5 comments about Waves.

1. You can actually feel the energy of the waves in some of these shots coming right off the pages. There are some very awesome shots - unusual angles, colors, and just plain spectacular.
   
   Great coffee table book. That's where mine stays, and I still pick it up and flip through it when I'm on the phone.
   
   Mother Nature makes a great model to work with.



2. I gave this book as a Christmas present, but not before thumbing through it myself. The pictures are totally awesome and very clear. I thought it would make a good coffee-table book, and that's exactly where my brother put it. He also loved the book, and wanted to check it out before opening other Christmas gifts.... I guess it made an impression. :>)



3. I bought this book because I saw it for sale when I was in Hawaii, but didn't want to carry it home with me and risk the chance of it getting banged up in transit. The photos are beautiful. The only thing I don't like about this book is that some of the photos run from one page to the next, which means that there's a big crease down the center of some of the really great photos. It's a great coffee table book, especially for those of us who live far from the ocean and need a reminder of its beauty.



4. Walt Whitman's strophe to the ocean could well be applied to this exciting book that captures the noise, the majesty, and the seduction of the sea - with a special emphasis on the waves. Writer Steve Hawk is a committed wave-rider and has collected a varied group of photographs of the challenging waves that seem at once threatening and exhilarating: the viewer can easily imagine the constant call of the sea to surfers within these pages.
   
   Just as there is an infinite variety of ocean waves, both at sea and as the waves meet the shore, so is there a spectrum of photographs here, photographs that surprise not only in the obvious challenge of those who captured them, but also in the spectrum of colors that light and wind and mists alter their beauty and majesty. The photographers include the well known such as Art Brewer, Wayne Levin, Jeff Divine, Wayne Levin, and Joel Meyerowitz as well as lesser well-known but equally impressive artists. The locations for the photographs are from all around the planet and the variation in the quality of light and perspective is beautifully related to these different vistas.
   
   For the most part Hawk allows the images to speak for themselves, but being a journalist he also interjects some interesting facts and poetry that variably enhance the book. WAVES is a must-have book for those already committed to the sea, but it is also a fine volume of images for those who continue to marvel at the power of nature. Grady Harp, December 06



5. This is a very beautiful photo book on a very specialized topic--the photos are exclusively those of ocean waves. There aren't even any surfers in the photos, although there is one or two with a pod of dolphins, and various backdrops are sometimes used, but the waves themselves are truly the protagonists in most of the pictures. The photos show surfing and beach locations all over the world, including famous places like Weimea Bay in Hawaii as well as those I was less familiar with, such as the location in Tahiti, which has very beautiful waves and was featured in a number of the photos.
   
   One striking aspect of the photos is how much the colors of the waves vary, from light sky-blue to a deep marine and saphire blue to a dark, mossy green color. I don't know if this is more from the light or the type of photo emulsion used, or both, but just the spectrum of color possibilities is as varied and diverse as the waves themselves. Not all the waves are big; some are just beautifully shaped or symmetrical, or they are shot with an interesting subject in the background or foreground--such as the one showing San Francisco's Ocean Beach with a lone wave breaking in the background.
   
   This book will be of interest to anyone who appreciates nature photography or the beauty and power of the sea, as reflected in the awesome power of the waves themselves. The text is well written and there is even a brief discussion of the physics of waves and how the power in mechanical foot-pounds of a wave can be calculated, which was developed by a famous oceanographer. (Most of the text isn't nerdy though). :-)

5 comments about Queen Mary.

1. This book is full of wonderful pictures of the ship, both in color, black and white, and sketches. The middle of the book has a fold out of the ship's cutaway, as well as the deck plans. It is very descriptive of how and where the Queen Mary gets her artistic designs, and it tells in great description of both text and picture of the history of the Queen Mary. If you have a thing for steam liners (like I do), the Queen Mary, ships, or just art/arcitecture in general, you'll love this book.



2. 
   This is a one of the most well written and illustrated books I have read on this important ship. Before the onset of affordable transatlantic jet travel this vessel and her sister ship Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mary provided safe and fast transportation for thousands. More important was her contribution during WW 2 where she valiantly supported the Allied cause by taking urgently needed troops to England and returned with the Victors and the wounded.



3. First and foremost I am a die hard Queen Mary Fan.
   Okay. Now I have made many trips to the Queen Mary in the past, and on my last trip I purhased this book a store onboard the ship. The guy told me that it was quote: "The best book on the Queen Mary". After reading it, I also think it is! With all the beautiful photos and artwork shown in the book, helps to give one a sense of why the 'Mary' is worth all the praise she has gotten.



4. This book will captivate you. It bears reiterating how superb the photographs, art, and text are in this book. This is WAY more than a coffee table book, and it does its subject justice.

   Regarding the hardback vs. the paperback versions of this book, having gone through each version personally, my advice is to spring the extra few dollars for the hardback edition, for three reasons: 1.) While the paperback is nice as far as paperback editions go, it's a bit incompatible with the quality of the book's contents, 2.) There is a large (and quite beautiful) 4 page cross section foldout of the ship bound into the book which is awkward to view fully open in the paperback version without damaging the book's spine, and 3.) Because the book is so large and heavy, I'd be concerned about the durability of the paperback version; the paper used is of quite a heavy weight, and the book's spine has a lot to support.




5. I literally couldn't put this book down after starting it -- Steele has written a fascinating retrospective on this great ship. The book's format is high quality and heavy on photographs, making for a very attractive book. But Steele also does a good job of exploring the ship's history, particularly the design and engineering perspectives. I agree with another reviewer that Steele could have (and probably should have) gone into greater detail on the Queen's post-retirement history as a tourist attraction, and should have addressed the structural and design modifications resulting from that transformation. But this shortcoming detracts very little from an otherwise enjoyable volume on the history of a famous and beloved ship.

5 comments about This is Blythe.

1. I picked this book up at the San Francisco MOMA a few years ago. I saw it and immediately began to wonder, "What exactly did I do with my old Blythe doll"? I spent endless hours as a child, pulling the string, and clicking through the eye colors (though I always loved the purple best). In the absence of my girlhood doll, the book was a delightful trip down memory lane!



2. I'm a collector and I love having a book with photos of Blythe that I can study for the endless possibilities the doll offers for dressing and customizing.



3. I am several years (almost 5 to be exact) reviewing this book but after seeing a few of Gina's Blythe pics online, I ordered this book and ever since I've been hooked! BIG TIME. These pictures and all of Gina's are so beautiful that I had to get a collection of my own Blythes underway ASAP. Here I am 5 years later and more than 20 Blythes richer! Get the book! Like most people I know, you'll either fall in love or be creeped out.



4. Oh my gosh I love Blythe! She is the best doll ever. in this book, gina garan photographs Blythe so well that the dolls actually look real. i have a Blythe doll collection for myself and I don't photograph it but maybe I should! Blythe might be expensive doll-whise but she's worth every penny! (Or every...dollar!) Blythe, your eyes can change but the rest of you can't! Blythe, dearest Blythe......YOU RULE!!!!!!!!!!



5. ..I just had to add that I picked this up not knowing that my 30-year quest for a beloved doll that was taken from me was about to end until I turned to the page (near the end) where the two dolls are wearing that famous green dress (the only part of my doll I was able to salvage).
   
   Gina Garan, thank you!!

2 comments about The Elements of Black and White Printing, Second Edition.

1. Okay, here I am buying Carson Graves book on printing because earlier I bought his book on Zone system. Using previous book as prerequisite for this one, was way wrong. If you ever decide to buy some literature based on previous successes, think again. The one thing that I dislike very much about this book is a fact that author teach you to use numerous testing techniques without actually showing you enough picture examples of how given toning or bleaching changed the image. Of course, there are several photographs for illustration-but it's way too little for photography book. Photography book must have more than less pictures in order to show what author mean when he uses one or another alternation. It's like learning astronomy with books without ever looking at night sky. If author would use more illustrations I would give him more stars.



2. Although this is a basic book, it covers several topics that advanced darkroom printers will find useful. For example it discusses making test strips by exposing for the HIGHLIGHTS. I've used the method and have adopted it. I'm also experimenting with split-filter exposures which it discusses very completely and it has been very helpful. Worth the money -- I've learned several new techniques.

5 comments about The Oxford Companion to the Photograph (Oxford Companion To...).

1. Great book. Very informative entries. Would have liked to see more photos that "show" examples of what the entries describe in words.



2. This is an excellent reference book on photography. It covers noted photographers, photographic history, photographic theories, and a great deal more. Oxford Companion books are well known for their exceptionally good quality. The section on digital imaging, for example, is one of the best I have ever read.
   
   Please note that this is a reference book. It is not designed to teach photography. However, any serious photographer or photography student will find this book useful. This book would also make a superb gift for anyone interested in photography.



3. It is through and useful. It's useful as a reference for various techniques, but I use it mostly as a way to refresh my memory on the hundreds, even thousands, of photographers of whom I've heard or encountered. Really first rate reference book.



4. I received this book as a gift and am amazed at the thoroughness with which the subject of photography is covered. The illustrations are beautiful and plenty and the content, rich. This is a must-have for anyone with even a passing interest in photography.



5. This outstanding book covers every aspect of photography, from techniques, to biographies of photographers, to photographs and exhibitions and much more. It is a perfect resource for anyone with an interest in photgraphy, from the art lover to the novice photographer to the most seasoned professional photographers. I was really impressed with the paper quality, and the image quality. It is definitely as described, lavishly illustrated with some breath-taking photgraphs, in color and black and white throughout. And of course, the jacket design makes this a perfect coffee-table book, one you can pick up and browse, and find something interesting every time you dip in to it. For a big, fat art book, the price isn't bad either. Highly recommended for anyone with interest in photography.

2 comments about Color Correction For Digital Photographers Only (For Only).

1. I had my library order this book for me, because I've been too often disappointed by titles like this. After renewing it the maximum number of times, I am now purchasing my own copy. This is a book that you'll want close at hand if you are serious about improving your color management skills. And - regarding the one review that called the book "useless" - that person must have been looking for magic. There is vital basic information in this volume that you definitely need in order to do your own color correction. That information will be transferrable to programs other than PhotoShop, although not in a precise step-by-step fashion. If you don't plan on purchasing a serious photo editing package, then you don't need to worry about getting serious about color management, and you don't need this excellent book!



2. I purchased this book on recommendation from a teacher of a point-and-shoot digital camera class. Imagine my surprise, on receiving the book, to find that it is in reality an advanced color correction manual for Adobe Photoshop CS2.
   
   This book would be invaluable if I intended to invest in that program. Since I do not, it was a big waste of money.
   
   I don't feel the description here completely covered the fact that the book is practically useless if you don't own Photoshop. If you do, fine, you'll love it. If, like me, you don't, then continue browsing and pass it by.

5 comments about Digital Photography for 3D Imaging and Animation.

1. Dan Ablan is a great instructor, hands down! His books, courseware and support are far none the best in this industry. This book is truly a reflection of quality, quality that you'd expect Dan to provide.
   
   Some of you might say that some of the chapters in this book are pretty basic. I am not here to bash any of you, I just want to write a review about this book, but... Not everyone will find these chapters "basic." They are what I call, informative!
   
   This book provides a wealth of information. Some of it was information I already knew, but that's because I have been doing photography since I was a kid. His technique and ideations however, put a whole new spin on how I work with my digital photos. I admire Dan for his creativity and ideas. This book will definately give you a new perspective on how to use digital pictures and how to incorpoate them into 3d.
   
   If you are looking for an excellent book to accompany your library, this book is it! I am an amateur at best when it comes to 3D animation. Owning this book, I see myself advancing past this "amateur" level. :)
   
   If you like Dan's teaching style and his other books, you truly wont be dissapointed by this one! I would also like to suggest his courseware! Dan's courseware is just as good, if not better than his books!
   
   There was nothing in this book that I did not enjoy or get bored with. However, if you are a pro working for Pixar or some professional company, this book might seem "basic" to you.. For the other 95% of us, this book is a great investment!
   
   -Justin



2. I'm somewhat of a noob in 3d modelling and animation, and so this book really interested me. I was hoping to learn how to better use photography to do things like create effective reference images, textures, normal maps, bump maps, displacement maps, and such.
   
   After reading through most of the book, I'm pretty disappointed. While the book does cover such topics, I feel that it gives those topics a pretty superficial treatment, and the focus of the book seems to be on other, what I'd consider, "oddball topics".
   
   The book devotes a lot of time covering digital photography in general. It does this fairly well, but honestly, a book like "Real World Digital Photography" does that much better.
   
   The book also has large sections where it goes into great detail into how to create a 3d slideshow, and another on how to create a digital collage using After Effects. While these topics are kind of interesting, honestly, how often are you going to do something like that?
   
   The book is kind of an interesting read, but after reading it I'm wondering who the intended audience for it actually is. Certainly not 3d animators or modelers like the title and the description of the book seem to indicate.



3. While some may mistake this for a masterclass in 3D and digital photography, it is quite clearly geared towards beginners. But, it's value as a source of professional training does not stop there. What I found most profoundly useful about this book by Dan Ablan is that it not only helps newcomers to 3D and/or digital photography, but that it may also inspire those who may be intimidated by the depth and complexity associated with 3D to now pursue this wonderful medium to enhance their self expression and understanding. I have purchased many training materials written by Dan Ablan, from video tutorial DVD's to instructional books such as this one, and have always felt the wiser for doing so. I waited until I finished this book before sitting down to write this review. Contrary to other assessments, the techniques taught in this book are accurate for the uses stated in their related topics. If you want to dip your toes into the water of 3D while improving your digital photography skills, then I would highly recommend that you pick up this book. Read it thoroughly. I believe you will find yourself returning to it as a source of reference again and again, as I have. Enjoy.



4. I was hesitant to get this book after reading the one review posted. But instead I got the book anyway. I have to say that the information is excellent. I've worked in 3D for a while, using Maya and Cinema 4D, but had not explored the use of digital photography to the fullest extent. I had emailed Dan Ablan and he replied right away. He told me this book was about ideas and that it helps bridge the gap between photography and 3D, two fields he's worked in for over a decade. He was right and I found that his example photos were outstanding and use of them even better. This book covers managing files which is a big deal as you start taking more shots such as textures and image maps. It covers how to create panoramas in more than one application, and it covers hdri and as Dan shows, works great in modo. I'm new to modo, but the project was cool. I was surprised that the book even covered image modeling using image modeler from [...]and then there was the after effects tutorial creating a heavily layered, animated montage all from photos using masks and keys and blending. I liked the use of 3D for animated photo slideshows and image mapping ideas.
   
   What really surprised me the most was that even though the tutorial are geared towards beginners it has helped my 3D work immensely. What's cool is that Dan included hours of video training tutorials on the book's DVD to help you learn more and there's tons of sample images to work with and free demo software.
   
   Top notch book!



5. This is an important topic. The publisher should have found a more experienced author to write this book!
   
   The coverage of HDRI imaging was full of mistakes. In a step-by-step tutorial, the author makes every mistake in the book: he focuses his camera wrong, he changes the f-stop between bracketed exposures even though this will change the camera's DOF and mess up the alignment of images, in assembling his High Dymanic Range Images with Adobe Photoshop PS2 he advises readers to change modes from HDRI to 16 bit and back, without mentioning that this means he is no longer creating a High Dymanic Range Image. The author doesn't seem to notice that the series of bungling mistakes he has made hasn't produced a HDRI map suitable for image based lighting, and instead acts as if he has achieved highly realistic results.
   
   The author's mis-adventures photographing a Christmas Tree ball in his back yard to make HDRI are only one chapter in this book. He also attempts to make texture maps out of photographs (he gets to the color maps, doesn't go much further into how to derive bump or specular or other maps based on the color.) The book is also full of "filler" chapters that would only be useful to a beginner first using a computer. There's a chapter on image management, showing how you can use a program like iPhoto to organize your pictures, and explaining the difference between compressed and uncompressed image files.
   
   Overall there's not much for a dedicated 3D artist in this book, although some beginners might find some of it useful.

3 comments about Art and Photography (Themes & Movements S.).

1. Notwithstanding the promise of its title, "Art in Photography" is simply a survey of avant-garde photography of the last half of the twentieth century.
   
   The book is divided into three parts: an essay by Campany, photographs and other works, and documents consisting of excerpts of articles, interviews and statements. The essay is divided into sections with titles like "The Urban and the Everyday" with similar sections of the photographs and documents. Each essay section makes a few general comments about the new in photography and then discusses in a sentence or two the particular photographers whose works appear among the photographs.
   
   The essay's principal thesis is that while other plastic arts moved away from content toward form in modern times, photography has generally moved away from form to content. At the same time, the goal of either set of movements was always self-referential, although it seemed as if photographers were deliberately subverting the form to show its inadequacies. (The author ignores the main stream of photography during that same period, when there were many portrait, fashion and landscape photographers who clung splendidly to the combination of form and content, using form to explicate the content.)
   
   The essay is often supported by thumbnails an inch and three-quarters high, but it is difficult to see much at this small size, and the reader may be further confounded in the effort to relate the picture to the text by the fact that the captions for the thumbnails are printed vertically in small type, requiring one to rotate the book 90 degrees and then look closely to confirm the relationship of the picture to the text.
   
   The pictures themselves are difficult to understand out of the context of a particular photographer's work, although occasionally an image will arrest one's eye, like the photograph of a single woman's face turned toward the camera in a sea of black-cloaked praying Moslem women, or Chuck Close's painting of Philip Glass. For the most part the pictures, out of context, are enigmatic. Campany acknowledges that it is difficult to draw any consistent theory of photography from the pictures.
   
   The documents vary in interest from insightful articles to artistic double-speak. It pained me to see Walter Benjamin's seminal article "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" abridged to a short excerpt, but it does add the flavor of the work to some understanding of the pictures presented.
   
   Survey books are always difficult for me because they can never go into enough detail to comprehend larger movements. Still, for the individual interested in a collection of representative works of avant-garde photography, this book may fill the bill,



2. The book starts with a 35-page survey written by the editor does a very good job of covering photography's use in the arts. This is then followed by some 150 pages of photographs. The next 80 pages cover the documents, writings on and by the artists using photography in their practice. The book concludes with artist and author biographies and a decent bibliography.
   
   Both the photography and the documents are organized into rough thematic groupings. These are:
   * Memories and Archives
   * Objective Objects
   * Traces of Traces
   * The Urban and the Everyday
   * The Studio Image
   * The Arts of Reproduction
   * `Just' Looking
   * The Cultures of Nature
   This organizational structure works quite well, in that rather than overwhelming you with a whole book worth of imagery and commentary, it is divided into more manageable chunks that still allow contemplation of the whole but also allow a tighter consideration, as needed. The work and documents cover the whole time range from the 60's to the early 21st Century (2003 to be specific, the year of publication). So the book is an excellent survey document.
   
   Anyone who is serious at coming to grips with the use of photography in contemporary art practice should have this book handy. It brings together in one great resource not only great examples of the work produced but also, through collating the writings that are included, bringing together the thoughts, criticisms and analysis of the major artists, critics, theorists and analysts of the time. Very highly recommended.



3. The front free endpaper of this book says "Art and Photography is the first book of its kind to survey the presence of photography in artistic practice from the 1960s onwards. The photographic image is central to contemporary art and the debates that surround it, yet it took most of the last century for it to acquire this status. Despite the extensive exploration of photography as an independent art in the Modernist era, it was not until the late twentieth century that artists, museums and galleries began to explore its social roles as a medium of representation. This volume provides a comprehensive survey of photography's place in recent art history, further contextualized in the Documents section by original artists' statements and interviews, together with critical and theoretical reflections on the photographic and the art of the photograph."
   
   Does the book live up to this hype? I think it does. It's a handsome 304-page tome, with the first two-thirds printed on white semiglossy paper (for the "Survey" and "Works") and the last third on cream-colored uncoated paper (for the "Documents," biographies, bibliography, and index).
   
   The "Survey," "Works," and "Documents" parts are arranged into the same eight sections: "Memories and Archives" on "public and private histories"; "Objective Objects" on photos' "apparently direct relation to the world"; "Traces of Traces" on "photography as a record of the real and its effects"; "The Urban and the Everyday" on "contemporary city life"; "The Studio Image" on "fine art's traditional space of making"; "The Arts of Reproduction" on "works that reflect upon the way mass culture is experienced as fragments"; " 'Just' Looking" on "the social structures of vision and the place of the gaze in the formation of our identity"; and "The Cultures of Nature" on "how the current understandings of the natural are formed and reflected through contemporary representation." This organization is unique to my knowledge; most books on art are arranged chronologically or by artist.
   
   The "Survey" essay by David Campany places the Works and Documents into historical context and explains in some detail the eight categories. It's illustrated with small reproductions of art and photos. I found it enlightening.
   
   Within each of the eight sections of "Works," from pages 46 to 205, the photos are presented in more or less chronological order, with the earliest works dating from the 1960s. Of the dozens of photographers, the ones who have more than one photo (from different series) reproduced in the book are John Baldessari, Victor Burgin, Gregory Crewdson, John Divola, John Hilliard, Joel Meyerowitz, Gabriel Orozco, Richard Prince, Gerhard Richter, Martha Rosler, Thomas Ruff, Allan Sekula, Cindy Sherman, Thomas Struth, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Larry Sultan, Jeff Wall, Andy Warhol, Gillian Wearing, and William Wegman. I detect no significant errors of omission or commission in the choice of artists. The specifications of media (e.g., "tinted black and white photographs") and dimensions, and the lengthy captions, are valuable.
   
   "Documents" contains excerpts of writings by photographers (including ones with only a single photograph in "Works," e.g., Yve Lomax and Robert Smithson) and non-photographers (e.g., Roland Barthes, Jacque Derrida, Craig Owens, Marcel Proust), as well as interviews with photographers. These "mostly left-brain" texts complement the "half-left-brain, half-right-brain" Works.
   
   If I had to improve anything, I would say to editor Campany and publisher Phaidon only "Lay off the fancy typography, like the 'decreasing font size' effect from page 14 to page 17, and the full-page treatment of brief quotations on pages 221, 226, 235, and 283! While it makes the book visually attractive, it distracts from the book's main messages and wastes space." Buy this excellent book from Amazon.com!

5 comments about Untamed.

1. I bought this book as a bargain and in the description it said the condition would be knew and the only difference would be that it may be marked as a bargain. However, the condition of the book was really bad and it was so damaged that many pages were lose and the binding was completely broken. I will never buy a bargain book from amazon again, even though the book itself (if it was in good condition) is awesome.



2. First saw these photos on a trip to Stockholm. Huge photo posters were on display in a park and this book along with the photographer's other books, posters and postcards were for sale. We've all seen photos of animals before but these are quite "up close and personal." There is a "Wow" factor with what he has captured -- whether it be an action shot of wildebeest and zebra hurriedly crossing a river or a panda up in the tree to get a better look. This is not a book you'll look at once but time and time again.



3. Steve Bloom has taken pictoral essays to new heights. In September 2007, a stroke of Irish luck led me to his exhibition in Dublin, Ireland. I spent a mesmerizing hour wandering St. Stephen's Green Park admiring his outstanding mini-billboard sized photographs and felt cheated when I ran out of time. So I bought the book, it sits on my coffee table, and I enjoy it day after day. Untamed is not a collection of animal photos. Instead, Steve gives us a greater understanding of the beast through a series of incredible exposures. Anyone who enjoys wildlife and excellent photography must own this book. It would make an excellent gift for those who share a passion for the wildlife that is vanishing before our eyes.



4. Steve Bloom is by far one of the best animal photographers! The pictures he captures are incredible. Untamed is a great/huge collection of awesome pictures. The pictures and pages in the book are all high quality. Well worth the money.



5. This is an absolutely gorgeous book, oversized and chock full of awesome photographs of all sorts of creatures. Bloom works in the wild, from a distance and close up enough to devote a full page to an elephant's eyelid. He works in Antartica, in the Amazon, in Africa, Asia, all across the world, with herds of animals and with singles, young, old, and in between. Some of the photos are panoramas, with 2 pages opening towards the middle to full effect.
   
   I first saw the book displayed on a table in an interiors store, and fell in love with it, came home and ordered from Amazon to save $$$. Now it's on the table in *my* living room. Eventually I will give it to my son to go through and share with my now-4-year-old grandson.

5 comments about Ghosts of Everest: The Search for Mallory and Irvine.

1. I had never heard of Mallory or Irvine until the day the news mentioned Mallory was found. All these years later I decided to read this book to answer the curiosity I had over them.
   
   I am intrigued with the question of did they reach the summit before they died back in 1924. Many have argued they failed and the authors decided to see if they could answer the debate.
   
   This is a good read as the authors gave accounts of both the climbs of Mallory and Irvine and the Simonson group that went to find them. The book has great details and good photographs throughout. I actually looked at the photos of Mallory several times. Kind of awed for some reason.
   
   The authors are most assuredly in awe of both Mallory and Irvine and it shows in the book. Especially when they found Mallory.
   
   You get the feeling they really want them to have made the summit and they offer some convincing arguments. Such as some of Mallory's notes suggest they took more oxygen bottles then thought. The location of an Oxygen bottle showed they were further along then thought and the possibility that Odell who commented on seeing them at the second step might have actually seen them on the third.
   
   Does the book prove they made it? Not really. There is no serious proof. The fabled camera might answer it but it is thought to be with Irvine who was never found. There is also the claim of leaving a photograph of Mallory's wife on the summit and it was not found on Mallory's body. One thing the authors mention however, is that they didn't find proof to suggest the failed in their attempt so the question remains.
   
   Overall you might find yourself hoping they did made it as it's a classic tale of man against the elements.
   
   I found myself hoping they did.



2. This has to be one of my favorite books. I have read it several times and each time it still captivates my interest!



3. What a story!
   
   And talk about memories . . . No, I've never been on Mt. Everest - Popocatepetl, 17,887 ft is the highest I've been (on foot) - but I did spend untold hours back in the stacks of the Main Library at the University of Texas in Austin, in the early 1950s, poring over accounts of the English expeditions to Everest (and elsewhere in the Himalaya and Karakoram) in the 1920s and 1930's. Those old thick books with their thick knife-cut pages and stilted or candid photographs made you want to go to Tibet, and something about their musty smell made you want to take a bathroom break. And then get back to what Younghusband and Smythe and Odell and Noel and Norton and Somervell - those subsidiary phantoms within the Everest saga - had to tell.
   
   Those books, and accounts of other climbs (in Europe or Africa or closer to home in the Americas) forced me onto steep rock. I climbed semi-seriously from 1952 until 1958 and desultorily for about fifteen years thereafter. But nothing along the lines of the climbers in Ghosts of Everest: Anker, Hahn, Norton, Politz, Richards. Among others.
   
   The three co-authors - Hemmleb, Johnson, and Simonson - made a wise decision to enhance their story's narrative thrust and coherence by choosing William Nothdurft to put it all together. He did a wonderful job; he's a hell of a writer. The maps and photographs are illuminating, though some of the photos are too strongly backlighted.
   
   A human-interest side-story in the book concerns BBC producer Peter Firstbrook and associate producer Graham Hoyland. Hoyland had championed BBC's support of the Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition of 1999 for more than a year. Hoyland was a former Everest climber and grandnephew of T.H. Somervell of the 1924 Everest expedition. Not until October 1998 (the main party of the expedition ended up arriving in Kathmandu on 18 March 1999) did Hoyland's boss Firstbrook get into the mix with his various bureaucratic ploys and games. Things went along, largely downhill, in fits and starts. In the end the expedition was mounted, but Hoyland was sent home by Firstbrook on a flimsy medical excuse. Firstbrook's insincerity was made manifest when he, Firstbrook, came down with a much more serious medical condition but refused, in spite of the expedition doctor's advice, to go back down to lower altitude. There's also the story of the midstream much-changed legal contract Firstbrook tried to get expedition leader Simonson to sign.
   
   Aargh! But then again, anyone who has tried to negotiate a contract between a private party and an institution, bureaucracy, government, or politician probably knows how downright duplicitous any of the latter can be. Their saving grace is that they are usually pretty dumb. I Googled `Peter Firstbrook' today and see, with some satisfaction and a somewhat patched image of the BBC, that Peter is no longer with them. He evidently shuffled off (or was shuffled off) to another film production outfit, Mosaic, in 2002.
   
   Hey, there are lots of ambitious guys out there. I well remember one day (actually it was 29 July 1957) that Yvon Chouinard grabbed me with "I think I've rediscovered Baxter's Lost Pinnacle! Let's go climb it before someone else does!" And we did, alternating leads. (By luck, since Yvon was a much better climber, he got to lead the final overhang pitch.) For years I had in my collection of climbing hardware a horizontal piton marked `URE' for `Ulf Ram-Erickson,' Baxter's climbing partner - they were often described as "two solo climbers, roped together" - we took off that Pinnacle that day. Sure, Yvon was ambitious, but he wouldn't scheme to crawl up over someone's back.
   
   Typically, in the mountains, it's a world of clear air, hard dark rock, white snow, tiny flowers in moss, and wonderful straightforward people. People like Mallory and Irvine. And like the members of the 1999 Expedition who went up to Everest to find and commemorate them. Ghosts of Everest is their very well told story.



4. I was only vaguely familiar with the story of Mallory and Irvine before reading this. Hemmelb does a nice job of interweaving the story of Mallory's 1924 attempt at Everest with that of the 1999 expedition that went in search of his body. For anyone interested in Everest and the history of attempts to climb it, I can recommend this book highly.



5. This is a beautifully and lavishly illustrated, textually rich book. Its pages demand the reader's undivided attention and are sure to enthrall all mystery lovers, Everest aficionados, nostalgia junkies, history buffs, and climbing enthusiasts. This book is sure to provide the reader with many hours of enjoyment.
   
   The book chronicles the search for George Mallory and Andrew Irvine by the 1999 Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition. It juxtaposes the dramatic turn of events during their expedition with those of the 1924 British Everest Expedition which saw Mallory and Irvine attempt a summit climb, only to disappear into the mists of Everest, never to be seen again. It makes for a spell binding narrative, as past events are woven through present day ones.
   
   The 1999 Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition was a meticulously well prepared and well organized venture. With its discovery of George Leigh Mallory's body, it enjoyed much success. The research and analysis that went into its ultimate, well thought out conclusions were comprehensive and fascinating, with its strong reliance upon forensics and deductive reasoning. Their reconstruction of Mallory's and Irvine's last climb is riveting. Unfortunately, the ultimate question still remains unanswered. Did they or did they not reach the summit of Mount Everest back in 1924?
   
   The beautiful photographs of the personal effects found upon Mallory's person underscore a certain poignancy about the discovery of Mallory's well preserved body. The photographs which memorialize this discovery are amazingly lovely and tasteful, considering its subject matter, and hauntingly illustrate the finality with which Everest may deal with mountaineers, no matter how accomplished.
   
   The photographs also highlight how ill equipped for the harsh climatic conditions were the early Everest expeditions. It is amazing, and a credit to those early expeditioners' courage and fortitude, in braving such an inhospitable and harsh terrain with the inadequate clothing and equipment available to them at the time. Mallory and Irvine were certainly intrepid explorers!
   
   This book is a fitting tribute to two men who sought to make a historic summit and, in their attempt, would forever be a part of Everest.