The Rembrandt Affair (Gabriel Allon)

Description

"Of those writing spy novels today, Daniel Silva is quite simply the best."
-The Kansas City Star

"The perfect book for fans of well-crafted thrillers ... the kind of page- turner that captures the reader from the opening chapter and doesn't let go."
-The Associated Press

Gabriel Allon, master art restorer and assassin, returns in a spellbinding new novel from the #1 New York Times-bestselling author.

Over the course of a brilliant career, Daniel Silva has established himself as "the gold standard" of thriller writers (Dallas Morning News) who "has hit upon the perfect formula to keep espionage-friendly fans' fingers glued to his books, turning pages in nearly breathless anticipation" (BookPage). But now, having reached "the pinnacle of world-class spy thriller writing" (The Denver Post), Silva has produced his most extraordinary novel to date-a tale of greed, passion, and murder spanning more than half a century, centered on an object of haunting beauty.

Two families, one terrible secret, and a painting to die for ...

Determined to sever his ties with the Office, Gabriel Allon has retreated to the windswept cliffs of Cornwall with his beautiful Venetian-born wife Chiara. But once again his seclusion is interrupted by a visitor from his tangled past: the endearingly eccentric London art dealer, Julian Isherwood. As usual, Isherwood has a problem. And it is one only Gabriel can solve.

In the ancient English city of Glastonbury, an art restorer has been brutally murdered and a long-lost portrait by Rembrandt mysteriously stolen. Despite his reluctance, Gabriel is persuaded to use his unique skills to search for the painting and those responsible for the crime. But as he painstakingly follows a trail of clues leading from Amsterdam to Buenos Aires and, finally, to a villa on the graceful shores of Lake Geneva, Gabriel discovers there are deadly secrets connected to the painting. And evil men behind them.

Before he is done, Gabriel will once again be drawn into a world he thought he had left behind forever, and will come face to face with a remarkable cast of characters: a glamorous London journalist who is determined to undo the worst mistake of her career, an elusive master art thief who is burdened by a conscience, and a powerful Swiss billionaire who is known for his good deeds but may just be behind one of the greatest threats facing the world.

Filled with remarkable twists and turns of plot, and told with seductive prose, The Rembrandt Affair is more than just summer entertainment of the highest order. It is a timely reminder that there are men in the world who will do anything for money.

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Customer Reviews

Worse than bad
I read all of Daniel Silva's previous book. This is by far his worst. Among the many flaws:
* It is preachy- Silva repeats (and repeats and repeats) that the Jews suffered the Holocaust, and how bad people who set up and ran the Holocaust were & are. Memo to Daniel Silva: most of your potential reader audience already know and agree with this. We do not need you to preach the obvious to us;
* The character development is...oh, I forgot, there is practically none. Most of the characters are worse than cardboard figures. They are not one dimensional; zero dimensional would be closer to the truth;
* Characters float in and float away- and do NOTHING. Peel, most of Allon's team, even Allon's wife- why did you bother introducing these people when they do nothing, add nothing, and merely increase the word count;
* Yes, the word count. My hardcover version is slightly over 480 pages. Mon Dieu! Do you think you are writing "War and Peace"? It would be OK if this was spectacularly good writing, but since it is plodding, bad writing...suffice it that I gave myself one atta boy when I actually finished this dismal book.

Many of Mr. Silva's books have been excellent. This is worse than bad. Do not waste your time on this book.

2010-09-05 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 1

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Silva at his BEST
Stunning, superb the pages don't turn fast enough. Read what the book is about from the editor. Mr. Silva has outdone himself........again! If you have never read about Gabriel..you might as well start from the beginning..the ride is amazing. Well done!! Don't you wonder if Gabriel, Joe Pike, Jack Reacher, Mitch Rapp and Hawk were all in a room....who would walk out??

2010-09-04 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Bingo - They just keep getting better
Silva is one of the rare authors whose books in a series get better and better....they aren't losing any of their attention to detail and intrigue. Silva and Gabriel Allon are one of my favorite combinations.

2010-09-02 (Philadelphia) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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Page Turner
The Rembrandt Affair is an exciting thriller by one of our most talented authors, Daniel Silva. Once you start to read this book, you won't be able to put it down! If you are looking for a great read that keeps you rivited to each page, this book is for you. Be careful though, you might become addicted to all the Gabriel Allon books Daniel Silva has written. Have fun- I know I did !!

2010-09-02 | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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Fascinating ride
This author knows how to deliver. I've just finished a 7 book Gabriel Allon binge and I am happily addicted to Daniel Silva.He delivers some complex information and diverse characters with style. There is violence and drama and action. You care about the good guys and you boo the bad guys. Both have nuance and texture.I love that Gabriel is not portrayed as some lone wolf vigilante. He needs his skilled and deadly "family" to help him.I hope to see these characters again. If not, thank you very much Mr. Silva for taking us on an adventure.

2010-09-01 (Bahamas) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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The Complete Etchings of Rembrandt: Reproduced in Original Size

Product Details

• Adapt: New
• Notes: BUY WITH Aplomb, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and mending to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
• ISBN13: 9780486281810

Description

Over 300 works—portraits, landscapes, biblical scenes, allegorical and mythological pictures and more—reproduced in full size directly from a rare collection of etchings famed for its pristine condition, fresh, clean impressions, rich contrasts and brilliant printing, With detailed captions, a chronology of Rembrandt’s life and etchings, a discussion of the technique of etching in his time and an excellent bibliography.

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Customer Reviews

Great reference tool
A valuable reference tool at a wonderfully affordable price. Very pleased with my purchase.

2010-07-10 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Complete Etchings of Rembrandt
A goodl collection for the priceThe Complete Etchings of Rembrandt: Reproduced in Original Size

2009-08-05 (New York) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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The encyclopedia of Rembrandt etchings
What a wonderful feeling having ALL Rembrandt etchings at hand in one single volume, all in original size and breathtaking printing quality. You get the impression of being all of a sudden a nineteenth century Rembrandt collector who overnight succeeded in having the complete collection. It's really a magic feeling, merit of the outstanding quality of the reproductions. Weight has been put on the graphic part, text is too little - could have been somewhat richer.

2009-02-18 (Milano) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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Rembrandt Etchings
We first saw this book as a reference source in an art gallery that was selling original Rembrandt etchings. The book provides an explanation of how the etchings were produced and provides photos of all (found) Rembrandt etchings in their original sizes. Since we were not very familiar with Rembrandt's etchings or with the differences in the appearance of originals produced later using the same plates, this book helped provide us with a means to evaluate the ones being sold at the gallery.
The book is also priced well and makes a great coffee table book.

2006-07-28 (San Diego, CA USA) | Helpful Votes: 11 | Rating: 5

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Artist and innovator.
Rembrandt didn't invent etching, but he very nearly reinvented it. He did more with mixed processes, especially drypoint and etching, than anyone before him. He was also among the first to use etching as a drawing medium, giving it a freedom it had never had before.

One distinctive feature of this book is that each print is reproduced full size. That gives the viewer unique insight into each work - was it small enough to fit the hand, or so big it had to be worked on a bench or table? Just how fine was that texture of lines? Even the biggest prints are presented full size, in a set of oversized sheets that come with the book.

Probably hundreds of authors have written about Rembrandt's art, especially his drawing and etchings. I don't have much to add except what I personally have learned from his work. As well as light and dark, Rembrandt modulates a picture in levels of detail. Look at B76, for example, "Christ presented to the people." The central figures have expression and nuance. Outliers, like those towards lower left are barely sketched in. It's a fascinating way for the artist to guide the viewer's attention.

One author (I forget who) was asked to name the finest printmaker of all time. He started by eliminating Rembrandt, on the grounds that this master went so far past any mortal skill that he was outside of merely human history. This book shows just where that claim came from.

//wiredweird

2004-10-31 | wiredweird (Earth, or somewhere nearby) | Helpful Votes: 19 | Rating: 5

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Rembrandt A&I (Art and Ideas)

Product Details

• ISBN13: 9780714838571
• Prepare: New
• Notes: BUY WITH Self-assurance, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and ceremony to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Description

A survey of the life and times of Rembrandt van Rijn, one of the most famous and well-loved artists. From his precocious early work in his native Leyden to his emotional late work and his immense artistic influence, Rembrandt's life is traced within the context of the Netherlands in the 17th century, the highly literate and cosmopolitan environment of Amsterdam and Rembrandt's wealthy and influential patrons.

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Customer Reviews

great experience
i received the book on time, it was in very good condition! i'd purchase from this company again.

2008-08-29 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Understanding Rembrandt.

In her book Mariet Westerman guides us through the life and works of Rembrandt - from his earliest self-portraits to the introspective works of his later days. And she does so with empathy and a deep understanding of both the artist's character and the artistic, economic and social environment which he was a part of. Westerman writes in a matter-of-fact way without being superficial. Thus the book may be read by the specialist and novice alike and enhance the pleasure of both the next time they are confronted with the profound humanity of Rembrandt's art. This is no coffee-table book, but comes in a format made for reading and use in trains and galleries alike. Nevertheless, the book is beautifully illustrated with all the pictures relevant to a top biography of one of the most beloved artists in European culture. Highly recommended!

2006-12-07 | Helpful Votes: 13 | Rating: 5

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Rembrandt Drawings: 116 Masterpieces in Original Color

Product Details

• Notes: BUY WITH Self-reliance, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and worship army to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
• ISBN13: 9780486461496
• Contingency: USED - Very Good

Description

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Customer Reviews

Eye glance of a master
Rembrandt Drawings is a superb collection of drawings by the great Dutch master. They are intimate sketches which depict a glance. They are completely modern, predating the technique of the French modernists, and catch that first critical moment when the essential of a scene is grasped. Above all there is the instant seizure of a moment of humanity, a fleeting expression, query, puzzlement, wonder, but, strangely not a smile.
Three of the drawings belong to the more than 90 self portraits in which Rembrandt traced his biography. One is an image of the artist at the age of 23 and it is informative to compare with the oil painting which followed, a display of genius in handling light and shadow. But for all that, the naive sketch catches a mood that no longer exists in the magnificent painting.
The book is a treasure to browse and to ponder the profound humanity it contains. Its simplicity is an invitation to take a pencil and trace the same and similar lines, to explore the creative mind of one of the greatest artists who ever lived.

2009-02-10 (Bangkok) | Helpful Votes: 15 | Rating: 5

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Finally, In Color
Rembrandt's drawings, though monochromatic, deserve to be in color. The variations in his pen lines and washes are part of their greatness, and I've waited for decades to see a book like this. I'm surprised it's in hardcover (I have about a thousand Dover books, all paperbacks) so it costs a few extra dollars, and it's no surprise that at least most of the reproductions are generations removed from the originals, but I'm hardly complaining. Up till now I haven't found a complete color collection of his drawings, and he is one of history's greatest (and most subtle) draftsmen, so this is a gift to the world. If we ever get a book like this reproduced from the originals, it will probably cost over $100.
And regarding the artwork, I'll quote my elder colleague and master draftsman, Don Lagerberg: "The older I get, the better Rembrandt gets."

2007-12-04 | marshallart.com (Laguna Niguel, CA United States) | Helpful Votes: 21 | Rating: 4

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Rembrandt's Eyes

Description

For Rembrandt, as for Shakespeare, all the world was indeed a stage, and he knew in exhaustive detail the tactics of its performance: the strutting and mincing, the wardrobe and face-paint, the full repertoire and gesture and gimace, the flutter of hands and the roll of the eyes, the belly-laugh and the half-stifled sob. He knew what it looked like to seduce, to intimidate, to wheedle and to console; to strike a pose or preach a sermon, to shake a fist or uncover a breast; and how to sin and how to atone. No artist had ever been so fascinated by the fashioning of personae, beginning with his own. No painter ever looked with such unsparing intelligence or such bottomless compassion at our entrances and our exits and the whole rowdy show in between. More than three centuries after his death, Rembrandt remains the most deeply loved of the great masters of painting, his face so familiar to us from the self-portraits painted at every stage in his life, yet still so mysterious. Like Shakespeare, the facts of his life are hard to come by: the Leiden miller's son who briefly found fame in Amsterdam, whose genius was fitully recognized by his contemporaries, who fell into bankruptcy and died in poverty. So there is probably no painter around whose life more legends have grown up, nor to whom more unlikely pictures have been attributed (a process now undergoing rigorous reversal). "Rembrandt's Eyes", about which Simon Schama has been thinking for over 20 years, shows that the true biography of Rembrandt is to be discovered in his pictures. Through a succession of brilliant descriptions and interpretations of Rembrandt's paintings threaded into this narrative, he allows us to see Rembrandt's life clearly, and to think about it freshly. But this book moves far beyond the bounds of conventional biography or art history. With imaginative sympathy, and based on his profound knowledge of Holland and the Dutch in the 17th century, Schama conjures the world in which Rembrandt moved - its sounds, smells and tastes as well as its politics - and the influences on him of the wars of the Protestant United Provinces against Spain, of the extreme Calvinism of his native Leiden, of the demands of patrons and the ambitions of contemporaries. He shows us the central importance of Rembrandt's beloved wife Saskia and, after her death (Rembrandt was later forced to sell her grave, so complete was his ruin), of his mistress Hendrickje Stoffels. Above all, he demonstrates the profound effect on Rembrandt of the leading master of the immediately preceding generation, the great Catholic, Antwerp painter Peter Paul Rubens, "the prince of painters and the painter of princes" with whom Rembrandt was obsessed for the first part of his life, and against whose biography Schama sets Rembrandt's in illuminating counterpoint.

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The great 17th-century Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn left us so many arresting self-portraits, painted at every stage in his eventful life, that his distinctive face and bearing are a familiar part of the 20th-century cultural landscape, a recognizable presence in galleries across Europe and North America. Nonetheless, the artist himself remains an enigma. Rembrandt was a notoriously difficult man and an inveterate risk taker in life and art: his aspirations to a grandiose Amsterdam lifestyle in the heyday of his popularity as a painter of portraits and large-scale historical works bankrupted him, and he died in relative poverty. His personal effects and treasured collection of paintings and natural rarities were sold off and dispersed, leaving the historian with a tantalizingly scant body of fragmentary records around which to build a convincing biography.

In Rembrandt's Eyes, Simon Schama--the leading historical craftsman of our era, with a career-long commitment to Dutch history--succeeds with consummate skill in bringing the heroic painter of such masterpieces as The Night Watch and Portrait of Jan Six vividly to life. Returning to the bustling Dutch world with which he first made his reputation in the bestselling Embarrassment of Riches (1987), Schama re-creates Rembrandt's life and times with all the verve and panache of a historical novelist--while never for an instant losing his scrupulous grip on recorded fact and detail. The telling surviving fragments of archival information about Rembrandt's personal and professional history are skillfully embedded in a rich, dense tapestry of the commercial whirl and political hurly-burly of the 17th-century Low Countries--a divided territory, split between the Catholic and Protestant faiths and the contested powers of the Spanish Hapsburgs and the Dutch Republic--with the tentacles of the tale reaching into the most unexpected shadowy corners of European love and war, aspiration and intrigue.

Rembrandt's Eyes is, in fact, two biographies for the price of one. From the outset, Schama contrasts the life of Rembrandt with that of his older, equally talented countryman Peter Paul Rubens, whose meteoric rise and sustained success as a society painter forms a revealing contrast with Rembrandt's unhappier relationship with fame and fortune. The comparison is a telling one. Where Rubens furnishes the wealthy and powerful with glorious reflections of, and visual foils for, their social and political aspirations and glory, Rembrandt can never resist testing the envelope of taste and stylistic acceptability. His challenge to his clients to embrace the shock of his painterly experiments with technique, texture, and composition ultimately produced his downfall. The Amsterdam town council took down his The Oath-swearing of Claudius Civilis, rolled it up, and returned his masterpiece to him to be cut down in an attempt to sell it to a suitable buyer.

This is a gorgeous book to own, too. Rembrandt's Eyes is printed on heavy, high-gloss paper and lavishly illustrated throughout in full color. The double-page color spreads of the most memorable of Rembrandt's works will take readers' breath away. But above all, this is narrative history at its very best, a page-turner and an adventure story that will make the reader laugh and cry by turns in the time-honored tradition of masterly writing. --Lisa Jardine

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Customer Reviews

Rembrandt's Eyes
Simon Schama is a true gift to the historian and art lover alike. His masterful prose, detailed yet captivating storytelling are unrivaled. He has a very pleasant bias in favor of intellect and, as he sees it, truth. I never tire of him and wish he were more in evidence as a commentator in other media, including TV.

2010-04-07 (Spring City, UT, USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Wonderful book on the times and art of Rembrandt
I'm going to be brief here. First, my in-depth knowledge of the Dutch Masters is limited, so I will not comment on the veracity of Mr. Schama's information on this. However, the book was very easy to read, even for a book of such depth (and pages!) I actually found the chapters on Peter Paul Rubens to be the most fascinating. Contrasting Rubens and Rembrandt on opposite sides of the religious divide of the Lowlands was very interesting and gives us great insight on an era mostly forgotten by modern people.

I am more an historian than artist, so at times his commentary (while obviously based on a great love of art) on the paintings of Rembrandt went on a bit much for me, but I certainly can see where a true art historian would love these passages.

Overall it is a wonderfully fascinating book that reveals so much about the life and times not only of Rembrandt, but of Rubens, Constantine Huygens, and the triumphal and sad history of the Revolt of the Netherlands.

2010-02-10 (Mt. Vernon, IL United States) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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Five Star Perfection
There is no better writer about art or art history than Simon Schama. He helps me see things and then I think "Of course, why didn't I think of that" He has a way of making obscure things clear. All of his books are first rate.

2009-05-11 (Edmonton) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Excellent book about Rembrandt and his times
Being Dutch, I remember as a kid how my teacher was mesmerizing about how wonderful it would be to have a big enough telescope to catch all the emitted light from long ago and to be able to see Rembrandt paint. I did not know why then, but now I do agree. How wonderful it would have been had he only lived 300 years more to light up all the museums in the world!
This book is about, to my opinion, the best painter of mankind, his life and work. It is also a dual biography about Rubens, since he was so important for Rembrandt.
The book works nicely chronological and winds its way through the younger years of Rembrandt til his last years. In the mean time we also learn a lot about not only his life in Leiden and Amsterdam, but also about the history of Holland of the 17th century. It is absolutely great to learn about for instance the Night Watch, for whom it was painted, who the people are on it, why it was so revolutionary and still the most stunning 17th century painting.
I always wanted to know, as far as recorded history allows us, about the background of his paintings; who ordered it, did they and Rembrandt like it themselves? And most of all: analysis of the paintings themselves: what 'effects' are used, and how? This book goes into wide details of this all without getting repetitive or boring.
Rembrandt is unique among all painters in his combination of talent and 'raffinement'. He could do anything: super precise works, impressionistic style where the paint itself was the 3d effect, portraits, group portraits, history paintings, landscapes, the best etches off all time. His touch and well-aimed strokes immediately got to the essence. His works under scrutiny come out even more unsurpassable and amazing. It is true that none of his students ever came close to his talent, and some of them tried for the rest of their life to master just some aspect of his art (for instance the light effects) while Rembrandt moved on to a more 'rough' style, although it was justly called in this book deceivingly easy to imitate, and of course, 'rough' here does not mean carelessly painted.
Basically he is the first (and best) impressionist in the history of painting.
I have been at the Rijksmuseum many times, and it does not matter which work you look at: Jeremia, his mother reading, the Jewish Bride, his hypnotisingly beautiful self portrait at a young age, it just shows that this is a once in a mankind kind of thing. Rembrandt has shown us once and for all what the art of painting can do, how it can lift our lives by trying so dramatically to imitate it. Indeed looking at his work, it almost seems that his paintings are triumphant over reality.
This book is a great read and the many colour pictures of his work are, needless to say, a pleasure to look at.
Only minus is, that Schama to my opinion is a little too modest about Rembrandt's genius.

2007-07-12 (Husavik Iceland) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 5

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Returning to Rembrandt's Eyes: An Appreciation
One of the pleasures of reading books from your own library is that they are always there for return visits. Reading Hockney's 'Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Old Masters' stimulated this reader to probe more deeply into some of the venerated painters. Simon Schama's fine book REMBRANDT'S EYES is like an old friend, an excellent resource book for facts about Netherlands painting, social and political history that so affected the works of the two featured painters Rembrandt and Peter Paul Rubens, a page-turner novel, and a catalogue of brilliant reproductions of paintings. This book satisfies - even more the second time around!

A hefty book at over 750 pages, there is not a page that Schama does not use his charming style of writing to slowly inform. We learn about the atmosphere into which Rembrandt was born, follow his works from the earliest examples through his entire career, encounter his passion for elegance and his fall into poverty, and understand his envy of the creatively and socially successful Rubens. Not a book of gossip, this, but instead a biography well documented in a fine bibliography (no mean feat for a history of a great man without much written contemporary documentation!) and a survey of illustrations that augment the story as well as any yet written.

For those who hunger for knowledge about a famous painter yet who deign to wade through the usual dry treatise format, welcome to the class with Schama. This is a book that will endure (first printed in 1999 and now available in paperback) because of the stature of the subject AND the stature of the author. Hats off to Simon Schama who so entertainingly and successfully takes us behind Rembrandt's eyes to see his work as few have shown it. Grady Harp, December 06

2006-12-15 (Los Angeles, CA United States) | Helpful Votes: 8 | Rating: 5

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Rembrandts in the Attic: Unlocking the Hidden Value of Patents

Description

In a world where intellectual property (IP) lies at the center of the modern company's economic success or failure, Rivette and Kline suggest that IP management must become a core competence of the enterprise. Such an approach will require a radical break from the way corporate America has historically treated intellectual property. For most of this century, patents were not seen as profit-generating assets, but rather as cost centers of dubious value. Accordingly, intellectual property issues have usually been handled as a legal function, separate from business strategy. But now CEOs and other senior executives need to become knowledgeable about IP. They will have to think about intellectual property as a major lever of value creation for their companies.

Rembrandts in the Attic shows how to utilize intellectual property as both a corporate asset and a strategic business tool to enhance the commercial success of the enterprise. Rivette and Kline present case studies of companies, such as IBM, Avery Dennison, Xerox, Lucent, Gillette, Dell, Texas Instruments, and Hitachi, which have deployed their patents as competitive weapons to capture and defend market share, outflank and out-market rivals, increase R & D effectiveness, and achieve greater results in mergers and acquisitions and joint venture activities.

The book offers tools and techniques to help companies utilize their intellectual property. The authors also devote a chapter to the so-called Internet Patent Wars-the controversy surrounding recent Patent and Trademark Office decisions to grant patents for business models, particularly in the e-commerce arena--and the rise of the Open Source Code movement and the challenges and opportunities presented by alternative IP practices.

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If you think patents are just about protecting inventions such as the film projector, you're missing the big picture. Now that ideas can be protected--for example, Priceline.com's business model--patents can be wielded to intimidate competitors, uncover their strategies, capture market segments, and, for many companies, generate millions in licensing revenues. Whether patented ideas will ultimately help or hinder innovation is still under debate (see Owning the Future). In Rembrandts in the Attic, however, authors Kevin Rivette and David Kline get down to business, offering practical advice for competing in today's intellectual property arena.

Their advice ranges from the simple to the sublime. First, they suggest, take stock of the patents you already own. Many companies are sitting on unused patents that could be worth millions. For example, IBM licensed its unused patents in 1990, and saw its royalties jump from $30 million a year to more than $1 billion in 1999, providing over one-ninth of its yearly pretax profits. And if you can't find buyers for your unused patents, then look for companies that are infringing upon them--companies that might owe you a piece of their profits. Rivette and Kline offer "patent mining" techniques to spot such potential infringers that can also reveal where your competitors are headed and help you get there before they do. Overall, Rembrandts in the Attic is a crafty and practical guide for companies that may have untapped riches in storage. --Demian McLean

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Customer Reviews

Forced to read in a 2008!!! MBA Class
It's the end of 2008 and this is the second "old" book assigned for reading in an MBA class. The other one had "Future" in the title and was also written in 2000/2001 time frame. My choice of institutions is now in question given their assigned reading.

This book seemed like an Ad for the author's consulting. It was inspiring in one sense. If I ever write a book, I will be sure to have a good writer co-author it so that my reader doesn't suffer through bad writing.

As a small business person, I was given no insight into how to start performing the prescribed techniques other than to contact my local patent attorney or the author.

Maybe this would have been interesting to me in 2000. But the technology he mentioned has changed substantially since the writing. I used to work in Legal IT in an IP company and vendors of IP software would fly out at a moment's notice if you so much as showed interest in their product. So I've seen newer versions of most of the software he is describing.

Unless you work for a corporate giant in the executive suites or have deep pockets, this book is about as interesting as how to drill for diamonds, another sport I'll never pursue.

One saving grace about the class is I was also assigned to read the book The Wisdom of Crowds, which was delightful, useful, well-written, and intriguing.

My instructor must get a cut of this book's sales.

2008-11-09 | borabora (Carlsbad, CA USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 2

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Must Reading for Entrepreneurs, Inventors, and Managers
Spellbinding. I laughed. I wept. How could Xerox PARC miss a $500,000,000 patent opportunity in the graphical user interface? Easy, they didn't recognize that someone else might have a use for something they had no use for. Yes, I laughed and I cried.

2001-09-03 (Las Vegas, Nevada United States) | Helpful Votes: 10 | Rating: 5

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A book on why you should have an IP strategy
This well written book will convince you that an IP strategy is important. If you have some "entry-level" understanding of the strategic concepts related to IP, this book will be of little help. The concepts presented are of interest but they are presented from a superficial perspective. For instance, the concept of IP map is interesting and is accessible from one of the author's consulting firm...

2001-01-16 | prb-mtl (Montreal, Quebec Canada) | Helpful Votes: 6 | Rating: 2

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Rembrandts and Understanding the New Economy
I would like to put Rembrandts into the context in which it was created. Rembrandts was conceived and co-authored by my friend and business partner of the past 15 years, Kevin Rivette. We co-founded Aurigin Systems,Inc., formerly SmartPatents, Inc., in 1992 to make it easier for people working with patents to do their work. From this beginning Aurigin and, particularly, Rembrandts, have helped transform the way intellectual property(IP) is viewed in the business community. Historically, IP was viewed strictly as a legal right, but Rembrandts shows why, in a knowledge-based economy, IP rights are one of the most fundamental business assets, that often determines the success or failure of an enterprise. Understanding the fundamental importance of IP and why it needs to be strategically managed are the underpinnings of Rembrandts. Using the book as a guide post and Aurigin's innovation asset management solutions, allows companies to: 1) understand the IP rights they own; 2) visualize how those rights fit into the competitive landscape with others' IP; 3) help determine where to place their future R&D efforts; and 4)help decide how to strategically leverage their IP rights to help determine their new business directions, increase return on investment and, ultimately, increase shareholder value. The purpose of Rembrandts was not to set forth a cookbook of how to manage IP. Rather, the book was intended to help CEOs and other business, accounting and legal professionals understand the fundamental function and purpose of IP as a highly protectable and leverageable business asset in today's economy, whether in an old-economy or a new-economy company. I believe the book very successfully achieves that purpose in a highly engaging and easy-to-read style, with many real world examples and interviews.

Rembrandts will stand the test of time and, in hindsight, it will become a business school primer on the strategic business function of IP, as well as identifying IP as one of the critical elements in the shaping of the new global economy. I highly commend Rembrandts to any business executive, entrepreneur, accountant, economist, government official, lawyer, business consultant, business school professor or student of the business world trying to understand and operate in the new knowledge-based, global economy.

2000-10-27 (Palo Alto, California United States) | Helpful Votes: 15 | Rating: 5

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Patents as a form of token
A fine book written by good story tellers. It described how patents can be used as an asset, or even as a kind of currency, an exchange token, but it lacks depth.

I am interested in Apple's failure to manage its IP. While Xerox was forced to license their photocopy technologies, Apple was doomed because they failed to license their Macintosh user interface to other developers. They have always been a hardware company. They sell underpowered and overpriced plastic cases with miserable circuits. They could have license the look-and-feel to all system builders, and let the Macintosh UI become a _de facto_ standard, but they haven't. While they were making easy money, Microsoft's Windows dominates the market, few people ever know how fun it could be to use a well-designed interface. Nobody follows Macintosh interface today.

And now they have to abandon their original look-and-feel to be more Windows-like (from OS 8). And finally they have to migrate to a mixture of Windows and NeXT when OS X finally ships in the future (hopefully). It is absolutely a bad move not to let others share your IP, but this book did not talk about it.

As IP becomes more valuable, many may improperly follow other people's advise to closely guard their IP. As suggested in this book, IP can worth a lot. A dead company can make huge profit from selling their patents. However, if badly managed, your IP can be your worst burden.

This book really worths the money. But if it's worthy of your time, that's up to you to judge.

2000-08-16 (One Cave in the Afghanistan Rain Forest) | Helpful Votes: 3 | Rating: 4

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