Book Description
A painting is only as good as its composition. This dynamic book teaches artists the "golden rules" of successful composition in simple, but effective techniques they can apply right away.
Through glowing examples of his own work, author Robert Lovett illustrates "design principles in action," starting with the basics. He then helps artists advance their skills by showing them how to manipulate other key devices, including: light and shadows; tonal values; repetition and alternation; gradation and balance; centers of interest; points of perspective.
Artists will also enjoy following Lovett's demonstrations which feature seascapes, boats, mountains, rivers, still lifes, interiors, figures and animals. He also includes an engaging series of 10 hands-on painting exercises Woven throughout are effective tips for working in watercolor, such as wet-in-wet techniques, dry brush methods, color mixing and more.
Customer Reviews:
An excellent resource for learning how to plan a painting........2007-09-12
When buying online, its sometimes hard to know what is inside the book that makes it special. I have tried to outline parts of this books to give you a better idea of what it's about and how things are taught.
This book is an excellent tool for learning about planning a painting and factors that influence a strong vs weak design. The books stated goal is to help artists avoid common design errors and "learn the 15 things that comproise the 'how' and 'why' of design. Beginning with a subject and it's sketch, Lovett teaches the steps of designing the painting and "arranging the marks, shapes, colors and tones." The book is filled with vivid illustrations and step-by-step demonstrations.
After a brief chapter on materials, Chapter 2 teaches "the how and why of design--the 15 things you should know, explained and illustrated." Then, the 7 Tools of Design are explained--line, shape, tonal value, size, color, texture, and direction. The "why" encompasses 8 things--unity, contrast, dominance, repetition, alternation, harmony, gradation, balance.
Lovett takes several beautiful and varied paintings and explains the tools of design in each that give it strength, unity, and interest. The tools of design for each painting are explained, and then the "design plan" of each is explained---the marks on the paper, and how those marks will be arranged--example:--unity, contrast, dominance, repetition, alternation, harmony, gradation, balance. Lovett then goes on to explain how contrast can be the layout, but making one tone, value, shape, etc more dominant than the other can create unity.
HE then takes different paintings and explains the "main arrangement" of the design (ex: unity, contrast, etc.) He shows such examples as using a dominantly wet-wet method in a painting, but then saving the center of interest to be painted with sharper, dry, crisp edges to contrast. Also, the harmony of color, gradation of colors from the top to bottom of painting and using contrast of light to make it a well-designed painting
PART 3 of the book is on "Training Yourself to Plan Your Painting". It begins with Chapter 3 on "Seizing the essence of your subject with sketches."---choosing subjects, choosing the best light, choosing to draw, choosing total recall. Next--Painting on Location---the factors the interfere with concentration and the need to "simplify the subject." Lovett states, "You must learn to see the subject as simple masses of tonal value.." Lovett encourages the reader to try to draw small subjects directly in watercolor without any preliminary pencil work as a training tool.
Lovett teaches about what the painter needs to study about the subject he plans to paint---the direction of light, the viewpoint, the lack of detail, the different shapes, the scale, the color and tone. Each of these is explained with a small example painting
Chapter 4 is about Planning the picture--how you want it to look when it is finished--the arrangement of light and tonal values and how to make a tonal value plan, color plan--what will be the dominant color, where to place a small patch of complementary color, what color would harmonize the dominant color, etc.. He explains "a simple way to select a harmonious color scheme". Lovett shows a photo of a scene and then illustrates a tonal drawing of it, then how he uses different color sketches to change the mood.
Next--"Plan your attack"---choosing paper, wet-wet, dry brush, edges, tonal value arrangement, etc., each with examples of his work to make a point.
Next--Lovett demonstrates how he sets the tonal key with the first wash and follows with further steps of making contrast of tone and color
Chapter 5 is "Designing with Perspective" where he explains how to establish the vanishing point, basic principles of perspective. Lovett then shows a series of stepped demonstrations of paintings of buildings in Venice. Lovett explains how he uses perspctive and planning ahead to draw the eye to a certain part of the painting.
Lovett's book explains further on how different elements of a painting contributes to the whole, and demonstrates what happens when design elements are removed from a painting. Next 6 Step-by-Step demonstrations are given, each with a clearly stated objective of the the demonstration, the technique used (ex: wet on dry), the tools and arrangements in action, materials the artist used including pallette, brushes, paper. Each demonstration covers a different strategy (ex: " Placing Color in the Area of Most Interest"...."Designing with Color Temperature and Line"...etc. These beautiful paintings are done of scenes in Italy and Wales.
Chapter 7 is "Designing for Mountains and Rivers", where Lovett again gives Step-by-Step demonstrations with a clearly organized objective, techniques, tools (ex: repetition, shape, color contrast, balance, value) used, and materials used. In the mountain scene of New Zealand, Lovett explains how the repeating triangular shapes of the mountains is what caught his eye, aside from the overall breathtaking scene..
Next, a River painting demonstration.
Later in the book, Designing Seascapes, harbors, and boats.
Then, Designing still life and interiors--all with demonstrations and clear objectives, and tools and arrangements used to make it a strong design.
Chapter 10 is about Designing figures and animals, and step-by-step demonstrations are also given.
This is a wonderful book--one of the best I have seen on compostion. The artwork throughout is breathtaking. It is well-organized and easy to follow. It is a book that you will probably want to keep. Outstanding.
Excellent, Comprehensive.......2002-08-15
Robert Lovett's book is different from many watercolor books that simply show a picture and have a brief blurb on the picture.
Lovett has a very thorough and systematic way of teaching and explains each lesson in great depth. This book tackles the key elements of creating an effective painting and shows probably over 100 of Lovett's paintings. Lovett is a gifted teacher and painter and his book is highly effective. Lovett has a very colorful, yet traditional painting style, so if you are looking for experimental or california school loose, look elsewhere.
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Orchids, 1989
Robert Mapplethorpe
Manufacturer: Bulfinch
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Poster
 General
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ASIN: 0821218743 |
Book Description
From the land of the rising sun, strangely practical and utterly eccentric inventions for a life of ease—and hilarity.
In Japan Kenji Kawakami is famous for his tireless promotion of Chindogu: the art of the unuseless idea. Meant to solve problems of modern life, these bizarre and logic-defying gadgets and gizmos are actually entirely impractical.
Addicts of the unuseless will love this collection of 200 Chindogu, including the Drymobile (your laundry dries as you drive), the Solar-Powered Torch (never runs low on batteries), Duster Slippers for Cats (now the most boring job around the house becomes hours of fun...for your cat!), Walk 'n' Wash Ankle-attachable Laundry Tanks (a perfect solution for the problems of inadequate exercise and hygiene), and many, many more...
These hilarious inventions have taken Japan by storm. Every one of the 200 items in The Big Bento Box of Unuseless Japanese Inventions has actually been manufactured to the highest standards, fully tested by pioneering members of the Japanese public, and documented in their unuselessness with 442 color photographs.
Customer Reviews:
Very funny book.......2007-06-08
This book is hysterically funny and so creative. A great gift.
The Japanese are awesome!.......2007-01-19
Very interesting and amusing, this book is a plethora of innovative, bold and yes, silly, ideas. Fun stuff.
Unuseless, But Not Without Merit.......2006-10-17
This book of chindogu features some of the most humorous and ingenious inventions ever, inventions so impractical yet addressing real world problems, that they are referred to as "unuseless." The inventions remind me of Monty Python animator Terry Gilliam's cartoons gone horribly awry. Editor Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall explains the concept nicely in the foreword: all these inventions are real and have been manufactured, but to qualify as a real chindogu, the device must be completely impracticable in the real world. Readers are even invited to join and submit chindogu of their own to the International Chindogu Academy. (I am thinking of submitting a Marmoset Crauncher.)
The word "chindogu" was appropriated for these inventions as it is Japanese for "odd or distorted tool." That is a perfect description of these items. There are too many for me to list, but all are beautifully explained and illustrated. Some of my favorites include: "Duster Slippers For Cats," in which housecats don dustmops on their paws to assist with household chores (the illustration is priceless); "The Noodle Eater's Hair Guard," which is the silly pink contraption on the cover; "The Back Scratcher's T-Shirt" (which is not only funny, it borders on a good idea); the "Portable Subway Strap" (for those who enjoy holding onto a plunger affixed to the roof of a train); and the "Ear Extender," which gets my vote for best decorative headgear made from colanders.
This is a funny book, and is beautifully rendered in color throughout. The only warning I have is that if you read this in long sittings, eventually you may find yourself saying "Hey, that's a pretty good idea!" (I had this thought when looking at the "Butterstick.") I recommend this book to lovers of the odd and obscure everywhere.
This book makes such a great gift!.......2006-06-26
I have given at least ten of these and everyone enjoys it and shares it at home and at the workplace. The inventions make so much sense. Kawakami is truly a creative genius. The title is intriguing. I missed it the first time, did you, too? It isn't "useless", but "unuseless" which in actuality means......
Mix Rube Goldberg's Inventiveness With Modern Culture.......2006-02-20
I wrote and published this review in The Journal of Irreproducible Results, vol. 49, no. 6, November 2005:
Rube Goldberg founded the modern era of humorous inventions in the US, and Heath Robinson did the same in the UK, in the first half of the 1900s. Even now, "Rube Goldberg contraptions" call to mind not only his cartooning style but his inventive wit.
The genre simplified and expanded with Jacques Carelman's The Catalogue of Fantastic Inventions (St. Martins, 1984), and Steven M. Johnson's What the World Needs Now (Ten Speed, 2001). David E. H. Jones takes a decidedly more scientific, less cartooned approach in The Inventions of Dædalus (Freeman, 1982) and The Further Inventions of Dædalus (Oxford University Press, 1999).
When the genre twisted and turned to Japan, it developed into Chindogu. If a humorous invention serves a real, everyday purpose ... but not well; if it is actually made and photographed; if its humor is a byproduct of solving a problem ... then it may be "chindogu". See www.chindogu.com. A bento box is a multi-purpose lunchbox, but that concept is the merest appetizer for these.
200 inventions fill 300 pages in this charming full-color compendium. Many are in classes by themselves, such as the nail-polish dryer for 5 fingers at once. But certain issues recur:
* Attach mops to crawling babies, pets, and shoes.
* Portable signage allows you to unroll a zebra-crosswalk at a convenient place in the road; to put a women's-restroom sign over a men's; and to mark parking space lines around your car, wherever you leave it.
* An extra hand can cover your mouth politely; hold veggies perilously close to a cutting knife; and even help count fingers.
* Umbrellas could be supported from a hat or headbelt, or little ones attached to shoes or camera, or given full-length transparent sides to keep you dry all the way down.
* Just as a Swiss Army knife combines many hand tools, a giant handle could combine gardening tools; pockets in a necktie or hooks on a belt could hold office necessities; hooks on an apron could hold kitchen utensils; and each finger of a glove could be tipped with its own tool.
Shoes, crowded subways, and taking snapshots also come up often.
Sure enough, I found no use for any item in the whole book. But many motifs, several methods, and some attitudes look like I ought to be able to apply them somewhere or other, either for a laugh or for something (chindogu notwithstanding) actually useful.
By the way, while "humorous inventions" seems like a category, libraries haven't invented a single number to find them under. I found some in art (NC1429, NC1499, NK1125); in science at Q167, and in technology at T20 and this one at T27. In Dewey, check 741.5.
Book Description
Luis Buñuel (1900-83) was one of the world's great film-makers. Always controversial, his first film, Un Chien andalou (1928), which he referred to as a 'call to murder', was a savage Surrealist experiment. L'Age d'or (1930), his second, was banned in Paris after its initial screening, which had led to violent disturbances. Thereafter, his films continued to challenge, provoke and subvert social conventions in their searching analyses of human desire.
Luis Buñuel: New Readings ranges widely over key films and moments from all stages of the director's career: the early years in Spain and France, the middle period in Mexico and the USA, and the return to Europe, where he made late masterpieces like Belle de Jour (1966) and Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie (1972).
Twenty years after his death, the time is ripe for a re-evaluation of Buñuel's legacy. Through theoretically informed discussions of individual films and dominant tendencies, as well as through more biographically orientated perspectives (including newly discovered correspondence), this book locates and re-appraises Buñuel's films with particular emphasis on the national cinemas and varied cultures with which he was identified. These new readings show that Buñuel's significance and impact remain undiminished by the passage of time.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Cineaste, published by Cineaste Publishers, Inc. on December 22, 2004. The length of the article is 1283 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: Luis Bunuel: New Readings.(Book Review)
Author: Bill Krohn
Publication:
Cineaste (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 22, 2004
Publisher: Cineaste Publishers, Inc.
Volume: 30
Issue: 1
Page: 66(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This book will teach you how to properly protect your songs from being stolen, who the best people are to send your demo tapes to, what pitfalls to avoid when negotiating a record contract or publishing deal, and much more.
Customer Reviews:
My musical bible.......2006-05-15
If you're ready to take your fascination with music and its creation to the next level, this is exactly the place you should start. While refraining from being ridiculously long, it outlines basically everything you could want to know. If you're looking for more help with legal terms and contracts, I suggest "101 Music Business Contracts" by Platinum Millennium.
Complete intro to the industry, A must have book!!!.......2000-10-03
David Naggar give you a very straight forward break down of the music industry. IF you are an artist, manager, producer, promoter or anything that has to do with the record business you need to read this book. Even if you think you got it all covered this little handbook might open your eyes to something that you might not have encountered yet. Similar to Kashif's 'Everything you'd better know' Naggar gives a very readable explanation to a lot of issues that plague artists and managers such as royalties and ownership and control rights.
If you are serious about being sucessful in the music business then I suggest you begin by reading this book, you will find that many music books sort of repeat themselves and it's almost like you are reading the same thing over and over but if you do not lose interest each book has something different that can be of a good reference.
This is an excellent "easy-to-read" resource guide.......1997-07-22
I love this book because it's 1)not boring 2)easy to read 3)and very resourceful. After reading this you know that you do have a chance in the "business" without getting ripped-off if you follow the guidelines - research and have people working for that are "for you". So If you don't want to get ripped-off you better read this book or else "Show them the money!"
Book Description
50 puzzles from the New York Times] by Thomas H. MiddletonNew York Times puzzles are America's Favorites Millions of puzzle fans know that the New York Times is the gold standard in puzzling. Here is the next installment of 50 Acrostic puzzles, which appear every other week in the Sunday Times.
Customer Reviews:
Challenging Acrostics #9.......2007-08-15
These puzzles are extremely hard but they are clever and fun to do. I've only been able to do two so far without cheating ie: looking up the answers. They are tricky but I'm getting used to some of the tricks such as realizing that a single letter need not be an "a" or an "i" . And clues can have several different meanings and word forms -what looks like a noun can be a verb etc.For example a recent clue was "single" and I was trying to think of a word for unmarried or a one dollar bill. The answer was "one base hit."
NY Times Acrostics.......2007-01-10
As a long-time solver and former constructor of acrostic puzzles, I find it difficult to find acrostics that can challenge me, but these do! They are considerably more challenging than the ones Middleton does for the Simon and Schuster series. I highly recommend them to experienced solvers.
Book Description
From New York Times bestselling author Peggy Noonan comes “a beautifully written testimony about . . . the most historically recognized pope” (Library Journal)
With such accla imed books as When Character Was King, Peggy Noonan has become one of our most eloquent and respected commentators. Now she offers a stirring portrait of a spiritual and intellectual giant who personally confronted all of the worst tragedies of his age. Drawing on scholarship, interviews with prominent Catholics, and her own experience, Noonan traces the extraordinary life and struggles of Pope John Paul II with characteristic insight and probity—and explores how much we can learn from his leadership, diplomacy, humility, and holiness. Passionate and often deeply personal, John Paul the Great is as exceptional as the man it celebrates.
Customer Reviews:
Author's Reflections on Spirituality, Catholicism, & John Paul II.......2007-08-09
I thoroughly enjoyed this book by Ms. Noonan. She writes of her spiritual growth, many things related to the Catholic Church (its politics, sexual abuse scandal, and changes) and John Paul II -- his life, beliefs and work.
John Paul II vies with Mother Teresa for a tertiary place in this book behind the author's own story and issues about the Catholic church. At times, one forgets the book is about John Paul II, because he is nowhere in the current text; however, with the exception of somewhat lengthy writing about church politics and politics in general, I found the authors tangents enjoyable, especially when writing about her personal spirituality and Mother Teresa. There is enough biography to make one wonder at the extraordinary life of John Paul and the significant role he played in history and in individual lives, as well as the lives of nations--truly making the measure of greatness.
Noonan is a seasoned writer and seems to maintain her "everyman's or woman's" tone despite being a member of elite journalists that are often out of touch with readers---definitely not the case with Noonan. She speaks plainly and not condescendingly at all.
Her esteem for John Paul II, Mother Teresa, Catholicism and God shine through in this book and make it a treasure to read.
The cd version is read by the author and reveals some emotion and emphasis adding to the quality.
A personal remembrance of John Paul II.......2007-07-18
If you've been reading George Weigel on the topic of John Paul II for the past 20 years, you will need that Weigel has already painted a very comprehensive picture of the Pope's biography, theology and place within the history of the Catholic Church. In addition, if you've read "God's Choice," you will also know that Weigel has done yeoman's work providing a detailed reportage of the days leading up to -- and the days following -- the Pope's death. So, what more is there to add?
Peggy Noonan is wise not to try to add much more in the way of "objective" history. Indeed, it would be hard, as well, even to classify this work as "non-fiction." So, much of this book is nothing more than a series of essays told from Peggy Noonan's life-story and refracted through her lens on the world.
As a result, the book is maudlin and sentimental at times, as some readers of Peggy Noonan have come to expect. One story, which captures this for me, is her story of seeing the Pope on his first visit to St. Patrick's Cathedral around 1980 and his second visit in the '90s. The story says much more about Noonan than John Paul. And, while this may be the point, we should remember that the book is about John Paul not Noonan.
Of course, what Noonan hopes to accomplish, as opposed to Weigel, is to capture and conjure up the emotional bond, which Catholics -- ardent as well as luke-warm -- had and felt for this Pope who was a "different sort of Pope." I think that Noonan was very impressed with what she saw in St. Peter's Square while millions of people were waiting to hear news of the Pope's death, the young people yearning for one last glimpse of the man who inspired them and the "Santa Subito" signs waving. At that moment, Noonan decided to write a book, which would explain that phenomenon. For she felt it too, and she knows we felt it. But, she can explain it better than us, and we expect her to explain it to us. With "John Paul the Great," she succeeds.
A Measure of Greatness.......2007-03-22
There can be little doubt that the late Pope John Paul II has been the dominant religious figure of the last fifty years. From the time rose to the papal seat to his recent passing, he exhibited a combination of intellectual clarity, media mastery, incredible charisma, and personal holiness that will likely remain unmatched by any figure on the public stage for some time to come.
Given the qualities of the late pontiff, effective communicating his cultural influence can be a daunting task. A mere bigraphical approach that details the events of his life really will not do justice to the man as his life was far more than a series of events and extended to the manner in which he elicited a response from the faithful. Peggy Noonan understands this connundrum and masterfully presents a fitting tribute to the pope she obviously loved and admired in John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father. In a series of vignettes that focus on key elements of the longest papal reign in recent memory, Noonan combines history and anecdote in a powerful mix that fleshes out the reality of the late pope's overwhelming presence on the world stage.
The key to the insight provided by Ms. Noonan is that besides being a keen observer of world events, she is also a convert to the Catholic faith who looked to Pope John Paul II for spiritual leadership. For one cannot truly understand the late pontiff without understanding the source of his spiritual strength. Without armies and weapons, he manged to have the leaders of superpowers trembling. In this superb tribute, we can see why such trembling occurs despite the lack of earthly power. It was a spiritual battle that Pope John Paul II waged against the "culture of death" and even in the wake of recent scandals in the Catholic Church, he could not and would not be silenced.
Overall, John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father has provided us with a great tribute to a great man. In an era dominated by the shallowness of the media culture, words like "great" get thrown around carelessly at the mediocre. When we do finally come face-to-face with true greatness, we no longer know how to react and often feel threatened. Only those who realize the source of the greatness Pope John Paul II possessed was not of himself could come to grips with his legacy and with this book Peggy Noonan fully grasps the source of his greatness.
Good, But..........2007-03-10
This book is well-written, typical of what you would expect from Peggy Noonan. My only criticism is that she, like most of the American media, seems inordinately obsessed by the priest sexual abuse scandal (she devotes the bulk of two chapters to this topic).
She says that JP II is "guilty" of not doing more about this; yet regarding the worldwide rise of secularism, she does a near-180 and completely exonerates him of any blame. I see this as a lack of consistency on her part.
The more I read, the more I wondered whether her own son might have been a victim of abuse. If that were the case, it would certainly explain much of this curious inconsistency.
A Loving Portrait of a Great and Holy Man.......2006-12-14
To be perfectly honest, Peggy Noonan is not an author whose work I have generally found to be appealing and I only decided to buy this one because of a TV appearance she made promoting the book. In that interview she exhibited a clear sincerity and love for her subject that made me decide to give this book a try. Noonan is of course a very partisan figure and not one that I am apt to agree with very often. Even in a book like this she couldn't resist taking a shot at the Bill and Hillary Clinton but otherwise she managed to leave politics out and I must admit that I was very impressed and deeply moved by this book.
This is not so much a traditional biography of John Paul II as it is the story of how this great man affected one life, that life being the life of Peggy Noonan. Traditional biographies of this great and Holy man are all easy to find and many of them are very good but for the most part they miss out on a very important facet of John Paul's life. That being the effect that he had on millions of individuals from all around the world. Sure he was a intellectual giant, sure he was a great mystic, sure he was a major player in the fall of the Eastern Block and Soviet Russia, sure his impact will be felt on the institutions of the Church for generations to come and he is most assuredly a Saint but there was more. Much more!
This was a man who reached out to people and made them feel special. In John Paul many of us found a spiritual father, as did this author. She only met this Pope on a couple of occasions and I never met him but I felt a closeness to him that is really beyond description. So did Noonan and she does a fabulous job of telling the story of her connection to this great man. The story of the impact that John Paul had on the life of this author and so many millions of other lives is a very important part of his story and this book tells this part of his story in a very moving way.
Despite her great love for John Paul, Noonan does not sugar coat history in this book and she does point out his shortcomings. She is especially hard on the Church leadership regarding the sex scandals that have rocked the American Church over the last few years. She has apparently been very hard on the Church leaders in her columns and when she attended the Beatification ceremony for Mother Teresa she ran into Cardinal Law and they seem to have had words. The very presence of Cardinal Law at the Vatican is a disgrace and I say bravo Peggy Noonan for telling it like it is. I have no clout but with people like Peggy Noonan leading the charge maybe some day Law will get the defrocking and excommunication that he so richly deserves.
No, this is not a book that will give readers a new knowledge of the historical John Paul II. This is instead a book that takes a look at John Paul the Saint, the man who touched us all. Read the other biographies but do not make the mistake of missing out on this aspect of his ministry. To do so would be to miss out on what was truly remarkable about this star of Poland, this John Paul the Great.
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John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father
Peggy Noonan
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
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Christianity
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Leaders & Notable People
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ASIN: B000VSI4DG |
Book Description
This analytical work by Dr. Eduard Mark of the Center for Air Force History examines the practice of interdiction in three wars: World War II, the Korean war, and the war in Southeast Asia. It considers eleven important interdiction campaigns, all of them American or Anglo-American, for only the United States and Great Britain had the resources to conduct interdiction campaigns on a large scale in World War II. Dr. Mark proposes what he considers to be a realistic objective for interdiction: preventing men, equipment, and supplies from reaching the combat area when the enemy needs them and in the quantity he requires. As Mark notes, there has been little intensive scholarship on the subject of interdiction especially when contrasted with the work done on strategic bombardment.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Study of Interdiction in WW II, Korea, and Vietnam.......2000-03-28
Author Eduard Mark has done a superb job of recounting the strengths and weaknesses of aerial interdiction efforts in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Starting with the Allied invasion of North Africa, Mark examines how the three-tiered system of Allied air operations was developed (primarily through British influence) and how that system remained in effect throughout the succeeding wars. As the author discusses the various operations in World War II, he is not afraid to state that things did not always go well regarding interdiction efforts and on more than one occasion, airmen could not deliver their promised results. At times, this was crucial, as in Sicily when controversial command decisions coupled with non-effective employment of air and naval assets allowed nearly 40,000 Germans to escape to Italy. At other times, as in preparation for D-Day, aerial interdiction played a key role in preventing or delaying German troops and supplies from reaching the Normandy beachhead. As World War II gave way to Korea and later, Vietnam, Mark does an excellent job of providing insight into how those wars differed from World War II, how political constraints hampered the effectiveness of interdiction efforts, and how the Air Force's own single-mindedness of pursuing the strategic mission overshadowed equipment and training needed to successfully prosecute interdiction missions. Also, the limited effectiveness of interdiction due to sophisticated antiaircraft defenses and topographical features is examined. In sum, Mark presents a very well-balanced account of aerial interdiction from its development in North Africa through Vietnam. His frankness in stating when things went well and when they didn't go well, along with his analysis, add to the credibility of his writing. Lastly, his use of maps at the beginning of each chapter, coupled with photos throughout the book make it easy for the reader to visualize where things are happening and how they are unfolding.
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Aerial Interdiction : Air Power and the Land Battle in Three American Wars
Leatrice R. Arakaki
Manufacturer: United States Government Printing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0912799730 |
Book Description
With a unique blend of insight, balance, and wit, two of our most renowned America watchers brilliantly anatomize the conservative movement and explain how it has stamped its program so deeply into American life.
The Right Nation is not "for" liberals, and it's not "for" conservatives. It's for any of us who want to understand one of the most important forces shaping American life. How did America's government become so much more conservative in just a generation? Compared to Europe-or to America under Richard Nixon-even President Howard Dean would preside over a distinctly more conservative nation in many crucial respects: welfare is gone; the death penalty is deeply rooted; abortion is under siege; regulations are being rolled back; the pillars of New Deal liberalism are turning to sand. Conservative positions have not prevailed everywhere, of course, but this book shows us why they've been so successfully advanced over such a broad front: because the battle has been waged by well-organized, shrewd, and committed troops who to some extent have been lucky in their enemies.
John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, like modern-day Tocquevilles, have the perspective to see this vast subject in the round, unbeholden to forces on either side. They steer The Economist's coverage of the United States and have unrivaled access to resources and-because of the magazine's renown for iconoclasm and analytical rigor-have had open-door access wherever the book's research has led them. And it has led them everywhere: To reckon with the American right, you have to get out there where its centers are and understand the power flow among the brain trusts, the mouthpieces, the organizers, and the foot soldiers. The authors write with wit and skewer whole herds of sacred cows, but they also bring empathy to bear on a subject that sees all too little of it. You won't recognize this America from the far-left's or the far-right's caricatures. Divided into three parts-history, anatomy, and prophecy-The Right Nation comes neither to bury the American conservative movement nor to praise it blindly but to understand it, in all its dimensions, as the most powerful and effective political movement of our age.
Customer Reviews:
not worth reading,much less buying.......2007-08-28
I was very disappointed in this book. I wouldn't have bought it if I had known that it was by two writers from the Economist. Sadly, they seem to share the typical Economist slants, and have no idea about what Conservatism is all about in America. They probably spend all their time in Washington DC and New York and think they have experienced America. I consider the book to be one long editorial, long on uninformed opinion and short on facts. The one thing this book won't do is lead readers to any understanding of the Right Nation.
An informative introduction to American conservatism, but less than stellar comparative work.......2007-03-18
On the whole I found this book to be a stimulating and refreshing contrast to the other books I have read on this subject that take the form of screeds either in opposition or defense (treating this phenomenon as either an aberration/perversion or as a God-given and righteous march toward Paradise).
The First three parts of the book which details the ideas and development of the Conservative Movement are well worth the price of the book, it describes with an admirable level-headedness and dispassion (as well as a healthy dose of humorous anecdotes) the strenghts and weaknesses of the movement's ideas and the internal conflicts that might threaten its cohesion in the future. The Book tries (successfully in my opinion) not to be a work of advocacy for the ideas or people it presents but rather just give people a clearer idea of why the American political culture is so different from most of the rest of the industrialized world. I felt that in spite of the fact that I still think many of the ideas of the American Conservative Movement are bad ones I have a new appreciation and understanding of where they come from and their internal logic.
The last Part of the book is mainly a comparison of America with the rest, and didn't quite live up to the standard of the first three parts. Here the Neo-Liberal/Thatcherite editorial line of The Economist came shining through more than once with a few puzzlingly biased and misleading statements(social mobility, productivity etc.). This is not really a big problem, and doesn't take very much away from the book as a whole (I am sure it is not intentional), as a moderate knowledge of economics and some familiarity the magazine makes these things easy to spot. I just mean that if you want a comparative work on politics or economics in the US and Europe there are better alternatives.
November 7, 2006 Election Adds More Evidence to Support Right Nation Thesis.......2006-11-10
The fascinating thing regarding the election held only two days ago was the alleged conservatism of a number of Democratic Party candidates. Some were anti-abortion, pro-gun, strongly against illegal immigration, and desire victory in Iraq. Are they conning the voters? We will find out soon enough. Nonetheless, they didn't run as liberals! An affirmative action measure was even resoundedly rejected in the Democrat dominated state of Michigan. Admittedly, the Republicans lost control of both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives---but newly elected Virginia senator and Viet Nam war hero James Webb will probably irritate his left-wing Democrat cohorts. British journalists John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge wrote Right Nation before the 2004 election. They clearly saw that a decent size majority of American voters substantially embrace conservative themes. At this point in time, there is little evidence that explicit and unambiguous liberalism will stage a comeback. Liberal politicians will often have to pretend to be conservative. This almost assuredly will continue to be the case as long as Islamic nihilism threatens the globe. Sadly, widespread economic illiteracy somewhat protects Democrat politicians. What happens if more voters are converted to the economic doctrines of Milton Friedman and Ludwig von Mises? Will the Democrats face oblivion? Right Nation may be slightly dated. It is, however, worthy of your time if you are trying to better understand the future political trends of the United States.
David Thomson
Flares into Darkness
Silent majority is no longer silent. .......2006-10-10
In the run up to the 2004 election publishers cranked out more political screeds than there were voters to read them. You know the books I'm talking about, both sides cranked them out - the ones that featured some indignant looking character on the cover with titles using words such as: shut up, stupid, dumb, fat, idiot, jerk, liar, etc. Yes it was an age when political discourse raged with a fevered pitch, and almost all Americans came out looking like dumb stupid idiot jerks by the time the whole thing was said and done. Somewhere amid all this mindless wrangling came a book that actually set out to understand the American electorate at the beginning of the 21st century in a dispassionate objective and thoughtful way. Written as more of a work of political anthropology it reads more like a book by De Toqueville than Al Franken or Ann Coulter.
The question the authors set out to answer is, what is the cause of America's decided tilt to the right over the last thirty years. The answers suggested are many, and would behoove any thoughtful reader interested in politics or American culture to consider. For those on the right this book will show that the world of conservative thought did not begin with talk radio, that there existed, and exists today a very directed and active core of conservative intellectuals that in many ways serve as the ballast of what is now the conservative movement. People on the left will benefit to learn that the people whom they disagree are not all just a bunch of illiterate Bible thumpers - and why the those that are illiterate bible thumpers are so decidedly conservative.
Somehow authors John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, a couple of Brits, have been able to more clearly understand the American political landscape than even we can. This is one book that will probably be read many years from now and will serve as a work to help future generations understand the political time in which we are living through now. Great book.
academic, funny, balanced.......2006-08-13
it isn't al franken, michael moore, anne coulter or michelle malkin.
It's an objective history, with analysis and some predictions.
I'm a left-wing, liberal, european guy with a decent knowledge of US politcs and i found this book very useful in taking that to the next level.
It is definately from the "Economist magazine" stable, which is good - their pieces are well argued and very easy if your reading age is over 16.
A lot of poeple have found that coming to this book with their preconceptions isn't a bad thing - it is well researched enough and well argued enough to stimulate debate in your mind without lecturing or talking down.
They don't assert one thing or another as correct, but present a timeline and show how fragile the Conservative coalition is in reality(christians, economics, guns, "values" etc). But argues that even if the coalition fractures the strands of conservatism will remain (good or bad) for a long long time to come.
W
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Letras Libres, published by Editorial Vuelta, S.A. de C.V. on December 1, 2004. The length of the article is 952 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: Nación (de) derecha.(The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America)(Reseña de libro)
Author: Ramón Cota Meza
Publication:
Letras Libres (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 1, 2004
Publisher: Editorial Vuelta, S.A. de C.V.
Volume: 6
Issue: 72
Page: 97(2)
Article Type: Reseña de libro
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Where the Right Went Wrong: How Neoconservatives Subverted the Reagan Revolution and Hijacked the Bush Presidency.(Book Review) : An article from: The Cato Journal
Patrick Basham
Manufacturer: Cato Institute
ProductGroup: Book
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ASIN: B000ALQWSS
Release Date: 2005-07-25 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Cato Journal, published by Cato Institute on January 1, 2005. The length of the article is 1432 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: Where the Right Went Wrong: How Neoconservatives Subverted the Reagan Revolution and Hijacked the Bush Presidency.(Book Review)
Author: Patrick Basham
Publication:
The Cato Journal (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 2005
Publisher: Cato Institute
Volume: 25
Issue: 1
Page: 167(4)
Article Type: Book Review
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Birds Of North America 2004 Wall Calendar
National Geographic
Manufacturer: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Calendar
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ASIN: 0792251474 |
Book Description
A must-have for beginner and experienced birders alike, this calendar, like last year's, features exquisite illustrations from the best-selling fourth edition of National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, the field guide of choice for serious birders since its inception. Illustrations depict individual species in varying plumage, often with habitat cues in the background. Captions indicate where to look for featured birds in different regions of the country.
Books:
- The Art of Seeing: An Interpretation of the Aesthetic Encounter
- The Art of the Flower: The Floral Still Life from the 17th to the 20th Century
- The Art of Wonder: A History of Seeing
- The Body of the Artisan: Art and Experience in the Scientific Revolution
- The Gelede Spectacle: Art, Gender, and Social Harmony in an African Culture
- The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, A.D. 843-1261
- The Illustrator in America, 1880-1980: A Century of Illustration
- The Image and the Eye: Further Studies in the Psychology of Pictorial ...
- The Last Picture Show: Artists Using Photography 1960-1982
- The Life and Wisdom of Gwen Frostic
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