Bell Books

I had the privilege and honor of knowing Larry Bell and his family so I have to admit that I may have a bias toward the positive, but I agree with the other reviewers that this is an outstanding book that is hard to put down and I highly recommend it.

No matter what side of the debate you were on over the Vietnam War this book gives you a unique insight into what goes on behind the scenes in covert operations. The author takes the reader through the whole range of emotions that for me ultimately concluded with a sense of pride for our country.

This book will be of particular interest to anyone who served in the US military or covert operations during these turbulent times.

Sadly, Larry passed away in September 2007, but this book will live on as a testament and a tribute to those who served.

Semper Fi Marine!

This was a real page turner. Just when you thought things couldn't get worse, they did. A big salute to Mr. Bell. He is a REAL hero. Everyone needs to read this book. I now feel I have a real understanding of the CIA. I also have a much better understanding of the Vietnam War. I hope he sells a million copies.

Dead Horses in the Sun written by Larry Bell is an enthralling story. From Chapter One to the end the reader begins an astonishing trip from the dramatic ending of South Vietnam back to the very beginning for the author and his military time in deepest Africa. The next two chapters provide funny, and exciting episodes and escapades that include; two riots, a flag stealing and shooting incidents, to participation in the indentification and capture of an East German agent-right in the American embassy! Mr Bell continues the story by describing his training as a CIA agent in Washington, D.C. Which was followed by his eventual assignment to South Vietnam.

Upon arriving in Vietnam the excitement and drama escalate to a fever pitch as Mr. Bell goes from paramilitary operation to another to interrogating defectors and prisoners of war to reveal astounding penetration of the South Vietnamese military intelligence service by a long-time Viet Cong agent. Teamed with his Vietnamese interpreter he develops two operations; the capture of over three million in communist liberation funds to the recruitment of a high level communist.

The book continues with the conversion of the author from a career employee to a contract agent to handle the communist agent. He lived in Vietnam for a total of seven years. With five years in an undercover status, moving from the northern city of Danang down the coast to eventually remaining in Saigon.

Departing only one week before the end of Vietnam Mr. Bell lived an fought in a country he had come to love only to see it all dissolve before his eyes. Very highly recommended reading.

Some of us wore Uniforms as soldiers, and some of us did not. This exciting autobiographical book shows us the
"other side" of operations during the ten years of conflict in South Vietnam. The side of United States involvement that
did not make the evening news on a regular basis. When read, the reader will have a better understanding and an
insight into the day to day workings of the CIA that is not usually disclosed i.e: They are Human beings after all!
Having walked the same ground in South Vietnam myself in many of the cities and towns described in this book for 27
months, I can tell you that this book is the real deal!
Author, Larry Bell has done an outstanding job of letting us see the other side of the war in Vietnam. The reader will
have great difficulty putting it down.
This book carries the highest rating from The Military Advisor.

This book was recommended strongly by a friend, and I can
honestly say it's the first time her recommendation was great!
Mr. Bell has projected his life to the public during an exciting
time for him and made it very exciting and entertaining. He
projects himself in a modest fashion in very, very serious situations and it is quite evident his bravery was at a high level thoughout his time in the Congo and Vietnam. His breathtaking description of riots in the Congo had my heart
bounding! Later in South Vietnam he continues describing events
that happen one after another in rapid sequence that makes the
book move rapidly.
As a historically-oriented woman I thoroughly enjoyed his book
since his story is only peppered with necessary abbreviations,
military nomanclature and intelligence 'language'. By keeping
this information to a minimum he continues the story line with
little distraction to the "flow" of his telling the story.
My father read the book at my urging since he is a Vietnam
veteran and he later told me he had read it in one sitting since
he could not put it down. So this review is for two people who
have read Dead Horses in the Sun and highly recommend it!!
I'm only hoping our present CIA continues to have dedicated
employees like Mr. Bell due to our fight in Iraq and against
terrorist worldwide - we need them.

I think that "Divorce: Making the Break" by David Bell, is a body of work that is both compelling, and informative. I believe that even if one is thinking of divorce, they should buy this book. It answers many and all questions, and seems to lead one logically through this labyrinth called divorce. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Definitely a 5 star read.

Half of all marriages end in divorce. The divorce rate is even higher for teen marriages. David Bell draws upon five years of extensive research and personal experience in writing Divorce: Making The Break, a straightforward, "reader friendly" book about what to expect and how to best ease the painful transition of a divorce. From dealing with emotional violence to helping children cope to working through the aftermath, Divorce: Making The Break is a rock-solid compendium of sensible advice and practical considerations. Divorce: Making The Break is very highly recommended reading for those contemplating a divorce or who find themselves currently caught up in a divorce -- especially when there are children involved.

This is one of the first books to buy if you are considering -- or are currently immersed -- in a divorce. It spells out the legal and emotional steps of the divorce process with great clarity.

This book covers, in extensive and absorbing detail, all the bases about how to survive court dates, adversarial meetings with attorneys, and other practical considerations in the divorce process. But its real essence is in how to survive divorce with your mind, heart and soul--and those of your children--intact. During a high-conflict divorce proceeding it's easy to let yourself fall prey to a "Don't get mad, get even" state of mind; the author keeps bringing his readers back to how destructive this is for the litigants and, especially, for their kids. Keep the children's welfare at the forefront, and don't sacrifice your integrity for the sake of getting revenge on your soon-to-be-ex.

This is a touching and very, very useful guide to getting through a terrible time in your life, and coming out the other side, without destroying your soul in the process.

If you are looking for a clear and concise book that cuts right to the heart of the matter, this is it. For anyone looking for answers to tough questions on a difficult subject, pick up this book. I recommend this book to anyone in or around a divorce.

I really liked this book, so well written. But Cindy's Fiddle Maker is really good. She is a great writer. A must for those who enjoyed Flutter By.

This book deals with the lives of two small girls coping with an abusive stepfather and a mother who can't protect them. It is powerfully written and the characters are really vivid.

I couldn't put it down and found it a real tear jerker.

This is a really moving story, well worth a read

In Flutter By, seven year old Dell tells the story of her life in 1962. With a mother that has little time for her child and her mothers live in that torments Dell at every turn, Dell is happy when nine year old Lucy comes to live with them for a time. Lucy and Dell become fast friend, with Lucy always trying to protect Dell from Rodney, the live in.

Dell finds out that summer that there really is love in the world for some. Even for a child like her that `causes a lot of stuff' As you read Dell's story, you will cry, curse and pray that something will save these two wonderful children.

Cindy Bell has created characters that come to life and makes you want to take the two little girls and hold them close. Once you pick up Flutter By you won't want to put it down until the end. I highly recommend this book as a must read. Bell is a wonderful author and I can't wait to read more of her work

In the novel, Flutter By, Cindy Bell has created a masterful tale of two little girls, a promiscuous mother and her abusive live-in boyfriend. As told by Dell, the younger of the little girls, Flutter By is an excellently crafted story that takes the reader deep into the world of an abused and neglected child who, along with her half sister Lucy, discovers that kind and generous people do, indeed, exist. Sometimes poignant, sometimes frightening, the story evolves around the most wonderful of friendships and the discoveries that the girls make about themselves and life. The surprise ending is a classic. Don't let the length of the novel (85 pages) fool you. Ms. Bell packs more great prose in those pages than most authors do in much longer novels. Flutter By deserves to be on all the best seller lists. I cannot recommend it more highly. Bravo, Cindy.

It takes sensitivity and awareness for a writer to accurately portray the story of an abused child. Author Cindy Bell skillfully accomplishes this feat in her recent effort, Flutter By (Publish America 2004). Bell allows the reader entry into the damaged world of seven-year-old Dell as she struggles through a life of humiliation and physical threats from her mother's live-in boyfriend, Rodney.

Dell has suffered the troubles plaguing her home with only the support of an imaginary friend and is excited when her ill "cousin" Lucy comes into her life. As the children grow closer in light of abuse that increases with the addition of a new mouth to feed, they make a blood vow of sisterhood. Rodney's escalating threats and the deepening emotional abandonment by her mother ("If I were gone, Mother wouldn't be so unhappy.") drive Dell to seek relief from her abuser.

Flutter By is filled with moments of tension and hope. Bell has fashioned characters that could easily be the troubled members of anyone's family. The children especially are fleshed out and hurt for: From Dell's tears and incontinence in the face of fear to Lucy's persistent, untreated, asthmatic cough. Even with their limitations, these girls display a tenacity and resourcefulness that ultimately frees them from their tormentor. Although some marginal characters are thrown into play with minimal background provided, Bell has managed to craft a piece that is both solid and memorable. Flutter By illuminates the horrors of child abuse and the power present in a child's prayer.

From the perspective of one who teaches leadership skills to graduate students, and who consults with organizational leaders, this is one of the best books on leadership that I have read this year. Great Leadership What IT Is and What It Takes in a Complex World is suitable for leaders at all levels of organizations as well as for those who are striving to become leaders.

Dr. La Verne P. Diggs

Having personally benefited from the concepts in this book through the coaching of its author, Tony Bell, I recommend this book to anyone who aspires to lead or who has been given the opportunity to lead. It is practical and addresses the two pivotal points of good leadership -- character and competence. Mark Earley, President/CEO, Prison Fellowship Ministries

From the vantage point of an executive coach, Antony Bell's book provides a wonderful framework for thinking about leadership. The leadership sage Lee Thayer defines the three legs of the leadership stool as: being, thinking, doing. Bell's book addresses the being and doing legs in Parts II and III respectively and how to think about each. This is must reading for anyone who aspires to become an effective leader, and for those who coach anyone on the leadership journey.

There are too many leadership books out there that are simple (too simple). This book makes the case that thinking about leadership should be as simple as possible, but not simpler. This book delivers on that....the best overview of the landscape of leadership that I've read....in addition, some great thinking tools about great leadership.....overall, well done....easy to get into and use.....

As the Executive VP, COO and partner in a multi-million dollar commercial printing operation, I can tell you I've read A LOT of books on leadership! Most of them are rife with cliches and catch phrases designed to impress. Quotability does not produce good leadership.

Antony Bell's book wisely explains leadership should be "as complex as it needs to be, and no more." With concise language Bell gives the leverage points leaders need to move their organization. His three areas of Organization, Operation and People, have given me more useful insight into leadership than any of the "21-Laws, 7-Habits, 10-Keys" approach have ever done.

Bell also gives a historical perspective that makes it easy to see why we have run from one management guru to the next. I am happy to say I have read the LAST book on leadership I will ever need. But I expect to reread it in the years ahead.

This book was a journey, it took me to places in the heart I've never been but had been searching for most of my life. While I don't believe that there is just one specific "answer" in life, this book has been an open door to explore the possibilities of life, death, love and laughter. The healing tools of life are love and laughter, and the reminder that they are needed daily is ever present in the pages of this book, both on this earth and off. I will use this book often as a gentle but constant reminder of those that have left my side, but not my life.

Beautifully written, A Hug from Heaven is an enlightening and compelling look at what happens after death. In conversations with her deceased father and uncle, the author, Margien Burns, offers comforting and descriptive insights into the learning process that occurs when we "cross over." The author relates the importance of communicating and listening, and how to handle the highs and lows of everyday life while we are on this earth, and the path that will eventually take us to the greatest love of all. We find that what awaits us at the end of our temporal journey is really just the beginning.

An excellent and intriguing read.

"A Hug from Heaven" helps one understand what happens after one "passes on." If you have had a loved one pass away, it helps you come to peace and to know that they are still with us. The conversations Margien has had with her father and others from the other side are amazing.

This book has opened my mind about life and death. I recommend this book to all.

If you ever wondered whether someone you've lost can talk to you from the "other side," this book may help you make up your mind. What happens when you die? This book offers a crash course in what we learn when we leave the body behind and enter "Heaven's Gate." In a series of conversations with her passed-over father and others who have died, Margien Burns looks at the meaning of life, death, of your "life plan" and of how you can open yourself up to connect to those who are no longer in body. Filled with examples of "readings" she has given others who have lost loved ones, the book will help you cope with loss because you understand that life does go on, even when we feel like we have lost everything. We don't come into this world alone. Our lives are interwined with others from before we are born, and our life plans are made to hone not only our souls but to help others do the same. The chapters in this book remind us that we are here to grow in body and spirit and we are never left alone. Our loved ones are here, and if you will open your mind to them, they will speak of wondrous worlds yet to be experienced. Have no fear. This book helps shed light on enlightenment.

This delightful books provides us with an enlightening peak into the after life. We all hope to pass into such a place, when our time on earth is done. Here the reader finds a peace and assurance about the place our loved ones have passed to and where we may meet up with them when the time comes. If you were raised with the memorable idea of "Eternal fires burning in Hell--from childhood, you will value the serenity found in the author's words. It speaks of how love and knowledge rule and light the way, even for lost souls. They too have the ability to find their way out of the darkness. The clarity about many subjects we all question privately, is honest, calming and makes reading this great little book easy. It isn't about one religion being better than another. The fundamentals we learned from childhood will light the way for the spirit and for us: Love, Kindness,and Acceptance. There must be holes in the floors of Heaven and this book describes it best.

This book collects their calendar and other advertising work. I was a little diappointed with this book because it contains some paintings from other books, instead of artwork we haven't seen in print before. The title is a little misleading. Overall, a good book and worth the price.

I bought the book as inspiration for my nephew who is going into designing characters for video games. It's exactly what I wanted him to check out. Lots of scantily clad vixens with great muscle tone and fantastic creatures to stir the imagination.

I had purchased the 2007 calendar and loved the artwork. This got my curiosity going as to how they started doing this type of artwork - which is fabulous. So I ordered their book to find out their story. Facinating read and just awesome artwork!

We have all their books and truly this one is another true work of art and expression of good art in this world of ours.

This collection proves, as if it needed proving, that Vallejo and Bell consistently provide the finest fantasy art around, both individually and as a team. Samples in this collection include book covers, where many readers will first have seen their work ("Oh, that's who did that cool cover!"). It also includes samples of their calendar art, advertising commissions, and other works that accumulated as they chased their muse.

I know there are negative attitudes about "mere" commercial art, and even reticence to call it art. If you define art (or Art) as whatever doesn't get wide recognition, then we'll disagree. I have no qualms about the morality of keeping beans on the table, and I'd like to think that at least some advertisers have realized the value of appealing to our visual intelligence. Although the purpose of each commission is clear, B&J bring their full range of skills to bear on every piece they deliver. Their wit, composition, and craftmanship meet the same standard in every work, whether for sneakers or pure inspiration.

I could go on at length about how great their work is, and almost did. Instead, I invite you to see these wonderful works for yourself. The majority of the book presents their oil paintings, with a few pages of commentary at the start of each section. In among those, you'll find preliminary sketches, book covers as the publisher finally showed them, and comic book pages. There are also a few atypical works, SF themes with no living being in sight - even though B&J are best known for their mastery of the human animal (among others), they do a great job with the hardware and landscape, too. Suspending disbelief isn't the problem in viewing these works. Instead, the problem might lie in getting past the belief in each painting's inner logic. It's not normally in my orbit, but I'll be looking for the tarot deck hinted at in this work - it might even motivate me to figure out what all those arcana are about.

-- wiredweird

The author, Katherine Bell, must have been sitting next to God as she wove this masterpiece of the love of Jesus. You will experience joy, love, anger, anguish, and tenderness as you read this book. I experienced the recreation of creation as I took this journey with Jesus and Jonathan. Jonathan's Journey will be a blessing to all who read it. :)

Jonathan's journey is so well written I find it difficult to describe. I have written to the Pope and asked that Katherine Bell be asked to write the next book in the bible - the woman is clearly touched ... by God. In fact I think she has been touched many times and on a regular basis.

As the facilitator for a Scripture study group at my Catholic church, I am always searching for fresh new ways of presenting the "old" writings of the Bible in a "new" way, ways that help to bring the teachings of God into our lives right here, right now. I plan to use this wonderful book as a mini-retreat just before Lent next year and anyone who has read Joseph Girzone will enjoy reading 'Jonathan's Journey' as well.

What a tremendous book "Jonathan's Journey" was! Even at the age of 38 years old, I found that it helped ME understand the scarlet thread of love that is woven throughout the Scriptures. I read it to my 7 and 8 year old boys and they laughed and cried right along with me! They loved it and so did I. Take the time to read "Jonathan's Journey"...you'll not want to put it down!

Jonathan's Journey will answer questions about the saving grace of Jesus for the young and old alike. It's illustrations and descriptive content become real and alive to the reader. The words on the cover "Read and Grow Rich" are right on target. Thank you Katherine Bell for a beautiful book that can and will be shared by many Christian readers.

Although it's been mentioned as the "best book" for plant identification in the Southeast by reviewers, this is simply not accurate and any true field botanist can attest to this. It's a wonderful manual for an OVERALL coverage of Carolinas, parts of Virginia, Tennessee, and portions of Alabama and northern Florida. In regards to wetland plants, Godrey & Wooten's work remains the gold standard for the entire SE. Andre Clewell's "Guide to the Vascular Plants of the Florida Panhandle" is better even without illustrations and covers many, many more species. As you move away from the Jacksonville, FL area and move westward toward the panhandle (and still well within the heart of the SE) Radford, et al. becomes hit and miss and doesn't cover the much more species rich area of the Florida Panhandle and adjacent southern Alabama and SW Georgia.

Radford, et al. still remains an invaluable book for those within the heart of it's range and then some. As for the outdated names, any competent plant taxonomist can find a list of synonyms and cross reference their identifications, so this is hardly a criticism of a work of this caliber.

As a botany major, I have to say this is the most important book to have in your collection. I use it for classes, I use it for the field, I use it for reference. Some things are outdated and need to be corrected, but for the most part it is essential for anyone dealing with plants. One concern I have is that it may be hard to use for people who are not knowledgeable in plant vocabulary. The keys are sometimes difficult for even advanced botanists to use, and not always because of the plant in question. It is a must-have for anyone dealing with plants, but a good plant dictionary is something I heavily recommend.

Though the Green Bible has been the best in the southeastern US for the past 30 years, and is still the best published manual for the Carolinas, it's in dire need of updating. Taxonomy for many of the species has changed, many more species have been discovered in the Carolinas since it was written (some native, some exotic), and the dot maps reflect what was know about species 30-40 years ago and don't necessarily reflect what is known about current ranges (also, the county dots aren't always backed up by occurrence records deposited in herbaria and thus are difficult to confirm)... overall, a wonderful publication, but one in need of a modern overhaul.

I have gone through 4 of these in the past 26 years and I heartily recommend it for anyone with a more than passable amount of knowledge concerning plants.

I have used this book for almost 30 years, and there is none better for the Southeast. Even if you use other guides, this one is the final authority! I cross reference everything through this book.

This has been refined over the years to be the gold standard of an educational text . Well worth the price.

I am a clinician scientist and have always had difficulty in relating to pure basic science books. The Molecular Biology of the Gene changed my mind. Outstandingly written chapters with colorful illustrations take you through extremely complex subjects in a breeze. A masterpiece, highly recommended.

I am a bioinformatian and always look for a reference molecular biology book which not only covers a range of topics but also is clear enough for a reader with limited knowledge of molecular biology. This books is exactly the one I was looking for. Even more, it provides a nice introduction to some basic molecular biology techniques. Highly recommend to any one who wants to know more about molecular biology from other backgrounds.

While in High School I took the class Mol. Bio. Gene from Dr. Watsons book at George Washington U., having taken orga. &inorganic&biochem at the community college after basic chem (my HS was colocated with the comm col. in Rockville MD). Paid $14.65 for mine, a f...king fortune then. I was working for Dr. Gallo (CDC) at NIH as a summer intern, riding my bike there. (Hey it's all about ME) So... I barely passed the class...it was tough. The book is still alive and kicking, and here I am back using it to understand/design a water treatment system for a small San Diego commun(ity). I thought the old man Watson died? UCSD has a center named for him.

So amazingly, for most things that are true, test of time. This book is amazing in clearly explaining the genetic processes involved. Back then (1972) I spent a lot of time slogging through the biochem then my org. chem text book (at 16). I was building the models to understand what the hell Watson was talking about in bonding, recumbinant replication , etc. Since my NIH job involved collectiing data from experiments designed by doctors working for Dr. Gallo bent on discovering a viral gene attack (read AIDS) I was able to seriously confuse and annoy the doctors/phds by my incessant half informed questions, and screwups (has any of that changed?)

Buy it! Use it! many lab processes have changed, but the book is seminal, with original idiots like me having become like the Olive Tree (if only I could have been in the Garden...), from that seed. May you provide some salvation to the future minions of the earth which will rage battle over pure water, help create partial salvation from his tome. The concepts form the rock foundation of life and salvation for the human race. God bless you.

I got exactly what I ordered, nothing more, nothing less. It arrived within 7 days of placing my order. I would not hesitate to order from this seller again.

No bells to toll relata la tragedia de manera tan real que uno se adentra en ese mundo quebrado por el dolor y la desolación. Se siente la voz de los supervivientes de la terrible catástrofe ocurrida en 1970 en la región anidina peruana conocida como Callejón de Huaylas. En el libro transitan las voces sobre todo de aquellas personas sencillas que jamás tuvieron voz en la historia ofical: los campesinos. No Bell to Toll revela una forma de pensamiento andino, su cosmogonía, su manera de entender la religión; sobre todo el fervor que sienten por el Señor de la Soledad. En mi opinión, uno de los aspectos más interesante del libro, pues revela lo que para muchos puede ser una colorista manifestación del catolisismo andino, incluso algo pintoresco solamente, pero la autora nos revela la idea, la forma en que los campesinos andinos han sabido antener la idea de su dios precolombino enmascarado en la efigie del Señor de la Soledad. El libro nos muestras un mundo complejo de creencias, un mecanismo que cobra sentido ontológico. Es un palpitante retrato de la tragedia en toda su enorme complejidad. Encontramos voces diferentes, como en una buena novela, voces de personas cultivadas, de campesinos, y voces anónimas. Cada una de ellas desde puntos de vista diferentes. Descubrimos en No Bells to Toll que en el Callejón de Huaylas los mitos y las creencias religiosas se mezclan con la mayor naturalidad. Es un complejo y denso estudio antropológico que, entre otras muchas cosas, presenta el desastre natural desde el punto de vista de los supervivientes, cómo éstos evalúan los datos científicos disponibles para explicar por qué se producen los terremotos. En otro nivel es interesante ver cómo la ciencia y el mito se intercambian conceptos de una manera natural. Por último, hay un mensaje ecológico que sobrecoge: la culpa que dicen sentir los supervivientes por haber causado daño, involuntariamente o no, a la madre naturaleza, lo cual explicaría el castigo que han sufrido: la muerte de seres queridos y la destrucción total de su habitat y de toda una forma de vida.
Con la catástrofe se había perdido todo, y empezando por el propio Gobierno, nadie era capaz de dar una respuesta eficaz e inmediata. Entretanto se establecía la pugna de los diversos sectores sociales: los funcionarios arrogantes, el clero con sus contradicciones internas, la población urbana superviviente desprotegida y desarmada, los campesinos desorientados por los conflictos generados por las reformas introducidas en los ritos religiosos. Todos estos hechos están presentados en el libro de manera muy viva y honesta. El admirable esfuerzo de la autora por averiguarlo todo, por indagar a veces hasta la obstinación lo que creía que tenía importancia han hecho posible este libro de extraordinario valor antropológico que no ha perdido un ápice de actualidad.

Lalo Robles

A stunning account of a community's will to survive. In the process of reading, we become aware of the complex geo/political dynamics which lead to revolution and ultimately terrorism. This is an important read for anyone trying to understand how a people can get pushed so far as to commit seemingly inhuman acts. It is also a powerful testament to those that endure great suffering and yet do not loose their compassion. This book will open the eyes of all "first worlders" to life in the "third world".

This is a beautifully written book that draws you into the author's own life, as well as, the lives of the townspeople of the Callejon de Huaylas. Little did I know that when I picked up this book, I would be swept away by the author's passion and grace. She takes the difficult job of translating the survivor's lives into words, with ease.

As this story unfolds, you get lost, in the sense that you begin to feel just as the townspeople did. Your own fears start to surface - you ask yourself... What would I have done? How would I have been able to survive such a tragic loss? Where was God that day? The author leads you through this tragic event trying to discover the answers with her very special gift.

A great read....

No Bells to Toll. Memorandum of a Human Catastrophe, 16th November 2001

Reviewer: Lalo Robles (see more about me) in Madrid, Spain.
No Bells to Toll tells of a tragedy brought about by an earthquake so vividly that the reader is inexorably drawn into a world shattered by pain and desolation. This book allows the survivors of the terrible catastrophe which happened in 1970 in the Andean region of northern Peru known as Callejón de Huaylas to tell their story. It contains the testimonies of simple peasants who have never had any voice in the official record. No Bells to Toll describes one of the manifestations of Andean thought in the way the peasants interpret their universe and understand religion, especially through their fervent worship of the local Christ-figure (Señor de La Soledad). To me, this is one of the most interesting aspects of the book in describing a manifestation of Andean Catholicism which may seem merely picturesque to those unacquainted with the Andean world, but is in reality far from picturesque. The author reveals how Andean peasants have managed to keep the idea of their pre-Columbian god alive in the effigy of Señor de la Soledad.
She also delves into a complex world of beliefs which go beyond appearances and make ontological sense. As in any good novel, this stirring account of the tragedy is suffused with a variety of characters: cultured individuals, peasants and anonymous voices who each express a different point of view. We learn from No Bells to Toll that in Callejón de Huaylas, myths and religious beliefs intermingle with the utmost naturalness.
This is a comprehensive anthropological study which presents the natural disaster from the standpoint of survivors who use the scientific data available at the time to explain, for example, why earthquakes happen. On another level, it is interesting to see how science and myth are interchangeable concepts in the minds of survivors as they attempt to rationalise the destruction wrought by an earthquake in which 75,000 people perished. It also conveys a startling ecological message in the guilt the survivors say they feel through having caused damage, wittingly or unwittingly, to Mother Nature, which would explain the punishment meted out to them in the deaths of their loved ones and the total destruction of their town, with the loss for all time of a whole way of life.

Everything was lost in the catastrophe and nobody, not even the then military government, was able to come up with an effective and immediate response. Meanwhile, behind the scenes a clash arose between disparate sections of society such as an arrogant officialdom, clergy with their internal contradictions, unprotected and unarmed surviving townspeople, and a rural community disoriented by conflicts arising from reforms introduced into religious rites. The book presents this whole background in a most vivid and honest manner. The author's admirable effort in checking everything out by eliciting, to the point of obsessiveness, the facts she believed were important, has culminated in this bang-up-to-date book of extraordinary anthropological value which has lost none of its topicality.

Lalo Robles --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

This paperback is an Authors Guild "Backinprint.com" edition of a wonderful and awesome book originally published by Scribner's Sons in 1989. Whether you have ever been to Peru or the Andes, or know anything about earthquakes and landslides, you will find the book hard to put down once you start reading it. "No Bells to Toll" is the superbly well-written story of the worst natural disaster in the history of the Western Hemisphere. Yet it is a story that remains little known to most of us. In May 1970 a powerful earthquake shook Peru's Department of Ancash, triggering an enormous avalanche that roared down from the heights of Huascarán, Peru's loftiest mountain, into a serenely magnificent Andean valley, the Callejón de Huaylas. The cataclysm devastated the valley, leveling villages, towns, and entire cities, and it killed 76,000 people. Another 140,000 were injured, and as many as 180,000 were left homeless. The valley's infrastructure was destroyed. All this because of an earthquake that lasted less than 45 seconds. The quake was the cruel catalyst for a catastrophe that resonated not only through the religion, politics, and private lives of the valley's residents, many descended from Inca Indians, but through the Catholic Church in Peru and the very government of Peru itself. This is an unforgettable story. Read it!