Sunday, August 21, 2011

Doc Savage - The Man of Bronze


Our recent new listings include five of Lester Dent's stories about Doc Savage, a fictional larger-than-life character created by Henry W. Ralston and John L. Nanovic for Street and Smith Publications.  The stories were originally published in the 1930s and 1940s in the pulp magazine Doc Savage Magazine, and comprised 181 issues, mostly written by Mr. Dent under the by-line of "Kenneth Robeson".

The character of Doc Savage is one of near-superhuman abilities, having been trained from birth for great strength and endurance, a photographic memory, mastery of the martial arts, and an encyclopedic knowledge of the sciences.  He is a physician, surgeon, scientist, adventurer, inventor, explorer, researcher, and musician - a twentieth-century renaissance man times ten squared.  Because of his skin, hair, and eye coloring, he is known as "The Man of Bronze".

sabreblade writes in a 2010 Hubpage post
"Doc was a man for a simpler time.  He was a hero with no real faults.  You couldn't corrupt him, he didn't kill, he didn't lie, he didn't mope about past failures (he didn't fail), and he wasn't driven by tragedy and revenge."

The Doc Savage oath sums up the character's mindset:
"Let me strive every moment of my life to make myself better and better, to the best of my ability, that all may profit by it. Let me think of the right and lend all my assistance to those who need it, with no regard for anything but justice. Let me take what comes with a smile, without loss of courage. Let me be considerate of my country, of my fellow citizens and my associates in everything I say and do. Let me do right to all, and wrong no man."

The world would most certainly be a better place if those ideals were universally embraced.  Perhaps it is a good time to (re)discover The Man of Bronze.






Keep Reading,
Diana

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Coastal Collections Now Offering Free Shipping!

Coastal Collections is happy to announce Free Standard Shipping on U.S. Domestic orders of $25.00 or more.


Stock up now on your favorites, spend $25 or more, and choose the Free Shipping option at checkout.


Easy said, Easy Done!





Keep Reading,
Diana

Monday, August 1, 2011

Presidents, Politicians, and Pundits

We live in a world of tension and uncertainty.  I often think about how our present world seems to be sinking into despair and disaster, and then wonder whether this uncertainty always exists.  People talk about "the good old days", when life was better or more understandable, and when a person knew where he or she fit.  The present American political situation is a good example.  Sometimes I just want to shake my head and cover my ears when I observe the antics of our congressmen and women as they flounder in their roles as representatives, and as I look for those who have a solid understanding of and commitment to the founding principles of our republic.  Is this present turmoil just a bump in the road?  Can we expect or have reasonable hope that sanity and principles will prevail?  And will we ever understand and learn from history why governments and civilizations fail to thrive?  I do hope so.

I have selected a few books from our many listings in our Political Science category which may be of interest to those of you who like to dig into the underlying ideas of political theory.  Just click on the book titles for more information on any particular book.


Comparative Political Parties : Selected Readings, by Andrew J. Milnor (editor). Published by Thomas Y. Crowell, 1969. Paperback. The Social Contract, by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Published by Penguin Books, 1983, Reprint. Mass Market Paperback.
Comparative Government and Politics, by Dell G. Hitchner and Carol Levin. Published by Dodd, Mead & Company, 1968, 2nd Printing. Paperback. European Politics and Government: A Comparative Approach, by Clifford A. L. Rich (editor). Published by The Ronald Press Company, 1962. Hard Cover.
States' Rights Vs. Federal Power: Which is in the People's Best Interest?, by
Douglas A. Smart. Published by Scholastic, 1968, Stated First Printing. Paperback.
Considerations on Representative Government, by John Stuart Mill. Published by University of Chicago, 1947, Reprint. Paperback
Major Ideologies: An Interpretative Survey of Democracy, Socialism, and Nationalism, by Alexander J. Groth. Published by John Wiley & Sons, 1971, 1st Thus Printing. Paperback. Between Two Worlds: Realism, Idealism, and American Foreign Policy After the Cold War, by David Callahan. Published by HarperCollins Publishers, 1994, First Edition, 1st Printing. Hard Cover.
American Political Parties: An Uncertain Future, by Richard L. Kolbe. Published by Harper & Row, 1985, First Edition. 1st printing. Paperback. Bush in Babylon: The Recolonisation of Iraq, by Tariq Ali. Published by Verso : New Left Books, 2003, First Edition, 1st printing. Hard Cover.
America's Future: Transition to the 21st Century, by William H. Boyer. Published by New Politics Publisher, 1984. ISBN: 0030711215. Paperback. Towards a New Cold War: U.S. Foreign Policy from Vietnam to Reagan, by Noam Chomsky. Published by The New Press, 2003, 1st Thus Printing. Paperback.
War, Peace, and International Politics: Second Edition, by David W. Ziegler. Published by Little, Brown & Company, 1977. Paperback. Catastrophe, by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann. Published by HarperCollins, 2009, First Edition, 1st printing, Signed by Author. Hard Cover.



Keep Reading,
Diana