Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Seventy Wonders of the Modern World: 1500 Years of Extraordinary Feats of Engineering and Construction by Neil Parkyn ISBN: 0-500-51047-4 Publisher: Thames & Hudson Pub. Date: 01 November, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $40.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Good But Could Have Been More
Comment: THE SEVENTY WONDERS OF THE MODERN WORLD is the product of a
group of academics, architects, engineers describing the
great construction works of humankind, ranging from the
Alhambra to the Taj Mahal, from the Pentagon to Walt Disney
World, from the Panama Canal to Mount Rushmore. It covers
churches and mosques, palaces and castles, public buildings,
skyscrapers and towers, tunnels and bridges, canals and
dams, and great memorials.
This is a range of subject matter for a reader to get his
or her teeth into, and the very pretty layout of the book
raises great expectations. It's full of very nice
photographs and drawings, all laid out with highly
professional care.
It is somewhat unfortunate, then, that on reading through
the book the text does not live up to the reader's
expectations. Being written by a number of individuals,
the writing varies widely from chapter to chapter, but in
general the writing comes across as more stiff than not,
sometimes too academic, and generally too terse.
SEVENTY WONDERS seems to suffer from a subtle failure to
figure out who its target market was. Given that the
chapters are all a few pages long, it seems that it should
have been targeted at the casual reader, with the chapters
written to a somewhat lower level of detail, say along the
lines of a SMITHSONIAN article or one of David MaCaulay's
books (as in BUILDING BIG). Now doing things in more
detail would have been a good thing too, though that
would have meant a much larger work in multiple volumes.
So in terms of writing SEVENTY WONDERS comes across as
being not exactly fish and not exactly fowl.
However, the text is not unreadable by any means either,
and I judge this a good book, a gold mine of information
that I will consult again and again in the future. It's
just that from the looks of the book and the fascinating
subject matter I was expecting something I couldn't put
down, and it was a letdown to find that instead of
something superb I merely had something good. It could
have been so much more.
Rating: 5
Summary: Stunning photos, interesting info about architectural wonder
Comment: Book has photos and information about seventy architectural wonders of the modern world: buildings, bridges, etc. Some I was unfamiliar with-for example, my favorite of the entire book, a very unusual cathedral (Unbelievable!) in progress in Barcelona. Would be a great gift for architects, engineers, and all inquisitive people.
 |
Title: The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World: The Great Monuments and How They Were Built by Christopher Scarre, Chris Scarre ISBN: 0500050961 Publisher: Thames & Hudson Pub. Date: 01 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $40.00 |
 |
Title: The Seventy Great Mysteries of the Ancient World: Unlocking the Secrets of Past Civilizations by Brian M. Fagan ISBN: 0500510504 Publisher: Thames & Hudson Pub. Date: October, 2001 List Price(USD): $40.00 |
 |
Title: Bridges That Changed the World by Bernhard Graf ISBN: 3791327011 Publisher: Prestel Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
 |
Title: 100 Wonders of the World: Great Natural and Manmade Landmarks from Five Continents ISBN: 1577172000 Publisher: Todtri Productions, Ltd. Pub. Date: 01 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
 |
Title: Great Wonders of the World by Russell Ash, Richard Bonson ISBN: 0789465051 Publisher: DK Publishing Inc Pub. Date: 01 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $19.99 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
