A truly beautiful book, with rich photographs and nice summaries. Inspiring to the last page - and particularly useful for igniting one's creative juices. A small note to the Amazon reviewer: Andy Goldsworthy was born in England in 1956. He lives in Penpont, Scotland, but is English - not Scottish.

In "Stone," as in his other books, Andy Goldsworthy takes the natural play of a child--fooling around with sticks, leaves, water, stones, mud, and more--and elevates it to something above and beyond its natural status. He uses his adult design skills to create great manmade beauty from existing natural beauty. He never falls over the line into obvious, coy, or precious art--he simply lets nature be what it is with a tiny little bit of rearranging on his part.

The results are never short of astonishing. Witness the sharp-edged rocks against which Goldsworthy has "glued" (with plain water) the leaves of brilliantly red Japanese maples, thereby making the edges look almost bloodied (p. 76). Witness the delicate, calligraphic tracery Goldsworthy stitched up by pinning together rush after rush after rush with thorns and then hanging these on a gallery wall so that it appears that either Calder or Matisse have wandered in and scribbled elegantly on the walls (p. 83). Witness the balanced oval boulders Goldsworthy lays in a curvaceous line from beach to the sea, and see how they roll and disappear from view as the tide comes crashing in (p. 101). These are but three of the many visual astonishments Goldsworthy shares in this book. The book is a never-ending source of delight and admiration for the feverish workings of one of 20th-century art's most creative minds.

Andy Goldsworthy's art is so inspiring. In this book, the art pieces focus on, as the title says, stone. It's unbelievable. He just unveils so much magic in the world with his brilliant thinking. "Otherworldly" is surely the word to describe how much of the art in this book feels. I keep thinking it couldn't possibly be this planet, but I suppose it's not even a planet anymore; it's the mind of the artist. Time also plays a significant role in this art. He builds pieces with the intent to photograph it when the day moves & the light hits it a certain way. Or he builds things that the incoming tide tears apart. In a piece I love in this book, he gathered ice from a lake & put it on the shade side of a rock. The ice gradually melted & was shed. I wish I could have listened & watched. Something that adds so wonderfully to this book's beauty made from such simple natural materials is that he also accompanies photographs with very Haiku-like, very poetic, short descriptions of the art pieces & how they existed in time & in the act of his making them.

Any one interested in Stone Circles should read this book! It is just not another coffee table edition. This is an excellent study in circles, their meaning and how they were constructed.

There are detailed accounts of travelling to many stone circles around the world - new and old, with even chapters on how to build a stone circle and the alignments.

An excellent new, fresh look at the stone giants that haunts us today and their relationship with our lives.

I can hardly wait to start laying out my own little "stone henge" and with this book I now know how! I always wondered how they did it, now thanks to Rob Roy, not only do I know how they did it, but now I know how I can do it too! Rob provides history, lore, safety tips, labor saving "secrets" of the ancients, great anecdotes and practical and technical instruction on site selection and preparation, stone selection and preparation, constuction of safe and durable megalithic structures, and even a human and spiritual side of the subject that can be quite energizing. With this book anyone can find their own connection to our ancient ancestors! In addition to all the information provided, this book also harbors some very phenominal photographs of both ancient and modern megalithic structures around the world. If you buy only one book this year, buy this one...if your disapointed then you have no soul!

Rob Roy's book, Stone Circles, is perhaps the most comprehensive and masterful work on the topic of stone circles by a living author today. There is much more to megalithic stone circles than just the movement and placement of massive dormant objects. When properly placed, they become permanent monuments to a timeless spiritual perspective. Considering our fragile and tenuous hold on life, we humans, especially in modern times, would do well to learn about and understand these marvels of engineering, determination, and dedication. Rob Roy's book gives us all a good place to start.

Great edition; regretfully the small print makes it somewhat frustrating to enjoy.

Great edition; regretfully the small print makes it somewhat frustrating to enjoy.

This is a great personal reference. There is not much that I can add to prior superlative reviews. BUT for this five volume set (please note the actual physical dimensions of the books) one needs a magnifying glass to read the text. Even with my reading glasses on 2.5's it was too hard....

I just loved this book when I was a hooligan, I can remember Captain Kangaroo reading this one to the camera back in the day. There's many a valuable lesson lurking in here, and tricksterism galore. Coyote would be proud (as was Mr. Moose). Plus, you'll find a generic but decent recipe for vintage village stew...er, stone soup.

"Stone Soup" is a favorite folktale in our elementary school library. I just had a class of second graders beg me to read this Caldecott Honor book to them, and--of course--all our copies were immediately checked out.

I'm continually surprised--but pleased--that modern kids still enjoy these older illustrations by Marcia Brown, with their limited colors (see cover). This tale is a true classic, and this version has been around for many generations. It's part of the folk tradition in more ways than one. Let's hope we keep "sharing" this tale about sharing for generations to come!

If this book has one downfall, it's that the story is a little long. But that is overshadowed by the fact that the story is so interesting for children and parents, and the illustrations are first-rate.

Watch the hungry soldiers use their cunning and imagination to make a meal out of nothing. They entice the local towns people to share their food in the making of stone soup.

Concepts include: sharing, imagination, the will to make things happen, etc.

"I believe we, reportage photographers of the human condition, have a moral duty to get as close as we can to the people we photograph and to draw attention to all the dignity in the world, as Nubar Alexanian has managed to do so well in this book. It gave me immense pleasure to see my Latin-American people portrayed with so much tenderness."

"...an authentic expression of our geography and our people making at the same time a personal statement which is artistically original and morally compelling."

"Anyone thinking of going to Peru or, for that matter any Andean Republic, on a photographic assignment should study this author and photographer's work with great care. He demonstrates great empathy with the people he photographs--his main subject-matter. The photographer should be heartily congratulated for his exceptional ability to study and understand his subject-matter, achieve spontaneity and yet at the same time maintain high standards of composition and outstanding technical quality."

When I first read this book many years ago, I fell in love with John Adams. Stone brought to life not only this most honorable of our founding fathers, and his beloved wife Abigail, but other "characters" of our nation's revolutionary history such as Samuel Adams, a rabble-rouser who was afraid to ride horses. So many intimate details of John and Abigails's life together were brought to this novel that you feel as though you know and love them both. You can't go wrong with this one.

"Those Who Love" got me hooked on the saga of John and Abigail Adams. Thiers was a true love match that endured through joy and pain, triumph and trajedy. Stone's sprawling novel follows the pair from thier spirited first meeting, through the hellish American Revolution, and into the turbulent White House years. A fantastic read.

For Those Who Love was a timeless love story that relates to American history. When you read this story, you will not be able to put it down. It tells you about historical events that happened in Boston during Abigail's life and how our country was formed. It was a beautiful story that a person who likes romantic novels could read, or one that a person interested in history could read. I personally fell in love with the Adams'.

True Secrets of Key West is WONDERFUL! I lived in Key West for years and was always annoyed by all the books people wrote that didn't know the REAL story. Books that claimed to be the real story...but they changed the names, dates and circumstances. This is one that got it right AND it was very funny to read. I give True Secrets of Key West my highest recommendation.

True Secrets of Key West is GREAT! I lived in Key West for years and was always annoyed by all the books people wrote that didn't know the REAL story. Books that claimed to be the real story...but they changed the names, dates and circumstances. This is one that got it right. I give True Secrets of Key West my highest recommendation.

Read this book prior to or contemporaneously with a trip to Key West. It gives you the full scoop on all of the santized facts from your tour guides. This book added a new dimension to our visit and was funny to boot. While it is somewhat hard to locate, it is well worth the effort. Also check out the website maintained by the authors.

One of the earliest (1986) accounts from the survivors of the Pol Pot regime, "The Stones Cry Out" seems to have set the style and standard for another more recent child's-eye perspective on the same era, "When Broken Glass Floats". The minute details of everyday life, not abstract poltical assessments, form the basis for our childhood memories. The author's account carries an unvarnished realism which draws the reader into her film-like image of daily life under threat of starvation and execution. This is probably as close as a reader can come to the truth of events in Cambodia during 1975-79. Oral histories such as "The Stones Cry Out" are perhaps the best way for survivors of human rights abuses to indict the perpetrators. Sadly, tribunals driven by international politics are unlikely to have the same impact as the simple testimony of a victimized child. Highly recommended reading for all those with an interest in human rights, Cambodia, and Southeast Asian culture.

Actualy I would rate this 4 and 1/2 stars.

Having read "First they killed my father" by Loung Ung It would be difficult for me to review this book with out comparing it to Loung Ung's memoir.

Both are essentially the same story, a young upper middle class girl living in Phnom Phen in april of 1975 when thier life, family and happiness are torn from them by the khmer rouge.

Many of thier experinces are similar as you might expect (long hours in forced labor, family deaths, witnessing murder ect..) but each has a unique story of thier own.

The writing styles also vary greatly and this is where Loung's "First they killed my Father is the better" book. Molyda tells her story in a very straight foward manner. Her discriptions of murder, torture and rotting corpses are alomost clinical in tone as if she is afaid to visit or express her real feelings at the time (and who could realy blame her) we are giving only hints about her family and life before April 17th 1975 (to be fair this may be in part to spare distant family members still in Cambodia from retalation)

In Loung's book however we are treated to two light hearted chapters discribing her life in Phnom Pehn before April 17th 1975 this gives the reader a chance to feel they realy know her, her brother's, sisters and parents thier strengths and weakness'.

Loung's memoir is far more emotional in tone and feeling leaving the reader almost gasping for air at points.

For those overly squimish that makes "The Stones Cry Out" the better of the two books. It is also the better of the two books if your sole interest is the surrounding history of the killing fields.

But for those just wishing to read a great emotional book "first They killed My father" is the better choice but I would highly recomend both to all.

I am a 12 year old reader, and this book was heart-breaking. It is so sad that something like this hapenned, and so many peoples' lives were destroyed. Molyda Szymusiak's story makes me realize how lucky I am to enjoy my freedoms.

Fantastic Book! I read this book in 2 days! Pictures are great! It's not like those yucky fiction books, but instead it's non-fiction, it's how it really happened! I read this and thought it was great, and I gave it to my friend to read and he thought it was great to! I highly reccomend this book to anyone who enjoys history or Titanic!

This book offers highly detailed suspense!!!!! From intruduction to the picture of TITANIC, TITANIC SINKS is the doctors recommendation!!!

Very detailed & good pictured, this book gives a great account of the night the Titanic sank!

This was my first Lucy Stone mystery and I found it very enjoyable. I really liked the realistic, comfortable way in which Meier introduced Lucy's home life and contrasted it with the wild antics of her mystery-solving. The supporting characters are varied and very vividly drawn. The novel also uses touches of humor to keep things from getting too dark or scary. I plan to read more of Meier's books. I hope she continues this series.

Trick or Treat Murder is my favorite Lucy Stone mystery because of the coziness of Ticker's Cove and the real-life characters. I enjoyed this novel so much I purchased all the other Lucy Stone mysteries to say that I have a collection of good books. Because it's hard to find authors that I enjoy so much, I can say Leslie Meier is one of them. Readers who are scanning bookshelves in their hometown, pick up a copy of Leslie Meier's Lucy Stone mysteries. You will not be sorry. Trust me. Congratulations to Leslie Meier for her brilliant, authentic writing!

I loved this book. I really like reading murder mysteries and especially enjoy ones that are entertaining. these books never lag on EVER! they are always going and they are great! I highly recommend this book!