The primary appeal in this book is the photo collection. While the accompanying text throughout is quite interesting, I think most people will buy it for the pictures. And excellent pictures they are.

For buildings that still exist, the authors/editors took brand new photographs specifically for this book. You would be hard pressed to find similar quality photographs anywhere else.

However, if you are interested in an introductory reading on Wright's work, you won't be disappointed. The reading level seems to be geared towards someone who already knows who Wright is, but is not familiar with his lesser known works, or with the details of his life and of architecture. The authors did a splendid job of placing Wright's work in the context of the time and place, and highlighting that which is fundamentally American about both. From the insight on Wrights life and works, you will learn not only about some of the foremost icons of American architecture, but also about American culture itself. The passion the authors have for Wrights work really shows through in every page, both through photographs and text.

I read every single word and closely examined every single photo. I can promise that if you're honestly interested in learning about Wright's work, as well as his place in history and culture, you will not be sorry you bought this book.

I have been a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture for over 30 years, and have seen many of his finest buildings. No book that I have seen in those years is as good as this one for explaining his life, the development of his architectural style, providing the details of his best work, and showing stunning photographs of exteriors, interiors, and views. If you only buy one book about Mr. Wright, I suggest this one. I have it with me tonight as I begin a one week pilgrimage to his finest work in the midwest. Each night, I will reread the sections about the works that I will be seeing the next day.

The book would be worth buying, just for the photography alone. For those buildings that still exist, brand new color images were made. These are so magnificently reproduced that they actually exceed the appearances of the originals! I don't know of another book of architectural photography where I could make the same statement. It is as though you are seeing the scenes in Wright's eye, as the pure forms that he was seeking to reproduce. Also, you get lots of images. For example, the home and studio in Oak Park, Illinois section displays 10 large color photographs. Naturally, for the buildings that do not still exist, you have only historical photographs, some in black and white. But these are very fine, as well.

Most books with wonderful photographs usually have limited essays. Masterworks is the happy exception. The essays are clear, thoughtful, and extensive. Yet they tie together to tell the story of Mr. Wright's development. So, they are more like chapters in a book rather than stand-alone essays that such books usually inspire. I was particularly pleased with the information about the materials and building methods that Mr. Wright experimented with and used at various stages of his career.

As wonderful as the photographs and essays are, what made the book special for me were the many draft sketches and conceptual diagrams in Mr. Wright's own hand. To see the transition from first sketch to final details was wonderful.

If you know Mr. Wright's work, you will be aware that he often designed his own furniture and sculptures for the buildings, and had craftsmen execute them. You will see many fine examples in the book of these details presented in their most dramatic ways.

The book also has good balance. Many books about Mr. Wright favor his homes, or his famous works, or his public buildings. This one creates a balance over his entire career of all his work. So you get a decent amount about his Usonia period as well as his Prairie years.

Here are the works that are covered in the book: Home and studio in Oak Park, Illinois; William H. Winslow House, River Forest, Illinois; Susan Lawrence Dana House, Springfield, Illinois; Arthur Heurtley House, Oak Park, Illinois; Ward W. Willits House, Highland Park, Illinois; Larkin Company Administrative Buidling, Buffalo, New York; Unity Temple, Oak Park, Illinois; E.E. Boynton House, Rochester, New York; Avery Coonley House, Riverside, Illinois; Meyer May House, Grand Rapids, Michigan; Frederick C. Robie House, Chicago, Illinois; Midway Gardens, Chicago, Illinois; Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, Japan; F.C. Bogk House, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Aline Barnsdall House, Los Angeles, California; John Storer House, Hollywood, California; Paul R. and Jean S. Hanna House, Stanford, California; Fallingwater, Mill Run, Pennsylvania; Herbert Jacobs House, Madison, Wisconsin; S.C. Johnson & Son Administrative Building, Racine, Wisconsin; Herbert F. Johnson House, Wind Point, Wisconsin; C. Leigh Stevens House, Yemassee, South Carolina; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City; Arnold Friedman House, Pecos, New Mexico; Herman T. Mossberg House, South Bend, Indiana; Kenneth Laurent House, Rockford, Illinois; Unitarian Church, Shorewood Hills, Wisconsin; David Wright House, Phoenix, Arizona; William Palmer House, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Isadore J. Zimmerman House, Manchester, New Hampshire; H.C. Price Company Tower, Bartlesville, Oklahoma; Harold Price, Sr. House, Paradise Valley, Arizona; Gerald B. Tonkens House, Amberley Village, Ohio; Beth Sholom Synagogue, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; Don M. Stromquist House, Bountiful, Utah; Marin County Civic Center, San Rafael, California; Taliesin III, Spring Green, Wisconsin; and Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Arizona.

After you finish enjoying this book the first time, ask yourself what has been Mr. Wright's lasting impact on America. How has his work affected your life? How will it affect your grandchildren's lives?

Turn an optimistic view of people living in natural harmony into reality!

A great reference and must have for anyone interested in Wright. Detailed pictures and text.

I got this book last x mas. I still read and look at it every month. I think it's a great review of a very special person who really knew how to draw !

When I first saw the FallingWater House, I saw that FLW was really an special person. This book shows us that all his masterpieces were just a clue of what he was able to do, of the buildings he could create. In FLW Drawings, you can see many perspectives representing his newest toughts and ideas, and proving that he really would have changed the world of architecture if God had givven him 30 years more (as he used to say). article: João Paulo Salgueiro

As the various reviews point out this book is a blaze of color. Excellently photographed and excellently printed this volume gives a good impression of how beautiful petrified wood can be. This work is perfectly suited as a coffee table book.

As a wood anatomist I cannot help feeling that an even more beautiful book could be produced by shifting the focus to anatomy: when magnified these woods would look even better. I guess a palaeobotanist would agree with me that this would make for, from a scientific point of view, a more usable and valuable book.

Nevertheless this is a magnificent piece of work: there are some quite stunning pictures in here.

The best photographic presentation of petrified wood I have every seen. Frank Daniels' love of the subject can be seen in his work as laid out between the covers of this superb book. I totally enjoy showing non palaeontologically minded people this book when they visit. If a person is looking for a photographic presentation of petrified wood, then this would have to be the book. I heartily recommend it. Congratulations Frank on a terrific book.

In this book, Wright expounds upon his innovative and groundbreaking ideas about architecture - specifically, that architecture should be organic in nature. Spanning his entire career, including blueprints and sketches for buildings never constructed, In the Realm of Ideas give anyone with even a passing interest in architecture the grounds to understand the architectural revolution that occurred in the early part of the 20th century. Wright was an integral part of that revolution; he stood at the center. In the Realm of Ideas provides his thoughts and reflections on the nature of architecture, something we all should consider in today's world of chrome and glass buildings that jab at the sky and crowd the center of our cities.

Not only can one read about some of Mr. Wright's many idiosyncrasies about such things as religion, science, music, ethics and morality, to name just a few, the book comes with 2 cassette tapes that allow you to actually HEAR selections from Sunday talks to his apprentices.

This book is a "must hear" for all Wright lovers who want to know why he was such a great architect as well as a brilliant speaker.

Upon first reading, skepticism looms overhead, fat black rainclouds of doubt shadow the land. The ray of sun is: that no single opinion dominates this book, that it is refreshingly diverse. Anarchists in this volume emerge as political freethinkers, people of a courageous honesty who debate and exchange powerful ideas on the topics concerning social beings. When closing the book, wonder is in the wind...one ponders Mencken's germane analogy of politics to religion and the poplular participation of the masses in the exercise of control.

this book seems choppy and seems to lack any particular direction. originally, i thought this to be the buckley version of "Strunk and White: Elements of Style" -- but it's not. buy it if you want to see some of Buckley's essays; however, i would recommend going to the archives on the National Review web site.

This book contains 94 of conservative pundit William F. Buckley's speeches from five decades, the 1950s through the 1990s. The 25 speeches from the '50s and '60s are very good and show Buckley at his best as a passionate conservative joining the current-affairs battles of those decades. The speeches from the later decades are uneven; by this point Buckley is secure in his reputation but can sometimes seem ossified. A prime example of this is the speech entitled "Without Marx or Jesus," in which Buckley is called upon to respond to the arguments of French intellectual Jacques Revel. It's clear that Buckley has no idea how to deal with Revel on Revel's own terms and Buckley tends to flee into a discussion of persons and institutions that are obscure today. But when Buckley is asked to orate on a subject friendly to him, he does well, such as in various commencement addresses which are, as David Brooks notes in his introduction, essentially theological orations. But to understand the political background of all the speeches in the last three decades of the last century, it seems that the dictum, "Well, I guess you had to be there," applies.

William F. Buckley may be the most influential American writer of the second half of the 20th century. A strong statement, but think about it. When he wielded his pen he defended freedom in an era when that concept was beginning to be considered passe. He famously jumped "athwart history, yelling 'stop!" With his elegant, cosmopolitan prose he made consevativism intellectually respectable. He advocated a philosophy that was faith-based, yet humane and rigorously inqusitive about the world. And he's one of the funniest damn writers around. One of his greatest contributions in the 1950's and 60's was his adamant insistence that anti-Semites, racists, and extremists like the John Birch Society weren't a legitimate part of the consevative movement. This advocacy of tolerance and respect for rationality sprang from the charity that comes from a properly understood religious faith. He always strongly supported Israel as the vessel of Western values in a dangerous part of the world.

This is a collection of speeches that Buckley gave over the course of a 40-year career. Because they were meant to be heard instead of read, they are more informal and less intimidating than some of his other work. One can find here a rich slice of recent American history from the perspective of one of the good guys.

This is the diary of James Bennett, a young man who enlisted in the U.S. Dragoons in 1849 and served 7 years on the frontier at various posts in New Mexico. He encountered many figures known to history and traveled widely over the frontier from Texas to Wyoming to California.

Bennett's service saw him involved in battles with Indians, surveying the Gadsden Purchase and involved in the life of communities where American and Mexican cultures intermingled.

This book is a must for anyone interested in military history or life on the frontier prior to the Civil War

I got this one dirt cheap. Another book on Wright to ad to your collection. Better than some, but I imagine there is better ones out there.