"The Seagram building rises over New York's Park Avenue, seeming to float above the street with perfect lines of bronze and glass. Considered one of the greatest icons of twentieth-century architecture, the building was commissioned by Samuel Bronfman, founder of the Canadian distillery dynasty Seagram. Bronfman's daughter Phyllis Lambert was twenty-seven years old when she took over the search for an architect and chose Mies van der Rohe (18861969), a pioneering modern master of what he termed "skin and bones" architecture. Mies, who designed the elegant, deceptively simple thirty-eight-story tower along with Philip Johnson (19062005), emphasized the beauty of structure and fine materials, and set the building back from the avenue, creating an urban oasis with the building's plaza. Through her choice, Lambert established her role as a leading architectural patron and singlehandedly changed the face of American urban architecture. Building Seagram is a comprehensive personal and scholarly history of a major building and its architectural, cultural, and urban legacies. Lambert makes use of previously unpublished personal archives, company correspondence, and photographs to tell an insider's view of the debates, resolutions, and unknown dramas of the building's construction, as well as its crucial role in the history of modern art and architectural culture."--Publisher description.

Ely Devons (1913-67) was a British economist and statistician who made notable contributions to a variety of areas. Originally published in 1950, this book contains a study of the way in which the Ministry of Aircraft Production planned production during the Second World War. Based upon Devons' firsthand experience within the planning division of the Ministry, the text forms a highly personal record of the ways in which production was planned, incorporating criticisms and judgements where necessary. A linear historical perspective is avoided, in favour of a systematic approach focusing on various aspects of the production process in turn. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in British aircraft production and military history.