With the Battle Cruisers (Classics of Naval Literature)

Customer Reviews:

The Battlecrusiers Through the Eyes of a Man Who was There.......2004-09-04

This outstanding book takes the reader back to the early days of WW1 and the British Navy's battle cruiser force. The book provides an excellent and often poignant look at life in these beautiful ships of war and additionally, provides some very useful insights into the roles and personalities of some of the eras great leaders and commanders. This book is an absolute must for anyone with an interest in the Royal Navy during WW1.

A harrowing rendition of the battle of Coronel.......2003-04-19

With The Battle Cruisers is an eyewitness account by Filson Young of what it was like to live inside the Grand Fleet of the British navy during the early months of the First World War. Vivid descriptions, a harrowing rendition of the battle of Coronel, depictions of the terrible losses of life at sea, and a great deal more fill the pages of this remarkable and unforgettable autobiographical history. With The Battle Cruisers is an impressive and welcome contribution to World War I Military History collections and reading lists.

"that terrible fellow Filson Young".......2001-04-05

This is one of the Naval Institute's great "Classics of Naval Literature" series. Filson Young was a British journalist who before World War One had briefly spent time aboard Admiral Sir David Beatty's flagship HMS Lion and who, when war came in 1914, decided that he wanted to serve with Beatty, a man who attracted hero-worship in much the same way as Nelson. Fortunately for Young, he knew Admiral Sir John Fisher, the remarkable architect of the dreadnought fleet, well and when Fisher, reappointed to the Admiralty as First Sea Lord, sent him a letter ("I am exceeding busy scrapping parasites" Fisher wrote, typically), Young promptly went to London to see him. Young wrangled a commission in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve as a lieutenant, and with Fisher's connivance, was assigned to Beatty's flagship, partly, one suspects, because Fisher wanted publicity for the Navy, and partly so Fisher could keep an eye on Beatty (to his credit Young promptly told Beatty that Fisher had asked him to write often and Beatty made use of Young as a conduit of information directly to the Admiralty). Beatty appears not to have been entirely pleased to have Young around ("...that terrible fellow Filson Young has worked his way and he has been appointed to the Lion for special service" the admiral wrote his wife), but appears to have found him an agreeable addition to his staff. Young's portraits of life aboard the battlecruisers are often wonderful; his chapter "Days With the Fleet" brings back to life a thoroughly lost era. As a non-sailor his observations are particularly valuable because he discusses things sailors would take for granted. Young fortunately served at the Battle of Dogger Bank; unfortunately he was out of the Navy before Jutland and so we have lost a useful witness to that greatest of naval battles. "With the Battle Cruisers" is edited by James Goldrick, who contributes a forward and valuable notes. Anyone interested in the naval history of the First World War will find this a necessary addition to their collection.

Interesting Perspective from the Time.......1999-06-22

An interesting view of the Navy and the battlecrusier squadron from the time. Covers Dogger Bank but not Jutland

BATTLESHIPS AND BATTLE CRUISERS, 1905-1970 with 922 Side elevations, Deck plans, Cross Sections and Detail Sketches Including an Introduction: Historical Development of the Capital Ship

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BATTLESHIPS AND BATTLE CRUISERS, 1905-1970 with 922 Side elevations, Deck plans, Cross Sections and Detail Sketches Including an Introduction: Historical Development of the Capital Ship
Siegfried; Kurti, Alfred (trans. From German) Breyer
Manufacturer: Doubleday & Company Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000QV5H7E

Average customer rating:

Comprehensive and Authoritative -- and in English!

Battleships and battle cruisers, 1905-1970;: With 922 side elevations, deck plans, cross sections, and detail sketches, including an introduction: Historical development of the capital ship
Siegfried Breyer
Manufacturer: DoubleDay
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Naval | Military | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006C4POY

Customer Reviews:

Comprehensive and Authoritative -- and in English!.......2005-06-02

In its German edition, this volume is regarded as the ultimate source for comparative technical data concerning battleships and battlecruisers of the 20th century. The English translation allows this important book to reach a wider audience.

The book's coverage of its subject is comprehensive. The section on a given nation's capital ship construction typically begins with an analysis of the last pre-Dreadnought capital ship or class, as a prelude to subsequent designs. Also significant is the coverage of vessels that were planned but not completed, such as the American Lexington class battlecruisers (in several alternative designs), the Japanese Akagi and Tosa, and the German post-Tirpitz designs. If those names are familiar to you, you will appreciate this book. If not, then not.

The plans and diagrams are beautifully rendered, and are presented in a uniform format to facilitate comparison. There are no photographs -- which are available elsewhere -- but the plans and diagrams are excellent.

The text is essentially tabular in nature, with paragraphs devoted to specific topics for each class of ship. This is a description of specific designs rather than a narrative history. The book might have benefitted from additional narrative context and analysis.

The English translation is accurate and workmanlike. Having waded through the German edition, I can excuse the occasional problems.

Battleships and Battlecruisers is not the first book one should buy on this topic. It is, however, an important reference for those with an interest in the subject and who wish to go beyond the information available in Jane's, Conway's and similar sources. If "Jane's" and "Conway's" are familiar names to you, then "Breyer" should be as well.

Round the world with the battle cruisers,

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Round the world with the battle cruisers,
C. R Benstead
Manufacturer: Hurst and Blackett, Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B00088JJKQ

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With the Battle Cruisers
Filson Young
Manufacturer: Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000TK66MW

Average customer rating:

With the Battle Cruisers
Filson Young
Manufacturer: Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IY0L6Q

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Thomas Alva Edison Sixty Years of an Inventors Life
Francis Arthur Jones
Manufacturer: Thomas Y. Crowell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PSLQWI

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Thomas Alva Edison: Sixty Years of an Inventor's Life
Francis Arthur Jones
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Scientists | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0766144240

Book Description

The author extends his gratitude to Thomas Alva Edison for taking time away from his experimental laboratory to give much of the personal history which is found within this work. This book is not an exhaustive life of Edison, considering at the time it was written Edison was around 60 years old and had swore he had quit the inventing business, devoting himself to pure science. Jones takes the reader on a journey from Edison's birthplace to his travels in Europe. Handsomely illustrated.

Book Description

For the first time ever, there are female law partners, vice presidents, head chefs, and account executives in their early thirties, and women in their twenties are heading up the ladder right behind them. While working women have always struggled to balance life inside and outside the workplace, this generation is facing a new set of challenges. Midlife Crisis at 30 reveals that many twenty- and thirty-something women have distorted well-intentioned empowerment messages, and they're blaming themselves when they fail to overcome the very real obstacles that still exist, despite the unprecedented workplace opportunities they inherited. Raised to believe that they could 'have it all' in every part of their lives, these young women are exhausted, confused, and desperate to find the middle ground where they can claim and enjoy full, well-rounded lives before it is too late. Midlife Crisis at 30 provides compassionate and street-smart guidance on how to avoid panic and avert a meltdown. Through the candid and revealing stories of women who have been there, it delves into the social and psychological costs of the current crisis and shows how they affect both life at work and relationships with family, with friends, and with men. Taking on the all-important question, 'Where do we go from here?' it presents pragmatic strategies and realistic suggestions from dozens of famous and ordinary women who have successfully solved the work/life/love puzzle. Feisty, fun, and totally on-target, Midlife Crisis at 30 gives women the guidance they crave from the ultimate Dream Team of mentors.

Customer Reviews:

30 is the New 50..........2007-09-03

My daughter, not yet 26, suggested that her Mom, not yet 55, should read the book to understand some of her concerns and issues. I laughed when she said the words "mid life crisis", although now that I think back nearly 3 decades and recall that at 26, I was seriously questioning my life's path also.

I raced through the book in one weekend as if it were a homework assignment. The authors struck a chord with their comments on the lessons that we Baby Boomer moms taught our daughters: "Anything is Possible", "You Can Have it All", "Waiting to Marry is the Divorce Insurance Policy", etc. We feminists burned our bras, rallied for change in the corporation, assaulted the glass ceiling, brought home the bacon and fried it up in the pan.

But not all of us had it all, and the unachievable goal of having a Perfect Life has created Alpha Moms, Martha Stewart-esque Domestic Goddesses, pervasive anxiety, and, according to the authors, melt-down among this striving generation. Achieving education, career, marriage, and children doesn't happen for everyone at the right time in a strictly linear fashion (or at all).

Part One of the book defines why this generation is so stressed, redefines the new glass ceiling, discusses how "happily ever after" needs to be revised, and describes how all of this change is affecting men. This section of the book was most useful and interesting to me, and can best be summed up by "each woman will have her own definition of having it all".

Part Two offered profiles of successful women at 30 and later in life, with the suggestion that their experiences could be used as a sort of virtual mentoring. The subjects of the profiles were many high-achieving women in medicine, publishing, entertainment, politics, law and business. While the stories of each woman's journey through career, marriage and children (or the decision to not have children) were interesting, laudable and inspirational, they didn't seem particularly applicable to the typical middle-class young woman. There just isn't enough room at the top for every striving young woman to find a place there.

The value of this book will be its contribution to the ongoing dialogue that young women need to have among themselves, with their spouses and bosses, (and even with their Baby boomer moms...), to help them chart a course to success and happiness through the years that are filled with challenges and choices.

OK.......2007-06-15

I read 3-4 chapters. I felt a lot of the so-called problems that they were describing were very stereotypical "white upper middle class" ones. The writers are privileged people who indeed have good choices in life. Balancing work, career, when to have kids, etc affects all socio-economic groups, but maybe it was the tone they were taking. If you take a high-powered job, there will be costs to your family life, etc. I stopped reading because I grew impatient with the writing. Did they intend to identify the real problems later on? What about solutions? Moreover, the book sounded as though it was written for a college class. Maybe there were gems later on in the book, but I put it down because I was in fact a bit bored. I had heard all of this before.

Wow - Has the Pressure Cooker Ever Amplified!!.......2006-05-31

30 is the new benchmark of where are you in life. This places enormous pressure on people as young as 17 or 18 to get into gear before they even know who they are. With the average post-secondary graduating age around 22 ... that is less than a decade for women (more pressure than men) to begin having something to show for themselves. Life can be navigated but there are factors beyond one's control. No wonder the rat race is so compelling to teenagers.... you are behind before you even get started. Isn't life something to enjoy at least some of the time. Excellent analysis of why the world (at least in the West) has only gotten more unrealistic and disregarded the need for young people to just be happy some of the time that they are alive and well.

Good book if baby-making is your main goal in life........2006-04-11

This book is for women who have or want to have children. Period. I am 29 years old, and do not hear a biological clock ticking. In fact, the older I get, the less I want children. I knew the book would touch on motherhood, but I was hoping it wasn't the main drive of the book. Instead I read page after page of women whining about how to juggle a career and a family. If that is something you're struggling with, then by all means, get this book. If you're not thinking about motherhood, and especially if you are child-free by choice, don't waste your time.

More of a Sociological Study of Women in their 30s.......2005-12-30

I loved this book, but the title is really misleading. Makes it sound like a self-help book and I really don't think it is. A friend recommended this otherwise I probably wouldn't have picked it up based on the title.

Provided a lot of interesting perspectives on the struggles both women AND men go through in our society when trying to maintain a work/life balance. Doesn't really provide any guidance, but does make you realize that this is a social problem, not just a personal problem. I've recommended it to many friends.

Average customer rating:

Great Idea, but the authors didn't follow through (or bother to edit)
The problem isn't you
Don't let the title fool you

Midlife Crisis at 30
Lia Macko , and Kerry Rubin
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Motivational | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Self-Esteem | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Stress Management | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0452286069
Release Date: 2005-02-22

Book Description

At the age of 30:
• Financial strategist and bestselling author Suze Orman was a waitress
• Former vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro was a stay-at-home mom
• Political strategist Mary Matalin was a first-year law student—and about to drop out
• CNN anchor Paula Zahn was unemployed

Midlife Crisis at 30 offers hope for many of today's twenty- and thirty-somethings struggling with the unreasonable expectations that society and the media have placed on them. As a result of these powerful influences, many women blame themselves for not overcoming the very real obstacles to their fulfillment that still exist in American society. Raised to believe they could “have it all” in every part of their lives at a young age, these young women are exhausted, confused, and desperate to find the middle ground where they can enjoy full, well-rounded lives before it is too late.

Through the candid and revealing stories of the “New Girls Club,” a group of successful women, such as Geraldine Ferraro, Judy Blume, Susan Sarandon, and Denise Austin, who have solved the work/life/love puzzle, Midlife Crisis at 30 presents pragmatic strategies and realistic suggestions for young women everywhere.

Customer Reviews:

Great Idea, but the authors didn't follow through (or bother to edit).......2006-12-17

I am a 30-year-old, recently married, professional woman who would like to start a family. The topic of this book resonated with me, and I was eager for its arrival on my doorstep. The book had tremendous value to me for one reason: I am direly in need of female mentors who have successfully juggled a meaningful career with family, and the authors provide a well-diversified sampling of intelligent women's viewpoints in the "New Girls' Club" section. However, from the very first page, I was disappointed in the level of writing. Not only did the authors resort to pop psychology and assumptive thinking (ie, that every woman in our generation is involved in the same mess for the same reasons); they also did not follow through with the title of the book. The book trails off with a third-party voice, and there is no strong author's conclusion at the end. I was left wondering, "'Midlife Crisis at 30--and what to do about it': what should I do about it?" I got the impression that the women were trying to squeeze the book in with their high-profile jobs, their marriage and/or boyfriend, and Kerry's pregnancy (at one point, as if the book is their personal journal, they mention that "as we write, Kerry is popping prenatal vitamins.")

My biggest problem with the book is the lack of editorial review. Within the first page alone, there are three glaring grammatical or stylistic errors. Not only was the book filled with grade school English class mistakes, but the general editing for the purpose of organizing the general ideas could have been much more effective. Chapters end quickly and irresolutely without drawing necessary conclusions. The authors illustrate their ideas with personal and anecdotes and vignettes from colleagues rather than carefully supported research or diversified experiences. Even their citations contain ridiculous errors: "...a 40-year-old college-educated single woman in her thirties is more likely to be killed by terrorists than to get married."

The authors' style of writing comes across as juvenile and draft-like. Constant dashes and ellipses dot the pages: "...there is no one official path to happiness--and for many modern women, it's okay to take the long road home." Modern pop lingo and words connected with slashes are abundant, when plain English would be more effective: "Her work/life/balance could have done the job--"

The authors come across as vivacious, interesting women; it would be fun to be seated next to one of them at a dinner party. Yet if I invest money and many hours in a book, I expect that it will be well organized, well researched, and certainly well edited. Each female generation comes of age within its challenging zeitgeist, and I appreciate that the authors have chosen to help portray that of Generation X/Y. If Barbara Ehrenreich, Naomi Wolf, Gloria Steinem, Anna Quindlen, Ann Crittenden, and countless other highly educated and well spoken thinkers can organize their modern ideas within an intelligent format, I hope that my generation will take the time and energy to present their own theories to the public with equally spirited, compassionate, and articulate integrity.

The problem isn't you.......2006-04-14

Informative and insightful, this book looks at the culture of life choices of the women of Generations X and Y and concludes that a number of life stressors are now coinciding for women at age 30. Putting career first and putting off relationships later, women who believe that they could "have it all" --a meaningful relationship, family and challenging career begin running into the roadblocks of the glass ceiling and begin worrying about the husband and family that have never materialized all around age 30. Raised within the relatively gender-fair playing field of education, these women tend to internalize and ask what could be wrong with themselves, while missing the point that culturally there is still a long way to go for equal opportunity for women. The authors call to band together to change public policy is a good suggestion, but one which must overcome its cultural lethargy. Ultimately, the "dream team of mentors" which the authors assemble at the end of the book fails to personally inspire while detailing the life challenges of some successful women. The book however succeeds well overall in enlightening Generation X and Y women to the larger cultural problems that we are all facing together.

Don't let the title fool you.......2006-02-05

Ignore the title and ignore the front cover--this is not a sappy gripe book. This book is a challenge, and the question it asks is: Why are Baby Boomers' Daughters Melting Down Instead of Rallying for Change?

The first part of the book helps to answer the first part of the question: baby boomers' daughters are melting down because we have been raised to expect that we can "Have it All," and, if we don't have it all (perfect job, perfect relationship, perfect kids) by age 30 we start to wonder why (and we assume it's our own fault).

The result is that most 25- to 35-year-old working women are dissatisfied, unhappy, and not looking forward to the rest of our lives--but each of us thinks we're fighting these demons alone. Macko and Rubin have done their research. They include statistics and surveys to make sense of what is going on with us, and they include short personal narratives from women they've interviewed who are trying to make their way through the maze.

But they do not stop there. The second part of the book challenges us to rally for change by giving real-life examples of women who have figured out how to balance the triple roles of professional, wife, and mother (or, in some instances, women who have found happiness with just two of those three roles). These women have not had easy lives, but they share how they came through the turmoil they felt at 30 to the workable balance they now have after 30. No two stories are the same--each woman found her own answers in her own way.

I didn't know that I needed this book until I read it. Now that I've read it, I'm convinced that all of my friends (and you, and all of your friends) need to read this book, and take it to heart.

I'll end with this quote, from Iris Krasnow's segment in the second part of the book:

"The most important point I can express is to tell young women not to want anyone else's life. It's a myth to think that anyone has it more together than you do or that someone is far happier than you are. . . . What I've learned as I mature is that the more I dare to be myself, the more I get to have a life built on joy and adventure and peace."

Average customer rating:

Good introduction to Italian Regional Food. Great Read.

Rustic Transportation ... transcendent

Rustic Transportation ... transcendent

Awesome

Rustico, a look at Italian cooking and regional living

Rustico: Regional Italian Country Cooking
Micol Negrin
Manufacturer: Clarkson Potter
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Italian | European | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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The Italian Country Table: Home Cooking from Italy's Farmhouse Kitchens

ASIN: 0609609440
Release Date: 2002-10-08

Amazon.com

Italy, a country half the size of Texas, is composed of 20 regions, each with its own distinctly marvelous food. In Rustico, author Micol Negrin offers 10 recipes from each region--from the Alpine Val d'Aosta to the southernmost islands of Sicily and Sardinia. Other cookbooks serve up Italian regional dishes, but few American ones, if any, provide such a sweeping tour of authentic fare. Readers will be captivated instantly by dishes such as Lombardy's Butternut Squash Gnocchi in Rosemary Butter; Emilia-Romagna's Veal Roast Stuffed with Spinach, Pancetta, and Frittata; and Latium's Pike in Velvety Egg-Lemon Sauce, among many others--appetite-whetting food that cries out to be made. The key to Negrin's success is that she has chosen her recipes beautifully, and has presented them accessibly, illuminating relevant techniques and ingredients throughout (Negrin encourages cooks to find the real stuff, but also offers sage substitution advice). She also provides fascinating cultural illustration (for example, cheese production and meat curing throughout Italy are complementary activities, as the former means excess whey which, combined with bran and corn, becomes perfect porcine nourishment).

The rustic dishes range from antipasti to dolce, and include more familiar "specialties" such as Tuscany's Summer Bread and Tomato Salad and Milan's Saffron Risotto, and the excitingly unexplored, such as Molise's Hand-Cut Pasta Squares in Asparagus Cream and Apulia's Orecchiette with Wilted Arugula and Tomatoes. Baked goods are particularly irresistible and include Basilicata's Smoked Bread with Sweet Onion, Tomato and Basil, and herb-showered Griddle Bread from Romagna. Sweet lovers will delight in the likes of Calabria's Chocolate Covered Roasted Figs and Mint-and-Lemon-Laced Cheese Pillows in Warm Chestnut Honey from Sardinia, among other simple desserts. With a section of basic recipes, a fine ingredient glossary, and photos throughout, the book is a true tour de force. --Arthur Boehm

Book Description

Americans have fallen in love with Italian regional food, from the casual fare of Tuscan trattorias to the more refined creations of high-end Piedmontese restaurants, from Sicily’s wonderful desserts to Emilia-Romagna’s superb cheeses and cured meats. Rustico is the first American book to explore the remarkable breadth of these richly varied cuisines, devoting equal attention to each of Italy’s twenty regions. This includes thorough treatment of such places as Val d’Aosta, high in the Alps, whose fare is an intriguing mix of northern Italian, French, and Swiss influences: truffled fondue or grappa-spiked venison stew will
transport you to the slopes of Monte Bianco. Or Trentino–Alto Adige, with the southernmost German-speaking towns in Europe, for goulasch and spaetzle. Or the scorched southern regions like Basilicata, known for their spicy dishes; the Veneto, with the aromatic foods that are a legacy of Venice’s reign as the spice capital; or Sardinia, with its Spanish-inflected cuisine.

For each of the twenty regions, Micol Negrin provides ten authentic, truly representative recipes, with a special focus on original, rustic dishes, encompassing the entire meal—antipasti to dolci. Each chapter is introduced by an overview of the region, its culinary influences, food staples, and important recipes; each includes information on specialty products like cheeses and wines; and each explores the traditions, preparations, and life of the region, not only through recipes but through anecdote, history, and captivating photos. Each chapter, in fact, is a book unto itself; and the sum total is the last Italian cookbook you’ll ever need.

Customer Reviews:

Good introduction to Italian Regional Food. Great Read........2004-11-29

`Rustico' by Italian food journalist Micol Negrin is a better than average book of regional Italian recipes in a world filled with good books on regional Italian recipes. The book's subtitle specifies that the book concentrates on `Country' cooking. And, although the book is very nicely done by region, it has no pretensions to being a scholarly work such as Waverley Root's `The Foods of Italy' or even a journalistic coverage of the subject as in Claudia Roden's very worthy `The Food of Italy'. In fact, the absence of pretension adds to the pleasant satisfaction one gets in reading the book, as it is not without merit as an introduction to the culinary world of Italy.

In my mind, the book is immediately superior to Susan Herrmann Loomis' very good book `Italian Farmhouse Cookbook' in that it does deal with recipes by region with an introduction that explains the geographical, historical, and climactic reasons for the prevailing cuisine in each region. Rome (Latium), for example, is all about sheep (as the city was founded by a tribe of nomadic sheepherders) and pigs (since from the time of the Roman Empire, the city of Rome was the center of hog butchering for the region. Similarly, Genoa and its region, Liguria, is shown to have a cuisine which is very similar to southern Italy due to the role of Genoa as a major medieval port and source of imported foods.

In addition to recipes and culinary history, the book gives an excellent overview of the wines and cheeses of each region. The coverage of cheeses is especially interesting to someone who knows a lot more about cheeses and the differences between cows and sheep than he does about grapes. The book makes clear, for example, why a cheese like Fontina is a distinctive product of the alpine region of Val d'Aosta, tucked in the seam between France and German speaking Switzerland. Good Italian Fontina is a great cross between the semihard Swiss Gruyeres and Emmentalers and the soft French bries. The book also gives some sidebar coverage to the types of breads native to the regions. These comments are a bit frustrating, as it seems it would have been almost as easy to give us the recipe for Grissini (Piedmontese breadsticks) as to tell us the historical origin of these little lovelies. But, bread is a very big subject and Carol Field's superb `The Italian Baker' has five pages devoted to Grissini recipes.

All of Negrin's other virtues would still leave us with a rather thin book if she had chosen to give us recipes for the well-known specialities of each region. Another book with spaghetti Carbonara, artichokes ala Judica, saltimbocca, and potato gnocchi in the chapter on Latium would have been very dull indeed, as these four recipes show up in every book I have seen on the cooking of Rome, and there are many of these books already available. Some well-known regional classics are here, such as Campania's (Naples) Pizza Margherita and Venice's Risi e Bisi (rice and peas), but many of the dishes are not only unfamiliar, but break some rules I learned at Mario Batali's knee, such as the fact that cooks in Campania, Sicily, and Sardinia have no qualms about combining fish and cheese, although the excellent recipe to which this observation is a headnote combines a very mild cheese, Mozzarella, with a very strong tasting fish, salted anchovies. In any case, this recipe is a great variation on the quick Spaghetti Puttanesca style of dish.

The selection of dishes in the book as a whole is a very nice mix of pasta, breads, soups, braises, salads, roasts and frys. As the book is organized by geography rather than by course or type of dish, a supplementary table of contents organizing all dishes by type of dish would have been a very nice addition. This is not a book from which you will want to learn how to make bread or pasta. For those, I suggest you go to Carol Field and Marcella Hazan respectively, but the bread and pizza recipes in this book are pretty good. It's just that if things don't work out, you have no guidance on how to correct your mistakes.

The recipes end with an excellent little chapter on basic Italian recipes for broths, sauces and doughs. The veggies in the chicken broth are cooked a bit too long for my taste. I am pretty sure you have sucked all the goodness out of your carrots, celery, and onions in three hours, so why go stew them for six. The book ends with a very nice list of American sources, most of which are located in New York City.

The introduction to each region includes the addresses of restaurants, shops, and culinary schools in that region. If you are a foodie and are planning a trip to Italy, this information can be invaluable. Even if you simply want to access these establishments over the phone and can trust your Italian, this is useful, as telephone numbers for each establishment are given. No web sites, unfortunately.

I notice that almost all acknowledgments are to Italian sources. This inspires a lot of confidence in me, as does the facing bibliography which lists many Italian language sources plus many English language sources, all of which I recognize as important culinary authorities such as Clifford Wright, Alan Davidson, Fred Plotkin, and my favorite Claudia Roden.

My knowledge of Italian is not up to the task of knowing whether this is correct, but I am puzzled by the fact that every other writer I know refers to the modern region around Rome as Lazio, while Ms. Negrin uses Latium, which sounds very archaic.

I strongly recommend this as a first book on Italian regional cuisine, to be read before taking on Roden's or Root's classic works.

Rustic Transportation ... transcendent.......2002-12-14

Okay, my title may be a LITTLE over the top, but I'm not even a foodie and I can hardly wait to sink my teeth into this tome. Yet another of the five cookbooks I bought as Christmas presents, this one looks to be the winner.

It's a trip through Italy by each region's food. The color photography is stunning. But I feel as if I can LEARN all manner of fascinating details reading this book (thank goodness I bought it for my husband so I don't have to give it away). And, most thoughtfully, after making us salivate to sample each region's fare, the author gives us lists of "Favorite Restaurants, Shops and Places" for each locale.

Italy's travel industry should be sponsoring Micol Negrin. What a find!

Rustic Transportation ... transcendent.......2002-12-14

Italy's travel industry should be sponsoring Micol Negrin. What a find!

Awesome.......2002-10-27

This book is so awesome: much more than just for cooking. The little sidebar stories-true gems and written by someone who knows what they are talking about. I found the accompanying website, ... very useful-showcasing not only recipes but also travel advisory, shopping tips, regional customs etc

Rustico, a look at Italian cooking and regional living.......2002-10-23

Rustico is one of the few cookbooks I have actually sat down with a cup of coffee and read pretty much cover to cover. I felt as though Ms. Negrin was sitting across the table from me narrating a story. She has the unique talent of personable writing that comes across in her anecdotes relating to every region she visited. I trust her extensive knowlege of regional cooking, and feel transported from place to place as the book tells the tales of so many aspects of cooking and living in such different areas of Italy.
From the delicious braised venison with creamy grappa sauce of Val d'Aosta, to the beet-filled ravioli with poppy seeds of the Veneto, to the mint and lemon laced cheese pillows in chestnut honey of Sardinia, this book hands us traditional recipes only someone with uneditied access to kitchens in the homes of Italians of every region could gather.
The book's beautiful photography of both inspiring dishes as well as day to day living in Italy convey a sort of warmth and familiarity reminiscent of Ms. Negrin's writing.
I highly recommend the book to anyone looking to discover the legacy of regional Italian cooking.

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