I like this book because there are lots of beautiful photos and there is lots of information packed into this little book. It is an interesting read if you are interesting in how the Celts developed and how they influenced the life of other cultures. A very good, informative book. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the history of the Celts!

A great book full of information. While nothing new is really covered in this book, it all having been said before, it is written from a European perspective instead of a British or Irish one. Where it stands out is in its document section at the end which provides easy access to many of the classical quotations on the Celts. It is also crammed to the gills with high quality colour photographs of Celtic artifacts and classical statues of Celts. It makes an attractive addition to any Celtophile's library and at the same price as many inferior books on the same subject is a must have.

Karl XI is one of my favourites in the Swedish history, Upton's biography gives a fair view of his too short lives. That without leaving his shortcomings as person and ruler. Karl XI may be less well known as his father Karl X Gustav and son Karl XII but far more interesting to study for a modern reader than the warriors. He stands in the history toghether with Gustav Vasa and Axel Oxenstierna as the builders of the early modern Swedish state.
I will recommend this book to everyone interested in Swedish or 17th century European history.

Swedes tend to jump from Charles X Gustav to his grandson Charles XII, forgetting Charles XI. But this was one of Sweden's greatest kings. He broke the aristocratic oligarchy, shored up Crown finances and reorganised the civil service, the army and the navy. Most of all, he kept the peace for 25 years when Sweden was large but poor and all its neighbours were anxious to lay their hands on choice parts of it. Many of his reforms lasted until well into the 20th century and some are still relevant today. Charles XII may have been glamorouos, but he foolishly lost an empire. Charles XI may have been a bore, but he preserved it all his life!

I agree with the previous reader, this is it ... the definitive book on Charleston Farmhouse. Although I think this book is more than a glimpse of the house and garden for those unable to visit, it is a surperb reference for those of us that have visited and wish to recall the house, etc. The photography is stunning, the text is informative. A worthwhile addition to any Bloomsbury book collection.

i stumbled across this book on a beautiful indian summer sunday afternoon....it is a treasure for those unable to physically saunter through the rooms and out to the walled garden that is charleston. all photos in colour, all rooms as they were when vanessa bell, duncan grant, family and friends lived and worked there. inspirational.

This book is filled with vivid descriptions of many of Paris' less expensive hotels. Sandra includes some pricier gems as well for those who can afford to splurge. But she avoids the chain hotels that don't offer the character of the smaller Parisian hotels. She describes the accomodations accurately including furnishings, lighting and room size. Many times she recommends specific rooms along with their canopy beds or terrific views! She warns you when there may be street noise and includes the nearest metro stops.

After I read this book I felt as though I knew many of the owners of the small hotels. When I finally got to Paris I saw that she had hit the nail right on the head with the hotel that I finally chose. Thank you!

What a great way to stay in Paris --
at small hotels with small prices.

Thanks to Cheap Sleeps I found an 11-room gem in the elegant 7th arrondissement,
within walking distance of the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, and Musee D'Orsay for
$65/night (single). My room even had its own rooftop terrace to better view
la vie Parisienne. I look forward to a return visit, and to the next edition of this book.

Merci beaucoup, Sandra!

Outstanding account of how a young 13-year old Belgian girl decided to fight the German occupation of her country. She had no training, no background but committed herself to fight the evil Nazi menace in the only way she knew how, helping her brother who was an "eminence grise" of the shadowy and dangerous resistance community. These courageous acts brought arrest, torture and she was sent to Ravensbruck Concentration Camp, north of Berlin. Mark Bles has done a fantastic job of research, bringing to life this fanatastic true life account.

Comming from someone who has read extensively on resistance movements during WWII this is by far the best account. It is inspiring as well as informative. The text comes alive, and the reader is transported to war torn Belgium. Someday this book will be recognized by scholars as the difinitive account of the Belgian Resistance.

This book has moving stories of war told from many different countries, which is helpful for building reading skills, vocabulary, and building on historical knowledge in the classroom. I have used the stories from Russia, France, Italy and Germany the most in my history class.

This book is perfect for prose selections. I am doing a selection of Fiorella which is absolutely beautifully written and and very moving. I really enjoyed it very much.

I am a 6th grade teacher of a multicultural awareness course in NJ. I came across this book last year and it was excellent. The pictures give the whole story in a very simple and powerful manner.
I also found excellent discussion questions in "Memories of the Night: A study of the Holocaust by Anita Meyer Meinbach.
I think Chan Byers "The Children we remember" is a must in the classroom library.

This is a wonderfully touching book that introduces elementary age children to the holocost. The pictures are poignant and draw the children in. The text is simple and thought provoking. Children begin to realize that war affects everyone even the children.

I've taken a couple of Prof. Kaeuper's courses, and I got what I expected in this book. I can't speak for professional historians, but I can say that his style accomodates those less familiar with the time period. Indeed, you might find it to be kind of a grind at first, because the emphsais is on strict historical evidence rather than on any prevailing romantic notions about chivalry. This often dissapoints beginning students in this area, but I gurantee that the energy put in leaves one far more gratified. The reader can get a clear sense that the "Dark Ages" were immensely complex and active, and that this thing we call "chivalry" is essential to Western history -even the Western present- and is by no means something people did just so we can watch nifty movies.

Readers who enjoyed Maurice Keen's fine book *Chivalry* may well want to read this book, which approaches the same question, "What is chivalry?" from a somewhat different angle.

Kaeuper, who has long been interested in the question of public order in the later Middle Ages, argues in this book that it is a mistake to look at chivalry as an ideal which had only a positive impact. Yes, indeed, knights often fought to uphold law and religion, and believed it was their duty to do so; at the same time, knights believed they had an inherent right to exercise violence in whatever cause they chose, and sometimes for no other reason than to defend their own prickly honor.

In other words, chivalry was a troublesome and ambiguous ideal, as much problem as solution.

To illustrate this, Kaeuper takes the reader on a fascinating tour of all kinds of medieval chivalric literature. All of it, he says, was reformist in nature, even the romances which were primarily meant to entertain. But reform could mean many things: knights should control their violence; or, knights should remember that they are fighters first.

The best part of this book is the masterly way Kaeuper allows us to see all the different ways medieval writers and their audiences thought about knighthood. It is quite an achievement.

Christopher Dawson (1889-1870) was a Roman Catholic author and historian. He, along with a number of fellow coverts, created a Renaissance of English Catholic scholarship.

This book contains the full text of Dawson's 1960 work, "The Historic Reality of Christian Culture," as well as several essays touching on the general theme of Christianity and European culture. "The Historic Reality of Christian Culture" is an important work explaining why one can speak of a Christian culture. As Dawson notes, no one would describe Arabic culture without a mention of Islam, but when it comes to Europe, culture is discussed as if Christianity wasn't a significant factor.

The essays in this work are excellent. In particular, I liked the essay "The Classical Tradition and Christianity." The merging of Christianity and Classical Culture was one of the most momentous facts in world history. In "The Secularization of Western Culture," Dawson draws attention to the neglected figure of Tommaso Campanella, whom he regards as the forerunner of modern revolutionary socialism.

There is one other collection of essays by Dawson that I'm aware of: DYNAMICS OF WORLD HISTORY. It is a bit lengthier and contains some of the same essays, as well as essays on a broader range of topics. In addition, after this work was published, Catholic University Press started publishing Dawson's Collected Works.

Dawson was one of the great historians of western, christian culture. He also brought a knowledge of sociology and psychology to the study of the basis for our classic western civilization. His thesis is quite simple, a culture is a reflection of the ethics and beliefs of the people who form the base society. While western culture is much more "diverse" than many contemporary academics wish to admit, the foundation of our art, literature, law, (as well as religion), all lie in our Christian experience and world view. One of Dawson's more prescient points is the correlation between a religious foundation for our civilization and the seperation of same which has recently led to a deterioration of the basic values and mores that have given the western world all that we hold dear. While written several decades ago, many of Dawson's observations prove to be almost prophetic. If you are a fan of the "permanent things", or are at all concerned with the question of how to restore our way of life, you will want to read this book.

Hallam ptovides us with a wonderful book on the reigns of Henry III, Edward I, Edward II and Edward III. Each of the reigns is examined in detail with a series of essays written by experts in medieval history. The 113 essays cover a wide range of topics and provide the reader with a vivid history of Europe from 1216 - 1377. Contemporary chroniclers tie the book together. This beautiful book contains over 235 illustrations (in color and black and white), five detailed maps and a genealogy chart showing the interrelationships between the English, Scottish and French Dynasties.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in medieval history.

I read the British edition and found it fascinating. This book is for the general reader interested in English medieval history. It is not a scholarly piece of work, hence it is easier to read and more entertaining. Every aspect of the life in medieval England (and a little of France) is covered as well as the rule of the Plantagenet dynasty. There is lavish use of photographs and colorful illustrations which brings all the information more into perspective. I highly recommend it for general reading.