Book Description
A superb photographic record of the lost treasures of the English country house, featuring 200 duotone images.
Customer Reviews:
A superb memento to lost beauty - and ugliness..........2003-07-08
In `Brideshead Revisited` Charles Ryder worries about the triumph of `Hooper`, the epitome of all that's mediocre and commonplace, over history, tradition and style. His thoughts are visualised to perfection in a deeply depressing photograph in this book, showing a brand-new street of featureless, drab modern 'cottages' perched literally on the doorstep of dilapidated Beaupre Hall, that is about to be torn down altogether. If you have any feeling at all for English country house traditions and architecture, this book will make your heart ache for all the beauty that was burnt, mutilated, abandoned and left to decay, or, most often and worst of all, deliberately demolished - at a staggering rate of one house a week during parts of the fifties. (Some offering fierce resistance though, like the domed core of magnificent Nuthall Temple, that defied all attempts at demolition and was left to itself for decades, until finally a big load of dynamite blew it away so that the M1 motorway could run its course; Nuthall's foundations remain buried underneath it).
Well, as you can see it would be very easy to write a soppy, sentimental book about the subject - but fortunately Giles Worsley sticks to an eminently sober, scholarly (but lively!) approach. He notes that we lament the loss of 1 in 6 country houses during the 20th century, but that we might rather wonder at the fact that in a century of such huge political, economical and social changes, 5 in 6 survived! Also, he stresses that the downsizing of huge piles into something more convenient or fashionable is not a 20th century invention, but is of all ages. And who could blame the latter-day nobleman for not wanting to maintain a draughty, 150-bedroom Victorian colossus? (the Duchess of Westminster apparently once said that she thought of Eaton Hall as a town rather than a house - and a stay in the immense, British-designed Lalgarh Palace (now hotel) in Bikaner, India, has certainly taught me that Victorian buildings of that size are hardly fit for human occupation!). In fact, the 20th century is exceptional only because it was the first century to produce legislation AGAINST such activities. And finally, not all that was lost was of great historical or architectural importance - much of it was in fact second-rate, plain or downright ugly.
Country Life liberally documented the good, the bad and the ugly (at times snubbing the ugly with elegant irony, some amusing examples of which are cited; at other times providing invaluable visual documentation to inspire later reconstructions), and the breathtaking photographs in this book seem to offer a fairly representative cross-section of all that was destroyed or downsized. The quality of the (black and white) pictures is exquisite. They show a wealth of architectural and interior detail, but many of them are also highly atmospheric, mysterious and haunting. The accompanying text is concise, instructive and always interesting (though inevitably a somewhat depressing recital of fires and bankruptcies). I was surprised, by the way, that the book contains no pictures at all of the process of destruction itself; also, for some houses that were dramatically reduced, I would have been interested to see a `before-and-after' comparison. But these are just minor quibbles. This is a magnificent book, beautifully produced on heavy, glossy paper, and is a definite must-have for anyone even remotely interested in this subject!
Customer Reviews:
Value above and beyond what meets the eye!.......2003-03-04
The cover of the book is a little misleading since it was written for hobbyists in miniature railroading. It goes beyond that.
The book was written originally for hobbyists in Great Britain, by some of the comments on availability of supplies and names of sources for supplies. The universality of the content makes this issue mute when you get into the depth of each chapter.
Examples given for making cores and for moulding with "Green" sand are bountifull. As an Engineer with formal classes in casting I was impressed with the information provided. Some of the information was great review for those classes taken so long ago. Addiitional technical information on how and why things are done bolstered my confidence this process can be done by the individual hobbyist.
In my case I am turning a hobby into a retirement business, so the value of this small book will have long lasting value. I expect to be wearing this book out by frequent referencing.
Customer Reviews:
VERY VERY FUNNY!.......2000-04-02
For all "Star Trek" fans this book is a MUST! This is the first "Star Wreck" book I read and I was hooked! It's hilarious! In this volume, Starfreak have decided to keep only one Endrocrine crew, and so various members of staff are laid off, inlcuding Captain Smirk, who is not too happy about Ricardo getting the job. Guido becomes first officer while Piker becomes the doctor - it can only spell disaster! Meanwhile, on the other ship, Georgie LaForgerie and the rest of the "Have-nots" have decided to try and find the Fountain of Eternal Youth before the "Haves" get there, so that they will get their jobs back. It's brilliant, you have to read it!
Average customer rating:
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Dreams and Shadows of Gena
Adris I. Fultz
Manufacturer: 1st Books Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1410761215 |
Customer Reviews:
Expert on Hardship Travel.......2007-07-28
I am an admitted Dervla Murphy fan, have read most of her books, and gamely suffer her occasional political rants for the greater good. Her books featuring travels in the company of her (at the time) young daughter, Rachel, are particularly harrowing: "Eight Feet in the Andes", "On a Shoestring to Coorg" and "Cameroon with Egbert" are fine examples, as is this book.
Ms. Murphy goes where only the indigenous folks live, and, occasionally, where they are smart enough not to live, and, in this book, to the Northern Areas of Pakistan/India where it is now unlikely that a Westerner could venture, safely or not.
Walking was her mode of travel along the Indus and, at the outset, she and Rachel enjoyed fine accommodations, to wit: "...we have a cell with dirty bedding, no table or chair, a fifteen-watt bulb, no water for the reeking Western loo, and no heating. (A few moments ago I had to stop writing to sit on my hands for long enough to thaw them.)"
But the sublime power of ice, rubble, thin air and the stark beauty of the mountains worked magic despite ritual victimization by government officials and guest house managers along the way. By the time they arrived back in Skardu, Dervla was already planning to return.
Book Description
Minor debts, derisive remarks, a fight over a parking space, butting in line—these are the little things that nevertheless account for much of the violence in human society. But why? Roger V. Gould considers this intriguing question in Collision of Wills. He argues that human conflict is more likely to occur in symmetrical relationships—among friends or social equals—than in hierarchical ones, wherein the difference of social rank between the two individuals is already established.
This, he maintains, is because violence most often occurs when someone wants to achieve superiority or dominance over someone else, even if there is no substantive reason for doing so. In making the case for this original idea, Gould explores a diverse range of examples, including murders, blood feuds, vendettas, revolutions, and the everyday disagreements that compel people to act violently. The result is an intelligent and provocative work that restores the study of conflict to the center of social inquiry.
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- Well-illustrated overview of oft-forgotten Irish soldiers
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The Wild Geese : The Irish Brigades of France and Spain (Men at Arms Series, 102)
Mark Mclaughlin
Manufacturer: Osprey Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0850453585
Release Date: 1980-06-15 |
Book Description
In the early years of the English Civil War, a French traveller in England remarked that the Irish 'are better soldiers abroad than at home'. Between 1585 and 1818, over half a million Irish were lured from their homeland by promises of glory, money and honour in a constant emigration romantically styled 'The Flight of the Wild Geese'. Throughout this period, the Irish brigades in France and Spain participated in conflicts ranging from the wars of the Spanish and Austrian Succession to the Napoleonic Wars. Spanning over two centuries of history, this book examines the uniforms and organization of the Wild Geese in France and Spain.
Customer Reviews:
Well-illustrated overview of oft-forgotten Irish soldiers.......1998-08-24
The Wild Geese is an exceptionally well-illustrated and very tightly written introduction to a story which spans three centuries of military history. The Irish who fled to France and Spain to take military service with the Catholic kings in the 1600s were the precursors of the famous Irish Brigades of those countries, and of our own. Although constrained by the page limit of the books in this series, the author nevertheless manages to give a good deal of information about the names, organization, deeds and histories of these regiments. He even includes anectodotes and quotes from officers and men of those units -- and their opponents. The book includes a section on the Irish exile units that fought for Napoleon, the Pope, for several Latin American armies and for the United States in our revolution and civil war. He even mentions the San Patrico battalion, a group of Irish deserters from the AMerican army who fought for Mexico in the Mexican-American war. There is even a brief epilogue dealing with how some of these units live on today in modern armies (there are historical companies in certain French and Spanish regiments that trace their lineage to the Irish regiments, as well as our own 165th infantry, the descendent of the 69th New York of the Civil War Irish Brigade). It is richly illustrated with both historical art and a set of uniform drawings (or "plates") made especially for this book.
A great and rare treat that is a must for anyone interested in Irish military history.
Book Description
Arendt describes the loss of meaning of the traditional key words of politics: justice, reason, responsibility, virtue, glory. Through a series of eight exercises, she shows how we can redistill once more the vital essence of these concepts.
Customer Reviews:
Deep Thinking and a Better World.......2006-11-14
Hannah Arendt was the kind of deep thinker who is sorely needed in our world.
Santayana's quote that "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it" has long been one of my favorites. Arendt's book is worth reading as provocative food for thought about relating past to future.
The problem with political theory, politics and government is that deep thinking alone is not enough. There also has to be policy development and good execution which yield two large real-world disconnects--between thought and policy and policy and results.
Arendt's work offers important starting points.
Jim Namaste
[...]
The intellectual situation is not improving; is a comic response art?.......2005-07-31
I was reading a book by Hannah Arendt at the beginning of July, when I went to a Bo Diddley concert in which his song "Shut Up, Woman" ended with "You know I love you, and I would love you twice as much if you put that razor away." I was primarily interested in what Arendt could say about Nietzsche, but her observations also included Marx and Kierkegaard. Arendt was a member of the last generation that was well-read. Since then reading has become an individual hobby for some, but books are no longer a context within which meaning advances, and her observations shaved off the B.C. comic suggestion for males proving their superiority over females by scratching them with our beards.
Do we all remember this comic?
We're going to catch the women and prove the innate superiority of men over women.
Curls: How do you plan to do that?
Peter: We'll scratch them with our beards.
Hannah Arendt might be a good example of how modern exercises in political thought think very much like Nietzsche, but use Nietzsche as the philosopher most responsible for ending the authority which thought itself, as a superfluous product of human mental aspiration, assumes in her book, BETWEEN PAST AND FUTURE. Its index of names does not include George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans, 1819-80, dead now these 125 years), an English author that Nietzsche heard about from his friend, Helene Druscowicz, and mentioned in section 5 of the "Expeditions of an Untimely Man" in Nietzsche's book TWILIGHT OF THE IDOLS with the disavowal, "let us not blame it on little bluestockings a la Eliot. In England, in response to every little emancipation from theology one has to reassert one's position in a fear-inspiring manner as a moral fanatic." People being what they are, morals ought to assume an awe-inspiring place in the expression of anyone's individuality. For Nietzsche to assume that "it possesses truth only if God is truth - it stands or falls with the belief in God" applies religious presumptions to a matter that holds no water, "For the Englishman morality is not yet a problem . . ." I tried to find something about Marx in Nietzsche's books, and instead I found an English novelist who might be familiar to anyone who reads.
To let Hannah Arendt state the matter in her own way:
"Kierkegaard, Marx, and Nietzsche remained Hegelians insofar as they saw the history of past philosophy as one dialectically developed whole; their great merit was that they radicalized this new approach toward the past in the only way it could still be further developed, namely, in questioning the conceptual hierarchy which had ruled Western philosophy since Plato and which Hegel had still taken for granted."
George Eliot did not get mentioned when Hannah Arendt considered the way in which modern society functions:
"Values are social commodities that have no significance of their own but, like other commodities, exist only in the ever-changing relativity of social linkages and commerce. Through this relativization both the things which man produces for his use and the standards according to which he lives undergo a decisive change: they become entities of exchange, and the bearer of their `value' is society and not man, who produces and uses and judges."
Considering the common element of self-defeat in Nietzsche, Marx, and Kierkegaard, Arendt suggests, "In complete independence of one another--none of them ever knew of the others' existence--they arrive at the conclusion that this enterprise in terms of the tradition can be achieved only through a mental operation best described in the images and similes of leaps, inversions, and turning concepts upside down: Kierkegaard speaks of his leap from doubt into belief; Marx turns Hegel, or rather `Plato and the whole Platonic tradition' (Sidney Hook), `right side up again,' leaping `from the realm of necessity into the realm of freedom'; and Nietzsche understands his philosophy as `inverted Platonism' and `transformation of all values.'"
Freedom is a neat theme because it allows everyone to participate as liberators. Even the CIA is still looking for a slam dunk way to make it happen, but the future is never a cakewalk. Education has been trying to produce people who can reach some consensus on things that have to be done, but the methods which lead in that direction are incredibly boring to anyone who has access to the feelings of those who produce and perform art. As Bo Diddley would say, "Sit down and shut up."
One of her best .......2004-12-06
This along with ' Men in Dark Times' and ' The Human Condition' is my favorite Arendt work. Her analysis of fundamental concepts such as Authority, Truth, Freedom, Action are fundamental in that they go to the root morning of the term and trace the concepts transformations in reality. Her narratives are generally narratives of decline and loss, of concepts and experiences that somehow lose their meanings in the transformation of time. And this while she is always searching for some kind of redefinition of fundamental political activity and reality that will bring a new dignity to the human condition. Her writing is profound, and whether one agrees with her or not her analyses always ' educate' and make ' the life of the mind ' seem especially meaningful.
This is one of the best works of one of the great political thinkers of the modern world.
Between truth and genius.......2004-07-15
Very few political theorists have the reach and thought of Hannah Arendt. I read her works first by requirement, then with joy. Between Past and Future articulates and solidifies my own thoughts on politics, particularly the observations in "What is Freedom?" on courage and action. A must read for anyone seriously thinking about political theory or a career in civil service.
More vitamins than a semester full of the "usual texts".......2001-05-29
Notice inside the parenthesis next to the title it says (20th century classics). That's because this work belongs to that rank. I first read this book back when I was in grad school, and have used it as a reference ever since. If a 'classic' -- if we may dare use such a term still -- is something akin to a great poem as Ezra Pound defined it, "News that stays new", then this work is a classic. Arendt must have been a great teacher as well as a thinker. These essays read like lectures: Lectures given by a caring professor who actually gives a damn about getting through to her audience. Yes, some Greek and Latin here and there, but with Arendt as your guide you cannot get lost if you pay attention. The subtitle of the book is Eight Exercises in Political Thought, and Arendt, in her grand style, deals with the big topics -- Freedom, Authority, Power, Tradition, etc -- that ground everything else in civic life. The sheer pleasure to be had in encountering the density of her scholarship is found not only in her crystal clear prose, but also in her mastery of the foundational concepts and experience, Roman and Greek, that shape, willy nilly, the warpature within the space of our civic and political discourse even today. However, in her presentation of the trajectory of tradition, she also shows exactly where and how the displacement of tradition occurred. In the opening lines of her essay 'What is Authority?', she asks whether we ought not instead be asking 'What WAS Authority?', making clear from the get go that the notion of Authority has undergone an irreversible transformation since the Roman conception. And then she goes on to explain how that change occurred and in what way, with what chain of consequences. This book is noteworthy not only for its content and inimitable delivery, but also as a model of intellectual "exercise". The calmness, the steady architectural build-up of the argument, attention to philological detail when it's called for, all make up Arendt's generous style of writing and thinking. But that generosity is especially evident in this collection of essays. This is one of those rare books that, if read well, will actually make you more thoughtful. And smarter. Besides, you get to pick up some Greek and Latin for free.
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Computer-Aided Analysis of Difference Schemes for Partial Differential Equations
Victor G. Ganzha , and
E. V. Vorozhtsov
Manufacturer: Wiley-Interscience
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0471129461 |
Book Description
Advances in computer technology have conveniently coincided with trends in numerical analysis toward increased complexity of computational algorithms based on finite difference methods. It is no longer feasible to perform stability investigation of these methods manually—and no longer necessary. As this book shows, modern computer algebra tools can be combined with methods from numerical analysis to generate programs that will do the job automatically.
Comprehensive, timely, and accessible—this is the definitive reference on the application of computerized symbolic manipulations for analyzing the stability of a wide range of difference schemes. In particular, it deals with those schemes that are used to solve complex physical problems in areas such as gas dynamics, heat and mass transfer, catastrophe theory, elasticity, shallow water theory, and more.
Introducing many new applications, methods, and concepts, Computer-Aided Analysis of Difference Schemes for Partial Differential Equations
- Shows how computational algebra expedites the task of stability analysis—whatever the approach to stability investigation
- Covers ten different approaches for each stability method
- Deals with the specific characteristics of each method and its application to problems commonly encountered by numerical modelers
- Describes all basic mathematical formulas that are necessary to implement each algorithm
- Provides each formula in several global algebraic symbolic languages, such as MAPLE, MATHEMATICA, and REDUCE
- Includes numerous illustrations and thought-provoking examples throughout the text
For mathematicians, physicists, and engineers, as well as for postgraduate students, and for anyone involved with numeric solutions for real-world physical problems, this book provides a valuable resource, a helpful guide, and a head start on developments for the twenty-first century.
Books:
- English Country Interiors: Inside Cotswold Homes
- European Architecture 1750-1890 (Oxford History of Art)
- Exit Utopia: Architectural Provocations 1956-76
- Exotic Style: Decorating Ideas from Around the World
- Facade Construction Manual (Construction Manuals)
- formZ 4.0: 3D Modeling, Rendering, and Animation
- From Bauhaus to Our House
- Front & Backyard Idea Book Collection: Entries Paths & Steps Play Spaces Foundation Planting (Idea Books)
- Garage: Reinventing the Place We Park
- Good Deeds, Good Design: Community Service through Architecture
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