Amazon.com
In the winter of 1945, on the tiny island of Iwo Jima, a ferocious, epic battle was fought, resulting in the loss of more than 48,000 lives and producing what was to become one of the most recognizable symbols of World War II: a photograph of six soldiers raising an American flag on the peak of Mount Suribachi. One of the six, Navy corpsman John Bradley, came away from this historical moment with a deep and mysterious silence about his role in the flag raising. Even his wife heard him speak of it only once in their 47-year marriage. After Bradley's death, his son James began to piece together the facts of his father's heroism, as well as that of the other five men, all of whom became reluctant heroes because of their presence during that fateful instant when the shutter clicked and created a wartime icon.
Based on James Bradley's Flags of Our Fathers for adults, this abridged version for younger readers retains the somewhat terse drama, intense heartbreak, and bittersweet triumph of the original narrative. Through his research on the event and the soldiers (three of the men were killed in combat within days of the flag raising), Bradley explores the dubious nature of heroism and the devastating effects of war. (Ages 14 and older) --Emilie Coulter
Book Description
Now abridged for young people, Flags of Our Fathers is the unforgettable chronicle of perhaps the most famous moment in American military history: the raising of the U. S. flag at Iwo Jima. Here is the true story behind the immortal photograph that has come to symbolize the courage and indomitable will of America.
In February 1945, American Marines plunged into the surf at Iwo Jima–and into history. The son of one of the flag raisers has written a powerful account of six very different men who came together in the heroic battle for the Pacific’s most crucial island.
Customer Reviews:
Down to earth truth behind the Second World war> Sacrifice,and enduring American spirit.......2007-06-28
Who were these brave young men that fought for their country, nation, and civil liberty? Freedom, fought and paid for by the lives of American youth, veterans of our country's legacy. We didn't back down when the odds were to great; we had fear it would decimate of what we loved, our liveliehood, ideals, and what we stood for. Heroes that proved essential to the wellbeing and life of America. Find out who were the six that raised the steel pole to enstill hope for marines upon that desolate island of Iwo Jima.
World War II.......2007-04-25
A great story about a horrific, but successful battle. Written by the son of one of the flag raisers, it gives a realistic view of the horrors endured, and the magnificent bravery of our boys who went forth in droves to give of themselves, that the rest of us might live in freedom.
Captivating and Honest Truths About Leadership and Devotion To Brothers Lost in War.......2007-04-04
I was given this book by one of my patients and I simply could not put it down. I read it cover to cover in about a day and half. The descpriptions of the War and the men who fought in the battle raged on Iwo Jima were brought alive in this story. It is incredible to think so many people were deceived by the efforts and the spin tallied by the United States during World War 2. Yes, the spin was in the name of a good cause, but it is unfortunate it took so long to tell the real truths about the men who lost their lives and the bloody sacrifices made in the name of freedom in this country. I would strongly recommend this book for anyone who wants to read and better understand what really happened on Iwo Jima and the aftershocks that rippled through our Country for years following this war.
Dr. Warren Bruhl
A great book to read by Trevor Williams.......2007-04-02
This book is a salute to all the men of WWII and especially to those that served in Iwo Jima. It is an awesome book, one of the best books that I have ever read. I couldn't put it down.
James Bradley, the "Author", started to investigate his father Jack's service record, after his death. He never spoke of his time in service and especially what happened on the peak of Mount Suribachi. His father was one of the original 6 people in the famous photo from WWII taken during the flag raising in one of the bloodiest battles in history. The book was very descriptive and graphic, I could picture the battle in my mind.
Wrong book.......2007-03-09
It was not the book I thought was ordered. It was a student version which I didn't want. It is a good book otherwise, was delivered on time with no issues
Amazon.com
The Battle of Iwo Jima, fought in the winter of 1945 on a rocky island south of Japan, brought a ferocious slice of hell to earth: in a month's time, more than 22,000 Japanese soldiers would die defending a patch of ground a third the size of Manhattan, while nearly 26,000 Americans fell taking it from them. The battle was a turning point in the war in the Pacific, and it produced one of World War II's enduring images: a photograph of six soldiers raising an American flag on the flank of Mount Suribachi, the island's commanding high point.
One of those young Americans was John Bradley, a Navy corpsman who a few days before had braved enemy mortar and machine-gun fire to administer first aid to a wounded Marine and then drag him to safety. For this act of heroism Bradley would receive the Navy Cross, an award second only to the Medal of Honor.
Bradley, who died in 1994, never mentioned his feat to his family. Only after his death did Bradley's son James begin to piece together the facts of his father's heroism, which was but one of countless acts of sacrifice made by the young men who fought at Iwo Jima. Flags of Our Fathers recounts the sometimes tragic life stories of the six men who raised the flag that February day--one an Arizona Indian who would die following an alcohol-soaked brawl, another a Kentucky hillbilly, still another a Pennsylvania steel-mill worker--and who became reluctant heroes in the bargain. A strongly felt and well-written entry in a spate of recent books on World War II, Flags gives a you-are-there depiction of that conflict's horrible arenas--and a moving homage to the men whom fate brought there. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
In February 1945, American Marines plunged into the surf at Iwo Jima—and into history. Through a hail of machine-gun and mortar fire that left the beaches strewn with comrades, they battled to the island’s highest peak. And after climbing through a landscape of hell itself, they raised a flag.
Now the son of one of the flag-raisers has written a powerful account of six very different young men who came together in a moment that will live forever.
To his family, John Bradley never spoke of the photograph or the war. But after his death at age seventy, his family discovered closed boxes of letters and photos. In
Flags of Our Fathers, James Bradley draws on those documents to retrace the lives of his father and the men of Easy Company.
Following these men’s paths to Iwo Jima, James Bradley has written a classic story of the heroic battle for the Pacific’s most crucial island—an island riddled with Japanese tunnels and 22,000 fanatic defenders who would fight to the last man.
Few books ever have captured the complexity and furor of war and its aftermath as well as
Flags of Our Fathers. A penetrating, epic look at a generation at war, this is history told with keen insight, enormous honesty, and the passion of a son paying homage to his father. It is the story of the difference between truth and myth, the meaning of being a hero, and the essence of the human experience of war.
Customer Reviews:
A Masterpiece of History!.......2007-09-28
My grandfather fought on Bougainville and Guadalcanal which are both mentioned often in this book. To this day grandpa does not speak of the war. After reading this book, I understand why. This book embodies the human spirit and the fight to uproot evil at its core. It is interesting that such a brutal fight took place on an island that had no real life... just a desolate island of ash and embers that emulated a place of death. Deep within the bowels of the island held a garrison of approximately 22,000 Japanese that were determined to fight to extinction and that is what they did.
Bradley and Powers do a wonderful job describing the Marines training as well as the actions on Iwo Jima. The fact that I came away from reading this book more knowledgeable about the self-sacrifices all Marines made on Iwo Jima, makes my own service in the Marines (1993-1997) a worth while endeavor that I hold near and dear to my heart.
Semper Fi to those that served and especially to Ron Powers and James Bradley for taking the time to research and write an unforgettable and accurate masterpiece of history!
6 people. 1 flag, 1 photo........2007-08-21
James Bradley writes an amazing tribute to his father in this book about the "photo."
The book follows the lives of 6 men from birth until death. Each one of them is unique and has their own story. They all have something in common, and that is that they were all in the photo.
This is NOT a war book, it is a biography of 6 men. A great book!
WOW!.......2007-08-01
This book was AMAZING!!! I knew next to nothing about the Battle of Iwo Jima before reading this book and I learned SO much about the fight for Japan and about what it was like to be a U.S. Marine during WWII.
It is an INCREDIBLE read and a great education, too.
Disappointed.......2007-07-29
I am not sure if it is the fact that the Audiobook is an abridged version but I just didn't find the story that compelling. Somewhat repetitive and too concerned about details which I found boring and uninteresting.
I was looking for a historical account (like the much better "1776" or "Team of Rivals") but this is more like an afterschool special.
Recommended!.......2007-07-26
We listened to the audio version of this book on a long trip and were deeply affected by the personal stories. I learned so much about World War II, Iwo Jimo, and the Marines. Thank you!
Average customer rating:
- Give me a break...
- Ethnocentrism gleamed from the pages of National Geographic
- Good, basic points. Flawed book.
- Do I need a Sociology degree to read National Geographic?
- anthropology schmanthropology
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Reading National Geographic
Catherine A. Lutz , and
Jane L. Collins
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
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ASIN: 0226497240 |
Book Description
For its millions of readers, the National Geographic has long been a window to the world of exotic peoples and places. In this fascinating account of an American institution, Catherine A. Lutz and Jane L. Collins explore the possibility that the magazine, in purporting to teach us about distant cultures, actually tells us much more about our own.
Lutz and Collins take us inside the National Geographic Society to investigate how its photographers, editors, and designers select images and text to produce representations of Third World cultures. Through interviews with the editors, they describe the process as one of negotiating standards of "balance" and "objectivity," informational content and visual beauty. Then, in a close reading of some six hundred photographs, they examine issues of race, gender, privilege, progress, and modernity through an analysis of the way such things as color, pose, framing, and vantage point are used in representations of non-Western peoples. Finally, through extensive interviews with readers, the authors assess how the cultural narratives of the magazine are received and interpreted, and identify a tension between the desire to know about other peoples and their ways and the wish to validate middle-class American values.
The result is a complex portrait of an institution and its role in promoting a kind of conservative humanism that acknowledges universal values and celebrates diversity while it allows readers to relegate non-Western peoples to an earlier stage of progress. We see the magazine and the Society as a key middlebrow arbiter of taste, wealth, and power in America, and we get a telling glimpse into middle-class American culture and all the wishes, assumptions, and fears it brings to bear on our armchair explorations of the world.
Customer Reviews:
Give me a break..........2003-12-19
Quite simply, I don't buy into 90% of the authors claims, and the authors seemed to be completely blinded by their own preconcieved ideas that they can't be at all objective in their interpretation of the subject matter.
Ultimately, this books is nothing more than rhetoric about "white male dominated racist Western culture".
The authors clearly had this notion in mind when they wrote this book, and it taints virtually the entire book to the point where their conclusions aren't even remotely believable as being the result of objective research.
Ethnocentrism gleamed from the pages of National Geographic.......2003-03-25
I found this book to be thorough in its research of the geographic as an American institution. It presupposes that the reader is well aquainted with Gramsci's notion of mass media and the Frankfurt school borne out of this belief of hegemony perpectuated by a controlling elite. The author also takes liberty that the reader is aquainted with research methods using coding to differentiate subjects responses to pictures portrayed. Lastly, the author's use of interviewing technics and the subsequent interpretation of those responses enables the reader the opportunity to realize how the geographic and social background of the readers influence the perceptions people have when encountering this quasi-scientific journal. As an anthropological study this book illuminates the ethnocentric idealations of the Geographic's demographic readership, that is upper middle and middle class white euroamericans.
Good, basic points. Flawed book........2002-08-01
The book is about the "making and consuming of images of the non-western world." And images, after all, "have taken over from written texts the role of primary educator." The two look at a set of 600 photographs published in the magazine from 1950 to 1986 (roughly their NG -reading lifetimes). They argue the photos are selectively chosen to present a view that does not disturb middle-class American self-identities and connected views of the 3rd world. The photos usually show a gentle, peaceful, content, colorful exotic people who, though they might not be wealthy yet, are on the road to modern progress on the Western model. The non-Western world is appropriated, its description has helped maintain social hierarchies in the First World. Even worse, the NG's practice goes so far as to abet war-making on the people it purposefully misunderstands.
There three methodological steps are to look at the process of producing the images (a social endeavor over which no individuals have total say throughout the process), examine the structure and content of the images, and identify how readers view the photographs.
"We chart the tendency of the magazine to idealize and render exotic third-world peoples, with an accompanying tendency to downplay or erase evidence of poverty and violence. The photographs show these people as either cut off from the flow of world events or involved in a singular story of progress from tradition to modernity [ahem, two very different things unless you're not thinking hard about "modernity"], a story that changes with decolonization."
Their goal is make NG and other mass media "understand and historicize the differences that separate interconnected human beings," to heighten empathy without fostering stereotyping or paternalism.
Criticism: I can't deny that the writers made such a negative impression on me with their dogma and attacking hyperbole (and dripping class resentment) that their useful ideas are weakened in my view. I wouldn't assign this to students I hope will write well.
Do I need a Sociology degree to read National Geographic?.......2001-05-22
The title of this book grabbed me: READING NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. I now wish I had not grabbed up the book. Doing what the title suggests is a fairly benign activity; the only danger you face in reading the magazine is falling asleep in an inappropriate place. Let's admit it, National Geographic articles are written in a very prosaic style. This however is not news. We have been reading the magazine long enough to know the truth behind what one of it's past editors is quoted as saying: "only what is is of a kindly nature is printed about any country or people, everything unpleasant or unduly critical being avoided". Most of us have been around long enough to know that such cultural relativism, homogenization, and plain-vanilla humanism makes for some very boring reading.
That however is probably the only thing that you really need to know about NG. I certainly didn't need to know - and now knowing, don't believe, - as the authors believe that in depicting the naked breasts of native women: "the magazine and its readers are caught between the desire to play out the cultural fantasy of the oversexed native woman and the social controls of sexual morality..." This fixation which makes up an entire chapter "Women and Their Breasts" only highlights the real difficulty with the book's analysis. It is shallow and leans heavily towards a feministic cultural critique; it's also narrow in that it mostly looks at how NG depicts cultures. What about the other subjects the magazine looks at?
Boring writing aside my continued enjoyment of National Geographic comes from its explorations of wild places and its emphasis on nature. I much prefer this to what READING NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC would have me do - ponder whether the magazine is a pernicious contributor to the spread of Western supremacy, colonialism, imperialism, and the homogenizing influences of a white middle class world view.
anthropology schmanthropology.......2001-05-07
In this book, Lutz and Collins deconstruct the system of misrepresentation in which National Geographic functions as purveyor of cultural/historical fact. The authors problematize NG's systematic misrepresentation of the non-West and examine how those misrepresenations resonate with its 'American' audience through reinforcing the self-other binary. NG encodes a white, middle-class, male (straight) worldview, and as such, tells us more about the standardized/naturalized/anesthetized 'American' culture than about those it 'studies.' Through analyzing photographs and their captions and interviewing NG staff, the authors reveal the racism and paternalism that are at the heart of the National Geographic gaze.
Book Description
Talk about a fresh perspective! Perched 35,000 feet in the air, Window Seat decodes the sights to be seen on any flight across North America. Broken down by region, this unusual guide features 70 aerial photographs; a fold-out map of North America showing major flight paths; profiles of each region covering its landforms, waterways, and cities; tips on spotting major sights, such as the Northern Lights, the Grand Canyon, and Disney World; tips on spotting not-so-major sights such as prisons, mines, and Interstates; and straightforward, friendly text on cloud shapes, weather patterns, the continent's history, and more. A terrific book for kids, frequent flyers, and armchair travelers alike, Window Seat is packed with curious facts and colorful illustration, proving that flying doesn't have to be a snooze. When it's possible to "read" the landscape from above, a whole world unfolds at your feet.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting content, wrong title.......2007-04-11
The book was interesting and full of cool photos...but it is poorly packaged and marketed. I picked up the book expecting it to be about air travel, planes, flight paths, etc, and what you see through the window on a flight from LAX to JFK, for example. Instead it is really just a geographical study of the country with photos from much higher in the air than a commercial aircraft ever goes - the photos are satellite. So while the content makes for an interesting read and does provide some context for what you see out the window of an airplane, the book is inappropriately titled.
An excellent introduction into reading landforms from the air.......2006-11-12
I used to fly alot on commercial flights and bought this to explore further my interest in geography from an aerial perspective. I was instantly disappointed as the photographs, with two exceptions, were high resolution images taken from satellites! That said, I realize that to show the highlights the author draws us towards, the crisp, detailed images he supplied are helpful as learning guides to acquaint our eyes with what to look for by way of patterns and the like. And, the author does mention his use of these orbital images on pages 13-14.
To understand why he took that approach, review the snapshot of the New York/Newark area on page 10. I've seen that view a number of times after leaving LaGuardia, heading south. Contrast that with the exquisite orbital image including the same area on pages 18-19. No comparison! Yet, the view on page 10 is what more of us would tend to see when we have a clear day, good sun angle, with clean, unscratched windows.
Mr. Dicum probably meant for this to be a quick reference, quick start guide for armchair travelers to whet their appetities. For those wanting to see general landscape views and especially clouds as seen at 30,000 feet, look up the book of the same title by Julieanne Kost. Keep in mind this latter work supplies little geographical interpretation. But, it is the real thing!
There is a dearth of works up to the claim of featuring aerial perspectives representative of the oblique views a passenger of commercial flights flying at 30,000 feet would see. The ones worth their salt, such as America from 500 Feet (Fortney & Fortney) and High Above the Canadian Rockies (Heinl) are outstanding, yet they capture tight, low altitude views more along the lines of that seen from a helicopter flight or a private plane. It may be that more people prefer close up shots rather than a spectacular wide angle view yielding slight detail.
I'm surprised that previous reviewers, privy to the experience of peering out from aerial perspectives and disappointed at the substance of this work by Dicum, didn't share with amazon shoppers the best, readily available resource for assisting in identifying many landforms and objects as seen from aerial perspectives. Go to your local commuter airport (which the small, private planes utilize) and purchase the respective sectional aeronautical charts for the geographical areas you'll be flying over. The 1:500,000 scale is excellent for assisting you in deciphering where you are. There are 37 of these that cover the lower 48 states. These show power line swaths, tall structures of note like smokestacks, and airport runway configurations, the latter a real help in pinpointing where you are at a given moment. Caveat: be somewhat discreet in your airborne use of these lest some overimaginiative passengers draw sinister motives to your benign interest in the landforms below.
Helps flights go faster............2006-06-23
I'm not going to touch on the aerial/satellite issue, as that's already been covered. It is a clever idea for a book, educational and fun, and when flying over major land formations like the Grand Canyon, it is useful. Since our snacks, movies, free drinks, etc have been taken away, looking out the window is just about the best entertainment left on a plane, and this book helps take advantage of that.
Stolen from another author.......2006-05-23
Window Seat was stolen from a series of books entitled Window Seat published in Singapore in 2002. Everything: from the idea, the content, the design, the colouring and even down to the blurb on the back cover: was ripped off wholesale from the original Window Seat series, published in Singapore two years prior to the publication of this book. Gregory Dicum is a [...] and a thief.
Everything you need to take on the plane for an even more memorable trip!.......2006-05-22
Here's one that's hard to categorize: seventy aerial photos give a fine landscape view of the earth and mimic what you'd see from the window seat of a plane - but that's not all. Here's map showing major flight paths, profiles of different North American region landforms and waterways, tips on spotting major sites from the air - everything you need to take on the plane for an even more memorable trip!
Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch
Average customer rating:
- Peace in a disturbing world
- Exquisite.
- A wonder of wonders
- If you've ever read a book, buy this book!
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A Book of Books
Abelardo Morell , and
Nicholson Baker
Manufacturer: Bulfinch
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0821258141 |
Amazon.com
Although we may have been taught not to judge a book by its cover, photographer Abelardo Morell reverses the old saying and delightfully shows us how to relish a book by its look. This inventive and clever photographic ode to the printed word captures all the powerful possibilities contained on the page. A Book of Books gives us images that range from formal studies of shape and texture to the joyously whimsical.
Most luminous are the sculptural renditions, fluid pages curving over their spines like majestic mountains in the distance. The abstract pattern of a dictionary takes on the enigmatic characteristics of crop circles, while a water-damaged book shows itself as a twisted organic form. An aging book slowly decays in a stark image of paper so fragile it has practically turned to dust. Library stacks seen from above become a labyrinth through Morell's lens. Includes a lovely preface by Nicholson Baker. Perfect for any book enthusiast. (52 duotone photographs) --J.P. Cohen
Book Description
A visual tribute to the printed word, this delicious ode to the book won awards and critical praise when first published in an oversized format in 2002.
Now in a smaller gift book format, Morell's elegant photographs of books highlight the grace and sensuality of the printed page. Unusual books are featured, like a leather-bound volume that is smaller than a paper clip, an impossibly large dictionary, and illustrated books whose characters appear to leap off the page. Morell has photographed the endless ocean of books in a library and the strikingly beautiful way in which weathered and water-damaged books take on sculptural form.
Customer Reviews:
Peace in a disturbing world.......2003-03-12
When I first saw this book in a book store last December, and began looking through the pages, my eyes welled up with tears at the sheer poetry of the images. It was as if doors opened into other levels of awareness. When I put the book down, I realized that I had been looking at it for over an hour, and that's when I knew I simply needed to own it. Since then, the detail and depth of the images have provided a refuge from the news in the world today. There is still beauty and peace. Thank you, Abe Morell.
Exquisite........2002-10-25
Everything Abelardo Morell does is gorgeous but what makes him such a genius is the mudane things he works with. The only photographer I can compare him to is Josef Sudek.
Let's be honest. Anybody can go to a beautiful place like Yosemite or Big Sur, take a view camera and wait for nice light. Instant Ansel Adams; you can't miss unless you kick the tripod.
But how many people can make a heartbreakingly beautiful photograph from a crumpled ball of paper or some peeling paint? Get this book of books and you'll see what I mean.
A wonder of wonders.......2002-10-20
Some of the photographs in Abelardo Morell's A Book of Books are of great books: A Tale of Two Cities, A Farewell to Arms, Alice in Wonderland. And in placing these photographs together in this wonder-filled volume, Morell has created a great book of his own. For like all great books, this one makes you see the familiar in new ways; offers layers upon layers of meaning; and pushes you to make connections among objects and ideas that sometimes appear to have little, if anything, in common. At the same time, it is a glorious book to look at, to sink into, again and again. If you love books, you'll love this one.
If you've ever read a book, buy this book!.......2002-10-15
What Morell achieves in "A Book of Books" is quite extraordinary. He takes a commonplace object -- the book, which you probably have at least several of around you right now -- and invites us to consider it as a rhapsodic, even a sacred object. The book as tower, the book as person, the book as metaphor for its contents...these are just a few of the associations that swirl throughout this lustrous volume. And while the tomes on your shelf may not be quite as grandiose or even comical as Morell's examples, each of your books is somehow related to his, which renders the photographs even more exciting. For anyone who enjoys the heft of a book in their hands, for anyone who likes to meander through bookstores, for anyone who cherishes gazing at photographs that distil the essence of something while hinting at something more mysterious, this book is a great gift.
Amazon.com
Shireen Dodson was on vacation with her family when she decided she needed to find "a way to spend some special time" with her daughter. What she did was start a mother-daughter book club. In this sweet little book, Dodson offers practical advice about starting a similar club. The heart of the book, though, is in the insights she offers about the benefits--the chance to explore ideas and feelings, to discuss each other's lives, and to establish what Dodson calls a "bridge of sharing" that involves both mother and daughter listening to each other.
Book Description
Combining the practical with the personal, The Mother-Daughter Book Club tells the story of 10 mothers and their preteen daughters and how their relationships were enriched through a monthly reading club. With step-by-step guidelines, stories, anecdotes, reading lists, sample themes and related activities, it offers practical instructions for starting a book club while encouraging mothers and daughters to learn to talk openly with one another.
At a key stage of their daughter's development, mothers will find a hopeful antidote to depression, eating disorders, self-destructive behavior and other problems facing adolescent girls. Most important, The Mother-Daughter Book Club shows that reading, learning and spending time together helps girls build self-esteem.
With suggested reading lists from authors and experts ranging from Kaye Gibbons, Joyce Carol Oates and Tipper Gore to Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Beth Winship and Ann Martin, The Mother-Daughter Book Club has the potential to inspire whole networks of reading clubs nationwide.
Customer Reviews:
Extremely Useful Resource.......2007-02-18
I think the reviewer that gave this 2 stars for the fact that it wasn't about boys completely missed the point. The woman who wrote this book started a mother-daughter book group and wrote about THAT experience. She also folded in a lot of great book recommendations from a variety of sources, along with many tips about how to have a successful mother-daughter book club. If that is what you are interested in doing or have already started, this will be a very useful resource for you. It will give you ideas about books to read, meeting format, additional activities and other places to look for ideas.
A friend and her daughter recently invited my daughter and me to join a book club she was forming. We have used a lot of the ideas from this book and found them to have improved our experience of the book club.
Jumping on the band wagon.......2003-07-13
I thought that the book was going to be wonderful after reading the introduction. However, after reading the first chapter I realized that I was wrong. The concept of a parent/child book club is marvelous, but to assume that boys do not need it as well is idiocy. The author jumps on the band wagon that girls are repressed in the classroom and are in dire need of help. The book includes statements such as reading is "especially meaningful for a girl, because I think in school girls tend to be a little reticent and hesitant to speak up". PLEASE!! Give it up already! Everyone is sick of hearing about how bad girls have it. I have been in a lot of classrooms and let me assure you that girls are NOT afraid to speak up. I am a professional woman with a daughter, and I can only hope that I am able to raise her in today's society without her being warped into thinking that she is some poor child in need of saving because, without intervention, she is destined for failure.
Both boys and girls need to be raised in such a way as to bring out their best and help them reach their full potential. So, stop bashing boys (which is the implied undertone of the message) just to build up girls and stop implying that a girl can not be strong and confident unless she is as good as, or better than, a boy in subjects that are typically dominated by males. People need to realize that children have their own strengths and weaknesses and that is a fact of life.
Why can't someone write a book that is a little positive on subjects like this? It would be a lot better than this biased (and misguided) message.
Great concept, poor presentation.
Anxiously waiting our first meeting........1997-07-01
Give Shireen Dodson and the Mother-Daughter Book Club 10 gold stars. Complete instructions along with excerpts from their members makes this book a must for mothers interested in SHARING special times with their daughters and breaking the communication gap. The book comes with extensive reading lists and letters from a number of famous people from all walks of life. After reading the stories about their meetings and the closeness that can be shared between a mother and daughter through reading, my daughter and I set forth to organize a mother daughter book club in our small south Texas community.The book gave us ideas on how to start and form the club which we are in the process of doing and having our first meeting next week. With this book in my arms I am ready. Thanks Shireen for such a wonderful gift that you have shared with us
Average customer rating:
- Excellent insight into our Fathers
- A real eye-opener!
- "Flags of Our Fathers" - A Timely Look at a Bloody Battle in Our History
- 1/400th of a second in time
- The real story of Iwo Jima
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Flags of Our Fathers: Heroes of Iwo Jima (Young Reader's Abridged Edition)
James Bradley , and
Ron Powers
Manufacturer: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0385730640
Release Date: 2003-05-13 |
Book Description
New York Times bestseller, now adapted for young readers, Flags of Our Fathers is the unforgettable chronicle of perhaps the most famous moment in American military history: the raising of the U.S. flag at Iwo Jima.
Here is the true story behind the immortal photograph that has come to symbolize the courage and indomitable will of America. In February 1945, American Marines plunged into the surf at Iwo Jima–and into history. Through a hail of machine-gun and mortar fire that left the beaches strewn with comrades, they battled to the island’s highest peak. And there, they raised a flag. The son of one of the flag raisers has written a powerful account of six very different men who came together in the heroic battle.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent insight into our Fathers.......2007-01-03
Great book showing how a major world event shaped the lives of a whole generation. I gained a lot of insight from reading this book.
A real eye-opener!.......2006-10-24
I consider myself knowledgeable about history, especially WW2. After reading just half of "Flags of our Fathers'" I realize how much I 'didn't' know about this part of the war. Most of my research was of the european theatre.
I am so glad I purchased this book. It makes me feel so humble as to my own time spent in uniform for I never had to endure or sacrifice what these young men did.
Anyone thinking of not voting should read this and be sure to vote for these young men gave everything so that we could have that right. Even more they went through hell before they did it.
Do yourself a favor and get this book.
Richard Neal Huffman - Author of Dreams In Blue: The Real Police
"Flags of Our Fathers" - A Timely Look at a Bloody Battle in Our History .......2006-10-20
Quite a while ago, Nick Olmsted, a graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy, recommended that I read "Flags of Our Fathers." I am glad that I finally got around to taking his advice. This story struck me on many levels at once, and this seems to be an opportune time to share some of my thoughts about this remarkable book, written by James Bradley, the son of one of the six Marines whose iconic picture of the raising of the flag over Iwo Jima riveted a war-weary nation.
The film based on this book is due to be released tomorrow. My friend, Nate Fick, former Marines Corps officer and author of "One Bullet Away," had invited me to attend a special screening of the film tomorrow evening in Boston. There will be many Marines present for this gala event to raise funds for a scholarship program for the families of Marines who have fallen in combat. Here is how Nate described to me the work of the scholarship committee:
The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation will be showing a benefit premier of "Flags of Our Fathers" at the AMC Theater on Boston Common on Friday 20 October. Military guests of honor will include BGen John Kelly, legislative assistant to CMC, former ACMC's Generals Nyland and Neal, and perhaps others.
For those who don't know, the MCSF is committed to funding higher education for the children of Marines and Navy Corpsmen, especiallythose killed in action. It's a wonderful organization, and one I've been proud to be involved with during the past several years.
So, before I am influenced by the film's portrayal of the events on Iwo Jima and the stories of the six men - Harlon Block, James Bradley, Rene Gagnon, Ira Hayes, Frank Sousley, Mike Strank - whose picture became symbolic of a nation at war, I will share my take on the book. A review of the film will follow in a few days.
James Bradley was motivated to write "Flags of Our Fathers" after the death of his father. As the family sorted through the papers that John Bradley left behind, they found three cardboard boxes full of photos and documents related to Iwo Jima. Finding this secret stash shocked the Bradleys, since James had refused to discuss his role as a famous flagraiser.
"I hungered to know the heroic part of my dad. Try as I might I could never get him to tell me about it.
`The real heroes of Iwo Jima,' he said once, coming as close as he ever would, `are the guys who didn't come back.'" (Page 4)
My siblings and I had a similar experience. My father, who served in India with the U.S. Army Air Corps, hardly ever talked about his years of service that cost him four years of his life and compromised his health until he died at the relatively young age of 65. It was as if he had locked that part of his life away in some inaccessible vault. The closest he came to revealing that chapter of his life was to lead us in singing Army marching songs that seemed to play in his head like a continuous loop. Our frequent family drives in the country were filled with many hours of such songs. We whiled away the hours and the miles by singing "Someone's in the Kitchen with Dinah," "Alice Blue Gown," "Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder," and "I've Been Working on the Railroad." I felt as if Bradley had touched a special rewind button when he wrote these words about the memorial service the family held when they were able to visit Iwo Jima in 1998:
"When I was finished with my talk, I couldn't look up at the faces in front of me. I sensed the strong emotion in the air. Quietly, I suggested that in honor of my dad, we all sing the only two songs John Bradley ever admitted to knowing: `Home on the Range' and `I've Been Working on the Railroad.'" (page 14)
Bradley chose an epigraph for the second chapter of the book that is timeless and haunting:
"All wars are boyish, and are fought by boys." Herman Melville (Page 17)
Bradley lays out in clear terms why he chose to undertake the project of writing the book and sharing the stories of the Iwo Jima flagraisers:
"That was the point, I reminded myself, the point of my quest: to bring these boys back to life, or a kind of life, to let them live again in the country's memory. Starting with my father, and continuing with the other five.
That is how we always keep our beloved dead alive, isn't it? By telling stories abut them; true stories. It works that way with our national past as well. Keeping it alive by telling stories." (Page 17)
I have long been a strong believer in the power of narrative to capture our imaginations and our hearts. The job that James Bradley and Ron Powers have done in this book reaffirms my faith in the power of a well-told story. By Bradley bringing back to life the six Iwo Jima flagraisers and their comrades who fell in battle there, I felt as if he were also connecting me to a piece of my father's history and bringing him back to life, as well. As you can imagine, reading this book evoked powerful emotions.
This book does a very effect job of contrasting the sanitized view that civilians have of war with the messy reality experienced by those in the midst of the fighting:
"To the civilian noncombatants, war was `knowable' and `understandable.' Orderly files of men and machines marching off to war, flags waving, patriotic songs playing. War could be clear and logical to those who had not touched its barb.
But battle veterans quickly lost a sense of war's certitude. Images of horror they could scarcely comprehend invaded their thoughts tortured their minds. Bewildered and numbed, they cold not unburden themselves to their civilian counterparts, who could never comprehend through mere words.
Mike, Ira, and Harlon - these three boys back from the Pacific Heart of Darkness - now embraced death. Two were convinced that their next battle would be their last. And one lingered on for ten years before he was consumed by a living nightmare." (Page 90)
"Today, a battle-scarred Ira Hayes would be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome, and there would be understanding and treatment available to him. But in the late forties and early fifties, Ira had to suffer alone. Suffer daily with images of and misplaced guilt over his 'good buddies who didn't come back.'" (Page 333)
Post traumatic stress disorder - or PTSD - reared its ugly head over Iwo Jima and planted its flag in the hearts of those who fought there - and who have fought in every subsequent battle from Pusan and Pork Chop Hill to Khe Sahn and Hamburger Hill to Tikrit and Falujah. (I will return to the topic of PTSD in a series of articles in the coming weeks.)
Throughout the book, Bradley does justice to the legacy of the Iwo Jima flagraisers by addressing an issue that haunted each of them - the question of what it truly means to be a hero. The flagraisers felt that fate had singled them out for notoriety and the label of "hero," but each man felt in his heart that the real heroes were the ones who did not live to see the flag raised or the parades planned or the War Bond rallies held.
"And finally, I found a full-page newspaper ad from the Seventh Bond Tour, which he had participated in. It screamed: `You've seen the photo, you've heard him on radio, now in person in Milwaukee County Stadium, see Iwo Jima hero John H. Bradley!'
Hero. In that misunderstood and corrupted word, I think lay the final reason for John Bradley's silence.
Today the word `hero' has been diminished, confused with `celebrity.' But in my father's generation the word meant something.
Celebrities seek fame. They take actions to get attention. Most often, the actions they take have no particular moral content. Heroes are heroes because they have risked something to help others. Their actions involve courage. Often, those heroes have been indifferent to the public's attention. But at least, the hero could understand the focus of the emotion. However he valued or devalued his own achievement, it did stand as an accomplishment.
The moment that saddled my father with the label of `hero' contained no action worthy of remembering. When he was shown the photo for the first time, he had no idea what he was looking at. He did not recognize himself or any of the others. The raising of that pole was as forgettable as tying the laces of his boots.
The irony, of course, was that Doc Bradley was indeed a hero on Iwo Jima - many times over. The flagraising, in fact, might be seen as one of the few moments in which he was not acting heroically. In 1998 Dr. James Wittmeier, my father's medical supervisor in Iwo, sat beside me silently contemplating my request for him to explain, or speculate on, why my dad never talked about that time. Finally, after many long minutes, he turned to me and softly said, `You ever hold a broken raw egg in your hands? Well, that's how your father and I help young men's heads.' The heads of real heroes, dying in my father's arms.
So, he knew real heroism. He could separate the real thing from the image, the fluff. And no matter how many millions of people thought otherwise, he understood that this image of heroism was not the real thing." (Pages 260-261)
"Flags of Our Fathers" is a moving and loving tribute to heroes - real and perceived. I am glad that Nick Olmsted pointed the way to it. I hope that Clint Eastwood and Stephen Spielberg's translation of the story to the screen will honor the spirit of the men who fought on Iwo Jima.
Al
1/400th of a second in time.......2006-10-19
"It's funny what a picture can do": 1/400th of a second in time.
I wanted to read the book before seeing the movie. Will Eastwood respect the book?, I believe it is in his nature to do so.
The true story surrounding the flag raising on Mt. Suribachi in Iwo Jima. Well written, with tales of heroism; hard not to shed a tear.
We will learn the names of the marines who made famous that one day in time; who they were, their hometowns, their progression from training, to individual deployment, to the forming of the squad. Finally progressing to the day they meet and each individuals final fate.
The Japanese were as phantoms, fighting to the very last man. Our marines had to fight for every square inch on a volcanic wasteland. The initial fight was for Mt. Suribachi. But at the raising of the flag (the second one to be raised) the battle was not over. The horrific losses were just beginning. Why could they have not just starved the island out?
"The heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys who didn't come back"
Lets thank those who were "just doing their duty".
Wish you well
Scott
The real story of Iwo Jima.......2006-09-20
A remarkable tribute to ordinary soldiers accidentally thrust into an extraordinary situation by one of the best known wartime photographs in WW 2 history. A loving tribute from a son to his humble father, a young man who did his duty as he had been trained, and who came back home to do what thousands of servicemen did-try to pick up 'normal' lives and put the horrors of war behind them.
This book in paperback is an important read for everyone who questions the decisions made by soldiers and their commanders under fire, against an enemy with no real regard for human life and dignity as Americans have come to expect. Especially now, as our troops are involved in an effort to keep the enemy from bringing terror to our homeland, just as they did back in 1945. In every generation, there are ordinary people who are called upon to do extraordinary things, as we witnessed on 9/11/01 (this generations 'Pearl Harbor'). Bradley has done an excellent job, both with this book and 'Flyboys' to describe the Pacific war effort and to make it very real to the reader. I hope that his research and writing with regard to what is now termed 'the Greatest Generation' continues.
Average customer rating:
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Reading Photographs
Jonathan Bayer
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
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ASIN: 0394735846
Release Date: 1978-06-12 |
Book Description
Flying on the wing of the North American edition's success, Window Seat: Europe decodes the sights to be seen on any flight across Europe. Broken down by region, this unusual guide features over 60 aerial photographs; a fold-out map of Europe showing major flight paths; profiles of each region covering landforms, waterways, and cities; tips on spotting major sights, such as the Eiffel Tower, Venice canals, and Loch Ness; tips on spotting not so major sites such as mines, power plants, and railroads; and straightforward friendly text on cloud shapes, weather patterns, the continent's history, and more all in a lightweight pack-able paperback. Terrific for kids, frequent flyers, and armchair travelers alike, Window Seat: Europe is loaded with curious facts and colorful illustration. "Read" the landscape from above and a whole world unfolds at your feet.
Book Description
Winner of the Charles C. Eldredge Prize
In this book, Alan Trachtenberg reinterprets some of America's most significant photographs, presenting them not as static images but rather as rich cultural texts suffused with meaning and historical content. Reading American Photographs is lavishly illustrated with the work of such luminaries as Mathew Brady, Timothy O'Sullivan, and Walker Evans--pictures that document the American experience from 1839 to 1938. In an outstanding analysis, Trachtenberg eloquently articulates how the art of photography has both followed and shaped the course of American history, and how images captured decades ago provocatively illuminate the present.
Customer Reviews:
Heavy weight American Studies.......2007-09-26
If your interested in the mind of America, what we think and why we think it, Trachtenberg is your man. This is a very detailed, dense, and enjoyable work on the topic. It's premises are taken from the evidence gleaned from photographs and the history of the profession, a relatively new one (in the process of its own revolution from chemical to digital).
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