History Books

The book is not difficult and it is not complex, but it is dense in the sense it is packed with so much insight and value. I started out putting post-its on the pages I thought I would want to refer to again later, but had to stop when it became clear I was "post-itting" (if that is not a word, it certainly should be) just about every other page.

This book is unsurpassed in analyzing China's impact on the world. Through real world examples, it captures just how different China is in its business conduct just how strange a trading partner China is, and how it resembles no other great power. Kynge beautifully weaves China's contradictions into a tapestry that allows us to understand it, as best as is possible.

Though this book is in many ways a "big-think" book, it is nonetheless absolutely relevant to those doing business in or with China. It provides the best macroeconomic analysis of China I have yet seen and, by doing so, it provides invaluable knowledge of how to adjust/position your business to compete.

Must-read if you want to learn more about China's recent economic growth. Kynge's anecdotal style really brings home the reality of China's economic boom that you only hear in the abstract in the US media.

Writing this in 2008, May, I have to say that I enjoyed the book, it left me with an idea of China's position in the world, but also on how few I know about such a great and big country. It states facts, and very little opinions, and some of the facts are individual stories from which you have to draw your own conclusions.

Anyway, as a big country, I finish the book feeling the need to read and know way more about China, geography, history, different peoples; but if books sizes relate to the country size and history, we may talk thousands of pages!

The book suffer the couple of years since the edition, and one misses more actual stories and references to recent news.

James Kynge, in his book China Shakes the World, states that a key question is whether or not the Western world will be able to "accommodate the manifestations of extreme strengths and profound weaknesses that are emanating from China." This 2006 Financial Times Business Book of the Year is an interesting and informative read. It provides snapshots of some of the effects that China's economic development has had around the world.

Throughout his book Kynge seeks to capture the impact of China's rise by examining its effect on a variety industries in places such as Dortmund, Germany; Prato, Italy; and Rockford, Illinois. He discusses the global evolution of Chinese companies from steel production to high fashion.

In addition to detailing the success stories of industries and rags-to-riches entrepreneurs, Kynge also examines a number of challenges that may impede China's future development. One of these challenges is the cutthroat domestic competition in manufacturing and the piracy associated with it. Kynge also highlights a number of the stark environmental problems facing China as a result of its rapid industrialization. On the whole, China Shakes the World provides a balanced account of many of China's strengths and weaknesses.

In preparation for a business trip to China, the first book I read was China Shakes the World by James Kynge. Mr. Kynge is a journalist with over twenty years of experience in Asia. The book is an easy read covering a number of current topics: Piracy, Environmental Concerns, Technology, Communism and the China/U.S. Relationship. The book offers a balanced look at China showing both the opportunity and challenges the country faces. No conclusions are drawn about the future, but the book is a good high-level look across the many facets of China.

if you have the time to follow Zizek's lectures on youtube, on Liberalism, Euthansia of Tolerant Reason after Kant, Marxism in the Streets, Truth,Sam Harris,procedural Toilets; there is a lot duplicated, duplicitous in this nifty little paper-back, you can read it while listening to AC-DC, also from his "In Defense of Lost Causes".
Yes Zizek forgot how violent Rock n'Roll is,how it and continuously assaults our senses and sensibilities for decades now,so was the Seventies carpet bombing of Cambodia, (Kissinger had a hand in that;well they will name a library after you Henry, dont worry); but Zizek covers topicalities interestingly, perceptively; Paris Riots,("We are Here") Katrina, Middle East,Intifada, with nice reflections of context on colonialism and Israel,"Who wants two states?", cites the "Jerusalem Chalk Circle"(a twist on Brecht with another twist on King Solomon)one cannot divide in two without killing something) time of things,of nation-building; and if sovereignties came too late, what the Ruling Classes of Globe require now is for acceptance of its Rule to an extent; to be respectable,to have violence without violence;de-caffeinated, war without war, (Colin Powell),but just for things to go on as they are requires violence everyday, every minute, so Zizek says; and there are some provisos indicated by Zizek,with the help of Badiou,"we live in a worldless culture" events are not deposited in consciousness as before;events are filtered through a hermeneutical sieve of interpreted reality, Lacanian Lenses all are utilized,all the time to gauge the states of desire, what we buy, what gives us pleasure;bouts with Fukuyama, "ends of",Sam Harris; Zizek loves to name drop, but he simply explains it and puts it all in a useful exciting context, as liberalism today, what is it, who practices it, what do they want? with spokespeople-writers and court jestors as NYT(Mr.Glib) Friedman,"there are simply problems to solve. . ."no classes, no poverty, no conflicts; "liberal fascist",Zizek calls them as Peter Sloterdijk, typically the designation is extreme but Zizek wants to you to get off yer butts and think a little bit, before you plug in your IPOD to Zone out for the day.Walter Benjamin and Paul Klee's "Angelus. . . " is here he thought about violence, and the divine violence,as in "Psycho", Arbogast on the stairs,it just happens; that the imperfections of capitalism and greed, exploitation, torture and coercion, the IRS processes, are sometimes too much, we need relief, well humanity does at some point, "divine violence" is not necessary it simply is there, like the Hurricane called Katrina, showed how the USA still philosophicaly is an Old World power, in that it couldn;t provide basic sustaining lifeforms for its taxpaying citizens,racism was central to that; just allowed people to die in water, squalor.Europe as well is still very Old World order, can it solve its problems of violence, as the Paris Riots,there were racist violence ten years ago; the youth merely wanting to know if they are part of society, can you give us a Job?, or do we live in poverty our entire existence, Sarkozky really doesn't care, it would tarnish his star status, the French Ruling elites need entertainment; and divine violence?, sans-culottes,the French Revolution an event beyond what it actually is, perhaps Beethoven's entire work would have takened a different turn, been less powerful, more woosee, if it never happened, so violence, spills spirals over into the future, like the Cultural Revolution,the last one to study; where China now props up Bill Gates and Western Capital, saving it, Freddie Mac, and Frannie needs bucks the 12$$ Trillion in its mortgages, need leveling out,propping up, curious how violence works into the future, Zizek has the interests to follow these conceptual trajectories , with Hegel in the Wings for assistance;we need to be violent so the people are not,there is systemic violence, and mythic one, all never really admitted, there is more violence happening everyday than we actually see just in order to keep things as they are.. . . from not getting worse, what do we know,"What do you know. . . ?" as the CIA Agent(Cliff Robertson) tells Robert Redford at the end of "The Day of the Condor".

Substance: If you type in the chapter titles from the book into youtube, you'll find many lectures which more or less constitute the content of this book.

Material: the cover is its own dustjacket, it folds unto itself to provide pseudo cover flaps, the pages are unevenly cut in the "custom-bound" look that makes the page ends opposite the spine resemble a Richter Scale reading.

Content and Dimensions: At 128 pgs, the small book dimensions and the already available digital video resources available on the internet, Zizek's Violence does not have a great deal more to offer to either the neophyte or the acquainted student. Right for the price, but then again, not enough new to justify the monies of most whom are interested in Zizek's thought.

The information in this book should be in every Art History 101 text book, but unfortunately it isn't! It does read like a good text book and there are lots of illustrations (although there could be lots more). Chadwick is in expert in her field. Anyone interested in Art History should know what this book covers...

I was very pleased to see the GREAT condition that this book was in. It looked BRAND NEW. Thank you for the great product at such a low price!

This book does conatain some truly valuable information, unfortunately it is also full of so much useless information that you become completely overwhelmed.

It's a good book with plenty of definitions and references. If you want to know about the History of Art and the Cultures that go along with it, I suggest this book.

Of course, I am a college student at an Art school and so I didn't have much of a choice as it is a required reading for one of my classes.

it was a good product and i was happy with the purchase.it came on time.

Fabulous recipes new and old, so many wonderful ideas to stir the senses and keep you begging for more. A great reference guide, my only complaint is that it is too heavy.

This is a fresh and definitive history of graphic design. It's a huge book filled with a unique collection of images to define each movement. So if you're like me you can use it as a great resource for inspiration.

A beautiful treatise on graphic design. Eskilson has a knack for revealing novel and interesting connections to world history. A great new college textbook, but also a delightful read.

Eskilson's New History is a long overdue addition to textbooks on Graphic Design that before now have had to largely suffice with the sporadically updated Meggs' History of Graphic Design. Eloquent and illuminating, Eskison spans the modern age and then goes deep into contemporary design with a fine attention to the artistic and technical developments in the field. Eskilson pays special attention to the challenges and creative solutions that graphic designers have devised with valuable insights into the society that these designs were made for. Eskilson is especially effective in drawing out connections between graphic design and larger world events, such as: the growth of British World War I propaganda posters and their subsequent impact on the raw emotional power of propaganda design, the London Underground on popularizing Modernism, and motion graphics and the blurred boundaries of new digital technologies. One of the great strengths of this text over Meggs' text is the way Eskilson ably links innovations in Modern Art and Architecture with developments in Graphic Design. Too often the history of Graphic Design has been treated as a study that only concerns fellow designers and the interactions between Graphic Design and the Fine Art world have been given short shrift.

While Eskilson is chiefly interested in communicating the broad outlines of Graphic Design History for an undergraduate audience, to call this book a textbook is to do a great disservice to the extraordinary design layout, which can certainly hold its own against any other fine art book stacked up on your coffee table. Yale UP and Eskilson are to be praised for the gorgeous selection of large color reproductions. Don't wait till your professor assigns this book, buy this one just for the pleasure of enjoying a great read and a beautiful design.

Lost Christianities is a casual introduction to early Christian history and the academic study of the New Testament. Bart Ehrman describes the beliefs and texts of several competing Christian groups. The Gnostics, Ebionites, Marcionities, and proto-orthodox (Dr. Ehrman's name for the group that came to dominate by the fourth century) receive the most attention.

The author was the Religious Studies chair at UNC and the publisher is Oxford University Press, but everything between the copyright page and the bibliography of this book reads like a popular press title. Accessibility is emphasized everywhere with frequent storytelling and even definitions big words in parentheses. Anything technical is banished to a further reading entry in an endnote. This, however, means the search for the reasoning behind some of Dr. Ehrman's more puzzling claims must be undertaken at a library.

The book is loosely organized into three sections. The first describes ancient texts and includes stories about the discovery of some and the forgery of others. The second describes a diverse array of Christian sects. The final tells how the proto-orthodox responded to other groups and how the New Testament canon became standardized. In all three sections, this book is easy, informative, and occasionally even convincing.

Ehrman's "Lost Christianities" is a valuable resource that is at its best when offering translations and summaries of actual early Christian texts, revealing a fascinating diversity of views within the early Church. The history of early Christian disputes and how they led to Rome's dominance, and the destruction of alternative paths, is highly readable and engaging.

The book's main weakness is not so much its secularism, but its surprisingly constricted approach to interpretation. Ehrman tends to adhere to literalism in his analysis, which leads him into some blind alleys. One example: in discussing the references to the author of the Coptic Gospel of Thomas as Jesus' twin, Ehrman wonders if this implies the mother of Jesus gave birth to Joseph's son at the same time as she delivered Jesus, and points to Greek mythology in which Hercules the son of Zeus had a mortal twin. Very literalistic. But I recently read an analysis which put forth the view that in referring to Thomas as Jesus' twin, the meaning (or at least a meaning) is that humanity is/can be the "twin" of the son of God, if we (humanity) will step up and claim our true natures. This esoteric interpretation has basis in Gnostic theology, and it's surprising that Ehrman doesn't even mention it.

Ehrman also repeatedly refers to many ancient gospels as "forgeries." I think that term would have been better reserved for medieval or modern hoaxes (of which there are many). Yes, we know that many gospels, maybe all, both canonical and otherwise, were not actually written by the apostles themselves. But if an unknown scribe collected the oral traditional associated with an apostle and then produced a work under the apostle's name, it seems that labeling it as "fraudulent" or a "forgery" is not really appropriate and, in fact, somewhat misleading.

Bart Ehrman has made a living treading the treacherous territories of New Testament scholarship. Very few things--except perhaps politics--can make more people agitated and angry the way discussion on religion does. Ehrman navigates this forest with aplomb. He makes no secret that he sees things a certain way, and he seems to have no qualms about laying out his evidence.

Lost Christianities is something of a companion volume to Lost Scriptures in that they both aim to elucidate the beliefs of many early groups of Christians. In this book, Ehrman shows how different early "Christians" were from Christianity today--and how different from each other. His writing style is clear and fascinating, and it truly does justice to his topic. I have read other books of his, and I have yet to be disappointed.

Excellent book from a very smart scholar. I have enjoyed his books and lectures - some sanity among the crazy fundies out there!

This book is an excellent introduction to the characters referred to so often on the subject of early Christianity and exactly what role they played and what position they took. For readers who would like some famous names fleshed out a bit, like Eusebius, Irenaeus, Ignatious of Antioch, Marcion, Polycarp, Tertullian and others, this is a very engaging way to learn more about why these names are so important in the early decades and centuries as they themselves are writing about the lively early christian world of conflicting doctrines and theologies.

I found it useful and enjoyable to have Ehrman's companion book to this one, "Lost Sciptures", as a handy reference that added another very rich dimension to the experience. Being able to actually read the scripture to which the ancient fathers were referring brings this book to life.

We bought this as part of our homeschooling and my kids are really interested in it.

Good book full of interesting information. A nice book for kids to go to to look stuff up. We love these sorts of books. Great for a homeschool household.

Heather mama of 5

I originally borrowed this book when I was looking for a history reference book to use with my seven year old. I enjoyed it so much that I had to purchase my own copy. Though I bought it to use for homeschooling my son, I enjoyed the book so much I was up nights reading it. The pictures are great, the layout is easy to follow and reference, and the content is inclusive without being complex or boring. I would highly recommend it as a great history timeline reference either for studying, reading, or browsing.

We use this book almost daily in our home school. It is full of extremely detailed illustrations that can be graphic (a pile of human heads)but will draw children's attention even if they can't read the words. My kids were amazed when we bought a picture book with real photographs of Egypt and they were able to match up the original photos with the art in the Usborne book. Lots of information that tends to be a little too fragmented so you will need to supplement with other books to get a fuller picture of "World History" even for your kids.

As secular Jewish parents homeschooling our daughter, while living and travelling aboard a sailboat, my wife and I were initially quite thrilled at finding this book. Its brightly colored detailed illustrations accompanying bite-sized chunks of historical information seemed to be just the right sort of introduction to world history for a six year old. That is, until we have received the book and read it.

We were initially a bit surprised to find the table of contents without a single mention of Jews or Judaism. We proceeded to search the book and finally, in a chapter called "Nomads in the Desert", found one page devoted to an illustration of the Solomon's Temple, along with six drawings and twelve sentences dealing with the "Israelites". Providing very little content or context, the chapter is concluded by stating "...Israel rebelled and its people were taken away, never to return" There is not a single word on Judaism, or a single connection made to the subsequent history of the Jewish people, both in the Middle East and the Diaspora. In fact, the words "Jewish" or "Jew", the modern terms for the "Israelite", are almost entirely excluded from the book. The chapter also includes an italicised "footnote" stating that "Many of these people and places are mentioned in the Old Testament", a historical understatement bordering on vicious irony.

Incidentally, the preceeding chapter is entitled "Canaanites and Philistines", and draws a clear entymological connection between the Philistines-Pelest-Palestine (ignoring the fact that the region was named Palestine much later, only after the Romans invaded, specifically to destroy any connection between the land and the rebellious Israelites)

Moving on, we looked at Egypt. Any mention of Jewish slaves building the pyramids? No. Any mention of the Exodus, Moses, the revelation of Torah and the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai? Nope again. A very surprising omission, indeed, given the fact that the main religious and cultural thrust of the book is concentrated on the Mosaic religions, for which Judaism is the base.

Moving on to Rome. One mention of Jews here, in connection with a rebellion and the Dead Sea scrolls (Chapter "Romans and Barbarians" (!?!)). Again, no connecion is made to the Israelites or Judeans, who were the same people. The very next illustration deals with the Christians. The caption reads "Some people in Palestine followed a religious leader called Jesus. They were known as Christians because he was called Christ, the Messiah, and met secretly in catacombs." Any mention that Christ was a Jew, as were most of his early followers? Incidentally, Christians were forced to meet in catacombs much later and in a different place altogehter, in Rome, to be precise.

And that is the first and last time the Jews are mentioned in this book. Life in the diaspora, persecutions in Europe during the dark ages? The Crusaders, who systematically slaughtered the entire Jewish population of the Holy Land "...felt they must go and fight to protect (it)" Spanish Inquisition, which was chiefly aimed at Maranos, the Iberian Jews forced to convert to Catholicism? It is described as hunting "...anyone who was not a good Catholic" Expulsion of Jews and Muslims from the Iberian peninsula by the Catholic Kings Isabel and Ferdinand in 1492? Not a mention. Great Sephardic centers of culture and learning? Nada.

We really tried to like this book. The illustrations are colorful and detailed and we will probably continue using it, but will have to heavily supplement the content with other materials. I do not want to speculate on the reasons why the publishers chose to omit one of the most important portions of world history. I would like to think it was just a mistake that will be addressed in a future edition.

I had low expectations for this book, but once I got into to it, it is a pretty good read. Clearly the start of a new series from him, with lots of possibilities in the future books.

A fun read for a light weekend.

If you are a David Weber fan you will love this book.
If you aren't a fan you will still love this book!
I have already ordered the next book.

This book reads a lot like heirs of empire, but I think it is a worth while read. i enjoyed it.

I literally devoured this book over a weekend. I thought the premise was unique enough to grab my attention and the characters really popped off the pages. That in particular is the reason I read Weber. Being a stand-alone, it's not quite as daunting to pick up "Reef" as it is one of the Honor Harrington or War God books and it is still a good example of Webers writing.

/Off Armageddon Reef/ contains a patchwork of previous themes in other books by David Weber. The Terran Federation comes from his /Starfire/ collaborations with Steve White, the alien menace that wipes out humanity and the one world which it misses is from his /Fifth Imperium/ (Dahak?), the method of FTL world spanning religion come from the /Honorverse/ and the artificial repressive religion also comes from /Starfire/.

The plot is this: Nimue Alban of the Terran Federation Navy makes less than a thousand years after she died against the Gbaba in a final stand to protect Earth. She's on Safehold, a planet that the TF's Operation Ark settled so that humanity can rise back up and destroy the Gbaba, however the colony's administrators created a false repressive religion in order to stagnate all thought and innovation. Nimue wakes up as a PICA, a cybernetic avatar that holds consciousness during the middle of the 9th Century of God. Nimue begins her quest to revive humanity's spirit from its shackles by aiding the Kingdom of Charis (after a quick sex change for her PICA due to women being of a lesser status on the feudal Safehold) as 'Merlin Athrawes', saving Crown Prince Cayleb from an assassination attempt by the ruler of neighboring Emerald, Nahrmahn. To disguise his truly superhuman powers, 'Merlin' is called a /seijin/ a kinda mystic warrior-monk. To help the rather innovative maritime Charis against Mother Church 'Merlin' introduces new innovations for ships and weapons allowing Charis which already controls the seas of Safehold (Charis is rather similar to the British Empire and China, economically since all of Safehold relies on it goods) to repel an attempt by the Church's corrupt puppet masters, the 'Group of Four' to destroy Charis.

People who haven't read any of the series mentioned above will probably see this book as very original, admittedly some of it is, like the PICA, which bothers me, if the Federation could make these, why didn't they make copies of their greatest admirals or scientists? Since Weber doesn't use the PICA except as a way for the heroine (another Weber staple) to be able to save Safehold from stagnation I choose to believe PICAs to be extremely hard to make. Despite the corrupt self-serving Church that the colony administrators set up and made themselves 'Archangels' /Off Armageddon Reef/ is not anti-religious or anti-Catholic even if the equivalent of the Protestants/Lutherans are the good guys unlike Eric Flint's /1632/. Several members of the laity (both 'good' and 'bad') speak of not the Church being corrupt, but the /men/ running it to be corrupt. The naval battles were a nice break after Weber's /Honor Harrington/ space operas. Another plus is that Nimue/Merlin isn't in love with Old Earth tacticians unlike many other of Weber's characters. There is one scene with that's kinda awkward funny involving 'Merlin' in a rugby (which on Safehold is nothing like Terran rugby, it's played in the water and the players are all naked) game, PICAs are literally fully functional and 'Merlin' still has Nimue's arousal by buff naked men, so 'he' has to keep the towel around 'his' waist until he can shut off the arousal feature.

For those just starting Weber, this will most likely seem very good, those have read all his other works will most likely feel a nagging sense of deja vu. Maybe I'm just a romantic, but I enjoy reading about civilization pulling itself back up from crushing defeat. Despite its faults /Off Armageddon Reef/ was enjoyable for me and I'm looking forward to reading /By Schism Rent Asunder/.

A short but well written book that sheds light on an almost forgotten man who changed the world. Interesting and fun to read, worth checking out.

Dava Sobel's Longitude manages to be both entertaining and enlightening. It's hard to imagine a book based on such a taken for granted historical landmark could prove to be such a good read. Personally, I must to confess a preference for historical issues, and John Harrison proved to be an engaging figure if for nothing else than his single mindedness to the task at hand. He spend the larger part of his life trying to solve a single riddle, and in the process, solved many others.

John Harrison completes his first pendulum clock in 1713 before the age of 20. He made the gears for this out of wood which was radical for such a use, but as a carpenter, perhaps not to him---which is a mark of genius, I'd say; to reach beyond accepted norms in this manner. This he did after borrowing a book on math and the laws of motion; which he copied word for word, making his own copy. He incorporated different varieties of wood into his clock for strength and later invented a bi-metal pendulum to counteract the expansion and compression of various individual metals. He also employed friction-free movements so as to do away with problematic lubricants. When intrigued by the puzzle of time at sea and the issue of longitude he contemplated substituting something not prone to gravity, as a pendulum of course is, to track times passing. In 1737 he creates a cantilevered clock 4 foot square. This the longitude board (which had offered a cash bonus to anyone who could devise a method in which time at sea could be kept) admired. Four years later he returns with an improved model; then starts on a 3rd model, like the previous two, also a fairly large sized clock.But there exists a problem within this book: An artisan freemason by the name of John Jefferys at the Worshipful Company of clockmakers befriends Harrison and then later presents to him a pocket watch in 1753. Then in 1755, while still working on his 3rd model, Harrison says this to the Longitude board: I have..."good reason to think" on the basis of a watch "already executed that such small machines[he's referring to pocket watches] may be of great service with respect to longitude." He then completes version 3 in 1759. His fourth version appears just a year later, however, and is a 5 inch wide pocket watch! The obvious inference made by the author is that after he received the pocket watch from Jeffreys he seemingly put his version #3 on the back burner and soon started on the pocket watch 4th version. The author does not claim Harrison copied anything from the Jeffreys model, but she certainly phrases this section so as to lend one to believe that this may have been the case; that Jefferys had a hand in the masterstroke invention Harrison eventually produced in version #4. This is not true. Harrison commissioned the watch he received from Jeffreys and was based on Harrison's specifications. It seems that Harrison simply asked Jeffreys to test an idea which he himself hadn't the time to attack just then; as he was still working on his 3rd version of a table-top prototype clock. Hence Harrison's above statement to the board in 1755 whence his ideas were validated by Jeffreys. In addition, the author plays up the part of the Astronomer Royal's part in attempting to impede Harrison from convincing the longitude board of the efficacy of a time-piece solution to this problem over a celestial answer to this conundrum. The author also jazzes up the issue of whether Harrison received the prize the board promised to pay for a successful solution herein; even though the board supported him for upwards of 20 years as he pursued this quest. It's as if the author intentionally omitted some facts (that the Jefferys was a Harrison commission), and pumped up others (of a rival/foil on the board trying to impede Harrison and the compensation issue; implying that Harrison was jipped) just to make the story more compelling. John Harrison's story, however, is extremely compelling as it is and didn't need this extra spice served up by the author.Do read this (very short) book on how this Mr. Harrison solved the problem of knowing where one is when at sea; and if you're in London, visit the Old Royal Observatory and the Clockmakers museum (in the Guildhall) where you can see Harrison's wonderful creations in person. Enjoy!

What do Galileo and John Harrison have in common? They both had run-ins with bureaucracies that impeded the acceptance of their breakthrough ideas. And they are both subjects of books by Dava Sobel. Longitude is second book by her that I have read, the other being Galileo's Daughter. As with the latter book, Sobel combines the science of the times with a lot of background on the politics and religion of the age. She weaves these together into a coherent story that is entertaining and informative. I had never even considered that there was a ever a problem in determining longitude, so this book opened my eyes. The book I had purchased contained color illustrations that helped bring the devices that are the subject of this book to life (more can be found at http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConNarrative.132/chapterId/2685/Greenwich-and-the-story-of-time.html). These devices were one inventor's way of solving the problem of determining longitude at sea. Sobel covers her topic with a great deal of sympathy. Indeed, the blatant way in which the establishment hampered Harrison was very frustrating, meaning that the writing was very compelling. Interestingly it speaks to Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific revolutions, which pointed out the great steps forward in science can be accomplished by those newer to the field and that science doesn't really change until the older generation passes. I recommend this book to anyone interested in boating or science or anyone who uses a GPS device to have an appreciation for how difficult travel used to be.

One of the most pressing issues for early sailors was the problem of longitude. Because it was impossible to determine longitude, many ships and sailors died. Also, captains used the same routes as pirates or enemies of the state, which made it easy to lie in wait for your next victim. In 1714, English Parliament passed the Longitude Act which created an award for the first person to accurately determine longitude. Longitude, by Dava Sobel, explores the work of John Harrison, the man credited with accurately determining longitude for ships at sea.

Contents:
Acknowledgements
Foreword, Neil Armstrong
Chapter 1: Imaginary Lines
Chapter 2: The Sea Before Time
Chapter 3: Adrift in a Clockwork Universe
Chapter 4: Time in a Bottle
Chapter 5: Powder of Sympathy
Chapter 6: The Prize
Chapter 7: Cogmaker's Journal
Chapter 8: The Grasshopper Goes to Sea
Chapter 9: Hands on Heaven's Clock
Chapter 10: The Diamond Timekeeper
Chapter 11: Trial by Fire and Water
Chapter 12: A Tale of Two Portraits
Chapter 13: The Second Voyage of John Cook
Chapter 14: The Mass Production of Genius
Chapter 15: In the Meridian Courtyard
Sources
Index

Today, ships have GPS to tell them where they are on the seas. But before John Harrison created his first sea worthy clock, sailors were pretty much lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. Watches were not accurate and clocks worked on a pendulum, which didn't help on a rolling sea. Sobel weaves an interesting tale of John Harrison, a carpenter turned clockmaker, who created an extremely accurate clock for determining longitude. But this story isn't solely about Harrison. There are others that are attempting to do the impossible as well, using the heavens to find longitude. Harrison must battle prejudice, and himself, to get his timekeeper judged for the prize (£20,000 is the award). In the end, Harrison developed several chronometers, extremely accurate and able to withstand the seas and weather, that by the 1780's all log books had an entry for longitude readings by timekeeper.

This is a topic that many may not find interesting. But Sobel hasn't written an academic dissertation on the subject, she has created a highly engaging study of a man dedicated to solving one of the greatest issues facing the world at the time. Her writing style makes this an easy book to read, as there are few technical details. However, for those that need more information, she provides a rather detailed source listing. I found the book to be a fascinating look at early sailing and the answer to a problem that plagued those sailors. Also, the background on Harrison adds to the story. While he worked as a carpenter, his knowledge of wood aided him in his quest for an accurate timekeeper. His chronometer was accurate to less than a second, in the 1700's, when other, more learned clockmakers could only be accurate to 15 minutes a day (plus or minus).

This is a very good, enjoyable book on a fascinating subject.