X Books

Collection of witty, funny, sarcastic or apprantely innocent quotations from famous and not so famous people.

Book is well organized. Quotations are divided into categories. These categories are given in alphabetical order starting from 'Actors and Acting, 'Advertising' to 'Writers and Writing' and 'Youth'. Surprisingly there is no topic with Z! You may also find some every interesting categories. Just to give you an idea there are quotations on 'Quotations', 'Insults and Invective' and 'Censorship'.

For every quotation there is, along with the author name, a brief description of where and when was it said/used and in some cases why was it used. That adds to the meaning of the quote.

Such as why Winston Churchill said 'And they say the old man's getting deaf as well'.

At the end of book, apart from the keywork index, there is also an author index, in case you need quotes from a particular person.

A useful book for adding spice to your speech and writing or just skim through it for literally pleasure.

Just to quote an example from the book: 'I know heaps of quotations, so I can always make quite a fair show of knowledge' -- O. Douglas

This book was great. I loved every quote. It had a lot of excellent ideas. I will make you laugh and teach you life leason's at the same time. One of my friends loaned it to me and I had to go out and get my own. If you like quotes then you will love this book.

A fantastic book of quotations, and the most comprehensive collection of humorous quotes I've yet to come across. The organization is excellent, with an adequate list of themes serving as the table of contents. Further aiding discovery of the perfect quote is an index of authors/sources, and a very well developed keyword index. Both of these supplemental indices are a bit confusing, but not overly so. They list the applicable theme and the numbered entry under that theme; there are no page numbers given. It's a bit confusing on the first few uses, after that it is simple.

The book is a fun, quick read as well, dense (with its relatively small print) with goodies from John Updike, Cheryl Tiegs, Henry Kissinger, Frank Zappa, George Foreman, P. J. O'Rourke, etc. I heartily recommend it.

This is a treasure trove of humor for all occasions. There are many books of quotations from all kinds of people and for all occasions and topics; but here the book keeps to what is humorous.It is a great source to have handy; but it also makes for wonderful light hearted reading ,just to start at the front and to keep going.It is organized several ways so that a quote on a subject or by personality is easy to find. It was published in Britain so has a lot of lines that are new over here.
Here are a couple I enjoyed;

On being told that his fly buttons were undone,Winston Churchill commented;"No matter,dead birds do not leave the nest."

To her husband a chicken farmer in California,after a flash flood had wiped out his entire flock. "I told you to stick to ducks."

"Oh what a wonderous bird is the Pelican!
His beak holds more than his belican.
He takes in his beak,food enough for a week,
But I'll be damned if I know the helican."

"I opened it at page 96--the secret page,on which I
wrote my name to catch out borrowers and book sharks."
Flan O'Brien

It'd be hard to find a better book of humorous quotes.

I found her poetry wonderful in the sense that she can articulate the voice of every narrator in each separte poem. Each with its own author, the storyteller, be it a worm or an old woman has a story. I'm not sure if that makes perfect sense, but I really loved her book.

This book is so excellent that I've already purchased three extra copies to pass along to friends. Andrews' poems explore the instability of memory, family, and ownership, drawing on the experiences of the narrator and her Southern family, the dissolution of their land, the objects of their history, time and the past. Andrews exhibits amazing control of her art form; her poems are breathtaking in their clarity--emotional without seeming overwrought, as beautiful as they are brutal, and as personal as they are universal.

The obvious thing to say is that this book will appeal to fans of Faulkner and other great Southern writers, but Pharaoh, Pharaoh will be appreciated by anyone who likes good poetry.

Arrests your consciousness with its imagery and language. Rewards thoughtful reading with its insight and wisdom. The fundamental themes of generations and inheritance are a modern echo of Ecclesiastes. This is the best debut collection of poems I've read in years.

Claudia Emerson Andrews's Pharaoh, Pharaoh is the rarest and best kind of discovery: a book full of poems by an author who has found her voice and allowed it to free, rather than limit, her explorations. Demanding to be read aloud alone or to others, the rhythm and language bring the reader along on a remarkable journey. Full of gentle reminiscences and powerful histories, Pharaoh, Pharaoh is quiet and profound, capturing moments in time and meaning with a heartbreaking and familiar clarity. The first book of the Southern Messenger series, Pharaoh, Pharaoh, like all the best Southern writing, contains messages for all its readers. Become one.

Dear Mr. Ken Milburn! Forgive me for my bad English. I'd like to express you my delight and gratitude for your book "Photoshop 4.The professional Guide to creating Advanced Special Effects". In the city, where I live (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) no courses or teachers by Photoshop. I began to study this program independently leaning on available books (Deke McClelland, Adele and Seth Greenberg). This books instilled in to me despondent concerning my abilities and I decided that I simply dunce and never again open this program. But your book instilled hope for me. And I didn't mistaken. Language your book is available and laconic. Exercises which you offer simply splendid!!! Special thanks for acquaintance with demo versions and filters. You give me a possibility to feel myself a professional even on one minutes, though I common amateur. Thanks a lot for your excellent work! Good luck! Respectfully yours, Julia Kalendareva proton@proton.silk.glas.apc.org October 31,1998

I bought this book without much knowledge of Photoshop, within one month I have been able to design and even sell logo's to customers. If you use Photoshop 4.0...you must have this book!!!

While I have years of experience with DTP, I only recently took up Photoshop. Frankly, it isn't what _I_ would call intuitive!

Last week I had to do an info-graphic to accompany an article I had written. I needed to cut an image out of its background, soften the edges, and add a realistic shadow. Oh yeah, I needed three different images, too.

After a half hour of unsuccessful fiddling around I remembered this book. I found the right section, and it told me what to do in clear, quick prose. AND...it worked!

Ken Milburn and Mary Jane Mara have done a great job on this book, and a great service to the community. I can tell by the stuff I don't understand yet, that there are tips that willl appeal to more experienced users, too.

Bottom line? If you use Photoshop, you need this book.

Well... finally! A Photoshop F/X book that concerns itself with the practical solutions needed by professional photographers, not just a mind-numbing ephemeral array of useless tricks and gimmickry. Obviously Milburn paid his dues as an advertising photographer thereby earning an understanding of the real-life challenges imposed by agencies and commercial clients

Of the more than 100 feet of bookshelves in my home Poems from the Greek Anthology translated by Kenneth Rexroth with introduction by David Mulroy represents the most cherished 3/8 inch. I am not literate in Greek nor do I have a background in literary analysis. I lost my original copy of this work by lending it to a faithless wretch (read former girlfriend). I am delighted that it has been reissued. The original 1962 edition has been amplified with "The Last Utterance of the Delphic Oracle" and an introduction and source data by David Mulroy that I found quite valuable as a guide both to Rexroth's approach to the translations and to the subtle techniques used to render the translations relaxed and readable. But the success is Rexroth's and the poets he treats; the winner is the reader. (I have my copy again and can now forgive the girlfriend....)

Kenneth Rexroth is the best translator of the Greek Anthology since the Renaissance. The Greek Anthology has suffered big ups and downs in reputation, depending on whether the sensibility is available in one time or another to approach it. Rexroth gets it right on. For further information, you may take a look at the online review in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review.

I came across an original edition of this collection in a small used bookstore, and having enjoyed Rexroth's other works picked it up immediately.

This may be one of my best finds, ever, and I'm so glad to see it reproduced in this edition.

Each of these poems, most no more than six to ten lines, does what so much poetry fails to... it says something. It is a complete, vivid, passionate thought. I read this book as if I were sipping a glass of wine, slowly, a handful of verses each day. Let your mind linger on them awhile.

I'll admit to a level of ignorance--I know very little about the "scholarly history" of the Greek Anthology, so I cannot compare these translations to those that came before. But reading Rexroth's personal takes (his introduction is wonderful in itself), I can hardly imagine how they could be improved.

Rexroth is at his finest here. Any lover of poetry will be glad to receive this into their library.

I've read all the English translations (and even some of these poems in the original Greek). This collection, while small, is the best English "Greek Anthology" going. Quick check: in "The Norton Book of Classical Literature" the Rexroth excerpts shine compared to the other (highly respected) translators.

In terms of directness and emotional resonance Rexroth, "the father of the beats," triumphs again and again. For those who want to explore one of the world's greatest collections of poetry, this is a good place to start. For those interested in translation, there is much to learn from this volume.

The real Greek Anthology is massive and not all the poems are winners. Rexroth has boiled it down to his favorites and in so doing created perhaps the best poems he ever wrote. Those who want a deeper exploration should go to the library. To those who want to add to the bookshelf, this is the essential volume.

Books with crossover appeal are difficult to write, but Jan Delasara pulled it off with this book on The X-Files, probably THE most crucial pop cultural phenomenon in the 90's. Delasara's book is smart, well-informed, and, most of all, it's fun. Academics and fans alike will get a kick out of it: promise! Herself an academic writer (and one with impressive credentials in the field, by the way), Delasara brings considerable expertise to this topic, telling us where themes and motives come from, how the series develops its story lines over long periods of time, and what the show and its remarkable expertise can tell us about the culture we live in. The risk in all of this would be that Delasara might sound condescending to the fan community that has gathered around the show, a community that knows every little detail of every episode and that, on web sites and in discussion groups, has expanded the folklore around the show even further. But Delasara steers clear of this risk. She does use her academic background, but she keeps critical jargon to a minimum, introducing and explaining it whenever it's inevitable. She also admits, and then demonstrates, that she is as much as fan of the show as anyone else. She even makes the case that she's, in a way, a typical viewer of the show. She's obviously been immersed in it from the beginning, which shows that popular culture in general is a subject that academics don't look down upon any longer (as anyone can tell who's taken a look at college syllabi in the last couple of years). Pop culture is serious stuff, not only because it's all around us but because nobody can tell what's going to end up as official high culture in the years to come and what's going to end up forgotten. And The X-Files, Delasara shows us, has left a mark. There are quite a few other books on The X-Files; after all, every show of this caliber grow its own industry (cottage and pro). But most of them fall in either one of the two categories--dry academic writing, or gushy fan writing (think 'The Robot's Dungeon' on The Simpsons). So far only Delasara does right for both of these audiences, which is an outstanding accomplishment. Her book deserves both kinds of readers, and plenty of them. I highly, highly recommend it!

Do you know that "The X-Files" TV series includes both "free-standing" and "bound" episodes? Do you know that these programs are thematically connected in many subtle ways? Are you aware that this program's view of reality has deep roots, reaching back to German Expressionism in painting and film, such as "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" released in 1919? That the character of Fox Mulder evolved from the traditions of such sleuths as Sherlock Holmes and Sam Spade? Does Dana Scully remind you of Clarice Starling from "Silence of the Lambs"? How do the details and atmosphere of "The X-Files" bear a familial resemblance to "Star Trek," "Twin Peaks," and even the Cold War paranoia induced by 1950's McCarthyism?

If you are interested in such explorations, Delasara's book is a rare treat. It is clear, intelligent, articulate, well-organized, and thoroughly researched. The author examines "The X-Files" as if it were a piece of superb literature. Delasara lucidly and easily discusses its characters, plots, themes, style, genre, and content. She then connects these elements to the program's genre (e.g., science fiction, gothic horror, film noir detective fiction and film).

Next--and especially fascinating--is the author's analysis of how this program links to its larger, social and cultural contexts, what she terms, "the zeitgeist of the 90s," which includes national and world politics, myth, folklore and urban legends, science, UFO and paranormal phenomena, religion, Jungian psychology, economics, folklore, and Cold War paranoia. One section explores how the discourse of UFOs, a dominant if "underground" type of discourse, functions in ways which influence our everyday lives.

Throughout this book, Delasara lays bare the creative complexity and nuance of "The X-Files." She mainly accomplishes this through deftly "playing" with oppositions: history vs. current issues; closed texts vs. open ones; cognition (Scully) vs. intuition (Mulder); the individual vs. society; science vs. the fantastic; head vs. heart.

Secondary and college teachers can use this book in many ways-for courses in literature, writing, cultural studies, anthropology, sociology, and contemporary history. Delasara's "deep reading" of "The X-Files" clearly demonstrates that what some people might refer to as a "silly TV show" actually functions as today's excellent literature. This book is energetic. It roams freely over our symbolic landscape. Throughout, though, what I admire most is not the author's objective analysis, though it fills these pages in abundance. What I DO like most is the author's pure passion for her subject.

In the preface to her book Poplit, Popcult and the X-Files (Mcfarland & Co., 2000), Jan Delasara says that she intends her book for "non-specialist but literate and interested readers." This describes me. Although I am an academic and can see how this book would have enormous appeal as a text for college students in a pop culture or literaray analysis class, I have only sampled the "X-Files" TV series and am certainly not a specialist in socio-political positions, aesthetics, literary constructs, or popular media. But the author summarizes each episode in the TV series and she relates each episode to a cultural mileau. I have read enough in several areas to find a connection to nearly aspect of this book. For example, I had read the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" which she discusses on pages 153-156 of the book. As she weaved it into the themes of "The X-Files" (p.158), I became more interested in the TV show. Likewise, I enjoyed several particular episodes of the TV series, such as "Clyde Brickman's Final Repose" which is memorable to me because Ed Asner, from the old "Mary Tyler Moore" show, played a ghost. When I read Delasara's discussion of this episode in relation to horror fiction, I became more interested in that genre! Because the author "uses the terminology of literary analysis sparingly"--as she states in her preface-- and defines terms when necessary using common vocabulary, I think a variety of readers will find this book accessible and engaging.

In my review on this page, I mention the character EdAsner incorrectly. I realize that he was in another episode of X-Files. Can you delete that info? The corrected review follows: In the preface to her book Poplit, Popcult and the X-Files (Mcfarland & Co., 2000), Jan Delasara says that she intends her book for "Non-specialist but literate and interested readers." This describes me. Although I am an academic and can see how this book would have enormous appeal as a text for college students in a pop culture or literaray analysis class, I have only sampled the "X-Files" TV series and am certainly not a specialist in socio-political positions, aesthetics, literary constructs, or popular media. But I have read enough in several areas to find a connection to nearly aspect of this book. For example, I had read the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" which she discusses on pages 153-156 of the book. As she weaved it into the themes of "The X-Files" (p.158), I became more interested in the TV show. Likewise, I enjoyed several particular episodes of the TV series, such as "Clyde Brickman's Final Repose."When I read Delasara's discussion of this episode in relation to horror fiction, I became more interested in that genre! Because the author "uses the terminology of literary analysis sparingly," and defines terms when necessary using common vocabulary, I think a variety of readers will find this book accessible and engaging.

Mark G. Sobell and Peter Seebach's A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO UNIX FOR MAC OX S USERS is a reference the UNIX/Mac user simply must have at hand: nearly a thousand pages of reference material on everything from basic and advanced shell programming to Mac's OS X filesystem and utilities modules make this the best reference on the market for users who seek either a step-by-step tutorial or a basic browser's reference for problem-solving. Exercises to test knowledge boxed highlights of information make it easy to either refer to for at-a-glance troubleshooting or sit down and study for step-by-step methodology.

This is the book I've been looking for. Not just 'OS X for Unix Geeks' or 'OS X in a Nutshell', I wanted more. As much as possible, in one resource. 1000+ pages signaled a big yes.

I have yet to read it all the way through, but so far this is a very good guide for those who want not only to learn the general 'Unix way' of computing, but dive under the surface of OS X and examine its specificities in the command line interface, aka the Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal)

No, this isn't a 'hacks' book, and there's no mention of rsync, for example, but you'll find ample documentation of the underside of OS X--there's a lot more to it than just a GUI, folks.

Educational, yes. Hence 'Practical Guide'; you'll learn a good deal, in almost textbook fashion. Recommended to enhance the power and fun of your OS X experience!

I got this book as someone who had used UNIX before, but this was many years ago, and I had forgotten a lot. This book is great for picking up the functionalities of various UNIX tools - the explanations are clear and concise. It also works very well as a quick reference. The bulk of the book is devoted to bringing you up from a potentially zero-experience user to someone who can work with ease with editors, shells, and more. Simple examples are included throughout. The back of the book has a 250-page command reference section for quickly looking up how to use a particular command. You could read the whole book and progressively work with UNIX as a self-taught course, or just reference the sections you need.

I have several of Mark Sobell's Unix based books and this one is as good as the others which are all excellent. You don't nessecarily need all of them but they are truly tailored to the platform and are a quick way to get to what's important when a new platform presents itself.

If you want to know the underlying MAC, this is for you.

This is the best cookbook I have ever seen!

No wonder this book had to be self-published: most of the menus provided require hours, if not days, of planning and work, the majority are not especially cheap (though many are quite reasonable), and no effort has been made to convert these exquisite dishes into low-fat monstrosities. This is true four-star cooking. While there are some very fine books on gourmet cooking within time and budget constraints, most cookbooks these days aim to let us believe we can produce first-rate food fast, cheap, and without calories. Yeah, sure. That's not the kind of cooking that dominates food-star menus!

I just love this book. Though I will never make some of the more extravagant dishes, I've made at least a dozen of these recipes, and every one has been, in the Brits' sense of the term, well brilliant.

And the writing: The author's personality shines through, and I don't know how anyone can help liking this guy. How can anyone who moves in such highfallutin' circles, someone who has trained in some of the finest restaurants in the world--and still drops in as a guest chef--be so down-to-earth and likeable? Amazing. He thanks a "ghost editor" in his preface, but the voice is of a piece with the author's whole approach to food.

Whether or not you have any interest in becoming a four star chef in general, you will find some recipes here that you'll love, that you can serve with pride and joy on special occasions.

Besides, the book is just great "food porn." Sometimes I just read the thing and salivate over the beautiful dishes.

I must own at least three dozen cookbooks, and this is probably the most fun of them all. I can heartily say that if you really love food, you ought to buy this book.

I enjoyed the stories Joe shared in his book. I have tried some of the recipes and I cannot believe I actually made the dish. Great stuff. I have thrown a multitude of parties and Joe has been part of some of them. I would start out with the basic and all of a sudden it was transformed to a breathtaking event. People would ask, how did you do that? I just smiled.

After reading Joe's book, I began to understand that you have to have a love of food and people to accomplish what he does. He is a true artist at work.

Enjoyed the stories of where the recipes originated.

I love to cook, but am often searching for the perfect menu to serve at a dinner party. I want my guests to feel special and comfortable, but as the host I also want to be able to enjoy the festivities, rather than stressing about the preparation and scrambling to organize the meal. This cookbook offers everything I need to entertain.
First, Joe has designed meals. Traditionally in other cookbooks, we find a main entree that sounds delicious, but then are left searching for the appetizers, side dishes, and desserts to compliment the dish. Joe has taken this confusion out of the equation. Each element of the meal compliments one another. Furthermore, Joe's meals range from extravagant to casual. Whether you want to throw an intimate dinner for four or a late Sunday brunch for 12, Joe offers wonderful ideas. Additionally, once you have chosen your meal, Joe helps you organize: his "Menu Progression" gives step-by-step instructions for preparation. He explains what you need to do a week before, a day before, hours before, and during the meal. It's fantastic.
This book is also a great reference. Joe explains some of the chemistry behind cooking, including an explanation of the differences between salts and why it is important to use cold water when brewing coffee. He also gives Internet resources for buying kitchen supplies, spices, and even meat.
Finally, I enjoy reading this book. Accompanying each menu is a personal story. It is clear that Joe is passionate about "haute cuisine" and believes everyone has the ability to find their own passion in the kitchen. This book is inspiring and should be in every home cook's library.

Meredith did a fantastic job decribing where GenXer are coming from and where we are most likely going. The fact that she is an Xer herself gives her the insight to bring us this well researched and comprehensive masterpiece. It is a must read for rising star GenXers. It provides a reality check on many of the social and political issues that we Xers have been ignoring, but will one day have to face as we resume control of the country.

Written for a general audience, Rational Exuberance provides a clear, thoughtful examination of the next generation of employees and customers and what can be done to manage and retain them as both employees and customers. Since most of your future customers, employees and competitors will come from Generation X, it is necessary to separate fact from fiction and get a more accurate view of it. Meredith Bagby believes that the dire predictions about the future of the American economy at the hands of Generation X have been overstated. The view that GenX'ers are all a bunch of slackers is untrue. In fact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, people aged 25-35 work 3.6 percent longer each week than the national average. However, they do have a new work ethic. Unlike the Baby Boomers, GenX'ers don't measure their lives by their career status. Since many GenX'ers come from broken homes and families with two working parents, they are seeking a balance in their lives between their work and home lives.

This book describes Generation X people who will be most of your customers, competitors and leaders,especially in the High Tech. They witnessed the downzisings of the 1980s..and today they can decide the future. This book shows their enthusiasm in a wide spectrum of activities.. In one word, how they are rationally exuberant.

In a clear, concise, and down to earth writing style, Meredith Bagby attacks the generation-x slacker label. With countless examples, Ms. Bagby details the influence that gen-x'ers have had on the economy to-date. More importantly, Rational Exuberance provides inspiration for ever member of gen-x to make a positive impact on society.

A River's Journey to the Sea... is a touching and moving compilation of minds and hearts.... I enjoyed reading the poems that constantly remind me of unavoidable journey of life- through light and darkness; happiness and sadness and through hope and despair- contrasts in life that we human beings are destined to taste each and everyone of them once or many times in our lifetimes. The good part of the book is that the more I read it the more I enjoy it. I strongly recommend it to everyone as all of us are to live through one or more of the experiences narrated in the book.
M.D

"An Innocence Stolen" was the most powerful piece I read. It is so horrific and truthful. I think a lot of people can relate to this and I like the end when God is questioned. I think when something bad like this happens in a person's life, we wonder, why me? It is painful to read, but a message like this needs to be heard. "Sunshine" gives people hope and it is light and fresh and is just a "feel good" piece. "A Celebration Of You" is about happiness and love to me. It is about being in love and the beauty of life that goes along with it. "If My Heart Could Speak" is also about love and happiness. It is short, sweet and to the point. "Lost Souls" is a powerful piece about the neglect, indifferent world we live in today. It is honest. "My Wall" is about that one force/person in your life that sticks by you no matter what. It could be God, Family or a loved one. "Misty Wind" is about hope for a better tomorrow and is illustrated so well in the word usage. I liked that it was a lot about nature and being lost, lonely and scared. People can relate to this.

This compilation of poems takes us through a journey of love and lust, despair and hope. A truly magnificent collection of poems.

You ever had such deep feelings about something but didn't know how to express them or share them with that special one. You ever had such deep feelings, which made you think it was somehow bad to be feeling these feelings? Well let me tell you ... we are all humans and we sometimes go places in our heads or think things that are ever so pure and just so normal to feel. Jackie, to share and actually put them down in a book in such a creative manner and touch so many who have felt that way, is a gift that can't be ignored. And to share them with people who would have thought it was strange feeling this way, have just opened up a new path to new adventures of where the mind can go. We are free souls, let us fly and not fear! Well done Jackie, who would have ever thought feeling this way was humanely possible and so inspirational as well as uplifting.

Titus Livius, (Livy) 59BCE-17ACE, born in Padua he was a popular and much admired writer in his day. His history was a favorite of Caesar Augustus who reigned during the time of the writing of the "History of Early Rome". His facts are not the most accurate, but like Plutarch, he believed that; "if history were not morally instructive, it was nothing." "History of Early Rome" is a valiant effort at recalling and preserving the memory of the noble deeds of the Romans. The history opens with the Trojans wandering into Rome to found a new city around 750BCE. It traces the history of Romulus the founder, the period of Roman kingship and then the Roman Republic era. Livy has a wonderful description of the "rape of the Sabine women" in which Rome's men conduct to increase their population. Wonderful telling of the life and acts of the noble and humble Cinncinatus who many of George Washington's contemporaries believed modeled himself after and held many of the same virtues. It contains an in depth look at Coriolanus, which was the source material for Shakespeare's play "Coriolanus". "Shared danger is the strongest of bonds; it will keep men united in spite of mutual dislike and suspicion."

Machiavelli loved reading Livy's histories and wrote his most important philosophical work from it, "The Discourses", in which he glorifies republican Rome as a model of good government. Thomas Jefferson wrote to his nephew that there were three books every gentleman had to have familiarity with; Plutarch's "Lives", Livy's "History of Rome" and Virgil's Aeneid. In fact, all the founding fathers of note had read Livy and learned much from his history of Rome.

If you are truly interested in obtaining a classical education, put this book on the top of your reading list! I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in political philosophy, and history.

Livy, a contemporary of the Emperor Augustus, devoted his adult life to the writing of his HISTORY OF ROME. The entire work was probably intended to comprise 120 books. Subsequently it seems he was prevailed upon to add a further 30 books covering contemporary events, of which he completed just 22. Only 35 of the total of 142 books Livy wrote survive to the present day. They come from among the first 45 and cover most of the period from the founding of Rome to 167 BC. This volume, ROME AND ITALY, contains Books VI through X, covering the period from 386 BC (the aftermath of Rome's defeat by the Gauls) to 292 BC. During this 94 year span, Rome rose to become the dominant power on the Italian peninsula.

Most of the events Livy describes happened long before his lifetime. Because of the sparse written records, especially from Rome's early history, he had to rely on traditional information, the writings of other historians, and public records (i.e. inscriptions, statues, lists of consuls and triumphs). On occasion, when faced with conflicting accounts, Livy notes his difficulty and presents the different possibilities along with comments on what he believes was the most likely course of events.

Two common themes run through the histories presented in this volume. One is the continual warfare between Rome and its rivals, most notably the Samnites and the Etruscans. Livy's description of these events is episodic, giving the reader little sense of the larger conflict. There's an uprising here, another there, but little indication of the broader objective as Rome extends its power and dominion ever farther. It always seems that the city is threatened and has no choice but to respond.

The other recurring theme is the political battle within Rome between the dominant patricians, determined to hold on to their monopoly of the most powerful state positions, and the plebeians, who aspire to a share of leadership. Livy, a believer in the virtue and superiority of the old ways, but sympathetic to the talents and abilities of many of the plebeian leaders, seems personally torn on this issue. At times he seems to support the propriety of one side, at times the aspirations of the other.

Livy is probably not the most rigorous historian ever, but remember that he intended his HISTORY for a popular and contemporary audience, and not with future ages much in mind. He wanted to inform, and to promote what he saw as the traditional virtues of Roman society to the populace of his own era, which he viewed as corrupt and decadent. Even now, however, his work makes for interesting and informative reading. Some of what he relates is mythical in nature, some possibly sensationalized, but he was writing for a popular audience and sought to entertain as well as inform. His work still does exactly that. It's an opportunity to look at events through the eyes of a man who lived more than two thousand years ago. I found this book fascinating. It's classic history. Don't pass it by.

This volume contains books VI through X of Livy's monumental 120+ volume history of Rome. It covers the time between the sack of the city by the Gauls (c. 396 BCE) and Rome's emergence as the single most powerful state in Italy (c. 293 BCE). Like other Penguin classics, the translation in this volume is just a bit dated and stuffy in tone, but the warmth and vitality of Livy's style shines through nonetheless.

One of the benefits to being interested in ancient Rome in particular is that the Romans were such a literate people, and so taken with their own perceived greatness, that they wrote a great deal, and much of this writing has survived down to our own times. Not only does this provide an invaluable window onto the remote past, it also makes for good reading. Livy (and a number of other Roman era authors) can sound remarkably modern in their sentiments, and even casual readers should be pleasantly surprised by the vigor and readability of Livy's prose.

This book, was very interesting! It gave wonderful insight into Roman life. Whether you study Roman History, or if you just like to try something new, this is a good book for you to try (even if you dont speak latin).