Author of the book, Michael A. Mullett, is a senior lecturer in history at the University of Lancaster. Book is written to give a general overview of the religious, political, and cultural history of the time of Catholic Reformation that took place in early modern Europe (16th century). While acknowledging that transformation of Catholicism at this period was to a great extent a response to the Protestant Reformation, he emphasizes an enduring tradition of reformism in the Catholic Church. The title of the book is "Catholic Reformation" instead of traditional "Counter-Reformation" to stresses the stimulative, accelerating effect of Protestant movement on Catholic reform, not the causative effect. First Mullett considers continuities of Catholic reform in a series of late-medieval councils, in papacy, episcopacy, and religious orders. Then he examines the council of Trent, establishment of new religious orders, implementation of reforms in dioceses. In the second part he is showing how huge impact in various countries the Catholic renewal had on the lives of ordinary people, their culture, arts, attitudes, and relationships. Book has notes rich with bibliographical information, index of names of persons, places, and works. The book is suitable for a general educated reader. It is pretty readable. Some knowledge of Church history is required. Not a significant source on missions and on Catholic reform in Eastern Europe, including Poland. Reading it illuminates the processes in the modern Europe and in the life of the Church today. Do not get stuck in the beginning chapters! Chapters on popular culture are interesting and easier to read too!

Author of the book, Michael A. Mullett, is a senior lecturer in history at the University of Lancaster. Book is written to give a general overview of the religious, political, and cultural history of the time of Catholic Reformation that took place in early modern Europe (16th century). While acknowledging that transformation of Catholicism at this period was to a great extent a response to the Protestant Reformation, he emphasizes an enduring tradition of reformism in the Catholic Church. This point is reflected in the title of the book as well - "Catholic Reformation" instead of traditional "Counter-Reformation". The title he is using stresses the stimulative, accelerating effect of Protestant movement on Catholic reform, not the causative effect. First Mullett considers continuities of Catholic reform in a series of late-medieval councils, in papacy, epicopacy, and religious orders. Then he examines the council of Trent, establishment of new religious orders, implementation of reforms in dioceses. In the second part he is showing how huge impact in various countries the Catholic renewal had on the lives of ordinary people, their culture, arts, attitudes, and relationships. Book has notes rich with bibliographical information, index with names of persons, places, and works mentioned. The book is suitable for a general educated reader. It is pretty readable. Some knowledge of Church history is required. Not a significant source on missions and on Catholic reform in Eastern Europe, including Poland. Represents up to date modern scholarship. While reading this book I was surprised how well it enlightens the processes in the modern Europe and the life of the Church today. Do not get stuck in the beginning chapters! Chapters on popular culture are interesting and easier to read too.

An interesting analysis of women in Managua during the Sandinista era takes up most of the book. Lancaster does much to explain how the combination of US aggression and Sandinista ineptitude wearied Nicaraguans and standed many women.

The book is padded with two academic articles. These not only clash in style with the rest of the book, but are based almost entirely on conjecture rather than ethnography. One is on race, the other on homosexuality. Astonishingly, Lancaster who eventually admits (that is the most accurate verb for how HE presents it) he is gay, did not study males who have sex with males in Nicaragua. Joseph Carrier, Don Kulick, Annick Prieur, and others have done ethnographic work with males who have sex with males, while Lancaster just recycles dubious majority culture conceptions of shame and honor.The data on racial conceptions are also very thin.

In sum, good on women and how the revolution was lived in a Managua barrio, but the last part of the book is marred by stereotyped fantases about race and homosexuality.

When people want to know what everyday life in Nicaragua was like during what Eduardo Galeano has called "the time of beautiful madness," they invariably turn to Lancaster's book. Life is Hard gives an up-close, personal, and often poignant accounting of the experiences of three working-class families during the Sandinista period. But this accessible, engaging book is also more than a classic ethnography. The latter chapters (whose theoretical arguments ineluctably flow from the more descriptive chapters) provide a highly readable short course on much of what is most exciting in twentieth century cultural theory: semiotics, deconstruction, neomarxism, and the origins of queer theory.

Over the course of the book, the author takes the reader through various vignettes, life stories, and analyses. At the same time, Lancaster reveals different facets of himself, in context-appropriate passages: socialist, Southern working-class origins, white, gay... The result is an implicit argument about how complex, compound, and contingent identities are. The result is also that alert readers get a very good sense of how the author's experiences shaped his research questions- and how they affected his interactions with Nicaraguan informants spanning a broad social gamut: single mothers, soldiers, adolescent boys and girls, "macho" men, and a number of gay men (clearly quoted, sometimes at length, in the chapter on same-sex relations).

Lancaster's overarching analysis is complex. In a feminist vein, he argues that the Sandinista revolution failed, in part, because its leadership failed to undertake an effective renovation of gender relations and family life. In a gay studies vein, the author shows how the everyday stigmatization of male same-sex relations regulates and supports conceptions of "appropriate" manhood (nobody wants to be called a "queer"!)-- and how, in no small part, it was this quotidian homophobia that undermined Sandinista efforts at changing family life.

The nuanced picture Lancaster draws of family life in a culture of machismo, and the innovative analysis he develops of how same-sex relations function in that culture, have been corroborated by a host of scholars working in different fields: Tomas Almaguer, Ana Alonso, Annick Prieuer, Don Kulick, David Whisnant, Richard Parker, and many others. With good reason, this important book received both the Society for the Study of Social Problems' C. Wright Mills Award, and the Society of Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists' Ruth Benedict Prize. I should add: this book has been used in several undergraduate and graduate courses I've taken. Invariably, students vote this the best-realized ethnography in the class.

Lancaster has put together a lovely book on garden trouble-spot solutions, divided into easily referenced segments on each particular problem addressed. The symbols for dimensions and requirements are easy to read, the descriptions richly appealing, and each description is accompanied by an attractive color plate. Insofar as that goes, I found this to be a very enjoyable book for browsing.

Possibly I have gotten a bit overly picky by looking at too many garden books, but there were several areas that could be improved. First, the text and pictures tend to neglect the overall plant in favor of flowers. He does treat with texture extensively elsewhere, but it is not the most user-friendly arrangement, and the plant selection does not overlap at all points. Plants will not be flowering all year, so as a gardener I will generally want some sense of what the plant looks like overall. Any lapses in that area tend to irk me. Second, although he covers a large number of plants, that figure is greatly inflated by the fact that he is reviewing _varieties_ of the same plant as distinct solutions. There are definitely sections where variety _does_ matter, but surely not all! By not specifying, he forces us to guess. If any variety of a species will do, I want to know this. Finding, for instance, the "rosa" variety of lily-of-the-valley is a much more difficult proposition than going out and buying a lily-of-the-valley, any kind. He's also very patchy about mentioning important attributes of plants, like 'poisonous' and 'invasive.' Because he specifies it in some cases, there is a tendency to assume that he'll treat with it in every important instance. There are quite a few truly egregious omissions, however.

There are compensations in other areas, though. Many of the perennials lovingly described by Lancaster are less well known. He shines light into those dubious corners of the perennial world where suspiciously unfamiliar perennials languish, forgotten and underutilized despite having wonderful attributes and beautiful flowers. Many of them are more 'natural' types than the overbred beauties we love to stick in our pedigree beds, but not so uncommon that they're impossible to find. Many of these are plants that I've seen here and there, but haven't known enough about in the past to want to try. I also very much liked the section on flowers which die back attractively for dried winter interest. And, for those people living in very cold and very warm climates, he does a respectable job of suggesting plants for a range of zones. (Zones 3 three through 11 showed up in most sections.)

Probably the most positive thing I have to say about this book, however, is that it got me thinking about my garden in a new light. His descriptions excited me. They gave me new ideas for old problems. It made me think about areas that I have neglected out of frustration & a longstanding sense of defeat. In total, I would have to recommend this book. It's attractive enough to make a good coffee-table or gift book, but also good for inspiration. It's not as thorough as I would like about the overall plant, & it doesn't touch on care & maintenance at all, but I would recommend it as a user-friendly starting point for people who want to investigate natural solutions for problematic garden conditions. A second, more generalized perennial book would be handy as a cross reference to this one.

This book is wonderful for finding the perfect plants for the exact environmental conditions for your garden. I needed perennials for a shady and dry garden. You can go right to a chapter on the perfect perennials for these conditions. Great reference book!

Chronicles the professional life and accomplishments of one of Hollywood's most loved stars, Burt Lancaster. I was disappointed with the lack of insight into the personal life of Lancaster, but as a biography of his professional life it was excellent. It was fascinating to read of the diametrically opposite views that co-stars and directors had for him, ranging from ardour to hate. This is an unbiased portrait of a great star

We used it at my school for the beginner course and it covers all the basics. I've looked at a few other books and it's not my favorite but a decent one for sure. 4 stars.

This book accurately traces the development and origin of the American Bungalow. Lancaster's essay is informative and thorough. This is a good source book for those wishing to discover and know the evolution of this building type. This is not a 'style book' or a good book for decorating ideas, as the photos are not very clear and there are limited interior shots

This book is typical Penrose, so well written that it is effortless reading. You are left with the feeling that you have just come from a meeting with Chadwick.

Penrose knew everyone in British aviation in this period and it shows. Well worth reading.

David Lancaster & Christie's have done a good job together! Even though this book is in a fairly small format, the pictures are clear, the information is concise, and it is certainly a good book for the person with a beginning interest in Art Nouveau Jewelry.

The chapters are well defined, and the glossary is quite descriptive. A great help to someone who does not have a clue of what the terms mean. The index too, is quite complete for such a small work.

Not the best book ever written on Art Nouveau Jewelry, but certainly a good one for the enthusiast's bookshelf!

This diary offers a very realistic view of the Civil War through a civilian's eyes who's house is taken over by forces. Anyone interested in the Civil War at all should read this wonderful book.

Great! A wonderful resource.