This exciting and well illustrated read traces the incredible expeditions of some of the most famous Spainish Conquistadors. Michael Woods travels along the tropical Amazon and to Everglades of Florida in search of the original route of the likes of Cortez and Pizarro. But this is not just an adventure story but also an accurate conveyance of history and the personalities of the time. He also manages to discuss the history on a thematic level - approaching issues such as human rights and colonialism. The illustrations are beautiful and add to the sense of wonder first experienced when viewed for the first time from European eyes.

5 stars - thoroughly worth purchasing for any history buff!

I fully expected this to be another dry, somnolent history book. Was I ever wrong! Michael Wood has written a conversational account of some of the most gripping yet unreported events in this hemisphere. Trust me on this: you will love his style and his expertise. Wood puts you in the mind of Cortes, Pizarro, and de Vaca and passionately paints the history created by these men. This book will make you want to walk in their footsteps.

This book is awesome! It has countless pictures of where the Conquistadors explored, conqured, and changed the course of history. It has everything from Cortes and the conquest of Mexico and the Aztec Empire, to Francisco Pizarro exploring the Inca Empire. Best book out about the Conquistadors!

This exciting cookbook presents a sampling of the artist's Georgia O'Keefe's favorites dishes. The author worked for Ms. O'Keefe for several years. The recipes are not complicated. I have made several of the dishes and all have been delicious! I highly recommend this book! Doug Moring

Lavishly sprinkled with black-and-white photographs of the artist as well as full-color food photos, A Painter's Kitchen is a feast for the eyes as well as the mind and the stomach. MAIL ORDER GOURMET

Through anecdotes, personal recollections of conversations, black-and-white photographs of Georgia O'Keeffe, full-colored shots of the simple, but elegant food displays, and the unpretentious, sometimes austere recipes of Miss O'Keeffe's favorite foods, one gets a very personal, warm feeling about this celebrated artist. Southwest International Wine & Food Revie

Henry David Thoreau wrote, "It matters not how far you travel, but how much you are alive," and Jim LeMonds, a former English teacher of mine in the small "mill-town" city of Longview, WA embodies this phrase in his tight, solid prose and compassionate understanding of the area and it's people. For anybody to understand the psyche of this area, the Pacific Northwest, I recommend not only living here and listening, but also a cold plunge into the severely deprived art scene and it's few vibrant sectors. Jim LeMonds, in South of Seattle, provides us with one of these. My favorite essay was Scripture For The Land, for it's sheer intensity and truths.

Jim has captured the life of small town America. More precisely small town Pacific Northwest where the largest employer is the lumber companies and the county fair still attracks the whole town. Jim brings to light some of the hardships and personal obstacles that impede the daily lives of even the most simple lives. The memories that Jim shares will most definitely make you laugh and may even bring you to tears. An intimate exploration of a great geographical area.

I am a former English student of the author of "South of Seattle," and not only is this man an exceptional teacher, but he is the only writer of my acquaintance to so vibrantly capture the spirit of life in the ever-growing Pacific Northwest--roots, leaves, rain, et al. If you want to experience a small lumber town and are unfourtunate enough not to have been born and raised there, then take your next best option as an outsider and read this book. This journey through time and terrain is all the more meaningful due to the obvious love the author feels for his topic. Don't miss this one...

THIS BOOK IS AWSOME

I loved it. Mary and Michal Woods did a bomb job. I loved learning about ancient machines. How the pully,wedge,lever came from as late as the stone age. Ancient people are not as primitave as I thoght.

This is a perfect and fascinating book for children and their parents too. My grandchildren will be getting this for Christmas.

In 1930, William Van Alen (architect of New York's Chrysler Building) invented his Art Deco design to embody the spirit of his age when art was expected to be higher, faster, and more dynamic than was to be found in any prior age. Superbly illustrated with images drawn from the Christie's archives, and enhanced with commentaries by Michael Jeffery, Simon Andrews, and Nicolette White, Christie's Art Deco is an informative as it is beautiful, complete capturing the dynamic essence of an art style that defined an era with everything from Japanese ceramics to Swiss poster designs to French glass to American architect, and more. Highly recommended for art history students, art deco collectors and connoisseurs, as well as anyone with an eye for enduring beauty, Christie's Art Deco is enriched with collector's tips, a glossary, museum addresses, Christie's addresses, a select bibliography for further study, and a very helpful index.

Christie's Art Deco, edited by Fiona Gallagher, is an excellent overview of the Art Deco period with highlights of the major designers of each category with innovations in the respective fields of design. It is written in a scholarly narrative text. Categories included are architectural detailing, furniture, glass, ceramics, silver and metalware, jewelry, sculpture, and graphics/posters. It has 192 pages with approximately 120 color photographs and an excellent bibliography given for further research. It is an excellent choice for a wide range of readers with an interest in the decorative arts.

I'm a non-professional -- call me a tinkerer -- who likes to paint: furniture, walls, inside, outside, you name it. I also like to do a good job and sometimes that's tough for an amateur. But then I found this book. It is a veritable dictionary of painting advice and trouble-shooting tips, from how to prepare old wood for painting to how to protect your fingertips as you move into the hypnotic world of a big sanding job; from discussion of stains, dyes, glazes and penetrating oils to how to paint a new fence and preserve the wood. But the real bonus for me is the writing: in a "How-To" book, Fallarino has smoothly inserted anecdotes, aphorisms, and tales of woe and triumph from his own early days as a painter that keep you reading. The result is a "Zen" feeling - a sense of the organic relationship of a worker to the work - familiar to anyone who's ever slipped into the rhythm of rolling long rows of color onto pristine walls or watched a surprising grain pattern emerge under just the right finish. Any down-side to this book? Yes. You could get so involved reading it you let your brushes dry. Of course, if you do, Fallarino tells you how to fix that, too.

I became aware of this book because I worked on the design and production of it. However, as a homeowner who has puzzled over differences between paint and stain, wondered whether I was doing a proper job and how long the finish should last, I was delighted to discover a book that held answers to all my questions, and then some. I would recommend this book to any homeowner, whether you plan to do-it-yourself or hire someone to finish your wood. The information is accessible to the layperson. The case studies illustrate well the problems you may encounter and how to solve them. Five stars!

Michael Antoniak and his family have done what many of us dream about: they left the big city and carved a wonderful life and a wonderful home for themselves in the country. Antoniak's entertaining and informative book explains how to build different types of log cabins without being a professional carpenter. Whether you're ready to build your own country retreat, or just want to dream about it, this is the book for you.

It has been a long time since I've enjoyed a book so much as to pick it up and not be able to set it down until I had read it from cover to cover.The author and his family had so much determination in the success of there projects that most any other individual would have given up long ago. I too live in a log home hand built by our family but with mill purchased logs.
But the inspiration I've recieved from this book has inspired my husband and I to attempt to build a log cabin of round logs up on the hill of our property unless we can find an authentic log cabin to relocate here. We plan to use many of the methods mentioned in the book .

Wood writes with such immediacy about the history of the search for Troy one would think he'd done it himself, or at least been there to witness it.

It is refreshing to see such an easily read book on an overstudied topic.

It is also very refreshing to see a book about Troy that doesn't launch into the usual polemics and irrationalities about Schliemann.

New in this edition is a chapter on new findings which support the historicity of the Trojan War.

Also of interest to fans of this book is "Ages in Chaos" or "Oedipus and Akhenaten" by Immanuel Velikovsky, David Rohl's "Pharaohs and Kings", or Peter James' "Centuries of Darkness".

Only someone like Michael Wood could breath life into such a subject as Troy; his 6 part P.B.S. "Trojan War" series back in 1985 is one of my favorites! The only other author who is as passionate about his subject matter is John Romer. His "Ancient Lives" series is not to be missed.

What I found almost as interesting as the search for Troy, were the varied personalities in the search. Frank Calvert, for example. Were it not for his direction, Schliemann may have never have uncovered what he did.

Sir Arthur Evans died a spent man, both physically and financially, due to the intensity with which he approached Troy.

Carl Blegen's 7 season dig was carried out the with a surgeon's precision. He seemed so passionate about Troy, yet in thought and appearance, so restrained.

Did the war actually occcur? After reading the book, seeing the video, I believe it did; however, still doubts remain. Homer and The Iliad await vindication thirty-two hundred years after the "fact".

After reading the book, I became very interested in archeology. I have visited Ephesus and Herculaneum. Heretofore, having no interest in the subject at all; this, I feel, is the greatness of an author and his/her subject matter. To convey to the reader the excitment, intrigue and triumph that stories like this offer and to draw the reader into the mystery.

That an author can inspire, stir up enthusiasm and interest in this way is a triumph!

This book get a "Two Thumbs Up--Way Up!"

I was first intrigued by M. Wood through his BBC programs, but i am more impressed with his book. In comparison to the BBC programs, the book is able to give much greater detail and thus continuity to the whole story of Greece, Troy and the immortal sacking of Troy. Mr Wood is a true historian in that his analysis is exhaustive, intellectual and above all--objective. Moreover, his passion can bring the reader to the windswept plain of Troy itself.

Compared to books such as "Voluntary Simplicity" by Duane Elgin and similar books, one realises that many of these ideas are nothing new when one reads Walden by Thoreau. In fact, what strikes me is that we as a Western society have not overcome many of the issues pointed out by Thoreau 150 years ago. Thoreau left Concord MA "disdainful of America's growing commercialism and industrialism", the slavish materialism of that society then. One wonders what he'll say if he would see the extend today - in the post Coca-Cola society. But then Thoreau was a man who clearly stepped to his own drum. Becuase of slavery, he refused to support the state on moral grounds. How would his views have been tolerated today?

I am not luddite, but my favourite quote from the book is this: "We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing to communicate". Does this say something about the Internet, newsmedia and our contemporary information overload, or what?

I liked the introduction and footnotes of Meyer. Just enough to provide context and explanation, but never intrusive. This book is as relevant today as it was during Thoreau's lifetime. Highly recommended.

H.D. Thoreau is the first and most important figure in U.S. Radicalism. This collection provides the essential background for the latent radicalism inherent in American politics, especially as it was vocalized in the Civil Rights and Anti-War movements of the 1960's.

Disobedience is the shorter of the texts, but probably more important. It is an attempt to justify moral anarchism and a call to act on individual judgements about justice.

Walden can be interpreted as an important treatise against consumerism and the dangers of specialization, as well as an appreciation of the natural environment. Those interested in anti-globalization/anti-free trade movements would do well to read Walden to gain an understanding of where anti-consumerism came from and an examination of its ethical implications. However, it also pays to remember that Walden is a failed experiment and, in the end, Thoreau returns to Cambridge.

Thoreau, as political philosophy, has certain problems. Moral anarchy and denial of the social contract is difficult to replace in civil society--Thoreau makes no more than the most vague references as to what could replace it, seeming to rely on the fact that his personal sense of justice is universal.

Nevertheless, Thoreau's conscience has resonance and is as relevant today as ever. His rejection of consumerism as the basis for society and its stratification also teaches important lessons.

Thoreau represents that first step in understanding the other part of American political thought--extremely different from that of the Constitution and Federalist Papers--but with profound connections to the work of Dr. Martin Luther King.

I can only speak from experience on this one. This is one of the most remarkable books I've ever read. Thoreau influenced my views on liberty, justice, and integrity [following what is right, not merely that which is deemed law]. The inner journey Thoreau got me started on has continued throughout my life. I credit him for instilling within me the concept of "Teach me how to think, not what"--invaluable to the fledgling independent thinker and philosopher. I highly recommend Ralph Waldo Emerson, in conjunction with Thoreau.

This is really good stuff. Wallace Wood, Gil Kane and company certainly helped raise the bar on comic book art in the mid-sixties. The work is beautifully colored and the reprint quality is superior. However, if you are looking meaningful work from some of comicdom's true masters you may wish to look elsewhere. This work falls far short of Gil Kane's and Wallace Wood's best comic book work. The stories are entertaining but overly simplistic and predictable. There are continuity flaws throughout the THUNDER Agents series.

There are four enjoyable issues in this volume. That's right--only four issues. I was hoping for more. Volume #2 only takes you through issue #7. For this price, the original issues of The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents can readily be had in decent condition. I'm glad someone, DC Comics in this case, has finally given us a archives version of this series. ...

Any student of comic history who hasn't read THUNDER Agents (as I was...) is clearly missing a significant part. It's like studying American History and skipping WW I. Yeah, most people find the Civil War and WW II more interesting, but WW I, as an event, gets more influential as time passes.
So does THUNDER Agents. Trying to imagine this sort of comic book coming out in the era that it did...it must have been head-spinning to some kid casually picking it out of the circular, rotating comic rack down at the local drug store. Interlocking stories, "personal" touches, fallible heroes...retrospectively hugely impressive.
Add this to your collection...and save space for the next few volumes. You've been warned.

I, like many others, judging from reading some articles in the comic book magazines, eagerly awaited this latest release in DC's Archives editions once I knew it was coming out. To be honest, I did not know DC Comics had the rights/were negotiating on them and even if I had would never have expected T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents to be one of their choices for 2003 release.

I recall when I first saw the original comic book on the racks back in England being curious due to the number of pages it contained (way more than usual, albeit at a higher price than comics back then,)the vibrant colors and not least the illustrations by Wally (Mad Comic/EC Comics) Wood, among other stars of comic books at the time who's work graced the pages; Gil (Green Lantern) Kane being another.

The introduction to this volume really says it all - and better than I, so I won't go on too long! Suffice it to say, in addition to eye-catching art, the reader is treated to great stories and much better characterization than the DC heroes at the time (maybe not as good as some Marvel characters of the day, but without their overly-done angst and problems).

I might be sounding a little heretic here, but I must admit I found some of Wood's poses a little wooden even at that young age, and still do. His heroes just don't have the fluidity of movement as say Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four, Steve Ditko's Spiderman, Gil Kane's Green Lantern and Carmine Infantino's Flash. A bit like Mike Sekowsky's Justice League of America - legs and arms a little stiff. Still, the rest of his work more than make up for this small quibble.

The stories are great - in my view better than most of the comic books of the time - certainly up there with Stan Lee's work on the Fantastic Four and Spiderman. The villain is sort of like Nick Fury, Agent of Shield's, Hydra - a head bad guy who never confrnts the good guys -having his minions get bowled over like bowling pins each issue. Not so good as the Flash's, Batman's or Spiderman's varied crews of miscreants, but you can't have it all.

The quality of DC's Archive Editions is top notch - collecting and reading many of them bring back my first exposure to the comics way back in my pre-teens. I heartily recommend them, irrespective of what some feel is a high price, judging from some of the reviews on Amazon. I feel they are reasonable - the $34.97 Amazon price compares favorably against the $19.95 one pays for many/most Graphic Novels/Trade Paperback collections of more recent comic books, that have many less pages/stories.

There are several other Archive collections I hope DC publish, all of them a little "left field" - Metal Men, Metamorpho, Eclipso, Kirby's Challenger's of the Unknown, to name few. However, I know which one I'll be eagerly awaiting - Volume Two of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, featuring Dynamo, Noman and Menthor, due out in the late Spring!