1 comments about Collectors Guide to Prewar Lionel Trains 1900-1942.

1. Like Mr. Doyles other new Lionel train guide for post war trains, the Collector's Guide to Prewar Lionel Trains, 1900-1942 is prove to be an important resource for both the buyer and seller of antique Lionel train sets. Containing information on virtually every toy train made by Lionel between 1900 and 1942, the book will prove to be a gold mine of information. However I found two of the appendices at the end of the book to be of particular value. Appendix I, Awakening Sleeping Toys and Appendix II, Setting Up Your Train each contain information important to the collector. There is also a small chapter on Lionel Catalogs and Paper Products and another chapter devoted to Accessories, Toys and Novelties.
   
   All in all this is one you'll want to keep close.

5 comments about Wilbur and Orville: A Biography of the Wright Brothers.

1. This is a very detailed chronology of the Wright Brothers massive achievement to create a flying machine. It details each stage of development and incorporates the other individuals that were both helpful and damaging to the development and eventual recognition world wide of their accomplishments. It is a slow read but very satisfying since you appreciate the enormous difficulties they endured to achieve what we take for granted now - safe, frequent, air travel.
   
   I read this at same time that I read the biography of Alex G Bell by Charlotte Gray which serves as a great contrast in life styles and creative follow through. While both the telephone and airplane define modern life, the achievement of the airplane is orders of magnitude more complex than the telephone.



2. The first 100 or so pages or so pages are an extraordinary account of the Wright brothers development of the first airplane and controled flight. It was interesting to learn why Kitty Hawk NC was selected as a test area; plenty of wind, no trees and sand to land on. Also that development of first plane could be done on the profit from summer earnings from a bicycle shop. Overall this is an excellent and detailed documentary of the Wright brothers achievment and also the impact of the business considerations which followed.

   Ken Kraetzer
   White Plains, NY




3. This is a fine account of the Wright Brothers' lives and achievements. It reads easily, and sets correct some of the myths that have grown around Wilbur and Orville (such as the vignette about building the little sled).

   And I really liked the line in the Preface (...) stating that this particular biography wasn't going to delve into an extensive exploration of the Wright Brothers' ancestry, that some brief information about their family history was going to be presented in the first few paragraphs, and could easily be skipped by the reader. That's definitely my kind of biographer.




4. There are thousands of books produced each year on history and biography that are written by people with a preeminant knowledge of their subject but whose intellect suppresses their passion or perhaps simply masks the truth that they just don't know how to write -- how to let their passion soar upon the page.

   In that respect Donald Howard has done with "Wilbur and Orville" what only the greatest of biographers can do. He opens the roof on a cloistered and inscrutable family and allows you to share with two of its members the adventure of a lifetime. You bear witness to the achievement of manpowered flight, not as an Archimedean moment of "Eureka!" but as a result of a dogged pursuit of knowledge through trial and failure.

   The great genius of Wilbur Wright and his brother is one of unstinting determination. Failure is not defeat but only the next small problem to solve. They knew that experimentation without failure yields only a partial truth -- that failure and success are irrevocably intertwined. Only those with the persistence not to be discouraged by the false thread will find what they seek.

   As a former aeronautics librarian for the Library of Congress, Donald Howard does a tremendous job in defining precisely the nature of the Wright brothers' achievement and in defending them from later detractors who crawled from the woodwork to lay their own partial claims to invention. In truth, the Wrights leaned heavily on the experimentations of others, letting the failures of others serve as a practical classroom. What they invented was not the first machine to rise from the earth under its own power, but the first that could sustain itself and be navigated across the skies.

   As we near the one hundredth anniversary of their first flight, it is an opportunity to reflect and remember those two young men whose vision opened the skies and made our world a smaller, less alien place to live.

   This is THE definitive biography! If you read only one book on their lives (although there are other recent good ones), let this be it. This is the great tale of discovery -- Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" but with a spiritual quest infused with the miracle of invention. It is not just their quest, their discovery. It is mine. It is yours. Just as Kerouac lies awake thinking and dreaming of Dean Moriarty, I think and dream of Wilbur Wright.




5. This volume surpasses another similar effort by Tom D. Crouch that came out at roughly the same time. Both books can be read profitably but Howard is better informed technically and a good deal wittier than Crouch. Howard's description of Samuel Langley's attempt to get his contraption into the air shortly before the Wrights' is laugh-out-loud funny. Crouch also suffers from his association with the Smithsonian Institution, whose scandalous treatment of the Wrights shocks even at this distance.

5 comments about Allied Aircraft Piston Engines of World War II: History and Development of Frontline Aircraft Piston Engines Produced by Great Britain and the united (Reference).

1. A must also for automotive and racing engineers. The roots of actual racing engines and technology... 60 years ago.



2. This book has been highly touted, but does not live up to its hype. Any number of books are as interesting, and much cheaper. "A History of Aorcraft Piston Engines" (Smith) comes to mind, as well as many of the books by Bill Gunston. Don't buy this book without seeing it first. For the same money you can get two or three other books that will together contain much more information.



3. While there are hundreds if not thousands of books devoted to World War II military aviation, only a handful cover with any detail the critically important aspect of aero engine development. This is one of the few books available on this topic and Graham White generally does a good job covering in detail the principal (as well as obscure) British and American aircraft engines. White begins his book by describing some of the challenges faced by aircraft piston engine designers before diving headlong into the specific histories and technical aspects of key British and American engines. His descriptions of each engine are highly technical and he displays his talents as an engineer and mechanic in terms of his detailed description of engine parts and systems. White also brings us back to the bigger picture with vivid descriptions of the personalities who played a role in the design and manufacture of each engine as well as descriptions of the aircraft that used them.
   
   White admits that by only covering British and American (as opposed to Axis) engines he is only telling "half" of the aircraft engine story, and one hopes that White chooses to take up the challenge of telling this other half in a future second book. In the meantime, some areas where White's book falls short include a much-needed glossary explaining the terminology he uses for those aviation buffs and historians not steeped in the field of engineering or engine mechanics. Furthermore in some cases White's descriptions of World War II aircraft can be found in sources elsewhere or are simply inaccurate-he should have stuck with what he knows well by focusing on the technical aspects of how each engine related to a particular aircraft rather than waste space discussing each aircraft's development and operational histories. Finally White's conclusion-a tirade against 21st century corporate capitalism-is too opinionated and frankly out of place in a work of this nature.
   
   Despite these small flaws White's book remains one of the few available authoritative sources on the topic of aircraft piston engines, and is an important acquisition for anyone interested in World War II military aviation.



4. They don't come much better than this. Along with his volume on the R-2800 Mr White provides fans of aircraft engines with a very good read.



5. This books treatment of the technical aspects of WWII aircraft engines is nothing short of fantastic! Mr. White appears to be very knowledgeable (right down to the nuts & bolts level) in the development of these engines and their service histories. His use of contemporary references adds great authority to the work.

   My only criticisms are that Mr. White puts emphasis on some of the relatively obscure engines of British manufacture while neglecting some of the more important subjects.
   Also (in my opinion), he unfairly downgrades the performance of the Allison V-1710. He seems to attribute its' lackluster performance in such craft as the P-39 Airacobra to a shortcoming of the engine itself, while virtually ignoring the fact that some blockhead in the military saw fit to eliminate its' supercharger. And there is little emphasis placed on the spectacular performance of the same engine (with supercharger) in the P-38 Lightning.

   Having said that; except for these shortcomings, I would rank this book amongst the 2 or 3 best books ever written on the subject! You cannot be well informed on this subject until you read "Allied Aircraft Piston Engines of WW II"!

4 comments about The Wright Brothers: A Biography.

1. Fred Kelly has written the definitive biography of the Wright Brothers, with special emphasis on the 10 years after the first flight. During this time, the brothers worked diligently to explain the benefits of aviation to an unbelieving public and uninterested leaders of military and commercial concerns.
   
   Kelly starts at the beginning, with tales of the brothers as young children and schoolboys, ultimately moving into the world of commerce as circus impressarios, printers, and bicycle builders and repairmen.
   
   By the late 1890's they had selected aviation as a hobby, and started their annual pilgrimages to Kitty Hawk for several months each year to perform experiments. Only after 4 or 5 years of gliding and kite flying, was manned flight considered. By working long hours in the bicycle shop and minimizing all expenses, they were able to pursue this unusual hobby for several weeks each fall.
   
   The obstacles were legendary, but the brothers persevered, usually by arguing (in a friendly way) between themselves, then reading every book on the subject in the Dayton public library, and then, developing new theories and experimental methods. In this way, they broke new ground in fluid dynamics, control and stability, motor construction, and propeller design. For example, they discovered that published tables of data on wind dynamics were wrong, so they built a wind tunnel to generate better data. The brothers had a unique ability to solve problems by applying a sound scientific approach and by going about it in an honest midwestern approach.
   
   Those of us who were at the centennial did not hear the story of how little publicity the 1903 flight received. The press and public were either unbelieving, or unable to distinguish between flying dirigibles and heavier than air self propelled planes. Only after several public demonstrations with flights exceeding one hour did the popular press come to understand the importance of this development.
   
   Kelly's book is unique in its access to Orville Wright, as they were old friends and Kelly consulted extensively with him, writing this book in the 1940's. After Wilbur died, Orville focused on building the various Wright companies around the world, fighting patent infringement suits (including Curtis), and endless battles with the Smithsonian Institute.
   
   The Smithsonian story is told here in great detail, as Orville still sought for the historical record to reflect his view, now universally accepted. The Langely plane (Langely was the director of the Smithsonian) never flew; in fact, it crashed several times in the Potomac in 1902-03, and had obvious design flaws.
   
   Amazingly, Glen Curtis was allowed to attempt experiments years later with the Langely plane, while he had litigation pending over the Wright patents. Curtis made major modifications to the plane, and got it to briefly fly, thus attempting to weaken the Wright patent claims. For years, the Smithsonian stubbornly insisted that the Langely plane was historically significant, and snubbed the Wright brothers, who retaliated by displaying their planes in other museums.



2. Fred Kelly did a wonderful job in bringing the story of the Wright Brothers to the public in this birgraphy. He starts us off by showing us the environment that the brothers grew up in and how the two had a curious and experimential nature about them. We are then shown the methods they had used in their experimentations for developing their flying machine. We can even feel the edge of competition as Samual Langly makes his attempt at manned powered flight only a day before the brothers and is met with failure.

   It has been 100 years since that magical day on the North Carolina Outter Banks, and Kelly manages to bring the experience back to us to relive. This is also an excellent book for children to read. I highly recommend it.




3. Considering that Fred Kelly's biography was first published in 1943, the text has a surprisingly contemporary style and its underlying research is up to today's high biographical standards. There is little hint in the reading that the book is so dated. What will never get old is the fantastic story of the Wright Brothers.

   Kelly begins with a brief history of the brothers' childhood, with parents who nurtured creativity and the quest for knowledge. They were the kind of kids who were fascinated with how things worked. Their interest in flight began when their father bought them a small rubber-band-powered toy kite. That interest slowly grew to a sideline obsession as they matured and began earning a living with their Dayton bicycle shop. They gathered and studied everything they could on the science of flight, including the works of Langley, Chanute, and Lilienthal. This led to the construction of gliders capable of holding a human passenger, with which they began methodical testing to understand aerodynamics and the nature of pressure on wing surfaces. To accomplish this in more efficient manner they invented the world's first wind tunnel, and patented wing warping and ailerons.

   Eventually satisfied with their glider, the Wrights graduated to attempts at powered flight. When their motor didn't seem up to the task, they scratch-built their own. The culmination--after years of tinkering and learning--was the successful and historic flights at Kitty Hawk in 1903. The Wrights had ushered in a reasoned, scientific approach to the quest for man-flight. They had accomplished the impossible in virtual isolation, without financing or institutional support. They embody the can-do American ideal of independence and ingenuity.

   What is almost equally fascinating about their story is what Kelly chronicles after the 1903 flights. The patriotic Wrights immediately foresaw the military potential for the flying machine and wanted America to benefit from their invention. But in 1903 man-flight was considered impossible. It took four years to convince the War Department that they weren't crackpots. It was nearly five years before the general public caught on to their accomplishment. And after others, such as Glenn Curtiss, began building their own planes--and infringing the Wright patent--it seemed to consume the rest of Orville' and Wilbur's lives to prevent history from being rewritten. They became embroiled in nasty feuds with Curtiss and the Smithsonian Institute over credit for their inventions and the right to claim first to fly.

   While Kelly does an excellent job at presenting the case in favor of the Wrights, who undoubtedly deserve the admiration and gratitude of mankind--he was a personal friend of the Wrights and I'd like to read other viewpoints on the legal aspects of their later battles. Kelly may have been too close to render an objective and balanced picture of them. The brilliant brothers did seem to be a couple of characters. Oddly, there is no mention in the book of involvement with women. Were they a couple of male spinsters? --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of BIG ICE and WAKE UP DEAD.




4. A great little book. A must read for every airplane nut!! Wilbur and Orvill Wright show that common sense, Perseverance, and an unshaking belief in the scientific method overcame all obstacles to prove that man could fly while others with more funding and education failed completely. A true American Success Story

3 comments about Standard Catalog of American Light-Duty Trucks: Pickups, Panels, Vans All Models 1896-2000 (Standard Catalog of American Light Duty Trucks).

1. Bought this for my husband and he has spent many hours reading it has good write ups of the Trucks etc. This will get him more interested and wanting a Truck of this own some day.



2. There are not many reference books on light-duty trucks out there, and this is an excellent one for someone researching a certain vehicle. It fits what I was looking for.



3. While I found a few minor errors in some of the model information, I have to give this book a good review. All the makers are there including manufacturers that I had never heard of. There are hours of excellent browsing of the little guys as well as pages of excellent, and usable, information on the big names. My only major complaint with the book is that I am not happy with the paperback format. I would like a book that holds up a little better. Otherwise...Excellent reference work. And fun too!

No comments about Antique Airplanes Coloring Book (Colouring Books).

1 comments about Steel Canvas: The Art Of American Arms.

1. Having been a serrious engraver for just over a year now, I have amassed several books on engraving: mainly the "standards" for engravers: several of the Dover series of patterns, James L. Meek, Nimschke, etc. This has some of the finest and sharpest photos of engraving I have seen. And this book is cheap compaired to many of the others. Just plain beautiful. And --- worth every penny

4 comments about Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1946-1975.

1. This book is a good reference source for the meaningful information on cars produced through this period. We are not talking War And Peace, though from the heft of it you might think so. Very dry and factual. It also illustrates why alot of the 70's were a terrible time for cars. It even lists my old plymouth cricket!



2. If you are a car buff you have to have this book. I own this book as well as the now out-of-print American cars 1805-1942. These are the bibles of car history. No other books have what these have. A real bargain for all the detailed information you get. Strongly recommended.



3. Does anyone know if this book is available as a cd rom



4. The Standard Catalog of American Cars is the best source for in-depth information on all makes of American cars. In addition to thousands of photos, the catalog includes specs, serial numbers, production totals, and current values on a 1 to 6 scale. Specs include original prices, weight, options, engines, overall length, wheelbase lenth, locations of factories, and much more. It's a great first source for anyone that's thinking of buying an older American car. It arms the potential buyer with enough information to have an intelligent conversation with anyone selling classic cars. With the information in this book, I've talked to sellers and knew more about their car than they did. As an old car collector and hobbyist, I've found it to be an indispensable tool. The only criticism I have is that I wish it had more photos in general, especially color.

4 comments about Original Porsche 356 (Original Series).

1. 112 pages and lots of very nice photographs (about 200), all in colour. The text is nicely wrapped around the photographs. The photographs are all especially made for this book, so they are all new and unpublished before.

   The book forms an attractive and detailed guide to the Porsche 356 and the illustrations, besides being very nice, provide a good and complete reference source. It's the book to own when you like the classic lines of the Porsche 356.




2. This book has very nice pictures of the 356. There are, however, few of the US specification Porsche. The book, being a British publication, has a lot of photos of cars produced for the UK market. There are some really beautiful cars to drool over in here!



3. A "coffee table" book (as opposed to a workshop manual). Stunning colour photographs throughout and an excellent condensed history of the type. You would not be dissapointed with this purchace. I am certainly very proud of it.



4. This is a good basic volume for the first-time or prospective 356 owner. Filled with many color photos and just the right amount of charts, it explains the differences in years and models. It doesn't give enough detail to be the basis of a restoration, but it does makes a good read. A good supplement for any Porsche library.

3 comments about The Big Book of Massey Tractors: The Complete History of Massey-Harris and Massey Ferguson Tractors...Plus Collectibles, Sales Memorabilia, and Brochures.

1. product exactly as described - very informative. makes a great gift for any massey buff!



2. This is basically a worthwhile book and provides an excellent history of the development of Massey Harris.
   The background for each branch of the company is detailed and gives insight into the founders' thinking and lives. New insight into the Harry Ferguson connection and Harry himself was especially interesting to me. I would like to have more detail and insight for the later company leaders.
   The tractors for the most part are covered adequately, especially the early models. Many of the later models were not covered in much detail. For example the 100 series is sketched only broadly. It is so brief(for the 135) it gives incorrect information and leaves a misleading view of this tractor. The engine options are missed, including the change to the Perkins 3 cylinder gas engine. The photograph for the 135 is a golf course model.
   In general the photographs throughout the book are excellent.
   As with most tractor books there are errors. In this book the most glaring are related to photo descriptions. Page 194 shows a garden tractor with a belly mower, but the caption refers to a rototiller and sickle mower. Page 199 shows a tractor pulling a wagon but the caption says it is pulling a combine. There several other mislabled photos.
   Even with these editing problems this Big Book is worth reading.



3. I got this book for my husband. So he is the expert on whether it is good or not. He thoroughly enjoyed the publication. Illustrations are excellent. Written material is good