I would have wished, the authors would have explained better the different steps how the different white, oolongs, black, green and pu-err teas are made. The authors only mentioned the order of how the tea leaves are processed, no explanation for the whys, except “to make the tea more mellow, greener …”. This would have been a great chance to explain a bit about the chemistry, that is going on there.

Although, the context and lay out was so promising, the overall read ended up to be boring and disappointing. With too much repeated information on one side and too little at others, plus the never-ending passages without much point. The fascinating ways of tea with its drinking traditions and production and cultural evolution got lost under all the rambling and was burdened with too many words.

The subtitle of this beautiful book ought to be “Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Tea But Were Afraid to Ask.” It answers all of your questions–and more–about tea, including the history of tea, where tea is grown, how it is processed, and the cultural factors influencing the production and consumption of tea over the centuries. Both encyclopedic and very readable, it is filled with historical references, details, and anecdotes lacking in lesser books on this subject. And there is even a section on “Cooking with Tea,” including recipes for Green Tea Pots de Crème and Green Tea Chiffon Cake with Walnuts and Crystallized Ginger.

The authors own a shop that sells fine teas, coffees, and other food specialties in Massachusetts. Their book’s scope is worldwide and their own knowledge considerable. They have traveled to China and Japan to visit the sites of tea plantations and tea processors, and their handsomely designed, well-printed book is full of color photographs taken on location. If you buy only one book on the subject of tea, this should definitely be the one! It also makes a great gift, paired with a pretty teapot and a box of special, aromatic tea. Highly recommended!

So I sat and ran my hand over the book and looked at the zen style teapot pouring a hot serving of tea, in the cover photo. Then I opened the book and an hour later when the sun had begun to set and I realized I needed to turn on a light, I realized how mesmerized I had become. To the point I reread areas because I was on the path to becoming a tea lover.

The photos are stunning and informative, which is rare in most books. I was intrigued about all the various cultures where tea is not only drunk, but used as an ingredient in medicine, cooking and baking. The Life of a Tea Bush one reads of the different types of tea bushes, their needs be it water, deeply rich soil, mountains or valleys. On page 51 one learns of the 8 elements of tea productions.

On page 257 one begins to read the encyclopedia of teas, from White, Yellow, Green, Oolong, Black, Pu-erh, Scented, Artisan, Presentation, or Display Tea. And then Brewing The Perfect Cup. No tea bags here thankfully. Then Storing tea, the best water, temperatures etc.

Tea Customs and Culture covers China, Japan, Europe, and other countries like north Africa and Arabia, teapots and cups, as well as Wagashi or what is called sweets that one can serve with various teas.

Like tea itself, this book is soothing and nice. And would make a GREAT gift for anyone who loves history, food, is a teacup or teapot collector, is living in a cabin or on Park Avenue. Have homeschooling friends and family whom I have and will recommend the book to.

The compact size and the colorful comic-inspired cover design of the trade paperback edition bely its serious scope. It is truly comprehensive, opening with a powerful argument for feminism (lingering on the term’s ever-troubled, never-popular nature), proceeding through the history of various feminisms, marching on through topics as diverse as the impact of globalization on female laborers in the developing world to contrasting feminist opinions on the agency of sex workers. While the focus is primarily on the U.S., the global perspective does comes through. She manages to tone down the usual prominence of European and Euro-American influences while elevating the profile and contributions of feminists throughout the world. For the global sections, examples are drawn as readily from China and West Africa as from the United States. Freedman raises the bar for creating a feminist narrative that is continually mindful of the influences of class, race and culture as well as gender concerns.

I recommend this book for committed feminists, those lamenting the so-called `death of feminism,’ and for closet feminists who are bothered by the f-word.

I liked reading this book because I felt it was very well written and researched. “No Turning Back” provides the foundational knowledge for further exploration of feminism. I highly recommend reading this book, especially if you want to learn the basics of feminism!

I used this book as a student in my world history class. I couldn’t stop reading it and even skipped some of the chapters we were supposed to be reading in the course. I recommend this book to any teachers who teach history. It is very informative. The only problem is that it is VERY big and you can’t fit it into a backpack well

Now let me preface my next statement by saying that cultural understanding, appreciation and tolerance are vital to a healthy country and people. I find world cultures fascinating, or I would not be in the field that I wish to teach in. But this book is so busy beating you over the head with the fact that you should like cultural blending (it says this phrase at least once a page for well over 1000 pages) that it sort of loses the series of events in a fog of social messages.

Cultural blending is something that happens all the time in this world, and often results out of conquest, migrations, trade, and pursuit of religious freedom – as the book points out. However, I feel they sometimes make stretches to drive their point home to the point of losing other themes of intolerance, domination and genocide (which is certainly not limited to WWII). It only gives passing mention to the butchering of people for their beliefs on a massive scale as Protestants and Catholics vied for power politically. It talks about the Shi’a Muslim Safavids and the Sunni Ottoman Turks butchering each other for their rivaling religious views but does not talk about how that may somehow have consequences in today’s rift between the two groups. I’m not sure! This book is too busy telling me that the next ruler exported carpets and bought Chinese tiles and how that is cultural blending – not the consequences of 40,000 killed.

There are only shallow analyses in this book. The “consequences” or “legacies” that are so important are only addressed in the conclusions of a few units.

The chapters are organized in a thematic fashion, so it will jump continents and cultures every other unit from England to India to Africa. It also jumps around with the dates a lot as it is *not* chronological. I found it helpful when studying to make my own time lines to get a decent perspective on how things fit together.

In the second half the book, however it seems to take a completely different tone. Beginning with the Age of Exploration, the preachy quality of it dwindles and it focuses on what happened and why. Of course, European power struggles of the 1500-1700’s don’t really allow digression because of their convoluted nature!

So, did it serve my purpose? In some ways, yes. I will do well on my exam given that this material correlates with the standards on the test. However I would say this coverage is minimal, and if you are a high schooler reading this, this is NOT the book that will tell you whether you like history or not. This is strictly a list of facts to be regurgitated on a test with some values of tolerance sprinkled in.

This book is really pretty darn good! It makes things pretty interesting when you are not interested in History. I use it and I am homeschooed in the 8th grade. I will also use it next year, it’s a great two year program. I don’t know why the other two reviewers didn’t like it but I find it a lot better than previous history books.

This book is full of pictures and descriptions of a lot of guitars. The book is divided by guitar type, from acoustic, archtop, solid-body electics, semi-solid electrics and basses. The descrptions are short and give way to the pictures, but the guitars that demand, by respect, more description are given more pages.

The guitars shown are from all over the world and thus aren’t limited to a specific market. Its cool to see how a russian guitar is made.

The only thing I would have liked is a timeline, but the book isn’t formatted this way and its fine.

All in all a very fun book to have. No theory, nothing to tell you “practice damn it!”, just enjoy.