any book that attempts to cover western 20th century art deserves to be reviewed with a large dose of charity -- the task is huge and perhaps impossible. however, this two volume set (one volume in the paperback edition) seems to go out of its way to make things harder than they have to be.

as with any taschen publication, the printing standards are exceptionally high. there is a wealth of beautiful and often canonical color images of major works by many artists ... the binding is solid and the text crisply printed. as a visual browse the book is a delight. the concluding biographical "who's who" of artists is a useful resource -- the book is probably worth having for these merits alone.

unfortunately the coverage of artists and movements is alarmingly spotty. there is no coherent, clear exposition of the guiding principles or characteristics of surrealism, abstract expressionism or modernism (e.g., greenberg and fried), l'art informel, arte povera, etc.; no mention of the evolving and interdependent influences of art, art criticism, art markets, intellectual trends and social causes. everything is broken up into discussions of individual artists, which is obstructive because there is no subject index. and artists of the calibre of joan mitchell, andy goldsworthy, lucien freud or john marin (!) are omitted entirely.

worst, the text is larded with fuzzy, inane or fatuous commentary that illuminates or documents nothing and very often fails to connect ideas to the illustrated examples. of frida kahlo: "The moving paintings of this long-suffering artist are socially critical without being aggressive." (the illustrated painting is a self portrait.) of joseph beuys: "Beuys devoted his entire life and energy as an artist to propagating his own inner convictions. It would simply not have occurred to him to put his message up on a sign above his front door." well, what's your point? of valerie export: "The Austrian artist Valerie Export devoted herself in her feminist Actions to historical manifestations of female body language (ill. right)." the illustration referred to shows export wearing a box; what is not explained is that this permits men to grope her bared breasts in public. of chris burden: "Chris Burden set out on a voyage of self-discovery via his own body (ill. below left)." what does that mean? the illustration referred to shows two video captures of burden's face and two figures, one pointing a rifle at the other; what is unexplained is that burden is having himself shot in the arm, or why that is interesting. and on and on ...

it is not all that difficult to select representative or important works of art from the 20th century -- auction prices and critical reputation can guide the way. on that criterion these two volumes are well done. it's quite another thing to illuminate, explain, contextualize and connect the enormously rich history of art over the past 100 years, and that is where this overview is a serious disappointment.

This art book is the most complete description, most detailed analysis, most distinguished book of its kind. It has almost every painter of the twentieth century (and some impressionists of the 19th as well) with his/her's most important works and some not so very well known that show the great variety some painters have. This book is full of color photographs of painters (book 1) and of sculptors (book 2). You've never seen Picasso, Pollock, Kline, Lissitsky, Moholy - Nagy, Dali, Vasarely, and hundreds of other so well before ! At the very end of the second book you have a short biography of EACH AND EVERYONE of the painters and sculptors in the book. This is THE MUST BOOK for every art lover in the world.

This books fails as both a romance novel and historical fiction. This author claims to have degrees in psychology and history. I cringed at her depiction of 18th Century life. In her attempt to portray the times, she fails completely. Many others have tried this genre and at the least have gotten the social basics correct about the times. Had this book presented itself as a harlequin romance, I may have understood from the beginning not to expect more, but the author presents this book as historical fiction. It is not even good soap opera.

Anne Newton Walther debuts as a novelist in the most difficult genre of romantic-historic fiction, which typically pleases neither the romantic nor the historian. Ms. Walther's contribution to the genre is accomplished and balanced. Her colourful and compelling fictional characters hold their own with historical figures. Her tale races across the background of the American Revolution with riveting progress. It's a most enjoyable read and would make a terrific film.

If you are looking for an escape this is the book for you.

It is labeled a historical fiction because it includes both fantasy and reality. Do not be dissuaded by those who express disdain about the historical depth of this work. I think those opinions are inappropriately harsh considering Walther does not claim this book to be non-fiction. Books are a form of entertainmment as well as study.

On the reader's journey, she or he will come across beautiful Virginia countryside,breathtaking water views and skies off the island of Bermuda,unforgettable characters and will also learn some fascinating bits of history during the period of the American Revolution. Walther writes an absorbing, beautiful and powerful story which lingers long after the last page is turned. This is a story of love, fierce loyalty, espionage and patriotism.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book precisely because I was looking for a blissful escape and a journey and not a history lesson. It seems we all take ourselves a bit too seriously nowadays.

Indulge yourself, live a little!

An abundance of full-color plates and numerous black-and-white photographs made this book worth the modest price. The text is awkward. It sounds as if English is not the author's first language and certain elements of carelessness in the writing suggest that the author was more concerned with the manuscript deadline than scholarship. Picasso's own words, appearing as blocked quotes in the margins are not dated, nor sources given. The reader is not able to chronologically trace the change in philosophy reflected in his words. The text also suffers from an inordinate number of typographical errors. Walther's poorly disguised gut reaction of disgust in describing some of Picasso's work may reflect the reaction his early critics felt in viewing some of his paintings. Walther uses words such as "horror," "grotesque," "misshapen," and "ugly," at one point writing, "Picasso wanted to destroy absolutely everything."

For anyone who is seeking a decent overview of Picasso's work, this is a good bet for the modest price. Granted the writing may seem a bit akward, but it's perfectly readable and not misrepresentative. I admit, I haven't finished reading the book entirely, but there is a fairly concise chapter concerning each stage of his artistic career, and plenty of good color and B&W reproductions that are a good sample of his incredibly large and varied body of work. Anyone who is more than superficially interested in Picasso could never get by on just one book anyway, and this is a very good primer. The best Taschen published art book I have seen.

This book provides a running biography, complemented by pictures of works from all his major periods--blue, rose, analytic and synthetic cubism, neoclassicism, and political art. It is interesting, and certainly hits on all the highlights of his career, but one cannot help but leave this book with a vague dissatisfaction. Picasso is so incredibly prolific that it is an awkward task to attempt to cover his entire career in these 240 pages. The result is more of an overview than an indepth exploration. [Granted, a book like that would fill volumes]...but I think that if Warncke had chosen to focus on just a few aspects of Picasso's work, the book would feel less cramped. This book is an ideal introduction to Picasso for someone who is experiencing him for the first time. However, more established fans of Picasso's work may feel that they didn't learn anything they didn't already know.

I really hate art books that are all writing, too few images, and this is a classic one of those. Prof. Elger waxes on (and on) about the meaning of the paintings but talks so little about formalistic issues (he is obiviously not a painter nor cares much about the art of painting). I suppose what he says is of interest to some, but as an artist I cared very little for the book.

Picture books are nice... but if you want some information too, it'll have to be some text in it, otherwise you might as well buy a postcardbook instead... It is beyond my comprehension that someone here critisizes a book for providing information instead of images only, and this you find plenty in here.

E.J.Hoffschmidt tells you allmost everything you need to know about the Walther PP and PPK. From produktionstart in the 1920's till now. Varies alterations over the years and all the different special made models for use during WW2. Maintenance of the gun including disassembling/assembling. The book is relevant for the first time user as it does not go into firering details and faultfidings etc. The book was written in 1975 and could need an upgrade therefore 3 stars rather than 4

This book is highly recommended for those who are interested in life insurance and superannuation models. It outlines various topics such as the actuarial mathematics and models for use in the analysis and actuarial management of life insurance and superannuation contracts. Topics covered include: the main forms of life insurance and annuity contracts, disability and long term care contracts and superannuation fund benefits; actuarial notation and the life table; moments of the value of the benefit payments; Thiele's differential equation for policy values; stochastic modelling of claims and benefit payments; gross premiums, net premiums, policy values and reserves; allowing for expenses and inflation; use of discounted emerging costs and profit tests; asset shares in life insurance; termination and alteration values; cost of guarantees; joint life functions; valuation of disability insurance contracts. If you are studying actuarial subjects that involve any of the above concepts then this book is recommended. Included are many questions with answers.

As a student I was excited to find so many new ideas in one place. However, when faced with writing a review of the ideas in this book, I needed to review my finance and accounting texts. If you want to be up on the popular terminology read this book. If you want to reinvent your financial office look somewhere else.

Reinventing the CFO is an extraordinary book. In Austria, Business Administration and Financial Management is over all based on hard "financial" facts. It is good to get to know a perspective, where strategic tasks are truly part of a CFOs work. The book is an excellent guideline, full of ideas. Remarkable is the invention of a socalled "Quickgrid" which allows the reader to check the situation of the financial function in his/her company. The only disadvantage: For a book of about 170 pages, it is very expensive (well, not if you pay amazon`s reduced price).

Some people find it hard to understand this book. But if you're an MBA graduate, terminologies like "value chain" isn't so hard to undertsand. Better to take Startegic Management first before reading this book.

Dr. Bohne's idealology is amazingly sophomoric...it really makes you wonder if this man actually has any type of degree at all