Dodge Reviews

If one is looking for an in-depth study of "The Battle of Fort William Henry" with a multitude of footnotes and page upon page of sources and bibliography, this in not your book. However, if one is looking for an enjoyable, easy to read, accurate account of the battle, then this is the book.
The author begins the book with a short history of the French and English struggle for control of the North American continent which in the end leads to "The French and Indian War". Then he jumps right in with information and details of times and people and politics leading to the battle of Fort William Henry. If one recalls, this is the battle made famous in "The Last of the Mohicans" by James Fenimore Cooper (which makes one wonder: "Why would anyone use their middle name if it were 'Fenimore?'; but I digress). The author leads us through the battle and the slaughter of innocents by the French Indians thereafter.
The author uses several excerpts from diaries, letters and journals written by those involved in the battle. The title of the book, "Relief is Greatly Wanted," is a quote from one of these letter (from the commander of Fort William Henry, Monro, to Webb, who didn't bother to send help; letter is dated August 8, 1757). It is always interesting to read first-hand information such as this. The book also has a chapter on Robert Rogers and his Rangers. Also, the author gives the reader a short history of the military careers of many of the major characters and what they did after the battle. There are also 37 illustrations, maps and pictures.
As I am not an expert on the Battle of Fort Henry, I can't really say this is the best book on the battle, but I can say that the author writes in a manner that never bores the reader the way many history books do with their dry listings of dates and events. As I stated before, this is an enjoyable book to read. Unlike some history-type books I have read, this author appears to stick to the facts and not add any "extras" that may or may not be true just to make the book more lively. This book is written well enough that that isn't necessary.
In the book's "Postscript," the author writes, "Although I have drawn a few conclusions in writing, I have tried to present a battle as it was seen through the eyes of the people who were there. I'm sure that other individuals may see it in a different light." This is refreshing in a day when most writers seem to think they are right and everyone else is wrong. This writer actually admits that maybe he is wrong on a few things. And since I am a "wise guy," I'll point out an error: The author says Daniel Boone was a militiaman in Braddock's campaign. He wasn't; he was a wagon driver. Yes a trivial detail indeed, and it doesn't even concern the Battle of Fort William Henry; but, like I said, I'm a wise guy.
Also, not only am I a wise guy, I am a cheap kind of person, so I think the book costs too much. Not because of the writing itself, but because I think a paperback book shouldn't cost 20 dollars.
In the end, however, this is a good book. It is generally written well, provides a lot of information without becoming tedious and is enjoyable to read. If one has read "The Last of the Mohicans" and would like to know more about this period of time and the events in that book, then this would be a good book to read.

Liz Whaley and Liz Dodge have written a reader-friendly textbook that argues that teachers need to give their students a realistic mirror of the world as reflected in literature. Acknowledging that women have for years been excluded or minimized in the anthologies available to high school students, Whaley and Dodge discuss how teachers must move beyond the texts. Students should be guided toward reading the work of women writers and other minority writers. Some practical suggestions are offered via annotated bibliographies for each chapter. Useful. However, the chapters themselves sometimes belabor the point.

This book covers all the basics, but nothing more. No in depth material at all and it's shocking how so many pages are filled with so little information. This is the first and last "Complete Idiot" book I will buy, and I guess the author was just trying to stay within the limited guidelines of the title. Also, I think any photography instructional book should have good photographs in it. The art direction, photos imparticular, are terrible. This book explains, in basic terms, how cameras work and what equipment you might want to buy, but not much else.

This book tries to cover many aspects of photography from equipment selection to photo technique/composition to technical jargon to home dark rooms. However, I found the organization quite poor, with topics such as exposure popping up in various places and other inconsistencies. Also, the author has a definite bias and preaches it strongly. For example, he basically states that you cannot get good pictures from a point and shoot camera, which is certainly not true in all cases.

Also, the information seems somewhat dated, as APS and digital are given zero coverage, and he discusses topics like manual film winding quite a bit.

On a positive note, the chapters on different photographic specialties (macro, portrait, landscape, art, etc.) were well done and informative.

If the writing and organization was tightened up, and new chapters on newer technologies were added, this would be a much better book.

This book is okay for those just starting to explore the camera. It's an almost-too-easy guide that is well-suited to complete novices, as the title suggests. It's actually ideal for younger people and those who've just bought their very first camera and want to start with the basic building blocks. For the rest of us it seems to miss out on the essential premise behind photography guides - how to compose and shoot a half-decent picture. I recommend John Hedgecoe's 'The Photographer's Handbook' - a much more comprehensive guide for multi-level photography skills.

As a restoration guide this is a poor guide,if you want a book that is a year one sales catalog with better descriptions this is your book.If you are looking for a book to help you to restore your car it is only good for part numbers.As far as how to restore these cars or any pictures or assembly diagrams,you will not find it here.

The use of the word "Resortation" guide seems misleading here. I was expecting to see more "how-to" stuff - or "problem areas with these old B-Bodies" - hints, tips, etc.. Instead you get "this car used this part number and this car used that one"..."and they are NOT interchangeable". Don't get me wrong, that IS valuable information. BUT... it seems like alot of the verbage (a very large portion of this book BTW) would be better placed in a parts interchange manual! Its like combine this book with his parts interchange manual and you have the ultimate Chrysler parts interchange manual! One thing I DID LIKE about the book was ... in places, the author would say "Paint this 30deg Gloss Black"... Now that's cool AND useful! And I guess that was what I expected to see more of...Unfortunately, it doesnt show up that much in this book! All in all I would still recommend this book - There IS alot of useful info here. but I wish someone would write a definitive MOPAR restoration book dealing with such stuff as replacing Floor pans, Quarter panels, cowls, valences, wheel wells, detailing the engine bay etc... Actually a whole volume series A,B,C and E bodies would be cool!!! Good Luck

Very detailed reference for anyone restoring a classic mopar. Very little is left uncovered. Original factory part numbers are included for most parts. A great section on decoding V.I.N. numbers and fender tags. This book also lists most option packages available for the various years. For Concours level restorations this book is a must. I studied it closely before buying my own '69 Charger. This would also be a great source of information for model builders as this book is loaded with pictures and diagrams.

i was looking in the manual for directions about how to change belts on my a/c,water pump, etc, and it doesn't say anything about something so simple like that..

This book is very informative, it had valuable information of electrical panel locations and how to open up certain parts of the dash board. Could not have done this with out it.

I received this manual last week. It has been very helpful to me from adjusting the head lights, changing radiator fluid and replacing the PCV valve. I am sure that this book will be a good reference for me to do future maintenance work on my Chrysler Town & Country.

This book is nothing more than a rehash of Stuart N. Lake's book on Wyatt Earp. Vestal has got Earp carrying the Buntline Special, walking on water and leaping tall buildings. This book would be fine along side a Zane Gray novel.

Stanley Vestal is a good writer when it comes to anecdotal history. The yarns he spins are interesting, and often quite amusing. This book, written in 1952, is not as dated as one might think. One will recognize differences in word choice (political correctness), but overall, this book is a good choice for someone who is not interested in a chronological history of Dodge City, but wants a highly readable book of anecdotes that tell the history of Dodge City. As an additional note, Vestal goes to great pains to disprove many of the myths that popular TV shows and nickel westerns have brought forth about the West, especially Dodge City. Vestal's view of Dodge is not from Gunsmoke! To anyone who is interested in the real story, this is particularly heartening.

The book does start out with an interesting premise. An ordinary modern man is shot back to the past through mystical means and wakes up in the body of a young Viking man. Then it goes down hill from there. It is just too pat, too easy.

Immediately he is taken under the protection of a powerful master smith. It turns out that he has a modern fighting skill that beats all comers in the ancient world. He immediately finds friends and allies. There is not enough struggle to survive that you would find, if this happened to you. Even his adaptation to his new world is easy and quick.

But the last quarter of the book was very interesting. But you have to wade through bad fantasy to find it. I won't reveal it but I will say, it at least made the book not a total waste of time for me.

An intriguing premise ... Jerry Haskins is in a car accident and, as he dies, has his mind sent back in time by a Hindi mystic to inhabit the body of an ancestor -- Jar Haz the Viking.

An intriguing mix of Norse mythology comes across in this book. While parts are fun, and it's a fairly easy read, I can't say that it gripped me strongly. There isn't a real cohesive story being told here, but rather a series of strange events.

Casey Tefertiller who brought us a brilliant book on Wyatt Earp (The Life and Legend) in 1997 wrote an introduction to this book, knowing that it was written by two different people. Dodge was never undercover for Wells Fargo. There is not a shred of evidence of that. His widow said his Tombstone notes were burned so Lake faked the first half and now Tefertiller should have used terpentine to remove varnish and reveal truth. Another hoax a la .... Another demerit for a University Press.

I loved reading this book. I am not a western theme type reader and although I may be bias, it was a great book.

I STRONGLY RECOMMEND NOT TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK IF YOUR LOOKING TO INSTALL A WELL OR SEPTIC, THERE ARE NO REAL INSTRUCTIONS ON DEPTH FOR THE SEPTIC LINES, INFORMATION ON THE DISTRUBUTION BOX ON AND ON. BUT IT WOULD PROBABLY BE GREAT FOR A ENGINEER THAT INSTALLS SYSTEMS. ED HARRIGAN VERMONT

The author is obviously very experienced and skilled in the subjects of wells and septic systems. I found it helpful in my becoming educated about things to look for and avoid when building or contracting either system. On the other side of the coin, the flow of the material is choppy, and bounces around from subject to subject. This makes it difficult for a novice to gain any knowledge about designing and installing any of the systems. As a 3 Star rating, it is a book that alerts the reader to things to look out for. R. Dodge Woodson seems to have put a great deal of himself into this book, and he touches expertly on everything...but it could be better organized. I would hire him as my contractor in a heartbeat...but not as a writer of my How-To book; however,I still keep his book handy and refer to it when the going gets tough! I'd purchase it again.

I am looking for a reference book to help me design a septic system and well for a new home project. I thought from the title that this book was appropriate (there was no table of contents available). It is not. Much of the book is geared towards helping general contractors avoid getting ripped off by well or septic subcontractors. If that is what you need, this is probably a reasonable choice. If you actually want to design and build your own well and septic systems, then pass on this title.

I'm still looking for a good design/reference text for septic and well systems...

This is a book I would definately put down. It is effectively a collection of ramblings from a demented mind.

It anyone meets the author, please break his pencil or trash his typerwriter.

Avoid at all costs.

Whilst I sympathise with the libertarian philosophy espoused by the author, this is one of the worst booklets I have EVER read. It is ill structured, rambling and full of poor English.

The author is clearly a nut-job, describing himself as "cynic, cyberpunk and raconteur" and oddly claiming that he has "the mannerism of a 19th century gentleman". In fact he is a well known fruit cake from Maine.

He claims to be an English Lord of the Manor but in fact he was simply a student in the UK who got deported.

Though you may not agree with all of Dodge's theories, this is abrilliantly written essay on where the world is going. This book reads easy and yet is not short on research and facts to back up the arguments.

This will no doubt anger any state apologist who reads it and is sure to challenge all pseadointellectuals and bring out their ire.

Aside from the entertainment value and interesting subject matter this is a must read for anyone who still values freedom and hopes to see it thrive in our country.