Book Description
In a tour de force, Colin Jones gives a gripping, superbly and intelligently illustrated account of the political, social and cultural history of France, placing an innovatory emphasis on the impact of regionalism, class, gender and race in French heritage. Ranging from prehistoric menhirs to the Pompidou Centre, from Louis XIV's Versailles to twentieth-century highrises, from Marie Antoinette to Marie Claire, The Cambridge Illustrated History of France is host to lively and penetrating new insights that take us through the shaping of France from the earliest times to the brink of a new millennium. Combining superb illustration with outstanding scholarship, the diversity of the French heritage--scientific and artistic, national and regional--is explored with an engrossing and accessible style. Special features on places, people and events, a glossary, and a further reading section enhance this engaging book that will appeal to history buffs and students of French history and culture. Colin Jones is also the author of the Longman Companion to the French Revolution and The Cultural Atlas of France.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderfully readable history of France.......2007-06-04
Context: I'm not an academic or a scholar; I've been to France for several vacations and I'm taking my daughter for the first time this summer. I wanted to know more than the few pages in Fodor's. This books was perfect. It has intertesting illustrations, and is written at a level that a layperson can easily understand. It was engaging to read. I got a lot from it, and if you have an interest in France as a traveller, I imagine it would be time well spent for you as well.
Liberté, Liberté chérie,.......2006-12-23
Reviewing this excellent book on French history for the layperson makes me feel inadequate to the task - it is that good. What can one say about the best, but superlatives.
You will want to read this at one sitting, but unless you read very, very fast you must try to pace yourself. It is that engrossing. This is a thorough, but not pedantic, history of the largest country in Europe.
From prehistoric times before the end of the last ice age, to the end of the twentieth century, a great people and a beautiful language developed under the anvil of continual challenges.
It is true, this is something of a 'coffee table' book; but it is quite meaty. I meant by that gratuitous remark, that it is well illustrated but not in a way that detracts from the excellent text. The author is an expert in his field, be sure of that.
Reading this book is a great adventure; you won't think the same about the French nation after this.
entertaining history.......2005-03-31
This is an excellent book for those interested in learning about French history. Very readable, with wonderful illustrations and side pieces. I wish my textbooks had been like this when I was in school!
Pointless!.......2003-05-15
352 pages of fact after fact without information. You might get the "when" and "what" of France - if even that. But no way will you know "why" or "how" or even care when you're done with this book. I'd burn it but I have to read it for a class.
Just plain horrible.......2003-03-18
This is the only book I have ever returned. Unreadable.
Average customer rating:
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Illustrated Incumbered Estates
Mary Cecelia Lyons
Manufacturer: Ballinakella Press
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ASIN: 0946538166 |
Customer Reviews:
A tremendous undertaking in a little book!.......2005-05-09
Privitera's concise and compact history of Sicily is an amazing undertaking and excellent overview of the complex history of this important island. He supplements the text with illustrations that accentuate or expand upon the text, and he discusses the influences of various groups (spanning over two milennia) on the agricultural, industrial, and cultural aspects of Sicily. Overall, this is an excellent and straight-forward work on a fascinating place!
A distinguished land and its impressive people.......2002-09-07
Black-and-white photographs and artworks add a visual touch to Joseph F. Privitera's Sicily: An Illustrated History. This very direct and straightforward accounting of a world-famous portion of Italy ranges from the era of the Greeks down to the modern day. Historical figures, the role of the Church, war, colonial powers and much more all figure prominently in this compelling, highly recommended capsule-digest version of the impressively legacy and promising future of a distinguished land and its impressive people.
Great Intro.......2002-08-13
I'm surprised this book is not getting more attention. It is a great introduction to the confusing history of Sicily. Sicily has been occupied and conquered so many times it is hard to keep track. Privitera does a great job of sorting through all of this and explaining the history of Sicily with ease. His motivation for writing this book was researching the history of his name and in so doing discovered so much about the history of this island. The title says it is an "illustrated history." However, the illustrations are not very good. This should not discourage you from purchasing this book because the text is what counts. I enjoyed this read and it did not take long to finish the book. Recommended for the Italian history buff.
Amazon.com
Everyone feared the Vikings during their three centuries of terror, which lasted roughly from the start of the 8th century to the end of the 11th century. They are best remembered as cruel pagan raiders from the frigid north, but their vibrant warrior culture also managed to transform the north Atlantic and much of Russia through trade and settlement. Their seafaring exploits, passed down through the generations in a series of entertaining sagas, led them to Iceland, Greenland, and even North America (which they called "Vinland"). These accomplishments are truly extraordinary, and reveal how a group of people often belittled as cruel brutes actually expanded the frontiers of human knowledge. Peter Sawyer has pulled together a group of accomplished scholars, including Janet L. Nelson and Simon Keynes, to contribute chapters to this attractive, full-color volume. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings contains the very latest information available about the Vikings and their often violent--but always intriguing--ways.
Book Description
Were the Vikings, as contemporary description had it, a 'valiant, wrathful, foreign, purely pagan people' who swept in from the sea to plunder and slaughter? Or in the words of a Manx folksong 'ware-wolves keen in hungry quest', who lived and died by the sea and the sword. Or were they unusually successful merchants, extortionists, and pioneer explorers? This book, by leading international scholars, considers the latest research and presents a compelling picture of the Vikings and their age. Excavations as far apart as Dublin and Newfoundland, York and Kiev, provide fascinating archaeological evidence, expertly interpreted in this extensively illustrated book.
Customer Reviews:
Christian propaganda about the Vikings endures to this day........2004-09-30
'The Nazis adopted Viking imagary therefore the Vikings must be Nazis' - was the person who came up with that howler having a blonde moment at the time?
Apart from that gem, the Vikings:
- Interests' lay more in establishing trade routes rather than looting and pillaging cities.
- Had an intricate and surprisingly sophisticated civilization for their time.
- Were heathens (non-Christians) in a period of time in which the rest of Europe was largely Christianized. This was to change over time; some by peaceful adoption of the new religion, others by torture. Still, much of the negative history of the Norsemen was written by Christian scholars...
- Were strongly family-oriented, believing that their strength came from their heritage and the blood of their ancestors.
- Used an alphabet (called a "futhark") consisting of only 16 letters (a reduction of their ancestors' earlier alphabet of 24 letters.)
To this day, their influences can be felt in the language, arts, and literature of modern-day American culture.
Or are you more comfortable with the 'murderous barbarians' conclusion. If not, buy another book.
Fair.......2003-06-08
This book falls below what I would expect from Oxford (at least the traditional Oxford of yester-year). The pictures are nice as well as a lot of the text. The main problem with this book is the chapter "The Vikings in History and Ledgend." The author of this essay insinuates that those who take pride in their Viking heritage are Nazis. This chapter is full of inappropriate partisan politics and hurts this book. It reads like propoganda straight out of a typical ADL hate tract.
One reader has obviously fallen for this line (see below).
There are far-better books on the Vikings out there. Go for Gwen Jones for a more balanced account.
be real.......2003-03-26
if ya get all romantic thinking about the vikings, just remember that they were the nazis of their day, in terms of senseless destruction and inhumanity.
A comprehensive, intelligent history of the Vikings.......1999-04-07
This is one of the best books on the Vikings I've ever read (and I've read dozens!). With numerous contributors from many universtities, each chapter is written with detailed authority and offers a fresh perspective. The chonology at the back of the book is a bonus feature. My only criticism is that, depspite chapters on exploration to the west (what I consider to be the most important legacy of the Vikings), Sawyer still tends to let the British perspective of victimization by the Vikings dominate the book.
Customer Reviews:
A well-illustrated overview of the history of Ulster........1998-09-06
This is an abridged, illustrated and updated edition of "A History of Ulster" by the same author. The longer work is certainly much more suitable for reference purposes, since considerable detail has been left out of the shorter version. However, the contemporary quotations and the illustrations together give an excellent flavour of the events being described. Unless you are specifically looking for a reference book, the shorter book provides a very attractive and well-illustrated alternative.
Average customer rating:
- the course, diverse dimensions, junctures, and assessments of Slovak history
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Illustrated Slovak History: A Struggle for Sovereignty in Central Europe
Anton Spiesz , and
Dusan Caplovic
Manufacturer: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers
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Slovak Pittsburgh (PA) (Images of America)
ASIN: 0865164266 |
Customer Reviews:
the course, diverse dimensions, junctures, and assessments of Slovak history.......2006-12-02
The publisher fulfills its aims of "giving the general English-speaking public a book that is inviting to read" while creating a work of Slovak history that "displays scholarly integrity" by a book which is copiously illustrated (over 300 illustrations) and involved a number of prominent authorities in Slovak history. Fourteen chronological chapters present the path of Slovak history with controversies over the meaning of certain aspects of it raised in the endnotes. The extensive bibliography too points readers to debates and alternate, sometimes conflicting interpretations of the events and persons presented in the main text. With all of the seismic changes going on in Central Europe, including the Balkans, since the fall of the Berlin Wall in the late 1980s, this comprehensive, up-to-date history is to be welcomed by any reader interested in this region which has become crucial in world affairs. The book with its popular and scholarly elements can be taken at different levels, from introductory survey to exposure to open debates assessing finer points of Slovak history.
Book Description
This up-to-the-minute reference has updated detailed maps, hundreds of captivating full-color photographs, and is filled with anecdotes about the history, lifestyle, culture, and folklore of the land and its people as well as totally revised and updated travel facts. This best-selling book is perfect for both armchair and world traveler alike.
Customer Reviews:
Illustrated Guide to Ireland by Reader's Digest.......2004-02-10
This book has many famous spots in Ireland. It is perfect for
travellers. For instance, the work depicts full-color pictures
of:
o Dunluce castle
o Glanworth bridge
o St. Fin Barre's Cathedral
o Inchydoney Island
o Hungry Hill
o A Giant's Load ( stonehenge-like rocks)
o Tuscan Temple
The book is perfect for class projects in geography,
world history and world culture. If you ever travel to Ireland,
this book is an important guide.
A new slant on the old familiar.......2000-08-25
I love reading guidebooks about Ireland. I was born there and lived there for 24 years before starting a long-term trans-atlantic commute. Reading what other people have to say about my home can be interesting. I rarely learn anything new and am often amazed at how someone else sees what, for me, was an everyday sight. This book is different. It's informative, easy to read, and well illustrated. It goes beyond the usual "Irish" pit stops and details some places that are definitely off the beaten track. One that really stands out is the Money Tree between Mountrath and Portlaoise. I must have passed it a hundred times and never noticed. If you only buy one book on Ireland, buy this one.
Beautiful book and very informative........1999-03-02
I took this book along on my recent trip to Ireland. I found so many wonderful sights that I usually would have missed. It was a little bulky for travel but I would never travel Ireland without it!!
Lots of information and great pictures.......1998-08-29
I lived in N.Ireland and would often use this as a guide. There is lots of history, useful information and pictures. Well layed out and thought out, great as a travel guide or fireside reading.
Book Description
The Cambridge Illustrated History of Germany presents a richly illustrated, integrated, chronological account of German history from Charlemagne to the modern era. Written in a lively, accessible manner for a general audience by a leading academic expert, this book is unique in its authority, approach and scope. Martin Kitchen focuses particularly on the German people - their culture and society. In this way he illuminates and puts into perspective the country’s political history, from its origins as a collection of small, German-speaking states to its present-day status as a major European and world power. In special illustrated boxes and panels throughout the book, he reveals the great cultural and intellectual contribution Germans have made to the world through the works of figures such as Martin Luther, Bach, Kant, Wagner, and Gropius.
Customer Reviews:
A superbly presented, single volume history.......2001-04-28
The latest addition to the outstanding "Cambridge Illustrated History" series, Martin Kitchen's Germany presents a lavishly illustrated, integrated, chronological history of Germany from the era of Charlemagne down through the end of the twentieth century and German reunification. Here is a compendium of the culture, society, political organization, national tragedies and personal triumphs of the German people. Special illustrated boxes and panels enrich the informative, "reader friendly" text throughout and provides a superbly presented, single volume history that is a welcome addition to academic and community library world history collections.
Germany by a German.......2001-03-14
This text should not be demoted to decorating a living room's coffee table because of its "Cambridge" denomination and fancy pictures. Some of these "decoration" books do contain excellent write ups. Ignoring Mr. Kitchen's dissertation on the history of Germany would be at your own peril if you own the book already and, except for martini stains and dust, choose to ignore it. This history of Germany explains in a fascinatingly succint style key aspects of the German nation and German ethos: the Holy Roman Empire, the Hanseatic League, the Reformation, the Industrial Revolution and, inevitably, the Third Reich and the Holocaust. There are excellent art and culture sections describing anything from Goethe's Romantic world and the Grimm Brothers' fantastic tales to the Bauhaus. If you want to own a book to impress your friends, buy it, but buy it mostly to be impressed by it.
Good Book.......2000-12-11
I had to use this book for a class on German history. Although it was not required material for the class, the wealth of information helped me keep a handle of the flow of the nation's history. This book is rich in pictures and is one of the best books that I have ever seen on German history. Highly recomended.
Book Description
Under the editorship of Roy Foster, a team of distinguished Irish historians has produced a challenging assessment of Ireland's history, providing a lively and accessible synthesis of Irish history from pre-Christian times to the present-day troubles. Their approach stresses the ancient, rooted nature of Irish culture, but also looks beyond received ideas of Irish history to explore the patterns of fragmentation and change which have been characteristic of Ireland's past. The long-contested question of Irish identity and its relation to language is also examined, and the book is lavishly illustrated with over 200 pictures in colour and black and white.
Customer Reviews:
One of the worst history books I've read.......2006-03-20
I bought this book on a whim a few weeks ago and, after struggling to get past the first 50 pages, recently just returned it. In the bookstore I found the book to be interesting due to the great illustrations and accompanying text. But the actual book is another matter entirely. It's divided into several essays written by different authors. I wish I could remember who wrote the first one, because I would warn Irish history enthusiasts to steer clear of that author's other books.
What bothered me was how the book begins by skipping over thousands of years of history to bring the reader into around 500-700 AD, with the clear implication that before the arrival of Christianity, nothing too interesting happened on the island. Beyond that, the first essay reads like a super-boring recitation of place names, people and titles that are barely explained. Awful, just awful.
YAWN.......2002-09-30
I started reading this book after finishing "A Concise History of Scotland" and this one paled by comparison. The book about Scotland was a masterpiece of cohesion and interesting writing. Unfortunately, the only thing the two books have in common are the great illustrations.
The illustrations in this book about Irish history are the ONLY interesting thing, in my opinion, and the writing never lives up to that quality. It is just one dry fact after another--- so unappealing. Where is the humanity--the people, the cultures, the societies? History should be written in the same vital way in which it occurred.
What a shame--this could have been such a good book if the writing had had any life to it.
monotonous.......2000-01-21
the writers take it for granted that the reader is already well versed in irish history. if anyone knows of a good book on irish history: please let me know!
Illustrations good, text tedious.......1998-03-08
If you are looking for a single volume that offers an engaging account of the grand sweep of Irish history, then I would suggest you steer clear of the Oxford Illustrated History of Ireland. The problem is not with the illustrations, which are numerous, nicely reproduced, well described, and interesting overall. The problem is the essays that make up the text of the book, which are dreary illustrations of history presented in its driest and most unappealing form. The first two essays describing the history of the Island from prehistory to the 15th century are a monotonous chronicle of the names of, and rivalries between, the indigenous and foreign notables who claimed and/or controlled various pieces of Irish turf over the centuries. These accounts shed little light on the people who inhabited the disputed territories, on how they lived their lives, or on the family, social and economic structures of their evolving communities. They also fail to offer much insight on the nature and geography of the land itself, and its different regions, which I find is almost always a feature of any good read about the history of a people. Perhaps the remaining four essays in the book may inject more life into what ought to be a colourful story. I'll never know, since the first two run to more than a hundred pages, and I have a personal reading rule that if a narrative hasn't captured my interest, or otherwise shown much promise, in the first hundred pages, then I am at liberty to cease reading it without any self-recrimination. This doesn't happen very often, but such was the case with this text. The only consolation for me is that the art, drawings, photographs and other illustrations in the book are interesting in and of themselves. If the Oxford folks ever contemplate revising this book, I'd suggest they consider jettisoning the essays and enlarging the illustrations.
Amazon.com
George Holmes's well-written, heavily illustrated narrative offers a broad view of Italian history from the early days of the Roman empire to the beginning of the 1990s. Italy as we know it, Holmes notes, is a fairly modern invention, the product of the 19th-century Risorgimiento and the unification of the nation for the first time in centuries. He explores the reasons for this, noting the tendency of Italian regions to turn inward and form small alliances with immediate neighbors, a tendency that expresses itself today in the northern Italian movement for secession. Holmes also considers the role of the arts in the formation of Italian identity and provides snapshots of major points in the nation's history. It all makes for a useful one-volume reference.
Book Description
From the Roman Empire to the present day, this is the story of Italy. Until just over a century ago, Italy did not exist as a political unit, yet it was both the heart of the Christian Church and the seedbed for the extraordinary cultural flowering that was the Renaissance. In the middle ages, the merchants of Florence, Genoa, and Venice bridged Asia and Europe with their trading and financial activities, yet Italy remained a region of fiercely independent city-states. In the nineteenth century an upsurge of nationalist fervour was channelled by Garibaldi into a victorious war against Italy's Habsburg overlords. A political vision was finally realized and the nation of Italy was created. This extensively illustrated survey by twelve leading historians offers a fascinating introduction to the history and culture of Italy.
Customer Reviews:
blah..........2007-08-04
This book was terrible. More time is spent giving you an onslaught of facts on the history of Italian art than on anything else. The cultural portion barely acknowledges literary and philosophical greats but doesn't hesitate to regurgitate information several times on painters, architects, and musicians. Despite this, upon completion your left wondering exactly what you just read due to the rambled facts given.
On the political side of things, your left with a vague picture. If not for prior knowledge of Italian history and living there for two years, i would have finished the book learning completely nothing. This is another example of one of those books written by scholars for scholars but failed to be advertised as such. These scholars do seem to know there facts, however the fact is they have no skill at writing, any read will find it an unending struggle to keep their mind from wandering, their eyes from tearing, or the onset of sleep from coming. For the length of time it takes to read these dry monotonous 347 pages, you could have read several books on the subject. Oxford, George Holmes... i think you need to reimburse me not only for the money i spent on this garbage but for the many hours wasted drudging through it that i will never get back.
Pathetic Oxford. Very Pathetic.......2006-12-20
This is the worst attempt by the people at Oxford. I am a big fan of all of their books and series but this one needs to be redone. The writing by all of the authors is terrible and no detail is given. While it is tough to cover the whole history of the country in one book this one fails miserably. Not only do you not even get a sense of how Italy developed you is left wondering what the point was. It does not leave you wanting more information in a good way but just disappoints. Stay away!
the "volk" at oxford have "done it" again...although this time less vigorously.......2006-04-02
The first essay begins with an obscure reference to a former pupil who, "in those few fleeting moments of ecstacy during my office hours instilled in me enormous feelings of guilt because so much blood rushed from my neo-cortex in her presence that I knew then I would change my academic specialty from Etruscan Art in Etruria to Etruria and its Etruscan Art" and then concludes with, of all things, a clarion call for Anschluss with Canada. Strange. The essay on Mussolini was brilliant, hampered only by the author's insistent mis-spelling of Mussolini's first name ("Young 'Bonero' earned early for himself a reputation as a pugnacious little turd, although he was an above average speller!")
A weird book from the weirdos at Oxford. They've done it again! I only wish I could do it again. Just once.
Beautiful illustrations & essays on history and culture.......2005-05-11
This book is a collection of essays on aspects of the history of Italy and the cultural changes in different periods from the Rome of Augustus through the last essay on "Italy Since 1945". While this is not a narrative history, it does provide an essay on the historical highlights of each period as well as a second essay on important cultural aspects of that time.
The essays are quite informative, and though they are written by specialists, they are written for the general reader. Obviously, the more experience you have with the history of Europe the easier this book will read. However, I did not find anything arcane or overly specialized. And I found the emphasis on culture refreshing and particularly appropriate for the true influence Italy has had on our modern world. This book will help you see how much the influence of Rome and later the Roman Church has had and continues to have on our culture. The art and architectural achievements of Italian artists and those of other nations influenced by Italian aesthetics are still quite alive in our present world.
There are a few dozen beautiful color plates and over a hundred black and white photographs and illustrations. The maps are particularly interesting. Watching the state grow from a bunch of Roman provinces to a unified Italy is quite interesting. There is also a list of sources for further reading, a chronology of the centuries covered by this book as well as a list of sources for the illustrations included. There is also a helpful index.
Separate Essays create confusion.......2004-01-13
I was very disappointed with this book, because it is
a compilation of scholarly articles all written in
a verbose convoluted style. The articles do not flow smoothly
and the book is not to be read as a history flowing from one chapter to another. I do not feel this is a useful history of Italy. It is not an easily understood survey, and the writings expect too much previous knowledge of the history of Italy to be appealing to a beginning reader.
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