Waddesdon Manor: The Heritage Of A Rothschild House is a gorgeous coffee table book, filled cover to cover with fabulous full-color photographs depicting an extraordinary house in the English countryside near London and its 125-year history. Showcasing romantic gardens, a superb private wine cellar, a wondrous aviary and much, much more, Waddesdon Manor is an incredible tour through culture, time, architecture, and interior design. The detailed text, drawing from previously unpublished research, memoirs, family and retainer reminiscences, takes the reader on a step by step tour through rooms and eras alike in this classical volume recommended for students of architectural history.

I first found this book at my library, and was amazed at how many locations it covers! I was born in western PA, and grew up in central PA, but there were some intruiging places in this guide that I'd never heard of before. If you are a history buff and have a nice, lazy weekend to spend following the "history trail" as laid in this book - do it! What a nice way to fall in love with PA all over again. It'd be twice as nice to do in the fall when the leaves are changing. I logged on to Amazon.com today expressly in the hopes of ordering this book - I can't recommend it enough and am looking forward to taking it with me on regional trips in the future.

Plumb's book is a very readable introduction to the Renaissance. He begins by explaining how civilization collapsed after the fall of Rome. But the Renaissance grew from the increases in population, trade and the flow of ideas. Italy was a land of cities instead of feudalism, able to make good use of trade to gain great power. The increase of trade brought power to the merchants and guilds instead of the nobility. Trade and power brought money to support an explosion of the arts and finance the flow of ideas, especially from the past.

Plumb describes the histories of some of the cities of Italy. In one chapter he describes the intricate diplomacy of Milan. In other chapters he describes the commerce of Venice and the trade of Florence. We see the brilliance of artists and dissipation of rulers. Plumb describes how the new learning, the new way of seeing the world, spread across Europe.

However, Plumb only wrote half of the book. The second half contains a series of biographies of great artists and rulers of the Renaissance, written by different authors. There are short biographies of artists such as Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci: rulers such as Lorenzo de Medici and Doge Foscari, and authors such as Petrarch and Machiavelli. This book is a tour de force introduction to the magnificent Renaissance.

This book is informative, intelligent, and so well written that it can have a strong appeal to the reader sheerly as literature. It is also a funny book. All the intrigues, treacheries, betrayals, and cruelties perpetrated by the pillars of the Renaissance society (popes, politicians, eminent soldiers) are described so naturally, vividly, and, sometimes, unexpectedly that I could not help but laugh when reading about them.

Plumb knows how to go straight to the point and give the reader his insights clearly and unobtrusively. He does not preach, he simply states and gives facts so wonderfully that I could not help but admire his masterful style of presentation. Here is an example: "In the darkest decades, there was a froce at work--trade--that was inimical to this world of warriors, priests, and peasants. Trade drew Moslem, Jew, and Christian together; trade fattened towns, sometimes bred them." Notice with what facility Plumb has just outlined the importance of trade--it mitigates cultural barriers and draws people together on the basis of mutual business interests. Or, here is an example of how Renaissance confronted dogmatism and obsession with getting at truth by deductive reasoning: "The old dogmatic certainties did not vanish at once, and the habit of trying to nail truth down by argument from fundamental principles was not lightly cast aside. Some of the most original minds, however, particularly Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci, sought truth not in argument but in observation." The book is full of such gems.

Renaissance was strange, cruel, and full of life and culture. This book gives us Renaissance in all its splendor fitting to a description of the time of revival and vitality.

I was surprised how easy it was to read The Italian Renaissance. Some history books are an effort to read, but this one was such a breeze I got myself caught up in it, and finished it in only a day or two. The first half of the book is by Plumb, which goes over the principal cities and themes of the Renaissance. The second half is a mix of biographies of prominent figures of the period by different authors - but there isn't much of a difference between these pieces and Plumb's half in style, both are wonderful to read. This book was so good I've bought a few more in the American Heritage series. If you want a good survey of the Renaissance in Italy, than this is the perfect book for you.

The price of this book was good - but there was nothing new in it - and it did not have 2 of my Irish lines in the book- so no help for my research.

i got this as a gift for my husband (a Reilly) and congratulate myself on the purchase! The historical background is EXCELLENT - enabled me to understand the different ethnic roots of the Irish and also the complexity of the Catholics vs Protestants, etc. In addition, the description of the mass exodus of the Irish to foreign lands was great, the author detailing the emotional background exquisitely. Finally, it was a lot of fun looking up the origins of Irish last names. The crests of each clan is shown in colour.

If I have a complaint, it would be that the significance of the crest of each clan was not discussed along with the origin and history of each clan. If that was included, this book would be 100% perfect, instead of 95% perfect.

A beautifully illustrated and well written guide to the origins of the 200 most popular surnames in Ireland.

Also included is history of the Irish race in all it's forms, this alone is worth the price of the book as it will allow anyone to form a clear understanding of Irish history, cutting away all the myths and confusions that surround the Irish and their origins.

This book is an essential read for anyone with Irish ancestry or any one with an interest in Irish History and you will find yourself dipping into it again and again.

This is a decent survey of the American Revolution, with an emphasis on the military history. There is a little discussion of the diplomatic history, and almost nothing about the politics, economics or social history of the time. Lancaster covers all of the battles, but rarely in enough detail to satisfy anyone wanting an in depth treatment of the tactics employed. Of course, a comprehensive account would be much longer. In lieu of better description, he is often content to name generals or other military leaders, and the book is chock full of the names of military units and, for the American units, their state of origin. It's a celebratory style of writing about American history that's a little dated now, and ultimatately is not a adequate substitute for a thicker account of what happened. Another irritation that the publisher could fix: the maps are next to useless, containing either too much or too little information. More detailed maps of specific battles would be nice, too.

Many Americans know the American Revolution only as a war in which George Washington defeated the British and, thereby, won American Independence. The true story, which we read in this book, is much more than that.

The "American Revolution" provides an interesting survey of the military aspects of our War for Independence. The background political factors which lead to the Declaration of Independence, both American and British, are presented, but once the Continental Army is established the book tends to focus primarily on military matters. One of the things I like about is book is that it gives thorough coverage to American, British and French personalities and initiatives in the war.

Another thing which I like about this work is its ability to impart an understanding of the outline of the War, both chronologically and geographically. The main events and characters are revealed both in their successes as well as in their flaws. While illustrating his greatness, errors committed by Washington are not overlooked.

This book places the pieces of the story which we have often heard into their proper places in the puzzle. All of it, from the early British evacuation of Boston through the Northern campaigns to the shift of action to the Southern theatres to the final evacuation of New York, now seems to make sense. The campaign of George Rogers Clark which won the West (now Midwest) for the new republic is also given fair coverage.

This book makes clear that, not withstanding the immense sacrifice of the Americans, victory was possible only because of the intervention of the French army and fleet.

We are repeatedly reminded that American sentiment was not totally in support of the war. military actions by Tories in support of the Crown, although largely ineffective, are given adequate attention throughout the narrative.

All in all, I enjoyed this interesting introduction to this crucial, but all too little known war.

Following a recent visit to Yorktown, I wanted to know why it warranted so much attention. Bruce Lancaster has done an exceptional job of building a picture that helped me truly appreciate the significance of Yorktown.

I love Lancaster's clear, rapid narrative of the war and surrounding events. Sure, he has some flare that may not be in vogue these days, but that is one reason why this book is so good. He writes with conviction and style, bringing the characters in the war to life. He also does an outstanding job of helping the reader piece together the critical events in the war. This is a book that makes you want to read more about the period.

If you have problem with your written english, this is the ultimate book. Just buy one and keep it with you.

As a 9th grade student in Florida (1979), I used this particular edition of this book in my English class and have never forgotten how good it was. I plan to buy a copy to keep handy at work as soon as I can find one. I'm surprised at how often I wished I had a copy.

On the gross level in our society today, many people take religion for granted. Many people either believe blindly or oppose just as blindly, and this causes hate, ignorance, and intolerance. Dr. Yardan was my Oriental Philosophy professor at school and he gave me many new perspectives on life. Unfortunately books of this nature are rarely read, these ideas rarely thought, for those who are starting to wake up, who want to delve deeper into the questions burning inside you that there is truth and meaning that most people do not seek or understand, this book is a good start. I would say that the main point of this book is to discuss logical problems dealing with God and our imperfect world by examining the problems in humans and humanity. The main point to take away, is to re-examine what God is...Consciousness, Bliss, Knowledge...all problems stem from our own present imperfections, the result of ignorance, which we must transcend.

This book is a shameless effort to copy Simon Marsden's exquisite photographic essays of European castles and ruins. John Mason photographs English sites IN THE EXACT SAME WAY and with the same infra-red method as Simon Marsden. Shame, shame! Have some originality! Plus, Simon Marsden writes terrifically spooky histories and legends of each site; John Mason tries, but he's not quite as good at conjuring up the frightening atmosphere as Marsden is. Perhaps I'm predjudiced? Perhaps I'm being too hard on John Mason....In conclusion, if you like haunted English history and old, spooky castles, you'll like this book. If you like Simon Marsden, you'll recognize a copy-cat job but you'll probably be very happy with this book!

This memoir is disappointing in two ways: first, it doesn't tell the reader much about what a courier did, and second, it doesn't give much information about how the author felt about events. It has the disjointed quality of many Civil War memoirs. Gill, who started out in the First Maryland Infantry, then transferred to the cavalry and became a courier, gives a decent description of First Manassas and of various cavalry fights. He was involved in the Valley Campaigns of '62 and '64, among other important actions. Aside from some vivid moments, though, his account doesn't give the reader much idea of what his experiences were like. I wouldn't really recommend seeking this one out.

Taken as a historical account of Hewitt's confinement with the Nootka, the book is rich in anthropological data. Under obvious duress Hewitt nonetheless maintains a British calm to his plight and his detailed descriptions shed light on an enigmatic people. But what I found more interesting was Hewitt's personal transformation as a result of his separation from the civilized(?) world. I doubt Hewitt admitted it even to himself, and I leave it to the reader to determine, but in the later years of his life, which culture did John Hewitt feel his spirit was at it's happiest?