Philip the bold: The formation of the Burgundian state (Longman paperback)

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Important Work Available Again At Last!

Philip the bold: The formation of the Burgundian state (Longman paperback)
Richard Vaughan
Manufacturer: Longman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | France | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
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John the Fearless: The Growth of Burgundian Power (History of Valois Burgundy)

Philip the Good: The Apogee of Burgundy (History of Valois Burgundy)

Charles the Bold: The Last Valois Duke of Burgundy (History of Valois Burgundy)

The Valois: Kings of France 1328-1589

The Promised Lands: The Low Countries Under Burgundian Rule, 1369-1530 (The Middle Ages Series)

ASIN: 0582490480

Book Description

Boydell & Brewer does a major service by the simultaneous reissue of Richard Vaughan's studies of the Valois Dukes of Burgundy. Four distinguished scholars add extra value by contributing an introductory chapter for each ducal reign, surveying its historiography since the original publication... The story, which Vaughan tells with verve, has its full share of dramatic turns(:) this is much more, though, than simply a narrative history; Vaughan's meticulous explorations of the administrative and financial structures that underpinned ducal authority, and of the court and its culture, are integral to his exposition (...) His achievement remains monumental. There are no comparable, modern, in-depth studies of these four larger-than-life players on the late medieval European stage, in English or in any other language. They are, besides, eminently readable. Maurice Keen, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENTWhen in 1363 the duke of Burgundy died without an heir, the duchy returned to the French crown. John II's decision to give it to his fourth son, Philip, had some logic behind it, given the independence of the inhabitants; but in so doing he created the basis for a power which was to threaten France's own existence in the following century, and which was to become one of the most influential and glittering courts of Europe. Much of this was due to the character of Philip the Bold; by marrying the daughter of the count of Flanders, he inherited the wealth of the great Flemish towns in 1384, and the union of the two great fiefdoms to the north and east of France under one ruler meant that the resources of the duke of Burgundy were as great as those of the kingdom itself. From 1392 onwards, he was at loggerheads with the regent of France, his brother Louis, duke of Orleans, and this schism was to prove fatal to the kingdom, weakening the administration and leading to the French defeat by Henry V in 1415. Richard Vaughan describes the process by which Philip fashioned this new power, in particular his administrative techniques; but he also gives due weight to the splendours of the new court, in the sphere of the arts, and records the history of its one disastrous failure, the crusade of Nicopolis in 1396. He also offers a portrait of Philip himself, energetic, ambitious and shrewd, the driving force behind the new duchy and its rapid rise to an influential place among the courts of Europe.

Customer Reviews:

Important Work Available Again At Last!.......2002-12-17

Vaughan's series of books on Valois Burgundy have long been a staple for anyone interested Burgundian history and culture. After a long stretch of being out of print, and very difficult to find, these new editions are sure to be welcomed by many historians. Added to Vaughan's work is a fantastic new introduction written for the 2002 edition by Malcolm Vale (another historian I would readily recommend).
While these works may be older, and more recent work has been done on Burgundy, Vaughan's scholarship is still first-rate. A must for the bookshelf of anyone interested in Valois Burgundy, or Northern Europe in the late 14th and 15th centuries.

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Clears up a lot of deceptions and misconceptions about Primo.......1999-09-07

Mullally's book is an easy read for any fan of the sweet science. He unveils the shroud of mystery behind one of the lesser known but celebrated heavyweight champions of the world. From his early days as an unknowing puppet fighter for the mob and reluctant symbol for Italian fascism the author drives across Primo's naivete and humanity. I liked it because it clears up a lot of deceptions and misconceptions about a mediocre fighter with a gigantic personality.

Book Description

This comprehensive examination of the film-editor's craft traces the development of editing from the primitive forms of early cinema through the upheavals caused by the advent of sound. Don Fairservice explores the challenges to convention that began in the 1960s and which continue to the present day. New digital technologies and the dominance of the moving image have produced a radical rewriting of the rules of audio-visual address. This detailed study outlines a fascinating history, and presents the "how's" and "why's" of film editing, and its complexities in our modern age.

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Music of three more seasons, 1977-1980
Andrew Porter
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0394518136

Customer Reviews:

Great book.......1999-07-12

A must have if you wish to create your own wargames, whether computer or paper-based. Used in conjunction with his other work, you have a very good basis for generating the necessary rules and unit values for modern warfare...

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a book to be actively used, not just read

Excellent book with practical, applicable methodology

Good Starting Point for Learning about Odds-Making and PI

A Book for Serious Study

A must read

Make Your Own Luck : 12 Practical Steps to Taking Smarter Risks in Business
Eileen Shapiro , and Howard Stevenson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Just Enough: Tools for Creating Success in Your Work and Life

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Think Big, Act Small : How America's Best Performing Companies Keep the Start-up Spirit Alive

ASIN: B000EPFVBY

Book Description

Humans are gambling animals—and not just when we invest in the stock market. Every time we take an action—deciding which job applicant to hire, which product to launch— we are betting our time, reputation, effort, and money in the hope of achieving some future result.

Some people base their business bets on dumb luck, but the great ones—like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Oprah Winfrey—make their own luck.

Eileen C. Shapiro and Howard H. Stevenson have compressed the complex skills of making your own luck—which they call predictive intelligence—into twelve easy and practical steps. These steps will get you the results you want with the least risk and the most upside. They will help you take smarter risks without the “analysis paralysis” that gets so many people and companies in trouble.

Most books about strategy are dull and loaded with jargon. Make Your Own Luck is full of jokes, brain teasers, anecdotes, and unexpected case studies from the Battle of Antietam to the diaper war between Huggies and Pampers. It teaches readers how to build their ability to bet smart and how to use this ability to win in business and in other areas of life.

Customer Reviews:

a book to be actively used, not just read.......2007-08-24

As others have noted, it's an easy book to quickly read and underestimate, but it's a very useful book when you actively think it through. I can vouch for its value as I'm about to use it for the second time in my undergrad intro to Entrepreneurship class at Marquette U. Judging from the quality of the plans last time (following the general outline of the appendix) and from their comments, they really have managed to develop personally meaningful, realistic and actionable plans. The first clue I had that the book has this quality was when I noticed that my wife, who is a busy business lawyer, was spending a lot of care going over it in the evenings, while preparing for a major case. So I'd conclude that it is useful for a range of readers.

Excellent book with practical, applicable methodology.......2006-06-12

Make Your Own Luck is an excellent book, with more pragmatic, useful content than I've found in most business books.

My background is in engineering and science, then business. As an engineer, I really liked that there's a "right answer." Or at least, there are clear wrong answers (the bridge will collapse if we make it out of tissue paper, period). In business, things aren't so easy. Most situations have too many factors to identify, let alone consider deeply. Shareholders interact with managers who interact with technology and customer service people and engineers and operations and ... it's tough to know how to think about all this.

Make Your Own Luck lays out a 12-step process (hmm...) for taking risks. Some of the steps sound simple: Know your big goals before you begin, so when you make bets in your life, you're betting on what you actually want. Sounds obvious? Yeah, but in my own work with executives, I've found that people easily lose sight of their real goals(1). The power from Shapiro and Stevenson's approach comes from having a rigorous checklist to consider when making risky bets.

Some of their tools help evaluate risks that I've never known how to tackle. For example, the authors give us "prediction maps," a tool for identifying low-risk, high-reward opportunities. Simple, elegant, and practically useful. Their other big new tool is "uncertainty grids." Uncertainty grids let you quickly test your plans against combinations of uncertainties to realize whether you've unconsciously anchored yourself to a single scenario, or whether your plans can survive multiple uncertain events.

Behind the tools, they slip in some subtle thinking shifts that are worth pondering in detail. In a paragraph or two, they dismiss "high rewards require high risks" and claim you don't need high risk to get high rewards. Maybe in their world, but that's not how I think. Yet I've also heard Warren Buffett say something similar, so I'm changing my beliefs around risk/reward. That said, it would have been nice if they had pulled out some of their mindset shifts and devoted more time to helping me-as-reader explore what amount to big changes in worldview.

The writing style is fun, with thought experiments between the chapters, a final chapter of scenarios to analyze using the 12 steps, and haiku or other verse at the start of each chapter. I found it a pleasant change from the overly heavy style of most substantive business books, and it was an easy read cover-to-cover that did justice to its excellent content.

I heartily recommend the book. Go check it out!

- Stever

(1) Being a professional, of course, I never, ever lose sight of my own goals. Really.

Good Starting Point for Learning about Odds-Making and PI.......2006-03-22

This book has a lot of potential because it covers the hot topic of how to use "predictive intelligence" (PI) to make business or personal decisions. Unfortunately, the execution falters, since both the book and the topic exist at two levels: dry material vs. attempts to explain it. Presentations about probability are inherently dry, so to liven up their discussion, authors Eileen C. Shapiro and Howard H. Stevenson use real-world examples and creative images. However, in the end, their lively metaphors dilute their information delivery. Readers will rightfully wonder what "wallpaper jujitsu," "magic thinking," "strategic rat hole zone," "bolt-on bets" and the "OOPA! Process" are all about, and the authors don't always fully explain these intriguing-sounding devices. Teaching PI is challenging, but breaking it down into a dozen components doesn't help as much as the authors might have hoped. While we find that the book presents a clear process, interesting anecdotes and good analogies, it also ends with a series of quizzes that have more than one right answer - leaving you both puzzled and intrigued. However, those are pretty good starting points for learning about odds-making and PI.

A Book for Serious Study.......2005-07-17

Although in previous reviews, the word "easy" is used, the value of this book is found by taking the time to give it serious study. "Make Your Own Luck" is not a simple read with slap-your-head insight at the end of each chapter. Rather, it provides a step-by-step methodology that, if you understand and follow it, increases the odds of your success.

Even though I'm a highly productive person, prior to buying this book, my thoughts and actions related to a business plan were scattered and unproductive. Based on my anxiety, I instantly understood the value of "The Gambler's Dozen Predictive Map." This technique shows how to match goals (bets) against probability (the unknown), a process so clarifying that it inspired me to created a software application so I could easily use this technique on a wide-range of issues.

I just finished studying the concept of "risk splits." After mastering the Predictive Map, it still took a few hours to wrap my mind around what the authors were describing; not because they are unclear, but because I've never before cast my thoughts using the patterns that they suggest. What I learned is that the hardest thing about making winning business decisions is understanding the impact of the future. By employing "risk splits," I can now look back from the future to analyze today, which is a major shift in my thinking process.

I'm starting to define my "It," a task of concisely describing my business that I've put off for the past year. As I'm a writer and a programmer, describing objectives is easy for me. In this case, however, I've come to realize that the uncontrollable elements revealed in my Predictive Map increased my anxiety and scrambled my brain. In other words, without employing "magic thinking" (more commonly called "BS"), I didn't know enough about my own project to make a meaningful statement, or properly invest my time and money (called "marbles" in Luck-speak) to make it come to life.

A must read.......2005-07-14

This book is a must read for anyone who is serious about improving the odds that their actions will produce the intended results.

The book has at least four things going for it:
* The authors' deep, relevant experience in business, business theory and real-world decision making.
* A practical, straightforward approach to acting in the face of uncertainty -- based on the sequential application of 12 skills and processes that, taken together, should improve anyone's "predictive intelligence."
* Stories -- lots of engaging, memorable stories that bring the process to life.
* Interactive elements that allow you to test your understanding of the material.

For me, Make Your Own Luck has been more than just another good business book. As the CEO of a start-up business, I and my associates face more than our share of uncertainty. And, given our limited resources, the consequences of bad bets can be particularly unwelcome.

We faced just such a situation a month ago when an important part of our business was underperforming. So, we turned to Make Your Own Luck and quickly realized that the source of our problems laid in steps 5 and 6 of the Gambler's Dozen, where we had relied on too much "magic" while failing to deal with an "elephant in the living room" (read the book and you will understand). Fortunately, we had a Plan B (also covered in step 6) and we are back on track.

The book's advice was direct and effective - almost as though we had Shapiro and Stevenson on our Board asking tough questions and offering possible solutions. Like I said, it is a must read.

Book Description

The Dead Mother brings together essays in honor of André Green to explore the theme of his famous paper of the same title. The concept of the "dead mother" refers to the child's process of mourning following maternal depression, when the child experiences the loss of love. Distinguished contributors from a range of fields reflect on this concept and how it contributes to other psychic syndromes. The book also includes an interview with André Green in which he talks about his life and work.

Customer Reviews:

The Dead Mother redux.......2007-03-13

Have you ever had the feeling that somehere in your home you still had an an unfinished cup of coffee ? It is present as an absence. I used to get that feeling so often after certain patients had left. They were not psychotic. Still, I could not shake off that same unfinished coffee somewhere .Perplexing when you have just seen a verbal and pleasant and sometimes very highly functioning patient.
The Dead Mother is so often behind those veils, and mirrors, and somehow empty cheer.
Thanks to this book, I no longer just FEEL the dead emptiness behind this silent fault in the earth around a patiently waiting human being. Like an experienced geologist "feels" the basic fault in the rock, I now consider
the presence of this absence in a life.I never knew what I was still trying to make up for in a seemingly "healed" and now functioning patient who is always there, like those last drops in that lost cup.
This was one of the most important and one of the most useful books I have read for my work. All clinicians should read this because I do not believe there are many who recognise the possibility of a sometime dead mother who is still alive, or a dead idealised mother who was perhaps dead when she was "alive". Or perhaps they do, but like me, it didn't click in. This is going to be endlessly fascinating for work. How I wish everyone could read it before they complacently close a file.

Amazon.com

Rachel Carson was working as a biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service when, in 1962, she published Silent Spring, a reasoned indictment of the chemical industry and the poisoning of the environment. "Her ground-breaking treatise and literary triumph came at a high personal cost," veteran environmental journalist Todd Wilkinson writes. The chemical companies immediately sought to discredit Carson's science and to have her removed from government service, and they made her life difficult for years to come. Much the same has happened to other whistle blowers, men and women in government service who have called attention to the sometimes illegal, often unethical actions of federal agencies that have, for instance, granted special favors to mining, ranching, and logging companies instead of protecting the public lands under their charge. Wilkinson offers several case studies, closing with recommended strategies for whistle blowers to avoid official reprisal. --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

Putting their careers and livelihoods on the line, the eight government scientists chronicled in "Science Under Siege" stood up against corporate greed and political corruption—and paid the price. When natural science, driven by a thirst for truth, collides with political science, driven by a hunger for wealth and power, the struggle is for our air, our water, and our land.

Customer Reviews:

A must read for everyone on the Planet..........2000-08-20

Scientists, working for the US Government, are assigned a task regarding an endangered species or an endangered habitat. They report their finding honestly, and make recommendations based on their data. The private industry hears about these reports and the recommendations are not welcome: private logging companies, who use roads built with US tax dollars, don't want to hear about how their logging activities are driving the bull trout to extinction. The all-terrain vehicle industries don't want to hear about how ORV enthusiasts are tearing up desert lands, driving the desert tortoise to extinction. In spite of literally hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific articles published in main stream journals, the private industry claims the data gathered by the US Government scientists are weak at best, and do not prove anything. Politicians, who received huge campaign contributions from private industry, hear complaints from the loggers, ORV enthusiasts, and so forth, and start a cycle that will destroy the biologist that was only doing his or her job. They attempt to silence the scientist by reassigning them to a desk job, or cut the funding for their research back enough to cripple the entire research process.

The book angered me. I felt so helpless in the sea of bureaucracy that is allowing the last of our natural lands to being 'sold down the river' to special interest. The deserts are 'meant' to be play boxes for ORVs, the forests are 'meant' to be clear cut and sold to Japan, the caves are 'meant' to be exploited by mineral and oil companies. It's such a shame that these mindsets exist, at the expense of the environment. Scientists are trying to figure out what the actions of humankind are doing to the environment, but the forces that be do everything in their power to put a stop to it. Science is indeed, under attack by the status quo and our political state. This book documents the rape of Mother Earth for quick, Capitalistic gain. With philosophies like 'Manifest Destiny' and Capitalism, we are sure to eventually suffer the fate of extinction like so many hundreds of other plants and animals we made march down that dreary road. We actually believe that we are 100% separated from nature, and we rationalize why we should even allow species to exist that don't have utilitarian 'value'. Those that simply don't understand often say 'Why keep the kit fox [or any of the other endangered species] around, they are worthless animals'. We are cutting the threads of a complex web, several species at a time. Sure, the web can stand some change and does adjust, but too much change will bring the web down in the form of environmental catastrophe.

Before you toss that beer can out the car window, or pour that motor oil down the drain, please consider your actions. There is absolutely no guesswork here; we are cutting our own throats every time we do something along these lines that we naively consider insignificant. And, on the other side of the coin, huge activities like clear-cutting, are obviously detrimental to the environment; just look at the fish and the frogs, they are telling us what's happening loud and clear. They are the ones are actually speaking for Mother Earth. One day, humankind may actually listen to them.

A facade of protection for the truth.......2000-08-16

As a current employee of the department of defense, I read in absolute amazement these eight cases from other federal agencies. I thought DOD could be restrictive: Now I know they are amatuers compared with BLM, DWF, NPS, and USFS ... This book (and hopefully more like them) need a wider audience ... If a majority of taxpayers only understood the money these bureaucrats waste in the name of some illogical political or management decision, maybe some true meaningful change would occur ... As a postscript, it was surreal watching President Clinton claim last night during his Demoractic convention speech how much he, his party, and Al Gore have done for the environment ... If the current administration, with Bruce Babbit as their enforcer, has helped the environment, then George W. is an environmentalist ...

You Could Call This Book A Thriller in The Election Year.......2000-04-23

My boss gave me this book after seeing it mentioned on the Los Angeles Times paperback-best-seller-list. Relaxing its not. Intense yes but I can't put it down. You wonder why the government has problems with how its supposed to look after our environment. Read Science Under Siege.

Hard hitting.......2000-04-13

There has been much made about Gloria Flora, the Humboldt Toiyabe forest supervisor in Nevada. Gloria quit her job in disgust over the way Forest Service employees are treated. People in Elko said Gloria was exaggerating the truth. This book proves otherwise. It gives example after example of public employees going through living hell to protect the environment. TWO THUMBS UP

A wake up call.......2000-02-11

This book will shock you and make you mad; it did me. Todd Wilkinson has written a powerful manifesto about whistleblowers. It changed the way I think about government and the people trying to protect our environment

Science Under Siege: The Politicians' War on Nature and Truth.

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Science Under Siege: The Politicians' War on Nature and Truth.
Todd Wilkinson
Manufacturer: Publisher Unknown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UXZ24G

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Science Under Siege: The Politicians' War on Nature and Truth.
Todd Wilkinson
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000M4M4Y4

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Science Under Siege: The Politicians' War on Nature and Truth.

Manufacturer: 0
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ICFNQ6

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Battles Over Nature: Science and the Politics of Conversation
Vasant K. Saberwal , and Mahesh Rangarajan
Manufacturer: South Asia Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 8178241412

Book Description

In this book, biologists, sociologists, historians and activists come together to search our solutions to the key problems of contemporary conversation practices. Much of the world's wildlife and biological diversity is located in less developed countries where there is intense competition for resources between people and wildlife. Focusing on India, but also exploring comparable situations in Africa, this book makes the case for a better exploration of this middle ground, and argues for the need to involve not just urban enthusiasts, scientists and foresters but also the villager. Contributors debate the exlclusionary aspects of Indian conservation even as they urge the need to look past romantic notion of egalitarian village republics that will cherish their forests.

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