Amazon.com
The opening salvo of the Aubrey-Maturin epic, in which the surgeon introduces himself to the captain by driving an elbow into his ribs during a chamber-music recital. Fortunately for millions of readers, the two quickly make up. Then they commence one of the great literary voyages of our century, set against an immaculately-detailed backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. This is the place to start--and in all likelihood, you won't be able to stop.
Amazon.com Audiobook Review
Since Patrick O'Brian launched his series of historical novels with Master and Commander in 1970, millions of readers have enjoyed the adventures of Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend, surgeon Stephen Maturin. O'Brian's prose, so immediate and yet so distinctly capturing the language and culture of the English navy in the first moments of the 19th century, rolls effortlessly off the tongue of actor Robert Hardy. Never for a second do we doubt that this is the way an English naval officer would have expressed himself in 1800, and that these are the sights, sounds, and emotions he encountered. As Aubrey sails his ship into battle, we don't need the sounds of cannon to share this moment with him; Hardy's voice is the ideal instrument. (Running time: 4.5 hours, three cassettes) --Lou Schuler
Book Description
3 Cassettes, 4 1/2 hours
Read by Robert Hardy
Abridged
AudioBook contains an illustration of the sails of a square-rigged ship.
The 1st installment in O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series
"The best historical novels ever written..."
-The New York Times Book Review
This, the first in the splendid series of Jack Aubrey novels, establishes the friendship between Captain Aubrey, Royal Navy, and Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon and intelligence agent, against the thrilling backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. Details of life aboard a man-of-war in Nelson's navy are faultlessly rendered: the conversational idiom of the officers in the ward room and the men on the lower deck, the food, the floggings, the mysteries of the wind and the rigging, and the road of broadsides as the great ships close in battle.
Customer Reviews:
Disappointing Sea Story.......2007-06-13
I began this book prepared to like it, I really did. Actually, I was pre-reading it to see if it was suitable for my son. It is not.
First, let me say that this book is not for children. Certain topics of a sexual nature are routinely mentioned, indirectly. All of that action takes place off-stage or implicitly.
At the start, I was all for Captain Aubrey. I wanted to like him. After all, he is the hero of twenty more sequels. I tried to like him. I just couldn't. He is an obtuse, vain, vulgar, amoral jerk. His only real and true skill is in seamanship and the classical violin.
The author uses the immersion method to introduce his audience to the terms and jargon of early nineteenth-century navy seamanship. Nothing much is explained to us landlubbers, which makes following the copious sailing and battle descriptions a bit sketchy. I tended to gloss over at the mention of too many "stuns'ls" and "topgallantmasts."
There is a vein of anti-Catholicism which surfaces several times. Two characters are secret Catholics, and neither acquits himself heroically in that regard. One takes an oath against the Pope to obtain his commission; the other avoids revealing his true creed by turns of phrase and re-directing the conversation. Aubrey hates all Catholics (if he knows them to be so) and makes no bones about it. Of course, one would not expect to find pro-Catholic sentiment in His Majesty's Navy.
All of the technical jargon and religious differences aside, the story did mostly hold my interest. In the end, I was not satisfied with the resolution of the story. I am sure that is directly related to my dislike of the main character. I don't plan on pursuing any of the abundant sequels at present. I think I'll try the Midshipman Quinn: Collection (Bethlehem Budget Books) books next.
A Superb Book.......2007-06-10
Master and Commander sets a very high bar for the rest of the novels in the Aubrey/Maturin series.
O'Brian is a writer of immense qualities, and his ability to relate the intricacies of naval warfare in the beginning of the 19th century is both immersive and enjoyable. O'Brian does not start with a remarkable character, but builds him from the ground up, and builds up his friendship with Maturin as well. Viewers of the Master and Commander movie saw Aubrey in command of a ship of the line, but that is 10 books into the series, and at the start of this book Aubrey is a lieutenant without a ship.
The book is thoroughly laden with action, but it is a welcome break from the pattern that most authors assume of building to an immense action at the end of the book. O'Brian scatters action and excitement throughout, and there is still plenty of book left when the largest bit of action is done, and they are not boring pages to be skimmed till the finish.
Master and Commander is easily one of the best historical novels out there and one of the most enjoyable pieces of literature I have yet read. After reading this book, the next three came in quick succession, and I am sure the others will be soon to follow
So many wonderful things...........2007-05-30
I love this series - have read them all five or six times. There are many reviews that summarize the story of "Master and Commander" and indeed the many following books. I'd just like to highlight a few points.
About the early 19th century speech idiom and thought processes, so well captured by O'Brian: while these may present difficulty to those who aren't familiar with the writings of that time, they also represent a great opportunity. The O'Brian books are a delightful way to begin to appreciate the charm and subtleties of a long-gone way of life. Read Jane Austen for an appreciation of the overall social framework, for instance. Pick up on the strict codes that governed conduct: some perhaps too macho for today's taste, as where any insult to a gentleman - by a social equal, not by one of the "lower orders" - called for either an apology or a duel, the duel itself being a formal affair with each man having a "second" (a supporter) in attendance, the challenged one having choice of weapons. That's why, as Jack and Stephen leave that first concert, they coldly tell each other where they may be found, in the event of one deciding to "call out" the other. Also, later, when Jack is almost directly accused of cowardice (being "shy" in 18th/19th century idiom) by James Dillon, Stephen is depressed at the thought of two people he respects shaping up to fight each other.
Yet at the same time, note the courtesy in conversation: see the point early in the Aubrey-Maturin relationship where Jack holds back because he doesn't want to commit the rudeness of questioning a guest about personal matters. Stephen however picks up on the unspoken question and is happy to tell something of his life story, an indication of their growing mutual esteem.
Then, the technicalities of sailing ships - anyone today who has done some sailing should be able to grasp what's happening fairly readily, but admittedly readers from the prairie states may be on unfamiliar ground. (I confess to an unfair advantage, perhaps, with time in the Royal Navy - no, not in sailing ships! but there are many terms still common today.) The diagrams of a ship's rigging and sails, in the books, should help, and there are passages where O'Brian finds an excuse to give quite a good lesson in "the naming of parts." But isn't it a little strange that those who revel in action novels where every detail of modern weaponry is cataloged at length, should be unwilling to ride over the equally complex details of that wonderful creation, the fighting sailing ship, and just enjoy the story? You can always go back over the unfamiliar parts later in learning mode. Dictionaries are for the second time around.
The humor: there is so much of it! Word-play, especially Jack's malapropisms, of which there are many. Of course some rely on the reader already having a general knowledge background. Jack says someone is roaring "like a bull in a basin" - you have to recognize the Biblical misquote: "the bull of Bashan" (Psalms, 22:12-13; Amos 4:1). And also in Master and Commander, Jack's wonderfully mangled French lets him down, as so often, when he is told about the Catalan language and says it is a "putain" - Stephen has to gently correct him, the word for a dialect is "patois." Jack says he could swear the other is also a word, "I must have heard it somewhere" - well, since "putain" means prostitute, we (and Stephen) are left to speculate just where he heard it! Oh, those sailors when they get a run ashore... Then there are the sly puns - Jack had once been injured by a woman in Deal (a coastal town) hitting him with a smoothing-iron because she did not think her man should be *pressed* - the press-gang was the Navy's way of grabbing unwary landsmen and "pressing" them into Navy service whether they wanted it or not: but to *press* is also to iron clothes! I strongly suspect O'Brian was tempted to write that his wound was *dealt* him by a woman in Deal, but thought that would be overdoing it.
Another aspect of his word-play is the frequent use of favorite phrases that stem from other well-known authors. Every time we see the phrase "remote and ineffectual" we're reminded of Belloc's famously amusing poem (see Poetry Archives if it's unfamiliar). Incidentally, Belloc was a keen sailor. Then "Expense of spirit" is a phrase that surely has its most famous use in that Shakepeare sonnet. And more...and there are probably others that I'm missing because I'm not familiar with the source. But those that one recognizes are pleasant - a kind of sidelong glance from the author as if to say "Here's a little smile, if you're a reading person."
An inexhaustible treasure trove of riches. Enjoy!
Mastery.......2007-05-27
This is a great, readable novel sent on a wartime sailing vessel during the Napoleonic Wars. I have a love affair with this time period, and the sailing ships thereof, and this novel brought home the goods in both respects, conveying the realism of close quarters on a ship of war. In this case, I also learned something: how warships of that era managed their financing, so far from home. I may continue to explore the books in this series, from time to time.
When "Civilized War" Was Not a Complete Oxymoron.......2007-04-27
MASTER AND COMMANDER, the first of twenty complete novels and one unfinished volume in the Aubrey/Maturin series, is a mixture of both pleasing and annoying elements, though I do believe that the earlier outweigh the latter. Set primarily on the high seas along the European coast with a few incursions onto English land, this historical novel portrays the adventures of the sloop "Sophie" as she battles the French and Spanish during the Napoleonic Wars of the early 1800s.
Pleasing elements include the very human traits of the character of Jack Aubrey, who has just risen from the rank of lieutenant to that of master and has been given his first command of a ship of war. The reader shares his mixed emotions, ranging from pride that comes from being called "Captain" to estrangement from crew mates that inevitably results from his position of supreme authority aboard ship to disappointment that his ship is merely a sloop and not a man-of-war. We see Aubrey's attempt to mimic the great fighting ships fail miserably as the cannons he has had mounted on her bow threaten to dismember her timbers with their recoil, and we feel his resignation as he has them returned to the shipyard. We also come to understand Aubrey's motivation, accurate for the time period, not to achieve memorable military victories but to enrich himself (with a paltry bit for his officers and crew) by capturing prizes such as merchant ships not under English protection. We are also privy to many of his foibles, which include his chagrin at catching a venereal disease from his high-ranking mistress who has obviously been a trifle too flirtatious in his absence.
A few other characters, including of course the second main protagonist of the novel, Dr. Stephen Maturin, are also well developed for the reader's enjoyment. Maturin is portrayed as a superb physician, an erudite student of nature, and a consummate wordsmith whose tongue is always ready with an appropriate Latin phrase or precise English locution for the topic at hand. He is also versed in Catalan and can correct Aubrey's poor attempts at French. In medicine, Maturin is a miracle worker, able to repair a depressed skull fracture by removing the top of a sailor's skull and resuscitating a drowned midshipman. Maturin's skills may strain credulity, but his naivety at all things naval or military is endearing.
Actually, my favorite character portrayal is that of the pederast mate who adores Aubrey, who in turn is oblivious to the nature of the man's devotion and sees him merely as a loyal and able seaman. This particular example tells us much of Aubrey's innocence and ignorance of many facets of life, his incredible luck as a ship's master notwithstanding, and of Maturin's vocabulary since it is he who describes the man as a "pederast."
In addition to character portrayals, one of the strongest elements of the book is the picture it gives us of the nature of European marine warfare at the beginning of the 19th century. It is portrayed as a strange mixture of utter barbarity, with chains shot from cannons eviscerating sailors, and of gentile manners with victorious captains entertaining their captive equivalents with sumptuous meals and gentlemanly conversation. For officers, at least, if one was not cut down by a cannon ball, warfare was more or less a civilized pursuit in which capture, release upon parole, and eventual formal exchange was the understood procedure. This concept of "civilized warfare" is nearly surreal when contrasted with the impersonal ravaging of modern wars and forces one to think that perhaps civilization has retreated from a higher state of two centuries ago. In any event, the historical picture is a valuable one.
To the novel's discredit, its author throws technical terms about willy-nilly, and if one is not conversant with the architecture, sails and rigging of a late 18th to early 19th century sailing ship, the significance of quite a few orders being issued from the quarterdeck will be lost upon the reader. Neither is the tendency to overawe the reader with linguistic oddities limited to seafaring terms. Aubrey comes out with British colloquialisms now and then ("I'm clemmed."), and words such as "tremontana" occur with some regularity. Having a large dictionary at hand when reading MASTER AND COMMANDER is almost a necessity. There are also spots in which the story line is broken by skips in chronology, and the reader must reconstruct in his mind the missing intervening events that brought the characters to their present situations; this becomes more evident near the end of the book, as if the author were rushing to a conclusion and leaving out bits and pieces here and there. In this regard, a few references pop up for which the reader has not been prepared, such as a mention late in the book to the Sophie's four lunatics-to which the reader has never been introduced before.
Considering both the strengths and weaknesses in the novel, I must conclude that I am far from agreeing with a New York Times book reviewer that the Aubrey/Maturin series are "the best historical novels ever written." Their predecessors, the Hornblower novels by C. S. Forester, are surely of equivalent if not of higher quality, although each is shorter and may lack some of the complexity of character development found in the Aubrey/Maturin stories. Still, MASTER AND COMMANDER has been a fairly captivating read and has inspired me to proceed to the next novel in the series. If one has enjoyed Forester's Hornblower series, he will enjoy O'Brien's novels as well, for they are very similar in genre. However, if one is approaching this particular type of historical novel for the first time, may I suggest that Forester may prove a better read than O'Brian?
"O'Brian," by the way, is an assumed name for a somewhat ne'er-do-well Englishman actually named Richard Patrick Russ (1914-2000), whose own life is interesting if perhaps somewhat unenviable. Readers interested in knowing more about the author may find the biography PATRICK O'BRIAN: A LIFE REVEALED by Dean King to be a valuable study.
Book Description
From coast to coast, home boatbuilders have turned to Chris Kulczycki for everything they needed to know about making their own kayaks from high-grade marine plywood and epoxy. In The Kayak Shop, a long-time popular standard, Kulczycki provided explicit directions and plans for building three sea kayaks: a high-performance single, an expedition single, and a touring double. The New Kayak Shop details three new Kulczycki designs that are more elegant and even more suitable for today’s paddlers. The building instructions are also updated, with new sections on paint and varnish, seat construction, power tools, computer programs for amateur designers, and tips on building multi-chine and round-bottom boats. The New Kayak Shop offers the best, most refined designs and building methods in a single, accessible volume.
Customer Reviews:
kayak shop.......2007-01-15
This is a good book. Clear conceptions are presented. Good ideas and techicnics. building plans are a little limiteds and you will need some skill to make it usefull, but this is a book to people who has some skill. So the middle point is that books makes directions in sale building plans, may be this is the better idea to a kayak homemade. Plans could be more clear and you don't need to use a lent to read this font numbers or break your mind thinking how do somethings. To avoid this you will need to buy authors building plans.
Very good book for those who want to learn the stitch&glue method and have no background .......2007-01-10
The Kayak plans are detailed enough. No need to order the plans separately.
I think that if you don't have any background in stitch&glue it is a good start with.
I have found the book very useful.
Good Book that will help yo build a Beautiful Wooden Kayak.......2003-10-23
This book is a complete presentation of what you will beed to do to build a stich and glue kayak, beginning to end. The designs in the boat are suitable for beginner and intermediate paddlers. People with even modest amounts of woodworking aptuitude will be able to build boats from this book if you can make the time and money committments, in my experience begin at 100 hours and $500. Tool requirements are modest, mostly hand tools, and are discussed in the book.
I built another of Chris K's designs using plans supplied by Chesapeake Light Craft after reading this book. Note that you can get a great deal of additional information from additional sources. The Builder's Forum on Cheaspeake Light Craft's website - www.clcboats.com - contains a wealth of info about building these boats. Please note that CLC is the company that Chris K founded - he has since sold the company, and the current management continues to introduce additional designs. A very large community of CLC builder/owners provide feedback on building issues continuously. Another source - I found it helpful to purchase the full size plans for the particular design I wanted from CLC, which was not included in this book. More on designs below. For $75, you can get the plans and a detailed manual for the design you want. (Note that if you buy plans from CLC, you are entitled to their very good technical support via telephone and email). I found the plans useful, but you can build straight from this book. The boatbuilding forum on www.kayakforum.com also serves a large community of kayakbuilders that are quite ready to answer questions.
Kayaks are like sneakers - they come in particular sizes to fit the paddler, and are designed for particular uses. There are plans for three designs in this book, but do be aware that CLC also has about 20 other kayak designs of various sizes and purposes in their line-up, so don't limit your options by sticking to the plans in the book if it is not going to be the best boat for you. That said, the three designs in the book are as follows: The Severn, a 14 foot, very light kayak for calm water use; the Chesapeake 16, a touring kayak that is probably CLC's most versatile design; and the West River 180, a faster, narrower, and less stable boat better suited for kayakers with some experience. Regarding the Severn, it is harder to build than other CLC designs. If you are interested in a flatwater boat, CLC's current Mill Creek 13 is more versatile and much more stable, is easier to build, and has a large cockpit opening. It is a great boat for beginners and fishermen. If you want a small decked kayak, their 14 foot Chesapeak design is a better choice. I do not think that the Severn ever developed much of a following. Plans for this boat are no longer published by CLC.
The Chesapeake 16 is a good all around touring kayak, and has a lot of storage room. Be aware that is it a large volume boat and is sutiable for heading out loaded with camping gear. It works as an unloaded day boat, but not as well as lower volume kayaks. Plans for this boat continue to be sold by CLC, and many of these have been built to date.
The West River 180 is a fast narrow, tippier boat that can cover a lot of ground quickly. It is, conversly, hard to turn. It is also one of the sleekest looking stitch and glue kayaks. CLC recently retired this design, replaceing it with the updated WR 18, which reportedly offers handling improvements.
CLC holds free demos where you can try out their various boats. These are regularly scheduled in Annapolis, Maryland, and are occassionaly held in various other parts of the country seasonally - check their website for details. If you can't get to a demo, check out the CLC Owner's Club at the website to find a builder near you for the design you are interested - many folks would let you see or try the CLC boat they built themselves.
Finally, if you are new to kayaking and kayak building, it is relatively easy to learn to build and paddle these boats. It is much harder to develop good judgement as to safety in various wind and water conditions. If you are new to this sport, please develop safe practices and judgement by taking lessons, joining a kayking club, and/or reading books dealing with the subject. "Sea Kayaker: Deep Trouble", available right here on Amazon, analyzes a number of sea kayaking accidents, including many fatalities. Amazon sells other good kayaking books as well. If you don't think that kayaking can be dangerous, or that it won't happen to you, you are in over your head, are at risk for mishaps, and owe it to yourself to get educated about how not to become a statistic. This is a great sport that is safe when practiced prudently, however, unfortunately, people die each and every year by being ignorant of the hazards.
Happy building and paddling.
Steve C
Great book with only one gripe..........2003-01-30
My one gripe is that the plans included with the book are close to useless. They're on tiny paper, and need to be severely enlarged before they can be used.
Other than that, this book is an excellent look at what goes into building a stitch and glue kayak. I've built a boat designed by this author, using only plans purchased through the resources listed in the book, and spent many hours on Long Island Sound, the Connecticut River, and the Texas Gulf Coast enjoying slipping silently through the water.
The time estimates are correct, even for someone who is only moderately familiar with wood-working. His materials lists are complete, and the recommendations made are worth paying attention to. In my building, I went contrary to a couple of the book's reccommendations; in hindsight, I would have followed the book much more closely.
A valuable read for the novice boat builder........2001-09-10
I'm planning to build one of Chesapeake Light Craft's Mill Creek kayaks this winter. I've been reading the CLC forums, the many customer web sites and the back issues of Wooden Boat magazine with articles on building CLC boats, but the most helpful read so far has been this book.
There is a lot to learn about boat building, from techniques to vocabulary. This book will help you build a knowledge base to take on the project of building your own kayak.
Thanks to Chris for this helpful guide!
Amazon.com
Presumably anyone who can afford the $150 to $300 a head it takes to dine at one of Alain Ducasse's restaurants won't blanch at the hefty price tag on this glossy testimonial to the great master's gastronomy. L'Atelier of Alain Ducasse is like an elaborate program you bring home from the opera and may have about as much practical value. In his introduction, Jean-Francois Revel of the Academie Francaise suggests there's a certain pointlessness to even thinking about cooking along the lines of the recipes presented by Ducasse. Revel emphasizes again and again the high quality of the ingredients Ducasse works with, implying that such ingredients by their very nature are out of reach of mere mortal cooks. "In these modern times," Revel writes, "the land is far removed from nature, and nature has found refuge in haute cuisine. For now nature has become too expensive: in the kitchen, as elsewhere, it has become a supreme luxury." So with the caveat that you will never find the special ingredients it takes to make any of these dishes really sing and that the skill level is professional, Ducasse divides his book into sections based on his favorite ingredients: olives and olive oil, asparagus, wheat, the white Alba truffle, bass, turbot, lamb, and lemons and citrus fruits. The recipes have been produced by Ducasse and a handful of his core students including Franck Cerutti, Jean-Louis Nomicos, Sylvain Portay, Jean-Francois Piege, and Alessandro Stratta. Good writing would have carried this book way over the top, but good writing is what it lacks. The essays are wooden, perhaps attributable to translation, and the recipes, of course, are out of reach. That leaves the photos, which makes this a beautiful book for the coffee table. --Schuyler Ingle
Book Description
Alain Ducasse, the charismatic, innovative and demanding master chef, invites us to enter the prestigious world of French haute gastronomie.
Brilliantly guided by the distinguished author, Jean-Francois Revel of the Academie Francaise, we follow this champion of the highest standards in food and its preparation as he creates new recipes, continues his constant search for the finest ingredients, and discovers new techniques and new domains in which to practice his art.
Herve Amiard's photographs illustrate all four sections of the book, providing the backdrop to this fascinating journey.
L'Atelier, where we witness the creative process and catch the spontaneous gestures and glances of the master chef and his pupils as they exercise their skills. Here too, we meet Alain Ducasse's five star pupils: Franck Cerutti, Jean-Louis Nomicos, Jean-Francois Piege, Sylvain Portay and Alessandro Stratta.
Products and Producers, in which Benedict Beauge visits Alain Ducasse's suppliers and hears from the master chef why olives, asparagus, wheat, white Alba truffles, sea bass, turbot, lamb and Menton lemons are his favorite ingredients.
Vegetables, where we learn why these products play such a crucial role in Alain Ducasse's culinary vision.
Recipes, where the master and his students create delicious, stylish dishes from the eight chosen ingredients.
Ceaselessly striving to achieve perfection, Alain Ducasse offers the reader a magnificent lesson in gastronomy. For the first time, Alain Ducasse gives gourmets the opportunity to put themselves in the place of his brilliant pupils. A privilege to be enjoyed to the fullest!
Alain Ducasse Famous from Paris to New York, from Turin to Tokyo, the renowned master chef is at the helm of two of France's most prestigious restaurants: the Louis XV-Alain Ducasse in Monaco and the Restaurant Alain Ducasse in Paris. Both these temples of French gastronomy have achieved the exceptional honor of receiving three stars from the Michelin Guide. This accomplished gastronome has developed two contrasting and complementary culinary styles: relaxed, spontaneous Mediterranean cookery and the rigorously classic cuisine of the French capital.
Customer Reviews:
A Master at Work.......2000-03-30
Alain Ducasse is nothing less than a "master" in the kitchen, when he brings dining to a whole new level. Anyone who liked his past book "Flavors of France," will surely like this book just as much.
Alain Ducasse, a Chef of Great Influence........2000-03-28
For each generation of chefs there is one who has profound influence the culinary world. For the new millenium it is Chef Ducasse.
L'Aterlier of Alain Ducasse is less of a book on Ducasse himself and more of a tribute from Chefs who have worked and learned under his exacting standards.
Ducasse presents recipes on specific ingredients which are then followed by recipes from Chefs who have worked under him and gone onto greatness of their own.
Jean-Louis Nomicos, Sylvain Portay, Franck Cerutti Jean-Francois Piege and Alessandro Stratta all show how their style of cooking has been influenced by time working for Alain Ducasse.
Ducasse presents us with ingredients and takes us on a their journey to the table. Every ingredient has a point at which it is at it's height of flavor and quality. Ducasse shows us how to prepare them to reach that point so their indentity is distinct and uncomplicated by other flavors.
L'Aterlier of Alain Ducasse is a must have for all professionals and "foodies. This book will provide great inspiration and hours of entertainment for anyone serious about food and cooking.
Alain Ducasse, a Chef of Great Influence........2000-03-28
For each generation of chefs there is one who has profound influence the culinary world. For the new millenium it is Chef Ducasse.
L'Aterlier of Alain Ducasse is less of a book on Ducasse himself and more of a tribute from Chefs who have worked and learned under his exacting standards.
Ducasse presents recipes on specific ingredients which are then followed by recipes from Chefs who have worked under him and gone onto greatness of their own.
Jean-Louis Nomicos, Sylvain Portay, Franck Cerutti Jean-Francois Piege and Alessandro Stratta all show how their style of cooking has been influenced by time working for Alain Ducasse.
Ducasse presents us with ingredients and takes us on a their journey to the table. Every ingredient has a point at which it is at it's height of flavor and quality. Ducasse shows us how to prepare them to reach that point so their indentity is distinct and uncomplicated by other flavors.
L'Aterlier of Alain Ducasse is a must have for all professionals and "foodies. This book will provide great inspiration and hours of entertainment for anyone serious about food and cooking.
Book Description
Captain Jack Aubrey is ashore on half pay without a command, until Stephen Maturin arrives with secret orders for Aubrey to take a frigate to the Cape of Good Hope under a commodore's pennant, there to mount an expedition against the French-held islands of Mauritius and La Réunion. But the difficulties of carrying out his orders are compounded by two of his own captains—Lord Clonfert, a pleasure-seeking dilettante, and Captain Corbett, whose severity pushes his crew to the verge of mutiny.
Customer Reviews:
Patrick O'Brian Fan..........2007-09-18
I have read this series of books and listened to them on tape and now I am getting them on cd so I can rip them to the computer and sync them to my mp3 player which is easier to carry around my neck as I work. When I listen to these stories it makes watering the trees a bit more interesting. If you haven't read this series I highly recomend you start if you want to be totally entertained by the wonderful cast of characters.
Happy O'Brian fan.......2007-06-26
It's been a decade since I read the books, so this time around I am listening to them. The production is first rate and I am enjoying the book as though I'd never read it. Joy!
Average customer rating:
- Great book, would have made a better movie than the one out.
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Master And Commander: Library Edition (Aubrey-Maturin)
Patrick O'Brian
Manufacturer: Blackstone Audiobooks
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Customer Reviews:
Great book, would have made a better movie than the one out........2004-04-08
This book would have made a great movie on its own. They borrowed the titles from two books. They should have stuck with the series verbatem.
The book kept my interest. Even with the very technical descriptions of the sailing terms it was hard to stop listening. The heavy verbose english takes about 1 disk to get used to, but once you do, you will sink right into it.
Highly recommended for sailors or historians.
Book Description
This is a study that digs deeply into this "other" slavery, the bondage of Europeans by north-African Muslims that flourished during the same centuries as the heyday of the trans-Atlantic trade from sub-Saharan Africa to the Americas. Here are explored--perhaps for the first time--the actual extent of Barbary Coast slavery, the dynamic relationship between master and slave, and the effects of this slaving on Italy, one of the slave takers' primary targets and victims.
Customer Reviews:
Hmmm. Important but misleading........2007-08-02
1. It is an important book in chronicaling slavery throughout the world in the last 500 years.
2. However, it misleads the reader to think that slavery was the same throughout the world. Though evil is evil, it is important to recognize that different cultures had different rules, rules that could make or break a person. For example, Muslim slavery rarely involved the enslavement of a person for life, especially not that person's offspring. In most cases slaves could not even be sold from person to person and had several rights concerning family.
This marks a vital difference between their practice with slavery and the European practice of chattel slavery: where a person was a slave for life, had NO rights concerning family, and their offspring were immediately and forever the property of their enslaver.
3. The other problem with this book is that it suggests that the primary way that Muslims got European slaves was through raids. On the contrary, just like in Africa, raiding was a minor way of obtaining slaves. The truth is that the Europeans, like Africans, sold each other into slavery. There were various massive ports in Europe, such as Venice in Italy, that grew wealthy from the selling of other Europeans into slavery.
The Triumph Of Greed.......2007-04-27
This book illuminates an important dynamic of history. Africans were enslaving Europeans. Europeans were enslaving Africans. Africans were selling the members of competing African tribes to Europeans for enslavement. The constant in all this is greed.
Slavery in the East.......2007-01-11
While the book was interesting from an historical perspective, it is one not meant for leisure reading. I commend the writer for diligence in research and recommend this as a supplimental text for the person interested in reading additional materials relating to the current conflict between Christians and Muslims.
A wonderful read to reflect on the history and today.......2006-12-01
Reading this wonderful book, one cannot help to reflect on the history since then when such slave trade took place, as well as what Europe is facing today. It is important to remember the history and learn the necessary lesson from it, otherwise, we have no way to prevent the history from repeating itself. I also cannot help to wonder: why such history is not told in our schools and in our media? What is the reason that this history has become so sensitive even after 200 years since its end that our governments and our media would never want us to know?
Have our governments and our media sold their soles so that they can justify what they did to promote foreign interests that are damaging our own culture, our free society and the Western civilization in every way?
How could we allow those people who want to kill anyone who do not obey their god to come to our society? How could we allow those threathening our fundamental rights of free expression and liberty everyday living in our society with the best social welfare and benefits? How could we allow those people to build the mosques that are mushrooming our landscape where every moment the hatred to the Western culture and Christianity is taught and the worst brainwash is conducted, and all financed by our taxpayers' money? (in Germany there are more than 3,000 mosques already, more in France, all financed by the governments)How could we allow those talk to give both Islam and Christianity a equal status in the West while our own politicians are trying so hard to destroy our own religion to please those who tried for several centuries but never succeeded?
Of course, there are many immigrants who want to integrate into our society and be good citizens, but there are also people who oppose our civilization in every way, who want to kill us and destroy our society for their religion. We used to fight enemies who invade us from the outside, now thanks to our governments, we have to fight them from within. It is almost an impossible task. With the birth rate of Muslims 5 times of the Christians in the last 50 years, we are becoming minorities in our own countries faster than we have realized.
After reading the world-famous journalist, writer Oriana Fallaci's book THE FORCE OF REASON, I know the West is heading for a total self-destruction. Now with this book on an important part of Western history which has almost lost, everyone living in the West should reflect on the urgency of today and to use our rights to fight for our freedom, now or never. It is our responsibility to prevent the history from repeating itself.
Little known history.......2006-01-06
Mass slavery in the popular imagination had always been associated with the capture and subsequent enslavement of Africans. With good reason. The sheer scale of the African slave trade stretched the limits of imagination. Enslaved Africans were ubiquitous from Brazil to the Carribbean to the plantations in the Southern United States. Slavery undergirded economies, dehumanized victims and victimizers alike and generated profits for those who benefited from this egregious institution. In the Western world, especially the United States, the history of slavery bares a black face. There is no denying the suffering of Africans in bondage. Robert C. Davis, author of Chritian Slaves, Muslim Masters,however, presents us with another picture of bondage, one no less brutal, repressive and disheartening. This bondage was experienced by Europeans at the hands of North African Muslims. Between 1500 and 1800, dates in the subtitle, corsairs sanctioned by the North African govenments of Tunis, Tripoli, Algiers and Morrocco attacked European ships in the Medditeranean and raided European shores. These plundering expeditions netted hundreds of thousands of captives. As many as a million and a quarter Europeans, according to the author, were enslaved by North Africans. A small figure compared to the estimated twelve million Africans carried off to the new world over a span of centuries, but not an inconsiderable one by itself. The author channels a prodigious research effort into a detailed anaylsis of slave life, how they were captured, their national origins, the types of labor they were consigned to and their physical and mental states. Muslims raids reached as far afield as Iceland, but the proximity of Italy to the North African coast made it a convenient and frequent target for Muslim slaving activities. For that reson, the author devotes a considerable amount of space to how Italians coped with constant raids along their shores. The parallels the reader can draw between European and African slavery during this period are undeniable. Captured human beings in both cases came from all walks of life. Their traumatic experience of capture was compounded by the humiliation of being displayed to prospective buyers like merchandise. As there was no plantation system in North Africa, Europeans did not toil in the midst of sugar canes or cotton fields. Many, however, were put to work in galleys, others hauling rocks at construction sites, working in mines or cutting timber. Whatever their labor, Davis decribes horrendous conditions to which European slaves were subjected; disease, unabated hunger, all manner of cruelty inflicted upon them by their masters and the general despair of captivity. Of course, a European slave had a higher chance of seeing his homeland again than an African slave. North Africans were more keen on ransoming their captives than Europeans and Americans in possession of African slaves. Still, lifelong captivity was the sad fate of a myriad of Europeans caught by Barbary corsairs. The tone of this book is purely scholastic. Facts and figures are prominant, but anecdotal accounts from primary sources add a human element to this work. The author does more than reveal this little known history of slavery in all its sordid detail. He delves into some historiograhpy, offering his theory on why European slavery has been downplayed in the annals. His take on this matter is a fitting conclusion to a well researched, remarkably informative book.
Product Description
Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are ordered home by dispatch vessel to bring the news of their latest victory to the government. But Maturin is a marked man for the havoc he has wrought in the French intelligence network in the New World, and the attention of two privateers soon becomes menacing. The chase that follows through the fogs and shallows of the Grand Banks is tenseand unexpected in its culmination. Meanwhile in Paris, Diana Villiers anxiously awaits Maturins safe return.
Product Description
Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, veterans now of many battles, return in this novel to the seas where they first sailed as shipmates. But Jack is now a senior captain commanding a line-of-battle ship in the Royal Navys blockade of Toulon, and this is a longer, harder, colder war than the dashing frigate actions of his early days. A sudden turn of events takes him and Stephen off on a hazardous mission to the Greek Islands, where all his old skills of seamanship and his proverbial luck when fighting against odds come triumphantly into their own.
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Master and Commander
Manufacturer: Books On Tape
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
ASIN: 0736698620 |
Product Description
10 cassettes - 1.5 hour each
Book Description
Critics have had this to say about
Bond: Plays 2:
Lear: "Bond's greatest (and biggest) play ... it is even more topical now and will become more so as man's inhumanity gains subtle sophistication with the twenty-first century's approach."-
The Times
The Sea: "It blends wild farce with tragedy and ends with a sliver of hope ... what makes the play fascinating is Bond's bleak poetry and social comedy."-
Guardian
Narrow Road to the Deep North: "His best piece so far ... No one else could have written it."-
The Times
Black Mass, written for performance at an anti-apartheid demonstration: "A George Grosz picture come to life ... the only kind of artistic imagery through which to speak of such evil."-
Listener
Passion: "Mingles comedy and high anger with absolute sureness."-
Guardian
Edward Bond is "one of our outstanding playwrights ... He is already an acknowledged classic."-
Plays and Players
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- Memoirs (George F. Kennan Memoirs)
- Michael Mina: The Cookbook
- New X-Men Vol. 5: Assault on Weapon Plus
- None Shall Look Back (Southern Classics Series)
- Notes from the Hyena's Belly: An Ethiopian Boyhood
- Now I'm Reading: On the Go!-Level 3 New Sounds and Blends
- Oh, the Places You'll Go! (Classic Seuss)
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- Operations Management: An Integrated Approach
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