Hilton Kramer, well known as perhaps the most perceptive, courageous, and influential art critic in America, is also the founder and co-editor (with Roger Kimball) of "The New Criterion." This comprehensive book collects a sizable selection of his early essays and reviews published in "Artforum," "Commentary," "Arts Magazine," "The New York Review of Books," and "The Times," and thus constituted his first complete statement about art and the art world.

The principal focus is on the artists and movements of the last hundred years: the Age of the Avant-Garde that begins in the nineteenth century with Realism and Impressionism. Most of the major artists of this rich period, from Monet and Degas to Jackson Pollock and Claes Oldenburg, are discussed and often drastically revaluated. A brilliant introductory essay traces the rise and fall of the avant-garde as a historical phenomenon, and examines some of the cultural problems which the collapse of the avant-garde poses for the future of art. In addition, there are chapters on art critics, museums, the relation of avant-garde art to radical politics, and on the growth of photography as a fine art.

This collection is not intended to be the last word on one of the greatest as well as one of the most complex periods in the history of the artistic imagination. The essays and reviews gathered here were written in response to particular occasions and for specific deadlines--in the conviction that a start in the arduous task of critical revaluation needed to be made, not because a critical theory prescribed it but because our experience compelled it

The hot and temperate deserts and their marginal steppe lands comprise one-third of the land surface of the world and are an increasingly critical area for the economic wellbeing of world populations. The remarkable mechanisms of floral, faunal, and human adaptation to the distinct and difficult environment of these arid zones, as well as the potential of modern technology for facilitating adaptation, are described and explained by Walton in the light of our most recent knowledge of the phenomena and processes involved.

Beginning with a clarification of the definitions of arid and semi-arid regions and with the delineation of techniques for measuring the degree of aridity in these areas, the author shows that there is wide variation among the arid zones in landscape and climate and that there are numerous local and microclimates within any single arid region. The life cycles of the plants and animals of the arid zones are described and the water resources, including problems of salinity, mineral contamination, and the construction of reservoirs, are examined. Extensive treatment is given to potential agricultural adaptations and to pastoralism as the most widespread response to dry land. A final chapter summarizes attempts at adaptation to prevailing drought and discusses the kinds of future development that the author deems most likely in arid zones.

Throughout the book emphasis is placed on specific, detailed analysis, with adequate tables and formulas for in-depth understanding of particular aspects of aridity. Examples from both Old and New Worlds are used to demonstrate the spheres in which progress is being made and to show the mistakes in past and present land use in arid areas. An essential supplement for courses in physical geography, the book will be useful in many area studies and in studies of economic development.

"Kenneth Walton" was professor of geography at the University of Aberdeen. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh where he received an M.A. and Ph.D. in Geography and First Class Certificates in Geology and Social Anthropology. Walton has published widely and is the editor of "Map Making and Map Interpretation and Field Studies."

Ten distinguished observers confront the pervasive attack on the moral and cultural achievements of European civilization, and reflect on the fate of EuropeOs legacy. OCaustic and convincing...a thought-provoking collection of essays.O NNorman Davies, Wall Street Journal.

Can the cultural values that have distinguished Western civilization survive the present-day preoccupation with relativism and the quest for pleasure? In this important and wide-ranging collection of essays, ten distinguished critics reflect on the direction of our society, emphasizing both the dangers that threaten our institutions and the vivifying survivals that are worthy of being cherished and nurtured. Among the contributors, Robert H. Bork considers the contemporary assaults on the tradition of law; Anthony Daniels, the English doctor and essayist, finds that he must defend the venerable principle that physicians traditionally subscribe to: "First do no harm"; Roger Kimball assesses the prospects of high culture; Hilton Kramer writes on the future of criticism; Kenneth Minogue shows how Western society has increasingly fallen prey to a "new Epicureanism"; Eric Ormsby warns of the fate of research libraries in the age of the Internet; David Pryce-Jones takes a hard look at the way the bureaucratic imperatives of the European Union are undermining freedom and democracy; Diana Schaub investigates the values of Generation X; Mark Steyn defends Western values against the anti-Western, anti-democratic forces that operate within the West itself; and Keith Windschuttle shows how efforts to alter the historical record threaten the very survival of culture. In all, The Survival of Culture provides a critical fever chart of our age, plotting the health of our cultural institutions and mounting a powerful attack on their adversaries. Drawn from the pages of The New Criterion, these vividly written essays are guaranteed to spark controversy and debate.

Just fifty years ago the literary critic Lionel Trilling spoke of liberalism as "not only the dominant but even the sole intellectual tradition" in American society. At the turn of the twentieth century this is clearly no longer the case, when conservative ideas have succeeded in many areas of public policy. Yet America's mainstream institutions-the media, the academy, popular culture, religion, the law-remain largely under the sway of a liberal ethos. In this incisive collection of essays which appeared originally in The New Criterion, nine distinguished critics and observers examine the origins and prospects of liberalism, from its roots in thinkers such as Rousseau and Mill to its troubled legacy in twentieth-century pursuits. They are cogent in explaining the compromising effects of liberalism in the moral and intellectual life of our culture, and seek to disentangle what is beneficent from what is destructive in its ideas. At a time when basic liberal assumptions about man and society are so deeply entrenched that they go largely unrecognized-and unexamined-The Betrayal of Liberalism offers a rewarding and enriching analysis. Its contributors include Roger Scruton, Keith Windschuttle, Hadley Arkes, Robert Conquest, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Robert Kagan, John Silber, John O'Sullivan, Hilton Kramer, and Roger Kimball.

Hilton Kramer, well known as perhaps the most perceptive, courageous, and influential art critic in America, is also the founder and co-editor (with Roger Kimball) of The New Criterion. This comprehensive book collects a sizable selection of his early essays and reviews published in Artforum, Commentary, Arts Magazine, The New York Review of Books, and The Times, and thus constituted his first complete statement about art and the art world. The principal focus is on the artists and movements of the last hundred years: the Age of the Avant-Garde that begins in the nineteenth century with Realism and Impressionism. Most of the major artists of this rich period, from Monet and Degas to Jackson Pollock and Claes Oldenburg, are discussed and often drastically revaluated. A brilliant introductory essay traces the rise and fall of the avant-garde as a historical phenomenon, and examines some of the cultural problems which the collapse of the avant-garde poses for the future of art. In addition, there are chapters on art critics, museums, the relation of avant-garde art to radical politics, and on the growth of photography as a fine art. This collection is not intended to be the last word on one of the greatest as well as one of the most complex periods in the history of the artistic imagination. The essays and reviews gathered here were written in response to particular occasions and for specific deadlines--in the conviction that a start in the arduous task of critical revaluation needed to be made, not because a critical theory prescribed it but because our experience compelled it!

The hot and temperate deserts and their marginal steppe lands comprise one-third of the land surface of the world and are an increasingly critical area for the economic wellbeing of world populations. The remarkable mechanisms of floral, faunal, and human adaptation to the distinct and difficult environment of these arid zones, as well as the potential of modern technology for facilitating adaptation, are described and explained by Walton in the light of our most recent knowledge of the phenomena and processes involved. Beginning with a clarification of the definitions of arid and semi-arid regions and with the delineation of techniques for measuring the degree of aridity in these areas, the author shows that there is wide variation among the arid zones in landscape and climate and that there are numerous local and microclimates within any single arid region. The life cycles of the plants and animals of the arid zones are described and the water resources, including problems of salinity, mineral contamination, and the construction of reservoirs, are examined. Extensive treatment is given to potential agricultural adaptations and to pastoralism as the most widespread response to dry land. A final chapter summarizes attempts at adaptation to prevailing drought and discusses the kinds of future development that the author deems most likely in arid zones. Throughout the book emphasis is placed on specific, detailed analysis, with adequate tables and formulas for in-depth understanding of particular aspects of aridity. Examples from both Old and New Worlds are used to demonstrate the spheres in which progress is being made and to show the mistakes in past and present land use in arid areas. An essential supplement for courses in physical geography, the book will be useful in many area studies and in studies of economic development.

Contributing Authors Include Hans Richter, Sidney Tillim, Rosemarie Beck And Many Others.