Maria Cooper Janis has put together a wonderful photographic memoir of her father, the celebrated actor Gary Cooper. Some of these photographs are extraordinary. The life this man led and the people whom he knew! They're all here, from fellow actors like Jimmy Stewart to writer Ernest Hemingway to Picasso to Queen Elizabeth to a very youthful John F. Kennedy, while still in the Navy. I'll treasure this, not simply for the photos. Ms. Janis has also written a series of essays to accompany the various chapters, essays which are finally nothing less then a wonderful extended love letter to her father. A beautiful book.

Smack in the middle of these cynical, jaded times comes this warm and appealing memoir by Maria Cooer Janis of her father, acting legend Gary Cooper. How wonderful! Maria Cooper Janis's open love for her father is there for all to see on every page. This alone makes the book worth owning. We've come to expect the negative, the cynical, in books of this type. But Ms. Janis has put together an extened love letter to her father and mother. And good for her!

What a delightful, refreshing book! Imagine, a book by the child of a celebrity which actually extols the father. Maria Janis, daughter of Gary Cooper, one of the half-dozen greatest film stars of the century, has put together a photographic tribute to Gary Cooper, father, husband and private citizen. And what a tribute! Extraordinary photographs, showing the human being behind the celebrity icon. This is a beautiful book.

This book rested on my bookshelf for about two months after I received it from Amazon. Frankly, I found 700-plus pages a little daunting. But having read The Supreme Commander - Stephen Ambrose's masterful book on Ike's war years, this seemed a natural follow-up. It was especially alluring because Ike so admired Marshall. As I deem Ike a genuine hero, it was natural to be interested in his hero.

Well, I'm glad I tackled it! I rank it alongside biographical masterpieces like Edmund Morris's two-volume biography of Teddy Roosevelt and Ron Chernow's biography of Rockefeller. Simply put, this is one of the best books I've ever read.

For anyone interested in the WWII era, or generally the history of America in the first half of the 20th century, this is MUST reading.

James B. Hagerty
Cincinnati Ohio

General George Marshall deserves to be as well know as Patton or Ike. He more than anyone else is responsible for America's victory in WWII. He could have been Surpreme Commander of all forces in Europe but out of duty and honor he stayed in Washington where he was needed. No person wielded more power during the war years except perhaps FDR. He was responsible for promoting such men as Ike, Patton, and Bradley. Who knows how history might have changed if he had sought the fame and glory that Ike received as Surpreme Commander. In this book Ed Cray follows Marshall from his childhood through his WWI and WWII service, including his later positions as Secretary of Defense and Secertary of State. I don't know of any other man who did as much in his life as Marshall. Best of all, he did it all with complete honesty and integrity. He had the absolute trust of all mjor players in WWII including FDR, Churchill, and Stalin. This book derserves to be on the shelf of all WWII buffs as well as anyone who wants to know what true leadership is about.

As I finished reading Mr. Crays critically detailed book of General Marshall, I could not help feel sad by the lack of recognition he received. As a truely great man he did not have to prove to anyone who was in charge. Even at the Pearl Harbor hearings the people observing stood up when he entered and left the room out of shear respect. As Winston Churchill stated about General Marshall when WWII was over " Thank You". Americans will probably never really know what a great leader, soldier, statesman, and example he truely was during such a dark time in our history. Mr. Cray does a great job in paying tribute to the man.

This is the second volume of Bruce Catton's Civil War trilogy. I've read the last "A Stillness at Appomattox," his Pulitzer-Prize winning final installment to the series. Like "Stillness," "Glory Road" is a masterpiece of history and writing.

Catton has the rare ability, similar to Shelby Foote and Barbara Tuchman, to write well researched history as prose. While thoroughly covering the trials of the Army of the Potomac in its middle period (post McClellan, pre-Grant), he paints an excellent human picture of those who guided and fought the battles. Liberal use of diary and contemporary accounts from field officers and privates portrays a gritty depiction of army life and battle conditions. He also is very adept at finding the color that bring characters such as Burnside, Hooker, Meade and a host of others to life.

The history is plentiful and solid. The stories of this transitional period for the Army of the Potomic are well told. Fredricksburg, a folly of planning and execution, tested the mettle of the army. Chancellorsville revealed its ability to act decisively (although the inability of Hooker to keep going set it up for spectacular defeat) as a well organized offensive war machine. Gettysburg gave it what it craved for two years -- an important victory over the Confederate forces.

The battles are well explained from both a strategic point as well as in execution. The evolving organization and professionalization of the army is well told. In this period (and primarily as a result of Hooker's reforms), cavalry was made an effective service, logistics were brought up to snuff, moral was given its proper weight in the care of the army. Many of these non-battlefield stories had great impact on the eventual success of this army and Catton does them justice.

Bruce Catton has here an excellent history that is also a wonderfully told story. Both the casual and involved Civil War fan will find much to enjoy in "The Glory Road."

This book by Bruce Catton follows Volume 1 in his famous Civil War Trilogy covering the Army of the Potomac. In this well written text, Catton covers the footsteps of the army dealing with the loss at Fredericksburg, following Burnside, then Hooker, Chancellorsville and then finally Gettysburg. Catton isn't truly descriptive of the battles and quickly covers the basics, though Catton loves to present the politics involving Union leadership and basically the war itself. While covering the end of 1862 and a majority of 1863, Catton's coverage brings the readers insight to popular sentiment, northern industrialization, the struggles facing the Lincoln administration, the perils of war and much more. Catton never dwells too long a subject and keeps things moving while bringing a bit of humor to uncommon situations or oddities of the war. Catton's books are never boring and either is this one. This is must read for any fan of the Civil War!

"Glory Road," the second volume in Bruce Catton's celebrated history of the Army of the Potomac, covers the critical months between the autumn of 1862 following the Battle of Antietam and the Confederacy's high water mark at the Battle of Gettysburg the following summer. In between the story of the army is marked by the bloody massacre at Fredericksburg, the aimless marching up and down the banks of the Rappahannock in the mud, and the catastrophic confusion of Chancellorsville before heading north to meet Lee's invasion in the hills of southern Pennsylvania. During this period the Army is commanded in turn by three generals--Burnside, Hooker and Meade--but Catton's exciting war narrative is more about the enlisted men, the volunteers and bounty men, who had to fight these engagements.

Catton's source material for this 1952 book is drawn primarily from dozens of Regimental Histories (the Third Indiana Calvary, the 118th Pennsylvania Volunteers, the 8th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, etc.) as well as Soldiers' Reminiscences to go along with autobiographies, biographical studies, memoirs, and military histories. The result is an attention to the human details. Within these pages you meet: the New York businessman who as a soldier wrote the mournful bugle call "Taps"; Clement Vallandigham, the Copperhead candidate for Ohio governor; Annie Etheridge. the army laundress who brought hot coffee and hardtack to the men on the front lines; John C. Robinson, who had the well deserved reputation as the hairiest officer in the entire army; Private Patrick Maloney, who captured a Confederate general with his bare hands.

"Glory Road" is divided into six sections: (1) "Deep River" tells the story of the insane advance up Marye's Heights at Fredericksburg; (2) "All Played Out" covers the dark days following that disaster at the Army's bitter mud marches and winter encampment; (3) "Revival" depicts the new hope that fueled the army when Hooker was appointed; (4) "On the Other Side of the River" relates Lee's strategic masterpiece at Chancellorsville; (5) "Lincoln Comin' Wid His Chariot" sets the stage, politically as well as militarily for the final turning point of the war; and (6) "End and Beginning" details not only the three days of battle at Gettysburg, but offers an absolutely lyrical conclusion to the book as the President attends the dedication ceremony for the national cemetery and begins to speak from two little sheets of paper in his hand. It is perhaps Catton's finest section, with an understated elegance that makes it clear that as a writer Catton owes as much to Homer as he does Herodotus. This is history that aspires to, and achieves the level of, literature. Catton might have received the Pulitzer prize for the final volume in his history of the Army of the Potomac, but "Glory Road" is the high water mark of the trilogy.

The book provides a fascinating look at Jewish life. We learn about families, school activities, religious life, and anything else the people felt like discussing. All areas of the country are represented as well as all aspects of Judaism. Hundreds of personal photos add much to to the histories. A good glossary explains the various Yiddish terms used throughout."

"In the 1920s, the whole world seen from the Dorchester and Mattapan area near Boston appeared to be Jewish. I felt sorry for the occasional gentile I met; he didn't appear to be having as much fun as I was." So remembers Arthur Kantor. For Marilyn Cohen in New York City, the perspective was somewhat different: "Hollywood created images of what I thought America was, people who looked like June Allyson and Van Johnson. We looked nothing like them." But Frank Rich scrutinized the media for entertainers who were more like himself. "When I was a kid, the media images of families were Ozzie and Harriet and Leave It to Beaver. They were not Jewish. But there was also a whole strain of popular entertainment that even if I couldn't pinpoint it as Jewish, was so ethnic to me, had such a Jewish feel: Jack Benny, Burns and Allen, Phil Silver." One comes away from this book with a heightened sense of how wide the American-Jewish spectrum can be.

===Growing up Jewish IN AMERICA

THIS IS a fine book for goyim. Being gentile, as far as I know, I can say that.

One never knows exactly what one's roots might include. As Leon Toubin comments on a Texas community in this entertaining oral history, "We were probably all Jewish once, but we're Lutheran now." The complexities of American life make this book fun and often pure poetry. Some vital turning points come to life in a just few sentences. Zipporah Marans, whose father was an Orthodox rabbi in Raleigh, N.C., during World War II, recalls G.I.s "would have three days' leave before being shipped overseas. Their girlfriends would come down, and my father would marry them in our living room. My mother, sister, a soldier friend and I would each hold a corner of the chuppa, the wedding canopy."

St. Louis Jews - really, all Jews west of the Appalachians - might feel a bit slighted in this study. David Bisno talks about the divide between Jews of German and Russian descent in St. Louis, but he doesn't offer many details. Ansaie Sokoloff recalls his family leaving St. Louis for Cheyenne, Wyo. Other communities in the chapter about the Midwest and West include Detroit, Duluth, Omaha, Pittsburgh and San Fernando. It reminded me of a gas station attendant in New Jersey who noticed my Missouri plates and said, "I have a cousin who went to school in South Dakota." New York and environs get the bulk of attention here. That's fine, but what I find particularly fascinating are more detailed accounts of unique or remote communities and families struggling to maintain traditions.

The Frommers' book has many moments, too, where one senses the effort necessary to maintain tradition and faith in our time. Though no characters develop in this text, one hears many fragments of fascinating memories, which together present an insightful portrait of vibrant communities and individuals.

We returned from our trip to the States bearing this exciting, new cookbook. We love to cook and to read cookbooks, and have quite a collection. From several of them we return to use a handful of favorites each year. In this one, it reads like it will take a year to try all that sound so tempting. Shared the curried chutney spread on apple slices with friends to oohs and ahs! Our dinner of mushroom barley soup, peasant bread and batch of the fabulous brownies was a "winner"...as well as easy to prepare. Must now chose what to enjoy today. What a great gift for the holidays! Kudos to Hayday and Kim Rizk

This is a marvelous book for people who love to cook with fresh ingredients. I've been looking for a cold fruit soup recipe using yogurt for years that's similar to one we've had in our favorite restaurant, and there it was! Try the Chilled Strawberry Yogurt Soup -- it was wonderful! Also helpful are the hints on what to serve with recipes and other uses for them.

We returned from our trip to the States bearing this exciting, new cookbook. We love to cook and to read cookbooks, and have quite a collection. From several of them we return to use a handful of favorites over the year. In this one, it reads like it will take a year to try all that sound so tempting. Shared the curried chutney spread on apple slices with friends to oos and ahs! Our dinner of mushroom barley soup, peasant bread and fabulous brownies was a winner, as well as easy to prepare. Must now choose what to enjoy today. Kudos to Hayday and to Kim Rizk.

A friend tipped me off to Clark's radio show which I listen to over the net since I live in a small town in California. I was a bit skeptical, but once I began listening I couldn't stop. The best thing about Clark Howard is his realistic view on money and purchasing. He understands "deals", but more importantly he understands "value". We all know those people who will do anything to find deals regardless of value. I'm buying two copies of this book, one for myself and one for the friend who told me about Clark Howard. I recommend you buy it, you'll feel better about every dollar you spend, and even better about every dollar you save.

... I could have saved myself a lot of money in the past 10 years. I highly recommend this book as a gift to those young men and women in your life who are just starting out, newlyweds, new parents--anyone who could use a quick course in savvy consumer education. I enjoy Clark's radio show, and his easy, friendly style translates very well into print. Clark, this was worth every penny!

Get Clark Smart is a great consumer reference book that will pay for itself in a short time by helping you make wise purchase decisions. Before signing any contracts or buying any major items you should check with Clark Howard, and his book makes that easy to do. This book would also make a great gift for newlyweds, children, or practically anyone.

I have worked in the field of counselling women both living in and attempting to leave abusive relationships and this book I have recommended over and over again. It covers everything a woman needs to know in order to make the decision to leave and gives her step-by-step direction and support throughout the process. An added bonus is that it is written in a language that someone with little education can understand. The exercises within this book are absolute gems which I use often in my practice, especially the one on emotional abuse. Many of the women I work with minimize this aspect of their abuse and it certainly is an eye-opener for these women. I hope it never becomes an "out of print" book. I would also recommend "Family Violence and the Chemical Connection" by Sally E. Baker. Unfortunately this is "out of print" but if you can find a copy it is invaluable. Others I often recommend are "The Verbally Abusive Relationship" by Patricia Evans, "The Emotionally Abused Woman" by Beverley Engel, "Outgrowing The Pain" by Eliana Gil and finally "Toxic Parents" by Dr. Susan Forward.

I'm basing my belief on the interviews and synopsis. What I found very interesting is the story of the woman who hid her copy from her husband while she read it. But men who are abusers need the help even more than the women who are abused. Martin Seligman, in What We Can Change and What We Can't, tells us that the theory that blowing off steam will lessen anger and lead to cooling off is not the way it works; he has a lot of good advice for angry men. Richard O'Connor, in Undoing Depression and on his website, tells us that men who abuse their wives are acting out an underlying depression -- how self-defeating the act of hurting the person who loves you the most. Maybe books like these can be left out so information on marriage, family, and relationships will be read by those who really need it.

The line that haunted me for years is: If there is 1% chance you will be killed, that is too great of a chance. I only wish that Nicole Simpson had read/or acted on the advice in this book. (My opinion, obviously). The book helped me spot abusers on the first date, rather than 2 dangerous months later.... And best of all it gives strategys for departure. Another memorable line: "Its easier for men to be cured of leprosy and than abusing women, EVEN WHEN THEY WANT TO BE CURED!" I have recommended this to dozens of friends and clients. If you don't think you need it, read the first chapter standing in a book store. As I discovered, when doing so "I'm living with a Monster!" (Denial reigns supreme until one's consciousness is raised. Remember, no matter how badly you were/are beaten: YOU DIDN'T DESERVE IT. ITS NOT YOUR FAULT! Call a shelter and get out of there. Now!

Everything from prank calls, odd types of hacking, and Wham-o products to strange but simple foods, comix, and the Happy Mutant Hall of Fame, the Happy Mutant Handbook has most everything that the other 10% of the human population, who aren't Normals, could want to know. There are lots of fun little pranks that can always be used. One is standing in an elevator and giggling the entire time you're reading the phone book. It's quite entertaining and your able to read it again and again, each time knowing that there are actually other people like you out there. If there weren't this book wouldn't exist. So worship it and read it.

Because of the happy mutant handbook I know now that being weird is the best thing in the world!! It has made me look at the world in a whole new way. I carry it with me every were. you to sould check out this funky book on life. a must have for any one pussing reality.

I would classify this book as a extremly humorus, entertaining, and all around cool handbook with information about all kinds of hacking, bugging people, and just having all-around fun! Are YOU a happy mutant?

The best baseball book I've ever bought sight unseen. When I started leafing through it I couldn't believe my eyes. There are photos in here that I doubt even the Hall of Fame knows exist. A team picture of the 1890 Columbus Solons? And with all the players identified? But the photo and caption about the days when gloves still could be left on the field was my favorite. A really neat book.

I have to take exception to the last reviewer even though I'm not really a big fan of the 19th century either. This book takes you on a complete journey throughout baseball history unlike most similar type books that would have you believe everything that happened before 1900 doesn't count. Sure it counts, and Nemec's book convinces you--okay, me anyway--that every player and record he cites in it is important from 1871 to the present. I will agree, though, that the answer section leaves something to be desired. My solution was to insert a kind of permanent bookmark so I could turn to it easily. Anyway, I really liked it a lot even if I too didn't exactly bat 1.000 on all the questions.

If you have a teenage son, as do I, I don't see how you can go wrong here if he likes baseball. My older son got this book for his birthday and that was the last we saw of him for about a week. He still loves it so much and is so possessive of it that I now have to get another copy to give my younger boy for Christmas. P.S. Their father might just wind up getting one too.

Ruth Gruber tells the story of the less than 1,000 Jewish refugees taken in by the United States during World War II, and the amazingly warm acceptance and appreciation of the New York community in which they were placed. The story of this immigrant experience and the richness of their gifts to this country are inspiring and must-read tales, without being preachy or boring. Everyone I know who has read this book has ordered a copy to share with others. This is a wonderful book!

I happened to almost fall upon this book and I am so glad that I did. This book speaks to everyone who has a heart. It is the story of 982 refugees brought to America during World War II. Ruth Gruber tells the stories of these refugees in such a way that the reader feels as if they are with her on her journey. The impact these refugees have had on the history of the United States is profound. So profound, that it is important to read about their struggles in becoming part of this nation. Something that many of us take for granted. My life has been changed as a result of reading this book, and for that I am eternally grateful.

After seeing the TV swpecial, I immediatly bought the book and began reading it. I recommend this book to anyone who is at al interested in WWII. I am only 14, but found this book to be very touching. It describes a young american reporter who risks her life and career to escort 1000 refugees from Europe to the US. The refugees aren't only Jewish, and this book tells of all the friends Ruth met. It's a true story, written by Ruth Gruber herself. The book describes of all the highs and lows of their journey, and even has a list of al the refugees in the back of the book. I found this book to be very touching, because i finally realized how hard it was for the refugees once they were away from the war.