I use this manual to teach an introductory lab in physical anthropology. The third edition is a small improvement over the second. For beginning students, the photographs and diagrams are not clear enough to teach from and must be supplemented from other sources. Most of the practice problems are fairly good but the book lacks an appendix of answers or an accompanying instructor's manual leaving the instructor to guess at the intent of the authors for some of the more obscure examples. However, considering the dearth of good lab manuals for physical anthropology this is not the worst.

The review quoted here refers to a VERY old edition. The new 5th edition is out now, so please review THAT edition for possible use. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

Fist I would say for 75.00 , I would expect color when it comes to showing gold coins in a hard bound edition. The only color is on the paper cover. The book lacks depth in the largest market for collectors, U.S.A. . Not impressive !

Those looking for a book on heraldic design, accompanied by text on its historical development and meaning, will be disappointed. While there is some text that accompanies the forty full color plates which are the highlight of this book, it is merely plate specific. Other than the brief introduction that appears at the beginning, there is really nothing substantive for the reader. It is, in essence, a poster book, as it devoid of any meaningful text. If one is a rabid fan of heraldic design, however, then perhaps one should add an additional star to my rating.

If you're an 'armchair' medievalist, a fan of the Arthurian legends, or an SCA-enthusiast looking for nice easy-to-read books on King Arthur to enrich your amateur enthusiasm for the Middle Ages, stop right there-- Michelle Warren's _History on the Edge)_ is *not* for you.

This book is directed, rather narrowly, at postmodern medievalist scholars, and is filled with highly theoretical, jargon-laden literary scholarship of the sort that makes even seasoned grad students wince. Unless you're already familiar with the critical apparatus of that subfield of literary theory known as "post-colonial studies", you'll be hopelessly lost. Here's a typical example of the abstract and jargon-laden character of the prose: "The border, as a figure of paradox, cuts across multiple concepts, joining them indelibly as it separates them irretrievably. Historiography represents the simultaneity of these paradoxes in time. If... the management of paradox constitutes historical consciousness per se in the Middle Ages, border historiography represents a hyperconsciousness that textualizes modes of possession" (p. 16).

So, what does Warren actually have to say behind all of this academic cant? What is this book actually about? The answer is relatively simple-- essentially it's about borders. Specifically, it's about British/English borders in the Middle Ages and how medieval history-writing about King Arthur was a discursive locus for the deployment of complex, contradictory, and often ambivalent notions about British history, identity, ethnicity, geography, nationhood, the legitimacy of military conquest, and a host of other issues that can be and are symbolized by concept of 'the border'.

The medieval texts Warren examines are those that purport to be historiography-- like Geoffroy of Monmouth's _History of the Kings of Britain_ (and variant forms thereof), Wace's _The Roman de Brut_, or more literary works which make a conscious effort to place Arthur within a historical context (like the French Vulgate Cycle). More purely literary representations of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table-- such as the lais of Marie de France, the romances of Chretien de Troyes, the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, etc. are not discussed at all (presumably due to the absence of historographical intent .)

Warren's analysis of these texts essentially consists of a combination of close reading and a kind of translation of the events described in them into the language of post-colonial lit-crit. At times, this takes on the character of allegory, with Warren paraphrasing the story and then imposing a border-theory jargon of the symbolic content of each detail. After noting that the duel between Arthur and Frollo takes place on an island in the Seine, for instance, she remarks, "Since Geoffrey sites this resolution in an insular space, it serves as an allegory of the colonization and defense of Britain itself". A possible reading, perhaps, but it still seems a bit forced, as do other examples. At some times, Warren's jargonification of narrative events becomes unintentionally humorous, such as when she observes (about the same duel) that it is ends when Arthur's sword "inscribes an indelible boundary between the two sides of Frollo's head".

Oh yes, speaking of Arthur's sword... it should be noted that the subtitle of this book is 'Excalibur and the Borders of Britain'. She also observes, in the introductory chapter, that swords are an especially crucial symbol of the 'border issues' she discusses because "coercive boundary formation engenders ambivalence [and] Swords purvey this ambivalence, as their symbolic effects belie the certitude of their original edges [and] formally incarnate the boundary paradox: their edges divide trenchantly while forming the blade's indivisble unity. Swords' intimate relations with human bodies further enhance their liminal ontology." I certainly won't argue with that, but when it comes to performing her actual analysis, the fact is that Warren really doesn't spend all that much time talking about Excalibur or swords generally-- it is merely one detail among many that she discusses in each case.

Ultimately, Warren's argument boils down to the following idea: These various medieval texts embody the same kinds of 'border writing' issues that contemporary post-colonial theory talks about and this suggests that medieval historiography of Arthur (particularly in the period immediately following the Norman Conquest) was embroiled with a variety of different attitudes towards the island's unity, political geography, and the merits of conquest and domination generally. So, there you have it. On the one hand, that's a fairly interesting and original point. On the other hand, it begs many other questions-- such as whether or not Arthur is unique in that way, or whether the same can be said of *all* historiography in that period? More intriguingly, one wonders how it might be applies to the more purely poetic material that's ignored-- after all, Arthur was not primarily a historiographical figure during this era, but a literary one. More interestingly, one might want to know whether, how and why, this sort of 'border writing' changed later on once the Crusades began, or during the 100 years war-- subjects that aren't really discussed here.

In sum, Warren has made a clever application of postmodern colonial theory to unlikely medieval sources and raised some inttriguing questions. But I still don't feel like that's enough to justify the extreme difficulty of the book's language, its failure to explain why some other things weren't discussed, and the fact that much of it really does seem to be just the translation of narrative events into contemporary jargon. So, I can only give this 2 stars, in spite of the fact that it is an intriguing piece of scholarship.

After using this book as the first year text at university, I discovered that this book is lacking in conceptual content in many sections and overall, is not very clear. I must say that the two stars are for the sections that were good. These included the section on nations and states, basic population geography and a couple more. All backed up with maps, of course.

The maps are good, but there are too many related to insignificant examples, and several sections in the book where a more general map would have been helpful.

I think that the authors have concentrated too much on production of many editions of the same work and have not thought about the content, or the readability of a text. Especially for a text which is so broad as to make it suitable only for a first year text book, if it's lucky.

I have found The Dictionary of Human Geography (Johnston, et al., 1994) a much more valuable item on the book shelf. It is not as colourful but is by far more contextually solid. Fellman, Getis and Getis is in my opinion a severly lacking text and should only be read for two reasons. 1, to look at the pictures, and 2, if you live in an isolated region and can't get any other books.

I like Beowulf. Its a world classic. And i LOVE sir Thomas Malorys "Le Morte D`Arthur".
The problem is, they are completely different.
Now, a Pendragon story where the king of the geats makes a cameo apperance, or, even better, a whole role - playing game devoted just to him, would be great. A supplement to a game that just isn`t suited to him is not. Especially when it is obvious that the designers are mostly just trying to see how they can get more of that popular sword & sorcery stuff forced into Pendragon, so it can earn them as much as all those other fantasy games.
Medival scandinavia is full of great stories, even if you just stick to "real" history: but even though the designers have obviously researched the area carefully, they have not let this affect their lack of taste.
I liked the "forgotten" celtic culture though - its the kind of daft things that Pendragon turns into something good. But it was not enough.

I compliment the author on his thorough research, including letters written and received by Davies. Here lies part of the problem with the book. It is far too detailed. I would rarely say this, but the author verbally describes many of the paintings that are illustrated in the book. Why? This becomes tedeous.

I also question some of the information in the book. For example, he states that he and his mistress travelled to Europe because Davies lived in NYC with her and in the country with his wife. This seems a bit extreme to me so I did some research on [internet search company] and failed to find a single cite to support this. Why would census takers care if a man lived with a mistress? They were not throwing them in jail for it. If the author makes such a far fetched statement, then he should provide evidence of it.

The loves of Davies are not fully explored. Yes, the author tells the reader that Virginia, the first wife, shot her first husband and skipped town to NYC. This is interesting. But how is Davies affected by leading double and triple lives. Stieglitz was having his affair with O'Keeffe at this time. Stieglitz's art reflects the love of O'Keeffe, etc.

One last example. The author states that Davies, who was responsible for the Armory Show of 1913 would give tours to distinguished guests. While doing so, his posture was interpreted as a sign of arrogance. OK. But then the author tells us that Davies did not intend to appear arrogant. How does he know Davies' thoughts at such specific times?

The book has strong points, but the weaknesses ultimately overwhelm the reader. That's the gist of it. Check it out at a library and decide for yourself.

The best thing about this book is the preface by Charles Rosen. The rest it hugely disappointing. It is amazing how a poet can be so non-descriptive! How can any writer has been friends with both Mozart and Casanova and yet have nothing to say about them? One gets no sense of what life was like during the end of the 18th century at all. Even Da Ponte's own thoughts and motives do not come across. All that is left are petty political games at an assortment of different opera houses. Da Ponte's story is less amusing than the description of a single flirtation in the truly interesting and picaresque memoirs of his friend Casanova.

This book was not very interesting. It started off with Margaret Cooper, the main character getting married. She wrote a letter to her friend Tom Cribbins, saying she wanted a divorce from her husband to be free like him. Margaret threw away the letter, but didn't know that her housekeeper had picked it up. Within a week, Margaret's husband died. Margaret was blamed and Etta, her housekeeper, went against Margaret saying Margaret did it. She went on trial and was found innocent. Margaret moved out to a house flat where she could live in piece. Her attorney, Aubrey Fielding, came to visit Margaret one day and they hit it off. After 2 months, they got married. That was when Margaret received a blackmail letter. It said arrive at a place so she went. It was Etta blackmailng her. That went on through the whole book. Margaret then went to Arthur Crook complaining about the blackmail and being accused of murdering her husband. Mr. Crook said all they had to do was wait. Murder was a waiting game. So Margaret waited, until she visited Etta again, saw the conversation being recorded, and smashed the recorder. Etta's husband then came and saw Margaret saying Etta was dead. Arthur was also hit and injured being pushed down a flight of stairs. Through the rest of the book, Etta's husband blackmailed Margaret and Arthur was frantically figuring it out. This book was not that interesting. I only gave it 2 stars. I would only recommend this book to people who follow long murder's with no action.

This book disappoints any reader looking for any authoritative information on national flags, as might reasonably be expected from its title.

It uses enlarged images from what appear to be 1920s cigarette cards to attempt a guide to 25 countries--from Albania to Ecuador, from Japan to Saudi Arabia. While the one-page country descriptions may well interest the target audience of 9-12-year-olds, the writing borders on the painful ("...Mexico is a officially Spanish-speaking nation...88.3 million people inhabit Mexico's 756,000 square miles of total geography.").

I found the facts nearly all accurate, but forming an unusual mix of geographic information, flag description, history, and country trivia. Since the flags likely date from the 1920s, several are completely out-of-date. And in a marvelous example of "the larger the type, the larger the typo", the title on one page reads "THALAND"!

On cannot condone such mis-representation even in a "children's book".

HOWEVER, for anyone interested in the kind of images that graced cigarette cards (the collectible premiums offered by some cigarette companies before and after the turn of the century), this book has 25 very nice full-page reproductions (almost 4 times actual size). They depict flag-bearers from 25 countries--a "typical" person (Canada's is a mountie, an Indian represents the USA) holds a large waving flag in front of a local background. The production values are high and the color graphics are easily scanned.

In summary, this book seems to be one in a series, trying to fill the "flag niche" by taking nice cigarette card images and forcing them to serve as illustrations in a flag book/country guide.