The Splendor of France: Great Chateaux, Mansions, and Country Houses

Book Description

The elegant châteaux, luxurious estates, and grand private residences built in France over the past centuries are spectacularly presented in this lavish volume. Covering more than forty properties scattered throughout France, from Brittany and Normandy to Aquitaine and Provence, this volume captures their diverse architecture, rich interiors, priceless furniture, painting, and sculpture collections, and fabulous gardens in all their glory.

These historic residences, often built over long periods of time, have been expanded and redecorated according to the whims of the day, scarred by revolution and war, and restored by the best-known architects and artists of their epochs. Together they represent a tangible record of the French lifestyle of the past and the present, as many of these houses are still in private hands. Some of the most famous and beloved houses of the French nation, as well as some that are impossible to visit, are included-Château-Lafite, Vaux-le-Vicomte, Hôtel Lambert, Château d'Or, and Le Marais. The Splendor of France provides an important record of the grandeur of the French style and its contributions to the history of architecture and design through the centuries.

Customer Reviews:

The Best of Chateaux Books.......2007-03-28

A great and large collection of huge impressive photos for any Francophile that loves the French countryside and it's haute-couture architecture. A super reference for artists and travelers.

Splendor Indeed.......2005-05-13

This is a nice book on an amazing subject. Maybe I expected too much from this book, I don't know, but though I liked it very much indeed, it did not blow me away. Something was missing, I think it was Versailles and Fountainbleau and maybe Sceaux. I just thought most of the greatest chateaux where absent, although I loved the section on Vaux le Vicomte, now that is a spectacular chateaux by anyones definition; maybe the most beautiful in France...Louis XIV thought so. The photographs where first rate and I did enjoy the book, I just wanted more. Having said that I do recommend it to anyone who in interested in this subject; for those it really is a book worth owning.

A nice picture book on France's Chateaux.......2003-12-01

I got this because I really missed France after studying architecture there for a semester. This book really captured the same feeling of many of the historical sites I visited. My favorites are Chenonceau and Vaux-le-Vicomte, the French chateaux with formal garden.

This paper back version is only 287 pages much shorter then the first hardcover that was about 400-500 pages. I don't quite remembered, but I think there were some lesser chateaux taken out. I found the hardcover for $130 at a local architectural bookstore. So, this definitely a steal at Amazon price of $28.

The pictures are very big; every other page is a full page photograph. Some pages have a smaller picture and a written summary. This is more of a picture book with very little written texts, so you can't really use it for writing a resource paper. The picture of the building or site is very clean, since most of these places are full of tourist and it is funny seeing it empty. There are photographs of Chateaux, garden, interior design with furniture, and sculpture.

If you like France and garden after the Baroque period, this is a nice book. It would be a five star if they didn't condense the book from the in-depth first edition.

The Splendor of France.......2000-02-16

This book is an absolute treasure to anyone who loves French architecture and decoration. It contains spledid photographs of French Chateaux inside and out. While expensive it is worth every cent and then some. A Must!

SPLENDOR OF FRANCE: GREAT CHATEAUX, MANSIONS AND COUNTRY HOUSES

Average customer rating:

SPLENDOR OF FRANCE: GREAT CHATEAUX, MANSIONS AND COUNTRY HOUSES
Laure; Photographs By Roberto Schezen Murat
Manufacturer: Universe
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000M0MWH2

Average customer rating:

Splendor of France: Great Chateaux, Mansions and Country Houses
Laure Murat
Manufacturer: Rizzoli Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N71ZJA

The Mad Book Of Fears And Phobias
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The Mad Book Of Fears And Phobias
John Ficarra
Manufacturer: Warner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UIDVSU

Average customer rating:
The Mad Book of Fears and Phobias
John Ficarra
Manufacturer: Warner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Comic Strips | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
General | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
General | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0446308846

The Mad Book Of Fears And Phobias
Average customer rating:
The Mad Book Of Fears And Phobias

Manufacturer: Warner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000I1Z2VS

Leaders Who Make a Difference: Essential Strategies for Meeting the Nonprofit Challenge (A Jossey Bass Title)
Average customer rating:

A must read for a new Exec

A Strong Resource for University Classroom Use

It's anti-capitalism slant hurts its message

Leaders Who Make Difference --- Makes a Difference

Home run on leadership for not-for-profits

Leaders Who Make a Difference: Essential Strategies for Meeting the Nonprofit Challenge (A Jossey Bass Title)
Burt Nanus , and Stephen M. Dobbs
Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Strategy & Competition | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Leadership | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Nonprofit Organizations & Charities | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0787946656

Book Description

"Nanus and Dobbs have written a seminal book about a long-neglected and key area of American life: the leadership of not-for-profits.... It's a first and should be read by all those concerned about not-for-profits: board members most especially, but volunteers, executives, benefactors, and academics as well."
--Warren Bennis, University Professor, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, and coauthor of Organizing Genius

"These authors have made a remarkable contribution to social sector nonprofit leadership. It's a valuable resource by two great authorities on a critical need."
--Frances Hesselbein, chairman of the board, The Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management

"If there's one thing that today's nonprofit sector needs more than anything else, it's leadership.... Burt Nanus and Stephen Dobbs illustrate the qualities that do 'make a difference' by telling real-life stories of exceptional nonprofit leaders--few of them household names--and examining the lessons these men and women learned the hard way."
--Dorothy S. Ridings, president and CEO, Council on Foundations

There are many books on leadership, but few that focus specifically on the unique role of nonprofit executives. For the CEOs and directors of more than one million U.S. social sector organizations--as well as those who aspire to these positions--best-selling author Burt Nanus and colleague Stephen M. Dobbs have written the first comprehensive and authoritative book on nonprofit leadership.

The authors show how leaders build successful nonprofit organizations by developing key relationships to improve their performance and move them toward a greater good--such as much higher levels of service to their clients and community. They describe the six key roles that effective leaders must play--Visionary, Strategist, Change Agent, Coach, Politician, and Fundraiser--and present inspiring examples of how their actions in these roles have been crucial to the success of large and small nonprofits flourishing across the nation. Leaders Who Make a Difference offers proven lessons on strategy, team building, fundraising, advocacy, board relations, and much more. Grounded in real-world practice, the book champions the potential of all nonprofit leaders to greatly improve the performance of their organizations and realize their visions of better communities.

Customer Reviews:

A must read for a new Exec.......2007-05-14

This is a great how to book in getting started in a new non-profit. Wish I would have had it earlier in my career.

A Strong Resource for University Classroom Use .......2005-07-29

If you're after a lot of theoretical hocus pocus, please look elsewhere. If you aspire to revel in charts and graphs, this book isn't for you. But if, by chance, you are looking for a straightforward, concise, and easy-to-digest discussion of what leaders in nonprofits (the most effective ones) actually do, I encourage you to read this book. Moreover, if you are an educator looking for a text-based catalyst for classroom discussion about nonprofit leadership, Leaders Who Make a Difference should be on your short list for consideration.

The text is well organized, with each concept building on the next. There is no wheel reinvention here, with the authors instead boiling down some of the more prescient literature to a smattering of leadership roles, offering a listing of the more extensive works for the reader's consideration under "Additional Readings."

For educators, the text's focus on some of the more mission-critical roles played by nonprofit leaders--visionary, strategist, change agent, coach, politician and campaigner--provides a good platform from which to integrate guest speakers who exemplify these roles, and who can amplify upon these roles in a classroom setting. As the course for which this reviewer used this text (among others) included students with significant nonprofit leadership experience, others with none, and everything in between, the authors of Leaders Who Make a Difference provided a reading reasource that was digestible and meaningful for both the experienced and aspiring nonprofit leader.

It's anti-capitalism slant hurts its message.......2005-03-31

I'm trying to read this book but it is getting harder and harder to do so. It's preface and first chapter (The Leadership Challenge) were fine. However, the second chapter (The Greater Good) was awful. It spews a lot of anti-capitalism garbage served up as fact without backing any of its statements. Stuff you'd expect to hear from a socialist that is a professor in the fairyland of academia. First, you do not raise yourself up by tearing down others. Second, the author (singular because it is obvious Dobbs just lent his name and this book is all written by Nanus) essentially condemns capitalism and individualism and praises socialism and the collective. What a fool and a moron. Seriously. He acts as if there was still a debate over this issue. Third, he begrudgingly acknowledges anything positive that capitalism has done for society and only presents non-profits as doing the best things for society. He doesn't present what damage non-profits have done. In America, it was non-profits that did the greatest damage to society with the Prohibitionist movement. This unbalanced view greatly hurts what little good this book offers. Leaders of non-profits have to work with reality and not fantasy. And that's not the only thing that is off about this book.

The author just doesn't understand management at all. Now the book is about leadership, but, contrary to the author's stance, leaders are managers. He views them as two separate jobs and anyone that has actually lead an organization (I being one of those) knows they're not. Again, the author comes across as not being connected to reality ... like a professor. And I won't even touch the silliness of his E=mc^2 statement.

And his "organizational capital" is another example that he really doesn't understand business. He thinks he's coming up with some new form of capital that no one else has but when he lists what his "organizational capital" is, you can easily identify the items on his list as really belonging to the other established forms of capital that he just listed.

Now since I've read it this far, I am going to try to skim through the rest of this book and see if there's anything worthwhile in it. If you don't see a second review by me here, you will know that I didn't find anything that other books have done a better job of covering.

Whenever you buy a book about business (and non-profit organizations are businesses) and you see one of the authors is a professor, my best words of advice is to always put the book back up on the shelf. I've yet to read a business book by a professor that was worth reading. Sadly, this book is another example of that. What little solid information that I've read so far in this book is what others have said numerous other times and is the only reason why I didn't give this book a 1 out of 5. What new "information" this book presents is just fantasies you'd expect to hear from someone insulated from reality on a college campus.

Leaders Who Make Difference --- Makes a Difference.......2001-03-15

There is a dearth of leadership literature aimed at the non-profit and public sectors. Leaders Who Make a Difference by Nanus and Dobbs helps to fill that void. It is a very valuable leadership guide and reference book for leaders in the non-profit sector. Their synthesis of the leadership literature and their emphasis on shared vision, strategy, and team building with tools and guides is very valuable to students of leadership as well as current mangers who are enhancing their leadership skills. The roles of a leader that are emphasized - visionary, strategist, change agent, coach, politician, and campaigner - are useful reminders to leaders in all sectors about the importance and complexity of leading well with a full set of skills. This book is being used in the curriculum of an International Family Planning Leadership Program with great success - so it has global relevance and appeal. Our fellows have found the book to be full of tips and tools that serve to validate the skills that they already have as well as guide them to devleop more facets of their leadership. I highly recommend this book to leadership development programs and practitioners in the non-profit and public sectors.

Home run on leadership for not-for-profits.......2000-08-02

"As Editor of the Not-for-Profit CEO Monthly Letter, I had occasion to review "Leaders Who Make a Difference" for our readership, which consists almost entirely of executive directors and board members. I recommended it enthusiastically, telling our readers that `this volume should be on your desk; not in the book case, but on your desk.' After the review was published, I received the following letter from a nationally known consultant to not-for-profit boards." George B. Wright, Editor, "The Not-For-Profit CEO Monthly Letter," C3 Strategies, Portland, OR

"The challenges today's nonprofit organizations face make effective leadership a critical need. By combining relevant theory with case studies that exemplify leadership excellence, Nanus and Dobbs have created an invaluable and much-needed resource for all nonprofit leaders." Kathleen D. Edwards, consultant and author, Bowman-Edwards & Associates, Seattle, WA.

Book Description

This book gives you practical strategies for enhancing your property financially and developing a marketing image that will attract the most qualified prospects and improve resident retention.

Provides guidance on:

* Creating effective manager-resident relationships
* Building a qualified staff
* Balancing the administrative and service aspects of your job

You will also learn how to develop proactive relationships with community organizations, regulatory agencies, and law enforcement.

Customer Reviews:

The bible for affordable housing!!!.......2002-09-19

An excellent handbook for the endless challenges encountered in the affordable housing field. Clear,concise and easy to read.
The author has obviously handled these situations in the past and has thankfully provided a tool for housing managers everywhere to use now and for years to come. A must for any property manager's library!

A comprhensive,easy to read, useful property management tool.......1999-11-04

Glenn French, the author demonstrates his extensive knowledge of the Property Management process.The multidiciplined functions of property management are clearly defined in a very usable and sequential manner. The content and writing tempo in each chapter are professionally written in such a manner that provides the student/beginning Property Manager with a useful learning tool. The book is also interesting reading for persons who are interested in a better understanding of Professional Property Management.

This really exceeded my expectations........1999-11-04

All residential managers would profit by reading this book. Mr.French obviously has extensive experience that he conveys very effectively.

Essential Reading for 1st time or Experienced Property Mgrs.......1999-11-02

This is a careful, well written text book outlining the necessary skills, tools and education needed to manage government assisted housing. There are not many books on managing subsidized housing. This one is good because it is clear that Glenn French has had a myriad of hands-on experiences in this field. Glenn French's book is very good for anyone interested in taking on the management of government assisted real estate as a career, or to expand your business opportunities.

Very informative for professionals in Public Housing.......1999-10-12

I began my career in public housing and ran into many problems. Mr. French's book has provided me with the information I need to grow and solve the complex problems of working in Public Housing.

Customer Reviews:

An excellent resource for early interventionist's.......2003-03-08

This curriculum guide is excellent especially for first year special educators who are required to write family-friendly IFSP/IEP goals. It lays out goals for children, the previous skills they have to acquire to meet those goals, skills that will come next, concurrent skills, as well as how to set up your classroom to elicit the goals. WONDERFUL WONDERFUL! I would not recommend the companion measurement however because it is VERY time-consuming.

Kopassus: Inside Indonesia's Special Forces
Average customer rating:

new information

View from the other side of the Borneo campaign

Kopassus: Inside Indonesia's Special Forces
Ken, Conboy
Manufacturer: Equinox Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Indonesia | Asia | History | Subjects | Books
General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
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Second Front: Inside Asia's Most Dangerous Terrorist Network

ASIN: 9799589886

Book Description

In a nation where the military has played an influential social and political role since its founding, perhaps no unit has wielded more power-and seen more action-than Kopassus, Indonesia's Special Forces. From the jungles of Irian Jaya to the backrooms of Jakarta's most powerful political figures, this elite group of commandos has influenced nearly every major policy decision taken since its inception in 1952. Here, for the first time, this secretive and controversial unit is exposed in KOPASSUS: Inside Indonesia's Special Forces by acclaimed author Ken Conboy. In this new age of terrorism and counter-terrorism, and especially in the wake of the October 2002 Bali bombing, understanding Kopassus is an integral part of understanding the politics of modern Indonesia. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in unconventional warfare, contemporary Indonesian history, and the brushfire wars that have swept the Indonesian archipelago over the past fifty years. KEN CONBOY is country manager for Risk Management Advisory, a private security consultancy in Jakarta. Prior to that, he served as deputy director at the Asian Studies Center, an influential Washington-based think tank, where his duties including writing policy papers for the U.S. Congress and Executive on economic and strategic relations with the nations of South and Southeast Asia. The author of a dozen books about Asian military history and intelligence operations, Conboy's most recent title, Spies in the Himalayas, has earned praise as an intriguing account of high-altitude mountaineering and covert missions. A graduate of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and of Johns Hopkins' School of Advanced International Studies, Conboy was also a visiting fellow at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok and has lived in Indonesia since 1992.

Customer Reviews:

new information.......2006-08-29

very good information from the birth of kopassus until prabowo era. There are many new facts that i dont know before espcially during the struggle for indonesia independence. Thumbs up for author that collected such huge informations that's available nowhere.

View from the other side of the Borneo campaign.......2004-06-30

KOPASSUS, Inside Indonesia's Special Forces by Ken Conboy.
Gives a look at the other combatants of the Borneo campaign when Malaysia was on the eave of its independence. KOPASSUS was the Indonesian force poised to make Borneo an Indonesian province.

Most accounts of the conflict are covered from the British SAS and Military historical view. This is the first time a history on the opposing force has been published. It gives the role of the KOPASSUS in the nation building of Indonesia and its role in the expansion of a former Dutch colony to becoming the home of the largest Muslim population in the world.

Ken Conboy's book covers the organization and training for the KOPASSUS. The effect of politics and leadership on its growth and employment for nation building and expansion.

It provides an insight into the origins of the more capable Special Operations Forces in South East Asia.

Book Description

Irish society was the first outside the Roman Empire to receive Christianity, and to do so in Latin, which was soon to become customary elsewhere in the West. Since Ireland was spared the upheavals which characterized the post-Roman centuries in Western Europe, Latin learning unfolded there within a context of a vibrant native Irish culture. Why did Christians come to Ireland from abroad? Why, by contrast, did Irish Christians leave their native country to live abroad? These are some of the central questions posed in this book. It emerges that Ireland and Spain were the societies with the most dynamic Latin culture in the seventh century. Thus, Ireland emerges as the decisive mediator between late antiquity and the Western Middle Ages.

The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World
Average customer rating:

fabulous book with small faults

A big list, not much more

The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World
James F. Clements
Manufacturer: Cornell University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Ecology | Biological Sciences | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
General | Ecology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
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The Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide

ASIN: 0801445019

Book Description

Birds have long held a unique dual role as a model group for scientists and as the focus of birders' passionate quests. Despite centuries of observation, each year brings the discovery and description of several entirely new avian species and hundreds of other taxonomic "splits" or "lumps" based on DNA data. In this arena of continual and increasing taxonomic change, The Clements Checklist presents the most up-to-date and most widely endorsed compendium of the more than 9800 species of birds recognized by the scientific and birding communities. This completely revised sixth edition is current as of 2005 and incorporates hundreds of updates since the last edition. In taxonomic sequence, it provides the scientific and English name of each species and a description of the worldwide range of each species and subspecies.

The most established resource on the taxonomy and biogeography of birds for the world birding community, The Clements Checklist is the official world checklist of the American Birding Association (ABA) and is used as the authoritative reference in the birding competitions and listing activities of this preeminent North American organization for serious birders.

Features of The Clements Checklist include

* comprehensive indexes with all taxa listed by English and scientific names, the latter to subspecies level; * tables and maps showing the world distribution of total bird species and endemics by geographic area, which will be of special interest to conservationists; and * space to record the location and date of individual sightings, providing the user with a personalized ornithological journal.

Customer Reviews:

fabulous book with small faults.......2007-09-30

I will divide in what I find good and not so good of this book .
Good:
the size ,with 28,5 & 22 cm it's a lot bigger than the Howard + Moore and Sibley + Monroe books , which leaves a lot of space to make your notes inside the book ,like I do ,
very good binding and of course the complete listing of all the bird species and subspecies .
Not so good :
the splitting into species goes in my opinion a little to far ,especially by the Australian species .
Bad :
some species of the checklist are also listed as subspecies by species from which they were split ,with a little proofreading this could have been avoided .
For the price amazon is asking ,this book is a must if you want a checklist of the birds of the world .

A big list, not much more.......2007-07-04

Clements is the bible of bird taxonomy, but this book is basically just a list of every species with sublists of each subspecies, and very basic information as to where that subspecies is located. I was disappointed that there is no summary of changes from this 6th edition from the prior edition, although I assume this information will eventually be available on-line somewhere. This is a book that lots of very serious birders know they want, and they should get it. But if you don't know exactly what this book is already and know that you want it, you probably don't.

Average customer rating:

Disheartening

Birds of the World, a Checklist
James F. Clements
Manufacturer: Facts on File
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Customer Reviews:

Disheartening.......2001-06-11

Ugh. This book is so comprehensive that it is disheartening. My copy has just shy of 500 pages with the following layout:

Aquila chrysaetos _________________________________

Golden Eagle Widespread Holarctic regions of...

That's it. Two lines per bird and 500 pages! The line gives you space to note the date and location you spotted the bird.

This book is my bible of birdwatching. I use other guides for identification and this as my permanent record for sightings. If you need a life list that covered the world this is your book.

1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996 supplements to Birds of the world, a checklist, fourth edition
Average customer rating:
1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996 supplements to Birds of the world, a checklist, fourth edition
James F Clements
Manufacturer: s.n
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006QVIYA

1993 and 1994 supplements to Birds of the world, a checklist
Average customer rating:
1993 and 1994 supplements to Birds of the world, a checklist
James F Clements
Manufacturer: Ibis
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006QAPWG

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