Myron J. Smith

I’ve never admitted this before because it sounds so weird, but I enjoy a good bibliography. Beyond their use as a research tool and the source of those cryptic citations in booksellers’ listings, bibliographies are intrinsically interesting. There is fun in spending an hour flipping through a bibliography, experiencing the pleasure of meeting old friends and noting authors and titles that might open doors we never knew existed. It’s even more fun when the bibliography is annotated and show more boasts ample front matter, as is the case with Sea Fiction Guide.

Myron J. Smith, a distinguished and prolific bibliographer, and Professor Robert C. Weller of the U.S. Naval Academy offer an extensive listing (as of publication date in 1976) of novels and anthologies of short fiction related to the sea. Many entries include a sentence or two describing the book, and the more important authors such as Cooper, Conrad, Melville and Forester get several paragraphs. In the “Who knew?” department is the long entry on Edward Z. C. Judson, the progenitor of the “dime novel,” who wrote pseudonymously as Ned Buntline.

In the introduction, Smith and Weller consider the importance of sea fiction. More than just a good yarn featuring a character forged in the eternal conflicts of man against the sea and man against himself, the literature of the sea constitutes (especially for Britain and America) a “forum for airing national concerns, anxieties, and hopes.” On an even deeper level, S&W wax Jungian and suggest that nautical fiction “yield[s] fascinating understanding of our mythology.”

The bibliography proper is also preceded by a section entitled, “Craft Notes” -- seven brief, personal essays about sea literature by writers and academics, including Alexander Kent, Hammond Innes, Edward L. Beach and F. van Wyck Mason. Still more fun to learn what favorite authors think about the genre.

If you start, as I did, to identify books you’d like to track down and read, you may want to note Smith and Weller’s advice: “[S]ome specialized book dealers in larger cities have a large stock ready to sell you. Country auctions should not be overlooked, but beware of the antique dealer.” show less

This is a superb reference on the airlines. However, since it is so expensive, I'd like to add a caveat: This is an economic history with few, if any, anecdotes. Even the most swashbuckling, fly anything anywhere (and the hell with the flak) airlines are dealt with in a dry manner. The concentration is on capitalization, top management, relations with regulatory bodies, etc.
The illustrations are small black-and-white photos of well-known airliners in normal livery.

It sounds, and to some extent looks like the kind of oversize, pretty-pictures-and-forgettable-text books that clutter the bargain table at Barnes and Noble. In fact, however, it's a comprehensive survey of its subjects, with close attention to performance data, dates of usage, and differences between particular sub-models. If you want to know what a Vickers Viscount looked like, or sort out the differences between different models of Lockheed Constellation or Douglas DC-9, this is your book.

This comprehensive A-Z biographical encyclopedia is the culmination of the author's notable contributions over 40 years to Civil War maritime literature. Librarian and historian Smith (Tusculum College Library) describes his criteria for inclusion : "at some point in their wartime experiences, Western river water dripped, in one way or another, on their resumes." Smith has written previous works on these naval campaigns.... This new work assembles nearly 1,000 metiiculously researched show more profiles of Union and Confederate naval or military officers, navy secretaries, civilian steamboat captains and pilots, civilian contractors, and sailors awarded the Medal of Honor or who otherwise distinguished themselves. Informative entries vary in length and many feature photographs, but each provides name, rank, birth and death dates, vessel affiliation, occupation, a summary of war exploits, and a list of sources to assist in further research. There are three appendixes...a useful resource for anyone interested in the Civil War. Summing up: Highly recommended. All academic audiences, general readers. --E.M. Tinoco, University of Southern California. show less