I have no experience with art at all, but from my point of view this book is a jewl. Printings are so beautiful and relaxing, and they are numerous in this book. Also the book is well organized with explanations about the paintings.

Buy this book for the reproductions if nothing else. If you have seen good Hiroshige prints in their original condition, you know how much is usually lost in most reproductions. This book gets you about as close to the real thing as you are likely to find. The colors are magnificent.

A very comprehensive catalogue of Hiroshige's greatest prints. The book also includes some prints that are more obscure, as well as preparatory sketches and several printing blocks. Attractive as a coffee-table style hardback for those with a passing interest in Ukiyoe, it also is a must-have for those devotees wishing to understand the art of Japan's great landscape print artist.

This is the one to read. I even gave it to my husband to read. Easy to read. I read it in 2 hours. This book gave me the reasons people act the way they do. Then it gave me a way to talk to those kinds of people.

I initially bought this book for my husband, who was having a difficult time at work with his boss. My husband has huge praises for the book and now that I have finished reading it, I've come to understand why. Arthur and Dayle have managed to consolidate and present strategies on how to deal with difficult people in a handy and easy-to-read book. Even if you don't find time to read, you can easily read some pages on the way to work in the train. A questionaire helps you to identify what type of person you are, and explains the different personality types, helping you to see why yome people react in certain ways. You will realise eventually why you seem to always clash with a certain personality group. This book gives you tips on how you can handle 'difficult' people and helps you to have a clearer picture of yourself. For all you know you may be the S.O.P. (Source Of Pain) that others are experiencing!!

I picked up this book because of the title and price. Excellent source of support for managing projects with cross functional teams. I am planning on buying for the team as a team building session. Quick and easy to read with helps tremendously....

In college I met one of the sons of George Braziler, the publisher, and feel that the wonderful quality of their art books reflects the generous and thoughtful nature of their family. The prints are meticulously reproduced, complete with woodgrain. The written text takes the reader back to another time within a totally different culture with subtle details explained. More generally, Japanese prints represent an effort to provide art to the normal working people, not just wealthy aristocrats. Hiroshige memorializes the exquisite and delicate mood of ancient Japan and lets you feel their experiences.

Darcy Kishida (midk@crisscross.com) Anyone who has ever visited modern Tokyo knows what a dreary and uninviting place it can be. Monotonous rows of offices, apartments with no charm whatsoever, and a shocking lack of architectural originality conspire to rob the metropolis of most of the character it once had. "One Hundred Famous Views Of Edo" will, if not completely change your opinion of Tokyo, at least make you see the city in a new light, enabling the reader to look past the run down buildings and aging neon and view the city as it used to be: an enchanting place virtually untouched by foreign influences and filled with ancient shrines, women in kimono, swaggering samurai, Kabuki theaters, the pleasure quarters, and everything else we associate with old Japan. It will also, if you're not already, make you fall in love with the art of ukiyo-e. "One Hundred Famous Views Of Edo" succeeds in two ways. First, from a purely artistic point of view, it is a stunning collection of all 118 prints in Hiroshige's "Meisho Edo Hyakkei" series (One Hundred Famous Views Of Edo), full-size and faithfully reproduced from the Brooklyn Museum's high quality set of mostly first edition prints. The book is unique in that it includes, in addition to the acknowledged masterpieces such as "Plum Estate, Kameido" and "Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake," many inferior prints which are rarely, if ever, seen. Here though, every print, even the obscure ones, is given its own commentary. Henry D. Smith II, a professor of Japanese history at Columbia University, wrote the commentaries accompanying the plates and explains in his introduction that only focusing on the stronger designs "discourages the appreciation of the many strong features of the lesser designs, and it also distracts attention from the descriptive qualities that clearly appealed to Hiroshige's audience and that can teach us much today about the city of Edo and its culture." Also significant is the fact that "One Hundred Famous Views Of Edo" shows us the series as it was meant to be seen. Those who are familiar with Hiroshige already know that this was his last series and it was enormously popular. As was the case with most ukiyo-e prints, the first edition copies were generally of the highest quality, with sharp, clear lines and delicately graded colors. In later printings, which are comparatively plentiful, a sharp drop in the subtlety of color becomes obvious and the once clean lines begin to blur. The majority of the prints from the Brooklyn Museum fall into the former category. As Professor Smith notes, the great success of the series "led to countless later impressions of far inferior quality, eliminating the most refined printing effects and transforming the color schemes in ways that utterly destroyed the expressive intent of the first impressions." Even to the untrained eye, a side-by-side comparison between a high quality, early impression and a hastily made later one will quickly make this clear. Any ukiyo-e connoisseur will tell you that there is really nothing else like a well-preserved, first edition copy of a favorite print and these are in abundance in "One Hundred Famous Views Of Edo". As impressive as the prints are, however, the commentary is what steals the show here, giving the reader fascinating glimpses into what was the city of Edo and its inhabitants. It has the effect of turning the prints into virtual postcards, which, in the absence of Edo era photographs, serve as a precious visual record of the city and its customs. In his commentary, Smith has the uncanny ability to make even the most mundane details fascinating. Mediocre plates, which would normally hold your attention for only a few seconds at most, are given substance and life by Smith, whose keen eye and attention to detail turn these lesser designs into mini history lessons, travel guides, or short biographies. A good example is plate 70 (Nakagawa River Mouth), which, artistically, this writer considers among the worst of the series. Here were are given a short history of Edo's canal system, learn where its citizens procured their salt, and discover how the scene has changed in the last 150 years. The print is thus saved from obscurity by, ironically, acting as a sort of visual supplement to Smith's text instead of the other way around. The amazing variety of the locations and subject matter of the 118 views and their astute commentary combine to bring Edo alive for the viewer, making it seem strangely familiar and real. We regret the loss of so many beautiful places to modernization and cherish the few precious gems that remain. "One Hundred Famous Views Of Edo" will make those who have never been to Tokyo want to go and former residents want to return for a visit. As for the fortunate who live there now, this book can only increase their appreciation of the city and its unique history.

Everything that you wanted to know or needed to know about African American Literature is contained in this eight hundred page volume. This comprehensive volume covers the historical and cultural contexts of African American literature that has been too long neglected.

Oxford's Companion encompasses the traditional genres of poetry, fiction and drama but goes beyond them. It gives the same analysis to special genres such as Slave Narratives, Oratory, Folk Literature, etc. that you don't normally find in reference works of this kind. These special features and others give this book a unique spot in reference works of literature.

From the moment I got this volume in my hands, I couldn't put it down. Its numerous essays, brief biographies and analysis of the various hues of African American Literature was overwhelming and enjoyable. A referance guide such as this should be in every home. It is user friendly, informative and entertaining. Most of all it will give you a deeper appreciation of the vast types of African American literature produced throughout the years.

I purchased this anthology to assist me in my African-American literature class. This book has given me great insight about the literature of African-Americans. Not only does it give great details about the many authors, but it also explains the nature of their many works. I strongly recommend this book to anyone taking an African-American literature course - regardless of the time period.

This book is so fun to read. The zum-zum, zzzng-zxzng is contagious, the illustrations are great, and the whole idea of the book is wonderfully goofy.

Mosquitoes have never looked so good and sympathetic. Do you have kids who hate mosquitoe bites? Then this is the book for you. The art is lovely and playful; the text is simple and rhythmic. 5 Stars for this nice visual combination.

This book has great ideas to use in your math classroom to motivate your students! It covers a wide range of topics within mathematics, even how to incorporate writing into your curriculum. These activities relate math to situations outside of the classroom. I would HIGHLY recommend this book to any new teacher, or even an experienced teacher.

As messenger boy in the Travel Agency I learned about cabotage and fifth freedom rights. You could write a book about it. Wait! This guy did!
WWII created modern intercontinental aviation. Initially, this business was greeted with much of the wariness today's WTO engenders. Anglo-American unity broke down over aviation even before the war was over.
The negotiations required to resolve these conflicts, especially the famous Chicago Conference of November 1944, are detailed in some depth by University of Wisconsin lecturer in journalism Henry Ladd Smith in this 1950 book. Indeed his writing has much journalistic color, and he always discusses which Congressman is flakking for which airline.
Aviation was so important to the United States and President Roosevelt--even at this late stage of the war and his life--that he dealt with all aviation matters more or less personally. The concept of "fifth freedoms" was FDR's.
I think it deserves all five stars.

I was just doing research for a class about Pikeville and came across Effie's name. I had never read any of her poetry, but when I read 1 stanza of Effie's poetry, I was hooked!!!!!

This is one of the best architectural dictionaries that I have found. It has a number of layman terms and quite a few diagrams. It is concise, but contained all of the terms that we have come up with so far.

Dubbed by Newsweek magazine as "the most exciting individual in the American theater," actress/playwright Anna Deavere Smith gives empathetic reading to this landmark narrative. Known for her portrayal of Nancy McNally on the popular TV show "The West Wing," Smith has also written and performed two one-woman plays pertaining to racial issues in America.

It is one thing to read about the injustices of slavery from a historical or even an observer's point of view. It is quite something else to learn of the daily life of a slave in the indentured person's own voice. Such is the case with "The Bondwoman's Narrative" penned by a female slave in the 1850s.

According to the editor this manuscript has existed for 140 years, and is quite probably the "earliest known novel by a female African-American slave and the earliest known novel by a black woman anywhere." Also according to Mr. Gates a slave escaped from a North Carolina plantation in 1857 and was able to reach New Jersey. It is his contention that she is the author of this book.

Whether one wishes to question the authenticity of his identification or not is quite immaterial considering the compelling material within "The Bondwoman's Narrative." The relationship between ladies' maids and their mistresses is revealed in sharp detail, as are the offensive overtures by a relentless master. The slave and narrator is presented not as a human being but as chattel, valued only for what she might bring on the block.

- Gail Cooke

"The Bondwoman's Narrative" is perhaps the earliest work of fiction by a black woman. The novel details the journey of Hannah Crafts through slavery to her eventual escape to freedom. The story is engaging, suspenseful, humorous and tragic all at once. Yet, given the subject matter, I was rarely saddened by the events depicted in the novel. During the most emotionally difficult parts of the story, where mistreatment, death, and extreme cruelty are revealed, the author provides soothing relief for the reader through her faith in a loving, protecting God. I found it quite refreshing to read a slave narrative where the slaves' faith in God is used to elevate and encourage them to freedom as opposed to placate and conform them to slavery.

The book is beautifully written; authentic in tone, language and setting. Gate's decision to leave the author's original editing marks as part of the published novel provided a peep into Crafts' writing process and choices while at the same time drawing me even closer to the author. I suggest that you read the novel prior to reading the Introduction. I stopped a few pages into the Introduction for fear that I wold learn something through Gate's analysis that I would have picked up from the narrative on my own. Having saved the Introduction and Textual Annotations for last, I return to the book in anticipation of the story about the story of Hannah Crafts.

I highly recommend this novel. It should be welcomed into the American literary cannon. Its content and style are deserving of the honor. An excellent teaching and learning tool (an alternative to "Uncle Tom's Cabin" for sure!), that resonates with the spirit of love. There is something beyond strength throughout the pages of Hannah Crafts' story and Gates deserves kudos for making it available to the world. I can imagine Crafts at her writing desk above smiling down with gratitude.

It is one thing to read about the injustices of slavery from a historical or even an observer's point of view. It is quite something else to learn of the daily life of a slave in the indentured person's own voice. Such is the case with "The Bondwoman's Narrative" penned by a female slave in the 1850s.

According to the editor this manuscript has existed for 140 years, and is quite probably the "earliest known novel by a female African-American slave and the earliest known novel by a black woman anywhere." Also according to Mr. Gates a slave escaped from a North Carolina plantation in 1857 and was able to reach New Jersey. It is his contention that she is the author of this book.

Whether one wishes to question the authenticity of his identification or not is quite immaterial considering the compelling material within "The Bondwoman's Narrative." The relationship between ladies' maids and their mistresses is revealed in sharp detail, as are the offensive overtures by a relentless master. The slave and narrator is presented not as a human being but as chattel, valued only for what she might bring on the block.

Ms. Craft has ably evoked pictures of the old South as well as the horrific conditions imposed by bondage. It is a miracle that these people could even hope for freedom. It is a wonder that this manuscript was brought to light at last.

- Gail Cooke