Art in Small Scale Societies: Contemporary Readings

Book Description

Each one of the 34 readings in this text is derived from rigorously collected field data, and addresses the major questions about art in small-scale societies: what does art do, what meanings does it convey, who makes it, how is it conceptualized by those who use it, and how does it change with the passage of time? Over 100 illustrations provide visual references and the text represents a wide variety of cultures, art forms (not only visual arts but performing arts as well), authorial voices, and theoretical models. For artists, sociologists, undergraduate and graduate readers.

Book Description

"The work of Charles Burns is a vision that's both horrifying and hilariously funny, and which he executes with cold, ruthless clarity... It's almost as if the artist... as if he weren't quite..... human!" - R. Crumb

Charles Burns is the Harvey Award-winning cartoonist and illustrator whose work became legendary in Art Spiegelman's Raw magazine. Skin Deep is the third (following El Borbah and Big Baby, also available through Seven Hills) of a hardcover series of four volumes reprinting his acclaimed oeuvre up to his current project, the ongoing Black Hole comic book series.

Skin Deep includes Burns' popular character, Dog Boy, a red-blooded All-American boy with the transplanted heart of a dog, which was turned into a live action segment on MTV's Liquid Television series; new covers and endpapers; as well as several pages of new illustrations from his sketchbooks, as well as covers and other drawings from foreign editions of his work

Customer Reviews:

Some of Charles Burns best work..........2002-07-08

If you have the Penguin Books 1992 version of SKIN DEEP, then you have 95% of the content of this edition. The Stories "Dog Days" and "Burn Again" were published as weekly strips between 1988 and 1991. The story "A Marriage Made in Hell" was published as a whole in RAW back in 1984.

If you were paying attention, you'll recognize "Dog Days" as the source material for the brilliant live action serial "Dog Boy" which ran on MTV's LIQUID TELEVISION.

For this souped up version of SKIN DEEP (volume 3 in The Charles Burns Library), there are new covers, new interior front and back pieces, and an epilogue with a little explanatory verse and some collected bits and pieces including: a Burns cover for BLAST magazine (1991, which also serialized Dog Boy), black and white reproductions of the 1992 edition covers and endpieces, a self portrait which also appeared on the cover of Comics Journal in 1992 and some fabulous Burns "wallpaper" which you are encouraged to photocopy to use as such.

Very satisfying for the Burn enthusiast.

This edition was delayed several times, probably due to the time consuming and painstaking efforts that go into his creations.

It's definitely worth the effort. Thanks Charles!

Dark, Twisted and Funny.......2002-07-07

I confess to being a Burns freak, owning everything I can find of his - even if he only has one or two pages in a book, I will buy it. This doesn't disappoint if you are a fan of Burns, or just enjoy comix that are deeply twisted, some sort of hell from the inside of a demented mind. Burns has a distinctive way with the pen and the comix themselves are also enjoyable.

Film-Noir Meets The Outer Limits At Midnight.......1998-06-19

Distinctly creepy with a great deal of reality placed in a blender with some bad speed.Think of the images left in your mind when you wake up from a bad dream right before you get the shades open!!First rate story telling and art.

Charles Burns lays the ink, touches the dark heart of Americ.......1997-10-21

My wife doesn't like this book. That's all you need to know. Go for it. Well, I'll vouchsafe a bit more. A cartoonist I was talking to once put it very neatly. Speaking of his education by another cartoonist, he said "he taught me the art of knowing where to put the ink." Sounds silly, I know, but think about that next time you look at a B&W comic book. To me, Charles Burns might well be the first book I'd hand to someone, as Exhibit A of knowing where to put the ink. And I haven't even gotten around to discussing his subject matter, yet! You need to know that Burns' work is very emotional, more than a little surreal, peopled by montrous humanoids, a little too familiar for my tastes; most people would say ugly, the rest, beautiful. Themes of doglike love, the rampage of spirituality gone hopelessly awry, the pieces of passion exploded beyond recognition, and stitched together like a calico cat. It's all here. Good luck.

Book Description

Reigning Bad Girl Cameron Tuttle (back and badder than ever) shows how to make life a party, if you have the right bad attitude. Hundreds of hilarious tips and tricks make wherever you are the place to be, whether it’s a Bad Girl bash or in line at the DMV. All new, laugh-out-loud illustrations, games, party themes, drink recipes, party decoders, and strategies for everyday life at its Bad Girl best make this the must-have book of the season for Bad Girls everywhere. Because life’s a party, if you just add Bad.

Customer Reviews:

A Bad Girls Guide to Getting a Stupid Book Published.......2006-03-28

This book is a complete waste of time. I am shocked at how many good ratings it has got. I have read two other books in the A Bad Girl's Guide to Series "The Bad Girls Guide to the Open Road" and "The Bad girls guide to Getting what you want". They were both excellent. This book however, seems a shameless excuse to cash in on the good will the earlier books in the series had generated.
Shame on you Cameron Tuttle.

And enough already with "the 1000 of things to do with toilet roll" routine - the ideas were not that good in the first place let alone good enough to be featured in every title in the series.

are these people crazy?.......2005-05-09

This is the absolute stupidest thing i have ever read. The only amazing thing is how this author was ever able to publish it. This book is truly filled with mindless nonsense, for instance where to pass out after a drunken night, tips include the bathtub, in a dirty laundry basket, a hammock and under the dining room table..THANKS CAMERON TUTTLE, insert sarcasm.

I am the Bad Girl Party!.......2003-03-14

After reading Bad Girl Numero Uno Cameron Tuttle's third Bad Girl's Guide, I have officially declared myself a member of The Bad Girl Party! And I'm not alone. Bad girls everywhere are joining the revolution and as Cameron says, "Being bad isn't just a personality type, it's an underground political movement." Fun stuff.

Cameron's book is loaded with endless ideas about how to turn anything and everything in your life into a good time--from tranforming your car into a giant disco ball on wheels to giving out party favors at your next business meeting--but it also goes beyond a good laugh. It has an underlying message of positivity and empowerment that will inspire you to declare yourself the host of the ultimate party--your life!

Party!.......2003-01-18

With this book, you can turn EVERYTHING into a party! I love this! I'm not a hostess, nor do I plan to throw parties anytime soon, but this is just as great for people who like to party a lot. and as i said, after you read this, everything in life is a party.

You Have to Live The Party Life to Understand It!.......2002-12-12

I love this book! It picks up where Cameron's crazy, quirky sense of humor left off in her last Bad Girls Guide. The Party Life inspires you to take your Bad Girl attitude to the next level --and take it out on the town. Some of the parties are hilarious, some just plain fun and sassy, others are too bad to be true! I can't decide which party to throw (or overthrow) first. I bought this as a gift but I think I'm going to keep it for myself!

Bad Girl's Party Life Two-Book Set: Bad Girl's Guide to the Party Life, Bad Girl's Little Pink Book

Average customer rating:

Bad Girl's Party Life Two-Book Set: Bad Girl's Guide to the Party Life, Bad Girl's Little Pink Book
Cameron Tuttle
Manufacturer: Chronicle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0811896811

Bad Girl's Three-Book Set: Bad Girl's Guide to the Open Road, Bad Girl's Guide to Getting What You Want, Bad Girl's Guide to the Party Life

Average customer rating:

Bad Girl's Three-Book Set: Bad Girl's Guide to the Open Road, Bad Girl's Guide to Getting What You Want, Bad Girl's Guide to the Party Life
Cameron Tuttle
Manufacturer: Chronicle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0811896714

Book Description

Frederick Wiseman is among America's foremost documentary filmmakers. The recipient of many awards, including three Emmys, Wiseman has made more than thirty feature-length documentaries during a career that has spanned five decades. Together, these films provide a fascinating chronicle of American social and institutional life. This book makes available for the first time transcriptions of five of Wiseman's most important films-- Titicut Follies, High School, Welfare, High School II, Public Housing--providing all of the dialogue as well as annotations about other aspects of the soundtracks such as music and ambient noise, and notes about editing and camera movement. These scene-by-scene transcripts enable readers to scrutinize the films' complex structural patterns, recurring motifs, editing regimes, and the unscripted dialogue that makes Wiseman's cinema a rich repository of American speech. Editor Barry Keith Grant's critical introduction discusses the importance of sound in Wiseman's documentaries. Liberally illustrated with images from the films, these meticulous transcriptions are accompanied by a bibliography and filmography.

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Beautiful little book with great recipes inspired by legendary perfumes

The Scented Woman: Create Your Own Signature Perfume
Maribeth Riggs
Manufacturer: Studio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy: Over 600 Natural, Non-Toxic and Fragrant Recipes to Create Health - Beauty - a Safe Home Environment

ASIN: 067084117X

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful little book with great recipes inspired by legendary perfumes.......2005-09-12

This one is out of print but is easily found for very little money. The book itself is simply gorgeous, with colorful paintings by Picasso that accompany each recipe. And the recipes themselves are great. The author includes a vivid description of each concoction, the mood for which it is designed, and the legendary perfume on which it is based. My only complaint is that it doesn't contain a lot of information on the essential oils used in the recipes. But there are plenty of other books that focus on essnetial oils for those who want more detailed info.

Book Description

This is a concise guide to starting and operating a successful home inspection company.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting but you still need to do alot more.......2005-07-31

Don't think that by reading this book that you will close the last page go out there and start inspecting homes.
YOu need alot more information and you will need to read alot more books and do some proper training. However the book is an interesting read and you will get a few ideas on what you should do. it advises to get some interpersonal skills if you do not already have them. So I went and bought a few books on that, and it cost me over 30. But Im pretty sure it will help.
The book explains the different types of reports and abit about marketing, actually it flirts with all the aspects but does no get too deep.
Overall, its worth a read but just don't bank on starting up when you put it down.

A Good Very General Introduction to the Business.......2005-06-10

This is one book you should read before you go into business for yourself. It is not "THE" book on the subject. Instead, it is a general overview of how to start a business of your own, and only incidentally uses the idea of a home inspection service as the business to start.

Before starting your own Home Inspection Service, you do need to know about a lot of things such as licenses, legal aspects, record keeping, setting up an office, and this is all here. The description of most of these is rather brief, but it will tell you at least the general concept of what you need to do.

As for inspecting homes, this book points you in a few places that you should read and classes you could take. My own experience is that you should go to work for a home inspection service for a while to learn what the business is really like before you attempt to delve into it yourself.

NO help for starting an inpsection business!!.......2005-03-27

I bought a lot of books to learn how to do home inspections and become a pro home inspector for a new career. This book was one of the worst since the title makes you think you will learn about how to start and run a home inspector company. But the fact is that the concepts explained in the book can be applied to ANY business because they are so basic and general and have NO specific link to home inspector companies. The book is written by someone who definitely is NOT a home inspector and knows nothing about home inspections. Perhaps they know about starting a general type of business or company. The problem is that they just took general basic information and put it into a book that can be applied to anything and has no relevance to home inspectors. You could change the title and put any type of business on the title and you would not have to change the text inside and you would see the simple ideas in the book do NOT help you out. I do NOT think this is the right choice for anyone looking to be an inspector or start an inspection business. There are other books on Amazon that are far better than this one!!

There are better books out there.......2004-04-02

If you're looking for real, useful information on starting a home inspection business, or becoming a better home inspector this book won't help you much. It doesn't take long before you realize the person writing this is not a home inspector. Mostly filler, with very little content. The "how to start your own business" tips can be applied to ANY business & are very basic. I got so frustrated with the lack of information I just stopped reading it 2/3 of the way thru.

Good for those starting inspection business.......2004-02-27

I agree with the previous reviewer that said this doesn't have any how/what-to-inspect content, but I think the authors intent was to help those interested in starting their own business. I think the author assumes you have or know where to get experience/knowledge on home inspection. He even recommends some sites. This book really helped me get a feel for the business of home inspection and how/where to start.

Average customer rating:

The Most Famous Man You've Never Heard Of

Edison Invented, and Insull (Who?) Delivered.

He Enabled the Construction of Cities

Wasik is a Five-Star Author

The Merchant of Power: Sam Insull, Thomas Edison, and the Creation of the Modern Metropolis
John F. Wasik
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Scientists | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | United States | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1403968845
Release Date: 2006-03-02

Book Description

A timely rags-to-riches story, The Merchant of Power recounts how Sam Insull--right hand to Thomas Edison--went on to become one of the richest men in the world, pivotal in the birth of General Electric and instrumental in the creation of the modern metropolis with his invention of the power grid, which fuels major cities today. John Wasik, awarded the National Press Club Award for Consumer Journalism, had unprecedented access to Sam Insull's archives, which includes private correspondence with Thomas Edison. The extraordinary fall of a man extraordinary for his time is revealed in this cautionary tale about the excesses of corporate power.

Customer Reviews:

The Most Famous Man You've Never Heard Of.......2006-12-06

Subtitled: "The more you know, the more you know you don't know."
Coming across "The Merchant Of Power" by John Wasik, I was intrigued by the title and book jacket, but I half expected this book to be a clever spoof, like a book-bound Zelig. It was hard to believe that one person could have had such an effect on the history of the United States, indeed living a substantial part of his life in New York City, but had been almost erased from history less than a century later. In fact, I Googled Mr. Insull, and found that yes, he did exist, and yes, he was that influential in the modern industrialized America of the late 19th- and early 20th-century.
Insull was the business "brain" behind the eccentric tinkerer, Thomas Edison, who comes across as something of an old fool, and in the New York years, Insull was deeply involved in the Edison/Westinghouse/Tesla/AC/DC controversy, and the bitter J.P. Morgan takeover of Edison Electric (which became General Electric). Getting the heck out of Dodge before things got too dicey, he headed west to a primitive outpost on the edge of the American frontier, Chicago. Finally he was able to work his magic without running up against adversaries like Morgan or George Westinghouse; he bought and consolidated several small electric companies that were serving the city and created the complex electric grid that we know today.
Part biography, part history, part science (or, electrical engineering, at least) and part gossip, the book illuminates a forgotten man, and a never-to-be-forgotten period of the American story.

Edison Invented, and Insull (Who?) Delivered........2006-09-21

Everyone knows the inspired inventor Thomas Edison. Edison was a classic rumpled genius, driven in his eagerness to invent but sloppy in his other habits. He was devoted to the technical aspects of his gadgets, but he had little head for business or making those gadgets pay. The business of his endeavors was as unkempt as his clothing, but lucky for him, he had a young ally to help get his books in order. Samuel Insull, in contrast to Edison, is barely remembered today, but he had a huge role in making the modern world through the electrical inventions that Edison churned out. He was driven to make electricity pay, and he did so in millions of dollars, using all the dubious financial levers through the 1920's until it all went wrong. In _The Merchant of Power: Sam Insull, Thomas Edison, and the Creation of the Modern Metropolis_ (Palgrave), John F. Wasik, a journalist in business and finance, has told Insull's story, one full of ambition and financial spectacle, and leading to the sort of ruin contemporary readers will recognize in, say, the Enron scandal.

Insull was born in London in 1859. He scrambled to improve himself as ever any Horatio Alger hero did, and won his way to New York as Edison's private secretary. His ability to work right through the night and get by on catnaps ingratiated himself to his new boss. As Insull took a firmer grasp of Edison's technological advances, he centered on one in particular, the distribution of electricity that could power the lights and other inventions that Edison had produced. He went on literally to electrify Chicago, using huge generators never imagined before. He initiated the metering of power and other financial innovations, not all of them strictly on the up and up. He actually fled America when the bust of the Depression came, tooling around Europe to avoid extradition. Eventually, he could not avoid coming back and facing trial for fraud. A brilliant defense expounded on his rags-to-riches life story and made credible the idea that although he had brought down thousands of investors, no one had fallen as low as he had himself, and that his financial machinations had been for the purpose of preserving his stockholders' fortunes, failing merely because everything was failing. He was acquitted, but he remained a useful enemy for Franklin Delano Roosevelt's campaign against "big power".

Insull may be forgotten, but the foresight of his role in the electrification of America deserves recognition. He was a major influence in the arts, too, but not in the way he would have wanted in promoting the Grand Opera that was fashionable for patronage in his day. Insull did promote the dramatic career of his wife, well beyond her years or capacity. Herman Mankiewicz had started a venomous review of one of her performances in New York, got drunk, passed out on his typewriter, and couldn't finish the review. When it came time to write the script of _Citizen Kane_, Mankiewicz included the incident as part of Kane's sad advocacy for his wife's opera career. Insull served physically as well, as one of the models for Kane; Orson Welles handed his makeup man a picture of Insull, with his brush mustache, and wanted to look as much like him as possible. It's quite the legacy, but Wasik's book presents a memorable picture of the original, as well as the technological and social life of Chicago in his times.

He Enabled the Construction of Cities.......2006-04-20

This is a rags-to-riches-to-rags story. Sam Insull came to the US with $200, got a job with Thomas Edison. Then he basically designed and set up the electric power grid as we know it today.

Then through a series of misadventures that he couldn't have forseen he was wiped out. He was tried in court because there was at least a hint of fraud. He was found not-guilty on all charges.

Why do we care about such a man -- two reasons:

First, he is the one that made it possible that when we turn on the light switch, the overhead light comes on. This convenience is a major part of the reasons for the advances in the world. Not only light, but medical equipment, tools, motors of all types.

Second, the collapse of his company attracted the attention of the Federal Government. Because of the way his company collapsed the Government passed all kinds of laws forming the Securities and Exchance Commission, requiring quarterly reports of the financial condition of the company and so on.

It's also interesting that this book came out now in the aftermath of all the recent corporate scandals. I guess that there is little that changes in the world.

Wasik is a Five-Star Author.......2006-01-23

I just pre-ordered John Wasik's newest book, The Merchant of Power, and am looking forward to its March 2006 publication. John and I used to work together at Consumers Digest magazine and I have known him since his first book was published in 1987. Since that time he has published numerous personal finance books and hundreds of columns, written award-winning investigative features and has no doubt helped countless readers by giving them the framework for achieving their personal and financial goals.

I find this newest title intriguing because it is a departure from the instructive books that John has previously published. From the little I already know about The Merchant of Power, I expect to find out how Insull built -- and lost -- his fortune and how he to came to be at the center of the first corporate scandal in the U.S.

Book Description

These articles, previously classified, appeared in various issues of The Signal Corps Bulletin. Included in Vol. 1 are "Cryptanalysis" by William F. Friedman, "Problems of Code" by Marcel Givierge, "Solution of The Playfair Cipher" by Alf Monge, and "Analysis Versus The Probable Word" by Howell C. Brown. Two pages of Playfair Cipher problems for the student have been added to the text.

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Cryptography & Cryptanalysis Articles

Manufacturer: Aegean Park Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 9994875035

Book Description

Princes of Darkness is a highly critical expose of Saudi Arabia and attacks the elite inside that country as enemies of the western world. By extension this is also a criticism of the U.S. foreign policy that has supported the royal family. It should be noted that the genesis of this book comes from the author's intensely controversial and subsequently leaked Defense Department briefing in July 2002, while serving as a senior international policy analyst at RAND.

Customer Reviews:

Author Isn't an Expert in the Field.......2007-10-01

As Patrick Claswon observed, Murawiec gave a 2002 briefing to the Defense Science Board that carried the provocative title "Taking Saudi out of Arabia," in which he advocated extremely tough pressure on the Saudi government concerning the involvement of Saudis in terrorism. When it leaked to the press, the uproar was so loud that President George W. Bush personally called Saudi crown prince Abdullah to emphasize that he rejected the content of the briefing--a remarkable reaction to a think-tank study. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld also weighed in with denunciations. Murawiec was promptly fired by Rand.

With credentials like that, one would hope for much from Murawiec, and he does make some telling points. He nicely captures the Saudi ambition to dominate world Islam, including the depth of the rivalry between the Saudi Wahhabi clerics and Egypt's venerable Al-Azhar University.

But, alas, he is no expert on Saudi Arabia. For example, while many complaints can be made about the Saudi government's encouragement of radical Islam, it is hardly the case that Saudi charitable organizations are under the same degree of government control that the Soviet Union exercised over its pet peace movements, as the author contends. There are many extremely rich Saudis who feel a religious obligation to fund Islamic causes and, while they certainly listen to government guidance, they are acting independently and out of conviction--which was hardly the way that Soviet peace groups worked.

Another problem: Murawiec gets carried away in places, undermining the credibility of his account. It is quite a stretch to say that Saudi Arabia "has modernized nothing." Besides the vast improvement in material living standards, the kingdom has extended education to women and has built a media empire, ignoring objections by obscurantists. And Princes of Darkness suffers from peculiar organization. After 145 pages about contemporary Saudi support for terror groups, we are suddenly transported back 200 years for a history lesson lasting eighty pages. Both the earlier part on support for terror and the later part on history also contain within them abrupt jumps from one topic to another.

After the publicity coup from his Rand firing, Murawiec would have been the logical person to write a definitive book about Saudi connections to terrorism. Sadly, this is not that book.

A Possible Scenario from the Author's 2002 Premise.......2007-05-04

Mr. Murawiec's defense-department briefing on Saudi Arabia in 2002 helped inform the premise of a newly released novel set in this influentional, Middle Eastern Kingdom: "Saudi Match Point". The book examines in one of its plotlines what might happen if the U.S. were to seize Saudi oil fields.

The novel is available at www.blacksmithbooks.com for ten dollars, which includes the cost of international shipping. It's a quick and enjoyable read.

A courageous book.......2006-05-27

"If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it must be a duck" - In a world too much dominated by the force of the petro-dollars, Laurent Murawiec brings us a very courageous and straight-forward reminder about the difference between democracy and totalitarism. Ethics in World politics may be seen as naive, but the history (Munich agreements) also shows us differently.
This book is a warning to all Democracy's lovers. A must to all students of Politics and International Relations. It is also the reflection of our dirty collaboration with a powerful enemy, hopefully soon neutralised by the scientific advance in the field of alternative energies.

A convincing rant.......2006-04-05

The author lays out a great deal of densely-detailed information about the intertwining of extreme fundamentalist Islam, Saudi royal culture and arrogance, oil, politics, and influence-buying. He makes an effective, infuriating case for the incestuous relationship the House of Saud has with leaders -- male leaders -- of US government and corporations. Murawiec convincingly points out how badly that is going to bite us in our vulnerable national rump very soon, and that leading politicians from both parties have no investment in doing anything about the looming mess. (They have invested elsewhere, using money generously donated by the Sauds.)

It is not 'balanced' or 'even-handed,' but frankly, I haven't seen a single book about Saudi-US relations, or Saudi royal leadership, which has anything positive to say. There may just be a very good reason for that. (After I read this I happened to pick up Jean Sasson's "Princess" about the appallingly restrictive lifestyle of even royal Saudi women -- hard to imagine two more different books with the same essential message and impact: at times both had me so angry I was nauseous.

The style is choppy and occasionally hard to follow, probably due to the translation from French. I also got the feeling he had to work to make the book a little broader than his usual think-tank analysis, and as a result he has an odd mix of solid sources and rather lighter-weight sources. Bottom line, definitely worth reading.

A Factual, if passionately biased, analysis of Saudi Arabia.......2006-02-20

Mr. Murawiec's book is a detailed account of Saudi practices and policies. He names names; provides dates; and gives a blow by blow analysis of why the House of Saud, the ruling oligarchy of Saudi Arabia is an avowed enemy of the West and of the United States of America.
One can sense the frustration that Mr.Murawiec feels at the duplicity and outright evil machinations of the Saudis. This often comes out in a rather sneering tone in this book, which undermines the passionately real data that he gives over. It is one thing to castigate the al-Saud regime for financing and manipulating the terrorism of radical Islam all over the world, it is another thing to add the figurative "And I spit on you," that Mr. Murawiec often implies.
Nonetheless, this book is a complete and detailed list of the House of Saud's damning sins and manipulations. I would suggest that these other equally resourceful books should accompany any reader's analysis of Saudi Arabian history; goals; and political policies:
Hatred's Kingdom : How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism - by Dore Gold
The Age of Sacred Terror : Radical Islam's War Against America - by Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon
And (really - it's a decent, factual book that pulls no punches yet does not villify Saudi Arabia),
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Saudi Arabia by Colin Wells

Customer Reviews:

Concise reference book and quick introduction to moon gazing.......1998-07-18

The Moon Book explains the basics of the moon's orbit, why the phases progress as they do, eclipses, tides, tips and techniques for photographing the moon, and so forth, with lots of clear diagrams and pictures, including a lunar gazeteer. There are so many diagrams that the short 128 pages makes for a rather quick read. It is not a historical book, but rather a quick overview, tutorial, and reference. A few pages are devoted to historical moon watching and various cultural moon calendars. Someone looking for a detailed scientific text, an in-depth history, or a book about moon lore should look elsewhere.

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