Profusely and beautifully illustrated, Charles Wysocki's Heartland is a bright and impressive chronicle of his love of life and Americana. The highly detailed, full-color paintings, drawings, sketches and photographs are all from his own collection and embellished with his personal poetry. Enthusiastically recommended for personal and community library artbook collections, Heartland is a visual and emotional celebration that will charm and even inspire those who browse through its pages.

Heartland provides the nostaglia of days gone by in the beauty of Wysocki's folk art depicting American history. Throughout this book there are photographs of the American scene that appear to provide the incentive for each illustration. With each illustration, there are poems, verses, and notes of philosophy. As described, the American scene is profoundly depicted with artful grace through the heart and eyes of Charles Wysocki. A joyful book to enlighten anyone who loves the bygone era of serenity and history. Especially those who follow the artist's work.

Ports of the World is both a beautiful coffee table book and a well-written history of prints and print-making during the age of exploration and empire building. As European nations extended their influence over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, increasingly wealthy consumers longed for images of the places and peoples that were gathering attention in the press, either as new discoveries or as centers of conflict. Artists and print-sellers were happy to oblige. Many of the drawings that were printed for the popular market are preserved in the collection of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England. The Oxford-educated author, Cindy McCreery, has used that collection to produce this magnificent book.

Organized geographically, the book first examines British and European ports and then turns its attention further afield: African, Asian, American, and Australian ports are all considered and their images reproduced. As the world underwent dramatic changes, the ports that served the world also changed. For example, McCreery includes a plate of a thriving New York City from the mid-nineteenth century, as well as an earlier image of Montreal during the Seven Years War. Cities and ports famous for what they later became are not the only images considered. Progress, Pennsylvania, never achieved the hopes of its developers who printed a view of the town's location in an ill-fated attempt to attract buyers who never came. McCreery also questions the accuracy of the way native peoples were presented in these maritime prints and speculates as to the reasons for both the inaccuracies and the representations that seem closer to what the truth might have been. All of these prints and the questions the author raises about them make for engaging reading and provide some insight into the historical world which produced them.

Travelers of both the armchair and more adventurous varieties, naval buffs, and anglophiles would all relish and enjoy this book. With well over 100 plates, many of them in color, this book is lavishly illustrated and would make an excellent gift for either art lovers and historians.

Dr Cindy McCreery has presented us with a truly beautiful book about the development of selected ports around the world. "Ports of the World" is produced to a very high standard and includes a large number of high-quality color and black-and-white reproductions of prints. Dr McCreery uses these prints - housed at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London - to develop an historical narrative that makes "Ports of the World" a refreshing alternative to other books of this type. There is a distinctly British flavour to this book that is certainly not out of place given Britain's status as an ancient seafaring nation. The style of writing is easily understandable for a non-historian (myself included). However, useful references are included for the true historian who wishes to delve more deeply into the subject area.

"Ports of the World" is an excellent buy and will appeal to people interested in seafaring in general, maritime history or historical prints of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. I feel certain that anyone who receives this book will read it from cover to cover - what better recommendation could a book have?

"Simon, set the way-back machine for the Sixties." But unlike so many nostalgic wallows, Robert Patrick's coy fictionalization of life at "Cafe Buono" based on his very real life experiences at the grounbreaking Cafe Cino delightfully recapture tumultous, hilarious and touching times. Written in the form of a correspondence to a compatriot in the Off-Off Broadway theatrical revolution he co-founded, its a love letter to us all, gay and straight and every wonderful shade in between. Think of what a "This Is Your Life" segment would be like if Oscar Wilde hosted it....

I was totally taken with this story of the birth of performance art and off-off Broadway. Robert Patrick appears to be writing a novel in Temple Slave (the names have been changed to protect the innocent, so to speak) but in fact gives a wonderfully angry, sweet, sad, touching, detailed and often thrilling account of his experiences as a writer, performer and gay man in New York in the 60s. There's also tons of sex but so what, if Edmund White can do it (re: THE FAREWELL SYMPHONY) why can't Robert Patrick? And if you've ever questioned the value of Warhol and Pop Art you will be as tickled as I was to find that you are not alone.

'Blue' is a multifaceted work that has no beginning and no end, no straight lines, and where the past and present intersect. In that sense, it is a design fabricated to evoke the experience of Kabbalah. At the same time it is constructed like pages of Talmud with a central text that contain the modern story but vaguely evoke relationships and events in the Torah, and with parallel commentaries/stories on the margins, the story spins off in many directions, sometimes off on its own tangents and sometimes bending back on itself to illuminate and elucidate the text. These parellel stories are a comingling on each page of famous Jewish mystics such as Luria, numerous Rabbis of old, with Kafka, Bob Dylan, Vermeer, a Native American chief, and the fictional Tal's parents, taking the form of direct quotes, actual and imagined lives which can be read in any order along with or without the main text. In yet another dimension, this is also a great art book of past and present, combining masters like Van Gogh and Vermeer with photographs of Kafka and Bob Dylan, and of Jewish scholars and students in Poland prior to World War II. The art work, too, also intended as a commentary to interact with the various texts.

The central story, which reads like an allegory belongs to Abraham Tal, a New York gem merchant and advice giver, who can't solve his own problems. Among other concerns, he is torn with indecision and regret about whether to marry Rachel Heller. Eventually this leads him on a journey to Safed, the center of ancient Jewish mysticism, presumably to track down the origins of a 16th century Venetian wedding ring, which of course contains a sapphire, but also as a personal quest for spiritual answers.

Blue holds many meanings. The most obvious is the blue sapphire gem which narrator, Abraham Tal, is using to make a suite of jewelry. Tal connects the word sapphire to "sefer" which means "book" in Hebrew, and to the giving of the book, the story of Moses finding a blue sapphire at the burning bush and the continuity of a people commemorated in the blue thread of the tallis. There is much more. Almost every page refers to a blue stone, blue in someone's clothing, blue walls, blue light.

I found Mr. Zucker's notes at the beginning and end of the book a good source as well as a help to confused readers. One cannot help but be confused (it even seems intentional), but at the same time delighted with this highly imaginative and light-hearted multimedia feast.

My only regret is that this is not a hardcover. It deserves that treatment. The paintings are gorgeous and well worth the price.

This read gave me a feeling for what it was really like in Northern Virginia during the Civil War. Lots of first hand diary entries and interesting 'real life' stories. A great little book.

This is a lively and intelligent look at a particularly interesting neighborhood. Ms Gold discusses the architecture, personalities, tragedies, and uniqueness of this part of town. The book can be read for information, but the excellent maps and distinctive route sequence allows the visitor or resident to walk through the streets while reading about the history.

In the busy world of sales, time is money. This book will save you time (and money) as the games and activities are tried and true and can be used immediately. Ms. Greenwich includes pages to photocopy and a CD Rom with visual aids so you can start motivating and energizing your staff today. This book is a must for team leaders who want to "look good" by the results of their employees efforts. Plus, everyone who uses these recommended methods will find that it is fun!

This is an excellent, informative book. It is ideal for newcomers to the operating department and in depth enough for existing operating department workers to brush up or add to existing knowledge. With an array of authors, all of whom are either still working in or teaching about operating department practices, this book provides up to date knowledge for the generic operating department worker. Whilst some books provide vague guidelines, this book provides a difinitive structure for practices. The information is broken down into topical chapters and reads easily. Whether it is just for personal reading, departmental reading or for reference, I strongly recommend that every operating department should own a copy of this book.

The pictures of Greenwich of 90-100 years ago are a treat to look at, and the text mixes whimsy, insight, and opinion in a balanced and thoughtful presentation. A great read!