Eagle Reviews

Fritz Shurmur's Eagle FiveLinebacker Defense is deceptively simple and clearly illustrates Coach Shurmur's belief in including man, zone, and blitz packages in a defensive scheme. The book was almost a disappointment after reading Bill Arnsparger's masterful Coaching Defensive Football, but the diagrams are clear, player responsibilities are detailed, and the defense proved itself in the NFL. Coach Shurmur includes his Hawk Defense variation, which presents a different look while keeping player responsibilities similar to the Eagle Defense. The defense is simple enough to use at the high school level and could easily be condensed to work at any level. It may be simple, but it has proven itself.

The title of Harry Barnard's biography of John Peter Altgeld was inspired by Vachel Lindsay's poem "The Eagle That is Forgotten," which commemorated the life of Altgeld--the former governor of Illinois. In this spirit, Barnard presented a highly sympathetic account of the governor's life and contribution to American politics, and at times exaggerating his accomplishments.

Sometimes mistakenly branded as "one of those German revolutionists of 1848," Altgeld was born in southern Germany December 30, 1847. His family arrived in a farming community of Richmond County, Ohio when he was three months. After serving as a substitute in the Civil War at the age of sixteen, Altgeld was filled with new aspirations and ambitions that prompted him to travel west where he soon would enjoy a rapid rise in American politics.

Algeld was the governor of Illinois during a very important period in its history. He is best known for pardoning the three surviving Haymarket defendants and quashing some of the labor unrest of the 1890s. Barnard described Altgeld as a "law and order" governor during the Pullman strike. Altgeld encouraged labor to strengthen itself through organization, however, he would not tolerate any threat of violence on the part of labor agitators. Altgeld also palyed a pivitol role in the 1896 Democratic convention. Barnard maintained that every plank in the 1896 Dmocratic platform was revolutionary and entirely the achievement of the Illinois governor.

Barnard presented a clearly-written account of John Peter Altgeld's political career. He effectively placed Altgeld within the context of the general issues facing the nation. These issues included the Granger movement, economic depressions, the labor question, and the debate over currency.

In considering Altgeld's role within the general history of the United States in the 1890s, one can find many problems with Barnard's analysis. Barnard credited Altgeld for the demise of President Cleveland, however, the 1893 depression and Cleveland's role in the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act were, most likely, more instrumental in the decline of Cleveland's influence in the party then were his ongoing tiffs with Altgeld. Cleveland's defense of the gold standard alienated him from the southern core of the Democratic party. Moreover, Barnard admitted that Altgeld cared little for the currency question until 1894. Altgeld may have dominated the 1896 platform; however, he was unable to prevent the nomination of William Jennings Bryan (Altgeld supported Richard Park of Missouri). In addition, the role of the Illinois governor may have been elevated because the convention was held in Chicago.

Barnard presented convincing arguments to refute a number of traditionally held views regarding Altgeld. Chief among these views was the belief that the Haymarket pardons ruined Altgeld's political career. Barnard clearly demonstrated that Altgeld remained very strong in the Democratic party during the 1896 convention. He cites poor health, a desire to leave politics, and the hard work spent on Bryan's presidential campaign at the expense of the gubernatorial race for Altgeld's failure to gain re-election. The fact that Altgeld died only eight years after the pardons may make it difficult to access the actual effect the pardons had on his career.

The biography is, for the most part, well-written with an excellent use of primary sources; however, it is often overburdened by long quotations which interupt the flow of the reading. An exchange of these long quotes for more information on Altgeld's day-to-day gubernatorial record would make this work more complete. Still, it is an essential source of information on an important figure in American Progressivism.

Because of the lack of short chapter books with urban contemporary Native American protagonists, all public/school libraries should pick this up - especially for NA kids who have just moved from rural/reservation to the big city. It may work best for a parent and child to read together and discuss.

I liked this book. For a first offering by this writer, it was well put together, with good characters and an excellent story line. The fly cover mentions that this is the first of a trilogy, so I look forward to having the central characters fleshed out further.
The story starts out in Roman time Wales, and concludes in Iraq - I don't want to spoil another reader's enjoyment of the story but, I have to say the ending was very topical. I am pleased to have added it to my collection

This is a great book which gives a new perspective to the Texas War for Independence, and the Mexican War. He explains himself very well and blames himself some, but mostly his subordiantes. He is very respectful to the American and Texas forces. This book is a must read for 1840's enthusiasts!

If you've read my review on the first volume of the "Eagle" saga, you know that I wasn't particularly impressed with it. Well, I have to say that this volume had me truly enthraled. Particularly the "debate" between Yamaguchi (? sorry I can't quite keep his name straight) and Albert "Noah." The whole buisiness of 'is it better to train the sheep or the sheepherders?' really had my attention. I found my self arguing with both men. I'm still not absolutely certain that this book is a keeper, but the fact that I was internally debating the characters is a good sign (for me, anyway) that this novel is going somewhere. So far, this has been the best novel in the series. I'm looking forward to reading more. I won't make any other comment than that - I have to read more of it before I can say yea or nay to it.

If you are looking for Eagle guitar tabs then this is it. Complete to the date of publication including many songs not available elsewhere. Lyrics and notes are available on the intranet but tab versions are not as publicizing them are a violation of copyright laws and WB is trying to make sure these laws are not violated, as they should be.

Back to content, there are several unique songs, the main one (for me) being Seven Bridges Road. The rifs are unique and almost impossible to pickup off the record to CD.

The volumns are available individually as well as in the match set however, I believe there is a four or five dollar price break buying the set.

hey, this book was very good! I love horses which is why someone picked it up for me, and was very glad they did! I love stories like this which have two people from different cultures that fall in love. I highly recommend this book to all, escpecially Christians like me. It great!

Tim Rizzi has written a terrific military techno-thriller in Eagles of Fire. The plot synopsis given above is accurate so I won't repeat it here. The characterizations vary between 2D and 3D, with Gen. Duke James as the most fully realized member of the cast. Rizzi has done something quite unusual for this genre (one to which I am devoted despite my better judgment), which is even the odds between the armed forces of Good and Evil. Bad things happen to Good People and good things happen to Bad People. I am looking forward to the sequel (so many ends are left loose that there must be one in the offing) with eager anticipation.

For the cerebral military history and aviation history buff, it's hard to get a better book than this one. Mr. Horikoshi was the leader of the team that designed the famous Zero, the plane that scared the Allies silly for the couple of years around Pearl Harbor. The book focuses on what he knows best: the design of the plane, including its context in fighter plane designs of the pre-war years. Toward the end, there are some agonized comments about attempts to design successors to and modifications to the Zero after the Americans developed tactics and aircraft specifically to combat it. Combat results are described in only the most cursory way, so many military history buffs may be disappointed that the only deaths recounted in detail are those of test pilots. For those interested in the more cerebral side of military history -- the weapons systems, the economic and logistical problems, and so on -- there are few books as rewarding as this one.

There aren't first-person accounts of dogfights or bombing attacks here; Horikoshi never participated in combat. Nor is there anything substantive here about the training of the pilots that flew those first Zeros and deserve a large amount of the credit for the victories the design produced in 1940-1942. Instead there is a meticulous recap of the decisions that went into building the plane, and the reader gets keen insight into how an aeronatical engineer must think in order to create a near-legendary design. After reading this book, it's hard to avoid the conclusion that if Imperial Japan of the 1930's had had better engine designs than the ones available to Mr. Horikoshi, the road from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay would have been longer and bloodier than it worked out to be.