Rembrandt's Eyes
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Excellent book about Rembrandt and his times
  • Returning to Rembrandt's Eyes: An Appreciation
  • A MUST READ
  • Doesn't have a focus and objective....very boring
  • A masterpiece worthy of Rembrandt's life and works
Rembrandt's Eyes
Simon Schama
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

RembrandtRembrandt | ( P-R ) | Artists, A-Z | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Rubens, Peter PaulRubens, Peter Paul | ( P-R ) | Artists, A-Z | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0375709819
Release Date: 2001-10-23

Amazon.com

The great 17th-century Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn left us so many arresting self-portraits, painted at every stage in his eventful life, that his distinctive face and bearing are a familiar part of the 20th-century cultural landscape, a recognizable presence in galleries across Europe and North America. Nonetheless, the artist himself remains an enigma. Rembrandt was a notoriously difficult man and an inveterate risk taker in life and art: his aspirations to a grandiose Amsterdam lifestyle in the heyday of his popularity as a painter of portraits and large-scale historical works bankrupted him, and he died in relative poverty. His personal effects and treasured collection of paintings and natural rarities were sold off and dispersed, leaving the historian with a tantalizingly scant body of fragmentary records around which to build a convincing biography.

In Rembrandt's Eyes, Simon Schama--the leading historical craftsman of our era, with a career-long commitment to Dutch history--succeeds with consummate skill in bringing the heroic painter of such masterpieces as The Night Watch and Portrait of Jan Six vividly to life. Returning to the bustling Dutch world with which he first made his reputation in the bestselling Embarrassment of Riches (1987), Schama re-creates Rembrandt's life and times with all the verve and panache of a historical novelist--while never for an instant losing his scrupulous grip on recorded fact and detail. The telling surviving fragments of archival information about Rembrandt's personal and professional history are skillfully embedded in a rich, dense tapestry of the commercial whirl and political hurly-burly of the 17th-century Low Countries--a divided territory, split between the Catholic and Protestant faiths and the contested powers of the Spanish Hapsburgs and the Dutch Republic--with the tentacles of the tale reaching into the most unexpected shadowy corners of European love and war, aspiration and intrigue.

Rembrandt's Eyes is, in fact, two biographies for the price of one. From the outset, Schama contrasts the life of Rembrandt with that of his older, equally talented countryman Peter Paul Rubens, whose meteoric rise and sustained success as a society painter forms a revealing contrast with Rembrandt's unhappier relationship with fame and fortune. The comparison is a telling one. Where Rubens furnishes the wealthy and powerful with glorious reflections of, and visual foils for, their social and political aspirations and glory, Rembrandt can never resist testing the envelope of taste and stylistic acceptability. His challenge to his clients to embrace the shock of his painterly experiments with technique, texture, and composition ultimately produced his downfall. The Amsterdam town council took down his The Oath-swearing of Claudius Civilis, rolled it up, and returned his masterpiece to him to be cut down in an attempt to sell it to a suitable buyer.

This is a gorgeous book to own, too. Rembrandt's Eyes is printed on heavy, high-gloss paper and lavishly illustrated throughout in full color. The double-page color spreads of the most memorable of Rembrandt's works will take readers' breath away. But above all, this is narrative history at its very best, a page-turner and an adventure story that will make the reader laugh and cry by turns in the time-honored tradition of masterly writing. --Lisa Jardine

Book Description

For Rembrandt as for Shakespeare, all the world was indeed a stage, and he knew in exhaustive detail the tactics of its performance; the strutting and mincing; the wardrobe and the face paint; the full repertoire of gesture and grimace; the flutter of hands and the roll of the eyes; the belly laugh and the half-stifled sob. He knew what it looked like to seduce, to intimidate, to wheedle, and to console; to strike a pose or preach a sermon; to shake a fist or uncover a breast; how to sin and how to atone; how to commit murder and how to commit suicide. No artist had ever been so fascinated by the fashioning of personae, beginning with his own. No painter ever looked with such unsparing intelligence or such bottomless compassion at our entrances and our exits and the whole rowdy show in between.

More than three centuries after his death, Rembrandt remains the most deeply loved of all the great masters of painting, his face so familiar to us from the self-portraits painted at every stage in his life, yet still so mysterious. As with Shakespeare, the facts of his life are hard to come by; the Leiden miller's son who briefly found fame in Amsterdam, whose genius was fitfully recognized by his contemporaries, who fell into bankruptcy and died in poverty. So there is probably no other painter whose life has engendered more legends, nor to whom more unlikely pictures have been attributed (a process now undergoing rigorous reversal). Rembrandt's Eyes, about which Simon Schama has been thinking for more than twenty years, shows that the true biography of Rembrandt is to be discovered in his pictures. Though a succession of superbly incisive descriptions and interpretations of Rembrandt's paintings threaded into his narrative, he allows us to see Rembrandt's life clearly and to think about it afresh.

But this book moves far beyond the bounds of conventional biography or art history. With extraordinary imaginative sympathy, Schama conjures up the world in which Rembrandt moved -- its sounds, smells and tastes as well as its politics; the influences on him of the wars of the Protestant United Provinces against Spain, of the extreme Calvinism of his native Leiden, of the demands of patrons and the ambitions of contemporaries; the importance of his beloved Saskia and, after her death (Rembrandt was later forced to sell her grave, so complete was his ruin), of his mistress Hendrickje Stoffels; and, above all, the profound effect on him of the great master of the immediately preceding generation, the Catholic painter from Antwerp, Peter Paul Rubens: "the prince of painters and the painter of princes" with whom Rembrandt was obsessed for the first part of his life, and whose career was the shaping force that drove Rembrandt to test the farthest reaches of his own originality.

Rembrandt's Eyes shows us why Rembrandt is such a thrilling painter, so revolutionary in his art, so penetrating of the hearts of those who have looked for three hundred years at his pictures. Above all, Schama's understanding of Rembrandt's mind and the dynamic of his life allows him to re-create Rembrandt's life on the page. Through a combination of scholarship and literary skill, Schama allows us to actually see that life through Rembrandt's own eyes. In overcoming the paucity of conventional historical evidence, it is the most intelligently true biography of Rembrandt that has ever been written, and the most dazzling achievement to date of the art historian whose work has been hailed as "marvelously rich and eloquent" ... "rare, imaginative" ... "provocative" ... "astoundingly learned with verve, humor, and an unflagging sense of delight" ... that of "a master storyteller ... and a master of history."*


Quotes from the New York Times Book Review, Time, the New York Times, The Independent on Sunday, and  Nature, respectively.


From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Excellent book about Rembrandt and his times.......2007-07-12

Being Dutch, I remember as a kid how my teacher was mesmerizing about how wonderful it would be to have a big enough telescope to catch all the emitted light from long ago and to be able to see Rembrandt paint. I did not know why then, but now I do agree. How wonderful it would have been had he only lived 300 years more to light up all the museums in the world!
This book is about, to my opinion, the best painter of mankind, his life and work. It is also a dual biography about Rubens, since he was so important for Rembrandt.
The book works nicely chronological and winds its way through the younger years of Rembrandt til his last years. In the mean time we also learn a lot about not only his life in Leiden and Amsterdam, but also about the history of Holland of the 17th century. It is absolutely great to learn about for instance the Night Watch, for whom it was painted, who the people are on it, why it was so revolutionary and still the most stunning 17th century painting.
I always wanted to know, as far as recorded history allows us, about the background of his paintings; who ordered it, did they and Rembrandt like it themselves? And most of all: analysis of the paintings themselves: what 'effects' are used, and how? This book goes into wide details of this all without getting repetitive or boring.
Rembrandt is unique among all painters in his combination of talent and 'raffinement'. He could do anything: super precise works, impressionistic style where the paint itself was the 3d effect, portraits, group portraits, history paintings, landscapes, the best etches off all time. His touch and well-aimed strokes immediately got to the essence. His works under scrutiny come out even more unsurpassable and amazing. It is true that none of his students ever came close to his talent, and some of them tried for the rest of their life to master just some aspect of his art (for instance the light effects) while Rembrandt moved on to a more 'rough' style, although it was justly called in this book deceivingly easy to imitate, and of course, 'rough' here does not mean carelessly painted.
Basically he is the first (and best) impressionist in the history of painting.
I have been at the Rijksmuseum many times, and it does not matter which work you look at: Jeremia, his mother reading, the Jewish Bride, his hypnotisingly beautiful self portrait at a young age, it just shows that this is a once in a mankind kind of thing. Rembrandt has shown us once and for all what the art of painting can do, how it can lift our lives by trying so dramatically to imitate it. Indeed looking at his work, it almost seems that his paintings are triumphant over reality.
This book is a great read and the many colour pictures of his work are, needless to say, a pleasure to look at.
Only minus is, that Schama to my opinion is a little too modest about Rembrandt's genius.

5 out of 5 stars Returning to Rembrandt's Eyes: An Appreciation.......2006-12-15

One of the pleasures of reading books from your own library is that they are always there for return visits. Reading Hockney's 'Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Old Masters' stimulated this reader to probe more deeply into some of the venerated painters. Simon Schama's fine book REMBRANDT'S EYES is like an old friend, an excellent resource book for facts about Netherlands painting, social and political history that so affected the works of the two featured painters Rembrandt and Peter Paul Rubens, a page-turner novel, and a catalogue of brilliant reproductions of paintings. This book satisfies - even more the second time around!

A hefty book at over 750 pages, there is not a page that Schama does not use his charming style of writing to slowly inform. We learn about the atmosphere into which Rembrandt was born, follow his works from the earliest examples through his entire career, encounter his passion for elegance and his fall into poverty, and understand his envy of the creatively and socially successful Rubens. Not a book of gossip, this, but instead a biography well documented in a fine bibliography (no mean feat for a history of a great man without much written contemporary documentation!) and a survey of illustrations that augment the story as well as any yet written.

For those who hunger for knowledge about a famous painter yet who deign to wade through the usual dry treatise format, welcome to the class with Schama. This is a book that will endure (first printed in 1999 and now available in paperback) because of the stature of the subject AND the stature of the author. Hats off to Simon Schama who so entertainingly and successfully takes us behind Rembrandt's eyes to see his work as few have shown it. Grady Harp, December 06

5 out of 5 stars A MUST READ.......2006-02-17

I think most of the reviews below cover the bases pretty well, the only criticism I can think of is the book might have been better off printed in the full "coffee table art book" size so the reproductions cited in the text would have been larger...but what a fabulous work it is, an utterly fascinating evocation of a time and place. Even if you only have a peripheral interest in the subject, you will be drawn into the sweep of the narrative through Mr Schama's depth of knowledge and skillful intertwining of the personal and the public world of 17th century Holland. I cannot think of another recent book that I have enjoyed so thoroughly.

2 out of 5 stars Doesn't have a focus and objective....very boring.......2004-07-10

When i bought this book, I thought that it would be an amazing and definitive book about one of the most brilliant genius of art.
But i was wrong, this is doesn't have a point, it goes to the biography of Rubens fathers, passing thru history, economy, and anything else you imagine, this is so borring for the people that actually want to know about Rembrandt and his work. So if you are looking for a book abou Rembrand and his work, this IS NOT....

5 out of 5 stars A masterpiece worthy of Rembrandt's life and works.......2002-09-26

Simon Schama's REMBRANDT'S EYES is undoubtedly one of the authoritative works on Rembrandt's life and paintings. Schama vividly depicts the unparalled and tortured genius of Rembrandt, a man who was brilliant in success and even more so during tragedy. To understand Rembrandt's paintings is to understand the man behind each brushstroke: strong-willed, prideful, and uncompromising in his art. Schama conveys the essence of Rembrandt with such force and effectiveness that we cannot help but appreciate Rembrandt's tragic life and artistic genius.

REMBRANDT'S EYES contains beautiful illustrations of all of Rembrandt's major works; the analysis of each is detailed, clear, and interesting. Through the course of the book, you will be fascinated by Rembrandt's self-portraits and the level of understanding with which he painted himself. Perhaps no other artist has given us such a powerful autobiography without the use of a single written word. This deep understanding of the human soul is evident in all of his works. Schama explains Rembrandt's paintings and his techniques in a comprehensive and powerful manner. If you are interested at all in the truly unique and fascinating genius of Rembrandt, REMBRANDT'S EYES is a must.

I would highly recommend REMBRANDT'S EYES to any person interested in art history, Dutch painting, or just Rembrandt. This book also serves as a powerful autobiography of a man with a very interesting story. Be forewarned though: this book is very long, and putting it down may be hard.
Bright Eyes Talks Crazy to Rembrandt
Average customer rating: Not rated
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    Manufacturer: Hanging Loose Press
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    Graphics, the art of accurate delineation: For the education of the eye and the training of the hand
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      Graphics, the art of accurate delineation: For the education of the eye and the training of the hand
      Rembrandt Peale
      Manufacturer: E.C. & J. Biddle
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Unknown Binding

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        Petra; Uterwijk, Robert Kana-Devilee
        Manufacturer: Rijks Museum
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Paperback
        ASIN: 9040087768
        Rembrandt's Eyes
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          Rembrandt's Eyes
          Simon Schama
          Manufacturer: Allen Lane
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Hardcover

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          ASIN: 0713993847
          An Entrance for the Eyes: Space and Meaning in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art & Art and Home: Dutch Interiors in the Age of Rembrandt.(Book Review) : An article from: Renaissance Quarterly
          Average customer rating: Not rated
            An Entrance for the Eyes: Space and Meaning in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art & Art and Home: Dutch Interiors in the Age of Rembrandt.(Book Review) : An article from: Renaissance Quarterly
            Ann Jensen Adams
            Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Digital

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            ASIN: B000F3ABVA
            Release Date: 2006-03-17

            Book Description

            This digital document is an article from Renaissance Quarterly, published by Thomson Gale on June 22, 2003. The length of the article is 1772 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

            Citation Details
            Title: An Entrance for the Eyes: Space and Meaning in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art & Art and Home: Dutch Interiors in the Age of Rembrandt.(Book Review)
            Author: Ann Jensen Adams
            Publication: Renaissance Quarterly (Magazine/Journal)
            Date: June 22, 2003
            Publisher: Thomson Gale
            Volume: 56 Issue: 2 Page: 523(4)

            Article Type: Book Review

            Distributed by Thomson Gale
            Graphics, the art of accurate delineation: A system of school exercise for the education of the eye and the training of the hand
            Average customer rating: Not rated
              Graphics, the art of accurate delineation: A system of school exercise for the education of the eye and the training of the hand
              Rembrandt Peale
              Manufacturer: E.C. & J. Biddle
              ProductGroup: Book
              Binding: Unknown Binding

              GeneralGeneral | Drawing | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
              DrawingDrawing | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
              ASIN: B000880MWU
              Graphics, the art of accurate delineation: A system of school exercise for the education of the eye and the training of the hand, as auxiliary to writing, geography, and drawing
              Average customer rating: Not rated
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                Rembrandt Peale
                Manufacturer: E.C. & J. Biddle
                ProductGroup: Book
                Binding: Unknown Binding

                GeneralGeneral | Drawing | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
                DrawingDrawing | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
                HandwritingHandwriting | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books
                ASIN: B00089V7GY
                Rembrandt's Eyes
                Average customer rating: Not rated
                  Rembrandt's Eyes
                  Simon Schama
                  Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf
                  ProductGroup: Book
                  Binding: Paperback
                  ASIN: B000JPYW7S
                  Rembrandt's Eyes - British Ed
                  Average customer rating: Not rated
                    Rembrandt's Eyes - British Ed
                    Schama
                    Manufacturer: Random House
                    ProductGroup: Book
                    Binding: Hardcover
                    ASIN: 0676593917

                    The Battle of the Generals: The Untold Story of the Falaise Pocket-The Campaign That Should Have Won World War II
                    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
                    • Interesting, but not compelling book about Falaise Gap
                    • The book for WW II history
                    The Battle of the Generals: The Untold Story of the Falaise Pocket-The Campaign That Should Have Won World War II
                    Martin Blumenson
                    Manufacturer: William Morrow & Co
                    ProductGroup: Book
                    Binding: Hardcover

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                    ASIN: 0688118372

                    Customer Reviews:

                    5 out of 5 stars Interesting, but not compelling book about Falaise Gap.......2003-10-10

                    Martin Blumenson's The Battle of the Generals is an interesting, though never quite captivating study of the controversial Battle of the Falaise Gap, the climax of Operation Overlord in August of 1944.

                    Blumenson, author of Breakout and Pursuit (1963) and an eminent military historian, focuses on the "big picture" as he focuses on what he frankly believes was the Allies' biggest blunder in the campaign in Northwest Europe: the failure of the Allied armies to close the Falaise Gap and trap the shattered remnants of two German armies west of the Seine River. Blumenson states point-blank that had Eisenhower, Bradley, and Montgomery paid more attention to the immediate goal of destroying the German army in Normandy instead of being diverted by visions of a triumphal march into Germany, a large number of German troops and their equipment would have been sealed in a huge pocket and the war could have ended in 1944.

                    Instead, American, British, and Canadian generals, with the exception of George Patton, opted to stick to the Overlord plan, often passing up promising tactical opportunities and, as Blumenson often says, playing it safe.

                    I found this book interesting in its even-handed approach of not going the "it was all Monty's fault," though that British commander's flaws as an army group leader are pointed out. Bradley and Eisenhower don't escape Blumenson's critical gaze; indeed, it was Bradley's desire to keep the more dashing Patton on a short leash that the author says was a critical factor for the Germans' last minute escape from a potentially disastrous double envelopment. Monty and the British high command, of course, get a fair share of the criticism, including the prickly personality quirks of the 21st Army Group's commander and his penchant for wanting a "tidy" battlefield.

                    As the title implies, The Battle of the Generals deals more with high-level strategy rather than the more compelling "you-are-there" eyewitness-accounts in the style of Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day or Stephen Ambrose's Citizen Soldiers. Students of military history may find this book fascinating, but readers seeking a more involving human-interest book may be disappointed.

                    5 out of 5 stars The book for WW II history.......2001-09-07

                    The battle of the general spells out the huge fight that existed within the allied camp during the war. Patton and Montgomery didn't like each other and the Bradley/Patton relationship wasn't much better. Dr. Blumenson does a excellent job of showing how close the allies came to ending the war 10 month earlier. It's a book to add to your collection.

                    Alleluia America!: An Irish Journalist in Bush Country
                    Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
                    • A Hundred Thousand Welcomes
                    • Interesting (Yet Unpolished) View from Abroad
                    • Excellent commentary on conservative America
                    • A very interesting insight!
                    • amateur historian/sociologist
                    Alleluia America!: An Irish Journalist in Bush Country
                    Carole Coleman
                    Manufacturer: Liffey Press
                    ProductGroup: Book
                    Binding: Paperback

                    IrishIrish | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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                    ASIN: 190414876X

                    Customer Reviews:

                    4 out of 5 stars A Hundred Thousand Welcomes.......2007-08-26

                    I came across this book on a recent vacation in Ireland and, remembering the brouhaha over the interview, picked it up to read. As I was an American over in Ireland trying to get a sense of that country, it seemed somehow appropriate to read about an Irish citizen set to a similar task in the US.

                    Overall, I enjoyed the book very much. Coming from the 'Blue America' she describes, her explorations of 'Red America' offered me useful insights to my own country. She gamely tries to go there with an open, objective approach though the occasional sarcastic remark does reveal her filter. She rather courageously goes places where her outsider status posed some risk to herself, if not in actuality than in her perception, which amounts to the same thing. For example, going to 'redneck' country (the NASCAR chapter) and to visit fundamentalist Mormon country I thought was particularly brave of her and were the best parts of the book. What strongly comes across from her personal conversations with individuals who were so different from her was their sincerity, something that seemed to surprise her. But there was the one question that begged to be explored more deeply with the people she visited was, the answer to which is what truly separates people into Blue and Red columns. That question was: how does a country made up of a great many diverse religious, cultural, and ethnic groups, make itself one nation? For many of the groups she visited, particularly the evangelical groups, the answer was that the other groups should be made to be like us or else. And while 'or else' runs a broad spectrum, it does not include acceptance of differences. To her defense, she was already taking no small amount of risk just by the questions she did ask and that one may have been too much.

                    4 out of 5 stars Interesting (Yet Unpolished) View from Abroad.......2007-05-30

                    "Alleluia America!: An Irish Journalist in Bush Country" is an enjoyable, if not groundbreaking, collection of scattered tales from across these United States. Coleman, an Irish citizen, recounts her experiences travelling across the country on field trips brought about by her desire to learn more about the quirkier side of conservative American life. She writes in the typical Irish style -- be prepared for erratic punctuation and lengthy, rambling sentences -- and adds a bit of humor to each story in order to help move things along.

                    Although the book opens with Bush and the Iraq War, it quickly moves on to religious fundamentalism in its various forms. She deals primarily with conservative Protestant denominations, but also describes her visits to a mosque, a synogogue, Lancaster County (or "Amish Country"), and other places of interest. For some reason, she throws in a side trip to Mexico, and though she does valiantly attempt to show the connection between American and Mexican life and politics, her efforts fall flat. However, her writing style makes the reading enjoyable enough for you to follow through.

                    It's important to note that, if you are an American or have lived here for any decent amount of time, there is almost nothing in this book that will be of news to you. "Alleluia America!" was clearly written to introduce certain aspects of American life to readers abroad. Most of the topics Coleman covers are elementary to Americans, and as a result, her lengthy descriptions can periodically become tiresome. (Feel free to skim the remedial definitions of the evangelical movement and the "War on Terrorism," as two examples.) Rather than the facts, what is interesting to the American reader is the viewpoint of a foreigner amongst us, which is what makes the book one that can give you some new knowledge, even if most of the topics are subjects you're quite familiar with already.

                    What I had a trouble figuring out about "Alleluia America!" is the overall theme Coleman was trying to follow. It tries to be a book about Bush's policies, evangelical Christians, and American culture all at once -- which should be easy enough to accomplish -- but Coleman doesn't have the control to pull it off. You move from one chapter to the next trying to determine what the connection between the topics was in the author's eyes. As I discovered about halfway through, it works best if approached as a collection of essays, not a traditional cover-to-cover non-fiction work.

                    Additionally, Coleman or her editor repeatedly commit one of the worst sins of writing, that being some very sloppy editing. George W. Bush's wife becomes Laura Welsh, not Welch; cities in Utah and Texas are renamed Hilldale (from Hildale) and El Dorado (from Eldorado); the Weather Channel loses its proper noun status; some driver named Kasey "Khane" joins the NASCAR circuit; and on it goes. (Coleman seems to have it out for last names in particular.) There are enough mistakes that it begins to make it seem that our author should not be trusted for her facts, because she clearly isn't totally up to speed with them. If she can't get the town names on the "Welcome to..." signs she's describing correct, what else is off?

                    In all, "Alleluia America!" is a good book to read in one sitting on a weekend, particularly if you want a primer on how Europeans view American culture. All criticisms aside, Coleman did a decent job, and the book is worth a shot for most readers. If you are looking for political commentary, in-depth information, consistency, or pretty much anything the back cover suggests you'll find inside, however, try somewhere else first.

                    5 out of 5 stars Excellent commentary on conservative America.......2006-06-19

                    I read this book back in December on the plane. It was an excellent commentary on conservative America. As an American living abroad, it is interesting to see how Americans are perceived and I often wondered how Bush got elected the second time. Now I understand that better.

                    I didn't see the original interview but would agree that it was far from a disaster. America needs more journalists that ask real questions instead of the preapproved ones.

                    4 out of 5 stars A very interesting insight!.......2006-03-28

                    The idea behind this review is two-fold, one to review the book itself and secondly to comment on the K.Larson review below.

                    Firstly, the book, in my opinion starts off at a startling pace as she interviews George Bush in a ten minute window and rather than peddle The White House line, she asks the questions that the majority of Irish people wished her to ask. It did her no favours as we are told that not to play ball with the White Houses' questioning is possibly a bad career move, no matter how brave.

                    The rest of the book shows Coleman meandering through the country attempting to uncover the `real' America, rather than that which the majority of the rest of the world would see - skyscrapers, home of the great American dream etc.. America is shown for what I now believe it to be - a world within a country - with varying opinions, beliefs and thoughts all rolled under the one flag. Some of the writings of Coleman are genuinely funny, some bewildering, but overall I found the whole book extremely engaging and educational as it showed as I said, a different side to this vast country.

                    Secondly, in relation to K Larson's review I would just like to point out two things. I want to stress that I do not intend to be either pedantic or offensive but two things must be explained. When Larson refers in the second half of his review to "Like another Brit...", I've got to explain that Coleman is IRISH and is not British. Britain comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Republic of Ireland is a completely different and independent country. This is something that Irish people hear the odd time but it would be like if we lumped all Canadians and Americans as one and the same! It can be frustrating to hear it.

                    Secondly, when Larson refers to the interview as `near disastrous', I would like to explain that in Ireland, and a number of other areas where the interview with President Bush was shown, the interview was considered far from `disastrous' and in fact she was lauded for standing up for her beliefs in journalism.

                    Overall, I do not want, as I stressed, to appear nit picking but if one person learns something from this, then that'll make this review justified. Oh and read the book - its a good one!

                    4 out of 5 stars amateur historian/sociologist.......2006-03-24

                    As an amateur historian/sociologist, I really enjoyed reading this book and seeing my country through an outsider's eyes. Coleman shows Americans to be both quirky and serious in their attitudes toward politics and religion.

                    After an semi-disastrous interview with George Bush for Irish TV, Carol Coleman traveled America's red states to see how religion, or at least religious language has overtaken politics and how politicians have learned to take advantage of the natural religious inclinations of Americans. Coleman's book put me in mind of Alexis de Toqueville, a Frenchman who traveled America in the 1800s to see how democracy worked.

                    Like another Brit, Englishwoman Frances Trollope who wrote a scathing book about America's manners in the 1800s, Coleman keeps her distance as she sheds light on an American phenomenon that non-religious Europeans probably find fascinating and perplexing. Coleman's observations on American's regional and religious attitudes are funny and insightful and "Alleluia America" could go on to become a required read for future American historians.

                    Shorebirds: Beautiful Beachcombers
                    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
                    • Beautiful Pictures and Wonderful Words
                    • A fine book by a fine birder,fine photographer and a fine fellow.
                    • Good Book with Nice Pictures!
                    Shorebirds: Beautiful Beachcombers
                    Arthur Morris
                    Manufacturer: Stackpole Books
                    ProductGroup: Book
                    Binding: Paperback

                    GeneralGeneral | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
                    ReferenceReference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
                    OrnithologyOrnithology | Zoology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
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                    4. Stokes Beginner's Guide to Shorebirds Stokes Beginner's Guide to Shorebirds
                    5. Shorebirds of North America: The Photographic Guide Shorebirds of North America: The Photographic Guide

                    ASIN: 0811726193

                    Book Description

                    A wonderfully illustrated introduction to identifying North American shorebirds: sandpipers, plovers, oystercatchers, turnstones, and dowitchers. Shorebirds offer unique challenges to both beginning and experienced birdwatchers. They're large, forage in the open, and are easy to spot, but their infinitely variable plumage makes them difficult to identify. With beautifully detailed images taken by one of the country's premier bird photographers, this book offers invaluable assistance to those who want to distinguish a yellowlegs from a willet, or a snipe from a dowitcher. It also offers sound advice on how best to observe these fascinating creatures, details on their natural history, and information on how mankind's actions have affected their populations.

                    Customer Reviews:

                    5 out of 5 stars Beautiful Pictures and Wonderful Words.......2006-06-18

                    I truly enjoyed reading this book. The pictures of the shorebirds are fantastic. It is very well written. Morris describes the shorebirds, their behavior and plumage changes very competently. The photographs are of the highest quality and very detailed. It even includes pictures of some shorebird chicks. I didn't expect this quality from an paperback. At $11 it was a bargain.

                    5 out of 5 stars A fine book by a fine birder,fine photographer and a fine fellow........2006-05-24


                    This would be a great addition to any bird book library.While it has only 159 pages, it contains wealth of information on all aspects of Shorebirds. The author is an expert birder and a photographer par excellent. He covers identification,plumages & ageing,behavior,feeding & diet,mating & breeding,eggs & young,migration,species accounts,shorebirdinf,more information and a good itemized list of suggested reading.
                    Then there are the photographs!!!
                    There are 94 absolutely stunning photographs that are as good as any photographs that you will find anywhere. One can only imagine the years of experience that the author has at his command and the endless patience that went into producing the photographs in this book.
                    Arthur Morris was a frequent visitor at Pointe Pelee National Park for several years taking photos.He was very friendly to all who approached him .Although I haven't seen him for awhile,I can only assume he is still plying his skills with the birds.
                    I bought this book from him at Pelee on May 16,1997 and he graciously autographed it and posed with me for a photo.
                    Hope to see you again ,Arthur.

                    4 out of 5 stars Good Book with Nice Pictures!.......2005-06-09

                    Good book that is easy to read with some good descriptions of shorebirds. Very easy to follow and understand...Gives some indepth info but not too much. Pictures are very good, showing some various views of different species. Only thing that would have made this book better would have been range maps that are not included, still a good book and worth the purchase price.
                    The Hummingbird Garden: Turning Your Garden, Window Box, or Backyard into a Beautiful Home for Hummingbirds
                    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
                    • How to attract hummingbirds to your garden
                    The Hummingbird Garden: Turning Your Garden, Window Box, or Backyard into a Beautiful Home for Hummingbirds
                    Mathew Tekulsky
                    Manufacturer: Harvard Common Press
                    ProductGroup: Book
                    Binding: Paperback

                    Garden DesignGarden Design | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
                    GeneralGeneral | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
                    GeneralGeneral | Biology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
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                    Hunting & FishingHunting & Fishing | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books | Fishing | General & Anthologies | Hunting | Shooting
                    GeneralGeneral | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
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                    ASIN: 1558321535

                    Book Description

                    Bird and gardening expert Mathew Tekulsky uncovers the simple steps any gardener can take to attract and enjoy one of nature's most beautiful creatures. He introduces the reader to hummingbird habits and reveals the regions where they live and migrate.

                    Customer Reviews:

                    5 out of 5 stars How to attract hummingbirds to your garden.......2002-11-10


                    The author, Mathew Tekulsky, is enthusiastic about hummingbirds, and his enthusiasm comes through in his word pistures of these little butterflies of the bird world whose wings beat so fast that they are invisible, like the blades of an airplane propeller.

                    Let Mathew tell you how to attract them to your garden! The book is devoted single-mindedly to hummingbirds, how to make them welcome in your garden, and how to cultivate the flowers and other plants that will bring them in and grace your garden with the beautiful little creatures.

                    This is a wonderful book for your horticultural library, as well as a great source of information on hummingbirds.

                    Joseph Pierre

                    Hawaii's Beautiful Birds
                    Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
                    • A charming introduction to Hawai'i's birds
                    Hawaii's Beautiful Birds
                    H. Douglas Pratt , and Jack Jeffrey
                    Manufacturer: Mutual Publishing
                    ProductGroup: Book
                    Binding: Paperback

                    GeneralGeneral | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
                    ReferenceReference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
                    OrnithologyOrnithology | Zoology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
                    jp-unknown2jp-unknown2 | Specialty Stores | Books
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                    ASIN: 1566471206

                    Book Description

                    A photographic guide to the beautiful avian inhabitants of the islands, their habitat and their behavior. Featuring full-color photographs of over 100 species, with an informative text by H. Douglas Pratt, author of Enjoying Birds and Other Wildlife in Hawaii and noted birding tour leader.

                    Customer Reviews:

                    4 out of 5 stars A charming introduction to Hawai'i's birds.......1999-07-11

                    This book is best for casual birders who want to know about Hawai'i's ramarkable avifauna, but for whom birds are not the primary focus of their trip. Written in a straightforward interesting style, the book gives an overview of native and introduced birds, with some history about how the native birds have been decimated by human interference. Jack Jeffrey's photographs are breathtaking. Pratt, no mean photographer himself, has teamed with a true master of avian photography to produce a lovely little book.
                    Beautiful Birds (Beautiful)
                    Average customer rating: Not rated
                      Beautiful Birds (Beautiful)
                      Phil Hockey
                      Manufacturer: Struik Publishers
                      ProductGroup: Book
                      Binding: Paperback

                      Collections, Catalogues & ExhibitionsCollections, Catalogues & Exhibitions | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
                      BirdwatchingBirdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books | Excursion Guides | Field Guides | General
                      OrnithologyOrnithology | Zoology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
                      ASIN: 1868257282
                      The Beautiful Birds of Seychelles
                      Average customer rating: Not rated
                        The Beautiful Birds of Seychelles
                        Adrian Skerrett
                        Manufacturer: Camerapix
                        ProductGroup: Book
                        Binding: Paperback

                        Collections, Catalogues & ExhibitionsCollections, Catalogues & Exhibitions | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
                        BirdwatchingBirdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books | Excursion Guides | Field Guides | General
                        OrnithologyOrnithology | Zoology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
                        ASIN: 1874041709
                        Beautiful Birdwatching
                        Average customer rating: Not rated
                          Beautiful Birdwatching
                          Dorothy R. White
                          Manufacturer: Vantage Press
                          ProductGroup: Book
                          Binding: Hardcover

                          BirdsBirds | Field Guides | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
                          GeneralGeneral | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
                          ASIN: 0533067375
                          Coastal Birds: A Guide to Birds of Maine's Beautiful Coastline (Maine Geographic)
                          Average customer rating: Not rated
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                            Delorme , and Al Kidwell
                            Manufacturer: Delorme
                            ProductGroup: Book
                            Binding: Paperback

                            GeneralGeneral | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
                            ReferenceReference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
                            ASIN: 0899330525
                            How Peacocks Got Their Long and Beautiful Feathers
                            Average customer rating: Not rated
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                              Mariama N. Orange
                              Manufacturer: Creating Worlds Publishing Company
                              ProductGroup: Book
                              Binding: Paperback

                              Children's BooksChildren's Books | Subjects | Books | Baby-3 | Ages 4-8 | Ages 9-12 | Animals | Arts & Music | Books on Cassette | Books on CD | Authors & Illustrators, A-Z | Computers | Educational | History & Historical Fiction | Issues | Literature | Obsessions | People & Places | Popular Characters | Reference & Nonfiction | Religions | Science, Nature & How It Works | Series | Sports & Activities | Audiobooks
                              GeneralGeneral | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
                              ASIN: 0966960009
                              The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman's Fight to Save the World's Most Beautiful Bird
                              Average customer rating: Not rated
                                The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman's Fight to Save the World's Most Beautiful Bird
                                Bruce Barcott
                                Manufacturer: Random House
                                ProductGroup: Book
                                Binding: Hardcover

                                BirdsBirds | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
                                GeneralGeneral | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
                                ConservationConservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
                                GeneralGeneral | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
                                Endangered SpeciesEndangered Species | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
                                GeneralGeneral | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
                                ASIN: 1400062934
                                Release Date: 2008-02-05
                                Birds, Bright and Beautiful 2002 Calendar
                                Average customer rating: Not rated
                                  Birds, Bright and Beautiful 2002 Calendar

                                  Manufacturer: Thirteen Squared
                                  ProductGroup: Book
                                  Binding: Calendar

                                  CalendarsCalendars | Formats | Books | Block Calendars | Engagement Calendars | Advent | Animals | Architecture | Arts | Astrological | Automotive | Boats & Ships | Business | Children's | Cooking | Crafts | Diet & Health | Family & Relationships | Flowers | Foreign Language | Games | Garden & Home | General | History | Humor & Comics | Inspirational | Lighthouses | Maps | Movies | Multicultural | Music | Nature | Photography | Pop Culture | Quotations | Readers & Writers | Regional | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Sports | Television | Trains | Women's Interest
                                  GeneralGeneral | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
                                  ASIN: 1931298033

                                  Book Description

                                  Colorful and unique birds are shown in their natural habitats in this look at nature's finely-feathered friends.

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                                  4. Secrets Of A Gay Marine Porn Star
                                  5. Shadowplay: The Hidden Beliefs and Coded Politics of William Shakespeare
                                  6. Son Of The Rough South: An Uncivil Memoir
                                  7. Soul on Ice
                                  8. Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited
                                  9. STOLEN LIVES: MY FAMILY'S TWENTY-YEAR STRUGGLE IN A DESERT JAIL (Oprah's Book Club)
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