Book Description
Attempts to reconcile two very different images of American life.
Average customer rating:
- An encouraging view of the future...
- A refreshing and insightful book
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No Man's Garden: Thoreau and a New Vision for Civilization and Nature
Daniel B. Botkin
Manufacturer: Island Press
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ASIN: 1559634650 |
Book Description
In No Man's Garden, ecologist Daniel Botkin takes a fresh look at the life and writings of Henry David Thoreau to discover a model for reconciling the conflict between nature and civilization that lies at the heart of our environmental problems. He offers an insightful reinterpretation of Thoreau, drawing a surprising picture of the "hermit of Walden" as a man who loved wildness, but who found it in the woods and swamps on the outskirts of town as easily as in the remote forests of Maine, and who firmly believed in the value and importance of human beings and civilization.
Botkin integrates into the familiar image of Thoreau, the solitary seeker, other, equally important aspects of his personality and career-as a first-rate ecologist whose close, long-term observation of his surroundings shows the value of using a scientific approach, as an engineer who was comfortable working out technical problems in his father's pencil factory, and as someone who was deeply concerned about the spiritual importance of nature to people.
This new view of one of the founding fathers of American environmental thought lays the groundwork for an innovative approach to solving environmental problems. Botkin argues that the topics typically thought of as "environmental," and the issues and concerns of "environmentalism," are in fact rooted in some of humanity's deepest concerns-our fundamental physical and spiritual connection with nature, and the mutually beneficial ways that society and nature can persist together. He makes the case that by understanding the true scientific, philosophical, and spiritual bases of environmental positions we will be able to develop a means of preserving the health of our biosphere that simultaneously allows for the further growth and development of civilization.
No Man's Garden presents a vital challenge to the assumptions and conventional wisdom of environmentalism, and will be must reading for anyone interested in developing a deeper understanding of interactions between humans and nature.
Customer Reviews:
An encouraging view of the future..........2002-08-23
A refreshing book with something rare in environmental writing; an encouraging look at the future! This book presents a clear point throughout: technology, civilization, and nature are not at odds with each other, but are best viewed as actually deeply connected and at this point, interdependent.
A refreshing and insightful book.......2000-12-16
I had the good fortune to read this book in page proof and enjoyed it immensely. Botkin does a wonderful job of pointing out how Thoreau's methodologies were far in advance of his time and provide us with encouraging examples of how we ought to relate to the natural world on the one hand and the civilized world on the other. Highly recommended--particularly at this remarkably low price for a hardcover!
Product Description
History: Fiction or Science? is the most explosive tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by solid scientific data. The book is well-illustrated, contains over 446 graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays, which never cease to amaze the reader. Eminent mathematician proves that: Jesus Christ was born in 1153 and crucified in 1186 The Old Testament refers to mediaeval events. Apocalypse was written after 1486. Does this sound uncanny? This version of events is substantiated by hard facts and logic - validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources - to a greater extent than everything you may have read and heard about history before. The dominating historical discourse in its current state was essentially crafted in the XVI century from a rather contradictory jumble of sources such as innumerable copies of ancient Latin and Greek manuscripts whose originals had vanished in the Dark Ages and the allegedly irrefutable proof offered by late mediaeval astronomers, resting upon the power of ecclesial authorities. Nearly all of its components are blatantly untrue! For some of us, it shall possibly be quite disturbing to see the magnificent edifice of classical history to turn into an ominous simulacrum brooding over the snake pit of mediaeval politics. Twice so, in fact: the first seeing the legendary millenarian dust on the ancient marble turn into a mere layer of dirt - one that meticulous unprejudiced research can eventually remove. The second, and greater, attack of unease comes with the awareness of just how many areas of human knowledge still trust the three elephants of the consensual chronology to support them. Nothing can remedy that except for an individual chronological revolution happening in the minds of a large enough number of people.
Customer Reviews:
Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03
Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.
Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19
Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09
There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.
For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.
Very Interesting.......2007-03-07
It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.
History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10
Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.
I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.
Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.
Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.
I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.
This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.
Average customer rating:
- 269 pages of heaven!
- Brilliant!
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Margaret Atwood: Vision and Forms (Ad Feminam)
Kathryn VanSpanckeren , and
Jan Garden Castro
Manufacturer: Southern Illinois University
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ASIN: 0809314088 |
Book Description
A prolific writer and versatile social critic, Canadian novelist and poet Margaret Atwood has recently published Bluebeard’s Egg (short stories), Interlunar (poetry), and The Handmaid’s Tale a critically acclaimed best-selling novel.
This international collection of essays evaluates the complete body of her work—both the acclaimed fiction and the innovative poetry. The critics represented here—American, Australian, and Canadian—address Atwood’s handling of such themes as feminism, ecology, the gothic novel, and the political relationship between Canada and the United States.
The essays on Atwood’s novels introduce the general reader to her development as a writer, as she matures from a basically subjective, poetic vision, seen in Surfacing and The Edible Woman, to an increasingly engaged, political stance, exemplified by The Handmaid’s Tale. Other essays examine Atwood’s poetry, from her transformation of the Homeric model to her criticisms of the United States’ relationship with Canada. The last two critical essays offer a unique view of Atwood through an investigation of her use of the concept of shamanism and through a presentation of eight of her vivid watercolors.
The volume ends with Atwood presenting her own views in an interview with Jan Garden Castro and in a conversation between Atwood and students at the University of Tampa, Florida.
Customer Reviews:
269 pages of heaven!.......2002-07-10
On a recent flight I reached for Margaret Atwood's "The Blind Assassin," only to find I had picked up this book by mistake. Much to my surprise, it was every bit at enthralling as any of Atwood's novels. A lot of critical writing tends to be dry, but this book is like a juicy turkey sandwich with an extra dollop of mayonaise. If you like Margaret Atwood's work as much as I do, you should read this book.
Brilliant!.......2002-07-02
Margaret Atwood is one of my all-time favorite authors. I probably almost finished at least 2 of her books. But this one-this one I relished. Why? Because it is unparalleled in this world. It is one of the greatest books ever written that is not in Oprah's book club. I shall now use the thesaurus. It is recherche. It is worth its weight in gold. It is a giltedged, exquisite, in seipso totus teres atque rotundus! It is a work so profound that it outshines even Atwood herself, rendering her entirely obsolete. Read this, I insist.
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Territorial Ambitions and the Gardens of Versailles (Cambridge Cultural Social Studies)
Chandra Mukerji
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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ASIN: 0521496756 |
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In Louis XIV's France, land took on new importance in politics and court life. A sequestered aristocracy promenaded in formal gardens while the military moved across the landscape, marking state boundaries with fortresses and refiguring the interior with canals and forests. Chandra Mukerji highlights the connections between the seemingly disparate activities of engineering and garden design, showing how the gardens at Versailles showcased French skills in using nature and art to design a distinctively French landscape and create a naturalized political territoriality.
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Garden and Grove: The Italian Renaissance Garden in the English Imagination, 1600-1750
John Dixon Hunt
Manufacturer: University of Pennsylvania Press
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The Italian Garden: Art, Design and Culture (Cambridge Studies in Italian History and Culture)
Accessories:
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Fiskars Phone and Garden Pocket #94336974
ASIN: 0812216040 |
Book Description
Garden and Grove is a pioneering study of the English fascination with Italian Renaissance gardens. John Dixon Hunt studies reactions of English visitors in their journals and travel books to the exciting world of Italian gardens: its links with classical villas, with Virgil and farming, with Ovid and metamorphosis, its association with theater, its variety, its staged debates between art and nature. Then he looks at what English visitors made of these Italian garden experiences upon their return home and at how they created Italianate gardens on their estates, on their stages, and in their poems.
With a wealth of literary and visual materials previously untapped, Hunt provides a new history of an intriguing and vital phase of English garden history. Not only does he suggest the centrality of the garden as a focus for many social, aesthetic, political, and philosophical ideas but he argues that the so-called English landscape garden before "Capability" Brown, in the late eighteenth century, owed much to a long and continuing emulation of Italian Renaissance models.
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Working the Garden: American Writers and the Industrialization of Agriculture
William Conlogue
Manufacturer: The University of North Carolina Press
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ASIN: 0807849944
Release Date: 2001-12-01 |
Book Description
In 1860 farmers accounted for 60 percent of the American workforce; in 1910, 30.5 percent; by 1994, there were too few to warrant a separate census category. The changes wrought by the decline of family farming and the rise of industrial agribusiness typically have been viewed through historical, economic, and political lenses. But as William Conlogue demonstrates, some of the most vital and incisive debates on the subject have occurred in a site that is perhaps less obvious--literature.
Conlogue refutes the critical tendency to treat farm-centered texts as pastorals, arguing that such an approach overlooks the diverse ways these works explore human relationships to the land. His readings of works by Willa Cather, Ruth Comfort Mitchell, John Steinbeck, Luis Valdez, Ernest Gaines, Jane Smiley, Wendell Berry, and others reveal that, through agricultural narratives, authors have addressed such wide-ranging subjects as the impact of technology on people and land, changing gender roles, environmental destruction, and the exploitation of migrant workers. In short, Conlogue offers fresh perspectives on how writers confront issues whose site is the farm but whose impact reaches every corner of American society.
Book Description
From 1732 until World War II, London's privately owned and operated Royal Opera House (ROH) at Covent Garden was reflective of the country it served -- the rich and noble enjoyed performances in the luxury of the theater and concert hall while the rest of the classes viewed the shows from the dimly-lit top gallery. In 1945, with Britain in financial crisis, its cities in ruins, and its citizens living on strict food and fuel rations, Covent Garden was reborn as a public company after economist Maynard Keynes called for state money to support an Arts Council and Royal Opera House, under his own chairmanship, that would resurrect the nation's fortunes and spirit through the preservation of English culture and performing arts. From that point on, says Norman Lebrecht, ROH, with its Royal Opera and Royal Ballet companies, purported to conduct this postwar national mission while attaching itself to the social elite, creating a recipe for disaster that finally exploded half a century later when the world-class Covent Garden was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy.
In this comprehensive and unvarnished history, Lebrecht explains the astonishing failure of an institution that was designed to define a nation. Four chief executives came and went in eighteen months, and the off-stage dramas, catastrophes, misadventures, and infighting became comic fodder for the press and Parliament. Lebrecht's illuminating account of the rise, decline, and fall of the ROH during the second half of the twentieth century is situated within the broader context of upheavals and changes in English cultural life that have eroded the very notion of "Englishness" and transformed the country from heroic poverty to heartless wealth.
With unprecedented access to private archives and key players, Lebrecht recounts an intriguing tale of special relationships between internal management and successive governments and arts councils, hidden public cash, corruption, anti-semitism, and campaigns against homosexuals. He also provides colorful details about the many celebrated performers and personalities, including Maria Callas, Rudolf Nureyev, Margot Fonteyn, Georg Solti, and Kiri te Kanawa, who helped shape Covent Garden's storied traditions.
Lebrecht concludes by offering thoughts on what the future holds for this notable institution, arguing that Covent Garden should be privatized along the same lines as the Metropolitan Opera.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting material, off-putting tone.......2001-12-03
Imagine sitting down for a lengthy chat with a person who has researched his material extensively and has organized it such that he can present a detailed analysis, answering all of your questions before you ask them. Sounds appealing, right? Now add another variable to the conversation: the person takes a superior tone, puts a negative spin on almost every aspect of the story, and frequently inserts titillating but irrelevant details. On balance, would you put up with the narrator's tone and bias in order to obtain the information he offers? If your answer is yes and you are even remotely interested in opera read this book; if no, think twice.
The good parts first: No one can honestly question Mr. Lebrecht's scholarship. Apparently, his extensive sleuthing met with numerous obstacles, from uncooperative government officials to a woman who had burnt material left in her safekeeping because she did not realize its importance. Nor can one fault his organization. Although he sometimes moves ahead of himself to conclude a particular section, he always brings the reader back to the timeline of the story. Few, if any opera fans will complain that their favorite performer is not included; from Abbado to Zeffirelli, they are all there, as a quick look at the index confirms.
However, the performers are really the walk-ons in this book. The starring roles are taken by the management -- the bureaucractic officials (operatic and governmental), the artistic directors, choreographers, chorus masters, union leaders, board members -- for the focus is not so much on what happens on stage as how it gets there in the first place.
Lebrecht is most objective when he is writing the social and governmental history that parallels ROH history, e.g., his two and ½ page description of the social revolution of the early sixties, (pp. 213-215) is succinct and right on the mark. He then seques neatly into the opera house with: "The trick to any revolution is to stay in touch with public sentiment without succumbing to demotic pressure. The worst mistake is turn one's back on the tide - which is what Covent Garden proceeded to do." Unfortunately, that reasoned tone is not the prevalent one in the book.
Most often, Lebrecht's tone is unremittingly haughty and sarcastic. Not only is this off-putting, it adds nothing to his credibility, particularly in those instances in which he insists upon revealing personal details that have no bearing on an individual's professional performance. Mr. Lebrecht central argument is strong on its own without adding details about who slept with whom and where. A little more "don't ask, don't tell" would have helped immeasurably.
To be fair, even when he is being sarcastic, he can turn an effective phrase: "Callas, torn between heart and art, was drifting in the slipstream of her shipowner lover, Onassis." Problem is, too much cleverness can be grating on the ear, putting an obstacle between the reader and Lebrecht's excellent research. On balance, Lebrecht appears to represent that brand of opera-lover who cannot resist snippy-snide remarks; one wonders if he visits the opera house hoping to enjoy the performance or ready to pounce on the slightest misstep.
Occasionally, Lebrecht contradicts himself. A small example: on page 134, after a few disparaging remarks about performances of "The Bohemian Girl", he notes that it "vanished once again into a mist." Well, not quite. On page 158 it emerges from the mist in an anecdote about Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland. Nor did it vanish after page 158. As most of Dame Joan's fans know, she recorded an aria from that opera, "I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls" and sang it in recital throughout her career.
According to the jacket notes, Lebrecht has a live call-in radio show. Undoubtedly he has sharpened his wit and tongue in response to the opera cognoscenti, some of whom can be wickedly biting when offering their opinions. Had he tempered his well-developed wit just a little more, I would have given his book top marks on research, organization, and interest. The lower mark reflects Lebrecht tone which, for me, was an obstacle to complete enjoyment of this book.
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The Figure in the Landscape: Poetry, Painting, and Gardening during the Eighteenth Century
John Dixon Hunt
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
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ASIN: 080183936X |
Book Description
Eighteenth-century England saw the rise of a "peculiarly English" art form -- landscape gardening -- and a corresponding change in attitudes toward the natural world. While the French, who lived under tyranny, had tightly organized, restrictive gardens, the "free" English enjoyed gardens where they were at liberty to wander. John Dixon Hunt examines eighteenth-century letters, literary and critical works, biographies, paintings, prints, and drawings to trace the gradual movement from formal regularity toward a carefully calculated naturalness.
Books:
- The New Garden Paradise: Great Private Gardens of the World
- The New Garden Paradise: Great Private Gardens of the World
- The Rodale Illustrated Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening (American Horticultural Society Practical Guides)
- The Samurai's Garden: A Novel
- The Samurai's Garden: A Novel
- The Well-Designed Mixed Garden: Building Beds and Borders with Trees, Shrubs, Perennials, Annuals, and Bulbs
- The Worm Book: The Complete Guide to Worms in Your Garden
- Time-Saver Standards for Landscape Architecture
- Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring
- Wildlife Warrior: Steve Irwin: 1962 - 2006, a Man Who Changed the World
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Exercises for the Whole Brain: Neuron-Builders to Stimulate and Entertain Your Visual, Math and Exec
- 55,000 plus Baby Names: A great selection of popular and unusual names from around the world
- Swept from the Sea: The Shooting Script
- The Day John Died
- The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God
- A Night to Remember: The Haggadah of Contemporary Voices
- Triathlon Swimming Made Easy: The Total Immersion Way for Anyone to Master Open-Water Swimming
- Measuring and Managing Operational Risks in Financial Institutions: Tools, Techniques, and other Res
- The Economic Consequences of Immigration: Second Edition
- Final Justice: Badge of Honor 08
Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth (Harvard Paperback, Hp 21)
Wilderness and the American Mind, Fourth Edition
The Country and the City
Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature
Locating American Studies: The Evolution of a Discipline
