The measure of a great book is not in the total sum of its pages; it is a book written concisely, informatively, clearly and with an abundance of information- "We Few: The Marine Corps 400 in the War Against Japan" is that kind of book. For a book of only 248 pages Dickenson is able to fill those pages with details, facts, statistics, profiles of courage and much more.... Dickenson amasses large amounts of valuable data on the American military build up and, sadly, its losses in men and military armament during the war in the Pacific.

Dickenson describes the purpose for the creation of the Special Officers Candidate School, or the SOCS Program; the motives of young college students into the SOCS and the training they went through to become lieutenants in the Marine Corps. Although the focus of Dickenson's book primarily focuses on telling the story of the SOCS Marine, but the book also devotes a good portion of its words to describing the World War II generation-a generation that when the "call to arms" went out, it was quickly answered by young Americans from all walks of life and from all over the country. They scurried to enlist in the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, and naturally the Marines and the Marine, and the Marine "Special Officers Candidate Schools" (SOCS). Those who would make it through the SOCS Program would became Marine Lieutenants.

This book overflows with stories of leadership, heroism, and sacrifices by young Marine lieutenants. Dickenson writes of the enormous responsibilities that fell upon these young lieutenants. They were charged with leading their men, but leading by example. In the battles against Japanese forces, the Marine Lieutenants would make decisions that determined the fates of men under their command. In some instances these young lieutenants would make the ultimate sacrifice-their life. A clear and moving example of this can be read in the case of Lt. Jack Lummus;

"Lt Jack Lummus, rose up to rally his men and was knocked down by a grenade blast. He got up, charged the position and killed its defenders with his submachine gun, and was seriously wounded in the shoulder by another grenade. He attacked another emplacement and killed its occupants. Directing the fire of supporting tanks, he again moved into the open, rushed a third heavily defended position, and killed the Japanese in it. He led his men in attacking individual foxholes and spider traps, and, twenty yards in front of his platoon, he motioned them to follow him forward again. He suddenly disappeared in a huge explosion. When the rocks and debris finished falling, his men could see Lummus and it looked like he was standing in a hole. He had stepped on a mine that blew his legs off. He yelled at his cursing, weeping men as they stopped to help him and urged them on to a three hundred yard advance across the area's ravines and ridges. The surgeons in the division hospital could only relieve his pain and give him blood transfusions to try to keep him from bleeding to death. They kept him alive for several hours "... He was smiling as he closed his eyes and died".

"We Few: The Marine Corps 400 in the War Against Japan" is a grand ccomplishment of military history, the statistics are awesome and saddening, the profiles in leadership and courage are inspiring, the details are at time frightening. It forces the reader to think of war in a different light. It is a winner and belongs on the shelves with other great military history books on World War II.

A worthy companion to "With The Old Breed" and "We Were Soldiers Once and Young" both harrowing tales of horror and heroism in war "on the ground". "We Few" provides another insight into what these men marched into "doing what needs to be done" without much fan fair. Many of these men found bravery and fortitude they did not know they had, but cared little to share more that a few words about it. Not something to brag or even talk much about unless with those "where were there". I know as my father is on the back cover. Thanks to the author for writing it..

This is a fascinating and well organized story covering the rather unique Navy-Marine Corps "V-12" college officer program in World War II. The program was much larger than might be assumed. Using oral history, interviews and historical facts, the author follows a dozen or so members of a special USMC officer training program in 1944 -- abbreviated so that the men could be rushed into Pacific combat (Iwo Jima and Okinawa). Emphasis of the book is well balanced between early training and later combat experiences. This is a very good peek into the activities in our country "behind the scenes" of the grand theaters of war. It is also a rewarding affirmation of the quality and character of the nation's young men at that time. Good work, author Dickenson.

Even if you never lived in Kansas, you will enjoy this book. For me, it invoked all I remember hearing from my grandparents, parents and what I experienced growing up in Kansas.

I am from Rawlins County and this book is a very accurate rendition of life in that part of the country! It makes me want to go back home! Dorothy was right! There is no place like home!

It's a good book i ever read. I think everyone would enjoy it

The Weathermonger concludes The Changes Trilogy, with Margaret and Jonathan not only being attacked by the people of England but also by the weather. Everything, including nature, now opposes our duo in their quest to restore acceptance of technology to the larger Brittish isle. They must brave the worst to find a solution long dead and a man who may not want to help them. An interesting solution to an intriuging series

WITH REF TO THE ABOVE I AM A NEW ENTRANT IN THIS FILTRATION FIELD.I HAD THE PREVILAGE OF GOING THROUGH YOUR HANDBOOK OF FILTERS AND FILTRATION.I FIND THAT THIS BOOK IS EXCELLENT AND COVERS ALL THE BASICS OF FILTRATION.I WOULD LIKE TO SUGGEST THAT IF SOME DESIGN EXAMPLES WITH SOME CASE STUDIES ARE COVERED IN A SEPARATE CHAPTER IT WILL BE VERY USEFUL FOR PEOPLELIKE ME

History of the National Park Service told first hand by three former Directors of the National Park Service.

Horace M. Albright who started with the Interior Department in 1913 and was Director of the National Park Service from 1929 to 1933.

Russell E. Dickenson who started with the National Park Service as a ranger in 1946 and was Director from 1980 to 1985.

William Penn Mott Jr who started with the National Park Service in 1933 and became Director in 1985.

Interesting reading from the first hand accounts of these three former Directors on the history of the National Park Service from the beginning to 1987.

This is a large format (9 x 12) soft bound book loaded with beautiful color photographs of the National Parks, Monuments and Historic Sites.

This is a great value for the money.

If you have studied anthropology at all, this book is fascinating. This book takes you inside the minds of early mondern humans and offers a glimpse of how our ancestors might have thought, talked, and interacted socially within a group- The Kin- and between groups. It is unlike any other book I have read.

There are two stories going on in this book- one is all about Po and his group of people, and one sounds more like a legend, but I didn't really get how they fit together.

If self-criticism is a sign of maturation, this book makes it abundantly clear that feminist theory has not only come of age, but has already given birth to new theoretical constructs. Donna Dickenson has mounted an impressive challenge to those who think that liberal, individualistic contractarianism is irretrievably riddled with inequities towards women, particularly through its emphasis on private property. Dickenson warns us not to "throw out the baby with the bath water" by rejecting those elements of traditional theories of property that may contribute to women's liberation. Her book sifts through the writings of Aristotle, Locke, and Hegel as proponents of the right to private property, as well as some major nonfeminist (Marx and Engels) and feminist (Carol Pateman) critics, identifying elements that need to be retained rather than discarded. But Dickenson doesn't stop there: in the course of her sifting, she develops a conception of property that, in her view, is not only compatible with, but necessary to women's status as subjects. The transformation of traditional liberal theory proposed by the author denies that either women or property are objects. Rather, property rights are "bundles of relations" and women as subjects hold those rights just as men do. Dickenson provides intriguing applications of her view to gamete donation, contract motherhood, fetal tissue transplantation, and the marriage contract. Gametes, she claims, should not be bought or sold by either sex because they involve relationships with future generations and our present partners. In contrast, contract motherhood is permissible because payment is not provided for potential or actual children but for women's reproductive labour, i.e., their pain and suffering through gestation and childbirth. On use of fetal tissue, Dickenson maintains that the fetus "cannot enjoy rights until the pregnant woman elects to endow it with the status of an autonomous agent" (167). With regard to the marriage contract, the "baby" Dickenson wants to keep is the contract part, construed in her emancipatory and egalitarian sense. This baby is necessarily wrapped in recognition of reproductive freedom and the labour of childbirth as women's property, maintaining equal freedom throughout the tenure of the contract, allowing either party to make or break the agreement at any time. The "bathwater" Dickenson wants to throw out includes all of the components of classical property theory that have contributed to inequality between the sexes, e.g., Aristotle's insistence on women's subordination to their husbands, Locke's support of coverture, Hegel's affirmation of unequal separate spheres for men and women, and Marx's failure to acknowledge domestic labor and reproduction as property of women as persons. Beautifully written, Dickenson's attempt to rescue liberal contractarianism from the sexism in which it has been embedded for centuries is an impressive achievement. Although she does not apply her egalitarian interpretation of property to single women, lesbians, and widows, it is surely as applicable to these groups as to heterosexual marriage partners. Through the strength of its scholarship, analyses, and argumentation, Women, Property & Politics is likely to convince at least some anti-liberals that a correct account of liberal theory is compatible with feminism. Many, in fact, may agree with the author that women's ownership of property is a necessary component of gender justice.

Senior Moments is an absolute delight. You want Patrick McManus meets The Sunshine Boys? You got it! Core's irreverent and hilarious look at aging will move and amuse you at the same time. You'll relate, whatever your age; if you're not a senior, with luck you will be. This one, I say, is a must-read.

In his historical series the Kent Chronicles author John Jakes wrote about the Battle of the Alamo (in "The Furies" I believe) from the perspective of a fictional woman who survives, but is lost to history. In "Susanna of the Alamo: A True Story" he revisits this story in fictional form again, but this time telling the story of Susanna Dickson, the wife of Alamo defender Almeron Dickinson, who actually did survive the battle along with their 15-month-old daughter Elizabeth. The story Jakes tells spends as much time on the aftermath of the battle and what happened to the Dickinsons, which is significant because usually the story most students read in juvenile histories about the Alamo skip to the victory at the Battle of San Jacinto where San Houston's troop yelled "Remember the Alamo!" Jakes tries to avoid the legends that still exist about the story of the Alamo and stay faithful to the historical record, but admits gaps exist and some "facts" exist in different versions. Jakes tells of Susanna Dickinson's recovery in the hospital, her meeting with Santa Anna and the message he had her carry to Sam Houston in Gonzales. She tells the leader of the Texan army what happened to her husband and the other defenders of the Alamo. It is from that conversation that Jakes crafts a compelling idea that Susanna Dickinson played an important role in the quest for Texas independence. The book is designed and illustrated by Paul Bacon, whose pen and watercolor pictures capture the times and tenor of the tale. This is not the first book a student should read if they want to know about the Alamo, but once they have learned the basic history of these events they will find this version by John Jakes adds something to their understanding. Furthermore, I would suggest that adults interested in the Alamo would find this book of great interest as well. Susanna Dickinson remarried and never spoke of the Alamo again until late in her life and lived until 1883. In his talent hands, Jakes makes this woman more than a footnote to history. This book is what we would call a grace note.

The Norton Anthology of American literature is a great collection of the most prominent and prolific authors in this young nation's history. The Anthology covers the development of authors in the new world, from the early native American folk tales to the works of Toni Morrison and Allen Ginsberg. The anthology spans poetry and prose and gives the reader a great cross sectional view of American society and its problems. The presence of Native American, Black and Hispanic authors presents a complete line up of works of literature, presented in a pleasant chronological order and introduced by a brief and interesting description of the author's life and works. The introductory description of each author facilitates the contextual placement of the text and its comprehension. The anthology contains several novels such as "Howl", "Sula" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". The presence of these complete works makes the anthology more complete, as they are an important part of the American literary tradition. The selection of authors and of their works is a good one, but presents some flaws. Obviously not being able to include all relevant authors in the American literary tradition, the editors selected a large number of authors, and their most important works. Nonetheless several important texts seem to be missing. Texts by less prolific authors, such as the great new classic "To kill a mockingbird" are missing. Although the anthology gives the reader an introduction on the author and his works it does not stimulate sufficiently through interesting points to be discussed and questions which shed light on hidden or obscure aspects of the texts. The anthology is a great tool for any class, or for the passionate reader. It is ideal if accompanied by a class or group/club in which the texts are discussed.

To anyone seeking an encompassing overview of American literature, here is your book. This, the latest edition of the Norton Anthology, not only makes for months of good reading but also acts as a good primer for further pursuits in American letters (academic and otherwise.) Besides the countless number of excellent selections, eleven works appear in their entirety. Among them, Twain's Huckleberry Finn, Whitman's "Song of Myself," and Ginsburg's "Howl."

The anthology also contains several new additions - most notably an intriguing section of Native American trickster tales that provides an interesting counter to Chris Columbus' over-zealous ramblings. As for more contemporary writing, I was pleasantly surprised at the number of deserving writers and poets newly anthologized in this revision: Toni Morrison, Raymond Carver, and Sandra Cisneros just to name a few.

Yet what makes this anthology truly successful is the breadth and depth of the text as a whole. The selections, the organization, the well-written bits of biographical information... IT ALL FITS PERFECTLY! No doubt other readers will find this anthology as informative, provocative and enjoyable as I do. A definite keeper for my permanent collection.

The Norton anthology is the definitive collection of American literature. Its selections range from the letters of Christopher Columbus to quintessential American works like Whitman's "Song of Myself" and inherently American movements such as beat poetry. The collection offers a wide spread selection of works, some of which fall outside of your typical definition of "literature." All, however, have been important parts of our artistic tradition and provide literary examples of the coming of age of America. Literature has truly helped to define the American identity. This book is a history lesson, a journey through some of the most beautiful poetry and prose ever written and a testament to the kind of intelligent, passionate people that have formed our country.