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Someone should claim this question, but THIS 2 volumes are worthy.

Many classical papers and books refer to this books as the trivial standard reference book about chinese Buddhist sculptures. Study progress on classical works, but, students irritate for lack of this reference book, especially in new colleges/libraries. For old papers, it is rather easy to ask another library to copy, but for a book, it is not.

For over 60 years, this is out of print. Now Rare and Expensive.

Recently, SDI Publications( Thailand) published this reprint. Plate Quality is fine enough. Two hardcover volumes are more convenient to use than the original 4 volumes.

I recommend public libraries and colleges with art-historical department should get this REPRINT admired. It is worthy to mind damage to the original rare versions.

This book is timely addition to the literature, not least because of the planned restructuring of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland. The authors' provide a coherent and cogent analysis of the development and history of policing in Northern Ireland since partition, and suggest that its developmental trajectory owes more to the continental gendarmerie of France or Austria, than to the 'British' or Westminster model, applied in England and Wales. It is clear that the authors dispense with functionalistic notions of policing - to my mind a good thing - and it is assumption throughout the book is that the RUC must be regarded as part of a dense network of control and surveillance. This was principally directed towards the nationalist minority, with not only outright signs of political dissent being suppressed, but also (and somewhat intriguingly) those expressions of minority culture such as with St Patrick's Day parades. Several myths to do with Northern Ireland are debunked. The notion that pre-Troubles was in any sense a stable, 'normal' society under the Unionist Government at Stormont is subjected to critical scrutiny. Similarly, the authors demonstrate that the RUC itself played a major role in exacerbating (if not actually causing) the unrest in the late 1960s - with calamitous consequences. The concluding chapters of the book deals with the issue of symbols, and provides some insight (for the British reader at any rate) of why symbols assume such a strategic importance in schismatic societies such as Northern Ireland, becoming fused with notions of national identity and so on. There is some good sociology at work here. The final chapter of the book, deals with the Patten Commission report on the RUC. Unfortunately, the discussion is brief, and has little to say about the content of the Report itself, although perhaps this has something to do with the timing of the books publication, and the fact that the legislation implementing the proposals is still at the Committee stage in Parliament.

'The Crowned Harp' is an excellent and well timed contribution, to an under-researched area. The general reader might find some of the detail rather overwhelming. However, this should be of advantage to the more serious scholar.

Unlike the dime-a-dozen Bay Area travel guides geared for tourists, this book is a great resource for residents. Do not mistake this book for yet another "weekend getaways around the Bay Area" travel book, either; this book does not assume you have three days off. If you live and work in the Bay Area, you can enjoy most of the trips in this book on your regular weekend off without having to carve into your precious vacation time. The book isn't perfect. After all, it's tough to squeeze in 50 itineraries in one book, so each trip is only a few pages long. If you want to get off the recommended itineraries, obtain some additional literature about your destination (either online, thru its chamber of commerce or visitor center if you want to keep a frugal budget). The maps in this book are also rather rudimentary. You won't get lost, but you won't find a tremendous lot beyond what is drawn on the map. Fortunately a quick trip to your auto club should remedy your need for more comprehensive road maps. All in all however, this book is great and highly usable. Definitely recommended.

Lance Bombadier Stephen Restorick could have been just another British soldier among the 700 killed during the Troubles. But his mother has ensured that will not be the case with this moving and thought-provoking book that is a must read for anyone with an interest in Northern Ireland - republican, nationalist, Unionist or non-aligned. Stephen Restorick was shot dead by a sniper in South Armagh in February 1997, the last British soldier to date to be killed by the Provisionals. His alleged killer was convicted of the attempted murder of a police officer and subsequently released under the Good Friday Agreement with a fraction of his time served. Those are the bare facts, but Mrs Restorick, who has lobbied politicians from Gerry Adams to Tony Blair in her personal quest since her son's death, presents the human side of what happened. Parts of the book are heart-rending as she struggles to come to terms with how a smiling soldier was shot in the back in the dark as he examined the driving licence of a local Catholic woman at a checkpoint. Mrs Restorick is dignified, thoughtful, honest, straightforward and even has a nice touch of humour in her writing. She does not have all the answers but she poses a lot of the right questions and gives an important insight into how the relatives of casualties of the Troubles are left to pick up the pieces and wonder why. Mrs Restorick is no apologist for any side and this book is thoroughly recommended.

Toby Harnden (author of "'Bandit Country': The IRA and South Armagh")

'December Bride' begins grimly with a wedding between two middle-aged farmfolk in an empty church. Outside, a curious band of onlookers lurk in the cemetary. In this opening sequence, the novel's Big Themes are set up - The Land, Family, Death, Religion, Community. Bell than switches back a quarter of a century to chart how this scanario came to be. Andrew Echlin, benevolent patriarch of a large lake-side farmstead in turn-of-the-20th-century Northern Ireland, widower father of two sons (silent Hamilton and impetuous Frank), hires labouring tenant Martha Gomartin and her 30-year-old daughter Sarah as domestic servants. After Andrew's death in a boating accident, both men enjoy Sarah's favours, producing a baby of uncertain parentage. Despite the ineffectual efforts of a disapproving clergy, and the scandalised hostility of the community, Sarah refuses to marry either brother, and effectively takes over the running of the household. This menage-a-trois is seen as a direct affront to Puritan Protestant Ulster values; as minister Sorleyson muses: 'One had obligations to one's fellow-men. Of what avail was virtue if lust and irresponsibility were to be crowned with contentment?'

Bell uses as an epigraph a verse by Thomas Hardy, and it is to the latter's novels that 'Bride' bears most resemblance, with its focus on austere agricultural life, on the influence of the weather and the land on characters, on the confict between the eternal cycle of the seasons and the brutal transience of individual lives. Dialect (in this case Ulster-Scots) is richly employed, both in dialogue and in the detailed descriptons of farming life; the transgressive behaviour of individuals and families are contrasted with the norms of the wider community. As in Hardy, Bell favours dramatic set-pieces, often self-contained; he is also alert to the shifting emotions and contradictions of characters. Although the book's pleasures pertain to the 19th century novel, the writing is tauter; 'Bride' is ultimately not as relentlessly bleak or fatalistic as Hardy, despite that opening scene, the brooding or portentous atmosphere of many sequences, and the shattering violence or accidents that break out.

'Bride' is a canonical text in Irish literature, looked at for insight into the bitter history of Northern Ireland and the 'Ulster mentality', with the Troubles breaking out less then two decades after its publication (1951). And it is true that the tensions between Protestants and Catholics are a feature, that the issue of land and its control is crucial, that events seem to take place around important historical dates. But to reduce this novel to its academia-friendly bones not only misses the subversive, non-nationalist narrative of a servant girl and her disruptive sexuality taking control of a powerful farmstead, but also minimises Bell's gifts as a novelist, his psychological acuity, the visual and verbal poetry of his scene-setting, and the power of extended sequences, such as that of a near-senile widower lost in the crowded Belfast streets with his beloved dog.

a nice review of irish archaeology

The book provides an excellent guide to dive sites from Monterey Bay northward to the mouth of the Russian River. Each dive site includes recommendations for diver ability (novice to advanced), descriptions of entries and exits, and details of the surf, water and environmental conditions. It also includes such important issues as parking, legal (and illegal) places to unload equipment and don gear, and nearby dive stores.

The beautiful photos are also useful for sharing the diving experience with non-divers!

Jeri Howard, private investigator is in Monterey for a restful vacation (or so she hopes)! But she immediately finds herself in the middle of several mysteries -- mutilated pelicans, mysterious accidents at a trendy restaurant and her own cousin accused of murder! This book keeps you interested and moves along at a good pace. Having visited the Monterey/Carmel area, I enjoyed the familiarity of sites mentioned. I am a new reader of female p.i stories but highly recommend this book to others who enjoy this type mystery. I'm glad there are several more Jeri Howard mysteries waiting to be read!!

I came upon this book in a search for a scholarly tome on the political murals of Northern Ireland. I was disappointed at first. While this is an exceptional collection of Loyalist and Nationalist mural paintings, I wanted more. There is a bit of background and some minor information on the historical perspective where these paintings are found, but I wanted more. Imagine my chagrin when I realized that this is one of the few books that exists on this subject. Standing alone, this book is not enough to garner an appreciation of the art form. But, in conjunction with some knowledge of the cultures on both sides of the border in Ireland, it is priceless.

This story of the rise and fall of DeLorean Motor Company is exhaustively researched and fabulously detailed, but the authors make no attempt to hide their loathing for the man. From the Prologue onward, snide jabs (such as "The DeLorean story warns us to be more cautious and reluctant to entrust our dreams to others") pepper the narrative.

Personally, I would have preferred the facts speak for themselves. JZD was (and remains) a complex character whose story is considerably more multi-faceted than Fallon/Srodes allow for. You can see it physically pains the authors when they have to admit John's fidelity, sobriety and work ethic. A less-biased accounting would have allowed the reader to form his or her own opinion, and there's plenty of material to support any range of opinion.

But the book is readable and fairly well organized (except for the occasional sudden appearance of important people or events that we are told figured prominently earlier on) and, as mentioned, seems to be well-researched. I give it four stars for effort, none for attitude.