History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Posing for Portrait Photography: A Head-to-Toe Guide

Average customer rating:

Posing for Portrait Photography: A head to Toe Guide
show ur subject posing better
so so book
Better Basic intro book
Posing for the mall photographer

Posing for Portrait Photography: A Head-to-Toe Guide
Jeff Smith
Manufacturer: Amherst Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Portraits | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Reference | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Equipment | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1584281340

Book Description

Photographers learn how to gauge the needs of their clients before placing them into a stale, preconceived “women’s,” “men’s,” or “children’s” pose that hardly fits the client’s personality or preferences. Provided with a two-pronged approach to fail-safe posing, photographers learn first to determine what the mood of the portrait should be and how to use an appropriate posing genre—traditional, casual, glamour, or journalistic. Photographers are then shown how that genre can be used as a basis to produce a pose that best suits the client, allowing them to create dynamic yet natural-looking pose that the subject—and the intended recipient—will love.

Customer Reviews:

Posing for Portrait Photography: A head to Toe Guide.......2007-07-09

As a professional photographer for a studio located in a chain store, I do a high volume of portraits. Repeat customers are a good aspect of the job, so new poses are a plus for customers, hence sales. I found this book to be easy to understand, helpful for beginners in the studio, and helpful for the experienced photographers as well. There are several pictures to back up the easy to understand text.

show ur subject posing better.......2007-06-02

Hi,My all dear photographers freind this book is good for us to understand what type of pose given to our claint.If u wan't to use some new poses then buy this book .
Thanking u,
Maulik Sheth.
(INDIA)

so so book.......2007-05-26

The book was to generic for me i was looking for morte detailed information. Like were to postion lights and subject to get this effect and so on. It had so good do's and dont's but for the price I wish I would have just check it out at the library.

Better Basic intro book.......2007-05-07

This is a better intro book than Master Posing Guide by Wacker. For your money, only purchase this one. Took job with portrait company and this book covers everything in their training guide. Recommend also getting The Portrait Photographer's Guide to Posing by Bill Hurter as a worthwhile guide to expanding your creativity, if you are serious about portrait photography.

Posing for the mall photographer.......2007-04-20

The basic concepts explained in this book is informative for the beginner photographer, and it stops there. The book focuses on senior portraits where the main goal is to sell as many photos to mom is possible. Therefore, the poses aim to appeal to the general audience and will seem uncreative and bland. In fact, the author advises you to eschew all of your creative tendencies and simply focus on creating a generic photo that will likely sell. If that's the kind of portraiture you're trying to learn, then this is the book for you. If you already know the basics covered in this book and if you have any artistic aspirations, I suggest you look elsewhere (recommendations welcome).

Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship

Average customer rating:

Great Book!
BFF?
An Excellent look at the friendship that shaped the modern world
Captivating Insights
Great read!

Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship
Jon Meacham
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Political | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Presidents & Heads of State | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0812972821
Release Date: 2004-10-12

Book Description

The most complete portrait ever drawn of the complex emotional connection between two of history’s towering leaders

Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill were the greatest leaders of “the Greatest Generation.” In Franklin and Winston, Jon Meacham explores the fascinating relationship between the two men who piloted the free world to victory in World War II. It was a crucial friendship, and a unique one—a president and a prime minister spending enormous amounts of time together (113 days during the war) and exchanging nearly two thousand messages. Amid cocktails, cigarettes, and cigars, they met, often secretly, in places as far-flung as Washington, Hyde Park, Casablanca, and Teheran, talking to each other of war, politics, the burden of command, their health, their wives, and their children.

Born in the nineteenth century and molders of the twentieth and twenty-first, Roosevelt and Churchill had much in common. Sons of the elite, students of history, politicians of the first rank, they savored power. In their own time both men were underestimated, dismissed as arrogant, and faced skeptics and haters in their own nations—yet both magnificently rose to the central challenges of the twentieth century. Theirs was a kind of love story, with an emotional Churchill courting an elusive Roosevelt. The British prime minister, who rallied his nation in its darkest hour, standing alone against Adolf Hitler, was always somewhat insecure about his place in FDR’s affections—which was the way Roosevelt wanted it. A man of secrets, FDR liked to keep people off balance, including his wife, Eleanor, his White House aides—and Winston Churchill.

Confronting tyranny and terror, Roosevelt and Churchill built a victorious alliance amid cataclysmic events and occasionally conflicting interests. Franklin and Winston is also the story of their marriages and their families, two clans caught up in the most sweeping global conflict in history.

Meacham’s new sources—including unpublished letters of FDR’s great secret love, Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd, the papers of Pamela Churchill Harriman, and interviews with the few surviving people who were in FDR and Churchill’s joint company—shed fresh light on the characters of both men as he engagingly chronicles the hours in which they decided the course of the struggle.

Hitler brought them together; later in the war, they drifted apart, but even in the autumn of their alliance, the pull of affection was always there. Charting the personal drama behind the discussions of strategy and statecraft, Meacham has written the definitive account of the most remarkable friendship of the modern age.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book!.......2007-09-16

Jon has done a splendid job of bringing to life these two titans of world history. The relationship of these two men are recreated with a detail to personal traits and their crumbling world around them. This book has been pivotal in enhancing a better understanding of both men, and particularly how Franklin D. Roosevelt, albeit his duplicity and guile, was crucial in the fight against the evil Axis powers.

Some have criticized FDR for those white lies, yet those lies and actions secured success for a slumbering nation that would have remained set in their isolationist ways, and would have certainly fallen victim to Hitler's death machine if America followed their own self interest and avoided conflict. Roosevelt was clairvoyant enough to understand the threat and coddle America's misguided sentiments and turn it into action, action that made America the clear world leader it became. A magnificent book of a magnificent man, along with his strong-willed partner Winston. Mecham's treatment of both men is sound and extremely admirable. Highly recommended.

BFF?.......2007-09-07

Well, while Winston and Franklin might not have been best friends forever, it certainly is refreshing and enlightening to see this aspect of WW2 given such detail. The book is rife with quotes from direct corespondences as well as excerpts from various diaries of those surrounding these two titans. Jon Meacham does an excellent job with this book and really makes learning about these two enjoyable. While not a complaint, it is worth noting that this is NOT a history of WW2 and you should probably know the basics before diving in because Meacham jumps forward and glosses over major points, but this best serves his main focus: Churchill and Roosevelt.

An Excellent look at the friendship that shaped the modern world .......2007-06-21

Jon Meacham presents an interesting portrait of two leaders in World War II and the way they united the allies. This book is not meant to serve as a book on World War II and diplomacy but on the relationship between FDR and Churchill. In doing so the author presents a unique perspective that has not been looked at in many of the countless World War II books. The personal relationship of these two men (much like the personal relationship of their enemies Mussolini and Hitler) drove and shaped the course of the war. Each complimented each others strengths and in the end allowed for a unique position to be taken. There had been few examples of this kind of diplomacy before World War II and Meacham shows a diplomacy that would be very important thereafter. This book is filled with excerpts from personal letters and is very well cited. For those who want a different look that your standard World War II books this is an excellent place to start. It is a very light book to read and a lot of fun.

Captivating Insights.......2007-05-11

Franklin and Winston is an excellent book about the friendship between FDR, and Winston Churchill. Many people know the big-picture history between these two men, mostly centering around WWII, but few actually know and understand the smaller details between the two giants of the 20th century. Meacham does a remarkable job detailing the intimate moments between these men, often giving the reader a fly on the wall feel. Franklin and Winston is a fast-paced read, and is highly recommended.

Great read!.......2007-04-29

Superbly written! Whether you like biographies or not, you will love this book!!

Field Marshal Von Manstein, The Janus Head - A Portrait

Average customer rating:

A 'must' for any collection going beyond casual World War II analysis.
Outstanding new study
Could have been excellent, if weren't published horribly
A comprehensive look at Manstein's career

Field Marshal Von Manstein, The Janus Head - A Portrait
Marcel Stein
Manufacturer: Helion and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1906033021

Book Description

Most military historians are in agreement that Feldmarschall Erich von Manstein was the most outstanding German high commander of the Second World War. Many view him as the foremost exponent of large-scale mobile operations in any of the Second World War armies.

Surprisingly, no biography of him has yet been written. To this day, his family refuses to release the papers of his estate to the German military archives at Freiburg. Furthermore the contradictions in the personality of von Manstein make it difficult to generate a synthesis. On one side there is an extraordinary military talent, on the other many political and moral aspects. His military achievements stand in sharp contrast to his inhumane policy of occupation in Russia, his active participation in the slaughter of Jews in Southern Ukraine and the Crimea and his ambivalent attitude to the military resistance movement.

These contradictions have led the author to describe Manstein as 'the Janushead' - the term chosen for the title of the book. He has not written a traditional biography but a portrait.

A complete account of all phases of Manstein's career is given in one chapter, seven more chapters deal extensively with milestones in Manstein's career: his successful plan for the battle of France which led to the defeat of the French Army in less than one month, his dereliction of duty during the battle for Stalingrad, his hubris which led to the disaster of the battle for Kursk, his refusal to take part in the military resistance movement, his compliance with the Commissar order and his involvement in the Holocaust.

The author has widened the subject well beyond the personality of its central figure. It shows how the Nazi system, step by step, succeeded in perverting the centuries-old traditions of the Prussian and German officer corps. Thus, an additional number of German generals are treated in detail to illustrate how moral decrepitude progressively penetrated the highest levels of the armed forces.

This is a very important book, not just because of its up-to-date treatment of von Manstein, a personality who very much requires such an examination, but also due to its wide-ranging and original examination of the Second World War German officer corps at the highest levels.

Customer Reviews:

A 'must' for any collection going beyond casual World War II analysis........2007-07-08

Military libraries strong in World War II history, particularly in profiling German military personalities, probably already have casual coverage and mention of von Manstein, largely considered the most outstanding German high commander of the war - but no complete biography of him has appeared in print until now, making Field Marshal Von Manstein: The Janus Head/A Portrait an unparalleled 'must' for any serious military holding. From his political and military achievements to his inhumane policies in Russia and active participation in Jewish slaughters, this book outlines the contradictions in Manstein's psyche and analyzes both his military and philosophical might. A 'must' for any collection going beyond casual World War II analysis.

Outstanding new study.......2007-06-25

This is comfortably one of the most important books published on the Second World War German armed forces in recent years. For decades, Manstein's reputation has rested on his self-serving autobiography, and similar hagiographical studies. This brand new work, based on deep research in German and Soviet archives, paints him in a different light.

The book is organised around central themes, which are broadly chronological. Some of the most interesting material relates to his involvement in the invasion of the Soviet Union, both in terms of his battlefield performance and his involvement in the Holocaust.

This is not light 'airport' reading, but it is filled with clarity and throws a huge amount of light on the German Second World War officer corps in general, as well as Manstein himself.

However, I cannot agree with one reviewer that this book has been sloppily done by the publisher. The book is very professionally laid out, with very clear footnotes and maps. There is a comprehensive list of sources and bibliography, and index.

In a word, Superb! If you have a real interest in the German Armed Forces in World War II, then this should be on your bookshelf.

Could have been excellent, if weren't published horribly.......2007-06-07

In terms of design, editing, typesetting and proofreading, this is the worst book I've red in the last 20 years or so. 5 stars for author's content, 1 for publisher's mess of a job.

Let me elaborate.

The German original of this book has the title "Der Januskopf: Feldmarschall von Manstein: eine Neubewertung" ("The Janushead: Field Marshal von Manshtein: A Reappraisal") and a Roman coin with double-faced Janus on its cover. Clear and simple: Janus implies duplicity, so probably not everything was OK with the "best strategic mind" of the Wehrmacht. Hence 'reappraisal.' What was wrong with that? Apparently, everything.

On page iv, you can find that the English edition "is not a verbatim translation of the German original": something has been removed, something added, "in order to help the foreign reader's understanding of details that are clear to a German reader, but which require further elaboration in a foreign version."

Here goes the Roman coin: a foreign (that is, English) reader would think that the book is about ancient Rome. Haven't you heard what happened to "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian?" Why not make it straight and place Manstein's mug on the cover instead? And to make it even easier, let's turn subtitle into the title: "Field Marshal von Manstein." That's better. Now, "a reappraisal"? God forbid, we are talking about the Great Manstein here! Marketing, you know. So, what these downsized Janushead and his coin are doing here, confusing a prospective buyer? My guess is, the author did not agree with their total removal. But that's fine: the Wehrmacht uniform is clearly visible, and what sells better than Nazi (aside from cats and golf, of course)?

Author "extends his thanks" to the publisher for "professionalism." Does Helion & Co. deserve his thanks?

Here are some errors I've notices (and I am not a proofreader). I will not list here misplaced or missing spaces, commas, periods, hyphens, dashes, quotation marks or parentheses--it will be too much. Missing text is in brackets:

p. 5: "Trotsky will remain [in] history's pantheon ..."--as you will see, somebody at Helion has an issue with the preposition 'in.'
p. 6: "Books in German, and in foreign literature, that treat Manstein [in] some detail ..."
p. 8: "His book is apologetic and inspired by a wish to respond to the growing crtiticism of Manstein [in] Germany."
p. 9: "Apart from the his participation ..." [delete 'the']
p. 10: "The book appeared in 1976."--compare fn 12 on the same page: publication date is 1966.
p. 12: "History Otetchesvennoi Voiny Sovietskogo Soyuza (IVOVS)"--should be "Istoriya Otechestvennoy Voiny Sovietskogo Soyuza (IVOVSS)" ("History of the Patriotic War of the Soviet Union").
p. 13: "Often several 'fronts' were temporarily placed under the authority of one commander and his unit was named 'direction' in Russian". Yes, a deputy of the Soviet High Command (Stavka) could coordinate actions of several fronts, but this never was a unit, and it never been called 'direction' in Russian, which doesn't have such a word; apparently, it's Russian "napravleniye," which still wasn't a unit.
p. 28: "... was untiring in his efforts to obtain a complete a rehabilitation of Fritsch." [delete second article 'a']
ibid.: "... to find himself in the place that a Moltke, a Schlieffen and a Beck had occupied ..." [delete articles 'a']
p. 29: "Although Hitler had never met Manstein [in] person ..."
p. 31: "... Manstein's plan was the architect of the German ... victory."--Plan was the architect?!
p. 40: "... parts only of 11th Army ..." should be "only parts."
p. 42: "... against Hitler's order to have 6th Army remain [in] the Kessel."
p. 44: "... that he longed to meet Manstein [in] person ..."
p. 58: "9 November 1944: ..."--should be 1943: Manstein was dismissed on 30th of March 1944 (see the next paragraph).
p. 80: "... he laid out his his ideas about Sichelschnitt to Rundstedt[.]" [delete second 'his']
p. 81: "Schundt"--should be Schmundt, compare with correct spelling on the very next line.
p. 86: "After the end of World War II, Marshal Pétain became vice president ..."--after the World War ONE!
p. 87: "Methusalems"--should be Methuselahs.
p. 90: "Gamelin complained to the British Secretary of War, Duff Cooper, who Deverell had relieved."--should be "who had relieved Deverell."
p. 91: "In 1939, it became, 'Try to become a shirker.'"--compare with fn 39: the quoted book was published in 1917 (?): no, the correct date is 1971 (!), see Bibliography, p. 420.
p. 94: "In his description of the 'Breda variant', Frieser calls Gamelin a new Terentius Varro, an early Roman scholar." I don't have the German original of "The Blitzkrieg Legend" by Karl-Heinz Frieser; in the English translation, which I have in my possession, on p. 46, Frieser quoted the former French air force minister Pierre Cot, who wrote that the French could cry to their air force, 'What did you do with our aircraft?', like Augustus was crying 'Varus! Give me my legions back!' after Quintilius Varus lost three legions in the Teutoburg Forest. You don't have to be classical scholar to know that the Roman general Publius Quintilius Varus is not the same person as 'an early Roman scholar' Marcus Terentius Varro--it would be enough to watch "I, Claudius." K.-H. Frieser didn't call Gamelin 'a new Terentius Varro'--why would he? What that scholar has to do with General Gamelin? I bet, it was also correctly Varus in the German edition of the "Januskopf." Is this one of the 'details that are clear to a German reader,' but which needed 'further elaboration' for a dumb foreigner?
p. 109: "Pi³sudski"--should be Pilsudski.
p. 112: "... he phoned Manstein [in] the midd[l]e of the night."
p. 113: "No German high command [officer?] would go further than Manstein ..."
ibid.: "In 'antiquity' [why in quotation marks?], traitors were thrown off the Tarpeian Rock in Rome."--another 'elaboration in a foreign version' of a detail 'clear to a German reader'? Or was this in the original, too?
p. 115: "Koralev"--should be Korolev.
p. 121: "Ssadogoye"--??? may be, Sadovoye?
p. 123: "... the nickname Fabius Cunctator, the delayer ..."--Why 'Fabius Cunctator' in italics? It is a name! And what student of military history doesn't know Quintus Fabius Maximus, the conqueror of Hannibal? Why 'elaborate'?
p. 127: "... had warned him in September 1952 ..."--should be 1942.
ibid.: "... I am not a Reichenau." [delete 'a'?]
p. 131: "Potemkin type village"--why 'type'? Potemkin village is a Potemkin village. Proverbial.
ibid.: "... become Communist sympathisers and remain [in the] East Germany after the war."
p. 138: "Anatol[y] Mereschko"--should be transliterated 'Merezhko' (same Russian letter as first in Zhukov).
p. 140: "... assisted the NKVD in their 'terror'."--why in quotation marks? was it terror, or wasn't? (same again of pp. 166 and 257).
ibid., fn 69: "Ibid, p. [?]"
p. 143, fn 82: "Piekalkiewicz, p. [?]"
p. 149: "... was named a Fabius cunctator, ie a great delayer."--again (and again on pp. 152 and 159), why this name is in italics? and why Cunctator (which should start with capital 'C,' by the way) with an article? why again this elaboration, 'ie a great delayer'? By the way, Maximus (the Great) in the Cunctator's name is because he saved Rome from Hannibal, not because he was a great delayer.
p. 150: "Mychkovka"--probably, should be Mychovka (compare with spelling just few lines further down); if this is correct, the English transliteration is Mykhovka.
ibid.: "Nish-Kimsky"--should be Nischne-Kimsky (means Lower Kimsky, compare with Verchne-Kimsky, that is, Upper Kimsky, on the same line). Correct English transliterations of the toponyms in the following paragraphs: Verkhne-Kimsky, Nizhne-Kimsky, Chir, Kalach, Chervlenaya.
p. 151: "... rendering it impossible to remain [in] the Kessel ..."
ibid.: "... with a reservatio mentalis, ie a silent disagreement ..."--this has just been explained, on the previous page.
p. 152: "inititiative"--should be "initiative."
p. 155: "... while the brea[k]-out proceeds ..."
p. 164: "chipucha"--correct transliteration is "chepukha."
p. 165: "Stalin became Vassil[i]ev ..."
p. 166: "... the image of Stalin [in] a soldier's greatcoat ..."
ibid.: "Gossudarstvennyi"--should be "Gosudarstvennyi."
p. 168: "No man can jump over his shown shadow ..."--should be "his own shadow."
p. 169: "From that day Manstein became his direct superior, Paulus suffered ..."--should be "from the day."
p. 172: "... the fall of Kiev in the November." [delete 'the']
p. 173: Folio and the running head are missing.
ibid., also twice on p. 212: "Solovev"--should be "Soloviev" (compare with spelling in Bibliography, p. 428: "Solowiev" and "Solowiew"; it is the same name!).
p. 179: Delete "215" after the footnote reference 22.
p. 185: "As commander in chief of 9th Army his opinion was not even requested."--is grammar OK here?
p. 190: "... it will be a difficult [task?] to find an occasion ..." [alternatively, delete 'a']
p. 206: "... the Russian word BEPTEP, a den of brigands ..."--A den of brigands in Russian is "vertep," it has nothing to do with Goethe's Werther (Russian "Verter"). That 'den of brigands,' obviously, is yet another 'elaboration' which is wide of the mark.
p. 209, fn 118: "Tankvoye zrashrenye pod Prochorovkoi"--correct spelling and transliteration: "Tankovoye srazheniye pod Prokhorovkoy."
ibid., fn 120: "Dyelo vsey zhisni"--should be "zhizni."
p. 212: "Sokolev estimated ...", again "Sokolev" in fn 138--apparently, it's Soloviev again (fn 135 above). There is no Sokolev in Bibliography (if there was, it should have been "Sokolov").
p. 213: "... members of military 'resistance' ..."--why in quotation marks?
p. 217, fn 19: "... the numbers indicated ibn all sources ..."--should be "in all sources."
p. 218, fn 24: "Ibdid"--should be "Ibid" (ibi dem).
p. 219, fn 25: "Soldatenleben, p. [?]"
p. 226, fn 54: "Lagebsrpechungen"--should be "Lagebesprechungen" ("briefs"), correct spelling on p. 422, in the Bibliography.
p. 232: "... get out [of] OKH ..."
ibid.: "In January 1973, Zeitzler was still the National-Socialist chief of the Generalstab ..."--fortunately, he was not: should be 1943.
p. 235: The forth paragraph from the bottom of the page, starting with "In the video ..." is the author's comment; it should be separated from the rest of the quotation (with square brackets, perhaps, like it is done elsewhere in the book). Same on p. 241, second paragrpaph from the bottom: "Peter Hoffmann ... many knew much." is another comment not separated from the citation. Again on p. 322: "Given this 'definition' ... execution." is the author's comment to the quotation; and once more on the next page: "Streit emphasised ... military commanders." And again, p. 369: "As in the documents ... by 'resettled'."
p. 240: "Joachim Fest took them up again [in] his book ..."
p. 251: "... with 11th Army on the Crimea."--should be "in the Crimea" (again on p. 315: "... partisan danger increased on the Crimea ..."; p. 355: "He had acted on the Crimea ..."; p. 364: "The partisans on the Crimea ...").
p. 255: "Seaton expressed himself in a similar vein [in] his work ..."
p. 257: "Krasnaya Sviezda"--should be "Zviezda."
ibid., fn 31: "Ot zhimnego dvorca do kremlyovskoy steni. Ocherkyi sovietskoy istoryi ot 1917 do nashich dneyi"--should be "Ot Zimnego dvortsa do Kremlyovskoy steny: Ocherki sovietskoy istorii ot 1917 do nashikh dney."
p. 268: "... by a decree of the Convenant"--should be "National Convention" or "Convention."
p. 269: "Sampolit"--should be "Zampolit."
p. 278: "A general 'orders', he does not 'express' wishes."--why quotation marks?
p. 283: "... it must be said again [in] defence of Manstein ..."
p. 286: "I 'personally' do not believe ..."--why quotation marks?
p. 288, fn 10: "Die Truppe des WeltanschauungskriEinsatzgruppees."--should be "Weltanschauungskrieges" (correct spelling on p. 424).
p. 290: "Kichinev" ("Kichinew" on p. 342)--English transliteration is Kishinev (or Chisinau, as it's spelled in Modlova).
p. 291: "... no one in German[y] had any knowledge ..."
p. 305, fn 72: "Madison 194"--should be 1964.
p. 318: "... the German Federal [Re]public forbade ..."
p. 319: "... Manstein became one of the active 'perpetrators' of the genocide."--if he did, why quotation marks?
p. 325: "... as an ally of Czarist Russia."--why Czarist in italics?
p. 328: "... was not persona grata, ie a welcome guest ..."--yet another 'elaboration' for a dumb English reader?
p. 330: "Kuchler"--should be "Küchler," with umlaut.
p. 338: "Wöhler felt that he was entitled to order Ohlendorf around, and that Ohlendorf had to remain [in?] total respect of his military rank."--grammar?
p. 341: "Czernovits"--German transliteration is Czernowitz, English--Chernovtsy.
p. 352: "Kachovka"--preferrably, Kakhovka.
p. 364: Yet another example of helpful 'elaboration': "... the nimbus, ie the cloud over the German Generalstab ..." Should be 'halo,' perhaps, like over a head of a saint?
p. 369: "Motorized Gendarmerie Unit 683 reported had already reported ..." [delete the first 'reported']
p. 371: "Dchanskoy"--correct German spelling is Dschankoj, English--Dzhankoy.
p. 373: "... many suspicious elements remain [in] the city ..."
p. 374: "Bakhtiassaray"--should be Bakhchisaray (correct German transliteration is Bachtschyssaraj).
p. 387-388: It would be nice to 'elaborate' here, and translate German poems.

If this of any consolation, I have yet to see either an English or an American publication which cites Russian books, articles and archived documents without errors: Helion is not unique in that matter.

Lesser, but still irritating, annoyances: Footnotes--either with period in the end, or without, not both. Abbreviation of "ibi dem"--either with a period (ibid.) or without. There should be, throughout, a space (or consistently no space) between initials and a surname; between 'p.' or 'vol.' and the following number; and, in a sentence, after a comma; also, space needed before opening brackets.

Still more errors could be found in the Bibliography and in the Index, but enough is enough.

Have an editor and a proofreader even touched this book?

Very professional indeed. Thank you, Helion & Company!

A comprehensive look at Manstein's career.......2007-05-13

When I finally got around to reading Manstein's military memoirs I was quite surprised at how much I was annoyed by it. Instead of explaining what had happened and why I was presented with 'what if' solutions and how everyone around him was responsible for the failures under his command and he was innocent and out of the loop. This only one of the reasons I was happy to read Stein's portrait of Manstein. It isn't a biography and it isn't solely about Manstein, at times Stein goes off on tangents to explain who the other characters are in the drama that turned out to have been the German officer corps at war. From the early days when Manstein was coming up the ranks to the July 20th plot against Hitler's life and finally to his testimony at the war crimes trials, all are covered and those who stood up for him and voiced their opinions against him are mentioned and covered in a variety of detail.

To start off I see the good and bad of this book, I agree with many of the authors contentions and at the same time there are some things that I do not think are wholly evident and should be considered practically a given when speaking or thinking of Manstein.

The book starts off with a chronology of his activities from birth until he was dismissed from his post by Hitler. At which point there is a chapter by chapter report about his various and controversial activities. The reader is presented with Manstein's actions during the campaign against France. I appreciated Stein's conclusions in regards to what might have happened if Manstein's plan had not been taken up, in retrospect considering the condition of the French Army, the same outcome would have occurred. The Germans, although outnumbered, would have been victorious against the forces of Belgium, the British Expeditionary Force, and the French Army. Yet, Manstein's plan was helpful in bringing the war to a quick end. I cannot say personally that it was "Brilliant" since its outcome was more so decided by the ineptness of the French military than anything 'spectacular' that Manstein or the German army came up with or did, respectively. In the conclusion one will notice Stein says if this is all Manstein had on his record he would be considered one of the great commanders of history, yet to a degree I think he contradicts himself when, as earlier pointed out, he said the outcome was assured before Manstein's plan was even adopted. Considering the fact that the German General Staff is held in such high esteem, it's hard to believe that their original plan would have been that much off as to cause them to lose the entire war.

The next chapter outlines Manstein's actions in the Crimea and specifically his actions toward a certain divisional commander whom, through his indirect actions, would eventually be killed and whose wife would end up in a concentration camp with 40 marks to her name. Already, it is seen that when Manstein was in trouble, the trouble came from the fact that the Soviets launched amphibious operations in the Crimea when Manstein was head of the 11th Army, that he found someone else to blame. Not taking any responsibility on himself, and in all likelihood that von Sponeck, whom Manstein had dismissed from his position, did the right thing and saved his division rather than listening to Manstein and acting against his own better judgment.

Next is the ever controversial actions of Manstein as commander of Army Group Don and Paulus's 6th Army which was trapped in Stalingrad. Was Manstein his superior? Yes. Could Manstein have ordered Paulus out of the pocket and helped rescue the 6th Army? Yes. Did he? No. In detail this is treated in an entire chapter in Stein's book and the outcome is still not definitive, but simply put, it adds to the idea that when Manstein was put into an uncomfortable situation, minus combat ones, he cracked and couldn't do the right thing. Again and again Paulus asked him for orders hinting that he should let him break out or give him freedom of action and again and again Manstein refused.

Kursk, an operation doomed from the start for a variety of reasons can be viewed as being, at least in part, Manstein's operation. How could a professional commander undertake such an operation without numerical superiority against an enemy that knows he is coming and exactly where? Wishful thinking, what else could be the answer? Those who would argue that it wasn't Manstein who was responsible, I advise to read the book and think again. Too many have made Manstein into a hero he was not and too many ignore his actions thinking him incapable of making them.

Manstein's role in the resistence movement to Hitler. He was approached more than once and by a variety of officers who asked and hinted at the fact that Hitler needed to be killed so that Germany could have a chance at a future. Manstein couldn't find it in himself to choose the correct form of honor. To him honor is doing your duty and obeying orders when you know they are wrong, while there is another kind of honor and Stein does an excellent job of describing it via many other German officers and their actions when it came to the resistance against Hitler or simply disobeying his racist orders in the East. Which leads to the last chapter.

In this chapter Manstein's activities including his 11th Army's actions in conjunction with the Einsatzgruppen are discussed. Many excerpts are taken from his trial and one can easily see that he is hiding something. Him and the 11th Army's chief of staff and a slew of other generals who were on the stand for their orders against Jews and Commissars, for their activities which led to the massacre of Jews and others in their army rear areas, and a plethora of reports that they had to have seen describing Einsatzgruppen actions, at times with cooperation from Wehrmacht units, in the rear areas and the body count of killed climbing higher and higher.

I am obviously leaving too much out, but if this review has anyone interested in the book I cannot recommend it highly enough. While a lot of this material is freely available in German, for those who have not yet mastered it, this book is a great start. My only fault with this book is that I think Stein conceives Manstein to have been a greater commander than any other German during the Second World War, that is something he has yet to prove if one pays attention to the, at times, contradictory ideas he has about Manstein, his actions, and his plans. His plan which conquered France, in my opinion any plan put together by the German General Staff at that time which had the Germans advancing with loaded weapons would have been a win against France. His actions in the Crimea, one of the longest campaigns which a German army undertook and against forces that were poorly led, although Stein doesn't go into the details from the Soviet side, Mekhlis, a political Commissar, pretty much lost the battle in the Crimea for the Red Army. His actions at Stalingrad, foiled by the 2nd Guards Army under Malinovsky which stopped cold his relief attempt. His actions at Kharkov, thanks to a Panzer corps which he had previously ordered not to evacuate Kharkov and to whom he owed his win. then again it was against an over-extended enemy who had been on the offensive for months, this was in fact a continuation of the operations started in November around Stalingrad. Lastly, Kursk, a failure from the start. Therefore while some of his actions are noteworthy, they are nothing special in my opinion. A reason, aside from his genius or brilliance, can be found for each of his achievements.

Henry Yan's Figure Drawing, Techniques and Tips

Average customer rating:

A required reference work on the figure for your growth and development!
A master class in figurative drawing
Wonderful and inspiring book!
The difference between art and replica
wonderful artwork !!

Henry Yan's Figure Drawing, Techniques and Tips
Henry Yan
Manufacturer: Aardvark Global Publition
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1427610231

Product Description

This book is focused on various techniques and styles in drawing human figures and portraits. The book has 192 pages, each page includes one or more figure/head drawings done from live models. There are about 20 step-by-step demonstrations from detailed and traditional approaches to fast and painterly styles. Along with the step-by-step demonstrations and examples, the book is filled with detailed description of methods of using charcoal pencil, vine charcoal and compressed charcoal. The text also includes opinions, tips, ways of thinking and observing. It's a book that will benefit both beginners and advanced learners.

Customer Reviews:

A required reference work on the figure for your growth and development!.......2007-08-30

Henry's book opened up a new world of drawing to me and looks to be - regardless of price - the deal of the century given what some works of similar cost offer the reader or artist.

Henry's astounding level of line quality, and his ability to see - in an elegant way - what should be recorded on the page set his work and this collection of his drawings apart. While they are different in many ways, I put this book up with my Burton Silverman books as an oft' considered reference. Amazing and wonderful just to leaf through.. and fantastic as a learning tool! A Classic!

A master class in figurative drawing.......2007-06-19

As one of the great draughtsman and artists of our time, Mr. Yan has compiled a book which really encapsulates what figure drawing should be all about.
A beautifully laid out book, Mr. Yan covers in a thoughtful and methodical way how to approach drawing the figure in several of the major classical styles, his thought process and step by step instructions on how to do so.
In saying that, his work transcends mere technique and has an energy that comes from being truly free to express one's self. He provides you the tools to do this, the rest is up to you!

Wonderful and inspiring book!.......2007-06-11

I bought this book as a gift to my father, Francisco Lopes. His opinion about it is:
"This is a book that inspires the artist to express in his drawings a sense of living energy to the figure. You should have Henry Yan's book in your library even if you are a professional artist or not. It is an important and complete course of charcoal drawing."

The difference between art and replica.......2007-06-10

I have been studying figurative art for several years and own most of the figurative books on the market. The difference between other books and Mr. Yan's book is that other books teach you how to copy the figure where as Mr. Yan's book show you how to create figurative art. The powerful drawings in this book make me think about values in a new way. If you are into figurative drawings, this book is a must have.

wonderful artwork !!.......2007-06-07

Henry Yan's figure drawing gives you a great approach on how to work with lines, proportions and structural shapes to achieve volume in your drawings, but as well to work with a more painterly approach using mass and the use of shadows and lights to shape the form... it's illustrated with great examples of these two approaches, and you'll also see how he combines those two approaches line and mass in his examples.
You will find in this book Henry Yan's different steps to achieve such splendid drawings. Aside the explanations on his method of work, it's abondantly illustrated(portraits as well as figure drawings). There is to me a real quality in his line, composition of image and use of lights. Besides his great technicity,I find his work filled with a search of sensibility and mood in the capture of the model's pose.... that goes beyond just achieving "perfect technicity" so to speak, but in search of what the model's pose and scene inspires you, far more than just simply "copying" things. I have so far never seen a figure drawing book like this, it will defenately remain a source of inspiration to me. His "painterly" approach in his figure drawings is a great inspiration on how to use this method in colored paintings as well. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in figure drawings and in art in general.

Average customer rating:

Ok, but better for the more advanced
Painting the Head in Oil
Highly Recommend!
most instructional oil painting portrait book i have read
This is the oil portrait painting bible.

Painting the Head in Oil
John Howard Sanden
Manufacturer: Watson-Guptill Pubns
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0823036405

Customer Reviews:

Ok, but better for the more advanced.......2006-06-16

If you're seeking guidance on painting portraits, Sanden's method, or using his portrait oils this is NOT the book for you. You'll want his newer "Portraits from life in 29 steps."

Unlike the newer book, there are no full portrait demonstrations in this book, only segments on the nose, mouth, etc. and these are in black and white like the majority of instructional illustrations in this book. This book does however list the basic colors and the relative proportions used to create Sanden's Pro Mix set.

90 black and white plus 42 color illustrations. Brief discussions on many aspects of the portrait painting process but very little advice on color or painting itself. In short it's more of a guide for the artist who knows how to paint but can't seem to produce a good portrait than it is for less experienced painters.

A dated book but one offering as much or similar advice to newer books - it would earn 4 stars if it weren't for the lack of color plates in the instructional segments.

Painting the Head in Oil.......2005-09-30

A wonderful and informative book by John Howard Sanden describing his techniques used in painting the Head (portrait) in oil. I thank amazon for such a quick and fast way in acquiring the kind of books that take so much of my time searching by car.

Highly Recommend!.......2002-05-11

This is one of the best, most thorough books on Portrait Painting. I especially benefited from the information on color mixing for the various skin tones, which I have seen in other books, but his is more in-depth. I won't let my book go!

most instructional oil painting portrait book i have read.......1999-04-03

this book gives you step by step instruction and teaches the basics as well as advanced ways to get portraits the way they should be. it includes the artist's palette and pictures of demostrations. he explains the colors of his palette as well as showing you how to make it with a chart for future reference. The darks, shadows , and light, the way in which he uses it to get the true illusion of 3 dimensional picture. i recommend this book to all artist alike.

This is the oil portrait painting bible........1999-02-19

Whether a beginner or experienced oil painter, this is a must-have book for your art techniques library. Sanden begins with general oil painting information about materials and equipment. He reviews his color palette in detail, discussing warms and cools, earth colors, and mixing your own flesh tints. He covers the basics of drawing the head and then talks about value, light, halftone, and shadow. Sanden's in depth color review includes hue, value and intensity, color mixing recipes and charts which you can make on canvas paper to keep for future reference. He shows you how to set up your palette, and gives clear and concise step-by-step painting instructions. After a review of general painting procedures, he paints (with examples) the head, including the mouth, teeth, chin, ears, forehead, hair, eyes, eyeglasses, and nose. Explanations are very clear and easy to follow. Lastly, he tells you how to capture the essence of your sitter. There are several color examples of his work throughout the book, as well as, black and white ones. He also discusses dark flesh tones, sitters attire, and the background. He encourages the painter to reduce the portrait into five parts: the light side of the face, the dark side of the face, the hair, the costume, and the background; to simplify. I use this book with my oil painting classes.

The Eloquent Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Portrait in Her Own Words (With a One-Hour DVD Insert from A&E Biography)

Average customer rating:

Books and music ...Joys in my life
Simply quotes and anecdotes
A charming book about a grand lady

The Eloquent Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Portrait in Her Own Words (With a One-Hour DVD Insert from A&E Biography)
Bill Adler
Manufacturer: William Morrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0060732822
Release Date: 2004-04-13

Book Description

As her own words prove well, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis could be at times funny, buoyant, candid, irreverent, and of course poignant, too. This collection of quotes shares her thoughts on marriage, family, political life and ambition, publicity, privacy, and more as she confided them to intimate friends, family, and interviewers alike.

Memories of her childhood, her love for Jack, her children and grandchildren, the Kennedys, her often misunderstood marriage to Aristotle Onassis, her years as a widow, and her later companionship with Maurice Tempelsman are all represented here, as are some rather remarkable correspondences with the Johnsons, the Nixons, and the Khrushchevs.

A sampling of her wit and wisdom:

"I was a tomboy. I decided to learn to dance and I became feminine."

"Well, I think my biggest achievement is that, after going through a rather difficult time, I consider myself comparatively sane."

"When Harvard men say they have graduated from Radcliffe, then we've made it."

"If Jack proved to be the greatest president of the century and his children turned out badly, it would be a tragedy."

Forty years ago, when the nation was coming out from under a period of mourning, Bill Adler edited The Kennedy Wit and in so doing helped the world remember a man and a president, not just a sorrowful event. To commemorate the tenth anniversary of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's death, he has edited yet another book of quotes celebrating life -- this time the life of Jackie.

The accompanying DVD documentary is considered by many to be the definitive film biography of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and was produced by CBS News Productions for Arts & Entertainment Network.

Customer Reviews:

Books and music ...Joys in my life.......2007-01-06

I have great admiration for Jacqueline Kennedy... Anything about her that is not scandalous is good for me

Simply quotes and anecdotes.......2006-03-17

This book paints a picture of a person, using very brief quotes and anecdotes categorized by topic. One can pick this book up and read something which reveals the inner character of Jackie O.

A charming book about a grand lady.......2004-05-29

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy was without a doubt one of America?s most admired first ladies and that is the major theme of this book. Although the book - a collection of quotes taken from a variety of sources, mostly interviews given by Mrs. Kennedy - spans her lifetime, a good portion is devoted to Jackie?s roles as the young wife of Senator John F. Kennedy and as the Nation?s First Lady.
In order to fully appreciate some of the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis?s comments about her roles as a woman/wife/mother and widow, it is important to bring up the historical context. The Kennedy Administration, ?Camelot,? took place amid turbulent times: widespread civil and racial unrest, the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis, and escalating involvement in the Vietnamese conflict. The women?s movement was then in its infancy and it is against this backdrop that the Kennedy?s acquired mythical, almost magical qualities.
?Jack and Jackie were America?s royal couple,? writes Bill Adler in his introduction to The Eloquent Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis; A Portrait in Her Own Words. The quotes provide a window into her childhood, life with JFK and her role as First Lady, then widowhood, followed by her marriage to Aristotle Onassis, her work as book editor for both Viking Publishers and Doubleday, and final years. One section deals with the assassination, ?Jack was the love of my life. No one will ever know a big part of me died with him.?
A common thread that runs throughout is her great love of, and reliance on, the family. Jackie?s life revolved around those she loved the most, her husband and her children, Caroline and John Jr. ?Raising children is the best thing I?ve ever done,? she declared.
For those of us who lived through the sixties and are old enough to remember where we were when we heard that the President of the United States had been mortally wounded by an assassin?s bullet, this tiny giant of a book will help to fan the flames of remembrance by highlighting the ?beauty, grace and intelligence Jacqueline Kennedy brought to the White House,? the country, and the world.

Average customer rating:

I am a blood relative of President Jack Kennedy
EXCELLENT VISUALS OF CAMELOT!!!

The Kennedy Mystique: Creating Camelot
Jon Goodman , Hugh Sidey , Letitia Baldridge , Robert Dallek , and Barbara Baker Burrows
Manufacturer: National Geographic
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0792253086
Release Date: 2006-04-04

Book Description

America's endless fascination with Camelot has enshrined countess pictures of Jack and Jackie Kennedy, Caroline and John-John in our national iconography, but few books have focused on their instinctive grasp of the media's visual magic. Now, in a volume that combines arresting photography and perceptive analysis, Camelot insiders and media experts tell the whole story of the "love affair" between the Kennedys and the camera—a far more complex and sophisticated relationship than we often suppose.

The Kennedy Mystique looks behind and beyond what first meets the eye, reminding readers that JFK and Jackie recognized and used the media's power, and encouraged photographers to capture private moments as well as public events. Unique commentaries from Kennedy intimates and observers like Letitia Baldridge, Hugh Sidey and Robert Dallek provide rare perspective on the photographs as historical records, as image-management, and as symbols. Readers learn, for instance, that the heartwarming shots of Jack laughing with John one Halloween were spontaneous, but the famous "candids" of Jack and Jackie putting the children to bed were staged.

The Kennedy Mystique puts the carefully crafted vision of Camelot in context of early-'60s culture and history to show how JFK and Jackie turned photography, celebrity, and media savvy into a potent political tool—and left a visual legacy of irresistible and lasting appeal.

Customer Reviews:

I am a blood relative of President Jack Kennedy.......2007-05-22

The Kennedy Mystique is a wonderful book. My 7 year old Daughter likes to look at the pictures. My Exwife gave me heck because at school my 7 year old Daughter said she was a relative of President Kennedy and none of her classmates believed her and told the teacher she was making up stories. I have computer printouts from Ancestry dot com showing the relationship between my Great Great Grandfather David Doughty Morgan 1851 to 1915 and President Jack Kennedy. Like the early Christians were persecuted I was told I was crazy at my Church for saying I was a blood Kennedy realtive until I brought in the Computer printouts proving this to be true. The coauthor of this book mister Dallek makes the writing about the Kennedy family Prestigious. Dont just look at the pictures, read about Americas greatest Family the Kennedys. My prior reviews about President Kennedy being alive have been deleted. Lets see what happens this time. I invoke freedom of speech for keeping this Amazon review on the internet. Write a response to whether you believe Brad Morgan (Kennedy) is the real American Shadow Vice President a tradition that goes back to 1774 and the Continental Congress and is Constitutional.

EXCELLENT VISUALS OF CAMELOT!!!.......2007-03-30

This book is a Keeper for all J.F.K Fans the world over. I love the excellent visuals and the superb writing from the trendsetters of that era. This book makes you feel as if you are transported back to the early 1960s and you feel as if you are witnessing history from a front seat balcony. Many of the photographs have never been seen before. Pick up this book for your Library today and relive those brief, shining moments in history!

Noel Serrano
The J.F.K. Group-2007

[...]

Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President

Average customer rating:

Worth Repeating: Best one volume bio of LBJ
read
Lyndon Johnson, President During a Difficult Decade
Best Single Volume Biography of LBJ
Great Biography

Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President
Robert Dallek
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0195159217

Book Description

Robert Dallek's brilliant two-volume biography of Lyndon Johnson has received an avalanche of praise. Michael Beschloss, in The Los Angeles Times, said that it "succeeds brilliantly." The New York Times called it "rock solid" and The Washington Post hailed it as "invaluable." And Sidney Blumenthal in The Boston Globe wrote that it was "dense with astonishing incidents." Now Dallek has condensed his two-volume masterpiece into what is surely the finest one-volume biography of Johnson available. Based on years of research in over 450 manuscript collections and oral histories, as well as numerous personal interviews, this biography follows Johnson, the "human dynamo," from the Texas hill country to the White House. We see LBJ, in the House and the Senate, whirl his way through sixteen- and eighteen-hour days, talking, urging, demanding, reaching for influence and power, in an uncommonly successful congressional career. Then, in the White House, we see Johnson as the visionary leader who worked his will on Congress like no president before or since, enacting a range of crucial legislation, from Medicare and environmental protection to the most significant advances in civil rights for black Americans ever achieved. And we see the depth of Johnson's private anguish as he became increasingly ensnared in Vietnam. In these pages Johnson emerges as a man of towering intensity and anguished insecurity, of grandiose ambition and grave self-doubt, a man who was brilliant, crude, intimidating, compassionate, overbearing, driven: "A tornado in pants." Gracefully written and delicately balanced, this singular biography reveals both the greatness and the tangled complexities of one of the most extravagant characters ever to step onto the presidential stage.

Customer Reviews:

Worth Repeating: Best one volume bio of LBJ.......2007-04-11

Given the complexity of both the man and the times he lived in I would have thought that a one volume biography of Lyndon Johnson was impossible. While certain sacrifices are made, for example the LBJ's relationships with his contemporaries are often glossed over, the book does its job and portrays the basics of who LBJ was. Dallek also does a good job at describing the master politician that LBJ was and how that helped him craft one of the most assertive and successful legislative agenda's in American history. Lastly, he explains how LBJ's obession with Vietnam ultimately lead to his downfall. A very interesting book and a strong must read for people interested in 20th century history.

read.......2006-11-10

I have not had a chance to read this book yet. Please check back with me later.

Lyndon Johnson, President During a Difficult Decade.......2005-07-30

Lyndon B. Johnson will be remembered as President for his passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and also for his unwillingness to become the first president to lose a war. A career in politics will invariably lead one to people you dislike and Lyndon had his share of those, notably Bobby Kennedy. Johnson was a very down to earth individual, some would say crude, in his manner of speech to others, but he was a tireless worker in the area of Civil Rights in which he was successful, and in regard to the Vietnam war which wore him down to the extent that he chose not to run for a second term in 1968. His reason for not more actively bombing North Vietnam and escalating the war in that regard was his fear of China and Russia entering the conflict. It so happened that it was he who was president when the war reached the stalemate stage, but chances are anyone else would have adopted the same policy as he did. However, his stubborness in not having his presidency tarnished with a defeat in the war ultimately wore him down with him leaving office with an escalated war beyond his control. Our history is littered with presidents whose names are barely remembered, but Lyndon Baines Johnson will always be remembered, mostly for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which brought the southern states in line with the rest of the nation regarding an integrated society and for a fruitless war fought over an erroneous domino theory in which one successive country after another will fall to communism if one of them does. The book is nearly 400 pages long, but it is a read well worth your time.

Best Single Volume Biography of LBJ.......2004-10-01

Robert Dallek has abriged his two volume set (nearly 1,500 pages) down to 400+ pages. Mr. Dallek is a solid writer and researcher. His biography will give you a sense of LBJ as a person and a politican, his accomplishments and his life & times. This will remain as the best single-volume biography available to the reader. So if reading just one book on LBJ is your goal, then this is your book.

Having said that, I wish to encourage the reader to explore either Mr. Dallek's original set or the never-ending magnum opus of Robert Caro (three volunes and over 2,700 pages so far). For better or for worse, LBJ was second only to FDR for his domination and impact upon the American political scene in a 40 year career that stretched from the 1930's to the 1960's. LBJ had an outsized personality and ambitions that was his strength and, ultimately, his weakness. Although Mr. Dallek does a excellent job in condensing his prior work, no single volume can ever do justice to the life of LBJ.

Personally, I prefer Robert Caro's massive, and sometimes, exhaustive work (his current three books only cover LBJ up to 1960, the same time period for Mr. Dallek's original first volume). Mr. Caro is a wonderful storyteller (somewhat akin to William Manchester) and you are swept away in his epic tale of LBJ. In deciding what to read, it really comes down to how much time and how much interest the reader has in the life of Lyndon Baines Johnson.

Great Biography.......2004-05-18

This is the best book out there on LBJ. Dallek covers his entire life from start to finish. Lyndon Johnson was a towering and caring man. This book really tells his story.

Turning Heads: Portraits of Grace, Inspiration, and Possibilities

Average customer rating:

Fabulous Book
Life Goes On...
Beautiful People
Turning hearts while turning heads
Beautiful and touching

Turning Heads: Portraits of Grace, Inspiration, and Possibilities

Manufacturer: Press On Regardless
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Portraits | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Personal Transformation | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0977007405

Book Description

Hats and head scarves are nowhere to be seen in these portraits of women who have lost their hair during treatment for cancer. Each picture, taken by a well-known photographer, captures bald women too intent on work or play to be bashful about their looks—among others, Melissa Etheridge belts out a Janis Joplin tune at the 2005 Grammys, a rodeo cowgirl poses with the cowboys, a surfer climbs a wave in Hawaii, and a nun scrutinizes her poker hand. A foreword and afterword by the author describe the genesis of the book, her own experience with cancer and hair loss, and the brave women who posed for pictures. Photo credits and profiles are provided for the photographers, who include Eddie Adams, Debbie Fleming Caffery, Reuben Cox, Rob Gauthier, Lauren Greenfield, David Hume Kennerly, Antonin Kratchovil, Harry Langdon, Gerd Ludwig, Jay Maisel, Catherine Opie, Harvey Stein, Nick Vedros, and Annie Wells.

Customer Reviews:

Fabulous Book.......2007-09-22

I highly recommend this inspirational book for anyone going through Chemotherapy. It is a book of women showing their bald heads and describing their experiences in short summaries. If you know anyone going through Chemo, buy it.

Life Goes On..........2007-04-27

"Turning Heads" is a book that seems to provoke different emotions in all its readers. To me, it is a reminder that life goes on whatever is thrown your way. Their baldness is reminder of what the women in Hunsicker's book are dealing with, still they find ways to continue living their normal, or not so normal, lives.

Beautiful People.......2007-03-26

I am so thrilled to be able to have this book in my home. The people it represents are so strong and couragious. I was glad to see that so many wonderful photographers took place in this cause. A nice coffee table book. My friends come over and they always are a bit sceptical in looking at the book, but once the first page is turned...they are intralled. I'm not sure why the picture was chosen for the cover page...I didn't enjoy this picture as much as many inside. Enjoy this book and all it stands for.

Turning hearts while turning heads.......2007-01-16

How do you find the right words to comfort a loved one confronting the trauma of a cancer diagnosis? Unless you've been there, you can't. The stories of the women, both extraordinary and ordinary, in Turning Heads allowed me to offer solace, comfort, and humor to loved ones with words my own voice would fail to find. I have given this book to several people, and it has helped them in profound ways. Not only is this a work that turns the conventional idea of beauty on its head, it's a book that turns hearts -- from fear and despair to healing and hope. Buy it and give it to anyone you know confronting the fear and challenges of cancer. It's the best thing a friend can do.

Beautiful and touching.......2007-01-09

I gave this book to a friend who was about to begin chemotherapy. She cried when she first looked at it, but now she leaves it on her coffee as a source of strength and inspiration. It helped everyone, including her, to deal with the overwhelming shock of the cancer and loss of hair. The pictures are amazing and the stories of the women reflect their courageousness and vulnerability at the same time.

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