Product Description
135 black-and-white duotone plates cover twenty-one years of Robert Adam's passionate affection for the American landscape. Illustrated. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Grand Overview
I consider this book, a good way to begin to appreciate, Mr Adams' life and work. It hashelped to strengthen my understanding of the images that Mr Adams makes, and helped me focus on my own journey with my cameras for the last 18 years or so. If you only buy one Robert Adams book this is the one to have. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (4)

Country Life Archives Folks
Yes- most of the photos are black and white. The book (and series) is titled: From the Archives of Country Life. Country Life was (maybe still is) a British Magazine that originally published these photographs- decades ago..it was a black and white publication. Huge 4 x 5 format film cameras (if not larger) used for architecturial photography almost alwsys used B & W film. These highly detailed photos were not taken with a little kodak point and shoot camera. Yes- I would love color photos but going in..ARCHIVES from COUNRTY LIFE are often the only source for such photography and yes there were done in B & W as was the custom of the time.

Disappointing
The illustrations are an estimated 95% black and white, and had I known that I would never have purchased the book. I ordered it based on an article in The English Home which showed all pictures in color - the book itself is not.

This is a book that needs color plates and I would have paid any price if it had them. Publishers' catalogues usually list detailed information regarding illustrations, including the number of pictures and whether they are black and white or color. It would be very helpful if the Amazon specs contained that information.

Country
Excellentsuperbphotographya classic informativebook, amust for those interested ininteriordesign / architecturerecommendedhighly

ROBERT ADAM
Robert Adam was one of the most influential architects and decorators of the 18th century.His work influenced Hepplewhite and Sheraton to just name a few.This book does a fine job of making the reader understand the influence and the range of Adams work.The text is highly informative and well researched and the images are crisp and vivid.This book is expensive, yes, but if you have any interest whatsoever in this subject I can't imagine you being disappointed.Great book to buy, if you have the means to buy it. ... Read more

Product Description
Robert Adam was one of the greatest British architects of the later eighteenth century. So widespread was his influence as a decorator and furniture designer that his name has become a household word. But it is the synthesis of architecture, planning, and decoration that stands at the heart of Adam's achievement, as Eileen Harris shows in this elegantly illustrated book. She considers in detail the interaction of each of these elements in nineteen of Adam's most accomplished interior projects, including some of the most famous British country houses and London town houses.Most of Adam's enormous body of work was in preexisting houses; the challenges of remodeling stimulated his inventive imagination, and he became a master at turning awkward situations to advantage. Harris has mined archival sources, including the large collection of drawings from the Adam office at Sir John Soane's Museum in London, and fully examined the houses themselves to discover exactly what Adam did in each project and why. In her detailed discussions of the planning, decoration, ceilings, carpets, chimney pieces, and furniture of such interiors as those at Kedleston, Syon House, Osterley Park, Newby Hall, Culzean Castle, and Home and Lansdowne Houses in London, Harris uncovers the full extent of Adam's prodigious achievements. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Best Book about Best Architect
Have read every book about Robert Adam published in the past 100 years, I can state with confidence and authority that this is THE BEST of the lot. A must for any student of Robert Adam, Georgian architecture and interiors, and indeed for any architect or student of interior design in general.

B+
This is a gorgeous book; the photos are first rate (always in color) and appropriate to content. The only factor detracting form the book's general excellence is a text that is sometimes disjointed and with references to pictures or illustrations not included in the book. Were that not so, the book would rate an A+. ... Read more

Product Description
Robert Adams began by photographing suburban landscapes along the edge of the Rocky Mountains. His goal was to record the erasure of the American wilderness, while attempting to affirm what survives of it. For Adams, photography at this juncture in history presents a melancholy vocation: "It seems to me that we are now compelled to recognize that we have no place to go but where we've been," he judges. "We've got to go look at what we've done, which is oftentimes pretty awful, and see if we can't make of this place a civilized home." In Gone?, his most personal work to date, Adams lives out the implications of these words. In the 1980s, he revisited semi-rural areas he had known as a boy-landscapes that were no longer pristine, but which still retained their own particular qualities of light. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Gone?but certainly not forgotten
Robert Adams fans (and, yes, there are a few of us out here) will be delighted with this splendid new volume--finely printed, beautifully sequenced, with pictures full of light and love.The images appear to have been made while walking with a hand held camera, there are pairs and sequences of images taken from vantages points a few feet or a few seconds apart, that lend a sense of continuing perfection, the joys of an afternoon in sunlight in a familiar place.The photographs in this book seem to have been made at the same time as those included in "Listening to the River", published in 1994.

For those who are not fans of this Adams (and you know who you are), this book is, I think, much more accessible than some of his other work, some of which very directly confronts the damage done to the landscape.What is apparent in this book is Robert Adams' love of beauty, especially in the most ordinary of places, in the suburbs where we live, or in the open fields of farms of the high plains.His photographs do not avoid the damage done in our use of the land, but they are also full of hope that we can and do live amidst beauty, if we take the time to see it.
... Read more

Product Description
Description: Turning Back: A Photographic Journal of Re-Exploration is published to coincide with the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The narrative begins at the Pacific Ocean and moves eastward through what was formerly one of the world's great rain forests. Photographs at the center of the book report on the forest's destruction. Elsewhere they trace a search for hope. Two hundred years ago, Lewis and Clark reported finding in the American Northwest a vast forest of ancient evergreens. In Turning Back Robert Adams looks again at the region's trees, discovering evidence both of America's failure and of a continuing promise. President Jefferson's primary charge to Lewis and Clark was to prepare the way for American commerce. Today, historians still speculate about why, upon his return, Lewis lapsed into depression and apparently committed suicide. "Going east," Adams suggests, "was more difficult than going west." So then, what is the future? Turning Back documents two kinds of predictive evidence. On the one hand we observe the results of greed so unrestrained that they are indistinguishable from those of nihilism. On the other we see what still lives, whether by our design or neglect, or Providence; in these 164 pictures the tone is celebratory, as in a prayer book. From coastal landscapes populated with tourists to timber clear-cutting and small family farms in eastern Oregon, here we reflect on what was lost, what is retained, and what we value both regionally and as a people with a common history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

all our lives
This is not a 'coffee table' book, but one which requires serious thought and study. Ostensibly about clear cutting in Oregon, it is a commentry on our world and what we are doing to it. He does offer hope but it is a thin one. It should be essential study for all photographers involved in environmental photography, in fact anyone concerned with our present attitudes to the world we all live in. Robert Adams most important book yet,but a demanding book to 'read'.

TURNING BACK
Robert Adams is a significant American Photographer.Adam's photographs and this book are a reminder how much of our natural world has been destroyed by the greed of the forest industry in the Pacific Northwest. Adams has shown devastation inflicted on the landscape as Mathew Brady showed Civil War battlefields. This book goes further and is a superb book to own.

A difficult book for a difficult time
This book may seem a bit inaccessible at first, but rewards those willing to spend time with it.The images are of forests, mostly in Oregon, close to the place Bob Adams has made home for the last decade.In this landscape, Adams finds elements that resonate both with the past and the present, celebrating what remains, but also showing very clearly the damage done.The most savage pictures are those of clear cuts, where the stumps of the virgin forests still remain, but the effect seems more to be from war rather than commerce.These images are all the more striking when we consider the images we have not seen from our recent history.

Disappointing
Although I have enjoyed Robert Adams earlier work, I am having difficulty seeing the photographic merit of this current project.If one reads the text with the explanation that Adams is attempting to show some of the destruction of the wilderness caused by a man in the areas that were explored by Lewis and Clark, then there is a context and a meaning to be had.But if you look at the photographs on their own, without any explanation of the intent of the photographer, they appear to be bland and boring. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (4)

Bad News
This books is bad news, especially since it should have been such good news.Science fiction is in need of a good historical survey, but this isn't it.The writing is choppy and labored.The author endlessly uses phrases close to "this x reflects science fiction's central dialectic," but in neither the preface nor the postscript does he do an adequate job of explaining this dialectic.At times, the factors in contradiction within the dialectic seem to be as simple as the tension between technology and mysticism.At other times, Roberts has a more complex theory involving the interplay between Catholicism and Protestantism, which, believe me, don't ask. The narrative aspect of the history is awkward and lacks flow.The only primary sources used in the text is the science fiction itself; the author has apparently visited no archives.The bulk of the book is taken up by plot summaries. This is a synthetic history, and barely professional.

At several points, the author fails to cite the sources that guide his thinking.For instance, from 297-299, Roberts discusses how Thomas Pynchon's _Gravity's Rainbow_ lost out on the Nebula Award to Arthur C. Clarke's _Rendezvous with Rama_, but he never cites Jonathan Lethem's essay "The Squandered Promise of Science Fiction," which appeared in the _Voice Literary Supplement_ in 1998, nor does he cite Lethem's later exchange withRay Davis, which appeared in the _New York Review of Science Fiction_.Yet, these pieces are obviously the origin of the Pynchon-Clarke comparison.Robert's work isn't plagiarism, but it comes damn close at times.It certainly isn't careful scholarship.

Finally, anyone who is well-read in the secondary literature on science fiction, including Darko Suvin, James Blish's work as William Atheling, and Thomas M. Disch's reminiscent _The Dreams Our Stuff is Made Of_ , will find that Roberts has virtually no new insights into the genre.

I will probably use this book as an occasional reference work because it is comprehensive.This comprehensivity, however, and its too long time span (400 AD-present?why?) makes the work thin. It's a lemon, folks.

Well worth the title
Roberts' pretentious-seeming title is worthwhile for this book. The book explores the antic roots of SF, proto-SF and serves as a great reference book for an academical study. I am writing my dissertation on SF and this book is like bedside book for me.

An excellent reference volume as well as an introduction
I've already been familiar with Robert's previous book on SF (an introduction to the genre published in 2000), so when I found out he's written a survey of the history of the genre, I was at once interested. Having read most of it (I skipped the early history), I've found it fully satisfactory. It's very readable, at once academic and entertaining, with brilliant occasional flashes of ironic British humour (e.g. when he expresses his disgust with the cheesy Ewoks of the Return of the Jedi - we're in full agreement there). He clearly has a concept to follow, a kind of personal view on the development of the genre, which is not too idiosyncratic but still contains a healthy dose of subjective opinions. On the other hand, he is very generous about most authors, not playing a game of eulogizing some and denigrating others. His tastes seem to be quite close to me, accidentally - I was often nodding enthusiastically while reading his comments.

While being an excellent survey of the history and also an introduction to the genre, it can also be used as a reference if someone wants to find new and interesting authors to read. Roberts has read a truly astonishing amount of SF, including non-English works (although his most obvious weakness is in that area; for instance, even though he praises Stanislaw Lem as the greatest European SF author of the late 20th century, I suspect he's never read anything by him except Solaris, which is a big miss), and he gives more than a laundry list of titles, making his preferences and recommendations clear.

All in all, a book well worth its price!

Fascinating Insights into Sci-Fi as Literary Genre
This study of the history of Science Fiction traces the roots of Sci-Fi back to the extraordinary voyages of ancient Greece, such as the Odyssey as a prototype for travels to the Moon and beyond. The volume is fact filled and contains lots of historical insights that relate popular sci-fi works to the historical events of the time of their writing.

My only complaint is that writing is academic in style. The vocabulary gets a bit ponderous at times. It is not a particularly easy read. Yet the information makes it worthwhile to wade through the heavy verbage. ... Read more

Product Description
For the three-semester calculus course.Proven in North America and abroad, this classic text has earned a reputation for excellent accuracy and mathematical rigour. Previous editions have been praised for providing complete and precise statements of theorems, using geometric reasoning in applied problems, and for offering a range of applications across the sciences. Written in a clear, coherent, and readable form, Calculus: A Complete Course makes student comprehension a clear priority.This seventh edition features a new co-author, Dr. Christopher Essex, who has been invited to contribute his unique style and approach to the subject material. Instructors and students will appreciate revised exercises, greater emphasis on differential equations, new pedagogical features, and an enhanced MyLab. ... Read more

Product Description
Robert Adam Architects has an international reputation for classical and traditional architecture and design informed by the latest technology. The firm has offices in the UK with work throughout Britain, the USA, continental Europe, and Asia. Their portfolio of award-winning projects covers a range of commercial and institutional developments, master planning, historic buildings, and country houses within the UK and abroad. A variety of classical styles abound in the firm's spectacular residential work, including Georgian, Victorian, Gothic, Medieval, Colonial, Arts & Crafts, Baroque, Queen Anne, Palladian, and Regency. The firm's unique ability to combine a modern interpretation of the classical tradition with the latest developments in solar energy research is evident in projects such as its 'solar house' on the Sussex Downs. This handsome volume presents more than 100 projects in categories including commercial developments, private residences, and country houses. Robert Adam Architects has an international reputation for classical and traditional architecture and design informed by the latest technology. The firm has offices in the UK with work throughout Britain, the USA, continental Europe, and Asia. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (16)

fast shipping!
The book arrived just 2 days after I ordered it!It was in new condition. Thanks again, Amazon.

Nice
Came in time like they saw it would and was like new and would buy from this seller again.

Can we define our terms please!
Before we begin deconstructing this particular instalment in the Best American Essays series, we should first begin by setting our parameters and defining our terms. Specifically, what constitutes an essay. With this Houghton Mifflin series being so clearly defined as to offer eight other genres for correct placement, there should be no need for misplacement and no tolerance should it occur.

As per the 2007 offering, there are in this 2008 volume, numerous examples of that which is simply NOT an essay, and if one is to rate and evaluate the merit of this anthology, one must first discard that which is not an essay and simply sift through what is left.

I define an essay as a mixture of the following: 'a short literary composition dealing with a subject analytically or speculatively' and 'a short literary composition on a single subject, usually presenting the personal view of the author'. For my definition, the keywords are 'analytical' and 'personal view'. If it does not adhere to the above universal definitions, then I feel justified in deeming it not an essay.

From the twenty-one pieces in this volume here, briefly is my summation:

Three are either short-stories or memoirs and should not have been included:
Salamanca,
This Old House,
Tripp Lake.

Four were totally unworthy of my time and I didn't read past the first paragraph:
The Constant Gardner,
Everybody's Nickname,
On Necklaces,
On Celestial Music.

Two I simply read and marked 'Dull!':
Candid Camera,
Extreme Dinosaurs.

Four I gave two checks to:
Notable Quotations,
Cricket Fighting,
Where God Is Glad,
Buzzards.

Six were worthy of a mere one check
Becoming Adolf,
The Way We Age,
The Lesbian Bride's Handbook,
Solipsism,
Run Like Fire Once More,
The Renegade.

One I marked 'OK':
The Ecstasy of Influence.

One I marked 'Depressing and meritless':
Cracking Open

As I arrived rather late to this series, I cannot tell whether it has ran out of steam, or whether it has always been this poor. Certainly I cannot imagine it is really a genuine reflection of the state of the American Essay - if it is, we are in pretty poor literary and scholastic shape. Unfortunately, however, after buying two instalments a piece of both 'Essays' and 'Short-stories', I would have to say that based upon those four volumes, I shan't be purchasing any more of 'Essays'.

Best American Essays
Adam Gopnik's, Best American Essays of 2008, is a series of multiple essays. The essays, I must say, are very entertaining. I was not expecting to enjoy them as much as I did. They are all, for the most part, a pretty essay read. Each of these essays surround themselves with the same idea, small object with a large subject.

My favorite essay from this series would have to be the essay, "Notable Quotables" by Louis Menand. I think this is the greatest essay because it relates closely to the theme of Gopniks entire series of essays. The theme that everything can be a metaphor, and there are two ways of imterpreting everything. I feel that Menand relatess to this in a very unique way. A way much in which is completely different then that of any other author in this series. He shows the double sides in which every quote has. He explain that quotes are always taken in just one particular way. It depends on who says the quote and the way in which they say it to determine which way the quote should be interpretted. Most quotes or lyrics are open for more then one persons use. Quotes may be changed around and altered in the way in which they are said. However, the bottom line that Menand is trying to explain is that there are always two ways to interpret a quote that may be said by two different people.

The Best American Essays
The Best American Essays is a series of compiled works from various authors.For the most part, the title goes hand in hand with the quality of work represented here.One of the most intruiging articles represented in thisbook is Albert Goldbarth's Everyone's Nickname is Ace.At first glance, this peice has the ability to make the reader want to flip to a new piece.It appears very ambiguous to the first time viewer.It is a piece thatrequires undivided attention in order to understand it.It focuses on the philosophical concept of the dual personas reflected within one individual.He alludes to the idea that just as Ace double novels come equipped as two books in one, humans have the same characteristic.Goldbarth's writing and structuring of the piece is unique.It is interesting how this is true about human nature, yet it never crossed my mind until after reading Everyone's Nickname is Ace.It is like the artwork you can not seem to understand until after viewing it for an extended period of time.

Although Goldbarth's excerpt is among one if the more difficult yet worthy reads in the book, there are also some articles that are simple to comprehend.For example, Lauren Slater's Tripp Lake.It is more like the journal entries that can be written by anyone.In this peice, she alludes to her summer at camp.The central message that she circles around is her negative realtionship with hermother.For some reason Lauren Slater dislikes her mother because she feels guilt for the way her mom's life turned out.This peice can be a striking at times because it really touches the reader and makes them gain a true understanding of the way the author is feeling.

Overall, most of the stories found in The Best American Essay is well worth the money and the investment of time put into reading it.There will be some articles that are easy to read through such as Tripp Lake and others similar to Goldbarth that may be hassle. However, with a little patience and reverse outlining, understanding the key elements and ideas within Goldbarth's theory is a no brainier.Besides, if you can comprehend pieces such as Goldbarth, then you will be able to read through most other difficult texts. ... Read more

Product Description
Prophecy Written in Blood!After two hundred years of seaching for other immortals, the Undying High Lord Milo Morai has returned to the Horseclans to fulfill an ancient prophecy and lead them to their destined homeland by the sea.But in their path wait the armed might of the Ehleenee and an enemy even more treacherous-the Witchmen-pre-Holocaust scientists who have survived the centuries by stealing other men's bodies to house their evil minds and who have in their hidden stronghold the means of destroying all who will not become their willing slaves.Can even Milo save the Horseclans from the bloodthirsty Ehleenee and the malevolent Witchmen who would rip him to shreads to discover his secret of immortality? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Not literature -- just great fun
While working through the sf shelves recently at my local used paperback bookstore, I came across a stack of barbarian-adventure novels by the late Robert Adams from the 1970s and `80s. They've been out of print for some time (I see they're back now) and, frankly, I'd forgotten all about them. The "Horseclans" series (of which this is the first installment) is probably his best known work, set six hundred years after a nuclear/biological/geological holocaust, a world in which the survivors of America have become horse nomads and the east coast has been resettled by incomers from Greece and Eastern Europe. Milo Moray is one of the few survivors from the Olde Days (yes, he appears to be effectively immortal) and he has returned from a long, wandering journey to retake leadership of the clans and to lead them to a new future on the coast. The action is headlong and the prose, while sometimes a bit purple, is actually quite enjoyable. Adams is up-front about simply providing entertainment, but he manages to blend in some quasi-libertarian commentary as well. He's also knowledgeable about military matters, so the verisimilitude is strong. There's a dozen and a half books in the series, and they don't demand to be read exactly in order, but this first one sets up the milieu, so this is where you should start. Grab any copies of Adams's books you can locate and settle in for some pure escapism.

Bloody, Brutal Fantasy Debut
Here's a book it seems no one has heard about, and that's too bad. I read my first HORSECLANS book in high school, and it left an impression. For those who enjoyed 300 (or the better, lesser-known BLOOD OF HEROES), it seems that this book might have come out in the wrong decade.

THE COMING OF THE HORSECLANS introduced a fantasy series that reveled in brutality; that painted a picture of a world we'd all be glad not to live in. It shares a kinship with John Norman's GOR series; but HORSECLANS is written better, and it's not hung up on that whole slave-girl-exploitation dreck. In other words, underneath the blood and the guts and the sex, there's a bona-fide story. Woo-hoo!

(This review has been posted by Marcus Damanda, author of the vampire novel "Teeth: A Horror Fantasy.")

Super Reader
Milo Morai is a superhuman mutant. Basically, he has the whole Wolverine deal going on, and also does not seem to age.

At the start he is travelling back to a civilisation of sorts that he has set up, the Horseclans. They have some Beastmaster type talents, the ability to telepathically communicate with their own special horses, and with big cats.

The book is set around 600 years after a nuclear disaster, as that is how old Milo is. He wants to find others like him, and has basically set himself the long and difficult task that L. E. Modesitt's Forever Hero has, to rebuild a civilisation that has lost its technology and is greatly reduced in number.

By the end of the book, he has found three other mutants like himself, and led his Clans to the sea, along with a bit of warfare along the way. This is only before finding out of others that have survived the centuries, by body snatching, basically, a group of scientist mind vampires also survives.

The book seems to jump around rapidly, and suffers from not enough focus I think. The author is obviously fond of the primitive arms and armor thing.

Still Around
I read the Horse Clan series way back in 1982 or 83, when I was in High School. Personally I am surprised to find that it is still around. Even back then it was not a particularly popular book series, however I liked Howard's Conan series, and quickly fell for Adams Horse Clans. This book series is not for everyone, but if you like Howards Conan books, you might want to give Horse Clans a look. Often marketed as a sword and sorcery book, it fails to meet that mark by a mile, but it is a good (not great) sci-fi fantasy novel(s)... well good in my opinion and maybe not so good in the opinion of others.

Shows knowledge of the author
Reviewed by Kelley Anderson for Reader Views (11/06)

I was really looking forward to reading "The Coming of the Horseclans." The back cover promises prophecy, sorcery and immortality. I, however, got completely lost in the jumble of strange names, clan legends, horses that talk to cats, cats that talk to men, horses that don't talk to cats, men with weapons, etc. etc. From what I actually understood, this strange man (Milo Morai) joins up with a clan of people, travels from what used to be Mexico into what used to be Texas, battles many people along the way and meets a woman that he would like to have sex with. The words were complex, the description of weaponry and fighting styles tedious and the relationships between the characters unclear. I honestly found myself hoping this guy would die so it would be over it. No such luck. He lives until the end. So the promise of immortality was fulfilled. As for prophecy and sorcery, I'm not sure where any of that factored into the book.

This being said, the extraordinarily detailed description of battle showed great knowledge on the part of the reader. He described in minute detail the arrows, swords and armor of the various people fighting each other. It didn't interest me at all and I kept losing my focus on where the characters were and what they were doing.

I'm afraid I can't recommend "The Coming of the Horseclans" to anyone, because I don't understand the plot, couldn't identify with the characters and was horribly bored by the detailed war descriptions.

... Read more

Product Description
A vivid portrait of a man whose pre- and post-presidential careers overshadowed his presidency.

Chosen by the House of Representatives after an inconclusive election against Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams often failed to mesh with the ethos of his era, pushing unsuccessfully for a strong, consolidated national government. Historian Robert V. Remini recounts how in the years before his presidency Adams was a shrewd, influential diplomat, and later, as a dynamic secretary of state under President James Monroe, he solidified many basic aspects of American foreign policy, including the Monroe Doctrine. Undoubtedly his greatest triumph was the negotiation of the Transcontinental Treaty, through which Spain acknowledged Florida to be part of the United States. After his term in office, he earned the nickname "Old Man Eloquent" for his passionate antislavery speeches.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (27)

A good overview of JQA...
The Schlesinger series has its ups and downs, but this is a bright spot. Remini examines the man's strengths and weaknesses, and gives you a great idea about why JQA was only a one termer. He delves into the frayed marriage of JQA and Louisa, and his struggle as a parent. But, contrary to what another reviewer says, it does give him great credit for his successes as Secretary of State and as a Congressman, as well as his private citizen foray into the Amistad matter. A good primer on the man, which is the purpose of the short books of the Schlesinger series.

Will Make You WANT To Keep Turning The Pages
To be honest, the first five books of the "American Presidents" series (excluding, ironically enough, the John Adams installment) were somewhat of a chore for me to get through.Unless you are obsessed with that time period, and not just fascinated by the Presidential Office and looking to gain a bit more history like myself, at times the series can get a bit bogged down in details and philosophy.This "chapter", however, has been the easiest to get through to this point, as author Robert Remini keeps the narrative moving forward and doesn't get lost in the fine details.

Basically, Remini paints a fascinating portrait of our nation's sixth president, a man whose entire administration was steeped in controversy from the very beginning, and whose impeccable honor did not permit him to stoop to the level of his aggravators.While reading, I began to see both sides of "JQA"...the man of great principle who so desperately wanted (much like his father) to be "above" the realm of politics; as well as the shrewd orator with the fiery temper who could argue a case like no other.

Perhaps what really made me admire this, installment, though, was the focus on JQA himself, not the current world events.Sure, the events taking place during Adams' administration are going to play a large role in the book, but they are tempered (unlike the earlier works) to be viewed through the prism of Adams, not explained in every minute detail.

Thus, I considered this to be the best effort of the series up to this point.For whatever reason, the stories of both "Adams Presidents" have been the most compelling and well-written.

A good starting place
Remini's book on John Quincy Adams is as good a starting place as any.What was odd about the book is that it spent so much time on his younger days and seemingly less time on the period of his life where he was the most influential.While JQA's early life and time in Europe was certainly interesting, I would have preferred a more in depth look at his thinking during his days in Congress.The book is brief and so it there is little room to quote extensively from Adam's or his contemporaries, and while source material does appear, it isn't enough to give the reader the sense that Remini's interpretations of JQA and his motives are conclusive.In fact, the book leaves you with more questions than it answers.If you are looking for a basic introduction to the subject area, then this is an excellent choice.If your preference is for deeper, scholarly material...look elsewhere.

A President with ideals.
JQA reminds me of Jimmy Carter.Here was a man with ideals who wished to point the country in a direction and failed miserably.Much of what is said about JQA was mudslinging by his political opponents like Calhoun or Jackson.He was against slavery, wanted progress for the nation in scienitific and exploration projects, and development.The opposition effectively shut him down by attacking his character and intelligence.JQA tried his best, but failed to lead.His personal demeanor was not political, and this also cost him support.

JQA ultimately failed to lead.However his career after the Presidency resulted in him being elected to Congress for nine terms.His oratory made its point in Congress.His ideals shown through.Ultimately he was a patriotic idealist.

JQA
Great, concise biography.You will want to read another in-depth bio after this one.You can't read enough about these great ones. ... Read more

Product Description
Renowned scholar Robert Adams explores the relation between religion and ethics through a comprehensive philosophical account of a theistically-based framework for ethics. Adams' framework begins with the good rather than the right, and with excellence rather than usefulness. He argues that loving the excellent, of which adoring God is a clear example, is the most fundamental aspect of a life well lived. Developing his original and detailed theory, Adams contends that devotion, the sacred, grace, martyrdom, worship, vocation, faith, and other concepts drawn from religious ethics have been sorely overlooked in moral philosophy and can enrich the texture of ethical thought. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Complex Philosophy of Divine and Creaturely Love
Metaphysician and moral philosopher, Robert Merrihew Adams, offers an elaborate framework for ethics based upon divine love as the ultimate good.Adams understands God as the Good itself, which means that the Good is a concrete personal individual.In Adams' metaphysics, God plays the part of the form of the beautiful in Plato's thought.God as the supreme Good transcends all other goods.

Adams believes that God's existence is metaphysically necessary, and those properties that fit God follow necessarily from the divine nature.The supreme Good is one aspect of the divine nature.This means that the only limits upon God are those that follow from God's own nature.Love is a necessary aspect of the divine nature, but God's preferences and actions as expressions of love are contingent."The freedom ascribed to God does not include, as ours does, a possibility of desiring or choosing those ends that are rightly counted as bad" (48).This means that the standard of goodness is defined by the divine nature and thus is good for all possible worlds.

According to Adams' theory, what counts as good is not reducible to any human view about what the good is.The good is not fully accountable by any empirical test.Rather, the realm of value is organized around a transcendent good that is God.This means that the nature of value cannot be confined to the horizon of the physical or human world.

Adams makes a distinction between well-being and excellence.He notes that most contemporary thought focuses mainly upon well-being, or what is good for a person.Adams' own theory places primary importance upon excellence.Excellence implies a goodness in itself rather than goodness for another. Interest in well-being is secondary to the greater interest in excellence.What is good for a person is the living of a life characterized by the enjoyment of that which is excellent.

In the second segment of the book, Adams addresses what it means for individuals to love the good.The appropriate ethical relation is to be for the good, which entails loving it.God expresses eros in that God loves the good.Instead of understanding divine love as pure benevolence, Adams entertains seriously the notion that God desires relationship with creatures.This non-instrumental interest in relationships and excellences is part of what it means for both God and creatures to love.Adams considers what divine grace entails, arguing that it is a fundamental aspect of divine love."Grace is love that is not completely explained by the excellence of its object" (151).While Adams claims that it would be absurd to suppose that all love excludes instrumental interest in the beloved, he also claims that love requires an interest in the beloved that is not merely instrumental."Even divine love would be the richer rather than the poorer for finding value in the beloved" (165).Ideal love finds its reasons in the non-comparative appreciation of an object.This means that God's love is directed to things that are good, but it is not dominated by caring about whether these things are the best. Adams concludes this section with chapters on devotion, idolatry, and the value symbols.

Adams labels the third part of the book, "The Good and the Right."According to him, the good provides a proper framework for thinking about what is right and not the other way around.What is good has a fundamentally social aspect.Adams incorporates his theistic vision in chapter eleven by arguing that it is only the commands of a definitively good God that are candidates for defining what is human moral obligation.A main advantage of divine command theory of the nature of moral obligation, argues Adams, is that it satisfies the demand for objective moral requirements.There are a range of possibilities for how these commands are communicated or revealed by God.These possibilities may include scriptural texts, utterances of prophets, requirements of human communities, individual intuitions, etc.Signs that occur in time and place note these commands.

After examining the story of Abraham and Isaac, Adams concludes "that in any cultural context in which it is possible to worry about Abraham's Dilemma, it will hardly be credible that a good God has commanded the sort of sacrifice that is envisaged here" (290)."I think it is the part of religious as well as moral wisdom to dismiss all thoughts of our actually being commanded by God to practice something as horrible as human sacrifice.The question whether God commands such a thing should stay off our epistemological agenda as long as it possibly can, which I expect will be forever" (291).

The question of love and obligation leads to an inquiry into vocation.Adams defines vocation as "a call from God, a command, or perhaps an invitation addressed to a particular individual, to act and live in a certain way" (301).Direct and unambiguous commands from God are extremely rare, argues Adams, which means that conflicting values and obligations in any situation need to be thought about critically before interpreting these as communicating a divine command.The concept of vocation helps to solve the issue of whether or not creatures can love all other creatures.A divine call to love some persons and some kind of goods provides a way of understanding one's vocation.These questions of vocation lead naturally to the concluding part of Adams' book, which address the epistemology of value.

Thomas Jay Oord ... Read more

Product Description
The distinguished philosopher Robert M. Adams presents a major work on virtue, which is once again a central topic in ethical thought. A Theory of Virtue is a systematic, comprehensive framework for thinking about the moral evaluation of character. Many recent attempts to stake out a place in moral philosophy for this concern define virtue in terms of its benefits for the virtuous person or for human society more generally. In Part One Adams presents and defends a conception of virtue as intrinsic excellence of character, worth prizing for its own sake and not only for its benefits. In the other two parts he addresses two challenges to the ancient idea of excellence of character.

One challenge arises from the importance of altruism in modern ethical thought, and the question of what altruism has to do with intrinsic excellence. Part Two argues that altruistic benevolence does indeed have a crucial place in excellence of character, but that moral virtue should also be expected to involve excellence in being for other goods besides the well-being (and the rights) of other persons. It explores relations among cultural goods, personal relationships, one's own good, and the good of others, as objects of excellent motives.

The other challenge, the subject of Part Three of the book, is typified by doubts about the reality of moral virtue, arising from experiments and conclusions in social psychology. Adams explores in detail the prospects for an empirically realistic conception of excellence of character as an object of moral aspiration, endeavor, and education. He argues that such a conception will involve renunciation of the ancient thesis of the unity or mutual implication of all virtues, and acknowledgment of sufficient 'moral luck' in the development of any individual's character to make virtue very largely a gift, rather than an individual achievement, though nonetheless excellent and admirable for that. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Important contribution by Adams to Virtue Ethics
This book is an excellent (!) treatment of many of the current debates surrounding virtue ethics and the various challenges it faces as a normative theory. Of particular interest to people working in the field is the discussion of the situationist challenge to virtue ethics and Adams' responses. ... Read more

Product Description
The Printis the third and final book in The Ansel Adams Photography Series--the seminal guides fully revised by Ansel Adams shortly before his death in 1984. The Print, now available in paperback like the other volumes in the series, belongs on every photographer's shelf. It covers the entire printmaking process, from designing and furnishing a darkroom and experimenting with your first print, to mastering advanced techniques such as developer modifications, toning, and bleaching, and burning and dodging. This thorough guide is filled with indispensable darkroom techniques and tips, and amply illustrated with photographs and technical drawings. It is an indispensable tool for mastering the complex art of photographic printmaking. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

The best photography books on the market!!
This is the third and final book in Ansel Adams photography series. I really cant stress enough the importance of reading all 3 of these books and reading them in their proper order. Ansel talks about a lot of techniques and many of these techniques build upon previous knowledge. If your serious enough about photography to have an interest in these books then you should want to do it right and doing it right is buying all 3 books and reading them in order.

Its important to note that these books mainly deals with black and white and rightfully so. Ansel's passion was Black and White and it would have been a huge mistake to have included a serious teaching of color into these books. If you are interested in color I recommend buying a separate book that specializes in color and to read it after you have finished these 3 books.

I wont bother going into much detail in regards to what this book teaches. That would take too much time and it would make this review way too long. Ill simply say that this book will put you on the road to becoming a master printer. As you most likely already know Ansel is one of the best black and white printers in the history of photography, in fact most people would credit him as being not one of the best but THE Best printer ever. His prints are magical and there is a reason for this. He was absolutely obsessed with quality and his skills in the darkroom were amazing. This book teaches you the techniques that made Ansel Adams one of the best printers ever to pick up a camera.

The bottom line - This is hands down the best 3 book series on photography ever made. If you are serious about photography and want to learn how to master shooting and printing in black and white then look no further. By the time you get finished with this series you will be a completely different photographer and will have a much better understanding of the skills required to become a master. With that being said if your a beginner you might want to think about starting with something a little less demanding. These books are a bit much for beginners.

5 stars and then some.

A Masterwork, But for an Earlier Age
That Adams' "The Print" is a landmark in photographic processing instruction is indisputable.

But while the visual objectives that Adams illustrates are as valid today as ever the bulk of this book is strictly for film printers.Digital photographers will go very hungry looking for any genuinely practical and useful tips here.For them, I recommend looking at the several excellent books on digital b&w printing that are available today.The best embody precisely the same visual objectives but present the solutions in terms of contemporary digital tools and techniques.

Beautiful
If you long for the days when photography, real photography, was black and white on film, then you will love this book. Of commercial necessity it has been years since I maintained my own darkroom and printed my own prints . . but how I miss the magic! This book brings it all back and in so doing opens some new creative channels in my mind as to how to get beautiful prints in the digital age. If you're a purist, you will love this book. If you are a pragmatist you will find ways to correlate traditional methods to digital processing and printing (even though the book does not address the topic of digital at all.) If you are serious about b/w get this book then work with your own shots and in your own workflow until you can emulate the look of this master.

with great knowledge comes great responsibility
Ansel Adams is the master of photography, black and white, but still photographic principles and concepts have been throughly tried and tested by him and he teaches you so much in his series starting with "The Camera" and ending up with this book which focuses more on the final piece.The 2nd book in the series is also so very crucial because it outlines and describes his "Zone System" in great detail.A must have for any avid photographer and a great shelf reference for any professional.Now go out and shoot.. waste some film for crying out loud and get some awesome shots :)

A great reference book for almost any photographer
In this third part of Adams' technical writings, you'll find a guide to go from what a camera recorded (it talks about a negative, but can be well applied to a digital raw file) to a fine print delivering "what you saw and felt" to the viewer.

Even if it applies to B&W, I find that much of the content can be applied to color work if you think a bit more about it - mostly now, in the digital age with separated luminance and chrominance controls.

You'll also read some good ol' kitchen recipes about developers and toning... These will be less and less useful, but can bring back the smell of the darkroom to your memory ;o)... And quite often, the principle that based the recipe can be applied to another media.

A reference, whether shooting film, digital or glass plates (and of invaluable interest for the two former). ... Read more

Product Description

All the facts about Robert Pattinson-where he grew up, what he was like at school, things he loves (and hates!), his first girlfriend, his most secret dreams. It′s all here, along with quotes from Robert himself about filming Twilight!

Customer Reviews (31)

Robert as JFK JR.
I would be interested in seeing Robert portray JFK JR. I know they both ride bikes, handsome, single,lived in NY and very smart men. Think it would be a great part for Robert!

Same old /Same old
Don't waste you time or money. It was probably written by the guys that used to write that teen mag "Tiger-something or other".Which would be okay if you were 10! But my 13 year old wouldn't believe this! Just a rehash of tabloids from the grocery store that come out weekly and just as full of Bull-poop, too.

Robert Pattinson:Eternally Yours
The book has some of the same information which is in The Robert Pattinson Album and it didn't mention on-line that it was an unauthorized book.

Robert Pattinson review
Love to learn more about Robert Pattinson, this is it.Interesting and enjoyable, a
must for a Twilight fan!

It's OK
This book has a lot of facts that are already known by most Rob P fans so it lacks in originality. The pictures of him are good though. I don't consider a waste of my money but also do not look at it as a 'must have' either. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Combat SF
This book contains short stories from some of the greatest minds in SF, Including a Dorsi novela that appears no where else.Quite simply a must for all warriors of the future. ... Read more

Product Description
Few writings are more often cited as a cornerstone of modern economic thought than those of Adam Smith. Few are less read.

The sheer strength of his great work, The Wealth of Nations, discourages many from attempting to explore its rich and lucid arguments. In this brilliantly crafted volume, one of the most eminent economists of our day provides a generous selection from the entire body of Smith's work, ranging from his fascinating psychological observations on human nature to his famous treatise on what Smith called a "society of natural liberty," The Wealth of Nations.

Among the works represented in this volume in addition to The Wealth of Nations are The History of Astronomy, Lectures on Jurisprudence, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, and Smith's correspondence with David Hume.

Before each of Smith's writings Robert Heilbroner presents a clear and lively discussion that will interest the scholar as much as it will clarify the work for the non-specialist. Adam Smith emerges from this collection of his writings, as he does from his portrait in Professor Heilbroner's well-known book, as the first economist to deserve the title of "worldly philosopher."

Customer Reviews (5)

A good, concise summary of Smith
Content Summary: Adam Smith wrote two major works in his life - "The Theory of Moral Sentiments", which is lesser known, and his master work "The Wealth of Nations."Smith is remembered as one of the founding fathers of classical economic theory, known to us today as free market capitalism.In this concise summary, Heilbroner successfully gives us the essence of Smith's moral and economic theory Smith accomplished in both books.

Analytical Review:Heilbroner says that many people quote Adam Smith for their ideas, without actually having read Smith.This short work should help correct that, and I would recommend it (especially for the second half on The Wealth of Nations) as a concise introduction to Smith's thought.Both books would be over three times the length of this volume, so Heilbroner has slimmed the work down considerably, without sacrificing too much of its important meaning.Reading Smith, one is surprised how much his labor theory of value initially correspond to that of Marx, but Smith is much more comfortable with the use of money, and shifts away from the labor theory to market and exchange as the center of value.Like Marx's Capital, there may be parts to agree with, parts to dissent from here.Smith clearly would not give "carte blanche" to the capitalist, as many later thinkers would maintain.In fact Smith quite succinctly says that we should very skeptical of any legislation that is heavily sponsored by the commercial sector, as their interests are often contrary to the public interest.While Smith champions the free market, he has also some consideration for the poor.What he lacks, however, is the crystal clear solidarity with the working poor that is demonstrated in Marx's Capital.Smith's theory makes it seem as if capitalism results in a tide of wealth where all boats rise.This indeed may be true, but it also results in very gross and considerable inequalities.If people would read both works before they may hasty judgments about capitalism or socialism, it would certainly be beneficial.

Nice to have the author's help
Adam Smith obviously is not the easiest read but this book does a great job of pointing out the important chapters and sections of Smith's two books. In fact, this book introduced me to "Theory of Moral Sentiments" which seems like a very interesting book too. I have enjoyed Robert Heilbroner's other books and this is right up with them. You can see that he is very passionate about Adam Smith's work and we all benefit from Heilbroner's guidance.

good - but now new
I ordered a new book and I received a very good condition used book. The pen marks on pages were the obvious tip off.Not a big deal but it was not as represented

Condensed Capitalism
To understand capitalism, read the Wealth of Nations. But, to really understand it, as well as the other ideas of Adam Smith, read his essential works. This book allows the reader to fully grasp the concepts of capitalism and get a clear picture of how and why it works. Thankfully, Heilbronner did not dilute the works of Smith, he just condensed them for the modern day reader. With this book you can cut through the jargon and see the real points that Smith was trying to get across.

A Great Introduction to Adam Smith's Ideas
After reading Heilbroner's The Worldly Philosophers, I decided to read Smith's Wealth of Nations, but found myself daunted by the length and language of the book.Then I discovered Heilbroner's Essential Adam Smithand was hooked.The book offers the essential parts of Wealth of Nations, as well as a good sampling of some of his other works.As a result, I havenot only read the entire Wealth several times, but have also readeverything by and about Smith that I can find.Heilbroner's book is a goodway to get to the heart of Smith's thinking, but, like me, you willprobably find yourself wanting to learn more about the man, his ideas, andhis life.Enjoy! ... Read more