Good insight on Iron Condors
344425
This book was concise and to the point. It is a short read but the author comes up with interesting points as it pertains in protecting or hedging your contested sides if your Iron Condors strategy stars to get in trouble.  A good read.
707438
This is a well written and easy to understand book.  Malcolm Wright recounts his WWII experiences as a Coastwatcher on the island of New Britain and his exploits collecting real time intelligence against the Japanese during WWII. This book is more about his personal account of gathering actionable intelligence than it is about guerrilla warfare.  That does not mean he does not describe guerrilla activities, he does however, his memoire is much more than that.  It's a personal account, with emotion and in-depth descriptions of techniques that he and his small team of Australians employed in a jungle environment. None of his or any other Coastwatcher activities in the southwest Pacific would have been successful without the cooperation of the local natives.  I liked the way he successfully integrated the descriptions of heir different native tribal beliefs and skills and how he worked them into the overall story line.  He leaves little room for doubt that the cooperation of the local natives was the major contributing factor to his success.  His account of bringing together such a diverse band of natives is a testament to his skills and his pre-WWII knowledge of the area.  He gives a good description of the jungle tradecraft that kept him one step ahead of the Japanese.  Students of guerilla warfare will not feel left out in this book, but with the emphasis on collecting information oficianados of the intelligence genre will very much enjoy reading it.  .
1805926
This title in the excellent "Airlinertech" series, is a very deep analysis into the complex systems and updated technologies of the 747-400, a true "Queen of the skies". The book is very interesting, especially from the technical point of view, with many diagrams, explanation of the major systems and nice photos (I particularly like the production line shots, by the famed James Goodall). I would rather like more production line shots and less of the usual airport photos,together with a more in deep analysis of the engines, but otherwise, this is a very nice book, particularly on the "good value for money" aspect.
I hope Specialty Press will continue with this good technical standard.
70404
W. Ed Parker's THE LONE NAVY EAGLE recounts the author's wartime career flying Hellcats with VF-23, VF-27 and VF-5. Published in 2000 by 1stBooks Library, Parker's book is a rare first-person look of flying combat at the controls of an F6F.

Parker's book tops off at 384 pages. It details his combat career from training to combat to discharge. The middle section - on VF-27 - is somewhat general in nature since many of his records were lost due  to the Princeton sinking, In general however, Parker's account is a valuable and useful account of an ordinary pilot at war. Unfortunately, he mentions very few of the other pilots he flew with in any of his three squadrons. I would have greatly appreciated his comments and reminiscences about his squadron mates.

In any case, THE LONE NAVY EAGLE is that rara avis, a genuine first-person account by a WW2 Navy fighter pilot. Recommended.
4870971
Macca is one of the more colorful characters in triathlons. His ascendency to the top spot in the new era of triathlons includes insights into the Olympics, ITU racing the classic races like Alcatraz and, of course, Ironman.

This book is filled with snapshots of triathlon, and touches on all the relevant issues. It is also interspersed with practical, applicable training insights from the pros to the everyman athlete.

Ultimately, there are a few reasons to read a book like this: To learn about the character, to learn about the sport, to be inspired in your own performances and for a good, entertaining read. "I'm Hear to Win" delivers on all accounts.

If you're a student of the sport and the growth of triathlon along with its integration into the Olympics, you'll find some good meat here. If you are interested in Ironman this book fills a long standing gap from the previous books by Dave Scott, Mark Allen and Scott Tinley. It is an Ironman book for the new Ironman era. If you're a triathlete looking for an honest (maybe the first honest...) insight into how the Ironman winners train, race, refuel and think- here you go: An all access pass with unprecedented candor to the highest levels of the sport.
3664728
Like all Vanguard series, this follows the traditional pattern of history, development and deployment of armored vehicles. 40 pages long, it is mostly narrative, but there are clear B&W photos, line drawings, color diagrams showing the camoflague patterns used by the British.

Simon Dunston is a well reknown British Armor expert, a good read and if you read verrrryyy carefully, you can see he does capture the flaws of the Challenger tank. Most of these books avoid controversy. The Challenger not as reliable or good of a weapon platform as the M-1 or Leopard 2.

I like the book overall. Vanguard tries to hype the color 'cut-away" in the book to show the inside of the tank, but as always, it's too small and many details are hidden.

I have not seen a definitive work on the Challenger, in the mean time, this is OK to add to one's collection.
4099042
This book is a great read if you are interested in eagles or conservation biology.  The chapters are short enough that they can interest even those with short attention spans.  The book covers projects from around the world and a wide variety of species.  It is a worthwhile addition to any eagle enthusiasts collection!
535857
I liked this book because I think it did a really nice job of explaining how the SR71 system worked, at a checklist level of detail (what the pilots actually did when they followed all those checklists). Even if you're not a pilot, you can pick up a lot of interesting information about how complex it is to design, create, operate, and maintain a small fleet of high-tech planes like the Blackbird.

I found it to be a very interesting book, and would recommend it as an interesting story to anyone interested in aviation.
2836089
If you are looking for precise entry, and more importantly, exit criteria for iron condors, butterflies, diagonal and calendar spreads, then this book is for you. Well worth it!!
1522444
This is another of the well done Crowood Aviation Series books. This is a very good, detailed book about the development of Germany's first operataional jet, the Me-262. It reviews the history of the jet, the problems of the new jet technology and the rush to get this fast plane into the skies to knock down the Allied bombers.

Lots of clear B&W photos, technical data, line drawings help flesh out the narrative. I especially like the section on the replication of six Me -262's to fly at air shows. The author also addresses post war influence on Soviet and US designs.

What's missing? Color photos or plates to show the camouflage schemes used. Willy Radinger (published by Schiffer) has a book out on the Me-262 with a little less text, but many excellent photos from WW2 jets as well as a restored 262.

If yo're not a modeler, than this book is probaly the better buy. I solved the problem of deciding by buying both.
391606
Lee Iacocca's book is written in his personal style and very well worth reading.  I like to learn from notable leaders and this book gave interesting insight into Mr. Iacocca's thinking.  For those that don't remember, Mr. Iacocca is honored for overseeing the development of the Ford Mustang and later the development of Chrysler's Minivan, the first vehicle of this type.  Both vehicles became new ground breakers in their industries.  The book is informative and an enjoyable easy read.
93336
Andrew Faltums The Supercarriers is a good, readable book for most readers interested in these ships, although hard-core students of carrier design and operations may want more.

I am a hard-core rivet-counter and quickly determined that this book does not contain the kind of very detailed discussion and illustration of such things as torpedo protection, magazine capacity and load-outs, combat systems performance, etc that I find interesting.  I was prepared to be disappointed but found myself pleasantly engaged in an informative and lively although not painstakingly detailed history of the Forrestal and Kitty Hawk class carriers.  I read through the book in just a couple of days, which is unusual with my busy schedule and diverse interests.  I frequently have a half dozen books I am reading at once and for one to monopolize my interest is rare.

Faltum hits the highlights of each ships career and the major features of the two classes in an easily read and engaging style, including a brief command history of each ship.  It doesnt go into every operation and deployment but it does touch the most note-worthy and includes various interesting anecdotes.  Annexes usefully document differences in equipment and armament, but have very few line drawings.  Aircraft information is limited as the book concerns the ships, rather than the planes.

A particular gem is the air wing annex containing a thorough accounting of the wings, squadrons, and aircraft embarked on each ship for its deployments.  This information is normally only available on-line, and in the ever-unreliable world of the internet, it is nice to have a hard-copy.

Overall, I was pleased with Faltums work in spite of my more demanding predilections.  Its not as detailed as I would have liked, but in the authors defense it probably cannot be short of waiting another 50 years for pertinent material to be declassified.  I hope Faltum will produce similar volumes on the Midway class and the nuclear supercarriers.

I recommend this book for casual readers and carrier enthusiasts, qualifying that only to caution hard-core design and doctrine readers that it will not go into great detail.
835144
Over the years I have picked up several of the Walk Around books on aircraft, my most recent interest is in the F-84F. I picked up a copy of the Color Walk Around on the F-84F Thunderstreak and found some excellent detail photos but also found myself wanting more. While this book makes no pretenses to present a detailed operational or developmental history of the aircraft I had my appetite whet for just one or two more photos from a different angle or a quick paragraph or two on what was in the photo. While I did find the lack of details flawed I think that this newest series of Color Walk Around books offers an easy and fun to read book that is well worth picking up, especially for hobbyists and aviation enthusiats.
1545485
The first question most potential buyers of this book might ask is just what is the author's definition of "Northern South America" as this qualifies the utility of the book?  On page 10 of the guide there is a political map showing the coverage of the book.  Northern South America is from a line just south of Chiclayo, Peru (therefore including the great destination Abra Patricia) and extending across the continent south of the Amazon River to about 47 degrees east in Brazil (near the city of Araguaina in the state of Tocantins) and then north to the eastern terminus of the Amazon on the Atlantic Coast. The northern boundry extends to Panama (Azuero Penninsula) and the islands north of Colombia and Venezuela (Aruba, Curacao to Trinidad and Tobago.)

There are an incredible 2,308 species included in the guide with 6,400 images on 306 color plates according to the back cover.  The illustrations (done by author Robin Restall) are excellent and a special feature of this book is the inclusion of depictions of most known subspecies along with male, female and juvenile plumages.

This book joins the ranks of the best field guides for South America including Birds of Ecuador, and Birds of Peru (I haven't seen the new Venezuela guide yet) and like these books has only minor flaws.  The Ecuador book is excellent and mainly is just too large for the field and the Peru book which is another great accomplishment has somewhat too large illustrations that could have been condensed. Both of these books have considerable information regarding their depicted species, the Peru book on the opposite page and the Ecuador book on a page referred to in the text.  This book has almost no text and you would have to purchase the companion volume.  What is included are excellent range maps and very brief comments about the birds habitat preference.  For example the Roraiman Antwren on plate 163 has this mention: "usually among topmost leaves of upper canopy may sortie out after a flushed insect".  Each species is tagged with a mark keying in an identifying feature.

Rangemaps are bicolored (green for terrestrial ranges, blue for coastal ranges) and are on the same or opposite page of the illustrations for easy reference.  Maps include the size of the bird, a key for altitude range (eg LT= lower tropical, sea level to 800-900m), status (resident/migrant), abundance and threat status (CR critical, EN endangered etc.).

Unlike the new Princeton Guide for Birds of Central America and Mexico this book is too large to easily slip into a pocket for field birding and you would want to have the companion guide (or another more text filled book) back in the car or lodge to refer to during a trip.  Despite this and the brief amount of text this is still an excellent addition to the guides for South American birds and works for many areas that until now had no field guide.  If you could only have one guide for Northern South America this should be the one.
2402229
very informative. a grey is a very emotional bird, I did not know this.  There is alot of things you really need to know before purchasing a grey and this book is a source of the best information of many of books i have read. Mattie sue has been in the business for years and knows the ins and outs of an african grey. a good read.
2349516
Because I keep many birds, I've read many books on the topic by Matthew Vriends.  Vriends raises several kinds of tropical birds, visits their natural habitats, is involved in the preservation of wild birds and their habitats, and writes extensively on these topics.  He is also a PhD (Dutch born biologist and ornithologist).  I bought THE PARROTLET HANDBOOK in spite of the fact one reviewer said there was not much of interest about Parrotlets in this book, mainly because I have read so many of Vriends other books on other birds and found them helpful.

THE PARROTLET BOOK is very interesting, but it is also geared to the breeder of this type of bird.  As the owner of two brother Parrotlets, I don't foresee joining the breeder group any time soon, even though Vriends makes a compelling case for becoming a breeder of Parrotlets who are under threat from the deforestation of the Amazon jungle.

In spite of the book's bias - which I truly appreciate, it does include many helpful tips and a good deal of information about the various types of Parrotlets who are companions of people like me. For one thing the book helps one understand the origins the little birds whose ancestors come from South America and who seem be thought of by some as the little brother of the larger Macaw.

My Parrotlet brothers have been hand raised from the egg stage and they are Soooo sweet. However, I am told the Parrotlet can administer a nasty bite should he be "wild" or displeased.  My birds perch on my finger (two at a time) and are a lot less messy than my Cockatiels and Love Birds. Maintenance-wise, keeping Parrotlets is a bit like keeping Canaries. However, they are as playful as my Senegal parrot.

I found a really great article on Parrotlets entitled "True Confession-Parrotlet owners bring down the house with tales of pin-sized adventures" in the January 2004 issue of Bird Talk Magazine (if you keep birds or are thinking of doing so, subscribe to this magazine). I recommend both Vriends book and Bird-Talk magazine for the serious bird owner.
408831
One of the first things to catch your eye is the hardbound front cover of an F-4E Phantom in its famous shark's mouth livery. The next thing is the menacing title. Once inside its covers you will find a touching dedication to the author's father who I would bet has his own fantastic story I hope Mr. McCarthy Jr. gets around to telling.

The book starts out with some lessons on Air Combat Maneuvering and training along with some technical information on missiles used during this span of time and some nice maps to give the reader the "Big Picture" as to where all the action was taking place. There is a short primer on Air Combat Credits.

The book is written in chorological order as the title implies starting in 1965 and moving through 1973 in a trim and clean fashion. Now here is the real gem. The author supplies you with a photograph of the aircraft whenever he can. A few of the pictures are of the aircraft prior to scrapping or as it currently looks in a museum.

Each page has a small block with the date, aircraft tail or BuNo along with its assigned ship or airfield and the name of the pilot and RIO when applicable and a narrative of the event.  Most pictures are black and white but more than a few are in color. The quality is very high and the layout is easy to read and easy to refer to when doing research.

I found this book a great piece of work for model builders and history buffs alike. I recommend it to all with an interest in Vietnam era aviation and at right below $30.00; I think it is a bargain as a research tool.