France Books

On the shelves of most libraries and bookstores today, Italian themed cookbooks outnumber French themed cookbooks by about three (3) to one (1), as they do on my bookshelf. Of these Italian cookbooks, over half deal explicitly with a regional Italian cuisine, with Tuscany, Rome, and Emilia-Romagna leading the pack. Yet, the most common culinary region as book subject is Provence, in Southern France along the Rhone river. To many minds this is foodie central for the Mediterranean cuisine, being a location with a uniquely strong junction of olive, grape, and vegetable culture with the seafood of the Mediterranean. Not only are many books written specifically about Provence, but it is the spiritual center of inspiration for practically every major culinary writer in English, most prominently Julia Child, Richard Olney and James Beard, all of whom either maintained homes in Provence or visited the area on a regular basis.

Not only does Provence lead in pure numbers, I think it also leads in the quality of the writing and in the diversity of the cuisine. As evidence, I submit a book I reviewed earlier, `Patricia Wells At Home in Provence' and my current subject `A Passion for My Provence' by Lydie Marshall. The two books have very similar chapter headings and both deal with tarts, daubes, vegetable stews, and fish stews aplenty. Aioli and tapenade flows over their pages like water. Still, it was very surprising to me to find virtually no duplication in recipes in the two books. This is doubly surprising because when I reviewed two books on Roman cuisine, I easily found five different entree (not condiment) recipes occurring in the two books with identical Italian names and similar recipes.

Both authors conduct cooking classes in their homes in Provence. Ms. Marshall lives in an old chateau in Nyons, a small town on a small tributary of the Rhone in central Provence. Ms. Marshall is a native of France. Ms. Wells, a native American, spends most of her time in Paris, but she summers in northern Provence, where she and her husband have had a farmhouse for over twenty years.

All of this makes choosing between these two books very difficult, especially since I believe the sizes of each book is almost perfectly proportional to the list prices and the presence of color photos in the more expensive (Wells) but not in the less expensive. The absence of common recipes in these books can probably be explained by the fact that both books specifically advertise themselves as collections of home recipes. As the two homes are separated by quite a distance in a very provincial land, it is no surprise that the two writers have little but a general style of cooking in common.

Certain ingredients share the starring roles in both books. It would not be Provencal cooking without eggplant, onions, asparagus, tomatoes, cepes (porcini), monkfish, and chicken. Ms. Marshall has a great section on fowl of various types, but all recipes can be made with chicken if pheasant or guinea hen is not available. Ms. Marshall also surprises us by covering ingredients such as pumpkin that Ms. Wells does not even mention. Ms. Marshall also devotes a considerable amount of space to pissaladiere, `the Provencal version of pizza' which has its origins in Nice. The classic topping for pissaladiere is an anchovy and onion marmalade. The crust is quite thick, more like a Sicilian than a Neapolitan thin crust pizza. Ms. Marshall in fact makes her pissaladiere with potato dough. She devotes over twenty pages to pissaladiere and other recipes one can base on this dough. In contrast, Ms. Wells has recipes for pizza and fougasse (French foccacia), but nothing on pissaladiere.

On average, I find Ms. Marshall's instructions less detailed than Ms. Wells, but I find no resulting deficiency in the quality of her dishes. Ms. Wells, being a professional journalist who hobnobs with the likes of Joel Robuchon will certainly have more to say about ingredients and technique. But, Ms. Marshall even has her own Robuchon story in describing the great chef's solution to doing a salt baked fish where the salt coat comes off without excessive salt in the fish itself. Ms. Wells includes wines to match each dish and Ms. Marshall does not.

As both books are in paperback with a total list price below $40, I would buy both, especially if you are fond of French cooking. If your budget is tight, get the work by Ms. Marshall and wait for Ms. Wells soon to be published new book on Provencal cooking.

Highly recommended, especially for those on a budget.

An absolutely delightful addition to the important segment of books regarding Provence and cooking. Easy to follow, delicious recipes are accompanied by entertaining anecdotes.

This book is a gem. I feel this book more approachable than, say, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" to today's health-conscious home cooks. I have tried breads (fougasse, pissaladiere) to vegetables to chicken dishes to desserts with excellent results. Try her tartes (pies) for a change from your usual pies; they are truely eye-opening. Besides, it is a joy to read.

For students of French or European history this book by Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie is a must read! This author is truly the most brilliant French historian. I recommend anything by Ladurie without reservation.

In Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie's The Peasants of Languedoc the message and the [historical] method are inseparable. The sources used to explore rural life in the French province of Languedoc (today Languedoc-Roussillon), at times, take a more prominent role in the narrative than the peasant workers and tenant farmers. Its central theme examines the "Malthusian dilemma of a traditional agrarian society incapable, over the long run, of preserving a balance between population and food production." (x) Le Roy Ladurie employs a mélange of economic, demographic, social, meteorological, political, religious, psychological analysis to present in a histoire totale that the fluctuations within the agrarian cycle cannot be explained by only focusing on economic determinants. Societal and weather-related factors influenced economic choices, and the economy shaped demographic and religious arrangements.

Though Le Roy Ladurie primarily focuses his study on the agrarian cycle of Languedoc's economy stretching from 1500 to 1750, he, nevertheless, presents a load of comparative evidence from the fifteenth and prior centuries, and he is not shy about interpreting early modern decisions through twentieth century psychological principles. He divides the cycle into four phases: liftoff, rise, maturity, and decline. During the late medieval period, Languedoc's population suffered from famine and dearth, poor harvests, undernourishment, all of which made the onset of the Black Death of 1348 even more devastating. The late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries experienced expansion. Harvests rebounded, proper nutrition increased population, precious metal boosted monetary circulation, and urban areas grew. Sixteenth-century agricultural production, however, did not keep pace with population growth. The conditions set in motion, what Le Roy Ladurie termed, pauperization, which entailed reduced real wages and confining more people to smaller plots of land. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, an increase in land rents, higher taxes to the state, and a reinvigorated Catholic Church effort to collect the tithe "ate into the agricultural producer's income." (p. 215) The gross product also rose during this period, just not enough to keep pace with population and rent increases. A long period of recession marked the latter part of the century. Aggregate agriculture declined, taxation continued upward, and the population, for the first time in two centuries, began to decline because of joblessness, undernourishment, epidemics, and emigration. The beginning of the eighteenth century witnessed an economic resurgence in Languedoc, featuring increased wine production, diversified crops, a stable population growth, and declining mortality rates. In this environment, despite the continuance of land subdivision, pauperization vanished. The rise in earnings per hectare increased farmers' income and spread the earnings among more tenants.

The eighteenth-century economic revival owed as much to changes in personal and social behavior as it did to economic determinants. To Le Roy Ladurie's understanding, "the economy stagnated, society remained intractable, and population...retreated, because society, population, and the economy lacked the progressive technology of true growth." (p. 302) Languedoc's inability to adjust to economic downturns "was the fruit of a whole series of cultural stumbling blocks." (p. 298) To this end, Le Roy Ladurie identified the first cultural culprit as religious "fanaticism." To him it seemed that "the salvation of souls was more important than the improvement of techniques." (p. 298) The author disdains such dogmatism. However, he also acknowledges the late sixteenth-century violence between Huguenots and Catholic advanced two important social demands--redistribution of church land and reform of the tithe. He also credits religious tensions with aiding the abatement of the second cultural stumbling block to true economic growth: illiteracy. Early on in the French Reformation, with the Calvinists' emphasis on reading the Bible, a Languedocian's [in]ability to read helped determine his/her religious affiliation. As the conflicts persisted, literacy became a priority for both religious camps. Le Roy Ladurie presents the case of the rural parish Aniane, whose rate of illiteracy among its political council members (measured in the number members capable of signing their names) reduced from circa 50 percent (1570-1625) to "practically zero" by the beginning of the eighteenth century. Similar results in the province were due to the Protestant schools and perseverance of the Catholic clergy.

One of the more brilliant aspects, therefore, of The Peasants of Languedoc is its capacity to fault societal pressures for impeding economic recovery and to credit societal changes for aiding upturns. Le Roy Ladurie argues that the transformations in wine growing, manufacturing, and competent farm management--leading forces in the economic surge--followed the educational and religious modifications in the province. As religious fanaticism tempered and basic education became more widespread (at least in more urban areas), behaviors changed. "The progress of elementary instruction was inseparable...from a certain psychological transfiguration and a general improvement in behavior." (p. 307) He points to the decrease in violent incidents and the rise in cultural appreciation. Urban indifference effected some changes in the surrounding neighborhoods. Not only does Le Roy Ladurie present an agrarian cycle from 1500 to 1750, but also a societal and psychological evolution of the Languedocians during the same period. The economic turnabout of the eighteenth century resulted from "the educated and competent, practical-minded, composed individuals" taking responsibility for economic growth. (p. 309)

Le Roy Ladurie's analysis contains an evident bias for secularism. To the spiritual belief systems of the examined period, he takes a hostile view. One reason for the eighteenth-century turnabout was that Languedocian Protestants "were cured of their fanaticism" and focused on "conformity with their ancient and profitable vocation of secular asceticism." (p. 310) The Church's land holdings and tithe collection siphoned off needed capital. To satanic beliefs he attaches pejorative labels such as "superstitions," "epidemics," "forms of the disease," "irrational," and "primitive," as opposed to the "light of reason and the modern conception of man."

To affirm his biases Le Roy Ladurie brings an Annales-inspired interdisciplinary arsenal of primary sources and analysis to support claims. His sources consists of land tax registers, tithe accounts, hearth lists, and records of weather patterns, wages, prices, land grants, interest rates, and profits. To the source materials, Le Roy Ladurie applies critical economic, social, psychological, and anthropological analysis. The employment of these intellectual instruments provides him many solid (and some less solid) foundations for his assumptions. The book as a whole advocates for further attempts to present histoires totales. In addition, Le Roy Ladurie's use of such a broad array of knowledge bases gives way to a twentieth century reading of centuries-old events. Throughout the book he freely dispenses suggestions concerning what the landowners, state officials, clergymen, and peasants should have done.

The Peasants of Languedoc provides an inspiring model for the use of interdisciplinary sources and analysis in the construction of historical narrative. The methodology widens the historian's lens and provides several approaches to corroborate argumentation. It can also, however, furnish one with a false sense of proficiency in areas beyond one's intellectual capacity. The temptation to "overreach" with one's knowledge base must be kept in check. After reading Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie's book, the thought of writing a history without considering evidence from other intellectual disciplines seems untenable and unappealing.

Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, the author of "The Peasants of Languedoc," is a French historian whose works have had considerable exposure in English. The fascinating "Montaillou: The Promised Land of Error" (and alternate titles; 1975, translation 1978) may be the best-known of his works, as well as the most controversial among historians, based as it is on village gossip recorded by Inquisitors. Perhaps more representative are detailed studies of a popular demonstration / riot in "Carnival in Romans" ("Le Carnaval de Romans," 1979), and of folktale themes as transmitted in popular and literary versions from the south of France, in "Love, Death and Money in the Pays D'Oc" ("L'argent, l'amour et la mort en pays d'Oc," 1980), in which social stresses and personal anxieties come together.

Underlying much of this production, however, and perhaps giving Ladurie the confidence to interpret the notoriously difficult inquisitorial records, is this less-inspiring sounding early work, "Les Paysans de Languedoc" of 1966, here translated under an equally plain and literal title, which appeared in English only three years after the original French edition. In any case, it clearly underlies his later investigations of provincial culture and society.

This is a sophisticated analysis of primarily economic records from one of the traditional provinces of southern France, covering mainly the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. It deals with the basics of ordinary life -- production, consumption, property, and taxes, and how they interacted. There are interesting confirmations of what can go wrong when people act without much guidance from economic theory in determining self-interest. For example, wide-spread cutting of wages in a time of rising prices reduced income and purchases, ultimately putting meat beyond the reach of most consumers. This was a catastrophe for some of the same employers, who were cattle-raisers (or owners of grazing land) with a diminishing market. (If I understand Ladurie's tables and charts correctly -- and this involves some interpretation on the part of a non-professional -- the typical response to their falling profits was to cut wages again, again reducing the cash in circulation, and reinforcing the cycle in a time when markets for most goods, especially perishable ones, were strictly local.)

It is definitely not light reading, but Ladurie is not above adding characterizations (such as "tight-fisted fellows") to otherwise anonymous groups of property-owners and employers, sacrificing a little of the appearance of objectivity for the sake of human interest. Generally speaking, Ladurie draws such positions from the hard data, and the attentive reader may well reach the same conclusion; I remain happier about the practice from a literary point of view than an historical one.

"Peasants of Languedoc" represents a major move toward understanding the history of people left out of official histories, although the original description as "total history" is rather misleading. Taken together with Ladurie's later cultural studies, however, it does mark a considerable advance.

A friend of mine introduced this book to me when I was doing research and writing "Planting Design Illustrated." I loved it. It has many great photos to illustrate garden design. It is a collection of garden design done by Penelop Hobhouse and her partner. It enlightens you and encourages you to look at a design issue at a detail scale. Very good images. It'll show you how brilliant human beings can be.

Penelop Hobhouse is one of the best writers on gardening and garden design, her books always have great print quality and very nice color photos. No offence, she is also one of the great people that dare to call a garden a garden, not "landscape." She is actually talking about landscape design issues, but she prefers to use the term garden or gardens and make her book closer to ordinary people. As a design professional, I love her books also.

I've had this book for several years now and keep coming back every year as an old faithful source of planning inspiration. Beautifully illustrated with plans for many scenarios. Many of the books written by or about English gardens are beatiful to look at but don't stand much of a chance at being reproduced in the typical suburban garden. Hobhouse has, in my opinion, shown us extraordinary gardens, gorgeously photographed, along with plans that can actually be implemented in your garden. I've got a library of garden books, some serving as inspiration and some serving as pure tools (almanacs, etc.) - this is by far the best inspirational garden book I own.

Hobhouse's book combines the look of a coffee table book with the practicality of a manual with her many varied garden design examples. Each design has an explanation followed with outstanding photos. However, the best part is that she illustrates in plan how her plants are grouped so that the beginning gardener can learn about spatial concepts while also about plant placement, color, texture, etc. This is a thorough, but not overwhelming design source and guide that is both useful and inspiring.

This work is considered one of Balzac's masterpieces. It is written with this kind of energy and power the same kind of literary ambition that seems uniquely his. Balzac as a writer has a drive and strength , and this is felt in his descriptions of character as well as in the force of his plots. Here we have a variation of Lear, with two ungrateful daughters doing - in the over- solicitous father for whom the daughters are all. One of Balzac's central themes is obsession, the fixing on one particular object as one's life aim or meaning and giving all to it. For old Goriot it is his daughters, as for Balzac himself it is his ambition to capture the whole of his society in his novels. But the Balzac worlds and this in itself another long subject are also worlds in which traditional values are in clash with values of social climbing money grabbers as exemplified by Goriot's daughters. Balzac's works are filled with great dynamism and are for many one of the great peaks of world - literature. At least some of his works should be read by one who wishes to have a taste of the best that has been thought and said. I would only add my own personal reservation. That the energy and greed of so many of the characters in his world , has left me feeling a bit detached from them. I can admire this Literature but I have never especially loved the world or characters presented in it.

Norton has done a really fine job on its critical edition of PERE GORIOT. The translation is especially good, vivid and direct. The commentaries are well chosen and organized. Of particular interest are appreciations of Balzac by writers who were influenced by him, including Zola, Proust, Baudelaire and Henry James. Henry James' take on Balzac is particularly interesting. Written in James' late style, the essay is sometimes inscrutable, but still, James, as always when he writes on writers and writing, offers great insight into Balzac and his oeuvre.

Highly recommended.

You know right away that de Balzac is an author of realism when, at the start of the book, he takes you on a five page tour of the first floor of Madame Vauquer's Parisian boarding house. One immediately realizes that sanitation standards for such accommodations were seriously lacking. The dining room "table [was] covered with oilcloth so greasy that, if a waggish diner wanted to, he could write his name in it, using nothing more than his finger as a pen." We then quickly learn about the overwhelming contrast between the boarders' life style and that of aristocratic Parisian society..

The protagonists of the story are Eugene, a young and poor law student, and old man Goriot, the aging father of two narcissistic daughters who live in the upper strata of Parisian society. While many mediocre authors manage to make cardboard characters out of real people, Balzac has the task of making cardboard people real. Eugene is invited to a ball held by his cousin, a countess, and falls in love with the beautiful people and their world. He is determined to be a part of it. Vautrin, a fellow boarder, a wise street philosopher, and prototype for modern day CEOs, tells Eugene that money is everything. Eugene promptly appropriates every cent of his family's savings to buy the clothes that will allow him to blend in with the aristocracy. Soon he meets Goriot's aristocratic daughters and falls in love with one of them. These two grasping young ladies, in their need for the necessities in life (fine clothing and jewelry), have taken so much money from their formerly wealthy father that he now lives in abject poverty, sleeping on a moldy straw mattress in Madame Vauquer's boarding house.

By now I am sure that you have discerned Balzac's attitude toward the socially elite. He has no love for people who are famous for being famous. We should resist the urge, though, to shake our heads in wonder over these strange 19th century Parisians. If Balzac were alive today I am sure he would loosen his poison pen on our own celebrities whose meaningless lives are constantly being spotlighted during their fifteen minutes of fame. Balzac is a lively writer. He supposedly drank huge amounts of coffee every day, and his writing often seems to be the product of a highly caffeinated mind. If the highly stylized writing of some Victorian era writers numbs your brain you might want to dip into Balzac.

I strongly recommend that you consider purchasing the Norton Critical Edition of this novel. It provides an additional 150 pages of commentary on Balzac, this novel, and his oeuvre in general; an extra dollar or two well spent.

Ahhhh, I can't get enough of historical fact coupled with art! Bravo!

In exploring the relationship between Dora Maar and Pablo Picasso I have been absolutely delighted in the information in this text. As well, the works of art and other related details. Thankfully we have this art history text for future generations.

Picasso once said that painting, rather than being an aesthetic operation, was a way of "seizing the power by giving from to our terrors as well as our desires." Perhaps in 1937 when most of these weeping women portraits were painted, Picasso was giving form to his feelings about his personal situations and the current political climate.

According to Freeman, through these depictions he was examining his emotional responses to Olga Koklova, his estranged first wife; Marie-Therese Walter, who was a young woman of 17 when Picasso approached her on the street, and later bore him a daughter; and Dora Maar, the photographer who was his companion in the years prior to and during the war.

On another level this collection makes a political statement - these weeping women represent the anguish of Europeans being propelled into war. It should also be noted that 1937 was the year Picasso painted "Guernica," his response to the Spanish Civil War.

Author Freeman was Associate curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art where she organized the exhibit of Picasso's Weeping Women. She has contributed an exemplary text, while over 100 color illustrations bring the artist's work to compelling life.

Gail Cooke

If there is one thing that can be told about James Lord, than it is that a man can write. I enjoyed his storytelling in his personal memoir and the description of the influence that art society of the post WWII Paris had on him. I loved the moments of his youthful boldness, and the fact that he approached one of the greatest artists of this century and asked him, without any second thoughts, to produce a portrait of him. The meeting between the two leads to the meeting between James and Dora Maar who at the time was Picasso's mistress. The reason I picked up the book is because I was truly interested in Dora Maar's life. Artist in her own right, her talent was often pushed aside to the fact that for 10 years she was Picasso's muse and mistress. Thru the set of circumstances, she and author, James Lord become friends and Lord develops genuine emotional attachment with her. But 15 years of age difference between the two (Dora is the older one), Dora's difficult past and James' homosexuality are all serious obstacles to their relationship. Scrutinized by friends they both share with Picasso, they continually test each other. We learn that James, in his own way, remains attached to Dora for the next 45 years. But Dora is elusive and solitary. After her disasterous relationship with Picasso, she is determined not to let anyone else in her life. As time progresses, she in fact carves out her circle of friends. While I tremendously enjoyed this memoir, and loved the pictures presented in the book, I still yearn to learn more about Dora Maar. I want to learn more about her unconventional beauty, exquisite hands and her complicated nature. Where James Lord definitely fails is when he truly does not give Dora her rightful place in the art world. She was definitely more than just a Picasso's muse. Dora was greater than life and her attachment to Picasso undermined her true value as an artist. Let's hope than now that both Picasso and Dora have long passed, she finally gets her due recognition. I will keep on reading books on her life. In the meantime, every time I run into her works of art (I usually see her photographs at the museums) at MoMA or other museums, I will honor her with what she knew when she was alive -- that her art will make her immortal, not just Picasso's renditions of her.

Grrrrrrrr! Picasso didn't know how to love anybody Dora stated. A compelling love story between a man who was an artist and a woman who was not only a photographer but a painter. She is very sensitive and grows very quiet in her later years, a recluse almost. And she said she never forgot about him.

Picasso & Dora is the story of a friendship, but not that of Picasso and Dora. Rather it is the story of the friendship of the author and the mysterious Dora Maar. Both these characters are fascinating personalities, as they move in close and then distance themselves. The fact that Lord is a gay man in love, in his own way, with Dora adds a complexity and richness to the story. It is reminsicent of Isherwood and Sally Bowles and Capote and Holly Golightly. There is a special poignancy to the story of a gay man who loves a woman, yet cannot offer her the love she really wants. Lord writes exceptionally well and Dora, who died just recently at an advanced age, lives on in his words.

The first very detailed reference work on both the Polish Army of the Duchy of Warsaw 1807-14, the Polish forces in the French Army and the Saxon Army 1791-1813. This is the most complete and thorough study of the Poles and Saxon during the wars of Napoleon, including their organization, uniforms, and accounts of their performance on the battlefield. From the desperate action of a handful of Poles defending a Spanish fortress to vast armies facing off to determine the fate of Europe, this lavishly illustrated work is researched from sources previously unavailable to any but the most ardent historian. Extensive orders of battle, organizational details and campaign accounts. Emperor's Press, hard dust jacket, 7 1/2 x 10 1/2, v, 266 pp, charts, illus and 16 color plates illustrating 48 uniforms.

This is absolutely the best source on Poles in the English language. The Poles were the staunchest ally of Napoleon. They were the only ally loyal to Napoleon to the last day. This book covers everything about them. Only the drawings are awful; the colors are just yuck. This author is known for his objectivity and great professionalism.

I thought that in English speaking countries the interest is only at the British and the French armies, despite the fact that the Napoleonic Wars took place in Central Europe,and not on British Islands or in Ireland, or along the English Channel! This book is so packed with information, ufff.

A lot of information about every regiment in the Polish and Saxon army. I recommend this art-work to everybody.

I very much enjoyed this book and feel that it is a valuable addition to any art lover's or historian's bookshelf.

This beautifully produced and elegantly written book taught me an enormous amount about a subject about which I knew little. While it is very intellegent and erudite, the author takes pains to make her fascinating subject matter accessible to non-academic readers as well.

It is a wonderful investment and you should put it on the top of your gift-buying list for any friends, male or female, who are interested in art, in women's history, France, or just generally improving their knowledge. Every page is packed with a wealth of information, but the reading is exciting and stimulating and not weighted with pedantic language.

The well-chosen portraits are illuminated by the text. This is one of the best book investments I have ever made. MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to all readers.

This beautifully produced and elegantly written book taught me an enormous amount about a subject about which I knew little. While it is very intellegent and erudite, the author takes pains to make her fascinating subject matter accessible to non-academic readers as well.

It is a wonderful investment and you should put it on the top of your gift-buying list for any friends, male or female, who are interested in art, in women's history, France, or just generally improving their knowledge. Every page is packed with a wealth of information, but the reading is exciting and stimulating and not weighted with pedantic language.

The well-chosen portraits are illuminated by the text. This is one of the best book investments I have ever made. MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to all readers.

An excellent, well-written and comprehensive material about marketing. It covers all aspects of modern marketing with the appropriate depth for the student. The book contains a huge amount of real-life examples, which help the student to understand the theory. The use of color in boxes, diagrams and high quality photographs, makes reading easier and more attractive. The glossary at the end of the book is also a valuable tool for the student who wants a quick revision of all marketing topics.

The book has also a companion web site, with study material, extra case studies and links, and questions. This makes the book more live than just a paper book.

I found "Principles of Marketing" 3rd edition a great companion for my marketing studies. It is certainly a must for every marketing student.

This book, provides information on all modern organisations, situations and solutions.

The text is simple and informative, allowing the reader to fully understand exactly what is being discussed.

Francis Brassington fulfills her objectives in her book and brings them to life in her lectures, where she fully explains each individual case and brings it to life.

The text is an excellent source of modern and realistic suitable for those studying marketing or not.

Excellent job,the answer of Europe to Kotlers Marketing.I wish the best for the career of this book. Costantine Xanthakos Programme Leader of Luton in Athens

My husband and I spent five days in very small towns/countryside in the eastern Pyrenees along the entire Petit Train Jaune (Little Yellow Train) route. The information we found in this book was invaluable as I couldn't find a lot of it elsewhere. We stayed in outstanding rural accommodation and found gem after gem of hikes. They explain a lot about the unique culture and language of the Pyrenees region as well, which put the trip in context.

Marc Dubins rough guide is a detailed and interesting book. He concentrates on the areas close to the mountains and gives interesting descriptions of small villages as well as larger resorts and towns. He includes recommended walks and rates the ski resorts. He assumes you will be walking or on public transport and so does not cover many hamlets and villages only reachable by car. Overall a very thorough book that I am sure will be invaluble on our trip there.

I did a trip to the Pyrenees a year ago (hiking and traveling) , and this book helped me a lot (both in and out of the hikes).
Very useful, informative & accurate and quite essential to my opinion.
I used it together with Trekking in the Pyrenees, 3rd: France & Spain Trekking Guides (Trailblazer)
and I find them both to complete each other.

I just saw that it has a new 6th edition, so maybe that's a bit better, but never the less I highly recommend on it.