Cultural Books

If you choose to live under the illusions of mass-marketing
-- or under the yoke of slavery to dishonest government
-- or behind the bars of your own ignorance,
then you should NOT read this book.

Only people who yearn to find broader awareness and deeper understanding of how the world works should read this.

Everyone else can just stay where they are in their own chosen confinements of the life they choose and be satisfied with that immediate gratification of ignorance...following the paths that sharks, conmen, and highway robbers of our culture would have you believe.

This is the choice that American Vulgar offers. It is the choice that every day of life offers you. Grudin's new book lays it out in cool, concise vision. He carries the vision of a philosopher who cuts through the nonesenes that almost every institution in our American culture spreads and uses to twist our sense of truth, dignity, and honesty...all for the sake of power, money...

Read this book and become aware. Live free. Live outside "the Matrix"

I'm only halfway through and continue in amazment. Grudin has perfectly described the American condition and provided me with the lexicon to describe it to others.

Why was I so bothered by Celebrity Boxing? I knew it was wrong but I couldn't put into words. What has bothered me about "professional" wrestling all these years, why do people watch the crap they watch on TV...

Grudin answers this and more.

Calling all documentary film makers. "American Vulgar," a new book by the veteran author-commentator Robert Grudin, offers you a rare opportunity to create a film that's compelling, intelligent and important. It not only presents a perceptive, visually rich diagnosis of a central issue of our time; it also lays out practical prescriptions. Whoever sees (or reads) "American Vulgar" will enjoy its style and be heartened by its content. It's an "upper." If you can't wait for a film that might never be (alas!), you can order "American Vulgar" from amazon.com.

PS. If there's a Heavenly Review of Books, a delighted Daniel Patrick ("defining deviancy down") Moynihan will write a glowing review of "American Vulgar" that'll end with an "I told you so."

American Vulgar: the Politics of Manipulation Versus the Culture of Awareness is a call to action against forces of corruption which has permeated American society from the top down. It argues that marketers, political candidates, the media and others have succeeded in diminishing American self-awareness to maximize power - and it identifies these forces and how to act against them. Vulgarity can be overcome, philosopher and academic scholar Robert Grudin maintains: but only if its nature is understood. Use AMERICAN VULGAR to understand this nature, and how it manipulates: high school to college-level students in particular will find AMERICAN VULGAR key to debates surrounding social and political issues and accountability.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

The orangutan has been seen as a loner, wandering a forest that offers just enough food to pay the cost of collecting it. But this may be because homo sapiens have liked to farm where orangutans could afford to congregate. Schaik found a swamp where orangutans still congregated.

Just by itself, this book will tell you things about orangutans - the 'other' surviving not-humans - that no one knew until very recently. If you read this before or after reading "The Red Ape: Orangutans and Human Origins" by Jeffrey H. Schwartz (which points out that morphologically, humans and are orangs are very close, and the genetic evidence is not really as solid and cross-referenced as you might have thought) you might find yourself immune to all arguments by analogy with chimp behavior for quite some time.

I have always been interested in the rather rarified air of evolution theory, not because I don't believe it, but it ironically demands a leap of faith because there are so many gaps in getting humans from having ancestors who crawled out of the ooze many millions of years ago to putting a man on the moon. van Schaik has invested an amazing amount of time in looking at our ape cousins, in conditions that would make most people just give up and go home to watch chimps and other apes in the comfort of their offices instead of slogging through armpit deep swamps for hours day after day to observe our cousins in their natural habitats.
van Schaik is owed a great amount of gratitude for his extraordinary contributions to making observations in unbelievable conditions and drawing some real observations about orangutan behavior and its possible parallels with human development.
Unlike some primatologists such as DeWaal, he actually has observations and conclusions that connect some dots in a logical way instead of silly extrapolations into political conclusions that are so superficial as to be laughable.
My hat goes off to a great contributor to real research and advancing our knowledge of our fellow apes.
This is really a great book.

This book flows quite beautifully, from the general biology of orangutans and their habitat to theories about the development of their culture. Van Schiak does not try to anthropomorphize the apes, but instead takes a reasoned view of their lives and shows that they do in fact have certain varying traditions and methods of tool use. Through it all, van Schiak explains his methodology and reasoning quite clearly.

It really is truly amazing how similar we are to the apes. Even one difference van Schiak points out, the presence of infanticide in Orangutan groups, bears an uncanny resemblance to our own Shakespearean past (Hamlet, for one). Yet, at the end, van Schiak is sure to point out those traits which are uniquely human.

A great read for ape-lovers or culture behaviorists.

About 14 million years ago, an African ape with a penchant for solitude strolled eastwards. Her descendents became the "red apes" of Borneo and Sumatra - the orang utan. Unlike their African cousins, orang utans don't regularly form troops or "gangs". As isolated forest wanderers, they are immensely difficult to study, especially compared to mountain gorillas or chimpanzees. Their isolation has led to more myths than facts about them - until Carel Van Schaik began reporting his findings. This book summarises his work in a stunning presentation of narrative and images. More importantly, it overturns many false ideas of how orang utans fit in the primate lineage. Our lineage.

Spending seven years in a swampy jungle brought van Schaik into intimate contact with orang utans. He discovered novel behaviour and unexpected talents. Among the most surprising revelations was the use of tools. Orang utans are at least as adept as gorillas with tools. There is clear planning in the selection and application of tools. Twigs as tools are made "oversize" before actual use, trimmed to the proper dimension before applying them. There are several fruits requiring special tools for seed retrieval, and photographs show a variety of shapes and lengths. Unlike chimps, however, orang utan tools are manipulated ["lipulated?"] with the mouth more than the hands. Van Schaik and his photographer, Perry van Duijnhoven, depict the tools and their owners with superb images.

With fewer predators to cope with [outside of humans, of course], the Red Ape has followed a different path from its African cousin. Gorillas, too, live on fruits and leaves, but remain ground dwellers. Chimpanzees run in organised troops, while the orang utan's social structure is more flexible. Orang utan young remain with the parents for years, providing many opportunities for parental training. The culture of orang utans must be learned anew with each generation, van Schaik stresses. The intelligence is there to absorb the education, and the habits aren't ingrained. Nest making is symptomatic, with the young building their construction skills over time. Early nests are ramshackle, and during inclement weather, a young ape may shift from his own nest to her mother's for better shelter. Nor is all this behaviour universal. Van Schaik notes the variations among populations he observed.

"Culture", of course, is a term humans wish to retain for their sole use. Van Schaik devotes a chapter to demolishing that restrictive view. He also expands the role of "symbolism", another shibboleth of cultural anthropology. We've restricted the application of "symbolism" to exclude other primates. The structure of orang utan society, he says, demonstrates how symbols are used for identification and communication. This isn't limited to physical artefacts, but may be found in vocalisations and other manifestations of individuality. He explains how training the young imparts cultural and social norms, something humans have limited to their own realm. The five great ape species exhibit vast differences in many aspects, but, van Schaik argues, that only demonstrates that ape intelligence has been utilised appropriately for each species. The intelligence was already there. It was adapted to provide the necessary behaviour for its environment. Ours was adapted most extensively. One aspect of that adaptation is that our species is threatening the existence of the other four. In particular, the Red Apes of Indonesia are being subjected to severe threat. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Throughout time the Holy Spirit has worked through individuals to bring humanity closer to the divine. Sometimes this work manifests itself in an individual who is capable of doing great things with the blessings that were given them. Rev. O'Donohue is such a man, and yes he is still a priest. Once a priest always a priest. This like all others works John has done provide simple advice on how to build ones understanding of life, self, and the divine. John's approach to teaching is a `Celtic' approach as old as the stones that make up the many walled fields of Ireland. Many listeners will not be used to the rhythms of Celtic life, and thus they will find John's respectful approach to a subject boring. We saw this fact manifest in the previous reviewers comments. The Celtic approach to life is never direct, and always mindful. It is this first lesson that John teaches the listener without ever addressing it directly that is the most important lesson to learn. This is the lesson of mindful patience. Without this basic life skill we can never progress in our relationship with the divine. Once we have learned this lesson, and listen again to John's lecture we will then be able to understand what he is addressing in his lectures. The real blessing is that each book, or more especially taped lecture has layered teachings. These teachings are revealed only through rereading, or listening to his lecture. This type of teaching, and systematic unveiling of teachings is the heart and Soul of the Celtic approach to teaching anything. So in conclusion, if you are looking to hear, and learn the subject material from a true modern day Christian Bard then John's works are for you. If you are looking for a quick secret to life answers in a book in the form of a milk carton advertisement then perhaps a quick read of one of the many Celtic Spiritual web pages is the ticket for you. As for me, I hope you take the time to sit (metaphorically speaking) at the feet of one of the last Cludee's left in the world.

I could listen to John O'Donohue's voice all day and in fact, take these tapes in the car and so sometimes do. He is not only an incredible scholar, but has a way of expressing and condensing this clear wisdom through simple stories and ancedotes. His ideas and thoughts are delivered with tenderness and compassion. He is one of the most natural and warm speakers I've ever had the privilege to listen to.

O'Donohue is wonderful! The subject matter is not only relevant on a day-to-day basis, but also helps one understand their past and the "inner workings" of other people. His explanation and treatment of death is both informative and helpful for those of us who have lost someone we love dearly.

Spoken audio tapes need to be evaluated not only on the merits of the content, but also the quality of the production -- including the "listenability" of the speaker's voice. Fortunately, this collection of meditative reflections on Celtic spirituality by Irish priest John O'Donohue boasts not only sublimie content, but an aurally pleasing experience as well. O'Donohue's voice is easy for Americans to understand, but filled with enough of an Irish accent to evoke the windswept shores of the Emerald Isle in every word he speaks. He speaks slowly, carefully enunciating each word, which contributes to the meditative aura this recording evokes. And of course, what he is saying is as important as how he says it: and what he talks about is the distinctive and vital living tradition of Celtic wisdom, from seeing the human being as "sculpted of clay" to celebrating the inner landscape of the imagination, to seamlessly weaving Christian and Pagan stories and principles together in a way that ultimately breaks down the barriers of religion to leave only the breathtaking unity of deep mysticism. Finally, O'Donohue's insistence on the role of friendship and relationship in the spiritual life -- as embodied in the Gaelic tradition of the anam cara, or soul friend -- makes this truly a relevant treasury of spiritual insight.

Being a Steeler Fan, I have read both Terry Bradshaw's and Rocky Bleir's books, and while I found them interesting, I didn't get quite the feel for the individual as well as the game from their books as I did from Andy Russell's. I am not just a fan of the sport of football, but a fan of the players. As a fan of the individuals, I like to know as much about them as possible. Everything from their childhood and family life, through high school and college, because all of that has an effect on their football career and what they bring to the game. Andy's stories about his life after football give us a perspective on the good effects that the commraderie and competitiveness of football can have on the rest of your life. I particularly enjoyed the chapter which tells of his visits to combat areas in Vietnam. The American soldiers in the various hospitals had the same reaction to American football players. I totally understand that reaction - meeting A Pittsburgh Steeler so far away from home helped the soldier forget the harshness of war for just a few moments and go back to all that is good in the world - good old American Football!

Being a Steeler Fan, I have read both Terry Bradshaw's and Rocky Bleir's books, and while I found them interesting, I didn't get quite the feel for the individual as well as the game from their books as I did from Andy Russell's. I am not just a fan of the sport of football, but a fan of the players. As a fan of the individuals, I like to know as much about them as possible. Everything from their childhood and family life, through high school and college, because all of that has an effect on their football career and what they bring to the game. Andy's stories about his life after football give us a perspective on the good effects that the commraderie and competitiveness of football can have on the rest of your life. I particularly enjoyed the chapter which tells of his visits to combat areas in Vietnam. The American soldiers in the various hospitals had the same reaction to American football players. I totally understand that reaction - meeting A Pittsburgh Steeler so far away from home helped the soldier forget the harshness of war for just a few moments and go back to all that is good in the world - good old American Football!

Being a Steeler Fan, I have read both Terry Bradshaw's and Rocky Bleir's books, and while I found them interesting, I didn't get quite the feel for the individual as well as the game from their books as I did from Andy Russell's. I am not just a fan of the sport of football, but a fan of the players. As a fan of the individuals, I like to know as much about them as possible. Everything from their childhood and family life, through high school and college, because all of that has an effect on their football career and what they bring to the game. Andy's stories about his life after football give us a perspective on the good effects that the commraderie and competitiveness of football can have on the rest of your life. I particularly enjoyed the chapter which tells of his visits to combat areas in Vietnam. The American soldiers in the various hospitals had the same reaction to American football players. I totally understand that reaction - meeting A Pittsburgh Steeler so far away from home helped the soldier forget the harshness of war for just a few moments and go back to all that is good in the world - good old American Football!

This is the story of a former NFL All Pro linebacker going on a journey of self discovery after retiring from the game. Along the way he reminisces about his famous teammates: Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw, Jack Ham, Rocky Bleier and others. He and his Steeler pal, Ray Mansfield, take Lynn Swann and Mel Blount around the world, giving speeches from Hong Kong to London, and sports clinics for young people from Singapore to Jeddah while still finding time to develop his international investment business. Two stories tell of dodging bullets on a USO tour of Vietnam and Thailand with ex-congressman Jack Kemp, Bobby Bell, John David Crow and Bill Brown. Along the way the adventurer team of Russell/ Mansfield test themselves on a wilderness canoe race in Canada, on mountain tops in Nepal and barely make it out of the Grand Canyon. The writer, a sensitive sort, who struggles to find himself after leaving the game gives the reader a first hand look of what it was like to be on the field with the world champion Pittsburgh Steelers. This book is an easy read--one that will keep the reader rivited to every story.

Edward Flannery's book lucidly explains the historical bias against the Semitic people. To get a clearer picture of the division that occured between the Christians and the Jews of the second Temple, I would highly recommend Richard G. Patton's inspired book "THE Autobiography of Jesus of Nazareth and the Missing years". Flannery gives the historical perspective while Patton depicts the same - through the human being we now refer to as Jesus. Flannery's book, while lucid, does get a little too academic at times. Patton gives the same historical perspective, but through the eyes of the person on whom Christianity later became founded.

This book covers the facts of the history of antisemitism, but it does much much more than that as well. It tries to provide analysis, both big-picture and small-picture analysis. Big picture wise, especially in the last chapter, Flannery tries to figure out the why's of the history of antisemitism. Each chapter generally covers a certain period of antisemitism, and Flannery attempts to analyize these smaller periods as well. He does a fairly balanced and good job at that, but he is not dogmatic. He understands that many of these issues are complex.

One of the more interesting points that Flannery picked up on was that the relationship between church and synagogue was strained from the outset, when Christians were primarily Jewish. It should be mentioned at this point that this book is geared towards other Christians and that shows through. Flannery himself is a Catholic priest.

I do have a few critiques, but they are minor. I am just going to say right now that not many within this field agree with my views.

Flannery touches on the fact that Christianity is Jewish in origin. This is important because many in this field state that Christianity and the New Testament contain, inherently, antisemitism. However, if one places the faith in its original context, this view doesn't hold water. While antisemites have used the New Testament to support their views, they have also used the Old Testament Scriptures as well. This comes up a lot in this field. I wish Flannery drove the point home instead of dancing around it. Flannery does not ignore this issue though. It is pretty obvious when rabid atheists are rabid antisemites that the issue is complex. Here comes my controversial point. He seems to miss the forest for the trees. So many different antisemites in so many different contexts. It seems to have a demonic cause, in a literal sense.

The book does not address modern evangelism, the Messianic Jewish movement, etc. That's a big whole.

Flannery while understanding the role of replacement theology in Christian circles as a cause of antisemitism misses the mark when he deals with the Judaizing heresy. This heresy is mentioned in Acts and was dealt with by Paul in some of his letters. The gospel states that we are saved by faith in Jesus. The Judaizers added works, specifically adherence to the Mosaic Law, to faith. They said we are righteous before God by faith and adherence to Torah. Stick with me this is important. Gentiles come along add see "Judaizers." They assume it means anyone who practices Jewish stuff in the church commits this heresy. (Paul goes to synagogue, the Temple, etc. btw.) This is a wrong view. Flannery does not pick up on this. Catholics, from my perspective, do this as well, just not with the Mosaic Law. Because of this, I feel Flannery missed this issue. This is a very complex issue. I suggest reading Faith Alone by R.C. Sproul for a Protestant but balanced perspective on it.

All in all, the book is wonderful and a must read.

This book will break your heart. Written by Edward Flannery, a Roman Catholic Priest, it studies some twenty three centuries of worldwide anti-Semitism.

This considerable, well written revised & updated edition is all the more significant and encouraging due to it's Christian authorship. This itself is commendable due to the many aspects of historic anti-Semitism prevalent within some areas of the Church itself. Whilst many might see some of the writings as self incriminating, others might see a refreshing honesty and a wish to heal the relationship between Christian and Jew, both of whom share a common foundation in their faith.

At the outset, the author claims that the vast majority of even well educated Christians have been relatively ignorant of what has happened to the Jews throughout history and the culpable involvement of many facets of the Church. Apart from a few recent publications, little having been included about anti-Semitism in Christian history books or social studies.

The author states that, by comparison, the Jews themselves are largely & acutely aware of their painful history in such matters.

This excellent book covers anti-Semitism in all it's many forms, including persecution, torture, pogroms, massacres, social degradations, forced baptisms & conversions throughout the many periods of the Diaspora.

These including the Black Death (plague), the Spanish Inquisition, the Holocaust and the present day Middle East. Throughout all these eras in history, many peoples having found in the Jew the scapegoat needed to rationalise the evils of their social, political and natural calamities.

Writing about the `Black Death' (1347-50), the author describes how the Jews were directly blamed not only for the onset of the plague but also it's spread. This virulent myth leading to the untold massacres of whole Jewish communities. The population of one entire Jewish town in France being burned to death on just such a assertion.

Indeed the author painfully outlines that during this era, the extent of Jewish casualties was virtually impossible to determine. Over 200 Jewish communities, large & small, being destroyed in similar manners. These massacres of Jewish people being so widespread, with the greatest perhaps in Germany, where every sizeable city was affected. The scope of the slaughter being given some scale when the Polish casualties of some 10,000 being described as relatively light in comparison to other areas. The utter savagery of some incidents not being suitable to describe here.

In relation to the Holocaust, which is commendably covered in itself, the writer illustrates the sympathies for the Nazi regime & the `Final Solution' expressed by prominent Arab personages such as the close confident of Adolf Hitler, Haj Amir El Husseini, the Grant Mufti of Jerusalem. (The latter being an uncle to PLO leader, Yasser Arafat, whose family name is al-Husseini.).

With reference to the modern day Mid-East, the writer covers what he calls the overt expression and practice of Arab anti-Semitism. He proceeds to describe how Arab propaganda, already hostile to the existence of the State of Israel, has widened it's focus to further include the Jewish people and their religion.

The author describes how the horrendous myths of the `Blood Libel' and the `Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion' have been revived in the Mid-East often through state approved channels of some Arab countries.

Considered in the context of how these two myths have resulted in the historic massacres and slaughter of innocent Jews worldwide, the impact of their revival is analysed.

All in all this is an upsetting book. However, I really consider it to be required reading on this subject. There is not really any prejudice towards any one group as being responsible for the anti-Semitism so graphically illustrated and discussed here. This work just really shows how widespread the actual sources and origins of this virulent enmity actually are. It also shows the basic evil of this racial hatred that has seen one people suffer more than any other, just because of their religion, just because they are Jews.

Being an avid history reader I've always been interested in understanding how and why certain tedencies in anti-semitism had come about. For example, the blood libel, which has plagued the Jews into the twentieth century, or the idea that the Jews started the Black Plague, or simply why during the Crusades Jews were targeted. This book will explain that and so much more. It begins with how the Jews were treated under the Egyptians and later on moves into the Roman Empire, etc. Although anti-semitism wasn't coined until the 18th century the roots of 'Jewish hatred' started more or less a few centuries after the death of Christ. The reader will notice that the reasons for hatred against Jews change and are sometimes hypocritical and convuluted with the ideology they are representing. At first Christians hate Jews for not wanting to convert and absolve them if they do, eventually being Jewish is no longer about your religion but rather of the blood you were born with, something Hitler and the Nazis take to a new level with the 'final solution.' I think the author is somewhat incorrect in thinking there that the New Testament is not exactly 'anti-semitic', I personally think it is and it set some of the standards for later hatred against Jews and the Jewish religion. The Spanish Inquisition was an interesting period to read about, as were the Crusades during which thousands of Jews were massacred as the crusaders marched on to the Holy city to free it of 'infeidels.' Overall an excellent introduction into why and how anti-semitism began, spread, and took on a life of its own. Many will be surprised by the wholesale eviction of Jews from countries every few decades, only when money was needed were they allowed back only to be heavily taxed, ridiculed, abused, and evicted again until another King, Kaiser, Tsar, or Pope allowed them back. A truly sad history but one that must not be forgotten and understood if we want to keep up with the world today.

Anna Madgigine Jai was a teenager (and possibly a Senegalese princess) when she was captured in her homeland and sold into slavery during a civil war in 1806. She was later purchased in Cuba by Zephaniah Kingsley, Jr., and taken to his St. Johns River plantation in northeast Florida where she became his household manager, his wife, and eventually the mother of four of his children. Her husband emancipated her in 1811, and she became the owner of her own farm and twelve slaves. The latter is not surprising since, under Spanish control, slavery was considered neither a permanent condition nor the God-given role of black people. Slaves had opportunities to buy their freedom, or owners could liberate them without penalty; free black persons were an accepted part of the caste system, able to acquire wealth and property and pass it along to their children.

While Florida was under Spanish control, Anna lived a relatively tranquil life for 25 years as a free black woman. But when Florida came under American control - which brought the racist demand that blacks should only be slaves, not free, and which outlawed interracial marriages - she and her children migrated to a colony in Haiti established by her husband as a refuge for free blacks. Despite spiraling racial tensions of the antebellum period, Anna returned to north Florida where she bought and sold land, sued white people in the courts, and became a central figure in a free black community. Kingsley Plantation at Fort George Island is now undergoing restoration by the National Park Service.

This fascinating history of one remarkable woman provides an eye-opening exploration of larger issues, in particular the complexities of slavery. To reconstruct her story - which meant deconstructing some legends, the author draws upon a wide variety of sources, both in Africa and the New World. This book will be of interest to Florida history buffs as well as African American studies.

Every now and then, a history comes along that not only offers a fascinating look at a past era, but also manages to hold the reader's interest and entertain. Books like David McCullough's 1776 urge a reader along much like a good novel will do. Daniel L. Schafer's Anna Madgigine Jai Kingsley has the same effect.

Schafer establishes the time period based on narratives and first hand research. Documents such as an emancipation notice for a plantation owner's slave Flora Hannahan provide an unvarnished look at the perception of African-Americans in the decades before the civil war: "On the emancipation notice, she is described as 'a mulatto-colored woman of twenty years of age, a native of Florida...about five feet high.'" (pg. 59)

These descriptives are enhanced by photographs of slave quarters as well as descendants of Anna Kingsley.

This book is a solid addition to the personal library, and it would be an excellent classroom resource for teachers of history or language arts. Author Schafer writes with an objective, even-handed approach, and accurately depicts the slave trade in all its characteristics and nuances, including the African natives who colluded with Spanish and English traders and also the elite American plantation owners who enjoyed the benefits of low-cost captive labor.

Aside from its educational value, the book is a good read for anyone interested in Southern culture or Florida history. I don't know Dr. Schafer, but I certainly admire his scholarship and his ability to tell a fascinating story.

Can't recommend more highly. This is fascinating history which is well-written and meticulously researched.

Dr. Daniel Schafer, the preeminent scholar of the Kingsley's of Northeast Florida, has written a riveting book exploring Anna, the African Princess turned Slave turned Plantation Owner. Anna is without a doubt one of the most interesting people of Florida's history. She has long been overlooked by historians, but now her story is told. Anna's story sounds like a movie script. Schafer has filled in one of the important blanks of Florida's history.

"Another Generation, Almost Forgotten" is the type of book that stops you clear in your tracks and transforms you into another time where you become a witness to a man's struggles and triumphs. The struggles and triumphs are so poignant and shocking at times there is no way any human cannot be taken by the fluidity and the descriptions of the author's words. I am privileged to say that I not only know the author personally, but I know him a mentor. He has kept his promise to Mrs. Merrill and dramatically altered my life by becoming my mentor, and continuing as my friend. Jeff has been a source of insight, advice, compassion, and inspiration for me and so many others locally whom he has touched. Anyone who reads his book, which now finally is capable of reaching a global audience will forever remember, and hopefully resolve to change their behaviors because of. Jeff has spent his life trying to instill values of social integrity, and tolerance into all those he meets, and his book is a way for each and every person who considers themselves a human, to not begin if they have not already, to act like one. Take with you his guidance, and walk across a bridge that you begin to build with the strength, and the insight of his words. As Jeff has proven throughout his life, one person truly can make a difference, and in my life he really has.

"Another Generation, Almost Forgotten" is the type of book that stops you clear in your tracks and transforms you into another time where you become a witness to a man's struggles and triumphs. The struggles and triumphs are so poignant and shocking at times there is no way any human cannot be taken by the fluidity and the descriptions of the author's words. I am privileged to say that I not only know the author personally, but I know him a mentor. He has kept his promise to Mrs. Merrill and dramatically altered my life by becoming my mentor, and continuing as my friend. Jeff has been a source of insight, advice, compassion, and inspiration for me and so many others locally whom he has touched. Anyone who reads his book, which now finally is capable of reaching a global audience will forever remember, and hopefully resolve to change their behaviors because of. Jeff has spent his life trying to instill values of social integrity, and tolerance into all those he meets, and his book is a way for each and every person who considers themselves a human, to not begin if they have not already, to act like one. Take with you his guidance, and walk across a bridge that you begin to build with the strength, and the insight of his words. As Jeff has proven throughout his life, one person truly can make a difference, and in my life he really has.

"Another Generation, Almost Forgotten" is the type of book that stops you clear in your tracks and transforms you into another time where you become a witness to a man's struggles and triumphs. The struggles and triumphs are so poignant and shocking at times there is no way any human cannot be taken by the fluidity and the descriptions of the author's words. I am privileged to say that I not only know the author personally, but I know him a mentor. He has kept his promise to Mrs. Merrill and dramatically altered my life by becoming my mentor, and continuing as my friend. Jeff has been a source of insight, advice, compassion, and inspiration for me and so many others locally whom he has touched. Anyone who reads his book, which now finally is capable of reaching a global audience will forever remember, and hopefully resolve to change their behaviors because of. Jeff has spent his life trying to instill values of social integrity, and tolerance into all those he meets, and his book is a way for each and every person who considers themselves a human, to not begin if they have not already, to act like one. Take with you his guidance, and walk across a bridge that you begin to build with the strength, and the insight of his words. As Jeff has proven throughout his life, one person truly can make a difference, and in my life he really has.

This is a tale, elegant in its simplicity, that has the capacity to speak to every American about the core issues of what it truly means to be an American.

Jefferson Wiggins escaped from the horrors of the Ku Klux Klan and the pervasive poverty of rural Alabama to forge an extraordinary life as a decorated Army officer and noted educator.

Dr. Wiggins has endured experiences that others can only point to in history books. What sets this book apart is its ability to directly engage the reader on an emotional level. It is more than inspirational. It is meaningful.

It is meaningful for us to be reminded that hope is the beacon that lights the eternal path. And that young Jeff Wiggins overcame poverty, discrimination and ignorance only with the emotional and practical support of the human "angels" in his life.

Do I have a criticism? The book is too short. At less than 240 pages there aren't enough pages to turn quickly. I would have wanted to learn more about Jeff's experiences in Korea, for example, and known sommething more about Jeff the person, his friendships, habits, even his foibles during his Army and university days. I guess I will have to wait for a sequel.

A Generation Almost Forgotten is about a cause we can never forget, especially in today's troubled world. Every human being has the inalienable right to live up to his or her potential. That's Jeff's story and ours, as well.

This is an interesting book all about an unusual subject:Turquise, as a mineral and as a color. One thing I liked is that each of the essays is self contained so one can put the book down and pick it back up at a later date if you like and you don't miss anything. Another thing I liked is that I learned quite a few things, for example the mineral Turquise is not only found in the American southwest. Read the book and find out where else it is minned. This is a book I will keep and reread. In fact the first thing I did upon finnishing it was to order a copy for a friend!
If you like this book you will like her other books as well. Raven's Exile: A Season on the Green River
After I finnished reading the book I discovered she has fund in her name that suppoerts desert writers: http://www.ellenmeloy.com/.

Enthusiastic Recommend: The Anthropology of Turquoise by Ellen Meloy
I finished this book sitting in my camp chair on the edge of Capital Reef National Park - on the side of Boulder Mountain looking into the vista of the water pocket fold and the Henry Mountains. It was four days after I ran a half marathon, and I was decompressing on a camping trip. The scenery was amazing, Meloy's writing just as good.
Meloy lives not all that far from where I was sitting, in what I would call an "outpost of nowhere" in southern Utah on what she calls the "salsa farm beside the river." She's a desert rat with a keen sense of surroundings and life.
Her book is about a lot of things; it's a collection of essays loosely tied by the idea of turquoise - the color and the rock. But the essays that spoke to me were the ones about the land, the desert southwest and the creatures, plant and animal, that inhabit it. Meloy can bring you inside a flower, near a big horn sheep, into the river, out into the night sky. She made me ache to be part of the natural world, her desert world. Her prose is poetic. Here's a taste. This is what she writes about the river that is so deeply engrained in her soul when she finds herself swimming after her boat: "What happens when I surrender to the aloof, silken creature that hurls me down its spine?" Again, about her river: "I write a book about a river and cannot tell if it's a love story or an obituary or both."
She cares deeply about her land. And she also writes about writing: "Writers write because they can't shut up." This resonated. I have found my voice in my fifth decade of life. But I have also found other voices, voices like Meloy's that are worth shutting up to hear.

Did this ever happen to you, you close the pages of a well-written book and you just sigh for a minute, wishing it had not ended? And then as it happens you open up your daily newspaper and find out that the author has died, died even perhaps as you were reading and admiring her prose style? I first read "Swimming in Mojave" two years ago in the magazine ORION, and I laughed out loud thinking of the author trying to beat the desert heat by swimming across the sands, like a John Cheever character, in every swimming pool at every motel and resort her family could find. Recently I found this book, THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF TURQUOISE, and settled in for the pleasure of a whole collection of essays, and some well-researched bits of historical fact and fancy about the mineral turquoise, another hobby of mine.

The book took me over two weeks to finish, as I kept putting it down to admire the author's flights of fancy and beautiful language. There wasn't much of a story, but as I read it now, and think about the different essays from The "Deeds and Sufferings of Light" to the final chapters of "Brides of Place" and "Passing through Green to Reach It," I see so clearly how her words speak to the drive in every one who lives out West to stay alive and to see the possibility and grandeur in all of the things God or the Devil created. Ellen Meloy has left us, but she has left us with a magnificent charge, to go into the world unafraid and to urge the others to "You come, too."

There are three reasons to possess this book. The first reason: You want to read an author whose prose verges on poetry... "On the Colorado Plateau... nights come less as a smooth pause than as a steep, enduring purity of eye-blind dark. (In the day) The mesa's colors in their flanks - terra cotta, blood-red salmon, vermilion - bear the temperament of iron."

Second: Color for you, as for flowers, are a part of your being. You draw colors into your life as an elixir to defeat life's monotony. Ellen Meloy is a master wordsmith. She, more than most, knows that colors "challenge language to encompass them", yet, unabashedly, she tracks down the colors of nature, feels them, tastes them, holds them in her mind and then vividly gives them life. No color is sacrosanct to her. Yes, orange, red, blue, green will all find an expression, but Meloy seeks, not the plebeian, but the unusual, unique, even ruthless colors: burnt sienna, magenta, burgundy red, Prussian blue and of course turquoise, "the stone of the desert," "the color of yearning,". For Meloy; "Colors bear the metaphors of entire cultures. They convey every sensation from lust to distress. Flowers use colors ruthlessly for sex. Moths steal them from their surroundings and disappear. A cactus spines glows red-gold in the angle of sun, like an electrocuted aura." Life is good.

Finally, you will find in Ellen Meloy a forthright lover of nature. She is a south westerner, lover of the desert and outdoors woman who sees in desert life the paradoxes of being. She calls for attention as she expresses the damage to the earth that we are so thoughtlessly committing. She points out how we, Homo sapiens, are the first species to witness and will our own extinction. Her social - naturalist commentary is balanced with humor and memoirs; her narrative is both captivating and informative. She is at her best when she sticks to the southwest, but the chapters that chronicle her forays to the Bahamas and the Yucatan are nonetheless engaging. This is a well-crafted work that is filled with captivating metaphors, naturalism, travelogue, memoirs and humor. If you seek award winning writing, are captivated by colors and find sustenance in the natural world this is a highly recommended read. 4.5 stars

The book is in excellent condition and the delivery time was quite brief. Great service and great product!

Ferguson's book is a powerful analysis of the epistemological bottlenecks that plague development policy and the World Bank's approach in Africa. World Bank's economists usually put a discount upon rigorous social research requirements in the way they explain cause-effect relationships of the African economic deficits. With commanding persuasive force Ferguson shows how the peculiarities of the African context are dissolved in a (anti-contextual) cut-and-ready, illogical analytical framework, rendered 'logical' to best accommodate World Bank's internal bureaucratic rationality. One should not wonder why the policies born out of such an 'Anti-Politics Machine' by and large remain in de-phase with the very notion of development.

By
Cyril FEGUE

I was referred to this book by my lecturer in applied athropology. Reading it caused me to rethink and rewrite my assignment. Fergusson can be a bit irritating but he certainly has researched his field well and shows a great insight into the politics of foreign aid and economic development in the 3rd World.

Ferguson's study of development projects in Lesotho brings a much needed dose of reality to the subject of modernization and aid. While others might stress the need for appropriate technology or bog the reader down in economic formulae, Ferguson examines the ways in which local and global politics influence the success of even the most carefully planned and well-meaning of projects. A must-read for anyone interested in the development business.

This is an excellent study based on extensive, thorough research of both ancient and modern-day anti-Semitism that destroys any myth that anti-Semitism is now on the decline.

Introducing the definition of anti-Semitism as the hatred of Jews & Judaism (and not Semites in general), the writer displays a commendable knowledge of the subject while devoting a sizeable section of this book to revealing and analysing the re-emergence & immediacy of the virulent, racial hatred revived by the ongoing situation in the Middle East.

Many readers will find this book both painful and shocking. The writer approaching the many aspects of anti-Semitism through the ages, not least of which being those originating through some aspects of 'Christianity', which were subsequently adopted by Nazism, Bolshevism and Islam. Certain revealed myths shown to provide the seedbed on which Nazi and other racialist doctrines/prejudices could flourish, dehumanising Jews & subsequently removing all/any moral restraints that opposed a persecution or genocide of the Jewish people.

The book examines the erroneous, malignant myths like 'The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion', (of which the Arab world is now the largest supplier), and how these have now taken root in the Middle East as another Islamic weapon against the Jewish State.

The writer declaring that, despite being an absolute tissue of malicious lies, wherever there is a 'will' to believe such aberrations, events can always be made to fit the paranoid visions & homicidal hatred of a Jewish 'world conspiracy'.

A whole section of the book is devoted to Jews living in Islamic lands & the question of 'Palestine'. Of particular note here is the revelation that the enforced wearing of the 'Yellow Badge' by Jews actually originated in Baghdad and not Europe. The 'dhimmi' status of Jews under Islamic rule is also studied, together with the post 1948 enforced expulsion of the Jewish populations from these Arab lands, together with the confiscation of all Jewish property.

The author also describes how in recent years a vast anti-Jewish literature has appeared in Islamic/Arab countries, using theological, racial and 'demonological' motifs to vilify the Jews, including the revival of the 'blood libel' and the promotion of an image portraying Israel as a ruthless, oppressive nation . (Aryeh Stav's book "Peace; The Arabian Caricature" admirably covers this subject.). Anti-Jewish ideologies constantly being disseminated through books, newspapers, caricatures, radio and television, subsequently reaching mass audiences with this indoctrination.

The complicity of the Arab world and the Mufti in Hitler's Holocaust is also discussed along with the Palestinian National Covenant. The latter, which has still not been rescinded, containing a basic premise which demands within nearly half of it's 33 articles, that the State of Israel must cease to exist.

The present situation in the Middle East relating to the 'peace process' is also expounded with reference to the anti-Semitic diatribes within the International arena and the UN. In view of the study here, I cannot help but recall the statement of previous UN Secretary General Boutros-Gali which showed the real position of the UN;- "The Jews must give up their status as a nation and Israel as a state, and assimilate as a community in the Arab world."

Indeed, this essential study reveals that there is an underlying, universal precept at work pertaining to the Jews and the Middle East itself. I do not believe it is a desire for peace, but it is the distaste for the Jewish state. No other nation in the World is or has been treated in this way.

I concur with what the author I believe is trying to convey within his discourse about the Islamic/Arab towards Israel, in that the issue here is not 'land for peace'! It is the very existence of the Jewish state in the land of 'Islam' in the Middle East that is the issue. An existence that will never be accepted by the Moslem world, irrespective of any boundaries.

To elaborate slightly, when the Arab world demands a 'just peace', it is saying in effect that 'peace' can only come when Israel no longer exists and there are 'JUST' Arab nations in the Middle East. Perhaps readers will make up their own minds on this. This is one of the best works on anti-Semitism that I have come across to date and I highly recommend this book to everyone.

This is a very learned and convincing study of the history of Anti- Semitism. It is especially illuminating in its understanding of the new anti- Semitism which has come to the Islamic world. The bulk of the book however is devoted to European anti-Semitism and its disastrous culmination in Nazism. Wistrich is a very thorough and broad- ranging scholar and he writes with brilliance about one of the most recurrent evils in the life of mankind.

Published in 1991, this book predicted the resurgence of the ancient hatred; it was unfortunately correct. In the introduction Wistrich discusses the problematic term Antisemitism then briefly explores its continuity and development down the ages. He does not believe that history provides definitive answers to the Why? of the phenomenon but emphasizes the importance of understanding the How? of it. The most enduring conspiracy theory of all times, it's a shape shifter and nothing seems able to stop it.

Part One examines its pagan roots, its lethal and influential infection of Christianity at an early date and the course it took in Western Europe until the early 1990s. This section includes the medieval legacy when the phenomenon took a particularly ugly turn, Martin Luther, the Holocaust and post-war attitudes in Germany and Austria where it evidently never died. Previously neither the Reformation nor the Enlightenment put an end to it. It instead just mutated along lines acceptable to the Zeitgeist. After World War II the pattern of European guilt-denial has led to increasing anti-Zionism in a process of displacement and projection. Hatred of the Jewish people is being transferred to the Jewish State.

Part Two looks at the history in Britain, France, Hungary, Rumania, Czech, Poland and Russia. Of interest here is how the thing persists even in the absence of Jewish people like in Poland in the late 1980s, and how the US strain has mercifully always been less virulent than the European. I am afraid that things have deteriorated since the publication of this book. The long history of popular and state antisemitism in Russia has been revived, with the country's open support of rogue states and terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran. And in Old Europe, the large immigrant communities are in the vanguard.

Part Three deals with the Islamic world and includes chapters on the history which contained ups and downs as in the Christian world, the explosion of antisemitism in the literature and media of the Arab states since 1948, the issue of Palestine with reference to the notorious Haj Amin al-Husseini, and includes a chapter on Arabism, Semitism & Antisemitism. Peace: The Arabian Caricature of Anti-Semitic Imagery by Arieh Stav provides a window on the Arab press, proving that anti-Zionism is not merely a political instrument but an idea with cultural, racial and theological dimensions. Its most visible host on the international stage is the United Nations and its agencies.

Wistrich argues that the Western psyche is permeated by this ancient hatred, a deeply disturbing thought. The agnostic postmodern Westerner is just as susceptible as the medieval Christian because antisemitism was inherited by the new hosts: the religion's secular salvationist offspring like socialism, fascism, Marxism and environmentalism. In this regard, please see The Resurgence of Anti-Semitism: Jews, Israel, and Liberal Opinion by Bernard Harrison and Barry Horner's Future Israel: Why Christian Anti-Judaism Must Be Challenged. Nowadays its Christian hosts include the World Council of Churches and liberal mainstream Protestant denominations. Its spirit is a revived Replacement Theology propagated by Jimmy Carter and Anglican theologians associated with the Sabeel Ecumenical Centre of Naim Ateek.

As to the Why of it, I have found Why the Jews? The Reason for Antisemitism by Dennis Prager & Joseph Telushkin quite instructive and illuminating. I agree with the French writer Andre Glucksmann that the concept of a contagion of hatred must be taken literally as a mental disorder that invades minds, bodies and society. Such an outbreak inoculates itself against those who oppose it and is immune to reason. Phyllis Chesler's The New Anti-Semitism shines a revealing light on its latest mutations. William Nicholls has done sterling work on the painful subject of Christian Antisemitism, whilst Paul Charles Merkley examines the state of Anti-Zionism and Philosemitism in the churches today in Christian Attitudes Towards the State of Israel. Drawing on ancient wisdom, Yoram Hazony looks at ways of dealing with it in The Dawn: Political Teachings of the Book of Esther.

Antisemitism: The Longest Hatred contains numerous photographs & illustrations. There are copious notes arranged by chapter, a glossary, extensive bibliography and index. Because the virus mutates so fast the book is a bit outdated by now but it still serves as a valuable reference source.

Wistrich is certainly correct in calling Antisemitism the longest hatred. Almost every culture, from ancient times to the present, has been infected with this philosophy. His book covers its history from Biblical times to the late 20th Century. The first two thirds look at Europan and western attitudes, and how they contributed to the holocaust and have changed since World War II. The final third examines the Islamic world and the present conflict over Israel. This last section is in many ways the most interesting, as it covers material many in the West may be less familiar with.

The greatest weakness here is that while the author gives us many facts, he offers very little in the way of explanation. We learn almost nothing about why antisemitism has been so prevelant or so intense, or why, like a natural disaster, it flares up in cycles every so often. No one expects Wistrich to have the final answer here, but he should have made at least some attempt to discover the reasons for the 'longest hatred'.