The Ultimate Picasso

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The ultimate Picasso artwork reference.

the best picasso book ever!!

Marie Manson was influenced by Picasso

nothing much to say but incredible

Plastic surgeons probably shouldnýt use these for murals.

The Ultimate Picasso
Brigitte Leal , Christine Piot , and Marie-Laure Bernadac
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Picasso, Pablo | ( P-R ) | Artists, A-Z | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Artists, A-Z | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Artists, Architects & Photographers | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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Life with Picasso

Picasso: 200 Masterpieces from 1898 to 1972

ASIN: 0810991144

Amazon.com

If you had to choose just one book about Pablo Picasso, the most protean artist of the 20th century, what would you look for? Copious, good-quality reproductions. An authoritative account of the way his approach to painting was influenced by his personality, the women in his life, and his awareness of art made by others. An in-depth treatment of key works like Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (which Picasso memorably called his "first exorcism painting") and signature themes, like the half-man, half-animal Minotaur. Then there's the question of tone. Some books cast Picasso as a demigod or a destroyer. Others, like art historian John Richardson's A Life of Picasso, offer a more balanced, psychologically penetrating portrait of the artist.

Hefty, elegant, and inclusive, The Ultimate Picasso hits most, though not all, of these marks. It offers more than 1,200 reproductions (nearly 800 in color) spanning the artist's entire career. Smoothly translated from the French, the book weaves biographical detail and discussions of the art into a concise narrative. ("Olga became pregnant in the summer of 1920, and in Picasso's work forms blossomed and flesh took on the massive quality of stone.") The three authors are all experts--Léal and Bernadac are (respectively) present and former curators of the Musée Picasso in Paris, and Piot coauthored the catalogue raisonné of Picasso's sculpture. They clearly explain visual sources, duly acknowledge leading art historians' interpretations, and choose good quotes from contemporaries. Yet the text can be surprisingly skimpy. The 16-page section on Guernica, for example, has barely two pages of discussion about the painting and its genesis. The authors keep an extremely tight focus on their subject, with only as much mention of Picasso's contemporaries or the outside world as is absolutely necessary.

The major flaws, however, are the authors' hyperbolic view of their subject ("Picasso did not paint nature, but the suffering of the men and women of his time, creating from it beauty and truth") and the lack of any psychological insight about the repeated devastation Picasso wreaks on the female form. In this old-fashioned portrait of the male artist as genius, human failings do not exist, unless they belong to somebody else. --Cathy Curtis

Book Description

Of all the books on the man many consider the greatest genius of 20th-century art, the sumptuous hardcover volume published by Abrams in 2000 stands out as truly the "ultimate" Picasso. This new paperback edition includes everything in the previous book, in a smaller, reader-friendly format. It covers in one volume all the periods of Picasso's long, incredibly versatile career, with exquisite reproductions of nearly every significant work he ever created and texts by leading authorities on particular periods of Picasso's artistic evolution.

Brigitte Léal covers Picasso's formative years from 1881 through 1916, a period that includes his invention of Cubism with Georges Braque. Christine Piot explores the astonishingly fertile period from 1917 through 1952. Marie-Laure Bernadac discusses the unabashed vigor of Picasso's later years, from 1953 until his death in 1973. More than 1,200 magnificent reproductions, almost 800 in full color, illustrate Picasso's breathtaking range of artistic expression, including paintings, drawings, lithographs, ceramics, and sculpture. Picasso once boasted that a book would have to be written every day to keep up with his creative output. Perhaps. But for art lovers and students seeking just one book, The Ultimate Picasso is unsurpassed.

Customer Reviews:

The ultimate Picasso artwork reference........2006-07-13

I took this book out of our university library to have on hand while reading Françoise Gilot's "Living with Picasso", in order to see representations of the artwork to which she refers throughout the book. "The Ultimate Picasso" proved invaluable. Not only does it contain Picasso's complete major works, they are also presented in chronological order which made look-up easy despite Gilot's often describing an artwork and the process used to create it but not always giving its title (she always gives dates). I ordered "The Ultimate Picasso" before the library due date because I couldn't bear to not have the book in my house!
The photos of the artwork are brilliant and crisp, and the accompanying text is informative.
You will not be disappointed by this book.

the best picasso book ever!!.......2005-03-06

this book rocks so much it breaks the very laws that govern physics!! so much information, so many beautiful pictures, so dense. it seems to capture the very spirit of pablo picasso. it was give to me as a valentine's day gift, and it is one of my most prized books. this is a MUST purchase for any picasso fan.

Marie Manson was influenced by Picasso.......2005-01-29

When I look at Picasso paintings, I see how the artist and painter, Marie Manson, was influenced by him. Her paintins can be seen at www.canzone.org.

nothing much to say but incredible.......2004-11-13

To see tons of Picasso works in one book is nothing short of breathtaking. This is easily the best Picasso book that focuses on his paintings. What's incredible is to see the prolific amount of work he was capable of, and just what a inventive genius he was. Without a doubt the greatest Artist of the 20th century. Not all the works make sense, or are even recognizable as anything, but that was Picasso; his art was how he viewed the world, and how his own heart felt inside:confused, and out of place. His Cubism is nearly mathmatical, and very intriguing. IF you're interested in Picasso as more than that weird guy who made all those paintings i just don't get, come and check out this book to see all of what he was made of. You'll be amazed and inspired.

Plastic surgeons probably shouldnýt use these for murals........2002-09-28

The Ultimate Picasso could easily defeat The Fabulous Braque and The Superlative Cézanne in an arena style cubist grand melee. It would be no contest, really. The Ultimate Picasso would open up with his patented synthetic slammer sending Cézanne right back through the analytical period. Braque would try to stun him with some multi-viewed complex patterns, but nothing can neutralize The Ultimate Picasso.
Braque might try a new tactic then: swinging wildly with his blinding colors. The Ultimate Picasso would roll towards the canvas, ducking under the swing that hits the helpless Cézanne full on. Then BAM! Right out of nowhere, The Ultimate Picasso lays the smackdown on both of them with his ball-buster blue period. Down for the count: The Ultimate Picasso is once again champion of the art world.

The Ultimate How To Earn Extra Money, Accounting & Finance and eCommerce for Picasso Paintings Businesses 3 CD Power Pack

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The Ultimate How To Earn Extra Money, Accounting & Finance and eCommerce for Picasso Paintings Businesses 3 CD Power Pack
Raul Z Thomas
Manufacturer: LTBR, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000R25OCA

The Ultimate How To Earn Extra Money, Success Principles and Sales Models for Picasso Paintings Businesses 3 CD Power Pack

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The Ultimate How To Earn Extra Money, Success Principles and Sales Models for Picasso Paintings Businesses 3 CD Power Pack
Sal Z Thomas
Manufacturer: LTBR, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000PHJ0AY

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful imagery and a great reproduction of the original.......2001-09-02

ukiyo-e woodblock prints. I have been searching for this book for a couple of months. I orginally saw a copy of it in a japanese tattoo shop and fell in love with it. This book is printed on high quality paper using the best copies of the prints that can be found. The color is reproduced perfectly and it is an excellent example of this art form. If you can find it, buy it.

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1839-1892: New forms of thirty-six ghosts

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Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1839-1892: New forms of thirty-six ghosts
Elizabeth Danechild
Manufacturer: Ukiyo-e Gallery
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B000720FWY

Book Description

On the surface, the use of photography in autobiography appears to have a straightforward purpose: to illustrate and corroborate the text. But in the wake of poststructuralism, the role of photography in autobiography is far from simple or one-dimensional. Both media are increasingly self-conscious, argues Timothy Adams, and combining them intensifies rather than reduces the complexity and ambiguity of each taken separately.

Focusing on works by Paul Auster, Maxine Hong Kingston, Sheila Ortiz Taylor, Sandra Ortiz Taylor, N. Scott Momaday, Michael Ondaatje, Reynolds Price, Eudora Welty, Wright Morris, and Edward Weston, Adams explores the ways in which text and image can interact with and reflect on one another. Photography may stimulate, inspire, or seem to document autobiography, he demonstrates, but it may also confound verbal narrative. Conversely, autobiography may mediate, motivate, or even take the form of photography. Because both media exist on the border between fact and fiction, Adams argues, they often undercut just as easily as they reinforce each other. Exploring the interrelations between photography and autobiography uncovers an inherent tendency in both to conceal as much as they reveal.

Book Description

In more than 100 hilarious and insightful cartoons, Bob Zahn takes on the issue of which makes a better pet--a cat or a dog. He dodges the answer, but gives owners of both plenty to feel good and laugh about.

Average customer rating:

Not that good

A must read for a golfer!

You Might be a Hack If...
Collaboration from the founders of JUGGO
Manufacturer: AuthorHouse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1418485632

Book Description

Whether you are a beginner or a tour professional in the game of golf, You Might be a Hack If. will be a crown jewel in your golf library. The book is a compilation of comical things either we have all done at one time or another or witnessed someone do on a golf course that really should have never been done. In their attempt to promote Hack-free golf, the founders of JUGGO Golf take you on a hysterical round of 130 analogies that will help you and your friends identify Hack behavior and will enable you to laugh your way to a better golf game.

Customer Reviews:

Not that good.......2006-12-28

This book was recommended to me on a web site I write about golf. It was not that funny and was written by a group of golfers who played together. In one of their session after golf thought this would make a good book.

A must read for a golfer!.......2004-12-04

This book is hilarious! A great stocking stuffer for that golfer in your life!

Average customer rating:

Bravo, almost

The Cambridge Companion to the Recorder (Cambridge Companions to Music)

Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Woodwinds | Instruments & Performers | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Reference | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0521358167

Book Description

This is the first book to offer a complete introduction to the recorder. Eight contributors from four different countries write on topics such as the recorder and its music through the centuries, the recorder as orchestral instrument, the professional recorder player through history and today, and the phenomenon of the recorder revival. The Companion also contains basic reference material previously unavailable in one volume. A special feature is the rich collection of illustrations that provide a history of the instrument. The Cambridge Companion to the Recorder will be of interest to performers and students as well as to music enthusiasts.

Customer Reviews:

Bravo, almost.......2002-10-17

Any recorder player will enjoy and learn from this book.

I have been playing the alto recorder for a year now. This book taught me a great deal about the instrument. What's even better,
the book carefully introduces the repertory and where to find and read about it.I am delighted to learn that I will never run out of material to play.

The book is written with care, verve, and love. However, the reader is assumed to have considerable knowledge, to know without explanation, for instance, the implications of wide windways and bores, and narrow windways (p178). The history of the 20th century recorder revival, of great interest to contemporary enthusiasts, is brushed off twice, as "described and discussed in several publications." Fine, then why not this one? This should have been dealt with more carefully. The illustrations are very poorly reproduced. I am still suffering from eyestrain from trying to find the recorder in Plate 27.

Overall, though, this is a book any recorder player will want.

Customer Reviews:

Good summary of work days versus work hours.......1999-09-15

This book compares issues involving work days and work hours in the United States and Germany. The author argues that looking at hours/week does not tell the whole story. Most of the information is from the employees perspective although there is a chapter on how employers react to changing demand (change work hours or work days). The book also provides some evidence concerning the work habits of different groups (low skill, couples without children, couples with children, etc.). This book is well written and I would recommend it to anyone interested in work schedules.

Book Description

A holistic approach to treating depression, which advises on a range of alternative and conventional treatments and therapies

 Explains the positive effect of exercise, nutrition, homeopathy and lifestyle changes on depression

 Discusses anti-depressants and talking therapies, which may be needed to treat severe depression

 A clear, sympathetic approach to this distressing illness

This book shows how by changing our lifestyle and using herbal or homeopathic remedies many mild forms of depression can be successfully treated. For those more severely affected, anti-depressants may be needed. However, Lindsay Corrie recommends a holistic approach complementing drug and talking therapies with exercise and good nutrition.

Average customer rating:
Empire on The Adriatic: Mussolini's Conquest of Yugoslavia 1941-1943
H. James Burgwyn
Manufacturer: Enigma Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 1929631510

Average customer rating:

A Good Start

Mussolini's War in Yugoslavia

An objective study

Very fine, but...

Empire on the Adriatic: Mussolini's Conquest of Yugoslavia 1941-1943
H.James Burgwyn
Manufacturer: Enigma Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Yugoslavia | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1929631359

Book Description

The first in--depth study of the attempt by fascist Italy to extend its reach into the former Yugoslavia and the catastrophic consequences that followed.

Customer Reviews:

A Good Start.......2006-12-22

I have always been a bit curious about the Italian Army in WWII and the years leading up to it. It seemed that they were always challenged even when attacking Third World countries. I have been looking for a good book about their Albanian campaign but I settled for a book about their greater Balkan campaign. I have nothing against the Italian military force; after all, they created the greatest empire in world history. However, compared to the brutal efficiency of the German military force, the Italians were almost an embarassment.

The author, James Burgwyn, tends to focus on the administrative and political perspective which is fine with me. The bulk of the military activity during this place and time was in fighting the guerilla war of the various partisan groups. The book does a pretty good job of explaining the various ethnic and political groups of the area. Indeed, the Balkans have always been a unique part of the world that, apparently, only Tito could handle. The Italians are portrayed somewhat as well-intentioned forces in search of their spoils of war. Compared to the Germans, they were gentle as sheep but that misses the point. Is a gentle rapist to be portrayed in a positive light because there are more violent ones in the neighborhood? In fairness to Burgwyn, he concludes his book in a critical assessment of the Italians but we have already been treated to a number of tales of Italian compassion by then.

"Empire on the Adriatic" is more scholarly than popularly written yet Burgwyn does not fall into the pitfalls of academic obfuscation in his style of writing. It reads well enough but doesn't carry the passionate impact that the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people deserve. It's almost as though we are left wondering "When did that happen?"

The death of Tito opened the doors to centuries-old passions and hatreds. The Balkans are still a cauldron of ethnic animosities that are only partially controlled by a NATO presence. There are obvious comparisons of the fall of Saddam Hussein to the fall of Tito. "Empire on the Adriatic" is relevent today because of its' reminders of what it is like to tame a people bent on revenge.

Mussolini's War in Yugoslavia.......2006-06-02

The Italian occupation of the former Yugoslavia during World
War II has been put under the historical microscope by
author H. James Burgwyn in his splendid new book "Empire
on the Adriatic."

For anyone seeking fresh insights into this troubled part of
the world, Burgwyn's book is essential reading. Italy's mis-
guided invasion of Yusoslavia remains an indelible stain on
the Italian body politic to this day. And when we look at the
continued struggles of the Slavs today, we can see the
germs of this struggle in Mussolini's efforts to turn Yugos-
lavia into an Italian sphere of influence during World War II.

Burgwyn details the cycle of violence and genocide that was
triggered after the Axis powers struck in April 1941 by Croa- tian Ustasa killers and pitiless Communist insurgency. This served as a prelude to the horrific massacres that
took place in the region in the 1990s. The author examines
in scholarly detail the egregious behavior of Itaian forces and the mistaken and harsh policies they were obliged to
follow during the occupation. Having gained permission to
study Italian military and diplomatic archives as well as
military archives in Belgrade, the author is able to show per-
suasively that Mussolini's blind ambition to bring a superior
civilization to a conquered nation ended in ashes.

The sad reality that Burgwyn exposes--without dealing with
this period of history at all--is the degree to which in num-
bing fashion history has repeated itself. For the United States is suffering from the same kinds of misjudgments
that led to the invasion of Iraq: lack of preparation, an inade-
quate ground force and no coherent occupation policy to
follow. The same kind of extreme difficulties Italian troops
encountered in Yugoslavia when confronted by strong oppo-
sition forces from insurgents and terrorists have been
occurring in Iraq some sixty plus years later. Just as in Iraq,
when Mussolini's troops marched into a prostrate country,
he--like Bush and his cohorts--fully expected that the occu-
pation would be "a piece of cake."

This book is a sobering reminder that hitory has much to
teach us, if only we care to learn its lesson.

.

An objective study.......2006-05-17

Professor Burgwyn's excellent study of the Italian invasion of Yugoslavia during World War II is likely to be the definitive work on the subject for some time to come. Chronicling Mussolini's invasion requires a great deal of patience and judiciousness, since the cast of characters is large and the main plot breaks down into numerous sub-plots. Moreover, giving an objective account of what happened is not easy, since many observers who write about this murky period have axes to grind. Burgwyn, however, does not base his work mainly on secondary sources. Digging in official archives, he has fashioned a concise and clear narrative out of refractory material. His book, as a leaading historian of the period has said, is an important contribution to the history of World War II.

Very fine, but..........2006-01-12

This is a good and useful book. It is about time that somebody wrote it. I don't think it's hard enough on the Italians, but how can we complain about historians when the real crime was that there was no Nuremberg for the Italians. Modern Italy is built on a lie about World War II and Prof. Burgwyn has performed a wonderful service in starting to chip away at that lie.

My following complaint about this book says something about the fledgling state of this scholarship. This is a careless book but it was bound to be a careless book precisely because so little work has been done in this area. The real problem is that Prof. Burgwyn does not know the local languages. So he gets the spelling wrong or he puts in Ljubljana events that took place in Zagreb, etc. The reader who is knowledgeable can easily make these corrections in his mind as he reads along. It is a shame that Prof. Burgwyn did not have an editor that could have found some of these mistakes or that he did not give his proofs to someone who knows the local languages. If I, an amateur, can catch such mistakes, I suspect a professional could have found others.

Here is an example of a crucial one. Prof. Burgwyn says that the Slovenian Communist secret police was called the OF. No, OF (Osvobodilna Fronta) stands for Liberation Front. It was the VOS that was the Secret Police of the OF. No big deal? The problem is that if an amateur catches mistakes like that about things he knows, how can he then really trust Prof. Burgwyn elsewhere.

What's the solution? More scholarly co-operation! Also, perhaps funds should be made available for translating local histories into English. There are Italian versions of this history and many of them are lies. There is now Prof. Burgwyn's excellent version in English. But the Slovenian versions, for instance, are not available.

P.S. Prof. Burgwyn's love of the expression ballon d'essai drove me crazy. In English we call it a trial balloon.

Book Description

From the Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times columnist and bestselling author of From Beirut to Jerusalem and The Lexus and the Olive Tree comes this smart, penetrating, brilliantly informed book that is indispensable for understanding today’s radically new world and America’s complex place in it.

Thomas L. Freidman received his third Pulitzer Prize in 2002 “for his clarity of vision, based on extensive reporting, in commenting on the worldwide impact of the terrorist threat.” In Longitudes and Attitudes he gives us all of the columns he has published about the most momentous news story of our time, as well as a diary of his private experiences and reflections during his post–September 11 travels. Updated for this new paperback edition, with over two years’ worth of Friedman’s columns and an expanded version of his diary, Longitudes and Attitudes is a broadly influential work from our most trusted observer of the international scene.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book.......2007-05-07

Perfect book for those that want to learn about the issues going on in the Middle East. Easy to understand for those not that familiar with current world issues. Very informative and I would highly recommend.

An insightful look at a new world..........2007-01-29

In Longitudes and Attitudes, Friedman pulls writings from his column at the New York Times that describes his position on what he calls, "the super-story." There are two important components to this book that will stick with me: the first is his belief that globalization has paved the way for an individual to influence the masses, and the second is that even in "friendly" nations, there are fundamental, cultural and religious differences that influence a negative perception of the United States... and we need to pay attention to this.

Friedman substantiates his insightful conjectures by traveling the world and tapping into each individual society. He asks tough questions and receives harsh ridicule. This type of substantive journalism is what makes his writing so multi-dimensional... It's not merely his opinion, but the opinions of citizens around the world... and they offer a clear understanding.

There is a pile of information to absorb, so take your time with it (I read about ten to fifteen pages at a time). You'll get some history, you'll get some opinions, and most importantly, you might get a new perspective.

Have fun,

David Tobias
Redondo Beach, CA

Interesting Insight.......2006-09-08

I was not familiar with Thomas Friedman's New York Times columns. This book contains a sampling of his columns. The book mainly portrays the difference in the Arab vs. the culture of the West. The book opens with the shock of the events of 9/11, considered a tragedy by the West and a cause for celebration for many places in the Arab and Muslim world.
The author goes onto explain the Arab world's rage against America is the result of the idea that America represents, globalization , modernity, plurality. Muslim populations in the middle east are generally ruled by oppressive regimes that are failing their populace, providing a limited world vision, while censoring information. The author made an interesting observation, India has the second largest Muslim population of any country in the world, but the Muslim rage in not present, as the author notes, chanting "death to America" is not the favored occupation of its populace. The reason, India is a democracy, the people are concerned with bettering themselves through government.
And so it goes, The author's main point is that when the Middle East can be democratized, and the poverty alleviated it will be ready to join the modern world.
I really believe Tom Freidman is right on target with the ideas within this book.

An important book.......2006-08-04

Friedman's writing is consistently thoughtful, and this book is no exception. I appreciate deeply the care with which this book has been prepared. It belongs in every thinking person's library.

Thomas L. Friedman was born a ramblin' man.......2006-08-01

Thomas Friedman's "Longitudes and Attitudes" is a very readable book based on a collection of columns he wrote for the New York Times just before the attacks of 9/11 and for the year following those attacks. The last quarter of the book contains a kind of diary in which he attempts to put into context where he was in the world when he wrote these columns and how he was personally feeling at the time.

It is a very personal collection, often invoking the image of his children's future. Friedman's primary mission, as he relates it in meetings with educated people across the Middle East, is his search for the rationale of the terrorists, why they killed, and how they were radicalized. He frequently relates how depressed he got when talking to educated Middle Easterners who unflinchingly believed in conspiracy theories of the highest order. The most common canard he constantly ran across was that four thousand Jews were notified on the morning of 9/11 not to go to the World Trade Towers. Another astonishing "fact" he constantly confronted from academics, clerics and the media in the Middle East was that there is no proof that Muslims were the 9/11 hijackers in the first place. In general, Friedman relates, most Muslims in the Middle East also believe that the attack was a plot by the CIA (or Jews) to discredit Muslims and that all the American media is run by Jews.

Throughout the book, Friedman does not shy away from the fact that he is Jewish. He is balanced and critical of both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - decrying the brutality of the Israelis and Palestinians and he especially singles out the stubbornness of Arafat in that Arab leader's failure to accept the Clinton peace plan, which would have given Palestinians a state encompassing 95% of what they asked for and could have stanched the bloodshed.

Friedman relates his amazement that the Middle East is bombarded by an incessant 24-hour-a-day attack in the Arab media upon Israel and the United States, particularly via TV programs that run through the night simply playing martial music and showing images of Israeli brutality against Palestinians - which is always portrayed as one-sided.

He is unabashedly and constantly critical of the Saudi Arabia regime, from which, we are frequently reminded, was home to 15 of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers. Friedman seems particularly upset that Saudi Arabia did not apologize for the involvement of its nationals in the attack against the US and has refused to cooperate with the FBI in their investigation. He also makes it abundantly clear that Saudi Arabia, along with Iran, seem to be in a race to provide money to Islamic madras's across the globe that teach virulent intolerance and hatred against America and Israel.

Friedman doesn't simpy rail against the world as he sees it, he does prescribe some remedies for what he refers to as an ongoing "Clash of Civilizations," a term he borrows from Samuel Huntington. If we don't address the tumult we find ourselves in and Usama bin Laden "wins," Friedman warns us that, "The war of civilizations will be coming to a theater near to you."

First and foremost, he calls upon Arab nations to forge a new future for their citizens by letting go of the past and looking to the future. Too often Arab nations and leaders deflect true change by blaming all their troubles on someone else... their problems are America's fault, or Bush's fault, or Israel's fault and so on ad infinitum. True leaders in the Middle East should create plans for the future, not just laying blame for present and past real and perceived slights. Arab leaders should come up with plans for educating their children, making governments more responsive and creating jobs for the exploding number of young people in the Middle East. Friedman goads Arab leaders by saying things such as, while other emerging nations "make microchips, you are making potato chips," and that the GDP of Spain is greater than that of all 22 Arab states combined.

Friedman could be called a liberal hawk. He firmly believes in globalization, with a caveat that the Internet can be "an open sewer." He also believes that the concept of engaging and talking with your enemy is the only way that problems can truly be resolved. An example: The U.S. and Israel engaged Arafat and came up with a plan that gave the Palestinians a state encompassing 95% of what they wanted. This pleased Friedman the liberal. Arafat torched the olive branch that was extended to him and Friedman the hawk reminds us that Arafat had many maps that did not even show modern Israel on them. Friedman the hawk also applauded the fall of Saddam from a humanitarian viewpoint (reminding us that Saddam killed more Muslims in the 20th century than any other individual) and asked his readers to "give the CIA a break," and "give war a chance."

One of the most important ideas this book relates is that, unlike Christianity and the Jewish faith, Islam never went though Enlightenment or a Reformation. What this means is that Islam never separated church and state the way that the West has done and therefore Islam has not been able to move its society and culture forward because of the constant influence of clerics who can't effectively run a modern nation.

Lastly, the last quarter of the book that was written in a diary format was primarily a rehash of ideas spelled out earlier in the book - merely reformatted to fit the geographic contours of where and when Friedman wrote his columns. This part of the book added little new information and seemed that it was almost an afterthought... an awkward attempt to tie together all the canned columns.

Longitudes and Attitudes: the World in the Age of Terrorism.

Average customer rating:

Longitudes and Attitudes: the World in the Age of Terrorism.
THOMAS L.: FRIEDMAN
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus, Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UCX6EU

Customer Reviews:

Excellent large book for library use........1999-08-16

The photographs in this book are excellent. All the birds are in good light with plumage variations evident. Where needed, colored drawings supplement the photos. A map of the distribution is on the facing page, and the text describes habitat, behavior, and plumage characteristics of the species. Size is given in centimeters.

Guide to Nests & Eggs of Southern African Birds (Photographic Field Guides)

Average customer rating:

Guide to Nests & Eggs of Southern African Birds (Photographic Field Guides)
Warwick Tarboton
Manufacturer: New Holland Publishers, Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

South Africa | Africa | History | Subjects | Books

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Southern African Birds: A Photographic Guide

Average customer rating:

Southern African Birds: A Photographic Guide
Ian & Davidson, Ian Sinclair
Manufacturer: Struik Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MBM21C

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