One of his lesser known works, Shakespeare's Trojan play is also one of his most intriguing. Not quite a burlesque, 'Troilus and Cressida''s lurches in tone, from farce to historical drama to romance to tragedy, and its blurring of these modes, explains why generations of critics and audiences have found it so unsatisfying, and why today it can seem so modern. Its disenchanted tone, its interest in the baser human instincts underlying (classical) heroism look forward to such 20th century works as Giraudoux's 'The Trojan War Will Not Take Place' or Terry Jones' 'Chaucer's Knight'; the aristocratic ideals of Love and War, inextricably linked in this play, are debased by the merchant-class language of exchange, trade, food, possesion - the passionate affair at its centre is organised by the man who gave his name to pimps, Pandarus, and is more concerned with immediate sexual gratification than anything transcendental. The Siege of Troy sequences are full of the elaborately formal rhetoric we expect from Shakespeare's history plays, but well-wrought diplomacy masks ignoble trickery; the great heroes Ajax and Achilles are petulant egotists, the latter preferring the company of his catamite to combat; the actual war sequences, when they finally come, are a breathless farce of exits and entrances. There are a lot of words in this play, but very few deeds.

Paris, Prince of Troy, has abducted Helen, wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta. Led by the latter's brother Agamemnon, and his Machiavellian advisors Ulysses and Nestor, the Greeks besiege Troy, demanding the return of Helen. However, Achilles' dissatisfaction at the generals' endless politicking has spread discontent in the ranks. Within Troy, war takes a distinct second place to matters of the heart. While Paris wallows in luxury with his prize, his youngest brother Troilus uses Pandarus as a go-between to arrange a night of love with his niece, Cressida. When one of the Trojan leaders is taken prisoner by the Greeks, the ransom price is Cressida.

There is only one character in 'Troilus' who can be said to be at all noble and not self-interested, the eldest Trojan prince Hector, who, despite his odd interpreation of the quality 'honour', detests a meaningless war, and tries to spare as many of his enemies' lives as he can. He is clearly an anachronism, however, and his ignoble slaughter at the hands of a brutal gang suggests what price chivalry. Perhaps the most recognisable character is Thirsitis, the most savagely cynical of his great Fools. Imagine Falstaff without the redeeming lovability - he divests heroes and events of their false values, satirises motivations, abuses his dim-witted 'betters' and tries to preserve his life at any cost. Written in between 'Hamlet' and 'All's Well That Ends Well', 'Troilus' bears all the marks of Shakespeare's mid-period: the contrapuntal structure, the dense figures, the audacious neologisms, and the intitially deferred, accelerated action. If some of the diplomacy scenes are too efective in their parodic pastiche of classical rhetoric, and slow things down, Act 5 is an amazing dramatic rush, crowning the play's disenchantment with love (with an extraordinarily creepy three-way spaying of an infidelity) and war.

The New Penguin Shakespeare is the most accessible and user-friendly edition for students and the general reader (although it does need updating). Unlike the Oxford or Arden series, which offer unwieldy introductions (yawning with irrelevant conjecture about dates and sources) and unusable notes (clotted with tedious pedantry more concerned with fighting previous commentators than elucidating Shakespeare), the Penguin's format offers a clear Introduction dealing with the play and its contexts, an appendix 'An Account of the Text', and functional endnotes that gloss unfamiliar words and difficult passages. The Introduction is untainted by fashions in Critical Theory, but is particularly good at explaining the role of Time ('When time is old and hath forgot itself...And blind oblivion swallowed cities up'), the shifting structure, the multiple viewpoints in presenting characters, and Shakespeare's use of different literary and linguistic registers.

Troilus and Cressida is one of Shakespear`s many romances, and, like most of his romances, is a tragedy. Since time immemorial, Shakespears` works have been used as plays, literature and (least often) just casual reading. While Troilus and Cressida is one of the less known plays, it is no less a good one. It is based in Troy(as the name might imply)during the much renowned Trojan War. The valiant Troilus, son of the Trojan king is enamoured of Cressida, also of Troy. Meanwhile, the Greek hosts have laid siege to the city, and the warrior Achilles refuses to fight, encouraging further interaction between the two sides. Cressida, however, is the daughter of a Greek sympathizer(if that is the correct word)and may not be able to honour her commitment to the Trojan prince...

I think this is one os Shakespeare's most underrated plays, probably because of all the uncouth characters. Based on Chaucer's rendition of the story, T and C are Trojan lovers, and she is then traded to the Greeks in exchange for captive soldiers. Aside from this, the women of Troy are wanton and lustful, and the men are prowess driven. If you can deal with this, you will really enjoy Shakespeare's ability to wrap this into all kinds of twists and turns. It delivers a mixture of satire, comedy, romance, tragedy, and a semi-historical (in that people at the time probably believed the Trojan War really happened). Interestingly, this mixture of laughs and tragedy is reminiscent of war novels I have read about Vietnam. The romantic dimensions give this play its edge, and somehow WS manages to make it plausible in spite of all the killing and deceit going on at the same time.

my review to measure the flow of the blood in the arm

It is a great book. It covers many a topics of the Doppler techniques, haemodynamics, etc. It will help learners and advanced students. Beware: once you star reading it, you cannot stop!!.

This book is another masterpiece from Dr. Nicolle, very comprehensive and well-written. But the plates - I still can't believe that Osprey passed them to be published in such a serious book. That "noblewoman" in the elven dress never existed in history; an "anglo-norman knight" having a big saxon moustache; the footman with some kind of "slashing spear" (probably his gandfather killed a samurai) and so on. I think, Mr. McBride art is perfect for fantasy books, but not for historical reference ones.

This is an excellent book for anyone interested in the state of Normandy. Like most Osprey titles it is good introduction to the subject it represents. I was dissapointed however by Dr. Nicolle's lack of emotion in his writing. Unlike other titles in the Osprey series, this book has the drama of history made relatively dry. Despite this, the information presented is very informative, and would be an excellent secondary source for a paper. Perhaps the best aspect of this book is Mr. McBride's artwork. Unlike his peers, his illustrations seem very realistic. Nothing ruins a good book like drawings of soldiers milling around aimlessly with strange facial expressions. McBride puts depth and emotion in his illustrations, not just "soldiers on parade". I also like the fact that he puts a backround in his pictures, instead of stark white. If I could find large prints of his work I would certainly frame them and adorn my walls with them.

The Arkangel series' has only one rival set but a formidable one. that one is put out by Harper Collins and stars Keith Michell, Vanessa Redgrave and co-stars an appropriately dry-voiced Max Adrian as Jacques and a lively-voiced Stanley Holloway as Touchstone. In general, and this is true of most of this new series, the Arkangel actors seem a lot younger (the Jacques of Gerard Murphy perhaps too much so) and give a more modern (i.e., less lyrical) reading to the text.

I think the Arkangel might appeal more to younger listeners, but both sets are quite good and it would be difficult to choose between them. Niamh Cusack is a quite believable Rosalind, while Stephen Mangan (Orlando)does what he can with a rather silly role, although he does miss a good moment in his blandly delivered retort to the Wrestler about mocking him too soon. I could wish Clarence Smith's Touchstone had a bit more "character" in his voice. Victoria Hamilton is quite charming as Celia. I was quite taken with the almost Ronald Coleman voice of Philip Voss as Duke Senior.

The music, neither Elizabethan nor modern but more like American western, is nevertheless appropriate. The singers on the older recordings, however, have far superior voices. An annoying feature is the tendency to overdo the sound effects. Once we establish a woodland or a garden by a few bird tweets, it is really unnecessary to continue them over the dialogue as is done here.

Since the director's choice in these recordings is to have no narrator to supply stage directions, the listener without a text can get quite lost during all the references to "you" and "you" in the denouements of the last scene. Perhaps they can take a hint from the Branagh recordings on Bantam and simply have the character call the addressee by name. Here we do get some non-verbal sounds from the other actors by way of identification, but they are of minimal use. Of course, since this series is near completion, it is too late to suggest a change in policy. But please take note, future directors.

I think this book is a very informative and attractive introduction to combat photography. It features many Pulitzer Prize winning photos as well as some of the most famous photos from America's wars. I also found the detailed photographer profiles and their quotes about what it's like to be there in the field very fascinating.

I'm biased: these reports were written by my great-grandfather, and edited by my great-uncle. That aside, what emerges from this book are well-worded images of a 21-year-old's leaving Utica, NY, for Washington and becoming part of the Army of the Potomac in 1861: marching and bivouacking; social events; provisioning; endless battle preparations; comments on society, the countryside, the mood of soldiers and civilians encountered; personal feelings. The battles in which Ritchie saw great action were those of Seven Pines (late May, 1862), Spotsylvania Court House and the North Anna (May, 1864), and Petersburg (March, 1865).

To give an idea of Ritchie's writing, here is his description of meeting Abraham Lincoln at one of the President's Tuesday evening social events:

I attended the last one and escaped unharmed... I held no conversation with any of the notables except Mr. Lincoln, the main portion of which I can recollect. A man who did not know my name introduced me to the President and he immediately extended his hand, seemed delighted to meet me and remarked with much concern, 'How do you do?' In my blandest tone I responded, 'Very well, thank you, sir' and was about to inquire after Mrs. Lincoln's health when we both dropped the subject and our conversation ceased. As I passed on I noticed that there were two or three hundred others behind me waiting to talk with Mr. Lincoln on the same subject.

The book is an easy read, because it has been well edited from Ritchie's diary, letters written home, and from his reports sent to the Utica Herald, for which he was a correspondent. The book gives a human aspect to the huge machinery of making -- and making ready for -- war. I liked it.

It is a shame that this book is not available now. Although it was written in 1988 and thus it is not up-to-date with the discoveries of the past 12 years this book is still an amazing read. What is written in it is still valid and gives readers a fascinating visual tour of the long-disappeared world. I hope there will be a reprint and maybe also an addendum focusing on new discoveries.

This book is what is a 800 pages that let us drown into the life and toughts of one of the most brilliant architects in the whole world, Norman Foster.
This isn't a kind of book that describes the projects and works, this book give us the fundamental of the work, the process of construction. The cd that come together is a selection of works with animation and images, but is equal to the norman foster and partners site on the web, it could be more useful and different.
THIS IS A WONDERFULL BOOK ABOUT A GREAT ARCHITECT, THEYRE MASTERS , FRIENDS, AND PARTNERS.

At last the "King" series on the Arkangel Shakespeare sets are complete ("Henry VIII" does not count) with the appearance of . The only competitive set is available from Harper Collins and stars a somewhat miscast Robert Stephens in the title role. When I say "miscast," I mean that his reading lacks the charm and the humor that Olivier was able to infuse into the villainy. Here on Arkangel, David Troughton fares somewhat better. But.

Perhaps after all the recent psychopathic Richards we have had, from Ian Holm in 1963 through a long line of Richards on crutches and bald, Frankenstein-lookalike Richards, Troughton's reading is something of a relief. But of course we have only the voice to go by. The play opens with a laugh of glee before the opening words; but for the rest of the first three acts that element of fun is simply not there. Richard is not enjoying himself enough for me. He does, however, come up with some original readings of his "My kingdom for a horse" utterances.

The Queen Elizabeth of Sonia Ritta is poorly done indeed. For a queen "well struck in years" and "a beauty waning and distressed widow," she sounds far too young and too modern in her defiance of Richard early in the play and her yielding to him (if that is how you interpret the second wooing scene) later on. Perhaps some more oiliness on the part of Philip Voss's Buckingham would have helped to distinguish him from the others in the cast.

The pacing of the scene with the messengers is far too slow and ends with the same adagio chamber music used more effectively earlier in the recording. This is, I believe, the only Arkangel set that plays music during a soliloquy and it works well here. The sound of horses at every opportunity grows wearisome--especially after the three Henry VI plays--and is not necessary in several instances.

Still, "Richard III" is one of Shakespeare's earliest successes that still attracts actors and audiences to this day; and this set is well worth the having and hearing.

This book provided a comprehensive review of making a living in Africa. It talked about the futility of coconut farms as a succesful job and talked about where in Africayou could find the best decently paying job and relatively low-cost housing. I liked this book because it was not as dense as other books about trade and fiscal adjustment in Africa I had read. It also helped persuade me not to move to Africa, an option which I had been thinking about when I quit my last job.