Showcases garments now in the collection of the National Museum of Art/Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in Oslo, an sets them in the context of Queen Maud's life and times.

Sissi's World offers a transdisciplinary approach to the study of the Habsburg Empress Elisabeth of Austria. It investigates the myths, legends, and representations across literature, art, film, and other media of one of the most popular, revered, and misunderstood female figures in European cultural history. Sissi's World explores the cultural foundations for the endurance of the Sissi legends and the continuing fascination with the beautiful empress: a Bavarian duchess born in 1837, the longest-serving Austrian empress, and the queen of Hungary who died in 1898 at the hands of a crazed anarchist. Despite the continuing fascination with “the beloved Sissi," the Habsburg empress, her impact, and legacy have received scant attention from scholars. This collection will go beyond the popular biographical accounts, recountings of her mythic beauty, and scattered studies of her well-known eccentricities to offer transdisciplinary cultural perspectives across art, film, fashion, history, literature, and media.

The secrets behind the work of chameleon designer Pierre Yves Rochon, who has devoted thirty years to the quest for "absolute comfort." Is there a signature Rochon style? At first, it is difficult to tell because the designer always adapts his work to the environment in which it unfolds, bringing out the location's unique spirit. A great traveler, he blends international styles, borrowing from both modern and classical influences. Hailed as a "visionary designer" and "master of grand luxe" by the Financial Times' How To Spend It, Rochon's most prestigious commissions include Four Seasons Hotels--in Paris, Florence, Washington, Shanghai and Cairo, for example--and restaurants for several Michelin-starred chefs. His residential work includes sumptuous private homes he has designed across Europe, America, and the Middle East. This monograph--Rochon's first--reveals the designer's trademark approach to interior splendor. For him, "the quality of the object and the hand that made it," is essential for creating a sumptuous interior. He devotes attention to every detail, from the architecture, to the furniture, the lighting, the fabrics, and art objects. Where he inserts a new structure into a space, such as a fireplace or a column, it feels like it has always been there. His interiors thus exude harmony and comfort, while retaining a strong sense of the location's culture, geography, and history.

For the past two years (2006-2008) The Bridge of Silver Wings has earned a name for itself both as a series of poems published in different e-zines and as a book first published in 2007. What makes this 2009 edition a special one is the inclusion of five new poems: "Angel of Better Days to Come"; "Midnight Flight of the Poetry Angels"; "Photographed Light of My Grandmother's Soul"; "There upon a Bough of Hope and Audacity"; and, "What Angels Call a Poet." Readers exploring the pages of this book are likely to experience it in different ways as they move back and forth between one poetic state of being and another. The Bridge of Silver Wings 2009 may at times appear to be nothing more than a silk-thin illusion --resembling at moments either a terrifying nightmare or a healing vision--spread across an evening mist. While at other times it will register as solid as a concrete sidewalk or a giant boulder. (from author's Foreword)

In 1949, a twenty-six-year-old Iowa farm girl named Nita Farrier accepts a position as secretary to the Allied Occupation Force in Vienna, Austria. During her time off , she travels extensively throughout Europe, experiencing and recording in her journals the sights and sounds of Europe's most exciting cities. From the Viennese opera where she observes audience members enjoying wine, sausage, and bread during the performance (all the while the performers' shoes are squeaking with every movement) to the homesickness that she felt acutely during holidays abroad, her journals describe her experiences in wonderful emotional and sensory detail. She was also a direct witness to many important historical events of the day, keeping minutes at many of the fourpower conferences. The Grande Tour offers a glimpse into the daily life of post World War II Europe through the eyes of a young civilian woman. Her keen observations provide firsthand insight into the events that followed World War II and European culture of that era.

"The following pages contain the substance of the Lectures which, for several years, have been delivered to the classes in Intellectual Philosophy, in Brown University. ... I have not entered upon the discussion of many of the topics which have called into exercise the acumen of the ablest metaphysicians. Intended to serve the purposes of a text-book, it was necessary that the volume should be compressed within a compass adapted to the time usually allotted to the study of this science in the colleges of our country. I have, therefore, attempted to present and illustrate the important truths in intellectual philosophy, rather than the inferences which may be drawn from them, or the doctrines which they may presuppose. These may be pursued to any length, at the option of the teacher. If I have not entered upon these discussions, I hope that I have prepared the way for their more ample and truthful development"--Preface.

Portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in the Martin Scorsese movie The Aviator, Howard Hughes is legendary as a playboy and pilot—but he is notorious for what he became: the ultimate mystery man. Citizen Hughes is the New York Times bestselling exposé of Hughes’s hidden life, and a stunning revelation of his “megalomaniac empire in the emperor’s own words” (Newsweek). At the height of his wealth, power, and invisibility, the world’s richest and most secretive man kept what amounted to a diary. The billionaire commanded his empire by correspondence, scrawling thousands of handwritten memos to unseen henchmen. It was the only time Howard Hughes risked writing down his orders, plans, thoughts, fears, and desires. Hughes claimed the papers were so sensitive—“the very most confidential, almost sacred information as to my innermost activities”—that not even his most trusted aides or executives were allowed to keep the messages he sent them. But in the early-morning hours of June 5, 1974, unknown burglars staged a daring break-in at Hughes’s supposedly impregnable headquarters and escaped with all the confidential files. Despite a top-secret FBI investigation and a million-dollar CIA buyback bid, none of the stolen secret papers were ever found—until investigative reporter Michael Drosnin cracked the case. In Citizen Hughes, Drosnin reveals the true story of the great Hughes heist—and of the real Howard Hughes. Based on nearly ten thousand never-before-published documents, more than three thousand in Hughes’s own handwriting, Citizen Hughes is far more than a biography, or even an unwilling autobiography. It is a startling record of the secret history of our times.

Americans have long had a rich if complicated relationship with France. They adore all things French, especially food and fashion. They visit the country and learn the language. Historically, Americans have also been quick to blame France at certain times of international crisis, and find fault with their handling of domestic issues. Despite ups and downs, the friendship between the countries remains very strong. The author explains the strength of Franco-American relations lies in the diplomatic ties that extend back to the founding of the United States, but more importantly, in the French DNA that is imprinted on American culture. The French were the first Europeans to settle the regions now known as Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas--and Frenchman remained in Louisiana after the land was purchased by the United States. This book explores the effects that France has had on American culture, and why modern Americans of French descent are so fascinated by their ancestry.

Enjoy sightseeing and shopping in bustling Edinburgh and Glasgow or explore unspoiled scenery and welcoming towns in the Hebridean Islands, Southern Scotland, Tayside, and the Northeast. Go from the Highlands to the Lowlands. Hike, canoe, or just relax at Loch Lomand. This friendly guide gives you the scoop on: Edinburgh Old Town, with its intriguing winding alleyways Accommodations that range from sumptuous 17th century hotel furnished with Gothic antiques to a secluded seaside escape, and from a 17th century laird's house to a sleek, modern and minimalist hotel Enjoying a pint of lager in a rustic pub where the barmen wear kilts and you don't tip or touring distinctive distilleries Cathedrals, castles and historic sites like the Calanais Standing Stones (the "Scottish Stonehenge"), Edinburgh Castle that holds the historic Stone of Destiny and Scotland's crown jewels, Doune Castle, made famous by the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and Glasgow Cathedral Storied golf courses such as Muirfield, Royal Troon, and St. Andrews in the country credited with developing the sport Touring Sir Walter Scott's mansion, Abbotsford, with it's incredible library, relics, and mementos, or paying homage to poet Robert Burns at numerous sites Shopping for everything from fine wool knits to Caithness glass paper weights to Edinburgh Crystal to tartans and kilts to Highland Stoneware Like every For Dummies travel guide, Scotland For Dummies includes: Down-to-earth trip-planning advice What you shouldn't miss - and what you can skip The best hotels and restaurants for every budget Whether you're looking for fun nightlife or the legendary Loch Ness monster...whether you want to explore art galleries and museums or walk craggy seacoasts, this guide gives you the flavor of Scotland so enchantingly you can almost hear the bagpipes.