Specialized Books

A simply styled; yet important book with great depth. Details the relationship between the jew community and the rapidly expanding and industrializing British Empire in the 1800's. Concise and engaging.

Although this book is titled "Rock Gardening", it has great appeal to all gardeners. It includes introductory information on how to create rock, bog and woodland gardens, how to propagate plants, maintenance, etc. But the best part is the comprehensive plant descriptions, with practical advice on their cultural requirements, difficulty and propagation. Although there are no color pictures, I find this is the book I rely upon most for accurate information on lesser known rock garden and woodland plants.

A must-read for anyone with any semblance of intellect. The poetry of Jennifer Schalliol, in particular, simply blows one's mind, among other things. How could such great creativity be issuing from such a small person? It is the eternal question, as this splendid poetry will live eternally in the pages of Salt and in the hearts of readers like us.

Although you indicate it's not out yet in print. The St. Louis County Library have had it for over a month and it is the best source for cataloging my stamps I have found.

This catalog by Scott is a real goldmine of information for the "SPECIALS COLLECTOR"! USA - CSA - UK and Commonwealth and the rest of the World all under one cover! A real quality item for the collector who wants the best and is willing to pay a little more for it!

These two CDs have the entire Scott Specialized Catalog for the 2005 edition! Color Pictures and easy text! Everything from Rare Stamps to Hunting Migratory Birds to Telegraph and - and - it's all here!

Academics will wince. Many will throw the book down in anger. A few may even write angry letters to the publisher demanding that the book be recalled. After all the work they've done convincing the public that Shakespeare was a Marxist, feminist, proto-Nazi, homosexual, anti- smoker, imperialist here appears (or reappears) a little book suggesting that Shakespeare was just simply an inspired artist creating inspired art suggesting that there's something higher than the fully-accredited human being. This book is a to-the-point revelation of Shakespeare's Work's; justifiably forgettable when you go back to the plays themselves (as all books on Shakespeare should be forgotten when you go back to the plays themselves) but a revelation none-the-less. By itself it's worth all the books on Shakespeare in the New York Public Library; and it's a good aquisition for those interested in the esoteric side of life (what's NOT contained in Horatio's philosophy...).

Shade and Color is the only book I have found on the market that offers such an update guide to arid-climate plants. The pictures are well done and plentiful.

The majority of the book consists of "Individual Plant Descriptions" -- amazingly comprehensive. The authors have even taken the time and forethought to classify whether or not your plant will do well in not only one but also several desert elevations.

Every important landscape detail is accounted for each type of desert plant. You will know ahead of time the height, width, flower color, and watering needs of each plant.

Anyone living in the Southwest and California that wants to be successful at landscaping needs this book in his/her library. This enlarged text is also an essential reference book for landscapers and landscape maintenance companies.

There is no doubt that the Skeleton Coast of Namibia is bleak and inhospitable. There was a time when Mariners would fear this particular stretch of coastline - and with good reason. Those who's ships ran aground here had little chance of surviving the savage shoreline and those who were fortunate enough to come ashore had little chance of rescue. All they would find on the landward side was a bleached desert waste with few examples of the African wildlife they might otherwise expect to encounter.

Today, of course, we have a wider appreciation of such unspoilt areas and the entire region is now a designated and protected National Park where none may enter without a permit.

Such is the tranquillity of this forbidding region that even something as generally accepted as tyre tracks across the hardened sands are regarded as pollution. Such tracks may take over 100 years to disappear altogether.

In this book, the author produces an excellent insight into what appears to be every aspect of the Skeleton Coast. Geology, climate, rivers, flora and fauna, early explorers, shipwrecks, lost aircraft, fortune hunters and much more besides - they are all explained here. It is an excellent book, easy to read and supported by some first rate photography.

Of course, it is the shipwrecks which are my own main interest but I should also like to visit such a bleak and unspoilt place. Were I to do so, however, it would not remain so unspoilt. It is, therefore, one of those places I shall continue to put off visiting. In the meantime, I shall console myself by reading this book again.

NM

Of all the lovely garden picture-books out there, few actually offer applicable advice (unless you own a country-house estate!). A Small Garden Designer's Handbook is not only chock-full of gorgeous photography, it actually shows you how you can turn the smallest plot of earth into a personalized piece of Eden.

With chapters on ground planning, enclosures, plants, and focal points, you'll see the options are abundant even if your acreage is not. There is an insightful emphasis on the "architecture" of the garden: using it to support plants, or using plants AS architecture-- helping to make the garden an extension of the home, not just a separate entity. With attention paid to details like paths and paving, entrances and eye-catchers, as well as ornaments and containers, you needn't worry if your thumb is not the greenest around.

From the inside flap:
There are many elements - apart from the plants themselves - that make a garden different and special. All too often they are seen as playing a secondary role, but in fact they dictate the flavor of the whole garden. Used wrongly, they can destroy its harmony; used with skill, they can pull disparate features together and can give structure at a stroke; used with bravura, they can lift the mundane into something spectacular.