Last time we saw Benjamin Franklin Gates, the cunning, impassioned lead character of Walt Disney Pictures' National Treasure, he had succeeded in evading shady characters, fulfilling his family's destiny, and discovering an unimaginable trove of treasures beneath Manhattan's oldest church./DIV DIVNow, Ben is back. In National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets, the hero finds an all-new set of dangers, conflicts, double-crossings, and of course...treasure!
John Raleigh Gates has been raised on stories of mysterious treasure and the elaborate tricks used to hide the wealth. But with the colonies on the verge of a revolution, John is too busy--and scared--to bother with make believe. That is, until he discovers a clue that could lead to an immense treasure. With war on the horizon, it will be up to John to follow the clues and take the ride of a lifetime.
This teaching novel by archaeologist Peter Bleed demonstrates the complexities of contemporary collecting of archaeological antiques and delves into the world of 14th century Japan. Dr. Eric Mallow, a serious gun collector, complicates his life by acquiring a pair of Japanese swords at a gun show. He has no idea one of the swords was the personal weapon of a 14th century patriot, or that the other carries a blood-thirsty reputation as the "Son Killer." Various attempts to get them back complicate his life, from a Japanese politician wants the swords to cement his control over a religious cult to the leader of a Tokyo crime syndicate. National Treasure treats 600 years of history and societies that are worlds apart with accuracy and cultural detail. The book was a Finalist, 2001 Independent Book Publishers Awards, Multicultural Fiction.
An NPR "Books We Love" 2022 “Age of Cage might be the closest we will get to understanding the singular beauty of each of Nic Cage’s always electric performances. You are holding the Rosetta Stone for Cage. Enjoy it.” —Paul Scheer, actor, writer and host of the How Did This Get Made? and Unspooled podcasts Icon. Celebrity. Artist. Madman. Genius. Nicolas Cage is many things, but love him, or laugh at him, there's no denying two things: you’ve seen one of his many films, and you certainly know his name. But who is he, really, and why has his career endured for over forty years, with more than a hundred films, and birthed a million memes? Age of Cage is a smart, beguiling book about the films of Nicolas Cage and the actor himself, as well as a sharp-eyed examination of the changes that have taken place in Hollywood over the course of his career. Critic and journalist Keith Phipps draws a portrait of the enigmatic icon by looking at—what else?—Cage’s expansive filmography. As Phipps delights in charting Cage’s films, Age of Cage also chronicles the transformation of film, as Cage’s journey takes him through the world of 1980s comedies (Valley Girl, Peggy Sue Got Married, Moonstruck), to the indie films and blockbuster juggernauts of the 1990s (Wild at Heart, Leaving Las Vegas, Face/Off, Con Air), through the wild and unpredictable video-on-demand world of today. Sweeping in scope and intimate in its profile of a fiercely passionate artist, Age of Cage is, like the man himself, surprising, insightful, funny, and one of a kind. So, snap out of it, and enjoy this appreciation of Nicolas Cage, national treasure.
Defending National Treasures explores the fate of art and cultural heritage during the Nazi occupation of France. The French cultural patrimony was a crucial locus of power struggles between German and French leaders and among influential figures in each country. Karlsgodt examines the preservation policy that the Vichy regime enacted in an assertion of sovereignty over French art museums, historic monuments, and archeological sites. The limits to this sovereignty are apparent from German appropriations of public statues, Jewish-owned art collections, and key "Germanic" works of art from French museums. A final chapter traces the lasting impact of the French wartime reforms on preservation policy. In Defending National Treasures, Karlsgodt introduces the concept of patrimania to reveal examples of opportunism in art preservation. During the war, French officials sought to acquire coveted artwork from Jewish collections for the Louvre and other museums; in the early postwar years, they established a complicated guardianship over unclaimed art recovered from Germany. A cautionary tale for our own times, Defending National Treasures examines the ethical dimensions of museum acquisitions in the ongoing noble quest to preserve great works of art.
Stories in this book reflect how history has woven itself into the fabric of the present. The stories are intimate and told by the artists, by family members, by friends in their own words. The telling will make you feel as though you are fortunate enough to sit in the presence of the Cherokee artists, who intimately share the story of themselves, of their art, who their family was, how they came to be artists, who and what influenced them, and how their art reflects who they are as Cherokee people. They are the Cherokee National Treasures.
The tale begins over three-hundred years ago, when the Fair People—the goblins, fairies, dragons, and other fabled and fantastic creatures of a dozen lands—fled the Old World for the New, seeking haven from the ways of Man. With them came their precious jewels: diamonds, rubies, emeralds, pearls... But then the Fair People vanished, taking with them their twelve fabulous treasures. And they remained hidden until now... Across North America, these twelve treasures, over ten-thousand dollars in precious jewels, are buried. The key to finding each can be found within the twelve full color paintings and verses of The Secret. Yet The Secret is much more than that. At long last, you can learn not only the whereabouts of the Fair People's treasure, but also the modern forms and hiding places of their descendants: the Toll Trolls, Maitre D'eamons, Elf Alphas, Tupperwerewolves, Freudian Sylphs, Culture Vultures, West Ghosts and other delightful creatures in the world around us. The Secret is a field guide to them all. Many "armchair treasure hunt" books have been published over the years, most notably Masquerade (1979) by British artist Kit Williams. Masquerade promised a jewel-encrusted golden hare to the first person to unravel the riddle that Williams cleverly hid in his art. In 1982, while everyone in Britain was still madly digging up hedgerows and pastures in search of the golden hare, The Secret: A Treasure Hunt was published in America. The previous year, author and publisher Byron Preiss had traveled to 12 locations in the continental U.S. (and possibly Canada) to secretly bury a dozen ceramic casques. Each casque contained a small key that could be redeemed for one of 12 jewels Preiss kept in a safe deposit box in New York. The key to finding the casques was to match one of 12 paintings to one of 12 poetic verses, solve the resulting riddle, and start digging. Since 1982, only two of the 12 casques have been recovered. The first was located in Grant Park, Chicago, in 1984 by a group of students. The second was unearthed in 2004 in Cleveland by two members of the Quest4Treasure forum. Preiss was killed in an auto accident in the summer of 2005, but the hunt for his casques continues.
"The introductory text of this book traces Georgia's long cultural history from its archaeological beginnings to the present. Twenty-three essays by scholars from all over the world give a vivid portrayal of Georgia's heritage in history, literature and manuscript production, archaeology and art throughout prehistoric, classical and Christian periods up to the Early Modern Era. Over 150 objects are presented and their range is vast: Neolithic ceramics, intricately worked Bronze and Iron Age gold and silver, Greek and Roman jewellery, richly illuminated manuscripts, medieval paintings, cloisonne enamel and gold repousse work, and embroidery are illustrated."--Jacket.
Michael Wilding's hilarious black comedy treats the literary world with the same sparkling wit, incisive analysis, and inside information that he has become renowned for.
