ezloan

Horace Bollard was fishing that day but it wasn't a fish that he caught. It was a man - dead for some time. But the coroner discovers several interesting things about the body. First, he didn't die of drowning; second, the body wasn't as damaged as it should be for the amount of time in the water; and third, why was there only evidence of freshwater immersion on a body found in the tidal wash of the river?

Last Respects is the 11th in Catherine Aird's Inspector Sloan mysteries. It is a carefully and originally plotted mystery involving old murders and new. Containing more that her usual assortment of interesting characters and underlying background, this mystery is a bit more serious than her previous books. While it does contain her characteristic light touch, it is a bit more somber than usual. But that works well for story and the people she's created.

An excellent and enthralling mystery, with just enough clues and red herrings sprinkled throughout to make it very engaging. As usual, if you pay close attention, you can figure out the mystery at about the same time as the Inspector. Do you like cosies? Ellis Peters and her George Felse mysteries? You'll like these books.

Highly recommended. And can someone out there PLEASE start reprinting her books? They are terrific!

Catherine Aird's CD Sloan series is a real treat. For those who like British Procedurals done in the classic style, you won't find any better than these. The plots are tight, the characters plausible, and the puzzle a real puzzle. In this book Sloan is investigating the death of a man who was found in water, but who didn't die in water. As he investigates, he comes across a motley array of suspects - an old boatman who seems to see everything, a museum curator, an owner of a sheep farm and an architect. The trick is to find out the motive, and then it would illuminate who the murderer was. But before he does that he uncovers two more deaths - one old and one new, and he has to rush to avoid another one. Murderers seem to find it easier with each subsequent death. You must take the time to read this series. They're as perfect a little puzzle as you'll get anywhere.

This is a perfect little British mystery. We have a village flower show, the British firm of Terlingham, Terlingham and Owlet and loads of tea and ploughman's lunches. In this sparkler the village nurse/midwife is found murdered behind her fortune teller's tent at the flower show. Who would want to kill harmless, well-liked Nurse Cooper? Sloan and Crosby are sent to the village to discover the murderer. It all seems to hinge around a case of verified identity for property that is to be probated. The hardest thing that he has to determine is motive, but never fear, he manages to figure that out along with the identity of the murderer.

My story being done,
She gave me for my pains a world of sighs:
She swore, in faith, 'twas strange, 'twas passing strange;
'Twas pitiful, 'twas wondrous pitiful:
She wished she had not heard it...
- _Othello, The Moor of Venice_ by William Shakespeare, Act I, Scene 3

Like Desdemona, Joyce Cooper was strangled, but the similarity appears to end there. Far from being the beautiful victim of a jealous rage, District Nurse Cooper was a homely middle-aged spinster who lived for her work; her only hobby was her post as Almstone's church organist. (All the chapters are named for organ stops.) So it was that she asked for the fortuneteller's tent at the flower show on the Priory grounds, since she didn't have time for fancy cooking or gardening, and liked being useful. But when the tents were struck at the end of the show, Joyce Cooper was found dead just the same.

Inspector Sloan has a murder that's out of the ordinary run of stranglings, where the greatest controversy of the show up to that point was why Ken Walls' tomatoes didn't take first prize. Almstone itself is a quiet village going through a growth spurt, where developers like Maurice Esdaile can make a lot of money if the new owner of the Priory will sell off some land. But who is the new owner? Richanda Mellows, daughter of the famous anthropologist killed in South America, is the heir - but she was brought up among the people her father studied, and her identification was stolen.

Did someone kill the local midwife because she could identify Richanda - or because she couldn't?

Lots of well-drawn characters and subplots here; as usual, Aird has given us a good book as well as a good mystery. Fred Pearson and his friend Ken Walls' tomato grievance is itself a small mystery, pursued by the Flower Show secretary. (Walls' pursuit of the perfect tomato, incidentally, is his way of living with a bad marriage.) One of Calleshire's recurring-character law firms, this time Terlingham, Terlingham, and Owlet, puts in an appearance as the executors of the Mellows estate. Aird also has fun with the Almstone attitude to newcomers and development, especially some of the wealthy newcomer farmers and the Preservation Society.

Appalachia has gotten a bad rap...hillbillies, poor, ignorant, etc. Those who have lived there, or know people who have, know this is false. After all, Appalachians formed the bedrock of the union movement in this country (think United Mine Workers), fought much of the Civil War, and ran our steel miils.

Ms. Slone does a powerful job of exposing the powerful inner strength developed by residents of these mountains over the generations. She makes you believe that "hillbilly" is not an epithet, but--as she says--an adaptation of the Shakesperean Wiiliam ("Billy") to the mountains--hence, hill billy's.

A great book for anyone who wants to understand (or who already admires) this very important region in our country.

Simple and truthful. If you love the Appalachian South, you'll enjoy this one.

I bought this book when my husband first decided to join the military. I had no prior experience in the military at all, and found it to be a great resource. I really enjoyed the tips and hints it had for all matters, such as getting a job yourself, how to work with a military budget, moving, and dealing with deployments. The anecdots by other military wives were great and one of the best features of the book in my opinion.

The only real flaw I find with this book is there is not any information for spouses who are already married when their husbands go to basic training. This was a difficult time for me, and I had no idea what to expect.

Otherwise, this is great book and very helpful.

I once gave this book a one star review. In fact, I was inspired to write my own book (Solo-Ops) after becoming infuriated while reading this book. After reading some of the other drivel and junk out there for military wives, I now believe that this one is one of the best (besides mine, of course:). It provides accurate information (which is more than a lot of similar titles) and plenty of it. It is boring because it is all about facts. It is an awesome reference and you can use it to look up about anything you need to know.

Of course, I still believe that spouses need support and an honest explanation in addition to facts and information. That is the niche I feel Solo-Ops (the book I authored) fills. While it does not focus on facts, it does focus more on military life itself and explaining things the way I experienced them. I felt military wives needed to be prepared for the EMOTIONAL rigors of military life. I now realize that informational needs have to be filled in addition to emotional needs-- and not everyone starts out with the facts.

I give credit to Mrs. Cline for providing a non-biased, well researched and accurate resource to the military community. I thank her for providing an informational book rather than one based on thoughts and opinions of military proceedure, rules, and regs. If you are looking for a good source of information, buy this book first. While others claim to provide information, they provide little more than lip service and opinions-- and most of the opinions are from Officers Wives who have no idea what an enlisted wife faces. Mrs. Cline is one officers wife who was able to leave her "Officer Wife" Dynamic out of her book. While I still do not believe this book is a complete resource or source of support, I think it is a great start.

"Today's Military Wife", 4th edition, is a great source of reference material. The book should be given to all spouses in all branches of the service. I found the sections on 'Socials and Protocols' very helpful, as well as the section on undertstanding the different ranks and insignias. Some sections, i.e. Your Money and Living Overseas, are very well thought out and provide excellent information. I have refered many new spouses to pick up a copy of this book.

... I learned something extremely important and I'd like others to know about it.

If it is the case that mutually beneficial cooperation amongst group members will tend to defeat the survival strategy of competing groups who cannot get their cooperative act together, then we need to know about it. Those of us who feel overwhelmed by greed and dominance can take a great deal of solace from the fact that research is finding simple, good-natured cooperation amongst group members... self-selected by whatever criteria are mutually acceptable... create within their group a strategic competitive advantage.

In some cases the group in question is a religious group and in other cases the group is military or polical or economic. The specific purpose of the group matters less than the fact of orchestrated activity by rational means.

Religion is not the only issue, nor the most important issue. Dr. Wilson makes it clear early in the book that what's at stake here is the ultimate fate of the species. Can we learn this lesson of cooperation that natural selection teaches us in time to preserve the species as a whole, or not?

I have spent much of my adult life with the most pessimistic of conclusions on this question. For the first time I believe that the process of natural selection may itself be a model that can be learned from and turned to survival advantage for our species. Sure, the odds remain against our ultimate conquest of the obstacles before us, but David Sloan Wilson has given us good reason to hope... and to struggle ever more vigorously against the forces of deterioration that challenge us.

I read this book after coming away from "Do Unto Others" which Dr. Wilson co-wrote with philosopher of biology, Elliott Sober. The philosophical credentials Dr. Wilson brings to "Darwin's Cathedral" are impeccable. The two volumes together have transformed my conclusion about the future of the human species, and may well transform yours...

This book is a well-written, highly entertaining conjecture on the possibility that group selection has played an important role in the emergence of religion in human societies. As an evolutionary biologist, I must dispute those who have suggested that group selection is fallacious and has been generally discarded by biologists. In fact I give a lecture on the subject in an undergraduate class on evolution. Evolutionary biologists as eminent as Stephen Jay Gould have supported the view that group selection has played an important role in evolution. Predictions based on mathematical models for group selection have been made and confirmed. Many biologists accept it as a given. In the words of University of Vermont geneticist Charles J. Goodnight, its "proven. A done deal. We know it works." Many biologists who came of age in the sixties were widely influenced by the excellent book, Adaptation and Natural Selection by George Williams, and are unable to give up their biases. But even Dr. William's views on group selection are more nuanced these days. Richard Dawkins is a brilliant man but he hardly speaks for all of those who study evolutionary biology. This book, and Dr. Wilson's previous book, Unto others, are excellent primers for those with open-minds who are iinterested in the possibility that there is more to life than the selfish gene.

If you have an opinion about religion, or belong to a religion, most people disagree with you; there is not a majority religion in the world. And surely not all religions can be factually correct, since there are fundamental disagreements between them. So, how is it that all those other, incorrect religions exist and seem to help their members and their societies? There must be something they offer beyond a factual representation of gods and the cosmos (and when it comes down to it, if you belong to a religion, yours must be offering something more as well). If religions do help their members and societies, then perhaps they are beneficial in a long term and evolutionary way, and maybe such evolutionary influences should be acknowledged and studied. This is what David Sloan Wilson convincingly declares he has done in _Darwin's Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society_ (University of Chicago Press): "I will attempt to study religious groups the way I and other evolutionary biologists routinely study guppies, trees, bacteria, and the rest of life on earth, with the intention of making progress that even a reasonable skeptic must acknowledge."

To Wilson's credit, he has written carefully about both scientific and religious issues, and readers with an interest in either field will find that he has covered both fairly. His coverage of the science involved begins with an interesting history of "the wrong turn" evolutionary theory took fifty years ago, when it deliberately ignored the influence of group selection. Especially if one accepts that there is for our species not only an inheritance of genes, but also an inheritance of culture, evolutionary influence by and upon religious groups, especially in light of the examples Wilson discusses, now seems obvious. For instance, evolution often studies population changes due to gains and losses from births, deaths, and in the case of religion, conversion and apostasy. The early Christian church is shown to have made gains compared to Judaism and Roman mythology because of its promotion of proselytization, fertility, a welfare state, and women's participation. There is a temple system in Bali dedicated to the water goddess essential for the prosperity of the rice crops; "those who do not follow her laws may not possess her rice terraces." The religious system encompasses eminently practical procedures for promoting fair water use and even for pest control. Religious morality is shown to build upon the principles of the famously successful computer strategy Tit-for-Tat. There is a significant problem, of course, in religions' dealing with other groups; it is not at all uncommon for a religion to teach that murdering those who believe in other religions is different from murdering those inside one's own religion. There is a degree of amorality shown in such competition, no different from the amorality that governs the strivings of ferns, sparrows, and lions.

Wilson's many examples are fascinating and easy to take, but _Darwin's Cathedral_ is not light reading; although Wilson wanted to write a book for readers of all backgrounds, he has not "'dumbed down' the material for a popular audience," and admits that there is serious intellectual work to be done in getting through these pages. There is valuable and clear writing here, however, and a new way of looking at religion which may become a standard in scientific evaluation.

"Given Up for Dead" by Bill Sloan is a pretty good on detail from personal interviews of some of the heroes, both military and civilian, but the heart of the book takes Major James Devereux (Marine Detachment Commander) point of view on all aspects of the defence of Wake Island and makes the Island Commander, Winfield Scott Cunningham, out as a frightened child hiding in his bunker in the rear. Sloan quotes liberally from Devereux book "The Story of Wake Island." Devereux himself said his book, "The Story of Wake Island", was a romance novel and was never intended as historical fact. Sloan went out of his way to attack Cunningham personally and even called his mental condition into question. His comments concerning Cunningham are almost a word for word take off of an article by Peter Andrews in the July 1987 issue of 'American Heritage'. There was no 'rear' on Wake Island and every one deserves high praise for their courage and determination. Smearing the Navy Commander with falsehoods is only hurtful, not substantiated fact. The fact's of Cunningham's life proves that he was highly qualified to be Island Commander. He had intimate knowledge of the use, accuracy and limitations of the 3-inch and 5-inch batteries. His duties in destroyers, cruisers, and battleships included duty as battery officer, fire control officer and senior aviator in charge of observation, all of which made him thoroughly familiar with the very 5-inch guns which defended the shore line. He was a squadron commander on the USS YORKTOWN, which used the predecessor of the F4F-3 Wildcats. He had the courage and experience, from his World War I vicory medal, his service around the world including service as part of the Fourth China Patrol Force patroling the river delta from Hong Kong to Canton, China during yet another civil war, to command of three reserve aviation squadrons as Commander of the United States Naval Reserve Base in Oakland, California. This is not the experience of a novice, this is the experience of a leader. For a better, more balanced book, read 'Facing Fearful Odds: The Siege of Wake Island' by Gregory Urwin, published by University of Nebraska Press, 1997 or read the Navy Commanders book, 'Wake Island Command', 1961, Little, Brown & Co.

If you've elected to read Given Up for Dead: America's Heroic Stand at Wake Island then you're in for a treat. It has been a long time since anything like it has appeared on the shelves in American bookstores.

Within hours of the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese strike at Wake Island. Thinly defended by a few companies of Marines and a very small Marine Air Squadron VMF-211, Wake Island was in the process of being fortified. Beside the small military detachment, there was large numbers of civilian construction crews on the Island that were sent to Wake to build various bunkers, hospitals, and barracks. PanAm also has a facility on Wake to service it's clippers that stop periodically on there way to the orient and back again. It is this small population of Americans that must face the Japanese assault that has not met defeat yet.

Bill Sloan is a master storyteller. In Given Up for Dead he tells the story in a way that will stir your admiration for the defenders, both military and civilian. He uses standard sources but also mixes in information from the few survivors that are still alive. Primary sources, especially eye witness accounts, form the backbone of this book.

Ultimately the American Marines are forced to surrender, but not until they give the Japanese a preview of what's in store for them in the subsequent months. It was the Marines at Wake Island that stopped the Japanese for the first time. It was also the Marines of Wake Island that sank the first Japanese naval vessel of WWII.

This is a pivotal book both in the history of the Marine Corps and the history of WWII. If you're a history buff then you'll want this book on your own bookshelf.

Given Up for Dead is popular history at its best: powerful, moving narrative; accurate and well-researched. A reviewer notes Sloan's hard words for Cunningham--but I think they are well deserved. Cunningham was a weak commander: incapable of leading by example. In battle we need leaders who "can sweat, get mad, and think at the same time." That was Devereux. And I have read Urwin's book, which is comprehensive, but dry and uninspired.

For anyone who has worked - on an assembly line, as a bureaucrat-in-a-box - the greatest workplace nemesis is a nonexistent ideal: the theoretical person against whom your "efficiency" is measured. Often, not even a boss or office rival is as irritating as this cold standard, the product of stopwatch-wielding efficiency experts and industrial psychologists who claim to have a scientific measure of "average output." In The One Best Way, science writer Robert Kanigel examines the first so-called efficiency expert of them all: Frederick Taylor, the turn-of-the-century engineer and pioneering management consultant.

Taylor's idea was simple: break down all jobs into their smallest component tasks, experiment to determine the best way to accomplish them and how fast they can be performed, and then find the right workers to do them. It was called scientific management, or "Taylorism" -- a formula to maximize the productivity of industrial workers. "The coming of Taylorism," Kanigel writes, took "currents of thought drifting through his own time -- standards, order, production, regularity, efficiency -- and codif[ied] them into a system that defines our age."

Though he had an enormous impact on our everyday lives, today Taylor is little known outside management circles. This is curious: in his own time, Taylor was a world-class celebrity, advocating an organizational revolution that would link harder work to higher wages -- as well as instituting shorter working hours and regular "cigarette breaks." His books and articles were translated into all the major languages and passionately studied, even in the Soviet Union, as guides to a future industrial utopia; he was, in many ways, Stalin's prophet. Yet Taylor was also reviled as a slave driver who devalued skilled labor and despised the common worker, and he was ridiculed as a failure in many of his business undertakings.

Much of Kanigel's book is devoted to descriptions of the shops that Taylor worked in: a ball-bearing factory, a paper mill, and machine-tool plants, to name a few. It's dramatic how different the world he describes is from the work environment of today. Here were no highly educated managers attempting to exercise minute control over relatively unskilled employees. Instead, craftsmen dominated these oily pits -- spinning steel-cutting lathes, constructing elaborate sand molds for machine tools, and maintaining the gigantic leather belts that harnessed the energy of central steam engines. THis was in many ways the most fascinating part of the book for me: I learned what people did in the decaying mills that surrounded my New England home.

To all but the most practiced eye, such a workplace was a chaotic scene. What the craftsmen did -- and what they were capable of -- was largely a mystery to management, which deprived the managers of control and power, leading to a number of stunningly counterproductive practices. If tool and die makers produced jigs beyond a certain threshold, for example, 19th-century foremen would dock (!) their pay per item -- an obvious incentive for them to slow down. And because ball-bearing inspectors in a Fitchburg mill worked slowly and talked too much, they were forced to put in 101/2 -hour days, without breaks.

Taylor witnessed such practices and decided to change them. In one of his most famous experiments, on "Schmidt", he got a common laborer to double the number of bars of pig iron he transported down a plank each day. All he did was pay the man more, linking higher output directly to higher wages -- hardly a revolutionary thought today. His solution for the gossipy ball-bearing inspectors was to separate them, shorten their working hours, increase their pay, and allow them to relax occasionally; in return, they were expected to work harder, and they did.

Once Kanigel establishes that Taylor's method worked well (to a certain extent), the book becomes tough going. Despite his elegant prose, Kanigel's exhaustive treatment of his subject's life and experiments strained my interest. Do we really need to know, for example, that Taylor once spent months alternating the size of coal shovels in the name of furnace-stoking efficiency? Or the entire list of his vacation companions for one summer? Such biographical detail can add spice to a compelling narrative, but to include them only as an exercise in thoroughness, as Kanigel does, is simply tiring. Taylor simply is not interesting as a personality.

Kanigel also glosses over many important issues. Taylorism really did devalue certian kind sof skilled labor, and the costs have been high. The "Taylorized" doctors of the HMO era, for example, must work with administrators peeking over their shoulders, dispensing pills at the expense of empathy and other unmeasurable healing skills. And once factory workers lost their control and even their comprehension of manufacturing processes, many ceased to take pride in their work and stopped making suggestions for improvement. This may be one reason why Japanese and European design is often superior to American. Taylorism also spawned the rise of management consulting, with its sham exercises and goals -- often a huge diversion of managerial talent in the name of efficiency. Kanigel, however, largely ignores this darker side of Taylorism; the true impact of his legacy gets lost in the details. The result is a 600-page profile of a narrow and compulsive man with a single, if influential, idea.

Recommended, but only for scholars and specialists.

Kanigel illuminates the life and times of both Fred Taylor and the revolution his ideas spawned. Without explicitly understanding how Taylor's ideas have shaped our lives we cannot understand the profound impact this 19th Centruy man continues having on our day-to-day lives. With the often misplaced notion of efficiency so deeply ingrained in the very fabric of our lives, we often ignore the profound impacts of blind quests for efficiency.

Who do you know who can reliably recognize the tipping point where efficiency destroys effectiveness (and with it competitiveness)? Who do you know who would challenge changes in the name of efficiency because the changes would impair quality, effectiveness, morale, or labor relations? Without understanding Fred Taylor and efficiency, how can you avoid mistaken applications of the notion? What will keep a 19th Century man from being the most influential man of both the 20th Century and the 21st Century?

This is a wonderful book. You shouldn't reject this book based upon your opinion of its subject. The books is written very well and evokes enough of the times in which Taylor lived to give us a more nuanced portrait of the man within the context of his world.

Nowadays, F.W. Taylor is often portrayed as either a villain who has all but enslaved us or he is defended as not really meaning what he said. Instead, this book shows us Taylor's nineteenth century upper middle-class background and spends a good amount of time on character development and work habits.

Once all this is understood, Taylor's seemingly obsessive goals become more understandable. He did have many important insights in making work efficient. When he began manufacturing was done in thousands of very small shops. It was horribly inefficient. His work did help our economy and helped the average worker become more productive. However, I still can't understand how someone could think having a human body physically haul 47 tons of pig iron per day is a good thing. There is a definite quality of life aspect that still wasn't grasped by these early efficiency experts.

Another extremely valuable topic the author clarifies is that Henry Ford's assembly line had more to do with meatpacking than Taylor's Scientific Management. Taylor's critics have unjustly used Henry Ford's manufacturing techniques as evidence against Taylor's methods when Ford himself made statements denying Taylor's influence. Also, like many original thinkers, Taylor was ill served by many who came after him and used his name but not his methods. This is all clearly laid out in this valuable book.

This isn't a whitewash or a book of simple praise. It paints a complex portrait of Taylor, but gives us enough context to understand him within his time. We get to know something of his character and that helps a great deal. It is a big book but reads short and is surprisingly engaging for a book on manufacturing. This book gave me insights into the early twentieth century that I needed to make certain pieces fall into place. It has a prominent place in my library and I hope a lot of people read it.

As much a fan as I am of Richard Rhodes--the "Making of the Atomic Bomb" was an instant classic--this effort falls far short of the promise of the title.

About 350 pages in, there is not much--perhaps five or six pages--about the hydrogen bomb. Instead, Rhodes focuses upon a multitude of spies, agents and bit players in the Cold War game, to the extent that one turns the page with little anticipation.

This book should be retitled "The Socio-mechanisms and Ancillary Causes Leading to the Beginning of the Cold War" or some other such scholarly title. It is difficult to believe that the making of the hydrogen bomb can be boring, but after page 245 of this tome, you will not want to replenish your Itty-Bitty- Book Light's batteries.

I hate to say it, but this book is a down coat stuffed with pigeon feathers. Sorry, Mr. Rhodes.

I recommend this work to you for two reasons: first, I believe it important for a citizen of the world to understand the development and initial employment of this "gadget" (as its creating physicists designated the bomb), and second, this is a fine read: significant history with minimal political taint. This is a story more fascinating than Clancy's best, due simply to its veracity.

No wonder this won the Pulitzer! This is well-written and captivating history.

Rhodes includes dialog and writings to allow his reader to meet the physicists, soldiers, and politicians. His technical descriptions of the involved science satiate me, a chemist, yet he supplies the definitions and background to permit ready comprehension by readers not versed in nuclear theory. Finally, his account of the events in the two decades prior to and during the Manhattan Project educates without boredom.

Much of this work concerns the men and women discovering the constituents of the atom and of its potential to be affected for some utility. The science is not overwhelming, but well-written and clear.

This is written as a historical text book, with documentation galore. I concur with my fellow reader who remarked on their amazement that one man could compile this. What a tome of research!

I shall limit my complaints to two. I found the account to be heavy on the early days and developers of nuclear theory. I also tired of reading Bohr's philosophy on the need to share science with the world.

Anyone interested in the history of the 20th Century or in atomic weapons would not regret reading The Making of the Atomic Bomb.

What struck me most?

How quickly the industrial capability of the United States put this into motion, once committed. Trinity, the first test shot, was July 16, 1945. Less than one month later, Little Boy dropped. Los Alamos was established for only two years prior to the first bombing.

These men and women were not evil: they were giants and pioneers in science. Many of the key players were European, serving their adopted nation to beat the enemy to discovering a bigger stick. Several were forced to leave their home lands due to some Jewish blood in a spouse. They were chilled to observe the power they had made when they watched Trinity through their welders glass, several miles distant. Hitler, the Japanese, and the Russians were working on atomic weapons of their own. Would the world be a better place if they had beaten the US in this race? Some seem to forget that the conventional fire bombings, poison gases, flame throwers, and concentration camps were also unspeakably horrible.

Remarkable prescience: as these scientists were assembling their first bombs, they realized that a policy of mutual deterrance via escalation in the US and USSR would ensue.

I was humbled to read of the brilliance of so many involved. I do not consider myself to be a pessimist, but I think there remain few men and women like these men and women.

Imagine a place

Where it all began

They gathered from across the land

To work in the secrecy of the desert sand

All of the brightest boys to play with the biggest toys--

"

I have just finished Rhodes' "Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb". Some years ago I reluctantly finished his book on the Manhattan Project, "The Making of the Atomic Bomb". I say reluctantly because the breadth of his scholarship was amazing and I did not want to leave when he had finished writing. Happily he has followed up with "Dark Sun". Rhodes weaves an engrossing account of the scientists who worked in the last days of WWII on the atomic bomb and their internal controversy on whether or not to pursue "the super", the hydrogen bomb. Against this he also describes the Soviet Union's attempts to rebuild their country while keeping pace with America. Russian scientists, though, were threatened with the paranoia of Stalin and his henchman Lavrentia Beria. Connecting the two continents is the espionage story of Klaus Fuchs, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and Harold Gold.

Rhodes blends the three narratives together, furnishing his own original scholarship, in a taut fashion which keeps one turning the pages. Rhodes also deals with the destruction of Robert Oppenheimer by his rival Edward Teller, whose insecurity and jealousy arguably started the destructive arms race. The most frightening aspect of this story, however, is the borderline insubordination of Gen. Curtis LeMay, commander of SAC, who urged Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy to preepmtively strike the Soviet Union.

Rhodes deftly mixes biography, history, science and social commentary in the intriguing tale and terrifying tale of the ultimate weapon. And it's all true. Highly recommended.

I started to read this book but in the first couple pages there is alot of wrong information. Reads want to read a book with stuff that can help and I feel this book leads you in the wrong places and does not give you correct views of different military services and branches. I hope this problem gets fixed.

Very helpful, full of up-to-date information. I reference it frequently for tips, and the background given on traditions and customs makes for interesting reading. It helps me understand this whole gigantic thing called "the military" that my husband is in. Love it -thank you Lydia Sloan Cline, for writing it!

I loved this book! There are a lot of "wives" books out there, but this one is the granddaddy (grandmommy?) of them all. Unlike the others, which tend to just cover one area (like deployment) and dwell too much on personal stories that really don't help me, this covers all aspects of military life and gives so many great, practical tips! If you're looking for a lot of facts, go-to places, and wife-to-wife tips, buy it.

Different from any college textbook I have ever read, Family: American Writers Remember Their Own, is at a personal level to the reader. The individual stories about the writers' family members are written to be familiar to oneself. My favorite story was Happy Blue Crabs by Jose Raul Bernardo. Jose Raul's grandfather, Maximillo, is a chef and since his family ate meat everyday, he would only cook seafood at his restaurant. One special evening, Maximillo invited Jose Raul into the kitchen with him. As a rule, Maximillo would only cook for men, as he himself was a man's man who had a "large passionate appetite for everything important in a man's life: caiman hunting, deep-sea fishing, great sex, and, of course, great food" (p 57). As a bonding experience, Jose Raul and his grandfather prepare a meal for the men. While in the kitchen, Grandpa Maximillo tries to explain to Jose Rail about the "ahhh moment" in one's life and how it can change your entire view of the world. "sometimes a sentence goes beyond just being clear. It becomes radiant. It illuminates your life. It may even change your life for good. And when that happens, that is poetry. That experience. That moment in your life" (p 61). This story is at a personal level for readers because it describes an event in every person's life: the point where both yourself and your parents recognize you as an adult. The reader will enjoy this book not only for the interesting and humorous stories, but also because he will be able to relate to the stories.

Family American Writers Remember Their Own is a book filled with stories of family members of various authors. These stories take you on a ride through an author's life and the people they have been surrounded by. Some of these stories will make you laugh and some will make you cry. Many of them you will be able to relate to as you remember your own family members and the time you spent with them. One of my favorite stories found in this book is Advice from My Grandmother by Alice Hoffman. This is not really a story, but rather several pieces of advice that a grandmother gives to her granddaughter. The thing I liked most about this story was that the grandmother provided a different way of looking at things causing you to evaluate various things in life. Another story that caught my attention was Happy Blue Crabs written by Jose Raul Bernardo. In this story the author remembers bonding with his grandfather as they are preparing a meal for a party and what he learned from him. This story was special to me because it made me remember the times when I would help my grandmother in the kitchen and how that would be our time to bond. Whether you are old or young Family American Writers Remember Their Own contains something for everyone.

I feel that the most important thing in any person's life should always be their family, I know mine always has and always will. There is nothing that I hold closer to my heart. This book, "Family: American Writers Remember Their Own," is for anyone who feels as I do that every relative, alive or passed, lives on forever, through memories, stories, pictures, and other belongings they left behind. Most people can recall family gatherings during which their relatives spend hours on end telling stories of a favorite deceased uncle, cousin, parent, and so on. Even if it is the same stories each gathering, they never get old or boring. They seem to be even more interesting or funny each and every time. The memory is an amazingly wonderful and powerful thing. It has the ability to bring passed on friends and family members back to life, to revive them. Such stories as are told in this remarkable book are our way to keep relatives and friends alive forever, to keep their teachings, stories, and beliefs as vivid and extraordinary as when first told or taught.
I cannot explain the extent to which I enjoyed and even cherished this collection of stories. It was assigned to me as part of the curriculum in my freshman English class at Florida State University. As with most books assigned in school, I dreaded it because I thought it would be boring and tedious to read it. However, once I read the first story assigned I was deeply moved and inspired. I truly grew to love the book and looked forward to reading the remaining stories. All of the stories are great. The tales seem to put you right into the story. They make you feel as if you are part of the family that is being talked about, as if it is your grandmother or father.
A couple of the stories stand out for me. One of them is "Advice from my Grandmother," by Alice Hoffman. The story is told in a truly unconventional style from the point of view of the author's grandmother. It recounts a series of random advices that the author was given by her cynical, caring grandmother. Most of them are simply hilarious. Yet, they also hold much truth. The grandmother tells Alice such things as, "Keep secrets well. Don't lie, but never tell the whole truth.", Don't kid yourself-nothing lasts forever.", and "All people are created equal-black, white, Chinese, Moroccan, it doesn't matter. Equal. Everyone." My personal favorite is, "Women can do anything men can do and more, but is this any reason to tell men the true story? Let them think what they think." Many of the advices given in this story are ones that I hold as very valid in my own life. I feel that there is something in this story for everyone.
Another great story is "My Famous Family," by Marion Wink, which tells the story of a twenty-year old young man who is in search for family relatives who were in one way or another famous. During his research he found that the founder and publisher of the "Rolling Stone" magazine was his cousin and that his great-grandfather was connected with Charlie Chaplin. I found this story very delightful. Most people, and I am no exception, can recall being a child and telling friends about their larger then life father or big brother. Making up stories about how they where heroes or famous in some way. Reading this story brought me back to those times.
"Family: American Writers Remember their own," is an exceptional book that I would recommend to anyone with a love for family. It will surely bring back forgotten memories in anyone who reads it. I am truly grateful that I was given the opportunity to come across such a wonderful collection of literature.