This book about Louis XIV is an example of all of the good things that an academic biography can be. Wolf is literate, stylish, and keeps the pace going while placing Louis's life, and his frequently extreme actions, in their proper historic context. For instance, Louis's incessant warmaking arose not out of a sadistic urge to send as many armies to the slaughter as possible, but from the prevailing seventeenth-century philosophies of statecraft and diplomacy, as inculcated in him by his mentor (and de facto stepfather) Cardinal Mazarin. Louis's preference for absolute and personal rule was a reaction against the lawlessness of the "Fronde" revolts that occurred during his minority. His intolerance of the Protestant Hugenots was short-sighted, but his Catholicism was sincere - and he spent the last years of his life repenting his many extra-marital affairs. For all the glamor of his reign - the palaces, the splendid mistresses, the glorious campaigns and sieges - Louis's last years were punctuated by military disaster, and he (bizarrely) attributed this near-loss in the War of the Spanish Succession as God's punishment for his earlier adulteries. While, as Wolf establishes, the reign of Louis XIV was epoch making, he himself leaves us with few bon mots or merry sayings, and for all of the sparkle and glamor of the era, one suspects that Louis himself was a rather humourless man. But never dull.

I had to select a text on Louis XIV to read, and chose this one based on the fact that is simply appeared to be the most authoritative. My hunch turned out to be correct. This book is filled with surely close to every detail on the Sun King, yet provides such information in a context that makes for a very interesting read. Every aspect of the monarch's life is considered, every stereotype of his absolutist reign analyzed. John Wolf leaves no stone unturned in his quest to uncover the true Louis XIV and the environment that made him.

Louis XIV is one of those figures of history who attract a variety of biographers and who can blame them? He was king at 5 years, set France on the road to being the leading power in Europe, built Versailles, waged war against the "Grand Alliance" (led by Winston Churchill's ancestor) and died following the deaths of most of his family. Two contemporaries, his sister-in-law, the Duchess of Orleans and the Duc de Saint Simon wrote extensively about what it was like to live within the orbit of the sun king. The gossip-packed writings of both have served to create cottage industry (at least in the UK and America) in which Louis XIV is remembered as a great figure, with a great story. However, few dwell on any of Louis's achievements (other than the construction of Versailles).

This is what sets Professor Wolf's book apart from the others, for it is Louis the soldier, not Louis the lover that is explored here. If one wants to understand the workings of 17th and 18th century France and indeed Europe, one can not do better than this outstanding book. Unfortunately, this book is not widely available and this is tragic, since it is one of the best works of scholarship in the 20th century. I would recommend, if one is seeking to understand the dynamics of France and Louis (and the two were much the same during the period in question), to seek out a second hand version of this book. While the text can at times be demanding, it is well worth the effort.

I found this to be a detailed look at just about every theory that has been expounded about the Iron Mask. The great part was reading each new guess, agreeing with the author on the possibilities, then realizing that it couldn't possibly be that person because Noone then demolishes the theory. Highly enjoyable, and a read that hopefully will put away the tiresome "Twin Brother of Louis XIV" theory for good.

This is one of the most complete compendia of theories as to who was the Man in the Iron Mask. However, at the end, Noone totally negates all theories in favor of his own: that the MITIM was...well I will let you find out for yourselves. It is a silly end to a great book.

The MITIM is one of the enduring mysteries of French History, in itself fascinating even without the secret that has been hidden for 350 years. Will someone ever solve it? Perhaps.

Excellent! This book is a must for anyone interested in the "Man in the Iron Mask". Mr. Noone reveals some very interesting theories and possibilities as to who the MITIM really is. I STRONGLY recommend it!

Kahn's words in this book are very wise.

For just one example: The reason a city might deserve to exist is not due to packing a lot of warm squirming bodies into a small cubic footage, but rather to be a place where persons can explore things that interest them beyond the requirements of reproduction of individual and species life which determines peasant (and other non-urban) life.

A city is a place where a young person, as they walk through it, observing various master craftspersons at work, may find something they *want* to do for their whole life (not just something they *have* to do to earn a "living").

This is remarkable stuff, especially when we compare it with the ethical vapidity of postmodernism. Read this book and then see how the "world" you live in and the architects who designed it shapes up. Do you live in spaces which nurture creative human association? Or do you live and work in "decorated sheds" that put sugar coating on places that make you and your loved ones be banal?

If you're someone who's interested in architecture,but don't seem to get the hang of it, the word of Louis I. Kahn might help. I was a sopmore when I read the book , classes were a bit blur to me,it was like seeing an image but not sure of what you were looking at. But this book put things in a way that incouraged me as a student , to see the many concepts from life that concerned an architect, and how an an archetect was more of a artist of living, a thinker than just a constrution manager.

This is a must have for the studying ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYST who is determined to KNOW HIS/HER HOMEWORK! As a reference book after course studies and during basic chemistry course fulfillment at the University level, this text is the "command level" of performance. One can not approach correction of injury without knowing the point source and characteristics of the contamination. KNOWING WHERE TO LOOK puts you half way there. The technically squemish need not open the cover. (this is a level 500-600 college textbook) ...textbook referred by chemist/scientist, William Martz

WOW !!! what a book. If you are a pest control professional. BUY THIS BOOK. If you are a food industry professional, BUY THIS BOOK, If you are an ecologist, BUY THIS BOOK. If you are concern about your environment, your food, your life, BUY THIS BOOK. This book is some technical, but very useful!!!!!!!

This book is an excellent description of the extensive renge of issues dealing with changing the appearance of a patient's smile. The book is clear about its objectives and is very easy for anyone to read and follow.After reading this book, patients can easily decide whether they are candidates for cosmetic dentistry and get a reasonably good idea of the procedures involved. The author has discussed several treatment options for every situation, and he has included self-evaluations for patients to use in making informed decisions. An introductory chapter of relating the smile to the entire face presents a unique perspective. Dr. Goldstein discusses contemporary interdisciplinary approaches in creating different aesthetic effects. The explanations are accompanied by excellent illustrations that demonstrate the changes possible by procedures in modern dentistry and medicine. Often the patient and the doctors are not on the same page as far as the patient's chief complaint is concerned. This may lead to a situation in which the treatment provided may be superior; however, the treatment did not address the patient's chief complaint, leading to the patient's being dissatisfied. This book may provide the critical link to complete the communication circuit between the doctor and the patient. After reading it, patients can have a better understanding of their problems, the steps required to address these problems, and the advantages and disadvantages of each procedure.Further, details of expenses provide the consumer with an idea of the financial commitment involved. In summary, this 324-page hardcover book with 575 high quality illustrations is the most comprehensive and clear presentation of an important self-assessment tool used in cosmetic dentistry. A must-read for patients, students, and clinicians involved with cosmetic dentistry.......reviewed for the Journal of the American Dental Association by Dr. Pramod K. Sinha, Assistant Professor, Univ. of Oklahoma College of Dentistry, April l99

This book lets you analyze your smile and come up with the most practical solutions for whatever smile problem you have. There doesn't seem to be anything left out of the cosmetic problems and solutions to a better smile.....and a more attractive face as well. This is because there are chapters that involve the role of facial plastic surgery, orthognathic(done by the oral surgeon) surgery, and cosmetology. It contains a simple smile analysis in the first chapter and logically helps you understand what your problem or problems are. It is easy to comprehend what your choices are because both the patient photographs and illustrations are so easy to understand. In each treatment summary the author describes not only what the result can look like but more importantly, the maintenance required with each restoration as well as a realistic range of fees and life expectancy. Too often people fail to get what they want mostly because they really don't know what they want,and they don't know how to get it. The best way is to take this book with you to your dentist!!!

Louis DeCaro Jr. has presented a perspective of John Brown that has largely been hidden from most biographical studies. He shows us John Brown, the evangelical Christian, deeply rooted in reform theology and a student of the Puritans. DeCaro reveals the theological aspects that caused John Brown to pursue a course of justice for those held in the bondage of slavery, ultimately resulting in the raid on Harper's Ferry.Whether one agrees with the actions of John Brown in his quest to free the slaves or not, we are shown the thinking that led to his attempt to overthrow the system.

I believe the issues raised by this book are instructive in understanding the possible future course of those engaged in the fight against abortion.It is not inconceivable to imagine another "John Brown" rising up in the quest to bringing about justice for the unborn.

This is the first actual biography of John Brown published since the 1970s, by historian and religious educator Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. It skillfully contextualizes John Brown's religious and abolitionist development within his Calvinist background and the evangelical movement of ninteenth century America. John Brown is is shown -- through careful and lengthy research -- as a son, brother, husband (twice), and father as well as the leader of the militant abolitionists. The book is especially rich with the relationship of John Brown to African Americans, notably free people in the North who were creating communities of families and congregations in Springfield, Massachusetts and in Essex County, New York. These individuals come alive in their relationship with John Brown, who the author calls "the practical shepherd," assisting with ownership of small farms and businesses, extending the American dream of self-sufficiency, land ownership, and the rights of citizenship to African Americans. DeCaro has researched Thomas Thomas, first an employee at John Brown's wool warehouse and then a resturanteur who moves to Illinois and becomes a friend of Abraham Lincoln: "Brown and Lincoln never came so close as they did in friendship with Thomas Thomas, and the black man could speak with some authority about both leaders." Dr. DeCaro does not flinch from analysis of the Pottawatomie Massacre in Kansas in 1856, and develops an accurate background of the threatening acts of the victims. He examines several historical viewpoints about the incident, and has found a recollection by the grandaughter of Henry Thompson, the son-in-law of John Brown who was part of the violent attack. The author asks: "perhaps a fundamentally different question is needed to frame the Pottawatomie killings. What kind of circumstances would drive exceptionally moral and religious people like the Browns to such desparate measures?" This biographer of John Brown feels his subject deeply, from his heart, and from his chest as he breathes new life into the complex and human individual whose moral fire made people worldwide think about the immorality of slavery.

Louis N. Davout was the best of Napleon's marshals. Undefeated in over twenty years of almost constant warfare, he was incorruptible, thoroughly reliable, loyal, an excellent tactician and strategist, and a faithful husband. Balding, grim, wearing special combat glasses that fastened at the back of his head as he was hearsighted, his titles, Duke of Auerstadt and Prince of Eckmuhl, were for battles he won on his own. He led the best trained troops in the Grande Armee, 'and usually got the hardest assignments.' John Gallaher has told his story with accuracy, wit, and near-faultless research, from his beginnings as an unruly junior officer to the end of the Empire and his retirement. This is the best biography of the marshal, and the author drew on much primary source material, including the marshal's correspondence, to give us this undispensable volume. It is a great read, jam-packed with vibrant, valuable information about one of the best generals, not only of the Grande Armee, but in history. Napoleon was served by the greatest collection of military talent ever to serve one man, and Davout was the best of that sterling lot. This volume belongs on the shelf of every military history enthusiast, whether or not your area of interest in the Grande Armee. Few commanders in history were as successful as Marshal Davout, and John Gallaher has presented us with a superb biography of an officer who definitely possessed what Napoleon referred to la sacre feu, the sacred fire, the unconquerable will to win or perish.

This book is the long awaited reprint of John Gallaher's 1976 classic account of one of Napoleon's greatest Marshals, Louis Davout, 'The Iron Marshal'. According to David Chandler, Davout was "one of the least liked as a man, the ablest as a commander, and the most feared - and respected - as an adversary. He was also, from 1798, one of the loyalist of Napoleon's key subordinates."

This is an excellent biography of a Napoleonic commander. The book covers Davout's military career from when he entered the Ecole royale militaire in 1779, through the Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars and finally his death in 1823. The narrative flowed along faultlessly although I would have liked more detail in regards to Davout's battles. However the author has covered these battles well enough and provided eight maps to assist the reader in following the action. Davout fought in numerous campaigns from Egypt to Russia and was successful always, his most famous battle being at Auerstadt.

Mr Gallaher has also supplied the reader with some insight into Davout the man with details of his relationship with his devoted wife and the tragedies of his children. You leave this book with a feeling that Davout was a man who did his all for duty (France and the Emperor) but never forgot his family. I loved reading this book and I felt it was not long enough (420 pages). I fretted about finishing, I wanted more, I did not want to put the book down nor finish it!

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves reading about the napoleonic period or anybody who enjoys a decent military biography. This is a great book about a great commander.

Louis Jordan's consumate professionalism, and the clean life he lead wouldn't make him seem to be the ideal topic of an autobiography (on the surface)... Nevertheless, between his wit, his horn and his passionate desire not to be upstaged by ANYONE he managed to revolutionize modern music by smashing Jazz, the blues, and a bit of down home entertainment together, paving the way for what would eventually become the music known as rock and roll and R & B.

Written in a well researched anecdotal matter, this book documents the man who was one of the biggest selling artists of his time. His movie shorts managed to inspire an entire generation of artists who would later take his formula and create rock and roll. In his own biography James Brown (The Godfather of Soul) rants and raves about Louis, mentioned the influence that Caldonia in particular had on his life, especially the way he'd go up and shout real high, just like Little Richard (only long before Little Richard.)

In this book you will meet many legendary entertainers (now virtually forgotten) and find out what it was like to be an entertainer of color in some very difficult, yet changing and turbulent times... and in particular the riff between him and many of the younger musicians who's music he absorbed but often accused him of being an "uncle Tom" for his whimsical style of performing.- - You'll find out about life on the road, the difficulty of holding together bands, and touring the chitlin' circuit in the days of segregation... and suddenly those silly songs like "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" and "Iz You Iz" will take on a whole new meaning.

The book contains a nice discography, about a dozen pages of pictures... including one with Dottie Smith, a member of his group who's still singing and performing here in Philadelphia, Sunday Nights at Barber's Hall and that I've sat in with on occasion. - - John Chilton is a superior Jazz historian who's as good as collecting the facts, as telling the stories they represent ! ! !

This book helps bridge the gap between the pre-war big band era and the modern juump blues bands and eventually rock and roll. It is a very readable book, whether or not you are familiar withn Jordan's life and music. Because Louis Jordan was such a big influence on Chuck Berry, I found it particularly interesting in developing the context from which rock and roll arose. To fully appreciate this book, have recorded versions of Jordan's music available for reference.

One of the greatest random books I've seen in a long time. What a great idea, compile all the quotes from the begining of the wired's into one book. Simply marvelous. Buy this, if nothing else, you will be dazzled by the artwork.

An amazing journey into a flight of digital art and design. Very compelling and provacative quotes that look and feel like Mcluhan's The Medium is the Massage of the 90's. An astounding eight color masterpiece.