Book Description
Unmistakably French, the fifth book in Betty Lou Phillips' best-selling series on interpreting French decor for American homes, broadens yet again the limits of what French style can do for a home. No matter the location or size of the room to be decorated, the French rarely stray from favored and well-known characteristics of design-eighteenth-century furniture, sumptuous textiles, distinctive porcelains, and oil paintings in original carved-wood frames. In Phillips' newest book, she defines some of these specific secrets that French designers use to create an authentic French look-these certain basic decorating values they hold dear, seducing us with their self-assured approach to glamour, culture, and enduring respect for history. The book includes four sections: Passion for French, Art of Living, Savoir-Faire, and Fluent French. The style and settings seen in these contemporary homes, while American, are Unmistakably French! Betty Lou Phillips, ASID, is a renowned designer and the best-selling author of Provencal Interiors, French by Design, French Influences, and Villa Decor. She lives in Dallas, Texas.
Customer Reviews:
McMansion Style.......2005-05-30
If you like the newly built McMansion-styled homes, then this is the book for you. If you are looking for authentic French decor and tips, don't buy this book. This is no more "unmistakably French" than la Madeline food is to French cuisine.
Beautiful Book.......2005-03-20
I love all of Betty Lou Phillip's books. I really like her style - scrolled iron work, marbled tile and other beautiful touches. Some of the photos are of very extravagant homes, but they contain ideas that those of us with less imposing homes could include in our decorating. I could just sit and look through her books for hours. (Actually, I think I have!)
Much more of the same........2005-01-21
This book shows us several mansions, just as her other books do. They are very polished and show-roomy-think of the TV show Dynasty from the 1980's updated! The text is snobby, and it appears she doesn't intend to relate her ideas to her readers, but glorify herself.
gorgeous book, great ideas.......2003-10-17
At first glance just picking up the book and looking through it makes you want to run out and redesign you home. I don't have a french style in my house, more modern, but I picked up a lot of ideas from just frist glance. The pages are bold and dramatic with gorgeous colorful pictures on every page, the hints and descriptions are smaller and easier to read but you pick up a lot by the artistic photography. I love the book and look at it from time to time for inspiration. Great for anyone looking for ideas from beginning to advances levels of interior decorating.
Book Description
This book offers a unique opportunity to explore contemporary Arab art by women. The volume collects 18 Arab women artists from around the world to challenge western stereotyping of women's role in Arab society. The contributors and artists illustrate how women experience and question their lives as integral to the Arab diaspora. Their cross-cultural dialogue reflects the diversity of today's Arab art, and the fresh perspective that each artist brings to the genre.
Customer Reviews:
Useful Tips on Photo Oils. Fantastic & Inspirational Gallery.......2004-10-27
"Handcoloring Photographs" concentrates on coloring with Marshall's Photo Oils combined with colored pencils. Author James McKinnis is a professional handcolorist with many commercial clients and uses primarily those materials. This book does not provide as much detailed instruction on how to apply color as some other books on the subject. It does, however, include some useful tips not found in other books. Unfortunately, there is no one book that contains all of the pertinent information on handcoloring. "Handcoloring Photographs" is divided into two parts: Part One includes instructional chapters on "Basic Supplies and Procedures". Part Two, "A Gallery of Twenty Handcolorists' Work", is where the book really excels. The works of a wide variety of fine art handcolorists are featured with short essays about the artists' subject and techniques. These artists use a wider selection of media than are discussed in Part One, including photo retouching dyes, watercolors, pencils, gum-bichromate prints, Polaroid image transfers, and infrared film. There is some really spectacular work in this Gallery. It may be worth purchasing the book just for the ideas and inspiration in Part Two.
If you are looking for instruction on handcoloring, these are the contents of Part One: The first chapter, "The Photographic Print", discusses photographic papers that are suitable for handcoloring. Specific fiber-based and resin-coated papers are recommended. The second chapter, "Materials and the Workplace", talks about photo oils, pencils, and materials for applying and removing color. There is a brief discussion of coloring with retouching dyes, but McKinnis admits to having little experience with the medium. The third chapter breaks "Basic Handcoloring Techniques" into three steps: The Wash, Detailing, and Fine-tuning. It takes us through these steps, using one photograph as an example. There is no information on mixing pigments in this chapter. The forth chapter, "Ways to Approach Various Subjects" offers advice for coloring photographs of people, outdoor scenes, and still lifes. The section on people includes some specific suggestions for how to create correct skin tones, but oddly doesn't give advise on how exactly to mix the oils. The fifth chapter, "Special Handcoloring Techniques", discusses "minimal color" and "ultracolor" techniques. Minimal color involves reducing color intensity with Marshall's Extender, and Ultracolor employs Marshall's Extra-strong colored photo oils for a more opaque appearance.
The sixth chapter, "Photographic Handpainting" addresses a topic that I have not seen covered in other handcoloring books. Although I often see the terms used interchangeably, author James McKinnis makes a clear distinction between "handcoloring" and "handpainting" a photograph. "Handcoloring" uses media that are to some degree transparent, so we see the photograph that has been tinted. McKinnis uses the term "handpainting" to mean that parts of the photograph "are obscured by opaque layers of paint", so that we cannot see the photograph underneath. McKinnis finds handpainting best suited to sports photographs and provides quite a few examples. He handpaints with photo oils, applied without rubbing, and artists' oils.
In the Appendix, the author gives us his predictions for the future of handcoloring, which he believes has great commercial potential in the fields of portraiture, boudoir, fashion, photo restoration, advertising, and, of course, fine art photography. There is no list of suppliers. I don't think "Handcoloring Photographs" is the best handcoloring book for a beginner looking for step-by-step instruction, although it makes some valuable contributions in that area. The "Gallery of Twenty Handcolorists' Work" exhibits some fantastic examples of handcoloring in a variety of media, however, and would be an inspiration to handcolorists of all levels and experience. The twenty artists featured really demonstrate this art form's potential.
great book on handcoloring.......2003-11-26
This is a great book on handcoloring. THe author gives good explanations of the process of handcoloring using mostly oils. He tells you what works for him and shows many photos of his work that will inspire you to want to creat your own. Also included are the works of many other artists for one to enjoy the many different ways that people approach handcoloring. Very useful tips that i didnt find in other books and was glad to know. I think once one has the information the next step is to just try it and develop your own style.
How to create handcolor images?.......1999-12-12
I'm usually very "kind" in my reviews, but when I received this book, I really felt like I had been "taken". This book, although it has a lot of "pretty pictures", has little, if any information on handcoloring photographs. If your objective is to learn this art, look elsewhere. I'm returning this book and buying the other book in this section.
THE BOOK IS GREAT FOR NOVICE TO PROFESSIONAL.......1999-11-23
I just took a class on using the very easy spotpen system. I purchased this book yesterday and am ready to try almost all of the author examples of different types of hand coloring. She explains everything so beautifully and the pictures in the book are great. I'm not a very artistic person but I think I can do what she explains in every lesson.
Excellent all around resource for the serious hand tinter!.......1999-10-03
As the owner of PAST TINTS, a photo tinting resource website, I enthusiastically recommend and endorse James McKinnis' book. It remains my favorite photo tinting guide and I have benefitted greatly from the hundreds of suggestions within. Whether you are a beginning hand colorist, or an expert, you will find lots of helpful, interesting information in "Handcoloring Photographs".
Product Description
This book shows you how to handcolor black-and-white photographs using the widest variety of coloring media including oils, watercolors, pencils and more. Over 80 clear and concise photographs illustrate each technique in easy-to-follow step-by-step sequences. Everything is right here from toners and dyes to handcoloring media to tips for final presentation. Order today and get started!
Customer Reviews:
Vague Technical Information ~ Better Books on the Market.......2004-12-06
This book covers many different type of photo coloring techniques, however it provides little detail for these techniques. If you are interested in using photo oils, this is not the book to purchase. Better technical information on photo oils can be found in books by Kreb or Dorskind, with a lot more useful illustrations and step-by-step instruction. If interested in pastels or water color (which I was not), this may be a book to utilize. However, I would recommend looking it at the library first, before making a purchase. I was very disappointed with this purchase.
Good Intro to Handcoloring. Covers Nearly Every Medium........2004-10-26
"Handcoloring Photographs" is an excellent introduction to handcoloring for the hobbyist. It covers most methods of handcoloring, including several inexpensive media which may be convenient to start out with. The book's Introduction is followed by 10 instructional chapters. All chapters include information on how to prepare your print and how to apply (and remove) the color, accompanied by many colorful examples.
Chapter 1, "Getting Started" explains what supplies you will need, how to make cotton-tipped bamboo skewers, set up your workspace, and choose a photograph suitable for coloring. Chapter 2, "Toners & Dyes", discusses techniques for changing the base color of your print before coloring, including how to mask a print for selective dying/toning. Most people won't want to tone their print before coloring, but this is an interesting technique if you are trying to emulate antique photographs. Chapter 3, "Oil Paints & Pastels", discusses this most popular coloring media. Oil paints, oil pastels, and Marshall's photo oils, as well as some other less common oil media, are explained. Chapter 4, "Watercolors", addresses watercolor paints and other water-soluble media, such as liquid watercolors and water-soluble pencils and crayons. Chapter 5, is dedicated to "Colored Pencils", one of the easiest handcoloring media to use. Included are product recommendations, instructions for sculpting pencil tips, applying and smoothing the color, and mixing colors. Chapter 6, provides basic information about "Other Media" you may want to try. Retouching dyes, markers, acrylics, inks, and gouache (poster paint) are defined and examples provided, but there is no detailed information on how to use them. Chapter 7 provides guidelines for "Mixing the Media", such as how to mix oil and water-based media in the same photograph. Chapter 8 includes useful "Handcoloring Tips" on how to best approach coloring your photo. Chapter 9, "Color Theory", discusses the merits of realistic and unrealistic colors and how best to achieve them. It includes instructions on how to mix, lighten, darken, and dull pigments to meet your needs. Chapter 10, "Presenting Your Artwork", gives advise on how to avoid fading and general deterioration through spray-on finishes, proper storage, cleaning, displaying and protecting your prints. Appendix B is a convenient chart of the advantages and disadvantages of the various coloring media discussed in the book. There is also a Glossary of terms and an index.
The instructions in "Handcoloring Photographs" are easy to follow, They are reasonably detailed, but could be improved by more specific discussion and illustrations on applying and blending paints. So many different handcoloring media are discussed that everyone can find one to match his or her tastes and budget. The only handcoloring technique that is not discussed here is airbrushing, which requires specialized equipment and a lot of practice. "Handcoloring Photographs" packs a lot of useful information into a short book, and it gives the reader a lot of choices. If you find that Marshall's photo oils are your preference, "The Art of Handpainting Photographs" by Cheryl Machat Dorskind provides more detailed instructions on using photo oils, with an emphasis on portraiture. Unfortunately, there is no one book that contains every bit of useful information on handcoloring photographs, but "Handcoloring Photographs" is a good one.
Well covarage; poor technical information.......2000-06-01
This book covers most popular hand colouring techniques. Thus, it is a good material for getting to know the alternatives. However, as most of hand colouring books currently in the market (as far as my knowledge) this book is very poor in technical information, such as pigment and colour dye nature, their interaction with the silver image, effects to contrast and picture integrity, picture and colour durability etc. Methods are not very clearly identified, either, still leaving a lot of questions in your mind. It is a good advertisement for the American consumer market though. You will get to know which particular brands and their products will work best (! ) for you, ignoring all about the basic (raw) material knowledge. It is amazing that neither this nor any other book in the subject will discuss lightfastness of the colours. In my opinion, this book works fine for people who want recipes and where-to-buy lists.
A Must for Those Wanting to Learn Handcoloring Photographs.......2000-05-20
Handcoloring Photographs Step by Step
by
Sandra Laird & Carey Chambers
Sandra Laird, a commercial and fine art photographer who teaches handcoloring, and Carey Chambers, a technical writer, teamed up and competently produced a very helpful and knowledgeable book for those interested in learning the art of handcoloring photographs. Every step is described and illustrated in detail. You just can't go wrong. Chapter one introduces you to the supplies needed and media available for handcoloring photographs. How to set up your workplace is discussed as is how to choose and prepare the photograph you want to color. Part of the preparation for the photograph is the correct printing of the photograph, print size and paper choice. These considerations are fully discussed. Then you make your choice of media. You can choose oil paints and pastels, watercolor paints, colored pencils, markers, acrylics or gouache. Chapter two introduces you to toners and dyes. "Toning or dyeing can help you achieve a better handcolored result," the author suggests. A before and after sample print shows the difference sepia-toning a print before coloring can make. The results are indeed, pleasing. Each step of the toning and dyeing procedures are clearly illustrated and explained. Again, sample prints illustrate the effect each process has on a print. Selective toning or dyeing (a method of toning or dyeing only a portion of a print) is also described. You are introduced to oil paints, pastels and other oil-based media in greater detail in chapter three. How to choose the medium best for your project and preparing the print for the particular media you choose is covered. Again, clear illustrations and text allow you to follow the artist through the steps taken to handcolor a specific photograph using each oil-based medium. Laird and Chambers take the same care going into detail in chapter four. This chapter covers all you need to know to get started using watercolor paint to color your photographs. Clear explanations and instructions accompany the step-by-step illustrations. Types of watercolor (liquid, tube or cake) are discussed as are brushes. Chapter five talks about using colored pencils and chapter six discusses all other media. Can you mix the various media when coloring one print? You bet. Examples of such prints are shown with suggestions and instructions on how to do it in chapter seven. Chapter eight ties all the loose ends together, and answers any questions you still may have before tackling your project. Chapter nine is a quick course in color theory, mixing pigments and choosing the best colors for your particular photograph. The last chapter tells us how to finish the print and prepare it for showing. Subjects such as spray finishes, matting, framing and displaying your print and archival considerations are covered. Appendix A lists manufacturers and suppliers for the various products needed for handcoloring photographs. Appendix B follows with a guide to the advantages and disadvantages of the different coloring media. A glossary and index end the book. I found this book thorough, clear and complete. Well illustrated with attractive and well- done photographs, simple instructions in easy-to-understand text takes you through each step of the processes. I really can't find anything to complain about where this book is concerned. This is an excellent book for a beginner and may even give pros an idea or two they can put to use.
By far, the best choice to learn handcoloring!.......2000-01-10
After looking at other books on the subject, Handcoloring Photographs, Step by Step, offered the most examples and visuals. In my opinion, this book clearly is the best choice for anyone new to the area of handcoloring photographs. If you have to buy one book, this is the one.
Book Description
Perhaps as a reaction against the growing tide of digital photography, many traditional photographic techniques are enjoying a creative revival. The most popular are the related skills of toning and handcoloring. Now there's an easy-to-use resource that shows artists, photographers, and crafters how to master this unique, age-old technique. In Toning and Handcoloring Photographs, acclaimed photographer Tony Worobiec takes readers step by step through each process, examining the use of products that have only recently come on the market, as well as long-established ones. Illustrated throughout with Worobiec's own inspiring photographs and packed with useful tips and hands-on techniques, everything needed to tone and color successfully is here. Step by step, readers will see how easy-to-use media like photographic spot pens and artists' watercolors can breathe new life into treasured old photographs. Whether one wishes to give an old black- and-white photograph some added depth with pastels, handcolor an old family portrait for a scrapbook, or make rich gold-toned prints of exhibition quality, Toning and Handcoloring Photographs will bring out the dormant artist in everyone!
Customer Reviews:
You can never have too many books..........2002-08-08
While I wouldn't classify this book as a technical one - it will definitely whet your appetite for alternative processes. What I enjoyed most about this book was the many great examples showing both the before and after images. I especially enjoyed the examples of dual toning - sepia then selinium, selinium then blue, etc., etc., etc. and again - the images that supported these processes. If you need visual descriptions to get your creative juices flowing - you'll enjoy this book!
Book Description
The prequel to Fist of the North Star, premieres in June. It is just before WWII, Kasumi Kenshiro hides as a quiet, absent-minded professor teaching literature at a small women's college in Tokyo. Once the 62nd Grand Master of Hokuto Shinken, "God Fist of the North Star," and known has Yan Wang, or "the King of Death," who preserved the peace in the "City of Devils." A fighter of thugs and drug dealers, Kasumi seeks anonymity and a quiet life until the death of his lover, and former brothers, forces him to return to Shanghai to fulfill his destiny and avenge the deaths of his associates.
Average customer rating:
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Book Description
The battle of Isandlwana - a great Zulu victory - was one of the worst defeats ever to befall a British Army. At noon on January 22nd, 1879, a British camp, garrisoned by over 1700 troops, was attacked and overwhelmed by 20,000 Zulu warriors. The defeat of the British, armed with the most modern weaponry of the day, caused disbelief and outrage throughout Queen Victoria's England. The obvious culprit for the blunder was Lieutenant General Lord Chelmsford, the defeated commander. Appearing to respond to the outcry, he ordered a court of inquiry. But there followed a carefully conducted cover-up in which Chelmsford found a scapegoat in the dead - most notably, in Colonel Anthony Durnford. The popular conception of the Anglo-Zulu War is that of a conflict between British redcoats and Zulu Warriors. It is seldom realized that over 60% of Chelmsford's army was composed of black auxiliaries, and that the cavalry mostly comprised colonial settlers. Zulu Victory: The Epic of Isandlwana and the Cover-Up traces the history of the Zulu kingdom and its British neighbors, the Colony of Natal. It also details the composition of both armies from individual Zulu regiments to the tribesmen of the Natal Native Horse who fought on the side of the British. Using source material ranging from the Royal Windsor Archives to the oral history passed down to the present Zulu inhabitants of Isandlwana, the authors shed new light upon this famous Zulu victory in all its bravery and horror, and the scandal that followed.
Customer Reviews:
Usual old Brit bashing.......2004-04-18
As usual, books like this are only interested in a spot of Brit bashing. They ignore the fact that the whole Zulu war was initiated against the expressed wishes of the British government as shown in cabinet minutes and from cables sent to Bartle Frere by Hicks Beach. It was Bartle Frere's war acting on his own. At Isandlwhana British troops were a minority in the force also composed of colonials and Natal Bantus who volunteered to help bring down the Zulus. Yes, fellow Africans wanted the Zulus defeated. As for being outgeneralled and out thought, the same Zulu impies under the same commanders weren't able to repeat the trick at Kambula or the Ineyazane river, where Chelmsfords approach was vindicated. As for a Zulu victory, Cetshwayo didn't seem to think it was, on hearing the Zulu casualty figures ("An assegai has been thrust into the belly of the nation. There are not enough tears to mourn for the dead"). But we can't ruin a good story with too many facts, can we. File it under fiction. It'd be right at home there.
Slightly Flawed.......2004-01-06
When the British marched to disaster against the Zulu at Isandlwana this volume claims they were `outgunned and outfought and outmanuevered' but the reality is slightly different. This book intends to expose the `cover-up' of the British disasters in the Zulu war and the author tries to prove that their was indeed some massive cover up. Of course the cover up couldn't have been very thorough since everyone with any knowledge of British colonial history knows the the defeat by the Zulus. This book claims the british were crushed despite their superior weaponry but this is a misnomer. The British were defeated due to their lesser then brilliant officers who strong the better trained and better armed british contingent out in a long line, allowing the british regulars to be butchered by the vastly more numerous Zulus. The author claims that it was a failure of British arms. But Isandlwana is no more a failure of British arms then the defeat the British suffered in Afghanistan or at Yorktown. Rather, the reality is that the gigantic Zulu army went on to lay siege to Rorkes Drift where a handful of similar British soldiers held off thousands of Zulu for more then a day. Isandlwana was a freak accident and this book labors too hard to show that the British covered up a defeat.
Battle of Isandlwana.......2003-04-28
I have been very interested in African history ever since I took a course on West African colonial history in college, and in the Zulu wars specifically when I read "Washing of the Spears" many years ago. These intrepid warriors faced the British imperialists in defense of their homeland, and occasionally prevailed in battle. This book details the Zulu victory over the British at Isandlwana, a very black day for the Empire of Queen Victoria. The reader receives all of the reasons why the Zulus prevailed, among other reasons the astute planning of their leaders, and the almost casual dismissal of the ability of the natives on the part of the English leaders. Once the tragedy took place, there was a concerted effort by the authorities to transfer blame from the actual commander, Lord Chelmsford, to one of the "colonial" officers. The authors categorically refute the baseless allegations, and show us exactly how Chelmsford was derelict in his duty to his troops, while not taking anything away from the brilliance of the Zulu planning. This is an interesting book, and well worth reading for those whose interest, as mine, centers on the cololnal conquest of the indigenous peoples of Africa.
Out Thought & Out Fought - History as Sharp as an Asegai.......2003-03-07
Zulu Victory is a valuable synthesis of research on the battle of Isandlwana, where a British Army under Lord Chelmsford was outmaneuvered and defeated in detail by King Cetshwayo's Zulu Army. The strength of this book lies in its clarity. Every important personality and event in the campaign is thoroughly weighed and explained, without ever losing sight of the overall context. The result is a fluid, balanced account of a very confused set of circumstances.
This book is equally valuable as an all-in-one historiography of the battle. Serious history readers will appreciate this facet from the Forward, written by Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, right through the appendices. The quality of the writing keeps the history from becoming dry. The narrative remains vivid, even after multiple readings. As with Morris' "The Washing of the Spears," the storytelling is flat out exciting.
Try not to be put off by the subtitle: "The Epic of Isandlwana and the Cover-Up." The twin themes of the book are clear. 1) The Zulus did not simply stumble on and overwhelm a British encampment. They made use of their advantages, which included better mobility and communications as well as a superior understanding of the local terrain, to outmaneuver and defeat an overconfident enemy. 2) Chelmsford and his supporters attempted to shift responsibility for the defeat to a colonial cavalry leader, Colonel Anthony Durnford, (Royal Engineers) who was killed in the fray. (You may know him as Burt Lancaster in the movie "Zulu Dawn.")
Perhaps the 2nd point is more marketable, to scholars, but what most amateur historians will find instructive is the campaign narrative. While much has been made in the past of how courageous individual Zulu warriors were, and of their famed "head and horns" battlefield tactics, this is a depiction of how the Zulu lured Chelmsford into splitting his force. It explains the thinking from 'both sides of the hill' without attributing an artificial superiority to European tactics, or shortchanging the sophistication of the native leadership.
The book makes it clear that although Chelmsford was both arrogant and defeated, he was not necessarily the fool played by Peter O'Toole. He operated with tremendous logistical challenges that severely constrained his freedom of action. Moreover, while Chelmsford was overconfident, the British still might have withstood the Zulu Impis had they recognized the danger sooner and employed different tactics...as later battles were to prove.
All the usual debates are covered, including a detailed appendix (C) devoted to the infamous British Ammunition boxes and their (potential) impact on the battle. The book has 11 very clear maps and 75 illustrations, many of which are in color and really capture the battlefield from the perspective of contemporary eyes.
If you have an interest in 19th century imperialism, military history, or even what happens when indigenous peoples and colonials collide, read this book. It's excellent history and a ripping good yarn to boot.
Superb book!.......2003-01-24
Battle of Isandlwana was one of the greatest victories that native Africans ever achieved against an European power. This book proves to be one of the best books on this battle. The book covers all your usual stuff like political conditons, military conditions leading up to the war and so forth. But key element of the book was how its dealt with the battle itself. As far as I know, it got one of the clearest blow by blow account of the battle if that could be possible. Many myths about what happened at Isandlwana seem to be more clearer now and respect for Zulu military organization grows as you read on. Its amazing how long it took the British to finally realized that they were coming uder a full scale attack. The book also discussed the covered up by Lord Chemsford after the battle. The covered up was basically to protect Chemsford's military carelessness and the fact that he have been out-generaled by the Zulus. In this, he chose Colonel Durnford since the good colonel was already dead. Interesting how blaming a dead people for mistakes have always been a popular habits of all defeated commanders. The book appears to be well research and the authors' distaste for Chemsford become pretty clear as you read the book. It also got very details maps which help understand the battle. The nice photographs helped - including the infamous British ammo box which showed what a pain it can be to opened one up. Well, with or without ammo, British were doomed in this battle anyway. Probably the best book written on Isandlwana right now.
Book Description
The battle of Isandlwana fought on 22 January 1879 was the greatest defeat suffered by the British Army during the Victorian era. A Zulu army of 24,000 warriors had moved undetected to within striking distance of the British camp in the shadow of Isandlwana Mountain. From the start the 1,700 defenders underestimated the danger descending upon them. They were swept aside with horrifying speed and the final stage of the battle consisted of desperate hand-to-hand fighting amid the British camp. Over 1,300 men were killed; scarcely 60 Europeans survived. Ian Knight employs new archaeological and historical research to provide a completely new interpretation of the course of the battle.
Customer Reviews:
Balanced Battle Summary.......2007-02-19
This is a clearly written account of the start of the 1879 Zulu War leading up to the battle of Isandlwana. Events described include the initial invasion of Zulu empire, subsequent British reconnaissance efforts, and the battle of Isandlwana itself. The greatest strength of the book is the authors ability to provide a balanced, unbiased account of the campaign. This is particularly welcome as other accounts have tended to portray the Zulus as a faceless mass instead of a well-organized army. In this case the strategies, tactics, and intention of both sides are well explained and provide readers with a clear understanding of this interesting campaign. As always with Osprey books, numerous illustrations, 2D, and 3D maps are included. The illustrations in this book are especially engaging due to colorful British uniforms and the Zulu exotic battle gear. The most interesting one (and the cover of the hardback Praeger edition) depicts a last stand by a small knot of British infantry and members of the Natal Native Contingent.
One minor drawback to the book is the lack of detail about the aftermath of the battle; this is not necessarily the authors fault as Osprey has very tight page limitations which forces authors to make tough choices about what to emphasize. However, the battlefield lay virtually untouched for months after the fight with only occasional visits by foraging and burial parties. More in-depth accounts of these forays would have flesh out the text.
This book along with Rorke's Drift 1879, also by Ian Knight and also part of the Osprey Campaign Series, would make an excellent gift for someone interested in African or Imperial British history.
Osprey at it's best.......2005-12-10
Zulu-expert Ian Knight has written an up-to-date volume on the famous battle of Isandlwana, where a british battalion was whiped out by a zulu impi in 1879. Based on new archeological findings, Knight's description of the battle and the fighting forces are detailed and well-written - the reader have much help from timelines and excellent maps showing the campaign, and the 3D bird's-eye battle maps which step by step explain the different stages of the battle. There are numerous illustrations and both 19th century and contemporary photographs. There are also three realistic plates by Adam Hook - although perhaps not as detailed and sharp as the art of Graham Turner - the illustrations are excellent and show what the battle actually may have looked like. The plates are showing Durnford's mounted auxiliaries stubmling on the zulu army, The British collapse (with the dramatic withdrawal of the artillery in the fouground and the retreating infantry hotly pursued by charging zulus in the background) and the final stages of the battle (the zulus fighting in melee with the last remnants of the 24:th and the Natal Native contignent)
The battle has been seen as an embaressing british mistake rather than a great zulu victory, but here Knight wants us to think the other way around (thus the subtitle). But here I think he exaggerates the zulu victory - although no one can deny the bravery and skills of the zulu, the victory isn't that spectacular if one consider the facts - more than 20 000 men concentrating their owerwhelming forces upon a thin, spread-out line of a mere 900 british infantry and mounted men, supported only by 800 badly equiped and badly trained native auxiliaries
This book is reliable and provides the reader with a good overwiew of the Isandlwana-battle as well as a fascinating introduction to the zulu army and the anglo-zulu war. My only reservation is Knight's ususal, way too low estimation of zulu casualties, his estimated 1,000 zulu killed are unrealisticly low considering the fire-power of the british and their desperate defense in the fierce fight for their life. I've read elsewhere of some 3000-4000 dead or mortally wounded zulu warriors, which seem much more plausible to me
Once More, Over the Same Ground.......2002-10-04
In 1992, Osprey's Campaign Series #14 entitled Zulu War 1879 by Ian Knight and Ian Castle, covered the dramatic Battle of Isandlwana. Ten years later, Ian Knight thought it would be a good idea to cover virtually the same ground in the new Osprey Campaign Series #111, entitled Isandlwana 1879. Granted, the focus is narrower than in the earlier volume and the graphic quality of the maps is superior, but this book essentially covers much of the same ground that the first book did. While the original title only spent 30% of its length on the Battle of Isandlwana, this new volume spends 55%. Overall, Isandlwana 1879 is a decent if not very original summary of that British military disaster, but it certainly lacks any real value-added quality over the original.
Isandlwana 1879 begins in standard Osprey format with the usual short sections on origins of the conflict, a campaign chronology, opposing commanders, opposing armies, and opening moves. Readers will certainly be impressed with the author's in-depth knowledge of Zulu leaders and units, but might have benefited from a short pronunciation guide on how to handle names like "iNgobamakhosi" or "uKhandempemvu" or just what the heck these names mean. At times, Knight seems to have the zealot's assumption that everyone in conversant in African tribal terms and hence, further clarification is unnecessary. Overall, these sections get the job done but in somewhat boilerplate fashion, as if Knight merely dusted off material from his other books. Readers familiar with the classic, "Washing of the Spears," will doubt that Knight is making a real effort to be incisive. The volume includes six 2-D maps (the war in Zululand, the attack on Sihayo's Homestead, Isandlwana Camp, initial dispositions, the British collapse, Chelmsford's movements and the British withdrawals), three 3-D "Bird's Eye View" maps (British movements around Isandlwana, climax of the battle and the British collapse) and three battle scenes (Durnford's auxiliaries stumble on the Zulu army, the British collapse and the final stages of the battle).
Knight notes that none of the Zulu commanders had any experience fighting British regulars and that, "a practical ignorance of the destructive potential of the modern weapons they [the British] possessed, had led to a dangerous over-confidence at the middle and lower levels of command." On the other hand, the British commander Lord Chelmsford was influenced by preconceptions gained in previous frontier warfare in Africa. Knight notes that in Chelmsford's earlier campaign against the Xhosa tribe that he, "faced only an elusive foe who showed a marked reluctance to engage in decisive combat." This sounds remarkably like the preconceived tactical mindset that influenced Custer three years earlier at the Little Bighorn. Yet if both sides were over-confident and didn't appreciate their enemy's strengths - as Knight claims - why was Isandlwana such a lop-sided battle?
The battle narrative comprises the bulk of the book and it also gets the job done, but with much effort to address the reasons for the British defeat. While Knight makes it clear that British pre-battle reconnaissance was a bit sloppy and based on too many false assumptions, he fails to address issues like faulty British tactical dispositions or ammunition resupply problems. Based on what happened elsewhere in the war, it is clear that the Zulus could not defeat British regulars who were defending in square or behind obstacles. The only enlightenment that Knight adds about the battle concerns the final moments of the British infantry, which he deduced from participation in an archaeological dig on the battlefield in the 1990s. Knight demonstrates that clumps of British infantry survived the overrunning of the camp and slowly tried to fight their way back to the border, but were overwhelmed enroute.
Modern military professionals could use this volume as an excellent starting point for a study of regular forces fighting less well-developed opponents, and might see parallels with contemporary operations in Afghanistan or Somalia. It is interesting to discern how over 1,300 British troops - including the battle-experienced 1st Battalion/24th Infantry - could be annihilated in the space of four hours by an opponent that was regarded as hopelessly inferior. The root cause of the defeat at Isandlwana was the same as at the Little Bighorn in 1876 or Mogadishu in 1993 (or Bunker Hill in 1775): professional soldier arrogance. While the Zulus were ultimately defeated - at much greater cost in resources and time than the British had bargained for - they did demonstrate that not all indigenous military forces merely sit around waiting to be picked off like clay pigeons by superior military technology.
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- extensive and non-biased study
- the finest book on the subject
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Bloodless Revolution England 1688
Stuart E Prall
Manufacturer: University Of Wisconsin Pr
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Binding: Paperback
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Customer Reviews:
extensive and non-biased study.......2004-02-29
Stuart E. Prall's "The Bloodless Revolution" is an extensive and non-biased study of the seminal constitutional developments in 17th century England; which defined the constitutional monarchy in Britain in the age when absolutism reigned supreme elsewhere in the world. Author prepares the scene for the revolution by explaining relationship between king and the Parliament throughout Stuart dynasty starting from James I, thought Long Parliament, Civil War, Protectorate, Restoration, last years of Charles II, and the many encroachment on liberties and mistakes of James II which ultimately led to Glorious Revolution.
Emphasis is on developments in the legal system and relationship between multiple religious institutions and political parties during and after the Restoration period.
One extended quote from the book might give you a flavor of the level of scholarship and insights this book will offer.
"The medieval and Tudor view of the dispensing power was premised on the distinction between malum prohibitum (a prohibited evil) and malum per se (an evil in itself). The distinction was essentially medieval, and the foundation was divine law and/or natural law. Restrictions considered man-made (malum prohibitum) could be dispensed with. Restrictions that were thought to have been authored by God or Nature (malum per se) were not to be dispensed with. These distinctions permeated both the secular and the ecclesiastical structures of the medieval worlds. The Tudor era, especially after the English Reformation, saw the gradual secularization of the political and legal thought and the gradual erosion of the distinction , because the whole conception of divine and natural law was one of the victims of the new age of science and its concomitant mechanical laws of nature, which were coming to the fore in the seventeenth century. One result of the pre-1640 struggle for sovereignty and the constitutional struggle of the Puritan Revolution itself has bee the triumph of the principle that sovereign power was identical with the lawmaking, or legislative, power. Neither the Long Parliament or Protectorate felt any divine or natural limitation upon their ultimate freedom to exercise total legislative authority. The lesson of the Restoration had been that the supreme or sovereign legislative authority did exist in the English state, and that it existed in the triple-headed institution of the King-in-Parliament. The problem was very complex. Because if the king-in-Parliament can make or unmake any and all laws, then there is no longer any practical distinction between the malum prohibitum and malum per se. All laws are merely malum prohibitum. The state is supreme, not God or Nature. The result is that the king could now feel free, at least in theory, to dispense with any law, while those who might oppose his particular use of this power ... would be thrown back upon the old medieval distinction between the human and the divine. English constitutional development was to be unique in seventeen-century Europe in that these same intellectual tendencies on the Continent were indeed leading to just this justification for royal absolutism, while in England the struggle for power between the king and Parliament would continue unabated ..."
the finest book on the subject.......1998-07-24
This is a stupendous book. It reveals the Glorious Revolution in its entirety. From the Restoration to the Act of Settlement, nothing is overlooked. In addition, the book is written without any of the historical or idealogical predispositions which have long plagued previous studies of this seminal revolution.
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Reader's Adviser : Vol.5 The Best in Science, Technology and Medicine
Marion Sader
Manufacturer: Libraries Unlimited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0835233251 |
Book Description
"Heartily recommended... Since not even a reference librarian par excellence can come close to knowing the best in any given discipline, no library should be without access to this set for its patrons." Booklist "... impressively meets a quite formidable task - providing basic material on many subjects for the nonspecialist, student librarian." Choice From age-old classics to the writings of today, The Reader's Adviser, 14th Edition helps you and your patrons select and appreciate the world's greatest books. This monumental work features: *hundreds of authors and thousands of works new to this edition, plus updated entries and revised material in every chapter *updated critical and biographical profiles reflecting the latest understanding and scholarship *more women writers and more culturally diverse writers from around the world *title, name, & subject indexes in every volume. Order the complete 6-volume set for only $500.00--a savings of $160.00 if you purchased each volume separately!
Books:
- Victorian Domestic Architectural Plans and Details: 734 Scale Drawings of Doorways, Windows, Staircases, Moldings, Cornices, and Other Elements
- Wallace Neff and the Grand Houses of the Golden State
- WALT DISNEY IMAGINEERING: A BEHIND-THE-DREAMS LOOK AT MAKING THE MAGIC REAL
- Web Services and Service-Oriented Architectures: The Savvy Manager's Guide (The Savvy Manager's Guides)
- Why Buildings Fall Down: How Structures Fail
- A Master Course in Feng-Shui
- Architectural Graphic Standards for Residential Construction: The Architect's and Builder's Guide to Design, Planning, and Construction Details (Ramsey/Sleeper Architectural Graphic Standards Series)
- Architectural Graphic Standards, Tenth Edition (Book only)
- Bay Area Style: San Francisco Bay Region Houses 1893-2004
- Beginnings of Interior Environments, Ninth Edition
Books Index
Books Home
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