Actually.....nil stars.

Only buy it if you are the sort of person who buys timeshare, the Eiffel Tower, etc...

For those who are unaware, the "MacCathy Mor" discussed in the book was really an imposter.

The reality of an indigenous Irish nobility is not much understood or accepted inside Ireland itself, much less in the rest of the world. As the victors write the history, too much Irish history has omitted any reference to the fact that Ireland had its own kings and nobles well before the Norman-English intruded on the scene. To this day the claims of persons such as the MacCarthy Mor to royal status are met with skepticism; relevant to this book, one individual expressed this skepticism so openly as to warrent a suit before the Italian courts. This lawsuit offered the MacCarthy Mor to present to a court of experts his credentials as Head of the Royal House of Munster, as Chief of his Name, and as rightful bearer of the coat of arms of the MacCarthy Mor. The Court carefully reviews and expounds on the evidence presented, and the ruling presents in detail the Court's rationale for fully supporting the MacCarthy Mor's claims. This book is a must read for any student of Irish history, modern aristocracy, chivalry, or heraldry. A word of warning, though: this is a legal document, and it reads like one -- don't expect light reading, but do expect to be educated!

If you thought that the Gaelic Nobility died out in 1601, or even 1691, this book is for you. This book documents the present situation of one of the Royal lines of Ireland. It documents the present views of two European powers towards the rights and prerogatives of the current representative of the Royal Eoghanacht Dynasty. This Royal line ruled over the southwest quarter of Ireland for more than a thousand years. The last regnant King was Donal IX, King of Desmond, who died in 1596.

Yet the dynasty, with it's rights and priveleges, survives! Contained in the book are the transcripts of two Italian Court rulings, a translation of a Certification from the Kingdom of Spain, and copies of various supporting documents that were made available for the Italian and Spanish authorities. This book will be of special interest to those who study the Gaelic history of Ireland, and those who claim descent from the MacCarthy family.

If readers are looking for a concise book on Luis Barragan, this book is NOT it. Rather, you are urged to look at Luis Barragan: The Complete Works which not only have architecture pictures but also detailed discussions by few academics & even Luis Barragan acceptance speech of his winning of the prestigious Pultizer prize. But if readers are just a pedestrian reader on architecture like me, you would appreciate this book for it contains beautiful photography (sometimes, pictures of the same thing taken from different angles) & GENERAL discussions upon Luis' refusal to conform to any particular architecture movements but rather following his vision of how an architecture should be depicted. He's not only an architect but an architect & artist combined, a sensible & faithful individual to his culture, core values. The readers are also given a quick overview of his exit from Guadalajara & his rising from ashes in Mexico, inspirations that he attained from his trip to the Meditarrenean & Africa (namely Morroco), his relationships & eventual downfall with artists that he worked with. Overall, a good effort but superficial for the academics.

The Life and Work of Luis Barragan, successfully depicts all of the qualities and aspects which encompases the modern architecture of Barragan. This book also carefully examines the artistic forms present in Barragan's designs of structure, landscape and furniture. After reading this book, it becomes appearant why the work of Luis Barragan is so prestigous and brillant. However, this book fails to address his architecture as a whole, and how the space created interacts with it's environment. The book requires diagrams and photographs, which include the structure and its landscaping, along with the surrounding environment inorder to completely define the work and experiences of Luis Barragan. However, I highly recomend this book to anyone interested in the architecture of Mexico.

Keith Ferrante, Student of Architecture, University of Southern California

I want to know whether the author of this book has come out with any other adition of this book after Dec. 1994, or any reprint of the book.