Book Description
Ridley Scott 's Gladiator was the first epic film on a Roman subject in 35 years and generated a far-reaching renewal of interest in Roman history and culture. This book analyzes Gladiator from historical, cultural, and cinematic perspectives.It comprises ten essays by experts, examining the film as a representation of history and as cinema. Subjects covered include Roman history and gladiatorial combat, the cinematic origins and traditions of Gladiator, and the film 's modern social and political overtones. The book also includes translations of the film 's most important historical sources.
Customer Reviews:
Not Particularly Revealing.......2005-07-02
Given that the film 'Gladiator' is a grotesque disortion of Roman history, this book is hardly one of the better texts on the subject of gladiators or Roman history in general. If the makers of the film had really done their homework, they would have realized that the roads leading to Rome were paved and their marble statues painted. They would have also known that Commodus was assassinated in his bedroom and not killed by a fictional Maximus in the arena.
As for the previous reviewer claiming that the extended Roman salute is a socialist myth perpetuated by fascists, Jaques Louis-David depicted the fully extended Roman salute in his painting 'The Oath of the Horatii' which was completed in 1792 over one hundred years before socialism, film, or fascism even existed. Although it is unclear exactly when the notion of a 'fascist' salute was attributed to the Roman one, it was certainly long before the previous reviewer claims to have been the case.
Average customer rating:
|
The Historical Epic and Contemporary Hollywood: From Dances With Wolves to Gladiator
James Russell
Manufacturer: Continuum International Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Movies
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
History & Criticism
| Movies
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
California
| State & Local
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Performing Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0826427995 |
Book Description
The Historical Epic in Contemporary Hollywood seeks to document and explain a recent revival of historical epic films in Hollywood. Rather than relying on abstract theoretical approaches, James Russell employs empirical historical techniques to explore how industrial conditions, and the agendas of key directors, writers and producers, led to the increased production of historical epics such as Dances With Wolves (1990), Titanic (1997), Gladiator (2000) and The Passion of the Christ (2004).
The book begins by exploring the careers of filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and Mel Gibson during the 1990s. Russell looks in detail at their agendas, the production of their films, and at the content of the films themselves. As the book progresses, he goes on to address the activities of the major studios, in terms of production and marketing, and looks at changing industrial conditions, such as the emergence of DVD. Finally, Russell examines social trends, particularly increasing levels of religious commitment and political division in America.
The Historical Epic in Contemporary Hollywood, which has been thoroughly researched in archival collections in Los Angeles and New York, deliberately focuses on the activities of individuals working in the Hollywood film industry - the result is an original and interesting account of the ways that contemporary epic films get made, and speak to modern audiences. Ultimately, the book argues that historical epics reappeared in the 1990s partly as a result of changing industrial conditions, but mainly because a generation of filmmakers, all born during the so-called `baby boom,' began to seek out meaningful ways of passing on historical knowledge to younger generations as they grew older. The epics released in the 1950s and 1960s, when Spielberg, Cameron, et al, were children constitute a key reference point in this process of renewal and reinvention in Hollywood.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Cineaste, published by Thomson Gale on March 22, 2007. The length of the article is 4637 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: Cautionary tales and alternate histories: the films of Peter Watkins.(The War Game and Culloden; The Gladiators; Punishment Park; Edvard Munch; The Journey; La Commune (Paris, 1871))(Video recording review)
Author: Jared Rapfogel
Publication:
Cineaste (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 22, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 32
Issue: 2
Page: 20(6)
Article Type: Video recording review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
|
Inconsolable Memories
Stan Douglas
Manufacturer: Not Avail
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Instructional & How-To
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Artists, A-Z
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 088865636X |
Average customer rating:
|
Ocean of Life: Visions of India and the Himalayan Kingdoms
Marilyn Silverstone
Manufacturer: Aperture
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Photo Essays
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Asia
| Travel
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
India
| Asia
| History
| Subjects
| Books
| Ancient
South Asia
| Asia
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| India
| Asia
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0893811955 |
Book Description
It's true that cars are getting better and better. But sometimes, despite the designer's best intentions, instead of a peach, we get a lemon! And while car enthusiasts will argue endlessly about what are the best cars, they'll argue even more ferociously about what are the worst.
Lemon! is a collection of 60 courageous automotive disasters, from the 1958 Ford Edsel (by the 1960s "edsel" was used in the US as a byword for failure, and the 23rd edition of the Webster dictionary made it official) to the much-loved travesty, the P76 (when people took P76s in for warranty work, it was easier to list things that DIDN'T need fixing). From bad design, appalling execution, ridiculous pretensions, and ludicrous names, this detailed and hilarious look at automotive atrocities from the 1950s to the 1990s is a motoring Hall of Shame. With full color photographs throughout and plenty of wackiness, Lemon! will leave you not only laughing, but wondering how so many car makers got away with so much for so long.
Customer Reviews:
I Would Actually Recommend His Newer Book You Must Be Skidding! Which is a Combination of Lemon and its Sequel.......2007-09-19
Lemon is a great look at 60 makes of car which have with the benefit of hindsight turned out to be massive mistakes (in the author's opinion). Even without hindsight you wonder how some of these manufacturers actually believed these cars would sell, especially with their safety or non practical designs.
Cars from all over the world are covered, this is one of the factors which makes this book great unlike a lot of author competitors that seem to think the world revolves around just their own country. A fair few of the cars in here actually sold a substantial number of vehicles so there will undoubtedly be a fair amount of debate, especially from those who purchased them as to weather they should be in this book or not. This is the case in all of these types of books and Tony Davis does explain why each car mentioned is here and does acknowledge the ones which have sold well.
I would however if you are only going to purchase one of this type of book recommend purchasing the later written book You Must be Skidding which is a combination of Lemon and the sequel Extra Lemon! It is written in a bit lighter tone to appeal to those who aren't so much into cars and also children and is a lot funnier. At the time of this review though the only book of the three Amazon sold was this first book Lemon so you may unfortunately have to check elsewhere to obtain.
buyer beware.......2005-12-28
Funny writing I guess. Buyers of these cars probably are not laughing. He defines lemon as the whole line, not just an unfortunate accident off the assembly line. Yes it is possible to build an entirely horrid car. And an expensive one with a famous name. Yes the yugo and Trabant are here but so are Ferrari, Rolls Royce, Maserati, Cadillac and Jaguar. Just because it offers mink seats doesn't mean it runs as well as a Hyundai. Engines fall apart in 12,000 miles, cars rust in a few months, exhaust pipes set the carpet on fire. One can say ...happens but did some of these designers ever drive a car? Lacking a back entrance would anyone want to take out all the seats just to put their groceries in the back? Why would you want a car that you had to turn the engine off and then turn it on again to shift into reverse? Or lacking a door need to crawl over the side. Did they think anyone would trust a car that shed doorhandles and wipers or in the case of the jagxjs that had a carpet that slid away to reveal a mass of wires and plastic pieces? Didn't the Jensen-Healey makers notice that parking the car on a slope caused the gas to slop into the sump? Rust, pealing and fading paint, dashboards turning green in sunlight....it goes on. Fun to read and hard to stop reading. Would make a good gift for the guest room but it is hard to put down.
Fun Book.......2005-11-08
What a fun book! I enjoyed it very much, I may not agree with some of the automobiles, but it is a fun look into history. I recently went to an Auto Museum and a few of these cars were there!
Book Description
Mr. Schulberg was raised in the Hollywood of the 1920s as the privileged son of a pioneer studio mogul. As a book on the early days of the movies in Hollywood--their triumphs and fiascos, their scoundrels and heroes--his candid memoir is hard to beat. A fascinating and significant contribution to American social history. --Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
Customer Reviews:
He Couldn't Go Wrong.......2007-02-10
"Follow your Dad!" Adolphe Menjou, well-known movie star of the 1930s and 40s instructed young Budd Schulberg, as he gave the boy his autograph. And it wasn't a bad idea: Dad was B.P. Schulberg, $11,000 a week -- way back then -- head of Paramount, Hollywood's second biggest dream factory. The kid's Dad was Menjou's boss. Dad was, in fact, the boss of Clara Bow, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, and a cast of thousands. But young Budd already knew his destiny lay elsewhere: he was going to write. And write he did: "What Makes Sammy Run?" and "The Harder They Fall" are only two of the titles on his crowded shelves. "Moving Pictures: Memories of a Hollywood Prince," Schulberg's account of his earliest years, joined them years ago.
Successful, powerful, sensitive, intelligent father: determined-to-succeed, sensitive, intelligent son. Father began his career as a writer; son was bound to write. It's got to be a tale of some conflict and drama, even if you ignore eminent psychiatrist Sigmund Freud's famous Oedipal theory: son must, at least psychologically, kill father if he's to succeed. And who would dare ignore Freud, when Mom, Ad Schulberg, third point of the Oedipal triangle, was one of that psychiatrist's earliest, most powerful, and most insistent popularizers?
So Schulberg has a good story to tell. And he has some of the world's most glamorous stars, a cast of thousands, the notoriously nasty doings of Hollywood's early tycoons with which to flesh out the oldest story of father/son/love/hate. He sometimes goes on a little too long, but how could he go wrong?
A 'must' for any film buff.......2003-09-11
The author was raised in the 1920s as the privileged son of a pioneer studio mogul in Hollywood but earned fame in his own right as a distinguished novelist and playwright. His autobiography is not only about his life and achievements: it traces changes he's observed in the Hollywood industry over the decades, comments on characters and ironies beyond the Hollywood stage, and includes plenty of rare photos to top off his presentation. A 'must' for any film buff.
"Hollywood" by Budd Schulberg.......2000-07-12
In addition to being an accomplished novelist (What Makes Sammy Run), Schulberg is the son of the Late B.P. Schulberg who was head of production of Paramount Pictures in its early days. This book is his reminiscence about the silent and early sound days of Hollywood, by someone who was there, hobnobbing with people at the top. It's a fascinating insider account, made all the better by the excellence of Schulberg's writing. If you like books about the early days of Hollywood, don't miss this one.
Don't Stop Now!.......2000-03-29
To gain a true feeling of what it was like to be in on the ground floor of the motion picture industry, you must read this book. Mr. Schulberg, a gifted writer, is the son of B.P., who was with such notables as Adolph Zukor and L.B. Mayer as they created the dream factories. As the reader, you are given access to the back lots and inner sanctums of Paramount and MGM as Budd and his friend Maurice Rapf (Harry's son) play on the sets on the backlot, and you are also priviliged to join Budd's family at the dinner table for a more personal view. This book is excellent reading for the serious film student/buff as well as an entertaining read for anyone, since Mr. Schulberg uses a light narrative style and has a well developed sense of humor. The only complaint I can offer is that the book ends when Mr. Schulberg is around 20, and his own best work is yet to come! The reader is so involved that it is jolting to come back to this time. A 'must have'.
Average customer rating:
|
Moving Pictures: Memories of a Hollywood Prince
Budd Schulberg
Manufacturer: Stein & Day Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Bargain Books
| Stores
| Books
| Arts & Photography
| Audiobooks
| Biography
| Business & Investing
| Calendars
| Children
| Computers & Internet
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Film
| Greeting Cards & Accessories
| Health, Mind & Body
| History
| Home & Garden
| Humor, Comics & Pop Culture
| Literature & Fiction
| Mysteries & Thrillers
| Nonfiction
| Parenting & Families
| Reference
| Religion & Spirituality
| Romance
| Science & Nature
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Sports
| Teens
| Travel
United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| African American
| Asian American
| Classics
| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
| Hispanic
| History & Criticism
| Humor
| Jewish American
| Letters & Correspondence
| Native American
| Poetry
| Short Stories
| Women Writers
ASIN: 0812828178 |
Product Description
(Schulberg, Author of The Harder They Fall is one of the best novels ever written about boxing), has written a fascinating study of his father, a big-time Hollywood producer, and at the same time captures the Golden Age of Hollywood when the big studios dominated. The book is in excellent shape, the only flaw being an inscriptio
Book Description
This delightful collection includes ten of The King'singers favorite and most requested concert selections. This collection is not only an excellent value, but will become an invaluable addition to your choral library as well. Available: SATB.
Book Description
This is it—the key that unlocks the riches of GURPS (Generic Universal Role Playing System) and gives you a wealth of information on how to create your character and fine-tune your play. Produced in partnership with Steve Jackson Games, the game's creator, GURPS For Dummies is the ideal companion to GURPS Basic Set, 4th Edition that explains the rules. It gives you insight into the choices you’ll make in everything from creating a fun, dynamic character using the allotted number of points, to playing in an adventure, to becoming a GM. Whether you want to be an Amazon princess or a stalwart warrior, an old-fashioned swashbuckler or a modern investigator, a tough cop or a cat burglar, a sorcerer casting spells or a cosmic ranger, fighting lawlessness in the asteroids, this guide will help you:
- Determine your character’s basic attributes: IQ, DX (dexterity), ST (strength) and HT (health)
- Figure out your character’s secondary characteristics
- Choose advantages (including powers and perks) and disadvantages (including quirks and disadvantages with a self-control roll modifier)
- Optimize your points by using talents
- Select your skills based on functional area or the campaign setting
- Enhance your character with spells, magic items, magic staves, and powerstones
- Strategically purchase equipment for different characters, tech levels, and campaign types
- Create and manage a character sheet, write a character background, keep a character log, and more—all with samples
- Choose good combat techniques and play with your character
If you want to become a GM, this guide gets you going with advice on creating the adventure, managing the character creation process, managing combat, and interpreting the rules. There’s even a handy Cheat Sheet tear-out GM screen in the front of the book. There are tips throughout, plus advice on how to:
-
Create your very own GURPS universe for your campaign, whether it’s dungeon-crawl, high-adventure, combat-focused, puzzle-focused, or masquerade-type
-
Provide a basic write-up of the world for your players, including technology level, supernatural and supernormal abilities and powers, races, setting, character templates, cultural and social information, and limitations
-
Create an electronic combat grid, a battle log, a tactical map, and more—with samples
-
Do mapping, planning, and plotting
-
Create memorable NPC (nonplayer characters), both good guys and bad guys
GURPS For Dummies helps you create more detailed, exciting, and interesting characters and take your game to the next level. That’s important whether you’re saving a princess or saving the planet…searching for hidden treasure or for secrets to eliminate disease… fighting crime or combating armies of evil robots…casting spells in medieval castles or destroying terrorist cells in modern day milieus. With GURPS, the only limitation is your imagination.
Download Description
An estimated 6 million people play GURPS (Generic Universal Role Playing System), and its creator, Steven Jackson Games, has sold more than 1.5 million GURPS Basic sets. Written in partnership with Steven Jackson Games, this insider's guide shows newcomers to GURPS, Fourth Edition how to build a dynamic character and succeed in game play. Stuart Stuple (Seattle, WA) works at Microsoft and is an avid GURPS player. Bjoern Hartsfvang (Seattle, WA) is a passionate gamer and GURPS campaigner. Adam Griffith (Seattle, WA) has been an avid GURPS player for more than 28 years.
Customer Reviews:
GURPS made simple.......2007-03-14
It's a great view of role playing in general. GURPS is already an easy system, and GURPS For Dummies makes it idiot proof. A must for folks playing or running GURPS games.
A Real RPG "How To".......2006-04-25
After having read the lackluster reviews of D&D for Dummies, I was a bit hesitant to purchase this title sans any exisiting reviews, however, I took the leap anyway, and was not dissapointed.
The first thing you notice when you open the book is the great three-panel double sided pullout cheat sheet containing a ton of information that is invaluable to have at your fingertips during play! This alone is worth almost the cost of the book, and for new players gives them their options in a succint little package.
The book basically appeals to two audiences: Players and Game Masters and the six sections of the book are divided amongst the two.
PART ONE introduces GURPS and gives a player tips on how to come up with the foundation of a character, that is the concept and role the character will play in the story. This information is applicable to any role playing game, and the advice is clear and uncomplicated. This section continues on to describe how to use the GURPS rules as the building blocks of the character, not by teaching the rules or by repeating the rules (you need the GURPS books for that) but by telling you how the different elements work in the game and interact together. In other words, they tell you how to use the game mechanics to recreate what is in your imagination. Its almost like having an experienced player actually helping you through the process step by step, explaining what each thing in the rulebook REALLY MEANS and how it will REALLY WORK (or not work). You are told how high is high, and how low is low.
PART TWO builds on Part One by going into more detail on magic, powers, technology, and non-humans. This section is basically a much deeper exploration of all the different ways the elements of the game (advantages, perks, talents, skills, etc) can be put together, and how each one works. The authors also provide insight on how to use the different game mechanics to achieve the vision you have for your character, and the possible ways to get there (as there is usually more than one).
PART THREE gives solid advice on role playing, again, relevant to any RPG. Combat is explained, with very detailed information given to how different elements works together in combat and how combat flows in GURPS (which can be much different than other RPG's). I would have liked to have seen more information regarding the various reach ranges, because they can have a major affect on swords and sorcery type games. The combat chapter teaches you how to choose armor, what choices there are in combat and more importantly, why you would want to choose certain options, when and how to defend yourself, and how to make wise weapon choices. In fact, there is an excellent chart describing what the solid weapopn choices are for each character strength level. This is perfect for those countless times I have heard players say "What weapon should I choose?". There is a great section on how to solve common combat problems (too many opponents, can't penetrate armor, etc) and a section on how best to use healing magic. This section also describes good ways to keep track of all the information used in GURPS.
PART FOUR is where the Game Mastering (GMing) section begins. This section and the next should be read by every GM, no matter what the game they run. I've been GMing and playing for almost 30 years, and I found the advice in this section and the next to be invaluable. Part Four describes how to be a GM, gives an EXCELLENT chapter on how to design an adventure with an example of how that would play out.
PART FIVE describes how to build the campaign, that is the world, or epic, or whatever that will be the focus of why the story is, what the story is, and why are the players even creating characters to begin with. The advice is once again solid, and while there are references on how to use GURPS, as in Part Four, the information is applicable to any Role Playing Game/GM.
PART SIX are three short chapters containing the authors' preferences for spending points, their top ten favorite advantages, and top ten favorite disadvantages. There was to be a chapter on the "10 skills no PC should be without" but it was apparently cut. Seeing the chapter released in electronic format would be a great addition to the book.
Overall, this book is a "must have" for anyone even contemplating playing or running a GURPS game. New players will find the answers and help they need to bring their imagination to life, and old veterans will find an angle they hadn't thought of. The GMing section really could have been "Game Mastering for Dummies", because the tips and advice here go beyond what do do in GURPS. I wish I had seen this advice when I first started GMing oh-so-long-ago. This book should be considered the third of the core books (Characters and Campaigns being the first two) and is a book no gaming library should be without.
Amazon.com
If you pick your books by their popularity--how many and which other people are reading them--then know this about The Search: it's probably on Bill Gates' reading list, and that of almost every venture capitalist and startup-hungry entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. In its sweeping survey of the history of Internet search technologies, its gossip about and analysis of Google, and its speculation on the larger cultural implications of a Web-connected world, it will likely receive attention from a variety of businesspeople, technology futurists, journalists, and interested observers of mid-2000s zeitgeist.
This ambitious book comes with a strong pedigree. Author John Battelle was a founder of The Industry Standard and then one of the original editors of Wired, two magazines which helped shape our early perceptions of the wild world of the Internet. Battelle clearly drew from his experience and contacts in writing The Search. In addition to the sure-handed historical perspective and easy familiarity with such dot-com stalwarts as AltaVista, Lycos, and Excite, he speckles his narrative with conversational asides from a cast of fascinating characters, such Google's founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Yahoo's, Jerry Yang and David Filo; key executives at Microsoft and different VC firms on the famed Sandhill road; and numerous other insiders, particularly at the company which currently sits atop the search world, Google.
The Search is not exactly the corporate history of Google. At the book's outset, Battelle specifically indicates his desire to understand what he calls the cultural anthropology of search, and to analyze search engines' current role as the "database of our intentions"--the repository of humanity's curiosity, exploration, and expressed desires. Interesting though that beginning is, though, Battelle's story really picks up speed when he starts dishing inside scoop on the darling business story of the decade, Google. To Battelle's credit, though, he doesn't stop just with historical retrospective: the final part of his book focuses on the potential future directions of Google and its products' development. In what Battelle himself acknowledges might just be a "digital fantasy train", he describes the possibility that Google will become the centralizing platform for our entire lives and quotes one early employee on the weightiness of Google's potential impact: "Sometimes I feel like I am on a bridge, twenty thousand feet up in the air. If I look down I'm afraid I'll fall. I don't feel like I can think about all the implications."
Some will shrug at such words; after all, similar hype has accompanied other technologies and other companies before. Many others, though, will search Battelle's story for meaning--and fast. --Peter Han
Book Description
How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture
• The Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek Bestseller
• Finalist for the Goldman Sachs/FT Business Book of the Year Award
What does the world want? According to John Battelle, a company that answers that question—in all its shades of meaning—can unlock the most intractable riddles of business and arguably of human culture itself. And for the past few years, that's exactly what Google has been doing.
But The Search offers much more than the inside story of Google's triumph. It's a big- picture book about the past, present, and future of search technology and the enormous impact it's starting to have on marketing, media, pop culture, dating, job hunting, international law, civil liberties, and just about every other sphere of human interest. BACKCOVER: “The Search is a superb story, well written and feverishly researched. Whether you are a student, techie, business executive, budding visionary or just enjoy pop culture, this is a book not to be missed.”
—USA Today
“John Battelle is Silicon Valley's Bob Woodward. One of the founders of Wired magazine, he has hung around Google for so long that he has come to be as close as any outsider can to actually being an insider….The result is a highly readable account of Google's astonishing rise.”
—The Economist
“It's a fascinating story, and Mr. Battelle… tells it well.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“A surprisingly gripping story…The Search yields impressive results, pairing a reportorial eye for detail with an evangelical zeal to help readers understand the import of the search revolution.”
—Wired News
“Battelle…manages to keep things compelling, adding his own trenchant analysis about what Google's rapid evolution and powerful technology might mean for the company and our society as whole.”
—The Associated Press
“A compelling glimpse of the search industry's early years.”
—BusinessWeek
“Deeply researched and nimbly reported.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Indispensable.”
—London Review of Books
“John Battelle has written a brilliant business book, but he's also done something more: he's used the amazing saga of Google to explore what it means to search. All searchers should read it.”
—Walter Isaacson, CEO of the Aspen Institute; former editor of Time; former CEO of CNN
“Nobody, and I mean nobody, has thought longer, harder, or smarter about Google and the search business than John Battelle. If you want to understand the rise of the search economy and culture, you need to read this book.”
—John Heilemann, author of Pride Before the Fall
Customer Reviews:
Larry and Sergey's Excellent Adventure.......2007-08-25
A very well-researched and well-written book. Most notable is author John Battelle's getting the essence of just how bad search was until the Google Guys came along and nailed the concept. Battelle recounts how major players in the IT industry assumed search was as good as it was going to get circa 1997 - 2000 (and it really s-cked in retrospect), so they went off trying to become traffic and portal sites. [Larry Page archly notes that Yahoo and Excite had 'really good horoscopes' on their home pages. Touché.]
Meanwhile, Battelle recounts how Page and Brin set out with their 'Backrub' project at Stanford to solve search and transform it into what it is today. While Google is taken as a given today, Battelle takes us all back to that moment when we all first used Google and had that "Oh. My. God." moment.
The insider-ish stuff about Page and Brin is fascinating. I could read 500 pages of that stuff alone. It's a thrilling ride from cramped offices at Stanford to the Googleplex. 400,000 percent (!) revenue growth over five years is difficult to fathom, but Battelle gets as close to anyone to the essence of how that happened.
It's nice to see the chapter here about Bill Gross of Idealab. The original incarnation of Google AdWords was a blatant copy of Idealab's Goto.com (later named Overture) incubation.
A non-technical, solid read for those interested in Google and how Search Works.......2007-07-20
Interested in learning how Google went from the smallest of startups to one of the largest IPO's in history? Do you wonder how Google and companies like it will impact our future? Are you interested in finding out just how Google returns the results when you type something in the search box? If so, then The Search is for you!
Written by John Brattle, an accomplished author (Wired) and well respected journalist and entrepreneur, The Search first walks the user through the rise of Google from a dorm room at Stanford to the corporate giant it is today.
The book is well researched and contains information from over 300 interviews documenting the rise of the biggest and most profitable media company in the world. The interviews are some of the most interesting reads in the book making you feel like you were in the room when Battelle was conducting them.
In the early chapters, the reader gets what seems to be an inside view of the rise of Google as a startup during the dot-com boom. As Google grows, Battelle starts to focus on how Yahoo and Google (and others) struggled to get the search algorithm "right" and become the leader in the "search" industry. Google was clearly the winner of this competition and went out to streamline their algorithm and business to be one of the most successful media businesses in the world.
Battelle uses the last chapters to discuss the future of Google and how the technology that Google is developing today could impact our culture. Considering Google has significantly changed out culture in the short eight years it has been around, one can only imagine what the future holds!
An excellent, non-technical read, The Search, is a great book for anyone interested in Google, how search engines work and/or portal developments are sure to find this book enjoyable, insightful and well worth the read!
[...]
Page-turner & night-burner.......2007-07-12
This book has delighted me, to me it was an enlightening read, and it almost wasn't slipping from my hands until I got to the end.
Great Business and Historic lessons.......2007-06-19
This is an excellent book.
First, from the business stand point it describes perfectly how google beat the internet bubble and came up with a very lucrative business model. It has a lot off lessons of how to be an entrepreneur.
Second, from the historic stand point i tells very easy haw the internet and the search technology have grow and evolve and hand by hand, because both are the reason why we have an intenet like we have now.
Third, the book is a lot of fun and very easy to read, it has a lot of inspiring little story like the story of Altavista or the great Bill Gross, what an enterpreneur.
Great book you won't be disapointed
Very Informative.......2007-05-04
Being a non techy, I was enthralled with the way search has developed and the possibilities for the future. The future of not only search, but business models as we know them.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Washington Monthly, published by Thomson Gale on September 1, 2005. The length of the article is 1275 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: Search lite: you may think Google is powerful today, but it's still only using 5% of its brain.(On Political Books)(The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture)(Book Review)
Author: Markos Kounalakis
Publication:
Washington Monthly (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 37
Issue: 9
Page: 50(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Books:
- Great Careers in 2 Years: The Associate Degree Option (Great Careers in Two Years)
- Greek Art and Archaeology, REPRINT (3rd Edition)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- Holbein and England (Paul Mellon Centre for Studies)
- How to Be a Successful Cartoonist
- If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat
- Ilya Repin: Russia's Secret
- Image, Icon, Economy: The Byzantine Origins of the Contemporary Imaginary (Cultural Memory in the Present)
- Inside Fashion Design, Fifth Edition
- Jeff Foxworthy's You Might Be a Redneck If...: 2006 Wall Calendar
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Painting Four Seasons Of Fabulous Flowers
- Master of Dragons
- New Trends in Fluorescence Spectroscopy: Applications to Chemical and Life Sciences
- Saints and Villains
- Literacy for the 21st Century: A Balanced Approach
- Mountain Islands and Desert Seas
- Mommy, Please Don't Cry: There Are No Tears in Heaven
- Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Modern Art
- Mistress of the House, Mistress of Heaven: Women in Ancient Egypt
- Murder on Naked Beach: A Lucy Ripken Mystery
Big Screen Rome
Projecting the Past: Ancient Rome, Cinema and History (The New Ancient World)
Spartacus: Film and History
Classical Myth and Culture in the Cinema
Troy: From Homer's Iliad to Hollywood Epic
