Customer Reviews (1)

Great Book - good for HR students
I bought this book and I recommened it to anyone who is new to Human Resource Management. The book is great and very informative. Supplement the book with other readings though since management is a dynamic area and is prone to opinions and debates. ... Read more

Product Description
Splendid Slippers is an aesthetic and deep exploration of the facts and the fiction surrounding this fascinating and little-studied erotic custom. Beverly Jackson details the 1,000-year history, the necessary surgery and two-year process, the shoes and embroidery, as well as comparisons with other cultures. WIth elegant full color photographs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

Source of Some Good Info
I used this book for a 25 page paper and it was by far the best of all. Nice pictures, easy to read, and great background information about the process.

A facinating part of world history
The time of Foot-binding in China is an often misunderstood period for many Westerners and even those in the Eastern countries who did not practice this crippling rite of passage.However while I was in China I did have the pleasure of visiting one of the countries eminent historians of foot-binding and saw his collection of the tiny shoes worn by the women spanning the hundreds of years of this practice.He had become impassioned with the subject upon finding one of his grandmother's tiny shoes in the garbage after a fire in her neighborhood one year.He questioned her about her history and her feelings on the subject and what he found inspired him to begin his collection and his urge to educate about the experience.

In her eyes, he found, she had felt it was torture.Pure agony for months.Needless pain put upon her by her own family which crippled her for life and bound her to dependence on others forever.On the other hand, after all that, she had a secret pride because her feet had come out so beautifully small and she was admired by so many men.It was a strange paradox.And it is true, that while the custom began with royalty, just as in western countries, the practice spread to the peasantry, but with far more punishing results.All of this finally came to an end with Mao, who for all his villainizing, absolutely forbade foot-binding ever again with a threat of nasty punishment.

I spoke with an important Chinese historian who told me that China wrought her own downfall with the binding of the woman's feet.He showed me the growth of Chinese culture to what was considered it's peak and then pointed out that once China bound 50% of it's population it began a very steady downward slide until the 20th Century where she has tried to lift herself up again even if it has been a rough journey.He wondered why some parts of the world today do not take a lesson from that."How can the world move on," He asked, "When there are so many places where the man and the woman are not in partnership?"

grossly innacurate
The only recommendation I can give this book are for the photographs and art design, which make this rather a seductive book, but anyone who is informed about chinese culture sees the many flaws in text . This is really just a reworking of Howard Levy's book on footbinding, with glossy photos.If you would like an accurate bookrelating the history and culture of footbinding get one of Dorothy Ko's books.

Beautiful, Interesting and Educational
For anyone interested in Chinese cultural history, women,s studies and art will enjoy the pictures and text which explore the (to Western minds) the strange custom of foot binding.Learn how it began and what the appeal was and see shoes that are stunning works of art.

Splendid Slippers
This book was absolutely wonderful.Before reading this book my knowledge of the ancient tradition of footbinding was very limited.In fact, what I thought I knew about the subject was woefully wrong.The pictures along with the literature were truly educational and now I feel I have a good understanding of the subject.I also bought a book (novel) called Snowflower and The Secret Fan.This novel was an excellent book that complimented the Splendid Slipper book.Thanks for recommending it! ... Read more