Even if you never want to draw horses or anything else, I'm sure you will be amazed by Mr. Brown's draughtsmanship, the economy of line, the subtlety in his shading and the sensitivity with which he treats his subjects. There is a confidence and solidity which you will notice runs through Brown's work; you just need to see one of his horses and you will know immediately: this guy can draw anything! Although this book does horses, all the techniques here can be applied to any subject. A true draughtsman will know that you approach a horse in much the same way as you would a human, or any other subject: someone who can draw properly, like David Brown won't be caught saying, "I can draw horses, but not cattle. I can do hands, but feet are too difficult".
The book is lucid, well structured and not intimidating or patronizing to the inexperienced. It contains info. on anatomy, the different breeds of the animal, proportions, and will take you through many mediums and techniques. One of the good things about this book, and others like it, is the logic behind everything. There are so many books on how to draw by people who lack ability and go with the notion that you should free your mind and do what you feel. The worst thing of such books is that beginners with little knowledge of draughtsmanship buy them and learn all the wrong things and end up in a worse position than the one they started at. Rest assured that none of that wishee-washee, mumbo-jumbo lurks here! Drawing, like playing a musical instrument, is a DISCIPLINE, with rules. Do away with these and you will only end up charming the eyes of the ignorant with your work.
Follow the teachings of someone like Brown and you will learn that drawing is fun and rewarding. This guy knows his stuff!! Buy the book. It is inspiring and instructive!

Everyone knows that cars are a important part of america, and now there is a book that really shows that people still carry on their romance with their cars. Check out Pick up(I laughed), and the Wrecker (I found this one oddly moving).

This book about Strange Crimes, is very funny and everyone I load it to finds it very funny, is a classic if you like stupid crimes

If you get only one commentary on a Gospel (or Gospels), make it this one. Content, scope, layout--it 's all first-rate.

No one, of course, can construct a worthy commentary on the greatest books mankind has ever penned. David Brown, though, did a pretty amazing job. This material originally appeared as the heart of the acclaimed Jaimeson-Faussett-Brown commentary. The fact the publishers saw fit to reprint Brown's work on its own tells you alot. And the mildly antiquated prose actually adds to the volume's punch.

If you have any dollars left, get Bruce Milne's five-star volume in IVP's 'The Bible Speaks Today' series. Then add Catholic Adrienne Von Speyer's unusual but oddly sanctifying four Ignatius Press volumes. We are lucky to have accesibilty to such excellent stuff.

Berenson's classic study of Italian Renaissance painters is well worth seeking in used bookstores or through book-finding services. This collection of essays separately published between 1894 and 1907 focuses on the painters of Venice, Florence, central Italy, and north Italy. In intelligent, lively prose, the author not only analyzes the merit of scores of individual painters from Giotto to Correggio but also traces the development of Italian painting and constantly reiterates his theory that the "life enhancement" qualities of of high art are found in the areas of tactile values, movement, and spatial composition, all of which he explains in articulate detail. Movement and energy, for example, can be expressed in an arm leaning on a pillow. He correctly identifies the partnership in Florence between an intense desire for knowledge that helps to explain and control the world and the "discovery" of classical forms from ancient Rome. In painting, this led above all to a focus on the human figure (which Berenson claims as the ultimate subject of art) and a preeminent dedication to line. The intellectual rigor of Florence contrasted with Venice, the voluptuous capital of a wealthy mercantile empire distinguished by public rituals, where spectacle and color were the chief aims of art. Berenson's authority ranges through landscape, the uses of antiquity, Illustration and Decoration, prettiness versus beauty, and archaic art, whose appeal lies in its search for form and movement. The book is sparsely illustrated, so you will have to supplement it with your own visual sources, but it's a goldmine of information, useful perspectives, and thought-provoking opinions.

Great book by a great author. (I loved his Marbury v. Madison: Powers of the Supreme Court, it is on ... also). In both books he takes potentially complicated subjects and boils them down to the important elements, and does it in an interesting and engaging way. I recommend this book to any teacher - or anyone wanting to understand learn more about history and law.

I am an internist. During my residency years, I diecovered this book. It made me a distinguished resident in nephrology in a remarkably short time. Nephrology is the most complicated branch of internal medicine but this book has made it unbelievebly easy, meaningful and attractive. It is specialy written for those who want to learn complex issues as soon as possible.

This writing is for those spiritual scholars who need and want clarification, demonstration, and information about those whom God has called to leadership in WORSHIP. The revelation found on the pages of this text have the handprint of our Father. I am excited about the in depth research of the scriptures for examples of this ministry and how it should be implemented in the body of Christ. To see and experience it is one level but to have a book available in laymen's terminology, reader friendly so that even a babe in Christ can understand is truly a blessing.

David Brown's 'Musorgsky' appears in the Oxford University Press's 'The Master Musicians' series and replaces the older volume in that series started by M. D. Calvocoressi before his death in 1944 and finished by Gerald Abraham, published in 1946. There has been no major life-and-works of Modest Musorgsky (1839-1881) in English since then, although Richard Taruskin's scholarly 'Musorgsky,' intended for a narrower musicologically-informed audience, was published in 1992. This volume has musical examples and some reasonably detailed discussion of musical points in Musorgsky's works, but it is certainly not beyond the reach of the general reader.

Musorgsky's life is detailed throughout the book but there is little that is gossipy or speculative. Much more attention is paid to the origin and development of Musorgsky's art, with a clear exposition of musical and psychological influences by such figures are Dargomizhky, Glinka, Balakirev, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Alexander Serov, Vladimir Stasov and others. The lengthy, often obscure and confusing chronology of 'Boris Godunov' is set out logically and lucidly; Brown's exposition of its difficult gestation certainly cleared up some of my confusion in this regard. There is a good deal of explanation of how and where Musorgky cannibalized earlier works, inserting whole passages in the works by which he is now primarily known. There is a fascinating discussion of how he slowly developed his musical 'fingerprints,' with examples. Several chapters are devoted to the composition of his numerous and still undervalued songs. And we get psychologically and musically insightful chapters on 'Night on Bald Mountain' (more properly 'St. John's Night on Bare Mountain') and 'Pictures at an Exhibition.' The sad story of the inability to complete 'Khovanshchina' and 'Sorochintsy Fair' is told, along with the related heart-breaking drama of Musorgky's decline and death.

In Musorgsky's too-short life he wrote at least three undisputed popular masterpieces - 'Boris,' 'Night on Bare Mountain,' and 'Pictures'- and those who love these pieces, and others, owe it to themselves to become more familiar with the life of the man behind these favorites. This book provides the kind of framework that makes those works more alive for the listener.

Recommended.

Review by Scott Morrison

With stories like "Ferryman" (Eric Brown), "The White Stuff" (Peter F. Hamilton & Graham Joyce), and "A Night on Bare Mountain" (Graham Charnock), anthologies don't get any better than this. My only quibble is with the experimental narrative "Thirteen Views of a Cardboard City"(William Gibson) which rounds out the volume with a whimper, not a bang. Otherwise, this is Hugo & Nebula territory.