This book really digs into how Mussolini and other high ranking Italian officials viewed the strategic situation in the Med. Sea during the 30's. It also describes Italy's situation (both economically and militarily). As the 30's progressed, Italy's alliances and foriegn policy changed. It is interesting to see how this happened, and why. Author did a very fine and detailed job. Very highly researched material. A must for any navy buff interested in Med naval warfare in WWII!

The naval war in the Mediterranean is often overshadowed by the land war waged by the Italo-German forces in North Africa, and Hitler's relentless effort to conquer Russia. As a result, little attention has been given to exploring the dynamics which determined the dismal outcome for Italian naval forces in the Middle Sea and that of the Axis powers on the whole. In his book "The Italian Navy in World War II," James Sadkovich attempts to transform the negative perception attached to the performance of the Italian Navy by revealing the difficulties under which that service operated.

The "Italian Navy in World War II" represents a technical approach to understanding the RMI's inherent limitations in WW II. Sadkovich details the material and technological disadvantages faced by the Italian Navy; as well as Hitler's failure to see the RMI's surface fleet as nothing more than escort vessels for supply ships bound to North Africa. Well researched, and supported by myriad tables and statistics, his argument follows the chronology of naval battles in the Mediterranean and offers a provocative rendition.

Sadkovich explores Mussolini's lack of vision, Italy's weak industrial capabilities, the effect of losing the "battle for radar" and the devastating result of German neglect that manifested chiefly in the RMI's perpetual lack of fuel. Due attention is also given to the exceptional performance of the officers and crew of the RMI, as well as the success of Italy's smaller "insidious" craft.

Revisionist histories often suffer from a lack of substance and they frequently represent an opinion rather than an approach. Sadkovich's technical method, however, lends immense credibility to his thesis and thus constitutes a palatable revisionist history.

An excellent companion to Sadkovich's work can be found in that of Italian torpedo boat commander Marc Antonio Bragadin. Less conditional than Sadkovich's work, Bragadin's text is a primary source which offers personal ! insight and places a large share of the RMI's failure within the Italian armed forces itself.

Anyone who has read the Bible or romantic poetry knows that flowers are often used as symbols. What may not have occurred to you is that the person you receive flowers from or give flowers to may read a message into the selections in the arrangement. If you are like me, you will never again select flowers as gifts solely for their aesthetic qualities. The book's strength is an outstanding choice of paintings used to illustrate the flowers discussed as well as their symbolism. You will be pleased to find the references for these paintings in the book so you can explore the works separately from the book.

Ms. Heilmeyer is both a botanist and an art historian in Berlin, which makes her eminently qualified to explore this subject. Her review of the history of flower symbolism begins in ancient Egypt and moves forward in time through Greece, Rome, and Christian sources across Western Europe. Her key point is that "Throughout the ages flowers have played an important role in expressing feelings, or when joyful or sad news had to be delivered."

The book is organized so that you get one page of essay facing one page of art illustration. The essay page will often have some small botanical illustrations on it. In total, you will find 156 color illustrations, almost all of which are wonderful! I was especially impressed that Ms. Heilmeyer was able to find botanical photographs that so aptly captured the symbolic elements of the flowers. On the top right of the page with the essay, the symbolic meanings are summarized to make it easier to use the book as a reference when assembling a message through an arrangement.

I was struck that many flowers symbolize different things totally in the religious versus the lay context. The potential for mixed messages is strong in those cases.

Here are a few flowers and some of their symbolic meanings to give you a flavor of what you will learn in the book:

Columbine (Aquilegia) -- wisdom and strength, piety and fear; a symbol of salvation, the triumph of life over death; an aphrodisiac;

Thistle -- Scotland's national emblem; a symbol of hard work, suffering and Christ's deliverance; dispels melancholy;

Strawberry -- First fruit of the year; a symbol of purity and sensuality, fertility and abandance, humility and modesty;

Camellia -- A symbol of the transience of life;

Crocus -- Symbol of the Resurrection and heavenly bliss;

Stock -- Symbol of happy life and contented existence;

Lily -- Purity;

Lily of the Valley -- A symbol of the Virgin Mary;

Daisy -- The love flower;

Daffodil -- The promise of eternal life;

Carnation -- Bravery, love, and friendship; symbol of Mother's Day;

Peony -- An arden love of God;

Rose -- Love and joy; and

Pansy -- Sign of the Holy Trinity; symbolizes loyalty.

The obvious application of this book is to make up bouquets that are meaningfully beautiful. I hope you will use it that way to bring you closer to those you love.

After you have finished enjoying this book and making many wonderful arrangements that you would not have considered before, I suggest that you also think about other natural items that have symbolic meanings and employ them as well to expand your visual use of language.

HOLA SOMOS FAMILIA JAGUELLO DE PUNTA ARENAS CHILE QUEREMOS SABER TU DESCENDENCIA FAMILIAR CON NUESTRO PADRE Y ABUELO LADISLAO JAGUELLO VON PETRA FAVOR RESPONDER MUCHAS GRACIAS

Words have tremendous power, and reading the letters written from one person to another often helps us to know that person far more intimately than anythng else ever could.

During the summer of 1926, three extraordinary poets (two Russian and one German) began a correxpondence of the highest order. These three extraordinary people were Boris Pasternak, Marina Tsvetayeva and Ranier Maria Rilke. Rilke, who is revered as a god by both Pasternak and Tsvetayeva, is seen by them as the very essence of poetry, itself.

None of these three correspondents is having a good year: Pasternak is still living in Moscow, attempting to reconcile his life to the Bolshevik regime; Tsvetayeva has been exiled to France with her husband and children and is living in the direst financial straits, with each day presenting a new hurdle in the struggle to simply "get by;" Rilke's situation is perhaps the worst of all...he is dying of leukemia in Switzerland.

Pasternak and Tsvetayeva have already exchanged years of letters filled with the passion and romance of poetry, itself. Although Pasternak saw Rilke briefly in 1900, Tsvetayeva has never laid eyes on her idol. These three poets are, however, connected by a bond far stronger than the physical. They are kindred spirits, and each find repetitions and echoes of himself in the other.

Tsvetayeva quickly becomes the driving force of this trio. This is not surprising given her character. She's the most outrageous of the three, the boldest, the neediest, the one most likely to bare her inner soul to its very depths. Tsvetayeva's exuberance, however, eventually has disatrous effects.

Although Pasternak and Tsvetayeva consider Rilke their superior by far, these are not the letters of acolyte to mentor, but an exchange of thoughts and ideas among equals. If you've ever read the sappy, sentimental "Letters to a Young Poet," you'll find a very different Rilke in this book. Gone is the grandiose, condescending Rilke. In his place we find an enthusiastic Rilke, one filled with an almost overwhelming "joie de vivre," despite his sad circumstances.

As Susan Sontag says in her preface, these letters are definitely love letters of the highest order. The poets seek to possess and consume one another as only lovers can. But even these lovers haven't suspected that one of their trio is fatally ill. Pasternak and Tsvetayeva are both shocked and devastated when Rilke dies.

Love, many people will argue, is best expressed when the people involved are able to spend time together. There is, however, something to be said for separateness, for there is much that can only come to the surface when the lover is separated from the beloved.

These letters can teach us much about Rilke, Pasternak and Tsvetayeva. They can also teach us much about the very depths of the soul...both its anguish and those sublime, angelic heights...areas not often explored by anyone, anywhere, at any time.

Could the millennium be any hotter? From church pulpits to Hollywood to Capitol Hill, we seem to be positively hooked on the end of the world, the latest version of which is supposed to occur when the calendric odometer clicks over at the end of the year.

With a steady, stylish hand, Marina Benjamin takes us on a journey through the surprisingly deep history of millennial thinking, and she does much to put the current millennial frenzy in perspective. Benjamin weaves a unique yet logical tapestry of humanity's obsession with its own end, drawing on subjects as seemingly diverse as Mormonism and cryonics. This is easily one of the most readable books on the millennium: Benjamin's writing is beautifully-wrought and refreshingly clear, and she neither wallows in academic analysis nor dismisses the book's complex subject with popular cliches or populist conclusions.

We may not be able to stop the millennium from coming (it is, after all, a function of the calendar), but "Living at the End of the World" will certainly help us to a greater appreciation of what the fuss is about - and what it says about our own humanity.

Marina Warner's multiple award winning "Lost Father" is nothing less than a minor classic. Beautifully romantic and lyrical in style and content, it recalls one of those magical realism tinged three generation family sagas so typical of Latin novelists of today. The narrator is Anna, daughter of Fantina and grandaughter of second generation patriach Davide Pittagora of Rupe, Italy. Once married to but now divorced from an Englishman, Anna lives in London but undertakes a personal project of tracing and writing her family's history by interviewing her own mother. Piecing together bits and pieces fitfully remembered and sometimes imagined by Fantina (Davide's youngest daughter), Anna's story takes us from the Pittagoras' hometown of Rupe, then briefly to their new immigrant home in New York before their final return to Italy in the 1920s. It is a colourful story, filled with memories of love, friendship, loyalty and honour but also treachery and deceipt which tainted the unrequited love affair of Rosa and her brother Davide's best friend Tommasso, and spawned the mythological duel fought between Davide and Tommasso in defence of Rosa's honour. All this is told in grandiosely sweeping style against a backdrop of political upheaval as Italy enters its Fascist period under an unnamed "Leader" with ambitions to dominate the world. The flow of words from Warner's pen is unmatched in the incandescent beauty it produces. "Lost Father" positively shimmers. Jumbled up, its poetic and dreamy sequences resemble fragments snatched from the recesses of fading memory. It is a tour de force and should not be allowed to languish on old bookshelves. Go buy yourself a copy and read it.

What a shame this author has only 2 books on the market. The book not only provides real and usefull information but she also sets it in a most pleasing way. Her use of all the pictures inside the book only enhance her eloquent insight into the magical arts. This is a very uncomplicated read which teaches the fundamentals in herb, flower and stone magic and combines it with the Elements of nature, Earth,Air,Fire and Water. The spells in the back of the book are easy to read, easy to follow, and THEY WORK

When I was a little girl, this was my favorite book. Now that I have a child, I would love to read it to him, but since it is out of print, and seemingly very rare, I don't think I'll ever have the chance. It's a wonderful story, that I still see through a five year olds eyes.

This cookbook is the best collection recipes, especially seafood and desserts, that has been published. I have tried hundreds of cookbooks, and this is the best one for recipes to serve for a special meal, entertaining, etc. The book also includes full color photos of the dishes and is a beautiful gift for anyone who really enjoys cooking and entertaining.