Paul Theroux, the author of the train travel classics The Great Railway Bazaar and The Old Patagonian Express, takes to the rails once again in this account of his epic journey through China. He hops aboard as part of a tour group in London and sets out for China's border. He then spends a year traversing the country, where he pieces together a fascinating snapshot of a unique moment in history. From the barren deserts of Xinjiang to the ice forests of Manchuria, from the dense metropolises of Shanghai, Beijing, and Canton to the dry hills of Tibet, Theroux offers an unforgettable portrait of a magnificent land and an extraordinary people.

A comprehensive look at the LMS/BR Class 7 4-6-0 rebuilt locomotives, including the rebuilt Jubilees, the rebuilt Patriots and the rebuilt Royal Scots. The book includes hundreds of photographs and feedback from the original crews that operated the engines. Topics covered include: origins of the rebuilt Class 7s in the 1940s and the design of the 2A boiler; differences between the classes; liveries, names and finally, name plates; detailed allocation tables. There are chapters on the rebuilt Class 7s to the rescue - the severe winter of 1962/3; the decline of the Class 7s and withdrawal in the 1960s and finally, the preservation of the Class 7 rebuilds.

Each 96 page, hard cover book in the series is 10 1/2" x 7 5/8" and contains color and black and white photos, drawings, charts, and catalog facsimiles. Each classic model is presented in its historic and developmental aspects.

Ron Gluck, bush pilot and international relations liaison, glances back in time, anecdotally revisiting flying, language gems, and conversation slices occurring from 1963 to 2007 in Papua New Guinea, Cameroon, Washington, D.C., and New York City.

He flew five thousand accident-free hours mostly in single engine planes over uncharted mountainous terrain of Papua New Guinea and later in charted Cameroon. The safety he attributes to God's grace and to superb maintenance by fellow JAARS specialists.

The incidents revisited were central to events that took place but were never scrutinized. Dismissed as coincidence, they were accepted as "how things worked out." In his review, Gluck suggests a continuing role of the Creator in the world today in ways seldom discussed, but alluded to with these questions.

Is not the living God, maker of heaven and earth, still involved in weather, ideas, timing, and answering prayers?

Doesn't He who gives life also sustain heartbeats and breathing in every living being, including those reading this profile?

"What a precious manuscript ...just now finished reading it and did not want it to end."

--Linda Hancock, librarian

"Reading your book at same time as John 7:18. You've glorified Him."

--Kenneth Gray, PhD, Economic Research Service, USDA, retired

"Your Lamnso story showed how Bible translators have given one isolated culture after another a giant step forward, reducing their speech to texts that can then be read by others. No wonder the Lamnso were thrilled, and deeply grateful "

--Robert Park, professor emeritus of law, the George Washington University

This book traces the life of Isidor and Ida Straus, both German Jewish immigrants who arrived as children in America in the early 1850s. Isidor's father, Lazarus, was an itinerate peddler in Georgia, but within one generation the family became the wealthy owners of Macy's Department Store in New York. A Titanic Love Story follows the Strauses' life from Talbotton, Georgia, where an anti-Semitic incident caused them to move to nearby Columbus. The devastation of Columbus at the end of the Civil War brought the family to New York, where Isidor met and eventually married the young Ida Blun. Ida and Isidor balanced the demands of business, family, and service to others and carved out their individual roles in those domains. A Titanic Love Story emphasizes their work together as a couple, focusing not only on Isidor's important roles as businessman, member of congress, and philanthropist, but also on Ida's contributions as an intelligent partner, the soul of the household, and matriarch of the family, as well as a stalwart supporter of her husband and one who engaged in philanthropic and creative activities of her own. The Strauses were wealthy Jews within their New York community, and as people committed to the welfare of their family, their city, their country, and those less fortunate than themselves, they dealt with their own grief, illness, and occasional brushes with anti-Semitism. Ironically, their final happy days in the south of France lead to their unexpected sailing on the Titanic. Both died as they had lived, with dignity, honor, loyalty to one another, and compassion for others. The public outpouring of grief at their deaths, even by today's standards of over-the-top journalism, was remarkable.

The Rest of The Edsel Affair is the second of two books that tells the story, from a highly publicized beginning to a barely noticed ending, of the Edsel automobile, introduced by Ford Motor Company in 1957. The Edsel was unusual in that it introduced a vertical front design with wide, horizontal tail lights. The engineers designed brakes that could be tightened by reversing the car while pumping the brake pedal (still a feature of cars today) and shifting the transmission by pushing buttons on the steering wheel. C Gayle Warnock, the Division's Public Relations Director and responsible for the car's public introduction, told the first part of this interesting story in The Edsel Affair published in 1980. Now, he returns with the rest of the story, beginning with why and when the car's abolishment was first recommended to the Company's Executive Committee, and who made the suggestion. The author then traces the beginning and the rapid growth of the three Edsel Clubs, the popularity of the car as a "collectible" and the car's Golden Anniversary party in Dearborn, MI in 2007. The Rest of The Edsel Affair is entertaining and reads like a personal letter from home. Even if you don't have an Edsel, or ever heard of it, you will enjoy the surprising details and enduring stories in this historical tale.

Die Schweiz verfügt über eines der dichtesten Eisenbahnnetze der Welt. Dies ist keine Selbstverständlichkeit: Nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg wurden in fast allen Industrieländern zahlreiche Eisenbahnstrecken stillgelegt. Der motorisierte Individualverkehr triumphierte über das Massenverkehrsmittel aus dem 19. Jahrhundert. Dennoch blieben bei den Schweizer Eisenbahnen Streckenschliessungen grösseren Stils aus. Das Buch untersucht die Antwort der Schweizerischen Politik auf die vermeintliche Agonie der Eisenbahnen vom Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs bis in die frühen 1980er-Jahre. Die Basis hierzu bildet eine quantitative Analyse der Schweizerischen Eisenbahnwirtschaft, gefolgt von der Darstellung eines umstrittenen Stilllegungsfalles mit Signalwirkung für die gesamtschweizerische Gesetzgebung. Der Politikvollzug, der von der Abkehr von reinen Wirtschaftlichkeitskriterien bei der Eisenbahnsubventionierung und der opportunistischen Ausdehnung der Staatshilfen auf einen grösseren Empfängerkreis geprägt war, bildet einen weiteren Schwerpunkt. Die Darstellung wird durch die Analyse der Triebkräfte hinter dem Wandel der Schweizerischen Bundesbahnen vom gemeinwirtschaftlichen Verwaltungsunternehmen zum ökologischen Massenverkehrsmittel mit einer ausgeprägten Management-Kultur vervollständigt.

Information on routine servicing and repair for the DIY mechanic, with tasks described and photographed in a step-by-step sequence.