Desperation can be the source of wisdom. I've known for a year that this fall I'll be teaching restoration and 18th century drama. Worse, I volunteered to do so. Worse yet, as of yesterday I had only 7 weeks left in which to pick a text of plays. And absolutely worst of all, while trying to look up restoration and 18th century texts on the Web, I found my own course staring me in the face: "English 232, Smith College, Gillian Kendall". Yikes! It was definitely time to find a text.

Nettleton saved me. I had been about to order a completely new edition of the plays (sample copy graciously sent to me by the publisher), albeit the edition was in many ways, well, let's say "not quite right for the course". Then I went to the library. Despite the recommendation of a friend -- a renowned 18th century expert -- I had been suspicious of Nettleton. The copyright on the edition I looked at was 17 years before I was born (sorry about the ageism, Mr. Nettleton). But the volume has everything. Lovely grandiose heroic drama (but not too much of it); Dryden's adaptation of Shakespeare's *Antony and Cleopatra*; five classic comedies of manners (the backbone of restoration drama), and a pleasant smorgasbord of the best of the 18th century.

I have a text. My students have a text. Life is good.

This beautifully presented hardback book, contains refined images of sculptures in substancial materials that will last a life. I suggest everyone should purchase this book as a tribute to Henry's life and the skill he displayed.

Absolutely amazing!
Chihuly is incredible.
Not much in the way of descriptions, just a brief introduction to each series (Macchia's, Persians, etc.), which I found just enough. What I'm interested in are the actual pieces, and there are plenty of exceptional pictures.
Again, amazing. Truly inspiriational for the novice glass blower and an absolute delight for everyone else!

This photographic atlas is simple to read, yet detailed enough to provide a good geographic overview of the entire timeline in the Bible. Text is well-written, and maps are clear and comprehensive. It is great for children, but also provides a two-page historical summary and map for each event that is a perfect overview for adults and teachers as well. This would be a valuable reference resource for any church library

Browsing in a bookstore, I read a blurb of this book that told every secret twist of its plot. I was enraged, but read 'Cousin Henry' anyway. It was superb, and illustrates perfectly Trollope's own philosophy, given in 'Barchester Towers,' that a good book will not suffer even from the reader knowing what happens. 'Cousin Henry' has other, and considerable, merits, than suspensefulness--although it is suspenseful. It has been called the most psychologically probing of Trollope's works; indeed, Trollope himself thought it to be so, and was very proud of it. The plot, in brief, and without giving anything away, is this: Cousin Henry is the heir of the Squire of Llanfeare--according to the will everyone knows about. But Henry knows of another, later, will, that disinherits him. Most of the book concerns Henry's agonizing over whether or not to make this will public. There is also another plot thread, concerning the Squire's daughter, Isabel, who can only marry if her husband is willing to take her last name (shades of 'Cecilia'). I'll say it again: one of Trollope's best.

I enjoyed reading the book tremendously. Brian's humour is in the great English tradition of geniuses like Ben Elton, Tom Sharpe and John Cleese. Not to mention Benny Hill. Oh, no sorry, I mean: don't mention Benny Hill. As to the ending, a touch of the surreal. Really, could it be, would it work? Could a real Englishman do what Henry did?

A must read for anyone who wants to enter the collective psyche of those two great peoples, the English and the ummm.... ummm... for anyone who wants to enter the psyche of those two strange peoples, the English and the Dutch.

There are several published books of letters and diaries written by American Civil War (ACW) soldiers --from both sides of the conflict.

Enriching our understanding of the human heart in impossible circumstances is "Dear Sarah: Letters Home from a Soldier of the Iron Brigade," edited with loving care by the soldier's descendant Coralou Peel Lassen.

In my opinion it goes without saying that this recent contribution is refreshing, of great value to not only the modern reader but to posterity, too, to those who want to know more about the men --and women; the real human beings, who lived through and endured the American Civil War. This volume also illuminates the nature of not only the American Civil War but all war.

The Iron Brigade Soldier who wrote to Sarah was a young Union soldier named John Henry Pardington. The intense personal nature of his letters, what he writes about and how, is more than touching. The letters left by John Pardington offer a glimpse into the mind and soul of a man in the midst of a terrible situation and how he copes with it, how it defines him, shapes him, and how he continues to triumph over adversity.

After reading several pages I already felt like I was becoming familiar with the people "back home" that this soldier wrote about 140 years ago. I began to feel the pain of his separation from his wife and daughter, the pain of every aching joint and privation he endured. The more I opened up to John Pardington and the realities of his life at war, the more psychologically invested I became --and the more I read. Knowing the inevitable outcome made some letters particularly poignant. And painful. Often, I found the book emotionally overwhelming and put it down, reflecting. Sometimes I re-read passages with a fresh insight --from John's point of view. It isn't too much to say the book is, at turns and by its nature, not only a body blow but also eye-opening. Reading firsthand accounts of how soldiers of the Iron Brigade's 24th Michigan Infantry lived and died day by day in 1862-63 can leave one feeling "beat" inside, symptomatic of the tremendous impact the reality of John Pardington's life.

I think Ms. Lassen has really done an excellent job editing John's letters. One would think any student of history (or humanity) would want to read this book because John's words are universal. He was a Union soldier of the American Civil War, but his triumphs and failures, needs and wants, yearnings and hopes, etc., are an insight into the psyche of men away at war of all times. Her triumph is bringing John's words to the modern reader and to posterity. If one wanted to know how a soldier might be feeling or what he/she might be thinking, from Marathon to the Persian Gulf, one can find the essence of the human spirit, a soldier's dilemma, distilled and evolving in the letters of John Pardington.

John Pardington's human face on a large historical event; his evident love and longing; his deeply human and often tender observations made me again wonder why there must be conflict, wars that kill far too many John Pardingtons and leave the world a poorer place. Is there such a thing as a tragic triumph? If so, John Pardington's triumph in expressing himself, in his very being, is all the more tragic because of his death at Gettysburg. He probably never imagined his words would one-day reach out across the years to so many people. He would probably be surprised. Rather than flustered or embarrassed to have his innermost thoughts laid bare, I like to think he would ultimately see how his own life matters today, and always.

Ms. Lassen has helped John Pardington speak after all these years and still we hear him. And will hear him.

"DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT is a first-rate book about the men and women who reported the gallantry, the raw courage and the honor of America's wars. Nathaniel Lande is both a teacher and a scholar in his vivid account of these correspondents, who became opinion makers helping shape an emerging nation." William Friday: President Emeritus

A magnificent, yet humble display of drawings and designs for an absolute architecture. Joseph Henry Wythe has been overlooked and undervalued as one of our greatest living architects. A student and proponent of Bruce Goff's philosophy on design....Wythe has created a body of work that frankly inspires.

The books doesn't have much text, just enough to cue you in to what his design methodology might be. Instead the book is filled with plans, elevations, and perspectives which clearly depict a man of great genius. Certainly of the keenest architects I have ever stumbled on.

I bought my copy out of pure luck...I'm a fan of Mr. Goff and read someplace this books' connection to a indigenous american architecture, Luckily for me I took the chance, and wouldn't hestitate to highly recommend this book to you.

If you like organic architecture, Bruce Goff, Frank Lloyd Wright, alternative architecture, architectures connection to music or drawings......then you should buy this book it's a real crowd pleaser.

Unfortunately, the author knows more than your average expert. When you correct someone and tell them it is a cramped joint not a dovetailed joint down the side of that pot, it's rough when he can site books considered tops in the field stating the contrary. Still the items shown are unique, the content informative and I am glad to have this book in my collection.