Eighteenth Century Books

Many consider this work as Marx's best effort towards political philosophy. While the Communist Manifesto and the Critique os the Gotha Programme are also classics in marxian political thought, this books presents the best and most profound theoretical analysis. Just as the two panphlets above mentioned, this one came up as an "writing of occasion", but more than a pamphlet this is a book, and a classical one. If the Manifesto should be the gateway to marxian political thought, the Brumaire is the book for those who wish to deepen their knowledge on marxian political conceptions. A must for anyone concerned with politics in general.

I turn to this little book repeatedly as quick reference for general developments across the century--it offers better geographical coverage than most treatments of "the century of Rococo," especially since most treatments of the 18th century are actually Baroque/Rococo surveys, and they cover the 1600s intensely, then gloss over the 1700s and place huge emphasis on France. That emphasis is understandable, given France's dominance in art and architecture, but it leaves huge gaps when one wishes for focussed examination of XVIII--Italy? Central Europe? England (Hogarth! Gainsborough!) America? (Copley! Peale! West!). That's why the slender Cambridge Introduction to the History of Art for the Eighteenth Century is both well-named (introduction) and so useful. It even includes well-chosen illustrations, notes on artists and a glossary that are just what students need for an introductory/survey course.

This book is a must for serious collectors of period 18th century French furniture.

Anyone interested in the making of cannon needs this book. Using artwork made by one of the Woolwich Arsenal gunfounders, the book details the steps to making the pattern, the mold, melting and pouring the brass, and boring the gun. The authors show that the Verbruggens faced false allegations at a Dutch foundry before moving to Woolwich and revolutionizing British gun making there with a horizontal gun boring machine. Unfortunately, the illustrations are black and white.

The book does a good job of explaining and surveying the various types of keyboards, composers and styles during the 18th century. From the high baroque works of J.S. Bach and Scarlatti to the early works of Beethoven, this book discusses the evolution of keyboard music during the pivotal 18th Century. Excellent chapters on C.P.E. Bach, on Haydn, and the Italian style I found particularly interesting. Ironic that the leading proponent of the Italian style during the century would be the German Johann Christian Bach whose stylistic influence on Mozart appears to have been profound.

One of the better books I've read on objectively looking at the direct influences, or lack thereof, of J.S. Bach on C.P.E. Bach and C.P.E. Bach on Haydn. The author makes a strong and compelling case for evaluating each composer in their own right because of how much they diverge from each other in so many fundamental ways in how they used the keyboard instruments of their day.

For those music lovers who find the wide variety of keyboard music from the 18th Century fascinating, this book does a good job of putting it all in the context of the times and influences of the period as well as acknowledges the creative genius of so many composers who represent the period.

This book was issued in conjunction with an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museaum of Art in New York some years ago. However, the book is really much more than that. It gives brief biographies of 14 fascinating women from the Eighteenth Century. These were women such as Abigail Adams, Rose Bertin, Vigee-Lebrun and Madame Pompadour who were women of their time and yet, in many ways, curiously modern. Some defied convention, some worked within it, but all were unique personalities. The writing is enlightening and interesting and the illustrations are lovely. If you like the Eighteenth Century and women's place in history, you will enjoy this book.

Although I wouldn't recommend this book to a novice furniture historian, nor to a novice collector, for the more experienced student of l8thC furniture history this book is an invaluable source of information seldom, if ever, published in one volume before. The format of the book allows research by subject alone (e.g. material and techniques) if, like me, you find the text rather too dry and heavy going to be a steady read. I would suggest that no serious library of furniture history will be complete without this volume.

One of my courses makes us read some eighteenth-century texts, including a novel by Richardson, and I got interested in whether people wrote letters like that in real life, and was advised to read this new book. It was so warm! This is such a good generous book and full of wise deep studying. Other cultural history works I have read seem very shallow by comparison. I am glad I read it.

The Eighteenth Century was the start of the Enlightenment in Europe. "Eighteenth Century Literature and Culture" is a look at this exciting time in the world and its literature, which leads its readers to learn much about the people and society of the day. With focuses on the many writers of the era and their common techniques, enhanced with a chronology of world history's major writings, "Eighteenth Century Literature and Culture" is a top pick for anyone who wants to educate themselves on the era and for community library literary studies collections.

This delightful book examines a fascinating group of people and a truly amazing place that most of us have never paid attention to. With this carefully researched, lavishly illustrated (including 8 beautifully rendered colour prints of paintings by early bird artists that almost belong framed on the wall rather than hidden in the book)and heavily footnoted (over 20 PAGES of references!) book, Houston, Ball & Houston have gone a long way to shedding light on a forgotten era upon which many of our contemporary ideas in ecology have been based.

The stage is enormous: thousands of square miles of some of the barrenest land in the Western Hemisphere. The cast is fascinating: a band of explorer/naturalist/businessmen who carve out the great fur empire of the Hudson's Bay Company while at the same time keeping meticulous notes of everything from bird-life to temperatures. The authors move us along through both the biology, geography, and history at a good pace & provide some fun insights in appendices like "How did the Canada Goose get its name before there was a Canada?" and "Cree names for Natural History species". If you are the sort of biologist who is intrigued by details and/or want some real insight into a remarkable chapter in the history of the biology of North America, this book is for you!