This book, 'The Final Sack of Nineveh: The Discovery, Documentation, and Destruction of King Sennacherib's Throne Room at Nineveh, Iraq', by John Malcolm Russell, is an important work of preservation in archaeology. Much of archaeological work can be, in fact, rather destructive -- careful documentation is vital, as layers are swept away to reveal lower levels, and in the process, much is in fact destroyed. Archaeologists readily admit this fact, little realised by non-archaeologists, but it has been accepted as a necessary part of the trade. As much as can be preserved will be, but archaeology has other dangers besides the clearing away of layers. The 'final sack of Nineveh' does not refer to a final battle in history, but rather events a mere decade old.

Russell gives a brief essay of the history of excavation at Nineveh. The first excavations of the palace occurred in 1847 - 1849 by British amateur archaeologist Austen Henry Layard. The excavations remained undisturbed for over 50 years, until another British explorer, Leonard William King, was sent on behalf of the British Museum. Some of Russell's reports in this text represent the first published accounts of King's expedition and excavations, as much of his work remained unpublished for a century.

Again it was over half a century, 1965, before more excavations and work was done on Sennacherib's palace. Tariq Madhloom of the Iraqi Department of Antiquities and Heritage re-excavated the throne room suite (yes, re-excavated; in an effort to preserve that which will be not be studied again for a long while, archaeologists will often re-bury their finds). This became important as one of the modern plagues of archaeological sites -- encroaching urban sprawl -- threatened the site of ancient Nineveh.

Russell, associate professor of Art History and Archaeology at Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, came to Nineveh first in 1981, and returned in 1989 as associate director of the University of California Berkeley excavation team to record in detail through narrative and photography the great palace of Sennacherib, the first (and as it turns out, will be the only) documentary work of this magnificent structure. Forty figures of maps, line art, drawings and old photographs complement the 277 plates of photographs and line-details of details of the palace. Virtually no stone was left unturned in this documentary piece -- cornerstones, walls, rooms, floors, doors, court slabs - all the details are recorded in meticulous detail, in situ, with many details drawn out on the black-and-white photographs. Black-and-white photographs are often preferable for seeing the details of writing, carvings and engravings on stonework, so the majority of the images in this book are high-quality black-and-white. There are also colour images which give a sense of the stone work and environment.

In addition to the structure itself, Russell records some of the sculpture and artwork that adorned the palace. In room by room descriptions, Russell describes the statuary, inscriptions and artwork, which help show some of the important images and ideas for the Assyrians.

Finally, Russell describes the patterns of destruction, ancient and modern. The palace originally burned, which is a tragedy not only for the structure, but for its reconstruction.

However, this is perhaps not the most tragic of destructive times for Sennacherib's palace. Russell highlights three periods of destruction in the modern era. The first he terms collecting, something the European archaeologists, largely amateurs, were famous for doing. Layard's first expedition in the 1840s removed a relatively small amount, but was destructive nonetheless. Some of the greatest of sculptures where destroyed in the effort to remove them to the British Museum.

This period, however, led to the second phase of destructiveness, exposure. Things uncovered that are not recovered begin to deteriorate rapidly, particularly if no one returns for 50 years to help preserve things. Layard did backfill many items, but not all. Russell discovered that either some areas had not been backfilled as Layard, and then by King in the early 1900s, or had been uncovered and destroyed by unknown people sometime prior to 1965.

The third destructive phase comes from looting. This is not a problem unique to Nineveh, nor is it a problem that has been dealt with. Many of the figures and plates in Russell's work show 'before and after' scenes -- a beautiful relief on the throne room wall in 1989; a missing slab with broken stones scattered about in 1997. Russell had hoped to return in 1990 to work on extensive preservation, but it was not to be.

Russell has not been able to return to the site, due to travel restrictions, but has had photographs supplied to him from Iraq showing the extensive damage, and many of those are included in this book.

Russell ends his narrative with a plea to include preservation of antiquities as an internationally recognised priority, beyond politics and border concerns. He repeats the concern about documentation and publication that plagues the field, and reminds readers that backfilling after excavation is a necessary step for continuing preservation. So much is at risk in the ancient world.

This is not really a book for amateurs. It is a scholarly book, so the narrative to the non-historian and non-archaeologist may seem flat. It is meant to be a report rather than a story, and it serves that purpose well. Likewise, the photographs are technical in nature, rather than 'glamour shots' -- measuring sticks and scale devices are seen frequently in the photographs, and the lighting is meant to highlight important archaeological details, rather than for aesthetic effect. It is also an expensive book if purchased standard retail. However, you may be able to find it on a special deal, as I did, in which case you will have in your hands the last remnants of Sennacherib's grand palace.

Thornthwaite "Climatic Water Budget Analysis" is rational, systematic and quantitative, based on measured data. Unlike Köppen which attempts to use vegetation to predict large general climate areas, Thornthwaite uses temperature, precipitation, latitude, day length and soil water-holding capacity for an objective perspective of climate. Model enhancements include net primary productivity in grams per square meter per year, continentality (continental vs. oceanic influence), aspect, an Index of Moisture that accounts for precipitation (income), potential and actual evapotranspiration (spending), soil water-holding capacity (storage or withdrawal), indices of moisture in arid and humid climates. While Köppen lumps mountains into "Highlands", Thornthwaite reflects objective conditions - over a 30-year period. Climate constraints (maximums, minimums, ranges) are comparable world wide. Agriculture, urban residents, water, soil and ecosystem managers find Thornthwaite logical, rational and useful (vs. Köppen, a "memorized" system of map areas).

Historical perspectives of Thornthwaite's time and teaching in Oklahoma, working with Birdseye, doing regional geography in Kentucky, heading the Soil Conservation Service, and applying the tools of weather and climate worldwide make his life and biography long-term valuable. Understand Thornthwaite and you realize just how much "fluff" and spin current Natl Weather Service and media weather-climate reports are. This biography is defensible, robust, rational and reveals hard work and a fresh perspective.

This book goes into great detail regarding Wearings past works, and some of her current 'works in progress.' There are plenty of examples of her photographs, including the 'Signs...' collection and stills of the many videos that she has produced. The most useful chapter is the interview with the artist. What I found most interesting was that the interviewer asks Wearing some good questions about her work, like why she chose to do it and how she went about asking her subjects to be in the photographs. The only problem that I found with the book was some of the language used. The writers are obviously fairly intelligent people and their wide vocabulary had me reading from a dictionary almost as much as I read the book. Such language does lead you to gloss over certain areas of the book which leaves you slightly unsatisfied. However as long as you can get through the book it offers a deep insight into all of the artists work and her life, containing plenty of photographic examples of her work, very useful.

This book is a fascinating account of the most "human" parts of the human body, the hands. Worth owning.

I'd known about the legend of Hondo Crouch since I was a boy, from my father always playing Jerry Jeff Walker's "A Man Must Carry On"--dedicated to "the clown prince of Texas." But this book took my interest to a whole new level. What a character! The best thing about it is that it could have been just a sentiment look back at one girl's kooky dad, but it isn't. It's honest, and just as heart-wrenching at times, as it is hiralous at others. "Hondo's girl" paints a beautiful portait of her old man here, one that may even change the way you look at the world yourself.

Written with great style and humour this is one of the most intelligent books on running a small business and the art of customer service. A must read for anyone in the service industry.

This is a soft-cover book, 9" by 10" covering about 50 of Roberto Gonzalez Fernandez's paintings of young men. Some of them are nudes of guys alone or with other men. The paintings cover a period from the late 70's thru 1987. Roberto's art is very gay, but definitely not camp. A lot of the men are very attractive, and the images are homo-erotic but not pornographic. The detail, moody lighting, and coloring of these paintings is beautiful. The paintings are so detailed and realistic they seem like photographs. Roberto is a wonderful Spanish painter, that's for sure.

I just wish there were more paintings to see. A lot of the paintings have a surrealistic quality. He reminds me a lot of Salvadore Dali, but with more emotion and eroticism. Hopefully, more of his paintings will be published in the near future. This is a great artist to enjoy over and over, and is highly recommended.

Christopher Isherwood has been appreciated for years as one of America's finest writers. Recent publications of biographies, essays of remembrances, and historically important data in the form of his diaries have established his place in history. That he had a longterm relationship with artist Don Bachardy is a well known fact and in truth much of the notoriety currently is due to Bachardy's continued devotion. Nowhere is there a more profound paeon to love than in this book of ink drawings. As Christopher Isherwood lay ill and dying his lover stayed by his side, savoring all the moments remaining in their temporal relationship. How best to while away his attentiveness than to draw Isherwood. These profoundly touching renderings show Isherwood's decline and finally his death, even drawings of his corpse as Bachardy waited for the body to be removed from their Santa Monica home. This is not a morbid book. This is a book that radiates love and chronicles time passing and life ending. It is one of the most tender elegies we have in art.

Sir. Daniel provides an excellent overview of the issues related to distance learning and the impact it will have on society.

This memoir by 18th-century French painter Elizabeth Vigee-Lebrun (one of only two women admitted to the French Academy at that time) reads like a romance novel (in the best sense)! Follow Madame Vigee-Lebrun as she creates portraits of Marie Antoinette, endures the tribulations of an arranged marriage, flees to Russia to escape the Revolution's guillotine, and returns to paint portraits of (and gossip about) a new court ruled by Napoleon. It's hard to tell how strictly truthful Madame was, but her exciting life makes for a fascinating read, especially for artistic women.