Although relics of the ages promise to be a quirkily charming route to historical knowledge, they receive pedestrian treatment here by Rachlin (The Making of a Detective, p. 1170, etc.). Fifty-three objects are presented along with accounts of their histories, what they look like, how they were recovered, and where they are now. Rachlin begins ``before the creation of humankind,'' with the Black Stone of the Kacbah, housed in Mecca and believed in Islamic tradition to have been brought to Earth by Adam from Paradise. Rachlin then moves quickly through the ages, to the Rosetta Stone, the Bayeux Tapestry, Napoleon's penis, Piltdown Man, and other artifacts, concluding with Voyager 1 and Voyager 2's Gold-Plated Phonograph Record for Extraterrestrials, which includes friendly greetings, natural Earth sounds, and musical pieces from Mozart and Chuck Berry (its present location is outer space). But Rachlin fails to dramatize his opening claim that such artifacts ``make physically manifest the dreams and ideas, great deeds and events, of human history.'' His writing is unexciting; potentially compelling tales are flatly told. Nor is the history anything but the barest outline- -although with so many objects presented, it isn't surprising that Rachlin can't go into satisfying detail about any given one. And most of the stories will be familiar to all but the historically illiterate. Rachlin does, however, discredit a couple of common misconceptions: George Washington's false teeth were not made of wood—they were carved from the teeth of sheep, deer, elephants, and other animals; and Jeremy Bentham's body and head have been preserved, but he is not recorded as ``present but not voting'' at meetings of the college council at University College London. Interesting new ways to present history are in short supply; it's particularly disappointing when one is squandered. (80 b&w photos, not seen)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8050-3964-3
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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