(Viking Studio/Madison Press) Text by Rick Archbold Paintings by Ken Marschall Immensity: that is the sensation rvading Rick Archbold’s illustrated history of lighter-than-air craft and their most infamous representative, the indenburg. It is a tale of epic scope, spanning years, with an immense and surprisingly engaging cast; and at its centre are the great airships, almost unimaginable in their size, grace, and ultimate fragility. It is a hauntingly nostalgic and tragic tale of a one era, recreated in painstaking and sometimes breathtaking detail. The book traces the development of lighter-than-air ships from the first balloon flights in the 1700’s to the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin’s pioneering development of the rigid-framed, gigantic, gas-filled airships that would become nonymous with his name. Zeppelin’s ships and their development were a focus of German nationalist pride in the early twentieth century, and his company would survive his death under the charismatic and courageous Hugo Eckener, master aviator and beloved global celebrity. But not even Eckener could stem the tide of Nazi domina- tion of both Germany and its zeppelins, and it was the Nazis who later scrapped the great airships after a mysterious fire destroyed the mighty Hindenburg and discredited zeppe- lins once and for all. Dreams of widespread passenger and military applications of the great airships died with the Hindenburg. uthor Rick Archbold also traces the development (and in many cases, the demise) of these crafts throughout the world in those early decades of airship experimen- tation before the Hindenburg’s fiery fate in 1937. The story of Count Zeppelin, Hugo

use of airships in war (from Germany’s infamous WWI bombers to the USA’s scout ships), and the few remaining airships in operation today (mostly for advertising and television purposes). And, of course, the rise and fall of the Hindenburg is reported in detail. —

Archbold skilfully weaves technical facts with firsthand accounts and a dash of imagination to vividly recreate the airships, the people, and their voyages. Augmenting this are the illustrations: a plethora of photographs provide excellent visual reference, and a series of paintings cap’ great moments in the airship saga with arresting vibrancy. There are also technical diagrams aplenty, including step-by-ste; reconstructions of airship disasters and detailed, fold-out cutaway schematic ofthe Hindenburg. Additionally, reproductions of airship mementos ranging from luggage stickers to charred mail from the

Hindenburg appear throughout the book, making it a miniature museum of airship This is a fascinating book from

re

memorabilia.

technical standpoint, packed with informa- tion on the zeppelins and related craft: but it is also a great story of a once-proud techno- logical achievement struggling to survive, and of the people whose lives were changed- - and in some cases, destroyed-- by this dream. Archbold and his collaborators succeed admirably as both historians a storytellers with this impressive volume, a lavish coffee table book worthy of the lavish

-airships it pays homage to.

-- Sean McQuaid

(Avon Books) Lawrence Block

Block is writer.

a good old-fashi After reading

cal y invest)

mates, wants something from him; he gets it for her; then she changes her mind. Aha! There} is a mystery| within the mystery. Read jt to find out who dunnit(s).

-- Kate Lehmann

NR

a a Rent Sethian c) This book is a collection of articles which were published in a literary venue for the New York alte

29

Portable Lower East Side,

a prostitute, a ete or an “‘outsider’’. The authors describe thei and perverse lives: for.example, there is one chapter on a mur. rostitute actually enj

his crime. In another?

‘Choices .

(Arion Books) arion Morra and Eve Pott Every doctor should have a ready supply of Choices available for canctr

unanswered questions on various cance ve now been answered, at long last! Being an American publication ices has certain sections concerning hospitals, doctors, where to get help, arid health insurance which are not applicable for Canadians. Choices offers little informa tion on alternative forms of treatment, and thus doesn’t present all possible choices. Nonetheless, it is an excellent -- Kate Lehmann _ ,

Edited by Kurt Ho

ér’s view of er work. I didn’t

like it. Most of the stories did not make sense because they were written

from the perspective of a junki

é This book is an interesting collection of smut. -- Jennifer Caseley

[ My First Puppy

(Andrews and McMeel) Written by Karla Olson Illustrated by Diane Blasius

readable pet book. Bravo!

for pet care, | found the humour appeal

The illustrations are colourful with

This little hardcover is a charmer from the cover (containing a reflective dog bone i.d. tag) to the tail, er, | mean end. Designed as a children’s source book to the child in me, especially the section on Puppy Astrology. Karla Olson has written an incredibly comprehensive and

an endless variety of breeds in realistic and fanciful

scenes. She uses colour and framing to draw attention to important text. Yes, the illustrations compliment the text. People of all ages will enjoy this book. The only possible drawback | could find is that the measurements are imperial rather than metric. But this could be a

good opportunity to teach children how to convert to metric! | just can’t find fault with this book-- although it may be a bit pricey ($9.95 American).

--Kate Lehmann

me

(November 1 9G ee

0 Main

Never? I).