Books Reviews - Page 12

Just in time for the movie release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, this fun and flip guidebook lays out the how-to’s for all sorts of swashbuckling, Indiana-tested activities from previous films. You’ll learn how to mount and ride an elephant, identify secret passages and booby traps, deal with spiders, snakes and rooms full of rodents and avoid the wrath of God, plus dozens of other helpful hints for following in Indy’s adventurous cinematic footsteps—if only in your heroic daydreams.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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This collection of images from the National Archives, many never previously published, sheds fascinating light on a little-recognized facet of America's war effort—women who served as WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service) for the U.S. Navy during World War II. At work, rest and play in these 150 large-format duotone photos, these gung-ho gals remind us of the tremendous, often unsung contributions made by Americans from all walks of life who answer when their country calls.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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Timed to coincide with this year’s 105th anniversary of Harley-Davidson, this handsome special edition from the mapmaking gurus at Rand McNally is tailor-made for motorbikers. With guides to 25 scenic, open-air rides across North America, trip tips, seasonal information and a state-by-state Harley dealership locator, there’s also a pullout wall map that tracks routes from 105 U.S. cities to Milwaukee, the site of Harley Davidson’s Aug. 28-31 anniversary celebration. All in addition to Rand McNally’s always-useful, updated maps of all 50 states, Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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Stunning color photos bring you closer than you’d ever want to stand to some of the world’s most spectacular active volcanoes and take you on a tour of craters formed by these majestic mountains of fire, once thought to be the home of the gods. Even though Volcano is also full of facts—you’ll discover how and why eruptions occur, learn about legendary catastrophes and find out that about 50 volcanoes blow out somewhere on our planet every day—it’s the nearly 300 pictures that make you really feel the heat.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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With large-format reproductions of 1,000 world masterpieces spanning from the dawn of civilization to contemporary times, this spectacularly panoramic picture parade puts the history of art at your fingertips. Just don’t let it slip through and drop on your toes—at a whopping 13 pounds, it’ll leave a smashing impression on any little piggy too slow to wiggle out of the way!
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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Dog lovers will find their tails wagging with delight at these 450 vintage photographs of man’s best friend. From formal portraits to backyard snapshots, they present a spectrum of canines and span more than a century, warmly depicting the many ways pooches brighten our lives and make the world a sunnier place. A smattering of well-chosen quotes (“If you want the best seat in the house, move the dog.” “There’s no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy.” “Real men love little dogs too.”) give these anonymous, sometimes amusing, frequently heartwarming and occasionally puzzling frozen-in-time moments the resonance of doggone truth.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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What will the world be like a half century from now? Veteran TV journalist Mike Wallace asked 60 experts—including astrophysicists, biologists, Internet pioneers, medical gurus, astronomers, counterterrorism pros, energy researchers and contagious-disease scientists—for this lively round-up of informed crystal-ball gazing that foretells a futurescape of highly advanced technology, quantum leaps in medicine, dramatic strides in space and oceanic exploration, dangerous cocktails of population, politics and environment, and an array of other enlightening, often exciting and sometimes troubling scenarios. If you’re lucky enough to be around 50 years from now, you can find out how close they were to the mark.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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In this voyeuristic era when addiction and recovery are spectator sports on TV shows like Intervention and Celebrity Rehab, Negron—the former lead singer of ’70s supergroup Three Dog Night—plays a trump card. It doesn’t get any more real, or raw, than this harrowing autobiographical tale of a life and career ruined by drugs and other rock ’n’ roll excesses. And even though it has a happy ending, a recovered, resurrected Negron makes you feel the regret and ramifications of every wrenching wrong turn along a pathetic path of horrifically bad decisions.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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Behind “Happy Birthday to You” and “The Star Spangled Banner,” it’s the third most frequently sung song in America. The two guys who wrote it had never even been to an outing like it describes. In June, it will be come the first song ever to be commemorated on a U.S. postage stamp. It’s “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” and this handsome coffee-table book, released to coincide with its 100th anniversary, will tell you more than you ever imagined there could be to know about a song that’s become part of our popular culture. A delightful grand slam of information, trivia, vintage photos, illustrations and other artifacts, it even includes an audio CD that samples several of the 400 different known recorded versions.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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For five decades, it’s cropped up around the world—printed on banners, hoisted on signs, scrawled on walls, painted on faces—as an emblem of unity and harmony. But where did the now-ubiquitous peace symbol begin? This engrossing words-and-pictures exploration, timed to coincide with the symbol’s 50th anniversary in April, is a colorful journey into the story of one of mankind’s most universally recognized icons, born when a British peace-activist designer combined the semaphore signals for the letters “N” and “D,” for nuclear disarmament.
—Neil Pond, American Profile

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