An Experimental Study of the Genus Bidens (Asteraceae) in the Hawaiian Islands

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An Experimental Study of the Genus Bidens (Asteraceae) in the Hawaiian Islands
George W. Gillett , and Elvera K. Lim
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0520090306

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An experimental study of the genus Bidens (Asteraceae) in the Hawaiian Islands, (University of California publications in botany, v. 56)
George Willson Gillett
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Plants | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Botany | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006CSFXQ

Book Description

Informative and visually exciting, this is the new, revised edition of the world's best-selling guide to the Canadian Rockies. Whether you're planning your trip, looking for a perfect road guide, or searching for a lasting and complete record of your journey, this is the book for you.

The Canadian Rockies SuperGuide has detailed information on Banff, Jasper, Kootenay, Yoho, and Waterton National Parks. Included are maps, historical tidbits, info on flora and fauna, and plenty of spectacular full-colour photographs.

Customer Reviews:

super indeed.......2002-04-30

super book with an interesting mix of history, recommendations, and photographs. i was very glad i read through this book before i visited the area.

The best tour book ever written!.......2000-08-10

I travel quite a bit in my job as a computer trainer. I had the rare priviledge of working on a project in Edmonton, Alberta on several trips.

I've toured the Jasper to Banff (and reverse) Icefields Parkway five times, and Mt. Robson twice. It was on my second weekend trip during a rest stop at The Crossing that I spied a different kind of book. The stunning photography and well-organized sections sold me on the spot.

This guide made my ride that day on the Icefields Parkway an experience I'll never forget. It has everything: maps, history, biographies, and hotel guides, you name it! I still get it out occasionally to relive the most beautiful trips I've been on.

There's even a section on best times and techniques to photograph certain places. I have taken it with me every trip to help me identify and record where my numerous photos were taken.

I always recommend this book as an essential part of any excursion into the area. Read it before you go, that way you won't miss anything!

Average customer rating:

Simply Excellent

Excellent for the intended purpose

Excellent for starters

A very useful trail guide

Close But Not Quite

Walks & Easy Hikes in the Canadian Rockies: An Altitude SuperGuide (Recreation Superguides)
Graeme Pole
Manufacturer: Altitude Publishing (Canada)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Walking | Hiking & Camping | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Guidebooks | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books
General | Canada | Travel | Subjects | Books
North America | Travel | Subjects | Books
General | Travel | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Frommer's Banff & Jasper National Parks (Park Guides)

Moon Handbooks Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks (Moon Handbooks)

Jasper National Park Map (Travel Reference Map)

How To Photograph The Canadian Rockies

Drive Around Canadian Rockies: Your Guide to Great Drives (Drive Around - Thomas Cook)

ASIN: 1551537036

Book Description

This guide is designed as a companion to Classic Hikes in the Canadian Rockies. It focuses on short but pleasant hikes with easy access from the highway. The hikes range from a few minutes' duration to only a couple of hours.

Customer Reviews:

Simply Excellent.......2002-04-30

These are excellent walks for those on a time budget but who want to see more than the hoard from the latest coach tour. The scenery is so vast that walking further gains little benefit anyway, but it gets you out of the car park and to some breathtaking scenery and peace and quiet. In most cases with very little effort.

If you like photography and if you don't, it tells you the best time of day to see the sights - Use it to plan your holiday - you don't need anything else.

Easy to read, easy on the eye and not too big; the best guide to any area I've visited.

Excellent for the intended purpose.......2002-04-04

This is the perfect hiking/walking guide for travelers who aren't in the best physical condition. We, along with my parents who are in their 70's, spent an intense 10 days in the parks covered by this book. We took nearly all the hikes that the author noted as his favorites, plus a few more, and had no other hiking guides other than what was available on the Parks Canada web page. We found the book fairly accurate as to photography notes, difficulties, and geographics. For those wanting to take only the shorter or easier hikes, this is a great value of a book.

Excellent for starters.......2000-08-03

Because we forgot to bring the books we already had at home, we had to buy new ones once we arrived in the Canadian Rockies this summer. This one did exactly what we wanted it to: it gave us an idea of which hikes to do (with so much choice and so little time), and they all lived up to what the description promised in the book. We did however sometimes wonder how the author came to rate the hikes easy, moderate or difficult, as we found some that were meant to be easy more difficult and ones that were rated moderate/hard quite easy. Nevertheless: a very good book to give you an appetite for hiking in the Rockies and very helpful when you don't have much time.

A very useful trail guide.......2000-06-29

This book was really helpful in giving advice on great walks in the Rockies, from Banff to Jasper. If you are new to hiking in the National Parks, then this will introduce many of the best hikes with information on points of interest and many excellent photos.

Close But Not Quite.......1999-12-08

The one negative thing about the book was that only half of the trails listed in the book have maps with them. However, their are several positive things about the book: 1. It is printed on very thick and durable paper (which should stand up will if used while on the hikes). 2. The 50 hikes with maps do have excellent pictures associated with them. 3. All of the hikes list the best time of the day to catch the best lighting for pictures, and are classified according to degree of difficulty.

4. The following parks are covered: Banff, Jasper, Kootenay, Yoho, and Waterton. 5.

Average customer rating:
Canadian Rockies (An Altitude Superguide)

Manufacturer: Altitude Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1895753546

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The Canadian Rockies: A History in Photographs (An Altitude Superguide)
Graeme Pole
Manufacturer: Altitude Pub Canada Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Pictorial | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books
General | Canada | Travel | Subjects | Books
General | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1551530368

Book Description

This is a unique portrait of the Canadian Rockies through time, featuring fascinating human-interest images from the 1880s to 1950s.

Kananaskis: Canadian Rockies (Altitudes_superguides)

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A must-have when visiting Kananaskis country!

Kananaskis: Canadian Rockies (Altitudes_superguides)
Ward Cameron
Manufacturer: Altitude Publishing Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Canada | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1551536102

Customer Reviews:

A must-have when visiting Kananaskis country!.......1998-09-08

Not having visited the Kananaskis Valley since a child, I felt I needed some up-to-date information on the area. Ward Cameron's book on the subject fills the bill, describing subjects as history of the area, wildlife, backcountry camping, hiking, mountain-biking and cross-country skiing. He divides Kananaskis Country into areas which he then describes in full detail, with both text, full colour maps and stunning photographs, most of which he took himself.

I enjoyed the book immensely and would recommend it to anyone who plans a visit to southern Alberta's Kananaskis Country.

Average customer rating:

Choose a hike and take the one page description with you.

Great descriptions and pictures but not complete

Classic Hikes in the Canadian Rockies (Altitude Superguides)
Graeme Pole
Manufacturer: Altitude Publishing Canada
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Excursion Guides | Hiking & Camping | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
General | Canada | Travel | Subjects | Books
General | Travel | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Canadian Rockies Trail Guide

Jasper National Park Map (Travel Reference Map)

Don't Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies: The Opinionated Hiking Guide (Don't Waste Your Time)

ASIN: 1551537060

Book Description

A comprehensive guide to all the best hikes in Canada's Rocky Mountains. From day trips to extended overnight adventures, this book provides you with the information you need to experience the magnificent mountain environment of the Canadian Rockies.

Each hike is introduced with detailed route and trailhead instructions. Full color maps indicate the location and direction of each hike and point out the outstanding landscape features. The hike descriptions are supplemented with important information on history, geology, nature, as well as side-trip options.

The book includes information on bears, hiking equipment, how to handle backcountry problems, how to "leave no trace," tips on cooking, food and drinking water, as well as equipment checklists, off-season suggestions, rainy-day options and how to get to each trailhead, even without a vehicle.

This book is ideal for all those who love experiencing the outdoors - from novice hiker to seasoned backcountry veteran. If you want to hike the Rockies, this is the book to inspire and guide you.

Customer Reviews:

Choose a hike and take the one page description with you........1999-09-02

The key to "Classic Hikes in the Canadian Rockies, Binder Edition" is the word Binder. Choose a hike, remove the page and insert it in the protective plastic envelope provided. Leave the book at home! Each hike outlines trail location, distance, and elevation. A knowledgeable description follows. Tastefully integrated are photographs and highlighted vignettes. For example, read the words of explorer Walter Wilcox upon his discovery of Paradise Valley in 1894! One is delighted by Graeme Pole's keen attention to detail: turn a page and see animal tracks padding across it, another page reveals a silouette of a mountain flower. The only way to improve Classic Hikes is to personalize it with your notes in the margins.

Great descriptions and pictures but not complete.......1999-03-24

This is a really good guidebook if the hike you want is covered. The pictures really whet your appetite and are generally fairly high quality. The descriptions are good but sometimes only focus solely on the suggested hike. This can be a problem in some areas (like Lake O'Hara for example) have a lot of options and other trails that are not covered (on the bright side the suggested hikeis wonderful). If you want to focus on the highlights of the Canadian Rockies, this guidebook is a great choice. If you want a more complete guide of all the options available, you may need a different guidebook. Personally, I would buy both this and a more complete guidebook like "Canadian Rockies Trail Guide."

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Canadian Rockies Superguide
Falcon Press
Manufacturer: Altitude Publishing (Canada)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 091938157X

Classic Hikes of the Canadian Rockies : Altitude SuperGuides

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Classic Hikes of the Canadian Rockies : Altitude SuperGuides
Graeme Pole
Manufacturer: Altitude Publishing Canada Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1551530082

Book Description

"Drawing relies on a clear vision. It also requires thought which, in, turn, builds understanding. Drawing cannot be detached from seeing and thinking about the fundamental nature of the subject matter being represented. The knowledge and understanding gained through drawing from life directly enhances our ability to draw from the imagination. Just as thought can be put into words, ideas can be made visible in a drawing to promote visual thinking and further stimulate the imagination. Once what is seen or imagined is made visible in a drawing, the image takes on a life of its own and communicates graphically. However eloquently or crudely, all drawings, speak to the eye." From the Preface … Francis D.K. Ching

Customer Reviews:

Drawing: A Creative Process.......2000-08-31

Like the rest of Ching's books, this one is great as well. I use it as a resource for Drawing and illustration classes in college. It covers all the basics of sketching and drawing that are important to build a foundation for free-hand drawing. It covers everything from basic shapes and textures to gesture drawing and proportion. I also recomend the book "Design Drawing" by F. Ching.

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Drawing : the creative process
Seymour Simmons , and Marc S. A. Winer
Manufacturer: Prentice-Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0132193868

Drawing a Creative Process Zeichen Visualisieren Dessiner Creation Visuelle

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Drawing a Creative Process Zeichen Visualisieren Dessiner Creation Visuelle
Kurt Wirth
Manufacturer: ABC Verlag
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J0IESG

Drawing, a creative process =: Zeichnen, visualisieren = Dessiner, creation visuelle : drawing in visual communication : a didactic work on the graphic possibilities of expression in publicity

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Drawing, a creative process =: Zeichnen, visualisieren = Dessiner, creation visuelle : drawing in visual communication : a didactic work on the graphic possibilities of expression in publicity
Kurt Wirth
Manufacturer: ABC Edition
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Drawing | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 385504046X

Industrial Design Workshop 2: The Creative Process Behind Product Design (Industrial Design Workshop)

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Industrial Design Workshop 2: The Creative Process Behind Product Design (Industrial Design Workshop)
Books Nippan
Manufacturer: Meisei Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 4938812010

Materiology. The Creative's Guide to Materials and Technologies

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Materiology. The Creative's Guide to Materials and Technologies
Quentin Hirsinger , Elodie Ternaux , and Daniel Kula
Manufacturer: Birkhäuser Basel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Book Description

A book intended for all creative professionals who rely on materials and technologies – architects, designers, stylists, artists and the like, from students to experienced practitioners – Materiology is written in a style that conveys a wealth of information in a language that’s easy to understand. This book covers everything you always wanted to know about materials and technologies but never expected to find in a single volume. Materiology’s comprehensive exploration of materials is divided into four sections:

1. Categories of materials: various types of wood, plastic, glass, metal, lighting, etc.- 2. Catalogue of materials: 150 catalogue cards that identify various materials, from the most basic substance to the latest cutting-edge innovation.- 3. Processes: major methods of processing materials (e.g. injection moulding, extrusion) explained with instructive diagrams.- 4. Thinking out of the box: issues of relevance to any study of materials and technologies, everything from ecology to virtual issues.

Systems Drafting: Creative Reprographics for Architects and Engineers

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Systems Drafting: Creative Reprographics for Architects and Engineers
Fred A. Stitt
Manufacturer: Mcgraw-Hill (Tx)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General & Reference | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0070615500

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Drawing: A Creative Process
Francis D.K. Ching
Manufacturer: Van Nostrand Reinhold
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KV803I

Drawing: A Creative Process/Zeichnen: Visualisieren/Dessiner: Creation Visuelle. Text in English, German and French

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Drawing: A Creative Process/Zeichnen: Visualisieren/Dessiner: Creation Visuelle. Text in English, German and French
Kurt Wirth
Manufacturer: Hastings House Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0803815638

Expressive drawing through reductive processes: A creative project / by Judith Fears Garrett

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Expressive drawing through reductive processes: A creative project / by Judith Fears Garrett
Judith Fears Garrett
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Realism | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007BICPC

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Marine Aquariums: Basic Aquarium Setup and Maintenance (Fish Keeping Made Easy)
Ray Hunziker
Manufacturer: BowTie Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Fish & Aquariums | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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The New Marine Aquarium: Step-By-Step Setup & Stocking Guide

ASIN: 1931993645

Book Description

Offering expert advice and tips for both experts and beginners, Marine Aquariums guides readers from shopping for their first pieces of equipment to enhancing an existing aquarium. This fun, easy-to-follow book on marine aquariums is a must for any bookseller's shelves.

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Furniture of the American Arts and Crafts Movement.......2007-05-25

This is the definitive book on evaluating American Arts & Crafts furniture made by Gustav Stickley, L. & J.G. Stickley, and the Roycroft Shop. A must have book for the advanced collector.

Furniture of the American Arts and Crafts Movement Stickley and Roycroft Mission Oak

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Furniture of the American Arts and Crafts Movement Stickley and Roycroft Mission Oak
David M. Cathers
Manufacturer: The New American Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000M8QFXG

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FURNITURE OF THE AMERICAN ARTS AND CRAFTS MOVEMENT: STICKLEY AND ROYCROFT MISSION OAK
DAVID M. CatherS
Manufacturer: New American Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000R9796W

Future of the American Arts and Crafts Furniture Movement : Stickley and Roycroft Mission Oak

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Future of the American Arts and Crafts Furniture Movement : Stickley and Roycroft Mission Oak
David M. Cathers
Manufacturer: Dutton Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Furniture Design | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0453003974

Book Description

This sumptuous new Oxford Companion is devoted to gardens of every kind and the people and ideas involved in their making, in every part of the world where the designed landscape has played an important part. Its broad sweep makes this the perfect reference for garden-lovers everywhere. It combines a survey of the world's gardens, biographies of garden designers, nurserymen, and others, and entries on the worlds of horticulture and plantsmanship, with articles on a range of topics from garden visiting to garden elements and styles, and from scientific issues to the social history of gardens. The Companion provides comprehensive coverage in 1750 alphabetical entries, detailing all aspects of the garden from the ancient to the avant garde. The writing is authoritative and engaging, with careful attention paid to the correct naming of plants, and a central aim of giving a vivid impression of what it is like to be in these inspirational gardens. There are sumptuous colour photographs by some of the world's best garden photographers, and elegant engravings of historical subjects. Well over half of the entries are devoted to individual gardens, many of them open to the public.These include every kind of garden from palace gardens such as Versailles to private gardens of outstanding design or plant interest, public gardens, botanic gardens and arboreta, late 20th-century land art, and contemporary gardens everywhere. Central to the book are the garden cultures of Italy, Britain, France, China, Japan, and the USA - unquestionably the most significant in the world - but the geographical coverage is worldwide, including such far-flung regions as Turkey, Peru, and Bali. The Companion draws on some of the expertise from The Oxford Companion to Garden s (1986) - in particular the late Maggie Keswick's groundbreaking writing on Chinese gardens. The international team of advisory editors and contributors includes leading authorities and top garden writers from more than 25 countries around the world. Many of the entries include suggestions for further reading and the work's usefulness is further enhanced by a general bibliography, a thematic listing of contents, and an index of gardens, individuals, themes, and features.

The Oxford Companion to Gardens (Oxford Companions)

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The Oxford Companion to Gardens (Oxford Companions)

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Landscape | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Garden Design | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Landscape | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Reference | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Art | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

Gardening | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

History | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0198604408

Book Description

The Companion covers the history and design of gardens all over the world from the earliest known examples to the present day. The first comprehensive reference book on the history and design of gardens all over the world. Written by a team of 170 expert contributors and edited by experts in the field, this attractive Companion boasts over 1,500 entries and 250 black-and-white illustrations, including articles on roof-gardens, water gardens, secret gardens, and other special types of garden. It contains essays on garden elements, such as fountains, grottoes, herbaceous borders, hedges and follies, as well as giving accounts of garden history in individual countries. Definitions of English and foreign-language garden terms are given, as are biographies of designers, patrons, plant-collectors, and garden enthusiasts.

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Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Landscape | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Australia | Australia & Oceania | History | Subjects | Books

Garden Design | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Reference | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0195536444

Book Description

Australia has an enormously rich heritage of gardens and gardening and there has never before been a reference work of this scale with this diversity covering this wide-ranging subject. Ten years in the making, The (Oxford) Companion to Australian Gardens covers all aspects of Australian gardening from Aboriginal land management practices to modern garden design. Interest in gardening and garden design has increased over the last few years. The aim of the Companion is to further the understanding of gardens and gardening and provide a useful reference tool for anyone with an interest in gardens, landscape gardening, art, and architecture. With around 400 entries, the text covers topics such as designed landscapes, agriculture, architecture, art, botany, ecology, forestry, horticulture, landscape architecture, town planning, and viticulture. With the help of their team of over 200 expert contributors, Richard Aitken and Michael Looker have produced an authoritative and comprehensive reference work. The main text is lavishly illustrated and many of the illustrations have never before been published. This is a must-have reference work for anyone working in or studying garden design or landscape design, particularly those who have an international interest in the subject.

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The Oxford Companion to Gardens
Goode, Lancaster Jellicoe
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKX8VE

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The Oxford Companion to Gardens

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HJF3R4

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The Oxford Companion to Gardens (Oxford Companions)
Patrick Goode Michael Lancaster Susan Jellicoe Geoffrey Jellicoe
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OLA50A

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Oxford Companion To the Garden
Patrick Taylor
Manufacturer: OXFORD UNIV + PRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N6ZX4O

Book Description

QUIET PLACES offers inspirational and practical ideas for creating areas of tranquility at home, and in the garden, yard, and workplace. Explaining and adapting basic principles of simplicity, harmony, and apt association, Vinny Lee shares some secrets to freeing the imagination. By following the suggestions in this book, anyone can develop a perfect setting for reflection, reading, writing, leisure interests, and friendly or intimate moments--or just plain relaxing. More than 50 beautiful color photographs illustrate a wide variety of styles and arrangements that will help you perfectly capture a mood of serenity.

Quiet Places: How to Create Peaceful Havens in Your Home Garden, and Workplace

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Quiet Places: How to Create Peaceful Havens in Your Home Garden, and Workplace
Vinny Lee
Manufacturer: Readers Digest
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Workplace | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000OWSOKM

Book Description

On a lush, remote island, modern civilization has recently made contact with what may be the last group of Stone Age people. The Sentinelese wear no clothes, do not know how to start a fire, and have fervently rejected the intrusion of outsiders. But that is changing, writes Madhusree Mukerjee, who has had exceptional access to that island and the others that make up the Andaman chain in the Bay of Bengal. Over seven years, Mukerjee found that other aboriginals on the islands have abandoned their ancient ways for enticements such as motorcycles and plastic toys. The price: outsiders have taken critical land, introduced serious diseases, and left the natives with a broken sense of self. This book offers unprecedented insights into the processes of colonization and modernization, the persistence of harmful myths about "savages," and the perennially fraught relationship between light- and dark-skinned peoples. Mukerjee gives us a fascinating look at a world nearly gone. Combining anthropological findings with historical accounts and personal travel stories, she lets us glimpse a primeval, disappearing humanity.

Customer Reviews:

Discovering Stone Age Cultures in the 21st Century.......2007-07-12

This is phenomenal book! There's a slight bit of difficulty with so many Indian names, which are unfamiliar to Western ears and a bit difficult to keep track of. My solution was to turn around when I finished the book and immediately re-read it. I was totally unaware that the Andaman and Nicobar Islands even existed until reading this book, and now I'm mad to see them for myself. The story of the destruction of these ancient tribes over the last 200 years is one of the saddest things you will ever read, and it makes you root even harder for those people on Sentinel Island, who have resisted all attempts at contact by the "civilized" world and are shooting Stone Age arrows at our airplanes when they fly over. Let's hope they're able to maintain their independence--

Interesting account of a fascinating and doomed people.......2005-02-04

_The Land of Naked People_ by Madhusree Mukerjee is an interesting and informative account of one of the last stone age peoples in the world (or what is left of them), native peoples of the Andaman Islands, a archipelago located north of the Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean, a people that according to archaeologists, linguists, and geneticists have been isolated from the rest of the world for tens of thousands of years. Mukerjee interwove personal accounts of travels to the islands and interviews with government officials, researchers, activists, local residents, and the tribesmen themselves with vivid historical narratives of early contact situations, warfare with, and research on these aboriginal peoples.

The people of the Andamans, long known to Asian and European travelers, were feared for centuries as cannibals and headhunters. They were often referred to as "dog-people," as sub-human; in the nineteenth century some were displayed in the Calcutta zoo, where Bengali visitors took them to be descendents of the monkey god Hanuman, and as late as 1925 a paper published in _Man_, a journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, defined the Andaman as a new species of human, _Homo mincopoeus_. Simultaneously intriguing and repulsing Arab, Chinese, and British travelers by their casual nudity (the natives wore virtually no clothing), ferocity towards outsiders (many of the historical accounts are of hostile first encounters and "punitive expeditions" against islanders), and their physical features that were more African than Asian, the islanders were little bothered for centuries, the islands mostly unsettled despite being located on major trade routes between India and China. Though outside civilization has become increasingly dominant in the last 200 years or so, there are still remote areas in the archipelago; the one hundred or so individuals who make the island of North Sentinel their home are still very much a stone age people (though many technically no longer use stone but rather work metal from nuts and bolts that wash up on their shores into arrowheads) who may be among the most isolated humans on earth (though how long they will stay isolated is a matter of some concern).

Mukerjee divided the Andaman islanders into four groups. About ten tribes (at one time during colonial times comprised of as many as 5,000-8,000 people) made up a group called the Great Andamanese, occupying most of the Great Andamans (the South, Middle, and North Andaman Islands) and several adjacent smaller islands. They were at war with the elusive Jarawa, a small group that numbered at one time as many as 600, a group that lived in the dense western forest of South Andaman. Seven hundred or so Onge tribal members lived on Little Andaman, a sizable island farther south, and a hundred Sentinelese lived on the eighteen square miles of North Sentinel off to the west.

The author painted a vivid picture of an interesting group of people. Though only distantly related to the Congo Pygmies, they were originally similar in many respects; they lived in dense, moist tropical forests in small bands, had peppercorn hair, painted their naked bodies with clay (a practice which the author discussed at length), used bows, arrows, and nets to obtain food, and had extraordinary botanical knowledge. Hunter-gatherers, they subsisted on a variety of plant products, fish, sea turtles (a favorite), dugongs (now virtually extinct in the islands), and a number of forest animals, the most favored of which was the wild boar, believed by some to have descended from the southern Chinese pig. The natives cared greatly for children; among the Great Andamanese it was considered a compliment and a mark of friendship if a married man, after paying a visit, asked his hosts to adopt one of their children; these parents would in turn not only visit frequently their own but adopt others. Several of the groups had taboos against killing certain creatures. The Great Andamanese for instance ruled that it was taboo to kill a certain spider, a type of beetle, two bird species, two fish species, a certain mollusk, and two types of trees. Cicada grubs were much coveted in several of the islands as food, but many were fearful of upsetting Biliku, the northeastern monsoon wind, whom the cicada was the child of; the islanders would be "silent as a mouse" during early morning and late evening singing of the cicadas, not doing any work or making any noise.

Unfortunately much of the book is about the very sad state of the Andaman Islanders. Massive, often illegal, deforestation, even in the protected tribal reserves, has resulted in huge erosion problems, silt runoff that has killed nearshore corals and local fisheries, and deprived the islanders of much food and shelter on every island but North Sentinel. Only 42 Great Andamanese remain, most of them alcoholics (a dependency on alcohol and other substances in the past deliberately encouraged by the authorities), suffering from malnutrition thanks to a diet largely of oil and starch, and many of the children fathered by the welfare staff who are supposed to care for them, Mukerjee documenting how the social workers sometimes took cruel advantage of them. The remaining 100 or so Onge are only a little better off. Disease in the past devastated the islanders and still thins their numbers to this day as they are a people without previous exposure to such illnesses as pneumonia, mumps, and even the common cold. The Jarawa are famous for their resistance, having fiercely fought logging and road construction in their forests, killing laborers and travelers as recently as 1998. Much feared, laborers required guards, police had to escort travelers on the road through their forest; one person told the author, if asked if he ever saw a Jarawa, replied, no, "To see is to die." Though there have been some reverses in favor of the Jarawa in the end it seems that they are doomed to be assimilated into Indian culture if they don't perish from disease and deforestation first.

Excellent Book About an Endangered People.......2004-02-15

Discussions of endangered peoples often invokes stories about Amazonian natives, Kalahari Bushmen, and Australian aborigines to name a few. The people of the Andaman and Nicobar islands are seldom mentioned however. Mukerjee does a great service to the indigenous people of these islands by exposing the destruction wrought upon them by modern intrusions.

The Andamanese and Nicobarese have lived in isolation from the modern world in the Bay of Bengal for thousands of years. They were portrayed in travelogues, including Marco Polo's, as ferocious, cannabilistic, and uncivilized to the highest degree. These impressions were often based not upon direct interaction but rather on distant observation of a unabashedly naked people with a hunter-gatherer culture. When actual interaction did occur primarily by the British, the Andamanese and Nicobarese were often ferociously defensive as can be expected when confronted by an imperialist power intent on conquering and also gathering human specimens to study and display on the mainland. Even in the face of these dangers, they attempted to maintain some peaceable interaction with their conquerors and displayed the great attributes of their cultures.

Mukerjee spent some time in the islands in an attempt to interact with the Great Andamanese, Onge, Jarawa, Nicobarese, and Sentinelese and in the process, has exposed the Indian government's wrongheaded and destructive policies toward these indigenous peoples. It is apparent that most Indian bureacrats in the islands are there to live the easy life and make a quick buck, and the few who desire to make change often are faced with insurmountable obstacles in their attempt to improve policy toward the natives. Mukerjee describes her subjects in affectionate detail, and her love for them and her sorrow for their plight are evident throughout the book. Her feelings for them culminates as she approaches the Sentinel Islands, home to possibly the most undisturbed culture on earth. As her boat nears the islands, she begins to regret her intrusion and thinks to herself "Please please please, let us not destroy this last haven."

Unfortunately, disease and war has wiped out most of the islands' population. Construction and deforestation is wiping out native habitats. The islanders are impotent to change the situation, and the Indian government will ultimately be responsible for protecting these vulnerable and beautiful people.

I highly recommend this book to anyone concerned with the disappearance of a people who have not been able to fight back and are quickly disappearing from our earth.

Important depiction of outsiders' effects on native peoples.......2004-01-16

Madhusree Mukerjee's writing is so compelling I didn't want to stop reading. The historical background she relates is based on solid scholarly research, but the book should easily appeal to popular audiences. Readers will admire the author's persistence on her visits to the Andaman Islands in striving against bureaucratic resistance and other difficulties to search out, experience, and report on the current situations of the aboriginals.

In reading the book, I continually found myself, as the author did, identifying with the native peoples in their confrontations and interactions with the invading visitors, settlers and administrators. Mukerjee has an excellent way with words, including the manner in which she describes the many ironies and the bunglings by the governing bureaucracies. Regarding the resulting messes, she uses perfect imagery: "One could always blame the previous administration, a long line of pointing fingers fading into history."

It's unfortunate and sad how, over much of the world, so-called civilized outsiders continue to arrogantly and ignorantly devastate other lands and their inhabitants, intentionally, unintentionally, and through greed and indifference. Even though the facts recounted in the book eloquently speak for themselves, the manner in which Mukerjee frequently relates her own reactions and feelings on her visits seems entirely appropriate. Hopefully, this book will draw considerable attention, both in India and worldwide among concerned citizens and officials positions to influence policies.

A world revealed.......2003-08-26

The book is excellent, beautifully written, even poetic in places. The author describes the history of contact by the 'civilized world' with the people of this lost world on the Andaman Islands, a world about which I knew nothing. She uses an interesting novelistic device of weaving together past and current events to described the world of the Andamanese and of her trials and tribulations of trying to work through an uncooperative bureaucracy to meet the fascinating original inhabitants. The cast of characters is huge and includes historical figures from as far back as 1771 to people of today. The role of the author is that of compassionate observer. Ultimately the tale is sad; thoughout I kept asking, "What are we doing?".

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Bizzare
It's brilliant, it's a parody, it's a horrible book
Unintentionally Classic
now try this
It proves a point, that's it

Naked Came the Stranger
Penelope Ashe
Manufacturer: Barricade Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1569802629

Book Description

In 1969, a group of reporters at Long Island Newsday decided to have some fun. They were appalled at the poor writing in the then-current best-sellers. They decided to have a contest to see who could write on an even lower level of tawdriness.

Customer Reviews:

Bizzare.......2007-09-25

Whew! Im glad I found out this book was intentionally bad...Because it is, it's really bad. But for some reason you really can't put it down. Its so tasteless, I actually read it in secrecy. Its characters are pathetic, the sex scenes are just...bad? there really is no plot line, no climax, or conclusion. I am having a hard time comprehending how they achieved this.

It's brilliant, it's a parody, it's a horrible book.......2005-02-12

The five stars are for the concept which was to write a terrible, formulaic book. They succeeded.

Unintentionally Classic.......2004-10-20

It's a terrible book. The characters are uninteresting, the motivations are obscure, the machinery is obvious, the sex is strange and unerotic, the writing is terrible. But in spite of everything, Naked Came The Stranger is a hoot. There's nothing you can point at and say, "This redeems", but the book is so weirdly enjoyable that it really doesn't matter. Read it in autumn, hide it from your friends, finish it in an afternoon. One of my all-time favorites.

now try this.......2000-06-28

i did not read naked came the stranger, but i read a hilarious account of how this book came about by mike mcgrady called "stranger than naked or how to write a dirty book for fun and profit." i am currently in search for another copy for a friend because i laughed out loud reading how 25 writers pulled a very professional hoax. hope you read it, its great!

It proves a point, that's it.......1999-07-06

A group of journalists wrote this book to find out if a deliberately bad but sex-filled novel would sell well. Unfortunately it did sell well, and sales exceeded their expectations.

This book is SUPPOSED to be bad. And almost all of it is bad in dull, non-humorous way.

Book Description

Russell Braddon wrote The Naked Island in 1950. By 1968 it had been reprinted eleven times and sold one million copies in Britain alone. As the author states, 'It was written to tell the world what sort of people the Japanese can be. It was written to explain what they did in the war and what they might well do again.'

There are numerous books on the war in the East but this is one of the greatest. Often hilarious, even amidst the horror, this is the story of what the Japanese did to those they captured. It is written in prose all the more effective for its dry understatement and sharp observation by a man who never lost his will to live even in the most terrible circumstances. Braddon's story is however not that simply of a prisoner of war. In his comments on the equally brutal Japanese treatment of native workers and indeed any who were not Japanese, he reveals the hollow reality of the 'Greater Asian co-prosperity sphere' promised by the Japanese, and attempts to understand how one group of human beings could behave in such a way towards another and the inhuman ideology and fanaticism which drove the Japanese on.

Even today the subject of Japanese war guilt is never far from the headlines and it was only last year that a deal on compensation was arrived at for surviving POWs.

Customer Reviews:

A must read!.......2006-02-10

The author went through some really horrific situations but at the same time can describe the strength of the human spirit. The author also has a great sense of humor. I think books like this are rare these days in our politically correct world. Well worth the read.

Read it!.......2002-11-24

The Naked Island

The autobiography of a young australian soldier who spent long years in captivity as prisoner of war of the Japanese.
The first part is the description of the military life in Malaya before the attack of the Japanese with many ironical notes on that tedious life from the point of view of a soldier.
The second part is the description of the useless fight of the Australian and British troops against the overwhelming enemy and then the attempt to escape the capture.
Then the third, and most interesting part, is the description of the life during three long years of captivity in the different prisons where the writer was imprisoned and in the jungle camps where all prisoners were forced to work without food, facing malaria, beri beri and death for starvation.
A book I would really recommend.
Are you looking for another absolutely interesting book about a similar experience?
Read the famous "Behind bamboo" by Rohan Rivett

excellent, poignant, harrowing read.......1999-11-18

One of my first introductions to Australian and Far East reading of WW11, thoroughly enjoyable, could not put it down until it was finished. Would recommend this book to all generations. Has given me the taste to find out more about the Far East and familiarise myself with further Australian literature. Thought only John Pilger could write riveting literature, I was wrong!

Definitive book on captivity in the hands of the Japanese.......1999-09-18

This is an unforgettable book: informative, educational, poignant and often delightfully humorous. It is a tribute to the British and Australian Forces used as slave labour in the construction of the Burma/Siamese Railway and their ability to live with dignity, compassion and decency under the most deplorable conditions imaginable. This book leaves an indelible impression on the reader and should be required reading for each successive generation.

a very moving read.......1999-01-11

it is amazing that with all the hardship that these guys went thru, human nature can still make the best of an awful situation.

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Naked Island
Russell Braddon
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NP45YE

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Naked Island
Keith Willey
Manufacturer: Hodder
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0340126035

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intriguing and beautiful
poetic, strange, kaballistic & beautiful

The Naked Island
Bryna Wasserman
Manufacturer: Key Porter Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1552636380

Product Description

In 1787, on the morning of the new moon in July, the Dutch in Java murdered the Indonesian priest Qadar. One hundred years later, the Armenian Sarkies brothers opened the Raffles Hotel in Singapore; a farmhouse was built on Evans Point at the shore of Lake Erie; and in Java, Zulkanyan, a descendent of the slain priest Qadar, suddenly died when a curse he had set against his neighbours turned against him. His soul was set to wander in search of revenge. So begins the mythic tale of Rachel Lynn Gold, a young Jewish woman in small-town Ontario, who, betrayed by her lover and older sister, sets out on an odyssey to India, Nepal, Singapore and Australia in search of her lost self. Far from home and armed with nothing but a broken heart and a restless soul, Rachel is left open and vulnerable to the ghosts that haunt her. It is in Singapore that she meets the unlikely love of her life, Kifli Talib, a Malaysian Muslim, who, unbeknownst to her, is possessed by the dark spirit Zulkanyan. But the Jewish woman-child from Dunnville, Ontario, and the Muslim man-boy from Singapore fall into a forbidden affair, an intense love that both protects and threatens her with complete annihilation. A haunting story of love and betrayal, danger and survival, The Naked Island is a powerful first novel, a lyrical and poetic work that delves into the shifting nature of identity and the hypnotic pull of good and evil.

Customer Reviews:

intriguing and beautiful.......2005-01-04

perhaps the best thing about this novel is the wonderful and beautiful writing style of the author. of course the plot is quite spectacular as well. it's starts with a young woman, betrayed by her lover and her sister, who decides to travel. maybe she thinks travel will cure her lovesickness but the farther she goes from home the more lost she becomes -- through europe, into india and nepal and to singapore where she meets the malay porter. then a forbidden love affair between a jew and a muslim and the introduction of spirits and gurus and death plans. It's intriguing and so beautifully written that you will stay up late to finish the story. enjoy!

poetic, strange, kaballistic & beautiful.......2004-10-27

This book fascinated me. It takes the reader from a farm in Ontario, Canada to India, Nepal, Singapore and Australia, but the real voyage here is within the world of heart and soul. The writing is distilled and poetic, and the author's voice is strong and original. Wasserman has managed to write about spirits in a way that is believable and not at all hokey -- a major achievement. I believe she is drawing on Kaballah at times, and the story's heart is the love story between Jewish Canadian Rachel Gold and Muslim Malay Kifli Talib. These two are connected by two spirits but also by their physical connection, made at exotic Raffles Hotel in Singapore. The romance of these hotel scenes is perfect -- sensual, passionate, with the edge of fear that is always present when two people lose themselves in one another. And beneath all of that, the menace of the demon who possesses Kifli and threatens Rachel. You won't be able to put down this book.

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The Naked Island
Russell Braddon
Manufacturer: Pan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KEV2YE

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The Naked Island
Russell Braddon
Manufacturer: Werner Laurie
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J1Q11W

Average customer rating:

The naked island
Basil Heatter
Manufacturer: Pocket Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007H3XUU

The Naked Island (Australian War Classics)

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The Naked Island (Australian War Classics)
Russell Braddon
Manufacturer: Penguin Books Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OILI68

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