Colorado west: Land of geology and wildflowers

Book Description

No matter what your budget or whether it's your first trip or fifteenth, Fodor's Gold Guides get you where you want to go. In this completely up-to-date guide our experts who live in Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire give you the inside track, showing you all the things to see and do ? from must-see sights to off-the-beaten-path adventures, from shopping to outdoor fun. Fodor's Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire shows you hundreds of hotel and restaurant choices in all price ranges ? from budget-friendly B&Bs to luxury hotels, from casual eateries to the hottest new restaurants, complete with thorough reviews showing what makes each place special. The Smart Travel Tips A to Z section helps you take care of the nitty gritty with essential local contacts and great advice ? from how to take your mountain bike with you to what to do in an emergency. Plus, web links and mix-and-match itineraries make planning a snap.

Customer Reviews:

Every Budget my Tushie!.......2004-05-18

In my naivety, I believed the blurb on the front of this book, "every budget" and "off the beaten path"- but when I received it I learned that this obviously refers to every budget upper middle class or better, and off the beaten path only because only about 5 people can afford to eat in restaurants where the main course is $40. Not only do I feel excluded as a social worker and a budget traveler- but the highlights on things to do were practically absent- the section on Burlington, VT is only 3 pages long, with only 9 or 10 hotel and restaurants combined listed! Hello- I've never been there and I know there's a lot more going on. That's one other thing- I personally dislike having dining/lodging listings combined- I mean, they're certainly not the same thing, and in my world food always deserves it's own listing. So, if you're a well to do bunch who's looking to spend some money and not do much else, this is the book for you. Enjoy!

Customer Reviews:

Slightly Obscure Fitzgerald.......2007-05-18

Lesser known work by FItzgerald is powerful and amazingly relevant in 2007.

The Crack-Up.......2006-03-03

"This is too real and there ain't no escape" -- Nick Lowe, "Cracking Up"

I carried F. Scott Fitzgerald's THE CRACK-UP around with me for almost ten years before I got around to reading it last month. It was one of those books that I felt I was literarily required to read, what with my affection for all things Fitzgerald -- especially Gatsby. Once I got into the book, I found parts of it fairly impenetrable, which must have been Fitzgerald's state of mind while writing some of the material, a posthumous hodgepodge of uncollected pieces, samplings of notebooks, and unpublished letters (both from and to the author).

An excellent companion piece to the book is the PBS American Masters documentary, F. SCOTT FITZGERALD: WINTER DREAMS, which draws heavily from THE CRACK-UP. The film, in its quest to simulate the elegance that its subject so desperately tried (and failed) to attain, unfortunately breezes over some key points in the writer's life; but the DVD is well worth checking out (literally, either from your local library or Netflix). (PBS's website makes up for some of these omissions with a nifty timeline that puts all of Fitzgerald's accomplishments into context with the tragic goings-on in his life. It also offers some additional footage that does not appear in the film, most notably interviews with E.L. Doctorow and Budd Schulberg, who wrote the screenplay for On the Waterfront and who, as a young screenwriter, was rewritten by Fitzgerald.)

Originally written as three essays for Esquire in 1936, "The Crack-Up" was Fitzgerald's bearing of his soul, his confession, his mea culpa to the world at large for letting them -- and himself -- down. It begins: "Of course all life is a process of breaking down, but the blows that do the dramatic side of the work -- the big sudden blows that come, or seem to come, from outside -- the ones you remember and blame things on and, in moments of weakness, tell your friends about, don't show their effect all at once. There is another sort of blow that comes from within -- that you don't feel until it's too late to do anything about it, until you realize with finality that in some regard you will never be as good a man again."

The literary world at large found such brash honesty unseemly, and Ernest Hemingway especially was disdainful of his friend's candor. But just as "The Crack-Up" essays unnecessarily confirmed that Hemingway was indeed a bastard, they also demonstrated that Fitzgerald could still write.

One of the most poignant and telling passages in THE CRACK-UP anthology appears in Fitzgerald's 1932 essay about New York, "My Lost City." Returning a couple of years after the stock market crash of 1929 ("I once thought that there were no second acts in American lives," he writes, "but there was certainly to be a second act to New York's boom days"), Fitzgerald found a new skyline awaiting him. The Empire State Building, all 103 floors and 1,454 feet, had risen out of the dust of the Big Crash. Fitzgerald "went to the roof of the last and most magnificent of towers. Then I understood -- everything was explained: I had discovered the crowning error of the city, its Pandora's box. Full of vaunting pride the New Yorker had climbed here and seen with dismay what he had never suspected, that the city was not the endless succession of canyons that he had supposed but that it had limits -- from the tallest structure he saw for the first time that it faded out into the country on all sides, into an expanse of green and blue that alone was limitless. And with the awful realization that New York was a city after all and not a universe, the whole shining edifice that he had reared in his imagination came crashing to the ground."

Perhaps at that moment Fitzgerald discovered he had his limits, too, and that they were already in his past. One wonders how many times in the eight tortured years he had left, dealing with the insanity of Zelda and Hollywood, book sales all but evaporating, he looked back on that moment atop the Empire State Building and wished he had jumped.

(c) 2006 - Visit chidder.livejournal.com

The dark night of the soul .......2005-01-30

Fragments of Fitgerald here do not really shore up his ruin. The most romantic of American novelists tells the story of why in the lives of American writers there are no second acts. The title essay 'The Crack - Up' is a very moving one. The tale of ' the dark - night in the soul in which it is always three o'clock in the morning ' of his breakdown and loss of a real feeling for life. He struggled back, and he made his efforts, most admirably perhaps as a father in trying to educate a daughter with two very problematic parents. He was finished at forty- four and did not make it to some other better world in his work and his life. No second act for him. But these fragments show the very beauty of perception and fineness of literary line which enabled him to write his one, and one of America's great masterpieces, Gatsby.

A nice collection, but it could be better........2005-01-23

Fitzgerald and Wilson are two writers who mean a lot to me. (Tender Is the Night and To the Finland Station being among my favorite books.) I have to confess that I was expecting more from this collection of Fitzgerald essays, letters and journals. The selection is thin, and there is no clear line for why some pieces were chosen and others were not. It seems to me that there would be room on the market for a more comprehensive collection of the non-fiction prose and letters.

The Crack-Up was originally published in book form while Fitzgerald was still alive, which may explain the somewhat odd selection. The obituaries collected at the end were added after his death for the 1945 edition.

Even with the flaws, The Crack-Up is still worth taking the time to read. Particularly if you are a fan of Fitzgerald, the bitter thought-provoking autobiographical essays provide a nice counterpoint to the exuberance of the novels. Aside from the title essay, "My Lost City" is particularly nice.

Fitzgerald arranged fragments of his writing notebooks into a series of conceptual categories for publication in this volume. These fragments serve as a very nice reminder just how good of a writer he really was. The combination of skilled turn of phrase and careful eye for detail is a powerful one. The journal section could serve as a very good lesson in observation for would-be writers of today.

Wilson himself notes that the letters included represent "merely a handful that happened to be easily obtainable". The most interesting letters are those written to his daughter and some of the letters that he received after the publication of the Great Gatsby. It is fascinating to read the reactions of Stein, Wharton and Eliot.

Time for a new edition of (at least) the collected letters?

Vintage Fitzgerald.......2002-08-18

F. Scott Fitzgerald captured the dreams and aspirations of so many people when he wrote of the fabulous excesses of the 20's - a time not unlike the recent "get-rich-quick" mania of the Internet bubble, which also crashed, destroying many fortunes and lifestyles.
In The Crack-Up Fitzgerald writes equally poignantly of the agony of the aftermath of such excess and unfulfilled desires and social insecurities. He was able to capture all of this so clearly because it was the life that he and Zelda aspired to and, from time to time, lived. But they were always just on the outside, depending on the generosity of others both financially socially. He takes no prisoners.
It is no surprise that he is still being widely read. Don't miss Fitzgeral - it doesn't really matter which of his books you start with, you will find yourself moving through the collection.

The Sixties: The Last Journal, 1960-1972

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Literary anthropologist
The winter of an intellectual lion

The Sixties: The Last Journal, 1960-1972
Edmund Wilson
Manufacturer: Farrar Straus & Giroux (T)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0374265542

Customer Reviews:

Literary anthropologist.......2006-11-23

The introduction notes that Wilson's journals are a collage. He was always the critic. In his gift for portraiture he is the equal of Dr. Johnson, Taine, and St.Beauve.

Wilson died at age seventy-seven at his desk, in the manner of Karl Marx. In the beginning of the decade he is at Harvard. He realizes that he drinks too much to get himself out of a depression. His wife Elena enjoys talking with their friend, Dawn Powell. Wilson feels, after watching Malraux at a dinner at the Kennedy White House, that Malraux practiced deception as a matter of course.

In Toronto, EW sees Morley Callaghan and his two sons. Callaghan had worked with Ernest Hemingway on the TORONTO STAR. Wilson travels to Quebec in the early sixties for the first time since a childhood stay in 1906.

Dickens, Kipling, and Upstate New York were matters of importance in EW's childhood, and Quebec falls into the category, too. Wilson finds he likes Isaiah Berlin's international personality better than his Oxford aspect. EW reads some Balzac who specialized in brazen cynical careerists. Zola and Proust were influenced by Balzac.

In Italy with Elena and his daughters Helen and Rosalind, Ew sees Lampedusa and Mario Praz. In Hungary he learns the inhabitants don't want anything having to do with Russia mentioned. The state controls housing. Everything is censored. Wilson believes that Hungarian, for reason of its stresses, is particularly appropriate for translating Greek and Roamn poets. Visiting Hungary, he is saddened because the 1848 Revolution was crushed and the same fate awaited the Revolt of 1956.

In London Wilson sees Sonia Orwell, Natasha Spender, Wystan Auden, and V.S. Pritchett. Wilson likes Hemingway's MOVEABLE FEAST because it shows his younger brighter self. He cites Hemingway's capacity to bring out personalities.

Wilson is appointed to the Center for Advanced Studies at Wesleyan. The Wilsons find Middletown to be down at the heels and Hartford, by way of contrast, a happening place. Wilson learns from Brendan Gill that the gold dome in Hartford memorializes the fact that Russia was the first customer of the Colt factory located there.

When Dawn Powell visits Wilson at Talcottville, his family house in New York, she takes an interest in the events in the village. Dawm Powell dies in 1965. EW believes that dinner and drinks in Boston tend to be skimpy. He comments on this apropos a discussion of a dinner he attends at the American Academy of Arts and Science.

Wilson is cheered by reading the diary of Anais Nin. He is a kind of Literary anthropologist in many respects including a task he sets for himself of indentifying novelists and others in the region of Talcottville. He remarks that art centers are coming into vogue as the mid sixties mark the beginning of government subsidies for the arts.

When EW goes to the funeral of Waldo Frank in Cape Cod he thinks the undertaker is paying attention to some of the funeral-goers with a lecherous eye. Near the end of his life, EW visits Lily Dale where only spiritualists may buy property.

The winter of an intellectual lion.......1999-12-29

Meticulous account by Wilson of his coming to terms with old age. His precise observations of his increasing enfeeblement, and of the "glitterati" with whom he socialized, make for fascinating reading. His restless movement from Manhattan to the countryside to the beach to Europe contrasts with the subtle melancholy of his narrative; it's a page-turner with a wintry mood. Disappointed by the surprising shabbiness of the Princeton Club, for example, Wilson says, "I doubt that I shall go there again," and it's as much an acknowledgment of his own mortality as a comment on the flaking plaster. The occasional summer breeze blows through, as when he indulges his passion for Hungarian culture in a suprisingly jaunty European excursion. Gossipy and detailed insider's glimpses abound: Wilson shows us the "Camelot" White House, visits Scottie Fitzgerald, and comments on the star-crossed relationship of Mike Nichols and Elaine May. (A bonus: The paperback is beautifully "packaged." Fine design, wonderful photographs, and the heft and feel of an expensive hardbound book.)

The Forties: From Notebooks and Diaries of the Period

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The Forties: From Notebooks and Diaries of the Period
Edmund Wilson , and Leon Edel
Manufacturer: Farrar Straus & Giroux (T)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Thirties: From Notebooks and Diaries of the Period

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Great insight into Wilson's personality

The Thirties: From Notebooks and Diaries of the Period
Edmund Wilson
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0374275726

Book Description

In Wilson's journal of the 1930's the narrator moves from the youthful concerns of the Jazz Age to his more substantial middle years, exploring the decade's plunge from affluence and exploring the tenets of Communism. His personal life is also amply represented, from his marriage to Margaret Canby and her subsequent death to various erotic episodes with unidentified women.

Customer Reviews:

Great insight into Wilson's personality.......2007-03-02

A decade of exploration and tragedy for Wilson. The accidental death of his wife and the Great depression absorb much of Wilson's energies, but his journal entries explore a wide variety of other interesting topics as well. A very honest and candid look at his personal life and the larger themes of the era. Paperback edition (the book itself) is a little too small for comfortable reading.

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Goya: Drawings from His Private Albums
Juliet Wilson Bareau , Juliet Wilson-Bareau , and Francisco Goya
Manufacturer: Lund Humphries Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0853318042

The Fifties: From Notebooks and Diaries of the Period

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Insightful and honest
Best of the diaries series

The Fifties: From Notebooks and Diaries of the Period
Edmund Wilson , and Leon Edel
Manufacturer: Farrar Straus & Giroux (T)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

ASIN: 0374154864

Book Description

This is the highly acclaimed fourth volume in the series that began with The Twenties and it is complimented with photographs and journal excerpts of some of the most interesting characters of the decade.

Customer Reviews:

Insightful and honest.......2006-11-16

Very interesting journal entries that cover a variety of topics. A blend of literary and personal matters that give the reader great insight into the era. Wilson is very frank and honest. Some of the entries would make most of us blush, but in the end it's easier to trust the material, knowing it hasn't been filtered or spun to create a better legacy. Wilson's travels are fascinating. He was comfortable around society's elite's as well as common people. And the range of topics he writes about is impressive. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the culture and politics of the 1950's.

Best of the diaries series.......2005-02-18

Of the four decade-each Diaries/Notebooks volumes, beginning with The Twenties, I find this one the best. Edited by Leon Edel, Wilson is less rambling here, his thoughts more concentrated. Many sections are headed Talcottville, Wilson's inherited house in Lewis County, NY. Major interests for Wilson at this time were the Dead Sea Scrolls and the plight of the Iroquois Indians in Upstate New York. None of the Diaries/Notebooks volumes comes close to the best of Wilson's work, which remains the literature/book reviews.

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Albany sketchbook (Sketchbook series)
Helen Helga Mayne Wilson
Manufacturer: Rigby
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

An Italian Sketchbook by Richard Wilson RA, Two Volumes

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An Italian Sketchbook by Richard Wilson RA, Two Volumes
Denys, ed. Sutton
Manufacturer: Paul Mellow Foundation for Britis
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PT19K6

Italian Sketchbook: Drawings made by the artist in Rome and its

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Italian Sketchbook: Drawings made by the artist in Rome and its
Richard Wilson
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000M416RK

An Italian sketchbook: Drawings made by the artist in Rome and its environs in the year 1754 (Studies in British art)

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An Italian sketchbook: Drawings made by the artist in Rome and its environs in the year 1754 (Studies in British art)
Richard Wilson
Manufacturer: Paul Mellon Foundation for British Art in association with Routledge & K. Paul
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: 0710062834

Book Description

A determined guard dog with true family appeal, the Hovawart descends from German working farm dogs of the 13th century. The breed's name, in fact, descends from the Middle Ages, and translates as "farm guard." A rare breed outside native Germany, the Hovawart has many followers in Europe and a growing fancy in America, making this Special Rare-Breed Edition a vital resource for all admirers of this breed. Written by two of Europe's most acclaimed breed authorities, Francis Dedier and Viviana Pavan, this colorful and comprehensive volume discusses breed history, characteristics and standard as well as health care, obedience training, puppy selection and housebreaking.

In addition to an authoritative text, written with both the pet owner and breed fancier in mind, this book presents over 135 color photographs of handsome Hovawarts from around the world as well as other illustrations that prove to be as attractive as they are informative. For every dog fancier interested in this unique rare breed, this book promises to be an invaluable resource and the only volume of its kind dedicated to the Hovawart breed.

Customer Reviews:

From the owner of a fabulous Hovawart!.......2004-05-14

Finally a book about Hovawarts that's in English! It was very informative and went into detail about everything from what to look for when purchasing your dog, the history of the breed, and the proper care for it. It's nice to have a book as a reference instead of having to do research on the internet to find things out about my wonderful dog! I definitely recommend reading it if you have or are thinking about purchasing a Hovawart of your own.

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Pacific Horticulture Book Of Western Gardening
George; Harlow, Nora Waters
Manufacturer: David R. Godine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OPBYVK

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Pacific Horticulture Book of Western Gardening

Manufacturer: Boston: David R. Godine, 1990
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HFN2PS

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The Pacific Horticulture Book of Western Gardening
George Waters , and Nora Harlow
Manufacturer: David R. Godine Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0879237635

Book Description

This volume deals with Greek painted vases, exploring them from various methodological points of view and moving beyond the traditional focus on connoisseurship and style. The volume, which represents the proceedings of an international conference sponsered by the Center for the Ancient Mediterranean at Columbia University, is an effort to exploit the immense richness of these vases by using them to study general cultural history.

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Anonymous in Irvine.

The New Industrial Parks Near Irvine, California

Manufacturer: Ram Pubns & Dist
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0963078569

Customer Reviews:

Anonymous in Irvine........2003-12-21

The fifty-one black and white photos in this nicely designed book will not be to everybody's taste. The photos could not be more stark and minimalist, mostly eye level, straight on, images of almost plain walls of commercial premises in Irvine, Los Angeles. The only concession is (photo twenty-two) a close-up of an open two-switch electrical box, I bet Baltz only took this because the box cover was off and the inside looked interesting.

Looking through the photos at the shapes and rigid right angles of the walls, doors, guttering and windows suggest abstract paintings and I can well understand that the appearance of the book encouraged the significant 1975 photo exhibition, 'New Topographics'. Some of the ten photographers (including Baltz) in that show have gone on to exhibit and publish books about the man-altered landscape. I think this particular photographic genre is now well established, thanks to Baltz.

The book is as minimalist as the photos, apart from the simple captions there is no essay about Baltz (at least not in my German produced copy which does not have a photo on the cover) no page numbers, nothing on the inside flaps or back of the cover. I would have preferred this 2001 edition to have some reference to the influence these photos had over the last twenty-five years. An equally minimalist designed book I have enjoyed is 'Meadowland' by Ray Mortenson (ISBN 0912810408) here the photos are of an industrial area in New Jersey. The photos are not as rigid as those by Baltz and frequently show how the natural landscape has been changed by heavy industry.

Both books present a vibrant photographic style and I like them because they show how visually fascinating the man-made environment can be.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

The New Industrial Parks Near Irvine, California / Das Neue Industriegelande in Der Nahe Von Irvine, Kalifornien

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The New Industrial Parks Near Irvine, California / Das Neue Industriegelande in Der Nahe Von Irvine, Kalifornien

ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 3865211267

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The new industrial parks near Irvine, California =: Das neue Industriegelande in der Nahe von Irvine, Kalifornien
Lewis Baltz
Manufacturer: Distributed by Light Impressions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: B0006CE508

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Blah, humbug

Good, Solid reading

This is a very well researched and most interesting read.

Royal Watchers will love it.

Matriarch: Queen Mary and the House of Windsor
Anne Edwards
Manufacturer: William Morrow & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Ever After: Diana and the Life She Led

ASIN: 0688062725

Customer Reviews:

Blah, humbug.......2006-07-26

This biography isn't nearly --no, make that doesn't even come CLOSE-- to being as excellent as James Pope Hennessey's QUEEN MARY (1959). Yes, that biography was written almost 50 years ago and Pope Hennessey was writing an "official" biography, but it's chock full of interesting information and is backed by thorough research and excellent writing. Anne Edwards resorts to wondering, in the first chapter of this version, whether Mary's first fiance, the Duke of Clarence, was Jack the Ripper, and hinting that this could be possible. From that high point (she wrote sarcastically), it's all weak. Talk about a comedown. Don't waste your time with this trash version; go to the one that tells you what Mary was really like, and why.

Good, Solid reading.......2006-02-06

Biography can be a demanding form. The pitfalls range from the Kitty-Kelley-extreme of trashing a subject to the adulation of a hagiographer. There is a very, very narrow path of objectivity between.

It is clear Anne Edwards has a great affection and respect for her subject. Perhaps she does not stay in the rigorously objective historian's path as much as one would wish, but she does acknowledge her subject's faults. She does not pretend, for instance, that Queen Mary was anything but a bad mother even by the standards of her time. Still, at the end of the book one suspects Ms. Edwards believes in the Divine Right of Kings with as much fervor as her inimitable subject. I doubt that was her initial intention.

The tempo is perfect--the book is an easy read without being simplistic. There is a good selection of pictures that nicely illustrate the entire life of this truly one-of-a-kind woman.

Monarchy isn't everyone's cup of tea, but if it interests you this is a must-read book.

This is a very well researched and most interesting read........2002-04-12

Queen Mary was the consort of King George V and the paternal grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II. She was a great influence on Queen Elizabeth II and the resemblance between Queen Mary and her famous granddaughter is uncanny. Queen Mary was the daughter of one of Queen Victoria's cousins, Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge. Queen Mary's father was the Duke of Teck (a morganatic son of the heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of Wuerttemberg - now part of modern Germany). Queen Mary was destined to marry Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (eldest son of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) but he died before any marriage could take place. Queen Victoria wanted this marriage badly. Queen Mary at this time was Her Serene Highness, Princess Victoria Mary of Teck. To have lost the heir to the throne of England was a great loss. Queen Victoria knew that this Princess was worth keeping and soon Prince Albert Victor's younger brother George was married off to his late brother's fiancee. They eventually became King George V and Queen Mary on the death of King Edward VII in 1910. The marriage was a success and for Princess Victoria Mary of Teck it was a great rise from Serene Highness to Royal Highness and eventually Queen Consort. Queen Mary herself had a very interesting early family life. Her brothers were interesting characters as well as her parents. One of her brothers married King George V's cousin HRH Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone while another caused Queen Mary much embarrassment with his gambling and other dubious activities. Queen Mary came from German stock and it is interesting to read about her German relatives. Her own married life is of much interest and of course her children are well known. She was the granddaughter-in-law of Queen Victoria, the daughter-in-law of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, the wife of George V and the mother of King Edward VIII and King George VI. Her life spanned a most turbulent period and she was a solid rock in the life of the British Royal family, providing a sense of security to the British Monarchy particularly during the abdication crisis. This is a very well researched book. It is well worth the read.

Royal Watchers will love it........2000-10-30

Anne Edwards is terrific and this book is no exception. It tells the story Queen Mary, the grandmother of the current queen Elizabeth, who rose from a minor royal relative to the queen consort of England. The path was difficult and almost lost - like Catherine of Aragon, she was betrothed to the heir who died prematurely (Edward, the whispered would-be Jack the Ripper) but married his brother instead. One of the most interesting episodes in the book is when her son, Edward VIII, chose love over duty, devastating his mother who had raised him to chose duty to the country over all else.

For real royal watchers, one of the things that sets this work above others in the genre, is the details of the clothing and jewelry worn by Queen Mary and the other royals. Mary was apparently not shy about wearing jewels that befit her station and these details are revealed to the reader. For every royal wedding, funeral and other occasion, Edwards takes time to desribe the clothing worn by the principals. If you've bought People Magazine to see the fashions of Diana, you need to read this book. It's much better that People magazine. Photos (b&w) are included as well.

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Accidental History

Probably the best book until they make a virtual reality show.

More Corrections

Fantastic book

An extraordinary dollhouse explored in depth

Queen Mary's Dolls' House
Mary Stewart-Wilson
Manufacturer: Abbeville Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0896598764

Customer Reviews:

Accidental History.......2007-05-01

Lutyens, the architect of Queen Mary's Dolls' House, also designed the city of New Delhi and the Viceroy's House, one of the largest and most unique palaces in the world. Sadly, he was one of the world's greatest artists, but is remembered only for this (comparatively) tiny tourist attraction.

Tourists, architectural students, and historians should buy this book. This is the only thorough analysis of any of Lutyens' buildings, and as such, is an important historical document above and beyond its tourist appeal.

Probably the best book until they make a virtual reality show........2007-01-15

I was so enchanted by Royal Collection Official Guide Book to Queen Mary's Dolls' House that I ordered this one figuring (correctly) that there would be other unique pictures. This is the better of the two books - nearly three times as long and filled with more pictures, especially detail shots of the tiny furnishings and decorations. I am charmed by Cripp's method of showing scale: he poses the tiny cricket bat next to a regulation cricket ball, and the little golf clubs next to a real golf ball. This also includes a section on how the house is aging: fading wallpaper, damaged paint, etc. All of the pictures, except for a few that are historic, are in color. This is unfortunately out of print, and may be more expensive, so the purchaser will have to weigh issues of cost and availability for themselves. I think that either would do as a souvenier.

If someone is really interested, I would recommend getting both books. The Royal Collection Official Guidebook is a pretty good buy at $11.95 and a nice supplement to this one. A very few of the shots are in both, but not enough to make them redundant to the person who wants all the information they can get. Generally, the duplicate shots are slightly large in the S-W book. To compare and contrast the two, while the S-W book has more of everything, the RC book still has some unique shots. The photographs in this book take in the entire room, while the RC book often shoots the room at an angle, cutting off part of the room, but what is shown is sometimes in better focus and a bit larger. To compare the shots of the Queen's bedroom, the Stewart-Wilson shot shows the entire bedroom. The Royal Collection shot, at an angle , reveals some additional details such as the fire screen and the chinoiserie cabinet, but cuts off the exteme left-hand side of the room. (Her Majesty has apparently been rearranging her decorative items since the S-W book.) The S-W detail of the 18th century pietre-dure table concentrates on showing the design on the top. The RC detail shows more of the table and the objects normally on it. The historical sections, revealing how the house came to be built are the most different, and the RC book has more pictures of people who participated in creating the doll house and of the room in which it now sits with the Phillip Connard mural. The captions are overlapping, but not identical, and so one gains more information by having both.

More Corrections.......2006-05-19

To further correct the first reviewer, the Doll's House is certainly not a copy of Windsor Castle. It is nothing like it. Windsor Castle is a CASTLE - stones and very old, and big. The Doll's House is an "ideal home" of the early 1020's - albeit intended for royalty and not for your average Joneses.

Fantastic book.......2006-03-01

With a couple of corrections of the first review, I'd like to make sure that it's known that Queen Mary did not commission this dollshouse. It was the original brain child of the Princess Marie Louise, who spearheaded the creation of the house. Queen Mary was "extremely surprised" but agreed. The initial shell of the house was erected in Lutyen's office, then removed to the drawing room of his house in Mansfield Street in London.

It was unveiled to the press, once completed, in the Mansfield Street house, then moved and reconstructed in the Palace of Arts at Wembley. It went from there to Windsor Castle, then to an exhibition at Olympia. In February of 1925, the house was returned to Windsor Castle. The Daily Mail donated a glass case through which we can now view the dollshouse in Windsor Castle.

This wonderful book has photographs of the letters written by Princess Marie Louise to all the firms and manufacturers involved in the dollshouse creation, as well as numerous photographs of the interior and furnishings. Pictures of tiny dollshouse ledgers, keys, and even a garden snail grace this book.

An extraordinary dollhouse explored in depth.......2002-03-15

England's Queen Mary--grandmother of the current Queen Elizabeth II--commissioned the construction of her extraordinary dollhouse (or "dolls' house" as it is referred to here) in 1921, during her own reign. It resides at Windsor Castle, as it has since being constructed there. Designed by Edward Lutyens (famous for his graceful furniture), the house is a reproduction of Windsor Castle right down to the last nail--almost literally.

David Cripps' photography beautifully captures the interiors of this amazing dollhouse, from the grand to the plebian. Here is the linen closet, each batch of towels tied with different-colored ribbon to denote whether they were intended for the nursery, the staff, or the kitchen. Here is a lacquer cabinet with gilded stand, dovetailed working drawers, and gold-leafed decoration. Here is a bed, complete with pillows, bolsters, sheets, blankets, and even a tiny walnut-handled bedwarmer. The toilet, complete with toilet paper discreetly placed in a bowl alongside, really works. The toothbrushes are made of ivory and have bristles made from the hair of a goat's inner ear. In the cellar, bottles of Chateau Margaux are properly corked and waxed and labeled. The pantry shows real bows of Fry's Chocolates sharing space with McVitie & Price biscuits, barley sugar candies in hefty glass candy jars, and Frank Cooper's Seville Marmalade in squat jars tied with brown paper and string.

The garage houses a miniature bicycle with brakes "in perfect working order," not to mention a Rudge motorcycle and sidecar, a seven-seater Rolls Royce limousine-landaulet, a Vauxhall, a "Sunbeam open tourer," and two Daimlers. Gorgeous royal crests are hand-painted on each. The house even has its own petrol pumps and fire appliances, as was normal for large houses in that era.

The house's garden is splendid despite the absence of a single living thing. The lawn, made of cut green velvet, boasts several tiny mowers (both motor-powered and not), and the nearby garden has its own lovely benches, hoes, spades and the like. There is even a robin's nest, complete with eggs, and a tiny, tiny snail.

Perhaps the most extraordinary thing in the house is the book collection. Famous authors were asked to contribute their own works. Arthur Conan Doyle obliged by submitted "How Watson Learned the Trick," an original 500-word short story done in his own handwriting. The bookplates for each of the books were designed by beloved Winnie-the-Pooh illustrator Ernest Shepard. Rudyard Kipling submitted not only two poems, but illustrated them himself as well. Other well-known authors who gave their own works to the Queen's house included G. K. Chesterton, Joseph Conrad, Robert Graves, Aldous Huxley, Hilaire Belloc, Rose Macauley, W. Somerset Maugham, and Vita Sackville-West. Topping off the fine works of this distinguished crowd are the leather-bound autograph books--one each for famous folks from stage and screen, famous folks from the military, and famous politicans.

There is even a room for storing the scepter, crowns and other regalia--all featuring flawless gemstones!

Book Description

As official biographer, the author had access to private papers which helped unfold the moving story of Princess May of Teck's impoverished childhood, her significant reign and her old age as the much admired Queen Dowager; she saw her fiancee, husband and three sons die, and another abdicate before her own death in 1953.

Customer Reviews:

Queen Mary.......2006-07-20

Before I read this biography I had no interest in the Victorians, didn't think much of the Royal Family and thought all biographies were boring. This book changed all that. It was the story of a remarkable life, well told, and it covers an important period in history it was good to read- in fact, it deserves to rank as the best biography ever written, even though it's 47 years old!

Magisterial, Majestic, and Marvelously Entertaining.......2004-12-13

While it's not the fashion these days for biographers to betray afffection for their subjects, James Pope-Hennessy clearly held his in the highest regard. Although born into the fringes of Germano-British royalty, the one-time May of Teck was, by the end of her long life, an icon of British life (she pops up in the oddest places, from a cameo as a waving hand in Virginia Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway" to a recent BBC film in which she is portrayed by Miranda Richardson as the mother of what we would now call a "differently abled" child).

Pope-Hennessy's biography is at once a respectful portrait of the Queen and a fascinating glimpse into royal life between the Crimean and Second World Wars. It bristles with colorful supporting characters, from the spiteful Lady Geraldine Somerset (whose fly-on-the-wall perspective as a lady-in-waiting gave ample room for her spleen) to the Queen's doting aunt, the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg Strelitz, to the exceedingly patient Duke and Duchess of Beaufort, who had the dubious honor of hosting the elderly queen during her wartime evacuation from London. Presiding over them all is the vast and benevolent Princess Mary Adelaide, the Queen's mother and a memorable figure in her own right. The author bids farewell to the Princess in a lyric passage that would seem at home in Woolf and that, as a teenager first reading the book, made me weep.

With lengthy excerpts from letters and other primary sources, unfailingly acute and frequently amusing observations of the foibles of royalty and those around them, and, in the end, a remarkably balanced view of the Queen, this book is both a model of how an authorized biography can be written and an invaluable resource for those interested not just in the life of one woman but in the times in which she lived.

the best royal biography ever!.......2002-12-30

Once in awhile I can judge a book by its cover-I have now owned a copy for 11 years and I also re-read it once a year or so. Mr Pope-Hennessey does a brilliant job bringing a huge cast of charachters to life, and Queen Mary herself is a fascinating study in early 20th century womanhood. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading about women in the royal family. All the elements are there, in great detail-but don't expect dirt digging. But you will not be dissappointed!

One of the best biographies of a Royal.......2002-07-13

I've owned this biography for ten years, and I seem to go back and re-read it once a year. It's the kind of book that's so well-written, you can start reading it from any chapter and get hooked. I don't think you have to be a Royalty-fan to enjoy it. Queen Mary was a fascinating person & her life was so interesting, to say the least. It's got so much detail, and the author makes you understand the circumstances which made Queen Mary the person she was. This book was published in 1957, which was only a few years after her death and a more reticent time, so don't expect any delving into Queen Mary's unfortunate habit of "guilting" people into giving her their historical knicknacks, etc. for her vast collections. (Or about her shady dealings in the matter of acquiring Empress Marie of Russia's jewel collection from the Empress' daughters at a bargain price.) For the Royal buff, there is also a wealth of information on Queen Victoria, Edward VII, Alexandra,et al. Make this a cornerstone of your Royalty (or just good biography) collection & you won't be disappointed.

God Save the Queen.......2002-04-22

Pope-Hennessy's book is a delight to read. He writes in a readable engrosing manner which makes his book hard to put down. He gives us a enthralling account of the life of this remarkably down to earth woman who is always a queen. The many love letters she received from her husband, the king, also disclose to us a woman who was indispensable to his success as a monarch. For everyone who has an even remote interest in royalty this is the book for you. A good read!

Average customer rating:

Queen Mary 1867-1953
James Pope-Hennesey
Manufacturer: George Allen & Unwin Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000L2SVC6

Average customer rating:

Queen Mary 1867-1953 (Illustrated)
James Pope-Hennessy
Manufacturer: George Allen & Unwin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0049230255

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QUEEN MARY 1867-1953.
James. Pope-Hennessy
Manufacturer: George Allen & Unwin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000O8SBJK

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Queen Mary, 1867-1953
James Pope-Hennessy
Manufacturer: ALFRED A. KNOPF
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OL166W

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Queen Mary: 1867-1953
James Pope-Hennessy
Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IMT4GQ

Average customer rating:

Queen Mary: 1867-1953
James Pope-Hennessy
Manufacturer: George Allen and Unwin Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GM4UV2

Average customer rating:

QUEEN MARY: 1867-1953.
James. Pope-Hennessy
Manufacturer: George Allen and Unwin Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000O8LXJK

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