bookshelf

AGAINST THE FIRES OF HELL

Name: AGAINST THE FIRES OF HELL
Author: T.M. Hawley
ISBN: 0-15-103969-0

THE ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER OF THE GULF WAR

by T.M. Hawley ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1992

bookshelf

A careful assessment of the environmental damage wrought by both sides in Operation Desert Storm, locally and globally, from Boston-based science-writer Hawley. Focusing initially on the herculean efforts of firefighters to extinguish blazes and cap the oil flowing from 732 ruptured wells in Kuwait, Hawley describes a nightmarish world full of immense lakes of crude oil advancing across the desert sands, choking soot and airborne gases, and a vast blanket of smoke turning daylight into twilight for months. The battle against the fires went more quickly than expected despite a hesitant start, but efforts to combat other aspects of the disaster were less successful. The largest oil spill in history—40 times the amount that leaked from the Exxon Valdez, and caused by Allied bombing as well as Iraqi sabotage—flowed almost impeded onto the remote northern beaches of Saudi Arabia. Coastal industries and desalination plants to the south were protected, but clean-up efforts in the region most affected were spotty and underfunded, so that nearly all of the oil deposited on the beaches remains, buried now by shifting sands. While the impact of the wide-ranging plumes of smoke on life beyond the Gulf region has yet to be determined, the effects on the local population of breathing heavily polluted air for months may never be fully known, thanks to the Kuwait government's insistence that no danger existed and to its refusal to gather critical health data during the period. A provocative, detailed view, if somewhat disorganized and repetitious, offering ample evidence that the war was far from over after the soldiers went home.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1992

ISBN: 0-15-103969-0

Page Count: 250

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1992

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

bookshelf

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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

bookshelf

TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

bookshelf

An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.