Pennsylvania Books

The United States led invasion of Iraq has provoked a great variety of reactions from around the globe. But what was the true reason behind these reactions - are they really looking out for their country's best interests, or is it something far more petty? "Architects of Delusion: Europe, America, and the Iraq War" is an examination of these responses with a focus on the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and Germany. The results that Serfaty presents are intriguing and somewhat discomforting. "Architects of Delusion: Europe, America, and the Iraq War" is a must have for any student of current events and for community library international studies shelves.

This book is thirty years old, but that is its only serious shortfall. It ranges across the entire city, showing not only stand-out buildings but also samples of the city's context. The book ventures unabashedly into north and south Philly, showing typical row house blocks and neighborhood landmarks. The sharp critical tone and frank approach to the city's urban landscape are commendable, especially since not a single guide to the city since this one has touched these topics. If you want a guide to the entire city, not just the tourist highlights, this is the one you need. A comparative lack of photographs is my only other complaint about the book. Well worth having.

Anyone who has experienced a Benno Janssen designed property understands the beauty, majesty and uniqueness of his style. His use of the natural resources of Western Pennsylvania and a style of combining high roofs and archways create an Eastern European look. He is truely one of our country's greatest architects. I recommend this book for anyone who appreciates great architecture, especially when it utilizes the surrounding landscape.

Aristophanes was a ribald playwright whose raucous plays were brilliantly brought to life by Alfred Corn, RHW Dillard, XJ Kennedy, and Campbell McGrath. In the first play of the series of four plays, Wasps, satirizes the jury-for-pay system, prevalent in Athens during the war with Sparta. Athens was populated with older men, veterans of the wars with Persia, and were particularly noted for the severity of their judgments. In the play, Philocleon is being kept prisoner in his own home by his son, Bdelycleon, in an attempt to prevent the father from going to the courthouse to pronounce sentence on a criminal before even hearing the evidence. Bdelycleon uses a clever argument to convince his father to stay home and serve as judge and jury over household matters. His first case was trying the pet dog for stealing food and not sharing it with the cat.

Lysistrata is a hilarious play about Athenian women who team up with the women of Sparta and Thebes to force the men to make peace. Written during the Peloponnesian War, Aristophanes, like his play, Peace, takes a strong anti-war stance (...) .

In Frogs, Aristophanes hits upon the theme of a lack of good playwrights in Athens. Written after the death of Euripides, Aeschylus, and Sophocles, the hero of the comedy, Dionysus (god of arts, among other things) wants to bring back Euripides from Hades. He pretends to be Hercules (who had gone to Hades to capture Cerberus, the guard dog of Hades) and runs into all kinds of trouble. He eventually referees a crazy debate between Euripides and Aescylus, to determine who the best playwright is.

Finally, in The Sexual Congress, we have an uproarious comedy about the women of Athens disguising themselves as men and stocking the General Assembly. Praxagora, as the leader of the women, proposes that the affairs of the city be turned over to the women. The women won the day and instituted a utopian society not to different from Plato's Republic, but this one went way overboard. Written after the war with Sparta, Athens was beset with corruption and low morale at the time.

The four plays in Aristophanes, 2 span the gamut from Old Comedy to New Comedy. The former was characterized by vulgar and slapstick humor with a Chorus used to interact with the audience. As comedy evolved the Chorus played less a role and there was a softening of the ribald humor so characteristic of Old Comedy.

To make the plays more readable and understandable without losing any of the humor of the plays the translators often made references to Twentieth Century phrases instead of the original Greek phrases. This might be annoying to the scholar but makes these plays eminently enjoyable to the general reader.

I know Cindy and had the opportunity to see an advanced copy of her book.
I think she did a terrific job of portraying the area the way it was years ago.
This book would make a great gift and is a good book, not only for those from the area, but also for anyone interested in quarries, trains or local history.

A very comprehensive book of mostly photographs about the lovely town of Picture Rocks, PA. I've purchased several copies for friends and relatives. They love this book!

A wonderful compilation of images from old historic communities of West Grove and Avondale, Pennsylvania. Well-researched text accompanies the images. Anyone who lives or has lived in the area deserves to have a copy. Anyone interested in small-town eastern seaboard life of years past will appreciate this for history of the architecture, culture and commerce in this great little town where I spent my childhood.

Art And Its Discontents: The Early Life Of Adrian Stokes by Richard Read (Senior Lecturer in Art History at the University of Western Australia) is a definitive study of the provocative art criticism, poetry, and other writings of Adrian Stokes' (1902-72). Stokes was one of the first (if not the first) critical writers in Britain to connect psychoanalytic theory to art, -- a talent that might itself relate to his entry into psychoanalysis in 1929 in order to cope with his own dilemmas of sexual identity and self-consciousness. Art And Its Discontents is a masterful written, exceedingly thoughtful, and highly commended study of a singularly articulate individual.

This is THE resource on PA Dutch pottery of the 18th and 19th century. It is filled with references to long forgotten potteries in Eastern Pa., especially the Upper Bucks County region once called the Nockamixon Swamp. He details the history of the potteries and the tools and techniqies used by the potters. This book is out of print but well worth searching for.

Hacker Martin, a very accomplished gunsmith, once said "it is impossible to write a good book on building the flintlock, and who is fool enough to try using their instructions?" - Foxfire. This book, however, is more than good enough. It gives detailed instructions and diagrams on every step of building a rifle, from choosing the right wood, to inletting the lock and barrel, to carving and engraving. I've already built a longrifle using this book.