Cultural Books

Whether you create global advertisements, businesses, or Web sites, you should read this book.

Author Simon Anholt writes about the challenges of creating successful global advertising campaigns. Most companies fail miserably in this department, and he outlines the reasons why. He also provides a model for "smart centralization," which he believes international advertising agencies should follow. This model also makes a great deal of sense for the development and management of global Web sites, which is one reason I enjoyed this book. I also liked how Anholt explained the inherent tension of trying to be both global and local at the same time. Here's an excerpt:

The fundamental challenges of international marketing communications are about preserving the perfect balance between sensitivity to the culture of the brand and sensitivity to the culture of the consumers around the world. If you abandon or relax your grip on the first sensitivity, you end up with fragmentation, loss of identity, and loss of control. Abandon or relax your grip on the second, and you fail to communicate effectively, and fail to build a global brand.

I also liked what he had to say about the importance of translation:

So when the question comes up, why can't we just use English? I always ask this question: do you think that consumers should make the effort to understand us, or should we be making the effort to be understood by them? Are we more interested in being respected, or showing respect?

...indispensable for anyone lured by the mcluhanian concept of the global village. a MUST for those of us who wish to use our powers to do a lot of good. only bummer is the jacket: good idea awfully executed.

This book is common sense in an industry of uncommon confusion. Among many other useful insights the book sheds light on the legacy of international agencies whose neglect of domestic cultures and conventions have led to many campaign failures. This is a must read for any marketing head who has to manage agencies especially if your company is in multiple countries! Read this book before you go ahead with your next campaign.

This book is common sense in an industry of uncommon confusion. Among many other useful insights the book sheds light on the legacy of international agencies whose neglect of domestic cultures and conventions have led to many campaign failures. This is a must read for any marketing head who has to manage agencies especially if your company is in multiple countries! Read this book before you go ahead with your next campaign.

Author Simon Anholt, an international advertising consultant, says that the dangers of globalization can be just as formidable as the opportunities - if you fail to research the culture of your new markets. We've all heard the marketing legends of companies that embarrassed themselves by launching products into foreign markets without checking the translation of their brand names. Anholt retells several of these tales to illustrate the perils that await global firms that don't take culture into account. Meshing advertising and marketing strategy, he presents a systemic approach to cross-border product expansion. We [...] recommend this book not only for its insightful, culturally adaptive marketing methodology, but also for the genuinely entertaining examples that might just make you laugh out loud.

I'm very glad this book exists; it's proof this kind of thing can happen. I read this quickly, not because it's going to win a Pulitzer, but because the reading level is not difficult and the subject is so timely and juicy.

1. THE DL MAN'S FAMILY WAS COMPLICIT IN THE CHARADE!!!! So many women in the Black community think the DL is just another example of lying, no-good men. The author here suggests that her husband's mother and sisters were complicit in promoting marriage and keeping the secret just that. When people receive counterfeit money or foreign coins, they often try to pass it off on other gullible people, rather than throwing it away. This book proves that many families of DL men are more than happy to make a Black woman's life miserable if her presence will be a cover for the family. I always say, "Notice how parents don't want their straight daughters to marry gay men, but they'll tell their gay sons to 'get married and cut all this foolishness!'" This book shows Black women who knew full well their DL relative was having unprotected sex with another Black woman and they did nothing, absolutely nothing, to stop it. So much for womanist unity!

2. THE ACTIONS HERE WERE SPECULATIVE WHEN THEY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN. Late in the book, the author says, "I still don't have proof that my husband was on the DL." She even suggests that he wouldn't have been honest about it if she had confronted him. HOWEVER, she never did confront him. Some women are very good doing private investigation; "Divorce Court" shows tons of examples of sistuhs doing that. The author herself never sniffed around. She never asked friends if her man was on the DL. She never went to his HIV-positive ex-wife and asked her for questions.
There are several books and articles saying, "How to see if your man is on the down low." I think many of them are unscientific, salacious, and homophobic. But here, the author kinda admits that she turned a blind eye. This book will not help women ask those difficult questions. If you want to not see the pink elephant in the room, sometimes you will. So this book didn't tell me more info about DL men. It's kinda scant in a way. The explosion in which a DL man has to come clean never happens here and maybe DL men purposely play women because they know they don't really want to see the truth.

This book was very informative. It opens up your eyes to deception. Also, that we must seek God when looking for a spouse. Only He alone knows the intention and motives of people. We only know by what we see and what the person allows us to know. Pray, Pray, Pray. The scripture says, in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path. When we surrendered our lives to God, it meant every area including our personal lives. Let Him choose for you.

The romance between Steven and LaJoyce is the stuff of fairy tales. A handsome, alluring man captures the attention of a very attractive female. They are feeling each other and a whirlwind courtship leads to a beautiful, albeit hasty marriage. After the lavish honeymoon, the nightmare begins and does not end until Steven is dead. What Steven failed to share with LaJoyce is that he had AIDS. She finds out only after he enters the hospital with an unknown ailment - unknown to LaJoyce, that is. She holds on to her faith in God as she grapples with the reality of being deceived and despised by the man she loves as she unselfishly cares for him to the end.

Oftentimes God puts us through a test of faith just as He did Job. This is LaJoyce's test and she is truly tried in the fire. She remains true to God and stands firm on her faith in situations that would make a weaker person give up and walk away. I empathized with all she had to endure and admired her resolve. FAITH UNDER FIRE reads like a dramatic novel instead of the true memoir of a real person. Although LaJoyce is tried in the fire, she comes forth as pure gold.

Reviewed by Paula Henderson
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

I couldn't put the book down, it was an eye opener and a true story, that can affect all of us in some way. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend this to anyone, you want be sorry!

Wow! I am blessed to have read Ms. Brookshire's memoir. There but for the grace of God, go I. It's only because I'm covered by the blood of Jesus that I didn't find myself in a similar situation. He protected me even when I didn't know I needed His protection. Thank you, Ms. B., for sharing your story. You are truly an inspiration and proof that all things work together for the good of them who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.

Congratulations to Mr. John Paul Jones for writing an excellent book on Saudi Arabia for us western readers. At last here is a book that rings true. I have a chance to go to Saudi Arabia in December and was in two minds about it, but after reading "If Olaya Street Could Talk"...I will take up the offer, and who knows, I might even visit Olaya Street. Moving on to another matter, I am sick to the teeth with this pushy Jean Sasson person who is for ever singing her own praises at every given opportunity. I have read two of her books about Saudi Arabia, both are tabloid sensationalism, and do not ring true at all. This woman is now trying to steal the thunder of Mr. John Paul Jones's success by posting and advertising her own trashy books on his review pages.

As someone who lived in the Kingdom for 12 years, I always enjoy any expat's account of their time in the Kingdom. This book particularly excited me since I knew John Paul and Mary Jones and they were guests in my home many times, in Riyadh, and in Atlanta, as I was in their home. I remember so well when their two lovely children were born and all the joy they had with those precious children. I knew them both from work, as well, as we all three were at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre. Those really were wonderful times. It was apparent that John Paul and Mary relished their time in the Kingdom and they were always traveling out into the desert or to some interesting place in the Kingdom. As one who didn't really enjoy camping out, I always admired them for the exciting journeys they took. Our friendship carried on to Atlanta, and, as a matter of fact, I trusted them to be some of the first people to read my manuscript on PRINCESS, and they were very positive and enthusiastic for me, and for the book's success. I've never forgotten that. Although we have lost touch over the years, I was delighted to hear that John Paul had written a book because I knew he had enormous love & enthusiasm for the Kingdom. It was an interesting read for me and the minute it came out, I alerted everyone I knew from those days in the Kingdom, reminding them to dash out and buy the book. It's always fun to read an expat's account of their time in the kingdom as it is only natural for everyone to have a different perspective and I, for one, love all the differences in people, and the differences in experiences. I hope this book does wonderfully for John Paul. If someone is interested in life in the Kingdom, this will be a good edition for their library. HAPPY READING! Jean SassonPrincess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia;Love in a Torn Land: Joanna of Kurdistan: The True Story of a Freedom Fighter's Escape from Iraqi Vengeance

It was a pleasure to read a factual, non Saudi bashing book about the life of an expat family living in a DIFFERENT CULTURE. It was my experience that if you extended everyday courtesy to the Saudis that in most cases it was returned in spades. I am not in a position to judge the quality of the writing as others have done but the stories of the desert trips evoked very pleasant memories for me.

The diplomat and author Sir A.T. Wilson once wrote,"Arabia retains to an extraordinary degree the power of conquering hearts," and it is obvious that the heart of John Paul Jones is one of those conquered. In this lively and thoughtful work the author celebrates the freedom of the desert - a place where you can drive without restraint in any direction for days on end, the beauty of the unpolluted night sky and the allure of ancient places, where the generosity of the poorest nomad who will slaughter his last sheep for a total stranger because that is what you do for a guest still lives.

But all is not romanticism in this book and as he writes in any population there is a 10% that will cause 90% of the problems and he is very explicit about this ten per cent - be they smug Americans or sanctimonious Saudis, that disappoint one's hopes and expectations. Mr. Jones is a perceptive realist who writes clearly about those trouble makers without losing sight of the vast majority of Saudis, Americans and others who made his 25 years in Saudi Arabia such a delight. I would heartily recommend If Olaya Street Could Talk to those relative few of us expatriates who ever lived in Arabia for any period of time and also to the many who ever considered what it would be like to live in this most astonishing desert kingdom.

This was an easy book to read...really informative of an expats life in Saudi Arabia for the past 25 years, and the massive changes going on there. The trips he and his family took through the Arabian desert were all the more interesting with the inclusion of a well marked map in the back of the book...grand idea. You actually feel that you have seen these places, and know the people he talks about. Now I want to read more about his wife and childrens life in Saudi Arabia, and about the other travels that they took over the years throughout that area and in Europe. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in a bit of the real Saudi Arabia. A very good read. Way to go, John Paul!

This is the best most spectacular book on leonardo to date.What can i say that hasnt already been said in the reviews above except that i cant believe that a couple of reviews gave 3 outof5 stars for this book. I think the book deserves 10 out of 10. The book is a masterpiece in itself. Keep up the great work.

I first saw this outstanding book at the Palm Springs Air Museum's Da Vinci exhibit last month. It is a comprehensive and beautiful tribute to Da Vinci's genius that young and old alike can enjoy for decades. Spending an hour glancing through its pages is a visual treat; reading it to more deeply appreciate his multiple talents will take years. Though the price of the book may seem high, it is an unique volume and worth the price.

without studying Leonardo da Vinci, one of the greatest Italian Renaissance artist and would-be inventor of all time. He left us a legacy of paintings, drawings, diagrams, inventions, and even sculpture for all to see. He's known more than the Mona Lisa painting, he's an inventor of sorts as well as a very fine draughtsman.

This book should be a required course for art students everywhere.

this book is a daily source of admiration, exposed on our table and we change the page practically every day to have a new work of wonder to admire every day. combined with more and deeper information on leonardo da Vinci the true art becomes clear.

The massive size of this book is only dwarfed by the enormous amount of information it contains. Did you know Leonardo Da Vinci conceptualized the helicopter...or the x-ray machine...or even the engine???? He did indeed and it's all in this comprehensive anthem. I highly recommend this book for the Da Vinci neophyte as well as the most avid "Leo scholar" as both will be awed and amazed.

"A vivid account of how Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey shattered baseball's age old color line. A must read for baseball fans everywhere. A wonderful book so ably pulled together by noted baseball historian and journalist Harvey Frommer."

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"Just a terrific book. It fills in so many of the blanks about the story of Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey. It's like a history lesson. And the intro by Monte Irvin puts it over the top." - - -Billy Sample, MLB Radio
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The Story Of Rickey And Robinson
by Russ Cohen
BASEBALLOLOGY.COM

If you have never heard of Branch Rickey or Jackie Robinson, boy do I have a book for you, it's called Rickey and Robinson: The Men Who Broke Baseball's Color Barrier! Jackie Robinson was one of the greatest multi-sport athletes to ever walk the earth and Branch Rickey was the guy with the guts that gave Robinson his chance to shine, it's a truly amazing story.

Rickey was a lawyer with a rich history that will amaze you in this book. As always author Harvey Frommer goes into tremendous detail to shed even more light on a great story!

Robinson was a true American hero and this book talks to all the right people to give you a feel of how Jackie felt and was feeling during his playing career. The book also points out how he was a civil right's activist as well.

The book talks a lot about the Negro Leagues and mentions even more players that you may not have heard of that unfortunately never made it to the bigs. Anytime you can read about Josh Gibson, Roy Campanella and Satchel Paige you are in for a fun time.

Jackie died a young man at the age of fifty-three-years of age. This great man had to endure more stress, on and off the field, than most people could imagine. His funeral had 2,500 mourners and when you see the names you will see the type of respect that Robinson garnered.

The author does a great job of keeping the final chapter of Robinson's life as upbeat as possible. It was sad but there was so much good to reflect on and the book did that. The afterword was a nice little story and the boxscore of Robinson's first game along with Rickey's player and managerial record are priceless.

Buy this book now

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Professional athletes are probably no more ignorant of history than the rest of us, but there was something especially disturbing about the number of modern players who, in 1997, during the fiftieth anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the baseball color line, revealed that they didn't know who he was. Pollsters probably didn't ask, but it's likely even fewer would have known who Branch Rickey was. That black players in particular, whose careers follow the path that these men blazed, do not comprehend and honor the debt is most troubling of all. Anyone wishing to remedy their own lack of knowledge, and even those who think they already know the whole story, will find Harvey Frommer's Rickey and Robinson an invaluable resource and a truly moving read.

Mr. Frommer had the novel idea of structuring the book as parallel biographies of the two men, their stories overlapping and lives knitting together for that remarkable period of years when they, almost by themselves, integrated major league baseball. Jackie Robinson's is the better known tale, from UCLA to the Army to the Negro Leagues to the Dodgers' minor leagues and then to Brooklyn, with a significant career in business and politics afterwards. And most baseball fans will be familiar with Branch Rickey's reputation as an innovator, his most lasting contributions, besides integration, to the game including the batting helmet and the organized minor league farm system. Met fans too will recall Ralph Kiner's stories about how tight-fisted and patronizing (in both the positive and negative senses) Rickey was with his players. But Mr. Frommer gives us a full picture of the man, of his religious background (which seems to have played no small part in his willingness to be a racial pioneer), his keen mind for the game and for business, and his endless maneuvering to improve his teams. Each man led a life full enough to support a biography of his own. Here we get both and they're fascinating.

But the event that defined their lives was the meeting on August 28, 1945, at Brooklyn Dodgers headquarters, between Rickey and Robinson. It's astonishing to realize that this first time the men ever met, Branch Rickey asked Jackie Robinson to take on the daunting task of being the first black man to play organized white baseball (at least since the color bar had been erected decades earlier). But Rickey had made a true project of the whole idea, had scouted the Negro Leagues and the personal backgrounds of the prospective players thoroughly, and he knew Robinson was uniquely well-suited-- by his ability, his intelligence, his education, his relatively middle-class California upbringing, and his temperament, desire, and will--to bear the burdens. And so "The Meeting" was not just a get acquainted session, but an opportunity for Rickey to probe and to prepare Robinson, even to the point of demonstrating the kind of taunts he should expect to hear, before offering him the bittersweet role of, as he put it: "carrying the reputation of a race on your shoulders."

The whole book is enjoyable but it is this chapter that really sings. The Meeting has been the subject of books, film, stageplay, and more, but it's never been told better than here, with high drama and a sense of history, but also with an immediacy that makes the reader feel like he's a fly on the wall in Rickey's office those sixty years ago. No one can understand what happened in baseball and in American society over those sixty years without knowing the story of Rickey and Robinson and, Mr. Frommer having given us such a rewarding and readable book about the men and their noble achievement, there's no excuse for not knowing it.
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Pinstripe Press
Rickey and Robinson
The Men Who Broke Baseball's Color Barrier
Blending exclusive interviews with Rachel Robinson, Mack Robinson (Jackie's brother), Hall of Famers Monte Irvin, Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella, Ralph Kiner and others,
- The Pinstripe Press

Celebrated author Harvey Frommer evokes the lives of Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey and heralded baseball player Jackie Robinson to describe how they worked together to shatter baseball's color line.
"This book clearly illustrates the elegance and class that BOTH men showed on the field and off. Frommer has provided a fresh perspective and a testament to overcoming adversity in the face of ignorance. Rickey and Robinson is a must read for hardcore baseball fans everywhere."

Bad

A. The narrative pace is just awful. I don't know what it is about this book I almost didn't make it past the first 40 pages because the begining moves so slowly.
B. The idiotic "conspiracy theory" idea regarding the Texas Revolution. Someday right minded people everywhere will be able to laugh conspiracy nuts right off the street.
Good

The book has a great deal of information regarding the beginnings of an organized abolitionist movement in this country. Garrison was the focal point for this when the movement started to move beyond isolated groups of idealists and Quakers and started to be taken seriously as a genuine force for social change.

Overall-Once you get into the book it is amazing, but you have to be in the right mood to do so.

This is the last and probably the best book completed by the late Henry Mayer.

Mayer admired Garrison, the most important leader of the abolitionist movement. In this book, he succeeds in renovating the reputation of a great reformer and activist who has often been neglected or written off as a crank.

Garrison and the abolitionists were originally hardly more popular in the North than in the South. They were seen as disrupting the Union and were regarded with suspicion for their pro-black beliefs - public opinion in the North was only marginally less racist than in Dixie. Garrison's courage and consistent refusal to trim his convictions for popular acceptance led to a career with an outsized share of controversy, oppobrium, and in several cases physical danger.

Some reviewers have felt the book is too long, and it is hefty. But the length is necessary for Mayer to give a full portrait, which shows not only the man, but also the era he lived in. In particular, Mayer writes extensively about abolitionism as a movement. Abolitionists, and Garrison himself, struggled with many problems - whether to compromise by supporting politicians whose platforms called for less than full abolition, evolving from a paternalist movement of mostly privileged whites to a movement in which free blacks and escaped slaves could play a meaningful role, and reconciling the pacifist leanings of many to their role in a war against slaveholders - that will be of interest to contemporary political activists. Mayer also shows how, after abolition was accomplished, former abolitionists seeking new causes worked for other advances, including the first stirrings of the women's suffrage movement.

Now a book that shows two sides of slavery that all white people were not all for slavery .Like Dr.martin luther king was saying that slavery was not about black against white ,but justice againt injustice.Because if all men and women are not free then we are all in chains.Books like this one has giving us a balance look at one of america darkest sides. But men like Garrison showed us that their were men and women that were a light of hope that all men are created equal . And being a black man I must say thank you to all the blackmen and women and white men and women of the past for fighting a fight that many of us still fight for today .And that is for an opportunity to live as we were when God created us in the beginnig as, a human being thank you.

Let's just get the obvious criticisms out of they way. First, the author pretty much flat out states that The Civil War was fought only because of slavery--and in the preface! Yawn. Will I ever be able to find a Northerner who can write a book that examines both sides of the conflict? I mean southern writers do it all the time. The second problem is the assertion that the Texas Revolution was some kind of government conspiracy--from Pres. Jackson on down to Sam Houston--to perpetuate slavery and continue manifest destiny. While I'm sure some men fought for those reasons, this moronic conspiracy theory about secret government shenanigans has no basis whatsoever. In fact, I would recommend the wonderful biography, Sam Houston, by James Haley. It expertly destroys that awful line of thinking that has somehow survived all these years.

But, being from Texas, I tend to be sensitive to such things. For most people it won't matter.

I still highley recommend All On Fire, though. It is very well written and researched. But most of all, it is the only real biography on Garrison worth reading. And say what you want about the author's biases, he can't muddle the fact that Garrison was one of this country's great patriots, willing to stand up to anyone to free his fellow man. He dedicated his entire life to this noble cause--and except for a few references in some Civil War books--is largely forgotten. What a shame.

William Lloyd Garrison was a man ahead of his time. Not by years or even decades, but centuries. In the 1830s he was an outspoken proponent of not just the abolition of slavery (many advocated various ways to deal with the South's "peculiar institution"), but called for the immediate abolition of slavery with complete and full civil rights for African-Americans. He dreamed of a time when a black woman might succeed a black man as Secretary of State a decade before the Supreme Court ruled that blacks were something less than human in the infamous Dredd Scott decision. He was also an early advocate of women's rights, labor reform, temperance and civil disobedience, as well as an outspoken critic of organized religion (Garrison was what we might today call a fundamentalist "born again Christian" who recognized no formal church other than Christ's teachings).

Given Garrison's role as founding father of the abolitionist movement, his passion for the cause, longevity in leadership and terminal impact on the greatest political issue of the nineteenth century it is puzzling that he has left such an obscure historical legacy. As author Herbert Mayer notes, Martin Luther King Jr. cited Gandhi, Thoreau and the Gospel as his inspiration and motivation in the Civil Rights movement with no reference to the man whose peaceful agitation did more to eradicate bondage than any other -- and who in turn may very well have been Thoreau's inspiration in writing "Civil Disobedience."

So why the obscurity? Mayer's biography does little to address this paradox. In fact, his book makes Garrison's general absence from the mainstream of American history all the more tenebrous. The man that emerges from the pages of "All on Fire" is a moral giant, a crusader in the purest and best sense of the word, who risked -- indeed, welcomed -- verbal and physical abuse, a life of indigence and scorn, all in pursuit of a truly noble cause. Garrison grew up in New England and never traveled further south than Baltimore until after the Civil War, yet he dedicated his life to the abolition of slavery with an intensity and zeal that surpassed dissident southern whites (such as the Grimke sisters) and even some blacks that had escaped from bondage themselves. Because of his central role in establishing and leading the cause, "All on Fire" is, as the full title suggests, as much a history of the entire abolitionist movement as it is a biography of its leading agitator.

However, a close reading of "All on Fire" also reveals a hidden side of William Lloyd Garrison that Mayer, unfortunately, never fully explores: a man of extreme ambition, vanity, and conceit. Garrison fought tenaciously to keep himself at the front-and-center of the moral movement he came to regard as his own. One senses that the fame and notoriety he gained by his agitation came to mean quite a lot to him. In this sense, Garrison reminds one of a contemporary political gadfly increasingly enamored of his high-profile image: Michael Moore. Perhaps Garrison's attraction to celebrity never fully outweighed his commitment to the ultimate prize of freeing three million humans from bondage, but it certainly meant more than the pious Christian in him would have liked to admit -- and certainly more than biographer Mayer is willing to concede. Again and again throughout the narrative Garrison experiences a painful and personal falling out with some of his closest friends and coadjutors: Frederick Douglas, Wendell Phillips, the Tappan brothers, etc. And time after time Mayer attributes the rift to simple misunderstandings or the result of the stress and pressure of the times. That Garrison might have been something less than the Galahad on ante-bellum America is left unexplored.

Nevertheless, for anyone with a desire to know more about America and especially to learn about a man that was once one of the most controversial and well-known figures of his century, only to sink to near anonymity, this National Book Award finalist can be highly recommended.

The Golden Milestone uncovers the most amazing facts about Italian and Italian-American accomplishments. It is a very unique book that covers just about every subject. Great stuff and fun to read. We also used the book's "Italy Travel Guide" that is included as a supplement for our trip to Italy this year. Read this book and pass it on. It is refreshing to read the positive things instead of stereo-types that the media usually servers up about Italian-Americans. Thank you Mr. Esposito for writing this book.

This thoroughly researched, masterfully written, and fascinating book is truly an encyclopedia of accomplishments from Roman times right up to the 21st century. The book lists countless fascinating facts from Roman, Renaissance, modern Italy, and Italian Americans. It also lists 19 Nobel Prize winners. A great review of somewhat forgotten information about Italian heritage, that is assembled and at your finger tips for reference. A refreshing change from the negative stereotypes offered by shows like "The Sopranos."
Read this book and give it as a gift.

This book is a great review of significant Italian and Italian-American accomplishments since the beginning of time! It is full of information that you may already know in the back of your mind, but the book clarifies it and recognizes the individuals instrumental in the contribution. The author inserts a little of his own humorous antidotes along the way. All in all it is a very interesting book. It would be good for students of any age to learn an overall view of the subject matter. Any reader should be both amazed and entertained!

There is no way to describe the amount of in-depth research on so many interesting subjects in this book. Well written, researched and organized. I got it as a birthday gift and couldn't put it down. It's mind-boggling how anyone could have done so much in-depth research. Amazing stuff that wont disappoint any reader interested in the origins of inventions, artifacts, conventions, foods and traditions, as well as biographies of many famous entertainers and sports personalities. For me, the book's chapters on architecture and American government alone make the book worth the price. Read it and share it. Something for everyone in your family to explore and discover.

Book Description (from Amazon's Editorial Reviews section)
This highly acclaimed and uniquely comprehensive book offers readers over 2500 years of Italian and Italian-American accomplishments. The book's 22 chapters cover every subject: art, architecture, music, fashion, science, law, culinary arts, economics, medicine, automobiles, the entertainment industry, sports, and much more. The author's ability to blend facts, with some humor and personal anecdotes makes this book a joy to read. The book covers the wonders of ancient Rome, Renaissance Italy, as well as modern contributions and Nobel Prize winners. The book is illustrated and contains an astonishing collection of inventions and accomplishments. For example, Italians invented the piano, violin, opera, ballet, battery, telescope, radio, and telephone in NYC years before Alexander Bell. Discover how Enrico Fermi ushered in the atomic age, and how Italian sculptors carved the Lincoln memorial in Washington D.C. Explore the chapter on Literature to uncover the origins of many famous fairy tales (Cinderella, Snow White, Pinocchio, etc.). In the chapter on American Government, the author quotes John F. Kennedy who wrote in his book, "A Nation of Immigrants" that the great American principle, "all men are created equal," originated with an Italian physician, Philip Maezzi, who was a personal friend and neighbor of Thomas Jefferson. Also, learn about many other distinguished personalities: NYC Mayors, the former Chairman & CEO of the New York Stock Exchange, the President of the European Union, and the Director of the European Space Agency. The Golden Milestone has thousands of notable entries and fascinating facts. Critics agree. It is a must for anyone's library.

This book also includes a unique `Italy Travel Guide' supplement that combines history and attractions for over twenty cities and locations in Italy. A great virtual tour!

Superbly researched, detailed, and precise. In 22 chapters the author proves his points. He sometimes got overly preachy, but with all the negative stereotyping of Italian-Americans by many in Hollywood and the media I can sympathize. It is one of the most organized books I've ever had the pleasure of reading. From the Roman Republic to the present, Italian contributions to Civilization are described. It also contains a unique travel supplement and some funny personal stories. Anyone who is a history buff should read it, every possible field is covered.

I took the AP US exam in 2004, after a 2-year long AP US History class offered by my high school. I was terrified that I'd fail, but this book saved my butt! It's comprehensive, easy to understand, and the review questions and quizzes in the back are fantastic - I even saw a question from the book on the exam! This tome is intimidatingly thick, but don't let that daunt you. I studied 3 chapters per week in the 2 months leading up to the test, and there wasn't a single thing I didn't know. It could use a bit more post-1970 foreign policy information, but you can probably cover that with your teacher/textbook/class. Oh, and a whole chapter devoted to important Supreme Court cases & their significance would be great, but all that information is scattered throughout the book as well.

My AP teacher recommended _not_ writing the practice essays & DBQ, but I don't see why. Any practice writing in the style of the AP exam is critical to scoring well.

In all, if you are taking the AP US History exam (or just want a concise US history reference book!), I highly recommend this one. I still consult my AMSCO from time to time.

This book offers a better summary than the vain APUSH textbook from Houghton Mifflin which spends nearly 30 pages for every chapter gabbling useless stuffs (it always describes every president's personal characteristics. It talks too much about historically insignificant materials while spending too less for significant points). But a reader can get those summaries from any other major publishers such as Kaplan, REA, McGraw-Hill, etc. All of them have answers and some of them have explanations about them. Kaplan and REA have CD or internet support for further assistance.
This AMSCO version does not have any answer or explanation about them, or any further support besides the analogue papers. If you don't have a private tutor to point out what's wrong with your answers, do NOT but this book. What's the benefit if you answer the questions and have difficulties knowing that's correct or wrong?

Before, my Ap US History class used this big textbook that was so hard to understand. Then I got this book, and I'm telling you it's the most effieceint way to learn about history. It's so easy to understand and it covers everything you basically need to know.
I would highly recommend this book to any struggling AP US Hisotry student.

This book could easily be used as the primary source for someone studying for the AP US History exam. In fact, on the inside of the front cover, there's a table for names like in regular school books. So if you're looking for a prep book that you can use to prepare a week or two before the exam, this might not be the best choice. But if you use it throughout the year and actually read through it and do the exams, I would find it pretty amazing to not get a 5. Plus, it's written well, and is as entertaining as a book about US history can be.

Like other people have said though, there are NO answers for any of the questions in the book. Of course, the internet (google) can solve that problem... so don't let that dissuade you from buying this wonderful book.

This has to be the best book to prepare you for APUSH. I found out about this book through an ap forum and read about how people read this and got a 5 on the ap exam. It's extremely straightforward with only about 30/700 pages for introductions, index, and practice exam with the rest of the 670 pages pure content and practice questions/dbq.

This book doesn't dance around American history with dumb strategies and tiny summaries like Barron's or PR. This book also doesn't try to appear bigger with a huge amount of practice tests either *though REA is also a good choice for APUSH*. It gives you everything you need to know for the exam in a clear and straightforward style.

I bought this large print edition as a Christmas present for my father. He is 90 years old, and remembers these events vividly. He felt that the Jackie Robinson Bio from 2007 was supplemented with this study of Jackie Robinson's 1st year in the majors. It was a good, quick read, which he really enjoyed.

This is the first book I have read about Robinson. I had gleaned what I knew about him from the media, especially Ken Burns' "Baseball." The author combines a macrocosmic overview of 1947 American society and microcosmic vignettes to give readers a stunning portrait of a single year with far-reaching effects. Especially enlightening for me was learning details about Branch Rickey's personal motives in integrating major league baseball, Robinson's competitive nature, and his effect on Black Americans at that time. The epilogue illustrates how profoundly our views of events alter with the passage of time, and the poignancy of change. I look forward to watching Burns' footage about Robinson again soon, with a more informed grasp of the significance of the man and his first season.

I found Mr. Eig's book very well written and felt it was well researched, though not until I read the `Acknowledgments' section did I realize how much leg work he put into "Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season." He interviewed Rachel Robinson three times and that background is readily apparent throughout the book. She tells how Jack felt about certain situations, which sometimes were in complete contrast to published reports that historians rely on when writing these types of books. (Interesting also that Mr. Eig's research uncovered the fact that Mr. Robinson did not like to go by the name `Jackie' but preferred `Jack.' And my recollection is that every time I've heard Rachel Robinson talk about her husband, she always referred to him as `Jack.') Mr. Eig also interviewed some of the principals written about in the book like Ralph Branca, Carl Erskine, and Joe Garagiola, as well as the Robinson children and Branch Rickey III.

The book did a fine job of painting a picture of the United States circa 1947 and with that perspective, made the reality of Jack Robinson's first major league season much more believable. I'm in my 40s and what I learned about Jack Robinson's first season - from watching baseball games first on Saturdays on NBC and then later on cable, was much more passive than what was presented in this book. However, as much as I would have wanted to stay comfortable with my pastel-colored memories, I do believe this presentation in part because of my own life experience, but also because of the copious research Mr. Eig invested in the writing.

I would recommend this book for any baseball fan, as well as for people interested in the history of civil rights and the long, not-so-steady growth and improvement of equal rights for African Americans in the United States.

Eig's extensive research and thoughtful treatment of Jackie Robinson does not vary or question the general truth of his legend: Robinson played the game well under tremendous pressure with little or no support and demonstrated in the process the skill and courage that entitled blacks to equal opportunity. But Eig does add some new perspectives that make the legend far more interesting.

First is the general unpleasantness of Robinson. He's like Pete Rose in his burning desire to win at all costs and would rub some people the wrong way regardless of his color.

Second and perhaps most important is Eig's ability to introduce more subtlety into the story. Eig destroys the legend of Pee Wee Reese publicly encouraging Robinson on the field in the face of racial abuse. That did not happen, at least not in 1947. Robinson is utterly alone in 1947 and has to prove himself to his teammates. Branca is the only guy to make a point of shaking his hand when he first appears, which adds to Branca's own legend as a man of character, but even Branca essentially ignores him for much of the season. Some of this is racial, of course. But some of it is the culture of baseball: a rookie must prove himself.

Robinson's ability to peform in these circumstances, under the most tremendous pressure possible, adds to his legend and makes his 1947 season perhaps the most admirable of all seasons. Eig is also good at introducing subtlety into the legends surrounding Robinson's oppressors. There is some rumbling on the team, but that quickly dissipates. Most interesting is the role of star player Dixie Walker. Walker felt compelled by his southern roots, and by his desire not to have his business punished in the south, to make a point of objecting and asking for a trade. But thereafter, he drops the protest. The problem for Robinson was not simply the obvious bigotry, but his freeze-out by the rest of his team until he could prove himself under the most trying of circumstances. Walker may have given Robinson a few batting tips and may have dropped his trade demands, but neither he nor anyone else took Robinson under his wing. Even in baseball's demanding culture of ritualized abuse of rookies, a rookie will eventually be taken under someone's wing. Robinson did not have that benefit.

The protests of other teams has also been exaggerated. It appears that there were some murmuring on the Cardinals to try to boycott Dodger games, but that fizzled before it started. The Phillies were grossly racist in their bench jockeying, but backed off early in the season. The Yankees in the 1947 World Series had a few nasty bench jockeys.

What emerges from all this is the pain of the gross racism aggravated by the agonizing loneliness of Robinson as he has to endure everything and prove himself. Eig convincingly shows that by the end of 1947, Robinson succeeded in proving himself and was the MVP of this team. Only then was he accepted by Pee Wee Reese, the team's captain.

All of which demonstrates Branch Rickey's wisdom in choosing Robinson as the man to break the color barrier. Robinson had mental toughness and competitive fire. The rap on black athletes was that they were not mentally tough, and Robinson was exactly the right guy to disprove that myth. Choosing a more passive personality would not have made the point, and choosing a less disciplined soul who would have got into physical fights in 1947 would not have worked either. But it is interesting to learn how Robinson sometimes crossed the line (such as spiking Rizzuto in the 1947 Series) and how close Robinson came to losing it.

Robinson emerges as a complex and truly great man in this narrative. This is an excellent book that I highly recommend.

On April 15, 1947, a young Holocaust survivor who had arrived in New York just 14 weeks before, attended his first baseball game at Ebbets Field. That young man was my Dad. Just having arrived in the United States and unfamiliar with the country's social ferment, he was unaware at the time that he was present at an historic moment---Jackie Robinson's Major League debut.

In OPENING DAY, Jonathan Eig presents us not only with an account of April 15, 1947, but of the months both preceding and following it. Eig wisely and honestly paints us a portrait of Jackie Robinson not as the infinitely patient hero of the film THE JACKIE ROBINSON STORY (in which he played himself), but as a mercurial and talented young man who restrained his natural impulses toward bellicosity in order to bring down the walls of the segregationist citadel of white America.

In a world which had not yet experienced Brown v. Board of Ed., Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., CORE, Little Rock, or the Voting Rights Act, Robinson crossed the white sky like a dark comet. Promoted to the Majors by Branch Rickey: Baseball's Ferocious Gentleman, Robinson not only broke the color barrier, but excelled at his craft, leading the National League in hitting that year.

Eig examines (but does not utterly explode) some of the urban legends surrounding Robinson, in particular his supposed Christlike passivity in the face of discrimination. Robinson was a warrior by nature, and if he couldn't fight back directly due to his circumstances, he fought back indirectly by being an aggressive and accomplished player on the field.

An intelligent, articulate, gifted and deservedly angry young black man, Robinson had faced down a Court Martial while in the Army for arguing with a segregationist officer who called him "boy." To turn the other cheek was not in his character, and he did not suffer fools gladly, nor did he suffer in silence. Nonetheless, he kept his promise to Branch Rickey not to respond to the inevitable racial provocation that greeted his appearance on the field.

For the first several months of that baseball season, Robinson was the only black player, not only on the Brooklyn Dodgers squad, but in Major League Baseball. As such, he was a magnet for abuse both from fans and many fellow players. Shouts of "N****r!," "Shoeshine!," "Sambo!," "Rastus!," "Watermelon!" and other such bon mots flowed freely; beanballs were a common occurrence. Hate mail was received by the bucketload. Petitions were circulated (even within the Dodger organization) to exclude Robinson from baseball. A general strike was threatened.

Fortunately, Major League Baseball had more farseeing men than bigots at the helm. Diamond-in-the-rough Dodger Manager Leo Durocher uttered his immortal words about a zebra one day in the clubhouse, and stopped the griping. His successor, Burt Shotton, a quieter man, treated Robinson unexceptionally.

Dodger Captain Pee Wee Reese, a Kentuckian born to segregation, and the most influential man on the team, refused to sign any petitions, and the revolt in the ranks collapsed as a result. Eig cannot find any 1947 documentation of Pee Wee's physical embrace of Robinson on the field in the face of a catcalling audience, an incident now immortalized in bronze at the Brooklyn Cyclones' Keyspan Park in Brooklyn, but more important than the arm over the shoulder was the popular Reese's treatment of Robinson as just "any other player," which encouraged his acceptance by teammates, fans, and other players.

Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick announced that any team refusing to play with Robinson would be suspended en masse. Robinson did use his position as a bully pulpit by speaking honestly but not with hostility about his rightful place in the game. And Brooklyn---an inherently tolerant blue-collar hodgepodge palimpsest of races, nationalities, ethnicities, and languages---embraced Robinson unreservedly just as soon he demonstrated he could play the game. Fans of all colors in other cities supported Robinson, and his legitimate fan mail was enormous.

Given the later volatility of opposition to the Civil Rights Movement, Robinson's acceptance as an everyday teammate seems remarkably free of incident. In fact, the relative calm of Robinson's admission to the ranks, and the quick signing of black players by several other teams as well as the Brooklyn Dodgers, probably did much to energize the nascent Civil Rights movement to take on Jim Crow everywhere. By so being, Jackie Robinson was the belleweather of a new age, an age whose Opening Day was April 15, 1947.

This definitely is a timely book with very valuable and insightful information given the current very tragic situation in the island shared by the two republics. Cambeira's intelligent focus and keen interpretation of the island's development in every sense helped me better understand especially the Dominican culture that most of us know so little about. I am sure many readers who are curious about Caribbean cultures will find this work extremely informative.
I also recommend this writer's new novel Azucar! The Story of Sugar.

This particular book by Professor Cambeira is truly a jewel in terms of its historical and cultural content and its unique treatment. Unlike any other book of this kind that I have read for its clarity in presentation. This is not your ordinary history textbook, but rather a highly personalized and lucid and informed interpretation of a community's evolution. I like how the Professor, who is Dominican, convinces the reader of his honesty. He says what many other Dominican writers don't say about our country, especially concerning certain questions of identity and the notion of inclusion in the formation of what we call dominicanidad. I also like the way Cambeira's writing style flows so gracefully. His nonfiction style is like his lyrical fiction that I found in his novels Azucar! The Story of Sugar and the sequel Azucar's Sweet Hope...Her Story Continues.

Cambeira is a wonderful writer in every sense.

High Recommended Reading.

His latest novel Azucar's Sweet Hope...Her Story Continues is the Best Novel I've read in a long time !

"To Dream alone is dangerous, but to dream jointly has been the beginning of the greatest changes in history."
This writer tells the true history with eloquence and elegance.
This book is a Treasure!

Quisqueya La Bella Is A Must Read Book!

I am very impressed by this unusual perspective on Dominican history and culture by the Dominican writer Alan Cambeira. Cambeira's work is not your conventional history text. It reads more like an interest sustaining novel; It also presents some cultural aspects most writers on the subject usually omit or avoid altogether. I also found a surprising side issue: the theatrical version of Mario Vargas Llosa's La Fiesta Del Chivo (The Festival of the Goat) is in production by the well respected Repertorio Espanol and has an accompanying Study Guide done by Iliana Fuentes. I see that Ms Fuentes also lists Cambeira's book as a part of the suggested reading in this regard. To me, then, Cambeira has a winner. His book is definitely worth the read. ...

Bravo Cambeira!

Everybody called Quisqueya the "Athens of the New World".
It is a country with beautiful beaches and beautiful people and a complex history. The island's ethnic mix of indigenuous, European (mainly Spanish) and African cultures and their merger across time resulted in the distinctive Dominican culture that we know today. Cambeira's passion for his native island is evident on every page. This book gave me a really different and fresh perspective from other books on the subject by other authors that I have read. This is an excellent personal interpretation that I'm recommending to anyone interested in learning about the Atena del Nuevo Mundo.Thanks to the Author. My next reading will certainly be his novel that everybody is talking about: Azucar! The Story of Sugar.