Product Description
A superb collection of Robert Taylor's aviation art, accompanied by a commenary of each piece by the artist make this volume a must for lovers of aviationa and fine art alike.

Widely regarded as the world's leading aviation artist, Robert Taylor is renowed for the sweeping panoramic scale of his air combat paintings and his remarkable precision and clarity.This book features 28 full color reproductions of some of his most popular recent works.

Robert Taylor lives near Bath, England. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

perfect honeymoon
this book brings back happy memories for me. I bought it back in 1996 in london during my honeymoon. Because i have always been an aeroplane enthousiast and an admirer of robert taylor and other combat painting artists, i was as excited about this book as i was of my new wife. My excitement about this book remains after all these years. I wish i could say the same about ....So i recommend this book to all admires of true art. It is a real masterpiece.

fantasy
If you don't have the money to buy an original painting of Robert Taylor, but you want to see his works, this book is absolutly fantastic.
You can look to the prints for hours, using your fantasy how it was/is to be a combat pilot.
But, do not not expect it to be a book with a lot of prints.
This is just a selection of one of the most beautiful prints.
This is really a book you can look in from time to time and turn yourself into another fasinating world.

Robert Taylor Air Combat Paintings-Vol.1-4
This is to clarify the actual status of Taylor's Vol. 1-4 volumes of terrific aviation art.

All volumes are still available through several aviation art dealers. ( NW Aviation Art/Leisure Galleries) I do not know why Amazon lists many of these as out of print.They are NOT!

The new Volume 4 is out as of Sept. 2000.

Wish Amazon stocked them all.

The Master's Work
Those of you who know Robert Taylor's art work will know what to expectfrom this book. Those of you don't, then you will be treated to some superbsketches and paintings which mainly focus on World War 2 aviation scences.Taylor has an excellent eye for detail and realism and researchs hissubject(s) to ensure that his paintings are more than just realistic, theyare factual. In this book he talks about how some of his paintings weredone, along with comments from some of his subjects such as Adolf Galland,Townsend, Johnnie Johnson etc. The book includes 24 of his paintings,including some of my favourites "Dambusters","JG-52","Victory over Dunkirk" all of which are on good quality paper.This is a quality book which displays the master's work and the master atwork and highly recommended, although some may find the price a littleprohibitive.

Ultra-realistic, Historically Correct, Aviation Art
This is the third installment of the series of aviation art done by Robert Taylor.Painters like Taylor, Truidgen and others continue to set the standard in historically correct military aviation art.

His attentionto detail is superb and the paintings are centered around a certain pilotor group of pilots during W.W.II.Many of his paintings are signed by thepilot or pilots portraided in the paintings. Most are paintings of aircraftthat are close to the ground, like returning flights of planes gettingready to land or takeoff in a historical setting.

The book gives blownup details of parts of the paintings and examines historical details notreadily noticeable in the overall paintings. Taylor spends time telling thestory, how he painted the scenes, and the research required for eachpainting.

The price is a little steep, but well worth the purchase if youare a aviation collector, especially if you don't have the money to collectthe real thing. ... Read more

Product Description
This book offers a series of reflections on the state of Christianity, and especially Catholicism, in the world today. The centerpiece of the volume is a lecture by the renowned philosopher Charles Taylor, from which the title of the book is taken. The lecture, delivered at Dayton University in January of 1996, offered Taylor the opportunity to speak about the religious dimensions of his intellectual commitment--dimensions left implicity in his philosophical writing. In fact, this is the only place where Taylor, a Roman Catholic, spells out his theological views and his sense of the cultural placement of Catholicism, its history and trajectory. He uses the occasion to argue against the common claim that obstacles to religious belief in modern culture are epistemic--that they have to do with the triumph of the scientific worldview. The real obstacles, says Taylor, are moral and spiritual, having to do with the historic failures of religious institutions.

Four well-known commentators on religion and society, two Protestant, two Catholic, were invited to respond to Taylor's lecture: William M. Shea, George Marsden, Jean Bethke Elshtain, and Rosemary Luling-Haughton. Their chapters offer a variety of astute reflections on the tensions between religion and modernity, and in particular on the role that Catholicism can and should play in contemporary society. The volume concludes with Taylor's perceptive and thoughtful response to his interlocutors. A Catholic Modernity provides one of the most thoughtful conversations to date about the place of the Catholic Church in the modern world, and more generally, about the role of religion in democratic liberal societies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Taylor Made Catholic Modernity
The revivial of interest in this book after Taylor won the Tempelton in 2007 is overdue as the work remains timely athology on Catholic intellectualism today. The editor, Fr. James Heft, SM, has subsequently compiled other anthologies of equally important and contemporary thought as can been seen by a search here with reveal. As their indexer, I know that Taylor's important concepts are found thematic throughout Fr. Heft's works.
... Read more

Product Description
Charles Taylor (b. 1931) is one of the most influential and prolific philosophers in the English-speaking world. His unusually broad interests range from artificial intelligence to theories of meaning, from German idealism to contemporary multiculturalism. Ruth Abbey, in the first systematic single-authored study of this extraordinary thinker, offers a stimulating overview of his contribution to some of philosophy's enduring debates.

The core chapters take up Taylor's approaches to moral theory, selfhood, political theory, and epistemology. Alone, these chapters constitute a solid introduction to Charles Taylor. However, the author also offers a great deal to those interested in pursuing the links across his positions, defining Taylor in terms of both his political engagement and his particular form of anti-foundationalism. In addition, she engages with some of the secondary literature to correct common misreadings of Taylor's writings. Abbey concludes by outlining Taylor's most recent reflections on what it means to live in a secular age and pointing to likely future directions of his work.

This book makes accessible one of the most read and discussed philosophers of our day. It will serve as an ideal companion to Taylor's own writings for students of philosophy and political theory. And it will be welcomed as well by the nonspecialist seeking an authoritative guide to Taylor's large, disparate body of work.Amazon.com Review
The first things you notice about Charles Taylor are his eyebrows. Indeed, they appear to bristle from Ruth Abbey's cover photograph, lending him an air of farsightedness that is entirely appropriate for his intellectual depth. Taylor is one of the rare philosophers today who occupies an intellectual's role in the public sphere and also enjoys a distinguished reputation in academia. In particular, his work on political theory finds expression in his activism in the politics of his native Canada. In academia, he is probably best known for Sources of the Self, a lengthy but widely read volume on modern identity and morality that is one of the most important recent contributions to the social sciences and humanities.

Abbey's short survey of Taylor is particularly notable because his work spans a breadth that includes science, ethics, politics, history, language, epistemology, and art. Her approach is carefully accurate, eschewing reductionism just as Taylor himself "refuses the temptation to reduce complexity to single principles." She successfully addresses herself to a thinker whose multifaceted thought often defies simple category divisions. Taylor is one of the most fascinating and articulate voices on today's philosophical scene, and Abbey has provided us with a useful field guide to his work. Her book represents a valuable companion to Taylor's philosophy, as well as a thoughtful articulation in its own right. --Eric de Place ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

it's good
Abbey offers a fine introduction to Taylor's thought, helpfully summing up his moral, anthropological (ontological), political and epistemological views.Taylor's writings tend to be a bit diffuse- one essay here on politics and one here on epistemology- and so this introduction is very helpful for getting a general understanding of how his various ideas fit together.A worthwhile read for those who want to understand Taylor's thought in its integrity

Keep Them Comming
Finally, what I've been waiting for, a series that accessibly captures the thoughts of the masters in more than "90 Minutes".This book figures prominently next to Milan Rai's _Noam Chomsky_ and other well written secondary sources designed specifically to bring great thinkers to a broader audience.If you're intimidated by unelucidated technical language or insulted by having to buy a book titled "For Morons", then this and its series companions are the books you're looking for. I sincerely hope to see more additions in the future, especially branching into coverage of great thinkers of the past.Thank you Ruth Abbey and thank you series editor John Shand. ... Read more

Product Description

The language of self-fulfillment, self-realization, and self-actualization (in short, 'authenticity') has become common in contemporary culture. The desire to be 'authentic' is implicitly a desire to shape one's self in accordance with an ideal, and the concern for what it means to be authentic is, in many ways, the modern form of the ancient question "what is the life of excellence?" However, this notion of authenticity has its critics, Christopher Lasch, for instance, who equates it with a form of narcissism and Theodor Adorno who views it as a glorification of privatism.

Brian J. Braman argues that, despite criticisms, it is possible to speak about human authenticity as something that addresses contemporary concerns as well as the ancient preoccupation with the nature of the good life. He refers to the theories of Bernard Lonergan and Charles Taylor, thinkers who placed a high value on the search for human authenticity. Lonergan discusses authenticity in terms of a three-fold conversion with intellectual, moral, and religious implications while Taylor views it as a rich, vibrant, and important addition to conversations about what it means to be human.

Meaning and Authenticity presents an engaging dialogue between two thinkers, both of whom maintain that there is a normative conception of authentic human life that overcomes moral relativism, narcissism, privatism, and the collapse of the public self.

Customer Reviews (1)

THIS BOOK IS GREAT
Dr. Braman is one of the premier Lonergan Scholars in the country. In this book Braman is able to take something as dense and intricate as Lonergan's philosophy of authenticity and make it attainable for anyone with the desire to know. No wonder he is so loved by his students. Get this book! ... Read more

Product Description
This revised edition of Taylor's classic work on the internal-combustion engine incorporates changes and additions in engine design and control that have been brought on by the world petroleum crisis, the subsequent emphasis on fuel economy, and the legal restraints on air pollution.The fundamentals and the topical organization, however, remain the same. The analytic rather than merely descriptive treatment of actual engine cycles, the exhaustive studies of air capacity, heat flow, friction, and the effects of cylinder size, and the emphasis on application have been preserved. These are the basic qualities that have made Taylor's work indispensable to more than one generation of engineers and designers of internal-combustion engines, as well as to teachers and graduate students in the fields of power, internal-combustion engineering, and general machine design.Charles Fayette Taylor is Professor of Automotive Engineering Emeritus at MIT. He directed the Sloan Automotive Laboratories at MIT from 1926 to 1960 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Important Book to Own. Seller is very good.
The seller sent the product on time. The book content was as mentioned on the website. The book's condition was as mentioned too.

A Tough Act to Follow
The other reviewers have extolled the engineering strengths of this book so I won't go over old ground yet again.The book has exceeded my expectations in virtually all respects.It is an absolute bedrock foundation in ICEs. It will help you to answer questions you already had about ICEs and it will increase your ICE awareness on a quantum level so as to cause you to ask questions you never had before.I can't say enough good things about this book.I am saddened by the fact the author has already passed away and from a purely selfish perspective will not be able to continue to contribute to the knowledge base he has so generously left us as a part of his legacy.

This is a must have book in your library!

Bible of ICE design
This is the bible of Internal Combustion Engine design.Every automotive engineer has one (or has access to one at work) for reference. Excellent for engineering students also. Not a book for people with no engineering or automotive background.Also not a book of the "latest and greatest" developments.It is a detailed book of fundamentals, and in that capacity it is excellent.

A Classic and Thorough Book - Only Somewhat Dated
This is an excellent book - and one of the clasics on the subject of IC Engine Engineering.It's a good anchor for the student new to the subject - as most of the basic theory can't really change.Having said that, itdoesn't go far enough with practical simulation methods, which have becomemuch easier to apply as computers have matured.And there is - as alwaysin typical engineering texts - not much to use in terms of practicaldesign.But then - such a book would be much longer.And - because enginecontrol capability has improved so much in the last 15 years, as hasknowledge of pollutant formation and control - this book simply does nothave much of use (other than as an introuction) to those areas.That's whyI gave it 4 stars, not 5. Still a good read for the engineer. ... Read more

Product Description
An introduction and companion to United Mind Workers, one of the most provocative educational reform books of the 90s. This booklet is the ultimate study-group discussion starter on teacher's union reform. Taking Charge of Quality outlines proposals for improving the quality of teaching, touching on issues such as standards, peer review, career ladders, hiring halls, school-based compacts, and teacher accountability. Includes a resource section.

... Read more

Product Description
An outspoken abolitionist, a founder of the Free Soil and Republican parties, and a leading member of the U. S. Senate for more than twenty years, Charles Sumner (1811-1874) has always figured prominently in histories of the American Civil War. For the most part, however, he has been depicted as a psychologically troubled extremist, a fanatical opponent of slavery whose self-righteousness was matched only by his arrogance.

In this book, Anne-Marie Taylor challenges that longstanding view, offering in its stead the portrait of a man animated more by principle than by impulse or ambition. According to Taylor, Sumner's reform-minded politics, including his fervent commitment to put an end to slavery, must be understood in the context of a young nation still struggling to live up to the Enlightenment ideals embraced by its founders and embodied in its Constitution.

Focusing on the first forty years of Sumner's life, before he took public office, Taylor traces the evolution of his character and thought among Boston's cultural elite. His belief in the virtues of cosmopolitanism, in the dignity of the human intellect and conscience, and in the possibility of a cultivated and just society, all find their roots in an education steeped in Enlightenment principles. At the same time, as a child of New England Puritanism and Revolutionary republicanism, Sumner was raised to believe in the moral obligation of the individual to work for the common good.

As Taylor shows in this well-written biography, much of the triumph and tra-gedy of Sumner's story-the energy of his idealism as well as the poignancy of his eventual disappointment-derives from the overpowering sense of duty and na-tional destiny imbued by his upbringing. ... Read more

Product Description
For more than three decades Charles Taylor has been at the forefront of debates within political philosophy. Outlined here is Taylor's distinctive method of philosophical interpretation; its application to the concepts of modernity, freedom, and community; and an overall assessment of Taylor's contribution to political theory and to the theory and practice of democracy. Taylor's major works are sympathetically expounded upon, assessed, and situated in the context of his engagement with thinkers including Isaiah Berlin, John Rawls, and Michel Foucault. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

"A Total Disappointment"
This is nowhere near the usual standard of excellence I've come to expect from Charles D. Taylor."The Sunset Patriots" just dragged and the characters were merely names on papaer, not flesh and blood people you come to care about.In most of the scenes, Taylor just told you what was happening, instead of letting the characters describe it to you.What dialogue Taylor did have was very uninspiring.I'm just glad he improved since "The Sunset Patriots" to write some very good books like "Boomer" and "Shadow War."

Zero stars!
This sorry excuse for a book reads more like a bedraggled draft that has been rejected by every respectable publisher you can think of. For a technothriller it features the most inept descriptions of military hardware and worst-ever plot I have ever had the misfortune to read. The story meanders and blunders incoherently towards a spectacularly stupid final battle, in which two opposing naval fleets charge right at each other cavalry-style firing missiles all over the place.

I understand there are people who enjoy watching bad movies for the sheer hell of it. I wonder if a similar type of reader exists. Unless you are connoiseur of bad novels, I'd advise you not to waste your time with this turkey. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great, but subdued Cold-War era sub thriller
This book came out in 1987, so it needn't explain why the Russians and Americans are still duking it out.The book follows form that would be done to death in Dale Brown novels - an American technological breakthrough coincides with some aggressive move by the Soviets.

In this case, the Soviets close off the arctic waters off Norway, turning it into a Russians bathtub.The yanks strike back with the "Imperator", a gigantic submarine the size of an aircraft carrier (and I don't think they meant the small fleet carriers of WWII, frequent models for the soviet Typhoon class).Big enough to carry a fairly sized infranty team and their attack helicopter, the Imperator is designed to break through the Russian blockade.The Russians respond by sending in their top submarine skipper, and a wolfpack of their top subs (the inner cover of the paperback ed. had a great picture of a raging sub-sea battle, with the titanic US sub firing torpedoes in every direction, burning the ocean with flaming Soviet submarines).Nevertheless, the Imperator pretty much outclasses anything the Russians throw at it.A revolutionary computer called "Ceasar" can knock Bear bombers out of the sky or pick off incoming torpedoes.

This was a great book for its time.The technological aspects of the story are pretty vague (we get little sense of what the sub can do before called upon to do it; it's like the author is making the sub a more powerful ship as the story progresses), and I'm not sure what the point is of sending a mammoth sub to carrya few troops into Norway - how big can the sub be and still carry a meanigful number of troops?The bigger problem of the story is how heavily it relies on its high-tech: the guidance of torpedoes and the nearly foolproof computer that runs Imperator.This is a problem because much of the book's action is driven by weaponry on automatic and thus independent of human control.Torpedoes are launched and track their targets or are spoofed by countermeaures.Ceasar detects a threat and lashed out with a blue-laser or something else.Weapons either do what they're designed to, or they fail.It's almost like the humans (or any characters) don't belong in the book at all.

That's actually odd considering how the story appears unusually sympathetic to its characters - American and Russian.The Russian submarine commander is actually the most sympathetic in the book, otherwise bereft of the fiercely dogmatic communists of similar late 1980's books.The characters would be great if Taylor could somehow make them both deep characters and warriors.Instead, the war runs on autopilot, giving the characters really little to do. If "Hunter" excels at anything, it's a reminder that thrillers about submarines should keep their settings in their submarines.Because submarines are scary mostly because you can't just step out of one, an authentic thriller must highlight that sense of being trapped inside."Hunter" highlights this by keeping its settings confined to the submarines involved - and not losing its focus by tangenting back to some Pentagon situation room, complete with inter-service rivalry and liberal politicians.In short, if nothing in this yarn will exactly grab you, it at least holds you for a very long time. ... Read more

Product Description
Charles Taylor (1931- ) is one of the leading living philosophers. This is the first extended study on the key notions of his views in philosophical anthropology and ethical theory. Firstly, Laitinen clarifies, qualifies and defends Taylors thesis that transcendental arguments show that personal understandings concerning ethical and other values (so called strong evaluation) is necessary, in different ways, for human agency, selfhood, identity and personhood. Secondly, Laitinen defends and develops in various ways Taylors value realism. Finally, the book criticizes Taylors view that it is necessary to identify and locate a constitutive source of value, such as God, Nature or Human Reason. Taylor relies heavily on this claim in his accounts of moral life, modern identity and, most recently, secularisation. Laitinen argues that the whole notion of constitutive moral source should be droppedTaylors views concerning strong evaluation and value realism are distorted by the question of constitutive moral sources. ... Read more