Prince or Creole: The Mystery of Louis XVII

Book Description

1905. Though written in popular style, this book is intended as the real verified history and complete biography of the Lost Little King, uncrowned Louis XVII, of France; the thrilling story of a real life, that seems almost unreal enough for a romance. It has been a sad tale of two continents for a century. Sample contents: The Prince is Born; Marie Antoinette Appears for the Last Time in Regal Magnificence; Storming of the Bastille; Wit and Wisdom of the Baby Dauphin. Handsomely illustrated with 25 plates.

Book Description

This is the inside story of how Van Chancellor became Nothi' But A Champion as told by Tom A. Savage the Houston Comets PR Director during their frst two seasons. It chronicles the tremendous emotional rollercoaster of Kim Perrot's losing battle with brain cancer and it's impact on the World Champioship efforts.

Customer Reviews:

Nothin But A Champion.......2000-05-12

This is a very insightful book in describing the challenges, obsticles and long road Van Chancellor has faced in advancing the world of women's professional sports. It is a must read for any WNBA fan and especially those of the Houston Comets.

Amazon.com

The dawn of the computer age has presented something of a problem for Hollywood. Sure, the quiet hum of a large computer bank has been used in movies to convey tension, as sweat breaks out on the faces of the handsome nerds in charge. But the fact is, computers are quiet; they are softly lit and gently curved, emitting a placid internal hum. In short, they are feminine. Macho action is out. In our postindustrial age the days of thrusting pistons, erupting steam, and crunching hardware are gone. In film and cyberpunk fiction, Terminator-type technological icons are in danger of being supplanted by female cyborgs more in tune with these cyberfemme times. Claudia Springer, a professor of English and film studies at Rhode Island College, examines the cultural implications of this transformation.

Book Description

The love affair between humans and the machines that have made us faster and more powerful has expanded into cyberspace, where computer technology seems to offer both the promise of heightened erotic fulfillment and the threat of human obsolescence. In this pathfinding study, Claudia Springer explores the techno-erotic imagery in recent films, cyberpunk fiction, comic books, television, software, and writing on virtual reality and artificial intelligence to reveal how these futuristic images actually encode current debates concerning gender roles and sexuality. Drawing on psychoanalytical and film theory, as well as the history of technology, Springer offers the first sustained analysis of eroticism and gender in such films as RoboCop, The Terminator, Eve of Destruction, and Lawnmower Man; cyberpunk books such as Neuromancer, Count Zero, Virtual Light, A Fire in the Sun, and Lady El; the comic books Cyberpunk and Interface, among others; and the television series Mann and Machine. Her analysis demonstrates that while new electronic technologies have inspired changes in some pop culture texts, others stubbornly recycle conventions from the past, refusing to come to terms with the new postmodern social order. Written to be accessible and entertaining for students and general readers as well as scholars, Electronic Eros will be of interest to a wide interdisciplinary audience.

Customer Reviews:

Readable Theory!.......2000-01-27

Springer's book delves into the changing nature of desire and the body in the face of new media technologies. The examples she uses are usually well known and her language is clear and concise. Unlike most cyborg theory, this book is fun and enjoying to read.

Book Description

Science and technology have immense authority and influence in our society, yet their working remains little understood. The conventional perception of science in Western societies has been modified in recent years by the work of philosophers, sociologists and historians of science. In this book Bruno Latour brings together these different approaches to provide a lively and challenging analysis of science, demonstrating how social context and technical content are both essential to a proper understanding of scientific activity. Emphasizing that science can only be understood through its practice, the author examines science and technology in action: the role of scientific literature, the activities of laboratories, the institutional context of science in the modern world, and the means by which inventions and discoveries become accepted. From the study of scientific practice he develops an analysis of science as the building of networks. Throughout, Bruno Latour shows how a lively and realistic picture of science in action alters our conception of not only the natural sciences but also the social sciences and the sociology of knowledge in general.

This stimulating book, drawing on a wealth of examples from a wide range of scientific activities, will interest all philosophers, sociologists and historians of science, scientists and engineers, and students of the philosophy of social science and the sociology of knowledge.

Customer Reviews:

An Engineer's Opinion..........2000-10-11

I'm an electrical and electronics engineer, working for a governmental R&D Institution. I also study on Science and Technology Policy Studies for an M.S. degree. I found the book quite useful, especially in its aspect of analyzing the scientist and engineer in his own time, his own context, his own psychology... It is a well organized, fluent, clear book. It may not be a complete guide or a definitive study, but it is a good point to start. Recommended...

Trivial where not incorrect.......2000-03-03

Latour again demonstrates trivial insights and egregious errors. He simply does not know his subject (allegedly science) well enough - he makes conceptual and factual blunders. I am glad this book is still in print because it is a useful aid in teaching humanity students about science - but not in the way Latour had envisioned! By understanding his misinterpretations, we can learn how laypeople get confused.

Brilliant view on scientific truth as a network of strength.......1999-04-04

Latour today can be regarded as one of the leading philosophers of science and technology. After his first work with Steve Woolgar, "Laboratory life", this is his second major work in which he generalises on various topics that he only touched in a very preliminary way in the above work. Latour adopts a very original way of following scientists in their struggle to "produce" scientific truth. He studies them as if they were a tribe (Latour is originally an ethnographer).

His conclusion is that scientific truth and the designing of succesful technological artefacts is not so much a "unveiling of some hidden truth behind things" or a logical construction, but a very heterogeneous project in which money, resources, statements, objects, people and numerous other things are linked in such a way that a strong chain is formed. Something is true if the chains is strong enough to withstand "trials of strength". Latour does away with metaphysical ideas of "The Truth" but insist in stead that truth is very much a stage in a process of negotiation between human and non-human actors. The idea that truth is the result of a logical process in which an abstract "reality" is discovered is, according to Latour, a story that is told afterwards to defend the theory itself and not something that is inherent in the forming of the theory itself.

In a very easy-to-read way Latour guides his readers through the work of science and technology "in the making". A must for any student in science and technology as well as for any scholar in social sciences and philosophy.

Customer Reviews:

Informative Despite shortcomings.......2003-07-22

As a Mage LARP Storyteller, I found this book to be very useful in helping me deal with the problem of vampires. (And in particular, a certain ghouled mage). The greek style drama about the Massasa War was both interesting and informative.

Other than giving information about the Order of Hermes' reaction to Tremere and vampires and general, Blood Treachery also gives some information on the Celestial Umbrood amd gives information on ghouled mages.

My only complaint really about this book is that it lacks Mind's Eye Theatre conversions. But the information packed into the book more than makes up for this.

Great Book! Except Stephen Michael DiPesa Co-Wrote it!.......2000-08-04

Using the framework of classic Greek drama for thefiction/metaplot parts, Cohen and DiPesa have put together the first compelling book of Mage's Revised Edition.

For some reason, even though he's listed on the cover, Mr. DiPesa gets no credit with Amazon. What is the deal with that?

Must have for the mage inclined!.......2000-08-03

This book is a must have book, for those that want to do campaign s where you have mixed characters, or just want to give extra flavor to your stories. It about time White Wolf released a book to explain in cleaner detail, what really happened with the Tremere, what is all that brought them there, and how the Order of Hermes really feels about it. This is besides the point of making rules for the revenant, ghoul mages...

Bloodbath: Blood Treachery (White Apache Double Edition)

Average customer rating:

Bloodbath: Blood Treachery (White Apache Double Edition)
Jake McMasters
Manufacturer: Leisure Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

The Trackers (White Apache, No 8)

ASIN: 0843942711

Average customer rating:

Blood Treachery (White Apache, No 6)
Jake McMasters
Manufacturer: Leisure Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

The Wars of the Roses (VIDEO and BOOK series - Campaigns in History) (Blood, Treachery and Cold Steel)

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The Wars of the Roses (VIDEO and BOOK series - Campaigns in History) (Blood, Treachery and Cold Steel)

Manufacturer: Cromwell Films, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000H4ZYF0

Product Description

The definitive video plus 96 page book.

The Wars of the Roses (VIDEO and BOOK series) (Blood, Treachery and Cold Steel)

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The Wars of the Roses (VIDEO and BOOK series) (Blood, Treachery and Cold Steel)

Manufacturer: Cromwell Films, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000H4ZYEQ

Average customer rating:

Occam's Razor for hi-tech--start shaving!

Simplicity is Complex

In response to Mr. Jensen (Author of this book).

My $.02

What One Author Learned from YOU

Simplicity: The New Competitive Advantage in a World of More, Better, Faster
Bill Jensen
Manufacturer: Perseus Books Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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Leadership | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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Similar Items:

The Simplicity Survival Handbook: 32 Ways to Do Less and Accomplish More

Love Is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends

What is Your Life's Work? : Answer the BIG Question About What Really Matters...and Reawaken the Passion for What You Do

The Circle of Innovation: You Can't Shrink Your Way to Greatness

Working the Room: How to Move People to Action through Audience-Centered Speaking

ASIN: 0738204307
Release Date: 2001-01-09

Book Description

How to thrive in an age of information overload by learning to do more of what matters and less of what doesn't. Drawing from a study of over 2,500 people in 460 companies, Simplicity has been hailed as " a breakthrough in the design of understanding," a book that "outlines the future of leadership." It's a powerful guide to working smarter, not harder, and, in the process, creating more flexible and productive organizations, more compelling experiences for customers, and more fulfilling work for everyone.

"Jensen's observations about today's business world are dead on, and his core message is simple to understand. From the first page of the book, Jensen reveals that his 'Simplicity Manifesto' is rooted in a keen observation of the price we have all been paying for trying to thread efficiency onto chaos via management-by-nuancing-around." -Tom Brown, Across the Board

Amazon.com

Scary fact: Business information doubles about every three years. In other words, if your job is complex now, in three years you'll have twice as much noise to sift through just to get your work done. Bill Jensen makes no bones about it: Making a job simpler is very hard work, and it's getting harder all the time. But he believes it's possible, and in Simplicity, he lays out concrete steps for managers to follow. For example, he offers a five-step process for launching a new project: Know which few things are important; consider how people will feel when you move forward on these things; use the right tools; create expectations and then manage those expectations; and create a "teachable view" of what you're trying to achieve.

If you consider all five of these building blocks before launching a new project, you should be able to overcome one of the biggest problems workers have with their jobs: too much information, with too little filtering. In fact, Jensen says, about 80 percent of business communication--meetings, e-mails, presentations, whatever--has a major problem: the information doesn't require action, or it requires action but there are no consequences of doing nothing. These building blocks can be applied to every form of communication and, most important, can be used as a formatting device to describe projects from start to finish quickly on a single sheet of paper. That'll get anyone's attention, from the boss on down to the people who actually have to do the work the project requires. It doesn't get any simpler than that. --Lou Schuler

Customer Reviews:

Occam's Razor for hi-tech--start shaving!.......2006-10-24

Hi-tech work seems to get more complex every year. Do more; do it faster. Need fancier tools to do it. The information explosion -- deal with it !
Bill Jensen takes the opposite direction. His goal: "To make it easier to work smarter -- a lot easier."

How? By simplifying the work. Getting rid of clutter. Set up systems that generate or gather the useful information rather than just filling up your inbox.

This book is not just theory. Jensen writes a real how-to manual that's applicable to any industry, including ours.

Simplicity is Complex.......2006-10-11

This book offers a five-step process for communicating change:
* Know which things are important
* Consider how people will feel when you change these things
* Use the right tools to communicate
* Create expectations and then manage those expectations
* Create a "teachable view" of what you're trying to achieve

The concepts in the book are valid. Unfortunately the execution of the book with cluttered layouts, and use of too many fonts falls short on delivering on the promise: Simplicity.

In response to Mr. Jensen (Author of this book)........2006-09-01

This is not a discussion forum. This is a opinion board and it's posts are by readers, for readers. If the book is the sacred space for the author to express his opinions and worldviews, this boards are or at least should be the sacred space for the readers. Sacred.

There's no such thing as talking trash about a book just for the sake of trash talking a book. Someone read the book, liked or didn't like it for whatever reason, argument given, point taken. As simple as that.

I did read the book and it did have a couple good things but that's not the point. My point is that the author posting about his own book, in the way he did it, is a insult to the community. It taints the objectivity of the board, therefore undermining the usefulness and good will of all of the other reviews.

You said: "Thankfully, most of you ignore those kind of reviews when making a purchasing decision". I ask, thankfully for you or thankfully for the readers?

If I had never read this book I wouldn't do it, I'd feel dirty trying to assimilate a book which author's made his own integrity so sketchy.

My $.02.......2006-05-15

I saw this book at my company's library and was drawn by it's title. The description on the back and the introduction to the book gave me hopes of a refreshing read -- one written with distinct style and offering insight.

The saying is true -- don't judge a book by it's cover. I found this book to be annoying because Jensen is repetitive and offers no significant insight. He spends the first section of the book drilling the same ideas, making generic declarations and offering minimal real life examples. Worst of all -- not one "aha" moment, which is what he calls this section. Of course simplicity is better -- I realize that and it's why I picked the book up -- but repeating this a lot is not necessary.

I had to stop reading the book halfway. I agree with one of the reviewers who referred to the book as unreadable. I can't read a book that generalizes what everyone is always doing wrong, and then tells me what to do "based on research." Little data is offered to back up the claims.

All in all -- I wasn't inspired by the book, wasn't impressed with its style, and wasn't instructed by its content (its first half is all I read).

Recommendation: Your money and time could be better spent elsewhere. If the book is at no charge, and you are curious, try reading the first section to see if you feel the same way.

What One Author Learned from YOU.......2005-06-25

This is a story about the power of you. Keep doing what you do even when authors don't like it. Especially when we don't! (Exception: Those reviews that trash a book just for the sake of trashing it or just to promote the reviewer's agenda. Thankfully, most of you ignore those kind of reviews when making a purchasing decision.)

Simplicity was my first book. I got a few things right. And its sales and most of its reviews reflect that. (Thank you!) I got a few things wrong - very wrong - and the biggest critiques consistently reflect that. So I've tried to learn from you and bring those lessons into my future work. For example:

* The biggest, dumbest mistake I made in Simplicity was that Form Did Not Follow Function. I thought it was cool to have a layout that looked like a bulletin-board - where you could jump here and there, reading small snippets of text at a time. Most of the reviews that are negative focused on this obvious-to-all-but-me flaw. A couple of examples: "Great idea in a tough to navigate format."..."Not simple to read: This book did not live up to the title - the page layout and design is complex..."

You guys were right. I was wrong. Big time. Mea culpa. In my next efforts, I have paid a lot more attention to the Form Follows Function Dept.

* Especially in business/personal effectiveness books: Readers want How-To's! You're thinking "these ideas are great for all the people featured in the book, but how do **I** put them into practice?" The other cluster of critiques targeted this area as a weakness. I did put tools in there, but, for some, there weren't enough specific examples and how-to's: "This book never got past the 'whats' and 'whys' of simplicity...", "Too much mumbo jumbo."

Again, for some-but-not-all of you, I could have done a better job on guiding you through the how-to's of practical application.

At least, on this point, it wasn't too late to learn! Ben50 wrote in his one-star review: "The only way i would switch for a 5 star, if the author read this (and i believe he is very competent) is that he rewrites a second book or this book with a lot of case studies and clear explanation of why it works.... With this, the book could be a must."

Ben, I heard you! And to everyone like him, check out The Simplicity Survival Handbook: 32 Ways to Do Less and Accomplish More. This is that follow-up book! (In my humble-yet-biased opinion, much better than Simplicity for how-to's cuz that's the Handbook's entire focus!)

*** BOTTOM-LINE: While it's not always fun for authors to learn in a very public forum like this, the Power of You is amazing! This kind of open and transparent feedback loop improves our work and informs what's available to you. Of course, there are caveats I'd love to throw in...(some reviews of my work and of other people's books I've loved seem like the reviewer never even read the book or paid attention to the author's intent)...but that's just normal personal-justification creeping in. (One final mea culpa for occasionally being semi-normal.) Overall, I am thrilled that we all have this forum, that you have taken some of your valuable time to contribute to the debate, and that - if authors are willing to listen and learn - you have created a most amazing Virtual School for Authors! Thank you!

Simplicity: the New Competitive Advantage in a World of More, Better, Faster

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Simplicity: the New Competitive Advantage in a World of More, Better, Faster
Bill Jensen
Manufacturer: Perseus Books Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N7CXY6

Book Description

"A STORY THAT NO OTHER AUTHOR COULD HAVE PUT
TOGETHER . . . Roemer [is] America's most decorated FBI agent."
--Chicago Tribune
For forty years Tony Accardo was America's most dangerous criminal. He cut his teeth on the Chicago mob wars of Capone and Elliot Ness. He got his nickname "Joe Batters" for killing two men with a baseball bat. As the bodies piled up, Capone's youngest capo murdered and schemed his way to the top.
William Roemer was the first FBI agent to face Tony "The Big Tuna" Accardo. Now, Roemer tells the story that only he could tell: the deals, the hits, the double-crosses, and the power plays that reached from the Windy City to Hollywood and to New York. Drawing on secret wiretaps and inside information, ACCARDO chronicles bloodshed and mayhem for more than six decades--as Roemer duels against the most powerful don of them all. . . .
"Roemer brings the reality of organized crime home to us."
--Boston Herald
"A big, sprawled out account that serves as anecdotal history of organized crime."
--Kirkus Reviews

Customer Reviews:

Readable, Interesting, and a bit flawed .......2007-01-26

Retired FBI Agent William Roemer (1926-1996) takes an interesting look at one of Chicago's most infamous mob bosses. Anthony "Big Tuna" Accardo (1906-1992) was a player in the syndicate from the prohibition-era 1920's until his death more than six decades later. Once complimented as "a real Joe Batters" by Al Capone for having killed another mobster with a baseball bat, Accardo had a mix of toughness, brains, and closed-mouthed brawn. As the author shows, these characteristics helped him rise through the syndicate ranks and avoid the downfalls (imprisonment, early death) of many associates. Accardo ran or helped rule the Chicago syndicate as boss, consiglieri, and finally as elder statesman. Readers also get a look at the Chicago mob and its many sources of illegal activities. The author regards his subject with a mix of distaste and respect, as did so many others in and out of law enforcement.

Roemer's books are very readable, but they suffer from a few doubtful claims and flirtations with the facts, not to mention some self-boasting by the author. Still, his easy-reading narratives on the Chicago mob are worth a look.

Giving law enforcement a black eye.......2006-10-20

Incredible. Here we have a retired FBI agent writing about a thug who he claims is the best godfather ever. He writes so admiringly about Tony Accardo that I really believe he wanted to give Joe Batters a foot massage, back rub and ticker-tape parade. I had to put the book down before I puked. True, the writer covers a lot of ground in his homage to this killer-thug and parasite, but it's all wasted by his glorification of a criminal.

Roemer Strikes Out.......2005-09-16

I find it amusing that every gangster biographer wants to elevate his subject to the level of being the most important figure ever in the history or organized crime. But one would expect a certain level of objectivity from a former FBI agent, even one who self-promoted himself for years as Chicago's number one Mob-buster. Roemer's admiration for adversary Tony "Joe Batters" Accardo is understandable in a way. Clearly one of the most untouchable mobsters of all time (though it is not true that he never spent a night in jail), Accardo's seventy year criminal career with no standing convictions shows he was no dumb hood. All the same, Roemer goes out of his way to inject Accardo into everything that ever happened in Chicago. His account of the Prohibition years is so far off the mark it's hilarious. He has Tony Accardo saving Capone from Hymie Weiss in the Hawthorne attack, which contemporary accounts credit to Frank Rio. He places Tony in New York with Jack McGurn, Anselmi and Scalise, and "a guy named Rio Burke" as the hitters of Frankie Yale in that city's first Tommygun killing. Strange, as I met the late Rio Burke and SHE never once mentioned handling a machine gun though she was a friend of Al Capone. Tony, McGurn, Anselmi and Scalise and "possibly Fred Burke" (in whose Michigan hideout the machine guns were found) are claimed to have been the St. Valentine's Day Massacre gunmen, on the basis of some bugged conversations Roemer claims to have heard years later and vaguely alludes to. More credible suspects, such as Gus Winkeler, who later ran Moran's former North Side territory for Capone and was highly publicized in the early Thirties, and Raymond "Crane-Neck" Nugent, who was once arrested at Capone's Miami estate, are dismissed as insignificant nobodies on the bare fringe of the Capone mob. Roemer goes on to have Accardo accompany Capone to the famous Atlantic City Mob convention, again at the expense of number one bodyguard Frank Rio, and conveniently oversteps the Philadelphia arrest and conviction of Capone and RIO by moving the meeting ahead one year to 1930. I find it amazing that a guy like Roemer could spend all that time investigating the Chicago Mob and display such little knowledge of its early years. No wonder the FBI took so long in catching up with organized crime! Roemer should have either stuck with the Fifties/Sixties time-frame he knew firsthand or else done some competent research on the pre-World War II era. As for the claim that Accardo had "more brains before breakfast than Al Capone had all day," well, like I said earlier, Tony's successful life in crime is impressive, and owes much to his low-key style but one doesn't need to distort history to emphasize this. And, when it all comes down to it, Capone was the guy who built the Chicago Mob and the guy who brought Accardo up through the ranks as well. Successful as he was, Tony was only following in Al's footsteps like so many others.

THE GANGSTER WHO MADE IT.......2005-03-29

Finally there is a book about the man that was the driving force behind the Chicago Outfit.While Sam Giancana has the fame and if often credited as being the Outfit's boss in the 60's, little is there any mention of the man who put him there.This is a great overall book with plenty of history on the man who the law couldn't lay a hand on.If ever there was a "successful gangster" it was Accardo, and this book explains why.This is also a great book to famialize yourself with Chicago's major organized players from Al Capone down to Joe "The Clown" Lombardo.

this guy was the godfather.......2004-06-18

Tony Accardo was the most successful mob boss of all time.At the top for 48 years!To put that in perspective Al Capone was boss for 5 years(1925-30)and John Gotti from 1985 to his death in 2002,but more than half of that he was in jail.Accardo did it all,from young apprentice of Capone favorite "Machine Gun" Jack McGurn to shooter in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre(according to Accardo's and Murray Humphrey's secretly recorded conversations in the 1950's and 60's)to Las Vegas kingpin to running the infamous Teamster's union(bet Accardo could tell you what happened to Jimmy Hoffa).This guy was responsible for literally hundreds of deaths,many of them very brutal,but reigned almost completely free from police interference save a few nuisance i.r.s. cases and congressional hearings.As others write,Roemer has a rather scattershot way of writing(it's even worse if you've read his other books as he likes to repeat his stories)but almost all info(except his Notre Dame mentions and his extreme love of God)is mob related and ain't that what you're here for?Some people find that there wasn't enough Accardo personal info but so what.What's there to wonder about?Did Accardo love his wife and kids?Did he kick his dog?Who cares.The guy was the mobster of mobsters and his criminal life is well documented and that's all that matters to me.I guess there is one story in the book that gives you a look into Tony Accardo' soul.His close friend of 40 years(the guy wasn't a mobster,he was the Accardo house caretaker)gave testimony in front of a grand jury and disappeared off the face of the earth days later.How's that for knowing Tony personally?

Average customer rating:

Accardo the Genuine Godfather
William Roemer
Manufacturer: BALLANTINE BOOKS @
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SF4RPG

Average customer rating:

Accardo: The Genuine Godfather

Manufacturer: Ivy Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000HZ0OEA

Book Description

100+ full color and black & white photographs

Following on the heals of the very successful VERLINDEN WAY volume 1, this second publication by the venerable Francois Verlinden features no less than 25 fully described military dioramas, including everything from conversions, extra detailing, and weathering. The unbelievable productivity of this prolific modeler is reflected in the sheer amount of work that is documented in these pages. First published in 1983, this book still holds its own in todays aftermarket of mass-produced resin and photo-etched metal detail parts, of which the author spawned. This is a truly wonderful companion to volume I, and belongs in the collection of every modeler around the world, as well as military enthusiasts.

Customer Reviews:

Good ideas and suggestions.......2000-03-28

This book, Verlinden's second on dioramas, gives much more explanations than the first book. Each one of the about two dozen dioramas gets a short article, with helpful notes on building, painting, planning, and so on.

The special section on the Sherman is quite good, though possibly dated; there have appeared modern Sherman kits which don't have the shortcomings fixed in the book, so you wouldn't have to work so much to get fine results.

Finally, the very last article (by Sheperd Paine) is, for me, the best part of the whole book. The "wolf in sheep clothing" diorama (a Flak 88 hiding in a church) is described from the very beginning (planning) to its end (the finished diorama).

Average customer rating:
The Verlinden Way Military Models and Dioramas Volume II
Francios Verlinden
Manufacturer: Verlinden Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J4XLGM

Average customer rating:

Culture & Country vs. Commodity & Company

Blockbusters and Trade Wars: Popular Culture in a Globalized World
Peter S. Grant
Manufacturer: Douglas & McIntyre
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Cultural | Anthropology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Media Systems in Society: Understanding Industries, Strategies, and Power

ASIN: 1553651081

Customer Reviews:

Culture & Country vs. Commodity & Company.......2004-10-21

Canadian authors Peter S. Grant and Chris Wood, respectively a noted communications lawyer and a journalist, have set out to dissect, examine and prod the policies and issues surrounding the concept of contemporary culture and the many forces exerting pressure on the world stage to either commercialize and liberalize or maintain or expand the regulations and frameworks currently in place to keep works of culture off the free market. In their comprehensive book the authors argue serenely and dispassionately that while the former will lead to a silencing of many cherished voices and the diminishing of choice, the latter is the key to the free expression of different ideals the world over.
Taking a cradle to the grave approach, the authors explore all forms of art and cultural expression from audio and video to books, magazines and more. Grant and Wood craft a lucid argument against the dilution of cultural voices through the inclusion of culture within international trade agreements. They further note in detail the large stakes in cultural politics and conclude that the liberalization of trade in this area is tantamount to too large a giveaway to be affordable for most nations. With twelve countries producing 80 per cent of the world's cultural exports and cultural creators contributing vast amount to their respective countries' coffers, the stakes are too important for governments - even from a revenue perspective - not to actively and consistently engage in defining and protecting their national identities. Ironically, it is this protectionism that will ultimately lead to a richer and more diverse quilt of ideas and expressions.
Contrary to the laws governing the World Trade Organization and other quasi-official fora for setting and proclaiming international commerce guidelines, the expression of ideas of all forms requires its own setting. This would ideally be a place of rational discussion and not one of cold and misguided decisions favouring purely monetary rationalizations at the expense of quality and diversity. The authors further expand on the invalidity of laissez faire and comparative advantage economics and, quite rightly, insist by way of modern examples how cultural goods behave and co-exist differently than their more tangible cousins. The prevalent economic theorems being faulty to begin with, they fall even shorter in the cases of art and expression.
Blockbusters and Trade Wars: Popular Culture in a Globalized World is of interest to consumers, observers and participants in the fields of audio, video, written word, broadcasting and the Internet alike and is a complete collection for those looking for an in-depth discussion of the workings of said disciplines within an economic context.

Trade Wars and the Silver Screen.(Book Review): An article from: Regulation

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Trade Wars and the Silver Screen.(Book Review): An article from: Regulation
Neil Hrab
Manufacturer: Cato Institute
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Regulation, published by Cato Institute on June 22, 2004. The length of the article is 923 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: Trade Wars and the Silver Screen.(Book Review)
Author: Neil Hrab
Publication: Regulation (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 2004
Publisher: Cato Institute
Volume: 27 Issue: 2 Page: 68(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Customer Reviews:

First-rate.......1999-05-09

I bought this book after hearing a lecture by Edward Renehan at the Union League Club in NYC. Renehan is the biographer of Muir's friend and associate John Burroughs, and in the course of his lecture he recommended this edition as a good, solid, representative volume of Muir's prose. That it is, and I'm happy to join Renehan in recommending it. -- Alfred Roosein

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