EC Books

The Real Deal! No "Steve Mcqueen" character, but everyone a true hero.The Great Escape

I love the movie the Great Escape and I loved reading the book it was based on. The movie did an excellant job of following the book but reading the book gave me so much more of an understanding of what these men went through and the courage they had. To truely understand the courage these men had and what they went through, you have to read the book.

If you want to know how to make something out of nothing, this is the book for you. I've been reading and re-reading this book since early childhood and that's how I learned to make a needed item out of just what was at hand. McGyver had NUTHIN' on these guys.

MRS. Dee Schauer
Texas

It's a shame the publisher decided to put a picture on the cover of Steve McQueen wrapped up in the barbed wire at the end of his big motorcycle escape attempt. Because, you see, that never happened in the TRUE story of the Great Escape contained in this book. The movie (while good) took serious dramatic license, while Brickhill's book presents the facts. And they are quite inspiring and thrilling enough without the addition of fictional elements such as McQueen's stunt riding.
I first read this book while in elementary school, and was hooked to the extent that I've read it many times since over the decades. A truly outstanding story.

This is the (true) story of the efforts of a multinational group of POWs to escape during WW2, and led to what is one of my favourite films.

I anticipated the book to be a bit of a let down after seeing the movie, but it really wasn't. They emphasize quite different aspects, and some parts of the movie were clearly made up with entertainment value in mind (people jumping motorcycles over fences for instance!). I can't blame the movie makers of course, because the compelling essence of this story is the daily slog of tunnelling set against the backdrop of the mind-numbing drudgery of incarceration. No movie could be long enough to get this point across, but the book allows one to build up a better picture of what captivity was like, particularly because it provides such incredible details. I was really struck by the ingenious ways the prisoners found to fake German uniforms and official passes, improvise tools, and build radios and other vital pieces of equipment. The book provides sufficient descriptions to allow you to get an impression of the main characters and camp layout, though I personally would have enjoyed a few photographs of the people involved (good and bad), though I realise these wouldn't have been easy to obtain.

The author has a relatively dry style typical of a historian rather than a dramatist, and at times relates key events remarkably passionately. The book ratchets up the tension without having to try too hard however, and I could sense the tension that existed whenever the guards entered the barracks to check for tunnels. The depression that accompanies every uncovered tunnel jumps out of the page, as does the resolve to keep trying to escape without ever accepting captivity.

I was also pleased that the author described the events some time after the final escape, so that I could see how thoroughly the Allied authorities pursued the main protagonists, and what was their evetual fate.

This book was a fine testament to the memory of the brave men who didn't wilt despite literally years of incarceration in conditions that can best be desribed as spartan. If they had all died without anyone knowing their story the world would be a poorer place.

Jack Kamen alone makes this worth buying! If you want to know what makes comics fantastic....this is it! These guys are the cream of the crop. Seriously, you've NEVER seen anything like this. Buy it and tell your friends. They will THANK you!

Never imagined i would get a chance to read the EC collections of Tales from the Crypt, Weird Science, Shock Suspenstories etc, that too in good quality bound volumes in glorious color on art pages.All are real collector items. A good investment to treasure and re-read on lonely rainy nights. Boooooooooooooo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The current age of the comic book and graphic novel has seen so much classic work with technical and artistic virtuosity that could only have been dreamed of in 1950. What they had back then, and is so beautifully reflected in this reprint, was a deep desire to tell a story unlike anything that had been seen or read before. I won't spoil any of the material for you, but I must say the level and depth of social ills dealt with in these stories is far more unflinching than even the current crop of verite and dark side of life style of writers and artists provide. The art in some cases, as seen in the work of Wally Wood, Jack Davis, Joe Orlando and Jack Kamen, is precise and stripped down in order to serve one cause- the furtherance of the story being presented. This book has beautiful production values, a great paper stock, some interesting historical tidbits, letters pages, pristine restoration and enhancement of the originals. The title says it all folks, these truly do shock and also manage to drum up a bit of suspense at the same time. A must buy, as are all the EC Archives books now out. I remember these comics in the hands of my older cousins and neighbors, I even inherited shopping bags full of old EC books from them as they all entered High School, went to College or left for the miltary. Moldy and a bit raggedy in some cases, they were nonetheless fascinating. But these more mature themed works could not escape the all seeing eye of my Mom, and in a heartbeat they went out in the garbage. A shame, because the books, as you will see with all edtions in this series, are anything but garbage.

Whether inspired by the success of Marvel Comics Essential or DC's Showcase reprint editions, EC Comics have excelled with the first of their series of collected editions from their late 1950s archive. These volumes give the average comic collector (even with a full set of the 1990s reprint editions) and avid fan of B movies access to many hard to find and prohibitively expensive gems, reprinted larger than the original comic size in full glowing colour. Even the forewords presented by icons like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and John Carpenter (on Tales From The Crypt) show the significance of the stories that are contained within each volume, many of which giving inspiration to sci-Fi, mystery and horror tales in the intervening years.
I can heartily recommend these collected editions to lovers of nostalgia of every age.

I am 35 years old, jaded, hardly young at hearted believe first and foremost that most comics as is most sci-fi are for people who have never had a girlfriend or hit a home run. But I have always heard good legendary things about EC comics, things which might make them transcend genre.

So when this collection finally came out after a lifetime of waiting I plunked down my milk money like any other dime store dork.

I cannot begin to tell you how impressed I was. The stories, plots and picture book quality of the stories are simply too good, too rich, too detailed, too good for this world. It is no wonder they were stopped by the powers that be.

A tome of fun for future generations or the ULTIMATE coffee table book? Either way, I am going to collect them all. And look forward to the NEW issues being released this June of Tales From the Crypt.

This set is a must have for all Tales from the Crypt fans everywhere. It is well put together and contains every Crypt comic book ever made. Granted the art is in black and white but its still beautiful. Great stories! (remember these were the 50's). Dont let the price or the Cryptkeeper scare you, its well worth it!

The comics as originally published were in color, not black & white (the first customer-reviewer may've been thinking of the 1960s Warren comics magazines such as CREEPY), and it's a pity that this series didn't replicate the colors, garish as they sometimes were.

This is it. Miles ahead of the mixed-bag television show, mediocre "Demon Knight," and god-awful "Bordello of Blood," these dementedly funny tales of violence and depravity ruled the comic book industry in the early 1950s until they were banned by the government in 1955. Vampires, werewolves, and mummies were not an uncommon sight in this magazine, but it was best known for vengeful walking corpses, live burials, and sadistic concepts. It was a very innovative and original publication, inventing and perfecting the horror-comedy genre later seen in movies such as "An American Werewolf in London." Story plots include:

-A living voodoo doll menaces a man who left his partner to suffer at the hands of a Haitian cult (remember, this was almost 50 years before "Child's Play")

-A practical joker accidentally causes his doctor's family to tradgecally die, only to be unwittingly given capsules with barbed hooks and tickled to death so he'll "die laughing"

-A murderer tries to evade prosecution by making his victim a human missile and "bombing" him right on the little square where Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado meet so the states will argue over who should prosecute him

-Plenty of great vampire stories, including one about a restraunt full of vampires, a vampire who fools a victim because of different time zones, and the unforgettable taxi cab nightmare, "Fare Tonight, Followed by Increasing Clottyness"

Read it from the beginning and you'll see that the style of this comic got more and more bizarre until it was perfected. Great artwork and a sense of harsh justice are another advantage here. You can't call yourself a horror fan and not read "Tales from the Crypt." It's just too entertaining (not to mention influencial) to miss. If you like this comic, then I'd suggest you also checkout its sister publications (also by the legendary publisher EC) "The Vault of Horror" and "The Haunt of Fear."

Let me start by giving a short description of the set, since Amazon lacks any for this item. The set is very large and heavy, the box sleeve about 10" wide, 13" tall, and 5" deep. The 5 books are all hard cover and contain 5 comics, which each have a few stories. There are also some inserted pages inbetween, with odd little one page stories and such. The stories start off with obscure deaths and people killing people and then wander more into the supernatural later in the series. The artwork also gets more detailed and stylistic. The comics are black and white, except the full color front page of each comic, just as they were in the 50s. I recommend this set to anyone who liked Tales from the Crypt, or who even just likes cool creepy stories. The set looks beautiful, one of those you'd like to show to friends. Flipping through the pages staring at the art or reading the stories late at night, I say it was worth every penny.

Let me start by giving a short description of the set, since Amazon[.com] lacks any for this item. The set is very large and heavy, the box sleeve about 10" wide, 13" tall, and 5" deep. The 5 books are all hard cover and contain 5 comics, which each have a few stories. There are also some inserted pages inbetween, with odd little one page stories and such. The stories start off with obscure deaths and people killing people and then wander more into the supernatural later in the series. The artwork also gets more detailed and stylistic. The comics are black and white, except the full color front page of each comic, just as they were in the 50s. I recommend this set to anyone who liked Tales from the Crypt, or who even just likes cool creepy stories. The set looks beautiful, one of those you'd like to show to friends. Flipping through the pages staring at the art or reading the stories late at night, I say it was worth every penny.

I used to read EC Horror Stories long ago, and always loved them. When I had the chance to buy the original Volumes, I ran and did it.

Great quality for a classic work, I really recommend it!

This is by far a must-own collection for the Tales from the Crypt fans.
It features original comic books from 50s and 60s.

I was too young for the originals, but the reprints in the late-80s/early-90s were amazing.

The only issue I have is that the ink is sooo freakin' glossy that you get glare from overhead lighting.

Johnny Craig is the best artist!

The EC Archives reprints are recoloured - and that is what makes them so special.
Other than the b/w reprints from the mid-80s these books are really stunning because of the colouring.
An A++ product!
(These are the quality reprints Marvel always is unable to produce - why? I don't know!)

The story of EC Comics really is one of the most intriguing in the lore of comic history. EC's founder, Max Gaines is really the father of the modern comic, having been the first one to devise the idea of printing newspaper comic strip re-prints into a magazine format. Gaines was also co-publisher of All-American Comics, the sister company to National Periodical Publications, AKA DC Comics, which published titles such as All Star Comics, Green Lantern, and The Flash. Gaines was bought out by his partner and eventually formed EC Comics, which then stood for Educational Comics but later would change to Entertaining Comics.

Gaines was killed in a boating accident, leaving his son William Gaines to reluctantly take over the company. Gaines soon changed the focus of the company and began to concentrate on publishing titles with horror, Sci-Fi, war, and suspense themes. Thus, Gaines created a legend. EC had perhaps the finest stable of artists ever assembled in one company that included Al Feldstein and Harvey Kurtzman who also wrote and edited most of the titles, along with other greats such as Johnny Craig, Graham Ingels, Wally Wood, Jack Davis, Al Williamson, Bernie Krigstein, George & Marie Severin, Reed Crandall, Basil Wolverton, Joe Orlando, and Frank Frazetta.

EC's horror comics were well ahead of their time and were really the pre-cursor of magazines like Creepy & Eerie. The stories in Tales from the Crypt, Haunt of Fear, and Vault of Horror were often quite gruesome and gory. Because of this, EC became the prime target of Psychiatrist Dr. Fredric Wertham who, in 1954 published Seduction of the Innocent, a book that blamed the violence and horror in comic books for juvenile crime and delinquency. A Congressional investigation resulted in the formation of the Comics Code Authority to censor comic books. Books had to be submitted and receive the stamp of approval and subjects like zombies & vampires were prohibited. While the CCA had no legal authority, most magazine distributors would not carry a comic if it did not have the code stamp. EC was forced to cancel their horror titles and shift it's focus to dramatic titles like "MD" and "Extra!", as well as the humor title Mad which was later changed to magazine format.

Much like it's Crypt Keeper, EC would not stay dead, thanks in large part to zealous fans and the efforts of Russ Cochran and Gemstone publishing that began re-printing the EC Comics in various formats in the 70's with the Complete EC Library, and then actual comics in the 80's and 90's. Among the latest projects are the EC Archives which collects several issues of the original EC comics into gorgeous hardcover editions.


Tales from the Crypt may seem tame by today's standards where blood and gore oozes off the pages, but when these stories were originally published back in the early 1950's, they were well ahead of their time in terms of their subject matter and artwork. While most comic art of the 50's was bland, mass produced house art, EC gave its artists unrivaled creative freedom. It's the reason why those issues are so highly sought after by collectors today.

The stories in Tales From the Crypt rarely deviated from the formula...they almost always ended with a shocking, ironic twist with a character getting their just desserts. Even when following this pattern, the gifted talent always kept things fresh and innovative. Inside these 212 pages you'll find stories featuring werewolves, mad scientists, zombies, animated limbs, ghosts, raving madmen (and women) and a host of other terrors. One of the most ghoulish tales is Johnny Craig's "Midnight Snack" in which a sleep walking man discovers he's been digging up bodies and eating them. This was pretty intense stuff for 1951. This book features the talents of legends Wally Wood, Graham Ingels, Johnny Craig, Jack Davis, Joe Orlando, and colorist Marie Severin.


These editions feature re-mastered color and also include special features such as an interview with Nancy Gaines, the widow of EC Comics founder Bill Gaines. The book lists for $50 but you can definitely find it online much cheaper making it well worth the price. If you've never read EC Comics before it's an experience you must have!

REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON

Amazon sent my product to me within two days! I was glad to receive this item. This book was suggested by the University of Texas at Arlington as a tool in preparing for the PPR's. This is a test taken in preparation for becoming an EC-4 teacher. The questions are very close to what is on the exam and helped me reduce my anxieties of taking this test.
Thank you!

I strongly recommend and encourage anyone taking the TeXes teaching certification exam to purchase this book!~

This book is extremely well put together. I credit this book for the successful passing of the TEXES. I read this book from cover to cover, it not only gave me pertinent information for passing the TEXES but it was an excellent read as well.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is struggling to pass any of the TEXES PPR examinations. This guide is essential for anyone who is serious about becoming a teacher in the state of Texas not only will you feel confident in passing your examination, but you will have gained the necessary knowledge as to how to shine as a teacher as well!

Wonderful book -- need I say more . . .

The book is well organized with each chapter representing a specific compentency. Tons of information!! Excellent review of information needed. Easy to read!

If you want to pass the PPR for the state of Texas, this is the book for you! The book is extremely easy to read.

The book itself is a fantastic example of very thorough investigative journalism. The writers obviously spent years doing massive amounts of research and interviews. It reads very well and presents a cast of characters as they truly are. It is written for the layman and casual reader. Once you put it down you will be extraordinarily disheartened at how the S&L crisis came about. The book sheds light on the roots and origins - the push for industry deregulation in the '80s and its massive, and quite apparently not well thought through, embrace by legislators. But it does a fair and balanced portrayal of the actors - highlighting that the worst people were already professional con artists and had links to organized crime. What is truly disheartening is the massive participation by and interference by top level career politicians (a handful of whom are still around)- many of whom were found by their peers to have severely violated ethics standards. It does a good job of portraying why regulation and oversight of certain industries - particularly the financial services industry, is so difficult. The rulemakers (legislators) are often severely conflicted because they are so heavily funded by the industry - most people don't like taking shots at their meal ticket. Some legislators, as detailed here, won't even hesitate to attack regulators when they threaten their lobbyist/campaign lifeline - rather than protect their citizens overall.

This is a very good read in light of current events with the mortgage lending crisis. One will find creepy, even shocking similarities. The bottom line is the same - poorly written loans (given to an elite group in the S&L case) with no real, credible basis for believing they would be repaid - shoddy underwriting, shoddy controls, shoddy monitoring, weak regulation/deregulation/regulation with no teeth [which is always exploited by those opportunistic few who quite literally make a living as con artists (criminals)], massive interference by the rich and connected.

The best, and saddest part, is this book is real - the events really happened, the facts are portrayed very objectively (the writers did an extraordinary job with research and documenting sources of information), the people involved were people well known and are still around in some circles, the costs and consequences are real and still being paid for to this day. Reading this book in light of current events will make one pause...pause and worry.

A must read - will leave you speechless and much wiser.

I give this 4.5 stars out of 5 - very well done. The most accessible, well-documented history of the S&L crisis caused by Reagan in the 80's. Even though the topic is dated, the book provides a good subject for students of history, and also an eye-opener for people interested in the irresponsible (and costly) fiscal policies of the neo-con right wing.

In the first few pages, this book summarizes a problem (a scam, actually) perpetuated on the American taxpayers by a small handful of ultra-wealthy elitists. In just a few minutes, you will have a firm grasp on how the scam works, and the long term effects on the US economy - something even the press never really understood and failed to adequately convey to the public. The author uses metaphors and plain language, and even though it is dense, the book is easy to read.

Besides being a good overview, what I found most interesting was the secion on Neil Bush and his insurance fraud scams (over 100 of them), and how George H Bush was able to pardon him before the public or press got full wind of his embezzlement. Subsequently, I read the book "Silverado: Neil Bush and the Savings & Loan Scandal" - which was also very good, but franky, I thought that the short section on Bush in the Inside Job did more than an adequate job of covering all the facts.

Except for the historian, economist, or political scientist, this book is probably too much detail for the average reader. For those of you who want the quick & dirty fact, I suggest reading about it online (Wikipedia), or getting the the abridged version of this book, or listening to the abridged audio book. But the length of the book does not detract from my positive rating - very well done.

This is a tragic story of the looting of hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayers money, money that could've gone for needed social services or other things. The government let it happen and this book tells you how.

I highly recommend this to those of us who were not adults at the time: in the 80's, I was still a kid - I couldn't be bothered to know what was happening in the world of S&Ls. Little did I know, but those high-flyers would affect my taxes for years (and years and years).

The book is easy to read - not too technical. It was a bit repetitive at times, but I think that's because many of the S&L crooks used the same types of illegal ponzi schemes to move money from one pocket to the other.

If you're like me, and knew very little about the S&L debacle, then let this book educate you. It's a telling tale of the problems brought-about by rampant de-regulation. I never knew that the S&L scandal(s) involved the wholesale looting of these banks (and American taxpayers - since they were federally protected deposits).

If you're already well-versed in the subject, you can read this to get some of the more personal stories of theft and graft.

There were also stories of corrupt politicians. I know it's a shock, but to me there's nothing more disgusting than a public trustee bending the rules to their advantage: they work for us.

I can't add very much to the other reviews, but agree that this book is well-written history and deserves a five-star rating. While the author clearly admires Davout, he contributes clear and objective discussion on the various controversies in Davout's life (did he wish to be king of Poland, why he fell from favor after the disasterous Russian campaign, his conduct after Waterloo, etc.). My only quibble with this book is that it is a bit dry (but not overly so) and it would have been even better if the author had woven a bit more anecdotal material into the book.

This book is the long awaited reprint of John Gallaher's 1976 classic account of one of Napoleon's greatest Marshals, Louis Davout, 'The Iron Marshal'. According to David Chandler, Davout was "one of the least liked as a man, the ablest as a commander, and the most feared - and respected - as an adversary. He was also, from 1798, one of the loyalist of Napoleon's key subordinates."

This is an excellent biography of a Napoleonic commander. The book covers Davout's military career from when he entered the Ecole royale militaire in 1779, through the Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars and finally his death in 1823. The narrative flowed along faultlessly although I would have liked more detail in regards to Davout's battles. However the author has covered these battles well enough and provided eight maps to assist the reader in following the action. Davout fought in numerous campaigns from Egypt to Russia and was successful always, his most famous battle being at Auerstadt.

Mr Gallaher has also supplied the reader with some insight into Davout the man with details of his relationship with his devoted wife and the tragedies of his children. You leave this book with a feeling that Davout was a man who did his all for duty (France and the Emperor) but never forgot his family. I loved reading this book and I felt it was not long enough (420 pages). I fretted about finishing, I wanted more, I did not want to put the book down nor finish it!

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves reading about the napoleonic period or anybody who enjoys a decent military biography. This is a great book about a great commander.

Probably one of the best biographies written about one of Napoleon's Marshals, John G. Gallaher does a fantastic job bringing Louis N. Davout to life in a well written, superbly researched and very insightful biography. The author managed to intergated all facets of Davout's life into a single flow that provides clarity and understanding. The two previous reviews have spoken more then enough on this book so I won't go on. It was nice to read a great biography which did great justice on Napoleon's greatest corps commander (my humble opinion of course).

Louis N. Davout was the best of Napleon's marshals. Undefeated in over twenty years of almost constant warfare, he was incorruptible, thoroughly reliable, loyal, an excellent tactician and strategist, and a faithful husband. Balding, grim, wearing special combat glasses that fastened at the back of his head as he was hearsighted, his titles, Duke of Auerstadt and Prince of Eckmuhl, were for battles he won on his own. He led the best trained troops in the Grande Armee, 'and usually got the hardest assignments.' John Gallaher has told his story with accuracy, wit, and near-faultless research, from his beginnings as an unruly junior officer to the end of the Empire and his retirement. This is the best biography of the marshal, and the author drew on much primary source material, including the marshal's correspondence, to give us this undispensable volume. It is a great read, jam-packed with vibrant, valuable information about one of the best generals, not only of the Grande Armee, but in history. Napoleon was served by the greatest collection of military talent ever to serve one man, and Davout was the best of that sterling lot. This volume belongs on the shelf of every military history enthusiast, whether or not your area of interest in the Grande Armee. Few commanders in history were as successful as Marshal Davout, and John Gallaher has presented us with a superb biography of an officer who definitely possessed what Napoleon referred to la sacre feu, the sacred fire, the unconquerable will to win or perish.

this book is for you... it is full of great pictures and information... it is awesome

Digby Diehl has dug up enough ghastly art and story lines from the old E.C. vaults to chill even the most die-hard Crypt fans! This book captures the horror and fascination many of us experienced as kids, encountering our first Tales from the Crypt comic. This archive presents a rich visual history of the development of the horror genre in comics, its rise to horrific success, and the devastating blows it was dealt in the 1950s, as comics came under tighter censorship scutiny. It is worth having this book for the collection of cover art alone, but also worth noting is the section on its spinoff into the television series. Anyone who has ever seen the comics, or the shows, will undoubtedly enjoy poring over this collection into the wee hours of the night...

A mere comic book in 1950, today Tales From the Crypt and its Crypt Keeper are trademarks whose value exceeds their initial medium, much as Disney's Mickey Mouse surpasses the value of his cartoons. And if Mickey means amiable family entertainment, the Crypt Keeper signifies a particular kind of horror tale: one combining brevity, gore, black humor, and moral irony.

Tales From the Crypt is also a multimedia property. Digby Diehl touches most bases along its history, beginning with the origin of comics books, a marriage between newspaper comic strips and pulp fiction. In 1896, Richard F. Outcault created The Yellow Kid, a comedic strip of cartoons about ... a yellow kid (allowing its publisher to showcase a newly invented, bright yellow ink, a favorite practice of tabloid yellow journalists). Until the late 1920s all cartoon strips were comedic, hence, a comic strip.

In 1933, Max Gaines conceived of reprinting comic strips into pulp books, making him the Father of the Comic Book. In 1945, his partners at Action Comics bought him out and he founded Educational Comics, publishing titles such as Picture Stories From the Bible and Bouncy Bunny in the Friendly Forest. He died in a 1947 boating accident, saving a child's life while perhaps sacrificing his own.

Bill Gaines grew up hating and avoiding comics because they had represented Max, a critical and demanding father. Now Bill's mother insisted that he run EC. He did, changing EC from Educational to Entertaining Comics, and hiring Al Feldstein to draw an Archie clone, Going Steady With Peggy. But Bill soon dropped the idea of cloning successful trends, a standard publishing practice then (and now?), and created what he called his New Trend titles.

The history of EC's New Trend horror and crime comics (Tales From the Crypt, Vault of Horror, Haunt of Fear, Crime SuspenStories, Shock SuspenStories) informs much of Diehl's book, but there is much else. We read of Weird Science and Weird Fantasy, Bill's sci-fi comics tolerated out of love since they never achieved the success of their horror siblings; the GhouLunatics (Crypt Keeper, Vault Keeper, Old Witch); Harvey Kurtzman's distaste for horror, his meticulous attention to military detail in his beloved EC war comics (Two-Fisted Tales, Frontline Combat), and his creation of, and defection from, MAD; EC's plagiarism of Ray Bradbury's "What The Dog Dragged In," leading to a long, congenial working relationship with Bradbury (but who later requested that his name not be put on covers, as he worried that being adapted by the comics hurt his authorial reputation); and the cloning of the New Trend, so that by 1953 about 150 competing horror titles were being published, today mostly forgotten.

Sections on each EC artist includes bios and samples of his unique style. Al Feldstein, who wrote and edited most of the New Trend, demanded that each artist have his own signature style. Bill Gaines encouraged it by instituting an "Artist Of The Issue" kudos page, a respect rarely accorded by other publishers.

EC's five horror and crime titles all folded in 1954, due to public outcry against comic book sex and violence. Psychiatrist Dr. Fredric Wertham of the New York Department Of Hospitals and Harlem's Lafargue Clinic led the fight. Powerful enemies against EC included gossip columnist Walter Winchell, waging a vendetta against EC business manager Lyle Stuart (whose book had revealed the "seamier side of Winchell's private life"); Senator Estes Kefauver (D-Tenn) of the Senate Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency and a presidential hopeful; and EC's competitors, particularly Archie Comics's John Goldwater and DC's Jack Liebowitz. As President and Veep of the Comics Magazine Association of America (CMAA), Goldwater and Liebowitz prohibited the words "horror, terror, crime, and weird" for a comic book to earn the CMAA's new seal of approval, required by distributors. EC's strength was its horror and crime titles, unlike its competitors. Ironically, Bill Gaines had called the meeting at which the CMAA was formed.

Wertham recruited support from "women's groups and religious organizations," vilifying horror and crime comics for their "detailed descriptions of all kinds of felonies, torture, sadism, attempted rape, flagellation" and portraying women "in a smutty, unwholesome way, with emphasis on half-bare and exaggerated sex characteristics." He decried all horror and crime comics, but EC had the most to lose. Ironically, EC was rare among publishers in diluting its horror with humor. The GhouLunatics' wry commentaries distanced readers from the suffering characters.

One rare political hero was New York Governor Thomas Dewey, who vetoed "numerous bills outlawing horror comics." But though attempts at state censorship failed, bad press, public pressure, and boycotts discouraged distributors and retailers from carrying EC. Bill Gaines summarized, "Magazines that do not get onto the newsstand do not sell."

Gaines requested permission to testify before Kefauver. In his statement (reprinted by Diehl) Gaines says, "I do not believe that anything that has ever been written can make a child hostile, over-aggressive, or delinquent." Here he was disingenuous, or at least contradictory. Gaines believed in comics' power to influence youth, periodically publishing what he called preachies (tales condemning racism, anti-Semitism, drugs, etc.), usually in Shock SuspenStories. And if art can influence for good, it follows that it can influence for ill.

The question should not have been: are violent comics potentially harmful? Tobacco, marijuana, airplanes, cars, guns -- and yes, art and ideas -- are all potentially harmful. To users, to third parties, to children. The proper question is: Do we chose to live and raise children in a society that assumes the risks of liberty, or do we wish a society cocooned, safe, and inoffensive, hypersensitive to the sensibilities of all?

Although Diehl makes no connection, Wertham began his campaign in 1948 and Bradbury began Fahrenheit 451 in 1950. One wonders what influence the psychiatrist had on the author. For the society in Fahrenheit 451 is a democracy, one in which whatever book offends any group is banned, until none are left. Unlike 1984's obvious state totalitarian target, Fahrenheit 451 reveals that people can discard their freedom by choice.

Yet as EC so often demonstrated in its pages, you can't keep the dead down. The Crypt Keeper lived on. In fanzines, in Russ Cochran's hardcover reprints (published in black & white so as to display the artists' meticulous ink lines), in the Amicus films, in the HBO series (Diehl includes a 93-episode guide covering the first seven seasons), in the more recent films, in the Tales From the Cryptkeeper cartoon. All covered, if only a page. There are a few errors (remarkably, Boris Karloff is referred to as William Henry Platt). Thankfully, there's an index, albeit incomplete. No reference to Karloff under any name.

Not covered are the Amicus film novelizations by Jack Oleck. Although pictured in the collectibles section, there's no information on its making. I miss it because it was both my introduction to Tales From the Crypt (being underage for the Amicus film) and my first "adult" book. To boomers, Tales From the Crypt is a comic book. To Xers, an HBO series. To those born in between, the Crypt Keeper is Ralph Richardson, seen on the back of Oleck's novelization.

Diehl's book reprints four "classic" stories and all 105 EC horror and crime covers (nine per page). Extensively researched, generously illustrated. If you have a serious interest in Tales From the Crypt, you'll want this book.

While I was never a big fan of the HBO cable series - I always felt it was more a star vehicle than a scare vehicle - I did always enjoy the comics it was based on, and with this, the offical history of EC and all their creations, you too will become a fan all over again. This book comes fully equipped and packed with features. It spotlights the history of EC and beyond, background profiles on artists, writers and producers, as well a comprehensive listings of episodes from the HBO series, plus four reprinted classics from the original run (LOWER BERTH/THE THING FROM THE GRAVE/HORROR WE? HOW'S BAYOU? and THE OCTOBER GAME - adapted from a story by Ray Bradbury... who has an interesting history with EC), plus a cover gallery running the gambit of all the EC horror series. This is a must for any fan of the series or collector of comics in general. Very fun, very nice package and very well done. My only complaint is that on occasion the material can read a bit light, but it never bores you... and you learn a thing or two, like: Just who owns all the original art work from MAD #1? To find out - buy and and read inside.

'Monsieur Proust' is based on tape recorded interviews with Marcel Proust's personal assistant/chambermaid Celeste Albaret, made in the 1970's, several decades after Marcel's death. The text has (probably) been altered from the spoken word, and is very clear, consistent and readable. Celeste tells in detail about the last ten years of Proust's life, which he mostly spent in his bed, curtains blocking the light and a layer of cork shutting out noises - writing on 'À la recherche du temps perdu'. Celeste had to attend to all of Prousts routines and whims: he usually woke up late in the afternoon, ate only a croissant and some coffee and sometimes went out in the middle of the night to attend parties, and Celeste had to stay awake and let Marcel in cause he didn't use a key. As time went by the relationship between Marcel and Celeste became closer, and he became more and more dependent on her.
'Monsieur Proust' is not only about Marcels charming eccentricities. It also gives a glimpse of Paris in the late 1910's, and some insight into Proust as a writer, the relationship between his writing and memory and the demise of the old society. And the debacle between Proust and Gallimard and Gide when 'Du côté de chez Swann' was first refused (something Proust made them regret).
Also, Celeste criticizes some of the established views of Proust given by other commentators, his homosexuality for instance. I don't know how trusted Celeste can be as a narrator, and what may be additions made by the publisher, but 'Monsieur Proust' is a very captivating read.

The pleasure of memoirs is that for all that they allow a circumscribed vision of things they tend to offer coherent narratives of the past, and let you know "what it was like." This famous memoir by Celeste Albaret, Proust's housekeeper for ten years while he was writing his masterpeice, gives us thus a better and more complete view of the writer during his most productive years than could be imagined otherwise. Albaret was not a writer herself--the memoir was composed by others who shaped her oral reminiscences--but this work is beautifully shaped, and flows wonderfully. Almost all the major questions anyone would have about Proust--how he wrote, what he was like, who the bases were for the characters in his novel, and what his relations with his family were like--are answered in due course, and though Albaret retains her biases (she refuses to give much credence to his affairs with his chauffeur and others, for example) she is still as honest as can be. It's clear that she considered knowing and working for Proust the great event of her life, and she feels bound to tell as much as what she saw as she can.

If you're a writer, you can't help but feel curious about the habits of other writers -- particularly the great ones, the writers you admire. How and when did they work? How did they accomplish their masterpieces? Of course, a cross-section of famous writers only demonstrates that there is no one way of working. Hemingway got up at dawn and wrote until lunch or so. Kafka had supper late in the evening and then began to write after ten or eleven o'clock, when everyone else was going to bed. Evidently day is as good as night, if you have talent and the will to write.

One of the more unusual schedules had to be that of Marcel Proust. Unlike Kafka, who wrote at night even though he had to get up in the morning to go to the insurance firm where he worked, Proust was a man of independent means and was thus able to maintain as irregular a schedule as he liked. Or rather, his schedule was highly regularized, it just wasn't exactly "normal." Typically, Proust woke up around four in the afternoon -- if he even really slept that much, which is an open question. Upon awakening, he would "smoke," which was his term for a fumigation process meant to relieve his asthma. Afterward he would drink one or sometimes two cups of cafe au lait prepared according to very stringent requirements. Sometimes he would eat a croissant, sometimes not. If he were staying home for the evening, as he often did in the years he was writing A la Recherche du temps perdu, he might begin work right after this "breakfast." If he was going out, he might not return until the middle of the night. Arriving home at, say, three in the morning, he might spend a few hours telling his chambermaid all about his evening -- and then, at perhaps six in the morning, after having been up all night, he would begin to write. What's more, he always wrote in bed. It really gives new meaning, when you consider this, to the famous opening line of his masterwork: "Longtemps je me suis couche de bonne heure." For a long time I went to bed early -- this was written by a man lying in bed after having been up all night.

The chambermaid who was Proust's nocturnal confidante during the last decade of his life -- precisely when he was writing his masterwork -- outlived him by more than sixty years. (Proust died in 1922, Ms. Albaret in 1984). For the bulk of those years, she maintained a strict silence about her former employer, honoring Proust's own sense of privacy. But finally, late in life, she felt the need to set the record straight and thus agreed to be interviewed for this "as told to" memoir. This is fortunate for fans of Proust, and for fans of literature in general, for her memoir is as intimate a portrait as you can find of any writer. It is the kind of view you produce of a person whom you love, respect, admire, but also serve in the most minute and detailed capacities. You can practically smell Proust's underwear in this book -- which is not to say that it's a lurid tell-all, because it isn't. Ms. Albaret seemed only too content to keep Proust's underwear perfectly clean.

Too clean, some critics have said. And it is true that Ms. Albaret flatly denies Proust's homosexuality. She admits he went to a certain male brothel, but only -- in her view -- to gather information for his book. Otherwise, if he had any trysts during her decade with him, she didn't see them, or didn't want to. But then again, so what? Do you really have to look for stains in the man's underwear? In comparison to all the vanguard writers who were absolute jerks, it comes as something of a relief to read of a writer who comes off as a sweet, generous, nostalgic, insightful man.

Not that Proust didn't have his eccentricities, because certainly he did: his nocturnal schedule, abstemious diet, the cork walls lining his bedroom to prevent noise, the curtains closed to keep out the sunlight. It can almost be harrowing to read of Ms. Albaret's indoctrination into Proust's neurotic universe, and yet at the same time you can recognize that this controlled climate was necessary to enable Proust to recreate the splendid universe of memories in his book. Ms. Albaret says it best herself:

"Now I realize M. Proust's whole object, his whole great sacrifice for his work, was to set himself outside time in order to rediscover it. When there is no more time, there is silence. He needed that silence in order to hear only the voices he wanted to hear, the voices that are in his books. I didn't think about that at the time. But now when I'm alone at night and can't sleep, I seem to see him as he surely must have been in his room after I had left him -- alone too, but in his own night, working at his notebooks when, outside, the sun had long been up."

And perhaps that is also the truest thing anyone can really say of a writer's schedule. Hemingway's dawn, Kafka's evening, Proust's night -- what they all have in common is their own internal rhythm, a private sequence of sun and moon. It was Proust's thesis that writing could recover time lost in reality, and yet the unspoken irony is that in reality you also lose time just in order to write.

Van Praag does a wonderful job of bringing a great deal of information about old tape machines together in one fun to read book. Open reel recorder information dominates here, but the theory section covers compact cassette and 8 track as well. For readers interested in technical data, a section deals with circuit drawings. The photography of the equipment is very high quality, it does justice to these old machines. Van Praag's style is matter-of-fact and rather relaxed. He is certainly a realist, you can tell he has spent many an hour working on audio recorders. His how-to-do section on repair/restoration is thorough, funny, and quite accurate. Whether you just fooled around with a cheap toy recorder as a child, or made your living keeping the big reels turning, you will enjoy this book.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has even remote interest in electronic equipment. This book is profusely illustrated and written in an entertaining yet informative style that will keep you reading for hours! This book will have special appeal to those who collect or have an affinity for vintage electronics equipment equipment.

If you have an interest in audio tape recorders, whether historically or an owner (I grew up with them), this book is excellent. There is none other like it. Coverage is complete with lots of great photos of tape recorders (like Elvis's Ampex 350 studio deck). If you are a hobbyist or technician, there are schematics and much repair/rebuild information. I was also a broadcast engineer and have recently rebuilt several Ampex reel-to-reel recorders. I searched everywhere for reference information and there wasn't much, other than old service manuals. This book covers all the Ampex models plus just about everything else, and is just plain fun to read. Many of the long lost home recorders I knew as a child are included. You won't be disappointed by purchasing a copy of this book.