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The Ancient Maya14 reviews
Robert J. Sharer, Sylvanus Griswold Morley

Stanford University Press, 1994

Latest edition of "classic" text
This is by far the most comprehensive book about the ancient Maya. There are several excellent shorter ones; this is the go-to book for thorough reference. It has become almost as "classic" as Maya civilization. Sharer reminisces about being "hooked on" Maya studies by the third edition (by Morley and Brainerd, 1956); so was I, back when it was newly minted. How much has changed since. ... 		  
  







  
  
Averting 'The Final Failure': John F. Kennedy and the Secret Cuban Missile Crisis Meetings (Stanford Nuclear ...8 reviews
Sheldon Stern

Stanford University Press, 2003

History At It's Best
History has two definitions: a chronological record of significant past events, and a story. Sheldon Stern's story of the Cuban Missile Crisis is history (both definitions) at its best. The scholarly, time-consuming, and meticulous research that went into this work abounds throughout its pages. The author's willingness to challenge earlier historical works on the translation of the crisis's ... 		  
  







  
  
The Complete Essays of Montaigne12 reviews
Michel Eyquem Montaigne

Stanford University Press, 1958

Wanting to show us his experiments, not indoctrinating ...
"My library is in the third story of a tower; on the first is my chapel, on the second a bedroom with ante-chambers, where I often lie to be alone; and above it there is a great wardrobe. Adjoining my library is a very neat little room, in which a fire can be laid in winter, and which is pleasantly lighted by a window..." Michel de Montaigne (1533 - 1592) wrote in the chapter "On Three Kinds of ... 		  
  







  
  
Complete essays18 reviews
Michel de Montaigne

Stanford University Press, 1958

Essays
Montaigne. He has lessons for us all, I've found. Some of the lessons are hard. He writes about everything, but most of all, he writes about himself. There is a painful clarity to his work - but that cliche term does nothing to properly explain what it is he accomplishes with his writing. At thirty-three, Montaigne decided to retire to his home and write. He had vague ideas about writing ... 		  
  







  
  
Great White Shark19 reviews
Richard Ellis, John McCosker

Stanford University Press, 1995

"Jaws" fallacies debunked!
This is an excellent work about the most feared creature in the ocean. I've always had an interest in marine biology, and sharks in particular, and this book embodies both biological and cultural information about one of my favorite animals. McCosker and Ellis give the great white a fair shake, and while they acknowledge "Jaws" as an excellent film, they also debunk the fallacies of it (i.e. ... 		  
  







  
  
Art of Falconry; Being the De Arte Venandi cum Avibus of Frederick II of Hohenstaufen7 reviews
Frederick Second of Hohenstaufen

Stanford University Press, 1943

A classic
This is the perfect book for whoever wants to learn about what falconry was like a long time ago. However, I would not reccommend it to anyone who wants to learn about present day falconry. After you get your license, I would reccommend it. The reason I say this is because it can confuse the apprentice. It confused me. It does teach a lot though, and can give insight to diff. ways of training ... 		  
  







  
  
The Confessions of Lady Nijo8 reviews

Stanford University Press, 1973

The grief of the three paths a woman must follow
This is a moving and remarkable autobiography. First, there is the quality of the writing itself, full of beautiful short poems ('A hidden love and tears/enough to form a river-/were there a shoal of meeting/I would drown this self of mine'), comparisons ('my years had passed as quickly as a racing horse glimpsed through a crack') or metaphors ('life is more fleeting than a dream within a ... 		  
  







  
  
Human, All Too Human (I): A Book for Free Spirits, Volume 3 (The Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsch)18 reviews
Friedrich Nietzsche

Stanford University Press, 2000

Correction
I feel obligated to correct a distortion suggested by `unraveler' below. It is popular to suggest Nietzsche was an anti-semite, but this is a rather lazy habit. Nietzsche's remark on `the youthful stock-exchange Jew' was mentioned. Here it is in its proper environment: . . . the entire problem of the Jews exists only within national states, inasmuch as it is here that their energy and higher ... 		  
  







  
  
Born Red: A Chronicle of the Cultural Revolution7 reviews
Yuan Gao

Stanford University Press, 1987

"Lord of the Flies" and "1984" at a national scale.
"Born Red" is a fascinating and horrifying book recounting one boy's experiences during the Cultural Revolution. As an American, steeped in our culture from birth, I find it is nearly impossible to truly grasp a culture that would permit the kind of reflexive parroting of official party line to take hold as it did in China (and continues today in North Korea). The book does a fine job of ... 		  
  







  
  
Old English and Its Closest Relatives: A Survey of the Earliest Germanic Languages17 reviews
Orrin Robinson

Stanford University Press, 1993

Excellent Introduction and Quick Reference
Orrin Robinson has done what many suggested could never be done -- or done well at any rate: he has constructed a useful, solid introduction to the whole of early Germanic linguistics, hitting all the high points, with concision, without merely paying lip service to each language. It's a terrific starting point for comparative Germanic linguistics -- from which you can move on to more exhaustive ... 		  
  







  
  
The electric interurban railways in America5 reviews
George Woodman Hilton

Stanford University Press, 1964

"THE" outstanding book on the electric interurban railways
George Hilton and John Due produced what has become the "bible" for any person seriously interested in the history of electric railways. The first half of the book provides general history and information about the electric railway industry which flourished during the first half of the 20th Century. Also included is the relationship many of these companies had with the electric power industry. ... 		  
  







  
  
Railroad Voices: Narratives by Linda Niemann, Photographs by Lina Bertucci6 reviews
Linda Niemann, Lina Bertucci

Stanford University Press, 1998

Voices in the Night
Gritty, dusty, muddy, ballast-strewn dirt under foot. A coppery feeling in the mouth. Eyes strained and burning, almost too tired to open. Perpetual noise---the incessant squeaking, grinding, thumping and crashing of heavy, lumbering machinery. Break time, and the codgers slumping in straight-back chairs leaned against the wall are all snoring, smoking, or describing their latest sexual ... 		  
  







  
  
The Birth of California Narrow Gauge6 reviews
Bruce MacGregor

Stanford University Press, 2003

A must have volume
This massive volume charts the development of early California railroads, both narrow and standard gauge, by following the lives of two Irish immigrant brothers, Thomas and Martin Carter. It is much more than just a railroad history as it explores how they gained the skills and knowledge to build railroad cars, bridges, and even the railroads themselves, and how they used innovative leveraged ... 		  
  







  
  
The Condition of the Working Class in England6 reviews
Friedrich Engels

Stanford University Press, 1968

Awesome
Fabuous book. Engels wrote this when he was only 24- and what a tour de force. The work is detailed, beautifully observed and elegantly written. Despite the depressing nature of the subject matter, the tone is always possible about a better world beyond the evils of capitalism. Unfortunately 150 years after this masterpiece was written things dont seen to have gotten better under capitalism. ... 		  
  







  
  
Complete works: Essays, travel journal, letters6 reviews
Michel de Montaigne

Stanford University Press, 1957

Complete -- at last!
Donald Frame's translations of Montaigne's essays have long been considered one of the two finest contemporary translations available, M.A. Screech's excellent version being the other. The essays speak for themselves, or at least should. Their popularity is well known and well deserved, and there are a number of fine essay collections available. What's great about this edition is that included ... 		  
  







  
  
Aporias (Meridian: Crossing Aesthetics)6 reviews
Jacques Derrida

Stanford University Press, 1993

Death as aporia, as wonderment
Is "death" a limit? For Derrida "death" is that which `involves a certain step / not ... pace' (il y va d'un certain pas) (p. 6). It is not a telos or a terma, a limit beyond which there is none, but rather a `step', a peras, a passage one traverses by penetrating. At the same time, it is the moment of a `not', of an impossibility. What is more, it is certain that one reaches this step as ... 		  
  







  
  
Between Pacific Tides6 reviews
Edward Flanders Ricketts

Stanford University Press, 1986

The standard field guide for the Pacific Coast of the USA
I can't believe that someone else has not reviewed this excellent guide to the intertidal biota of the Pacific Coast. This book has set the standard for reference guides to marine life along the Pacific Coast, as well as other locations. It is much more than a field guide -- though it also serves that role. This book describes the intertidal zonation patterns of the Pacific Coast as well as ... 		  
  







  
  
The Week the World Stood Still: Inside the Secret Cuban Missile Crisis (Stanford Nuclear Age Series)5 reviews
Sheldon Stern

Stanford University Press, 2005

A narrative written for students and general readers
The Cuban missile crisis was the most dangerous moment of the Cold War and has received numerous analysis in other titles and articles. What makes Sheldon M. Stern's The Week The World Stood Still: Inside The Secret Cuban Missile Crisis different is its focus on a narrative written for students and general readers. The author's own transcriptions of the secretly recorded ExComm meetings serves as ... 		  
  







  
  
The Mass-Extinction Debates: How Science Works in a Crisis5 reviews

Stanford University Press, 1994

Best balanced overview by the leading historian on subject
A reader from Aliso Viejo, CA Best balanced overview by the leading historian on subject Glen has studied the debates for 14 years and thus was able to provide an overview and analyses that only one with his expertise can provide. The acrimony and bitterness between the warring theoretical camps of scientists is wonderfully illumninated. The two major groups of debators believe that either ... 		  
  







  
  
The Voyage of the `Frolic': New England Merchants and the Opium Trade7 reviews
Thomas N. Layton

Stanford University Press, 1997

In a class all its own
Oddly enough, our book group chose Voyage of the Frolic and what great fun and an education it has been. I've always dreamed of going on an archeological expedition and here, without the dirt, pan, screens and brushes, I've discovered another layer of the past. What an eclectic history California has. 		  
  







  




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