SirReadaLot.org

November 2004, Issue #67

Antiques & Collectibles / Textiles & Costumes

A Pictorial History of Costume: From Ancient Times to the Nineteenth Century by Wolfgang Bruhn & Max Tilke (Dover Publications) is a visual history of world costume from ancient times through to the end of the nineteenth century covering all levels of society, from peasants to nobility.

A Pictorial History of Costume is a vast pictorial archive. Illustra­tions depict a treasure trove of wearing apparel, starting in ancient Egypt, circa 2200 B.C. and continuing to the late 1800s. Furs, veils, ruffs, sashes, and point­ed bodices abound, as do cloaks, leggings, waistcoats, breeches, mili­tary uniforms, and assorted head- and footwear.

In this republication of the edition published by A. Zwemmer Ltd., London, 1955, the panoramic display focuses on all levels of society, from peasants and the middle class to the nobility. Here are exotically clothed inhabitants of the Far East; armored gladiators of the Roman Empire and Crusaders of the Middle Ages; ladies of the Parisian aristocracy in the late nineteenth centu­ry; Dutch citizens of the 1600s; and hundreds of other figures modeling clothes from ancient Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, and Greece as well as apparel from England, France, Germany, Turkey, Holland, Italy, and other European countries.

A classic in the field, this splendid guide to fashion history takes readers on a grand tour of the world. A Pictorial History of Costume is an essential reference for costume designers and students of fashion history. Handsome and accurately rendered, this illustrated survey will particularly delight the armchair time traveler.

Arts / Culture Studies / Gay & Lesbian

How to Make Dances in an Epidemic: Tracking Choreography in the Age of AIDS by David Gere (University of Wisconsin Press)

AIDS. 1981…1985.

A life-threatening medical syndrome is spreading, its transmission linked to sex. Blame is settling on gay men. What is possible in such a highly charged moment, when art and politics coincide?

David Gere, who came of age as a dance critic at the height of the AIDS epidemic, offers the first book to examine the interplay of AIDS and choreography in the United States, specifically in relation to gay men. Gere, associate professor in the Department of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA and longtime dance critic, in How to Make Dances in an Epidemic, writes about a time of extremes. Gere expands the definition of choreography to analyze not only theatrical dances but also ACT-UP protests and the unfurling of the Names Project AIDS quilt. According to Gere, these exist on a continuum in which dance, protest, and wrenching emotional expression have become essentially indistinguishable. The book’s chapters are titled Blood and Sweat, Melancholia and Fetishes, Monuments and Insurgencies, Corpses and Ghosts, and Transcendence and Eroticism. There is also an epilogue, extensive notes, and a bibliography.

Among the thousands of corporeal events that might have be­come the focus of a book on AIDS and dance, Gere has chosen just sixteen for close inspection, including two protests, two bene­fits, two memorial services, one processional funeral, three out­door performances, one installation, and five theatrical dances, including one that features an onstage erotic massage. His choices are anything but capricious, though he laments that so many performances cannot be considered directly within the scope of the book. But rather than treat only the well-known theatrical choreographies best known as AIDS dances, he draws upon an array of choreographies and corporeal events calibrated to assist readers in understanding the electric interchange between stage and real life and to elicit the major themes of the AIDS era with vividness.

Gere says that he made a decision midway through the project to focus exclusively on gay male choreogra­phers in the U.S., regardless of their HIV status, because he wanted to understand the resonance of their choreographies in the con­text of the codes and conventions of gay male culture. In terms of geography, the choreography Gere writes about in How to Make Dances in an Epidemic originates from locales all over the United States, with a strong concentration in New York and San Francisco, where the greatest number of AIDS-related works have been made. If culture is a constructed category – a premise that is central to all Gere’s arguments in How to Make Dances in an Epidemic – then someone who is expert in those constructions must execute their analysis. Still, Gere hopes that this study may eventually offer an opportunity for scholars to survey the relation between AIDS and choreography across cultures. This must be a joint project, however, not a solitary one.

Anyone interested in dance or in gay culture or in art and politics should, as I did, find this a fascinating book, impossible to put down. – Sally Banes, editor of Reinventing Dance in the 1960s

David Gere's How to Make Dances in an Epidemic is the definitive study of AIDS and dance, but its contribution extends well beyond ... A model of impassioned scholarship, this book rescues a nearly forgotten queer archive from obscurity while demonstrating how the arts continue to make all the difference in our lives. – David Roman, Professor of English and American Studies, University of Southern California

David Gere is shifting and reshaping the paradigms of scholarship in performance studies, cultural studies, and feminist and queer studies. – Nayan Shah, author of Contagious Divides: Epidemics and Race in San Francisco’s Chinatown

In How to Make Dances in an Epidemic Gere offers a gripping portrait of gay male choreographers struggling to cope with AIDS and its meanings. Gere’s offering is insightful; this is the first book to examine in depth the interplay of AIDS and choreography in the United States, specifically in relation to gay men.

Arts & Photography

Ladies Of The Lake: Women Rooted in Water by Kathleen Bagley, with photographs by Christine Thomsen (Dower Press) contains stories of women who live along the shores of Lake Placid in the Adirondacks, upstate New York.

Ladies Of The Lake offers a glimpse into the engaging lives of women who are rooted in water. Inspired by King Arthur's Celtic water goddess, Vivienne, and by the mod­ern Lady of the Lake, Anna Mabel Smith Douglass, the author, Kathleen Bagley, interviewed 23 women along the shores of Placid Lake in upstate New York. Taken as a group, these women represent a cross-section of human nature, each with a different and unique story. What makes these women similar is that all are drawn to the water and the enduring legacy of life on Placid Lake.

Ladies Of The Lake includes 155 photographs, many taken by local photographer, Christine Thomsen, of the women at home in their unusual camps and surrounding environments. Ladies like 82-year-old Helen Murray, who converted her camp to a popular club after World War II with zany style and grace; the eccentric yet practical artist Margo Fish, who hand-built the charming and enchanti­ng Tapawingo compound out of intricate twig and stone; and scratch-golfer and financial-expert Sue Riggins, who lost her one true love but managed to hang on to her camp. All are united by the lake's remarkable hold on them. Placid Lake truly is the main character in their lives.

That night there was a sudden dramatic summer storm with fantastic lightning. Kathryn sat out in one of the big Adirondack chairs on the waterfront and watched. 'I felt like I was in a drive-in movie,' said Kathryn. 'Nobody else around­, just me and this big, huge weather. The sky was electrifying, alive and intense. The wind was whipping through the trees in a frenzy: Kathryn was starting to understand what David Garrett meant about 'Forever Wild.' Before she went to bed that same night, she read Harvey Kaiser's Great Camps of the Adirondacks, cover to cover. – excerpt from the book in Kathyrn Kincannon, Managing the Masses

This fine book opens a door onto a little-noticed room in the mansion of Adirondack history; it's full of information, but of inspiration too. – Bill McKibben, Adirondack environmentalist and author of The End of Nature and Enough

Placid Lake is the place to paddle and Ladies Of The Lake is the reference you need to answer all those questions that inevitably float through your mind as you pass from camp to camp. We've all admired these structures from afar; now we get a rare chance to go inside and meet some of the fascinating women who inhabit them. – Nathalie Thill, Adirondack Center for Writing

This book is for anyone who visits or appreciates Placid Lake and the Adirondack area and has an interest in the region's rich culture and history. But it is also written for women – and men – who spend time on the water anywhere; for lovers of the changing seasons; for armchair enthusiasts who have never visited the area; and for anyone who wonders or delights in the serendipitous and inspiring lives of women everywhere. Ladies Of The Lake is the first book of its kind to appeal to each of these readers.

Arts & Photography / History / Architecture

Millionaires, Mansions, and Motor Yachts: An Era of Opulence by Ross MacTaggart (W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.) is a re-creation of a time of fantastic wealth through never-before-seen photographs.

Through text and 250 duotone images, most never previously published, Millionaires, Mansions, and Motor Yachts re-creates a long-gone era of opulence and extravagance. Dominating this volume are the mansions and yachts of Alfred and Jessie du Pont. Equally larger-than-life personalities include Thomas Lawson, his expansive estate, Dreamwold, and yachts such as Dreamer; empire builder John Spreckels's 227-foot Venetia; Emily Cadwalader, who commissioned a vessel destined for world renown as a U.S. presidential yacht, before checkmating this achievement by ordering the largest private yacht ever built, the 407-foot Savarona; Eugene Tompkins, the "Napoleon of Theater Managers"; George Fabyan; Harry Darlington; and William Rands. Enfolded in these pages are not only the wealthy individuals who shaped this era but also curmudgeonly writer/yachtsman Thomas Fleming Day, photographer Nathaniel Stebbins, and the designers and builders who created these splendid yachts.

In Millionaires, Mansions, and Motor Yachts readers see how the very rich lived both on land and at sea. They also see the life below the decks and the individuals who spent almost their entire working lives in the cramped kitchens and quarters on these great yachts. The starkness of the crew's quarters is a striking contrast to the Tiffany glass, marble counters, and over-the-top sumptuousness of the staterooms above. Readers must  question the sheer quantities of natural resources that these grand yachts required and the societal structures that brought about such riches. Yet, there is no denying the aesthetic grandeur of these creations.

With a lifetime of sea experience and a penchant for finding "lost" photographs, Ross MacTaggart, writer, researcher, architectural designer, carpenter, and urban observer, is the perfect guide through this age of opulence. Using his background as both a seaman and an historian, he weaves technical details together with intriguing anecdotes about the past. Millionaires, Mansions, and Motor Yachts is a luxuriant volume with stunning photos taking readers back through time and recreating "the warmth of a summer sun oil skin, the passing scent of a gentle salt-tinged breeze, and laughter echoing across expansive teak decks."

Arts & Photography / Fashion

Norman Parkinson: Portraits in Fashion by Robin Muir, with a foreword by Iman (Trafalgar Square Publishing)

Photographer Norman Parkinson was both a superb craftsman and a consummate artist. From his first shoot in 1935, he brought a dramatic glamour, bold inventiveness, and daring new sense of individuality to the fashion portrait. “If a girl looks like a model,” he said, “she is not for my lens.” Parkinson’s ideal was embodied by sitters like Jerry Hall, Iman, and Appollonia van Ravenstein. His long association with Vogue, and his many assignments for Harper’s Bazaar, Town and Country, Queen, and other international magazines, brought him fame and recognition. His impulsive and unstructured style changed the static, posed approach to fashion photography, while his enchanting, idiosyncratic persona charmed his sitters and projected an alluring and glamorous public image. In return, he gave the fashion world ineffable style. Norman Parkinson – organized by decade and illustrated with fashion plates, portraits, and contact sheets – is a lavish record of a career that encompassed – and informed – five decades of fashion.

Standing at 6 feet 5 inches tall, Parkinson was unable to remain unobtrusive behind the lens and instead created ‘Parks’, the moustachioed, ostentatiously elegant fashion photographer – as much a personality as those who sat for him, and frequently more flamboyant. Parks reinvented himself for each decade of his career, from his ground-breaking spontaneous images of the 1930s, through the war years and the Swinging Sixties to the exotic locations of the 70s and 80s. Included here are some of the world's most beautiful women – his incomparable fashion portraits of Iman, Jerry Hall, Audrey Hepburn and Ava Gardner, for example. By the end of his life (he died on location in 1990) he had become a household name, the recipient of a CBE, a photographer to the royal family, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, and the subject of a large-scale retrospective at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

The world of fashion has been both roman­ticized and criticized for its ability to project a vision of ideal beauty onto runways, magazines, and fashion books such as this one. But unlike other publications, this one seems to take its cue from the public de­bate about whether fashion magazines are contributing to the image problem of today's youth by using retouching that turns unusu­ally beautiful women into impossibly perfect ideals. Highlighting the photos "left out" from the pages of British Vogue, the book gives readers a tour of how fashion magazines both choose their photos and change them. ... A great addition to any fashion collection, large or small. – Rachel Collins, Library Journal

Whatever happened, you might ask, to Twiggy and Bianca Jagger and Jean Shrimpton, among other supermodels of yesteryear? British Vogue creative director Derrick and sidekick Muir sifted through 1.5 million images housed in the magazine's library to produce a multidecades-long tribute to the artists, photographers, and beauties parad­ing through its pages. It starts at the earliest, in the 1920s, with a black-and-white picture of three aristocratic women; all photographs, at the very least, identify the photographer, the subjects, the credits (hair, outfit; cosmet­ics) – and at the very best, tell some fascinat­ing stories. ... Fantastical, ethereal, yet a very real portrait of many ages. – Barbara Jacobs, Booklist

Norman Parkinson is an impressive and timely book examines an unrivalled twentieth-century photographic portfolio. This elegant monograph, written by Robin Muir, fashion curator, co-editor of People in Vogue and Unseen Vogue, is the first to focus exclusively on the celebrated photographer’s fashion portraits. Shining through his work is Parks's inimitable wit and style, and his unique eye for glamour and beauty.

Arts & Photography / Cooking, Food & Wine

Yours In Food, John Baldessari by John Baldessari (Princeton Architectural Press) invites readers to take a seat at John Baldessari's table for a feast of visual and literary delights.

In John Baldessari's, Yours In Food, John Baldessari, the founding member of the conceptual art movement explores America at the table, savoring the nuances of breaking bread in carefully composed vignettes appropriated from video and film. Baldessari, one of the most influential American artists to emerge since the mid-60s, gathers together a group of luminaries to provide mediations on food that compliment his carefully composed visual dining images appropriated from video and film. Reflections on food and eating specially commissioned from a smorgasbord of the country’s foremost contemporary writers on culture and the arts, from novelist David Eggers to musician David Byrne, offer up the perfect accompaniment to Baldessari's work. Selections include:

• Some Thoughts On Cooking, in which the author himself gives readers his favorite recipe – the 6-minute 30-second boiled egg.
• Notes On Taste by Peter Schjeldahl – thoughts on the sense of taste.
• Dave Eggers' Fuel decries the simplicity of food.
• Francine Prose wrestles with The Artichoke.
• Lynne Tillman – on the dynamics and intrigues of group institutional dining room eating in At Breakfast.
• Michael More's Eggs, Butter, Cheese written as a play – scattered food memories: good, bad and in-between.
• David Byrne's imaginings on knives, forks and fermented fish paste in Food.
• Andy Grundberg's Hotcakes at the Trail's End Restaurant on the art of food photography.
• John Haskell's Toast about Celeste, a beautiful Chicago waitress.
• Paul Auster's From the Red Notebook – reminiscences of food and the lack thereof during his lean years in France.
• Glenn O'Brien's fascinating namedropping and gossip in My Dinner With Andy.
• Tim Griffin in Holidays – on the decadent bounty of traditional American eating.
• David Gilbert on How To Cook A Turkey – a recipe for being a bitter wife and mother making a holiday meal.

Baldessari serves up a nuanced look at Americans breaking bread, accompanied by meditations on eating. Paired with his images, these humorous, insightful, and, in some cases, bizarre meditations investigate one of the most fundamental and telling of all human experiences. A visual and intellectual feast, Yours In Food, John Baldessari is sure to entertain and delight readers of fiction, art history, and cultural criticism and all lovers of food.

Arts & Photography

Transfigurations by Alex Grey (Inner Traditions)

Every once in a great while an artist emerges who does more than simply reflect the social trends of the time, able to transcend established thinking and help us redefine ourselves and our world. Today, a growing number of art critics, philosophers, and spiritual seekers believe they have found that vision in the art of Alex Grey.

Transfigurations is the eagerly awaited follow-up to Sacred Mirrors, one of the most successful art books of the 1990s. It includes Grey's major works completed in the past decade, including the seven-paneled altarpiece Nature of Mind. Grey's portrayals of human beings blend scientific exactitude with visionary depictions of universal life energy, lead the soul's journey from material world encasement to recovery of the divinely illuminated core of being. Also included are World Soul, a bronze sculpture of a divine being that symbolically encompasses all realms of consciousness and embraces all religions and dimensions of the universe.

An essay by renowned author and transpersonal psychologist Stephen Larsen provides a biographical sketch of the artist's creative process, his personal struggles, and his vision. Grey's early forays into dark, transgressive performance art and his later theophanic installations are documented in a special twenty-page performance section. Art critic Donald Kuspit elucidates Grey's primary subject, mystical light, as it manifests through his unique approach to the human figure. A conversation between noted philosopher Ken Wilber and the artist explores the possibilities of art serving as a vehicle for transformation. Albert Hofmann, the chemist who discovered LSD, writes the foreword that places Grey's work at the conjunction of science and mysticism.

Grey's vision...[is] an antidote to the cynicism and spiritual malaise prevalent in much contemporary art. – New York Times
Alex's work, like all great transcendental art, is not merely symbolic or imaginary: it is a direct invitation to recognize and realize a deeper dimension of 'our very own being. – Ken Wilber, author of Integral Psychology and The Eye of Spirit
Alex Grey is making some of the most beautifully refined imagist work in the country today. – Walter Hopps, senior curator, Guggenheim Museum and Menil Collection
A beautiful, unusual work. – The Midwest Book Review

Transfigurations represents ten years of visionary artwork from a rare artist embraced by critics, spiritual leaders, and the general public during his lifetime. Grey's art leads us on a transformative journey through the darkness of the material world to the divinely illumined core. Images of becoming, of existential pain, search and confusion, love, death, and transcendence are icons in the long corridors of Grey's creative odyssey. From his earliest paintings of skeletons, to his most recent beings girdded with fire and eyes, Grey brings us an ever-deepening visual contemplation on the nature of personal and transpersonal identity.

Biographies & Memoirs / Arts & Photography

Women I Have Dressed (and Undressed!) by Arnold Scaasi (Scribner)

A Jewish boy from Montreal, Arnold Scaasi has been dressing legends for almost five decades. He has dressed First Ladies, entertainment icons, socialites, and the wives of some of the world's most powerful men. His work has earned him prestigious awards from the Council of Fashion Designers of America – the Creative Excellence Award in 1987 and the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. Famed as New York's last true couturier, Scaasi was also designated a "Living Landmark" by the New York Landmarks Conservancy. His tenure as one of the world's premier fashion designers and tastemakers has afforded him vast stores of insider knowledge and firsthand perspectives on an array of illustrious personalities who – in their disparate arenas of high-wattage celebrity and influence – have defined our contemporary notions of female power and glamour.

In Women I Have Dressed (and Undressed!) Scaasi recounts his intimate experiences with larger-than-life female icons who made their mark in spheres as varied as politics, Hollywood, the music industry, and high society. Scaasi devotes each chapter to a group of women, including "Broadway Girls," "New York Girls," and "Hollywood Girls." He shares dozens of behind-closed-doors anecdotes exploring what makes these women tick. Here, readers discover: Joan Crawford's fetish for cleanliness; the Barbra Streisand's famous Oscar night outfit and her obsession with perfection; Mamie Eisenhower's staunch refusal to wear a bra; the bountiful charms of Joan Sutherland, the opera legend; Mary Tyler Moore's and Sophia Loren's unique glamour; Rose Kennedy's prediction of a future woman president; Aretha Franklin's fear of flying. Scaasi also talks about his visits to the White House to his good friend and client Barbara Bush, and his confrontations with Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe.

He who must be obeyed – designer Arnold Scaasi – is the warmhearted, super-talented, demanding, and temperamental genius who can create a dress right on your very body and make you look like a million bucks. He has done this for me many times and he is my closest claim to personal glamour. I would trust him with my life – and certainly with my hemline. What a treat that he has dropped the veil to tell "all" about the celebrated females he has helped to make celebrated. – Liz Smith

Arnold Scaasi, who seems to have dressed just about every famous woman in society, the jet set, the theater, the movies, etc., is also a born storyteller, and a witty one at that. He is very much a fixture in the world of people-who-go-out-every-night, and his stories of great ladies of that world are hilarious and touching. His book is a passing parade of style and social history at its best. – Dominick Dunne

Women I Have Dressed (and Undressed!) is a fascinating read of personal experiences – the book contains is a trove of irresistible insider dish and a tender, humorous memoir of the most influential women of our time. By taking the reader on this journey, Scaasi has captured a look at the social history of part of the second half of the 20th century and into the 21st.

Business / Psychology & Counseling / Health, Mind & Body / Self-Help

Prisoners of Our Thoughts: Viktor Frankl's Principles at Work by Alex Pattakos, with a foreword by Stephen R. Covey (Berrett Koehler Publishers, Inc.) expands on Viktor Frankl's seminal Man's Search for Meaning, examining the book's concepts in depth and widening the market for them by introducing an entirely new way to look at work and the workplace.

World-renowned psychiatrist Frankl, in the bestselling Man's Search for Meaning,  vividly details his horrific experiences as a prisoner held captive in a World War II Nazi concentration camp. In that book, Frankl discusses how it is possible to find real meaning in a life that is filled with suffering and difficulty. A dedicated student of Frankl’s teachings, Alex Pattakos, Ph.D. was urged by Frankl himself to write Prisoners of Our Thoughts.

Pattakos, a former colleague of Frankl's, in this new book brings the search for meaning at work within the grasp of readers using simple, straightforward language. Pattakos, a Ph.D., is a principal of The Innovation Group, founder of the Center for Personal Meaning, based in Santa Fe and a former full-time professor of public and business administration, who served as a graduate program head. In Prisoners of Our Thoughts, Pattakos encapsulates Frankl's therapeutic system in seven core principles. Each of these principles, in turn, is described in easy to understand terms and applied to various work situations so that readers can relate personally to the principle as well as learn when and how to apply it. The seven principles are:

1. Exercise the freedom to choose your attitude. In all situations, no matter how desperate they may be, you always have the ultimate freedom to choose your attitude.
2. Realize your will to meaning. Commit authentically to meaningful values and goals that only you can actualize and fulfill.
3. Detect the meaning of life's moments. Only you can answer for your own life by detecting the meaning of any given moment and assuming responsibility for weaving your unique tapestry of existence.
4. Don't work against yourself. Avoid becoming so fixated on an intent or outcome that you actually work against the desired result.
5. Look at yourself from a distance: Only human beings possess the capacity to look at themselves out of some perspective or distance, including the uniquely human trait known as your "sense of humor."
6. Shift your focus of attention. Deflect your attention from a problem situation to something else and build your coping mechanisms for dealing with stress and change.
7. Extend beyond yourself. Manifest the human spirit at work by relating and being directed to something more than yourself.

Frankl believed that we all have the opportunity to choose how we view any situation. We can also choose to be part of the problem or part of the solution. In this connection, the search for meaning at work begins with us and, as Frankl would say, only we, as individuals, can answer for our own life by detecting the meaning at any given moment and assuming the responsibility for weaving our own tapestry of existence. The search for meaning at work offers us both formidable challenges and ample opportunities for working and living an authentic life.

Those who seek meaning in work and life will find much value in this practical application of Viktor Frankl's wisdom. – Dee Hock, Founder and CEO, Visa; Author, Birth of the Chaordic Age

It has been a long wait, a very long wait! But, Viktor Frankl's principles and methods have at last been set free to be used and enjoyed and practised in the work situation.  – Dr. Patti Havenga Coetzer, Founder, Viktor Frankl Foundation of South Africa

If you are completely satisfied with your way of life, and your way of being in the world, you don't need this book. But if, like most of us, you hunger for a greater sense of meaning, purpose and freedom in your life, Prisoners of Our Thoughts will provide you the stories, concepts, and opportunities that will help you to break free from old patterns of thought and action. – Judi Neal, Ph.D., Executive Director, Center for Spirit at Work, University of New Haven

The search for meaning at work, in work, and through work concerns us all. In bringing Viktor Frankl into the workplace, Alex Pattakos has produced a thoughtful and powerful guide that offers insight and wisdom. – Alan M. Webber, Founding Editor, Fast Company magazine

Never before have Frankl's teachings been described in such an easy to understand and easy to apply way – one that clearly shows how and why Frankl regarded the search for meaning as the primary human motivation. By demonstrating how Frankl's key principles can be applied to all kinds of work situations, Prisoners of Our Thoughts opens up new opportunities for finding personal meaning and being authentic at work.

Business & Investing / Management & Leadership

The Transparent Leader: How to Build a Great Company Through Straight Talk, Openness, and Accountability by Herb Baum, with Tammy Kling, with a foreword by Doug Parker (HarperBusiness)

It seems that over the past few years the words, “straight talk, openness and accountability,” didn't mean very much. From Enron to WorldCom, corporate America was rocked with scandal after scandal. Employees lost their savings and jobs, investors lost their shirts, and the public lost their confidence in big business.

Herb Baum, CEO of the Dial Corporation, is known throughout the business world as a leader who insists on honesty and openness in the way he conducts business, and he has demonstrated that these policies are not a hindrance to success. In his new book, The Transparent Leader Baum brings readers back to the basics of transparency and good corporate behavior. In his folksy, down-to-earth style, Baum reminds readers of the way things used to be, and he teaches corporate executives how to be transparent leaders and in turn create transparent companies. In The Transparent Leader, Baum describes policies and management techniques that can be employed within any company to get outstanding results without skirting the rules or bending the truth. Using examples from his experience at Dial, Campbell Soup, and Quaker State, Baum shows readers:

• The Power of Transparency – the crucial components of a transparent organization, including the qualities of transparent leaders and employees and how they can benefit the company.
• The Pillars of Transparency – integrity, honesty, quality corporate governance, and effective communication.
• How to execute transparency in the organization.

Baum tells readers that by applying these ideas to their own work lives, they will become open and transparent leaders, setting an example for the employees in their organizations to follow.

The Transparent Leader identifies the major roadblocks to success, and how to avoid them, including mediocrity, getting too comfortable, maintaining a herd mentality, and greed. Baum's techniques of fostering trust, integrity and accountability at all levels shows how managers can reverse the erosion of employee loyalty, and restore consumer trust in products, brands, and American business.

The book is most compelling when Baum details specific practices at Dial, especially as it concludes with a special appendix of letters, internal memos, and external presentations from the Dial Corporation and Quaker State that underline and illustrate Baum's methods of transparent leadership. In an age of corporate scandal and malfeasance, The Transparent Leader is a breath of fresh air.

Business & Investing / Economics

Other People's Money: The Corporate Mugging of America by Nomi Prins (The New Press) is a Wall Street insider's view of the boom economy legacy: fraud, class-action suits, bankruptcies and the search for real reform.

Whether it's the jail sentence handed out to tech banker Frank Quattrone, the eagerness of Martha Stewart to start serving time, or the endless legal escapades of former Enron execs, fallout from the boom years on Wall Street just keeps coming. But headline corporate scandals are merely the surface of bigger, murkier problems in the financial world. After fifteen years at the diamond face of the banking industry, including stints at Lehman Brothers and as managing director at Goldman Sachs, who could be better qualified than Nomi Prins to lift the rock and see what squirms beneath?
Critical, independent voices are seldom found within the citadels of international finance. That's what makes Nomi Prins unique – during fifteen years in the upper flights of banks, Prins, former managing director at Goldman Sachs, senior managing director at Bear Stearns, currently senior fellow with the public policy center Demos, never lost her ability to see the broader picture. The result is an insider's account of the big banks' giddy ride through the boom economy. In Other People's Money, Prins provides first-hand detail of day-to-day life in the financial leviathans, with all its rich absurdities and ceaseless power plays.

In the first years of the Bush administration some of America's most prominent corporate executives cashed out billions of dollars in stock options before driving their companies to ruin through fraud and bankruptcy. In their wake they left a tangle of lost jobs, depleted pensions, and shattered lives. Yet, to write off this corruption as the unbridled greed of a select few is an oversimplification. As Prins shows in this exposé, the much-publicized corporate malfeasance of recent years resulted from deregulation that trashed the rules of responsible corporate behavior. Faced with increasingly absent regulatory agencies, toothless legislation, and an utter lack of accountability, the stock market roared on the back of phony balance sheets while the executives made out like bandits and Congress looked the other way.

Prins was not fired or forced to resign, but walked away from the game in 2002 out of disgust with the burgeoning corporate corruption of the 1990s, just as its magnitude was becoming clear to the public. In Other People's Money, she examines how decades of systematic deregulation and lack of Congressional culpability, combined with Wall Street's ravening hunger for expansion and power, enabled outrageous avarice and illegality. Prins exposes the whitewash reforms brought in to control it as cosmetic solutions, devoid of lasting effect, and recommends daring alternative measures to attain economic stability. Worse yet, everything remains in place for a repeat performance.

[T]he definitive account of the schemes, scams, and monumental egos that emptied out untold 401Ks and left thousands jobless. – Ellen Frank, author of The Raw Deal: How Myths and Misinformation About Deficits, Inflation and Wealth Impoverish America
Nomi Prins's work brings together a social justice perspective and a rigorous financial methodology. – John Dizard, Financial Times
A book that needs to be in the hands of any citizen interested in economic justice and fair play in the marketplace. – Ralph Nader
While her book may make you angry, it will also make you laugh. – Bethany McLean, senior writer at Fortune and co-author of The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron

As Other People's Money testifies, Prins was there and lived to tell the tale. Prins brings an insider's eye to the old boy networks, revealing how hot money flows between Wall Street, corporate America, and Capitol Hill. The book is eye-opening, scandalous, and fascinating.

Children’s (Ages 3-7)

The Worm Family by Tony Johnston (Harcourt, Inc.)

Written by Tony Johnston, author of numerous award-winning books for children and illustrated by Stacy Innerst, acclaimed children's book illustrator and editorial artist, The Worm Family concerns, of all things, a family of worms.
The Worm family loves being wormy. They're skinny – they're squiggly – they're very long – and they sing loud worm songs. They're nothing like their glossy, bossy, buggy neighbors. And the neighbors don't like that one bit. What are the Worms to do? Jump back into their skinny car and hope to find nicer neighbors somewhere else? Or stay put – and show the world the Glory of Worm?
In The Worm Family, a tale both warm and quirky, a family of merry, down-to-earth worms proves that being different is truly grand. They may not fit in, but they carry on, doing things they love with the family they love – and finally find some fuzzy-wuzzy neighbors who like them just as they are. Oh joy! They're Worms!

Children’s / History & Historical Fiction

The Scarlet Stockings Spy by Trinka Hakes Noble, illustrated by Robert Papp (Thomson / Gale, Sleeping Bear Press)

Philadelphia 1777 is no place for the faint of heart. The rumble of war with the British grows louder each day, and spies for and against the Patriots are everywhere. No one is above suspicion. Still, everyday life must go on and young Maddy Rose must help her mother, especially since her father's death at the Battle of Princeton and now with her beloved brother Jonathan off with Washington's army.

And it is Maddy Rose’s scarlet stockings that prove to be a valued mode of espionage as Maddy and her older brother Jonathan, now an American soldier, develop a form of communication that no British soldier would ever notice. With a view of the harbor from her bedroom window, Maddy keeps an eye on the British ships for the army and awaits late-night visits from Jonathan. When Maddy hangs her wash on her clothesline, Jonathan can read the exact positions of the ships as well as how heavy those ships sit in the water. Their system works wonderfully until the war strikes a little closer to home.

But Maddy doesn't lose hope, nor do the American soldiers who eventually bring independence to the colonies. As those soldiers sacrifice to bring the war to an end, so does Maddy, leading to an unforgettable conclusion to a new American legend.

In The Scarlet Stockings Spy Trinka Hakes Noble melds a suspenseful tale of devotion, sacrifice, and patriotism with the stark realities of our country's birth. From the first page to the last, Robert Papp's detailed, gorgeous and inviting images bring the reader back to a time and place of great movements and enormous consequences. There is a depth and quality to Papp’s work that quickly draws in young readers and compliments Noble's wonderful story of bravery and sacrifice at a time of war.

Cooking, Food & Wine

The Best American Recipes 2004-2005 edited by Fran McCullough & Molly Stevens, with a foreword by Bobby Flay (Best American Recipes Series: Houghton Mifflin)

Acclaimed by reviewers from the New York Times to People magazine as the only collection of its kind, The Best American Recipes offers a dazzlingly diverse selection. To create The Best American Recipes 2004-2005, this year’s edition, Fran McCullough and Molly Stevens, series editors who are widely published food writers, combed through hundreds of sources, from the most talked about to the most obscure, tracking down thousands of recipes. They thoroughly home-tested each dish so readers can be sure that every one is foolproof.

Variety is the key. Readers will find inspiration for every occasion, with rediscovered classics and simple dishes from the nation's top chefs. The more than 150 recipes include

• a quick starter: Minted Pea Soup, from the British cooking sensation Jamie Oliver
• an elegant breakfast: Baked Eggs in Maple Toast Cups, from a small Vermont food company
• a quick weeknight supper: Chicken Saltimbocca, from a supermarket flyer
• a versatile vegetarian main dish, great for a party: Cremini Mushrooms with Chive Pasta, from a celebrated New York chef
• a memorable holiday side dish: Mashed Potatoes with Sage and White Cheddar Cheese, from a major food magazine
• the perfect snack: Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters, from a soon-to-be-published cookbook by a baking expert

Recipes come with tips and suggestions from the editors' home kitchens, which expand cooking and serving options.

The recipes are relatively easy but yield such memorable dishes. – USA Today
The perfect stocking stuffer for any cook. – Minneapolis Star Tribune
 The cream of the crop. – People

The perfect gift for the busy cook. – Food & Wine

Throw out all those clippings – here's what's worth saving from every magazine article, book, church newsletter, and Internet chat room and newsgroup from the past year. – New York Times

The range is eye-opening. – Wall Street Journal
A great compendium. – House Beautiful
A well-rounded everyman's cookbook. – Harper's Bazaar
The Best American Recipes 2004-2005 defines elegance. – Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Hailed by Food & Wine, CBS This Morning, and the Wall Street Journal as the perfect choice for any cook, The Best American Recipes is the most wide-ranging and extensively home-tested collection of its kind. Although totally un-illustrated and variable in terms of exotic ingredients and time-consuming preparations, McCullough and Stevens track down the tastiest dishes of the year.

Cooking, Food & Wine

Williams Sonoma Barcelona: Authentic Recipes Celebrating the Foods of the World by Paul Richardson, with photography by Jason Lowe, edited by Chuck Williams (Foods of the World Series: Oxmoor House)

From a square of pinenut-studded coca and cafe con leche in late morning to an aperitif and bowl of spicy olives in a bar at midday to a late-night dinner of Paella Parellada at a favorite restaurant in the evening, Barcelonans love to eat. At the table, they respect tradition and innovation, insisting both on classic dishes for holiday feasts and on sampling the latest creations of the city's cutting-edge chefs. Williams Sonoma Barcelona is a lavishly photographed behind-the-scenes look at this dynamic culinary scene. In these pages, readers discover countless tales of the places, people, and foods that have made not only this lively city, but all of Catalonia, one of Europe's most exciting dining destinations. Readers also find over 45 authentic recipes, from classics like Tomato-Rubbed Bread, Fideua, and Crema Catalana to more contemporary fare, such as Garlic and Spring Vegetable Soup and Hazelnut Cake with Licorice – each bringing the taste of Barcelona to the table.

Readers learn how to:

• Recreate the rich heritage of Catalonian cuisine at home with Grilled Green Onions with Romesco Sauce or Stone-Cooked Lamb Chops with Herb Oil
• How the geographical location of Barcelona, between the Pyrenees mountains and the Mediterranean, has shaped the way the city eats, with favorites such as cured meats, olive oil, artisanal cheeses, wine, fresh seafood, and seasonal produce
• Some of Europe’s most traditional and contemporary dining experiences among Barcelona’s marvelous diversity of restaurants

Williams Sonoma Barcelona was put together by Paul Richardson, food writer and the author of Indulgence: Around the World in Search of Chocolate and Cornucopia: A Gastronomic Tour of Britain and the former editor of both Taste and Wine magazines out of Great Britain, under general editorship of Chuck Williams, general editor, who opened his first Williams-Sonoma store in the California wine country town of Sonoma and later moved it to San Francisco, now with more than 235 stores are now open in the United States. Photography is by Jason Lowe, an award-winning food and travel photographer.

An insider’s guide to the recipes, ingredients, and traditions that define international city cuisine, the Foods of the World series is the definitive cookbook collection for anyone passionate about food and travel. Richly photographed, with over 45 authentic recipes and in-depth culinary features, each book brings readers closer to the best eating experiences each city has to offer from a culinary authority Americans trust.

Education / Professional & Technical / Preschool & Kindergarten

The Bilingual Book of Rhymes, Songs, Stories, and Fingerplays by Pam Schiller, Rafael Lara-Alecio & Beverly J. Irby (Gryphon House, Inc.)

Did you know that children who are exposed to just 50 words of a second language prior to age six develop an "ear" for the sounds of that language?

With over 450 selections in both Spanish and English, The Bilingual Book of Rhymes, Songs, Stories, and Fingerplays is filled with entertaining ways to expand children's vocabulary and explore the sounds of both languages. Organized by theme for easy use, this collection provides a springboard for teaching a second language, for understanding and exploring cultures, and for working in a bilingual classroom. For example, there is a section called ‘Insects and Bugs’, containing, under ‘Songs’ our all time favorite, the Itsy Bitsy Spider/La araña pequeñita – okay, it’s not technically an insect. The fingerplay to go with they song is not given in the book.

Compiled by Pam Schiller, early childhood consultant and popular keynote speaker and author; Rafael Lara-Alecio, professor and director of the Bilingual Programs in the Department of Educational Psychology at Texas A&M University; and Beverly J. Irby, professor and department chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling at Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, this invaluable, thick handbook invites teachers to share the magic and celebrate both the Spanish and English languages and cultures with rhymes, songs, stories, and fingerplays. The Bilingual Book of Rhymes, Songs, Stories, and Fingerplays offers over 450 selections, with Spanish on one page and English on the opposite. Children will be thrilled to learn new words to their favorite Spanish and English tunes, learning the sounds of both languages – important skills for beginning readers.

Education

Leaving No Child Behind?: Options for Kids in Failing Schools edited by Frederick M. Hess & Chester E. Finn (Palgrave Macmillan)

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) is the signal domestic policy initiative of the Bush administration and the most ambitious piece of federal education legislation in at least thirty-five years. Mandating a testing regime to force schools to continually improve student performance, it uses school choice and additional learning resources as sticks and carrots intended to improve low-performing schools and districts. The focus is on improving alternatives to children in low-performing schools.

Emerging from a conference held at the American Enterprise Institute on January 15-16, 2004, Leaving No Child Behind? provides the perspectives of leading education experts and policy analysts who identify the key challenges, point out potential policy responses, and explain the implications for NCLB and American schooling. Authors were the co-chairs of the meeting: Frederick M. Hess, director of education policy studies at AEI and executive editor of Education Next, former high school social studies teacher, and professor of education and politics at the University of Virginia; and Chester E. Finn. Jr., Senior Fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution, President of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and Thomas B. Fordham Institute, and Senior Editor of Education Next, former assistant secretary for research and improve­ment at the U.S. Department of Education. Contributors include Richard Lee Colvin, Siobhan Gorman, Robert Maranto, April Gresham Maranto, Jane Hannaway, Kendra Bischoff, Alex Medler, David N. Plan, Christopher Dunbar, Jr., William Howell, Michael Casserly, Julian R. Betts, Anne Danenberg, and Douglas S. Read. This pioneering evaluation of the implementation and effects of the NCLB act during its first two years provides both a bird's-eye view of developments across the nation and a closer look at developments in selected states, communities, and schools. Here top experts evaluate the potential and the problems of NCLB in its initial stages of implementation.

It is time for public debate about NCLB to move beyond hype, hope, and imagined fears. This collection is at the cutting edge of what will be a new wave of empirically-based assessments. It will be an important resource for all concerned about the implications of NCLB. – Jeffrey R. Henig, Teachers College, Columbia University, Co-author, Building Civic Capacity: The Politics of Reforming Urban Schools

Leaving No Child Behind? is a first look at NCLB providing valuable insights, offering lessons crucial to understanding this dramatic change in American education. The findings will be of value to policymakers, the edu­cation community, and state and local officials as they proceed with the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Health, Mind & Body / Exercise & Fitness

Pilates Lite: Easy Exercises to Lose Weight and Tone Up by Karon Karter (Fair Winds Press) simplifies the popular exercise trend for readers of all fitness levels.

Pilates Lite asks readers, “Wouldn't you love to change your body?”

Nothing strengthens and lengthens abdominal muscles like Pilates – it's long been the fitness secret of ballerinas and Hollywood stars. The problem is that the exercises – even those for beginners – can be tough for many people who are new to the experience.

Always wanted to try Pilates but thought it was too hard? Think again!

Pilates Lite provides a simplified introduction to the Pilates workout. Karen Karter, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Pilates Method and The Core Strength Workout, teaches readers the easiest way to create a long and lean Pilates torso. According to Karter, age, physical limitations, and athletic ability do not matter. Pilates works for many different types of people, so anyone can benefit from the gentle exercises and techniques presented in this book.

Based on her successful Dallas classes of the same name, Pilates Lite shows readers how to burn fat and tone their core muscles with simple Pilates moves. The book includes:

• The five principles of Pilates: concentration, control, centering, flow, and breathing
• Ten 15-minute beginner workout programs
• Five workouts with easy-to-find props
• Moving on with more advanced moves

Many of the exercises, such as the Double Leg Stretch, are performed against a wall to help support the lower back, while others use a towel as a stretching aid to help readers complete the moves without strain. Modifications are given for every move.

For readers who feel that Pilates may be too strenuous on their body or feel intimidated by classes, Pilates Lite puts the basics of this most effective abdominal flattener and back strengthener within their reach. Karter introduces the basics and takes readers through basic workouts with easy-to-follow directions. Illustrated in lavish full-color throughout, this book is the perfect introduction to Pilates.

Health, Mind & Body / Psychology & Counseling

Chronic Pain, Loss, And Suffering by Ranjan Roy (University of Toronto Press)

The course of chronic illness is unpredictable and extremely varied, and its connection to grief and loss has heretofore been vague. Some losses experienced by patients are permanent, while others are not. Still others experience a loss of self, going from 'normal' to the state of semi-invalidity in the course of a day. Ranjan Roy, professor in the Faculty of Social Work and the Department of Clinical Health Psychology at the University of Manitoba, is recognized as one of the leading experts in chronic pain, and in Chronic Pain, Loss, And Suffering – the first book of its kind – he attempts to describe the complexity that surrounds the issues of loss in the chronically ill population.

Unlike the suffering that occurs with the death of a loved-one, losses due to chronic pain are somewhat transient, and often do not occur all at once. Many seeming losses can be redeemed over time, for instance, through retraining and physical therapy, but are still serious and pose a challenge to the conventional understanding of the grief process. Indeed, clinical understanding of grief is undergoing a revolution. From its Freudian roots, it is shifting to a more social-psychological perspective. The phase-task approach to grief has come under serious scrutiny, and this book demonstrates some of the problems inherent in that conceptualization in its application to the chronically ill. In Chronic Pain, Loss, And Suffering, Roy evaluates the current state of knowledge through an examination of contemporary literature and clinical application. The chapters deal with a range of losses such as job loss, declining ability to function, loss of family and sexual roles, old age and its related losses, and suicide.

Roy uses clinical cases to illustrate how declining functioning, loss, and grief contribute to the suffering of chronic pain patients. He describes how coming to terms with the grief associated with the perceived and actual losses can help patients overcome the sense of suffering. He shows how the chronic pain patient may move from patient status to one of a person with chronic pain and accompanying limitations. Self-identity and self-esteem can be restored – people with chronic pain may be different than they were before the onset of their symptoms but they can still achieve fulfilling lives. Chronic Pain, Loss, And Suffering has an optimistic tone and message. Even though chronic conditions confront people with significant challenges, they may be able to overcome the limitations and perceived losses. Resolution and accommodation can be achieved not as an end but as a process.

Chronic Pain, Loss, And Suffering will prove invaluable to clinicians and therapists helping patients properly adjust to their loss without the crippling effects of chronic pain or illness. Through discussion of the struggles and successes that chronically ill patients encounter in their journey, this work will assist clinicians in helping patients come to terms with the difficulties they face and to establish a renewed sense of self.

Health, Mind & Body / Aging

Autumn Rhythm: Musings on Time, Tide, Aging, Dying, and Such Biz by Richard Meltzer (Da Capo Press)

Autumn Rhythm comes from a man whose work has always been music as much as it's been about it, and who now brings his syncopation of word, sound, and sense to the subject of life itself, as lived and lost. Autumn Rhythm is a clear-eyed gape into the Abyss.

A founding father of the rock criticism genre, Richard Meltzer, author of over a dozen books, here doglegs from his usual subject – music – to tackle head-on the one thing we all have in common… our mortality.

This is in Meltzer’s words, a “geezer book” – a look at loss in all its forms, from death of friends and the dawn of dementia, to failing health and fading sex drive. But it also explores the writing process, pays homage to the Beats, and in Meltzer’s typically tangential fashion, comes to the frank conclusion “all parenting is abuse.”

One of the greatest writers/thinkers/observers of our time, period. ... Playful, raw, and smutty, yet also perceptive, honest, and intelligent. – Stop Smiling Magazine
Meltzer is playful with the language...and he can make you laugh...[he] break[s] cultural taboos like so many pinatas. – Kirkus Reviews
Meltzer ponders all the cruel absurdities and mortal wounds endured in the inevitable onset of his geezer years. – Philadelphia Weekly
Cranky...self-consciously reflective...tender...and funny as hell. – Creative Loafing

Meltzer's heartsickness pounds through Autumn Rhythm.... Vivid, graceful, desperate, and funny – always funny. – Village Voice
Invigorating...entertaining and insightful...This collection of essays and slapdash collage of poetry and prose is a triumph. – Buffalo News
[Meltzer's] prose embodies the passion, humor, rambunctiousness, sexuality, and angst of rock...crotchety and hilarious...Meltzer rocks. – Austin Chronicle

The book is a frank, brilliant, and ultimately poetic contemplation of physical decline, the deaths of friends and family. Autumn Rhythm is a sublime and moving collection of essays by an eloquent master writer, equal parts candor, courage, humor, and desperation. A true-tongued, almost joyous, gallows humor permeates the book, a meditation on what it's like to be on the outer edge of "boomerhood," on the cusp of official seniority; what it's like to have been so long associated with a youth movement – rock music – yet to no longer be young. Absent-minded self-interruption and digression suit Meltzer to a tee.

Health, Mind & Body / Psychology & Counseling

Art Therapy by David C. Edwards (Creative Therapies in Practice Series: Sage Publications)

In 1982, when David Edwards entered the profession, most art therapists worked in the large asylums located on the fringes of major cities. Art therapy training was in its relative infancy. In the UK there were no published codes of ethics to guide art thera­pists in their work, and access to appropriate clinical supervision was often problematic – it was not until 1984 that the first book to provide a contemporary perspective on art therapy in the UK was published. Over the past two decades, as the asylums closed, new employment opportunities emerged, and books on art therapy appeared with increasing frequency, although much of this literature was written for the specialist rather than the general reader.

But this book is different. As a concise introduction to theory and practice, Art Therapy brings the subject matter to life through case material and examples of artwork produced during therapy sessions. Written by David Edwards, art therapist, teacher and clinical supervisor in the University of Sheffield Counseling Service and Derbyshire Dales Community Mental Health Service, the book places art therapy in its historical and cultural context and explains key theoretical ideas – such as symbolism, play, transference and interpretation – showing how these relate to practice. The book also provides useful information on training and employment as well as guidance on such practical issues as assessment, establishing and maintaining boundaries, and ending therapy.

Chapter 1 addresses what art therapy is and what it is not, in addition to outlining what it uniquely has to offer, where it is practiced and with whom. Chapters 2 and 3 are concerned with the history and development of the profession. The first of these chapters traces the origins of those ideas, which have shaped the development of art therapy, including develop­ments in the visual arts, psychiatry and psychoanalysis. Chapter 3 is more specifically concerned with the development of the art therapy profession in the UK. Chapter 4 explores the theoretical basis of art therapy, paying particular attention to the ways in which theories derived from psychoanalysis have been employed in order to help art therapists better understand the therapeutic process and the images clients make. Chapter 5 examines a range of issues concerned with the clinical practice of art therapy; including assessment, individual and group art therapy, using themes and endings. Chapter 6 discusses the training art therapists receive in the UK. Chapter 7 discusses the professional infrastructure supporting the practice of art therapy in the UK. Particular attention is paid to the registration of art therapists, codes of ethics and professional practice, supervision, continuing professional development and research. Because art therapy has emerged in different contexts, the final chapter, Chapter 8, offers an international perspective on art therapy, outlining the development of the art therapy profession in Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia. Throughout Art Therapy images and case material are used to illustrate the process of art therapy.

In choosing to write about art therapy from such a wide perspective, Edwards recognizes the limitations of the book, in particular, the case mate­rial discussed does not include work with children, the elderly or clients with learning and other disabilities. He has, therefore, provided two appendices to help readers fill in for themselves the gaps in the text. The first is an introductory reading list; in addition to referencing the majority of important recent contributions to the art therapy literature, the list also covers many of the specialist areas in which art therapists now work. Appendix 2 provides up-to-date sources of largely internet-based information on art therapy and related subjects, including professional organizations and training.

A readable and accessible overview which will contribute to a greater understanding of the profession of art therapy and the therapeutic use of art undertaken by registered art therapists. – Carole Pembrooke, Chair of the British Association of Art Therapists

Vivid clinical vignettes and remarkable illustrations combine to give a lively sense of art therapy in action. They bring the reader right into the art therapy studio. ... This book will be invaluable for beginners, students and experienced practitioners alike. – Joy Schaverien, Jungian Analyst in private practice and Visiting Professor in Art Psychotherapy at the University of Sheffield

Art Therapy provides a clearly written, accessible and informative introduction to art therapy in a style that does not assume prior knowledge of the discipline. While relevant to practicing art therapists in the UK and elsewhere, this book is aimed primarily at students, therapists and academics in related disciplines, prospective clients and anyone who may be interested in exploring the potential of art therapy to promote their own personal growth. For anyone training or planning to train as an art therapist, Art Therapy offers an excellent foundation on which to build future knowledge and skills.

History / African American

A Stranger and a Sojourner: Peter Caulder, Free Black Frontiersman in Antebellum Arkansas by Billy D. Higgins (The University of Arkansas Press) tells the extraordinary story of Peter Caulder, a free African-American settler in the Arkansas Territory.

After serving as a rifleman in the war of 1812, Peter Caulder established a community of free-born African Americans in northern Arkansas and was largely accepted by his white neighbors until an 1859 expulsion law forced the community to flee the state and settle in Missouri. Like many frontier people, Caulder was unschooled and signed his name only with a mark. To document such a man's life, and to determine how he thrived within a slave society and came to join a free black backwoods community, Billy Higgins, professor of history at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, has skillfully interwoven often neglected primary sources – many of which are reproduced here – from around the country. Through the information revealed in censuses, tax records, sutler's account books, army returns, folk stories, land warrants, traveler's journals, and newspaper notices – an account of Caulder, his family, his friends, and his community has emerged.

Billy Higgins, detective-historian of remarkable merit, has put together one of the more intriguing stories I have ever read about the Antebellum South in all its complexity. . . . It is essential reading for students of African-American and Southern history. – Don Higginbotham, author of George Washington: Uniting a Nation

A painstakingly reconstructed account of a remarkable life, one that reveals the interwoven frontiers of race, geography, and culture in nineteenth century America. And a worthy reminder that history is always more complicated than we thought. – H. W. Brands, author of The Reckless Decade

Billy Higgins's extraordinary research and graceful writing have produced a fascinat­ing study that brilliantly illuminates an important and misunderstood issue – the place of free persons of color in the rural South. In tracing these sojourners, this book also adds considerably to our understanding of the frontier in the 1830s and 1840s, and the exhaustive bibliographical essay is a major accomplishment. – Roy Talbert Jr., professor of history at Coastal Carolina University

This extraordinary, thoroughly researched, ground-breaking book, A Stranger and a Sojourner, tells the story of a pioneering African-American community leader whose life is turned upside down on the eve of the Civil War.

History / Europe

Working towards the Führer: Essays in Honour of Sir Ian Kershaw edited by Anthony McElligott & Tim Kirk (Manchester University Press)

Working towards the Führer brings together leading historians writing on the Third Reich, in honor of Sir Ian Kershaw, whose own work, along with that of the contributors to this volume, has done much to challenge and change our understanding of Nazi Germany.

Edited by Anthony McElligott, Professor of History and Director of the Centre for Historical Research, University of Limerick, and Tim Kirk, Lecturer in European History at the University of Newcastle, the book covers numerous issues and furthers the debate on how Nazi Germany operated. These include the legacy of the world wars, the female voter, propaganda, occupied lands, the judiciary, public opinion and resistance. Gone are the post-war stereotypes of a monolithic state driven forward by a single will towards war and genocide. Instead, there is a more complex picture of the regime and its actions, one that shows the instability of the dictatorship, its dependence on a measure of consent as well as coercion, which recognizes the constraints on political action, the fickleness of popular attitudes and the ambiguous nature of acclamation and opposition alike.

The chapters, together with their authors are:

1. Catastrophe and democracy: the legacy of the world wars in Germany – Richard Bessel, professor, twentieth-century history at the University of York, co-editor of the Journal of German History, and member of the editorial board of History Today.
2. Hitler-Goebbels-Strasser: a war of deputies, as seen through the Goebbels diaries, 1926-27 – Elke Frohlich, senior research fellow at the Institut für Zeitgeschichte, Munich, where she is co-editor of the Biographical Sources on Contemporary History series.
3. Mobilising women for Hitler: the female Nazi voter – Helen Boak, associate dean (learning and teaching) in the Faculty of Humanities and associate head of the Department of Humanities at Hertfordshire University.
4. ‘Working towards the Führer’: charismatic leadership and the image of Adolf Hitler in Nazi propaganda – David Welch, professor of modern European history at the University of Kent, Canterbury, and director of the Centre for the Study of Propaganda.
5. ‘Viceroys of the Reich’? Gauleiters 1925-45 – Jeremy Noakes, emeritus professor of history at the University of Exeter.
6. ‘Sentencing towards the Führer’? The judiciary in the Third Reich – Anthony McElligott, Chair of History at the University of Limerick and former visiting professor at the universities of Michigan and Hamburg.
7. Nazi masters and accommodating Dutch bureaucrats: working towards the Führer in the occupied Netherlands, 1940-45 – Bob Moore, reader in modern history at the University of Sheffield.
8. Working towards the Reich: the reception of German cultural politics in South-Eastern Europe – Tim Kirk, editor of this volume.
9. Assessing the ‘other Germany’: the Political Warfare Executive on public opinion and resistance in Germany, 1943-45 – Pauline Elkes, senior lecturer in European history at Staffordshire University, and founder and co-editor of the British International History Group Newsletter.
10. Beyond the nation state: the German resistance against Hitler, and the future of Europe – Hans Mommsen, former chair of modern European history at the Ruhr University of Bochum from 1968 until1996.

The book concludes with personal reflections on Ian Kershaw by John Breuilly, former chairman of the German History Society, and a bibliography of Ian Kershaw by Nadine Rossol, government of Ireland scholar and postgradu­ate student in history at the University of Limerick.

Working towards the Führer is a remarkable collection of essays by leading historians in the field and is essential reading for students and lecturers of modern German history.

History / Europe / Holocaust / Memoir

Wintergreen: Suppressed Murders by Anna Elisabeth Rosmus, translated from the German by Imogen Von Tannenberg (University of South Carolina Press)

After the Second World War, local officials in and around the German city of Passau were forced to mark the graves of some victims of Nazi terror in commemoration of the crimes committed by the nation. They chose the cheapest ground cover available – wintergreen. With bitter irony, the title Wintergreen refers simultaneously to the easy cover-up of these crimes in the collective memory of a people who were observers, bystanders, facilitators, and even participants.

With the same commitment to exposing Nazi crimes that has made her books Against the Stream and Out of Passau widely read, Anna Elisabeth Rosmus uncovers the wartime fate of foreign workers, their children, prisoners of war, and Jewish citizens in Wintergreen. Rosmus, the renowned human rights activist, recounts a horrific story of slave labor, forced abortions, and mass murder. Until Rosmus began her work, the citizens of the region had avoided acknowledging these atrocities for decades.

In Wintergreen, Rosmus documents the treatment of women from Poland, Russia, Ukraine, and other Eastern European countries who were deported to Germany and put to work as forced laborers. When they became pregnant, often from rape, some were forced to have abortions. Doctors performed these abortions, at times without anesthesia, on these women despite the illegality of such practices for German women and strong opposition by the local and highly influential Roman Catholic Church. When others gave birth, the babies were either murdered or taken to so-called “children’s homes.” Rosmus describes the mistreatment of infants in these children’s homes, where they were intentionally fed spoiled food and the mortality rates were notoriously high.

With an impending German surrender, Passau and its environs witnessed additional carnage. Rosmus sheds light on the united effort of the Hitler Youth, secret police, militia, and German Wehrmacht to massacre thousands of Russian prisoners of war who were being held in the region. The Nazis and their sympathizers forced some prisoners to dig their own graves before being shot; others they threw into the Inn River to drown. In nearby Pocking-Waldstadt, Nazis murdered Jews held in a concentration subcamp, dumping some bodies from moving trains and placing others in hastily dug graves. As disturbing as these crimes are, just as unsettling is the local population’s ability to gloss over these acts or to believe that they never happened at all.

Rosmus's work is distinguished by her tenacity in digging up the history and in showing how most local residents were willing to ignore ugly facts both during and after the war. For example, the doctor responsible for some of the slave laborers' abortions was fined in a German court as an accomplice to wartime atrocities, but only a few years later she was able to set up a private practice. – Publisher’s Weekly

Rosmus trains her accusatory gaze and her activist sense of outrage once again on Germany, this time a cover-up in her Bavarian hometown. Ably translated by Imogen von Tannenberg, former director of translations at the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, current adjunct faculty at the University of Southern California, Wintergreen is disturbing but necessary, old-fashioned, solid history.

History / Military / World War II

With Utmost Spirit: Allied Naval Operations In The Mediterranean, 1942-1945 by Barbara Brooks Tomblin (The University Press of Kentucky)

Nineteen months before the D-day invasion of Normandy, Allied assault forces landed in North Africa in Operation TORCH, the first major amphibious operation of the war in Europe. Under the direction of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, AUS, Adm. Andrew B. Cunningham, RN, Admiral H. Kent Hewitt, USN, and others, the Allies kept pressure on the Axis by attacking what Winston Churchill dubbed "the soft underbelly of Europe." The Allies seized the island of Sicily, landed at Salerno and Anzio, and established a presence along the coast of southern France.

With Utmost Spirit takes a fresh look at this crucial naval theater of the Second World War. Barbara Brooks Tomblin tells of the U.S. Navy’s and the Royal Navy’s struggles to wrest control of the Mediterranean Sea from Axis submarines and aircraft, to lift the siege of Malta, and to open a convoy route to Suez while providing ships, carrier air support, and landing craft for five successful amphibious operations.

Examining official action reports, diaries, interviews, and oral histories, Tomblin, former teacher of military history at Rutgers University, describes each of these operations. She elucidates ship to shore movements, air and naval gunfire support, logistics, countermine measures, antisubmarine warfare, and the establishment of ports and training bases in the Mediterranean. Firsthand accounts from the young officers and men who manned the ships provide essential details about Mediterranean operations and draw a vivid picture of the war at sea and off the beaches.

Though the archived official after-action reports were crucial to Tomblin's research, she knew they wouldn't provide the whole story – they lacked the qualitative experiences and memories of wartime – the part of the past that she had learned to appreciate as a child, listening to her grandfather recount his adventures in the Navy. For Tomblin, history must capture this "unofficial" part of the story from veterans themselves. "Happily," she reports, "many of these vets are still alive and willing to share their memories or have even written them down for family members." In researching With Utmost Spirit, Tomblin also had access to wartime diaries, which were kept by many soldiers even though both the U.S. and the U.K. navies strictly forbade them. These contemporaneous personal accounts are typically more useful than retrospective interviews, since "They give us a fresh, often more accurate version of events."

Combining these and various other sources, Tomblin fleshed out a detailed picture of WWII operations in the Mediterranean. One burning question that she was able to answer was whether it was necessary for Allied forces to wait as long as they did to accomplish the landings in Normandy. After reading many reports and recollections of the war in the Mediterranean, Tomblin concluded that the Allies were simply not prepared to have landed in France earlier than June 1944. The complex nature of amphibious operations, required extensive development and preparation. According to Tomblin, "We did not have close-in naval gunfire techniques perfected, were not practiced in combat loading ships and in supporting ground forces over open beaches. We lacked trained boat crews, salvage craft, landing craft such as rocket LCTs, DUWKS, and other special craft, and other ways of keeping the beaches free of congestion and of providing gunfire support to our troops on the beaches prior to the arrival of the army's tanks and artillery."

To prepare for D-Day, what the Allied forces needed above all was practice – not just in using new equipment and employing advanced techniques, but in cooperating with each other. Beginning in 1942, the Allies undertook a series of major amphibious landings that effectively served as rehearsals for what would turn out to be a nearly flawless operation at Normandy in June 1944.

Outstanding! An extraordinary account of WWII naval history in Europe. Tomblin's judicious scholarship, dogged attention to detail, and thoughtful analysis provide an impressive and straightforward narrative. – Robert Love, U.S. Naval Academy
Tomblin's lifetime study of the naval war in the Mediterranean culminates in this definitive account of an important World War II campaign that tends to be neglected. Rich in operational under­standing and detail, Tomblin's book also is notable for presenting the human face of war by interweaving the firsthand observations of both enlisted and officer participants. She shows clearly how naval operations were integrated with military events ashore. Tomblin additionally demonstrates that the success of naval campaigns depended on effective Army-Navy and British­-American cooperation. – Dean C. Allard, Former Director of Naval History, U.S. Navy

With Utmost Spirit takes a particularly effective approach to military history that other recent WWII histories do not: it builds a complexly detailed operational and tactical history from a wide variety of information, relying more heavily on primary sources (like action reports and oral histories) than on already existing accounts. Tomblin portrays the strategy and execution of each operation with a combination of vividness and accuracy that C. S. Forester would have admired – but these events, unlike Horatio Hornblower's exploits, are real.

History / Europe / Military / Memoir

Nelson's Purse: The Mystery of Lord Nelson's Lost Treasures by Martyn Downer (Smithsonian Books) is the story of Lord Nelson's long-lost letters and personal effects.

The life of Britain’s famed colossus, Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson, has spawned a veritable publishing industry. Every facet has been examined in biographies incarnating the British hero at various times as a lover, naval strategist, politician, and above all,  supreme national icon. Nelson, whose glorious naval career ended at the Battle of Trafalgar, where the half-blind, one-armed Nelson, wearing a blood-stained purse, gave his life to secure Britain's supremacy for another century.

Yet Martyn Downer's surprise discovery of a treasure trove of Nelson's letters and personal effects puts existing accounts of the hero into question. This find provides an intimate look at the personal life of the brilliant commander through the eyes of his closest friend, Alexander Davison, the confidant not only of Nelson but also of his mistress Lady Hamilton and of his estranged wife Fanny. As Downer, former art director of Sotheby's London, reveals, Davison's correspondence with Europe's most famous love triangle is the key to a new interpretation of Nelson.

From their first meeting in Canada in 1782, Davison shares Nelson’s triumphs setbacks. Particularly after Nelson’s return from Naples in 1800 in the company of his mistress Lady Hamilton and her husband Sir William Hamilton – scandalizing all of Europe – Davison becomes the key figure in Nelson’s life. Davison manages every aspect of Nelson’s civilian and personal affairs, from the purchase of Merton Place to assuaging the charged emotions of a larger-than-life mistress and the spurned, tormented wife.

This is a truly riveting story, a culminating triumph of assiduous detection and fine scholarship that – even if it somewhat bruises the image of Admiral Nelson – adds fascinating detail to one of the most extraordinary love triangles ever known. Downer’s wonderful and newly revealed story is essential reading for those longing to know the human side of a great imperial hero. – Simon Winchester, author of The Day the World Exploded

From its first paragraph, Nelson's Purse is a wonderfully enjoyable and engaging read. Its vivid, well-shaped, and seductive narrative carries the reader along. With acute insight, Downer illuminates the behavior of the constellation of characters in the human drama of the break up of Nelson’s marriage. Not least, he reveals for the first time in coherent detail the rise and vertiginous fall of Nelson’s confidant, agent, banker, go-between, and Mr. Fixit – Alexander Davison. – Edgar Vincent, author of Nelson: Love & Fame

Nelson's Purse releases long-forgotten voices from never-before-published correspondence, as Land Hamilton, Lady Nelson, and Davison himself experience the turbulence of those final five years of Nelson’s life in London and at sea. Revealing Nelson’s human weaknesses, Nelson's Purse is an epic and tragic story, well told.

Downer’s hunt for the keys to unlock the mystery of a blood-stained purse lead straight to the Bank of Trafalgar. In the spirit of Susan Sontag, this extraordinary story offers historical sleuthwork at its best: a love story, a detective story, and an adventure story all in one.

Home & Garden / Parenting & Families

Miracle: A Celebration of New Life by Anne Geddes & Celine Dion (Andrews McMeel Publishers)

Millions of people worldwide have been thrilled and deeply touched by the soaring vocals of Celine Dion and the stunning photographic images taken by Anne Geddes.

Dion and Geddes say that they conceived Miracle as a way to express something deep within their hearts – babies enfolded in blooms, mothers embracing the life flowering within: Geddes's artistic eye capturing it all. Miracle celebrates the moving, tender, and unbreakable bond of love that exists between a mother and her baby. The images are wedded with the lyrics to all-new songs by Dion, created and performed on the book – accompanying CD in Dion's unmistakable style.
Geddes is an internationally renowned photographer highly respected for her successful depiction of childhood's magic and mystery; images of babies published in more than 50 countries, translated into as many as 16 languages, have sold more than 16 million copies worldwide. Dion is one of the most popular recording artists in history and has topped music charts since she began performing professionally in 1981. Album sales alone exceed 160 million copies and have earned her five U.S. Grammy Awards and seven World Music Awards in Europe along the way.

Now, in professional collaboration, these two talents blend their unique gifts to create a combination of music and images, the Miracle project. The 180-page book Miracle features more than 100 new photographs taken by Geddes, including dedicated studio photo shoots with Dion. With full production notes, the book is packaged with the complete Miracle audio CD and the making-of-the-book DVD.

Dion notes, "I've always been a huge fan of Anne Geddes. Long before I became a mother, I admired and appreciated the beautiful way she photographs babies. It's been wonderful to work with her on this very special project that honors children. The messages in Miracle are universal, and very personal at the same time."

"Each new life is truly a miracle," comments Geddes. "I photograph babies to portray and promote the absolute promise of a newborn, the powerful potential of a child to be an extraordinary human being. It was both a pleasure and a privilege to create the Miracle project with Celine, whose vocal artistry completely captures our shared love for children. Miracle came straight from our hearts."

Never before have two top artists created such a multimedia work to honor the unique and steadfast bond between mother and child. Miracle features more than 100 stunning new Geddes images, each frame reflecting the beauty and grace of both the photographer and her subject. While there have been questions about what happens when photographing infants in stocking-like sacs, the fears seem to be unfounded. Many mothers, grown children, and grandmothers will want to join this celebration.

Home & Garden / Crafts & Hobbies

Memory Quilts: 20 Heartwarming Projects With Special Techniques by Sandy Bonsib (Creative Publishing International) presents original quilting projects for remembering loved ones, celebrating milestones such as births and weddings, and capturing other memories from a sports team's big year or grandma's kitchen.

A memory quilt is any quilt with a bit of personal or group history attached to it – quite often literally attached. From photos and documents to a Christmas ornament or cap and gown, the sky is the limit when putting together such a personal, artistic creation. Memory quilting is popular for many of the same reasons as scrapbooking – both preserve and display memories, both may include photos that would otherwise be hidden away in a box, both are creatively exciting, and, most importantly, both help people cope with tough times and celebrate good times.

Memory Quilts, by Sandy Bonsib introduces 20 projects celebrating everything from a new baby in the family to a patriotic group quilt made in honor of the September 11th tragedy. The various techniques needed for memory quilting are clearly explained with tips from the author and step-by-step instructions. Color photos and illustrations elucidate the assembly process of all twenty examples, with sidebars to detail the fabric, materials, and techniques used, along with ideas for possible variations. There are also group projects for families, religious communities, quilt clubs, and children, plus how to organize a group quilt project.

Special techniques for memory quilting are introduced in Memory Quilts, such as how to attach heavy memorabilia, how to write on the quilt, and how to transfer photographs to cloth. Each project includes step-by-step instructions, photographs and diagrams, and ideas for adapting the design.

The photo transfer techniques used by Bonsib open up endless memory quilt possibilities, without damaging or destroying the original document or photos. Anyone with an inkjet printer can make old memories new by transfering them to a quilting project.

Quilters who want to preserve and celebrate memories of a person or time will be inspired by these innovative projects and techniques. Intended for advanced beginners or intermediate quilters, Memory Quilts touches readers with wonderful quilts that are both meaningful and innovative.

Home & Garden / Professional & Technical / Architecture

San Francisco Style: Design, Decor, and Archtiecture by Diane Dorrans Saeks, with photographs by David Duncan Livingston (Chronicle Books)

In an area where, historically, anything goes, San Francisco's design, decor, and architecture matches its reputation for unconventional lifestyles and innovations. San Francisco Style proves a picture is worth a thousand words and shows there is no single trademark look pegged to this renegade region. Luscious photographs depict tiny but cozy Marin County cottages with sunny decks that look out on sailboats; regal residences that sit lofty and high atop old-moneyed hills; and smooth, gray lofts filled with Eames chairs and Asian art. The few common threads that exist in this hilly tapestry are the spectacular West Coast light and the individuality and bravado exhibited in the personal style of Bay Area dwellers.

In this volume San Francisco style expert Diane Dorrans Saeks builds on the captivating approach of her previous work, San Francisco Interiors, incorporating the work of David Duncan Livingston, a professional interior photographer with 20 years of experience. Saeks, California editor for Metropolitan Home, the interior design editor for PaperCity, the San Francisco correspondent for W and Women's Wear Daily, opens the doors to some of the most exquisite residences in town, inviting us into chic city apartments, grand houses, light-drenched lofts, and cozy bungalows. Enter the graceful abode of San Francisco luminary Ann Getty, whose unique vision is reflected in a multitude of textures unrestricted by style or period. Visit designer Steven Volpe's South of Market loft, converted from a 1916 printing factory. A tour of Dr. Paul Turek's hillside home pays homage to classic contemporary Italian design (and the art of crafting the perfect surfboard). And on we go to villas surrounded by redwoods and views of Mt. Tamalpais; a one ­bedroom pink stucco confection built as a weekend cottage for Dr. Florence Nightingale Ward and boasting views of both the Golden Gate Bridge and Angel Island; an airy 1916 loft converted from a former printing factory; and a neoclassical Pacific Heights apartment with views of Grace Cathedral from every room which, to the amazement and envy of out-of-town visitors, becomes drenched in soft pink and gold sunlight in winter afternoons.

A stunning book, San Francisco Style features the most interesting residences of sophisticated art collectors, photographers, artists, and interior designers – people who travel and regularly pick up treasures throughout Europe, Asia, and beyond. San Francisco Style is their style: wildly eclectic and confident. With more than 200 inspiring color photographs, this collection captures the scope of homes and lifestyles that make the northern California region unique. In these pages, readers witness the design talents of such firms as Tucker & Marks; Mvra Hoefer Design; Fisher Weisman; Your Space, Inc.; and ShelterDesign, Inc., among others. And with Saeks's list of where to shop, view art, and truly get an inside look at the city notorious for stealing hearts, this is a great guide for interior designers, accomplished home stylists, and anyone looking to create San Francisco style.

Home & Garden / Animals & Pets / Arts & Photography

Greyhounds Big And Small: Iggies And Greyts by Amanda Jones (Berkley Books)

They're the fastest couch potatoes to wag a tail. When in full stride, these speedsters are impossible to catch; but when they're lounging on the bed, it's hard to imagine them moving at all.

Be they Iggies (Italian Greyhounds) or Greyts (Greyhounds), these elegant dogs have been the subject of the artist's gaze for over two thousand years. Sleek and slim they have the looks and bearing of canine supermodels – yet all it takes is a lopsided grin, a poke of the nose or a whimsical head tilt to see that they are playful clowns at heart. Greyhounds of all sizes bring gentleness and grace into the homes of those who love them.

Premiere animal photographer Amanda Jones captures these elegant animals in gorgeous duo-tone photographs. Greyhounds Big And Small celebrates these affectionate and beautiful creatures with more than sixty photographs that skillfully capture the essence of "greyhoundedness." This is a fantastic chronicle of a fantastic dog, Greyhounds Big And Small, the perfect gift for greyhound lovers.

Home & Garden / How-to & Home Improvements

Tools Rare and Ingenious: Celebrating the World's Most Amazing Tools by Sandor Nagyszalanczy (The Taunton Press) celebrates the world’s most amazing tools.

Craftsmen, over the centuries, have transformed inherently humble objects – drills, saws, planes, and levels – into works of art. Tools Rare and Ingenious expands on Sandor Nagyszalanczy's acclaimed book The Art of Fine Tools by offering a world tour of objects that rarely leave the private vaults of collectors.

A visual feast of the most beautifully crafted vintage tools ever made, Tools Rare and Ingenious offers engaging facts about their history, function, and manufacture. In more than 375 color photographs, the author presents tools ranging from calipers that mimic dancing ballerinas to a carved breast drill that's shaped like a violin and outfitted with a bow. Some tools glitter with silver and jewels, others are breathtakingly simple. Included in this history are maker's marks and logos, jewelry-like miniature tools, patent and prototype models, and elaborate presentation tools that were created as awards or gifts.

Nagyszalanczy is a professional furniture designer, freelance writer, photographer, and tool consultant. A custom furniture builder for over twenty-five years, he has also been a senior editor of Fine Woodworking magazine.

Chapters include:

• Primitive and Ancient Tools
• Decorated Tools
• Fine and Fancy Tools
• Ingenious Mechanisms
• Maker’s Marks and Logos
• Magnificient Miniatures
• Combination Tools
• Patent Models and Prototypes
• Presentation and Exhibition Tools
• Tools of Many Trades
• Craftsman-Made Tools

The collection of amazing tools presented in these pages comprise a sort of tool museum in print. I sincerely hope that seeing these remarkable toold and reading about their rich histories will enrich your appreciation of the toolmaker’s creative craft and art. – Sandor Nagyszalanczy

Tools Rare and Ingenious is a book to treasure. Collectors and craftsmen will relish the depth of historical and technical information that accompanies each picture. And anyone who has ever held a hammer or a saw, no matter how briefly, will marvel at these masterpieces of art and utility.

Home & Garden / Interiors

Camps and Cottages: A Stylish Blend of Old and New by Molly Hyde English, photography by Linda Svendsen (Gibbs Smith, Publisher)

From the burnt orange of Yosemite's sunsets to the cobalt blues and foam greens of the Pacific, Camps and Cottages invites readers to make a fresh, bold statement by combining the warmth and comfort of cottage living with a rustic blend of old and new.

The book combines of the rustic living style so prevalent prior to World War I and the more casual style that exploded onto the scene in the 1930s and 1940s, emphasizing excitement, color, and whimsical seaside living. As indicated in Country Home magazine, it has regained momentum and enthusiastic acceptance from those intent on recapturing the art of comfort and a sweeter and far less complicated lifestyle.

Although the coolness of white may have ruled in the 1990s, today's Camps and Cottages look is dedicated to color, using it as a tool of expression as well as a source of energy. According to Molly Hyde English, founder of Camps and Cottages, a retail store located in Laguna Beach, California, it also incorporates interchanging indoor and outdoor living without the traditional boundaries associated with harsher climates.

Whether the location is New England, mid-America, the Rockies, or the Pacific Coast, Camps and Cottages reflects the form and function of the heartland energized with the color and movement of our country's forests and seashores.

This book gives readers the chance to fight back against 21st century homogenized, disposable, department store style. With photography by Linda Svendsen, renowned photographer for more than thirty years, the book inspires a cozy, unique and distinctive look in any space. These spectacular photographs of homes throughout North America showcase how minimal color accents can add warmth to the ruggedness of a rustic retreat, how the key to cottage comforts can lie in the texture of reclaimed wood, and how vintage touches create a lived-in, familiar atmosphere. From antique furniture to checkered fabrics to kitschy baskets and collectibles, Camps and Cottages has plenty of do-it-yourself design ideas to inspire home decorators and anyone who wants a personal style that captures the carefree feeling of a less complicated lifestyle. With an emphasis on color, texture, and decorative whimsy that embraces familiar objects, the book provides endless possibilities for individual creative expression.

Home & Garden / Animal Care & Pets / Arts & Photography

Kingyo: The Artistry of Japanese Goldfish by Kazuya Takaoka & Sachiko Kuru, novella by Kanoko Okamoto (Kodansha International) allows readers to discover the cult of the goldfish through Japanese art, design and literature.

Goldfish as we know them today are said to have originated from a red-mutated funa (gibel carp) found in the wild in southern China over two thousand years ago. They were brought to Japan from China in 1502, and raised exclusively by the nobility as highly prized pets. In the 1800s, however, they became popular with the general public, and ultimately a unique culture of breeders, collectors, and connoisseurs came into being.

Kingyo combines graphics by Kazuya Takaoka, a graphic designer, who has received many outstanding awards, and photographs by Sachiko Kuru, a pioneering commercial photographer in the world of Japanese advertising and fashion since the 1980s. Included in the volume is a novella written by Kanoko Okamoto in the 1930s titled "A Riot of Goldfish" which tells of the impossible love of a breeder’s son for the daughter of a wealthy patron. As his love grows into an obsession, he attempts to create a goldfish that will capture and reflect her beauty. The story evokes life in Japan in the early twentieth century and sheds light on the aesthetics of goldfish appreciation.

An exquisite display of the fascinating Japanese cult of goldfish…Kingyo is the ultimate gift book for the season. – The Museum Store Magazine

Packed with photographs, Kingyo offers a delightful visual tour of goldfish in Japanese art and design, together with a description of the goldfish breeds that have developed in Japan over hundreds of years of meticulous cultivation. The stunning visual materials reveal the vast iconography of goldfish in the graphic and decorative arts of Japan, extending to textiles, ceramics, paintings, lacquer ware, toys, and even household items. This book will inspire designers, collectors, and anyone interested in Japanese art.

Literature & Fiction / Contemporary

The Red Queen by Margaret Drabble (Harcourt, Inc.)

Nimbly jumping across time and around the globe, Margaret Drabble’s The Red Queen introduces her readers to two women who have never come into contact but are now inexplicably joined by a bizarre twist of fate.
Drabble, author of several novels, the editor of The Oxford Companion to English Literature, writes of Barbara Halliwell, who, on a grant from Oxford, receives an unexpected package. The package contains the memoir of a Korean crown princess, written more than two hundred years ago. The book seems a highly appropriate gift for her upcoming trip to Seoul, but there is no evidence of who sent it. As Barbara reads the memoir on the plane, she becomes immersed in a world different from her own.

The Crown Princess Hyegyong recounts in extraordinary detail the ways of the Korean court and confesses the family dramas that left her childless and her husband dead by his own hand. Learning of the crown princess's family secrets as well as the ways of the Korean court, the story turns out to be one of great intrigue as well as tragedy. Though she and the crown princess seem extremely different from each other at first glance, as Barbara reads on she begins to wonder if her life is in fact moving in a parallel direction to that of the princess. Perhaps it is the loss of a child that resonates so deeply with Barbara . . . Was this manuscript placed in her hands for a reason, perhaps to explain some of the mysteries in her own life?

But Barbara has little time to think of such things; she has just arrived in Korea. She meets a certain Dr. Oo, a generous Korean doctor, and to her surprise and delight he offers to guide her to some of the haunts of the crown princess. As she explores the inner sanctums and the royal courts, Barbara begins to feel a strong affinity for everything related to the princess and her mysterious life.
After a brief, intense, and ill-fated love affair with a famous and charismatic Dutch anthropologist, beset by ghosts of his own, she returns to London. Is she ensnared by the events of the past week, of the past two hundred years, or will she pick up her life where she left it?

Engrossing and provocative: a scarlet narrative thread reminds us how magical the novel can be in telling stories and lives. – Kirkus Reviews (starred)