life," longing for the moment when you can return to the printed page. Your emotions will be tugged every which way until the end, a satisfying conclusion to a gourmet meal.

My advice? Get your hands on anything Ms. Collins has written. You won't be disappointed.