This book looks small but contains a lot. Whether you are a student or just an enthusiastic it is good idea to have a book that fits in to your pocket. Again do not underestimate that book just because of "pocket". It delightfully explains buildings and architecture from the ages point of view to the architectural styles, materials with a basic graphics and pictures. You don't have to spend any afford for technical terms since each of them point with the arrows at the pictures. You can often see famous buildings at the different countries. In short it's fun the browse yet it teaches either you are at the subway or in the class waiting for your teacher.

DK eyewitness books are some of the greatest non-fiction books around. The distinctive white background and high-quality photography gives this book an edge over any other nonfiction picture book. And -- these pictures are real! They're beautiful museum-quality photos of all things related to early humans, accompanied by informative captions and text.

Learn about early humans, their weapons, clothes, and food. SEE the objects common to everyday life in the ancient world. Get your kids hooked on history!

If you know someone (young or old) who is fascinated by anthropology and archaeology, then you must introduce them to this book!

Eulogy on King Philip is great! I know Lincoln Dexter personally, and anything he writes is worth reading! This book is fantastic, and I think you should read it!

DK eyewitness books are some of the greatest non-fiction books around. The distinctive white background and high-quality photography gives this book an edge over any other nonfiction picture book. And -- these pictures are real! They're beautiful photos of all things related to music, accompanied by informative captions and text.

Learn about instruments, parts of music, and everything related to music, all augmented by stunningly beautiful museum-quality photography.

If you know someone (young or old) who is fascinated by music, then you must introduce them to this book! It's a great lesson about music, and a beautiful book.

I've taken to reading history lately, but only those works written by those actually there. This is Mary's own personal diary, kept for her two years of captivity by Indians in 1675. This is one of my more cherished books.
Her village was attacked by Indians and all present killed or taken hostage. Her neighbor's murders were described.
*Mine is a 1930 edition signed by the owners of the only 1903 edition which it was reprinted from.
Read what life (and death) was really like with the Indians as neighbors. Not the "history rewritten" version we are being taught.

-The 5 stars are for it's value to me. It is not written by a great author, nor is it many hundreds of pages long. It is a straight forward diary.

This collection of essays provides a clear, thorough and very readable introduction to contemporary British politics. It explains why Labour (aka "New Labour") won the biggest majority in the British House of Commons since 1945, and offers some excellent insights into both the immediate future of the Conservative Party and the longterm development of British democracy.

On March 31, 1621, Philip III, third Habsburg ruler of Spain, met a premature death, reportedly clutching in panic at the same crucifix his father and grandfather had held on their deathbeds generations before. His son and heir, the sixteen-year-old Philip IV, succeeded to what is now known collectively as the Spanish Empire - a vast conglomeration of lands and people whose progressive decline as a political entity has long remained a basic assumption amongst twentieth century historians and yet whose cultural vitality has given its period the title of "The Golden Age of Spanish Art." The accession of Philip IV seemed to inaugurate a new era of reform after the previous regime's mindless inactivity and self-interested grandee domination. As the contemporary playwright Tirso de Molina remarked, "New architects acceded with the new king."

This premise serves as the central metaphor in A Palace for a King. Elliott, a historian, and Brown, an art historian, examine both the literal and political architecture of the reign, charting the complicated, often surprising interrelation between art and politics. The palace of the title is the Buen Retiro - an intended recreational center built for Philip IV with astonishing speed during the years 1630-33, left largely in neglect after the 1640's, and finally decimated by French and English troops during the Napoleonic wars. In reconstructing the circumstances surrounding its construction and initial occupation, Brown and Elliott attempt to furnish the reader with a "total" history of the Spanish Habsburg court during its penultimate representative's first twenty years of rule.

The scope of the book is immense. In a prose that is precise and elegant, if at times monotonous, it describes the political and economic issues of the day as well as the relationship between the continuously vacillating king and his powerful minister, the Count-Duke of Olivares, who until 1643 held the true control over Spanish government. It then goes on to analyze the palace of the Buen Retiro itself, exploring the process of palace-building and the symbolism of the palace as a repository of the values of the ruling class. Simultaneously, it looks at Spanish baroque painting, theater, and architecture and their inextricable connection to the court at Madrid, which, itself, was in so many ways like a giant theater. Elliott's inquiry and interpretation of the troubles besetting the institution that was then called the monarquía española and of the role played by Olivares makes for particularly rewarding reading.

The book appears to be extremely well-researched and provides an abundance of evidence from primary sources as varied as confidential memoranda, secret expense accounts and drawings of architectural plans; the endnotes alone constitute twenty of its almost three hundred pages. However, it is its very wealth of references and information that also lies at the core of its greatest weakness. Too often, the text becomes bogged down in statistics, where apparently meaningless figures about who paid whom and whose plot of land was where replace any real insights. The authors seem to become trapped in unneeded details, losing track of the larger picture that they originally intended to convey. As a result, in certain chapters, more attention than necessary is devoted to the actual logistics of building the palace and, consequently, not enough to the palace's political, social, and economic implications.

Still, aside from these slightly irritating flaws, Brown and Elliott's work remains a highly absorptive and very informative look at subject that has thus far remained sadly underrepresented amongst the scientific community. The sheer extent of the information to be found makes this book a valuable resource for anyone interested in the period, while the distressing lack of similar studies makes it absolutely essential for those at all curious about Spain's architectural history. It is, in my mind, a fascinating complement and worthy companion to R.A. Stradling's landmark Philip IV and the Government of Spain.

For anyone with an interest in Philip II of Spain or the convulsive times Europe was going through in his age, this is an absolute must. The author's mastery of the subject is obvious and his writing is never heavy or boring. The book is superb, simple, clear,discretly erudite. Mr. Williams writes to please and interest the reader, not to impress the world with his knowledge. His book should be compulsory reading for French historians, most of whom are pompous bores.

Vaughan's series of books on Valois Burgundy have long been a staple for anyone interested Burgundian history and culture. After a long stretch of being out of print, and very difficult to find, these new editions are sure to be welcomed by many historians. Added to Vaughan's work is a fantastic new introduction written for the 2002 edition by Malcolm Vale (another historian I would readily recommend).
While these works may be older, and more recent work has been done on Burgundy, Vaughan's scholarship is still first-rate. A must for the bookshelf of anyone interested in Valois Burgundy, or Northern Europe in the late 14th and 15th centuries.

Vaughan's series of books on Valois Burgundy have long been a staple for anyone interested Burgundian history and culture. After a long stretch of being out of print, and very difficult to find, these new editions are sure to be welcomed by many historians. Added to Vaughan's work is a fantastic new introduction written for the 2002 edition by Malcolm Vale (another historian I would readily recommend).
While these works may be older, and more recent work has been done on Burgundy, Vaughan's scholarship is still first-rate. A must for the bookshelf of anyone interested in Valois Burgundy, or Northern Europe in the late 14th and 15th centuries.