Gaston Lenotre has compiled a mouth-watering book of French pastries that an intermediate or ambitious beginning cook should have no trouble using. The color photographs are gorgeous, although dated in appearance, and the recipes are well-written and easy to follow.

The book is laid out as though assuming the reader has no knowledge of pastry baking. The book begins with a compilation of terms and techniques, and procedes to a section of "basic" recipes such as Chantilly Cream, Butter Cream, Dessert Syrup, and Almond Paste. And then the fun begins: brioche, croissants, and pithiviers, working up to Mirabelle Plum Tart, Chocolate-Vanilla Charlotte, soufflees, and Autumn Meringue Cake. The cool-down phase is candy: truffles, chocolate thistles, and carmelized hazelnuts. The Strawberry Cake, deceptively simple in name, is outstanding with its genoise base, buttercream and fresh berry filling, and marzipan top. The Upside Down Orange Cake and the chocolate mousse filled and pleated chocolate ribbon topped Autumn Meringue Cake are also show stoppers. For each recipe, Lenotre supplies preparation time (valid only if you are already familiar with the techniques), baking time, and cookware/utensil needs.

The biggest drawback to this cookbook is the constant referral to basic recipes, demanding frequent page flipping as you prepare a pastry. For example, the Strawberry Cake requires one recipe of buttercream filling, one recipe of dessert syrup, one recipe of genoise, one recipe of almond paste in addition to the more specific needs. Of course, the advantage of such shortened ingredient lists is the mistaken belief that the preparation might be simpler than it is.

For anyone interested in the art of pastry making, this is a wonderful book.

This is a reprint of the correspondence of one of the Great Families of Cherokee History. The members of this family were the movers and shapers of a nation. They became victims in a little talked about civil war with in the nation. This civil conflict with in the people is important because it suggests a sell out and cover up by John Ross. I enjoy studying this era of history and this book gives a feel for the people involved like no other.

One member of the family who survived was Stand Watie. He later served in the Confederate States of America's Army as a Brigadier General. This book will be of interest to students of both civil wars.

We, at Secundaria Iberoamericana, used this course and i must say i did learn french with it because i wanted to, even though i was fifteen. i don't want to get way too opinionated about this book, but let's say it's not that colourful, nor interesting for teenagers although its story [which is continued through the whole book] keeps you into learning. After it all, i give it a four-star rating since it brings me lovely memories from those french classes i attended to, back in 1994 through 1996 at junior high.

What would happen if Rudolf's nose went out? And the otherreindeer well they are not too hot either... Leave the toy delivery upto a team of flying gators? Santa goes cajun in this whimsical little bayou tale of a christmas saved by a gator named Gaston ( with a glowing green nose)... a bunch of french reptilian friends .... Christmas will never be the same again

the reproduction of the illustrations is rich and wonderful,and is a fantastic resource if one does or collects pieces of calligraphy and illumination. For those searching for an english translation to the text itself, this book offers but a sampling, teasing the readers with a generous introduction to the book's history and then giving only brief summeries of the individual plates rather than a full translation of the text. I enjoyed this book for its pictoral historical research value,and would rate it a four on that alone but as one searching for a complete english translation of text, I was disappointed.

What a pleasure to read a book written in 1902, and find a fast moving, pulse pounding adventure story written for adults. If your taste runs to adventurous tales of old like 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' or the entertaining historical romances of Georgette Heyer you will be pleased by the pen of Rafael Sabintini. Mr. Sabintini wrote dozens of historical novels including 'Captain Blood' and 'The Sea Hawk', so this is just the first offering of many from a master storyteller.

Mostly this is a book of portraits, and the sculptures which are in this book are usually called "Head". The best of the sculptures, in The Tate Gallery in London, looks pretty tall for a head. Even the painted faces might seem a bit long, but I think the main tendency has been for Modigliani to paint noses which were longer than the noses on the people I see. Some of the faces have a nose which is defined by a distinctive curve on just one side of the nose, but the only profile view which I remember in this book is the 1909 Charcoal of Paul Alexander on page 25. Sometimes the color of the nose makes the tip of the nose seem like the only realistic part of the picture, as in the oil on canvas painting of Chaim Soutine in 1916 on page 43. The paintings on pages 44 and 45 provide a nice contrast between his use of lines on both sides of a long, straight nose (the guy) on the left and a single curve in Portrait of a Girl, 1916, on the right. There are four women with distinctly different noses on pages 82, 83, 84, and 85. I might not have noticed this so much, except that when I was most interested in art, someone told me that all my pictures looked the same, and I realized that the best one that I had ever done (it looked more like a close-up) was an ear.

If you enjoyed "The Mystery of the Yellow Room", you will probably enjoy "The Perfume of the Lady in Black". This novel was very well written by Gaston Leroux (who actually included himself as a character in the early pages of the book!). You must read "The Mystery of the Yellow Room" before attempting "The Perfume of the Lady in Black", as it is merely a continuation of the events from "Yellow Room". To say that Gaston Leroux has a few surprises in store for you with this book would be an understatement, as he gives new meanings to the events from the first book. For me to say anyting further would be unfair to a prospective reader. While "The Mystery of the Yellow Room" was a five star book without question, "The Perfume of the Lady in Black" falls just short of that lofty plateau. For those who enjoy a well-written mystery, you could scarcely do better than Gaston Leroux.