Open the Door to Liberty Review

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(More customer reviews)Gaou-Guinou and Pauline didn't have much hope for their "skinny, puny baby boy." In fact they didn't think he was going to live. A prophetic, "African-born slave" had predicted big things for this child, but it was obvious she was mistaken. When Francois-Dominique Toussaint (later named L'Ouverture) was a boy he didn't like being called "Little Stick" by his peers, but perhaps that was the type of taunting that shaped his character. His godfather noticed that he was "remarkably intelligent" and began to tutor him. Toussaint, as he was called, saw how cruelly some slaves were treated.
He was a thoughtful young boy and he read about Raynal, who predicted "one day a leader would rise up from slavery" and lead his people. The young boy began to dream that he would be that leader. When he was thirty-three, his master freed him. He was intrigued by "liberty, equality, and brotherhood," but it wasn't until he was almost fifty that he would begin to lead his people in battle. Toussaint "had led the first triumphant slave rebellion in history," but there were things on the horizon that could not have been foretold. The "Man of Destiny," Napoleon, had his eyes set on St. Domingue. He wanted to get rid of Toussaint and restore slavery by force. Could this little man survive the wrath of a man as driven as himself? Would slavery once again visit the island?
This was a fascinating biography of an unsung hero who deserves to be remembered around the world. St. Domingue, now Haiti, is a country that is seldom discussed in classrooms outside of geography lessons. Toussaint L'Ouverture, according to the author, struck her as a "genuine hero, only not myth or legend, but recorded history." After reading this marvelous biography, one in which she seemed to capture his personality, I would concur. This biography would be a wonderful stepping stone for student reports. In the back of the book is a list of several resources Rockwell used that could be used by the more serious student.

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The Rickover Effect: The Inside Story of How Adm. Hyman Rickover Built the Nuclear Navy Review

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(More customer reviews)"The Rickover Effect" is a fascinating depiction of Admiral Hyman Rickover's efforts to build the nuclear Navy. This book is not intended to serve as a comprehensive chronicle of Rickover's career and private life, but as a chronicle of Rickover's accomplishments in bringing nuclear power to the Navy as viewed by a subordinate. Within these self-admitted limitations, the book succeeds, but Theodore Rockwell also attempts to turn Rickover's leadership style into some sort of management primer.
Rockwell examines various anecdotes and discusses the effectiveness of Rickover's management acumen in dealing with both political and technical problems. This attempt to explain "The Rickover Effect" is rather clumsy and unnecessary. The reader can judge for him or herself the success of Rickover's abilities.
Readers unfamiliar with Rickover's personality must keep in mind that this account is written by someone who obviously admired and respected Rickover a great deal. Rockwell's close association with Rickover has caused him to see the Admiral through biased eyes. Rockwell sees Rickover as firm but fair, which isn't entirely accurate. Although truly a visionary, Rickover was extremely difficult for most military personnel to get along with and prone to frightening fits of rage. Although he was often the target of attacks on his character, Rickover often treated his political enemies and detractors cruelly, and at times led his own vicious attacks. Rockwell appears sincere in his treatment of Rickover, but it is obvious he doesn't see the Admiral as an outsider would.
With these limitations in mind, this is actually a very entertaining account of how the nuclear Navy started.

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Norman Rockwell, 1894-1978: America's Most Beloved Painter (Basic Art) Review

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A first class biography of Rockwell by social historian Marling in the handy Taschen art series and certainly value for money. It covers Rockwell's career in enough detail to keep you interested and I liked the way his significant paintings get detailed explanations in the text, not only technique but how they related to the times.
Naturally, Rockwell's Post covers provide the largest number of images but there are some adverts and work for Look magazine after he left the Post. His increasing frustration with the narrow remit the Post allowed him regarding their covers is revealed and as he grew old Rockwell wanted to expand his subject matter and attempt paintings that had a social significance. Marling covers these themes which makes the book much more interesting than just a visual survey of his work.
All the art is in color with some well researched black and whites of the artist, nicely designed and printed on reasonable paper. The back of the book has a bibliography though, strangely, no index. If you are new to Norman Rockwell I can recommend Thomas Buechner's magnificent Norman Rockwell published in 1970 and reprinted over the years but the first edition has tipped in plates and large fold-outs of paintings. Later editions don't have these features. I also enjoyed Advertising World Of Norman Rockwell (Italian Edition) by Donald and Marshall Stoltz, published in 1987. The only book to cover his ad art.
***SEE SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.



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Since his work is categorized as illustration and was most famously featured on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post, fine art critics were slow to acknowledge the importance of Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) as true artist, though his work was enormously popular during his lifetime and has endured as a crucial element in America's perception of itself in the 20th century. Through the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, World War II, the 1950s and 60s, Rockwell illustrations were a part of daily life, showing, as he once said, "the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed."

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Willie Was Different: A Children's Story Review

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(More customer reviews)Willie Was Different is, of course, beautifully illustrated. It is a charming story about what it means to be a success and what is important in life.

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Norman Rockwell: A Life (Modern Library Paperbacks) Review

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(More customer reviews)I've been an illustrator for 40 years. My mentor was a contemporary of Rockwell, also an illustrator and portrait painter who was at the Art Student's League at about the same time as NR. I was all set to like this book after viewing the attractive and articulate author on BookNotes. It turned out to be a chore to read. I'm surprised that Random didn't do more fact checking or editing. It is not so much narrative as it is cut-and-paste word processing. Consider this line for example on page 394: "But at least one son, Jarvis -- who, on finding that he had did not fit particularly well into the Air Force ...." Where are the copy editors when you need them?
Then there are the significant errors, as in the following: [page 209] "First, he recalled briefly the beauty contest he had judged a few years before with Clare Briggs the cartoonist and Nell Brinkley the actress." A simple search on Google will confirm that Nell Brinkley (1886-1944) was also famous as a cartoonist who drew pretty young things for the New York Evening Journal, and not an actress.
On page 300, the author describes a painting of Willie Gillis in church: "In the three pews, shown, only Willie's torso and face are visible; the shoulder of a man in front, and the arm of a man behind, their respective officer and upper enlisted stripes prominent...." This is a curious description coming from someone who taught at the Naval Academy. There is no man shown in front, just the shoulder boards of a US Navy commander. As for the upper enlisted stripes, she should have said hash marks and the distinctive stripes of a First Sergeant (three stripes, two rockers, and a diamond).
The author continually refers to Rockwell's clients as patrons, a term I have never heard used by illustrators or other so-called commercial artists. She also goes to great length to chastise NR for continually accepting more work than he had time to do. This has always been common practice. Some clients bail out after reviewing sketches or comprehensives, or for purely business reasons, which is why kill-fees are used to protect freelancers from spinning their wheels. Anyone who has ever engaged carpenters or other tradesmen knows that they, too, overbook. People who work for themselves have to overbook, if they expect to survive.
The author, as academic, devotes much of the book to psychobabble and pronouncements from on high, making it seem that the Golden Age of Illustration had passed Rockwell by. She refers to the obvious giants such as Pyle, Wyeth, Parrish, and others, who rode in on the waves of four-color process printing as it was first perfected for print production. But consider that Rockwell was the most famous illustrator ever, with an enormous following, and this added years to the Golden Age of Illustration as technical advances continued. It also added many more excellent illustrators, Rockwell's fellow instructors at the Famous Artists School to name a few.
NR's buddies in Arlington, Vermont -- Mead Schaeffer, and John Atherton -- are mentioned often in that period of Rockwell's life, but they are never adequately fleshed out as individuals, Then, we are told that they left Arlington without explaining why.
There are no examples of their work. There are two signatures of photo reproductions reduced to sizes too small to be of much pictorial value. One would really need Arthur Guptill's book on Rockwell, or another compilation of NR's work to understand what the author is talking about as she describes paintings that are either too small to be studied, or do not appear at all.
I wish the text had been cut by a third, elimating all those distant cousins, who add little, or nothing, to the story, and two signatures of full page 4/c process illustrations added, even if it would mean an increase to the cover price.

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Norman Rockwell (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a great series for children to explore any and all of the artists in the series. The comics keep the children engaged, and there's always some tidbit that the children enjoy learning about the particular artist...something they'll always remember and talk about. Great introduction to well-known artists.

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Presents a biography of Norman Rockwell

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