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2/18/2009 - The Complete Book of North American Railroading
"Oversize, so-called ‘comprehensive’ coffee-table books about railroads are as ubiquitous as ‘Seinfeld’ episodes and usually about as deep. You’ve probably gotten at least one as a gift from your Aunt Edna, and after you opened it you probably never look at it again.
"You won’t let that happen, though, with this handsome, hefty new book from an all-star team of railroad authors and photographers. They reach pretty far – covering North American railroading all the way from 1828 to the present – but for the most part they do the subject justice. The content is comprehensive, offering separate chapters on all the important railroad eras, along with separate treatments of steam and diesel locomotives, freight and passenger trains, and more. Unlike so many of their competitors, these authors get not only the facts right, but the context as well.
"Best of all, the authors have lavished their subject with a feast of great photographs. Many photos are historical black-and-white gems from various archives and personal collections, covering mostly the steam and early diesel era; others are state-of-the-art color action photos taken by the authors themselves, including 140 by Jim Boyd, who once again shows how often he has been the right guy in the right place at the right time. Boyd’s action shots of contemporary excursion steam are definitive and help tell a larger story about locomotive technology. The book has beautiful design and the quality printing it deserves."—Trains, April 2010
1/29/2009 - Jimi Hendrix Gear: The Guitars, Amps & Effects That Revolutionized Rock 'n' Roll
"Hendrix’s gear is on full display with spec-heavy captions and text that decodes and breaks down each of the tools (as Hendrix calls gear in the book) with mentions of his alterations, preferences and settings. The book is crammed with memorable Hendrix gear porn, including the first Strat that he set a blaze in 1967 at London's Finsbury Park Astoria (also featured on the book's cover). Other visual golden nuggets include the actual Octavia used on Are You Experienced, the Super Lead used at Woodstock and a slew of smashed guitar bodies. Some smashed bodies feature Hendrix poems or paintings— including the psychedelically painted ’67 Gibson Flying V that later was recreated by Gibson for the 'Inspired By Series.' With the help of effects guru Roger Mayer and biographer Harry Shapiro Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy, Heatley navigates through all Hendrix's historic guitars, amps and effects with descriptions that place each piece of gear into the given album or live situation where he was known to use it. This book is a must-have Hendrix guide, as it’s a practical reference book on the tools of a significant craftsman.."—Premier Guitar, February 2010
12/30/2009 - Queen: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock
"This 288-page tome is overwhelming, overblown, pompous, theatrical, orgiastic, and self-indulgent. In other words, it’s a brilliant tribute to one of the greatest bands of all time. Although it’s an illustrated history, with gorgeous photos from every part of the band’s career and the members’ lives, it contains a tone of great writing to accompany the photographic story. From their humble beginnings as Smile to the world-beating success they would later achieve, Phil Sutcliffe does a great job of chronicling the band’s development and placing them in a historical context as he does so, with tales of the band opening for Hendrix and Pink Floyd, seeing the first Led Zeppelin tour, recording ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ mourning the huge loss of Freddie Mercury, and beyond. The guitar info is spot-on, thanks to a killer contribution form Dave Hunter that goes so far as to detail Dr. Brian May’s pickup selections on several tunes. In addition to the insightful prose of Sutcliffe, a general sprinkling of quotes form May and his eloquent mates makes this book impossible to put down."—Guitar Player, February 2010
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