I almost bought this book at the Whitney for my Mom after seeing some of these photos up close but my corporate discount did not apply and my Mom would not let me pay full price! Needless to say, I'm buying it on Amazon! These reproductions are beautiful and my Mom, a woman of culture and impeccable taste, loves the photos and the fashion; this is a very, very fine book! Read it and be transformed into another era.

George Hoyningen-Huene was one of the most sought-after fashion photographers of the 20's and 30's. However, he was far more than just a hack. In fact, Hoyningen-Huene is regarded by many as the greatest master of photographic lighting who ever lived. Hoyningen-Huene worked before anything resembling contemporay flash photography came along. He worked in huge studios and used whatever lighting worked best, from huge theatrical spots to, on at least one occasion, an ordinary flashlight-and everything in between. If you've never seen his work, it's very easy to predict that you'll find many astonishing and stunning images in this book. As mentioned, what will most strike you is the lighting. However, there is something about the texture of these old black and whites that one seldom finds in contemporary work. Beyond fashion, Hoyningen-Huene was a master portraitist as well, and you'll find quite a few images of Hollywood stars and other celebrities here as well, since he spent the last years of his career working in Hollywood. This book is a must for anyone interested in the History of Photography, photographic lighting, and photo portraiture. It's very easy to give this book the highest possible rating. The only wish one could possibly have after reading it is "Please, give me more!"

As a comprehensive introduction and a terrific bibliographic resource for introductory through graduate level research, there is no finer text on this area. Furthermore, the changes in the new edition are terrific; they make the text more accessible and also, more coherent. This is a "must have" for any student of the Renaissance, Reformation, or liberal religious studies.

Professor George Huntston Williams invented the term "Radical Reformation", and The Radical Reformation is a text that is indispensable to anyone who is serious about understanding this most important and pivotal period in history. I assign this text for my courses, and expect that my students will find it a valuable reference tool as they go on to teaching -- and to ministry within a dissenting religious tradition. While I recognize that there is a recent interest in the Radical

Reformation, with much that is new, exciting and compelling in scholarship and inquiry, I don't know how one could begin to understand the complexities of this period without having Professor Williams's book on the subject. It would be comparable to trying to understand the World Wide Web without knowing anything about computers. All of us who care about The Radical Reformation are indebted to Professor Williams, who is currently the Hollis Professor Emeritus at Harvard.

This was a terrific kid's book. It satisfies childrens reading needs. I suggest this to readers between the ages six and nine.

How did Emily know there was candy on the card? Read the book and find out. Anyway it was great. I want to be a detective, well, got to go solve a case about a present. BYE!!!!!!

The philosophy of Santayana is remembered mostly by his theory of aesthetics, which is discussed in detail in this book. His aesthetic theory is basically subjective, or "psychological", and if viewed from a contemporary standpoint, somewhat at odds with current developments in neuroscience, but closer than most schools of Western philosophy. All philosophical theories of aesthetics are interesting to investigate from the standpoint of comparing them to what is said about the human aesthetic faculty in modern research in neuroscience.

As in ethics, Santayana approaches aesthetics in three different ways, namely as the exercise of the aesthetic faculty, the history of art, and the psychological. The first two do not concern the author in the book, his attention devoted entirely to the third. His intention is to remove himself from the influence of the poets and of Plato, and find the out how ideals are formed in the mind, how objects may be compared with them, what properties are shared in beautiful things, and the process by which humans become sensitive to beauty and in turn value it. He is after a definition of beauty that explains its origin in human experience, and one that explains the human capacity to be sensible of beauty and the relation between a beautiful object and its ability to excite the human senses.

The author takes a different definition of aesthetics, being one that he calls "critical" or "appreciative perception", and which results from combining a notion of criticism with that of the notion of aesthetics as a theory of perception. Santayana wanted to develop a theory of aesthetics that relies on perceptions as a judgmental, critical notion. Perceptions that are not appreciations are thus to be excluded. An aesthetic theory then deals with the "perception of values".

The author's view of religion is well-known, and his atheism rare for his time. The religious imagination he says, has resulted in creations that rival those of the poets and novelists, so much so, he says, that humans believe the content of these creations to have objective reality. The ideas of these divinities are further enhanced by the realization of their natural power, with the belief in the reality of an ideal personality bringing about its further idealization, eventually spanning many human generations. History and tradition are cast by the imagination of these deities, in which peity resides and is nourished. The author of course does not excuse the God of Christianity from this, but he acknowledges the possibility that the human conceptions of Christ and Mary may in fact have real counterparts (the evidence of this not to be explored in this work).

The author states that unless human nature undergoes radical change, the main intellectual and aesthetic value of ideas will come from the creative acts of imagination. If human perceptions are not connected with human pleasures, there would be no need to look at things, no interest in them at all, and no importance would be imputed to them. It is indeed amazing how many ideas, thought to be rational, logical, or abstract, actually fit in with the author's aesthetic worldview. Concepts and results in science and mathematics in particular, after their discovery, are sometimes thought of as having their origin in logic and reason. But it was the keen human imagination that brought them about: a grand interplay of intuition and playfullness. Ugly ideas are not permissible: only the most beautiful survive...and oddly, and most interestingly, it is these that usually seem to work the best, and transcend the context in which they were discovered.

In this book, Santayana rejects the Platonic conception of beauty is an intrinsic characteristic of a thing, and argues for beauty that exists only in the mind (and senses, hence the title) of the viewer. The pleasure that beauty gives its audience is universal, but what is beautiful is not universal across audiences. That may be old hat to us, but wasn't quite so old hat in his time. Santayana enumerates various types of beauty, and relates each to the pleasure it gives its audience. Santayana even claims that some of our other preferences -- for example, for youth over age -- are fundamentally aesthetic in nature.

The argument is Santayanaesque, and thus not exactly rigorous. A lot of the physiology ("Psychology is always physiological," he writes) is hokey to our "modern" medical minds. Some of the digressions seem to be just him taking the opportunity to say something clever, rather than advancing the main argument in any way.

Still, Santayana is a virtuoso of putting together large, complex "big think" arguments, and he writes subtly and beautifully. This book is worth it, even if only to see Santayana doing what he does best: arguing broadly and forcefully, this time for a new conception of aesthetics.

This is more than a history of iambic pentameter and a brilliant analysis of its use in the hands of its greatest practitioner, it should probably also be read as the best general introduction to prosody available. Truly general introductions may touch on more forms and offer a more complete view of English poetic history, but none out there (that I've seen, at least) are as perceptive as Wright and none of them, perhaps because of their general natures, elucidate so fully the possibilities of expressive variation and mimetic form in poetry the way Wright does in such minute detail. Chapters like "Lines with extra syllables," or "Lines with omitted syllables," or "Play of phrase and line" may at first glance promise only dry reading, and it's probably hard to believe that a 300-page book on iambic pentameter could be one of the best works of literary criticism you could ever read. But this is an analysis of at least half of what poetry is all about and, more importantly, the half most rarely talked about (most college professors don't even know how to). Digest this rich and beautifully written book with a handful of Shakespeare's plays (you won't be able to stay away from them after reading it anyway) and you'll be ready to tackle and analyze most any other poet with relative confidence for yourself.

George T. Wright's "Shakespeare's Metrical Art" is an introduction not only to the art of Iambic Pentameter as Shakespeare practiced it but also a starting point to an understanding the art of Iambic Pentameter itself. Mr. Wright argues that in Shakespeare the Iambic Pentameter meter found its greatest and most flexible practitioner. In appreciating the beauty of Shakespeare's artistry we also come to appreciate the intrinsic artistry and beaty of the meter. Mr. Wright's journey begins with Chaucer and Wyatt, the former being the earliest practitioner of the Iambic Pentameter line and also the greatest until Shakespeare. His reading of Chaucer's lines, as most often Iambic Pentameter, sometimes runs counter to accepted wisdom, yet, as with his conception of the meter itself, his argument is well-reasoned and convincing. More contraversial is his treatment of Wyatt's often inconsistent use of meter. Yet, here again, Wright offers the reader a plausible framework into which Wyatt's poetry becomes another expression of the meter's vitality and flexibility. From the further disintegration of the meter after Wyatt, Wright begins his treatment of Shakespeare's metrical art. Every facet of Shakespeare's flexible and imaginative use of the meter (his diversions from its strict course) is methodically examined and considered for its possible influence upon the meaning of the text. These diversions include Shakespeare's use of long and short lines, syllabic ambiguity, lines with extra syllables, lines with omitted syllables, trochees, false trochees and other such variations as are possible within the iambic pentameter meter. Wright rounds off the book with an all too short consideratiom of the meters use after Shakespeare -- including the writers Donne, Milton, and in passing twentieth writers Frost, Stevens, and Eliot. With Mr. Wright's contention that the Iambic Pentameter meter reached its zenith at Shakespeare's hands, his argument comes to the inevitable conclusion that Shakespeare's skill is one which later generations may echo, rarely equal, but never exceed. This is a book both for the lover of Shakespeare and the reader of poetry who wishes to better understand the art of one of the english language's greatest trimphs.

This is the version used in my college Shakespeare courses, way back in 1972! It was lost in a housefire, and I haven't seen it since. The one hundred page introduction is dense and rich in historical detail. This IS the best version I have ever encountered. What a find!

This is the most excelent compliation of the works of William Shakespeare that I have ever seen. The introductions to the works are thorough and the footnotes are easily understandable. I highly recomend this book to any Shakespeare fan

This book is the classic introduction to cave sciences. Written for the lay person, but with plenty of scientific specifics. Caving is a very young science. This book was written many years ago, and much has been added to our knowledge of caves. Every serious caver starts with this book, though.

Anyone interested in learning more about caves will want this book. It is easy to read, yet introduces cave science (Speleology) in a clear and logical way. Even a layman like me can understand it. It is beautifully illustrated with detailed diagrams and striking drawings.Both cave geology and cave biology are covered. You will find answers to questions like how caves are formed, why some caves breathe in and out, how stalactites and stalagmites develop, what kind of animals live in caves, and why some cave animals are blind. The authors were pioneers in modern cave research. They have spent a lifetime studying and exploring caves, and write about the subject with style and authority. Main sections are: Caves as Natural Laboratories, Origin of Caves, Characteristics of the Underground Atmosphere, Growth of Stalactites and Other Speleothems, Behavior and Products of Cave Microorganisms, Habits of Cave Animals, Evolution of Blind Cave Animals, Uses of Caves, References and Related Readings, Caves in the U.S. Open to the Public, Index. David McClurg, author of Adventure of Caving, a how-to book on cave exploration.

"The sporting life" is an odyssey in an american effort to preserve the european tradition of hunting and fishing. Vulgar, but absolutely wonderful.

I love this book!. My copy, which I bought some years ago is getting rather worn for the many times I've re-read it and browsed through its pages, discovering new small details every time in its wonderful pictures. The book reflects the deep old involvment of Americans with land and its flora and fauna, as well as its reverence and respect for it. It shows the traditions of Americans, and their concern for keeping them alive. A lovely book, nice to read and nice to view its photographs.

Private homes, fishing and hunting lodges, collections of hunting and fishing memorabilia and old books, together with old decoys, nice interior decor and furniture are delightful to be seen. I'd surely would love to find another book with a similar content and approach to this subject to enjoy as much as I enjoyed this one!

Snedecor first wrote this excellent elementary applied text while at Iowa State (late 1940s or early 1950s). When Bill Cochran arrived in Iowa he helped out with the revision. I was very popular and was revised by Cochran many times even after Snedecor died. Well written and often used in elementary courses this book is also a good reference source for statistical methods.

This book does not require calculus but is rigorous. The examples are real life agricultural data and yet the book is fascinating to read. If I had to have one book on practical statistics this would be it.

Out of all of the resources I used for a 30 hour research project on the Mafia, Under the Clock stands alone. It is not only a good resource, but is one of the most informative and interesting books I've ever read as well. Besides telling about the Italian and Irish mobs, it also tells of the famous mobsters, their lives and day to day activites. From the origins of the Mafia in America to the recent past with John Gotti, every bit of this book is accurate and gripping. As for readability, this book is written in the style of The Hot Zone by Richard Preston: it is factual information, but reads like fiction because of the sensationalistic subject matter. For anyone interested in the Mafia or old Irish organized crime, this will be a fast read. You don't have to know anything about the mob, or any Italian; this book will grab your attention and hold it until the chilling conclusion. One final note: the language used by the mobsters is not of the most pleasant kind and is used in this book as a device to underscore the mentality and dealings of the Mafia. It is not overly gratuitous with its profanity, but it is not for the feint of heart either.

I enjoyed the book because it does not tell just about the Italian and Sicilian Mafia but also the Irish and Jewish Mafia. The book is very acurate in its facts. It is also keeps you interested if you are intrigued about how the mafia formed, what it was like in the early days, as well as how they operate. The book goes back to Don Giuseppe to Al Capone and Dutch Schultz to John Gotti.