Studios Books

I almost didn't by the ASP.NET 3.5 for Dummies. Then I noticed that it was a different author than ASP.NET 2.0 for Dummies and I thought I would give it a look. Bill Hatfield wrote the 'Dummies' book on the previous version and while I found him to be very knowledgeable, I got frustrated because I was trying to learn how to use Visual Studio with ASP.NET and his book didn't provide much help. Ken Cox however "gets it". He wrote the book for use with Visual Studio and by the end of Chapter 4 you're already using AJAX with no difficulty! By chapter 7 you're delving into LINQ! Ken's approach is intelligent and his style works both for the beginner as well as those more seasoned in ASP.NET. Excellent book!

I am an experienced developer so I only expected to skim over the book to get familiar with any of the new asp.net 3.5 features. I found myself reading every word of every page because the book was actually "entertaining". The writing is very smooth and easy to understand. You feel as if a really good teacher who knows how to relate to people is talking to you.

I was also surprised how deep the book was able to go into each subject. For example Linq is a very complicated subject yet the book does contain enough examples for you to use it in the real world.

This is a must have for anyone who likes either franchise or just loves to see the behind the scene special effects stuff.

From the moment I saw the first Alien and Predator movies I was hooked on the franchise. AvP heightened my elation even further and then I got this book. The detail of each creature, the techniques of the artists and engineers, and the overall format are beautifully done! A totally inspiring glimpse into the world of making monsters.

This calendar is a must for anyone who appreciates the birds that you see everyday and their beauty. Great photos! Very lifelike!

The pictures are very lifelike and create an appreication for the birds that you see everyday. Well worth the money!

This a great introduction to Sudoku! It was perfect for my five-year old granddaughter who does not love this sort of activity--she could do it with my direction fairly easily. My seven-year old grandson could do it on his own. I highly recommend this!

As a Sudoku enthusiast myself, I was naturally interested in exposing my 4-year-old daughter to the puzzles but, while she is good with numbers, I felt that number puzzles would be too difficult for her. When I found this book I thought I would give it a try and it's been a hit. The puzzles help her to build logic and reasoning skills. Though she's done most of them with either my help or that of my husband, she is skilled at figuring them out and usually only wants us to reassure her that she's placing the stickers in the correct squares. She likes them so much that I ordered a Sponge Bob book for her.

This book has so many HOT FALCON models in it -- you have to pick it up a few times ...

The name Falcon is a byword for quality photographs. Falcon Studios has produced superstars Ken Ryker, Mike Branson and Jeremy Penn - stars who are legendary. This all-color post card book is a compilation of some of the best Falcon photos. American heroes in stunning quality.

My daughter has been captivated by this book-it has alot of hands on flaps & slides for busy fingers. A great introductory book for discovering body systems and how they work.

Funny story is that my son fell in love with this book at the doctors office and so I went and got it for him. It is a really good book and my son an I have read it many times over. I highly reccomend this book - my son is 4 years old and seems to be the perfect age for this book.

There is so little available on the subject of black artists in America. This was written in 1971 and includes many of the major artists from then and before including such greats as Fred R. Wilson , Elizabeth Catlett,Noah Purifoy, Jacob Lawrence, Reggie Gammon, John Riddle, Ruth Waddy and many others. The interesting information and photos of both the artist and their work is very helpful in doing research on this subject. Thank you for making this book available. I wish there were many more of this quality which were more contemporary.It is very difficult to find this book in bookstores around the country and it is very important that it is available to collectors and schalars.

There is so little available on the subject of black artists in America. This was written in 1971 and includes many of the major artists from then and before including such greats as Fred R. Wilson , Elizabeth Catlett,Noah Purifoy, Jacob Lawrence, Reggie Gammon, John Riddle, Ruth Waddy and many others. The interesting information and photos of both the artist and their work is very helpful in doing research on this subject. Thank you for making this book available. I wish there were many more of this quality which were more contemporary.It is very difficult to find this book in bookstores around the country and it is very important that it is available to collectors and schalars.

Fabulous illuminations;
I became fascinated with and got attached to those stunningly beautiful initials, the most amazing calligraphy I ever examined in my life. I have been also amazed by and curious about the four Symbols of the Gospel writers, since I first encountered in the Chapel of the Episcopalian Bishop of NC in Raleigh, and was informed that they were influenced by the preaching Coptic Monks to the Celts and Scots.
Only people of developed artistic orientation, could appreciate how beautiful these genuinely original decorations reach out to the overwhelmed reader. Alas that parts of the Gospel according to St. Luke are missing from the original Codex.

Religous Celtic Art:
Long before the coming of St. Augustine of Canterbury in 597, Christianity has been introduced among the Brittons, by Coptic missionaries who reached as far as the British Isles. "We do not yet know how much we in the British Isles owe to these remote Coptic hermits...Everyone knows that the handicraft of the Irish monks in the ninth and tenth centuries far excelled anything that could be found elsewhere in Europe. Their unrivaled illuminations, can be traced to the influence of Egyptian missionaries, we have more to thank the Copts for than has been imagined." Eminent historian: Stanley Lane-Poole.

Kells' mini hardcovers:
The variety of exquisite little hardcover reproduction volumes are reproductions of parts of the original illuminated manuscripts. They are magnificent, with gold-leaf detailing and sumptuous full-color illustrations, making them a perfect gift for all who cherish the rich legacy of Christian art. The original illuminated manuscript, is permanently on display, since the 19th, in the Library of Trinity College Dublin.
It is one of the most beautiful of the world's most famous manuscript. It contains 680 pages (or 340 folios). Just two of the pages are without ornament, while about thirty folios, including some major decorated pages, have been lost. Two volumes can normally be seen, one opened to display a major decorated page, and one to show two pages of script.A CD-ROM version of all 340 folios from the Book of Kells is available for purchase.


Origin of Book of Kells:
The Book of Kells, was most probably copied by hand and illuminated by monks around the year 800 A.D. Its name is derived from the Abbey of Kells, in the Irish Midlands, where it was kept from at least the 9th century to 1541, it was probably begun on the island of Iona. It is uncertainly presumed, that portions of the book were made at Kells, after Viking raids on Iona forced the monastery to retreat to the isolated location. It contains the four gospels, preceded by prefaces, summaries, and canon tables or concordances of gospel passages. It is written on vellum and contains a Latin text of the Gospels in insular majuscule script accompanied by magnificent and intricate whole pages of decoration with smaller painted decorations appearing throughout the text. The manuscript was given to Trinity College in the 17th century and since 1953 has been bound in four volumes.

Book of Columba:
This same Irish manuscript containing the Four Gospels, is known also as the "Book of Columba", probably because it was written in the monastery of Iona to honour the saint. Some small portions at the beginning and end of the manuscript have been lost, but otherwise it is in a very good state of preservation. It was apparently left unfinished, since some of the ornaments remain only in outline. It is written in part black, red, purple or yellow ink, and it has been thought that the hands of two scribes, neither of whom is known by name, are discernible in the writing and illumination of the manuscript.

Book's Beauty:
This is the most copiously illuminated manuscript of the four Gospels in existence. No words can describe the beauty and splendour of the richly coloured initial letters, which are more profuse in the "Book of Kells" than in any other manuscript. The artist possessed a wonderful knowledge of the proportion of colour and the distribution of his material -sienna, purple, lilac, red, pink, green, yellow, most often used, and the shade tinting of the letters was managed with fine taste and skill. A series of illuminated miniatures, including pictorial representations of the Evangelists and their symbols, the Blessed Virgin and the Divine Child, are worthy of notice. It is no wonder that it was believed that the "Book of Kells" could have been written only by angels (very artistic indeed!).

Composition and Loss:
The date of the composition of the book can hardly be placed earlier than the end of the seventh or beginning of the eighth century, It is likely that it is to this book that the entry in the "Annals of Ulster" under the year 1006 refers, recording that in that year the "Gospel of Columba" was stolen. According to tradition, the book is a relic from the time of St. Columba (d. 597) and even the work of his hands, but, on palaeographic grounds and judging by the character of the ornamentation, this tradition cannot be sustained. This must be the book reported at Kildare in the last quarter of the twelfth century, described in glowing terms. Later, it was located at the cathedral of Kells (Irish Cenannus) in Meath, a foundation of Columba's, where it remained for a long time, until the year 1541. Archbishop Ussher presented it to Trinity College, Dublin, In the 17th century where it is the most precious manuscript in its library and by far the choicest relic of Irish art that has been preserved.

Manuscript Ornaments& Designs: The most characteristic ornaments of the Book of Kells, as of other illuminated Irish manuscripts of the period, are the coloured representations of fanciful beings, or of men, animals, birds, horses, dogs, and grotesque, gargoyle-like human figures, twisted and hooked together in intricate detail, a system of geometrical weaving of ribbons plaited and knotted together.
The versatility and inventive genius of the illustrator surpasses all belief. Lines diverge and converge in endless succession, and the most intricate figures, in lavish abundance and with astounding variety of ornament, are combined and woven into one harmonious design. In spite of the extent of the work and its thousands of exquisite initials and terminals, there is not a single pattern or combination that can be said to be a copy of another. The artist shows a wonderful technique in designing and combining various emblems, the cross, vine, dragon, fish, and serpent. The drawing is perfection itself. It has been examined under a powerful magnifying glass for hours at a time and found to be, even in the most minute and complicated figures, without a single false or irregular line.

*Most of this review material are from Trinity web & New Advent

This extremely well-conceived book gives planting plans for a variety of border situations (shady, sunny & stony, poolside, a very narrow space, etc.). It features drawings of each border in two different seasons, showing how the look will change as different plants come into bloom, photographs of each plant, and suggestions for varying each border by substituting plants which will give a different color scheme or look. A lot of information is packed into a concise format full of interesting planting ideas, making this an exceptionally useful and readable book.

This is an awsome book to have if you like to decorate your yard with living things! Bushes,flowers,plants- you name it and it can be turned into a beautiful border. I have this in the large paperback version and let me just say...my yard sparkles with life. It is a wonderful and easy to understand guide to creating stunning borders around your home and yard. I bought one for my mother-in-law and she loves it. Can't go wrong with this item!!

This is indeed the superior history of the Battle of New Orleans and is especially valuable for the analysis of the
political stakes. In short, the British had every intention of adding this city to their collection of overseas naval bases (which
eventually included Gibraltar, Capetown, Hong Kong and a failed
attempt at Toulon) and had worded the peace treaty to permit this, had they succeeded in its capture. The modern claim that the battle was meaningless because it took place in the month after the signing of the treaty, is not correct.

To win the battle, but lose the war is an apt cliche for the Americans regarding the Battle of New Orleans and the War of 1812. Despite the title, this book is about more than the Battle of New Orleans and spends significant time discussing the causes of the War of 1812, the major battles of the war and the peace negotiations. (In fact, Reilly doesn't begin to address the Battle of New Orleans until page 171 in a book of 371 pages of text.) The book does several things well. It assesses dispassionately the role of military and political leadership in crucial events and battles of the War. The essential role of generalship and statesmanship in these affairs is one of the sub-themes of the work. Reilly demonstrates well the crucial relationship between the events and strategies of the War of 1812 and the Napoleonic Wars of Europe. Unlike many military histories, this book demonstrates why particular tactics were or were not sensible. Finally, it debunks legends and sometimes conventional wisdom about the war and battle with the use of the contemporary papers, diaries and court-martial records.