Average customer rating:
- Good book for Flight Mechanics
- A must have
- Thorough, Meticulous, Comprehensive
- If you study or design aircraft, you must have this book
- The Bible of Aircraft Flight Performance Analysis
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Mechanics of Flight
Warren F. Phillips
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons
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ASIN: 0471334588 |
Book Description
Mechanics of Flight is a unique combination of theory and applications organized in a logical presentation. It affords readers extensive coverage of individual topics within flight mechanics, including overviews of aerodynamics and propulsion. It also offers a full range of modern and classical techniques for applying fundamental principles to the solution of engineering problems in fight mechanics. Mechanics of Flight explores the basic principles of flight mechanics with the help of many worked examples, starting with simple problems involving steady-level flight and building to more complex ones such as the analysis of turning flight and spins. Special coverage found here–and not in most books on the subject–includes a detailed presentation of the quaternion formulation for six-degree-of-freedom flight simulation, including treatment of efficient numerical integration methods.
Customer Reviews:
Good book for Flight Mechanics.......2006-02-27
A very thoroughly written book. I found some information on all-flying tails that I haven't found any where else. However, Dr. Phillips uses nomenclature that are not what I call traditional nomenclature. Not really a big problem, just different from what I'm use to.
A must have.......2004-05-02
This text provides unparalled detail in it's discussion of flight mechanics. It contains clear and concise derivations of underlying equations and has well planned figures and example problems. Subject matter includes static and dynamic stability, propulsion, lifting line theory, 6-dof flight simulation with quaternions, along with many other essential topics. I particularly appreciated the straightforward way in which Phillips applies numerical methods to solving many of the problems. The equations required are located in such a manner as to make it easy to find what you need. Though mainly geared toward subsonic flight, I have found the understanding gained through this book invaluable in the design of supersonic vehicles. This is a great book for students learning the subject for the first time and a must have for engineering professionals and aircraft enthusiasts.
Thorough, Meticulous, Comprehensive.......2004-04-09
I am an Aerospace engineer working for the Air Force. While attending the annual AIAA aerospace convention in Reno Nevada, I met a professor from Denmark who raved about the work and research of a professor local to the west, Phillips. This seasoned scholar from Denmark wouldn't miss a session if he found Phillips' name appearing in it. I picked up the "Mechanics of Flight" which was on display for the first time at that conference. Due to the mountain of topics covered (900+ pages) I can't say that I have read every line of that book but the material I studied was impressive. I've never seen such complete derivations right from F=MA. The explanations are meticulous and thorough. I coded a real-time 6-DOF flight simulator for a midsized RCAV using this book as the main reference. I've never seen such a straightforward explanation of Quaternion algebra. If there were a "bible" of flight mechanics and dynamics, I would certainly give this my vote over any other in its class.
If you study or design aircraft, you must have this book.......2004-04-08
"Mechanics of Flight" will become a classic in the aerodynamicist's library alongside Abbott and Von Doenhoff's "Theory of Wing Sections". Here's why:
* Coverage of topics in aircraft design is exhaustive. From balancing lift and weight for steady flight, on through off axis forces and moments from running propellers, to 6-dof formulas for aircraft dynamic modes, to how propeller location affects aircraft stability, and on and on. Great for both the beginner and the authority in aircraft.
* Often a completely thorough analysis including the minutest effects is presented along with a linearized or simplified method. The simplified analysis is so useful for rapid conceptual design and study of fundamentals, while the detailed analysis gives a complete grasp of the physics and phenomena involved. Plus, in simplifying a complex derivation, the reader is shown which parameters may be safely neglected and which require careful scrutiny, and what is engineering if not intelligently ignoring smaller effects to come up with a reasonable solution to a problem?
* The figures! Well thought out and consistent, the figures clearly illustrate the material.
* Actual aircraft data is used in the example and homework problems. I have a feel for the performance of several classes of aircraft simply from using this book.
* Phillips derives everything, and I mean everything using the fundamental laws of physics as the starting point. A student would be very well served to go through these derivations themselves. Phillips basically shows the student how to learn and how to think mathematically. No shortcuts here. I wish I had learned these things very early on in my own schooling.
* Phillips has included experimental data along with rigorous analytical derivation and computer numerical analysis. I believe that all three are necessary for a true understanding of fluid dynamics.
The bottom line: Buy and use this book! While it is true that the material is focused on subsonic flight, I work for a large airframer of supersonic aircraft and I find the principles and fundamentals to be extremely useful in my work. Whether you are a student or a professional, if you have an interest in aerodynamics this is THE book to use.
The Bible of Aircraft Flight Performance Analysis.......2004-04-08
As a PhD student specializing in aircraft design, I greatly value excellent textbooks. Phillips' "Mechanics of Flight" is the latest of 5 textbooks that I use. The other textbooks include "Fundamentals of Aerodynamics" and "Aircraft Performance and Design" by Anderson, "Flight Stability and Automatic Control" by Nelson, and "Aircraft Design" by Raymer. "Mechanics of Flight" by Phillips is extremely well written, exhaustively researched, and by far the most useful textbook I own. It has become a popular book among my colleagues who are studying for the PhD qualifying exam at Georgia Tech because the book is truly written from the ground up. Rather than presenting results and referencing other authors, "Mechanics of Flight" exhaustively researches the fundamentals behind aircraft performance and then derives all of the supporting equations from the ground up. All assumptions and theory limitations are clearly presented. The derivations are logically developed, do not skip major steps, and are easy to follow. Phillips even documents some common misconceptions and errors that have been made in the past (and are presented as truths in other textbooks) in developing the equations of aerodynamics, flight mechanics, and stability and control. It is obvious that Phillips has not published a single equation that he has not personally derived. Every concept is also followed by example problems that are often so detailed that they cover several pages. Phillips uses actual aircraft data in his example problems to help give the reader confidence that results are in agreement with operational aircraft. In addition, each chapter contains more homework problems than a teacher or student could ever use. Some chapters have over 70 problems. It is very obvious that these problems have been carefully crafted to help the reader master the material. What is even more impressive is that so many of the homework problems contain data from actual aircraft. I definitely think that obtaining the solution manual would also be of great worth. One other area in which this textbook is superior to other textbooks is in its figures. This textbook has more than enough excellent aircraft drawings that are invaluable in helping the reader understand the concepts of aerodynamics and aircraft performance. Phillips has also generated numerous plots of data that help the reader get a feeling for what ranges of values should be expected when performing aircraft analysis. Also of extreme importance is the consistency in Phillips' notation used throughout his textbook. Phillips has been very careful to use variables with symbols and subscripts that conform to common aerodynamic notation and remain consistent throughout the whole text. I don't think that you will find a formula throughout the whole textbook that reuses a variable that means something else in another chapter in the textbook. You don't have to reread chapters to make sure that L represents lift rather than a reference length L. And now to get into the content of the textbook. Chapter 1 gives an excellent review of the basics of aerodynamics. This chapter can be used as both an intro to aerodynamics as well as a great review. Chapter 2 reviews propulsion. The basics of turbojets, turbofans, and propellers are well covered. A lot of information about Goldstein's propeller vortex theory is presented that isn't available in any other textbook. Phillips also gives a lot of information about forces and moments developed by propellers that I haven't seen anywhere else. Chapter 3 covers aircraft performance. This chapter is very exhaustive and derives all relationships from the ground up, many starting from F=ma. All the basics needed to analyze an aircraft in flight are well presented. Of great interest is the section on takeoff. Phillips goes through a grueling analysis to symbolically integrate the governing equation to provide a closed form solution for ground roll. This is by far the best takeoff documentation I have found. Chapters 4 and 5 cover longitudinal and lateral static stability and help the reader easily understand how to size aircraft control surfaces. All primary methods for achieving static stability such as dihedral, canards, empennages, etc. are well documented. Chapter 6 covers aircraft maneuverability and includes interesting subjects such as stall recovery and aileron control reversal. Chapter 7 alone would be worth buying this textbook. Phillips documents all the basics of rigid body dynamics before developing the aircraft equations of motion. Phillips clearly then goes through the liberalization of the equations and covers everything needed to know to properly use these equations. Several examples are given. With many mistakes that appear in other textbooks in developing the equations of motion, this is the only book I really feel confident in, mostly because the derivation is so detailed that readers will be able to follow all of the steps. Chapters 8 and 9 give a great background in eigenproblems and dynamic equilibrium as well as providing all of the background and examples needed to perform a dynamic aircraft analysis. Chapter 10 covers handling qualities and proves that Phillips spoke to several pilots when researching this chapter. Finally Chapter 11 covers aircraft flight simulation. This chapter contains information you won't find anywhere else. Math textbooks won't have as detailed an explanation of quaternion algebra as given by Phillips. Phillips goes through everything needed to develop a flight simulator. There is so much in this chapter that the chapter could be used as the subject for an entire graduate semester course. Overall, this textbook is a must have for anyone interested in aircraft analysis and flight performance. Even if you have other textbooks, get this book as it has so much useful information that isn't presented anywhere else. The only area that isn't exhaustively covered in this book is supersonic flow. Phillips does covers some of the supersonic basics but the book is tailored toward subsonic aircraft. I would recommend this book to all professors teaching aircraft performance and design as well to people interested in aircraft. I wish this book would have been available when I was taking aircraft design courses.
Average customer rating:
- There's nothing I can say that will do this justice
- Excellent book!
- Pure narcissism
- Misses somewhere
- I Wanted to Like This Book
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The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky: A True Story
Ken Dornstein
Manufacturer: Random House
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0375503595
Release Date: 2006-03-28 |
Book Description
In this stunning, emotionally charged memoir, Ken Dornstein interweaves the moving story of his own coming-of-age with the promise of greatness his brother never lived to fulfill. The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky is a heartbreaking but profoundly hopeful book about finding beauty in the midst of tragedy and making sense of it.
David Dornstein was twenty-five years old, a handsome, charismatic young man on the verge of becoming an extraordinary writer, when he boarded Pan Am Flight 103 from London on the evening of December 21, 1988. Thirty-eight minutes after takeoff, he died, along with the 258 other passengers and crew, when a terrorist’s plastic explosive ripped the plane apart over Lockerbie, Scotland.
David’s brother, Ken, was nineteen, a college sophomore home on winter break, when the call came. All his life Ken had looked up to David, confided in him, followed where he led. David’s death left Ken with a void that both crushed and consumed him. What were his brother’s plans when he died? Was David really carrying home a draft of the great novel everyone knew was in him? Was he in love with the woman he was living with overseas? Ken Dornstein needed to learn the truth about his brother’s life and death. In this harrowing and affecting memoir, he records what he found out.
It was years before Ken could bring himself to confront the stacks of notebooks and letters David left behind, but once he began to read he was drawn deep into his brother’s world. From David’s early obsession with writing down his every thought to his misadventures on the streets of New York, from an unraveling love affair in Israel to a devastating childhood secret, piece by piece Ken assembles a complex, disturbing portrait of an artist struggling to find a voice for passions that often threatened to tear him apart. Then, by chance, Ken runs into David’s college girlfriend on a train and everything changes once again. He starts to question his motives and his memories, and finally sets off on a complicated journey to finish the book that his brother started.
As haunting as a dream, as electrifying as the day’s news, The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky is an incandescent and unforgettable account of one man’s struggle to find inspiration in his brother’s life and create a life of his own. What begins as a tragedy turns into a love story of deeply affirming power.
Customer Reviews:
There's nothing I can say that will do this justice.......2007-10-01
I kept coming across this book on bookstore shelves and failed to pick it up each time. Finally after searching the library shelves for hours, I gave in , therefore making on of the better book choices I've made in years.
I was sucked into the story and didn't stop until I reached the end. I turned back to the beginning and re-read it again. It's a story of love, siblings and ultimately finding oneself. It's made me appreciate my own siblings a bit more. I've recommended this book to all of them and hope that they can gain what I have from this compelling story of brothers.
Excellent book!.......2007-04-03
Wonderfully written, touching "memoir" about a brother's love and finding a way to honor that love and life when it is gone.
Pure narcissism.......2007-01-11
For those who enjoy rambling, narcissistic screed. In an unintentionally amusing chapter, the author Biblically rationalizes his attempts at shtupping both of his deceased brother's girlfriends, which is truly an innovative way of coping with grief. The brothers shared narcissism as a trait, but at least the deceased one had an undiagnosed mental illness (bipolar) as the potential cause.
Misses somewhere.......2006-12-27
The premise of the book was interesing...a man finding himself through the exploration of his brother's life. But it lost my attention somewhere. I put the book down for a couple weeks and then finally finished the last chapter. The beginning of the book was compelling and moving. However, by the end, I just didnt care about the outcome. The author, in my opinion, while he tries, did not fully convey how he was able to move on.
As others have stated, i tried to like this book, but couldnt.
I Wanted to Like This Book.......2006-10-05
As the saying goes, "I wanted to like this book." A brother's attempt to reconstruct the life and genius of a sibling killed in the Lockerbie bombing should have made compelling reading. Yet the real tragedy of David Dornstein is not his death on Pan Am 103, but the years of agony he endured with untreated manic depression.
The cyclic unraveling of a life is painful to witness. If you find that fascinating, read this book. I am left wondering why David went undiagnosed and untreated. Were there no interventions, or was everyone lured into the myth that only tortured souls can produce great art?
We can only wonder what a functioning David might have contributed to the world. Might he have worked in a soup kitchen or tutored someone in English? Instead we are left with another set of narcissistic ramblings from the young and grandiose. Is there a real parent in this book? What a tragic reminder of the mindless price untreated mental illness exacts.
Book Description
"We don't kick the shit out of them. We send them to other countries so that they can kick the shit out of them."-A U.S. official involved in CIA renditions
It's no longer a secret: Since 9/11, the CIA has quietly kidnapped more than a hundred people and detained them at prisons throughout the world. It is called "extraordinary rendition," and it is part of the largestU.S. clandestine operation since the end of the Cold War.
Some detainees have been taken to Egypt and Morocco to be tortured and interrogated. Others have been transported to secret CIA-run facilities in Eastern Europe and Afghanistan, where they, too, have been tortured. Many of the kidnapped detainees have ended up at the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo, but others have been disappeared entirely.
In this first book to systematically investigate extraordinary rendition, an award-winning investigative journalist and a "military geographer" explore the CIA program in a series of journeys that takes them around the world. They travel to suburban Massachusetts to profile a CIA front company that supplies the agency with airplanes; to Smithfield, North Carolina, to meet pilots who fly CIA aircraft; to the San Francisco suburbs to study with a "planespotter" who tracks the CIA's movements; and to Afghanistan, where the authors visit the notorious "Salt Pit" prison and meet released Afghan detainees.
They find that nearly five years after 9/11, the kidnappings have not stopped. On the contrary, the rendition program has been formalized, colluding with the military when necessary, and constantly changing its cover to remain hidden from sight.
Trevor Paglen is an expert on clandestine military installations. A widely exhibited artist and photographer, he is the author of the two-volume study Secret Bases, Secret Wars.
A.C. Thompson, winner of a 2005 George Polk Award, is a staff writer at the S.F. Weekly. He is a two-time winner of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency's PASS Award for crime reporting, and twice the recipient of the Western Publication Association's Maggie Award.
Customer Reviews:
Superb book, Gripping read.......2007-03-19
This is a must read for anyone who cares what our government is doing with people they don't like--which soon might be you and me. Concisely written, part decective story and part horror story, this book is an unforgettable account of torture of men who, curiously, are rarely of any danger to the country. This should be on the evening news, but isn't, as the newspaper reviews say.
A great history of the CIA's rendition flights........2007-01-10
Great book introduction the reader to the Agency's rendetion flights.
Shocking and poignant........2007-01-03
This book shows the story of the rendition of "people." One would think that when the subject of "rendition" or kidnapping by government would only concern Taliban or Iraqi insurgents or international terrorists. In many cases it does. In most cases however, it contains stories of people who were just living their lives normally like any other citizen. Some of them were and are innocent American citizens. Guilty of being Arabic or Muslim. I am a Christian, but fear that if the administration in power doesn't agree with my political ideals whether it be democrat or republican, they could render me. It really makes you think.
A Good Primer on the U.S.'s "Extraordinary Rendition" Program.......2006-11-27
Trevor Paglen and A.C. Thompson have written a good primer on the U.S.'s "Extraordinary Rendition" Program. For those who don't know, our proxies in the CIA and the military have quietly kidnapped hundreds of "enemy combatants" and detained them in prisons throughtout the world. They are often tortured, or disappear altogether. For a more detailed account see Stephen Grey's GHOST PLANE: The True Story of the CIA Torture Program, and Chris Mackey's THE INTERROGATORS: Inside the Secret War Against Al Qaeda.
A good starting point.......2006-10-20
The size and book jacket caught my attention at the local bookstore. I'm glad that it did. The book is around 200 pages and filled with photographs. It can be easily read in a day or two.
What I like so much about this book so far, is the feeling that your part of the investigative team. Partly this is due to the writing, which is clear and concise. Second, are the photographs ("Ghost" signatures, documents, buildings) which correspond to the story being told at that point. All of the photographs, except for one were taken by the Mr Paglen.
What conclusions if any, the authors come to, I dont know. I'm on page 58. I do know its an engaging and page turning story that will leave me wanting to learn more. Thank you Mr Paglen and Mr. Thompson.
Book Description
2003 ECPA Gold Medallion Award winner!
The best-seller that has brought comfort and hope to millions in the wake of 9/11 is now available in softcover! Let's Roll!--the moving, behind-the-scenes story of United Flight 93 hero Todd Beamer and his widow, Lisa--is so much more than a tribute. A message of character, courage, and undeniable faith in the face of horrifying tragedy, it encourages anyone who reads it to live real life right now . . . and to have confidence and hope for the future.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful Book.......2007-10-13
This is a Must read book about one of the heros on flight 93.It is abook about Todd Beamer's Life,how he lived it fully,His spiritual life then the fateful day.
Beamer Memory Book.......2007-09-23
This book isn't what I thought it would be. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but I felt drawn to Lisa because of our similar age and family situation.
Through reading this book, I felt more like this book was written for Lisa's children. Maybe they are the ones who she had in mind while writing this book, because the book oozed with details that I feel would be most special to her children and family as time goes on. At times, I almost felt like I was intruding into another family's life. But, how easy we can forget those details unless they are written down. I can imagine this book will be the most special and important to her children and family as they grow older.
hope for resilience after tradegy.......2007-06-13
I read this book shortly after it was published. As a child in a family where my father died before I was born, though not of a tragedy like 911, and a very resilient mother who raised me and three older siblings to be resilient and trust in God no matter what the circumstances, I identified very much with what she wrote. I also saw the understanding in her losing her father at a young age. She expressed this well telling what can help others in what was a public tragedy. I find it very encouraging to her and her children and agree with them, "Let's Roll!" It is a book of teaching people to be kind and to respond to cruelty with kindness towards others.
A Truly Inspiring Story.......2007-03-31
Let's Roll! is an excellent story to read, and I enjoyed every page of it. Lisa Beamer's story was very inspiring and touched my heart. It was amazing to see Lisa's deep faith in God, even through the very tough times in her life. Lisa Beamer is such a strong person, and it comes out very clearly in her writing. I admire her strength and courage.
This book was very interesting to read. I had a hard time putting this book down; I was so involved with the story. This book was very sad at parts and I had to try to hold back tears. But, along with the sad times, there were also several funny parts.
The part I liked the most about this book is that I could relate to the story very easily because I lived during the September 11 attacks. Even though I was only in fourth grade and miles away from Ground Zero, I still felt the sorrow and fear that September 11 brought. I hadn't lost anyone I knew during the 9/11 attacks, so this book opened my eyes to what it feels like to lose someone to a terrorist attack. Lisa's story was very inspirational to me. It taught me to live for today, and gave me hope to move on after devastating events occur.
A Very Stong Willed Mother.......2007-01-10
I have not read this latest version of Let's Roll, but I had read the original version after the death of Todd Beamer. I lent my original version to my aunt & she never returned my book. I was so happy to have purchased this one as Lisa Beamer has updated her kids pictures, it is so nice to see how they have grown. Lisa Beamer is a very stong willed woman with 3 small children to raise alone, I don't think I could have been as strong as she has been.. This book will bring you to tears & also make you laugh, it is well written by a very strong & well rounded woman..
Book Description
What would it take for slaves to escape from slavery in the Deep South, 1,000 miles from freedom and then on to England during the period of the Fugitive Slave Act? For most slaves the thought of escape was unimaginable. But fear did not stop Ellen and William Craft from chasing freedom.
An inspiring and riveting story of two amazing people stopping at nothing to fight for freedom and racial equality, this thrilling true tale chronicles Ellen and William Craft's lives from their flight from slavery in Georgia to their rise to world-wide fame as heroes of the Abolitionist movement.
Illustrated with period artwork, newspaper clippings, and archival photographs, 5,000 Miles to Freedom captures the unforgiving realities of slave life, the political hatred between North and South, and, above all, the extraordinary achievements of this remarkable couple.
Customer Reviews:
This year's non-fiction winner.......2006-09-05
At what point did the National Geographic press for children just decide to whop the competition upside the head and produce book after book after book of fairly fabulous non-fiction like some kind o' history creatin' machine? I was willing to turn a blind eye the first two or three times this year they cranked out marvelous material, but after reading "5,000 Miles To Freedom", I can keep silent no longer. Written by the Fradins, Judith & Dennis respectively, the book is riveting. Mr. Fradin has, on his own, written "almost 150 books" of which I have read zippo. Zilch. Nuthin'. To what, then, do we owe this truly exciting tale of escape, villains, heroism, and more than a touch of cross-dressing? Truly the stars were in alignment when all parties involved decided to work upon this title. Relegated from my "I Don't Want To Read This Book Because I Suspect That It Is Good For Me" pile to my "I Love This Book and You Can Read It After You've Pried It From My Cold Dead Hands" pile, this is the story to hand to kids if you want to inform them about the Underground Railroad and slavery in a manner that is both factual and fascinating. A non-fiction must read, to say the least.
Their story is incredible precisely because it is true. On the morning of December 21, 1848, Ellen and William Craft escaped as slaves from a plantation in Macon, Georgia. Their plan was an original one. Ellen, light-skinned, disguised herself as a young gentleman slave owner. William, darker, was her "slave". Together the two were going to go from Macon to the Altantic coast. From there they would travel, sometimes by boat and sometimes by train to the North. The book follows the two every step of the way, including many of the close calls the two had to suffer. Even when they planted their feet on the New England soil, however, their lives were not at peace. They were heroes for their actions amongst the abolitionists and famous for their cleverness. With the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, however, there was always the danger of their being recaptured and forced to return. Only living in England, 5,000 miles from Macon, would allow the two to live in relative freedom on their own. This is the story of a couple who would stop at nothing to do what they wanted, whether or not it was what slaveholders or abolitionists had planned for them. It's a tale about an escape and return and all that those two things would come to entail.
What keeps this book pumping is just how exciting it all is! I never expected when I picked up, "5,000 Miles To Freedom" that what I had on my hands was a truly amazing thriller. Sure, the Crafts' initial escape is intense. But does it stop when they reach the North? Oh no, sir. They are tracked and hunted and must flee time and time again. It must have been truly awful for them but in terms of writing a book, it creates just the right amount of momentum. Though everything you may find here is based on fact, the excitement locked away in these 96 pages almost strains belief. A person begins to wonder why there hasn't been a biography of these intrepid couple since the 1971 Simon & Schuster title, "Two Tickets To Freedom".
So is it a children's book or a teen book? I guess I say children's, but with a couple reservations here and there. The Fradins work very hard at trying to let young readers understand just how horrific slavery could be, right from the start. I suppose they want to get it out of the way and establish their heroes and villains from the get go. To do so, however, they tend to describe an array of particularly nasty tortures, sometimes with accompanying illustrations. The rape of slaves is also freely discussed her, once in terms of Ellen's own mother (explaining successfully why Ellen was light-skinned). Basically, this book is best sold on a kid by kid basis. Some children will be ready for what it has to say. Others may not be. Eventually, however, every kid needs to at least be familiar with its content. It may not always be pleasant, but it certainly is real.
The book is also sophisticated in terms of linking the industrial changes of the time to the "success" of slavery. I have never read a children's non-fiction book on the subject that took the time this title did to explain that it was the rise of the railroad that made cotton transportation noteworthy and, more importantly, profitable. Plus the fact that "nearly all of the slaves who escaped to free soil came from states near the North such as Maryland, Virginia, and Kentucky" was news to me. Later there is a mention that when the Crafts moved to England they found a new kind of prejudice. "England was much less race conscious, but far more class conscious". Kudos to the Fradins for putting all this information together.
What the Fradins also do well here is to present the facts surrounding the Crafts' life in such a way that it isn't all black and white, good vs. bad. Yes, the slavers and slave catchers were perfect villains. More interesting, however, was that sometimes the abolitionists weren't perfect saints. At one point two Southerners come to Boston to recapture the Crafts. Their plan fails in part because the abolitionists do what they can to protect their friends. At one point, however, a crazed Bostonian pulls a gun and tries to shoot one of the slavers. Later on the Crafts meet with a great deal of resistance when they try to break away from the abolitionists' hold on them. The couple comes to feel that in many ways they are pets of the movement. Their desire to strike out (as they often did) and do something on their own again and again is almost as breathtaking as their original escape.
I appreciated that the authors took the time to interview and give much respect to the descendants of the Crafts. There's a lovely Afterword to "5,000 Miles To Freedom" that includes some of the interviewed descendants, as well as their photographs. It's good for kids today to know that though there isn't a single photo of the Crafts in this book, they were still real people. And nothing is more real than hearing about a person's kin living, breathing, and talking today. Plus the heroic duo is all the more interesting when you consider that their story had a happy ending. I don't know too many escaped slaves that could have said as much.
When you begin this book you notice the following Author's Note just before the Contents: "Old documents, letters, diaries, newspapers, speeches, and personal narratives provided most of the information for this book. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom, by William and Ellen Craft, is the source for nearly all the dialogue". I'm glad the authors happened to mention this. I, personally, always get a teensy bit out of sorts when I run across a supposedly "non-fiction" book sporting dialogue. Authors of every stripe tend to have a hard time displaying their real life characters in a sympathetic fashion without relying on "hearing" their voices. The irresponsible people will preface a long string of speech with something like, "Mr. X might have said something very much like this when this situation occurred". Far cleverer to take the words directly from your subject's own autobiography. Especially if that book gives you the dialogue you need word for word.
When I read the remarkable, "Maritcha: A Nineteenth Century American Girl" by Tonya Bolden I recall the author saying something about the illustrations and pictures she included in the book. Ms. Bolden had some difficulty finding depictions of African Americans, "given the scarcity of nonderogatory images of blacks in pre-Civil War America". The Fradins must certainly have had similar problems. Yet for all that, their book is brimming with remarkable images that aren't in the least bit stereotypical (with the possible exception of freedmen's school). From the breathtaking "first aerial photograph ever taken in the United States" from a balloon over 1860 Boston to the fabulous illustration of Ellen modeling her male garb in the 1851 Illustrated London News, no expense has been spared. The design of this book is very pleasing to the eye. Photographs and reproductions of original receipts abound. It breaks up the text very nicely indeed.
In the back of the book you will find a Time Line, list of Sources, a Bibliography, and an Index. I did notice that the Fradins have offered a very old-fashioned form of Bibliography here. Yes, they cite book, newspaper, video, and personal interview sources. These days, however, it's always a good idea to include some reliable websites on the matter. Even if Dennis and Judith never spent so much as a minute online, the single best way to keep kids informed on a given subject is to direct them to something other than Google. Children will certainly pick up one of the cited books if they're interested enough, but for those kids who idly want to know more, you may as well hand them a section entitled For More On the Craft Escape, Try These Websites, or something along those lines.
In the end, though, what the Fradins have done here is capture the paranoia, horror, and bravery of this most remarkable period of American history. They have done what every good biography strives for. The tale of the Crafts isn't just about two little people. It's about how they played a part in a massive struggle for basic human decency and freedom. The authors have gone beyond just placing facts on a page and have created a form and a structure that is not only informative and well-cited but also a gripping read. No biographer could hope to do more than what the Fradins have accomplished here. Consider, "5,000 Miles To Freedom" a necessary purchase for every library in America.
Book Description
Colonel Wells investigates the nature of aerial warfare and the men who took part. The book analyzes aircrew selection, reaction to combat, adaptability to stress, morale, leadership and combat effectiveness. First-hand reflections of combat flyers, published materials, reports and official documents are used to compare the efforts of the US Eighth Air Force and RAF Bomber Command.
Although the Allied air effort involved to separate air forces, two different philosophical concepts and two distinct approaches, both organizations were committed to a common goal. Comparing the two allows insights into the nature of air combat and its effects on aviators. Aircrew attitudes and motivations are examined, as are the physical and mental hardships which affected aircrew morale, cohesion and combat effectiveness.
The work offers an examination of the sensitive subject of "Lack of Moral Fibre" - the inability to undertake further flights because of stress. The Allied air forces took distinctly different approachesto the diagnosis, treatment and disposal of emotional casualties.
Customer Reviews:
Intelligent, thorough survey of air combat in WWII.......2002-03-14
I was doing research for a senior level graduate course and came across this book, written by a USAF officer. It was immensely helpful: the clarity of the writing, the thoroughness of the research, and the enduring value of the subject matter all impressed equally. Anyone interested in WWII aviation will be pleased with this book.
Average customer rating:
- also applies to 9/11 the big lie...
- Read it and Weep: 9-11 appears to be a "Psy-Op"
- A well-founded thesis
- What's Wrong With This Picture?
|
Pentagate
Thierry Meyssan
Manufacturer: USA Books
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1592090281
Release Date: 2003-01-16 |
Book Description
The book claims 9/11 was a conspiracy rather than a terrorist attack.
Customer Reviews:
also applies to 9/11 the big lie..........2006-10-23
When this book was published, the term `Conspiracy theorists' became more propagated.
You may not be persuaded much by what's described in your book `9/11 The Big Lie', but the fact remains that in history, and through some quirk in the fortunes of contemporary events, the truth never came out and a lot will remain mysteries that may not be discovered for many generations to come, like for instance `Who killed John F Kennedy and why??'.... "The Secrets behind Pearl Harbour!!' ... `Was Arafat given a lethal injection??' ... Angered at having to waste time and manpower `fighting' to prove to the world- using ordinary common sense - many will identify the open questions now raised in this book with possible obsessions by the 'Holocaust against six million Jews....'.....'Was 9/11 addressed against America or to address American public opinion...'How could a man on a mule shake America, and the world...'?
It is indeed admirable how much a `Camera' can do to the human brain.
The impact of the 'picture' is magnificent; it has eclipsed the impact of the written and even the spoken `Word'. And Thierry Meyssan used many pictures to substantiate his viewpoints.
Nevertheless, in this book the questions rose about `the Boeing should have dived on the roof'....... `video surveillance in the Pentagon parking lot, they did not see the Boeing either.' are fruitful and make one scratch one's head.
Read it and Weep: 9-11 appears to be a "Psy-Op".......2003-05-26
The Basic Question:
- How can a B757 that was said by officials to have
totally disintegrated and vaporized as it impacted
(accounting for lack of substantial aircraft wreckage
on site), have nevertheless penetrated through the 3rd
ring's inner wall with its nosecone (the punched-out
hole on the cover of this book), given that the nose
cone is the most fragile part of the aircraft?
There seem to be zillions of other subsidiary
questions, such as:
- Why the FBI confiscated and has
never shown the adjacent hotel and gas station
security cam videos that must have caught the B757's
impact;
- Why the officially blessed few frames of
Pentagon cam video do not show anything remotely
resembling a B757 and appear to have been doctored
anyway;
- How the "hijacker" pilot (incompetent by
instructors' reports) accomplished an extremely
precise approach and targeting (they say these guys
never learned to land, but the "B757" was just meters
above the ground when it hit, (in effect he "landed the plane"
very precisely);
- Why the little scrap of liveried supposed "wreckage" on the lawn shows lettering only one-half or less the size scale it should be for an AA liveried B757;
- Why the "plane" coincidentally hit the
least populated side of the Pentagon, after apparently
taking extra effort and time to target that position;
- Why after saying the plane was totally vaporized and
disintegrated officials now claim to have an almost
complete reconstruction of the "B757"; why the initial
entrance hole was so small;
- Why after a fire that totally melted and vaporized the plane computer manuals and other papers visible in offices at the
sheared cutoff are totally undamaged;
- Why initial eye witnesses reported a small plane or missile-like object; and on and on and on.
Meyssan deals with most of these questions and I got news for you - as a mainstream mind-controlled American (like me) you aren't going to like his answers!
Anyway let's face it - probably no Boeing 757 ever hit the
Pentagon.
The only evidence supporting the Boeing hypothesis
seems to be the following:
- About half the eye witnesses state they saw either a
B757, a plane with AA livery, or both (i.e. a B757 in
AA livery)
- AA Flt 77 is unaccounted for
- The government has officially stated that AA 77 hit
the Pentagon
- bits of possible 757 wreckage were photographed in
ambiguous settings
I really hate to conclude this, but to me it seems
probable that some form of cruise missile, dressed in
AA livery, was used and all the rest is a USA Mil-Gov
coverup. A horrible conclusion, I know it!
Please read this book and if you can convincingly
refute it, dealing adequately with all the anomalies I've
listed above and settling each concern, please write
your own counter-book immediately, and we'll put this horrible
hypothesis to bed once and for all.
Note that Purdue (Indiana) academics have completed a
government-funded graphical simulation of the crash
that on my reading, unfortunately again, does not come
close to answering all the questions raised above.
I don't know why the mainstream media doesn't at least
look into this? All I've seen are one or two jokey
reviews of Meyssan's first (much less detailed)
general book about 9-11. In one case, the "reviewer"
hadn't even read the book!
Why isn't the public more interested in this? Are we
just so satisified with our Hollywood FX story of
"Fires, Explosions, Arab Villians, American Heroes"
that we can't even be bothered to read and respond
rationally to an important analysis like this one?
"Nothing was wrong far as we could tell,
that's what we liked to tell ourselves,
but no it wasn't that way"
- Stevie Wonder "How Come, How Long"
A well-founded thesis.......2002-09-16
After having read the big lie I still was dubious as for knowing if the Boeing 757-200 from American Airlines Flight 77 crashed on the Pentagon or not. Even Though I fully agreed with Thierry Meyssan about the FBI lies and contradictions, the Meyssan's thesis was not supported enough and all he had done was asking questions without really answering them. Further to all these accusations here is a book which explains the thesis in minute detail - lots of pictures, testimonies and experts to back this up and this is very convincing. The demonstration lacks nothing and Thierry Meyssan easily quashes all his detractors' arguments to finally put forward a sturdy hypothesis. The Author and his team show a great analytic sense, without setting aside any fact or testimony in their disfavor.
What's Wrong With This Picture?.......2002-09-13
Pentagate is a very important book about the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon because it points out the problems with the evidence that U.S. journalists won't even touch.
Meyssan has built much of his case on the problems in the official version of what happened at the Pentagon. His first chapter, "One Piece of Debris Too Many", points out that the large piece of debris that appeared to be from an American Airlines jet has not even been inventoried by the Dept. of Defense.
As a journalist for American Free Press in Washington, I have tried repeatedly to get the Pentagon to clarify the status of this important piece of debris that was seen by millions. As of this date there has been NO response to numerous requests. What's wrong with this picture?
Meyssan points to the evidence seen in the video from the Pentagon security camera and the round holes that were pierced in three layers of the Pentagon and builds his case that this was not a Boeing passenger jet that struck the building.
The explosion seen in the video and the nearly perfectly round holes that were bored in the Pentagon are evidence that a cruise missile, painted to look like an American Airlines jet, crashed into the Pentagon, according to Meyssan.
The book has an important chapter by a French military expert on explosives who describes "The Effects of a Hollow Charge". This technical information bolsters the case made by Meyssan.
Meyssan raises a lot of good questions. Now if we could only get some answers from the Pentagon.
Pentagate is highly recommended for those interested in the Pentagon attack by Christopher Bollyn of American Free Press.
Book Description
The sole handbook designed exclusively for Sport Pilot and Sport Pilot Certified Flight Instructor license candidates, this indispensable reference covers everything a pilot needs to know to pass the oral and flight check portions of a checkride. From navigating the complicated FAA system to getting acquainted with the testing format, three distinct sections walk candidates through the entire process. Practical checklists, tips, and techniques help pilots prepare for the inflight portion of the exam, while sizeable question-and-answer segments present questions likely to be posed during the oral exam. Topics covered include preflight preparation and procedures, airport operations, navigation, as well as takeoffs, landings, and go-arounds.
Book Description
An autobiographical tale of forgiveness, jealousy, hatred, and doubt involved in the break-up of a marriage.
Book Description
Since the end of the Cold War, increasing numbers of people have been forced to leave their homes as a result of armed conflict, internal strife, and systematic violations of human rights. Whereas refugees crossing national borders benefit from an established system of international protection and assistance, those who are displaced internally suffer from an absence of legal or institutional bases for their protection and assistance from the international community. This book analyzes the causes and consequences of displacement, including its devastating impact both within and beyond the borders of affected countries. It sets forth strategies for preventing displacement, a special legal framework tailored to the needs of the displaced, more effective institutional arrangements at the national, regional, and international levels, and increased capacities to address the protection, human rights, and reintegration and development needs of the displaced.
Books:
- Meditations for Manifesting : Morning and Evening Meditations to Literally Create Your Heart's Desire
- Middlemarch: Part 1 (Classic Books on Cassettes Collection)
- Mishima's Sword
- Narrow Road to the Interior (Shambhala Centaur Editions)
- On Call In Hell: A Doctor's Iraq War Story
- Oscar Wilde
- Our Lady of Pain (Edwardian Murder Mysteries)
- Power Mentoring: How Successful Mentors and Proteges Get the Most Out of Their Relationships
- Professional Dreamer: 6 Simple Steps That Turn Dreams Into Reality
- Safe Harbor (Drake Sisters, Book 5)
Books Index
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