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The magic of The Sound of Music lives on in the minds and hearts of everyone it has touched. Now, Charmian Carr, who in 1965 captivated moviegoers as Liesl "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" von Trapp, tells what it was like to be a part of the film that has become a cultural phenomenon. It's all here: from how she got the role (and why she almost didn't) to romances on the set and wild nights in Salzburg; from the near-disaster during the gazebo dance to her relationships--then and now--with her six celluloid siblings. Charmian offers stories from fans and friends and a treasury of...

Artist, architect, poet and philosopher, Leon Battista Alberti revolutionized the history of art with his theories of perspective in On Painting (1435). Inspired by the order and beauty inherent in nature, his groundbreaking work sets out the principles of distance, dimension and proportion; instructs the painter on how to use the rules of composition, representation, light and colour to create work that is graceful and pleasing to the eye; and stipulates the moral and artistic pre-requisites of the successful painter. On Painting had an immediate and profound influence on...

The sparkling plays about the scoundrelly valet Figaro, used as the basis of operas by Mozart and Roissini
A highly engaging comedy of intrigue, The Barber of Seville portrays the resourceful Figaro foiling a jealous old man's attempts to keep his beautiful ward from her lover. And The Marriage of Figaro--condemned by Louis XVI for its daring satire of nobility and privilege--depicts a master and servant set in opposition by their desire for the same woman. With characteristic lightness of touch, Beaumarchais--a French courtier, secret agent, libertine, and...

In his Lives of the Artists of the Italian Renaissance, Vasari demonstrated a literary talent that outshone even his outstanding abilities as a painter and architect. Through character sketches and anecdotes he depicts Piero di Cosimo shut away in his derelict house, living only to paint; Giulio Romano's startling painting of Jove striking down the giants; and his friend Francesco Salviati, whose biography also tells us much about Vasari's own early career. Vasari's original and soaring vision plus his acute aesthetic judgements have made him one of the most influential art historians of all...

This reference of architecture and landscape architecture terminology has been expanded to include developments in the field of landscape architecture. It includes the huge range of building traditions around the world and all the illustrations have been redrawn.

The Penguin Dictionary of International Relations holds the key to understanding the trends and events that have influenced international relations over the last decade. This completely up-to-date reference includes explanations of the dangerous developments that have affected international relations, such as ethnic cleansing and preventive war, as well as detailed entries on broader concepts and key organizations--from game theory to SALT, from Amnesty International to WHO. This is a must for students of the world who want to keep up with the ever-changing pace of foreign relations.

The letters of one of the world's greatest composers

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?seen variously as a child prodigy, musical genius, tragic Romantic artist, and cultural icon?is among the most written-about of all composers. This fascinating set of his letters offers a new understanding of his life story?his marriage, compositions, performances, occasional money worries, opinions of fellow musicians, and complex relationship with his father?and a revealing portrait of both the man and the musician.

Few albums in the canon of popular music have had the influence, resonance, and endurance of John Coltrane's 1965 classic A Love Supreme-a record that proved jazz was a fitting medium for spiritual exploration and for the expression of the sublime. Bringing the same fresh and engaging approach that characterized his critically acclaimed Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece, Ashley Kahn tells the story of the genesis, creation, and aftermath of this classic recording. Featuring interviews with more than one hundred musicians, producers, friends, and family...

Nancy MacDonell Smith explores the origins, meaning, and remarkable staying power of the ten staples of feminine fashion:
* the little black dress
* the white shirt
* the cashmere sweater
* blue jeans
* the suit
* high heels
* pearls
* lipstick
* sneakers
* the trench coat
Tracing the evolution of each item from inception to icon status, she reveals the history and social significance of each, from the black dress's associations with danger and death to the status implications of the classic white shirt. Incorporating sources from...

From Nelson George, supervising producer and writer of the hit Netflix series, "The Get Down," this passionate and provocative book tells the complete story of black music in the last fifty years, and in doing so outlines the perilous position of black culture within white American society. In a fast-paced narrative, Nelson George's book chronicles the rise and fall of "race music" and its transformation into the R&B that eventually dominated the airwaves only to find itself diluted and submerged as crossover music.

Join one of the most influential artists of our time as he investigates the painting techniques of the Old Masters. Hockney s extensive research led him to conclude that artists such as Caravaggio, Velazquez, da Vinci, and other hyperrealists actually used optics and lenses to create their masterpieces.

In this passionate yet pithy book, Hockney takes readers on a journey of discovery as he builds a case that mirrors and lenses were used by the great masters to create their highly detailed and realistic paintings and drawings. Hundreds of the best-known and best-loved paintings are...

From Nelson George, supervising producer and writer of the hit Netflix series, "The Get Down, Hip Hop America is the definitive account of the society-altering collision between black youth culture and the mass media.

Rip It Up and Start Again is the first book-length exploration of the wildly adventurous music created in the years after punk. Renowned music journalist Simon Reynolds celebrates the futurist spirit of such bands as Joy Division, Gang of Four, Talking Heads, and Devo, which resulted in endless innovations in music, lyrics, performance, and style and continued into the early eighties with the video-savvy synth-pop of groups such as Human League, Depeche Mode, and Soft Cell, whose success coincided with the rise of MTV. Full of insight and anecdotes and populated by charismatic...

A must-have volume for all Beatles fans-a career-spanning selection of writings about the Fab Four

There are, of course, many books on the Beatles, but this is the only one available that is a comprehensive, career-spanning collection of journalism about the legendary band, before and after the breakup. Consisting of more than fifty articles, essays, interviews, record and movie reviews, poems, and book excerpts-many of them rare and hard to find-Read the Beatles is an unprecedented compilation that follows the arc of the Fab Four's iconic and idiosyncratic career, from...

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, after the shock of Elvis Presley and before the Beatles spearheaded the British Invasion, fourteen gifted young songwriters huddled in midtown Manhattan's legendary Brill Building and a warren of offices a bit farther uptown and composed some of the most beguiling and enduring entries in the Great American Songbook. Always Magic in the Air is the first thorough history of these renowned songwriters-tunesmiths who melded black, white, and Latino sounds, integrated audiences before America desegregated its schools, and brought a new social...

A provocative look at architecture-"exceptionally intelligent and original" (Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World)
Deyan Sudjic-"probably the most influential figure in architecture you've never heard of" - argues that architecture, far from being auteur art, must be understood as a naked expression of power. From the grandiose projects of Stalin and Hitler to the "theme park" excess of today's presidential libraries, Sudjic goes behind the scenes of history's great manipulators of building propaganda-and exposes Rem Koolhaas, Frank Gehry, and other architects...

The lead singer of the acclaimed, platinum-selling group Franz Ferdinand takes readers on a rock-and-roll culinary adventure around the world

The extremely successful neoNew Wave band Franz Ferdinand has millions of fans around the globe, and the group's frequent tours bring its members not only to a wide variety of places but also face to face with a wide range of food. Here, lead singer Alex Kapranos collects his humorous and insightful reflectionscompiled partly from his column in the Guardian (London)on his many international gastronomic encounters, both savory and not...

The secret histories of the world's most famous masterpieces

Caravaggios, Rembrandts, Monetsthe works of immortal artists such as these are indelibly imprinted in the public mind; they are priceless masterpieces whose beauty, artistry, and emotional impact have inspired admiration, awe, and envy through the centuries. Yet behind many of these brilliant paintings and sculptures are fascinating, unique histories. In Scandals, Vandals, and da Vincis, award-winning writer Harvey Rachlin relates in exciting detail how nearly thirty of these works came to be created and how they...

Gorey s naughty, hilarious travesty of lust, now reissued in a special gift edition. A master of the genre of graphic storytelling and a brilliant draftsman ("New York Times Book Review").
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A new, small-format edition of one of Edward Gorey's "dark masterpieces of surreal morality" (Vanity Fair): a witty, disquieting journey through the alphabet.