3 comments about Tarasov: The Father of Russian Hockey : Hockey's Rise to International Prominence Through the Eyes of a Coaching Legend.

1. Simply because I remember most of the later events described in this book unfold during my childhood years, I found this book to be most interesting. It provides a great look into some of the hockey's most profound moments, and describes the system that has produced so many great stars. It is definately a must read for anyone interested in the history of the game.



2. While this book is most interesting , something is missing. Why does Tarasov completely leave out The Soviet Olympic Team losing to the US Olympic Team in the 1980 Olympics? Herb Brooks was an avid student of Tarasov and would often track him down with a bottle of vodka and pry the master for information he could use to develop his US teams to emmulate the great Soviet squads. Could it be the conflict between Brooks and AHAUS that this portion of Soviet history was blantently edited out? Shame on USA Hockey if this is the case!



3. In a blunt and descriptive review one of the greatest hockey coaches ever, points out the differences between hockey his way and hockey "our" way. What made the Russians dominate?? Tarasov reveals the answer...Why the decline of the Russian hockey program?? Tarasov fortells and describes why it happened..Do Russians enjoy playing hockey??...once and for all the father of Russian hockey destroys the myth of the stone faced Russians... For fans who want stories of internatinal hockey..this book has it. For people who want to become familiar with the history of Russian hockey this book will cover it. Coaches will also gain insight into a few of the revolutionary training and tactics that Tarosov introduced to the ice

No comments about Queen Victoria - The Story of Her Life and Reign.

3 comments about Henry Hudson: Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World's Least Understood Explorer.

1. This is a marvelous book about one of the least-known of the great explorers.
   
   As Corey Sandler says, very little is known about Henry Hudson except for the period included within the five years of his four voyages. And much of what is on the record is based on the testimony of the mutineers who were out to save their own necks.
   
   Instead, what the author has done is write a fascinating biography of the PLACES Hudson explored: Svalbard near the north pole, Novaya Zemlya above Russia, the Hudson River, and northern Canada including Hudson Strait, Hudson Bay, and James Bay.
   
   He uses the logs and journals of Hudson and some of his crew to put things in context, and then tells us the stories of some of the most amazing places on the planet.
   
   This is a most unusual book, a great read. And it delivers exactly what it promises: "The Tragic Legacy of the New World's Least Understood Explorer." Every page brought a new perspective on history for me. I highly recommend this book.



2. If you're considering buying this book you should know what you're in for. If you're expecting a biography of Henry Hudson you'll be disappointed. There is very little on Hudson in this book. What you get is a high-level overview of what Hudson is thought to have done and a whole lot of ramble on Corey Sandler's experiences visiting the places Hudson visited.
   
   There's not a whole lot that's known about Hudson. What there is comes from a few brief surviving documents. You get the text from those documents word-for-word with little if any interpretation from the author. That's the real disappointment of this book. If I wanted to read the text of the original documents I'd look them up myself online. What I wanted was expert interpretation and the telling of the story that these documents seem to describe.
   
   Sandler writes from Nantucket, an island he shares with the great historian Nathaniel Philbrick. But where Philbrick excels at taking scant information and turning it into a fascinating story, Sandler dumps the source information on the page and then rambles on about his own experiences in visiting the same places 400 years later. Unfortunately, it's just not very interesting. Thought you'd learn about Hudson's trip up the river that bears his name? You're going to get a little of that and then a whole lot of information on General Electric, PCBs, the environmental movement, and Pete Seeger.
   
   An earlier reviewer characterized this book as being 1/3 history. I'd put it more at 1/10th. By the end of the book you'll know little about Hudson, but all about Sandler's political views, summer camp experiences, family, feelings, travel preferences, and a whole lot of other personal detail. If that's what you're looking to read about, you'll love it. But if you read the title and thought you were instead going to read a biography of Henry Hudson, you'll be disappointed.



3. I am going to give this 5 stars. I'll list why in a second just let me tell you a few of my issues. First Sandler doesn't seem to interview that many people concerning the Clearwater Sloop, the Hudson River Keeper or the many, many other environmental organizations dedicated to keep the Hudson clean. He also brushes over the Storm King case. Sandler does not mention the Indian Point nuclear power plant.
   
   Ok now that's out of the way let me explain a bit why this book is excellent.
   
   First of all its one-third history, one-third travelogue and one-third PSA for keeping all the places Henry Hudson visited clean. The history part is fairly typical in that we don't know much about Hudson; he may have been a bad captain nothing that new or exciting. But overall it's still interesting and a good introduction for those unfamiliar with Hudson.
   
   Then comes the travelogue sections. These are really interesting mostly because of all the unique people the author met on his travels. In reading the book the former director of Clearwater, Andy Mele, comes off as a pretty genuine guy. He's not a crazy tree hugging hippe but just a regular guy that wants to do some good. Most of the environmentalist people come off this way. Some people may not like this but honestly try spending a night near the Hudson...smell that? Yeah, that's the river. I did enjoy Sandle's search for Hudson's monuments and as he mentions in the introduction the most obvious ones are the Hudson River and New York City.
   
   The best parts are the sections that are basically the PSAs about environmentalism. There are numerous digs at GE for dumping PCBs and our society in general. Having lived for four years about 100 yards from the Hudson I must say it's easily one of the greatest sights in the world. But its also one of the biggest dumps too. I think it's terrible that the river is so polluted that you can't go for a swim or eat a fish from there. I had a picnic with my girlfriend one day in Hyde Park right on the river and it was pretty easy to spot all the trash washed up on the shore. Ok enough gushing as Sandler does a much better job explaining this then I do.
   
   In conclusion just read the book. It's excellent.

No comments about Heart So Hungry: A Woman's Extraordinary Journey into the Labrador Wilderness.

1 comments about Life Lived Like a Story: Life Stories of Three Yukon Native Elders (American Indian Lives).

1. I appreciated all that the women shared regarding their Native history, culture, what it was like to live as they did and how things have changed-for better or worse. The editor did a sensitive and intelligent job of bringing out the uniqueness of each women's story. I spent last summer up north and this gave even more color to what was already, for me, a trip never to be forgotten.

No comments about Like Father, Like Son: Ernest Manning and Preston Manning.

No comments about The Mad Trapper: The Incredible Tale of a Famous Canadian Manhunt (An Amzing Stories Book).

No comments about Of This Earth: A Mennonite Boyhood in the Boreal Forest.

2 comments about Footsteps of the Hunter.

1. A typical book in the genre of war memoirs. The text illuminates the human aspect of the war as seen from the perspective of a regular pilot. Adolf Dickfeld served with III./JG52 with the famous Hermann Graf. Later on he was transferred to II./JG2 and II./JG11. The author offers some unexpected details about the life of an occupational force in the various theaters of operations. Episodes of aerial duels are interspersed with accounts from the daily routines of his unit. The Dickfeld memoirs are sparse on details of historical events. The book offers few dates of events and no maps. Also, few references are made to the overall context, in which the author operated. Unfortunately, memoirs by front-line troops often share this lack of factual documentation and I have grown to accept it.
   
   There are two problems with this book though. The first one has to do with the rather poor editorial work on this publication. There are several spelling mistakes and clumsy translations of German terms and expressions. The second weakness of the book is that the author is torn between remorse for the war crimes of the occupational forces and the blind bitterness of a conquered combatant. Sometimes he would erupt in apologetic diatribes. Other times he would try to rationalize German atrocities by comparison to other historical (supposedly similar) events. Both sources of these emotional outbursts are off-beat in my humble opinion and detract from the readability of the text. In that sense, Luftwaffe Fighter Ace by Norbert Hannig and Alert in the West by Willi Heilmann are better reads on the same subject.



2. He wrote a good book on small histories of his war. But no many on aerial war ! it's curious, i like his writing but why he doesn't speak of these planes or comrade ( gunther rall, 5 sentences, we don't know about of his first victory, etc...). Curious !

4 comments about Lure of the Labrador Wild (Arctic Adventure).

1. I am an adventure traveler and canoeist, and an avid reader of adventure writing. This story was told best, last and forever in the book, "Great Heart: The History of a Labrador Adventure." It is written by experienced canoeists and guides James West Davidson and John Rugge. These talented authors create atmosphere, characterization and drama that is unforgettable. I have returned to the book many times. If the story of the Labrador adventure intrigues you, I implore you to read "Great Heart."
   
   Every canoeist, from novice to expert, should also own their other book, "The Complete Wilderness Paddler." The authors use the story of a wild and wooly trip down the Class IV-V Moisie River in Canada as a way to teach everything from how to plan a trip to how to survive the torture of black flies. It is hilarious, brilliant, insightful, genius! You can read it over and over and learn new things about canoe camping. Even if you'd never set a paddle in a river, you'll love the graceful writing of Davidson and Rugge.



2. A wonderful book, very readable and absorbing. The strength and courage of these three men is inspiring and can only be imagined. E.g., making a 40 mile portage, half starving, carrying a canoe and several hundred pounds of supplies and equipment, or having to wade across a river (up to their armpits) that was encrusted with ice along its banks and having their now-wet clothes start to freeze on their bodies while they try to build a fire. However, the 3-star rating is not because of the writing or the adventure: this version (Lyon Press, 2004) has no maps and no photos. Photos would have added another dimension to understanding the spartan hardships of such an adventure, not to mention conveying the author's meanings of barren, difficult, or heart-breaking - all of which I thought were understated. And oddly enough, these photos are readily available - a google search will locate many, and the Canadian Virtual Museum has 67. The photos along with the text would have added substantial impact to the question, "How could they have endured this?"
   
   But the lack of a map is intolerable. Maps are referenced half a dozen times by Wallace in the first half a dozen pages: their inaccuracies, their incompleteness, and the details his map now provides. Since a major navigational failing of the expedition is due to an inaccurate map from the Canadian Geological Survey (circa 1896 - and also available online via the CGS website), its absence is unforgivable. Another CGS map that got Hubbard so excited because "Unexplored Territory" was written across northern Labrador is another "must have" exhibit. Without a map, the reader has no idea where these men started, where they wanted to go, where they got lost or how they returned, or can understand the sad realization that a dream predicted an accurate route to safety but was ignored.
   
   I spent more time online looking up maps of Labrador, trying to find the various missteps of the explorers (e.g., the Nascaupee, Susan, and Beaver Rivers) than I did reading the book. If you don't want to get lost reading this incredible adventure, then buy a version of this book that contains maps. I found this version of the book very frustrating.



3. I couldn't put this book down once I started and really enjoyed the read. It has a place on my shelf of classics and just a very real story that is captured extremely well in words.



4. I'm ordering a second copy to give to my fellow canoers who head for the boundary waters canoe area wilderness. We travel with up to date equipment and maps. The fellows in this book "winged" it with what was then state-of-the-art gear. This book is a great contrast between wilderness canoe travel from this century to the last century.
   The account is truly chilling at times. You are tempted to exclaim "these guys must have been nuts!!" But their journey was truly an adventure. Few of us would have the stones to attempt this today.
   If you do any form of wilderness trekking or canoeing, you will really like this book.