This is history as it ought to be told: with exhaustive, detailed research, telling the known facts with a bright freshness and presenting fascinating new information and links, Hendrick Hooft has been able to credibly portray the enormous importance of the Dutch democratic movement. It is one of the ignored moments of history that nevertheless created our world: these young democrats, who preceded the French in pressing for a popular voice in government (and achieved it entirely bloodlessly), and were a source of intellectual inspiration for the American Founding Fathers. Hooft writes anecdotally, interspersing historical fact with lightfooted and elegant fiction. Truly a delightful read as well as being an important historical document. A definite recommendation.

Perilous Chastity is an exhaustive analysis of the genre paintings of "Lovesick Maidens" during the Renaissance. In her study of these and related paintings Laurinda Dixon clarifies their meaning within the culture of their creation. Drawing on contemporary sources she identifies elements within the paintings which relate to widely published vernacular medical texts of the day. She makes valuable observations about the way these texts were received used. These texts are further examined and their sources identified. Anyone interested in women's history, the history of medicine, as well as the art of the Renaissance or the development of western culture will find this work of immense interest. The scholarship is rigorous, the book's sources are valuable and the prose style is both readable and enjoyable

I first ran into the paintings of Saenredam on a visit to the Netherlands five years ago, and was fascinated by his work. The brilliant use of perspective and the draughtsman-like quality of his work really appealed to me. In it's painstaking quality, it reminded me somewhat of Northern Rennaisance painters. Yet the subject of these works was quite different. Saeredam's church interiors and exteriors have a serenity to them quite different from anything else.

I was very disappointed upon my return to the states because I could find little if anything about this great painter. If you've done a search here, you've seen that the only other books on Saenredam are out of print and hideously expensive.

I was overjoyed when I heard the Getty was bringing in the first major show of Saenredam's works in 40 years. I ordered this catalogue as soon as it was available. I was not disappointed.

This book features excellent reproductions of preparatory drawings and finished works, along with commentary that is interesting to the both the lay audience and those with more expertise. I heartily recommend it.

Walter Gibson's "Pleasant Places" will help you enjoy the quiet and unassuming genre of 17th Century northern European landscape art. The author accepts the works at face value: pleasant images of places the Dutch in particular liked to visit. Gibson does not read religious allegory into them as some art historians do, but he instead shows you how to appreciate the quality of light, the sense of place, and the Dutch character that emerges from Dutch landscape art. He perhaps inadvertently offers some examples where religious interpretations may be more important than he allows, and you do not feel that he is forcing all of the works to fit his premise even though he is steadfast. The book is well-written, and I especially appreciate the author's parenthetical definition of Dutch terms and concepts as they are introduced. In addition, he gently reminds you of their meanings when they are reintroduced in subsequent chapters, so you won't have to hunt through the index and text to find them again. Some of the black-white reproductions of prints are too small, and not clear enough to enable detailed study, but this is a common problem with art history books, and this book will motivate you to visit the nearest art museum to study the genre in any case. Walter Gibson communicates a love and respect for 17th Century northern European landscape art that makes me want to visit Holland and experience it first-hand. Walter Gibson has persuaded me that I will find the Dutch countryside a pleasant place laden with history and wonderful light.

At one place you can find about privatisation of telecommunication business,especially privatisation of BT, as far as I know this is the first time that you can find at one place essential information about it. This book will help a lot for better understanding how the sistem of privatisation works. Great job!

Chevannes, author of many articles and another book on Rastas, edits and contributes to this volume. His thesis is that Rastafari should be seen simultaeneously as a "continuance of and departure from" Revivalism, an Afro-Carribean folk religion. The other scholars in this text agree with Chevannes, and they probe the relationships of transformation in these and other religious movements.

Four topics stand out for treatment in this work---Rastafari language construction, the origin of Dreadlocks with the arrival of the Youth Black Faith, the psychoanalytic treatment of the meaning of Dreads, and the chapter on Women's discourse on Possession in Surinamese Creole.

Chevannes excels here in the areas he is known for best, Rasta symbolism and history.

This book completely met my expectations for two reasons so I gave it 5 stars. It's not exactly a "bestseller of the month" topic, so others may not be so generous. I don't find much about New Amsterdam and was excited to find a book hot off the presses that went into enough background information about early Dutch settlement. I was also quite pleased to find the names of several ancestors named as settlers prior to 1625. Quite readable. There is an occasional non-native English speaker grammatical error, but I actually like that and I thank the author for his hard work and a job well done!

amazing, written by a historian with an extremely fresh approach, knowledgable, highly readable, covering the topic from all relevant angles, may they be social, religious, cultural or economical. I am writing a book about 2500 years of Spanish jewish history and have among all the material I have gone through not found anything remotely as interesting as this book which may have a non-inviting title but reads like a thriller. Of course I am grateful to mr. Swetschinski for confirming my being a descendant of 4 out of 10 of the first jewish heads of families settling in Amsterdam, but I won't let that distract me from reviewing the book objectively. This is a must-read for anyone who want to understand the development of past-1492 jewish life in all its glory. It also lays a foundation of pride under presentday sephardi life in Israel, if only the sephardim there would share the knowledge available through masterworks like RELUCTANT COSMOPOLITANS..............

The books in this series are the best books I've seen to introduce children to great artists. "Getting to Know Great Artists" books bring to life the person behind the painting with fun cartoons about his life. Why did Rembrandt start painting? What's so great about his paintings? This book makes kids care about the man and his art. Your kids will wind up knowing more about Rembrandt than most adults ever will! The combination of cartoons with color photographs of the artist's paintings makes the book lively to look at. The text is interesting and easy to read. The artist's greatest works are shown within the context they were made: what was going on in the artist's life, how the work was received by society at the time. I recommend this whole series of "Getting to Know Great Artists" very highly.

Beautiful full-color drawings, photos, and reproductions of major works of art offer children a way to explore Rembrandt and his works. Rembrandt blends biography with artistic insights for grades 4-6 and beyond, providing bright pages of art and fun drawings and color. Highly recommended.