1 comments about Arranbee Dolls: Identification & Value Guide.

1. I have many doll reference books and this one is great. Although it is not really a price guide. It does have great color pictures and has a great history of the Arranbee dolls. A beaufiful book. It is worth having in your collection.

1 comments about Carnival Glass: The Best of the Best : Identification Guide to Rare and Unusual Pieces.

1. I read the prior reviews before buying this book. I have found it very helpful in buying carnival glass. Without it, I would have been somewhat lost. I have a strong desire to buy the D Doty book on the subject as well now.

No comments about Kilim Rugs: Tribal Tales in Wool (Schiffer Book for Collectors and Designers).

1 comments about Bella Cosa: Fountain Pens (Bella Cosa Library).

1. A beautifully produced small book with more than 100 color photos of fountain pens from the United States, Germany, Great Britain, and Italy. Included are pens designed by Waterman, Parker, Montblanc, Shaeffer, Omas, Ancora, and Pelikan.

   While the short history of fountain pens and pen manufacturer histories are in English, the photo captions are in both English and Italian. The history of fountain pens and the artisans who developed them is drawn with a broad stroke from Egyptian history to the 1950s, including the 1884 patent by Waterman for the first truly workable ink feed fountain pen, the fountain pen's heyday in the 1920s, and its resurgence over the past few years.

   A brief history of several pen manufacturers concludes the book, and includes a look at United States makers Waterman, Parker, Shaeffer, Wahl-Eversharp, and Conklin; German manufacturers Montblanc and Pelikan; English-United States maker Mabie Todd; English designer Conway Stewart; and the Italian firms of Aurora, Omas, Ancora, and Columbus.

   A nice reference book and eye candy for the collector and an inexpensive introductory text for those looking at beginning collecting. Nothing in the book talks about how to collect and the like. This is just a pretty book with photos of some exquisitely made fountain pens.

4 comments about Civil War Cavalry & Artillery Sabers (Swords).

1. I have been interested in Civil War swords for the past 30 years. Unfortunately good sword reference books with pictures were limited. This volume answers allot of questions and has loads of images. As they say a picture is worth a thousand words.
   I recommend it as an excellent buy.



2. For years, the field of American Miliary swords has barely been addressed. Since Peterson's book, which is good, but by now quite outdated, there has been no orderly study of the field. Bezdek's books have been useful, but are not as comprehensive as Peterson's. The rest of what is out there has been amateurish. This has been particularly apparent if you are familiar with Jean L'Hoste's superb books on French swords. Finally, someone has come along, not only to fill the gaps, but to significantly expand our knowledge and understanding of American swords: John Thillman.
   This is a well-written, beautifully illustrated book on sabers of the Civil War era. If you own it, you will have at your fingertips virtually every reliable bit of information known about the subject, in a wonderfully useful form. Best of all, the author is planning further volumes to cover other sword types. There can be no doubt: this is the book to buy. It will expand not only your understanding of American swords, but sword manufacture, manufacture in general during the Civil War, and the use of swords and sabers during the Civil War. Bravo, Mr. Thillman. Keep up the outstanding, and seminal work!



3. For years, the field of American military swords has only been superficially addressed. The foremost book on the topic, has been Harold L. Peterson's The American Sword, 1775-1945. Though a very good treatment of the subject, it has grown to be quite out-of-date in scholarship (the first edition was published in 1954). Since his book, there hasn't been any serious publication dedicated to American swords that is until now. John H. Thillman, an expert on U.S. cavalry and artillery sabers, has assembled a comprehensive and meaningful guide to Civil War sabers. The first section contains notes on design, materials, and components and is followed by a 16-page color section of photographs. The main body of the volume lists, in alphabetical order, every maker, importer, foreign manufacturer, assembler, retailer, and model. An important feature of this book is that it includes all known sabers from the prewar period dating to 1833. Every make and every known variation is covered with full history, tables and illustrations. The work is extensively illustrated with close-up images showing particular details of the weapons and how to distinguish one from another, as well as photographs of officers who used them. A truly groundbreaking work.
   Civil War Cavalry & Artillery Sabers is well-written and beautifully illustrated. It is extremely easy to use when searching for a particular type of saber or manufacture. Sidebars in each section call out specific identifying characteristics and lists of inspectors of particular blades. The image quality is very good. A strong bibliography and useful index complement this book, making it easily one of the best works on American swords to come to light. The price might seem high, but at $79.95, it will be the most inexpensive lesson on Civil War swords a person can obtain. (originally reviewed for Military Trader magazine: www.militarytrader.com)



4. Beautiful book! Would have liked to see weapons of the north and south in the same book.

5 comments about The Complete Book of Magic And Witchcraft: Revised Edition (Signet).

1. This book has good factual material taken from several sources, provides good background and decent use material. Good for quick reference material and a good read. Recommended! Definitely worth the price!



2. It's nice to see works like this in print which aren't filled with fluffy bunny nonsense. This book is a nice, simple, compact collection of folk lore, recipes, spells, and incantations. I especialy liked the author's collection of herb and stone lore which touches on true folk remedies rather than new age fluff.



3. First of all this is NOT a book relating to wicca or neo-modern witchcraft, it is a compilation of magick lore and spells from many parts of the world, mostly middle ages europe with bizzare and often brutal recipies such as one "to cause the hair to grow wherever you wish" " Take the milk of a slut, and saturate therewith the spot wherever the hair is desired to grow." or to keep from drunkenness "eat a sheeps lungs after fasting."
   Good book for those intrested on folklore. The only gripe I have about the book is that it dose not always explain the origins of the particular spell.



4. I like the first three chapters, wich are very informative, and i like the Glossary, the planetary amulets are very acurate as well as the magical hours, some spells and potions are good but mosts are very gross, their are some other good information, but I got this book because it looked interesting, and i wanted an entertaining read! i see many people hear disscusing about this book, some say the fluffy wiccans dont like this book because its dark or somthing, and then some other people who say that this book has real witchcraft or somthing and that the wiccans are trying to hide it! But i realy dont know maybe some people are very paranoid and maybe others are very morbid! but i dont know!?! but i dont take this book very seriously and im not realy against this book either! I say its pretty interesintg, has alot of history, and information of older books, many wich you cant find anymore! oh and the main reason i would buy this book is for the biblioghraphy!



5. Many readers from the various paths of Wicca have ripped on this classic unfairly.The book predates the mass-marketed earth-based publications that have boomed in recent years.I see the book as a fore-runner of the standards produced by so many of the latest pagan writers today.The title should probably read ,'The Beginner's Book on Magick & Witchcraft'.The book's focus is too broad to give the topic of Witchcraft justice, given the size of the book.Many of the elementary aspects of magick and witchcraft are discussed here,such as terms,recipes,rituals,and spells.This book cannot be dismissed as 'innaccurate' by current followers of the magickal Earth religions.Yet,it does not expound upon the weighty topics and issues concerning the practices and axioms of the 'Laws of Witches & Magicians'.It's an excellent book to read,yet in concurrence with a vast assortment of other witchcraft books,to connect your spiritual mind's pulse with that of the hidden forces of Earth-Magick.

2 comments about Delphite & Jadite: A Pocket Guide (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. I highly recommend this book. Great photos. Excellent resource for information and prices on delphite and jadite.



2. This is a really good resource and easy to look things up, however I felt it was lacking in information. I would have liked to have seen a lot more "writeups" on each photo and item, detailing a little history about each. There were listings for each about the current value of items which was good, but there should be more details about manufacturers, markings etc. I am glad to have the book, but I feel the need to get one that is more comprehensive.

1 comments about Kovels' American Antiques, 1750-1900.

1. The Kovel's outdid themselves with American Antiques 1750-1900. It is a must for all American collectors. The breadth of coverage is amazing. A beautiful book full of new information. I found the illustrations exciting, by far the best they have done. All who enjoy reading and learning about Americana will love it.

5 comments about Tiger Patterns: A Guide to the Vietnam War's Tigerstripe Combat Fatigue Patterns and Uniforms (Schiffer Military/Aviation History).

1. This is an EXCELLENT book about Vietnam War Tiger dtripe uniforms. THis is a book for experts or for whom wants to be the Tigerstripe uniform expert. If you like to study Vietnam War stuffs. THe last thing you want to miss is this book.



2. Sgt Johnson's book on the tiger stripe camouflague pattern and its variants is an excellent book. Indeed, it is the authoritative reference on the subject for some time. The authour's methodical sysmatization and meticulious research have certainly provided militaria collectors with highly rigourous technical standards.

   Although this book is primarly for collectors, modelers and reenactors will find this book equally helpful in their research.

   Nevertheless, there are a number of glaring oversights that detract from the book's overall value.
   First, there's no index. Given the book's meticulous details and bewildering variety of tiger strip patterns, an index isn't merely useful; it's absolutely essential.
   Second, there's no bibliography. Its absence is inexplicable; how is the collector, modeler, historian or reenactor supposed to learn more about this pattern and become more discerning without the primary and secondary sources? Especially since the book is primarily for them.
   Third, I found the historical background of the tigerstrips rather too perfunctory.I would've appreciated to know how the French Indochinese lézard pattern evolved into the tiger strips
   Fourth, spelling mistakes mar this book and it's unjustifiable considering that the book is sold by a professional publisher and its price tag
   Finally, the authour makes cryptic referencs to the 1990 edition of the book. Yet when I looked at the inside page for the publication data, the book was published in 1999.
   Despite these glaring oversights, which can be corrected in a subsequent reprint, this book is highly recommended




3. When I purchased this book, I didn't expect to see all the diagrams and charts that it included. The author not only has photos and descriptions of the numerous tiger patterns, but he studied the different buttons and zippers as well! He has hand drawn pictures of patterns and cuts, and there are even a few personal photos of his family wearing tigers from his personal collection.
   
   I highly recommend this book for collectors and people who want to know more about Vietnam tigerstripes.



4. Tiger stripe Fan's Collectible Books.
   Very interesting book.
   Thank you.



5. The information in this book is edifying, but for an educated reader it can be tough going. I find it painful to read a book where the publisher has not invested the energy to make sure that apostrophes are placed correctly. The text of this book is sadly about on the level or many greengrocers' signs, repeating in published print common errors that I distinctly recall having addressed in middle school.
   In an apparent attempt to cover for his low state of literacy, the author has tried for an "educated" sound, replacing every instance of the word "in" with the word "within". He invents words like "asperse". Often, I can not tell what a given sentence means after several analytic readings.
   I would stress, however, that this should not reflect poorly on the author, who is clearly not an academic. It should reflect brutally on the reputation of his publisher for not taking editorial responsibility.

4 comments about A Life With Dogs.

1. There are a lot of books on dogs out there. Some are worthless, some are truely useful and meaningful (like Suzanne Clothier's 'Bones Would Rain From The Sky').
   This book is just completely enjoyable. You get a genuine feel for Mr. Welsch's love and regard for dogs, and for their love and regard for us. The frequency of laughs is no small benefit either.



2. As the official representative of Richard Lee Anderson, Jr...[the California Whiskey Heeler of Page 211] AND recipient of Roger's forgiveness...I have to tell you, after reading this book you'll probably want to trade your cat in on a dog, head to your Humane Society for more dogs or adopt your first.
   Dogs are good for your soul, Roger's books are great reading and Linda Welsch's illustrations are heart warming to behold.



3. Having seldom been without a dog in our own lives, my husband and I were recalling the antics of many of our dogs from the book's beginning to end. This fun heartwarming book from a true dog lover, richly enhanced by the artwork of Linda Welsch, is one of those that is practically impossible to put down until it is finished. We have enjoyed Mr. Welsch's writings for many years and are very proud to add this book to our long shelf of other dog books.



4. This heart-warming work is all a book of doggy stories should be!!! Sometimes I laughed, sometimes I cried, but was always moved to thought by his deep insights into the canine mind. His liberal philosophies and mystical religious tastes aside, this book should warm the soul of all who have ever owned a mutt.