As one who is helping set up the learning environment for a
Montessori school, I really didn't know where to begin. As a teacher, I know what materials have worked for the students I have worked with. However, being limited to just working with children at the 3 -6 level, I really didn't have appropriate recommendiations for the other grade levels.

My colleagues and I looked at several vendors, but the choices can really be overwhelming. We needed a source where we could read and receive some objective feedback as to what we needed for our situation. We found the answers to many of our questions in the Montessori Resources book.

We received our copy about two weeks ago, and it has been read by two of my colleagues who have also found the reviews to be useful as we try to decide what to purchase. We have been allocated just so much money to spend for furniture and supplies. Because our budget is so limited, we can't really afford to make costly mistakes.

The time that went into the reviewing and the organized way in which the reviews are presented are what stands out most in my mind about this book. We are in the process of contacting the companies, and feel that we can really make some informed decisions.

I learned about many new products that I didn't even realize were out there, and I can see that we will be able to afford a few of these and use them in the classroom as well. I also appreciated all of the free resources - many of which I didn't even know existed.

What stands out about this book are the reviews of each product or organization mentioned. I appreicated knowing that someone had actually taken the time to look at all of the products and other resources out there and select the ones most beneficial to the school teacher using Montessori. Although, I know many home schoolers looking for curriculum and educational supplies will find the book to be useful as well, this guide is very helpful if you are just beginning to purchase supplies for a school and need information.

The book is divided into chapters according to subjects like art, foreign language, math and language, but there are special sections for practical life exercises and organizations too.

My husband and I will be opening our school in September, and the book helped us select the materials we needed quickly and efficiently.

The review of the different websites was helpful too.

With all the scenery and none of the rude people, this book is better (and certainly much more affordable) than a trip to France. For those of us who remember--and sorely miss--the Rotherts' restaurant, "DuJour" in Fort Wayne, the recipes are a godsend. Let's hope Lois sells many many many copies and uses the royalties to publish a companion cookbook ... of Larsh's bread recipes!

I urge you to buy this book or at least look at it. It is a beautiful book. Charming in style with beautiful images. But the best part is that it is not just a rehash of old recipes, or recipes congured up to be different. When you eat one of these soups, there is a depth to the flavor, and you could think you were in France. I commend the author for preserving these old soups.

This exhibit took place in New York, Paris and Amsterdam and focuses on Dr. Paul Gachet, Van Gogh's doctor in Auvers-sur-Oise during the last two months of his life.

Always a controversial figure (partly due to his arguable incompetence, partly due to the questionable authenticity of some of the works in his possession), this book is a wonderful exploration of the man and his collection. The authors, both frequent and well respected contributors to Van Gogh scholarship, explore Gachet and his collection (now owned by the Musée d'Orsay in Paris) to an incredible level of detail. The amount of research behind this book is staggering and it makes for an extremely compelling and satisfying reading experience.

This short work is an excellent introduction to the struggle for the existence of the French colony of New France. Beginning in 1672, with the governorship of the Comte de Frontenac, the author traces the various struggles through to the final surrender of Montreal in 1760. Along the way there is a small detour, examining the exploration of the west, spearheaded by men looking for a path through to the Pacific.

This book was originally published in 1918, and it shows. Throughout, the author routinely refers to the Indians as "savages," which is a little shocking to those used to more modern books. However, all other peoples in this drama (French, British, Canadians and Americans) are disparaged at one time or another, so a little tolerance of the author will be required to read this book.

That said, though, the book is well written and highly informative. The book's tone is far from the dry and academic, which characterizes many older history books. What I liked about this book is that it examines the struggles from the French point of view, which is refreshingly different that of the British. So, if you want to learn about the struggles with French Canada, from another perspective, then this book is for you.

This book was originally printed in 1882, but reprinted in 1989. It is an exhaustive source of information on almost any facet of Victorian (and earlier) sewing, lacemaking, stitchery, embroidery, etc. One of the main advantages is that it contains definitions of many out-of-date sewing terms and fabrics, making it useful for researching techniques no longer in common practice. It also includes diagrams and pictures to illustrate most of the techniques it covers. I highly recommend this book for serious students of needlework. It's out of print, but definitely worth the search.

This is a beautifully photographed book and a great adjunct to anyone who has, or is presently reading Proust, or just interested in the Belle Epoque or reading Edith Wharton etc.

A truly informative, lovely cookbook with great pictures, and most importantly, terrific recipes. The author has a real fondness for the region and knows her food. Cooking out of this book takes me back to one of my favorite regions of the world. A real winner!

Anyone who wants to know and love the saints more, but does not want to read fifty-seven different books will find this book a treasure beyond belief! We own many books about saints, but we keep coming back to this one. There are stories about those familiar favorites such as St. Paul and St. Francis of Assisi. Also, there are lesser-known saints, such as St. Peregrine and St. Dymphna. These are often hard to find information about, especially on a child's level.

The book is full of details and very well written. The stories are engaging and make you feel like you are there. Luckily each saint is covered in only five to ten pages, because the children would not want to stop until the story is finished. This is truly our favorite saint book. We highly recommend it!

Beautiful coffee table style book with great pictures and descriptions of small, intimate hotels throughout Provence. A great companion to the Relais & Chateau guide.

If you think of the Hundred Years War, epic English victories like Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt would probably come to mind. However despite these impressive military triumphs, the fact is that the French ultimately won the series of wars that stretched out over a 116-year period. Anne Curry, an English expert on the Hundred Years War, brings her considerable knowledge of the subject to bear in Osprey's Essential Histories volume #19. Quite simply, this volume is a tour de force in that the author presents a complex subject with insight and depth. Unlike some of the other volumes in this series, The Hundred Years War 1337-1453 represents a real research effort and not just a condensation of other sources. This is one of the best volumes that Osprey published in 2002.

As usual, The Hundred Years' War 1337-1453 begins in standard Osprey format with a short introduction, a chronology, a background to the war and the opposing sides and how the war began. The narrative of the war itself is 38 pages in length. Final sections are portrait of a soldier (one French and two English), the cruel nature of the war (attacks on civilians, raids on England), portrait of a civilian (the remarkable female poet and historian Christine de Pizan), how the war ended and conclusions. The author has provided a substantial bibliography as well as genealogical tables for both the French and English nobility. There are a total of ten maps (English lands in Gascony, campaigns in Northern France in 1340, campaigns in the north in 1341-1359, the campaign of 1346, the campaigns of the Black Prince, the second phase of the war, the Agincourt campaign, campaigns of 1415-1428, English garrisons in Normandy, and the defeat of the English) in this volume and they add great value.

The Hundred Years War was unusual for its protracted nature, although this was frequently interrupted by truces. The English, who began the war with modest objectives and expanded them when fortune favored their cause, crushed one French army after another in the early phases of the war. Much of French fell under English control by 1415 and it appeared that the French monarchy was in eclipse. Anne Curry does a wonderful job detailing how the French gradually turned the war around, beginning with the incredible campaigns of Joan of Arc. The French were not the complete blockheads that recurrent defeats would suggest, but were capable of learning from past mistakes. During the 1430s, the French monarchy oversaw the creation of the first standing army in Europe since the Romans. The French were also quick to adopt and efficiently organize artillery, which was used to help smash English armies at Formigny and Castillon (battles that are all but forgotten but which helped to decide the war). The author also does a splendid job detailing the war finances and economies of both sides. French revenue grew ten-fold during the course of the war as the French monarchy organized a robust tax system. However, the English fought the war on an economic shoestring and their revenues declined as the war dragged on. Indeed, the English often conquered land that was devastated and incapable of producing revenue for some time. In the end, the English lacked the money to sustain large armies in France and they were eventually overwhelmed. The author rightly calls this war a defining moment in European history, where large standing armies become possible and royal authority was forced to construct more complex fiscal structures than had existed under parochial feudalism.