Book Description

Step inside a World War Two submarine and discover for yourself what it was like to live and work beneath the ocean waves.Superb cutaway illustrations provide a vivid and intimate insight into every aspect of submarine life.

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Reviews (1)

The book has excelent explanation of the illustrations.
The book extensively explaines the intricit working of a U-boat and illustrates them clealy. It is a very interesting book and I read it cover to cover. ... Read more

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Barton's Own Words
It was a joy to use this book for a History Day presentation because there were comments in Barton's own words from her thoughts and diaries. There were little known facts to keep the interest of the young adult reader, and these facts tied Barton to the historical background. I would highly recommend this book. ... Read more

Book Description

It was the bloodiest battle ever fought on North American soil. In three days, more than 50,000 Confederate and Union soldiers were killed in the hills and fields surrounding Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Several months later, on November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln traveled to Gettysburg to help dedicate the cemetery where row upon row of graves marked the men lost in battle. His moving speech, which took only two minutes to recite, would inspire the nation and stay in the hearts and minds of Americans forever. ... Read more

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It's not a book...it's a journey
After reading several adult books on the Civil War for research, I began this book by Delia Ray (I like to read children's books as well). I simply need to say that this book is excellent. Civil War reading can be very dry, but not this book. Delia Ray takes us on a soldiers journey beginning with enlistment and ending with a soldiers life after the war, using quotes from actual letters and diaries strategically placed throughout the book. She covers such interesting items as what soldiers ate, how they drilled, their various living quarters, what they did for enjoyment, their attitudes toward their commanders, soldiers of other nationalities, and the enemy. She discusses individual battles, medical treatment, hospital and prison life, with such empathy that when you finish this book you will actually feel as if you were there yourself. The photographs in this book each tell a story in themselves, as well. They are some of the most moving photos I've seen of the Civil War. I simply couldn't put this book down onced I picked it up. I highly recommend this book to both children and adults because like my title says, it's not a book... it's a journey. An all inclusive journey that seems to leave no question concerning the Civil War soldiers life unanswered. ... Read more

Book Description

A ghostly vision of General George Washington that inspired the troops before the battle of Gettysburg... The ghost of John Brown, who likes to have his picture taken, but never shows up when its developed... these and eleven more spine-tingling, true ghost stories introduce children to famous Civil War figures and battles. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A book about Civil War ghosts
If you like to read ghost stories you should read this book.
This book is about ghosts from the Civil War. Some of the stories are scary . Probably the best story is called "The Many Ghosts of Abraham Lincoln." This book should be read because it tells how Abe Lincoln was killed. That is why I think you should read this book.

Great Teaching Tool
This book is incredible. My students loved hearing the multiple tales of hauntings from the Civil War. My students actually wrote to a few places that were mentioned in the book and received impressive replies. Thumbs up!

Passionate and Spooky ghosts
I like this book because it tells weird but true ghost stories. I also like the end of each story it gives places and addresses you can visit.Also phone numbers you can call for more information. Some of the stories are of love and hate. Some stories gave me chills. ... Read more

Book Description

Henry Morgan, who was born in Wales in 1635 and died in Port Royal, Jamaica, in 1688, was an unusual sort of leader. Inspiring the respect and admiration of his fellows, he led them to undertake daring raids on Spain's possessions in the New World; yet he commanded neither an army nor a navy. Nor was he a political ruler, although his exploits affected the power politics of Europe and earned him a knighthood. In plain language, Henry Morgan was a leader of thieves, a prince among a group of outcasts, desperadoes, and failed gentlemen known as buccaneers.Though movies and novels have romanticized them, the buccaneers were in fact a ruthless group who got their way by brutal means. Their motives were pure self-interest, yet they operated with the permission of certain European nations in order to break the Spanish monopoly in the West Indies. Vividly outlining the political and economic circumstances that allowed the buccaneers to flourish, and freshly evoking both life at sea and life in the colonies in the seventeenth century, Albert Marrin shows how Henry Morgan was a particular response to forces that are still with us. War, poverty, greed, bigotry, and oppression play themselves out, albeit differently, in our lives today.Albert Marrin is the chairman of the history department at Yeshiva University, and he has written many award-winning nonfiction books for young adults, including Commander in Chief: Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War (Dutton). ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Fascinating, educating, and highly readable
I had heard of Henry Morgan and the buccaneers, but did not know much about them before I read this book. "Terror of the Spanish Main" presents a wealth of information in an entertaining and understanding way. Some of the parts that I found most interesting include the following:

1. What was London really like in the 17th century? (Marrin pulls no punches in describing the sights and odors that more sterile histories omit.
2. The democratic way in which the buccaneers and pirates organized their expeditions. The pirates were a "floating democracy."
3. The horrific tortures...described vividly in the book...that were "acceptable" more than 300 years ago.
4. How Morgan's life ended.

Numerous illustrations accompany the well-documented text. The book far exceeded my expectations, and I will read other books by this author.

A Great Biography
This is a great book about one of the most famous buccaneers of all time. This is a great book, I couldn't put it down. If you like good books, buccaneers, ineresting information, or all of the above, you will love this book.

Great Pirate book, but not really a book about Henry Morgan
This book was easy to read and packed with information. If you have an interest in pirates, this book will give you a fantastic overview.

If you are looking for specific, down-and-dirty details about Henry Morgan, however, this book might not be your best pick.

In essence, the author does an admirable job of showing what life, and especially life as a pirate, would have been like during the 1600s. In addition, there are detailed notes and a wonderful section of additional sources at the end of the book.

If you already have a good basic understanding of pirate life and want to know everything about Henry Morgan, however, consider yourself forewarned: I kept waiting for the specifics about Henry Morgan to show up. When they finally did begin to show up half-way through the book I found them to be of the "We don't really know for sure but this is a good guess of what he might have experienced" variety.

To be fair, for such a prominent historical figure, Morgan left few records, especially of his early years. I did find the information about his Uncles new, interesting and thought-provoking but felt the title suggested a more thorough treatment of the man himself.

Change the title and it would be a GREAT pirate book or pack it with EVERY detail you can find about Morgan and this would be the perfect pirate book. However, with Morgan figuring so prominently in the title I was a little disappointed to find the book contained so little new information about him. ... Read more

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A look at the fighting men of the Second World War
"Going to War in World War II" has a lot to cover in examining how armies, navies, and air forces lived and fought together during the biggest armed conflict in human history.The result is that Moira Butterfield can only touch on some of the fascinating aspects of the Second World War.For example, the start of the war is reduced to the concept of blitzkrieg ("lightning war").The "chapters" of this book are basically two-page spreads on topics such as Wolfpacks and Warships, Life at Home, and D-Day.The focus is more on the ordinary fighting men than the famous generals and on details more than the history of the war itself.Consequently, "Going to War in World War II" is not intended as an introduction to the war, but rather as a way of providing young readers interested in the topic and who already know its basic history more details about what it was like for the fighting men.

The Armies of the Past series also looks at the fighting forces of World War II, Ancient Egypt and Greece, Roman and Viking Times, as well as the 18th and 19th centuries.The books are primarily illustrated with lots of paintings and drawings, along with some black & white photographs of the period. ... Read more

Book Description

In the middle of December 1944, at a time when most people thought Germany was finished, the German army launched a surprise attack against the American army in Belgium. Thousands of crack troops and large numbers of tanks breached the thin American lines and drove deep into Belgium. The Battle of the Bulge would be a brutal, bloody struggle in a dismal winter landscape against an enemy imbued with Adolf Hitler's fanatic conviction that victory could be snatched from defeat. Before it ended, the Battle of the Bulge would involve over a million men and thousands of guns, tanks and other fighting vehicles. In that dark December, fighting both bitter winter storms and a grim and determined enemy, the American soldier faced his greatest challenge in the European war. ... Read more

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An excellent illustrated history of the Battle of the Bulge
When I was reading Stephen W. Sears' book on "The Battle of the Bulge" for the American Heritage Junior Library it suddenly dawned on me that if it was not for this last gasp counterattack by the German army in December of 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt might have lived to see the fall of Nazi Germany. Christrose, the first chapter of this volume, has Hitler making the case for his counteroffensive, explaining the twisted logic by which the Sixth Panzer Army would take Antwerp and the Fifth Panzer Army would move on Brussels during the worst weather in Europe in fifty years. Hitler was convinced that the Americans, fighting 3,000 miles from home, would accept a negotiated surrender and go home, especially once Hitler started using his rocket weapons. Laying out the entire scheme in all its psychotic glory certainly gives young readers insights into Hitler and his hold on the German people and military. Sears also makes it clear that this German offensive was in many ways as much of a surprise as the attack on Pearl Harbor, especially since the Allies were preparing a massive drive to the Rhine River to break the back of Nazi resistance on the Western Front.

The next chapters in the book are devoted to the initial breakthrough by the German army, the Allied fight for time, the celebrated siege of Bastogne, and the pivotal find at the Meuse. The final pair of chapters look at the long road back, as the Allied armies reclaimed the ground they had lost, and the legacy of the Battle of the Ardennes (its "real" name) as the final failure of the Nazi dream of world conquest. The narrative by Sears is reinforced by battlefield photographs, as well as sketches and paintings, telling the story of the greatest and fiercest battle of World War II for the U.S. Army. Sears characterizes this as the strongest challenge of the European war, although that seems a bit overstated given D-Day. But having grown up on the movie version of "The Battle of the Bulge," and about to watch "Band of Brothers" for the second time, I could really appreciate the way Sears gives a clear sense of structure to the battle so that young readers can appreciate what was happening from both sides, if they can just track down this volume. These American Heritage Junior Library volumes really stand the time and hard to beat just in terms of the illustrations. ... Read more

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A nice introduction to the life of General Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee is still considered one of the greatest military leaders in American history, which is rather ironic since he achieved his successes on battlefields against Federal troops. In this juvenile biography, Patricia A. Grabowski explains how this fine young man became a gentleman soldier, appointed to West Point by President Andrew Jackson. She does a nice job of setting up Lee's difficult decision to resign from the Army when his state of Virginia seceded from the Union and showing how Lee came to be put in the position of leading the armies of the Confederacy. The attempts to explain the strategic and tactical brilliance of Lee, as well as his fatal error at Gettysburg, are less successful, but Grabowski does make an effort. However, what we have here is definitely a solid introductory biography for young readers interested in Lee and the Civil War.

This book is illustrated mostly with historical paintings (many of which you will see in other volumes in the Famous Figures of the Civil War Era series), as well as some contemporary photographs of a few Lee related sites. Sidebars provided some additional details on Lee's life and the events covered. As always, the fact that these books insist on calling their subjects by their first name continues to nag at me. Marse Robert I could accept, but calling Lee "Robert" the entire book just sounds strange. Sorry. ... Read more

Book Description

Introduces the Mexican War, also called the Mexican-American War, its causes, course of events, and aftermath. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The Mexican War as a U.S. war of territorial aquisition
The perspective taken on the Mexican War for this volume in The Hispanic Library is made clear in the book's subtitle: "How the United States Gained Its Western Lands."After winning the American Revolution and the Louisiana Purchase it was the Mexican War that supplied the final significant acquisition of land for the continental United States.Carrie Nichols Cantor makes it clear from the start that from an objective standpoint the Mexican War was a war of aquisition, pointing out that it was the U.S. that started the war.A map shows that from this War the U.S. would get all of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and California, as well as the final parts of Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma.In telling the story of this 16-month-long war Cantor is concerned with not only what the dramatic acquisition of territory meant for the United States but for Mexico as well.

Cantor examines the years before the war to show how the growing number of immigrants was sending thousands of Americans to the west combined with the feeling of manifest destiny to make a conflict with Mexico inevitable.The provocation for the war is detailed in a chapter that shows the American government and military created a pretext for the war.Rather ironically, the weakest chapter in the book is on the actual war itself, which provides a rather bare-boned description of the strategy and battles.The final chapter looks at the way from an ethical perspective, detailing the rights and wrongs on both sides of a war that ended up being quickly forgotten by most Americans.However, the ending of the book is a rather abrupt transition noting peace has reigned on the once disputed border for more than 150 years and the two nations now enjoy a friendly relationship.

"The Mexican War: How the United States Gained Its Western Lands" is more a socio-political history than a military history, that goes beyond what students will be getting from their American history textbooks.Cantor takes pains to explain the war so young readers will understand why the United States did things that certainly seem to go against our idea of what the country stands for.Like all volumes produced by The Child's World, this one has informative sidebars (Zachary Taylor, Santa Anna, Los Ninos, etc.), but this time instead of the Interesting Facts beginning worked into the margins they appear at the end of the book, along with a Timeline, Glossary, sources for Further Information, and Index."The Mexican War" is illustrated with mostly historic photographs and paintings. ... Read more

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The importance of air power during World War II
"Air War!" the third book in the World War II Chronicles series covers a lot of ground in that the first part is devoted to the air war in Europe and the second to the air war if the Pacific.For each part what Julie Klam provides is not a complete narrative history of the use of air power in those two theaters, but a look at the main strategy, planes, pilots, and battles.As is the case with all of the volumes in this series, Klam begins with an introduction that establishes the two sides and main leaders along with maps of the two theaters.

Part I: Air War in Europe begins with the importance of bombing in World War II and Hitler's strategy of the blitzkrieg.After the fall of France Hitler was the master of Europe with Great Britain as the only major nation left to conquer, which meant the Luftwaffe had to control the skies over southern England but failed because of the heroic efforts of the Royal Air Force during "The Battle of Britain."Klam then covers the U.S. Army Air Force Ace Captain Robert S. Johnson and the famous Tuskegee Airmen of the 332nd Fighter Group, the air war in the Mediterranean, the famous American bombers and fighters in Europe, such as the B-17 Flying Fortress and P-51 Mustang, the six-day of air raids on Schweinfurt, the use of air power on D-Day, the bombing of Dresden, and Germany's jet-powered weapons.

Part II: Air War in the Pacific starts with the attack on Pearl Harbor.If in Europe the story was about the U.S. Army Air Force, then in the Pacific the focus is mostly on the pilots of the U.S. Navy.Klam covers the Navy's warplanes, the famous Flying Tigers, the role of aircraft carriers in the pivotal Battle of Midway, and aces like Major Gregory "Pappy" Boyington and Major Richard Ira Bong.After explaining the island-hopping strategy the U.S. used in the South Pacific, this part of the book looks at the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot, air attacks on the Japanese home island by the B-29 Superfortesss, the Japanese response with Kamikazes, and the atomic boms dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended the war.

This book is an introduction to the story of the importance of air power during World War II.Young readers who are interested in the topics they find covered in "Air War!" will be able to find books (and films) all about the Battle of Britain, the Tuskegee Airmen, the Flying Tigers, and Dick Bong "Ace of Aces."Certainly such readers will find more about these topics in Klam's book than they will find in a standard history textbook, whether American or World History, whether elementary or secondary school.The rest of this series offers a pair of two-part looks at the war in each theater, with "Europe in Flames" and "From D-Day to V-E Day" along with "The Rise of Japan and Pearl Harbor" and "Victory in the Pacific."There is also a volume devoted to "The War at Home" that covers what it was like to live in the United States while the country was fighting wars across two oceans. ... Read more