The Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words

Apocalypse Now is one of the great films. Photography, score, acting and direction are without flaw. Coppola never scaled such heights subsequently. It seems the sheer effort to produce such a work extinguished much of his creative spark. Stravinsky frightened himself with the awesome force of his Sacre Du Printemps, and changed directions after, never to match this achievement; Richard Strauss fled into Neo-romanticism after writing the disturbing Elektra and Salome, unable to equal their innovation and power. But these seminal works (Le Sacre, Salome, Elektra, Apocalypse Now) remain as peaks of Art. Like the great classics of literature, each viewing of this film reveals deeper levels of meaning. It's stupid to even apply an arbitrary rating to this work. It would be like writing, "Brothers Karamazov gets 5 out of 5." It cannot be rated.

Middle Ages: Almanac includes 19 chapters arranged by geographic location and dedicated to a different civilization, their origins, conflicts and struggles for power in the Middle Ages. From the Arab and Muslim worlds to the European Crusades, Middle Ages:…