Nicholson Books

This is a great book and very interesting for everyone, not just artistic photographers. I love it! The only thing that was disappointing was that the label on the back of the book put on by Amazon was incredibly sticky and very hard to remove. I nearly damaged the book trying to get it off so be careful. Rubbing alcohol and a dull scraper of some kind works pretty good.

For anyone who appreciates the beauty of books or black and white photography, this is an absolute must have. It is beautiful. Highly recommended.

When I first saw this book in a book store last December, and began looking through the pages, my eyes welled up with tears at the sheer poetry of the images. It was as if doors opened into other levels of awareness. When I put the book down, I realized that I had been looking at it for over an hour, and that's when I knew I simply needed to own it. Since then, the detail and depth of the images have provided a refuge from the news in the world today. There is still beauty and peace. Thank you, Abe Morell.

Some of the photographs in Abelardo Morell's A Book of Books are of great books: A Tale of Two Cities, A Farewell to Arms, Alice in Wonderland. And in placing these photographs together in this wonder-filled volume, Morell has created a great book of his own. For like all great books, this one makes you see the familiar in new ways; offers layers upon layers of meaning; and pushes you to make connections among objects and ideas that sometimes appear to have little, if anything, in common. At the same time, it is a glorious book to look at, to sink into, again and again. If you love books, you'll love this one.

Everything Abelardo Morell does is gorgeous but what makes him such a genius is the mudane things he works with. The only photographer I can compare him to is Josef Sudek.

Let's be honest. Anybody can go to a beautiful place like Yosemite or Big Sur, take a view camera and wait for nice light. Instant Ansel Adams; you can't miss unless you kick the tripod.

But how many people can make a heartbreakingly beautiful photograph from a crumpled ball of paper or some peeling paint? Get this book of books and you'll see what I mean.

Not a lot to read but entertaining non the less. Awsome trophy rooms; alot of them from times when there were less hunting restrictions and less animals on the endangered list. Great coffee table book. I will be ordering the rest of the series in the future.

Just the right book for any hunter. My only complaint is the sections on English manor homes seemed a little disjointed.

A well written book with good and many pictures. A super book for any trophy hunter!

This series is an excellent designed series of photos of trophy rooms from around the world. These make an excellent addition to our trophy room coffee table. They are well made and interesting to look at. The pictures are good and the book takes the wear and tear of repeated use. I would recommend this serie to anyone interested in viewing interesting trophy room layouts and mounts of some of the worlds experienced hunters, most of whom have had the honor of hunting worldwide.

After finishing my African Safari, I was given a copy of this book by a South African taxidermist. The book's pictures are so vivid and life-like. The thoroughness of the book is astounding. You almost feel as if you have visited the private collections of many great hunters! A must read for anyone who loves trophy rooms. Also will aide in some ideas for a trophy room of your own. Should be added to everyone's collection.

Richard Muller's "Nemesis: The Death Star" is one of the most fascinating works on the subject. With 17 chapters and 185 pages, this book is easy to read and certainly a food for thought to which the author proposes the theory that our Sun has an unseen companion star. And, if there's an unseen companion star orbiting the Sun periodically, it would mostly likely to be passing through the Oort cloud (clouds of comets) surrounding our system, knocking off comets in the direction of the Earth and other planets, as it would leads to a periodic cosmic bombardment.

It is often a wonder on why comet impacts are not seen as frequent or so we have been told. Most scientists nowadays are focusing on asteroids, not comets. Why? Comets are generally known to be unstable yet they are being ignored. Some individuals would of course say that the Earth is pretty safe from the cosmic bombardment. No worry. Let's all relax and live our lives as normally. But, that is the sort of a wrong attitude to take now. Muller said that "we are in the 'eye' of the comet storm, and, just like the eye of a hurricane, it is quiet" (p. 107). In other words, we are in a "calm before the storm" phase. Will we ever be prepared?

Muller's book reads like a scientific autobiography, even though it is not, but it is a book that reveals an intellectual journey of discovery. It is very informative, eye-opening, and insightful. I would very much recommend it as I sincerely hope that the author would re-publish this work.

Along with Muller's book, I would also recommend other works relating to cosmic bombardment: Victor Clube's The Cosmic Serpent and The Cosmic Winter, as well Mike Baillie's New Light on the Black Death.

Nemesis is a true account of a scientist's journey in trying to solve one of the most fascinating puzzles in modern science... what is the cause of mass extinctions on Earth?

Upon reading a paper by two other scientists who showed that there was an unexplained periodicity of mass extinctions on planet Earth every 26 million years coupled with the discovery of iridium deposits at all of the extinction boundaries, Richard Muller comes up with a rough idea that it might be related to a companion star with our Sun which somehow causes a spike in comet or meteor impacts.

Muller gives amazing insight into the scientific process while telling this great story of discovery. Highly recommended to anyone, especially students.

THis is both a scientific and a detective novel. But then again, all science involves searching for the unknown or the missing. Luis Alvarez and his son are both cosmologists of that old school - those who both theorize and journey beyond the walls of academia.

It was an insight, something totally unforseen, that caused them to think of a "death star" that routinely visits the Earth bringing with it asteroids of death and destruction. This new knowledge along with all the evidence of other, non-Nemesis destructive events makes one suddenly aware of how precious and fragile is our existence. Through journeys to all parts of the globe, collecting samples, months of analysis, back to the field and back to the labs, writing, formulating....this was a task of momentous proportions.

Particularly difficult was the disclaim received when their theory was first proposed. The scientific community is a jealous one and those announcing new or revisionist views are rarely applauded and even less accepted. When other scientists joined the fray and computer simulations began agreeing with the theory, attitudes began to change. One particular problem was synthesizing the known extinctions with the alleged serial ones - and once this was done they were home free.

Because we cannot "see" a Nemesis star, this will always have to be based on strong, circumstancial evidence (periodic mass extinctions, the layers of irridium, the computer-generated hypothese). Great book and great writing.

"Nemesis: The Death Star" is the story of a possible explanation for periodic comet and asteroid impacts on Earth and other members of the Solar System. In brief, Dr. Richard Muller of Cal-Berkley believes that our Sun may have an as yet undetermined companion star (remember, many stars are part of binary systems).

There are about 3,000 stars which meet the basic qualifications for our Sun's binary companion: visual magnitude of 7 to 12, probably a Red Dwarf, and probably between 1-3 light-years orbital distance from the Sun. The distances for the stars which could possibly be the Nemesis star have NOT been measured, though the stars themselves have been catalogued. This is a tedious, time-consuming and, unfortunately, not very pressing matter for most astronomers. Hence, despite the widespread debates on the Nemesis Theory over all these years, it still has been left unresolved, indeed, the basic scientific measurements have not been done (though Muller and others are re-starting the effort).

If our Sun has a Nemesis companion, then every few million years it would come into contact with our Solar System by impacting the Ort Cloud. The Ort Cloud is the outer halo of objects tied to our Sun and the Solar System, and includes comets and other fragmentary matter which often have long, elliptical orbits. The Ort Cloud extends out almost to a light-year, or some 50,000 AU (astronomical unit = 93 million miles, the distance from the Sun to Earth). By comparison, Pluto, the most distant planet, is only about 50 AU distant from the Sun.

Nemesis would alter the route of some of those objects, throwing them "inward" towards the Solar System and causing the cratering so visible on our Moon and the planet Mercury. These impacts are less visible on Earth (erosion, plate tectonics, continental changes) but we have several "smoking guns" coinciding with some well-known impacts from Earth's history, most noticeably the impacts at the time of the dinosaur extinction (Cretaceous, 65 million years ago) and The Great Dying (Permian-Triassic, 251 million years ago).

You can see updates on Muller's Nemesis Theory on his website, which also includes interesting essays on scientific topics of current interest, like terrorism and climate change. Lately, Muller's research has included models on the potential long-period stability of an assumed Nemesis orbit.

Muller's book goes into details on the various scientific methods they used to determine possible impact time-lines and the causes of extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Era. It is pretty easy reading, you do not need to be an expert on astronomy or physics to understand or enjoy the story (it reads like a novel, as other reviewers have noted) and Richard Muller is a very good storyteller.

The only negative is that the book is out-of-print and might be tough to come by. On the other hand, if the search for Nemesis pans out, I am sure Dr. Muller will do the long-awaited 2nd Edition of the book and it will be readily available.

Dr. Muller is my Physics professor here at U.C. Berkeley, and he is quite an exceptional man. This book reads very easy, often explaining the most complicated scientific ideas and theories in easy to understand ways. The accumulated knowledge that this book provides is almost as spectacular as the description of the journey through that knowledge. I did not buy this book, it was actually given to our class by Dr. Muller himself, but if you have even an inkling of interest in not only science, but also in exploration and discovery, then I would sincerely encourage you to try to find it, if not thru a used bookstore then perhaps at a local public library. It's a relatively short and quickly read work, and is well worth the time you put into it. I can't recommend it highly enough.

No time to write much - twin 19 month-old boys will do that.
I've been to pompeii a number of times, worked on a dig there and have read many books about the town. This book weaves such a fascinating story using known facts and logical assumptions that, after finishing it, I picked it up and read it again.

These two authors, Mr. Butterworth and Dr. Laurence, have brought a great human story to life. Offering insights I found most mesmerizing. I especially liked some of the 'dirt', Nero's challenges, and many attempts to murdering his mother, Agrippina, his acting career, and an account of the burnign of Rome. Their description of the devastating earthquake and the all important water system and aquaducts. The suggestion of the importance of public arenas and games, not unlike modern societies. This is a great non-fiction read.

Mention Pompeii, we tend to think of the ruins of a Roman city, and the eerie plaster casts that were made of those who had perished, the echoes of their bodies found in the ashes. Many books have the hints that the ancient Romans had it coming, the eruption of the nearby Vesuvius being a sign of divine retribution for their decadent, pleasure loving lives, and it was a view point that many later Christian writers took up with glee. Most writers focus simply on the eruption, the efforts of the inhabitants to flee, and not much more.

But authors Alex Butterworth and Ray Laurence take on a very different approach. Instead of imposing modern stereotypes onto the story of Vesuvius and Pompeii, they take a far wider and much more intimate account of the story. The tale begins a few years before the earthquake that shattered the city in 62 ce, a catastrophic event that ruined or damaged many of the buildings, and caused many inhabitants to either be killed or flee to other parts of the Empire.

But a few stay, taking advantage of low land values, and a dramatic political shift and are determined to rebuild. After all, not only was Pompeii on what is now the Bay of Naples, but it was a major port and agricultural center as well. It is an ironic fact that volcanos produce soils rich in nutrients, perfect especially for the grapes that produced the sweet wines that the Romans were so fond of. And during the first century of the common era, many thought that Vesuvius was a dormant volcano. Even Spartacus with his slave army had camped in the crater during his rebellion.

All of this I had known before reading this book. What I discovered afterwards amazed me. For Pompeii had a powerful patroness, none other than Poppaea Sabina, the wife of Nero. Possibly born and raised in Pompeii, Poppaea maintained close ties to Pompeii and the graffiti that was found etched and painted on the surviving walls mention her many times. Indeed, the authors go into great detail about the women of Pompeii, from their business dealings, lives as slaves, wives and workers; all too often, Roman women seem to be skipped over in favour of their more martial, public husbands and sons.

Interspersed throughout the book are small fictional snippets about the actual people in Pompeii. They're not too long, tiny vignettes about ordinary people, whether they are politicians, an abused slave girl seeking sanctuary, a smallholding farmer, or an overseer on an estate. Each one is vividly written and I found myself wanting to know more about each person. It was these snippets that really caught my attention and they kept the narrative fresh and creative. Not that there was a problem with the longer sections -- the authors are wise enough to gear this towards the causal reader; the story flows well for covering nearly twenty years of political turmoil and natural disasters.

Throughout the book, we're given tantilizing hints of the world of Pompeii, from the glittering surroundings of the wealthy and powerful, to the grinding misery of the slaves, graffiti and slander scrawled on the walls -- the Romans were not prudish or shy about denigrating an opponent in public -- the use of frankly sexual art that would horrify most people today, and all of the little bits of a world that was lost on a late morning in August, in the year 79 ce.

It's a great read, and I happily recommend this one for anyone interested in ancient Rome. This was a book that kept me up late at night, moving smoothly between the stories, and knowing that inevitable doom was about to hit. One aspect that I really enjoyed was that the authors bothered to put Pompeii and its story within the larger context of the Roman world, and suddenly a lot of history and ideas of their world came into focus and began to make sense.

Two inserts of black and white and colour photos are included, along with three maps showing the Roman Empire with its provinces and cities, a map of the Bay of Naples and the area around Pompeii, and finally, one of Pompeii itself. Along with the narrative, there are acknowledgements, a bibliography and index, all of which serve to tempt the reader on further discoveries for themselves about Roman archaeology.

I happily recommend this one. It's a worthy addition to anyone's library, and especially those who find the Roman world a very interesting one indeed.

This book takes a very close look at the buried city of Pompeii, and the type of living that went on in it prior to, and at the time of, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. It goes into great detail, and even has some fictional episodes done in italics to give more of a flavor to the work. It tended to be a bit dry at times, which cost it that last star, in my estimation. On the other hand, you will learn a great deal that you didn't know about life in Pompeii, and by extension, other parts of the Roman Empire during and shortly after the time of Nero.

This book brings Pompeii alive in way that I've only seen before in well made TV documentaries. The authors bring a depth of scholarship and imagination to this book that makes it easy to read and enjoyable. They have bought together many strands of information that has for many years languished in dusty Italian archives or only been published in Italian in obscure technical books.

This book only really covers the last 20 or so years of the cities life. It interspaces imaginative reconstructions of people's lives with the factual information on what people in the city would have lived with. We get a good overview of the reign of Nero and the impact he had on the city. (He has a deserved reputation for madness if this book is anything to go by) It also covers the great earthquake in AD63 and the impact it had on the city in the years leading up to its final destruction in AD79.

If you have any interest in Pompeii then this is a book you should read. It brings the Roman world alive. You have a distinct feeling that Pompeii was a complex city, in many ways like modern cities with its infrastructure needs - though distinctly different in its political processes and its reliance on the mass of slaves to keep things running. All said, this is a good read and if you know nothing of ancient Rome or Pompeii a good, and lively, introduction to both.

As with all Rumis poetry and Coleman Barks translations this is a goose bump inducing beauty. I love Rumi and this is no exception.

This has been my favorite book for years - it can transport the reader straight into the world of soul. rumi is the best and i love these translations. perfect, definately worth having even for people who are not-so-much-into poetry

Rumi needs no praise from me and Barks' translation is beautiful, mysterious, and urgent. I find his introductions to the many sections especially moving. My only problem is that I ordered the book after I bought Barks' "The Essential Rumi," which changed me. This book has many overlaps. I'd have preferred to see more original translations, but as a first introduction, you can do no better.

Coleman Barks once again translates the words of Rumi with respect, good nature, a bit of humor, and a deep understanding of this 13th century mystic and poet. A renowned poet and something of a mystic himself, Coleman Barks leads us through his book as a constant and caring companion. He begins each chapter with his own touching stories, guidance, and expert explanations for the material he lays out. One simply cannot come away from this book without having some sincere appreciation for the devotion and dedication Coleman Barks has for another poet's words.

In "Rumi: The Book Of Love: poems of ecstasy and longing", we are led deep into the regions of the soul, where love is both Universal and Divine. It is a love that beckons us to shed our own image and concepts of ourselves, in exchange for a love that is so vast and joyful, its eloquence can only be experienced rather than explained.

How can we know the divine qualities from within? If we only know through metaphors, It's like when children ask what sex feels like and you answer, "Like candy, so sweet." (88)

Rumi seems to realize mankind is comprised of many faiths, and he mentions many of them with dignity and respect. Yet Rumi's own experience takes him beyond religion, even his own. He often exchanges the word "God" with "Friend", and refers to himself and others who have achieved his enlightened state as "Lovers".

Rumi's words and sublime wisdom ring true for us, as he shares his knowledge of the God-Friend in a both Universal and personal message. We are extremely fortunate to have the poetry of this selfless and compassionate mystic reach us through the fragile, and often forgetful, span of time. Because through Rumi's poetry, we seem to hear our own soul's call and longing to gently open like a beautiful and fragrant flower, and laugh with a tender and colorful sweetness.

There is some kiss we want with our whole lives,
the touch of spirit on the body (33)

Brian Douthit
Author Of Perfectly Said: when words become art

How can I put into words the absolute wordless dimension this collection of poems creates within me?

The commentaries and introduction sections by Coleman Barks are valuable as well beyond words.

The reader would gain insights simply by picking it up and thumbing to any page and just read, read! My daughter and I tried this, we would bring up topics and then say "And what does Rumi say?" and I would read whatever the first words were that I saw in front of me.

They were always universally fitting.

I loved it, just like I love this book.

Wordless, speechless, love-filled - inspired.

If you want to send cards that will NEVER be thrown away, try these easy to follow steps. Great ideas with many that can be used in scrapbooking.
Have a good day!

Just purchased this book and found it a complete joy. There's step by step directions and photos to help you. At the beginning of each card the book lists the supplies you will need to complete each project. This book is AWESOME * * * * * So easy to use and fun too * * * * *

This book presents a lot of creative ideas and techniques that are easy to follow. The designs are refreshing many looking more complex than they actually are. My son, (age 11), tried his hand at a card too so giving me the time to complete mine! This book is a definite must-have for card makers, scrapbookers and papercrafters alike.

There is a good balance of card projects in this book.

The designs and instructions are easy to follow and supported by great step by step photos that clearly illustrate what the text says. The majority of the cards are easily achievable and some cards, such as the hidden message and pocket present, would be ideal for mass-producing for party invites, birth aanouncement etc.

Sue Nicholson starts off with a section that explores basic tools, supplies, tips and short cuts. This is extremely informative and easy to read.

She includes projects from beginner level through to the more advanced. Having said that the construction of the majority of designs is straightforward, so just follow the steps and prepare to be amazed at what you can produce!

The card decoration includes stamping, stickers, photos and ready made embellishments. All main cards have variations and some of Sue's "try this" ideas are inspirational.

There is a clean, bright airy feel to the layout of the book and this reflects Sues style.

Finally, a particulary innovative idea has been to include a Kids Korner. Great for help to adapt the designs for kids of all ages. A great benefit for parents of crafty children!

Recommended for card crafters that are looking for enjoyable, fun projects as a move away from a basic side folding card.

I was given this by my long suffering husband as an early Christmas gift so I could use it when creating my special Christmas cards!

This is an EXCELLENT book. All the ideas are great, and the cards really lovely to look at. There are lots of ideas to adapt the cards and even younger children can do some of the designs with good results.

And I had a query, contacted Sue, (her em address is in the book), and she got back to me in 48 hours with her suggestion! WOW! I have since made several Christmas starburst cards and received lots of compliments.

First-rate! A must!

This is a very good book about love the first and second time around

Dana is a single mother raising her baby daughter and teen step-son Sean after her husband died in a skiing accident.

Rafe is a single father of a teenage daughter named Zoe.

Sean and Zoe know each other from school and the night of a school dance something happens. Zoe takes Sean to an abandoned plane and tells him that she does not want to go to Harvard a virgin.

Several months go by and one night Rafe comes home from a date to find Zoe home from a friend's house. She was getting groceries, and when she trips she sends the bags flying upending a pregnancy test.

Rafe hits the roof and goes out looking for Sean to yell at him. Things calm down after a while though and Dana and Rafe try to come up with a way to make the baby work.

Rafe comes up with an idea of him and Dana getting married and then when Zoe has the baby letting them raise the baby. At first Dana is not to keen on that idea, but after Dana receives a threat from Sean's biological mother to take Sean away from her she decides to take Rafe up on the offer because he has the money it would take to fight her.

Dana and Rafe get married and Rafe sends Zoe away to spend some time with her great-Aunt so that she could be away from Sean.

Several months go by and Sean runs away so that he can be with Zoe. Also during this time things start heating up with Dana and Rafe even thought they fought against anything happening between then. Dana and Rafe go in search of him and find him with his maternal grandfather. Afterwards they go to a hotel and stay for several days before going home and picking up Zoe on the way.

Several months later Zoe gives birth to Peter Raphael and then gives him up before going on an educational experience on the sea before going away to Harvard.

This story got under my skin and really touched my heart. I liked the way this author treated teenagers like real people. I liked the way she paused during the story to make touching insights. It was original and uplifting. I felt better about life after I read it.

This story got under my skin and really touched my heart. I liked the way this author treated teenagers like real people. I liked the way she paused during the story to make touching insights. It was original and uplifting. I felt better about life after I read it.

This story got under my skin and really touched my heart. I liked the way this author treated teenagers like real people. I liked the way she paused during the story to make touching insights. It was original and uplifting. I felt better about life after I read it.

This is one emotionally packed story you will not want to miss. In this story two young teenage best friends "experiment" with sex 3 months before she is to go to Harvard, which results in a pregnacy. This awesome story unfolds as this emotionally troubled young man's widowed stepmom, and his pregnant girlfriend's widowed father struggle with the situation. The author, Peggy Nicholson, did a tremedous job bringing all of the aspects of this story together, from a stepmom desperately trying to reach her troubled stepson, who he blames for his father's death, to a Father who so desperately wants to prevent his teenage daughter from making the same mistakes he did. This book held no dissapointments. It was awesome from the first page, to the breathtaking and emotional final paragraph. Definately a keeper!

The East Roman Empire provides an extraordinary study of survival. Beset on every side by newly arrived tribes and established rival empires, Byzantium not only endured but exerted a cultural influence that helped shape successive nation states once within its orbit.

Central to Obolensky's classic account is Byzantium's `cultural diffusion' and the most striking example of this is how its spiritual culture, transmuted into Old Church Slavonic through the linguistic brilliance of its missionaries, helped provide a basis of literacy alongside the visual impact of its iconographic art. Many a pagan tribe fell under the Orthodox spell; the Bulgarians, Russians and Serbs were all converted at various times, apostasy finally giving way to unequivocal faith.

Acknowledgement of the Empire's military dominance was, however, often contested. After the Turkish conquest of 1453, Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia and Russia retained much of the cultural influences and ideology of Byzantium and it is the intermingling of Greek and Slavonic elements that Obolensky brings so well into the foreground.

As in the west but developing along divergent lines, much of the spirit of the East Roman Empire survived by it's interrelationship with so called 'barbarian' peoples. Obolensky's Byzantine Commonwealth, along with Frank Eyck's Religion and Politics in German History, reveal that process at work. Both books show how the Roman Empire became absorbed into Medieval European culture.

I can't praise highly enough this well researched, masterful look at the mechanisms of cultural diffusion in the Balkans and Russia in the Byzantine period. Obolensky, an unquestioned leader in the field of Byzantine studies, has put together a cogent, precise and elegantly written book that, while not really for the layman, is clear enough for most persons with some familiarity with the topic. He demonstrates the role of what he calls "intermediaries", e.g. merchants, missionaries and mercenaries, in spreading Byzantium's unique Graeco-Romano-Christian culture throughout the Slavic world. A little attention is paid to Byzantium's influence on the West and on the structures of the Ottoman state, but the real focus realy is on the Balkan states. And, well, where have you seen that lately?

A span of almost thousand years marks the blooming and decadence of the Byzantine Empire.
"The Byzantine Commonwealth - Eastern Europe 500-1453" is a balanced and informed history of the outer lands (provinces, independent principalities and kingdoms), mostly inhabited by Slavic populations, whose history intersected the one of the Empire.
It is mostly a history of assimilation, with its many facets.
The strategy of the empire to develop an extensive diplomacy of the sword and of the cross. The cautious and balanced use of force, diplomacy (both political and religious) and money. The widespread and deep phenomenon of inclusion and assimilation of cultural values that Constantinople inspired. The gradual political emancipation of the emerging new nations (Bulgaria, Serbia, Russia, Hungary and lastly Rumania)
It ends in 1453, the year of the fall of Constantinople to the Turkish armies: in that moment the Byzantine commonwealth disintegrates and the great eastern diasporas begin (with the rise of the myth of the third Rome in Russia, the emergence of the principalities of Rumania, the defeat and toll of resentment in the Serbian and Balkan lands).
Obolensky's study is already somehow outdated since first printed in 1971 for the "History of Civilization" Series of Phoenix Press (in the same series you can find the still unsurpassed "The Greek Experience" by C. M. Bowra,). It cannot take account of the events following the disintegration of USSR and the widespread renaissance of an Orthodox "koinè" (cultural community), especially religious but sometimes also political and social (this at least is one of the - highly debatable - theses advanced by professor Samuel P. Huntington in "The Clash of Civilizations"): a feature this one that cannot change the overall picture, but is nonetheless a strong indication about how deeper went the Byzantine influence.
"The Byzantine Commonwealth" is sometimes very specific, and yet immensely interesting.
I greatly enjoyed the history of the missionary work and travels of st.Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius, their invention of the Glagolitic (and later Cyrillic) script and the inception of the movement of translation from Greek to Old Church Slavonic (the medieval common language of the Slavic populations).
Compelling are also the chapters dealing with the presence and spreading of heretical movements, especially Paulicianism and Bogomilism, sects influenced by Manicheism and that very likely "exerted a powerful influence upon the Patarene and Cathar (or Albigesian) movements in Italy and Southern France".
It is amazing to realize the scantiness of our knowledge and the prejudices we still retain about the Byzantine world. While for Rome and classical Greece we have still outstanding and impressive remains (temples, theatres, aqueducts, weapons and literature), the whitewash following the Turkish conquest and censure of history (from "the idle liars of neither gender" of bishop Liutprand of Cremona to the "tedious and uniform tale of weakness and misery" of Gibbon) have almost cancelled a thousand years of European history.
The Iron Curtain tried to eradicate the deep-rooted marks of a common culture of the Russian and Balkan lands: a heritage of art and faith, common language and culture.
But this civilization has been able to endure the floodings of history, Turkish conquests and Socialist utopias.
And this is one of those rare books than can make us feel the warmth of this candle, still alight.

In the Epilogue a part deserves to be cited in full because of its poetic and evocative force:
"It is hence not surprising that the fall of Constantinople aroused these countries immediate feelings of horror and dismay. Greeks, Slavs and Rumanians reacted to this event by composing laments, in poetry and prose, for the captured and stricken city. A Greek popular poem probably composed in the second half of the fifteenth century, describes an imaginary scene of the last liturgy celebrated in St Sophia in the presence of the emperor and the patriarch, which was interrupted by the arrival of the infidels: as tears were seen in the eyes of the Virgin on the church's icons, the clergy was commanded by voice from heaven to send the cross, the Gospel book and the holy table to Western Europe lest they be profaned by the Turks. In another version of the story as the Turks broke into St Sophia a priest bearing the chalice left building through a door which miraculously closed behind him: on the day the Greeks recapture their city, he will re-emerge to complete unfinished liturgy."

For my background reading on Central and East European EU Candidate Countries, I have been reading several books on the history of the Balkans. For the period 500-1453 I took the book from Prof. Obolensky (for 1453-early 20th century I recommend L. Stavrianos, Misha Glenny, and G. Hodos). I found the book clearly written and well set out. The central message of this study runs like a red thread thorugh the book. The influence of the Byzantine East Roman Empire on the law, culture, religion and art of the countries in that region is shown to be of major importance and is clearly one of the major shaping actors in the early history of the Balkans. Yet at the same time during this period there was no slavish following of whatever came from Byzantium. The complicated story of attraction and repulsion, the ongoing flow and struggles with the 'Byzantine Commonwealth' (i find prof. Obolenksy's expression in this contect quite useful) of the different peoples in the Balkans makes good reading and, for me, gives met the sense of a good first grasp of the outset of history on this fascinating region. This book is not always easy to read and not only for beginners, but the more rewarding for it.

After the fall of Rome, Byzantium was the greatest, richest, most prestigious city in the known world. It was the center of the Orthodox religion and a great center of culture. It was also the target for every barbarian tribe who wanted a piece of the wealth land and culture.

Dimitri Obolensky's readable book achieves two purposes. First he describes the relations between the Byzantine empire and her neighbors. Obolensky explains how the Byzantines used one barbarian tribe against another, like the Avars, Slavs, Bulgars, Pechenegs, Russians and Khazars. He also shows how the Byzantines used religion to influence the tribes and gain control over them. Eventually the barbarian tribes worshipped Byzantium, but did not trust it.

Secondly Obolensky describes how the barbarian cultures like the Bulgars and the Russians adopted the culture and civilization of Byzantium. The new comers learned art, literature, law and religion from Byzantium.

This book covers the period from 500 AD to the fall of Byzantium in 1453,
starting with a description of the geography, roads and trade routes the Byzantines used, and their strategic importance. Then Obolensky recounts relations in order of region, from the Balkans, then east-central Europe and finally the coast of the black sea.
Obolensky shows how the Byzantines became the source of legitimacy among the states that made up the commonwealth like the Bulgars and the Russians. Finally he recounts how the barbarians learned art, religion, law and literature, and civilization in general from the Byzantines.

The book includes many well placed maps and photos that make this complicated subject clearer. Obolensky's book is a must read book for anyone interested in the history of Byzantium or medieval eastern Europe.

Very good analysis on how/why American Confronts the M.E issues of the last 5 Presidents, give you a whole pictures of how they are related and dragged on to present time...

thoughtfull marvelously readable and timely written withut the angst and i saw it all tone of most of the current crop of personal reflections that masquarade as learned analyses provides important backgroumd context and history that helps to make some sense of the current state of affairs recommended to anyone who really wants to learn more

This book is a history of how the U.S. formulated and executed Middle Eastern Policy over a thirty year period from the Presidency of Jimmy Carter (1978-1982) through that of George W Bush (2000-2008). It also provides a useful, but concise summary of U.S - Middle East relations from the end of WWII to 1978. Essentially it provides an analysis not only of each presidential administration's Middle East Policy, but provides a description of how the policy formation process of each administration actually worked. Not surprisingly it was different for each president.

As the book makes clear, the U.S. has held two remarkably consistent strategic goals for this entire period: the security of the State of Israel; and the security of Middle Eastern oil production. Yet in a volatile region like the Middle East events well beyond U.S. control often erupt to disrupt the most carefully planned policy implementations. Freedman recounts for example how President Carter's tenure was defined by the Iranian Revolution and its subsequent hostage crises, even though Carter really wanted to be remembered for establishing peaceful and enduring relationship between the Israelis and Palestinians. Often the success or failure of U.S. policy in the region was a function of being able to cope with unexpected events or unintended consequences that suddenly threatened one or both of the strategic goals. Reading this book one is struck by how dicey even the best formulated policies are for this region.

Of course Freedman devotes a good deal of attention to the current administration and its involvement in Afghanistan (and Pakistan) and Iraq/Iran. He attempts to trace the thought processes that gradually coalesced into what was known as Operation Iraqi Freedom and its aftermath. In doing so he identifies the emergence of the doctrine of preventive war and concept of a Global War on Terror. He then tries to provide a balanced summary of U.S. operations in Iraq up to the current partially successful surge that has brought a measure of stability to that unhappy country.

In the end he suggests that the U.S. might be well advised to adopt a Middle East Policy similar to that suggested by Ken Pollock in his latest book, "A Path Out of the Desert", which the book reviewer of the UK Magazine, "The Economist" suggested should be read together with the Freedman book. Both by most standards are pretty good books.

Here is the Economist's Review of A Choice of Enemies. Although it spends more space on Kenneth Pollack's A Path Out of the Desert, it also does treat Freedman's book.


The Economist
Books and Arts
America and the Middle East
How they got in, how to get out
Jul 24th 2008
From The Economist print edition

Foresight and hindsight in the world's bad places
A Path Out of the Desert: A Grand Strategy for America in the Middle East
By Kenneth M. Pollack
Random House; 539 pages; $30

A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East
By Lawrence Freedman
PublicAffairs; 624 pages; $29.95. Weidenfeld & Nicolson; £20

HOW did America get into its current mess in the Middle East? And how can it get out again? Kenneth Pollack's book is all about the second question but he starts by making a confession relevant to the first. He was a champion of the invasion of Iraq. In 2002, in an influential book entitled "The Threatening Storm", he argued the strategic and moral case for removing Saddam Hussein. Mr Pollack admits now that the intervention a year later was a fiasco, and that after such a disaster the inclination of most Americans is to turn away from the region completely and focus on problems at home. But that is not his view. His latest book is a powerful argument for continued, and perhaps even greater, American involvement in the Middle East.

As befits a former CIA analyst and member of the National Security Council, Mr Pollack builds his case on a hard-headed examination of America's interests in the region. Of these, the most important is oil. If a big percentage of it were suddenly to be removed from the market, the shock of higher prices could on some estimates spark a global recession akin to the Great Depression. American policy, he concludes, should therefore be designed principally to prevent "catastrophic oil disruptions". This means guarding against possibilities such as a revolution in Saudi Arabia or a massive terrorist attack on the oil-supply network.

You might expect a book that starts this way to dwell mainly on how America can maintain military forces in the region. Mr Pollack, however, wants nothing less than "an integrated grand strategy" to secure American interests for the long run. Such a strategy, he admits, may take "many decades", just as it took nearly half a century for America to help Europe and East Asia repair themselves after the second world war. For this grand strategy to work, he says, America will first have to harmonise its separate policies towards Iraq, Iran and Israel. It must also transform the region's politics and economics. That is to say--let no one accuse the chastened Mr Pollack of imperial hubris--America must help along the efforts of the locals, since outsiders "cannot possibly know how to change the society of another people".

But do the people of the Middle East want what America wants for them? Given the growth of political Islam, and the fact that Mr Pollack deems many Arab countries to be on the point of revolution, perhaps not. Nonetheless, a policy of continuing to prop up repressive regimes is like "playing Russian roulette" with foreign policy, as America discovered when the shah's fall turned Iran from staunch friend to implacable foe. Far better, he says, to encourage the region's governments to address popular grievances by embracing political freedom and social equality.

This will not be easy, not least because of the hated Bush administration's insincere or at least incompetent pursuit of this very policy. But Arabs tell pollsters that they want both democracy and Islam, and Mr Pollack reckons these two are compatible. Quoting an Egyptian activist who says that what her countrymen need is a job and a voice, he thinks America must find its path out of the desert by helping all Arabs get both.

A simple summary of Mr Pollack's main ideas does scant justice to this thoughtful and informative book. None of its prescriptions is especially novel. The patient promotion of reform, careful containment of the spillover from Iraq, a policy of carrots and sticks (but no military pre-emption) for Iran, building the sinews of a Palestinian state: to all except isolationists and the few surviving neocons, this has become a fairly conventional prospectus for America's post-Iraq policy in the Middle East. But Mr Pollack binds the strands together deftly and imparts a good deal of learning and wisdom along the way.

Sir Lawrence Freedman is less interested in how America should proceed after Iraq and more in working out how it tied itself in such knots in the first place. As an historian, he is more tolerant than Mr Pollack of George Bush, noting that after September 11th this president faced a challenge more complex in some ways than the one Franklin Roosevelt had to deal with after Pearl Harbour in 1941. Whereas Roosevelt knew who the enemy was and what America would have to do, Mr Bush had to choose and name an enemy in a new sort of war without obvious rules, aims or front-lines. He did so, moreover, in a region where no power had exercised a consistently sure touch, and where America had long been torn between an underlying dissatisfaction with the state of affairs and the traditional instinct of a great power to protect the status quo from aggressive states or radical movements.

It is instructive to read these books together. Sir Lawrence's aim is not to lay out a policy. He has no grand unifying theory of the Middle East. His aim is only to render the "most credible" account possible of momentous events such as the fall of the shah, the three wars in the Persian Gulf, invasion and jihad in Afghanistan, Jimmy Carter's half-success at peacemaking at Camp David in 1978 and Bill Clinton's failure there two decades later. All these and more formed the treacherous backdrop of American interests and alliances against which Mr Bush had to formulate his response to the attacks on the twin towers. Sir Lawrence's subtle narrative is a marvel of concision, even over more than 500 pages. By the end it cannot but make the reader wonder how realistic it is to advocate, as Mr Pollack does, an "integrated grand strategy" capable of being sustained for decades in such a violent and unpredictable part of the world.

To that Mr Pollack has a simple answer, in the form of a question. What is the alternative? Thanks to its energy needs, America is locked into the region for the foreseeable future, even though the future is so hard to foresee in the unhappy Middle East. Since there are no quick fixes, it had better reconcile itself to the long slog. And although unexpected events will continue to knock it off course, it is more likely to succeed if it can cling to at least some general sense of where it is trying to go.

The black and white battle between good and evil is a common element of fantasy. But that's all it is - fantasy. "A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East" is an examination of America's involvement in the growing conflicts with the middle east, conflicts which are almost as far from black and white as something can possibly be. Many of America's alleged 'enemies' are not in fact working together, and are just as antagonistic towards each other as they are America. An intriguing look at America, its enemies, and their countless interrelations with one another, "A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East" is a top pick for community library current events collections.

I first came across this book in my local library. I was so enchanted by the different designs, that after tiring of renewing it, I have decided to order my own copy. I recommend it to any person interested in needlepoint, as well as global designs...

Must add my praise for this book. Gorgeous colors in clear graphic designs plus various colorways so you can see what would happen if you use different colors. I get a feeling of generosity from the authors who obviusly love their craft and want to share it.

In addition to bold and unusual patterns, Mary Norden has an extremely good eye for colors. I use patterns and parts of patterns from this book all the time.

There are many lovely needlepoint books with an emphasis on romantic or Victorian designs. This book consists of designs with Asian, African and Latin and Native American influences. The photographs are beautiful, the instructions and charts are clear, and the colors dazzling! Highly recommended for all needleworkers---knitters, cross stitchers, crocheters, etc.---not just needlepointers.

This book brings the beauty of the various international fabrics to your needlepoint canvas. It's not your grandmother's needlepoint - no cats or flowers, just bold and exciting designs with great color graphs and ideas. I highly recommend this book - I even ordered a copy for my sister although it was out-of-print.