Reviews (10)

Stunningly Bad
This book is not funny, insightful, interesting or well written. The style is like prose on speed but ultimately there is nothing here. As a long term traveler to Italy, I saw nothing familiar other than some of the obvious stereotypes. Tim Parks does it better and with style in Italian Neighbors.

Awkward format but an incisive and comprehensive dissection of Italians
While dining in a favorite restaurant recently, I congratulated the Italian proprietor on his country's recent well-deserved World Cup triumph."Yeah," he replied, shaking his head, "it was just too easy...I'm really not sure what they can do in 2010 because it's just too easy for us now."I scanned his face for any hint of his pulling my leg (are we talking about the same tournament here?).There was none.
Everything you always wanted to know aboutItaly, but nobody told you.
I think that this book is really well written, witty and serious at the same time. It is a balanced description of the Italian "real life", leaving apart emphasis or stereotypes. As a matter of fact the Author did not run after what most of the foreigners want to ear or read about "il Bel Paese" (the Beautiful Country). Mind the title. Severgnini goes beyond the behaviours of the people, he tries to analyze when, how and why the "Italian mind" acts in a specific situation. This is a complex matter (i.e. Italians are so different despite they share the same flag), but he succeeded to write a clever, deep and also funny book. I'm convinced that North Americans overall like the Italians. If you belong to this category, then go for this book, you may learn more, if not buy it anyway. You may change your mind ! AMust. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1945-    2. 20th Century Description And Travel    3. Culture    4. Customs & Traditions    5. Description and travel    6. Europe - Italy    7. Italy    8. National characteristics, Italian    9. Social life and customs    10. Travel    11. Travel - Foreign    12. Travel / Europe / Italy   

Reviews (3)

Excellent Biography
Adrian Goldsworthy's latest book, "Caesar", is another one of those great books that you cannot afford to miss this year. Following on from his excellent run of books; "The Punic Wars" and "In The Name of Rome", this new title is a great addition to anyone's library.
Hail Caesar!
A good basic and thorough history of the great Roman. Dr. Goldsworthy writes in a clear, understandable style relying for his information on primary texts from the age.Arcane political and military terms are nicely explained.
Objective, reader-friendly, thorough but not overly technical - a must-read for Roman scholars/fans
Fans of Goldsworthy's previous works won't be disappointed with this bio, which will undoubtedly be named as one of the best overall works about Julius Caesar for many years to come.
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Subjects:  1. Ancient - Rome    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Historical - General    6. Royalty    7. Biography & Autobiography / General   

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   

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   

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   

Reviews (7)

Perfect downplay of Italian Renaissance art.
As a coffee table book- it is OK- big and colorful pictures.... Too colorful!For example, a large-scale view of a painting has a black and yellow palette, but the detail is blue and red.As a professional reference- it is as bad as bad could be. No professional artist would ever have their work photographed with flash!!! But in this book there are plenty of those. Paintings have flash spots - unbelievable!
Amazing Detail often refered to set
This is a stunning two volume set.The amount of detail in both the written word and stunning photographs brings Florentine art to life.The text covers not only the technical aspects of the art and architecture but also the socio-political environment in which the art was created.These discourses can be a little dry but they are enlightening.The photography will certainly recapture ones interest when the text gets a little dull.

A Rare and Treasured Treat
Talk about magnificently beautiful! THE ART OF FLORENCE does full justice to its subject -- and it's a lot cheaper than plane fare to Italy.Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. European    4. History - General    5. History - Renaissance    6. History Of Art / Art & Design Styles    7. Italy    8. Sale Books   

Reviews (7)

"Civic-ness" and Democracy
In the early 1970s, political power was decentralized in Italy.The power once held by the central government in Rome was reallocated to the newly created regional governments. Constitutionally, the regions possessed similar political institutions.However, the regions varied socially, economically and in political context.Putnam, seeing a ready laboratory for social science, chose to study the role of environmental factors on institutional performance in the new regional governments.Institutions serve as Putnam's independent variable, while a number of environmental factors act as the dependent variables.As such three main research questions emerged; 1) how does institutional change affect identity, power, and strategy of the regional political actors, 2) how is institutional performance a function of history, and lastly 3) which features of social context most powerfully affect institutional performance (8).
A Classic Text of Modern Political Science
Robert Putnam's work has become a Political Science classic.His work is part of new area of research -- civic participation.During the past decade, this area has exploded from obscurity twenty years ago to being one of the most popular fields today.Putnam's works have had a profound impact on many other areas in the Political Science world, from local governance to international political theory.Regardless of whether you agree with his theories, if you are at all interested in Political Science, it is a must read.Moreover, either "Marking Democracy Work" or "Bowling Alone" are becoming standard texts used in most 100 & 200 level undergraduate courses.

trite conclusions, flawed methodology... but engaging prose
It's unfortunate that given the opportunity and resources to study the birth and development of regional government in Italy over the course of twenty years, the best conclusions Putnam was able to draw from his observations are hackneyed paraphrases from Tocqueville. Most of his most careful fieldwork yields results that are stultifyingly obvious; and it's hard not to think that his questions and indicators were not deliberately chosen to demonstrate foregone conclusions. Probably most irritating to me is Putnam's irresponsible use of history as a tool for proving continuities that are largely imaginary.Read more

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - Cultural    2. Government - U.S. Government    3. History & Theory - General    4. Political Science    5. Politics / Current Events    6. Politics/International Relations    7. Central government    8. Italy    9. Local government    10. Political Science / History & Theory    11. Political Science and International Relations    12. Political science & theory    13. Political structures: democracy    14. Sociology    15. c 1970 to c 1980    16. c 1980 to c 1990   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Art    3. Art & Art Instruction    4. Commercial - Fashion Design    5. Fashion    6. Fashion design    7. Gucci (Firm)    8. History    9. Italy    10. Photography Of Specific Subjects    11. Subjects & Themes - Fashion    12. Art / Fashion   

Editorial Review

Filippo Brunelleschi's design for the dome of the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence remains one of the most towering achievements of Renaissance architecture. Completed in 1436, the dome remains a remarkable feat of design and engineering. Its span of more than 140 feet exceeds St Paul's in London and St Peter's in Rome, and even outdoes the Capitol in Washington, D.C., making it the largest dome ever constructed using bricks and mortar. The story of its creation and its brilliant but "hot-tempered" creator is told in Ross King's delightful Read more

Reviews (85)

A slice of Rennaisance life
The subject may be the legendary dome, and the man who built it, but thebest part of the book is its characterization of everyday life during that era.The author knows a lot about Rennaisance Europe, and his writing is enjoyable as well. He is no engineer, so it's never clear why this is such an engineering marvel. For that, see Why Buildings Stand Up, although the readibility of that book pales alongside this one.

Easy-to-read, great intro to the subject; but, never attempts to explain its own title
In this book, author Ross King provides an easy-to-read narrative not only of Brunelleschi's procedure in building the dome of the Florence cathedral, but also of the political context, particularly within the Opera del Duomo, the office of works in charge of the cathedral.It's a nice intro for a general audience, but lacks historical analysis and fails to satisfactorily address the statement made in its own subtitle.
The Dome, Yes, but also much, much, more.
Santa Maria del Fiore may just be the one perfect piece of architecture.I dare you to go to Florence, see it, and not be moved.Read this book, and then go climb il Duomo's stairs, passing the frescoes inside the dome to enter the passage between the two domes.Feel the changes in the sharpness of the stairs' angles.Climb out at the base of the Lanterna with the city's red roofs stretching beneath you at every angle.The experience would be exhilerating of itself, but with Ross King's description of the building process echoing through your head, you might find yourself full of wonder and moved to tears like I was.
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Subjects:  1. 1377-1446    2. Architecture    3. Brunelleschi, Filippo,    4. Buildings    5. Design and construction    6. Domes    7. Europe - Italy    8. Florence    9. Florence (Italy)    10. History - Specific Styles    11. Individual Architect    12. Italy    13. Religious Buildings    14. Renaissance    15. Santa Maria del Fiore (Cathedr    16. Santa Maria del Fiore (Cathedral : Florence, Italy)    17. Architecture / History    18. Brunelleschi, Filippo   

Reviews (116)

YES!
For all who want to read a no holds barred critique of how the West simpers and grovels before the tower of political correctness read this. For those who say that is to harsh, I just watched today on the news that The London Star has just pulled a parody of itself because it might offend some Muslems. Never, never, never would a newspaper think of doing that for anyone else. As for the guy who trashed it after admitting he hadn't read it Huh? Nuf said. This should be required reading in every classroom in Europe and the U.S. It is time the truth is yelled from the rooftops as Fallaci does so well. One piece of advice, read it straight through in 1 sitting (it will take 4 or 5 hours) I wish I had. I think you will feel the full force that way. By the way, as it is wrong about the entire book so is Publisher's Weekly wrong about her translation. She explains it in the beginning ( they must have missed that part ) and it makes it all the more real, as well as reminding us that she is writing to Italians which I forgot occasionally.

The Rage and The Pride
I have been a fan of Oriana for the last 30 years. Her objectivity, fairness and compassion has impressed me when reporting on Vietnam, Mexico City, her interviews with History, her letter to a child never born.
Publishers Weekly has a distinct bias of its own
A forceful and emotional "sermon" - we see ourselves in the looking glass through the words of Fallaci.Laughably, Publishers Weekly declares (in a statement thoroughly fearful and utterly dripping of politically correctness - exactly what Fallaci chastizes us for) that the book "will not sit well with American readers".Such utter rubbish from Publishers Weekly... If you think we're not facing a war for the soul of this nation and you want to sit around the campfire and sing happy songs and hold hands, then please, by all means, have at it.
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Subjects:  1. 1995-2005    2. Biography    3. Fallaci, Oriana    4. History    5. History: World    6. Italy    7. Journalists    8. Middle East - General    9. Modern - 21st Century    10. Political Freedom & Security - Terrorism    11. Politics / Current Events    12. September 11 Terrorist Attacks    13. September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001    14. World politics    15. History / General    16. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT   

Reviews (65)

Unchristian
Dalrymple's 1994 reenactment of the 6th century Christian spiritual journey of John Moschos and Sophronios is fascinating, and its author a compelling writer. There, the value of this book ends.
A book transcending itself
A trip through the Middle-East is most of all getting to know the Muslim world. The part of its' history from Byzantine times, meaning the presence and history of Christian settlements,is easily forgotten or at least figures in the background only. After having read this book the Middle-East will never be the same to me again. With the exception of the Armenian genocide,I was hardly aware of all tragedies which happened but most of all: which are today still happeningto the very old Christian communities of these countries. Not only are they in permanent danger of being killed, often with no punishment of the perpetrators from the authorities, and have they already been driven out of places where they lived since a 1500 years, also their ancient buildings, art, manuscripts, possessions of huge historic meaning, are being destroyed. As these communities and their material heritage represent much of the roots of Western civilization, this loss is a huge loss for the history of mankind. What's going on is a complete annihilation of the wonderful mosaic of different civilizations this world once produced. As since many years but now more than ever the Middle-East is the focus of world politics,"From the Holy Mountain" should be read by a much wider group of people than lovers of good travelogues or lovers of these countries only. A most important and readable study, implicating a plea for tolerance and respect, it should be a must-read for all politicians in the world.
Zeal For Ecclesiastical Arcana
Yes! My title nabbed from the Amazon reviewer. Dalrymple's journey through the middle east, retraces the Byzantine traveller-monlk, John Moschos, author of, The Spiritual Meadow'. In the late C6th, accompanied by his pupil, he set to gather the wisdom of the desert fathers from Mt Athos, to Kurdisatan, then south through Syria, the Lebanon, Palestine, and on up the Nile. Dalrymple's trip in the early 90s was frought with tensions which today would cause an angel trepidation. The book was a revelation to me, filling in considerable gaps about the foundation and correlations of so many parties in the fermenting region. Muslim fundamentlists provide stiff opposition to Dalrymple's historical and current enquiries. But they are not unique in this. His evocation of place is crisply poetic and touched with memorable detail. His feel for people is very sympathetic. A work justly applauded. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ancient - Greece    2. Ancient - Rome    3. History - General History    4. Middle East - General    5. Religion    6. Travel   

Subjects:  1. 63 B.C.-14 A.D    2. Ancient - Rome    3. Ancient Rome - History    4. Augustus,    5. Augustus, 30 B.C.-14 A.D    6. Biography    7. Biography & Autobiography    8. Biography / Autobiography    9. Biography/Autobiography    10. Emperor of Rome,    11. Emperors    12. Historical - General    13. History    14. Rome    15. Biography & Autobiography / Political   

Reviews (7)

Want a Good Start on an Education?
"Caesar and Christ" is the third thick volume of an amazing 45-year life work by Will Durant. I strongly advise you do not heed the academic reviews of "The Story of Civilization." There is no reason to assume the critics even read one volume of Durant's work. Be aware that academic philosophy professors list Hanna Arendt, a second rate intellectual, as the only significant female philosopher and ignore one of the most powerful minds of the post WWII era, Ayn Rand. Sure, she is flawed but she is greater than a Camus or a Chomsky. I strongly recommend reading "Caesar and Christ" and the entire 10 volume set of "Story of Civilization" - if you truly seek to be generally educated. You will learn more from Durant than from years of liberal arts schooling in any university. I never heard a professor mention Durant to students but I saw the entire set on the shelves of the private libraries of some major historians. Would you buy, own, read and keep 10 volumes of books you knew to be worthless? Ignore the academic mantra and decide for yourself.
HISTORY WELL DONE
It this third volume, Durant continues the story of man through the time of the height of Rome and Christ.Like the other volumes it is quite well done and despite what another reviewer's opinion is, quite comprehensive.Granted, I you want to read more about battles, etc. they you should probably look elswhere.I am of the school that a time period can only be understood by what they left behind, i.e. art, literature, politics, etc. rather than who they defeated in battle, or who defeated them.This is only my opinion though, others look at it differently.Also, I suppose if you are teaching a college course addressing this period of time, you would certainly want to gleen information from other sources.That not being the case on my part, I thought this was a wonderful overview of a very important epoch.I thought it was quite well presented.Recommend highly.

Civilization vs. History
The book has wonderful moments.It is lovingly written and often witty.However readers should be aware of Durant's definition of civilization.According to Durant: Read more

Subjects:  1. Ancient - Rome    2. Christianity    3. Church history    4. History    5. History - General History    6. Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600    7. Rome    8. World - General    9. History / General   

Reviews (15)

Written for a 12 Year-Old
What a disappointment!It is only lacking cartoon illustrations to make it seem competely childish.But more disturbingly it is deceptively simplistic.Told through rose-colored glasses, leaving out what is convenient to ensure a "happy" ending.
Absorbing history that reads like a soap opera
As a lifelong and very active Catholic I was shocked to learn just how little I knew about the history of St. Peters in Rome.
A Mixed Bag
I've been waiting for a popular history dealing with the Renaissance, Reformation, Catholic Reformation, etc. And at first glance this bo