Book Description
When Carol Drinkwater and her fiancé, Michel, are given the opportunity to purchase ten acres of an abandoned olive farm in the South of France, they find the region's splendor impossible to resist. Using their entire savings as a down payment, the couple embark on an adventure that brings them in contact with the charming countryside of Provence, its querulous personalities, petty bureaucracies, and extraordinary wildlife. From the glamour of Cannes and the Isles of Lérins to the charm of her own small plot of land-which she transforms from overgrown weeds into a thriving farm-Drinkwater triumphantly relates how she realized her dream of a peaceful, meaningful life.
"A fantasy come true, as it will be for many of the readers who yearn to experience the magic of southern France." (Austin Chronicle)
"Good-humored and well written." (The Washington Post Book World)
"Following [Drinkwater's] engaging story is like driving the hairpin turns that climb the hills above the French Riviera: the views are breathtaking, the blind curves frightening, and the safe arrival to the top a joyous relief." (Library Journal)
Customer Reviews:
Delightful Read.......2007-01-29
The other night I was listening to an audio commentary which featured Robert Hardy and Carol Drinkwater. During the commentary Carol mentioned she had authored a series of books about she and her husbands experience rennovating/operating an olive farm in the south of France. Intriged by what Carol had said I checked the first book "The Olive Farm" out from the public library and began to read. First of all I must say the book is a delightful read. Carol has the ability to communicate on paper in the form of easy conversation, as two friends would have over a cup of tea. You will laugh and cry along with Carol as you read her story of restoring "Appassionata" to its former glory. I would love to see the BBC make a television series out of her books, they are a total delight!
Helen Harriot goes south.......2006-11-11
This is a wonderful book. If you have ever dreamed of running off and creating a brand new life filled with love, laughter and more than a few bumps along the way then this is a book that you'll love. In fact, I recommend all her books-they are that good.
Lyrical Tribute to Life in Cannes.......2006-07-05
The Olive Farm is a well-executed memoir in the fashion of Under the Tuscan Sun and A Year in Provence. In it, actress Carol Drinkwater and her fiance, Michel, a film producer, impetuously purchase a rundown olive farm in the south of France and begin the process of restoring it to comfort and fecundity.
This memoir will not disappoint-- Carol and her fiance face the difficulties of limited finances, needed repairs well in excess of initial estimates, and frustrations with the local workforce. All of these, of course, are transcended by the satisfactions of nursing the olive trees into production and the triumphs of beginning to restore the farmhouse to its previous grandeur.
This ground has been trodden before, but Carol Drinkwater tells her tale engagingly, drawing likable portraits of her family, friends and neighbors in Cannes. Sit back, relax and enjoy the journey to Drinkwater's Cannes.
The Olive Farm: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Olive Oil in the South of France.......2006-02-22
Ms Drinkwater writes a uncomplicated and enjoyable tale of her adventures in old houses,the French, olive oil and love. She brings the same pleasantness to the written word that she did to the small screen in All Creatures Great and Small.
More than just the South of France and Olives!.......2004-09-27
Initially, this book caught my eye because the story takes place in the French town where I was born and raised.
While I found interesting and informative to re-discover my hometown through the eyes of the writer, I was totally captured by the many sides to this book: the story about a foreigner adapting to a different culture (which I can relate to, having made my home in the USA...), a international love story between a French man and an English woman (I am French and my husband American), the author learning to become a stepmother, the huge task of nursing back to life a beautiful property which had been abandoned by its previous owners....
There are lots of stories within the main story... All so well written, I lost track of time a lot while reading this book...
I also, through her descriptions, recognized some of the characters!! (small town... VERY small town!!)
It was a true feast and I am ordering the sequel as soon as I am finished writing this review!!
Get this book, it will literally absorb you into its own world... Getting a glimpse of the South of France without leaving your armchair should be enticing enough... I could smell the lavender in the breeze, hear the ciccadas, and almost taste the local foods I so miss here in the US...
I recommend it to you all without any reservation!
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War and Democracy: A Comparative Study of the Korean War and the Peloponnesian War (An East Gate Book)
Manufacturer: East Gate Book
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ASIN: 0765606941 |
Customer Reviews:
Historical explanation of the rise of Big Government.......2001-01-23
No book details the historical relationship between big business and the Federal government better than this one. Though confined merely to the so-called Progressive Era in American history (1901-1914), Kolko manages to overturn all the misconceptions about the formation of government regulation in America. Instead of accepting the standard view that federal regulation of business was inspired by the Progressive intellectuals and activist political leaders eager to put a check on the rising power of big business, Kolko shows that it was really inspired by the drive of businessman to limit competition and bring "stability" into the market. The result is what Kolko calls, appropriately enough, "political capitalism." Some earlier reviews have attempted to draw an ideological lesson from this book. This is a mistake. If there is a lesson to be drawn from Kolko's work, it is the failure of all ideologies (whether from the right, left, or center) to adequately explain the rise of political capitalism in America. Both the right and the left share the common assumption that government regulation hurts big business. Kolko proves that this isn't the case, that Big Business is in favor of regulation and the throttling of competition. Kolko's book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand what capitalism and politics is really all about.
Dispels myths about American business history.......2001-01-07
In this reinterpretation of the Progressive Era, Gabriel Kolko marshalls a host of historical sources from the National Archives, the Library of Congress and other great outposts of scholarship to advance a bold thesis: that the Progressive Era was a "triumph of conservatism," the business reforms of the time having been fought for and shaped by not only the reformers but also the very business interests that were to be regulated. Kolko is a socialist, and his case is actually more radical than I have indicated. But it is his dispelling of many widely believed myths that I find the most enticing.
Take the "merger movement" at the turn of last century. It was and is popularly believed that competition was at an all-time low, monopoly an all-time high and Theodore Roosevelt's trust-busting the necessary and proper response. But Kolko proves this conventional belief false. In case studies of the big powerhouse industries of the time, he shows that, in spite of (or because of) the merger movement, they were more competitive than they had ever been. Whether the industry was steel, oil, automobiles, agricultural machinery, telephones, copper or meat-packing--Kolko's conclusion is the same: mergers, if anything, decreased companies' efficiency relative to their competitors. In the new century's first decade, the total number of competing firms in each industry grew; market shares of the dominant players, meanwhile, shrunk. As Kolko states, "There was *more* competition, and profits, if anything, declined. Most contemporary economists and many smaller businessmen failed to appreciate this fact, and historians have probably failed to recognize it altogether" (emphasis Kolko's).
The stage thus set by the failure of the merger movement, Kolko moves on to the myth that Progressive Era reforms were uniformly or even predominantly opposed by their affected industries. The key is to realize that, economic strategies like corporate consolidation having failed, companies turned to political strategies to freeze the status quo or to gain new competitive advantages. As Kolko states, "the essential purpose and goal of any measure of importance in the Progressive Era was not merely endorsed by key representatives of businesses involved; rather such bills were first proposed by them." Food companies, for example, wanted the Food and Drug Act so that they could turn its regulations against their competitors (e.g., oleo versus butter). Big meat packers desired to save their industry from tainted meat, which hurt business, but were unable to ensure the quality of small packers' meat and unwilling to pay for independent meat inspection--so they themselves initiated the meat inspection movement, lobbied for and won passage of the Meat Inspection Act, thereby forcing inspection onto the industry and its costs onto the federal government. As for the Federal Reserve Act, it was the product of a banking reform movement "initiated and sustained" by big bankers who sought to protect themselves from small bank competition. The Clayton Antitrust Act and the Federal Reserve Act? Most businessmen supported them to better protect themselves from antitrust prosecution under the Sherman Act's vague provisions or (among smaller businesses) to gain such advantages as enforced "fair trade price-fixing." Thus, Kolko shows that whether for protection from competition or from the government, businesses themselves initiated or shaped these Progressive Era reforms and others that most Americans regard as being part of an anti-business (or at least not pro-business) reform movement.
This book will fascinate students of American business and reform history. Ironically, given Kolko's philosophical disposition, even ardent pro-capitalists should relish it. That audience will likely be reminded of Burton W. Folsom's distinction, in his eye-opening *Myth of the Robber Barons*, between "market entrepreneurs" and "political entrepreneurs." Dominick Armentano's *Antitrust and Monopoly: Anatomy of a Policy Failure*, a work of heavier scholarship, may also be recalled to mind. His thesis that antitrust laws, even when not passed unequivocally to benefit special business interests, have "solved" nonexistent problems (and caused a few real ones) and should be repealed is entirely confirmed by Kolko's *Triumph of Conservatism*, which Armentano even cites in support (in addition to another of Kolko's works, on railroad regulations).
Turgid writing, and rampantly revisionist.......2000-10-18
Anyone without a firm grip of economic theory and, more importantly, economic vocabularly will struggle with this rather turgid book. However, if you can deal with the writing style, and are interested in progressivism, Kolko certainly gives a good negative reference point at the extreme end of the historiographical spectrum.
Revolutionary, but naive.......1999-05-11
Gabriel Kolko's book is a fun read, which if you know little about the Progressive Era will be very enlightening. The major critique I have of this book is its naive conclusion that business worked together as class, that there was one opinion across the board. This is ridiculous. If you enjoy this period read this book, but read Colin Gordon's book, New Deals to be a little more complete.
A rare book- close looks at history that change minds.......1999-03-04
I have read a good many books in my day- and economics books are my forte- but once in a while one comes along that truly are usefull in the rhetorical war that is politics. This is one of those books.
The author makes the excellent point of the real history of the age that changed the lives of the American worker the most. By showing that business was the major progressive force of change, he puts to rest the notions that the era's mounting social capitol were hard won gains by progressive forces.
This book is central to the argument that the trrue revolutionary forces that have become mete and standard throughout the ages have come from the most revolutionary force in history- that of capitalism.
Book Description
Jules Tygiel’s biography of Ronald Reagan engages students with the compelling story of the man who went from Hollywood actor to President of the United States. This balanced biography considers both the accomplishments and failures of Reagan’s presidency, as well as the contested legacy of his political career even after his death. Incorporating the latest scholarship, Ronald Reagan and the Triumph of American Conservatism examines Reagan both as an individual and in the larger context of the conservative movement.
Customer Reviews:
Must-Read for Conservatives.......2005-01-26
Dr. Jules Tygiel uses simple, forthright prose to assess the accomplishments and evaluate the legacy of one of America's most popular presidents.His admiration for Ronald Reagan's political skills is fairly balanced with his reservations about some of the unfinished business of the two-term administration.This is a book for general readers, not scholars. There are no footnotes and only a brief bibliography, but the tenor of the text is factual and earnest, rather than fanciful and laudatory. All admirers of the 40th President will surely want to read this concise, stylishly-written biography in order to preview the judgements of future generations of historians concerning Ronald Reagan.
Average customer rating:
- the right bashes itself
- A balanced, needed book on California and US politics.
- A balanced, needed book on California and US politics.
- quality history
- Directly from the mouth of satan
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Triumph of the Right: The Rise of the California Conservative Movement, 1945-1966 (Right Wing in America)
Kurt Schuparra
Manufacturer: M.E. Sharpe
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0765602776 |
Customer Reviews:
the right bashes itself.......1999-09-16
Leave it to 'lsifer@yahoo.com' to do his own conservative-bashing - urging the assassination of its political opponents is just the kind of thing the right deserves to get bashed for.
A balanced, needed book on California and US politics........1999-04-15
Kurt Schuparra has given many hot-button political figures a detached, centrist evaluation that will be helpful to anyone interested in the impact that the organized right wing has had on national politics. He touches on all of the important issues in less than 160 pages, and provides reasonable judgements on numerous scholarly questions without engaging in extended obtuse debate. Liberals and conservatives both will find a few arguments with Schuparra-- a sign of his independent relevance-- but each should find his consideration of an overdue topic helpful.
A balanced, needed book on California and US politics........1999-04-15
Kurt Schuparra has given many hot-button political figures a detached, centrist evaluation that will be helpful to anyone interested in the impact that the organized right wing has had on national politics. He touches on all of the important issues in less than 160 pages, and provides reasonable judgements on numerous scholarly questions without engaging in extended obtuse debate. Liberals and conservatives both will find a few arguments with Schuparra-- a sign of his independent relevance-- but each should find his consideration of an overdue topic helpful.
quality history.......1998-09-05
I found this book entertaining and informative. Contrary to the biased rantings of revisionist idealogues, I believe that Schuparra is more than fair to the father of the modern conservative movement.
Schuparra pinpoints a critical point in US political history and tracks the development of the nascent political ideology that one day will take over national government.
I enjoy good, well written history and I certainly enjoyed this book. It is extremely well written and highly entertaining.
Unless you refuse to use your left hand for fear of its revolutionary tendencies, as some of the other reviewers seem to, you will absolutely enjoy this book.
Directly from the mouth of satan.......1998-08-29
I read this book and was appalled at the blatant conservative-bashing and simple minded liberal hogwash - but what can you expect from some Labor hack that suckles at the teat of the taxpayers.
The book started out great but immediately disressed into liberal fantasies of right-wing obstructionism of the democratic process.
All I have to say is that if Barry Goldwater had won in 1964, this guy would have been the first against the wall.
Average customer rating:
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British Government: The Triumph of Elitism : A Study of the British Political Tradition and Its Major Challenges
Tony Tant , and
A. P. Tant
Manufacturer: Dartmouth Pub Co
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ASIN: 1855212099 |
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How Great the Triumph
Kevin J. Smant
Manufacturer: University Press of America
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0819184632 |
Book Description
James Burnham began his intellectual career in the 1930s as a Trotskyist. However, world events and his personal experiences within the Trotskyist movement convinced him that all forms of Marxism must be totalitarian, and he left the world of Marxism in 1940. This book focuses especially upon Mr. Burnham's career as a senior editor with William F. Buckley, Jr.'s "National Review", putting him within the context of the conservative intellectual movement as a whole. Burnham, despite what he called his "hard" anticommunist public stance, served as a moderating pragmatic force within "National Review" and American conservatism. He urged fellow conservatives to accept a minimum welfare state, to work within the established two-party system, and to adopt a tough but realistic foreign policy. Contents: From Left to ?; Lenin's Heir and Beyond; Burning His Bridges; Whither Conservatism?; The Ideology of Western Suicide; Sectarian and Doctrinaire Clannishness; Mr. Burnham; Epilogue; Selected Bibliography.
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Arnie and a Housefull of Company
Margarete Sigl Corbo , and
Diane Marie Barras
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin (T)
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0395381673 |
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- The Treehouse: Eccentric Wisdom from My Father on How to Live, Love, and See
- Trickster Travels: A Sixteenth-Century Muslim Between Worlds
- Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
- Walking Taylor Home
- We Are All the Same: A Story of a Boy's Courage and a Mother's Love
- When All the World Was Young: A Memoir
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