This is one of the essential books that bring a solid perspective on what is the reality of history, not what commentators or national prides would like it to be.. Braudel is one of the most gifted historians of this century, and few like him can go into the inner workings of the social and economical mechanisms that drive history, really. In this well written volume, excellently translated, one sees clearly where laid the "center" of the Western world in the XVI century: The Mediterranean. Assuredly, the gold of the Americas was coming in; and the North Sea and Baltic trades were going on briskly. Nevertheless, Venice still mattered. The Mediterranean links remained the prize for Spain, the Ottoman empire and whomever had access to the locked sea. Yet, the future was close and the through the XVI there were clear signs of the shifts in power to come. Mr. Braudel work is as comprehensive as it gets. This is a gigantic canvas of the Mediterranean of the time, from its geographical and climatic descriptions, to the way that the Ottoman Empire raised money for its needs. We do not have a single hero in this almost novelistic type of work, everybody gets its turn under the sun. The result is a deeper understanding of where we come from. Even if today you live in Fairbanks, Alaska, you will feel strangely linked to the Venetian Pepper trade of the times.....

In the 1500s, billions in gold and silver poured into Spanish coffers from the new world; yet, a century later Spain was bankrupt. What happened? Fernand Braudel has woven together a fascinating tour around the Mediterranean of the 1500s, explaining the rise of the Ottoman Empire, how Egyptians made iced drinks, why Algiers became the capital of piracy, how the banking system created the first transcontinental roads, and much more. This book immerses the reader in a new world full of rich details and suprising connections. Spain? An extravagant Star-Wars size naval fleet built with timbers imported from Scandinavia; nonexistent accounting practices, the personal greed of Spanish nobility helped along by canny bankers in the Netherlands--the wealth poured out as fast as it had come.

I read Mr. Douglas's book carefully and with fascination. It is, in my opinion, a profoundly important book; not just about the Holocaust but about many of the other issues it addresses, political, psychological, legal and historical. It is essential for anyone studying or practicing (or just interested in) International Criminal Law and Politics to read this book.
What we now take for granted as life and death international issues: Crimes Against Humanity, Genocide, etc. had their foundations in the Nuremberg, Eichmann and other trials discussed in this book.
It's a serious book, not for reading in the Dentist's office but will open your mind in any number of directions.
A superb achievement.

Mike Feder/(...)

The Memory of Judgement is a terrific and very timely book. Lawrence Douglas offers an exciting, compelling account of major Holocaust Trials from the Nuremberg and Eichmann Trials up through the recent trials of Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel.

Douglas' historical account is very compelling reading, from the standpoint of an exciting, well-crafted narrative, and, more impressively, because it steadily offers insight on very tough questions surrounding how to bring the perpetrators of atrocities to justice in a manner that also educates the larger public. As a reader, I was struck by the clarity with which the author describes the awesome, complex challenges facing prosecutors in six different trials that span more than fifty years, and by the convincing lines of connection drawn between these trials which vary greatly in setting and context.

At a time when we are in the process of bringing Slobodan Milosevic to trial for his crimes in Kosovo; at this moment when we are struggling with how to best bring the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks of September 11 to justice, this book is a provocative take on the grave challenges and responsibilities in using the courtroom to do legal and educational justice to atrocity. Ultimately, one finishes Douglas' book with a fascinating new framework for understanding these contemporary issues, realizing that past trials, if their lessons are applied, can serve as models when approaching present perpetrators.

Memory's Tailor is one of the finest and most touching novels that I read this year. Rudner's narrative is captivating in its detail and emotional quality. I highly recomend this book.

Berman, the hero of the novel and I believe to be Rudner's alter-ego in the beginning of the story is a reclusive non-person- a persona he has had to affect in order to survive in the anti-semetic climate of the Soviet Union prior to perestroika. Berman's character develops as he realizes that those who witness the inhumanitites exacted upon individuals by the state must record and preserve the memory of these events. He learns that these tragedies are compounded when the victims and their stories are forgotten. In developing the characters,Berman and Zorin, the author tells us, often with great humor, of their most unusual Odyssey, and their enounters with many memorable characters whose stories cried out to be chronicled and remembered. Berman, a tailor,formerly worked for the Kirov ballet repairing costumes. He is called upon to help repair costumes from the period of Catherine the Great,by the museum curator. He goes back to work reluctanly. While sewing the costumes Berman meets and develops a wonderful relationship with a char woman. Her death than causes Berman to reach back, upon his long forgotten faith, and eventually become a witness to all that he hears. Many unusual event are experienced by Zorin, a retired glassblower, recruited by Berman to aid him in his plan and as they cross the Urkraine and Russian countryside together. The characters they encounter are so wonderful and so alive, and their stories so interesting, that I as a reader also became part of their journey. This novel, completed before the death of Lawrence Rudner in 1995, is his second novel was beautifully edited by John Kessel and Susan Ketchin. The message that Rudner so forcefully relates in this very human story is one that is so important; to listen, to record, and to witness.

An amazing resource. The author is the best in his field

The development of sensor systems is written in a subtle, but powerful way. The individual characters live in their own golden light, as well as providing a full-bodied IR experience for the reader. I loved the book, and everyone should read it!

This book has helped me understand snuff bottles and its role in the asian art world. This book is clear and to the point, with fabulous photographs and extremely well written comments. It made me excited about snuff bottles. Clare Lawrence is an inspiring writer. I definitely recommend this book for any one interested in asian art.

This is a book of a private collection of snuff bottles. It shows the very best bottles that a collector can find on the market and how a collector can build up a small but exclusive collection in this genre. It is easy to follow and very well written with superb pictures of the different types of snuff bottles. Every category is shown from jade to enamels to glass and porcelain. If you wanted to find an example of the best snuff bottles from each group you could look in this book. The book itself is a very good size and easy to read in bed! It has extensive cross references and the index is simple to use. The photographs are very clear and the layout is extremely artistic. It is a must for anyone interested in Asian Art aswell as snuff bottles.

as the other reviewer said, it's "Body Heat" with an additional plot twist. Whoa, mama! I can't say anymore than that--you have to read it for yourself. Fortunately, it's a fairly quick and easy read. Lawrence Block can make you smell the grimy city one minute and have you basking in luxury the next. If you like his other books, you'll like this one, too.

This book reminded me of the movie "Body Heat" where a black-widowish femme fatale lures an unsuspecting male into her web. Unlike that movie, however, this protagonist is just a little too sharp to be left holding the bag--not without a fight. That's the point this story really takes off, and the ending is a "gotcha." Enjoy. .

D.H. Lawrence writes like a painter would write were he to. What is most real in the writings of Lawrence is the physical world, and of course the body. Mornings in Mexico is really a slight work but with a charm to it. There is a relating of facts (especially about Indian life and thought) that you would expect from a travel piece but the charm is in the kind of easy sauntering pace that the narrative keeps. That feeling that it is vacation time and there really is no hurry. The house he lives in for his stay in Mexico and the surrounding markets and open fields in which he walks and the balcony he stands on in the morning with parrot are all pleasantly described. It feels like a place you want to be. The way time away should feel. There is a slight mournful air to the fact that the Americans are beginning to spoil the place, it is as if the Americans have brought that intruder time itself into this timeless land. It's not so much the details you will remember as the overall feel of the work. And Lawrence himself. And here he seems at ease, searching as always but not desperately so, which is a nice Lawrence to spend time with.

Lawrence was a good traveller in these parts and he spent a lot of time carefully observing the Indians he met along the way. He was particularly interested in the ways of thought of the Indians and their religious beliefs and the ways their ideas differed from yours and mine. On simple concepts like time and distance, for example: "To an Indian, time is a vague, foggy reality. There are only three times: en la manana (morning); en la tarde (afternoon); en la noche (night). But to the white monkey (you and me) there are exact spots of time, such as five o'clock and half past three." The Indian's concept of God was different from ours. "With the Indians...there is strictly no god. The Indian does not consider himself as created and therefore external to God, or the creature of God. There is, in our sense of the word, no God. But all is godly. There is no great mind directing the universe. Yet the mystery of creation, the wonder and fascination of creation shimmers in every leaf and stone... There is no God looking on. The only God there is is involved all the time in the dramatic wonder and inconsistency of creation. God is immersed, as it were, in creation, not to be separated or distinguished. There can be no ideal God." Lawrence does a wonderful job of digging into this exotic culture and explaining to us the significance of Indian rituals and dances. I particularly liked one of his statements: "The Indian is completely immersed in the wonder of his own drama." There is also a lovely example of descriptive travel writing in "Market Day", a chapter that makes you slow down your reading pace to savor the beautiful descriptions of small things like a bird's flight or flowers in a doorway. I guess this is the difference between reading and information-processing, which we do so much of today.

This book is a wonderful read for anyone and especially for those who grew up in a small town during the thirties and early forties. It shows what life was often like then and reminds us that sometimes life is beautiful and sometimes it can be pretty rough.

Many of these stories in rhymn are humerous and I laughed out loud when I read them. Others are very touching and caused me to shed a few tears. Whatever the stories, they certainly are not dull and they are sure to take you back to another time when kids used their imagination and their own ingenuity to have fun. Mr. Pauley and his brother, Billy, had loads of imagination and his descriptions of some of their exploits are priceless.

Mr. Pauley's protrayal of the little town of Hamlin and some of it's wonderful people leaves you with a good feeling and a smile on your face.

To me, this book is pure delight and I heartily recommend it to one and all.

I kept this book by my bedside and read a couple of tales each evening, and I never turn off my light without a warmed heart and a grin on my face. Some of the stories had me laughing aloud. The author adds a touch of narration before each tale that gives a little background, sets the mood, and makes the story come alive. It is almost as if I was there, in that time, watching the events unfold, participating in the fun and adventure, seeing the town as it was, meeting the people, and losing my days playing in and on the Mud River. I loved it!

This book is an easy and delightful read. For those who love poetry, you will enjoy the flow and rhythm of well-crafted rhyme. For those who do not love poetry, but love a good tale, you will become so involved in the weave of the story that you will forget the format is poetic. It is truly that good! I know I will visit the Mud River again and again!

This is definitely worth the money. It is a very, very detailed work with many references to things I'd never even heard of. I've successfully used it as a reference for several papers, and recommend it to anyone-- especially classicists who're interested in the finer points of Rome's architecture, geography, and history. This is an excellent way to learn more about less common aspects of Rome, as well as the big things like the Pantheon, etc.

All in all, it's an excellent reference and a great read as well-- I highly recommend it.

With this magnificent work in hand one can read the ancient historians and understand what you are reading, street by street, site by site. New information and research has been presented in the 60 plus years since the last dictionary of ancient Rome, and it makes this new topographical tome so exciting. If you are going to Rome and have a strong arm as well as a strong interest in what was where and when, then this admittedly heavyweight book will not be too much to take along. Perhaps most fascinating are those wonderful maps which present past and present on sites long lost to the avid Roman visitor. You may not see what was there by looking at the present site, but you can understand what was there better with this book. For the college student who may be planning a career or a deep interest in classical Rome, this book will be worth the price many times over! Best of all is the list of all the classical references for each building, site, or even, in some cases, statues or adornments. This book is more than a gift of scholarship, it is a gift of love of the history of Rome and for all those who will come along in the future to study it.

professor cohen may be the most brilliant anthropologist of our time as it pertains to south asia. this book is a sparkling example of a prodigious mind at work. it is both scholarly and playful; rigorous and light-hearted. may be read for both pleasure and for what it can teach us about all manner of things. may be the beat scholarly work i have ever read. first-rate.

Brilliant ethnographic research fused with engaging narrative that makes for truly enjoyable reading. Cohen dissects the phenomenon of an aging population and their role in culture and society, while explaining the greater implications both for policy and popular opinion, with reflections on US and Western societies.