excellent up-to-date work on the Picts and the Scots of ancient Scotland. For many centuries the Picts have remained shrouded in myth and legend for the only written records - their Pictish stones - have been undecipherable. In 1958 with the discovering of the St. Ninan's Isle Treasure, a new focus has been applied to interpreting what we know. Written record mostly comes from people viewing the Pictish Nation from the outside, which often leads to misunderstanding, if not exaggeration...possibly slander.
In this highly readable account, they present the latest archaeological discovers, and discusses how these two difference races co-existed and ultimately merged of a nation of one through the slaughter of the Pict royal houses. Again, that is the only slight aggravation (as with nearly all books on this Picts) is the ignoring the importance of this and how it was the foundation of the Scottish Highlands.

Otherwise, an excellent work full of photographs, with recommended reading, and is a must for anyone wanting to more about the two races that formed the spine of Scotland.

As a professional teddy bear artist who has sold internationally, I must say I owe a lot of my education to this book. While I have read just about every teddy bear making book out there (once you get started, it's addictive), I never found another quite as good as Teddy Bear Art. In this guide, Jenniger Laing addresses the true spirit of making artist teddy bears -- designing your own patterns. You can never be a complete artist until you can do this, and Laing will give you a good push in the right direction. She discusses each aspect of each pattern piece individually, shows you how to make changes in your finished product by altering the pattern, and finally tells you how to put all the pieces you've created together to make sure they'll fit -- before cutting your valuable mohair. She also addresses series of bears and ideas of names, collections of materials, and more. Again, this is the best book I have read on creating your own patterns from scratch and truly becoming a teddy bear artist.

However, if you are simply seeking already made patterns for bears to make, this is not the book for you. There are only three patterns in this book and they are not the primary goal of this book.

For those who want to learn how a teddy bear is really created, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Jennifer's book is packed with a lot of useful information for beginners and experienced bear makers. This book contains information to help those who want to design their own bear patterns, as well as plenty of information for people learning how to make their first bear. A must for all bear artists.

This book covers absolutely everything, from designing your own bear to putting it together and dressing it. It has patterns for a few bears and its the book you must have if you want to become a bearmaker without spending a lot of money on workshops

...because we don't know much about them. The authors are ambitious, trying to characterize various amorphous peoples and histories. The chapters and text headings seem to suggest that the reader will find some insight into the cultures and practices of various barbarian groups. However, much of the text consists of listings of grave goods, and the pictures are the corroded armor and shields you've seen in other books before. Scanty information is no fault of the authors, but they did offer chapter titles such as "warfare and society" without having much to fill those chapters except for speculation and in some cases accounts of contemporaries. Which brings me to my recommendations, which is to read "Chronicles of the Barbarians" if you are curious about the dark ages. These are verbatum translated accounts by contemporaries writers, mostly romans. Also you might try "the anglo-saxon chronicle" or Beowulf.

Were the early Huns, Goths, and Saxons really violent animals, or were they real human beings struggling for freedom? Jennifer Laing's Warriors Of The Dark Ages places a new light on early warriors often depicted as mindless brutes by modern history texts, considering politics, culture, and disputes of the times. Essential for understanding the motivations of these early famous warriors.