My Granddaughter received this book for Christmas two years ago when she was two. She still enjoys hearing the stories about Budgie. It is a throughly enjoyable book for children. The video is great too. Wish there were more of them.

Budgie: The Little Helicopter is wonderfully illustrated and catches the child's eye with all it's bright colors. The story is intriguing and my two children, 5 & 6 at the time (now 7 & 8) were totally absorbed by it. My son slept with the book for weeks.

THE JEWELS OF THE DUCHESS OF WINDSOR 1st edition,is a lush vicarious view of the golden age of royalty. The illustrations are breathtaking, done by some of the world's most famous photographers including Lord Snowdon..a marvelous addition to any collection.

I adore this book! It's an oversize publication which increases the beauty of the photography. The photos of the Duchess'jewelry are breathtaking, and it also provides a full account of the famed auction, including the amounts paid for the jewelry. There are great pictures of celebrities who purchased some of the pieces. There's even a stunning photo of Liz Taylor wearing the Prince of Wales Plume Pin for which she paid over $500,000. It also recounts the story of their lives along with pictures, including copies of newspaper clippings during the abdication. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Duke and Duchess or the forthcoming auction of the Windsor's household possessions at Sothebys. This book is the jewel in my collection of royal books!

As different from the author's best known work, The Little Big Man, as that novel is from another comic masterpiece of his, Reinhart in Love, which was completely different from Arthur Rex, Berger's gleeful subversion of the historical novel, which is .... If I were one of those vitamin-deficient, pellagra-ridden geeks who believe in conspiracy theories, I'd believe that there is one, and has been for 35 years, to keep this author down. If this author's books aren't forthwith reprinted, someone ought to die. The body of his work is so rich and varied, in style and subject matter, that he makes Updike seem like the schoolmarmish fuddy duddy he essentially is and Roth the sophomoric he would like to be. Killing Time (now, get this) is about a lovable killer, a man who kills certain people because he felt sorry for them. Yes, Joe Detweiler seems to be a mystic, but at the same time he seems very much a down to earth naif who only wants to become one with the universe (that's why he like to have his penis amputated). Along the way to the transcendent awakening he so devoutly seeks, Joe befriends and mystifies the detective who is trying to solve the murder case, Tierney, the woman who Tierney is having an affair with, who is the sister and daughter of the victims, and (not least) the attorney Melrose, who thinks he has it altogether and who wants to save the childlike Detweiler from himself and an world that just won't understand Detweiler, even though Detweiler thinks his reasons for what he did are so obvious they should go without saying (he himself had forgotten he had committed the murders). And that's just a glib from-the-hip abstract of this highly original novel.

The most serious crime involved in Thomas Berger's "Killing Time" is that the book is out of print. The author lets you know early on who committed the triple murder that's discovered in the opening pages. The joys of the book are the why, the personality of the killer, how it ends, and the kinky truths in the lives of the other characters, major and minor, who Berger creates with a reality, a wit and a way with words that are, simply, tops. Hunt down a copy, read it, and cajole the publisher to reissue this classic

The greatest love story of our century is an understatement.
A King's Story is well known to be ghost written for the Duke and even with constant prodding, he suffered from selective memory.
He seems to forget all his previous "friendships", those familiar with the saga will know this means the married women in his life before Wallis. A great addition to royal book collection, but if you are looking for the facts, hunt them down in Donaldson book. Companion book is the Duchess Heart has it's reasons. Maybe they should have gotten together so the facts in each book matched.

The Duke of Windsor wrote this book in the 1950s while living in Paris. Reading it you begin to get some sense that for all his faults here was an individual of extraordinary personal charm. It was certainly a singular life. Here was a boy who was led to believe he would inherit the throne of the greatest empire on earth but who ends up as a sad fixture on the international cocktail party circuit in the arms of an ageing American divorcee of uncertain past. What happened! The anecdotal style of this simply written book is very enjoyable to read. The passing of the certainties of the Victorian age, the Edwardian twilight, World War I, the thrill of all things new and American in the 20s and 30s: the would be Edward VIII is a uniquely placed witness. History increasingly casts the Duke and his bride as ridiculous even sinister figures. This book helps you to remember that they were human too, falliable, and at the mercy of political and world historical forces beyond their control.

Excellent book dealing ONLY with the construction of the Windor chair. Dunbar takes the reader through the selection and riving of wood, adzing of the seat and turning of the chair legs, through to the finished construction of the chair. Dunbar also explains the construction of a steaming setup and jigs for the bending of wood(s). Dunbar runs a school on the making of Windors and this would be the textbook students use to learn Dunbar's methods. A "can't miss, no regrets" purchase.

I not only have this book, I have made a chair in Mike's workshop in New Hampshire. Mike has been instrumental both through his writings and teachings in the recent revival of interest in the making of Windsor chairs by hand much as they were made hundreds of years ago. His book is my definitive resource for questions about Windsor chair construction when I am working in my shop. In this day and age where most of our furniture is mass produced by machines using wood composites and other man made materials it is refreshing to see how fine furniture was once (and in certain places still is) crafted directly from the forest with nothing but hand tools and the skilled hands of the chairwright

I read an original copy, circa 1890. It was a three volume set with beautiful, color stone lithographs and, of course, no editorial abridgement. I gave it away as a gift to a friend wanting to learn about architecture, as the best possible starting point.

I personally have very little patience for people who want to abridge Ruskin's work. And Ruskin's illustrations really make this work.

So, having said this, IF one is willing to overlook these editorial wiseacreings, this book is obviously a classic. It is a marvelous experience to be able to look at a building, any building, when driving or walking down a street, and know the history, name, and significance of each of its facets & adornments.

Unless you happen to live in an area with considerable architectural variety, you will find your newly-acquired skills only serve to confirm your opinion that we live in an age of totally bland and meaningless construction.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

This is a deeply inspiring photographic account of Ruskin's commitment to Venice. It serves as a remarkable and revelatory companion to Ruskin's THE STONES OF VENICE and, to any one who cares about this city, it is an entirely necessary book. It is difficult to imagine how it might have been done better.

The Sandman's Eyes is a great mystery and is worth reading for anyone who loves mysteries. In this book Michael Thorne is committed and put into a mental hospital for something he didn't do. He has to find out who is the murderer and then maybe be could live a normal life. A man named Gary is writing a book about Michael and helps him figure out clues that may prove his innocence. With the help of Gary, Michael will find out who murdered the woman the night in Monrovia Park.

I really enjoyed this book. It kept me guessing about who committed the crime. Michael also faced many other problems that kept me thinking about other things, and not just the murder. While reading it, I had to think about Michael's other problems. It kept me side tracked and the author tried to keep me from figuring out the real problem, the murder.

I thought that the book was very interesting. Good Story.

I didn't know much about Windsor Chairs, and now probably won't find much more than is here in this book.

This book on the Windsor style was an easy-to-read reference on identifying Windsors. Other books on the subject are simply too "heavy" for enjoyment. The Windsor Style in America both enjoyable to read and very informative. I feel that it is an excellent resource for both collectors and those who simply enjoy antiques.

In this book, the legendary Gerald Durrell (author of The Amateur Naturalist) uses the occassion of the 'birthday' of his zoo and conservation trust to reflect on a long career of adventures and misadventures with animals (human and otherwise) in the service of saving the planet. There are many laugh-out-loud funny moments, many triumphs, and a few depressing failures looked at with head-on honesty. A recommended read for all Durrell fans and animal lovers.