The Painted Bird (Kosinski, Jerzy)

Amazon.com

Many writers have portrayed the cruelty people inflict upon each other in the name of war or ideology or garden-variety hate, but few books will surpass Kosinski's first novel, The Painted Bird, for the sheer creepiness in its savagery. The story follows an abandoned young boy who wanders alone through the frozen bogs and broken towns of Eastern Europe during and after World War II, trying to survive. His experiences and actions occur at and beyond the limits of what might be called humanity, but Kosinski never averts his eyes, nor allows us to.

Book Description

Originally published in 1965, The Painted Bird established Jerzy Kosinski as a major literary figure. Kosinski's story follows a dark-haired, olive-skinned boy, abandoned by his parents during World War II, as he wanders alone from one village to another, sometimes hounded and tortured, only rarely sheltered and cared for. Through the juxtaposition of adolescence and the most brutal of adult experiences, Kosinski sums up a Bosch-like world of harrowing excess where senseless violence and untempered hatred are the norm. Through sparse prose and vivid imagery, Kosinski's novel is a story of mythic proportion, even more relevant to today's society than it was upon its original publication.

Customer Reviews:

Violence is real, and literature reflects life in this case........2007-10-10

I have taken the time to read several reviews of this book. Some people seem to "get" it and others seem to think it's nothing more than some excuse to write "perversion" (how many classics were called perversions during the era in which they were written, I wonder? The answer; more than I care to count. )

Face it people. Life is violent. War is NOT pretty, nor are the effects of it. I do not much care if Kosinksi made up every scene in the book from his imagination and/or studies of the effects of war, or if he did live some of it. This sort of horror happens EVERY DAY in the real world to those caught in a country ravaged by violence. Don't believe me? Watch the world news. Go do some research. Even if he did "make this up" he didn't "make it up". I give the guy props (in his grave or not) for having the BALLS to write the gritty, nasty details of the horror that is war which many people are too cowardly to admit is -reality-. So much for the noblity of the struggles of war, eh? This is how it goes down for the little folks. This is what it does to people. These are the depths that humanity WILL and have lowered themselves to for survival's sake and for the base, cruel nature that lurks within humanity. It's not pretty. It's not nice. It's not "fun" to read but it should at least change your view on the world around you and how it is, has been, and probably always will be violence hidden under a golden, glittering surface created by the media and less gutsy authors into making you think everything is for a noble cause.

A Terribly Beautiful Fiction.......2007-09-03

Jerzy Kosinski's The Painted Bird is, as other reviewers have noted, an unrelenting meditation on violence as it is filtered through the strange, superstitious world of Eastern European Peasant society. Although the time frame deals specifically with the years between 1939-45, the setting seems ancient (as opposed to merely backward) and often mythic. Thus, what some see as an uninterrupted string of grotesque brutalities is, in actuality, a fictionalized world that posseses greater dimensions. The unnamed "hero" of the novel--a dark-haired adolescent boy who may be a Gyspy or a Jew--emerges as a young everyman trying to find his way in a world that does not accept or understand difference. In classic bildungsroman formula, his adventures not only place him in the way of physical danger; they enable him to formulate his slowly-evolving theories of God and existence.

Two of the main charges against the book (at least in the reviews here) are as follows: 1) The events did not really happen to the novelist and are a product of an imaginative--and perverse--mind; 2) The author sought help with style and organization from other people and then affixed his name alone to the title.

With regards to the first charge, Koskinski himself explains in the book's afterword (published 10 years after the first edition) that the events are invented. He explains quite clearly that he wished to create a novel. It was through the fictive experience that he felt he commuunicate the truths orf the holocaust more humanely. That aside, the events recorded are a synthesis of observation, study, and personal experience.

With regards to the second charge, plenty of authors (especially ones struggling, like Kosinski, to write in a foreign language) have sought the expertise of editors, etc...

Most of the animosity towards the book seems, in fact, misdirected rage towards the unrelenting violence in the book. The writing succeeds, however, because, as Anais Nin has astutely noted: "It surpasses most of the books in which experience of terror and physical cruelty are told because by the great beauty of its style, it lifts the entire epxerience to philosophic, mythological realms of knowledge."

Brutal and Brilliant........2007-08-18

I have just revisited this book, having read it first as a teenager and was astounded once again by its potency, both as a story, and as a terrifying inditement of human nature. In view of increasing world conflict in the post world war era, this book is more relevant than ever.

A Hoax, but does that matter?.......2007-04-30

From the "cut-rate Elie Wiesel", Kosinski's own description of himself. Does it matter that this is a hoax manufactured from whole cloth? Apparently not. Feeds existing prejudices and so is welcomed as a revelation. Here's to Mr. Holocaust, Jr., the Sr. title having been appropriated by that lachrymose pseudo-saint Mr. Weisel.

History is replete with examples of man's inhumanity to man. Claims of this book being "semi-autobiographical" have been shown to be entirely false. Kosinski is just another of the feeders-at-the-trough of the Holocaust Industry.

The truth is quite horrible enough. Why then the hoaxes like the book at hand and "Fragments"?

See The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering, New Edition for a critical and honest evaluation of the duplicity embodied by this and similar books seeking to exploit for personal financial and political advantage. Those who think this book is within the bounds of decency may wish to seek out that now out-of-print other hoax "Fragments".

A Tour de Torture.......2007-03-29

I read Kosinski's masterpiece on the recommendation of someone who was reviewing Beah's "A Long Way Gone"--remarkable similarities between the two though one is fiction and the other memoir, one takes place in Europe WWII and the other a civil war in Sierra Leone. In this particular edition (1976), Kosinski added a fine afterward which is a must read. Though fiction, this work is fact-based. Also, though Kosinski never names the country of his setting, one can guess it must be Poland. Apparently, the Polish government recognized it also since they banned the book in that country, citing it as a serious insult to the humanity of the Polish peasant society. After reading the afterward and the story, I can only conclude if the shoe fits...

Still, there were a few things I thought to be unrealistic. Kosinski's ten-year-old protagonist is made to undergo some unspeakable tortures, tortures that would have reduced an ordinary kid to a psychological bowl of mush. Yet somehow this kid always pulls through, packing up his comet only at the last minute and heading into the Polish hinterland to rough it until he can hook up with his next tormentor. It got so bad that I began to look for parallels with Dante's Inferno. It seemed that each new torture was worse than the last, designed to atone for some imaginary sin that this innocent boy had committed. Dante borrowed from Greek mythology to formulate his keepers of hell--I wonder where Kosinski drafted his?

The damage to the boy only became apparent at war's end when he was placed in an orphanage. There he found himself in a community of similar victims his own age. The war was over, the peasants were safely locked outside the city, yet the cruelty went on, and on, and on. The gang-rape scene of the teacher was particularly poignant. Somehow the protagonist regained his humanity--at least I believe that was what Kosinski signaled his reader when the boy regained his faculty--though I never was sure how. Maybe his message was that immersed in evil a good child can be made to mimic evil--if for no other reason than survival--but when that need becomes obsolete, eventually his true nature will reemerge.

--Ejner Fulsang, author of "A Knavish Piece of Work" Aarhus Publishing 2006

Great Britain (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

Average customer rating:

GREAT travel guide for Great Britain!
Great for London Town and Trips From There...
Worn it out with several trips, but still haven't tapped it's full potential
Lotsa pretty pictures!
Great Guide

Great Britain (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

Manufacturer: DK Travel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Travel | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0789493853

Amazon.com

You'd be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive, engrossing, and just plain fun-to-read guidebook than the Eyewitness Travel Guide: Great Britain. Spilling over with all sorts of useful information for the traveler, you'll find three-dimensional drawings, floor plans, and detailed neighborhood maps, as well as timelines, charts, and even popular bus routes. Broken into several sections--"Introducing Great Britain," "Region by Region" (including London and environs, Scotland, and Wales), "Traveler's Needs," and "Survival Guide"--the guide paints a complete picture of the country. Readers will especially appreciate the hundreds of color photos of everything from London's double-decker buses to the ancient formations at Stonehenge. You'll also find street-by-street illustrated city walks (Covent Garden, Westminster), as well as scenic hikes in the Scottish highlands and the Lake District, with plenty of listings for inns and fish-and-chip taverns along the way. --Jill Fergus

Book Description

Eyewitness Travel Guides are the original illustrated travel guidebooks-and they're still the best. Since 1993, the Eyewitness brand has established itself as one of the industry leaders, with sales of more than 6.5 million copies in the U.S. alone. Featuring more than 70 worldwide destinations, new titles are being added to the best-selling Eyewitness Travel Guides series each year. In 2003, to mark the 10th anniversary of the publication of Eyewitness Travel Guides, DK is re-launching the entire series, fully updated, and with a brand-new look.

Customer Reviews:

GREAT travel guide for Great Britain!.......2007-08-13

I recently spent 8.5 weeks in Great Britain, and I bought this book to help me plan out my trip... places I wanted to visit, particular sights I wanted to see, etc. It was perfect! The pages are filled with pictures and valuable information, making it very appealing to read - unlike many other tour books that are simply filled with text. This book also includes maps of many cities and city centres, which I found extremely helpful in the places I visited. A great guide all around!

Great for London Town and Trips From There..........2007-04-28

We used this guide to plan a week in London which included trips to outlying places... Oxford, Windsor, Sussex. It was a big help while we were there but more than that, it was also a great "dream and drool" wish book, for the places we saw and those we hope some day to see.

The size is doable as a take-along guide, but perhaps best left in one's room and then consulted before each excursion (it is a tad heavy in the purse or backpack). But then again there is nothing like having the cut away perspective drawings of places like Westminster Abbey to add to the enjoyment of a visit. Ditto the National Gallery cut-away.

The London maps and street finder are very good. The section on the River View of London prompted us to take a river tour our first late-afternoon there and it gave us excellent sense of direction for where the landmarks were throughout our visit (even tho we ventured to them by tube).

Maps, photos, drawings, facts, all are first rate.

Worn it out with several trips, but still haven't tapped it's full potential.......2007-03-19

We've used this guide book for:
- Two trips to Scotland;
- Multiple trips to London and surrounding areas, both for business and pleasure;
- A recent trip to Oxford, with side trips to the Cotswolds, Windsor Castle et al.

For sites to see, the DK guide books have excellent maps, points of interest and "star sights", their recommendation of places you must see. I've found their Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral sections in this book particularly well done, and the coverage of London plus maps have prevented us from having to purchase a separate London guide. The Blenheim Palace, Oxford University and Cotswolds section were very helpful on this last go round. Recommendation on places to stop and things to see in Scotland saved the day on a long road trip from Glasgow up Loch Ness, over to Perth, finishing in Edinburgh...the stop for sheep shearing save my kids and my sanity.

One site recommendation that was oversold in the book was the hillside chalk figures in the Vale of the White Horse (Thames Valley)...interesting history, not much to see.

The recommendations on eateries and hotels are well done, we've used them for Scotland and London. In Oxford, we stayed at the wonderful Remont B&B, which is not listed in the version of the guide we have but may and should be listed in new/future versions.

We will wear this guide out on future trips.

Lotsa pretty pictures!.......2007-03-08

Excellent. Same quality content as the Fodder's guides, but with so many more illustrations, maps, etc.

Great Guide.......2007-01-19

This product exceeded my expectations, in its readability and quality. The book itself has thick pages and a nice laminated cover (not much of a pocket size though, and heavy). The illustrations, including the street maps broken down into neighborhoods are beautiful and easy to understand. The text and background is informative and concise, making a interesting reading experience even if you are not traveling to the UK.

I did not get alot out of the hotel and restaurant guide however, I think it should be supplemented with other information about hotels and restaurants, which is easy to find on the internet.

I suggest this book to anyone who is going, or wishes they were going, to the UK, especially England.

Average customer rating:

A good read for kids and youth
A Wonderful Read Aloud Book
A good book but kind of slow by Callum Cotter aged 10
Interesting , very interesting
Ok but not an adventure. By Lucy O'Driscoll

The Wheel on the School
Meindert Dejong
Manufacturer: HarperTrophy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0064400212

Book Description

Why do the storks no longer come to the little Dutch fishing village of Shora to nest? It was Lina, one of the six schoolchildren who first asked the question, and she set the others to wondering. And sometimes when you begin to wonder, you begin to make things happen. So the children set out to bring the storks back to Shora. The force of their vision put the whole village to work until at last the dream began to come true.

Winner, 1955 Newbery Medal
Notable Children's Books of 1940-1970 (ALA)
1963 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award

Customer Reviews:

A good read for kids and youth.......2007-07-30

I loved this book as a child and I am so looking forward to reading it with my own kids.

A Wonderful Read Aloud Book.......2007-02-15

[...]It lacks all the typical hooks and gimmicks prevalent in much of today's fiction for children.
This is real literature. It's beautifully written. The writer, Meindert DeJong, is logical, witty and sensitive.
I just finished reading "The Wheel on the School" aloud to my eleven year old daughter. My 16 year old son often sat down and listened. They both liked this book very much. "The Wheel on the School" may be especially enjoyed read aloud. It hasn't a plot that will sound "interesting" to many media-fed, contemporary young people, but it's less the subject than how it is treated that makes this book so entertaining. If you are looking for a book to read aloud, this one has many of the ideal criterium: It is, because of it's non-splashy premise, a book kids might not automatically pick-up, it's beautifully written, full of entertaining voices and characters and it's complex yet clearly written. All together perfect.
Literate Parents, I think you and your family will enjoy this one.

A good book but kind of slow by Callum Cotter aged 10.......2005-11-02

The Wheel on the School is has a great message about how people working together and never giving up can get things done, but it's a bit hard to read and has no action.

Interesting , very interesting.......2005-10-24

The wheel on the school is a story that would make me and my friends to work together. It is about 6 children from a fishing village called Shora. A girl called Lina starts the adventure with a little piece about storks and that's when the fun begins. I especially liked the bit where Jells tries to get the wheel from a farmer and then the farmer sees him and ow. that is one sore ear for Jella!

Ok but not an adventure. By Lucy O'Driscoll.......2005-10-20

The Wheel on the School had a great message,that if everybody sticks together then we can do great things.But unfortunately that message was brought to us very slowly and with no adventure.I think it is a good learning opportunity.

Pocket Guide to the Birds of Britain and North-West Europe

Average customer rating:

Wagtails and Jackdraws
Perfect size
Pocket Guide to the Birds of Britain and North-west Europe.
Pocket Guide to the Birds of Britain and North-West Europe
Please let them publish one for North America!

Pocket Guide to the Birds of Britain and North-West Europe
Chris Kightley , and Steve Madge
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0300074557

Book Description

This invaluable book is the ultimate pocket guide to the birds of Britain and north-west Europe. Covering birds of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands, Britain, and Ireland, it describes 386 species, including all breeding species and all regular and scarce migrants.

The definitive and accurate text highlights the key features that are required to make quick and safe identification. Almost every species is illustrated with a plate and all plumages regularly seen in the region are depicted. Similar species are compared to scale on double-page spreads as an aid to identification. Numerous maps are also included.

Copublished with Pica Press

Customer Reviews:

Wagtails and Jackdraws.......2006-11-06

I went to Germany this past summer and saw many birds I could not identify. Upon returning I searched online for birding guides that covered Germany, and this one showed up many times as being recommended, so I bought it.

The guide is wonderful with lots of high-quality color illustrations and descriptions of birds and their geographical habitats by season, and for some birds includes stage of life. It covers North-West Europe with a focus on Britain and Ireland, so when I return to Europe I'll be sure to bring this guide!

Perfect size.......2006-03-22

This is a very nice field guide. I especially like the indexes on the inside of the front and back cover. All field guides should be like this. It sure saves a lot of searching in the alphabetical indexes and eliminates all the post it markers I use in my other field guides. Will be going to Britain in several weeks and looking forward to getting a few lifers.Not the most detailed of guides but perfect for traveling.

Pocket Guide to the Birds of Britain and North-west Europe........2001-07-27

I checked this book out of the library prior to a trip to London, and now I'm going to buy a copy for my library. This is such a well laid out book, and the perfect size for the field. The information on the covers is particularly nice, with black and white illustrations of members of all the families so that you can quickly determine where in the guide to look for details. This is very helpful because there are many unfamiliar birds there that don't fit into the categories of birds we're used to in the states. And right inside the front cover is a color-coded index to help you quickly get to the section you need. I also liked the interesting facts about the birds that you don't see in many field guides. If you need a guide to birds for this area, this is definitely the one to have!

Pocket Guide to the Birds of Britain and North-West Europe.......2001-06-16

I ordered this book for a trip to Northern Germany and really lucked out. I read previous reviews, liked the format and size and gave it a shot. It was perfect for my needs. I recommend it highly.

Please let them publish one for North America!.......2001-05-23

Before our vacation in Denmark this month, I purchased this guide and based my selection on the 2 previous reviews and its small size. Boy, did I get lucky! This is one great field guide! Not only is all the pertinent information for each species located on one page, but that one page is also full of all sorts of interesting items (such as behaviors and flight patterns), written and/or pictured. If the authors would compile a similar guide for our North American species, it would surely replace my almost-worn-out National Geographic (my previous favorite)!

Hiroshima's Shadow (Writings on the Denial of History & the Smithsonian Controversy)

Average customer rating:

A delightfully nutty perspective
Hiroshima's Shadows presents voices from all sides
Hiroshima's Shadows presents voices from all sides
The most comprehensive and balanced account to date.

Hiroshima's Shadow (Writings on the Denial of History & the Smithsonian Controversy)

Manufacturer: Pamphleteer's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Japan | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

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The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb
Hiroshima in America
The Manhattan Project: A Documentary Introduction to the Atomic Age
Hiroshima: Why America Dropped the Atomic Bomb
The Nuclear Borderlands: The Manhattan Project in Post-Cold War New Mexico

ASIN: 0963058738

Customer Reviews:

A delightfully nutty perspective.......1998-11-20

I am reading this book, so I thought I'd check to see what others have said about it. As I expected, the reviews online come from cheerleaders of the revisionist camp. Personally, I find the book to be useful information from the leftist perspective. I keep thinking: yes, yes, all that is true enough, but from the information available to Truman in July 1945, did he have any alternative but to authorize the use of the bomb?

I'll post further thoughts on my website.

-- Dan Ford

Hiroshima's Shadows presents voices from all sides.......1998-08-24

Here is an extract from my review of 'Hiroshima's Shadows', that appeared in 'New Politics', no. 25 (Summer 1998):

'Hiroshima's Shadow: Writings on the Denial of History and the Smithsonian Controversy' is an enormous, and aesthetically handsome work, bringing together nearly 50 essays between between 1945 and 1997 by scholars, military, political and religious leaders, independent intellectuals, and survivors of the atomic bombings. The book is unusual in that, though it has a strong editorial point of view, the editors unflinchingly present voices from all sides of the argument.

The contribors include Albert Camus, Dwight Macdonald, Lewis Mumford, Mary McCarthy, A.J. Muste, among others. Defenders of the bomb include Charles Krauthammer who says that we should "let the Japanese commemorate the catastrophe they brought on themselves" (rather than mourn the use of the bomb), and Paul Fussel, an English professor and ex-front line combatant, who raises the slogan, "thank god for the atomic bomb." An even wider range of ideological positions is represented on the side of the critics: Lifschultz and Bird have recovered an anti-bomb editorial from the paleo-right-wing 'Human Events' and placed it alongside the observations of Mahatma Gandhi and Norman Thomas. As the editors put it, "the usual distinctions of left and right on economic and social issues were not reliable guides which could accurately predict what people thought about Hiroshima."

A substantial section of the book contains memoirs of a few survivors. These memoirs underscore the enduring reality that it was civilians, not military objectives, who were then, and remain, the prime target of nuclear weapons.

Hiroshima's Shadows presents voices from all sides.......1998-08-24

Here is an extract from my review of 'Hiroshima's Shadows', that appeared in 'New Politics', no. 25 (Summer 1998):

The most comprehensive and balanced account to date........1998-07-31

Hiroshima's Shadow is perhaps the most comprehensive and balanced collection of essays to date on the decision to use atomic bombs against Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

While some insist on a single interpretation of these events and label any reinterpretation as unpatriotic or unAmerican, the New York Times put it best: "The real betrayal of American tradition would be to insist on a single version of history or to make it the property of the state or any group. History in America is based on freedom of inquiry and discussion, which is one reason why Americans have given their lives to defend it."

Birds of Europe (Princeton Field Guides)
Average customer rating:

Very detailed!

Wonderful guide

A unique and wonderful birdwatching guide

Birding for European travelers

The best field guide to any avifauna

Birds of Europe (Princeton Field Guides)
Killian Mullarney , Lars Svensson , Dan Zetterstrom , and Peter J. Grant
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0691050538

Book Description

Birds of Europe is an extraordinary new field guide to the diverse bird life found throughout Europe. Ranging from the Urals to the Atlantic and from Scandinavia to the Middle East, the guide covers the 722 bird species found in the region as well as 23 introduced species or variants and 103 very rare visitors.

The text by Lars Svensson and Peter J. Grant provides all of the information needed to identify any species in Europe at any time of year, covering identification, voice, habitat, range, and size. In addition, the authors provide an introduction to each group of birds that addresses the major problems involved in identifying or observing the group: how to separate birds of prey in flight, how to organize a sea watching trip, which duck hybrids can be confused with which main species.

In over 3,500 illustrations, Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterström depict every species as well as all major plumage variations. The artists also introduce several design innovations. They illustrate typical habitats and characteristic behavior, including birds in flight, feeding, hunting, and perching; they add pointers and captions to the plates to show key field marks; and they arrange birds for easy comparison of confusing plumages. Distribution maps give up-to-date breeding, wintering, and migration ranges for every species.

The combination of definitive text, superb illustrations, and innovative design, all in a single, portable volume, makes this book the ultimate field guide to the birds of Europe. On the bookshelf or in the coat pocket, it will become an essential companion for every birder, ornithologist, and traveler to Europe.

Customer Reviews:

Very detailed!.......2007-10-13

I was going to Europe on a trip where I would be doing some birdwatching, and bought this book based on reviews on Amazon. The book turned out to be great! Each bird has a comprehensive description with details on identification and distinguishing it from other birds with a similar appearance or bird call. Each also has an illustration with the birds in multiple poses, M/F, adult/young, and other features such as common surroundings which was very helpful. There's no quick-key by color - birds are arranged by groups rather than color - but I found this to be a minor inconvenience weighed against the wealth of info in this book.

Wonderful guide.......2007-09-25

It's a wonderful guide, with simple explanations and beautiful images.
For amateurs and ornitologists.

A unique and wonderful birdwatching guide.......2007-06-18

If you need ONE birdwatching guide for Europe, I highly recommend this one. It is comprehensive, it has rich information (including, of course, habitat and maps), and the illustrations are absolutely a delight to watch. Most birdwatching guides are illustrated by mediocre artists. Not this one. It is worth its price even if you do not care about birdwatching and you just like wildlife art. The many little illustrations showing birds in their own habitat are simply beautiful, and are a nice change from the standard "bird on uniform background" which are the standard for BW guides. From an artistic point of you, it's even better that Sibley's guide to the bird of North America (the one guide I recommend for the US). The book is not one of the lightest, but it's small enough that it's not much of a burden to bring it with you (it's smaller and lighter than Sibley). This is a wonderful book, certainly superior to other field guides such as the old Peterson Mountford and Hollom, which will of course remain a classic. Highly highly recommended!

Birding for European travelers.......2007-05-21

This is as good a general single source birding book I've used in 40 years of travel in Europe. Pictures and descriptions are good with enough critical detail to be truly useful as a field guide. Some will find the maps too small. For those people I'd suggest more detailed localized guides available most everywhere in Europe. They will cross reference to this one.

The best field guide to any avifauna.......2006-06-09

This book emerged onto a highly competitive market already burgeoning with numerous field guides covering the region, most by renowned authors and many having benefitted from improvement over several editions. Quite simply though, this book won instant recognition as the best field guide available for Europe - and perhaps a model for field guides everywhere. Its authors are well known experts in their field having spent many years studying and publishing on the birds of the region. However, the key to the guide's success is the fact that so much more useful information has been condensed into a guide which is much the same size as existing books. The book boasts excellent illustrations, succinct text and handy maps, all presented on a the same page. Small enough to fit into a pocket (about the same size as the National Geographic guide) and cheap, it is a must for anyone visiting Europe. As one reviewer has already pointed out, it is indispensable in Alaska too - not just for Palaearctic vagrants, but for regular shorebirds and some residents. Don't hesitate!

Average customer rating:

A disappointment
The best field guide to any avifauna
Standard reference for Western Europe (and lately Alaska!!)
Very helpful during my first visit to Europe!

Collins Bird Guide
Lars Svensson , and Peter J. Grant
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0007113323

Customer Reviews:

A disappointment.......2007-01-21

I was very much looking forward to the paperback Collins Bird Guide, but unfortunately the pages are crowded, the print tiny and cramped, and the binding does not allow the book to open completely. While the Guide may be exhaustive and accurate, it is neither satisfactory as a field guide nor enjoyable to read at home. Were the text less verbose and even conversational, perhaps a larger font could have been used. I had hoped for something analogous to Sibley, "Field Guide to Birds of Western North America", which has a clear layout and a binding that opens properly.

The best field guide to any avifauna.......2005-11-09

Standard reference for Western Europe (and lately Alaska!!).......2002-12-31

Excellent book with comprehensive coverage and high quality plates. Book production quality is also high. My edition is small enough in hardback to be a true "Field Guide" although I understand that a new larger edition has been recently published, if plate quality is maintained this edition will be an excellent reference. If you have questions about this text go to amazon.co.uk and read some of the reviews there. This book recieved the British Trust for Ornithology seal of approval so anything an amateur like me might add is probably superfluous. Excellent reference, nice plates and informative and accurate text

Very helpful during my first visit to Europe!.......2000-06-18

This book help me a lot during several bird trips on my first visit to Europe in 1999. I have travelled in several countries. Sometimes with very keen birders, other times alone. It would be impossible for me to be in the field in conditions to identify so many birds, without this valuable book. Excellent pictures. It's my new standard on international field guides.

The Raptors of Europe and the Middle East: A Handbook of Field Identification (A Volume in the T & AD Poyser Series)

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All you need to identify raptors in Europe(almost!)

The Raptors of Europe and the Middle East: A Handbook of Field Identification (A Volume in the T & AD Poyser Series)
Dick Forsman
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Shorebird Guide
Raptors of the World

ASIN: 0856610984

Book Description

This book presents the most complete and up-to-date guide for the recognition of the diurnal raptors of Europe and the Middle East. More than 700 high quality color photographs have been specifically chosen to demonstrate the plumage of each age and sex class of every species found in Europe and the Middle East. The photographs are complemented by almost 100 line drawings focusing on particular identification details, and are backed up by a detailed text enabling birdwatchers to recognize even the most difficult species. The latest information, much of it previously unpublished, describes the plumage and soft part coloration of each category of bird, and compares and contrasts with similar plumages of species which may cause confusion. The book discusses the difficulties caused by stage of moult, variation in light conditions, and changes in silhouette arising from different flight types. Fully referenced with a list of nearly 300 key papers and articles, this book is an essential reference to the field identification of every species, age, and sex class of raptors.

Key Features:

The first comprehensive collection of photographs of European raptors showing all plumages of species in the field
Descriptions of every age class of each sex
More than 700 high quality color photographs and 100 line drawings
Valuable notes comparing difficult-to-identify species

Species List:
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus). Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus). Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus caeruleus). Red Kite (Milvus milvus). Black Kite (Milvus migrans). White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeeutus albicilla). Bearded Vulture or Lammergeier (Gypaetus barbatus). Egyptian Vulture (Neophron perenopterus). Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus). Black Vulture (Aegypius monachus). Lappet-faced Vulture (Torgos tracheliotus). Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus gallicus). Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus). Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus). Pallid Harrier (Circus macrourus). Montagu's Harrier (Circus pygargus). Levant Sparrowhawk (Accipiter brevipes). Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus). Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis). Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo). Steppe Buzzard (Buteo buteo vulpinus). Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus). Rough-legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus). Lesser Spotted Eagle (Aquila pomarina). Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga). Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis). Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti). Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca). Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). Bonelli's Eagle (Hieraaetus fasciatus). Booted Eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus). Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni). Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus). Red-footed Falcon (Falco vespertinus). Eleonora's Falcon (Falco eleonorae). Sooty Falcon (Falco concolor). Merlin (Falco columbarius). Hobby (Falco subbuteo). Lanner Falcon (Falco biarmicus). Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug). Gyr Falcon (Falco rusticolus). Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus). Barbary Falcon (Falco peregrinus pelegrinoides).

Customer Reviews:

All you need to identify raptors in Europe(almost!).......1999-03-09

When I heard about this book I knew that I'd end up buying it,as I am a raptor fanatic(unfortunately its use is limited here in Ireland, as only three raptor species are in any way common,and very few migrant raptors occur) All of the regular European species(plus Lappet-faced Vulture) are depicted,with the number of photos seemingly varying in proportion to difficulty of identification.The text is fairly technical,but readable enough,and there isn't an excess of jargon(thank God!)I first used it to age a Marsh Harrier this January as an adult female,and in this respect it was of great use. It also helped me to tentatively age a Buzzard in late Feb. as a 2nd-year bird.I have yet to be confronted by a raptor which I actually haven't identified to species before consulting this book, but if I do I would turn to this book straight away.Also,many of the photos are superb,and whet the appetite for species that I have yet to see (all but eight of them!)The section at the start about moult etc. is extremely interesting also.If you live in Europe and have an interest in raptors,buy this book.Now,about that trip to the continent.......

Edith Wharton Abroad: Selected Travel Writings, 1888-1920

Average customer rating:

Sweet

Edith Wharton Abroad: Selected Travel Writings, 1888-1920

Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

A Backward Glance: An Autobiography
Italian Backgrounds
Edith Wharton: An Extraordinary Life
The Writing of Fiction
Old New York

ASIN: 0312161204

Amazon.com

Edith Wharton was one who gave leisure and education a good name. Writing lucidly, charmingly, and intelligently of cruising the Greek isles, staying in Italian villas, and visiting a sultan's palace in Morocco, she sets a civilized pace and tone. In Italian Backgrounds, Wharton asks, "Is it, in short, ever well to be elsewhere when one might be in Italy?" To which I reply, is it ever well to be reading someone else when one might be reading Edith Wharton?

Book Description

In EDITH WHARTON ABROAD, Sarah Bird Wright has carefully chosen selections from Edith Wharton's travel writing that convey the writer's control of her craft. Wharton disliked the generality of guidebooks and focused instead on the "parentheses of travel" - the undiscovered hidden corners of Europe, Morocco, and the Mediterranean. This collection spans a period of three decades and takes the reader with Wharton from France to Italy and to Greece. Included is an excerpt from her unpublished memoir, THE CRUISE OF THE VANDIS, as well as front line depictions of Lorraine and the Vosges during World War I.

Customer Reviews:

Sweet.......2001-05-03

Dude, this book is cool. its, like, really interesting and stuff and it makes me wanna go to italy. i bet italy is pretty cool from the descriptions. but thats just what i think, and i dont do it that often really. Hey, e-mail me if you have suggestions of good books or anything really. Bye!!

The Meinertzhagen Mystery: The Life and Legend of a Colossal Fraud

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A Man who Life wasn't Big Enough to Hold
A history lesson and a thriller all rolled in to one.
A Unbelievable Mess

The Meinertzhagen Mystery: The Life and Legend of a Colossal Fraud
Brian Garfield
Manufacturer: Potomac Books Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

Warrior: The Legend Of Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen
Tip and Run - the Untold Tragedy of the Great War in Africa
The Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide
Life and Fate (New York Review Books Classics)
A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900

ASIN: 1597970417

Book Description

Tall, handsome, charming Col. Richard Meinertzhagen (1878â€“1967) was an acclaimed British war hero, a secret agent, and a dean of international ornithology. His exploits inspired three biographies, movies have been based on his life, and a square in Jerusalem is dedicated to his memory. Meinertzhagen was trusted by Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George, Chaim Weizmann, David Ben Gurion, T. E. Lawrence, Elspeth Huxley, and a great many others.

He bamboozled them all. Meinertzhagen was a fraud. Many of the adventures recorded in his celebrated diaries were imaginary, including a meeting with Hitler while he had a loaded pistol in his pocket, an attempt to rescue the Russian royal family in 1918, and a shoot-out with Arabs in Haifa when he was seventy years old. True, he was a key player in Middle Eastern events after World War I, and during the 1930s he represented Zionism's interests in negotiations with Germany. But he also set up Nazi front organizations in England, committed a half-century of major and costly scientific fraud, and -- oddly -- may have been innocent of many killings to which he confessed (e.g., the murder of his own polo groom -- a crime of which he cheerfully boasted, although the evidence suggests it never occurred at all), while he may have been guilty of at least one homicide of which he professed innocence.

A compelling read about a flamboyant rogue, The Meinertzhagen Mystery shows how recorded history reflects not what happened, but what we believe happened.

Customer Reviews:

A Man who Life wasn't Big Enough to Hold.......2007-07-20

Richard Meinertzhagen was a military hero, explorer, spy, friend of Israel, diarist, world renown Ornithologist and prevaricator. Unlike most people, he reveled in the lies that he told and the reactions of those he told them to. He left an 82 volume library of his 'life', much of which was wishful thinking or down right false, but like Dr.Goebbels he believed that if you tell "The Big Lie" forceful enough and long enough, people will begin to believe.

Why would a man who was respected as a world class ornithologist, get himself barred from the British Museum for stealing? Was it for the notoriety? Having re-written his diaries (in some cases many times) and destroying all the previous versions, did he want to be caught after his death? Like publicity, being remembered, whether for good or bad, is still being remembered.

Garfield, who admits the man was one of his heroes as a child, spends a lot of time trying to find back-up information to prove RMs tales. But the more his digs, the more his finds that it like digging a hole in the dessert, it buries you. When RM writes that he did so-and-so, Garfield is able to find that not only wasn't he involved, but that RM might not have even been anywhere in the area (much less on the same continent) when the event occurred.

Ian Fleming had written that RM was the archetype for "James Bond". He could not have known how right he was in basing his fictional spy on a real-life falsified spy. The sad part is, had RM just written about his real accomplishments, his story would still be one of an outstanding personality; it just wasn't outstanding enough for him.

A history lesson and a thriller all rolled in to one........2007-03-29

Col. Richard Meinertzhagen's exploits are those of either the greatest and most daring man ever to wear a British Military Uniform, or that of the most whopping fraud to walk the earth. Excellent research and a great read.

A Unbelievable Mess.......2007-03-17

Brian Garfield is a supurb writer. It doesn't matter if he is writing fiction (Death Wish, the book behind the Charles Bronson movie), military history (The Thousand-Mile War about the part of World War II in the Aleutians), or a non-fiction book like The Meinertzhagen Mystery. His writing style is captivating and even otherwise dull subjects come alive. Any book is highly recommended.

Col. Richard Meinertzhagen left a history of heroic deeds so dramatic that he was used as the model for Ian Fleming's 'James Bond.' Or at least it is so rumored. His diaries are full of stories so outrageous that you'd think they have to be made up.

It turns out that most of them now appear to have been made up indeed. The difficulty is to split out what is true from what is false. And then we need look at what historians have reported as fact based on what is now seen to be false. It's enough to make you wonder about all of history.

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