Using biographies of early stars, Charles Wolfe deftly weaves the history of one of the longest running radio programs. The result is a highly readable, entertaining, and educational survey of the Opry's first two decades. This period was dominated by string bands, such as those led by Dr. Humphrey Bate, Theron Hale, and the Brinkley Brothers. But individuals soon came to dominate the program. Chief among them the irrepressable Uncle Dave Macon and the man who would become the living embodiment of the Opry, Roy Acuff. Wolfe is equally adept at discussing both entertainers' personalities and the business of radio and programing. This book belongs in every Country music and radio lover's collection.

This book excels all that I have read about a fascinating subject! Contrary to most history books, you'll read this one until you finish it, I promise.

This is a truly unique and fascinating coffee table book. Photographs as well as poems, scriptures, stories, myths, & legends are taken from all over the world & encompass many different cultures.

The pictures are spectacular. They will take you to the misty mountains of China & then let you travel to the lush green forests of Italy. You will also witness the golden sun melting softly into the beautiful Australian coast.

You can then observe zebras grazing the Serengeti Plain or discover the beautiful nature-made sandstone sculptures of Arizona. The brilliant green plains & sparkling blue waters of Madagascar will take your breath away.

Captions for each these images are located in the back & include photographic information, location, & some of the photographer's thoughts on the composition. If you can only buy one coffee table book, this is definitely the one to get.

I myself have been a serious photographer for over 10 years, collecting books from many different photographers. This book here ranks as the very best book in my library! I cannot praise it enough.

Sometimes it seems as if there is never enough time for enrichment activities at school like art. I checked this book out from my local library hoping to find some inspiration for making some new art projects and later purchased it for my classroom. Since my elementary classroom has students with very disparate levels of English language ability, I needed a book that was written clearly enough to not discourage my ESL (English as a Second Language) students and yet not so simple that my more advanced English speakers would think of it as a "baby book."

This book was exactly what I needed with clear concise language and an abundance of beautiful color paintings and illustrations. There were also "look closer" sections for each topic, which gave useful prompts and questions to encourage further exploration by students. Suggested activities were also tremendously useful in translating learning about art into projects that my students could enjoy. Difficult words were also printed in bold so as to make vocabulary review easier for students. We ended up making a Van Gogh "The Starry Night" project and learned about foreground and background as well as color and light. The children loved it and that says a lot for often-difficult-to-please sixth graders.

I highly recommend this book as an introduction to art for third through sixth graders.

Review by: Maximillian Ben Hanan

This book is easy to use and is very informative. It provides simple, yet insightful guidelines for looking at a variety of works. It also provides some creative activities to further the learning process. We have tried most of the suggested activities and found them to be both fun and challenging with fine results from within the suggested age range. An excellent investment for both rainy days and summer fun.

Photographing Innovation Art is considered one the wonderful natural world books. In this book, Art Wolf mirrors the virgin reforents area in elegant manner. Art Wolf knows quite well when and where to boast these rare places, animals, and plants that live in. His representation style is unequal to any other works, particularly in clear views, which express the theme he wants to convey in detailed natural views. It looks like hand made artistic works. Art Wolf has high skills and capabilities in views production. His views are wonderful and have natural beauty, which makes you feel, taste, and sees natural elegance and expressive views as we have seen in his previous works. The text and photo are complementary to each other. Both seek to achieve one goal- to save the area from surrounding danger as depicted in Wolfs work. Generally it is a wonderful book indeed by art Wolf. It makes us astonished by its expressive and moving pictures. He allows us see the photos from any angles to get different impression. This book is recommended for those who love unique natural world and high standards photos

A book that is spectacular to look through and educational in content. A Christmas gift that was truly special.

I used this book as a basis for all my carvings, This book actually started me in the buisness of woodcarving and I created my first Walking stick from the instructions therein.

Two years ago I purchased this book and a set of six tools. My goal was to create a hobby that was rewarding and relaxing. I can truthfully say that I have never been more satisfied with any purchase. I have found a world of enjoyment from the simple act of cutting wood. In three days, I will exhibit in my first show, The Tupelo Gum Tree Festival, Tupelo, MS. I have never been more relaxed and proud of anything I have done before. Thank you Tom Wolfe! Dennis Renfro

Wild Asia: Spirit of a Continent is a beautiful oblong title providing a visual journey through the Asian wildlife world based on an international television series by the Natural History New Zealand. Enjoy color photos and a variety of writers who focus on their regional knowledge of Asia, from the Arctic tundra to central Asia. An exceptional visual display blends with nature insights.

This book was a great buy for me. Although it is very general as animals and plants go, it opens up the wonder of Asia to the reader. Its pictures are extremely magnificent; they are the main focus of the book. It is said a picture tells a thousand words, and it is very true for this book. The color and great shots are just as good as it gets, next to being there.

My overall impression of the book with the accompanying software is excellent. It is an effective way to teach otherwise abstract ideas. The software along with the book put me in the "doing" mode, which is reminiscent of John Dewey's "learn by doing" theory. Further, Dr. Wolfe's writing style is welcoming and she did a wonderful job of breaking tremendously big ideas, like radiosity, into small understandable chunks... I felt like an active reader... This was another thing that made it friendlier for the non-computer scientist.

Even though the narration was serious, there was a refreshing sense of humor folded into it, we are to enjoy ourselves, after all. I especially liked the "go away" button in the software, it made me feel more at ease and added a sense of playfulness. The exercises had the same spirit, they set me up with new information, then asked me to test it out in new ways. All the while I was having fun and forgot that I was doing (ehem) work.

The strongest and most friendly parts of the narrative were the examples. Dr. Wolfe consistently tied new ideas with things we already know. For example, and there are too many to mention them all, she explained the intensity of a directional light source by connecting it with the headlights of a car at different distances, and the concept of ambient light by describing a portrait studio.

The basis of Dr. Wolfe's narrative, the fine tuning of the student's "visual literacy" is appropriate, especially since this is an under-represented discipline in contemporary schooling. As she stated in the introduction, visual literacy is important for artists and programmers because both groups need to be able to identify the computer graphic effects in an image and be able to communicate about it... Visual literacy is an understanding of images and what they represent. Just as letters form words that are symbolic of thought, so too are digital effects that form images which are representative of ideas. How those ideas come across visually has everything to do with how the picture is composed and what effects the artists and programmers choose. Just as an artist must accept that a raytraced three hour movie is computationally unreasonable, a programmer must understand that getting the correct highlight or texture impacts the meaning of an image, even if it requires slightly more work.

This kind of book is very appropriate for teaching 3D artists basic graphics concepts. The students grapple with all the topics Dr. Wolfe covered in the book. The students presently see these concepts as obscure options in a daunting software package manual. Many students never grasp the differences between the light models, surface algorithms, and shaders they choose. In fact, some do not understand why they run out of time trying to render an animation before an assignment deadline. After all they left it to render all night! 3D Graphics: A Visual Approach clearly illustrates why their animation did not finish rendering on time, as well as other abstract ideas the students initially encounter. The book removes the obscurity from the concepts and makes them real.

There are a few places that I do not think are necessary for the artists to understand, yet I would not remove them from the book. Just as the types of people in computer science vary, so do the people in art. Some will want to know exactly how the amplitude and frequency were calculated, while others will just want to use it. Even though there are places that are most appropriate for artists, such as the first three chapters, basic texture mapping, lighting, basic shaders, and portions of the cost and effect chapter, the other areas, like amplitude, raytracing revisited, and some of the details of "foolers" will provide further information for those interested.

The software was straightforward, and yes, it did take me all but 15 seconds to learn. However, some kind of notation in the table of contents that corresponds to each option in TERA. I often found myself checking the table of contents to try to figure out which part of TERA I should play with. It will just make the readability better.

I also think there should be a title bar that specifies what portion of TERA I am running while I explore. For example, something that says "Z-buffer Algorithms" or "Foolers" while I am in that section.

Overall, the book was excellent! A thinking reader will not get confused, yet when I look at the table of contents, I am amazed about the amount of information Dr. Wolfe covered. I almost feel a bit guilty, like I learned something without "working." I think that is the point.

I've read this story about James Wolfe, truly he was a hero. Anyone who loves great history would be riveted by the details.

i am trader of a.b.s buttones and if you want to buy high quality buttons frome pakistan please cotact mr asif noor. eastech@brain.net.pk

I looked for a long time for a Book on Calder before I found this beautiful, yet well priced Volume. It's all here from the Toys and the wonderfully playful "Calder's Circus", to the Mobiles and Stabiles, with Jewelry, Household Objects, Bronzes, Tapestries, Rugs, Sculptures and much more in between. There are many wonderful photographs which showcase the wide array of Calder's Art and of course Calder himself. Also included are a timeline, a useful Bibliography and an interesting "Who's Who in Calder's World." At $ 32.00 this book is a must buy of one of America's most important and influential Artists of all time.