Hugh Grant Books

Call me cheesy, but this is one of my all time favorite movies. The sheet music sits (proudly) on my piano. The seller takes care to wrap the music carefully.

A Very Good Screenplay! Like it like the movie!

"~This simple story about a travel bookstore owner and a famous actress is a romantic-comedy that's actually funny! appreciated with the written screenplay, which is where this hilarious movie formed from.

I'm a sucker for this guy. No, not that guy, not Hugh, but Richard Curtis. And Tim McInnerny. I liked the movie, of course--otherwise I wouldn't have bothered reading the screenplay--but the screenplay was better than the movie. Edited-out scenes, alternate storylines, a very funny afterword, lovely pictures. Plus the book's printed on just the most wonderful paper. I'm a sucker for good paper.

I enjoyed the movie greatly, but it was reading the script which really made me appreciate the sheer genius behind it all. Kudos to Richard Curtis! It is amazing how much he manages to get into a scene - everything WORKS, to tug at the heart strings or strike the funny bone.

The script reveals a few of the artistic choices that had to be made in the process of creating the script and the movie; however, this is a very polished end product - definately a last draft (with a few choice bits of scenes that did not make the cut at the end) and perfectly co-ordinated with film stills and photographs, all on luxurious glossy paper.

However, it is amazing how, having watched the film and knowing the charactrers, it is possible to visualise scenes in your head while reading the script - an especial plus for the left out scenes. I am now dying to compare my imagination with the director's cut, which I have been told might be available on the DVD version.

This is one of my favorite movies, and incidentally, my favorite screenplay! It's an excellent representation of the movie--many full-color pictures of the best scenes in the movie. It even includes story boards, cast and unit lists, and an afterword by Hugh Grant. The photographs were taken by Clive Coote, one of Great Britain's most famous photographers.

Almost everything I'd seen before I bought the book only included pictures of Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant--this book is different! It doesn't leave out Spike or any of the other small but memorable characters.

Anyone who's a fan of the movie will love this exquisite book. It gets an A+ from me!

It's probably a very good book if you are planning to use film as your medium. For a digital photographer, the book is not particularly relevant.

Perhaps another review is unnecessary considering my agreement with the previous reviews. I did want to include that I found that the book inspired me to move from a slight curiosity to action. I purchased a Canon A1 and some filters just to use for infra-red photography. Everything I needed to know to get started was included in the book. I also loved the balance of different styles and techniques the book presented. The first portfolio that of Simon Marsden uses different techniques, and indirectly warns of overdoing what infra-red film has to offer by using what Mr. Milsom uses as a standard film / ISO / filter combination. I have great respect for Hugh Milson and am very thankful for the time and care he took in creating this book.

A very good book covering all aspects of infrared photography. If you are the least bit interested in getting your infrared right than you must get this book. Excellent images and well laid out. Recommended.

All too infrequently an item, a book comes along that is stands out. This book is one of those rarities. I ordered some books from Amazon on infrared only to return them, not this book. It is both informative and inspiring. If you want to try this photographic venue this is may be the only book you might need.
Good technical section and a great display of examples of photographic art. There is even a section on infrared flash.

Buy it.

I highly recommend this book for those who are interested in infrared photography. It is a well-balanced combination of technical information on infrared radiation and how it varies, composition and visualization of infrared images, comparisons of the same scene shot with infrared and standard B&W film, use of IR film with different filters and types of subjects, and portfolios by seven photographers who cover a wide range of techniques and styles (including B&W IR, hand-colored B&W IR, and color IR). For most photographers, this is the only guide to Infrared you'll need.

This small work details the history fo the famous Grant/Lee tank that served as a stop-gap measure for the US armored force early in the war. The drawings are excellent and the descriptions are quite good. Most interesting of all is that the Americans built this based on the French B-1 tank, although the American version gave the 75-mm a slightly greater field of fire in a sponsoon mount instead of a hull mounting. Highly recommened as a great little reference for this important development in U.S. armor.

Stephen J. Zaloga's M3 Lee/Grant Medium Tank 1941-45 provides a good summary of the hasty introduction of the first US medium tank in the summer of 1941. Given that the M4 Sherman medium tank normally gains most of the attention on US armor in the Second World War, Zaloga's volume in Osprey's New Vanguard series sheds light on an all-but-forgotten weapon system that was there when it mattered.

Zaloga begins his narrative with a discussion of the genesis of the medium tank concept and the unsuccessful M2 tank built in 1939-41. Due to German successes in the opening year of the Second World War, the US Army suddenly recognized the need for medium tanks but early attempts to produce a viable design were handicapped by the backwardness of US defense industry. The M3 Lee tank, which began series production in June 1941, was seen by the US Armored Force as a stop-gap until the better-designed M4 Sherman became available in 1942. However, British pressure to produce a version of the M3 for their own use in North Africa led to the M3 Grant variant and an expansion of the program. By the time of Pearl Harbor, over 800 M3s had been built and over 6,000 were built by the time production ceased in December 1942. Zaloga's description of the M3's development is a bit brief even for this format; one item that remains unclear is what impact the concurrent M3 and M4 programs had on each other (i.e. competition for resources). Zaloga provides a table that lists all M3 production, broken down by month and by individual plants.

Almost half this volume comprises the M3's operational use by Commonwealth, US and Soviet forces in the Second World War. Zaloga notes that the British liked the Grant's firepower and automotive reliability and this tank formed the backbone of the 8th Army's tank force in the critical battles of Gazala, Alam Halfa and El Alamein. The US Army only used the M3 in Tunisia in 1942-43 and the tank was soon phased out in favor of the M4. Although considered obsolete by 1943, the M3 continued to see extensive service against the Japanese in Burma and India. Zaloga includes tables that list foreign deployment of the M3 and lend-lease shipments. Zaloga concludes the volume with a brief description of variants, including the M7 self-propelled 105mm howitzer and tank retrievers. Color plates include M3s in pre-war colors, in Soviet and Commonwealth markings and an interesting cutaway diagram. Although not a successful design, the M3 medium tank represented a stop gap that achieved its purpose of equipping the nascent US tank force until better equipment became available. Furthermore, the production of over 6,000 M3s in a short period was an amazing achievement for a US defense industry that up to that point had no record of producing large quantities of armored vehicles.

The book was written by people sympathetic to the region. The mix of history, myth and folklore is refreshing; Gaelic sources were used where possible. Normally books about Scotland deal with the south, the political centre since the fifteenth century and the Highlands are a footnote or a chapter at the back. I recommend it highly.

I'm touring Scotland this summer. The typical American searching for his roots in the land of his forefathers.
I thought to learn about the history of the country and came across this book. It is an historical overview of periods in the Highlands of Scotland beginning before the eleventh century through the 19th & 20th centuries. A book consisting of 300 pages cannot cover all aspects and details of Highland history. However, after finishing the book the reader will definitely have a better historical understanding of the Highlands and Lowlands.
Famous Highlands history as military prowess, clans, hunting, piping, tartans, dress, are discussed along with other topics such as literature, poetry and farming. The Celtic connection with Ireland is also featured.
A weakness of the book is a lack of maps. Many towns and areas of the Highlands and rest of the country are mentioned and the few maps provided make locating some of these places hard to figure for someone not familiar with the country. This is the reason I rate the book 4 stars instead of 5. However, I recommend this book for a beginning understanding of the history of the Highlands of Scotland. This book is scholarly written and includes references beneficial for historians.