Reviews (6)

Queen Emma and the Vikings
It is difficult to write a positive review of this book. I would not call it good. The writer begins each chapter with a fanciful, novel- style account of what Queen Emma might have felt and done, which, in my view, is out of place in a scholarly work. This is not to be confused with actual historical fact. Also the book is permeated with slang terms that irritate. In addition there is a great deal of detail on subjects that have nothing whatsoever to do with the Queen, such as cures for pimples and warts. These sorts of reminiscences are more in line with a book on the life and times of Anglo Saxon England than with Queen Emma herself. Historical fact on the Queen is thin and is hidden in a lot of extraneuous detail. It is a mildly interesting book, once you get past all the irrelevant detail, but no more than that. In short, the author could have written the details of the Queen'slife in half the words she has used.

Kudo's to the Authoress
I absolutely loved this book, and I am confident that any fan of European, British, or medieval history will love it as well. The authoress deserves praise not only for her research and captivating writing style, but because she refreshingly tackled a new subject by writing a biography of a relatively now-obscure queen who lived a millenia ago but whose story deserves to be told. To someone such as myself who enjoys reading history and despairs that the farther back in time one goes the less information there is to read about, Miss O'Briens biography is a
Queen Emma
I have not been able to give this book my full attentioin as yet, but in browsing through it appears to have the sort of info that I expect to find on the period in question.So I really cannot give the book a fair rating until I have read it.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. England    6. Great Britain    7. Historical - British    8. Historical - General    9. Normans    10. Queens    11. Royalty    12. Vikings    13. Women    14. World - General   

Reviews (26)

WOW! Love It !!!!
It's Charles Faudree!!What more needs to be said.I've been a fan of his for years.Noticed his rooms in some of my favorite magazines.Especially Traditional Home.He NEVER fails to delight and inspire.Tons of ideas on every page.Wish he would publish a book every year !!

My New Bible
Charles Faudree is my ultimate favorite designer and this book is not a dissapointment.It is something I can study over and over again.Being close enough to Tulsa, I recently got to experience Mr. Faudree's personal decorating first hand. This book is testament to his impeccable taste.

French Country at it's best!
If you love the french country look then this book is for you. It is like the bible for decorating in the french country style. Yet Faudree's genius lies in his ability to mix in English, Swedish and other genres so that it looks like a real home and not something out of a French country showroom. He can even mix antiques into a contemporary home for a flawless look. You will want to jump into the pages of this book and live in these rooms. They are absolutely gorgeous! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Architecture    3. Decorating - General    4. Decoration and ornament, Rustic    5. Faudree, Charles    6. France    7. History    8. Home Improvement / Construction    9. Influence    10. Interior Design - General    11. Interior decoration    12. United States    13. Home furnishing & decoration    14. House & Home / Decorating    15. Interior design   

Subjects:  1. 1875-1942    2. 20th century    3. Advertising    4. Antiques & Collectibles    5. Antiques / Collectibles    6. Antiques/Collectibles    7. Cappiello, Leonetto,    8. Catalogs    9. France    10. History    11. Posters   

Reviews (5)

Anotherbeautiful, classy, picture journey!
This is another portable, soft cover, coffee-table book with the same high standards as the one on the the Greek islands! It is beautifully crafted, with exquisite pictures, maps and diagrams of ancient buildings and modern towns. The book takes you on a cultural journey through Greece and its history. If you haven't visited Greece, it's a motivator. If you have, it brings back wonderful memories. This book is a broad sweep, you will need supplemental information, but it is unique in providing a visual overview of a beautiful and enchanting land! It is particularly nice that with the exception of the cultural history part, this book is basically not redundant with the Island book, covering the mainland as the title indicates.
Great overview, but you'll need a more detailed guide
The colorful photos and diagrams found in the DK travel books are a big plus for some and a major detraction for others. Personally I think this is a great book to use while making preliminary travel plans because it's very difficult to decide where to go if you can't see pictures of it first. Then once you narrow down your choices you'll want a more comprehensive travel guide, such as the Lonely Planet guides, which contain better maps, travel information, hotels, etc, but which have very few photos. I'm holding off on giving this book 5 stars because it lacks that kind of detail. However, I still pull it off my shelf frequently when I want to look up someplace on the Greek mainland I have not visited before.

love the photos but it needs more maps
On a 10-day driving trip around mainland Greece this guide proved a disappointment.There aren't enough city maps so you need to buy a Lonely Planet guide as well.I love the DK guides to London and Paris where the neighborhoods and sights are so intricate that the DK diagrams and walking tours are immensely helpful.The restaurant recommendations turned out to be rather poor from the DK guide.Frommer's and Lonely Planet were a lot more reliable.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Greece    2. General    3. Greece    4. Guidebooks    5. Travel    6. Travel - Foreign    7. Travel / Europe / Greece   

Subjects:  1. Architectural Design    2. Architecture    3. Decoration & Ornament    4. Design & Drafting    5. History    6. Interior Design    7. Interior Design - General    8. Interior decoration    9. West Indies, French    10. Architecture / Interior Design    11. France    12. Home furnishing & decoration   

Subjects:  1. Chemistry - General    2. Economics - General    3. General    4. History    5. Physics    6. Science    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Fascism & Nazism    9. Germany    10. Inter-war period, 1918-1939    11. Postwar period, 1945 to c 2000    12. Science / Physics    13. Second World War, 1939-1945   

Reviews (25)

Non TechnicalReal world Economics
Should be in every High school curriculum,every public Library.
Comprehensiveall Inclusive
This work is 900 pages long. It is all about economics from the ground up. Everything related to economics, philosophy, psychology etc. is within the scope of this book. The author's big point is that any economic system that does not employ markets forces, at least to some degree, is doomed to failure. An economy without markets makes no sense. The Chinese Communists have learned that lesson well, they harnessed and manipulated powerful market forces to make their economy boom.

Mises's Greatest Work
HUMAN ACTION is the most important work of economic or social theory written in the twentieth century.It is also the most important defense of laissez faire capitalism ever written.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Economics - General    3. Austrian school of economists    4. Commerce    5. Economic History    6. Economic Theory    7. Economics   

Reviews (12)

Beautiful Writing; Offensive, Racist Material
The majority of this book (at least the essays anyway) can be summed up in three main topics: educating readers about her culture, praising her culture to the point of absurdity, and claiming the entire white culture to be both ignorant and racist.
an excruciatingly painful read - only do so if you must
This book is a tormented stream of consciousness from a lady who was obviously fighting major demons.It is exactly the type of book that you would expect an amateur academic to "wow" and "gush" over.The discerning reader, on the other hand, sees page after page of outdated cliches, sob-stories, and anger-filled tantrums.Anzaldua would like you to believe that this is all the fault of the "white" culture messing with the enlightened cosmic race of the mestiza.She'd like you to think that her mestiza/chicana/lesbian/female status completely determined her status in life.The truth is that Gloria was really ugly, and that, more than anything else, made her the bitter, annoying pseudo-intellectual that the was.

Racist Garbage
While most reviewers seem to be bent on lauding Gloria Anzaldúa's "insightful and progressive" writings, I can't help but take a different viewpoint.The vast majority of her essays, while cloaked in a sense of righteous equality, are quite simply racist drivel.She speaks of acceptance and tolerance for foreign cultures in America, and harps on the evils of correcting students when they use improper English, yet instills her writing with a blatant and offensive racism.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Bilingual books    2. Civilization    3. English-Spanish    4. Ethnic Studies - Hispanic American Studies    5. Europe - Spain & Portugal    6. Foreign Language Study    7. General    8. Mexican American women    9. Mexican-American Border Region    10. Poetry    11. Sociology    12. Spanish    13. Spanish: Adult Nonfiction    14. Women's Studies - General    15. Cultural studies    16. Fiction / General    17. Portugal    18. Spain    19. Women's studies   

Reviews (27)

Gen. Manstein's Own Account of His Amazing Victories across WWII Europe
By the end of WWII, General von Manstein was widely recognized by most German soldiers as the Wehrmacht's most brilliant strategist, a man of honor, and easily the most obvious choice for the Wehrmacht's Commander-in-Chief. Manstein was responsible for formulating most of the strategy that won Germany its great early victories using blitzkrieg tactics in Poland, France, and the Crimea. From Fall 1942 - Spring 1944, Manstein's heroic efforts against hugely overwhelming odds consistently frustrated every attempt to cut off and destroy Germany's armies in the Ukraine.
Not for everyone
The five stars is for what it is supposed to be-- a detailed military memoir by an exceptional leader of German armed forces. Manstein was by any judgment a first rate staff officer, who excelled with troops and shone in use of combined force tactics and strategy on a large scale. His impact in WWII was immense -- on both the Western and Eastern Front.
The Best of the Best
It is generally recognized that the greatest military mind produced by any nation during World War II belonged to Erich von Manstein. His qualifications for such a laurel are numerous, and include the detailed plan which lead to the conquest of France in six weeks in 1940, the conquest of the Crimea in 1942, and Germany's last major victory on the Eastern Front, the recapture of Kharkov in 1943. It is Manstein's record as a "defensive" general, called in to restore the collapsing southern wing of the Eastern Front after Stalingrad, however, which cemented his reputation. Any general can win brilliant victories with first-rate troops, air superiority and unlimited supplies, but it takes a very special type of brain to be able to repeatedly fight off a numerically superior enemy who enjoys all these advantages. As von Moltke the Elder once commented, when told by an admirer that he was destinted to go down as one of the greatest marshals in all history: "No, for I have never conducted a retreat." Manstein did, under the most difficult circumstances imaginable, and in doing so probably saved the whole southern wing of the German army in Russia from annihilation.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Campaigns    3. Europe    4. Germany    5. History    6. Military    7. Military - World War II    8. Personal Memoirs    9. Strategy    10. World War, 1939-1945    11. History / Military / World War II   

Reviews (6)

Very Good Treatment of a Little Known Subject
I generally agree with the other reviewers that this is an outstanding work, made all the more remarkable by the recognition that Hunter has remained so obscure to the general reader over the 200+ years since he lived and worked.Author Moore's writing style is engaging and straightforward, and the book is an easy and enlightening read.But I do have a couple of cavils.First, and even considering our two centuries' remove, there is a discernible remoteness or lack of intimacy in the description of Hunter and his activities, e.g., "he must have thought", "he probably knew", and so forth that is a bit off-putting until the reader is informed near the end of the book that Hunter's spiteful brother-in-law burned most of his papers, including correspondence with prized pupils like Jenner, after Hunter's death, inevitably depriving biographers of enriching details.I believe it would have been helpful if she explained this fact earlier in the work.Second, the book just cries out for illustrations.The sole "portrait" of Hunter is a small, almost cartoonish depiction, and Moore constantly--if inadvertently--teases the reader with references to the superb illustrators who worked for Hunter over the years, but does not include even one of their drawings; very frustrating.With these exceptions, readers who enjoy the work of physician-cum-historian Roy Porter will certainly feel right at home with this very entertaining book.

"He made surgery a science."
Wendy Moore's magnificent book, "The Knife Man," is a thoroughly researched account of the life and times of John Hunter, one of the most controversial and fascinating figures of the eighteenth century.Born in 1728 in Scotland, Hunter was the tenth child of humble farming parents.He was an indifferent student who preferred learning through observation and experimentation rather than by reading dusty texts.During his teenage years, John's father and six of his siblings died.This was not surprising during an era when "burials far exceeded baptisms."Matters were not helped by the use of such toxic "remedies" as bloodletting, purging, and blistering to cure the sick.Doctors never washed their hands or sterilized their instruments; if the disease didn't kill the patient, the physician's intervention would probably do the trick.
Very Good
This is a well written and enlightening biography of the great 18th century British physician-scientist John Hunter.Moore has done a real service by bringing Hunter before the reading public.Known largely to historians of medicine as an important figure in the history of surgery, Moore shows Hunter to be definitely that and much more.Hunter is also a remarkable personal story.An expatriate Scot and son of impoverished parents, largely uninterested in formal education as a youth, Hunter became the outstanding anatomist of his time under the tutelage of his older brother William and by virtue of his great natural talents.Similarly, he had relatively little in the way of formal medical education, though given the primitive state of medical theory and practice in his time, this was arguably an advantage.By the end of his life, he was perhaps the preeminent surgeon in Britain, enjoyed an international reputation as a scientist, and inspired a large number of students to pursue his brand of empirical, more scientifically oriented practice and research.Though Hunter's story is in some respects a lurid one, with the reliance on grave robbers for cadavers and the vicious professional rivalries characterizing some of his career, Moore does very well to show the essential nature of these events without letting them overpower the narrative.The most interesting aspect of the book is actually not Hunter's medical accomplishments, though these were very important, but Moore's description of his other achievements.Moore shows Hunter to be a profoundly important teacher who influenced a whole generation of British and American surgeons and physicians including important individuals like Jenner.Hunter's achievements as a biologist, particularly his work in anatomy, comparative anatomy, and what would become physiology, were substantial.Moore makes the good point that Hunter's achievements may have been unappreciated in part because credit for some of his achievements were attributed to his older brother and after John Hunter's death, appear to have been appropriated by his shameless brother-in-law.Hunter appears also to have been at the center of the British Enlightenment.His friendships included a number of notable British intellectuals like the great naturalist Joseph Banks and he was on good terms with individuals like Gibbon and Adam Smith.
Read more

Subjects:  1. 1728-1793    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Great Britain    5. Historical - General    6. History    7. History Of Medicine    8. Hunter, John,    9. Medical - General    10. Science    11. Science/Mathematics    12. Surgeons    13. Science / General   

Reviews (10)

The Best of the Genre
I have 42 books on WW1 in my library, including most of the well known historian's books. This is absolutely the best, clearest, most lucid and comprehensive one I have read. If you are looking for one book to learn about WW1, this is the one.

A World Undone
In less than 700 pages Mr. Meyer summarized this catrostrophic event byincorporatingcritical background ambitions and blunders which enables the reader to have a satisfactory overview of the entire event. Great job.

All histories should be this good
Absolutely outstanding.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - General    2. Europe - History    3. History    4. History - Military / War    5. Military    6. Military - World War I    7. World War I    8. World War, 1914-1918    9. History / General   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (7)

Excellent book -
The book goes beyond the rather narrow sounding scope of the title; Brown nicely covers the changes in politics and economics that fostered (or hindered) the spead of Christianity from Ireland to the Middle East. The subject matter is cogently presented and enjoyable to read, unlike other scholarship of this era where authors tend to prove to the reader how much they know leaving the reader somewhat in the dust. Fascinating (at least to me!) is the number of texts that Brown cites that show the changes in orthodoxy from one century to another in various geographical areas, and how those texts came to be preserved. Conclusions are based on either these texts or archiology, not flights of a priori fantasy that all-too-often formed the basis for earlier works on this period. All in all, a book of great scholarship, but most approachable.

A great writer produces unreadable prose
Let me say first that I have been a great admirer of Peter Brown for many years. His "World of Late Antiquity" was a seminal work that inspired a generation of scholars to look past the tired old concepts of the fall of the Roman empire, and his biography of Augustine, recently updated, is magnificent.
Deep and wide
Peter Brown first came to my attention through his scholarship in the study of Augustine, one of my particular interests in the field of church history.His biography of Augustine is considered one of the standards, having been written first in the 1960s, and revised for the turn of the millennium in 2000.This speaks to the length of his career and involvement with the study of church history generally, of which this volume is a wonderful survey.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Christianity - General    2. Christianity - History - General    3. Church history    4. Civilization    5. Civilization, Medieval    6. Europe - General    7. History    8. History - General History    9. History: World    10. Middle Ages, 600-1500    11. Primitive and early church, ca    12. Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600    13. CHURCH HISTORY_MIDDLE AGES, 600-1500    14. CHURCH HISTORY_PRIMITIVE AND EARLY CHURCH, ca. 30-600    15. Christianity    16. Europe    17. History of religion    18. Religion / Church History   

Editorial Review

In the States, Nick Hornby is best know as the author of Read more

Reviews (119)

A great look at sports and life
Let me begin by noting that I find soccer/football incredibly dull.Dull, dull, dull!But Hornby's book is a great read.
Amusing, but mostly average
I'll admit, its probably just me.Maybe its just that I dont understand British culture all that much, nor the culture of football or the mind of the obsessive sports fan...but aside from a few amusing passages (between LONG spells of really dull ones) I really wasnt all that impressed with this book.It had a few moments that made me chuckle, but it certainly wasnt as drop-dead funny to me as all the reviews led me to believe.It was long, drawn-out, and filled with names and places of people I've neither heard of nor cared about.But again, its just a clash of culture; this would be like someone from England reading a book about the Dawg Pound in Cleveland or the fans with terrible towels in Pittsburgh.Basically, if you're not a sports fan or if you dont know anything about soccer or its culture, I'd pass on this one.While it did give some interesting insight into the mind of the obsessive sports fan and a glimpse of a true English soccer fan I just wasnt entertained.Then again, I'm probably not the type of person to whom this book was intended...I really should have read High Fidelity!

The Mind of The Hardcore Sports Fan
Hornby takes the reader into the mind and obsessions of the hardcore sports fan in "Fever Pitch", a tale of the author's obsessive relationship with Arsenal, one of London's main football (soccer) clubs.
Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Authors, English    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. English authors    8. Great Britain    9. Historical - British    10. Hornby, Nick    11. Literary    12. Soccer    13. Sports - General    14. Family & Relationships / Parenting   

Reviews (26)

Answers the What Happened, But WHY?
The whole idea of the Holocaust is so abhorrent to many of us that we find it difficult to understand or believe as many otherwise 'normal' people participated either directly or indirectly. In France, in most of the occupied countries, and of course in Germany itself Jews were regularly turned over to the authorities. (Although I must add that in Denmark, Italy and Hungary the Governments at least resisted with more or less success.) So many people find it so unbelievable that they simply have re-written history to pretend that it really didn't happen.
Well written but with the unforgivable bias
This book is well written and starts with an excellent review of the context of Polish history after the World War 2 (Chapter 1). Unfortunately, following chapters go downhill from there, to end up with the incredibly biased conclusion. Shattering, factual crime descriptions (such as the description of the Kielce pogrom) are getting more and more intertwined with the one sided anecdotal evidence, author's opinions, as well as clear omissions of important facts, not to mention some clearly misleading and untruthful statements.
Another Case Study In Polish Savagery!
In pondering this disturbing and provocative tome by Jan T. Gross, one is reminded not only of his previous shocking entry, "Neighbors" (see my review) but also of the increasing evidence of a shockingly resurgent and quite virulent anti- Semitism across Europe as well as throughout the Middle East. With horrific detail, Mr. Gross describes the almost indescribable violence and murder systematically visited against returning Jews to Poland in the aftermath of the Second World War. This current work indicates just how typical the previous study ("Neighbors") he had conducted concerning the events in one particular rural town (Jedwabne) had been. In that account he detailed how the local inhabitantsintentionally clubbed, murdered, and mutilated its local indigenous Jews in 1941 under the urgent ministrations of a cruel Nazi occupation. Since many stood to gain materially from the Jews' demise in the way of money, farms, houses, furniture, and other earthly possessions, they were seemingly encouraged by local German occupying forces to engage in the bludgeoning murders of as many as 1,000 of their Jewish fellow villagers; men, women, and children.
Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Antisemitism    3. Discrimination & Racism    4. Eastern Europe - General    5. Eastern Europe - Poland    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History: World    9. Jewish - General    10. Jews    11. Kielce    12. Persecutions    13. Pogroms    14. Poland    15. Poland - History    16. History / Europe / Eastern   

Reviews (6)

Riveting Story of Diversity
This is a companion book to the documentary about the Paper Clip project started at Whitwell Middle School outside of Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the late 1990s.What began as a class to teach diversity to a mostly white southern group of schoolchildren evolved into a project of collecting 6 million paper clips (the clips are historically tied to the Holocaust) to represent the Jews who perished during that dark period.This book is a wonderful story that shows what can be accomplished when children are determined and how a relatively small idea can grow into something significant that can affect millions of people.This one is highly recommended for children of all ages.

Deserves 10 stars
I happened upon a review and ordered the book. When it arrived, I read it with a lump in my throat and my eyes tearing up.My 72 year old mother and I were driving to another town when I started telling her about it.I couldn't get that damn lump out of my throat and pretty soon my voice started quivering and I started crying. She just reached over and held my hand as I got my composure back.I was done, though, I told her she had to read it.She did. Afterward, she took it to one of her clubs and shared it.It's just a 10 minute read, but it sure provides plenty of emotion. I am so glad I happened upon it. A glorious story. Thank you.

The power of a symbol.
Those of us who are horrified by the murderous actions of the Nazis during the Holocaust pray that such a terrible event will never happen again.It is heartening to know that there are a number of middle school children in Whitwell, Tennessee who did their share to raise the consciousness of people from all over the world.Whitwell, a small town of white Anglo-Saxon Protestants with a population of only 1,600, is now internationally famous for its "Paper Clip Project."