Books by John Howells

In this volume, John Howells attempts to bring clarity to a confusing subject. Gardeners are bewildered with the choice of over 1000 clematis in the "Plantfinder". How can the gardener know the characteristics, growing requirements, attractions, faults and flowering time of so many?

Blown Out on the Trail is the second in a series of books dealing with the unreleased recordings of Bob Dylan. The first edition, Skipping Reels of Rhyme, which was nominated for the 2019 ARSC award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research, dealt with the years 1958 through 1975, often thought of as his peak creative years. This edition deals with the two decades from 1976 to 1996, often thought of as his "lost in the wilderness" years. This book is a guide to the best and most worthwhile of the rare and unreleased recordings from those years.

Beginning with the invention of movable type in the 15th century, itinerant artisans roamed the highways and byways of the world, working where and when they pleased. It all ended five centuries later, when computer typesetting replaced humans. Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Horace Greely (along with legions of much less famous printers) plied their trade and enjoyed adventures as tramp printers until it all suddenly vanished in the mid 1970s. A sociological study, as seen through the eyes of tramp printers themselves. Footloose and carefree, these adventurers enjoyed 500 years of freedom, working where and when they pleased. A vanished breed, today they live on through recollections, anecdotes, and memories of how it used to be, when printers worked with "real type."

In 1994, the first comprehensive website devoted to the works of Bob Dylan was created. This book presents some of the original articles written for the site, concentrating on the unreleased tapes of Bob Dylan, with commentary on the merits of each tape.Since the articles were written, most of the music described on the site has seen official or semi-official release, but the content contained in this book still holds relevance and acts as a sort of field guide to what's still out there.

A how-to-do-it guide to living in Costa Rica. Retirement, travel & business opportunities for a new beginning.

Analyses a range of social contexts in which human decisions shape technology in the market economy. This book covers such topics as: the social context for individual acts of creative insight; the development of the technology-market relationship; the management of R&D and technological standards; and, technological competition.