1990 Books

Just 4 words to sum up this book TOTALLY AND ABSOLUTELY BRILLIAN

Compiled and organized by music critic and radio host Stan Jeffries, Encyclopedia Of World Pop Music 1980-2001 offers 277-pages of brief biographies, basic history, and background music information concerning modern pop music stars performing worldwide over the past twenty years. Appendix A lists entries alphabetically by country; Appendix B lists awards; and Appendix C explains silver/gold/platinum sales requirements. Extensively researched, offering web sites for quick lookup as well as more standard sources, Encyclopedia Of World Pop Music 1980-2001 is a welcome and information packed contribution to Popular Culture Music History collections, as well as an invaluable Songwriter/Performer reference.

This is probably the best film book I've read in the last five years. The organization of the book is extremely intelligent, the range of authors is incredible, and their comments are always useful, thought provoking, and fun to read. Most books that cover a range of films offer only descriptions of individual movies. Lewis' book, of course, tells us about the important films of the nineties. But it also explains the practices of the film industry during the period, the important stylistic developments, the conflict and cooperation between independent companies and established studios, shifts in the thinking about censorship, the relationships between video and film, and a whole lot more. The tone of the writers is fantastic--they're all movie fans, they take movies very seriously, and they connect movies to important cultural and political trends. This book is a constant pleasure. If you have any interest in the films of the last decade of the twentieth century, this is the book for you.

This book provides an excellent brief overview to the historiography of the fall of the British Empire. It looks at the fall from a variety of angles and provides a nice conclusion that reminds readers that no one historiography is correct and that all must be taken together. The first calls for the argument that the British metropole tired of empire and popular opinion went against it. This derives from the Hughes and Cain argument of the gentlemanly class but takes a different viewpoint on it and while useful is probably the weakest of the bunch provided. The second course looked at is the economic course which is a compelling argument that shows that empire was not a profitable way to organize in the post 1945 period and the British abandoned the project. The third argument centers on the emerging bipolar world system which argues that the superpowers made Empire obsolete. A useful subset of this historiography is the fact that both the United States and USSR are anti-imperialist which works against British designs. On this note the last historiography considered is the one that focuses on the colonial localities and their emerging nationalism. The argument here is that too many authors focus on their specific country and lose sight of the bigger picture. This does provide an excellent look overall at the idea of how the empire fell apart and is a must read.

For those who want to understand why Central Asia has been fought over in recent history Rajan Menon provides an invaluable tool. This book goes region by region utilizing the best authors in each. The book covers the individual countries in the Caspian regions as well as the future prospects for Russian and OPEC interaction there. It clearly lays out how the region has been developing and although a little dated at this point it still provides an excellent foundation. The authors that contribute are the best in their fields and Menon organizes the book very well. Highly recommend if you are interested in oil policy.

This is a fantastic book covering 1914 to the end of the 20th century. Not only are the economic aspects critiqued, but social history as well as political motives are covered well. Works as a great introduction to someone looking for a general aspect of british history, as well as someone wanting to pry deep into British political thought.

Great book on the work of spanish architect E Miralles hisstyle is very peculiar and not easy to pigeon hole as usually happenswith contemporary architects. Miralles work is very inspiring, free form and aggresive. All projects come with a clear description and lots of photographs and drawings. A down things is that graphics are too small some times.

I have collected a number of these books in several series from 1988 to 1990. Published by Cornell University Press, they are collections of original poetry or shortstories. I am not well-versed in either area, but I can tell you that the manuscripts contained within are goose-bump wonderful and captivating. MANY contributors go on to publish in their own or within another author's works. If you appreciate contemporary poetry and literature these small books contain a wealth of, formerly, unknown talent.

The Wall came up. It separated East Berlin from West Berlin and with it--Sabrina and Matthew. Follow the Baron, Sabrina, and Matthew as they are reunited. They never forgot how much they loved each other and how grateful to God they were for perserving that love during the years of their separation. Follow their heroic escape to freedom in the West. Their lives become entertwined with the selfless other in the Network. This is a story of courage and God's perfect timing

The pictures of Cristina Garcia Rodero capture the corners of rural or folcloric Spain with such gripping elocuence it is almost painful.With a hint of surrealism and a sense for the right moment to capture her subjects, she reveals the hidden Spain in all its darkness and grace. The subject is impressive but it takes an artist to peel the surface and go further and that is what Cristina has done