First of all, this book is really impressive. Its a massive
volume and I enjoyed reading (or looking) very much. The photos
are very clear and show a lot of close ups. However, I felt that,
in such a large book, some more uniforms should have been
described. For example there is a large section on just one Army
officers set, too large for my taste. Apart from that, great book

If what you want is quality photos of the uniforms, this book won't disappoint you. The photos are great, except the book have no image of boot.
but if you are looking for detail informations and history of the uniforms, this book may not be what you want.
Anyway, just looking at the photos worth buying it, personally speaking

This book did not disapoint. The uniforms are often full page, clear, and are wonderfully photographed. A big and somewhat chilling surprise was one of Hitlers 1935 NSDAP party shirts, complete with belt, strap, and medals; found by US soldiers in his Munich apartment. My only complaint was that there were no uniforms complete with matching pants and boots. Having one of Hitlers garments included also begged the question if there are other uniforms of top officials still in existence such as Goering, Himmler, or other Reich or Field Marshalls. The book gives little reference or hint of the extent of such historical items existing either in private hands or museums.

Vico spent time to review his lectures for the students in Naples and kept their manuscripts always on his work table, consulting them, correcting them, adding new thoughts and examples from the classics. He started teaching rhetoric in 1699 and we have two surviving documents of 1711 and 1741 from which this first English translation has been derived. With regard to techniques the rhetoric here explained has one purpose: that of giving to law students the means to introduce, explain, prove, and defend a cause in court, in one word, to persuade. With regard to philosophy this book speaks of the nature of education, of language, of the first original form of language, and of the truth that essentially man is just speech.

This manual on rhetoric is an excellent introduction to the art of public and private speech. It revealed all the kinds of tropes that render our communication appealing, attractive, interesting, and fascinating. In addition, the manual explain the art of persuading and the techniques used by law professionals when in the conference room as well as in the forum, when defending a cause. The manual was indeed written for pre-law students in the eighteenth century, when the art of speaking in public and in the court was the only art of communication. Examples of the different tropes and techniques are taken from the authors of the classical world, from Cicero, for instance, Quintilian, and Demosthenes. Today in the universities the rhetoric of Ernesto Grassi goes for the most, but it is on this writing of Vico that Grassi relied in his theory of rhetoric!

This book has most of the important facts about Godfrey's unique career. What a fascinating, if sometimes difficult, man. We who remember his shows, or who knew him (like myself, at age 18-19), have been waiting for years for this book. Mr. Singer could have dwelled on the scandals and tantrums and what not, but he chose to describe the broadcasting era and the man intelligently and fairly. Perhaps he could have expanded a little on some of the good things Godfrey did for many. It would have been nice to read the eventual fates of the various Little Godfreys. But Singer cleared up the false and terrible "antisemitisim" charges with common sense. No doubt Mr. Singer has enough good stuff left over for another volume on this important radio/TV/aviation pioneer!

Arthur J. Singer has given us an interesting and complete biography of Arthur Godfrey,deftly weaving the history of broadcasting (both dradio and TV) with the life of Mr. Godfrey including his passions (flying, horses and at times, women), his need to control, his sincere patriotism and his slow demise. His charismatic personality enabled him to have a profound influence on his audiences. This book is highly readable, Mr. Godfrey is always interesting and the times are vividly recreated. I felt that I had a complete picture of the man, his successes and failures, but most of all, his monumental influence on the way the broadcasting industry evolved.

This book is a fascinating introduction into the search for the historical Arthur. It covers the various forms of evidence: historical, literary and archaeological; and presents the arguments for and against the existence of a historical Arthur.

It was written almost 30 years ago, so parts of it are out-of-date and superceded by subsequent research. In the second edition (1989), Leslie Alcock wrote a supplementary bibliography to the work and addressed the criticism of the work since its publication. I greatly appreciated this, and feel that it was terrific to have more recent research on the topic pointed out to us.

As to the book itself, how to describe it. This is a very fascinating, dense and informative introduction into the scholarly research into the search for King Arthur. Instead of an examination of the Arthurian romance, it concentrates on the reality that was 5th and 6th century Britain.

We are given the background on what happened after the Romans abandoned Britain. We are given information about the early Christian Church in the British Isles, and the arrival of the Saxons. We are also shown through archaeological evidence the technological and architectural setting of this period of British history.

This book covers a lot of territory, and does not attempt to be the ultimate reference for the historical Arthur. Leslie Alcock, in his introduction to Arthur's Britain, states that this book is a preliminary sketch for a vast canvass. I feel that sums up the book admirably. I certainly came away with a much better understanding of the impact of the departure of Rome and the arrival of the Anglo Saxons for the British Isles.

A fascinating book, and a must read for someone wanting to know more about the scholarly search for the historical Arthur and not just a review of the romance. The only reason this book received 4 stars instead of 5 is that it is a bit out of date.

I wish I could give it 5 stars, because the good parts of the book are so good. It does, however, have a couple of mistakes in it. For example, Alcock is correct in trying to shift the dates of the Arthurian entries from the Welsh Easter Annals back several years, but his math is misused; by speculating that the dates were counted in years from Jesus' Passion, as opposed to his Incarnation, and that the two dating systems were confused, he subtracts 28 years from the dates in the Annals in an attempt to correct them. If he had used that sort of math correctly, however, he would have had to add 28 years to the dates, which would only confound the problem of incompatibility with other evidence even further. The dates in the Annals do appear to be erroneously late, but the nature of the error remains a mystery. Parts of the book have since been bested by Alcock's associate, Geoffrey Ashe, in _The Discovery of King Arthur_(which I have also reviwed), but one cannot fairly fault Alcock on this point since Ashe's insights in _Discovery_ were so revolutionary that they had been missed by everyone, Ashe included, for nearly two centuries until the early 80s. On the whole, however, Alcock's book is astoundingly fascinating, extremely informative, and downright entertaining. It gets confusing too, but that is to Alcock's credit; this subject is naturally confusing because the evidence is so sparse and disjointed; Alcock is frank enough to address this head on; he doesn't misleadingly oversimplify things like, sadly, many authors do. Alcock is a great archaeologist, as well as a great historian. One of the most important archaeological discoveries (one in which Alcock was instrumental) relating to Arthurian Britain is the massive 5th century reoccupation and refortification of the hill now known as Cadbury Castle, which is documented in this book. Whether this site was actually called Camelot by its inhabitants is unknown, but the evidence indicates that its lord must have been the most powerful British noble of his generation. Other evidence (particularly in Ashe, mentioned above) harmonizes with this by identifying Arthur-Riothamus (Riothamus is a title meaning "royalest") as such a leader. I would love to see this book back in print again, but it would be best if Alcock prepared an updated edition which takes into account newer evidence and insights, and includes any corrections that would be in order.

This is a classic Upfield mystery, although Upfield's not at his best here. Bonarparte is sent to a bustling mining town, but doesn't do much of his usual bushman's work. Upfield portrays the life in this town well, but the murderer's motive is pretty weak this time.

Arthur Upfield's Bony books are a wonderful mixture of Australian life, natural history, and subtle humor. The Bachelors of Broken Hill is typical of his stories, though it is set in a remote mining town as opposed to his usual outback settings. Everyone where I live who reads one book reads them all. We pass copies back and forth as many are out of print and reread them aloud to each other. I keep a map of Australia handy to follow each story and have visited some of the places mentioned in his books. He brings alive a sense of intellectual curiousity as you follow Bony's clues to put enough evidence together for an iron clad verdict.

Things aren't what they seem in this rollicking comic picture book about a gentle watchdog who, quite literally, is only the size of a watch. With tongue-in-cheek humor and zingy dialogue, author Rick Walton and illustrator Arthur Robins chuckle broadly about the night this tiny do-gooder comes face-to-face with a big, loud-mouthed burglar who taunts, teases and hoists insults at the little would-be-hero. The wickedly ironic tale is a wonderful testament to brains over brawn, and a funny ode to little guys everywhere.

This book deserves six stars - it's just so funny and well-made. The story of little Bertie, who outwits a great big horrible burglar, will keep your kids chuckling for days. The pictures are gorgeous and cartoony as well.

Once you get past the introduction and into the actual stories, this is a reasonable enough compilation of vampire stories. Unfortunately, the 'introduction' fails to introduce the collection adequately; it looks more like an essay on the topic "Vampires in fiction as subversion of the Oppressive Male Patriarchy: discuss"... The purpose of an introduction is to introduce the stories that follow it; the closest Ms. Gladwell's introduction comes is to occasionally draw on examples from the stories to support her own points.

While sexuality is a major part of the mystique of the vampire, Ms. Gladwell does her readers a disservice by concentrating on it to the exclusion of all other considerations; also, by treating the stories as supporting material for her essay rather than the other way around. In comparison, Christopher Frayling's anthology 'The Vampyre: Lord Ruthven to Count Dracula' has a much more balanced and informative introduction.

I loved this book. It strikes the gothic romantic in all of us!!

Overall, the suggestions for powering up your brain are very easy. Many of the techniques are very similar to what you probably no doubt have read in popular magazines. However, there are quite a large number of techniques that focus more on the psychokinetics of improving brain-power, such as challenging your senses. The book also dips briefly into mnemonics, but only gives you a taste -- it sends you to other books for further reference. So, if you're looking for something substantial, this is not the book for you. If you are looking for ideas brainstormed by other people, then you might want to look at this.

This husband and wife team have written a winning book about a very important subject--the brain. Dr. Winter is a neurosurgeon and director of the New Jersey Neurological Institute. Ruth Winter has an M.S. and is a colulmnist and author of numerous popular health and science books. They are a winning writing team because this book is informative and easy to read. I especially enjoyed the excellent activities and brain-building examples that are included, such as the list memorization (on page 98) and the face identification (on pages 98-100). There is a glossary in the back and lots of information on the numerous aspects of our brain that we should exercise--which will improve the brain's function. I am especially intrigued by this book because my 76 year old mother recently started learning how to play bridge. She told me she was doing it partly because it was important for her to learn something new as a way of keeping her brain functioning better! Sound advice for us all as this excellent book attests! As the subtitle indicates: "Easy Ways to Power UP Your Memory, Sensory Perception, and Intelligence"

John Roberts authored several outstanding books, including "Battlecruisers" by Conway's. Although prominently labeled as a "blueprint" book, I was surprised to discover the photos of blueprints are unreadable. I mistakenly expected line drawings (which are outstanding in his Battlecruiser book); there are none here. Even the 2-page wide blueprints are unreadable; details & labels couldn't be read. The primary purpose of this book appears to be a compilation of blueprints, which are themselves, valuable & historical documents. In this respect, the is similar to an art book -- it replicates original source that is available only in a museum. The text doesn't contain new material, but it is valuable in that it more detailed than "survey" type books but less exhaustive than the in-depth "class" books such as Garzke's battleship series and Friedman's US Navy class ships series. The book covers major warship types that served during WWII, beginning with Rodney/Nelson class, with some reference to Queen Elizabeth class modernizations. I found the text most valuable in describing the design objectives & limitations rather than a description without context (example: HMS Rodney & Nelson are described within the Washington Treaty 35,0000 ton limitation). As I write this without the book in front of me, I don't recall seeing any photographs (besides photos of blueprints), which would be a major disappointment. It's difficult to pass up a book by such an expert as John Roberts, but this may be a candidate. I think the objective of the book is to display blueprint documents that readers could only see if they visited or had access to the Maritime Museum in Greenwich, UK. Had Roberts added a line drawing to each class (and an accompanying photo), I would recommend this book rather than give a marginal approval.

Excellent item for the technically minded.

This "Blueprint Series" of books are produced in conjunction with the British National Maritime Museum and, as the title and series name suggest, this is a collection of blueprints and associated technical information on various types of British Warship from WW2.

With regard to the previous review, this book is exactly what it says it is. Of course, original blueprints are, by their very nature, large and unwieldy and only a book with the most impractical dimensions could reproduce such documents on a scale of 1:1. For those who wish to get a closer look at the Blueprints contained within this book, however, all they need do is contact the British National Maritime Museum who do provide copies.

This is a large, hardback coffee-table book containing over 150 pages of solid technical information with one or two blueprints across almost every page (there are 80 altogether). In a very professional style, John Roberts analyses the design and function of these ships using a selection of original plans from the collection at the NMM.

The opening chapter on Warship Design in Peace and War, is followed by a detailed examination of; Capital Ships, Aircraft Carriers, Cruisers, Destroyers, Escorts, Submarines, Minelayers, Minesweepers, Monitors, Amphibious Vessels, Trawlers, Depot Ships, MTBs and Auxiliary AA ships. With a wide selection of blueprints from above, the side and specific sections, coupled with detailed information on building, armament, displacement, dimensions, machinery, compliment etc, this is a book for the seriously minded researcher who will find it quite invaluable.

NM

Buddhist texts trough the ages

Edward Conze, I.B. Horner, David Snellgrove and Arthur Waley are big names in Buddhology. As scholars they each represent a specific age and development in the history of Buddhist Thought.

Horner, member of the Pali Text Society, which publishes primary and secondary sources of Early Buddhism, takes her share with 'Part 1. The Teaching of the Elders.' This part deals with canonical texts from the Theravada tradition and aims to sketch a picture of the Buddha by collecting small 'crucial' fragments from the suttas. The main emphasis falls on the Samgha, though, as this was Horner's largest occupation. She also includes post-canonical works as the 'Milindapanha' (Questions of Milinda) and Buddhaghosa's 'Visuddhimagga' (Path of Purity.)

In the 'Second Part. The Mahayana' Edward Conze (Mahayana specialist) presents his selection of important Mahayana scriptures. Following the same theme as Horner, he too tries to 'reconstruct' the person of the Buddha, but, understandably, emphasising the symbolic function of the Buddha, proper to Mahayana exegesis. But he does more: he presents some of his own translations of the Ashtasahasrika-Prajnaparamita or 'Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines.' He also includes seminal texts of the Saddharmapundarika, more popularly known as the Lotus Sutra, and a biographical text of the Buddha called the Lalitavistara ('Played Verses'), both considered as early Mahayana texts. Other texts are, the Prajnaparamitasutra ('Perfection of Wisdom ') and the Sukhavativyuha ('Description of the Place of happiness'), all very important texts for the development of later Mahayanist philosophies as Madhyamaka and Yogacara.

In the 'Third Part. The Tantras' David Snellgrove ((Tibetan) Tantric Buddhism specialist) gives his overview of Tantric Buddhism (often mistakenly linked in the West with solely sexual practices.) Starting with a selection of Aryadeva, the foremost disciple of Nagarjuna (Madhyamaka), he proceeds with the very interesting 'Saraha's Treasury of Songs.' Other texts revolve primarily on practice and instruction. Not to forget Milarepa (11th-12th c.), the founder of the Kagyu-order.

In the last 'Part Four. Texts from China and Japan', Arthur Waley gives us an interesting selection of texts that originated in India, were lost, but still exist in Chinese translations, of which I take the Yogacara Bhumi Sutra as an example. Text 208 tells an interesting story of a Hinayana sext in China. We have some texts of the 'Dhyana-sect' (p. 295, = Zen) en Japanese Tendai-school (Ch. T'ien-t'ai.) To finish, we have a glossary of Sanskrit terms and a list of abbreviations.

So, what can we say about this book? It's an interesting selection of the vast quantity of Buddhist texts of (most) schools. We have all the 'phases' covered in Buddhist history starting from Pali, over Sanskrit to Chinese and Japanese. The bibliography is moderately impressive and it's admittedly a great task to make a good selection from the texts.

To make a selection in only 306 pages urges one to be selective, and that's where some texts unfortunately didn't make in the selection: for example, a selection of the Mahavamsa would have enriched Part One.

Some verses in the Second Part from the Nagarjuna's 'Mulamadhyamakakarika' would have been nice to 'embellish' the change in philosophical ideas on the Dharma. There are too many Yogacara texts in my opinion.

Part Three's Saraha's Treasury could have been a little bit more modest, now covering too many pages (15.) Part Four could have been so much richer if there were some texts from the Blue Cliff Record. Also texts from esoteric Chinese en Japanese Buddhist traditions like Hua-yen would have fitted nicely, not to mention Nichiren Buddhism. Also the terminology is a little bit outdated, showing the influence of Western interpretatory models, like 'The Buddhist Apocalypse' on page 45 (Don't forget it's a reprint from 1953.)

Students of Buddhology would also profit from it greatly if the compilers had added some explanatory footnotes, like the historical background, political situation, implicit references, and the like. Now the reader is left to interpret himself. Some guidance would help the reader a long way.

One last thing is that the texts are arranged in such a way that one might get the impression that we are talking about a historical evolution of Buddhist thought. This is not the case. Of course there is some chronology, but it cannot be sustained to claim the after one tradition the other one emerged. That is wrong. They existed, to some extent, simultaneous, represented in different schools and localities.

All criticism aside, general readers will be fascinated by the richness of the Buddhist tradition, the shifting and developing of the meaning of the Dharma, the sometimes stunning interpretations done by later teachers,... It is a possible starting point for an introduction to primary sources and could serve, although critically, as a textbook for courses of Buddhism. But if you just like a good selection of texts to get an impression of what Buddhism is all about, then this bundle of wisdom will surely do.

Edward Conze, I.B. Horner, David Snellgrove and Arthur Waley are big names in Buddhology. As scholars they each represent a specific age and development in the history of Buddhist Thought. Horner, member of the Pali Text Society, which publishes primary and secondary sources of Early Buddhism, takes her share with 'The Teaching of the Elders.' This part deals with canonical texts from the Theravada tradition and aims to sketch a picture of the Buddha by collecting small 'crucial' fragments from the suttas. The main emphasis falls on the Samgha, though, as this was Horner's largest occupation. She also includes post-canonical works as the 'Milindapanha' (Questions of Milinda) and Buddhaghosa's 'Visuddhimagga' (Path of Purity.)
In the 'Second Part. The Mahayana' Edward Conze (Mahayana specialist) presents his selection of important Mahayana scriptures. Following the same theme as Horner, he too tries to 'reconstruct' the person of the Buddha, but, understandably, emphasising the symbolic function of the Buddha, proper to Mahayana exegesis. But he does more: he presents some of his own translations of the Ashtasahasrika-Prajnaparamita or 'Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines.' He also includes seminal texts of the Saddharmapundarika, more popularly known as the Lotus Sutra, and a biographical text of the Buddha called the Lalitavistara ('Played Verses'), both considered as early Mahayana texts. Other texts are, the Prajnaparamitasutra ('Perfection of Wisdom ') and the Sukhavativyuha ('Description of the Place of happiness'), all very important texts for the development of later Mahayanist philosophies as Madhyamaka and Yogacara.
In the 'Third Part. The Tantras' David Snellgrove ((Tibetan) Tantric Buddhism specialist) gives his overview of Tantric Buddhism (often mistakenly linked in the West with solely sexual practices.) Starting with a selection Aryadeva, the foremost disciple of Nagarjuna (Madhyamaka), he proceeds with the very interesting 'Saraha's Treasury of Songs.' Other texts revolve primarily on practice and instruction. Not to forget Milarepa (11th-12th c.), the founder of the Kagyu-order.
In the last 'Part Four. Texts from China and Japan', Arthur Waley gives us an interesting selection of texts that originated in India, were lost, but still exist in Chinese translations, of which I take the Yogacara Bhumi Sutra as an example. Text 208 tells an interesting story of a Hinayana sext in China. We have some texts of the 'Dhyana-sect' (p. 295, = Zen), Japanese Tendai-school (Ch. T'ien-t'ai.) To finish, we have a glossary of Sanskrit terms and a list of abbreviations.

So, what can we say about this book? It's an interesting selection of the vast quantity of Buddhist texts of all the schools. We have all the 'phases' covered in Buddhist history starting from Pali, over Sanskrit to Chinese and Japanese. The bibliography is moderately impressive and it's admittedly a great task to make a good selection from the texts. To make a selection in only 306 pages urges one to be selective, and that's where some texts unfortunately didn't make in the selection: for example, a selection of the Mahavamsa would have enriched Part One. Some verses in the Second Part from the Nagarjuna's 'Mulamadhyamakakarika' would have been nice to 'embellish' the change in philosophical ideas on the Dharma. There are too many Yogacara texts in my opinion. Part Three's Saraha's Treasury could have been a little bit more modest, now covering too many pages (15.) Part Four could have been so much richer if there were some texts from the Blue Cliff Record. Also texts from esoteric Chinese en Japanese Buddhist traditions like Hua-yen would have fitted nicely, not to mention Nichiren Buddhism. Also the terminology is a little bit outdated, showing the influence of Western interpretatory models, like 'The Buddhist Apocalypse' on page 45 (Don't forget it's a reprint from 1953.)
Students of Buddhology would also profit from it greatly if the compilers had added some explanatory footnotes, like the historical background, political situation, implicit references, and the like. Now the reader is left to interpret himself. Some guidance would help the reader a long way.
One last thing is that the texts are arranged in such a way that one might get the impression that we are talking about a historical evolution of Buddhist thought. This is not the case. Of course there is some chronology, but it cannot be sustained to claim the after one tradition the other one emerged. That is wrong. They existed, to some extent, simultaneous, represented in different schools and localities.

All criticism aside, general readers will be fascinated by the richness of the Buddhist tradition, the shifting and developing of the meaning of the Dharma, the sometimes stunning interpretations done by later teachers,... It is a possible starting point for an introduction to primary sources and could serve, although critically, as a textbook for courses of Buddhism. But if you just like a good selection of texts to get an impression of what Buddhism is all about, then this bundle of wisdom will surely do.