Jane Edmanson's Favourite Plants

Book Description

This guide provides readers with the sights, hotels, restaurants and nightlife for the ultimate fun experience in Greece. Includes 2004 Olympics section.

Customer Reviews:

Antique Music Box.......2006-06-10

"This tiny candlelit dining room has no menu - instead, choose from raw ingredients brought directly to your table then cooked to order. Offerings change daily, but the heavenly results - succulent lobster with spicy Parmesan sauce, Chinese noodles with smoked fish in a saffron-mastic infusion - have made it a perennial favorite. Service is impeccably personal and the check arrives in an antique music box."

Of all the guides I've seen for Athens, this one has some very unique and cozy recommendations for restaurants. If you are going to Athens as much for the food as the architecture, this guide will gives you "the draw," "the scene," and a "hot tip" for each restaurant. Reading through the downtown attractions, you feel you are truly there because the descriptions are so detailed.

The main sections include information on art spaces, beaches, seasonal highlights, cafes, candlelit bars, classic dining, hotels, places by the sea, clubs, rooms with views, shows under the stars and tables with a view. Four sections about the Athens Experience presents opportunity for either a Classic Athens tour, Hot-and-Cool Itinerary, Downtown Athens visit, By-the-Water Athens escape.

Delphi, Napflion, Olympia, Thessaloniki and the Wineries of Attica are also featured. The Ilands: Hydra, Mykonos, Rhodes, Santorini and Skiathos are briefly discussed and given a few pages each.

This book contains some of the best food/travel writing I've seen in a long time. The Fun Seeker's Athens is worth buying for the writing style and cozy suggestions! Reading this guide will make you wonder why you are still at home! They make Athens sound like the place to be, so romantic.

~The Rebecca Review

The Fun Seeker's Athens : The Ultimate Guide to One of the World's Hottest Cities (Fun Seeker's Athens)

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The Fun Seeker's Athens : The Ultimate Guide to One of the World's Hottest Cities (Fun Seeker's Athens)
Coral Davenport
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MU4M0M

Book Description

A biography of Soekarno (Sukarno) in a hundred photos. Sukarno, leader of Indonesia's radical independence movement in the 20's under Dutch colonial rule, became the country's first President. He dominated the political stage in the colony of the Dutch East Indies and in independent Indonesia for more than forty years. Sukarno authority Bob Hering provides the historical framework for the photos, many of them never before published.

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An American Terrorist

Well Done

Necessary

Superficial and obsessive

A Mind for Murder: The Education of the Unabomber and the Origins of Modern Terrorism
Alston Chase
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Criminals | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Criminology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Murder & Mayhem | True Accounts | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
True Crime | True Accounts | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Terrorism | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Domestic Terrorism and Incident Management: Issues and Tactics

Terrorism and Homeland Security: An Introduction

Counter-Terrorism after 9/11: Justice, Security and Ethics Reconsidered

Michael Collins

Harvard and the Unabomber: The Education of an American Terrorist

ASIN: 0393325563

Book Description

"With its unusual emphasis and sometimes surprisingly personal tone, this may become the definitive Kaczynksi volume."—Publishers Weekly

This is a radically new interpretation of the life and motives of the infamous Unabomber. Alston Chase's gripping account follows Ted Kaczynski from an unhappy adolescence in Illinois to Harvard, where he was subject not only to the despairing intellectual currents of the Cold War but also to ethically questionable psychological experiments. Kaczynski fled academia to the edge of the wilderness in Montana, but Chase shows us that he was never the wild mountain man the media often assumed him to be. Kaczynski was living in a book-lined cabin just off a main road when he formulated the view of the world that he used to justify murder. Through Chase's compelling narration of the planning and execution of Kaczynski's crimes, we come to know a thoroughly cold-blooded killer, but one whose ideas were uncannily close to those of mainstream America. Originally published in hardcover as Harvard and the Unabomber.

Customer Reviews:

An American Terrorist.......2007-06-27

A Mind for Murder is a compelling look into what contributed to the creation of the monster known as the Unabomber. It begins in the earlier years of Kaczynski and logs personal event and how these events contributed to his psyche as a murder when he grew. One of the most compelling insights in the book is how he is thought to be insane and a madman. Kaczynski Knew what he was doing and did not what to be declared as insane because his environmental/anti-technology cause would be thought a joke. He took a plea bargain in order to keep the defense from declaring him mentally unstable. I was a amazed at the book and the great insight and detail it portrayed. If you are interested in Domestic Terrorism this is a must read.

Well Done.......2005-12-28

Mind for Murder is an excellent book by Alston Chase. This book has two main components to it. The first component deals with the life and demise of Ted Kaczynski. The author gives us descriptions of Ted's early years as a child, his high school years, and spends a great deal of time expounding on Ted's time spent at Harvard.

In the author's description of Ted's early years we our shown Ted grew to despise his parents pressuring him to excel academically. His resentment was especially strong toward his father who seemed to remain aloof and somewhat nihilistic till he committed suicide. Ted also resented his mother Wanda because he felt she intentionally subjected him to psychological abuses as a child. These feelings seemed to stay with Ted and even grow as Ted embarked on his college career.

The second component of this book is a cultural analysis that centers around the time period Ted would have been at Harvard and proffers reasons why Ted and others in our modern times have felt the need to resort to terrorism. The author explains how Universities like Harvard used to place a strong emphasis on liberal arts education. Education that was paired with moral virtue. This way of thinking is found in the thoughts of the ancient Greeks who thought reason had to be bound with moral virtue. However, in the 1950s with World War II just having ended and the Cold War looming the universities seemed to adopt the stance of logical positivism. The idea that if something isn't scientifically verifiable it has no meaning. In other words, moral judgments are just the cultural attitudes of the time. Ted would have encountered this line of nihilistic thinking at Harvard. Is it any wonder in later years he would adopt and expound his personal philosophy to mean any ends justified the means? This is especially poignant considering moral judgments to Ted seemed to be just a bunch of efforts at psychological control by the system.

Chase later gives us insightful details of how Ted was used at Harvard by Henry Murray for a psychological experiment. Ted and some other Harvard students at the time were participants in an experiment to submit these persons to dreadful psychological interrogation experiments. The Govt. at this time was very concerned with finding out how to treat or even coerce political prisoners into doing what they wanted. Even going so far as to study and try to learn how to keep the masses under control. Chase gives us historical insight into the Govt. intentionally trying out "new" drugs like LSD on college students, prison inmates, and anyone else it so fancied because surely the Russians had a secret "mind control" drug like this to coerce confessions out of POWs. Ted resented his being tested (even if he was being paid for it) and came to view the techno-industrial system as guilty of imposing unnecessary suffering on the masses. Mind control, feeling like a cog in the machine, depression, irritability, lack of leisure, pollution, were all some of the things Ted blamed on the techno-industrial system. The only way to stop these unjust grievances was to lash out against the system. Even killing if necessary which is just what Ted did.

This is a sad book in some ways but it's a more important work in many other ways. It tells what happens when value gets subjugated below reason. It tells how the culture suffers when ideas like deconstructionism, logical positivism, and structuralism so permeate our culture that nothing has any meaning. Until academics and the culture in general start accepting the fact that reason is only half the puzzle; there is always yin with yang, objectivity with subjectivity, and mind with matter in any accurate depiction of reality. Until we understand these principles and adopt a more holistic approach to reality we are perhaps bound to repeat these same mistakes-the devaluing of society to utter meaninglessness. Worst of all, the suffering of innocents by acts of terrorism and the dependence on antidepressants will continue to be a prominent part of life.

Necessary.......2004-07-02

Though Chase does seem to suffer a need to attack what he views as the outcome of "value-free" education, I do not think the book suffers as much from this insistence as does the previous reviewer. In fact, there is much to be gained from such a study.

Chase's book is an admirable study of both the Unabomber and the postwar currents that converged to contribute to the making of the Unabomber. Thankfully, Chase is wise enough not to offer excuses for Kaczynski's actions, but his research into what made Kaczynski "tick" provide a believable backdrop and a necessary antidote to the popular misconception of the Unabomber as a madman devoid of reason or motive.

And rather than finding fault with Chase's attempt to tie the Unabomber's actions and theories to those of other "terrorist" groups, I found his arguments convincing, especially in regards to the pervasiveness of the positivistic, supremely rational curriculum of Western universities and the devaluing of the humanities.

We need more thinkers and researchers like Chase who are willing to make us question our kneejerk reactions to men who make us as uncomfortable as Kaczynski.

Superficial and obsessive.......2004-06-22

This was a terribly disappointing book. Author Alston Chase's description of the psychological experiments which Kaczynski was subjected to at Harvard is disturbing, and he makes some interesting connections between the manipulation suffered by Kaczynski and his subsequent rage at 'systems of control'.

But this potentially valuable insight gets lost in Chase's superficial and obsessive recounting of what he views as a social crisis bought on by 'value-free' education and philosphy. In the process, Chase condemns both academia and those who revolted against it, post-war society and those who pointed out it's failings, the US government and those who would try to move beyond a nation-state. By the end of the book, Chase has variously described Kaczynski as somehow representative of deep-ecologists, anti-globlization protestors, and even islamic fundamentalists (who, whatever their other problems, would not seem to be suffering from a 'value-free' education), all of whom (along with multiple other groups that the author doesn't like) are indiscriminately labelled 'terrorists'.

Book Description

A valuable guide that sheds light on one of the most feared equine diseases.

Average customer rating:

Great Book

Mixed blessing

Better than Most

great knowledge book

A great book for the fused glass artist

Warm Glass: A Complete Guide to Kiln-Forming Techniques: Fusing, Slumping, Casting
Philippa Beveridge , Ignasi Domenech , and Eva Pacual
Manufacturer: Lark Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Glass & Glassware | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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Introduction to Glass Fusing

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Fuse It: A Continuing Journey in Kiln Worked Glass

ASIN: 1579906559

Book Description

Here's the first and only full-color book on the subject of "warm," or kiln-fired, glass in print. It provides a comprehensive look at one of the most popular skills for those working in the studio.

With lavish illustrations, and all the processes involved in kiln-firing explained, the versatility of the dazzling technique of warm glass comes into clear focus. From fusing and slumping to casting and pâte de verre, everything is covered--complete with a corresponding graph on the firing cycle and information on the various types of glass, their compatibility, and their behaviors during firing. Invaluable tips tell how to avoid unexpected and unwanted effects, and also how to create a range of different results and finishes. Close-up pictures show each step in the process being carried out, and breathtaking photos display an inspirational gallery of finished works that are richly colored and gracefully shaped. A brief historical overview of glassmaking provides useful background.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book.......2007-10-07

Absolutely Great! This is the best book I've read on fusing too date and I read alot. Instead of just "what to do", it explains why you are doing it. It has a wonderful history of glass and an excellent explanation on the nature of glass. It covers the full range of information for working with warm glass, from straight fusing to making your own molds for casting.

Mixed blessing.......2007-09-08

Warm Glass: A Complete Guide is in many ways a really nice volume--it's beautifully illustrated with some of the nicest photography I've seen in a book on studio glass techniques. The sample projects are very attractive with a reasonable number of photos per project and there's a good background on the history of art glass that includes a lot of great photos.

However, the authors needed to do a bit more homework on the technical side. For example, they explain that glass is a liquid (most experts call it an amorphous solid) and I found some minor inaccuracies in their glass histories. Some of the calculations and schedules they publish are really based on a single type of glass and may not be suitable for all types of glass. They also provide some pretty precise times and temps for firing schedules which most likely won't work in all kilns and certainly won't work for every type of glass.

I doubt that anyone experienced at kilnforming would be misled, but the book is represented as "A Complete Guide," which might be misleading to beginners.

In their zeal to be complete, the authors cram a great deal--sandblasting, moldmaking, mold releases, frit-making, casting, several types of fusing--into a relatively short book. I think they do an excellent job at a high level, but the beginner (and maybe the intermediate kilnformer, too) could be left wondering how you get from step x to step z. They become vague in dangerous spots, as when they suggest using "a common cathedral glass" for a specific project and then publish a precise firing schedule. If you walk into any stained glass shop and ask for "a common cathedral glass" to use in a kilnforming project, well...you won't get very far.

And be warned: these projects take a reasonably elaborate setup with a fair amount of equipment and supplies. Everyone who does kilnformed glass knows it's not a cheap hobby, but it is possible to do simple glass projects without everything you'd need to buy to complete one of the projects in the book. A beginner might be wise to start with something more basic before making this kind of investment.

All in all, though, the book is a good addition to my library and I enjoy it. If you're kilnforming at an intermediate or better level, you'll be able to separate the wheat from the chaff and get good use out of this book. If you're a beginning kilnformer, make sure you have other resources--good classes, other books, expert kilnformers who are willing to advise--to supplement this book. Or start with something else.

Better than Most.......2007-09-07

This book is actually better than most glass books, giving information avbout fusing and casting that actually helps to fire correctly. It also has beautiful, if a bit dated, photos.

great knowledge book.......2007-08-23

This book like the other one I reviewed is good for the basic overview of the processes. I have yet to make any projects, once I do I will write more. BUT this is a good book to give you ideas and more insite of the processes.

A great book for the fused glass artist.......2007-05-18

I ordered this book and (the more expensive) "Contemporary warm glass" by Brad Walker and two "Fuse it" books by Petra Kaiser. I can say without hesitation that "Warm Glass" is the best of the bunch!

First off it is physically the nicest book, hard cover, great printing and lovely inspirational examples. Petra's book is good for anyone totally new to hot glass but I find her aesthetic is closer to "crafting" than fine art. Brad Walker's book is simply over priced!

"Warm Glass: A Complete Guide to Kiln-Forming Techniques: Fusing, Slumping, Casting" is inspiring and informative. The technical details are spot-on and the projects are much more "artful" than the other books.

If you are serious about fused glass I'd recommend getting this book. If you are starting out with no glass experience you may want to pickup a copy of Petra Kaiser's "Fuse it" book as well.

Any of these books will help the beginner get started, and that is truly the most important step! Petra Kaiser's books are aimed at the true beginner, while "Warm Glass" will appeal to the artist wanting more depth and breath.

There are so many variables when working with hot glass, no matter what book you get, as you master the medium and your equipment, you will no doubt make mistakes. This book will reassure you that mistakes and missteps are part of the process and happen to seasoned glass artist with decades of experience. I found it to be an inspirational guide to the possibilities of hot glass. It covers more detail and techniques than any of the other works I've mentioned here. It is a true value and worth having in your library.

Book Description

An ingenious "fill-in-the-blanks" album for Grandfather to complete. When finished and given to his grandchild it contains his likes, dislikes, wedding picture, happiest memories -- and more. Lighthearted color illustrations throughout.

Customer Reviews:

Great new grandparent gift.......2007-05-28

I am at the age where so many of my friends are having their first grandchild, and I want to do something special for them. This book is it!

my favorite.......2007-05-24

I looked at several grandparent memories books at a bookstore. I thought this one was the most modern and had the best remembrances that I want my child to know about her grandparents.

Dated style.......2007-02-14

This was published in the 1980s and it has a dated look and feel to it. I returned it.

I love it!.......2007-01-16

This was a great Christmas gift for my grandpa, and it was delivered well in advance. Thank you!

This is our third time around for this excellent book.........2007-01-15

When our first grandchild was born, I received a grandmother gift: a copy of this book's companion (Grandmother Remembers). I was so pleased with it that I looked for a similar book for my husband, and was delighted to find Grandfather Remembers. For each succeeding grandchild, I have bought a new pair of these books. We take our time filling them in, and present them to the grandchild at a time when the child will personally enjoy them. (The reason I bought only one this time is that the one my husband was working on got damaged.) These excellent books can be filled in briefly or in minute detail (which is the way we do). We have enjoyed the process in each case, and our two eldest grandchildren (22 and 16) do treasure them. This pair was a special "Sweet Sixteen" gift for our granddaughter. The earlier pair was a Bar Mitzvah gift for our grandson. We have one more pair, which we'll work on in a leisurely way for our 7-year-old grandson, to be given at a future date.

Grandfather Remembers : Memories for My Grandchild

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Grandfather Remembers : Memories for My Grandchild
Judith Levy
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Canada, Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KPJ3HQ

Customer Reviews:

The Definitive Book on Dali.......2005-06-14

This book is a comprehensive collection of Dali's work, perhaps all of it. The pieces are chronologically ordered from his first childhood attempts to his final masterpieces. The colors in the pictures are as close as you can get in photo reproductions of his work, and many of the images are full page (and this is a big book). Some of the images have short comments about the painting in the captions. There are also photos of the artist at work and play. Biographical information on the influences that shaped this unusual character is also included. This book is a must have for any Dali fan. If you can't own one of his paintings, this is the next best thing.

Average customer rating:

Currently the definitive Book on Dali's Art
Great overview of Dali's Work and Life.

Dali: The Work the Man
Robert Descharnes
Manufacturer: Harry N Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Criticism | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Surrealism | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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Artists, Architects & Photographers | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0810981629

Customer Reviews:

Currently the definitive Book on Dali's Art.......2000-12-05

This large, bautiful and heavy (almost 10lbs.) volume, is in my opinion, the most comprehensive Volume on Dali available. I own at least a dozen Books, Catalogs and Biographies on Dali, and this is by far the best for the following reasons:

1.) Lavishly produced and well bound in Italy by a reputable Publisher of Art Books, Abrams.

2.) The text is by Robert Descharnes, an Art Historian, and is translated by Eleanor R. Morse, both of whom had long personal and professional associations, and also friendships with Dali. The brief text avoids "interpretations" of both Man and Art, but concentrates on descriptive information instead.

3.) The organization of each chronological section is well thought out. Each begins with brief texts and photographs of Dali, Gala, his friends and contemporaries. Also included are rare photographs of posters, contemporary reviews, articles, sources etc.

4.) Included are many excellent works not found elsewhere, and not only paintings, but also sculpture, montages, Jewelry and other "objects".

5.) For its quality and size, this book was, quite surprisingly, reasonably priced.

6.) Lastly, and most importantly, the reproductions of the paintings are excellent in color and quality. I can lay several of my Dali books side by side, and look at the same painting, and it will look slightly different in each one. I think the truest colors are in this book. What use is it getting a cheaper Book of Paintings if the colors are off? I think this is something all too often ignored. Always go for the best quality in Art Books.

Until a reasonably priced and edited Catalogue Raisonne becomes available, this is the definitive Dali Book to get.

Great overview of Dali's Work and Life........1999-02-23

If you liked "Dali: The Paintings" you will enjoy this similiar volume that features the works of Dali, an excellent index for easy access to his paintings, and photographs of his life. A volume well worth the money.

Average customer rating:

Salvador Dali the Work the Man
Robert Descharnes
Manufacturer: UNSPECIFIED VENDOR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000V6BD54

Average customer rating:

Salvador Dali: The Work, the Man
Salvador] Descharnes, Robert [Dali
Manufacturer: Abradale/Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KVK3AQ

Book Description

Though overshadowed by his father, James IV, and his daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots, James V was nonetheless a crucial figure in British history, as is shown in this dissenting opinion about his reign as England's king. Concentrating on James V's style of government and his relations with the nobility, this account challenges the widely held view that James was both vindictive and irrational. In spite of a few unpleasant personal traits, it is argued, his reign closely resembled that of his more popular father, and the rebelliousness of his magnates in 1542 was due to the political landscape of Britain rather than any aspect of James' temperament.

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