I was hooked on ghost-town photography the instant I viewed my pal’s photographs of Belmont, Nevada—the crumbling old buildings, abandoned mining equipment, dilapidated fire truck, crumbling courthouse, and all manner of detritus scattered through the site. Images flashed through my mind of the town in 1905, when it was fully functional as the county seat […]
Tag Archives: History
Book Review- The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945
Rating – Five Stars Toland presents in this superb tome a view of the Pacific War (1941-1945) that most of us have never thought about or seen. He writes in a smooth, engaging style. We are engrossed in the narrative of this page-turner. We view the details of this horrendous campaign from the Japanese perspective—it’s […]
Book Review- Killing the Rising Sun
Rating – Five Stars Bill O’Reilly hits a home run with his compendium of the 1940s Pacific War. He writes in an easy, sparse, and empathetic style. He paints the big pictures of the major land and sea battles and tells the stories of the “grunts” that did the fighting and dying. We know these […]
Book Review- Amelia Earhart: The Truth at Last: Second Edition
Rating – Three Stars For the aficionado of the Amelia Earhart disappearance, Campbell’s book is a must-read. He has assiduously reviewed the relevant literature regarding her last flight and, with keen ingenuity, he has compiled a compelling account that purports to unmask the enduring enigma of that flight. From the pertinent publications, he has excerpted eyewitness […]
Book Review: The Wright Brothers
Rating – Five Stars The Wright Brothers is an outstanding book. McCullough narrates an insightful, compelling, and empathetic account of Wilbur and Orville Wright—brothers and the inventors of the airplane (a manned craft that under its own power could take off, make turns, and return to its starting point without any assistance from the ground […]
Early Leica Cameras
Ernst Leitz GmbH, Wetzlar produced their first Leica camera in 1913. In 1925 Leitz introduced the Leica model 1A and continued its production until 1930. The model 1A was the first mass produced 35mm camera of high quality. Following were a series of several dozen cameras with constantly improving functions and reliability. Introduced in 1933, […]