Instruction Books

This is a good source book on firecrackers from China to the world. It was well organized with large pages of colorful photos in rare package labels. The chapters on the origin, evolution and manufacturing of firecrackers were concise and informative. Of significance was the chapter on Chinese celebrations. For more than a millennium, firecrackers have been there from weddings to dragon dances, from funerals to store openings (p.27). For the Chinese, firecracker is a must for festival tradition celebration especially to welcome the Chinese New Year (same as firing guns at New Year Eve).

However, Chinese Christians celebrate Christmas with firecrackers (p.36) is a doubtful assertion as the authors failed to provide where, China or US. The same page said firecracker is celebration and sadness. To Chinese, firecrackers never are associated with sadness. It can mean scare off the evil spirit, negative chi and bad luck.

It is a great book to read and enjoy the colorful labels and package with different themes, ranging from Chinese mythology and folklores to western tradition. The Chinese knows the American market well. The nude angel with wings (p.76) is a case in point; others included are battleship (p.121), Red Devil, thunder cloud, dinosaur, Robinson Crusoe, King Kong, cowboys, Indians, aquatic animals, astrospace and explosives (atomic bombs), bullfight, woman boxers, baseball, football, circus, auto race, military and Dixie boys. The un-named artists were impressive. Labels from Guatemala, Indonesia and India are included as well. Of special meaning were the two package labels related to WW II - four Chinese soldiers with weapons on hand, a firing tank, a Chinese flag and three double decked fighter planes heading East resisting Japanese aggression (p.100); a young Chinese soldier in green uniform, gun at back and bullet case belt with a raised right hand V finger sign, an obvious V- J Victory celebration (p.101).

This book gave good information. However, the authors failed to mention that firecrackers and fireworks, the Chinese invention are intended celebration for prosperity, happiness, luck and peace as well. But once introduced to Europe, they were turned into weapon to wage war against Chinese as recorded in history 150 years ago under the free trade in China's favor excuse.

Next time, when you light up a package for July 4 celebration, think about the excitement and joy this Chinese gift brings.

This book shows great insite into the history of the firecracker and the intricate artwork involved with the packaging of them. The clarity of the illustrations are wonderful, its hard to believe some of the labels are as old as they are. I highly recommend this book to anyone who can remember the excitement of being able to "set off" these firecrackers on the 4th of July, without worrying about breaking the law. Those of you who were not as lucky to experience this thrill, will definitely find this book fun.

My husband was looking for a book on firecrackers and I tried the local book stores, i.e. Barnes and Nobles, Bookmart, Books a Million, but no luck. I browsed the internet and the reviews on firecracker reference materials were few and far between. Finally I came across this book on Amazon and took a chance it would please him.....he's quite picky about his reference library. This soft-cover book is GREAT! It is packed with beautiful, vibrant full color photos of the common labels all the way up to the very rare. The book layout is dotted with photos and the glossary is helpful to even the intermediate collector. The section "Interview with a Collector" gives a nice insightful look into the pursuit of fireworks labels. The history of firecrackers is also discussed, giving the collector a great back-story to the industry. No price guide, but that is fine with my husband, as it tends to date a book after a couple of years. This is an informative addition to the Hubby's library......he's happy and I'm glad.

Excellent beautifully illustrated book well worth the money. The illustrations and layout are extremely well done. This is easy reading that covers some terrtory not well documented anywhere else (Vietnam.) Some historical inaccuracies especially in the history of the manufacture of "Chinese" crackers in the 20th century. Overall an excellent job! Highly reccomended to anyone who has an interest in the subject, or who just likes the imagery of the old labels.

Bright, colorful pages packed with color illustrations and photos chart the art and history of the firecracker, from their construction and advancement to the making of labels and items promoting them. Beautiful drawings pack an illustrated history which invites leisure browsers as much as researchers, and which is very highly recommended for general library collections.

I would consider myself an advanced beginner at this point, having messed 'round a bit with the guitar and mandolin over the years. My dad bought me an ukulele when we were in Hawaii, and I have found it much easier to play than the guitar. I already have a pretty good understanding of music theory, having played the piano for about 40 years, and this book is very helpful translating the building blocks of "how music is made" into techniques of "making music." As with any skill, there are patterns of playing and the proverbial tricks of the trade to the ukulele, and the book describes them very nicely and understandably. The included CD is a big help, letting you hear what it's supposed to sound like so you know if you're doing it right. It's also been kind of fun learning some songs that I've heard before but never saw the music. The book has been a big help so far, and I look forward to getting more and more adept at the instrument.

Who could say anything bad about Jim Beloff? He is the modern crusader of the ukulele. There are not many decent uke instruction books out there but this is worth having. It's also one of the rare places you will find scales for the uke.
I've played uke for many years and there is a lot for me to learn from this book. I think it can be useful to any level player.

This is a good book for someone willing to put in the time. Lots of info

I thought that I had seen all that there was to see in respect of Ukulele "How to play books" and have a veritable library of them in my study. Today I can just about struggle through the accompaniment chords to "Way down upon the Swannee River"
However, recently in my Amazon "Suggested items that might interest you" space, appeared the Hal Leonard publication 'UKULELE FRETBOARD ROAD MAPS'. (give that man a raise!) because it is the very best I have seen and if I
am not able to learn from this book, I shall donate my ukes to Oxfam and take up the trombone. At least it isn't possible to play chords on the old slush pump.

Many thanks , Peter Durham.

My experience with beginning ukulele books has been pretty uniformly
disappointing. They all promise to include everything you could
possibly need to know, when in in my experience they have all been
thin, padded with useless filler, and lacking a coherent path to get
from "here" to "there".

This book is a __VERY__ welcome change, and at a sweet price to boot.
To be sure, it is not a beginner's book. The very first song (Sloop
John B.) has a tricky rhythm (e.g., three quarter notes in two beats)
and a shuffle strum with some down strokes missing; as a result,
only about half of the words actually coincide with a strum. This is
not a criticism of the book, just pointing out the level of difficulty
you'll hit in the first few pages. Fortunately for me (an arhythmic
klutz) the focus of the book is on learning the fretboard !

I must say that the CD is a huge help. My beginner's books either had
no CD at all, or the recordings were so dorky that I felt impatient to
move ahead and get to some "real" music. The teacher on this CD,
however, has a very inviting style, and you get the feeling that he
would be a fun person to jam with or watch in performance. A big plus
if your skills require you to listen to the same track over and over
and over...

This book is not about music theory per se, but but rather a practical
framework for learning how to physically hit the right notes; i.e.,
it doesn't attempt to describe *why* you would use a D7b5 chord, but
it helps you develop the skill so that when you have to play one you
know what your various options are and you can get your fingers in the
right place without thinking too much.

I have only completed about half of the book so far. I've learned the
basic movable chord patterns (3 each of major, minor, 7th), and am
starting to practice with them. The songs in this part of the book
take one chord (G major, say) and move it up and down the fretboard
for several measures before changing to a new chord. This kind of
practice is necessary to internalize what you've learned, but the
authors do a nice job of making the practice interesting and fun,
pointing out how to spice up your music rather than just saying
"memorize this" and jumping to a new, disconnected topic.


I look forward to working my way through this book, and I definitely
intend to revisit it again and again. As my title says, it's a
keeper !

After viewing a Tom Thompson art show in Ottawa, Canada, I became mesmerized and hooked on Tom Thompson.(Previous to the show, he was an unknown to me. No references in my art history classes!) I read about his short life and mysterious death. I became enamored of his style of painting, anxious to try it myself.
I bought my first copy of this book as a gift for someone else. After seeing what a lovely reference it was to T.T. and the Group of Seven. . . I knew I needed my own copy! A nice chunky overview of all these great painters, their styles, their visions. A thumb's up!

If there were no words at all and just this incredible trove of pictures, this book would be worth its price many times over. These painters had an incomparable way of taking the ethereal and ineffable and turning it into thick literal frosting; so many of these pieces just floor me, wordless. I have been in large US art book stores and found no mention of this group (typical American myopia/hubris), so it is great to find such a vast and thorough collection at last. In particular it's great to see Lawren Harris' early urban pieces. I've already bought two extra copies as gifts, and they were breathlessly received. Brilliant book, very happy to own it.

This is an exquisite book filled with amazingly beautiful images of some of Canada's most amazing painters' work. I'd recommend it to anybody who loves landscape art or who is studying to be a painter as I am.

With about fifty pages of well written and informative introduction about the group and their painting, this is essentially a catalogue of the artists' work. It concludes with a chronology and a general and artist specific bibliography, and a detailed list of the works included.

The paintings are reproduced sometimes two to a page and frequently one to a page and total nearly three hundred and seventy in full colour. The standard of reproduction is good and the colours rich and strong, often the quality of the brush work and texture of the paint is apparent. As a result we can truly appreciate the stunning beauty of the work and the rich variety to be found in the artists' painting.

This is a most enlightening book brimful of gorgeous paintings, if you are not familiar with this group's work, as I was not until I acquired this volume, it is bound to win you over.

Spectacular art book of this group. If you like painting, modern or impressionist, this is the book for you.

A chance meeting with the artist has given me a new sense of hope. I shall forever cherish my signed copy of "Guided by the Angels" My husband and I were so drawn in to her vision that we purchased one of her original paintings entitled, "Keeper of the Lights". This book is a great and inexpensive way to have a glimpse at creation as seen through the eyes of a true angel here on earth, Mandi keep doing God's work and his light shall forever shine through you!

EVERY THING YOU WANT TO KNOW.

I simply cannot describe how this young girl's paintings make me feel. It is like looking into the face of God through an angel by the name of Amanda Dunbar. She is destined to attain greatness in her lifetime. Her angels speak so that we all can listen. It is time to heed the lessons by the child who is surely "Guided by Angels" Thank you Amanda for your precious, precious gift!

I simply cannot describe how this young girl's paintings make me feel. It is like looking into the face of God through an angel by the name of Amanda Dunbar. She is destined to attain greatness in her lifetime. Her angels speak so that we all can listen. It is time to heed the lessons by the child who is surely "Guided by Angels" Thank you Amanda for your precious, precious gift!

Amanda Dunbar has an extraordinary gift. To look at her paintings gives me a sense of inner peace and hope. I'm also amazed at the technique and vibrance of colour each one of her painting has. I would love to own at least one of her paintings. it would definitely be a valuable collectible and worthwhile investment. But for now the book is fantastic ! Keep up the good work Amanda!

I am a bass player, and learned advanced music theory in the class room and on the bass. This book really helped me apply my knowledge from the bass to the guitar. I also teach, and this is a great guide to teaching music theory. However, it is not for beginners. Like other reviews said, this is not a casual read. Be prepared to play the examples, write out the exercises and play through them. But after all is said and done, this book contains a ton of useful, practical information, and is a great addition to any teachers books.

I bought this for my husband and he says it's wonderful. The cheat sheets are extremely helpful and the layout is very user friendly.

This 54 page (including covers) booklet contains more information that other books many times its size. This is not a casual read book, and could be somewhat overwhelming for someone just starting out. However, it's a treasure trove of useful information for someone willing to study it. The Cheat Sheets are loaded with information. Spend some time with them. The more I study them, the more I see. Helpful for learning the fretboard, scales and chords.

Guitar players seem to fall into two categories. Those who can read notation and those who can't. So why is learning to play music such a killer?

For the biginning guitarist reading notation is like learning geometry. For the advanced player its learning Einstein's "Theory of Relativity.

But, it doesn't have to be that way. As mentioned in previous reviews this book takes the reader visually into the world of note theory without the usual dragged out chapters written in "Latin Text" which is associated with most books written about music theory.

For beginning guitar players this book helps to bridge the communication gap sometimes left at the end of a lesson between student and teacher. To quote an old adage "Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words".

For the advanced and re-entry level player this book is filled with instant visual information showing scale definitions, transposing, cord spelling, intervals, cycle of 5th diagrams, arpeggios, voice patterns and fingerboard layout relationships that are essential to becoming a better guitar player.

The bottom line is this book will open up a new world to your musical abilities. But, you will still need to devote time and effort to reach your full potential as a guitarist.

I am an avid reader and since I got back into music last year, I have purchased at least a hundred books on guitar playing. Since I underline everything, I wanted to go back and take notes from my reading so I could have all the important information in one place. Thanks to Robert Frazier and his Guitar Oriented Condensed Music Theory book - I don't need to bother. He has taken literally every critical highlight out there and put it all together for me. He's also added a few pieces that I didn't find elsewhere and/or made sense of things I'd seen before. In my opinion, you could spend a whole day just unpacking a single page from this material (it's that loaded). I recently took a trip to Croatia with my guitar in hand and had very limited luggage space to spare - this was one of three books that I brought with me. It's not packaged in a fancy way, it's just full of great content. I highly recommend it.

Great book, all instructions are very well written and patterns are well done, can't wait to get started on this project!

Love it

I found this book to be absolutely great!! There is a great variety of easy, medium, and more challenging blocks to complete in this book. Also, there is a good variety of designs amongst the blocks. Each block is represented in color on the front and back covers. The rest of the book is in black and white. Root also gives you an idea of how each block could be quilted. Although I only have 1 thing that I would change, and it's probably just my own personal curiousity but nonetheless, I wish the blocks had a little tid bit of their own history saying why that design came to be immortalized in a quilt. The book still deserves 5 stars!

Perfect book for the beginning quilter who wants to make a first attempt at a Hawaiian quilt. This small blocks are perfect to get a taste of the techniques involved and to improve your skills.

Very well constructed book, with excellent drawings of patterns and thorough instructions included. There are additional graphics depicting suggested quilting ideas, which, for the novice hawaiian quilter, such as myself, is an excellent tool to create an outstanding finished result. Her patterns are full sized so you do not need to re-size the patterns to use them. You can trace or copy them for use. Overall, an excellent hawaiian quilting instruction book.

Having perused many books on animation, illustration, etc. and having purchased a few I thought this was pretty cool. The coloring style may not be for everyone, but the book is helpful in many areas. I thought the quality of the work was not as good as GURU's book, and I would recommend that book over this one. That being said, you may be able to pick up different points from each, as I did.

There are a lot of books dedicated to Photoshop, for improving photos. Which is understandable since that's what Photoshop is mainly for. There are few books that go deep into the art possibilities. (and I have quite a few Photoshop books).

This book is heavy into comic related art, mainly, how to color comics and really make them pop. But don't let that stop you if you are not into comics. This book helps with taking simple line art and making into a good pieces of art or graphic quality. It covers scanning, stitching, layout, and it full of coloring tips from end to end.

Forget 2-dimensional line art. This book takes a basic line art and shows you how to make it fantastic visually. There are so many ideas here, it will keep you busy for quite sometime. Highly recommended.

I use this book as a teaching tool. Fantastic. If you are need to know digital color and the all the means (printing, and so on) you need this book. The best book of it's kind. Very well done.

I've just started coloring a comic, and I wish I had purchased this book before I started! It contains SO MUCH information, from scanning, to prepping your drawings for coloring, to flatting and finally to coloring itself. Sure, some of this may be in the Internet here and there, but never in one place and never, ever explained so well.

In addition to the valuable information on coloring, he also includes some invaluable scripts from Hi-Fi, which removes the tedious process of setting up your channels, etc., as well as a script for color holds and finishing up the page.

All I can say is this is the best resource I've found on computer coloring for comics. In fact, it was so good, I ordered copies for two friends.

This book is an excellent resource. The authors are talented colorists, but more importantly for the reader, they're people with real experience teaching others how to color comics professionally.

There are a hundred ways to do ANYTHING in photoshop -- what I love about _Hi-Fi Color for Comics_ is it stops to explain WHY they do it the way they're showing. I've colored a lot of comic pages and other illustrations over the years, and have my own way of doing things. I'm changing a lot of my approaches for the better because of this book.

The book covers Hi-Fi's "house style" of coloring, but the meat of the book is valuable for all styles of colorists. You've got to flat well, you've got to produce good backed-up blacks, all the rest. No matter what coloring style you're shooting for, my bet is you're going to pick up some valuable tips from this book.

And finally we have the included cd -- it's not just some sample files for practice and a couple custom brushes, it has a number of complicated photoshop actions that are serious high-quality time-savers for colorists. Any one of the actions would be worth the cover price alone.

Just starting out? This book will tell you what you need to know.
Experienced colorist? Boost your productivity, get this book.

"I loved 'Infinite Variety' for the way the authors brought the Marchesa Casati vividly to life."--Robert Fulford, author of 'The Triumph of Narrative: Storytelling in the Age of Mass Culture'

"'Infinite Variety' is a thoroughly unbiased and well-researched biography. The 'Definitive Edition' includes a plethora of new information as well as artwork and photos. Thanks to the efforts of Ryersson and Yaccarino, the story of the Marchesa Casati, with all its splendor, will continue to astonish.--Jonathan Williams, Gothic Beauty Magazine

"Mesmerizing and revealing, 'Infinite Variety' is the definitive account of the Italian femme scandaleuse. A great glimpse, and more, into the life of a larger-than-life individual."-Mar Yvette (Clear Magazine)

"'Infinite Variety: The Definitive Edition' provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the bizarre and spectacular life that Casati led...All you fashion-conscious history buffs will love the in-depth exploration the authors take into Casati's stylish life."-Denise Dandeneau (Zink Magazine)

"This meticulously researched and completely updated biography vividly details Luisa Casati's extravagant life...Fashionistas, art history buffs, aficionados of Belle Époque and Jazz Age culture-and general readers-will be pleased."-Lorraine Thompson (Primo Magazine)

'This book about the Marchesa Casati (1881-1957) is called "The Definitive Edition" about a lady of extravagant leisures. It is an excellent book reviving the roaring twenties in Europe and gives you a fairly good insight of the lifestyle of the truly rich and famous through to the 1940s. Part of this set was the Marchesa Casati, who is a source of inspiration to this very day for fashion designers, artists and wealthy heirs. So if you squander your vast inheritance, at least do it in style!' (review from Elegant Lifestyle)

Well I just began to study Italian by myself at home and I bought this textbook. Its a very good starting point to learning Italian. Learn basic expressions, pronunciation, and grammar. I recommend anyone who wants to start learning Italian to buy this textbook.

I am using the Pimsleur series to start learning italian. Pimsleur is wonderful for getting you to say things, but it really skimps over grammar explanations, vocabulary, conjugating verbs, etc. This book really excels at filling the gaps. Pimsleur helps you say stuff, this book provides the skeleton that your speaking ability rests on. With exercises after each section, and short chapters that don't intimidate, I can't imagine a better book for a beginner. My advice is to thru the first 15 Pimsleur lessons (the first 30 would be even better) so you get a flavor for what the language sounds like without being worried too much by grammar. If you start with the book too soon your english-reading system will make it hard to pronounce the words correctly; an english speaker will read "grazie" as "grahzee" when it is actually closer to "grah tsee ah" and if you start learning words wrong from a book you'll have trouble correcting that from the tapes or even recognizing they're the same word! But this book is wonderful for explaining the subtleties you'll be wondering about after working thru some of the tapes, and it takes you far past what is presented even in the entire 90-lesson Pimsleur set.

I started learning Italian by myself using the Pimsleur (listen only) method and reached a point where I needed to learn how to read and write Italian and also grammar, etc. I tried a few books, but Italian Now! is the only one that I stuck to. It is fun, the lessons are organized in a very effective way; it makes it easy to memorize new information and understand the grammar, without seeming overbearing.

I'm currently half way through this book, I hack away at it bit by bit in 1hr or 1 1/2hr segments everyday day or so. I'm an Italian destination specialist that is moving to Italia in one year. So of course I must learn the language. I do agree with another poster that on its own you can't learn the language with this guide. I started learning Italian August 2006, with the Rosetta Stone level 1&2, that took me 9 months to complete. It took me so long because I hand wrote and translated each and every lesson in addition to the audio learning software. I finished that in May 2007, I then started re reviewing Rosetta Stone little by little. But I found I couldn't get all the grammer correct. Rosetta Stone dosn't teach grammer all that much. Rosetta Stone has me speaking Italian but getting alot of grammer wrong. After returning from Italia again this August, I decided to futher my studies. I picked up this book along with the complete big yellow grammer book about a month ago or so. This book has really helped me grasp grammer and past/present/future/plural tenses so well and I'm only half way through it! My boss speaks Italian, so we together work over everything I don't understand on my own. But this lesson book is great. I'm so glad on a whim I just bought it! Cause I'm glued to it just about every evening for a little bit. Overall and excellent additional learning source

I was looking for an Italian language resource that was both introductory in nature, but not so rudimentary that it could not serve as a building block for future mastery.

Italian Now! is an entry level/college-high school first semester course designed to give the Italian student a solid foundation/introduction and a springboard to intermediate study.

I was impressed by the facility with which the dialogues utilize the vocabulary and the applicablity for daily life. I'm about a 1/4th through this book; I feel that I will be ready to speak this beautiful language when my wife and I travel to Tuscany late next year.

I bought this book in a bookstore in Hollywood,(my friends said I was the only person they knew who could go to Hollywood and find a bookstore). "Land of The Firebird" is one of my all-time favorite books. Suzanne Massie, the wife of Russian historian Robert Massie, (Peter the Great, Nicholas and Alexandria), has a great love for Russia and its people and it glows from every page. As a historian, I hate to admit it but too many history textbooks can bore one to the point of tears. No one who reads this book can be bored. In its pages you meet characters from Russian fairy tales like Maryushka and the wicked sorcerer Kaschei the Immortal, Prince Vladimir of Kiev who became a Christian and changed the course of Rusian history forever, the tragic Ivan the Terrible, and the titanic Peter the Great who brought Russia kicking and screaming into the modern world.
But along with the history of the great rulers of Russia is the story of how they all added to the body of work that makes Russian art some of the most beautiful in the world. Russians loved to live on a grand scale, and their art was as lavish as the lives they led. Even the common people had a great love for vivid colors and rich peasants made their wooden homes into works of art. The book comes with beautiful illustrations and leaves the reader wishing for more. It is great as a textbook in art history and history classes or for anyone who wants or needs to know more about the Russians. My copy of the book is worn and falling apart. I am going to order a new copy from [...] so I can keep this treasure for years to come.

This is a very detailed book on Russian History by Suzanne Massie and I greatly admire it. It is certainly a must have for those who are interested in Kievan Rus, the Mongol Invasion, Ivan the Terrible, or any of the Russian composers like Glinka and Stravinsky and the Mighty Handful. Just don't expect any Soviet history. This is all about the times before the Revolution.

A+

I've had this book for years and it's one of my all time favorites- a must read, insightful. Beautiful- exquisite illustrations.

I first read this magnificent tome on Russian history and culture in 1997. As it was part of a history class in college, the first read was a bit of a drag...page after page of description concerning the minutia of Russian life: clothes, churches, meals, religious & superstitious rituals, architecture, commerce, political strife, and so on. Really, with the whirl of the Social Circus of that college year, trudging through all this obscure information brought me no end of grief and silent lamentation! To think of all that time I could have been out with friends looking to score whatever cheap release was on hand or burning inside...spent instead sludging through *detailed history*!

Cut to four years later...

I'm going to Russia. In two weeks. Like so many other unplanned affairs that seem to formulate out of nowhere and take one by the lapels, shoving one screaming into the storm of life, this reviewer took it in stride and decided to find some quick-but-informative text on the destination in mind--especially one with such contradictory reports as Mother Russia. Thus, I dug this out of my library and began anew, stifling a faint unpleasant feeling no doubt inspired by those long sleepless college nights. There had to be some merit here, yes?

Oh yes.

'Land of the Firebird' is a WONDERFUL and ENGAGING in-depth look of Russian history from 987-1917, spanning the ascension of Vlad and the Orthodox Church to right before the Revolution. With colorful prose Suzanne Massie details the variety of Russian existence--tsars and serfs and merchant-princes and babushkas--no stone is left uncovered as she cross-references nearly a thousands years, writing with equal consideration of art, poetry, country-life, court-life, politics and its myriad games, myths and legends, influence "outside the sphere." It would be impossible to truly set down the full range of Russia experience for this time in the 450 pages allotted the reader, but the author does an admirable job in covering the major shakers and movers and events while sparing a considerable amount of print for the minor peoples and patterns that set the foundation of this ancient, troubled country. It certainly put an interesting light on what I saw come the spring of '01.

Indispensable for the casual student of Russia.

A comprehensive pursuit of pre-Revolutionary Russian history, well crafted and beautifully written. In my view, this is one of two distinctly outstanding single-volume histories of early Russia available. The other is Orlando Figes' "Natasha's Dance". The first six chapters proceed up to the first Romanovs, granting Ivan the Terrible a captivating revealing that is clearly informed by good scholarship. Chapter 10, "Catherine: A Mind Infinitely More Masculine", delivers a riveting, provocative look at Catherine and her Russia, with probably the finest chapter in the book. The VERY best thing about Land of the Firebird is the profusion of illustrations, all meticulously chosen. Photographs are plentiful (including an amazing snow-covered Church of the Transfiguration of the Saviour), but three ample sections of color plates pour out a stunning array of Russian paintings, which, if not unrivaled by other comparable single-volume efforts, is remarkable for an exquisite discretion. Land of the Firebird is a knowing work with respect to Russian art history. Here are Ryabushkin's "Russian Women of the Seventeenth Century in Church", Repin's "Ivan the Terrible at the Death of His Son", Serov ("Peter II and Princess Elizabeth Riding to Hounds"), Levitsky, Argunov, Kiprensky, Shibanov's "Celebration of a Marriage Agreement" (beautifully reproduced), Briullov, Venestianov, Chernetsov, and Sadovnikov (the darkly beautiful "View of the Winter Palace at Night"). Indeed, there are multiple paintings by Repin, F. de Haenen (five paintings c.1912, including the exuberant "Ice Slide"), Serov, Larionov, Malevich and Kustodiev (1916), including his bewitching "Moscow Tavern". The final plate is Serov's heartbreaking "Nicholas II". I mention these artists' names (and more are included) for those familiar with art history, to say to them this is a very worthwhile book. But the magic of pre-Revolutionary Russian art is unreservedly here for us all in a masterfully drawn Russian history primer. Useful bibliography in appendix. Absolutely recommended.