You don't have to be a student of the Civil War or naval history to get hooked on Bob Macomber's books. Although I try to read as much fiction and non-fiction as I can regarding the Civil War, I approached his first book (At The Edge of Honor) with some hesitation because of my ignorance concerning ships in general and the naval aspect of the Civil War in particular.
By the time I finished the first book in the series, I was ready to dive into "Point of Honor" to see what next lay in store for Peter Wake. Macomber's writing style lets you become a part of the crew and his method of allowing the reader short glimpses into the life of Peter Wake is always timed perfect. After a short time the naval and ship terms became second nature to me in large part because of the way the author talks you through the routine and drills.
The battle scenes are always interesting and his writing skills with regards to the ships and the areas they travel make it obvious that Macomber makes good use of his experience and research. I wait with anticipation for the next book in the series.

This book is great, Macomber got it all right. Its great to see an American write naval fiction like an Englishman.

I have to admit that, as an Englishman, the American Civil War is something of a mystery to me. Until I read this book, the second in the series, the fact that some of the War was fought around the coast of Florida was a detail completely unknown to me (and even some of my Floridian friends).

So if US history is so alien to me, why did I enjoy this book so much? Quite simply, because Macomber writes with atmosphere. I challenge you all to read this book and deny you didn't feel like you were there. The words of description transpose so easily into the imagination that you can see, hear and even smell the adventures of Captain Peter Wake.

Of particular interest, keenly captured by the author, is the relationship between Wake and his crew - the educated man and the old sea dogs.

Buy this book and sail back in time to experience life aboard the schooner St James and experience the adventures of its Captain and crew. If you don't find your sea legs after this, you probably never will!

Set against the backdrop of the Wars of the Roses, The Black Arrow is an intriguing look at the life of young Richard Shelton. Richard's life is shaken when he realizes that those he had thought to be his friends are really his enemies, and he is forced to make choices that will determine the course of his life. Although the characters are well-developed and the plot is fascinating, this book is not for the squeemish or lazy reader. The description is not only vivid, it is often gorey. The language is sometimes difficult and a dictionary might prove quite handy. But anyone looking for a well-written, action-packed classic should read this book.

This book is one of the best I've read. It is what every book about the middle ages should be and more, with suspense, action, disguises, escapes, and of course, the occasional love scene. Robert Louis Stevenson lived in the mid-1800s, and is renowned for his many works, includingTreasure Island, Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, andKidnapped. The Black Arrow, written originally for a magazine, was written after a serious illness in Stevenson, and was published right after Treasure Island.

Dick Shelton, a boy of sixteen, is quickly thrust into the conflict of the War of the Roses. He battles against almost any kind of evil - bloodthirsty pirates, a murderous priest, and even his own legal gaurdian - Sir Daniel Brackley. Through the whole book Dick strives to become a knight, and to rescue his true love. The Black Arrow is a sure winner for 6th graders and up.

The Black Arrow is, without a doubt, one of my all time favorite books, just as Robert Louis Stevenson is one of my all time favorite authors. I find it hard to believe that The Black Arrow is probably the least well know of his great adventure novels (the others being, of course, Treasure Island and Kidnapped), as it is certainly the best as far as I am concerned. As far as the story goes, it is one of the most entertaining plots that I have ever encountered. It is filled with more twists and turns than I would have thought possible, but remains very clear and fast paced. The characters are wonderful, as is the description and the writing itself. Granted, some of the language is a bit archaic, but I feel that this adds a lot to the authenticity of the story.
The Black Arrow is not a very easy read at first, but once you get into it it really flies by. It is as entertaining, exciting, and intriguing book as you will find, and I would recommend it to anyone.

This coffee table book was okay, no better or no worse than the others that were put together for West Point's bicentennial. But, I think pictures, whether beautiful or just okay, are substantially empty momentos -- not momentos at all -- with little in the way of meaning or value. There is no substitute for the real thing. I recommend that you personally visit West Point and take the tour --- and take pictures with you in them.

For West Point fans interested in its bicentennial, I recommend "West Point: Two Centuries.." by Robert Cowley. It is like the other lovely books, "West Point: The First 200 Years", "West Point: The Bicentennial Book", and "The Spirit of West Point" in that it is a coffee table book with great pictures, except it has a collection of essays written by well-known highly paid writers. For both the general population and West Point fans, I also recommend "West Point: Character Leadership Education...Thomas Jefferson" by Norman Thomas Remick. It is an easy historical and philosophical cosmology of the USA and West Point that everyone would do well to know, including the world of Islam.

Collaboratively compiled by Robert Cowley and Thomas Guinzburg, featuring an introduction by General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, and superbly enhanced with contributions from a number of noted historians and writers including Stephen Ambrose, William F. Buckley Jr., David Halberstam, Arthur Miller, George Plimpton, Tom Wicker, and Cecilia Holland, West Point: Two Centuries Of Honor And Tradition is an illustrated bicentennial celebration of the endurance and legacy of the United States Military Academy of West Point. Full-color photographs on nearly every page embellish this fascinating, informative, and very highly recommended history of America's oldest (and arguably most prestigious) military academy.

Jim Hawkins, a young man living in rural England with his parents, helps run an inn with his parents. His life changes forever when a mysterious dying pirate takes residence at the inn. The shadowy pirate is often on the lookout for strangers who begin to show up in search of the pirate. Rum finally takes its toll on the pirate and he dies, leaving behind a mysterious chest that the strangers are interested in. Upon examination, Jim discovers a treasure map.

With the help of Jim's adult friends, a crew is formed to go in search of the pirate's buried treasure on a remote tropical island. The journey is uneventful until, Jim saves the day when he realizes that their crew consists mainly of pirates who hope to cause mutiny upon reaching the island. Ultimately, a raging battle takes place on the island where Jim and his friends must outwit the pirates who are led by the one-legged Long John Silver.

For a children's book, this book had a lot of inappropriate material - drinking and violence. I also had a tough time with the old-English writing style and the nautical terms. This book was ahead of its time, though, in terms of the adventure it described, but I was hoping for more. Fans of H. Rider Haggard (ala King Solomon's Mines) will enjoy this book but I was sort of happy to be done with it as some parts were engaging and others were muddled.

"Treasure Island" is the classic adventure novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. Set on the high seas amid treasures and pirates, it is the story of a young boy's adventure. "Treasure Island" has been done by everyone from Disney to the Muppets. It's been imitated many times and influenced countless books and movies.

A mysterious pirate shows up at an inn owned by Jim Hawkin's mother. The pirate is killed by a gang of rogues, but Jim finds a treasure map belonging to the pirate. Jim then embarks on a journey to far away island to find the treasure. Of course, nobody can be trusted - especially the cook, Long John Silver. With his peg leg and parrot, Silver is the stereotypical pirate. Once the island is reached, sides are chosen - the mutinous pirates against the ship's crew. Jim goes on a journey within a journey on the island, going from one side to another, as the treasure is hunted for.

Everyone should read this book at some point. It's especially good for young boys, due to the fact that the main character (Jim) is a young boy. It's well crafted, and easy to read. And it's hard to put down once you get going. What else can you ask for?

I never did read this book as I was growing up and have now read it for the first time as an adult. I always thought that this book would not be very good but I was wrong.

I write this review for those students who may hesitate to read Treasure Island. This book is a story of high adventure. In it is the tale of a young boy who comes to possess a treasure map and goes off on a whirlwind adventure filled with sea voyages, pirates, island adventure and treasure. Stevenson wonderfully portrays the characters of young Jim Hawkins, the hero of the book, the fabled Long John Silver, Billy Bones and Ben Gunn. Each adds their own sense of mystery and suspense to the story. The settings of the story from the Admiral Benbow Inn to the Hispaniola, their sailing vessel, to the island itself are very vivid and make you feel as if you are really there. The adventure to and finally on Treasure Island is filled with secret meetings, battle scenes and a quest to find a long since buried fortune in gold. The novel is truly great and is a very entertaining and interesting read.

For those adults who have never read this novel definitely read it and for those who have already read it, read it again it is well worth it. The swashbuckling adventures of Long John Silver and his men, along with Jim Hawkins, are truly timeless. If you have children of age, share the story with them. It is truly a family classic worth sharing with generations to come.

I was gravely disappointed in this book. Most of the advice is common sense. Much of it is contradictory. Item #56 is "Work Overtime" (unpaid!). Item #80 is "Get a Life (After Work)". Item #128 ("Be a Good Corporate Citizen") urges the reader to donate 20+ hours/week to charities approved by the company and the boss. What planet does the author work on? It must be a planet whose rotation about its axis and revolution about its Sun create 750 days a year, with each day having 42 hours. In Item #88, "Make a Generous Donation During Your Company's United Fund-Raising Drive," the author admits to "personally reviewing contributions made by virtually all employees at headquarters." Just how does the author, as top manager, know that an employee with a "low" contribution doesn't have heavy personal obligations, such as the nursing-home or hospice care of aging parents? Does charity not begin at home? Item #164, "Be Generous with the Gifts You Give Your Boss," suggests what would have been career suicide where I worked for 29 years. When I was a boss, I was never offered a gift by an employee. Had I been, I would have refused it with a stern lecture about "influence-purchasing."
The book has no index to the 169 short (1-2 page) chapters; it should.

Mr. Schonberg has explained in very clear, numbered statements, what you can do with just a bit of effort to put yourself in a positive light with your boss. Some of the points may seem to only apply to the executive but most can easily be put into use at any job level. Time is money, don't waste the bosses money by wasting time on the job. Don't badmouth your former employer. Stay current. All easy to do and all simply explained. After all, the sooner you read the book the sooner you can score points with your boss.

+AH4-The title is somewhat misleading in the sense that all the pointers given (usually in the form of one pagers) are also applicable to your employers, coworkers, even personal relationships. A lot of the items are relationship builders, others are tips for improving efficiency, and yet others reminding us that we are all human. Some of the advice may seem trivially obvious, but those are the ones that somehow we forget!

The title is meant to reflect that ultimately a large part of your career+AH4-+AH4- progress depends on your boss and your relationships with him/her. A good advice, but not to be overstated (and the book certainly does not overstate it). Ultimately "there are no shortcuts". This books just provides the tools to make the path a lot smoother. Cheers.+AH4-

The structure of this book was absolutely awful. The content even worse. This book has no clear storyline and jumps from pictures to uninspired text. It is mostly pictures, as if intended for a 1st grader. In summary, this book offers nothing of value.

I come from an Army family and I loved this accounting of a year in the life of a cadet. The book was fun and interesting to read, plus the photos are fantastic! I have left it on my coffee table and my guests love to flip through it. Thank you Mr. Stewart for your insightful view of a year in the life of a cadet.

Beautifully writen and photographed!

This book was a gift to me. I would never have purchased such a stodgy looking guide if I saw it in the bookstore. I actually got the larger Hawaii Handbook covering all of the Hawaiian islands. This book is the Big Island section of that book and includes comprehensive general Hawaiian island information as well. If someone is planning a multiple island trip they should go for the bigger book. Even if you are not going to Hawaii but want to know about Hawaii get this one. I devoured this book during the long flight to Hawaii and must say it was by far the very best travel guide that I have ever read and used to any destination. (And I have read them all.) It is so comprehensive and the writing is so well done that reading all of the information was almost like reading a page turner novel for me. I could not get enough. Once we were in Hawaii we found this guide totally indispensible. We traveled with a few other nice guides but, with all of their color photograpy and fancy maps, eventually this one was the only one we felt was worthwhile. (You can get all the maps you will ever need once you get there.) After touring extensively I read it with even more interest on the long flight home. We plan to return to tour just the Big Island and this is the one we will bring. It is not glitzy it is the real thing. Enjoy.

What I like about this one is its emphasis on local specialties and culture. This is a hallmark of Moon's guides in particular, and this one is no exception. The only thing missing is color photos. Buy it!

I used J.D.'s guidebook to all of Hawaii last trip in '92 and I'm glad that he's written one specifically for the big island. I've bought this one in preparation for this year's trip to the big island. If you want to know more than which of the big resorts are the best then this guidebook is great!

This is a very intersting book regarding philosophy and biological origins, but in some places, it is bogged down with technical discussions that may be hard to comprehend by those lacking a strong physics background.

Fantastic historical details about an energetic and interesting time in early American history.

Robert Louis Stevenson was without a doubt one of the greatest historical/adventure novelists that ever lived, and Kidnapped is unquestionably one of his best works. My only regret is that I waited so long to finally read it. It was a new and exciting change from Treasure Island, a book which I love, but have read approximately once every year since the second grade. Finally, longing for a little swashbuckle, and wishing for a way out of my Jim Hawkins rut, I picked up Kidnapped, and was immediately swept off on a thrilling, suspenseful and exhilarating adventure through the Scottish highlands. For days I sat rigid on the edge of my seat, eagerly following the young David Balfour as he was cheated of his inheritance by his wily uncle, kidnapped by pirates, and befriended by a cocky Jacobite outlaw. Breathlessly, I followed him and his companion as they were falsely accused of murder and forced to flee from British troops. Finally, I heaved a sigh of contented disappointment as the story ended, glad at the way things had ended, yet upset that it all had to end and that I would at last have to part from the two heroes of whom I had grown so fond. This is without a doubt a book that I will reread as many times as I have Treasure Island, and I envy the lucky reader who is picking it up for the first time. It is thrilling, exciting, suspenseful, unpredictable, and thoroughly intoxicating. After reading it, my thirst for such dashing adventure was so terrible that I immediately had to run to the library and lay my hands on every adventure novel I could find. I would highly reccommend it to every lover of adventure stories, particularly those with a historical base. I would suggest though that first time readers take a minute to read just a very little bit about the Jacobite rebellions, particularly the one of 1745. It will help greatly to clarify the story, and make it that much more enjoyable. (If indeed, it could get any better than it already is!)

I missed this one as a kid, which is too bad, because I think I would have appreciated it then as well. Set following the failed Scottish rebellion, 'Kidnapped' tells the story of young David Balfour, whose greedy uncle tries to cheat him out of his inheritance by having him kidnapped and sold in the American colonies as a slave. On the way, however, he befriends a Jacobite rebel and is instead caught up in the Scottish troubles and has to fight his way back to his home and claim his inheritance. The adventure is all the more exciting because it feels like such a real world with all the careful place-related detail Stevenson employs. While the language can be difficult in places, that quickly fades once you get into the rhythm of the book.

"I will begin the story of my adventures with . . ." That's how Robert Louis Stevenson begins one of the best novels in his career, Kidnapped. Set in the aftermath of the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 in Scotland, Kidnapped is an intriguing story narrated by David Balfour, a young Whig and Lowlander of Scotland, who is tricked by his miserly uncle; survives attempted murder, kidnap and shipwreck; and in the company of Alan Breck, a Jacobite, escapes through the Highlands and returns home to claim his fortune. The book is a wonderful adventure story with a vivid, clear presentation of the ongoing events. Although originally written for entertainment, Kidnapped effectively blends David's adventures with the ongoing historical events of the time. In some ways this story relates to the lives of people in our present time, as people still do anything to try to keep family inheritances to themselves, and friends of different rival ethnic backgrounds try to look beyond their racial differences to maintain good friendships. These racial tensions run deep in the ancient misunderstanding between the two heroes themselves: Whig and Jacobite, Lowland conservative rationalist and romantic liberal Highlander. The book is written with such realism that one would think it to be the true adventures of a person during that period, carefully recorded in a diary before being published as a kind of biography. This just shows the distinct imagination the author uses to capture the roles and personalities of the characters, the themes, and the environment before putting them all together to produce one outstanding novel. Kidnapped is a novel so good that it could be enjoyed by anyone. But it distinctively calls out to those that want the suspense and adventure it has to offer. I recommend it for an intelligent reader in search of a good piece of historical fiction.