The "keys" provided by Herve Lacombe in this richly informed book open the door to understanding the essence of nineteenth-century French lyric theater. Lacombe illuminates the diverse elements that constitute opera by focusing his investigation around three main categories: composition and production; words, music, and drama; and the interaction of society, genre, and aesthetics.
Lacombe chooses Bizet's Pearl Fishers (1863) as the exemplar of French opera that combines tradition and innovation. He uses Pearl Fishers as a paradigmatic point of reference for exploring...

Fear of mad cow disease, a lethal illness transmitted from infected beef to humans, has spread from Europe to the United States and around the world. Originally published to much acclaim in France, this scientific thriller, available in English for the first time and updated with a new chapter on developments in 2001, tells of the hunt for the cause of an enigmatic class of fatal brain infections, of which mad cow disease is the latest incarnation. In gripping, nontechnical prose, Maxime Schwartz details the deadly manifestations of these diseases throughout history, describes the major...

Millions of Americans turn to alternative medicine to treat chronic health problems when conventional medicine fails. Yet few doctors-or health store clerks and alternative practitioners-know what treatments are safe and effective. In this book, Edward Schneider, a leading researcher and clinician at the University of Southern California, arms readers with an overview of the latest medical research, then offers a proven formula for the best integrative therapy available to treat the most common health issues. From supplements and herbs, to acupuncture and yoga, What Your Doctor Hasn't Told...

Abramo Basevi published his study of Verdi's operas in Florence in 1859, in the middle of the composer's career. The first thorough, systematic examination of Verdi's operas, it covered the twenty works produced between 1842 and 1857--from Nabucco and Macbeth to Il trovatore, La traviata, and Aroldo. But while Basevi's work is still widely cited and discussed--and nowhere more so than in the English-speaking world--no translation of the entire volume has previously been available. The Operas of Giuseppe Verdi fills this gap, at the same time providing...

The Genetics of Aging is divided into several sections in an attempt to provide a logical progression from the level of the genome to the realm of human genetics. The relationship between the genetic material and aging will be thoroughly explored in the initial chapters. These chapters discuss in depth the various theories that have been proposed for the mechanisms of aging at the molecular level and present data which either support or contradict these hypotheses. Subsequent chapters will deal with the genetics of aging in organisms ranging from paramecium to mammals. The largest section of...