Distribution Books

There are full of the useful ideas and best practices in the industry for the lean deployments in the logistics field, especially for who work in Auto industry. The author does collect the good and true example to describe any lean principle able to apply to material flow process, and if you want to have some advanced & great material process improvements in your company, just read it!

Following Lean Assembly Lean Logistics is a natural continuation. The style is the same and the information as valuable as Lean Assembly. A must have for any Kaizen and Lean implementer. Lots of details and usefull information.

Michel's obvious hands-on experience and his exceptionally clear writing style makes this book a joy to read as well as an excellent reference resource. Every aspect of logistics from the supplier to the end customer is covered in detail with a strong focus on Lean. The author's use of real life examples and his wonderful graphics makes this book stand out.

Till date, though "lean" was practiced by leaders in respective fields, not much literature is available. This book captured different lean logistics practices followed, particularly in automotive world.

I think author wrote this book with lot of his practical knowledge. Among many I was impressed with details on milkruns, consolidation center and returnable containers, pros and cons of using them and right conditions of using them.

Lean Thinking originated from TPS and is well spread in the manufacturing world, with a lot of information on how to improve manufacturing. For logistics however, many Lean tools don't apply; on the other hand there are aspects more specific to logistics, which are not well addressed by the manufacturing-oriented Lean literature.

This book fills the gap and is well written. It is:

-specific instead of generic
-practical instead of theoretical
-detailed instead of high-level
-original instead of "me too"

So, the book shows real problems and solutions in real factories, instead of repeating the same buzzwords, that You can find anyway at any place. It seems to be based on a lot of personal experience of the author.

The messages are illustrated very well with photos, sketches and charts. These are small and not high-end quality but perfectly suitable to deliver the message: "pictures tell more then thousand words".

The text is easily comprehensible, even for a non-native english speaker, like me.

Learn Spanish the Lazy Way will teach you everything you need to know about Spanish without having to go through all the pain associated with other such textbooks. Well written, humorous, yet very informative, this little gem gives you great examples, hints and shortcuts, background information about the Spanish language, and shows you how to get the most out of the Spanish you already know. Pronunciation is simplified with a common-sense phonetic system based on concepts that are already familiar to English speakes. If you've always wanted to learn or improve your Spanish, Learn Spanish the Lazy Way is for you! A great gift for students, too!

I am currently a 23 year old college student. It has been quite a while since I have taken the 3 years of spanish in highschool. I am pursuing a BA degree so I am required to complete 2 years of a college-level foreign language. I would love to continue with Spanish, but because it has been so long, I believe I have become a bit rusty.I had originally tested into Spanish 201 on the college placement exam, although that was immediately after highschool graduation. So, here I am basically 'spanishless' and my school is telling me that if I want to pursue Spanish, then I have to start in 102, not 101. I attempted it, and withdrew eventually... So, here I was, on the prowl for anything I could lay my hands on to help me strengthen my Spanish, and voila...I stumbled across this book. I am so glad that I decided upon the purchase of this book compared to any others that exist. I've seen the others, but this is the only one I personally own, and it is THE BEST in my opinion. Whether you want to refresh your memory of such things as vocabulary or conjugation of verbs; or if you are just an enthusiastic beginner, I STRONGLY recommend this book! I even purchased a 2nd one for my grandmother, now does that tell ya anything? I LOVE THIS BOOK!

I bought this book a few year ago to learn some basic spanish very quickly. I LOVE it and still refer to it (even after finally taking some university classes)

S. Hawson's way of explaining Spanish grammar makes it easy for anyone to understand. If you only want to buy one book in order to speak proper Spanish, let this be it!

I have studied Spanish before, but it was very hard for me to put it all together. This book has helped me out so much! It has practice exercises that build on each other as you progress through the book and anybody can understand it. It also includes information on proper etiquette, spanish websites, and other spanish resources. Definately a must!

Excellent book both in terms of framework and use of practical examples.Comprehensive coverage.Quite updated and international coverage due to the alliance with E. Anderson that teaches in Insead. The mix of the authors's background clearly enriches the book. Highly recommended and easy to see why it is in its 7th edition.

Marketing Channels is a must-own for any executive who thinks strategically about the way in which customers buy their company's products.

Like the sixth edition, the seventh edition is organized around a comprehensive framework for channel strategy. Each chapter walks through a different element of the framework. This approach integrates a wide range of material while making it easy to sample just the strategic topics that are relevant to your business.

The seventh edition continues the evolution of the book toward an approach well-grounded in the real-world economics of channels. Much of the content has been carried over from the sixth edition, although the book's structure is more streamlined. A lot of superfluous and outdated material from earlier editions has finally been cleaned up.

The chapter on vertical integration has been rightly moved into the "Channel Implementation" section. This is an outstanding chapter that provides a truly unique synthesis of marketing strategy and economic reasoning.

I have only two minor quibbles. One, the book is beginning to lag behind actual management practice. For instance, the discussion of margin vs. fee payments, new to the seventh edition, receives a scant four paragraphs. Two, the chapters on channel institutions (Retailing, Wholesaling, and Logistics) should either be expanded or more closely integrated with examples in the text. In addition, the data presented in these chapters are often out-of-date, in some cases by more than ten years.

As both a channel strategy consultant and one of Erin's former students, I can personally vouch for the validity of their insights into channel strategy. You will not be disappointed by the quality and rigor of thinking in this book.

In a business world that is constantly changing, it is absolutely critical to understand the function and behavior of marketing channels -- that is, the roles that manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers play in the channel of distribution. The businesses that understand these tenets will be able to adapt to changes in the marketplace, and those who do not, will ultimately fail.

This is the 5th edition of the original book that developed the theories that explain the structure and behavior of marketing channels. There is still nothing better. For those who understand the significance of channels, it provides a clear roadmap for the analysis of changes. For those who do not, it will explain channel member behavior and illuminate recent successes due to channel management (Walmart, Dell Computer), so that you can understand how the lessons can be applied to your business.

I recommend this book to all business managers, not just to read once, but to keep in your office and refer to often through the years in order to navigate the high seas of channel change.

This edition is really a significant leap forward with so many great examples bringing the framework and principles to life. All the other changes help to broaden the readership appeal and increase the book's usability.

For me, this is the definitive text in the emerging discipline of routes to market and is of tremendous value to channels managers, marketing managers and anyone responsible for their organisation's routes to market.

In fact, never mind the marketeers, every CEO should be required to read it.

This book, containing plenty of cases in accordance with each topic in every chapter, gives readers hand-on perception on how the theory exists within the business world. I especially love chapter 8:"Channel Power", which specifies 5 powers a manufacturer or distributor may owns and how to deploy them properly in different situation or period. While you read, the book keeps you thinking about your own business and desiring to apply these breakthrough knowledge tomorrow, great!

Glenn Firebaugh is the first scholar to document an extraordinarily important pattern in modern economic history.

Prior to industrialization, persons in one nation fared about as well as persons in other nations with respect to income and standard of living. Within nations, however,individual deviations from the means of national income were commonly quite large.

One effect of industrialization was to reverse this situation. Today dramatic disparities in income are found between industrial and non-industrial nations, with industrial nations and their citizens being quite well off and non-industrial nations and their citizens being quite poor, on average.

Using highly regarded national income data and bringing to his analysis a set of well-reasoned assumptions, Firebaugh makes an astounding discovery. In the last quarter of the 20th Century income inequality began to increase within nations and
decline across nations. An economic process that has pointed in one direction for over a hundred years has begun to reverse itself.

Firebaugh coins the term "inequality transition" to identify the two stages of an economic process related to the global spread of industrialization. In the first stage, the principal source of global income inequality moves from within-nations to between-nations. In the second stage, the principal source of global income is restored to the historic norm, namely, within-nations. Today we are in the early stages of the second phase of the inequality transition.

Critics of modern, capitalist, industrial expansion have it wrong. Contrary to their pessimistic pronouncements, today, the overwhelming majority of the world's poor are not getting poorer but are getting richer. Spreading industrialization is improving the lot of most of the world's peoples. Indeed, the promise of global economic justice is inherent in the notion "inequality transition."

Much of what you thought you knew is wrong! If you are seriously interested in globabilization and recent trends in world income inequality, you need to read Glenn Firebaugh's The New Geography of Global Income Inequality (Harvard U. Press, 2003). In a straightforward and detailed presentation, Firebaugh explains the arithmetic of inequality -- how it divides into within-nation and between-nation components. He then charts each of these, both over-time and at the present time. You will learn where the U.S. fits in the world, and which countries and continents are at the top and the bottom in terms of income and inequality in income. Most important, you will see that, contrary to much current journalistic and even scholarly writing, world income inequality has actually been decreasing since the 1990s. This books complements and in important ways adds to recent books by Stiglitz, Easterly, Soros, Bhalla, Diamond, and Landes

Are rich nations getting richer and poor nations getting poorer? Are the rich nations exploiting the poor nations, as critics of globalization in the trade protest movement suggest? The answer to both questions is no, according to Firebaugh, who shows that world inequality is on the decline. This book should become a classic among scholars, but it should also be of interest to the general public. Firebaugh writes well and uses plain talk and common sense along with plenty of supporting evidence.

When I first came to the United States in 1983 as a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, I was overwhelmed by how much money Americans made. Sure, I also noticed inequality in America, but what struck me the most was that almost all Americans were better off than all Chinese. My parents were medical doctors and had higher salaries than their peers. With a combined income of about $100 a month, however, they earned only a fraction of what a minimum-wage American worker would earn. As a graduate student in the United States, I was considered rich in China and was therefore expected to bring home luxury items (such as color TVs and cameras), which I did in 1984.
Twenty years later, I am now relatively well paid as a University of Michigan professor. China has changed far more dramatically during that time, however. When I visit China now, I often encounter situations in which friends make a concerted effort to let me know that they are financially more successful. Indeed, the rapid pace of economic development in China over the past 25 years has led to sharp increases in both personal income and income inequality, so that many among the Chinese elite now enjoy standards of living that surpass those commonly seen in America and other industrialized nations.
Personal observations are no substitute for systematic studies. If you want to understand how global income equality has evolved in recent decades and why, look no further. Glenn Firebaugh has provided the most complete, thoughtful, and intriguing study on the subject, The New Geography of Global Income Inequality.
Global income inequality can be divided into two components: Income inequality within countries and income inequality between countries. Firebaugh's book centers on the latter -- between-nation inequality. We know that income inequality within many countries (such as U.S. and China) has been increasing in recent decades. However, the vast majority of global income inequality in the past two centuries has been attributable to between-nation rather than within-nation inequality. Firebaugh divides the history of global inequality into two phases. Phase 1, which occurred between the beginning of western industrialization in the late eighteenth century and the middle of the twentieth century, was characterized by rapid growth in between-nation inequality. In phase 2, which immediately followed, Firebaugh observes a reversal of that trend -- a steady decline in between-nation inequality. Hence his "new geography of global income inequality" is one of a decreasing trend in between-nation income inequality accompanied by a modest increase in within-nation inequality. Firebaugh provides persuasive explanations for his new geography, chief among which is the spread of industrialization to poor countries and the reduction of distance barriers due to advances in technology and the culture of globalization.
This is an outstanding book, showcasing what sociology can offer by enhancing our empirical knowledge of the world. While powerfully conceptualized and methodologically sophisticated, Firebaugh's case ultimately rests on the analyses of data from the Penn World Table. It is no small task to draw an empirical generalization from the data. Indeed, much of the book is devoted to discussions of measurement issues that may lead to an alternative conclusion - the continuation of the increase in between-national inequality. Two issues are crucial. First, Firebaugh argues that an international comparison of economic well-being should be based on purchasing power parity rather than exchange rates. Second, because the focus is on individual-level economic well-being, he presents a compelling case that comparisons between nations should be weighted by population size.
As much as I like the book, I encourage readers to appreciate Firebaugh's excellent scholarship as much for the questions it raises as for the concrete conclusions it reaches. I have a few questions of my own. First, as Firebaugh realizes, his conclusions are mainly driven by a single case: China. China is the most populous nation and has recently experienced rapid economic development. Since his measures are weighted by population size, China exerts overwhelming influence on the decreasing trend of between-nation inequality. How to interpret the rise of economic power in China in the post-1978 period is a complicated issue requiring further research, perhaps into the role of social institutions. Second, the national average of personal income, the raw material for the study, contains no information about within-nation variability. Yet, regional (thus geographical) variation and rural-urban difference in income can be very large in some countries (such as China). Would the trend look the same if we disaggregated China geographically? More broadly, should the "new geography" be based merely on discrete, internally homogeneous units called "countries"? If there is good reason for doing so, one would want to include the role of government and economic exclusivity within national boundaries in the discussion. Finally, despite the word "geography" in the book's title, Firebaugh's measures of between-nation inequality are not truly geographic, as distances between countries (within a continent) are not considered.
In the final analysis, these questions and comments do not detract from the important contributions made by this book. Firebaugh's argument is articulate, forceful, and well-presented. All who are concerned with issues of income inequality, scholars and laypersons alike, will find much to learn from this book, as will students seeking to master the art of conducting empirical social science. For these reasons, I highly recommend Firebaugh's latest contribution.

This thorough and informative investigation should be rewarding reading for anyone who is interested in understanding the past, assessing the present, and thinking about the future of world income inequality. This book puts conventional wisdom to the test about the course of global income inequality at a time when alarms are being sounded about large-scale economic changes that are occurring throughout the world with increasing globalization. Among the claims of conventional wisdom that this book challenges are: (1) world income inequality is increasing across nations, with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer; (2) globalization exacerbates inequality across nations; and (3) international exchange is inherently exploitative. One of the nice things that the author is able to do is point out how inequality within nations and inequality between nations contribute to the overall level of global income inequality. I would recommend this book to readers of all ideological persuasions who are interested in a thoughtful presentation and discussion of evidence about a contentious issue.

The verse of Ligurian poet Giuseppe Conte is finally available to an English-language audience with THE OCEAN AND THE BOY, Laura Stortoni's translation of his 1983 book "L'oceano e il ragazzo." Conte is one of the most striking poets in Italian literature of the second half of the 20th century, and he has fused Ligurian hermeticism with a deep concern for the natural world.

Giuseppe Conte's poetry is always aware of the fact that Nature remains the foundation and background for any civilization, even though she may be easily forgotten. He writes of how Mediterranean civilizations are all intricately linked with their common setting of sand and ocean, and the "I" in Conte's poetry is often linked to flora and fauna. In "After March" he writes, "I want only to bloom, to live again,I,/no longer I, but hibiscus, acacia." Conte's fascination with how Man remains connected to the land makes him an interesting European counterpart to Gary Snyder or the Native American poet Ray A. Youngbear.

Giuseppe Conte is learned in English literature and admires the works of D.H. Lawrence and Walt Whitman. As he writes in his introduction to this English edition, his thoughts have often been directed west to the Americas, and in fact he has travelled to the U.S. several times after the publication of "L'oceano e il ragazzo." In several places here, such as "The Conquest of Mexico," his poetry deals with the Aztec gods, metaphors for a natural world that remains even after the religion that personified its aspects has become extinct.

I can't comment much on Stortoni's translation of Conte's Italian, as I read the Italian text in this facing-page translation. However, I have glanced at her translation and it seems relatively faithful, although as a non-native speaker of English she does make occasionally idiosyncratic choices of phrase. Nonetheless, she deserves praise for making the work of the fascinating poet accessible to the English-language reader. She has also translated Maria Luisa Spaziani's SENTRY TOWERS into English and is certainly doing a great service for English speakers.

While not as intensely sublime as the poetry of Eugenio Montale, another famous Ligurian and winner of the Nobel prize in 1975, and not as influential as the works of Quasimodo or Ungaretti, the poetry of Giuseppe Conte is certainly worth a look. His use of modern style while reaching back to the dawn of Mediterranean civilization is truly moving.

Translator's Comments By Laura Anna Stortoni

Translating, From the Latin, transferre, means, in simple words, to carry something from one place to another. The literary translator carries words, the heaviest of all burdens, from one language to another. But the very act of choosing a certain poem is, first of all, a profession of identification. A remote, often arcane, reason strikes a special inner chord in the translator's soul, giving him/her no peace until the original poem is eaten, chewed, absorbed and finally regurgitated in the other language, having become fiber of the fiber, flesh of the flesh, of the translator. After translating a poem, I often think of it as mine. If I wanted to translate it in the first place, it was a poem I should have written myself. Giancarlo Pontiggia says that the literary translator should simply go where the text orders him to go, letting himself be carried away. I have always trusted my mysterious illuminations far more than the painstaking thirteen drafts that some have recommended for literary translators. While translating Giuseppe Conte's poetry, the "carrying" of the verses was light, spontaneous, with the English words magically appearing to my mind while I was reading the Italian text. This probably happened because Conte speaks of places I have seen, of feelings I have felt. The sea he describes was the sea where every summer I would roam those vast beaches, burnt by the sun and vexed by the winds.

Conte is as possessed by the sea as I am. The sea invades us, pervades us, in the same way that it pervades the poetry of Salvatore Quasimodo and of the Greek poets Elytis and Seferis. As I read Conte's poetry, I saw; and as I saw, the images translated themselves into English without any apparent effort on my part. This is the magic wrought by the poetry that strikes our arcane inner chords. The sea described in this volume is seen with the wonder of a child's eyes, a wonder akin to that of Homeric heroes. It is the "wine-colored sea" described by Homer, a sea fighting and loving, with unpredictable alternation, the earth and the beach, a sea that attempts to conquer, to devour, to attack, to then retreat in peace and soothing calm. The landscapes and seascapes described here are mythical and yet precise: for myths are never general, rather, they emerge from a complexity of details. Conte mentions specific names of local flora and fauna, describes the lush, precarious hills sloping towards the sea, attracted to the waves and yet threatened by them, just as we humans are attracted to danger. This landscape/seascape, sketched with the detailed technique of a naif painter, is a precise childhood memory acquiring the haunting proportions of myth. These memories deserve to be carried and be recorded into another language, so that they can also affect those who cannot read the original. And so I translated them. As a translator, I often feel, humbly, that I have opened a door so that others can enter. Please come in.

Translator's Comments By Laura Anna Stortoni

Translating, From the Latin, transferre, means, in simple words, to carry something from one place to another. The literary translator carries words, the heaviest of all burdens, from one language to another. But the very act of choosing a certain poem is, first of all, a profession of identification. A remote, often arcane, reason strikes a special inner chord in the translator's soul, giving him/her no peace until the original poem is eaten, chewed, absorbed and finally regurgitated in the other language, having become fiber of the fiber, flesh of the flesh, of the translator. After translating a poem, I often think of it as mine. If I wanted to translate it in the first place, it was a poem I should have written myself. Giancarlo Pontiggia says that the literary translator should simply go where the text orders him to go, letting himself be carried away. I have always trusted my mysterious illuminations far more than the painstaking thirteen drafts that some have recommended for literary translators. While translating Giuseppe Conte's poetry, the "carrying" of the verses was light, spontaneous, with the English words magically appearing to my mind while I was reading the Italian text. This probably happened because Conte speaks of places I have seen, of feelings I have felt. The sea he describes was the sea where every summer I would roam those vast beaches, burnt by the sun and vexed by the winds.

Conte is as possessed by the sea as I am. The sea invades us, pervades us, in the same way that it pervades the poetry of Salvatore Quasimodo and of the Greek poets Elytis and Seferis. As I read Conte's poetry, I saw; and as I saw, the images translated themselves into English without any apparent effort on my part. This is the magic wrought by the poetry that strikes our arcane inner chords. The sea described in this volume is seen with the wonder of a child's eyes, a wonder akin to that of Homeric heroes. It is the "wine-colored sea" described by Homer, a sea fighting and loving, with unpredictable alternation, the earth and the beach, a sea that attempts to conquer, to devour, to attack, to then retreat in peace and soothing calm. The landscapes and seascapes described here are mythical and yet precise: for myths are never general, rather, they emerge from a complexity of details. Conte mentions specific names of local flora and fauna, describes the lush, precarious hills sloping towards the sea, attracted to the waves and yet threatened by them, just as we humans are attracted to danger. This landscape/seascape, sketched with the detailed technique of a naif painter, is a precise childhood memory acquiring the haunting proportions of myth. These memories deserve to be carried and be recorded into another language, so that they can also affect those who cannot read the original. And so I translated them. As a translator, I often feel, humbly, that I have opened a door so that others can enter. Please come in.

Translator's Comments By Laura Anna Stortoni

Translating, From the Latin, transferre, means, in simple words, to carry something from one place to another. The literary translator carries words, the heaviest of all burdens, from one language to another. But the very act of choosing a certain poem is, first of all, a profession of identification. A remote, often arcane, reason strikes a special inner chord in the translator's soul, giving him/her no peace until the original poem is eaten, chewed, absorbed and finally regurgitated in the other language, having become fiber of the fiber, flesh of the flesh, of the translator. After translating a poem, I often think of it as mine. If I wanted to translate it in the first place, it was a poem I should have written myself. Giancarlo Pontiggia says that the literary translator should simply go where the text orders him to go, letting himself be carried away. I have always trusted my mysterious illuminations far more than the painstaking thirteen drafts that some have recommended for literary translators. While translating Giuseppe Conte's poetry, the "carrying" of the verses was light, spontaneous, with the English words magically appearing to my mind while I was reading the Italian text. This probably happened because Conte speaks of places I have seen, of feelings I have felt. The sea he describes was the sea where every summer I would roam those vast beaches, burnt by the sun and vexed by the winds.

Conte is as possessed by the sea as I am. The sea invades us, pervades us, in the same way that it pervades the poetry of Salvatore Quasimodo and of the Greek poets Elytis and Seferis. As I read Conte's poetry, I saw; and as I saw, the images translated themselves into English without any apparent effort on my part. This is the magic wrought by the poetry that strikes our arcane inner chords. The sea described in this volume is seen with the wonder of a child's eyes, a wonder akin to that of Homeric heroes. It is the "wine-colored sea" described by Homer, a sea fighting and loving, with unpredictable alternation, the earth and the beach, a sea that attempts to conquer, to devour, to attack, to then retreat in peace and soothing calm. The landscapes and seascapes described here are mythical and yet precise: for myths are never general, rather, they emerge from a complexity of details. Conte mentions specific names of local flora and fauna, describes the lush, precarious hills sloping towards the sea, attracted to the waves and yet threatened by them, just as we humans are attracted to danger. This landscape/seascape, sketched with the detailed technique of a naif painter, is a precise childhood memory acquiring the haunting proportions of myth. These memories deserve to be carried and be recorded into another language, so that they can also affect those who cannot read the original. And so I translated them. As a translator, I often feel, humbly, that I have opened a door so that others can enter. Please come in.

Book Review: "The Ocean and the Boy"

"The Ocean and the Boy" is a wonderful compilation of Italian poetry written by Giuseppe Conte and translated by Laura Stortoni. Conte's poems touch on many themes, from pre-Colombian Mexico, to his childhood, to Greek mythology. My favorite theme, though, one that runs consistently through Conte's poetry, is the theme of Nature. Conte spends many lines either intricately describing the flora and fauna that surrounds him, or defining himself in terms of Nature: "I want only to bloom, to revive, I,/ no longer I, but hibiscus, acacia. . ." Of particular interest to me were his poems about the sea, including "What Was the Sea?", "You Should Have Heard the Wind", and "The Ocean and the Boy Walk...." I love the way Conte describes the ocean of his childhood: "It had/ tails and paws of water among the/ rocks, it polished the pebbles, it made. Cyphers of light on the sand: it was/ deep but unfeeling, they said, and celibate, individual, sterile." and "the wind/ of the sea, lifting the waves, tearing up/ the clouds and reweaving them. . ." These poems spoke to me because as a child that had the good fortune to grow up near the sea, Conte made me recall my own experiences: warnings of the oceans unpredictable behavior and the terror I felt (and still sometimes feel in my nightmares) that the huge mass of blue would swallow me up if I waded in too deeply. Yet, one does not have to have had to experience the sea as a child to appreciate these poems, only an understanding of the ocean as a metaphor for incomprehensible and seemingly endless vastness. In "The Ocean and the Boy Walk" Conte presents the ocean as a metaphor for his mind or unconscious, Conte IS the ocean, the ocean (his unconscious) even speaks for him when he cannot "The Boy is mute, the Ocean cries/ far-off cries,...the Ocean does not keep silent, no,/ the Boy descending, knows/ there is a voice, deeper than the darkness. . ." The layout of this book is as equally as impressive as the poetry contained within. Each original poem is presented with the English translation on the opposite page, giving the reader the opportunity to reference as they please. Having the poems side by side makes this book perfect for those interested in learning Italian or learning how to translate from Italian to English, or vice versa, regardless of the reader's level. Printing the Italian is also a credit to the translator, Laura Stortoni, for this forces her to be extremely true to the original poem. That aside, credit is due to her just for the simple fact that now those who are not literate in Italian have the opportunity to enjoy Conte's poetry. When I was studying for my B.A. in Spanish Literature I came to realize just how important it was to experience the literature of other cultures. And of course no translation, no matter how accurate, can compare with the original, but reading a translated version is better than nothing at all. I also began to understand that what makes a good novelist, playwright, or poet, are those can reach an audience beyond their own culture. This is the type of poet Conte is: universal. This book of poetry is filled with poems that can speak to any human once the barrier of language has been broken down. I highly recommend it.

A poetry lover from Santa Barbara, CA

The book is a series of articles by different authors. It is only appropriate for professionals or trained amateurs in the field. Quality is uneven. The best is the editors one article which is worth the price of the collection.

I found this collection of essays helpful in securing a better understanding of the implications of portfolio decumulation strategies in early retirement. The essays are written for the practitioner and hence are easier to understand than much of the recent academic literature. I will recommend this book to my CFA.

As a recent retiree, who is not a professional financial planner, I found this book very helpful in understanding the "technical" details of various financial planning tools. I was particularly interested in Monte Carlo analysis (which I use) and how this tool can be used to objectively (albeit not in the most easily understandable form for a lay person) quantify my investment portfolio risk.

It was also very interesting in how the Monte Carlo tool is being misused to evaluate risks other than simple investment portfolio risk. I would agree with the authors conerns about how certain financial planners are trying to use Monte Carlo analysis to evaluate risk far beyond the investment portfolio.

Traditional financial planning advice would suggest an ultra-conservative investment strategy high in fixed income securities. For those willing and able to accept the variablity of the stock market, a significantly higher level of income can be generated with little additional risk. Monte Carlo is the tool (properly used) to evaluate investment strategies.

I have read over two dozen books on investing and retirement planning and this is among my favorites. First, there are few books which talk to the subject of distribution (as opposed to accumulation) strategies. Second, the authors have chosen to allow other experts to contribute to their book - 25 of them to be precise. So you are not just getting the advice of one or two people, but the opinions of over two dozen renowned experts in the field. There is a tremendous amount of wisdom contained in the chapters.

As anyone who is a student of investing and retirement planning will know, Harold Evensky is quoted routinely and widely recognized as an expert in his field. Simply getting his advice is more than worth the price of admission. An example is the Evensky & Katz Cash Flow Reserve Strategy (E&KS) which is discussed in chapter 11. I have no doubt I will use this strategy in my own distribution planning.

Also not to be missed in the work of Bill Bengen on sustainable withdrawals, which is presented in chapter 13. Anyone who is contemplating managing their own cash flows in retirement (and even those who entrust this to others) should not miss Bill's views and opinions. He is arguably the leading expert on sustainable withdrawal rates in the financial planning business. I would highly recommend that you also consider purchasing his book, Conserving Client Portfolio's During Retirement, in addition to this fine work. Fortunately that book has recently become available on Amazon so it is now easy to find and obtain. I purchased my copy about 9 months ago and had to order it directly from the Financial Planning Association.

While you may not agree with every opinion expressed in this book, it will certainly get you to thinking (perhaps outside the box) and pressure testing what you think you know.

I'm sure I will use it as a constant guide in managing my own finances.

I have been reading retirement and investment books extensively over the past 2 years (Graham, Gibson, Slott, Stein etc.) and while some have touched on saving for retirement, few have touched on withdrawal strategy. In this book, Harold has gone to great length to spell out the retiree's psychological and economic needs, and offers up excellent options to address both. That section, plus the other fine chapters by other authors, make this a must-have book for the enlightened counselor.

This book is a product of copious amounts of research, and the primary source materials quoted are invaluable to any scholar or aficionado of Trinidad cultural history. The only glaring handicap is that the writing of often a little brittle, and could benefit from a strict editor to help with flow. Highly recommended for anyone's book collection or school/university library.

Only in Trinidad could a serious historian also be a serious calypsonian. This is a great, original, absorbing book. Get a Chalkdust album as a companion to the book.

Book Review.

Prof. Hollis "Chalkdust" Liverpool,
Rituals of Power & Rebellion. The Carnival of Trinidad and Tobago 1763 - 1962. Chicago: Research Associates School Times Publications and Frontline Distribution Int'l Inc., 2001. ISBN 0-94839-080-8

Dr. Hollis "Chalkdust" Liverpool has a natural talent for writing. The roots of the Carnival tradition, the history of calypso, the music, the dancing, and the masquerading date back to the place of origin, the homelands of the Africans, in the Western regions of Africa, before the period of slavery and forced migration to Trinidad. In the 18th and 19th century in Trinidad, the lyrics, the melodies, the tunes, the call/response style, everything related to calypso, were eventually affected by the Spiritual Baptists' arrival to Trinidad from the US. The Shango music and the African style of dancing from Africa were brought to Trinidad and Tobago by the slaves, and as a result of adaptation to their new environments, the Africans produced "the calypso". The Carnival and the calypso cannot be separated, for the Africans created their new style of masquerading and singing to vent their anger and frustrations from their oppression during their period of enslavement. "Rituals of Power and Rebellion" and the sequel "From the Horse's Mouth" are two books that go together and deserve recognition not only for the literary style, but for their authenticity as historical texts that shed light on a topic that few historians have discussed before. It is true that texts prior to these scholarly books were Eurocentric in their outlook. The Europeans style of masquerading was also brought by the French and others to Trinidad, but the survival of the Carnival tradition was mainly due to the Africans from Africa who created their new style of masquerading and singing in their new home in Trinidad and Tobago. Recently, Prof. Hollis "Chalkdust" Liverpool launched his book in Toronto, "From The Horse's Mouth: Stories of the history and development of the Calypso", published in Port of Spain, Trinidad: Juba Publications, 2003. ISBN 976-8194-13-8

Dr. Hollis Liverpool is currently a Cultural Anthropologist and Assistant Professor of Social Sciences at the University of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas. He is a Professor, a Calypsonian, an historian, a Calypso Monarch, a writer, an author of many books and has made suggestions in his book "From the Horse's Mouth" that the music and recordings of all the calypsonians from Trinidad and Tobago should be preserved for generations to come in the Archives. The Carnival and the calypso history are part of the culture of Trinbagonians and we must be proud to promote it as such. The birth of the T and T calypso has its own natural beauty. Dr. Liverpool says, and I put it succinctly, "If you don't buy a book for yourself, buy them for your children," and I agree with him. We must teach our kids the appropriate historiography of our country of birth. I enjoyed reading both these books, because now I have a greater understanding of Caribbean history, music, culture, and traditions. Trinidad and Tobago has calypso, kaiso, soca, chutney soca and many more styles of music yet to come.
Review by Henrietta Akit, a Trinidadian from Toronto. B.A. Honors in History, from the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

A REVIEW OF
"RITUALS of POWER and REBELLION"
November 26, 2001

A masterpiece of social history, Dr.Liverpool's book, "Rituals of Power & Rebellion -The Carnival Tradition in Trinidad & Tobago 1763-1962" is an invaluable addition to the scattered body of literature available on this topic. Hollis "Chalkie" Liverpool, has successfully managed to put into context, the social, political, economic and cultural forces which inadvertently came together to create the greatest show on earth. Rituals of Power & Rebellion is an in-depth study of the development of Trinidad carnival. It reveals that what appeared to be simply a musical bacchanal, was in fact the struggle of an oppressed people to maintain their cultural identity in a land of foreign domination, class struggle, economic deprivation and political strife, The Trinidad carnival provided an outlet for the maintenance of sanity and a powerful weapon to resist oppression & injustice.

Dr. Liverpool has done the people of Trinidad and Tobago a tremendous favour by making this book available for posterity. He has set a standard in a West Indian context, that is rivaled only by Dr. Williams' "Capitalism & Slavery" and Walter Rodney's "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa" in terms of his documentation of historical events. The extensive research that went into the writing of this book is beyond impressive and the fact that is was written by a son with the caliber of "Chalkie" as opposed to a foreign observer is a credit to West Indian scholarship.

This book should be read by anyone interested in the history of Trinidad and should be compulsory reading for students of West Indian history at the University level. To a griot and historian, I say Chuba Dubai.

J. Michael De Gale

Toronto, Canada.

"Rituals Of Power and Rebellion" by noted historian and calypsonian, Dr. Hollis "chalkdust" Liverpool, is a masterpiece of scholarship, insight and impressive research. An in-depth study of the evolution of Carnival in the Caribbean and in Trinidad & Tobago in particular, "Rituals Of Power & Rebellion" is that history lesson, which needed to be told and which now needs to be read by all people of the African Diaspora. Dr. Liverpool uses his wonderful skills as a storyteller to keep his readers enthralled as he unravels the many layers of social, anthropological, cultural and musical history, which have contributed to the survival and evolution of Carnival. As a history of Carnival, "Rituals Of Power & Rebellion is unparalleled. It covers all aspects of Carnival's growth and evolution. The book takes the reader beyond the shores of Trinidad & Tobago as it examines the strong cultural and social ties, which kept the displaced and enslaved African closely connected to his African traditions, as evidenced by the nature and characteristics of the Caribbean masquerade. "Enslavement, then, did not cut the cultural rope linking Africa to the New World. Rather, there was always continuity and change. ... The Carnival in Trinidad then, was filled with African traditions of mask, masking, masquerading, singing and dancing." Dr. Liverpool shows how European and other ethnic traditions also influenced the manner in which Carnival evolved. "The tradition of Carnival, it will be seen, was utilzed by the people as part of their organized cultural resistance, to check the imposition of European values and customs on Africans generally." "Rituals Of Power & Rebellion" is a wealth of information. It brings together many of the elements - positive and negative - which have contributed to the social and cultural evolution of the displaced and enslaved African. It gives the reader an in-depth look at the traditions and customs of Africa, which survived the Middle Passage -- those African myths, customs and rituals, which are so important to the heritage of the displaced African wherever he happens to be. "That the Carnival tradition survived from 1783 to 1962 was due in no small measure to the resilience of the Africans in Trinidad and their determination to carry out their West African traditions despite the attempts of the dominant elites and the Colonial Government to rob them of their memories and legacies." Calypso is traditional Carnival and Dr. Liverpool gives his readers a master's course on this subject as he shows the direct relationship of calypso to the music of Africa in technique, rhythm and style. "The roots of music and dance as contained in the Carnival of Trinidad go back therefore to Africa, where music is integral to almost all aspects of community life". The book gives a detailed look at the various musical instruments and the patterns of music, which have influenced the development of calypso, as well as other forms of Caribbean music. It is a fascinating account, which gives, in great details, evidence of the strong connection, which the music of the Caribbean still has with the African continent. We are told that, "Singing in the Caribbean followed the African impromptu style and call-and -response pattern." Dr. Liverpool gives such an in-depth analysis of the subject that this book becomes a most useful reference for students of Caribbean/African musicology. "RITUALS OF POWER & REBELLION" educates the reader on the evolution of Carnival, the music and the masking and, in so doing, gives a remarkably in-depth historical review of the period in question. Not only does it provide the political and cultural aspects of the celebration of carnival from 1763 to 1962, but it also gives an insightful account of Trinidad's history during that period.It shows the indubitable spirit of the displaced and enslaved African in the struggle to survive the harshest of conditions in a place far removed from the land of his forefathers. On reading "RITUALS OF POWER & REBELLION" one becomes acutely conscious of the important role of a people's heritage on their cultural and social evolution, often in ways not usually considered. Dr. Liverpool has written an exceptional book. To his credit as a storyteller, this remarkable historical account flows beautifully and becomes an easy read. It will, no doubt, become an important part of the scholarship for students of Afro/Caribbean studies. It should also become a much-used reference on bookshelves in the homes of anyone interested in the evolution of Carnival in the caribbean and in the cultural history of people of the African Diaspora. Hats off to Dr. Hollis "Chalkdust" Liverpool for such an impressive tour de fource...Kanchan Gilfillian & Anthony County... New York, N.Y.

The first line of the Foreword to Scientology: A History of Man reads: "This is a cold-blooded factual account of your last sixty trillion years." How in the world could anybody claim to give such a factual account?

I am not a scientologist, but I've read enough of Hubbard's work to know that he had an extraordinary approach to gaining knowledge--an approach that appears to be quite unique in man's modern history. I feel that the people who ridicule Hubbard for his rather amazing statements about mankind's history fail to appreciate Hubbard's unique approach.

Hubbard noticed early in his researches (before beginning his work on man's history) that man is vulnerable to a unique type of injury: Whenever he is forced into a state of pain or trauma, he has a mechanism (which Hubbard calls the "reactive mind") that takes over the task of protecting the organism from further injury. It's an old safety measure that is part of the makeup of most living things. But it has no capacity to reason and instinctively associates all sensations that it encounters during one of these periods of injury into a big "mass". When some similar set sensations is encountered later, the reactive mind is restimulated to re-experience aspects of the original injury. When the reactive mind is restimulated (Hubbard calls this the "keying in of the engram"), it literally takes over the operation of the body (you've seen people fly into a crazy rage -- that would be a dramatic example of the reactive mind taking over).

Much of Hubbard's work, especially in the beginning, was to free people up from these engrams, using a technology that he developed ("auditing") that allows the cognitive mind to become aware of these engrams (engrams have their power because we are totally unconscious of them). Every detail about each injury that has caused an engram is stored in complete detail in the reactive mind, and can be directly accessed with the proper technique.

Hubbard began to find that human beings have engrams whose origin pre-dates their birth. He also found that even when someone is free of all his engrams originating deep into ancient history, there are still certain types of limitations that man, as a fundamental pure spirit, has had imposed upon him.

It was in Hubbard's effort to free up man's spirit, working individually with many hundreds of men and women with a variety of technologies, that he was led to his discoveries about the ANCIENT history of man. This work is not the work of a historian or a novelist. It is the work of a humanitarian whose investigations into the human spirit led him to uncover unchartered territory. These are not speculations of a crazy man but a road map pieced together gradually over many years, resulting from endless probing into the consciousness of clients, always with the aim to free up imposed limitations on the spirit.

It is perfectly possible that some of the details of Hubbard's account of man's history are wrong. What makes his account compelling is that he derived it from thousands of hours of interviews in which this material was consciously recollected by clients. Is that any less reliable than our more familiar way of learning about man's history even as far back as 3000 years -- where we rely on bits and pieces of rumors and relics in order to piece together a story about our past?

Hubbard's investigations, particularly as seen in this book, are truly worth studying. The book is fascinating to read, and when you keep in mind where it all comes from, it is all the more fascinating. Our history as a race may well be far more intriguing than the best science fiction.

A fascinating book covering the findings from the early work of Mr. Hubbard into past lives and the history of the spiritual beings on this planet.

Hubbard pulls no punches about what he found. He doesn't try to be "acceptable" he merely states what he found.

What are the true capabilities of a spirit (i.e., you)?

What is the relationship between a being and a body?

How did we come to be in the less than perfect state we are now in?

These and many other questions are answered in this fascinating book

I read it three times in one week! A great book which not only reveals spiritual origins and truths but as an added bonus gives new insight into the phenomenon of alien visitation and the purpose of these visitors. L. Ron Hubbard was not afraid to write down his discoveries for all the world to read. The book also provides the reader with a better understanding of the "internal spiritual energy" that flows through the human body. This book is a must for anyone who seeks to understand the nature and capabilities of the human spirit.

I love this very special book! It helps me put many things in life and my life in perspective. I hope my experience as a Scientology practitioner who has advanced to a high spiritual state and helped many others do the same, can influence a few to read this concise volume. It's not a beginner's book but only for those few who wish to see beyond what is currently being fed to them. It's a book I'm only able to recommend infrequently at this time to the rare person who displays advanced openness regarding his/her spirituality.

If you ever wondered about past lives and reincarnation, but were not content with the events of the last few thousand years and want a look at a much longer time scale, then this is it. While current reincarnation theories usually only refer to spiritual growth (because the only ones that can tell their stories were those that grew), the content of his book tells what happened and shows that on this much larger scale that there had been more decay than growth. It points out types of events which caused that decay, and thus points back upwards to a true resolution towards spiritual growth for mankind.

When reading this book, I ran across a paragraph that specifically applied to me -- something had happened to me that was very similar to what was in the book. It was amazing. Only a few other times has something I read caused so much self betterment in so little time.

Even years after this book has been released, I still pick it up again and again to remember how to stay who I am.

Dr.O'Shield's book is the best I have ever read on Depression. It is a must for anyone who suffers from depression or has a friend or loved one who has it. Also it is a great handbook for doctors and counselors. I have read it many times and refer to it often just for the inspirational and uplifting scriptures and suggestions in the last chapters. Without fail I find help and comfort there. Thank you for including it in your inventory.

Excellent source of practical help in dealing with depression. Writing style is easy to understand and keeps the readers attention. Highly recommend.

I enjoyed reading this personal story of how a minister with a voice disorder overcame his depression. He speaks directly about the problem but has a lot of practical and spiritual methods to help you work through depression.

This book is well written. It goes into the spiritual as well as the physical healing of depression.

For many years the "Song of Solomon" was a neglected book. The anatomical references, I guess, made many think this book was "inappropriate" for church use. Funny, it is in the Bible. And traditionally the Jews read it every Passover! (Well, maybe not the first several hundred Passovers, but once written it was a staple of Passover.)

Fortunately the "veil" seems to have been lifted from the book. Several books in recent years have been written on the Song. I myself have preached a sermon on the Song as well as taught it in Bible class twice.

John and Anita Renfroe pick up on the theme of the Song. No, this book is not an exposition of the book. Look at the title closely. The look at the subtitle: "In the Word.../...and In the Mood." It is a study for couples to look at each other with the eyes of God. It is a book about Christian romance! In effect, it is a book in which couples can share with each other their innermost thoughts, secrets, and desires.

Written in a devotional style, nonetheless the book can engender discussion and openness if the members of the couple are willing. It is written by a couple who also struggle to "get the devotional thing right." It may surprise you to know one is a pastor, the other a Christian clown. Of course, those in a parsonage already know this is a struggle, just as it is for everyone. Thus they set out to write this quirky, unconventional, yet brilliant couple's devotional. There are sixty settings that often use what might seem "non-devotional" methods. Really, now, grapes and candles in a bath for a devotional? Or curling up together in a big recliner with one bowl of ice cream and two spoons? Well, that is "intimacy" or as the authors define it, "Into me see."

The book also highlights those smarmy, yet seemingly true, stereotypes. She might obsess about having "nothing to wear" even while staring at a closet full of clothes (and discusses what's up with that). The guy? Well, it pegs most of us pretty well with "if it smells clean and resembles something from the last decade, we're fine."

This book would make a wonderful gift for a bridal shower, a wedding gift, even for congregations to give to newly-weds as gifts. Planning a weekend couples retreat? Excellent book--to guide the weekend and for couples to carry that fire with them.

The authors do address several guilt trips couples (and even non-couples) have about devotions. One is the shame and fear of being a "loser" if you miss a day. I would add that a couple should start. If you miss a day (or two or ten), pick up where you left off. As you become more accustomed to devotions, you'll find yourself missing them less and less. Just don't dwell in guilt on missing one.

This is an excellent devotional book for couples - action oriented. I love the concept, but have only had it a few weeks and haven't gotten my husband to set aside the time to actually "do" one.... but, I will !

this makes devotional time w/ your spouse fun! it's short, simple & puts things in a new & fresh perspective!

This book will have you laughing, smiling, crying, hugging....ok you get the drift. The Renfroes - comedian Anita and her husband John - have given couples everywhere a refreshing look at that ancient book of the Bible. This is truly the "devotional" - use that term loosely - for BOTH sides of the bed. It may take you a while getting through it...but you will undoubtedly be quite pleased - smile!

My husband and I have been married 27 years and I was surprised at how this simple devotional has brought our intimacy and romance level up another notch or two. We both look forward to our weekly time together. Not only are the activities full of variety and fun, but the questions have elicited conversations that have surprised both of us! How can we still be learning things about each other after 27 years? We've made numerous small changes in our habits and attitudes that have had noticeably positive results. I can't tell you how glad I am that I had a moment of spontaneity and purchased the book when it was not on sale and I had not read any reviews about it. It has been a marriage brightener. I highly recommend this book.