My wife gave me this cookbook to bring with me to Saudi Arabia. I have lived here for three years and she wanted me to have a good, health-minded cookbook to use while I maintained a fairly strict weight reduction program, something that is very hard to do when living in a foreign country. This cookbook is very easy to plan from, easy to use while cooking and carefully lists all of the important nutrition values.

It is well worth purchasing.

This book is a great guide for your younger childeren to learn the values of good nutrition. It is equipped with helpful diagrams and fun pictures for younger children to enjoy along with learing.

As an adolescent, I must have spent hours studying my mom's copy of this book. On page after page of photos (from films, promotional shoots and other sources) I noted and compared the curve of eyebrows and shape of lips, the placement of beauty marks, the lines of hairstyles and figures, etc. Those images have stayed with me -- the very definition of womanly class and style. This book is full of beautifully done photographs of four strong, sexy women from a time when glamour was glamour. I highly recommend it.

The book was good because it had lots of detailed pictures.

Once upon a time, France did not exist. Julius Caesar said the land of the Gauls (tribes the Greeks called Keltoi) was divided into three parts and he set out to conquer them all. Caesar was probably speaking of the area known today as France, as well as parts of Switzerland, Germany, and the Low countries. Caesar subdued many tribes in living in the land of the Gauls, but only the southern part was ever completely romanized -- Gallia Narbonensis. When the Roman Empire collapsed, Northern Gaul was once again dominated by warriors known as Franks.

George Duby begins his story in the year 987 A.D. and ends it in 1460 with the success of the Capetians who in defeating Henry VI, finally drove the English from their land. During this 500 year period, France developed from a land composed of small settlements and huge swaths of rural farmland and wilderness to a network of villages and towns centered on commerce and trade. In 987 A.D. Duby says power was tied to geneology, but by the end, wealth was also a major factor.

Duby not only addresses the Middle Ages of 987 to 1460 A.D., but he comments on how he as an historian went about reconstructing his story from contemporary materials available from various sources. So, this is not only a history book, it is a book on historiography of sorts. For example, Duby says the use of various Latin words in various documents could mean many different things. How does the historian know what these terms imply? The underlying meaning of Latin words changed over time, just as English words we use today have changed meaning over time.

My favorite section of the book is "The Village." Around 1,000, villages as they came to be known, did not exist in France. There were 'bourgs' which were small towns outside the gates of walled monasteries, or where a castle or a Roman Villa had once existed. Castles were built everywhere during the Feudal period as lords battled for control of their lands. These castles were known in France as 'maisons fortes' or fortified houses. Lords and their retinues moved from one fortified house to another and never slept in the open. In the southwest, these fortified castles were known as 'castelnaus.'

Because of the power of the church, the territory now know as France seems to have been organized into parishes (parochia). The parish center was a church (later a cathedral) and it's burial grounds. Christian churches were probably built where pagan structures had once stood. (Panofsky suggests the major Cathedrals in France are laid out in the pattern of the constellation Libra). Women came to the burial grounds and left grave goods, a pagan practice Duby says the church eventually eradicated (guess he didn't read "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil").

Duby indicates there was little "law and order" of the sort dominant males appreciate in 1,000 A.D. He says many groups vied for power including a multitude of splinter groups who "occupied the twilight between heresy and orthodoxy." Women, were perceived to wield magical pwoers and were greatly feared. In the rural areas dominated by women, male power was impotent.

Duby's book covers the transition from a world where families fought for power and the rural areas ruled, to one where one lord finally dominated the others--the King. The winning family was named Capet and one or another branch of this family dominated France until the French Revolution. The source of their power was commerce and trade, and their close alliance with the church.

I had origionally read about this chef/author in the book Home Food so I researched more articles on the woman. In the end I bought the book for my daughter because the book had a lot in it. My daughter had asked for a book on technique and this book instills confidence for the beginning cook. Along with good recipes there is a lot of information on substitution of ingredients and timing. She really teaches how to think ahead in cooking, Her recipes are lovely variations on the familiar. As it is summer in Seattle as I write this, I had only hoped that it would have more seasonal food. It is a book for someone living on a coast. I find myself borrowing this book from my daughter quite a lot.

This book is a very nice gift for someone who has lost a loved one. Particularly, if the person that has passed is young. This book was given to me when I lost a very good friend in high school, and now, years later, in the unfortunate instance when someone I know and love loses someone else, I always give this book as a gift, in hopes it can provide comfort to someone else.

An excellent little book and quick read. The book is broken into two parts. The first part, Hero-Sagas, is, except for the first story, an abridgement of the Nibelungenlied. It tells the story of Siegfried and Kriemhild and their terrible ending. The second part, Folk-Tales, is filled with short stories where the main message seems to be that the cunning and quick witted will always win, especially against the proud. Not exactly the best morality message, but it is fun to see wits in action.

Q: Socialism in the face of rapid industrialization? How can a student of the 19th century world come to appreciate the human qualities of such a struggle? The answers given by most historians are far too simple, a point which Joan Scott brings to light through her highly analytical, and yet delightfully readable account of the history of one French city. Her comparative analysis of the many significant, subtle cross-currents finally makes the conflict between Socialism and Industrial-Age progress clearly understandable.

This is a wonderful book to introduce your child to God and his unconditional love. I started reading this book to my 2yr.old as our last book of the night after the events of Sept. 11 - almost more to comfort me than her. It has now become a part of our nightly rituals and she insists upon it.

The only thing that kept me from giving it 5 stars is the illustration, which is mostly dark and heavy. I think the illustrator created it as such knowing that it would be read at bedtime. In my opinion though, a subdued feeling could have been accomplished just a easily by using lighter and more friendly pastels. Overall though, a very comforting bedtime read.