Editorial Review

Is there such thing as a Western Taoist? Benjamin Hoff says there is, and this Taoist's favorite food is honey. Through brilliant and witty dialogue with the beloved Pooh-bear and his companions, the author of this smash bestseller explains with ease and aplomb that rather than being a distant and mysterious concept, Taoism is as near and practical to us as our morning breakfast bowl. Romp through the enchanting world of Winnie-the-Pooh while soaking up invaluable lessons on simplicity and natural living. ... Read more

Reviews (187)

What An Awesome Book
I love this book. It isn't dogmatic and it doesn't so much alter one's thinking as it does challenge someone to pay attention to the nature of individual perception. Perception is not as it's claimed"everything" but it does go a long way toward shaping how a person views the world, and Pooh is simply a master of life. What else can you say?

Tao of Pooh is simple and easy to understand
I read this book in high school as part of epistemology course. It is very easy to understand the basic principles of taoism through the ideas of pooh and his friends. I suggest this book for all philospohy students.

Those who "mis-understand"
For those of you who are curious about this book and may be turned off by some of the "negative" comments, allow me to offer my humble opinion. I think that those people who did not like this book or felt it did not explain taoism, just really don't get the point. Taoism most certainly isn't something you seek and seek and then get frustrated at not finding, then angry, and then seek and seek. Taoism seen especially through Pooh's eyes and actions (or should I say "inactions") comes so near the mark to beginning to understand this ancient philosophy of harmonious existence on earth with the earth, and the duality of all things. I highly recommend this book for that open minded, non-judgemental, person open to the concept that indeed anything is possible...too many of us are so grounded in what we "absolutely know to be fact", when in reality anything in this universe is truly possible. Please explore this book on your path. I also highly recommend the companion book to this, The Te of Piglet, which delves ever more into taoism. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (Alan Alexander),    2. 1882-1956    3. 20th century    4. Books and reading    5. Characters    6. Children    7. Children's stories, English    8. Eastern - Taoism    9. General    10. Great Britain    11. History    12. History and criticism    13. Milne, A. A    14. Philosophy    15. Winnie the Pooh    16. Winnie-the-Pooh (Fictitious character)    17. Novels, other prose & writers: from c 1900 -    18. Philosophy / Taoism    19. Religion    20. Taoism   

Reviews (5)

This book would even make the Sun King proud
What an amazing book, it is nothing short of spectacular.The pictures are vivid and the book quality is of the highest caliber.The other reviewer was correct in noting that the reader has to been careful with this book, the pages are so heavy that it will pull from the binding if you are not careful when positioning the book.I have always had a facination with Versailles and this book really captures the chateaux, it makes you feel like you are stolling the gardens and taking in the sumptuous wonders of the palace. Unlike other books on Versailles this one is complete, it covers everything and in striking detail.I urge anyone with any interest in Versailles to buy this book, even used at 200 U.S., it is a bargain.I assure you you will not be disappointed in this book.

NEWEST EDITION BETTER BOUND!!!!
Five stars PLUS! I have a new edition and it is very well bound - no need to worry about it falling apart! If you've ever been to Versailles this book will mist you up! If you're planning a return trip this book will be your bible... It is amazing how inexpensive this book is when you consider the spectacular colour photos.

Really deserves 10 stars! However, I must warn you...
This is THE BEST book there is on Versailles (which is probably why its normally a hundred bucks!) There is only one problem I have ever had with the book and that is the poor physical quality. I had to order it twice because my first copy fell completely apart within a few weeks. Needless to say I was not happy at all when that happened. Every copy that I have seen (in libraries, other bookstores) has the same problem. Normally, I would not have tried again after that, but I HAD to have this book. My second one has also begun to separate from the binding, so I rarely read it... but when I do, I use **EXTREME** care. I think the main reason for this is the size and weight of the book, so if you decide to purchase it, keep that in mind. I recommend turning the pages *slowly* and not leaving it completely flat and/or open for any long period of time. Also, store it horizontally, NOT vertically... the pages are so heavy, they will end up tearing themselves out! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 17th century    2. Architecture    3. Chateau de Versailles (Versai    4. Classicism in art    5. France    6. Gardens    7. History    8. Interior decoration    9. Public, Commercial, or Industrial Buildings    10. Reference    11. Versailles    12. Art patronage    13. Louis    14. Public buildings: civic, commercial, industrial, etc   

Reviews (2)

Enlightens and Entertains
Every once in a long while we delight and surprise ourselves when we pick up a book that enlightens and entertains. It's the pinnacle of excellence reached by but a few non-fiction writers. Miller is one of those writers. His book, the story of the Eighth Air Force, is one of equal parts bravery, terror, and glamour, with some of its men becoming the most celebrated personalities the war. Miller chronicles the heroic feats of Robert Morgan, pilot of the legendary Memphis Belle; of Paul Tibbets, who later would fly the Enola Gay on the A-bomb mission to Hiroshima; of Curtis LeMay, the most celebrated combat leader of the bomber war; and--one of the key figures of the book--of Robert "Rosie" Rosenthal, leader of the Bloody Hundredth, who flew 52 combat missions, was shot down three times, and later became a member of the team of prosecuting attorneys at the Nuremberg Trials.
Disclaimer --Am Still Reading this Book.It's Great!
This is a 521-page account of the Eighth Air Force that I never intended to buy for myself.To me, car repair manuals are usually more interesting than dry WWII books filled with numbers and dates. World War II is truly my father's domain.He has had a 50-year fascination with WWII and could probably teach a college course on the subject.
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Subjects:  1. Aerial operations, American    2. Biography    3. Bomber pilots    4. Campaigns    5. History    6. History - Military / War    7. Military    8. Military - Aviation    9. Military - United States    10. Military - World War II    11. United States    12. Western Front    13. World War, 1939-1945    14. History / Military / World War II   

Reviews (111)

This will have you in awe.
Hampton Sides has written a very readable classic.Ghost Soldiers gives a blow by blow account of the rescue of the remaining Allied (mostly US) prisoners from the Japanese POW camp at Cabanatuan, Philippines.The smallest details are noted, many of which are harrowing.What the POWs went through during their three years of captivity after the fall of Bataan will shock you although readers who are familiar with WWII will know what I mean.The highs and lows of man's character are laid out for all to see in this book and you can't help but be moved.
Better Than The Movie
Hampton Sides' telling of the rescue of 500 POWS, survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March, by U.S. Army Rangers in the Philippines during the waning days of World War II is an outstanding job of reportage. Sides tells the story from the eyes of the rescued and their rescuers, building suspense that wasn't always present in the The Great Raid, the film adaptation of his story. As a working journalist for more than 30 years, I know I good story when I read one, and this one falls into that category.

another story that needs telling
When I was a kid, my father and uncles spoke with reverence of those who were on the Bataan Death March.These men who were heroes in my eyes regarded the Bataan guys as REAL heroes.They described the march as the most horrible treatment ever received by US military personel.Only recently have I really begun reading books about the Pacific war, and I stumbled over this one after seeing the trailer for the movie.I'm really glad I found it
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Subjects:  1. Cabanatuan    2. Campaigns    3. Concentration camps    4. History    5. History - Military / War    6. Military    7. Military - Strategy    8. Military - United States    9. Military - World War II    10. Philippines    11. Regimental histories    12. United States    13. World War, 1939-1945    14. History / Military / World War II   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (148)

Falling angels and rising tides
Author John Berendt doesn't tell a story, so much as paint a portrait in The City of Falling Angels-appropriate, perhaps, since the American view of Venice is so colored by art and architecture. The reader gets a protrait of a Venice that is simultaneously cosmopolitan-the playground of nobility, titled and untitled-and provincial-Berendt's Venetians are often distrustful of outsiders, and frequently resentful of the millions of tourists who throng the city, bringing traffic, environmental decay-and money. Though it was once the seat of an empire, Venice today is as much a tourist town as Las Vegas or Orlando.
Another City - no angels
It just didn't do it for me.Like so many other people, I loved Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.It was such a rich, unexpected book and came alive in the reading.But, I fear John Berendt had only one in him - one great story.He found a crime and a city and another series of characters, but he just didn't find the magic.
John Berendt has a formula - and it works well.
John Berendt has a formula - and it works well.
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Subjects:  1. Description And Travel    2. Essays & Travelogues    3. Europe - Italy    4. History    5. History: World    6. Social History    7. Social life and customs    8. Travel - Foreign    9. Venice (Italy)    10. History / Social History   

Subjects:  1. 1945-    2. Cold War    3. Foreign relations    4. History - Military / War    5. International Relations - General    6. Military - Nuclear Warfare    7. Nuclear Energy    8. Political Science    9. Politics/International Relations    10. United States    11. World politics    12. American history: postwar, from c 1945 -    13. Europe    14. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    15. Former Soviet Union, USSR (Europe)    16. History / General    17. History, World | Modern    18. International relations    19. Postwar period, 1945 to c 2000    20. USA    21. War & defence operations   

Subjects:  1. 476-1492    2. Europe    3. Europe - General    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. Medieval    8. Medieval World History (Circa 450 - Circa 1450)    9. European history: c 500 to c 1500    10. History / Europe / General   

Reviews (95)

Captivating and Proficient Historical Account ...
David Fromkin's "A Peace to End All Peace" is a wondefully researched and well-written account that covers the political creation of the modern Middle East from the period starting during World War I and the years immediately subsequent to it.Although Fromkin tackles the project in a somewhat predictable, chronological manner, his book is supremely researched and engaging thanks in part to the book's prescient subject matter.
Just the facts
This book is actual history.There is little agenda or argument that does not rise directly out of the facts presented.Only the introduction and the conclusion put forth speculation as to cause and effect.Given that, this book is likely too detailed for many, but the personalities of Churchill, Lloyd George, Ener, Talaat, Kitchener, Sykes, T.E. Lawrence are drawn through their documented action, and the history really moves.It's a fascinating story and essential as the details of WWI are not as clearly understood as are those of WWII.However, this book seems to suggest the opposite of its stated case.It turns out that the Middle East lands were largely ignored prior to WWI, and without the knowledge of or appetite for oil, it is easy to understand why.
wrong-headed
This is not a book for the general reader.It'stoo long, too detailed, and it requires too much knowledge of history, geography and politics.I give it two stars because Fromkin has labored mightily to produce an argument about the most volatile,yet from the West's perspective, strategic region in the world.
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Subjects:  1. 1914-1945    2. Foreign relations    3. General    4. Great Britain    5. History    6. History - General History    7. History: World    8. International Relations - General    9. Jewish - General    10. Middle East    11. Middle East - General    12. Politics and government   

Reviews (164)

Heart-Warming, Moving Account of the Holocaust
The story of Corrie ten Boom and her family and their work in the Dutch underground during World War II has been around 35 years but this is the first time I've sat down to read this amazing story.I am so glad I did!Built on the premise that love will conquer all, the story shows what relatively normal people can accomplish in extraordinary times.
A Tale Of Love, Courage, And Compassion
In Corrie Ten Boom's book "The Hiding Place", she gives an exciting account of how during the terrifying years of the Holocaust and World War 11 her entire family strove to hide as many Jews as they could from Nazi forces.
A Moving Tale
This is a beautiful, beautiful book. I could read it over and over, and feel touched, inspired, and renewed again. I first tried to read it when I was about twelve years old, but it was two heavy for me. Then I read it a few months ago, and it came alive. This is one book I would definately want to add to my library soon. I love the Ten Boom family - especially Betsy. I am looking forward to meeting them all in heaven someday. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Historical - Holocaust    4. Personal narratives, Dutch    5. Ravensbruck (Germany : concentration camp)    6. Religious    7. Ten Boom, Corrie    8. Women    9. World War, 1939-1945    10. Biography: general    11. History / Holocaust   

Editorial Review

World War II may have ended in 1945, but according to historian Tony Judt, the conflict's epilogue lasted for nearly the rest of the century. Calling 1945-1989 "an interim age," Judt examines what happened on each side of the Iron Curtain, with the West nervously inching forward while the East endured the "peace of the prison yard" until the fall of Communism in 1989 signaled their chance to progress. Though he proposes no grand, overarching theory of the postwar period, Judt's massive work covers the broad strokes as well as the fine details of the years 1945 to 2005. No one book (even at nearly a thousand pages) could fully encompass this complex period, but Read more

Reviews (34)

Turns a bright light on a dimly lit corner of recent history.
Postwar is truly a huge achievement.While it is a long book, it is actually short given how much ground Judt covers and how effectively he covers it.the book starts with a great synopsis of some under-stated facts and thoughts about the impact that WWII had on Europe as a whole and on its constituent parts.This book is worth reading for that synopsis alone.
worthy, not perfect
I have just finished Mr.Judt's tome on modern Europe. I am a little embarrassed to admit that it took me several months. I enjoyed learning the information; the book is certainly filled with detail. It is not by any means an easy read or a "page turner, " however. Although I agree with some other reviewers that the US' role is deemphasized a bit, overall I felt the author was fairly objective. In contrast to a reviewer's comment that the French will love this book, I would argue that the author reveals the French during this periodas deeply flawed. Certainly the Soviet leadershipproperly receives a great deal of blame, as do many of the citizenry throughout Europe.I agree that the book's strength lies in the breadth of the information, which at first seems overwhelming but is kept semi-manageable. Mr. Judt is less successful in neatly synthesizing all the info, but I personally think that that is primarily a realistic function of the subject matter. I did find the epilogue discussing specifically the treatment of jews a little jarring in its placement.
What is the future of Europe?
"Postwar - A history of Europe since 1945" by Tony Judt is the best book I have read on the subject.Its perspective on events since 1989 up to 2005 is remarkably good.
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Subjects:  1. 1945-    2. Europe    3. Europe - General    4. Europe - History    5. History    6. History - General History    7. History: World    8. Post World War II History    9. History / Europe / General   

Features

• Box set

Reviews (151)

vgmani
I dont know how to rate this!! The book... I am yet to read! But I received collectorS edition within a collector edition! The book is printed upside down while the cover page is printed straight!

The Life of Vladek
The combination of volume one and volume two of Maus instills emotion, unfelt by any Holocaust story.Spiegelman (hey that's me; so of coarse it's a must read) implements humor, details, and characters that allow for a stunning plot of the life of his father Vladek. The relationship between Mala and Vladek, is humorous and tragic at the same time. I don't want to reveal too much plot, but would like to end writing the animals characterizations of personalities is ingenious.

Excellent Book
I am ordinarily very uninterested in graphic novels. Just seems like a stupid format to me. BUT, this was a great book. It is just the right story and right presentation for someone like me to enjoy. I highly recommend it and will probably give other graphic novels a chance ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Children of Holocaust survivors    6. Comic books, strips, etc    7. General    8. Historical - General    9. Holocaust    10. Holocaust survivors    11. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    12. Poland    13. United States    14. Biography & Autobiography / Literary    15. Biography: general    16. Jewish studies    17. The Holocaust   

Editorial Review

A beloved classic since its initial publication in 1947, this vivid, insightful journal is a fitting memorial to the gifted Jewish teenager who died at Bergen-Belsen, Germany, in 1945. Born in 1929, Anne Frank received a blank diary on her 13th birthday, just weeks before she and her family went into hiding in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. Her marvelously detailed, engagingly personal entries chronicle 25 trying months of claustrophobic, quarrelsome intimacy with her parents, sister, a second family, and a middle-aged dentist who has little tolerance for Anne's vivacity. The diary's universal appeal stems from its riveting blend of the grubby particulars of life during wartime (scant, bad food; shabby, outgrown clothes that can't be replaced; constant fear of discovery) and candid discussion of emotions familiar to every adolescent (everyone criticizes me, no one sees my real nature, when will I be loved?). Yet Frank was no ordinary teen: the later entries reveal a sense of compassion and a spiritual depth remarkable in a girl barely 15. Her death epitomizes the madness of the Holocaust, but for the millions who meet Anne through her diary, it is also a very individual loss. Read more

Reviews (560)

'Anne Frank, better than ever'
'The Diary Of A Young Girl: The Definitive edition' is more or less the un-cut version of the book that was originally published in the late 1940's. it contains approx. 30% more material, and in my opinion makes Anne more relatable than ever, particularly to adolescents.
Diary of Anne Frank
Anne Frank "The Diary of Anne Frank"
Unbelivable story
I have just finished the Diary Of a Young Girl and i have the strong feeling that i was moved back in time, as if it was 1944.
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Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Historical - General    5. Historical - Holocaust    6. Holocaust    7. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    8. Jews    9. Women    10. World War, 1939-1945    11. History / Holocaust   

Editorial Review

In 1992 a young art student uncovered a clue in an obscure Italian archive that led to the discovery of Caravaggio's original Read more

Reviews (81)

Expected more
There were several flaws with this book.
Serendipity is the Handmaiden to Luck and Hard Work
Jonathan Harr has done a masterful job of taking us along as two art historians follow different clues that lead to the proof that a rare find (the finding of Caravaggio's "Taking of Christ") is the original.Two art students looking to follow the provenance of one of Caravaggio's other paintings, stumble upon a lead as to what had happened to another of his pieces.
amazing and true
An amazing true story told as if it was the best of fiction.The author does a great job of developing the some curious, some quirky and some normal characters into the sequence of chance events and meetings that leads to one of the most amazing art finds as a lost Caravaggio painting is uncovered.The author does a masterful job of setting facts down like exciting fiction.A very interesting book for art lovers, art likers and mystery buffs. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Attribution    4. Betrayal    5. European    6. Expertising    7. History - Baroque & Rococo    8. History - Medieval    9. Jesus Christ    10. Painting    11. Painting, Italian    12. Social Science    13. Sociology    14. Sociology - General    15. Subjects & Themes - Religious    16. Art / History / European   

Reviews (8)

A Must Have!
First of all, please note that this is a coffee table-type book. It is oversized and oddly-shaped. So if that bothers you, steer clear.
Appropriate title!
I bought this book because my dad's side of the family is Irish and I'd hoped to one day go.The book is a gorgeous addition to my photography book collection...and my desire to go to Ireland has been upgraded from 'one day hope to go' to 'can't wait to go!'.
Absolutely Beautiful
The photos in this book are gorgeous. Anyone who has been or wants to go to Ireland should look at this book. Those who have never been will want to go when they see the beauty of the land depicted in this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Ireland    2. Historical sites    3. Individual Photographer    4. Photography    5. Travel    6. Travel - World/Europe   

Reviews (1)

National-socialism
I always wanted to know what Hitler tells to masses. I have big interest in his speeches, in his style of talking. It is a great book for me because it unclude the most important Adolf's public speeches. I enjoied reading it! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1933-1945    2. Europe - Germany    3. Germany    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Holocaust    7. Politics and government    8. Sources    9. European history: Second World War    10. Fascism & Nazism    11. Second World War, 1939-1945   

Subjects:  1. Ancient - Rome    2. Empire, 284-476    3. Germanic Invasions, 3rd-6th centuries    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. Medieval    8. Rome    9. Western Europe - General    10. History / Ancient / Rome    11. History, World | Ancient | Roman