Book Description
Charles Faudree has elevated French Country style to a fine art. With an exuberant decorating attitude based around his favorite principle that "too much is never enough", Faudree has achieved an international reputation for creating settings that have all the elegant accoutrements of a French Country estate, lacking pretension but never charm. With a discerning taste for the eclectic, Faudree is a master at one of the main tenets of this style-combining traditional prints, patterns, colors, and textures with just the right furnishings. Faudree has always been drawn, almost charismatically, to the charm of Country French. He comments, "There is simplicity, a gentle softness to the furnishings I find very calming and soothing. I love the mix of fabrics, blending plaids with florals and old tapestries. Country French is a truly working-class style." Faudree is delighted to finally share his extensive knowledge with the public, in this long-overdue book that focuses on how to make any home into an elegant, inviting, and comfortable French Country retreat. Charles Faudree graduated from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, with a degree in art. His client list is international, and he is regarded as a master of Country French style. This is his first book. He lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Customer Reviews:
Freast for the Eyes..........2007-06-11
If you have enjoyed Charles Faudree's beautiful rooms in Traditional Home Magazine over the years, as I have, you will love this book. It is absolutely loaded with wonderful rich-colored pictures/photos. It is divided into sections by the room (kitchen, bedroom, etc...) and each section begins with the author's commentary about these rooms and how he chose the design/pieces. Next follows the gorgeous pictures/photos with wonderfully descriptive captions that give the origin of the piece, fabric or wallpaper. This is one of those books you will pick up again and again...and you will most likely see something great you missed the time before. After pouring through this book, I immediately ordered Faudree's other book, "Country French Living". After just one time through this beautiful book, I came away with three or four ideas that I was able to immediately implement in my own home. One suggestion: when you sit down to enjoy this book, do so with paper and pen close by. The pictures are so detailed that I was able to read the titles of many of the wonderful books Faudree has displayed throughout his home. I recognized some I have collected but jotted down 6 or 7 titles that I had never seen or had seen but wasn't sure if I should buy. Also, if you love animals (dogs and cats) this book will definitely make you smile. Almost every page has a snoozing, pampered pet curled up for an afternoon nap. This book contains a wealth of information, but putting that aside...it is a feast for the eyes!
Pleased with this purchase.......2007-03-09
I like this book, and keep it on my coffee table for others to enjoy. The only reason that I haven't given it 5 stars is because the kitchens section wasn't anything particularly inspiring.
Good Coffee Table Travel.......2007-02-08
Profusely illustrated with dreamy, close focus photographs, this book seems to sweep the reader right into each French Country room. This style of interior design is a little too fussy for my taste, but I enjoyed the authors' ability to take me on a tour of these homes as if I were on a mini-vacation.
WOW! Love It !!!!.......2006-05-09
It's Charles Faudree!! What more needs to be said. I've been a fan of his for years. Noticed his rooms in some of my favorite magazines. Especially Traditional Home. He NEVER fails to delight and inspire. Tons of ideas on every page. Wish he would publish a book every year !!
My New Bible.......2005-12-22
Charles Faudree is my ultimate favorite designer and this book is not a dissapointment. It is something I can study over and over again. Being close enough to Tulsa, I recently got to experience Mr. Faudree's personal decorating first hand. This book is testament to his impeccable taste.
Average customer rating:
- should have been better
- Don't waste your money!
- DRAWING from the MODERN
|
Drawing from the Modern (3 Volumes)
Gary Garrels ,
Jodi Hauptman , and
Jordan Kantor
Manufacturer: The Museum of Modern Art, New York
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Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing (Themes)
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Drawing Now: Eight Propositions
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Experimental Drawing
ASIN: 0870701665
Release Date: 2006-10-15 |
Book Description
Many of the key achievements in art of the last 125 years have been worked out on paper. From pictorial investigations that expanded the possibilities of vision to the invention of entirely new kinds of media, drawing has been the perfect laboratory for avant-garde experimentation. Drawing from the Modern traces such groundbreaking innovation through the unparalleled holdings of the drawings collection of The Museum of Modern Art. This three-volume set consists of Drawing from the Modern 1880-1945, with work by Kurt Schwitters, Georgia O'Keeffe and Paul Cezanne, among many others; Drawing from the Modern, 1945-1975, with work by Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Louise Bourgeois, Dan Flavin et al.; and Drawing from the Modern, 1975-2005 featuring Bruce Nauman, Gerhard Richter, Martin Kippenberger, Kara Walker and Luc Tuymans, to name just a few. Together these three deluxe volumes detail both the blossoming of different art positions on a broad, international scale, and the coming of age of drawing as an independent--and for many artists, primary--mode of expression.
Customer Reviews:
should have been better.......2007-09-13
I purchased book 1 & 2 from Amazon. The illustrations are far too small to be a professionally represented art book from MOMA I've decided to save my money rather than pay out for the 3rd edition. It sounds a good buy from its description but I don't consider this trilogy to be very satisfactory.
Don't waste your money!.......2007-08-09
This is not a good artbook. The images are way too small to be satisfying. This book could have been great, but falls way short of its potential. Don't buy it, you will be disappointed.
DRAWING from the MODERN.......2006-12-27
DRAWING from the MODERN is the first of a three part series published by MOMA as catalogue to accompany the chronologically arranged exhibitions of their drawing collection; in part, celebration of the seventy fifth anniversary of the founding of the Museum.
This first book looks at the late nineteenth century through the beginning of the twentieth. Care and preservation of these drawings dictate that they are displayed infrequently, paper being a delicate medium, subject to fading, discoloration and brittleness. The publication of this series then allows us to have at hand a history of drawings seldom seen, and a visual education demonstrating how problems of that era both evolved and worked themselves out.
The introduction by Jodi Hauptman is broad and well worth reading. Aside from her entertaining "end of art" stories, she addresses artists and process leading to the dissolution of prevalent notions: relationship of "mark" to "ground", took new form; spatial notions of an orderly page, questioned; the element of chance, explored as process; the ego relationship of an artist to work, dissolving. New imagery happened: collage, abstraction, grids, enhanced emotions, metaphors of feeling, the sublime re-imaged. New subjects explored brutalities of war, notions of "city", identity, the spiritual, and the abstract.
As perhaps with all process of art, the uncertainty of change brought forth much that is new. The 139 plates of drawings both demonstrate and give testimony by leading artists of the time to new era in process. Drawing as subject matter is fascinating. To be expected, the book is well printed. Of course, what is book one without book two and three?
Nancy Gutrich
Book Description
One of America's top 100 designers, Charles Faudree has worldwide appeal with his interpretation of Country French. Charles Faudree's Country French Living features his newest room designs. From the entryway to the dressing room to walls, dining rooms, and outdoor spaces, Charles teaches principles of design that make a house a Country French home:
Customer Reviews:
Loved it........2007-08-29
Loved the book. Had beautiful pictures and great display of the French country style.
Strong Five Star Book.......2006-06-30
Charles Faudree's style is "Comfortable French" Anyone could live in his rooms. They have a touch of elegance without being stiff or too formal. They are like that favorite outfit that you have had for years and years and still love to wear. This book is full of great pictures so you can see exactly what he means when he talks about French Country Style.
Fantastic! .......2006-03-13
If you love Country French that is not pretentious, but still elegant, this is the book for you. This is the second of Charles Faudree's design books that I have purchased. The pictures are incredible, and his attention to detail is amazing. He certainly has a gift and I wish that I could afford for him to help me with my house. Especially if that involved traveling with him to the French Market or to the Portobello Market in Notting Hill. Instead, I will use his pictures as a guide. I hope that this book is not his last!
French Country Elegance Defined.......2006-02-25
Mr. Faudree has knocked another one out of the park with his follow-up book to Country French Design. His high style seems to have calmed down somewhat and isn't quite as "over the top" as it was in his first book. I could literally step through the pages and take residence in any of the rooms featured.
If I had a complaint, it would be that the captions didn't maintain much of a narrative regarding the rooms depicted, but basically listed material resources.
C'est Magnifique!.......2006-02-19
He does it again! And I hope he keeps putting out these gorgeous books! Charles Faudree is a true master of his art. Thank goodness the rest of us can see his work published and keep being inspired and moved by his work. I love his philosophy of "it's in the mix, not the match". I don't believe you have to be a Francophile to appreciate and enjoy this book....it is for anyone who enjoys great beauty!
Book Description
In the postwar exuberance of 1949 America, General Motors mounted its first Motorama, an all-out extravaganza that turned the marketing of new cars and designs into a cultural event of national proportions. GMs Motorama brings this short-lived but unforgettable tradition back to life with words and period photographs that revisit the posh venues, such as the Waldorf Astoria in 1955, where celebrities in Broadway-style shows, phalanxes of glamorous models, and a singing group called the Motorhythms introduced the public to dream cars destined to become legendsfrom the 1951 LeSabre and the turbine-powered Firebirds to the Cadillac Cyclone and Corvette prototype. The book recreates the drama of the eight Motoramas staged between 1949 and 1961, focusing on the cars that took center stage and came to define an era of auto styling.
Customer Reviews:
Motorama moves me...........2007-10-01
This book is an important, stylish look at a halcyon time in U.S. automotive history, when dreams became real and art and style were as significant as horsepower and torque. If you're an afficianado of the big cruisers Detroit cranked out in the late fifties and early sixties, this book shows you the wildest styles possible from the designers and how they were translated into what you drove into your driveway. It's a well put together compilation, and the book itself is heavy and durable. Any car collector or petroliana devotee will love it!
An enthusiastically recommended addition .......2007-02-04
The General Motors company hit upon showcasing their new cars every year in a presentation that included automobiles from each of their various divisions (Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Chevrolet, GMC), as well as experimental or 'Dream' cars created to test public reaction to new ideas in automotive engineering and design. "GM's Motorama: The Glamorous Show Cars Of A Cultural Phenomenon" by David W. Temple (a freelance automotive photojournalist specializing in vintage cars) is a profusely illustrated history of these events and those 'Dream Cars' of the 1950s. Featuring both color and black/white historical photographs, the text is informed and informative. The result is a masterpiece of automotive history and an enthusiastically recommended addition to personal, academic, and community library American Automobile History reference collections and supplemental reading lists.
GM's Motorama: The Glamorous Show Cars of a Cultural Phenomenon.......2007-01-19
The book was a gift and very well received and enjoyed. And the person receiving the book purchased the book for another family member.
Great coffee table book!.......2007-01-19
This book is terrific. Lots of great pics and facts about the motorama shows, the cars, and the visionaries that made it all possible. I only wish it was longer.
EXCELLENT!.......2006-12-26
I bought this for my wife for Christmas and she loves it! Personally I like the futuristic designs of the late 60s and early 70s best but his book is an absolutely outstanding, top quality example of automotive publishing! Everything you could want to know about GM's Motorama cars and the show itself is in here along with outstanding photos and top quality reproduction. If you're a GM styling "nut" like I am (65 thru 67 big Pontiacs...WOW!) you will still recognize the styling cues from the Motorama showcars that ended up on their production cars. This is a must for your automobile library!
Average customer rating:
|
Analytic Philosophy: Beginnings to the Present
Jordan Lindberg
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0767414551 |
Book Description
This comprehensive anthology offers influential works of philosophy written in the last 125 years in Northern and Central Europe and in the United States - durable contributions that have shaped the contemporary philosophical landscape in English-speaking countries. Substantial yet readable selections represent leading American pragmatists, the early Cambridge analysts, members of the Vienna Circle, the so-called “ordinary language” philosophers, along with recent analytic and post-analytic philosophers.
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- Seriously Biased
- As a text
- As a text
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World Regional Geography (9th Edition)
David L. Clawson ,
Merrill L. Johnson ,
Douglas L. Johnson ,
Viola F Haarmann ,
Christopher A. Airriess ,
Robert L. Argenbright ,
Samuel A Aryeetey-Attoh ,
Bella Bychkova Jordan ,
William C. Rowe , and
Jack F. Williams
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
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Binding: Hardcover
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The Ends of the Earth: From Togo to Turkmenistan, from Iran to Cambodia, a Journey to the Frontiers of Anarchy
ASIN: 0131497030 |
Book Description
This unique study of world regional geography covers the world’s regions by 11 experts in their respective fields who are intimately familiar with their material through research, fieldwork, and teaching. Employs the central theme of human development to present a vital, issues-oriented overview of each topic. Provides a deeper understanding of the character of the world's peoples than the more traditional descriptive approach. Revises and expands coverage of Russia and Central Eurasia. Adds a wealth of new material, including New Orleans (reflecting the serious problems of a densely settled and industrialized delta region when faced with a natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina magnitude); the European Union and its significance for developmental integration; environmental problems in desert cities; and much more. A useful reference for educators or anyone who needs to increase their knowledge of regional geography.
Customer Reviews:
Seriously Biased.......2001-09-19
The tendency of this book to ridicule America (its history, its culture, its priorities, etc.) really calls into question the objectivity and political persuasion of its authors. Whether it's the destruction of the environment or world poverty, America and the American people are always to blame. We use too much energy; we don't share enough; blah blah blah. America does more to promote peace and economic development throughout the world than any other country. While the authors of this book don't seem to be so, I, for one, am PROUD to be an American
As a text.......1997-12-20
The general feel of this book is dark and dull. Graphics are oddly benign,upside, the Geography in Action sections offer realistic insight into Geographic concepts. Clawson and Fisher tried.
As a text.......1997-12-20
The general feel of this book is dark and dull. Graphics are oddly benign,upside, the Geography in Action sections offer realistic insight into Geographic concepts. Clawson and Fisher tried.
Book Description
Why is the understanding of the fundamentals of American education important to today’s teachers? Explore this book for answers to this fundamental question and gain an understanding of how the evolution of education impacts today’s teaching and learning. Become a highly qualified teacher by connecting theory and practice, and by examining the philosophical and historical roots of education, its current structures, and the future of the field. This 5th edition invites the reader to reflect on historical issues, consider and respond to current educational issues, and become a professional, highly qualified teacher.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent for Preprofessional Instructors.......2001-04-19
FOUNDATIONS OF AMERICAN EDUCATION provides an excellent basis for preprofessional instructors (students who are going to become teachers). The history and philosophy sections are not too involved with jargon to be useful to undergraduates. On the other hand, for those who have been away from teaching for a few years, for parents who want to find out what's going on, and for students who haven't previously examined education as history, this is a good start. The insets and anecdotes that are set apart from the main body of the text by boxes and underlining are somewhat confusing, but they also contain ideas that should be explored. The prose ranges from stilted to nicely-flowing.
Book Description
Philip Robins' survey of Jordan's political history begins in the early 1920s, continues through the years of the British Mandate, and traces events over the next half century to the present day. Throughout the period, the country's fortunes were closely identified with its head of state, King Hussein, until his death in 1999. In the early days, as the author testifies, the king's prospects were often regarded as grim. However, both King and country survived a variety of existential challenges, from assassination attempts and internal subversion, to a civil war with the Palestine Liberation Organisation and, in the 1970s and 1980s, Jordan emerged as an apparently stable and prosperous state. However, King Hussein's death, the succession of his son, Abdullah II, and recent political upheavals have plunged the country back into uncertainty. This is an incisive account, compellingly told, about one of the leading players in the Middle East. Philip Robins is University Lecturer in Politics with special reference to the Middle East in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford. His most recent book is Suits and Uniforms: Turkish Foreign Policy since the Cold War (2003).
Customer Reviews:
From Backwater to Strategic Ally.......2006-01-10
Jordan is a nation that according to some accounts, was "dreamed of from the backseat of Churchill's car." Formerly an Ottoman ruled area, Jordan Stretches from the Syrian Desert in the north to the Gulf of Aqaba in the south. the nation was considered by most to be a backwater inhabited by various Bedouin tribes. It is interesting to note that on Amazon.com I have seen only a few histories of this pivotal nation, when you search for "Jordan" most of the results deal with basketball player Michael Jordan. This book came as a fresh surprise.
After the allied victory in 1918, over the Central Powers (including the Ottoman Empire), Ottoman lands were split up by the victorious French and British. As a result the nation that later became known as Transjordan and later Jordan was administered by British as part of the Mandate of Palestine. Another result of World War 1 was that England's former ally the Sherif of Mecca needed to be rewarded for his assistance. After the French kicked Abdullah out of Damascus, the English had to give him some slice of land, that "slice" was Jordan.
Later in 1922 Jordan gained "independence" from the British Palestine Mandate becoming Transjordan, and achieving full independence in 1946. After the Israeli War of Independence in 1948 Jordan had complete control over the West Bank and the Eastern half of Jerusalem. Later in 1967 Jordan lost control of the West Bank and 3 years later fought a civil war with Palestinians (and Syria).
In the present time Jordan has proved itself to be not just some desert backwater inhabited by warring Bedouin tribes. It has become a geographically strategic nation, bordering Syria, oil rich Saudi Arabia, war torn Iraq, and Israel. This nation has seen a succession moderate kings who have pushed for peace with Israel in addition to a tourist Mecca (with sites like Petra and resorts like Aqaba).
Robins has done quite an exstensive job explaining the many facets of Jordanian culture, history, and politics. From when the Ottomans ruled to the modern era, the author has delved into a wide variety of topics ranging from the influence of Islamists on Jordanian politics, the result of massive influxes of Palestinians (that are now over half of the population), descriptions of leaders ranging from Wasfi Tall to King Abdullah, to how familial and tribal relations still effect the nation.
The book while only about 200 pages long does offer a very exstensive and well written history of this nation. I would recommend this to anyone studying the Middle East. While it is a shame that many books on this small nation have not been forthcomming, this book does a very good job at explaining the nation, its people, and its politics.
Book Description
Born in 1951 to a distinguished Arab-American family, Lisa Najeeb Halaby became the fourth wife of King Hussein at age 27. With her husband being not only Jordan's monarch but the spiritual leader of all Muslims, Lisa was unsure what her role would be. This moving memoir provides a timely look at one woman's story against a backdrop of 30 turbulent years: the displacement of over 1 million Palestinians by the creation of Israel, King Hussein's frustrated efforts for peace, and the effect of Saddam Hussein and the Gulf War on Jordan and the royal family. Queen Noor offers intimate new glimpses of King Hussein, Saddam Hussein, Queen Elizabeth, Arafat, and many other world leaders.
Customer Reviews:
Fabulous read!!.......2007-10-17
This book is not only a story of Queen Noor's life as Queen and the challenges that came with it, but it is a wonderful introduction to the history of the conflict in the Middle East. There are things our media does not show, or accurately represent, and she provides a window into such events and the history of what led up to them. It is a wonderfully written book, and I appreciate her effort in helping the Western world understand more of the conflict and frustrations that the Islamic community faces. I also appreciate her effort in bringing awareness of the Arabic culture in a time where many aspects of Islamic life have been misconstrued.
Three "stories" in one. .......2007-09-30
This is the autobiogarphy of Queen Noor, the third wife of the late King Hussein of Jordan. Queen Noor, was born and raised in America. Just prior to her marriage to King Hussein, she converted to Islam. Her story is, of necessity, personal, political, and religous all at the same time.
The personal story, especially, the early years, is fascinating. There is no question that her love for her husband is genuine and deep. However, the personal story gets tedious is place. (We visited this place and met so and so, and it rained etc.)
The political story may enlighten some readers to the "Palestian" cause and certainly there is some truth to her point. Yet, the "Palestinian cause" is accepted uncritically. For instance, she recounts an incident where her husband forgave Yasser Arafat and the palestinians for causing a civil war in Jordan. One wonders how the court of history would have changed if her husband had not been so forgiving. She also informs the reader how very much, in the Muslim world, Sadat was despised for signing a peace treaty with Israel. Again one wonders how history would have changed if Hussein had followed Sadat's lead.
There is also much in the book about her role in the ecomonic development in Jordan. In the afterword, she makes a point how such development promotes peace. This is very much true, but the point should have been clearly stated in the body of the book.
The religious story shows that her conversion to Islam is real. Her pilmigrage after her husband's death was clearly a moving experience. Yet, she does not explain why in Islam, except in a few special mosques, men and women worship seperately. Why can't the husband and wife listen to an Iman's sermon together? She does not provide any justification for the "seperate but equal"
religious practice in Islam.
Overall impression: If it wasn't for the repetitive royal travels, I would give this book five stars. There are unanswered questions, but this does not distract from the book's importance.
Remarkable woman.......2007-08-07
What a remarkable woman, wonderful book that gave me a better understanding of the Middle East.....High recommend read.
Leap of Faith--Queen Noor.......2007-08-02
Interesting read. Well written. However, I would like to have read more on her personal life; children, home life, etc., than on political happenings. Too much focus on politics, for my liking.
Compelling story.......2007-06-21
Lot's of books teach you things. If read with an open mind, this book changes your perspective toward the muslim world. The book is a very easy and enjoyable read, especially for someone in the same age group as Queen Noor as she relates her experiences during these times that we have all lived through. She shows how she used the principles of peace and love, which we marched for in the 60's and early 70's, in her journey as the Queen of Jordan. Her story is inspiring and enlightening. She says her husband, the King, spent his life dedicated to those principles. For the past six years in this country we have gone through a period of demonization by the administration, and often by the media as well, of any non-christians, especially muslims. This book shows that moderate muslims are just like moderate christians and believe that their relegion teaches to relate to others with compassion and love. Just like in Christianity, the real "silent majority" is not the fundamentalists.
Amazon.com
The early 1300s must have seemed like the end of the world to the unfortunate inhabitants of Europe: brutally severe winters gave way to lightning storms and torrential, crop-destroying rains in spring, followed by cold summers and then bitter winters again. "The whole world was troubled," wrote one Austrian chronicler; yet that was only the beginning. Princeton University historian William Chester Jordan reconstructs the terrible decades when climatological change led to famine, disease, rampant inflation, and social breakdown across the European continent, a time when every prayer for relief was met by even crueler turns of fate.
Book Description
The horrors of the Great Famine (1315-1322), one of the severest catastrophes ever to strike northern Europe, lived on for centuries in the minds of Europeans who recalled tales of widespread hunger, class warfare, epidemic disease, frighteningly high mortality, and unspeakable crimes. Until now, no one has offered a perspective of what daily life was actually like throughout the entire region devastated by this crisis, nor has anyone probed far into its causes. Here, the distinguished historian William Jordan provides the first comprehensive inquiry into the Famine from Ireland to western Poland, from Scandinavia to central France and western Germany. He produces a rich cultural history of medieval community life, drawing his evidence from such sources as meteorological and agricultural records, accounts kept by monasteries providing for the needy, and documentation of military campaigns. Whereas there has been a tendency to describe the food shortages as a result of simply bad weather or else poor economic planning, Jordan sets the stage so that we see the complex interplay of social and environmental factors that caused this particular disaster and allowed it to continue for so long.
Jordan begins with a description of medieval northern Europe at its demographic peak around 1300, by which time the region had achieved a sophisticated level of economic integration. He then looks at problems that, when combined with years of inundating rains and brutal winters, gnawed away at economic stability. From animal diseases and harvest failures to volatile prices, class antagonism, and distribution breakdowns brought on by constant war, northern Europeans felt helplessly besieged by acts of an angry God--although a cessation of war and a more equitable distribution of resources might have lessened the severity of the food shortages.
Throughout Jordan interweaves vivid historical detail with a sharp analysis of why certain responses to the famine failed. He ultimately shows that while the northern European economy did recover quickly, the Great Famine ushered in a period of social instability that had serious repercussions for generations to come.
Download Description
The horrors of the Great Famine (1315
1322), one of the severest catastrophes ever to strike northern Europe, lived on for centuries in the minds of Europeans who recalled tales of widespread hunger, class warfare, epidemic disease, frighteningly high mortality, and unspeakable crimes. Until now, no one has offered a perspective of what daily life was actually like throughout the entire region devastated by this crisis, nor has anyone probed far into its causes. Here, the distinguished historian William Jordan provides the first comprehensive inquiry into the Famine from Ireland to western Poland, from Scandinavia to central France and western Germany. He produces a rich cultural history of medieval community life, drawing his evidence from such sources as meteorological and agricultural records, accounts kept by monasteries providing for the needy, and documentation of military campaigns. Whereas there has been a tendency to describe the food shortages as a result of simply bad weather or else poor economic planning, Jordan sets the stage so that we see the complex interplay of social and environmental factors that caused this particular disaster and allowed it to continue for so long. Jordan begins with a description of medieval northern Europe at its demographic peak around 1300, by which time the region had achieved a sophisticated level of economic integration. He then looks at problems that, when combined with years of inundating rains and brutal winters, gnawed away at economic stability. From animal diseases and harvest failures to volatile prices, class antagonism, and distribution breakdowns brought on by constant war, northern Europeans felt helplessly besieged by acts of an angry God--although a cessation of war and a more equitable distribution of resources might have lessened the severity of the food shortages. Throughout Jordan interweaves vivid historical detail with a sharp analysis of why certain responses to the famine failed.
Customer Reviews:
The Great Famine.......2007-04-28
Read this for graduate history course in medieval history.
William Jordan Book is great as a source material book. Excellent scholar. One of the 1st Economic, environmental historicists. A Good multi disciplinary approach. His mortality numbers tend to be on the conservative side. A food shortage is when 1 staple is unavailable or food unavailable for 1 year. Those items people crave are more expensive but are attainable. Great Famine is a catastrophic failure of agriculture. All food groups fail items unavailable for any price. Because of famine, you get weir foods like acorn bread, awful taste. 1315-22, does not affect Spain, Italy, Greece, and Scotland. Bad in Germany N. France, Scandinavia England, Ireland. 400,000sq. miles, 30 million people. Famine follows big population explosion 1100-1300. 1250 agricultural productivity is declining. As population increases technology in food production can't keep up. 3 field crop rotation means 1/3 of field is fallow. Harness technology goes to animal shoulder to increase productivity, better plough blades thus soil gets better aeration. Green manure is bean plants rich in nitrogen get plowed into ground, brown manure is animal and human waste. Cattle graze on land leaving droppings. 14 century animals not producing enough manure as #'s dwindle, Increase in population means more marginal land is being farmed not working out well, also means more calories burned working marginal land than being produced. Also means livestock have less land to graze on.
Page 12-13 Looks at David Arnolds 4 scenarios for the inset of famine. 1. Population numbers are higher than productive means. 2. Sustained failure of appropriate weather. 3. Problems of food distribution, from transportation and war. 4. Peasants not changing their growing methods to meet the problem. Jordan thinks the most troubling scenario is the last one.
We have good skeletal remains to show that their was a lot of bone problems from people working hard in the fields. Biggest cost for medieval people is food, 70% of income; housing is only 10% of income. When food in Paris increases 800% you know you will have food riots. No good social systems to deal with the problem. They ate their seed corn, grains, and rye susceptible to molds, and fungi poisoning people. Can't store grain for long periods of time, rats eat allot of grain in storage. There is no fallback for people agriculturally. Seeds produce 4 or 5 to 1. You get 4 seeds for 1 planted. Less animals means less manure. Chicken eggs are used to pay rent, chickens are the size of today's game hen's chickens get eaten fast.
Jordan says this won't happen today because we have global agriculture and world wide distribution system. Only happen in regions as political tool, like Darfur, or what Stalin did using food as a weapon. Long term suffering and starvation was more routine to these people's lives, did not affect them psychologically as the Black Death when you look at manuscript records. City people even send pirates out to take grain ships. Women survive better than men because they have more body fat.
Food hoarders, Jews as money lenders do not fair well with starving people going after them. Government starts to control food production like standardizing weight and size of bread loafs, some still do this today. Bread is important to people because of Eucharist. High prices cause a slow down of consumption, but it doesn't solve the problem. People will eat what you put in front of them. Stomachs will shrink.
Pigs survive best, they eat anything, rain doesn't bother them, they don't get rinderpest hooves don't rot. Cattle sheep get disease, sheep susceptible to cold. Horses stolen by the army. Short term 50% in herds, 75% drop long term. Wool income in England goes down. Who profits? Salt producers, need salt to make dairy products like cheese and to salt meat to preserve it. They use a lot of forest wood to make salt because they steam seawater. Some Lords and Abbots make profits. Many church lands are sold off, peasants are able to buy it cheap for those that have money, and some do, this makes them landed gentry in next century. Charity fails. Church can't run soup kitchens any more, but they do make money running a form of nursing home. Beggars increase, people turn to strange diets, roots, dirt, bark, shoes, etc.
Grains are known as cereals, British historians call grains corn not the same as Maze which we call corn. Corn is New World crop.
Primary cereal grain is wheat, high in gluttons, protein 13% in white bread, very desirable, for aristocracy. Easier to chew, 35-50% grain milled out of it. Average monastic person gets 2500-3000 calories, one of the better diets of the time. Rich eat no fruits because of sin of fruit from Tree of Knowledge. Peasant 2000-2200 calories, subsistence living. They are living on the margins. Livestock of the time smaller by 40%, people are smaller average height 5' 6". Protein intake is reason for this. Rickets, scurvy all problems. Cabbage only source of vitamin C for most Europeans. Pigs last longest since they eat anything.
1320-1330 2nd worst cold period in middle ages, 1310-1320 2nd worst time for excessive rains. 1314 bad rains in Summer in Germany. 1315 Baltic salt sea freezes over. All Rivers in Europe freeze over. This persists until 1322 in Baltic of that year snow stays on the ground all year round. Wars make things worse for people. People psychologically spooked by increase in meteor and comet activity.
The Great Famine of 1315-1317 (or to 1322) was the first of a series of large-scale crises that struck Europe early in the 14th century, causing millions of deaths over an extended number of years and marking a clear end to an earlier period of growth and prosperity during the 11th through 13th centuries. Starting with bad weather in the spring of 1315, universal crop failures lasted through 1316 until the summer of 1317; Europe did not fully recover until 1322. It was a period marked by extreme levels of criminal activity, disease and mass death, infanticide, and cannibalism. It had consequences for Church, State, European society and future calamities to follow in the 14th century.
Famine in the Medieval European context meant that people died of starvation on a massive scale. As brutal as they were, famines were familiar occurrences in Medieval Europe. As an example, localized famines occurred in France during the 14th century in 1304, 1305, 1310, 1315-1317 (the Great Famine), 1330-1334, 1349-1351, 1358-1360, 1371, 1374-1375 and 1390. In England, the most prosperous kingdom affected by the Great Famine, there were famines in 1315-1317, 1321, 1351, 1369, and more. For most people there was usually never enough to eat and life was a relatively short and brutal struggle to survive to old age, which might mean as young as 30 years old. According to official records of the British Royal family, the best off in society, the average life expectancy in 1276 was 35.28 years. Between 1301 and 1325 during the Great Famine, it was 29.84 while between 1348-1375 during the Plague it went to 17.33.
The Great Famine was restricted to Northern Europe, from Russia in the east to Ireland in the west, from Scandinavia in the north and bounded in the south by the Alps and the Pyrenees. During the Medieval Warm Period (the period prior to 1350) the population of Europe had exploded, reaching levels that were not matched again in some places until the 19th century (parts of France today are less populous than at the beginning of the 14th century). However, the yield ratios of wheat (the number of seeds one could eat per seed planted) had been dropping since 1280 and food prices had been climbing. In good weather the ratio could be as high as 7:1, while during bad years as low as 2:1--that is, for every seed planted, two seeds were harvested, one for next year's seed, and one for food. By comparison, modern farming has ratios of 200:1 or more.
However, there was one catastrophic dip in the weather during the Medieval Warm Period that coincided with the onset of the Great Famine. Between 1310 and 1330 northern Europe saw some of the worst and most sustained periods of bad weather in the entire Middle Ages, characterized by severe winters and rainy and cold summers. Changing weather patterns, the ineffectiveness of medieval governments in dealing with crises and a population level at a historical high water mark made it a time when there was little margin for error.
Great Famine
In the spring of 1315, unusually heavy rain began in much of Europe. Throughout the spring and summer, it continued to rain and the temperature remained cool. Under these conditions grain could not ripen. Grain was brought indoors in urns and pots. The straw and hay for the animals could not be cured and there was no fodder for the livestock. The price of food began to rise. In England, food that had sold for 20 shillings in the spring sold for 40 shillings by June, doubling in price. Salt, the only way to cure and preserve meat, was difficult to obtain because it could not be evaporated in the wet weather; it went from 30 shillings to 40 shillings. In Lorraine, wheat prices grew by 320 percent, making bread unaffordable to peasants. Stores of grain for long-term emergencies were limited to the lords and nobles. Because of the general increased population pressures, even lower-than-average harvests meant some people would go hungry; there was little margin for failure. People began to harvest wild edible roots, plants, grasses, nuts, and bark in the forests.
There are a number of documented incidents that show the extent of the famine. Edward II, King of England, stopped at Saint Albans on August 10, 1315 and no bread could be found for him or his entourage; it was a rare occasion in which the King of England, the most prosperous nation in Europe, was unable to eat. The French, under Louis X, tried to invade Flanders, but being in the low country of the Netherlands, the fields were soaked and the army became so bogged down they were forced to retreat, burning their provisions where they left them, unable to carry them out.
In the spring of 1316, it continued to rain on a European population deprived of energy and reserve to sustain itself. All segments of society from nobles to peasants were affected, most of all the peasants, who represented 95% of the population and who had no safety nets. To provide some measure of relief, the future was mortgaged by slaughtering the draft animals; eating the seed grain; abandoning children to fend for themselves (see "Hansel and Gretel"); and, among old people, voluntarily refusing food in hopes of the younger generation surviving. The chroniclers of the time wrote of many incidents of cannibalism. The height of the famine was reached in 1317 as the wet weather hung on. Finally, in the summer the weather returned to its normal patterns. By now, however, people were so weakened by diseases such as pneumonia, bronchitis, tuberculosis, and other sicknesses, and much of the seed stock had been eaten, that it was not until 1325 that the food supply returned to relatively normal conditions and the population began to increase again. Historians debate the toll but it is estimated that between 10%-25% of the population of many cities and towns died. While the Black Death (1338-1375) would kill more, for many the Great Famine was worse. While the plague swept through an area in a matter of months, the Great Famine lingered for years, drawing out the suffering of those who would slowly starve to death, face cannibalism, child-murder, and rampant crime.
Consequences
The famine is called the Great Famine not only because of the number of people who died, or the vast geographic area that was affected, or the length of time it lasted, but also because of the lasting consequences. The first consequence was for the Church. No amount of prayer seemed effective against the causes of the famine. In a society where the final recourse to all problems had been religion, no amount of prayer was helping and the famine undermined the institutional authority of the Catholic Church. This helped lay the foundations for later movements that were deemed heretical by the Church because they opposed the Papacy. Second was the increase in criminal activity. Medieval Europe in the 13th century had already been a violent culture where rape and murder were demonstrably more common than in modern times. With the famine even those who were not normally inclined to criminal activity would resort to any means to feed themselves or their family. After the famine, Europe took on a tougher and more violent edge; it had become an even less amicable place than during the 12th and 13th centuries. The effects of this could be seen across all segments of society, perhaps the most striking in the way warfare was conducted in the 14th century during the bloody 100 Years War, versus the 12th and 13th centuries when nobles were more likely to die by accident in tournament games than on the field of battle. Third was the failure of the medieval governments to deal with the crisis. Just as God seemed unable or unwilling to answer prayers, the earthly powers were equally ineffective, eroding and undermining their power and authority. Fourthly, the Great Famine marked a clear end to an unprecedented period of population growth that had started around 1050; although some believe this had been slowing down for a few decades already, there is no doubt the Great Famine was a clear end of high population growth. Finally, the Great Famine would have consequences for future events in the 14th century such as the Black Death when an already weakened population would be struck again.
Recommended reading for those interested in medieval history.
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