The one sad thing about the new Yale University Press/Pelican history of art editions is that the samll format has been eschewed in favor of a large size coffee table book. The text has changed little, if at all. What has been updated is the bibliography, and many color illustrations have been added. However, even the illustrations have not changed in many instances, because Blunt, when he originally wrote the text in the 1950's worked with, wrote from, a very specific set of images, and these same images are still essential if the reader wants to comprehend his argument. With that said, this is probably still the best general accounting of French art and architecture in the Renaissance and Baroque periods, certainly the best for the beginner. Those looking for more detailed studies might turn to some of Blunt's other books (he was the leading scholar of French Baroque for over fourty years) or more recent scholarly works. One bit of gossip that makes the text more enjoyable is that Blunt was for many many years a Russian spy, involved with a circle of British men sending intelligence to the Russians, and when he was found out in the late 1970's he was stripped of his knighthood and of his post at London's restigious art historical institution, the Courtauld. Whether or not his activites in that capacity influenced his interpreation or his writing of the text is for you to find out.

Davina Graham is still mourning the death of her great love, Ivan Sasanov, who died in a government-related car-bomb. Davina blames the British government (for whom she and her Russian defector husband worked as spies) for not protecting them, but knows she must get on with her life. Oppurtunity knocks on her door in the form of her former commander, James White. Mr White has a case for her which involves the wife of one Ian Fleming who happens to be a close personal friend to the U.S. president. Mrs Fleming claims her husband threatened her and when Davina reluctantly comes to investigate she discovers a web of spys, agents, double-agents and the like more intricate than she would've ever imagined. With the help of her colleague, Colin Lomax (to whom she subsequently takes a likng) the bottom of the whole saga is reched. A greatly riveting spy thriller, with many wonderful (yet not detracting) side-streams and many unexpected turns in this river of great writing.

Ayala's Angel is much lighter and more lyric than many of Trollope's novels. Ayala is a dreamer, and Trollope wants us to respect her for that. The pace and the humor are typical Trollope. I enjoyed it very much, though it's hardly his most profound commentary.

This book is for us cheap people. It has a broad summary of things to do in Vegas cheaply. It also covers how to find bargains in Vegas. I used recommendations on where to find bargains on food, drinks, and fun book activities.

There are few books you can describe as "the basic text", but this is certainly one of them. It should be required reading in every international law class in the world, but alas it is only required in a few hundred of the tens of thousands going on an any given time. Weston and his collection of authors are all looking for ways of makikng thhe international legal system a truly functional order for the governance of otherwise anarchic inter-state relations. Weston's pulled together the very best, some of which are classics, and a few of which were really undiscovered until he came along and plucked the writing and his/her writing from academic obscruity. This book need not be the sole province of the law student -- it is equally useful to the current practitoners.

This lavishly illustrated book offers a concise history of the battleship from the end of the Age of Sail to the Iowa Class. Focusing on the world wars has been common in such books; this one also covers the pre-Dreadnaught era, and does it well. There are ample photos of the ships themselves, of scale models, and line drawings. The text was written by a lover of the big ships, as is evident in the section on H.M.S. Vanguard, the last British battleship, described as, "a magnificant sea boat," that handled beautifully, without the lumbering movements of less aquadynamic vessels. Having been a lifelong fan of the battleship, and having made the pilgrimmage to Wilmington, N.C. to see U.S.S. North Carolina, I can say that this is one of the best books in the genre, and a good one for beginners who want a short, conplete history of ships the like of which we'll never see again.

Shrouded in a cloak of mystery and full of intrigue and complexity. The author weaves the most enticingly detailed plot. The books characters are fully 'alive.' Certainly a rare treasure of a talent. The author is destined to become a GIFT to the literary arts.

I was surprised this 1996 book is already out of print!
The book examines different ways that man through history has been attracted to "magic," seemingly defined as "that which does not bear up under the Western scientific method."
The individual chapters on types of "magic" in history, such as alchemy and mesmerism, are interesting, although episodic. They sometimes suffer from an over-abundance of fine detail and too much direct quotation of primary and secondary sources, in what is essentially a chapter review of certain practices.
The author shines best in his chapters labeled "summaries," and in the final four chapters and epilogue where he attempts to bring it all together. He suggests that no one theory or world view explains all observations, and that perhaps multiple realities exist simultaneously.
"'There is no system of truth with which to account for all aspects of being.' ... [B]oth science and magic ... have definite tools and methods, separate technologies, contrastable rational procedures, and systematic bodies of knowledge....
"When we cast modern scientific spells upon the world in order to control it we too are engaging in a form of religious ritual, albeit one that depends more upon the worship of the book and the computer than on eliciting the power of the spoken word. Incidentally, this religion too has its fanatics....
"Are there multiple realities, other subuniverses of the mind that lie beneath the concrete, sensible world in which we place all our faith? ... Perhaps the thought planes that we perceive are all there at the same time and we spend our days and nights switching channels from one to the other. Some of us give better Nielsens to the magic channel than to the reason channel because we enjoy its programs more."
While the author is generally understanding of the need to do "magic," he strangely distances magic from orthodox religion, although his book-opening quote is "one man's religion is another man's superstition." An examination of how Western man tries to reconcile scientific method with orthodox religious beliefs, which, even if "real," entail belief in unseen beings and a history that is largely not provable, together with a belief that unseen beings assist or hinder us in our daily lives, would have been beneficial in comparison to the unseen beings and cosmological history that Westerners see as untrue.

This book covers almost everything you could want to know about this concerto, which is difficult but full of powerful emotion. It explains the commission, the performance history, the program, and the tonality. I wish the book had more short musical examples in the program section, but that is a small caveat. The discussion of tonality is much clearer than in the other works I have read on this concerto.

This book is great for beginners, and intermediate level programmers. It gives programmers may tricks which ultimately makes the code more efficient