Not complete and definitely geared toward a more youthful audience, but an excellent read and very informative. Lots of pictures, but (AARGH!) little info on titles or artists, which is frustrating as some of these pictures I've never seen anywhere before!

The book details Lorenzo's young life as well as that of his grandfather and father. It talks mostly about his youth and his earliest days as ruler of Florence, with flavoring about his life, marriage, kids, and other such topics. It also details his death and a bit about those who followed him. A very useful geneological chart is included, which, though far from complete, was appreciated. There is also a map of Italy, which one would expect in this kind of work but which is sometimes lacking. I vaguely know where Florence is, but it's always nice to know exactly where things are.

The book did tell me a lot of things I didn't know about Lorenzo's all too brief reign, but I'd have loved to have heard more about the politics of the region. I also would have enjoyed hearing more about his relatives and his daily life. That said, I would recommend this book to anybody looking for an introduction to late 15th century Florentine history. I'm a costumer, and already this book has given me some absolutely delicious ideas.. as soon as I figure out where some of these paintings are from.

I read Edward Steinberg's The Making of a Great Wine after hearing him speak at a wine seminar here in Rome with Scala Reale Architectural Itineraries. I found his down-to-earth style appealing and the book lived up to my expectations, in fact exceeding them. It is structured like a complex biography of a product, in the end a bottle of 1989 Sori San Lorenzo, but in telling the story touches on all aspects of this wine. One meets the makers and learns about their own history, one learns about the chemistry and biology behind grapes and their fermentation, one learns about land and weather and farming. And of course there is Italy, well-described as the backdrop for this particular wine. The reader is left with a thirst for this, unfortunately rare, vintage.

I WAS VERY IMPRESSED WITH THE CONTENT OF THIS BOOK AND THE SINCERITY OF THE MATERIALIn a lot of cases I find that channeled material can either be very dull reading, to philosophical ...or at best lack any real substance.The beings channeling the messages may be aliens or angels....but often they just dont cut the mustard when it comes to giving us something tangible to think about. Some of the material in this book may be a wee bit dated but it is in my opinion among the best channeled spirituality you are likely to come across.If you are into the Ashtar Command or Space Brothers get this book.Chances are you will read it over and over and tell your friends.

Pearl Jam Live is all the basics, from Eddie's days of gas station attendant, to how they felt about Cobain's early passing, to Mother Love Bone. It is filled with good and interesting information, and overflowing with unique pictures of live performances. Although written early-on in their career, this 34 page must-have is worth looking into if you are a hardcore fan. Also includes large poster (but it's only of Eddie, not the whole group).

You get what you pay for, a paperback picture book full of black and white figure drawings with a standard brief description of each.
Unfortunately, these comments are all grouped together as the "List of Plates" in typical catalogue fashion, preceding the 100 pages of sketches. In order to match them up, one must flip back and forth. This keeps down the price, as it saves on extra pages facing each drawing, or sacrificing their size to include the text on the same page. As reward for this inconvenience these wonderful sketches can now dominate the entire 9"x12" surface, enhancing their clarity.
With it's moderate price and easy chronological presentation, this makes for a useful addition to a Bernini and/or drawings library or for an art studio reference.

Very rarely do we open our souls to outsiders, but Mrs. Parker has done that and she has done it with flair. As a Black man who has livied most of his life in the Black Community, I can relate to Mrs. Parker and some of the things she writes about. I agree one hundred percent with her views on our Welfare System, it truly makes people LAZY! I highly recommend this book for Black Sisters who are enslaved by Welfare, and to my Black brothers handle your business. Take care of what you lie down and concieve. GOD, not drugs not alcohol,not prisons and not fatherless children is the answer.

In this book, Star Parker tells how she lived it up while she was on welfare. She had an apartment with a jacuzzi, lived in southern california, went partying every night, got abortions whenever she became pregnant, all at government's expense. Yet she was transformed by a minister. She got off the welfare rolls, raised her children in a wholesome manner, and started her own business. It was a difficult path to take, but she managed to be sucessful. The latter part of the book is full of fascinating political commentary that dispels the myth that if you're a black women you have to be a liberal democrat. A fascinating read

Very rarely do we open our souls to strangers,but Mrs. Parker has done it and done it beautifully. As a Black man who has livied his entire lifein the Black Community, I can relate to what Mrs. Parker speaks about in her book. Her comments about our Welfare System are right on the money, it makes people LAZY! Sometimes we as Black folk hate when we are confronted with the truth,but while reading this book I'm sure a lot of readers will recognize a lot of people. Like we like to say,"Don't hate the player, hate the game." in other words we all make dumb mistakes. And most of them are made when we're young. I recommend this book highly, especially for young women who think Welfare is the subsitute for your childs father. After trying everything the Devil had to offer, Mrs. Parker found out that Our Lord Jesus Christ is the true ANSWER! To my young sisters buy this book and read it carefully and openly, to my young brothers. Take care of what you lay down and concieve. Remember children do not ask to come here! God Bless you and your's Mrs. Parker.

One of the most unfair treatments of the demise of Eastern Airlines ever written and the second worst book on the subject. Biased towards labor from the beginning, Bernstein paints Goya-like pictures of an evil Frank Lorenzo and his henchmen cackling over a cauldron late at night, thinking up ways to lie, cheat and steal Eastern away from the hearths of America. At the same time, Charlie Bryan is portrayed as some mythic hero who ". . .read Ghandi and Kahlil Gibran and even Sun-tzu. . .". Right. Bias shows in the fact that no Texas Air management are quoted; no personal attributes are ever given, making Lorenzo, Bakes et all appear as soulless corporate thugs, while the stalwart union defenders with defiant chins thrust forth, are given warm wonderful hearts and the purest of intentions. I'm surprised Bernstein didn't have pictures of Bryan petting a puppy and holding a baby. Of slight redeming value is the fact that the book does tell an accurate story. Eastern didn't have to die and maybe Lorenzo didn't have to kill it, but the interpretation and presentation are designed only to support an intransigent group of labor leaders in their refusal to see the reality of the world. This book is only marginally better than the worst book written about Eastern, "Freefall".

This is a study in an ego taken over. I view is that the games he played could almost be criminal. I would have liked more information for the company as the author does seem to set out to make Frank be the bad guy. I would also have liked more details on the business end of the airline industry. I thought the writing was above average, he moved the story along through some topics that could be considered dull, union negotiations etc. All and all not a bad book and if you find the airline industry interesting then you should read this book.

Excellent book, well researched and very well written. Accurately portrays the events that lead to Eastern's demise. I am no fan of unions. But, Lorenzo displayed a blatant calloused disregard for Eastern, it's people, and everything connected with it.

I must agree with the other reviewers who found the book a tough go. The actual narrative of the plot itself takes up very little of the book. The majority of the text deals with the complex interweave of family politics in Renaissance Italy, but much of it seems tangential. Engrossing it certainly is not. It's too bad, as I had high hopes for the book. I wonder if some of the other reviewers actually read the same book that I had.

This book was a disappointment. Although it is supposed to concentrate on the plot surrounding the April 1478 attempt to murder Lorenzo and Giuliano de Medici, in reality it wanders off into many other areas and loses focus. In one chapter, the author gives detailed information about the finances of the Pazzi family (the family behind the conspiracy to kill the two Medici brothers). In another chapter, Professor Martines quotes extensively from the personal letters of matriarchs of some of the leading Florentine families, regarding their attempts at matrimonial matchmaking. The author discusses other plots and political murders, unrelated to the 1478 attack, and which did not occur in Florence. He has three chapters in which he provides profiles of three people, none of whom had any connection to the 1478 plot. Professor Martines also attempts to explore the serpentine world of 15th century Italian realpolitik. We learn about the shifting alliances and chessboard maneuverings involving Florence, Milan, Genoa, Venice, the Papal States, etc. The names of many people are introduced. Quite a few are not central to the story. Bringing them into the tale serves to confuse rather than to enlighten. I still am giving the book three stars because it is worth reading. If you want to know the bare facts about who was behind the plot and why they wanted the Medici family out of power and what actions Lorenzo took against the plotters after he survived the attack, those facts are here. But because of the lack of focus and the questionable decision to include so much peripheral material, the experience of reading this book is a lot less satisfying than it could, and should, have been. It's sort of like being hungry for a nice, thick, juicy steak but after you cut away all of the fat you find yourself with just a few decent bits of meat. It's hardly worth the effort.

The title reads, "April Blood - Florence and the Plot Against the Medici". The details of Florentine society that Professor Martines so eloquently presents are required for the reader to appreciate the events leading up to April 1478 and to those that happened after. Medicean Florence of the late fifteenth century and the Pazzi Conspiracy to murder the Medici brothers are presented so vividly and with a fluid style that does not read like a dry college textbook that you have to fight to understand and stay awake for. The author is very knowledgeable about this subject, and he has a gift for presenting it in a way that is enjoyable to read and easy to comprehend.

When a book receives positive endoresments from such noted Renaissance historians as John Julius Norwich and Gene Brucker, I take notice, and I wasn't disappointed.

The plot is simple and yet exciting. A gang--cadre--team--of six of NYPD's best cops, all disabled in the course of duty, come together with a restraunteur who has links to the mob in order to bring down the Queen Bee of all drug lords (ladies?).

Each of the six protagonists has a rich and detailed past, and we are introduced to them individually in depth before the main action begins. Then Boomer and Dead-Eye (yes, everybody has a nickname) take on a hopeless case and emerge, not only victorious, but feeling alive because they are COPS again. The rest of the group joins them, and Boomer outlines the plan. They will defeat the Empress of evil, a drug dealer so bad, her only good point is that she pays her gym bill on time.

From the moment our team forms, the plot moves lightening fast to its conclusion. The action is great, the detail is satisfying, the dialogue snappy. The characters have their own story, each credulous, each powerful.

Why only three stars? I had to keep flipping back to the beginning chapters to see which of the six former cops had which specialty. Who was the bomb specialist? Flip back and look. Who's the electronics expert? Flip. You get the picture. I loved them all individually, but I would have loved the novel more if only two or three of the characters had been detailed, and the rest just outlined for me.

Even so, the drama unfolds so swiftly, I still recommend this book to anyone who loves a dark, action-filled tale of good versus evil. Do your friends read romances? Okay, don't tell them what happens, they won't sleep at night. But get out the flashlight--you'll be up reading.

This is a big disappointment coming from the author of Sleepers. The characters are too broadly drawn, and the situations are all too familiar, making it pale in comparison to Brian Garfield's Death Wish or Andrew Vachss' Burke novels.

This is a natural born writer with concised, smooth, logical writing. If other readers felt disgusted of the cocaine-stuffed dead baby, it only showed the writer's vivid paintbrush in writing. The first part is just like a fast-delivered introduction of several main characters who were just born cops but forced into retirement yet still die-hard(just like the movie, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, each of the seven roles got some specialties to get the job done). The second part of this book is the STORY and, for me, in order to have the nose candy safely delivered, drug dealers would try any innovative transportation means, anything is possible. The unjustifiable boiling criticism from some readers by just giving this book a lowest 1 or 2 rating was not fair at all.