Reviews (3)

Indispensable for brewing abbey-style ales
As other reviewers have pointed out, it's a good idea for the reader to have several years of all-grain brewing experience. That, and an existing appreciation of abbey-style beers; words alone cannot adequately portray the unique flavors of Belgian fermentations.
Technically valuable and a good read!
The author presumes you are a proficient brewer and concentrates on the philosophy of belgium abbey brewing rather than the mechanics of brewing.It is a good read and provides the home brewer with useful data to incorporate into their brewing.Excellent section of the use of sugars for increased attentuation and reduced cloying qualities associated with malt only brewing.Overall I would recommend this book without reservation to any home brewer seeking to gain more professional results in their brewing and greater complexity.

Want to know everything about brewing Abbey ales?
So if you've just done your first batch of beer this is not the book for you. As a matter of fact, if you have just done your first all grain batch this might not be the book for you. However, if you are a seasoned veteran of the mash tun and want to really delve head first into some of the most beautiful beers on earth this could be your ticket. I know Stan and can affirm that he knows as much about Belgian brewing as anyone in the US. Interviews with Belgian beer masters as well as those stateside gives the advanced homebrewer or professional a great idea of what it will take to brew great belgian inspired beers. Clearly the most important parts of this book to the brewer are the sections on ingredients and fermentation. If you are a diehard English inspired brewer this book willbe an eye opener as to what exactly is so different about brewing belgian ales.
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Subjects:  1. Beer    2. Belgium    3. Beverages - Beer    4. Brewers    5. Cooking    6. Food Science    7. History    8. International And Ethnic Cookery    9. Methods - General    10. Regional & Ethnic - European    11. Religious life    12. Technology & Industrial Arts    13. United States    14. Beers    15. Europe   

Subjects:  1. Africa, Central    2. African    3. Art    4. Art & Art Instruction    5. Art, Black    6. Belgium    7. Catalogs    8. Exhibition Catalogs    9. Fine Arts    10. Musâee royal de l'Afrique centrale    11. Tervuren    12. Africa    13. Central Africa    14. History Of Art / Art & Design Styles    15. Museum, historic sites, gallery & art guides    16. Sculpture & other three-dimensional art forms   

Reviews (7)

Rather prefunctory, good maps competent over all
Within the limitations of the campaign series from Osprey the campaign title that concerns Waterloo is prefunctory in its explanation of the battle and the events leading up to it. It includes a nice section on the battlefield today etc... While the book is heavily illustrated it relies on rather imprecise old paintings rather than what would have been batter in my view, namely uniform plates coinciding with the different French and Allied units that faced off on the battlefield.

strongly pro-British
Really nothing new, just repeat of many tall-tales.
Waterloo Campaign
I enjoyed this book. I dont think it is overly Pro-Brit - the author gives plenty of credit to both French and Prussians where it is due. He also clearly states that without Blucher Wellington could not have won. Its a very good blow-by-blow text of the battle. However, it is also more than that. You get the bonus of the lead up battles prior to Waterloo itself, all done in detail, and an excellent set of battlefield tours at the end. I was really glad I took the book with me when I walked the battlefield some time ago. This must be one of Ospreys biggest offerings in the series, and for the money it really cant get any better than this!! The author goes into a lot of tactical and other precise details that I havent found in other texts, and I thought the 3D terrain map illustrations were superb. You can really see how the battle shaped up. The only thing I would like to have seen was some new uniform plates. The ones here come directly from their men at arms series. That said, there is lots of excellent stuff here, it's very nicely written, and well worthy of inclusion in a collection. I have several titles in the Campaign series, and Waterloo is definitely my favourite so far. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. History - Military / War    2. History: World    3. Military - Napoleonic Wars    4. Military History - U.S. Civil War    5. Belgium    6. European history: c 1750 to c 1900    7. History / Military / General    8. Land forces & warfare    9. War & defence operations    10. c 1800 to c 1900   

Reviews (1)

Well toldWW I Story
Ypres: The First Battle, 1914 by Ian F W Beckett (Longman) First Ypres in 1914 was a devastating battle for the British and a turning point for all four of the major armies involved.
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Subjects:  1. Army    2. Great Britain    3. Great Britain.    4. History    5. History - Military / War    6. Military    7. Military - World War I    8. World War, 1914-1918    9. Ypres, 1st Battle of, Ieper, B    10. Ypres, 1st Battle of, Ieper, Belgium, 1914    11. Battles & campaigns    12. Europe    13. European history: First World War    14. History / General    15. World history: First World War   

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. History - General    4. Painting & paintings   

Reviews (1)

Gem-like paintings
Gerard David comes late in the list of Northern Renaissance masters.Van Eyck, Van der Weyden, and Memling are more famous and probably more original, but there are a lot of us who dearly love David's small,jewel-like paintings, especially the two versions of the Rest on the Flightinto Egypt, one in New York and the other in Washington.Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. History - General    4. Individual Artist    5. Art / History / General    6. Belgium    7. Individual artists    8. Netherlands    9. Renaissance art   

Reviews (25)

Good addition to my library
I was captured in the story. Did'nt want to put the book down. Misha wasn't necessarily "raised" by wolves, she encountered the wolves on her lonely journey, and what way to make friend than foe with the wolves- Being out in the woods on her own made her senses heighten, which helped her to adapt (the best she could as a child) to her surroundings and nature.Furthermore, brang her to a higher understanding level with the animals. She was lonely, and she felt peace from her many struggles when she was with the wolves. Misha had many encounters humans and animals. When you read this book hopefully you will underdstand why the wolves play a significant part to her life.

An Amazing Gift
This author is a captivating writer.Having met Misha once, not one person can deny the truth behind this story.She is an amazing person and this book can only show a glimpse of what she has been put through.

Unique and Inspiring!
What a fabulous story. I stayed up half the night to finish the book. This would be an excellent book for pre-teens and up --except for one half page where Misha witnesses a rape in the woods. It is far less graphic than a lot of evening TV. I would still recommend it for "required reading" lists- just giving a heads's up for parents/teachers. I read this book over a year ago and am leaving a review now because the book left such an impression on me. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Belgium    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Historical - Holocaust    6. History    7. Holocaust    8. Holocaust survivors    9. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    10. Jewish children in the Holocaust    11. Personal narratives   

Subjects:  1. Europe - Germany    2. History    3. History - Military / War    4. History: American    5. Military - Pictorial    6. Military - World War II    7. Belgium    8. European history: Second World War    9. History / Military / World War II    10. Second World War, 1939-1945    11. World history: Second World War   

Reviews (25)

It IS tedious in some parts... but I must agree with the thesis.
Let's be fair, this volume and it's companion deserve a place on your napoleonic library. The Appendices alone are worth the price of it. (And probably raises the book to 4,5 stars...)
A nice change but to one sided to be an all rounder
This book is strong in its detailing of Prussian action, strong in investigating any mistakes that the British may have made but like most axe-grinders weak in describing anything that upsets his theory. A Refreshing viewpoint
This book along with the second volume " The German Victory" seems to have touched a nerve ending among many readers.Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Germany    2. Germany    3. History    4. History - Military / War    5. Military    6. Military - Napoleonic Wars    7. Military - Other    8. Military - World War II    9. Military History - Modern    10. Napoleon    11. Public Opinion And Foreign Policy    12. Public opinion    13. Sources    14. Waterloo, Battle of, Waterloo,    15. Waterloo, Battle of, Waterloo, Belgium, 1815    16. Battles & campaigns    17. Europe    18. History / General    19. United Kingdom, Great Britain    20. Wellington, Arthur Wellesley    21. World history: c 1750 to c 1900    22. c 1800 to c 1900   

Reviews (7)

Very Accurate and Very Dry
This book was not written to entertain.I has all the excitement of a coroner's report.Having said that, Pryor and Wilson have, in my opinion, established themselves as the pre-eminent historians on the actions of the Western Front of WW1.
Blooody campaign, bloody Haig
Quite a good expose of the limitations of Haig as a general, insensitive, uncaring, obstinate and incompetent, a farce of a man if not for the tragedy of tens of thousands lives wasted by his idiotic tactics.

While full of good information.....
...I found this book to be rather dry and difficult to get into.Of course I was looking for something a little more basic.This book might be best for someone who already has some knowledge of the battle and wants to expand on it, rather than as an introduction. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. History - Military / War    3. History: World    4. Military - World War I    5. Military History - World War I    6. Battles & campaigns    7. Belgium    8. European history: First World War    9. First World War, 1914-1918    10. History / General   

Subjects:  1. History    2. History: World    3. Western Europe - General   

Reviews (11)

A Waterloo for Everyone
This is a brilliant book.David Howarth captured the great story of what it was really like at one of the most important events of history.He is unbiased and fair.His characters draw and compel you through the story.It is a book that I could not put down.I highly recommend it to everyone.

A great read
This is a very interesting and well written book - it brings to life the battle itself. I would have liked more on the defence by the Young Guard,but overall well worth it.

A Masterful Telling of a Great Battle
While browsing the shelves I came across Howarth's book on Waterloo.Two hours later I felt that I had been an eye witness to history.
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Subjects:  1. History - Military / War    2. Military - General    3. Military - Napoleonic Wars    4. Battles & campaigns    5. Belgium    6. European history: c 1750 to c 1900   

Reviews (2)

Unauthorized history of Belgium and its royals
This book comes in three layers: it is about the Belgian royal family of Saxe-Coburg, but also about Belgian political history and about European integration. The message that the author brings is that a federal Europe will go the same way as Belgium: a state without a real national identity, held together by opportunism, corruption and the cultivation of a non-identity.But don't expect a long philosophical treatise: this is a book packed with facts, anecdotes and stories about politics, about royal love stories and about royal business and financial ventures. The moral lesson is explained in the preface and in the last paragraphs of the book.
Superb royal history that explains why the EU isn't working
If you enjoy royal history and biography, this book is a must. But there is much more to it than fascinating royal gossip, although it delivers that in satisfying portions. If you want to understand why France and the Netherlands just voted down the EU constitution, this is the first book you should read to find out. Paul Belien shows persuasively that Belgium is the EU in microcosm, and that Belgium's troubled experiment in trying to create a multilingual, mult-ethnic state with no unifying features except (some say) its monarchy provides critical lessons for those who are trying to create a unified European state. Whatever your views on the EU, you will learn something valuable from this book. The good news for the general reader is that Paul Belien uses the fascinating and scandalous history of Belgium's royal family, the Coburgs (perhaps best known as Queen Victoria's in-laws), to tell his story. Even if you have no interest in the finer points of EU policy, you are bound to enjoy Mr. Belien's enthralling account of the marriages, affairs, and behavior both tawdry and noble of Leopold I and his descendants, who still rule Belgium. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Political Science    2. History - General History    3. Politics / Current Events    4. Western Europe - Benelux    5. Royal houses    6. General    7. Cultural Region/Benelux    8. EU & European institutions    9. European Union    10. European history: c 1750 to c 1900    11. History / General    12. History / General History    13. Kings and rulers    14. Politics and government    15. Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, House of    16. History    17. International Relations - General    18. Belgium    19. Politics/International Relations    20. Monarchy   

Reviews (2)

Essential reading for anyone interested in Waterloo
Cavalie Mercer achieved fame in his own lifetime as the horse artillery Captain who disobeyed Wellington's orders to abandon the guns and take shelter with the infantry when the French cavalry closed in (he was afraid the infantry would run and they would all be butchered together). Hence, G Troop Royal Horse Artillery shot down three successive French charges almost at the gun muzzles. It was one of the hotter corners of a bitterly contested battlefield, and Mercer describes it graphically. Experience Waterloo as if you were there...
This book, written from the journals of Captain, later General, Mercer, kept while commanding the G Troop Royal Horse Artillary, gives a detailed account of the time.He is a skilled writer, provides lots of detailswhich bring the work to life, and is individualistic enough to appeal tothe modern reader.Some of the battle scenes, revealing the incrediblesuffering of men and horses are hard to read, but give a feel for thereality of war. Read more

Subjects:  1. 1783-1868    2. Diaries    3. General    4. History    5. History - Military / War    6. History: World    7. Mercer, Cavalie,    8. Mercer, Cavaliâe,    9. Military - Napoleonic Wars    10. Personal narratives, British    11. Waterloo, Battle of, Waterloo,    12. Waterloo, Battle of, Waterloo, Belgium, 1815    13. Belgium    14. Biography: general    15. Mercer, Cavalié    16. War & defence operations    17. c 1800 to c 1900   

Reviews (5)

thought-provoking AND a good read!
Smart, scholarly, compelling, and well-written to boot.This is a book that will change the way you think about Flemish painting.Although its topic is ostensibly narrow--pictures of markets from about 1550 to 1650--it actually offers an entirely new interpretation of Flemish artistic culture, and it does it by using a refreshingly new methodology.Honig argues that painting became a site where issues of economic thinking (about value, exchange, desire) were rehearsed and finally resolved, although their resolution spelled the end of the market genre.The best chapters were Ch.3, on Beuckelaer's *Ecce Homo* scenes set in a market (these, she shows, are about judgment, justice, and market desire) and Ch.6, where she discusses the history of connoisseurship, collecting, and forgery.Great stuff and some excellent prose.

FANTASTIC!!!!
This book made me want to run out to the nearest market and consume huge amounts of food! Brilliant typing and great big colorful pictures. I didn't get through the theoretical or historical stuff but I loved the way the pictures looked!

Filled with unfortunate historical inaccuracies
A very well-written book, and presumably well-intentioned.Unfortunately, many, many mistakes which undermine the project.It may be great for a casual reader, but for those sincerely interested in the art and history of the time and place, I would not recommend it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 15th-16th Century Art    2. 16th century    3. 17th century    4. Antwerp    5. Art    6. Art & Art Instruction    7. Art (Economic Aspects)    8. Belgium    9. European    10. Marketing    11. Painting    12. Painting, Modern    13. Techniques - Painting    14. Art / History / European    15. History of art & design styles: c 1400 to c 1600    16. Painting & paintings    17. c 1500 to c 1600    18. c 1600 to c 1700   

Reviews (2)

a must
If you are planning on brewing lambic beers this book is just about a must.There is a ton of information here and it will get you started on makeing one of the hardest styles of beer to brew at home.

technical, but useful and informative
Guinard is too technical in spots, and those chapters go right over my head.Otherwise, this is a good introduction to brewing these rare brews.One thing is needed, a list of sources forthe unusual ingredients, like aged hops.Altogether a good and useful treatise ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Beer    2. Belgium    3. Beverages - Beer    4. Brewing    5. Cooking    6. Cooking / Wine    7. History    8. Reference    9. Beers    10. Brewing technology   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Art    3. Art & Art Instruction    4. Belgium    5. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - Museum    6. Exhibitions    7. History - Surrealism & Dadaism    8. Individual Artist    9. Painting, Modern    10. Surrealism   

Subjects:  1. History - General History    2. Modern - 18th Century    3. Battles & campaigns    4. Belgium    5. European history: c 1500 to c 1750    6. History / Modern / 18th Century    7. c 1700 to c 1800   

Reviews (7)

Exceptional!
This brilliantly written story follows the efforts of a group of people who dedicated themselves to locating the lost remains of the men who served with the 99th Infantry Division at the Battle of the bulge. THE DEAD OF WINTER begins with an introduction of two Belgian artifact hunters, Jean-Louis Seel and Jean-Philippe Speder who, in 1988, stumbled upon the remains and dog tags of an American soldier.
Bill Warnock's Magnum Opus
Bill Warnock has written a spectacularly detailed and wonderfully crafted tale of which he is a main protagonist -- a selfless American who has dedicated the last 20 or more years of his life to reuniting the dead heroes of World War II with their families. I must admit to the favoritism I feel toward Bill because he and I met on the Ardennes battlefield back in the early 1980s while I was researching my first book, The Key to the Bulge. Many of the people in this great work are close friends of mine. Even with this foreknowledge, I cannot help but stand in awe of Bill's skillfully written and masterfully researched chronicle of his team's efforts to discover and return to their homes the lost heroes of the Battle of the Bulge. This book is more than a simple tale of how a group of dedicated Americans and Belgians sought the final resting places of those men who went missing during the Bulge. Instead, it is a tale of devotion, Herculean persistance, and selfless dedication. The only reward that Bill and his team sought for their actions was the satisfaction of recovering the remains of our dead heroes and giving closure to families whose pain remained unhealed for 50 or more years. This book is a gem and a lasting testimony to those who truly appreciate the sacrifice of America's fighting men and women. Thanks, Bill. Well done.

Emotionalism At It's Purest Level
When I first started reading The Dead Of Winter I thought it would be another one of those books where there would be more boring facts and figures than personal, intimate, and emotional first hand accounts of infantrymen doing all they could do to survive the first few days of The Battle Of The Bulge.Bill Warnock, has done an outstanding job of resurrecting the fate of several infantrymen of the 99th Infantry who were killed and left behind after their positions in Belgium were overrun by the German jauggernaut of 16 December 1944.I became intimately attached to David Read, Mike Larson, Ewing Fidler, 2nd Lt Holloway, Sgt Frederick Zimmerman, and many of the others who died and were left behind to be buried in lonesome graves on the battlefield of Belgium and the Ardennes Forest.Thanks to the perserverance, tanacity, and cooperation of Carl Seel, Mr. Speider, Hans Honen, Ed Whithead, Mr. Swanson, and many others, these lost souls were found and brought home to their families, or given descent burials alongside their comrades who fought and died on the battlefields of World War II.Mr. Seel, and Mr. Speider who initially started this episode are the real heroes here too, because, as honest, caring, and loving men who cared about the American soldiers who liberated their country from the Nazi's, they took it upon themselves to try to locate, identify, and bring attention to these men who had died so gallently, but had to be left behind in the heat of battle.This is an awesome book, very well written, exactingly documented and recorded with all the facts of the men who were killed in action, and is well worth reading.I strongly urge everyone who loves freedom, history, and this great country to read this book.The men who were lost back in 1944, and the families they left behind, is a poignant reminder of just how fragile and important freedom is. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Belgium    2. Forensic Science    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History - Military / War    6. Luxembourg    7. Military    8. Military - United States    9. Military - World War II    10. Missing in action    11. Modern - 21st Century    12. United States    13. United States - General    14. World War II    15. World War, 1939-1945    16. History / Modern / 21st Century   

Reviews (4)

The Last Knight of Flanders: Remy Schrijnen and His Ss-Legio
Excellent book, highly advisable for all those interested ones in knowing more envelope the European volunteers that combatted against the Bolshevism in the Oriental Front. To know what it motivated them that they waited and why they made it.

Comprehensive study
This book is a comprehensive study of the Flemish volunteers in the German army. Most parts are very readable , but the personal reflections on the battle at Narva become a bit repetitive. Improvements would have been the use of maps. The action accounts are somewhat brief and lacking in detail (as often is the case with such war memoirs). But a good read.

Comprehensive study
This book is a comprehensive study of the Flemish volunteers in the German army. Most parts are very readable , but the personal reflections on the battle at Narva become a bit repetitive. Improvements would have been the use of maps. The action accounts are somewhat brief and lacking in detail (as often is the case with such war memoirs). But a good read. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Schrijnen, Remy,    2. History    3. History - Military / War    4. Regimental histories    5. Military - World War II    6. Belgium    7. Air forces & warfare    8. Biography: general    9. Europe    10. European history: Second World War    11. Schrijnen, Remy    12. Second World War, 1939-1945    13. World history: Second World War    14. Campaigns    15. World War, 1939-1945    16. 1921-    17. Military    18. Eastern Front    19. Flanders    20. Germany