Curtis Books

Saw it on Broadway and just love it on tape! Hearing it just brings me right back. Oh, Wendy, I miss you!

And even if you didn't see the play you should still listen to this! Then just close your eyes and imagine!

The Sisters Rosensweig is a terrific, sweet and very humane play about a gathering of people, in particular three Jewish American sisters in London in 1991. Each of the sisters is stuck in some way, trapped by time in their mid-lives. They are joined at oldest sister Sara's London home by Sara's daughter, and several male suitors/friends.

Throughout Wasserstein keeps the tone light and the wit cracking. Everyone of these characters is intelligent and visible, knows the world yet remains perplexed by their own lives.

To me this is the type of affirming family bound play that warms, and though life remains elusive in many ways, the sisters know they have each other and use that love and charity to sweet degrees.

Recommended, smart and funny.

Reading a play by Wendy Wasserstien is always a delight, but even though all of her writings are to be savored, The Sisters Rosensweig exhibits an important mark in the author's maturing style. In spite of this maturation, however, the story line never grows stale and Ms. Wasserstein never fails to draw from her reader a smile and a laugh, and give to give us a refreshed sense of the type of person we want to be--it's self-help through fiction!

The Sisters Rosensweig follows the reunion of three Jewish sisters who come together for a visit in Queen Anne's Gate, London, and the joys and struggles they share concerning romance, careers, childhood, and family--joys and struggles with which we all identify, not only as women but as human beings. Thank you, Ms. Wasserstien, for another delightful treat!

This book gives an unique insight into the best bomber of World War II from a man known for his bomber strategies.

Very interesting and accurate history of a great airplane and how it helped win WW II

I am a Korean War veteran and an aviation enthusiast. From a history standpoint, I found this book to be one of the most interesting I have ever read leading up to the end of the war with Japan. I worked with B-36's in SAC under General LeMay and witnessed some of the things that he did when he was commander of this force. I briefly worked on B-29's during this time and often wondered how this bomber came to be. This book by General LeMay answered all my questions. I recommend this as excellent reading material to one and all!

This is a great book! It's about the struggle between good and evil - with a modern-day twist. It was fascinating and engrossing. I could not put it down! Very scary - you feel like it's happening right now. Makes you really think. Don't miss this one!

This is a well-written, fascinating book about the struggle between good and evil. It is a very engrossing read - I couldn't put it down! It's also very scary because it seems like most of this stuff is happening right now. The book leaves you feeling like you had better assess your life and, just maybe, start preparing for the worst! Don't pass this one up!

You know, for being a middle-aged man (I have actually met and interacted with the author...he lives in my neck of the woods now, and he substituted for one of my classes for three days before Christmas 2003), Curt writes more like a teenager or a Tween; his ideas are sharp, and usually well-thought out, but he bounces thoughts and POVs a lot, so the storyline isn't very smooth. TTT drags on frequently, and the entire book focuses on preparation for the Final Event -- only to have the action be scantly described and quite underwhelming. I realize this is Curt's first time writing, but even the Left Behind series (with immense dragging of its own) was more spellbinding than TTT.Maybe -- instead of him helping me write my research paper for World Lit. -- I should have helped him write his book!

Reviewed by Joanne Benham for Reader Views (10/06)

While almost everyone in the United States is familiar with the song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas," few people understand the sacred meaning of these days, instead finding themselves mired down in anticipation of Christmas Day itself, losing sight of the bigger picture.

The twelve days of Christmas begin on December 26 and run through January 6, Epiphany Day, when we celebrate the arrival of the Magi to present their gifts to the baby Jesus. This book takes us day-by-day through the twelve days and gives us reasons to celebrate each day. Here's a brief summary of a few days.

Day 1: The gift of God's love for us.

Day 4: The gift of joy. The author illustrates this point with a story of being stuck in an airport with weather delays, when a group of ballroom dancers staged an impromptu show for them. What a wonderful present, to make so many stressed and worried people happy.

Day 8: The gift of humility. We are urged to make space in our lives for others, to respect them for who and what they are. Listen to other people, not only with your ears, but also with your heart.

Day 11: The gift of peace. This is the promise of Christ's peace, given freely to all mankind, as written in the Bible. Jesus says, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you." Accept this peace in your heart and use it to ward off such feeling as envy, hate or rage. Peace in our hearts will change the world.

"The Twelve Days of Christmas: Unwrapping the Gifts" should be read slowly, chapter-by-chapter, on each of the twelve days leading to the Epiphany, trying to put into practice what you have learned.

How many of us know that the twelve days of Christmas actually run from December 26 through January 6. In our communities, we're so busy with the 'things' of Christmas that by December 26 we're ready to put the celebration to bed for another year.

The Twelve Days of Christmas: Unwrapping the Gifts is an inspirational message of hope that includes the topics of love, revelation, forgiveness, joy, hope, humility, companionship, gratitude, peace and the gift of a name and blessing.

Each reader will have a favorite reading. My favorite comes from the chapter, The Gift of a Name. "Jesus. The name both identifies Jesus--that is, sets him apart from us--yet also gives us access to him." It's a beautiful message.

Armchair Interviews says: The Twelve Days of Christmas is the perfect gift to give to yourself, or to someone you care about. It will be treasured each time it is read.

The traditional twelve days of Christmas run from December 26 through January 6 and are known as the 'Feast of the epiphany', the date on which Christian tradition recalls the magi's arrival to present gifts to the infant Jesus. "The Twelve Days Of Christmas: Unwrapping The Gifts" by Curtis Almquist, SSJE (the Superior at the Society of Saint John the Evangelist in Cambridge, Massachusetts) invites the readers to avoid the holiday hype and commercial overkill of the season to reflect on the source of all the good gifts of life - love, forgiveness, joy, hope, peace, compassion, and sharing. These are the gifts of the Christmas that last a lifetime and even an eternity. "The Twelve Days Of Christmas" is strongly recommended to the attention of all Christians, regardless of their denominational affiliation, wanting to 'put Christ back in Christmas'.

As a British citizen living under the long shadow of the New Labour political project, it is difficult not to be overwhelmed with cynicism when pondering the motivations and goals of a set of politicians so deeply in thrall to Big Business. Increasingly, too, the poverty of ideals among the mainstream UK political parties, in essence rival factions of the same party representing the narrow interests of the ruling state-corporate elite (as in the US), makes many fearful for the future of representative democracy in the UK.

Yet, even for those disillusioned with this depressing state of affairs, modern historian Mark Curtis' disturbing new book, Unpeople, is still likely to come as a huge shock. Unstintingly and unswervingly, in case study after case study, Curtis unravels the extraordinary levels of deception lurking beneath the squeaky-clean veneer of UK foreign policy's much-vaunted concern for human rights. At the heart of the author's portrayal of Britain as an outlaw state - one that certainly gives the US a good run for its money - lie the 'unpeople'. These are the expendable citizens of faraway countries who have suffered and died under the miseries imposed by the equally ruthless foreign policies of both Labour and Tory governments. Indeed, according to Curtis' conservative calculations, Britain may well be complicit in the deaths of in excess of 10 million `unpeople' since World War Two.

Those who have already read Curtis' previous exposé, Web of Deceit (2003), will immediately recognise the rigour of his content and the thoroughness of his research, while warming once again to his very readable writing style. In many ways, this book continues where `WOD' left off, bringing the UK's misadventures in Iraq up to date (circa autumn 2004) while mining declassified government documents in order to lay bare Britain's malevolent influences in conflicts as far afield and removed in history as Vietnam and Biafra (during the 1960's under the Wilson government) and contemporary Colombia.

In summary, 'Unpeople' is essential - though highly unpalatable - reading for anyone seeking to understand Britain's real role in the world. Be prepared for this five-star text to disabuse you of some comforting but misplaced assumptions.

From an American point of view what really disturbed me was the enabling that goes on between the U.S. and Great Britain. Mr. Curtis goes into some detail about the role Britain played in legitimizing and containing world condemnation for America's war in Vietnam. Although the British policy makers knew that this war was a lost cause, and knew of some of the U.S. military's more nefarious policies they still shielded the U.S. from as much criticism as they could.

For those of us here in the U.S. hoping that Britain could become a voice of reason, this book does not do much to nurture that hope. I was surprised when Curtis writes about how British foreign policy seems to be run by elites much like here in the U.S. Foreign policy is not subject to the will of the people, but instead is hidden from the public. It seems that whichever political party is in charge the direction of foreign policy rarely changes much.

The most frightening aspect of the book is how media is becoming more consolidated. Media is such an essential element for any democracy that this trend is perhaps the biggest threat to our freedoms than any terrorist or rogue state out there. As the media becomes more and more consolidated, the easier it will be to manipulate our information and thus the people. Reading that the British media is following the same trends as media here in the U.S. is a frightening prospect.

The British government's arms deals with the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin is another similarity between the U.S. and every other country with a highly developed military industrial complex. When a large portion of government revenue comes from exporting materials used for war or murder how can that nation ever be an honest broker for peace? When large sectors of an economy of any country is devoted entirely too military arms what will be that country's main export peace or war? We in the industrialized must make the tough decisions about whether we are willing to keep our enormous wealth even if that means we continue to export death and destruction to those less fortunate nations.

I believe one has to work to change his/her own home before they should criticize someone else's, and I did not read this book looking to criticize British policy, but instead I wanted to learn what kind of help the U.S.'s biggest ally might be in curbing our aggressive policies. In this regard, I found Mr. Curtis's book to be rather disappointing. It's very disturbing when you look at a country's polls and see that policy is in direct contradiction to what the people want. When a nation's foreign policy is not subject to its citizens or humanitarian standards then will that country ever be an honest defender of human rights or ever have the moral authority to demand morality from any other nation?

Until we the people arm ourselves with this knowledge and demand that our governments behave humanely these policy makers will be able to export death in our names. Like it or not, we all share responsibility for what our governments do.

Curtis has based his excellent new book on considerable research in the National Archive, especially the newly available government documents from the early 1970s.

He shows how British governments backed coups in British Guyana, Oman, Idi Amin in Uganda and Pinochet in Chile. He shows how Labour backed the US aggression against Vietnam, tore up the Geneva Agreement, supported every escalation, opposed every effort at negotiation, used the SAS and MI6, gave military training and sold arms.

Now Labour backs Nepal's king, who has dismissed the elected government and postponed elections indefinitely. It aids and trains his forces, which have a far worse human rights record than the resistance.

Labour backs the Obasanjo tyranny in Nigeria, which has killed at least 2,200 people (far more killed than in Zimbabwe, for instance), but Nigeria has yielded $300 billion worth of oil over the last few decades.

Labour backs the Colombian government, a drug-dealing tyranny which has killed tens of thousands pretending that it is warring on drugs. British firms are the country's largest investors, at $10 billion. BP has invested $2 billion and controls half Colombia's oil output.

Labour backs Sharon's plan for permanently occupying the West Bank, which tears up all the UN Resolutions requiring Israel to withdraw from the illegally occupied territories. Labour doubled its arms exports to Israel in 2001-02 - machine guns, rifles, tear gas, leg irons, electric shock belts, and parts for tanks, helicopters and F-16 planes. It abstained in the UN vote declaring Israel's wall illegal.

Curtis proves with a wealth of examples that the key features of the current war on Iraq are endemic and typical of Britain's ruling class: "in particular: the violation of international law, the government's abuse of the UN, its deception of the public and its support for US aggression." Only the incompetence of this government is unusual: their lies were so bad that we rumbled them.

As the House of Commons Defence Committee reported approvingly in March 2004, the Ministry of Defence's "media strategy ... was an integral part of the overall military plan." The Foreign Office's London-based `public diplomacy' cost £340 million a year. The Army says it must keep `moral as well as information dominance'. `Embedding' journalists "helped secure public opinion in the UK." British land force commander General Brims said, "none of them let the side down."

Curtis sums up Labour's policy, in alliance with NATO and the EU: "first, Britain is deepening its support for state terrorism in a number of countries; second, unprecedented plans are being developed to increase Britain's ability to intervene militarily around the world; third, the government is increasing its state propaganda operations, directed towards the British public; and fourth, Whitehall's planners have in effect announced they are no longer bound by international law."

Curtis' book is a slashing indictment of a ruling class in decline, ever more at odds with what British society needs and wants, ever more interventionist abroad. However, the right response is not a `global justice movement', a rootless internationalism, but workers' nationalism seizing real democracy, as in Cuba.

This book is packed full of useful information about what to eat and the nutritents you need while being pregnant. I found it easy to follow and a quick read. A definte recommend to anyone's pregnancy library! I also liked and would suggest You Know You're Pregnant When. Reflections on the Longest Nine Months of My Life.

I bought many pregnancy books and this is the only one I loved it. It is useful not only for pregnancy but also in order to know which vitamins, foods,minerals are necessary and where can you find them.
It is very easy to read also.
I recommend it.

I bought this small guide thinking it would clarify exactly what I should be keeping in mind nutrition-wise being 3 months pregnant ( I had found What to Expect's nutrition section somewhat hard to follow). This very short book had a LOT of repetition and, in some instances, displayed a poor editing job (under the heading of Peanut Allergies you will find the suggestion that you should really eliminate fish, eggs and cows milk from your diet to avoid exposing your baby to some common allergens--whether during pregnancy or while breastfeeding is unclear, while a chapter ago the book strongly advocated 12 ounces of fish per week). All in all, this book did have good information and good looking recipes (hence the three stars) but could have been much better, and I did not find that the quality justified an $8 price tag.

We all need a good story. We need to people our exposition with the concrete. The listeners hope to hear the words "there was this man that... or I am told that ...", knowing that the preacher is using a storehouse of wisdom. Preaching is not about one's own special story, but about clearly and in an entertaining manner telling our shared experience and needs. This type of book is a must for all who preach or speak.

As someone who speaks for church and non church related groups, I find this book very helpful and benificial. I recommend it to all public speakers.

This book did not quite meet my expectations. Since I have more reason to criticize I shall start my review by listing the flaws.

First thing that strikes me as a mistake is the fact that the works are not arranged in any order, but rather just thrown in at random. Although the authors make it clear in the introduction that this was done deliberately it still strikes me as a poor decision.

Next, neither one of the two authors is an art historian. Too bad, because a lot of the works merit better descriptions.

In my opinion the authors included too many works by LeRoy Neiman, and at the same time failed to include some very important works of art that should really have been included to make this book complete. LeRoy Neiman also wrote the Foreword, which is fine, except that he made a big mistake in his description of the world famous painting "The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs" by Georges de La Tour. He says, "Women gambling pops up frequently in this collection. Georges de La Tour's painting of a woman being cheated..." The famous painting in question shows a young man being cheated by small conspiratorial group of two women and a man. How could such big mistake slip through the cracks and end up in print? Sloppiness?

While at the subject of La Tour's masterpiece, "The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs". The authors do mention that this painting is a virtual clone of another work by the same artist, "The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds", however they did not include a color plate of the other one. Why not? Furthermore the authors have totally failed to provide an accurate description of this masterpiece. According to the authors this painting is about a cheat switching cards. Yes, a cheat is seen holding out two aces behind his back, however there is more to it; the main foundation for this painting is a moral essay on the three main temptations of the 17th century - women , gambling and wine. A quick glance into a few art books would have made this fact known to the authors.

Although the authors did note that the above-mentioned work was strongly influenced by Caravaggio's "The Cardsharpers", they failed to include any paintings by Valentin de Boulogne, a celebrated artist, also influenced by Caravaggio, and the only one said to come close or even surpass Caravaggio's talent. The two masterpieces by Valentin that should have been included are "Cardsharpers" and "Soldiers Playing Cards and Dice" (aka "The Cheats").

Other paintings that should have been included are works by Theodor Rombouts, such as "Card and Backgammon players" (aka "Fight Over Cards"), and two renditions of "The Card Players". The exclusion of the above-mentioned works makes this book incomplete.

As I had already mentioned, the descriptions of the paintings tend to be a bit incomplete, sometimes inaccurate, and often tend to focus on irrelevant subjects. For example, in the description of "The Dice Playes" by Georges de La Tour, which was painted in 1650, the authors slip away to a description of an event that happened in 1984 when a Texan (unnamed) made a one million Dollar bet at the Craps table, at Binnion's Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas. Although this is undoubtedly a good story, what does that have to do with the painting that La Tour painted in the 17th century?

As an example of an inaccurate description I could mention the Carl Kronberger's "Surprised". At first glance one can see a scene in which three card players, seated under a bridge are distracted by a carriage that happens to be passing over the same bridge. The authors are attempting to guess which three-handed game of card the players could be playing. However, what they failed to notice is that the players are seated on top of their bags, around a make-shift table, and that there is an abandoned fourth bag over which the absent fourth player laid his hand of five cards to rest. Furthermore this fourth player left his wager (a few coins) on the card table. At the same time he is seen begging for change, hat in hand, on top of the bridge, as the rich man seated in the carriage in tossing spare change into the man's hat. The painting obviously shows an interrupted four-handed game, and not a three-handed game, as the authors are guessing.

On the good note, I still find the book interesting. It is probably the best gaming-related art book with good color reproductions. Despite its flaws it is till obvious that the authors did do a substantial amount of research and I do recommend this book for anyone interested in gaming and/or gambling, and art.

I bought this as a gift, and I only had time to thumb through it. I figured that I would write a quick note since it has not been rated and others might at least want an idea.

This book is full of interesting and colorful art work. From card games to horse racing it has it all. If you think you will be interested you will like it. I was very happy with the purchase.

This is an excellently historical perspective by the now late Giles Worsley. Photographs by William Curtis Rolf capture a grand epoch in British architecture that was dedicated to this noble animal.

I would have like to have seen photographs of the beautiful west front of the Chatsworth Stable. Also, some of the blueprints did not reproduce well. I think it would have been a more pleasing read if these were clearer. Instead of angles of the rooftops, it would have been nice to see the whole stable.