Editorial Review

María Rosa Menocal's wafting, ineffably sad Read more

Reviews (51)

A Forgotten Chapter in European History
Maria Rosa Menocal's ORNAMENT OF THE WORLD is a lively and highly readable account of Al-Andalus, the Spain created by Muslims. It was a world which sparkled with brilliant achievements in poetry and literature, architecture, and technology-- for instance it invented the astrolabe, one of the first instruments facilitating successful navigation. It alone kept Greek learning alive when the rest of Europe was still ignorant of the major Greek classics. Most importantly, it was an oasis of tolerance, for its Muslim leaders considered the adherents of all three Abrahamic religions to be dhimmi, or People of the Book.It was founded in 711 when Abd al Rahman, successor of the Umayyad dynasty driven from Damascus by the victorious Abbasid dynasty, established a new caliphate in Cordoba, Spain.For centuries the empire it unified on the Iberian peninsula produced great writers and scholars of all three religions.Perhaps the best known Muslim product of this culture is Ibn Hazm, author of the Ring of the Dove, a treatise on love.But it was also a golden age of Jewish learning, and an age in which Jews could rise to the highest positions in government as well-- for instance Hasdai ibn Shaprut, or Son of Isaac, grand vizier and general of Abd Al Rahman III.By the 11th Century the unified kingdom of Cordoba had broken apart into a number of competing taifa or city-states, which retained some measure of the glory of Cordoba.It was in this atmosphere that Rodrigo Diaz, known as El Cid from the Arabic Al Sayyid ("lord" or "chief"), a Christian warrior, became a general fighting for one Muslim ruler against another with armies which contained large contingents of Christians.The first groups to try to stamp out this cultural tolerance were Muslims, puritanical and uncultivated Berbers known as Almovarids or Almohads.But the real death knell came in 1492, when Ferdinand and Isabella conquered the last Muslim taifa of Granada, site of the famous Alhambra, and established a form of persecution even worse than religious bigotry, with the most ominous implications for the future of Western civilization.But that dismal turn of events is the subject for another book review.

Rosa's rose-colored glasses
Elegantly written and copiously researched but when considered against a slew of other popular works, Professor Menocal's tome is an overly exuberent romanticization of Islamic Spain (al-Andalus). al-Andalus had its epoch of extraordinary brilliance, most notably in the rise of the Cordoba Caliphate but this shining moment quickly dissipated by the early century 11th century. Its demise heralded a 400 year descent into civil war, chaos and the arrival of Islamist fundamentalism in the guise of the Almohads and Almoravids, spiritual predecessors of Salafists/Wahabis and al Qaeda. So severe and intolerant was their programme that they scattered not only Jews and Christians but drove away many Muslims not meeting "muster". The book would be a benign literary excess were the subject not so topical. Islamists the world over yearn for, among other things, a victorious return to al-Andalus. Waxing poetic about a perfection that never was only feeds the fantasies of radicals and disarms those well-meaning readers in the West most likely to lose out. For a better balanced, equally erudite and far more sober look, consider "Moorish Spain" by Richard Fletcher.

An ornament, worthy of 5 stars
This book possesses the characteristics of a novel rather than a book of history in many ways. The author describes and narrates historical events, personalities and notions in a very delicate, riveting, and beautiful manner yet maintaining a plain language and thus addresses all levels of intellectual capacity among readers.
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Subjects:  1. Christians    2. Europe - Spain & Portugal    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Medieval    7. Medieval World History (Circa 450 - Circa 1450)    8. Muslims    9. Spain    10. Toleration    11. Western Europe - General    12. European history: c 500 to c 1500    13. History / Medieval    14. Interfaith relations    15. c 1000 CE to c 1500   

Reviews (7)

Habsburgs research on the Great Siege
I am a history major at Indiana State University.In my spring term, I used the book (as one of my sources) for my research paper on the Great Siege of Malta of 1565.I will agree that this particular book is not the greatest reading in the world, but generally historians write books for historians. Also, I will agree with other reviewers that the book's title is misleading because it does not focus on the 16th century compared to others.The book was used in my research to help explain the rivilary between Charles V of Spain (the Holy Roman Emperor) and Francis I (King of France).The cause of the rivals were not because of the grudge with Charles V winning the election for the Holy Roman Emperor or Francis I imprisonment in 1525, but Francis saw the danger of the Habsburg Empire surrounding France. History is killed in another boring text
This text is not a good history text.Any good text book will make the subject come alive, this book kills it.It is, however, extremely informative, if you can get through the introduction without dieing.NOT recommended for anyone who is not a post grad! (and even then, only if required for a class).

Dry critique on Empire
There is a reason why this book is out-of-print. It's as dry a book as I've ever read and is much more a critique on the Hapsburg Empire and less of a historical overview. The title implies that Kann will introduce the reader to the Central Europeon Power and detail much of the family's power over Europe but that's far from the case. Instead, Kann goes so in depth to pick apart the Hapsburg's, that impossible to keep track of where he's going. Although the chapters have a chronological order to them, Kann mentions events that happened during a five-hundred year span in the first three chapters and aimlessly wanders so much through the text, he should be arrested for reckless writing. Some writers can pull off writing like this and make it into a masterpiece (Son of the Morning Star by Evan S. Connell comes to mind), Kann simply makes it into a field of landmines in which the reader unexpectedly will step onto a trap and utter "Whaaat?" and have to skip back to try and figure out if Kann has a connection to the previous paragrapgh or if he's just writing instantaneous thoughts. Kann's rambling book reminds me of Paul Thomas Anderson movies - it's made purely to pleasure the writer while the rest of the world has its hands in the air wondering "What did I just read/ watch?" ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Austria & Hungary    2. Europe - Germany    3. History - General History    4. European history: c 1500 to c 1750    5. European history: c 1750 to c 1900    6. Germany    7. History / General    8. Modern period, c 1500 onwards    9. Rank & titles   

Reviews (2)

Challenging Theory
This is an excellent book for anyone interested in the history of the Americas, colonial history or comparative studies of the American countries. Although it is based largely on secondary sources it reflects the enormous amount of work that the author has carried out in his previous books on Spain. The most interestin feature of the book is how Elliott points out the similarities between the British and Spanish Empires in the Americas; a fact that most historians have previously tended to ignore.

An important contribution
Colonialism and Empire are the two most important subjects in history, no other subject exists without them and the discovery of the New World and its repopulation/depopulation is one fo the great episodes of human history.The colonies in America can be easily put into two categories, the Anglo ones and the Catholic ones.Despite small French and Portugues and Dutch intrusions, the overall lesson is one of difference between these two great naval powers and the makeup of their colonial systems.
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Subjects:  1. America    2. Americas (North Central South West Indies)    3. Atlantic Ocean Region    4. British    5. Colonies    6. Colonies And Colonization    7. Europe - Great Britain - General    8. Europe - Spain & Portugal    9. History    10. History - General History    11. History: American    12. North America - History    13. Spain    14. Spaniards    15. United States - Colonial Period    16. World - Colonial Studies    17. Empires & historical states    18. History / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies)    19. USA    20. United Kingdom, Great Britain    21. World history: c 1500 to c 1750    22. World history: c 1750 to c 1900    23. World history: c 500 to C 1500   

Reviews (5)

A Warning to Those in Love with Unbridled Power and Vulnerable to Anything New
Edmund Burke (1729-1797)wrote REFLECTIONS ON THE REVOLUTION IN FRANCE in 1789 which was four years before the rise of the fanatical Jacobins and the execution (murder)of Louis XVI.This book was not only well written but very prophetic on the tragic events that were part of the French Revolution.Burke showed historical insight and warned both the British and the French what was going to happen.
A Classic of Conservative Thought
In 1789, the year of the French Revolution, Burke received a request from a good friend living in France to provide his thoughts on the Revoution. The result- one of the finest pieces of political discourse ever written. For those encountering Burke for the first time, his adament defense of the crown, and of hereditary succcesion, seem to make a hypocrite of this self-proclaimed liberal. Burke, however, was not defending an absolute monarch who ruled under the charter of divine right, but rather, pointing out the danger of a perfect democracy, whose sovereign (the national assembly) was compelled not to a moral authority such as a Church, nor to a fixed consitution. In short, liberty was safer restricted in civil socity, than left unchecked.
The finest writing ever in English prose!
This small title is actually a letter that the author wrote to a friend in France.When Edmund Burke wrote this letter about the French Revolution (where the king was overthrown and beheaded by the masses aka Jacobins), English scholars agree that the result was the finest piece of prose in the English language; only a few poets have succeeded in writing something finer.Whether you agree with Burke's interpretation or not is not the point; he penned the finest piece of literature ever in the English language.
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Subjects:  1. 1729-1797    2. 18th century    3. Burke, Edmund,    4. Correspondence    5. English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    6. Europe - France    7. Foreign public opinion, British    8. France    9. Great Britain    10. History    11. History - General History    12. History: World    13. Public opinion    14. Revolution, 1789-1799    15. World - General    16. Burke, Edmund    17. Europe    18. European history: c 1750 to c 1900    19. Literary Criticism & Collections / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    20. Literature/English | British Literature | 18th C    21. Other prose: 16th to 18th centuries    22. Reflections on the Revolution in France    23. Revolutions & coups   

Subjects:  1. Discovery And Exploration (General)    2. Europe - General    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History Of Civilization And Culture (General)    6. History: World    7. Reference    8. Renaissance    9. American history: c 1500 to c 1800    10. Europe    11. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    12. History / Renaissance    13. Social history    14. The Americas    15. c 1500 to c 1600    16. c 1600 to c 1700   

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.
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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 (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.
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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

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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.
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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   

Reviews (1)

A great bio of one of the last great queens
I recently re-read Hannah Pakula's spectacular bio of the British princess Marie who became the iconic queen of Roumania and I enjoyed it even more than I did twenty years ago when I first read it. Queen Marie exemplified what was best about royalty, a woman who through her training at the hands of her mother (who was daughter of the Tsar) learned to put the needs of her people before her own happiness. Marie overcame the sorrows of a difficult marriage, the scandals of her own indiscretions, and the loneliness of being a foreign princess in an exotic land, to be the inspiration and advocate the Roumanian people needed in the dark days of WWI and its aftermath. One is thrilled to become acquainted with a woman who was intelligent, cultured, sophisticated, an international beauty, a writer, full of passion and integrity. I highly recommend this book as one that is worth having in any private collection of royal biographies. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1875-1938    2. Balkan Peninsula - History    3. Biography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. General    7. Marie,    8. Queen,    9. Queen, consort of Ferdinand I,    10. Queen, consort of Ferdinand I, King of Romania,    11. Queens    12. Romania    13. consort of Ferdinand I, King of Romania    14. Marie   

Reviews (4)

Delivered as promised and in great condition
It came a bit slower than expected (say 2 weeks, when I was expecting to get it in one), but overall I was very pleased with the transaction.

Easy Read that Explains How Policy is Made
I am taking a course in Health Policy and the Political System and opted to use this book instead of that recommended by my professor. This book examined all the important aspects of policy making - paying close attention to the political actors - and has helped tremendously in my understanding of the politics surrounding health policy.

Best book in print on the health policy process
I have used this book for a number of years now in a class I teach on the Politics of Health Policy (along with Kingdon's classic). It provides an excellent overview of how health policy is made and the politics around it, drawing on both the academic literature as well as recent policies. The second edition is heavily revised from the first and contains up to date examples. An excellent academic overview of the health policy process. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Health Care Delivery    2. Health Policy    3. Medical    4. Medical / Nursing    5. Medical policy    6. Politics    7. Public Policy - Social Policy    8. United States    9. Health systems & services    10. History / Europe / General    11. Medical / Health Policy    12. Medical-Health Care Delivery    13. Political Science-Public Policy - Social Policy    14. Political science & theory    15. USA   

Editorial Review

When the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, few could have anticipated its potential for devastation. Pulitzer prize-winning author John Hersey recorded the stories of Hiroshima residents shortly after the explosion and, in 1946, Read more

Reviews (184)

"The hurt ones were quiet; no one wept, much less screamed in pain..."
When the atomic bomb dropped at 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was a thriving city of two hundred forty-five thousand people.By 8:20, one hundred thousand of those people were dead.Combining the broad perspective of the absolute devastation of the city with the tiniest details of six individual lives, John Hersey provides a powerful closeup of a few survivors of the atomic attack on Hiroshima, giving the carnage a human perspective.
Should be read by everyone
Hiroshima was written shortly after the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. Journalist John Hersey traveled to Japan to record the devastation and interviewed many of the survivors, choosing six to focus on. The book begins at the precise moment the bomb exploded, taking each person in turn, setting the scene of where they were at the time and the immediate aftermath. I can't say this book is brilliantly written. There's little style and at times it becomes just a recitation of facts. But if you can put yourself in the place of the survivors, try to see what they see, feel what they feel, you realize how important it is for you to keep reading. This book isn't about entertainment, it's about understanding what the citizens of Hiroshima went through. Seeing them not only as statistics, but real people.

Thought Provoking
This book was very well written, it contains bits and pieces of journalistic facts while using the lives of ordinary people to show the impact of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in a compassionate and perceptive voice. John Hersey uses facts and the recollections of those who survived to weave a truely remarkable tale of what happens when one decision changes the lives of many. This novel contains bits and pieces of people's lives before and after the atomic bomb had been dropped. Although the book may seem short, the time that you spend thinking about the book is actually quite long. This book is not a light and happy read, it is not some classic that becomes cliqued and quoted all too many times, but what it is is an admirable tale spun not by the author himself, but by the lives of those who managed to do the near impossible. This novel tells the story of those who managed to live. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - Japan    2. Atomic bomb    3. Blast effect    4. Bombardment, 1945    5. Hiroshima-shi    6. Hiroshima-shi (Japan)    7. History    8. History - Military / War    9. History: World    10. Japan    11. Military - Nuclear Warfare    12. Military - World War II    13. World - General    14. World War, 1939-1945    15. History / World   

Subjects:  1. 18th Century World History    2. Encyclopedias    3. Enlightenment    4. Europe    5. Europe - General    6. History - General History    7. Philosophy    8. Reference    9. United States    10. European history: c 1500 to c 1750    11. European history: c 1750 to c 1900    12. History, World | Modern    13. Reference / Encyclopedias    14. Social history    15. Western philosophy, c 1600 to c 1800    16. c 1700 to c 1800   

Reviews (8)

A refreshing, compact look at Sephardic history
It has often been difficult for me to keep old textbooks.Oftentimes they're dry as toast and I can't wait to foist them off to the university bookstore again.However, I kept Gerber's book after my Spanish Jewry class ended.Simply put, it's a nice little treasure.
"Basta mi nombre que es Abrabanel."
THE JEWS OF SPAIN is an eminently readable and important survey history of the Ibero-Jewish experience from Biblical times. The Jews of Sepharad (Spain) are first mentioned in the Prophetic Book of Obadiah. From this beginning in antiquity, they can trace their history on Spanish soil right down to the present day.
True Experience
I am a Sephardic Jew,I have thought these thoughts and felt these feelings.I read the book and was surprised that my thoughts and feelings were far from uncommon among Spain's exiles and Jane Gerber captured it truly. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Spain & Portugal    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. Jewish - General    6. Judaism - General    7. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    8. History of specific racial & ethnic groups    9. Jewish studies    10. Judaism    11. Religion / Judaism / General    12. Spain   

Reviews (21)

Five Royle Grand Duaghters
This book is an amazing look at five of Queen Victoria's Granddaughters that would themselves be Queens of five countries and affect the course of history.
Fascinating history book
It was always interesting to see how Queen Victoria ruled the world and reading of her granddaughters who became queens,is very fascinating!!! A part of history that will probably not be repeated except for the present Queen of England.
A good book to read if your familar with Queen Victoria.
This is a good book to read if you are extremely familar with Queen Victoria. There are two problems with this book, (1) The author did not focus or give enough information about Queen Maud's life as she did with the other grandaughters. (2) It's lacking information in certain places.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Europe    6. Historical - General    7. Queens    8. Royalty    9. Russia    10. Victoria,    11. Women   

Reviews (23)

Good author, bad editor
This is an excellent book, which has received much well deserved praise. Rather than repeating the praise, I would like to take up a few points which I feel a good editor would have corrected:
The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939
A very good book for the period leading up to WWII....an interesting read for all those interested in WWII and the events that defined what really happened. Provides in-depth facts and represents well thought-out research....a very good read.

Mad Delusion Of Propaganda
The Battle For Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 is a book that focuses on not just the causes of the conflict and military actions taken during it, but also on the ideals, goals and politics that shaped the two sides.
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Subjects:  1. Civil War, 1936-1939    2. Europe - Spain & Portugal    3. History    4. History - Military / War    5.