Eagle Reviews

I've been after this book for years, having read a borrowed copy shortly after it came out in the early 1990s. I finally snagged a used copy last week, and overall I'm very happy with it.

One thing should be clear up-front: this is not a comprehensive assessment of Napoleon's German allies, but rather a snapshot of them in the 1809 campaign. Granted, Gill does an excellent job with deep-background: for several chapters he moves state-by-state through Bavaria, Württemberg, Saxony, Hesse, Baden, and Westphalia, always discussing the political climate in which the armies evolved and operated. But if you're looking for an estimation of, say, the Saxon army's defection at Leipzig, then this won't help.

Second, Gill's campaign narrative is solid, and he manages to tell what is essentially the same story (the Danube campaign) about six times (as he's chronicling each contingent's role) and manages never to get boring or to repeat informaiton.

So this is quite a useful reference, well-documented and sound. It does have a few flaws:

Gill tends toward purple prose rather frequently. He loves saying things like, "...hurled into the Iberian cauldron..." when a simple "transferred to Spain" would have sufficed. And he waxes almost religious when talking about Napoleon, as if these German soldiers lived and breathed to please the French emperor. A little more healthy skepticism on the sophistication of Napoleonic propaganda would have been warranted. (He does manage to criticize the various lies Bernadotte puts in HIS propaganda, but usually turns a blind eye to Napoleon's much more egregious record in this regard.)

Finally, like many of the earlier Greenhill productions, the appearance of the book itself is somewhat amateurish: tables and charts are awkwardly inserted in the midst of paragraphs (in the midst of sentences, sometimes), illustrations are obviously cut-and-pasted in, with the photocopy outlines still showing around the edges. And there are quite a few typos.

So, aside from these infelicities in appearance and text, this is a valuable and welcome reference. It's a useful book, not a pretty one.

This is undoubtedly the definitive work on the armies of the Confederation of the Rhine during the Campaign of 1809. Jack Gill has masterfully told this story with verve, accuracy, wit, and a thorough knowledge of his subject.

Confronted with an invasion of his ally, Bavaria, in the spring of 1809 while still deeply involved in a campaign in Spain, Napoleon had to rely on a contingent of over 50,000 German troops from the Confederation of the Rhine to fight the Austrians. Launching their invasion without a declaration of war, the Austrians hoped to surprise and defeat the Grande Armee and Napoleon, thus reestablishing their preeminence in central Europe. What follows is a tale of high valor, professional skill, and dedication to duty of these loyal allies of Napoleon and it is a tale told with comsummate skill by the author.

Using primary source material in German from myriad sources, each country and army from the Confederation is covered from muzzle to buttplate. Organization, tactics, leadership, uniforms, and combat contributions are all covered thoroughly and this is not only the definitive work on the subject in English, but it is a superv reference work for further study.

This book has set the standard for any author hoping to write a book of this type or on this subject. In short, it is simple superb and it fills a definite void that existed in the literature of the period before its publication. It belongs on every Napoleonic bookshelf.

I have read at least 30 books on the Campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars, and this is one of the best. Well researched and well written, it covers the participation of all the minor German states in the 1809 campaign, and includes actions which are almost always skipped over in books that concentrate on Napoleon and the French. A must for any one interested in the history of the German states in the early 1800's.

I thought this book was overall, pretty good. I would definatly recommend it to anybody.

This is the best book written about the bald eagle and how it was established as our national symbol. It is well researched, referenced and documented. Isaacson's writing style is expressive and concise. The photographs are of great quality and of images of eagles rarely seen by the public. A truly great book for those interested in American history, the eagle as a symbol of our republic, and those that enjoy the decorative eagle as an art object.

American Eagles is a history of the United States Air Force, the world's most powerful air arm, from the Wright Brothers to Desert Storm. It contains many photographs of aircraft that served in World War II and in other conflicts. My favorite section is the one on Experimental planes. But this is not perfect. It does contain photographs of aircraft from the U.S. Air Force Musuem. But most of them are of sections of the aircraft. Only a few are shown complete in the pictures. The book also does contain a history of the musuem, but only a two page writing part and some pictures. For info on the Air Force musuem, don't get this. But for a history of nearly a century of air power, what are you waiting for?

This large beautiful book chronicles the growth and development of the U.S. Air Force as an organization, from the beginnings of flight to the present. It is much more than an air combat book.

The story begins before there was an Army Air Corps, with a history of flight from the pre-Wright Bros. era. The progress in aircraft, the men who built & flew them & the role of air power in military strategy are extensively covered.

The highlights of this book are the hundreds of wonderful color photos from the U.S. Air Force museum. Close-ups of aircraft, engines, cockpits and aviation art take great advantage of this unique resource.

Combat is not ignored however, as the Air Force's role in every major conflict is detailed with many action photos. This is a comprehensive and complete history of the highest quality.

Although not focusing in combat narratives, Caine did a stupendous job!! HE follows the character who flew in Eagle Squadrons before and after they passe through that units (71, 121 and 133 RAF Squadrons. He end the myth that American FOurth Fighter Group was made mainly by ex-Eagle pilots. They were minority there. It has an apendix which dates the Killed in action, the aces. And it gives a good picture of how RAF worked in those days. Great, great, great !!!

I read it in two days, because this book is so absorbing, no bullsh..t orientated, focusing on facts, not speculation, not legends. It is impressive the ammount of Americans who payed the ultimate price while serving in RAF.

This book was moving and interesting, with a cast of rich, well drawn characters that kept me involved in the story. It is the story of passionate, vital people who are caught in the sweep of history and must either endure it or rise above it. If Gone With the Wind had been set in Russia, this would have been it. I truly enjoyed it.

I loved this book! I found it two years ago on an obscure back shelf at the local library during the summer, when I was looking for a good book to read. I brought it home after reading the dust jacket, and the first time I read it I was completely engrossed. I couldn't put it down and read the whole 500-something page book in one sitting. I have since gone on to read the other two books in the Kirov Trilogy, but I would have to say that Anna is by far my favorite. For me Cynthia Harrod-Eagles does a wonderful job at bringing the characters to life, weaving their personal struggles with the historical events of the time. As much as I love this book, I would never call Anna a literary masterpiece. Anna is the type of book that you read for pleasure, for the experience that the story gives you, and I must say that the experience is most definitely pleasurable.

an excellent book as are all of mr. burgetts.it gives you the sense of some of our country's best fighting men, their ability to carry out the mission in spite of being mis-dropped and scattered. if you ever have wondered what it was like for paratroopers ,you should read this book.

Some 15 years back I have read a paperback edition of this title. Few months later I gave this book as a gift to a commando whose unit were doing field exercise near my area. Years have passed by and thinking how absorbing Mr Burgett put his experience from the time he joined the tough basic training as a paratrooper and the fighting in Normandy in the early morning on D Day as well as his vivid recollection of battle throughout Europe and until the surrender of Germany. It makes me want to have the book for my library collection. Its somewhat equal to To Hell and Back and The Longest Day.

An immature golden eagle is captured and brought to the London Zoo for showcase and display. Creggan begins to lose his sense of freedom, as the cage curls around himself, cutting off access to the sky. An older female eagle who's been trapped in the cages for a long time gives Creggan the strength to survive, and the hope of one day escaping this man-made construct. It's a short read (less than 200 pages, and less that "The Stonor Eagles"), but very enjoyable. A must for any eagle or bird of prey fan.

Simple, but glorious, the flight of the Stonor Eagles finds its true path in the author's shortest, yet most satisfying novel, telling of the barbarism of the zoo, for all its fugitives. Paul Simon sang it, and the echo drones like Schubert from this book, until, unlike the hapless composer, freedom comes. It seems many haven't bothered this author beyond Duncton, but they should not fear dissappointment, nor relish a tale which can be reread over a day, not a month.

I didn't think Comanche Eagle written by Sara Orwig would be that great. But I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed the story line very much. I liked the mix of characters, strong, intelligent tall woman, to sexy, handsome, strong half breed of a man, his pal, and a young boy all helped to make this story intriguing, interesting and satisfying. Even the ending was quite surprising, which I won't go into. Read the book and enjoy it. I'll definitely reach for her next book, Comanche Passion.

This book is an awesome book. I read it within 36 hours. I have read several of her books and this Lady can write! You become part of the characters! She is very authentic in her stories and they are not all Sex, Sex, Sex! There is a very real story that makes you want to turn each page to see what happens to each of the characters. They emit real, poignant feelings from each page. I can't wait until her next book and I wish she would write a book on Brett, Travis' brother!

This is an exceptionally useful book for those interested in the Carter administration's failed attempt to rescue the American hostages held in Iran in 1980 and the disaster of Desert One, especially valuable since it is written by one of the mission's Intelligence Officers. The book contains many new details about the mission which are unavailable elsewhere and provides an invaluable research source for scholars and those simply interested in what went wrong.

The book is written from a military standpoint and is perhaps too scathing of the State Department and CIA. One finds little appreciation for Secretary of State Cyrus Vance's efforts to release the hostages by peaceful means, for instance. This is arguably important since the negotiation channel turned out to be the option which was eventually successful in getting the hostages back. The author has some harsh words also for former CIA Director Stansfield Turner, who was able to provide relatively little by the way of human intelligence backup for the mission. But since most of the CIA's main operatives in Iran had been taken hostage in November 1979 along with the other captives, new resources had to be developed from scratch, so it is difficult to see how Turner could have done much more than he did. The bibliography at the back is also rather incomplete, citing only a few of the books which have been written on the same topic. Nevertheless, "Crippled Eagle" provides an excellent source of information about the rescue mission. It is also an especially useful account of the institutional rivalries and penny pinching which beset Delta Force, and special operations planning generally, during the planning for the rescue mission.

Awesome job by the author--a review of the infighting during the development of US Spec Ops forces. He focuses on Delta's formation and their activities in the early 80's. Mostly info on operation Ricebowl (if you don't know--you should read this book) but other interesting stuff too.

This is a great book for getting an overview of Vegas 4. Its a great product, and like most pro. NLE's, you need experience and time to master it. The book covers the product in good detail. However, the author assumes an understanding of NLE and video technology by the reader. Hence the 'Beginner to Intermediate' monicker means you are a beginning or intermediate user of the product NOT of the technology. The author assumes a fair grasp of the technology by the reader. The book dips in and out of a tutorial format, with product and technology explanations in between. I found this unhelpful, as some of the books dialogue raises questions which are not answered.

The book gives way too much attention to audio in general and audio for video in particular, whilst giving terse explanations of video compositing and color correcting. Finally, the ultimate unforgiveable faux pas of referencing AVI's and VEG files on the CD which were not there, made it less of a book than it should be. (NONE of the sample file on chromakeying, which should have been on the CD, were there).

The author's use of English doesn't help in some of the more technical explanations, however his stlye is friendly and informative, and he avoids becoming patronising. Recommended if you're coming from another NLE, otherwise start elsewhere.

Nobody has read this book yet, as it has not been released at the time of this writing - but all you have to due is check out the Vegas forum at CreativeCow.net to know that Grammy-winner Douglas Spotted-Eagle (Spot) knows Vegas inside-out.

Sonic Foundry's Vegas 4 is very different from Premiere, Edition, Avid and Final Cut Pro. Once you've spent time with it and Spot's tips, tricks and short cuts, you'll never look at another NLE.

First of, You read the Editors review, did he actually said that Vegas was an "entry level" NLE system? Yes he did, but he is wrong. The guy that wrote that doesnt seems to know what he is talking about ;) Many of the things you can do with with Adobe Premiere or even Avid you can do in Vegas also. So why does he still call it an entry level, well frankly, i think he was mistaken it by Video Factory by the same company. All this said, Vegas is professional, or at least NOT entry level as other software, like Video Factory.

Back to Mr Douglas, he is indeed a forefronter, he have won his Emmy and Grammy awards and its not for any reason, so you can say that he have proven his good work in this book. In this book he tries to show you what he knows and i think he has done this in a simple yet professional way. If you want to get into semi-pro or even professional NLE, i think this is the book for you.

Let me put it this way, when i first started with video editing, i tried out differente software, but no one of them was as good as Vegas. Vegas wont be any better then you fantasy or imagination. Can you release all you fantasy, only then you can get the full power in the software.

Frankie
Singapore (Norway)