V.'s first modern mirror

[Doug Millison]

"Mirror, mirror on the wall -- it may be the best known prop in fairy tales,
but the mirror as we know it really hasn't been around all that long.
Earlier reflective devices were made of metal or polished stones, and were
objects of luxury for people of great wealth. The modern mirror appeared in
Venice about the 16th century; the resulting mirror-making industry greatly
enriched the Venetian Republic. Historical tidbits such as these and 
many more can be found in The Mirror: A History by Sabine 
Melchior-Bonnet (Routledge, $27.50), reviewed this week in The Wall 
Street Journal. Melchior-Bonnet, a researcher at the College de 
France in Paris, has  written a number of other books, including an 
extensive one on the
cathedrals and abbeys of France. Combining elements of art, philosophy,
history and literature, she has constructed an entertaining and witty
cultural history."


....and another new book with GR echoes re war,  finance, politics:

"Niall Ferguson argues in The Cash Nexus: Money and Power in the Modern
World 1700-2000, that the enormous expense of war, which forces governments
into fiscal innovation, is the primary agent of financial change and its
political repercussions, which sometimes include starting new wars. Most
controversially, Ferguson challenges the orthodox assumption that the world
is headed toward a peaceful, prosperous and democratic global future.
Economic success does not always lead to stability, he argues, and economic
freedom is neither necessary for economic growth nor sufficient for
political freedom. This book will be more talked about than read, though it
will attract serious readers."

-from PW Daily for Booksellers (February 9, 2001)
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