Fairie-ality without doubt shows the genius of David Ellwand. David's beautiful designs complimented so well by the wonderful illustrations of David Downton and the writing of Eugenie Bird. It is without doubt the most beautiful book I have ever seen. Not only are David's garments awe-inspiring but his landscape photography is out of this world. Today more than ever we need awe and wonder in our lives and this book gives just that and so much more. A magnificently produced book using the finest paper and technology available today. The book is suitable for young and old alike and will give untold pleasure to many this Christmas and to future generations. This book will become a classic the world over. Congratulations to David Ellwand and all concerned with this book.

One of the great pleasures of this book (there are many) is the copy. It is incredibly witty and filled with literary and social references that leave the reader in stitches. The "Rose Pierott" is just one example of Bird really hitting her mark!

Ellwand's incredible creations set my imagination on fire. Looking through his designs reminded me of playing in the woods as a little boy, building stone and bark homes for gnomes. He takes my youthful imagination to a whole new level, though.

This is THE catalogue for the well-dressed fairie and a must-own for artist and dreamer alike!

If you want to know who's burning up the runways with the season's haute couture, look no further! Enjoy this detailed catalogue of The Fashion Collection known as Fairie-ality from the innovative and expressive House of Ellwand, designer to the Folk, par excellence.
I would have to say this is the most beautiful book I've seen in years and that it is one of my favorite books in my entire library, if not THE favorite. It is an elegant, beautifully crafted coffee table volume in a gold hard cover edition. It is delightfully witty and captures the fashion world's nuances and idosyncracies in good fun and high style. Whimsical water color sketches of a type from fashion's heyday in Vogue Magazine introduce the various themes and creations while full dazzling color photographs present exquisitely detailed and meticulously handcrafted high fashion of the fairy realm. The commentary is breezy and bright and oh, so, in the know! Charming inserts such as a mix and match catalogue, invitations, and advance notices are sprinkled throughout the book. The artistry is unparalleled and uses the finest of natural materials, including feathers, seeds, and myriad examples of the exotic floral and other botanical resources joined with a master's eye for flair, movement, and color. Enjoy eclectic designs filled with flash from shoes to hats and everything in between. Not only are you invited into this exclusive world of fashion but you are made privy to the parties, the cotillions, moonbeam swims, firefly hunting, midnight dancing and all of the biggest names in fairy society. Fashions for ladies and gentlemen grace these pages as do fashions for the entire wedding party from the flower girl to the bride. As the wedding fashions featured in this collection indicate, it is a very chic bride who will walk the bridal runway on the arm of her proud father this season. There is so much detail here and so much witty humor that this book can be enjoyed for hours upon hours and over and over again with each foray seeming to present new delicacies of fashion delight. The descriptions for the designs are each more breath-taking than the one before as evidenced by this commentary for the astonishing Maid of Honor dress: "Silky crow feathers and a single green parrot feather gather in layers, creating the touch-me velveteen look of the skirt - spellbinding. The bodice and straps are lily leaves; the overbodice, a whispering tracery of skeleton leaf. Sumptuous."
This book is a true work of art from begining to end and I can't think of a single person that wouldn't at least admire it's detail and perfection of execution. Fairie friends will, of course, be enraptured by it. Any creative, artistic, whimsical, young at heart, fashion conscious, costume or dress-up aficionado will treasure it. Get yourself a copy and give several away. It's the pick of the crop. Tre chic!

EVERYONE MUST READ THIS BOOK!!! THERE IS NO OTHER BOOK LIKE GOLD BUCKLE DREAMS!!! YOU MUST ALSO GET ALL OF HIS CD'S BECAUSE HIS MUSIC IS LIKE NO OTHER SINGER'S. I LOVE LEDOUX!!!!!!!!

I am not a fan of bull riders in the least. But when given this book, I couldn't put it down! This is a must read for anyone and everyone. Not only is it a great depiction of the life of Chis LeDoux, but shows all readers what a passion for something can help you accomplish. Every moment in this book, made me want to get off my butt and do something with my life too. I credit Chris LeDoux for all his efforts and the author for a wonderful book put into print. There is no way my words can come close to letting you know the emotion and triumph involved in this book. All I can really say is READ IT!

This was the best book i have ever read i couldn't put it down! If you a re a true Chris Ledoux fan then you must read Gold Buckle Dreams!!

As a mother, I really like it when a book has something meaningful to say. Some books are frivolous; they teach no lessons because they're just for the fun of it. The book "If You Were My Bunny" is both fun and meaningful. This book is about the relationship between mothers and their children, and in this slim story, five animal moms tell their respective animal babies how very precious they are. My two-year-old daughter loves this book so much, she requests it every night. The songs which accompany the text (lyrics are sung to the tune of familiar lullabies) have become her bedtime songs. The lyrics are so sweet, I'm no longer allowed to sing "the old words". The sentiment of this book is wonderful, and the songs are catchy. I would recommend, however, looking at the last page before your first read - this way, you'll know what tune to use for each of the five animal's songs. The illustrations are superbly done, and just right for the 2-4 age group. It's so important to read to your kids, and when they love a book as much as my daughter loves this one, you can look forward to a special time together.

I am so glad we bought this book! It's been in our bedtime story rotation for about a year now and our two 4 year olds still request it over and over. The structure of the book presents an opportunity for the parent to both read sweet, sleepy stories and sing soft lullabies. My children now sing them with me and are ready for bed when we're done. The illustrations are beautiful.

i am buying it for the second time , we lost the 1st one and our son , who is 2 and a half, asks to read it all the time.He even sings some of the songs in it to himself at bed time.

The book I just read is the best! When I read a Pooh book it was awesome! Really, first I though it would be a babyish book,but it's not. My favourite chracter is Pooh. He is always thinking of hunny, and funny po ems and songs. I also like the words that A.A.MILNE invented I though those words came from another planet. I hope to read all of A.A.milne's books soon. If you don't read it you don't know what you are missing. I have only read The House At Pooh Corner and, I am now reading Winnie-The-Pooh.

Attention: all cranky four year olds, five year olds, eight year olds and thirty-five year olds on long car trips.

Attention all parents burned out by reading The Pokey Little Puppy over and over again.

Attention cynics whose primary memory of Winnie-the-Pooh is the Dorothy Parker quote (from her "Constant Reader" column in the New Yorker) "Tontant Weader frowed-up".

This book is a treasure for all who hear it. There is gentleness and not a little wit in these stories. Contray to the book description above, the book is read by the late Charles Kuralt. His inflection adds much to the story. One senses that he is amused; but he is never condesending. Now I will always prefer Kuralt's version to my own bedtime efforts with my children. Charles Kuralt must have loved Winne-the-Pooh mightily. How lucky we are that he left this delightful gift behind.

This book is a really good and funny book. My fav is Piglet because he is so shy and just goes along with what ever Pooh does. I think I read this book because Pooh and all his friends are coming back in now, to prove I love pooh I have a Pooh and FriendsPencil case.

Conan O'Brien is one of the funniest men alieve and this book proves that!This book evolved from a sketch on the show(one of the best, other than Pimpbot 5000). He and the Late Night Writers are amazing,they come up with so many diffrent sketches that its not even funny. If you have ever wondered what celebrities babies looked like this book is a must have.
HAIL CONAN!

heart,
ivy the barbarian

The book is funny with hilarious pictures and commentaary. In my opinion Conan O'Brien is the best show between the hours of 12:30 AM and 1:30 AM on nbc.

This is definately a must have for any Conan O'Brien fan. Late Night with Conan O'Brien is simply the best show ever. Conan O'Brien is the funniest man alive and he along with the Late Night writers have only shown that with this hillarious book. I can't wait until In the Year 2000 comes out. Conan O'Brien is truly a genius when it comes to truly hysterical, unique and orginal comedy, I give this book Five Stars. Read over and over again.

This book is a "must-read" for any person. Forget about the 9-12 age category. It is easily one of the most moving books I have ever read, and you can't possibly put it down until you reach the harrowing end. I felt so sad for Donn Fendler, and could share every single emotion he must have felt. When reading the story, you couldn't help but want to comfort him in his lonely world. It is a true lesson in keeping Faith and believing in God. May God bless you, Donn Fendler. You will always be one of the world's greatest heros of all time.

When a boy loses his dad and his brothers on a hike, he mostly shows what not to do when you're lost on a mountain on Maine. This is a true story that took place on a real mountain. The mountain he gets lost on is snowy, cloudy, and has a lot of wildlife. He has to find food, water, and shelter all on his own.

My grandma recommended this book to me and I recommend this book to you. This book is exciting and tells you what it's like being stuck on a mountain in Maine. This book also tells how the boy turned out after he survives.

Although I grew up in Maine and had heard of this book as a child, somehow I managed to not read it until recently. I literally could not put it down until I finished it. Donn's survival in the face of incredible hardship is a story that is extremely harrowing and intense. It shows how the body and mind react when pushed to the very edge of death. I defy anyone not to be moved by the ending!

Hume is rightfully an important philosopher. Philosophy had been mainly a metaphysical/rationalistic field until Hume (in addition to Locke and Berkeley) came along. His basic philosophy is this: induction is the only principle by which we can have knowledge, but induction is fundamentally flawed. Thus, there is no belief of which we can be totally certain of. Hume even questions whether we can be as sure as Descartes was when he asserted "Cogito Ergo Sum". To Hume, one could consistently maintain that the "self" was just a bunch of thoughts in succession. Hume believed that there were no strict identities in nature, but only resemblences which the mind tends to treat as identities. He also treated ideas as imperfect images of our experiences.

The problem I have with Hume is on resemblence and his treatment of ideas. I agree with him that there are resemblences in nature which humans tend to treat as the same--but then what is this resemblence based on? The nominalists have to account for why resemblence is there in the first place. Perceived identity must have its basis in reality somehow. And his treatment of ideas is just plain wrong--our ideas are not just images, although they can include images.

I obviously can't give a complete criticism of Hume's philosophy in a review, so if anyone wants to discuss this with me just email me. But I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in philosophy--any complete philosophical theory must challenge or incorporate Hume if it is to succeed.

This is a superb edition of one of the basic works in Western philosophy. Designed to be used by both casual and serious students of philosophy, this edition contains the text of Hume's Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (EHU) and a series of other sections that provide background and further directions for studying Hume. Included are an excellent precis of the EHU, a first rate annotated bibliography concerning works by and about Hume, considerable background material on Hume, and excellent notes to the text of the EHU.

The EHU is a concise and charmingly written presentation of Hume's views of the nature and particularly the limitations of human knowledge. The EHU presents Humes basic concepts of human thought, human pattern recognition, and then proceeds to Hume's revolutionary analysis of the problem of induction. Hume exposes our limitations in establishing certain cause and effect relations. Hume's analysis of this problem and its corollaries leads to ultimate skepticism about our ability to know the external world with certainty and undermines much of the basis for religion. Hume presents his ideas in an attractive style that owes much to famous 18th century essayists like Addison.

A fundamental work and very readable work.

This is a good edition of the first but fundamental book published by Hume in 3 volumes (1 and 2 in 1739; 3 in 1740) dedicated to the methodical study of knowledge, passions and moral, through experience and practical observation. It is with Hume that empiricism (following Locke and Berkeley) reaches its complete expression as a "modern" classical system, against previous dogmatic visions of philosophy. According to Kant, Hume awoke him from the dogmatic dream......
With Hume, english illustration comes to a definitive expression. Through his opus, empiricism is systematized and acquires a new dimension that expands its influence on all fields of philosophy. Previous conceptions about the theory of knowledge, ethics, politics, esthetics, and the philosophy of religion, all are transformed or renovated by Hume. In spite of his critics, Hume's system dwelled with different topics of modern interest: positivism, psychology, nominalism, critical skepticism, determinism, agnosticism, moral philosophy, political economy, etc.
No serious philosopher after Hume, has been able to avoid a careful look at his system. So if you are a student or scholar of the subject matter, I highly recommend this edition of Hume's seminal work.

What I wanted was a book of unfussy French recipes to be done in 15 minutes. What I got was a book with no list of ingredients, no photos, no color, and "a useful dish for those who have to get a dinner ready when they get home from the office" taking 3 hours to cook (Daube de Boeuf Provencale). Obviously, it seemed, I had made the wrong choice.

On further reading, however, what unfolded was something beyond a "cookbook," and ultimately more useful. This is a superb book. French Provincial Cooking should be approached and read as a series of short stories, as well written and evocative as the best literature. The voice is highly personal and opinionated, sometimes sharp and catty, but always true and ultimately sympathetic. It is always entertaining.

And the recipes, it turns out, are less intimidating than at first glance. Most importantly, they work if your aim is to produce the most excellent food imaginable. There is nothing slick here, no L.A. hype or N.Y. blah blah blah, and obviously, they have been tried and perfected; what initially seem to be annoying details (e.g., for omelettes, eggs "should not really be beaten at all, but stirred," whereas for scrambled eggs, they should be "very well beaten") are actually secrets not to be skipped, that elevate a good dish to a superb one. The lesson is that good food should be done simply, but it takes care, attention to detail, and frequently, time.

I find these recipes don't stint on the butter, cream, and wine, making them seem a little frumpy, but every one I've tried has been delicious. Ratatouille, salade Nicoise, terrinee de porc, piperade are all the best I've had. It doesn't get much better than this. Deserts are a model of simplicity and elegance; peaches with sugar and white wine; bananas with sugar, kirsch, and cream; pineapple with kirsch. These ARE easy, and thankfully, E. David had the self-confidence to actually put them down in a book.

French Provincial Cooking is superb in all ways. It's the real thing!

Elizabeth David went to France in the still dark days following WWII -- an English friend told me that meat was rationed in Britain until 1953 -- to earn a master's degree in romance languages and discovered that there was a way to prepare food undreamed of in still wartorn England. I bought the book nearly a quarter of a century ago in a tiny, independent bookstore, a white-painted, uninsulated building with flowers growing all around it, in a resort town in NH. I took it back to where I was staying and read it avidly: if you don't cook, it is a wonderful evocation of French life in a simpler time, before Robert Mondavi tried to buy vinyards in Langue d'Oc. I am still reading it, although the original book, stained and darkened with age, has been replaced. It may sound dramatic to say that it changed my life but I think it did. Elizabeth made me think of food and France in a different way. The next time I returned to that bookstore, I bought a novella by Colette. Later, I had a daughter who I swear was born speaking French. Oh, but that doesn't address the really important issue: YES, THE RECIPES ARE WONDERFUL. Get used to pouring a teacupful of wine into sauces. You'll love this book.

The truly remarkable thing about Elizabeth David was not so much that she could write enthralling and compelling cookbooks ("Mediterranean Food", "French Provincial Cooking", "Italian Cooking"), but that she transformed a glum, drab post-war England by the beauty of her prose and her ability to evoke the sunshine and brilliant colours of the mediterranean. And, further north, the simple beauty of cuisine bourgeoise, home cooking french style.

It was this book that got me started on a lifetime of home cooking. Like all great cookbooks, it can be read and savored without cooking at all. Her ability to evoke time and place is startling -- for example, her recipe for little courgette souffles is wrapped in the story of how she first enjoyed them. Of course, this was in a small country restaurant where the proprietor used his own recipe to make them for her.

She talks vividly about La Mere Poulard and her Mont St. Michel omelettes, for which she offers the original recipe. Roughly translated from the french, it reads: "Monsieur, I get some good eggs, I put them in a bowl and beat vigorously. Then I put them into a pan with good butter and stir constantly. I will be very happy if this recipe gives you pleasure".

I remember, over 30 years ago, the first time I made her recipe for pork chops "to taste like wild boar". They do indeed, and very good they are. Her recipes for classics like Cassoulet, and Bouillabaisse are vivid and provide the cultural context as well as precise directions. Her description of a bouillabaisse on the beach makes you want to catch the next plane there.

She explains the environment of her recipes, their milieu, and their progenitors so that you get right inside the whole theory and practice of french cooking. This is not haute cuisine, though it is not always simple to execute. But her sympathy for the process of cooking and her ability to describe it precisely prefigured writers like Richard Olney and Alice Waters, who owe her, as do we all, a great debt.

In any case, she is directly responsible for the appalling culinary assaults I have perpetrated on family and friends for longer than I care to remember. I still use the book, though most of its pages are now stored directly in my memory.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It provided a unique introduction to the the organizational behavior and technology influencing the development of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) up to the "The Pacific War".

The authors pursue a four pronged approach, describing how the political history, the Japanese culture, the organizational behavior of the Navy, and the development of the technology "grew" the IJN and to a certain extent led the country into war with the Allies. Techies will appreciate the detail provided on ship classes, including ship diagrams. In particular, I appreciated how clearly the authors managed to show how the perceptions of the IJN's commanders about "how a war WILL be fought" effected the force structure of the IJN.

The book is not without faults. The formatting of the book is in some ways amateurish. The scale of certain ship illustrations could have been chosen more carefully. I also found the comparison charts very difficult to understand, despite clear supporting prose. Finally, The authors could have been more clinical in their analysis of the IJN's errors. The contrasts to the "formidable logistics capability" of the U.S. Navy or the superb U.S. Marine amphibious assault capability were a bit too vivid.

Navalists will value this book for its technical content and its analysis of the decision making that led to the birth, growth, and demise of the IJN. Recommended.

The authors present an analysis of the development of the Imperial Japanses Navy, the strategies, tactics and weapons developed to defeat supposed foes from 1887 to 1941. It covers the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars as well as the lessons Japan learned from Jutland during WWI. Japan prepared strategically for a great decisive battle against the United States in the Western Pacific (the avowed enemy since 1907) but failed to actually practice the tactics set forth in their tactical manuals. Contained in this book are fascinating ship plans, weapon specifications and aircraft performance data to underline the Japanese intentions. The Japanese planned to outrange the US Navy and strike from a distance on the surface, in the air, and underwater. The authors included the best detailed analysis yet of Japanese deployment against US Plan Rainbow Five. Ironically, even after the Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor, the Naval General Staff still sought the all out decisive battle in which the US Pacific Fleet would be finally annihilated. This was to be at Midway. I could go on and on. This book is the best analysis of how Japan built her navy and why said navy could never win. If I could give it six stars I would. It is a must read for historians, modelers, wargamers, anyone with an interest in the War in the Pacific in World War II.

This is a magnum opus to match S.E. Morrison's 14 volume History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, or Clay Blair's "Silent Victory" and 2-volume Hitler's U-Boat war, or Lundstrom's two "First Team" volumes. Such are volumes that a serious student of the Pacific War does not fail to read. Add this one. "Kaigun" is the perfect complement to Miller's "War Plan Orange." Why? First, Kaigun fills in the internal history of the Imperial Japanese Navy from its inception to the fatal decisions which led to its destruction. Second, it examines the strategic, doctrinal and tactical thought which drove, or was driven by the technological progress of the IJN. And finally, it explodes a number of cherished myths surrounding the IJN, most particularly its very active part in pushing Japan to war. What this volume can't answer and can't be held accountable for is why intelligent men leading the IJN made the incredibly bad decision to go to war, although it clearly illustrates the strategic calculus used to rationalize those decisions. "Kaigun" also shows (with the clarity of hindsight, or course) why Japan never had a chance of winning its war with the United States short of divine intervention. This is a seminal work and absolutely not to be missed. The technical detail may bore and quail the casual reader, but the serious student and the reader wanting the truth of the matter won't be put off. This is the best English language work available on the subject and should be read in conjunction with "War Plan Orange."

I love the way that this book follows on from "Legend". It relates to civil war, and sets things up nicely for the sequel (Quest for lost heros). The leading three characters are fantastic. The badies bring real intrest to the story also. The Dark templar are wicked, but I think the werebeasts known as the Joinings are an absulote master stroke!! The end battle delivers more excitment than that of Legend, espicially the final stand against the Joinings.

After this, read Quest for Lost Heros strait after.

A very gripping book it is impossible to put down and it moves the reader to tears at the end. I strongly reccomend this book to all those David Eddings readers as It is 100% better than his books. It is so much easier to read.....

Lets put it this way, I bought the book the first edition it came out. Till now, I still reread it. I read Waylander before it and I couldn't believe how good that was until I got knocked off by King Beyond the Gate. I hate to compare the book to books from other authors, but seriously, the book shines even in the presence of the 200 fantasy books in my collection.