Dodge Reviews

In Copper Crucible, Jonathan D. Rosenblum sets out to grind his ax and bash the evil "big business & Corporate giants". Too bad he didn't tell the rest of the story,... As he fell all over himself demonizing Phelps Dodge and raising Union organizers to sainthood, he conveniently omits the fact that a fully loaded beer truck was the drawing card the union used for its strike meetings. Alcohol just set the stage for the violence to come. And beleive me there was plenty & encouraged by the union. "Lets get the miners drunk & they will vote how we say" after all,... its all about power & money -on the union side as well. Copper Crucible may be based on true events, but it certainly does not paint a full true picture.

This book focuses on the destruction of individuals' lives when they cross paths with a powerful corporation, Phelps Dodge, when that company has the leverage to do so. This book reveals clearly how thin was the veneer of the labor-management accord after WWII. Phelps Dodge saw an opportunity to bust their unions and aided by labor law, labor law officials, and law enforcement departments did so. This book is strongest in its depiction of personalities but is weakest in putting this entire episode in a larger perspective. Rosemblum casts doubt on the unions understandings and strategies in this strike of 1983. But what is missing is any broad attempt to frame this labor conflict in context of the political understandings and power of the American working class in general. Why are the anti-labor biases of labor law officials, judges, and law enforcement officials tolerated in this country? Do most working poeple support these biases? Do they not know that they exist or consider them to be irrelevant? Do they support union-busting? If not, are they powerless to elect pro-worker Congressmen and change labor laws? Union actions and community understandings take place in these unanswered contexts. The book is highly readable but one is left primarily with sympathy for the mostly Chicano workers who had their lives uprooted and not with a broader understanding of labor relations other than the obvious capability of a company with an extreme anti-union animus to carry out its will.

This history of a bitter Arizona mining strike in 1983-86 is a top-notch case study of how unions were mugged by American corporations in the 1980s. To judge by the endnotes, Rosenblum interviewed every player in the strike -- from Phelps Dodge executives and union leaders to ex-Governor Babbitt and undercover cops -- and the result is a vivid narative that weaves together labor history and political and legal analysis. The sections on pro-management bias at the NLRB and the use of undercover police to spy on strikers are gems of investigative reporting. Rosenblum is pro-union but he presents management's case at length and doesn't hold back from sharp criticism of the United Steelworkers leadership. If you're interested in labor history or labor/management relations in the US, read this book.

The book is well written,very thorough,easy to understand for the beginner. One flaw though, is that it only covers standard rebuilds, and it does not go into the performance aspect at all which is where it loses out in the market, if you already have a sound foundation in rebuilding engines and already know the basics, you would be better served buying something like Mopar speed secrets or something along those lines.

All in all it is still a very good book.

by Paulzig@hotmail.com

This book seems good for PERFORMANCE rebuilds. But if you're just learning about rebuilding engines, follow the books advice, and start elsewhere. Here's a quote from the book's introduction: "[This book] was written with the performance enthusiast in mind, and contains large amounts of information generated by Chrysler's internal research and development engineers. This book was also written with the assumption that the reader is already familiar with general overhaul, disassembly and assembly practices, especially those peculiar to the Chrysler A engine. Complete standards and techniques for these engines in stock form can be found in HPBooks' HOW TO REBUILD YOUR SMALL-BLOCK MOPAR and in the Chrysler factory service manual for your particular engine. For factory manuals write: Chrysler Service Publications, 20026 Progress Drive, Strongville, Ohio, 44136. This book begins where those two books end--and that is on how to build a high-performance Chrysler small-block--very high-performance."

I'm not quite sure what other reviewers read, but this is not a book for standard rebuilds. This covers performance work only, and would not be a guide for the first-timer. It contains info on building up circle-track, drag, and street/strip cars, with general advice and specific part number and machining spec's. The book is written with a heavy factory-slant, as many of the parts and suggestions concern Mopar-sold parts. There's nothing wrong with that, as a lot of fast Chryslers run Mopar-brand equipment. The thank-you list in the front reads like a who's- who of Chrysler racing history, and some of them work at Chrysler to this day, so this isn't some guy out in left field telling you to slap a 800 CFM carb on your 1978 Lean Burn 318 and go Corvette hunting- he and his advisors know small block Chryslers better than almost anybody else I can think of. I've known or worked with several of them, and they've turned out an impressive pile of fast engines over the years. This book is well worth the $15 investment, considering the money you'll dump into a good motor

This was simply awful as a player's guide. For one, they called the Gold Cards Gold Diamonds. Now that is really, really sad. And aside from that, they knew how to get, what, 30 of them? They called the worlds White Glacier and Black Fortress White Ice and Black City. Pitiful. They COMPLETELY left out the secret world, Rainbow Palace (get to it by getting 100 gold cards), and they had no clue how to stop the stars spinning around Bomberman's head! They didn't have any reviews for battle mode, and told you how to get about 10 of the 40 custom parts. They had no background info of the charecters such as Altair, Regulus, and Sirius. In fact they didn't know their names! They called them 'The purple guy' or 'The yellow guy'. Know THAT is REALLY sad. They had no options info. They didn't tell how to get the 4 secret battle courses (they didn't mention battle mode in fact), and they didn't give a plot summary or have a custom part list. Not even a list!! A real guide would have shown pics of them! They had japanese writing in screen shots. Oh yeah, they didn't give help on beating levels either. Do not waste your money on this!! If you need Bomberman 64 help, E-mail me. I have 120 cards, 40 custom parts, and acsess to world 6.

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Look at the reviews of chiltons. notice there are two bad reviews one day before there are two good reviews for Haynes. I would ignore these four reviews when making your decision.

Good book to get started working on your Neon, but does contain some minor errors. Since the company tore apart a 4 dr. Single Overhead Cam car, there is not much for the Double Overhead Cam engine other than drawings. Could be better, but contains good basic information.

Much more informative than Chilton. This book company obviously took the car apart and did research. Very clear illustrations and explanations of how things work and function.

Does not cover the full sized wagoneers that were produced the same years as some of the tiny little wanabe jeeps. I have an '84 full sized Wagoneer.

It helped me to install a air/idle control valve on a 1987 Dodge Caravan. I did not even know where to find it.

The one thing that this book is lacking is a chapter that explains how to read the fender tag, as most of the cars built from 1960 to 1970 no longer have the build sheet or it can no longer be read.

By and large, "Dodge & Plymouth Muscle Car Red Book" is a very useful tool for those involved with restoring classic cars, classic car shows, scale-model car enthusiasts, etc. Even classic game show fans can find this book helpful when playing along with those merchandise giveaway shows from the 1960s and 1970s (e.g., "Let's Make a Deal"). Yes, there are some omissions that some might find irritating, or might even detract from its usefulness. I would have considered this book even more helpful had it listed the contents of option packages; it does give some listings for the performance packages (what most people are interested in, I'm sure), but many people I'm sure are also interested in the contents of the trim, convenience and Quick Order (i.e., Basic Group and Basic Radio Group) packages as well. And, unlike Sessler's "Red Book" for Chevrolet Super Sport models, this book does not list installation rates or options for a particular model or its sister lines; e.g., in the section for the 1970 Plymouth Fury GT, there's no listings for the Plymouth I, II, III and Sport Fury or Suburban station wagon models (the Chevrolet book lists options, prices and installation rates for all Super Sport models and their more conservative family car bretheren). Some people who are restoring the family car members of a line might find this book helpful, too. Also, I also think the omission of year-by-year listings, VINs, prices, weights, etc., for the 1956-1971 Plymouth Sport Fury serves as a turn-off to fans of this model. Also, some people might be interested in special order, Mopar custom accessory and dealer-installed option lists, too (for that finishing touch to that 100-point show car). Hopefully, some or all of these issues will be addressed in a revised edition of "Dodge & Plymouth Muscle Car Red Book." Still, a very useful book for many Mopar muscle car fans that will be used and appreciated by all.

This was a very disappointing book. The book basically talks about how the Viper went from concept to production. There isn't a lot of specs and virtually no pricing data. And the specs that are discussed, you have no idea what year the author refers to. Some of the pictures are blurry and again you have no idea what year of the car pictured. When the author talks about years, it more like pre-1987, 87-2002, and 2003. This book will not do much for you if you are trying to research a purchase of a Viper.

I have all the other Viper books. This one is by far the best. It includes some great pictures and stories on the development of the Viper. It gives an inside look into the obstacles the small group had to overcome to make the Viper a reality. Highly recommended for Viper enthusiasts.

This book is much better than vol. 1 (Dodge, Ply. and Chrysler Police Cars 1957 - 1978). That still doesn't say much, as the writing is elementary, repetitious and it's quite apparent that the author thinks that Chrysler never made a bad police car. I'd like some objectivity here. The info is there, you just have to hunt for it and make use of peculiar table formations (although again, at least there seems to be a modicum of uniformity in the tables versus the first volume). I had high hopes for this book, and I'm still waiting for an excellent book on police vehicles. I've yet to see one!

Vehicle information discribed in the book is accurate. Anybody that owns or wants to purchase these types of police cars would have the lowdown on the good and the bad in owning one these vehicles. Overall the book is interesting to read, though I would of liked to have seen some color photos along with the black and white photos.

I picked this book up expecting a throwaway cozy, and was pleasantly suprised by the richness of detail Simonson employed. She uses detail in a way that many writers in the genre are too lazy or unable to carry off-- just the little touches, like the description of the basil in Angharad's garden, really made the book stand out.

Unfortunately, the book had two major strikes against it:

1. Too high of a body count-- it started to feel gratuitous at a certain moment.

2. The plot falls apart almost completely at the end-- I had figured out who the killer had to be, but had no idea of the motivation. After reading the ending, I *still* had no idea about the motivation. The conclusion of the book was so unclear that I was actually annoyed that I'd stayed up so late to finish it.

Lark, the owner of a bookshop in Northern California is invited, together with her policeman boyfriend, to a party at the house of noted poet Dai Llewellyn. When he unexpectedly dies and it becomes clear that it wasn't his heart, Lark is pulled into a mystery from the past that would eventually threaten the people she loves.

Simonson deserves another chance as a writer for the finer qualities of the book, but I hope that there's an improvement in her plotting skills between this book and the next.

A competently written formula mystery, this author showes an excelent grasp of skills needed to interweave complex family and emotional ties into the story. Lark is a book store owner who is invited to a wealthy old man's mountain estate because of her mother's status as a poet. Her boyfriend comes too. Natually, there are some murders, which Lark sort of/somehow gets involved in solving. This story surprised me with the twists of the plot, always logical but unexpected. The "lark" series reminds me of Charlotte McCleod's Max and Sarah Bittersjohn stories but with a more brooding flavor.

A lot of charts and such, but not very well written for the novice or everyday handyman. Didn't go into enough detail on repairs or installation processes. Might be a good book for a journeyman plumber. Not a good how-to book.

The author, whom has written a number of other titles on this same subject, has a wealth of knowledge about all facets of Plumbing. What is also notable as well as commendable is when reading his books, you get the feeling that he really likes this field. If Plumbing is your business, then it would be to your advantage to have this as well as some of Woodson's other titles in your collection. This book doesn't pretend to be any more than a vast, comprehensive reference tool--and in my opinion, succeeds. This is the book that you have in your truck if you are a plumber or on the shelf beside your desk if you are a designer. My only criticism (a minor one) is the lack of explanation of pumps and their sizing. Some charts and diagrams are offered but no explanation is given as a follow through. Overall though, I recommend the text as great reference resource every plumber should have.