This book rocks. I think that this is the most interesting book about the clash over Icons and imagery in modern day society.

In many ways this massive Yellow Pages-sized book sums up what I have always suspected about the visual arts in our time as such: That their greatness comes from the collective force of one-liners which are not all that arresting taken individually. This book really shows that the function of art in our time is that of a collective commentary on the Sutra of Art, and as such necessarily way more verbose than the original "sacred" text. Here all the eminently forgettable one-liner images made in the name of art, anti-art, art-taboo, and art voodoo throughout history---from all cultures--are gathered and presented in the full glory of their collective greatness.
But, do take note that this book is not an "art book" as such, and certainly not a coffee table variety. It belongs on your desk along with your dictionaries and encyclopedias. This is a textbook at its finest. The meat of this book is really the essays, with the images---many of them small but very clear-- inserted to augment the discussion, not the other way around.

So then what are some of the things discussed? A set of essays is grouped under a particular question, and there are some 12 plus questions that cue you in right away as to what is going to be discussed. It is like having a seminar program showing the topics to be discussed, time, and room numbers.

Some of the questions asked and responded to: WHY DO IMAGES TRIGGER SO MUCH FUROR? WHY ARE IMAGES SO AMBIGUOUS? WHY DO GODS OBJECT TO IMAGES? WHAT IS ICONOCLASH? WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO MODERN ART? HAS CRITIQUE ENDED?

What intelligent person could possibly resist the temptation to find out what people have said in response to these questions? I would be a liar to say that I have read through every single essay in the book. I have not. But what I have read so far--a huge chunk--have all been very thoughtful and sincere. Now that's rare in a book whose subject matter concerns art-talk!
With over fifty people writing, talking, interviewing, there is a huge range of styles of discourse, some delightful, some witty, some funny, some dry. But, all in all, this is a very thoughtful and timely presentation of an important subject with minimum pretentiousness. As the subtitle indicates, it concerns all who take interest in the problem of images in art, religion, and science. Highly recommended.

Whether you've been to the Louvre and want to protect and enhance your memories or you just want to see the most beautiful works of art ever collected this is the perfect book! It gives you history, background info and of course amazing pictures! You're next purchase will be plane tickets to Paris!!

A true masterpiece. A fresh look at one of the world's most extraordinary museums. I received this book as a gift, and I have truly enjoyed it.

I am writing this review to make sure that people know that this is a collection of PRIMARY sources. Since there are no editorial reviews posted on Amazon, I assumed that this book was a collection of articles by contemporaries DEBATING history. In any case, although this book wasn't what I was looking for, it seems very substantive as far as primary sources go. It also seems like it is directed more at history teachers looking for teaching materials.

Contains articles (written by historical figures from John Winthrop to Thomas Jefferson to Frederick Douglass) about the original English colonization, the question of Native Americans, Puritans and religious tolerance, the Revolutionary War, the formation of the Constitution, the National Bank, Sedition Act, Jay Treaty, Louisiana Purchase, Federalism, immigration, expanding suffrage, annexation of Texas and war with Mexico, slavery, secession, and Reconstruction.

O yea, this book is great. It is an excellent primary source for my research papers. It is a little hard to understand because of the old speech, but other than that, it is excellent. It practically wrote my papers for me!

I am a pink floyd lover. However, i did not know much about the band's history. I have read this book and at times it can be confusing. The dates constatnly junp around and this can confuse you. I also have read a "Saucerful of Secrets." Unfortunatly i read this after this book. I recommend reading "Saucerfull" before this book. It gives you more of a chronological history of the band. Bruno's book is everything written about pink floyd gathered into on big scrap book. Interesting but confusing.

If you're like me, you're a huge Pink Floyd fan. I've already read the major biographies, so I checked out this book. What a book it is? It offers articles written about the band and their members from the beginning to now. It's fun to read the older articles and agree or disagree with the writers. There's also an interesting section with quotes and reviews on every Pink Floyd or member solo song through 1994. An excellent book.

This book was very informative, of both Renoir's life as well as his art. I enjoyed reading it thoroughly and would recommend it to any art lovers.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir was an artist in the fullest sense of the word. The paintings he left us show us the simplicity and sensuality of his times and their brilliant colors and joyous images express the passion of Renoir's own soul.

The paradise of color and the changing effects of light were Renoir's greatest gift to the world. This book, Renoir: The Crown Art Library, showcases some of the artist's most beloved works and gives a brief overview of his life.

A quick glance at this book tells you that Renoir's favorite subject was always people. In fact, it is possible to select an entire series of masterpieces from Renoir's works without including even one landscape--something that would be impossible with any of the other Impressionists.

The people created by Renoir are always filled with the warm joy of simply being alive. Of the many illustrations in this book, most are in color, allowing us to both study and participate in the "joie de vivre" that Renoir, more than any other artist, communicated to the world.

There is a short analysis of the evolution of Renoir's technique and we learn why he abandoned the dark, sombre colors of the Old Masters and turned to the brilliant reds, blues, yellows and greens of which he was so fond.

We learn how and why the feminine form became a stronger and stronger element in his paintings, especially those of his later years, and we see how, in the last ten years of his life, he limited his palette to only a few colors--cinnabar, ochre, Naples yellow, black and some white, yet managed to create playful visions of a sun-bright world, seemingly devoid of weight; paintings in which contours of people and surroundings are blurred and all is joined in a concord of color and naturalness.

Renoir: The Crown Art Library is a wonderful introduction to the life and style of this master Impressionist, the world's most joyous painter. Those looking for a biography of Renoir would be better off choosing Renoir, My Father, by Jean Renoir, the artist's middle son. In-depth analyses of Impressionism and Renoir's own technique in particular, are also better covered in other books such as Rewald's History of Impressionism.

But for the vast majority of people, laymen who only want to increase their knowledge and appreciation of the world's greatest artists, Renoir: The Crown Art Library offers a wonderful starting point. With is lavish illustrations and lively text, it will broaden the scope of anyone's understanding. The book is a joy to browse and once insight is gained into the how and why of each painting, that joy is only increased.

While certainly far from exhaustive, Renoir: The Crown Art Library, is a lovely book and anyone with even a passing interest in Renoir and Impressionism will find it well worth their while.

Based on the bleak and disturbing movie starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Gwyneth Paltrow, this is a very neat, economic thriller. It captures the sense of dread that permeates the movie and also, it gives some insight on the motivations of Somerset and Mills... but surprisingly, the motivations of John Doe (The murderer) come across as too easy and bland.

Still, as far as film novelizations go, this one is actually quite good and satisfying... and can be read without thinking of the film at all, which gives it a strenght of its own.

This book was a fun book to read. It really captivated me, the intricacy of the murders and the suspenful way in which they were written. Some people say the book is sadistic and wantonishly cruel, but I think it is well thought out and an excellent murder mystery to read for those not faint at heart.

hey, loved the book! The best part is at the end, but it was fun reading and it inspired me to start writing my own book! Great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I cannot wait for this book. I LOVE YOU DANIELLE! It looks like it's going to be really great. I read a sample somewhere and it was really thrilling. Everyone should buy this book. I know I'm getting a copy really soon.

Certainly, any rational thinking American is completely flabbergasted by the atrocities Stalin commited in the very long twenty-four years he reigned in the Soviet Union. And naturally any thinking person would want to know why a person would commit these atrocities.

Ulam's excellent biography puts into perspective how a seemingly under-educated person such as Stalin could fill the void left by a giant of a person like Lenin. The part of the book that is most insightful is the chapters describing the power stuggle that took place "after" V.I. Lenin's death. You really start to understand how a gifted author and orator such as Leon Trotsky lost the battle for Lenin's mantle to Stalin. A person can even begin to sypathize for Stalin, but then the author describes what happened after Stalin became the maximum leader of the USSR in 1929. Of course everyone knows what happened after 1929, collectivization, purges, show trials of Bukharin, Kamenev, and Zinoviev, and the assasination of Leon Trotsky. Ulam's book is quite lengthy, but it is well worth the read, I would recommend this book to anyone.

This is quite simply a masterful book. Ulam gives the impression of having read, pondered, and put in context everything ever written in any language by and about Stalin, the other Bolsheviks, and their close contemporaries in the USSR and Europe. And yet he is anything but tedious. He is as fine a writer as any historian around -- lucid, incisive, authoritative, serious and yet with a very witty, very dry irony. His tone is ideally suited for writing about historical figures, especially such grotesque ones as Stalin and his cohorts.

The Study of Ethnomusicology is very usefull book to a person who's mother tongue is not English.The way Mr. Nettl uses English in his book is very colourfull and understandable,and it is NOT boring!To describe my experieces of this book shortly is; a stranger became a friend. The Study of Ethnomusicology is not only for ethnomusic researchers, but for all kind of music studies. Why 8? Well, nobodys perfict.

This book is an overview and introduction to the field of ethnomusicology. In the introduction, Nettl mentions that the book could be used as an introduction to ethnomusicology for graduate students. However, the text is quite accessible and the terminology and concepts are easily comprehensible to the general reader. The book consists of essays by Nettl on numerous topics that cover the field of ethnomusicology. Many of the essays have catchy titles that address commonly-held beliefs about ethnomusicology directly, such as "The Non-Universal Language", or "Music Hath Charms". The book is very well referenced, and it provides a succinct introduction to the ethnomusicology literature. If you want to know what ethnomusicologists do (or think about), this book will be quite useful.

As a linguist, I was struck when reading this book by how relevant much of linguistic theory and research could be for the field of ethnomusicology. The methods of historical linguistics could be quite useful for researchers studying the spread of instruments or musical forms. Formal theories of syntax and phonology could also be applied to intervals in scales and rhythms. Nettl considers many of these possibilities, and reviews published research in these areas. One important area that could receive even more focus is the association of form and meaning, a concept that is at the foundation of linguistic research, but doesn't seem to be a central issue for ethnomusicologists, at least as discussed in these essays.

'The Tale Of Tom Kitten' sees Beatrix Potter at her most fey. Three young kittens muck about in the garden, tormenting their neighbouring creatures, and generally being boisterous-but-nice kids. Their class-conscious mother (very few fathers in Potter's world) is having relatives around for tea, and gives her children unwelcome baths and brushings down, before making them wear the most appallingly naff Sundaywear. Unfortunately, Tom's been eating one too many pork pies, and bursts out of his pale blue two-piece, looking rather seedy.

The charm of this story lies in the infectious playfulness of the children, their universally-understandable indifference to their elders' desire for 'respectability', and the quaint evocation of an Edwardian farmstead.

The Tale of Tom Kitten is Beatrix Potter at her best. It is certainly one of our family favorites. This is the story of three kittens all dressed in their best clothes and set out to play. They struggle to keep their clothes on only to lose them. They meet three ducks along the way who waddle off with the poorly fitted clothes. When the kittens return home their mother sends them upstairs while she hosts a tea party. Of course they cause a ruckus disturbing the "dignity and repose" of the party. The book ends with the ducks still searching for the clothes at the bottom of a pond. What makes Beatrix Potter so wonderful is her delightful vocablary that stretches a childs intellect. There is a mutual respect between Potter and the reader. Having drawn and painted animals and plant life since a child she is a master of anthropomorphisim, the giving of human qualities to animals or objects. Her delicate watercolors are perfectly suited to the playfullness of the story. This is a classic that should be a part of every child's library.