Hampton Court: A Social and Architectural History

Book Description

Hampton Court-probably Britain's most important secular historic building complex-was a center of court life and politics from the late fifteenth to the middle of the eighteenth century. It was also a place of architectural innovation and the site of the most ambitious formal gardens ever built in Britain. This book offers the first history in over a century of Hampton Court, its gardens, and its parks. Lavishly illustrated, the book brings to life the entire history of the building, including the terrible fire of 1986 and the twentieth-century opening of the complex to the public. Simon Thurley, the unrivalled authority on Hampton Court's architecture, interior decoration, and history, sets the building in political and social context. He explores the lives and motivations of its builders, telling the stories of the architects and others who fulfilled the whims of kings and princes. In addition to throwing light on the character of court life, the book makes important new attributions to architects Hugh May, Nicholas Hawksmoor, William Talman, Colen Campbell, Edward Blore, and others.

Customer Reviews:

a visual treat.......2007-02-01

I have to admit a weakness for coffee-table books about palaces, stately homes etc, but this sumptuous, oversize volume is among the better ones of the genre. It is a detailed history of Hampton Court Palace - its origins, construction, additions, renovations, decoration and gardens, but also it touches on the lives and motivations of its people - builders and architects, kings and princes, bureaucrats and functionaries, tenants and visitors.

Richly illustrated with floor plans, drawings, paintings, prints, portraits, and photographs, this account of Hampton Court brings the story of the famous palace up to the 21st century.

When I last visited Hampton Court a quarter century ago, both house and gardens were looking decidedly shabby and, apparently, it got much worse before it got better. Tourists were passing it up in droves. Scandalous mismanagement, including a 3 million pound contractor fraud, dismantled fire detectors and gateways too narrow for fire engines, led up to a disastrous fire in 1986 and resulted in 2 deaths.

Although this is a serious work, one (unintentionally?) hilarious episode described in the book is the comic-opera visit to view the fire damage by the then Secretary of State for the Environment (& the man ultimately responsible for Hampton Court), Nicolas Ridley. Ridley, a chain smoker, his wife who was claustrophobic and ten other dignitaries were descending in the lift when it jammed between floors; the emergency manual door-opening device failed to function; the elevator maintenance man could not be located. Two hours later the Fire Brigade forced the doors open with a hydraulic jack. Heads rolled afterward - if only metaphorically.

New schemes have since been put in place for restoration and refurbishment, for improved property management and to enhance the attractions of the historic old palace for new generations of visitors.

TUDOR MEETS STUART.......2006-03-19

Britain does not possess a Versailles or a Caserta, but Hampton Court is about the close as it gets. Hampton Court is really two palaces, one built for Cardinal Wolsey, stolen by the gluttonous Henry VIII and finished in magnificent style by Sir Christopher Wren. Its history is really more interesting than the building itself. Hampton Court, though spectacular in many ways, will make nobody forget Fountainbleu or the Lourve. This book has wonderful images and the text is sholarly and enlightening. I highly recommend this book to anyone with any interest in British history, or storied structures.

Hampton Court: A Social and Architectural History

Average customer rating:

Hampton Court: A Social and Architectural History
Simon Thurley
Manufacturer: Paul Mellon Center BA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORSVAU

Book Description

This book begins with the basics on jewellry making—how to organize your workshop, what tools and equipment you will need, and the different types of metals with which you will be working. There is a comprehensive chapter on the basic techniques of metal working, and then the author describes how to make specific items. He also discusses the mass production of "goldware" rings—wedding and signets, the making and decorating of shanks and shoulders, and the ornamenting of large bezels. There are chapters on brooches, earrings, necklaces, and bracelets which detail additional techniques such as safety hinge and pin making, earrings, clips and screws, and frames for double-clip brooches. Finally, the book describes the allied techniques of polishing, setting, and finishing which bring the mount to its final appearance.

Book Description

Description: Jules Aarons: Street Portraits 1947-1976 provides a moving retrospective of moments of everyday life, as captured by one man, whose profession was not that of photographer but rather a scientist specializing in ionospheric radio-wave propagation. Wherever his work and family took him, Aarons would go, camera in hand, eyes open to the different people, places and times he could see reflected in his 6 x 6 Rolleiflex. From the West and North Ends of Boston, where he, his wife and two sons were based for much of their lives, to Europe, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Peru, Aarons studied, worked and photographed. The results are these starkly black-and-white images of the children, shopkeepers, ladies in fur coats, men in fedoras, gypsies, strongmen and shoppers of a not unfamiliar time and place. These photographs are on view at the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln, MA.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful addition.......2007-06-11

I currently intern at a museum that owns a few of Aaron's prints. I have been part of a project that catalogues all those prints and I have gotten a close look at the actual photographs, and I absolutely fell in love with his work.
This is my first Aarons catalog and I was so excited that they included Aaron's own notes about each section of his work.
The essays were very informative and I am so happy that I have a copy of one of his work catalogues

Street Portraits, 1947-1976: the Photographs of Jules Aarons

Average customer rating:

Street Portraits, 1947-1976: the Photographs of Jules Aarons
Jules; Kim Sichel (Ed.) Aarons
Manufacturer: DeCordova Museum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NVBFT6

Book Description

The main research topics and the discussion among researchers and governmental representatives are featured in this study. In the first chapter, government officials give insight into the current development of the European Spatial Planning Policy. Following this, research reports on developments around the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea make political strategies apparent. This unique combination of the discussion of strategies for sustainable regional development in Europe with different CEE research reports is an important source of information not just for experts in central and eastern Europe. Moreover, it documents the state of the art in regional science and gives an impression of what development strategies mean in view of a major European region.

Average customer rating:

A book based on the author's mathematical illiteracy

Keynesian economics: The search for first principles
Alan Coddington
Manufacturer: G. Allen & Unwin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Theory | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 004330334X

Book Description

First published in 1983

Customer Reviews:

A book based on the author's mathematical illiteracy.......2006-04-18

Coddington's book is a common place occurrence in the economics literature.The author,unable to make use of Keynes's mathematical model to help him understand Keynes's literary comments ,due to his own mathematical ineptness,concentrates on Keynes's obiter dicta and discovers that Keynes's comments are not completely clear.The best example of this is Coddington's assessment of Keynes's use of the term uncertainty in the GT.He simply asserts that Keynes's use of the term is strictly hyperbole,with no economic or logical analysis to back it up.Thus,concludes Coddington,Keynes is a nihilist.Coddington completely overlooks Keynes's analysis in chapters 6 and 26 of the 1921 A Treatise on Probability(TP) to which Keynes explicitly refers in chapters 12 and 17 of the General Theory.Coddington was simply ignorant of Keynes's formal logical and mathematical analysis.None of the mathematical analysis,presented in the form of elasticities in chapters 20 and 21 of the GT,is ever mentioned by Coddington.Coddington does not mention it because he does not have the necessary training in the calculus to follow Keynes's analysis.Hence the exclusive concentration on Keynes's obiter dicta.None of his conclusions follow once Keynes 's analysis is covered from the TP.

Book Description

Essays on Money, Banking and Regulation honors the interests and achievements of the Dutch economist Conrad Oort. The book is divided into four parts. Part 1 - Fiscal and monetary policy - reviews a variety of topics ranging from the measurement of money to the control and management of government expenditures. Part 2 - International institutions and international economic policy - looks at the international dimension of monetary and fiscal policy, with extensive discussion of the International Monetary Fund and the European Monetary Union. Part 3 - The future of international banking and the financial sector in the Netherlands - is an insider's view of the strategic choices facing financial institutions in the near future. Finally, Part 4 - Taxation and reforms in the Dutch tax system - is closest to Oort's research and practice since he has become known as an architect of the 1990 Dutch tax reform; this part is dedicated in particular to the tax reforms suggested by Oort.

Amazon.com

If the title of this book sounds about as silly as a headline from Mademoiselle or Cosmopolitan, rest assured: author Gretchen Craft Rubin has highbrow credentials. An adjunct professor at Yale University and former editor in chief of The Yale Law Journal, she was also a clerk for the U.S. Supreme Court under Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and served as counsel to Federal Communications Commission chairman Reed Hundt. The book's references are highbrow, too, with Rubin quoting and alluding to everyone from Machiavelli and Sun Tzu to Plutarch, Shakespeare, and Edith Wharton.

That said, the book is still rather, well, silly, albeit more fun and dishy than the average book on getting ahead. It's sort of what you'd expect if People magazine or US Weekly were to put out career guides. Here we learn all sorts of traits that mark the powerful (Ronald Reagan reinstated much of the pomp of the presidency after it was clear the public hadn't gone for President Carter's "common man" approach); the rich (Christina Onassis had her 10-seater airplane fly between France and New York once a week to ship her 100 bottles of Diet Coke, which wasn't available in France); the very famous (Madonna's bodyguards forbad the staff of a hotel where she was staying to speak her name, talk to, or so much as directly look at her); and the sexy (Marilyn Monroe was reputed to have cut a quarter-inch off the heel of one shoe to achieve her legendary "wiggling" walk).

Unfortunately, the book is more effective in relating these anecdotes--what people have done once they've achieved power, wealth, fame, or sexiness (which, of course, involves varying amounts of the prior three characteristics, depending on whom one is trying to attract), or what we, humble readers, might do ourselves once we arrive--than it is in telling us how to get there ourselves. It's a bit like a title it even mentions once, the early 1980s hit The Official Preppy Handbook. That little item also purported to be a how-to, but its delineation of a clearly inbred, elitist lifestyle was meant to be laughed at as much as it was to be taken seriously. Not that you won't learn anything here--far from it: Power Money Fame Sex is astute on every page. It's simply that the thing appears designed to entertain more than to actually edify poor slobs like the rest of us. --Timothy Murphy

Book Description

Learn from Michael Jordan, Robert Moses, Machiavelli, and Madonna -- here at last is the guide for using power, money, fame, and sex that describes what actually works, rather than what ought to work.

Instructive, ruthless,
subversive, and entertaining,
Power Money Fame Sex reveals the mysteries of office politics and personal posturing. Whether you're gunning for a promotion at work, a trophy wife, the cover of Time, or a very early retirement, you'll find the secrets laid bare in this indispensable guide.

What magazines should adorn your coffee table? Why does your boss flaunt a string of identical blond girlfriends? How can you create a bidding war -- for yourself? Here you'll find clear explanations with illustrations, tips, and quizzes, ready to use Monday morning. Lurking beneath this blunt advice is a piercing social critique -- why we would choose to become a self-promoter, a bully, or a tease.

Rubin deciphers the strategies of Warren Buffett, Muhammad Ali, Gwyneth Paltrow, Richard Nixon, and Princess Diana. Vital new concepts emerge, such as the principle of dis-expectation (think of a CEO in shorts and a T-shirt), the platinum rule ("to whom much is given, more is given"), and fame frottage (to get fame, rub up against somebody famous). And if you don't have time to study the classics by Plutarch, Sun-tzu, and Casanova, read on for a synthesis of their most important ideas. Once you understand the tactics found here, it's up to you to decide how to use them or abuse them.

Whether the intricate code exposed in Power Money Fame Sex inspires or infuriates you, remember: if these rules aren't working for you, they're working against you.

Customer Reviews:

commentary more than manual.......2007-03-12

This book serves as an interesting and sometimes eye-opening look at how power, money, fame, and sex are gained and used. More a look at how those with PMF and S (appeal) use and increase it, rather than a guide of how someone with none can get started. I like the author's style, though I am not able to describe it well. Read a sample page, perhaps? I recommend this book for those who might just want an interesting few hours read and want an offbeat way to look at power, money, fame, or sex (mostly how it is used, rather than the in and outs, so to speak).

PMFS Edifies and Entertains.......2007-01-10

Each page of this gem is jammed with both trivia and wisdom, and I devoured it like a guilty pleasure. But the book is more than that. Like any good satire, this book operates and succeeds on many levels.

I came to Rubin's writing through her current work on The Happiness Project, of which I am a committed reader. Rubin's blog (........) -- where she reports on her experiments to bring more happiness into her life -- is brimming with earnestness. So when I started Power, Money, I was expecting more of that sweet, earnest voice. Instead, I saw her brilliantness and wit. Rubin obviously has the ability to pitch her voice perfectly to each project.

Now, I'm off to tackle her "Forty Ways," books. If anyone could get me excited to read about political machinations, it's Rubin.

A brilliant and comprehensive view into human behavior.......2005-11-05

From reading the 22 previous reviews of Ms. Rubin's PMFS to date, it appears that people either loved it or hated it. To those who hated it, I would suggest that they are reacting to her words as if they were prescriptions, rather than the unjudgemental description of human behavior that I believe the book to be. Ms. Rubin is not advocating for anything here. She is merely describing how people act with one another in modern society. If someone finds what Ms. Rubin has written to be shocking, I'd suggest that this is only because she portrays human conduct so accurately. I'm don't believe that Ms. Rubin is saying anything new. What is new, is that she has compiled an extensive, well-organized catalog of human behavior as it relates to PMF and S. Further, she provides the answer to the moral qualms on the last two pages.

I thought so much of her cold wisdom that I put the book in the mail to my son at college today, in the hope that Ms. Rubin's insights will help him weather life's storms a little better. First Corinthians this is not, but neither should it be. That kind of wisdom is available elsewhere. Ms. Rubin's kind of wisdom is harder to come by.

Ms. Rubin's facts are astonishly abundant, and clearly illustrate her points ("true facts"...I think is how she puts it.) It would be interesting if the book had been footnoted rather than just a selected bibliography, but perhaps that would be gilding the lily. Maybe, I just want to know where she found all this out.

I am rapidly becoming an enormous fan of Ms. Rubin's works, and regret that she is not making a tour to promote her newest work about JFK. I would pay good money to sit for an evening and listen to what Ms Rubin has to say.

sad, cold, without a soul.......2004-05-15

I found this book very cold: maybe that was exactly the desired effect, very much a la Machiavelli.
The seemingly infinite list of tricks and tactics to acquire fame, power, money and sex left me with a bitter aftertaste: I was probably expecting something different from this book, something a little deeper.

HUMOROUS BOOK - tons of fun to read.......2002-02-14

I bought this book after stumbling across it in the sociology section at Borders. I flipped through it and found some humorous and insightful comments and decided to buy it to lighten up my reading, as I primarily read Peter Drucker, other management books and some philosophy. I thought the book would be some light-hearted humor and I wasn't disappointed!

The author, Gretchen Craft Rubin, is an extremely witty woman. While her background is law the book has tons of comments from famous historical figures such as Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, Plutarch, Shakespeare, and Edith Wharton.

The book is segmented, as expected, into the 4 sections described in the title (POWER MONEY FAME SEX).

Each section provides some unique insight into human behavior, some examples in recent history and tons of witty comments from historical figures

Here are just some of the examples but, just so you know, the book is not in quotation form.

"People believe, and research proves, that high-status men attract more women easily than low-status men."

"The sex that accompanies your success is a nice perk for all your hard work - a pleasant, convenient way to demonstrate the status you've achieved."

"They envy the pleasures they imagine you've won. Perception drives reality, and your status swells accordingly. "

Playboy Donald Trump "When we walk into a restaurant, I watch grown men weep." He was watching other men's reaction to his date, not his date herself.

Jack Kennedy reported "once I get a woman, I'm not interested in carrying on, for the most part." He was pursuing conquests, not relationships.

LBJ "Goddamn it, I had more women by accident than he ever had by design." - he maintained a nookie room" in the capital for his illicit liaisons

"The more money, fame and power you have the more easily you can have casual sex."

Anyways, I can go on and on about the book but I will not. BUY THE BOOK, enjoy it as it is fairly easy reading and, at 270 pages well worth the price of the insights and humor delivered.

Average customer rating:
How to Sell Your Business and Live Happily Ever After
Gary Morley
Manufacturer: Management Books 2000 Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Consolidation & Merger | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1852524197

Book Description

A practical guide, written by the head of corporate finance at top accountancy firm, Blackstone Franks The selling of a business is, for the unwary, full of potential pitfalls. Selling your business should also be structured to maximise the receipts to you - not the taxman! It is imperative to have the best advice. Anyone considering selling their business will find this easy to understand guide invaluable. It provides information on: how to market your business how to increase its perceived value factors which increase (and decrease) the price how to choose the best purchaser how to deal with purchasers how to eliminate any tax potential pitfalls for sellers how to manage the money you receive

Average customer rating:

Interactive Business Valuation

In & Out of Business. . .Happily
Theodore P. Burbank
Manufacturer: Parker-Nelson Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

New Business Enterprises | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

The previously unwritten rules for valuing, buying, or selling a small to mid-size business. Real world information based upon experience gained in over 2,000 business sales and/or valuations. Case studies explain by example and simplify the interplay of financial and personal concerns surrounding the emotionally charged atmosphere that engulfs every business sale.

Customer Reviews:

Interactive Business Valuation.......2000-04-27

Good for investors who wanted to purchase or sale a business

Signal in/signal out: The worlds of graphics and image processing collide--happily.: An article from: Advanced Imaging

Average customer rating:

Signal in/signal out: The worlds of graphics and image processing collide--happily.: An article from: Advanced Imaging
Turner Whitted , and Heung-Yeung Shum
Manufacturer: Cygnus Business Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Advanced Imaging, published by Cygnus Business Media on June 1, 2003. The length of the article is 989 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Signal in/signal out: The worlds of graphics and image processing collide--happily.
Author: Turner Whitted
Publication: Advanced Imaging (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 1, 2003
Publisher: Cygnus Business Media
Volume: 18 Issue: 6 Page: 21(3)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books