C Books

This Book is not only regiments history and a lott of beautiful accurate illustrated uniforms, is history alive. The only thing this book lack off is sound but thanks to the hands of Don Troiani the paintings are so full of live you can hear it in the back of your mind. Art by Don Troiani, text by Brian C. Pohanka. This book presents in a beautiful landscape format his unique view of the war and the men who fought it. Each painting is accompanied by an extensive background text by noted historian Brian Pohanka The good thing about this book is that if you consider yourself a Civil War historian or reenactorss a just a fan beginning to study the civil war, you won't find the typical error of other authors, this would help you enjoy the painting one by one so you can understand better who and how was this War fought. One last thing DO NOT PUT THIS BOOK ON YOUR COFFEE TABLE people fall in love with this book so fast that they can even stole from you, believe me this is the third time I buy this book. If you enjoy this book you would love Don Troiani's Soldiers In America, 1754 - 1865.

If you are any kind of amateur Civil War historian than you probably grew up looking at the American Heritage or Golden books about the civil war. They were chock full of illustrations from the Harper's Weekly sketches to the bursting with color lithographs of Kurtz & Allison. Yes, these images were full of fully uniformed boys in blue and gray gathered in massive lines firing point blank at each other. And even as a child gazing at these...you wondered...was it really like that?

Then you glimpse your first Troiani painting and you know you are in the presence of the real deal. Don Troiani sweats the details and doesn't just throw something on the canvas and attach a name to it. The event depicted is so vividly and realistically portrayed that you almost know what moment in the American Civil War you are seeing without having to be told.

This wonderful book finally brings together in one place some of Troiani's greatest Civil War paintings. It is a book that no Civil War library is complete without. This is perhaps as close to witnessing the actual event as we are ever likely to achieve.

I only wish the Ken Burns had taken advantage of these paintings and used them in his series on the Civil War. His insistence on utilizing contemporary images reduced his otherwise wonderful documentary to a rehash of what I had already seen a thousand times in my Golden book. Imagine how much richer the story telling as his camera zoomed into a Troiani painting.

It's time to see the Civil War as it was. Trust Don Troiani to show you.

Every Civil War enthusiast should have this book. It's beautiful, enjoyable, as well as educational. Troiani's attention to detail and historical accuracy is astounding. Most of Troiani's work is of active battle scenes with anonomous characters, unlike John Paul Strain's work which focuses on specific leaders in non-battle situations. I recommend both books.

What a nice book, both to the artistic and literary eye. I am fortunate enough to own three Don Troiani signed Civil War prints. This book is dessert, providing a thorough if not complete collection of all the Civil War art I will never own but can now enjoy. Troiani, an avid collector of Civil War uniforms and gear, provides perhaps the most accurate representation of soldiers, regiments and engagements normally limited to what the mind's eye can conjur from words on a page. Troiani not only excells at the equipment's detail, but paints a vivid image of the topography and climate as well as the determination, anguish, fear, and heroism of the soldiers. These are not charactures but the images of people who seem to walk off the page and out of your imagination. Pohanka's commentary complements the art by placing the action within the broader context of the battle and the war. I made this book a gift to myself and, if you appreciate art - either in a historical context or for arts sake - you should as well.

A quick glance of the customer reviews tells one that this book is something special. Page after page of astounding paintings complemented by capable text. The detail of Don Troiani's artwork is such that you can literally spend hours examining them, and if you let others look at the book you can grow impatient trying to get it back!

I found this book very satisfying. It is clear and elucidates Jung's concept of the Self better than anything I have encountered hitherto. The illustrations come from the great sources of Western Civilation and world art so they provide an illuminating frame of reference for the multiple facets of the main concepts of the book. The writer obviously is a master of the subject and everything he says and uses contributes vitally to the work. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

I read Edinger's work in the late 70s after an intense spiritual awakening which was first expressed in Christian fundamentalism in the early 70s. During a time of study at the C.G. Jung Foundation and the New School (New York City) I began to discover the spiritual meaning and personal potential of the Christian myth. The work continues to this day, and I am thankful to Edinger and others (Neumann, Jacobi, Von Franz, Whitmont) who extended the insights of Jung for pioneers along the path of individuation.

After seeing all the positive reviews on here I had to try this book. I can tell you they are all true.

When I first started reading I wasn't too sure considering much of the first chapter I was familiar with. However as to be expected Ego and Archetype proved to be enlightening and inspiring. If at any point you have studied Jung and was interested in the process of Individuation. Or if you are looking for a guide to living a healthy meaningful life this book should help.

While this book could easily be considered a self help book it should be not confused with most books out there. The information in this text makes Ego and Archetype worth more then its mass in gold.

I would like to suggest that before reading this text however (if you are new to Jungian Psychology) to read at least "Man and His Symbols" and if you can "The Undiscovered Self" as well. These will at the least give you a basic understanding of where Edward Edinger is coming from.

A must read for anyone who feels abandoned, thinks they know it all, are a spiritualist, or religious.

I can only wish I had been graced with the knowledge in this text sooner.

This is the best interpretation of the Scriptures according to Jungian psychoanalysis. It is recommended to everybody who has doubts in the dogmaic Chrisitan way to read the Bible and it is a source for individual wholeness for those who try to find it in the Scriptures.

I was a young well educated military aerospace engineer and a devout right-wing Christian when a senior engineer handed me this book and asked me if I listened to the content of my dreams.

I would have never thought this man, an "engineer's engineer," was interested in anything outside of the scientific reality taught to us in engineering school, let alone the psychology of human beings and especially one's dreams.

I have read this book through at least three times, each time marking-up new insights I learn with a different color pen, just as I had done in analyzing my scriptures. It took awhile to learn the language of psychology, but once mastered I was able to have revealed to me the wonders of the human psyche and for that I thank Edinger for producing this masterpiece.

Edinger attracts his audience by revealing the genius of the teachings of the New Testament biographers of Jesus and other biblical writers. He shows how the Beatitudes taught by Jesus form the foundations of depth psychology, 2000 years before the field develops. He opens up a whole new interpretation of the story of Job, ties in the teachings of Jesus as regarding the process of Individuation, touches on Alchemy and metaphysics, and discusses the symbology found in the Christian religions, especially the Trinity. He includes wonderful related classic artworks along the way.

Edinger teaches the processes of Jungian psychology throughout the text. This introduced me to the field of psychology and the major contributions of Carl Jung.

The transformations I went through occurred during each reading of this book. While painful, my level of self-awareness has risen to new levels I feel not achievable had I relied on my religious teachings alone.

I now describe myself as a liberal agnostic college educator that seeks spirituality from where Jesus said it lies: the human heart. Thank you Dr. Edinger.

This is a beautiful book of photographs and text that allows the reader an intriguing view of the home in which Edward Gorey lived and the collections of curious objects, books, and cats he filled it with.

The photographs are large and beautiful - haunting even - and there are lots of them. There is just the right amount of text to cast some light on the man behind the house and his elusive character - anecdotes about his life, his work, his friends and the things that inspired him.

If you are fan of Edward Gorey, or of eclectic interior decorating and design, and displaying collections of antiques, this book will be a treasure in your library.

That's really all I can say. I have been waiting for this book for a long time, and it was the most incredible thing. Amazing photos. Read up on Gorey first, though. The details are some much better when you get the little visual jokes Gorey set up in his day-to-day life.

This book wouldn't mean much to anyone who isn't already a Gorey fan. I own (and love) the compilations 'Amphigorey', 'Amphigorey Too' & 'Amphogorey Also', so have a head start. I also have the auto(?) biography 'Ascending Peculiarity', which is almost a necessary co-requisite to this book - it helps explain the cats, and many other Gorey details. Now that the individual books are available again, I'm tempted to get them too, because they are such nice objects - but only if the kids promise to share with me!

If you are an Ogdred Weary fan...this is a truly wonderful book. Photographs of the exterior (peeling paint and kind of saggy porch) and the interior rooms of the house on Cape Cod in Gorey lived and worked, along with his cats and figbashes, piles of thousands of books, assorted rocks and oddish things, and the expected miriad of curiosities. Alas, or delightfully...just the environment one would expect of the eccentric Edward. A cabinet of curiosities...a delight!

Even dedicated fans of Edward Gorey will probably know very little about his personal life: he was an enigmatic recluse and few were permitted past his front door. Photographer Kevin McDermott's Elephant House will delight students of architecture and photography, providing rich duotone works of Gorey's intriguing home and its contents. A specialty item for the true Gorey collector, Elephant House is an impressive photographic showcase and a welcome addition to both architectural studies and photographic studies reference collections.

Dr. Friedman's thyroid disease health guide is comprehensive, very well written and most of all, easy to read. I personally have two other thyroid reference books and once I purchased his book, I've basically relegated the other two to the book case with Dr. Friedman's book residing on my desk. Kudos Dr. Friedman, you've succeeded in educating a person who needs more information and made him more comfortable and better aware just by reading your excellent book.

This is a must read for persons with thyroid or other endocrine disorders. Dr. Friedman is a brilliant diagnostician and endocrinology researcher and has put together a book that reflects his immense learning and experience. This patient-friendly book on an extremely complicated and frustrating topic will be welcomed by sufferers of endocrine disorders. Dr. Friedman clearly lays out the nature and treatment of many endocrine disorders. This text will be of use to those many patients who must rely on general practitioners in indentifying and treating their endocrine disorders. Endocrine disorders are frequently misdiagnosed or undiagnosed. Despite the common reliance on blood work, there is still an art and feel to properly diagnosing and treating endocrine disorders that requires a high degree of physician/patient communication. This book will go a long way to enable patients to learn about their illness and to better enable them to communicate with their physicians.

For anyone with a thyroid problem, THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU! I wish it could have been published years earlier when I was first diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Dr. Friedman and Winnie Yu have put together information that is easy to read and understand. As the title implies, they have included everything you will need to know. The more information and knowledge you accumulate about any condition you have, the better able you will be to get proper treatment. I thought "life" was really slowing me down, but it was really my thyroid!

Dr. Friedman gives us the information we need about the thyroid in an easy to understand format. If you have a thyroid problem, buy this book. Then buy another one and give it to your doctor!

It has now been a year since my initial diagnosis of hypothryoidism and Hashimoto's Thryoiditis in July 2006. In my intial year, I have read many articles and research on thryoid disease, but most did not answer all my questions. I recently came across this book during my initial appointment with Dr. Friedman in July 2007. This book not only answered my questions, but it answered other items I did not know. This book has a lot information, but it is basic enough for all levels to understand. I highly recommend this book for those with thryoid problems and/or family and/or friends with thryoid problems.

BUY THIS BOOK!!!!!!

Relevent, thoughtful, thought-provoking. The space beside each day's reading is a great way to keep notes, prayer concerns etc.

I was looking for a devotional book that would give me a simple outline but informative spiritual messages, which I could develope my knowledge into experiences... that would be beneficial for me spiritually. I was very happy to view the subject of chapters that where interesting, and realistic in growth opportunities of learning simple knowledge, that could be applied during my christian walk on this earth.

I am looking forward to reading my daily devotionals and making notes in my fantastic journal, that will assist me in experiencing God day by day!

EXTREMELY good insights and teaching w/ room to write your thoughts, Great for a couple to use for their daily devotions or for just yourself. Not the usual thoughts/teachings/yada yada that you find in most devotiobals. Far above the pack!!

my fault i should have looked at the inserts. i have gone through other studies by the same author and am looking forward to beging this one, right after i finish the one to which i have already commited myself.

A real thought provoking devotional with the last paragraph has a real "can you hear me"? which I have to say "Amen".

This is a wonderful book on weather. And the extreme values it gives are actually fairly interesting and fun to read about. Besides, we all like to know if we're in the middle of truly unusual weather.

The book starts with heat records for every state, both absolute maximums and July averages. As well as maps showing number of days with 90-degree (Fahrenheit) or higher temperatures. We learn about temperature-humidity indexes, heat waves, and even heat bursts. As well as extremes in temperature ranges. There's information about heat extremes in foreign countries as well.

Next we get to cold weather! Heat records for every state, both absolute minimums and January averages. Cold waves. Wind chill. And international extremes. Did you know that near Lake Vostok, in Antarctica, the temperature once reached minus 128.6 degrees Fahrenheit? Brrrr!

We learn about the snowiest cities. And then we get to rainfall records for a big bunch of American cities. There are also records for varying amounts of time. What's the record for rainfall in 30 minutes? It's over 11 inches! And it fell in Sikeshugou, China. And there's material about floods, thunderstorms, hail, and tornadoes. As well as wind and fog!

There is a fascinating chapter on hurricanes. I vividly remember Hurricane Carol, which struck in August of 1954. And there's a picture of Providence, Rhode Island, after it was hit by the storm surge from that hurricane. There is also an excellent map of the American Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean coasts, with probabilities per year of being hit by a hurricane, as well as probabilities of being hit by 125 mile-per-hour winds or greater. The five areas that in 2004 that were "overdue" for a hurricane are listed. Of course, as any technical person knows, being "overdue" for a storm does not increase the chance of being hit, if anything, it decreases it. But it does imply that one may be less prepared for one when it does hit. New Orleans is listed as one of the five areas (it was hit by Betsy in 1965 and not hit again until Katrina in 2005). The book explains that the dikes protecting downtown New Orleans, including the French Quarter, from the water in Lake Pontchartrain would almost certainly be overwhelmed by a Category 4 or 5 storm surge. And that if they were, much of that area could be swamped under 20 feet of water. I wish that more people with the responsibility for protecting the city of New Orleans (or voting for its protection) had been more aware of this, so that some of the damage caused by Katrina might have been lessened.

I highly recommend this book.

This is a well written and fascinating book on weather extremes. I'm only about 100 pages into it, but I enjoyed it so much I wanted to make a brief comment.

Although the book is mostly about extreme weather phenomena, you'll also learn a lot about more normal types of weather, since if you understand how the more extreme storms are generated, you often can understand how the less severe ones occur as well. But this is done in the context of learning about the more severe and extreme types of weather, which I find an interesting approach. After all, there isn't much when it comes to natural phenomena that's scarier than a hurricane or a tornado (well, earthquakes and tsunamis of course are right up there too, but in weather, they're the kings :-)). I once read that a typical hurricane can release each second 100 times the energy in the first atomic bomb (which was a 20 kiloton bomb).

The book discusses weather extremes from rainfall to tornadoes for the U.S. and the rest of the world, including many fascinating topics, such as internally lit tornadoes that glowed with their own light. Witnesses reported orange lightning bolts coming out of the bottom of the spout which would then be sucked up by the violent winds into the interior, thereby lighting up the entire tornado. There are a couple of photos of these sorts of tornadoes, including a black and white one at night showing two luminous tornadoes that obviously had to be internally lit. Very cool stuff and my only complaint was there weren't more photos like this, but then these are very rare phenomena.

Also, the maximum winds typically don't exceed 325 miles per hour, and most tornadoes are usually more like 75-125 miles per hour. This is just one of the many very interesting topics covered.

Overall a very cool book on weather, and I'll have more to say about it later when I finish the book.

Best book on weather I've read since Bomar's Texas Weather. As in Bomar's book, the author understands that it's the unusual weather events that are of most interest to most people, and he doesn't fail to disappoint on that score. A must for all weather nuts.

This is an excellent book and affordable. Some other reference books are very expensive and don't have the great photos and data presentations that this book has (I still highly recommend the others, but they are not cheap). This book saves a lot of time and makes it easy to show other people exactly what you are trying to say, and they will be impressed with the quality of this publication. Excellent book in its own right and can easily double as a "coffee table book" and a great conversation starter.

This is an excellent book that should actually be used as an accompying text to a regular weather text. The cartography is superb and the data is listed in an easy to understand fashion

I really enjoyed this book, and the author is really a master at her craft. Some things I still don't understand and need clarification on, and for a real novice, I'm putting this aside for a while as it seems a bit more than I can handle at the moment. I don't understand the sizing guidelines, and just wish someone would print a sizing chart. (Cannot find one anywhere) It would help so much. The rest I can read and practice. All this "1/12th" or "1/16th", I'm still trying to figure out if that is the size of the picture in comparison to the real figure or what it really means. I really missed something and otherwise, I would recommend it because she is an extremely good author and doll maker. I know I would also buy more from her if I ever get going on this!

This book is more for an intermediate to advanced sculptor.

There are many lovely color photographs from exceptional doll artists, but most of the "learning techniques" are in black and white with a lot of text.

A beginning sculptor could learn from this book, it's an excellent tool, just not much of the "hand holding" through every step like other books of this type.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and feel it is worth having in your library.

This book is wonderful, it covers every aspect of dollmaking. If this is your first time making a doll or your 100th you will find new and helpful information in this book. Definatly add this book to your doll making library.

The book "Fantastic Figures: Ideas & Techniques Using the New Clays," by Susanna Oroyan is a great book on advanced techniques in clay. However, for a beginner like me it was a bit overwhelming. So I am placing it on my book shelf and hope to be skilled enough to use it some day. As the dolls in it are great examples of OOAKmanship!

This book is a great book... but, I am only giving it 4 stars because not all of the pictures of the dolls are in color. Many are in black and white. I have been making dolls for a couple of years and her instructions are great, but probably not for the beginnner. It is interesting to see the different mediums for OOAK dolls. She provides a lot of examples using different mediums.

This is an excellent book for the novice or the expert. Everything you need to know about making stone tools the way neolithic man did is easily explained using simple very clear language. The author has done an excellent job explaining the methods, history and reasons behind a very fascinating, little known subject. Those who are interested in the history of technology will love this book.

This book is without a doubt, one of the best books I have ever read on flintknapping! The black and white photos and drawings show the exact methods of making stone tools, and how they were probably used by Native Americans.

I bought this as a gift for my husband who is an avid arrowhead collector. He was very impressed!!!

This is another five star pick, a must have if you are learning to flintknap or just studying primitive skills. Full of information for the beginner to expert.

Pick this book up and you'll be able to start flintknapping immediately. This guide is entertaining while being informative.

The Four Quartets by TS Eliot is a classic and should not be missed. It is of the type of poetry that evokes meanings from their hidden places in us through the use of word trails that are only partially logical. Our own emotions connect things, so when it is read, don't approach it with the usual straining to decipher the meaning. The ring of a gong lingers after it is struck, something of a parallel to how the poem works. Fascinating, too, is its approach to understanding the elusive sense of time, but it is couched more in the sensibilities of the East than the West.

Among all these reviews, not one comes to terms with the very title of this opus: Four Quartets. When was Eliot anything but precise in his choice of word?

The inspiration for these poems -- or reflections -- are the late string quartets of Beethoven, those numbered from 12 through 16. It is the 5-movement No.15 in A Minor,Op.132, that seems to have exerted the strongest influence, with it's famous adagio movement, which Beethoven inscribed as the thanksgiving song of a convalescent.

Actually, No.15 was the 13th in order, but the Quartets were published out of sequence, which was not uncommon in Beethoven's time. The Late Quartets progress from the classic 4-movement No.12 and add a movement to each work up to the 7-movement Op.131 in C-sharp Minor. The 16th and final quartet returns to the classic 4-movement form. There is an expansion of form concluding with a contraction and return over the course of 5 works.

Like Eliot's Four Quartets, Beethoven's Late Quartets reflect upon time and faith -- and the 'speech' is often plain: repeated phrases that appear stuck in a groove, hammered chords, cheap tunes that seem to be lifted from a band in a local inn; from long-breathed melodies that look beyond what Wagner and Mahler will eventually bring to music, to cell-like motivs not heard again till Bartok and Webern.

The 'learned' aspect of Eliot's verse can lead us astray, so that we are forever parsing the meaning of the lines. I am taken with the sounds he makes as I read the poems aloud, and the sounds he chose to convey what the poems mean are, in a sense, the essence of meaning. From the first I was struck by the sheer sound of 'time' in the context of these Quartets, which are Eliot's swan song.

I am a deeply religious Sikh living in America. The Four Quartets is to me a shining example of a man of deep understanding of God and reality. I have read this poem many times since I first read it back in college. It speaks directly to my soul. There is no passage, no phrase, which does not work for me.

I read some sections to my wife when we were first married, and she thought that it was an English translation of the Sikh holy texts.

"We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time"

There is no better explanation of Eastern religion than this. I am eternally grateful for this work.

There is a line in Section III of "The Dry Salvages" that has bothered people: "I sometimes wonder if that is what Krishna meant--" as perhaps being too overdone, or even unnecessary to the poem...but, the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna does give some insight into Eliot's comments on time and reality...when Arjuna is faced with the possibility of killing his own relatives in the opposing army, he can't handle it...Krishna then tells him that it doesn't matter....because of the immortal aspect of The Atman (man's inner spirit) which is not touched by our reality....no one really dies and so, only the doing is important:"Realize that pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat, are all one and the same." And so, in relation to the poem, Time is looked at in much the same way...We have the illusion of leaving and arriving: "You are not the same people who left that station Or who will arrive at any Terminus"...it doesn't matter what you think or your regard for the fruits of your actions...the only important duty is to make the trip: "Not fare well,/but fare forward, voyagers." Being in the flow of time, living moment to moment, doing what is necessary is all....perhaps, at the quantum level, as another reviewer has suggested: normal perceptions are topsy-turvey, we're in the rabbit hole and if we can see that, then:"...the way up is the way down, the way forward is the/way back./You cannot face it steadlly, but this thing is sure,/That time is no healer:the patient is no longer here." When the insight is achieved, time disappears, all duality vanished and you are left with that still point of consciousness only seeming to act...so, what the hell?: "Fare forward." or as Krishna would put it: "That which is non-existent can never come into being and that which is can never cease to be."----Don Hildenbrand/Eugene, OR., USA

This is a tiny book, more like a pamphlet, only 58 pages long with large print and some blank pages as part of the design. But it is mighty in its impact. These "four quartets" are four of T. S. Eliot's poems meditating (among other things) on the nature of time - time past, time present, time future...If you are of my generation and have read the poems before, you might love carrying this little book around just to dip into it for a line or two, and maybe understand something you never understood before. (T. S. Eliot is not always an easy read.) If you have never read them before, I envy you!

This is a very well written and engaging biography of one of the most incredible musicians of all time. Totally worth it!

This will probably be one of my shorter reviews [A sudden shout: "Yeah, right Doc!"] because I can quickly cut to the chase, to wit, Dr. Alan Walker has produced in this painstakingly researched 3 volume biography [spread out over 25 years during the research] with this 1811-1847 book being the first in that series, the 'definitive' Franz Liszt! This trilogy is a must read for those interested in Liszt and, IMO, is not only the definitive Liszt from "the" acknowledged authority and foremost Franz Liszt scholar but a decided asset to the Liszt biographical literature per se.

Two more comments: Watch the Amazon vendor prices for the 'hardcover' editions! Originally, these were rather pricey books in hardcover [although well worth it! Knopf quality!] but I was able to get 'used' albeit literally mint hardcover editions of the 3 volumes from 3 separate Amazon vendors. What's that? Sure! The original harcover editions were, in order of publication, $25.00, $39.95 and $45.00. I'll generally check out the hardcover offerings over the paperback editions in most of my books and sometimes there are some really exceptional buys out there although if it's a choice between 'good' and 'very good' pay the few dollars extra for the 'very good' or 'like new' grade notations.

Finally, check out among other of Dr. Walker's tomes on Franz Liszt, "The Death of Franz Liszt: Based on the Unpublished Diary of his Pupil Lina Schmalhausen" which is quite an eye-opener with regard to the "treatment" [or lack of same therein] of Liszt prior to his demise. As I said when I reveiewed that book, I trust the source of the diary find as well as the findings and its editing, annotations and examination via Dr. Walker as to the veracity of the Schmalhausen remarks. I quoted the remarks of the conductor, Felix Weingartner, who was 'there' at the time and his own observations [et al] lend credence to the Schmalhausen diary.

So too, and if finances permit and you want Franz Liszt a la mode, get the 3 volumes in one swoop plus the Lina Schmalhausen diary book which was edited and annotated by Dr. Walker in re the death of Liszt and finally, putting it all together, the 2005 published Dr. Alan Walker 'capstone', if you will, "Reflections on Liszt." See my reviews on those two tomes as well.

Doc Tony


What's that? Why not! Doc Walker with a straight white haired wig resurrecting Steve Allen's "Meeting of Minds" and doing the one and only "F. Liszt" as a sort of latter day counter-balance to Victor Borge's 'interpretation' so to speak in that classic Mike Wallace skit! Who better than Doc Walker to play Liszt and concurrently know what he's talking about! Ahhhh! That's the rather cogent difference!

A sudden voice: "What about Doc Walker's Chopin and Schumann tomes?" Fine! They could be played next! ;-) [as I place much trust in Dr. Walker's sense of humor! But the obvious compliment of his research is clearly evident!]

As a music student in the 70's the subtext when discussing Franz Liszt was that he was a showman who leaned on his empty virtuosity. Chopin, Mendelssohn, and Schumann on the other hand, were the true romantic artists.

It's taken me over 35 years of studying piano and music to get to the point where I would read this wonderful biography of Liszt, and my eyes have been opened even wider about the wonderful artistic character of Liszt and his completely indespensible role in 19th century music.

This book (I have all three) is a wonderful read, at some times it is "laugh out loud" funny, and is filled with musical examples that perfectly illustrate the points that Mr. Walker makes.

If you are a musician interested in the piano, or the Romantic period, you owe it to yourself to let the scales fall from your eyes, and read this enlightening exposition.

Alan Walker deserves 5 enthusiastic stars for making his life's purpose the writing of Franz Liszt's definitive biography, and succeeding nearly as well as humanly possible considering the availability of the always-emerging Liszt materials throughout the years. For me, I would have liked to have seen an even more musically-oriented life of Liszt. More than a few times, Walker mentions that eyewitness accounts exist of important concerts, only to refer us in a footnote to some person's diary (probably only available in some Transylvanian dialect if you could ever find it) rather than telling us about it himself. Meanwhile we're treated to almost painfully detailed renderings of Franz's love life with Marie D'Agoult and the many domestic dramas which haunted him as his pursued his life on the concert trail... but these are minor quibbles. The book is great, no doubt about it. Poor Liszt, he was the busiest piano virtuoso in history at that time, traveling in various carriages and carts across thousands of miles of potholed roads where he was jolted mercilessly and endured illness, exhaustion, rain, mud, snow and ice while he raced to his next gig. He was literally thrown to the ground violently at least twice, when wheels dipped into ditches or the drivers fell asleep and the whole carriage overturned. (It's sad and sobering to realize that this is exactly how the original bassist for the rock group Metallica, Cliff Burton, was killed more than 150 years later on a lonely road in Sweden. He was sleeping on the band's tour bus when it overturned. In a similar accident, singer Gloria Estefan was lucky to escape with her life.) Somehow, despite these gritty and dangerous travel conditions, Liszt performed a grueling succession of mostly triumphant concerts everywhere from Italy to Scotland to Russia before he decided he had been bounced around quite enough thank you, and settled down to compose and teach in Weimar, where Volume two of this epic biography begins. Towards the end of Volume 1, I began to feel as if author Walker's spark was fading slightly. And lo and behold, as I began reading Volume 2, I was very pleasantly surprised to see that the intervening years in which the author was researching the next installment had allowed him to completely recharge his batteries, and present part 2 to the public with a fully-renewed sense of brilliance, wit, and passion for his subject matter. Highly recommended reading for biography buffs interested in great musicians and composers!

This is simply the standard of Liszt biography. The fact that Alan Walker researched enough to fill three volumes is an achievement enough, but you know what else makes this biography so good? It's fun to read. Without a doubt, anyone interested in Liszt will find anecdotes, insights, illuminated facts, and even musical analysis of the most colorful and exciting character in classical music: Franz Liszt.

I've read this book twice, actually, and the second time was even more enjoyable. This owes to many things: Alan Walker's superb writing style, eloquent organization (gives the pedantics many footnotes to absorb at the bottom of the page) and a fine cohesion of thoughts and ideas put into each chapter. Sometimes I can't help but enjoy the biography as I would a novel. Yet Walker does not write it like a novel and clearly sets out to chronicle Liszt's life from his youth all the way to his retiring from the concert stage. In between these pivotal times, Walker manages to debunk myths, explore Liszt's underrated music from his virtuoso days, and examine other characters who interacted with the Hungarian composer. Walker is always focused on Liszt but never detracts by discussing Clara and Robert Schumann's reactions, or Sigismond Thalberg, Chopin and even Alkan. Walker depicts their perspective of Liszt and goes on to explain why there were so many misunderstandings.

Stories of Liszt's true meeting with Beethoven, his exciting romance with Marie D'Agoult, the duel with Thalberg, his generous nature to play for charity, and so many enticing stories of his concert days all help to shed light on what a remarkable man Liszt was, and at such a young age, too. The whole book is an exquisite panorama of Liszt's character, detailed through his letters, his travels, his music, and his legacy as researched by the author. What Walker has done is set the standard for the way Liszt should be viewed in the history books. For so long, musicologists were almost feeding us false information. From the really low ones we were even getting propaganda that he was a womanizer, a cheat, some kind of vulgar pianist, and even a fraud. Walker candidly mauls those old and incorrect views into the dust; he explores and accurately dispels the myths and ignorance that so many people harbored and still harbor for him, and for that I feel thankful.

Never have I read a biography twice like this and found the second reading even more engrossing. There is never a dull moment, never a chapter that slows down. To be fair, the only chapter that was uninteresting was the prologue and biographical information of Liszt's family. Despite that, once you're absorbed into Liszt's young world with Czerny, his move to Paris, and his tours all over Europe, it's like being on a rollercoaster ride during the whole book.

Bottom line: Liszt lovers must read this book; it's the best wealth of knowledge to get on the young Franz Liszt and it is written in a way that doesn't just educate, but also entertains. Highly recommended.