England Books

Without question, a must-have for any serious art lover. The quality of the text and illustrations are first-rate as is expected from the arguably finest art book publisher of our time. As essential to any library as "Paintings in the Vatican" and "Paintings in the Uffizi and Pitti." Keep them coming, Bulfinch!

Context: I'm not an academic or a scholar; I'm a regular guy who likes visiting museums when I travel and I wanted to do a little researach before I left. This book worked well for my daughter and I to determine which parts of the museum deserved the most time (on a short trip) and to get a better understanding of the works. I'm not qualified to evaluate it from an academic perspective, but as a layman it was exactly what we needed.

I have numerous large books of this ("Paintings of the")type and this one has delighted me most. The many reproductions in this book are stunning - large, sharp and vivid is the rule rather than the exception. If you own the books on the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, and Hermitage you'll love this because it outshines them.

Many thanks to the reviewer who mentioned that Bulfinch published this. I just noticed that Bulfinch also publishes Eisler's Masterworks in Berlin which also outshines the books above and is another favorite of mine. It's time to check my wishlist for Bulfinch publications and up their priority.

Excellent quality book. The pictures are very well presented and the texts are very precise.

It's a cliche that everything is different once you have kids. But in the case of traveling, it is definitely true. Now that I have two toddlers, most of the traveling I do is right in the city where I was born and raised. That's why I want to recommend MacKinnon's book - to everyone, but especially to fellow Bostonians. With lots of interesting finds and sensible advice, MacKinnon makes bringing kids (even the youngest ones) into the city seem fun and manageable, whether you are flying into Logan or just taking the T. Some nice day trips are also included.

It's a cliche that everything is different once you have kids. But in the case of traveling, it is definitely true. Now that I have two toddlers, most of the traveling I do is right in the city where I was born and raised. That's why I want to recommend MacKinnon's book - to everyone, but especially to fellow Bostonians. With lots of interesting finds and sensible advice, MacKinnon makes bringing kids (even the youngest ones) into the city seem fun and manageable, whether you are flying into Logan or just taking the T. Some nice day trips are also included.

Lots of guides give you advice and stuff to do in Boston. Some even get specific, offering fun suggestions for night owls, or museum lovers or history buffs. Finally, an easy-to-read, VERY helpful guide for PARENTS! We had a couple guides, but this was the only one we used. Plus, you can DEFINITELY tell that the author lived in and loves the city. Thumbs up all the way around. Waiting on the dog lover's guide next . . .

well written, ever mindful of the realities of travelling with children (and on a budget) and full of truly fun, interesting things for BOTH parents and kids to do. I especially appreciate the "best playgrounds in the area", because sometimes a good run-amuck is just what the doctor ordered, for everybody...

After years of being a devoted fan, Chris Heath's book changed my opinion of our Boys from the UK. "Literally" revealed the true side of the Pet Shop Boys.

In public, Neil is the verbal communicator and frontman while Chris is the silent mind behind the synthesizers! But in reality it's almost the opposite: Neil is quiet and reserve and Chris so outspoken, that he borderlines on being obnoxious!

The book reveals the Boys points of view on everything from their opinion of fans to what they think of Bryan Ferry.

The book was not as interesting as I thought it would be. A better book is the follow up book "Pet Shop Boys VS America.

What happens when you put two Englishmen, who just happen to be international pop stars, on a tour bus with forty-odd tech people, in a tour featuring movies, dancers, and a $200,000 wardrobe? You get the Pet Shop Boys, and their 1989 tour of Japan, Hong Kong, and Great Britain.

Sure, concerts are performed to rave reviews, parties are had, the artists are congratulated and much champagne is drunk. But below the surface, you've got squabbling roadies, the censors breathing down your backs, screaming fans at every turn, and two dancers who won't share a hotel room with one another because they each complain that the other one smells. Welcome to the life a pop star.

Heath's writing is excellent, as are the insights made into the lives of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, the two Pet Shop Boys themselves. Witty, funny, and fascinating the whole way through. A captivating read from beginning to end! YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK!!

As an obsessive Pet Shop Boys fan I had to have this book and found it to be a great gossipy read. Even for non-fans it's quite the page-turner and gives great insight into what successful musicians have to go through whilst touring. It's amazing the PSBs let someone enter their midst and catch them in such unguarded moments without knowing whether the book would be complimentary or condeming. Heath side-steps such touchy issues as Chris and Neil's sexual orientation, their opinion of other pop stars and celebrities. Some of the stories had me screaming with laughter they were so funny. Yes, Neil does come off a being a bit bossy and a bit of a control queen and Chris does sound a bit demanding, but then again you have to be to be successful on your own terms. Chris Heath's writting is very witty, engaging and crisp, very British and a refreshing blast of fresh air when compared with other pop star bios.

"Literally" was written by Chris Heath, a long-time PSB collaborator, who also pens their fan letter of the same name. I'm a huge PSB fan, and reading this book was an excellent way to learn a little bit more about the boys. I greatly enjoyed "Literally" and think that other PSB fans will also.

First, the book is terribly funny. PSB act like spoiled rock stars at times and then seem like the most normal chaps you could hope to meet. This schism is appropriate for a group that writes and performs such complex music. We also learn a great deal about their creative process. For example, I had always assumed that Chris wrote the music and Neil wrote the lyrics, which apparently is not the case; instead, they seem to have equal say in developing songs. The boys also seem surprisingly principled and unwilling to bend their artistic choices for the sake of popularity and record company approval.

"Literally" covers their tour during for "Introspective" CD ("It's Alright" was released as a single in Britain during this time). The PSB were in their self-proclaimed "imperial period" - when everything they did went to #1 in the UK and top 10 in the US. However, times were clearly changing, especially with the proliferation of English boy bands during the 1990s. Neil and Chris riff on a number of British and American pop stars, and the fun is not diminished by the fact that many of these acts, such as Bros, are fairly unknown in the US. If anything, the fading of these untalented bands and the continuing (European) success of PSB documents that substance can win over style.

Although the book is a bit dated, it?s a terrific read. Most highly recommended for PSB fans.

This historical fiction about the great fire in London is a sequel to "At the Sign of the Sugared Plum." It is a good book for young readers 10-13 years old. I used these books for my 6th grade elective reading. It is a very quick and easy read, with questions at the end of the book to help the reader gain a better insight to the devastation that happened during that time period.

The sequel to AT THE SIGN OF THE SUGARED PLUM is just as good and carries on the wonderful adventure of Hannah as she grows up to learn different things in different enviroments. Just as thrilling as the first this will keep you guessing what's going to happen. If you want your teenage daughter to read give her this book and the one before. She'll love it and feel the same feelings as Hannah. Seeing as i'm a teenager i know what i'm talking about.

Teenaged Hannah and her older sister Sarah barely managed to escape London alive during the great plague of 1665. Now a year has passed, and the plague has finally died out. Hannah wants to return to London to reopen their sweets shop, but Sarah wishes to remain at the family home in the countryside. So when Hannah returns to the city, she is accompanied by her younger sister, Anne. However, her life is once again interrupted when fire begins to spread through London. Can Hannah find the strength to survive yet another terrible calamity?

I highly recommend this book to all readers who enjoyed the first book about Hannah, "At the Sign of the Sugared Plum." I also recommend it to new readers who enjoy historical fiction and are interested in this time period. Hannah is a wonderful character, and her struggle for survival is riveting. I hope Mary Hooper writes another book about Hannah's adventures, as I would love to read it.

This was an AMAZING book!!!! I was surprised to hear about all of the things that happend during the plague, but it was fun to read about a girl close to my age that lived during it. You will DEFINETLY enjoy this book!!!

I have found this an amazing tool for tracing my ancestors. I found the County Parish maps pre-1832 a great help. This is a definate must for Genealogy buffs.

Contrary to the availablity information provided here, this book is not out of print.

It is an absolute MUST HAVE if you're doing UK genealogical research! It provides maps to the parish boundaries for each of the counties of England,Wales and now Scotland. Each county map showing parish boundaries for England and Wales is placed next to a historical map for that same county. This provides an excellent opportunity to locate parishes in a historical context.

The real gem of this book is the information on the location of parish records. For each parish, the extant dates of the records available for that parish are given as well as the location of where those records may be consulted.

An outstanding reference work for UK genealogy.

This book is well worth the price. I started using an older version at a local library, but really needed something for home use. So I ordered the 2003 version and am completely delighted. The newer version added an overall map of the UK at the beginning and has added Scotland. Each map is "pre-1832 parishes and a topographical map from James Bell's A New and Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1834". And for someone doing a lot of work in Yorkshire, they have it divided into the 3 regions, East Riding, West Riding and North Riding. The only thing I would like the next version to include is an index of every little town and village and what parish it is in. Probably would double the price and thickness of the book, but what a treasure that would be.

This book is a compendium of information about parish registersin England -- a vital resource if you are doing genealogical researchin the UK.

Writing the wittiest dialogue I've read in a long time, Alice Thomas Ellis pokes gentle fun at contemporary working-class society, populating her novel with adults who are pot-smoking ex-hippies, kids who cut school in order to drink and play at being more grownup than their parents, and various friends, including a gypsy who peddles hot merchandise, her unfaithful Turkish lover, and Barbs, a self-conscious and obnoxious do-gooder--who also turns out to be a missing person. Taking pot-shots at the advertising business, the press, psychiatrists, school systems, nuts-and-granola nutritionists, marriage, parent/child conflicts, and the tendency of people to avoid getting involved--Ellis crafts a hilarious tale based on the discovery in a nearby canal of a body which matches the description of the missing neighbor Barbs.

No one knows who the victim is, and the police, in fact, do not know that Barbs is missing. Her neighbors have not reported her absence for fear of being wrong--"we do not want to make idiots of ourselves." As days pass and Barbs remains missing, each of the neighbors comes up with reasons for believing that her absence is temporary and that she will return. It is not until the teenage children of the main characters decide to have a dinner party in Barbs's empty house, discovering many clues in the process, that the matter of her absence gains critical importance.

Revealing most of her information about character through their actions and unusually clever dialogue, Ellis presents a series of intimate dramatic scenes, usually between two characters whose conversations and reactions to each other's comments show the author's psychological astuteness--parents and children miscommunicate, married couples avoid issues, friends tell each other what they want to hear. Not a word is wasted in this very witty, very wry, and beautifully wrought tale, one of the funniest pieces of ironic writing in recent memory. Mary Whipple

Middle class and lower class in today's England. Scarlet, middle-aged housewife, is slowly cracking up because every day seems alike and she sees no purpose in it. Her teenage daughter Camille decides to grow up but does not like it one bit. Husband and step father is a shadow in the background, because men do not really count. Scarlet's neighbor and very best friend is Constance, who has a Turkish boyfriend and who sells things that fall off trucks with the aid of her Gypsy family. Constance is the amateur psychiatrist, who explains the facts of life to Scarlet - either with straight forward, no nonsense talk, or else with the help of strong spirits.

This is a wonderful book, taking a surgical knife to England's middle class. And it is written in a tight, concise language that is so often missing nowadays. The Brits still know how to handle the language.

The trials and domestic worries of the British "chattering classes" are the subject of this wry, droll and witty novel from Alice Thomas Ellis. I must confess, that I've never read any of Ellis before, so I was looking forward to reading her work after another reviewer recommended her. Pillars of Gold, although thin on plot, takes place in contemporary North London, where the main characters spend their time visiting each other's houses, shopping on the "high street," taking tea, going to the pub, and exchanging clever, comic and sharp barbs with each other, about life, love and the world around them.

One morning at breakfast, Brian reads a paragraph in last week's local newspaper, detailing the dragging of a bloodstained body of a woman from the canal at Princes Lock. The heavily neurotic Scarlet, Brian's wife - obsessed with alternative dieting and out to please, yet hates the world - begins to think that the body may be Barbs, their socially conscious and "alternative" next door neighbour. Barbs has strangely vanished all of a sudden, leaving her makeup and handbag behind. Scarlet's, rebellious and smug daughter Camille, who sort of cares about Barb but for different reasons, would rather play truant from school and hang out at the local bar with her best friend Sam, than worry too much about Barb. Scarlet, unsure of herself, her marriage, or her relationship with her daughter, seeks friendship and solace from her smart, and erudite neighbour, Constance, a self confessed girl from working-class roots. But Constance has issues with her Turkish boyfriend Memet - she doesn't trust him and thinks he's being unfaithful. Constance distrusts the world, and is all too ready to impart her cynical observations about society to Scarlet and anyone else who will listen.

As the story unfolds, the characters weave in and out of each other's lives, discussing issues of class, religion and politics, while continually trying to outsmart each other with amusing diatribes. Ellis undoubtedly has a gift for glistening and comic dialogue combined with a talent for incorporating wise, shrewd and intellectual observations on family and social class. The characters are absorbing, and the narrative is peppered with sardonic twists and unanticipated turns. There's also so much humorous word play that the reader will undeniably be left laughing out loud, especially at some of the riotous "kitchen table" exchanges between Scarlet and Constance. It is obvious that Ellis - although critical of her characters and the choices they make in life - can't help but love them. The reader will probably also grow to love these characters, as they are just so endearing, and also so very "British." Mike Leonard June 04.

Alice Thomas Ellis has written a coming of age book for all women of all ages. Taking place in a working class neighborhood in England, this book is humorous, hilarious and frank at times. However, at other times I was bemused by the characters. But, at no time was I bored!

Alice Thomas Ellis won a Writers Guild Award and was on the shortlist for the Booker Prize, which she richly deserves. This is the first book by Ellis that I have read, but I intend to read every one she has written!

Scarlett is a middle aged woman looking for herself and not fully understanding where she has been. She is married to Brian, an up and coming salesman. She has a daughter, Camille, who is going through the terrible pangs of adolescence. Camille will find her way; she is intelligent and observant- too observant.

Constance lives next door, and is Scarlett's best friend. Connie is s free spirit, a modern day hippie/gypsy. She is concerned with good works and becoming the best she can be.
She is in love with a Hungarian, Memet. He is a mystery, what does he do and when does he do it? Does he play around or is he really in love with Constance? What do we really know about Memet?

In this neighborhood lives an American, Barb. Except, where is she? She has gone missing- her home is empty, and no one has seen her. A middle aged woman has been dragged out of the canal by the police, could this be Barb?

The neighborhood is rife with mystery. The teenagers are guessing that Barb has been murdered. The adults all talk about Barb but no one wants to go to the police- too many questions too be asked, and no one wants to know the answers. Daily discussions begin and many questions asked, some lives are changed, whose?

This is a book about change and coming to face the reality of life. Do the neighbors all understand the ramifications? This is also about truth and consequences, lies and falsehoods, and finally about love; family love, sexual love and love of self. A book to be reckoned with. As good a book as you will read at anytime. prisrob

Far be it from me to critique these poets, but I can say something about this particular presentation. It's a handy little volume, with a several-page introduction providing historical context, and a several-page calendar of British and American poetry from 1750 to around 1850. The calendar doesn't just list poetry, it includes events like "Watt's steam engine patented" and "Lewis and Clark Expedition" as well as the publication of novels and music, so context is well established. At the back of the book is an index of poems by title and by first line, and there's a set of biographical notes on the poets.

If you want to know what romantic poetry's all about, take a look at this. I don't know how an English Lit Ph.D. would rate this book but I think it's a nice collection.

The great defining moment of the Romantic movement in English poetry is generally considered the publication by Wordsworth and Coleridge of 'The Lyrical Ballads' in 1797. But the editors of this anthology take an earlier point of origin and begin with the great myth - master and singer of songs of innocence and experience, William Blake. They include in their anthology not simply English Romantic poets but also the Americans , Emerson and Thoreau( Transcendentalists) and Poe. They also include a number of minor, lesser known poets.
But what is most important is that they have most of the great definining poems of English Romantic Poetry, the great poems of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats.
There are of course as many definitions of Romanticism as there are of other key intellectual-historical concepts such as 'Nature' and 'Classicism' But one clear element is a new found emphasis on self, and subjectivity , the expression of the individual's feeling of the world. Wordsworth went to everyday life and language, to nature and the world of the ' simple people' he met in his countryside wanderings. Coleridge went to the world of myth and mystery, but they both provided in deeper ways whole worlds of feeling which were at times ' deeper than tears'.
An outstanding anthology of one of the most important 'movements' or ' periods' in the world- history of poetry.

The first verse of William Blake's Auguries of Innocence appears in Bronowski, as homage to Ludwig Boltzmann: " To see a World in a Grain of Sand, And a Heaven in a Wild flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, And Eternity in an hour...." William Blake was born in London in 1757. He attended drawing school and thereafter eked out a very modest existence as an engraver and artist. He was not able to find a publisher so in 1789 he himself engraved and published Songs of Innocence and The Book of Thel. Blake died in 1827. Blake was one of many 'romantic poets' of that epoch. Auden and Pearson point out that the romantic definition of man appears towards the end of the eighteenth century. The divine element that man possesses is not power nor free will of reason, but self-consciousness. Man can see possibilities, he can imagine states of existence other than they are.

One of the annoying things about the received opinion about the Romantic poets is the statement that there were exactly six of them--Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Keats, and Shelley. This pronouncement is usually delivered with equal conviction to assertions you usually hear only in the natural sciences--e.g., that there are three kinds of human muscle (cardiac, striated, and slow-flexing) and two kinds of stony drip-accreted icicles in caves (stalactites and stalagmites). Nor elsewhere in the area of literature do you quite hear that there were so many Russian realist novelists, so many French Symbolist poets, so many English medieval poets, etc. So it's something of a relief to read in the editors' introduction to the "Portable Romantic Poets" that American romantics are included as well, because poets don't just arrest their reading, as anthologizers usually arrest their selecting, at continental or national boundaries. It's also welcome to see the inclusion of poets who are sometimes left out because they might be felt to be minor or unpopular (Landor) or generically different (Burns) by anthologizers. This anthology is a welcome corrective to received wisdom about who actually qualifies as a Romantic. And the efficient introduction is a minor masterpiece of cultural exposition as well.

This book isn't an introductory or comprehensive tome on the PreRaphaelites but I agree with the other reviewers -- it's a delightful, engaging read that fills in lots of blanks. The more you know about the PRB, the more you'll appreciate this book. Without being too dry or too gossipy, it provides fascinating insights into the daily lives of the PreRaphaelites: where they lived, why they moved, how they related to each other, what they thought of each other, which friendships endured, how they aged, and how they died. The book is full of rare photographs and paintings of the PreRaphaelites' homes and gardens, as well as quotes from letters and diaries. My favorite part was the description of William Morris' two boat trips down the Thames -- utterly delightful. Thank you, Pamela Todd, for all the revealing, well-researched details that show us the PreRaphaelites as real people. This is a must-have book for any PreRaphaelite book collection.

I bought this book yesterday and enjoyed it so much.It has very detailed biographies of the artists of this movement,not the sort of factual boring biographies but real actual histories and gives you a much clearer concept of their work and life and how they 'felt' about their work .
The pictures were all pre raphaelite paintings I had'nt seen before and Todd has picked out all the best quotes and facts that make the whole thing read like an interesting novel.

As a fan of both the work of the PreRaphaelites and of the Arts and Crafts era, and as someone who has read a fair number of books on both topics, I thought I really wouldn't enjoy another book on the same old stuff. But I was intrigued by the photos in this book of art-work I hadn't seen in my other books on the same topic and bought it anyway. I was delighted to find that the book reads more like a novel than a history book. It presents the lives and accomplishments of the members of the PreRaphaelite Brotherhood, which includes Arts and Crafts luminary William Morris, in a vivid and readable way. And most of the artists featured here had truly dramatic personal lives -- filled with love, infidelity, and betrayal -- in addition to their artistic acomplishments. Additionally, some interesting lesser-known artists, including women artists, are discussed in detail. I felt the book gave me a comprehensive view of the era and the artists I hadn't had before, in addition to the gossip. It was an utterly delightful read!

I really enjoyed this book. I have read a few books on this art period and this author does her job by "wonderfully" recreating the Pre-Raphaelite world through her words.

I especially liked the way she wrote about the relationships between the artists and their wives and models.

She has done her historical research and she gives the reader interesting facts and engaging antecdotes.

Excellent color print reproductions.

I have purchased this book for my brothers because it contains the recipes from our youth....and for my children, so that I can write anecdotes for them and keep the memories alive. This nostalgic collection of 'famous RI recipes' is just the best!

This book provides a good introduction of the state to the first time visitor to Rhode Island, as well as authentic recipes. It was also a welcome gift to my homesick aunt in California...

I purchased this book because I grew up in Narragansett RI. (My great Grandfather was a chef in Providence.) I moved away and miss it terribly! These recipes brought back wonderful memories of my home state. Some of the recipes have a valuable familiarity about them that makes me smile. When I make food from this book, everyone is very impressed and I feel like a piece of home is always with me.

Being a native Rhode Islander transplanted to New York I found myself missing the old RI grub. I longed for "tree all da way" and Palmieri's Pizza Strips and a cold Del's, but to no avail. Nothing here compares to a weiner from Olneyville.

Are these recipes exact duplicates? Not quite, but close enough to take the edge off the homesickness. I highly recommend this book to any lost Rhode Islanders longing for home-even just a taste of it. Just the names conjure up memories of Providence and the ocean--Silver Lake Pizza, Coffee Milk, Lemon Squares and Zeppoles, Rhode Island Clear Chowda or Buddy Cianci's Marinara Sauce.

Now--if I could just figure out how to make Allie's Doughnuts.....

After checking this book out of the library multiple times, I decided to buy it because of the balanced overview of the Queen and her England. Many biographies of Queen Elizabeth I are riddled with the author's personal prejudice for or against the Queen and this one does not. I enjoy the photos as do students in the workshops I teach.

The Public and Private Worlds of Elizabeth I is a nicely written look into her personal and private life. It is very informational; from the workings of Elizabethan politics to the fashion of the time. It is informative with out getting overly academic. It is great for anyone wishing to research and/or recreate aspects of that time period. I encourage anyone who is intererested in Elizabeth I to purchase this book. One of the greatest features of this book is the full color pictures. Definitely a must have!!! A wonderful coffee table book too.

This work has a wealth of information about Elizabeth I and
the era itself. She is portrayed as an elegant monarch, dressed
in silk and other fine clothing. A portrait of Elizabeth
depicts her stately appearance as a Tudor. Elizabeth liked to
stroll in the area of the Great Hall at Hatfield. A personal
astrolobe is depicted-a fine personal item created circa 1560.
Her coronation was a stately affair depicted in a personal
portrait considered to be priceless today. This work is perfect for historians and others interested in the period of Elizabeth. The full color portraits are valuable
in their own right.

Excellent, excellent book for anyone who is interested in Quenn Elizabeth I or the Elizabethan era. Interesting little tidbits of knowledge about court life, politics and Elizabeth's private life. The pictures are absolutely beautiful and go along so well with the the written text. Definate A+!