Customer Reviews:
Tansu: Traditional Japanese Cabinetry.......2007-01-16
Informational book on tansu, which is collectively a variety of Japanese cabinets. The book describes the different types of cabinets, their uses, and also historical information by period, along with detailed structural notes (ie. cabinets being made from certain types of woods to accomodate changing humidity during the season, flexibility to withstand earthquakes and typhoons, etc.) Black and white photos and diagrams included.
Tansu Book is great.......2006-11-10
This book was exactly the information I needed to help design a new stair step tansu cabinet that was both historically accurate, and modernized for today's homeowners. The history of the cabinet style, the construction, the joinery, the hardware, and the finishes used were well laid out in the book and easy to read and understand.
Great Tansu Book.......2006-07-06
Found this book very interesting with its description of differing tansu from different regions in Japan. Great for collecters of tansu who wish to know meanings/locations of their tansu as well as the era from which it was constructed.
The Ultimate Resource on Japanese Antique Chests.......2001-10-23
If you're thinking of purchasing a tansu or already own one and want to know more about it, this is the book to have. It covers everything from the history of these unique pieces of furniture, to the materials used in their construction, as well as providing tips of how to select, refinish, and care for them. Truly a scholarly work. But perhaps the best part of all is the book's exquisite photographs showing outstanding examples of tansu from all regions of Japan. You can't help but drool when seeing them.
Book Description
Based on the success of How to Draw Cars Like a Pro, this lively and informative guide will help everyone from casual doodlers to artists with professional aspirations draw World War I biplanes, World War II fighters and bombers and modern jet aircraft. This illustrated instructional also features a brief history of airplane design.
Customer Reviews:
Bravo! Fills a 60-year Gap in Aviation Art Instruction Books.......2002-05-06
"How to Draw Aircraft Like a Pro"
Looking for a primer on aviation art? Then this is your book!
"How to Draw Aircraft Like a Pro" fills a huge gap in the literature of art instruction by comprehensively addressing aviation fine art.
Frank Wootton published "How to Draw Planes" in 1941. Jim Dunavent wrote "How to Draw Airplanes" in 1973. Both of these books were nice efforts in their day, and have become collectable classics in their own right. Even if they were still in print, they would come far short of addressing the nuances of aviation art as comprehensively as does this new 2001 book.
To be sure, the necessities for producing fine art - composition, perspective, light and shadow, hue, value, intensity and so on, are independent of the subject matter. However, in practice, many people are drawn into the field of aviation art by dint of their passion for flight, rather than an overwhelming passion for art. This book was created to asist and encourage them.
Established fine artists who don't need the art basics may still find the engineering and aeronautical insights of this book helpful. Consumers of aviation art are among the most demanding and detail driven to be found anywhere. To the "rivet-counters," fine art is also accurate and believable. There is no quarter given under the guise of "artistic license". The painting had better be right in every aspect of the story it is representing.
The title itself is a good for getting the right people to pick it up and crack the cover. In truth, the book delivers far more than it promises, especially if you have the two books mentioned earlier. Drawing is the the crucial requisite skill for competant aviation art. It is the skill mentioned first by every master aviation artist who is queried on where to start. It is the also the skill most frequently neglected by the novice, who hopes in vain to shortcut the process by copying a photograph. The text hammers away on the basics of drawing, but also does get into the techniques for how to PAINT aircraft like a pro.
The book is comprehensive and affordable. I found myself wishing for much larger reproductions of the excellent artwork, and for a hard cover in the interest of durability, otherwise I'd have extended a fifth star to the rating.
"How to Draw Aircraft Like a Pro" represents the cumulative lessons-learned of the first great generation of aviation artists, those who have brought aviation art its long deferred recognition as bona fide "fine art". An aspiring aviation artist could spend years of painting and enduring professional critiques at ASAA Forums to uncover the popular pitfalls of composition and execution one at a time- or they could avail themselves of the collected wisdom in this book.
In summary, this book fills a huge gap in the literature. The artists and the authors did a very credible job of bringing together a huge amount of material on a complex subject.
And they did it just in time for helping to Celebrate the Centennial of Flight 1903-2003. What could be better?
Interested in aviation art?
Buy this book,
join the American Society of Aviation Artists,
and grab a pencil...
Oh-by-the-way:
In response to the question from the earlier reviewer--
Yes, the "Kate" on page 71 etc is actually a fixed gear Mitsubishi Ki-51 "Sonia". The Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" is correctly represented, with its gear retracted, on pages 122-123. Same ocean, same war, different branch of service.
Remember what I said about "rivet-counters"?
Lots of good stuff, but..........2002-01-28
The book covers a lot of basic art fundementals, from media, sketching, values, shading, color, composition etc. There are plenty of excellent examples of finished drawings/paintings of aircraft with pitfalls to avoid. So why the but? Well, to me the key to drawing an airplane correctly starts with the ability to assure proper relative alignment and sizing of the aircraft's structures. The use of descriptive geometry to achieve this is covered in very, very, very basic terms (about 2 pages) with the example shown being a line drawing of an aircraft with all square surfaces. It would have been much more helpful to have an example of an actual aircraft drawn this way in all it's various stages. So, my suggestion, should you ever revise the book, is to drop all the basic art fundementals and get into the meat of descriptive geometry. What tools are needed, handy shortcuts, etc.
Oh, and by the way, what is the plane identified on pages 71, 120 & 121 as a "Kate"? It appears to be a Ki-51, but I could be mistaken.
Book Description
Self-taught mixed media artist Jim Houser's creative journey began as a child when he started drawing in sketchbooks brought home to him by his father. Over the years, driven by impulse and inspired by words as well as the perspective that his childhood drawings provide, Houser developed a style combining words, phrases and existential story fragments with crisp, colorful paintings on surfaces ranging from canvas to walls to skateboards and more. Houser forces us to re-examine these often well-worn words and discover their lost, faded and even alternate meanings amidst visions of ten gallon hats, snaggletooth snakes, preternatural beings and visualized natural elements. Jim Houser is a Philadelphia-based artist, an honorary member of the artists collective Space 1026 and an avid skateboarder who designs skate decks for Toy Machine.
Customer Reviews:
babblebabel.......2005-08-26
This book was everything I expected and more. I've been a fan of Houser's work for a little while now and was lucky enough to see his show in NYC recently but I didn' t have much of his work in print. This book filled that hole in a big way. The book is almost entirely art reproductions from his early skateboard work to his recent installations, all color photos and good quality shots. There is even an interview with Jim to tie it all up. Great book.
Book Description
Adventures and short stories starring Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck, and other standard Disney characters.
Customer Reviews:
A Very Good Comic Book.......2007-01-15
This comic book contains a very interesting selection of stories. The first one is a must own and must read tale written by Carl Barks and drawn by Tony Strobl. It is one of the very few Disney comics that deals with a taboo topic, death. The name of the Story: King Scrooge the First. In it, Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck and the nephews are abducted by Khan Khan of the Mongolduks to find a treasure in old Sagbad.
The comic book also contains newer stories. In one, Uncle Scrooge uses the Internet for getting his financial information. An innovative idea but the story largely remains superficial. (The story in a two part tale, both of which are printed here, called X-treme Scrooge).
Gyro Gearloose (Lost and Found) and Uncle Scrooge (Feed for Greed) are nice stories that have some laughs. Finally there is also a Beagle Boys tale (You're a Bonehead Now) which is a bit primitive but still enjoyable.
Average customer rating:
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Notes from the Gallows
Julius Fuchik
Manufacturer: Gibbs Smith
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 087905252X |
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Notes from the gallows
Julius Fucik
Manufacturer: New Century Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: B0006ARIMC |
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Bob Paisley - a Liverpool Legend
Stan Liversedge
Manufacturer: Soccer Books Ltd
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 094780885X |
Book Description
A GREAT WARRIOR AT THE PEAK OF HIS POWERS
In March 1942, General Douglas MacArthur faced an enemy who, in the space of a few months, captured Malaya, Burma, the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, and, from their base at Raubaul in New Britain, threaten Australia. Upon his retreat to Australia, MacArthur hoped to find enough men and matériel
for a quick offensive against the Japanese. Instead, he had available to him only a small and shattered air force, inadequate naval support, and an army made up almost entirely of untried reservists.
Here is one of history’s most controversial commanders battling his own superiors for enough supplies, since President Roosevelt favored the European Theater; butting heads with the Navy, which opposed his initiatives; and on his way to making good his promise of liberating the Philippines.
In the battles for Buna, Lae, and Port Moresby, the capture of Finschhafen, and other major actions, he would prove his critics wrong and burnish an image of greatness that would last through the Korean War. This was the “other” Pacific War: the one MacArthur fought in New Guinea and, against all odds and most predictions, decisively won.
Customer Reviews:
There are better books on the subject............2005-11-24
Gailey comes close but just does not capture the struggle in New Guinea completely. Give the author credit for the coverage of the battles around Lae, Salamaua, Wau, and Finschhafen. Outside of official histories, the battles of that pivotal stage of action in the South West Pacific have gone largely unrecorded. Gailey introduces the reader to the Japanese chain of command, providing rare explanations of Japanese command decisions.
However aside from that coverage, I found the book lacking depth. We are given a little more than the "box score" of the major battles, but much less than the play by play description. For example the Marine operations on Cape Gloucester, while presented, do not provide any insight into the flow of that battle. Instead "Chesty" Puller's "Pig Sticking" is briefly discussed.
We are introduced to generals and other leaders, without any discussion of their background or personality. I found this troublesome as the author adopted the tried and refuted mantra - MacArthur could not get along with anyone - regarding inter-service and coalition high command interactions. Why didn't MacArthur get along with Blamey? For that matter what personality traits led MacArthur to distrust General Brett but bond with General Kenney? The same can be asked for Admirals Carpenter and Kinkaid.
The book abruptly ends with the occupation of Noemfoor and Sansapor-Mar, with no coverage of the action at Morotai, which in the strategic sense closed off Japanese access to New Guinea. Conclusions drawn were well thought out, but not breaking any new ground. Stephen Taaffe comes closer in his coverage of the same campaign - MacAurthur's Jungle War.
Lastly, for any publishers reading this, please, if you present a volume of military history, include as many maps as possible. And more to the point, if the writer mentions a location or place name prominently in the dialog, do us the favor of pinpointing such on the map!
A solid narrative on an overlooked campaign.......2005-05-25
Gailey provides a solid narrative on the 1943-44 campaign in New Guinea. He credits MacArthur for his operational abilities while not overlooking or excusing away his faults: occasional overly-optimistic planning, poor use of intelligence, rocky relations with the US Navy, distrust of our Australian allies, and certain decisions relating to the removal of subordinates. The book does not overlook the contributions of the Australians and points out some of the logistical and political limits that affected the Aussies. The contributions of the US Navy and US Army Air Forces are considered, as well as the medical conditions that the Allied forces faced. Decisions by Japanese commanders are discussed and considered, something not all "popular" histories do well.
The book is primarily drawn from secondary sources, though most of those are official and unit histories, but the source notes do credit some interviews with participants and archival materials.
On the downside, the book suffers from: inconsistent mapping, as some operations get a map while others do not; a lack of an order of battle; and some of the sloppiest copy-editing I've seen from a major publisher--inconsistent capitalization (half the time it is "thirteenth Air Force", the other half "Thirteenth Air Force"), inconsistent proper names (the 1st Infantry Regiment is identified in three location with two pages as the "1st Regiment" [inaccurate], "1st Infantry" [better] and "1st RCT" [best-but nowhere is the significance of RCT as "regimental combat team" explained]), and constant misspelling of Japanese names. And would it kill an editor to insist on an explanation of the seemingly-odd numbering system of Australian units e.g. why one unit is the 2/24th and the other the 56th/57th? On balance, these are irritants, and do not substantially detract from the book's quality.
Overall, strongly recommended for any collection with an interest in the Second World War.
Product Description
In March 1942, General Douglas MacArthur faced an enemy who, in the space of a few months, captured Malaya, Burma, the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, and, from their base at Raubaul in New Britain, threaten Australia. Upon his retreat to Australia, MacArthur hoped to find enough men and matériel for a quick offensive against the Japanese. Instead, he had available to him only a small and shattered air force, inadequate naval support, and an army made up almost entirely of untried reservists.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Infantry Magazine, published by Thomson Gale on November 1, 2005. The length of the article is 614 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: MacArthur's Victory, The War in New Guinea, 1943-1944.(Book Review)
Author: Curtis Hooper O'Sullivan
Publication:
Infantry Magazine (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 94
Issue: 6
Page: 50(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Customer Reviews:
Remarkable!.......2005-08-09
The life and writings of Maria W. Stewart are a testament to the power of faith. Against all odds and against all cultural probability, Maria Stewart arose to become the first women, Black or White, to address a mixed gendered crowd on a political topic.
The essays and sketches, introduced and edited by Marilyn Richardson, provide firsthand accounts of Stewart's wisdom and courage. Given the era in which Stewart spoke and wrote, it is remarkable that a young (age 28), black woman could so lucidly and bravely address both Whites and Blacks.
Though addressed to people living under very different conditions, her words still speak courage and confrontation to all readers today. Thus this book is well worth reading both for its historical insights as well as for its modern implications.
Reviewer: Dr. Robert W. Kellemen is the author of "Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction." He has also authored "Soul Physicians" and "Spiritual Friends."
Excellent slice of Obscure History.......2004-06-10
Maria Stewart was not as well-remembered as Harriet Tubman or Frederick Douglass, but she is an important person nonetheless. Fortunately, she left behind a lot of written materials of her own life and there also exist other accounts form her contemporaries. There are all well edited by Marilyn Richardson into a concise volume that tells a pretty good story of Maria Stewart and what she was all about. Great job and an inspiring read.
Really brings history to life.......1999-04-10
This is the first and only study that gives a solid account of the life and work of this important early 19th century African-American writer. Stewart was a radical abolitionist, a feminist activist and a powerful public speaker. She was the first American-born woman of any race to lecture in public on political themes and leave extant copies of her texts. She preceded the better known Grimke sisters by five years. Before Frederick Douglass, before Sojourner Truth, Stewart, who lived in Boston in the 1830s, was arguing for black rights, North, and South. Her collected lectures are published here for the first time in this century, along with fascinating research on the life and career of this extraordinary woman.
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Harmonic Maps Into Homogeneous Spaces (Research Notes in Mathematics Series)
Malcolm Black
Manufacturer: Chapman & Hall/CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0582087651 |
Books:
- The Architecture of Ralph Adams Cram and His Office
- The Art of Systems Architecting, Second Edition
- The Boulevard Book: History, Evolution, Design of Multiway Boulevards
- The Construction of Gothic Cathedrals: A Study of Medieval Vault Erection
- The Fifty Dollar and Up Underground House Book
- The HOME House Project: The Future of Affordable Housing
- The Interior Design Business Handbook: A Complete Guide to Profitability
- The Late, Great Pennsylvania Station
- The Mansions of Long Island's Gold Coast: Revised and Expanded
- The New York Apartment Houses of Rosario Candela and James Carpenter
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