Europe Books

I was assigned this book for a Jewish History class at my university, and so far I'm really enjoying it. We read one of the autobiographies each week, and I feel that Cohen has done an excellent job of bringing together stories from different backgrounds and different experiences, and even has a married couple each tell their stories in their own autobiographies.

I'll be honest; I was expecting it to be boring - but am very pleasantly surprised to find that it's not!

"My Future Is In America" contains excellent primary source material for the student of Jewish immigration to this country and immigration history in general. The individual essays are captivating and very readable, providing a wealth of information about the immigrant experience, not only after arrival in America, but also about life in Europe pre-immigration. This book should be considered as reading in American Studies curricula.

I just finished reading this book. This is not only for Jewish people but other religions as well. It's a part of our history and I found it very enjoyable and informative. A must read.

The older brother of Minnie Goldstein, who wrote the first of the autobiographies that appear in the book, is my great-grandfather and what seems to have been passed down through the generations is a somewhat sanitised version of the truth ... I really had no idea about their dreadful poverty, or the fact that a contributing factor to Hershl Malinberg's emigration from Warsaw to the U.S. was being cheated in business by his own mother-in-law. Of course, the story has particular resonance for her own kith and kin, but it contains so much vivid detail, and is told so well, that I would recommend it to anyone.

As a first generation American, I always wanted to know how and why my parents came to America... they passed away before imparting this information.... this book fills in all the gaps, in a humorous and interesting way. I could not put this book down, and reread it... Totally enjoyable!!!! 5 stars

Not much more to say the paintings are gorgeous the large scale and quality of the paper a fitting surrounding and the text is actually interesting ( which is saying something for a uniform book ). All power to the publishers and a superb adornment to a Napoleoninc library

This book is, perhaps, one of the most beautiful been published this past year, and is certainly one not to be missed.

A large format of 208 pages, containing 91 plates in full colour showing the cavalry of the Imperial Guard 1804-1815, as painted by Lucien Rousselot. This is the first time that these paintings have been collated in one volume. Each plate is accompanied by an expletive text, thus adding to the importance of this publication. In a series of wonderful full color plates, this superb book conveys the glory of soldiers of a military era surpassing the splendor of any other. This beautiful book brings together for the very first time the color plates by this celebrated artist illustrating the regiments of the Imperial Guard cavalry in all their splendor.

A magnificent book that will simply take your breath away.

Rousselot, together with Detaille and Messonier was one of the recognized authorities on french army uniforms. This book contains 91 superb plates from the Anne S.K. Brown collection and is divided in four sections regarding Chasseurs a Cheval, Horse Grenadiers , Dragoons and Lancers of Napoleon's Imperial Guard, with a brief but complete description of each plate. Also included is a small glossary of terms, an overview of the history of the Guard cavalry plus a brief profile of some of the commanders of each regiment. An outstanding book !

The color plates of Lucien Rousselot in this volume jump out at you with color, panache, accuracy, and authority. Coupled with Edward Ryan's authoritative text, this book is a must for the Napoleonic authority, enthusiast, model painter, and wargamer.

Ninety-One plates grace the pages of this volume, originally painted for Anne Brown in the 1950s and since have been housed in the collection at Brown University that bears her name. Four Guard cavalry regiments are represented here: chasseurs a Cheval, Grenadiers a Cheval, 1st Polish Light Horse Lancers, and the Guard Dragoons, commonly called the Empress' Dragoons, as Josephine was their patroness. They are depicted in full dress, evening dress, walking out dress, gala ball dress, campaign dress, tenue de route, and in a myriad of situations from mucking out stables, to schooling their horses and roasting lean meat over open fires in the field to the rigors of campaign and the exhilaration and sudden death of combat.

The author knew Lucien Rousselot, and it shows in his careful, informative text. The prints are in larger than usual format to convey both their accuracy and magnificence. I was privileged to see the production prints, and the book does this art justice on a large scale. This is undoubtedly one of the best uniform books ever produced. If you don't own it, you are missing out on a visual treat that is clearly unsurpassed.

Spectacular!!! While a bit expensive the plates are a cornicopia of valuable infomation for anyone interested in uniforms and the French army in the age of Napoleon. Perhaps the success of this work will inspire others to produce similar compendia of Rousselot's works (the bound reproduction of his planches would be a Napoeonic buff's dream).

I read another books about the 1809 campaign but this exceeds in the analisis of the all around campaign fronts , including a detailled italian campaign point of view Eugene versus John both " minor " generals in the official history , and the austrian corp army evolution . A brief but essential study . If you likes Napoleonic strategy , you must have it !!!

Epstein believes it was greater combat effectiveness of Napoleon's adversaries and not the decline of the French army that led to the fall of Napoleon. In his book, Epstein writes about how the Austrians copied the French corps system that allowed greater personal intiative on the battlefield. This also permitted the Austrian army to retreat in detail rather than being surrounded in whole. As a result, unlike Austerlitz, Napoleon was unable to destroy the Austrain army at Wargam in 1809. I would reccomend this book to anyone who wants a new perspective of the closing phases of the Napoleonic Wars.

If you are interested in the development of war, this is an excellent read, otherwise turn away. The author shows how Napoleon's decline began as his enemies fought like he did, in a modern fashion. He makes the case that war as we understand it today began in 1809. The maps are wonderful, although the level of operational detail was a bit much.

Epstein's thesis is thought-provoking and admirably supported. He convincingly argues that the start of modern warfare occurred in 1809 during the Franco-Austrian War when, for the first time in history, two armies met in battle, each utilizing the new doctrine of independent army corps at the new operational level of war. His research sheds new light on the military history of the nineteenth century by challenging the popular wisdom that Napoleon won battles through tactical genius and force of personality alone. Rather, the author demonstrates that Napoleon's genius was primarily manifested in his creation of a new system of warfare based on interdependent action of individual army corps at the operational level of war to achieve strategic objectives. This was a major shift from the tactical-strategic paradigm of eighteenth century warfare (i.e. the ancien regime). Although Napoleon's ideas were based on those of prior theorists, he was the first commander to fully implement this new style of warfare. The result was a doctrinal asymmetry between Napoleon's army and those of his enemies that enabled him to achieve his astounding victories at Ulm, Austerlizt, and Jena-Auerstadt in 1805-1806.

After 1806, however, the other European powers began to organize their own armies according to this corps system. Although they generally lacked Napoleon's mastery of command and control at the operational level, this development ended Napoleon's doctrinal monopoly and restored operational balance to the battlefields of Europe. It was this restoration of doctrinal symmetry at the operational levels of war that account for Napoleon's inability to achieve another Austerlizt in 1809 or thereafter. He strongly suggests that Napoleon himself was unaware of the dynamics of this doctrinal paradigm. Epstein's thesis argues against the possibility of a Lee or Jackson, or for that matter Napoleon himself, capitalizing on this imbalance again. He also argues against the idea that Napoleon had lost his personal edge and was in decline starting in 1809. Rather, the decline of Napoleon's battlefield fortunes resulted from his enemies learning the lessons he himself had taught them in 1805-1806.

While the book is essentially about the developement of the corps system and the emergence of the operational level of war, it is also an excellent operational history of the Franco-Austrian War of 1809. His descriptions of the significant battles, especially Wagram, are thorough, detailed, and readable. The uninitiated reader in the field of military history may suffer from information overload when reading his descriptions and maps, but the detail is greatly appreciated by serious students of the subject. Nonetheless, the general reader will still greatly benefit from learning how warfare fundamentally and irreversably changed in the year 1809. Students of the U.S. Civil War will also benefit from his thesis in that it greatly effects how one weighs the roles of doctrine, technology, and personality during that war as it relates to Napoleon's development of the corps system and the operational level of war.

This book offers a refreshing and revolutionary new view of the history of warfare and emergence of modern war, one based on the history of military organization and structure rather than the traditional technology based analysis. The thesis is well made and well argued and will certainly be a guiding force in the future of military studies, especially now that are beginning to give greater value to decentralization of military operations in the 21st century. Not only is this work revolutionary and foundational in the field of military studies, it is also an excellent analysis of the 1809 War of the Fifth Coalition with many valuable insights into the relationship between Napoleon, his Marshals, and Prince Eugene.

The only reason I gave this book a 4, rather than a 5, is because of the maps. There are many large detailed maps included in the books, unfortunately the generally span two pages with the centre being unreadable between the pages, the difficulity with this is compounded because the deployments and action is generally towards the centre of the map and, therefore, unreadable. I am rather surprised that problem was not caught before publication. Because of this I often found myself having to resort to other sources for maps while reading the book. However, in spite of the maps, the book is more than worth the time and cost for the revolutionary new look at Napoleonic warfare.

This book is a remarkable account of life in the trenches from a soldier (the author) who served in France from the beginning of the war in August 1914 to the Armistice. Never once was Richards wounded in all that time! He served with the 2nd Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers, which also numbered among its ranks Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon. Unlike Graves and Sasson, Richards did not become an officer. He was a Private throughout his years of service in France.

Richards saw action from the earliest clashes between British and German forces at Mons (Belgium) in August 1914, to Ypres, to Neuve Chapelle, the Somme, Passchendaele, and the decisive battles in the late summer and autumn of 1918.

It's without doubt the best memoir written by a common soldier since Mark Twain's "Private history of a campaign that failed". I had the paperback Ballantine Books edition in the 1960's but lost it. I've seen copies of this edition sold through amazon recently for over $100. Right now, it's not available here, but a new edition IS AVAILABLE,and can be ordered from Naval&militarypress.com in England, along with Richards other book "Old soldier sahib". Both are around 10 pounds each (about $18) excluding shipping. Reading Frank Richards personal memories of his life in the Royal Welch Fusiliers during WWI and earlier in Burma & India is a super treat. He was quite a character.

Frank Richards was a member of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, from 1901 until the end of the war. He displays a natural ability for story telling, in this wonderful account of a regular old soldier. It is amazing to note that this story would probably never have been published if he had not known the famous writer Robert Graves, whom he had served under in the trenches, he even mentions Graves as well as another famous member of the Regiment: Siegfried Sassoon. He sent the whole rough draft to Graves in longhand, who then edited it and got it published, as he recognized what a true gem he had. It has been intimated that Robert Graves actually rewrote much of the text as we now see it, though it has never been proven. Though punctuated with grim moments of death and destruction, it is an uncomplaining account, a testament to Mr. Richard's indomitable spirit and pride for his regiment, though he wryly recounts that after the war he had trouble adapting to civilian life, providing a couple of well written examples. The number of times he narrowly escaped death or injury makes it unbelievable that he survived the entire war virtually unscathed. There are moments when men all around him would perish, or he would leave an area just as it was shelled. A must read for those with even the slightest interest in World War 1. This book flows smoothly and never jumps, a steady good read. We are fortunate that this book was published, as accounts of regular soldiers are few and far between, especially those of this caliber. He followed this account with a prequel entitled "Old Soldier Sahib" another excellent memoir. I highly recommend this book to all.

First class account by a man who served as a soldier and NCO throughout WW1 on the Western Front. Even more interesting as he served in the same infantry unit as Graves and Sassoon. An unvarnished account from the view of a long service professional soldier of some of the most momentous events of the war. A good counterpoint to some of the more tragic/romantic accounts of the war.

I read Frank Richards story, apparently a chapter from this book, "The Third Battle of Ypres 1917" in the Mammoth Book of True War Stories (now in print) and you have to be impressed by the man's style--sort of like the naturalists (Steven Crane comes to mind), but also either intentionally or unintentionally ironic. A masterpiece of prose. Recommended.

I wished this was longer and went into greater depth of the little things in life that changed during war time. There were some very interesting items, that unlesss you lived during those times you just wouldn't think about (driving without headlights at night, why street signs had to be taken down). It provides details of life at the time that only someone alive to live it could provide.

As I listened to Mrs. Stalcup's book, "On the Home Front," I was sucked into a world of Spitfires, Hurricane Bombers, and the Little Ships bringing soldiers from Dunkirk to Dover. Tears were shed when soldiers were lost in battle, and there was rejoicing when a major battle was won. I saw blood, I saw tears, and I saw glory.

It was quite an experience for my classmates and me. We had an author reading her book. Sometimes she would choose a student to read certain chapters because they were so emotional for her, such as the Little Ships and the Spitfire Funds.

It was an amazing book about a young girl who was living during World War Two. But the most amazing paart about it was who was reading it - the little girl from the book!!!!!

Stalcup shares her memoir of growing up in the town of Lydney, England, during World War 11. Ann stays with her parents and experiences war as it comes to her community with evacuees, German prisoners, Australian food packages, and American soldiers. Short, succinct chapters, enhanced by personal and archival photographs, make this a book to be savored as a read aloud or when read independently. Stalcup imparts the flavors of every day English life such as four o'clock tea, sweets, walks in the country, and the pleasures of a front garden, and how they are changed by a world at war. She retells moments of her life, from the age of three in 1938 with her first gas mask to V.E. Day in 1945. This factual memoir complements historical fiction titles such as Pearson's The Sky is Falling, Bawden's Carrie's War, Heneghan's Wish Me Luck, and Garrigue's All the Children Were Sent Away. Stalcup takes the reader's heart and mind into various events sharing humor, fear, courage, and community spirit. Thoroughly researched facts in combination with thoughtfully remembered experiences, make this compelling account a great starting point for curriculum dealing with war and a welcome addition to children's and youth's nonfiction collections. This first book of Stalcup's shows the beginning of a new children's writer with great potential.

Stalcup shares her memoir of growing up in the town of Lydney, England, during World War 11. Ann stays with her parents and experiences war as it comes to her community with evacuees, German prisoners, Australian food packages, and American soldiers. Short, succinct chapters, enhanced by personal and archival photographs, make this a book to be savored as a read aloud or when read independently. Stalcup imparts the flavors of every day English life such as four o'clock tea, sweets, walks in the country, and the pleasures of a front garden, and how they are changed by a world at war. She retells moments of her life, from the age of three in 1938 with her first gas mask to V.E. Day in 1945. This factual memoir complements historical fiction titles such as Pearson's The Sky is Falling, Bawden's Carrie's War, Heneghan's Wish Me Luck, and Garrigue's All the Children Were Sent Away. Stalcup takes the reader's heart and mind into various events sharing humor, fear, courage, and community spirit. Thoroughly researched facts in combination with thoughtfully remembered experiences, make this compelling account a great starting point for curriculum dealing with war and a welcome addition to children's and youth's nonfiction collections. This first book of Stalcup's shows the beginning of a new children's writer with great potential.

As Juvenile Literature, I suppose the book isn't bad in terms of its approach; as any sort of history, however, even for the American market, it falls well short because it's riddled with errors of fact and perception. This, despite the uncredited, but apparently heavy, reliance on Angus Calder's "The People's War" (Cape, 1969). It's no defence to claim "this is what I remembered" if the book purports to be a picture of "Growing Up in Wartime England." A better sub-title would have been "the middle-aged memoirs of a sheltered little girl." Stalcup is 20 days older than me and what I remember of WW2 in Britain is somewhat different.

This is a genuinely great book. It it basically an economic history of the Mediterranean regions of Western Europe from the last centuries of the Roman Empire to the time when the Roman traces of Western Europe had all but vanished. The author make the intriguing claim that the economic "collapse" of the Southern part of what had been Rome's Western provinces did not decline as much as many historians believed (though it was still very bad) and, more importantly, began their recovery far earlier than is usually credited. The book follows methods made justly famous by, say, Pirene and Braudel, and relies heavily on archeology. But the author goes beyond his model to focus on the accounts of merchants, churchmen and other travelers to demonstrate what the world of the Southern dark ages seemed like to its more literate denizens. The author is particularly enlightening (and, to me, original) in pointing out the pivotal role of the slave trade with Islam in laying the foundations of European recovery and preventing overpopulation in a time of economic contraction. In the end, the author comes to the intriguing and well-founded claim that it was the Islamic Caliphate which played the decisive role in forcing Europe down the path to a modern economy. The book is magnificently researched and magisterially written. I know -- I gush. But this is a great book.

First, before you proceed any further with this book, you ought to know that it is not abou the origins of the European economy. If you are looking for a book about economic life and change in Europe between 300 and 900, this is not really the book for you. McCormick's book is specifically about trade, and largely "international" trade, between these years.

Having said that, McCormick's book is the most brilliant work on medieval history in years. He sets out to examine the patterns of Mediterranean commerce during the early middle ages, focusing on different aspects of the Pirenne thesis. This, of course, has been done repeatedly over the eight decades since Pirenne's famous publications, but McCormick's approach is startlingly new. Rather than simply argue over the same tired scraps of evidence, McCormick works hard to incorporate old, non-economic, data into his argument, and also brings in entirely new evidence. To begin with, McCormick focuses on the accounts of non-commercial travellers -- pilgrims, envoys, missionaries, etc. -- to see how they travelled, when they travelled, and whom they travelled with. By looking at these accounts McCormick puts together a picture of frequent Mediterranean travel, demonstrates the frequency of specific routes, and, the interaction of travelling merchants and other travellers. McCormick uses these accounts as evidence of a vibrant shipping network in the Mediterranean in the eight and ninth centuries. He then backs this inferrence up with "hard" data from recent undersea archaeology, numismatics, and the study of relic hordes.

In the end, McCormick discusses the export of Europeans as slaves to the Caliphate, and, to a limited extenct, Byzantium. McCormick's final argument is that this slave trade was massive, and provided the fuel for the growth of European commerce, growth that was sustained even after the decline of the slave trade.

When all is said and done, McCormick's book is amazing. His arguments and evidence are controversial, and it is easy to predict that this book will be the focal point for scholarly debate for the next generation. Well written, engrossing, and thought provoking, this book is a must for anyone interested in medieval studies or good scholarly debate. The beuatiful maps, charts, and graphs, and the detailed accounts of travellers in the appendices simply add to the value of this book.

No one who is seriously interested in the transition from the Roman Empire to the Early Medieval West should pass up the opportunity to own this volume--in hardcover!--for only $52. Michael McCormick analyses the economic transformation of the Mediterranean world ca. A.D. 300 - 900. In doing so, he presents a nearly compendious wealth of data (including a vast and multi-faceted bibliography) on various aspects of the question.

"Origins of the European Economy" joins works by Chris Wickham, Charles McClendon, and Peter Heather (among others of like quality) that re-analyze questions concerning the fall of Rome and the rise of Latin Christendom from various angles, including the economic, architectural, and military-political. In this first decade of the 21st century, the old debates between the catastrophist and continuist views on the Roman-Medieval transition are being informed by a fresh influx of data and analysis. The new studies, including "Origins of the European Economy," promise to bring about a quantum step-up in our understanding of this ancient issue.

Arnold Lelis

To write a history of the changing patterns in economy between the slow end of ancient world and the slow birth of middle ages is a great challenge for any scholar who tried, but I do recommend this "Bible" to all who are interested in this subject. It's clear, wide-range, full of good ideas and comparisons between different type of sources.

From primarily economic and historical perspectives, this is a wonderful and very scholarly book. From the perspective of sociology and anthropology, it is however unfortunate that virtually all Muslims despite their actual national or ethnic backgrounds are referred to as "Arabs." Even Berbers are nowhere mentioned. With this exception, this is a monumental work of scholarship.

It is difficult to convey the emotional fever that this book induces, but suffice it to say, that I read it for two days running, with few breaks and little sleep! Mischa Kopiec, the main character, is the living definition of a true hero--a brave-hearted warrior, but a compassionate and moral man. He is further endowed with a keen presence of mind, an innate ability to assess characters and situations, and a well-trained, but still, almost preternatural understanding of military strategy. I was exceedingly heartened to read this memoir about Mischa, one tough Jewish soldier,who,though tormented by the knowledge of the Nazis' perfidy, fought or eluded them in many treacherous situations,as the quintessential survivor.

I have been a student of the holocaust since graduating with a major in Judaic studies. I am also a relative of survivors of the horrors of nazi Germany. Mischa's experience was an incredibly unique perspective from an unusual human being. Most Holocaust experiences do not parallel this unique perspective. The lessons and sense of family that Mr. Kopiec brings to this story are uplifting. I hope that this book can find its way into the homes of not only the Jewish community but also those of any human being that has no tolerance for discrimination, or the atrocities of genocide. Further, I believe that there are important lessons embodied in this story, that are a contribution to the Jewish people.

I won't be spoiling your read of this amazing, gut wrenching, action packed book, when I tell you that in the end the human spirit prevails. Author Michael Kopiec, son of the protagonist Misha, moves the reader out of their comfort zone of neutrality, and into the active role of a witness. You will find your emotions ebb and surge, along with Misha as he calculates his every move. His thought process is akin to the manner of consideration one might expect from a Master Chess Player. The significant difference here is that the stakes were life and death. This book is a wonderful read, and you will most assuredly be moved.

Michael Kopiec's book "The Outrage" is a well-written book about a very special holocaust survivor - Misha Kopiec. Through Misha's eyes, the reader will feel the horror and reality of the Nazi occupation of Poland. Misha was an extraordinary person. In any other time and place, he would have been recognized for his keen mind, kind heart and extraordinary strength. But, this was Poland under Nazi domination and Misha was Jewish - that equated to being nothing and nobody. Michael Kopiec helps us to see what life and death was like for Jews in Eastern Europe during this time period. The events are unbelievable - but real. Man's inhumanity to man is detailed on the pages of this extraordinary book - a must read!

This book was amazing! It was almost impossible to put down and incredibly moving. Misha's strenth and the love for his family is inspiring. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about this important time in history or to anyone looking to read a story about a true survivor.

The only reason I ordered this book is because I am a member of a local choir and ordered it as it is in the choir's repertoire and contains a wide spread of Church Choral Music for SATB voices. I prefer to have my own copy rather than a library one.

This is an excellent book of some of the better choral classics. I have sung some of them for years (Mozart's Ave verum) but others are not so familiar (Viadiana's Exaultate justi) to some old friends in a different arrangement (Franck's Panis Angelicus in SATB). Difficulty ranges from fairly easy to difficult, with something for everyone. A good collection for any serious classical chorus or church choir.

A usual Oxford Press is top rate! From the clean voice leading to the acurate translations - you simply can't beat it. For my madrigal choir this is a required book.

If you only ever purchase one volume of sacred choral music, this should be the one. Oxford + Rutter = 54 "Standards" of European choral music in an edition that is well researched, edited and engraved. Some notes from the preface:

The period covered in this volume is from about 1500 up to the twentieth century...
Sacred music from Britain appears in a separate volume.
With only one or two exceptions, only complete, self-standing compositions are included, not extracts from larger works such as masses, cantatas and oratorios.
With few exceptions, pieces wiith orchestra accompaniment (...) appear in the Sacred Choruses volume.
With one exception, choral arrangements of music not original for choir or vocal ensemble are excluded, as is music in less than four voice parts.
Advent, Christmas and Epiphany motets appear in a separate volume and are excluded. (From page iv of the preface)

Now that we've listed what isn't included... well... what IS included is simply fantastic. I can't think of a more useful volume for concert or high-church choirs. The efficiency of purchasing a collection over individual octavos should not be overlooked. The average price of choral octavos these days is about $2.00. With a volume like this, you couldn't even copy (from a legal source, of course) these pieces so cheaply.

This volume makes a lovely gift for choral singers, too.

This compilation of choral gems is one of my prized possessions! It has some tried and true classics like the Cantique de Jean Racine (Gabriel Fauré) and some less mainstream but equally gorgeous pieces, like the Salve Regina (Francis Poulenc). There are some historical and performance notes included. To a teacher, a conductor, student: this is a book you will use and use; there is something for everyone!

This massive 1,000+ page guide to all things British is a solemn, sometimes irreverent dissection of the United Kingdom. More than just a reference work describing the doings of politicians and generals. This companion carefully moves into areas not normally covered by such works. There are entries that discuss various major industries - shipbuilding, mining, gas and cotton - and on aspects of private and domestic life, like childbirth, housing, health and food. While the growth, meaning and importance of sports is discussed, only two athletes rate their own entries (the soccer star Stanley Matthews, knighted for his accomplishments on the field, and cricketer W.G. Grace, the Victorian star who continued playing first-rate cricket until he was 60). The only flaw in the entire book is a production problem that caused the deletion of pages 949 through 980, or between James Ussher and William Whewell. Not a noticeable problem, unless you're looking up information about Queen Victoria.

I have been using the "Oxford Companion to British History" on a regular basis since its publication. I am not a specialist in British History, but my work as a cataloguer of rare and antiquarian British books has required me to have a working knowledge of British History. This book has proved invaluable to me in my work. Moreover, I can rarely resist the temptation to browse the Companion--it is a text that draws the reader in. Highly recommended.

Nice little pieces on the areas Britain has affected but now leaves alone - nearly 4 pages on Australia, 1 each on Canada and New Zealand. Also helpful to find those weird, typically British obsessions: pigeon-fancying, seaside holidays and Tractarianism (go look them up). The kind of book you go to to look up one topic and find yourself reading for an hour. Failed to score 5 stars because it failed to record biographies on influential British sportsmen.

Now in a newly revised and expanded edition, The Oxford Companion To British History is a dictionary-style, 1056-page resource reference which is filled from cover to cover with names, places, terms, and events comprising the history of Great Britain and organized alphabetically for easy lookup. Compiled and edited by John Cannon (formerly the Chair of Modern History at Newcastle-upon-Tyne until 1992) and brimming with extensive facts and details, The Oxford Companion To British History is a top-notch reference which is enhanced with the inclusion of 12 maps, and would prove to be an invaluable cornerstone for any academic library's British History collection.

I just purchased the book a few days ago and highyly recommend it. Pages 949-980 are in my copy so do not be afraid that they are missing.

Simply better than the first... and it's on my bookshelf now.

I got this book from a local bookstore. Only one was available and the cover was not in a very good condition. But I find the content stunning... the combination of photographs and no faults with the manipulations/modifications done could have easily fooled many in earlier days. Today we know such mastery is possible powerful computer software.

This book eye candy to me.

Paintbox No.1 shows the power of image manipulation. With a simple digital pen these artists blend together images that will amaze your eyes. Pages upon pages of eyecandy!

This book is chocked of photographic pictures that are skillfully modififed to blend seamlessly. Some of these may be done by using plug-ins, but others require more effort, skill and thought. For example, you cannot just mask an object and paste it on another photo; need to consider shadow, lighting, etc. and I think the pictures here involved such considerations. Great work. When I look at the pictures, I think, "That's great..." and a great challenge to me to produce similar results.

I am also intending to get "Paintbox No. 2" !!

Sometimes we come across advertisements (eg. posters) that catch our attention and make us wonder---"How REAL!!" and amaze us. This book is filled with wonderful pictures, carefully designed, composited, etc. with consideration of details such as shadows to make things realistic. Everything in the pictures blends well with other elements in the pictures. With the power of today's photo editing software, some of these may not be difficult to produce but for the rest, they seem like wonders to me. Imagination and skills are essential.

If you are in advertising and designing, it would be a great challenge to yourself to try to produce similar effects in the book. Or if you are just looking for a book that shows you great pictures in advertising, you will find this book to be an eye-candy. However, this book does not teach you how to produce the effects; which, I think is not the aim of the book.

I am happy to have a copy of this book.