Book Description
In a work of extraordinary narrative power, filled with brilliant personalities and vivid scenes of dramatic action, Robert K. Massie, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Peter the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra, and Dreadnought, elevates to its proper historical importance the role of sea power in the winning of the Great War.
The predominant image of this first world war is of mud and trenches, barbed wire, machine guns, poison gas, and slaughter. A generation of European manhood was massacred, and a wound was inflicted on European civilization that required the remainder of the twentieth century to heal.
But with all its sacrifice, trench warfare did not win the war for one side or lose it for the other. Over the course of four years, the lines on the Western Front moved scarcely at all; attempts to break through led only to the lengthening of the already unbearably long casualty lists.
For the true story of military upheaval, we must look to the sea. On the eve of the war in August 1914, Great Britain and Germany possessed the two greatest navies the world had ever seen. When war came, these two fleets of dreadnoughts—gigantic floating castles of steel able to hurl massive shells at an enemy miles away—were ready to test their terrible power against each other.
Their struggles took place in the North Sea and the Pacific, at the Falkland Islands and the Dardanelles. They reached their climax when Germany, suffocated by an implacable naval blockade, decided to strike against the British ring of steel. The result was Jutland, a titanic clash of fifty-eight dreadnoughts, each the home of a thousand men.
When the German High Seas Fleet retreated, the kaiser unleashed unrestricted U-boat warfare, which, in its indiscriminate violence, brought a reluctant America into the war. In this way, the German effort to “seize the trident” by defeating the British navy led to the fall of the German empire.
Ultimately, the distinguishing feature of Castles of Steel is the author himself. The knowledge, understanding, and literary power Massie brings to this story are unparalleled. His portrayals of Winston Churchill, the British admirals Fisher, Jellicoe, and Beatty, and the Germans Scheer, Hipper, and Tirpitz are stunning in their veracity and artistry.
Castles of Steel is about war at sea, leadership and command, courage, genius, and folly. All these elements are given magnificent scope by Robert K. Massie’s special and widely hailed literary mastery.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful, reads like a thriller.......2007-08-24
This is simply a terrific quickly paced and scintillating read about the role of the Royal Navy and the Imperial Navy of Germany during the Great War. I did not expect to be so enthralled, but Massie writes with both such intimacy and scope, and terrific characterization, not acerbically like Tuchman, but comfortably and excitingly.
Falklands, Jutland, Scapa Flow.......2007-07-06
I'm a naval history buff and greatly enjoyed how Massie fleshed out the characters involved in his history of WWI at sea. He did an excellent job portraying the men who fought the war at sea and in the war offices back home. An even-handed novel, he doesn't demonise the either side which makes for easy reading. If you want an account of Derfflinger's 'death ride' this isn't the best place to go, but for a greater understanding of how the great fleets were destined to be used, and how the men in charge got things done, this is a very excellent place!
Recommended!
Strong Narrative.......2007-05-26
This is one of the better books on the naval engagements during WWI. Massie's strong narrative carries you right along. I learned Churchill was a blundering fool, I came to have more appreciation for Jellicoe and what he was up against both politically and militarily, and I learned Beatty was a p*ssy-whipped prima donna.
The naval battles are lovingly recreated. Massie fills the novel with anecdotes which make these historical figures seem more real than they already are. Well-written and a careful attention to detail make this one a must have for anyone who is interested in this conflict. It could have used more maps detailing the intricate movements of the fleets, but that is its only flaw.
Fantastic Book!.......2007-05-23
While I may not be able to do Castles of Steel as much justice as the reviews preceding mine, I can add my appreciation for Mr. Massie's work to the growing list of admirers. As I stated in a previous review of another Massie work, his ability to craft the text into a "historical story" is unparalleled. From brief excerpts on specific naval vessels, and their crew, to the thoroughly intimate discussions between Jacky Fischer and Winston Churchill, Mr. Massie tells a thought provoking and stirring history of the "War At Sea" during the Great War.
Worthy history.......2007-05-11
I checked out this book from my local library for two reasons: one, because I love reading about the World Wars. Two, as a personal challenge to show that I can read a serious history book under my own steam. With this book, there was no chance of failure of the latter.
Don't be fooled by the 800-page length; "Castles of Steel" is an easily-read, well-balanced blend of politics (the machinations that drove the First Sea Lords Prince Louis of Battenberg and John Jellicoe from office), biography (the strained and loveless marriage of Admiral David Beatty and his American wife, Ethel), and tactics (the blunders and coups of The Battle of Jutland). Massie is clearly more interested in the people, though; the personalities and tendencies that variously led to victory or defeat are never far from the fore, though I hesitate to call it a book for the "great man" theory of history. More OT: the book is user-friendly, meaning you don't have to know ships and naval terms backwards and forwards to get it, or even have more than a basic background in WW I history.
The quibbles I had with the book are more matters of personal preference and interest than of any real faults; for instance, Massie continually switches between--for instance--First Sea Lord and Winston Churchill. I also would have liked to have seen a treatment of submarines equal to that given to dreadnoughts, but well--this *is* about the Grand Fleet, and the prequel of sorts *was* "Dreadnought", so YMMV.
Definitely worth a read for WW I or British Navy buffs.
Average customer rating:
- Notoriously Good
- Captivating all the way to the last word
- Daniel & Helena's story
- If Only! Grade: B+
- An imperfect heroine & a hero who doesn't care
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A Notorious Love (Swanlea Spinsters, Book 2)
Sabrina Jeffries
Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Similar Items:
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A Dangerous Love (Swanlea Spinsters, Book 1)
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After the Abduction (Swanlea Spinsters, Book 3)
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Dance of Seduction (Swanlea Spinsters, Book 4)
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The Pirate Lord (Lord Trilogy, Book 1)
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Married to the Viscount (Swanlea Spinsters, Book 5)
Accessories:
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philosophy hope in a jar daily moisturizer
ASIN: 0380818035
Release Date: 2001-09-04 |
Amazon.com
Just what is it about bad boys that women find so irresistible? In Sabrina Jeffries's follow-up to A Dangerous Love, readers again encounter Lady Helena Laverick, who has committed Mrs. Nunley's Guide to Etiquette for Young Ladies to memory. But even the oh-so-proper Lady Helena can't help but notice Daniel Brennan's impressive dimensions when he answers her knock on his door dressed only in his underwear. What business does a gently reared young lady have with the disreputable son of a highwayman?
Only the most dire circumstances could persuade Lady Helena to renew her acquaintance with that scoundrel, but her youngest sister has run away with a fortune hunter and Helena needs Daniel to help her find the young couple before it's too late. As a retired smuggler and Helena's brother-in-law's former man of business, Daniel knows how to get things done and his upbringing makes him ideally suited to this particular mission. Of course, Daniel could travel a lot faster if he didn't have Helena with him--and if he didn't need to fight his attraction to her every step of the way. But Helena is determined to help find her sister, and maybe (if she's totally honest) experience a little adventure along the way. Even if that means she has to put up with the provoking Daniel!
With her trademark blend of sensuality and humor, Jeffries never disappoints her audience as Daniel and Helena learn to look past their many differences and discover their sizzling affinity for each other. This reader can't wait for the next installment from Sabrina Jeffries! --Alison Trinkle
Book Description
Helena Laverick is at her wits end! The only man who can help find her eloping young sister is that scoundrel Daniel Brennan : the man who played with her emotions last year and then left. And he used to be a smuggler! Although Mrs. Nunley's Guide to Etiquette for Young Ladies would never approve, Helena forced to go after the runaway in Daniel's company. But something about being with him feels oddly freeing, and a delicious tingle warns Helena that more than her reputation may be in danger...
Daniel finds most of the prim and proper lovely's rules ridiculous 埢ut when she insists on masquerading as his wife for the sake of appearances, he immediately envisions the delights of sharing a bedchamber. The unexpected smouldering beneath her straitlaced exterior ignites his desire, and die vulnerability hidden beneath her cool control makes him want her even more. Yet Helena's a lady, and he's the son of a highwayman. How can he ever ask her to share his world?
Customer Reviews:
Notoriously Good.......2006-12-11
This is the 2nd book in the Swanlea sisters trilogy and is the story of Helena, the oldest daughter. Helena has a crippled leg from a childhood bout of Polio and guards her heart with her sharp tongue. She has been rejected because of her disability and distrusts men. When her youngest sister runs off with a fortune hunter, she attempts to track her and ends up in London. Her sister and brother in law are out of the country on their honeymoon and she turns to her brother in laws former man of affairs, Daniel Brennan. Daniel is the son of a notorious highwayman but has made a name and fortune for himself by being a whiz with investments. Helena is attracted to Daniel but hides it out of fear of rejection. Daniel is surprised to find Helena alone, unchaperoned on his doorstep and not expecting her opens the door in his drawers. Daniel is a huge but handsome man and Helena is fascinated to see his body so exposed, but shocked to find he has a prostitute in his room. When she insists that she needs his help, he comes to her rescue. Daniel is secretly attracted to Helena, but fears rejection because of his background and class. Daniel and Helena find out her sisters elopement is actually a kidnapping and team up to save her. On their quest they must pose as husband and wife and through circumstances can no longer hide their desire for one another.
This is a wonderful story not just because of the intrigue and sexual attraction, but the struggle each character deals with on their "perceived imperfections". Daniel fears being rejected by Helena because of his social status and Helena fears being rejected by Daniel because of her physical ailments. When they confront these fears everything combusts and the passion is unstoppable. I enjoyed this one even better than the first book and am looking forward to the last sister, Juliets story, in After the Abduction.
Captivating all the way to the last word.......2005-10-19
I enjoyed this novel from beginning to end. This was just the kind of romance novel I love. Wonderful characters. Characters that seem real because they are not perfect-something most novels like this lack. There are interesting plot twists and we get to know several secondary characters well. The secondary characters are not boring. The chemistry between Daniel & Helena was very sensual and immediate. Wonderful love story, great characters with an emotionally scarred hero and strong but vulnerable heroine, unique setting, intriguing plot, edge-of-your-seat pacing, heart-tugging emotion, excellent writing, intense sensual love scenes, and a superb ending. It was written with an amazing level of intensity and feeling that my heart was pumping furiously with both the palatable passion and the keen sense of danger infused in the story. Daniel & Helena were both wounded, intriguing, complex, wonderful characters. The action/suspense was fast-paced and thrilling. The sex was HOT and perfect for the story. Sabrina Jeffries stories are humorous, romantic and interesting - and she is excellent and creating characters that are real, interesting people. You want to know them better! This was a really good novel. The plot was interesting and it kept you interested in what was going to happen next.It has intrigue, passion, revenge, and "wow" sensual tension. Most of all is the character development. Sabrina Jeffries knows how to make bad boys hot and steamy. I absolutely loved this book. The author has a great gift in her ability to develop characters. I must have laughed a hundred times and I absolutely couldn't put the book down until I was finished. Danny is handsome, sexy, intelligent, but embittered by life. I am always a sucker for stories with "heartless" heroes who find their souls through the love of a good woman. From page one the characters in this charming book reached out and grabbed me. Page after page I just got sucked in deeper until I closed the book with a happy sigh. All I can say in conclusion is if you like a good, emotional, heart-tugging historical, with characters that leap off the pages, buy A Notorious Love.
Daniel & Helena's story.......2005-05-21
This was a beautiful book. It had a lot to do with compassion, and
I admired it for that.
Helena is a woman with a bad leg, due to polio from childhood.
She had just enough gritty determination to rehabilitate herself
(along with her sister Rosalind's help), and regained use of her
other leg. However, Helena suffers from insecurity, due to the
bum leg. Once, a suitor rejected her, just because of this
impediment. She took it to heart, and she spends most of the
book trying to loosen up & overcome this obstical, more mental
than anything else.
Daniel is a man with a once shady past. When Helena comes to
him for help, he is a bit unsure at first, but when her story
of her sister Juliet's abduction unfolds, he can't help but want
to help. Especially, since he has been attracted to Helena for
some time now (see "A Dangerous Love", the first book in the
series).
The two set off on a journey to find Juliet, who suppossedly
has eloped. It does not take long to uncover that she has not
eloped, but actually been kidnapped, not for ransom, but for
information about the arrival of a certain ship. During their
journey, Daniel succeeds in breaking down Helena's barriers about
her leg. He tells her what a fool the other suitor was. She
gains self confidence, and the two fall in love.
Over the summer, I will plan to read the next 2 books in the
series, After the Abduction, and Dance of Seduction.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a romance book
about overcoming obsticles & prejudices.
If Only! Grade: B+.......2004-07-27
A NOTORIOUS LOVE is a good story. Jeffries opens her second installment in her SWANLEA SPINSTERS series with Lady Helena Laverick arriving in London seeking out Daniel Brennan -- the deceitful knave from book one. Lady Helena must ask for the blackguard's assistance in a very personal family matter. Her younger sister, Juliet, has eloped with a fortune hunter. Of course, Daniel thinks Helena is overreacting. Yet, Daniel cannot refuse this very prim and proper lady, even if she has the razor sharp tongue of a viper.
Posing as a married couple, Daniel and Helena embark on a rescue journey. They must find that little runaway and her notorious sweetheart. Of course, they find themselves very attracted to one another. Yet, annoying problems get in the way -- social class differences, Helena's physical weakness, Helena's tight-laced attitude, and finally Daniel's insecurity. Still, the author allows some humorous moments. Unfortunately, there just aren't enough of these moments. Although, this is page turner material, with a little more humor the author could have made her story a phenomenal adventure.
Daniel Brennan has the makings of a fine hero -- a rough around the edges kind of guy. However, the stuffy Helena takes too long to let down her hair. This heroine spends too much time whining and complaining. It wasn't until Helena consumed the beastly ale that the reader finally jumped into her corner. One of Sabrina Jeffries' strong suits is her ability to write humor. The author's description, of a tipsy Helena was sheer delight. Sigh, if only Jeffries had further relied on her strength . . .
Although A NOTORIOUS LOVE is a readable and pleasant story, there is a nagging sensation that something is wrong. Could it be that the author dragged out every dilemma? It was only when Jeffries allowed her humorous pen to take over that I turned the pages with gusto.
Grace Atkinson, Ontario - Canada.
An imperfect heroine & a hero who doesn't care.......2004-04-22
In this book, that's a good thing. Helena is crippled after suffering from polio, but Daniel thinks she's wonderful even if she's far too fine for the likes of him. Daniel's past catches up with him with he has to help Helena find her younger sister. During the search they realize that their imperfections of body and background mean nothing in the face of true love.
An excellent sequel to A Dangerous Love.
Book Description
Aldous Huxley's Brave New World was fiction. Victoria Woodhull's Brave New World was to be frightening real.
As the first female Wall Street brokers, Victoria Woodhull and her sister Tennie had reputations to protect. They fretted about Tennie's well-publicized remark, "Many of the best men in [Wall] Street know my power. Commodore Vanderbilt knows my power." She had meant her skill as a fortune teller, but the press quite rightly picked up hints the attractive pair traded sexual favors for assistance in their business. To make matters worse, in their magazine the sisters had published articles promoting free love, although distancing themselves from what was said. Taking the offensive, Victoria advanced, step by step, until in a speech on November 20, 1871, she boldly proclaimed:
"And to those who denounce me for this I reply: 'Yes, I am a Free Lover. I have an inalienable, constitutional, and natural right to love whom I may, to love as long or as short a period as I can; to change that love every day if I please, and with that right neither you nor any law can frame any right to interfere.'"
Having come out of the closet, she had to defend that lifestyle from those who warned it meant the ruin of civilization. The nation's best-known political cartoonist, Thomas Nast, even portrayed her as a horned "Mrs. Satan" (as the cover of this book illustrates). Her response was fierce. In speeches across the country, she championed a new society that, in its nineteenth-century context, was remarkable similar to Huxley's 1932 classic, Brave New World. Babies were not grown in bottles, but pregnant women were to be treated as "laboring for society," "paid the highest wages," and once a baby was weaned, "the fruit of her labor will of right belong to society and she return to her common industrial pursuits."
To critics who warned that free love meant children growing up without parents, she replied that, "not more than one in ten" mothers was competent, and that parents should be replaced by the State because, "It is but one step beyond compulsory education to the complete charge of children." In her Brave New World, you could have all the sex you could attract, but it would be impossible to be a genuine parent.
Her legacy remains powerful today, particularly among those who champion both free love (sex outside one-man/one-woman marriage) and social betterment through the State. Now as then, their opponents are those who hold religious and traditional notions about marriage and family. Read these controversial speeches by Woodhull along with introductions that put them in context, and you'll find yourself better understanding the cultural and political debates that trouble our nation.
Customer Reviews:
Free Lover/Victoria Woodhull.......2006-11-10
This is a wonderful addition to the Victoria Woodhull literature. Her actual speeches on free love are very readable and will bring people in touch finally with what she meant by free love: what the movement was all about then and now. Again this book is flawed only by the choice of a male critique interspersed between speeches.This person not a great choice as he was quite opbviously never a woman nor destined to think like one.This is a must chick book!!!!
Product Description
new Avon Romantics Tra=easures, by the auhor of "Dance of Seduction" "The Dangerous Lord"
Customer Reviews:
Gems of stories!.......2000-04-22
Typically an anthology only holds a story or two that stands out, but this book differs: one, that there are actually 6 stories rather than only 4, and second, all 6 stories are entertaining.
Dorothea Donley's "Taste of London" is a fairy tale of two cousins spending the season with distant cousin Lord Aldford and his friend, who help Miss Amberly resolve the scandal of her family's past, with help from the Prince Regent.
Jean R. Ewing's "Notorious Lord" sends a Viscount in his friend Mr. Grenville's place to woo an "antidote" of a prospective bride, except that the bride has also switched places with her friend Miss Fraser to avoid the expected Mr. Grenville. But the clever Miss Fraser has already recognized Viscount Beaumarais!
In Paula Tanner Girard's "A Matter of Honor", a wild Irish princess is forced to marry a duke according to an ancient agreement between the Irish lords and the duke's ancestors. But the language barrier and a little trickery wed the duke to the girl before he can tell her about his betrothed and carts her to London!
In Jenna Jones' "Duke of Diamonds", a duke intends to humiliate a house of scheming, marriage-minded women...then too late discovers the one innocent in the pack of cats.
In Meg-Lynn Roberts' "For All Eternity", Christina Granford had seemed to love Viscount Fulbrooke those years ago during the season, but had broken his heart when telling him she was already betrothed. Now a widow, they've been forced to stop avoiding each other...
In Marcy Stewart's "Lady Constance Wins", Constance's three adorable older cousins meddle and convince an American to pose as competition to a man informally promised to Constance...but stalling in asking her for a formal pledge.
This is a great anthology to curl up with in a warm bed on a rainy day.
Book Description
How shall we begin?
This is the story of a book called The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy—not an Earth book, never published on Earth and, until the terrible catastrophe occurred, never seen or even heard of by any Earthman. Nevertheless, a wholly remarkable book.
or
This is the story of
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a number-one best seller in England, a weekly radio series with millions of fanatic listeners, and soon to be a television spectacle on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
or
This is the story of Arthur Dent, who, secnds before Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, is plucked off the planet by his friend, Ford Prefect, who has been posing as an out-of-work actor for the last fifteen years but is really a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Together they begin a journey through the galaxy aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, with the words don’t panic written on the front. (“A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.”)
In their travels they meet:
•Zaphod Beeblebrox—the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch President of the Galaxy
•Trillian—Zaphod’s girl friend, formerly Tricia McMillan, whom Arthur once tried to pick up at a cocktail party
•Marvin—a paranoid android, a brilliant but chronically depressed robot
•Veet Voojagig—former graduate student obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years
To find the answers to these burning questions: Why are we born? Why do we die? And why do we spend so much time in between wearing digital watches? read
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. But remember . . . don’t panic, and don’t forget to bring a towel.
Customer Reviews:
Other Books.......2007-09-03
You need an up to date travel guide, and a towel. A really cool spaceship can't hurt, either.
Other things that you should take note of are carefully hidden planning documents. Run away from alien poetry, and if you have any machines that talk, then hopefully it was someone else that paid for them. Otherwise, you should ask for your money back.
Some glue paper mouse traps work best, too, I think, from experience.
Really bloody funny.
Classic........2007-08-08
Read the series and then watch the original BBC broadcasts on DVD, or listen to a copy of the radio series. This book is a classic and I suspect that we will never see its like again. Even though the author was given credits in the latest movie of the same name (he died some time ago), I hope that you will see the humor that made this a classic. Read and enjoy, if you do not get it the first time then read it again.
A Subtle Satire of Life, the Universe, and Everything.......2007-08-01
Douglas Adams is an incredible author. Not because his verbal wit is matched only by his intelligence. Not because his characters are so oddly interesting. Douglas Adams is an incredible author because he takes abstract concepts of life and uses the science fiction genre to make them somehow understandable. I cannot count the number of times where I have been trying to describe an abstract concept usually relating to science or philosophy and I have used Adams' work as an explanation. Religion, space travel, time travel, the human body, and even tea have all been meticulously broken down by Adams razor-blade wit. The concepts that lie within are more than a story, they are a man's view of this world and the things in it. That man just happens to be a genius.
I love it.......2007-01-04
classic si-fi comedey, a must have for persons who love english humour.
A Reader's Guide to: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams.......2006-10-22
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is an interesting book aboutthe adventures of a man named Arthur Dent, who is about thirty years old,lives in a small town in England, and is taken aboard an alien spaceship seconds before it destroys the Earth. The man who brought him there happens to be his friend, Ford Prefect, who happens to be an alien himself. Throughout the story he and Arthur travel the Milky Way having ridiculous and idiotic adventures with the President of the Galaxy, his girlfriend, and a depressed robot named Marvin.
I found this book hilarious, and, though none of it made too much sense, that was precisely why it was funny. It had plenty of references to actual things, made fun of them, and actually made you think about what was happening to the human race,and that we really aren't quite as smart as we think we are. One of the key points of the book's plot is an amazing spaceship that belongs to the President of the Galaxy, called "The Heart of Gold". It actually zips around the galaxy using the prospect of "Infinite Improbability" in which strange and often ridiculous things happen, but return to normal once it's turned off. During one event in the book, The Heart of Gold is being tracked by two missiles, and seconds before impact, Arthur pushes the Infinite Improbability button without turning it off afterwards. The result is that one missile is turned into a sperm whale, the other is turned into a bowl of petunias, and the ship's interior becomes a garden, and is completely unharmed.
Overall,I found this book, interesting, quite funny, and something that really makes you stop, look around an think to yourself, " What am I really doing here anyway?" I would really and truly reccomend this book to anyone who's seen Monty Python, called it stupid, and still laughed at it. I would definetly not reccomend this book to anyone who can't laugh at themself, or gets angry when they're confused. A word of warning to anyone thinking about reading this book: I had to read some parts of this book twice to really get what was going on, and despite this, I would really advise anyone resding the book to keep going if you get confused. The book usually explains what went on after it mentions it. Personally, I believe that if everyone who read this book and some of the ones after it got as much out of them as I did, they could at least be a little smarter about how they live, deal with the government, and think about the environment.
Book Description
Packed with an Astounding Amount of New and Never-Before-Collected Material.
Why are people born? Why do they die? Why do they want to spend so much of the intervening time wearing digital watches?
No one but Douglas Adams could have pared life’s meaning down to these three questions, and they remain as inspired and head-scratchingly clever today as they did twenty-five years ago when they appeared in the first edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Showcasing his quick wit, comic genius, and wide-ranging intelligence, Hitchhiker’s has become nothing less than a cult classic and cultural phenomenon.
To celebrate its quarter century and the extraordinary legacy of Adams, this gorgeously designed, mostly harmless deluxe edition gathers never-before-collected photographs, original artwork, memorabilia (from the strange to the sublime), and wisdom gleaned from a first read or first encounter as Douglas’s friends remember how the galaxy was forever changed a mere twenty-five years ago (not to mention the original text of the novel) into a one-of-a-kind Guide as stunning as two suns setting over Magrathea.
Whether you are well versed in the antics of Arthur Dent, a mild-mannered Earthman plucked from his planet seconds before it’s demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, and Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy posing as an out-of-work actor, or are hitching a ride for the first time, this is the book that has everything you’ll nee to know about anything.So please do not be alarmed. Definitely don’t panic. Just be sure to grab a towel.
Customer Reviews:
Absurd. Clever. Satirical. Quirky. And, sadly, just not as funny 17 years later........2007-01-02
There are books that you should read, re-read, and re-re-read. This, unfortunately, turned out not to be one of those books, at least for me.
When I first read this as a teenager, the whimsical English humor, sudden digressions, metafictional interruptions, and probing satirical questions kept me in stitches. This novel (such as it is), held together by a singular smart-assery, profoundly appealed to my own new found sense of adolescent rebellion. Coincidences, meaningful and otherwise, non sequiturs, and bureaucratic balderdash leavened the side-splitting dialogue and made it impossible to put down.
Alas, upon re-reading the novel at the conclusion of 2006, I was struck by how much of the writing didn't strike me anymore. To say that the plot of the book is thin would be a compliment, and to call the characters, well, characters, would be a stretch. Most of the jokes just weren't as funny this time around, and the few that did crack me up were tinged with the bittersweet recognition that they would never be groundbreaking again.
Because I read the 25th anniversary edition, perhaps it is fitting that it conjured up such mixed emotions. The author, Douglas Adams, had died three years before this edition was published, and so many of the extras in this volume involve tributes from luminaries like Terry Jones and Neil Gaiman. The introductory chapters are also chocked full of reproductions of flyers, book covers, and other such emphemera that will only be important to die-hard fans of the book, radio show, and/or movie.
Remember, though, that this review is just my opinion. Whatever you do, Don't Panic.
Book Description
"The authors know their material inside out... The choice of illustrations, both half-tone and line-drawings, and the careful, cross-referencing of entries make this book a compelling compendium of ideas and images."
—Trevor Watkins,
History Today
Ancient Mesopotamia was a rich, varied and highly complex culture whose achievements included the invention of writing and the development of sophisticated urban society. This book offers an introductory guide to the beliefs and customs of the ancient Mesopotamians, as revealed in their art and their writings between about 3000 B.C. and the advent of the Christian era. Gods, goddesses, demons, monsters, magic, myths, religious symbolism, ritual, and the spiritual world are all discussed in alphabetical entries ranging from short accounts to extended essays. Names are given in both their Sumerian and Akkadian forms, and all entries are fully cross-referenced. A useful introduction provides historical and geographical background and describes the sources of our knowledge about the religion, mythology and magic of "the cradle of civilisation".
Customer Reviews:
Treasure Of Ancient Knowledge.......2007-07-31
"Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia" (An Illustrated Dictionary) is the best resource on the Gods of the different cultures from that region that exists. Though they call it a dictionary, Jeremy Black and Anthony Green (editors) have put together an encyclopedia of knowledge on the subject. They cover Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Hurrian mythologies, and touch on several more as well. This review is based off of the fifth edition of the book, which was published in 2003 by the University of Texas Press.
There is a lot of material here, and it would be easy to give this book five stars based on what it does provide. However, as I use this resource I often think about what more they could have done to make it more useful. One big thing would have been more visual resources. I would have liked to see a map section where it shows the various eras and empires and the extent of their control. There is one map near the front of the book, but it provides only a limited view.
A big area of improvement would have been to provide sections instead of including all the material together from A to Z. For example the maps mentioned above could have gone into a geography section which could have also shown the evolution of the city names as they spanned eras, including the modern names for those which still exist. Another section could have covered the kings, queens, and heroes for each of the empires. The section on deities could have covered the evolution of deities as they were adopted by the later empires, as well as the new deities which arose during the passage of time. You will find that some of this material is scattered throughout the resource, but it is not complete, and it is difficult to find unless you already know where to look.
Despite all the things I would have liked to have, I still think this is a very good reference, and one which anyone who studies the ancient history of that region will want to have in their library. It is easy to come up with ideas of ways to improve things, but the work that was done in putting together this reference was exceptional, and as with most things which whet one's appetite, it leaves the reader wanting more.
Hidden Truth.......2007-02-08
This illustrated dictionary is excellant, and informative. The authors have a knack for noting out of the ordinary tidbits, which enhance their profiles. Unfortunately, they do not recognize that Mythology is 95%
Propaganda. Thus, Ea, called "favorable to man", is in fact the Ultimate
Architect of Evil, who along with his "two-faced" minister Usmu, and the
scribe Nabu, propagated a Revisionist Mythology, that has subjugated and
subverted the 5% Truth, ever since.
An excellent reference dictionary.......2006-04-14
Even though I have read a number of books about ancient Mesopotamia, many of which are focussed on political and economic history rather than on beliefs and religious practices, I am was still very confused about who were the principal gods and goddesses, during what period of time and where they became prominent, and why they were worshipped. The uniformly positive customer reviews of this 192 page book were what persuaded me to buy it , and I was not disappointed.
When I buy a book, however, I do prefer to read it from start to finish, so reading a dictionary in this way is somewhat difficult and it is probably not the best way to read this one. The "gods and goddesses " entry in this dictionary indicate that more than 3000 names have been recovered, and while the book doesn't attempt to describe all of these, it does provide a significant amount of interesting reference material about the beliefs and religious practices of the peoples of Ancient Mesopotamia. Perhaps it would be better to use the term "ruler" or "the elite" rather than the term "peoples" since it is clear that nearly all the available information about the gods, demons, and symbols comes from inscriptions which were either from the rulers or from the priests of the religious institutions.
At the beginning of the book there is a useful author's note on the variant spellings of ancient names which explains the scholarly consensus on the probable pronunciation of the Akkadian and Sumerian languages. This is followed, by a concise introduction which provides summaries on the places and peoples of Mesopotamia, their mythology and legends, their art and iconography and the periods of the various dynasties and a helpful one page chronological table. At the end of the book there is also a short bibliography listing books recommended for further reading.
The bulk of the book consists of about a thousand entries (I didn't count them) on the different deities, religious objects, icons, symbols, and practices, of the peoples of ancient Mesopotamia. Most of these are quite short, although there are a few which run to three or four pages. At least half of them refer to one or more illustrations which are liberally sprinkled throughout the book, and this approach definitely enhanced my understanding of what I was reading. I did get the impression, though, that much of the information about the earlier period comes from the Assyrian kings of the 1st millennium, and while they were heirs to the Sumerian and Akkadian traditions, it is still not clear to me how much of a bias they brought into their inscriptions in order to better serve their own interests
There are 159 illustrations in all, which are a mixture of drawings and very clear black and white photographs. The drawings by Tessa Rickards, the illustrator, are beautifully done, elegantly simple, and in my opinion, bring out the essence of the object of the illustration. While most illustrations are embedded in the text close to the most relevant entry, there are a number which are referred to by several different entries. I found it was quite time consuming to flip around the book to find the references of those which were not close by, so I ended up by using book markers to speed up my search for the most important, which were the groups of illustrations on demons, monsters, and symbols for the gods, and the genealogical table of gods and goddesses. Perhaps there is no way around this, but I think it would have been helpful if there had been an index of the illustrations referenced by time period and page number. It may also have been easier to refer to them if they were included one place, perhaps at the back of the book.
Notwithstanding these minor quibbles about the organization and content of the book, I found that reading it the way I did, was an effective and time efficient way of increasing my depth of knowledge about this aspect of ancient Mesopotamia. It will serve as a useful reference tool for my other books on the civilizations and dynasties of Mesopotamia, and I certainly recommend it to other students who are focussing their studies on this particular subject.
True dictionary.......2006-02-27
Excellent resource listing much more than the title would suggest. Black really knows his stuff and generously shares his knowledge. Much better than I thought it would be. Includes all kinds of definitions in great detail. Well written. Highly recommend.
Get it if you can find it.......2005-07-03
I am saddened to see that this is no longer available. If you are interested in ancient Mesopotamian religion, then this book is needed. It is a perfect resource to get quick information, and provides enough information to conduct further research in the areas. If you are a student taking a class on Mesopotamia, a religious historian, or a Reconstructionist, then this will give you the facts you need at your fingertips.
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