John in paperback format. New Orleans Architecture Volume V: The Esplanade Ridge, compiled by the Friends of the Cabildo, a leading preservation organization, focuses on the unified type of architecture along the 3.3-mile length of majestic Esplanade Avenue. The Esplanade represents a treasure-trove of nineteenth-century architecture, with every decade of the 1800s represented in this work. Included are French-colonial and Creole homes, American-style frame and brick townhouses, Louisiana plantation types, as well as Italianate Victorian, Second Empire, Edwardian, Mission, and City Beautiful styles. Almost two hundred houses on the Esplanade were constructed prior to 1900, and all but five of the avenue's blocks still contain historically important structures. More than 350 photographs, paintings, and sketches, many of them from archival sources, are reproduced, along with a large map of Esplanade Avenue. The New Orleans Architecture Series consists of Volume I: The Lower Garden District, Volume II: The American Sector, Volume III: The Cemeteries, Volume IV: The Creole Faubourgs, Volume V: The Esplanade Ridge, Volume VI: Faubourg Treme and the Bayou Road, Volume VII: Jefferson City, and Volume VIII: The University Section, all available from Pelican.

    Robert Darnton explores the cultural and political significance of these "bad" books and introduces readers to three of the most influential illegal best-sellers, from which he includes substantial excerpts. Winner of the 1995 National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism.

    Gregory Pincus, among others--who pioneered the its development, as well as the two scientists who defied the law to advance its research. Photos.

    As entertaining as it is informative, Sexual Slang is packed with surprising facts, meanings, and insights sure to liven up anyone's language.