european

What I know of the Scythians is limited to what Herodotus wrote, and an article in the Sep 96 issue of National Geographic which described at length the archaeological efforts in the Ukraine and the depradations by grave looters. I was very happy then to see the magnificient collection featured in this book. The essays, though simple, have helped me understand more about this ancient race£¬and since I missed out on the exhibition, I have another destination now for my holidays (provided I find the money first of course).

Ms Reeder compiled a terrific presentation of the Scythian treasures found in the present day Ukraine; some of the Scythian artificats were taken to Moscow ( stolen) prior to the Ukrainian independence in 1991.Excellent book for graduation gifts.

Well-researched, with excellent photography, this book sheds light on the mysterious Scythians, their relationships with other peoples (most notably the Greeks), their culture and their ostenatious, gilded artefacts (1500 years before Versace).

I was fortunate enough to get a mint-condition copy of this out-of-print book, a sequal to the New York Times #1 bestseller masterpiece GNOMES. While that book was more of an encyclopedia format, this is an actual storybook (though still complete with pages and pages of informarion on Gnomes' lives), and a damned good one at that. In fact, this is on my Top Three list of favorite books of all time. The illustrations are what would probably attract most people, as they easily rival the best of Alan Lee and Brian Froud. But take time to actually (and throughly) read it; you will be stunned at it's ability to make you think a great deal. One of the few books I have ever read to truly deserve the word "magical".

If you own the first book of Gnomes by these talented authors and illustrators, then you really do need to find a copy of this one. It has the same magic and attention to detail, but gives you a greater insight into the lives of these little busy creatures, with just the right amount of whimsy.

There is more focus on different tales from various parts of the world, and certainly more of the fabulous drawings. Again this book is worth the purchase for the illustrations alone.

This is a wonderful book that I read when I managed to locate a copy in my public Library. I'd give a nut to actually acquire my own copy. If I don't find one soon you can be damn sure that I'll pinch the library's copy

I am shocked to find the great many people who are unaware of Mussollinni's ill-fated pursuit of glory in the east. His broken dreams left many Italian families orphaned and widowed. This well written account of the brutality of combat on the Eastern front is a fine addition to any WW2 eastern front library. It is well written and fascinating.

Mario Rigoni Stern was barely twenty-one - and already a battle veteran - at the time of the hallucinatory World War II disaster searchingly described in this book. In July 1942, the Italian forces in Russia totaled 230,000 men. They included three divisions of Alpini troops, specially trained for winter warfare; the author of this book belonged to one of these, the Tridentina. In December, the troops began retreating, entirely on foot, with no supplies, at a temperature of 30-40 degrees below zero. Many of the troops, overcome by exhaustion, broke away from the column; others were cut off and captured by the Russians, others lost in the steppes. In the end, about 90,000 were missing or dead, about 45,000 frostbitten and wounded." "This narrative, together with his novel The Story of Tonle and several other works, paints a broad fresco of Italy's history in this century, chronicling social and political change so radical and profound that it has touched even those in such secluded provincial communities as that which Rigoni Stern has so masterfully described.

I've heard many times that rigoni Stern's "Sergeant in the Snow"is one of the best memoirs on eastern front,however,very unfortunately this book has long been out of stock in most book stores.At first time I purchsed this book, I was bit dismayed by its size-it's just little more than 100 pages .but shortly after I started reading the book. I can't stop reading it..Not only Rigoni Stern's honest and realistic potrayal of the war but also the beauty of each sentence which is so powerful that it constantly conjures up images of snow,trench, soldiers who had completely normal lives before war ..love,homesick,girls,friends,comradeship,bravity..and a young master sergeant whose humanity and will for life shines and finally prevails all unbearable physical and mental exhaution.
another attraction is that although Rigoni had already been a seasoned veteran by the time his Division became a part of unfortunate Italian 8th Army .he didn't lose his sanity and love for people.(he is very symphathetic to poor Russian people and even his enemy ..) Unlike Guy Sayer , Rigoni Stern doesn't intend to invoke sensationalism by describing death ,multilated bodies, and combat ,but the book conveyed sense of desperation and symphathy for those who lost during the retreat and break out .
The book will be particulary helpful to understand solders of often unfairly labelled Italian 8th army in Russia.

That quaint saying is the keynote of this book from the turn of the century. It is truly the best basic cook book ever produced. From mayonaisse to dressing fresh kill, starting a fire in a stove to making cordials and candies from your berry crop, the quintessential Cook's book will provide you with a culinary education from the days before microwaves and even Barbie's dream kitchen. The food here is not haute cuisine but good honest food that can feed a family wholesome and hearty meals on a budget and teach you how to make it from scratch. It is a must have investment for anyone trying to live on a budget.

If you can get this book -- Buy this book.

...oh yes, they have GREAT cookie recipes too ;)

Hugz,

Mama Budz

Noodle kugel, kasha varnishkas, knishes and stuffed cabbage. If you long for cooking as Grandmom used to do, this is a timeless classic on the order of older versions of The Joy of Cooking.

WOW! This is the best cookbook I have ever used! I have almost wore it out! The best pancake recipe is in this book! My family loves the waffle recipe! My Grandma gave my mom this cookbook, my mom gave me a copy of the cookbook & I hope to pass on the tradition to my girls.

Hans Christian Andersen is one of the most famous writers of fairy tales. The Snow Queen is one of the longest tales and one of his best known. He would listen to folk and fairy tales as a child and when he grew up, he wrote some of these stories in his own words.

Anderson began writing The Snow Queen on December 5, 1844 and it was published sixteen days later in book form! His fairy tales made him famous and the stories have been translated into more than 100 languages and some have been made into films, like the Little Mermaid.

Nilesh Mistry is one of my favorite illustrators. He was born in Bombay and moved to London, England in 1975. His books include The Illustrated Book of Fairy Tales and Aladdin. I simply want to own every book he illustrates!

In the story of The Snow Queen, you will find illustrations and photography that shows the settings of the original book. This classic is again brought to life, yet never so beautifully as with Nilesh Mistry's art. Kai is whirled away by the icily beautiful Snow Queen. His playmate Gerda sets out to find him and encounters many adventures in his quest. This is a story I remember very well, yet I had to imagine the pictures in my own mind as a child.

In this book, she looks hauntingly similar to how I pictured her as a child. "The driver stood up, in a coat and hat of purest snow. She was a woman, tall and glittering. She was the Snow Queen."

The story begins with a story about the Devil who laughed at his own cleverness. He creates a mirror that sets people against one another by making people see the ugly side of things. If a splinter of glass from the mirror ever entered a person's eye, their heart would become a lump of solid ice. (quite a lesson there to be sure!)

When the "imps" decide to take the mirror up to the angels and try to make fun of them, it falls and shatteres into a hundred pieces. When "Kai" finds a grain of glass in his heart his entire attitude to life is changed. "Keep away from me!" he screeches at his friend Gerda.

Then one day he falls off his sled and sees the Snow Queen. She kisses him with her cold lips on his forehead and she takes him away through a cloud of darkness up into the sky. When Kai doesn't come home, Gerda goes looking for him. She sings to the river and drifts in a boat down a river to find Kai.

Gerda is a contrast to Kai and is loving and kind. Only when a spell is broken is evil defeated. After the story a page of where the event takes place helps make the story more interesting. Finally, we can explore the real and imaginary world of The Snow Queen.

Even as an adult, I am fascinated by fairy tales. They appeal to the child in us all and to something deep inside of us that knows, good will triumph over evil, in the end.

Family Classic Audio Books is a series of outstanding "theater of the mind" audiobook productions featuring a full cast performance. One of their latest offerings for young listeners (and their families) are Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairytale The Snow Queen adapted and with lyrics by Adrian Mitchell set to music by Richard Peaslee and wonderfully narrated by Jonathan Pryce. The Snow Queen follows young Gerda's quest (with help from some magical characters she meets en route) to rescue her friend Kai from the icy clutches of the Snow Queen.

The messages relating to lifes journey are wonderful. If you have never read this book as a child or as an adult, it is a must!

I discovered the book "Sparrow" a couple of years ago when watching the film. I was taken aback by the storline, that i could not resist but find the actual book which i knew would be more equisite than the film. It depicts the psychological suffering of young lady(Maria), who spends a magnificent summer away from the convent only to fall in love with her neighbour'son. She is forced to return to the convent and bare the sorrow of being without the one she loves. Verga carefully depicts the character's emotion of rejection and denial.

It is a book that does not fail to emotionally move one, when reading. A definite 5 star novel.

Giovanni Verga wrote several novels that were, at their essence, Sicilian family sagas. Sparrow is not one the them. Instead, this exquisite miniature is an intimate psychological portrait of one young girl, a girl destined to become a nun against her wishes, a portrait of her one and only summer of happiness and the ultimate tragedy that underscores her life.

The plot of this lovely novella could have so easily degenrated into pure, unvarnished sentimentality in the hands of an author less talented than Verga. Verga's descriptions of the people, of the Sicilian countryside, of convent life, as well as his use of third person narration, are so convincing, so full of sharp edges, that we can't help but believe they are real.

Boosting the book's credibility, however, is the undeniable fact that Catholic Europe often sent its unwanted sons and daughters to both monasteries and convents. This was simply cruel social reality; whether or not the child in question actually had a religious vocation was deemed superfluous. Sicily was the last to abandon this inhumane practice and, as a result, it's convents became little more than rceptacles of human refuse: filthy, overcrowded buildings that housed unwilling, but desperate, residents.

It would seem that Verga's story has some basis in fact. Some of his aunts were nuns and his mother, Donna Caterina, a member of the minor nobility, had been convent educated. She, herself, told Verga the story of a young girl who lived in a convent in the "madowman's cell," a place from which were heard shrieks, moans and ungodly bursts of inhuman laughter.

Set in 1854, Sparrow depicts a Sicily ravaged by the cholera epidemic. The emotions depicted in the book are both organized and feverish and it is to Verga's credit that he keeps them from spilling over into melodrama.

The story, itself, is told in a series of letters. These letters begin rationally enough but they soon begin to be filled with madness...the madness of an absolute love that could never be.

Simple and poetic, Sparrow tells a horrifying tale that so easily could have slipped into the cliche, yet happily doesn't. A wonderful study of a life gone so terrible wrong.

This book has the power of transporting the reader into the life of the main character and making him/her sympathize with Maria. However individual her particular condition may be (fortunately, not many women are forced into convents nowadays), her story goes beyond the specific events to symbolize the idea of being forced into the wrong vocation, being denied freedom of choice and the extreme consequences of psychological violence.

An immediate classic since its first publication, it strikes a chord with people worldwide since almost everyone has sooner or later lived through a predicament that felt similar in principle to Maria's. Highly recommended. I've already read it twice.

This book tells the classic tale of the one-legged tin soldier who falls in love with a paper ballerina. The soldier suffers a series of misadventures, including being placed at the helm of a doomed paper boat, being chased by a rat, and swallowed by a fish. It's a wonderful tale that will hold older children spellbound. The illustrations are delightful. All told, the book has about 2000 words.

A little boy had a set of tin soldiers that were made from a melted spoon. One soldier was missing a leg because there was not enough metal left over from the melted spoon.

Tossed aside by the boy, the one-legged soldier sees a paper cut out figure of a ballerina. She is poised on one leg and he feels an instant bond. He has found another one-legged toy and believes this to be love.

The steadfast tin soldier has a series of mishaps. He falls off the window sill into a stream. From there, he is transported to a rat infested sewer. He is swallowed by a fish and through an unlikely stroke of luck, winds up back in the boy's playroom with the other toys and the ballerina.

The ending is what gets to me every single time. A gust of wind lifts the paper ballerina up and she flutters into the fire place, winding up a charred heap of ashes. Devastated, the tin soldier joins her. The remaining metal that was once the tin soldier is a charred piece of heart shaped metal.

I still think this is a very sad story. The photographs really emphasize the feeling this story evokes.

I taught 1st grade for 4 years and all of the teachers in my grade passed this book around at Christmas to read to our class. I cried everytime I read it. It has a wonderful message and my kids in my classroom always loved it! I have now (finally) purchased my own copy of this book to read to my little girl. It is a classic and I know she will love it as much as I do. Every home should have this book to read at Christmastime.

This book tells the traditional story of Sleeping Beauty with magnificent language, accompanied by spectacular illustrations. As in the original, Sleeping Beauty's mother is told that her dream of having a child would finally come true and that she would have a baby girl. The Queen did have the baby girl and her husband was so pleased he threw the biggest and grandest birthday party. He invited all but one person and not inviting her was the result in a terrible spell cast upon his daughter, Briar Rose. The spell was to put her to sleep on her 15th birthday, in which it did, after she touched the spinning wheel. Only a handsome man could wake her from the spell, and many years later that is what one man did. By kissing her, she returned to life and brought the whole castle life back with her. What catches the reader's attention in this particular book is the depth and colors of the illustrations. The position of the text also is very relevant in this story. Each picture is extremely detailed and shows that a great amount of thought was put into completing each page. It is very unique that the placement of the words on each page is located in some form of an opening. The text is placed in open skies, doorways, and blank walls on each page. In the beginning of the book, when the tone is darker, opening words are placed in a smaller and darker area; when Sleeping Beauty is awoken, the tone is much livelier. An example of this transition is relevant on the first two pages of the book, from the time when you are told the Queen could not have children to the time she has given birth to a baby girl. The first picture has dark colors and the trees are scary, close together and representative of a dark tone. With a turn of the page the tone takes a great positive change with open skies, doves, and vibrant colors. The text on both pages is in the middle of the darkness and then in the middle of a window. The position of the text and the illustrations are key factors in determining the over all tone and mood of the story. This book tells such an amazing story with the pictures that words are not even necessary. Children can read this book and better understand because of the colors and detail that each picture possesses. The doves that are used on the page of the birth of Briar Rose and the end of the book symbolize her life and what joy she lived. The colors in general are also used a symbol for joy and sadness, with such powerful colors meaning and representing happy times.

Trina Schart Hyman entranced me with her illustrations of Snow White when I was just a child. This book, with all its wonderful depictions, is equally as rich and magical. I have always loved the way her drawings looked and she was a direct inspiration for me to take up illustration when I got to college. I definitely reccomend it. It is a lovely, well-written tale and anyone, young or old, will love it.

As soon as you see the cover, you will know this is an edition of Sleeping Beauty that you will want. You actually feel the joy of the baby's christening, and the hurt and turmoil of the wicked fairy's curse. The scenes in this book are medeieval looking and it even shows some of the seasons that pass. This might not be the way that you see Sleeping Beauty often depicted. The princess, Briar Rose has long red hair and she wears a knife around her waist, in true medieval princess style. This is definetly a good change for the story. With it's expressive wording and beautiful, unique illustrations, you will want to check out her other books such as Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and some others!!!!

Yet another good book spoiled by lousy editing.

1. Russians do not have middle names. It should be Andrey Dmitrievich Sakharov, or A.D. Sakharov, or Andrey Sakharov, but NOT Andrey D. Sakharov.

2. There are A LOT of mistakes in spelling of Russian names and book titles.

3. In two Greek words (allegedly by Plato), chresimos pseudos, I found 3 (THREE) errors: there are no zetas it those words at all, only sigmas.

4. By the time of Versailles Treaty, Romania had been on the map of Europe for about 50 years; it had not been created as a result of that treaty . . .

etc., etc., etc.

I do not believe Professor Weeks doesn't know when Romania was created. I blame copyeditor and proofreader . . . if there were any.

For a lot of Americans the best thing about the Soviet Union, or its saving moment, came in WW2. After Hitler's surprise attack (June 1941) the USSR became one more victim of Nazi aggression and joined together with US and Allies to end that most horrid totalitarianism.
Albert Weeks provides an essential corrective to this view. Drawing on newly available documents and his wide reading in Russian historians, Weeks argues forcefully for the view that Stalin had long had an imperialist project in mind for Soviet expansion into Europe, and specifically had the aim of striking his "ally" Germany. Hitler did not end a healthy alliance but only managed to surprise Stalin before Stalin could surprise him.
For a book in Soviet history, which has been loaded down with didactic interpretations on both sides, this book is refreshingly reasonable. Weeks weighs and assesses each bit of evidence he finds. He does not force evidence to fit his interpretation when there is room for doubt. And he is morally serious without being preachy.
Balanced and thoughtful histories of the USSR are finally possible. Who knows what other archives are going to be released? Which former Soviet officials will come clean about old state secrets? If Albert Weeks's book is any sign, reassessments of the USSR's past have a promising future.

This is an important new book by an expert on Soviet history in updated Paperback format.

Professor Weeks presents the reader with a lot of newly discovered secret information from documents from formerly closed Soviet archives.

Among these documents are transcripts of Stalin's famous toast to graduates of the Military academies from the 5th of May, 1941, and the text of Stalin's previously hotly disputed secret speech to the Soviet Politburo, dated August 19, 1939, just days before signing the Hitler-Stalin Pact including its secret protocol about the territorial division of Poland, the Baltics and Bessarabia. The text was discovered in Russian archives and has also been confirmed by diary entries of Comintern head Dimitrov. Stalin predicts that Germany will have to fight a long war against France and England, allowing the Soviet Union to sovietize not only defeated Germany but also France.

An even more important document is from the Soviet General Staff. It is a war plan against Germany, calling explicitly for a pre-emptive strike against German forces! The document, titled "Considerations of the Plan for the Strategic Deployment of the Armed forces of the Soviet Union in Case of War with Germany and its Allies", is dated May 15, 1941. It has been prepared mainly by General, later Marshal, A. Vasilievsky, Deputy Head of the Operations Department of the Soviet General Staff (Stavka). The Memorandum was presented to Stalin by Commissar of Defense S. Timoshenko and Chief of the General Staff G. Zhukov.
The document "Considerations..." (15 handwritten pages long) is explicitly calling for a pre-emptive strike against German forces.
This is fully in line with the offensive military doctrine of the Soviets that called for "Deep Operations" into enemy territory (a fact confirmed by many Soviet Officers and historians, but neglected and disputed by Colonel Glantz and historian Gorodetsky, both of whom are using pro-Soviet arguments throughout their books. In fact, Weeks deals both Glantz's and Gorodetsky's apologia of Stalin a deadly blow with his well researched book. Glantz and Gorodetsky have been granted access to Soviet archives precisely because they stick to the official Soviet historiography, I believe).
Weeks uses a number books and documents that have only recently been published in Russia, and thereby allows the reader to form his own opinion based on these materials. This is a great advantage over many other books that try to ignore every little detail that might contradict the author?s arguments. Some of the documents in this book have never been published in English language before in their entirety. The wealth of information Weeks is able to present Stalin's "offensist" intentions is convincing to anyone with an open mind.
There can be no doubt: Stalin had detailed plans of attacking Hitler, it just happened that Hitler managed to strike first.
The only criticism I have about this book is, that the "Considerations" are not published in their full length (The document has been fully published in Austria and Germany, however). Anyone with an interest in the latest revelations from Stalin's archives should read this fascinating book. Highly recommended!

Although John North is to be congratulated on his diligence and tenacity in researching and producing this book, I have to say that it is heavy going and his infinitely detailed measurements and conclusions are so mutually entangled that it's very hard to form a clear picture of his conclusions and hence determine whether his science is really as soundly based as he claims. Part of his trouble is the very wide scope of the book. There is material for several substantial books crowded into this one and I feel sometimes the wood gets lost for the trees. Moreover the many drawings of alignments scattered through the pages are frequently lacking in clear notation. This is a pity, because I would like to believe most of the conclusions that I understand. His argument for rising star alignments on many monuments appears to stretch credibility; what about the obscuration of stars by atmospheric density close to the horizon? And for the Uffington White Horse, which I've visited many times and know well, he claims an alignment along a modern road, citing that it may well have followed an earlier track? Proof?
But it is a serious attempt to understand the minds of early architects and their society's relationship to the heavens, and as such is a very welcome addition to the growing archaeo-astronomy corpus.

the skys more closely than other writers give them credit for. What sets this book apart from other stonehenge interpretations is this author takes the time, lots of time to support everything with astronomical alignments,time-dating, and mathematics.
Some other authors books claim only solar summer and winter solstice alignments for stonehenge whereas Mr. North shows there is far more to stonehenge than that.
This book is not a light fast read, so plan on spending alot of extra time to read it from cover to cover. This book covers great details missed or ignored by others.
If you are looking for just one book to read on this subject this is the book! 5 stars

Mr. North exceeds my expectations in his book on the inhabitants of this magnificent area. Although it was at times tedious and heavy in the astronomical sense, I am an amateur astronomy buff so his interpretations were not totally lost to me. The most amazing breakthrough noted by Mr. North is our arrogance as a literal society to assume their intelligence as minimal due to the lack of a written legacy by these brilliant and sensitive people. Additionally, he subtley proposes that we should not judge the Stonehenge people as one because of a few isolated finds of deviant tribal rituals. The cosmological affect on the beliefs and practices of this era is well documented in Mr. North's book. Aristotle would have understood their aptitude given the tools and skills of the time. Nature is the most perfect teacher and the most accurate. Bravo Mr. North