2000, ISBN: 9780964418400

Gebundene Ausgabe

London : Rider, 1989. First Paperback Edition. Softcover. Near fine paperback copy; edges very slightly dust-dulled and nicked. Remains particularly and surprisingly well-preserved overa… Mehr…

London : Rider, 1989. First Paperback Edition. Softcover. Near fine paperback copy; edges very slightly dust-dulled and nicked. Remains particularly and surprisingly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered. Physical description: 176p,[16]p of plates : ill., maps ; 24cm. Notes: Includes index. Ill. on inside papers. Bibliography: p169-173. Summary: When a well-preserved body was discovered in a Cheshire peat marsh in 1984, police initially thought they were dealing with the victim of a recent crime. Their subsequent investigations, however, soon proved that the body belonged to a Celt, a sacrifice victim of 2000 years ago. Celtic archaeologist Dr Anne Ross and chemist Dr Don Robins, who began to investigate the matter further, relate the story of their discoveries in this book. The text tells how they were able to date precisely, to the day, the death of ""Lindow Man"", how he was killed and why he was killed on Lindow Moss. It explains who this Celt was and the significance of his death. The authors piece together a picture of life under the Roman occupation and trace the influence of the Celtic Druid religion on later British history and back into Bronze Age times. Other works by the same authors include ""The Secret Language of Stone"" by Dr Robins and ""Pagan Celtic Britain"" by Dr Ross. Review: An archeologist (Ross) and a solid-state chemist (Robins) collaborate in a valiant effort to solve the mystery of Lindow Man. In 1984, an English peat-cutter in the Midlands unearthed parts of a male body that turned out to be nearly 2,000 years old. Archeologists rushed to study the well-preserved remains - the oldest human remains ever found in England, and officially known as Lindow Man. Authors Ross and Robins were among the scientists invited to collaborate on a book about the find for the British Museum. Reading each other's contributions, which helped reveal Lindow Man's identity as an aristocratic Celt ritually sacrificed around 50 A.D., they were sufficiently intrigued by a lingering sense that there was more to this stow to continue searching for the precise circumstances of his death. Analyzing the minute contents of Lindow Man's small intestine, Robins concluded that his presacrifical meal was of princely quality. Ross noted that the lack of battle scars indicated that Lindow Man was most likely a Druid priest. Other clues led the authors to believe he had come from Ireland shortly after Roman invaders had blocked off the Celtic trade route from England to Europe, that his arrival was a momentous event, and that his voluntary sacrifice in a hidden clearing near the Roman encampment was made as a last-ditch effort to persuade the Celtic gods not to allow the Romans to attack Ireland - the font of Celtic wealth and culture. If such is the case, Lindow Man was successful in his mission. Fattened on Celtic gold, the Romans stayed in England, while the Celts lived on in the Druid prince's story, preserved in half-forgotten English rituals and legends, and in the form of Lindow Man himself, whose discovery has sparked renewed scholarly interest in the Celts' misty past. An engrossing archeological tale, especially worthwhile for its window into the scientific-detection process. (Kirkus Reviews). Subjects: Lindow Man, Iron age - England, Celts - Great Britain, Britons, Lindow Moss (Cheshire) - Antiquities, England - Antiquities, Lindow Moss (England) - Antiquities, Cheshire (England), Cheshire - Lindow Moss - Archaeological investigation, Cheshire - Lindow Moss - Archaeology, Archaeology by period / region, United Kingdom, Great Britain, HISTORY / Ancient / General, Language: English., London : Rider, 1989, 0, UK,small 8vo card wraps,rev'd &redesigned,2nd edn,1st edn thus.FINE+. No owner inscrptn and absence of published price.Bright,crisp,unblemished,sharp-cornered, maroon card covers with black line illustration,,capitalised, black-lettered title and publisher,and other black-lettered author+illustrator names' to front cover,bright non-rusted staples to spine,rear cover with Unicorn's ship's crest black line illustration and other black-lettered publishing details.Insides of covers with author's Acknowledgements and Further Reading bibliography to front+rear covers respectively.Negligible shelf-wear to edges and corners - no nicks,tears or splits present.Top+fore-edges bright and clean without blemish; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips - unread,other than my own collation. UK,small 8vo card wraps,rev'd &redesigned,2nd edn,1st thus,1-18pp [paginated] includes 18 sections - all with the exception of one,the Gun's Crew - with b/w line diagram or b/w line illustration etc., by Mary K. Stewart (the author's wife); plus [unpaginated] a title page with a contents list/table to its reverse. Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional,and particularly internally,the book is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation for a book of its 40+ year-old age and nature, i.e. an ephemeral card wraps book]. It really is an exceptional,exemplary copy for its cleanliness,brightness and lack of wear and tear. Launched in 1824,HMS Unicorn is the most original old ship in the world,the oldest ship left in Scotland,as well as one of the six oldest ships in the world.Originally laid down as a 46-gun Leda-class frigate at Chatham Royal Dockyard during the reign of George IV.Although ordered in 1817, the ship's progress book shows that construction did not begin until February 1822.Unicorn's keel was laid down on Slipway No. 4 in Chatham Dockyard,Kent, and the ship was launched into the River Medway on 30th March 1824. Requiring around 1,000 oak trees to build at an expense of over £26,500,HMS Unicorn was designed to be an agile and powerful vessel,with a complement of 300 men required to crew her.The ship's unique design combines two great eras of shipbuilding the traditional wooden craftsmanship of the 18thC. and the emerging iron technology of the 19thC. Built for war, HMS Unicorn spent her early life in reserve or 'ordinary',where it was anchored on the River Medway, forming part of Britain's formidable naval force which helped to maintain the 'Pax Britannica' or 'British Peace' of the 19thC. During ther time 'in ordinary' the Royal Navy added the ship's distinctive and protective roof,resulting in HMS Unicorn remaining the most original of all the world's historic ships. Surveyor of the Navy from 1813 to 1832,Sir Robert Seppings was a great innovator in ship design and the key architect behind HMS Unicorn.He embraced the new technologies of the Industrial Revolution and increased the use of iron in the construction of Royal Navy vessels. Due to the work of Seppings and the advancements of the Industrial Revolution,Unicorn carries several innovative features on board.The ship contains early examples of ironwork including diagonal bracing straps through the hull and iron knees which support the decks. This ironwork strengthened the ship and produced a more rigid structure. Unicorn's unique elliptical stern an innovation of Seppings is the only example left in the world and provided a greater arc of fire to the rear of the ship.For his achievements in naval architecture,Seppings was awarded the Royal Society's Copley Medal the oldest scientific award in the world. Between 1857 and 1862,the ship was loaned to the War Department as a powder hulk.Anchored at Woolwich on the River Thames,Unicorn stored huge quantities of gunpowder for the Royal Arsenal and was cared for by shipkeeper James Middleton who lived on board the powder hulk with his wife and children. In April 1862, HMS Unicorn was moved to Sheerness Dockyard and laid up "in ordinary" once again.By the 1860s, with the rise of ironclad ships and steam propulsion, HMS Unicorn's potential as a fighting frigate had drawn to an end,but this was not the conclusion of the ship's story. In November 1873,the Royal Navy's "wooden wall" was brought over 400 miles north to the industrial city of Dundee to begin her new life as a training ship for the Royal Naval Reserves.Leaving Sheerness on the 5th November 1873, HMS Unicorn was towed up the east coast of the UK by HM Paddle Sloop Salamander. When the ship arrived in Dundee in 1873,she was a training ship for the Royal Naval Reserves a role she carried out until the 1960s. She was placed in her new berth against the south-western wall of the Earl Grey Dock. She remained in this spot for 89 years,only being moved in 1962 for the construction of the Tay Road Bridge. HMS Unicorn has been a prominent site of Dundee's waterfront ever since and is now one of the city's oldest landmarks. In the preparation of the building of the Tay Road Bridge in 1962,the city's Earl Grey Dock was to be filled in.As a result,HMS Unicorn's 89-year berth was to be lost and the Admiralty considered breaking up the ship.To avoid the destruction of one of the few survivors of Britain's sailing navy,a previous captain,Jack Anderson,went to the First Lord of the Admiralty,Lord Carrington,and argued for the preservation of the ship. The decision was made to move the ship to a new berth in Dundee's Victoria Dock and shortly afterwards,the Unicorn Preservation Society (UPS) was formed.On the 26th September 1968, HRH the Duke of Edinburgh accepted the ship from the Ministry of Defence on behalf of the UPS. Since 1968,the Unicorn Preservation Society has worked to preserve HMS Unicorn for the benefit of current and future generations.The UPS is currently working on plans to move the ship into the East Graving Dock in Dundee, securing HMS Unicorn's long-term preservation in a purpose-built dock that will house the historic ship.[UPS.] Please contact seller, [because of the lighter weight of this item,] for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,that stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** This item offered P+p included.Offer available UK only,unless indictated otherwise. ** **N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: US Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of any inexpensive book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **, SCOTLAND.DUNDEE.THE UNICORN PRESERVATION SOCIETY,1980., 5, Robson Books Ltd. First UK edition-first printing. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. VGC.Robson Books,1992.First UK edition-first printing.Black hardback(gilt lettering to the spine) with Dj(a couple of creases,nicks and scratch on the Dj cover),both in VGC.Illustrated with b/w photos.Nice and clean pages with a couple creases on the edges,small marks on a couple of the pages.The book is in VGC with light shelf wear.548pp including Appendices,source notes,bibliography,index.Price clipped.A collectable first edition.Heavy book. This is another paragraph Review: The story - apparently definitive - of Anastasia, the fourth daughter of Czar Nicholas II of Russia. Free-lance journalist Lovell (The New York Times, The Washington Post) writes of Anastasia's escape at age 16 Rom the 1917 assassination of her family, of her desperate but futile attempts to establish her identity, of her struggle to overcome the fictional representations of her in films (one starring Ingrid Bergman won an Oscar), songs, plays, and novels - and of his own experience writing this book, working with the aged recluse (who believed him to be a reincarnation of her father), the Czarina of Charlottesville, Va. that she had become. Curiously, Anastasia's true life is more of a fairy tale than the fictions: a foundling of questionable origins; rescued from a suicide attempt in a Berlin canal; periodically committed to asylums for mental aberrations and tantrums; tested on the basis of a scar, a disfigured toe, an anecdote or riddle; and, finally, rescued by a Virginian gentleman, John Manahan, who married her to keep her from being deported and ended up sharing her bizarre world. Unfortunately, her disagreeable personality made her more the witch than the princess - demanding, argumentative, deceitful, imperious, suspicious, disheveled (except when one N.Y.C. hostess gave her a charge account at B. Altman); surrounded by legions of cats, dogs, and mementos of all sorts; and consumed by hatred for the British royal family, who, she claimed, refused to recognize her because they had confiscated her dowry. She died at age 83, in 1984. Lovell is a splendid narrator, balanced, sympathetic, with a rare eye for the ironic (Anna reveals her identity to him while sitting in the lobby of a movie house where King Kong is playing). The major irony: how a Russian female without beauty, charm, money, talent, or training managed to live for most of the 20th century without ever having to work, existing on the faith, however imperfect, of those who needed to believe in her., Robson Books Ltd, 3, Blue Hill, Maine, U.S.A.: HeartTree Press, 1990. First Edition Stated . Trade Paperback. Near Fine. 7 3/4" x 9. 394 Pages Indexed. No defects noted to this tight bright book with flawless text pages. Gift quality. The story begins in the lavish late 18th-century court of Catherine the Great who gave the land where this magnificent palace was built to her unhappy son Paul and his young wife Maria Feodorovna. Paul, one of the most enigmatic and quixotic of tsars-assassinated a few years after he became Emperor -- nevertheless managed to win and hold the love of one of the most beautiful and talented of tsarinas. Together they had ten children, among them four daughters who became queens and two sons who became tsars, the great Alexander I, conqueror of Napoleon and Nicholas I, the Iron Tsar. Maria Feodorovna, a woman of uncommon taste, working with the best architects and artisans of her day, made Pavlovsk an encyclopedia of all the ideas of beauty of Russia's golden age. The saga sweeps the reader through the revolution, when the palace was narrowly saved from ravaging Red Guards by a group of art lovers -- only to fall a few years later into the brutal hands of the Nazis and the Gestapo -- through the heroic siege of Leningrad to the eventual miraculous restoration of this unique palace by a group of heroic Russian museum workers and artists. In the early and more peaceful chapters, the book will surprise Western readers by its picture of the Russian assimilation of artists, architects, and artisans who flocked to St. Petersburg from all over Europe when this city outdid Paris, Rome, and London as the place to go in search of new opportunities for creative work. In later chapters, which read as suspensefully as any detective story, Massie describes how a doggedly perseverent curator followed the retreating Nazi armies, locating plundered art works all along their path to Berlin itself, and the incredible story of how more than 70,000 shards of wood, molded plaster, and scraps of burnt fabric were deciphered to reconstruct the beauty after the palace and everything that was in it had been put to the torch. The stubborn determination of thousands of ordinary Russians not to let their history and culture die, despite war and the dead hand of Communism on their land is one of the most inspiring stories of the triumph of the human spirit in our time. Massie's Pavlovsk, acclaimed as one of the best and most exciting cultural histories of recent years, provides important insights into the challenges facing Russia today. Pavlovsk is a parable of the creation, deconstruction, and recreation of a culture-essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the soul of Russia and the roots in its history from which any new relationship between us and them must grow. If it has a moral, it is the sentence from Dostoyevsky spontaneously cited by many of the Russians Massie interviewed in writing this book, Beauty will save the world. This remains to be seen, but it may be the best hope we have. Illustrated with 67 pages of photographs in three sections with many in color., HeartTree Press, 1990, 4<

1990, ISBN: 9780964418400

Gebundene Ausgabe

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1943. fair to good. 392, illus., pages slightly darkened, boards stained, some wear to edges of boards and spineMrs. Shiber and her friend Kitty s… Mehr…

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1943. fair to good. 392, illus., pages slightly darkened, boards stained, some wear to edges of boards and spineMrs. Shiber and her friend Kitty started and for many months operated successfully in Paris the first "underground railway" by which British soldiers escaped from the Nazi conquerors., Charles Scribner's Sons, 1943, 2, New York and London.: Harper & Brothers., 1942. 2nd Edition . Hardcover. Fair. Will Germany Crack? Subtitle: A Factual Report on Germany. By Paul Hagen. Translated by Anna Caples. Hard covers and in fair condition. 2nd Edition 1942. Ex Library., Harper & Brothers., 1942, 2, New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket. 1985. 1st American Edition; 1st Printing. Hardcover. 067150794X . Cover Art; This book is in Near Fine condition and has a Near Fine dust jacket. The book and its contents are in clean, bright condition. The text pages are clean and bright. The dust jacket is crisp and clean. "He published his first novel, The Man Within, in 1929; its favourable reception enabled him to work full-time as a novelist. Greene originally divided his fiction into two genres (which he described as "entertainments" and "novels") : thrillers—often with notable philosophic edges—such as The Ministry of Fear; and literary works—on which he thought his literary reputation would rest—such as The Power and the Glory. The next two books, The Name of Action (1930) and Rumour at Nightfall (1932) , were unsuccessful; and he later disowned them. His first true success was Stamboul Train (1932) which was taken on by the Book Society and adapted as the film Orient Express, in 1934. " (from Wikipedia) ., Simon & Schuster, 1985, 4, Blue Hill, Maine, U.S.A.: HeartTree Press, 1990. First Edition Stated . Trade Paperback. Near Fine. 7 3/4" x 9. 394 Pages Indexed. No defects noted to this tight bright book with flawless text pages. Gift quality. The story begins in the lavish late 18th-century court of Catherine the Great who gave the land where this magnificent palace was built to her unhappy son Paul and his young wife Maria Feodorovna. Paul, one of the most enigmatic and quixotic of tsars-assassinated a few years after he became Emperor -- nevertheless managed to win and hold the love of one of the most beautiful and talented of tsarinas. Together they had ten children, among them four daughters who became queens and two sons who became tsars, the great Alexander I, conqueror of Napoleon and Nicholas I, the Iron Tsar. Maria Feodorovna, a woman of uncommon taste, working with the best architects and artisans of her day, made Pavlovsk an encyclopedia of all the ideas of beauty of Russia's golden age. The saga sweeps the reader through the revolution, when the palace was narrowly saved from ravaging Red Guards by a group of art lovers -- only to fall a few years later into the brutal hands of the Nazis and the Gestapo -- through the heroic siege of Leningrad to the eventual miraculous restoration of this unique palace by a group of heroic Russian museum workers and artists. In the early and more peaceful chapters, the book will surprise Western readers by its picture of the Russian assimilation of artists, architects, and artisans who flocked to St. Petersburg from all over Europe when this city outdid Paris, Rome, and London as the place to go in search of new opportunities for creative work. In later chapters, which read as suspensefully as any detective story, Massie describes how a doggedly perseverent curator followed the retreating Nazi armies, locating plundered art works all along their path to Berlin itself, and the incredible story of how more than 70,000 shards of wood, molded plaster, and scraps of burnt fabric were deciphered to reconstruct the beauty after the palace and everything that was in it had been put to the torch. The stubborn determination of thousands of ordinary Russians not to let their history and culture die, despite war and the dead hand of Communism on their land is one of the most inspiring stories of the triumph of the human spirit in our time. Massie's Pavlovsk, acclaimed as one of the best and most exciting cultural histories of recent years, provides important insights into the challenges facing Russia today. Pavlovsk is a parable of the creation, deconstruction, and recreation of a culture-essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the soul of Russia and the roots in its history from which any new relationship between us and them must grow. If it has a moral, it is the sentence from Dostoyevsky spontaneously cited by many of the Russians Massie interviewed in writing this book, Beauty will save the world. This remains to be seen, but it may be the best hope we have. Illustrated with 67 pages of photographs in three sections with many in color., HeartTree Press, 1990, 4<

1990, ISBN: 0964418401

Taschenbuch

[EAN: 9780964418400], Near Fine, [PU: HeartTree Press, Blue Hill, Maine, U.S.A.], HISTORY RUSSIA NEOCLASSICISM BUILDINGS ARCHITECTURE, 394 Pages Indexed. No defects noted to this tight br… Mehr…

[EAN: 9780964418400], Near Fine, [PU: HeartTree Press, Blue Hill, Maine, U.S.A.], HISTORY RUSSIA NEOCLASSICISM BUILDINGS ARCHITECTURE, 394 Pages Indexed. No defects noted to this tight bright book with flawless text pages. Gift quality. The story begins in the lavish late 18th-century court of Catherine the Great who gave the land where this magnificent palace was built to her unhappy son Paul and his young wife Maria Feodorovna. Paul, one of the most enigmatic and quixotic of tsars-assassinated a few years after he became Emperor -- nevertheless managed to win and hold the love of one of the most beautiful and talented of tsarinas. Together they had ten children, among them four daughters who became queens and two sons who became tsars, the great Alexander I, conqueror of Napoleon and Nicholas I, the Iron Tsar. Maria Feodorovna, a woman of uncommon taste, working with the best architects and artisans of her day, made Pavlovsk an encyclopedia of all the ideas of beauty of Russia's golden age. The saga sweeps the reader through the revolution, when the palace was narrowly saved from ravaging Red Guards by a group of art lovers -- only to fall a few years later into the brutal hands of the Nazis and the Gestapo -- through the heroic siege of Leningrad to the eventual miraculous restoration of this unique palace by a group of heroic Russian museum workers and artists. In the early and more peaceful chapters, the book will surprise Western readers by its picture of the Russian assimilation of artists, architects, and artisans who flocked to St. Petersburg from all over Europe when this city outdid Paris, Rome, and London as the place to go in search of new opportunities for creative work. In later chapters, which read as suspensefully as any detective story, Massie describes how a doggedly perseverent curator followed the retreating Nazi armies, locating plundered art works all along their path to Berlin itself, and the incredible story of how more than 70,000 shards of wood, molded plaster, and scraps of burnt fabric were deciphered to reconstruct the beauty after the palace and everything that was in it had been put to the torch. The stubborn determination of thousands of ordinary Russians not to let their history and culture die, despite war and the dead hand of Communism on their land is one of the most inspiring stories of the triumph of the human spirit in our time. Massie's Pavlovsk, acclaimed as one of the best and most exciting cultural histories of recent years, provides important insights into the challenges facing Russia today. Pavlovsk is a parable of the creation, deconstruction, and recreation of a culture-essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the soul of Russia and the roots in its history from which any new relationship between us and them must grow. If it has a moral, it is the sentence from Dostoyevsky spontaneously cited by many of the Russians Massie interviewed in writing this book, Beauty will save the world. This remains to be seen, but it may be the best hope we have. Illustrated with 67 pages of photographs in three sections with many in color., Books<

1990, ISBN: 9780964418400

Blue Hill, Maine, U.S.A.: HeartTree Press, 1990. First Edition Stated . Trade Paperback. Near Fine. 7 3/4" x 9. 394 Pages Indexed. No defects noted to this tight bright book with … Mehr…

Blue Hill, Maine, U.S.A.: HeartTree Press, 1990. First Edition Stated . Trade Paperback. Near Fine. 7 3/4" x 9. 394 Pages Indexed. No defects noted to this tight bright book with flawless text pages. Gift quality. The story begins in the lavish late 18th-century court of Catherine the Great who gave the land where this magnificent palace was built to her unhappy son Paul and his young wife Maria Feodorovna. Paul, one of the most enigmatic and quixotic of tsars-assassinated a few years after he became Emperor -- nevertheless managed to win and hold the love of one of the most beautiful and talented of tsarinas. Together they had ten children, among them four daughters who became queens and two sons who became tsars, the great Alexander I, conqueror of Napoleon and Nicholas I, the Iron Tsar. Maria Feodorovna, a woman of uncommon taste, working with the best architects and artisans of her day, made Pavlovsk an encyclopedia of all the ideas of beauty of Russia's golden age. The saga sweeps the reader through the revolution, when the palace was narrowly saved from ravaging Red Guards by a group of art lovers -- only to fall a few years later into the brutal hands of the Nazis and the Gestapo -- through the heroic siege of Leningrad to the eventual miraculous restoration of this unique palace by a group of heroic Russian museum workers and artists. In the early and more peaceful chapters, the book will surprise Western readers by its picture of the Russian assimilation of artists, architects, and artisans who flocked to St. Petersburg from all over Europe when this city outdid Paris, Rome, and London as the place to go in search of new opportunities for creative work. In later chapters, which read as suspensefully as any detective story, Massie describes how a doggedly perseverent curator followed the retreating Nazi armies, locating plundered art works all along their path to Berlin itself, and the incredible story of how more than 70,000 shards of wood, molded plaster, and scraps of burnt fabric were deciphered to reconstruct the beauty after the palace and everything that was in it had been put to the torch. The stubborn determination of thousands of ordinary Russians not to let their history and culture die, despite war and the dead hand of Communism on their land is one of the most inspiring stories of the triumph of the human spirit in our time. Massie's Pavlovsk, acclaimed as one of the best and most exciting cultural histories of recent years, provides important insights into the challenges facing Russia today. Pavlovsk is a parable of the creation, deconstruction, and recreation of a culture-essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the soul of Russia and the roots in its history from which any new relationship between us and them must grow. If it has a moral, it is the sentence from Dostoyevsky spontaneously cited by many of the Russians Massie interviewed in writing this book, Beauty will save the world. This remains to be seen, but it may be the best hope we have. Illustrated with 67 pages of photographs in three sections with many in color., HeartTree Press, 1990, 4<

1990, ISBN: 9780964418400

Blue Hill, Maine, U.S.A.: HeartTree Press, 1990. First Edition Stated . Trade Paperback. Near Fine. 7 3/4" x 9. 394 Pages Indexed. No defects noted to this tight bright book with flawl… Mehr…

Blue Hill, Maine, U.S.A.: HeartTree Press, 1990. First Edition Stated . Trade Paperback. Near Fine. 7 3/4" x 9. 394 Pages Indexed. No defects noted to this tight bright book with flawless text pages. Gift quality. The story begins in the lavish late 18th-century court of Catherine the Great who gave the land where this magnificent palace was built to her unhappy son Paul and his young wife Maria Feodorovna. Paul, one of the most enigmatic and quixotic of tsars-assassinated a few years after he became Emperor -- nevertheless managed to win and hold the love of one of the most beautiful and talented of tsarinas. Together they had ten children, among them four daughters who became queens and two sons who became tsars, the great Alexander I, conqueror of Napoleon and Nicholas I, the Iron Tsar. Maria Feodorovna, a woman of uncommon taste, working with the best architects and artisans of her day, made Pavlovsk an encyclopedia of all the ideas of beauty of Russia's golden age. The saga sweeps the reader through the revolution, when the palace was narrowly saved from ravaging Red Guards by a group of art lovers -- only to fall a few years later into the brutal hands of the Nazis and the Gestapo -- through the heroic siege of Leningrad to the eventual miraculous restoration of this unique palace by a group of heroic Russian museum workers and artists. In the early and more peaceful chapters, the book will surprise Western readers by its picture of the Russian assimilation of artists, architects, and artisans who flocked to St. Petersburg from all over Europe when this city outdid Paris, Rome, and London as the place to go in search of new opportunities for creative work. In later chapters, which read as suspensefully as any detective story, Massie describes how a doggedly perseverent curator followed the retreating Nazi armies, locating plundered art works all along their path to Berlin itself, and the incredible story of how more than 70,000 shards of wood, molded plaster, and scraps of burnt fabric were deciphered to reconstruct the beauty after the palace and everything that was in it had been put to the torch. The stubborn determination of thousands of ordinary Russians not to let their history and culture die, despite war and the dead hand of Communism on their land is one of the most inspiring stories of the triumph of the human spirit in our time. Massie's Pavlovsk, acclaimed as one of the best and most exciting cultural histories of recent years, provides important insights into the challenges facing Russia today. Pavlovsk is a parable of the creation, deconstruction, and recreation of a culture-essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the soul of Russia and the roots in its history from which any new relationship between us and them must grow. If it has a moral, it is the sentence from Dostoyevsky spontaneously cited by many of the Russians Massie interviewed in writing this book, Beauty will save the world. This remains to be seen, but it may be the best hope we have. Illustrated with 67 pages of photographs in three sections with many in color., HeartTree Press, 1990, 4<