Average customer rating:
- A Casual History
- Not for History Buffs
- A great read!
- Lions and Tigers and Bears- OH MY!
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The Tower Menagerie: The Amazing 600-Year History of the Royal Collection of Wild and Ferocious Beasts Kept at the Tower of London
Daniel Hahn
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0743220811 |
Book Description
The strange six-hundred-year history of the Royal Menagerie at the Tower of London.
From a polar bear who fished the Thames nightly for his dinner to elephants who drank only wine, the inhabitants of the southwest corner of the Tower of London were a strange and rowdy bunch. No less strange was the cast of characters that visited them: William Blake, Chaucer, and Samuel Pepys, to name a few. Daniel Hahn's fascinating history of the Tower of London's Royal Menagerie tells the story of the thousands of exotic creatures who found a home in one of the world's most forbidding and infamous fortresses.
The Royal Menagerie began with a wedding gift: three leopards from King Henry III's new brother-in-law, Frederick the Holy Roman Emperor, in 1235. Soon after, a huge Norwegian polar bear joined them. Over the next six hundred years, the Tower played host to lions, ostriches, elephants, and other unusual animals that astonished London. Brimming with unforgettable stories (the lion who kept a spaniel as a pet; ostriches who were fed a steady diet of rusty nails; lions who, their keepers claimed, could tell whether a woman was a virgin) and beautiful historical illustrations, The Tower Menagerie provides an intriguing, lively survey of our changing attitudes toward animals, as well as a hugely entertaining journey through six centuries of British history.
Customer Reviews:
A Casual History.......2007-05-26
This is certainly not the most compelling of books. I rather doubt that many people have lain awake at night, tormented at their ignorance about the history of the proto-zoo that used to be kept at the Tower of London. Nevertheless, if you really MUST know the background of the royal collection, this is where you should turn to.
The problem is, there are about 15 unique facts to be uncovered about the menagerie, because of such records as still exist, apparently most are in the vein of "Dear Diary: Today I fed the lions, as I did yesterday and the day before and the day before that." There are some striking anecdotes and incidents here and there, and we learn that your medieval types were fairly certain that elephants drank nothing but wine and ostriches loved to eat iron. The high mortality rate amongst the animals should therefore not be surprising.
As a general survey of the changing attitudes towards zoos and the care of captive animals, this is a mildly interesting book. But it really comes across as an expanded research paper by a wiseacre college student in a sophomore literature class. It's exceptionally casually written with a very informal and chatty tone. Probably a precursor of the kind of scholarship that we can expect from the upcoming MySpace generation. At any rate, if you stumble across it and need to kill a couple of hours, it's okay, but otherwise I'd skip it.
Not for History Buffs.......2004-06-27
Apparently the author had an inspirational idea for a story...Problem apparently is that there simply aren't enough records / detailed accounts to create a book based on this topic. How much time did the writer spend researching this book? Even anecdotal evidence is severely limited. The information is meandering, sometimes frustrating in its lack of relation to the supposed theme of the book. Out of the entire book, only two references to actual animal anecdotes were interesting. How disappointing.
A great read!.......2004-06-09
This isn't really a book about a zoo. Amazingly, it's more of a trip through various years of human history with the zoo as a recurring reference. Daniel Hahn manages to weave in and out of people, ideas and events and pulls them together in a way you wish your history teacher had done back at school.
In a sprightly fashion, we get a complete picture of six centuries of human development and man's relationship with animals. This is done through various stories linking culture, science and politics.
As a quick sample: we learn how John Wesley had flute music played to the animals to determine if they had a soul; we cover the continuous links between lions and the British monarchy; there is political intrigue and concern at Darwin's theory of evolution; and we find out the origin of bull and bear stock markets.
This brings me to, what I call, the information-on-the-side in this book, which acts as a wonderful source of interest. Daniel Hahn gives Oliver Sacks a run for his money with his fascinating asides and footnotes and then wins hands-down by making them some of the funniest things ever written.
This book is a delight from start to finish. It's thoughtful, fascinating and packed with history, insight and wonderful observations. I urge you to read it - you'll love it!
Lions and Tigers and Bears- OH MY!.......2003-09-17
Funn. The animals and the characters each seem to have a personality. Different periods of history without allowing hte book to drag. Famous people are woven seemlesly into a consistent story.
Average customer rating:
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Wild Life in the Royal Parks
Dept.of Environment
Manufacturer: Stationery Office Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0116705736 |
Book Description
Fifteen previously unpublished boxing pieces written between 1952 and 1963.
Demonstrating A.J. Liebling’s abiding passion for the “sweet science” of boxing, A Neutral Corner brings together fifteen previously unpublished pieces written between 1952 and 1963. Antic, clear-eyed, and wildly entertaining, these essays showcase a The New Yorker journalist at the top of his form. Here one relives the high drama of the classic Patterson-Johansson championship bout of 1959, and Liebling’s early prescient portrayal of Cassius Clay’s style as a boxer and a poet is not to be missed.
Liebling always finds the human story that makes these essays appealing to aficionados of boxing and prose alike. Alive with a true fan’s reverence for the sport, yet balanced by a true skeptic’s disdain for sentiment, A Neutral Corner is an American treasure.
Customer Reviews:
And Here's The Rest.......2007-05-06
It's generally accepted that Liebling's The Sweet Science is the finest piece of Boxing literature ever concieved. The writing was lyrical in a way rarely seen in sports writing (or any other kind of writing for that matter), the world he described captivating. Just when we thought that that was all there was, lo and behold, here comes the second part of Lieblings oeuvre. And it's every bit as potent as the first part!
As with its predecessor, A Neutral Corner makes it's mark by intelligent and cultured writing that captures the atmosphere and culture of Boxing life in urban America in the mid-/late-'50s. If The Sweet Science focused on many characters, then A Neutral Corner chooses as its central hero Floyd Patterson - a fighter not normally held in high esteem in fight circles. Here we see his progression from champion to challenger to champion again and finally to his ultimate destruction. We are also treated to Liebling's by now well-established preference for the artistic rather than the brutal and this seems to be best expressed in his classic observations on a nascent Muhammad Ali ("The Poet"). Reading his initial thoughts on this larger-than-life character compounds the tragedy that he didn't live to see and wax lyrical on the flowering of that talent.
A.J. Liebling was no crude sports hack. The man was a scholar and an individual as these pieces attest. His writing is a poetry in itself.
Classic Boxing Journalism!.......2007-01-26
This book is a collection of essays Liebling wrote for the New Yorker back in the 1950's and early 1960's. Liebling does a great job of capturing the atmosphere around the fights, training camps and boxing gyms. Liebling is a humorous writer who really captures the personalities of fighters, managers, trainers and the overall feel for the boxing game. He points out the eccentricities and oddities of many people he encounters in the sport and while he finds humor in their weirdness and quirks he does so in a funny but affectionate way. I've spent many years around the boxing gyms and for all the bad things that go on, there are also some of the most unique and great people you will ever meet involved in the sport too. There is a certain character that exists in boxing that doesn't exist in major team sports whose players tend to be overpaid, spoiled, pampered, and totally lacking in brains, heart, personality and character.
Essays included in A Neutral Corner are his portrayal of Stillmans Gym in 1950's New York City, along with the local club fight scene in NYC at that time, great stuff about Archie Moore, Floyd Patterson, Ingemar Johansson, Sonny Liston, a young Cassius Clay, Cus D'Amato, the atmosphere and stories around fight cards in England, Tunisia and other places. This is all great stuff that really captures the essence of boxing. Liebling really loved boxing and appreciated the people involved and was far superior than the wormy cynical morons (in all fairness there are a few good writers covering the sport today) that pass themselves off as boxing writers today. This is classic boxing journalism!
Boxing Essays from a Master.......2000-07-09
A.J. Leibling captures the smokey ambience of the ring and its world with a masterly hand. Joyce Carol Oates ("On Boxing") may be squeamish and over-dramatic, and Budd Schulberg self-promoting and exasperating, but Mr. Leibling the has a touch born of a top flight journalist and ardent boxing fan who also has the benefit of minute observation, a genial sense of humor, a well seasoned knowledge of the world, and a strong classical education. We enter the world protrayed in A Neutral Corner by way of the dingy confines of Stillman's gym in New York City, but on the way over are entertained by a short, amusing and thoroughly knowledgable meditation on the Great Ancients of boxing: 18th/19th century Pierce Egan (whom Liebling calls the ring's "Thucydides") and Jewish greats Dan Mendoza and Dutch Sam. Liebling muses on their significant contribution to the ring and that of the Jewish fighters in general and we finally fetch up at Stillman's gym (an icon of New York Boxing) simultaneously with the reflection that there are few Jewish fighters these (1952) days. "With a good Jew fighter now" One of the managers declares, "you could make a fortune of money." There is the rise of Irish fighters and the economic circumstances that gave birth to both Jewish and Irish fighters, and the availability of day jobs that waylay their ring ambition. Yet this is hardly a dry academic treatise, for it is entertwined and amplified by the thoughts and opinions of the trainers, managers and boxers at Stillman's.
Liebling is interested in everything and everyone, and nothing escapes his pen as he immerses the reader in whichever world he is illustrating with his mixture of scholarly observation and streetwise humor. At one point we arrive in Tunis, where one escapes from the oppressive heat into a museum and suddenly comes upon an ancient mosaic of a boxing match. It depicts one fighter knocking down the other. "The fellow on the receiving end", Liebling muses, "has an experienced disillusioned look, like that of a boy who has fought out of town before..." The Tunisian passion for prizefighting has deep roots, and seems hardly about to diminish, with the buildup to a local match nearly consuming the entire city.
Throughout these essays there is the sense of accompanying Liebling as he chats with the managers, watches the boxers train, pokes his head into training camps and interviews fighters and has a drink at The Neutral Corner, a New York bar and grill, to hash it all out. We sit with him near ringside where his smooth prose in no way interferes with his immediate and lively portrayal of the fights. We become acquainted with Floyd Patterson, a sensitive and intelligent fighter forever in search of his soul, the professorial Archie Moore, a very young Cassius Clay and another side of the habitually taciturn Sonny Liston.
Liebling's prose flows and some have remarked on its pyrotechnics, but is tight and descriptive, and his interests comprehensive. Each essay (originally printed in The New Yorker) builds an absorbing world of its own, though several are connected by common themes (for instance, Stillman's gym, Floyd Patterson's series of fights). This is a book for the die-hard boxing fan, for it there is little in it that does not pertain to boxing, its past and present. It can also be enjoyed by the general reader and lover of good writing, for it is a collecton of essays, each one lively and gracefully written, about the people, first and foremost, who make up the old and sometimes dark world of prizefighting.
Hard-boiled boxing.......2000-07-05
Leibling's essays are filled with history, humanity and delightful idiosyncracies - all in a prose that recalls a bygone era. This book is not simply for fight fans, it's for anyone who loves to read.
AN OUTSTANDING COLLECTION OF ESSAYS.......1997-07-10
This book is a must for all boxing fans. It contains reviews of BOTH Patterson/Johansson and Patterson/Liston fights, plus Ali's first pro bout. Mr. Liebling was the consummate boxing writer. He gives some very interesting information on the fighters camps and personal lives that make for a great read. An essential addition to any library
Book Description
Developing Proofreading and Editing Skills, 5/e by Camp provides instruction and applications designed to sharpen skills in detecting and correcting errors in written communications including memos, letters, reports, email messages, databases, presentation slides, advertisements, and spreadsheets. The material progresses from easy-to-recognize errors to those more difficult to spot, allowing students to build confidence and skill. Highlights of the 5th edition include a discussion of voice-recognition technology and proofreading and editing, end-of-chapter text applications with two applications in each chapter available on CD-ROM, and a series of seven review modules offering challenging proofreading practice.
Customer Reviews:
Well-done and easy to understand.......2004-05-10
If anyone wants a book that is easy to understand when learning to proofread, it's definitely this one. I loved it and have made it a part of my professional library. The author is very complete and thorough without being too redundant or superflous. I had bought another proofreading book through Amazon.com which was horrible, stuffy, and boring. Even though this book was a little more expensive, it was well worth the extra cost.
Book Description
Developing Proofreading and Editing Skills provides readers with tips and techniques for proofreading and editing in the real world. Chapters address spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and even common keyboarding errors. A special CD-ROM features challenging review modules that cover proofreading in a variety of occupations, while a section on voice recognition technology discusses latest technologies.
Customer Reviews:
No Answer Key.......2005-06-02
I purchased this book to help me with a new editing job. I took the plastic wrap off of it and started reading. Nowhere on the cover does it say you need the instructor's manual for the answers. It says it in the beginning of the book.
I contacted the publiher to see if where i could purchase the instructors manual and they insisted it was only available to schools. The book is totally useless to me since i need a way to check my answers and brush up on my skills.
I returned the book and will try not to purchase from this publisher in the future. I have since purchased a workbook with an answer key.
Amazon.com
This analysis of what makes great companies great has been hailed everywhere as an instant classic and one of the best business titles since In Search of Excellence. The authors, James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras, spent six years in research, and they freely admit that their own preconceptions about business success were devastated by their actual findings--along with the preconceptions of virtually everyone else.
Built to Last identifies 18 "visionary" companies and sets out to determine what's special about them. To get on the list, a company had to be world famous, have a stellar brand image, and be at least 50 years old. We're talking about companies that even a layperson knows to be, well, different: the Disneys, the Wal-Marts, the Mercks.
Whatever the key to the success of these companies, the key to the success of this book is that the authors don't waste time comparing them to business failures. Instead, they use a control group of "successful-but-second-rank" companies to highlight what's special about their 18 "visionary" picks. Thus Disney is compared to Columbia Pictures, Ford to GM, Hewlett Packard to Texas Instruments, and so on.
The core myth, according to the authors, is that visionary companies must start with a great product and be pushed into the future by charismatic leaders. There are examples of that pattern, they admit: Johnson & Johnson, for one. But there are also just too many counterexamples--in fact, the majority of the "visionary" companies, including giants like 3M, Sony, and TI, don't fit the model. They were characterized by total lack of an initial business plan or key idea and by remarkably self-effacing leaders. Collins and Porras are much more impressed with something else they shared: an almost cult-like devotion to a "core ideology" or identity, and active indoctrination of employees into "ideologically commitment" to the company.
The comparison with the business "B"-team does tend to raise a significant methodological problem: which companies are to be counted as "visionary" in the first place? There's an air of circularity here, as if you achieve "visionary" status by ... achieving visionary status. So many roads lead to Rome that the book is less practical than it might appear. But that's exactly the point of an eloquent chapter on 3M. This wildly successful company had no master plan, little structure, and no prima donnas. Instead it had an atmosphere in which bright people were both keen to see the company succeed and unafraid to "try a lot of stuff and keep what works." --Richard Farr
Book Description
"
Good to Great is about turning good results into great results;
Built to Last is about turning great results into an enduring great company." so write Jim Collins and Jerry Porras in this groundbreaking book that shatters myths, provides new insights, and gives practical guidance to those who would like to build landmark companies that stand the test of time.
Drawing upon a six-year research project at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Collins and Porras took eighteen truly exceptional and long-lasting companies and studied each company in direct comparison to one of its top competitors. They examined the companies from their very beginnings to the present day, as start-ups, as midsize companies, and as large companies. Throughout, the authors asked: "What makes the truly exceptional companies different from other companies?"
Collins and Porras go beyond the incessant barrage of management buzzwords and fads of the day to discover timeless qualities that have consistently distinguished outstanding companies. They also provide inspiration to all executives and entrepreneurs by destroying the false but widely accepted idea that only charismatic visionary leaders can build visionary companies.
Filled with hundreds of specific examples and organized into a coherent framework of practical concepts that can be applied by managers and entrepreneurs at all levels, Built to Last provides a master blueprint for building organizations that will prosper long into the twenty-first century and beyond.
Customer Reviews:
A Classic.......2007-10-16
"Built to Last" is an enlightening and interesting classic on business strategic management. The authors, Jim Collins and Jerry Porras spent six years in research and compared the practices of 18 visionary companies in the USA to those of a matched set of good, though not great, companies. Their fundamental observation is that average companies are driven by the power of "or:" You can have either short term profits OR long term growth, either stability OR progress. Visionary companies, in contrast, embrace the power of "and:" You preserve the core AND stimulate progress.
The authors then methodically, step-by-step proceed to explain how great companies erect structures that embrace these seemingly contradictory goals. The great companies the authors studied, contrary to conventional wisdom, are not profit focused at their core but rather, they are `value' focused. These values are a sort of nucleus, around which leaders in visionary companies grow the company. This was the case in such great companies as Disney, Wal-Mart, Merck, Ford, Hewlett Packard, 3M, Johnson and Johnson and others.
Among the core myths that Collins and Porras shattered are that visionary companies must start with a great product and be pushed into the future by charismatic leaders. Instead the great visionary companies they studied were characterized by total lack of an initial business plan or key idea and by remarkably self-effacing leaders. The authors are much more impressed with the great companies' almost cult-like devotion to a "core ideology" or identity, and active indoctrination of employees into "ideological commitment" to the company.
The book is interesting to read, is humorous, is among the best, easiest to follow guide to strategic management. The book also provides guidelines to help managers at all levels to apply the concepts. It is well written with compelling case studies. I highly recommend the book to those looking for a practical down-to-earth book that is readable and useful.
Identity is Built to Last.......2007-08-30
It is interesting to review a business book more than 10 years after it has been labeled a best seller - is it still relevant today? Yes, in the case of this classic! The lessons conveyed are as useful today, as they were when it was first published. No surprise, given what the authors set out to discover when they began their research: What distinguishes long-time, high performing companies from their competitors? Their key concept about what it takes to build a visionary company - "preserve the core and stimulate progress" seems to be a fundamental truth about the evolutionary nature of free markets. Certainly their, "Try Lots of Stuff and Keep What Works" and "Good Enough Never Is", lessons sound like evolutionary processes of adaptation.
The key concept might be more simply described by saying, "Maintain your identity - core values & purpose - while focusing on a living performance vision." That makes it a personal concept as well as an organizational concept - not a bad thing when you consider that any organization is a collection of people. When something makes sense for the individual and the organization, perhaps there-in resides the reason it is a long-term winner! Dennis DeWilde, Author of The Performance Connection
Built to last.......2007-08-10
This is the most relevant, well-presented, easy-to-read research project I've seen. The data is easily transferable to to practical use. I have seen its implementation make a really big positive difference in groups within organizations.
Must-read for anyone interested in business.......2007-04-13
This book is the result of an elaborative research and a great data-analysis. It gives an insight into the some of the greatest companies of the world in different fields and different time-periods.
Authors have done a great job in explaining and justifying their research and data through the appendices and bibliography. A study of all the existing companies to find the visionary ones is really a daunting task and this research team has done a terrific job in establishing a definition of a "visionary company".
Must-read for professionals at any level of the organization hierarchy!!!
Great insight.......2007-03-30
Both Built to Last and Good to Great are the best business books anyone can ever read. Nice work!
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