Sports Books

I had the older version of this book and absolutely loved it. I've planned many weekend trips and vacations based on the hikes in this book. I've never disagreed with the authur about a hike being one of the top 100 in Colorado.
The new version has elevation profiles which are very nice. However, I don't care for the new maps. The old book had maps which were very easy to see. The new edition has topo maps which I think are too crowded and busy to be able to make anything out. I can't tell if there are streams next to the trails, which is very important to me as I hike with a dog and it's usually the first thing I look at.
There are several new hikes: Bear Peak (Boulder), Lake Isabel (W. of Denver), Mount Falcon (Denver), Devil Head (Sedalia). Red Rock Canyon (Colo. Sprgs.), North Cheyenne Canyon (Colo. Spgs.), French Pass (Jefferson/Fairplay), Tater Head Loop (Crawford), Mosca Pass (Alamosa), No Name Lake (Antonito), Rabbit Ears Mesa (Grand Junction) and Sarvis Creek (Steamboat).

This is a "must have" guidebook if you enjoy hiking in Colorado. Each hike is described in some detail with a ranking of how strenuous each trek is considered. The text is concise and to the point, but gives an adequate feel of each hike. There is at least two pages devoted to each journey and the hike descriptions are to the point. Many such descriptions were the sole reason I decided to hike some of these mountains and I was never disappointed.

The quality of the book is also to be commended. The paperback binding holds up after major 1,000+ mile car journeys I've made with the book thrown in the back seat. If you buy one guidebook about hiking in Colorado, make it this one. I highly recommend it for the description of each trail and just the overall feel of the book.

I picked this book up both for entertainment and because I was interested in learning more about the experience of thru-hiking the AT. Satisfaction was delivered on both fronts. The author provides just enough detail that you're there with him on the trail, while not boring you with constant day to day information which could get tedious. This is not a book for planning a hike, however is still a useful read for anyone who may be toying with the idea.

I won't pretend to know what it's like to be on the trail for 6 months and 2173 miles, but at the end of the book I felt a sense of not wanting it to end. When AWOL speaks of his longing and loss in the months following his hike the reader feels a similar nostalgia. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to spark their sense of adventure.

I've read almost a dozen books on thru-hiking the AT and this is simply the best. Honest and real in his actions and thoughts- AWOL represents the best you will ever encounter on the AT.

This book is very well written and gives great insight into the motivations and commitment that that form the basis for undertaking this incredible journey.

I highly recommend this book for hikers and non-hikers alike.

As soon as I finished reading Awol on the AT, I wrote the following note to the author:

"Just a quick message to let you know how much I enjoyed Awol on the Appalachian Trail. I read it for the first time last week, and I can't stop telling my friends about it. I've read a lot of books about the AT, and your book is now one of my favorites -- definitely the best-written. Your insightful descriptions of the sights along the trail and the mental highs are lows are absolutely top-shelf. You are truly a gifted writer. Some of your imaginative metaphors -- such as giant rocks that look like the backs of whales diving into the soft ground -- will stick with me forever. Although I've not (yet) hiked the AT, my fever to do so is getting stronger. Thanks for the added inspiration. By the way, if you aren't currently writing for a living, you absolutely should be. Excellent work. Adventure onward!"

If you are interested in hiking the AT, this is one of THE books to read.

I've been considering hiking the A.T. for many years now, after reading this book its a no-brainer. Insightful, funny, i felt as if i was walking up every mountain right beside Awol. This book is a must have for any reader who enjoys the outdoors and all the struggles and joys that comes along with challenging yourself and reaping every benefit.

This book is set in the time between the formation of the Negro League by Rube Foster in the 1920's and Jackie Robinson's cross over to the majors in 1947. This was the era of the Negro League's time of greatest activity and fame.
Black baseball had its own superstars. These included Oscar Charleston, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, and the great Satchel Paige. This was a period when Negro players frequently couldn't find hotels that would let them stay overnight or restaurants that would serve them. Frequently, they spent nights sleeping in their buses or in tents beside the road.
Not only is this book an intriguing account of Negro League Baseball, but Kadir Nelson's illustrative paintings are outstanding works of art.
The bind black players were caught in is illustrated by baseball's great white pitcher Walter Johnson's comment about the talented catcher Josh Gibson, "He can do everything. He hits the ball a mile. And he catches so easy he might as well be in a rocking chair....too bad this Gibson is a colored fellow." Gibson was so good that some people said Babe Ruth should have been called "the white Josh Gibson."
Nelson portrays the "triumphs and defeats on and off the field," as well as adding intriguing facts. Did you know that Satchel Paige had a wonderful singing voice? That Oscar Charleston was such a mean son-of-a-gun that he once snatched the hood off a Ku Klux Klansman? Or that Louis Armstrong owned the "Secret Nine" ball club and that Bill "Bojangles" Robinson was part-owner of the New York Black Yankees?
An especially moving part of this book deals with the exhibition and barnstorming games members of the Negro League played against white major leaguers: "I guess we beat those major leaguers as often as we did because we could out-think them. Baseball is a game of intelligence. For a long time, a lot of people thought Negroes could never play major league ball because they thought we weren't smart enough. It took them a long time to realize that nothing was further from the truth. Those major leaguers learned a lot by playing us, and we learned a lot from playing them. They learned we were men just as they were, and they would shake our hands and look us in the eye after we beat them, as did we. Maybe we did help change a few minds by playing baseball, after all."

In We Are the Ship, the story of the Negro Baseball League is told through the eyes of one who lived it. It has all the facts and figures to surely be a historical baseball book. It also has all the stories and personalities to be a very personable and emotional read. The voice of "We" tells the story from the very conception of Negro League baseball through Jackie Robinson's joining the Braves. The author takes care to describe all the important characters - building their legends with vivid language.
If this book were its story alone, it would be fascinating. But it is also filled - and I do mean filled - with paintings of the league and its players, owners, umps, and bus trips. The paintings are GORGEOUS. I don't remember any children's book that had illustrations that made me stop to study them for so long. The portraits are so intense - Nelson has most of the subjects looking right at you - THROUGH you - and I felt drawn in to look at them as hard as they were looking at me.
As a book club book, I think Negro League Baseball would be a wonderful subject to study and discuss as a club. There are many situations in this book that would be wonderful discussion - even debate - material. It would be interesting to figure out how to read it together, due to its length and the fact that it is so gripping it demands to be read straight through. It is so good I will absolutely HAVE to share it with my students.
This is sure to be at the top of the list of Newbery contenders for 2008!

Although I am far beyond young, I initially purchased this book because of striking Kadir Nelson artwork I have on a jazz cd cover, "The Heavy Hitter," by Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, an excellent, underrated 50s sax player. The cover features a Negro League slugger belting a long one, and that was what caught my eye. The music is fine, too.
Then, last spring, Sports Illustrated featured several more examples of Nelson's artistry, and I decided I had to have this work of art. The copy, though secondary and somewhat elementary for adults, still contains solid information on the leagues and players. Most baseball fans will still learn much they did not know about these unappreciated players and their times. For younger readers, it will be an impressive introduction to a part of baseball history they should know.
The art is superb, and the large pages make it even more impressive. I highly recommended this collection for all baseball fans and art lovers. This is one I will pick up frequently just to page through, and use as a reference for Negro League information. The price is right, too.
Overall, this is a labor of love, and the love shows clearly.

Mr. Nelson's illustrations/paintings are breathtaking. This book is absolutely gorgeous and a place I go when I need some inspiration.

I heard an interview with the author on the radio a few months ago and kind of tucked this book into the back of my mind as possibly interesting. Then when I ran across it in the bookstore I had to buy it. Kadir Nelson tells the story of Negro League baseball in a wonderful way that highlights both the joys the players had in playing as well as the challenges they faced - everything from lumpy ballparks and crowded team buses to the difficulties imposed by segregation and prejudice. He tells it from the "we" perspective that gives it an atmosphere of a voice speaking from the past but also makes it sound personal. He introduces us to many of the greats, men who would have been stars in any league, like Satchel Paige, "Cool Papa" Bell, "Judy" Johnson, Josh Gibson - the "black Babe Ruth" (or was Babe the "white Josh Gibson?") - and many, many others. He includes information on those who made the Negro League possible, like Rube Foster, and some of the team owners. I also thought numbering the chapters as Innings (with "Extra Innings" for the final chapter) was a clever touch.

But the text alone isn't what makes this book so great. The artwork is stunning in this oversize book, and hardly a page goes by that doesn't have a full page painting (including one fold-out). Some are simple poses of the men on the field and a few show them getting off trains or riding on the bus, but my favorites are the ones that show the action of the game. Several would be good enough to hang on the wall (as reprints, of course, not cut from the book). It has a look and style of the old depression-era artwork that was used in murals and public places.

My little-league son and I have been reading the book and have both learned a lot. Of course, segregation is a recurrent theme, and it's embarrassing to me that this is how things used to be, but I think it's important that my children understand how it affected real people. But we both enjoy reading not only of the challenges faced, but also the joys they had in playing the game we both love and their triumphs. The forward by Hank Aaron and the part about Jackie Robinson are nice in that regard. This is a beautiful book that baseball fans of any color will enjoy.

My sister already has a copy and loves it so much she wouldn't let my mother borrow it. So, I copy as a gift for my mom and she can't put it down. For anyone who is a runner and loves reading about the history of the Oregon running team and the history of Nike, this is the book for you. This book has history and sports. Enjoy!!

I knew that Bowerman coached Pre and had an influence on Nike and the jogging boom of the 70s, but Moore's biography fills in all the gaps from Medford to Mexico City. Bowerman's life reads like a case-closing defense of the Great Man theory of history, at least for track & field. His accomplishments are truly remarkable and well-rendered by Moore.

This is an invaluable read for anyone involved with coaching. The first chapters on Bowerman's ancestors also offer some insights into Oregon life in the small towns in the late 1800's early 1900's. Finally, the book is well written and easy to read. All around a worthwhile experience!

This is one of the first biographies that I could not put down. Bowerman was so much more than a running coach. This is a must read for any runner.

Bowerman was one of the best XC and Track coaches in the Nation. His story is captured in this books and tells remarkable tales of his life that will live in distance runners hearts for years to come. This is a must get book and is much better than any other book even Running with the Buffalos. Dont pass this book up!!!

This book starts with a brief history and background on Helio and Royce, as well as their fight philosophy. There is a brief section on what makes someone a good BJJ practitioner and how to train techniques.

It then moves into what this book is all about BJJ submission essentials. It starts with Helio demonstrating a number of his favourite submissions before Royler takes up the rest of the book demonstrating a plethora of other submissions.

The book covers submissions from all situations and positions whether standing, mounted (top and side), guard, from the back or fighting from the bottom. All techniques are explained in great detail to ensure that the technique you're executing is correct. This is enhanced greatly by Kid Peligro's large, clear photos, which includes close ups of grips and multiple angles etc when necessary.

Basically, this book is exactly what it says on the cover - an explanation of BJJ submission techniques.

What this book is not - while it may be a useful reference book for a newer student it doesn't go into fundamentals of wrestling such as basic positioning, transitions between positions, or wrestling theory. Applying these techniques without any of those basics in a fight situation is almost impossible. These are however, covered in other Gracie BJJ books. As such this book is most useful for those who already have wrestling experience, though this doesn't necessarily have to be in BJJ.

Once you have a good understanding of the basic of BJJ, this book takes your game to another level offering you many options in term of submission. To get the most out of this book, it is recommended that you master one technique at a time, then try to combine it with other techiques. For example, I found that the bent arm lock works really well with Kimura as a second attack option.

This is a great book by the Gracie's. But as you go along in the book you can see it wouldn't benefit a beginner much. It is for those already with brazilian jiu- jitsu experience.

A solid addition to the series - good fundamentals from the Grand Master Helio Gracie. Simple, yet effective techniques that are the foundation for any Brazilian Jiu Jitsu student. Royler takes it further with some great chokes. Good ideas to take to the mat.

Gracie Submission Essentials is 240+ pages of full color photos that explain how to do Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu submissions from almost any position. The photographs for each submission are large, clear, and plentiful - usually four or more for each technique. While those reading it will not be able to master the techniques without a partner, this book is an incredible starting point for those new to the sport and also a great reference for more advanced students. Kimuras, chokes, gogoplatas, omoplatas, locks, triangles, etc... they're all inside.

While there is an introduction section with brief biographies, interviews, and training tips, the primary sections of the book break down as follows:

- Grandmaster's Favorites. Helio Gracie dons a gi and demonstrates the basic (but devastating) submissions of BJJ. These include the standing kimura, choke from the mount, americana, various arm-locks, and the legendary rear-naked choke. 13 techniqus, 29 pages.
- Stand Up Submissions. Royler grapples with Megaton (I though that was MegaTRON the first time I read it) for the rest of the chapters. The standing techniques include standing chokes, wrist/arm locks, knee locks, the guillotine, and pretty much everything you'd ever want to know from the standing position. Since a lot of new BJJ practitioners don't learn these techniques in class (a lot of schools start rolling from the knees), this is an important section for any new student heading to a tournament to read. 26 techniques, 51 pages.
- Guard Pass Submissions. These are some pretty intense techniques that will take a lot of practice and timing to do properly and safely (most of them involve flipping your opponent over). 3 techniques, 7 pages.
- Side Control Submissions. A lot of newer students see side control as just a transition stage, and it is not. Leg-locks, knee-on-the-stomach attacks, chokes, americanas, spine-locks, arm-locks, and arm-crushers are covered. 19 techniques, 46 pages.
- Mount Submissions. Submissions from the mount are some of the most common, but can always be practiced. Chokes, triangles, nutcracker chokes, arm-locks, and the knee-split are shown. 9 techniques. 20 pages.
- Back Control Submissions. The submissions in this section are interesting because "the back" is a broad definition; these techniques tend to be defined according to situation and include "opponent bridges" and "opponent stands up." 5 techniques, 14 pages.
- Turtle and Half Guard submissions. This is a sort of a short "miscellaneous" chapter. The bananna split, chokes, calf-lock, and kimura are covered. 5 techniques, 12 pages.
- Guard Submissions. Are you comfortable fighting from your back? If not, this chapter is a MUST. Chokes, arm-bars, triangles, wrist-lock, omoplata, shoulder locks, crucifix chokes, reverse americanas, gogoplatas, and more. 25 techniques, 63 pages.

While this is one of the best books on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu submissions on the market, it is not the ONLY book you will ever need. It is VERY specific to gi (uniform) submissions, so not every technique will work in a no-gi environment (UFC, etc...). As well, this book does not cover movement - something that is critical to getting into proper position for submissions. Other books (including Royce Gracie's excellent Ultimate Fighting Techniques Volumes I & II - Volume I being a great reference for movement) are necessary to truly understand Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

It's about time someone finally got on the road on their bike all over the country, then sat down writing about the great roads in the United States that are a challenge to go up. Many of the climbs, that is. There's no book like this anywhere, and if you're into traveling with your bike, and riding up the big climbs, this is it.

The book does however fall short for me in a few ways. First, it's layout is somewhat scattered, like it needed better editing in it's organization, but also in it's material. The climbs it covers, it generally does well. It's also by all means not complete, there's no way it could be, but the book contains 50 pages of route profiles at the end. These profiles all generally look similar, and are of little practical use to most riders who will look at them and think, "yep, the road goes up". This space could have been much better used if it contained more climbs. Even if some of the descriptions were rudimentary. For example, in my home state of Oregon - a fairly mountainous state, there are only three climbs listed. But I can easily name 5-6 quality climbs that aren't in the book*. These climbs could probably be summarized on one page. Multiply that by fifty, and 250 more climbs in the US could have been added simply by removing the unneeded profiles.

The author did his best to remain objective with climbs, creating a ratings system to rate them. But even this is bound to create controversy among riders. He often mentions altitude, but without factoring it in. For example, even though Mt. Washington is rated higher than Mt. Evans, Mauna Kea, or Onion Valley Road by his system, I'd rather ride the former as the 14,000' altitude on Mt. Evans (close to it on Mauna Kea), and long steep gradient to 9,100' on Onion Vally is just murderous...to me. And here's where the book may be frustrating to some, sifting through the author's opinions, coupled with his ratings. Adding to this, he lists Most Scenic climbs, which is bound to create some quibbling by riders as well.

Some reviewers are complaining about the maps. They are simple, but to me that is fine. No one in their right mind would drive around the country using the maps in this book as a guide. They are simply meant to show you were the road can be found. From there, it's up to you to use a quality map, Topo!, Google Earth, and other maps or programs to find the details you need. I would however liked to have seen better quality photos of the routes.

Despite my complaints, the author is to be commended most of all for culling all this information, as there's no easy way you could find this out otherwise. While I'm hoping that a second edition pressing will be better edited and more comprehensive, you could spend years going through the entire book, traveling throughout the country, riding these rides.

* Five Oregon climbs that easily could have made the book: Lolo Pass, Larch Mountain, Newberry Crater, McKenzie Pass, Elkhorn Byway.

I agree with others that this is an excellent addition to the cycling library. Finally a place to find the big US climbs and to find out that they stack up well with those we have watched others climb for yrs. Most (but not all) of the big US climbs are out west which makes senses due to topography. The amount of data on each is quite good and accurate (I have done 20-25 of those listed) and the climbing categories and comparisons are very entertaining. The training sessions and memorable American climbing performances add to the value altthough if you are looking for a comprehensive training guide there are entire books devoted to that subject that you may prefer. As a climber I really like the way the data is presented as well. Maps and directions are clear (I do not understand prior reviews issues with this). I can't wait to get out on some of these climbs!

I think any cyclist will enjoy this book and if you like to climb then you must get this guide.

This book is a decent review of several climbs in the US but it is hardly "complete." The useful information in this book could easily be cut down to a couple magazine articles and it would probably have better flow than the book the authors produced. The authors focus only on the most notorious climbs in the US. If you have a subscription of Bicycle Magazine, you've probably already read about these. The section on "climbing technique" is very rudimentary and only a couple pages long. Again, you'll get more useful information from a good magazine subscription.

The organization of the book also leaves a great deal to be desired. The profiles of the various climbs are located in the back of the book, apart from the description of the climb. The descriptions are VERY brief, and more information can be gleaned from the profiles than the brief descriptions. The longest description in the entire book is for Mt Washington and it's less than a page. The descriptions come across as what the authors remember most about the climb, several months after the fact. It's obvious they didn't sit down right after the climb to describe it, because they leave out so many important details. Even using their descriptions to find the climbs would be difficult.

Just the appearance of the book is lackluster. Most of the book uses black and white photos and very simple drawings and maps to describe the routes. There are a couple of color photos but they're just piled into the middle of the book with poor notation. It looks like it was organized by a 12 year old.

This is not to say the book doesn't have a few merits. I enjoyed the lists of the most challenging or steepest climbs in the US, but even those lists seem to be incomplete.

I personally wouldn't recommend paying full price for this book. If you can get a good price on it though, it's not a bad reference to have on the shelf.

I am old and heavy but I still love going UP. I needed a guide to help find climbs and a true rating of one over the other. THE 100 Toughest USA Road Bike Climbs page is worth the price of the book! I have climbed Mt. Washington (#1) 3 times - Equinox (#7) - WhiteFace (#16) - Evens (#20) - Auscutney (#31) and Burke (#50) from the top 50. They are rated correctly - also Mitchell at #85 and Brasstown Bald at #82 are correct in the ratings after climbing them. Note Brasstown Bald is an inflated climb due to the tour - he rates it as a 2.14 Cat 1 - not the Tour of Georgia HC. The maps are great and the directions on how to start the climbs are priceless - you can NOT GET THIS INFORMATION anywhere else. If you are looking to DO climbs and not long winded descriptions of how to or what it looks like GET THE BIBLE!!! This book has changed my vacation planning. Next month is the Death Ride for me and 3 more passes from the book.

I was a little disappointed when I received this book because the focus of this book is really the west coast. If, like me, you live east of the Mississippi, don't expect to find many climbs within hundreds of miles of you. The sub-title should have been most difficult climbs in Western US with a few thrown in for the east-coasters.

The number of climbs in states are: MA-2; NH-1; NY-1; VT-5; GA-1; NC-6 and these 16 rides are it east of the MS. For the western states: AZ-5; CA-72; CO-14; HI-5; NV-6; NM-2; OR-3; UT-12; WA-2; and WY-7. Even in the Hill Climb Races section, the Core States bike race in Philly that includes the (in)famous Manayunk Wall isn't mentioned. I know the hills are where they are and not evenly distributed, but it would be nice if Summerson would have included some hills from other states for broader interest. It's entertaining to read about far-away hills, but not as much fun if it's not practical to visit them and challenge yourself against them.

I mistakenly didn't realise that this is a college textbook. It also reads like a college textbook on Japanese history. As a matter of fact it feels like I am studying! Anyway, a fine book but be warned, it's like taking Modern Japanese History 101.

This book was easy to read and understand. I enjoyed it so much that I did not even sell it at the end of the class. I reccomend this book to anyone even remotely interested in Japanese history.

Andrew Gordon covers the important aspects of Japanese history through time. He starts off by dealing with the Tokugawa and ends with the current political situation at the turn of the century. The appendixes provide a good account of Japanese government by listing the prime ministers and the country's election results since the end of WWII. Contemporary History of Japan focuses on important aspects of the Tokugawa regime such as its political, social and economic set up of Tokugaw Japan and focuses on its eventual downfall. The book continues with the Samurai revolution and the Meiji revolution that set the path for Japan to become a world power. Gordon then continues Japan in the early 20th centiru and how the countr began to change internallly as a result and how Japan dealt the Depressoin Crises in the 1930s, its wars with China and Russia and its eventual role in WWII and the American influence in the post WWII years. After the end of WWII, Japan becomes a dominant figure on the world stage with rapid economic growth unparalled else where in the world resulting in massive changes in society. Gordon does deal with Japanese economic troubles in the post WWII era such as the oil crises in the 1970s and the how Japanese bubble burst as well as other issues Japan is facing such as low-birth rates and changing gender roles.

Great background to Japan overall.

This is an outstanding book on the modern history of Japan since the early 19th century. Mr. Gordon writes exceptionally well; unlike most academics, his sentences are mercifully short. You won`t get lost in any run-on sentences that take up half a page. Having said that, however, this is not a book just for children. People who have lived in Japan for years or who have studied Japan extensively as graduate students will find something to learn in this book. The book has many appealing aspects. It devotes considerable time to discussing the lives of ordinary Japanese, and it makes for fascinating reading. The book is relatively short and can be finished in one week. Finally, the author`s emphasis on the similarities between Japan and other nations in the tumultuous modern era is most welcome. The Japanese are not a unique, bizarre people; like all people everywhere, modernity is something they have adjusted to and dealt with, with varying degrees of success and failure. Mr. Gordon`s book is well worth reading.

In A Modern History of Japan, Andrew Gordon sets to do the ambitious - to give a bottom up approach to writing a historical narrative - without ignoring the big picture. Gordon intertwines several interrelated events in Japan's continuing history pertaining to social markers - from the Tokugawa era to the present. By doing this he brings to presence a myriad of themes.

Gordon's book is a traditional chronological examination of the history of Japan. However, Gordon takes history to a different level by adding complexity. Gordon takes the time to examines, in some detail the issue of women in Japan's fast changing society, the ever changing identity markers of the Japanese youth with reference to their role in society, from the Tokugawa to the post-war era. Lets face it, modernization and democratization in Japan has been turbulent to say the least, and as examined in this sweeping book by Gordon, the causes and effects are many and as discussed previously - complicated. Gordon has a wonderful handle on the complexity despite his position as an outsider to the culture.

Deftly opening with the fall of the shogunate, Gordon deftly untangles and presents the interior and exterior pressures that form the impetus for the civil strife and the eventual Meiji "restoration." The "restorers" according to Gordon were alarmed by and reacted to European colonization. Gordon explains that the rejoinder to change, by all classes is intertwined with nationalism. Gordon navigates us through the postwar Japan were the national polity was more worried with reconstruction than with "history," setting the stage for the so-called Japanese economic miracle up to 1990 - which is really a result of Realpolitik and historical luck.

The book is nothing less than a comprehensive look into two centuries of Japanese history. The eclectic but solid mix of topics/themes includes landlord-tenant dealings since the Tokugawa era to the present, and lastly, the dangers Japan has to navigate through in this challenging yet promising post war era. Gordon ends the book hurriedly with a quick examination of the ever-changing party politics horizon in the present era.

Miguel Llora

I think the few pages of map/compass reading, undestanding and wilderness orienteering pale in comparison to all the games, gatherings and contests the author discusses.

For the price, vastly overrated, over priced.

I was mislead by positive ratings. Many better and more detailed books out there.

This book provides excellent instruction on land navigation. Even if you know nothing of how to use a compass or map when you begin reading, you'll have a good working knowledge by the time you're through with the book. It is well written, easy to understand and even includes a fold-out topographic map in the back (actually, about a third of a topographic map, but it gets the job done). The map allows you to work the exercises found in the book (which are quite helpful). The book was written some time ago and Hjellstrom does focus on the sport of orienteering, but as the entire point of that activity is navigation using a map and compass, I don't see this as a negative. As others have pointed-out he does not cover newer topics such as GPS or altimeters, but if you're buying it to learn to use a map and compass, that really isn't an issue either. This is a well written book that provides solid instruction and is certainly worth the purchase price.

Learn how to navigate in the woods with this guide to the compass. All boy scouts will love these tips. This is the most comprehensive guide of its kind.

This is the best book I have found on learning to use the Map and Compass and Orienteering. This book teaches you all you need to learn to be an "Expert". There are many exercises offered to help you teach Orienteering to a group such as your Boy Scout Troop.I bought a couple of other books on the subject before this one. I wished I had purchased this one first as I would not have needed another resource.

Very good basic map & compass course. Formal training in the military gave me a good working knowledge and the confidence to use it. This book will help instill those same principles.

A marvellous book. Remarkably written, griping, and inspiring. A must for all mountaineers.

This book may have began a genre of climbing/adventure accounts because it was written some time ago, and this, more than the content (in my opinion) is the reason this book is the number 1 mountaineering book of all time; at over 11 million copies sold.

The first part is a bit slow and sort of parallel's the teams slow slogging through the land to get to the mountain. Overall, this was a harrowing and heroic feat, and gripping to read. It also opens the door to following books which dispute Herzog's point of view.

Good, not great. And there are some great books about climbing.

Reading the other reviews of this book, I'm reminded of a quote from one of my favorite, although little known Sean Connery movies, where he plays an Arab pirate. At one point Connery says to his second in command: "It is good." "What is good?", replies the other man. "It is good to know where we are going," answers Connery. Alas, Herzog and his men didn't know where they were going, and spent a month wandering around looking. It would have been good to send out an initial recon group to find the mountain before they started out. Or, to paraphrase an english adventurer, "to lose a pack animal is unfortunate; to lose an entire mountain seems downright careless."

Wow! This is one of those real life adventure stories that has you wondering how much more the people can endure before they collapse and die. These guys climbed one of the world's most difficult mountains with old climbing technology. What they lacked in modern equipment, they made up for with strength and fitness. The more I read about mountaineering, the more I agree that it is 75% mental and 25% physical. Being in the best physical condition possible definitely gives you a better opportunity for success on high ground. If you liked this book, I encourage you to read my book "Rocky Mountain Adventure Collection". Best wishes on your adventures in life!

Herzog provides a detailed perspective of the famed Annapurna climb that has inspired numerous high altitude and arm chair climbers.

Suffering frostbite and unimaginable suffering, Herzog has made a statement, worth reading in his epic account. No other sport has it's center pieces so open in sharing their innermost feelings.

The b/w photos were relatively scare and of only fair quality.

This book is good at raising interesting questions and providing an analytical viewpoint. It suffers from the two main limitations of classical economics.

First, any analysis of a complex system with many interdependent variables requires making many assumptions. There is simply not enough data to control for everything. The author gets credit for effort, but almost every conclusion he draws could be seriously argued the other way.

Second, humans are not purely economic creatures. Sure, we respond to incentives, but we also behave irrationally. We get emotionally attached to teams and players, we live by superstitions, we are convinced that Brand X is better simply because we saw more ads for it. This book's old-style economic vantage point is ripe for challenge. Every conclusion here deserves a huge chunk of salt.

I am especially troubled about the author's treating of baseball like a physical commodity. Baseball is not a widget, it is entertainment. A more modern treatment would compare baseball to the music business or the movies, where network effects, brand, costless replication, venue, and fashion are the main drivers, not old-fashioned supply and demand for a limited product. There's another, better, book waiting to be written here by some other author whose specialty is the economics of modern media.

The book could be written better. In several places the logical introduction of ideas is misarranged, and in others the dryness parches the throat. Still, if you like baseball and your team has got lame announcers like most do, this book is worth a read. (If you live in San Francisco with the best play-by-play and color announcers in the business, then might as well save this book for the off-season.)

On Sunday, Dustin Pedroia made a dumb base running decision on the ball he hit off the Monster at Fenway Park, stopping after he rounded first then continuing on to second. The Red Sox had one out and nobody on, but according to sabermetrics, it was a good at-bat as his on-base percentage went up! Economist and baseball fan, J.C. Bradbury has produced a good enjoyable book using sabermetrics and microeconomics. His look into the on-field probabilities, general managerial decisions and the economics of the league are not without problems but are intriguing and at times enlightening.
As a baseball fan, part one - "On The Field" - interested me the most. He opens the book looking into the difference of Hit Batsmen between the American and National Leagues. The varying rules regarding the DH allow him to use the law of demand and the ideas of opportunity costs, which should interest an economist in baseball and a baseball fan in economics as a tool for understanding more than money. His theories into the dearth of left-handed catchers are good: Bradbury feels that the demand for pitchers with good arms means that lefties are more likely at a young age to be pushed that way then to the tools of ignorance. However, he doesn't look into what I always thought was the greatest hindrance to lefty catchers, most batters are right handed, and therefore the throw to second is generally that much more difficult. I would like to see somebody compare SB percentages when there is a lefty at bat, before I become unconvinced of it.
As an economist, I am most interested in part four - "What Field?" - where Bradbury looks into the economics of baseball teams, tickets, etc. He looks to the theory of monopoly and competition to show the optimal prices of tickets, teams in the leagues and games played in a season. For ticket prices, he shows a great example of discriminatory pricing between teams, rather than the more obvious between seats. How can baseball as a whole discriminate in prices between Kansas City's $18 a seat average and Boston's $44? Despite the obvious, I'd never pay $44 to see the Royals; Bradbury also shows that any monopoly with a grasp of its buyers is able to do this and that baseball is an example of economics in general.
Where he gets off track is the same old problem many baseball fans have with sabermetrics in general. The first is his look at the on-deck hitter. He tries to show that, in aggregates, the talent of the on-deck hitter does affect the pitches thrown to the batter. How does he make these decisions? You know, On Base Percentage! Yet, I have just two great examples of the fallacy of this. How many times was Roger Maris intentionally walked in 1961, when he hit 61 home runs? The answer is zero, because Mickey Mantle was batting behind him. The second example is a game I saw in 2001 involving the Red Sox. The Sox take out Carl "Dinosaurs Didn't Exist" Everett for Darren Lewis, as a defensive replacement in the seventh - .250 career hitter Darren Lewis. When the other team tied the game, between the 8th and 18th they intentionally walked Manny Ramirez four times, because Darren Lewis would just ground into a double play on the next at-bat, and the Sox couldn't score. Yet, this would not be shown in his look at the stats, because Manny's OBP and OPS actually went up in the game! Surely had the other team had been able to score to win the game, part of it was because Everett wasn't batting behind Manny.
Here's the other problem OBP versus the ability to hit in the clutch. Bradbury says: "The problem is that hitting with RISP [runners in scoring position] is not a skill, or at least not much of one we can identify, but a statistical anomaly" (155). Further he argues: "If a hitting with RISP is something a hitter can purposely alter, I have a hard time believing he is holding something back in non-RISP situations" (156). I have two arguments against this idea. First, Pat Tabler, in his 12-year career Tabler hit .282 for his career. But, with the bases loaded he hit 43 for 88 (.488). Surely, over 88 at-bats there must be some sort of edge. My second argument is David Ortiz!
Turning to pitchers, the road is even murkier. He looks to defensive independent pitching stats ERA, whereby if one looks not to a pitcher's ERA but to how he does when ball are out of play - walks, strikeouts and homeruns - we get a better metric of how good a pitcher is because he could have a good or terrible defense behind him. This is all well and good, but I've watched Pedro Martinez and Greg Maddux enough to know that there are some pitchers that when push comes to shove make better pitches in pressure situations. Strangely enough, these statisticians find the best pitchers who have the best ERAs have the best ERAs when the ball does not go into play. So?
Then there is the look at general managers. Specifically he looks to Bill Beane and his Oakland A's "Moneyball." Bradbury shows that Beane, using sabermetrics and undervalued players was able to field a team that made it to the playoffs four of the six times between 2000 and 2005 with a payroll one third of the league average. While this is impressive, the A's won 8 playoff games in that six year run. To win the World Series you must win 11 playoff games in one year. Apparently good GMs can take your teams to the playoffs, but then its just luck? Or, is it that you need more than aggregates when you get there?
If one were to extrapolate from the ideas of no clutch hitting, wouldn't there be no clutch pitching? Yet, Bradbury accepts that there are pitchers who are better at certain situations. Otherwise I would have tried to make Mariano Rivera a starter so he could pitch more of his team's innings, right? Despite some of its misplaced assumptions, I find that the book is an easy read. Although Bradbury would have been better placed on page 137 to quote Crash Davis from Bull Durham:

"You know what the difference is between hitting .250 and hitting .300? 1 got it figured out. Twenty-five hits a year in 500 at bats is 50 points. Okay? There's 6 months in a season, that's about 25 weeks - you get one extra flare a week - just one - a gork, a ground ball with eyes, a dying quail - just one more dying quail a week and you're in Yankee Stadium!"

than his own similar description of the same statistical phenomenon. Still I think this book is a must for any baseball fan after the Baseball Abstract and the Baseball Encyclopedia. Additionally for anyone teaching an intro to economics or intermediate micro class I would assign some of the chapters as "optional reading" for sports fans. The monopoly and hit batsmen sections could really bring these things into greater clarity. Overall: 3 ½ stars.

I just finished reading The Baseball Economist: The Real Game Exposed the other night. If you're not a baseball fan then you can skip the rest of this post without offending me. Besides being a book about something that I love, this book was written by a Wofford alum! All the more reason to reason to read it! The author J.C. Bradbury runs an interesting blog, Sabernomics, where he writes all sorts of interesting baseball articles. Sometimes they are specifically Atlanta Braves related articles, but they run the gamut from free agent player values to, and most recently, the steroid situation.

This book was absolutely fantastic and one that I would highly recommend to anyone that is either a fan of the game or loves statistics. Because the subject of the book is baseball, the regression analysis and formulas presented seem to flow naturally. The chapters are perfectly sized analysis in themselves that each make for an evening sit-down.

With chapters like "The Legendary Power of the On-Deck Hitter", "The Evolution of Baseball Talent", and "Scouts vs. Stat-Head" you know that you have something interesting in your hands. J.C. does a masterful job of laying statistical data to support his conclusions without losing the reader.

My personal favorite chapter, "The Extinct Left-Handed Catcher," looks at why there is no such thing as a left-handed catcher in baseball. J.C. looks for performance reasons and ultimately concludes "the benefits of using right-handed catchers are small, maybe the costs will yield some answers." These costs ultimately show their solution in the very simple revelation: "The biggest reason there is no left-handed catchers is natural selection. Catchers need good throwing arms. If you have a kid on your baseball team who is left-handed and has a strong arm, what are you going to do with him?" Any baseball person can easily answer this, he's going to pitch!

The entire book was filled with revelations similar to this! Every chapter brought statistical analysis into the equation to definitively prove relationships in baseball. Is any of this going to make me a better baseball player, coach, or fan? Probably not, but for anyone that has a passion for the sport I'm sure they will feverously consume this book with the same passion. It's obvious that J.C. also shares that passion and it carries through this work.

You can read my other reviews on my blog: http://doteduguru.com

I'm a rabid baseball fan and have read most of the sabermetrics books and have enjoyed most of them. I bought and read all the Elias Baseball Analysts books (if you have to ask you're not a hard core fan) in the series. That said, I didn't care for the subjects or writing in this book. The books needs more punch to make it enjoyable and interesting. I got through the first couple of chapters, then rapidly skimmed parts of the rest of the book.

If you thinking about buying the book for a friend don't. If I didn't care for the book, I can't imagine casual fans even going past its cover.

I work with economic theorists all the time, but I am not going to tell you this is a good book. Pieces of it are. Bradbury dwells on the steriods issue, prattling on and on about the lack of evidence. Yet, no where does he accept the challenge of studying the relative performances of the individuals to determine the effect of steriods. Rather, he just says it has never been proven. He even blurs the distinction of taking steriods for performance reasons vs. health reasons (and he never considers the differences in the steriods themselves!)

Some of his economic observations are interesting, those where he really studies the game and statistics. I, for one, can find other, more rewarding but boring books to give me a Saturday afternoon snooze. And Bradbury should stick to his statistical analysis of the game (where he excels), not the policy points (where he only debates under the ruse of economic theories).