Authentic Color Schemes for Victorian Houses: Comstock's Modern House Painting, 1883

Book Description

This rare book invited homeowners of the Victorian era to eschew "white houses with green blinds" and join in the revolutionary trend towards colorful houses. They explain clearly how to mix primary and secondary colors to achieve such popular, mellow tones of the period as olive, russet, citrine, buff, plum, and sage. 20 color plates.

Customer Reviews:

How to mix colors.......2007-03-08

To quote the book, "Those of our readers who expect to find lists comprising all the various scales of color, giving definite information as to what particular color should be used to harmonize with this or that shade, and telling just what combinations are allowable, and just what are to be condemned, will, therefore, be disappointed." This book covers how to prime wood and mix colors (reddish brown color is achieved by mixing Indian red and burnt umber) and does give specific color schemes. This is a reprint from 1883, and the authors mentioned that the printer could not replicate most of the color schemes they envisioned (maybe I need to get watercolor paint and mix the suggested colors to see what they intended). We are building a Victorian home, and I was looking for ideas of what worked well in the past, but the rust red, dark mustard yellow, greens and browns they showed did not inspire me as I had hoped. It does have helpful information about color selection, but it is fairly generic in nature. Most of the plates are house exteriors, but there are a few interior plates as well.

Simpla & Basic.......2006-02-22

Good for someone with a need for very basic color scheme for historic homes. No imagination needed. Colors are boring by our modern day standards, but give the old world look desired in the older victorian neighborhoods that despise the brighter californian look.

Average customer rating:

Exactly what I was looking for

The basics are covered at last!

Figure Sculpture in Wax and Plaster
Richard McDermott Miller , and Gloria Bley Miller (Editor)
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Sculpture | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

From Clay to Bronze: A Studio Guide to Figurative Sculpture

Modelling and Sculpting the Human Figure

Modeling the Figure in Clay (Practical Craft Books)

The Portrait in Clay

Sculpture: Principles and Practice

ASIN: 0486253546

Book Description

Step-by-step guide to materials and tools, modeling in wax and plaster, hollow wax modeling, plaster molds, and much more. Introduction. "The beginning artist will find the step-by-step instructions...to be like having a personal tutor." — Enchantment. 281 photographs.

Customer Reviews:

Exactly what I was looking for.......2007-03-11

Exactly what I was looking for. If you are looking for well illustrated practical instruction on plaster and wax modeling, then this will be perfect. Although it focuses on the human figure, the techniques could obviously be applied to any subject matter. Wax and plaster are both relatively cheap materials that have quick results and hold there shape and allow reworking later on.

The basics are covered at last!.......2000-05-19

This is one of the reference books I keep in my studio.It covers techinques on materials that are not covered in other sources. The set up of the book is logical and helps one to understand the materials and techinques valuable to a sculptor focusing on the figure and other forms of expression. So valuable are these techiques as they offer a sculptor the opportunity to quickly create his design with the use of fairly inexpensive materials. i highly recommend this book to anyone serious about sculpture.

Average customer rating:

FIGURE SCULPTURE IN WAX AND PLASTER

Manufacturer: Watson-Guptil
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000H2296E

Average customer rating:

The Image is Beautiful

The Beauty Of - And Within - A Culture

Committed to the Image: Contemporary Black Photographers

Manufacturer: Rizzoli International Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Photo Essays | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Exhibition Catalogs | Museums | Museums & Collections | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Beautiful: Nudes by Marc Baptiste

Black Beauty: A History and a Celebration

Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers 1840 to the Present

James Vanderzee Studio, The

Black: A Celebration of a Culture

ASIN: 1858941237

Book Description

The ninety-five African American contemporary photographers represented in this volume have used their cameras as tools of social commentary and personal and artistic exploration, bearing witness to changes in the American experience over the past fifty years. These uncompromising, thought-provoking, often highly politicized images cover subjects such as the daily life of African Americans; the struggle of the Civil Rights movement; the history of Black musicianship; and the influence of African American art, literature, and ideals of beauty on American society at large. Black artists, philosophers, writers, poets, musicians, politicians, and sports heroes are featured throughout. Some of the images address the most personal issues of philosophy and identity. The photographers featured, all working today and most of them at the height of their productivity, come from every region of the United States; together, their work represents a far-ranging exploration of contemporary African American identity.

Customer Reviews:

The Image is Beautiful.......2002-08-03

A wonderfully illustrated compilation of interesting photography. Decent. Somewhat reminds one of G. Parks' work (some does appear here). One does not have to be a photographer to appreciate this book. Explosion of creative expressions. Contemporary photography, --indeed!

The Beauty Of - And Within - A Culture.......2001-05-01

A wonderful book, revealing not only those things that make a culture unique, but showing the individual uniqueness of those operating and living within that culture. This books dispels myths that suggest we all think alike, look alike, perceive alike. There is vision here; there is perspective, and it's uniquely African-American, and highly artistic as well as educational.

Committed to the image: Contemporary black photographers

Average customer rating:

Committed to the image: Contemporary black photographers

Manufacturer: Brooklyn Museum of Art in association with Merrell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0872731448

Book Description

A newspaper series unseen for over half a century comes vibrantly alive again.Frank Thorne is one of the most respected and accomplished comic artists of his generation. He began drawing comic in the 1950s and quickly established himself as a supremely competent draftsman and storyteller. Before he made a name for himself drawing Red Sonja for Marvel Comics, before he appeared in Heavy Metal and Playboy, and even before he put in his time on Flash Gordon, Green Hornet, and Perry Mason, a fresh-out-of-Art-Career-School Frank Thorne worked on an historical strip called The Illustrated History of Union County. Spanning the entire history of a New Jersey county important to the formation of these United States, this book illustrates, with the influence of Harold Foster (Prince Valiant) and Alex Raymond (Flash Gordon), scholarly episodes with a strong youthful vigor. The proceeds from the sale of this book will go towards the restoration of an 18th century house in Union County, New Jersey.

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Keep on Writing

Another Life: A Memoir of Other People by Michael Korda

Where are the human beings??

Such a pleasant poolside read

Editor's Ego Trip

Another Life: A Memoir of Other People
Michael Korda
Manufacturer: Delta
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Authors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Journalists | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Charmed Lives: A Family Romance

Country Matters: The Pleasures and Tribulations of Moving from a Big City to an Old Country Farmhouse

The Art of Literary Publishing: Editors on Their Craft

At Random: The Reminiscences of Bennett Cerf

The Book Publishing Industry, Second Edition

ASIN: 0385335075
Release Date: 2000-05-09

Amazon.com

Michael Korda has spent 41 years at Simon & Schuster--most of them as editor in chief--and it proves to be a front-row seat for observing book publishing's transition from a gentlemanly trade to a hard-nosed business. He chronicles that evolution with impressive perceptiveness and tearing good spirits in this juicy memoir. Korda has a novelist's gift for capturing people's personalities in a few paragraphs, and he nails everyone from bestselling fantasy mongers Jacqueline Susann and Harold Robbins to his boss and good friend, S&S's notoriously dictatorial publisher, Richard Snyder. But he also seems to be incapable of bearing a grudge or truly disliking anyone, so his smart, razor-sharp portraits never appear nasty, just good fun. The key to Korda's appeal is his zest for all manner of books and people, from the highest to the lowest brow, so long as they sincerely believe in what they're doing. (He's amused rather than outraged, for example, by Ronald Reagan's ability to recount with total conviction events that never occurred.) Korda gives a brief, frank account of his personal life, including a failed first marriage, but--luckily for his readers--it's clear that he spent most of his time at the office. --Wendy Smith

Book Description

From world leaders to Mafia dons, from Hollywood stars to the literary world's most eccentric writers, the notable and notorious alike have entrusted their life's work to Simon & Schuster's preeminent editor, Michael Korda. In this masterful memoir, Korda reveals the unforgettable cast of characters and outrageous anecdotes behind four decades of blockbuster publishing, bringing us face-to-face with dozens of larger-than-life figures: Richard Nixon, who maintained his "presidential" persona long after his public life was over; Joan Crawford, whose autobiography reflected a life she would have liked to have lived but did not; Joseph Bonanno, the retired Mafia don who'd do anything to keep from being killed by the reviewers.

And in a revelatory account that reads as compulsively as fiction, Another Life paints a vivid picture of publishing's glitterati, including Jacqueline Susann, who liberated women's fiction--and terrorized a publishing house, and Tennessee Williams, who nourished his genius on four-course vodka lunches. A veritable Who's Who of stage, screen, and letters, Another Life is the deft interweaving of publishing at it most fascinating--and storytelling at its finest.

Customer Reviews:

Keep on Writing.......2006-03-09

Michael Korda's family biography, Charmed Lives, remains one of my all time favorite reads. This book, Another Life: A Memoir of Other People, came to my attention while doing research on the web regarding the meaning of memoir/biography. There has been some recent controversy over whether a memoir is based on facts or simply on subjective opinion. I will take Michael Korda's facts, and subjective opinion, anytime. He has a balanced point of view, and the gift of seeing us all as people. He also understands the nature and the nuturing of creative talent.

Another Life is a memoir of the publishing industry; it presents a view of how publishing used to be in the old days, the Golden Age of the famous name publishing houses. Though I think we are in another and very different Golden Age at present. I am entering the publishing business myself, and it gave me insights into truly how the business operates on a personal level.

I am now reading his biography of Ulysses S Grant, and am very much interested in his assessment of Grant. It stays with me. I hope Mr. Korda continues to write historical biographies. He has a lot to share with the world.

Another Life: A Memoir of Other People by Michael Korda.......2004-04-10

This dreadful piece of pap should be pulped. It is rife is factual errors so embarrassing one wonders if Mr. Korda has become senile, yet is still so hungry to publish that he is willing to lie ruefully in order to sell a book. Fact-checking will bear out appalling errors. Mr. Korda's memory requires a make-over, and his style is unbearable. Don't waste your money.

Where are the human beings??.......2001-09-01

This book is a fascinating read and hard to put down. The reader gets a whirlwind tour through the editing side of publishing and a multitude of witty and entertaining brief caricatures of people famous in the world of books. But the only person, of the multitude vignetted in the book, who comes through even vaguely like a real human being, is Dick Snyder, one of Korda's bosses. Korda goes through paternity, divorce and prostate cancer with nary a whisper of an emotion. At the end one is left wondering what was the purpose of the whole exercise.

Such a pleasant poolside read.......2001-05-22

I really enjoyed this pleasant and often humorous insight into the world of publishing. Korda supplies his readers with interesting and often poignant anecdotes about the many famous celebrities with whom he's worked over his long career, including Marilyn Monroe, Jacqueline Susann and Claus von Bulow, to name just a few.

Editor's Ego Trip.......2000-12-30

Michael Korda comes across as highly narcissistic in this overblown, underedited memoir. He has led a life of privilege, as he is quite pleased to let the reader know. His Swiss boarding school, his famous father, uncle, and step-mother -- he seems to have been born for a lifetime devoted to the collection of famous names. Judging from this book, Korda's goal in getting to know celebrities seems to be to impress strangers. The chapter on Joan Crawford might have done well as a piece in Vanity Fair. But at book length, the manuscript is obviously padded -- and the author's tone of superiority is both self-revealing and alienating to the reader.

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ANOTHER LIFE. A MEMOIR OF OTHER PEOPLE.

Manufacturer: Random House.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000FLIL7I

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Another Life: A Memoir of Other People
Michael Korda
Manufacturer: RANDOM HOUSE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OLMEFY

Book Description

Carefully researched, accurately detailed collection captures the spirit of the decade after World War II. 10 dolls depict 3 generations of a family whose wardrobe includes beach wear, lounging outfits, dress suits for the men and women and formal wear. Also: a hula hoop and a Davy Crockett coonskin hat. 31 costumes. Notes.

Customer Reviews:

Colorful Visual Reference.......2007-08-23

I purchased several of Tom Tierney's historical paper doll sets to augment my family history projects. I have 150 years of family photos which are mostly in black and white, of course, so it's great to see the period clothing in detail and in color. The paper dolls will add so much to my research and my family's appreciation of the historical times and stories. Although I intend to keep the paper dolls uncut, they are printed on card stock which would be easy to cut and not tear apart if well-cared for.

Wonderful reference book.......2006-06-18

I started buying Tierney's American Family series as a reference so that I can better imagine the typical people of a particular period. The more usual documenting of high fashion isn't useful for that purpose, although Tierney usually has a paper doll book for that, too. These are also in full color, whereas contemporary illustrations often are not. I have read costume designers who says that Tierney's books are very helpful to when trying to determine exactly what the customer wants. In this case, it's kind of a hoot for me to be looking at the dimly remembered clothing of early childhood. I wonder how many people buy these books not to play with the dolls, but because they are such a useful and economical reference source. As paper dolls, they look moderately difficult to cut out, owing to all the detail, if one is determined to leave no waste paper.

In these books, Tierney starts with a succinct and well-written description of the era. He creates a story about the family, usually includes three generations of moderately wealthy Americans so that he can display fashions typical of various age groups. He shows clothing suitable for a variety of leisure, work and dress-up occasions, usually including a wedding. Since he focuses on only one decade, they are more informative than most general costume reference books. Each costume has explanatory notes specifying such details as fabrics, hair-styles and precise time period. One of the boys has an extra head of hair for when he tries to adopt the Elvis look.

One disagreement with Tierney: I like the sack dress shown in plate 7!

Book Description

Updated with maps, photographs, and battlefield diagrams, this special fiftieth anniversary edition of the classic history of the Korean War is a dramatic and hard-hitting account of the conflict written from the perspective of those who fought it. Partly drawn from official records, operations journals, and histories, it is based largely on the compelling personal narratives of the small-unit commanders and their troops. Unlike any other work on the Korean War, it provides both a clear panoramic overview and a sharply drawn "you were there" account of American troops in fierce combat against the North Korean and Chinese communist invaders. As Americans and North Koreans continue to face each other across the 38th Parallel, This Kind of War commemorates the past and offers vital lessons for the future.

Customer Reviews:

Still looking for Proud Legions.......2007-10-11

There aren't many "classics" of history or literature addressing the Korean War. T.R. Fehrenbach's "This Kind of War", first published in the early 1960s, is probably the closest thing we have to a Korean War history by an American that has endured.

Make no mistake, this book shows its age. To begin with, the Japanese are "Japs", Asians are "Orientals" and the African-American troops who served in Korea (often quite poorly, the author stresses) are "Colored." Beyond the superficial shock of the use of non-PC terms is the questionable legacy of Harry Truman, especially his commitment to achieving status quo ante bellum on the Korean peninsula from late 1951 onward in the face of North Korean and Chinese attack and weakness, are vigorously questioned. Heading into the US presidential election of 2008, TIME Magazine ran a cover story asking which candidate of either party had the mettle and virtues of Harry Truman. One gets the sense in reading "This Kind of War" that the 2008 TIME cover is like asking contemporary Americans to imagine a 2060 magazine cover asking "who has what it takes to be the next George W. Bush?"

Signs of age aside, Fehrenbach pays special attention to two issues that are essentially tangential to the main story of the Korean War. First, the author is clearly disgusted at what happened to the US Army in the years after the Second World War. He sees an army that had gone soft and pours forth bile at the post-war Doolittle Commission that smoothed out the rough edges of the Army and strove to make the Army a more livable occupation for the typical American. Fehrenbach addresses the issue specifically in chapter 25, titled "Proud Legions." He argues that the US needs a tough core of professional soldiers if it is to play a leading role in the world, not an Army of citizen-soldiers who are apt to complain, not take orders and to look longingly to their return home.

This quote captures Fehrenbach's sentiment and his central argument in the book: "...some American mothers had given their sons everything in the world, except a belief in themselves, their culture, and their manhood. They had, some of them, sent their sons out into a world with tigers without telling them that there were tigers, and with no moral armament."

Second, and somewhat related, is the issue of American performance and treatment in the prisoner war camps of the north. Fehrenbach frequently comments on the fragility of US servicemen in northern POW camps and how quickly and easily they broke compared to other Allied POWs, such as the Turks, none of whom died or collaborated while in captivity. Meanwhile, the author argues, the US was pushed around by a sorry collection of communist POWs on Koje-do Island in the south.

Some final comments are worthwhile. It was surprising to read how the communist forces "owned the night" during the entire conflict. The most spectacular and decisive actions by the enemy occurred in near pitch darkness and the US forces clearly feared the night. Today, and really since the 1960s, US forces rely heavily on their technical superiority in night-vision and infra-red and have thus successfully taken back the night.

Next, the author argues that the typical reference to Chinese hordes by American press was a propaganda tool, pure-and-simple, to make Americans back home feel better about the horrendous defeats suffered by their sons and husbands in Korea against an ethnic group many saw as mere "laundry men." Fehrenbach stresses continually that the UN forces actually held a numerical edge for most of the war - at least from the time of the Pusan perimeter in early 1950. Reference to communist "hordes" was really a fabrication meant to make Americans feel better about the unprecedented defeats of the US Army.

A final point - the US administration of Harry Truman, today seen as a paragon of sage statesmanship, was willing to endure upwards of 30,000 casualties a year to convince the communists that it was committed to maintain the status quo ante bellum on the Korean Peninsula. How many American casualties will the next US president endure to establish Western commitment to not see Iraq descend into genocidal civil war or come under the grips of an intractable Sunni or Shiite government?

An Insightful Study.......2007-10-09

This excellent book provides a view of the "forgotten" Korean War. It goes into the background and into the causes of the total lack of readiness exhibited by the US. This insight is particularly useful in that it shows a direct path to actions in the recent past such as Bill Clinton wasting large numbers of expensive cruise missiles blowing up insignificant targets but studiously avoiding putting in ground troops.

Superb History.......2007-03-03

This is probably the best book on the Korean war ever written.

Mr. Fehrenbach was a teacher of history when the war broke out. He was also in the Army's reserve component. When his unit was mobilized, he went with it. He served throughout the war in positions that gave him excellent, first hand, experience.

When the war ended and his unit was demobilized, he went back to his civilian profession of teaching history. He also started writing this book.

While I was attending the Infantry Officer Advance Course (IOAC) in '79-80, ever general officer who came to address the assembled classes at, what we affectionately called, Benning School for Boys told us READ THIS BOOK. And they were RIGHT!

It covers the gamet of aspects relating to modern warfare from the perspective of the simple soldier to the generals to the national leaders. From the poigant anecdotes of paratroopers gone AWOL so they could get to the fighting, to the making of disasters, e.g., Task Force SMITH and the retreat of the 2d Infantry Division during the Chinese Intervention.

It is a MUST read for everyone who is a military officer and anyone who has an abiding interest in military history.

Regards,

Chuck Pelto

The Classic Military History of the Korean War.......2006-09-15

T.R. Fehrenbach's "This Kind of War" is the classic military history of the Korean War. Fehrenbach addresses the strategic and operational aspects of the conflict, but much of his focus is on the tactical experience of U.S. units. His book is a searing indictment of the U.S. military and of the United States for having failed to maintain combat-ready forces less than five years removed from the end of the Second World War.

The U.S. Army and Marine Corps elements thrust into sudden conflict in June 1950 following the communust invasion of the Republic of Korea had to relearn, the hard way, all the old and hard lessons of warfare. Young soldiers who had been coddled by peacetime occupation duty in Japan found the battlefield to be a merciless place of death for those who were unprepared. In Fehrenbach's words "They were learning, in the hardest school there was, that it is a soldier's lot to suffer and that his destiny may be to die."

Fehrenbach's prose is blunt and straightforward; the narrative sketches the ancient truths of combat and their modern realities and pulls no punches with respect to the shortcomings of both the military and the political leadership. Aging General Douglas McArthur ran great risks during the Battle of the Pusan Perimeter in August 1950 to husband forces for the spectacular September counterstroke at Inchon that turned the tide of combat, only to underestimate the risk of Chinese intervention and suffer an humiliating defeat inside North Korea in November. In parallel manner, the Truman Administration made the hard political decision to intervene in June 1950, then failed to think through the likely implications of going north to the Chinese border in October 1950.

Fehrenbach dispenses credit where due. The U.S. Eighth Army pulled itself together after its initial defeats to successfully defend South Korea, then reconstituted itself a second time after its defeat by the Chinese near the Yalu River. It would persevere to the armistice in 1953. Thousands of individual soldiers, NCO's, and officers overcame the shock of combat to become highly effective fighters, ultimately fighting far larger formations of Chinese and North Korean communists to a bloody standstill in the nation's first modern and rather unhappy experience with limited war.

This book is highly recommended to the student of the military art and of the Korean War. Fehrenback's narrative provides a vivid reminder that we live in a world of tigers.

Must-read for citizens.......2006-03-04

Fehrenbach's bang-up history of the Korean War is a terrific view of the conflict, written by one who was there. It is not, however, a matter of personal reminiscence.

Fehrenbach provides us both the high strategy of the war, the big picture, and the foxhole-to-foxhole fighting. He pays much more attention to other UN forces than later books.

But if it were only a great history of the war--including the years leading up to it--it would still be mandatory for a citizen.

However, Fehrenbach discusses the place of an army in a liberal society. The Korean War is his example, his subject matter. I would argue that the history of the war itself is secondary to its function as a source for his primary issue which seems to be war, violence, armies, in a liberal society which itself is in a world of nuclear catastrophe.

He makes the case that it is difficult to expect citizen-soldiers to fight and die to straighten out a bit of border here, or replace a government there. For that, we need legions who will fight for their colors, iron-hard and willing to die in the mud.
Citizen soldiers will fight when the trumpet calls jihad--an eerie use of the word forty years before the rest of us were interested--and want to see the victory.
The problem, Fehrenbach tells us, and we ought to know it, is that, if one side or the other is backed into a corner, nuclear war ensues.
The world could be considered, then, a chessboard, whose squares are not square and whose shape is irregular. If we let ourselves give up too many pawns, and too many squares ("what's an island in the middle of nowhere?), we would eventually find ourselves in check, with mate coming. Our only courses then would be complete surrender or to kick over the board with nuclear weapons.
No one square makes the difference, but after accumulating enough, the other side might decide to take their best shot. Whether they win or not will hardly be relevant. Better, TRF says, to make sure the other side never thinks it has a chance. And that requires policing the borders.

TRF calls for legions, and refers to Marines as opposed to the soft Army with which we began the Korean War. At one point, he refers to Marine units which, although drawn from garrison and reserves, were prepared because their officers were sufficiently hard-nosed. Sufficiently hard-nosed officers will, in peacetime, generate congressional inquiries. This, TRF more than implies, tells us about the forces in a liberal society which inevitably tend toward soft and unprepared forces. Legions, the legions of the damned, manned by expendable lower class men and officered by landless younger sons, succeeded for centuries, in part because society was tougher then. Just living as a civilian in England in, say, 1850 would be considered something like a refugee in extremis today. But primarily nobody particularly cared what went on in the regiments. So they were left alone to train as their officers thought they should be trained.

The performance of US troops in Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and in Iraq shows the mental and physical toughness, the discipline and the courage, the training and the equipment that TRF called for. Whether he would think of our forces today as the legions he envisioned is an interesting question.

I recall, as a grunt in the late Sixties, seeing others in my uniform in airports. I remarked not too long ago that they all looked as if they needed their hand patted. I suppose I did, too. I contrasted that with going through DFW in 2004, noticing the troops who all had their game faces on. I had no interest in patting anybody's hand, although buying a drink or two seemed reasonable.

Perhaps we've reached the equilibrium. The problem is to insist on staying there. The forces that would soften the military remain, uneducated by the blood they have shed so many times in the past. But, it was never their blood, anyway.

So, citizens need to read this book. And they need to pay attention to more than the history of the Korean War so ably presented.

This Kind of War : The Classic Korean War History (Association of the U. S. Army Book Ser.)

Average customer rating:

This Kind of War : The Classic Korean War History (Association of the U. S. Army Book Ser.)
T. R. Fehrenbach
Manufacturer: Brassey's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O92GY0

This Kind of War: The Classic Korean War History.: An article from: Pacific Affairs

Average customer rating:

This Kind of War: The Classic Korean War History.: An article from: Pacific Affairs
Steven Hugh Lee
Manufacturer: University of British Columbia
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00096MISM
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Pacific Affairs, published by University of British Columbia on March 22, 1996. The length of the article is 857 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: This Kind of War: The Classic Korean War History.
Author: Steven Hugh Lee
Publication: Pacific Affairs (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1996
Publisher: University of British Columbia
Volume: v69 Issue: n1 Page: p121(3)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Blood and Splendor

Tales of Madness and Splendor!

Inside the Minds of Tyrants

The lives and times of five tyrants,

Unusual, making it good.

Blood and Splendor: The Lives of Five Tyrants, From Nero to Saddam Hussein
Daniel Myerson
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Political | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | World | History | Subjects | Books
Good & Evil | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0380804891
Release Date: 2001-01-09

Book Description

Nero, Ivan the Terrible, Stalin, Hitler, and Saddam Hussein. The names evoke horror and bloodshed -- but also awe at the range of power of these despots and their accomplishments. What makes a tyrant? And why, when history has taught us time and again that they must be stopped, do such leaders continue to exist? The five short but substantial biographies in this volume help answer these questions as they tell the stories of five diabolical geniuses, exploring who they are, what they did, and what they drove them to such cruel lengths. You'll read about how the extragance of their lives and the complexity of their obsessions were played out through their political actions, often with global consequences. And you'll discover what conditions could create a tyrant just as horrible today. Spanning centuries and continents, these biographies offer a fascinating glimpse into history's darkest hearts and minds.

Customer Reviews:

Blood and Splendor.......2004-04-07

The book is very well written and entertaining. I recommend it for someone who wants an easy introduction to the topic at hand.
However, I can't take it completely seriously. There are no sources detailed for the information the author has gathered. There are no footnotes for the quotes used, there are no corroborating documents listed. Much of the analysis given seems to be the author's opinions about the people, including their mental states, motives, values, and reasons for particular actions, rather than an actual factual analysis based on what can be proven. I would not recommend that any of the information in this book be used for research papers, etc., unless it is corroborated elsewhere. Too much seems to be imagined as opposed to discovered.

Tales of Madness and Splendor!.......2004-02-11

As has been stated in other reviews this book has a nice literary style to it which makes the history contained therein come alive. In other words you don't get bogged down with stodgy facts and boring detail but become enthralled with the chilling tales of insanity and cruelty committed by these tyrants. It's really interesting to consider the parallels of these different rulers and the similarities they had to each other regarding different aspects of their lives (such as rough childhoods etc.). Some people have questioned the merit of this book based upon the idea that some details may not be 100% accurate. However, that really makes no difference since all of history as told by historians is always history based upon inclusions of certain details and exclusions of other areas. This isn't to say that the historian shouldn't try to be completely factual but rather that many so-called "sacred" elements of history are brought into question later. So enjoy the ride and be shocked and awed by the brutal tales of these tyrants.

Inside the Minds of Tyrants.......2003-03-19

Daniel Myerson takes the reader on a fascinating journey inside the minds of the world's most notorious tyrants. What the reader would be wise to come away with is the question: could it happen here? The United States' founders certainly believed so. Monsters like these don't suddenly appear; the stage is carefully set. Myerson is to be commended for the tour. It's only regrettable that he didn't present a chapter on Abraham Lincoln, who was responsible for brutally murdering thousands of innocent civilians in an undeclared and bloody war.

The lives and times of five tyrants,.......2003-03-18

Myerson does an alright job in detailing the bloody regimes of five tyrants. How does he pick these five top contenders, he does not tell. Since he cannot dwell on either of these five in great detail, the reader learns only the rudiments of each of these five leading contenders (Nero, Ivan the Terrible, Hitler, Stalin, and Saddam Hussein). As a previous reviewer has already noted, some of the aspects of Hitler's life is open to contention, so one cannot believe all of this story. Since Myerson does not detail any of his sources, one wonders where he received all the details.
This is an easy read. If one wants to learn any detail of any of these five dictators, one must read elsewhere. As I said, this is a good summary of their lives, but don't believe everything you read.

Unusual, making it good........2002-01-19

Most of us are used to a particular way of writing and reading, Daniel breaks that like so many good published writers. The biography apsect is broken by making conclusions on the individuals, adopting the most likely reason each person in question lived the way they did. That of course is done from the research this author in fact did do, and did a accurate job of that. That leaves the book biased, but here is the clincher as to what is biased, things we don't know or have had any evidense on these persons. I like that, made me think of other motivations as well. This book isn't just about these 5 persons, it's worth the buy if this is an interest.
I have to recommend another book that speaks of one more coming horror tryrant, also predicted our current situation accurately, SB 1 or God by Karl Mark Maddox

Book Description

Designed to be used by students/practitioners as a first introduction to the Finite Element Method (FEM), the book also includes a users P.C. software diskette (LEARN-FE) designed to help the user solve problems and simulate FEM in practice. The applications are to the thermal sciences primarily, including fluid mechanics.

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