Invisible Nutcracker Magic Picture Book (Dover Little Activity Books)

Book Description

Solve 16 mini mysteries related to the popular holiday ballet and find out who brought Clara a special present, who was dancing with Columbine, who battled the Nutcracker Prince, and more.

Book Description

The rapid evolution of digital photography and the ease of distribution over the Internet has transformed the photo industry. Everything from marketing and sales to competitive pricing and job security has been affected. And now that the flood gates have come down, everyone from semi-pros to amateurs to the common consumer affects how business is done, whether it's pricing, assignments, or just getting your photos seen by potential buyers. In a market once dominated by agencies and seasoned professionals, succeeding in today's industry demands a fresh new approach. For those who are just starting out or those who are established photographers trying to compete more effectively in a changing market, Dan Heller's book Profitable Photography in the Digital Age provides a new and progressive approach to understanding and succeeding in the photography business in today's market. It will help established photographers find new strategies for diversifying revenue streams and adding nontraditional sources of income. For serious amateurs, this book explores realistic perspectives on what to expect and how to gauge their aptitudes for making it in this highly competitive arena. Profitable Photography in the Digital Age shows how photography is more accessible than ever to the average person, even though making money with photography can be more challenging. It also offers new ways of teaching (and learning) the basics of the photo industry apart from just making an impressive portfolio or reaching the right art director. It outlines some of the available paths to success, examines the methods available and provides the analysis on which methods achieve the desired results. While there is heavy competition, many new opportunities have opened up and more buyers are entering the field. "The digital era isn't just about making great websites or being great at photoshop," says Heller. "One must be able to work within that and many other mediums to broaden one's reach and market segments. What's more," he says, "the buyer's perception of images and the culture of the business has also taken an abrupt turn that isn't as accommodating to the traditional models as it once was." By following Heller's strategies and integrating the concepts presented in Profitable Photography in the Digital Age, anyone who wants to have a career in the photo industry will have the tools he or she needs to succeed.

Customer Reviews:

A good dose of reality.......2007-08-12

The best book on the Photography business to date. It may be hard for some to swallow, but sometimes when you are forced to look in the mirror and evaluate the decisions you have made in your life and career, it's easy to criticize the one forcing you to do so. Dan has written a book that should be a classic for anyone even thinking about making money from photography at any level, be it just an amateur wanting to make a few bucks to support his equipment habit, or the serious photography looking to make a true career in the business. A must read for the new and the seasoned.

Profitable Photography is tough to get through.......2007-07-18

While this book was intended to be directed to photographers, I feel it is firstly just another sales book. The jargon and hairsplitting discussion on career direction and the importance of branding your product had a few nuggets of helpful information, nonetheless finding a way to apply it to my needs was a stretch.

yet another chatty "how to" book.......2007-03-18

I was all excited after reading about him on-line and I had the impression this would truly be an insightful book. Well, he talks a lot, most of it common sense. I'm pretty disappointed by it.

Just the Facts........2007-01-12

It's what you need to know. The good, the bad, and the ugly truths about the photography business. If you only want to buy one book on this topic, this is it.

Very well written book.......2007-01-12

I thoughly enjoyed reading this book. It has very up to date info about the internet. I also thought he covered many topics like business types, stock agencies, and webpages better than other books I have read. Highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to go into stock photography business. This book mainly deals with stock photography business, not other types of businesses.

Laughing Gas: The Best of Maxine
Average customer rating:

there's Maxine, and then there's MAXINE

"Garfield" was also a US President

confusion with "Maxine" titles!!!

THERE ARE TWO "MAXINES"! Be careful when ordering!

A true slice of reality in a comic strip world...

Laughing Gas: The Best of Maxine
Marian Henley
Manufacturer: Republic of Texas
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Similar Items:

Maxine Yelling It Like It Is: A Fine Whine with the Queen of Attitude

All Stressed up Maxine's Thoughts on Life's Little Irritations

ASIN: 1556229321

Book Description

Here is a collection of Marian Henley's Maxine!, a weekly comic strip in syndication since 1981.

Customer Reviews:

there's Maxine, and then there's MAXINE.......2007-05-30

The brilliance and wit of Marian Henley's MAXINE comic strip has entertained and enlightened me for years. For Amazon to recommend the always insightful episodes of this feisty heroine alongside John Wagner's snippy, crotchety cartoon character with the same name is absurd! Such a marketing blunder serves no one and merely creates confusion in the minds of the unaware which is no laughing matter.

"Garfield" was also a US President.......2007-04-20

I've loved Marian Henley's "Maxine" comic strip for over 20 years. Her expressiveness with an economy of lines is as astounding as her insight into the human condition, and far too expansive to put on a mug or calendar. The other Maxine, which I had never heard of, was created 5 years after Ms Henley's. That Ms Henley could "rip-off" the subsequent creation must indicate that she is a Mistress of time as well as space. Unfavorably rating a book because it was grouped with a book with a similar subject makes as much sense as voting for a fat tabby for President and hoping for the best. On second thought... :--)

confusion with "Maxine" titles!!!.......2007-03-14

Be careful what you buy here. Amazon will present anything of like material to you including 'Maxine's. this book is not the craby Maxine you see on calendars. is it any good. who cares, its a rip-off.

THERE ARE TWO "MAXINES"! Be careful when ordering!.......2005-12-15

There are two "Maxine" comic characters. One a young woman, one a grouchy but funny older woman.

Two entirely different characters, drawn by two different artists.

Amazon is really confusing things by lumping them together like this.
Be sure you are ordering the "Maxine" you think you are ordering!

A true slice of reality in a comic strip world..........2003-01-30

I've enjoyed the Maxine comic strip for years. In fact it's about the only one I read. And Maxine is so much more than just a comic strip. It's real, it's funny, it's insightful, it's human. It's reality described through comic strip characters, from a woman's point of view of course. So what a pleasant surprise to find the best of Maxine all bound up for me to enjoy while laughing myself into a frenzy. Ah, good times...

Book Description

In the land of beer, cheese, and muskies—where the polka is danced and winter is unending and where Lutherans and Catholics predominate—everybody is ethnic, the politics are clean, and the humor is plentiful. This collection includes jokes, humorous anecdotes, and tall tales from ethnic groups (Woodland Indians, French, Cornish, Germans, Irish, Scandinavians, Finns, and Poles) and working folk (loggers, miners, farmers, townsfolk, hunters, and fishers). Dig into the rich cultural context supplied by the notes and photographs, or just laugh at the hundreds of jokes gathered at small-town cafes, farm tables, job sites, and church suppers. This second edition includes an afterword and indexes of motifs and tale types.

Book Description

Critical articles—most of them written by Third World writers—on leading figures and national & regional cinemas. Includes analyses of important individual films, political/aesthetic manifestoes, and interviews with African, Chinese, Indian, Turkish, Iranian, Arab, Filipino, Cuban, and Latin American directors.

Nazi Cinema as Enchantment: The Politics of Entertainment in the Third Reich (Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture)

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Nazi Cinema as Enchantment: The Politics of Entertainment in the Third Reich (Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture)
Mary-Elizabeth O'Brien
Manufacturer: Camden House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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Expressionist Film -- New Perspectives (Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture) (Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture) (Studies ... German Literature Linguistics and Culture)
The Jewish Enemy: Nazi Propaganda during World War II and the Holocaust
Studying the Jew: Scholarly Antisemitism in Nazi Germany

ASIN: 1571133348

Book Description

Hitler's regime not only terrorized its citizens; it also seduced them, offering stability, a traditional value system, a sense of belonging, and hope of a better standard of living. Nazi cinema was part of this seduction, expressing positive social fantasies and promoting the enchantment of reality, so that one would want to share in the dream at any price. This interdisciplinary study, based on exhaustive research in German archives, examines how thirteen films from five genres -- the historical musical, the foreign adventure film, the home-front film, the melodrama, and the problem film -- enchanted audiences and enacted shared stories that can tell us much about how family, community, history, the nation, and the war were imagined in Nazi Germany. MARY-ELIZABETH O'BRIEN is associate professor of German at Skidmore College.

Average customer rating:

Film and Politics in the Third World

Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0030698847

Customer Reviews:

Pretty Good, but Could Have Been Better.......2005-01-25

[This review refers to the paperback version of the book. I have not seen a hardback edition.]

I happened upon this Dictionary of Music, picked it up, found it interesting and decided to read it--or at least large parts of it--because the Facts on File series is an important one and in my experience pretty reliable. Christine Ammer, a lexicographer who has written several references books bearing on music, has been editor of the Harvard Dictionary of Music, a pretty definitive reference book, and I assumed she would write a good reference book here; also, as this is the 4th Edition, I figured errors would have been weeded out. But frankly it was fairly easy to find some small errors of fact, spelling, editing etc. For instance, she says Barber's 'Knoxville: Summer of 1915' is a song cycle; it isn't. She consistently misspelled Harrison Birtwistle's name (she spells it, as so many do, 'Birtwhistle'). She says 'malagueña' is pronounced 'mä lä gwe'nya'. Nope, that -gu- is pronounced simply as a hard -g-, not a -gw-. And so on. But she also has an ability to come up with apt descriptions, as when she describes 'bariolage,' that violin technique of alternating a tone between a stopped string and an open string, as having an effect similar to that of a jazz trumpeter's wah-wah mute. I really smiled at that one.

The dictionary covers a broad area and includes fairly long articles on some subjects (examples: organ, double bass, Prokofiev, fugue) and many obscure terms (examples: mancando, inciso, Child ballad, sequencer) in all fields of music, classic, folk and popular. The language used in definitions is easily understood and where there is any doubt about the meaning of a word used in a definition or article, it is briefly defined. There is an appended list of musical instruments and composers, and there are many easy-to-interpret line-drawing illustrations.

This is a dictionary that would be handy for readers who are not terribly knowledgable about music, but who do know something about the basics. The ability to read simple musical notation is probably necessary.

All said, the minor errors are not fatal to the usefulness of this book. Still, there are probably better and more complete musical dictionaries, including Baker's Dictionary and those from Harvard and Oxford. But they are much more expensive, even in their paperback editions.

Scott Morrison

The New York Times Lazy Weekend Crossword Puzzle Omnibus: 200 Easy, Breezy Puzzles
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The New York Times Lazy Weekend Crossword Puzzle Omnibus: 200 Easy, Breezy Puzzles
The New York Times
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Crosswords | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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The New York Times Crosswords for a Weekend Getaway: 200 Easy, Breezy Puzzles

The New York Times Crosswords for a Lazy Afternoon: 200 Easy, Breezy Puzzles

The New York Times Easy Crossword Puzzle Omnibus Volume 5: 200 Solvable Puzzles from the Pages of The New York Times (New York Times Easy Crossword Puzzle Omnibus)

The New York Times Easy Crossword Puzzle Omnibus Volume 3: 200 Solvable Puzzles from the Pages of The New York Times (New York Times Easy Crossword Puzzle Omnibus)

The New York Times Easy Crossword Puzzle Omnibus Vol. 1: 200 Solvable Puzzles from the Pages of The New York Times

ASIN: 0312342470
Release Date: 2005-05-19

Book Description

Another big book of New York Times crossword fun, featuring 200 light and easy puzzles As the long, lazy afternoons of summer beckon, this giant volume of 200 great, easy New York Times puzzles will provide lots of solving power for fans to enjoy in their hammock, on their patio, or curled up indoors. The first relaxing, giant collection of 200 puzzles, The New York Times Crosswords for a Lazy Afternoon, proved to be a big hit with solvers, and this second volume will do so as well. Features include: -Big omnibus with hundreds of hours of solving fun -Easy puzzles- the most popular difficulty level -Edited by the #1 man in American crosswords, Will Shortz.

Vault Guide to Advanced Finance & Quantitative Interviews
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Embarrassing

Errata

Potentially Good But Spoiled by Errors

maybe good for MBA

Everything you learned in your MBA but forgot!

Vault Guide to Advanced Finance & Quantitative Interviews
Jennifer Voitle
Manufacturer: Vault, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Guides | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Business Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Look Inside Reference Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Heard on the Street: Quantitative Questions from Wall Street Job Interviews

Vault Guide to Finance Interviews, 6th Edition (Vault Guide to Finance Interviews)

Vault Finance Interviews Practice Guide

Vault Career Guide to Sales & Trading (Vault Career Library)

Vault Career Guide to Investment Banking, 5th Edition (Vault Career Guide to Investment Banking)

ASIN: 1581311729

Book Description

Professional career guide from the Vault Career Library covering bond fundamentals, statistics, derivatives (with detailed Black-Scholes calculations, fixed income securities, equity markets, currency and commodity markets, risk management.

Customer Reviews:

Embarrassing.......2006-01-22

I am not quite sure who is supposed to read this book. I am about to finish my M.Sc (Industrial management and engineering) and almost everything (98%) in this book was known to me.

Regarding all the errors, I stopped marking them at about the 20th page. It is really terrible how there can be so many factual errors in one book (by far the worst book I have seen at least). E.g. the part on CAPM where it says that beta must be a nonnegative number.

Please do not buy this book, at least not until the second edition has come out!

Errata.......2005-12-09

Hi, thanks for all of the comments. I was not aware that there were many typographical errors and I will go through the book very carefully over the next month so that hopefully soon (Jan 15, 2006 is my target) there will be an errata sheet posted on my website, treasuryfinance.com. Plus, I hope to add some spreadsheets used in the book and even a few new questions. Thanks again. (Sorry, I was forced to add a rating or I would not have been allowed to submit this).

Potentially Good But Spoiled by Errors.......2004-08-31

Considering the academic qualifications of the author, I expected more from this book. I have a finance degree from the top undergrad business program and bought this book to review some topics for an interview. There are some places where the author's explanation takes a leap that is simply hard to follow. In some example problems she works out, there are major errors as the math gets worked out, which ruin the lesson. Because this book is an overview of important finance topics, each example problem is that much more important to the learning value. The errors make it hard to put faith in this book. Hopefully these errors get corrected in future versions, as I feel this book has the potential to be a very good tool.

maybe good for MBA.......2003-11-28

The book might be good for someone with MBA as a general review but definitelly not for someone preparing for quant job/interview.

For that purpose "Heard on the Street: Quantitative Questions from Wall Street Job Interviews" is at least 100 times better.

Everything you learned in your MBA but forgot!.......2003-07-18

This book is a great review for anyone who has taken finance courses yet may not have retained as much as they would like. I picked up this book after graduating from an MBA program, and found myself saying, "oh yeah, I forgot about that" on many occasions. Overall, it's a keeper that has earned a spot on my professional bookshelf.

Book Description

On a foggy July evening in 1956, the Italian cruise liner Andrea Doria, bound for New York, was struck broadside by another vessel. In eleven hours, she would sink nearly 250 feet to the murky Atlantic Ocean floor. Thanks to a daring rescue operation, only 51 of more than 1,700 people died in the tragedy. But the Andrea Doria is still taking lives.

Considered the Mt. Everest of diving, the Andrea Doria is the ultimate deepwater wreck challenge. Over the years, a small but fanatical group of extreme scuba divers have investigated the Andrea Doria, pushing themselves to the very limits of human endurance to explore her -- and not all have returned. Diver Kevin McMurray takes you inside this elite club with a hard, honest look at those who go deeper, farther, and closer to the edge than others would ever dream.

Deep Descent is the riveting true story of the human spirit overcoming human frailty and of fearsome, mortal risks traded for a hard-core adrenaline rush. Chronicling these adventures in his page-turning narrative and in dozens of dramatic photos, McMurray draws us deeper into the cold heart of the unforgiving sea, giving us a powerful vision of a place to which few will ever have the skills -- or the courage -- to go.

Customer Reviews:

Very good diver's book.......2007-08-23

Kevin McMurray produced an exciting and revealing account of the men and women who dive the Andrea Doria. Its a very good book for people just getting into the sport, because it deals with the pioneers.

Gripping and well-written but was too terse at times.......2007-08-22

This was a great book from two standpoints. As a reader, I appreciated how well-organized the book was. The chapters are not broken down chronologically but rather by weaving important ideas into a coherent story about the history of diving the Doria. McMurray knows exactly how to turn possibly hundreds of hours of interviews into a suspenseful adventure for the reader. As someone who has just started diving, it was a great way to cement some of the lessons taught by my instructors regarding panic under water, narcosis, and equipment malfunctions/hazards. This is also a great book if you want to read about some legendary divers in the 80s and 90s. McMurray paints a detailed and honest picture of the book's characters, allowing the reader to step into their shoes and understand their motivations. Thankfully, he didn't seem to baby the reader when it came to explaining the science behind the risks of diving. As a diver himself, he kept the explanations short and simple for those who are not already familiar with the concepts. The only drawback of the book is McMurray's sometimes sparse recountings. Parts of the book were very matter-of-fact as if it were taken out of a newspaper article when I wished he could provide more detail. However, these parts didn't detract from the overall good quality of the writing.

All in all, a great read for anyone interested in the Andrea Doria, deep wreck diving, or a piece of diving history.

Disappointing.......2007-07-22

I read this book after reading Shadow Divers. Technically, this book cannot even begin to compete. I would not recommend it.

Had to finish, wish it had been longer!.......2007-06-12

I just started diving this year and am reading all I can on this sport. This book was one that I had to finish.I enjoyed it from cover to cover. I know how dangerous scuba can be and this book really pounded that point home. I thought this book was well written and kept me turning the pages.I'm glad it let me know the up to date information on the where and the what, of all the people that were in the main focus of the book. I look forward to reading more of his books.

McMurray "Descent" Series.......2007-03-17

I actually purchased this book after I read McMurray's book on wreck diving the "Empress Of Ireland." I couldn't put that down - what a great book. I'm not a diver, but the reference to the "Empress of Ireland" drew me to it as Clive Cussler's "Night Probe" kicked off with her sinking. I hadn't realized the "Empress" was more deadly than the "Titanic" and, unlike the latter, the "Empress" went down in a mere 14 minutes - REAL bummer! Fascinating reading with the human and political twists that make it more than just an adventure tale; diving such as this puts an entirely different face on what some folks consider a safe sport. Highly recommended, as well as McMurray's other opus, "Dark Descent: Diving and the Deadly Allure of the Empress of Ireland."

Book Description

The legends that die hardest are those of the romantic outlaw, and those of swashbuckling pirates are surely among the most durable. Swift ships, snug inns, treasures buried by torchlight, palm-fringed beaches, fabulous riches, and, most of all, freedom from the mean life of the laboring man are the stuff of this tradition reinforced by many a novel and film.

It is disconcerting to think of such dashing scoundrels as slaves to economic forces, but so they were--as Robert Ritchie demonstrates in this lively history of piracy. He focuses on the shadowy figure of William Kidd, whose career in the late seventeenth century swept him from the Caribbean to New York, to London, to the Indian Ocean before he ended in Newgate prison and on the gallows. Piracy in those days was encouraged by governments that could not afford to maintain a navy in peacetime. Kidd's most famous voyage was sponsored by some of the most powerful men in England, and even though such patronage granted him extraordinary privileges, it tied him to the political fortunes of the mighty Whig leaders. When their influence waned, the opposition seized upon Kidd as a weapon. Previously sympathetic merchants and shipowners did an about-face too and joined the navy in hunting down Kidd and other pirates.

By the early eighteenth century, pirates were on their way to becoming anachronisms. Ritchie's wide-ranging research has probed this shift in the context of actual voyages, sea fights, and adventures ashore. What sort of men became pirates in the first place, and why did they choose such an occupation? What was life like aboard a pirate ship? How many pirates actually became wealthy? How were they governed? What large forces really caused their downfall?

As the saga of the buccaneers unfolds, we see the impact of early modern life: social changes and Anglo-American politics, the English judicial system, colonial empires, rising capitalism, and the maturing bureaucratic state are all interwoven in the story. Best of all, Captain Kidd and the War against the Pirates is an epic of adventure on the high seas and a tale of back-room politics on land that captures the mind and the imagination.

Customer Reviews:

A different view of Captain Kidd. .......2005-04-26

Ritchie does an extremely able job of refocusing the story of Captain Kidd away from being a personal drama. Instead, he builds an image of the world where Kidd was one of many trying their luck at this (then) semi-legal trade. Piracy was the only place left for a sailor who loved the sea but not the navy.

As a reader, it was interesting to see Kidd transformed from the pirate figure of legend into a semi-competent adventurer who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time in British history. Ritchie also provides a fascinating look at the 17th-18th century justice systems.

Ritchie is less of a writer than a historian, unfortunately. There were a number of places at the beginning of the book where I felt lost as to where he was trying to go. However, as another reader notes, this improves later on in the book.

Recommended for readers with a particular interest in pirates.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent.......2003-11-19

A scholarly treatment of the William Kidd case and times. The author switches back and forth between presenting biographical information about Captain Kidd and an evolution of the declining use of privateers and pirates as tools of foreign policy. The writing is smooth and well thought out, providing an entertaining read.

I found the information on the attitudes toward pirates during the late 17th and early 18th centuries interesting and chock full of little know tidbits. The biography of William Kidd was eventful and conforms with what I have read in other sources. The author takes the story from early accounts to Kidd's first appearance in the Caribbean to the arrival in New York and on through the fateful trip that sealed his fate. Ritchie uses the general information on the attitude toward pirates to reinforce the conclusion that Kidd was doomed from the moment he surrendered in New York, and to provide some insight into why Kidd did surrender.

My one complaint revolves around the author's conclusion that Kidd was actually guilty of piracy and should have been convicted. It is not that the author reaches that conclusion, after all the evidence can point to that conclusion, however, I had the feeling from the first page that the author's intent was to prove Kidd guilty. Casting off the guise of impartial historian that early in the book has to raise the question - has the author's attitude spilled over into the data presented? That said, it is important to read multiple views to get a better understanding of the history, and I did find this book to be both entertaining and informative.

For an alternate view of the William Kidd story try The Pirate Hunter by Richard Zacks. P-)

Was William K. a Scapegoat?!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2003-08-09

This is a serious biography for all history buffs. The author has expertly woven world history, specifically British history, and the Golden Age of Piracy's pirates (Blackbeard, Bartholomew Roberts, Anne Bonny, etc.)into the background of William Kidd's life. William Kidd began his illustrious career as an honest trader and ended with the financing of his ship by unscrupulous English businessmen. He began his final journey to the Indian Ocean with one mishap after another and ended it by being arrested for piracy. Did he deliberately comit acts of piracy? Or was he a scapeboat for a business deal gone bad? This is an excellent well-researched and well-written book. I have read many nonfiction historical books, and this is one of the best. It has detailed footnotes and index. I recommend any book about pirates by David Cordingsly and Frank Sherry. My son also read a children's novel that is well-researched, has pirate photos, and nonfiction information. The author is K.J. McWilliams, and the book is The Diary of a Slave Girl, Ruby Jo.

Riveting till the end.......2003-06-15

This book makes you hostage from start to finish Was the captain out on the seas in quest for something other than treasure You Decide Great read

Riveting till the end.......2003-06-15

This book makes you hostage from start to finish Was the captain out on the seas in quest for something other than treasure You Decide Great read

Captain Kidd and the War Against the Pirates

Average customer rating:

Captain Kidd and the War Against the Pirates
C.Robert Ritchie
Manufacturer: Barnes & Noble Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Criminology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0760708401

Book Description

Described both as "the Hobbes of our age" and as "the philosophical godfather of Nazism," Carl Schmitt was a brilliant and controversial political theorist whose doctrine of political leadership and critique of liberal democratic ideals distinguish him as one of the most original contributors to modern political theory.

The Crisis of Parliamentary Democracy offers a powerful criticism of the inconsistencies of representative democracy. First published in 1923, it has often been viewed as an attempt to destroy parliamentarism; in fact, it was Schmitt's attempt to defend the Weimar constitution. The introduction to this new translation places the book in proper historical context and provides a useful guide to several aspects of Weimar political culture.

The Crisis of Parliamentary Democracy is included in the series Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought, edited by Thomas McCarthy.

Customer Reviews:

Liberalism vs. Democracy.......2003-03-12

This book is a must-read for those who are interested in fostering Western democratic-liberal ideals in currently authoritarian regimes. Schmitt challenges the seamless grouping of liberal ideals and democratic ideals, and argues that the principles of liberalism and democracy actually stand in direct contradiction. Schmitt bases this claim on the exclusionary nature--the identification of the "other"--in historical democracies. That is, for instance, the Athenian political body understood itself as specifically non-Spartan, as well as non-female and non-slave. Similarly, South African democracy during apartheid, Israeli democracy today, and US democracy in previous centuries were similarly formed and fostered by the exclusion of the "other". The principles of liberalism on the other hand respect all persons simply as persons, and do not differentiate in law between individuals. Thus liberalism speaks of human rights, rule of law, etc. These important insights are useful as a kind of cautionary tale as the West seeks to promote democracy around the globe. The book provides the conceptual framework for us to understand how democracies such as those in the Balkans in the 90's (or Schmitt's own Weimar Republic) could have produced such strikingly illiberal results.

Average customer rating:

The Crisis of Parliamentary Democracy
Carl Schmitt
Manufacturer: MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J0DRDI

CRISIS OF PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY. Translated by Ellen Kennedy.

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CRISIS OF PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY. Translated by Ellen Kennedy.
Carl. Schmitt
Manufacturer: MIT Press,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VWC140

Parliamentary crisis and how to strengthen democracy

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Parliamentary crisis and how to strengthen democracy
Klaus von Beyme
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007C0LBY

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