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February 21
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Deborah
gave  to:
The Roman War Machine (Paperback)
by
John Peddie
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my rating:
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read in August, 2008
Deborah said:
"I read this book for research purposes, and this book had the information I was looking for. The downside is that I couldn't read this book at night because it put me to sleep.
Some of the information wasn't relevant to my search for answ...more
I read this book for research purposes, and this book had the information I was looking for. The downside is that I couldn't read this book at night because it put me to sleep.
Some of the information wasn't relevant to my search for answers, but that same information might be exactly what others are looking for. For example, some people might not like that the book focuses too much time on modern British WWII examples of the same problems the Romans faced, but I found that interesting since I'm making a study of war, not just Roman war.
What I absolutely loved about this book is the details it went into: it had charts about how far did the various missile weapons reached, talked about how signals were passed along, how much food would need to be brought along, how many baggage carts, wagons, or mules needed to carry it, and the 'why' that's always stumped me: why an army could only move about 10-12 miles a day. The answer? The column was so long (when baggage carts, etc, were included) that the first part of the column would be reaching the new camp and starting to set up before the last of the column was even leaving the old camp! He crunches the numbers to prove it. These were just the types of numbers I was looking for, so I consider this book a jewel since I haven't found them elsewhere (in my admittedly small research done so far).(less)
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Deborah
gave to:
The Face of Battle (Paperback)
by
John Keegan
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my rating:
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read in March, 2008
Deborah said:
"I read this book to research what battle would be like in previous eras for the average soldier. This book certainly did that. I liked that the author quoted primary sources about the battle or from those who had been in the battles so the reader cou...more
I read this book to research what battle would be like in previous eras for the average soldier. This book certainly did that. I liked that the author quoted primary sources about the battle or from those who had been in the battles so the reader could better understand what those battles looked like first-hand.(less)
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Deborah
gave  to:
Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy (Hardcover)
by
Miyamoto Musashi
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my rating:
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read in February, 2008
Deborah said:
"I read this to do research on military strategy. The book was interesting from that respect and from a historical one, but even then a lot of what the book said seemed pretty obvious to me. It was worth reading for research, though, since I got some ...more
I read this to do research on military strategy. The book was interesting from that respect and from a historical one, but even then a lot of what the book said seemed pretty obvious to me. It was worth reading for research, though, since I got some important tidbits from it.(less)
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Deborah
gave to:
Beginnings, Middles & Ends (Elements of Fiction Writing)
by
Nancy Kress
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my rating:
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read in December, 2007
Deborah said:
"I have no problem coming up with the beginning and end of the book, but I do have troubles with the middles of my stories. I read this book when I was switching over to writing fiction, and I found the advice most useful. If you have trouble keeping...more
I have no problem coming up with the beginning and end of the book, but I do have troubles with the middles of my stories. I read this book when I was switching over to writing fiction, and I found the advice most useful. If you have trouble keeping your story on track or need help structuring your story effectively, this book will be a tremendous help.(less)
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Deborah
gave  to:
The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing (Paperback)
by
Jack Heffron
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my rating:
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read in November, 2007
Deborah said:
"This book has advice for every aspect and genre of writing. This is one of the first books I read when I switched to writing fiction, and parts of it were immensely helpful. Some of this advice I've hear again in many other writing books, but others...more
This book has advice for every aspect and genre of writing. This is one of the first books I read when I switched to writing fiction, and parts of it were immensely helpful. Some of this advice I've hear again in many other writing books, but others I've never heard again elsewhere despite the fact I found it insightful. I'd recommend this book to beginning writers.(less)
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Deborah
gave to:
The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon (Paperback)
by
Sei Shonagon
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my rating:
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read in February, 2009
Deborah said:
"This is a diary and notebook of a court lady in Heian era Japan. Some entries are detailed stories about a certain events she was involved in while others are lists of her likes and dislikes. It gives an interesting look into court life and what life...more
This is a diary and notebook of a court lady in Heian era Japan. Some entries are detailed stories about a certain events she was involved in while others are lists of her likes and dislikes. It gives an interesting look into court life and what life was like for a highborn lady of the time. (less)
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Deborah
gave to:
Life in a Medieval City (Paperback)
by
Joseph Gies
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my rating:
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read in January, 2008
Deborah said:
"I found this book interesting and easy to understand. It gives details about life in 1250 A.D. in Troyes, a city in the county of Champagne in northern Europe. It talks about town government, disasters, entertainment, education, religion, medicine,...more
I found this book interesting and easy to understand. It gives details about life in 1250 A.D. in Troyes, a city in the county of Champagne in northern Europe. It talks about town government, disasters, entertainment, education, religion, medicine, business (small and large), weddings, funerals, childbirth, children, housewives, and the home.(less)
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Deborah
gave to:
The Art of War (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (B&N Classics)
by
Sun Tzu
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my rating:
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read in February, 2008
Deborah said:
"I read this to learn more about Chinese war strategies. I found the Sun Tzu part of this book interesting. The added commentary, which gave examples from history to illustrate these principles, was fascinating and invaluable for my research.
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February 11
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Deborah
gave to:
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print (Paperback)
by
Renni Browne
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my rating:
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read in June, 2008
Deborah said:
"This is an excellent book that I periodically re-read, and I'd recommend it for any writer who's starting out. However, that recommendation would come with a warning since newbie writers often take the book's advice as a series of strict rules.
...more
This is an excellent book that I periodically re-read, and I'd recommend it for any writer who's starting out. However, that recommendation would come with a warning since newbie writers often take the book's advice as a series of strict rules.
The advice given by the authors will help make your writing much stronger, but you'll note that pretty much every published writer breaks one or another of these "rules." So read the book and apply the advice were it's helpful, but otherwise don't sweat the small stuff--just concentrate on writing an entertaining story.(less)
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Deborah
gave to:
Deep Water, Ancient Ships (Hardcover)
by
Willard Bascom
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my rating:
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read in January, 2009
Deborah said:
"This book focus on ancient ships in the Mediterranean. It talks about how the currents and winds are formed in the Mediterranean, what ancient ships were like and the difficulties they faced, the reasons why ships sink (both in the past and today), ...more
This book focus on ancient ships in the Mediterranean. It talks about how the currents and winds are formed in the Mediterranean, what ancient ships were like and the difficulties they faced, the reasons why ships sink (both in the past and today), and much more. The book was very, very interesting since this is exactly the type of information I was looking for.(less)
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