european

Lynn Cullen's Godiva receives Kathryn Hewitt's gorgeous, warm drawings. It requires parental assistance or some reading know-how for the very young but tells the story of a young lord who seeks the perfect wife - only to fall in love with a poor girl with very different values. A haunting, beautiful story.

While out shopping for a book with some historic substance for my grandkids, I was drawn to Godiva by the novel subject matter, the beautiful illustrations, and the extensive research that obviously went into getting the story right. I'd sampled other books by Cullen and knew this would be a winner. I was so right! I ended up buying not only a book for the grandkids but one for my home.

Joseph Goebbels was the Propoganda Minister for the Third Reich. Propoganda has a very different meaning today than it did in 1940, but his role was to communicate the ideals of the Reich. Being a very gifted writer, this proved an excellent task.

You will find no "plotting" in this book, other than general discussion of the ideals of National Socialism. There is no discussion of mass exterminations of any people or religion. What you will find is insight into a man intent on keeping a nation together in the face of tremendous adversity, namely the threat of Bolshevism. In many ways, the book is inspirational.

The most vile aspects of man running a continent. This book will be one of the scariest you will ever read, and the sad part is that it all really happened. In true diary form, Goebbels recounts every decision and horrible "fun" the Nazi administration had during the early years of the war. Discover little-known facts, such as how many other religions Hitler planned to eradicate after the Jews. Experience the executions in blunt, diary form. Learn about war strategies and propaganda programs.

This is challenging reading. I could take only a few pages at a setting. It makes you think. It makes you understand the baser realities of life.

Nasty, but important reading.

Oof! Be prepared to read this book at a snail's pace or lightly many times over. I don't believe I have ever read anything quite like it: multidimensional scholarship raised to another level. Nearly two centuries separate Goethe from us, but this work throws a bridge across time.

This book is undoubtedly the best book on Goethe available in English. Boyle's descriptions of Weimar and Jena bring the late 18th and early 19th century to life. After reading the book, I had a much better grasp on Goethe and his contemporaries. I recommend the book highly to anyone seriously interested in understanding German literature. My one complaint is that the book is almost too unwieldly to read in bed. It also took several months to digest. (But well worth the effort!)

Sir Hickman Bacon was a man ahead of his time as is reflected in his magnificent collection of British landscape drawings and watercolors. It is now the largest collection of English watercolors still in private ownership.

As an accompaniment to a London exhibit The Golden Age Of Watercolours presents the best of this collection - works by artists who painted during the mid nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century.

We find J. M. W. Turner, premier watercolorist, who, it is said, painted with his doors locked so as not to risk anyone discovering the secrets of how he obtained the effects of depth and breadth in his paintings.

Thomas Girtin, a rambunctious artist who was imprisoned for defaulting on his apprenticeship, was also favored by Bacon. While incarcerated Girtin amused himself by covering the walls of his cell with landscapes. A guard was astonished to see this artwork, and played a part in Girtin's eventual release.

The inventiveness of John Sell Cotman was recognized by Bacon long before Cotman won popular approval, as was the work of Richard Parks Bonington.

Art historian Eric Shanes has penned an essay recounting the making of this collection which accompanies the glorious illustrations.

- Gail Cooke

Sir Hickman Bacon was a man ahead of his time as is reflected in his magnificent collection of British landscape drawings and watercolors. It is now the largest collection of English watercolors still in private ownership.

As an accompaniment to a London exhibit The Golden Age Of Watercolours presents the best of this collection - works by artists who painted during the mid nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century.

We find J. M. W. Turner, premier watercolorist, who, it is said, painted with his doors locked so as not to risk anyone discovering the secrets of how he obtained the effects of depth and breadth in his paintings.

Thomas Girtin, a rambunctious artist who was imprisoned for defaulting on his apprenticeship, was also favored by Bacon. While incarcerated Girtin amused himself by covering the walls of his cell with landscapes. A guard was astonished to see this artwork, and played a part in Girtin's eventual release.

The inventiveness of John Sell Cotman was recognized by Bacon long before Cotman won popular approval, as was the work of Richard Parks Bonington.

Art historian Eric Shanes has penned an essay recounting the making of this collection which accompanies the glorious illustrations.

- Gail Cooke

I would like to take a moment to correct a very common misconception about E.T.A. Hoffmann...in all fairness to him, Hoffmann should not be known for writing The Nutcracker on which the ballet is based. The ballet is based on the version of the story written by Alexandre Dumas NOT Hoffmann! Hoffmann's version (the original, and the version Tchaikovsky thought he was writing the music for, until Petipa, the choreographer, decided it was too dark and strange to be made into a ballet and went with the sweet and fluffy Dumas version), is far superior and definiately worth reading even though it is one of his lighter tales. It's more fantasically strange and wonderful than dark and scary. It's also not as thought-provoking as some of his other works. If you're planning to read it I recommend the copy with Maurice Sendak's illustrations, as they set off the tone and mood of the story perfectly.

In regards to this particular book (The Golden Pot and others), I have found that everything Herr Hoffmann wrote is worth reading...it's just unfortunate that there aren't more collections of his works available. I've had a devil of a time trying to find a good hardbound copy myself!

E.T.A. Hoffmann is, in my opinion, one of the best and, sadly, unknown authors ever. I came across his name in a study of German Romanticism and even now whenever I want to escape this mundane reality I turn to his tales. Although known for the Nutcracker, his other tales are far more beautiful, moving and fantastic. The Golden Pot is perhaps the best story I have ever read. For anyone wishing so submerge him/herself in another world for a little while, a world of magic, beauty and horror, this is the best book one could choose. Each of his tales is unique, fantastic and exquisite.

If I could give this book six stars, I would.
There will be a lot of comparisons with "Doughboy to GI" and I think that's unfair. The author very smartly decided to focus on ONE SPECIFIC AREA and timeframe. I applaud his ability to focus his work, unlike so many other "catch-all" books out there. Sure, there's a few gaps and some errors (check out the postwar French guide with the Department of Defense logo on the cover), but overall, my library would be incomplete without this fine reference work. And, he also showed items from OTHER COLLECTIONS. Let this be a trend in books, please! We're all tired of the "Lookit mah kewl collection of stuff, some of which might not be related to the subject" books.
This is the standard by which I will judge reference books in the future, and thanks for putting it out in English!!!
Hey, why ARE all the best reference books on US stuff done in other countries anyway?

This book is an excellent reference guide for beginning collectors of militaria items issued during World War II to U.S. Army soldiers in the European of Theater Operation (ETO).

This book is a must have if you are going to be purchasing your items from online sources such as EBAY and surplus stores. This book will absolutely help you identify authentic U.S. Army issued items. This is very important given the explosion of modern day reproduction of many of these same items now being sold commercially.

This large(Literally)sized book is comprised of numerous detailed colored photographs accompanied with brief written descriptions of each article of issue. I very much liked the layout of this book; it is well organized in a logical manner starting with Insignia and Decorations, moving through to Uniforms, Equipment and Weapons. I especially liked the specialized sections for Armored Troops, Airborne Troops, Mountain Troops, Female Personnel, and Military Police. The author also included special sections for The Corps of Engineers and Signal Corp. I also enjoyed the (seldom seen) sections dealing with Army Rations, Army Publications and Personal Items. I found this format to be easily used to locate the items I was interested in and compare the large photographs in the book to items I was planning on purchasing online.

This book is very reasonably priced compared to other military collector books such as "Doughboy to GI" and does not contained a lot of information I do not need anyway , but end up paying for with other military collectors books.

For those who like Gothic Cathederals and plan a trip to France this book is an excellent guide. The book is not only a great detailed guide to all the major Cathedrals in France but it also gives a very good history of Gothic Cathedral building. It also nicely compares the different cathedrals and places them sequentially in the Gothic period timeframe. It is obvious the author is enthusiastic about the history of the architecure and I think that any person interested in Gothic architecture will appreciate this.

Stan Parry has done a fantastic job of tying together the history and architecture of the great Gothic cathedrals of France. He has meticulously researched the material and has included many amazingly beautiful and detailed photographs. His expertise and great enthusiasm are clearly evident throughout. Truly a pleasure to read and a volume to treasure.

This book is exactly what it says it is, a traveler's literary companion. It is filled with wonderfully written short stories which take place in various regions of Greece. I read this book as I was traveling in Greece and it enriched my visit there. The stories reveal a lot about the Greek people, their history, and their culture. The quality of the writing is excellent. The introduction to the book says it better than I could. "Good stories reveal as much, or more, about a locale as any map or guidebook...Books from Whereabouts Press are essential companions for the curious traveler, and for the person who appreciates how fine writing enhances one's experience in the world.

Artemis Leontis deserves a lot of credit for compiling these twenty-four short pieces of prose transaltion. Among them we find selections by Elytis, Seferis, and Kazantzakis, but also some stunningly attractive pieces by other less well-known names. The editor says in her introduction that collections of contemporary Greek prose in English translation are scarce. If that is true, it's a real pity, because most of these selections are gems of the short story form and those that are not fiction are laden with ideas and forms of expression that dazzle one with their originality, grasp of history, and understanding of life. Elli Alexiou takes us back to the unfortunate exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey and shows us people of both ethnicities who were neighbors and friends and loved and respected one another. They say good bye at the dock knowing they will never see each other again, and they promise to write. The narrator's mother promises to take good care of the grave in which the Turkish family has buried their little son. She writes every now and then to tell them how the flowers around the grave blossom each year in due season. When the Turkish cemetery is bulldozed to make way for an apartment complex, she doesn't have the heart to tell them so, and keeps on writing year after year that the grave is still beautiful. Eugenia Fakinou looks at the City of Athens and the first day in a big city school through the eyes of a little girl who has been transplanted from the Island of Symi. Supposing, correctly, that the reader can interpret the experience for himself, the writer limits herself to recording the child's impressions and perceptions. Beautifully done. Dimitris Hatzis tells us about a tanner in Yioannina who slowly and painfully comes to realize that he himself is not necessarily a failure, but that the times have changed along with technologies and viewpoints and he has no choice but to make necessary adjustments. In the offerings by the three well known writers mentioned above, there are quite a few quotable sentences that make the reader stop and consider why and in what sense they express deep truth. All these selections are beautiful. They explore various apects of modern Greek life, urban and rural, and they examine, poetically, what most readers will acknowledge to be universal human values. For future editions, the editor might consider changing the books's title. As it is now, it gives the impression of being a guide book, while in fact it is something much more important, namely, a literary treasure trove.

Great if you like archaeology, get the hardcover version too, its worth it, wont die over time!

This was a required text for an art history course I took in college, and, being an art history major, I found this to be an easy read. It made the material easy to understand, and the color and black-white photographs were excellent. Pedley covers the entire spectrum of Greek art admirably, makes connections to primary sources, and outlines the various styles so that even a student NOT interested in the subject comes away with something. Anyone needing a reference on Ancient Greek Art or wanting to learn about the subject will find his book to be invaluable!

As a retired computer industry executive, I have spent seventeen serious years both formally a la carte at Oxford and elsewhere as well as informally studying classical Greek culture, have amassed a library of over four thousand books on this subject, and I only regret that I didn't have Peter France's book as my course outline before I started. The respect that Sir Kenneth Dover and other eminent scholars (and in Dover's case, formerly Oxford) lent Mr. France certainly attests with more authority than I to its value. Its thoroughness, breadth and accuracy of representation of a very complex culture is truly admirable and would have saved me from many lower priority lower yield "roads less traveled".

I read this book to get a general feel for ancient greece after reading the Odyssey in the summer. The book was an excellent walk though of ancient greek culture and philosophy, though in places it can be difficult without an academic background of sorts. I particularly liked how straight forward the authors analogies were, and how the information was portrayed in section, in particular the snippits from actual greek plays give a taste of some of the greats that is certain to leave one wanting for more. An Excellent book.