France Books

I am studying Interior Design...and this book is great! It is easy to read and very helpful!

This book has many traditional rooms, but because it is not new, the "contemporary" rooms tend to look a little dated now. Funny how the old days look better than the recent past. What set it apart for me was the text, which discusses the history of color in decoration and is extremely interesting without being long, and the information on pigment reactions in making ones own paint. She includes several pages of different pigments mixed together in the back, as well as a discussion of different wall painting mediums. As a painter making my own lime wash, this book, while not a complete reference, gave a few invaluable details that made my project a success, and I really only bought it to see the photos of rooms in different colors.

I own about 25 books on interior design and home decoration. This is certainly in my top three, and probably the most oft consulted of them all. Each chapter covers one of the basic colours, from green and blue through to pinks and neutrals. But after this sparse description it is hard to convey the beauty and depth of this book. When I say cover a colour, I mean really explore it. It's cool version, warm version, soft, light, borderline with its neighbouring colour on the colour wheel.

And the way that each colour is covered is unique. Very minimal (but useful) text, and instead full page pictures of utterly inspiring interiors featuring the colour tone/intensity on each and every page. It uses excellent photographs from a wide and rich range of interior design. All true to life from real (moderna and historical) homes - and usually illustrating a good marriage between a particular colour/shade and the style it most compliments. Going through it, one soon becomes aware of one's taste. The pictures are so good - so evocative of the theme of that particular colour - that one has a simple emotional response of things like "love", "comforting", "not me", "does nothing for me", "joyful", etc. Using this book and trusting my visceral response to the delightful, subtle shades on each page, I virtually decorated my whole house.

A very sophisticated book on colour, that speaks to us in the most simple of ways - through the eye to the heart.

Anthony Kemp, author and military historian, wrote the Foreword to "The Command is Forward." He called the book "- - an immensely detailed and honest - -" work on WW II and the role of the infantryman. Kemp's works include several books on the Lorraine Campaign, particularly those on the battle for Metz in late 1944.

The book "The Command Is Forward" has been an incredible journey for me to take back through those days with my father. He and I each have a book and we are reading and discussing it over the phone. Last weekend he told me that the book made him cry. I have never seen my father cry. The division make-up was an incredible construct of college students, National Guard cadre and filler personnel. If you want to know what it feels like to go into combat as a green private lead by green officers and NCOs and facing a seasoned Panzer division you will never come any closer to the real experience then this book. Read it or miss one of the most important pieces of literature to come out of WWII. This book is one of the greatest gifts I have ever received and I owe Jim a debt that I will never be able to pay.

I expected to find this book interesting because I fought in this campaign. I was a sniper in the 26th Division of Patton's Third Army. But I never dreamed I would find so much information. Information I had been searching for. Like, for instance, what happened to my squad leader and the remnants of my squad after they left me wounded on the foot of Hill 310. I found that information, and lots more, in "The Command Is Forward."
I not only found a daily diary kept by our regiment for every day of the campaign. I found similar records kept by the German outfits we were fighting. And I found comments from the German commanders as to what they had expected from our division. And what they got.
I have filled my book with highlighting marks, and I often just go back and review those highlighted parts. Most are very personal. Anyone who fought in Europe, especially in the 26th Division or the Third Army should have this book, and so should any relatives or descendants of such veterans.
Try it. You will be as pleased as I was.

This book contains spectacular photography through-out: both photos that highlight the artistry of finished works and the close-up, clear, work-in-progress photos that highlight techniques for successful projects. Accompanying text is very readable, and contains a wealth of information about pebble mosaics. I bought the book for the photographs, but was also fascinated by the information about the people and communities that came together to create stunning mosaics to enhance public spaces in their towns.

Good overview of pebble mosaics with very helpful information on materials and techniques. The book also has good examples of works by professional mosaicists in the field of pebblework.

Maggy Howarth's COMPLETE PEBBLE MOSAIC HANDBOOK provides a review of pebble mosaics which can be used in gardens, patios and public places. Artists, landscapers, and any with a special interest in the design qualities of these mosaics will find this a beautiful collection which not only provides step-by-step insights, but includes a survey of traditional works by contemporary pebble mosaic artists.

This book may be helpful for every person interested in the French Revolution. It shows a "reactionary" vision of the Revolution, and describes all the human right violations done by the revolutionaries. In de Maistre's view, the French Revolution is a divine punishment for France. France had not follow its special vocation: to be a stronghold of the christian faith, and therefore came the Revolution. Perhaps the most interesting thing is that all De Maistre's predictions became true, specially the Restauration of Monarchy. Most books about the French Revolution are pure apologies. If you want to read something very different, read this book.

Joseph de Maistre is one of the harshest counter-revolutionary critics of the French Revolution. He calls for a return to traditional Catholicism and the Restoration of the monarchy. The book _Considerations on France_ takes a look at his arguments for that tradition and his understanding of the dark side of human existence through his unique Christian perspective. De Maistre was both a Freemason and a Roman Catholic, an arch-conservative traditionalist, and a strong believer in the primacy of papal authority in the secular and spiritual realms. In this book, he criticizes those eighteenth century philosophers and their belief in progress and the "social contract" ideal. He explains why the traditional development of society is more appropriate, given the rootedness of man in sin. This is an important work to understand the thought of De Maistre, a Catholic reactionary.

The Frenchman Joseph de Maistre published this counter-revolutionary political manifesto, _Considerations on France_, as a protest against the chaos unleashed on Europe following the French Revolution. De Maistre is credited for setting the tone for the conservative, pro-monarchist political right in Catholic and Continental Europe for the subsequent ninetieth century, as a sort of French contemporary of the esteemed British conservative, Edmund Burke. De Maistre glorifies war and violence as rooted in mankind's primordial fall from divine grace. De Maistre even goes so far as to view the executioner and the soldier as human agents of divine wrath against those who transgress the higher realm. Attempts to improve the human condition through revolutionary politics and high-blown rhetoric regarding "democracy" and "equality" are cursed to fail. These revolutionary movements will only collapse because of their disconnection with reality and their inability to comprehend the dark side of human nature. Instead, political change must be brought about through a gradual process. Traditions that go beyond human memory into the obscure mists of history have a quality of the a-rational, or the divine, about them. The sacred altar and the crown may be defended by force if necessary. It is curious that de Maistre, writing in the 1790s and early 1800s, predicted the restoration of the Bourbon family to the French monarchy after the military defeat of Napoleon.

This is one of our family's favorite books. My 2 yr old and 8 yr old love it equally. The words will often go over a preschooler's head (haunches, slip-shod hoofs, etc) but they will enjoy the funny storyline and amazing illustrations nonetheless. I never tire of it too, esp because there is always more detail to find and smile about in the illustrations. I esp love the part of the story about the people who take the place of the cows out in the pastures... how they like to stand in small groups, saying nothing and chewing grass, and they have to be prodded too get back on the train. I give this book often as a gift and always get great feedback on it. Good stuff!

My five-year-old son and I have had great fun with this book for years. The gentle prose is great for reading aloud, and the illustrations, with their many fine-art allusions--to Manet, Seurat, and others--introduce children to cultural heritage in a non-preachy way.

A joyous book that will make kids and adults laugh

A great read and it has tasty easy to make recipies. What more can you want, except to actualy be in France?

My husband and I and another couple travelled with Kate Ratliffe for a week on the Garonne Canalin her barge, the Julia Hoyt. The book describes both the journey and the wonderful food on board. If you buy the book you'll want to take the trip and if you take the trip you'll want to buy the book! Her 800 number is in the back of the book

I first picked this up at my library, expecting another in the growing genre of "lifestyle fantasy literature" -- you know, bohemian boomer quits rat race, goes abroad, buys quaint house (or boat), creates rustic & soul-satisfying alternative lifestyle and then =tortures= the rest of us by writing a glowing book about it... But now, Ratliffe's work is in a hallowed place on my cookbook shelf between Richard Olney's "Simple French Food" and "Lulu's Provencal Table." Like those books, Ratliffe's takes us deep into the heart (and soul) of a regional French cuisine, through timeless villages and fragrant home kitchens. Even if the book were recipes alone, it would be worth its price for the seasonal simplicity of "asparagus with scallions, mint and green garlic shoots," or "radish leaf soup." But Ten Speed Press has made it a feast for the hand and eye as well, with loving photos of the Garonne canal country and buff paper reminiscent of a sketchbook or travel journal. Few chefs write this well about the daily meditation of cooking, the inspirations, the happy accidents and the patiently learned techniques. Even if you never spend a night on the "Julia Hoyt," by the time you cook your way to "Flan au Floc" for dessert you'll feel you know this land and its people intimately.

Swartz has done a masterful job in bringing Bourdieu's complicated thought and style to an Anglo-American readership. But he has gone even further in demonstrating the ways in which Bourdieu's work is problematic and/or falls short. Truly, a remarkable work of sythesis, scholarship, and critique.

If you need to learn about Pierre Bourdieu, this book is fantastic! I had to read this book for a class, but it was one of the most clear, thought-provoking, and understandable syntheses of a theorist's works that I've ever read. If only such a book existed for Foucault or any of the other theorists and philosophers that I've had to struggle through, only understanding half of it! After reading this book, I feel that I actually, clearly understand the theory of Bourdieu.

This is a great way to get acquainted with Bourdieu's work on culture and power. Swartz provides an excellent overview of key concepts such as "symbolic capital", "habitus", "field" and "symbolic violence". This work definitely makes Bourdieu more readable, but it is no mere Cliff Notes -- there is a critical and analytical component to Swartz' treatise that invites the reader to not just take the given theories at face value but examine past criticisms these theories have drawn.

This is essential reading for sociology grad students and anyone looking for a comprehensive and comprehensible introduction to Bourdieu's scholarship. Bourdieu's own work is brilliant but is not easy reading. Swartz eases the reader into Bourdieu's world of thought, and once you are hooked, reading Bourdieu himself becomes worth the trouble.

Although there are a lot of books out there about D-Day and the German Atlantic Wall defenses, Stephen J. Zaloga's D-Day Fortifications in Normandy is a welcome addition. As usual, Zaloga is able to synthesize a great deal of useful information about a well-known subject and still produce a book that has insightful and original material. Zaloga has mined the best available English, German and French sources and these are listed in an excellent 2-page bibliography. Overall, this volume is one of the best of Osprey's Fortress series. I have been to Normandy and seen many of the fortifications that Zaloga writes about, yet I still managed to learn new facts about them in this volume.

Zaloga begins the volume with a well-written summary of the design and development of the German army and navy coastal defenses in Normandy. He manages to include a number of interesting facts, including nice-to-know items like the cost of construction. The next section deals with the actual defenses in detail, including a table that lists all strongpoints on the five D-Day beaches and another table that lists all artillery units in range of the beaches. Zaloga also provides great detail on the garrison, including mentioning individual German commanders in various bunkers. The final section on the defenses on D-Day, which covers beach-by-beach, is superb. Throughout, the volume is enhanced with an excellent mix of B/W photos from 1944 and modern color photos. Zaloga also provides excellent detailed color maps for each beach sector, which depict all the key German defenses. The color plates are also very good, depicting various types of German coastal bunkers. Overall, this volume delivers a great deal of well-packaged information for its small size.

The only item that I would disagree with is his assessment that, "the German defenses quickly failed when assaulted by Allied forces on D-Day." It is currently in vogue among many military historians to deride fixed fortifications like the Atlantic Wall as a `white elephant,' but this ignores their intended purpose. Although Rommel hoped to defeat the invasion on the beaches, it was the reserve troops who were supposed to deliver the decisive blow; the coastal defenses were merely intended to delay and disrupt the invaders long enough for the German reserves to deploy. As Zaloga notes, thirty Germans in WN 62 on Omaha Beach were able to inflict hundreds of casualties on the US 1st Infantry Division and to hold out for over six hours. In the British sector, the Hillman bunker complex prevented the British from getting into Caen on D-Day. By and large, the German beach defenses did their job admirably, inflicting several thousand casualties on the Allies and preventing the Allies from reaching many of their D-Day objectives. It was the German C2 errors that prevented a rapid and decisive commitment of mobile reserves that led to failure, not the concept of fixed fortifications. Furthermore, critics of the German Atlantic Wall rarely make any effort to suggest plausible alternatives for a resource-strapped Germany in 1944. The German defenses in Normandy were a good example of `economy of force' and not only were they useful on D-Day, but they helped to slow the Allied drive to capture ports like Cherbourg weeks after the invasion.

I can say no more except the book is a must for those interested in the invasion of Normandy.

This is the book to get is you want to know details on the Atlantic Wall fortifications in Normandy. It has just about everything one could want to know about how the Germans defended Normandy during the invasion. Excellent and well illustrated work. Highly recommended for all those interested in World War II.

We picked this book up from the library. The only time I don't have to read it to my 18-month old again and again is if her daddy is in the room when I finish. Then she scoots off my lap and runs to give him a great big hug! Kudos to "Dad Mine" for reminding my daughter that her dad is pretty great.

I bought this book and its companion (Mom Mine) for my toddler (23 months) as a gift when we brought our newborn home from the hospital last month. I wanted these books to help her understand that our feelings for her haven't changed with the new addition to our family. She loves these books and asks us to read them to her several times a day. The pictures are so cute, and since she can be quick to turn the pages, there's not a lot of reading involved. She understands the message of the books, too. She smiles and leans in for a hug when we finish each one. I would highly recommend these books if you have a toddler and are getting ready to have a new baby. These books have only helped strengthen the bond we already had with our firstborn.

This would be good for a Father's Day gift or similar. I think I can recite the whole thing, since my 16 month old daughter makes me read it 100 times a day. "Dad Day, Dad Night, Dad Black, Dad White, Dad Country, Dad Town, Dad Up, Dad Down, Dad Big, Dad Small, Dad Mine, Best of All!" OK, I am probably missing a dad or two, but you get the picture!

The illustrations are very pretty, and the child shown at the end could be a boy or a girl, so my daughter of course thinks it's a picture of her! Nice book overall.

This book is a good introduction to the complex history of humans and plants. Indeed, this is such an essential relationship, extending from basic foodstuffs and clothing to biofuels, narcotics and medicines, that one could argue this relationship has defined us as a species. The author reveals many plants that I'd never heard of as being candidates for either further research or potential as new snakeoils for a society willing to believe nature hides the next "magic bullet" against what ails us. The fascination of people with sex, immortality, intoxication and beauty will continue to compel mankind to seek succor and solace in the chlorophyll kingdom. The marriage can never be broken, to be sure, but a lack of understanding of what plants can realy deliver will often result in people's disillusionment with the initial promise of paradise. Little wonder that Genesis used a fruit as the symbol of man's hopes and dashed dreams.

"Dangerous Garden" is an EXCELLENT book on the history of plants and how humans interact with plants, a topic that I stumbled onto only about a couple of years ago. The book is broken up into eight chapters that cover about 200 pages. There are lots of pictures and color plates, so each chapter is almost a stand-alone section that is just the right length to be read over an afternoon or spread out over a couple of nights at bedtime.

Each chapter covers a category of use or effect that humans have tried to get out of plants. The chapters are:
- The Great Afflictions, covering plants thought to affect diseases such as bubonic plague, malaria and leprosy.
- The Vital Organs, covering plants thought to affect vital organs such as the heart, stomach, etc.
- The Flight from Pain, or the search for pain-relievers, with an extensive section on opium.
- Chasing Venus, which is kind of self-explanatory.
- The Killing Plants, very self-explanatory.
- The Seven Ages of Man, meaning plants that are supposed to prolong life, maintain a youthful appearance, or otherwise slow the passage of time.
- The Mind, or plants that affect the mind and have been both revered and demonized because of it, including marijuana, cocaine, tobacco and qat.
- The Mysteries of the Gods, which covers plants used in religious and shamanic ceremonies, such as peyote.

The book is definitely not a lightweight and people looking for serious information will find a lot of worth. Plants are referred to both by their common name and their scientific names and the index covers both types of terms as well. The Bibliography includes books from 1516 to the 1990s, and the Author's Acknowledgments on the last page list a number of good websites as well.

Stuart discusses the historical uses of various plants and how some plants have gone from being cure-alls in the past to being either banned or sold in the grocery-store spice aisle now. He spends a lot of time on the concept of Janus plants, which are "two-faced" plants, meaning they can both harm and heal, and he also discusses fads in medicine, including a long period of time in the middle ages where if a plant had a visible effect it was thought to be better than one that didn't have a visible effect, so plants that made people sweaty, feverish, nauseous, sleepy, etc. were prescribed in amounts that are horrifying by today's standards.

Some authors talk down to readers, but this author absolutely does not and will jump from discussion of which 19th-century herbal contained which plant to discussion of the exact chemical names of the active alkaloids in a plant, if they are unknown than which other known alkaloids do they resemble, and what current research is being done and current uses and/or speculation.

There are also numerous little facts sprinkled here and there throughout the book which the author clearly can't spend much time on because of space but which are equally fascinating in themselves, such as:
- (pg 188) Morning glory has LSD-like components that have been much studied and have variable effects in mice, rabbits and humans, with some people feeling little effect and other getting a full "trip", although often an unpleasant one.
- (pgs 7-8) Rhubarb was once thought to be an aphrodisiac by the Romans and a cure for a form of malaria by medieval herbalists; until the mid-1500s it was only available to Europe as imported dried roots.
- (pgs 69-70) There was once a great hospital atop Soutra Hill in Scotland, south of Edinburgh, its first charter dated from 1108 (!) and it reached its epogee in 1462 and was finally closed in the 1500s, razed by the late 1800s and its drains, cesspits and middens began to be excavated in the 1980s.

I could go on for pages more, but I will digress. In short, if you like history and if you like plants, you'll probably like this book.

I absolutely loved this book! Not only was it interesting and compelling reading but the book was full of incredibly obscure but very enlightening information about the usage history of the plants covered. Mr. Stuart also gave (in the majority of instances) the specific botanical names of the plants and other related species which is rare in non-scientific "History of Plants" books. The selection of illustrations was absolutely superb.

The only negative that I have about this book is that Mr. Stuart frequently listed vague references to scientific "studies" that proved his points about certain plants but there was no information, footnoted or otherwise, to definitively identitify these "studies". He also had a few scattered references to plants mentioned in unspecified publications. Who did these studies and who printed these stories? In a book of this nature, I expect to have facts and sources laid out a bit more thoroughly.

I still gave this book FIVE STARS because it was so much fun to read. I have lots of other books with which to cross reference and confirm some of the more vague references so I wasn't particularly distressed by the oversight although, in my view, if you are going to thoroughly research and document some things, then you should thoroughly research and document everything.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!